InvaderStych

All hail Clair Uty!!! May the light of her eternal flame bless us all!

Speaking as one of those people that selects a concept, chooses AT and powers accordingly, then applies min/max techniques within those choices to see how far something can be pushed I can firmly say that the ND implementation does not appeal to me at all. Ability to mix/match primary and secondary, perhaps, but selecting multiples of the same power, auto-granting all inherents/travel powers, using the highest base modifiers for each category? No thanks. Finding ways to min/max within a set of limitations is the interesting part - free reign with no restrictions is boring, imo. Maybe that's just me, but the build paradigm and the costume creator are what draw me to this game. The actual act of combat with static targets driven by rudimentary AI in a system where hits are determined by math instead of aim isn't all that interesting to me - which is why this is the only MMO I've actually enjoyed - the dressing around the gameplay appeals to me. Now, if the implementation were something like ... ... Choose 1 AT inherent. ... Choose any primary from any AT ... Choose any secondary from any AT ... Deny access to ATO sets as there is no applicable AT ... Choose 1 base modifier from existing ATs ... ie, blaster mods for all thing, or defender mods for all things, but not a mix of mods for range, melee, buff/debuff, etc. ... Same rules for Pool choices and slotting ... Choose any "Epic" from any AT ... that might be interesting. Point is that the constraints are what make building interesting, speaking only for myself here.

Yup. Singular Genius.

Forgot about that one. I should probably give it a watch.

I'd even go for a solid re-work of Genesis Climber Mospeada as its own series. Could certainly work. While possibly considered "problematic" by some of the more persnickity folks out there, if we are talking about re-booting old OVAs, then let us add Bubblegum Crisis and Dominion to the list, plzkthx.

Appears to have kept the spirit of the N series, and Vincent is always flawless as Fisk. Will watch. Yes. He was very much the "Speak Softly and Carry A Big Stick" type, and it worked well. There were other flaws in the N run of DD and other "Defenders" series, but Cox's performance wasn't one of them. Plenty of moments showing his sense of humor in that series - "Two of the best damn avocados ..." - and in his cameos elsewhere - "I'm a very good lawyer" (whichever Spiderman that was - the most recent one). (Apologies for all the abbreviations, broke my right clavicle yesterday on the mountain bike, so I've got one functional arm atm) Echo and, to a lesser degree, some parts of Hawkeye demonstrated that they're not afraid of getting graphic with the fight choreo. If this trailer is relatively honest it looks like they might be bold enough to keep the proper tone for Kingpin's menace.

Oh, FFS. I knew it had to be something tremendously simple that I was missing. 🤣 Thanks @Captain Fabulous

Pardon my cluelessness, but where in the CoD page does it indicate that something is AutoHit? I see the accuracy entry (1.0 for this power) but my understanding is that's akin to the accuracy rating we see in PC powers. I am sure there is something on the page that I am missing. As an aside, set the drop-down to "Boss-Grunt" to see the numerical damage on the power. Or uncheck the box to the far left for "Allow any class" and it will auto-populate the drop-down. Frazzle gets nasty when the PowerCell value stacks up. Also has a -Def component, as I am fairly sure several other Awakened attacks do. Chances are you already know this, but for folks following the thread it might be helpful. IIRC the 3 spawns of Awakened in that mission get progressively nastier, with the last one being pretty heavy on the Boss count.

Remember when I used to reply to D's threads with helpful, on-topic answers? That old guy with the farm that makes cookies remembers.

Tankers have double the base Threat value of Stalkers. Taunt or "Punch-voke" from a Tank will pretty much always pull them away from your Stalker. https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Threat I forget what the mechanic for a mob deciding to Flee is officially called, but that also kicks in when they take a ton of damage in a short window. It is supposed to make them retreat from melee and stop to attack from range, but sometimes it goes wonky and they just run across the map without returning to combat until some timer based on lunar phases and geological formations expires.

Random, but I don't think I've dropped this here yet ...

Just started this recently. Good stuff. Highly recommend.

Apparently this ... https://trekmovie.com/2024/07/17/star-trek-origin-movie-tidbit-reportedly-set-mostly-on-earth/ As to Strange New Worlds, give it a go. Except the stupid "Everyone Is Singing Because of [Reasons]" episode. Okay, maybe my natural inclination against musicals is talking there, but it was pretty weak as ST:SNW episodes go. There are some things about it that I could do without, but Anson Mount's Pike makes up for them for the most part. At the very least they should have done it as more of a spy-thriller than a vehicle for action set pieces. Yeoh is great in that character, could have done anything around it, didn't need to be Section 31. I figure I'll watch it and pretend it has no connection to anything at all. Besides ...

Full Episode list ... Thoughts so far ...

Why is that giving me Tintin with the Dragon Tattoo vibes? Yes, I know, completely different countries there, but still ... Re: Popeye Trailer ... Too easy. So Many Other Options ... NCIS: Sweethaven Village ... Ok, maybe just that one before I've had more coffee ... ... for now all I've got is ... Something, Something, Tom Clancy Novel, Popeye, Something ...

Happy Winter Holiday Extravaganza Season, fellow nerds ...

Indeed. As far as I am concerned, Fitz was AoS's true protagonist. His story is far more compelling than any of the other characters. It was surprisingly difficult to find a good image of Hydra Fitz.

Right Idea, Wrong Image.

This: Advantages: -- It is best done solo, ergo you can take all the time you like, at any pace you prefer, and stop/return as your schedule permits. -- You have to turn off XP several times during the course of a run, thus the opposite of leveling. -- Gets deeper into mission text and exploring around than rushing through them does. -- Praetoria is cool. Bonus points for getting the exploration badges and doing the zone events. -- Can be done more than once depending on where you start (Loyalist/Resistance start points). -- If you twink the character and buy yourself a Team Transporter you get the White/Gold skinned one. Praetorian starts should get to keep this, imo, but that's another thread ... Warnings: -- Read through the thread carefully, some folks have run into issues either out-leveling a contact or in some cases killing them before doing their missions. My run was snag-free, but there are some traps. -- Always do the tutorial in order to get the "double-agent" options within the whole "side-switching" framework. -- It helps to keep notes handy on when to stop XP, which choices to make when, etc.

Heh. Pardon my latching on to "Industry Story Time," but I, too, should confess one of my own Crimes Against The Gods of Celluloid. I worked several times for a ... let's call him a Financially Successful Director That No One Has Ever Heard Of who made quite a lucrative living off the recesses of first the Direct To Video and Movie of the Week markets, and these days Definitely Straight To Streaming. The stuff I worked on with him were thoroughly terrible Straight To A Cable Channel movies using a 25 year old script bought on the cheap as the core and recycled multiple times by tweaking a detail here and there. You'd (well, probably not you as you're in the know, but the general audience would) be surprised how cheaply these things could be made. Crew of less than a dozen people, lighting kit that fits in a hatchback, shot on things like a Sony EX-1, in a house legendary for its use in the world of p*rn (I worked on several of these, all of them used the same house as the primary location), with the occasional "don't I recognize them from somewhere?" actor well past their heyday in one or more supporting roles. His other "bread & butter" work is/was "college thriller" movies usually featuring a half-dozen shirtless hunks and one femme protagonist under one pseudonym, and kid's movies about things like talking cats under a different pseudonym. The bulk of the industry has been focused on churning out cheaply made nonsense for a very long time. The stuff we see marketed barely approaches scratching the surface. 🤣 Hilarious guy to work with though. Something about crewing for a piece that no one is taking seriously is a lot more enjoyable than say working for a 1st time director who is convinced their very existence is riding on the success of their masterpiece. Low stakes, low stress. I mean, I worked on some mediocre films that the producers were taking quite seriously, but the crew ... we always knew what was up. 😉 I thought about telling this story in my post in the other thread about financial success not being a good metric by which to measure a film's artistic merit. This guy basically printed money for his distributors. Not because he was churning out great movies, but because he found a couple niche markets with an audience and got them done so cheaply that ROI was a forgone conclusion.

Oh, right. Mordo. He plays some military dude in the 3rd Venom movie. Haven't seen it yet though. Eventually. Can be seen in the trailers. Great actor at any rate. He's in my favorite David Mamet film, Redbelt. Highly recommend to anyone who's not seen it.

You're not entirely wrong there. I'm in agreement with @Without_Pause with regards to some of the stuff they did with the various series. They worked as series in ways that would not have worked as movies. Imagine trying to drag out the Agatha story across more than one movie, or compress it into a single movie. Neither approach would have worked from a story-telling perspective, and the former would have been a budgetary disaster. The problem is that the financial success of the franchise leading up to Endgame has blinded them to the reality that it simply isn't a repeatable formula. They would see more success focusing on smaller stories set in the world they've created than they will ever see trying to repeat the blockbuster success by invoking a "multi-verse," recycling characters, or re-casting so-called "stars." And let's be honest here. F4 is, imo, a meme. The best version of "Reed Richards" is found in The Venture Brothers. Nothing they do with it will crack the interest of the general audience. Dr. Doom without the Victor Von is a waste of a good baddie, and X-Men is better served in a serial format than in big budget films. The dynamics of serial story-telling coupled with the budgetary realities of releasing on streaming vs. trying for a big blockbuster theatrical success is a much better choice all around. I've been saying all along that trying to repeat what was accomplished with the run up to Endgame is doomed to failure for a variety of reasons, up to and including audience expectations. The general reception of these re-casting announcements simply reinforces that theory. The good news is that as this progresses we might actually start seeing a resurgence of moderate budget movies again. What we used to call the "20 million dollar" film 25 years ago. No idea what that is adjusted for inflation. It was the loss of this level of film-making that led to a number of "big movie stars" making the switch to TV in the first place as it no longer signaled the death of a career but was simply a choice to follow to where the stories were being told.

Watched the first two mostly because Tom Hardy can be entertaining. They're both pretty much Paint By The Numbers movies. Nothing special, but not terrible either. Will eventually get around to watching the third via whatever streaming venue it lands upon. This time though more for Chiwetel Ejiofor than any other reason. I expect more Paint By Numbers with a couple of Entertaining Actors as a bonus.

War Mace/Energy Aura ... the combo so strong (and pretty) it spawned its own badge.

Video version, even though this should clearly qualify under Images You Can Hear in standard meme format.