The Witchfire

Wow, I got quite a conversation started, lol. 🙂 Instead of spamming a bunch of individual replies, let me try to respond to the main points brought up. First, as far as what to do with the returning Statesman; he can do more than stand around. It's up to the devs to find ways to use him, and we can offer constructive ideas there *IF* he were brought back. Regarding changing existing content, there's not much need. All the game's content follows a timeline with characters caught up and in the present when they reach end-game. All MMOs work that way. RPers have learned to work around it also with duplicate missions being said to be something else or OOC. If nothing else, there's Ouroboros for missions. 🙂 Tyrant's redemption... Well, that's another story. *IF* it ever happens (it's been talk for ages now), it presents problems or at least story arcs of it's own... Here's what I mean: I see one of three paths happening with such a redemption arc... First is it's 100% legit and Tyrant becomes as big a boy scout as Captain America or Superman. Where does that leave Praetoria though? It's either sunshine and kittens everywhere (doesn't make for good storytelling after the reformation) OR Tyrant is ousted by one or more of the other Praetors and becomes an exile. MAYBE he could lead the Resistance at that point but after ages of horrors, the people aren't going to be so quick to take him on as a savior. Second, it's all show as Techwright posted above. Tyrant's ego is huge and everything is about him, so the redemption isn't real. All this story path does is further muddy the name of the Statesman character and would probably leave people as annoyed as Tyrant impersonating Statesman in that fighting game. Third might be the best from a pure storytelling perspective; it's sort of real. Cole wants to do better but is struggling against his old urges and tendencies, as well as forces in Praetoria that see his change in persona as a sign of weakness. Heroes are left acting as his conscience, cleaning up his messes and helping him try to guide Praetoria to something better. Eventually he gets there and becomes truly worthy of the mantle though. Any of those options could happen even with the original Statesman returning though; Tyrant just takes a different name for his new heroic persona.

Many thanks to both of you for the replies. 🙂 I did see a modest amount of RP tags over people's heads this morning on Excelsior, but nobody actually seemed to be doing anything beyond content (hey, leveling is important 😄 ). I'll give Everlasting a look next.

THAT is absolutely awesome to hear. 😄 Many thanks for the info, and thanks to the current dev team for what sounds like spectacular improvement of the AT.

I was on a phone last night, so I didn't have the ability (desire) to write a longer reply here BUT... As somebody who just came back to COH after not having played since the original servers closed down.... Raising prices is bad all around. Inflation is just as bad in a game as the real world. Leveling a toon, even more so multiple toons, gets expensive and at lower levels it seems enhancements need upgrading every time you turn around. Absolutely no bug deal if this is your 15th alt and you have 14 level 50s that have been playing for 6 years to bankroll your advancement. Completely different animal when you're new and completely broke. This is half the reason MMO games stop getting new players; newbies can't keep up. Bad for veterans in the long run also. Eventually all but the most hardcore are priced out of the top tier content and an elitist subculture sets in. It's been mentioned in a few posts here (you don't have the right build) and I've left a couple games because it's popped up elsewhere also.

Well, the OP wanted a mixed ranged and melee AT, thats why i was thinking of something along the lines of the Arachnos Soldier AT power set adapted for blasters. They have ranged and melee attacks. They play alot better tha. Champions Online's 'Specialist' AT also. LOL.

Newly returning player, so please humor what will doubtless seem like a silly question to those in the know. Where is the roleplaying? I saw the post about RP and OOC channels at least. Is there an "(un)official" RP server like Virtue once was? I've poked around multiple servers and seen varying levels of mission team activity, but no hints of RP yet.

Humor me here, it's been forever since I played... Back in the old days, all the minions used to start going mindlessly aggressive as a MM leveled up. iIRC, Bots were the worst and would get out of control around level 20, etc... Long diatribe cut short, I just wanted to know if their AI and controls have gotten any better before I make a cbaracter.

Fair enough, but am I that far off in thinking it wouldnt be hard to adapt something along those lines as a blaster power set?

Scarcer and more expensive... Well, that would be a great way to drive off new players; make them unable to acquire or afford anything.

Nobody (except Uncle Ben) ever dies permanently in comics after all. I never liked the way the character was killed off anyway. The actual story wasn't bad, but it felt like it had alot more to do with the conflict between the devs at Paragon, and that a good flagship character was killed off over who occasionally played him in-game. The reaction to the fake Statesman in that fighting game years back shows the fan base was able to separate the character from the dev.

Interesting idea. With my old speedster, I went the 'Reverse Flash' route and had her absorb kinetic energy. As has been pointed out, the powers and origin are less important for RP than just being approachable and likeable as a character. I agree with the don't abuse the fourth wall thing also. Even Deadpool gets obnoxious after a while, lol. Beyond that, do what feels right. Let me briefly tell you what I'm doing with my character Witchfire, who is also a reaiity hopper. She's a Wiccan who comes from our world and got recruited by her goddess to dimension hop and help alternate realities. Paragon will be her second. She's played COH, but that's only given her a basic understanding of the factions & marquee characters; only a bit morr knowledge than the average person on Primal Earth. When asked about "we're all just a story or game", she replies that imagination is a gateway to seeing other worlds and nobody is any less real. 🙂

Seems to me that we MIGHT be overthinking this. Granted I've been away from the game for a long time, but isnt this basically what the Arachnos Wolf Spider's primary set is? Maybe the simple option is to give the blaster an option for a mixed range primary set similar to that. 🙂