Tempest Teacup

Will the Target TFs be continuing into the foreseeable future, or will they be shut down when I20 lands and the Incarnate Trials come along?

Also, do we know for sure that Incarnate Trials are team activities? I realize that Trials thus far are, but I can also envision solo Incarnate activities that are called Trials.

My assumption on both of these is "we don't know yet," but I figured I'd ask in case I missed something in the few hundred posts in the announcement discussion.

Thanks, Tax E!

It is, and it's yours Melanie. :-)

We're now full folks-- but I would looooove to how a few folks on standby. Any Libertines willing?

There should be, Mystic. Like I said above, everyone may not be able to bring exactly the character they want, but everyone who has a spot should be able to bring somebody.

Mystic's in. One spot remains!

You're in, Dead. With another off-forum reservation, two spots remain. :-)

This Saturday 1/22, we're trying another blueside CoP! And we're almost full!

Time: People-gathering begins 9:30 EST in Pocket D, launch ASAP afterwards.

Who can come: Any Hero or Vigilante. I'm not doing a complex team configuration; each team leader will be responsible for making sure that their team is balanced and sufficiently damage-y. Show up with the toon you want to play, but be open-minded about swapping if there's a need for another type of character on your team.

Can I reserve spots? Absolutely. Post here or send me a tell in-game: @Tempest Teacup. I have four spots remaining as of this writing, and they'll go first-post first-served. After that I'd like to have a waitlist of a few people to replace the inevitable no-shows; if you get in after four people already have signed on and you're willing to be on standby, let me know.

Do I need to have done a CoP before? Nope. Ample instructions and leadership will be provided.

Do I need Shivans? No, but it wouldn't hurt. HVAS and Envenomed Daggers would also be lovely.

What strategy are we using? The one that made the pickup CoP the other week work. Each team has a brute or tank with a damage aura who stands under their cube and doesn't move. This is partially for aggro control but mostly because by the time the things pop out of the cubes the minions are already half-dead. It apparently makes killing the cube spawns much, much quicker.

Are we going to quit if we get The Bad Purple Version? Not until we've at least tried to kill him! That's no fun.

And that's it! Get your reservations while they're hot, and feel free to post any questions.

So jealous!

Congrats, guys!

There are two badges you can get from that arc, Eislor-- Keeper of Coral Lore, which I know I can get, and Connected, which is the one I'm wondering about.

So is it possible for someone who was already 50 heroside before they went red to get the "Connected" bonus badge for Vincent Ross' arc? My understanding is that the badge involves working with contacts that are too low a level for such a character to actually have.

So, since the patch adjusting the targeting of the minelayers, how much of this strategy still works? Or has anyone come up with a good alternate strategy?

Oh no. The other devs are really going to have to step up their game now.

Good luck, man, and thanks for everything.

Not to sound incredibly cheesy, but I'm really grateful for the community here on Liberty. This place is my virtual home, and you guys are my awesome neighbors that occasionally invite me over for barbecues and pool parties. I can always count on good company here, and that means an awful lot.

In real life I'm grateful for having a steady job, superlative health insurance, and the comfort both of those things provide. I know exactly how lucky I am.

Weirdly I think we may have actually overdone it on support. A few fewer rad controllers replaced by blasters/soldiers/kheldians for more damage might have given us a bit more of an edge. Alternately, at least four people with fully-slotted Tactics might have let us get through the hurricane a little better.

Not that I'm convinced either of these things would have actually let us WIN, mind, but they're the thoughts that occur.

Go Liberty! And congrats to Vilhjalmur! :-)

I'm in, of course. :-)

Wrote this in July but never actually posted it to the list:
Mastering Dr. Kahn

In with Tempest Teacup, my namesake elec/elec blaster!

And thanks for organizing!

1) Yes.
2) Not yet. :-)

To echo everyone else: nice work was done by all. It's always good to see good stories. :-)

The Origins of Electrical Bernie:

As he fell towards the now-electrified lava, Bernie Borkowski couldn’t help thinking this wouldn’t have happened with the Meerkat.

The reasons why the Malicious Meerkat had become a super-villain were transparent to anyone who spent five minutes with him: Gary Pinter was half-sized and double-angry, always trying to be the bully for once in his life. He thought that people would finally stop laughing at him if he could only figure out a way to shout loudly enough. Still, as an employer he really hadn’t been so bad. After 20 years of marriage a little yelling didn’t bother Bernie, and the jobs were usually banks-and-bandannas as opposed to death rays. Lousy returns, admittedly, but low risks. He knew he could go home to Maude every night, take off the ears and tail, and have supper like a civilized person. If that meant a little more soup than steak… well, at least he was saving on medical bills.

The riggings of the geothermal power plant exploded around him as he fell with a crackling, spitting sound that reminded him of frying bacon. He watched the dizzying blossoms of electricity and fire, wondering exactly what was making the explosions that beautiful baby blue. It was fascinating, surreal—almost enough to make him forget the gravity of his situation.

Working for the Doc had always been like that. He called himself Doc Torrential, the Human Typhoon; and he was a real name in the business. He’d tangled with the Phalanx once or twice, actually fought the Vindicators to a stand-still once. Word was that he and Scirocco were on a first name basis. He was the kind of villain who had schemes instead of plans. With the Doc it was always something spectacular and audacious, no expense spared and no risk un-taken. He had style, unlike the Meerkat.

Bernie had argued with Maude for a week about taking a job with him, but the idea of living on an honest-to-God tropical island hideout was just too good to pass up. He made sure his contract specified lair-only work (he was getting too old for field teams anyway) and that both the complex and the bungalow had adequate evacuation options. And then he went to work. The base was attacked a few times, but Bernie never really felt like he was in danger.

Until now. He saw his assistant Ted running back and forth above him trying frantically to shut off the power, but he knew it was useless. With an overload like this the best thing would be just to shut the blast doors into the shaft and wait it out. They could always pick up the pieces later. Well, Ted could.

Doc Torrential had hired Bernie for his engineering expertise more than anything else. He had never imagined himself in management, but he had a degree and more on-the-job experience than any of the other technicians. His first big project had been to figure out a better way to power the island. When he was hired, the Doc was actually powering the island himself with a few well-placed wind turbines; but that was too labor-intensive for him, and the power lines kept breaking anyway. It was Bernie’s idea to draw power from the volcano they already had, and he’d been responsible for overseeing the construction of the plant. When it first hummed into action, he’d grinned like a proud parent. It had been running smoothly ever since.

His last thought before he hit the magma was disappointment that he’d never find out what had gone wrong.

When he woke up in the infirmary, the Doc was standing over him with an excited look on his face. He started explaining something about the accident and physiological changes, but Bernie was too muzzy to keep up. When his boss finally finished, he blinked a few times and asked, “You mean… I have super-powers?”

“Yes!” the Human Typhoon enthused. “I believe your body now emits an exotic form of charged plasma. You may even be able to control its shape. You’re a real villain now, Bernard!”

Bernie just closed his eyes and groaned. “Maude is going to kill me.”

Thanks a ton, guys. :-)

Ok. I'd LIKE to bring my Blaster (Tempest Teacup), but I can also bring a Cold, an Empath, or a Rad as necessary.

Either way, I'll be there.