Techwright

You made the point better than I could. I'm not opposed to the concept, but even some minor item given might be problematic in this specific case. I gather Troo wanted to do something nice, and I accept the spirit of that. ...and his little dog, too. Don't forgot the little dog.

In days of yore we used to have Double XP weekends. Now we have S.T.A.R.T. to get that anytime. There are still, however, faster routes up the XP ladder especially combined with S.T.A.R.T. double XP. Farming of course, but Task/Strike Force is another. I'd like to suggest, whether in rotation with the Task/Strike Forces or something like quarterly, that contact missions have an occasional week where their XP is ramped up enough that contact missions become an interesting alternative to running the same cycle of TFs to advance quickly. Hypothetically, this will reduce burn out on TFs (possibly the game even) and introduce/re-introduce players to mission work. (I'm not really going to try to contrast it with farming. Farmers gonna farm pretty much regardless.) Perhaps something could be considered for street clearing as well?

I'm trying to recall the details of the conversation but @Dacy and I had a forum chat that migrated to discussion of a similar context a while back. I believe Dacy made some comment about coding problems, but I don't want to ...ah wait...found it.

I'd appreciate it if they could somehow unlink enhancement storage from component storage. Hypothetically, that could then allow 18 of each, though at a loss to total base piece count. I was very surprised the day I discovered they worked from the same piece count maximum. I have to ask: if it is a matter of server storage, would that same server storage be taxed, and even more so, if we made a super group per character and used all the storage bins? Even so, last I read in the wiki, coalitions are limited to 11 supergroups, so if you have 20 characters (LOL, so low), you're going to have to make some decisions.

Seems like a fine idea. Not sure what's needed to execute it, though. I recall the terminals in Atlas Park used to be able to list characters at least with stats on them (other players characters, that is. Currently it lists your own) so I suppose the game has some sort of built-in listing capabilities. How that translates to a wall plaque, I don't know. Maybe add statuary/holograms of the fallen Freedom Phalanx members in the room corners, or such?

If it shows up on a flat screen looking anything like an homage to his glitching, synthetic self, I'm all for it.

/em holdtorch This is the forum I find so important, but I hate it when there's a new entry. I saw Sovereign and several others holding torches in Excelsior's Oroboros today. With one of them I noted a comment on Anne Marie.

Commenting on the illusion and mind control bits, I've had an illusion controller for a very long time and I feel it is a powerful character in the end game. That said, I very rarely solo with it, though I've done a lot of duos. If there is a downside, it is that he didn't get the chance for pets until rank 22, so he was dependent upon teamwork to get him to that mark and a bit further to get the pets up to strength. I've paired illusion with storm, and it is a potent combination. You definitely can solo with it in endgame, I just prefer team work. Mind control has some psionic power. Psionics is a power more often seen towards the endgame, but could be anywhere along the way. I've only just hit 50 with a mind control\psionic dominator. It was a lot of fun to play, though weirdly I felt like I was taking a lot of individual shots, even though I had some area of effect and conical ones. I just used routine enhancements. I've not had a chance to design his build around enhancement sets yet. I'm not sure I'll ever solo with him, but he'll definitely aid a team. He's definitely a bit of a glass cannon, so I'd look towards getting some defense from the so called "third pool" of powers (far right column of selectables) as you advance. Definitely look at Storm Summoning. The set is awesome. I'd also suggest looking at plant, ice, earth, and dark sets. Ice lacks a little in damage, but is massively effective in locking down and/or slowing opponents.

Um...yeah...you may want to dig a bit deeper. Start with the whole "Captain Marvel" thing. In short: the two (and others) have a long history of pilfering each other's work and using the legal system to work it out. You've got a lot written and I'm trying to process it all, but basically, when creating a similar character to an established one, you want something that the viewer will say "I know what you're trying, and you're not blatantly ripping it off. Very cool." I've said it before, but my mistake as a newbie in the original game was to make the Green Hornet. A nice player explained, and I changed it. I don't recall what, but let's say I changed it to Black Bee, kept the costume but made it all black & dark grey, taking the white scarf GH often is seen with and swapping it with The Shadow's red scarf. I make him a street brawling brute. (GH is usually depicted as a boxer who eventually learns martial arts from Kato). The name and costume clearly hint at the concept but make enough of a difference that it's not considered too close. The "DNA" is obvious, but it is a derivative. But if I were to keep the green hat and overcoat, keep the brawler, and call him "Mr. Reid" or "Britt the Hornet". it is still the Green Hornet.

I'm much the same way on all points.

That is really heartening to hear. Dave Georgeson's announcement speech a decade ago had me very, very excited, and I was terribly sad when EverQuest Next and crew were canned unexpectedly. I've seen bits and pieces of what look like EQN design pop up in other things since then, and I've wondered if some of the crew moved to those games. Very interested now to see what happens with this one.

Pre-Alpha animation looks like it is in a similar style to WildSTAR. Nice. Top Man was key on both Ultima Online and SWG. Definitely one to watch. The lore given on the website's video sounds like a cross between Star Trek and WildSTAR (significant portions of the galaxy terraformed by an ancient race whose tech is hidden throughout the worlds) Functionally, having game-world consequences for not tending to details in the nearby area sounds like a descendant of concepts from the never-brought-to-market Everquest Next. As do other details like alterable terrain (voxel destructability perhaps?), though in Everquest Next pre-alpha it was temporary, and here he states it is permanent. I wonder if he means within the boundaries of player "owned" territory, like a base. I'd find it bizarre if players tried to permanently strip-mine a planet leaving nothing but core. I'm wondering what the basis is for that floating character movement in the video. It doesn't look like low gravity, at least in a pre-alpha form. Maybe jetpacks that have not had the graphics constructed yet? Small complaint: why does it feel like every sci-fantasy/space concept must come with it's own spearhead-tailed, horned devil? IMHO it shows a serious lack of character creativity. I'd not be surprised to find out their lug has cloven hooves as well. Separately, each of these elements is fine, but collectively, it is neither catchy nor clever. EDIT: Forgot to add that I hope this space fantasy doesn't have magic, or at least disguises it as something like "cosmic power". If I'm sitting down to play a space game, I'm not looking for space Gandalf to show up. There's plenty of (probably way too much of) magic games out there already.

Why do I feel that youngster is Back Ally Brawler successor material?

While I wouldn't call Galaxy City "rarely used" it was indeed the lesser used of the two starter zones. Galaxy Girl didn't have the presence and draw that Atlas and his globe did. GC did have advantages for a sparser population: less drag on lower-end computers. Man, I wish I'd known about Virtue's Golden Age Heroes. Big Band and Swing are among my favorite music forms (I grew up surrounded by WWII folk, and their culture is infused in me), and pulp and dieselpunk era looks are my favorites.

I dig it. Groovy, man. Some of these postings have reminded me of a Down Under group whose work I spotted two years before my dad died. He'd lost the use of his legs but not his mind, when I discovered videos from Rex Bionics. Unlike other cyber-skeletons, Rex's offering had a joystick control, which I thought would have been perfect for Dad and might have allowed him to come home rather than live out his days in a nursing facility. Unfortunately, I can't find anything on Rex after 2019, the last news posting on their website. I'm not sure if they're just keeping a low profile (hopefully), or if the website is on some sort of prepaid indefinite limbo with the company either having been bought or closed. I note the timing. 2019 was right before COVID hit the world, and it may have devastated Rex's funding.

I find it interesting they're in Paris exactly 100 years from that other Paris Olympics when Eric Liddle and and Harold Abrams became legends. Chariots of Fire was at least 60% fiction, but it did serve to highlight these men, as well as Sam Mussabini and Jackson Scholz, to new generations. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go rummaging in the attic for my old Vangelis cassette tape and see if I can migrate the recording to digital.

Hey, ridiculous or not, those things would be greatly appreciated on the great American interstate system if your car ran out of gas or broke down a couple of miles from the nearest service station. Pull that and a gas can out of the trunk and and make 2.5x (luggage) up to 7x (Honda) walking speed without exhausting you. (7x is based on 50 year old and up specs for average walking.)

Actually, when I saw the chest shield, it rang a bell. I finally traced that memory to the Kingdom Come Superman suit. While the live action one uses yellow, rather than black, the shield is practically identical. I wonder if this is a hint for a direction they're taking with this one's story? And yea, KC Superman wore the briefs. Which is puzzling because if one knows the story of Christopher Reeves, they'd know that Chris was healthy but thin, and went on a mad workout spree to bulk up to get the role. I'm surprised Gunn apparently didn't require the same for this one.

As wonderful as they were, it is time to move on. Of the three you named, only one still lives. Several of the rest of the voice cast are deceased as well. That is, unless at some point contracts are being signed with the living and the estates for Respeecher performances by other actors, but even then, it won't be for this show.

After learning of their bastardized Lord of the Rings attempt, I'd say the latter. I realize this might not be a popular opinion. When I first learned of this new Batman series, I was tempted to roll my eyes at yet another Batman story. At this rate DC will burn through the multiverse of Batman possibilities. But then I saw three things that changed my mind: 1. The costume and setting tell me this is going back to the original 1930s Detective Comics (okay, well maybe not that brief time where Batman carried a gun). 2. The animation is very much an homage not only to that time period but also the iconic Batman: The Animated Series from the 1990s. 3. The show is not 100% stuck in real-world 1930s. While it appears Batman is using a glass "blackboard" for mapping out criminal activity, rather than a computer (a bit cutting edge, but still 1930s), it shows things like black female police officers. The overall effect is just like the also iconic 1989 movie: blending of different times creates an Elseworld effect where anything is possible. I'm intrigued to see this now. The voice cast has several famous names associated with it, including, mentioned via 3rd party sources, one that isn't on the IMDB listing: Toby Stephens. Though I've only seen a limited amount of his acting, I really enjoy it. Wondering whom he is voicing? Alfred? Penguin? ....Joker? Actually, in regards to that last one, the roster has John Dimaggio without a character name next to his. John had a very different, but fascinating performance as Joker in Under The Red Hood. I was sorry it was only a one-shot outing. Perhaps the producers liked it as well?

That got me to look up his IMDB listing. The Dirty Dozen stood out, but what really caught my eye was Backdraft, a movie he was only in for a short time, but a truly memorable performance as a pyromaniac prisoner called in to consult on a particularly vexing case. I remember the news when the film premiered. There was a large crowd showing in one of the big cities (Chicago?) and the movie so connected with the audience that, when a real-life fire brought firetrucks roaring past the theater during the group's exit, the whole crowd erupted in cheers and well-wishes. It's a great film and I'm long overdue for re-watching it. Curiously, the trailer used the score for Glory as its background music.

Eagle's Claw was the first thing that sprung to mind, but IMHO it's a slightly different reason. Most of these others mentioned project an appropriate image of raw power. Eagle's Claw shows precision and stylish grace in movement.

A brute...named Bubbles? I like them already.

In researching something else, I was just reading an old Reddit thread which, among other things, had a few tales I'd never heard about the original game. Things like: 1. BABs (dev team) spawning the Hamidon in Pocket D for kicks. 2. Some player spawning the Kronos in the middle of a Hamidon event. Apparently it was disruptive enough to become something of a legend. 3. The first (?) level 50 villain glitching from red side (where level 40 was the max at the time), and being in the blue side, teamed up and ran the character to 50. That last one is not unlike a time where I was working with a hero team in a mission instance and a villain player suddenly showed up (teleported, I think) and both the team and he were so startled, everything came to a stop and we chatted for a bit. But I digress. I like what I read, even though they were brief summations, and am wondering if anyone knows other crazy tales like these and would tell. Any who could put meat on the bones of these three, I'd love to hear the details as well.

Yes, you're quite correct. I'll fix that in my post immediately. Thanks for pointing it out.