Sardan

This is an example of an AI change that would drive players crazy. Yes, if the AI was playing to win this would be a smart tactic. But the point is, the game is designed so that players are supposed to win 99% of the fights.

Same deal as the first suggestion. If you're a high threat squishy your life would be hell with this type of AI.

J_J nails it. When people talk about improved AI, my belief is they haven't usually thought it through. In this game you're constantly fighting big spawns. Large numbers of critters that used truly intelligent tactics would completely change the nature of this game.

Really it's all about retaining balance. For example: I'd love it if a particular enemy group had LTs that had a percentage chance to try to run to a nearby spawn and chain-aggro to bring them back to help in the fight. Just like you learn to target Malta Sappers first or take out Nemesis LTs last, you'd learn to take these guys out before they could run for help. But it'd suck if all mobs from all groups suddenly started to use this tactic.

EDIT: found the interview. It was with Boomtown.net with Positron (Matt Miller):

More recently the dev presentation at San Diego Comicon reconfirmed it. This video is showing key goals of Going Rogue; at 1:37 is where they confirm GR will have a way to get "a more powerful level 50" along with "a compelling new end game".

That's my guess. Here's a link, for folks who haven't seen it before. The particularly stupid phrasing of the article's headline caused a great deal of pointless debate in the forums before. The story was first posted when several users leaked the survey on the forums and it got its headline of "alleged survey". Later, community mods confirmed it was from NCsoft but they never changed the story's headline. [Note that even though the story includes the Mission Architect, power customization, and the going rogue side-switching ability, Babs pointed out that it must not be taken as a verbatim roadmap--some things articulated in the survey have either changed radically or been dropped, and some cool stuff that wasn't mentioned has been added (yay!).]

The bottom line is that the devs have officially confirmed a way to "power up" our level 50s as a part of Going Rogue, and they've been working on it since well before August 2008. So as creative as the OP's suggestion was, it's entirely moot. The devs already have a system designed and mostly or entirely implemented. If you're the OP, that's "the bad news." The good news is that we're going to have it relatiively soon. Major features can take roughly two years to get from being discussed to being released, so it's pretty damn cool that GR will address the OP's wish, albeit not with the mechanism he articulated.

This

Awesome! The only problem now is that now I'm actually seeing Kitsune's Comic Sans font, so I do in fact want to stab myself in the eye.

A kick in the head? I'm thinking of a lot lower down...

KD is great mitigation too. For a long time, every squishy I created took Arial Superiority because of it is a fast activating, fast recharging, reliable form of KD. My Super Strength brute is very happy with the KD of his attacks.

The perfect is the enemy of the good.

The fact that several other games already mentioned in this thread have the feature and the fact that this suggestion comes up repeatedly should show you that it is indeed a valid QoL issue. QoL issues are all about player perception. It's not a problem for you. Fine, we get that. It's a problem for others, however. Almost any QoL change you can point to, and even a lot of feature enhancements, matter a great deal to some people and not at all to others. How much coding do you think went into second builds or leveling pacts? Are those being used by a majority of players? How much coding went into the combat attributes monitor? How many players are even aware that exists?

Straw man. What is going to happen to ANY code change they make that goes horribly wrong? That's why they have QA.

I'm pretty sure the "super tall but horribly stretched and mutilated" syndrome wasn't the same. I don't think that was the result of hacking but taking advantage of some type of bug in the character creator.

I think the repel is a separate effect of Hurricane, isn't it? If it had KD instead of KB, I thnk it'd still bounce the bodies away. If not, then yeah, that's a serious balance issue.

I got the number from this Paragonwiki article. Don't know if it's accurate but that site has a pretty good track record.

I agree, it's not perfect. That's why I figured you could have a whole set and slot enough to control the mag of -KB you wanted.

It would be more straightfoward just to create a few standalone orange recipes like the Power Analyzer Mk I, II, and III temp power recipes. Have a small -KB, medium -KB, and large -KB recipe.

Yes and Yes.

It's constantly suggested. The problem is that sets are balanced not by individual powers but by overall effectiveness. Making SB last a lot longer or making it an AoE would result in making it hugely weaker, or have dramtaically longer recharge (preventing it from being perma) or the weakening of other powers like Fulcrum Shift.

When Castle brings up the balance issue, the player response is typically, "Oh. I see. Please don't change SB. Kthxbye."

It's not a problem but it is an annoyance. This suggestion comes up regularly, and it's regularly shouted down due to security concerns.

But I say, let's please give players the choice. Make it an option that defaults to the current system. But on the options screen, you'd be able flip this to "allow me to change characters without logging in". You'd also have to type your account password in to change this option.

That way, players like me that don't have angry spouses or irresponsible children/friends would be able to have the convenience of more fluidly switching alts, and other people who are surrounded by drunken raging maniacs would have their security.

Like this?

While I certainly hope you're right that GR will include major PVP enhancements, I can't help but wonder what led you to that conclusion. The devs have said nothing to indicate it. And the idea that it will fail as a product if it doesn't include PVP revamps is wildly off the mark. The fact is that the vast majority of players are now PVE-only, and they'll buy GR if it has compelling PVE enhancements.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a PVP hater at all. I do think that if it includes a PVP revamp it'll be good for the health and longevity of the game.

Oh, more on topic: if we're talking GR PVP, wouldn't it make more sense to look at a mixed team instead of just pure villain ATs? GR will have side-switching so you will be able to have any AT on a "villain" team, no?

Well that's just too cool. I'm going to have to start working on that one (sigh: takes so long to get 2 day jobs). I just love how flashy that power is. Honestly I'd love for them to make a mystical blast set using effects like that, and have creepy 'hit' f/x like Ghost Widow's patron hold power.

I also want to get it becase I love the idea that a power called "Rune of Purification" can destroy your enemies.... "I'm going to purify you with extreme prejudice, sucka!"

I think if you never got the power, you get the full strength version from Ouroboros flashback. If you did previously get it, then you can get a toned-down version.

And I agree the Rune of Warding is awesome. It's the only temp power I got that I used repeatedly just because of how cool it looked! But overall I don't really care for Croatoa. The Tuatha hit hard, and I don't like all the hunt missions.

A couple of PVPers were chatting in Freedom Warburg a little while ago as I was getting my Chem nuke, and one mentioned in passing that the last PVP IO he got sold for a billion. Definitely food for thought. The problem is that given the way the rarity of drops and the fact that the OP will be starting a new character, many hours could be spent in a PVP zone with no reward. Probably a strategy not worth the risk if he's in a contest with a buddy.

EDIT: And yes, Fire/Kin matures quite late. If you want a character that can earn inf right away, consider a Spines/WP scrapper. Pretty strong early, doesn't need a huge investment to be good.

TL;DR

That's my understanding too. It's a shame, though. I'd love a more nuanced policy that said something along the lines of "If 2 accounts have the same bill-to information for at least 12 months, you can transfer characters between them." That wouldn't work for time cards, I suppose, but I bet most players use credit cards.