Memphis_Bill

I don't think I've ever really had to stop and think about an origin. They're fairly straightforward. Now, some people do have a decent argument for a dual origin (they rely on gadgets as much as their natural training, for instance,) but ambiguous? Not really.

As far as what they do - yes, with the branching tech and detection (like in Mender Ramiel's arc) I'd love to see more done with them.

Why they're around - I suspect they're very deeply baked into the character database as an artifact from Alpha (when Origin had a *huge* impact - determining how many powers you could take and how far you could advance them,) and that being able to remove/respec them is much, much more of an undertaking than we think (and could break far more than we suspect, past the obvious.)

What bugs me about open world isn't "Griefers" - yeah, I've run into a few (hey, PVP heavy game like Aion, it's almost expected) but the other MMOs "Go kill x of these and bring me 5 bat nose hairs" ... and they're in a limited area, and *everyone* is going for them.

Fortunately, so far the numbers needed are small (defeat 5 Hellions) and they've been respawning *really* fast. (Almost too fast, honestly.)

I don't think it'll be a problem.

I suggested a while back the powers do just what post-Alpha level shifts do, specifically to *let* the player get more powerful in normal content without being lolfacerolleasy5minuteITF, and letting the powers really kick into overdrive during Incarnate content - yes, "stepped" (if you want to call it that) powers.

The content that really needs Incarnate level power gets Incarnate stuff at full strength. The content that the Incarnate powers at full strength trivializes? Well, they're not AT full strength for that. Maybe 50% - enough to see a noticable power bump, and yes it makes content easier, but enough that *non* incarnates dont' feel like they're given pity spots or aren't "powerful enough."

Like I said - they do it with level shifts, why NOT with the other powers?

... or have more than 1-2 characters at that level.

I've got something like 26-28 50s at this point. No, I'm not going after T3-T4 on everything, or even most things, but even doing "Concentrate on one you like on each server," it gets grindy and tedious *fast.* And I don't even have a 50 on each server. Not quite half of them.

Add to that (stepping away from levels of power for a moment) the new, and really nonsensical, other rewards that burn a bunch of merits (I have to run a bunch of iTrials to... faint? Be out of breath? Really? And let's not get into costume pieces) - yeah. Grind, grind, and tedium.

The iTrials are (or can be) fun - once in a while. But if you want to make any progress, they are the *only* way to do so. (Yeah, conversion of shards, blah blah - you've seen the rate of conversion? That's not a serious option in the least.) Which is why *since the beginning* we've had people - including me - asking for solo and small team content. (And yet had people saying that was unreasonable... yeah. Really? Guess what, I love being able to unlock Alpha on my own time.)

That's no way to refer to your soon-to-be-spouse.

Might be accurate, I know mine tried to be, but still....

mmmm.... Part of me wants to say not really. Another part of me wants to say yes... one person who I talk about and within moments people say she is. Best friend, for better than 20 years. Never dated, much less married, though.

More accurate to say there's only one "first time getting married." Enjoy it.

No NDA that we can see on the "VIP beta." Closed betas tend to have one.

That would be because that statement is, and would still be, incorrect.

Yeah, it would - it would make me shelve my PBs, for one. But we've been down that road already. I'm just waiting for that shoe to drop and maybe preparing to recreate one as an Energy/Energy blaster.

Which... blah. I *really* wish we had the puffball as a customization option. I know we can use it and swap forms, but thematically the "puffball" was *part* of my PBs - going back to being the original Kheldian form.

As an aura (that you can't really tell is there,) well... meh. Yes, it *does* take something away from my Khelds and make them less fun. (Cue the numbers people saying that makes no sense. Don't care. There's more to a character than a spreadsheet.) Yes, the benefits are nice. But it does still take something away from them as a *character* for me.

Well, they see the VIP beta, so it'd be separate from Closed beta, the way they normally do things. Which is good, cuts down on possible confusion.

Or in Numina's case, translucent.

Please watch your wording. The LAST thing we need are more "pairing names" floating to the surface.

Kind of suspected. Those extra keys take a fair bit of space.
Yeah... I think I like that better. I don't think I ever folded the G15's down, really (it was nice having the media controls right there.) Having it integrated like that - I'd probably feel better with it. If the G15 v2 didn't get rid of so many macro keys, I might have picked that up just because of that.

Pretty much anything you can type in, you can set up as a macro. Or ahve them replicate other keys. IIRC there's a COH profile in the profile software -as well as profiles for quite a few other games. It can get a bit more intricate than what you can do with COH's macros/binds.

That's Fixodent.

*puts teeth back in.*

Well, in a way....

You *can* go back (in... one of the menders arcs) to "when you began," after all. And Outbreak is also a map in the arena, or at least part of it is (the area surrounding the smouldering pile of debris.)