Steelclaw

The Paragon Studios Dev team take keen notice of the interests of the player base and usually react appropriately. Lately the players have displayed keen interest in the possible relationship of Positron and Numina. In the past they even attended the (multiple) wedding(s) of Manticore and Sister Psyche.

If the PSD decide to pounce on this trend, we may very well see the Canon of the game begin to more strongly resemble your average daily soap opera.

Developments to look forward to:

* Manticore and Sister Psyche have a baby girl, but Psyche dies in childbirth! Unbeknownst to her grieving husband, she has hooked a ride on his own daughter! How will Manticore handle it when he finally learns his daughter is also his wife?!

* Synapse has at last found love! After years of horn-dogging it with his female fans, Synapse finds true love with the spirit of War Witch in Crotoa. But theirs can only be a relationship of feelings with her being immaterial. Will their love last? Will Synapse give in to temptation and look towards Pocket D for surcease? How will War Witch handle it if she learns Synapse has cheated on her... with herself?

* Positron and Numina had two years of happy marriage before a Rikti Invasion ended in the apparent capture of his bride. After time he finally accepted she wouldn't return and began to date again. Now he has fallen in love with a lovely scientist but Numina has returned; already half way through the Riktification process! If that weren't bad enough, only Positron's new paramour has the scientific know-how to reverse the process! Will she give him back his wife only to lose her love forever?!

* Azuria found a small statuette of a greek warrior that turned out to be magical. It was an actual greek soldier from days gone by! She fell in love with the man, who could only transform to flesh form during the full moon. But alas! Criminals have broken into the Magi vault and stolen his statue along with other magical artifacts! What will Azuria do?!

* Penelope Yin, all grown up now, was shocked when Citadel approached her to ask her on a date. She refused at first, but after time finally relented. They began to develop a relationship and soon she found herself deliriously in love with him. But when another hero claims they found a pile of robotic parts that appear to have belonged to Citadel, she begins to have suspicions. Then she enters the bedroom to find "Citadel" with his chest plate open... inside he has been hollowed... the space now filled with a brain floating in a jar!

* After years of living under his curse Scirocco has finally found the spell to break it. At long last he is able to use his powers for good and not have their ends twisted to evil! He makes one last attempt to sway Ghost Widow to the light; declaring his undying love and devotion. She rejects him. With broken heart he goes over to the hero's side... only to find no one much likes him over there either.

* After years and years of trying to get back in Emperor Cole's good graces, Anti-Matter finally abandons his orbital space station to take more direct measures. Cole is receiving a report from Neuron when Anti-Matter bursts into the room. In a rage he places Neuron in a containment field and threatens to kill the man who usurped his position. During his disjointed diatribe Anti-Matter admits "I love you, you cold ba***rd! I've always loved you!" To which Cole replies "yeah, I know... why do you think I put you in the space station?"

* Lord Nemesis invests resources into tracking every relationship, every involvement, every nuance and emotion in this new version of Paragon City. His hope is that by understanding who loves whom and what alliances and emnities there are, he will be able to manipulate the whole to his advantage. After years of effort and millions of dollars invested, his faithful minions bring him the chart of inter-relations of the various heroes and villains. Nemesis examines it carefully... and quietly announces his retirement.

So we all live on Primal Earth and most of us are familiar with the alternate Praetorian Earth. I have, through diligent research and no small amount of poking my nose in where it doesn't belong, discovered yet another variation of our world out there in the multiverse.

It is called Earth SC.

Like other versions of Earth, it's history differs in slight ways from that of ours here on Primal Earth. I have journeyed there and brought back their history and discovered the first of many significant differences.

So, it is with pride that I present to you the Earth SC version of how Marcus Cole and Stefan Richter came to discover and drink from the Well of the Furies.



Marcus sat on the ground nearby, watching his best friend Stefan laboriously lift and toss aside a series of very heavy looking rocks. Stefan was sweating profusely and uttering a steady litany of swears and complaints under his breath as he labored. Marcus glanced up into the hot noon sun and considered moving to an area that was better shaded.

“You know,” Stefan grunted, carrying a particularly large and dirt caked rock past his friend. “You COULD lend a hand with these.”

“Sorry, can’t,” Marcus replied and issued a series of weak, fake coughs. “Mustard gas from the war you know. Lungs can’t take any sort of prolonged exertion.” He watched Stefan carry his heavy load several more yards and dump it with a strained sound of effort. “While you’re up… mind bringing me the canteen? I’m parched.”

Stefan passed Marcus a half full canteen at a rather excessive velocity. The sound it made when it hit the prone man brought Stefan a great deal of satisfaction.

“Hey! I said bring it not wing it!”

Stefan walked back to the rock pile. “This is why the rest of our unit left, you know. They all got this sneaking suspicion that you were faking it and taking advantage of their generosity.”

“I thought they left because of your bad attitude,” Marcus retorted, taking a swig from the canteen.

“Six of one, half dozen of the other,” Stefan shrugged. He levered another rock out of the way and leaned down to peer into the hole it had revealed. “Well, well, well… found another cave.”

“Maybe it’s the one we’ve been looking for!” Recovering remarkably from his apparent illness, Marcus hopped to his feet and jogged over to stand beside his friend. He bent to peer into the darkness beyond.

The daylight didn’t reach that far into the space beyond the small hole Stefan had made, revealing only a flat stone floor, too flat to be entirely natural. Encouraged by this, Marcus “bravely” ignored his infirmity and helped widen the opening. Soon they were able to shoulder their way into the cave proper, first tossing through several torches and spelunking equipment.

They traveled deeper into the cave, lit torches held high as they moved slowly, keeping an eye out for drop offs or potential weak points in the ceiling or walls. Their fears appeared to have been groundless however, as the cave was obviously not only natural but very well made. Every twenty feet or so supporting buttresses of some strange metal neither could identify extended from the floor to brace the ceiling.

The place had an eerie quality to it. In every other cave they’d explored during their quest, they’d felt the sullen and slightly oppressive silence of the earth pressing in all around them. This tunnel, however, was anything but silent. They could hear something that sounded a little like running water and a little like crystal wind chimes in the distance ahead of them.

“Maybe that’s a good sign,” Marcus said, trying to peer past the darkness beyond the undulating reach of their torches. “The Well Water could sound like that, couldn’t it?”

“It could sound like Leprechauns burping out Mozart for all we know,” Stefan said sourly, casting an irritated look at his friend. “Now will you please shut up? Hearing you talk once is bad enough, but with all the echoes in this place I feel like I’m listening to a whole platoon of you.”

“Hey, you shouldn’t talk to me like that. I’m dying you know.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

Their bickering was cut off as the tunnel they’d been following suddenly split off into two directions, at perfect right angles. Marcus stepped out of the entry tunnel, trying to see if anything was visible in either direction. The moment his foot struck the floor of the intersected passage, the strange metallic columns lit with a bright, eldritch green light. They blinked painfully against that new luminescence, shielding their eyes with their hands until their vision cleared.

“Hey!” cried Marcus in victory. He reached behind him and grabbed Stefan by the sleeve, tugging urgently. “There it is! We’ve made it! I see a Well down this tunnel!”

“Well, crap,” Stefan muttered.

“Huh?” Marcus didn’t turn, unable to drag his eyes from staring raptly at the prize they’d spent the last months striving towards. “Can’t you lose your doom and gloom attitude for once in your darned life? I mean, I’m standing here looking at my salvation and all you can say is ‘well crap’? I just told you I’ve found the Well!”

“Yeah, so have I,” Stefan said through gritted teeth. “There’s another one down the other passage way as well.”

It was true. There appeared to be two Wells, approximately twenty yards apart, one down each of the tunnels. They decided to go examine one of them and discovered, much to their consternation, that when they reached it they could see yet another Well twenty yards further down the passage.

“What the hell is this,” Marcus muttered. “Wells R Us?” He bent and examined the Well for a few moments, going over every square inch of it while Stefan stood staring into space and thinking.

“It could be that the Water of the Furies is actually an underground river,” he mused. “And that each of these Wells accesses it, just a different point along its path.”

Marcus straightened from examining the well’s upper wall with a satisfied smile on his face. “This is definitely the Well of the Furies,” he said. “It has a little plaque on it saying so.”

“Excellent!” Stefan rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Let’s drink some, shall we?”

They dropped a pail tied to the end of a long rope down into the gaping maw and were rewarded with a distant sounding splash after only a few moments. They drew it back up to find the pail half full of clear, cool water.

They grinned at each other in excitement over the top of the pail and dipped their canteen cups into it simultaneously.

“To Health,” Marcus said.

“To Power,” Stefan responded.

They drank.

“Whoa,” Marcus said after a moment. He felt strange, as though something under his flesh was trying desperately to get out. He began to itch all over in maddening little rushes. It became so irritating and pervasive he began obsessively digging at the itching patches with his claws.

Wait a minute. Claws?

He stared down at his hands to discover that not only did two inch curved claws extend from each of his fingertips, he also seemed to be covered entirely in soft, dense orange and black striped fur. He felt at his face to discover it was decidedly not its usual shape; he seemed to have grown a muzzle and, he discovered by running his tongue over them, very long pointy teeth.

“Holy crap, I’ve turned into a cat!”

“Actually, half human, half cat to be precise,” came a growling voice behind him.

Marcus turned and saw a huge hulking humanoid canine before him. Before he could think he arched his back at the creature, all his fur standing on end and his tail fluffing out to twice its normal size. He hissed at the dog-thing and batted at it with his claw.

“Stop that!” Stefan said crossly. “It’s me you idiot!”

“Oh, sorry,” Marcus said contritely, and proceeded to try to pat down all the fur on his body that was still standing on end. “Is THIS what the Well of the Furies is supposed to do?”

Stefan brushed by him and peered at the plaque Marcus had found. Upon reading it he went very still and went through his usual routine of counting to ten. When he spoke his words were strained and delivered one at a time in painfully measured tones.

“Marcus,” he said. “How many R’s does the word Furies have in it?”

“I dunno,” Marcus said with a careless shrug. “I never did do very well at those spelling bee things in school.”

“It has one… just one.” Stefan pointed with a finger that trembled from the rage he barely kept in check. “This plaque has two R’s on it. You MORON! You just had us drink from the Well of the Furries!”

“Well, that explains the new look anyway,” Marcus said, backing away from his enraged friend with both hands held up in front of him. “Hey! Calm down! We just have to find the right Well and we’ll be right as rain! Now that we know they’re properly marked it should be a snap!”

“Fine,” Stefan ground out. “But I’LL be the one to verify we have the right one.”

After perhaps an hour of searching they managed to find the correct Well of the Furies. Before that however, they realized that the wells apparently were arranged alphabetically. They had wandered down the wrong passageway and were doubling back after discovering another well that had begun with the letters “F-U-“.

“Boy,” Marcus said. “Good thing we didn’t drink from THAT Well first…”

“Shut up, Marcus.”

“I mean, with just the two of us here lord only knows how its effects would have manifested.”

“Shut UP, Marcus!”

They drew up the water and looked at each other for a moment before dipping in their cups once more.

“To Power,” said Stefan.

“To not changing into anything weirder than a tiger,” said Marcus.

They drank the water and immediately felt the power course through their bodies. They floated up off the ground, each rotating slowly in mid air as cascades of light and energy blossomed and faded around them. When they touched back to earth both of them had resumed their natural forms, not even a hint of fur or whisker.

“I’m truly sorry, Marcus,” Stefan said in commiseration. “I know you didn’t want to change into something weirder than a tiger.”

“Huh? But I’m back to being my old self ag… HEY!”

Stefan knelt down and picked up a loose stone from the cave floor. He held it in one hand and closed his fingers around it. The stone pulverized into powder with a sharp crack.

“Power,” he hissed exultantly. “I have become powerful!”

Marcus took several deep breaths, a wide smile growing on his face. “The Agent Orange effects are gone! I don’t have that annoying tickle in the back of my throat anymore!”

“Wait a minute,” Stefan growled, turning around to glare at his friend. “You mean all those times I did all the work. All those times you claimed you were mere moments from death… and all you had was a little tickle at the back of your throat?!”

“Well…” Marcus said, looking around anywhere except into Stefan’s eyes. “It was a really… er… REALLY annoying tickle.”

They made their way out of the cave network and to the surface once more. It had passed to night while they were underground and the full moon hung high over head, casting its pale illumination upon the world below.

“So,” Stefan said, inhaling the crisp air deeply. “Now that you are healthy and possessed of god-like powers, what are you going to do?”

“Well,” Marcus said pensively. “I could kill you now to stop your plans of world domination. But then I’d probably be convinced of might making right and follow that philosophy until I saved the world single handedly. Then I’d become delusional and believe I was the only one who had a clear vision of what a perfect world should be. Then I’d become some sort of ego-maniacal dictator who ruled with an iron fist and wanted to spread my empire through out the known universe. There by, ironically, turning into the very person I’d destroyed here tonight in the first place.”

Stefan stared at him for a few long, silent moments.

“What the F**K was that all about?!”

“Just sayin’, is all…” Marcus looked around distractedly. “Actually, my uncle has a nice place in Rhode Island. I haven’t seen him since before the war, maybe I’ll drop by for a visit. You’re welcome to come along if you want.”

“Nah,” Stefan said. “I’ve been craving some ocean air lately. I think I’ll spend some time Island hopping, see if I can find a native girl who’s feeling restless.”

Marcus laughed and reached out his hand. After a moment Stefan extended his own. They clasped grips warmly and shook, both smiling broadly.

“Well, I’m out of this dump,” Marcus said. “If you’re ever up Rhode Island way give me a call and we’ll go have a beer.”

“Count on it,” Stefan replied.

Adeon gets +10 Steelclaw Merits (redeemable at any Snowcone Stand in the Antarctic) for correctly stating my reasons for this curse of a tournament.

I actually DO have rules in place for 50th level characters that are inclusive of the non-50s rather than making it a separate tournament for them... no "Members Only" clubs for me.

I've thought about it and I don't think I'll be restarting at this point. I've got my favorite character waaaay too close to 50 at this point. I may create a couple new teams on the new servers but more because I have themes in mind for them.

A villain group where all the members are Insane Asylum inmates with different psychosis really appeals to me...

...

...can't imagine why tho'

I think I've hit upon a solution... if ... and I mean IF... I decide to expand out to 15 teams of tourna-minty goodness... I'll just do nothing but play those teams over and over again until they've had as many turns as the existing ones...

No deletion...

No permanent mental damage...

..

....

.... okay.. no ADDITIONAL permanent mental damage

Okay.

My tournament has been going along very well... very well indeed.

For the first time in practically forever I actually have a character who is 41st level. I am within shouting distance of having a 50th level character and finally being able to participate in the Incarnate content.

They introduced Incarnate stuff.. but it was for 50s so I didn't have to restart my tournament.

Good... good...

But now... May 3rd they will be merging the servers.

There are 11 servers now... and I have 11 teams in my tournament.

May 3rd there will be 15 servers... ... and I will have 11 teams in my tournament...

...

Must... resist... restart...

>>SNAP<<

Are you blind!?!

Can't you see the HAT?!

I am MRS. NESBIT!! BWA HA HA HAAAA...

A few rapid fire thoughts about cross-pollination in City of Heroes.

* Scirocco and Silver Mantis
Mantis: Oh, you bad boy! I'm going to have to punish you for your transgression against me!
Scirocco: Yes, you're right... I probably deserve it anyway...
Mantis: Sheesh... nevermind... you are SUCH a buzz kill...

* Doc Delilah and Posi... actually... Doc Delilah and anyone... sorry to inform you but Delilah's in love with my character Jonathan Fury... they've just kept it on the down-low because of her professional reputation.

* Synapse: In his case they had to re-word the warning label on Viagra to "If you are Synapse (or a hero possessing similar super-enhanced "speed") and the effects of our product last more than four minutes... consult a physician immediately"

* Statesman and Lord Recluse: Now, keeping that pairing in mind reconsider the potential meanings of "The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the water spout"

* Ghost Widow and the Croatoan version of War Witch: their relationship was doomed from the start though... it just lacked substance.

Zwillinger had to leave during the broadcast the devs put on during the recent server down time. His wife called him... or so he said..

Possible reasons he had to leave:

* his wife is working on the new Whip Melee set and needed him for practice.

* she demanded to know just what the heck "Zwillinger' means anyway

* she heard someone had asked him to demonstrate Rule 34 on the broadcast and needed to put a stop to it

* one of his kids was playing red side and she had heard the devs hated villains

* he was in his tank aspect today and so drew wife aggro

* she wanted him to bring home the Facepalm t-shirt so he could wear it during their spats

* she wanted to discuss his mutterings of "war witch... oh war witch" while sleeping

* she wears the cape in the family

I don't currently have a 50 so I'm unsure of the answer but....

Don't you lose all your Incarnate abilities if you exemplar down below 45th level? If that's the case then respeccing out of so-called "obsolete" powers would leave you completely without them should you team with lower level characters.

I like the new Help Me!/Helper system. I really do. It's a great way to let the veteran player base aid the new players when necessary and that can only be a good thing...

...but...

I worry that this whole "identification" thing might get out of hand... someone will say "Say! Since helper status worked out so well... how about other ways of identifying certain types of players?"

Someday you might just create a new character and face something like this...

Choose whether you wish to be a helper.
* I need help!
* I can help others
* I could help others but the mistakes of newbs amuse me

With our new queue system are you willing to take the Star and lead a team?
* I would prefer not to have star
* Powah! Kneel before me puny mortals lest I kick thee from the team!
* Teams are for wimps and other people annoy me.

Would you like to be flagged as a role player?
* What the heck is a role player?
* No, I just play to play.
* Yes, but henceforth address all your questions to Lord Fontelroy De Haffenstaffen, peasant!
* I reiterate and expand - Teams are for wimps, other people annoy me and roleplayers are freaks of nature with personality disorders.

If you choose to roleplay in what maturity level of RP are you willing to engage?
* G rated; we're talking 70's Super Friends stuff here (without the Batman and Robin innuendos).
* PG rated; the things you wouldn't be embarassed to have read in broadcast.
* R rated; little bit edgier... X-Men movies with a sprinkling of Sin City.
* XXX rated; the naughtier the better, send me a tell if you want to try to get so nasty NCSoft will need to put extra cooling fans in their server stacks.
* I told you I don't RP! So why don't you rate me "leave me the h*ll alone?!"

Should a low level player need a teleport from the transit to the Tailor in Steel Canyon, would you be willing to assist?
* There's a tailor in Steel Canyon? Wait, what's a tailor?
* Only if I'm not at the University, Vault, Store or Wentworths.
* Sure... glad to help!
* Why not? I love reading their tells after I drop them in a spawn of high level Tsoo.

In fact, the Taxibots are always looking to expand! Would you be willing to be on-call for new players as soon as they enter the game? You would be required to spend an hour or so with them showing them around and teaming.
* Er, how exactly do I sign up to be the one escorted rather than doing the escorting?
* Hmm... only if I'm not too busy. Send me a notification window allowing me to answer yes or no when someone requests the service.
* Always willing to help! Put me on automatic summoning for the task!
* I would honestly rather super glue my eyelids shut and staple closed my nostrils.

Are you now, or would you in the future, be interested in participating in a Nemesis Plot?
* A what?
* No thank you, I oppose the aims of Lord Nemesis.
* Always willing to help! I love helping everyone and everything! It's like an obsessive need with me or something... oh, must have missed a little after you last sneezed... let me get that for you...
* Only if he won't ask me a litany of useless f***ing questions!!

If Closed Beta is about to begin, would you like to be considered for beta testing?
* No thank you, I can wait until it comes out on live.
* Absolutely! I'll take all the sneak peaks I can get! Why do you think my new telescope is pointed at my neighbor's house?
* More than likely, since it looks like I'm never going to get through these pop up questions to play THIS version!

Are you left or right handed?
* Left handed.
* Right handed.
* Seriously, dude... what the F**K?!!?

Our marketing department has informed us that there needs to be more in-game advertising for our booster packs. While you still have a choice in the matter would you like to see the packs we have available for purchase?
* No, thank you.
* Yes, please.
* I will track you down. I will find your family. I will eat your pets.

The Paragon City Census Bureau needs to know where its heroes are residing as well as other general information including number of household occupants, general income of household, etc. All this information is in-game and for your character's biographical use only; do not enter your real life information. Click Okay when ready to go to page 1 of 23 of the Census form.
* Okay
* For the love of GAWD... I just want to play the freaking GAME!!

We thank you for answering our questions. We here at NCSoft wish to make your play experience as fun and dynamic as possible and your information will be of great help. At this time you will see a slight pause in the action on your screen as your information is saved to account. Please do NOT turn off the game or your computer during this process as it will result in you having to re-enter the inf...

MAP SERVER DISCONNECTED

Yes,

Waffles > Pancakes

However...

French Toast > Waffles

and...

Steak & Eggs Breakfast > Any other breakfast combo

You have been served! That'll be $8.99... would you like maple syrup with that?

Hmmm...

D'Shan Steelclaw would stick to his SuperJump... human modes of transport smell funny.

La Bella Mafia - chauffeur driven limosine with Mozart playing gently in the background. Her Thug pets would drive black SUVs as escort vehicles in front and behind.

Jonathan Fury - '79 Corvette with the police package installed; black with silver and gold PPD markings on the outside.

Thorn of the Fire Rose - would ride a white stallion everywhere... although considering her powers include Fire Aura and sprouting spines from her body she likely wouldn't do much fighting from atop the poor thing.

Shrapnel Storm - doesn't matter so long as it's a convertible... the crab pack don't you know...

Mistress Monolith - Dodge Ram pick up truck, dark blue with full lift package and oversized tires not quite Monster Truck style...

Our regularly scheduled humor post has been post-poned to bring you this vital public service announcement...

How to help...

* Text REDCROSS to 90999; each text will provide $10 towards the Red Cross’s efforts in Japan. Text QUAKE or JAPAN to 80888 to make a $10 donation to Salvation Army’s efforts in Japan. Text JAPAN or TSUNAMI to 20222 for a $10 donation to go to Save the Children for the same purpose. Be sure to respond “YES” when they send you a thank you message.

* Go to Facebook… The people at Explore.Org are donating $1 for ever “Like” of the “Dog Bless You” Facebook page, up to $100,000. http://www.facebook.com/exploredogs

* The United Nations Foundation has a fund for providing emergency relief during such times. They have multiple methods of donation. Website: http://www.unfoundation.org/donate/cerf.html

* If you play either CityVille, FrontierVille or Farmville you can donate via the purchase of virtual goods. Purchase sweet potatoes in CityVille, radishes in FarmVille or kobe cows in FrontierVille and 100% of your money will go to the relief efforts in the Pacific.

* If you run a website you can embed a line of code which will put a small bar at the top of your screen with a hyperlink for your visitors to donate. Full instructions for this can be found here: http://mashable.com/2011/03/12/hello-bar-japan/

* RedSoxFoundation.org is accepting credit card online or check/money order by mail donations. They are guaranteeing that 100% of donations received will be going to relief efforts in Japan.

* Mercy Corps are working with Peace Winds to help the survivors of the Japan earthquake and Tsunami. Donations will be used to directly by emergency supplies that are needed NOW. Including tents, blankets, instant rice and other food to those evacuated. Proceeds exceeding the immediate needs will go towards long term recovery from the disaster. Website: https://www.mercycorps.org/donate/ja...FcW8KgodShQA-w

* Doctors Without Borders, an organization that does amazing work all over the world, is providing much needed medical aid in the current crisis area. More information, as well as donation options, can be found at www.doctorswithoutborders.org

* While thinking about the people, we sometimes forget there are many animals affected by the disaster as well. If you would like to donate to a no-kill organization dedicated to helping the animals in their recovery; please visit this web-site: http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.c...ue-and-support

* The International Medical Corps emergency response team is currently on-site in Japan and lending their medical talents to those injured, ill and radiation-exposed individuals following last Friday’s disaster. More information on their efforts and how to help can be found at their website: http://www.internationalmedicalcorps....aspx?pid=1970

If you have other methods, please feel free to list them. And please help.

I find it just as hilarious when my Demon Summoning MM shows up with several demon underlings in tow and she doesn't bat an eye.

Just dad's drinking buddies again...

So, the EU and US servers are merging... here's a few predictions of what might come from it.

* New US Independence Day Annual Event - EU Servers are granted access to the US Servers and Ouroboros so they can correct that little "Tea Party that got out of hand" mistake. US Servers must defend against this attempt to alter time by journeying back to colonial days and clicking as many tea box glowies as they can.

* Creation of a Key Bind that says "I'm from America... I only speak English" in every European language. An alternate keybind will be created for those in the southwestern United States which says "I'm from America... I only speak Spanish."

* Canadians will be given access to special protest emote where the sign will read "It's the freaking NORTH AMERICAN server!! Not the US server go**ammit!"

* The United States will be introduced to the most dangerous and vicious PvP zone in the history of the game... British Parliament.

* In an effort to establish global harmony, the devs will create a City of Heroes version of the Olympics. Super Speedsters compete in running events, Super Jumpers in Long and HIgh Jump competitions... Each Archetype will have its own events. Medals will be handed out to the winners. All hard caps will be removed for the event... so you can finally see what your character could REALLY do... right before you leave the zone and get capped yet again.

* After all these years, we here in the North American servers will finally learn that the 5th Column in the EU servers are charicatured stereotypes of "American Capitalist Dogs" who are all over weight, lazy and have a negative perception score whenever a television is on in their general vicinity.

Half a moment here...

This whole "merge the EU/US servers" thing... does that mean that everyone will have complete access to all servers? If it does then that means more character slots for free, doesn't it?

Dear lord... more servers means I need to expand out my tournament so I still have a team on every server... which means more spreadsheets... which means re-vamping the spreadsheets I already have...

Wait a second... but... but... would it be fair to the newer characters I create that they will be going up against veteran characters that have had so much more play time than them....?

Oh no...

Prismatic Stray
ReignBow
MultiChromia
Tank Hue (yeah, doesn't really fit a defender)
Bless Hue
Miss Hue
RainbowResidue
Disconcertia
FunkTronix
Immersive 3D
Sight Saturation
Color Saturation
After Image
Retinal Rebellion
The Pulped Pupil
PainBow Plight

Minutes from the Monthly Fake Nemesis Support Group Meeting as recorded by FNSG Secretary Fake Nemesis 4329.

Meeting called to order by Group President 2133 on March 6th, 2011 at 1700 hours, 32 minutes, 29.44285 seconds.

Floor recognized FN 8421 who raised (again) the complaint of going through life being called a "Fake" Nemesis. General discussion about inability to be taken seriously, bad jokes and comparisons to other "Fake" things (zircons and When Harry Met Sally seem to be the most popular references currently.) On going emotional trauma was given as a reason to bring the issue to Lord Nemesis (again) as a reason to instate a new job title.

8421 was assigned the task of drafting a letter to Lord Nemesis. Vote passed unanimously, subject tabled.

Floor recognized FN 9933 who suggested the aforementioned letter include an offiical request that Lord Nemesis no longer refer to the FN legions as his "little sub-plots." Motion passed, 7 to 1 with 8421 (who claims he actually kind of likes the nick-name) voting nay.

No further new business to discuss, Floor was about to call FN 7331 to reveal the results of his investigation into which would be the best metal polish currently available on the market for personal grooming, when a group of heroes attacked.

Group President 2133 grabbed the box and shouted "I'll save the punch and pie! The rest of you hold them off!" and things degenerated from there.

Giant Monster Suggestions:

* Atlas Park... An evil and/or insane Stone/stone Dominator appears and animates the Atlas Statue. The Dominator phases and jumps inside the globe. He constantly repairs the main body of the statue (who only attacks by stomping and kicking). Attacking the body is an option but it is also ultimately useless. To win the battle you have to break through the globe shell and enter it to fight the Dominator within. Can make this an instanced map to avoid shell-shocking the newbs wandering around Atlas.

* Pocket D... John the Troll has taken some experimental Superadyne which had the odd dual effect of making him grow to 20' tall and imbued him with electrical powers. What makes it worse is John was all set to go dancing and is lookin' spiffy in his White Liesure Suit. Okay... get ready for it... Troll + John + White Leisure Suit + Electrical Powers... that's right... you'll be fighting John Troll-Volta!

(As a brief aside on that last one... if you've recovered enough from the pun-induced stomach cramps to read this... I used ol' John in a D&D campaign I was DMing once... as I recall I was chased from the room with people throwing dice at my head.)

* Cap Au Diable... The candy factory has had one of its recent confectionary experiments go awry! As you approach the lot behind the factory you will see a giant man apparently composed entirely of a jelly-like sugary material. He has strong resistance to smashing (due to his rubbery exterior) but is vulnerable to fire attacks. You defeat him and think it's over with but it's not! He begins to change shape into a horrible half-man, half-bear form! Oh no! Your worst fears are realized! It's a Gummy Were-Bear!

* Don't Care Where... Don't Care How... but they have GOT to have either five robots or five statues get together to form a giant statue-bot. There HAS to be a long cut scene showing the forming of the final monster. And there HAS to be a moment where the last one to join says "And I'll form the head!" ... make it so...