Hydrophidian

The contest was, as I saw it, more to revise than reinvent the Freedom Phalanx... which is what a lot of people did (including myself with my first entry). The question was, as I understood it: "what would I put in the game?"

So I mostly made superhero costumes that I felt reflected the characters, as we now know them. It was no surprise to me to find that many people had very similar ideas, and that it'd come down to, in many cases, the refinement, detail, and execution of the looks.

What I like about my Synapse is the expression and hair (which, to me, really gets the guy's personality across), and the sleekness of the look (he wouldn't even have had a belt, had there not been a slight top/bottom coloration difference that bugged me). I was particularly happy with the subtlety in color gradation on the gloves and boots (the primary reason that lightning pattern was chosen) and the overall hue.

So, point is, a lot of thought went into the design. I started working on the costumes before any entries had been made, and didn't finish them until after many others had been submitted: I didn't just bang 'em out. Thing is: "Originality" wasn't what I was going for. I just wanted them to look good: an attractive, cohesive, spandex super team. Appropriate signature properties for a superhero video game.

Under that criteria, which is what I took to be part of the judge's, I think my makeover entries stand up just fine, and are actually better at 'getting the job done' than some of the more "original" submissions (including my later ones, which is when I went down the 'reinvention' road), and even the ones you cite as your own favorites later in this thread.

Ultimately, I entered this contest for fun. The original inspiration was my long-standing loathing of Sister Psyche's costume, and it went from there (so I'm particularly gratified that my SP makeover won). And I went in knowing that it'd come down to subjective taste, as these things do.

Interesting to see, regardless, so thanks for posting them.

Though, I gotta say, they just confirm for me that I, personally, really don't like the art style over there.

But yah, I have to echo Mits. Psyche's one of the best CO character screenies I've seen.

That's a dang fine idea.

*laughs and laughs*

My only quibble is that you didn't cut off all the screenies at the ankle.

Thanks!

There's a bunch more, if you follow the link in my sig.

\o/

Me too, overall.

For a while there, the costume stuff wasn't even handled in-house.

^^^

Exactly. That is your opinion. Moving on...

Luckily, you seeing the logic isn't required.

It does work fully, as has been pointed out already. It returns a list of people in the zone who're not hidden.

I think you're being a bit short-sighted here.

Firstly, City is starting to show its age, so a graphics update is probably at least a good move, if not, in a competitive environment, a must. You don't care about graphics? Okay. But do you care about finding teams? Do you care about having a vibrant, active community?

You said it yourself: "everybody loves it." Well, let's hope so. If that eye candy helps to keep people engaged, that's ultimately good for everyone. Including you.

Secondly, whether or not it adds to gameplay is up to each player to decide for themselves. I'd say it depends on how important someone considers immersion to be. Personally, I consider it to be very important indeed. And greater visual depth of the environment will, for me, impact gameplay quite a bit.

Finally, all of this is optional, which I find to be a thoughtful touch. It may not be adding anything to your experience, but it's not going to take away from it either (in theory). Even if you don't care about graphics--heck, even if you don't pick up the expansion at all--as a participant, you still stand to benefit from all of this.

Noop.

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General reply:

I think teaming etiquette comes down to: being aware that it ain't all about you.

More specifically: you should recognize that those aren't NPCs you're teamed with. They're other players, other people. They're not there just for your convenience. They're not there to facilitate your enjoyment at the expense of their own. It's not their obligation to wait on you, make concessions for you, or conform to your own playstyle.

And not only are they other people, they're very likely nothing like you at all. So don't assume that they are. They could be anyone, from anywhere.

Keeping all this firmly in mind should pretty much nix any etiquette questions that might arise for you. Playstyles and expectations change from team to team, from group to group. Some people care about things that other people don't care about at all. If you've a question about something, simply ask. And if you're leading a team (or if you're a mission holder), let any expectations you may have be known. Don't expect anyone to be a mind reader.

"Glowies" are a good example of this. Those of us who've been playing for a long time tend to have a "don't touch unless it's yours" attitude about glowies. But that's because, when we started playing, there was a good chance a glowy would award something, be it a temp power, an inspiration, or an inf/xp bonus.

But the game has changed, and thus so has the culture and etiquette surrounding it. Nowadays, most glowies don't give you anything at all, and the goal is usually just to get them out of the way. So it shouldn't be a surprise that a lot of players have a cavalier attitude about making with the clickies. To them, that's just the way the game is played.

So if you don't want anyone else clicking your glowies: just say so. Somebody frantically clicking glowies with wild abandon isn't necessarily out to ruin your day or steal from you. They're probably just operating under a different understanding of the etiquette.

And a special note for team leaders: don't be afraid to boot people. I've seen many teams fall apart, simply because the team leader was "too nice" (read: too timid) to dump someone who was obviously a problem. If someone is making the group wait 5 minutes out of every 15, isn't staying with the program, is "leeching", or is just being generally crass... please... just boot them. It's a responsibility that comes with that star.

Wow, thanks!