Kurrent

+1.

Let's not stop with Stun Arrow. How about Cryonic Arrow? EMP Arrow? Surely Manti didn't burn all his inspirations getting through Oranbega; I'd hope he'd be carrying at least one wakie. Maybe a temp power Rez Other, like what comes in the Super Packs? Or how about taking an NPC with one of the many powersets capable of rezzing others? Or maybe even one of the players with a rez power!

Really, I've enjoyed most of the SSA missions until 5 and 6. However, now the forced actions we have to play along with and the utter incompetence of many of the signature heroes are wearing far too thin. This is stretching suspension of belief too far at this point, even for experienced and open-minded players. A snippet of conversation in teamspeak while running the final leg of SSA mission 6 last night, with names redacted for anonymity:

Player1: another ritual?
Player2: yeah
Player1: i'm sure it will go smoothly with no complications whatsoever
Player2: LOL
Player3: lol
Player2: I'm sure
Player1: because we all know these things never have disastrous, unexpected consequences
Player3: right

This is about where I stand now. Looking back at the SSA missions and our new Valentine's day mission arc...

Mission 1--Mysterious villain's magic ritual using big obelisk drains Synapse's powers and nearly kills him, empowers a Lost Boss and nearly empowers Echidna.
Mission 2--no magic ritual. Yay.
Mission 3--Magic ritual set up to "kill" Alexis Duncan-Cole. Not really needed, but it's establishing a pattern.
Mission 4--Magic ritual using the Dirge of Chaos sets up Malaise's attack on Sister Psyche, nearly killing her and allowing him to force himself into her mind.
Mission 5--Magic ritual drains Statesman's powers, allowing Wade to kill him.
Mission 6--Magic ritual to supposedly help Sister Psyche take control of her mind again goes horribly wrong, leading to Manticore killing her and inadvertently sending her powers to Darrin Wade.
Widow Maker arc--Magic ritual goes horribly wrong, nearly killing the player character protagonist.

Well. At this point, even Flambeaux can figure that when someone says, "Hey, let's try out this magic ritual to try and accomplish _______," the proper response is, "NO." So why are these supposedly best-of-the-best NPCs doing something incredibly stupid without preparation, without backup, without assistance, against a master villain who has proven smarter and more cunning than anyone has ever given him credit for... and doing the same dumb things over and over again? Logically speaking, there is no reason, and at this point, "to move the story along" just isn't good enough for me. I'm at the point that as much as I want to see the end of the story and the final outcome, I just can't justify my main character--with nearly eight years real-time experience as a Hero--being either so incredibly stupid or so astonishingly naive as to go along with plans like these.

However, reading Redlynne's post on page 11 explicating the theory that Sister Psyche and possibly Manticore himself are setting up Wade gives me some hope. Maybe, just maybe, we're seeing one of the Heroes start to out-think Darrin Wade, and that would give me some positive feelings for this arc again. I really hope this is the case, and the little bit about the speech balloons really does imply something like this. Red, I hope you're right, because otherwise this arc is going to go down as a case study in Supergroup incompetence.

Pretty sure that the Rule of 5 renders ANY bonus beyond the fifth irrelevant, regardless of whether it's the same bonus value or a different value, resulting in only the five highest bonuses counting toward a power or attribute. So a sixth +10% recharge reduction and a +8.75% recharge reduction would both be equally extraneous if you already had five +10% accumulated.

These two made me LOL.

This is what impresses me as well. Going beyond the unprecedented step of letting players vote for what we want and throwing in extra bits and pieces based on our reasoning behind our votes? That's just astounding. Applause and accolades all around, guys and gals. I'll buy this set the day it goes live, guaranteed.

Some of us are already out.

I completely liked the American version of "Dragon Tattoo" better than I did the Swedish version as well. I thought it flowed more smoothly, had more punch and gave us a more plausible ending as well. Please understand, I really liked the Swedish version. I thought Noomi Rapace did a great job bringing Lisbeth to life. But Rooney is more what I think of when I think of Lisbeth: small, quiet, full of pent-up rage but also very afraid of much of the world. Rapace embodies a confidence that I just don't get from Lisbeth's character, and that always created a teeny bit of disbelief when I watched the Swedish version of the movies.

As for "Let the Right One In," I'd be hard-pressed to pick either version as clearly superior to the other. Chloe Moretz did a terrific job (as always for her) and the pacing/editing of the American version felt better, but the glimpse of CGI we got was weak and didn't do as good a job as the Swedish version in capturing both the attack on the neighbor woman and the subsequent aftermath. Like in the pool scene, sometimes less is more; both versions did a fine job there, with the American version showing wisdom in not messing with what already worked.

I want one too.

Can we talk about navel rings, too? Maybe a mini-mini-cape rig for belly button dangly chains?

(Okay, that last part was mostly a joke, but a simple piercing option would be really cool.)

This is a genius suggestion. Two thumbs up.

Numina's outfit is very conservative, and the Vindicators have Valkyrie, Mynx, and Luminary all dressed conservatively. Well, as much as Luminary can be dressed.

As for Penny's possible hero names, we already know Bad Penny belongs to a villain (with an amazing bio, btw). I suggest Psi Princess.

Honestly, this does seem like the most likely outcome for such a fight. But I'd expect Fusionette would last two or three more seconds than Flambeaux, if you can count that as a win.

Verrrry interesting theory. In fact, this makes a lot of sense. I think that would be a great place to take their ongoing story, and it could provide an upcoming point of happiness in a season of loss for Paragon City. If it does happen, my bet's on a girl they name Alexis.

As for Penny's new costume, I actually like it. I love the little straps and buckles! Wonder if they move with her body as she moves?