NaoGal

Uh... Not cool, dude. Not cool...

I know you are trying to be funny... But, no...

As much as I'd love to see that (and a lot of other things with involving supergroup bases), the Devs have basically admitted that working with the base code is like playing Jenga on fire (or something along those lines...)
I get the impression that changing a statue in one of the zones would be easier by comparison... and that's not saying a lot...

Said much more succulency then I would have. Thank you Kirsten.

A friend and myself have tried to get a straight answer out of the Devs on this one. Supposedly, the Rikti Lineage of War fought an alien force called The Battalion about 100 years ago.
The questions that rise up from this are numerous though...

Is this the same Battalion that we face? Or the equivalent from the Rikti dimension that only shares the name?
If this is the same enemy (making the Battalion a multi-dimensional threat) then how did the Rikti survive against a force that is supposedly so powerful?
Is Rikti technology (which is still light-years ahead of what Primal Earth, and even Praetoria has) powerful enough to stave off the Battalion?
Or, as it has been suggested, was there something about the Rikti that made them unappealing to bother with after the initial contact/battle?

We can only make guesses at these, really.
I'm of the opinion that the Rikti were indeed powerful enough to stave off the attack, or at least make Battalion feel it wasn't worth the effort or losses to get into a prolonged war with them.
The counter argument to that is 'If the Rikti were powerful enough to fight off the Battalion, how on earth did Primal Earth manage to survive their attack during the First Rikti War?'
Well, basically, we got lucky. If you read the lore on the CoH website, (which may or may not be outdated) costumed heroes were dying by the hundreds daily. It was the sacrifice of Hero 1 and the Omega team that ended up saving us.

Lastly, on the thoughts of the Rikti and their 'Well'... I'm not so sure they really 'killed it off'. The Well of Furies strikes me as something that would exist whether it's people acknowledge its presence or not.
Plus, there is one small hint that (in my opinion at least) shows the Rikti do indeed, have the equivalent of Incarnates...
U'Kon Gr'ai. Simply put, he's a giant among his fellow Rikti (physically... not just referring to his status in the game as a GM. Come on, I think he towers above even Hro'Dtohz, who is dang huge!) An more importantly, there is the incarnate salvage that is named after him (Gr'ai Matter). It stands to reason that all the other Alpha Slot incarnate salvage has a connection to incarnates in some way, that this one wouldn't be an exception...

So, that's my theory on it...
*ends thread hijack*

And what sort of game mechanics would you use that are not (in your opinion) overutilized, uninspired and uncreative?
When you consider how long video games have been around, it becomes clear that it becomes harder and harder to come up with something that hasn't been done before, and yet still works.
Admittedly, a raid is a raid, and there are only so many different ways you can color it differently... Having a 'boss fight', which triggers another 'boss fight' which triggers the final 'big boss fight' might be considered 'uncreative and uninspired', but it works... And that's why it gets used, and not just in this game either...

Perhaps you could share with us what you think would make the trial more compelling then? How would you have made the final battle against what is arguably the toughest single enemy in the game (up to this point, yes, it can be argued that the Hamidon is tougher, but you know what I mean...) and his remaining lackies as they fight a desperate 'win or die' battle?
And while you are at it, take into consideration the current limits of the game itself, and how long it would take to possibly implement what you would like to see. (Because whether we all like it or not, game developers are always going to have to limit what they want to do by what the game itself and any deadlines that might be imposed upon them...)

Don't read so much into the analogy that you forget its an analogy...

And then we get to hear how much the iTrial sucks, how the writing is garbage, and how terrible the game is becoming from a overly loud, vocal few. (Probably the same few who complain that they can't solo the entire game...)

Hyperbole aside though...
...while having that one trial currently be the only way to gain AiXP does kinda suck, the devs have given us the small team/solo path for the other Incarnate powers already. I am sure (or at least fervently hope for their sakes...) that they will do the same again...

And really, if you think about the Mag trial from a purely video game point of view...
You fight through an army of enemies, then fight three powerful bosses, which sets things up for a fight with a fourth powerful boss... Then the final boss comes in, drops a city-busting nuke on you (reducing everyone's HP to 1) before infusing himself with the power from the Well, growing to giant proportions and fighting you to the end...

Dang near sounds like something out of a Final Fantasy game...

And yet no less valid for this argument...

Can you (or anyone else) provide evidence to the contrary? Even if the official state version isn't accurate, the giant Devouring Earth tendrils in the middle of the ruined city make for a very strong argument against you...

History already proves this wrong. The Nazi's are not remembered for the medical advances they made, they are much better remembered for their atrocities, war crimes and the simple fact they dang-near conquered all of Europe.
Also, such a social policy that you are suggesting...
Think about what you are saying for a moment?
If this 'insane butcher' had managed to find such a cure, you would be condemning millions of cancer victims to death...
Not that I'm saying the guy who killed people for that cure should get a free pass, but how is destroying their research morally any better then curing the disease?

The real world is full of scenarios that you would probably consider 'contrived', but none the less viable for making this sort of argument. But for the sake of this, lets go with the fictional scenario that occurred in First Ward when the Devouring Earth ended up destroying the majority of the place, and many people in it.

Keyes moral compass not withstanding, (and Emperor Cole in this particular instance, since he is the one that ended up making the actual choice, I believe,) he was put in the un-enviable position of making a choice between letting the DE ravage and kill everyone in First Ward (and possibly more, it's never exactly clear on that) or stopping the DE then and there, with the full understanding that some would have to be sacrificed to save others.
Exact numbers (or even vague numbers, as far as I know) aren't ever given to us but it's not beyond reasonable to say that thousands died, so that thousands more may live.

As for the second part of your comment... I find it ironic (and naively foolish) to say that all research should be destroyed in such a scenario. Because, regardless of the questionable ethics involved, many advances in the field of medicine were built off of the research that Nazi's did. How many lives do you suppose were saved because of that?