Techwright

I'd not heard of it until now, but a quick googling revealed that @Hyperstrike has a video from around the 2012 shutdown showing the pathing.

Hmm, there's the concept that's used in some of the instanced missions of The Old Republic, which is, depending on your archetype, there's certain shortcuts and beneficial effects that can happen in the instance that only one of your archetype can do. So, here, in theory, add content where mission/task force functions alter how the scenario plays out. Example: your team reaches a level where a large fire started by Hellions blocks your path. To your right is a stairway but the Hellions have placed a magical ward on, blocking entrance in hopes of forcing you through the flames. To your left is a custodian's closet that they didn't put a ward on. Do you: A. Brave the fire and take notable damage B. Have a magic origin teammate attack the ward on the stairway door (melee or range strikes) shattering it and allowing you a means of circumventing the fire. C. Have a science origin teammate McGuyver the chemicals in the custodian's closet to create a primitive fire-snuffing foam to create a passage through the fire. These kind of adventures would offer several points of decision making encompassing all 5 origins. This would mean you'd not have any power creep, nor the potential of one origin outperforming another. You wouldn't even have to form a team with all 5 origins. You could always muscle through either taking extended damage, or possibly having a longer path, etc. And you might have multiple origin options at each challenge point. Hey, you might even have two origins working the same problem: how does that flame-retardant foam get delivered to target? The tech origin jury-rigs an extinguisher.

Meme time

Interesting. And this is from text, you say?

Okay, really rough, off-the-cuff thinking here, but what if we gain 1 origin effect to be applied to any 1 power either every 10 levels for the first 50 levels (so 5 total), or per Terra Volta respec mission unlock (so 3 total)? Call it the "8th slot" (You'll see why in a moment). Anything in the 8th slot is slight in power, but increases every time another origin effect unlocks. So at level 10, I may only have a 0.5% damage or chance, but at 20 it will increase to 1.0% as will the new unlock, at 30 it will be 1.5% and so on. 1. Mutation Origin: "Randomization" - Each 8th slot origin effect enhancement is a slight effect of a random beneficial mutation not necessarily related to anything within the power. So, for example I might be an energy blaster and receive a random 0,5% dark damage ability to put in the 8th slot of my choice, or if put in a defensive ability, it might create a 0.5% chance to create a feedback stun to any enemy that hits you. 2. Magic: "Spell Binding" - slight proc can trigger any one of the active slots on a power (the proc might actually be slightly higher in value since it isn't constant like other origins) 3. Natural: "Discipline" - slight increase specific to one or two slots in a power suggesting the idea that a natural character focuses on honing a skill, like accuracy or endurance. 4. Science: "Discovery" : slight usage of an enhancement not current slotted but potentially usable for a power. If power has one or two enhancement possibilities (say a defense power) then a slight boost to that enhancement. 5. Technology: "Invent": unlocks a seventh slot, but it only gives a slight amount to whatever enhancement you slot there. As I said, this is a quick thought without deep considerations to the pros and cons. It's brainstorming. If it's liked, I'm sure others will sand the rough spots and improve upon it.

One comment in orange.

Yes! Thank you for pointing out that pair of big plot holes. I would add...

I welcome your other perspective, as it has not been my own experience. Most companies I've worked for tend to hold onto legacy software as long as possible. We're grappling with some issues at my new company right now because they've been retaining software that refused to upgrade and remains tied exclusively to Internet Explorer, while a database program we're trying to force out dates to pre-2008, as near as I can tell. That's not to say everything is archaic at these companies, but when graphics or added processing power are truly needed it is almost always the engineering department or marketing department that are asking for the power computers. Some executive ask because they want the shiny, the perceived prestige. That or they think it makes their video golf game better. I only wish I were making any of that up. 🙄

Generally, I prefer teams of 4 and up. I used to duo and even trio a lot back on the original game, but that was with friends in my small supergroup. I've found pugging with less than 4 to be an awkward experience. If we can't get 4, I'd likely bow out and just run solo. This thread did remind me though, of my earliest days in the game when I was so green about MMOs I didn't even understand the gaming concept of an exploit. I stumbled across one, I don't recall how, where you could overload an instance supposedly maxed at 8 with 7 extra players. I used it to run a 15-man Atta mission. I guess the game scaled to all 15, so we had wall-to-wall trolls and it was glorious! Then I found out what a game exploit was and how you were supposed to handle it, and I was greatly embarrassed. (It still was one of the most interesting things I ever did in the original game.) I'd love to do that again, but legitimately with a new design for larger teams.

LOL, Since you asked nicely, sure. Actually I'm not sure who invented it. We're not Jewish, so it wasn't us. It came to our family around 50 years ago via an aunt, though Mom made it her own, and there are many in my town who refer to it as hers. It's won several club and church bake-offs over the years. My siblings and I still make it on occasion, though we're a bit more health conscious these days. This version uses a store-bought mix in it. Mom used to make it from scratch back in the 70s. I don't know where that recipe is though. I tend to make extra of the cinnamon mix to be certain that I have enough, especially when covering the floor of the tube cake pan. I like it warm with a high-quality vanilla bean ice cream Jewish Coffee Cake 1 yellow cake mix withOUT pudding in mix (Duncan Hines is best) 1 large instant vanilla pudding mix 1 cup water 4 eggs 1/2 cup cooking oil 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring 1 teaspoon butter flavoring Mix the above 7 ingredients together with an electric mixer for approximately 10 minutes on medium speed. ¾ cup white sugar 2 tablespoons cinnamon 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans) Mix the above three ingredients together in a small bowl. Grease—but do not flour—a one piece tube cake pan (May use Pam spray.) Sprinkle ¼ of the cinnamon mixture into the cake pan. Then pour 1/3 of the cake batter into the pan. Sprinkle another layer of cinnamon mixture on top of that. Then another layer of cake batter. Rotate like this until there are three layers of cake batter and FOUR layers of cinnamon mixture. Use a table knife and being careful NOT to touch sides or bottom of the pan, draw a daisy straight down through all layers, creating swirl effect. Bake at 325 degrees for 65-75 minutes. Cool COMPLETELY before turning out of pan.

I'm quite content with hover/fly and super jump (the new version with the stomp). I have a single character with superspeed w/teleport, and I've often considered respec'ing him out of that. Too many canyon-like spots to get stuck in, too many tight caves to do a vertical faceplant. What might get me to like superspeed simply cannot be done in the game, which is make the vertical surfaces static-y allowing the speedster to run up walls. That negates the canyon issue, though not necessarily the faceplant issue in tight caves. I get a headache working teleport, which is sad because Nightcrawler is my favorite X-man. I still say we should have had anti-grav grappling hooks. We could "websling" anywhere then.

I was thinking initially of the idea of player choice settings: pushing the envelope of what can be done visually, but also leaving a toggle so that those with lesser systems can still enjoy the game in the "old style". However, since this is just a discussion exercise, I threw in the bit about all things being equal. While I agree, remember this is just a discussion exercise. I'm not saying "want it NOW!" I'm asking for viewpoints of how players would like it to go, if the potential existed for the most remarkable graphics without handicapping player's experience in any way.

Their INF is as good as any other tourist's.

Just chatter here, no need for devs to panic or moderators to consider this a suggestion. Assuming you could rub a lamp and wish for improvements, and the first wish was that everyone have the very best bleeding edge computers, video cards, network connections, etc. to run the very best games out there: How far would you wish the graphics in this game to advance? Would you keep it with the current look but advance it with sharper resolution, more street-level details, etc.? Would you take it as far as the very best equipment would allow and attempt something nearly photorealistic? Would you come up with something else? Why the question? I was watching a recently released YouTube video over breakfast this morning, one that was noting that the graphics of Star Wars Battlefront (2015) were ahead of their time. It got me wondering if I'd really want to take the look of this game to that level, or more, if a miracle opportunity presented itself. I still don't know. I must admit, watching the sequences in the Endor forest, I did think it would be fascinating to see the Eden zone rendered to that detail, complete with insects and hummingbirds, and potentially really nightmarish razorvines and eminators. But I also like the fact that the current graphics are somewhat comic bookish, and might prefer an improvement that leaves that element in place. Where does it fall for you if limitations were set at the bleeding edge of known technology?

Curiously, the current batch of geeks and nerds I work with are forever talking about games, including some older MMOs like WoW, but when I bring up CoH, they're a bunch of snobs. I know one of them still holds a grudge based on how a previous company holding CoH treated him. As to family, I'm the only geek. The rest are action-oriented (My brother and sis-in-law are Iron Man triathletes and my nephew-in-law does competition fishing for examples) and don't really "get" me or my game and tech interests. They do like me a lot though, when their computers break. 😄

"Grassroots" eh? It's old school, but it worked quite well before, to the point of being iconic in the eastern states:

I'd actually be accepting of new characters with new stories, so long as it felt like Star Wars and not some fan's pipe dream of inserting his own disconnected characters and ideas into the canon universe. I fear dragging up the Skywalker/Palpatine storyline will have it grow quite stale, and indeed has grown stale by the time of the Sequel Trilogy, though I admit the new appearances of Luke have been fresh. It's the same problem in Star Trek: here you have a vast galaxy, but somehow your key stories all revolve around Spock and his family. Moving back to your comment, it's the few or no reference points that's the puzzle. Rogue One was an entirely new batch of characters core to the story, with the possible exception of Grand Moff Tarkin. But it did have a lot of reference points including well-known characters in short roles: Mon Mothma, Bael Organa, Leia, Saw Guererra, and of course Vader. It also had reference points: Red 5, the Ghost, , Yavin, the whole Deathstar plans thing, etc. I'm one who really liked Rogue One. The Mandalorian, likewise, began with few reference points and shot through the roof on popularity, though some very powerful ones have since been made. It would really have to be the few reference points, rather than none, because you're working with an extensive universe. It would be hard to move around without seeing a Twilek or Ugnaut, or a droid. I suppose he could set it in the Unknown Regions, where far less familiar details will be seen, and where entirely different technologies and peoples exist. The problem there is that you risk people feeling it is disassociated with Star Wars. You saw how people struggled to accept the "Mod Squad" of Book of Boba Fett because they were so different than all seen before in the SW universe. That said, I think the time is ripe to finally do the history of Star Wars before Palpatine. The Old Republic, the first Jedii and Grey Jedi eras come to mind. A dark side movie or miniseries with a canon take on the Darth Bane story might be interesting, though casual fans would need to be cautioned ahead of time that it would be much, much darker than anything brought to screen so far. Can any SW show entirely separate itself from light sabers of any color, and still succeed? Well, that may be the real question.

Orange text in the hidden comments:

What I want What I can afford

Really useful info, thank you both! I'm sure I clicked on Luna somewhere in the past, and then promptly forgot about her. Looking it over now, I guess I saw that purchase requires Incarnate Threads, and since I was working on leveling up my Incarnate abilities, I found it a waste at the time to use the threads on something disposable. Just a guess, though. I've never worked with super packs, so that also would have been "out of sight/out of mind". Guess I should look into both of those. I realize now I never saw the team and dual unlocks on P2W vendor, as they're at the bottom of the list. As I never disabled anything, glancing at the top of the enabled list made me think it only listed the standard stuff that I already had enabled. Pets count...do Illusion decoys and temporary pets like Dark Servant or Phantom Army affect the count, or are these just treated as extensions of the main character?

1. What is/are the source(s) for rarer inspirations? Ultimate, Team, Dual, Team Dual, I've looked in the wiki (which details a lot, but not their origin nor range) and did key word searches in the forums, but though I've seen some of them mentioned, I've not seen their origins named. Currently, I only know of them via the auction houses and the wiki. 2. Regarding the team ones: Is it an AoE ability with a certain range or is it based on the roster so that all on the team benefit regardless of where they are on the map? (I'm assuming the map is a limitation, and that someone away from it won't benefit) Also, does a team or team dual cover league members as well? (Which would be useful right before the bomb stage of the Mothership Raids) 3. Lastly, those who use them, how beneficial do you find them to be? Is there a worthwhile tradeoff for the cost that they sell in the auction house?

Townsends can help:

I'm not sure if it's THE worst, but ranking high on my list is the causing of master badges to fail for the entire league because one consistently (and probably willfully) does their own thing, ignoring the "Master of..." Incarnate trials leader's repeated directions.

...is a hero character I've had since my start in Homecoming. A radiation blast/empathy corruptor for whom I've never found a satisfactory costumed look, though I've worked long hours on it. I was originally going for something hooded and winged, vaguely a cross between monk and angel. I finally decided to scuttle much of that, as the costume creator, for all its glory, lacked what I felt I needed. The one thing I could not jettison was the biography concept: that he's a tortured hero, doing what he must, but grieving a lot of the results. As a radiation user, he wields both the power to heal and the power to sicken and destroy. People call him a "saint" for rescuing them. He cannot fully accept that due to the deaths he's caused, villains though they be. Thus the name he settled upon: a lesser saint. So I needed to play visually with dark armor to reflect his dark pain contrasted with the light of his radiation power, partially obscuring his dark visage, which is how he sees himself: a dark soul obscured by the light every good person perceives. I'm still not completely satisfied, but I find the current look more interesting than those previous. Aura & sans-aura: ad07298f6db7ebe40e8aa1717288b9cf.mp4