Lightfoot

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You might think that creating new faces and badges takes months of work by a large team of artists and developers, but believe me, it merely takes a few hours (i work in the industry)

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This isn't Blizzard. Until a few months ago, any and all new costume pieces were not the work of a "large team of artists." They were the work of one man, Sexy Jay, who had to work in conjunction with Back Alley Brawler to make sure that everything animated correctly. Recently, the character art (PC and NPC models) team has tripled in size (for those not mathematically inclined, this means that CoH now has a huge character art team that consists of three people).

As far as I know, Castle's team of powers folks is also three large, including Castle, and one of them also works on Bases, while the other also works on Badges.

Your "large team of artists and developers" that can get anything done (including quality checking and bug fixing) in a matter of hours exists only in your fantasies.

Speaking of large teams of artists and developers, how quickly does WoW get new faces and costumes and badges into their game, from conception to publication. I'm willing to bet it is quite a bit more than a few hours even for a Development team of that size.

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I want the City of Franchise to grow and thrive, and provide the maxium content for it's players. I love this game, and have been here since launch, i remember how excited i was being one of the first players to play the game at E3 2003. I want the game to strive for bigger and better improvements. WE really should expect more.

rant over..

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Fantastic that your rant is over. Now, maybe, just maybe, you could let us in on whatever you think it is that the game should be providing you that you aren't getting? So far, it has been a lot of wind about how we are being shortchanged and how we should expect, nay, demand(!) more, but not a single specific.

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Memphis_Bill, I really enjoy your posts, and find them helpful. But this is just the "play another server" argument, all dolled up to look prettier than it really is.

My wife and I don't get to play together as much as either of us would like. So when we DO play, we play together. So let's say for the sake of argument, that she successfully logs in, but I'm locked out.

How is that fun for either of us?

There are thousands of friends and family members out there in the same boat. There MUST be a better answer than "Play another server."

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There isn't, really. The population cap is not the maximum capacity for the server. The population cap is in place so that the game runs smoothly as possible on as many machines as possible. Letting more people onto Freedom during these events will increase lag and disconnection issues on the client side. The server hardware can handle the load, but the systems of many players cannot.

The server population on all servers increases during double xp weekends. Those "ghost town" servers will also have more people running around. While you may find it difficult to find a team on those servers during normal times, it should be much easier to do so on double xp weekends. If you and your wife both have an alt or two on one of the other servers, then you can still play together on that alternative server during double xp weekend. For an even better experience, level pact the characters. This way, if one of you decides that you enjoy playing that alt and you decide that it is okay to "cheat on Freedom by visiting another server", your wife's alt will still be at the same level as yours when the next double xp weekend rolls around.

I have alts on all eleven servers. I have never not been able to play whatever character is floating my boat at any given moment during double xp weekend.

Flexibility and patience are the keys.

Go to the same Contact from whom you got the Cape mission.

For Heroes, talk to the City Representative in Atlas Park.

For Villains, talk to Kalinda or Burke.

You have to be trained up to level 30 in order to get the mission(s) from either Contact.

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OK, this one is simple. You guys have announced double XP weekend. We have been through this several times now, and we all know that Freedom and Virtue will be completely full. Freedom will probably crash once or twice under the load.

There will be complaints from everyone who can't get logged in, or that the lag is unbearable. It will be twice as bad in Atlas with the new AE system.

So, add capacity now, even if its only needed temporarily, before everyone gets frustrated and hacked off. Make this a FUN experience for once instead of a giant hassle.

Please and thank you.

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Per a Dev post a while back, Freedom already has more hardware devoted to it than any other server, specifically to increase its capacity.

When Freedom is greyed out during an Issue release or event, it is not because Freedom has crashed, it is because the current population has reached the the artificial limit the Devs have imposed in order to keep Freedom running as smoothly as possible.

Refresh the server screen a couple of times by going to another server and back to the server selection screen, and you will often see that Freedom is available again. Alternatively, create an alt or two on some other servers, and run a mission or two over there while you wait for Freedom to be available again.

The Devs have done what they needed to do to keep the game running smoothly during events and issue releases. If you don't have the patience to refresh the server selection screen a few times or the flexibility to play on any other server, the fault lies with you.

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Also a couple changes in the sounds. Apparently I'm the only one who noticed.

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You're not. Seems like the revamped a lot of the "foley" audio effects: footfalls, splashes, doors, etc.

Sadly, though, they didn't fix those audio effects in Cimerora.

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They didn't have Foley Grips back then.

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I was thinking when a hero or villain draws out his/her sword or gun where does it come from??? I was wondering why dont they have a holster or something to put there weapons into and so its visible. there can be different holster costume parts and ect. if you don't like the holster idea please think about making weapons visible on either the characters back or waist (should have choice based on player).

Think about this!!

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Hammer space.

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I think this "hammer space" is the biggest cop-out ever... not showing ur weopon is retarded lol.

First post after redname...nd if its so hard to get a weapon holster or whatever y not just make a sheath or a quiver as a costume piece for the waist?

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Part of the problem is that it wil ALWAYS be empty, or it will ALWAYS be full. The game won't be able to check whether or not you have weapon in hand and replace your existing model costume piece with the alternate model costume piece.

If you are a War Mace Brute, and the Devs produce a Costume Piece that hangs the War Mace from your (possibly non existant) Belt, or down the middle of your back, it will still be there when you have your weapon drawn.

And, since our Devs try to do something right the first time. If your War Mace is hanging from your belt, they now need to animate it while you run, and jump, and fly. Will you be able to sling your War Mace on your back if you have a Cape?

We want them, yes we do. Unfortunately, giving us scabbards, or putting the weapons someplace "real" isn't just as easy as saying "make it so." It isn't that those of us who are "shooting you down" don't want to have scabbards or quivers, and it isn't that the Devs don't want to give them to us. It is simply a matter of considering what needs to be done in order to do it, how many resources need to be alloted to make it reality, and whether they have the resources to spend on it.

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Well, I could have gotten it, and may go back for it, I just didn't feel like doing Chalmers, and did Archmage Tarixus instead.

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I'd do them both. I usually can manage to get every contact in that level range completed (sans Doc Buzzsaw) before I outlevel them.



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After the XP smoothing, they really need to lower the requirement to unlock Doc Buzzsaw. It is waaaaay too easy to outlevel her now, and I love her arc.

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Villainside, My Soldier of Arachnos is level 33, has gotten the Raptor Pack (Atlas Mayhem), Goldbricker Pack (Marshall Brass mission), and the Zero-G Pack (King's Row Mayhem).

[/ QUOTE ]Looks like you missed the Sky Raider Flight Pack (Lt. Chalmers), though that one, at least, is available in Flashback.

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Well, I could have gotten it, and may go back for it, I just didn't feel like doing Chalmers, and did Archmage Tarixus instead.

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Sweet thanks a bunch... yeah two hours if Iam careful can last me quite awhile...though only getting it once seems a bit harsh. Well thanks a bunch guys. didn't know about the safeguard missions... sounds like fun.

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It's two hours of use, not possession. As long as you don't leave it toggled on when you don't need it (leveling, shopping, Auction House, etc.), it should last you quite a while, at least until you get a Travel power of your own. Thanks to the Temp Travel Powers, a lot of my characters have been putting off taking the real Travel Powers until after I get other, more important to concept, powers.

Villainside, My Soldier of Arachnos is level 33, has gotten the Raptor Pack (Atlas Mayhem), Goldbricker Pack (Marshall Brass mission), and the Zero-G Pack (King's Row Mayhem). I got the Raptor Pack at level 7, and still have over an hour of use left on it. I got the Zero-G pack at 12 and used it up by level 27. I got the Goldbricker Pack at level 17, and it has over an hour left on it. This Soldier does not have a travel power (nor is he expecting to get one). I expect at least one of the flight packs to last until I get to Grandville (level 40+), where I can earn a jet pack via the Day Job system.

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I've got a mission where Ghost Widow as a EB drops my level 41 corrupter every single time and I can't drop it. So I wouldn't say you can always solo content no matter what.

My current plan is to outlevel the mission and see about picking up a Shivan and a nuke and see how it goes.

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There is a trick to that one.

Drop the Shivan inside GW's Circle.

Get behind one of the "arms" of the Circle.

Turn the camera so that you can see the glowie, and click it.

As soon as GW appears, she and the Shivan will aggro on each other, which should leave you free to attack Ghost Widow unmolested. It wouldn't hurt to pop a couple of Purples so that she whiffs the few times she turns her attention away from the Shivan.

This is how I took her down with my level 40 Dark / Cold Corruptor.

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Most of the MM Pet names I've seen are homages.

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At least, a bunch of mine are.

Slave Driver's zombies are named after the characters in Office Space.

Neko Mecha's robots are named after cartoon cats.

Rotten Johnny's thugs are named after punk rockers.

Bot Torrent's bots are named after old movie comedians (Three Stooges, Laurel & Hardy, and Groucho Marx).

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Wait...so do we need to buy this booster to access the super tailor?

edit: Dang, I was too slow!

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Yes. Per Castle, this is the "Science Power."

When he was aksed to design the Science power, he kept running into a brick wall. Everything he thought of was more "tech than science." Then he remembered the Super Tailor tech, and pitched it as the "Science Power."

Mostly paraphrased from the Patch Notes thread.

<QR>

I believe one of the default search parameters is "Show Only Arcs That I Have Not Rated."

When you clicked "clear" to start your new search, that may have been de-toggled.

<QR>

My experience, prior to the advent of Patrol XP, has been thus.

Tutorial, come out at level 2.

Do Kalinda first arc. You should be just over halfway to level 3 after bringing in Operative Burke. You should ding level 3 during the second mission. You should be three quarters through level 3 when you finish the Defeat all Infected mission. The arc completion bonus for this mission should ding you to level four. The next three missions should level you to five (you should ding level 5 with either the mission or arc completion for Defeating Syrus).

If you have taken the Burke route, you should ding level 4 in the egg chamber. The arc completion bonus will take you halfway to level 5. Burke will have two more missions after this, which will take you halfway to level 6.

At this point, you can either do Mongoose / Creed, or skip them and go straight to Port Oakes.

Mongoose is more neutral / mercenary, and Creed has you do some fairly evil stuff (all in the name of Science, of course, which makes it all better ).

I do suggest doing all of the starting contact's missions so that you can get straight to the cape and aura missions at level 20 and 30. If you leave one of the arcs unfinished, you will need to complete it first. If you don't get their phone numbers, you will need to do a significant amount of Zone swapping in order to get your cape or aura. (IIRC, Cape takes you from Sharkhead to Port Oakes, and Aura takes you from Sharkhead to Cap. Adding Mercy into the mix is a massive PITA).

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I'd love to see Rad Blast for Blasters, along with Radiation Manipulation (which I would hope would be a combination of Radiation Emission and the Rad melee attacks of the Shivans). Dark Blast would be cool as well, but they would need to re-work it. Far too much AoE power in there for blasters to have.

All the other suggestions sound legit, except for Ice Armor and Fire Aura Stalkers. Those (along with the already present Elec Armor) really don't work with the Stalker theme. Think about it: when hidden, you would be a walking ice suit or fire humanoid. Not exactly stealthy, hard to believe the NPC enemies wouldn't notice that.

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The Stalkers ability to hide doesn't need to come from the same theme as the Secondary. My EM / Regen doesn't regenerate so quickly that she can't be seen . She wears a stealth suit, and the nanites in her blood are what make her heal faster.

If you NEED a thematic Hide for Ice Armor or Fiery Aura, you can always look at it this way. The Ice Stalker covers himself in a thin sheen of ice that refracts light around him. The Fire Stalker uses his ability to generate heat to cause the air to shimmer around him, creating a mirage. You only need to be a walking ice cube or big ball of flame if you want to be. My Electric Stalker wears a stealth suit powered by his bioelectric field.

Comic book physics and real world physics are not the same thing.

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Although the origin of this could probably be traced back to Catwoman.

[/ QUOTE ]Actually, catgirls are rooted in Japanese bakeneko legends.

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Yep. The Catgirl is not an American phenomenon. It is imported.

The "catgirl" is much more prolific in manga and anime than it is in western comics. Thus, the phenomenon is rooted in Asian culture. In anime and manga, "catgirls" are almost always cats with human traits, instead of the other way around.

Legends of the Bakenoko attribute cats with mystical abilities that develop if a cat gets old enough, large enough, or its tail gets long enough. In most of the legends, these creatures are malicious. In anime and manga, they are often depicted as merely mischievous.

Catwoman is totemic, an example of adopting the look of an animal in the hopes of acquiring that animal's power (i.e.; Batman, Spider Man, Hawkman, etc.), but she is not a "catgirl" in the sense that is being spoken of when one talks of "catgirls."

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If it's serious, usually the character is Claws/SR, and has the agility of a cat as a mutant power or the like.

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Or is the member of a hidden tribe of cat people...

What?

I'm as guilty of it as anyone else.

I have several catfolk, and would have more anthropomorphics if we ever got some decent parts for the other animal types (Bushy Tails for Foxes, Wolves and Raccoons, Rodent Heads, Snake Heads, Canine Heads, Bovine Heads, Bird Heads, Feet with Paws rather than Claws, Taloned Feet and Hands, etc.). I blame my desire to create anthropomorphics on both my love of mythology and growing up with comics like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Usagi Yojimbo.

At least I don't meow or roleplay any of them in heat.

/em shudder

Tabi Kat is the aforementioned member of the hidden tribe, exiled to the human world for being a disruptive influence in the tribe. She is the sterotypical Claws / SR Scrapper.

Mefistofleas is all cat, and master of "cat magic." His human, a sweet old lady, died of a heart attack when some Hellions broke into their apartment looking for a magical trinket they had detected (his flea collar, a little magic can keep a lot of pests at bay). He used his cat magic to take a form that more humans would respect, and set out to punish the wicked who prey on cats and their human pets. He is an Illusion / Sonic Resonance Controller.

Neko Mecha is also all cat. She is a brilliant inventor who has seen that humans will destroy the world if left unchecked. She has decided to do something about it, and constructed a robot army to facilitate her takeover. She is the kitten that rides on the shoulder on her first creation.

Den Mother is the result of the Council experimenting with an offshoot of the Warwolf program, using a feline model as opposed to a canine model. Before the Nictus could be implanted, some heroes broke in and destroyed the lab. Unfortunately, enough of the gene thereapy had already been performed, and she was forever changed. Den Mother is an Empathy / Sonic Blast Defender

Mane Event was the result of the same experiment. Before the Council chose her as a test subject, she was a professional boxer. Now, with the changes, the Federation won't allow her to compete, so she fights crime to work out her aggression and keep her skills sharp. She was an Invulnerability / Super Strength Tanker, currently shelved until SS Proliferates to Scrappers, or SR Proliferates to Tankers. (or, on the outside chance that Going Rogue opens up all the Archetypes from level 1, she could be an SS / SR Brute, but she is all Heroic, and does not need to redeem herself)

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Nightcrawler wouldn't do so well against someone who had a secondary (he has what...a domination attack set and TP?)

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Nightcrawler is a Dual (Tri?) Blades / Super Reflexes Stalker in one build, and Martial Arts / Super Reflexes Stalker in the other. Alternatively, he could be a Scrapper with the Stealth Pool. His signature power is a combat teleport (Teleport Attack power, if it hits, does moderate damage and end drain, and Teleports with Nightcrawler to the targeted location, recharge fast, but with a high end cost).

In the same vein, I would say that Jubilee is a Energy Blast / Super Reflexes Blaster, and that Cyclops is an Energy Blast / Willpower Blaster. Any of the X-Men who have spent a significant amount of time in the Danger Room should have at least the first few powers of either the Super Reflexes or Willpower sets, provided that they don't have other defenses of their own, such as a healing factor or the ability to turn into organic steel.

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Hope Castle happens to read this thread. Maybe he'll notice that CLAWS FOR BRUTES is in like 90% of the responses.

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Claws for Brutes!

What? I want 'em, too.

Also:

Dark for Blasters

Ice for Stalkers

Cold Domination for Controllers

Illusion for Dominators (with the changes to Dominators, I think discussion of the amount of benefit that Illusion would get from Domination should be revisited)

Archery / Trick Arrow and Psychic Blast / Poison for Corruptors

Thermal / Fire for Defenders

Super Strength for Scrappers

Electric for Tankers

Sonic Resonance and Thermal Radiation for Masterminds

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I was looking for dam/res and end/mod DOs for one of my toons last week. There was everything else BUT available. It's very annoying, especially since trying to buy them on a low level toon that's influence poor (or even find them at all in WW) is nearly impossible.

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Take those 70 tickets that you would have used to buy one of each, turn it into Common Arcane Salvage rolls (level 1-12, or is it 1-20). The eight pieces of Salvage you get should net you more than enough Influence at the Market to buy the Enhancements from a vendor.

edit: Not being snarky. This is exactly what I do to fill in the holes for my AE character when he needs the End Mod or Hold Enhancements.

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Dang, that can get pretty expensive compared to all the possible combinations of alts you can make. I guess ill have to delete some lowbie toons that are just trying to get alcolades

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12 Slots per server, 11 servers = 132 possible characters, without buying a new slot.

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And we have a winnah!

There is no need to restrict yourself to just one server. In fact, it is a darned good idea to have characters on at least two servers, one east coast, one west coast. That way, if some act of god takes out the East Coast Server Farm, you can still play on one of the West Coast servers until they can bring the east coast servers back on line.

I have over 140 alts across all eleven servers. Yes, I have bought slots, and will likely buy more when Going Rogue comes out.

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It is entirely possible that Positron wasn't being entirely truthful when he claimed that Castle and his team didn't have time for Powerset Proliferation in Issue 13 because they were completely consumed by the Custom Critter Creator. If we are getting Power Customization, even just the ability to change the colors, then it seems that Castle and crew have been recoding all of the powers in the game that have a visual effect.

I can see how an undertaking like that could get in the way of Powerset Proliferation.

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Castle and his crew were entirely consumed by custom critter powers in the 13-14 time frame. There's no dishonesty or secret agendas...there was just a lot of work that went in under the hood for Mission Architect.

There wasn't any time for powerset proliferation then, and with the work being done for future content, there's not really a lot of time to do it now. Proliferation is very low hanging fruit, but we're really jammed right now and I honestly can't say when we might be able to squeeze in another batch. What we need always ends up taking precedence over what we want, and right now there's a lot of need.

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I didn't mean that in an "the Devs are lying to us" kind of way, sorry if that came across. The understanding we have is that a lot of stuff that is going to be going into Going Rogue has been worked on for quite a while behind the scenes, and you Devs have needed to play it very close to the chest so as not to tip your hands too soon.

In that light, I think it is perfectly alright if one of you says "Castle and Crew have been working really hard on the Custom Critter Creator, so there is no time for Powerset Proliferation this time around" when you really want to say "Castle and Crew have been working really hard on the Custom Critter Creator AND something you guys have been asking for for a loooong time, but if I even say that much the Marketing guys will kill me, so there is no time for Powerset Proliferation this time around."

I completely appreciate all of the hard work that all of you put in to make the game that I love to play. I also understand that the impending competition, in addition to the tendency of the playerbase to to take an idea and run with it, means that you can't always tell us what it is that you are working hard on until it is almost in the can.

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HI My name is Wendy and I AM an Altoholic.

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Hi Wendy!! And welcome to tonights meeting. We would like to begin the meeting with the Alt-o-haulics mantra. Would anyone like to lead the prayer?

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Huh? Sorry, what was that? I was rolling a new character.

Oh! The mantra?

One of us!

One of us!

ONE OF US!!



[/i]edit:[/i] Alternatively, one could look to the Bible for our credo, but the comparison would be unfavorable.

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"My name is Legion, for we are many."

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hi guys,

now i tried city of heroes and i must say i'm not excited about it. the gameplay is not what i expected and the combat system is slow and not really impressive.

When i compare the gameplay to world of warcraft it's not even close. I didn't come further then a few levels, then i got bored by the game.

sorry to say this to the people that love the game

[/ QUOTE ]You are so wrong on so many levels till its sad really. The game play is way faster than world of warcraft. I couldnt get into WoW because its too slow and there are no travel powers like what we can get on CoH.

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Actually, to be fair, I think OP was comparing current WoW gameplay experience (probably level capped and fully geared out) to current CoH experience (low level, trial account), which isn't comparable.

It sounds like the OP is going to give it another try, with the low level WoW game in mind.

My big piece of advice for the OP (aside from what I've already given), is get into a Safeguard / Mayhem mission at level 5 or 6 with a vet (to insure success, be sure the vet goes over the strategy with you before going in, if they can't describe their plan in relatively simple terms, get another vet ), get that Raptor Pack, and spend some time flying around. If that doesn't sell you, probably nothing will.

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It would never have to be THAT complex surely. Hopefully its just Energy Blast followed by a number that is the colour code. Now they would be giving you the option to change that number by selecting one on the grid in the tailor.

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From what we are given to understand from BABs Power Customization FAQ, the aforementioned list of Energy Blast variants is exactly what would have been required with the powers coded as they are currently.

It is entirely possible that Positron wasn't being entirely truthful when he claimed that Castle and his team didn't have time for Powerset Proliferation in Issue 13 because they were completely consumed by the Custom Critter Creator. If we are getting Power Customization, even just the ability to change the colors, then it seems that Castle and crew have been recoding all of the powers in the game that have a visual effect.

I can see how an undertaking like that could get in the way of Powerset Proliferation.