Greycat

Nope. The tutorials are not mandatory, and I can run around for several levels being completely unrecognized until I've gained some levels. No NPCs "recognize" me - which lets me *get* recognized naturally (the NPCs you save do, generically, thank you. Not "OMG, it's you!" but "Thanks, they're always trying to steal my purse.") Which gives a natural path for the level 5-ish "someone wants to talk to you," since, well, you rescuing people would be noticed (or talked about by the rescuees.) So, yes, you're starting with an assumption on what others' characters are doing. And the game gives me the flexibility to go against that assumption. Heck, I've had characters who just run SG created missions in AE and never really touch a "real" contact, but get a full story arc (or several) through that and RP. (You also ignore starting redside, in which case I'm definitely not a hero.)

... you assume. I have plenty of characters with only a name, no real police connections 'til they've gotten noticed street sweeping (leveling a bit and eventually being pointed to a contact.) So, yeah, character wise, I do end up with characters who suddenly realized they can do fantastic things - or can't, and are just driven to go up and punch a Hellion.

On occasion, I used to do anti-FOTMs. Like Ice/Energy blasters were a thing for a while. Energy/ice is ... a bit different. Or taking those combos to other ATs. (Energy aura/Ice melee?)

Was going to reply earlier, didn't. Haven't really read through, to be honest. Skimmed a bit. So, here, two cents. Don't spend it all in one place. Yes, the game - both content and powers - should be balanced around SOs. Everyone gets them. Can get them for free. There's nothing much to understand about them, and they make a good baseline. SOs don't really "break" the game. (There can be some argument on getting them earlier doing so, now - at least one thread was started on that - but that ship sailed with DFB. They're more powerful, but there's also a cost for upkeep.) There's no side question on set bonues, globals, how many of what you have, build cost (as opposed to a min/maxed IO build,) etc. If you want to go with IOs and get more powerful that way, you can - either just a little (say, frankenslotting and not bothering with set bonuses much) or all out. Do so and content at base levels will get easier. (Moreso than the various "perks" we've gotten over the years have done.) Content? Well, it's still measured against that base level... generally with SOs. Trying to tweak the game, whether we're looking at power (do we *really* want to nerf recharge on the assumption X percent of builds have at least three LOTG globals?) or content - though the latter can be specifically marked, like some may do in AE - around the assumption that "the player will have IO builds" just rapidly gets into a chaotic mess about what assumptions *that* entails, and followups about what should be a "base" there, and shouldn't we just make that the base without a build, etc, etc, etc.

Yeah, it's th epoint that sticks in mind. And other than being a "free" (and forced) respec, no, it's not all that special.

See, here's the thing I have with the "untrained levels" one - If this were the trigger, I think we'd see a *lot* more VEATs have failed respecs. Why? At level 24, they're *forced* to respec their powers while leveling. And I know I'm not the only one who's had higher level tiers sitting there waiting. While the forced respec is (to me) annoying and part of why I don't play VEATs often (or just to 10 to get the costume slot, then PL to 24+,) if I'd had even one respec fail at that point with extra levels, it would annoy me enough to remember it.

You can just highlight the bit of text you want, and after a moment there'll be a "Quote selected" bubble that pops up. It should just add it in wherever your cursor is. Or just hit "Quote" at the bottom of the post if there's not much there, or you want a bigger part of the post - it'll fit it in right beneath.

Honestly, I'd like to split some of the items apart (that still need scaling to better sizes, as well) - such as the SG tables. Sized to make everyone look like the two year old sneaking a seat at the grownups table, if they can fit in...

Protect the Peregrine Island bank and charge them a fee of 100% of all holdings.

Well, we do have a few chest (and other) items that glow, but no symbols. I don't know if there's any technical reason not to. If there isn't, I'm for it. Honestly it would help with other items as well - like if you wanted a stripe that glowed down the side of the (regular) bottoms, versus the specific set of pants that does it.

I know I've posted this commission I had made after that change before, but...

I'm fairly sure it didn't give me the choice on my last high-40. That said I have a character at 47 now - I'll have to run her over to one.

And nobody's criticizing you for sharing an opinion. Options and ways to tweak things for your liking are being mentioned. Besides, at level 7 the enemies aren't all that big a deal either - not many challenges (besides perhaps end drain from clockwork or mu.) Give it a bit, as they get more abilities, there'll be more of a challenge.

Take a look at the classic hero challenge thread. Honestly, running under those restrictions is its own kind of fun and requires approaching things in a new (or, rather, old - but new after all these years) way.

And Everlasting has at least two a day, every evening, including weekends. It's about as unattainable as sliced bread.

I think that's part of why I was thinking of them as a "boot" option, since (as I recall) the generic thigh-length boot can have a color and a pattern on that color. Though, that might also look a little odd. Predone-pattern as an option would also work with some ideas (thinking of it similarly to the one.. gunslinger, I think... corset, for instance.)

If you're on Everlasting, there are several Hamidon raids done every day, as well as at least two mothership raids (done by Chaos United.) They're always advertised in the LFG channel. They start in the afternoon, run into the evening. And other ones will pop up on occasion. Let's see. Hami Raid: Raid the Hamidon. Giant hero-eating blob, if it can manage. AKA "Jello." Level 45+ - usually involves a full or nearly full league. (Has been done with as few as 8, but typically needs much more. Has been one shotted once due to a bug way back on live. Peacebringer 1, Hamidon 0.) Location: The Hive (far end of Eden, itself in the corner of Founders Falls,) the Abyss (from Grandville or a sub in Peregrine Island.) Items of note: Essence of Earth - special inspirations that protect against Hamidon's unique damage. Gained through the auction house or fighting (with the league) the DE monsters in the zone. You'll want several (rule of thumb seems to be "have four." But they can build up so you'll end up with spares after a raid or two.) Reward choices: 40 (80 the first run on any specific character per day) Reward merits. 4 Empyrian merits (must be 50.) Hami-o enhancement (must be 50.) Also "buddy" badge for killing 100 of the Hamidon buds that spawn after defeat. Mostly - at least on Everlasting - pay attention to Request. Figure out which group you're in (melee/ranged/holds/taunt,) follow whoever's designated targeter, melee/blast/hold what they target. (Target through them.) Watch request for when to attack (and stop attacking) Hami, or anything special about the raid. It'll seem a bit chaotic at first. Jetpacks advised if you don't have fly. MSR: Mothership Raid Location: Rikti War Zone. Accessible through multiple zones (or the teleporter, or base teleport.) Look for the white circle with the "V" on the map. (Atlas, Founders, PI, Cap au Diable, ... I'm actually forgetting the other zones, probably Grandville, sure someone will mention them.) Level: Any level. If you're 35+, do the introduction to vanguard arc from Levantra to get Vanguard merits for defeating Rikti. (You'll get these whether you defeat Rikti in the zone or elsewhere.) Rewards: XP, inf. 6 reward merits if you're there in the bowl (center of the ship) pretty much when the GM, U'kon G'rey, is taken down. 6 more (and "Welcome to Earth") badge if you're close when / if the dropship is taken down. Vanguard merits if you have Member of Vanguard. One explore badge in the center of the "bowl" of the mothership, once the shield's down. (so, in a way, 5 more merits once you get all the explore badges there.) Jetpack's handy if you don't have fly. Take out the pylons (same ones people use to test their DPS builds, yes) around the mothership. Get on said ship. Break down the grates on the sides to plant bombs. Try not to get killed. Rush the bowl when told, kill rikti for 20-30 minutes. Get XP. Get merits. Of special note, if you have an AOE repel power (hurricane, force bubble,) do *NOT* turn it on in the bowl unless you want to become suddenly very unpopular. Higher level tanks will go out and taunt mobs to bring them into the meat grinder the rest of the league makes in the middle. There are usually a few people with healing auras hanging out there, too, to try to keep you alive. Fire at anything that isn't a player. Special note: While you'll probably start converting Vanguard merits to reward merits (30:1 ratio) eventually, there are a few things you can buy directly with them. There's a "storage sack" increase for salvage (500, IIRC.) A Vanguard HVAS (250.) A psi bomb (3 charges, I don't know that people really pick this up.) And... Nectembo's Curse Breaker. This is something to pick up for two things - the Vanguard arcs (as the third one... Gaussian, as I recall - has you fighting rogue Vanguard) and the Mender Ramiel arc you use to unlock Alpha. This specifically counters the Curse of Weariness, which cuts your END pool in half for 5 minutes. (Non stacking, fortunately.) It's particularly annoying if it hits during that alpha unlock.... There used to be more items (Vanguard costume pieces,) but fortunately those are now just part of the costume editor from the get-go. Giant monsters: Don't know where they are? Go to your general tab (or create a tab) with hero and/or villain zone event alerts. Several zones, blueside, will have something. (Perez park - Kraken. Boomtown: Council war walker, Babbage. Kings Row (north) - Paladin (generally broken, honestly.) Indy Port: Lusca (takes a bit longer, you fight each tentacle independently.) Echo: DA - Adamastor. Talos or IP - Ghost ship (you fight the ghosts, not th eship. Not really a GM.) Croatoa: Eochai and Jack in Irons. Crey's Folly: Jurassik... and the list goes on. Yes, I know, didn't touch villainside. Scrapyard, Caleb, Arachnos flyer, Deathsurge... Just watch that channel. or check the wiki.) Rewards: For most, 6 merits (and a badge the first time you kill them.) Lusca's sort of multiple GMs (you have to defeat the tentacles, too,) but it's 6m for the entire encounter. Sally, in Croatoa, some might list under GMs, but she's literally taken down with brawl. Do so several times for a badge. The ghost ship, again, isn't really a "GM" and you won't get merits. XP, if in range for the ghosts, and a badge (Ectoplasmic) for killing... I think it's 100 of them. Sometimes people will come up with GM hunting teams. The ones I've seen can last from 30-60 minutes, frequently, and will go through several monsters... so you'll get some merits built up that way. Side note, several of the encounters' badges are also required for various accolades. I'm just going to say "check the wiki." Signature Story Arcs There are two overall story arcs, "Who will die" (SSA 1, some people are grumpy about this one,) and "Pandora's box," made up of several contacts and their own arcs. Of the rewards for these, you'll... probably go for the reward merits. Once every 6.5 days, the reward table (for each individual arc) will give you the option for 4x merits - so, for "who will die" episode one (3 missions, I've got a mini guide for it in the guides section) you'll get a choice of 20 merits, 5 merits (if you've taken the 20,) 4 threads (if you're 50) or an accuracy SO. (or one other thing that's ... also underwhelming.) Going to just point to the wiki again, look up the SSA names for who to talk to and where they are. 🙂 Tip Missions: Tips drop after you hit level 20. These will show up in your contacts under "tips." This was the old way of changing alignment, and you have to go through the "cycle" of hero - vigilante-villain-rogue-hero if you want to change from one to the other. (Null the Gull will just let you change.) You can have up to three (plus the halloween tip, which does nothing for alignment.) Accept the tip, decide if you're going to do it as (for instance) a hero or vigilante (it will explain which option does what, then ask you to confirm.) After ten tips, you get a morality mission which will reaffirm (or change) your alignment. There's a merit reward (40, I think) for that. Plus you get a temp power (after a period of time.) Badge, too, as I recall. DA/RWZ missions: Are ... simply missions in Dark Astoria or the Rikti War Zone. Mostly used for leveling if you're not 50 - you'll join a team and run them. Once you're working on incarnate stuff, you'll do DA missions to get components - there's a repeatable mission giver in DA. (There's also one in the RWZ, but not incarnate specific.) You'll get the contact when you're 35 (RWZ) or 50 (DA,) respecitively. FLashback system: ... is what Ouroboros is all about. Go through their intro, they do some explaining. Go to the little crystals in the main tower, you'll be able to pick a level range and look for missions you've outleveled. Good for seeing content you missed, grabbing badges you missed (there are also badges for the content and some difficulty settings, as well.) There's also Ouro specific contacts - run Twilight Son's arc once you have some levels under your belt. That should be a ... maybe not *quick,* but reasonable overview of those. Remember, the wiki's your friend....

*shrug* Everlasting runs a few raids. The early ones (which I tend to be working during, or otherwise doing needed running around on weekends) tend to be in the Abyss, the later ones in the Hive. Can't hurt to ask whoever's running them if they'd switch it up a little. Or maybe they're just more comfortable with the Hive. Or don't actually know about the Abyss.

If someone's assuming you're going to get one sitting on their farm, they'll be disappointed. *shrug* People can ask whatever they want. Doesn't mean people have to honor it. Or even join those farms. At least it's not the old "Farm available, 1m (or 2m or 10m) inf to join!" I have to imagine those were some pretty lonely farms....

I *suspect* what tripped you up was having the name and, as you put it, a "resembling" costume. (Not familiar with the character itself, so I couldn't say how close it would be powers or bio wise.) It was seen and recognized, and the GMs took the actions they needed to. Yes, it's a common name, but you gave it (from your own description) specific context. You could still do, say, Mr. Mammoth, give him a different look, etc. with no tie to DC and probably be fine. As for the law regarding it? It's trademark and copyright, which is involved and intricate, arcane and mysterious, full of twists and turns which make COH's code look like "hello world." That said, holders *of* those do have to pursue potential infringements or possibly lose the ownership of those marks. (For instance, a corvette is a type of ship. You could make corvette cola, potentially, but making another car called the Corvette would land you in trouble with GM. So could the cola, honestly, depending on how it's branded, marketed, etc. Or, for instance, Fender having to rename their Broadcaster the Telecaster because another company had a drum set named Broadcaster, even though "broadcaster" is in and of itself a fairly generic word.)

That's the one I was thinking of. There's also one on top of the sphere in Aeon's city in Cap.

... and? Trying to figure relevance here. As for the OP... eh. Not against it, but I don't think a quick hop back to the center of Atlas is all that bad, even at low levels, from where he is either.

Striped is actually what prompted this. 🙂

Probably. The word refused to come to mind.

My wording there was bad. I was trying to indicate it was an issue with the past. (Plus I'm fairly sure it was a live change, but that's neither here nor there.)