Combat

I just think the geysers should collapse into wormholes and become teleporters. No more worrying about trajectories, just quick and simple transportation.

Just watched it. I think this is one movie that was definitely hurt by its commercials. Anyone who watched a single commercial or trailer would lose any sense of cinematic reveal, and may end up like a lot of movie-goers that think a film sucks if it didn't surprise them. Do not expect the film to be like the trailer; it is much better than the trailer indicates.

I thought the three main characters were all very well cast and very believable. There were a couple scenes that did actually manage to surprise me, and I'm so very glad that these scenes weren't the ones chosen for commercials (which mostly focused on the very beginning and very ending scenes). A couple characters stood out to me, including Michael B. Jordan as a popular black socialite that didn't fall into cliches of teen popularity, and Michael Kelly as the abusive father. Overall, I thought the characters acted believably and with real emotion, which made even the fairly predictable plot interesting and riveting to me. Props go to the first time writer-director Max Landis and write Josh Trank, who made great use of emotion to exploit the eccentricities of teen angst and interaction without appearing cliched. I look forward to seeing more from them.

As far as the "found-footage" mechanic goes, I thought it was very well done. This is NOT Paranormal Activities: Super Heroes. Instead, the camera work both aids the story and works very well to capture the feel, but never had me saying "this would work better with traditional cameras." The CGI was low-tech, but extremely well utilized and photo-realistic. I liked the way they used it far more than any summer block-buster I can recall. The flying scenes in particular were great. The minimalistic nature of the superpowers combine well with the camerawork to give a sense of "this is real," aided by the characters' emotions. I also liked the fact the film didn't try to overextend to be a traditional two hour movie; the shorter run-time fit well and should be used more often.

I had a few gripes, but they were mostly minor. For instance, one of the film's three main characters was very loosely defined compared to the other two (he liked philosophy and was "too cool for school"), but he still managed to appear real despite his limited background and characterization. Another character, the aforementioned character's love-interest, was used very little and seemed to have little point in the frame-work of the movie. Finally, the ending was a little anti-climatic and could have been done better with a little more foreshadowing to make it appear relevant and connected (feel free to walk out after the last fight scene).

Overall, the film's innovative use of low-budget CGI and camerawork aid the presentation and help the rather predictable story, which is aided by great performances by the actors and some of the best, non-cliched writing I've seen for teen characters. I'd recommend it because of its writing and superb use of technical features, though not necessarily for its fairly predictable plotline. I will warn you: it is dark. It doesn't sugarcoat issues like bullying, domestic violence, and animal cruelty (a spider, not a big part of the story but memorable). However, it is a well-rounded movie, with genuinely funny moments combined with genuinely depressing ones. I'd give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Just popping in to say that the formula for the effectiveness of -res procs is

10 / (Time of chain/number of procs in the chain)*4+10)

For instance, a chain of 11.88 seconds with 2 achilles heel procs (perhaps from the using the power twice in one chain, or two different powers with the proc) would be

10 / ((11.88/2)*4+10).


Also, procs tend to do wonders for DPS, though I understand not using the because of their randomness. However, I've found that giving a low end/activation time power 3-4 procs and getting it to the damage cap can create a lot of DPS. Where procs really hurt is in end efficiency. You can make up recharge fairly easily with IOs, but it is hard to get back the end that a */end IO would give you.

Also, Ill. controllers and MMs (specifically /trap MMs) tend to be the only builds that can solo GMs at the lower end of investment (and no lore/reds/temps). I've soloed GMs on couple of melee characters (my TW/Elec and DM/SD), but on many I've had to use lore pets, especially if they have resists.

The problem to me isn't that villains are saving the world once again.

Its that player villains are never the main enemy. The Rikti are a big threat, so we must go out and protect ourselves. The Praetorians are a big threat, so we must fight them to save ourselves. The Shivans/Battalions/Rularuu are big threat, and we ...

Why can't a player villain be "a big threat?" Player heroes get to save the world, but villains never get a chance to be proactive and destroy it. It makes player villains seem far less competent than their hero analogs, and even more so compared to actual NPC villains, even if that NPC villain is our future self (who apparently CAN plan and succeed).

On a scrapper, consider just taking shadow meld and getting enough defense that you are over the cap while it is up. I have a scrapper build (you can find it on the bottom of the page linked in my signature) with a 25 second recharge time on SM, allowing you to use it at the start of most battles. I wouldn't actually use that build, as it was more a proof of concept than anything else, but consider doing something similar.

Personally, I like building for positionals, but I am weird like that. In general, S/L defense at 45% will be easier to achieve that getting positionals to 45%, and make you more survivable than getting positionals to 32.5% (one luck away).

Inferia and Flambo. They could have a battle talking each other to death.

I don't usually have much liquid influence out, but right now I have more than usual. Usually C or D, now probably closer to B after stripping a character.

Counting all of my slotted stuff, easily A. Multiple purpled out, +3 HOed, PvP IOed characters will do that for you. Don't farm much, just continually buy moderate recipes that generate profits of over 10 million (so that I have about 200 million incoming influence per character at most times), and try to just keep a steady income. Thought about PvP farming to push into the A range, but despite the potential influence it seems like exploitive behavior to me, and not really worth it considering how great the market is.

Some general rules:

1. Players who have a coherent name, the cleverer the better.
Generally the first sign of what type of player a person is. If they use a Lord DarkityDark type character with mispellings and random capitals, the first impression I get is of a 12 year old. And in connection with that...

2. Good/No use of numbers in a name.
Sometimes using numbers make sense. Androids, robots, etc. can all have their name without breaking character, and this can let some more general names (Android 2012.1 for example) be reused. However SP1KEZ KI11 is not appropriate, and using numbers in order to get a generic name that has already been taken merely shows a lack of creativity that implies an immature player. 5UP3RM4N, for instance. Now, in some cases the use of 1337speak is okay, like a freakshow character, but they have to show signs that is deliberate and thoughtful.

3. Characters with bios
Easiest way to impress me is to have a personal info sheet that doesn't immediately show me your powers and set bonuses. Now, sometimes bios are hilariously bad, but at least they show that the player behind the wheels cares a little about the character they play. Extra points for perfect spelling and grammar, good formatting, and decent sense of humor or creative writing.

4. Costume
You've seen it. The guy who uses all of the enforcer armor "because it looks cool." It also is incredibly generic as every character that uses it looks alike. We have a robust character creator, use it. The more unique your character looks without looking like a random the better. Learn to mix and match various pieces from different sets to create different wardrobes, and try to avoid "generic" costume sets as a general rule (those sets that game suggests may work, but have been done over and over again). And if you have more than one costume, you get brownie points.

5. Character thought
This goes with the others. Basically, how much thought has a person put into their character, and how invested are they. Does the character have a costume and powerset combo that works with their name and bio? Do they have a theme or witticism that defines them?

6. Chattiness
I like to joke around when I play. Actually, my talkativeness is what made me switch to playing melee characters more often; I frequently take breaks from combat to type responses and used to die often because of it. Nothing is more awkward than being in a team of people that don't talk. It is like being with a bunch of fellow nerds, feeling more uncomfortable as a group than they did solo.

7. Buffs/Debuffs
When I form a team, I look for ATs in the following order: Controllers > Defenders > Corrupters > VEATs > Everyone else. Getting enough makes everything easier, and that gives me more time to chat, hang out, or enjoy the game. Melee isn't evil or anything, but it does make things go a little slower.

8. People without a stick stuck up their...
You know what I mean. Kills the game to team with people like that. Even worse is when you get more than one of them on a team and that start arguing. Also known as AP broadcast spammers.

It might work. I thought about making a claws/something scraster, and may eventually get around to it. Of course, doing it with no primary contribution will be harder. Good luck.

Did this thread devolve into a discussion about Preator Snooki? For shame! You have fallen to their tricks and distractions. The only question about her is why her body is bigger and whiter when she is controlling it as opposed to Aurora Borealis.

I hear that the women loyal to the Praetorian side can actually be melted down and made into Wal*Mart toys. Maybe someone with fire blast could give it a try next time they face Boobcat or MM?


Oh, right, back on topic. Manly man stuff and what not. Chest hair anyone?