AzureSkyCiel

That's why I so wish I could be allowed to go through some of the gangs and story arcs of City of with an axe.

but yes, perhaps it would be best left to City of 2 for a better canon, I propose getting Phil Foglio and maybe Alan Moore to help write it, given the alternate history nature of the game's backstory.
Also, Mercedes Lackey, the devs might even be able to pay her with game time. (Unlikely, but hey, I enjoyed night on the Boardwalk and Phoenix and Ashes)

Hmmm... I ultimately must apologize Sam, but it seems that would fall in line with a power customization in addition to the weapon customization.
... Though I, personally, am totally on board for that.
We could mix it up using the plasma pulses from the clockwork, the 'bubbly' energy from the Arachnos blasters, straight, color tintable laser pulses, it'd be sweet.

Also, while I originally didn't include photon grenade for fear of getting a repeat of the Assault Rifle set (which i'm slowly starting to accept in my mind as I come up with an idea to justify all those different munitions, I'm thinking I'd pretend them all as grenades of different types, the buckshot is a hornet nest of 9 millimeter slugs, flamethrower and ignite would be dragon's breath but as grenade shells...) and for fear of making it too overpowered with strong AoEs, but I do see your point.

I can understand that.
Part of why in my set I included a 'stunning laser' (which is also a nod to many sci-fi series where such weapons have a 'stun' setting) included the 'cutting laser' and a few full on 'Laser beam' type attacks along with the laser pulses.

Just do what I did and link your favorite threads into your signature. It shows both your support for David's ideas and gets the attention of other folks for these threads. if anything, it gives you a fast link back to when the threads start falling off the page.

/signing these suggestions. I'll admit that some of them might be difficult to pull off, like the standard PPD troopers and enforcers and their stylish shirts.
But also, I want that open shirt some of the Resistance guys have that's also seen on Dean John Wu in Cap Au's University as well as the Ninjas Oni.

What's that? "Inherent fitness"?! NOOOOOO!!! All my builds are now RUINED FOREVER! I shall quit this game in my RAAAAAAGE!

Sort of.
Here's something I kind of threw together on the idea of what the basic underlings/minions would look like (though they'd need the Longbow chest emblem on the jacket and shirt):



No gun toting Canadians throwing their weight around, just some college kids who enlisted in longbow to help out the impoverished, see new places, get a free t-shirt, and get college credits, maybe a tax break. They didn't come expecting a fight, much less to be killed by villains who would partly be doing it all because their contact says so. (You *******...) And it would be evident in their weapons, things like knives, machetes, hand shovels, flare guns, thrown rocks, thrown knives, scavenged scraps, hatchets, and their own two fists, and in the end, they'd still be woefully prepared to face anything like your villain.

However, longbow's volunteers wouldn't be completely helpless out in the field (just mostly)



These security staff guards are there to help protect the volunteers from riots, and are issued inadequate weaponry and equally inadequate armor (see also: none). They'd be armed with pistols, batons, sub-machine guns, and shotguns intended more as deterrents than to be actually fired with.

to be honest, these things don't quite look like they should, much less have the weaksauce powers their "volunteer"status would indicate.

glad you both like it. The idea occurred to me when people were complaining about how a lot of longbow feels like the Canadian Council. (which I think is inaccurate. They're Canadian Council AND CREY)
But one of the amusing things is that I had imagined one these "revamped longbow minions" who wouldn't really be much of a fighter would attack you with a flare gun, the flare gun would deal minor fire damage, but put a taunt aura on you that would draw the attention of the whole damn room.
Months later, we get GR and the ghouls, and lo and behold, look at what Painted Ones can do.

I would like to point out one thing: Part of the reason Praetoria can use the vista tech is because you can only enter or exit a zone from one side or another, in Paragon or the isles, the islands and city are laid out in such a way where you have to ask "what happens if I go into a corner?" will I end up in the zone diagonal of my present one? or be shuffled into the upper zone or righter zone?

You're making a big assumption that Malta agents are just sent to the Zig.
Thinking about it, do you EVER encounter a named Malta agent twice outside of tips and radios/newspapers? (At least blueside)

Now you see, this is why I wish I could be allowed to rewrite longbow, I'd have Ms. Liberty booted as the (official) leader, and give longbow a real story that progresses with your villain.
When you first meet them on Mercy Island, they're a relief organization, they're offering food to the homeless of the Isles, rebuilding buildings for people to live and work in, and even offering people a chance to leave the Isles as refugees.
Using present game technology, they'd all have yellow reticules and be armed with light weaponry (more tools than actual weapons), and probably, in the zone, all spawn as underlings.
This would make for your first real test as a villain. On mercy Island, everything but your contacts and people in the Arachnos fort have tried to kill you just for walking by. And here's this group that are supposed to be 'meddlesome' heroes who are letting you go and even begging you to just let them help the poor and broken...
And then you kill them for easy EXP and loot, as well as crush the hopes of the people they were helping. (So you basically are given the choice to be as nasty as Westin Phipps from level 1 in a way that abuses player psychology of seeking maximum rewards with the least effort!)
As levels progress, Longbow would become more and more militant. They go from guys in red and white shirts, to looking like SWAT officers and national guard militia, missions with them change in tone, gradually, they become more and more interested in taking you down as you kill more and more of their ranks.
Finally, by the time you're in your level 40s, Longbow has a base off the cost of Granville (serving as sort of a hazard zone), there's a lot of desperate people they could be helping, but because of your actions driving them to extremes, they now only want you and all villains dead or in jail, and are even using the battered bodies of their fallen to operate their own versions of Malta Titans. (who may greet you with such cheery dialogue like: "HELLO [CHARACTER], REMEMBER ME?")

That smacks of black magic and witchcraft, Golden Girl.

Needless to say, I'd like to see at least one, long running continuity of Batman where the Joker is used VERY sparingly and killed by the third or forth encounter for real.

This is all if I remember my lore right...

Actually, if they HAD just done that in the beginning, they wouldn't be in their current situation, but because they tried to back out of it at the last minute (not wanting to kill the women and children) the demons (who had actually been counting on this) basically told them that their souls would never be allowed ANY rest until EVERYONE of Mu blood was dead, and by this point, Mu blood got spread across the planet to the point where Lore says that about 1 in every ten (or was it 9 in every 10?) magic origin heroes can trace their bloodlines to Mu. (they at least gave a nice escape clause, and never once, do the the CoT seem to come after your character with the claims you're Mu, even if you accept and even agree to this part of the lore)
So, the CoT's got a lot of their work cut out for them, and basically any good that once was left in them has long since vanished. (Considering they seem to summon more demons, this likely digs them deeper into debt with them)

Spoiler: They already do, there's at least two level 40-50 tip missions where you fight them.

Well, let's consider something: Sister Psyche is the world most powerful psychic, she's seen the horrors of a truly twisted and evil person's mind and soul, she has been in dark places where she has seen NO chance redemption for a person.
And all she can do is watch as Statesman, the one person who should understand, almost as well as her, simply sends them off to the Zig to be busted out or let out in a few years tops.
Then there's Manticore, rough around the edges, but he understands the horrors of the human (and non-human) mind, that dark underbelly of life that once you see, you can never ignore.
So what does Manticore do about it? He gets the job done.

So I think it might be more of a "Warts and all" love they have. They both relate on seeing the dark side of humanity, and unlike Statesman, are not pretending it doesn't exist.

Hell, Sister Psyche maybe HELPING Manticore with that kind of thing. After all, she'd also be the greatest asset, able to cloud the minds and visions of lesser seers or psychics, TOGETHER, THEY KILL CRIME DEAD!

*WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD*

On another note: Heroes, in canon, are allowed to kill (or the people who say whether or not you're killing are all heartless bastards).

In Eternal Nemesis finale, you're told to go find, and KILL Nemesis. They WANT you to kill him. They're EXPECTING you to kill him. And as we find out later, we do kill him, because there's a living, sentient Nemesis brain in every fake Nemesis.
On the note of Nemesis units: Ever notice that Humanoid black shape in the Warhulks? The one you don't see land on the ground when the hulk itself blows up? That's a person. And you kill them.
(On a purely speculative note, I bet Nemesis likes to mix up automatons with his regular soldiers in full uniform, just to mind screw a hero when they go full force on what they think is an Automaton, only to find someone's blood on their hands)

Oh, also, Tarantulas of Arachnos. They blow up half the time and are stated to be cyborgs, that there's people inside. Then there's Malta titans, there's apparently confirmation that Terra is the only Devoured they actually have you rescue, rather than just kill, Circle Mage souls tend to leave the body of their host and presumably kill said body since the original soul is in some crystal, if not used to fuel some horrible ritual.

So, by the time you hit level fifty, your heroes likely racked up a pretty shocking body count under their belt.

But it's only raining men on virtue.

but for my own 2 inf, I'm somewhat indifferent on weather for a most part, but it would be nice to have overcast days in PAragon and sunny days in the Rogue Isles.
I know Lord recluse made that powerful weather control device to keep things sad and gloomy, but there's gotta be days when it needs to be shut down for maintenance

NO
I will explain why: I come from a long line of playing Fantasy RPGs and a certain Fantasy MMO (No, not the really popular one, a really really old one, but not THE oldest one), and in every game, the Developers have all manner of common status mez effects that, really, can be clunky and confusing.
Worst, most classes have no resistance against ANY of these effects, and the buffers aren't able to cure all effects (only cure, prevention is apparently a crappy cure in those fantasy worlds) and the armors that grant you protection against that world's "immobilized" will not help you against being "immobilized" by another element.
Playing City of Heroes is honestly marvelous and wondrous in that sense because the status effect system was streamlined and simplified, and certain ATs were able to be protected.

No, it's not comic booky, but it is a good balance.

I'll concede that, I still like the idea proposed of Voids only appearing in Kheldian arcs, though at the same time, it would be nice if they and other quantum gunners were a very rare (like, 1 in every 100 missions) spawn for normal players in kind of an "oops, sorry, we though you were someone else."