Darmian

I did think that your second spoilered theory might be a thing, but I couldn't figure out a way to use that angle of it. I might yet!

As mentioned earlier, highly unlikely to happen. (But mentioned in a different thread WAAAY back, suppose your Villain does a Mayhem mission? Then the system registers your villain and powerset and the next time a Hero does a Safeguard mission, you get doppelgangered in as the Villain? Ok, it's not PVP, but it's a bit more immersive.)

I'd also like team mates get the option to read ALL the text. Sure, they can skip by it if they want but the option should be there.

Well, that's a testament to dedication, @TerroirNoir2! Look at Engineria boldly go where no one has gone before!

Yes, @TerroirNoir2, this set of arcs is definitely designed to follow on from the earlier Imperial Power in game arcs. And starts addressing in a meta way the fact that players leave Praetoria around level 20! So members of Powers Division are disappearing!

I'll get to those over the weekend hopefully.

Character timelines are situational to what they have and have not done obviously. But the latest point in absolute terms (someone jump in and correct me on this if I've got it wrong) in the overall game timeline, is just at the end of Mr. G and Marchand's arcs. The sewer network? You may be thinking of the Underground. And no, you're not going to a parallel world via the Underground since the entrance to First Ward via the Underground is through Imperial City, so you're just going from one part of Praetoria to another part of Praetoria.

You could easily handwave Echo Atlas as that.

HA!

No, it isn't. And Faultline isn't Echo Faultline. But the tutorial map is still Galaxy City and New Faultline is still Faultline. I think we're talking about two different things here. I'm speaking of the place narratively and you're obviously not. If you played Gold side, then yes, and then it was taken away from you. But that wasn't the point I was making. Well spotted! Plenty of people don't know that and just leave at 20 for Primal. And then "come back". For me it's a more interesting route to not leave and go straight to First Ward. However, all of Praetoria is closed off in the "present". And the "present" is post the Praetorian War/New Praetorians/Mr. G. There's no proper advancement of plot at all in any of the zones. And my point on that was simply that when you have gone to the bother to make these lovely new zones, to then narratively destroy them or access to them is bizarre. Well, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. Personally I think they are. Potayto/Potahto. You think it's lazy, again that's your take. Fine.

I don't want more Croatoa, but definitely at least one more non city area/small town with surrounding countryside would be good.

The face turn was IMO crap. However, the so-called benevolence of Tyrant is exactly that, so-called. Cole is actually a more interesting character because of how he became Tyrant, rather than "EVIL STATESMAN, RARR!" So, no, not an attempt to soften his image, just add reasons why decent Praetorians would have fought for Praetoria, even beyond the propaganda and Enriche. Statesman himself, and Lord Recluse, could have very much benefitted from similar treatment in game. I've read the novels and have regard for both of the characters due to them, but most players don't have that option. Also, WHO built the giant statue in KW? Are you saying Tyrant is responsible for that?

Well, thanks for the response. As you can probably predict I mostly don't agree with you, but to each their own. A few things. Praetoria doesn't actually have sewers, the Underground is actually nuclear bunkers that have been converted. Blow it up? Well, post the Praetorian War, and specifically the Mag iTrial, the place in "the present" is completely unavailable to players. There isn't even a chance to visit it like the much maligned Galaxy City tutorial. As you can see this is Nova Praetoria "now", as opposed to what we get going through the TUNNEL system. So what I mean by that is the old Devs left us with the stupid choice that future stories in the newest and best looking part of the game simply wouldn't happen. Just bizarre. Repairing Faultline? Well compare Echo Faultline to Faultline, with its addition of New Overbrook. There was a definite move towards repair and advancing the timeline there. As for the totality of the map? Well, again the lore behind that is that it's entirely artifically created islands, with certain areas getting more security and "gentrification" and reflecting that in danger levels. Again, Dev choices but no more than deciding to make any area a higher danger level. YMMV and obviously does.

The rest of your post is fine. I hold mostly opposing views but we all have our opinion, live and let live, yeah. However I'm curious as to what you mean by the latter part of that sentence. The zones themselves are (again IMO) frankly the best looking zones in the game. And that's a thing that pissed me off re the old Devs. Let's build a city zone that is frikkin great...and then blow it up. Such a waste. Not even a possibility of a rebuild like is happening with Faultline/New Overbrook, just gone. So, lazily thrown together as an overall map?

Agreed. Getting people to remember to (a) port through the team leader's base and (b) for that base to actually be open to others to do that, is more than most will want to do, or even remember!

Just updated that while you were posting!

Welp, I got someone to test a 2 person thing. They were Blue, talking to Cromwell in Night Ward, invited me when I was in PD, and then the team split when I crossed into my base! Which is weird, because we then both stepped into their base and could team there! So, It's the zoning that breaks it in that case? EDIT!! So, we retried that. And got a third involved. One Gold (Me) one Blue and One Red. So, providing we invited people who are in coop zones, like you do, as long as we all ported through the leader's base the team stayed together! Our Red tested this by stepping back out of Night Ward into a different base and it immediately broke the team. So, it looks doable but is fiddly.

Bah, yes you're right. And my go to gang of muppets is not on. Ok, well I'll try to get my gang to replicate that situation for me and report back. Might be waiting though, you know how it is!

@TerroirNoir2/@TerroirNoir, you realise you've crossed the 150 (!) mission mark now!

Well, you just need one person! Are you on at the moment? I can transfer someone to Excelsior (is it?) and test it with you if you like.

Does it still do that now after that patch? I haven't tested it myself to be honest. And yeah, it's a pain.

As well as that (and we can discuss the simple replication of assets until we all get fed up and go home if need be) but the Midnigher Mansion in Night Ward, where so many go to get a fast entry into the other Midnighter Mansions so as to get to Cimerora, has a space where there should BE a crystal to ...somewhere? A Praetorian version of Cimerora perhaps? Or even the same one, since it could exist prior to the branching of the two realities.

Since the last patch we can now team with non Golds in a base! So, that's useful. Well, it has been to me anyway.

Ah, Praetoria. I love thee. Still there, still Loyalist. Or dead in the ruins. Anyway. Shifting the levels if possible so that it isn't so damning when running the storyline from Nova Praetoria to Neutropolis that you suddenly can't do the next part of your arc because you earned NORMAL xp. Having some sort of connector set of arcs (I went to the bother of trying to write some of those, see signature) that get you from Neutropolis to First Ward, rather than simply being told you have to leave now. I mean the opposite is true on Primal where you're suddenly getting messages to go to First Ward when you're still busy doing Primal things. On another thread there's a discussion of what extra zones could be added to Paragon. Two more zones could be added to Praetoria without having to magically explain where they came from. First Ward and Night Ward Undergrounds. You already do a few instanced missions in the First Ward Underground, there's just no actual open zone there, but it exists. And a Night Ward version could be rather scary. Especially if it's treated like the Abandoned Sewers in Paragon and goes all the way to 50. Much as I'd like access to Ouro for Golds, it is possible to do iTrials if they start in Pocket D/Echo Plaza or even in Praetoria. When I came back one major runner of them used to do things like taking the team/league around the BAF and explaining what happens where and where they needed us to be at certain times, before launching the BAF iTrial for instance. I'd love for a variation of Number Six's arc to be developed, so that Praetorians, recruited for their local knowledge, could actually go to Last Bastion! The only place in Praetoria a Praetorian cannot go! I mean, seriously? Epic style archetypes? While interesting I'm not sure actually add anything to the Praetorian story. Strike Forces/Task Forces run the risk of pushing you by your contacts if you're doing the story, though maybe a variation of Invader so that the accolade could be got that way? Plenty to think about.

Thanks both of you. I hope the five of them (And non evil Blue Spectrum) came across as people with powers, rather than powers with a bio, which was my intent anyway.