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I prefer objective-based PvP. Defending the MacGuffin, stealing the MacGuffin, completing objectives like repairing the MacGuffin and keeping it moving. PvP in which beating other players is a secondary or tertiary reason to engage in that mode. You can, and typically do fight other players, but doing so is neither mandatory nor, often, the most effective way to win, and when PvP combat does occur, it's for a reason other than to fight other players. Here, that would translate to... let's say someone designs and builds a prototype tank. Crey. Vanguard. The Freakshow. Whoever. Longbow acquires the tank and decides to take it to the RWZ to test it. They pass through Warburg on the way to the RWZ. Arachnos sees the tank and decides to steal it. Players working on the Longbow side are escorting the tank to an extraction point, and are expected to arrive within X minutes. Players working on the Arachnos side are setting traps to disable the tank, force it to change course so it ends up in a dead end, or some other strategy. Longbow players have to work to keep the tank moving, on the right path, etc. If the Arachnos players can prevent the tank from reaching the extraction point, by whatever means, Arachnos gains control of the tank and a new match begins with them escorting the tank to their extraction point. If the tank makes it to the Longbow extraction point, then another MacGuffin is brought in for the next match. Winner has escort duty, loser tries to stop the escort. Obviously, any of the above groups, locations, or MacGuffin can be changed. None of that is actually important, it's the style of play that matters. Objectives. Something to do, a reason to be there. Something that even people who don't like fighting other players can participate in and feel like they're accomplishing something. I'm horribly frightened every time I set foot in PvP, in any game, because of my mental illness. My hands shake so much, I can barely manage to operate a keyboard. And, in spite of that, I'll still engage in PvP when it's actually interesting, like objective-based PvP. I've even (hold on to your knickers) had fun, made friends and have some great memories of experiences in objective-based PvP, because playing wasn't about killing others, it was about completing objectives, working as a team and having fun. If the system you're proposing worked like that, I'd be all over it. But it doesn't sound like it, and as vague as you've left it, I have the sense that it wouldn't appeal to me. I'm not interested in fighting NPCs to get a score for comparison against someone else's score. Robbing or defending a bank filled with NPCs, and doing so just because someone else set the challenges to be met or created a different floor plan, isn't any different from standard PvE activities of the same type, and it's not even PvP, it's... comparing times on pylon defeats. Dick measuring. I don't care how big my virtual babymaker is when laid out alongside anyone else's, and I don't care how big anyone else's is, either.

You're going go find that suggestions which imply that PvP activity would have a direct impact on PvE activity historically gain no traction. The majority of players who respond indicate that they don't want that in this game. The search function for these forums works quite well, give it a whirl and sift through similar threads and see what the general sentiment is.

Woke up at 5 a.m. this morning, knew immediately where Jessica was. She sleeps near my legs. Clambered out of bed, checked the time, turned on the lights and started looking around for May as I filled the kettle for my morning coffee. Not on the base of the bed-tree-house-thing. Not on the love seat. Not in the shower. Not on a window sill. Finally, I turned to ask Jessica if she'd seen her. May was lying 1' away from Jessica. Jessica looked at May, raised a paw and bopped her on the head. May didn't flinch. We're going to be just fine.

There was a stretch of about half an hour with these two engaging in slap fights, chases and tackles this evening. Jessica whipped out the claws a couple of times, tail puffy and flailing, but she calmed down quickly when I spoke. I didn't shout, I just talked quietly, soothing her with my voice. May seems to know what's expected of her. She'll try to instigate play, and becomes submissive if Jessica asserts her dominance, but she defends herself when backed into a corner. They also spent more time on the love seat together, and Jessica even made a few attempts to pounce on May's tail. Bed time. Well, for me. The girls are already asleep. They probably need their energy for a 3 a.m. spaz-attack.

The AVs/EBs and GMs left whimpering on the floor after it's all over.

Depends on the archetype.

In the interest of non-discriminatory practices, I believe panty capes should also be ported to Male and Huge. They have a right to wear ball gowns if they want to. 😁

That's a feature. A feature of the local crematorium. You can die AND have your funerary arrangements seen to at the same time! No more worrying about plots, Nemesis or burial! Want to apply? Just visit Elevator Shaft 3, we'll take care of the rest!

If your loincloth is flowing, you should practice a little self-restraint.

That only works when you're trying to sneak past the Bugblatter Beast of Traal.

They have the technology. They can rebuild her. She is... The Psionic Woman. This week, find out what happens when she teams up with the Six Billion Inf* Build Man!

We had two frights this morning. Well, Jessica did. She's very easily startled, which is actually hilarious. Her tail puffs out like a chimney broom (her hackles don't raise, oddly), and she waves it furiously until I pick her up and calm her down. She's so used to not hearing unusual or unexpected sounds that May hopping down from her perch surprised her. Poof, swish swish! But they just had a nose to nose encounter without a hint of aggression. I should probably start drawing up plans for the next cabin...

Panty capes. Cimerorans have them. Talons have them. Janine Melnitz has them. Gimme.

Everyone has to settle for digi-Lumi. Sorry. Try the Roman Sandals option. I'm waiting for the panty capes. I could do a lot with panty capes. I need panty capes.

Dialogue. They had a lot of problems making it work properly. That's why two critters conversing on the street will say things non-sequentially (there are screenshots of this all over the favorite quotes thread), or critters in missions will say lines as soon as you zone into the mission rather than when you approach. Cutscenes were the only way they could ensure that the dialogue would show at the proper time. At least, until they added end-of-mission-delaying monologuing. *shakes fist*

They made some progress today. Several moments when they were almost in physical contact without hissing, growling or raised hackles. They even came close to playing together under the love seat. Jessica even did her butt wiggle when she was stalking May at one point. This is all on Jessica. May's settled in perfectly. She uses the litter box, knows where the food and water are, explores her new home and is absolutely happy. She's submissive to Jessica, but not to the degree of rolling over and showing her belly. She'll hiss back, that's about it. Once Jessica relaxes, I think they'll get along. If Jessica relaxes. Torties aren't known for being calm, and being half Savannah, she's owning crazy like she invented it. But she's not being hateful, and that's a big step in the right direction. My last tortie was hateful, and would've gladly killed my Maine Coon if she hadn't been half his size. The reversal in this situation, with Jessica being the big, strong one, is what had me most concerned. I think we're almost there. A few days and I might see them curled up together... or sitting in the rubble of the cabin, wearing their innocent expressions. May has that "incorrigible scamp" look. May is probably short for Mayhem, but when I ask, she just sticks her head in my hand for more scritches. Eh. I built one cabin, I can build another.

By default, Mids' displays the average damage after accounting for different variables. You can change it to show maximum damage, which will show the full proc damage, in Options -> Configuration -> Effects and Maths.

You're right, there shouldn't be a generic experience. But @Bill Z Bubba and @Wavicle are also right. Both of them. The experience of playing a squishie is already defined by several restrictions. Squishie archetypes almost all have lower base damage and lower damage caps. Ostensibly, this is because the archetypes as a whole have access to stronger and more utilitarian debuffs, like -Res, which, on paper, increases their damage output to a comparable level. But they still have to spend more time to reach that point. More time in animations. More time attacking. They might be capable of "keeping up" in regard to overall damage output in a given situation, but over time, they're slower and more endurance hungry. Buffing squishies don't even have that much going for them in many cases because they're restricted from benefiting from their own buffs, forcing them to spend more time in attack animations for a comparable return of damage output, and they aren't even guaranteed the reliability of the same debuffs other squishies may have for survival and increased damage output. For squishies also have little or no access to status protection, on top of the penalties having to spend more time and effort working toward the goal of defeating critters and not always being able to benefit from their own powers, really is a bit much in the way of creating a unique experience. The experience is unique enough, both solo and on teams, just in the way they have to use more powers to accomplish the same goal, and do so slower than archetypes with status protection. We can still have a unique experience on squishie characters without piling status effect vulnerability on top of more time spent in animations, reduced damage output and higher endurance usage. A solo defender isn't stepping on a brute's toes if he/she has status protection, or playing more like a brute. The defender still has to work twice as hard as the brute, is still paying the cost of being a team-oriented archetype, and has a play style nothing like the brute's. And a lot of squishie animations really should've been trimmed years ago, or the mechanics changed so powers wouldn't root or lock us into animations, so squishies wouldn't have to do so much more to achieve less. Animation times are the most heinous oversight Cryptic made when they were designing the game, but we're stuck with what we have until/unless someone deciphers the engine and tools well enough to start trimming animations or making new ones.

Wait! Wait, wait... wait. Hold it. Back the truck up. Males have nipples AND exclusive skin-showing costume parts? There's really only one possible explanation. I don't know about anyone else, but I feel betrayed. And itchy, but that's probably the poison ivy rash.

Cutscenes aren't inherently bad design. They can be used to convey critical story elements or clues, or lighten up an otherwise dark mission, to give a couple of examples. The bad design comes in when cutscenes can't be skipped in a game which actively encourages players to make alts. Cutscenes have never been the prom queen of Co* mechanics since they were introduced, and the developers eventually relented, sparing players from having to sit through them in Incarnate content. Then, for some inexplicable reason, they decided to dump cutscenes into leveling content, and not give players any way to opt out. Even the best stories in the world can't be experienced unlimited times without the player reaching a point of wanting to just get the heck on with it. Having all control taken away from the player creates frustration and dissatisfaction. That's why we have -KB in IOs and set bonuses. That's why players value status protection, and if they can't acquire it, +Defense/-ToHit as a secondary means of preventing status effects. We play to play, not to watch a movie of the game engine playing with itself (... not how i intended that to sound, but i'm going to run with it). Unskippable cutscenes discourage players from experiencing the content again, rather than encourages them. They know that they're going to have their control taken away from them if they play that content. Even if they enjoy the cutscenes, they'll eventually reach a point of wanting to do something that doesn't involve being shoved into the passenger seat. And what's the deal with uninterruptible monologues? The Black Queen yammers on for half a century, preventing mission completion, and there's no way to interact with her or speed it up. A monologue can be just as valuable as a cutscene when used properly. It can give the player time to recover, to convey information in a relevant way, as comedic relief, or just to throw some flavor into a mission. Locking a mission in incomplete state while a player is forced to wait for the NPC to shut the heck up, that's bad design. People play games to play them, not to watch them be played or play out. Taking away a player's ability to play is questionable design, but taking it away and providing no way, at all, to counter it, that's bad design. It's just a status effect that doesn't obey the rules, effectively.

No broken bones or dismembered limbs when I woke up. Eyeballs still intact, ears don't have any piercings. I'm taking care of some other cats for a friend this week, so these two spent the morning together without me to intercede. To my surprise, May was still where I left her on the love seat, and Jessica was sitting on the top of the tree-bed-house-thing, 3' away, without growling, hissing or even glaring. I opened the adjacent window, May hopped onto the tree-bed-house-thing, right into Jessica's face... and it was almost 10 seconds before Jessica hissed. Jessica could still unintentionally cause May serious harm, or kill her (really not exaggerating, she's built like a weight lifter), but I think we're past the "I'm going to kill that little whore" problem.

You might suggest that, but it wouldn't be appropriate, considering this is neither suggestions, nor feedback on work the HC team is doing.

Going to bed soon, but it's been relatively peaceful between them. May has already grown comfortable enough to explore a bit, and even play, but she's displaying a preference for physical attention and close proximity to me (she'll be a lap cat, definitely). Jessica is establishing herself as the dominant one, but she's really uncertain about what's happening and how to handle it. They've exchanged a few hisses and aimed a couple of thwaps at each other (May tries to keep a distance, but she doesn't back down when Jessica comes too close), and Jessica is growling while she stares at May, but she's behaving completely normally (for her) when she interacts with me (fortunately). No claws or teeth yet, or even physical contact, between the two of them. I think they'll make it through the night without me sitting between them.

I slept until 6 a.m. this morning, which is rare. I'm normally up some time between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., despite going to bed at 10 p.m. So I didn't have much time to play. Having only experienced the First/Night Ward content once, on the Grav/TA controller I started when I bought this laptop, I figured I'd take Antianeira there and see how things went. And in the very first mission, the damned dog escort managed to get lost when I went around a corner. I wasn't even moving quickly (I don't have most of my +Movement set bonuses yet), nor was I using stealth of any kind, and I still found myself in the final room, confused and irritated because I'd cleared and couldn't complete the mission. I had to go back, find the mutt and make a third trip through the corridors. Half a dozen ways to complete the objective could've been implemented, and the development team decided to use a 12 year old design element that has not only never worked reliably, but which didn't even serve a purpose beyond being present. No combat buffs, no combat aid, no interactivity, not even some extra ambushes, all that dog is there for is to be escorted to the end. The Chekov's Gun of Co*. Feh. They should've used a Praetorian Fusionette, at least she would've been entertaining in her adorably scatterbrained, psychotic way.

I already knew I wasn't going to be able to explain it fully within the context of the character without reaching, something like "The gods did it!", but... one of the nicer aspects of this game engine is that we can disable most of the graphical effects for our characters, even the ones for which there is no NoFX option, by changing the suppressCloseFxDist parameter. With suppressCloseFX turned on (either /suppressclosefxdist 1, or through the graphical options), and the distance set (/suppressclosefxdist 30, for example, and the number can be tweaked to a distance that works just enough to suppress at exactly the range where you normally keep your camera, or only when you nudge too close to a wall, or really far out so it never shows unless you scroll beyond the distance you set), /EA shows no graphics for the player. And then there's no blinding glow to explain. At least, on the player's screen. Others will still see it, but rarely, if ever, comment. That still leaves the fact that the toggles are named things like "Kinetic Shield" and "Power Shield", but I'm not looking at their names when I'm playing, I'm just verifying that they're still turned on. I'm no longer protected by a techno-magical device created by a mutant with a science degree, I'm just really, really good at not being hit, or my Roman armor is really, really good at deflecting enemy attacks. You're definitely right, but with a bit of tweaking and a willingness to ignore that others don't see what I see, it works pretty well for me. 🙂