MistressOhm

Romantic partners in general tend to do what Ukase posted. In that way, it's 'accurate'. Unfortunately the trope is proliferated as was posted above, as sexist. So let's not use that trope, please.

Well... it's not Animal Crossing yet, so that's good.

"I'll take 'Missions Most Often Autocompleted' for a thousand."

... I blame Polaron.

Something else to consider with the migration to USB-C ports: Thunderbolt Docks. These are basically docking stations or port replicators (or even GFX cores) that use the Thunderbolt standard to offload storage, processing, and graphics capability from the laptop to a peripheral. Before I retired, I was using a Dell laptop with a Thunderbolt port replicator that powered three screens (2 monitors via DVI connectors, and a HDMI cable to an older flatscreen TV) and also acted as my hub for keyboard, mouse, and Ethernet. It worked great, so upon retirement I purchased a Razer Thunderbolt dock for my gaming system (an ROG Strix with a dedicated GFX1070 inside) to let me set it up as a second system. Um, yeah, no. It drove the screens just fine, but it couldn't hold the USB connections steady at all. So my gaming laptop is still festooned with connecting cables, as I was unable to go to just "power" and USB-C/Thunderbolt. I suspect this is actually my laptop's fault, as it is new enough to have a USB-C connection, but that connection is likely NOT Thunderbolt-compatible. That said, these days you don't necessarily need a complete gaming system in a laptop, if you're willing to sacrifice some performance when the laptop is used on its own, as opposed to when it's a mini-desktop via a Thunderbolt dock. (That, and you do have to pay extra for the docks themselves.)

For my time-displaced Vaudeville performer and illusionist La Madame Rouge, you have to go with a blend of 1920's speakeasy jazz and modern beats. Thus, "It Don't Mean a Thing" by ProleteR

I haven't had too much trouble staying upright with a Storm/Elec 'fender. When an EB spawns, plant Snow Storm on them (negates the Fly on three of them and slows all of them down), debuff ToHit with Hurricane, and pop Thunderstorm and Freezing Rain to ... divert their priorities from all-out attacks to "get away". The Stormie's problem is, she can't consistently damage them enough, and when she successfully locks them out of attacking at all (either through Elec end drain, fear, or repel/knock) for a full minute, they will despawn 20 seconds later if not sooner due to the ToT behavior coding (no attack for > 60 seconds = attack ends, 20 seconds to find a door and escape OR vanish). My Elec/Elec blaster namesake? EB's love to play with her. Facedown in the street 9 out of 10 EB encounters, and the 10th is because I did the "gotta go!" scoot to the nearest police drone. I have higher damage and almost as much end drain as the Stormie, but I just can't avoid the initial alpha strike (or give them incentive to not attack) right out of the door. THAT SAID, I'm sure there are well-funded players with the perfect EB-kiler Elec/Elec builds at Level 25. I'm not one of them.

Welcome to Social Media, here's your straitjacket and daily meds allocation. /s No, really, y'all think this is just evident here? Oh you sweet summer child. I've been dealing with snark, trolling, and e-peen measurement since the dialup BBS days. Usenet used to have admins going after each other, scripting their servers to mass cancel the opposition's content (not just locally, but net-wide). It was insane. I once had to deal with a 'complaint' from a USENET troll who was deliberately goading people into responding to him, so that their replies would automatically cross-post to HIS chartered discussion groups... and then he'd take that to their ISP's and demand that their accounts be cut off for 'Acceptable Use Policy Violations'. His entire schtick was "abusing" abuse departments to silence any and all critics. I took one look at his complaint, called up our AUP expert, "Oh is this Wollman again? Round-file the ticket on my authority, it's not even worth acknowledging receipt." When the legal department of a multinational telecom classes someone as a Troll... yeah, they're the Platonic Ideal of trolldom, all others flounder in comparison to their trollish nature!

"These all go up to 11... most blokes, they crank everything up to 10, and then, they can't push it any harder. We have that extra 'one more' in case we need to push it over the cliff, right?" "But why not just make 10, you know, louder?" "... these go to eleven."

Hell's Hitwoman - your basic 80's noir vigilante

And because everyone needs a shortstack with a shrill voice and a green thumb...

Continuing the 'silly' trend, this is Ultra Fine Organism (aka "UFO"). Yes she's monochromatic for a reason. 🙂

My Kin/Rad Defender, Multiball Bonus

This character came about thru a fusion of V-Ger from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and a passage from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I give you my Gravity/Energy Dominator, EMISSARY-1

I put people on Ignore when I actually want to forget that they exist. It takes a lot to get me to that point, and very few people have ever managed to provoke that very specific desire. They weren't forum trolls, or immature, they were genuinely creepy people, the kind that make you check your locks at night and think about using a VPN. So yeah, self-care.

The only quibble I'd have with this change, is work in some kind of mechanic where one could key the typed damage (lethal vs smash) to the selected weaponry. For added complexity (I can hear game coders groaning from here!) allow for both if a DW character has a blunt weapon in one hand but a bladed weapon in the other, but only every other attack as the 'handedness' gets switched, or half each on attacks that involve both hands/weapons. In FAACT, if this particular costume = damage type tweak worked out properly, one could then introduce bokken (bamboo practice swords) to the Katana set, or razor wire gloves to the MA set. Melee'ers could tune their powers to go after weaknesses or sidestep resistances of mobs they would be facing, simply by switching their costume up to equip the new items.

I don't want, nor need, to 'build a narrative'. Y'all are doing it just fine on your own. "Please Proceed, Senator."

Dingdingding. Do you know what the gaming industry calls a bug that benefits those that know about it and use it actively without saying anything? An exploit.

This calls to mind a quote by the late and lamented Dennis Hopper, in one of his more... colorful roles:

So... for 'cutscenes'... I think all that's needed is some way to trigger a Demorecord made on the same map. For those that aren't aware, "Demorecord" is a special mode of the client that allows you to record a sequence in game, and then play it back (say, for making a video). BUT, that's at its most simple. The Demorecord file is basically a "staging and blocking" text document like what a movie director would use to shoot a scene. It details what setting the scene is in, what characters appear in it and how they are costumed, where the cameras are positioned, what powers are used, and when, and whom is targeted, and so on. When you record a Demorecord, the file is written in your client directory. You can then edit that file, so that when it is replayed, you can change parts of it, insert characters, delete characters, change dialogue and animations, whatever you like. Back on Live, many of us were fans of a player who went by Samuraiko, who took demorecord editing to "art form" levels. Some of her content is up on Youtube.

I think it's time the jerk hackers start dupin' rares, again. /S Seriously, what part of "be patient" are you all not getting here? Just because you can't get a Rare salvage at 500K "right now" does not mean an offer to buy one at 500K won't go through eventually; on the next seed cycle, you'll get your salvage for the price you offered to pay. (Meanwhile, I'm cashing in Brainstorms and selling the Rares I don't have a use for, making bank on each and every one of them... even at the seeded price.)

Dominators are already buffed. As they attack they charge the Domination meter, and when it's full, they have a LONG period of "I Win!" where their status effect mags are higher, their damage buffed, and they get a free End refill when triggering it. Controllers have an at-random boost proc to their status effects, increasing duration. Mobs under any Controller status effects are also more easily hit and for greater damage. A Controller is more 'work' to solo because nearly everything they have is either control or support related, NOT direct damage, but at the same time, they've both control and debuff abilities to be able to lock down spawns and 'tank' them. A Dominator lacks the debuff secondary, and instead has an Assault secondary that lets them pound the 'dominated' spawn into paste. So, less tanky, more blasty.

IF the game re-scales the remaining pets, pets can be dismissed singly, by tier, or as a group, so this shouldn't be an issue. However, I haven't tested this. What happens when a T1 pet gets smashed? Do the remaining ones re-scale their level? if they're only scaled at summon, then this isn't a solution. BUT.... there's nothing that keeps you from punting someone off the team. Target any pet and type "/petcom dismiss" in the chatbar. Macro it and you've a "You're Out Of The Band" button.

At starting levels, the Mastermind "blast" attacks are basically personal attacks, they don't have a crew yet, so they need something for offense. Later however, as the MM gains more pets (and depends on those pets to do the heavy lifting), the personal 'blasts' are used for two things: 1) Provoke a spawn into attacking (and getting the pets to respond to that attack with 'overwhelming force'.) 2) Finish off a mob that has decided "discretion is the better part of valor" and is running away. Everything else in the set is about making the henchmen more lethal, more efficient, and less likely to get killed. The secondaries are support sets for the "team" that the mastermind and their pets make. The MM themselves are a support character, they're 'in charge' of the crew, but they don't do the work, the crew does. Without the crew, the MM is very much a weakened version, and that's true to the archetype. "I don't have powers. I have friends. THEY have powers."

So off the top of my head, I like the idea of a more arcane-based powerset (above and beyond the ones we have now that CAN be of "magical" origin). The idea of switching the form of the damage between Fire, Arcane (energy), and Psionic is also a good one, and the Secondary set has merit also. I think most of the pushback you're getting is because most of us CoH players understand that ANY powerset in the game can be of "Magical" origin, or Technological, or Mutant, or Science, or straight up "Natural" in the case of nonhuman sentients that come with these powers as 'standard'. How would this Arcane set work as a Technological power? Is it some kind of projected energy multitool such as in Mass Effect? Is it a power ring like DC's Lantern Corps? How would a Mutant be able to wield these as spells or incantations rather than as abilities? Is it simply how the mind learned to cope with the idea of projected energy constructs rather than raw energy? I for one would love to have arcane-looking effects even on a tech or science hero. Something about 'alien runes' appearing around a held mob, or hyperscience energy constructs that are inscrutable to most people. Maybe it's not "Magic" but someone literally manifesting mathematical equations they've 'solved' to fit the situation, or computer-generated hard light projections. Omnitools, power rings, or magical artifacts? Whatever you like. My above point is, no powerset should lock someone into the origins or source of the power, that's up to the player to imagine. As long as you can describe what a powerset does, and how it (generally) looks, that's enough, let the players flesh out the 'how it works' and 'what it comes from' bits.