Scarlet Shocker

Quit, or quit not. There is no grind.

I'm inexpert on Tanks but SM seems to offer some good options. One of my favourite superheroes is Daredevil because his powers are relatively low key but he's trained himself to become something of a Ninja. He is effectively his most powerful self. Regarding your tanker: Would Street Justice not be a better fit conceptually instead of ice melee?

Welcome back!

It sounds to me (without having read every single post/reply in this thread) that OP is looking for Soul Mastery to be their "primary" power - the thing that sets them apart from the plebs. That would then indicate that primary and secondary need to be powers that anyone with enough time, energy and practice can excel at... so martial arts, guns, etc What I think we're looking at here is powers that fit a tech or natural origin, rather than something more mystical. So maybe a primary of a bow and arrow or gun and a melee based secondary and then SM to come in at a later stage to add value to the whole concept. I'd have to look at Mids for the possible combos and I don't have access to it as I write but if I've understood the OP that's the kind of direction they want to go. A Sentinel might work, but if they want real resilience something like a War Mace/Super Reflexes brute would possibly work - somebody with natural origin who just trained to peak performance and then the soul powers come out later. That would give pretty good solo capability and change.

I think that's rather the point. Although we have a few who are "mentors" in our early levels, by the time we hit 50 (sooner, even) we're meant to have a pretty good grasp of the game universe in which we exist (sure there are surprises to come) but we're autonomous and it is our characters who are - and certainly should be - at the heart of our story. Which ultimately, is what the game is all about. If the FF or any other NPC for that matter, overshadowed us - especially towards the end game - that would be a huge problem for the game as a concept and design. I also think that some of the more interesting NPCs, not just in Freedom Phalanx but elsewhere, offer some really great, untapped potential for more stories. I'm thinking Aurora is one - because she kept Sister Psyche alive - and Agent Six in Founders - one of the more... mysterious vendors, in particular.

no need to get cross!

We can be herpes, just for one day!

at least he didn't slap you down with a "Jranger" But on second thoughts there's a badge there somewhere

it may be he was a newer player and didn't fully understand what you needed to know. Did you actually communicate with him before arriving at the destination? Just speculating here but if you didn't ask what he didn't know to tell you...

Come and 'av a go if you think you're 'ard enough!

Many of the signature characters are very wishy-washy by design. It's OUR story that is the interesting thing, not them so they shouldn't ever be front and centre in our adventure. Except... (more in this later) Statesman; Statesman is the generic impervious do-gooder, seemingly indestructible, while being a preacher. Unimaginative, perhaps even a remixed clone of other better known comicbook heroes. But that's kind of what you want as your apex signature. That said Jack made some huge blunders in his time as lead dev, not just in his application but arguably more about his handling of various situations and that changed his character's perceived persona negatively I think. Positron; As Matt Miller rose in the ranks of the dev team, Positron become ever more prominent. From being his rehabilitated "Oh look I can get out of my suit now!" to Daedalus in the ITF (why is he even there?) and the Flames of Prometheus. He kind of breaks the fundamental DM rule above - he overshadows our characters in the actual game Lore and that makes his place ultimately untenable. This I strongly believe was made much worse by Mr Miller's continual chasing of the new shiny. He got bored with some plot lines and so moved the story sideways before previous arcs were complete. Hence we have the whole Praetorian/Hamidon things hanging over our heads like a great amorphous void of unfinished storyness. War Witch; One of our most mysterious Sig characters given she's in two places at once and her story is probably very exciting and interesting but it allows us as players to ruminate about what's behind the curtain without ever actually knowing. It helps that Melissa Bianco was very accessible as a dev and had a genuine love for the fans. Back Alley Brawler is great as a character and it's sad that he's been relegated to the sidelines. Again, Chris Bruce is a fan favourite and I believe he actually plays on here - which shows the love he has for the game and community and that's always seemed to reflect in his interactions with the players. Manticore is a poorly disguised Iron Bat clone. Some of the other sigs are even less well described and one is a robot and another a ghost so less relatable. and Ms Liberty - who should be front and centre of the sig chars having taken over from her grandpappy is left languishing. It's mostly my opinion - but I firmly believe that how the signature character's named dev dealt with the fan base counts for 90% of their rep and their character's writing is the other 15%

Just a bit of fun worth sharing with people who would enjoy it. Significance? Well evidence the game is still with us 20 years after its first release and we can share such trivia. That works for me.

I did actually and that was a bit disturbing to me

The burning question is who is selling Neo's organs? And does he have a Hammond B3?

Probably has. Remember folks, @Snarky's not Holy, he's not Roman and he's not an Emperor! To address the wider concerns expressed by the community in this thread, I can see both sides. Some want to display their "origin date" proudly while others wish it to be concealed. Both choices are equally valid. Is there not a case for making that a toggle in options, to please all sides with minimal fuss?

Michael Caine, Diana Rigg and Keanu Reeves

I'm never in favour of a lone wolf in general play. There are very few times it's acceptable - such as hunting for a lost stray or treasure, or occasionally holding up an ambush. But if a player has such good capabilities to defeat mobs on their own, it seems more efficient to help the team defeat the mobs more swiftly - thus everyone benefits. Lone Wolves can often get too far ahead and then those weaker/less efficient players run the risk of being overwhelmed. But there's also the issue for those with lower capabilities being left out so ruining their sense of game play and leaving them feeling "why bother?" - which ultimately harms the game and player base. TL/DR: If you're good enough to solo, solo. If you want to team, team.

/me looks at title /me looks at calendar Only on days with a Y in them.

That's actually a very interesting question. I guess it's equally mirrored in the RIP accosting innocent bystanders for no obvious reasons. At least the obvious purse snatcher is obvious but the cop can always claim "Police Business, step back!" and do what he wilt (which in the real world has had dreadful consequences. I cite Wayne Couzens for the most grotesque example - an evil evil despicable scumbag hiding behind his badge to do terrible things is something that was all fear and in that case came to pass.) RIP is always more deadly. Most Purse Snatchers are impoverished which is why they do what they do. It's not a justification it just is what it is.

Bloody hell! They work liverly

I'm painfully aware of the emotions this might arouse in some of our community. I'm also aware that we can deal with being a bit tongue in cheek and we are stronger with what unites us than divides us. I don't want this thread to get political but I saw this in the Guardian (Sunday 6th Oct) and I gawped. Whilst I have never knowingly eaten tofu, and I'm unclear of what constitutes the "wokerati" I do read the Grauniad for my regular daily news and I saw this and thought of... well, actually us. It's not about partisanship other than about which side of the login screen for me. But to see City of villains (they should have given it a capital V) in a major news publication was... a bit surprising. And pleasing. We know City of Villains is the underdog. But it struck me that maybe one thing politics forgot is its people, and I hope sincerely that you all keep reading this - because there is a message here. City of Heroes/Villains still exists because of love. Love of our game our community and some of our original developers. Some people showed so much love that our game escaped into the wild and we now have a beautiful thing because some rules were broken and people power held sway over corporate interests. Communities will come together and find a way, given the opportunity and time. It won't always be a lovely garden filled with roses and kittens and there are bumps along the way. But the message is clear - we're ultimately all on the same time and we need to think more about one another than we currently do. Yeah sorry I guess I couldn't help but pontificate but I did want to share our home up in lights so please be kind to one another even when you disagree and take care of them as well as you and #ibtl

Wow, @Snarky that's great. Have you had a facelift or did a wizard cast a spell to make you look 40 times more attractive than you used to be?

Welcome! I just love that somebody recently discovers a two decades old "obsolete" game and appreciates it for what it brings to the genre What really amazes me is that more MMOs didn't look at CoH and say "we need to be more like this" But I guess that's their loss. I wish for the OP many countless pleasureable hours of playing one of the best PC games in human history.

This, I did not know