Techbot Alpha

I'm not an idiot, Umbral, and understandably dislike being talked to like one.
The key phrase is this;

People whined about the Shield Charge changes, the Psi Shockwave changes, stuff that was considered broken by the Devs who are in an infitnitely better place to decide than any player (even if it was a player who pointed out Shield Charge to Castle). Regen is another prime example.

The point being, Stone is on the record as being considered unbalanced. Changes could and, really, should happen. My point is people would complain if Stone Armour was suddenly gold plated, because 'Its the wrong shade!'. Shift happens.

Works fine for the Munitions and Mace costume parts, which are kind of an analogue to power customisation (not quite the same, I know, but damn close)
You suddenly get this new option when you pick the mace/rifle. I'm 95% sure that could be done the same with epic powers.

....

My point exactly

So does any change, even changes for the better. Like, I dunno...Inherent Fitness?
Someone, somewhere, whenver anything is changed will, without fail, find something to carp on about. It happens. Every time.

Except we already have that.
It's called the RWZ arcs and the VG costume pieces. Theres not enough depth to the Vanguard themselves that we don't already know that could be covered.

In comparison, the Rikti have a literal world of lore and mission possibility left untapped.

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Enabling: Mark 3 Translator...

Bill is right, I am incredibly vocal about a potential Rikti AT for the simple reason that the Rikti fit the bill for one perfectly.
Despite what many people seem to think, Epic ATs do NOT mean 'More powerful AT' or 'Harder to play AT'. Those mis-conceptions come from the VEATs and HEATs respectively. They also have equal potential to all the others ATs, although they thrive more in a team based environment.

The real meaning of Epic AT, as many people probably already know, is to have their own unique, 'Epic' storyline. Now, people will complain about the VEATs storyline (myself included) for it's horrible execution, but it is still a storyline that is unique to the AT. Kheldians are a much better example, getting not one but two arcs dedicated to Peacebringers and Warshades.
Why Rikti, then? Well, think about the posibilities;

1) Rikti Homeworld zone, since the Devs seem hellbent on adding more zones rather than revamping (whole other gripe right there...)
2) 1-2 new ATs dealing with the Rikti, unlockable with something OTHER than levels (The Devs have stated before that they'd rather not level gate future EATs, if any were made, instead using other parameters)
3) Tying in the Rikti to the morality system.

I think the first and second points are arguably the most important. What IS the Rikti homeworld like? What's it like on a planet where conversation is all mental? Where there are no spoken words?
And, importantly, the two factions we have on Earth, the peace-seeking Traditionalists and the aggresive Lineage of War. It's perfectly reasonable to assume that their are shades of grey in both factions. Having both 'natural' Rikti and those mutated from Earth-stock, and the struggle to find which side they truly believe in.

The Rikti War plot would need to be moved on even further, which in my opinion would be a good thing; it's one of the most prominent, well written and engaging plots in Primal Earth, where so much of it is badly written dross that doesn't really allow you to care about it. The Rikti War and indeed Civil War allow for so much expansion, so many potential missions it seems insane to NOT do more on it.

Rikti costumes, again, shouldn't be a problem. Sticking to the one Rikti model (and NOT doing the idiot thing they did with VEATs and give you only one uniform slot) while having options to instead use a human model in the slot (disguises and other methods at least one arc touches upon) means that the costume pieces used by NPC Rikti, which are actually surprisingly varied when you include the various 'non-combatant' versions you see fairly frequently, along with the different face mask, head dresses, commlink and helemts, allows for a considerable ammount of customisation and colouring.
And, of course, certain areas can have baked-in mapping for the glow maps that appear at night. It works on the Rikti costume code, it works on normal Rikti, no reason it shouldnt work for PC Rikti.

As for powers, well, that may seem like a slightly more complex choice. I think branching power trees would be advisable, while maybe breaking down some of the more rigid NPC barriers.
For example;

Blade-Blast/Armour Systems; represents a Chief Soldier as we know them, utilising heavy armour, close quarter and ranged attacks with some squad based support powers or possibly debuffs
Blade-Psionics/Armour Systems; Chief Mentalist/Mesmerist focussing on offense, mez and self protection
Blaster-Blade/Support Systems; More akin to a Guardian or Comms officer, sacrificing self protection for team protection and call-in support

Thats a very vague and in-complete description, but it hopefully conveys the fact that, with some modability added to the existing powers and a few new ones, it would be VERY easy to make a Rikti EAT and make it a real blast to play, without just being a reskin or another AT.


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Mirror Spirit.

I HATE Mirror Spirit, simply because her character model is beautiful. The ammount of detail, high def, high quality detail there is insane! And I want it! D=

Well she does, now. She used to be alright, but Hololywood insiss on pumping its actresses full of botox lip and fake boobs that doesn't detract from the fact that a lot of them can't even act.

I'd rather have a real body and real acting talent than a mostly artificial body and the talent of a stunted walnut.

Ahhh....'Hollywood'!

So much awesome

Amen to that, Chris.

And thanks. I wish we had a plain version of the samurai 'browguard' thinger =/