Lothic

It might make you "sad" but for a game that's almost 7 years old it's more reasonable to expect that "most" people still around are likely going to be more interested in speed runs than slow runs. I'm not saying that's bad or good - I'm just saying it's a safer expectation all things considered.

As always if you don't like it then play the way you want.
Just don't be surprised or upset that you may be playing the game differently than most. *shrugs*

Reward versus Time, like everything else, is in the eye of the beholder.

In these last few weeks I was mostly interested in running WST TF/SFs as fast as possible. As someone who enjoys badging I wanted to finish 50 runs to get my Partner badge (the badge for running 50 assisted WST runs). Sure I was interested in other rewards like shards and merits, but my PRIMARY concern at the time was simply finishing the runs.

I've played this game for seven years so I've run all these TF/SFs in question dozens of times before the WST started both fast and slow. Now that I'm done with the Partner badge I'll probably eventually run those TF/SFs again fast OR slow depending on the situation.

So I don't think fast or slow is either always good or always bad. Just play the way you want and don't get "upset" when other people have different priorities than you do. *shrugs*

If speed runs frustrate you enough you could always make that dislike clear to the team leader up front. If the team leader doesn't respond or responds that it'll be a speed run then drop before they start.

And has been pointed out your ability to start your own team to "direct" things your own way is always an option.

I suspect figuring out ways to reward people for doing them the "intended" way would actually be harder than you think.

As it is now I consider it a strength of the current system that we have the CHOICE to either run them fast or slow. Ultimately this satisfies the most types of players.

It's not that we (speaking as a Vet player) don't like TFs. Many of us just enjoy them for different reasons now. Badges, shards, merits, INF, recipes and so on are still good motivators. *shrugs*

I can sympathize with a newer player wanting to "enjoy" a TF the way the Devs intended. There was a time when I got to enjoy multi-hour runs with most of the original TFs and recall actually *gasp* reading all the text that was associated with them.

I understand it's generally hard to find anyone willing to play "slow runs" anymore but I'm sure there are SGs and roleplaying groups out there who still do that kind of thing. You just have to accept that that's not going to be the "standard" way most people want to play anymore, especially for TFs that have been in the game for many years now.

Clearly the original oldest TFs created for CoH seven years ago are now among the most "dull" TF/SFs in the game. There's almost no way they couldn't be the dullest ones at this point.

But ever since the Devs reworked the Positron TF I've had renewed hope that eventually the other "original" TFs (like Sister Psyche) will get much needed makeovers as well.

I'm not against the idea of the Devs working on cleaning up some of the IOs which are currently available to better balance some of the more glaring holes and "vendor trash" that's out there. I'm just against providing a player customizable system like "IO alchemy" which would lead to hyper min/maxing. If as you say IOs killed build diversity already then "IO alchemy" would just be a further nail in its coffin. From that point of view why allow things to slip further down the slope in an unregulated manner?

The WST system will likely eventually feature every TF and SF in the game sooner or later. Obviously some of them are better than others and people will like different ones for different reasons.

Not really quite sure what the purpose of your post was. If this was a general "complaint" about the Sister Psyche TF then that's one thing. But the fact that it's a legitimate candidate for the WST has probably never been in question. *shrugs*

Frankly Sexy Jay's attempts to be funny or "mysterious" with his vague costume hints mostly just come off as tedious rumor-mongering to me. I sadly suspect if he'd put all that creative energy he wastes in teasing us with cryptic clues about upcoming content into his 'actual' job we might be playing with back items and scabbards by now.

Let's just say I'd rather be entertained by his artistic ability to create new costumes items rather than his lame attempts to poke fun at the people who effectively pay his salary. *shrugs*

The ability to do this might be "great" but it would also lead to not having to deal with compromises in slotting I believe the Devs intended. The Devs wanted a system that forced us to consider the pros and cons between having to deal with whether you "should stick a Recharge or a Range in there". Splitting the difference, as you put it, would eliminate the need to make tough build choices.

The problem with this is not that it would unbalance the game. The problem is that it could potentially lead to builds becoming so perfectly min/maxed that eventually people would only use the "guru-designed" builds as cookie-cutter roadmaps for their characters. Build diversity would be lost.

Right now we only have a certain set of imperfect IO choices when it comes to what we can slot in a power. Obviously people attempt to do the best they can to maximize the benefits but many of the choices don't quite "fit" perfectly. For example a certain collection of IOs might give you the ACC you need in a power, but you might have to compromise a bit of END or DAM in order to get that ACC. Those "rough edges" or compromises we have to make lead to build diversity and multiple ways to approach how we might choose to slot a power. That's a good thing.

But if we had a system like this "IO alchemy" idea then the compromises we currently have to account for would disappear. The "rough edges" I mentioned would be smoothed over. While that seems like a good idea what it would actually lead to is the number-cruncher math people would figure out the exact combinations of IO alchemy that would yield the "optimal" slotting for a given power to maximize its potential. These precise formulations would spread around the forums and you'd end up with a new kind of FotM build where everyone is not only using the same AT/Powersets but everyone is built with the identical stats and slotting as well.

Part of what makes this game fun is that there are multiple ways to slot powers that lead to different pros and cons. This makes it so that Tank A can be slightly different than Tank B but they both can be equivalently effective. With IO alchemy too many people might be motivated to use the one single optimal build that would end up making Tank A and Tank B 100% identical far too often.

Well if you want to take the relative lack of info about this show so far an assume "Doom N Gloom" there's certainly nothing I can say to stop you and I'm not even saying that's a completely wrong attitude to have. As I've said many times if this show ends up being crummy I'll be right there to criticize it harshly. I suppose I just rather prefer to give it a chance to surprise me first.

Knowing how much control DC has over its characters we have to assume that whatever this TV show becomes will not go against whatever "portrayal" of the character DC ultimately wants to have. Frankly if this show actually does something truly silly with the character it'll be as much the fault of DC as the people behind the show. *shrugs*

Ghosts in the machine...
By the time we fully figure out what "motivates" a machine like Watson to do what it does it'll be far too late for us.

Again all I'm saying is that it's far too early to ASSUME doom-n-gloom over this new show.

Those things may yet come from this. I just think it's sad for people to read a few random words about a show that's probably nearly a year from happening and automatically assume it's going be sucky. *shrugs*

Trust me if this show does end up being sucky I'll be in the vanguard of tearing it a new one left and right. I'm just going to maintain a tone of "hopeful neutrality" about it until I know which way to judge it.

It's true that she's blonde most of the time (going by most of the pictures you can find of her on quick google searches).
But there are a few examples of what she looks like with darker hair:





As I said before I don't think the weak link of this show will be Adrianne or her acting. If there's a problem with this show it'll be the stories and/or general "spin" of how they present the Wonder Woman character.

I'll wait to watch the show, or at least see some trailers/pics, before I jump to these conclusions.

I remain unconvinced that they are going to go 100% no-superpower/Emma Peel mode with this new show. I accept that it's a possibility, just a fairly unlikely one.

The reason is that even though geeky people like us might remember the travesty of the Cathy Lee Crosby movie or the period of time when the Wonder Woman comic book went through her "no powers" phase I suspect the general public has no knowledge of these things. Pretty much the only default idea -anyone- has of Wonder Woman comes from Lynda Carter's portrayal of the character.

Now when I say "general public" I also sadly include most Hollywood executive types, including the people involved with this new show. This is where Hollywood's relative ignorance of the source material may actually help the hardcore fans for once. It's quite possible that since the only widely known model for a live action Wonder Woman is Lynda Carter the producers of this new show might not be "aware" that a no-powers version of Wonder Woman even exists as a possibility. They may be so blinded by the "Wonder Woman = Lynda Carter" thing that they may be unwilling to radically alter the character as much as we fear they might.

I still think too many people are assuming too much with the "Wonder Woman as corporate executive" thing and jumping to the simplistic conclusion that means we're going to get "female Batman" out of this. Over the years Woman Woman has had many different "secret identities" in the comics and TV shows and they didn't all lead to the no-superpower/Emma Peel version of the character. Why can't her new alter-ego, in 2011, be an executive in a business setting without changing any of the other magical/mythical fundamentals of the character?

Until we know for sure I'm not assuming anything one way or the other.

Computers have been beating chess masters for years now.
I just see Watson as another step in the process of machines "evolving" into whatever they are destined to become.

Sure... "50 A-merits for Passport" might as well go on the wishlist too.

Only the Devs know exactly what a Bug Hunter badge is awarded for.
And that's the fundamental problem with it as a badge.

If the Devs wanted to have a system to reward players who found bugs for them they should have come up with a unique award that recognizes those players globally in some manner. Locking this concept into a whimsically awarded badge that's stuck on only one character was "stupid incarnate".

Well they actually didn't involve Wonder Woman in a lot of her Greek/Amazon background during the 70s shows with Lynda Carter.
No reason to suspect they'll dwell on that too much in this new show either.

And the Technological Singularity takes another baby step towards reality...

Actually the premise of the Greek Gods acting out their modern-day rivalries through corporate politics and sabotage sounds like an interesting show idea even if you don't involve Wonder Woman in it.