RosaQuartz

I don't think ATM convenience fees are what players want to be reminded of when playing a game.

I've always thought Independence Port had an intriguing history that just isn't really served well in-game.

I mean, in the CoH universe, Independence Port was where World War II started for the United States (coordinated with the attack on Pearl Harbor). Where are the monuments? What's the whole story about where the other heroes were when Atlas died?

Also, no zone looks more stupid with war walls around it than IP.

My preference would be that Paragon City and Rogue Islands would be open to all sides, have side-appropriate content, etc. If Praetoria can do it, why not Primal Earth?

Where's his motorcycle?

My /SR scrapper is moving through Dark Astoria pretty well, and he's not tricked out or anything. It starts with setting the difficulty slider appropriately.

The TUNNEL system announced for Issue 23 will address this.

Here's some Varys thoughts.

Regarding his role in Tyrion's downfall... it's obvious that even if Varys didn't have a roll in Tyrion's frame re: Joffery's poisoning, then he arranged for Tyrion, Shae, and Tywin to all be in one place. Varys probably understood Tyrion well enough to know that finding Shae in Tywin's bed would slip him over the edge. With Tywin dead and Tyrion on the run, that left the Red Keep to the very unsteady leadership of Cersei. If disruption was what he wanted, it's certainly what he got, in spades.

Regarding serving "the realm"... I don't necessarily think he believes a Targaryean on the Iron Throne in-and-of itself is a great thing (certainly Visceryes would have been a disaster), but we now know that he's had a Prince Aegon up his sleave the whole time. In his converstation with dying Keven Lannister, he talked about Aegon's upbringing, how he's walked with common men, etc. He, Illyrio, and Connington have made what he feels will be the perfect ruler.

I'll just say that:

1. New SF content would be welcome redside, especially in the level ranges the OP indicated.
2. That said, I disagree with lack of content being the problem with redside population.

I dunno, but that Wall's coming down sometime.

I'm more impressed with some of the tweets that came out last night's premiere.

@brubaker Avengers was awesome. Felt like Joss Whedon in all the right ways while still feeling like the best of Marvel. It's going to be really huge.

@Christosgage AVENGERS was fantastic. Even you, internet, are going to love it.

@DamonLindelof The Hulk we have been waiting for has at last arrived. #AvengersF***Yeah

@Paul_Dini Just arrived home from #THEAVENGERS premiere with mind blown, s*** lost and a smile that won't leave my face. The superhero movie perfected.

‏@SethGreen So that was AMAZING. Like, double plus awesome. Thank you Joss Whedon for giving us all the #Avengers movie we deserve. #OnlyYou

I read the book when it came out (natch), but just recently finished listening to the audiobook. I think Jon is dead, but as is the case with several other characters, the condition will be temporary.

I think Melissandre will give him the "Breath Of Fire" a la Beric Dondarrion. And yes, it seems like Jon is being set up to fulfil the Prince Who Was Promised prophecy. What cemented it for me was Jon's dream of defending the Wall with a burning sword.

Also, by dying, Jon has actually fulfilled his duties to the Nights Watch. "Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death."

Stannis is my favorite character from the books, and his introduction didn't disappoint. Craster is even creepier on TV, and the culling of Robert's baseborns was wrenching.

1. The ability to circumvent the endurance crush tends to enhance enjoyment of the game.

2. I read all the new content completely -- the first time. That "rush of discovery" is great, but it only really works the first time through. Merits, badges, and accolades are important, because it gives incentive to run content more than once.

3. How many new players do you know? I know a couple, and they are experiencing all of this stuff for the first time, and it's all new to them. And it's great, and I love talking about the story with them (avoiding spoilers, natch).

4. In the last two issues they've added the following level 1-29 content:

Redside:
Operative Kuzmin
Fire Wire
Doctor Weber
Lt. Harris
Dr. Graves
Bane Spider Ruben
Brother Hammond

Blueside:
Matthew Habashy
Officer Fields
Sondra Costal
Aaron Thiery
Twinshot
Graham Easton
Laura Lockhart

Co-Op:
Nadia
Palantine
Noble Savage
Katie Douglas
Blind Makua
Cerulean
Master Midnight
Vanessa DeVore

Plus a new tutorial and two new low-level trials. All of this is better content than we ever got with endless "Hunt 10 Circle of Thorns in Perez Park" or "Investigate Warehouse for sign of Clockwork" missions. It's there if people want to play it. If people would rather sit in the AE PLing up or run endless iterations of the sewer trial, that's their call, but plenty of people are running new content for the storylines.

I'd love to see Posi-style revamps of the rest of the Synapse-->Numina TFs too, but you can't say the Devs haven't been devoting "some of their energy" to older content.