*sigh* Nostalgia...

[Charon]

So I was just looking through my huge screenshot folder (4000!) and came across this, and since it was a year ago... tomorrow, is it? I'll share it.

Let me set the scene for you. First day of the three day head start, I've just managed to log in and grab the name Charon on virtue before any other bastich, I'm raring to go so I can get as many levels in these first few days as possible, and I get in to find THE hero of the times waiting right next to the Back Alley Brawler. That's right folks, Mr. Yankee Daring. Most of you aren't going to remember him, shame really since he had such a cool concept going (and a bloody good origin story) but hey ho. So, we go off to our very first mission as fully fledged heroes in Paragon City!

So, it's your bog standard warehouse mission, we didn't have any of that fancy shcmancy fire or superadine lab crap back in those days. We're all raring to go since this is our first day, and we know that we're not getting our characters wiped, and we're in it for the long haul this time. So we've just passed Half Life and Fate outside the mission (who I do believe were already something like level 9 when I got in game, they played their asses off that first couple days) and everyone's got a buzz about them and a flare for the game.

We get into the mission, kick the crap out of everything in sight like there's no tomorrow, but the 'Mission Complete' doesn't ding. So... We're wandering around, dead skulls lying all over everywhere, Yankee raring to get to the next mission, and the other member of the team scrouring this TINY warehouse for any forms of life we can lay the smacketh down on.

And lo and behold, what do we find after about 15 minutes of searching?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/CharonGlue/CharonYankee.jpg
That's right kids, a leg sticking out of a box.

And that's the story of how I spent the majority of my first day in Paragon, standing around bitching with Yankee Daring, waiting for a GM to come and teleport the gangbanging bastich somewhere we could beat on him.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/CharonGlue/Waiting.jpg

Ah, happy days.

-Charon.

[Tsarmina]

Awsome! I just looked at all my first screenies and they were of the Pcity meetings, grassy area between the AP gate and the SC tram. :P

First Meeting I went to. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/Tsarmiina/Misc%20Chars/Meeting_0004.jpg)

[coldcut]

http://users.adelphia.net/~dmorgan78/images/8jackgold.jpg
I think this was my very first team up in COH

http://users.adelphia.net/~dmorgan78/images/citywatch.jpg
http://users.adelphia.net/~dmorgan78/images/citywatch2.jpg
The original City Watch lineup (minus a few key players)

Anyone got any good pics of the Mahaf worship?

[Alumette]

Those make me smile. :)

Awesome screens, guys. What a cool time that must have been!

[Tsarmina]

Not the best picture but....Ask and ye shall receive. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/Tsarmiina/Misc%20Chars/Meeting_0023.jpg)
I remember someone saying we were going to conjure something really bad with our 'circles of worship'.

Edit:Also caught some Horntail worshiping. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/Tsarmiina/Misc%20Chars/Meeting_0130.jpg) Aye Alum, those were great times. *sigh*

[Charon]

Hey, I have copies of those shots with JJ in, coldcut. I have both your first team up, and the CW pics, and a whole crap load of other City Watch pics with all the team. Man, those were the days... I may have to make JJ again.

Since we're on general nostalgia now.

My VERY first day in the city, Beta... 12/03/04... as my Beta Character, Noctis.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/CharonGlue/Noc.jpg
Here's me teaming with the guy I teamed with most in Beta, Xanatos' Skull.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/CharonGlue/NocSkull.jpg
And, one of the first Pcity meetings!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/CharonGlue/Pcitymeeting.jpg

*sniff sniff*

-Charon.

[sheld0n]

Heres the first mish i ever did, at the beginning of the third beta batch.
I was so proud that i managed to find that ancient artefact!
http://img144.echo.cx/img144/4079/oldenigmusandartefact9hf.jpg


Heres the 8-Ball vs Twilight burping duel
http://img144.echo.cx/img144/2690/burpingduel0lq.jpg


One of my first days in beta, there were complaints about the lack of mobs on the streets, and the devs tried to fix the issue. O_o
http://img17.echo.cx/img17/4830/massiveattack19ut.jpg

[Black Razor]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v103/BlackRazor/BlackRazorsNewCostume2.jpg
I still have fond memories of my first ..and only ..infiltration mission. Good times. :razor:

[Yin]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v303/Threshold/Picture718.jpg

That's what Yin looked like back in Beta. I think I lost all of my screens as they were on my old computer. But yeah. That's him. Heh.

[iggy880]

Awsome! I just looked at all my first screenies and they were of the Pcity meetings, grassy area between the AP gate and the SC tram. :P

First Meeting I went to. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/Tsarmiina/Misc%20Chars/Meeting_0004.jpg)

Mina, is that an early Harm back there with the horns?

And Coldcut, those are great. But as you know I sadly missed beta, but I know the feeling Charon is talking about. CoH is and was my first MMO, so I came in with no idea of what I was gonna see or anything, and only a minor idea for my first hero, who was Techno Shock. I got in there, spent like hours on the creator, and then went in. Even the training was a great experience, and I kept fighting the outbreak guys thinking I'd get xp. I mean the first hero is the best, no feeling empty for no travel powers, getting to experience the vivid world and gameply. Your first time is such an experience, I just wish I could've got in for beta.

[ShadowHands]

Man, I really wish I knew about this game pre beta.....

[coldcut]

Holy crap, original Code 4 in sheldon's pic. I looked like a Paragon Protector back then.

And yeah, Charon, I always wondered what happened to Jumpin' Jack.

[Got]

You know what I find nostalgic, Charon? That mission in Beta in which we had to find 5 bombs. Remember that?

We were running about for a good minute or so like headless chickens trying to find the last bomb but we couldn't. So Charon the "bone breaker" that he is decides that he'll leave the last bomb to me, with 30 seconds left in the mission, and go for a little nap.

Luckily I found it with a few seconds to go while Charon was off breaking bones in his dreams.

[BvS]

That suggests a hero concept: "The Amazing DreamBone"...nvm

[Charon]

4 in the sodding morning and this idiot wants to keep searching for a bomb that seemingly doesn't exist. What would you do?

[coldcut]

Invade his lands and oppress his people!

[The Widowed]

My VERY first day in the city, Beta... 12/03/04...
Did you mean 12/03/2003? I joined City of Heroes in May of 2004, which was just a little bit after Beta went away.... ;)

[Charon]

Actually I'm english and I'd forgotten you date things that way. It should read 03/12/04 with the american dating system.

And I might have to bring JJ back for Nostalgia's sake if nothing else, although I doubt I'd have the time to level him.

And as for invading his lands... I just decided to sleep and leave him to his insane quest for the last bomb ;). That's the only timed mission I think I've ever been in that me or my team didn't manage to complete with about half an hour still to go. It was hair raising stuff! And then I bailed and went sleepy byes...

[coldcut]

Other jokes that should have been considered in that spot:

You'd think the Englishman would have been the one more worried about finding bombs.

Leave it to the Scots to have such a long memory of English slights.

Where were the Irish in all this? They were the ones setting the bombs in the first place.

[Charon]

Apparently Got managed to dodge the camera for most of my screenshots, but I found 1 or 2, so talking of the Dynamic Beta-Based Duo themselves, here we are, Noctis and Got, fighting CoT in the middle of the maze.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/CharonGlue/NocGot.jpg

[Got]

Other jokes that should have been considered in that spot:

You'd think the Englishman would have been the one more worried about finding bombs.

Leave it to the Scots to have such a long memory of English slights.

Where were the Irish in all this? They were the ones setting the bombs in the first place.
Haha, oh that's great!

And that pic's actually pretty good, Charon. Although it's a terrible case of Beta hair.

[Kurai Inago]

Man... makes me wish I was around in those days. I didn't join till June 16th, and I didn't wind up here until september.... Fun screenshots though.

[Chain Lightning]

I was in the third wave of beta, when they opened the floodgates and let in 500 people. It was so cool to run into people from the COH forums in game finally. Then to see them at high levels, which in beta was high 20's, blew my mind. :)

I've had to rebuild my system since then so I don't have any screenies, but man the memories of finally making Chain Lightning and hitting the city are still with me. My first mission map was the abandoned office map. I miss that map, I wouldn't mind a mission with it now just for old times sake.

And then the music of Atlas Park when I first entered. Man I still love hearing that when I run through.

Ahhhh!! See what you started Charon!

[Solario]

****, I miss Beta. I fondly remember sitting up for atleast 7 hours downloading CoH, only to have someone *cough* dad *cough* disconnect me, so I had to repeat the process the day after. Then I remember sitting up till four in the morning on a school night fighting Circle of Thorns with a bunch of friends.

My first beta recollection of Yankee was him telling me to "**** Off" because I tried to invite him to my team, on the request of Xan... Who apparently hadn't told him I was the team leader. :D


Anyone else remember jumping around on the rooftops of Kings Row at way too late in the night looking for CoTs?

[Murphy's Law]

I got into the open beta 2 days before the game went live, so my only real memories of that time are of the Rikti invasion (of which I didn't think to take any screenshots :( )

It was hilarious, running through AP with my level 6 tanker, seeing all these lvl 15 Rikti groups spawning everywhere. A steady stream of people flowing out of the hospital, and this bit of conversation with Chain Lightning:

Murphy: "I keep getting killed by Rikti."

Chain: "So go fight something else..."

Murphy: "There IS nothing else!!"


ah, good times, good times.

[Plasma Wisp]

I found my horde of cardies. Ye-ikes.

[Kinetix]

oh man, that first time I heard the Atlas Park music. I remember a totally different feel to the game.

I read about CoH in PCgamer abotu a year ahead, never really knew about betas, never thought of getting in the community early. :grr:

[iggy880]

oh man, that first time I heard the Atlas Park music. I remember a totally different feel to the game.

I read about CoH in PCgamer abotu a year ahead, never really knew about betas, never thought of getting in the community early. :grr:

Well, I missed beta because my computer sucked until I got a new one, and my first game for the new PC was CoH. I heard about it on Tech TV's X-Play, and went "I love superheroes, that sounds great, I have to get it" and my knowledge of my sucky PC didn't stop that want.

[Tarkenchi]

I remember one of my first team ups in beta was with Skull, Xanatos' level 38 BS/dark scrapper, It was amazing, he took me through Talos Island, I remember running through there, and dropping down into the most awsome places ever, with huge "High" level mobs, then we went into the mission, and I actually have some screenshots of that, (was great!). And on the last few days before beta ended, I got superspeed (we00t) and ran through brickstown, taking pictures of Rikti, Fifth column, Crey, Everything that i've never seen, The game "FELT" so much different, seeing everyhthing for the first time, it seemed so much, Bigger, if i can apply that to this situation...

:)

[Amoeba Man]

This thread is dangerous. Keep this up and you'll have Ink going on about the old pre-archetype system. :D

I can't help but post a few old screenies though. Most of my beta shots are in tga format. Looks like I'm going to have to get infanview again. Somewhere in those I have a screenshot of Got flexing with his hair on fire. He'd been hit by a Damned and the fire animation didn't go away. I'll have to find that. For now I'll post a meeting pic and a pic of AM during the Rikti invasion.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v677/amoebaman/Meeting.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v677/amoebaman/screenshot_0182.jpg

[The Icy One]

I finally dug it up..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/TheIceyOne/Screenshots/BetaBeetle.jpg

Psy-Beetle in beta.. bad fashion sense and no background, I eventually added the gloves, boots and better shades of green and purple.. and fixed the shiny tipped mask. Don't ask about the little sunset looking thing on my chest, I have no idea why I put it there.. my poor beta self.. o.o

[Esbat]

I didn't see most of these hosers 'til after the 3 day headstart... but I guess no one loved a lurker with a FF defender... :P

[The Widowed]

..."Pre-Archetype system"? I can't imagine such a thing. :confused:

[AfterglowNoMore]

[color=#339966]This thread is dangerous. Keep this up and you'll have Ink going on about the old pre-archetype system. :D
Ah, you gotta love that system. The system that made most of my characters translatable in game.

[sheld0n]

..."Pre-Archetype system"? I can't imagine such a thing. :confused:

Its pretty simple, actually.
There were no classes to determine your role in a team.
Only races, so to speak, which decided on how many/how strong powers you had (the more, the weaker), and not much else.
You could pick any power you wanted, so you'd be able to have Stone Armor, Power Blast, Katana and Mind Control if you wanted.

The system gave players alot of freedom and allowed for amazing creativity, but the devs had to get rid of it in name of balance. According to what they said, it was too easy to gimp yourself, as well as too easy to create a tankmage, which resulted in cookie cutter chars and would have been a balancing hell (which seems tricky as it is :)).

Weather or not the devs should have kept the old system, well, opinions remain devided on that subject. Im a fence sitter personally. Perhaps they could have done something in between...

Edit: well, the system did get a little bit more complex than that, with Core Powers & Control Powers, skills and items, etc. But thats beside the point.

[Sable Phoenix]

>sigh<

I long for that system. That system is what made me fall in love with CoH. I could have made the real Sable Phoenix with it, not some cheesy Blaster.

[AfterglowNoMore]

Plus it had more powers, like, Light Control, Plant Control, Density Control, etc.

[Black Razor]

The original design for BR under that system woulda made her closer to a defender then the blaster she is now. Would of been alot closer to how I invision her. Ahh the good old days. :razor:

[The Icy One]

I could have actually made Ice/Icy/The Icy One with that.. Sword/Ice/SR w/ Flight.. though with the current system he'd kinda suck if ya think about it.

[8 Ball]

I remember spending 2 hours looking for Galaxy city because I didn't realize you had to take the tram from AP to get there...and I was to embarrased to ask in general :P.

[AfterglowNoMore]

The power that I was looking most forward to was Duplication. Now to get a power that resembles that I have to make a controller and take a bunch of powers that wouldn't go with a Multiple Man type of character.

Afterglow would have been Light Control, Invisibility, and Force Fields. Instead I have to once again substitute Illusion Control, thought the power is fun, it isn't that close to what I wish Light Control would be.

[Black Razor]

Another thing I miss greatly from the beta days was my beta character ...still in my opinion the best costume I have ever designed. Unfortunatly at release she was scrapped cause someone jacked her name. Meet the radioactive wonder Hot Zone.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v103/BlackRazor/HotZone.jpg

[Lorash]

I had such a fit of nostalgia last week I reverted Oly's main costume to the same thing I made in Beta. Guess you can't argue with the classics, eh? ;)

[Mahaf]

I spent most of my headstart with Ice. At the time, I had just met the guy, Charon or somebody had told me about him. Man, I remember us hunting Kraken in Perez Park the last night before the game went live, it was me, Ice, and two heroines, one being an Empath Defender. Ahh, that was SO long ago it seems. Almost wish I could go back to that day. Yea, I do. :(

[Vendel]

When I got in beta I remember just throwing somehting together nameing it Vendel and getting to the streets. He wa s MA/SR scrapper at that time....and looked nothing like my concepts.


Well one blaster transfusion and a little costume time later. Vendel looked like my idea of him...and hasnt changed much since then.

HUmm...I dont see any pics of me in those screens. Of course like the good blaster I am prob standing behind the SS taker.... :D

btw at some point I deleated all my Screen Shots....by oldest ones now are well into release

[Graphite]

Ah so many memories...

I still remember agonizing over which of my characters I'd play first, deciding on Graphite and taking 2 hours to tweak his costume. Then came the fun of exploring this new world and settings. I think the biggest game impact on me was the Jump button. I actually *gasp* had to use it cause the world was three dimentional. The first time I went on Patrol was also felt great. Actually felt like a hero walking my beat, waiting and watching for the next purse snacher.

I'm likely the only prebeta player who perfers the new archetype system. When States "let the Cat out of the Bag" I was generally excited though a bit of scheptism. After reading the debates on the forum, I was completely one over. In fact I remember thinking to myself, well its coming from Cryptic who 100% have faith in so its gota be good. A year later, I still think this game is so much better off then having only a hand full of powers with damage sliders instead of 5 or 6 attacks of a diverse design. Course, I've always been a button masher and love my recharge timers. That was also the first time we learned bout the new "equipment" which I'm not so sure the could have made it in the old system. Enhancements are one of those elements that "make" the game for me and would have been sadly missed.

Don't get me wrong. I too have heroes who didn't survive in the new system. More diversity and powers across the sets would always be welcome. Maybe even mix and matching your own sets would have been great. But I also realize the old system was a dream that we knew very little about and sometimes, reality is alot more fun.

[Amoeba Man]

Plus it had more powers, like, Light Control, Plant Control, Density Control, etc.
Don't forget Super Charisma. :D

[AfterglowNoMore]

Don't forget Super Charisma. :D
Or Shape Shifting. :D

[Jade_Dragon]

I'm likely the only prebeta player who perfers the new archetype system. When States "let the Cat out of the Bag" I was generally excited though a bit of scheptism. After reading the debates on the forum, I was completely one over. [...]

Don't get me wrong. I too have heroes who didn't survive in the new system. More diversity and powers across the sets would always be welcome. Maybe even mix and matching your own sets would have been great. But I also realize the old system was a dream that we knew very little about and sometimes, reality is alot more fun.

Well, by the time I got into the game, the old system was already gone, but I was always a supporter of the archetype system. I think the main thing I realized is that the superheroes WERE archetypes, Superman IS a Tanker, Batman a Scrapper, Green Lantern a Defender and Human Torch a Blaster. That people think that those superheroes don't fit into those archetypes is more a criticism of CoH's DEFINITION of those archetypes, than whether they exist at all.

The lack of diversity is, to my mind, more a fault of the devs, who didn't have the time to create and balance a properly diverse group of Power Sets. They didn't even use all of the Powers they had created for the old system. And it's a fault of the failure of the old system, and the devs' sometimes tunnel vision about not repeating those problems. Such as Scrappers having "no ranged attacks" and Blasters having "no defense".

The truth is, I think if they'd had the archetype idea from the first place, and spent the time on it that they spent on the old system, it would be very different today. It could have been much more flexible, possibly with some mechanism for "cross theme" choice, outside of the Power Pool. It could have been more like the archetypes in actual comic books.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of the problem also comes from the medium. Like people insisting that comic book Tankers "are the strongest and thus must do the most damage". It's not about strength, if there's anything that is a hard and fast rule in the comic books, it's that brain wins out over brawn. Even if the hero is lucky enough to have brains AND brawn. That just doesn't translate well into numbers and statistics. It would have worked better as a tabletop game. (Considering the source, though... :D)

[Freeze Warning]

Heh, I remember catching Jade Dragon near the end of beta and yelling "Hey, are you THE Jade Dragon?" And then gushing all over him about how exciting it was to meet him and any names that I recognized from the main boards. If there had been a 'shifting uncomfortably' emote, he would have done it :D

See, I hung out in the powers section on the prebeta forums and spent all my time reading the huge debates between Arkaine (everyone's favorite devil's advocate and "EQ in tights" poster) and Jade Dragon.

I remember the night Ground Control and Shadowed Fear got banned. They were a couple of entertaining posters that just had too much sugar or something one night and got the slap down (deservedly so) by Aura. I thought Bugbite was next but he wasn't really engaged in their hijinx, though he did post fun and funny comments in their threads.


Freeze

[Jade_Dragon]

Heh, I remember catching Jade Dragon near the end of beta and yelling "Hey, are you THE Jade Dragon?" And then gushing all over him about how exciting it was to meet him and any names that I recognized from the main boards. If there had been a 'shifting uncomfortably' emote, he would have done it :D

Heheh. Yeah, fame came home to haunt me that day. :D

[Amoeba Man]

Or Shape Shifting. :D
Ack! My Achilles heel. The one power I wanted in game. Oh well. Maybe by the second anniversary they might introduce some new power sets, but I no longer really think I'll be able to make AM as I would like to have in game. :jono:

[Amoeba Man]

I remember the night Ground Control and Shadowed Fear got banned. They were a couple of entertaining posters that just had too much sugar or something one night and got the slap down (deservedly so) by Aura. I thought Bugbite was next but he wasn't really engaged in their hijinx, though he did post fun and funny comments in their threads.
Ah ha!

*looks down at sig* :D

Wha?! I didn't add that (http://coh.ogaming.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=949&st=15&#entry20396) to my sig here yet?! Dang!

[Graphite]

I got a few pics to share...

At one point they wanted to do a stress test and requested everyone go to Atlas park. From there they then asked us to go to Kings (or something). The only trick was that you could one travel around on the tram, not chose which you wanted to go to (it was a loop having to load SC, go around then load galaxy city, repeat). Well, it got a bit crowded. So bad in fact that people couldn't fit through the door!

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/Graphite/City%20of%20Heroes/Oneatatime.jpg

Then off course there was potshoting hydras in perez back when they didn't have the same range as heroes (even less range than fireball). All you needed was hover and then let loose. Most fun I think I had in beta.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/Graphite/City%20of%20Heroes/Potshot.jpg

And let us never forget the Escalator!

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/Graphite/City%20of%20Heroes/SillyCitizens.jpg

[Elemento]

Hmmm. By the time I did get into beta, the old power sets Afterglow mentions were gone.
Don't remember plant control or shapeshifting.

The first of my twelve I created would really need shapeshifting or a power called alternate form. Amalgamite was and is a tribute to my favorite hero after all. I had to settle for Rad/Rad instead.

I also have heroes who could've used real light control. Ah well.

[Plasma Wisp]

Air Control. Poison Control.

[ShadowHands]

Anyone have pics of those powersets? Would love to see plant control.

[Tsarmina]

That was waaay before beta. It was all on paper. I think.

[Twilight]

Yeah, they never had plant control implemented in game, since the Prima CoH guide was mostly based on gameplay during beta, and that powerset isn't anywhere to be found in the guide.

[AfterglowNoMore]

That was waaay before beta. It was all on paper. I think.
Actually, if I can find the original promo movie, it gave a long list of powers that never came to be.

[ShadowHands]

Ooo find it!

[Sable Phoenix]

I have that movie, but I don't know where to host it.

[AfterglowNoMore]

Ooo find it!
Found it, it's 13 MB so if anyone knows where ot host it, I'll send it to them.

[Freeze Warning]

You know, I've got all those original powers web pages on a computer in a plant I don't go to anymore. I'll see If I can't catch someone at that machine to zip it up and send it to me (an unlikely circumstance, sadly).

Freeze

[ThunderMace]

I have that movie on my computer at home, I actually ran it as my screensaver for a while.

[Plasma Wisp]

Oooo. Necropost and 4 AM postings

[The Mystic]

Gah! What's with all the necro posts?! Why won't you just stay dead?!

[Plasma Wisp]

Sorry. I was ticked at the subscription thing and found this old thing.

[Esbat]

ah i remember my beta days...

...

Oh dial up internet... how I loathe thee.

[Stalking Shadow]

Hooray broadband!

Hooray broads!

[Gaia]

Why thank you ;). I actually found some of the original movies while making space on one of my hard drives last night. They date back to January 2002. *sets the way back machine* "Ready Mr. Peabody!"

[bpphantom]

Man... I didn't even know about CoH until just before launch. I suck. :(

[Jade_Dragon]

Hm... this is wierd. I'm experiencing nostalgia over this Nostalgia thread. :D

(I do so love self-referencing humor!)

[inkblaster]

Um, why were folks looking for this (ftp://ftp.coh.com/movies/coh_640x480.wmv) video, it's been at the main site for like...ever... o.0

And, bit of trivia, the location they show isn't in game, sadly, it's all pre-zone days.

Yeah, where's my super personality power? Some say I could use it :D

[iggy880]

That, I guess, pre-beta footage is sweet, like the flip into flight thing, never would use it but its cool

[Xanatos]

Yeah, where's my super personality power? Some say I could use it :D

In asking the question, you find the answer.

You already have it.

[Yin]

LOL @ Super Personality.

I believe it was suppose to get you like...prestige with the citizens of the city or somethin' like that. It had some bonus effect to it.