Laurentide

I just find them less tiresome to team with, myself. A good typist may not be the best player, but great teams whose (very limited) conversation consists of variations of "lol" and "gj" or "heal plz" will drive me up walls - it's like nails on a chalkboard to me, plus they're usually not very interesting teammates to be with. I'm more likely to stick around for the better typer if I find them interesting to be with, while I tend to jump ship on the AIMspeak groups as soon as the mission is over.

I've yet to be similarly annoyed by someone using "toon", but most of the people I've encountered that use it tend to fall into the prior category, so it's usually just icing on the cake.

- Laurentide

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. . . To each his own, and if you're really annoyed by something trivial like that, you're probably no fun to be around anyways.

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Yes, because nobody's ever bothered by something that (admittedly) isn't really earth-shattering, and it doesn't happen often enough to justify a specific term for that sort of thing.

Seriously, guys, that's why they're called pet peeves. There's nothing wrong with calling 'em toons, but until I see you pull out a gigantic mallet, a portable hole or a humorous anvil, it's going to make my brain itch whenever you do. I just don't say anything because, seriously, it's not that important.

And I think that's pretty much everyone's stance on it, which is why I don't get why these "lighten up" comments keep popping up.

- Laurentide

Except, unless I'm misreading him, _Castle_ said above that Gauntlet affects our auras as well as our attacks. Unless it only applies to damaging auras, but then Invincibility wouldn't be in that list.

If it is what gives us our taunt auras, then heck yeah I'd miss it.

- Laurentide

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I bet you if the Devs take away Gauntlet but still leave the Gauntlet icon on...no one would be able to tell that it's gone.

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Those of us that remember having to take Provoke to keep our blaster teammates from getting run over - and how much that absolutely sucked - might just notice. Taunt is one thing, but even with slotting for recharge (yes, I do this) it's just not up often enough.

Now, I wouldn't mind it being a toggle where you trade damage for the taunt ability as you turn it on and off (or hell, just the ability to turn it off on a baby tank) but I do notice its effects and I notice it them my teammates, especially when paired with them at levels too low for taunt auras and Taunt itself.

- Laurentide

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Many have complained that this hinders creativity and roleplaying. After all, not everyone wants to be a villain that works for Arachnos. Certainly, a large strength of the City franchise has always been its customizability. To a degree, the Patron powers somewhat inhibit this by compelling people into “working” for certain Arachnos agents. The powers also do not dovetail perfectly into current power sets.

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It was never a problem for ME, but I think I see what other people are griping about: you've spoiled everyone with all this freedom! CoH and CoV up until now have offered such broad customization and freedom of character concept, that it's kind of jarring when a frankly standard level of MMO concept restriction is suddenly introduced.

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That is, honestly, a big part of the problem for me (well, that and the fact that my dominator is not going to be looking forewards to more immobilizes and ranged damage, but that aside). One of the things I loved best about the CoH world is that while you are constrained a bit by powersets and archetype, you're pretty much free to make whatever type of character and motivation you like - mercenary? Nice Golden-Agey "good guy"? Whatever. It's less story-driven, which some people don't like, but I find refreshingly open-ended after other games like WoW. By comparison, the very concept behind the PPPs is much more limiting. I'd originally designed my villain characters with the idea that they'd grow independently like heroes, which didn't seem an unreasonable expectation given the heroside game. Guess it was, though.

Really, though, I hope you consider putting together some more generic APPs villainside and probably some PPPs heroside in the future (maybe I8?), so people like me that like a more "open" game can get what we want, and those who love the idea of working for factions can get what they want.

I mean, it doesn't bother me that some people think the PPPs are the awesomest idea ever. That's great, and good for them! I'm just disappointed there's not really an option for those who look at them and think "meh", for character reasons or power choice reasons or just plain aesthetic reasons (admittedly the shark graphics look really cool and your art team did a great job, but damn, I think I'd be too embarrassed to actually use any of them).

- Laurentide

Because it's less the fact that we can get powers from an external source (i.e., "kissing up"), but the fact that don't have the option to get additional powers from ourselves (i.e., the ancilliaries) that continue the power growth we had previously?

I realize that not all sets could do this anyway, and honestly, as people have said - it'd be a non-issue if they'd given generic APP options along with the PPPs, or if the powersets came with enough powers that you didn't run out of about all your primary and secondary powers by the time you hit your 40s. Still, it's disappointing. Which is, ultimately, all the OP said in the first place. And yeah, I gotta agree with him. There's building characters to fit the world setting (all of my villains and heroes are designed as such) and feeling like you're being railroaded story-wise by a pushy GM, and honestly, CoV gives me the nagging feeling of the latter even in the teens. CoH was much more open for filling in your own backstory/motivations, and it's why I prefer it to, say, games like WoW. Or CoV, apparently. I guess some people like the more "story-driven" nature of CoV, but I find it grates.

Ah well. It's too bad, I really liked the ideas I came up with for my villains, but it's hard to feel like playing them when I already feel a bit hemmed in by the "storylines" and with not a whole lot to look forewards to later in the game. It'll be awesome when we can switch sides, though, so we can can the new ATs we like while still getting get the looser gameworld feeling we missed from CoH.

- Laurentide

I think what's driving me crazy about these powersets is that they look rather lackluster and are conceptually very specific. Now, the first part I could be wrong about, and am completely willing to allow that yes, they should be tested before I make a definite statement on that. The permanence also doesn't bother me particularly (once I settle on an APP, I don't really switch around, myself). The repetitiveness in them I can understand; it preemptively shut off the screams about inability to respec. But, as others have noted, it takes away from the versatility available heroside - the ability to choose, say, for more/ranged control (Tanker - Arctic Mastery), more stamina conservation (Tanker - Body Mastery?), or more damage (Tanker - Pyre Mastery). And above all else, Jeezum Christ, the concept alone. There's four very NPC-specific powersets to choose from. If you have an idea behind your character, just how many of these powers are going to fit?

No, I don't think this is going to change. But I suppose if I were to make a suggestion, it's to offer up modified versions of the hero APPs later as well as the locked PPPs. Why's that? Because it would let people be versatile and/or actually build characters with upper-level powers that fit their concept, while sacrificing potentially very good or better powers (the PPPs) and content. I mean, after all, it's all well and good to be more story-driven; but if the upper levels are all about how you will be an Arachnos Flunky, period, why'd we get Operative Burke (unafilliated) in the lower levels? Why not a new mission arc with more Arachnos people? It makes sense to offer some unaffiliated powers.

If everyone suddenly jumps ship and takes the villain APPs and skips the PPPs? That'd probably be a really good indicator that the latter weren't the best idea Cryptic came up with. But if what I suspect would happen does happen, and the numbers are more split, it'd probably pave the way to introducing PPPs heroside to make things more equitable. Especially since they're putting in a high-level zone where people will be using those powers.

- Laurentide