mousedroid

Maybe this should be changed from Weekly Strike Target to Monthly Strike Target?

That way after a week or two, folks would get bored with it, and/or have the badges, and go back to doing regular content until the beginning of the next month.

I personally can't see myself doing these each more than twice a week on my two badge toons (and only lvl 50s).

My apologies to the 'Legion for starting anything in this thread with my comments. I should have used better judgement and kept them to myself.

Hopefully you all have thicker skin/armor/carapaces than I might have in your position.

I have to say, I was baffled by last night's grand prize winner. Not because he was being a pain throughout the entire contest, but because he was basically a guy in a pinstripe suit.

It's not my contest though, and obviously you can pick whomever you want. I agreed with most of the Honorable Mentions, and I do appreciate the American Legion's generosity in running these contests.

I'd like to sign up for a STF on Thursday at 8 PM CT/9 PM ET, please.

Erin Brand - BS/WP scrapper.

Things I was appreciative of last Friday, and still am today:

1) Double XP weekend. There are too many fun things to do in this game and I have too much fun making characters, which means that many of them languish for months, or years, with no attention paid to them. Double XP weekend is a great time to dust off some "old friends", relearn how to play them, and get some choice XP under their belts.

2) My company's vacation policy. Not only is it fairly generous - I get 26 days total - I can take vacation in chunks as small as half a day, and nearly at the drop of a hat (typically 1 week notice if it's only a day or two). This makes it much easier for me than for some to arrange time off to attend special ingame events like the Friday of 2xXP weekend, or the now traditional Anniversary day chaos.

3) My insulated French Press coffee maker. Makes the most delicious, flavorful coffee ever, and keeps it warm for hours. Invaluable for 2xXP weekend when non-stop task-forcing makes it hard to put on a fresh pot of java.

Tank from 24 to 29
Brute from 18 to 24
Controller from 9 to 32
Level pacted Dom/Corruptor pair from 1-11

Not a bad weekend, and only one bad team the whole time. Though I did run into a 63 month vet who didn't know what "glowies" were, or how to reset mission difficulty. That was a little odd.

Also, I enjoyed listening to The Cape throughout the weekend.

I've been playing a mind/emp controller a lot lately, and I skipped Absorb Pain and Resurrect in Empathy. I skipped Absorb Pain because I already had two heals, and I skipped Resurrect because a good team with a good Empath shouldn't need Resurrect. Also, you can get Revive Ally from the day jobs for the few occasions where defeat is unavoidable.

I've never played the Electric Control set, but from looking at it, I would personally skip Chain Fences, at least at the level it becomes available. Setting off an AOE Immob with minor damage at level 2 is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. Then again, you do have a self heal, so maybe it wouldn't be completely crazy. I wouldn't pick it up until at least the mid to late teens though, if at all.

Aside from my static team tonight I plan to split my time between the following toons:

1) Level 30 Elect/Storm corruptor
2) Level 30 Elect/Kin corruptor
3) Level 24 Fire/Mace tank
4) Level 19 Dual Blades/WP brute
5) Level 9 Ill/Rad controller


Will get as many levels as possible out of all these guys.

My hopes:

1) A new option for the Claws powerset that allows you to use the character's natural claws.

2) The ability to use hats with beast/animal heads.

3) A beast-like running/leaping animation or power similar to Ninja Run.

4) Options for bare skin with hair that look more like animal fur and less like Robin Williams with his shirt off.

Honestly, I'd be satisfied if we got any one of these, happy if we got two of them, and ecstatic if we got 3, or all, of them.

Ten nominees for Best Picture? Have there always been that many? I haven't paid close attention to the Oscars in about five or six years, but I thought there were always five BP nominees, just like most other categories.

13 to 38 months (i.e., he'll return in issue 600 or issue 625)

Just thought of something - this will be the first double XP weekend since they added the ability to log out to character select.

In the past if you were on a grayed-out server you didn't dare switch characters for fear of not being able to get back into that server. With this added feature, will you be able to jump between characters on a greyed out server without losing your connection to that server?

If so it could lead to a whole new level of people not being able to log in to play their favorite characters.

I would love it if a Red Name could weigh in on this.

Oh and another thing - we have a double XP weekend coming up. Virtue and Freedom have been notoriusly difficult to log onto during double XP weekends. With the general uptick in population lately, I'm betting it's going to be especially tough to get on those two servers this weekend, especially during the busiest hours.

You might want to start some toons on a less busy server right now and pay to transfer them to Virtue next Monday or Tuesday.

I play mostly on Virtue and Guardian, but I have found all the servers to be populated by friendly, helpful people.

If you mostly like to solo, it doesn't really matter which server you play on. If you prefer to team, pick one of the busier servers (server list runs from top to bottom as follows: Top - last server visited, Next - least busy server, down to Last - busiest server).

Another thing to keep in mind, Guardian is the "Unofficial West Coast server," so that might be a good one to join if you're in Vancouver or something.

Yeah, I've inherited a couple of SG groups that friends started after they left the game. I've kept the groups running by myself, and I don't mind, but boy do I wish I could change the names. One of them has a name that I don't even know the meaning of!

"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Shannon Callahan asked as she ducked her head into the office of Police Captain Lucille Francis.

"Ah, Shannon, yes. Please come in and shut the door behind you," Captain Francis replied. "You know Police Chief Bochco and Commissioner Daniels, don't you?"

Shannon's mind was racing as she shook the extended hands of her two superiors. "Did I do something stupid? Did someone die?? Did someone die because I did something stupid???"

"Relax and have a seat, Corporal," the Chief of Police chuckled, "I can assure you, you're not in any kind of trouble."

"Quite the contrary, in fact," the Commissioner added, "But I'll let Captain Francis explain."

"Thank you, Commissioner," Lucy Francis began. "As you know, at first I was resistant to allowing you to join Chief Bochco's 'Blue Shield Initiative', partly because your arrest record here in Kings Row was second to none, and I didn't want to lose one of my best officers; and partly because... well... you're a bit impulsive, and I really didn't want to lose one of my best officers."

Shannon blushed and swallowed nervously at the veiled reference to her reputation as the reckless "Shenaniguns" Callahan.

"But after these last eight months, I've come to realize that I was wrong to have hesitated," Captain Francis continued. "Your bravery in the face of incredible danger and overwhelming odds has been nothing short of exemplary. Many young officers in this precint would do well to follow the example you have set."

"And your leadership of the Blue Shield Initiative during Detective Washington's extended assignment... abroad, was impressive. Most impressive," Chief Bochco added. "For the last six months 'Blue Shield' has brought in more dangerous, meta-powered individuals than any other division of the PPD. Well done, Corporal."

"Thank you, sir," Shannon said, smiling proudly.

"That is why we asked you in here today, Officer Callahan," Commissioner Daniels continued, as he stood up. "In light of your bravery in the line of duty, your leadership in the absence of a superior officer, and at the recommendation of Captain Francis, Chief Bochco, and Detective Washington, I hearby confer upon you promotion to the rank of Task Force Commander of the Paragon City Police Department."

Shannon merely sat in her chair blinking. At least she assumed she was still sitting down; her whole body had gone numb. "Task Force Commander?" she thought, "That... that can't be right. That's like three, no four ranks above Corporal. That's the highest field rank available in the PPD, and only one step below Captain! I must have heard him wrong. Or it's a joke. No, it couldn't be a joke, that would be too cruel. I must have heard him wrong. Why are they all looking at me, and smiling? How long have I been sitting here? I should say something, but... what do I say? What if I heard him wrong and make an idiot of myself accepting a promotion they couldn't possibly have given me. Oh my god, I hope I don't puke!"

"Officer Callahan? Corporal?? Shannon!" Captain Francis barked in amusement.

"Wha.. huh?" was the only response Shannon could muster.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Commissioner Francis asked.

"I... I'm sorry sir, I'm... I'm not sure I heard you correctly," Shannon replied tentitively.

"You heard me correctly, Officer. We are promoting you from Corporal directly to Task Force Commander. It is a badge you should wear proudly," the Commissioner said, gesturing to Captain Francis who was holding out a black leather box that contained Shannon's new badge.

"Congratulations, Shannon, I'm very proud of you" the Captain said handing Shannon the box. "Detective Washington wanted to be here as well, but he to attend a meeting with Internal Affairs this afternoon. We'll let you share the good news with the rest of your 'Blue Shield' teammates."

"Congratulations," the Commissioner said, shaking the still semi-numb, but now apparently standing, Shannon's hand.

"Congratulations, and good work," Chief Bochco added, "Keep this up and one day you'll be taking over for me."

Shannon involuntarily snorted with laughter at the thought of herself as Chief of Police, and quickly slapped her hand over her mouth. Everyone else cracked up and it finally sank in that this was really real. "Mickey Callahan's little girl - an honest-to-god PPD Task Force Commander," Shannon thought, "Holy ****, I gotta call dad and tell him!!!"

"Thank you all so much," Shannon gushed, "I promise I will NOT let you down. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go call my dad!" She said turning around and promptly tripping over her chair and sprawling flat on the floor. "You didn't see that," she laughed embarrassedly as she rushed out of the room.

Can someone fill me in on what the bind is that causes your character's name/level/AT/powersets/location/etc to show up when you post in the global chat channels?

Thanks!