TheOtherTed

Another thing that annoys me - people who continue a conversation without losing steam after a mod said to knock it off...

As for things that annoy me, the first are people who not only expect this game to follow the "holy trinity" of MMOs but who are quick to blame "the tank" or "the healer" (or the lack of either) when a team wipes. Even more frustrating is when the blamer could have helped deal with the situation (a wandering patrol, an unintentional pull), but instead scurried off to "the tank" or "the healer" for protection and effectively brought more chaos with them. Somewhat related to that are people who just flat-out dismiss any tactical suggestions (even simple ones, like "watch each other's backs"). No "that won't work because of valid reasons," no "let's try this instead," just casual dismissal. I even had one guy say "ok u power ranger u" for suggesting that a SB-boosted team not run off in 10 directions at once - after which the team promptly ran off in 10 directions at once. Just to clarify, I'm not the type to bark orders incessantly - rather, if I think I see an issue, or a solution to one, I'll say my piece. It doesn't happen often - I'd say 80% of teams I've been on were reasonably cohesive from the start, and 80% of the ones that weren't get it together after the first real challenge without any sort of "coaching."

I honestly don't see the difference between crude language and crude emoting. They both communicate crude intent. I could ignore one incident, but if someone keeps doing it after I told them to knock it off, yep, it's harrassment. Best to follow this time-honored maxim instead.

Controlled chaos. That's what I live for. I'm happiest when I play blappers, stalkers, non-elemental controllers, and pretty much any powerset the word "dark" in the name. If I can break "normal" expectations with it, I'm there. The healer complains that my blapper won't stay still? Good. My Dark defender steps forward when the tank is too scared to take the alpha? Excellent. My Illusion controller ends up soloing a pull that's gone horribly, horribly wrong? Transcendent. My Kinetics defender fends off a wandering patrol that nobody else noticed? Yes please. That said, I pretty much consider all my characters of any AT "support." Even blappers and stalkers can "off-tank" or "off-CC" a mob that just won't leave that defender alone. That's my main goal - but if I can spice it up with a dash of madness, so much the better.

Heh, sounds a lot like one of my SG-mates back on live... He was basically playing "The Shadow" (even named his character Lamont Cranston), and interpreted him as an Ill/Kin controller. Unfortunately, I'm already playing Mind and Illusion controllers that I'm very happy with, and I had to give up on Kinetics (as a def primary) for my own mental health back on live (I was an angry, angry young Kineticist). Regardless, I get that I may have to shake off my "natural blapper/scrapper" thinking for Lee Three and play a wider field. ...that said, I hadn't considered Kinetic Melee. I've never tried it. I'll give that a test drive next time I'm on and see if it "clicks." If I can tone down the flashiness of it, it might even be a better fit for the "Heroic Trio" side of the character's inspiration.

From my PVP music list: Bill Withers - Lovely Day

So this is in part a request for help with a naming issue (not a forced re-name; I'll explain below). However, it's also a request for stories from folks who may have experienced a similar dilemma - or maybe its opposite. One thing I love in MMOs is coming up with cool names... or, at least, names that sound cool to me. For me, names inspire character concepts at least as often as the reverse, and it's especially gratifying when the name turns out to be available. For the first time, however, I find myself with two names from different sources that point at the same general idea - but I really, really want to use both names without the characters stepping on each other. The shared concept is pretty much a mashup of "The Heroic Trio," and Melinda Mays from "S.H.I.E.L.D." - a highly trained superspy or quick figher who can kick butt in high heels. One of the two names has sort of won out, at least for now, but, as I've said, I would like to give the other name a home. I don't mind sharing the names, as I've nabbed them both on the one server I'm likely to play on, and I'm not likely to use either for other MMOs. The current winning name is "Tianshi," a Mandarin Chinese word for "angel" or "messenger." For whatever reason, this name inspired a more professional-looking outfit (body armor mesh and pattern, with a Tactical belt, the Stealth chest piece, and the Praetorian police visor), and it somehow feels right with the powersets I've chosen (Dual Pistols / Ninja Training Blaster - and, no, I don't really care if it's optimal). So, boom, job done. (disclaimer - I have no idea if Tianshi has some hidden cultural meaning that undercuts the concept. I basically found it on Wiktionary.org and thought it sounded cool.) The other name is "Lee Three." I came up with the name while researching what other countries use instead of "John Doe" for an unidentified person living or dead (also known as a placeholder name). That research itself was prompted when I heard or read somewhere that "James Bond" is a common British placeholder name (or at least was, when Ian Fleming started writing the books). One way that placeholder names are constructed in China is to take a surname and slap a number on it as a given name. So I took that idea and anglicized the heck out of it to produce "Lee Three." For some reason, I've struggled to come up with a character that fits Lee Three - I've tried Archery or Dual Pistols paired with Martial Training, Energy Manipulation, or Ninja Training, and I've tried a few martial artsy varieties of Scrapper as well. I even dipped my toe into the Sentinel AT to see if something would grab me. None of them really "took." Plus, the name never evoked a costume idea, the way Tianshi did, so she's stuck with a blue "Kill Bill" style jumpsuit which I've come to hate. But I love the name. There may be a way out in that "Lee Three" sounds more "Heroic Trio" to me and less "rogue government agent," but I'm not sure how to follow that thread. I thought Archery / Martial Training would do it, but I had another character idea that sort of "stole" that combo out from under Lee Three. Any suggestions?

Thank you for the feedback! Will try a few experimental records the next few times I'm on.

Assuming it's still working, how much disk space does a demorecord file take per hour of recorded gameplay?

IIRC, they were to be part of the Korean launch, but the launch either flopped or never actually happened. Foreshadow and Mirror Spirit were also characters from that attempt, which might explain their under-utilization.

As someone who doesn't like spikes or excessive detail as a rule, I gotta say that this is very creative and well done!

The best compliment I got 1) was shared with a scrapper, and 2) almost got me killed. I was playing my TA/Archery defender "Street Justice" (well before the powerset was released). I can't remember if it was on Triumph or Virtue. Full team of 8, no idea what the mission was, just that it involved Freakshow. Lots and lots of Freakshow. The team is cruising along, when an elevator dropped us into one of the hottest of hot door situations I'd ever seen. Several instantly died, the team leader sounded the retreat, and that left my character, one scrapper (I'll call him "Random Man" - so sorry I forgot the name), and one rad (?) defender. The rad stuck very close to the elevators - my guess is she wanted to leave, but was overcome by morbid curiosity. The scrapper was doing what scrappers do. I popped some defensive insps and threw out every arrow I had, then played "distraction" for Random Man (i.e., running around like an idiot with a train of Freaks on my tail). No idea how much time passed - it felt like a lot - before the leader said "Get out of there! There's too many Freaks!" At which point the defender said, "Not for Random Man and Street Justice." I wanted so badly to type "Damn right!" in chat, I even hit "Enter" to start typing. That's when I realized I was deep in the red. After spouting a quick "wwwaaasssddd", I managed to pop a green just in time. Then the rest of the team showed up.

If you don't mind some advice from a done frog, Mind Control might be a relatively friendly set for someone new to the AT. The set is front-loaded with three incapacitating powers. Hit one target with Mesmerize to take it out of the fight for a good long time, hit a second with Dominate (shorter duration hold), then ragdoll the third with Levitate (filling in the gaps with Mes and Dom). End result is you can juggle a three-enemy spawn with surprising safety, even at early levels. Not quickly, though... If that's not your thing, Illusion gets a long-duration Confuse early on that doesn't aggro enemies (unless they've already seen you). It's a good way to take one enemy out of the equation and use it to soften up its buddies. Even unslotted, it's possible to keep two enemies confused at the same time, allowing you to whittle down the third. (As an aside, you can solo Cavern of Transcendence now with just Deceive and Superior Invisibility...)

Nope - the buddy posted it for sale for 1 inf, but it sold for 10k inf (the higher of justicebeliever's two bids).

I don't have a lot of experience with the set, on any AT, but I will say that it's very satisfying when one of my Corruptors puts down a big bad with a scourged punch or kick. Disclaimer: I took the Fighting Pool on said character strictly for RP reasons. It probably isn't optimal, but, you know, SCOURGE!!!