City of Heroes need info

[DanCa]

Hey everyone I need a preview of the city of Heroes RPG. I am asking because am a complete idot when it comes to the pc. I have a dell with a connection speed of 26.6 bps is this adequate and I am on dial up. Also my hand tremors prevent me from playing play station would it be that much of a problem with COH? Thanks for the information Danny.

[SlackJawedYokel]

1. Ouch. The good and the bad.

Hey everyone I need a preview of the city of Heroes RPG.
It absolutely freaking rocks as a game.
I got in last year about a month into it and played for about 6 months straight(the upside of being unemployed lol) took 9 months off because at some point it does become a grind and just restarted again.
Some of the people who play it can be difficult... and then I just remind myself they're probably just 12 and ignore the behaviour.

I have a dell with a connection speed of 26.6 bps is this adequate and I am on dial up.
Yipe... right off, I'd say probably not.
But... and this is a big but, it depends on what you want to do.
The game has been moved by the developers to encourage(if not require) teaming with other people.
The problem with a slow connection is that in group situations, you can get as many as 20 people(good guys and bad guys) fighting in one little space. Passing that much info back and forth through a 26.6 modem might be a bit too much.
It'll also make your computer wheeze hard if you don't adjust the graphics down low.

One of the reasons I started up again was the new computer I built... I wanted to see if the extra power improved things... it did... and with the new issue about to go live, it'll look *way* better.

Also my hand tremors prevent me from playing play station would it be that much of a problem with COH? Thanks for the information Danny.
Nah... most of the action is click based... you select the bad guy with your mouse with your right hand and click keyboard buttons to attack with your left.(all of the buttons can be customized as can all of the commands... called binds)
Unless your hand shakes so much you have trouble selecting one of the bad guys(you can move the camera around pretty freely), then that shouldn't prevent a problem.

One of the other issues with a slow connection is lag... because this is real time, you can get killed or leave your teammates in a lurch because of it.
Is there any way to upgrade at all?
DSL is pretty cheap and ubiqutous these days.
And if you're gonna fork over $40 for the game and $15 a month to play, you might as well invest in a worthwhile connection.

That being said, you *could* simply stick to running your character solo.
The game scales the amount and level of bad guys you encounter during missions(not on the street, so be careful getting around) so the connection speed issue should be managable.

Oh, and I just remembered that they update content via download... so that means you would be downloading 600MB files when they release new issues.

Try reading through here or the offical COH site, especially the forums for info.
http://cohvault.ign.com/

For fun you could download a "hero planner"(there are several available) to plan out the hero you want.
Unfortunately, you can't do anything like demo COH as all the action happens on the servers.
Heck, *I* think they should at least allow people to construct the hero and the costume as a demo.

Good luck and let me know if you have more questions.
Cletus

[DanCa]

2. Thank you

It looks like i may have to break down and buy cable - broad band. Question can i put my green lantern knock off or my superman iron man hybrid into play in coh or no? Thanks for the feed back its much appreciated.

[SlackJawedYokel]

3. Any time.

Question can i put my green lantern knock off or my superman iron man hybrid into play in coh or no?
That all depends on how diligent you are in creating it. :D
There are knock-offs all over the place... saw a pretty decent Batman today and have seen some really good Ironman takeoffs.

Cletus

[SheepyMcSheepster]

4. i have been playing for about 5 months now

and i really enjoy the game.
cletus the slackjawedyokel i believe answered most of your questions, but i just wanted to throw out that they usually have some 15 day free preview you can try. i will see if i can find any info about that.

edit: here is a link to the free trial, the only problem is that you have to Download the game and would probably take a while on your dial up connection.

https://secure.plaync.com/cgi-bin/coh_free_trial.pl

[SlackJawedYokel]

5. Hey, sweet.

What do you know, NCSoft got smart!
:D

Though, honestly, given how dead Victory has become since I was last on, I'm thinking they have to work to drum up business, now.
When I first got on back in May of last year almost all the servers were packed, now, it's like a ghost town.

Cletus

[SheepyMcSheepster]

6. is victory the only server you have a character on?

i have been playing on infinity. the friend who turned me onto the game played on infinity so that's where i ended up.

it seems that many people are weary of the nerfs that have been and will be handed down.

i will definetely be checking out City of Villains when it is released.

my highest level toon is a 41 (elec/elec blaster), i hopt to make it to 50 before COV is released.

[SlackJawedYokel]

7. Recently moved to Justice, IIRC

It's the only one that shows 2 bubbles at night and I've had a great time on it... 3 new toons so far, 2 tankers and a scrapper... will probably start archer and sonic toons when I5 comes out.
My primary 40 energy/energy blaster and 3/4 other blaster/scrapper types are on Victory... I go back and play them occasionally... the teaming has been good but it's just kinda empty over there.

it seems that many people are weary of the nerfs that have been and will be handed down.
Yea, I hear that a lot from the forums.

Since I started out playing an energy/energy blaster as my very first build with no idea what to do(yay respec!) I'm not terribly sympathetic to those who cry "nerf".
IMHO, the devs have done a great job of balancing the ATs is all.
Nothing quite so frustrating as realizing that a 35+ fire controller was pretty much an unstoppable force and only teamed if they absolutely had to.
Same with the weapons blaster and smoke grenade... unfair advantages when compared to the other classes/builds.
And while I don't like the recent flying suppression/attack thing, it doesn't bother me much because I'd set up my flight controls to switch quickly between hover and fly. The only thing this does now is help when I'm chasing.

I gave it a break for almost 9 months purely because I'd burnt out on the grind.
What I've realized recently is that it's much more satisfying to play new toons. :D

Have you tried out your blaster on the Test server?
That defiance "power" they gave to blasters is a joke... I'm watching the meter as I'm getting pummeled and the problem, as always, is that because, as a blaster, you're drawing aggro from multiple sources and only attacking one at a time, by the time you're doing serious damage, you've got everything/one shooting at you and then you're dead.
lol

Maybe in a team setting with a very watchful healer... maybe.

I'm hoping that at some point in the near future they allow cross server transfers of toons.
I'd love to consolidate onto one good server.

Cletus

[SheepyMcSheepster]

8. being able to swap servers would be great

i wish something like that was available.

i have never attempted to use the test server. my main concern when playing is getting XP, i have never really even considered loading a toon on the test server.

i am doubtful of the new blaster power as well, but i guess it can't hurt anything, i just don't see it as that much of a help in normal day to day situations. as a blaster if i am soloing i tend to lead with a snipe attack and then throw holds (tesla cage, electric fence, shocking grasp, char) and then kill the baddies, i try not to aggro more than i can handle. it usually seems if am going to end up with low health i am in a bad situation to begin with, extra damage doesn't seem like it would get me out as sometimes it's more of an accuracy problem. so, i guess i will see what it is like when it is finally implemented. do you know if they have set a date to go live with I5 yet?

[SlackJawedYokel]

10. No, they're keeping I5 release date secret...

The "its ready when its ready" thing.
Speculation is the end of this month, tho.
I tend to solo pretty cautiously as a blaster, as well.
Sniping/pulling and then invis/ambush.
(Just wish I had picked Nrg/Elec for my primary instead of Nrg/Nrg... no holds, bleh)

Test can be interesting depending on what the next Issue is like.
I'm gonna go back to it soon and roll a sonic and archer character just to see what it would be like.

It's pretty straightforward... you just dl the test program and port over any toons you want to test or roll new ones.

Cletus

[SlackJawedYokel]

9. Moved to Freedon, not Justice.

Seems I can't remember correctly. :D

Cletus

[DanCa]

11. wow thanks every one. I will try thursday (bum day and let you know)