NekoAli

Evil Inc. https://evil-inc.com/ It's still going but it had a bit of a soft reboot and roll back. I don't remember the reasons why they decided to do it and I'm not even sure there was an official announcement. But since then Evil Atom (the guy in green and purple) is gone and the married hero/villain couple who had kids that are part of the main cast (Captain Heroic and Miss Match) are going through a 'we just met and started dating' storyline now.

The big advantage as a movement power is you get Flight and Teleport in a single power. As a minor boost, it doesn't suffer the massive slow immediately after teleporting where you can barely move. You can still fly at normal speed, making it slightly more useful to chain ports. Disadvantage is that you can't slot the Teleport power, only the flight. Also there is no increased speed or range that you get with Afterburner or Long Range Teleport. Meaning if you want it you have to accept that you're only going to go so fast without spending a bunch of extra slots to pick up those powers. Also the rest of the Sorcery pool is a mixed bag. The attack has a long cast time but is probably the best pool attack going, and actually useful on characters that either lack decent attacks like controllers, or characters that lack range. I have not made use of the other powers in the pool yet, but I've heard good things. So in the end, if you don't care about the enhanced movement options later on then it's a solid pick. One that I grab on most of my many Magic origin characters.

As a side note, I love breaking these people's brains by making jokey characters or obvious homage characters who are like legit in-world role play characters that fit better in to the lore than most. My Tyreal homage, Sword of Justice, is a great example of this. >.> I've done the same myself... I've made a SG for myself and anyone else who wishes to join for the Sisters of Battle, of Warhammer 40k fame. Originally it started as playing with the costume editor and realizing I could do an okay replica, and that some power sets fit different squad designs. But I didn't want to just rip out characters from an established setting. Instead I designed the background that the leader trained with the Knives of Artemis but was turned off by their mercenary nature and the questionable means and goals of the Malta Group. So she formed her own group of warrior women to act as heroes rather than mercenaries. And she took inspiration from the table top game she loves. Even if a character is a clear homage that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad RP. Heck comics themselves have a long standing tradition of borrowing from other sources and changing them juuuust enough to not be legally actionable. Or the ever popular 'They came from another dimension where everyone is <insert pop culture trope of the time>'. And that's before even taking into consideration cases like above that people who gained power are deliberately setting out to pay homage to/rip off characters that are fictional in the universe.

This is kind of the background for one of my characters, Angry School Girl. She's just an ordinary girl in Paragon City. She used to live in Galaxy Park but, well.... Her parents living in Paragon and work with heroes so moving isn't an option. But dealing with life in the city, just trying to get school or go out for some pizza is insane. One day she grabbed the gear off a dead Longbow agent and just started fighting back. She's no hero, she's just late for homeroom. If I were stuck on the Isles and desperate to get out/work my way up I'd probably do exactly what we do in game. Get in on this 'Destined Ones' program. Other groups may have power in the Rogue Isles, but Arachnos rules them all. So if you want to succeed, you'd better be in their favor. Depending on the personality of the character they might cut and run as soon as they get to Paragon. Which is the background of another character. She grew up in the Isles, found a book of demon summoning from her time as a Hellion girlfriend. Joined up with Arachnos and when the opportunity presented itself stole a hero ID and fled to Paragon City where she's amazed that it's so clean and not destroyed in many places, and she gets attacked on the streets at least 20% less.

Also for the vigilantes and anti-hero types out there that might have pushed things a little too far and were too zealous in 'arresting' bad guys in Paragon City, winding up spending time in The Zig. When the big break out happened they took the opportunity to pretend to be one of the bad guys and escaped. Now they're free and able, even expected to go after bad guys in the isles. The perfect chance to deal with the problem at the source and maybe protect those in most need of help, instead of those grandstanders in Paragon who want a photo op and a parade when they stop a mugging in a whole city full of heroes.

... since when? Height and Body exclusive to surgeons as far as I can tell and the UI is telling me. The trainers are standard costume change people now. You can alter the looks of your costume and power sets, not gender/body type. You have to got a surgeon to do that.

So are we getting together for more FREEM on the 5th? I just have concern because you know, long weekend. People might be travelling.

Yeah, but the bosses micromanage you, they won’t pay overtime, and your responsible for buying your own red and white costume. Check out the Glassdoor reviews...you don’t want to work for Hero Corp On the other hand, Arachnos isn't any better. And you don't want to ask about their termination policy.

Did that fight last weekend on a team of 8 Beam Rifles. the SG FREEM versions the Shadow Group MEERF. There was much chaotic beaming....

Hehe... Poor Doc Vahz never stood a chance against the face-melting FREEMs. Watching all those disintegrates and beam sweeps going off is great fun. And I shouldn't be falling asleep during the last missions next time around like I was this Friday... -Aurora

Masterminds are great for multilayered puns and references. My first demon summoner has her pets named after the seven deadly sins, representing Lust herself with skimpy outfits and whip attacks. My other demon summoner appears to be an 8 year old girl in doll like clothes. Her pets are Fluffy, Snuggles and Mr Sparkle so far. Similarly my heroic zombie zombie mastermind (not a typo) Mother of Monsters was a Vahzilok experiment. She's pretty insane, but a sweet old lady none the less. She thinks her zombies are her adopted children. Billy, Suzy and Little Timmy so far.

((Well, Duh. Why else would I do it and bring it up here? :) I also really love all the dark power sets... I'm losing track of how many characters have one or more Dark sets now... And yea, blaster looks the way to go, with Soul Mastery later on. I would like to engage in more consistent RP in game.... Or maybe do as you and others have and post stories. But my terminal altitis works against me there...))

*rolls around laughing* Oh... the RP channel crew. I'm inspired though... What archetype and power sets (Dark obviously) allows for the maximum amount of tentacles to be used... I feel a new character coming on. And conveniently we have those buckled gimp suits as costume options. :)

As said, Croatoa is the center for sidhe activity in City of Heroes. And my favorite zone of the game. They are none to pleased with mortals, but they also mostly represent the Unseelie Court. A lot of it is fairly vague so it's extremely ripe with potential for character backgrounds and themes. I've run a number of fey themed characters back on live and some have made it to Homecoming, with others likely to follow when I get around to making them. But then again, most of my characters have magic or tech background, so that's not a surprise.

Just some general ideas here. If you are looking to expand out but still maintain your roots, try something simple like throwing a jacket over your current uniform. The biker jacket makes for good traditional 'street tough' look. The cybertech jackets are sleek and have glow lines in them, which is nice for energy based characters. I'm also fond of the various strapped and buckled leather sets as well for a tougher and less traditionally super look of tights. If you want to head in a tights direction, but not go all the way then maybe just go for a top but with jeans or cargo pants on the bottoms. Another option is to add some tech-looking bits, especially gloves. Story explanation as 'booster tech' that you stole on one of your heists. The key is to make small changes to your existing outfit showing gradual evolution.

Knight-Corporal Aurora Kel-Ang of the Jurian Star Guard is prepared to aid you in defending this Earth from the alien menace.

Maybe it's being on Everlasting, or maybe it's the time I'm playing... Though it's usually mornings and prime time. But I just don't see much of this going on. At most I've seen people posting for requests like asking for a brute or tanker, sometimes controller or DPS to round out a team. But pretty much everyone I've seen looking for groups is happy with another warm body of a level high enough to do the content. I mean my controller was getting in 50+ radio missions in PI in the mid 30s and nobody even cared. The way the game is set up nobody has to care. There's no need to the trinity, there's no need for 'gearing up'. Anybody can play almost any content with any archetype and power set. Some things are easier or harder depending on who you have with you but I've never seen a group outright fail because of the make up. Maybe it's a different kettle doing Incarnate trials... I never did those even on live. I do honestly think people making demand on how characters are built are those who come from other more gear-centered games who just haven't caught on yet. These are the same ones who want to rush through everything because most of those other games are about hitting that level cap and working on end game gearing and progression. Unlike our beloved City of Heroes which is 'You're a super hero (or villain)! Go have fun!'

I mean, I'm just echoing what others have said... But the 'pure support' character in City is not just a healer. In most games the supports are only pure healers playing whack-a-mole with health bars, often to the point that the player base will heavily push back any character who gets labeled support that's not primarily a healer, or possibly a shielder. Though again, in most games a shield is really just extra hit points. City does it quite differently on all aspects. Healing is useful and important, but it's also secondary as a support. Better rather to prevent or mitigate the damage before it happens. Part of that is... well as read. It's better to not take the damage at all. Also because of ability cool downs vs damage taken only healing is not a great option. Someone trying to only heal in a group that has no other defenses is going to lose, period, flat out, no chance. On even levels, without changing the difficulty level there will always be more enemies putting out more damage than can be just healed through. The key then is to block as much damage from happening as possible. And fortunately there are a number of ways to do that. Most characters have ways to self buff their defense to avoid getting hit and resistance to take less damage to various types of attacks. Good support characters can help to buff those numbers so they reach the cap and people take minimal damage, allowing the empaths and other healers to just do clean up duty when the lucky hits go through. That is really the intended purpose of healing in City. The other side is debuffs and control sets. Reducing the enemy's chance to hit, speed of attacks, amount of damage done also helps mitigate and stacks with defensive buffs. Using control powers to slow down, immobilize, sleep, confuse or outright hold enemies also will drastically reduce damage. Unlike a lot of other MMOs, both in the past and especially now control characters are a huge part of group success and always useful. Which is good because solo controllers struggle with taking out enemies since much like defenders their damage output is below par. In the end, pure healing is really secondary tier and if your character focuses on that there are two basic states... The group has sufficient other defenses and you spend most of your time just waiting for someone to take a little damage that you can erase. Or they do not have sufficient defenses and you are frantically spamming all your powers on cool down until your group inevitably wipes. There's no 'good zone' were you get to be the golden god just spreading out healing energy and keeps the group going. That is not saying healing is useless! Even the best defenses and controls means some damage gets through, and you'll need those heals. Especially early game where healing is more valuable because it's harder to soft cap defenses, so people take more damage. In the mid to late game though pure healing really drops off in usefulness. My old Emp/Dark defender go so much more use from her Dark set and the -ToHit it provides. I had originally imagined her as a traditional WoW priest at the start thinking like many that heals were the way to support. It was with that character that I learned all of what I've said above, and how she got to 50 first of my characters relying more on the Dark secondary set. If you want to be a pure support character I recommend Controller. Defenders are support primary/attack secondary. That means the class is designed expected you to fight in between providing support. If your concept does not involve blasting people, you can play that way as a Defender. Just understand you are deliberately limiting yourself by not taking the attacks expected by the archetype. Controllers on the other hand are control primary/support secondary which makes them almost pure support. Controller attacks are far more about debuffing targets than hurting them, while your secondary allows you to buff your team and heal them. Depending on how you want to play there are a lot of control sets that can lock down enemies and allow your team to wipe them up. But you personally won't be defeating enemies and they tend to solo safely, but slowly because of low damage output in most sets.

As far as this goes, yes obviously from time to time. Some were quite easy as they are characters I brought over from live. I knew who they were and I'd already gone through that in the past. Others the naming convention already exists, so again, not difficult to come up with [title][name] or whatever. And in some cases the name comes first. For instance, my Mexican ex-Skull member was pretty obvious la Calavera. I just had to come up the appropriate design and power set which was still easy. My collection of Iron Man like power armored characters has been more of a challenge and they've been through several renaming conventions trying to find a theme I'm happy with.

It is not about arguing the right to exist or play. It's about putting out a signal to like-minded individuals.

They should and I have not seen people having problems with LGBT on any of the servers I have been on. But I am one person and not everywhere. So calling for an unofficial Pride server is less about finding a safe place and more about putting out a call for like minded people to gather, the way we have the RP and PVP servers. It is by no means required, and not all RP, PVP or LGBT people are going to be restricted there. I think about and participate in RP regardless of server, but with Everlasting being dubbed the unofficial RP server I decided to settle there, with the thought that I'll have more chance to commonly be around 'my people' who like to RP in game. The same would be true with an unofficial Pride server. It's not a restriction or a requirement. Just letting people know there will probably be a higher concentration of LGBT people there. As far as why it's important... it's mostly comfort level. I know it's *current year argument* and people shouldn't be afraid. But the fact is, we still are and for good reason. LGBT people, especially those of color, still face a lot of discrimination and hatred. And the last thing we want is to deal with it in our escapist media as well. So for a lot of LGBT that I know including myself who has been open publicly for years are less forthcoming about it when going into a new area with new people until we can feel the room as it were. It's basic survival really. Having a space that specifically says 'Hey.. Here you can be open. No judgement, no hate.' means a lot. Being who I am most of my characters are female and attracted to women to some degree because that's who I am. I don't think I've made an explicitly straight person in the game yet, though a number of them I have not given much thought to their sexuality or history. Not as much as more often played characters, so who knows. But I still hesitate to bring up their sexuality... It feels awkward because of a lifetime of being repressed and fearful. Having a place where I know it's all cool would be a bit of a relief. Which all said I would vote for Everlasting to be the unofficial Pride server, but that's only because most of my characters are settled there. :) Purely selfish on my part for not wanting to spread out too much. I do have people on Torchbearer and have had some on Excelsior though, from when they were the option. So I'm happy with wherever.

Names in super hero comics are known to drift into the silly at times. Look at you, Legion of Super Heroes with Matter Eater Lad and Arm Fall Off Boy. Even a lot of classic villains started off with goofy names and their reputation grew into them I don't think most of Batman's old rogue's gallery had a lot of serious thought put into their names originally. And given the in game lore that there is a supers registry that keeps track of assigned names so nobody duplicates it's been a frequent gag that new heroes go through increasingly absurd versions of their preferred name, each one taken, until they find a variation they can claim. Or just people who wanted absurd hero names like Stoney McStonehands or edgy teens calling themselves xXxShadowKiller420xXx. I mean me, I go for what is best for the character in question. Some are more traditional hero names like Galactrix or Widowbyte. Some are names and possibly appropriate titles like Ashya, or Arbiter Cross. Some were just made to be silly like Cheesy Grits, who gained her powers after being drenched in radioactive grits. In the end you don't know why someone chose the name they did. It could be just whatever randomly came to mind because they wanted to play a power set and had no concern beyond that... pick powers, random costume, silly name and go. Or they might have particular reasons for having a name you might consider silly. As far as your Man in Black style character, why not stick with the naming convention and call them Agent G or something similar.

I wasn't aware there was a Pride channel. Is there a list of created global channels somewhere? It seems like a useful thing to have. I suppose any server could be unofficially announced as something if the relevant community agreed. The idea is to announce it so people gather there.

I think they also post notices on the Discord when the server is about to go down. I've noticed before people will start warning of the maintenance shut down before the system messages begin, and that's what they said why they knew when asked.

Strait Cis allies are welcome as well, generally speaking. Pretty much all my characters would fall under the rainbow umbrella. I imagine if there was interest someone could put an event together... Though honestly, I've never even been to a Pride Parade in real life so I wouldn't know what we could do in game to celebrate... It'd be mostly just people hanging out being queer in an area I suppose... Pride flag costumes?