Megajoule

My characters declined Hami-Os for exactly that reason. (Well, also I didn't want to take part in raiding as it was back then, but that merely dovetailed with the "you want me to WHAT?" factor.)

And I'll confess that I did kind of want to see those "consequences" show up sometime, despite (or because) the howls from the players would be epic.

Or, in other words, pretty much what the PvPers accuse Issue 13 of being.

Don't forget the part where he asks for something that's already been announced as coming in the next issue.

Please tell me you're not hinting at stuff that's still under NDA.

No, on second thought, say it again. Louder. Into this microphone.

And I'm trying to explain that it's moot - as of Issue 21, people* will be able to play the existing Mastermind AT in the new tutorial and come out as Heroes.

(* well, subscribers/VIPs, anyway.)

Players will be able to start as any archetype and choose their morality at the end of the new tutorial.

You don't summon (unfallen) Angels. They appear, to deliver the Word or some Smiting (or both). Bonus points if they have a Terrorize aura that affects everyone.

They're not necessarily going to be Nordic androgynes or plump babies, either. I'm thinking of something more like M. L'Engle's version - a swirling, barely comprehensible mass of wings and eyes.

I'm torn between wanting more lore and the fear that such lore will be as unutterably stupid as the Origin of Power arc and the official story of Architect Entertainment. Stuff that I'll just end up having to ignore anyway, for the sake of my suspension of disbelief and/or sanity.

A big part of the problem, IMO, is that in the genre, villains are the proactive characters - they set plots in motion, to which the heroes react. It's hard to set up or allow that in an MMO, especially those built on the quest-giving model; the Mission Architect is the closest that this game has come so far.

And now you're back to asking for more ability to minmax. No thank you.

It seems to me that the level of variation of effect that you're looking for can be achieved through slotting choices - that this is, in fact, why the enhancement system exists.

How much for the "I Win" Button?

I want my Super Strength characters to be able to knock foes back dozens of yards, through any intervening walls.
Or at least into them, resulting in (temporary) craters/divots.

Most of my characters are not and will not become Incarnates. They are "merely" super-beings, with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, but not gods (or entities of equivalent power). Some of them are merely well-trained and very fit people with technological assistance - and that's the closest I will get to the silly "******** Bat-God" issue.

EDIT: as for "germane to the thread" - no, IMO, we should not have the ability to slot multiple Alpha abilities (at once). The Alpha slot's current implementation is part of the Incarnate system and is working properly in the context of that system. The desire of the OP to receive the benefits of more Incarnate abilities without taking part in the Trials is not relevant or sufficient as a reason to change the system.

[10.5 Mp of "get over yourself" deleted by moderator]

I can't tell how long you've actually been around, but you may not be aware that even before CoV and Issue 6, there were people who played "villains." In CoH. Using "heroic" ATs. With various disguises and excuses.

People are going to play what they want to play.

EDIT: And really, OP, you could have avoided all the fine-print asides and just said "I like black and white morality in my comic book game, and also, I can't find teams on my tiny server with its even tinier redside." Both of which are honest and understandable statements.

I dunno about Shards, but an Thread or two - or even better, an Astral? Yeah, you'll get people giving these the attention they deserve.

I suspect that when it comes to their own brand of bodysnatching*, Malta mostly goes for those who "never will be missed" per the Lord High Executioner. This time, through a chain of coincidences, they took one who was and whose relative managed to attract a hero's attention.


* My first main had a particular grievance against Vahzilok as a lowbie, for practicing Bad Science and trafficking in human suffering. This carried over to Crey once she entered that tier, and finally Malta - it seems there's no shortage of bad guys interested in making use of "human resources."

Oh, all right.

Buzzsaw and Von Grun make me laugh, and Television makes me geek out - and then there's the infamous Westin Phipps, who mostly makes me shudder and/or plot his comeuppance - but for "emotional engagement", I have to give the nod to arcs like Wretch, and the Vanguard, and Katie Douglas, and Noble Savage / Aaron Walker / et al. It seems to me that the writing has just gotten better and better as this game goes on.

I'm going to give special mention to an oft-overlooked diamond in the rough, the Slot Machine arc. Unlocking this contact, hidden inside the Giza, requires beating up a lot of a particular sort of Family, which are easy to miss and annoying to grind. My hulking brute got angrier and angrier at its empty promises, until it finally dropped the pretense and simply begged for help. He got the long-awaited payoff... and a sad little apology and a final promise "not to bother you anymore". Result? My big monster mumbling an awkward apology of his own to the now unresponsive machine (that "no one ever comes by to fix"), saying that it wasn't that much trouble, really...

A final note: Warrant was pretty much the only person in Powers Division my ambitious punk loyalist/rogue ever really respected, and after seeing what happened to him, he made sure the person responsible got just as bad or worse. He added a set of gold-on-gold spaulders to his 'hero' costume to honor the man, and they're still part of it today.