Dante

Forgive the cruddy webcam. Had to show off my latest writing impliment, a Sonic Screwdriver pen!

The rocks sound silly because they are silly.

It's not that I don't understand it, it's that I think it makes no sense within the story (whatever is left of one by this point). If these telepathists are so damned powerful, that they can strip an Incarnate down to being defeated by a mob with rocks, why haven't they been sent against Primal Earth yet? Or built up to in some way as you would any really powerful threat that we've not faced yet: "Beware Incarnates, you may have faced Cole's Seers before but you've yet to face his dreaded Telepathists!" Plus the fact that the laser beams and other weapons don't leave us as greasy smears on the floor goes to show there's some terrible internal inconsistencies at play.

Add to that the 'Anti-Non-Incarnate' ray from the Apex and Tin Mage TFs that Cole seems to have mislaid somewhere and he could waltz all over Primal Earth forces.

To me, it seems painfully obvious that the mechanics of the trials are worked out first and then the lore twisted and abused to fit around it. And after six trials and two TFs, the Praetorian Invasion story has been so mangled by this that it has holes in it I could fly the Nostromo through. Just what will happen to Cole if we do change public opinion of him? What is the average citizen going to do? Pelt him with rocks?

Scarlet Shocker said it best, that the story telling aspect of CoX has taken a nose dive in recent years. Part of this is that Trials are an appalling way to communicate story and no, adding Prometheus to spout walls of text at us does not help, especially when it doesn't add up and looks like a giant Band Aid over the inconsistencies. Plus the multiple contradictions and inconsistencies demonstrate that the mechanics and 'I Win' gimmicks come first, lore somewhere way down the list and that really puts me off.

This isn't meant as a rant, I don't want an argument, I've never been a fan of the Trials and I've been hanging on, waiting for them to get better or feel epic. I want to like them, I want to embrace them as a new and exciting challenge in CoX but the abuse of lore and feeling lost and irrelevant in a team of 24 has pushed me further and further away from the Incarnate content. I'm just holding on for the revamped DA to see whether it's worth me continuing to subscribe. And if I don't, that will be a sad day for me after six years of fun and enjoyment.

Sorry for the wall of text.

Originally written by @Wolfram:

The Militia Academy - 21 December 2011

Bright blessings to all those who celebrate the rebirth of the sun. May the coming year be full of joy and happiness.

Now it's time to break out the mead!

I'd take any of these over more Praetoria.

I had forgotten a lot of these which is a shame as one of the reasons I fell in love with CoX was because of its rich and detailed background. Unfortunately, I doubt we'll ever see many of these stories explored mostly due to the Lorekeepers behind them now having left Paragon.

Two things.

First, I'm agreed on more IO sets. There are how many Targetted AoE powers in the game and about one decent non-purple IO set for them? Definitely would love to see more options for inventions outside of the ATIOs which I will not be touch with a 40 foot barge pole.

Secondly, and I know this may sound odd, I want to see more missions dealing with ordinary people. I've been playing through old low level arcs and enjoying freeing trapped citizens from the clutches of evil-doers. The new arcs in Atlas are a great start but I want more things that make me feel like a hero (or a villain) and not just a pawn in someone's game.

I must admit, when the powers for the Incarnate system were revealed, I was a little disappointed at how much they blurred the lines of the ATs. We can already do this with Inventions but the Incarnate system takes it even further. Perhaps this is deliberate.

For me, I would have liked to have seen skills that took ATs to their 'next level'. So for example, AVs are hard to debuff as they have high resistance to debuffs. So for an Incarnate Defender (or any other AT who have debuffing abilities) I would have liked to see something that could overcome even the resistances of mighty AVs. Basically something that took their abilities further. Like a power that added a few extra feet or splash damage to melee attacks so that melee ATs could truly wade through hordes of enemies like a demigod should.

Or perhaps powers that helped close some of the gaps in ATs, leaving them less vulnerable. Now we do already have those with the Destiny buffs and the Alpha slot to some degree, so in some ways, job done. But I was thinking more along those subtle lines rather than big, flashy powers.

Of course, allowing those things would mean creating new challenges for players but then that's always going to be the problem with scaling power levels. The Devs might not have added another 10 levels to the game but already we see us fighting +6 level shifted foes so I consider that a bit of an illusion.

I will say I'm not enamoured with the Incarnate system but it's more to do with the crappy storyline, confusing salvage and iTrial heavy way of gaining the abilities rather than the powers themselves. Hence why I'm holding out on the revamped Dark Astoria before deciding whether to ignore the system completely.

*Big sigh*

Many moons ago, long before I was flashing security guards or dancing like an idiot with my pants on my head at NCSoft gatherings, I attended my first COX EU player meet in sunny old Brighton, around the corner from the NCSoft Europe offices.

On that day, a bright, happy and very tall young lady was going around making sure that everyone was comfortable and enjoying themselves. Nothing seemed to be too much trouble and out of all the mods there, she seemed unstressed and unphased by anything.

That's how I remember Avatea and even when she jumped the great pond, she's remained a constantly helpful and friendly member of the Paragon staff. She'll be greatly missed and not easily replaced.

Safe journeys Avatea and bright blessings for your future.