Argent Aegis

This is unfortunately true. In regards to RPGs, fantasy games are a lot easier to fudge around by using *Magic*. Sci Fi needs to have some basis in believable science so that it will not trip the "Nerd" science alerts. I cannot tell you how many times I have tried playing a science fiction RPG (like Traveller) and had my extremely science minded friend argue about physics with the GM. He is one of my best and long time friends, but suspension of disbelief is not his strong suit. Then if the game goes the route of "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” then it starts losing some of the science fiction feeling and going more the "Star Wars" space opera route. Same with the cyberpunk genre. It has an even closer line to walk in regards to plausibility , but has the advantage of being more terrestrial. I liked Shadowrun for this. There was enough science to keep the tech minded happy but there was magic to fill in the cracks. That is one of the draws of Superhero RPGs - anything is possible within it's scope. The only limit is the confines of the Meta world (like Marvel and DC) or the desired "Super" level (X-Men vs. Dark Knight Batman). Also Superheroes don't have the LOOT! goal as much as other games. But that same scope is also what limits the Supers genre in MMORPGs - how many times can you save the world or street sweep gangs? All that being said - I would love to see a true MMORPG or standalone video game for something like Shadowrun. I know that there were a few games for Shadowrun, but from what I remember reading, it was more FPS/Tactical. I'd like to see a Shadowrun game akin to Skyrim or ESO.

This would be cool to use with dual blades as well. I'd have to make one of each just to get a screen shot. I vote for this to be added to available emotes. I want pics like this.

With the passing of GM Cyclone and to honor his indelible stamp on the game and players, can the Devs add a permanent memorial to one of the floating islands in Ouroboros? Figured that those islands are aesthetically pleasing, neutral so all blue, red, gold can go there, and since there are no game events that occur there, it would be a suitable place. Maybe even have a map marker denoting the location. Add a plaque/pedestal with a short description honoring his contributions. Just a thought.

Sad news. A tragic and unnecessary loss for his family both RL & COH. Never knew RM/Cyclone, but his guides were a staple in my learning to play the game. He will be missed. Pic from Memorial as of just a few minutes ago. Appreciation for the impact he has had on this game is beyond words.

I've noticed both of these occurrences as well, but it can occur in any zone, during lower server populations as well as solo ToT. The first quirk you mentioned doesn't seem to bother me as much since you are still damaging the spawn - it's just an oddity. But the second one is very annoying and, to me, seems to occur more frequently with Werewolves and whatever spawns with them. The thing I observed is that it may be related to how far behind the door the mob spawns at. When using my targeting, I notice that most mobs seem to spawn a little bit inside the building and take a moment to run out, but the werewolves seem to spawn right on the door and that is when I see the "Unaffected" state occur. I have not seen a case where the spawn can still be that way after moving a larger distance away from that door, but I can believe it if there are some spacing issues in large ToT leagues operating at the Murder Motel in PI. Sometimes it just gets crowded by those opening doors and I have seen spawns pop into existence immediately off to the side. But they are usually defeated so fast that I am not certain if there was an "Unaffected" state and just wiped out a moment later by the next round of attacks. So I wonder if the spawn points of each ToT encounter could be looked at and moved back to a standard point. This may fix this oddity. The rubberbanding, not sure about that one.

Cool - I haven't check his website lately. I did forget about "Forging Hephaestus" - which is also a good read. I'll keep an eye out for the next one. With Super Powereds, he also had a developing story on his website called "Blades & Barriers" that was set in the same world, but I believe was at a different school. He has since taken it down (last I looked) and I missed out on reading it. I'm hoping that it will get published sometime. Doc - if you do get to buy him that beer, give him a thanks from me.

Tis the season... This is Cairnivore

Thanks for the GM's that visited Torchbearer on 10/3. It was quite a delightful surprise to see them at the same time my young kids were learning to play COH. After a brief fanboy moment by me (had to take the below pic), I explained to them who the GM's were and their important roles in keeping the game going. So thanks again for making their first ever visit out of the tutorial an extra special memory the three of us will share.

Drew Hayes writes some awesome stuff. Even his blogs and website are entertaining reads. "Super Powereds" is one of my favorite superhero genre series and also truly amazing in audiobook form. Highly recommend his "Spells, Swords, and Stealth" series for you fantasy/gamelit fans. Again, also great in audiobook form. For a departure, his "Fred, the Vampire Accountant" series is an amusing and different take on the whole vampire genre. Audiobook version is also good. Obviously, I'm a big fan of the guy.

Heraclea is exactly right. I have a 50+ TW/Bio Scrapper that is amazingly fun to play.....solo. I do have a hard time playing him on teams and speed TF's. Leveling up was fun but a bit of a slog...even solo. I slowly cranked up the team sizes and then difficulty as I leveled, again mostly solo, but it was start up, smash like crazy (as long as I can hit), and then try to finish off any stragglers if I had any blue bar left. Now fully IO'ed and 50+, solo & farming is truly amazing. Groups bounce, orange numbers fly, AV & GM's fall. If you can get into a good team that let's you get ahead and start on the next group while clean up is done on the current group, then TW works wonders. If you are on a steamrolling team, it will be hard to really feel like you are part of it until you can get to an EB or AV. But that is my opinion/experience so YMMV. I will see how the changes will impact my TW, but as Heraclea says, if it becomes something I don't enjoy playing anymore, then odds are he will be stripped down and either re-rolled or put out to pasture. I hope that this will not be the case.

I cannot remember when I became what is called a geek now. Outsider could be a description used for some periods of my childhood, but I always had friends, but they weren't mainly one type. So I was an outsider in that I was a social chameleon and while I got along with many, I was never one of the 'core' members of a group until my early teens. I was fairly active as a kid, did well in school, and was larger than many other kids, but more the kid the football coach wanted on the team than the couch potato kind of large. I was never great at sports and much like I was with people, I was able to play most well enough, just not enough to drive me to pursue athletics seriously. Now reading and later role playing games.....that was what I developed a passion for early on. While there were numerous books before Narnia, those were the first ones that I remember that truly dug deep into my heart. Many decades and possibly a thousand books later, I still remember the childlike wonder of Narnia, Thomas Covenant & The Land, and Middle Earth. This was followed shortly by the same fondness I still have for Oerth in D&D and the Spinward Marches of Traveler. My teen years were the 80's. But despite all the amazing things in that decade, it was also when geeks, nerds, and dorks were not as accepted as they are now. Role playing games were played in your parents basement and not discussed outside of your gaming group. What is now called Cosplay was just called "weirdos dressing up". Back then GenCon was in Milwaukee and was the only time I think I ever saw a large number of people get dressed up in costumes and accepted as normal (outside of Halloween). And if you saw a girl at a gaming table.....wow....that was an event worth noting. My imagination is what drove and still drives me. I have always loved RPGs, mostly PnP games, but later video games like the gateway drug Elder Scrolls - Arena. To this day I love just reading RPGs that I know I will never play. I still have a group of friends that I have had for close to 40 years that occasionally get together when we are all in town or every few months Skype a continuing D&D campaign. We still talk books, TV shows, & movies (old and new) as well about our real lives and families. So ultimately, I think I realized I was a geek when I realized I was a dreamer. I think that is trait that all geeks can find in common.

And extra thanks to the GMs that monitor these forums. Undoubtedly a thankless job trying to manage what can sometimes seem like a bunch of quarreling children.

I haven't had direct interaction with the GMs yet, but I have been on teams where we needed their help. Just the fact alone that we have the ability to hop on discord and get help while still in the mission or task force speaks volumes of the way the GMs operate. All I know is that I can play this wonderful game again. Not just as it was back in Live days, but with new stuff as well. All being supported by a team of volunteers that undoubtedly love this game more than me. Which is truly saying something. So thanks!!

This would be a perfect choice for the sonic mechanic!

V&V - This was my go to back in the 80's, Numerous and amazing published adventures. Think that there was a version 2 released in the 2000's or later. Kind of number crunchy...characters could be wildly powerful at the start or very basic depending on rolls. TSR Marvel was popular. Good game overall especially if you could get your hands on the "Ultimate Powers" supplement. Read some Champions and Mutants & Masterminds, both were good, but never got a chance to play them much. For more 'recent' games... If you are a fan of Peter Clines' "Ex-Heroes" series (check it out if you haven't heard of it) try "Rotted Capes". It is a very odd mash up of Superhero and Zombie SHTF genre. Little published material, but I enjoyed the concept and game. For something that is closest to COH, in my opinion, try "Brave New World" RPG. Very similar style with characters using classes along the lines of Scrappers, Tanks, Summoners. etc. Lots of good meta story. Good for the read at the very least. Some goo supplements as well. Then there is the actual COH RPG game that I have seen reference to floating around the internet...but from what I saw, it wasn't fully fleshed out. Grittier and more lethal with potential of serious power creep - "Aberrant" by White Wolf (same guys that published "Vampire"). Good background, lots of storytelling, can be seriously weird at times. Decent amount of supplemental published material. Overall enjoyable, but not for the kiddies in my opinion. Looks interesting. I'll have to keep a watch on the progress.

That is a point that I had never considered. A very valid point in SR's favor.

I consider you one of the experts in this area, so your advice is gold to me. I'll check it out. Not sure about paying for the program since it may be all of a few days depending on how successful I can be with it. I'm hoping to find a few open source libraries of sounds like you mentioned that may be available on line somewhere.

Not sure if this is a bug or working as intended. Running low levels in Mercy Island/Fort Darwin, most Arachnos Soldiers are allied (blue brackets). I say most because there is a patrol that walks around the lower walkway perimeter of the wall that are hostile (red brackets). I am not sure that this is just a throw back to when everything was hostile in Mercy Island or if this was intended to work this way. The dialog seems to be the same as I remember it back then with the soldiers talking about testing these Destined Ones and all. It was just unexpected the first time I ran into it. In a way, game wise I can rationlize factions of Arachnos opposed to the 'Destined Ones' but it was a little surprising to be set upon by about 5 soldiers ranging from +0 to +2 to my low level villain. No big deal (it's more xp + Spider Smasher badge credit) and probably a non-issue for most since Mercy is usually out leveled in less than a half hour by the few that start there. But just thought I'd bring it up and see if anyone else is aware of it.

Thanks for the responses. I may try to get one of the programs mentioned. I figured that there would be timing challenges with each power. I would assume that the sound used would need to match either the activation time or even the duration (not sure about that). I will look at the mods that have already been provided as a basis. My first attempt will likely be Sonic Attack where the files have already been isolated and provided. I really want to see if there is a way that I can get rid of the shouting style of attack and create more of a tech style. The problem is that I have to find the right sound somewhere on the internet to use, I do not have the ability to make my own. I also find that my google search skills are weak, so it may take me a while to find something that is clean and sounds good if I edit the length.

This. But yes TW is a bit of slog early on. You will sometimes feel like a car starting up on a cold day, but once you get humming, it is a great ride. Mine TW is a scrapper and easily one of the most fun powersets that I play. The sheer carnage that you can do when momentum is going is grin worthy. I recommend reading this guide:

I am not a programmer or sound engineer. Not even close. I can figure some things out when given guidance though. How hard is it to create mods for sound? Is it something that the average Joe/Jane can do? Do you need special programs to edit sounds or is this able to be done with freeware? How time intensive can it be? If it's not too complex, was free, and if someone who knows how could create a guide or instructions on how to create sound mods, I would think that more people like me would give it a shot. I usually find myself eagerly waiting for the next mod to drop. But I also would love to see if I could actually contribute or encourage others who may be further along the path of understanding to try their hand at it if a guide became available.

Character concept usually goes more with what I enjoy playing. I usually can come up with some 'concept' or story for the way my character turns out/power selection. In fact, sometimes that, costumes, and names are what drives my altitis. I find that the creation and running content differently to be part of the reason why I keep playing. I am currently trying starts on redside, running red arcs for merits while under level 6, flipping to blue, run the few arcs there, and then flipping back again (character concept is surprisingly easy to justify doing this). Combined with the merits for exploration badge accolades from MI, AP, GC, AP-echo, by level 8 I can have something like 81 merits. And yes - I disable xp at times to do it all. So...both powersets have many attractive points. I usually use some form of stealth for the times I just want to get somewhere, get that badge, or ghost a mission. I love the fast action style. I like mixing it up at early levels, so recharge and survivability are big. I love absorb, most of my roster (and all my 50's) have it in some way. I tend towards fly, but I find that combining speed running and high jumping really appeals to me lately. KB is not so much an issue. If I need, I have a few Steadfasts and Zephyrs in my SG base. There is also hover if I go that route. I'll probably run both sets combined with various Primaries and see what really gels. I have tried Fire and Sonic so far. Fire is nice damage, but I like mitigation. Sonic is fun with the -resists but even with the sound mod available, the sound FX are hard to handle continuously, I may try beam next (the Terminator sound mod is awesome). I used it some on a blaster right before I stumbled onto this forum. If there are other recommendations, please let me know. Long post finally over.

I have been wandering the Archetypes trying to find something that will fit my current play style needs. After trying the control types, dipping my toes in VEATs, creating a blaster or two, and going back to my roots with melee - I finally wandered into the Sentinel forum. I was hesitant due to the reputation, but after reading some very good posts from people like oldskool, I gave one a shot....and think I found a home for now. But my biggest dilemma is choosing to push forward with either Ninjitsu or Super Reflexes. I am torn between the two, having tried both for the early levels. In Ninjistu, I love Shinobi-iri for the stalker-esque boost in damage, the stealth, and the increased movement. I can skip stealth and maybe a travel power with it. I like the endurance recovery and the self heal. I like that I get all three positionals early on. In SR, I love the extra defense and the scalable resistances, Master Brawler with the absorb and the 'free' status protection adds to the toggle defense is very cool early on. Having to look forward to the recharge reduction is also very attractive. So to those of you who have played these sets, which do you think would be more useful as I progress? Is the Shinobi-iri a trick pony that isn't really used later? Is there a hidden gem in either of them that I should, but am not considering? I have played an EM/Super Reflexes Stalker back on Live (before Incarnates were a thing), but this seems different from what I remember. so I don't feel like I can rely on that experience.

I am currently allowing my altitis to rage right now and have been playing a hero with Sonic Attack. @AboveTheChemist's banshee mod is fantastic and leaps and bounds better than the standard sounds. But I was wondering if someone with the know how has or can create a mod that would have Sonic Attack less scream-y and more techno. Maybe a quieter/subtle thrumming sound or pulse. I'll dig around a little when I get to my PC and see if I can post an example. I was just wondering since I was using the alternative animations and was thinking that a scream coming from a hand(s) just didn't seem right. Thanks

Odd things about chain link fences... Have you noticed that chain link fences (the kind that go all the way to the ground, not a concrete base) that you can get shot at through them but you cannot shoot back through them? Also on the same fences, you can run up to one, hit forward again and run through them? Kind of cool for those shadow/stalker types, but still odd.