Memphis_Bill

Nope. Just pay attention to your teammates, figure out ahead of time who'll need it and who won't.
Depending on team. Some need it more than others.
Early on, yes. Mid to end game, not so much.
Never. I warn people ahead of time, I'm a combat buffer. You're close, you're getting buffed, unless it's right at the beginning or everyone's waiting for stuff to recharge before a big boss fight. Seems to work out pretty well. Anyone waiting for a "Gather for RAs!" is going to be waiting a long, long time.

Because, of course, leaving them totally ignorant as to what a Defender really can do for a team that doesn't result in "green numbers" is the best solution evar.

If someone's trying to play baseball and using their face as the bat, would you tell them there's a better way, or just let them "enjoy their playstyle?" Because, frankly, that's what the "need a healer" folks are doing. Making things far more painful for themselves than it has to be, and leaving a mess for others to clean up.

The people who want to farm will farm regardless.
The people who want to play the market will do so regardless.
ANd the people like me, who *do* run missions - yes, even with the 50s - are going to do so regardless of whatever other rewards you come up with.

Thus the instant hatred the second the H-word comes up in the Defender forum.

Me? I'd have tried to correct him... but it'd have been hard to do after all the laughter at the statement.

No, not really. The taxes on owning a city are a bit high for my taste.

Same.
Or "toy." Most of the preassembled ones I can think of are die-cast and have lousy detail compared to a kit.

Well, they're generally supposed to help fill in holes and such. Scrappers don't need all that much help, so theirs tend to be somewhat... meh. Melee generally gets a bit of range and control to keep things in punching distance. Controllers generally want some self protection and damage by the time they're dealing with the EB/AV parade of late levels, and they get it (made better with Containment.) Masterminds... <3 my AOE immobs, and I won't turn down some extra protection and a touch of damage. And Defenders... heh. Love critting on a self-buff (in Dark) as a Defender.

There is a good bit of variation within the sets, though.

Uninterruptable hold as the newly-rezzed starts throwing up, as I recall.

What are you talking about?

What do you want, a model train layout or something? A "scale model" of the city/isles? A map?

I would pay absolutely nothing for it, because it would either be so small as to be pointless or too large and unwieldy to do anything with. And the individual building or block architecture isn't all that interesting.

Go look up card modeling. Print out the textures. Make your own.

Now, if you were looking at dioramas or vignettes with one or more characters, then it's a *maybe,* and it would depend on scale, materials and quality. Anything from McFarlane-ish $10-$15 to decent-quality-figurine $50ish. Lower cost if unpainted resin, of course, and I can hit Verlinden and the like for appropriate scenery if desired.

But a "model of the city?" Utterly worthless to me.

They don't really *condone* it, but on the other hand, they don't really care as long as the rewards aren't so out of whack with the risk involved. If they think it is, they'll remove it or tweak the enemies (AE) or give the enemies extra powers, add a timer, or adjust where the XP comes from (PVE.)

For instance - people used to "portal farm." Sit by a portal (like the Orenbanga portal room) with PBAOEs going. Let enemies come out. Gain multiple levels overnight. Fix? The portal has the XP - you have to defeat it. The enemies it spawns can give you debt, but no XP. (Same with Comm officer spawns, Death shaman spawns, etc.) Or they used to farm the Shadowhunter map. Result - give puppies ranged attacks and make it timed. Dreck got a timer for the same reason.

If you're not using an exploit or taking advantage of mobs that can't fight back (for instance,) they probably wont' do anything.

Go to the tailor.
Do you see an option for "Jetpack?" No? Then it's not a costume option.
Do you see a power in your tray or powers list for some sort of Jetpack? Yes? Then it's a power.
Does a costume option have any impact on performance? Can you fly because you have a cape or wings? No. Can you fly because you have rocket boots? No. Those are costume options, not travel powers.
Can you have two capes on your back at once? No. Why? Because it's one costume "anchor point."
Can you have a cape and a jetpack on at the same time? Yes. Why? One's a costume piece, one's a temporary power with a graphical representation that "anchors" there.

Once they have an ability tied to them - such as the goldbricker or sky raider jet packs - they become temporary powers. You may like using them as "part of" your costume, that's fine, but that doesn't make them a costume option from the game's POV.
Edit: When people come here and ask for jetpacks, do they ask for "Jetpacks as a costume option" or "MORE jetpack costume options?" They ask for the first - which is a pretty good indication they don't see temp powers as costume options, either.

And some people insist the government is reverse-engineering UFOs to create mind control technology, that Sarah Palin is a genius, or that the Holocaust never happened. So what's your point? That people can be idiots?

There's now an area specifically set to have zero powers working. Put CCs there. It's in every non-PVP zone, too.

Make it so buffs are cancelled? If someone wants to "grief" a contest, they'll just reapply it. Move to "Studio B?" They can't do it in the first place. If it seems too large, do it by group.

Still not sold on it being anything other than a bad idea.

A jetpack is not a costume piece. A jetpack is a temporary power. When/if we ever get jetpacks in game as costume pieces, I'd expect to see them animate with the appropriate powers, yes - but not be the *source of* those powers, or a buff/debuff.

You know what they say about when you assume, yes?

The other two I'm OK with. This one, I'm not. If I'm throwing a phase at a group of enemies, there's a reason for it - I want as much of that group completely out of action as possible. I don't want a "chance to," any more than I want a "chance for" damage on what my blaster nukes get a successful hit on.

Not really.
I could ask the folks at work (tech support) who'd heard of Slashdot, and maybe get one or two "er, who" responses (and then a pile of other sites, like Tom's Hardware, Ars Technica, etc. thrown out there.)

I could walk into a mall and ask the same thing, and get a lot of blank stares.

You know it, I know it. But it's hardly Facebook, which it seems everyone logs on to - even those who shouldn't be allowed near a computer. Being surprised people don't recognize it, even here, is simply a symptom of ... well, wearing blinders, or being too used to a specific subcommunity. I could mention BOFH and the PFY, and I'd be surprised if I got more than, say, 10-12 people going "oh, them, love that!" out of all the "who? What? Huh?" responses.

It's like min/maxers who don't get how people can *not* use - or even care about - IOs, DPS, etc, or RPers who don't get people who don't really care about the storyline and just want to blow things up, or Freedomites who don't get that people do actually transfer away from their server.

Do having non-Kheldian members along when doing a Kheldian arc spoil the arc?