Arctic_Princess

Bah!

I suppose there will be further attacks to do actual IG stuff with.

Omy is correct! There was a plan to co-ordinate people into zones depending on the outcome of the initial raid, forwarded by Sue.

Fiction will have to wait as I am out tonight, tomorrow, Friday, and possibly Saturday. I may have time to breathe at some point, and breathing allows me to hit the keys in an orderly fashion.

Have fun, in whatever shape that turns out to be, and I'll be back soon(ish).

Stupid question, but is the Praetorian Surge thread for ALL fiction relating to the invasion, or just the Praetorian side?

If AP is to 'recruit' others in Indy Port then I don't want to clutter a thread not intended for that purpose.

Gadzooks! I can't make it on Wednesday until much later. So there goes direct server involvement from AP and (recruitment of anyone she can persuade to help defend Indy Port).

I'll have to stick to forum stuff, I guess. Shame, but there ya go.

Also, I feel like being the one to point it out because I'm in a good enough happy place to weather the storm: please stop trying to sabotage each other's ideas. So what if someone wants to do something? Let them try it. If you want your character to do something to battle against the Praetorians then go for it.

Ridicule of other people's ideas stinks.

Is anyone good with maps and making them look pretty?

AP volunteered for Indy Port duty and it would be neat to take the map of Indy and divide it up. Trouble is, I'm terrible at that sort of thing.

It would also help me in 'recruiting' people for each divided section of Indy Port.

Recording Initiated by Lady Babel

Lady Babel: This is Lady Babel of Liberty Force. I'd like to record this little gathering for posterity.

Conall Seolfor: Hm ... time to wake him up I think.

Iron Vanguard: Him? C'mon, if I'm staying awake...

Lady Babel: I, Lady Babel, promise to uphold the principles of justice, to face future threats, and to protect those I have come to know as friends. It's cheesy, but it works for me.

Conall Seolfor: It is okay

Megan Incarnate: He's been in doggy mode the whole time. Jeez.

Conall Seolfor: He did it for my own good

Lady Babel chuckles

Iron Vanguard: ...Typ-ic-al.

Conall Seolfor: I have been without sleep for more than 2 weeks…

Iron Vanguard: And I've been … er ... asleep. For 2 weeks.

Conall Seolfor: We have catching up to do.

Tomb Guard chuckles, though there is a tint of nervousness to it, then clears his throat: Hm, excuse me whilst I get myself a drink.

Iron Vanguard: Shouldn't you be sleeping?

Conall Seolfor: Later...

Megan Incarnate: . . . drink?

Conall Seolfor: Right now... I want to be here, with you.

End of Recording

Voice Recording initiated by Lady Babel

Iron's predicament is affecting us all in different ways - Conall is the most notably affected. I would have liked to reach out to him when Iron denied all knowledge of the past two months, but my mind was focussed more on a way to restore my teammate to her proper self.

I think I have found a method of drawing Iron's energy back to the same place. I admit I wasn't there to witness her encounter with Tyrannix and Lord Chill, so I may be totally off the mark, but Monty has handed me a ritual spell as reward for my efforts in aiding him and the Midnighters.

The writing looks to be mid-sixteenth Century, old English. I had to control myself or risk the words rising from the page and entering my head again - who knows what damage an absorbed incantation could wreak? I translated to modern English on a piece of old parchment and showed Conall.

There was, sadly, a shopping list of the kind of ingredients that only amateur witches bother with: spider webs, newt teeth, silver weed... all very banal. But there is one thing that is missing - it's called an Ambient Accumulator Lens - and of course it's rare and elusive!

I spoke with Civil, Conall, and our ally in all of this, Megan. Civil mentioned Konrad was versed in magic. Megan was being very cagey about the subject - she didn't like the look of the crudely-drawn lens I had copied.

I left Conall to go out and menace some Circle of Thorns mages. He thought they would most likely have such a device, or know of its whereabouts. Civil left, possibly feeling out of his league where magic is concerned. I forget sometimes that my gift of understanding can often lead others to believe I am truly confident about a subject, when in fact I am as nervous as they are about the unknown. And I have always said that understanding is not the same as knowing.

Now I need to find the switch for this blasted machine. I need a drink and some quiet meditation before I attempt to capture my voice again. Where is the-

Recording ends abruptly

Babel's Journal

The Modern World is a muddled, confusing, paranoid, violent place.

I fought with Civil on Friday. I had little choice as he was possessed by the shapeshifter, Tyrannix. He had wired the base up with explosives. We fought, I revealed the true extent of my powers, subdued him and was able to extract the disarming codes from his poor, tortured mind.

A few days before I had revealed my secrets to our leader, Rogue Manipulator. He reassured me that I was still welcome within the team.

I wonder how much of that battle Civil remembers.

And now Civil will not submit to the law - he appears to have ended the life of a woman called Jessica Granger whilst at the same time defeating Tyrannix. And so I find myself writing this journal, in the vain hope that he might read it and realise just how much he would be throwing his life away by running back to England.

And the more I learn about him, the more I realise that we have been cast in similar roles. I just hope that he can see sense.

((This page of the journal is placed discreetly in Civil's living quarters))

*The logs of Liberty Force are accessed by Lady Babel*

*A camera image shows Lady Babel reading information and then hurrying away*

Some time later...

*Communications log activated*

"Anyone? Please?"

"There's no one. Just me."


*Base sensors pick up activation of psionic power. The minor damaging of a wall near Babel's quarters is registered. Sound recordings of a man screaming. Temperature recordings of a fluctuating heat source are logged*


*Exit from base detected*

*pipes in, remembering one thing!*

The Rikti don't like Magic very much. That's what I remember, the following is my interpretation of it: They either stopped believing in gods, and so magic dissipated, or they destroyed their gods. I'm always confused on that point.

The developments in the RWZ, with the introduction of the Rikti Magus and Hro'Drhtz (spelling?) came about as the Rikti are trying to rediscover magic to counteract their weakness to it.

*half-remembers something else*

Darrin Wade is a servant of Rularuu (who was banished by the Midnight Squad and other mystics to the Shadow Shards).

*leaps away*

Donna's Journal

I spoke with the team after my encounter in Talos Island with the masked gunmen. I was shaken, understandably, but I didn't tell them about the screams of the people I didn't manage to save that continued to reverberate in my head long after the building exploded.

I didn't even stop to check on those I had managed to save. Some of them were unconscious of course. As I turned towards the sea, the sirens were howling. But the screams were louder.

I cannot put my finger on when it happened, but I think I have lost control of my powers: The barriers necessary for a psion to exist from day to day have eroded. I think the transfer from my time to now may be to blame.

...

I met Konrad Kreed. He is a wight, a former vampire, in fact everything that makes my life here difficult. I thought that Conall's status as a werewolf was bad enough, and then Iron stepped up to the plate and my preconceptions about my teammates have been blown out of the water!

Konrad and Iron were sparring and things turned nasty. Well, almost. Conall and I were on hand to calm the situation if necessary. Iron and Konrad were shouting in various languages and then Iron said something, or did something, and I was totally thrown. I think I will have to speak with her privately on the subject.

Having um-ed and ah-ed over the whole 'What happened between the potential of AE in my head and the reality of it?', plus my violent reaction to farms and the unfathomable (to me) concept that 'I pay my money so I can cheat how I like', I've been thinking of late about how arcs can be removed for individuals when searching. Especially something that would not be griefing but instead be personal choice.

How about a 'Ignore arcs by this user' function?

It simply* filters out arcs by a global username. It may take a while of typing in the name of a global for each person you don't want to see the arcs of.

Similarly a 'search for arcs by username' that actually works (or more specifically a 'more arcs by this user' function) to balance out the negative aspect of ignoring people via the AE interface.

Any thoughts?

*Insert standard 'not a simple task' rant

Babel's Journal

I have been reading. A lot. I was speaking with Conall in that infernal 'nightclub' yesterday and I imparted that understanding is not the same as knowing. I swear that sometimes the words rise up from the pages of books and just enter my head. It is disturbing. I suppose, though, that in my time there was less to read.

My head still hurts from our battles in Faultline. The initial encounter with Kurse was an eye-opener: His mind was like a sleek, steel ball. I found it difficult to battle him, despite my two non-Liberty Force companions Felistro and the girl (I didn't catch her name).

When my teammates encountered Felistro, they kept remarking on his attire as if it was something out of the ordinary. He was a psion, like myself, with perhaps a sense of the dramatic that made him all the more interesting to me. He reminded me of one of the temple priests, although it was clear that he was not from my time.

The girl intrigued me - she was quiet yet powerful. Perhaps she could be recruited to the team?

All I will say about the shapeshifter is this: His mind was spiky and cold. When I touched him, in order to find out who he was, I had to hold it together long enough not to let on to him that I was so disgusted by his mind. I retired shortly after - my mind was spinning from the prolonged battles with Kurse and Nocturne. And I daren't attempt to overexert my powers, or my teammates might get hurt.

Understanding the way Suggestions and Ideas works is your friend.

For instance, behaving like Verucca Salt does not win friends (for your idea) and influence people (for your idea).

All I'm hearing from the OP is 'Daddy, I want an Oompa Loompa NOW!'.

So here's a little task for you: Ask yourself why you were attracted to City of... in the first place, and what keeps you subbing.

My reason for asking those questions is: If you are dissatisfied with the service then make a complaint. This forum is not necessarily a magical place where Developers hang out and go 'Well 2 people have said we should have vehicles, so let's get the whiteboard out and make it happen!'

If you are not dissatisfied with the service, but are voicing your desires within a reasonable framework then 'go you'. Who knows, if we're all here in another 7 years then chances are the majority of people will have bought a new rig by then and it'll be open season for graphical upgrades and fascists riding dinosaurs with frickin' laser beams.

Donna's Journal

I fear I am as much use to the team as an empty urn is to a man in the desert, crying for water. Part of this stems from my fear that the group will have to find out my terrible secret, one which I am tempted to record here but if it were to fall into the wrong hands would surely spell my end.

I am holding back my powers. And it is making me paranoid.

Take, for instance, this case with the shapeshifter: He or she (or it?) has infiltrated the police, Longbow, and even the Council. So when I met the young man, Conall, my first instinct was to jump into his mind and find out all of its dirty secrets. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

I opted, instead, to shake his hand and in doing so touched a well of sadness deep within him. I suspect it is why he drinks - that and his own perception of his status as a werewolf.

I suggested to my teammates that we ought to patrol together. This was met with a positive response, yet my personal desire to seek out knowledge within the halls of the Midnighter Club made me forget the time and I have yet to gather us together.

As for that hateful child, who calls herself 'Miss Rad', I felt the edge of my power react instinctively to her presence. I suppressed my desires to crush her mind...

I should leave it there. My blood boils and I must not harbour these desires for too long. They'll be the death of me.

A small journal, kept well-hidden, in the room of one Lady Babel, newly of Liberty Force

I'm not sure about these people, the majority of whom are men (of course). One moment I am on my way to temple and the next... here. At least, that's what I have told my new colleagues.

Rogue's intentions that we should 'rid the City of all crime' seem a little naive to me. I'm not sure he understands the nature of humanity enough. Perhaps it's part of his dimensional make-up?

The others seem friendly enough, some of them are quick to make friendships which from personal experience can be a good thing. I just hope that none of them are badly injured - I have seen great men crumble before now at the sight of a comrade in terrible condition.

And finally, for this evening, I am happy to record that I now live in a World which does not fear someone with my talents. I am not to be revered like some porcelain statue, but I am free to use my talents as a psion without some ill-educated sloth attempting to lynch me.

This modern World has not changed much, but then my talent for understanding obscures the changes somewhat.

AP in terms of roleplay/game mechanics suffers from being too powerful gameplay-wise. I can solo on x6 with her with ease (not x8, unless they're lame Council Earth goons), and she's just a woman with a katana.

The obvious fudge for me is fighting Hellions at lower levels. Well, any of the powers used against a character would put 'street-level' characters in hospital/the morgue, with or without the teleport mechanism. But guns hurt, and a shot to the head will kill you.

So, for me, RP and game mechanics are separate for the most part.

Right, I have just purchased a new laptop (v exciting, etc) but of course the Updater (downloaded from my account page) is doing the whole 'Connecting #x' thing.

I have McAfee as an anti-virus, the spec of my laptop is enough to run the game, and wondered if there was anything blocking the updater from starting to download City of Heroes.

EDIT: The EU Updater from the account page doesn't work, it would seem. Also, don't let the laptop go to sleep as then the download resets and won't restart, it would seem.

Congratulations on surviving this long before this subject rears its ugly head. Is it on an 18 month cycle now? Still I suppose it beats 'TOTAL RESPEC' and 'VEHICLES'...

Primary powers are the ones that define the role. Secondaries support that role.

Exceptions (such as Shield Charge for Brutes and Scrappers) are useful Secondaries that unlock at later levels: i.e. Drain Psyche.

Primary powers are picked and the first power may be skipped if desired. Brutes benefit from taking their Tier 1 Primary as it helps to keep Fury at a decent level early on AND through their career. Blasters benefit because they have access to Tier 1 and 2 powers when mezzed. Also, the first blast is a handy 'utility' power if a player decides to slot procs such as chance for hold, as it fires off quickly and recharges quickly. Corruptors can benefit as they also have a utility blast and a cheaper way of finishing off mobs, especially when Scourge is in effect.

Secondary-wise, Stalkers get Hide, Tankers get bruising, Blasters get a power they can use whilst mezzed.

The Tier 1 secondary is, admittedly, a mixed bag but still serves as a power. Whether or not you use that power is up to you, but I don't believe there is a compelling argument FOR removing the Tier 1 Secondary as a mandatory power pick. Some Tier 1 Secondaries are useful, others (especially on some support characters) seem less so and it depends on playstyle.

Defender blasts, like Corruptors, Domis, and Blasters, can be used as utility blasts.

Blaster secondaries (the immob ones) are handy early on, especially when damage is high compared to mob resistance. I often respec slots out of the Tier 1 Secondary later on and take it out of my attack chain. Energy Manipulation's Power Thrust, however, is an attack I hang on to. It's awesome, and can be slotted up to be a handy bailing power.

Controller secondaries can be a bit lame - mainly Gale from Storm Summoning - (because Defenders get to skip some of the less obviously useful powers) but again it's just a power that can be ignored if necessary and moved on from. As a character you are not missing out.

So I disagree with the OP - please DO NOT fix it so that we are not forced to pick the t1 power in our secondary.

*runs in, late*

Aw, I missed it.

Anyway, here's to playing through some arcs.

*squeals* (with delight)

I'm normally down with that sort of thing. I will go and check the updates.

Okay, not exactly a suggestion but more of a hypothesis:

Praetorian Calvin Scott lost his wife to Mother Mayhem.

Big war looms, Praetorians invade, Phalanx and Vindicators strike back.

Amidst the confusion, Aurora and Calvin meet. Possibly they fall in love, possibly Aurora is used as a decoy imposter to prevent the Resistance from doing something crazy with explosives.

Aurora decides to stay, or is forced to stay.

No idea what happens to Primal Earth Calvin Scott. Poor chap.

Malaise takes over Training Duty in Indy Port. Hilarity ensues.

Don't ask me why this scenario popped into my head, but it did. Could it have an impact on the story? Would there be a Hades/Persephone parallel drawn somewhere? (Greek myth: Persephone, daughter of Demeter, is tricked into following Hades to the Underworld and, long story short, for six months she resides in the mortal realm (hence Spring and Summer), and the other six months she resides in the Underworld (Autumn and Winter)).

More importantly, could we get access to the 'A Mind In Danger' TF that went when the 5th Column disappeared? In Ouroboros, naturally.

AP's Personal Wishlist for existing content

Atlas Park and Galaxy City

• If there is any new content planned for the 1-5 range then please consider putting it in Galaxy City. This also goes for events (such as Weddings, Deaths, Births, Bar Mitzvahs, Apocalpyses). I get that Atlas Park is the location of City Hall and all that jazz, but Galaxy needs some love.
• More flavour for Hero Corps to distinguish them from other contacts. Similarly a bit more flavour for the FBSA contacts too. By flavour I mean personality, as opposed to imposing flavour on player characters.
• Stripping contacts such as Tony Kord out of the contact chain and making them FedEx contacts, or providers of repeatable missions for the zone. In my opinion, seeing how quickly people can level from 1-10, there seem to be too many contacts for the very early level range (all of whom give out the same missions depending on Origin, as we know) so paring them down and giving them more flavour could make for a pseudo-alternative path for Blueside.

Off to lunch now, more later!

Aaaaand... Back!

Kings Row, for me at least, has become the place where you get your Raptor Pack, and has handy Wentworths and store contacts. Some of the missions are a bit far out, but really since the movement of certain contacts to more sane locations, the zone is good. It's supposed to be a bit of a rundown, industrial distrct and it feels like that. HOWEVER - as with the GR content, why not add a few 'named' warehouses and offices to tie in with the existing 'generic' content? This would be especially useful with the Bonefire and Clockwork Captive arcs, extra-especially an actual physical location for Lou's Garage.

Skyway and Steel, again for me, seem to have a bit of conflict going on: The Hollows is, despite being able to do the missions blinfolded, still a good place to play. Sure, there's less reason it seems now to 'learn how aggro works' and to learn how to navigate efficiently and effectively (i.e. not being sent into zones with +6 enemies, or made to cross the Gulch (into zones full of +6 enemies), but the revamp worked to consolidate The Hollows as a place to encounter a good plot (Wincott, The Outcasts, The Trolls), which is good for new peeps and veterans alike. Often this means an outlevelling of Skyway and Steel, and I think if there were stronger stories in both zones, then people might be more inclined to try them out.

Skyway and Steel, as I said before, seem to clash. Specifically level-wise. Content-wise they have some differing arcs, but I'm totally for the turning of zones (for the most part - I'd keep some of the higher level arcs open to travelling round the City) into 'zone stories'. I think Skyway could do with a lift here - it's a sort of throughway to what used to be an awful zone (Faultline), which is now an awesome zone with a Story. The gimmick of the roadways works for 5 minutes, then becomes annoying. It's also got several neat 'events' which I feel could be backed up with consistent storylines:

• Troll Rave - It's a surprisingly fun event (that grants badges) and yet there's little else in Skyway itself that explains more about Superadine. In fact, the majority of the early plot of the Trolls is played out in the Hollows (unless you avoid the Hollows, but then why would you when contacts give out a 'Go speak to Wincott' mission?).
• Babbage - As part of the Synapse TF, I like that the Babbage fight is restricted to Skyway. Especially as Synapse is in Skyway. So I guess this one is covered by a TF (which needs a rewrite - desperately!)
• The Paladin - Okay, whut?! Why is he suddenly in Skyway, near Faultline, when he is being built in Kings? If the damned thing's going to remain randomly in Skyway, then I want to know more about why it's there.

I also happen to think that Skyway would be an excellent introduction to The Tsoo (with a zone-linked story). We currently have arcs, but again they tend to make you travel to other places for no good reason. The Tsoo/Troll connection (namely drugs) could also be worked on here. Also the Tsoo are fun. Yes they can be a pain, but no more than the Circle of Thorns at that level. Featuring them more would make the entrance to Indy Port and Talos less jarring, and might even explain a bit better as to their influence on the drugs trade in Paragon.

I could go on for hours and hours, but I won't. These are all personal wants and even this post's content would, I imagine, take a LONG time to implement. It's not just a case of rewriting existing stuff, but putting in new stuff too to flesh it out.

For me, GR is very interesting content. It appears to have learnt from the legacy content and missions, despite some difficulty curves, flow better without too much searching around and/or travelling between zones to do the same thing over and over. Previous revamps were welcome, especially Faultline.

And whilst I like new shiny, I also want to see better oldy. I don't want to speak to Anton Sampson (or whatever his name is) and then go click 37 'crates' in a warehouse full of Nemesis Snipers.

Whilst I doubt we'll get 'branching dialogue' for old content, I would liek to see attention paid to assets already in existence that could be so much better. Posi 1 and 2 are now a joy to play. Perhaps people just need to go through existing arcs withy a fine tooth comb and point out why they need a rewrite/revamp on an arc-by-arc basis?

Well yes, but that's because there's no 'disappearing contacts' in Paragon and the Rogue Isles. (Dare I say "...yet"?)

Also the new Maria Jenkins has States going missing midway through the arc, which makes a bit more sense (to me at least).

I think there could easily be a few '[Insert name of major character] Dies!' arcs, heck with tips even characters like Ravenstorm (Striga Isle trainer) are getting in on the action and *drools* Apex's TF is coming in Issue 19. I'm dribbling fanboyishly in anticipation that Horus MIGHT be in it! But to 'kill off' States is going a bit far.

It would be like doing the Countess Crey arc, arresting her, and from then on all Crey content being banned for the character(s) that participate.

Statesman is more of an icon. He is a beacon of good, with a dark past (yadda yadda), who represents the fight for freedom. In the comics he's a bit of a jerk, but then he is the avatar of Zeus. And as all RPers know, God moders (especially in pocket D) are equally jerks.