Shajde

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I find it a little hard to tell what TFs are available at what level and where, and what to do in them.

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http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Task_Forces
http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Strike_Force

Unfortunately, some of this stuff really can't be learned too easily within the game itself (which I consider a pretty big problem, but whatever). Fortunately, most anything you need to know is on ParagonWiki... and the bits that aren't can usually be asked on the forums.

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Hey, thanks. ^.^ I've been checking out that wiki for information on various things, but hadn't looked up a straight list of missions. Neat.

I wouldn't know about it ruining the game - too new to the game to know what it was like pre-AE. That said, it is a little...disorienting as a new player. I find it a little hard to tell what TFs are available at what level and where, and what to do in them.

For instance, I'd really like to do the Imperious TF to get the roman armor unlocked, but from what I've read about it it seems like a fairly complicated TF, at least the last fight against the Big Bad. Now I'm sure if I managed to pull a team together for it (iffy - I have terrible luck finding/making groups in any MMO) most of the people who joined would know more about it than I do, but there's no way I could really help from a strategy standpoint. I'd barely know what I was doing against the guy.

Directly a result of the AE? Of course not. Influenced? Maybe - if it didn't exist maybe more people would be running outside group things, making more opportunities for the new kids to tag along and learn how it all works. Then again, the harder TFs probably wouldn't be in high demand regardless, so I doubt it'd end up much different for that specific example.

All that said, authoring in the AE is fun, at least. Yay for extra character creation options!

Derailed thread seemed like a good place to semi-ramble.

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Look, if you're facin' down thugs with guns, you want to be taken seriously. If you gotta run around, high heels ain't gonna cut it. And yes, Superman and other dudes of the spandex set fail on this score just as badly as the bikini girls with machine guns set. If some ancient god, built like an olympic swimmer and barely wearing more than a laurel wreath, shows up in middle of my meth factory, my first reaction as a hardened criminal is to laugh and say, "Kill this nancy boy."

Of course, said "nancy boy" might drop 30 petatons of holy wrath on me but that still doesn't erase that first embarrassing reaction. At least Thor wears armor. As such he's taken seriously--well sort of. He probably gets a lot of "blonde surfer boy" comments.

You want the bad guys to fear you rather then stare at your "equipment" and make ribald comments.

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No I don't. I want them to underestimate me. If I walk in looking like a one-man army, they'll treat me like one. That would be bad.

As others already pointed out, mindgames are a perfectly valid means of taking your opposition off guard, and near-nudity seems like an excellent way to achieve that. After all, a topless chick in short shorts couldn't possibly pose a threat riDEAR GOD SHE JUST PICKED UP MY ENTIRE WAREHOUSE!

On the other hand, in the world of CoX, I get the feeling villains don't care what you're wearing: they already expect you to have laser fingernails and pyrokinesis so they're going to throw everything at you from the moment you engage whether you're in a full-body armored powersuit or just a thong.

In a related topic to the OP, I find it hard to build good "casual" outfits. There's a lot of over-the top armor, theme costumes (pirate, soldier, etc.), latex/spandex options and inhuman skins, but just a plain denim vest and relaxed fit jeans? No dice. (The biker vest isn't a bad substitute, though.) Most of my characters go with the "with skin" options simply because they're the most flexible options. Everything else feels a bit too niche.

I do have some plans if I ever get the roman armor unlocked, though...