The Masked Shrike

Hopefully Pulp will show up eventually anyway.

I simply have zero interest in it. It does not appeal to me in any way.

I've wanted this for a long time. If I could only get it by buying it, I'd slap the points down with no questions asked.

Oh my, congratulations and best wishes to you both! You may not know how much your art collection inspired me to start my own--especially all those beautiful couplecentric pieces featuring Sass and Thor's Assassin.

As half of another 'we met in CoH and got married in RL' couple, I know how well these Paragon-begun pairings can work out. I wish you guys nothing but happiness and prosperity.

And I hope we see some new art come out of it, too!

This is the first Issue in a long while that interests me. I'm very glad to have a solo/small team Incarnate path. DA is suitably creepy, though in a different way. I've run the first arc there, and it was good. Interesting story. Not too long, just enough time to fill a fun play session on a quiet afternoon. I made a little Incarnate progress, which is more than the 'none' I would normally make. The brief solo missions are an interesting way to get backstory, and well-implemented. I normally hate forced solo missions, but these are optional, and so won't disrupt a team experience.

So far, I'm very pleased, and simply glad to have a way to enjoy end game content as a non-raider.

I play over in That Game with the Laser Swords, as well as That Game with the Extremely Dangerous Jewelry. CoH was my first MMO, and I am spoiled in many ways. I'm generally a solo/duo/small team type player, so the whole 'forced teaming' thing would make me avoid an MMO altogether.

CoH is so beautifully flexible--I believe that's this game's great strength. I can jump in-game alone and run a mission or two, knowing I made progress and had a good time. I can log on with a level 50 tank, team up with my husband's brand new level 5 scrapper, then hook up with a friend's level 38 controller, and just run missions; all three of us make progress, get rewards, and have fun. I wish more MMOs had Sidekicking, Mission Scaling and Global Friends lists. And I haven't even mentioned the level of customization! I really am spoiled.

I wholeheartedly agree that the designers of That Game with the Laser Swords made a lot of decisions that leave me confused and annoyed. Just adding a person to my Friends list is an exercise in frustration. I can't add someone unless they happen to be online at that exact moment, which defeats the purpose of the darn list to begin with.

Arcanaville, you are spot on about the difficulties of teaming over there. Yes, the travel alone is a headache. I came to CoH when it was two years old, so a lot of issues had already been smoothed out. I did start over in Jewelry is Hazardous Game in open beta, and boy do I remember how long it took to get from A to B. A few years later, and you can pretty easily hop, skip, jump or ride across Midgard in a flash. I can only hope things change in A Galaxy Far Far Away, but with all the loading screens and airlocks and shuttles and orbital stations, just getting on my dang ship is a hassle, much less trekking from the back end of Hoth to meet up with buddies on Coruscant.

Oddly, I find that I team more in That Laser Sword Game than in either of my other two MMOs. I think it's because a full team involves just three other people. That keeps things small and relatively simple. Large team activities stress me out. I become easily flustered and confused by all the antics and complicated mechanics and flashy power effects and people running around. I can keep up with two or three other people all right. I can enjoy a Flashpoint run or a stab at a Heroic, whereas a Task Force or an Incarnate Trial leaves me running for the hills.

Weirdly, I find that the Social Point system doesn't really reward people for doing things on a team. You don't get points for actually teaming. I've spent hours on a team, and come away with no Social Points at all. If you don't happen to get an NPC to have a conversation with your group and invite responses, no points for you. Most missions don't involve those types of chats, sadly. It was a good idea, but I believe the implementation falls short. For me, at least, it's not a great incentive to team.

I may be naive, but I think that the Laser Sword folks will add features and streamline others. I don't think they fully grasp what the various types of MMO players want. Hopefully, this will change. I think the folks over there could learn a lot from CoH. I truly wish they could see how players here are so invested in their characters because they are so customizable and so personal.

Thanks for sharing the screenshot, Capt Atom. It was great meeting you.

Another year, another fabulous festival. Good company, good music and good times. I really enjoyed seeing all the clever outfits and character concepts. I don't know how the judges do it, there were so many great entries, it would be hard to choose. Mr. Believer was pretty amazing, though; congratulations to him and all the winners.

The only bummer was a lack of Rikti. It's just not the same when they don't crash the party.

Wouldn't miss it for the world. The Golden Age Festival can lead to great things and beautiful friendships!

Never. I'd rename it without even blinking. Transfer would be a possible option as well.

Great to see you back, Alex. Love the sketches, especially the Cid and Mally one. Full of personality!

No one draws women as lusciously as Alex. I look forward to seeing this thread fill up with new drawings.

Well, coming at this from a Golden Age/Pulp perspective (and I apologize if my focus is too pulpy):

Jodhpurs/breeches. I cannot stress this enough.
Flight helmet.
Pith helmet.
Zoot suit.
Wide-shouldered jacket--think Joan Crawford.
Sam Browne belt.
Riding boots.
Holsters!
Rocket packs/jetpacks.
1930s/1940s hairstyles. At least a 'Victory Roll' type hairdo:

I like this idea, and I may actually take advantage of it. There are a couple of badge titles that are perfect for a couple of my characters. Being able to get those titles without going through the whole switching rigamarole--which they wouldn't do ICly anyway--would make them worth getting, IMO. Seeing them with 'correct' titles would make me enjoy them more, leading to me playing them more, which means I'd be playing the game more than I do now.

I've never been interested in creating in-character reasons for game mechanics. I am a roleplayer, and immersion is important to me, but I suppose one person's immersive feature is another person's intrusive mechanic. My characters have no idea what 'enhancements' are. My one character with an Incarnate whatsis slotted is not imbued with godly powers; she just continues to hone her abilities and simply fights better. If the Shrike visits the Isles so she can wear 'Pilot' under her name, it won't become part of her personal story.

(I also wouldn't have any problems with the aforementioned Incarnate token, but I suppose that's a whole different can of worms.)

This is the first issue in ages that interests me, and oh my, there's a lot of deliciousness here. Missions in which I can bust Fifth Column heads? Yes, a million times yes. Solo/small team Incarnate stuff? Huzzah! At last! And Beast Mastery is in the pipeline? All this on top of Staff Fighting and those lovely upcoming costume sets.

Darn you, CoH, you are making me love you again.

My very first CoH character, Masked Shrike (Inv/EM tank) will always be the one I consider my 'spiritual' main. She's a character that has been through many incarnations, and she's dear to my heart. She's been retired for quite some time. I can't actually remember the last time she came out to play, but maybe she'll get Incarnated once Dark Astoria is redone. Weirdly, my mains on all three MMOs I play are tank classes, so I must like that type.

Shrike was not my first 50, though. My Ill/Emp controller, Scarlet Specter, made it to level cap first. I'd have to say she was my main for a time. She is my badge collector, and at one time I was a fairly obsessive badger. Nowadays I'm merely casual, but Scarlet still comes out to get new badges, here and there. I quite like playing controller-types; my two other 50s are both 'trollers.

I'd have to say that these days, PinUp Girl is my 'functional' main. A DB/WP scrapper, she's a hoot to play. She's dear to my heart for different reasons, and she was the character that led me to make the switch from Victory to Virtue. She's my only character who has any Incarnate stuff. She still gets playtime on a semi-regular basis. Through her I have discovered that DPSing is jolly good fun.

I've been wanting one of these for a long time. Huzzah!

What, no doom posts?

I am disappoint.

This is sounding good so far. The DA revamp alone is a great idea; I've always felt that was a cool zone. As annoying as the fog can be, I have to admit I hope it remains in some way. It makes for a spooky atmosphere. Maybe the haunted house will show up as a permanent feature? Nah, I guess that's too much to hope for.

I'm finally feeling happy about this game again! Thanks, devs (and the folks who are reporting all the news).

Doesn't bother me a bit if people buy it, or things like it. Someone else having it doesn't affect me at all. I have fun doing my thing, I am happy for everyone else to do the same.