FDR's Think Tank

Maybe it could have a mechanic where the player can throw one of the laser Pistols as some sort of automated Turret. While the turret is deployed, they only use one blaster in their attacks, but the turret just does it's own thing shooting nearby enemies.

For some reason, I thought this was a Mastermind Powerset suggestion. I am a little let down it wasn't.

Seeing as how this set has melee and ranged, it might be interesting to see it as a Dominator Secondary (Assault) set. That would really make this a unique powerset in terms of what sorts of characters you'd see it on.

True you can taunt stunned enemies and still draw aggro from them, right? And inherent can't create specific counters. It would just be a generalized counter mechanic... which is interesting, but not really enough.

On Enforcer, thats why, as he generates aggro, his damage grows, but his armor gets less effective. He is killable, if he doesn't manage his aggro well. Of course, if he doesn't generate enough aggro, he's a slog to play as you note. That's what makes it interesting: managing the balance between being slow and tough... and being a glass jawed killing machine. The Crowd Control he does is mostly through taunt, stun, and things that don't prevent enemies from attacking. Of course, there is variation in the powersets, but he has lots of cones and PBAoE abilities. Most Enforcers will probably want to take a Melee Pool Power or something to give them striking, but there may be other strategies for running them. And I described Counterstrike..... but I can try a different way to explain: Similar to the Dominators Secondary being a blend of Melee and Ranged Attacks, Counterstrike is a blend of Defensive Boosts and abilities that activate Counterattacks or Damage upon being hit. There are no direct strikes, but you activate a "Parry" type ability that lasts for a few seconds. If you get hit by an ability the parry is effective against, your character deals a strike automatically in response. This kind of fighting is more about knowing how the enemies operate and using it against them. It's complex, but only slightly so. I know some people will hate playing these type of characters and some people will adore it.

Sentinel added Ranged/Armor... so what's missing for Archetypes is Armor/Crowd Control, Support/Counterstrike, Melee/Support, and Counterstrike/Summons. Counterstrike is a combination of Armor and stackable/toggle automatic parry/counter attacks. It's a defensive set that focuses on punishing strikes against the user. Enforcer - Armor/Crowd Control This is like a "Power Armor" Set with Big weapons that do AoE damage and Suppressive actions. As aggro grows, his armor gets less effective, but his Damage gets boosts. Unlike the Brute, he isn't tracking his own anger, but the anger of OTHERS. Can handle one on one against a boss or a crowd of little guys... but not really both at the same time. Guardian - Support/Counterstrike This Archetype's Support abilities tend towards single target Debuff, drawing aggro. This, in turn drives it's Counterstrike Powerset. The idea is to draw in attackers with debuffs that typically don't immobilize, then take them out with clever counterstrikes and durability. Commander - Counterstrike/Summons This Archetype uses it's Summons to generate aggro, which is all redirected to the Commander AT. Then it uses it's system of Counterstrike to engage in thrilling Melee which inspires the summons to fight harder. Reaver - Melee/Support This Archetype wades into battle to strike with melee hits and uses support abilities (Which also work on itself). As it's HP get's lower, it's support abilities get stronger, making it tougher to kill. and those four would round out the 5 AT we should have gotten from Goldside.

It would be neat to have a Taskforce that allows players to travel back in time and SAVE Galaxy City. This does two things: First off, to save the City, they need to combat the meteor shower... this is an OFF PLANET event. It's got to be easier to work with that, since we already have things that look like that in Architect Entertainment. Second off: when you complete the Task Force, Galaxy City unlocks again. Now it's using basically the same area as the original... but it gets to be a high level zone instead because of the temporal consequences of saving the city! New enemies, new adventures! The Arena in that zone can be reworked, since it's no longer necessary. The only downside is recoding mentions of the City being Destroyed... into stories of the Galaxy Cities current issues, but only for the characters who complete the TF..... Is that possible?

If they do this, we are also gonna want a new powerset: Akimbo Melee for builds that use One Blunt and One Bladed Weapon. You could have it so the Power Set just has attacks that do smashing and attacks that do lethal.... but it might be neater to work in a mechanic where the damage alternates for all attacks or on some other basis. It would be really neat for Weaponmaster type characters who don't specialize in one weapon. Of course... I would want Hockey Sticks for Blunt and bladed.... hah.

That's the point of those Archetypes. In a TEAM game, you want to have people who can detect them, lock them down, rez your allies, and perform other counter manuevers to those tactics. However, if you're going to go into PvP alone, things do favor them, because their role is necessary for PvP. The solution isn't a nerf, which just makes sure nobody has a reason to PvP. The solution has to be highlighting the other AT's abilities in PvP scenarios. If you were talking about improving that, you wouldn't meet backlash like you do when you make a broad statement that sounds like you want to castrate the purpose of the only PvP functioning ATs.

On the topic of Boomboxes: There are still a number of in game tunes/music that are not easily replayed or accessible. It would be fantastic if someone was able to crack that chestnut and give us the full roster of songs to play from boomboxes.... I know Boomtown's music will be a real... blast. Anything they do with music, I hope they would consider also tapping it into Symphony Control's Sound FX. It might be nice to have some generic Musical sound effects that can be selected for this set specifically. And... for dances... it would also be neat if there was a way for Symphony Control to force NPC's to Dance when hit with holds and such. This would be so incredibly delightful. Finally, it would be REALLY cool if we could get some Guitar/musical Weapons for Melee and Ranged. It doesn't seem related, but it really is.

That may be, but what if I want my pets to have Super Speed? You're just callously leaving that power out, as if Group Fly isn't a spit in the face of everyone who wants to use the Mastermind Archtype as a method of having "speed clones" of their character in game.... Which will be all that much more important when they finally let us customize our minions! The Pathing code for NPCs was more acceptable when City of Heroes first came out. I suppose they might want to look at doing an overhaul of it.

Why not "Formation" share travel powers with Pets and Allies when "not in combat"?

That's kinda interesting. However... does Leadership have any effect on Mastermind's Minions or other's Pets? If this solution is paired with MM sharing their travel powers with their minions, then it really solves most concerns. (I don't think Con/Dom's really worry as much about Pet movement, since their summons are time cycled anyway... but they WILL complain. Not all complaints are necessary.) The real question bounces back to what you replace Group Fly with in "Fly" Power Pool if you hit this move. I personally default to the idea of the "Anti-Gravity" bubble that indiscriminately makes all inside it fly unless they are either knocked down by a hostile... or helped by a friendly grounding power of some sort. (I suggested making Air Superiority a dual target option ability like Injection from Medicine.... Help Ally, Hurt Enemy. I also suggested certain powers naturally ground players. Earth Armor sets would have it, Freerunning from Utility Belt could be turned into "Mag Boots", and I am sure people have other handy ideas we could all agree with.) Edit: on further thought, there could be an "Earth Elemental" Power Pool that includes an ability that puts rock beneath a players feet, even if they flying. I don't know what other effects this power would have, but it might make it so the character always counts as being "Grounded" for the purposes of powers that activate differently based on that. I guess it just comes down to what Floaty Harry used to say... Flying ain't much of a Hovering, but at the end of the day you can get busy Hovering or you can get busy Flying. Actually, I still don't know what he's talking about. Maybe his water wings are on too tight.

What about Powdered Toast Man Stance for Flight? We always forget him.... I think Bizzaro also flies that way sometimes.

It would be interesting if Group Fly became "Anti Gravity" and was indiscriminate about who was affected in range of the ability. Then powers like "Air Superiority" make more of a difference with less modification. For instance... it could gain the ability to target allies, sending them back to the ground safely and disabling the Anti-Gravity effect on them for a duration. If Anti-Gravity made foes fly, then blasting them back to the earth with bonus damage is pretty nice.... while you give Air Superiority that dual targeting like some other powers that has a friendly effect on allies. It would make the "Group Fly" ability fun again... rather than this weird artifact of gameplay that is a liability. Flight is too easy for characters to access these days. It makes Group Fly very weird. Of course, this suggestion is mostly predicated on the idea that Fly/Hover are shared with pets. If you go this "Anti Gravity" route, you could actually have strategies where the team focuses on Air Superiority and using strategies related to it. You might also have specific powers that allow characters to ground themselves, even in Anti-Gravity. (Perhaps Freerunning from the Utility Belt set could be "Mag Boots"....)

I wonder if "Think Tank" domes could get more variants for the Dome itself... not just shape (Globe, Cube, Pyramid, Cosmonaut, Astronaut) but also make versions that are Opaque or Mirrored Finish. I know there's all sorts of costumes I want to explore with that! I would love to see the Knifes of Artemis Night Vision Goggles too.

I feel like Group Fly could be similar to other travel only Powers that have special modifier abilities: only it gives that modifier ability to anyone affected by Group Fly... a Toggle to turn flying off. Null the Gull seems nice, but the the problem is that it's one way or the other. You can't turn flying off when you don't need it and turn it on when you need it.... and that is the core problem people have. Having Null the Gull turn off Group Fly means you can't catch a ride without turning it back on. What is the point of Group Fly? Is it to share flight with teammates? Or is it to create an obnoxious gameplay condition that people have to play around? A toggle that turns it off would be perfect, provided Pets never use it. Of course, you could change it so it's a "Toggle On" ability granted to people in group fly area... but if that's the case, you might want to extend the coverage of the area, so people slow to activate it don't get left behind and fall.

That's one way to show you've got "drip". Very nice. It's very Amusing for Dopplegangers to be SO close to your powers, but still WRONG.

Actually, I confess I made this suggestion back when the game was live... while the devs were amused by the Origins connection, they stated they didn't feel like it would be balanced to give players too many "Nuke" abilities. Of course, at that time, they were still thinking PvP was something they were genuinely trying to balance and that was the only reason for prohibiting more... even if it was just 2 more and they were different effects. I suspect those concerns don't exist anymore, since if PvP is going to be balanced, Nukes aren't the ongoing concern. As far as why Nukes are "natural".. because it's the closest to standard military ordinance on a warhead, Nuclear Radiation is something that everyone is exposed to, thanks to the Sun, and it's the most likely of the three for people to imagine being used. Also.. Chemical Burns is clearly Science, Mutagen is clearly Mutant.... and I want an EMP Warhead, which ought to be Tech. The last was Magic. And Superheroes is all pretend, so not only will I pretend Warhead types DOES have to do with Origin, but I will pretend many other things too. I am just that pretentious.

Having expanded Missile Silos for storing Missiles seems like exactly the sort of thing Super Group Bases could have allowed for. The game isn't balanced that way though, so it could be a long term concern to allow players build an arsenal of WMDs. But... I did notice one thing: Biologicial MUTAGENS, Chemical Burns, Nuclear Blast... It's almost like you have Mutant, Science, and Natural Origins. There is no restriction on Warhead type Ownership, but it might be neat to add two new types of Warheads to round out the "Origin" representation. This would also give players two other Warheads they could hold a charge for. Technology- Digital Magnetic Pulse: Unlike an normal Electro-Magnetic Pulse, this type of Pulse has it's frequency keyed to benefit allies and harm enemies. The core affect of this would be to boost Stamina regen for allies and debuff Stamina Regen on Enemies. 11 Allies Max, 11 Enemies Max targeting might work well for this, it would be something people would save for Leagues, anyway. Magic - Chaos Vortex: Everyone in the area of this effect get's a bonus to the recharge rate of all their powers, but this is paired with a regen debuff. No maximum target on the effect, affects enemies and allies alike. (This may be a terrible idea, because recharge might be the only thing that stops NPC's from overwhelming players with attacks. Then again, some people really have effective tanks. With the right strategy, this one could be hilarious and really speed up battle.) More weapon choices gives people more reason to visit, especially since I can see people finding many specific uses for these two alternative warheads as well.

Maybe they should make "Group Fly" have one of those new "And then" powers you see with the Origin Power Pools. In this case, the "And then" would be.... on every other player who get's the Group fly power. They can toggle it off!

The solution to this is simple: Anytime a dev reads a post in the forum, the post gets an automatic "Eyeball" reaction emoji, meaning they saw it, they read it. As to their opinion on it, who knows, but the validation of being seen will slowly sooth the worries that people have about speaking into the void. I love it when devs interact, but I have seen how that goes in games enough to know it's generally not good. There are a million ways it can go wrong and just because someone knows how to develop a game doesn't mean they should be in a PR position. Ideally, there would be one "Dev" account that was in charge of reading ideas on the forums and collating them into a master list that devs can reference, if they wish. Again, this account doesn't have to respond, engage in chatter, or do anything other than "Look". But this "Dev" who is really more of a forum mod... could focus on merging duplicate topics on ideas that have already been posted too. On a side note, I have noticed that the search function for the forum is a bit weak. It tends to bring up many unrelated items rather than keeping my search terms all in mind for the top results. It's gonna get worse as time goes on. This makes it MUCH harder for Devs to keep track of suggestions that they actually are interested in as well.

Even though it wouldn't be "recycling" I would probably change with Pummel with something similar to the bayonet.... like a battery discharge blunt strike! Also... when is beam sets going to get "eye slot" animations!?

Well, perhaps a compromise.... An Upgrade on Angel Minions so they have a "Buff" Aura on allies. Would that make more sense to the effect of the Summoning Set?

Yes, but... considering it's a "Light/Holy" based Mastermind set, maybe this would be the "Exception" that proves the rule. It's a unique feature to the set that makes thematic sense.