City of Heroes Freedom
06-21-2011, 04:55 PM
To me, this looks interesting/promising
City of Heroes Freedom - http://www.cityofheroes.c...ty_of_heroes_free_1.html
Issue 21 Convergence - http://www.cityofheroes.c...1/issue_21_overview.html
Letter from Brian Clayton - http://www.cityofheroes.c..._brian_clayton_at_p.html
I'm especially curious about the new starter Zone (Finally Galaxy becomes useful) and the whole VIP server.
Will you transfer toons there? Or use it for Altitis?
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I want to say I'm surprised. But I'm not, this is the way most MMORPG's are now or are heading towards. I have no real feelings either way about this as I'm used to it and I've seen it work out rather well. What I do know is it really won't bother me much since I have no intentions of canceling subscription or anything *Grin* so its life as usual for me.
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I'm just concerned that regular subscribers are limited to 12 slots per server. Does that mean we can't add more beyond that? And thus have to buy up all the unused slots *now* before it goes live?
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Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.
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Been following the thread and you can buy beyond that and if you decide to stop paying you will retain access to what you have purchased.
Edit: 12 is the base you start with on any server, you can still buy up beyond that and you will retain all slots you've purchased even if you cease paying.
Also the restrictions on non ViP accounts has me thinking that most of us who are paying already will continue to pay @_@
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The devoted player base won't stop paying for the most part. They're trying to lure in more customers with this strategy.
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Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.
Yeah, those of us that pay will become VIPs and keep what we have (as will any F2Pers that were once paid players)
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It looks interesting thus far, and I'm already shelling out so my usual "I'm to cheap to pay" doesn't really apply here... The only question I have, the badge-hunter part of me wonders if we'll keep accruing Vet badges. The way they put it, it could go either way.
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The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."
>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI
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It would be nice if they'd add paypal support to yearly subscriptions... I don't have a credit card and I have to keep asking to borrow other people's...
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Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.
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I for one doubt they will. I have heard far too many horror stories about how paypal can operate (they perform all the actions of a bank without any of the oversight or rules) to put any kind of trust in them as a company.
-Terry
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"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
So if Im limited to 2 slots (plus any I unlocked)... how does it choose which characters are unlocked? o_O
There is no coincidence, only necessity....
- Clow Reed
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Been going through the forums. The Devs are answering much of this and will probably be updating the official info page/FAQ. But for now - here's the most comprehensive answer gleaned from the forums I've seen:
You get "Premium Global Slot Unlock Tokens".
You automatically get 2 of the above.
Then you get more if you had purchased or earned other slot unlocks. These are applied automatically and retro-actively. In other words - if you had acquired extra slots via Veteran Awards, then each VR unlock also awards you a Premium Global Slot Unlock Token. Same applies for Character slots that you have previously bought and paid for.
You can also purchase more.
Then, of all the Toons you have on all the servers, you apply the Premium Global Slot Unlock Tokens on the Toons you want to play for free as a Premium account.
None of the characters go away ever, just limited access to them. If you go back to VIP, then all of your characters are accessible again.
(Example: On my @atlantea account, I have been a 7 Year Veteran (more or less). I have at least 3 character slots that I simply earned via vet badges. I don't remember if I actually -bought- character slots. (I don't think I did). But even if I only get the automatic 2 character slots and the 3 from Vet Rewards. That's a minimum of 5 character slots I have available to use on Virtue if my account lapses for a month. (And I'm pretty sure I actually would have more slots than that. I just know I have a minimum of 3 extra.)
Doesn't mean any of my characters on Virtue are -gone-. Just means that if I can't afford the game for a month, that I can only play about half a dozen of them during that time. I'm ok with that. I would definitely keep Cyberman 8 and Kara Skye available. Possibly Startracker Zero. Then I'd choose some other characters that aren't 50 to round out my choices. It'd be tough to choose those. Sassinak would almost certainly be unlocked. Maybe Skyestrike. )
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I've been apprehensive about the FTP. But so far, it seems like a well thought out model. It's less "we have to do this to save the game, please come back!" that Champions Online was forced into, and more like giving the current 1-14 Trial accounts access to playing up to level 50. With a middle option for players who have previously paid subscription fees to play free as well, but with better options and access than pure FTP accounts. The Devs are - if anything, being -overprotective- of their existing player-base by restricting what chat channels FTP has access to. But on the flip-side, "Premium" (the middle option) can/will have access to globals and tells. And if you want to stick to FTP, you can still -buy- that access separately. (though why you'd want to do that instead of just ponying up the money for a monthly account and getting all the VIP stuff for free anyway, I don't know. But the option is there.)
There is going to be a new VIP-only server. A lot of people are saying - why can't there be one FTP server instead of allowing FTP access to all the servers but the new VIP server? And it has been pointed out (by other players) that that would sort of defeat the purpose of luring back old players (and friends) who have left the game. Because if they were coming back as "Premium" FTP players, wouldn't you -want- them to be on their old servers so you could talk to them and socialize?
Personally, I don't think Virtue is going to be badly affected by this other than a little extra lag initially. That will pass. I see no reason to move any characters to the VIP server. (though I may create a couple.)
One other thing I'd like to address.
(Actually - more like cut off at the knees... just in case...)
There's a lot of requests on the forums for the ability to move entire SGs with bases to different servers. Or for the ability to have cross-server access to SG bases. While that would be great. I don't see that this is as -necessary- as a lot of the people asking for it seem to be thinking.
Frankly a lot of people on the official forums are acting like DOOM is coming and they want desperately to avoid sullying themselves with FTP players. And they want to move ALL their characters en-masse to the VIP server (tangentially, they're also asking for more than one VIP server).
This is panic/herd thinking. It's also elitist.
There's an /ignore command for a reason. You can also turn off broadcast and even local if need be.
The most likely scenario based on what I'm seeing in the forums for moving supergroups (if it even becomes possible) will likely not allow for moving the base, but might allow moving the prestige (I think it's character by character, but don't quote me on that). This would allow for rebuilding of the base. In theory under that system, the Legendary could move to the VIP server and rebuild the entire base there without losing anything.
I say RUBBISH to that. Even if I had concerted help from Zilem Kain and others in rebuilding the Legendary Base. I refuse to do so. I loved building the base over time. But I'm not putting THAT MUCH BLOODY WORK into rebuilding it all in one go ANYWHERE.
It's just not necessary. DOOM is not coming to Virtue because of the new changes. We're not going to get cooties from the FTP people.
Even if they -did- allow us to move the base lock stock and barrel in one go. I wouldn't allow it. We're a - support- group primarily. That means we - support- players. And we're not going to act all snooty and deny them entry to the group because they might be on a FTP account.
The Legendary is staying on Virtue. Your base architect and sysop has spoken.
Lora'Lai smiles sweetly at the camera, but her eyes are glowing potential death.
-Logan
(not saying any of you people are that silly, this is more like a reaction to reading the forums for several hours. I hope you'll indulge me in a bit of a rant at that and don't take it as directed at anyone here. ^_^)
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"Anybody else want to negotiate?"
"Wh-wh-wh-where did he learn to n-n-negotiate like that?"
"I wonder..."
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*reads it over* so.... this really isn't going to effect me that much, I'll be VIP, I'll still pay as noraml, it just means i can use thies "points" to buy some vet rewards rather than wait.
yeah, I'm in the same boat as you Terr concerning that.
what is interesting is they seem to be borrowing from STO's Episode system with monthly story arcs, so if this transates to more content (even if for a limited time) I'll be happy. 
*looks at screen shots*
First ward looks nice, Carnival of light reminds me of splicers from Bioshock, the Hami seer's are just _wrong_, IDF armor, yums, time manip (so many time lord toons will be rolled  ) and looks like the snakes from the isles might have preat counterparts (or reskined).
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dark seraph Wrote: the Hami seer's are just _wrong_, Half Life Head Crab Zombies!
as for this VIP server..... new alt server I guess, cuz I'm sure as hell not buying another 24 slots and tranfering all my toons over
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Quote:Frankly a lot of people on the official forums are acting like DOOM is coming
There always is, regardless of the announced change.
-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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I must say - the art that we've seen in the new screenshots is AMAZING.
But - did anyone else look at this...
![[Image: diabolique_tower_02.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/Logan_Darklighter/City%20of%20Heroes/diabolique_tower_02.jpg)
... and have a similar thought that I had?
"I have a radical idea. The door swings both ways. We could reverse the particle flow through the gate."
"How?"
"We'll cross the streams."
"Excuse me! you said crossing the streams was bad!"
"You're gonna endanger us, you're gonna endanger our client. The nice lady who paid us in advance before she became a dog."
"Not necessarily. There's definitely a very slim chance we'll survive."
[ pause "I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it. Let's do it!"
^_^
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If someone asks if you're an Incarnate.... YOU SAY YES!!!
I'm cautiously optimistic about this. I figure that things won't really get much worse.
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The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."
>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI
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So, between the new Paragon Market thingie for potential new slots and such and the VIP Paragon Point bonus you get monthly...
I think that I'm going to be moving a lot of lowbie content off Virtue.
Infinity is my existing "alts I have no room for" Server, and the new VIP server seems promising. But this new model of game definitely seems to indicate that until the Far Far Future of Cross-Server teaming, I'm going to have to have alts on other servers if I want to play all the concepts I want. Alas and woe, that I am forced to such extreme measures because they gave me so many new shinies to play with.
Also, the extended vibe I'm getting from the Premium membership off the forums is more that it's a "I can't afford my sub this month, so I need to fall back to F2P" option more than an expected intermediary between Free and VIPs.
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"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
actuly... F2P means a few players that dropped off because of lack of funding might return? *jumps up and down all happy like*
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It'll undoubtedly bring people back. My roommate got tired of WoW and Rift, and is now seriously considering CoH with the Premium model he'd qualify for. So as a marketing lure, it'll work fairly well.
As long as being a subscriber means I don't *lose* anything I currently enjoy, I'm happy. The rest of it... Meh. The in-game points store thingie is designed to use the Gold Potato concept to milk more money out of the players by presenting things you "just gotta have". But it looks like the devs are recognizing the potential for blastback on that by offering free points to subscribers in those stores. If that's the only change I see, then I'll largely ignore it all. I'm certainly not moving stuff around or going all VIP-only elitist. That's just silly.
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Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.
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So, you choose which toons to move to the VIP server? Or can you play with a toon that has a global slot unlocked on either the free server and the VIP server?
EDIT: Nevermind. I figured it out.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com
"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
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Well I know I'll be some what back. I only stopped due to time-poorness, *tf2* the hats are calling; Forza: Stig-chasing; random J-RPG: when will this cutscene end!
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What I think is funny, is that MonkeyFist and I were discussing this about an hour before they made the announcement yesterday. It's scarry how close we were to what they decided to do.
Me, I'm looking forward to it. I have a bunch of friends who had to stop playing due to fundage issues and it would be nice to see them, in game, again. It'll also be fun to drag some other people who are interested in to the game.
I may move a couple of my characters to the VIP server (Rae, Carmen, DD), but beyond that, it'll probably just be another alt-haven.
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As some of you may know, I run three different versions of CoX on my machine. Live, Test, and Beta. (Beta is also known as That Other Server)... well with 20.5 now on Test, its NDA has lapsed. Not that it was really an issue in the first place. The forums for it were public, if you logged into the official forum, and there was a guide put into Guide section about the coming trial. Everyone knew what was coming, so the NDA was a piece of fiction, but still... I respected it.
What happened this beta is you down loaded the patch, you got into the game and you got an electronic NDA to agree to. Which was different from other betas.... but that's neither here nor there.
That being said... I'm yet to agree to anything for the i21, however I do have it on download. All 1.8GBs of it. I've restarted the launcher 3 times and its come up with the same figure each time... 1800+MB. The last time the initial patch was this big, it was for Ultra Mode. Just that alone, and a few other hints dropped in the forums suggest we're looking at a major engine upgrade.
Also I know someone who's in Closed Beta. They confirmed that Time Manipulation is not the only new powerset and that there is a lot of new content. But that's all they would say due to the NDA.
Personally, I'm looking forward to the content, I'm not looking forward to the temptation to roll more alts, but I am looking forward to more players.
Also, since this has been in the works for more then a year, anyone who thinks cries of doom will stop it, is frankly dreaming.
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