Scarlet Shocker

That was the entire point of Origins. A light touch, flexible enough to allow the character's creater (ie you the player) to create anything you wanted. Hell, Scarlet Shocker is an all electric blaster of natural origin and after almost six years I still don't have a credible explanation for that one, but it just simply works! If you ask her she'll probably shrug and simply say "I somehow manage to harness the ambient electricity in the atmosphere and direct it in a meaningful way - I don't much worry about the science behind it." And during her career, she's teamed with aliens, barbarians from alternate dimensions, sentient goo in an encounter suit, mighty wizards and escaped convicts - to name but a few. Origin has been a really useful tool that you could invest as much, or as little, in as you like. But now, the Incarnate line nails you down to a very specific set of rules that limit the players imagination and ability to interact within the game environment - it's gone from the examples above to "I've got this insane puddle in my head that lends me some of its powers and though I don't trust it, or like it, I've got to go with it just to continue progressing."

Proof if ever we needed that we are not gods

No. It really isn't. The Lemon of Contradiction refutes your claim

I've seen your horse come up with better answers than that from it's rear end!

There are plenty of stories that I may not like, or feel comfortable with or just not take to - both in this game and without. That doesn't mean I actively dislike those stories or consider them bad. Mostly stories like that leave me with a sense of profound ambivalence.

But I genuinely think most of the end game story is complete stool water. It's inconsistent, gimmicky, and actually not very well written.

Not every story can be great, but equally not every story should be dreadful but many of the end games seem to end up that way - often because of cheating mechanics but also because of the borked fundamental premise.

why? nobody goes there

I take your point but I'd say there's a massive caveat there: IF the story was any good, people would be loving it - but sadly the whole thing seems to be built by a committee of accountants, not creative artists.

Personally I feel that since the news of GR broke what we've been experiencing is a great uplift in quality of the game in terms of graphics, powers, and mechanics, but the story has plummeted in quality at the same time.

I am constantly left totally undewhelmed by the dogpile we are given as "story" these days.

thanks

It would be incredibly strange if they did not honour their signature character in his passing. It would send a message to the world that actually the Devs really don't care about the characters they've invested almost a decade into.

Of course they are going to honour him - and it's a fitting tribute.

Replace the Atlas statue!

This. iTrials caused me to cancel my sub and have spoiled the game for me with

a) crap stories
b) cheat mechanics
c) horrid inconsistencies

where I come from, travelling around with your weapon out gets you arrested


Yeah everyone goes ape for that

there's an AH in Praetoria? Cool. Did you pay for that?


I guess the point here is that nobody need pay for this power if they don't want it. Travel powers have steadily been getting less and less important over time - Ninja run was the first indicator, then the lowering of the limit from 14 to... well honestly I forget because I don't often take them these days. They have been obsolete for just a few PP.

Let's just give a moments silence and remember the creators who have passed away and give thanks that the accountants still deem there is life in the old game yet

In the 5th Year address, Positron came to Defiant server (I know, amazing) said that creating zones was as easy as revamping existing zones. What we didn't realise at the time was that GR was already into production - but that may have coloured his perspective, though I believe it's been stated on other occasions by other Devs.

This leads then to a question of quantity over quality - a lot of zones with little substance compared to fewer zones with great stories. If you look at the outstanding job they did with Fautline and War Zone revamps, that kind of gives the lie to their position - but the Hollows, maybe supports them a bit, but maybe that's simply because the Hollows was well past its sell-by date before the revamp and is having the last rites read to it even as I speak given that two or three runs on DFB means you're past its level range without breaking a sweat.

A lot of zones need a make-over - and the Rogue Isles especially. I've always believed the failing of the Isles was a place to congregate, as players, and to hang out and hold cossie comps etc - there's no Atlas equivalent in the Isles. Actually there is, but it's too high for lowbies. Make Cap au D the starting zone, open up the plaza and make Mercy the "hazard area" where villains can find slightly tougher missions. You don't need to do much to ensure that lowbies don't faceplant from the moment they start there.

Striga and Croatoa have great content but there's so much in that level range it's easy to miss them - which is a shame because the Hess TF is excellent - but needs the arc to unlock it.

Cimerora is all about the ITF. Nobody goes there to run any content - so make it possible to access it from Croatoa too... that saves on the death by boredom of rescuing Percy Winkley for the 746th time!!!!! Similarly, Terra Volta - devoid of anything except respec trials.

Talos, IP, Terra Volta and Striga could be reworked - maybe introduce Lusca, Sally and Kraken into the mix and have them stomp over the zones to require a large scale redevelopment and merge them into one zone that's slightly smaller than the sum of its parts.

Nerva and St Martial are too big for their content - they could easily combine and be made more accessible.