Techwright

Sure! There's this place I heard about. Supposedly serves a mean peach tea to die for.

Responding to that specific hidden comment: One thing I've not seen is Baron Zemo. Zemo has a well-established history with the Thunderbolts, and the MCU Zemo is a very popular character. Perhaps his role would come into play in a future Thunderbolts movie. We've also not seen Bill "Goliath" Foster. His connection to Ghost is important and rumor is he will be there for her. Not sure if it is just in the role of surrogate dad or if he'll be digging out the old Goliath suit to help out.

I'm not defending the character, but scientific genius in RL doesn't necessarily mean a heightened thinking in all areas. I once heard it said that Einstein was often escorted across the street by others as his mind was so wrapped up in some computation or other that he would frequently forget to take his safety into account. (Also, pretty much every hero in that council of the Illuminati was an idiot for attacking Scarlet Witch head on and one at a time.)

I've been seeing a lot more of this of late, and its becoming a real annoyance. I'm playing one of my 50s, accept a PUG invite to a task force or trial, and once the full team is assembled, the team lead declares: "Okay, which 50 wants to lead the task force?" Bait and Switch. Sometimes there's another 50, often all eyes skim the list and find I'm the only one, and suddenly, I'm in an unwanted position. Personally, if I'd wanted to lead this task force, I'd have been the one recruiting. I've done it many, many times over the last 20 years. I've zero problems with initiating it myself...except, real life has changed and now there are certain medical conditions in my household that might require my unexpected, immediate safety intervention. I might have to step away for an extended time. Such an urgent response has less effect on the team when I'm a grunt standing outside an instance door than when I lead and the team depends on me for things like contact check-ins. I only point this out as just one behind-the-curtain example of why people don't lead teams. Reasons don't need to be spelled out. If they wanted to recruit and lead, they would have. When one joins a task force, it should be a sign that they are willing to work at the recruiter's level minus one. A TF recruiter in turn should either stick to leading or be up front in the recruitment phase with his intentions: "I'm recruiting but will be asking a higher rank to take over", or words to that effect.

For me, in game, it's all about the considerations for theft and also in regards killing and the legal system. I realize there's going to be an irony to that, as, external to the game, Batman is a vigilante but doesn't kill. Hero - in my thinking, there are actually two levels to Hero: Top Tier: I will not steal. I will not kill. Render unconscious, possibly break a few bones if absolutely necessary, but in the end, turn the guy alive over to the authorities. Second Tier: I will not steal. I will kill or permanently maim, but it is not my first choice. I only do so in one of two conditions: Immediate threat to lives and/or a threat of permanent injury Under state-sanctioned conditions, such as war Vigilante - I will steal only if deemed necessary, such as the need to resupply or the taking of evidence to be analyzed more closely in my lair. I do not take for my own pleasure, but as a means to an end goal. I will kill or permanently maim for three conditions: Immediate threat to life and or permanent safety Under state-sanctioned conditions, such as war When I believe the state of point #2 is so corrupted or paralyzed that it cannot make clear, good sanctions, resulting in an extended threat to those lives in point #1. Rogue - I will steal for my pleasure and profit. I will kill or maim if my heart doesn't intervene. It is not my real objective, so if I can accomplish goals without extreme violence, I will. If I've an employer who orders me to kill/maim, I will do so. It is on him, not me. Villain - The day I plundered and murdered your village was a rather pleasant Tuesday.

Then this is opportunity. Pedro's time to step up. Look, I agree: Pedro didn't strike me as Reed Richards either. Still doesn't. But the role that people say an actor cannot play is exactly the role many an actor dying to be a great actor craves. The one where he/she is not typecasted or otherwise pigeon-holed. Do I think he's right for the part? Not from what I know of his work, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt to see if he can show a range I'd not anticipated in him. I'll be very happy to be wrong in my initial opinion, and am hoping the director gives him enough leeway to succeed. One thing I've been wondering since the trailer and its family pitch is if Pedro demonstrated a "family man" vibe that resonated with the director and producer.

Looking at the video and there's so many questions: 1. Is there even a functional Avengers team anymore? They've done a good job disassembling them. By my count at least 7 are now dead, 8 if you include Coulson. Another handful have left for deep space or other dimensions. I can think of 5 as possibly active, none of which, with the exception of Hulk, pose anything significantly more threatening than a team of super soldiers and elite assassins. One of those is Spider-Man, whose life is so altered that I'm not sure he's even part of the team. Theoretically, they should be able to pull in some non-Avenger allies, like She-Hulk, and Black Panther 2, but they'd be in the same boat as the Thunderbolts: not functioning at a trained team level yet. 2. What on earth did they give USAgent for a shield? It looks not much better than his homemade one was. 3. What's happening with all the construction at the former Avengers/Stark Tower? I know the Thunderbolts now occupy it, but it looks like they're adding a missile silo onto it or something. 4. How on earth are the Thunderbolts supposed to stop that? They've got a specific set of skills and that ain't it. It's more Doctor Strange's turf, and he just did some dimension hopping. (Wong is where, exactly?) While I find such a mismatch intriguing, I've a fear they're going to resolve this by Picard'ing the situation and talking the villain down. That would kind of take the wind from the movie's sails. 5. The most important question: Why did Red Guardian shave his head? (and leave his beard unkempt?)

Knowing Fillion's sense of humor, he probably was on board with the bowl cut from the start. I'm puzzled by the color though. Guy's supposed to be a deep auburn. Perhaps it's just this clip but he looks more like a blonde, and if it is a strawberry-blond, they need to buy more strawberries.

No doubt the Scourge of Savile Row, it seems. 😉

Congratulations!

There's dark roots at the hair part. Not a real red head. (We natural gingers tend to notice these things. 😉 ) Using dark roots to imply dyed hair: that's a level of design sophistication I didn't previously realize AI had reached.

First off, Welcome Home! Victory is our newest server, merged in from its previous solo status. As a result, the population is still getting started. If you need to have plenty of options in the time available to play, you might wish to look into transferring to Excelsior (the most populated server) or to Everlasting (second most populated server, and the main home to the role-playing crowd). Not to knock Victory or any other server. I'm just conscious that many players do not like to spend long looking for a team to join or lead. If you've not found the transfer process yet, go to the page where you select your character, and look for the 2-arrow button in the top center-right of your screen. That will guide you through the transfer process. Please note there are a limited number of transfers available each week before the amount resets, but there should be more than enough to jump around to different servers at least once and back to Victory if you don't find a server to fit your needs otherwise. Sounds like you're already into either "blue side" (hero/vigilante) or "red side" (villain/rogue). That's good. We've got a "gold side" (Praetoria) as well, but it can be a tad complicated and confusing if you're new, so I'd suggest holding off on that for now. But not never. Praetoria has a great look and some fun storylines delving into the concept of "gray" morality. I'd also suggest holding off on archetypes Peace Bringer, Warshade (both collectively known as Keldians), Arachnos Soldier and Arachnos Widow. These were deliberately designed to be a bit more challenging, so it helps to be more familiar with the game before choosing one of these as an alternate character. You're already level 8 so you may have seen much of this already, but I like to to aid new players by posting a list of common abbreviations we use in chat : Likewise, you may benefit from a list of slash commands used in the chat box. Personally, I use "/ah" all the time (except in missions or super bases) to access the auction house without having to visit the buildings. Lastly, you may want to peruse @WuTang 's "new player" thread of a year ago, where other helpful tidbits were dropped:

Why would you want an old casket filled with dirt from the mother country?

I've not looked into that previously. I realize it is a temp power, but why would one choose that, and waste candy canes in the process, rather than buying a permanent Renewal of Light from the START vendors for only INF 1,000,000? Is the temp version perhaps on a separate timer and usable when the permanent one is on cool down?

First point - yes, thanks for that correction. Second - It would not be necessary to show the population after a point in which Kirk came into the picture. It could be shown at a point preceding Picard entering the Nexus. Possibly even in the astronavigation room as either a "duckblind" video of the society pulled up on the screen, or a cut-away with perhaps Data narrating over it with info from a previous "duckblind" operation. Regarding the Nexus - yeah, that was a "don't look too deep" moment. It would have been better had they written the parameters to be "return to the moment you entered or any point after that." Not only that, but Soran should have been trying to use the Nexus to return to a previous point in time when his family was alive and safe, then guide them down a different path. Picard should have chosen a point where he could have warned his brother of the coming fire, then dealt with the rest. I do appreciate the choice of killing brother and nephew though, gut punch that it was. Robert was already known as something of a luddite so a lack of proper fire suppression in the home would be in keeping with his nature. As to the nephew, it was needed to reveal a deep vulnerability in Jean Luc: the need for a family heir to provide emotional stability. It provides the temptation to stay in the Nexus. As one who is a RL uncle and without children, I deeply connected to that. There were other problems, I felt, such as putting a nice, but unseasoned and ultimately incompetant captain to a ship with a legendary heritage. Considering Star Fleet has the Kobayashi Maru, as well as, of course, the rank system, the captain's flaws should have been laid bare before he made lt. commander. But it's all script anyway. I do agree Generations is better than the Abrams/Kurtzman "garbage", though I did find some enjoyment in certain parts of movies 1 and 3 of their works. Into Darkness was Trek's The Last Jedi: utter dreck and the waste of some fine actors and special effects crews.

How was this composite achieved? I've a few "sets" in my characters to which I'd like to give a group shot.

Dinos...again. 🙄 Why do people never suggest something not overused...like red pandas? I mean the guys are little monsters. Their cuteness power is one of the great stun affects out there. I've seen whole tour groups of people rooted in place talking baby talk in the direction of the red panda that whammied them. Goodness knows what that combined with teeth and claws will do if they ever make it past the zoo fencing. But no, they're never considered. Even if anything with fur were considered, it would be a honey badger.

Well, you did say it was the early days. I'm sure you've learned better since then. 😛 Just a small note to be clear, as one or two comments had me wondering if I'd been misunderstood: my OP comments are not meant to imply that I only run my empathy character on high level content or with an exclusive group. I run all my 50s on PUG content all the way down to the Synapse TF or the Frostfire mission. It probably accounts for 95% of my gaming experience. About the only thing I'll avoid is Death From Below, and even then I've stepped in once or twice when I realize a team lead is having a bad recruiting night.

I can't see this one without thinking that Bowie was both trying to stay in character and not scare the kid.

I admit I cannot recall the last time that I had to use Invigorate, but EDIT: the wiki does say within Architect missions and with a 10 minute recharge.

Invigorate from the Day Job reward Master Architect Badge, earned by getting both the Professor and Architect Day Job badges. This is a rechargeable power with max 30 charges at a time. Log out either in a university or the Architect Entertainment Building to recharge. S.T.A.R.T. vendor (aka "P2W vendor") powers Return to Battle and Renewal of Light. These are on the same timer.

"Goodbye World, that's the song that their singing"? Also, I'm not quite certain what the focal point of that picture is. Can someone point it out? 😉 Alright, a tad more seriously, just a tad, I had some fun looking up real life locations for the Baxter Building and cross-referencing them with the RL location for Avengers tower. It turns out, they're really close. So close, in fact, that I'd not be surprised if the MCU folks made them the same site. As the Avengers movie's Battle of New York City showed, Avengers tower was directly behind Grand Central Terminal. That puts it on the footprint of the real-life MetLife building in Midtown. If you're standing where the Avengers first assembled, looking at Grand Central Terminal, then the Baxter Building is suppose to be immediately to your left of the GCT. The location I was told was "[East] 42nd and Madison". While there are 4 corners, of course, and I wasn't told the specific one, the standout corner is the northeast one, closest to the GCT, and on the footprint of the real life One Vanderbilt tower. This also places it a stone's throw from the "site" of Avengers Tower. It makes me wonder just how much of the battleground locations of the Avengers movie might be shown in this movie as kind of an easter egg. That, of course, is assuming they stay with the comic address for the building. One fan theory I've heard is that the Baxter building will actually be on the same footprint of Avengers (Stark) Tower, and that either (A) it is the building Tony tears down to build Avengers Tower (though in a different universe?) or (B) if the F4 cross over to Earth 616, they will make Avengers (Stark) Tower their headquarters. Not sure about that last bit being accurate. I suppose it depends on what time in Earth 616 they do cross over into, as the Contessa in Thunderbolts has already revealed she was behind the purchase of Avengers (Stark) Tower to convert to the Thunderbolts lair.

Agreed. I love the innovation!

Fun to watch, and the video was clearer than many I find on YouTube. I love that its a first time experience for the one guy. The explanations might prove useful to others. I can't remember the last time I viewed/participated in a team that pulled the shadow clones. Pretty much any time I run a Posi 1 now, the team opts to rush the shadows. My old favorite from the days of the original game was to have the team stand around the corner at the top of the stairs, have one player snipe an opponent then run back behind the team in hiding. Nothing quite like that "Surprise sucker!" moment when it rounds the corner and we dogpile it.

👍 I was watching a YouTube reaction to Arrow the other day, and Green Arrow used something very much like those as a throwing dart to disable a guy's shoulder. Makes great sense to have a pouch of those handy.