MTeague

There's nothing wrong with asking. But.... yea, I would not hold my breath on this one. Inventing a new Archtype means inventing a new inherent. Carefully curating several powerset combinations to find viable options. Trying to find some niche for the new AT to thrive in, and frankly, we already have trouble giving each of the 4 exisitng melee sets their own niche (Tanker, Brute, Scrapper, Stalker). All things are possible, and maybe the devs will consider this an intruiging challenge. But I don't consider it likely.

I wouldn't. For one thing, I don't need a whole bunch of new shinies. I'm quite pleased with where CoH is at right now. For another, I think the dev team is quite capable of deciding for themselves when, how, and if to add more members. Besides, there is often truth in "the more people you add to the project, the longer it takes."

In 5 to 10 years time, I think this might be true. Right now, a whole lot of software firms are certainly hoping they can replace all their programmers with AI. And they're being disappointed, often. For anything but the simplest of functions, the code produced often needs just as many hours of manual review and manual corrections before it can be inserted into the codebase of a larger product. Still. It is the kind of thing that leaves me very glad I'm within arm's reach of retirement. I would not want to be a fresh-out-of-college programmer right now.

That said, Mind Control has a Mag 3 Non-Aggroing Confuse. Slotted for Range and Duration, I can cast it, again and again, and again, on various targets until it kicks in, and then I have Free Hits on said target until it hits the floor. (provided I refresh the Confuse on cooldown). Purple Triangles are still always going to feel intensely personal since Controller is my favorite archtype. But [Shivan Shard]. Don't leave home without it.

It will probably require some of the alternate animations to have longer apparent "aiming" time, because primary and alternate animations need to have idential animation times. Still. I'd gladly take a more "professional" point-and-shoot animation for each power. The wild flailing is .... not my cup of tea. I also currently have zero Dual Pistols characters because I cannot get past it. But, those who like current animations should be allowed to keep them.

About 50/50 for my goldsiders. A lot of it comes down to backstory and the personality I invented for each such character. Some simply want to make as much of a goal-line stand as is possible. Some have leftover issues to deal with before they'd be willing to hop worlds. Others take the charge to make allies on Primal Earth deadly serious and go at 20. Others just see the chance of a world that hasn't been overrun by the Devouring Earth, hop through the portal and Never look back. My used-to-be Praetorian Archery blaster far prefers the good life at the St. Martial casinos.

During my entire career, I never considered any "suggestion box" to be anonymous. Even those that nominally are. At most, it's a fig leaf of anonymity. Leaving out identification by handwriting (we'll assume everyone uses a deskjet printer or the like), in a work environment, it's often not that hard to figure out who made a certain suggestion just by the topic itself. (people rarely suggest something that they have never mentioned to any other co-worker, and grapevines abound at workplaces) the phrasing. people write in a particular way. I've had coworkers come across code comments in programs I haven't touched in 22 years, and they immediately know "Teague wrote that." and they're right. Just because of phraseology. work computers are all company property, and if anyone really, really, ticked someone off, I'm sure there are those with the skill to backtrack exactly which device sent something to which printers at which hours, and figure out where the suggestions came from. Now, most managers probably don't want to go to major extremes to figure these things out. But I never once put any suggestion in any question box until my mortgage was 100% paid off and I was debt-free.

Perhaps the devs will go for this, perhaps not. I do feel that Enhancement Converters / Converter Roulette is already a pretty good workaround.

I like this idea, and would be glad to see it done. As a workaround, what I've done is anytime I modify my power colors, or even a costume, I click the "Save" button to create a copy of them I can load up later. It is a pain, and I would far, FAR rather have a lock button of the type you suggest. But saving a power customization set, or saving the look of a costume, can allow you to at least restore them later if you should goof up.

people survived for years and years before KB2KD options even existed. The idea of "KB tax" is 100% entirely self-inflicted.

Seconded. I'd also like a $PetName one. You can $Target on a pet but that only gives it's kind ("Thug", "Howler Wolf", "Genin"), not it's name.

Interpretive Dance is clearly supposed to be a Support set, so we can have a +DEF,+RES "Safety Dance" power.

jranger was the forum name of someone on live who was... a veritable font of ... creativity unconstrained by wisdom, I think is the nice way to say it.

For what it's worth, there are a number of player-created Story Arcs in AE that expand on Praetorian content. @Darmian in particular has some great ones. No, that's not quite the same as what you're asking, but they're very much worth a playthrough.

I have eleven goldsiders and I really enjoy those story arcs. But I plan to solo each character there, for at least the 1-20. I would not be opposed to joining a team for those, but the very first thing I would do is set it to "No Xp" for my character. I want to finish ALL of the story arcs that I think make sense for that character, giving the personality and backstory I created for each one. If that meant my teammate rapidly outlevelled me, then I would wish them well if they wanted to continue without me, but i am NOT outlevelling any story arcs there for anyone else.

I was very worried with how well my Ice Control/Cold Domination controller would fare in goldside 1-20. Now, I did sugar daddy him a Panacea proc, and 50 million from petty cash. But even without using the START vendor, he destroys things. Very nearly as fast as my brute. Largely that is on the power of Arctic Air confusing all the minions and lieutenants though, freeing him up to focus on the bosses. He definitely had an easier time in the early levels than my goldside Ice/Dark sentinel. For things I haven't done in forever... I've gone a full week without caffeine? It won't last mind you. But it's reassured me that I CAN in fact give it up, if I ever wish to.

I would not mind more animations. I would not hold my breath, either. But who knows? Maybe they have something in the works. Yellow titles... honestly, that sounds like a You problem. (and no, I have never bought one, ever, on any character). If how somoene else has fun in this game, just by adding a title to their character bothers you, that's probably something you should work on. [EDIT: I'm not even sure how/if/where yellow titles are bought, to be honest. ]

I mean, I would not be opposed to alternate defeat methods. Although, let's be real, the use of that will be niche, at best. Teams are still always going to be steamrolly wrecking balls of destruction. That. Will. Not. Change. Why are controllers like this? Hey, even if you don't like the answer, this game dates back to 2004. EverQuest was the MMO with the biggest recognition, even if a bare few months later WoW took over. The original designers assumed, right out of the bat, that people would team. That soloing could be done, but it would be rarer, and mostly a slog. It was with that mindset that the main five Archtypes were created. (Tank, Scrapper, Blaster, Defender, Controller). The Controller was pegged as a very team-oriented archtype, offering both lockdown and buffs/debuffs. At least for the early game, your controls ARE your attacks. Flash forward twenty years later, yes, player expections are very different, but the foundation of this game, is still 2004. Does this mean Controllers are helpless? Heck No. A well built controller can demolish things. My favorite is Mind/Kin, with side of Sorcery. Nothing attacks me unless I want it to, and I pick things off with Arcane Bolt, TK-plus-Levitate, Terrify built for Damage, and a few damage procs in certain key controls. On the secondary side, Siphon Power and Fulcrum Shift keep me well buffed. Am I going to outdamage, or even keep pace with a Brute, Scrapper, or Blaster? Absolutely not. If that's your yardstick, get used to disappointment. But I can do respectable damage, safely clear maps, and enjoy my play, even without a pet (although some would argue Confuse makes ALL the enemies my pets...) Is it rough from 1-20? Hardly any slots, very few powers? Yes. But right or wrong, this is an MMO, and while teaming is never required, it is often the best solution to many problems.

When people have spent multiple pages arguing about what they're arguing about, there is no longer any productive use for this thread. Please lock.

Maybe your character needs corrective lenses.

I'd particularly be open to it if it gave us a way to acquire Going Rogue tips that we had already outlevelled.

I do think, when we disagree, it would be helpful if we took some time to phrase it, as if we were talking to a newer colleague at work. I'm not saying don't disagree. I'm not saying don't say why you think it's a bad idea. I am saying "Buckshot" or "Flamethrower", may not be the most forum-friendly approach. Do I expect anyone to change their ways, no, not really. But sometimes a mentoring approach is better than a "dude, ur idea sucks" approach.

I'm extremely happy with my Thugs/Traps character. As @Scarlet Shocker said, not every support set is all things to all people. Traps is not built for fast moving teams. Don't expect it to be. You are the team's "Oh Crap!" button, when there's a hard target, or when somoene accidentally aggros two extra spawns. That said, Thugs is plenty capable of just being a roaving band of destruction. The Defense your thugs will accumulate from your Enforcers, plus your Forcefield Generator, plus, if you took it, Manuevers, makes them extremely durable, even on the move. And of course, there's Gangnam War, when you want that extra oomph, or just extra targets to help distract foes. Your Thugs will work even better, holed up and making good use of your Traps. Teams generally won't wait for that outside of AV's or other kick-it-up-a-notch scenarios. Don't expect them to. Save your Traps for emergencies. Soloing though, you are a holy terror. Traps does definitely benefit from Global Recharge. Now, if I recall correctly from other threads, you (@Ultimo), typically do not use the AH, and do not use much in the way of IO's. (Correct me if I'm wrong on that point). This will be a character where you will feel that more than some others. Excessive +Recharge set bonuses are not required for /Traps to shine, but there's no denying it's particularly nice with a powerset with long recharge times. And this combo already has some powers just beggin' to be slotted with some Luck of the Gamblers. But you can just slot some recharge SO's, if that's the limit of where you want to go.

I would pick eight people who enjoy mild banter and chatting during missions.

I have to admit, I've never deliberately slotted a pet for end redux. Just gone with the Henchment IO sets or the Recharge Intensive Pets IO sets. And if End Reduction happened to be part of them, then they got exactly that much. I don't rememeber fly trap standing around doing nothing, my Plant is a Dom, so I has my entire secondary tree for direct damage. For me, the pet offtanking is what I'm really looking for.