Scarlet Shocker

I didn't know this was a thing either.

Put the entire forum in your Grey Orangutang Shoecleaner and Roberta is your father's sister.

I happened to delve into my historical archives looking for a completely unrelated image and then this popped up. When I first began to play I met a guy who originally played with the Italian Posse on Defiant but soon became the core of our supergroup Shock Tactics. As we teamed I learned that he was an amazingly talented artist who created his own web comic with his then partner and he'd occasionally draw pics of our teams and SG members. I believe he's now in Canada working on various animated TV stuff. I'm claiming no credit for this - I think his global was @Zeltharis and this is his main, Corona, and (of course) Scarlet Shocker out to right wrongs. I just thought it was worth sharing. This would have been maybe 2007ish?

I've seen the movie already. Can you dig it? 🤣

Those might be a great hook for a few players but in my experience, the majority of players look for light relief, casual play where they can dip in and out of a game, don't need to think too hard about it and are entertained by feeling superpowerful. That is compounded by the fact that once the way to win in a game like this is worked out, it becomes much easier. When the Incarnate system was introduced some of that content was very challenging. Now people rinse through it in moments because the formula has been unlocked. Whilst I have some sympathy for the OP's view, I fear the practical execution of such a thing might be too difficult to achieve and not attractive to enough players to make it worthwhile.

In a living, non-static environment, where power struggles are the main raison d'etre of the story lines, it would make sense for different groups' power levels to ebb and flow. One morning you're strolling across Blyde Square and the Outcasts are bossing it, the next it's been overrun with Clockwork. Skulls run Kings Row until they don't because the Circle decide that this cannot stand. The issue with that in a non-linear story is that it becomes confusing for the participants (ie players) - One week Group D is the bigger focus, and then next it's Group H. And of course, development time can be very slow in MMOs so as the time is stretched out we might lose track. This is further complicated by the fact that during our own character journeys, from level one to 54 those powers and influences change. That is in part because we're able to face down tougher enemies, and also new content is introduced, but also because the story line has evolved over literally a couple of decades. But with a relatively static game, it becomes difficult (not impossible) and time consuming to portray the various inter-group rivalries of our enemies. If the Skulls rise to the top in one issue, surely the Council and Freaks might resent that and put the beatdown on them and then it's all different again. That gets all a bit Game of Thrones, or Roman, with deals, assassinations, stuff happening more or less behind the scenes, which would be amazing for a novel but would we get the best of it in a player led "front loaded" experience where our primary role is to punch evildoers in the face, where politicking is less of the story than the action? There's a compelling argument to say give all the enemy groups a day in the sun to rise and become a focus but every day has a sunset too. We could end up in a circle that sucks up development time and doesn't add too much to the overarching story line. I don't object to this idea but to me, this is where a dedicated group of volunteer (non-Dev) writers could create stuff in the Mission Architect in a kind of "Para-Lore" series of missions and arcs that give those interested a chance to experience it... and might make the MA more relevant to today's game. Also, why are the Trolls not included in the choice selections? Is the OP Trollist? 😉

I actually think we have the right number of shards and there's populations to suit all tastes. Excelsior is great if teaming is your thing and you want to get something done rapidly and Everlasting meets the needs of our RP community. But the low pop servers have great advantages too. It seems to me that if superheroes existed in a real world setting they'd be few and far between - they would be the last bastion of law and order in a world where it failed and where most who had powers would use their power to serve their own ends regardless of the law. So to become special (ie a player character) would leave you up against the odds. It would literally be a couple of you at best against very powerful enemies and that's where the real feeling of heroism comes from (or supervillainy if that gets your vessel buoyant. As things stand we can meet most players requirements as a community and even if some shards don't meet your needs personally you have no requirement to play on them, just do your thing where you wanna do it and don't fret about anyone else.

Cottaging has never been a rule here. Long may that continue!

Question I've not seen asked here yet: Are you running XP Boosters of any kind. DXP booster means you earn no inf while levelling and the others reduce inf gain commensurately. Just something to bear in mind if unaware

Good question. I like the thought of all major power sets having a "mentor" kind of figure that unlocks those powers for PCs. I think it works well for villains and heroes are kind of missing out just getting those powers when available rather than having to earn them in some way. It needn't be a difficult or long quest, it's more of a right of passage thing and needn't be "gifted" so much as unlocked from within - the mentor just opens a metaphorical doorway, so to speak that enables the PC to gain the new powers. If Scarlet Shocker were to have a Patron Pool it would have to be electric and there's not much wrong with that already, thematically. I would probably rejig a Gremlin pet and fit that in somehow and make it quite controlling, a hold, immob, lots of -End etc, but its electrical nature would mean it needs to be resummoned

I agree with most of this but I genuinely believe that getting rid of XP Boosters would do a lot to encourage people to play the game rather than race to 50. The thing about them is they are now almost ubiquitous (or seem to be) and they encourage faster levelling rather than playing the game through the levels as intended. A few DXP boosts and a couple of hours in a Pocket D farm and you're almost at 50... an afternoon if you're slacking. I don't see any scenario where that's good for the game and we've all seen players who arrive at a TF on a freshly minted 50 with no clue how to play or what to do, and those players aren't gonna stick around because they skipped the parts that got the rest of us into the game in the first place. I'm sure this isn't a popular choice nor do I imagine it would ever be implemented. However, imagine this; Offering a DXP weekend over a holiday - remember how that worked on live? A sudden influx of older players who'd moved on, a few newbies who enjoyed the content, it would bring a shard to life and that would have an ongoing effect for quite a while. Reducing XP gains from the AE would also help greatly. AE as conceived was for player generated content - and there is some amazing stuff in it - but it's overshadowed by farms. Yes, they provide utility and can give a character a boost but again, they detract from the game itself. Making changes after this length of time would get the torches and pitchforks out I'm certain but it would improve the game's health longer term.

Well you'd need to get your baps out first

They were used to block entrances to bases and Ouro, thus preventing players from accessing their destination I believe. I think the Boombox pet would need to vanish if you move far away, and they should be noise cancelling so that only the newest wtihin a given radius can make any sounds

we need a boombox vanity pet

Gouda mighty

Ah, the Black Country where A is for 🐴

Yow fookin' ay no yam yam am ya? Also Dave Holland, one of the greatest living bass players (after Ron Carter, who wasn't born anywhere near the Black Country)

That might be treason

Personally, I'm just happy that the OP namechecked the relevant threads so thoroughly and diligently.

Suspend disbelief but never datbelief

I caught a bug in Outbreak

Yow ay ploid City of Eros until yow've ploid in thay original YamYam

It's not the feedback people don't like about you @Snarky (Ok kidding kidding... or am I?) Joking aside there are several issues going on here I can see. I don't know if I can fix them... but I'm pretty sure I can identify them and maybe that's a beginning Let's take a moment to recognise that change is difficult because it can take you from a place where you are even if you're unhappy to a place you might hate! That's not the goal of our Devs... but change is very difficult because it's a human condition. Our current devs are not amazing at communications. That's like most devs ever. OG devs were the same. To know what's going on in the future as a fan/player/lover of the game you have to actually participate in the future of the game. That is challenging on several levels: Do you have time to participate in future game? Most people have limited time in which to play and with literally thousands upon thousands of characters needing input and care and attention not everyone can afford time to play on a test server to see if [Tweak X] is beneficial. Especially if they play a tank and it's for controllers. Emotional investment counts. Am I a casual player? I played on live, I'm glad the game's back but fuktifino if I'll play if they break the game I love the game. I don't have time. Go slowly and gently but don't ruin my experience. You're a dev, have you given me reason to trust you? Patch notes are patch notes. They fail to deal with feels and emotions. Even if we read 'em Even if I don't like the changes, my voice is worth exactly one single Jackschitt. You'll do what you do but I don't get a voice. Ok, I get it. This isn't a democracy and I don't have any financial investment in the game but that doesn't mean I should be voiceless... but I am, The "Player Council" - I've seen them in many games. Mostly they are toxic and elitist and are highly exclusive (Looking at you MWO) and I have little faith that the feedback I put in the forum is making an impact. Devcoms are pretty poor. This is a criticism I will level here at our team. Not through malice and I appreciate that everyone here is a volunteer but unless you work hard at looking (and even if you do) it is seriously difficult to comprehend the HC Devs train of thought. Regular bulletins/discussions/engagement would be very helpful - although that's a challenge because volunteers. But it does sometimes seem to me that The SkyGods have decreed that... I feel powerless because I don't have technical skilz to bring to this amazing project so my voice doesn't count but "Change X" makes me unhappy. Almost all those complaints (and I've tried to make them impersonal and generic as possible) are emotional. But they remain important. I would argue because we are in a very special place in the gaming world, it's doubly important. We do love what our newdevs give us, and they have truly done an outstanding job of delivering, thus far, but patch notes be like "Welcome to the feast, bread and water is on the menu, choose bread, or water, or both" are not exactly encouraging even if what turns out to be a beef asado with gravy and spices and all kinds of goodness. Bottom line: Communication is key and I don't think we have that yet and I'd implore our Dev team to work on that before they do more game stuff.

That's what she said.