OminousVoice

There are lots of things I find somewhat odd about this game. One of them is the strange difference in height between characters who are effectively the same person but of different dimensional origin. For example:

Reichsman is taller than Statesman. Both are supposed to be Marcus Cole. I haven't compared Emperor Cole yet, but he doesn't appear to exceed States in height. I haven't included Imperious in this comparison as he is an entirely different individual.

Marauder is alot taller than Back Alley Brawler. Both are supposed to be Micheal White. One could argue that all those "health supplements" and "special medication" have had an effect on Marauders physiology, but its a bit roundabout.

Valkyrie is taller than Battle Maiden. Now this one is debatable as it's entirely possible that Battle Maiden isn't Valerie Kellum. In fact she isn't even a Praetorian native (she's from War Earth).

I expect there are others but those are the ones that immediately spring to mind.

So.. um... yeah, what's up with that?

I concur that Ghost Widow has a fantastic look. I always seem to envision her as perpetually wet, as if the afterlife is some sort of endless ocean. As she is bound to Arachnos rather than free swimming she's 'out' of that ocean yet still dripping with its spectral waters.

Lord Recluse actually has a really unique look to him. The giant spider legs aside, the fur collar and the shape of his helmet really evoke the spider look. It really is some inspired design.

Statesman is the ultimate clichéd pastiche, yet it works. The patriotic colours, red cape, and big ole' star on his chest really cement the 'iconic' feel. His face plate is his one truly unique item and its pseudo greco-roman styling reflects his Incarnate origin.

The promo artwork for Tyrant (I don't know if that model exists in game at all) is great example of taking one idea, saying "what if" and coming up with something that resembles the original, in this case Statesman, yet looks and feels grander and more ostentatious. I can't wait to see him in game with a cape.

Hero-1 is another pastiche. He's just a cape away from being Captain Britain. But it's that epic Union Jack cape which makes him stand out. Like Statesman he's got a large cape mantle that wraps around his shoulders (something which I think players ought to have) that acts as the focus for attention, which then draws the eye to his face and Union Jack helmet.

Romulus Augustus is another awesome looking character. The combination of the massive pauldrons, tall crested galea and magnificently ornate cheek guard, plus the long double cape rig loincloth (and the fact he's about 11 foot tall) make him one of the most physically imposing characters in CoX.

That's all I can think of at the moment. More when my brain gets into gear.

[REDACTED]!? Really!? That's awesome!

My first 50 took well over a year. My second took even longer as it was an older character and dinged 50 about 3 months after the first. My third and most recent dinged 50 yesterday after about 4 years.

Hello, my name is OminousVoice and I'm an altoholic.

As much as I'd like to see separated fingers on the character models, the amount of work it would be is vast. Changing the models would be the quick and easy part. The long winded time consuming part is altering the UV maps on all the various hand models to accommodate the current textures. Considering there are hundreds of hand parts, not just player costumes, but npcs as well, this could easily take months.

Infernal: Oh no... You haven't... You couldn't... Tell me it's not true... Please tell me I'm not bound to your spandex!

or Multi-national Establishment for Rewarding Incredible Tasks.

It always bothered me that the Merit vendors in the game have always been decidedly metagame. Their presence is not explained by any lore whatsoever. So how about this;

M.E.R.I.T. is an altruistic organisation formed in 2009 by a group of individuals whose lives had been positively affected by the presence of heroes. They seek to give something back to those who accomplish incredible feats of heroism and who have helped those in need.

Due to overwhelming support from the public and local governments, the organisation grew exponentially. Whilst based in Paragon City, M.E.R.I.T. has spread worldwide and has branches in many countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and even the Rogue Isles.

Of course there can be additional text for the Rogue Isles branch.

Unfortunately the Rogue Isles branch of M.E.R.I.T. has suffered under the influence of Arachnos. Bribes and other shady dealings have lead to M.E.R.I.T. agents rewarding acts of villainy. It would seem that in the Rogue Isles crime does indeed pay.

This is just a rough backstory and could do with some expansion, but I think it serves to provide a plausible lore explanation for Merit vendors in the game.

I expect it can be implemented in much the same way the Difficulty NPCs are, with a series of dialogue options that add to their character.

Many buckets of gratz to ye for dinging 4 years. I hope you enjoy many more.

I 'officially' celebrated my 4th year on the 25th of this month, however I won't be getting my 48 month badge until September due to a couple of sub lapses.

"It seems that character builds have become slightly more narrowed, are there any sites dedicated to the theory-crafting of certain arch-types and power sets?"

Builds can be as focused or as versatile as you want them to be. There are plenty of powerset/build guides here on the forums, have a peruse, see what takes your fancy. Also Mids Hero Designer is a fantastic tool if you want to plan your build. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Ha! All is not lost, at least in my case. I just noticed that the 11th falls on a thursday. I don't leave for my weekend away until the friday. I get a day of DXP!

Well, that's cheered me up a bit.

Arrival at Atlas Park has been updated. I invite you to click here for a listen.

If you want AP music, try this, this is my version of the Atlas music. Incidentally, I posted this on the forums the same day that Zwillinger debuted the I21 Atlas music. The similarities between the two tracks blew my mind.

You have got to be freakin' kidding! DXP moves to the one weekend in the entire year I won't be at home nor have access to a computer! That'll make this the 3rd DXP weekend in a row I've missed.

As I said on YT, fantastic stuff, but I would have ended with the caption "Who will fall?", then the word "fall" on its own with "2011" fading in.

Zwillinger debuted the new Atlas Park music on Wednesdays Ustream. I wasn't able to watch this live as my connection is offensively slow (112kbps, in case you were wondering), and thus was oblivious to anything therein.

A couple of hours later I upload my latest CoH inspired music piece. Afterward I checked out the Chat highlights posted on the forums. In that I noticed mention of new Atlas music, so I go and check the Ustream recording.

Go check out the Ustream and Paragon's new Atlas music. Then check out my new Atlas Park music.

Tell me if your mind was as blown as mine.

I did another one for Freedom. Since there's only the one screen regardless of uiskin setting, I made sure it represented all 3 'sides'.