[Eochai vs Back Alley Brawler]

Could make for an interesting event:  Personal Vendettas and Kill Squads sent after the various Trainers and Task Force Contacts.  To avoid disrupting the players too much, have these attacks be laser-focused on their specific target, unless the players draws a LOT of Aggro with persistent attacks or Taunts.

[About Knockback/Sudden Acceleration]

I think it bears noting in this thread that the current Devs /have/ been working on Vectored Knock code.  That is to say, Knock Powers which allow for directions other than Up, Down, and Back.  I suspect that the vectoring code could also be extended to things like Repel mechanics too, thus gaining a "Pull" mechanic at last.

Much of the feelings expressed on the great Back-vs-Down debate may find themselves severely redirected once that code is working and goes live.

[Multiple Auras]

Really, decoupling Hair from Hats and allowing us to pick both independently would be huge, I think.  Granted, that would require some modelling work to actually remesh the Hats so the built-in hair pieces could be removed.

[Pursuer badge?]

per the Badge Spreadsheet:

 

Category:  Anniversary Badges

Name:  Pursuer / Elusive

How to Earn:  Log in during the month of November (originally 2006)
 

[COMPLETE SET PROLIFERATIONS]

But now that Absorb is a thing, we have our answer to Tanker Regen.  <Picard> Make it so! </Picard>

[Should all ATs and all powersets support all major playstyles: team, solo, pve, pvp, etc?]

And I don't know, but my experience soloing as a Controller tends to be some of the most pleasant.  It's soloing as a Defender where I have trouble.

[I Want to Talk About Buffing Mercs]

Idea came to me minute after I posted:
Common Soldiers could get a Targeting Drone which provides +To-Hit and +Damage to all other Henchmen and the Mastermind (but not Teammates).

 

Thus the player gets a signature Power in "Drone Support" which grants them immense versatility, while still being thematic.  They can choose which of the Henchmen get the Support, and in turn get to decide whether it'll be:  

Mobile +To-Hit and +Damage for just them and the Henchmen.

Mobile +Regen.

Immobile -Defense and -Resistance Debuffs on enemies.

Immobile raw Damage output in Cones.

 

This would also give them a certain "Malta-ness," which I don't think is a bad thing for the Mercenaries Set to have, personally.

[I Want to Talk About Buffing Mercs]

The only thing we need to be mindful of is that we don't step on Thugs' toes.  Once Henchpet customization gets finalized and implemented on Homecoming (... come on Devs, don't let this one pass you by!), then the main differences between Thugs and Mercenaries will be Powers of the Sets and not just the looks.  "Reinforcements" seems too Thugs'ish to me, personally.  I really like the high-tech solutions that are being suggested.  Gun Drone, Force Field Generator, Triage Drone.  

 

Hell!  Maybe that's it!  Replace Serum entirely with a "Drone Support" Power.  Still single-target with a long cooldown, but it gives the selected Henchman a unique Drone to deploy.  

Give the Spec Ops an Acid Mortar.

The Commando gets a Gun Drone.

The Medic either gets Force Field Generator or the newly invented Triage Drone.

and . . . hmm . . . common Soldiers . . . what should they get?  What kind of simple Drone is appropriate for a simple Soldier to deploy?

[New Difficulty Mechanic: Advanced Enemies]

Like a "Super Elite?"

[Influence sinks]

If you add something like this, I don't think it will actually make for much of an Inf sink.  Instead, it will drive a subset of the player community to just farm for the Inf to get the Badges, while those who don't care about the Badges still sit on the thrones of Inf they've already farmed.  The net result will probably be an increase in total Inf floating around after the badge hunters have grown used to farming for more Inf.

 

The only effective and fair way (which I can think of ) to remove a currency like Inf from circulation is with tax brackets.  Based on total Inf earned, rather than current Inf in pocket.  However, with the possibility of free and unlimited accounts on Homecoming, there are too many ways to essentially do tax evasion, and my idea is dead on delivery already.  I would not want to trade away the current account policies in favour of dealing with concerns of inflation.

And really, the only threat which inflation has to long-term problems is with players listing items on the market for obscene prices.  Which can in turn be addressed by implementing upper limits on those prices.  All the excess Inf can go to the places they've always gone since before time immemorial:  Alts, one of City of Heroes' great strengths.  "Twinking" new characters hasn't really been a balance concern in this game since City of Villains was released.

[If you could redesign the inherent powers...]

I like your AoE Finale on Minions idea, Darkir.  That could totally be one of the new Inherents for Corruptors if I ever managed to get my previously-mentioned pipe-dream together.

[Hollow-Pumpkin-e'en!]

Thank you!  I appreciate that.  And, yes; everyone should have the opportunity to carve pumpkins.  It's a privilege, and one I would like to share with as many people as possible.

 

[I Want to Talk About Buffing Mercs]

You know, I may be jinxing it, but . . . it's a rarity to see everyone agreeing with one another in a thread like this, while also sharing and developing one another's good ideas.

 

I like this feeling!

[New Difficulty Mechanic: Advanced Enemies]

The Outcasts and the Trolls are what are keeping the Hellions and Skulls down, respectively.  Who, in turn, are suppressed by the Warriors and the Family each.
There is an unfinished story arc for the Skulls which implies that they're trying to breakfree from their dependence on the Family's trinkle-down economics by dealing up to the Trolls rather than getting the supply handed down to them.  I can only imagine the Family's response when the arc makes it to the level 20 to 30 range.  Additionally, the Hellions getting the "Girlfriends" could imply that they were trying to blaze their own path, independent of the magical trinkets which the Warriors were feeding them, but I'm not aware of any canonical material to infer that from.

[I Want to Talk About Buffing Mercs]

 . . . damn.
I try to pride myself on being able to think outside the box, but it never occurred to me to have a Triage Generator before!  It's perfect!

[If you could redesign the inherent powers...]

Perhaps the only Archetype which is at risk of losing its unique identity would be the Scrapper/Brute.  While Hit Point and Resistance Caps are still different, and Taunt and Challenge are different (which I'd lean in to), they're the only Archetypes which share roughly the same Primary and Secondary.   Every other Archetype is distinct from the others; yes even Defenders and Corruptors.

[New Content Suggestion]

I'd totally put my hard work in!

 . . . just saying.  I'm passionate enough about this game that even with the spectre of unpredictable shut down still looming that I've been prepared to step up to contribute.  The communication barrier is what's blocking me, personally.

And I suspect I am not the only one.

 

But, yeah.  The legal grey area and potential for shut down is probably scaring some folks away.  More than that, though, it seems like the existing Devs on this server are being VERY choosy about who they bring in.

[I Want to Talk About Buffing Mercs]

"Increase the damage on the other soldiers to compensate for the loss of the damage from the grenade."
-What- damage?

Seriously, all that thing is right now is an aggro magnet for the Medic, who ends up getting melted seconds after tossing it if you don't have some means of keeping him alive.  And since the Medic is melted, he's not healing or dealing damage, and the grenade actually translates to a drop in damage over time.

 

But, yeah, I do suppose that Force Field Generator already /is/ Deployable Cover . . . no need for me to reinvent the wheel there.

[If you could redesign the inherent powers...]

It's possible, but it would be a slog to implement, since many Inherents are actually baked in to the individual Powers.  Hence the "decouple" thing I mentioned.  Granted, this would also potentially offer some nice future-proofing for the individual Powers, and they might even be able to be truly shared between Archetypes, rather than each Archetype having an entirely individual version of the Power which needs to be tweaked during balance passes.

[Return of the Son of Jukebox Thread]

Hu Are You?  Hu!  Hu!  Hu!  Hu!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4xZUr0BEfE&t=1m3s

[Hollow-Pumpkin-e'en!]

It's that time of year, and I'm shocked to see no one started a thread like this yet.  WELL!  That can not stand!

 

Here are some from previous Hallowe'en(s).  I'll post this year's tomorrow.

 

[Are Saiyans Brutes?]

Make it a Toggle; the longer it's on, the higher your Damage Buff will be, but you get diminishing returns over time.

[Costume fun with The Midnight Oil - Tuesday October 29th]

Squad Leader Sugar, and Operative Cunajas.

And Commandant Nongratis, of course.  Not that she dropped that particular name amoung such company, though.

[Post your best costume designs here!]

You /punch/ that shipping container, Iron Lion!  Yeah!  Punch it real good!

[Smooth out the early level experience on Kinetics.]

I dunno about you folks, but I play Kinetics for Transfusion and Transference personally.  Sure, I'll take Fulcrum Shift, but if that's all Kinetics had on offer, I'd not give it the time of day.

But seeing as it was my original main's Secondary, I would not be against buffing it a little.  I hardly see it as necessary, though.  Kinetics was always a strong Set, even at lower levels thanks primarily to Transfusion and even before they bug-fixed the positional issues.