So, I12 is buggy. Let's get that out of the way first. I crashed twice today, just switching characters and once yesterday, and once the night before. Normally, I run into my game crashing once or twice a month. I'm not very worried about that, though. New issues tend to do things like that. If it continues over the next couple of weeks, then I'll get concerned.
Other than that minor annoyance (and of course the icon bug), I like i12 so far. Best issue ever? Maybe not, but it's pretty good. The first thing I did, like a lot of people, was make a VEAT. Well, no. Actually, the very first thing I did was claim my 5 free character slots, all on Virtue. (More slots!! YAY!) Then, I made my VEAT. I chose to take the Bane Spider route, even though I've heard Banes are less awesome than others. I wanted to save the name, Karma Noir. No, she doesn't have much of a story yet. I haven't even played her past level 1 yet, either.
The next thing I did was make my psi blaster. You may recognize her from Team 3.0. I kept the same name, since Team 3.0 was over on Guardian, so the new psi/mind blaster is Lunatrix. And, yes, I did have to log into Guardian to look up her real name. Miranda Lancaster. Her introduction from Team 3.0 here in the blog says "Elise," but I changed it, like, the next day. Other than that, she hasn't changed much. Things in the Rogue Isles didn't go so well for her. Con-artistry was one thing, but she wasn't ready for outright villainy. She hid out for awhile, and then decided to turn herself in for her past crimes. She was able to work out a deal where she remains free as long as she continues to work for the city of Paragon as a hero and doesn't get into anymore trouble.
On the other hand, there's my fire/fire scrapper, Ashleigh Burns. I used the name Ashley Burns back when the servers were flooded with Supergroup fillers for the prestige bonus. I think she was a fire/fire controller. (There was also her brother/cousin/something, Scorch Burns, a fire/fire tank. I don't think he'll do anything but continue to live on the SG roster as a level 2 in nonexistent space.) Ashleigh just graduated high school and moved to Paragon to start college in the fall. She started working as a hero without informing her very normal parents, who never quite understood their mutant daughter. She's eighteen, because I don't think Paragon is any kind of place for children to run free. She'll be mostly PuGs, probably, but when I RP her, expect a lot of "Ohmigawd!" type comments. I don't plan on making her annoyingly cheerful, but she'll be my anti-angst character. Until/unless she gets deleted.
I'm not overly impressed with the fire/fire scrapper, so far. She is only level 13 at the moment. Assuming I continue, she'll probably skip her passive Temperature Protection. She'll need the normal Swift/Health/Stamina, as well as Combat Jumping/Super Jump. From there, she'll have to pick up Acrobatics, as there's no KB protection in her shields. Except for the 25 million influence +KB protection IO that Fyre just bought her. That IO is +4 points of protection. Acrobatics is +9 points, now. I think she'll be workable with just the IO until I get the free power choice for Acrobatics. She NEEDS Stamina a lot more right now. If I can fit it in, I'd like to try for Tough and Weave. I think she's going to need the extra defense, although Healing Flames does seem to recharge rather quickly. Of course, with a 25 million influence investment already, she's probably going to stick around for awhile.
I have to say, the psi/mind blaster isn't especially impressive. She's only level 10, though. She burns endurance quick. The damage seems kind of meh. Of course, the blaster I play the most is level 50 and has considerable IO bonuses, so I may be just stuck comparing the two. I'm trying not to judge too quickly. Generally, I try to reserve judgement until level 20, with a couple of notable exceptions. (Harmony Hex: Sonic/sonic defender who played only on PuGs, AKA "Die, I don't care, I'm not buffing you again because you're a moron." And, poor Hex Raven who would have lost a battle to a kitten because a) the kitten did more damage and b) the kitten had better endurance management. I just didn't have the patience to wait for her late-bloomer build to bloom. Too bad, because I liked the character.)
I tried an ITF on Fyre, after Keen and I ran the Midnighter arc with Fyre and Stronghold. (Fyre is now wondering how in the heck Stronghold and Havoc could possibly be the same person, by the way.) The Midnighter arc is a lot of fun. I still love the new maps, both the Midnighter caves (also used in Cimerora and the ITF), and the Cimerora zone. The ITF was PHAIL, though. Not because death happened, because it did and it will in the three missions that lead up to the finale. It was phail because the last mission is... well, I won't say impossible. It CAN be done. I was on a team that did it on Test, and did the whole TF in one hour and twenty-nine minutes. I was also on a team that took four hours to decide it was phail, and another that took almost that long only to fail. The team the other day on Live took about 3 hours to decide it was phail. It's difficult, let's say.
Some of the other little QoL are fun, too. There's a lot of talk about how much easier it is to get a global name from a local name, or vice versa. (In fact, this is a pretty interesting read, if only for the RP points.) I don't care either way, myself. But I am enjoying the notes feature, if only to one-star the idiots I run into on PuGs. I'm getting used chat boxes full of color. Now, it seems easier to read with the separation. I'm constantly combining inspirations. I love being able to click someone's name in chat and getting options that include sending them a tell or inviting them to a team. How much easier is that? The separation on the contacts tab is excellent for my 50s especially.
I12's been fun so far. I even took Mo out for a bit late one night to fly through the sewers and help out the newb, and I ran into two other people randomly doing the same thing. And best of all, I still have 2 free character slots. I did want to use that new Arctic pattern, though. Hm...
Friday, May 23, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
My Turn
(Edit: Orignal post 3:30pm)
I intend to keep this brief, but I may ramble. Forgive me.
Or don't.
I'm a pretty honest person. I don't like lying. I don't like liars. I'm not good at faking things. Oh, I can do it, but not for long, and often not well. I also am a rather empathetic person. (Empathy: Not just for Defenders.) So, I don't like to hurt people's feelings, and I'm really good at understanding other points of view. I believe in having and showing compassion. Sometimes, naively, I expect the same things from other people. Oddly, though, this adds up to something that might seem contrary on the surface. I don't take crap from people. Push me once or twice, and I'll ignore it or excuse it. Push me three times, and I'm going to push back, and twice as hard. And trust me, my mouth has never written a check that the rest of me is incapable or unwilling to cash, to borrow one of The Family's more colorful phrases. (Yes, I have spent some time on the docks in Striga lately.) This is why I tend to avoid confrontation. It may take awhile, but once I lose it, I lose it A LOT.
So, what's this little self-discovery trip about? Well, like I've said before, it's impossible not to put some of yourself into a character you devote so much time and energy creating and, more importantly, playing and acting. Fyre has some of those qualities that I just described. Maybe not in the same order, or not in the same amount, but they're certainly there.
That's the only thing I can attribute in-character to Fyre's previous repeated forgiveness and overlooking of Masonry's actions.
Yep, that ended awhile ago. Now, I didn't think so, but apparently I was too subtle in my and Fyre's avoidance of Masonry. I thought refusing to team with that character was hint enough. Apparently not. Through blog post, and later through an off-line message, I got a request for Fyre to be a part of an RP STF. An STF that was, mechanically, certain to be a failure. I'm not an overachiever or a control freak, but starting something that's doomed to failure before the start... well, it's not something I would normally do. And teaming Fyre with Masonry, again, is something I have been strenuously avoiding. But, because of friendship with and respect for Masonry's player, I put that aside and did as asked and brought Fyre on with the intention of participating in said doomed STF.
Now, had I known that I and my character was wanted for a filler, I have other characters I could have brought. Had I known that I was setting my character to be attacked, I wouldn't have went. Had that attacking come from Masonry, I could have dealt. After all, that makes perfect sense. Had I known that I was setting myself up to be dog-piled by an entire group of people who subscribed to Masonry's revisionist history, I certainly would not have participated. And that last is what happened. Fyre was very quiet during that initial attack-- and I say "attack" because that's exactly what it was-- because her player was shocked speechless. As close as I came to quitting right there, I didn't, because I knew that that STF wouldn't have gotten very far with five players, three of which were tanks. Again, friendship and respect kept me from removing my character from a situation which she surely would have left. I tried my best to salvage the mechanical portion of the task force, both by lending my characters best abilities and my own experiences with the STF.
I don't, and will not attempt to, justify my characters hatred-- yes, let's not soft sell it: hatred-- of someone who has repeatedly tried to kill her and people she cares about, either by setting it up or doing it himself. I could post chat-logs, quotes from blogs, whatever you want. I'm not going to bother, though. I don't think it's necessary. If you want to read some of those things, the blog archive is there. If you'd like chat logs, I have the files. Masonry is a murderer several times over, under the influence of drugs, nictus, black magic (or whatever exactly that is), and himself, both in the heat of the moment and by cold calculation. He is exactly the type of person our heroes spend their entire careers fighting. He's had so many chances to redeem himself that I have, honestly, lost count. And yet, my character has been cast in the role of villain by now two groups of people with whom she and I have had little to no interaction.
We're not our characters. Very true. And yet, being set-up to be (to use Fyre's words), a punching bag by a group of characters and/or people you do or don't know is not fun. So, yes, I did take it personally yesterday, and I left feeling very angry, on my and Fyre's behalf, and somewhat hurt on mine.
I have half a mind that this is not entirely appropriate for a blog post. However, the invitation and discussions occurred on blogs, so I don't feel this is entirely out of place.
In-character, Fyre will not be teaming with Masonry ever again, as she and I previously intended. Yes, Masonry and Frost both have come to have the same intentions, now, and their players have posted so on their blogs. And I truly believe I would have been much happier had I stuck with my own previously reached intentions. But, even with the most heartfelt requests otherwise, I will not go back on my resolution again.
Out of character, this is not meant to hurt anyone's feelings or make anyone angry. However, it if it does, I will not apologize. Not for the least reason that I myself spent most of the day angry, and probably just a bit hurt. I posted because the explanation will, hopefully, make me feel better about it, and, in the best possible outcome, avoid such a situation again. Please, don't ever put me in such a situation again. To sum it up somewhat mildly, it was unpleasant.
Feel free to post any public comments, questions, concerns or flames (I know just what do with those, should they they occur) here. Private ones can be sent in-game in tells, or e-mailed.
Edit(6:22pm):
Over it.
Hey, lolcats.
I intend to keep this brief, but I may ramble. Forgive me.
Or don't.
I'm a pretty honest person. I don't like lying. I don't like liars. I'm not good at faking things. Oh, I can do it, but not for long, and often not well. I also am a rather empathetic person. (Empathy: Not just for Defenders.) So, I don't like to hurt people's feelings, and I'm really good at understanding other points of view. I believe in having and showing compassion. Sometimes, naively, I expect the same things from other people. Oddly, though, this adds up to something that might seem contrary on the surface. I don't take crap from people. Push me once or twice, and I'll ignore it or excuse it. Push me three times, and I'm going to push back, and twice as hard. And trust me, my mouth has never written a check that the rest of me is incapable or unwilling to cash, to borrow one of The Family's more colorful phrases. (Yes, I have spent some time on the docks in Striga lately.) This is why I tend to avoid confrontation. It may take awhile, but once I lose it, I lose it A LOT.
So, what's this little self-discovery trip about? Well, like I've said before, it's impossible not to put some of yourself into a character you devote so much time and energy creating and, more importantly, playing and acting. Fyre has some of those qualities that I just described. Maybe not in the same order, or not in the same amount, but they're certainly there.
That's the only thing I can attribute in-character to Fyre's previous repeated forgiveness and overlooking of Masonry's actions.
Yep, that ended awhile ago. Now, I didn't think so, but apparently I was too subtle in my and Fyre's avoidance of Masonry. I thought refusing to team with that character was hint enough. Apparently not. Through blog post, and later through an off-line message, I got a request for Fyre to be a part of an RP STF. An STF that was, mechanically, certain to be a failure. I'm not an overachiever or a control freak, but starting something that's doomed to failure before the start... well, it's not something I would normally do. And teaming Fyre with Masonry, again, is something I have been strenuously avoiding. But, because of friendship with and respect for Masonry's player, I put that aside and did as asked and brought Fyre on with the intention of participating in said doomed STF.
Now, had I known that I and my character was wanted for a filler, I have other characters I could have brought. Had I known that I was setting my character to be attacked, I wouldn't have went. Had that attacking come from Masonry, I could have dealt. After all, that makes perfect sense. Had I known that I was setting myself up to be dog-piled by an entire group of people who subscribed to Masonry's revisionist history, I certainly would not have participated. And that last is what happened. Fyre was very quiet during that initial attack-- and I say "attack" because that's exactly what it was-- because her player was shocked speechless. As close as I came to quitting right there, I didn't, because I knew that that STF wouldn't have gotten very far with five players, three of which were tanks. Again, friendship and respect kept me from removing my character from a situation which she surely would have left. I tried my best to salvage the mechanical portion of the task force, both by lending my characters best abilities and my own experiences with the STF.
I don't, and will not attempt to, justify my characters hatred-- yes, let's not soft sell it: hatred-- of someone who has repeatedly tried to kill her and people she cares about, either by setting it up or doing it himself. I could post chat-logs, quotes from blogs, whatever you want. I'm not going to bother, though. I don't think it's necessary. If you want to read some of those things, the blog archive is there. If you'd like chat logs, I have the files. Masonry is a murderer several times over, under the influence of drugs, nictus, black magic (or whatever exactly that is), and himself, both in the heat of the moment and by cold calculation. He is exactly the type of person our heroes spend their entire careers fighting. He's had so many chances to redeem himself that I have, honestly, lost count. And yet, my character has been cast in the role of villain by now two groups of people with whom she and I have had little to no interaction.
We're not our characters. Very true. And yet, being set-up to be (to use Fyre's words), a punching bag by a group of characters and/or people you do or don't know is not fun. So, yes, I did take it personally yesterday, and I left feeling very angry, on my and Fyre's behalf, and somewhat hurt on mine.
I have half a mind that this is not entirely appropriate for a blog post. However, the invitation and discussions occurred on blogs, so I don't feel this is entirely out of place.
In-character, Fyre will not be teaming with Masonry ever again, as she and I previously intended. Yes, Masonry and Frost both have come to have the same intentions, now, and their players have posted so on their blogs. And I truly believe I would have been much happier had I stuck with my own previously reached intentions. But, even with the most heartfelt requests otherwise, I will not go back on my resolution again.
Out of character, this is not meant to hurt anyone's feelings or make anyone angry. However, it if it does, I will not apologize. Not for the least reason that I myself spent most of the day angry, and probably just a bit hurt. I posted because the explanation will, hopefully, make me feel better about it, and, in the best possible outcome, avoid such a situation again. Please, don't ever put me in such a situation again. To sum it up somewhat mildly, it was unpleasant.
Feel free to post any public comments, questions, concerns or flames (I know just what do with those, should they they occur) here. Private ones can be sent in-game in tells, or e-mailed.
Edit(6:22pm):
Over it.
Hey, lolcats.
Friday, May 16, 2008
PuG Entertainment
Contrary to what has been stated elsewhere, I don't think every pick-up team is terrible. I have been on a LOT of PuGs. There have been a few that have astounded me with how quickly purple-conning mobs simply evaporated. Some have been entertaining in other ways, like the interaction between players. And, yes, some have been absolutely terrible. The worst for me was one on Freedumb on Mercy Isle. I quit the team before we even got into the mission.
Thanks to the forums, I've found a way to make even the bad PuGs entertaining.
Credit to some guy I never heard of before on the forums for Bad Team Bingo.
Yes, I have a card printed out, on my desk, and ready to go.
Thanks to the forums, I've found a way to make even the bad PuGs entertaining.
Credit to some guy I never heard of before on the forums for Bad Team Bingo.
Yes, I have a card printed out, on my desk, and ready to go.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
I12: Cimerora and the Midnight Club Pictures
These pictures are most definitely spoilers for I12, specifically Cimerora, the Midnight Club, and the Imperious Task Force. If you don't want to know, don't look any further.
This is one of the first things you'll see of the new maps, in the arc that grants you access to the Midnight Club. The hero side arc is slightly longer than the villain side, but, without giving more away, let's just say that it's worth it.
Inside of the missions from the intro Midnighter arc. This room is worth exploring.
Inside the Midnight Club. The tiny woman in the chair is a store that sells various level SOs.
A line of Centurions in Cimerora
One of the streets in Cimerora.
A view of Cimerora from one of the cliffs.
Yep, that's a Minotaur. They con as Elite Bosses. You'll see quite a few in the Imperious Task Force.
One of the giant robots from the Imperious Task Force.
5th Column robots from the Imperious Task Force.
Nictus Romulus from the Imperious Task Force
Inside the fort, up the looong road, you finally get to the courtyard and find Romulus and his troops.
Fyre in costume in the cave the Midnighters use to access Cimerora.
The female version of the Roman costume that unlocks from the Imperious Task Force, with Fyre playing model.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Fifty Again
At what point does hitting 50 get boring? How many 50s do you have to have before it's just not a remarkable thing? Does it ever happen?
Lorelei Laughlin (Illusion/Radiation Controller) hit 50 on Thursday, May 1. I made her to play with the sets, and to play a controller I didn't hate. No RP in mind at all, so character-wise, there's not a whole lot to say about her. It took over a year and a half to get her to 50, because I just wasn't that interested. I think she was the original Derick Darklight's(Vagz's Warshade) duo partner, maybe? The name came from a Las Vegas guidebook that sat on my desk for awhile. That's about the only interesting thing about her.
So, like I said to several people, now I never have to play a controller again!
Oh, wait...
Ellianne Sylvanie hit level 27 before she met the chopping block a few months ago. She was an archery/energy blaster. A few weeks ago, I brought her back to check out the changes to archery that came with I11. They weren't bad. But one of the reasons I brought her back was to partner with Derick Darklight, whose last duo partner Hex Raven (dark/dark scrapper) got deleted in a fit of hating the dark scrapper power sets. (Do we see a pattern here? Poor Derick and his partners. Note, Idaho was also a common teammate.) But a blaster and a Warshade don't duo well. But a controller and a Warshade might. So, Elli's a grav/kin controller this time around. Let's see how long that lasts. She's level 12 at the moment, and my goal is to get her as close to Derick's 18 as I can. Today. Only today. Why?
Open Beta for I12 starts tomorrow. As of now, I'm patched and copied. (And I just saw that the original Elli still exists on Test.) I'm hoping that they're going to *surprise* add more costume parts, but I just don't see that happening. Other than that, I'm interested in the new zone, psi-blasters, and maybe a fire/fire scrapper.
Maybe a fire/fire scrapper. But, I don't see anything dulling my fondness of dual blades/willpower. Especially Willpower. I spent a lot of time on an Invulnerable scrapper (Cassandra Noir, MA/Invul, level 47). If I would have played Willpower first, I would have never, ever looked at Invulnerability. Of course, that's neglecting the fact that Cass was created pre-ED. Jez is definitely my favorite at the moment, powers-wise and character-wise. We just finished a Malta arc last night, and possibly for the first time ever, Malta didn't suck. There may have been a couple of small rough patches, but nothing major. Malta, as a subject, falls firmly into Jez's area of expertise. Surely a relief for her, after the Carnie's and BC's... entire existence. Not to say that Jez and BC are having problems. They're getting along quite well. With the Malta, though, Jez may have been a bit more serious that she was becoming previously. Malta, and that type of work, is something she's familiar with, and easily recognizable as "work," so CIA-Jez came out more than adventurous-Jez. But she still didn't close herself off as much as she might have. That's some sort of progress.
Lorelei Laughlin (Illusion/Radiation Controller) hit 50 on Thursday, May 1. I made her to play with the sets, and to play a controller I didn't hate. No RP in mind at all, so character-wise, there's not a whole lot to say about her. It took over a year and a half to get her to 50, because I just wasn't that interested. I think she was the original Derick Darklight's(Vagz's Warshade) duo partner, maybe? The name came from a Las Vegas guidebook that sat on my desk for awhile. That's about the only interesting thing about her.
So, like I said to several people, now I never have to play a controller again!
Oh, wait...
Ellianne Sylvanie hit level 27 before she met the chopping block a few months ago. She was an archery/energy blaster. A few weeks ago, I brought her back to check out the changes to archery that came with I11. They weren't bad. But one of the reasons I brought her back was to partner with Derick Darklight, whose last duo partner Hex Raven (dark/dark scrapper) got deleted in a fit of hating the dark scrapper power sets. (Do we see a pattern here? Poor Derick and his partners. Note, Idaho was also a common teammate.) But a blaster and a Warshade don't duo well. But a controller and a Warshade might. So, Elli's a grav/kin controller this time around. Let's see how long that lasts. She's level 12 at the moment, and my goal is to get her as close to Derick's 18 as I can. Today. Only today. Why?
Open Beta for I12 starts tomorrow. As of now, I'm patched and copied. (And I just saw that the original Elli still exists on Test.) I'm hoping that they're going to *surprise* add more costume parts, but I just don't see that happening. Other than that, I'm interested in the new zone, psi-blasters, and maybe a fire/fire scrapper.
Maybe a fire/fire scrapper. But, I don't see anything dulling my fondness of dual blades/willpower. Especially Willpower. I spent a lot of time on an Invulnerable scrapper (Cassandra Noir, MA/Invul, level 47). If I would have played Willpower first, I would have never, ever looked at Invulnerability. Of course, that's neglecting the fact that Cass was created pre-ED. Jez is definitely my favorite at the moment, powers-wise and character-wise. We just finished a Malta arc last night, and possibly for the first time ever, Malta didn't suck. There may have been a couple of small rough patches, but nothing major. Malta, as a subject, falls firmly into Jez's area of expertise. Surely a relief for her, after the Carnie's and BC's... entire existence. Not to say that Jez and BC are having problems. They're getting along quite well. With the Malta, though, Jez may have been a bit more serious that she was becoming previously. Malta, and that type of work, is something she's familiar with, and easily recognizable as "work," so CIA-Jez came out more than adventurous-Jez. But she still didn't close herself off as much as she might have. That's some sort of progress.
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