Techwright

Which takes us back to the military angle of things. I'm a civilian, and while I've had a lot of military friends, I don't necessarily know how long they can be away and unable to access a game. Those that are military: are there assignments that would take officers or enlisted away from a game for more than 2 years at a time, and if so, how long? My question is part of the reason I mentioned a soft start, targeting the first 20 ranks (maybe 25) as perhaps a better way to begin. With announcements foreshadowing higher rank purges in the future.

It's not deleting in function, no, but a lot of folks create the whole mythos of the character around the name. Removing the name in such a case is akin to gutting the character. Remember, the game was designed to work with role playing. "Batman" forges a full mythos. Having to rename him "Batmanuel" significantly changes him (and probably not for the better).

I don't even know if one would have to go all the way to level 49 in a potential name purge. A lot of people experiment a build and quit a character before level 20, which is a heap of a lot easier to reach than in early OG days. The dev team could probably free a lot of names just by targeting 2 years absent, level 20 or under. That way, if someone did have leaver's remorse and returned, their hard-earned 49's loss wouldn't be an immediate breaking point for them. Start there and with an announcement that in 6 months it will be 2 years or more and level 30 or under, working up to the level 49. That way no one can complain reasonably that they lacked notice and that they're hard earned character didn't have a fair chance.

@Glacier Peak, I'd be on board with that! 😁

Got an answer for that...

xXxclownyxXx was taken then? Hate it when that happens.

Shakespeare in the Park, eh? "The name that men choose lives after them; The good name is oft interred with their bones." "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your unused names." "Frailty, thy name is up for grabs."

It may be possible, but you know how these things are. You'd first need approvals signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters. Then there would need to be some advanced public notification first, say a 50 year posting at the planning office on Alpha Centauri. If they've not checked the postings by then, it's their own fault. Honestly though, I feel your pain. I've lost a great deal of time trying seemingly every permutation of a desired name, only to see the red X repeatedly. I realize folks have a lot of alts, but I have to believe we don't have a population high enough to equal the number of rejections I'm seeing. It's like speculative website squatters have been name hording.

For my latest character, I wanted to attempt a minimalistic look with a strong contrast, in this case white against black / light against dark. Dr. Nightlight is the result, an energy/energy sentinel. I've set his powers all to nearly pure white (I found the palest gold as a secondary color gave a richer light feeling). He's good in lower lighting, but he really shines (pun intended) in those dark Arachnos base missions. I'm really hoping to see him in Praetorian underground missions in the near future.

Well, even if the skiff and board were flight-and-fight, they're not upgrade-able in speed. So you're stuck with basic speed. The same holds true for rocket packs. I do wish P2W had a temporary flight speed upgrade for purchase that could be applied to any standard flight pack .

Void Skiff and Rocket Board: what was the thinking behind their design that refused to allow fighting from them? Perhaps I'm oversimplifying it, but wouldn't it essentially be like fighting with a temporary rocket pack attached?

What data do you seek to preserve? Just the costume and colors, or something more? If its just the costume, and I know its a bit time consuming, why not write down each setting and related colors? Or for a faster way, take a screen shot at each setting with the colors and file all screenshots into a folder named for the character. It's not ideal and its cumbersome, I realize, but it would preserve your costume settings, while at the same time avoiding a loss of data should another version of COH not have certain costume elements.

Sure she is...just like Dr. Stephen Fayte is a gifted surgeon, and nothing more. 😉

When it is the end...but not.

Serious understatement. I'll say this (and I don't believe I'm spoiling anything, 'specially with the title and all): they gave Chadwick a great high note to go out on. (Though I understand he'll voice smaller bits in other episodes) I read somewhere that they said Chad had more fun doing this than his live action movie, and was constantly tweaking his performance and making notes to himself as to how this performance should influence him in the next live movie. Sadly, he didn't get the chance, but they have the notes, and intend to allow them to influence the development of the film. Thumbs up to voice actor Fred Tatasciore for nailing the role in the bar scene. He had me fooled for a second thinking it was the live action actor. (Fred is the usual voice of the animated Hulk, so this was a surprise). Another thumbs up to every live-action actor who came back to voice only one or two lines of the animated version of their characters. The commitment to the role is appreciated. Watching a dozen or so YouTube reactor channels reacting to this was a blast. There were certain moments every single one of them lost their collective cool over and it was glorious.

Marvel released a series of "Marvel One Shots". They're up to 15 minutes each (some much less) and fill in some details. I think all of these can be found online, just not on YouTube. Just look for the longest number of minutes to find the full videos as folks like to clip brief scenes from them. "Agent Carter" gave Peggy's immediate after-war experience with the pre-SHIELD SSR, mostly a bunch of misogynists who somehow never realized the effectiveness of her role in the SSR during the war. It is the link between Captain America: The First Avenger and the Agent Carter TV show. As such, it has persons and thematic elements that are reused in the Captain Carter storyline in the What If...? episode. "All Hail The King" is the only reason I can tolerate Iron Man 3. Goofball actor Trevor in prison continues to play off his 15 minutes of fame unaware that someone terrifying has taken notice. It can be considered a precursor to the upcoming Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings movie. "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer" highlights SHIELD Agent Phil Coulson's unique disarming charm and martial prowess, and is considered a precursor to the first Thor movie. "The Consultant" tied The Incredible Hulk movie to the MCU (which they'd previously been hesitant to do), and gave a humorous look on the behind-the-scenes bureaucracy within a pre-The Avengers SHIELD. "Item 47" is a post-Battle of NYC (The Avengers) story about what happens when a bunch of dead aliens leave their weapons behind. Agent Sitwell is highlighted, and the story could be considered a precursor in theme to Spiderman: Homecoming.

Thanks! Makes good sense now.

I ain't never had a friend like him! (It had to be said.)

Having a pair of YouTube reactors for coworkers makes for some really fascinating water cooler talk. If anything, playing ideas off of those two has actually intensified my reactions and observations. I tend to deep dive into the information. Guessing outcomes to Marvel miniseries, though...well, let's just say I'm not buying a lottery ticket. Yet. 😉

I've wondered about the first one on previous occasions. I think it a good alt-universe tale. You lost me on 1989. Was there something specific to Paragon lore in 1989, or were you just picking a random earlier date, possibly to show the city and heroes less prepared?

They only need to power the elevators one floor up/down.

As a fan of pulp fiction, radio, and dieselpunk heroes, I heartily concur with the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon ideas. Not so keen on the Twiki idea, though I'd be up for it if the robot being destroyed was that awful Crichton from season 2.

Most of the parts were played by the actors who did the live action. Even the creep commanding the SSR was taken from the live action "Marvel One Shot: Agent Carter" and is voiced by the live show actor. Notable exceptions (and I'm not really spoiling anything here): Steve was voiced by another, and Schmidt was voiced by the same actor who did Red Skull in Infinity War and Endgame. Both, I thought did a fine job. I've already read a lot of reviews and seen a lot of reactions. Even talked to two YouTube reactors who are on my work team. This is actually the first I've heard a lot of negative regarding the animation. I have heard a comment, based solely on the trailer, that suggested the mouth movements were odd, but that was about the depth of it so far. Speaking with my coworkers, we all agreed that the animation style, particularly the use of light and shadow, felt like a descendant of the old 2D Max Fleischer Superman cartoons of the early 1940s. I wonder if the fact that those were animation from the WWII era, meant that this animation style was a homage. As to the episode itself, I rather liked it. I do have a few nitpicks, which I'll put in the spoiler box with everything else:

Probably glad "Malta" replaced "Twilight Men" as the name. Otherwise, I'd be afraid they'd sparkle.

I'd not thought the Carnies through previously, but having psi hit my enemies for a change sounds pretty inviting.