Olantern

[ QUOTE ]
I can't wait for the "game" world event and hope its more than 1 day long :P


[/ QUOTE ]

Same here. I'll be away for nearly two weeks right around the time I suspect this will go live.

Does anyone who was around for i3 remember how long the 5th Column/Council fights lasted (the event as a whole, not the individual spawn battles)?

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe it's a dumb idea but I had it anyway.
How about adding a Comic's store somewhere within Paragon City. The walls could be decorated with cover art from winners and other notable mentions.
Just an idea.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like this, too. If the full comic store or sidewalk stand is too much work, perhaps one of the titles could be used on the movie marquees around the city. Everyone in Paragon City has probably seen The Broken Column at least 50 times by now. No wonder those theaters look run-down.

Returning to the contest, here's a question for the winners and anyone else who cares to answer. Did you use demoedits to create all your screenshots, or were some taken from actual gameplay?

Congratulations to the three winners! Special thanks to Chase and LJ for commenting on my entry (and so many others)- I think the comments, both from fellow entrants and from the judges on the final winners, have been one of the most interesting parts of this contest.

And, of course, I'm looking forward to the honorable mentions! There are so many entries that I still haven't made it through all of them, and I'd appreciate the judges' recommendations on where to begin.

Excellent, excellent contest. More like this, please!

Good work, everyone. I have liked at least one or two things about every one of the entries I've seen. There's a lot of style and, just as importantly, a lot of variety out there.

Here is my entry, "Spectral Evidence," a Thrilling Graphical Novelette in the spirit of the detective pulp magazines of the 1930's and '40's. Due to both dedication to the letter of the rules and incredible laziness, I decided to use only unmodified screenshots and the tools in the most basic version of the comic book creator. Like many others, I had trouble with the fonts once I uploaded the comic; the Comic Book Creator people should probably look into this before their next marketing push.

There's no possible way my entry can win with the competition I've already seen, but I enjoyed making it, and it gave me warm feelings about CoH and the Comic Book Creator software, so I suppose the contest served its purpose well.

Good luck to all!

[ QUOTE ]
I think I can now safely say that I have forgotten more about this game than most will ever know, and I proved it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Does this mean "Forgetful" will be the 39 month veteran badge?

This guide should come in the box with the game.

And should be required forum reading.

My opinion is in no way influenced by the fact that one of my characters is indeed a springer spaniel with an uzi. Or, at least, some kind of dog with some kind of gun.

[ QUOTE ]
All members of the Trial must be at least 39, & at least 1 member of the team must be within range (39-41) in order to start, all members of the team above level 41 will be auto-exemplared (to 41) at the start of the trial.


[/ QUOTE ]

Okay, does this mean that you cannot have a team where all members are above 41? My SG tried to start the trial with a team of 50's, assuming we would all exemplar down once the trial started. However, instead of starting, it kicked everyone from the team and did not begin.

Not sure if this should be considered a "costume" bug, an animation bug, or both, but here goes:

When a winged character fires the bow from the archery set, the bowstring is stretching from his finger to the joints of his wings, rather than from his finger to the ends of the bow. I've only seen this on the male model so far; I haven't tested it on the others.

[ QUOTE ]
But wait.. I just had a thought.. if Calystix was able to spawn the Leviathan, does that mean (if the Coralax EAT will still be released) that us players can't be Shapers like Calystix cause we can't summon huge Leviathans like that (I doub't we'll be able to spawn zone-sized pets, lol)? and does that mean we'll be Coralax-Hybrids? that would suck, I don't wanna be human or part human or an infected human, apox on humans. =P

[/ QUOTE ]

As I said a few pages back, I'm almost certain that player Coralax would be hybrids. This is simply another reason why.

However, here are a few words and thoughts of comfort:

- I remain convinced that the the important part of a Coralax hybrid is the coral, not the host. If the coral budded from a Shaper, then the hybrid is a Shaper, too. So far as I know, nothing like this has ever appeared in-game, but there's no evidence against it, either. Again, other than the backgrounder, which mentions Coralax cities in the sea, we know next to nothing about the "home life" of the Coralax.

- NON-COX SPOILER! Speaking of Fish-men, consider the protagonist of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." He could be classed as an "infected human" or "part human," but that doesn't make him any less a Deep One, does it? (It's tough for me to comment here; I've never been as impressed with Lovecraft as most sf/f mavens seem to be.)

- What evidence is there that Calystix is in any way typical of Shapers as a whole? Couldn't Calystix be an especially gifted Shaper, able to call up a Leviathan where other Shapers could only manage, say, a Coral Underling? I find it easy to imagine Calystix as the Coralax counterpart of a hero or villain, possessing abilities that other Coralax might find unusual or frightening. In fact, couldn't Calystix be to Shapers (or all Coralax) as Statesman and Lord Recluse are to Incarnates, a pinnacle a PC could never hope to reach? At any rate, being the only member of the race hanging around on the surface and making deals with the Freakshow strongly implies a very unusual Coralax.

- The Shaper designation could be something left to the player, not a component of the AT. Most of the posts in this thread implicitly assume that "Shaper" is a set of physical characteristics, but it could easily be simply a social designation. By way of analogy, it could be more like "character with a backstory involving aliens" than "Warshade." Basically, if you say your character is a Shaper, it's a Shaper.

- How many Shapers are there? Might Calystix be the only one (at this time), or one of less than ten? Again, we have no way of knowing. If there are very few of them, we're unlikely to be able to play them as a sub-AT, regardless of whether player Coralax are "pure" Coralax or not.

- Even if you can't be a Shaper, that in no way implies you have to be a hybrid. Again, we just don't know.

So, I suppose my advice is, "Don't get your hopes up, but it's premature to despair." Personally, regardless of what the epic AT is, Coralax or otherwise, I will make one and enjoy it as a gameplay curiosity if nothing else.

Edited to add analogy to Incarnates and spell "protagonist" correctly.

Thanks. That was helpful.

[ QUOTE ]
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5) That storyline does not relate to Incarnates. This is subject to change.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


It would be hard for them to change it. Do note that I'm not being biased. I really find it hard to believe that they can change a big story such as this unless the change is very minor and/or an extension.


[/ QUOTE ]

I was thinking they might change the AT to fit the story, not the other way around.

[ QUOTE ]
. . . Positron announced that they are planning on introducing a new EAT during this storyline. . .

[/ QUOTE ]

Was this during the recent w00t interview, or in an earlier interview? I was thinking it was the latter, but I could be wrong. If I was indeed wrong, then they must be planning some EAT between Nictus/evil PB's and Incarnates.

[ QUOTE ]
. . . it would be easy to assume that this EAT does have something to do with the storyline. Let's not forget that one of the zones in the "which zones would you like to see" poll is an Underwater zone. If that were to be introduced in I10/I11 (or whatever expansion box issues), then it will be highly likely that they will include the Coralax.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed.

However, what about the other potential zones? The only other match that springs to mind for me is Desert and BotBS. For instance, how do any of the announced EAT's relate, if at all, to the Rikti Homeworld, another popular choice in that poll? Are we left with no EAT at all, then?

(By the way, I think this is a good time to remind everyone that the devs specifically noted during the zone poll that the voting wouldn't necessarily determine which zone was built; it would just be something they considered before starting development.)

It just occurred to me that I might be committing another error of assumption here. Who's to say that the new zone will have anything to do with upcoming EAT's at all? Maybe the two things are separate. We could have, say, Coralax without an underwater zone, just as we have Kheldians without outer space. This subject is like some Escher drawing, getting more and more elaborate the longer you ponder it.

By the way, I am not stalking Oceanborn through the fora tonight, despite appearances.

I honestly don't mean to be argumentative, but my interpretation of things is slightly different. I think there's less chance of seeing an "all-new" EAT soon. Here's what I take from those quotes, combined with previous interviews and announcements:

1) The Devs want to put Nictus and probably a villanous counterpart to Peacebringers in CoV as soon as possible. They will be unlocked by reaching 50 with a villain. All of this is subject to change and will happen "Soon(TM)."

2) At one time, an EAT (Coralax, BotBS, Avilan, Incarnate, or something else never publicly mentioned) was to have been released as part of the boxed expansion.

3) There will no longer be a boxed expansion. What was to have been in it will be in i10 and i11. This is subject to change (i.e., the contents of those issues could change, and the material from the former box could be spread out further, concentrated, or scrapped).

4) i10 and i11 are planned to relate to a single storyline. This is subject to change.

5) That storyline does not relate to Incarnates. This is subject to change.

6) The devs plan to do future EAT's in this order: (1) Nictus/maybe evil Peacebringer; (2) Incarnates. This is subject to change.

All together, this suggests to me that the earliest we are likely to see an EAT other than evil Kheldians is after all the material that would have been in the boxed expansion is done. The only way I could see them straying from this is if they figure out a way to work one or more EAT's into the storyline of i10 or i11. Apparently, this is most likely to be the Incarnate, since the devs currently want to tackle them next.

Here's how I see it playing out, assuming all the devs' current plans and assumptions are realized:

1) Nictus and possibly the evil version of PB's are introduced in CoV, probably in i9 but possibly as early as i8 or late as i10.

2) The storyline that runs through i9, i10, and i11 (what was to culminate in the boxed expansion) completes.

3) Once that storyline is over, a new issue, featuring Incarnates as an EAT, is released. By this time, we're well into 2008.

4) All of the above is subject to change.

Notice that I repeatedly said "subject to change." All of us, including me, frequently forget that the devs often don't have a much better idea of where things will be in six months or a year than we do. Things are simply too mutable that far in the future. The fact that an EAT was once planned for the boxed expansion/i10 and i11 but can't be worked into the story bears this out.

Thoughts? Is there anything I missed?

Excellent points.

[ QUOTE ]
As far as playing Coralax-Hybrids, I guess the devs have somewhat 'reserved' the possibility that we will be Coralax-Hybrids by making them part-human, therefore, it wouldn't be hard for them to implement it in the game. I'm sure if it steps out of their funding boundaries, they'll bail on it like they did with the Shields. Anyway, the only thing I find wrong with it is that we're not really playing the Coralax, but their lackeys. While that may sound like the ultimate plan, being lackeys to the Coralax (just like we are to Lord Recluse), it seems a bit off if you really wanted to get into the role of being a Coralax. Being slaves, if you may, doesn't really put you in the same standard as the actual Coralax, and being a Hybrid, you're not really a Coralax. Don't get me wrong, I see dozens of techinical reasons why the devs would choose the Coralax-Hybrids as an EAT, but honestly, if you can't play as the main characters in this epic story, why even bother?


[/ QUOTE ]

Well put. I had exactly the same reaction to this concept when I thought it up. As you said, why would anyone want to play a game in which you're a mere lackey? It takes the "Epic" feel right out of the Epic AT. On the other hand, as you noted, all of CoV can be viewed as something in which you're always a mere lackey, so it's not without precedent.

[ QUOTE ]
The Oil Spill, I should emphasize, isn't a literal attack on the Coralax. To me, it seems more like an unfortunate coincidence that there are Coralax nearby.

[/ QUOTE ]

Correct. I see the Coralax and BotBS more as "natural enemies" than each others' true opponents. Assuming (and, as you imply, this is a big assumption) that the two AT's appear at the same time, I could imagine several missions in which they clash in much the same way that PB's and WS's end up fighting Vahz and Hydra Men in one of their arcs. It's not so much a feud as coincidentally conflicting goals. And really, I have no evidence that Coralax and BotBS will appear at the same time other than the fact that PB's and WS's came out at the same time. There are certainly plenty of reasons to believe the devs won't always follow this pattern.

On the subject of the costumes, I'm still trying to figure out how a "pure" Coralax might work. I think both your conclusions about Calystix are spot on, so we're pretty much in the dark as to what a pure Coralax looks like. However, assuming they all have some distinguishing characteristic, say, Calystix's odd eyes, we're still left with the problem of how the devs can ensure that all Coralax PC's have them and no other character does.

At first, I thought that Coralax costume pieces (I'll lump them all together under the admittedly ridiculous but easy-to-type idea of a "Coral Hat") would be unlocked in the same trial or whatever that grants access to Coralax AT. However, the only ways, so far, to grant costume pieces are to the character who earned the unlock (e.g., the Croatoan Witch Hat or the Stocking Cap) or to the account as a whole (e.g., the Hellenic Sandals or the CoV Preorder Helmets). In order to allow Coralax-specific costumes to Coralax and only Coralax, the devs need to develop an AT filter for the costume creator. I have no idea how viable this is.

Even if such a filter can be created quickly and easily, it leaves the problem of fully human-looking Coralax unsolved. The only way to resolve this would be to require Coralax to select from an inevitably limited number of costume options. I think the devs would believe, rightly or wrongly, that most players wouldn't want, say, a selection of only four face options if they want to play a Coralax, which might be where AT-specific options would end up.

I could see the devs sneaking around these issues by giving all Coralax a passive power that produces coral-like effects on the body at all times. But having to create costume in the costume creator without being able to see the effects of an always-on power doesn't sound too pleasant to me.

In any case, any EAT is going to be a difficult balancing act on many levels. Hopefully, the devs will find us a way to get the right amount of distinctiveness without limiting our options, either costume- or story-wise.

RIKTI SPOILERS!








Thanks for the additional information on Merulina. Here's why I proposed a connection:

I am a Rikti lore specialist myself. Gathering together the relevant information from all sources about them, here's what we know:

1) Rikti are humans from an alternate earth. Primal Earth humans can be modified into Rikti. (Steve Sheridan and Timothy Raymond's arcs)

2) Rikti do not believe in gods. Long ago, they exterminated the god-worshippers on Rikti Earth in order to wipe out belief in the gods, thus wiping out the gods themselves. (Angus McQueen mission, IIRC) My pet theory is that the Rikti are the Oranbegans of their universe, who won their war against the Mu by doing this rather than sinking their city, as they did on Primal Earth.

3) The Rikti were originally modified into their current forms by other aliens long ago. (from Ambassdor Kur'ehkt) My thinking is that these mysterious aliens may have something to do with the "Alien Tech" salvage that sometimes drops. I suspect we'll see them or their handiwork, in one way or another, in the boxed expansion.

Here's how I came up with a connection to Merulina: Merulina seems to be a god/alien in the mode of Cthulhu and other H.P. Lovecraft entities, rather than an apothesized nature spirit like Hequat or an empowered human like the ancients who drank from the Well of the Furies. I was imagining that members of Merulina's race, though not Merulina herself, might be able to travel through dimensions. Thousands of years ago, they visited Rikti Earth and transformed the Rikti. Next year, during the boxed expansion, they or their minions (in the forms of the Battalion or the Rikti?) attempt to do the same on Primal Earth. Goodness knows what the Coralax reaction to this would be, since it implies Merulina is something of a pariah among her race.

On the other hand, having read over what I just wrote, I think that's all too confusing for the devs and players. It makes Professor Echo's arc look straightforward. Also, the fact that Merulina was on earth and puttering around with coral some 65 million years before humans appeared on Primal Earth weighs against a connection.

One final question- my understanding of the planned upcoming releases is:

1) i8, supposedly in September or so by last Dev report (I'm thinking October, November, or December is more reasonable). Will contain things relating to bases, veteran rewards, and "be more hero-centered," whatever that means.

2) i9. Contents totally unknown. Probably even the devs haven't decided yet.

3) Expansion box, set for sometime next year (I've heard next spring- can that be right?). Will contain Epic AT(s). Is i10 going to accompany the retail box? (Man, if I were a dev reading this right now, I'd be screaming to myself about these players asking about releases nearly a year away!)

At this point, I wonder whether Epic AT's will be ready by then. But who knows? Just as the journey to 50 is more important than the destination, so the speculation is at least as interesting as the final release.

Just have to say, excellent guide, Oceanborn.

[ QUOTE ]
I wouldn't apply Kheldian rules to other EATs and vise versa. For one, it would SUCK for us to be Coralax-Hybrids. I want to be a Shaper, or whatever else *real* Coralax there are out there. I would rather be an entirely new creature even if it does mean I have my own set of *limited* Coralax costume items than be, like a Kheldian, infused with a.. human. Bleh!

[/ QUOTE ]

This exchange and some comments in some other threads mentioning the Coralax and BotBS finally persuaded me that I should weigh in with my current Epic AT conspiracy theories.

As to the Coralax:

First, I'm almost certain that the Coralax we play will be Hybrids. I base this on the limitations of the way the game is set up, not anything from the story. In order to be a true Coralax, there'd have to be a separate all-Coralax costume creator, which I suspect would be a fairly major time investment. If they don't do this, we're left with the potential for pure Coralax who look exactly like humans (or werewolves, or catgirls, or any of the other things you can make with the full costume creator). I think the devs are likely to stick with the same model they used for Kheldians and just make the AT's powers cause coral to appear on their skins.

That said, we have the problem Oceanborn mentions: who would want to play some creature enslaved by an undersea race and infested with mind-controlling coral? Well, here's how I see the devs handling this. The Coralax will have a contact like Sunstorm and Shadowstar for Kheldians, possibly located on the beach below Fort Darwin or on Chum Island. When you first talk to him/her/it, it will say something like, "Bwahahaha! Puny landwalker, you are now a slave of the Coralax!" Your first few missions will be along the lines of Kalinda's, basically beating on the Coralax's enemies because they say so. As in the Kheldian arcs, I imagine things will start off assuming you know nothing of the Coralax's background, and that it'll gradually be revealed as you level up and do more arcs. Later on, I suspect, you'll clash with other Coralax, either helping or preventing the rise of Merulina and/or the Leviathan. (When I say, "or," I don't mean that we'll have a choice; I'm just not sure which side the devs will place us on.) The final arc might end with your character taking over Coralax society. I base all this on the way the devs have approached CoV arcs in general, particularly the inclusion of Patron Arcs in their final form. Essentially, I see Coralax (and any future Epic AT's in either game, for that matter) as doing the entire game as a form of Patron Arc.

Sound limiting? Sure, it is. But this is similar to the relationship a non-Coralax villain has to Arachnos, and the arcs aren't very flexible there, either.

There's one further reason I expect they'll give us Hybrids rather than true Coralax. I don't know about all of you, but when I think of coral, even super-intelligent coral, I think of a big, asymmetrical, immobile, colonial, microscopic animal that doesn't move. It's hard to imagine that as a player character. So far as I know, other than Calystix, there's no evidence that the Coralax differ physically from mundane coral. I discount Calystix as decent evidence of what a pure Coralax looks like because, so far as I know, there's no evidence that he/she/it isn't a Hybrid, too. I've always suspected that Calystix, along with the rest of what we think of as "pure" Coralax, is a Vitrea/Coralax Hybrid. I figure that truly "pure" Coralax can't move, speak, etc.; they're just super-intelligent, telepathic coral. Again, like Khelds, they need a host to interact with others in ways that matter to the game. Oceanborn, please correct me if there's contrary material somewhere.

Note that this would still allow player Coralax Shapers. I'm hoping, although I'm not optimistic, that we'll get a choice of powersets or sub-AT's within the Coralax. Depending on the kind of Coralax coral in symbiosis with the human character, different powers would be available. Perhaps, like PB's and WS's, they'll each have their own agendas, or perhaps the devs will simplify things and just note in passing that they're different castes of Coralax. I suspect that if you want to be a "human-free" Coralax, you're out of luck, unless you can make a Vitrea-like costume from the available options in the creator. Of course, even then, you're not a "pure" Coralax.

Again, all this is based on (1) what I perceive as the the devs' desire to enable us to use the full creator on all characters and (2) the fairly heavy-handed way the devs have approached CoV storylines in general.

As to the Blood of the Black Stream:

It's almost impossible to speculate on the appearance or powers of these guys at all. Even their story is pretty vague, aside from the fact that they have some connection with Gadzul Oil.

Story-wise, I think they'll receive a starting contact who sends them on a series of seemingly meaningless missions whose significance only becomes clear with time.

I mention them in the same post as the Coralax because I'm pretty sure that the devs intend to put them in the game at the same time, as rival factions. I suspect that Coralax arc missions will tend to send you against BotBS foes and vice versa. The fact that one group wants to keep the oceans tidy while the other wants to spill Eyes of Horus in them suggests a built-in antipathy. Also, judging from the one available example, the devs like instituting Epic AT's in related pairs.

This brings me to my final big point. Since it appears that little work has been done on the BotBS, and, if I'm right, Coralax won't be introduced without them, I don't think we should expect to see either AT before i9 at the very, very earliest.

Finally, something for discussion . . . .

RIKTI SPOILER BELOW!











I think that the devs' current pet story idea is the one mentioned by Ambassador Kuhr'ehkt (sp?) and hinted at in the description of "Alien Tech" salvage: the fact that there's some unknown group of aliens out there, presumably with some unrevealed agenda. I imagine those will be the foe heroes and villains will team up to fight in the boxed expansion, but who knows? Because the devs are concentrating on this, I don't expect much attention to the story of the Coralax, BotBS, or even Incarnates, let alone the Avilans, until after the boxed expansion is released.

The only other reason I bring up these mysterious aliens in an Epic AT thread is that I see a possible, tenuous connection with Merulina. As I understand it (again, I'm not a Coralax expert), she fell to Earth from the stars. Might she be a member of a whole race of beings with similar powers, powers great enough to modify the entire Rikti species? I'd appreciate some thoughts on this from someone who knows more about Merulina and Co.

. . . every guy your age can have a fairly involved conversation about which Transformer he liked best. (Grimlock FTW!)

. . . you owned the Masters of the Universe Evil Horde Slime Pit ("Evil Pit of Gruesome Ooze!").

. . . you owned the three figures that could not be used with the slime from the Slime Pit and still remember what they are.

. . . you never got slime from the Slime Pit on those three figures, but you did get it on the rug.

. . . you like to refer to anyone creepy as a "scaly underling of the sea." (10,000 inf. to anyone who knows this reference!)

. . . your father owned one of the first IBM PC's.

. . . your favorite game for that PC was Crush, Crumble & Chomp. (Does anyone else think we need an movie monster MMOG?)

. . . you know that the correct answer to, "What should Dirk do?" is generally "None of the above," or, more rarely, "Attack the Giddy Goons," but never, "Attack the Mudbulps." That may have been my favorite Saturday morning cartoon.

Speaking of Dirk the Daring, one of my favorite childhood memories was from around the time Dragon's Lair came out. Only a few arcades had the game, and this was long before home computers or Atari-type machines could handle a game like that. No place near where I grew up had it. The first time I saw it was at an amusement park in another state. The arcade it was in was so crowded that my father had to pick me up so I could see the screen in the mirror over the game. I even remember where in the game it was- the room where Dirk encounters a evil knight who moves around on a chessboard-like floor. I've always wondered if the guy playing it made it out of that room.