Schismatrix

Nope. The only way names have ever been freed up is if the owner deletes/renames the alt or the Devs run a script that frees up the names. The script only affects inactive accounts and only alts below a fairly low level. It was only run a few times, and hasn't been run in years. As of the launch of Freedom it was confirmed by some rednames that the script will not be run again, but that there was a different solution being looked at. So far there's been no further news on the name front.

i always use quotes around the actual bind myself.
/bind t "e throwconfetti"

Then again i also generally set up macros for using emotes. Mostly because i periodically alter the macros to incorporate new emotes or add other bits.

/macro idle "e flippingcoin"
/macro yay "e throwrosepetals$$e Pip pip hurrah!"
/macro AH "auctionhouse$$e newspaper"
/macro AFK "e laptop$$afk Back in a minute"

Because most of the original power effects are custom tinted and were not limited to two base colours; they often had many different tints, hues, and colours. To make customizable/colourable powers they basically had to strip most of the original colouring out of the effects so that two player-chosen colours could be applied instead.

That's the executive summary anyway. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the basic gist.

They hired him right after Liefeld. They even have their board seats next to each other.

Not if their perception ignores stealth the way Rikti Drones do. In that case Powers that debuff perception, like Smoke or Smoke Grenade, will make it easier.

No. For most powers there is no way to exactly duplicate the original colouring, but i recall some people working out lists of the closest colour combinations. Unfortunately i don't have any links offhand.

Well we already have a beehive hairdo in the Halloween pack, so the only thing still needed is the hoop skirt.
It's true! i read it on the forums, so it must be true.

*sigh* The sad thing is that i believe you.
Even sadder is that based on past experience i believe that trying to explain it would be like trying to teach a pig calculus.





(Cue Doctor Who quote about the commonality between the very powerful and the very stupid. )

Talk about a delayed reaction...

For the first two weeks of Titan Weapons' release the Titan Weapons additional weapons pack will be included with the set. The four extra weapons are a bit fancier than normal weapons. Animated textures and other nifty effects.

Yeah, not going to deny that. The fact that the Hero Skin was broken so simply and blatantly implies to me that there are some definite issues with how things are being handled by NCsoft. Probably related to the cuts at NCsoft NA if i had to guess. Maybe the IT department is now something like five guys for all of NCsoft's North American operations?

Personally i prefer IOs to the Incarnate system. Especially since i spend at least half my time playing at levels that are nowhere near 50.

Even then i rarely focus directly on building up defense bonuses on most alts for most of their lifetime. i tend not to play at high difficulty settings, so inspiration drops are generally enough to keep me rolling on purple power. Early on most of my set bonuses are a mix of +max end and +rec to reduce downtime. My ranged/control characters will tend to slot a few sets for ranged defense bonuses, but for the majority of a character's career defense bonuses are a secondary goal that doesn't get finished until the alt hits 50. It's not even that i can't afford to buy the sets outright, but it's more fun for me to gradually work up to godlike power levels while focusing mostly on having fun in the missions.

i have quite a few alts who have nothing but SOs and some generic IOs because they function just fine with nothing but those.

i also have a few alts who are IOed to the gills and so far past the defense softcap that they can barely see it anymore and will tear through enemy groups like a polar bear in a puppy farm.
But that doesn't really matter overall.

Most of my in game friends are at the level of player skill and good humor that the presence or absence of IOs is a non issue. Then again, even the AT a teammate brings generally isn't an issue...
"What should i bring?"
"Anything over [the minimum level of the SF/TF/Trial]."
...
"Running level 52 hero tips in PI."
"I'm playing my 23 lowbie. That okay?"
"Sure. Head to PI."

Oh, i agree that set bonuses could be better balanced, but like many people i like the flexibility it adds. i can make almost any character much more survivable or build to support unusual play strategies. Like making a Dual Pistols/Time into a melee-centric scrapper wannabe. i probably wouldn't still be playing of the game wasn't so flexible and diverse with regards to style, both in costumes and gameplay.

And at least one more (Staff Fighting) known to be on the way.

The only logical conclusion from this statement is that you believe that the game has no paying players (subscription or microtransaction) at all anymore. Otherwise it's a nonsense statement. Although if that's the case then i would agree forums used by paying customers should take precedence.
...
See in a normal game with both paying and free customers if the servers go down then no one, even those paying a subscription, is able play the game at all. It sounds funny, i know (the concept caught me off guard as well), but apparently that's how things work.

Forum maintenance isn't the same as development. Forum maintenance is not the stage where changes to the forums are developed. It's more the part where they back up the forums and do maintenance on the software and hardware and then restart it. To the best of my knowledge doing maintenance on a server is not a totally different skill set from setting a server. In fact they seem pretty similar to me.

Uh? In the time between GDN & ED happening and IOs being introduced i'd routinely run with a few people who would put together teams of Defenders and Controllers and just steamroll missions. When someone dropped to go do something else they'd invite someone new and continue.

Long before IOs Fire/Kins were inviting "those people i need to pad the team for larger spawns" who weren't even expected to actually come to the mission, and almost any well built and played character could solo anything short of an AV or GM (although sometimes at a glacial pace), while some soloed those as well. The only thing IOs did was open that playstyle up to more powerset combinations.

Those "good old days" where everyone needed a team must've been sometime between launch and late May 2004, because i never saw them. The fact that IOs helped shore up the weaker combos (as well as the many buffs to underpowered sets since launch) isn't something i have an issue with, and i certainly don't long for those good old pre-IO days either.

But maybe that's just me.

Yep.

Time to play the theme song and quickly cut to a commercial break then. Hopefully the ellipses will have trailed off before the break ends.

Okay, i also tend to agree with this. Like i said several other places, and referenced here, it's not so much that there gender-specific pieces in sets so much as making pieces where one gender's options are generally associated with a supporting character for the theme and not the protagonist role.

Personally i didn't have significant issues with the Magic pack having different themes for Male and Female since both sets were in keeping with the main theme even though i wouldn't have minded the baron jacket for females and the witch hats for males. (The peaked witch hats can also work pretty well for a number of wizard themes. i have a couple alts that have used the Katie Hannon hat for the exact purpose.)

As ClawsandEffect already mentioned Rad/Psy Defenders used to routinely wipe the floor with Scrappers and Brutes. Actually, almost every other non-melee AT could do that, but several Defender combos were especially potent against most other ATs 1v1. Defenders were often one of the most desired ATs on teams as well, but there was a certain amount of rock-paper-scissors to the balance between ATs and sets. At least under the old system.

The newer system seems to have actually reduced viability of most ATs to the point that it seems most of the time the advice is either Blasters or Stalkers if you want to be effective solo and possibly a Corruptor if you plan to team. Although it's been a while since i did much venturing into PvP zones, so i may be out of date in regards to what ATs are considered worthwhile.

i'm fine with that as well.

And rather looking forward to Titan Weapons next week. i have several alts with names and costumes already created just waiting to be remade with the set.