TheOtherTed

...and I never said Siphon Speed affected to-hit. Stop putting words in my mouth. Rather, Siphon Speed reduces the time needed to ready Transference (and other skills that require targeting an enemy), so, if I missed Transference (which very rarely happened), I didn't have long to wait before it was ready again. As for carrying a stack of blues, it helped when a team got so into bulldoze mode that they wouldn't leave a target standing before I could hit Transference. That happened often enough that I kept an insp column dedicated to blues. And, if on the off-chance my Transference missed, I had some ready to drop on people who needed endurance Right Now. In a way, this discussion highlights an issue I run into often in cooperative games - the difference between mechanical thinking and tactical thinking. Both are equally important IMO, but the "SB plz" crowd seemed to lack the latter, to a surprising degree. It's never about how one power works - it's about how one's entire build works, plus how a player leverages that build appropriately in the face of rapidly changing situations. If it helps, though, I left the Kinetics game over a decade ago. Too busy, too stressful, and too many people who just couldn't see past SB or heals.

Fair, but when I played Kin with a reasonably good tank on the team, I'd tell the distance types that melee range is the best place for buffs and heals. The best way to live with a Kin is to live dangerously. Another tangential question - is today's SB a point-blank AoE, or at range? Back in the day, I tried a little experiment a few times. I would refrain from SB, and I wouldn't tell anyone that I wasn't going to SB either. No one seemed to notice or care, until some 1337 player joined and insisted on SB. I'd then use it, but state that it wasn't the best power to spend my time on - at which point I'd get lectured on how "good" SB was. Ironically, if SB ever had a measurable effect on team play in a post-Transference world, it was almost always negative. Even the most 1337 players would lose control. I didn't say it did. I said FS made +Recharge irrelevant. Forgive me if this sounds like bragging, but this is really a comment on how powerful FS is. If the team I was on stayed in melee range per my request, the fight would be over almost as soon as I hit FS. We'd typically bulldoze two spawns before FS faded, the first with alphas, the second lesser attacks, and by the time we reached the third spawn, the alpha powers would be recharaged. Rinse and repeat. As for to-hit, I also had Tactics and Siphon Speed, plus a mixed back of inspirations well stocked with blues and yellows.

Recharge is moot with Fulcrum Shift (even with old-fashioned SOs), Recovery is moot with Transference (again, with SOs), and resistance to slow is situational, at least in my experience. That said, AoE is a huge improvement.

Sorry for the tangent, but aside from Null the Gull, has Speed Boost changed much since Live? Back then, I viewed it as one of the least useful powers once a Kin def got Transference, even more so with Fulcrum Shift. In addition, it was a PITA to refresh it on everyone who wanted it, because, let's face it, everyone wanted it, all the time.

Fearsome Stare. The best remedy for cowardly tanks.

For my money, a young Jay Leno is a likelier model.

That'd be a pretty deep dive to find a model - about 50 years into the past from the founding of the animated franchise. Though given one of his most recurring roles, I guess it wouldn't be impossible...

This conductor doesn't get kidney stones. He gets Infinity Stones.* Antonín Dvořák - Symphony 9 * With all respect and admiration for the guy...

Honestly, I feel like "Doctor Who" is the only show that can (and has) jumped sharks on the regular and get away with it. Whole-person regeneration has its perks...

Nope, not taking the bait. I'm already deeply embroiled in an internet debate about whether a hot dog is a sandwich; I don't have time for this Whovian nonsense. ...though now that I've eaten breakfast, I'm wondering if there could be a secret Doctor / Buffy cross-over in which Xander dies in an alternate reality...

Never played Auto Assault. By the time it came out, my Car Wars / Autoduel days were long over. Tried Wildstar, appreciated its artistic direction, had some fun, but then abruptly stopped playing it after a week. At the time I didn't really know why - I just "stalled out" whenever I opened the log-in screen. Now, though, I realized that it didn't offer anything more than an Animaniacs take (not even a proper Looney Tunes take) on World of Warcraft, and I'd simply hit neural MMO fatigue.

...274 days later... "X is for Xander, who never existed." That should give the Whovians something to argue about. However, it would force the W line to rhyme with "ted." Which, you know, I wouldn't be entirely unhappy about.

Going by his portrait, Wellington seems like he'd be a cuddler.

Movement - 3.5 / 5 across the board. Even with layer cake caves and Council maps - which I complain about anyway, because, hey, what else you gonna do? Leading task forces/raids - About a "nah bruh" out of 5. Character builds - One eyeroll out of 5 wrt Mids; 3+ out of 5 wrt puzzling out the build's strengths or weaknesses as I play. Badging - "Meh" out of 5, but I somehow manage to stumble across badges that fit my characters really well. Key binds - All the eyerolls out of 5. If I find that I need more than a couple of non-RP key binds for a game, then it's not my game. In-game knowledge - 2.5-ish out of 5 for anything that isn't lore. Somewhere in the negative numbers for lore-related stuff. I tend to really suck at lore in any game. I'll throw in another category: Tactical awareness, 4/5. If I'm on your team and I say "inc" or "patrol" or something similar, brace yourselves and check your six. If I'm a controller and I suddenly stop using my secondary, it's because the fight's getting out of control. If I'm zipping around in a fight like a maniac, it's probably to draw aggro from people who aren't prepared for it. I'm like Tunnel Rat, but not quite as hot jittery. ...show off.

Honestly, I just signed up for the older Star Trek series (mainly TOS, TNG, and DS9, plus the even-numbered OG cast movies). Twilight Zone was a happy little accident. My Dad I I watched it back when it was still in syndication on UHF channels, so there's nostalgia there, but I'm finding it to be a surprisingly decent lesson in story-telling as well. With only half an hour per episode and a presentation that's more firmly based in the writing than in the cinematics, the sorts of things writers talk about (e.g. plot beats, characterization, story structure, scene design, etc.) are very present and very tangible (IMO). And since the episodes are basically written like radio plays, I find I can often listen to an episode while keeping visual attention elsewhere without missing much. That said, it's an old, old series now, and Serling's brand of progressivism may not be at all apparent to younger viewers. I'm wondering if his mode of progressivism could even find an audience today. Anyway, to answer the question of whether P+ is worth it, I'll likely drop it once I've had my fill of TZ and given Picard S3 a look-see. Got hot dates lined up with Game of Thrones, Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, and maybe, just maybe, the Penguin miniseries. Some day, Star Trek will call for my attention again, and I'll hop back to P+ for a quickie.

Apologies if this has been mentioned, but I'd like to see asymmetric tattoos for the Yakuza chest pieces, i.e., have a tattoo on just one upper arm (with or without the back tattoo). On a related note but probably much more difficult, I'd like to see Yakuza tattoo options for "gloves." If they don't already exist, that is - I didn't do a very thorough search.

Just remember, if you're going the "Heroic Trio" route, you'd best be prepared to fight in stiletto heels. So I went with Pistols / Nin, and the phase 1 playtest felt better than previous attempts. Not sure why - could be the venue (I'm fighting ghouls and cops instead of snakes - sooo many snakes...), or it could be the character's outfit (the "alternate reality" of Praetoria helps me be more open to costume options that I wouldn't give a second look at in Atlas Park or the Isles). My only regret so far is that there are no Yakuza tattoo options for gloves (that I could see), and that the Yakuza chest options don't allow asymmetry - you have to tattoo both upper arms, or pick something else.

Cool - didn't even see the table option myself (and probably wouldn't have connected the dots if I did). Also, PSA, I wouldn't advise playing that song in your head while driving.

So there I am, slowly binge-watching the original Twilight Zone on Paramount Plus, when out of nowhere I see a surprisingly good review of Picard S3 from, of all people, TheCriticalDrinker. Got my attention in the way that only happens when your best frenemy turns a complete about-face on some issue, something you came to grudgingly accept because, when he's right, he's right. Will likely start watching it after the first season of Twilight Zone, but wouldn't mind hearing some spoiler-free reactions of you fine folk.

Just saw this on another forum and I refuse, I REFUSE, to be the only one to suffer. Herbie Hancock - Rockit

Approximately 77.325% true. However, my attempts to launch a Pistols character in the past have always felt unsatisfying, in spite of the animations. Maybe I'll dig around for some guide to the set that isn't filled to the brim with Mids-type builds. That said, if I go Pistols (and I kind of want to, at this point), what secondary Blaster set (besides Devices) would synergize well with it and still stay in the "highly trained human in street clothes" thing? Doesn't necessarily have to be a strictly "natural" set. On Live, for example, I ran an natural Archery / EM character and justified the energy pom-poms as contact gauntlets powered by a Rikti battery. In other words, one item of conveniently explanatory and not-too-far-out-there super-tech isn't out of the question. However, I draw the line at the "not magical because its aliens / mutants / cosmic energy" sort of thing. Also, thanks to everyone who has posted so far. I can feel this taking shape and, hopefully, I'll burp something out pretty soon.

Aw, jeez, you know, why'd you have to say that? 🤢 Point taken about the difference in AR and Pistols vibe, though - none of those rifle models could be called "subtle." The question is, can Pistols hold a candle to AR in terms of damage output and/or utility? If not, I may reconsider my original intent and run with one of the sleeker sci-fi looking AR models. One of twin characters inspired by Melinda May from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the cheesier than cheese Hong Kong movie "The Heroic Trio." I've got the melee side covered with MA/Ninjutsu, but still haven't figured out the ranged counterpart. Both are "street level" Naturals. The original intent was to have them start in The Zig and eventually go "hero" (or at least not completely irredeemable). That said, I'm now thinking of starting the Blaster in Praetoria as the alternate world counterpart to the already existing Scrapper.

I have a character concept (former enforcer from the western part of the Pacific Rim (the region, not the movie)) that could use either set, but I can't quite decide between them for the dumbest of reasons: Style. Pistols has it in spades, but AR seems a bit deficient in that area (though the relatively long range snipe does add significant coolness factor). Conversely, AR seems to deliver significantly more damage than Pistols, but I could be convinced that this is just my imagination. In either case, I'd pair it with Martial Combat or Ninja Training. I haven't given NT a fair shake, really, so I'm leaning in that direction. Seems like the combo could have some "professional" coolness to it (i.e., an air of always-prepared, no-nonsense competence), but I can't deny lure of Pistols/MC. That said, I already have MC on my Archer, and I have this dumb thing about repeating powersets among my characters. Anyway, starting to ramble. Would appreciate any feedback wrt style or damage while I go take my pills.

Finally found the right theme music for my not-exactly-a-hero Lee Three: Side question - is there a way to place inserted elements next to each other?

Post-script: I agree with you, @Solarverse, that things like IOs, Architect, and DFB made the game too easy and, in the case of the latter two, did a terrible job of introducing people to game mechanics. Even seeing the "hospital" in The Hollows for the first time made me leave the zone in frustration (although I've visited it frequently in HC for nostalgia's sake). However, I still need to be convinced that the challenge you seek, the "order" that you apparently need, is unattainable even in the game's current form.