El D

Yeah, that could work. Enough to hide from minion-rank foes on its own, but still require other stealth powers to be fully unnoticable.

I like the idea, though I'm curious as to how the Stealth IO would work for a Purple set - there's usually some kind of 'enhanced gimmick' to the uniques for them, after all. Is it just a higher radius of +Stealth? Does it last for longer when procc'ed? Provide an aura of +stealth to allies near the user?

Maybe character select? There's been rare issues with logging in that's led to folks' character lists getting shuffled around/lost and appearing empty.

Yeah, making an IO set specifically to improve the issues of one powerset as opposed to just... revamping/boosting the powerset itself and making it function better on its own seems a bit 'cart before the horse.' Like, if the issue is 'forcefields need improving' then the solution ought to be 'forcefields get improved' (somehow). Making an IO set to do the job that baseline power modifications would do better is basically locking what ought to be default functionality behind an access gate. I don't disagree that forcefields could use some modernization and extra utility but forcing that into a 'You must use this IO set and only this IO set, or your character is gimped' isn't how the Enhancement system is supposed to be utilized.

That's a fair point! They did try not to tweak the Legacy versions of things unless they absolutely had to <side-eyes at Sonic Resonance> Still think that Claws could use a proliferation of the alternately scaled options as additional customization choices, though. It's the only Weapon set that could get away with it, and Claws hasn't gotten any customization tweaks since well before the Shutdown (outside of 'No Redraw' of course, but that's not a weapon skin <.<)

While making a new Claws/Willpower Scrapper, I noticed something that irked me. There's a noticeable difference in scale between the Legacy and the tintable variants on Claws for Female body types - the tintable versions are decidedly smaller. So, I decided to investigate a bit further, and found that it's also true for Huge body types... but in reverse. The Legacy Claws are so misaligned they're actually sunken into the hand, while the tintable variants are actually correctly scaled for the model. The Male body type? Absolutely no issues, and the Legacy claw options are a direct match for their tintable versions. I'm 99% sure this discrepancy came from the fact that the Live Devs just made a single 'Claw' model based on the Male body type and ported it over to the other body types without significant tweaks - would explain why they're 'big' on Female models and not situated properly on Huge models. Except then they put in 'proper scaling' afterword to give Female models more 'dainty' claws and the Huge models gigantic claws (that actually weren't broken when applied to the model). My suggestion is a scale tweak on available Claws options - make the Legacy and tintable versions the same size for their respective models. Though, at that point I'd also push for porting the Female/Huge-Scaled Claws options available across all models. Give Claws 'Small/Large' versions of the current options, effectively, and give everyone the choice of giant stabby knife-hands or stealthy stabby knife-hands rather than being locked into one or the other.

Whip Assault, Tier 9 - 'Why Don't I Just Shoot Him?' Ranged, Extreme DMG (Lethal) Occasionally there's no time for flourishes or choreography - you simply pull out your trusty sidearm and blast your foe. This attack deals increased damage when you are suffering from Toxic damage or affected by any Poison buff/debuff. If it hits any enemy actively using Taunt or who possesses the Broad Sword set, this instantly defeats them.

While there are certain ideas from other servers that would be fun to utilize here - costume creator expansions mostly - I don't think that should extend to AT balance decisions. Homecoming's measured, evenhanded approach of crafting fully functional futureproof solutions instead of 'Wouldn't it be cool if?' kludging is part of what keeps the community going. There's no risk of massive, possibly game-breaking bugs or abrupt, slapdash changes in content, the positive side of which is mostly a novelty whose shine would wear off more quickly than not.

Fair point! The Rock is definitely the more bankable movie star with a much broader fanbase, and Brosnan's age would cause issues. Mentally I was comparing it to the beats of say, Logan or Joker - a similar sort of 'aging comic book character has to deal with an advancing world where they fit in less and less' feel - but those still had much younger leading actors and actual film franchises to build on. Even if it leaned on being 'DC's Doctor Strange' it'd still have a pretty big uphill battle to climb. ... now I wondering what younger actor will get Nabu's helmet next. Because I seriously doubt Grandpa Bond is going to make it out of this film.

Compounding that is the fact that as much of a 'modern 80s-era action hero' as the Rock has become... There's no one challenging him for said roles like with Stallone/Schwarzenegger. It's just him, all the time, in just about every other trailer that shows up. Hell, it's become 'just him' so much that he effectively reinvigorated/took a big bite out of The Fast & The Furious franchise. I'll admit I still enjoy some of the roles he does (the Jumaji movies were fun) but I can easily see how some folks wouldn't feel a need to see them or get annoyed at the oversaturation. Especially given how much it's just kept going. Not begrudging the man work just... It's a lot of content. xD Also, I'll echo someone else's comment elsewhere on the internet that 'I would have been more interested in a Dr. Fate film starring Pierce Brosnan with Rock's Black Adam as a supporting character.' It seems like they could have had more original story beats for a trailer with that, rather than 'Scorpion King-Superman and the scenes we lifted from other superhero movies' that this trailer showed. Atom Smasher and Hawkman looked cool, at least. ... all that said, I still might see this. It's a comic book movie, and my willpower does not a Green Lantern make.

Oh yeah, all this is definitely more of a 'Would be sweet'-type suggestion thread. xD Some mountains are just too big to climb when you don't have the time/gear/personnel available (and are working with extremely outdated equipment in the first place <looks at CoH's engine>). Still, that doesn't mean you can't imagine the view from the summit. And no problem! I know there's some animosity that gets throw around through the wider CoH community, but IMO part of the fun has always been appreciating the cool idea some other player came up with. So long as it allows people to keep enjoying the game, what's not to like?

I'm pretty certain it's less that Homecoming dislikes 'duplicating other shard's work' and more that they prefer a fully realized solution, rather than kludging together FX from various powersets into a 'new' powerset. Which is, admittedly, is exactly what my post called for but unfortunately that's one of the only two options when it comes to making a Whip set - either other powers of similar theme are included to pad out the lack of actual Whip-based abilities, or there's heavy re-use of the existing Whip animations to fill 8-9 slots, which is its own different brand of 'not ideal.' In this instance it's less 'copying someone else's work' and more 'this is literally the only way to make this particular idea functional as a full set.' Having looked up the set you mentioned, I'll grant that whatever Whip set Homecoming goes for (if they ever do) it likely won't function like Psychokinetic Assault on ThunderSpy - the 'summons bonus fire swords' aspect alone, while interesting, poses a ton of balance issues. However, @biostem's idea of making it Lethal damage and including some gun attacks as a sort of Indiana Jones-esque martial set could work as a different sort of mash-up. Depends on how easily the Whip FX could be tweaked to look normal/lose the fiery bits, since the Whip itself isn't an actual model.

Having thought about this some more, there might be a workable solution. Implement any PvP overworld events with combat phasing tech. Either via an opt-in prompt that appears when the event starts/when a player enters the zone afterword, or just have it appear via getting close enough to the 'PvP site' like how it works in Atlas/Mercy. That'd not only flag the character for the event but would effectively make it its own pseudo-instance within the zone. Allows room for overworld PvP events to actually happen, still keeps them in-line with the 'opt-in' nature of PvP in-game and seems like it would void a lot of the issues folks had (mine in-particular). Players who just want to PvE can keep doing it, players who want to PvP for the event are free do so, nobody feels like they're getting kicked out of a zone (since neither side would have to leave), and due to the phasing there's no possibility of either side feeling harassed for 'just playing the game.' Well, outside of the players who, given these constraints, would have to blatantly go out of their way to harass anyone - and in that case, decidedly earn themselves a report button. This is different than how the zone-wide PvE events are done, but given the nature of PvP it seems like it'd require it. When you want to PvP, you want to actually joust and fight and interact with someone who wants to be there, and when you want to PvE you don't want to feel like you're getting targeted by another player - both of which are fully understandable, and would be pretty much totally avoidable via combat phasing.

This seems nice in-concept (and would address OP's suggestion), but I'm somewhat skeptical of how it'd work out in-practice. While it would give more room for the less-utilized sets, it'd also be a flat buff (however relative) to all the sub-50 level range sets everyone already clamors after. Locking certain sets into specific level ranges was an attempt to off-set the impact from them having more ideal set bonuses (and to make the closest thing CoH has to a tiered 'gear system,' the negatives of which Attunement already hugely negates). Removing that (admittedly minor) limitation would just make them even better. That said... given diminishing returns and the sheer amount of buffs available at high level play, I also have to wonder if the 'Now it goes to 50!' power creep would even make that much of a difference? Mega-builds that let folks faceroll standard mission content were already going to do that and would just keep doing it. For regular level 50 gameplay I can't imagine most folks would even notice aside from 'Oh, that number that already one-shots mobs is slightly higher than it used to be.' It could impact Hard Mode stuff like the Dr. Aeon SF, but that content is specifically made to play hardball with excessive build shenanigans like this (plus insta-death attacks are still going to insta-death regardless of a minor percentage increase in a few stats). The biggest issues this could make would probably be in PvP, where those expanded ranges would add up more significantly. All that said I think it'd be neat to play around with, at the very least. See what shakes out. Also, an admitted caveat - this is all also just personal speculation without any actual math. xD

This is a pretty interesting concept and I totally support putting it in more places, but I also think it's better saved for task forces or unique mission bosses. Having something like this active in the overworld is just begging for a few particular mobs to end up way over-leveled for the range they're supposed to be in, continually ganking anyone who happens by until someone who's outleveled the zone (or if it gets bad enough, a GM) comes by to take them out. Edit - Aww, @Bionic_Flea beat me to it! xD

So, this is a silly/minor cosmetic suggestion, but after running a Market Crash in Kallisti Wharf last night I trained up at Fusionette... who is using the original donut emote. Except now, we've got more options! Including the Blue Sky donut, which looks like this. Given how her entire aesthetic is 'blue and white,' I just figured she ought to have the matching donut. Heck, toss in Faultline chilling nearby with a whole box of them so he can hang out with his girlfriend. Could even make him another trainer or a contact for future Kallisti mission content (or an interactable NPC with an amusing dialogue tree based on prior completed arcs the pair appear in).

Absolutely not seeing it as an attack! ^_^ You're perfectly fine. I'm not opposed to the idea at all. I would be glad to have any new content (Goldside or not, Pre-War or Post), I just don't think Pre-War stuff specifically is likely given Homecoming's apparent development strategies of 'continue from where the Live game left off' crossed with 'filling in content gaps.' It just seems like those conflict with the nature of Pre-War Praetorian content, especially when Pre-War Goldside specifically got an expansion and multiple zones/story arcs for it (plus the follow-up task forces/iTrials/story arcs that end all the set up the Pre-War stuff provided). Since it's not completely devoid of content like say, the Hazard zones are, or a specific type of content CoH was lacking in (like the Dr. Aeon ST/Hard Mode for IOed out Incarnates), it just doesn't seem like it'd be a priority. As for the comparison to King's Row/Mercy, I think the main difference is that the blueside/redside zones are active constants, rather static parts of a specific, finished narrative. The Pre-War Goldside zones are the early chapters of contained story whose ending has already come to pass, whereas King's Row is more... an evolving setting to host story arcs. King's Row's content was evolved (the Skulls stuff/New Vindicators) not because it had more or less room for arcs, but because the arcs in King's Row don't serve as an ending the zone itself. King's Row has story arcs, but Pre-War Praetoria is its story arcs.

While tweaking the Goldside level ranges so folks can actually run through the pre-existing content without getting locked out of arcs seems like a good change to make, I'm pretty sure any future Praetorian content will be focused on the Praetors finding their way on Primal Earth (branching off from Provost Marchand story arc in Brickstown). That's also if any Praetorian stuff even gets focused on, given that there's a ton of Praetorian content as-is. While I'm not opposed to more Goldside stuff, when it comes to the Pre-War... the iTrials are over, as is the Praetorian War. The game had already moved on from the Pre-War content before shutdown (as had most of the players, given how empty the zones were/are). Pre-War Goldside is, effectively, a time capsule at this point narratively speaking. Any new content set in Praetoria would have to be about taking the fight to Super Hamidon, or some kind of dimensional breach where Super Hamidon brings that chaos to Primal Earth like what @Greycat posted.

I think Dr. Aeon is in the same situation that Countess Crey is in - as one of the canon megacorporations of the setting the resources and technology they provide is too inundated and widespread, on top of massive publicity manipulation campaigns, for them to really be challenged legally. After all, 'Dr. Aeon provides perpetual energy to the downtrodden of the Isles (Power Transfer System), as well as an abundant artificial food source (NutriPaste), and tons of employment opportunities (AeonCorp/Architect Entertainment)! All that villainous slander is nonsense spread by so-called heroes who are just jealous of his genius!' /s Also yeah, the MST3K Mantra does tend to apply in situations like this ('AE is allowed to operate in the states because... the devs wanted a mission-making system' xD). I've started long digressions with my supergroup on similar questions, like wanting to know just where the Council/5th Column are getting all those custom uniforms. Does Icon/Facemaker do tailoring for fascists? Interdimensional textile factories in the Shadow Shard? Just reusing them via time travel shenanigans?

I doubt you're going to get a reply, unfortunately. Piecemeal retired early this year and hasn't posted anything to the forums in six months.

I think the core of the issue stems from how CoH was designed - as a cooperative game. From the get-go, the point of CoH as a MMO was teaming and working together, with the main (and for a time, only) content being PvE. Even after PvP was introduced the main focus was still 'sharing a common goal' rather than any real push to focus on player vs player. Blueside teams up to save the city, Redside teams up to do villain things, Goldside... gets buried under excessive ambushes. RWZ pushed co-op, then the iTrials did it, and then Dark Astoria did it again. It certainly doesn't help that PvP as a mechanic was just tacked on, any early momentum it had with base raids got ran into the ground, or that as a concept it runs pretty much counter to CoX's design philosophy. It's not like WoW where the player is joining a pre-defined faction whose long-established conflict is baked into the nature of the game - in CoX, 'heroes vs villains' was always primarily a PvE story-thing, rather than a core gameplay ideal. Sure, players could fight each other in certain zones or in the Arena, but 'Heroes Vs Villains' wasn't the point like 'Alliance Vs The Hoard' was. This framework severely limited CoX's possible PvP population and retaining the limited PvP population CoX did get was pretty seriously hobbled by PvP being delt a number of intense rebalancing updates (which, if I remember right, was basically seen as its own variant-Ehancement Diversification aimed directly at the PvP community's favorite part of the game). Also, it's not remotely the PvP crowd's fault that that kind of gameplay has never been CoX's focus, nor that the Live Devs attempted to incentivize that content by attaching special badges to it that just led to folks who never wanted to PvP feeling like they have to 'suffer through it' to get the few things they wanted... but when it comes to new 'zone-wide PvP' events? Given just how little of the game revolves around PvP and how most players don't ever touch it even with the promise of said rewards, it just doesn't seem like a good idea. PvP in CoX has always been a choice - one that works best preferably built by the community. Organizing big contests, like the Last Man Standing challenges, are fantastic and fun events but they're all also specifically 'join in please!' player/dev organized things within the existing PvP structure. Not moved into PvE content zones that have never hosted or are purposed for it where the only option for those who don't want it is to leave. That's why the Live Devs kept PvP to specific zones and Arena matches - it's always been an opt-in bonus feature rather than an opt-out requirement. Having it effectively 'take over' a non-PvP zone, regardless of how interesting the set-up might be, is just going to tick off the non-PvPers who were doing the content there (which would more than likely be most everyone in the zone). Keep in-mind, I enjoy PvP - I'll run through Warburg or RV with friends, and readily hop into Arena matches. I even joined in some of the community events back on Live, but it was always at my own choice to go there and do that, rather than PvP coming and finding me when I was doing something else. All that said, PvPers as a community do prompt a lot of not-always-reasonable knee-jerk reactions. A large amount of which seems to be lingering resentment from griefing back in the Live days, which, while it did happen (a fact that was not aided by the attitudes of certain aspects of Live CoX, like the PWNZ sub-forum <.<)... holding a grudge against people who may not even play the game anymore and letting that color expectations seems like a bit much. That doesn't mean there isn't some girefing still here on Homecoming when it comes to PvP but it's not nearly like it could sometimes get back in the old days. I just figure... It's been a decade. Whatever issues I had with some parts of CoX's old PvP community, they got sunsetted with the Live game. I'd be happy with more, improved PvP content - just so long as it's kept as PvP content. xD

While I'm not opposed to the idea, I doubt that Galaxy City will be reintroduced - either as it was or as a new zone. The HC devs are on-record is not wanting to undo anything that occurred before sunset if at all possible (aside from particularly egregious things, like tweaking the Red Widow arc). The complete annihilation Galaxy City via the Neo-Shivan attack was a pretty big, deliberate choice by the Live Devs and undoing that would be a pretty huge step, for... frankly not much benefit. Galaxy was taken out in the first place in an attempt to streamline starting content on Blueside, and what starting content there is currently in Atlas doesn't even get run that much unless someone especially wants to. Tossing Galaxy City back in as it was would just make it become another hub for DFB groups (except they'd be even harder to fill, since they'd be splitting the population between Atlas and Galaxy). On the other side, turning it into a Neo-Shivan Combat Zone would take a ton of effort. New mission content, likely as not a new task force, not to mention actually designing and populating the zone. And what level-range would it be? An alternate to Steel Canyon? How much new content would they need to make to have the investment be worthwhile? Or would people be satisfied if it was just a repeatable contact with Neo-Shivan stuff, like how RWZ and Dark Astoria end up once you've finished the arcs? Making a massive revamp of Galaxy just seems like it'd be a mountain of work to end up with yet another Blueside hazard zone that's empty 90% of the time. Sure, it might get heavy traffic when it first dropped, but would it stay that way? This is all just supposition on my part, of course. I've got no idea what all the HC Devs have planned or are able to build with the new mission editing and costume creation stuff they've been working on. I don't think it's likely that they'll just drop huge zone revamps on people's heads, but I can't say it's impossible. xD Leaving things as they are though, with Galaxy City accessible through Ouro, allows the folks who want to roam it free opportunity to do so without either putting in tons of work for little benefit, or further dividing an already limited player population.

A small but useful change for PI mission teams - and it would be neat if the Portal Corp interior map could get linked together and opened up like they are in the Aeon Strike Force, since most of that map is apparently made. Though, all of the lower level 'Portal Access' maps in Peregrine would need to be removed/disconnected to do that, since the current three are all separate underground 'rooms.' None of the inner doors are actually doors at all, either. Just real fake doors. But yeah, shifting Portal Corp into a sort of 'Midnight Club' set up with the initial trio as separate entrances who all lead into one big, conjoined room could work.

Thier brain does the same dodging motion inside the character's head that they're doing on-screen. That's how I always imagined it.

Right? It's definitely a great use of posing to get personality across! Also, something I really wish the game would allow an option for. I mean, villain stance 2 is right there. It even already works while Fly is active! Sure, the shift to and from attacking might look a little silly, but the Running Stances kind of do that already and they're in-game. >.>