Akisan

It randomly adds either a dunce cap or "the cone of shame" to the offender's costume for 1 hour.

Option of? Sure. Only option? No thank you, some of the fun is in finding where stuff is. (I don't have Vidiotmaps installed - I don't like the way they look)

Oddly enough, this kind of thing bugs me. Part of it has always felt like the game is trying to help me be lazy, which isn't helped by some of them being really flimsy excuses, and part of it is that I really like travelling around the city. I guess it's the difference between going to a location to get something done, vs. just hearing "okay, you're now at that location". It does some really not nice things to the immersion for me.

This. So much this. I (thankfully) haven't had this problem on HC, but there were a few instances on Live where I couldn't quit team/block/report fast enough.

So very much have to disagree here. I could see them being the "most balanced" if they had varied resists at all levels (like Arachnos does), but since all 46+ Crey have the same resists (including 50% Lethal), I have to say they're unfairly punishing towards a common damage type. (AFAIK, no other common enemy group has uniform resists that high on all mobs - even Malta varies between "only" 30% and 50% resists, depending on mob). I'd love a balance pass across 46+ Crey, mostly just to spread that 50% resist more evenly with other types (like Cryo tanks having strong Fire/Cold resist, but less Smashing/Lethal). I haven't done much soloing lately (50 mission teams and lowbie duos/trios), but from what I've seen, Council radios still go down pretty quick on a full team. As ever, though - shapeshifting Archons, Paragon Protectors, etc. are much easier to take down with Holds (so they can't activate MoG).

Medicine's a key part of my build, so while I'd love a free buff, it doesn't really need it. There are definitely some annoyances though: They all use tech animations. As a spellcaster, it's rather OOC. Both Aid Other and the Day Job heal can be used to save a teammate in the red... except the Day Job version has a shorter cast time, and isn't interruptible. (The Day Job one has a longer cooldown, and limited charges though...) Those tech animations... The animation on Recuscitate is LONG. And not very visible. I can't even begin to tell you how many people I've had use a wakie while I'm rezzing them. Even if they know I have a rez. Some of them even after I say I'm rezzing them. I'd love a flashier animation for this, so people know I'm trying to rez them, instead of just standing there. Again, those tech animations... And on the not needing a buff side: Injection is pretty underrated, IMO. Yeah, it has a long cast time, but that's almost always better than leaving a teammate CC'd. I've bailed teams out of so many rough spots by simply freeing our control/supports from mezzes. (plus, standing around mezzed is no fun. Getting fellow players back in the game is very worth it). It's also worth mentioning that it clears all CCs - not all Support sets do that. It doesn't last long enough to keep the entire team covered, but then, it isn't Clear Mind. (Oh- and don't forget to use it on teammates that use a wakie! It lets them immediately use Rest, so they're back in the fight that much sooner) As stated above, Aid Other's great for both saving teammates (as long as you don't have aggro), and topping off teammates and mission critical NPCs outside of combat. The rez is a full heal. Nearly all temp rezzes are only half- or quarter- heals, meaning you can rez someone mid-fight without them immediately being taken out again (again, assuming you don't have aggro). Still great out of combat though, to get the team back in shape. Also, not all support sets have a rez. This helps round out a team (dying's annoying, but not nearly as much as the run back from the hospital) Oh - and it's an actual power, so it's not taken from you by challenge/difficulty settings (of course, using it may mean said challenge has already failed, but that's a different story...)

Be all menacing and purple-y? And I'll admit - they don't have quite the same scare as +8s do for a lowbie, but at least the purple name's there. (Part of that lack of thrill could be because of the defence cap. They're a lot scarier on a build that only picks up 20% def. vs. capping out at 45+%)

Aww, and here I was thinking that the monster DE are there to remind fully kitted 50s of the thrill of having a hot door, just in case they've forgotten or somehow never experienced it while levelling (there's one mission door on that island, and it can trigger for tips/radios). I'm all for bumping those DE to 47+. I've always found it odd that enemy levels rise as you travel from the ferry towards Portal Corp... except for DE, which are highest level in the middle of the island. About the area being used for doors for low 40 missions - rookie heroes are trained to avoid purple mobs from the start of their career (I still occasionally get sent to the wrong side of AP, or into the deep purple part of KR, or the depths of the forest maze in Perez). Doing more of the same isn't as much of an issue at 40+, where we have access to much more of our kits (esp. travel powers and/or stealth). It'd be nice of them to remove 40-45 missions from the doors near Portal Corp. if they change the DE, but not strictly necessary. There's also a few empty islands down south by the submarine - prime real estate for a 51+ Carnie encampment, and/or a "secret" 51+ Malta base.

For your strongman - My first thought was Newton's Folly - Making classical physics cry since 2019! Realisticly, though, something like The Ferrofluid Titan? It has that "stage name" feel that a carnival worker might use.

Depends on how long I plan to run around with a character. Generally, I get my first T3 Alpha with Threads, then use any Threads I get for the other incarnate slots. Shards are a really cheap way to get Alphas, especially if you occasionally run the WST. I usually end up experimenting with several (all) T4 Alphas on builds I play enough (since I eventually get enough Shards to make all of them). Really, really lategame, though? I start just collecting all the T4s, then just hoard them in case they eventually continue the Incarnate system. (I'll have to start stockpiling super inspirations though; totally forgot Luna sold those)

What remaining targets? A boss and a handful of severely wounded lieutenants? Even at 20% defence, a lone blaster is generally more than capable of finishing that off. You pretty much named the 4 meaningful ways that they can nerf nukes, and you don't want them. If you want a meaningful penalty in the same vein as your suggestion, (high risk/high reward glass cannon gameplay), that self debuff should also include -def & res, last a significant amount of time (5-10 minutes), and stack.

Very much this - I can see my main (archery/ice/fire Blaster) as a full mission ally (Hero, most Vig, some Rogue) / mid-mission ambush (Villain, most Rogue, some Vig) that is randomly (and rarely) encountered in tip missions (EB rank, basically Silent Blade's heroic rival). For bonus fun, leave her rezzes alone - I can't think of any allied NPCs that rez themselves or players, and the enemy version of her could be made extra annoying/terrifying by not leaving after defeat, so you'd encounter her every few minutes as Rise of the Phoenix recharges. (And yes, the multi-rezzing version would stalk and re-ambush after rezzing. She's very persistant, and while she'll graciously accept a few defeats/setbacks, don't expect her to stay down.) I could also see her hunting in PI, DA, the Shard or Croatoa, depending on the day. Maybe approachable/hireable, so she'd show up in your next mission? (Edit: Just don't hire her for a Villain mission - she's not above repaying betrayal)

But... isn't the heart/mind of those golems just a carefully carved wafer of rock that's been carefully inlaid with copper and gold to channel energy in specific ways? Just because *we* understand the tech involved, doesn't mean our characters do (it's generally implied they do, but could be fun to RP otherwise). On the flip side - Thaumaturgy's a respectable branch of science on some worlds, because to them magic is a science, with easily proven and duplicated results. Who's to say any given dimension-hopping mage character isn't a highly respected scientist/inventor on their home world?

Nah, that'd be too generic, especially after Arsenal proliferation. I want a very, very sarcasticly named "Magic" set that uses tech/science animations, preferably with recommended chat macros for when my character uses "spells" and "magical devices" they clearly don't understand. "Halt, evildoer, or I'll smite you with my lightning wand!" (taser) "Begone! The power of 'Science' compels thee!" (Energy Torrent/ kinetic thrust) In all seriousness though, pretty much every powerset in the game can be RP'd as Magic... or any other Origin. Adding extra animation stuff to force one origin or another really takes away player agency, so please no. (Kinda why our costumes have zero effect on our combat abilities/effectiveness. Though, no complaints if said animations are added as alternate, optional flourishes, and not the default power animations.) And the Origin pools are kinda an exception here - they're more of a case of any origin of character rounding out their abilities with specialized training / gear (Like a Natural martial artist learning their way around a few devices on a utility belt, or a Mutant shapeshifter picking up a few spells).

You mean... Trick Arrow Defenders could finally fill the role of "Healer" that PUGs have demanded of them since live? Or should I instead be slotting that on my Blaster, so my team can wonder why the AV is taking so long to bring down? E.IOs would be fun; I'm a fan of having access to a more diverse kit instead of hyperfocusing within my role.

I mean, if you like the smells of coffee and toner, alongside the intermittent hum of the printer/copier just in the hall there... I'd say the best spot is one of several pools you can find in the blue caves that you can find all over town - especially the large, shallow pools that are somehow still as glass, and give the cave that cool, watery smell. They're hard to beat for meditation spots, though I only wish that being underground like that didn't unsettle me quite so much. Above ground though, there's a few interconnected stone pools in the NW corner of Talos, in that park area. Wonderful place for a day hike, assuming you can stay away from the DE that also frequent the area. (Leave your food/snacks back in your car, though. Seriously, they're like bears with food radar, and they're shameless about people food, and will come running if you so much as look like you have food.)

We haven't even talked about evening out the massive difference in effective damage reduction between oranges & purples... but since this could lead to the evil known as "Power Creep": I'd be ok with crippling Lucks to bring them down to match oranges' effective damage reduction (making purples worth 5%/7.5%/10% defence, about a third of their current values), if orange inspirations get this change. We'd probably be better off finding a happy medium between those values and existing values, but currently? Orange inspirations are so much weaker than their counterparts that it's almost funny, in one of those twisted "it's so bad it's good" moments. There's a reason many players consider them trash. (And again, a big reason I agree with this suggestion is because it would allow for the symmetry of resisting a debuff by 10% instead of simply avoiding the debuff 10% of the time, as purples currently do.)

I saw that and I immediately thought of them rolling around wrestling like a pair of puppies, so thank you for the awesomely adorable mental image!

Yes please. Oranges are badly underpowered vs. their purple counterparts, and resisting debuffs is a nice, thematic way to help equalize that (since purples help you simply avoid the debuff instead). Honestly I wouldn't complain if oranges helped resist all debuffs, and other inspirations helped resist their specific, themed debuffs. For example, oranges and blues resist endurance & recovery drain effects, though blues resist those debuffs more (since blues would only help with those 2 debuffs, instead of several)

Love the idea here, that a veteran character would start to accumulate a kind of "odd job" kit that they use to round out their powers. Instead of selecting from the pools though, perhaps have it grant one, two, and finally three permanent Day Job powers? These may or may not be improved slightly (like the Veteran Rez restores 1/3 HP instead of the normal Day Job's 1/4), to signifiy practice using said kit.

Please tell me you hit Dr. Aeon with that one on a MLTF. He'd get so mad at you, and probably start incoherently sputtering.

Way, way, back, before I knew about keybindings, before I knew about ED, before ED was a thing, I had an Invul/Mace Tank. I didn't know Teleport could be used while rooted (I'm not even sure I knew TP was a thing, at the time), and didn't like the idea of having to constantly toggle my mez resist on and off all the time... so I skipped Unyielding. Which naturally led to me being Held all the time... so I 6-slotted all my passive defences (including Health). Not all bad - I couldn't die, so I did end up in a great damsel in distress moment where a team of 8 of us got swarmed by several spawns' worth of purple Tsoo. The 7 of them bailed/hosped (I couldn't, because held), regrouped, and came back in after a few minutes... to discover that I was still held, as a roomful of +4 Tsoo couldn't overcome my regen. Yeah, miss my Empath too. Bit off topic, but probably the most fun I ever had with her was running an ITF with 7 scrappers (varying levels), before Incarnates. You know it's been a rough haul when you get to Rommie & the scrappers had to decide which one was sacrificial bait, because we weren't likely to beat him without abusing Vengeance. On second thought, it'd probably be the team I got the best ever complement from: I got honestly complemented on my skill as an Empath, and noted for how large of a difference I was making, after we TPK'd. TBF, that team was crazy, and we were regularly (and intentionally) taking on double & triple spawns of +4s while in the high 30s. *sigh* Feeling all nostalgic now. May have to see if I can find a group that'll run SOs to 50 with me.

I'd nominate The Envoy of Shadows (ouro, 35ish?). Lots of CoT, and an AV Fire/Dark Behemoth at the end. Or, if you've already run that (or want a challenge), you don't have to be 50 to host the MLTF.

Nah, could be a sign of resistance to alt-itis. I've still only the one 50 - with nearly 5000 hours on her. (Alts don't really hold my interest much, for some reason. I'll swap if the team needs something else, but that's rare these days.)

A more visible animation for Resuscitation would be nice too - I can't even tell you how often I've been rezzing someone, only to have someone else also start casting a rez because they thought I was just standing there. (And yes, very long overdue!)