Hallowed

Understood. Just an idea how to get players similar looks to what they may like on an NPC w/o compromising the unqueness of the NPC.

David,

How about making parts that are "inspired by" some of the more requested signature pieces, such as Maelstrom's "heart". Something different enough that the signature character stays unique, but allows for something of a similar concept/look for the player.

For example, taking the "jewel" chest detail, and adding the bio-lum glow tech, allows for Iron-man-esque chest power-sources, but is still distinctly different from Maelstrom's "heart". Similar approaches could be used for some faction pieces.

Ditto.

I'm unnaturally comfortable with that position.

So bring a change of clothes to work?

This is more or less how I proceed the majority of the time. Had the name "Black Mass" been available on Freedom (yes, I understand the odds) there would have been a new Grav/Earth dom with a religious-/priest-based background/look made solely because of the name/concept. Alas...

Also, a surprising number of my toons emerge form the CC completely different from the concept that entered. Grim Shock, my male Reaper-esque Elec/SR stalker was going to be a female tiger-esque character, using the bio-luminescent top for the "stripes". Much to my disappointment, I found that females can't access the bio-lum chest (why?), and through a process of organic costume evolution, the bio-lum glowing ares became the "ribs" of my reaper-esque male stalker.

All of these hit the mark.

But to me, it's mostly about the overall lack of communication (post count) and quality thereof.

* Sure, we get announcements, but hardly ever any response to feedback on those announcements.

* Sure, Noble Savage has had some great posts asking for player feedback, and seems to be taking the feedback to heart, but where are posts by people outside of the art department (let alone of a similar nature)? I love David's presence on the boards, but he is now the exception, whereas in the past, his behavior would have been the norm.

* Sure, we had some decent feedback/response during GR beta, but where has that gone when we hit live?

* Sure, I loved Ex/LH/Cuppa's clear exuberance and love of the community, but I can do without it. Far more important was the constant flow of information, and clear notion that our voices were being heard and concerns directed upward, with answers coming back (not all the time, and certainly not always the answers we "wanted", but the dialog was there).

* It's staggering to me that, within 2 months of the first paid expansion of this game in years, there is a constant and palatable concern with the future of this game, and the OCR team has done nothing to dissuade them at all. Seriously, where was the last time that happened with an MMO? Look, some of these fears are probably unfounded, some of them are reactionary, some reading too much into small details, however, when they start becoming more and more prevalent, they need to be addressed. The longer they swirl around, the louder thoe voices become, and the more people start listening.

At this point, marketing/OCR are doing the game a disservice via their silence, and it's at a time where they should be riding/fanning the optimism of a new expansion, and gearing up to protect this game against the competition that launches in less than 2 months.

Ok... now I'm curious.

And perhaps a bit disappointed, as I was hoping that Storm aura would also make it into i19 (I know, I know... give us an inch...).

One thing that seems clear is that there is a good bit a-brewin in CoX behind the scenes. Now, I really need to have Black Pebble... uhm... disappear from the M&G so I can interro... err... engage David in a friendly conversation, without the marketing gag hovering over his head.

Also,

FIRST!

Who could have seen that coming?

Sorry, first thing that crossed my mind given your forum name.

Selfish. /nod

In all seriousness, hope you get lured back in the future. Paragon should be doing its best to retain or at least re-snare long-time vets.

I'd prefer the ability to use 2 auras at once, but that would be nice too.

You may want to see if you have the some problems on another server. If not, it would point pretty clearly to Guardian. When we started running our villains on Infinity (years ago), we noticed virtually none of the problems that were regularly occurring on Guardian. Also, since I think you're on the East Coast, try one of the E. Coast servers, as you should have better performance.

It's a joke.

Look at the OP, for crying out loud.

Nice jeans and a button-down long sleeve, or nice designer T-shirt for me (dependent on weather), with a pair of casual, black dress shoes. If that's not acceptable, they can watch my business walk out the door. I don't do snobby. We have enough of that around where I live/work for me to seek it out, or cater to it.

Hmm. My SG has people from both coasts and one player in Europe, and, other than one person with a bad internet connection, we don't see disconnects.

I'd say we see the extended 1-5 sec server-side lag spikes once per hour, on average (and it's clear when it happens that it's server-side lag, as it hits everyone regardless of location). Primarily, we are playing on Freedom now, while still occasionally running on our original Guardian/Infinity servers. The lag is certainly more noticeable on Freedom, but given the load, that's to be expected.

What server are you on? It might be a server-specific issue.

How much trouble will we get in if Black Pebble is... uhm... encouraged to take a walk... for a few hours, so you can actually talk without fear of duct tape being slapped accross your mouths?

Too bad BaBs and SexyJ won't be there. I suspect I'd really enjoy getting to meet them in particular.

I read "WTF BASE LUUUUUUUHUHUHUHUHUUUUUV"

Of course not... which is why I'm also not quoting it.

Out of curiosity, who of the CoH team will be there?

Could not agree more.