Sigium

/signed

The City Map is useless when the trains can take you from one end to the other with nothing in between. There's never been a 'which direction do I take to Steel Canyon' moment, so I wouldn't mind putting in some functionality.

I'm gonna make this simple for those on the fence.

Our leader lives in a pristine tower and spends his days being immortal, reading reports on the THOUGHTS of the people in Praetoria, having our own mechanized race to clean up the city so it's just a pristine as the tower, and we've got people who never go hungry, are never unemployed, are never sad, and are never attacked by anything larger than a few meager peons.

Their leader no doubt lives in a trench somewhere to avoid being found.

All he asks is an offering... Of earth and water...

"After my first divorce, I wanted the absolute furthest thing from my ex-wife, which is why I went and found her Praetorian double!"

"The worst thing about being married to an Empathy Defender is loss of coffee. Every morning it's 'Hi, honey!' and then Adrenaline Boost."

"Is this Mrs. Cacophony? I'm calling from Paragon High... Yes, I'm afraid there's been some trouble with your daughter... No, it's nothing too serious. She just signed up for choir, and you know how it is with that Sonic Blast... To make a long story short, the windows are gonna run a few grand."

So long as we don't give people just the option to turn all effects off. This would make PvP very difficult to see what was going on... On the other hand...

*makes a Mime character... Anything/Anything, it still looks awesome without FX!*

What I wouldn't give to see Statesman iced... But as many have said, he's too prevalent. Examples?

The cover of the game, the header on the forums, the preloader for the game itself, in 90% of pictures about the game, the taskforce, found in 5 different missions between Heroes and Villains, in Recluse's Victory, and thensome.

Yes, we'd all like him kindly removed, but we can't just replace him willy-nilly. It would require subtlety and tact... Such as a Rikti Ion Cannon.

I have to say, I'm tiptoeing around this idea. I'm always up for new powersets, but I'm confused as to exactly what defines this one above the others. What new things does it bring to the table? Some more Repel attacks? Well... Maybe? But I'm skeptical of that much so far, considering I'm not sure how effective knocking the enemy back would be, paired with melee.

Other than that? Where's the Mez resist?

We see so much talk about Tyrant/Emporer Cole, along with three new-skinned Praetorians; Mother Mayhem, Neuron, and Marauder... But I'm not interested in them. I'm interested in Dominatrix (in more ways than I can discuss on these forums.)

By her description in her arcs, she's obviously Cole's main squeeze; and between having someone like that around, being Emporer to a pristine city, and being nigh immortal, Cole's got a lot to smile over.

Will Dominatrix play a big role in Cole's empire? Will she be a sort of right-hand woman to him? Will she stay in the background? I've got so many questions about this person that seems so closely tied to Emporer Cole, but has so little information, aside from being about as Kinky as Silver Mantis.

Will she be getting a revamp into something more 'tame'? It always seemed like she was a bit much for a T-rated game, but I'm not complaining. And is she still Cole's granddaughter? It would seem that the description of her:
"She caught Tyrants attention and been serving him loyally, in all capacitieser since."
is just a bit creepy. It would seem that between such a description and her attire (or lack thereof) would mean only the obvious.

So many more questions I could fire off, but I'd like to see if the community can answer anything just yet, or even what to hope for.

/signed!

Loyalist over he-yah!

Emporer Cole's got a great thing going for him. Everyone has everything they need, the place is in MAGNIFICANT shape, and the only thing that's stopping him from making things into a wonderful utopia are these stupid Resistance peoples! Dudes! Why're you making things so hard, it's not like we're going to be euthanizing more than a few thousand!

Seriously, Recluse has the right idea... Just slightly spidery.

Maps have always been one of the biggest complaints throughout the forums, and for an obvious reason... They all look the same! I'd like to humbly suggest a few alternatives to the current mission map designs:

1.
a) Nemesis Steampunk-skinned maps for other tech-based maps. The Prussian Prince of Automatons never struck me as being all that into the same Technology as Crey and the Sky Raiders are into. Give us some more clunky-looking bases (lots of spare parts laying around), with a brass coloration to it, and preferably a very 'bolted' look to everything.

b) Sky Raiders 'Dread Tech' maps. I use the term 'Dread Tech' to describe the 'dark side of techno'... half-dismantled robots lingering around, most things in a state of disrepair, and everything looking slightly dilapidated. As much as the Sky Raiders seem to act like a military organization, I think these maps would better suit them.

c) Vahzilok Mortuary-skinned maps for the early-on Vahz missions. Dr. Vahzilok would eventually have his henchmen caught in the act, so why not have something similar to Malaise's mission, but with lots of 'mysterious red fluids' splattered on the floors and walls? Perhaps abominations and cadavers laying around, even minions cut in half and sorta crawling/wailing their upper torsos about? That... Might be a bit much.

2. Map Redesigns
a) More realistic office maps. I don't know who designed these buildings, but had I been the proprietor, I would've slapped the architect with the heaviest objects I could find. Every last office looks like it was designed to fit several semi-trucks running through it, and while I can understand that it's meant for large teams, a massive lobby filled with absolutely NOTHING just looks silly... And unproductive.

b) More open maps. Give some open missions a THEME! I absolutely loved the destroyed version of Atlas Park and the occasional bought in Cap Au Diable during the Rikti arc, but I'd like to see a few more... Give Devouring Earth some time in the sun with some special 'devouring foliage' with lots of vines and a menacing look about them. Give the Hydra an erroding forest, considering they spit acid everywhere they go. There's a lot of room for expansion.

c) Make maps fit the mission. I realize that we work with a massive stockpile of maps that are generated for the missions, but I think that sometimes we just need maps that fit the situation; if you're supposed to be defending a museum, it makes sense to go to a building with things to defend, rather than peoples' charts, so we can all see how much better Karen is doing than Jeff in sales.

That's about all I've got, but this is still (obviously) open for suggestion, and disagreement. Had I had any artistic talent, I'd offer to draw up some skins, myself.

When I say 'better faces', it's more like I'm saying "Please get rid of some of those older, gawdawful faces that makes us look like we had a debilitating stroke."

Look up things like Hostile Faces... Faces 1 through 4 look like someone suffered lockjaw and had a severe groin itch at the time.

Supernatural faces look anywhere from decent to "OH MY GOD WHY DOES THIS EXIST?!"

The fact is that while I don't want a face that can do anything and everything, I'd still like a face that isn't frozen in place; especially after we're defeated. I've always wondered why my eyes stay open and in some cases, I'm still smiling!

Solution 1: The long way
- Give faces animation, and make them their own objects. Let us customize our eyes, nose, mouths, and make them blink, smile, frown, etc... In short; give us emotions for a living, breathing face.

Solution 2: The easier way
- Give faces multiple situations... For instance, the same face, redone with it's eyes closed and a more neutral expression upon defeat. It would still be nice to have a selectable set of eyes, nose, and mouth.

I'd prefer the 1st option, I think we all would, but I realize that the engine has only so much capability, so I wouldn't demand it to be so.

I just finished getting the 'Caballero' perk in a different game. How did I do this?

By killing 5,000 Ghosts. 5,000. Not 200, not 100, 5,000. What did this do?

It unlocked a Costume Piece, and one I still had to go to a vendor in a different zone and pay for. So it didn't exactly unlock a costume piece.

After I defeated these 5,000 Ghosts I turned off my game and booted up CoH, where I decided to finish up my Defeats badges on my main, and then got a few on my main Villain.

So this a note of appreciation to our devs: Thank you for tweaking badges juuuust right, so we don't need to spend days trying to go for a single badge (aside from the MoSTF.) If I want the Saved The World badge, I get a STF together, if I want the Finder badge, I know where to find Lost bosses: I spend just enough time hunting the enemies... NOT spending a metric f-ton hunting the same enemies over and over and over.

So thank you for badges, devs. You are the innovators of what many would call 'meta-gaming', what with an achievement system. You brought it to an online game in a big way; in such a big way that the rival MMO and even the big guys (It's WoW backwards) have followed suit!

Thank you, devs, for the shinies. For the glorious, glorious shinies.

Hell and Back. It's an Accolade, but has no effects.

It DOES look really cool, though, and Hell and Back is an awesome title.

I was 'griefed' by someone while ToTing... The fun part? I already have all the event badges, so I was just looking for a good costume, and this guy ends up killing all the enemies that come out the doors. I say good for him, and claim all of my Treats!

You expected more, but I think the majority, as of now, is pretty happy.

Can't the pessimism wait a few more months?

Halloween is the 2nd biggest Holiday for the U.S., followed by Valentine's Day and then maybe Easter, or Thanksgiving? I don't know, but I know the big 3.

I'd like to add to Halloween with a SERIOUS revamp of a small series of instances, if you will. Instances where you and a team can complete a series of missions in a story arc or two.

The theme: Ever seen the 'Blair Witch Project'? All those talismans? According to the Native Americans, those talismans were put above trees as a 'gateway' into another dimension. I'd like to play upon that.

The zone consists of a very realistic Haunted Woods, with tight, cramped paths that act like a maze, or spiderweb sort of design. These cramped paths will consist of tons of gateways into different dimensions via those Talismans, and as you transverse through the dimensions, things get more and more strange.

If you'd like some idea of what I'm thinking, try playing a downloadable game 'Eversion':
http://zarat.us/tra/offline-games/eversion.html
It's a free download, and the game has a simplistic attitude while keeping heavy overtones of Horror.

For instance, let's say you start in this dimenion: Dimension 1.

You pass into Dimension 2, and the woods look slightly less lush, and the baddies look slightly less active, and maybe the background music changes to something slower.

Dimension 3; now the woods start to look far more bare. The background music is replaced by the sounds of nature; insects, birds chirping, and the occasional rustling of bushes and so forth. The enemies become barely mobile, and only able to do little damage, while looking more gloomy than dangerous.

Dimension 4; things take a freaky turn; the trees began curling in a sinister design. It's not often and not much, but it's something noticeable. The sounds of nature are replaced only by frequent rustling in the bushes. The enemies are no longer enemies, but rather are designed to merely look at the Heroes/Villains as they pass by. They're targettable, but permanently in a phased state; they are the new face of apathy, if you will.

Dimension 5: now things start to get weird; REALLY weird. Your power trays have been shifted (as in, 1, 2 and 3 might shift to 8, 5 and 4), your target window no longer functions, and the chat window begins to 'malfunction', sending you odd tells:
"Ghost: Don't turn around."
"Spirit: Stop."
The bad guys look more evil now, and less like normal 'spirits'. Think less like Croatoa ghosts moving into Rularuu, or Unseelie... They aren't happy to see you.

Dimension 6: you want to go home. Your powers are randomized in their trays, and icons have even been changed, meaning what you thought was brawl might be a nuke. As you're defeated, instead of a button to send you to the hospital/base, you're given only one option: "Delete my Character" This button simply takes you to the hospital... Depending on what dimension you are. You'll also note on your info that you've reached the debt cap (even though any XP gained will add only to exp and you'll stay at the debt cap.)The trees are lined with thorns, every single piece of the environment looks hostile and ready to kill you.

Dimension 7: turn off your game and head back. Certain areas stepping in will trigger shock images of ghostly apparitions, abominations, and graveyards. The thorny trees will deal damage upon touching them, and the foes will chase after you with a frightening thirst for your vital fluids. They see through your stealth with pinpoint perception and accuracy, and they look forward to tearing you to pieces. Your screen will dim occasionally and you get messages like 'Disconnected From Mapserver' at random intervals.

Dimension 8: this isn't a dimension meant for travel. In this dimension, you are immobilized with the only movement available being to turn around and click the exit (thankfully, few gateways will take you to such a dimension). Time will slow down and there will be nothing but pure darkness: this includes no chat, target, powers, and any interfaces will not appear in this dimension. Ahead of you will be two massive, black claws stemming from the rest of the darkness by only an outline. If you don't exit, they will wrap around you and pull you under in a swift motion. You'll get only the message to LEAVE. It defeats you and adds to debt.

There are a number of missions that can be brought out from such a surrounding. Defeating a special enemy, explore the dimensions, etc.

Why the elaborate design over this? Because maybe with the idea of 'alternate realities' there could be some more made form it than a single event.

Don't suppose you're on Guardian? And could spare some inf? :P

I don't mean to come back into my own thread to make a... Point? Another point? A counterpoint?

The idea is to trade in Merits for Vanguard Merits. Architect Tickets and Inf are completely not in this equation.

I don't want trading of Vanguard for Reward Merits, because VMs can be acquired simply from fighting Rikti, and a ship raid would make Reward Merits into something of an exploit to get, because there's no capability to provide diminishing returns for enemies that only give 1-3 merits per kill.

I stand by my original suggestion: 1 Reward Merit for 5 Vanguard Merits. No reversal of trading, and no involving Inf, Architect Tickets, Brainstorm Ideas, or ANYTHING.

You see, everyone, this is why I love Vets and Booster powers.

Filler mission 1: Drop mission.
Filler mission 2: SG Teleporter
Filler mission 3: Pocket D Teleporter
Filler mission 4: Mission Teleporter

Yeah, it's pretty cheap, but it gets the job...s done.