TheOtherTed

DC Universe Online. This game had so much going for it when it was released. For those who hadn't played way back when, you'd choose a powerset (e.g., Fire, Ice, Nature, Mental - I think there were about half a dozen choices) and a weapon skill (from Hand Blasts to Martial Arts to Dual Pistols), and you'd level them up independently. Each powerset had two branches - one "role" branch (e.g., Tank, Controller, Healer) and one DPS branch; you could either specialize in one branch or mix and match the two. Surprising amount of versatility there. Weapons also had branching trees, but with a lot of "no-brainer" choices, as the later weapon skills gave you passive stat bonuses that you kind of needed. That said, starting at level 10 (IIRC), you could choose to invest in different weapon types instead of the one you picked at character creation. The world had three "open world" leveling zones - one in Gotham, and two in Metropolis - and you could mix-n-match the quest lines you followed. For example, you could do the 1-8 level chain in Gotham, hop over to Metropolis to do a 9-16 (?) chain there, back to Gotham, etc. So for concept players like myself, the game allowed you to customize your characters' experiences. (Side note - IMO the music and world design for all the zones were really good, so much so that they kept me coming back, even after... The Streamlining...) Chapter 2: The Streamlining As with many other MMOs at the time, the devs decided that it would be a great idea to offer the players a "streamlined" leveling experience, rather than leave all those silly, distracting, confusing options open. After all, if that's the optimal way to play, who wouldn't love that? This happened in two ways, though I can't remember the order in which it happened: 1) The power trees were not only condensed into one branch, but the element of choice was taken away. In other words, you were railroaded into an immutable linear progression with respect to your powers. 2) Once you completed your starting arc, all choice of which story arc to follow when was also removed. You were railroaded into a linear story progression, no matter what your characters' goals were. To this day, I have no idea why this second decision was made. You may note that I haven't said anything about weapon skills. That's mainly because I tuned out to weapon skills around the time "Weapon Mastery" made its appearance. WM rewarded you heavily for investing in two different weapons, IIRC, maybe to the point where you'd gimp yourself if you didn't. In retrospect, that may have been the beginning of the end... The Streamlining is what killed my interst in the game. To be sure, the game had many intrinsic issues, but for my money (literally), it still had a fair amount of replayability before The Streamlining.

...yes. Yes, autocorrect... *shifts eyes*

The two that I can think of were, ironically, both Middle Earth games. Back in the early 2000s, I made the mistake of telling my oldest sister that I wouldn't mind a Tolkien-themed video game for Xmas. She gave me "The Hobbit" produced in 2003. It was basically Super Mario Bros, but 3D (sort of) and with Bilbo, who, for some reason, tossed out a lot of Sonic-style banter. I tried to give it a fair shake, but never got past the Troll Cave - in no small part because it was unrecognizable as the troll cave from the book. Slimy slippery floors, multiple side-tunnels, and a whole ecosystem of various beasties that I still don't know what they were supposed to be. I was already largely done with platformers anyway, but to have this HINO game (Hobbit In Name Only) just killed that whole mode of play for me. The other game was "War in Middle Earth." Not absolutely terrible as games go, but it had one fatal flaw - if you found one particular MacGuffin and give it to one particular group of people, you'd basically won. All that was left was to take a leisurely walk around Mordor and get to Orodruin from the East. I think I discovered that on my second playthrough, confirmed it with a third, and realized there was no point in trying out all the other strats that I thought could be neat to pull off. I did run a fourth playthrough to see if the MacGuffin strat would work if I handed over the MacGuffin and did nothing else, and, lo and behold, it did. Writing about it now makes me realize that the developers hadn't given a single thought to any sort of stealth mechanic. Seeing how sneaking was a fundamental part of the whole quest, this makes me very angry at people I've never met. As for moolah, one was a gift and the other was a bargain bin deal from Electronics Boutique, so no great loss.

Yes and no. Contact "tracks" aren't what they used to be - they can go off the rails quickly these days. So of you want to go hunting for Orange Bagels, at some point you'll have to do a bit of digging to determine which contacts will point you in the right direction. There's probably a guide out there somewhere. That said, I can't recall a quest line after "Caverns of Transcendence" that mostly involves chasing possessed bodies in oddly pointy robes. More generally, I'd guess stuff involving the Family, the Council, and the Fifth Column may fit the bill as well (the general "pulp" bill; not the Orangutan bill), with occasional detours into the Midnight Squad or even GM fighting. First Ward also gives me a pulp vibe, is chock-full of magical stuff, and doesn't require you to run pre-20 Praetoria (though the Art Deco style can invoke that pulp mood). Speaking of which, Fermi wrote a 1-50 guide to Praetoria a year back. However, I haven't followed it, so I can't vouch for it.

Well, could you bear the lifelong feeling of wondering if you should have? ...I mean, I definitely can...

I'm usually a "concept first" player - a neato-keen idea for a character pops into my head and dictates AT and powerset choices, and then I give it a fair shake to see if it's as neato or as keen as I'd originally thought. Most of the time, it works. Sometimes it doesn't, but the combination of name and powers is just too good to give up, so the character remains in limbo. Once in a great while, the result is just "meh" - it's either too close to something else I'm actively playing, or the glitter just isn't backed up by any Zing! Zork! Kapowza! Other than that, I'm mainly a solo player with an eye out for badges that would go well with my characters' names or theme (e.g., "The Thief of Midnight" for one of my insane space genies (Dark/Dark corruptor), or "Unwelcome Guest" for my hyperactive rogue MA/Ninjutsu scrapper. Besides that, I also play on a computer.

*rocks in a fetal position* Please, no more "Naked Time," no more "Naked Time," no more "Naked Time"...

Apparently it can also be "bought" on Youtube. Unfortunately, that presents another dilemma. I mean, sure, Youtube is the devil I know, but... hrm... echoes of the Google+ scam... Of course, now I want to watch the Max Headroom Show instead. I think I saw one episode on an obscure affiliate channel that gave me so much hope - then - nothing.

To be fair, the commercials, interviews, music videos, and the short-lived talk show were more memorable than the series (IMO). I'd just like to see it as a nostalgia kick. It came out while I was in college, and was one of three things that kept my roommate and I from killing each other - the other two naturally being Zippy the Pinhead and playing mind games with the stoners on the floor while they earned their reputation. But, yeah, as Techwright mentions, the main thing that stands out is the character Blank Reg. One scene in particular stands out as being highly relevant in our day (ends at 0:50):

I watched it from the start, and I'm not ashamed to say that Finch is still the voice of my inner monologue. Anyway, good recommendations all. I've seen about half, but could stand to see them again. Will definitely need to chase down Max Headroom for starters.

Yep, was a huge fan since its debut on cable TV, and I get the itch to watch it every 2-5 years or so. Will have to check out TubiTV. As for recommendations, I'll take anything at this point. My older sister recommended Fringe last time I talked with her, and she's often unnervingly right about what I would enjoy. Just haven't gotten around to seeing it yet. Still very much into the original Twilight Zone and the few semi-derivatives that are done well (e.g. Black Mirror). Much as I hate Amazon, I thought their version of Man in the High Castle was good, even though it went 90 degrees off from the book (or maybe because of that - I'm usually not clever enough to fully understand PKD's books until someone else makes a show or movie about them). Long story short (or TLDR for those without the patience to read the phrase "long story short"), I'll check out anything that follows a classic storytelling model instead of the onslaught of "special babies" shows we've seen recently, in which the main characters are practically perfect in every way (especially when they're not), well-written dialogue is merely a "nice-to-have," and plots are generated by throwing darts at clippings of other media offerings.

I cancelled my Netflix sub recently. The Big Boys took back their licenses for shows that I could happily watch when I didn't know what to watch, and the rest of its offerings are just a hair below "meh" as far as I'm concerned. I'll likely pick up HBO - been meaning to check out at least one movie (Joker) and two series (GoT and the dragon thing), not to mention the Tim Burton Batman movies. Note: Amazon Prime and Disney are off the table. Neither one is getting a wooden nickel from me if I can help it. So where could I get the following movies and/or series? Star Trek from TOS (pref. non-remastered) to ENT. STD (excuse me - DSC) and later shows have no appeal for me. I'm guessing Paramount has all the original cast movies. Babylon 5 - might be a stretch; lets' put that in the "nice-to-have" category. Firefly - the series; I have no desire to see the not-quite-a-movie. Battlestar Galactica - both the original and the version where Cylons aren't Cylons but really are. The original un-remastered Star Wars trilogy, but I'm guessing Disney has that locked down. I'd also welcome recommendations that start with "If you like this, you might like blabbity-blah which can be found on whose-a-what-now."

It's true, I never see Oklahoman post here. Never. In other news, I tend to avoid server (excuse me - shard) forums (fora?). Occasionally I'll dip into the Archetype forums (fora?) for advice on something I've never played before, but not being big on set IOs, I don't go there for fun. I'm honestly surprised the Real World section is so sparse. There's a lot of world out there.

For me, it's Crane Kick. I use it as a finisher for the style points - nothing like kocking your foe into a wall to say "I'm done with you." But if you miss, you get a double "whiff" noise; once with the kick, and once when returning to your default stance. Probably the one thing in the entire game that makes me feel like PeeWee Herman.

I tried doing all missions on one character, but found out the hard way that you can break mission chains. At some point you wil encounter a mission to defeat (or otherwise undermine) a quest-giver NPC on "the other side." Such missions will result in said NPC being removed permanently from your game. That said, if I start Loyalist, I'll typically end up switching to Resistance after the first arc for RP reasons, and it's a toss of a three-sided coin to determine if I go Warden, Crusader, or both. I do have one "pure" Power Loyalist out there, but I don't find the arcs all that engaging. Feels like it's all about building fame instead of actual power, sort of a bloody version of "America's Got Talent."

Amazon and Athlon danced this dance before, so I'd place money on them going two-for-two on the LotR vaporware front. On that note, anyone know how New World is doing these days?

Pretty cunning, don't ya think?

Anything that's ranged and flies for fighting ghouls. Anything that controls for everything else. Gold side is where I learned to love "Confuse" and related powers. Another tip - IIRC it is possible to run both Loyalist and Resistance missions on one character, but I wouldn't recommend it. At some point, you'll break quests for one side or the other by defeating someone you needed to keep the party going. Random question - I haven't seriously played Gold since before we got those tip missions that let you chase down exploration badges. Is that a thing Gold-side as well?

Amazon Games and Athlon Games have teamed up to build a new LOTR-themed MMO! This time, it's guaranteed 80% vaporware-free! Probably.

It did, and it still does. It actually is under Detail 2, near the end of the list (8th from the bottom). Not the best looking stogie, maybe, but it's still a stogie. Ironically enough, though, I can't find Gunslinger 03 anywhere...

Yeah, call me petty, but that's a problem. It's the same "ominous music" we've heard over and over again. And over again, and again, and over once more for good measure. Again. That said, I was pretty much done with the MCU after blank-watching "Age of Tin Man;" I remember literally nothing from the movie except a floating pile of dirt. Though I did watch "Ragnarok" and I'll admit to enjoying it, but I sort of considered that a self-spoof more than anything else. Anyway, the only thing in the trailer that even remotely got my attention was Olivia Colman. I still think she should be the next Dr. Who.

For the suave villains out there, you calculating barons and devious masterminds, you evil geniuses and subtle conspirators, and all you assorted moody brooding types hiding in plain sight, I humbly present this as an essential component of your victory celebrations: Aram Khachaturyan - Masquerade Suite Waltz

That would occasionally happen to me on live. I chalked it up to opportunistic name-grabbers. I still have a couple of paranoid habits to foil the evil fiends (assuming they exist). The easiest is to take a few steps backwards once you enter the tutorial (almost nobody looks behind them), but you could also to enter an instanced mission, log out, delete, and re-create. If you have the patience, keep the character parked in the instance for a day or three before deleting - the thing about grabby opportunists is that they tend to have short attention spans. Also, if you want to use a name in other MMOs, never, ever, reveal it on any gaming forum. I've lost a few good cross-genre names that way.

My Illusion / Empathy story is almost exactly the opposite of @High_Beam. I'm vague on the specifics - it was a long, long time ago - but we were on an outdoor map looking for some random number of altar-shaped glowies to click and deactivate. Or something. I can't remember if we were fighting Croatoa witches or Banished Pantheon, just that there was a lot of mezzing going on. At one point, the fight really intensified because a couple of teammates accidentally (maybe) invited two or three extra spawns to our party. I reflexively went into healing mode and stayed there for a long time, until it became clear we were losing a war of attrition. At that moment, something clicked in my brain, and I realized the only way to save the fight was to take a chance on letting someone eat grass. I pulled my little Teleport/Flash trick (patent pending) and managed to blind most of the minions and lieutenants. Then I Blinded a boss within the Flash radius for good measure - and much to my surprise, it worked. Then down went Phantom Army, down went Spectral Terror, and then, only then, amidst the chaos and confusion, did I start alternating between buffs, Spectral Wounds, and more single-target Blinding. The situation quickly stabilized, and, miracle of miracles, nobody had to take a dirt nap. I'll admit, I was a little disappointed... In any case, it was my first true "holy scrap!" moment on a controller, the moment I realized just how powerful they could be. And then someone said "Nice job on the heals!". 😒