Techwright

Though inaccessible in instance play, including bases. I do find though that buying the large or team inspirations for low cost well in advance, perhaps days in advance, will keep a supply handy for replacements when visiting the "real" world between instances. Just "/ah" it (minus quotes) in your chat to open the auction window outside the instances (This is, of course, assuming a new player didn't know that).

I was thinking of using the accordion for "The British are coming!" Somehow it makes the warning seem more festive. TV could probably stand in for "Gone to the Americans"

I actually attended a cricket game once. The Commonwealth engineers the company had moved to town put together a Saturday game. After 3 hours viewing, and learning that some games go for days, I decided that cricket is just what I needed...for an insomnia cure. 😉 Sorry golf, but you've competition. The cricket bat, however, is a stroke of genius. I'd rather have that than a baseball bat as a defensive weapon. That thing is practically a Maori war club. I'll make sure the police are waiting for the attacker when he lands next Tuesday.

"How to avoid stapling form 8937c to your inner thigh 90% of the time" Come on..Did my last post on such things not make the point? The 10%! I want to know about the 10%! It's important! Real money! (Yes, I said "real money" @Yomo Kimyata) Pony up!

Had this happen just last night. no tank, brute, scrapper, or Keld on the team. I'd just modified gust to do KD instead of KB, so I sent my grav/storm to tank. Took some near fatal alpha hits, but kept going. After a bit I noticed player confidence growing and blasters started leading on a few groups. I did feel this situation was where a team lead should have spoken up to either designate or ask for volunteers. As to tanks standing around, I usually get the feeling this is due to no confidence in their own ability or defense design. I suspect some of those are farm babies, stepping out for the first time. As to the no confidence I can relate. When I first started the OG, I didn't understand concepts, and desperately tried to keep my tank alive at all costs, which meant hesitation. It was my first MMO, and I'd come from the arcade background where it was 3 strikes, you're out. They say you have to break eggs to make an omelette and it's true here. The tank, or any character for that matter, must push past the fear of failure and just do. Eventually, after a few KOs, you lose that fear of breaking your character, and you begin to enjoy the game a bit more recklessly.

It's going to be a few days before I can go, but I've already been hearing statements like "greatest Spider-Man movie ever" and even "greatest superhero movie ever". (I tend to think the latter is a lot more subjective, but we'll see...) For me, if the story is solid, if the ending lands well, if the writing provides impactful characters, then they can use stick figures in crayon on flip pages, and I'd watch it. That it is also "gorgeous", is delicious icing on the foundation of a great cake. I don't know why Hollywood so often doesn't get this: solid writing is the foundation of everything in movie making. I would have thought the contrast between Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan would have made them realize this, but here we are, 40+ years later... I'm glad the reports are so positive, though. The first movie was a treasure. It deserved a solid follow-up, and it sounds like they not only matched it, but possibly exceeded it.

Newest alt... His name comes from "Full Thunder Moon" an alternate name for the July full moon, so named because of the storms from around it's date. Thundermoon is a tech gravity/storm controller hero, using a discovered alien tech belt powered by two luminescent tech spheres he's taken to calling "moon pearls". The belt allows him to focus the natural gravitational pull of the moon or any similar gravitational source to a localized area, causing gravitational anomalies and storms.

😶 Have you... have you a shrink on your contacts list? I hear they have comfy couches they let you relax on. Verrry comfy. Just a thought.

"How to avoid dying 90% of the time" Why does no one ever give out the secret for not dying the other 10% of the time? That's where the real money is.

Those who naturally can...do. Those who can't...buy team inspirations. 😛

I've been in the game since early 2005, and I've just started taking a polar opposite approach. With most of my characters now 50 and earning a decent living, I'm buying inspirations...from the AH. Specifically Team Large inspirations. I didn't previously know about those who didn't use them, but now those suckers are going to be inspired whether they like it or not.

No mention of the inferior steel nor the fire that was burning trapped in the hull? It's not just this game. They've done that with others. One I dearly loved despite a host of behind the scenes fighting, was Tabula Rasa. The game had merit, but office politics messed with the game souring a lot of players and at least to a point, kept some significant bugs in play. (I heard those major bugs were resolved after I bowed out.) I'd love to see that IP licensed and revitalized. And while I found the game only moderately entertaining to my personal tastes, I've heard there are those who played WildStar that want the game returned to some playable form. There's probably others I've not realized.

Those who play both gold side and either red or blue: do you create gold-side characters that are the multiverse counterpoints of your Prime characters? If so what are their similarities and differences? I suppose you could extend that question to those creating characters for any dimension visited by Portal Corp. I've got one pair so far: Praetorian: Ace Ramjet Prime: Ace Barnstormer Similarities: both tech melee, both with similar basic costumes. Lore-wise, they're both the "same" person. Differences: Physical: Ramjet is obviously beefier, a result of a different, more aggressive technology applied to him by the harsher Powers Division. Ramjet is a brute class super strength/invulnerability, whereas Barnstormer is a scrapper class martial arts/super reflexes. Costume: Ramjet has added padding reflecting his more aggressive confrontational style. Lore: Barnstormer acquired his skill traveling the world, studying with masters. His speed, strength, and durability, though, were enhanced back in Paragon City by means of retro-engineered Rikti technology embedded in a powered under-suit to his costume. Ramjet, due to the Hamidon Wars, never traveled. His body was enhanced by a painfully-grafted cybertech, though he too possesses a powered under-suit to complete his enhancements. Personality: Barnstormer is all about personal liberties. Ramjet is fine with personal liberties to a point. The moment they interfere with the established societal structure, they end.

I'm guessing you've a character named Jimmy Jetpack that uses rocket boots.

😉 As I think back over the years, it occurs to me that the best PUGs I've been on have probably been those where two of the team members are introduced as parent and child, with the parent usually asking for the help and indulgence of other team members. Everyone straightens up, show courtesy (whether they feel like it or not) because of the child present, and provides encouragement and guidance. It usually spills over into a bit of fun in the conversation. I could wish for PUGs to be like that regardless of whether a kid was announced or not. It might just add people to my go-to friends roster.

My toolkit: illusion/storm controller = As to my portfolio, I run mostly ranged powers: controllers, blasters, corrupters, and a few sentinels. I do have 2 decent tanks, 1 good brute, and 2 scrappers with potential. The rest are just experiments and variety for interest. I play a limited amount of melee because, for me anyway, I've trouble, even with taunt, of getting NPCs in melee range with either a team of range strikers or some chucklehead who delights in running into a herded group and hitting some major AoE knockback. I'd much rather be a part of the action than just a taunt for the team. If I had to narrow it for a core team of 8 (including my "toolkit"): 1 energy/energy blaster, 1 dark/dark corrupter, 1 storm/storm corrupter, 1 fire/ice blaster, 1 ice/cold dom. controller, 1 mace/invulnerable brute, 1 water/willpower sentinel

👆👆 This. Life is so much better without general chat, though I don't kill it, per se, I just relegate it to a mostly-ignored tab. On those extremely rare occasions when I learn through other channels that something important was just mentioned, I can just click on the tab to see the replay. In regards PUGs, I don't see the problem like I used to in the OG, and most certainly nothing like I experienced with PUGs during my time in WoW. If anything, the PUGs I travel with are mostly silent or say a polite "ty" when someone whips out a team transport. For some reason it takes a lot to break the ice these days.

Seriously, I feel your pain. (Do the vampirically-challenged have pain?) After many, many, many Posi 1's with people charging the door and wiping the team...repeatedly...I've vowed to only do a P1 when a new character needs it for the badge. Otherwise, forget it. (Some of those knuckleheads knew it would trigger and deliberately did it.) YMMV, as they say. I'm glad you've had little in the way of problems with this. Truly. As I mention, like the Snark-meister, I have had enough problems with this, that it has ruined that part of the game for me.

I played DC Universe Online twice: once when the game opened, and once again back in either 2017 or 2018, before I discovered in 2019 that CoH had returned. While I did like some things, such as speedsters being able to wall run, I disliked others, most notably the highly repetitious dialog by street-level thugs and the inability to equip my character with the right costume options up front, and for quite a few ranks. I still have nightmares about that one section where all the street demons are saying "the wrath of a hero...delicious!" It's worse than Mark Twain's "Punch, Brothers, Punch". Costumes, at least initially, were a pain to assembled because they came from drops, and you might go through quite a few unusable parts until you found a good one. By then, you might already be level 30.

I've been a lifelong theme park fan and after several delays, in part due to under-powered tech, I finally got around to "unboxing" Planet Coaster, which I picked up with several DLCs on a deep-discount sale quite some time back. Way back in the day (Sherman set the Wayback Machine to 2001), I was considered one of the better Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 themed ride creators in the official forums, and I tackled the first day of PlanCo gameplay in similar fashion. Well and good. However, I made the mistake of going to YouTube for additional instruction and inspiration and I've been quickly overwhelmed and utterly gobsmacked by the level of detail some of the great players have put into their creations. One instruction video I viewed went into intricate detail regarding what should be considered in a true park representation, right down to the measurements for office space in the headquarters building. After this and several others, I felt simultaneously both challenged and terrified to the point of throwing in the towel. 😱 I've opted for challenged. Fortunately, I've learned some of the best parks take anywhere from a year to 18 months to design and build. Not sure if that means working 1 to 5 hours a night, or 80 hours a week, but it does mean I have time. I should have a decently-themed kiddie coaster by then. 🤪 One of my favorites by the experts so far has been Brickburgh. The level of detail is just incredible.

Got any chocolate-covered, raspberry jam filled ones? Talos and First Ward with a level 5: sounds like the OP discovered the Tunnel System in Atlas. If so, I recommend the sights and fresh sea air of Peregrine Island. I hear they even have the carnival in town.

This is a level 50+ character. I'll double-check on that Steel Dancer. It sounds like a most reasonable explanation, and I have put in a lot of 10-stack bids.

As of reading this, I'm seriously temped to make a character, and try to gain every exploration and history badge in the city without deliberately fighting anything, just run around avoiding all. Leveling would be by badge xp rewards only, then maybe move him to the red and gold sides and continue that. No P2W bonuses or powers, no other frills. I wonder if they'd grant a badge for completing that adventure? 🤔 Of course, folks would start enlisting their friends or their alt accounts to clear a path, so that might not reflect a true achievement.