McNum

Indigo and Crimson (and Viridian?). They're agents of what exactly? Does the agency have a name, or is it just a sub-division of Longbow, since that's the group they're tagged as when we fight them as villains? And Viridian, is he a part of that agency, or is he just theme named by coincidence?

My level 42 TA/A is also without Stamina. It works fine, the only time I really have End trouble is when using EMP Arrow or if I try to solo an EB. Just picked up Conserve Power, though, it seems to cover that.

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Why does Superman even need to be Clark Kent? For the amazing money I'm sure he makes as a reporter?

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I'm sure he would like to walk the streets of New York with some semblance of normalcy. I mean, who doesn't like at least a little anonymity

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It lets him know when something is happening as it happens. That and he's apparently pretty good at the whole journalism thing.

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For Bruce Wayne/Batman the normal man is the true nature and the hero is the affectation while for Clark Kent/Superman the normal man is the act and the hero persona is his true self.

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I've always seen it as just the opposite. At least, that's how the DCAU characterizes them, so that's good enough for me.

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I'd even go s far and say there is NO normal man with Batman. There is only Batman and the disguises Batman wears. Bruce Wayne is one of these. If needed, Batman can shed the Bruce Wayne character, but he can't stop being Batman. I think there was a story arc where Bruce Wayne was wanted, so Batman shed the Bruce Wayne disguise until he could clear its name.

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Perhaps Bruce has warn the mask so long that even he thinks its his own skin, but at the core of Batman is the idea that a normal man becomes something more.


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Indeed. A normal man has become a legend. The Batman. But at the cost of the normal man. Bruce Wayne "died" along with his parents. What was left became Batman.

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Clark Kent is an idealist raised in the country. He's an honest and helpful man. Who, by the way, is from the plant Krypton and can benchpress continents. But he's still an honest and helpful man. With that kind of power, he became Superman. What he thinks a true hero should be. Superman is an idealistic boyscout, because that's how Clark sees the ideal hero, and he has the power to act on that ideal. If he needed to, Clark could stop being Superman and settle down quietly. But as long as Superman is needed, he'll keep up the act.

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Except what Im reffuring to as the "Clark Kent" Persona isn't the "Kryptonian raised in Kansas" its the "I'm a normal guy/bumbling fool" that he puts on while in public as Clark Kent. No matter how down to earth he is he's still a super powered being pretending to be normal.

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In part yes, but at his core, he's Clark Kent, raised on a farm in Kansas, good, polite man. That is the Clark Kent character, it comes natural to him to play Clark Kent. About him being meek and foolish, it's a necessary part of being super strong. If he gets angry or violent, things break. People break. Clark is a person realizing he can crack mountains with his fists, as a result, he purposely avoids conflict. Even as Superman he holds back, he has to. As cliche as it has become, I refer to the "Wolrd of Cardborad Speech" from Justice League Unlimited.

"Me? I've got a different problem. I feel like I live in a world made of... cardboard, always taking constant care not to break something, to break someone. Never allowing myself to lose control even for a moment, or someone could die." -Superman (to Darkseid)

That is the realization of a man who grew up with superpowers. In fact, I bet this bothers him a lot, he alwys has to underestimate, always need to be careful. Except... as Superman he can let loose just a bit.

Heh, perhaps Clark Kent needs to be Superman more than he thinks. Playing the hero lets him use his mighty powers for something constructive... that it usually boils down to "Apply fist to supervillain" is a minor detail.

But still, Superman is the idealized version of a true hero in the mind of Clark Kent. In an ironic twist, the example Superman sets that people can strive for, is the same example Clark Kent strives for when donning the tights and cape. Not even Superman himself can live up to the idealized example of Superman.

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For Bruce Wayne/Batman the normal man is the true nature and the hero is the affectation while for Clark Kent/Superman the normal man is the act and the hero persona is his true self.

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I've always seen it as just the opposite. At least, that's how the DCAU characterizes them, so that's good enough for me.

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I'd even go s far and say there is NO normal man with Batman. There is only Batman and the disguises Batman wears. Bruce Wayne is one of these. If needed, Batman can shed the Bruce Wayne character, but he can't stop being Batman. I think there was a story arc where Bruce Wayne was wanted, so Batman shed the Bruce Wayne disguise until he could clear its name.

Clark Kent is an idealist raised in the country. He's an honest and helpful man. Who, by the way, is from the plant Krypton and can benchpress continents. But he's still an honest and helpful man. With that kind of power, he became Superman. What he thinks a true hero should be. Superman is an idealistic boyscout, because that's how Clark sees the ideal hero, and he has the power to act on that ideal. If he needed to, Clark could stop being Superman and settle down quietly. But as long as Superman is needed, he'll keep up the act.

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Despite all his power, Lord Recluse apparently feels the need to keep a pistol at his side, but really, when you consider he still robs banks, he might just be a fan of old school villainy...

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Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

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Considering one of his plots is draining the superpower of his enemies, having a gun seems prudent in case of a backfire. I bet it's modified to have one round more than the standard version, too. Being defeated by basic math is so embarrassing.

Mission Architect news:

Testing mode has a FULL DEBUG PACKAGE!

- Invincibility On/Off
- Invisibility On/Off
- Go to next enemy
- Go to next objective
- Kill target
- Complete mission

Awesome! This will make things a lot easier.

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Every civilian in Paragon City is, in fact, a hero. Yep, that's right. Every one you see walking in the streets who isn't an enemy is actually a super hero in their secret identity.

Think about it! Clark Kent always has to play the bumbling, helpless buffoon when there are witnesses around! You see him cowering before a man with a gun, but the second you turn your back.. WHAM! Unconscious bad guy!


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Reminds me of the Kill Bill monologe, Bruce Wayne is Batman, But Superman is just the opposite, he his Superman and pretends to be Clark Kent.

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The scene in which Bill shows he does not understand the characters at all.

Clark Kent is the adopted son of Jonathan and Martha Kent. He also happens to have superpowers and decided to put on blue tights and help the world. He was called "Superman" by the public, and he adopted the alias as his own.

Batman is the persona created by an 8-year-old boy whose parents were shot dead in front of him. Through years and years of training, Batman became the Dark Knight who stalks the night in order to prevent tragedies like his own from happening again. During the day, he pretends to be billionaire playboy "Bruce Wayne" both to throw off the scent of him being Batman, and to gather information that Batman cannot.

Clack is Superman, Batman is Bruce Wayne.

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Does anyone else think that Reichsman looks amusingly reminiscent of M. Bison?

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"Der Tag, den das Reichsman Ihre Stadt zierte, war der wichtigste Tag Ihres Lebens, aber zu mir war es Dienstag."

I apologize for the babelfish translation, but I couldn't resist.

I think I can come up with another one.

Daredevil - A subset of the combatant, but the daredevil purposely seeks out challenges that he or she really has no business attempting. Like soloing AVs on a sub-optimal build or even tanking an AV for a team on a Blaster. Win or lose doesn't matter much, it's the rush of facing impossible odds... and sometimes pulling it off anyway. May or may not be the mindset that created the Blapper style Blaster.

It's more of a subtype, yes, but I feel the "doing something stupid, and getting away with it" style was missing. It's surprising what you actually CAN pull off in this game, even without Min/Maxing. Scrappers are good at this type, too.

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A teleporting Sky Raider could have a malfunction, and slapping frantically at his harness, could end up embedded partially in a wall.

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I've seen this one happen, actually. Try landing the killing blow just as he teleports and then go look at the ragdoll at the destination. Usually, they're more twisted than a pretzel.

Also, the Carnival of Shadows do this with their screaming, endurance draining souls. It gets a little old after a while, but it's pretty unique. I wouldn't want everyone to do this, it should be saved for rare random occurrences on standard foes, and, of course, custom ones on signature characters. Like Statesman going down in a brilliant lightning strike, Manticore activating the emergency teleporter, Ghost Widow dissipating, and so on. That would be cool.

Yeah, the current situation is a sticky one for everyone involved, but I still have faith in the game, and its developers. I like to log in and play a superhero/villain of my own design with some of the friends I've picked up along the line. It's a nice, casually paced MMO that if I miss logging in for a week, I've not lost much, but where I can still go on a 10 hour playing binge if I feel like it.

So as long as this doesn't change, I'm staying. I'm not promising any more than that, but so far it seems to have worked out fine.

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how very Zen.
I prefer the classics though: if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

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No. It makes the air vibrate a lot, yes, but sound is air vibrations converted into sensory information. So no listener, no sound.

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Wait, does that mean that there was no sound anywhere before there were people around to hear it?

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There have been a plethora of creatures that could hear sound before there were humans. There have been creatures that could sense sound waves even if they couldn't hear them.

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Exactly, and even a microphone counts. As long as the air (or liquid, or solid matter) vibrations are acknowledged and converted by a device or creature capable of converting it into information, it's a sound. If not, it's just vibrations.

Science: Killing your moments of Zen for sport.

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how very Zen.
I prefer the classics though: if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

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No. It makes the air vibrate a lot, yes, but sound is air vibrations converted into sensory information. So no listener, no sound.

I'm all for it, too. It shouldn't be a requirement to have a strong solo character to test out your missions. I'd even take it a step further and ask for a full debug toolboxt. God Mode, Invisibility, and Set Enemy Health to 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% and 0%.

First you check if the arc even works, then you balance for difficulty.

Yup. All it took was pushing the Republish button and it's back online.

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Actually, I can't find the arc. The following arcs have been bumped to the bottom of the list for technical reasons:

Arc 49280 - The Toypocalypse!
- Doesn't seem to work. I've tried to start this arc four times and not once does it actually start.

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Thanks for the heads up! Must have gotten broken with one of the patches. The way it breaks reminds me of what happened when you had an invalid name in beta.

I republished it and that seems to have fixed it. At least I can get it to run now.

EDIT: And it runs all the way through. Some enemy placements are different, but it's nothing that breaks the arc. I'll probably edit it once I got the sequel I'm planning close to ready, so the coming review is going to help, I hope.

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But it still sets the bar for "dear sweet gods above that was hard".

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Uh... no. But R-Type is still a decent difficulty.

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Ok... that is ridiculous. I am (or at least was) pretty good at shooters, but I wouldn't even try that.

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The sub-genre is called "Bullet Hell" or "Curtain Fire". Can't imagine why. It is pretty silly, but what's worse is that there are players who can beat that.

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But it still sets the bar for "dear sweet gods above that was hard".

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Uh... no. But R-Type is still a decent difficulty.

An idea for an XP cap that has been bouncing around in my head is a rather straightforward one:

Each level should at minimum take the same amount of minutes to reach from the previous level as the number you're trying to reach. So level 1 to 2 is 2 minutes. Level 49 to 50 is 50 minutes.

Overall this works out to 21:14:00 as the quickest possible 1-50 time. Nothing a casual player would notice, but a ceiling that's hittable with farming.

For a City of Heroes 2, the most important thing to me is that it is still a City of Heroes game. The core gameplay is "beat up multiple thugs for exp and levels while wearing awesome costumes". That must not change. Even if I prefer skill points, CoH2 must still have the core concept of CoH.

What I would like, though, is to break open the world. Currently, we have Paragon City, the Rogue Isles and "instance". I want to see the world, if possible. Go to the arctic, the amazon, desert environments, an underwater city, space, the past, other dimensions. I basically want a CoH style game focused on making things big.

For the awesome costumes part, CoH is already well on the way, but could use a graphical overhaul soon. Compare the new pieces with the original. Some of the original pieces really need a better texture. Compare the Valkyrie pack Head Detail wings with the originals, for instance. Also, since we have the PhysX, it would be nice to use the Cloth function on the capes. Also faces. See Sims 2? That's about as old a CoH. Templates and sliders, please. I don't expect the face and body generator to match Sims 3, but having it on Sims 2 level would be awesome.

For the setting, I wouldn't mind a time skip, to be honest. Jump ahead 20 or so years. The Coming Storm was bad, but averted. Many villain groups have been defeated and things were looking up. Many heroes have retired, or become mentors for a new generation. But evil doesn't sleep. It waits. Soon a new generation of Heroes (and Villains) will need to show that they are a match for their heroic (or villainous) predecessors.

A setting like that would in general answer why our characters don't transfer over directly, allow for technology to change just enough to still seem familiar, but comic book-ish, and make the world a fresh new place to be. And considering that Statesman and Lord Recluse don't age, they could still be at each other's throats. Although that would be a bit old with both of them back... Maybe something happened so they DID age? Having Statesman and Recluse as semi-retired mentor figures for each side could be interesting.

But basically a CoH 2 for me is a chance to wipe the story clean. On one hand, Ouroborus and the Coming Storm, not to mention the 5th returning, is awesome, but we're still recovering the Jewel of Hera, gaining Omega Clearance a good 10-20 levels after being told the shocking secret of the Rikti, and breaking into Frostfire's home to slide on his ice sculptures, then beating him up for asking us to stop. It would be nice to have a clean break and try a new story in the same universe.

Yeah, it is. It's the ability to add a critter to a group, but not have the critter spawn automatically in random groups. That way you can keep a unique critter in the same group as the rest and call it out with a Boss objective when you want it. Otherwise it doesn't spawn.

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So you can make a minion a boss...? that's interesting. And useful.

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Custom only though.

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On test I made a mission where an Aspect of Rularuu got bored and sent you out to kill a Rikti Monkey. The Rikti Monkey was the leader of the boss group and was a plain old "Small" from the standard Rikti. I haven't tried it on Live yet.

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Yes to the idea... but It's doubtful that they would be "flowing" in any way. The (Admittedly comic book) science behind Talsorian items wouldn't support that.

I would expect something much closer to the projection mechanism of the Talsorian Shield, likely just a small tech styled backpack while not flying, the using a telescoping cross bar to support a fixed wing more like that of an Aircraft.

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I really want Babs to post on the "scientific" explanation of this. It would be epic and entertaining.

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There was one a while back explaining in all it's geeky glory why a Talsorian Mace wouldn't work...

Alas I can't find it now, so I can only assume it's met with a forum purge.

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I remember that one. It was great. I'd love to see what he'd say to explain why or why not Talsorian wings are possible. I can imagine a few reasons, but it's just not the same as hearing a dev go about it in such a comically serious manner.

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I wonder how Talsorian wings are supposed to generate lift. They're monomolecular, nearly weightless and can't form enclosed spaces. That's not good wing material. It's happily use them if they were added, though. Glowing energy wings are cool!

A small part of me wants to make a "Return of the Rikti Dolls!" arc now.

The catch?

The Rikti Doll faction contains the following:
Sappers
Knives of Artemis minions
Dark Ring Mistresses
Night Widows
Vanguard Sword Soldiers
Vanguard Sword Wizards
Rikti Comm Officers
Rikti Magus
The Swarm
And a custom critter of each rank as AR/Ninjitsu. Each will be set to spawn separately as bosses. Because an invisible AV with a perception boost a double damage bug from Ninjitsu and Sniper Rifle is just mean. Now try 5.

The map is an outdoor map.

That ought to keep anyone looking for Rikti Dolls to farm on their toes. Or rage quit.