Dysmal

I've never found the argument that ED and GDN were introduced to allow IO's to be added to the game at a much later date particularly convincing.

If IO's had been introduced somewhat sooner than two years after those two changes, I might find the argument that those balance changes, and the introductions of inventions have any sort of link somewhat more credible.

What did we pay for IO's being added to the game? Nothing that I can think of.

So, you want to change your body but you don't want to change your eating habits?

I think you need to look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself how much you really want to change. Especially with your physical limitations, you really need to look at changing your eating habits if you want to get in better shape.

This is something you can control with out being hampered by your back problem, but giving up on changing it when you say you want to lose weight is setting yourself up for failure.

Getting into shape and being physically healthy isn't just about changing your eating and exercise habits, it is about making the commitment to a new lifestyle and attitude. It isn't always easy, but you can do it, if you keep an open mind and a positive attitude.

In regards to your physical limitations, perhaps low or no impact activities such as swimming would work better for you.

Oh, and if you need exercise inspiration for people with physical problems, I'll leave you with two people to look into.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Hansen

Would work great for a depressed miner character!

Add this link to the character creation screen:

http://thesaurus.com/

Problem solved

If this was true, no character would be any more powerful than they were in April 2004.

The presumption that every buff to the game is somehow balanced out by a corresponding nerf or mob buff baffles me. It just isn't accurate.

Oh look, you can swap positive for negative in a sentence. Now that you've demonstrated some grasp of language, can you actually make an intelligent argument?

He said that the change makes tight builds tighter. Which is not true.

The change does not force you to distribute your slots any differently than you do now. There are many powers that are useful with zero additional slots.

For a build to become tighter with this change, it will only become so if the player chooses to change the way they distribute their slots.

You're really not doing anything of the sort, and your reasoning is pretty fundamentally flawed. You don't have any less slots to allocate than you did before.

In fact, with three more power choices to use, with just their base slots, you have three more slots on a character to stick IOs in that you didn't have before. And if you didn't take all four fitness powers before, and Swift and Hurdle remain seperate powers, you actually have four more slots to stick IOs in. Sure, you won't be able to full slot out these powers, but so what? There are many powers that are useful with no extra added slots.

I went back into the recesses of the email account I use for NCSoft stuff, and my invite to the CoV Beta does mention "signing a legally binding" NDA, but I don't remember what actually happened. It even mentions possible legal action against you if you broke the NDA.

But, I don't recall actually signing anything. I know I certainly didn't fax anything in, or use an electronic signature.

The message included this gem as well "This Closed Beta is serious business"

I should maybe clarify, I don't care if they do or do not merge them, it is just something I can see happening.

And your arguments are at best, half-baked.

Not giving you the buff you want, or as much of a buff you want, is not equivalent to "paying" for a buff with another game change that negates the effect of the buff.

Any characterization of this as having "less slots" involves twisting of a kind I think Reed Richards would find beyond his capabilities.

You don't have any less slots than you had before. You just happen to have more power choices.

Oh no, more flexibility!

I suspect Swift and Hurdle become one power. Call it "Athleticism" or something.

Edit: Slotting doesn't have to be a problem, if this frees up three power choices, you can take three powers that don't require any slots.

Assault, Stimulant, TP Friend or Foe, Stealth, Grant Invis, Combat Jumping are all good with the base slot.

A team of 8 players all with Assault, Manoeuvres, and Tactics with just the base slot would be pretty nicely buffed.

Comedy Option D: Everyone can now take Jump Kick, Flurry and Provoke.

You can slot inherent powers like Brawl and Sprint, so I don't think this is an issue.

Also, prepare to freespec!

This, so hard.

I don't really see what the issue is people have with Ice. It has great single target damage, and decent AoE even pre-blizzard, if you don't skip Frost Breath.

I don't know what this means, but if it would make the process of respeccing your characters less tedious, I'm all for it.