biostem

A better solution would be to basically replace the target with a permanent "pet" - basically just copy the enemy but make them allied to the player, and treat any damage they deal as yours, like a regular pet.

I think the problem with mind control is that it tries to combine telepathy with telekinesis. I think the 2 should be separated, with levitate and telekinesis going into their own set, and being replaced with something appropriate, like maybe some sort of "psychic wounds" or "hypnotic suggestion", "erase presence", or even a version of link minds. Besides that, I don't so much mind the confusion powers, (though I think confuse should be a toggle that while maintained, turns the target into a temporary ally).

Four words: Gameplay and story segregation.

If you're good with computers, buying something used, (but in good condition), can save you a ton of money. Even using an expensive gaming laptop, though, I've found the experience to be somewhat lacking, and prefer gaming on a desktop. Of course, depending upon your available space or other extenuating circumstances, if a laptop is your only choice, then you do what you gotta. My current go-to is off-lease business desktops, (mini- to mid-towers, NOT SFFs), then adding more RAM and/or a graphics card for gaming. Just be sure to check the available space and power supply output vs the additional power consumption said card will impose!

TBH, until there's some major breakthrough in battery technology or some sort of ubiquitous wireless power transmission system implemented, any sort of robot is going to be rather limited in its operational range or have to deal with some sort of tether or umbilical.

The topic of in-universe monetary wealth is never really addressed in-game, and I think that's where Hero Corps would really fit in. With as creative as we can be with our characters, they never have to worry about making rent or finding their next meal. There's also no notion of factional allegiances, beyond being a hero, villain, or Praetorian, (and even then, you can generally move between hero and villain on-demand). I suppose they could add some Hero Corps arcs that reward a lot of inf, but you lose some of your character's autonomy in some way - like maybe locking you out of some other content. Perhaps the police radio gets replaced with a Hero Corps job board, and while you get increased inf from doing them, you get reduced inf from all other sources or something.

Barring odd power emanation points, like the assault bot's shoulder missile racks, if, and this is a huge "if", they can nail down pet customization, so many different concepts could be realized in-game. And before anyone chimes in about "oh but people would just create female minions to abuse them", that behavior is already against the ToS/RoC, so if someone did such a thing, report them and move on...

A few more I've done recently: Energy/Invul Sentinel "The Smolt Bolt": Katana/Ninjitsu Scrapper "The Covert Cutter":

You would basically have to recode all the powers to include options using different animations. I don't have the numbers offhand, but does the animation time for M30 grenade match that of the hand-thrown varieties? When you say "offhand flamethrower", do you mean that your character would lower the AR while still holding it in one hand, then fire a flamethrower in the other, or just switch to it?

The only issue is that purchased temp powers are kind of hard-baked with their colors and such. The quickest route, IMO, would be to offer pre-built variants, like a blue hover disc, a red one, and so on, all as separate powers. Also, (and this may be a contentious topic), but such purchasable temp powers are not intended to be as intrinsic a component of your character as their primary, secondary, pools, and/or APP/PPP - they are external items, at least, that's my interpretation...

Ever see the Andromeda TV series? There was an episode or possibly a mini-arc, where the captain of a ship, (which all have AI and associated avatars), fell in love with said AI, (or was it the other way around)? I'm also thinking of the 2009 film "Moon" where the AI robot did serve as a companion, but also

I think keeping "Player-submitted villain groups for radio missions" separate from your "AE 2.0" is a better way to go. What about doing something like utilizing the various police call boxes found in many zones for this purpose. I feel like we may get to the point where the number of new contacts becomes too cluttered. You'll get no argument from me. I also find the "Someone tells you stuff" popups in some missions to be intrusive and cumbersome, and heaven forbid they add more unskipable cutscenes...

Agreed. I reckon that the proportion of players that want to kill stuff and get rewards in a quick & efficient manner is much larger than those that want to read detailed and intricate plotlines and characterization. I'm not faulting either group, just stating my observations...

IMO, this "review process" should be limited to making sure the custom characters are properly balanced and their names/bios/chatter are inoffensive and/or not lore breaking or infringing.

This could be mitigated if these missions were limited to simply submitting a villain group, but sticking to the typical radio mission format of "retrieve X object/defeat Y-named boss/rescue Z-named hostage", with any text being strictly limited to stuff like "I hear [character name] is on their way" or something...

I recall seeing a Madame Web in the 90s cartoon, so I'm wondering if either one of the women shown in the trailer will become her, or if there'll be some sort of reveal where she'll be introduced - either partway through or only at the very end...

I don't think this would play out the way you envision, and would instead tie up dev resources more than it'd be worth. If players cannot be bothered to play the dev choice AE stuff more than they already do, this implementation won't remedy that. What could be fun, though, is if players could submit costume ideas that could be featured in radios where you have to defeat a named boss - they'd keep all their normal powers, only using the player-submitted costume...

It's not an either-or scenario, though. Have you put an idea for this "Earth-themed support set" out there, yet? May the best ideas win!

Yeah, basically .50 cal generates more heat in exchange for more damage or something...

Maybe ice manipulation to further reflect her water powers, since there's no water secondary for blasters. Alternatively, you could do something like a poison/water defender, (with the poison powers colored bluish to better reflect water). As for a travel power, maybe stick to more "realistic" movement like just swift, hurdle, and perhaps combat jumping, with team teleport accolade to reflect the jet they had access to. You could also rationalize teleport as Gaia giving her special access to the ley line travel or maybe just hacking the mediport system, (or whatever it's called that teleports us when we get defeated).

I'm not hugely familiar with the lore, but it looks kind of like Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow, to me. Is it going to be in the same universe as Spiderman, Venom, or any of Sony's other "Spider Movies"?

It's easy to lose track of time, there...

Hmm... maybe combine @FupDup's idea about a "spin-up" mechanic along with an overheat one to provide a combination of factors that allow's one to switch between a shorter duration but higher rate of fire with a lower rate of fire that can be prolonged. You could further expand upon things by having mutually exclusive toggles, (let's call them ".30 cal" and ".50 cal" which further affect things like the damage, heat generation, spin-up time, and perhaps other effects, (like adding a minor stacking -res or -def debuff). It may be too much to have going on at once, but could be fun if implemented correctly...

Well, besides the general "for balance" reasons, I'd imagine some handwave to explain why the slower-firing chaingun would do more damage than the faster-firing one. You could say the slower one uses higher-caliber ammo, or maybe it'd allow for more accurate or armor-piercing attacks.

Cuz they're spiders, duh! 😋