A few weeks month or so ago, on the CoH forums that I frequent, I wrote:
So here’s what I’m thinking:
1. Shadow Shard Task Force (level 40-44 — the really long, 24-mission one)
2. Playing: Weeknights on nights when people can make it.
3. Running: Whatever length of time people can manage, then stop for the night and switch to whatever else you want to do til we can go again (RP, play an alt. whatever.)
4. Repeat until done.
This is a TF run for those weeknight warriors that can’t commit their whole Saturday and Sunday for one never ending event, and who tend to have an easier time playing on weeknights.
Note: This wasn’t a TF for *me*: *I* can play TF’s on the weekends, and commit a day to it. With a TF like this (24 missions, 9+ hours to play) that’s exactly what I *would* have done.
So why didn’t I?
Cuz I thought it would be cool to play a story arc with some people who are (a) cool (b) not around all the time when I am.
It took some time to get started, but finally:
Wed Jul 06, 2005 4:58 pm
The Task Force got rolling last night.
We’ve been playing a couple hours every night on this — usually going later than we intended (and utterly nuking my attempts at a midnight bedtime). It’s a pain… it’s a hassle, and you can’t DO ANYTHING ELSE WITH THAT CHARACTER while it’s going on — no other heroics… nothing.
But… finally…
Wed Jul 13, 2005 8:52 am
Final mission is (hopefully, please oh please) tonight (Wednesday). As soon as we have everyone (eight), we’ll go, and hopefully be started and done at a reasonable time.
Final location is scenic Brickstown.
Except… early this morning, the devs implemented a patch to how Task Forces work, so that as long as you’re at LEAST the minimum level to be in a Task Force, you will be automatically “Exemplared” down to the maximum allowable level for the thing if you’re already “too high”. It’s a great thing that lots of folks, including me, have been looking forward to.
Except… what happens if you’re IN an ONGOING task force when the patch goes in?
Why… obviously… everyone in the eight person team… who have completed 23 of the 24 missions in the story arc… will be “Exemplared” down to level 1.
A team of 8 characters in their mid-40’s… forced down to level 1 functionality.
And the tech support guys? They’re asking us what CPU speed our machines are running at.
It’s clear (to me) that the conclusion is going to be “you just need to quit the task force and start over”, and… no.
Bummed. Beyond. My. Ability. To. Bitch.
Given the way the bug has been reported in the forums, it seems highly unlikely that it’s a “CPU speed” or any other local client issue.
I’d guess there’d be some major scrambling to get this fixed ASAP, but I feel your gut-grinding pain on this one.
So sad. Really, really heartbreaking. You gonna come up with some swank IC reason for our inability to finish this thing?
Ummm…
Classic X-man style…Claremont was busy completely destroying the universe and just before the final issue in the story arc, a new writer is brought in to salvage the franchise.
I’m going to come up with some good IC thing — but I’m giving it a day or two, cuz I’m a little sick about the whole thing.
Completely understandable. I’m sure it’ll be great though.