Ultimo

So... I've been fiddling around with a couple of characters lately, and I'm just not sure which direction to go... so I'm here once again to see what people think about an homage character I've made. The character is based on Wonder Woman... but the difficulty is that there have been SO many variations of the character in the comics and films. Back in the old days, she was strong and fast (not anywhere NEAR as powerful as she's being depicted these days), and that was about it. Easily represented with Street Justice and Super Reflexes. Then, in the 90s or so, she started using a sword and shield, something that's been carried over into the movies. Sometimes she's depicted just using the sword, sometimes just the shield. Even these days, she's sometimes depicted using neither, just being strong and fast. So I'm kind of torn. I'm not sure which version of the character I want to build around. Ideally, I'd be able to do all of the above... which would mean going Broad Sword/Shield Defense, but much of the time not using EITHER of those sets, relying instead on Pools for attacks and defenses. What do you all think? Is it viable to make a character based around the pools? I mean, she'd be missing out on both her Primary and Secondary sets, almost entirely, much of the time. I'm older, so I lean somewhat toward the older, original depiction of the character... but MY version's backstory depicts her as a former shield-maiden from Norse times... which means sword and board. Just kind of torn.

So, I made a character, a Blaster with Energy Blast and Atomic Manipulation (he's based on Silver Surfer). The powers are all coloured with very light blue and gold, making them almost white with a bit of blue and gold tinting and Kirby Dots. The problem is with Atomic Manipulation. I slap Electron Shackles on an enemy, then Positron Cell, and it creates this effect where the words Gamma Ray pops up with a puff of GREEN schmutz (supposedly radiation, I assume). The problem is the puff is green! The powers are blue and gold, why is the puff green? Is there some way to recolour that?

I decided to go with a Defender, Radiation Emission/Energy Blast. Looks the part, but the blasts are pretty weak and he's awfully squishy (pretty much ANYTHING sneezes in his direction it takes out half his health... I still say NPCs do too much damage). However, having the heal is nice, and the radiation debuffs are noticably effective, something Kinetics, Poison and other effects just aren't. He's L19 now, we'll see how much further I get with him.

I've seen this argument many times, but it doesn't hold water, if you ask me. They have a whole powerset with three claws from each hand, just like Wolverine, indeed, specific TO Wolverine. Eye beams are used by MANY characters in comics besides Cyclops.

So, I have a Blaster character with this combo of powersets. I wanted to make an AE version of him for use in my stories, but I found I can't use that combo of power sets. I don't know if it's a bug or an oversight... or if it's intended for some reason. Thoughts? Is this an error of some kind? Should I file a bug report?

I'm envisioning perks being handled somewhat like Day Jobs. Being rich might give players a small bonus to influence gains. A DNPC (your Champions chops are showing) might appear in random missions as an objective (ie. rescue the NPC) for some kind of minor bonus... or alternatively, to avoid a minor penalty. You could do without them, because taking a perk would require a commensurate flaw to "pay" for it. I'm not suggesting anything gamebreaking, just thinking it's something that might be fun.

You know, many games I've played over the years included a system of perks and flaws. I always enjoyed that, it let me flesh out some of who the character was, and sometimes added abilities or disadvantages that affected gameplay in interesting, sometimes challenging ways. The old, original Champions RPG had a system of Disadvantages that represented some of this, too. There are many things of this sort that comic book characters actually have. For example: Superman takes damage from Kryptonite (and other effects from different colours), and has no defense against Magic. Aquaman (and Namor, and other marine characters) needs to be immersed in water periodically, or grow weaker. Batman is extremely wealthy, as is Tony Stark (and lots of other characters) Many heroes have family or friends who frequently get caught up in things, Aunt May, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Foggy Nelson, etc. I wonder if a system of perks and flaws couldn't be devised to add some interesting character elements to our characters. Any thoughts?

I'd forgotten about Dominators... that may be something to consider (though, I already have so many of them...).

I did think about doing a Peacebringer, but I found them awfully squishy, and the bubbles didn't quite hit the mark visually. I figured if I wanted a combo of range and defenses, I'd do a Sentinel... but then there's nothing to help the team with. I just did a team with the Defender, Radiation Emission/Energy Blast, and he still didn't feel quite... right. It's hard to explain, I hope you understand what I mean. I'll try the Blaster again... is there a secondary you would suggest?

I'm making a character, and I thought I'd see what people think. As with most of my character, he's based on an existing character, in this case, the Silver Surfer. Now, I understand that the Surfer's Power Cosmic is far too versatile in the comics to be simulated perfectly here, but if you were making a character based on the Surfer, what AT would you make him? What power sets would you give him? It seems to me the Surfer's main offense is simply Energy Blasts, so that set is a given (and has the Kirby spots!). His Power Cosmic has other uses, though. I've seen him healing people, shielding people, and so on. He's got abilities to help his allies. So, my first attempt was a Defender, Kinetics/Energy Blast. His powers LOOK good, but the effectiveness just isn't there. The blasts hit only slightly harder than a rolled up newspaper, and the Kinetics effects work primarily at the location of the enemy (eg. I can't heal myself unless I'm in melee range, where I don't want to be). So, I just wasn't feeling it. Surfer's blasts are notable for being POWERFUL. To me, that says BLASTER. So, I made him a Blaster, Energy Blast... but what secondary should he have? I gave him Atomic Manipulation, but I'm not sure about that either. There's not really anything there to help his allies. That takes me back to the Defender/Corruptor. My next thought was Energy Blast/Radiation Emission. This one looks decent again, does help his allies, does give him healing... but he again has no POWER. Aunt May does more damage smacking things with her purse than his Energy Blasts do. So, I'm kind of torn, and I thought I'd see if anyone had any suggestions.

The Experimentation pool is VERY underwhelming. What I'd kind of like to see is a power set where the powers are kind of "constructed" by activating things in a certain order. For example, suppose you have three of the powers in the set... activating A, B, C might cause a DOT. activating B, A, C might cause a heal. activating C, A, B might cause a debuff. You get the idea. The thing is, the effects have to be meaningful. As it is, the effects of the powers are so weak, they're practically nonexistent.

It's also possible to aggro them with a taunt aura.

The basic principles I expect from moderation are: Fairness. Consistency (this one is especially important). Reasonableness. Patience. Respect (this one goes both ways). Some of the worst experiences I've had with forum moderation (and they've been few and far between, and not ever here) have violated one or more of these core principles. Stick to these, and you can't go wrong.

So, I was trying to edit a character's costume in Talos, at Luminary, by the tram. I would try scrolling through the helmets and weapons, but the game would freeze for a few seconds each time I click to change costume part. It would do this for a while, then completely freeze for a bit longer, then crash to the desktop. It's been doing this for quite a while. I don't know if it's related to the general choppiness and lag I've been having, more or less from the start. I've posted a couple of threads about that stuttering and freezing. Anyway, I just thought I'd report it here.

I've often wished we could exemplar ourselves down while on our own, so we can do stuff in zones we've outleveled. For example, I have a street-level character (a Batman/Daredevil sort) whose "home" is King's Row... but he can't really DO anything there now that he's leveled up past the zone's maximum. I'd love to be able to exemp down to whatever level I want so I can do stuff wherever I am.

Ya, that was a consideration, but it's relatively minor. Being on the ground means foes getting to melee get knocked down. Sometimes. Being in the air accomplishes the same thing, really.

I struggle with my own Magneto homage. I've tried a few combos, but my feeling is they all need to include Force Fields. They're kind of definitive. That limits him somewhat. My first try was a Gravity Control/Force Fields Controller. The gravity attacks are good for what they are, and Propel does get him throwing heavy things at enemies, but it kind of conjures them out of thin air. It's too teleporty, if you take my meaning. My second try was a Force Fields/Seismic Blast Defender (and Corrupter with the sets reversed). I liked the Defender version better because his force fields were more effective, and I didn't really notice much difference in damage output. The Seismic Blasts, I defined as pulling debris from the air and ground (like the little iron filings and stuff Magneto used to encase Banshee a couple of times), making rocks and stuff to smack foes with. But, it felt like rationalization, and just didn't quite have the LOOK I wanted. It just didn't feel right, if you take my meaning. The only other class that has a force field is a Peacebringer, but that's just too blasty (and awfully squishy). There's not any other class with force fields, so it's really down to the Controller or the Defender for me. Whichever I end up sticking with, I'll likely give them either Psychic Mastery or Electric or Mu Mastery to cover that aspect of Magneto's powers. Nowhere near that level yet, so that's for future consideration.

Quite, that was my point.

I think that ship sailed when they made claws with three retracting claws on each hand... Even if the animation had the blasts coming from the face/head, that would be sufficient. I probably should have included the other blast sets too... I mean, I can easily imagine characters who spit fire or ice, or what have you...

Folks, if you please...

I know, there's a few threads around that discuss various specific power sets and such, but I thought a consolidated thread might be useful. Perhaps it could become a sticky people could add to. Basically, my purpose here is to suggest power sets, or specific powers, that could use alternate animations. Keep in mind, I'm not posting this for the sake of argument, if you don't like a suggestion, that's fine... but please don't muddy the waters with disagreement. I'll begin with a couple that are on my mind, and will add more as they come to me. I hope others will add some of their own suggestions too. ENERGY BLAST (and most other blast sets) Right now, all the blasts come from the hands. Energy blasts from the EYES are quite common in the comics, it would be nice if there were animations that resembled this. Most of the stances and such are already in the game, even. FIGHTING (Pool) It would be nice if selected Martial Arts animations could replace the attacks here. For example, Boxing might be allowed to use the Storm Kick or Cobra Strike animation. I know my Ninjas MM, who longs to get stuck in melee too, would love to be doing martial arts instead of boxing. ALL ARMOUR SETS Right now, many armour sets have extremely visible effects. It would be nice if the minimal effects setting was actually MINIMAL. I have great difficulty using Stone Armour or Bio Armour, because they're so UGLY. Let's have a NO effects setting. DUAL PISTOLS I find the overly flashy gymnastics really ugly and unrealistic, and frequently out of character. It would be nice if there was an alternate set of animations that were simpler and more realistic.

I agree... though I would extend this to ANY power you have access to, including temporary ones. Certainly the inherent powers though.

Regarding this, I assume this means Ouroboros wouldn't have any of the original missions either...?

Back in the day, I usually started my characters in Galaxy City instead of Atlas Park. So, I decided to visit Galaxy Echo via Ouroboros today, and indulge in a bit of nostalgia. Sadly, I found the place entirely empty of people, and no quests were to be found. There was nothing to DO there. More, I couldn't even go to the AE or log out in the Arena for the Day Job. Disappointing, overall. It seems a terrible waste. I assume the other Echo maps are the same. So, my suggestion is twofold. First, restore all the original missions and such to the Echo zones, so they're exactly as they were when the game launched. Second, create a NEW zone, Ruined Galaxy. Instead of blocking off the zone entirely, make it a hazard zone, perhaps where Rikti and Shivans run riot, with ruined buildings and so forth, somewhat like Boomtown.

#4 is a fair point, a lot of my characters are based to some degree on existing characters, though they may not look like their inspirations, or may be a combination of elements. For example, I have a character called the Canadian Shield, who is kind of a blend of Captain America, Superman and Captain Canuck. There's elements of all three there, but also plenty of original material too. It's also the case that my characters tend to evolve away from their inspiration, as I play them and refine their concept. I get it, I understand the legal aspect of things, but I do try to avoid any issues. Of course, none of this is to say I have no characters that are entirely original. I do have many. Way back in the day, my brother and I used to make comic books ourselves, and we had a sizable stable of characters I can draw from. I should also say, when I start a thread like this or the others, I'm often not asking because I actually want to recreate the characters, I'm usually just thinking about how I WOULD, if was going to. It's more for my amusement than for any actual purpose.