OmegaOne

For an individual character, I'll go with Dr. Vahzilok. I still remember the first time I ran into him way back in the day during a random low-level story arc and had to broadcast to get help to deal with him. What a crazy design - a half-naked Dr. dude sticking out of the chest of a giant machinegun-armed meat suit. Rularuu and his "fragments" (Faathim, Lanaru, etc.) all have a cool design too. In terms of a whole faction, I like the look of the Praetorians/IDF.

Old school eh? Don't forget to restrict yourself from selecting a Travel Power till level 14 and no capes till level 20!

Horizontal progression would be more like adding new power sets, pool powers and enhancement sets, which they are already doing. I could also see them adding additional TYPES of Incarnate powers for certain categories like Lore or Judgement to fill out different character concepts, but unless they have a means to make content even more challenging I'm not sure they will be adding the higher tier Incarnate powers past Hybrid.

That could take a while. Keep an eye on the Skywind project. Might be your best bet in the near future.

Well SOMETHING concerning a "IV" is getting announced on April 22 (according to the Bethsda Softworks Youtube channel). Kinda feel sorry for the Skyblivion mod crew but then their mod would probably not be available on consoles.

I'd imagine an Elec/Elec/Mu Tank with Preemptive slotted in Interface would be pretty good at draining END

They can have their place, but they don't necessarily have to be included in every power. It can be a bit overwhelming/annoying if both of your power sets feature them (have to keep track of two different "stacks" - like Marine Affinity + Water Blast.). Maybe if powers of a similar theme shared a common resource or had other interactions it wouldn't be so bad.

Another server group has it but it had to be cobbled together as not all the FX were available if I recall correctly. Personally - given the last few power sets released by Homecoming, I'd expect something more along the lines of "STORM CONTROL". It could feature many of the mechanical effects of a Wind Control, but could also incorporate some power FX from Storm Summoning, Storm Blast, and possibly some Ice powers, Water powers and/or Electric/Lightning powers.

Agreed - Enhancement Diversification was a much-needed change to the game. The main issue with it is that the balancing factor (enhancement sets and other adjustments) came later instead of simultaneously.

How about an Assault set that uses conventional melee and ranged weapons (less gadget-y than the upcoming Arsenal Assault)? But we can select the skin of the weapons from the already-existing models (swords/axes/hammers for melee, bows/guns for the ranged).

Well they are already filling the "thematic gaps" for the different AT Epic pool powers, so continue on with that! 😁 In general - if there are any more opportunities to proliferate powers to different ATs, that would be great. Gadgetry and Utility Belt Power Pools, to finish off the origin sets. Travel Pool Power - Grapnel: * Parkour (+run and jump toggle, can jump off of surfaces, +DEF) * Swing Kick: swing or zip into a foe, doing damage + knockdown * Swingline (physics-based - operates like a reverse/upside-down-jump - hold down shift while swinging and let go at a point in the arc. press again to fire off another line) - Zip Line - gives a burst of speed forward or straight up * Entangle: Single-Target Immobilize or hold. Swing Kick gets some benefit from entangled foe (+Dam?) * Deft Maneuvers: toggle, Self +Speed, Res(-Spd, Immob, +control while you swing/fall), +Def(All), less Def if you attack. Wind/Air/Storm Control and Water Control for Controllers/Doms - just to finish off those elemental control types. What about Heroic Patron Power Pools? If not from the Freedom Phalanx but from some of the good organizations like Vanguard, PPD, Longbow, Legacy Chain. A few organization-appropriate powers based on AT and a summon for one of their soldiers.

Short of finding a way to get rid of the whole unique name thing, I don't see any good way out of this. It was a short-sighted design flaw that still haunts us from the very birth of the game and I don't think there is a simple or easy way to change it (if possible at all). In any case, people who have 100 level 50s will still be sitting on those names years from now (even if they abandon their account) and the time-release name solution they came up with should have been turned on from the get-go (but even that has limited usefulness). Maybe if they extend the name-release to level 50's as well? Apart from software changes, you could try your luck on another shard or as others have suggested, try to "be more creative".

The whole "unique name" thing that COH has is one of my pet peeves with the game, even from day one almost 20 years ago. Who cares if someone who created a character 5 years ago and hasn't touched it since has the same character name? I'd rather see another character with the same name as one of mine than the "leet speak" derivatives. I know the "character@account" method that other MMOs use is likely not something that could be brought to this game (current method probably baked into how the servers talk to each other) but one could dream. That said with the sudden influx of new players, I wouldn't be surprised if that naming policy they have been threatening to implement is actually switched on soon.

Give those guards a break - they have a tough job. Like the two that guard the gate from Crey's Folly to the Rikti War Zone, staring down a literal army of Freakshow all day.

No - NCSoft still has the leash as they are the IP Holder. You would still be living by their good graces. You may be envisioning a world where CoX servers keep popping up like weeds (despite the technical and financial difficulties), and if they are feeling like it NCSoft can play whack-a-mole with the servers. But that situation is not good for the players of an MMO either. No permanence, no progression, no community - all vital for an MMO. Even if the populations are kept small and server kept secret (like 2012 to 2019), you don't have the "massive multiplayer" of the game, just a wilted, sickly plant kept in the darkness.