Greycat

Not arguing with me. *nods* 😉

Cat: Two words. "Space panther!" ... ok, explanation. Kheldians can copy the pattern of beings they merge with, thus the ever popular squid and dwarf. Well, shortly after merging, Cat - no longer being all that welcome in the precinct, kind of at loose ends, and trying to figure out what to do with this odd energy puff that merged with her, went to the zoo. Allie became interested in the panther they had there, and wanted a closer look. Cat wasn't quite aware of what she meant by a closer look. Granted, Allie wouldn't exactly be able to be *clawed, * and the panther didn't seem to notice as Allie got closer... though *merging,* that was unexpected. For a brief time, the Chicago Zoo had a flying panther. Cat finally got Allie to come back - and discovered, yes, she'd copied the pattern. Being glad she'd at least decided on a panther instead of, oh, a boa constrictor, they finished their tour and gone home. Fast forward ... eh, two-ish years. Cat's had a ... bad case. She and Allie kind of spiraled each other down into the bottom of a bottle for a week or so, mutual guilt and memories building on each other, 'til a friend finally essentially kicked them in the butt at a time they were actually willing to listen (after several attempts by others where she just wasn't ready.) And Cat... well, shows this copied panther to Mel, who - despite Cat's sneezing (not used to that nose *yet,* thanks...) finds it hilarious. And as Diva comes home with food... Mel arranges for her to be met by a leap by "SPAAACE PAANNTTHHERRR!" The sneezing probably ruined the effect a bit, but still. It was the final bit needed to break Cat completely out of the funk she'd been in.

She'd been so careful. The death of a world leaves one changed. Especially if it was unwarranted. Excessive. Uncalled for. And if it, and the beings on it, had created stirrings of wonder, even fondness. She'd taken time not just to learn where the two Peacebringers they'd been hiding were - but to learn about these beings, walking, singing crystal drops and leaves. Listen to their singing, to their cities proclaiming every change of day, welcoming every sun with the shifting of the winds. She'd learned their history, their myths, their music. She'd made the excuse at the time that they were a possible resource. That the odd gravitational phenomena that made it so hard to get here - and a perfect place for the Peacebringers her unit/family was hunting to hide - was worth studying. And made it hard to get out, of course. Three stars, circling a point of equilibrium that had an impossible planet trapped in the center. She'd done the calculations. Another million or two years at most and it would destabilize, either flinging the planet out into space or grinding it into dust, tearing it apart as the suns went their own ways. She'd admit, later, that she'd fallen in love with the world and its people. But she had to report in to her father/commander/master. And so she had. She hadn't expected him to sacrifice so many of her unit/brothers to twist the suns and reduce the planet to ash... She hid her pain, her mourning, even as she was praised and promoted, then sent off on another mission. A sort she normally liked, bit of a free hunt. And with it, time to herself, and the first of several betrayals. A warning to a few Kheldians who were assisting a race clean up their world. She warned them, diverting her father/commander/master to a nearby molecular cloud to "rest" and "regain the strength of the unit." A few chose to fight... and so her unit eradicated them, the fight helping hide her delay. Betrayal leads to betrayal, though, and at some point one of the Kheldians reported back while she was away. A traitor in the ranks. She noticed some of her unit disappearing as her father/master/commmander destroyed them out of suspicion. She became more wary - but didn't notice <designation unintelligible> following her. She returned, reporting to the void between the stars as she'd been commanded. If she'd had a stomach, she'd have been sick to it. This was a place used for... questioning. Interrogation. Punishment. And her father/master/commander could draw it out. Whatever sickness he had was spreading to the rest of her unit. When she saw the formation, she knew who the accused was, this time. She'd been so careful... She feigned ignorance, doing what she could to let them think she was unaware. Harmless. Let them forget she'd seen his techniques. Learned from, studied them, not just watched as some poor being was torn apart. She didn't beg or struggle... she *fought.* This time, she was the cause of the dissipation of the newer members of the unit. She countered every twist of space, avoided the gravitational pits, and when he finally became angry enough to just release a torrent of energy meant to tear her apart, she twisted space and time to split it, hitting even more of her unit/brothers. And behind the shadow formed, she *ran.* She'd been hunting on her own. Hunting Peacebringers, but not for execution or subjugation. Hunting those with a hint of a whisper of a rumor, of a place of sanctuary - of others, she realized, like her, who had turned against the Nictus. The traitors - the Warshades. She'd gained trust, as she saved worlds instead of destroying them, helping the Kheldians escape, feeding them information, sure this would lead to her painful death. But that would be atonement. Now that the moment had come, she'd realized just how much she wanted to live and fight back. Her strongest brothers/squadmates chased her. One, she trapped in the beam of a quasar. He'd be fortunate to get out anywhere near her. She led the others on a chase, pausing breefly in a green gas giant, a stellar nursery, occasionally sending desperate word out for aid. And while it might not be obvious, Kheldians can bruise. Kheldians can bleed. Near an outpost of a blue giant, she'd gotten a reply about sanctuary, fighting off her brothers with the aid of the Peacebringers until it was down to her and just two of her former unit. Her matrix was damaged, though. The last of the Kheldians had pointed her in a direction and realized she was emitting an unhealthy amount of her energy. But if she could make it... One last jump... She was so tired, but she had to keep running... She called out toward the nondescript star, racing around the giant blue world spinning on its side. She saw the Peacebringers coming to guide her as she ducked through the next world's rings. She gathered a little strngth as she passed through the radiation of the world with the great red spot, looking behind her at the battle which ended her brothers pursuit. She took the coordinates she was given, aiming towards a nondescript world of white, green and blue, listening to the radio waves coming from it. She touched down on the dark side, in the midst of some ... soemwhat primitive biologicals' buildings. She was told help would arrive. Which was good. If her calculations were correct, she'd need aid, or to merge to heal, in two, maybe three of this world's rotations. As good as oblivion might feel, she didn't want to die. Not yet. What she took to be one of this world's inhabitants scrambled around some containers nearby. Bilaterally symmetrical, four limbs, upright, though she suspected this creature was being hunted as well. Maybe they could help each other... She called out in what she'd picked up as the local language. "Help me... please." The creature started. "... Hell are you?" She looked over at a sound. "I don't know that I'm in a position to help. Those two goons aren't too happy with the FBI being called in on them and they're not too impressed with this .38." She'd snorted. "Maybe I stuck my nose in one place too many this time. But if this is it... it's worth it." She'd considered this .. purple cloud standing in front of her. "But if I can help, I can. Got a name?" The creature winced as the former Nictus sent her designation. "Right. I was always lousy with math, and that's a bit more than just algebra. Why don't I just call you Allie for now..."

Old comment, and I had a touch of worry with that, too, but it's handled very well - and about the right size for what they're doing.

Trying to remember who it is, but we do have a Sentinel that shows up and herds and pulls on MSRs fairly effectively. I do have an elec/elec Sent I won't call a "tank," but will put her in harms way during Rikti invasions - she can soak a number of dropship blasts before worrying, and I'd rather have her take them than some lowbie. Bit specialized there, though.

Cat's ... kind of had her string of them. From becoming a cop, to being blocked while investigating corruption, working with the FBI (and no longer being a cop) to put an end to it, that leading to her meeting Allie and bonding, moving to Paragon and her current situation dealing with several people she cares about having questionable "personhood" status and determining she's going to make *that* right... she's going to be worn out by the time she's in her 30s at this rate, but she'd probably say she could at least look back and be proud. (And then trying to figure out how she's going to pay rent *now.*) Pri: Having her last sets of testing objectives also happening to list her vivisection, inspection and recycling (they wouldn't have loaded *that* into her mind if they'd thought she could actually do anything about it, or cared, after all.) So as soon as she got a chance (and some help,) she broke free... but made it a point to keep those orders. Rez: Having a nurse realize she wasn't fine, just ignoring the agony she was constantly in through sheer will, putting her name in for an experiemental program that helped her - and gave her the ability to help others - is probably tied or a close second to having a *life* again, and really having it come home by her and her boyfriend having a place of their own to move into. Ish: Would probably find it hard to decide between losing her family, her time fighting, or being rescued and gaining a new one as "a" defining moment. And now she's learning so much more...

For that matter, it doesn't matter *what* the rating is. It could be an M rating game. If the team lead (and others) say it's not welcome on the team, *it's not welcome on the team.* (Or in that chat or whatnot.) Follow those rules or get out.

Temporary workers are underpaid as it is without necromancy... "Riiiiise from the grave, and work for minimum wage on a contract basis!"

Further testing: Not a one-off. Went to Eden, defeated a 33 Geode, got two 35 Geode Shards. (Edit: In the "further testing out of curiosity... That stone armor character has a power that was shifted, apparently, to be available at level 35, while being 30. To make sure that didn't affect anything, hunted down another Geode with a thugs/thermal MM at 30 and no power weirdness - no change, still got a 35 geode shard from a 32 Geode.)

This might be a one-off here but - Even con tip mission (rescue psi knight, heroes from DE.) Running at 0/1, solo. Most things are spawning properly - when defeated GE spawn their mini-mes, they're showing up at the proper level... 'Til I defeated a Geode at ... 30 or 31, don't recall, and got a lvl 35 Geode Shard. None of the other spawns have done this. Haven't had any other DE missions recently to say if this is happening more or not.

You think *that's* bad, try to grab nukes in Warburg. "You're a scientist and a *ramp* baffles you... Not even stairs, just an inclined surface...."

Easy one - Pri. She's a rapidly grown clone, so *maybe* two years old now anyway, so everything would count - property destruction, arson, murder, kidnapping... depending, of course, on who you ask, as the *other* side of that involves "self defense" and "freeing other clones" and "escaping." Ish: Theft. Had to steal food, fresh clothing and the like. Cat, I picture as being very straight, actually. Daughter of a cop, friends were cops kids or knew them, you could either just try not getting in trouble or find new and creative ways to do so. Granted, I figure once she hit her teens she got *very* good at sneaking out, so... Rez snuck out a time or two to hang around with friends, but most of the prime get-into-trouble years were taken up with the whole "debilitating pain" thing, so...

Kinetic: There are two words to say why I don't play it (well, three, if one is "concept.") Those words... "Nascar melee." ;) The set's one of two that just annoy me because of sound (the first being "hey, we found these random sound effects, let's throw them together" sonic blast.) For Shuriken, I think you might be better fitting that in with some katana or martial arts melee in an Assault set, just because... there's not a lot, I'd think, that could make that visually interesting. Not against it, it just seems like it'd get a bit boring without *some* variety.

Unrelated to troubleshooting but I thought this was funny... (If you're wondering, I was looking to see if there was anything with the old game Myth that would cause problems.)

... you know you can make your *own* teams and run what you want at any level, right...

Which doesn't preclude that followup I mentioned - hold a contest to design some basic bases that could be imported. They wouldn't *have* items in storage, after all. (Yes, I *would* love to see it... how can you tell? :) )

Cat: Isn't generally *embarrassed,* but - well, she's got mixed feelings about her office / apartment. She's proud of her business and how it's let her help people. It's *hers,* and even if money's tight, it's still something of her own, she's doing what she enjoys. On the flip side... most of her friends are, through one means or another, well off, so having them over when her whole place can fit in one of their closets, pulling out other folding chairs (normally just has one out for herself in the kitchen) and the like, well... Though she *will* point out that, despite their various high tech this, magic that, her paper filing cabinets and overhead projector (gotten cheap) and transparencies can't be hacked or monitored remotely. If they *do* get messed with, well, she's already got bigger things to worry about. Ish: Doesn't really *have* anything, but she's young. Some of the things she could be embarrassed about - she was kind of... not "scrawny" but wiry and undernourished when she was rescued and brought here, for instance, or just not knowing things (not a heck of a lot of education being given on a dying world...) she just takes either as "it is what it is" or takes as a challenge - she doesn't know something, she'll find someone who does or learn it herself. She's just ... rather practical. The one thing that *might* do it, though, is a little thing - a kiss. Not between family - that's fine - and not other people kissing. That's their thing. Until near the end of her time on her home, she'd been thrown in an arena and expected to die (penalty for theft,) and managed not to - and kept fighting. The lack of privacy in the quarters means that a lot of "taboos" don't bother her. The few times she saw someone just kiss their partner, though, they were going out and expecting to die - and usually did. So in her mind it's something... very intimate. (Her boyfriend gets this, after she explained it. They tend to rub noses, which their friends and familes find exceptionally cute.) Pri: Is sort of in the same boat as Ish as far as "hard to embarrass." She knows she doesn't know things, she's not shy, her 'job' generally has been to go out and find information, so learning something she doesn't know is just ... a thing. She was designed and was looked at as "a product," so comments that might embarrass her generally just remind her of that and she tends to either ignore them or get angry about them. But not embarrassed. I'm sure some of *this* will change over time, though... Rez: Being helpless. Less so now with her boyfriend, since she knows he'll be there, but she's mostly "helpless" if she doesn't pay attention and lets what energy the nanites that keep her functioning run down - she *can* still do things without them, but she'd suddenly get hit with all the pain they're currently suppressing and she's rather out of practice ignoring that amount of it and functioning.

If NC gave its blessing to HC? I'd want it - assuming they have these archived somewhere - to come with the tools used to actually *add* pieces, geometry, graphics and effects to allow them to create *even more.*

Honestly... I don't think they have anything in common. Some are younger, some are old. Some are in shape, some aren't. Mix of genders and origins. Some are ready to lend a hand, others would break it first. Can't even say all are human, or alive.

Calm down. See the 😉 at the end? Granted the forum left it in text form instead of converting into a little yellow face like it did there, but it's still there. It's an indication I'm kidding around. Same with the direct reference to "lighthearted poking" at the end. I put that in deliberately in an effort to make it *even clearer* that it should be found funny, or at least mildly facepalm worthy. I'm not trying to "scare" you with anything, so untwist your undies. I sent you links because you spent *so* much time explaining what an Epic AT was to someone who's *very* aware of them, I thought you might find it amusing. You *do* have a sense of humor somewhere, right? A costume slot does not "make VEATs what they are." The branching paths, the mixed powersets, even the fairly miserable arcs they get make them what they are. And, frankly, as a counterpoint? It can be argued that the shapeshifting "makes Khelds what they are," yet people skip those and play as, say, angels (popular for quite some time with PBs due to inherent flight and light-looking powers.) This is no different - heck, it's even LESS impactful since you're not skipping useful powers! As far as your last few paragraphs? They don't really counter the argument. Sure, it works... if you want to stick right along with the storyline... sort of. But, funny thing, players don't have to. Most of my VEATs don't because I can't stand the storyline. Which frankly means yes, I should have the choice to dump that costume. IF being "in costume" actually had a benefit - essentially stealth among rank-and-file Arachnos, for instance, since you look just like one of them, until - say - 30-35 when word gets out you've jumped ship and it's open season or something? I wouldn't be making this argument at all. It would have a purpose. (Yes, it'd also cause all sorts of issues, especially with side switching, but that didn't exist at the time. )

A, it doesn't do enough damage to them, and B, *I* wouldn't want to face both at once, especially if you get hit with Cpt Holz's Curse of Weariness and get your END cut in half for 5 minutes.

Zookeeper.

More annoying in FF. YOu can get stuck in a crossfire there really easily... and as level 30-40, it can hurt more.

... you really don't know who you're replying to if you think you have to explain epics, do you. ;) Just so you see why I find this funny: http://web.archive.org/web/20120907080230/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=263335 http://web.archive.org/web/20120905121326/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=114391 http://web.archive.org/web/20120907022352/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=239822 ... that's all me. I'm *quite* aware of how tied Epic ATs are supposed to be to bits of lore. :) However, lighthearted poking aside, I do have to address this: Regular AT or Kheld, you have ten slots you can do whatever you want with. VEAT, the first slot *must* be the Arachnos costume slot. You don't get an extra. (And yes, I'm quite aware of how it was on live, thanks, started in issue 3.) Also: ... would be even *more* reason to be able to dump the Arachnos costume from the listing, if desired.

WHile they're changing quite a bit for TV, I *really* doubt this'll be the case. Mat... well, they changed actors, I *think* the last ep was the last time we see *that* actor playing him (which is too bad, I rather liked him in the role, but the new guy seems to have chops, so...)