Burnt Umber

I'll try to be there with Caelum - Elec./En. Blaster

Whoops, forgot to sign-up. I'll be bringing Saxum- Stone/Fire Tank

With two badgers - one exclusively for Blueside and one exclusively for Redside - this topic feels as if it were made for me. As previously noted above, either Dignified Combatant from Graham Easton's arc or No One Left Behind from Roy Cooling's arc would be great substitutes representing choosing heroics and going above and beyond. Alternatively, War Wall Defender, Do No Harm, or Emancipator are older accomplishment badges that capture the idea of the character engaging in larger-scale heroics. I really appreciate badges that imply a need to change a character's morality to get are being re-evaluated. They are something of an annoyance for me.

It feels appropriate to bring Commenticia - Illusion/FF Controller

I'll try to bring Gelida - Ice/Time Corr.

I'll try to bring my Space-Pirate Vim Vorator. Addendum: I got my wires crossed this morning and forgot, he's a Warshade. Is that okay all the same?

Hey, so it's been a bit of a week for me, so I'm actually going to take a break from theme team today. Hope y'all have fun all the same, and I look forward to all the great costumes/characters after the fact.

Would a Rad./Regen. Sentinel Cyborg work? If so put me down for Baryosythesis, otherwise I'll have to figure something else out.

Hey all, looks like VEAT Shardtober went well. If there's room I can run with Commenticia - Illusion/FF Controller. Otherwise I'd be up for a second run on an alt afterward.

So, a recent conversation I had in game reminded me of this old video essay I saw: https://www.youtube.com/embed/BKP1I7IocYU?si=50h5Xd66rU05Gdyz The most salient points in the video for me here are: Video games like WoW (i.e., CoX) have paratexts* that affect how we the playerbase play the game. Paratexts allow players to share player knowledge, playstyles, and game mechanics/theories. Over time games can be "solved" by the playerbase and those solutions can become standardized and the expected playstyles. Bucking those playstyles, regardless of reason or merit, can isolate for that iconoclast and "rude" to other players. For me, there is certainly a level at which CoX has been "solved" and that knowledge has disseminated within the playerbase, but I don't yet believe that making potentially "bad' choices in CoX is actually ethically bad for other players. This is not to say that players are never refused a spot on a team or league because they are the right archetype or powerset or have made a possibly erroneous power choice. Rather, that power/builds/etc. are not universally exclusionary: a "petless" MM or "pacifist" defender can still can team to do trials or strike/task forces, and they have access to drops the same as everyone else. Further, although there are different things done as speedruns, it is not the standard way of playing, so again those more unorthodox builds are still functional and have access to the same content as most other people. Being optimized is not the standard or expectaion; CoX is for the most part a "casual" MMO. But, I wonder if, as time goes on, the casualness of CoX will give-way and it will become "rude" to be less than optimal at CoX. *As defined in the video, "paratext" is anything that pertains to the game that is not in the game intself. So that would include not only ParagonWiki, Mids, or City of Data, but also Developer or player posts on this board, a video guide on Youtube, or a Discord conversation.

I'll try to be there next week with Baryosynthesis - Rad/Regen. Sent. And, I too will have to take a break from our usual Saturday teams during October.

I'll try to bring Oni - Ninja/Beer Affinity MM. Also, if folks are up for it, can we please do a second run of the same trial? I have a controller that needs the badge but can't quite fit the theme.

I'll try to bring Super-Radiance - Kin./Energy Defender.

I'll try to bring my Ninja/Marine MM next week

I'll try to be there with Marcor - Rad./Bio. Brute