And the mask comes off.

[LaughingAlex]

Moving to Windows 8? No more discussion needed. Just take their money, shake your head and do some work.

Personally, I think most business systems should be functional on Unix/Linux based OSs.

Hmmm, work systems that are on a stable environment so we don't need to upgrade every other year? That can run for months at a time without having to reboot? That don't suffer the same security issues that make script kiddies so happy (I know, there are other problems though)?
That couldn't possibly work.

Your average user cannot even use the microsoft management console let alone type commands into a linux kernal.  Heck an average user couldn't even do 2+2 at times let alone learn what git is.

Edit, addtional thought:  If a persons brain shuts off such they cannot even do 2+2 on a computer and then when your troubleshooting for them and trying to tell them how to do things and then they repeatedly do something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT EVERY TIME AND BREAK THE MACHINE MORE.....they shouldn't be within a mile of a linux machine.

[Waffles]

What would be cool is if Teleport had it's animation removed and became instantaneous.

[ivanhedgehog]

Just so someone less polite doesnt correct you - the abbreviation is MOBA (for Mutiplayer Online Battle Arena iirc).

But I do like how Moab sounds so I might call them that for awhile on purpose

Mother
Of
All
Bananas

[hopelives]

  Not trying to be pushy or anything but may we log into coh now please        ( i know, i know,but with this news...could explode,lol )

[Ankhammon]

Your average user cannot even use the microsoft management console let alone type commands into a linux kernal.  Heck an average user couldn't even do 2+2 at times let alone learn what git is.

Edit, addtional thought:  If a persons brain shuts off such they cannot even do 2+2 on a computer and then when your troubleshooting for them and trying to tell them how to do things and then they repeatedly do something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT EVERY TIME AND BREAK THE MACHINE MORE.....they shouldn't be within a mile of a linux machine.

So much lol in your replies.

Ok, last bit on this for me since we're waaaay off topic.

If done correctly, the admin will lock down the machine in such a way as it just functions for business needs and the user can't even find the rest of the files. This makes the Linux/Unix machine perfect for business as most users will effectively operate a dummy terminal.

Not that I would ever be so cruel.

[LaughingAlex]

So much lol in your replies.

Ok, last bit on this for me since we're waaaay off topic.

If done correctly, the admin will lock down the machine in such a way as it just functions for business needs and the user can't even find the rest of the files. This makes the Linux/Unix machine perfect for business as most users will effectively operate a dummy terminal.

Not that I would ever be so cruel.

I know LOL, I'm just speaking half of my experiences from college and also my experiences in tech support over the last couple years .  Litterally had a person who just couldn't follow instructions on the phone, and then there was one who's brain had shut off one day, I felt especially bad for that person.

And yeahh I totally understand that second part, and I knew a few who were that cruel .

[Arcana]

So like a Moab (DoTA, LoL, Infinite Crisis, etc) type of deal but instead of picking your heroes, you pick make them? :O I don't know if that is what your are getting at, but that would be fun

The thing is, we were so close to being able to do that by the time CoH was shut down.  What we didn't have back when base raids were first created, but we did have by I23, was the AE custom critter creator.  It would not have been hard (in design terms if not engine coding terms: I understand base code was tapioca pudding) to envision an interface where players created their own gladiator-style super(hero/villain) teams and used them by releasing them into player bases that had opted-in to allow them to be used in an AE base-raid interface.

Combine that with an enhanced demorecord feature that allowed you to replay the base raid over and over from the perspective of any of the combatants and floating camera views, and I think that could have been really interesting.  And if you could take over and control any of your team during the raid?  I think you'd have a mini-game that some players would play even more than the conventional game.

[Arcana]

Hmmm, work systems that are on a stable environment so we don't need to upgrade every other year? That can run for months at a time without having to reboot? That don't suffer the same security issues that make script kiddies so happy (I know, there are other problems though)?
That couldn't possibly work.

Honestly, it would take too much work to teach most normal users to switch to a different desktop.  Not even that Linux is necessarily harder, Mac OSX is not harder to use than Windows but try switching OSX users to Windows, or Windows users to OSX: same problem.  Users get locked in to a certain look and feel, and its difficult to unlearn.

For most office automation use cases, I find properly managed VDI to be just as bulletproof running Windows as any other solution, and even easier to maintain.  It is hard to break a Linux desktop, but its *impossible* to break a VDI desktop that can be reset to the same state it had at the beginning of the day at the push of a button with no possibility of the user being able to damage or corrupt the hardware in any way.

Mandatory on-topic mental muse: I wonder if VMware's GPU hypervisor support would allow you to run CoH clients in the cloud and stream the game to well-connected (low lag) users?  You'd never have to worry about hardware or OS support issues ever again.  Game companies are building games that support streaming now, but I wonder if it could be retrofitted into "classic CoH."

[dwturducken]

oops excuse me, did you drop this card?

More fun: dropping ALL your cards after walking into a door because a pretty girl smiled at you as you were walking by. (Didn't happen to me; I "grew up" on BASIC on a Commodore64. My uncle likes to toss that one at me when I complain about debugging. )

[Without_Pause]

I've played one of the alpha builds of VO, and I wouldn't call it a copy/paste at ALL. There are similarities (it's about heroes and it's based in a city), but copy/paste would involve using same names, storylines, powersets, locations, designs, etc.... They have utilized NONE of that.

That's essentially like calling DC Universe Online a copy/paste of City of Heroes just because it's a heroes game. You can be a spritual successor superhero game that plays similarly without being a copy/paste.

They lifted animations from DM and SS quite blatantly. They have a video for showing the area in one of the zones, and it was as close to copy/paste from what I could tell. Maybe they changed things, but from what I have seen has rubbed me the wrong way.

[MM3squints]

Just so someone less polite doesnt correct you - the abbreviation is MOBA (for Mutiplayer Online Battle Arena iirc).

But I do like how Moab sounds so I might call them that for awhile on purpose

Ha ty for the catch, was fast typing and mistyped that

[Benjonesart]

They lifted animations from DM and SS quite blatantly. They have a video for showing the area in one of the zones, and it was as close to copy/paste from what I could tell. Maybe they changed things, but from what I have seen has rubbed me the wrong way.

Correct Without_pause, we HAVE used things from COH to create an air of familiarity because of the nature of it being a successor game, but as an art director I have worked for many hours upon hours to create unique costumes, designs, particle affects, animations, and character designs that are completely new for the Valiance Online world. Our goal was and still is to give the community what it wants and they originally said they wanted something close to City of Heroes. Most of the things as you so aptly put "lifted" from COH are in homage to the game we are sprouting from, but as time moves on, so will our development of powers, designs and lore. In my humble opinion we are the most "non-copy" of the COH brand as it stands. But thank you for your input.

[MM3squints]

The thing is, we were so close to being able to do that by the time CoH was shut down.  What we didn't have back when base raids were first created, but we did have by I23, was the AE custom critter creator.  It would not have been hard (in design terms if not engine coding terms: I understand base code was tapioca pudding) to envision an interface where players created their own gladiator-style super(hero/villain) teams and used them by releasing them into player bases that had opted-in to allow them to be used in an AE base-raid interface.

Combine that with an enhanced demorecord feature that allowed you to replay the base raid over and over from the perspective of any of the combatants and floating camera views, and I think that could have been really interesting.  And if you could take over and control any of your team during the raid?  I think you'd have a mini-game that some players would play even more than the conventional game.

Groups like you I admire in CoX, you are given lemons and instead of making lemonade like everyone else, you think outside the box and make Pledge cleaner xD After making this type of game, you will spring more people to emulate your ideas and springs up innovation. Hats off to you

[lapucelle]

The thing is, we were so close to being able to do that by the time CoH was shut down.  What we didn't have back when base raids were first created, but we did have by I23, was the AE custom critter creator.  It would not have been hard (in design terms if not engine coding terms: I understand base code was tapioca pudding) to envision an interface where players created their own gladiator-style super(hero/villain) teams and used them by releasing them into player bases that had opted-in to allow them to be used in an AE base-raid interface.

Combine that with an enhanced demorecord feature that allowed you to replay the base raid over and over from the perspective of any of the combatants and floating camera views, and I think that could have been really interesting.  And if you could take over and control any of your team during the raid?  I think you'd have a mini-game that some players would play even more than the conventional game.

If you look at our Kickstarter, you will notice something very much like this in the PvP update. I call it Dungeon Keeper mode.

[FelixMWM]

The difference being game designers are often explicitly not trying to do accurate physics.  But I don't think most game designers are explicitly not trying to do accurate arithmetic.

When I beta tested Champions Online, I decided to analyze the effectiveness and performance of the defensive powers (of course).  I concluded they were wildly unbalanced, and in some cases explicitly broken mechanically.  I summarized my observations and sent them to the devs, asking if they wanted to discuss further.  I never heard back from them the three separate times I tried.  When they launched, players complained they were horribly unbalanced and in some cases broken.  The devs posted something that basically said trust us, we have a spreadsheet.

That's when I stopped testing Champions Online.  You can't argue with "I have a spreadsheet, ergo I'm right."  Even if the math is so horribly wrong that not only can you prove its wrong, you can even prove what must have gone wrong in the sheet without even looking at it (which I posted, then went back to testing combat clocks in City of Heroes and really didn't bother analyzing CO very much past that point).

Well, I am one of the folks directly responsible for the math on City of Titans. Since I have a spreadsheet, it will all be balanced. Just kidding.

However, in all seriousness, I intend to be as transparent as possible about our math. We are trying to learn the lessons about obfuscating mechanics. As a matter of fact, I am pretty proud of what we have come up with so far. Both the function and the lens are pretty cool.

Felix

[opprime2828]

I will warn you, however. Something nobody thought to tell me when I got into learning Game creation. Get into it far enough, and you'll never look at games the same way. You start to look at how you think things were built, and how you might build them better/differently. Seriously, I look at games and I like...see Wireframes and scripts, lol.

 
It's the same with film.  Once you get into the production side of film you never watch a movie the same way again.  That being said, it does fade eventually to where you enjoy films like you used to while you watc them, but also have a whole appreciate AFTER you watch it (or in games, play something) when you begin critiquing/analyzing, etc.
 
 
:-)
 

[chasearcanum]

Late to the game, as usual these days. 

Love what I'm seeing here.  will do whatever I can to support it, contribute to it, or distract the trolls away from it.

[MWRuger]

You  know, every time I sysadmins and power users talking about how stupid users I have to wonder how many of them would attempt open heart surgery or to rebuild a car engine.

Personally I want someone who is operating on me or fixing my car to know what the hell they are doing and not be an amateur who went to Tom's Heartware site to bone up on the latest techniques and tools.

Just like starting your car, which most of you probably have a vague idea of how it works, most computer users just want to boot and go to the internet. It is not their fault that you geniuses can't design OS's that work, or hardware that's compatible or come up with virus proof systems. Frankly heart surgeons and mechanics have a success rate that most of you only wish computer systems had.

The next time somebody starts slinging around medical terminology or the like and you haven't a clue, just remember they are doing to you what you do to everyone else who doesn't understand the minutia of your trade.

They aren't stupid just because they don't what goes on under the hood of the computer that they want to buy  any more than you are for not understanding how a petrochemical plant works when you want to buy a bag of fertilizer.

[lapucelle]

Heart surgery, not so much. Rebuild car engine? Done it once on a VW Bug, once on a Honda Civic. My Tech Director - Nate, you know? He's going to be doing it this weekendish, I believe, as his Beetle has taken a little nap.

Of course, he also was one of the founding Gentoo kernel guys, so... er. Well, I don't _know_ if he's done any heart surgery, but he's worked with NASA on some rocket engines.

Some guys _are_ just that damn good. Doctor Tyche is one of them.

[Ankhammon]

Honestly, it would take too much work to teach most normal users to switch to a different desktop.  Not even that Linux is necessarily harder, Mac OSX is not harder to use than Windows but try switching OSX users to Windows, or Windows users to OSX: same problem.  Users get locked in to a certain look and feel, and its difficult to unlearn.

For most office automation use cases, I find properly managed VDI to be just as bulletproof running Windows as any other solution, and even easier to maintain.  It is hard to break a Linux desktop, but its *impossible* to break a VDI desktop that can be reset to the same state it had at the beginning of the day at the push of a button with no possibility of the user being able to damage or corrupt the hardware in any way.

Mandatory on-topic mental muse: I wonder if VMware's GPU hypervisor support would allow you to run CoH clients in the cloud and stream the game to well-connected (low lag) users?  You'd never have to worry about hardware or OS support issues ever again.  Game companies are building games that support streaming now, but I wonder if it could be retrofitted into "classic CoH."

I certainly wouldn't argue your points. I agree with them even while most of my Admin days were supporting groups of IT workers.

The biggest problem with VDI usage is that the users think people don't know who is doing what. So they invariably get caught doing silly things.

The VMware's GPU hypervisor support idea is interesting. Without an idea of the user count, how would you even begin to know the hardware requirements on the backend?
I'm not even sure how thing like the fact that CoH is a thick client would affect the scenario. Would it increase throughput required over other games?

Obviously, I'm not as up on my VDI as this question is just giving me a headache. Great thought though