Tricor

Blaze Rocker here. (Still with my old forum name that I never bothered to change.)

Wednesday night after the regular Rikti Raid someone announced a Hami Raid on Protector TFs channel . . . . . on Guardian server <: (
I quickly threw a fit that they used a Protector focused channel for an event on another server. Fortunately, I calmed down quickly because throwing !!!!!-fits won't do anyone any good this late in the game. "Say what you gotta say to get done what you gotta do."

Anyway, it's been a while since we had a scheduled Hami raid (to the best of my knowledge) so I thought I'd try to get one together one last time. -(Yeah, I didn't know Kyo had posted this already because I rarely visit the forums.)-

So I've got one scheduled for Saturday night at 8pm U.S. eastern time. I won't be able to get online very early because of my new job but I'll try to be online shortly before it starts.
Just so everyone knows, I have no experience running a raid team. I've only participated in one other Hami raid in my entire 7+ years in CoH. After my first one the rewards never seemed worth doing it again. I'm doing this one for old-time's sake. -(I'm also running it because I may not be able to participate in Kyo's Hami raid. Hard to say at this point.)-
I think I can lead a team but I don't think I can lead a League on this one. I'd appreciate it if anyone that has experience in Hami raids could try to run at least one league or help out whoever is running a league. Thanks in advance to those that help out and participate.

As this may be my final forum posting I'd like to say thank you to all the awesome players I've teamed with over the years. You are really what made this game so great and ultimately worth playing.

Heres wishing you all the best.

Hello all. Most Protector players know me as @Blaze Rocker or by my alt account's name of @Blaze's Doppleganger.
There are two main "global events" channels for the server: 'Protector Vigilance' and 'Protector TFs'. I run Protector TFs channel with several other wonderfully talented people. (Certainly more talented than me.) I try to invite players to TFs channel whenever I can, though I don't try to invite everyone. If I see a player has less than three veteran badges I usually pass. Three or more usually means experience or that the player has paid some cash and is willing to dedicate themself to the game for some time to come. As a passive measure I will often include info on TFs channel's existence, operation and general population on the biographies of some of my heroes and villains that encourage readers to ask me about joining the channel should they be interested. Sadly, I must admit that this method seldom works. Based on the interest I get I can only assume that either nobody reads character bios or nobody wants to join.
Though our channel mods are usually looking for potential members they naturally can't get to everyone. A channel search from the Tab menu will list the most active channels and both Vigilance and TFs channels do appear. Both are public channels. Moderators and members are usually friendly and helpful whenever possible.
Yes, Protector server can often "seem" dead, especially from the early daylight hours to late afternoon. Protector is mainly a U.S. Eastern and Central time zone server with the most activity from 6pm to 11pm Eastern. It is true that population has declined over the years but that happens with all games. Newer games emerge and peoples's tastes change. It is an inevitability and we cannot alter it.
Honestly, I just think this individual didn't try hard enough to actually learn Protector's normal state and it's usual means of finding teams. Though it is true that Vigilance and TFs channels are primarily used for forming events teams, on ocasion they are also used for more generalized teams; often when one player needs assistance with a difficult mission or an entire story arc.
To close I would just like to say that (1) Protector is NOT dead. and (2) WOW! Protector has some great people that can really give you a hand when you need it.
Glad I'm a member.

Calling it the Ultimate Power Set would be a stretch in my opinion, however I do believe it would go over well with the players who've always wanted a shapeshifter and the Kheldian ATs just didn't cut-it for them. I believe such a set could provide significant versitility if done right and I have some thoughts.
I spent a month last year trying to come up with feasible powers and powerset ideas before I settled on the two grenade launcher sets I submitted to Lady Jade's Power Suggestion Box (which of course amounted to ziltch because the devs don't read it). One of the others was a shapeshifter set. In the end I believe what it all boils down to is what would more appropriately be called "Mimicry" or simply copying forms and powers from both player characters and NPCs.
Basicly, it all comes down to four or maybe five powers. The first three (or four) would be the ability to copy your enemies, such as: 1. Copy Minion 2. Copy Lieutenant 3. Copy Boss and maybe even 4. Copy Elite Boss. Getting the ability to copy an AV seems highly unlikely for anything less than an Incarnate at this point. The fifth power is where you start to shine: 5. Copy Teammate. Did you ever have a team that was heavy in one area and light in another? Don't have enough melee or don't have enough buffing? Bam! Copy a teammate and fill that gap, kind of.
The Copy Teammate ability would naturally have it's downside, and that is enhancements. Replicating your teammate who's tricked out with X number of IO sets would be out of the question. You might be able to copy all of their primary and secondary powers but you can't get those slots with their all-important enhancements. You could only operate in their unenhanced state with whatever pool powers YOU normally have.
Enhancing any of these abilities would also present their own challenges. Say you copy a minion or Lt in an effort to stealth a mission but you gotta fight at some point. Maybe they've got a buffing power, defensive toggle or sniper attack. How would you apply your enhancements to using their powers. It's possible you could use a multiple build feature and have preset configuarations for previously copied forms. It would work great in the long run but would be quite taxing to manage five different builds while leveling up.
I believe the developers and programmers could eventually work something out, but it would no-doubt take a lot of planning to get it right. Honestly, I don't see it happening with the current game. We'd have a better chance of seeing my grenade launcher sets than a feasible shapeshifter set.
I wouldn't give up hope though. Couple of years ago I was watching an old prelaunch video and I found a shot of an actual Shapeshifting powerset within. Obviously it never happened, but it proved to me that the devs were thinking about it way back then. They may even be thinking about it today so I wouldn't be surprised if it's on the board for City of Heroes 2.

Greetings again to all that may have originally read this. After looking over the threads again (something I should have done more of earlier) I realized I put my original Grenade Launcher ideas in the wrong thread. I have moved my proposal over to Lady-Jade's Power Suggestion Box where I believe it belongs.
Fortunately, I wasn't totally wrong in posting here. In the event such set/s are made it would be cool to be able to select which of the available grenade launchers to have for our characters.
If you would like to read my proposal please check out #2246 in Lady-Jade's Power Suggestion Box. Thanks all.