biostem

This is complete speculation on my part, but if they were paying themselves a salary during the development cycle, from the funds raised for the project, then they've basically fulfilled their obligation and can wipe their hands of it, (whether you think that's right or wrong is another story, entirely)...

Not for nothing, but gravity control tinted just right feels very vampiric, to me... I think it's the grand sweeping hand motions or something.

As others have stated, the main sticking point are the animations. I think we could work around that somewhat with some clever tweaks or work-arounds. For instance, change the amount of time you hold the pistol up before firing to reflect taking better aim. You could also, somewhat like beam rifle, have the actual attack/shot FX do a lot of the heavy lifting. Similarly, you could include both a swap ammo and an aim power to save on 2 power slots within the set. For my part, here's an idea of how I would implement such a set: 1. Quickdraw - A very basic attack - short animation, light lethal damage, -def effect. 2. Double-tap - 2 shots fired in rapid succession to the same target. Deals moderate lethal damage and applies a -def effect. 3. Steadied shot - A more powerful shot, but with a slightly longer animation. Applied a -def effect. 4. Change loudout - This is the "swap ammo" power. The difference is that instead of cryo/incendiary/toxic ammo, you'd get armor piercing, (applies a -res effect), dum-dum rounds, (applies a kd effect), and explosive rounds, (converts attacks into AoEs, whose radius is inversely related to the power's base recharge time). 5. Aim 6. Hip-fire - A moderately powerful shot dealing lethal damage. Due to it's quick nature, you can use this power up to 3 times in rapid succession before it goes on cooldown. 7. Combat reload - This click power, when used, instantly recharges all your other single pistol attacks and grants you a temporary endurance cost discount, (the power itself has a long recharge). 8. Stare-down - A single powerful shot delivered with such conviction that it not only deals heavy lethal damage, but also applies a fairly strong fear effect. 9. Call for backup - This power temporarily summons a stationary "ally" who fires off some single pistol attacks and temporarily draws enemy aggro, (I'm kind of drawing inspiration for the "Mysterious Stranger" perks from the Fallout series, here). *Note - my take on this has no inherent AoEs - that would rely upon the "Change loadout" power and its "explosive rounds" sub-power...

In "safe zones", like inside city hall, it's only like 3 seconds, if that. Even if you haven't been attacked and are far away from harm, (like being at the Ouro portal in Echo Dark Astoria), it's still like 15-30 seconds for me. If you are still "in combat", but otherwise in a safe zone, such as if you just attacked or were attacked by an enemy, then hop into a store or tailor, I think that remaining "in combat" countdown timer factors in...

3 +def powers? seems a little OP. We already have +tohit powers in other pools. The only thing different is one that grants extra acc, which is inferior to tohit. These buffs are already available to everyone...

As some sort of pool or prestige powers, sure. As a full-fledged primary or secondary set, not so much.

Some of my thoughts after watching the first 4 episodes of season 2:

Not to derail things too much, but I think a lot also has to do with one's interpretation of which-is-which or where the distinction lies...

IMHO, if the game was truly that engaging, why not either have a few weekends of open beta/stress testing, or a special free demo event at or just prior to launch? To me, it screams of a lack of faith in the final product...

CoH is mainly combat-oriented. How would your proposal translate into game mechanics, that we don't already have?

So, just to be clear, this proposed set would contain NO secondary effects, and the only differences would be damage type and possibly the appearance of each individual power? So it wouldn't, for instance, be dark blast/flares/ice bolt for the T1, but a wholly new power where you got to select the damage type?

No argument about it opening up some concepts, but would choosing negative energy/dark still include a tohit debuff, or sonic a -res effect, for instance? You may need to adjust the tiers of certain powers as well, so you couldn't take all AoEs, or take multiple fast animating hold attacks, (ice blast has 2, but the 2nd has a much longer animation, while, if going by the strict arrangement the sets currently have, one could take freeze ray and abyssal gaze to circumvent this).

What about special cases, like electrical blast, where you need to take tesla cage to enable the special secondary effect, or being able to optimize for shorter animation or recharge times? Things like water or seismic blast rely on special secondary effects that you'd either have to strip out , (making them less effective), and so on? I think we'd more likely see some sort of generic elementalist set, kind of like how storm blast combined different damage types and effects...

I've found that the key to survival is layering various forms of protection; Invuln offers good def and res, and eventually with IO set bonuses, you can cap some resists and get close to or possibly even exceed the defense soft cap in some areas. Fire melee doesn't offer much in the way of soft mitigation, but if you are intent on being as tough as possible, I'd also suggest looking into melee IO sets that also improve your def/res values. Invuln excels in s/l res, so that'd be a good starting point...

For reference:

There are now options for no FX, original FX when flying only, when jumping only, when jumping + flying, then tintable versions. Check the tailor to see for sure...

I don't know if it's more an issue with the maps or how players navigate them, but there are a bunch of office maps where you make a sharp turn, there's an open door with a room opposite of the direction you make that turn, and hardly anybody actually checks said room for enemies, invariably aggroing them and often resulting in many deaths... At least check if a room has enemies first!

If there was a free demo, (and I'm not counting having to fork out the $60 then request a refund through Steam if played less than 2 hours), then I'd happily take the plunge and let you know, but as things stand now, I'm admittedly working off of their own trailers and other people's reviews... and the conclusion I've reached is not optimistic.

Claiming to be of a storm dragon lineage, she is "The Volt Sculptress":

A generic javelin power pool might make more sense - a basic thrust, sweep, throw, then perhaps a pinning throw that immobilizes or ignite spear ability that temporarily adds fire DoT, and finally some sort of toggle that provides some defense and/or other such self-buff, could fit many concepts...

It's so disheartening because I want to see more superhero MMOs with a high degree of customization and engaging content & animations...

Derives pleasure from what, exactly? Deleting their characters? That is what I was arguing against - not transferring their inf or items, not renaming them to free up the name, not changing their costume or anything like that - I argued strictly against deleting them; Especially if you don't actually need that character slot freed...

I'm not sure what exploit you are referring to, but I never used any such thing AFAIK. You still seem to be making this about you - I see you haven't acknowledged any consideration for the time of your teammates. If you join a "speed TF", and decide to impede things, then that's on you, no different than joining a "KM TF" and deciding to speed it on your own. I also didn't see you mention how you were willing to step up and lead teams "the correct way", (or at least your interpretation of that). For my part, I saw how others were running teams/TFs/farms, made mental notes, and have taken to running that content how I want to, being very clear about what I expect and what others should expect from me. You think you've identified a problem, so take steps to remedy it!

The moment you join someone else's team, it is indeed no longer just about your enjoyment in isolation, and respecting other's time is not nonsense. If you were an OG player some 20-odd years ago, chances are your responsibilities were far fewer, and so spending multiple hours on a TF was no big deal, but nowadays, most folks will either figure out ways to speed them or just ignore them entirely. You talk about others being "forced" to take the shorter path, but that only applies when you are teaming with others and not leading the team yourself, in which case, things come full circle back to it not being just about you and your individual wants anymore...

Welcome aboard!