City of Heroes questions for YABS!

[Phana]

I know that there is (or used to be) a group from YABS that plays City of Heroes. I played the game right near the launch and got tired of it due to the horrible grind in the low 30s, xp debt, and the fact that blasters outclassed all the other classes so much it wasn't even funny. Now that CoV is out and I've got through a WoW phase and complete burnout (due to guild politics and boring repetitive instances), I'm somewhat interested in playing an MMO again, and CoH may be it, since I'm now actually interested in superheroes.

Anyway, what I want to know is do you guys think that with my MMO burnout history I might enjoy playing CoH or CoV now, even if only for this summer? Also, do you have to pay twice as much to play CoH and CoV? And finally, is there some way that I can try the new and improved CoH without laying down the cash for the game (if I can't find my old copy of it) and the $15 for one month? Edit: I remember that once or twice I got an email about trying the game again free for a month, but I've since changed email addresses. Do they do stuff like that anymore? :(

[TCJohnson]

I can tell you it is the same amount for COV, COH or Both.

[Phana]

Hmm, thanks. In that case, I'm more interested in playing it than I was before, but I'm still worried I'll burn out too quickly to justify the cost...

[DungeonmasterJim]

I actually prefer Call of Duty 2 on-line. You have a couple of guilds there that really don't mean much since there's no role-playing. I just like signing on and butchering people and leaving whenever I feel like it. It hasn't gotten old for me and I've been playing for well over a year. Currently, capture the flag is my favorite thing although campers and spawn killers are always a problem.

DM Jim

[DungeonmasterJim]

Oh yeah, I forgot. There's no on-line fee for PC. I bought the game and just locate some servers and play.

DM Jim

[Jack Zodiac]

I know that there is (or used to be) a group from YABS that plays City of Heroes. I played the game right near the launch and got tired of it due to the horrible grind in the low 30s, xp debt, and the fact that blasters outclassed all the other classes so much it wasn't even funny.

Ah hahahahahahaha! Ah heh... the good ol' days. Yeah, the game is completely different than it was almost three years ago. If you want, I could e-mail Lighthouse about getting you a free trial to give it a go.

[Jack Zodiac]

Actually, I just realized, I can send you a 10 day trial through my account. Shoot me your e-mail and you can play both CoV and CoH for ten days for free.

[Chris Hansbrough]

I'm actually kinda starting to miss Canaderithian and his freeze blast goodness....I almst though about reupping my acount again until I realized I have no money. mght have to though if it has expanded since villains came out....I kinda miss my ninja minions...

[Phana]

Actually, I just realized, I can send you a 10 day trial through my account. Shoot me your e-mail and you can play both CoV and CoH for ten days for free.

Sweet! Thanks very much! I'll PM you my email.

[Night Swordsman]

Several people on here still play it. I gave it another shot last October,but the lag(100% worse than WOW ever was to me),the same ol' missions(i swear i know that office building by HEART now..:rolleyes: ) and the Disconnects were enough for me to say enough. Went back to WOW,but i do agree..once you hit 70,it gets boring dealing with guilds and instances. Some on here still swear by it. I just swear AT it.

Guild Wars may be a interesting alternative,and i like the fact that it is Free to play,after purchase of the game. The only fees are for new content expansions,which you can choose to buy or not.

I also do know Lord of the Rings Online is in Beta right now,and is available to play.

I tried Dungeons and Dragons Online,and found it much worse than WOW was,and half the fun.


Warhammer Online is also gearing up,along with a few others. IGN.com or any other major PC game newssite on the net might get you more info.

[MrSuslov]

Guild Wars can be fun---I've played it since April 2005---but it has a horde of kids playing, which may or may not enhance your gaming experience. Bring friends and note that PvE guilds do actually exist; the whole thing isn't PvP, despite what people try to make it.

LOTRO is nasty on hardware specs, but I'm enjoying what little I've gotten to do. It's just this side of slideshow for me, but no worries.

I'm personally interested in the Conan MMO; that ought to be a rollicking blast. I'll have to get back to CoH/CoV if more of us are going to show up. :o

[NickThompson]

I'm actually kinda starting to miss Canaderithian and his freeze blast goodness....I almst though about reupping my acount again until I realized I have no money. mght have to though if it has expanded since villains came out....I kinda miss my ninja minions...
Don't do it just yet, Inventions come out soon-ish :)

[Dark Galaxy]

I really enjoy CoH/CoV, but I definitely go through burnout phases too.
I also will get on kicks where I will play a specific character every day for a couple weeks, or sometimes I just like shifting between different low level toons to mix it up a little.

I can go a couple months without playing, but then when I start playing again, it is always lots of fun to re-visit all my old toons.

[Tobias March]

I'm a member of a 'Goth' sg in Villains. They had a bright idea of holding a werewolf night every full moon. Unfortunately not many took it up, and then I was stuck trying to develop a wolfen stalker. Which frustrated me so much I just deleted the char.

Frustration leveling kills me sometimes.

[Jack Zodiac]

Don't do it just yet, Inventions come out soon-ish :)

Eh, inventions kind of blow. I was hoping they'd keep it in context to superheroics and let you collect a bunch of shit to make a one-off Ultimate Nullifier or some other insane one-shot temp power, not a bunch of enhancements and, maybe if you kill a couple hundred thousand people and manage to find one costume recipe, some metal wings.

[NickThompson]

Eh, inventions kind of blow. I was hoping they'd keep it in context to superheroics and let you collect a bunch of shit to make a one-off Ultimate Nullifier or some other insane one-shot temp power, not a bunch of enhancements and, maybe if you kill a couple hundred thousand people and manage to find one costume recipe, some metal wings.
I'm hoping it will develop beyond what we have presently for sure. If only because there's barely been any costume pieces in recent issues!

[Phana]

Thanks for all the responses! I'm currently downloading a trial version of CoH/CoV thanks to Jack Zodiac, and I'll look into the other games you guys mentioned. MMOs are such time sinks, but when you're in the mood to play them, they're great fun!

[Tobias March]

Has anyone here actually played the LOTR Beta? Is it any use?

[PatrickG]

I loved CoH.

But my schedule didn't mesh with anybody else's so I switched to Warcraft. It's easier to find out when my roommates and neighbors are online.

[Phana]

Well, I've been playing the free trial for the past two days, and I'll say this: starting as a hero feels exactly the same as it did 2 1/2 to 3 years ago, but starting off a villian is pretty fresh and new. I don't think I'm going to end up subscribing, or if I do it'd only be for a month or two...
Brutes seem quite fun, and I've got a Dark Melee/Fiery Aura one up to level 10 at the moment. I also tried playing a Scrapper, but got sick of Galaxy City and Atlas Park really fast.

[PatrickG]

One major distinction I noticed between WoW and CoH is:

In WoW, you have drastically different starting areas that converge as you hit 30 or 40, as you're being gently shoved into the same content as everyone else.

In CoH, everyone starts in one of two areas that branch off more after level 30, as you choose between zones more. After level 15 or 20, you're pretty much choosing between at least two zones every level.

In WoW, however, you can experience almost all of the content for your faction on one character if you're willing to travel and do missions you outlevel.

In CoH, this is impossible as everything forms chains.

In CoH, the first fifteen levels get old fast. In WoW, I'd say that levels 25-40 get old the fastest.

[sk716]

Well, I've been playing the free trial for the past two days, and I'll say this: starting as a hero feels exactly the same as it did 2 1/2 to 3 years ago, but starting off a villian is pretty fresh and new. I don't think I'm going to end up subscribing, or if I do it'd only be for a month or two...
Brutes seem quite fun, and I've got a Dark Melee/Fiery Aura one up to level 10 at the moment. I also tried playing a Scrapper, but got sick of Galaxy City and Atlas Park really fast.

CoH is at it best when you have a group of friends to team with regularly. I've been playing again with irregularity over the last couple of weeks.

I prefer CoH over CoV, the villain toons are weaker and much more difficult to develop into toons that can solo missions without gaining masses of debt.

[Lester C.]

I have my own question. You guys do realize that you're being scammed right?

1. You have to purchase the game. (Which should be the end of it as far as I'm concerned but..

2. You have to pay a monthly subscription to play the game that you already paid for puls...

3. The cost of your DSL line.

Poor MMORPG playing bastards.

[sk716]

I have my own question. You guys do realize that you're being scammed right?

1. You have to purchase the game. (Which should be the end of it as far as I'm concerned but..

2. You have to pay a monthly subscription to play the game that you already paid for puls...

3. The cost of your DSL line.

Poor MMORPG playing bastards.

You're just jealous because you aren't out running missions with Hybrid, Larry, Paladin Zero, Dark Galaxy, Steph, and myself.

[Lester C.]

You're just jealous because you aren't out running missions with Hybrid, Larry, Paladin Zero, Dark Galaxy, Steph, and myself.


You're just jealous because once I pay for a video game I never have to pay for it again. I can even legally sell for rent it because I own rather than license.

[sk716]

You're just jealous because once I pay for a video game I never have to pay for it again. I can even legally sell for rent it because I own rather than license.

Nope, not at all. We've got a 360 and a Wii. I still play CoH more than either system.

[TomStillwell]

You're just jealous because once I pay for a video game I never have to pay for it again. I can even legally sell for rent it because I own rather than license.

You are missing the point of online games, Les.

That game that you bought and own...does it change after a while? Is extra content added? Nope. It's still the same game. The playability factor is really low.

I've been playing COH/COV for three years. I'm still not bored with it.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Zapow21/COH%20pictures/screenshot_2007-01-08-20-38-23.jpg

The game is constantly evolving. I can create new superheroes and villains with a whim. I'm able to get together a few times a week and hang out with friends all over the globe.

I get that all for $15 dollars a month. The cost of DSL doesn't really figure in the equation because I'd have that with or without playing an online game. The cost of a PC isn't included because, again, I'd have that with or without playing an online game.

But look at you.

You pay an insane amount for a game system that is obsolete in a year. Your sole purpose for owning the game system is to play games. It's not really used for anything that can't be done by other machines in your house.

You pay for games that are finite in content. Most likely you play them alone or perhaps some really crappy online action. These games range from $30-$60 and don't hold your attention for long because of low playability.

Most of these games have sequels costing additional money.

In the long run you are getting hosed for your gaming dollar. Hosed.

On the other hand I've paid $15 a month for three years, playing on average a couple hours a night, limiting greatly my desire to buy other games.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Zapow21/COH%20pictures/MTF1.jpg

I've made friends I wouldn't have otherwise had.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Zapow21/COH%20pictures/screenshot_2005-02-25-22-20-52.jpg

Coolest of all?

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Zapow21/COH%20pictures/screenshot_2006-10-14-01-12-02.jpg

I get to fly.

[Lester C.]

You are missing the point of online games, Les.

That game that you bought and own...does it change after a while? Is extra content added? Nope. It's still the same game. The playability factor is really low.

I've been playing COH/COV for three years. I'm still not bored with it.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Zapow21/COH%20pictures/screenshot_2007-01-08-20-38-23.jpg

The game is constantly evolving. I can create new superheroes and villains with a whim. I'm able to get together a few times a week and hang out with friends all over the globe.

I get that all for $15 dollars a month. The cost of DSL doesn't really figure in the equation because I'd have that with or without playing an online game. The cost of a PC isn't included because, again, I'd have that with or without playing an online game.

But look at you.

You pay an insane amount for a game system that is obsolete in a year. Your sole purpose for owning the game system is to play games. It's not really used for anything that can't be done by other machines in your house.

You pay for games that are finite in content. Most likely you play them alone or perhaps some really crappy online action. These games range from $30-$60 and don't hold your attention for long because of low playability.

Most of these games have sequels costing additional money.

In the long run you are getting hosed for your gaming dollar. Hosed.

On the other hand I've paid $15 a month for three years, playing on average a couple hours a night, limiting greatly my desire to buy other games.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Zapow21/COH%20pictures/MTF1.jpg

I've made friends I wouldn't have otherwise had.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Zapow21/COH%20pictures/screenshot_2005-02-25-22-20-52.jpg

Coolest of all?

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a309/Zapow21/COH%20pictures/screenshot_2006-10-14-01-12-02.jpg

I get to fly.

I'm glad you are happy as what I think isn't important when it comes to you having yourself a good time. To answer your questions yes with the next generation of games I can own a game that will evolve and change. Take for example Oblivion on the 360.

[Tobias March]

Honestly I find CoH/CoV a more involving experience than typical gaming, for the same reasons Tom pointed out. You're interacting with other folk in a game - and there's quite a heady mix of cool people to absolute nutjobs. That's all part of the appeal to me. Of course the caveat is the addictive nature of the games.

[TomStillwell]

I'm glad you are happy as what I think isn't important when it comes to you having yourself a good time. To answer your questions yes with the next generation of games I can own a game that will evolve and change. Take for example Oblivion on the 360.

Are you taking writing lessons from Rick Olney? That makes no sense.

[NickThompson]

I'm glad you are happy as what I think isn't important when it comes to you having yourself a good time. To answer your questions yes with the next generation of games I can own a game that will evolve and change. Take for example Oblivion on the 360.
Oblivion that game where you pay for the plugins?

http://www.obliviondownloads.com/StoreCatalog_ProductList.aspx?SubCategoryId=1



It costs money because unlike a standard game, the developers have to continue to maintain the game. They have to keep servers running for thousands of players, that aint cheap.

[Lester C.]

Oblivion that game where you pay for the plugins?

http://www.obliviondownloads.com/StoreCatalog_ProductList.aspx?SubCategoryId=1

It is if you don't know better. I knew sooner or later they would release an offical expansion pack and they did. And I think people who play MMOROGs know all about paying for plug ins and expansion packs.

[Lester C.]

Are you taking writing lessons from Rick Olney? That makes no sense.

I'd had trouble sleeping last night so I'm a bit on the incoherent side. What I tried to say is that as long as you're happy that's all that counts and that 7th generation console games also evolve and change over time much like their MMOROG cousins.

[MacQuarrie]

Is CoH still pissing on Mac users?

[Dark Galaxy]

Is CoH still pissing on Mac users?

Why yes, yes they are.

However, if you buy a new intel based Mac (with a very good video card) AND buy Windows, and download "bootcamp" so you CAN install windows on your Mac you can play CoH till your heart's content (says CFT).

[Cream Filled Taco]

Is CoH still pissing on Mac users?

They probably won't ever make an OS X compatible version, as they would have to recode the graphics engine. COH uses DirectX, which is Windows only. World of Warcraft uses DirectX or OpenGL. OpenGL works on OS X. Adding OpenGL to COH would be rather expensive, so there'd have to be a lot more Mac users to make it a worthwhile project.

But, as Dark Galaxy says, the day you upgrade your Mac, you're capable of playing COH. With that option in play, there's even less of a chance COH will ever code an OS X version.

[Cream Filled Taco]

You're just jealous because once I pay for a video game I never have to pay for it again. I can even legally sell for rent it because I own rather than license.

It's like a buying a car. Even though I bought the car already, I still have to pay for gas every month if I want to go see all the cool, and ever changing, places my car can take me. The game "gas" pays for road repair, building of new places to visit, and community enrichment. And I'm not licensing the car. I own it, so I can sell it. But the next owner still needs to pay for gas.

[MacQuarrie]

But, as Dark Galaxy says, the day you upgrade your Mac, you're capable of playing COH. With that option in play, there's even less of a chance COH will ever code an OS X version.

Gee, as it happens, I bought a 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac a couple of months ago. Haven't installed Windows yet, and there's no way my machine will be sullied by Vista. Maybe XP. Maybe. If I decide CoH is worth entering the realm of viruses and hackers.

[Cream Filled Taco]

Gee, as it happens, I bought a 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac a couple of months ago. Haven't installed Windows yet, and there's no way my machine will be sullied by Vista. Maybe XP. Maybe. If I decide CoH is worth entering the realm of viruses and hackers.

Awesome! Which video card did it come with? Did you get the x1600 video card? If so, how much ram is on it? That card should give you fairly good performance on COH (you might have to mess with all the quality settings to get your sweetspot). Great speed increase, from your G4, huh! My work upgraded my poor G4 450 to a Mac Pro with two 2.66GHz Dual Cores last fall. Four cores took my code compile times from 16 minutes down to 1 minute. Are you going to get CS3 when it comes out?

I wouldn't worry too much about the viruses and hackers. If you have your router's firewall turned on, and you limit your Windows use to games, you're not at much of a risk of anything.

[TomStillwell]

My new machine is running Vista and it's wonderful. No bugs at all.

It's the most stable Windows OS I've had. Yeah, I know that's not saying much...

[Cream Filled Taco]

My new machine is running Vista and it's wonderful. No bugs at all.

It's the most stable Windows OS I've had. Yeah, I know that's not saying much...

You're a brave man. Just curious, how many times a day do you see "Allow/Disallow," or have you disabled that feature? Guy next to me at work had to fix a Vista bug with our software, and he was grumbling about the stupid Vista machine for a week. I won't even let them put XP on my PC work machine. Windows 2000 is faster, and more stable than any of them. Not real great for games though.

[TomStillwell]

You're a brave man. Just curious, how many times a day do you see "Allow/Disallow," or have you disabled that feature? Guy next to me at work had to fix a Vista bug with our software, and he was grumbling about the stupid Vista machine for a week. I won't even let them put XP on my PC work machine. Windows 2000 is faster, and more stable than any of them. Not real great for games though.

Not often. Really only when I play COH.

COH doesn't even support Vista and it still works like a charm.

[PatrickG]

Hey, Mac...

Might be better off tossing an Ubuntu partition on your Mac. Provided the hardware is fairly standard, Cedega should be able to run it.

It's free to try anyway...

[Sally Sensational]

I'm running vista on my new machine and it's been a pain. The printer that came with my bundle didn't have vista drivers, other things won't work right, and so on and so on ad nauseum.

I did, however, figure out how to disable the allow/disallow thing without disabling the rest of my security. So now I don't have the computer asking for things more often than my kid does.

As for CoH, Shell can tell you I HATE videogames. HATE as in "I-will-never-own-a-video-game-system". And I feel pretty much the same about computer gaming. But I enjoy CoH. I can play by myself and have a bit of fun, or I can get on during an evening and blow of steam from a stressful day while having the chance to hang out - virtually - with some really cool people.

I don't play often during a work week, but I still haven't found a reason to miss the 15 bucks a month. Besides, being able to pull a car out of thin air and throw it at bad guys rocks!

[sk716]

Gee, as it happens, I bought a 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac a couple of months ago. Haven't installed Windows yet, and there's no way my machine will be sullied by Vista. Maybe XP. Maybe. If I decide CoH is worth entering the realm of viruses and hackers.

I have to say something here. because this is the kind of thing that annoys me. Apple and Microsoft both are guilty of making it seem like there are billions of hackers just waiting to sneak into your computer and destroy it and theres nothing you can do to stop it. Software makers like Norton, and McAfee help add to the fear.

Yes there are nasty hackers and people who make viruses. Hackers couldn't care less about your piddly little computer. Hackers have bigger, badder computers to hack and there are plenty of ways to protect your system from them.

Viruses are usually specifically designed to do something. And viruses are even easier to defend against than hackers, usually at no charge to the PC owner. After all, the first rule of virus protection is: Don't open email attachments from anyone you don't know.

So, now that we've eliminated these two "threats", let's look at the real threats: Trojans, Adware and Spyware. All of which are also easily defended against.

I have a triple threat combo running on my PC.

Avast! Antivirus - Free software, designed by pirates, hackers, and computer geeks, used by pirates, hackers, and computer geeks. Avast will sound an alarm if it even suspects that a page ad might have a Trojan attached to it.

Windows Defender - Free from Microsoft. Shockingly, unlike every other Microsoft program, it actually works. And it works very well. Anything that might slip past FireFox will get caught by Defender.

Mozilla Firefox - Free Browser of choice for computer nerds everywhere. FireFox automatically blocks any malicious adware or spyware that attempts to download itself onto your system. It also blocks annoying pop-ups just for fun. FireFox also has plug ins available to block other ads and JavaScript from running on your computer.

The people who get viruses or have their PC's hacked for there personal information are generally surfing unprotected, it's the equivalent of picking up a dozen hookers and not having a single condom, it's stupid, you just don't do it. And more than likely, they weren't hacked but entered their personal information somewhere that was unsecured. Like I said, hackers have bigger and better computers to hack.

Sorry if I've gone on a rant, but this kind of fear mongering has really gotten on my nerves. Especially with the release of Vista which has taken the fear mongering to a ridiculous level. If someone is too dumb to protect their PC from the assholes in the world they shouldn't have one in the first place.

Besides, in my experience, as long as you stick to "reputable" web sites you won't have a problem anyway. Porn sites are the worst providers of trojans, adware, spyware, and viruses around. Just ask my brother, I have to fix his computer every time I visit him. What do I find while cleaning out adware, trojans, and spyware? Cookies for porn sites.

[Cream Filled Taco]

I have a triple threat combo running on my PC.

My setup includes a hardware firewall on the wireless router, which stops a lot of unwanted traffic coming to any of the computers, and if done right, can hide all the computers on your network from prying eyes. For the PCs, I also use Avast, and the two main spyware removers. On the Macs, I just use the OS X system firewall. I currently have five computers connected to the internet, and I've never had any virus threat beyond the anti-virus software identifying an incoming email as having an evil attachment.

Virus/hacker attacks are overblown. There really isn't a threat if you take the most basic of steps. 1. Use some sort of firewall. 2. Use auto-updating anti-virus software. 3. Don't use Internet Explorer. 4. Don't open unknown email attachments. 5. Run spyware cleaners every few days. It ain't tough.

[Larry Dixon]

My CoX global is @Gryph. Please send a tell that you're a YABSer and say hey sometime.

CFT---the avatar you have is adorable.

Big love here at High Flight for Firefox.

Alas, I just discovered that my beloved, near-bulletproof mobile-desktop Dell XPS Gen 2 is now out of spec for CoH-ing, which makes me a sad gryphon. And nobody wants to see a sad gryphon.

[TomStillwell]

Anyone want a free Buddy Code for City of Heroes?

You get to try out City of Heroes for ten days and if you decide to keep playing you won't need to actually buy the game, just pay the monthly fee.

First come, first serve. PM me for the code.