Alpha-One

I played a Human Blood Deathknight up to 85 and raided with my wife's guild as off-tank then main-tank for while. I got absolutely bored of "let's hammer our heads against a wall for 4 hours tonight and see if we can beat this boss and maybe the random number generator will give me that one piece of gear that I'd like to have" after about a month.

And after playing Diablo 3 for only 3 weeks, I totally regret signing up for the Annual Pass.

If there's one thing I'll miss about CoH, it's having multiple ways to get "that one piece of gear".

As the father of two young gamers, I can totally relate to your brother. This morning I woke up to find my 5yo playing the iPad, which was recharging in my wife's office, in his room. Sneaky bugger.

Right now my "the End if Nigh" goal is to play through all the CoH, CoV and Praetorian content one more time with 3 different chars. My villain staff/regen brute is 44, my hero beast/nature MM is 24 and I'll be rolling a Praetorian street justice/EA brute. My number one reason for wanting to go VIP again? So I can get back on all my toons and demo-record them for posterity. I can only access 28 of 100+ and can't even access those on Exalted. Nevermind the fact that I'd like to finish getting Hybrid on my main...

I just submitted a diplomatically worded support ticket. What's nice is since I'm not VIP I don't get priority service and can't even look up the status of the ticket.

They have til next Tuesday. The next support ticket won't be so diplomatically worded. Though I'll kindly let the GM who receives it know to direct my ire towards his chain of command.

Well just tried with an original CoV box code and got "The serial code has expired". I guess I'm screwed.

If I don't miraculously become VIP by tomorrow I'll be applying a GTC to my account and see if that works. Call it a $30 bet.

Sent

How can you take over the world if it ceases to exist?

Sometimes working with the good guys is a necessary...

*puts glasses on*

...evil

YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

The Mrs and I will be moving to The Secret World. Not quite a super-hero game, but the modern setting and the tin-foil hat conspiracy/lovecraftian storyline make a nice change of pace from all the standard medieval fantasy MMO fare.

Here's all the stuff I'd like to see happen before the servers shut-down for good:

1. Give everyone VIP status
2. Activate Double XP, permanently
3. Automatically unlock and grant all Incarnate powers to all level 50 characters
4. Reactivate the Paragon Market, with everything priced at 0pts (alternately, provide infinite paragon Points)
5. Turn on ALL the seasonal and holiday events, and all the invasions
6. Finish it off with a final week-long Rularuu Invasion, culminating with Rularuu himself appearing on November 30th to erase the City of Heroes Universe

What's your wishlist?

There is precedent, see Efficiency Expert. The badge you only get one try at, EVER.

Can someone please PM me the secret to avoiding Statescrotch?

I regret to inform you that everything runs fine on my computer. So "they" didn't do it

No, it's Z's fault.

IT'S ALWAYS Z'S FAULT.

No exceptions.

What do Claws, Dual Blades, Katana, Spines, Titan Weapons and Stalkers have in common? They can't have Shield Defense. No shields for them, not theirs. But what if instead of carrying the shield with one arm, the shield was carried by the entire body with the aid of a power generator and mobility enhancements? Well that would be Powered Armor!

Have you ever wished you could Shield Charge into a mass of NPCs and unleash a Spine Burst? Or chain combos with Dual Blades while running Against All Odds? With Powered Armor you could!

My suggestion is essentially a copy-paste of Shield Defense, maybe with a bit of SFX work to make it stand out. Stalkers would lose Against All Odds for Hide, though a moderate +Dmg buff could replace the AoE Def in Battle Agility.

So here goes:

1) Reinforced Alloy Panels: +Def(M), +Res(S,L)
aka Deflection
- Advanced alloys reinforced with a crystallized carbon filament mesh provide basic protection from most impacts.

2) Amplified Reverse Feedback: +Def(R,A), +Res(DefDb) [Stalkers: +Def(R), +Dmg, +Res(DefDB)
aka Battle Agility
- Pressure sensitive transducers combined with an integrated neural sensor matrix amplify the wearor's reflexes ten-fold, rendering them incredibly hard to hit.

3) Ablative Armor Plating: +Res(C,E,F,NE,T), +MaxHP
aka True Grit
- Layered composite plating infused with inert gas micro-bubbles insulate the wearor from the elements and provide an extra layer of protection against high-energy impacts.

4) Inertial Dampers: +Res(Mez,DefDb)
aka Active Defense
- An adaptive resonant field is transmitted through the suit's chassis, preventing external forces from impairing mobility and affecting weapon systems.

5) Reactive Energy Field: +Dmg, Foe -Dmg
aka Against All Odds
- Energy absorbant dampers convert incoming impact energy into useable power which is then directly transferred to weapons systems for an immediate increase in damage output.

6) Tactical Deflector Shield: +Def(M,R,A)
aka Phalanx Fighting
- Field emitters coupled to polarity reversers tap directly into the suit's power core to generate an energy shield capable of deflecting all incoming damage. A sensor matrix calibrates the field to compensate for nearby allies, increasing efficiency.

7) Shield Power Amplifier: Team +Def, +Res(DefDB,RechDb)
aka Grant Cover
- Amplifiers installed on the suit's field emitters allow it to generate a much larger deflector shield, allowing nearby allies to benefit from its protection.

8) Assault Teleporter: PBAoE Sup Dmg, TP, KD
aka Shield Charge
- By dumping reserve power into a parallel sub-space field matrix the suit can teleport to a nearby location, unleashing excess energy in a concussive blast on arrival.

9) Power Up: +Res(Mez, All Dmg), +Rec, +MaxHP
aka One with the Shield
- Safety systems are bypassed allowing the power core to generate at over 150% capacity for a short amount of time, improving the suit's ability to absorb incoming damage while energy transfer rate to weapons systems is substantially increased. However once the generator overheats it will shut-down briefly before powering back up and resuming operation.

One factor that seems to be ignored is history itself. Today's military leadership study Roman battles of yesteryear to learn not only the strategies and tactics used by Roman commanders to defeat their enemies, but also how the Romans reacted and adapted to sudden changes in the tactical situation and overcame them, or failed to overcome them, and why. And this is at the academic level, so even junior officers are well aware of what a Roman legion is capable of in depth and breadth.

The Roman commanders, however, are up against an absolute unknown. The initial engagements would be absolutely horrific losses for them, and they'd be up against an enemy that has a very good chance of accurately predicting what they will be doing next.

"Know yourself and know your enemy. Then you will own the field of battle." - Sun Tzu

Being in the military I've had to live in various areas all afflicted by different sorts of natural disasters. Ice storms and flooding in southern Quebec, forest fires and earthquakes in BC, and now I'm dealing with wind storms and hurricanes in Nova Scotia. The disasters themselves don't worry me so much. I'm trained to deal with the aftermath since I'm a likely first-responder. What worries the crap outta me is NOT BEING THERE when it happens. Like right now, my family might have to face a hurricane while I'm still deployed and can't do anything to help and can't even be home in less than 24 hours if something major does happen. My thoughts go out to those caught in the path, wherever it is.