Primal

My namesake Hero joined Hero Corps for the express purpose of beating people up, productively. She has anger issues, loves a good scrap, and is more than a little sadistic, it's why she got into martial arts in the first place. Rather than potentially harm innocent people, she decided that there were enough bad people around who might be foolish enough to not give themselves up without a fight. She's who you call when negotiations fail.

Several of my Heroes are of the covert-ops, outside-the-law school. When the law gets in the way, they're the way around it. My AR/Elec and Archery/Energy are of the more "official" style, for when the public supports military action, whereas my Ice/Devices is of the more plausibly-deniable variety, aware that she's expendable,for the times when the public is either against something or doesn't need to be clued in at all. Of course they'll work within the law as well, obviously neither is Evil, but they're quite anti-.

I have a few regular ol' Heroes, of course.

I don't know what it's like to play on Virtue and NOT rubberband and lag occasionally. Been an issue for at least a year now, but it comes and goes week to week, there are times when it annoys me to the point I play one of my few characters on an East coast server, and that seems to solve most of the problem. Note the "seems", I really have no idea, could be psychological only heh.

When it happens on Virtue, it doesn't seem to make any difference where I am, as long as it's outside in the zone. Number of people around doesn't matter much either.

Obviously I can't rule out PC issues either, or things specific to my connection. I note that Ping Plotter finds the routes to Virtue and Freedom through different .nets, alter.net and llnw.net respectively, the former could be the problem. Or not.

Jenny, you don't know me, but you make me so happy. She seems to have an invisible touch, she reaches in and grab right hold of your heart. She's a maneater, ooh ooh ooh, watch out boy, she'll chew you up!

C'est la vie. That's just the way it goes. That's right.

When you're happy and you know it, your thread will surely show it.

That's what it's all about.

My Villains are of all kinds. Discounting the ones who are merely holding out to switch sides:

- My "main" one (Buttered Cat, Gravity/Ice Dom) is merely insane, of the Mad Scientist Madly Scientific for Science school of villainy. Chaotic Neutral.

- La Doctora (Mercs/Poison) and A Handful of Dust (Thugs/Dark) are a drug chemist with her own army and a demon-posessed gang leader, respectively. Neither is good, but neither wants to destroy the world, or rule it either really. Small-time evil.

- Shai-Ta the Burning (Axe/Fire Brute) is a demonic barbarian warrior, envisioned as a foe someone like Conan might face. She wants to conquer and rule.

- Gromag Mal'Othar (SS/Will Brute) is basically a thug, of the "Enforcer for the Big Bad" school. Think Pitbull, only more Orcish.

- My Night Widow, Crab Spider, and Stalker are all assassins. Hired murder is pretty evil, but there are worse villains.

- Masrefah (Mind/Fire Dom) basically just likes hurting people. How evil do you consider serial killers who do it for fun?

- Vegan Rage (Plant/Thorn Dom) would join Devouring Earth if she could, humans are a blight.

Incidentally, I happen to be of the opinion that "evil for the sake of it" is perfectly viable. It shouldn't be overused, but frankly the "I'm not evil, I'm just a knight templar" thing is close to being overused too. Denouncing either motivation is a shaky position to take.

When my characters reach 50, they retire and I consider the game done. I derive little satisfaction from continuing, I'm not interested in more power or collecting things or farming, and the stories are not that compelling, no offense writers. If there's an interesting story arc open, they might finish it, but so far both my 50s have arrived there doing incidental stuff after completing arcs. I assume they're off doing their own thing without me along. New characters are the equivalent of me starting a new game.

I'll have to see what the Incarnate system entails before deciding whether to change this policy and bring them out of retirement. Or I might just declare a not-yet-50 as taking the Incarnate path, my 43 Fire/Storm 'troller is a good choice, it'd make sense story-wise for her too.

(Apologies if this post is contradictory or rambly, something seems off about it but my head's fuzzy. I'm up too late.)

Bulgarian.

All this commotion over endurance? With no mention of bad accuracy (edit: well, UberGuy, maybe others)? Weirdos. 95% is simply not enough. Ever.

Seriously, my irrationality aside, I find the game tedious too. Specifically, 15-21, ugh, awful levels. 22 is a magical time. After that even someone like me, who refuses to "build" characters, can somehow manage to get by. Stamina? Sometimes. Not always though, have a 33 Mercs/Poison MM without it, she does just fine. Had a 34 Dark/Elec Defender who also didn't have it, rerolled as a Dark/Rad who STILL doesn't need it at 27. Hell, I have an Axe/Fire Brute who's 21 (sans Stamina, no room until 24) and only occasionally has blue issues...oh hey, never mind, Consume has recharged, she's topped back off and at 80% Fury, I'd suggest you dirty Longbow start running but it's already too late.

Slot blue. Give yourself a half-second between button mashes. Sprint is off. Get the accolades. Know your enemies, know what they do and toggle off and on as appropriate, if you DON'T know them you will after two spawns max. Team, you might like it. Discover the joy of the Dominator. Win.

I heartily sign for that low-recharge Rest, btw. Fantastic idea.

I'll sign off on any suggestion to give PCs access to Carnie stuff. D/RM outfits especially, but corsets too.

Eloora, you mostly solo or teamed? I didn't see you say. Solo, Leadership stuff won't help a whole lot, unless it's just for concept or you have no other power you need. If you're mostly teamed then grab from that pool as it helps everyone, just don't sacrifice as it's still not a necessity. (I PuG a lot, plus a fair few of my characters are military and police types, so I tend to get Assault and put a -end in the only slot it'll ever need.)

Personally I don't care much for the Fighting pool on any character. Even if you were blapping those attacks are really not very good, and the toggles are end-heavy (and, imo, either not useful enough or replaceable).

I'd say go with Hasten if possible. I'm not one of those who think it a must for everything, but if there's no concept conflict and you're going SS, take it.

Not true. My avatar is merely the representation of Satan. An...avatar...of

...Oh ****.

I am highly disturbed by this thread.

Not ONE Dan Brown joke? I was going to make one, but I didn't do any research on the subject. Although making stuff up seems to have worked well.

I can honestly say this promotion is the first time I've ever heard a mouse pad referred to as a "desktop skin". When I first saw that in the announcement, I of course immediately thought they were selling access to a jpg for use as a desktop (which would also be something I'd never seen before). I thought, "On the one hand that's an interesting idea, but on the other it'd have to hugely impressive for me to even consider replacing good ol' Lara-in-action". It wasn't until I got into the discussion thread that I realized (thanks to...Aggelakkis, I think?) it was a mouse pad.

I pre-purchased the game the day the first day it was on offer. Not impressed enough with the Gamestop goodies to lay out any more cash, they're neat, and if this had been on offer originally I would've snapped it up, but I can live without them.

What's the advantage of that mouse p...sorry, desktop skin anyway? I get plenty of control from the $9-at-Target one (black, with the kanji for "love" in the middle) I have.

I turned my rep off after Zombie Man originally posted the "official" opinion of it, and for the same reasons. I do check mine occasionally, I like to know when I've actually managed to be funny and/or insightful, but why bother advertising my virtues (so to speak) when there's no difference between me and somebody in the +rep threads?

If someone thinks well of me, they'll either remember me, or I'll have to keep giving them reasons to continue thinking that way. New people should come in with no red-green prejudice, to judge me as they see fit. Those that don't like me either have me on ignore or are reading to see what laughably stupid thing I say next. Pressure to deliver from all sides, I tell ya, being gray is hard work.

I'm utter carp at getting in tune enough with the physics to do anything more amusing than tear them down, but I admit to a little gate vandalism every now and then. Okay, often. Constantly.

They respawn quickly, you know. With some running back and forth, you can build up a pile. There's an area in Faultline, it has a hot tub in the middle, with gates at each end.

Obviously I hope we're all here to have fun in the game. For some, it's all and only about the experience points and loot earned, and while that's certainly a valid way to see the game, I daresay it's a minority view. Basically, what do you enjoy doing that is its own reward? It CAN fill up the bank account, xp bar, or salvage/recipe tray at the end, but that's not the actual point. Badge collecting is a common example, I wager: "Sure, the badges are worth xp upon the finding, and getting the right ones leads to other stuff, but I just dig collecting them in general." RPing. Build planning just for the sake of it, to create the perfect weapon. Being EEEEVIL. That sort of thing.

I thoroughly enjoyed flying around Founders Falls with my AR/Elec and playing anti-sniper. They actually are quite good xp, but if that was what I was after she had plenty of AoE she could dish out to large spawns, which would be tons better xp and more loot too. However, the real fun was either catching enemy snipers totally unaware, or figuring out where that bullet just came from and sending one back, preferably into that punk's right eye. (Heck, for that matter, snipes in general in this game are considered iffy at best, but hers was 6-slotted and used even if there were "better" attacks to open up with. Total joy to stealthily drop that one dude who wandered a bit far from his buddies.)

Another example is playing Professional Assassin: "Defeat" ONLY the targets that are absolutely necessary for mission completion. Stalkers are obviously the best for this, but my Ice/Devices Blaster is purpose-built for it. Sadly (imo) the game discourages this in a lot of missions, and in truth it's better from a rewards standpoint to Tab-Target-Attack until the map's empty. To me though it's FAR more fun to get in, drop a bomb under the bad guy, then get out without the mooks being the wiser until it's too late. "We're all clear, Boss. ...Boss?" In my imagination I have all the reward I need.

Generally speaking, SO levels. 22 is a magical time.

However, I have deleted characters as late as level 33. If I were ever dissatisfied with one even later than that I'd have zero problem deleting them too, although that hasn't yet occurred. They don't die forever though, they're reborn as something else. I'm a concept player, and care not one iota for collecting 50s, so if I decide a character works better as something else, like when a new set comes out and it fits, or I simply decide they'd work better as another AT, they get rerolled.

The one who made 33 was a Dark/Elec Defender. I finally decided I hated Electric Blast and rerolled her as a Dark/Rad. Her attacks were not crucial to her concept, just Dark, and I like Rad better. (No offense to those who like Elec, glad it works out for ya, think of it as less competition.)

Had a Claws/Dark Scrapper who made 32 before I decided Dark Armor and I just weren't going to see eye to eye. Rerolled her as a Elec/Shield Scrapper, which thanks to Power Customization could now be colored blood red, good for a vampire.

I'm pretty sure EATTHE on a "Kids First" tag is very much intentional as well. Makes me think of the manatee tag from Florida that made the news several years ago. It said EAT EM.

I collect them as well. When the time comes that one would be really really useful, I forget I had it.

The limited-time or one-mission-use ones though I will use up.

It wouldn't surprise me if Co*2 is the next major thing after GR. Two years, max. New engine, expanded scope. Probably with the ability to transfer characters over (not directly, but you'll wind up with a character that has the same name, appearance, and stuff). The old game will run for a time, but I don't think the two will run concurrent forever a la EQ 1 and 2.

As far as "superhero" online games go, I agree that there's not a whole lot of competition, and you've pretty much nailed why. However it certainly does have serious competition approaching, and I daresay the people who play this game are also apt to check out some of those too as several are NOT the same ol' fantasy stuff. A very abbreviated list would include SWTOR, TSW, and WoDO. Paragon Studios cannot rest on its laurels, and I guarantee you its new boss (however the relationship is defined) won't let them anyway.