Attache

Yeah, because of that statement I tried to get a shot of my character actually doing something apart from just posing but I don't think it had anything to do with anything. I get a lot of compliments on that character but a contest like this is subjective and even I have to admit that insect themed characters aren't terribly original. I have no way of knowing if I was even in the running but if I was, I'm sure I lost some points for originality.

I like most of the winners I'm seeing - so far not a head scratcher in the bunch. Congrats, everyone!

One of the ones that I liked. Congrats!

I've not gotten a message. This information simply must be incorrect!

I'm amazed that you didn't get a single name off your list within the first hour. I had arranged to go in late on the day Freedom went live but the delays forced me to head into work before they came up and I didn't get home to try for a single name until they'd probably been up for a good couple hours. I didn't get everything I wanted - to be sure - but I had a pretty good batting average considering. And I don't think my name desires were terribly obscure - I wouldn't have been surprised to have found 90% of them taken before I could get to the computer. I guess I really did get lucky. I really am sorry that you didn't.

Some folks like one word names as an extension of simplicity of theme. You might as well ask (in your best Seinfeld) what's the deal with all the one-word names in comics because it is fairly common. Sure, there are plenty of two word and compound word names too but simple one-word names have plenty of precedent and representation in the genre. My Exalted list - which I intend to post shortly - has quite a few one-worders on it.

Yeah, I think Maiden America was second on my check list. Fortunately, I had some alternates that are probably as good but it is the one I really wanted.

I had tried Harpy and Succubus myself but you'd already snagged them. They weren't really names on my list but I could have come up with something for them.

All in all, I can't really complain. I was able to get most of my higher level character names on Exalted - I wanted an active place to send them if I ever need to make room on Virtue. Or if Exalted becomes the new place to be, I can just transfer them over. Either way, I was pretty happy to get the ones I really cared about.

Besides those names, I hit on about 66% of the others I wanted and the ones I missed were no great shakes though not getting Templar or Maiden America stung a little as I had grand plans for both. Still, I know the guy who got Templar and I'm sure he'll do an awesome character.

All in all, pretty happy in spite of the issues on launch day. I probably would have felt greedy if I'd done any better.

Sure, I could maybe see Posi coming off a bender or something and declaring the other designs great but if I recall correctly, it was stated as a collective 'we' as in 'we fell in love with the new design.' I take that as meaning that a fair majority of development looked at the old new designs and were vocal in their support. If there are that many 'yes men' running around Paragon Studios, I'm slightly worried about future re-designs.

Also, I was and am posting with my tongue a little in my cheek. Still, it does seem like an awfully quick turnaround on this. Positron's post in the Circle of Warcraft was less than 2 weeks ago. Something may be rotten in Mountain View.

I'm still going to make that tinfoil hat but I'll use enough to do a proper CoT Death Mage conical cap. How does that sound?

Yeah, the turnaround on this seemed to be a little quick. Also, I find it hard to believe that anyone "fell in love" with the prior design. I don't generally buy into grand conspiracies but I'm making a tin foil hat, just in case.

I lean towards simple designs myself and these definitely look a little flashy to me but I can roll with them. They may look better in game.

I understood it was kind of a 'proof of concept' photoshop and that the suggestion was for a feathered strapless solid one-piece. I didn't think you were suggesting that this exact look be the look and I think anyone who claims that they thought that is being deliberately obtuse.

If some people think that the feathers are too much, a good textured white strapless one-piece with some feathered trim around the leg openings and the bustline might be a good substitute. With the shawl, there probably is a danger of overloading the feathered theme.

I'd love to know the answer myself. Having some solid tech parts with buttons and lights would work wonderfully with alternate animations for some powers. I'd much rather engage Cloaking Device with a touch on my tech gauntlet or blinking belt than the current animation - which is probably best described as 'trouble at toilet time'.

This is my favorite of any of the re-designs posted here so far. Very true to the original while still being new look. Something along these lines that really played with the feathers theme would be great.

And I think those p'shoppin' skills are pretty solid. Nice job.

It is my understanding that he's not. I contacted one of the other "lore" guys about picking up Manticore's 'Fodder for the Canon' thread but never heard back. It's a shame.

Sorry, I had a couple slow days at work.

Kirby dots even have their own wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby_dots

Kirby tech I would guess just really refers to the very distinctive way he drew machinery. It's hard to describe and I'm actually waiting for a league to form and don't want to miss the button. To shorthand it, Kirby's machines were usually big, blocky powerful looking things with very distinctive raised lines and angled patterns and pulsating energy. He really defined the Marvel house style there for awhile in the 60's and 70's and a lot of artists were doing machines the Kirby way there. You can even see some of the artifacts of his influence today. It's kind of cool.

Emphasis is mine.

I know he was pretty well liked by a lot of the community but I always felt like BABs was one of those guys who used pessimism as a tool on the forums. He would seldom say something was outright impossible but he would calmly explain in detail why various things were pretty unlikely. I can definitely understand the approach – some readers are going to interpret anything even mildly positive as some kind of binding promise – but it always rubbed me the wrong way because it’s the way you deal with children. I’ve not been one of those for some time.

The optimist in me says that Freedom makes a lot of ‘not gonna happen’ things a little more possible, especially if there is demand. If they determine that they can profitably make and sell custom animations and effects for travel powers, then they will probably take on the crushing labor of doing those animations for the various poses. As it stands, desire seems to be high but they probably won’t be able to determine demand until they get a bead on just how much people are willing to spend in the Paragon Market. At that point, we’ll all know a little better about what could be possible.

It’s also worth mentioning that while doing those specialized animations is undeniably a HUGE amount of work, a lot of powers share animations so it’s not quite as daunting as when you look at a list of all the ‘unique’ powers. Additionally, some powers could convincingly have their animations simply turned off when the specialized travel power is in effect – kind of how you get no animation when you activate most toggles while in motion. The self-interruption you mention with Ninja and Beast Run could also cover some potential travel power customizations and actually work well with suppression – if your customized super speed ice slide cut off when you attacked, it kind of works thematically that maybe you need to concentrate a little to create it. Sure, it isn’t as nifty as being able to blast away while you skate by but the suppression mechanic would ruin that anyway. We might as well go with the flow.

Lastly, I could even see some powers being convincingly unusable when some custom travel powers were in effect. If you’re flying on a broomstick, it would probably make sense that you need to keep one hand on it. Any power that requires both hands would either need an alternate one handed animation or could be grayed out. I wouldn’t love it but I could live with it – it’s just the total graying out that makes me crazy. This specific graying out would also seem to be possible as some powers already are unusable if you are not on the ground. Some customized versions of ‘Fly’ could just expand on that mechanic.

To me, it does seem like custom flight powers are the real stick in the mud because there are just so many wonderful imaginative things you could do with the power and each and everyone one of those specialized flight poses would need to be a new starting point for each and every attack animation, minimally. And that is, indeed, a lot of work but probably no more than it was to ditch those “baked in” colors and get us that customization. I see travel power customization as something just as radically game changing as color customization was (more so, in fact) but YMMV.

Yes, I’m trying to stay optimistic.

Good and bad are pretty subjective concepts. Again, Rob Leifeld didn’t ruin stylized anatomy in comics or for all time. Many acclaimed comics artists have exaggerated styles without suffering the slings and arrows that Leifeld has in his career. Let’s face it: A fair bit of the criticism that he gets for his artistic style is as much about sloppy business practices, alleged plagiarism, and poor work habits. At the peak of his career, there wasn’t near as many voices decrying his art as there are today. He seemed pretty popular to those of us who were around back in the day.

I’m speaking purely of the character appearance as it relates to physique and costuming and using idealization as a convenient term. You seem to be suggesting that all heroines should comply to your view of what they should be – which again seems totally focused on the idea that the character’s appearance MUST somehow instantaneously transmit the character’s capabilities to any and all viewers. And my definition is the one that is narrow?

I can get what you’re saying from the viewpoint of a consumer but since you have to share this particular product with a number of other people, expecting the NPCs to fall in line with your rules of characterization doesn’t seem terribly fair for the rest of us. For my part, I’m only suggesting that a couple characters who have been portrayed in-game and in other media as being a little bit in the sexpot mold not be radically redesigned. I’m not asking them to remove all modesty options for the character creator or make over every female NPC. I’m not asking them to re-name the franchise into City of Sexpots. A little credit please.

We can agree to disagree but I would submit that there is room in superheroic genre for female characters of all stripes, shapes, and sizes. Some ladies will be pure cheesecake and some will be rock solid vigilantes and most will fall in between those two extremes. My only suggestion to you and to anyone who will listen is that there can be a place for the female character who wears clothing that might be more appropriate for your much maligned Victoria Secret photo shoot. The industry seems to back up my claim and while I realize that is something you may disagree with, you have a lot of hearts and minds to change besides mine.

You know, I can’t really argue with that and I do think it is a very valid criticism of a number of CoH signature characters. In comics, the character’s name and look probably most frequently speaks to their powers and abilities. To some degree, this is a disconnection between what is possible and/or easily doable in the MMO world vs. comics. If Plastic Man weren’t already a licensed property, sticking a character with that name into CoX might make for a nifty character but he would have to be radically re-imagined in order to make our available powers and abilities fit with his name.

While Swan Lake may have well been an influence on the character and her Praetorian counterpart seven years ago, it hasn’t made it into the canon (to my knowledge) and to do so now would seem a little bandwagon-ish so soon after the success of Black Swan. If I were given the task of filling in her backstory to make it groove a little better with her name and look, I’d probably go to the story of the Ugly Duckling and make that first manifestation of her powers a transformative thing. It wouldn’t necessarily have to be an actual factual physical transformation either – maybe just the emergence of her powers gave a former shy, quiet, and homely girl the confidence to change the way the others perceive her. Heck, maybe her Swan persona is just something she psychically or mystically projects into people’s minds and she still is that Plain Jane with personal body issues that keep her from showing her true face. These suggestions may be quick and easy and even a little cliché but it is honestly a little difficult to rectify a bird-themed superheroine with psychic powers in my mind. Sometimes the path of least resistance is best.