You seem to be wanting to enforce ideals dating back to the 1600s in a Star Trek setting. I think roleplaying that is entertaining, trying to force other players to your outlandish code of conduct in a game is inappropriate. I think it's quite rude for you to even suggest this.
However, these are all opinions and this is a game. I actually can't justify to myself why someone wouldn't enjoy the party amplifier.
I truly believe you! I believe you cannot figure out why other people don't want to be your marionettes. You probably cannot understand why people don't want to be harassed and perhaps don't laugh at all your jokes. I doubt you understand why it's a bad idea to hunt down people that role play, creepy or not, and make them miserable. There's lots of activities I don't like but I don't hunt people down and bully them for it. Also, if I win in pvp I don't tea bag fallen opponents. This device is perfect for people that enjoy these types of activities and have very little concern for others' opinions and personal space.
Aren't you from the same group that couldn't understand why people didn't enjoy cascading warp core breaches and being trapped on your ship's bridge? Your approval of this device is the clearest argument against having it. Endorsed by bullies, goon-approved.
Walk away from the disco ball. Problem Solved. Range 30 ft..
He wrote all those words and you unraveled his entire argument with the first sentence.
People are trying to create elaborate roleplaying stories about the party amplifiers. Um, let me see, it's just a game device. They need to change their own body, it's not dancing unless you want it to dance.
1
: the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it
2
: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner; also : the capacity for this
Empathy is a wonderful thing. I'm using some right now. I feel like I have the high ground and am content with that (: I will just keep changing instances if I feel the need and leave you to your devices, pun intended.
I've been trying to understand the upset regarding the use of the party amps and despite reading the assorted threads with the varying reasons of interfering with gameplay brought up, I'm still not seeing a cause for the upset.
Since the start of the Risa event, I've been party bombed multiple times on each of my characters and at no point has it interfered with my using the bank, the exchange, doing quests, using the vendors and tailors, or playing dabo. Yeah, my character might dance around a bit while moving at the most but that's no different than having a glitch where my character gets stuck in a crouch while moving and the like.
Now if the amp locked out any and all action from a character while under it's influence such as not able to use the vendors or the exchange or even move out of the area, then I could more than understand wanting an opt out feature.
Even with the posed argument of taking control away of the character, it really isn't as the person at the keyboard can still input commands to that character to break what's really just a glorified idle animation.
1
: the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it
2
: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner; also : the capacity for this
Empathy is a wonderful thing. I'm using some right now. I feel like I have the high ground and am content with that (: I will just keep changing instances if I feel the need and leave you to your devices, pun intended.
I have empathy for you, but its not because of party amplifiers...
Youknowwhatitis...
-Supporter of Cryptic Lockboxes!
You gotta wait it out or change instances. Walking 30 ft away from all the services I'm wanting to use isn't gonna help.
Or... it doesn't break your interaction with the services you're using, so keep using them.
There's all kinds of ridiculous non-Trekky stuff in this game. People running around combat zones wearing prom dresses. Federation ships with Reman hulls, Klingon ships with Tholian hulls, Scimitars piled on top of each other in Earth orbit. Did anyone ever throw a biothermal dampener at you? Those things used to actually freeze you, breaking whatever interaction you were in the middle of. STO failed at achieving any sort of "canon realism" three and a half years ago.
Does the rest of that stuff bother you? It probably should, if the disco bomb bothers you this much. Some of it bothers me. The only reasonable solutions are to get over it and ignore it, or embrace it and have fun.
I feel like I have the high ground and am content with that (: I will just keep changing instances if I feel the need and leave you to your devices, pun intended.
The high ground is right. Stop smoking that stuff and sober up. If you can't understand how absurd this looks there's nothing anyone can do to help you.
Limiting the Subspace Party Amp like that would a very bad idea. Why? Because it starts the slippery slope for social interactions (and yes, just being in a group of people counts as social). You limit the party ball, next people will want to hide others custom uniforms, then hide other players ship patterns and so on...
Um, somebody wearing something does not cause your character to do anything or does it prevent your character from doing anything. The Party Amp does on the other hand. There is no slippery slope...
I've been trying to understand the upset regarding the use of the party amps and despite reading the assorted threads with the varying reasons of interfering with gameplay brought up, I'm still not seeing a cause for the upset.
Which is perfectly normal - different things upset different people. That some people have such egocentric views of everything is kind of a shame. Just because something does not upset/disturb you in any fashion, does not provide cause to show a lack of respect or empathy for those that it does upset/disturb.
Now if the amp locked out any and all action from a character while under it's influence such as not able to use the vendors or the exchange or even move out of the area, then I could more than understand wanting an opt out feature.
But again, the world does not revolve around you - you do not decide what is acceptable for everybody else. The Party Amp forces people to dance - they cannot select which dance and are unable to do any emote other than Combadge. Different things are acceptable and unacceptable...to different people.
When some seven billion people all get together and say you can make the decisions for them...well, you might have a point.
Even with the posed argument of taking control away of the character, it really isn't as the person at the keyboard can still input commands to that character to break what's really just a glorified idle animation.
Again, you cannot. You cannot do any other emote outside of Combadge while under the effect of the Party Amp. How many times does that have to be pointed out? How many times are folks going to say that you can when you cannot? It speaks to the sheer ignorance on their part of the matter at hand...or...perhaps they know how it actually works and like that - that's how they get their kicks, from that kind of griefing, eh? It fits the egocentric views offered by many of the posts...
Which is perfectly normal - different things upset different people. That some people have such egocentric views of everything is kind of a shame. Just because something does not upset/disturb you in any fashion, does not provide cause to show a lack of respect or empathy for those that it does upset/disturb.
But again, the world does not revolve around you - you do not decide what is acceptable for everybody else. The Party Amp forces people to dance - they cannot select which dance and are unable to do any emote other than Combadge. Different things are acceptable and unacceptable...to different people.
When some seven billion people all get together and say you can make the decisions for them...well, you might have a point.
Again, you cannot. You cannot do any other emote outside of Combadge while under the effect of the Party Amp. How many times does that have to be pointed out? How many times are folks going to say that you can when you cannot? It speaks to the sheer ignorance on their part of the matter at hand...or...perhaps they know how it actually works and like that - that's how they get their kicks, from that kind of griefing, eh? It fits the egocentric views offered by many of the posts...
Going from the responses you directed towards me, where at any point did I come across as somehow insisting the world's revolving around me and making decisions for other people, or even in my not understanding the cause to be some grievously upset over what is minor at most to me is somehow not being empathetic to those who are clearly upset enough to crank out several threads about it? I'm trying to see the other perspective here and so far no one's really presenting a solid enough argument to help me here see that perspective.
I was and still am stating that going from my in game experiences, I've experienced no interference with my gameplay or utilizing game services from the disco bomb. Even including my time in other MMOs with a similar device, still no problem playing the game. I would think I too would experience the same issues if the disco bomb shut down vendor windows or locked my characters down to only able to dance like some have stated if they actually happened.
And as much as you state that a character is unable to emote other than commbadge, then please explain to me how on the dance floor one is still able to emote the correct dance being called while still being disco bombed? Going from what I see on my screen, no one seems to have a problem even when they've done a non-dance emote and there are clear disco balls going off in the area. Unless a dev is able to explain that the particular area is subject to different coding, again, I'm left with going off what I experience and see as not interfering with gameplay.
With all that said, it's now sounding like the real problem at hand isn't so much the party amp but more differing definitions of what constitutes gameplay which is a different thing altogether and likely one that won't be settled anytime soon since at this point there seems to be too much of a distance between those who see gameplay as doing quests/PvP/raids and those who see gameplay as roleplay, emotes and character dress up.
Going from the responses you directed towards me, where at any point did I come across as somehow insisting the world's revolving around me and making decisions for other people, or even in my not understanding the cause to be some grievously upset over what is minor at most to me is somehow not being empathetic to those who are clearly upset enough to crank out several threads about it? I'm trying to see the other perspective here and so far no one's really presenting a solid enough argument to help me here see that perspective.
I was and still am stating that going from my in game experiences, I've experienced no interference with my gameplay or utilizing game services from the disco bomb. Even including my time in other MMOs with a similar device, still no problem playing the game. I would think I too would experience the same issues if the disco bomb shut down vendor windows or locked my characters down to only able to dance like some have stated if they actually happened.
And as much as you state that a character is unable to emote other than commbadge, then please explain to me how on the dance floor one is still able to emote the correct dance being called while still being disco bombed? Going from what I see on my screen, no one seems to have a problem even when they've done a non-dance emote and there are clear disco balls going off in the area. Unless a dev is able to explain that the particular area is subject to different coding, again, I'm left with going off what I experience and see as not interfering with gameplay.
With all that said, it's now sounding like the real problem at hand isn't so much the party amp but more differing definitions of what constitutes gameplay which is a different thing altogether and likely one that won't be settled anytime soon since at this point there seems to be too much of a distance between those who see gameplay as doing quests/PvP/raids and those who see gameplay as roleplay, emotes and character dress up.
Things in RED:
Show an egocentric point of view.
Things in YELLOW:
I can see why one would not want to be associated with one of the particular threads out there - I even mentioned that in the OP of this thread, I believe.
However, what you say there - gives the appearance that there are a limited number of folks cranking out multiple threads...rather than it being something that is affecting more people than perhaps you would like to, or even can, admit.
The implication that I am a liar...well, it usually results in me saying things that keep the mods busy. Since blue was kind enough to step in here already, I'd hate to be the cause of any such need to return myself.
Things in ORANGE:
Somebody dropped a Party Amp on the boardwalk on Risa - they were kind enough to have dropped it away from any NPCs or anywhere folks would congregate. In the initial post to correct somebody on the emote aspect, I was literally going through and typing out each one and whether it was possible to do or not. It was a long list. The only emote that changed animation was the Combadge - which did the short animation and then returned to dancing.
The chatlog would reflect the emote - but - the animation would not change for anything else.
And sure enough, somebody's dropped another on the boardwalk on Risa #39. Walk up to - start dancing - and...unable to do any emotes again. Just like before - just like it has been with each of my 9 toons that encounter one of them anywhere. 4 KDF, 4 Fed, 1 KDF-aligned Rom.
Doesn't matter if somebody else drops one or I drop one...no other emotes (outside of Combadge) are possible. Words will show in the chatbox, but the animation never changes.
To that point, I have never seen anybody in my travels under the effect of the Party Amp doing anything but the dance mix. I'm not insinuating that you're lying, mind you - just relating my personal experiences over the past 12-13 days.
So perhaps a dev could comment - perhaps there is something bugged with my client or my account, eh? Perhaps there is something bugged with your client or your account, eh?
There's all kinds of ridiculous non-Trekky stuff in this game. People running around combat zones wearing prom dresses. Federation ships with Reman hulls, Klingon ships with Tholian hulls, Scimitars piled on top of each other in Earth orbit. Did anyone ever throw a biothermal dampener at you? Those things used to actually freeze you, breaking whatever interaction you were in the middle of. STO failed at achieving any sort of "canon realism" three and a half years ago.
Does the rest of that stuff bother you? It probably should, if the disco bomb bothers you this much. Some of it bothers me. The only reasonable solutions are to get over it and ignore it, or embrace it and have fun.
This, right here.
The Devs are the ones that put this stuff in the game. They knew there was some potential for disruption because every other such device has had the same kinds of issues. But they put them in anyway and they are by and large apparently working as designed.
The biothermal dampeners did have an unintended effect that essentially froze players in place and they couldn't do anything about it. The Devs changed it. The balloon poppers were causing rendering issues for some people whose graphics cards couldn't handle it, so the Devs changed that and put some limits on it.
Lobby to change the thing, no problem. Limit where it can be used, let emotes break the spell, change the duration, whatever. They might listen to that kind of feedback.
Take it out? Not going to happen. Rework the UI to create an "off-button" for annoying cosmetic effects? Not likely.
I'm not saying I like the things and I'm not saying that trolls are not finding clever ways to abuse them.
I'm saying, like them or not they're here, they aren't going away, and the Devs aren't going to any extreme measures to nerf something that doesn't require a nerf and is working the way they want it to work. If anything, I'm pleased that the Devs chose to put in the obsolescence option by making it a consumable device people have to buy. I wish they'd go back and do that with all of the other cheezy party items, but they won't.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I can see why one would not want to be associated with one of the particular threads out there - I even mentioned that in the OP of this thread, I believe.
However, what you say there - gives the appearance that there are a limited number of folks cranking out multiple threads...rather than it being something that is affecting more people than perhaps you would like to, or even can, admit.
The implication that I am a liar...well, it usually results in me saying things that keep the mods busy. Since blue was kind enough to step in here already, I'd hate to be the cause of any such need to return myself.
Things in ORANGE:
Somebody dropped a Party Amp on the boardwalk on Risa - they were kind enough to have dropped it away from any NPCs or anywhere folks would congregate. In the initial post to correct somebody on the emote aspect, I was literally going through and typing out each one and whether it was possible to do or not. It was a long list. The only emote that changed animation was the Combadge - which did the short animation and then returned to dancing.
The chatlog would reflect the emote - but - the animation would not change for anything else.
And sure enough, somebody's dropped another on the boardwalk on Risa #39. Walk up to - start dancing - and...unable to do any emotes again. Just like before - just like it has been with each of my 9 toons that encounter one of them anywhere. 4 KDF, 4 Fed, 1 KDF-aligned Rom.
Doesn't matter if somebody else drops one or I drop one...no other emotes (outside of Combadge) are possible. Words will show in the chatbox, but the animation never changes.
To that point, I have never seen anybody in my travels under the effect of the Party Amp doing anything but the dance mix. I'm not insinuating that you're lying, mind you - just relating my personal experiences over the past 12-13 days.
So perhaps a dev could comment - perhaps there is something bugged with my client or my account, eh? Perhaps there is something bugged with your client or your account, eh?
Wow, actually going through to highlight what you see as egocentrism on my part with my only relating what I see on my screen as my experience as well as somehow coming to the idea that I'm calling you a liar....that's really not helping me try to see your point from your perspective. If anything, it comes across as being defensive rather than trying to illuminate further how this is a serious matter for addressing to someone who is wanting to understand why this is such a big deal compared to game bugs that are still active effecting quests and gear implementation.
Now, if someone's able to fraps or somehow show these gameplay breaking issues and show it to help better illustrate how this is a serious issue, I'll be happy to go give it a watch and possibly re-evaluate my position.
It's just at this point this is really coming across more as people with differing opinions as to what constitutes gameplay and the circumstance with the party amp's just the current point of contention which will eventually get replaced by something else as time goes on.
Lobby to change the thing, no problem. Limit where it can be used, let emotes break the spell, change the duration, whatever. They might listen to that kind of feedback.
Take it out? Not going to happen. Rework the UI to create an "off-button" for annoying cosmetic effects? Not likely.
Hrmm, perhaps I wasn't clear with what I was asking. I'm not asking that the visual fx be something that can be turned off - not asking that it not display somebody else being affected by it - etc, etc, etc.
Just don't force my toons to dance at times I do not want them to dance. Don't let it override any emote that I had in place before it was dropped. Don't let it prevent me from being able to do another emote while within the area of effect of it.
It's not about controlling anybody around me nor the controlling the environment. It's a simple control issue with my particular character.
If I'm chilling somewhere and want to drop one or somebody else does...awesome (would still like the ability to select the dance and even do other emotes). If I'm doing something else...well, yeah - I really don't want to be forced to start dancing.
edit: Meh, blue's post a couple down explained it better than I have through this thread. I'm going to let it go at that...might have saved folks some trouble if I had been that clear to begin with...
You gotta wait it out or change instances. Walking 30 ft away from all the services I'm wanting to use isn't gonna help.
How about the user walk 30 ft away from the rest of the population and use it there?
You move if you're gonna be the rude person in the scenario.
Hey! They made dance floors! Try those!
People using amplifiers don't like those do they? Not enough victims there to manipulate?
There is a valid point here that other players could choose to be considerate and use the device somewhere else. Some people probably do. And some will do it deliberately.
I'd like to be able to say that's a reasonable request to ask people to drop them somewhere else, but it's in the nature of an MMO that players cannot generally enforce any kind of conduct on any other player. Within the terms of service, everybody's pretty much allowed to do as they please.
And that includes dropping disco balls wherever they like. You can ask them to stop, but you can't make them. And the Devs clearly designed them to be "fun" items that they knew people would use to play pranks because every other "fun" item they've ever made has been used the same way. And they're still making them.
I'm sorry, but it's W.A.D. And it's a game... we're not supposed to take it that seriously.
By the way, I think using the term "victim" here is an overreaction. It implies people are getting hurt, which they are not. And it implies that the disco balls are a form of attack, which is only true if you count annoyances as attacks. If anyone has any evidence that they can be used in a malicious way, let the Devs know so that they can try to fix it. But as I said before, they're not going to make major game alterations so that people don't have to deal with it. The best outcome would be that they change the device to make it less annoying or remove any unintended side effects.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
Don't let it override any emote that I had in place before it was dropped. Don't let it prevent me from being able to do another emote while within the area of effect of it.
I guess I didn't quite understand what you were asking for.
That seems more than reasonable to me and I hope the Devs take that as good feedback.
I agree that you should be able to override the dancing with an emote of your choosing, with the understanding that some emotes end right away and those won't really stop the effect from kicking in. Other emotes last until you break them, and those should continue to persist.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I guess I didn't quite understand what you were asking for.
That seems more than reasonable to me and I hope the Devs take that as good feedback.
I agree that you should be able to override the dancing with an emote of your choosing, with the understanding that some emotes end right away and those won't really stop the effect from kicking in. Other emotes last until you break them, and those should continue to persist.
I'm not sure it's possible for them to stop it from breaking an emote-in-progress without completely changing the way emotes work. Ever entered a Zone and seen people standing, say, in a line on the exchange? Odds are they see themselves dancing.
Just from my observation- I don't know exactly how it works- there appear to be two types of emotes. The kind that run once and end, and the kind that run on a loop until interrupted (most dances). But the command to begin the emote, even if it is a looping one, is sent once and then forgotten by the system.
The side-effect of this is that if you enter a Zone after someone began dancing, you'll just see them standing because your client never received the bit from the server telling it to make their avatar dance. It was sent before you arrived and never again.
So when the disco ball breaks a looping emote by initiating another emote, 1) it doesn't know a looping emote was in-progress and 2) the command that began that looping emote is ancient history.
I do agree that initiating another emote while under the disco ball's influence should override it and run the emote, continuously if it is a looping one like another dance.
The OP has a good point. I play and to play I have a character and that is not there for somebody else to play with. If you want that, make your communism to get working. An acquintance of my who is in bussiness says when something has to happen and his money has to turn up, these people want to have sex with my balls, not going to happen.
I suggest the following. When activated the disco balls produces
- a light effect
- some music, preferable a disco tune
- the character that activated the ball, starts to dance
- other nearby characters that have a disco ball equipped start to dance.
Characters with no balls, no disco dancing for them.
Check the patch notes, for those player who do ground combat, it's good news
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
yeah, it sounds like triggering a red alert around a disco ball might cancel it. That's not gonna help on risa, but it'll stop people from spamming them in other zones where you can use certain powers to trigger a red alert.
Comments
I truly believe you! I believe you cannot figure out why other people don't want to be your marionettes. You probably cannot understand why people don't want to be harassed and perhaps don't laugh at all your jokes. I doubt you understand why it's a bad idea to hunt down people that role play, creepy or not, and make them miserable. There's lots of activities I don't like but I don't hunt people down and bully them for it. Also, if I win in pvp I don't tea bag fallen opponents. This device is perfect for people that enjoy these types of activities and have very little concern for others' opinions and personal space.
Aren't you from the same group that couldn't understand why people didn't enjoy cascading warp core breaches and being trapped on your ship's bridge? Your approval of this device is the clearest argument against having it. Endorsed by bullies, goon-approved.
How about the user walk 30 ft away from the rest of the population and use it there?
You move if you're gonna be the rude person in the scenario.
Hey! They made dance floors! Try those!
People using amplifiers don't like those do they? Not enough victims there to manipulate?
He wrote all those words and you unraveled his entire argument with the first sentence.
People are trying to create elaborate roleplaying stories about the party amplifiers. Um, let me see, it's just a game device. They need to change their own body, it's not dancing unless you want it to dance.
1
: the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it
2
: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner; also : the capacity for this
Empathy is a wonderful thing. I'm using some right now. I feel like I have the high ground and am content with that (: I will just keep changing instances if I feel the need and leave you to your devices, pun intended.
Since the start of the Risa event, I've been party bombed multiple times on each of my characters and at no point has it interfered with my using the bank, the exchange, doing quests, using the vendors and tailors, or playing dabo. Yeah, my character might dance around a bit while moving at the most but that's no different than having a glitch where my character gets stuck in a crouch while moving and the like.
Now if the amp locked out any and all action from a character while under it's influence such as not able to use the vendors or the exchange or even move out of the area, then I could more than understand wanting an opt out feature.
Even with the posed argument of taking control away of the character, it really isn't as the person at the keyboard can still input commands to that character to break what's really just a glorified idle animation.
I have empathy for you, but its not because of party amplifiers...
You know what it is...
-Supporter of Cryptic Lockboxes!
Or... it doesn't break your interaction with the services you're using, so keep using them.
There's all kinds of ridiculous non-Trekky stuff in this game. People running around combat zones wearing prom dresses. Federation ships with Reman hulls, Klingon ships with Tholian hulls, Scimitars piled on top of each other in Earth orbit. Did anyone ever throw a biothermal dampener at you? Those things used to actually freeze you, breaking whatever interaction you were in the middle of. STO failed at achieving any sort of "canon realism" three and a half years ago.
Does the rest of that stuff bother you? It probably should, if the disco bomb bothers you this much. Some of it bothers me. The only reasonable solutions are to get over it and ignore it, or embrace it and have fun.
The high ground is right. Stop smoking that stuff and sober up. If you can't understand how absurd this looks there's nothing anyone can do to help you.
Um, somebody wearing something does not cause your character to do anything or does it prevent your character from doing anything. The Party Amp does on the other hand. There is no slippery slope...
Um, part of the problem is not a solution to the overall problem...
It is precisely because you are dancing whether you want to or not...that is key to the issue.
Which is perfectly normal - different things upset different people. That some people have such egocentric views of everything is kind of a shame. Just because something does not upset/disturb you in any fashion, does not provide cause to show a lack of respect or empathy for those that it does upset/disturb.
But again, the world does not revolve around you - you do not decide what is acceptable for everybody else. The Party Amp forces people to dance - they cannot select which dance and are unable to do any emote other than Combadge. Different things are acceptable and unacceptable...to different people.
When some seven billion people all get together and say you can make the decisions for them...well, you might have a point.
Again, you cannot. You cannot do any other emote outside of Combadge while under the effect of the Party Amp. How many times does that have to be pointed out? How many times are folks going to say that you can when you cannot? It speaks to the sheer ignorance on their part of the matter at hand...or...perhaps they know how it actually works and like that - that's how they get their kicks, from that kind of griefing, eh? It fits the egocentric views offered by many of the posts...
Going from the responses you directed towards me, where at any point did I come across as somehow insisting the world's revolving around me and making decisions for other people, or even in my not understanding the cause to be some grievously upset over what is minor at most to me is somehow not being empathetic to those who are clearly upset enough to crank out several threads about it? I'm trying to see the other perspective here and so far no one's really presenting a solid enough argument to help me here see that perspective.
I was and still am stating that going from my in game experiences, I've experienced no interference with my gameplay or utilizing game services from the disco bomb. Even including my time in other MMOs with a similar device, still no problem playing the game. I would think I too would experience the same issues if the disco bomb shut down vendor windows or locked my characters down to only able to dance like some have stated if they actually happened.
And as much as you state that a character is unable to emote other than commbadge, then please explain to me how on the dance floor one is still able to emote the correct dance being called while still being disco bombed? Going from what I see on my screen, no one seems to have a problem even when they've done a non-dance emote and there are clear disco balls going off in the area. Unless a dev is able to explain that the particular area is subject to different coding, again, I'm left with going off what I experience and see as not interfering with gameplay.
With all that said, it's now sounding like the real problem at hand isn't so much the party amp but more differing definitions of what constitutes gameplay which is a different thing altogether and likely one that won't be settled anytime soon since at this point there seems to be too much of a distance between those who see gameplay as doing quests/PvP/raids and those who see gameplay as roleplay, emotes and character dress up.
/10char
Things in RED:
Show an egocentric point of view.
Things in YELLOW:
I can see why one would not want to be associated with one of the particular threads out there - I even mentioned that in the OP of this thread, I believe.
However, what you say there - gives the appearance that there are a limited number of folks cranking out multiple threads...rather than it being something that is affecting more people than perhaps you would like to, or even can, admit.
The implication that I am a liar...well, it usually results in me saying things that keep the mods busy. Since blue was kind enough to step in here already, I'd hate to be the cause of any such need to return myself.
Things in ORANGE:
Somebody dropped a Party Amp on the boardwalk on Risa - they were kind enough to have dropped it away from any NPCs or anywhere folks would congregate. In the initial post to correct somebody on the emote aspect, I was literally going through and typing out each one and whether it was possible to do or not. It was a long list. The only emote that changed animation was the Combadge - which did the short animation and then returned to dancing.
The chatlog would reflect the emote - but - the animation would not change for anything else.
And sure enough, somebody's dropped another on the boardwalk on Risa #39. Walk up to - start dancing - and...unable to do any emotes again. Just like before - just like it has been with each of my 9 toons that encounter one of them anywhere. 4 KDF, 4 Fed, 1 KDF-aligned Rom.
Doesn't matter if somebody else drops one or I drop one...no other emotes (outside of Combadge) are possible. Words will show in the chatbox, but the animation never changes.
To that point, I have never seen anybody in my travels under the effect of the Party Amp doing anything but the dance mix. I'm not insinuating that you're lying, mind you - just relating my personal experiences over the past 12-13 days.
So perhaps a dev could comment - perhaps there is something bugged with my client or my account, eh? Perhaps there is something bugged with your client or your account, eh?
This, right here.
The Devs are the ones that put this stuff in the game. They knew there was some potential for disruption because every other such device has had the same kinds of issues. But they put them in anyway and they are by and large apparently working as designed.
The biothermal dampeners did have an unintended effect that essentially froze players in place and they couldn't do anything about it. The Devs changed it. The balloon poppers were causing rendering issues for some people whose graphics cards couldn't handle it, so the Devs changed that and put some limits on it.
Lobby to change the thing, no problem. Limit where it can be used, let emotes break the spell, change the duration, whatever. They might listen to that kind of feedback.
Take it out? Not going to happen. Rework the UI to create an "off-button" for annoying cosmetic effects? Not likely.
I'm not saying I like the things and I'm not saying that trolls are not finding clever ways to abuse them.
I'm saying, like them or not they're here, they aren't going away, and the Devs aren't going to any extreme measures to nerf something that doesn't require a nerf and is working the way they want it to work. If anything, I'm pleased that the Devs chose to put in the obsolescence option by making it a consumable device people have to buy. I wish they'd go back and do that with all of the other cheezy party items, but they won't.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
Wow, actually going through to highlight what you see as egocentrism on my part with my only relating what I see on my screen as my experience as well as somehow coming to the idea that I'm calling you a liar....that's really not helping me try to see your point from your perspective. If anything, it comes across as being defensive rather than trying to illuminate further how this is a serious matter for addressing to someone who is wanting to understand why this is such a big deal compared to game bugs that are still active effecting quests and gear implementation.
Now, if someone's able to fraps or somehow show these gameplay breaking issues and show it to help better illustrate how this is a serious issue, I'll be happy to go give it a watch and possibly re-evaluate my position.
It's just at this point this is really coming across more as people with differing opinions as to what constitutes gameplay and the circumstance with the party amp's just the current point of contention which will eventually get replaced by something else as time goes on.
Hrmm, perhaps I wasn't clear with what I was asking. I'm not asking that the visual fx be something that can be turned off - not asking that it not display somebody else being affected by it - etc, etc, etc.
Just don't force my toons to dance at times I do not want them to dance. Don't let it override any emote that I had in place before it was dropped. Don't let it prevent me from being able to do another emote while within the area of effect of it.
It's not about controlling anybody around me nor the controlling the environment. It's a simple control issue with my particular character.
If I'm chilling somewhere and want to drop one or somebody else does...awesome (would still like the ability to select the dance and even do other emotes). If I'm doing something else...well, yeah - I really don't want to be forced to start dancing.
There is a valid point here that other players could choose to be considerate and use the device somewhere else. Some people probably do. And some will do it deliberately.
I'd like to be able to say that's a reasonable request to ask people to drop them somewhere else, but it's in the nature of an MMO that players cannot generally enforce any kind of conduct on any other player. Within the terms of service, everybody's pretty much allowed to do as they please.
And that includes dropping disco balls wherever they like. You can ask them to stop, but you can't make them. And the Devs clearly designed them to be "fun" items that they knew people would use to play pranks because every other "fun" item they've ever made has been used the same way. And they're still making them.
I'm sorry, but it's W.A.D.
By the way, I think using the term "victim" here is an overreaction. It implies people are getting hurt, which they are not. And it implies that the disco balls are a form of attack, which is only true if you count annoyances as attacks. If anyone has any evidence that they can be used in a malicious way, let the Devs know so that they can try to fix it. But as I said before, they're not going to make major game alterations so that people don't have to deal with it. The best outcome would be that they change the device to make it less annoying or remove any unintended side effects.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I guess I didn't quite understand what you were asking for.
That seems more than reasonable to me and I hope the Devs take that as good feedback.
I agree that you should be able to override the dancing with an emote of your choosing, with the understanding that some emotes end right away and those won't really stop the effect from kicking in. Other emotes last until you break them, and those should continue to persist.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I'm not sure it's possible for them to stop it from breaking an emote-in-progress without completely changing the way emotes work. Ever entered a Zone and seen people standing, say, in a line on the exchange? Odds are they see themselves dancing.
Just from my observation- I don't know exactly how it works- there appear to be two types of emotes. The kind that run once and end, and the kind that run on a loop until interrupted (most dances). But the command to begin the emote, even if it is a looping one, is sent once and then forgotten by the system.
The side-effect of this is that if you enter a Zone after someone began dancing, you'll just see them standing because your client never received the bit from the server telling it to make their avatar dance. It was sent before you arrived and never again.
So when the disco ball breaks a looping emote by initiating another emote, 1) it doesn't know a looping emote was in-progress and 2) the command that began that looping emote is ancient history.
I do agree that initiating another emote while under the disco ball's influence should override it and run the emote, continuously if it is a looping one like another dance.
I suggest the following. When activated the disco balls produces
- a light effect
- some music, preferable a disco tune
- the character that activated the ball, starts to dance
- other nearby characters that have a disco ball equipped start to dance.
Characters with no balls, no disco dancing for them.
I just shot the (Root) beer I was drinking out of my nose, I laughed so hard.
Now that quoted phrase above.
That is funny.
Carry On.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius