I'm Back! With Random Screenshots!

Funny, it was about the same time last year that I slunk back to this blog.

Mind you, I didn't stop hoping, wishing, and pining away for the game. Grad school started ramping up with a vengeance. Taking 2 classes per semester (including the summer semester) while working 50 hrs/week at the day job doesn't leave me much time to think, let alone mull over the City!

But I am back! At least for a month before the spring semester starts up again. And I bring pictures! They are pretty random ones that were taken about 1-2 years into playing the game.

Exploring Striga the day of its release.

This was in Victory on one of my 1st characters, AR/Dev Blaster.

Also admiring myself, obviously. 

And... hanging on top the mountain-hill thing in Striga. 

More playing around with my AR/Dev Blaster before the nerfs. 

My very first foray into the new (at the time) cargo ship map. 

It was a distinct memory. This was on my Fire/Fire Blaster in Victory. 

My Fire/Fire Tank in Victory as well. 

She was a mutant origin if you haven't already guessed.

This was also a time when DOs mattered.

And my first character and my main in Virtue, Ms Ann. 

Not the most, creative name, I know. 

And here's Sixty, my second character in Virtue. 

Not a big fan of Positron back then when the TF was a 5 hour ordeal. 

The Goodies in the City

I know, it's been a little while since the last post. School was starting to ramp up (taking 2 graduate classes right now), so I got to the point where I couldn't procrastinate anymore. But now I'm back, because I just finished big class project lol.

Here's a continuation of my screenshots nostalgia. This time, it's all about the little goodies that you can get from the game.

Pick your poison!

Crey Pistol

Flight Pack

Banished Pantheon Axe

The Cameleon 

"Hey, it's a living."

In the City of.. to Champions Online

Annzilla!
Everyone's favorite lizard lady!

I've had a Champions Online lifetime account since the first week they announced sale of it. I forgot how much I paid for it, as the price now is $300 and I am not sure if I paid for it when it was on sale or not. So let's just say I paid anywhere from $200 to $300 for it and thought the game will be my be all and end all.

I leveled my main to the max 40... and then I kind of got bored of it. The Freeform AT was kind of overwhelming at first, but it also broke the game because you can make some really OP characters at that time.. and you can make some really gimped characters if you didn't read up on the process. Also, for some reason, it just wasn't as fun as the City of.

She translated nicely to CO!

Champions Online lacked that fun and powerful feeling that I received from playing CoX... a feeling that I describe as "crunchy." CO was not crunchy enough for me. The game-play felt sluggish. And tried as I might, I just couldn't click with the CO community, so I didn't stick with the game for as long as I had initially hoped.

The Lifetime Sub was a real regret of mine at the time as I was in between jobs then. The amount I paid for it was a stretch for me. I could have used that money elsewhere. =/

Sixty, ready to hand out the
SB cookies! If only...

But now that I am getting a bit desperate to make a character and beat some faces in a persistent world, I've recently logged in CO.. and found out that I had made Annzilla way back when. She's still level 2. I'll play her when I remember how to play again. I think I'll have to make a new character to re-learn everything.

Sixty also exists as a Freeform character in my CO account as well. She is currently sitting at level 6 and will probably continue to sit there. I'm not sure CO has a Kinetics/Speed Boost type of AT/power. I'll need to do a bit of research.

Not the best CO remake. And the
shade of pink is all wrong!

Having the Lifetime subscription inactive and forgotten about these many years had left me with a bunch of Zen points (the CO "real money" currency) once I logged back on. I feel so rich in-game and can buy all sorts of neato costume pieces, vehicles, and other things. That should keep me occupied for a little bit.

I'm still somewhat overwhelmed with Freeform, because I forgot everything since the last time I've played. I am stuck with the problem of overchoice that leaves me with a case of inactivity due to indecision. And of course there were nerfs and changes and such.. and now they have actual archetypes. Maybe I will re-start with one of those.

Either way, I guess this is an OK alternative to getting some superhero action while waiting for the City to come back in the meantime. It still doesn't give me the crunchy feeling I want. But I suppose it's better than nothing.

You know, I really wished that the Perfect World/Arc bought the City of Heroes IP instead of NCSoft. Why couldn't they buy CO instead...

Random Screenshots of Some Bad Guys

It's the weekend. I have to study right now, so what do I do? The usual, going through some old screenshots and procrastinating from my work. Most of these were taken from 2004 to 2005. Enjoy!

Clamor! She was the final boss in Sister Psyche's TF. I think this was like my second encounter with her ever. I took a bunch of screenshots, but really liked this one of her in particular. She's been working out her buns!

Fake Nemesis! This was significant because this was my first encounter with the Fake Nemesis when I was playing in Victory. I was playing as my AR/Dev Blaster who had the cloaking device so I was able to get a nice close up shot. Of course, you know that he's a dime a dozen in the later levels. Nothing special, but the moment was special to me in the sense of "omg, so cool!" I forgot how the fight itself went, but I remember that initial feeling. 

This was taken the day that Issue 2 released with the Terra Volta Re-specification Trial (I think? Correct me if I'm wrong). It just looked so neat and pretty with all the Sky Raiders floating about. I was soooo scared to jump!

We all know this guy. Vandal is the AV in the Citadel TF. I was playing in Victory at this time, since I recognize my alt, Theophana. She was a Bubble/Dark Defender. Good times. 

And finally, I give you a zombie butt! Or the Dry Husk or whatever from the Banished Pantheon. This was before the ragdoll effects were implemented and before they decided to put some pants on these guys. Just a silly screenshot of a pantless zombie. Haha!

Cathedral of Pain Screenshots, Circa I18

It's that time again, more old screenshots! I believe this was taken in my very first attempt at the Cathedral of Pain trial, when it was re-released again in I18. This was when I was in the Paragonian Knights SG in Virtue. The screenshots were dated 11/20/2005.

The portal

The SG getting ready

About to enter the portal

Everyone zoning in

Getting ready to attack the pylons

Another view of the pylons

Not doing too well!

I believe this was my view after getting faceplanted

(One of my most favorite screenshots ever)

Regrouping for another attempt

We got it!

Ohh shiny!!!

I think these screenshots were for this blog itself. Unfortunately, I don't remember much about the trial itself to really give any pointers.

Anyways, happy Friday the 13th!

All Your Base Belong to Us

More screenshots.

These are just some oldies back when Super Group Bases debut. I was the architect of the base for my SG and SVG at the time. We were sort of medium-large sized and very active, so I had a bit of prestige to work with right off the bat.

Here's the first iteration of the Super Group base for the Paragonian Knights.

The Energy Room

The Workshop

Resurrection Chamber

The Control Room

The Teleportation Chamber (that also doubled as a gathering room, if I recall correctly)

The Bird's Eye View

When we got the hang of the base builder, we eventually added more rooms and such:

The Great Hall. Many ceremonies and stuff were held here. 

So I also play the Sims (starting from the 1st one) and coming from that to the CoH/CoV base builder was somewhat of a shock. It's limited, yes, but you know what? It's great for what it was, an add on to an existing game that added value and another dimension of fun to an already fun game.

Here's the pictures for the SG base for Villain side of the Paragonian Knights, the Rogue Knights:

Entrance, first view

Entrance

Control Room, pic 1

Control Room, pic 2

Control Room, pic 3 (I guess I really liked the control room)

Crafting Room

Energy Room

Resurrection Chamber

The bird's eye view

Just a random picture of the RK's TP room. It seems like I was very happy that we finally gained access to all of the zones in CoV. 

After leaving the PK around 2008 (or so?) and taking an extended hiatus from the game (about 6 months), I came back and made my own private SG with my brothers and we had made our own SG base. By that time, the bases were much more affordable and it was very possible for a micro SG to have the bare essentials in their home base. 

Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of my private base, other than what was mentioned in this post, but by the time of the sunset, it I do recall that it was about the size of the early PK/RK bases seen above. 

It was very nice to have a little home of my own. Those were good times. Ugh, I miss this game.