Balanced

Now that I've (mostly) managed to stop babbling incoherently...

Normally, I'd encourage everyone to wait for more implementation details. I'd say that we don't know yet what kind of limitations the new system will have. We don't know how it will work in actual play. I'd advise caution.

You know what, though? Screw caution. This is something we've talked about, asked for, dreamed of. Now we see it on the horizon. I don't care how limited it is, the vision of something fraught with so much potential is magnificent.

Four years in, and things are still getting better. If I wore a hat, it would be off to the devs. A joyous Fourth Anniversary to you all and sweet dreams of more to come!

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Luminous Blast
Bright Nova
Luminous Aura
White Dwarf

Umbral Blast
Dark Nova
Umbral Aura

Black Dwarf
Psychic Blast
Mental Manipulation
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Villains

VEAT primary 1
VEAT primary 2
VEAT secondary 1
VEAT secondary 2
Electric Assault


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Since you felt the need to include a set that cannot be added to heroes like the mastermind pets I think I should include the extra forms given by the hero epic AT. ... I think this is the stupidest post I have ever done; however a stupid post gets a stupid reply.

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Hey, you almost had it. Remember, the Villain Epic Archetypes also have additional form sets: Fortunata, Night Widow, Crab Dude, and the other one. Add those back in and call it a day: and villains still win, man.

I didn't include 'em the first time around because I knew somebody would be whiny enough to mention it. Wanna list the all the 41-49 power pools too? Or hasn't the argument got stupid enough yet?

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Don't forget that if we're allowing the Kheldian forms as separate powersets, then surely the set of powers for each Mastermind pet type counts. That's 15 more villain sets (oh, wait--16; mustn't forget the ghost). Then we can count a set each for all the Controller and Dominator pets that aren't shared--Controllers get a little edge there from Illusion, but then we have to consider Gang War, which acts more like a mass Cont/Dom pet. Poor Dark Fluffy is on both sides, so he doesn't count.

Yeah. This got silly in a hurry.

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Why not illusions..come on...

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My guess? The heavily pet-based nature of the set doesn't play well with Domination. More of the control and damage in Illusion comes from pets than in any other set, and that part wouldn't benefit from Domination. On top of that, the pets' actions don't contribute to your Domination bar. Combined with the usual scaling of controls between Controllers and Dominators, an Illusion Domination set would offer relatively poor control combined with some lackluster extra damage.

In other words, it's because a Dom Illusion set would suck without some substantial reworking. We may see that reworked version at some point, but for now, we're getting the low-hanging fruit.

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Heroes
Illusion Control

Empathy

Archery

Broadsword

Katana

Ice Melee

Ice Armor

Devices
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Villains

Energy Aura

Ninjutsu

Ninja Blade

Electric Armor

Electric Melee

Traps

Poison



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Fixed

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Small fix to your fix: The post you quoted the list from specifically noted that Blaster secondaries and Mastermind primaries were not included in the list, so Devices doesn't belong in there. (You could add those sets, I suppose, but it doesn't really make sense, since they don't have parallels on the opposing sides.)

Aside from that, Ice has been explained to be problematic for Brutes, but it could work for Stalkers. I suspect we'll see that eventually. I'm looking forward to seeing the Ice version of Assassin Strike--it should be cool.

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QR.

Why would Brutes want Ice OR SR? How well would a defensive set play out on a Brute who wants fury?

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Brutes actually had Ice powersets available in CoV beta. As I recall, they were removed because they conflicted with Fury too much--all the stacking slows meant fewer enemy attacks, which made it much, much harder to build and maintain Fury. Doing away with the slows would have broken the theme of the sets and, more importantly, removed a big chunk of their mitigation potential.

SR Brutes could still work, but over-reliance on defense might be somewhat dicey for an AT that depends on having lots of attacks directed at it. Many players are dubious about Energy Aura for this reason, despite the (relatively minor) resistance powers in the set.

I don't like this change. Others have made these points before, so I'm just going to offer a quick list of problems I see with it.

1) People quit Task Forces. Currently, it's not a big deal, unless so many quit that the remaining team can't handle an AV. With this change, it will be a serious burden to many non-optimized teams. Uber and farming builds will be affected less, of course.

2) Casual groups often run TFs over an extended period due to scheduling difficulties. During this time, it may only be possible for a small subset to get together at any given time. Under the previous build, they could still accomplish something. Each subteam could run a few missions, then everyone would get back together on the weekend to tackle the big missions/finale. This change will make that much more difficult for casual players, further turning them off of TFs.

3) As a corollary to #2, this will result in characters being tied up in TFs longer. Sure, some builds will shrug off the extra load when not everyone is online, but many casual groups will need the full team to finish even the non-AV missions without massive frustration. (Remember, not everyone has IOs. The invention system is optional, and should never be required for anything.) Since you can't do much else with a character that's on a TF, that's going to leave casual players with characters hanging in Limbo for longer periods of time. That's a frustrating situation, especially for people who don't have a lot of alts.

To summarize: I don't expect this change to have a significant negative impact on RMT farmers, but I do think it will drive casual players still further away from TFs. Is it really desirable to make a major chunk of content even less user-friendly?

I think this change was ill-conceived, and that it should have been announced well in advance, even before it was put on the Training Room. The people on whom it has the greatest impact are precisely the people who wouldn't be on the test server to see it, anyway.

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I hope this is just a taste of the combo system and the will be combos for more power sets.

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From what I understand, the ability to produce combos with certain effects is the secondary effect of the set, like Dark Melee's secondary is Tohit Debuffs, Energy Melee's is Stuns, Psionic Assault's is Recharge Debuff, etc. So likely no more sets with combinations.

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On the other hand, they went to quite a bit of trouble to implement the mechanic, and there are other sets that share secondary effects. I would guess that we'll eventually see at least one blast set that uses the Combo mechanic and maybe more melee sets.

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sell them at WW/Black Market, you'd be surprised at some of the prices you can get from tier-2s and tier-3s

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Going to bet that the prices are WAY low at this point - why buy them for high prices if you can hit 20 doors and fill your own inventory?

Storm

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If you have access to an autodoc, most of the tier-3s sell for 2,000 influence each. The tier-3 awakens sell for 10,000. My SG is rapidly filling our fourth inspiration box, while selling off the types we don't use much.

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It says that it is taking place Oct. 22nd and Nov. 4th. Now, are they actually only doing it those 2 days, or is it a misprint and they meant Oct. 22nd through Nov. 4th?

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"...take place between October 22nd and November 4th!" (emphasis mine).

It will start on 10-22 and be active until 11-4. Only having it active actually on those dates would be silly.

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Oh yeah, I definitely foresee my Fire/Storm (badger) running around quite a bit. The Imps do an excellent job of roasting any Tricks before they (the Tricks) are ready to fight. I consider it payback for the many times my MMs have entered a mission to find an ambush at the door.

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/bug
Every time I run one of the Halloween event Trick missions on my character Crone, I get ambushed right at the door, before I even get zoned in. I sometimes die even before I get my minions out. It's just load screen, BAM, dead in the street. This event is TOTALLY unfair to the Witch AT. Please fix the ambushes.

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If instead you prefer to discuss broad sweeps of artistic style, story, politics, and morality, so be it. How, exactly, does the introduction of new power options--drawn and animated by the same artists who set the style for the rest of the game--dilute these factors?

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I already answered that:

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Adding new abilities may not dilute that. If they do, it will be by straying from the theme the game is built around.

Heroes in western comics used swords. So much so that nearly 40% of scrapper primaries feature them? I dunno about that

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The "broad sweeps" you refer to were a descriptive response to your phrased encapsulation of western comics, not a comment on new powers speicifically, obviously. The general complaints I've seen seem to center around atmosphere, the artistic and atmospheric setting of the game - a pretty miasmic quality. Different for a lot of players, but then all of this is a discussion of perception and opinion on artistic issues.

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Heroes in western comics used swords. So much so that nearly 40% of scrapper primaries feature them? I dunno about that.

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What does the percentage have to do with anything?

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Obviously it affects certain player's perception of the overall flavor of the game, else we'd have no complaints.

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Your answer basically seems to be that it makes you uneasy, or that it affects your perception of the game. While I don't doubt that, I was hoping for something more specific. "I dunno", while not an unreasonable response, doesn't really leave us any way to explore the question in a useful manner. Why does it make you uneasy? Is it because swords seem more lethal (heh) or bloodthirsty than abilities you consider more in keeping with a superheroic theme? Is it because you associate swords with European or Asian settings, and their presence in a North American setting seems out-of-whack? Some other reason? I'm guessing here, and I understand that your reasons may not be the same as anyone else's. I just want something to work with.

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Again, we come down to players making of the available options what they choose--which you said is not your primary concern. The question of how the availability of those options interferes with internal consistency remains open.

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By that logic, the further addition of chisakatana, chokuto, dotanuki, hachiwara, shinken, nagamaki, o-katana and shin gunto to the game wouldn't affect the overall atmoshpere at all as they only existed in the costume designer as options. I think it's unnecessary to point out why this wouldn't be the case, or even why the current ratio still has someone disagreeing with you. It seems items within the character designer affect some player's perception of the atmosphere of the game. While I can appreciate that perhaps you think this is unwarranted, it never the less exists.

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I honestly don't see why the addition of those items would harm the atmosphere of the game, although I can imagine them affecting it. Although traditional American superhero comics focused on the U.S., there are certainly superheroes and supervillains in other parts of the world in those settings. Why would all the supers be on one continent? It would hardly be surprising if the Yakuza in Paragon-Earth Japan, for example, were using similar techniques to those employed by the Family. Wouldn't heroes and villains from other parts of the world be inclined to use local weapons and techniques, and bring those with them when heroes from all over the world answered the call to Paragon City?

Again, just because it's Asian doesn't mean it's manga.

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This has been commented on before the new sword set. It's being commented on again. Obviously, people perceive a theme in this game (I assume it's the game the game states it was built on) and some of them see Cryptic as straying from it a bit - I imagine there's a reason behind that perception.
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Ad populum

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Fancy! However, an ad populum appeal refers to an individual claiming a concept as truth because many feel it. I simply state that "the perception exists", which is a forum fact as demonstrated by the existence of this and past threads discussing worries over the flavor of future items and how they would affect the game's setting. We had some great manga discussions when shoulder pets came out.

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Stating that a perception exists is not an appeal to popularity or popular belief, no. Perception, like opinion, is not disprovable. I feel that you reached just a little past that by using the existence of a particular perception to support your argument that the "reason"--presumably, the dilution of theme you're concerned with--is actually occurring.

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-and without even demonstrating that the majority share that perception

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I never stated "the majority share the perception" - my actuall wording is a few short eyewidths above this paragraph - check it out. I fear you're looking for a tiff that's not there. This was an interesting chat on player perception, not a grass-roots game-change movement.

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The quoted bit was just meant to clarify that I didn't mean you were appealing to the majority, as in the classic ad populum.

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Sure, there are people who claim such a perception. Some of them even claim it honestly.

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Well that's interesting; what drove you to imply that someone is being dishonest is stating their perception of the game? What would the motivation be for such a thing? That's seems unnecessarily combative.

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Not at all. I just don't assume that everyone is arguing honestly. I prefer to account for the possibility that some of the people complaining about "dilution of theme" are simply unhappy because they didn't get what they personally want in this Issue. Dressing their plaints up in a "for the good of the game" costume would make them more palatable for their fellow forumites, many of whom are happy with the new additions.

For what it's worth, I don't impute such a motive to you. It's possible that everyone who has forwarded or supported the "dilution" argument is perfectly sincere, for that matter. I have been burned by assuming that before, however, so I mention the possibility of ulterior motives as a reminder to myself and to others.

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That does not mean the perception is correct.

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Perceptions are, by their definition, entirely reliant on the obsever - so, naturally, people having them doesn't mean they are "correct" - why you would think that needed to be asserted is beyond me. This is a discussion, it's not a sales pitch.

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Well, as I said above, I had the impression that you were trying to use the existence of a perception to support an assertion, and I wanted to address it plainly.

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No offense, but your tone seems to be growing a tad irritated - this is a discussion forum, wherein folks present their "perceptions" and discuss them - no need to drag out the debate-101 latin and try to concoct a more hostile exchange than is necessary with implications of dishonesty. I'd say we sufficiently covered our points of view in any case. Good discussion. Cheers!

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No offense taken, and none meant either. I'm accustomed to debates with--shall we say--very precise and detail-oriented posters on another forum. (Okay, so they're completely anal nitpickers. ) I've developed the habit of nailing down every piece of my post that I can in self-defense, even if it seems like I'm stating the obvious.

Sorry if it comes across a bit harsh. I'm trying to play nice, really.

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It would be an interesting dicussion to wrangle over - you're right, Manga is a style, but then when I said "setting" I was referring to the artistic environ of manga - because we were talking about a visual medium. Manga can also be referred to as a genre of comics, which in turn are a genre of illustrated art, and so on and so forth.

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I have never seen "setting" used in this sense, nor do I readily find such a definition for it. In discussing literature, "setting" generally refers to the time and place of the action, and that is the way I have used it throughout this discussion. If you want to discuss style or artistic environs, feel free, but kindly refrain from confusing the issue by calling it "setting".

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What, exactly, is the "theme" of superhero comics? I'll take a stab at it--Superhero comics depict the lives of people with extraordinary abilities who fight nefarious evildoers in (mostly) a modern-Earth setting. ?

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To see the "theme" of "superhero comics" (which I assume means western comics, as that is where the term was born) one merely needs to place them alongside manga, italian comics, and pulp mags. I don't see the point in a break down of artistic and thematic differences, I think we're all comic fans enough to know them at sight.

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I'll take a stab at it--Superhero comics depict the lives of people with extraordinary abilities who fight nefarious evildoers in (mostly) a modern-Earth setting.

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This discards art style, story themes, political backgrounds, moral undercurrents and a score of other flavors added to a subsection of the comic genre based on the society in which they are created. These things are key in the difference of various comic styles. Is starts with art but goes well beyond the moral themes of various culture's take on "comics".

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The point of discussing a theme--the essential subject or character of an artistic representation--is to address it in isolation. In an attempt to pursue this, I isolated the most fundamental subject of superhero comics--not "western comics" in general, as that incorporates the pulps and such, which have different subject matter.

If instead you prefer to discuss broad sweeps of artistic style, story, politics, and morality, so be it. How, exactly, does the introduction of new power options--drawn and animated by the same artists who set the style for the rest of the game--dilute these factors?

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How does adding new abilities dilute that

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Adding new abilities may not dilute that. If they do, it will be by straying from the theme the game is built around.

Heroes in western comics used swords. So much so that nearly 40% of scrapper primaries feature them? I dunno about that.

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What does the percentage have to do with anything? It doesn't even necessarily correspond with the percentage of scrappers who use swords in-game. It's a percentage of the options. Again, we come down to players making of the available options what they choose--which you said is not your primary concern. The question of how the availability of those options interferes with internal consistency remains open.

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This has been commented on before the new sword set. It's being commented on again. Obviously, people perceive a theme in this game (I assume it's the game the game states it was built on) and some of them see Cryptic as straying from it a bit - I imagine there's a reason behind that perception.

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Ad populum--and without even demonstrating that the majority share that perception. Sure, there are people who claim such a perception. Some of them even claim it honestly. That does not mean the perception is correct.

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Genre refers to "comics" - manga is a subset of the comic genre. Settings occur within the different elements found within the genre, the genre itself is far too broad to be encapsulated in one "setting".

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I would refer to comics as a "medium", not a genre. Since this has obviously devolved into a dictionary argument, let's lay out the whole tree for DC and see what shakes out.

Medium: Illustrated fiction (comics)
--->Genre: Superhero
-------->Setting: DC Universe

Genre is distinguished by style, format, and content. I have repeatedly referred to the "superhero genre" to set this context.

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No, within a "genre" - comedy, in that case, was a "genre" of written fiction. Manga is a setting/style in comics, which are a genre of printed art or fiction, take your pick.

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"Manga" is not a setting. Manga is a stylistic category, and a fairly broad one. It's not even confined to a single genre (my definition)--there's mystery manga, fantasy manga, mecha manga, and many more that I don't even know squat about. Within each of those genres, there are various settings.

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No, multiple setting within the genre of comics: manga, Italian, British, pulp mag, etc. The DC universe would be a distinctive (western comic) setting within the genre. Having DC and Marvel mix would be odd to fans, but wouldn't hinder a western comic setting in the least.

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Those are not settings. The DC Universe is a setting. InuYasha's mix of modern Tokyo and feudal Japan is a setting. The Forgotten Realms are a setting (yes, there was a Realms comic book).

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My contention is that a "comic book superhero" MMO setting cannot incorporate all elements of the genre of "comics" and still maintain a cohesive theme.

Your speaking in specific terms of similar settings: DC, Marvel - I'm referring disparate setting within the genre: pulp mag, manga, etc.

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If you insist on referring to everything comic-like collectively as a "genre", I can see where some themes from that superset might not necessarily fit into the CoX setting. Superhero comics draw on so many sources, however, that they already subsume a lot of the things that show up in other sorts of illustrated fiction. They may not take precisely the same form as they do in manga, pulp, or what-have-you, but they're covered. CoX, in particular, draws very heavily on mythology. Look at Croatoa--it's plagued by faerie creatures. The existence of faerie creatures suggests the existence of the Sidhe, which is to say elves. Does that suddenly make it a fantasy game? No, no more than does the canonical existence of the Greek gods (which it shares with the DC Universe). Both are perfectly consistent with the internal logic of the setting.

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I think they can give a nod to this stuff (shoulder pets... shudder) and, say, 3 out of 8 scrapper sets being swords (one would think swords were FAR more common in western comics based on that) - but the more is added, the more diluted the theme becomes.

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What, exactly, is the "theme" of superhero comics? I'll take a stab at it--Superhero comics depict the lives of people with extraordinary abilities who fight nefarious evildoers in (mostly) a modern-Earth setting. How does adding new abilities dilute that?

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And manga is not a comic setting? The graphic novel? Pulp mags, ala the 60s and 70s, wherein heroes were anything from spelunkers to... well... Rex Havoc? Teen morality comics? Would Jughead really fit into Paragon?

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Well...no, they're not. They have settings, certainly, but the settings are distinct within each genre.

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That's exacly the same situation as fantasy settings, mate. Each has a distinct style, flavor, etc.. To lump them all together under a generic whole is to discard individual theme in the face of a universal label. Genre describes the whole, with both subjects, yet each contains thematic microcosms which differ entirely from one another. They don't all belong in the same book/game/media. Fantasy or Comic Book, neither can be encompassed in its whole in one design.

Same with any genre. Action movies, comedy, drama. A "Midsummer Nights Dream" is not a "Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy", despite being in the same genre.

I can't think of a single genre that could be encapsulated in one graphic setting and still maintain a thematic whole.

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I'm not even sure what you're getting at here. You still seem to be conflating settings with genres, and now have added individual books within a setting to the mix. Are you trying to suggest that because there are multiple comics with distinctive elements set in the DC universe (for example), it is not a single setting? Yes, it's distinct from other settings in the same genre--you wouldn't generally expect the Silver Surfer to show up in Metropolis--but it shares a great many elements, especially characters with similar powers.

To reiterate: My contention is that a single superhero setting can reasonably contain all of the powersets, costumes, and other elements currently available to us in the CoX game engine, as well as a vast array of still more disparate elements, including some which also appear in other genres.

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And manga is not a comic setting? The graphic novel? Pulp mags, ala the 60s and 70s, wherein heroes were anything from spelunkers to... well... Rex Havoc? Teen morality comics? Would Jughead really fit into Paragon?

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Well...no, they're not. They have settings, certainly, but the settings are distinct within each genre. Naruto, for example, has a very different setting and rules from, say, InuYasha. Both are wildly different from mecha-oriented manga. One pulp story might be set in a hollow-Earth, while the next is in a jungle on a non-hollow Earth. Jughead doesn't fit into Paragon City any more (or less) than he would in Metropolis--he's largely irrelevant to either.

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To sum up my position:

Just because it's been found, at some point in time, on a page in a mag that was illustrated, doesn't mean it necessarily fits into the espoused flavor of this game.

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Nor is that what I am arguing. I'm arguing that anything that has appeared or could reasonably appear in a setting in the super-hero genre is fair game. The fact that some elements that can plausibly appear in a superhero setting can also appear in settings in other genres is irrelevant. What makes the things you object to implausible for the CoX setting?

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I really care more about the consistency of the setting than I do what people do within it.

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You've lost me completely here. What kind of powerset could possibly break the internal consistency of the setting? I suppose if the devs intrinsically tied a specific background to a powerset (like they did to the Kheldian AT) that directly contradicted game canon, it could do that. It's very easy for player to break the internal consistency, just by writing an inconsistent background, but you say that isn't what's bothering you.

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Neo wore a trenchcoat, therefore everyone who wears a trenchcoat is Neo, and belongs in the Matrix MMO? Drizzt Do'Urden wielded dual blades, therefore everyone with two blades is a D&D character and should go play DDO?

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Those were cited as examples of character homages, not indications that everyone who wears a costume piece resembling them is a recreation of that character. I'm speaking of actual Drzzzts, Drz5zt, Drzts, Driizs, Dr1zzts, etc. (And my favorite but short-lived hommage I encountered on Triumph: "SuperN3o". His bio alone was worth the roll.)

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I didn't intend to pick on your examples, honestly--I was just picking things people had complained about and offered counterexamples. Clones annoy me.

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My point is that the superhero genre is itself so broad that almost no power or fighting ability is really out of place.

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If one considers the genre as a uniform while, yes, but it is not - as I said before, using this logic one can also say about other MMOs, "This is a fantasy MMO, and therefore no element of fantasy should be out of place."

No one, I don't think, can really say that is a true statement: Elf Quest meets Forgotten Realms meets Cimeria? I think the sound of the fan's vomitting would be the most impressive sound FX of all.

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Yet each of those is a fantasy setting, not the fantasy genre as a whole. Introducing Forgotten Realms elements into Cimmeria (or Warcraft, for that matter) is an obvious conflict: It doesn't fit the setting, even though the various settings belong to the same genre.

In the case of City, we're talking about a setting based on the comic-book superhero genre. (Sorry, Sam, but we are.) Paragon-Earth is analogous to DC-Earth. Paragon City is analogous to, say, Metropolis, but with a much higher metahuman/super density. What sort of things have turned up in Metropolis? Garden-variety thugs, anthropomorphs, mutants, super-scientists, immortals, aliens, dimensional travelers, time-travelers, psychics, ancient sorcerers, young witches, Atlanteans, evil cults, gods, demons, androids, assassins, bounty hunters, psycho anti-heroes...well, I could go on (and usually do), but is it really necessary? A single setting in the genre encompasses the level of variety we're talking about, unlike the fantasy settings you reference.

On top of that, Paragon City and the Rogue Isles are like forcing grounds for the weird. They have the highest concentration of supers on Paragon-Earth, plus portals to a bunch of other dimensions with their own arrays of supers. Given that, you'd expect to see even more variety in Paragon City than you would in Metropolis.

That's not to say that people can't create completely setting-breaking characters with the new powersets. They undoubtedly will, and those of us who love continuity will grit our teeth and try to ignore them--just as we ignored the Legolas clones and any number of others. The fact that people make characters that don't fit the setting doesn't prevent us from using the same tools to make characters that do belong in Paragon City.

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I know you see the game as "all inlcusive" of everything in its current form (at least that's what I am getting) but most see Neo and Drizzt as a bit of an intrusion on the classic comic book genre. Hey, Elfquest was a comic book - see what happens if you add its content to this game. It's discarding the genre, and that upsets a lot of people.

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A nitpick: People perceive it (incorrectly, IMHO) as "discarding the genre".

Neo wore a trenchcoat, therefore everyone who wears a trenchcoat is Neo, and belongs in the Matrix MMO? Drizzt Do'Urden wielded dual blades, therefore everyone with two blades is a D&D character and should go play DDO? (Is that even still operating?) Can't the guy in the trenchcoat be The Question? Or any number of other superhero comic characters who wear trenchcoats either in their civilian or heroic roles? Why can't the woman with dual blades be Elektra, since twin sai is an option? Catgirls are anime now? What about Cheetah or Catwoman?

My point is that the superhero genre is itself so broad that almost no power or fighting ability is really out of place. Even in the major titles, there's plenty of magic, magical creatures, anthropomorphs, and what-have-you in the canon. Conversely, if you start trying to argue that some powersets are "obviously" fantasy, you need to be prepared to explain why the others aren't. (Earth Control? Pfft. Obviously a druid/shaman/whatever. Dark Blast? Get that Warlock outta here!)

Hey, maybe I'm biased. In real life, I'm a dual-blade wielder. Maybe I ought to check the shape of my ears again.

I'm in full agreement, especially with I11's heavy reliance on the exemplar/malefactor mechanic. I have always wondered if this wasn't an accident of design, rather than something that the devs really intended, simply because it makes no sense.

In other words--I consider the loss of accolades while exemped to be a bug, not a feature.

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Beyond that, we have...bus stops (though no busses)....

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*blinks*
Sam, you've got it! The thing Posi was talking about! The thing we've been asking for since Beta! Think about it--the endless loops, the return to the place where we began...the great mystery will finally be solved, and order restored to the universe in...

Issue 11: City of Buses!

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And Deadpool does make it look awesome...shame Liefield created him...means i cant hate that bastid unequivocally :/

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Actually, I consider him created by Marv Wolfman, seeing's how he's just a sad Deathstroke clone with a motormouth.

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It's like Deathstroke and Spiderman had a baby, and the result was pure AWESOME.

[/ QUOTE ]...and now I need to bleach my brain. Thanks ever so much.

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Are those escrima sticks? Or are they longer weapons resting on the floor?

If they're escrima sticks, I hold out new hope for the Dual Blades set.

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Not really, they're just a couple of dowel rods with some electrical tape on them. I used them as props trying to sort out some of the new dual blade animations.

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Ah, well. At least they're similar, which is enough to keep me excited about the set. (Did you know that in Texas, putting electrical tape on a stick constitutes an "illegal weapon modification"?)

And remember, I'm here to help you with those animations. You know, if you need an opinion on their accuracy or anything.

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Bab's office space, notice fighting weapons which is why I choose to go in stealth mode.

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Are those escrima sticks? Or are they longer weapons resting on the floor?

If they're escrima sticks, I hold out new hope for the Dual Blades set.

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Ok, but I can't talk about Issue 11 or beyond... but that's pretty much what you guys WANT me to talk about so we are at an impass.

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Okay, how 'bout this:

Is there a Praetorian version of Lord Recluse, and if so, what's his name?

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I'd bet his name is Captain Fancy-Pants, and he's the Praetorian World's most flamboyantly extroverted television talk-show host.

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Close. He went by "Mr. Fiddleback" and had a children's television program called "Mr. Fiddleback's Theatre", in which he attempted to provide a simple grounding in basic morals. The show was based around a puppet show performed entirely by Mr. Fiddleback, and had a musical segment in which he played multiple fiddles simultaneously.

Tyrant naturally had the show canceled, and Mr. Fiddleback went into hiding before he could be assassinated. Now he leads a resistance composed principally of fanatical Fiddleback fans.

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If you really want to get noticed in a restaraunt, enter dressed in full plate armor complete with dents from the days battles.
I used to be in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism).

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My International Fantasy Gaming Society group does things like this all the time. (IFGS is to SCA as Monty Python is to Shakespeare, more or less.) Then we sit and tell war stories. If we hit some place like the Tipperary Inn, no one pays us any mind (lots of Rennies hang out there). When we go to one of the local buffet places, though--well, they've generally figured out it's best to give us a room to ourselves. It's fun to watch when someone new is on duty when we come tramping in, though.

Oh, and once people watch you demonstrate proficiency with bladed weapons, they seem less inclined to mock you for being in a LARP.

Got mine last night (I've been out of town)--very nice.

Thanks, Ex!