SilverAgeFan

It is indeed Treespec/Respec number 1.

The vanity pets are cute. And I admit, I have bought a couple on impulse. But for the most part they are quite overpriced for my tastes and what I get out of them.

Regarding the lion, have they adjusted the scale so it doesn't feel like a dwarf lion that ran away from the circus? I recall that being a problem on test.

Love what you've done so far Dink. Fabulous work.

Really like that second new face, particularly because there is nothing quite like it in game currently.

Quick check: will we be able to have facial hair AND the bubble helmet? Dr. Fantastico is curious. He can't shave his white beard...

Edit: And will that chest detail--the life support control box--will that be available as a chest detail in other categories? Could look fabulous on some robots I'm thinking.

It was my take that Judgement (and to a lesser degree, Destiny) were the best approximation of signature powers that we'd be getting. We may see both these incarnate slots fleshed out with even more themes. They all tend to take customization colors quite well. A couple more iSlots like these with a range of power selections half as deep as the current Lore slot options and you'll pretty much have what Ultimus suggested so many years ago.

Or, again, the very best that could reasonably be accomplished with the way the game works versus the breadth of playerbase imaginations.

I'm for new suites of animations. But here is what I would suggest: rather than making new suites of animations to distinguish say fire from all other powers, consider Premium Power Customization Themes(tm) that could be used across powersets and are purchased not per powerset but per suite similar to purchasing a themed costume. It's about attitude, posture and origin:

Some themes that leap to mind:

• Stoic Android (characterized by rigid, robot motions, lack of emotion)
• Cosmic Strength (characterized by big broad, everything looks overpowered and exaggerated gestures)
• Dancing Dervish (think twin pistols style animations, but taken to 11)
• Big Things in Little Packages (under-exaggerated powers, the opposite of Cosmic Strength. Think the spoon bender in Matrix. How one might articulate frighteningly massive power within a child character. Imagine your tier 9 nova power happening with the nod of the head or a snap of the fingers! (yes we don't have articulated fingers, I know!))
• Meditative Magic (longstanding request threads exist asking for more rune or magic based powers. So what about a generic animation suite that uses a wand, magical gesture, cantrips, etc. for blast and support powers? Heck, the set could even be used to summon pistols or an assault rifle to act on behalf of the caster!)
• High Tech (similar to a Magic set, a set that uses something like the tricorder animation or nanites or surveillance--but cooler--for support powers in particular and maybe for blasts?)

Split the animation suites into three themed sets if need be to make it worth the $$$. 400 pts for the ranged animation suite. 400 pts for the melee animation suite. 400 pts for the support suite.

And once an account has purchased multiple suites, you can then mix and match them as needed in the power customization interface. For example, you might want your tier 8 and 9 to come from the Cosmic Strength set while the rest your powers come from the Big Things Little Packages set. Etc etc.

I've got a few fairly concise questions for the devs regarding incarnates, specifically judgement and destiny. I've tried to phrase them to permit simple yes or no answers. Here goes:

• Can we expect an i22.5 before i23? (I ask because the last two .5 issues have been incarnate content focused)
• Can we expect to see any additional judgement or destiny powers, in either theme or mechanic, before 2012 is over?
  • Judgement sub-question A: Will my super strength character ever be able to hammer-toss (or merely swing in a circle) a tank, bus, fighter jet, or some similarly absurd display of muscle as his judgement power?
  • Judgement sub-question B: Will my weapons based character ever be able to call in an orbital strike or utilize some absurd super pew-pew-pew shoot 'em up tech themed judgement power?
  • Judgement sub-question C: Will the FX from fairly cool dumptruck full of water power that the new DA Knives of Vengeance use be repurposed into a splishy splashy judgement power? And will this be able to be recolored, both light and dark, to permit us to green slime or black goo or pig-blood Carrie the life out of our foes.

I think that's it. I've been holding off spending a lot of components on judgements for a couple characters hoping that more variety in terms of flavor and mechanics are coming our way sometime soon. I'd also like more variety thematically and FX wise from destiny, but that level shift is pretty requisite. So I've been slotting up what I need to there on each incarnate.

Answer what you can. Use Zwill as a proxy if you must.

How I would fix windfalls:

currently, as indicated upthread, they just multiply existing drop rates. I'd tag a solid n% add on to the end of that formula.

Pulling numbers out of the air for demonstration-sake and going with windfall=a % chance multiplier of 1.25 (or a 25% boost to existing percentages for drops):

Current formula:

<existing chance of drop>*1.25

Proposed formula:

(<existing chance of drop>*1.25) + <n value>

So using something like an inspiration, say that natively drops at 25% and putting n at a mere .5% value, you get a change from current windfall drop rate of 31.25% to 31.75% with the new proposed rate. Not much difference.

But where it would matter is the sort of stuff people are *expecting* to FEEL boosted when using a purchased consumable like a windfall--the much rarer drops. For demonstration sake, let's assume purples drop at a .3% rate. With the current windfall, you go from .3% to a meager .375% chance at getting a purple. A number so small that you will likely not see a purple regardless. (Though yes, some outliers report netting 5 purples on a very lucky streak.) But with the new formula, you'd go from .3% to .875%, or more than double the odds of getting the good stuff.

Additionally, I'd add a 0% or negative% chance that ALL mobs will drop the recipes that were once reserved for TF and trial random pools. These recipes, such as the Numina proc, currently have a tiny chance to drop from bosses. By adding a null or slightly negative percentage (say -.1%), when crunched through the new formula, all mobs are now imbued with a tiny chance to drop things like a Numina proc (if in level range) when using a windfall.

These two changes I believe could be balanced to make windfalls actually FEEL more like a windfall while not destroying the market. For good reason, the devs don't want to see purples become so entirely common. But as it stands now, I agree with sentiments in this thread that report being drastically underwhelmed (and as a result highly disappointed) when using these things in their current state.

I had a heavy set old white guy in a grey suit with a combover and glasses who went by the name Shock Doctrine. He was a mercs/storm MM. But I got bored with him. I really couldn't find the humor to play him all that much anyways. So after six months of dust he got the bin in an afternoon of stable cleaning.

My one disappointment with the set as stands:

The 8 face details are not unlocked for use with hats. Yes, they would clip horribly with some of the hats but they also would work wonderfully with some other hats such as the new Fire and Ice hats.

Some critiques in the Fire & Ice set got me thinking about FX and auras:

Have you and HB (Honey Badger) looked at using the body wrapping auras (Victorian aura tech) to explore some sort of ice or hoarfrost aura? Dancing frost lines along with touches of cryogenic aura style vapor rising from the figure?

IMHO, most of the social contracts that make up the cultural mores of a decent and sustainable people are in tatters due to the rugged individualism De Tocqueville describes in Democracy in America. I could say more but it would likely get my post edited if I haven't said too much already. But my parting thought on this topic: there is much more to living life than making money, and shared enterprises, organized as corporations or otherwise, should reach for nobler goals than mere monetary profits.