jwbullfrog

Lovely.

Thanks to eveyone that had a hand in getting this onto the forums. I don't quite have the time to get involved in Beta so it's nice to be able to see this.

See? You can learn something new each day. Now I know and knowing....

I try not to drag politics into the game. This is where I come to get away from real life for a while.

Now, having said that, making characters to make fun of IN GAME politicians... hmm, that I might be able to get behind.

In a way you can already get this. Every time you're introduced to a new contact, there's a short description telling you what kind of enhancements you might be able to get from them and what villain groups they are most interested in.

All you really need to do is follow the contact chain that most closely matches your origin/ character idea.

I'm being serious.....


And don't call me shirley.

And I was going to volunteer for the job....

Oh, well, someone beat me to it. But, honestly, would you really want the job? No downtime, never five seconds to yourself. Everywhere you go it's "can I have your autograph" or "can you get my cat out of a tree" or "pardon me, but there's a giant meteor heading our way. could you do something about that please?"

More seriously.

Statesman will still be available as an icon. Assuming that he does not return to the main game, he will become part of the game lore alongside Galaxy Girl, Dauntless, Atlas, The Illustrated Woman, the Omega Team and the other fallen heroes that are already established parts of game lore.

There will probably be statues, and days of mourning, and, eventually, a "Statesman's lost briefcase" taskforce where we get to track down the one and only reliable map to the well of the furies complete with instructions and an estimate of how much dynamite he felt was needed to get rid of the thing once and for all.

I suppose you can look up to me if you like. I'd really prefer if you just throw money.

I'm not sure there is any power set that is a 'never again' set but there are some combinations that I would think long and hard about before trying again.


Kin/Psi Defender -- To be honest, I love this character. She's been with me for a long time but she dies faster than a first level blaster. This is a powerful build when I have a team around me but as a soloist, she's a bit dodgy.

Storm/Electric -- It's never clicked for me. I've seen others that swear by it, mostly I just swear at it.

Rad/Rad defender or Corr -- yes, it's a debuff machine but the offensive side seems a bit wanting. Still, this was where my first 50 came from so I have enough of a soft spot for it that I keep coming back for just one more try...

Sonic/ ...anything... Defenders -- again, another set that has never really clicked. I like the offensive capabilites of Sonic attacks but the defense side has always been a bit --- meh. This might qualify as my only 'never again'

oh, well, I'll keep trying. sooner or later it will all work out. maybe.

Your print screen button will do the job. the actual picture will be filed as a .jpg file under a folder called 'screenshots' in your COH game directory. From there you can do whatever you like to with it

There were a few female crimefighters that went out and battled the forces of evil in evening wear.

Full length dresses and, perhaps, the accessories that go with them.

-Stoles
-Full length fur coats (they can actually be faux fur, as long as they look good)
-Full length evening gloves
-long cigarette holders (extra points if it actually gives off smoke)
-hats with veils over the eyes
-pince nez glasses (for those that don't know about these, they are glasses that do not have earpieces. they stay in place just by grqabbing the nose)

For both sides of the gender aisle...

-Loose trench coats. The ones we have now are a bit too tight in the upper body. I'm thinking of the classic Bogart look.
-More hat options (I think this has been said before but...)
-Walking sticks (bonus points if you can use it as an alternative power animation)


There might be more but these are the first things to come to mind.

Ok, so I'm feeling a bit ambitious and posting early this week. Enjoy --- JWB




Hiya Paragonners. Alexis Alexander here with my continuing report.

After putting some distance between ourselves and the Arachnos facilities, we decided to find some safe high ground that we could use to get our bearings and, perhaps, get a cell phone signal out to Madam letting her know that we had made it. Carpenter had found us a charred but still solid apartment building, and from the roof ten stories up, we could get our first good look at the city.

Most people hear the words 'Meteor Strike' and instantly all of the Apocalyptic films of the last thirty years come into your head. We envision planet killing, super massive rocks from space and we hope somebody has Bruce Willis on speed dial. The truth, readers, is that hundreds of small meteors (asteroids if you prefer) impact the Earth annually. The global killers of fiction are extremely rare and, had one of those impacted in Galaxy City, you probably would not have even known it since the whole of Paragon City would have been consumed in the initial fireball.

Readers, the devastation isn't quite as total as the official reports and video releases would have you believe. In fact, it's far from it. I've seen the same news broadcasts you have and seen the same 'survivor's videos' on the web and, if I were to base my opinions entirely upon those (as, sadly, some others in my profession do) I would think that Bruce had not picked up his messages in time and that Galaxy City was another wasteland like Boomtown.

I could see several skyscrapers that were shattered and burned by what must have been direct hits, most notably the gaping hole in the skyline where the First Paragon Bank building once stood. Plumes of smoke rose above city blocks that had been swept by fire (ruptured gas lines, Carpenter suggested) and shattered bridges and streets. The most notable area of damage was in the area downtown near Ridge Avenue where we could see two, possibly three, large impact craters. The War Walls, at least those parts we could see, seemed intact with the force walls steadily glowing.

Handshake stared at things for a few minutes before offering his opinion. "If I had to make a guess I'd say that, the main strike was composed of large pieces that hit near downtown with a large number of smaller pieces spreading out through the city like a shotgun. I'd say, " he said, pointing out a few specific points, "that outside of downtown, a good part of city is intact."

"Intact?" Sandy asked. "It's a complete mess."

"Ok, it's in very bad shape," I agreed. "But no worse off than after a large scale superhuman fight. Sweep up the broken glass, clean up the soot stains, chase away the Freaks trying to loot everything, and, in true Paragon city fashion, we're back in business in a month or two."

Readers, there was nowhere enough damage to justify the City council's state of panic. It was bad, true, but we've seen worse. Overbrook, for example, was an almost total loss, and yet, a massive rebuilding and salvage program is underway there. So why such an extreme reaction here?

"You know, " said Handshake, "Cobo mentioned Dresden. You've heard about that haven't you? "

"Sure, " I said. "More than a bit controversial. Firebombed late in the Second World War."

"Well, look at the pattern of damage. All focused toward the city center. It reminds me of old photographs of Dresden."

It took me a moment to see what he had seen but, one I had, I didn't like the implications. It appeared that my contact in Vanguard was correct. The meteors that fell on Galaxy City were not a random cosmic accident. The city had been targeted. Earth, once again, was under attack.

Readers, I urge you to remain calm and not go running off to the countryside. As those of us who work with the superhuman community know, its only a matter of time before someone declares war on our World.

In fact, it happens far more often than people realize.

Every year or two some alien race (or, if you believe the rumors, people from parallel worlds) come marching up to our doorstep demanding our total and unconditional surrender in the face of their obvious superiority. In fact, records show that this has happened some 15 times since 1980.

Due to the presence of the global superhuman community, and the more recent formation of Vanguard, our current record in these situations is 14 -0- 1 (the Rikti are still considered a threat and can only be counted as, at best, a draw.) Not counting the Rikti, these invasions are beaten back within a day or two, and the heroes involved quietly receive medals and generous cash rewards while their respective governments seal records and add another folder to the 'eyes only' file.

In other words, been there, done that.

Carpenter appeared in front of me. Honestly, I'd gotten so lost in thought that I had forgotten she was even around. "Time to go. Trouble's coming."

As we broke into a run for the stairs I could see what she meant. Coming up fast from the North was one of the small aircraft Longbow called chasers. Usually used for scouting, they are also typically armed for close air support of ground units. I could see that this one wasn't just wandering aimlessly, it had a mission.

Find out who those people on the rooftop are.

The chaser was moving faster than we expected and it screamed over the roof top before we made it back to the stairs. Carpenter and Sandy had just started down when I could see the pilot pull into a tight turn and point his nose back at us. I'm not a psychic, readers, but I had a fairly good idea of his intentions.

"Go." ordered Handshake, pointing down the stairs. "I have this."

I ducked just far enough into the stairwell to get myself out of the pilots line of sight but not far enough to let Handshake out of my sight. I know I've said before that I know I'm not a fighter but I'm also not the kind of person that leaves friends to get shot up.

I could see Handshake standing his ground, his arms held loosely by his side. I could hear the increasing whine of the chaser's engines and, just at the point where I thought gunfire would have started, I saw Handshake extend an arm forward and pull it back in a sharp "grabbing" gesture. The air around Handshake wavered and glowed blue for a moment before he dropped face first onto the pavement, letting the chaser, now trailing sparks and having obvious difficulty, wobble over him and back out over the streets.

"What did you do?" I asked after he scrambled on all fours through the doorway and I helped him back to his feet.

"Fried his electronics. If he's any good, he'll too worried about not crashing to come back after us."

"I didn't know you could do that."

"You never asked. Madam didn't have me come along simply because I'm pretty."

um, I've been here for 5 years and I have no idea what a Treespec is either.

Malta gunslingers with the perception and hitting range of nemesis snipers, using ammunition that simultaneously holds, saps, and debuffs you. All while dealing a combo of lethal/psionic damage.


... and no recharge caltrops for close in work.

So now we officially have Eldrich Abominations in game.

Well, why not? We can all do with a bit more Cthulhu.

I have one I've always thought would be interesting

1. a FF/ EMP defender. I may not be much for offense but I can make teammates invulnerable.

That's kind of the idea Leo. Make them more impressive without making them gamebreaking. But, combined with that, they should be limited enough that they are, perhaps, a 'once a mission' power.

Now I could get behind this if it allowed me to pick and choose the powers I use as a part of it.

Since that is not likely with the game mechanics the way they are, I suggest a more reasonable way of achieving the same effect.

If you have a character thas an 'elementalist' then go for a combination of fire and ice sets. i.e fire Blast/ Ice Control or even plant/stone.

For the classic 'mage bolts' look, I'd suggest energy blast (in whatever color you choose) or perhaps psychic assault.

A 'Dark wizard' can always go for dark blasts (again, choose your color) or again go to energy and just tint in more 'evil'

Sets like empathy, pain domination, force field can fit in nicely with any magical concept. just chnge the look a bit to suit you and voila.

I dont think we need a new powerset, just perhaps a more flexible way of looking at the ones we already have.

well, just a point of view from someone who doesn't use incarnate powers.


I'm not fond of most tier 9 nukes. Somehow, they just seem less impressive than they should be. When I use a power nicknamed 'nuke' I expect something that will efficiently and reliably clear an entire room, even at the cost of me lying on the ground near death.

It shouldn't be your leading move, it should more be your last resort.

Suggesting that we reduce the endurance cost of these powers or make them more usable seems, to me, to go against the idea of the power. I believe that we should make them more damaging, more accurate, more stunning... and more debilitating.

If I get to the point where I need my Psychic Wave, the fight is already going wrong. If I set it off, I expect to be standing in the center of the room, stunned, out of endurance, 1 HP remaining.... and surrounded by the corpses of my enemies.

A nuke should be my Gandalf on the bridge power..

"You, shall not PASS!" BOOM!

just a thought from me.

Ok here are some answers for you Lady V.

1. in Praetoria, who is good and who is evil depends greatly on who's doing the asking. Personally, I think they're all insane. There are 4 different paths for getting through and the closest ones to "good" are the Responsibility Loyalists and the Warden Crusaders. Even with that, they ask you to do some questionable things in the name of 'the greater good.'


2. the epic AT's (PB, WS, widows and soldiers) are not given the option of doing the tutorial. they start directly in Atlas or Mercy.