Zortel

We've heard mention that they have things planned up until Issue 29. We've also heard in the past that they don't like announcing things in case they cannot deliver.

I understand the second part, and I also understand wanting to keep some surprises in store.

On the flip side though, there are things often complained about that we feel don't get heeded. Such as the lack of 30-40 and 40-50 content (where in Blueside's case a lot of that content dates back to issue 0/1).

What I'd love to see is a game plan for the next 9 major issues and any half issues/issue updates of what they're hoping to deliver. No specifics.

So say, Issue 22: Solo + Small Team Incarnate Content, iTrial, Trial

Issue 23: 30-40 content Blue/Red/Gold side, base update, PVP changes

Issue 24: 40-50 content, so on, so forth.

They could chuck disclaimers saying that these things aren't final, subject to change, and all the other usual suspects. A game plan for the future would show things such as commitment to the game for the long haul, time to raise queries and suggestions for the later updates and a chance for player/dev interaction on their plans and goals, and our hopes and expectations.

Moths. Those lumiphillic, powdery-winged divebombing monsters from hell. I cheer when the bats swoop past outside and eat them mid-air. I hate them. Also, Crane flies. Spindly legged evil sods.

Spiders I'm fine with though.

Oh, and an obsession with the material of the Health and Safety Executive has developed healthy fears of carbon monoxide, asbestos and other delightful things.

Natasha Sheers' Q&A Session with Foundation Representative Camille Devereaux and clothes designer Ellie Stoneberg can be found here: Vanity Week Kicks off in Pocket D

Vanity Week Kicks Off in Pocket D
Paragon Times Sunday Magazine Culture & Entertainment Section - Sunday 30th October

By Natasha Sheers

The Sophie Michaux Foundation-backed fashion event 'Vanity Week' kicked off last night with an opening party in the lower blueside bar of interdimensional nightclub Pocket D. Models, designers and Sophie Michaux Foundation representative Camille Devereaux could be found by the open bar.

With costume design competitions with a prize fund described as immense to tempt budding designers to visit, the Finale on Saturday 5th was also mentioned to not be missed.

I had the opportunity of a brief question and answer session with Miss Devereaux of the Foundation and of designer Ellie Stoneberg.

Natasha Sheers: In recent years we've seen heroic fashion filter down into the socialite world. For instance, actress Emily Jakes recently sported an outfit that took heavy inspiration from the costume of Freedom Phalanx Member Synapse, a man who saved her life last year from a Council attack. Do you hope to see the styles and items on show this week make their way onto the fashion racks of the famous?

Camille Deveraux: Of course, but we also hope that this week will be the start of accessible fashion for everyone.

N.S: I'm glad to hear. Innovations in hero costumes have already started to make their way into the consumer market, especially as casual and formal items for metahumans. I own an Ellie Stoneberg original, a fireproof dress.

Ellie Stoneberg: I've always felt that just because a person has powers, they should still be able to look good too! Too many have just functional clothing to deal with the difficulties their powers present them with.

C.D: That in particular is something we hope to emphasize. Functionality and fashion should go hand in hand, and if you look at a lot o the more famous heroes - or villains - a lot of consideration has been put into the design of their outfit. But it also goes the other way. A lot of the more high-tech solutions designed for the meta-community's day-to-day work could also be applied in the lives of everyone. Fire-proof clothing as an example. Very useful, but sadly still not on the market for most.

E.S: Ah, now there is an area I've been working on. I've developed some interesting materials such as the fireproof fabric Natasha's wearing, which I generally use in most of my designs.

C.D: I've also seen nano-technology fabrics out there that mend themselves. how useful wouldn't that be in official venues?

E.S: Very much so.

N.S: The cape has long been seen as an item that defines the heroic lifestyle, and has even worked its way into brands and franchise despite the decline in use. Are we looking to see a resurgence in capes, or have heroes moved on past having them?

C.D: I definitely believe we'll see an increase in the use of capes in the future. Especially the hero Edition runway show will be showing off a fair few capes. But, one can never be too sure, it's up to the audience to make that judgement after all.

N.S: In the past year we've seen an influx of Praetorian refugees, bringing with them Praetorian culture. has this had any influence on the fashion world, and are there any examples of Praetorian design to be seen this week?

C.D: I believe the Praetorian designs are still too new to have gotten a foot-hold in our world. But I do believe that we will come to see more of their designs. They have a completely different approach to fashion, and it is interesting to see. Perhaps the future will hold a definitive Praetorian style?

At this point, Mrs Stoneberg has a question for Miss Devereaux:

E.S: I'm curious about one thing, Miss Devereaux. What inspired you to hold Vanity Week? I must say, I always felt Paragon had little interest in the fashion world beyond colorful designs for hero costumes.

C.D: I have always been interested in fashion, so when the idea was raised by the founder of the Sophie Michaux Foundation, I was quick to agree. Given how much our society revolves around costumes, it's rather odd that there hasn't been a similar event in years.

E.S: I've hosted a few small parties in the past, usually launch parties, but its never really occurred to me to try to take it to a wider audience. It's nice to see.

The motto of this week's event is 'Fashion is for Everyone.' After some discussion on sub-culture sources of fashion (referencing the 2005 Freak-Chic style inspired by anarchical gang the Freakshow) and mention of the Fashion and Textiles department of Paragon City University's Steel Canyon Campus, I had a brief amount of time to ask Mrs Stoneberg about fashion and subculture.

N.S: Given the prominence of various sub-culture themed clubs and establishment in the city, and your links to those who attend and back them - Hannah Rolando being a close friend of yours who is a regular and an investor in The Drome, the cyberpunk nightclub in Talos Island - have you ever considered any work with those connections and influences in mind?

E.S: I've done a few things that would be more appropriate to some of these clubs, but I've never actually considered doing a proper line of clothing for them.

N.S: Something you may consider in the future?

E.S: Oh, absolutely! I'm always interested in new lines, and of course, new business.


Vanity Week continues tonight with the Wild West Fashion Exhibition and Competition at the Jolly Roger Bar in Pocket D from 7pm, with its program for the weeks events available at the website: www.paragonvanityweek.com

Sean Wilson, my Vanguard Beam/Dark Corruptor, would certainly like the option to call in corporeal back up rather than ethereal allies. And Zahir Rolando's robot drones should be solid, because he don't work with phasing tech. Seeing as Rushmore. calls down phantom embodiments of Truth and Justice though, that's fine for him.

As far as I'm aware, you can only teleport to a contact:

A: If they're in the Find Contact Window
B: If you haven't spoken to them before.

So it's more 'Hey, come see this guy, we'll beam you over there if you don't know where he is, then you can find your way back to him.'

In my opinion, the way Incarnate Trials works needs a massive redesign, looking at design decisions done right in the game and in others.

Ideas include:

'Gear up' in 8 player teams, 16 player version for added rewards.
More players needed = more hassle and longer to get started. Problematic if on smaller servers. A 16 player version should be available, offering more rewards, and perhaps some bonus badges to account for the added difficulty/more players.

The more teams that can get into the system, the more people that can do it.

30 Minute Maximum run time per iTrial.
Time is a limiting factor for some people, especially if you take into account time to form team. With less members needed, it should be quicker to start one. Also, if a trial should fail, it isn't as much time wasted.

Minor Rewards for Failure to help progression.
Tying into the above, failure should provide something that can help a team gear up in order to win, and make it seem like less of a waste of time.

Narrow down what gimmick is needed for each trial.
Confusion gets a lot of first time trial runners, and FX/information overload can be problematic. Slim down things to what's really needed and remove the extraneous.
Slim down amounts of currency required.
Threads and Components and two types of merits plus shards and shard components and Favours and Notices of the Well plus Physical and Psychic iXP? Is all that -really- necessary?

Allow LFG queuing in instances.
This lets people do other things while waiting to start a trial. In addition, add overworld options for other things to do out of an instance while waiting.

Maybe it's the mystic moon?

Watch out for pillars of light and girls from there.

No longer am I tempted to join a friend on SSA's on newer characters because I don't want to 'waste' that First Time Completion Reward Table on 20 Merits.

No longer do I want to run the first arc in the level range it appears due to getting penalized on my choice of rewards.

No longer do I want to run SSA arcs at all, because I know if I don't do all the leg work of getting to 20, getting tips (which sometimes just do not drop at all for a while) and keeping track on which characters I've affirmed hero status on.

I already don't really run my Rogue and Vigilantes through them due to the lack of reward choice. Now I'm going to run them even less, and team less with friends running them.

I feel sorry for anyone who's wasted 400pp on them. They're nothing that special, and now they're even less so, with an added dollop of hassle.

Last night:

On Natasha Sheers: Nat arrived after taking down an ATM mugger who swung a two by four at her. She made it kindling and then punched him in the face. There was chatter with Mary about shopping lists for Halloween before Toppa and Shanna turned up. When she introduced herself to Starborn, Toppa was a little worried about her being a reporter, seeing as he was discussing some Forseverse stuff.

After some talk about Galaxy City, Nat soon headed off home to start on the Christmas pudding for December, and get coffee and brandy ready for M when she came home.

On Dale Drake: Dale swung by in a bit of an itchy mood, that wasn't helped by Tachyon Spirit's presence and her radiation of magic and high energy particles. Excusing himself, he wandered over and shifted into a werewolf form, and proceeded to meditate for a while before shifting back and wandering over. By way of explaination, it turned out his father had shot a sacred wolf by accident, and Dale bore the brunt of the curse. It's what lead him to study martial arts, as a way to control his new twist on life with discipline and willpower.

On Kuromizu Kei: (Hooray for Alliterative Names?) She was only swinging by briefly from the Vanguard DPO, but the sky went dark as the supernatural banners of war of the Unseelie Court manifested into Founders Falls, so she shifted into the armour of her giant magitech Warstrider, Baltzam, to go and warn people away from them.

In terms of Primary and Secondary elemental powersets, we've still yet to see:

Electric Buff/Debuff
Stone or Earth Buff+Debuff/Blast
Psychic Melee/Armour/Buff/Control (Different from Mind Control)
Dark Control/Assault
Radiation Melee/Armour/Manipulation/Control/Assault
Light Blast/Control/Buff+Debuff/Assault/Melee/Armour/Manipulation
Storm Blast/Control/Melee/Armour/Assault/Manipulation
Sonic Control/Manipulation/Melee/Armour

And that's just for elements. I can think of ideas for Arcane sets, a pistols secondary for Blasters, a natural fighting secondary for Blasters...