Dante

I think, although I admit I cannot find a citation for it, that the devs have said that they were going to look at Vigilance once they had finished their review of Defiance. However that could just be my imagination and so could be totally incorect. Sorry.

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You may get some use out of it pre-endurance recovery power. After that it's useless and only rewards poor play.

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Agreed. It's about the only inherent I can think of that runs contrary to your role. As a Defender, I feel that my responsibility is to keep the team alive and well. If the team is falling apart, either I'm not debuffing the enemy enough or we've bitten off more than we can chew (a common occurrance in PuGs) in which case no endurance discount will turn the situation around.

IMHO, it should have been looked at before Defiance. At least with Defiance it makes my last nuke before faceplanting go with a bit extra boom. Vigilance though is less than worthless.

Yes, it probably will take time to rid the Militia of that old reputation unfortunately. However the group has undergone a massive revamp to try and lose it and move on to more positive new ground. Our current rules actively state that anti-heroes/vigilantes are not tolerated and that all members should act within the law.

I will be updating the Wiki entry soon to reflect the recent changes.

Actually, as much as I like the new forums I'm getting server resynch errors about 30% of the time. I'm hoping they calm down soon.

Thanks for the update. Unfortunately, the Tempest forums are another site blocked by my work so given that I have no internet connection at home at the moment, I only get to have a look when I'm in an internet cafe. Hopefully though, I'll be reconnected soon. I'll probably next get a chance to have a look on Thursday, I'm sure it'll be great.

Regarding the Hand plot, Saff is going to want to have an audience with Michel at the Zig at some point given that events back home have started to make her suspicious of her mother's 'suicide'. However, I'll probably have to delay it until I'm properly back online.

Thanks for the suggestion. I agree that the crash of Suddenlaunch has moved our forum transfer up the schedule a little so it would be good to get a move on. I tried Ghost's page but found it hard to navigate and for some reason someone's already registered with my name which is a tad disturbing. Crimson and I will probably have a chat about it this weekend and come up with a plan of action.

In the meantime, I hope everyone had a good time last night. I'm beginning to hate playing from a cafe. Last room of Hess and they chuck me out. Grrr...! Still, hope all went well. If someone could confirm what happened after 10pm, I'll recap next week.

I don't consider them to be physical items (although there's no real reason that they couldn't be) so if you want to show them off as trophies, why not? I use mine as either hints about their current plots or as another way of advertising their status. Out financial system is supposedly based on our reputation so I see earnt badges as an extension of that. If you earn X badge for beating X number of X, then the public know you as a persistent foe to X. So it adds a little bit of description for me. Dante normally has one of the 'Mystic' badges on him as it tends to be how he is perceived by others.

As much as I'd love to join that board, I can't as it's yet another one that's blocked by my work's increasingly bizarre policy when it comes to websites. Anything that mentions 'Games' gets shut down in an instant. (As does anything that says 'fun', 'sasquach' or 'kittens' but that's another matter...)

As the last Admin on the Militia boards, I've poked around with the settings and hit all the fix and restore buttons but all to no avail. I'll keep an eye on it but I don't see it getting fixed any time soon.

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The other reason inv is hard to tank with at the early stages is that it dont get its taunt aura until 18. Making it hard to tank appropriately in the first levels.


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Taunt aura at 18??? wot do you mean by that? i got "taunt" at lvl 10 and there are no taunt auras in the INV set (as far as i know)

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Invincibility at level 18. Taunts foes around you and gives you a defence bonus for each one within range.

I too have struggled to tank during my time here. It's only been recently that I found Stone/SS to my liking. There is something nicely heroic about standing in the middle of a mob of foes, keeping them from attacking your team-mates. Even though I'm still only level 15, the difference between TOs and DOs is very noticeable. I can't wait to see how it goes after 22 and SOs are in place.

Good luck with your tanking!

Hmmm… well, I suppose there is still a chance that this thread could remain constructive… so I’ll throw my oar in for the hell of it.

Firstly, I’m not a PvPer and yes, my builds reflect that. As much as I applaud the idea of dual builds, I really don’t see it happening. So in effect we have two parties, one with PvE builds and one with PvP builds. As has been stated, in a PvP zone, the PvE build will be a stain on the carpet within seconds. So in effect, as a PvE player, there are areas of the game which are off limits to me and that’s a shame.

As it is, I can’t see any suggestion of nerfing Inventions or Accolades being popular with either the devs or PvP players as has been demonstrated here. Although I completely agree with your (and my) desire for a level playing field, as long as people’s builds are customised for one type of environment, there won’t be one and we remain with the two class system.

Therefore, I will take up the sixth point which is that there is no story reason for entering a PvP zone. It is possible to go from 1 – 50 without ever entering one and I certainly wouldn’t want to change that. But there are missions that can be done in PvP zones and perhaps it might be nice to see those introduced in a more interactive way. For example, at the moment, the closest a PvE player gets to a PvP zone is to be referred to the contact outside. They click the contact and then they’re onto the next mission, job done. But how about the contact outside offering them a mission inside of the PvP zone, the same way that other contacts do?

Such a simple thing, but maybe it would open up a reason for that player to step inside of the zone rather than clicking on their previous contact? If people do not wish to take it up, they don’t have to, in the same way that going through the Hollows is entirely optional. Maybe just the experience of having to run through a PvP zone could turn some new players onto the idea of PvP if they’ve never tried it before. So there you go, make of that what you will.

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Would 50,000 words of short stories count? Maybe 10,000ish words per story, all with a similar theme and setting?

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An anthology of sorts? Not sure if that's against the rules or not.

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I'd like to actually finish my 2006 entry first...

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Same here. I realised 18 days in that my story didn't have legs and started a different one that has since spiralled way beyond the target of 50,000 words. It'd probably be irresponsible of me to start a new one.

Sometimes links can present themselves either before or after the character has been created. I have characters linked by the following means:

Father/Daughter
Student/Teacher
Hero/Nemesis
Husband/Wife
Brother/Sister
Housemates
Old friends...

Sometimes the link comes about just through their characters as they emerge. Origins can often be a good reason. Each origin has its own 'governing body' in Paragon so it's quite possible that any magic character could have met another magic based character through MAGI. People tend to gravitate to each other over certain subjects if they're pivotal to their personality.

Otherwise, links just appear as you play them. Plots can take characters in certain directions where it is possible that they might run into another of your creations. There are thousands of ways people know of each other, even if it's just having bumped into them in the past.

1 October 2007
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You can’t always get what you want…

…but sometimes you get what you need. Responding to a call from Crimson Archer, The Amber Banshee headed into town, eschewing her usual guitar practice in favour of getting a lead on Nemesis after their aborted attempt to crack the disciplined army last week. Things had been tense between the two of them since Jay had announced his love for the dizzy redhead over six weeks ago. Fortunately the disbanding and subsequent rescue of the Militia had proved to be sufficient distraction to prevent them from properly talking about it. Falling in love with the wrong person always sucks but it sucks even harder when the person is not of the gender you’re usually attracted to. Just such an issue had been weighing heavily on the archer’s shoulders during the recent crisis and a private mission with Amber proved to be the best time to get to the heart of the matter.

Small talk of course, comes first. Jay commented on Amber’s return to her old costume, affectionately dubbing her recent one as ‘Miss Whiplash’. At the same time he contemplated perhaps trimming his beard after Amber started calling him ‘Mountain Man’. Once the foe had been subdued though, there was no escaping the impending discussion, despite frequent interruptions from Tygerboy over the comms. Is it possible to love someone you’re not attracted to? Amber was not willing to find out. Even in this crazy world of mutants, monsters and aliens, she couldn’t have changed gender even if she’d wanted to. Jay concurred and even though there were kind words and promises, both returned home grieving for a love that could never be.

Jay disappeared to speak to his style consultant while Amber leapt home, disappointed to have discovered that Jay was now managing The Last Word, a band which she held a fairly low opinion of due to the antics of its members. As she sat behind her tatty guitar she stared at the fading peace lily that sat on her windowsill and started making plans for putting a recording studio into the Dugout.

I read them as I don't get the chance to interact with Tempest as much as I would like and while I'm offline, they make entertaining reading that help keep me updated OOC. And yes, they are entertaining.

That said, I'm meant to be posting recaps for the Militia, something that I admit to being very lax at doing. So there will be more recaps from my neck of the woods at least from now on. Speaking of which:


27 September 2007
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And so it began again…

Four weeks after their undignified eviction from their corporate base, the remaining members of the Militia gathered around a familiar statue, determined to continue fighting crime, even if their sponsor and maybe even the civilians around them chose to shun their efforts. But this time, things were different.

“I have something to show you,” promised Britanic, leading them through the portal.

They emerged in a large warehouse, cavernous and dusty. Around them lay various boxes, all marked with the Wayne Securities logo. To say the assembled group was a tad underwhelmed by their new base might be a tad too generous. Britanic explained that he had mothballed a back up base for the PCP a year ago and given that the due to several members’ efforts to keep the team together, he was donating it to them as a base of operations. Crimson Archer revealed that it was he who had bought most of the Militia’s old gear at auction and that they would begin wiring it up soon. The base, affectionately dubbed ‘The Dugout’ due to its position under a games court in Kings Row would be their home from now on. Well, it was a start anyway.

It was then that Britanic and Crimson announced that because of her work in keeping the team going, they were appointing The Amber Banshee as Field Commander, a decision that caused the poor lass to go bright red with embarrassment. Turning to work in an effort to minimise the attention on her, she perhaps chose to bite off more than she could chew in pursuing Crimson’s lead on the Nemesis Army. Following several hours of gruelling combat, the bruised and battered Militia retreated, repelled for now but united at last.

And so when the Registrar of Supergroups looked up from his desk on Friday morning, he was greeted by the sight of The Amber Banshee, Crimson Archer and Britanic all sporting various cuts and bruises about their persons. Britanic slid a form across the desk.

“We wish to re-register The Militia,” he stated.

The registrar was confused at first. “But the Militia’s disbanded,” he replied, slightly perplexed.

“Rumours of our demise have been greatly exaggerated,” said Amber, sure that she was quoting someone.

The registrar looked at them over the top of his glasses, shrugged and began typing their details into the computer. It’s three captains looked on, tired but relieved that their ordeal was nearing an end. This would be a new start, a new beginning, a chance to turn things around. A chance to fix what was broken. There was so much work ahead, but for now, they could afford a moment of quiet celebration. The registrar looked up at them and confirmed that it was all taken care of. It was done. The Militia was back in business.

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"...and constant threats from myself with a cricket bat, I fully sympathise."

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Now I have images of John Cleese going mental on a PC with a cricket bat. "Right! You've done it now!"

Come back soon, we'll miss you!

Well Styx is 26 but I'm offline at the moment. When I get back on, I've been harbouring a desire to do more TFs with my alts so you might get your opportunity then perhaps. Monday nights used to be our alternative teaming night so perhaps we could arrange something for then?

I'm happy to go with that although I will be attending from an internet cafe so I'd like to be done by 10:00 when they'll be kicking me to the kerb again. Both Amber and Dante have links to Croatoa so there's a good IC reason for them to be interested.

However, bear in mind that some people who show might not be in the level range for it. I guess it will very much depend on who shows on the night.

Thanks! I will do, just as soon as I've given some broadband engineers a beating.

I've triggered a recount of all posts and members on the Militia boards and it seems to have yielded some results at least. Some people I know are still missing but they may need to log in to reactivate. Hopefully things are settled for now but if not, it might be time to start looking for a new forum provider.

A quick question: 'Capes' has been mentioned a few times and appeared on the front page as a magazine dealing with hero issues etc. Who runs it OOCly or is it available for all to use? I ask as I have an article for when I finally get an internet connection back and I'd rather put it in there (with permission) than create another magazine for it.

Thanks

I was thinking of a Selkie myself.

Still I think what you're proposing for a costume could work well. I'd have a play around myself but thanks to Sky, I'm offline... Grr...

Ah, this explains a lot. I tried posting on the Militia boards but got no replies. They do look truly borked. Might be time for a new forum perhaps.

House move went well thank you but I'm still waiting on BT to get an internet connection to me so my participation in this Thursday's meeting might come from an internet cafe. Shame I missed the reactor trial though...

Amber can still participate in the rescue operation but if I can't get a connection by Friday, please feel free to use her as you see fit. I think you know her well enough by now Lotus.

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I have an idea for a character based on a Scottish mythological creature that is aquatic but quite capable of living out of water too. Just wondered. Considered a FF/ defender or a Scrapper

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I would have thought one of those would be a mind or illusion controller if it's the one I'm thinking of.

It is a shame there aren't more aquatic adventures to be had in the city but then I'm sure it would need more coding to include things like drowning etc. For costume parts, the reptillian textures can look like fish scales if you get the colours right.