Worm_Kalpa

That workaround brings up a neat, alternative fix to this mission. Make it so that if any of the (much lower-level) captive heroes are defeated, you get the mission failed text, forced-exit, and probably no reward. That idea likely requires more time and effort than making it like a typical rescue mission with captives who don't fight after being rescued. Still adds a neat little twist that level 40+ characters can have ways to complete.

There are a lot of story arcs out there that have nice plots and make soloing pleasant. All three of the 'seemingly inanimate object' contacts on redside are pretty good. Television was mentioned before and it really has a lot of funny mission text and neat story arcs. Your character being unsure if they were just hearing things or if a TV set in the slums and not plugged into anything is communicating to them through movies and shows. Radio is a low-level contact with a similar vibe. Its mission text is more high-energy than weird, which fits for a radio DJ and trying to be the N-th caller to win something. The Valentine's tip mission that brings in Internet is cool. Slot Machine is an unlockable mid-level contact and its second story arc is simple but nice. Helping a down-on-his-luck washed-up villain could be a rogue alignment mission. I like having the contrast between more serious and/or evil contacts like Westin Phipps versus the 'honor among thieves' meets PG-rated bad guy stuff.

I ran into a bug the other night when doing the 'Stop the Blogger's Reign of Terror' mission. It is a level 40 - 50 Rogue to Hero alignment tip mission. The objectives including rescuing three captives from the enemy mobs that spawn. However, the captives are not invincible and are targetable by any enemy AoE attacks that occur. The captives also spawn at a much lower level than the other NPCs on the map, which I believe is purposeful but they are defeated very easily. This prevents the mission from being completed even after clearing the map. Also, their might be a final enemy that is supposed to spawn once all three captives are rescued. If any of the targets are defeated however, then that final enemy doesn't spawn even though a red map marker indicates their likely location. Finally, something weird is going on with the objective counter in what it displays. It is likely related to the captives being defeated when they shouldn't be. Searching this forum, this bug has been around for some time: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/32279-stop-the-bloggers-reign-of-terror-mission-breakable/#comment-411071 https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/22424-blue-side-rogue-tip-bug-blogger/#comment-261786 https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/4207-stop-the-bloggers-reign-of-terror-mission-bug/#comment-35167 https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/13391-stop-the-bloggers-reign-of-terror-full-bug-report/#comment-137247 https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/7855-hero-tip-mission-with-hostages-bugs-if-any-hostages-are-killed-by-incidental-aoes/#comment-72334

Echoing what everyone else already said, plus adding a few of my own. I played mainly red- and goldside when the game was live and only really explored blueside in the last year or so. Redside mission goal descriptions are more straightforward. For example, it will be explicit if it is a defeat all or not. Blueside mission goal descriptions can be ambiguous sometimes, such as it might be a defeat all without saying so Speaking of mission goals, redside rescue missions involve bringing the captive back to the mission exit whereas older blueside rescue missions do not and just require you to defeat their captors Much to my disappointment as a temporary power collector, some blueside missions that give you a temp power either remove it at the end of the mission or you have a time limit for how long you can keep it (different than how long you can have it active) In general, redside missions are more solo-friendly There seems to be a lot more hunt missions on older blueside content While redside and newer content have contacts and story arcs with more personality, I like that older blueside contacts are often just normal people (and some magicians, mystics, etc.) who work with heroes. It handles how are hazardous waste disposal, civil rights, corporate espionage, doing journalism, etc. handled in a setting with heroes, villains, and superpowers

An archived page from the old CoH site says that "The Bone Daddies are chosen through some secret, black ritual performed by the original founders of the Skulls, the Petrovic brothers. This ritual gives them power over the negative world, and allows them to tap into spirit killing energy that they can use to feed off of their victims. Heroes who have faced them have stated that Bone Daddies are dead inside, their bodies just haven’t realized it yet." I wonder where the Skulls' story would have gone if the game continued and we got a sequel to Eagle Eye's arc. Especially since superadine, the drug the Skulls were pushing, can in rare cases grant the user the ability to see and travel to other dimensions. At least if the wiki is true. It would be an interesting twist if the ritual that gave darkness powers involved superadine use and connecting to the netherworld. Like a really messed up ayahuasca trip

As others have said, the deeper part of the enemy group lore is in the story arcs. Mainly the store arcs offered by older contacts, and the arcs are might be some levels higher than when you first encounter an enemy group. For example, you learn more about how the Lost came to be and their connection to the Rikti from Eliza Thorpe's (blueside levels 25-29), Steven Sheridan's (blueside levels 35-39), and Timothy Raymond's (redside levels 30-34) missions. Some mysteries are also revealed in content that came out a few years after the game was launched. Like the Rikti War Zone arcs and Montague Castanella for the Lost and Rikti. Another thing is that you can get the broad strokes and some specific answers (like what the Lost do to the homeless people they abduct) but not everything in the game lore is revealed.

Yeah, goldside has the tour guide tip missions as well. Even up to Night Ward.

Adding some new purchasable temporary powers to the P2W vendors would be pretty neat. I like temp powers as a way to help fill in attack chains in the early games, they help those without Traps, Devices, etc. get in the theme of a gadget- or magic trinket-using character, and I just like collecting them. For example, the revolver temp power adds a ranged attack to low-level characters and a bow and arrow temp power can do the same thing but for characters who don't want to use a gun or do archery as a back-up. A caltrops temp power can help for ambushes, fleeing targets, or as an 'oh crap there are too many enemies in melee' situations and I don't think it would devalue powersets that already have a caltrops power. There can be a new temp power that uses the reading scroll animation and debuffs a target.

I started with CoV and mainly play there so I've played through most of the redside arcs. I can't say much about blueside. Favorites: Marshal Brass's arcs deal with Cap, the PTS, and Dr. Aeon. I like that failing the last mission in the first arc means the truth leaks out and that puts Arachnos in a bind. For an early villain arc, that can be played as weakening your rival. Bane Spider Ruben being a bureaucrat treating the cult as another job, you taking over said cult, and all this on top of the dialogue choices to play your character in different ways. 5/5 would recommend. Dean MacArthur for all the previously stated reasons. Leonard might not be as fun as a contact but I like that your character is putting a scheme in motion. Playing through Captain Petrovitch's arc dealing with the Scrapyarders makes the group a lot more sympathetic than when I first played through the game. Technician Naylor for the redside dimension hopping, and Psimon for the temporary powers and working with an overly dramatic psychic. Johnny Sonata's arc is one of my favorites. A man signs away his soul for fame and fortune, and then tries to find a loophole is classic. That same man trying to do that in superhero setting somehow clicks for me. Vincent Ross has a great arc. I hope however thought to include other contacts for side objectives got a raise. Vernon von Grun has everything I want. Over the top lab assistant turned mad scientist, weird temporary powers including bees, neat missions. Radio, Slot Machine, and especially Television are great for the weirdness that is left as a mystery. Viridian's arc where you gather the heads of various factions is a nice 'who's who' of the game. One of the COH devs pointed out that there might be more going on. A lot of the arcs in Imperial City are solid. Particularly the Crusader arcs where you are crossing that line between freedom fighter and terrorist and lot of those missions have your contacts as allies. They make a really good 'start of darkness' for anyone going from Resistance to Villain. The Warden and Responsibility Arcs in Neutropolis are nice sendoffs. Least Favorite: Not many for me but Dr. Graves' arcs are bad. The story and dialogue need a serious overhaul. Calvin Scott's arc in Praetoria feels underwhelming to me, like it was meant for an earlier contact.