SilverAgeFan

Despite the claims of grey area, Carnie bits including masks are at the top of that list for me. They would play nicely with a number of existing sets and I already know of a dozen folks that play in several different Carnie related teams.

Anyways, top of my list:

• Carnie bits (masks, tights, strongman shoulder helmets, senechal shoulder decorations)
• Kheldian side sashes
• Mender bits as described above (shoulders, chest details, banded items)
• Knives of Artemis (tech and military based battle gear strapped to arms, legs, etc. A direct conversion is not necessary, but have for a LOOOOOONG time wanted for example a set of boots with stilettos strapped to them or hip pistols strapped to tights under a special category in pants)
• Devouring Earth squid mouthy thing ANIMATED (or some approximation)
• Gold Bricker jetpack as permanent back detail, Gold bricker weapon for either AR or weaponized alternate animations for other blast sets
• some rough approximation of the garbage heap/slime monster stuff that both Kraken and Slag Golems represent. How one merges this with the character creator? dunno. Maybe monstrous slime heads? Chest and shoulder details that have bits of debris and rubbish sticking out like the golems do?
• Lost--mostly their make shift armor.

EDIT to add:

• BP Shaman details as well or some sort of tribal peoples/first nations pack. Note that other than the feathered cape, cupid and angel wings there are NO feathered details of any sort in the CC.

Wow. This is all pretty impressive. I honestly had thought that i19 was going to be focused on the Alpha system only but they are finally delivering a nice well rounded issue that reminds me of "back in the day"...

QoL improvements? Check.
More mission content? Check.
More solo friendly arcs? Check.
More group oriented arcs? Check.
Advancement of gameworld meta-story? Check.
Level 50+ content? Check.
New systems or systems advancement? Check.
New costumes? Check.
New auras? Check.
Extension of power customization? Check.
More goodies made available for AE developers? Check.

The only other feature areas I see NOT being touched by this issue are PvP, Base Design, Base Functionality and Inventions (I realize that the alpha slot is an invention of sorts with crafting going on, but I mean general lvl 1-50 recipes).

Overall, pretty impressive. From the list, it looks quite well rounded and meaty with something for everyone. This is a good issue and I hope that all issues going forward continue to touch upon as many arenas providing such a wide range of features, content and improvements.

I was on the fence a few weeks back about my future with the game, but this issue description reinvigorates my enthusiasm. I think you've got me for another quarter Paragon!

ANNnnd they did already get a decent amount of beta coverage of the Alpha slot during part of GR closed beta.


Either way, this is good news. I'm eager to get my mitts on all those new blaster animations. Hoping for two or three animations per power as Noble Savage mentioned "flavors" as well as different points of emanation--but even one alternate animation per power is exciting at this point.

If it is kept as a respectable "Thank you and good luck" gesture, not a protest, I'll be there.

Edit: Suggestion for naming schemes? Power colors? i.e. should everyone take Dark miasma and tint it orange? Or some such? Think on that, and update the lead post with any guidelines you'd like us to follow.

Thanks for organizing this Marcian.

Folks need to slow down a moment. IF BABs is indeed gone, a few things to keep in mind:

• Laid off is not the same thing as fired, not by a longshot.
• Laid off is not always a hostile parting, in fact sometimes it is quite amicable.
• Related, I have seen a few occasions where honorable employees who are ready to move on will essentially "jump on a the layoff grenade" for their fellow workers. Details I have witnessed included:
  • Senior employees aware that either they go or three people from their department go to make budget lines doing so out of protest and a protective sense
  • Employees with other opportunities and offers already waiting in the wings making things easier on their bosses. (For some bosses layoffs are the toughest part of their job. Period.)
  • Accepting a nice severance for volunteering to retire early or take the layoff for the team, conveniently coming at a time when said employee is already ready for a change (either of career, employment status, or just three months off)

In other words, if he was laid off, there is a whole lot of none-of-our-business (good or bad) behind the situation. BABs has done some great work over the years during his tenure with CoX. And even if he wasn't laid off, think about it, 5 or so years is a Looooooong time to hold a position in as dynamic an industry as his.

In time, I'm sure we'll learn the truth of this rumor regarding his status. But for now folks, slow down a little on this one.

At risk of eulogizing the still living:

I recall that BABs was credited as singlehandedly advocating and doing much of the heavy lifting to get the current power customization implemented. This definitely extended the life of this game for me by several years and has provided countless moments of giddy glee as I customize each and every of my characters now.

If he is gone, he will be missed and fondly remembered.

If he's still with us... meh, ignore all the dripping sap two paragraphs up.

Dunno. But I too was taking the morning off. About 1 hour before I'm off for work as well.

One place I know I'll be pulling some slots from is travel speed on several characters. The i18 (or was it i17?) changes to both flight and sprint make the prior slotting I did redundant and pretty useless now. No need for three speed enhancements in flight if you want to travel at a reasonable clip.

Also, I will be one of those taking a few powers I won't slot or even likely use just to get at a couple of the third and fourth tier pool powers that fit specific concepts. For example, I love the PBAoE fear power in the presence pool, including the animation and the growl. It would be fitting on a number of my more monstrous villains and some of my darker vigilante type heroes. BUT I had already respecced out of it on one such hero and hadn't gotten it since. It was just to expensive power selection-wise to get up to that fourth tier. Now? Totally can add those little concept flourishes to a few of my characters. And that makes me very happy.

For free costume bits, I'd like to see them get back to basics and revisit the ORIGINAL strategy behind the i0 costumes: provide some generic classic comic book items that could prove versatile for a variety of concepts.

Simple things like some face mask items (like those used as eye details in the full masks category), iconic geometric "full helmet" heads that are a simple perfect sphere, pyramid and cube (in metallic and non-metallic finishes), metallic tights option, some new torsos that have geometric tunnels passing right through the sternum (cylindrical and cubic--this one may be harder than I think due to animations?) and some BASIC geometric tights patterns (no bump map indicating seams, nothing subtle like Vines or Baroque, nothing diamond agey like Stealth and the other myriad great textures Jay introduced when he first got to Cryptic/Paragon)--simple basic geometric patterns in high res format that are evocative of classic spandex wearing superheroes. A few cape options in a similar vein and a few new bold chest details (i.e. I don't think we have a full set of cards chest details, do we?)

As I see it, there are still some basic generic gaps in the CC and I think they could be filled here and there. IMO, some of this low hanging fruit has become ready for harvest. These sorts of items seem like perfect things to put a junior level production artist on. Just keep the art direction clear. We don't need a hundred new pieces an issue, but a return to promise of more character customization per issue would be a good thing IMO and would definitely keep me subscribing.

I said it in another thread and I'll say it here again: as far as I'm concerned, this game lives and dies by the strength and continued and expanding novelty of it's character creator. It behooves marketing, distribution and the devs to work in at least a few costume bits for free with each issue. (That being said, I am extremely enthusiastic about i19 simply because of the new power animations and two measly auras!!)

I posted something recently to the same effect. Running a 5870. One other player posted that a reboot will often fix this.

He/she reported seeing it more often after playing other games or something on their system prior to loading up CoX.

Not sure about me, but I *think* I would encounter it more after visiting more graphically intense locations like parts of the Isles or Praetoria.

I followed the advice, rebooted and problem cleared up.

Either way, it's interesting that it seems like ATI 5700 & 5800 customers seem to be the only few reporting this on occasion. And to confirm with the OP, for me it is only when I have the dynamic water reflections turned on either the highest or second highest notch that I see this strobing.

WHAT NO JETPACKS?! STILL!?!

(sorry. had to be said, rite? )

Anyways, pretty excited about the alternate animations. Wondering if these are retimed shufflings of existing in game animations or entirely new options. Either way, more choice and option for customization is much appreciated.

My current sub ends Oct. 20. This along with some of the other details will likely get me to re-up again, dang it.

EDIT: Just saw Noble Savage's post in the official thread. Implication is that these will be some all new animations. Exciting.

I take it as what Castle has already asserted: you get all four powers as inherent, and then at any level when you get slots, you can choose to spend your slots on any of those said four powers.

In a way, it turns the four fitness powers into as close as traditional pen and paper RPG base attributes as possible within our power system, you know, STR, INT, DEX, etc. In other video games, single and MMO, that shall remain unnamed you get the chance to spend points on these base attributes at certain (or all) levels. Here we get to focus on them should we choose via slotting.

Thanks for the quick response. This is the first I've noticed it. And it seems to get started more by geometry intense areas, like Praetoria and some parts of the Rogue Isles.

But not I've not done any sort of conclusive trial and error yet. Just checked the driver info, and it's Catalyst 10.9 which came out on 9/14

Just logged in after being out of game for about a month. In the interim, the game was patched (maybe several times) and my ATI 5870 drivers were automagically updated thanks to Steam (for better or worse).

Came back to find the dynamic reflections on water will now strobe on and off when in ultra mode. It's pretty much a headache inducing on-off-on-off. Can't get it to stop any other way than turning off Ultra Mode water quality. But prior to taking a four or so week break, had no trouble with the reflections.

Anyone else experiencing anything like this? My search-fu is weak.