Fire_Guardian_EU

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"It's okay, guys, the game's falling apart, everything's buggy as hell, but it's fine, because I can make my male character grow [censored]! THAT'S what we needed."

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So lets all stop suggesting anything until all the bugs are fixed?

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No, suggestions and debate are a good thing. I'd like to think that occasionally, the Devs bother to read the EU forums to find out what we think. However, the fervour that this thread has generated is out of proportion with the idea. Some people like the idea, some people don't. Their opinions and views have been expressed - that much is fine, and I don't think anyone could take an issue with that.

My issue starts when the thread started to turn into the people wanting it accusing the people who don't of some hidden agenda, or that they're just plain WRONG. This has happened on both sides, with misunderstandings happening all over the place....such as FFM not remembering that I totally kicked his [censored] in the Arena with an AR/Fire blaster, and I'd do it again in an instant.

Since this is, more than likely, the last day of this thread before some crazy red-name goes and locks it, let me just point out a few final things before I have to scoot along to work:

<ul type="square">[*]Just because someone doesn't like your idea, or opinion, it doesn't mean they don't like you, or what you stand for.[*]This is not the WoW forums. This is actually a nice place, where people generally care about what others have to say. For whatever reason, very little of that has happened in this thread.[*]Does the idea make good RP sense? Certainly. So does the idea of player apartments, and we never got those. Does it make practical sense? We don't know, and we won't until/unless a Dev steps up and tells us. It's pointless guessing, whether we have a background in programming or not, simply because none of us coded the game, so we can't say with absolute certainty how viable this is.[*]If I were to make a Suggestions thread asking for the ability to make characters left handed, as opposed to right handed, some people would say yes, some people would say no, and the main complaint against it would be "too much effort for too little gain/coding issues" - and nobody would bat an eyelid at it. However, the amount of attention to go into that thread would be nowhere near the attention that this thread has managed to generate. But, why? Because it's not a hot topic, like this one is. But precisely it's because this is a hot topic, that's why people can't jump all over it, and the other people posting in it, regardless of whether they're for or against it. A red name would take one look at this thread, offer up a prayer to Saint Bridger the Lockable, and the posts and suggestion would get thrown into purgatory - leaving a bad taste in the mouth who were for it for purely gameplay reasons. The people for the idea who were...shall we say, over-zealous, may have hurt the chances of this ever happening. It's sad to say that they probably won't realise it, either.[/list]

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*snip*[*]Heavy Metal
*snip*

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YOU LIE!

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IT MAKES NO SENSE, MAN! If I wanted to listen to music like that, I'd throw my Gibson down the stairs.

Ooh! Ooh! Are we listing things we don't like? Can I join in? Please? Pretty please?

<ul type="square">[*]Russell T Davis[*]Brussel Sprouts (they'll make me big and strong? Nope, but they'll turn my pee green)[*]Morons[*]People who decide that expressing an opinion is a statement of intent (see also: morons)[*]People who assume that "I don't like" represents "You cannot have". (again, see also: morons)[*]Utter pillocks who ignore everything that doesn't fit into their tiny little mindset[*]People who continuously claim that CoH is an MMORPG. IF IT WAS AN RPG, IT'D DAMN WELL SAY SO ON THE BOX! I've got three boxed copies of the game (CoH, CoV, GvE edition) and NOWHERE does it say it's an RPG. (see also: morons)[*]Retail customers[*]Heavy Metal[/list]
Ahem. Now that's off my chest, let me take a moment to explain my thoughts, here. Of course, if any "HAI! FG IS TEH BIGOT N HE IZ AGAINST TRANSGENDERED/SEXUAL PEOPLE!" minded people are reading, feel free to read whatever else you want, then insult me for whatever your tiny little brains THINK I've said.

1. Russell T Davis sucks. I'm not saying that because of his sexual preferences, I'm saying this because the dude's an idiot. My workplace manager shares the same preferences as RTD (and oddly, looks a bit like him) and I have to say, that never enters my mind when I'm working for him, or we're grabbing a beer after work. Someone's sexual identity doesn't matter, only the personality behind it.

2. My girlfriend and I (sorry to disappoint certain people, but Stasis IS actually female. I have proof) disagree on a LOT of stuff. I'm not talking about the basic 'where to eat' type of things, but on such matters as the death penalty, equality in the workplace, REAL matters. And, you know what? It doesn't bother me. Her opinion is JUST as valid as mine - just because we're on opposite viewpoints on certain things doesn't mean she doesn't respect my opinion, and vice versa. It always makes me laugh to see knee-jerk "You're against my opinions, therefore you're against ME!" reactions that the internet seems to spawn. Stop assuming, and start talking.

3. I'm not for changing the gender of the character. As I've already stated in a post, it's not for me. If we get it, fine, I won't use it. If not, then I wouldn't care less. It doesn't ruin the game that you can't change your gender, and Adding the feature won't improve the gameplay. (Note: I said gameplay, not how you play the game. If you're going to take an issue with THAT, then go roll a 1d12 and tell me how bad your insult's going to be on a Critical Chart, so I can cower). Would CoH lose subscribers based on the lack of this being added? Potentially, yes. But you signed up for the game, and have played HOWEVER many months/years/I don't actually care without this ability - do you really think that it's the ONE thing that's going to turn the game into the "Best game ever"? Of course it won't. There are various tweaks, bug fixes, serious issues that NEED to be rectified...but, hell, let's make the Dev team spend their time making THIS happen instead.

"It's okay, guys, the game's falling apart, everything's buggy as hell, but it's fine, because I can make my male character grow [censored]! THAT'S what we needed."

Now, I have friends (from this game, as it happens) who happen to be people who were born one gender, but consider themselves another.. Okay, cool, whatever works for them. I don't consider their [censored], or lack of, when I'm talking to them - the same way I don't care if you're Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Christian, Jewish, Jehovah's Witness, Athiest...what you look like doesn't matter. Your sexuality doesn't matter. Your beliefs don't matter. It's WHO YOU ARE that does. Regardless of whether this is about shape-shifting in-game (which, as people have pointed out, we already have) or something deeper for certain people - people are reading too much into the intent of words, and not reading the words themselves.

Having read through this thread, both at home and at work (thanks, iPhone!) firstly, I want to thank people for all the great reading material, which got me through one helluva day.

Gender swapping. Okay, I can see why people might want to do that, given that people Roleplay, and shape-shifters, etc, etc. However, given that I can turn my Elec/Dev blaster from a funky robot with glowing eyes and a fedora into a Samurai warrior with two keyboard presses, one could argue that 'shape shifting' is already a part of the game.

Let me pose a question quickly: if you could change genders on a character at whim, would you change back? Would you change once or twice, and then leave it? After all, it's a mere cosmetic difference to the character you're playing, but one that could (I say could because I'm not a programmer, I don't pretend to be in any way, shape or form, and it's entirely beyond me how CoH is coded) be troublesome to implement. If I could give FG a great rack and a terrific backside, would I? Well, no, personally I wouldn't, but I've invested a lot of time and energy into him. If I had a fresh character, would I do it? Probably not, as I play the game to play the game, and spend time with friends, and not for any RP element. I'm not being closed minded, and I'll honestly laugh my head off at anyone who accuses me of otherwise, but it's just not for me. That doesn't detract from how it might be for some people, but my personal opinion is that it'd be (probably) a lot of effort for potentially little gain.

I can understand why people would want to, but, at the same time, I can understand why the Devs might not be able to/willing to implement this.

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*snickers*

that would have been awkward....

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And yet, so very hilarious.

...Uhm....what?

Awesome song, like always!

There's one simple way to clear things up:

See, the real Xanthus loves Hello Kitty Island Adventure.

Fire Guardian approves of the phat beats needed to pull off Illusion Master's song.

Also, he wonders if Illusion Master fell down and hit his head.

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Even though his songs were great, I still had a major preference for his Ask-A-Ben series...
I miss them

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He does the odd one or two on special occasions.

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Hello, what?

Anyway. Oddly, I'm working on a CoH themed musical right now. Sort of like putting together a vast variety of songs (all from musicals) with CoH themed lyrics. Although I'm not going to post the entire thing up until its' ready, here's a taster.

March Of The Lesbian Cat Girls
(Sung to Food, Glorious Food from Oliver!)

Is it worth the paying for?
Wallets drained since Issue Four
All we ever get is gri-ef!
We PL and stay away --
We just want to get away
You've got a rare drop? Well, gief.
People all shun, 'cause they don't understand
When we play just to get a new badge,
But we Roleplay our girls with the whiskers and tails
And we all stand around and imag-ine...

Lesbian Cat Girls
Out on our patrol
We may be all guys
But that's how we roll!
We hang out in Galaxy
Crying tears like faucets
We Roleplay so very well,
In our corsets!

Lesbian Cat Girls.
Ignoring our missions
We just want to try
Our Toons in different positions.

People think that we're oppressed
Or out of our minds
But we
Just long to be
Playing cat girls
Of the Lesbian kind!

The doll is now sitting, pride of place, on my bookcase, in fact.

It's a wonderful doll, and the photos really don't do it justice. There's so much detail which can't be seen unless you know precisely what you're looking for - especially in the cape, which has the flames design painted on it, and I didn't notice until I was taking the photos of the doll, and it caught my eye.

Brilliant piece of work. Thanks, bushbaby!

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[Don't ever go up against a triform PB; seriously. You think aid self is annoying? How about shields, 3 heals, a self rez, built in stamina in Nova form; tank form, rather high knockdowm AND fairly good damage?

And to top it all, if things get hairy we also have Light Form (Unstoppable to you tankers).

Not that I'm saying they're PvP gods, they're not. But played right they can be a REALLY irritating opponent.

Oh, and a high level WS is even WORSE!

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... They're really not all that awesome.

Edit: They're also not really that awesome even if the person playing them is good. I've yet to see that though.

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Seconding this.

After all, PBs absolutely can't be beaten in PvP, can they? What was the final score when we fought in the arena? 2-0? With me on an AR/Fire and you constantly flying out of range? "Irritating opponent" is right - my mouse clicking finger twinged slightly towards the end there.

Memories....doo dee doo doo dee doo doo...

...I vote against.

@Fire_Guardian, and I'm all for this.

TeamSpeak is fairly inexpensive. If you'd like to see a list of prices, try HERE - it's the hosting company I use for the Forumites TS server. Whenever technical problems have arisen in the past, the customer service people have always been helpful, friendly and approachable, and send updates on problems directly to my inbox, whether the problems are still affecting me - they make me feel like an important client, and, even though I know it's an automated message, it's still a nice feeling. I have maybe 99% uptime on a 20 slot server that costs me £54 a year.

As for people talking over each other, that CAN be problematic, given that some people will naturally get drowned out, or potentially ignored (not intentionally, but if eight people are doing one thing which is fairly concentration-heavy, and one person wants to show the other eight people a funny video or picture they found, it CAN happen) but if you're all doing something which requires organisation, no matter the circumstances, people will always talk over each other. It just tends to be a little bit more...painful...on TeamSpeak.

TS also has a few extras that can be downloaded - the TeamSpeak Admin Client (I can't remember where I got this from, sadly) is a very useful tool when you're not running a game, and the unofficial TeamSpeak Overlay will help you get used to recognising voices pretty quickly, too.

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Oh, of course, of course. Don't get me wrong - I'm not silly enough to believe that one single person is the basis for everyone else. I'm just mentioning how the perception of a group can very well colour other individuals

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I'm a Forumite. I'm well aware of this.

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I think the problem is the name and any apparent attention seeking that might be derived from it. Stating you're GLB-friendly, etc, would be fine but the group itself appears to "milk" that by calling itself GLB league, having characters such as "Queerman" (perception springing up again, as the reality is different based on what was said) and so on.

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Sure, but one name doesn't mean the whole SG would be...militant. The whole thing reminds me of the LGB Club that set itself up when I was Student Union President at college. Since, for insurance reasons, a member of the Union had to be present for all meetings, I pulled duty sitting in on a few of these (granted, I mostly stayed in my office for all the meetings of all the groups, after a particularly scary incident with the Thrash Metal Club) but the LGB Club was a tame, relaxed environment where people could be themselves, talk openly (even if they weren't officially out of the closet) and gain support and meet friends. if the SG is something like this, then I think it deserves all the applause and respect it should garner.

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Personally, I've been pretty much every type of -sexual out there. Tran, [censored], bi, tri, auto, hero, villain, cookie....slap a "sexual" suffix to it and there's a pretty big chance I've gone that route at some point.

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Cookie-Sexual? AWESOME!

I'm actually all for this SG. Maybe it'll get Genericed, maybe it won't...but the name isn't as important as the thought behind it.

As an MMO, the most important aspect of playing is the social aspect to it. If someone feels they want to team with people who've had similar experiences in their life, to befriend and support each other, what's wrong with that? In saying that heterosexual people are allowed to join if they wish, the SG isn't being an exclusive group. It's just a group of like-minded people who enjoy the game.

I might not join, but I wish you all the best with this endeavour.

Chapter Five

B

TEMPLE

Christmas had come to Paragon, and with it, the sights and sounds of people rushing around, buying gifts, and pretending to be nice to each other, if only for a few days.

I strolled back from the Icon Tailors in Steel Canyon, where an obnoxious Frenchman had created my costume. I had decided on black armour, with a dark red flame motif. Since fire had burned me, I decided to have it etched onto my armour, as a…I suppose a sign of surviving it. The Frenchman, who insisted on calling me “Monsieur Tempelle” kept making the flames light, and easily seen. I, however, insisted they should be dark. It made me look more foreboding, as well as being harder to see at night. With a face-sock of the same shade of red covering my face, and dark yellow goggles with a black hi-tech looking helmet, I looked like a dangerous Hero. The tailor asked me if I wanted an emblem of some sort on the front of my armour, but I refused. I had no reasons to put a logo or emblem on my chest – I did consider a picture of a Coliseum, to represent a temple, but decided against it.

I pulled out a scrap of paper, and examined the address. 1161 Rankin Boulevard. Checking the street signs, I confirmed I was on the right road, and continued my stroll down to meet Emily. As I walked past the street sign, I was a bit surprised to see it embedded on the pavement, as opposed to being on a lamp-post, but, then again, it stopped vandals from stealing them. I mentally shrugged it off. It must be a tradition, or an old charter, or something.

Knocking on the door of the small house she lived in, I looked around, glaring at some gang members who were eyeing me up, presumably to see if I was an easy target. I held eye contact with the one who seemed to be the leader, until he backed down, and moved his men away. The door opened, and Emily peeked out from behind it, her eyes bright with confusion.

“Jay?”
“Temple.” I reminded her.
“Right, right. ‘Temple’. Of course. What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to escort you to the party. Remember?”
“The…oh, right. Of course, the Christmas party at the Mayors mansion. Well…come in.” She swung the door wider, and I strolled through, taking everything in.
“I’m just…on the phone right now. Make yourself comfortable.” She gestured through to her living room, and I stepped in. Everything was either black or white, and I frowned at her taste in furniture. She must have caught my expression in a reflection, or something, because she sighed.
“What?”
“No, nothing. I just never figured you for such a…bland décor.”
“It’s Retro Minimalism.”
“The only thing that’s minimal here is the colour scheme.”
“Whatever.” She sighed again.
“Em. The phone?”
“Oh, right. I’ll be right back.”
She hurried out of sight, and I made myself comfortable on the couch. I looked, from my vantage point, at the mass of photographs Emily had put up, to remind her of home. Strangely, a lot of them featured me. There was one of the two of us sitting at The Jolly Roger, my head in her lap, and talking animatedly whilst she smiled down at me…I remember when Sammy took that photo, he told us that nobody would believe that it wasn’t staged. Another one showed the two of us sitting on the tyre swings in the childrens’ play area outside the pub. Next to it, in a small silver frame, sat a small black and white photo of us going over a script in the college cafeteria, our heads so low they were practically touching.

All of the good times from our relationship. I looked over, and saw one more, which interested me greatly.

It was a largish photo, taken in The Jolly Roger. The main subjects in the photo were Emily and Sammy. Emily was pushing Sammy away, whilst Sammy was laughing. Sammy wore, as usual, jeans and a t-shirt, but, from the clothes Emily wore, as well as the crowded pub, I gathered that this was from the night Emily left me. The charity event for those blasted soldiers. Out of curiosity, more than anything else, I looked for me. I didn’t take the photo, of that I was certain; in fact, I didn’t remember any time where Emily wasn’t by my side, apart from when I went out to get some air, and she decided to stick her tongue down Pete’s throat – and, even then, Sammy was with me. Unless I was in the bathroom, it didn’t make any…
Wait.

I looked over at the bar, and squinted. The crowd in the background was slightly blurred and out of focus, but a man there was looking directly at the camera, and smirking. Although he was wearing a black rollneck shirt and, from what I could see, jeans, he looked exactly like me. I don’t mean me, as I was two years ago.

I mean, down to the scarring on the face and right hand, which he held up, his thumb raised before him, he looked like me. Now.

Very strange, and somewhat un-nerving.

I picked up the photo, to get a better look, when Emily walked back into the room.
“Good photographs.” I grunted, quickly putting the photo back down.
“Good memories.” She countered. “Because of a good boyfriend.”
“Em…”
“Jay…‘Temple’…I’m sorry.”
“Forget about it.”
“No, I mean it. You were the best thing that ever happened to me, and I threw your love back in your face.” I felt her hand on my shoulder, and, for a moment, I felt like shrugging it off. However, I let it rest there.
“I kept your ring, you know.”
“Oh?”
“I put it on a chain, and keep it around my neck. I’ve never taken it off, either. It’s a reminder.”
“Of what?”
I heard her take a deep breath. “Of what I lost. And it reminds me that I shouldn’t look somewhere else for ‘The Next Good Thing’, when I have the best thing in front of me.”

I frowned, and Emily must have sensed it.
“Jay?” She whispered. “Don’t you want to see your ring?”
I didn’t move.
“Jason…look at me.”
I turned slowly, and stared at Emily. She was, indeed, wearing the ring around her neck; in fact, she toyed with it nervously. Not that I could blame her, as the ring, the necklace it was attached to, and a pair of black lace panties was all she was wearing.
“Oh, Jason…” She murmured, and wrapped her arms around me.

*

Later on, as we sat in the midnight blue limousine, Sammy between us, bouncing happily on his seat and twittering on about how this was ‘Just like the old days’, I caught Emily’s eye, as she smiled at me. I forced one back to her, and winked, and she looked away, out of the window, blushing. I sat back, deep in my thoughts, as I realised that Emily, for all her skill, for all her talent, and love, now meant nothing to me.

When we had made love, that afternoon, she seemed…different, to how I remembered. She used to be more…fiery, more passionate, and definitely more interested in taking control of the...er, situation. However, this time, she submitted to me, in every conceivable way. This was definitely not the woman I fell in love with so long ago. Something had completely changed her, and, to tell the plain truth, I didn’t care.

We pulled up to the mansion, then, and I popped open the door leading out to the red carpet. I stepped out, and instantly had to force a smile for the cameras and press standing either side of the red velvet ropes leading up to the mansion entrance. Emily came up to my side, and rubbed my hand gently, as we were mobbed by various reporters. Paragon City Fashion Network cameras (How prestigious), next to CNN, BBC Worldwide, Fox, MSNBC…it was certainly going to be given press.
“And this is the Mayoral Aide, Emily Campbell, accompanied by…by…”
Emily smiled at me evilly. “This is Jason Tucker, the owner of The Tucker Foundation, as well as the newest Superhero on the block, going by the name of Temple.”
I was stunned that Emily had mentioned I was Temple, on worldwide TV, in front of billions of people. The press, however, seemed more taken back that I had been outed as…
’I’m going to kill her.’
“Mr Tucker! Mr Tucker! Why are you suddenly coming forwards as January’s Wordwide Lottery winner? Is it…”
“What does this…”
“How do…”
“Where…”
“When did…”
“Are you here…”

Barraged by question, I turned to Sammy. “Sammy!” I hissed. “Distraction.”
“On it.” Sammy nodded, having started taking to calling himself my ‘sidekick’, and taking his self-imposed role very seriously. He jumped in front of me and Emily, and yelled. “Wait!”
The reporters were stunned into silence, waiting to see and hear what Sammy would do. I wasn’t totally surprised when he went into an intricate break-dance routine, leaving reporters staring, and allowed myself and Emily into the mansion without further incident.
Emily turned back to watch him. “What on earth is he doing?”
Without looking back, I shrugged. “The Robot.”

*

It was nearly midnight. Nearly Christmas Day, and the party was showing no signs of slowing down. I glanced over to where Sammy was dancing with a redheaded Heroine, whom Sammy had introduced as ‘Sarriss Groundwalker’, who seemed quite impressed with his ‘distraction’ from earlier, which I had found out had been broadcast on televisions throughout the mansion, including one or two by the bar.
It meant no end of dance interruptions for me, as Hero after Hero patted me on the back, to thank me for everything the Foundation had done to help out in Paragon, and quite a few…I realised I was starting to think of them as ‘civilians’, approached me, to meet the latest Hero in the city, or to tell me about how The Foundation had touched them. It was the first time I had ever been the centre of attention, and it’s no exaggeration to say I was the centre of it. Men watched Emily dance, and looked at me jealously, and the women wanted to know how Emily had ‘bagged’ herself a multi-billionaire philanthropist, as well as a Superhero. I was really quite flattered when a few heroines gave me their phone numbers, and made the discreet decision to not tell Emily about it.

All in all, it made me feel very damn good about Emily’s decision to announce my identity to the masses. It was a buzz that didn’t even go away when Emily and the Mayor double-teamed me into giving a speech in front of the assembled crowd.

Standing on top of the raised stage area, in front of the band, I glanced out to Emily, who had half an eye on me, and half on her watch. I shrugged it off, and began to speak.
“Fellow citizens of Paragon…”

That was as far as I got before the roof exploded, and men in black armour began rappelling down.

Corruptor had found me.

In my mind, the best piece from last month is The Freakshow Poem, by Augury. Short, to the point, and still remaining on-target and funny, it's a masterpiece, and should be recognised as such.

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Hmmm, I'm sure I said I'd take the controller on the first page?

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Gah! Right, you did. Sorry.

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Didn't Jum say he'd do the tanker role?

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Good point. Edited to take that into consideration.

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Gratz on 50 mate, and gratz to me for getting you there

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So, you stood by HH since he rolled the character, and played alongside him non-stop for the entire way? Otherwise, you didn't "get him there", you were merely on a team with him when he got to 50.

Okay, this is how things are looking so far:

Blaster
Frozen Rogue
Controller
Solar
Defender
Fire Guardian
Scrapper
MaXimillion
Tanker
Jumtastic Mr Jummybear
Peacebringer
Cynic
Warshade
Stasis

All full up, and nowhere to go! Times und dates, peoples!

Well, the exact day is up for discussion. I'll put you down as the PB for now, and we'll see what happens.