New efforts!

[ukaserex]

Yeah, I gotta agree with this. I was pretty rabid about badging at the start. But once I realized that not even Ouro would let me get those anniversary badges I missed, I just kinda gave up on it. It really took the wind out of my sails. I mean, things like the skiing and pvp badges... it was my choice if I didn't want to try harder for those. But just to be completely locked out of it, because you started playing too late or you had a busy month? Not cool. Not cool at all.

I always felt that there should be two versions of event-related badges - a fancy one for people who earned it the "real" way, and a plain one for folks who got it later. Like anniversary badges could have big flashy artwork for people who were actually there at the time, and a simple design for getting it through, say, a thematic flashback mission in Ouro. Plus an appropriate description for each. That still gives bragging rights to those who get it "the right way", but doesn't completely lock out folks who happened to have RL aggro that month and couldn't manage to log in.

I see your position - with the option of earning the badge in question "the real way" (i.e. you had to be playing the game at that time) versus going through Ouroboros, which would result in two badges, right?
I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but I think those anniversary badges were the devs way of rewarding the loyal fanbase that stuck around from the moment they first played the game. For me, it was always a sense of frustration to not be able to get that first anniversary badge because I didn't even know the game existed, so I wasn't subscribed. As a result, I was always at least a couple of badges behind the leading badgers. (bug hunter!)

The result of offering two badges, one for "the real way" and the other through Ouros, there'd still be that one badge a player couldn't get, so by my thinking, it wouldn't really satisfy the more competitive badgers, just give them yet one more badge to get. (which is always okay, I guess)

On the other hand, offering a badge for the initial event/time and offering the same badge (which couldn't be re-earned by the ones who were present the first time around, sort of defeats the purpose of thanking the vet players, doesn't it?)

I realize that
1) There really isn't a way that I know of to satisfy the entire player base regarding badges.
2) Badges offered players a compelling reason to play content they otherwise wouldn't. This is a good thing.
3) Badges offered players a reason to team when they otherwise wouldn't. This could be argued as a good thing - or not, depending on your perspective.
4) Badges seemed to really bring out the altruistic nature of others who were badge seekers. It wasn't lost on me that there were players who already had "The Really Hard Way badge that gave their time and inf to help others get that badge, over and over.

In the end, for me, badges were one of the main reasons I stuck around. That, and the market - which I only started to play with in pursuit of badges.

[Fridgy Daiere]

So my challenge is what you (I know we all have one) created as a fun joke, whether in looks or story (from some of these posts we have a few clever individuals) or anything. I look forward to giggling silently to anyone who replies...

I and some friends created toons named Kringlebert Fistybuns, Zinglebert Bembledack, Slot Bungwalla, & Engelbert Humperdinck...

I also created a staff/electric scrapper named Shocky Monkey.  Props to those who get both references.   ;)

[ukaserex]

So my challenge is what you (I know we all have one) created as a fun joke, whether in looks or story (from some of these posts we have a few clever individuals) or anything. I look forward to giggling silently to anyone who replies...

I made a stone tank called Cantankerous. In the bio, I simply put "In search of Erous, so that I can tank them."
I made a scrapper called Klang the Trite, his bio was a cliche`, and his dialogue was certainly a cliche`. 

I made a Grav/Kin controller, I called him Pundit. I looked up some of the worst puns I could find and would weave them into iTrial chats. But there was nothing funny about them. Punny, yes. Funny, no.

Rather lame, but I made an Emp/elec called Confidence. What team wouldn't do better with Confidence?

[Winter Fable]

I'm not worried about badges,I can live without the base my husband and I made.I can even get over having to io every toon we made(which is a lot)but I would very much hope we can get out names because that will really hurt if we can't.It will take time to lvl but again it will mean lots of people doing frostfire,steel canyon,striga,talos and croatao mish again(if most stay out of AE)which is something the last year or 2 was getting hard to do.Names are The most important concern we have because without our favorite toons I just don't know how much fun we would have coming back.

[SemanticAntics]

Wow, it's been a while since I logged in. Been following this thread for a few weeks since I discovered it. I can't even put into words how (cautiously) excited I am at the prospect of CoH getting a wakie!

So my challenge is what you (I know we all have one) created as a fun joke, whether in looks or story (from some of these posts we have a few clever individuals) or anything. I look forward to giggling silently to anyone who replies...

My wife and I played together a bit, and we would sometimes make a pair of thematically matched characters. For instance, we had a pair named "Warren Peace" and "Carmen Punishment" for a while. Though the one that I liked the best was one of my wife's ideas. It was a Brute dressed in stereotypical Frenchman attire (striped shirt, beret, etc.), named "Unmitigated Gaul."

[Triplash]

I see your position - with the option of earning the badge in question "the real way" (i.e. you had to be playing the game at that time) versus going through Ouroboros, which would result in two badges, right?

No, using two separate badges wouldn't solve anything. My idea was that it would be the same badge, but represented differently based on how you got it. There would be two pictures and two flavor text descriptions; one for logging in during the event window, and one for getting it via a flashback arc. Having the login version is the "preferred way" so it overrides the other, even if you run the arc later.

There'd be other ways that multi-version badges could be useful, too. Take a particular storyline, like a trial or the Signature Story Arcs. There'd be a badge for completing it, but completing certain extra tasks - like some sort of "master run" - would get you the flashy version. Or standard arcs - did you get the rogue version or the villain version? Did you shut down the bombs, or did you shut down the bombs AND save the hostages? Same badge, but it gives you something more to strive for, or a reason to try again.

Badges seemed to really bring out the altruistic nature of others who were badge seekers. It wasn't lost on me that there were players who already had "The Really Hard Way badge that gave their time and inf to help others get that badge, over and over.

People who are genuinely altruistic, don't care about having exclusive things. They want everybody to have equal chances at getting the cool stuff.

Thanking the veteran players is worthwhile and definitely something that should be done. But what about the players who are *just* as dedicated, *just* as loyal, but only heard about the game years later? For that matter, what about things like costume codes from conventions? The ones that could only be had by a handful of people who were fortunate enough to live close by, or were financially well-off enough to travel there. Exclusivity sucks.

Badge hunting is a "Gotta catch 'em all" mentality. If you're *never* going to get them all, just because you got here too late... what's the point? And if you view it as a friendly competition... then only the first few people to enter can ever win it. New customers needn't even try, because of the anniversary badges. If you want to promote badge hunting as an ingame activity, creating exclusive badges works strongly against that. It gives many players a feeling of "why bother".

*reads over last bit* ... Wow, guess I was carrying more of a grudge against those aniversary badges than I realized, hehe ;D

[drmanbot]

I had a Mastermind named Sir Topham Hate. I named the bots after  those #$#@$ trains.

[ivanhedgehog]

Finally, we have a clue who the new developers are...

Giant Monsters are in support... Babbage? Lusca?

Who is behind this?

Sally is running the show from her lair in Croatoa

[Sophronisba]

I had a Mastermind named Sir Topham Hate. I named the bots after  those #$#@$ trains.

When my kids were little I used to let them design characters and play in the tutorial. My younger son was on a Thomas the Tank Engine kick for years and ended up creating Thomas N, Percy N, and James N characters on every server. (The "N" stood for "Engine.") One of the things that made me really sad when the game ended was losing all of those level 1 and 2 characters that the kids had made over the years. I have the screenshots but somehow that's just not the same.

[Triplash]

Bah, never mind that badge stuff. Onto the fun characters! :D

I had more than enough alts to keep me going, but I loved kicking around ideas for funny ones. Like an Elec/Time chicken called "Clucks Capacitor". Or a Viking martial artist, "Chuck Norse".

[SemanticAntics]

No, using two separate badges wouldn't solve anything. My idea was that it would be the same badge, but represented differently based on how you got it. There would be two pictures and two flavor text descriptions; one for logging in during the event window, and one for getting it via a flashback arc. Having the login version is the "preferred way" so it overrides the other, even if you run the arc later.

There'd be other ways that multi-version badges could be useful, too. Take a particular storyline, like a trial or the Signature Story Arcs. There'd be a badge for completing it, but completing certain extra tasks - like some sort of "master run" - would get you the flashy version. Or standard arcs - did you get the rogue version or the villain version? Did you shut down the bombs, or did you shut down the bombs AND save the hostages? Same badge, but it gives you something more to strive for, or a reason to try again.

This doesn't sound that hard to do. I mean some of that functionality is already present in the form of the male/female versions of gender-specific badges. Although, I think those are technically two separate badges that are mutually exclusive. But isn't that in the end what this would be?

[MWRuger]

This is as close to a joke character as I ever got:

Mr.  Atomic Fire Skull (Fire/Rad Controller)

Mr.  Atomic Fire Skull is mélange of strangeness. He is a demonic skeleton that used to be on display in the M.A.G.I. vaults. One day, the skeleton came to life, possessed by the spirit of Dr Atomic, a hero who fell defending the Terra Volta reactor. He has little idea of what do with his "unlife". His demonic skeleton gives him access to magical fire powers and his spirit retains his amazing radiation powers. Unsure of his purpose, he haunts/patrols/terrifies the streets of Paragon City. His old life, his wife and his children are things he still cares about but cannot touch because of the lingering radiation that cloaks his body. His tuxedo provides some protection for those nearby but long term effects are unknown. Most people will only be around him for a short time. Whether this is due to his disturbing appearance or fear of radiation poisoning varies from case to case.   

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3272965/Mr.%20%20Atomic%20Fire%20Skull.jpg

[Rayderoth]

I once made a toon in medieval armor and spiked boots called "The Baby Kicker." His bio was "He just really dislikes babies."

Needless to say he was Redside.

[MWRuger]

This has been said many times but once more won't hurt.

From what Ironwolf has said, this will be an image of the game taken sometime in September, probably of the test server since it has 124 live. Character retention is possible, but perhaps not immediately.

The tools the new devs will need to make changes to the game are not available currently. This means that making changes to the game, like new badges and such are likely not possible. Again, it is possible that they may be found later.

All of this makes it hard to negotiate a final deal because how much do you offer for just the possibility of returned characters? What if they get the game back and find the old characters a year from now? Once people have recreated and started playing thier new toons, does these have the same value as they do at the moment of relaunch?

So keep in mind that any suggestions made are not likely to possible in CoH but may be possible in CoH2.

[MM3squints]

I made several toons that get genericized (even my entire account once till they reversed it) I lack creativity so basically I make all my toons look the same and have some form of "Squints" in the name. The three that actually got me a 3 day ban because the perceived context of the names were:

Gold Farmer Squints: Fire/kin troller (literally was my farmers)
Gold Farming Squints: Fire/psi dom (literally another one of my farmers)
Alpha Q Up Squints: Mind/Fire Dom (that toon did what the name said in pvp xD)

[Reaper]

So my challenge is what you (I know we all have one) created as a fun joke, whether in looks or story (from some of these posts we have a few clever individuals) or anything. I look forward to giggling silently to anyone who replies...

The joke toons I made were toy versions of the Freedom Phalanx.  I made versions of Positron, States, and Synapse.  I scaled them down to the smallest size they could be, but used the huge body type and widen it as far as it would go.  They looked pretty close, but Posi looked the best.  I don't think I leveled them past 20 though.  I may still have some screenies somewhere...

I made them late one night after watching the 2nd Austin Powers movie and got the idea from "Mini Me."  :)

[duane]

Sally is running the show from her lair in Croatoa

No.  Sally needed a new gig and now sells life, auto and home insurance in Boca Raton. She is will to consider relocating her offices back ...

[Von Krieger]

I participated in a dev-themed costume contest shortly before the mass log in that resulted in AP33.

So on one of the three accounts I was logged in as Matt "Posi-ton" Miller, huge body type wearing the closest thing I could get to the Positron armor. Plus a fedora the he wore on coffee talk occassionally and ridiculously colored cowboy boots because I thought they were hilarious.

[BadWolf]

Joke characters? Well, let's see. I made a Super-Strength/Willpower tanker using the boxing costume called "Punch-Drunk", whose backstory was that he'd taken one too many hits to the head and was convinced he was defending his boxing title against every single supervillain in Paragon City.

I had "Time and Tide", a Time Manipulation/Water Blast Defender--"Tide" was the girl, "Time" was the cat on her shoulder. They were a duo. :)

I loved loved loved "Brand X", the Claws/Regen brute who was the generic mutant super-soldier--cheaper than the name brand!

I'm still pretty proud of the Dual Blades/Willpower stalker who was all the bits of the old Grimm's Fairy Tales that had been cut over the years, given form--all the stepsisters with their eyes gouged out by birds, the stepmothers forced to dance in red-hot iron shoes until they died, all the creepy stuff we've tried to keep away from our kids come back to haunt us. Her name? "Stabbily Ever After".

Vigilante mastermind who was an ex-judge who hunted criminals alongside his former bailiff, court clerk, et cetera. He tried them on the streets...in his forum..."The People's Court"!

The extremely frustrated Sorcerer Supreme of CoH, who found out that being the Sorcerer Supreme paid for crap..."Minimum Mage".

Twin fire/fire characters, one tanker hero and one brute villain, named "Rite Makes Might" and "Might Makes Rite" respectively.

"Paintboxer", a villainous Dark/Dark scrapper with the boxing costume parts and both the costume and powers recolored into a variety of hues. He believed that the Sherwin-Williams 'Cover the Earth' logo/slogan was a literal instruction, and who was using his paint-based superpowers as part of a long-term scheme to build a giant paint bucket and place it in high geostationary orbit in order to dump it out onto the planet.

A scrapper wearing a hat. Named, of course, "Scrap in a Hat". (My friend had a partner named "Scraptacular".)

Three characters who not only got their powers involuntarily, but who used them involuntarily and were drawn by destiny to dangerous situations whether they wanted to or not. Their names were "EEP", "AAIIIEEE", and "AAACK".

A Dark/Dark stalker who was a gentleman thief, called "Black-Tie".

A clown whose whole family was killed by renegade mimes, who made it his mission to destroy crime in all its forms. He was..."The Funisher". (Exact clone of the Punisher save for the clown make-up and the logo on his shirt, which was the tragedy/comedy masks instead of the skull.)

And the CTS Spokes-Pirate, who stole to raise awareness of Cursed Treasure Syndrome. Did you know that CTS strikes a pirate every thirty seconds? It's a tragic disease, and your entirely involuntary donation can help.

[Tubbius]

Love the character concepts, BadWolf!  :)