TrueGentleman

The designs from one series to another have changed slightly, including various shades of grary (Mark I, II, and III). The Black Dalek was the Supreme Controller, and like the Emperor Dalek and Gold Dalek, intended to designate a command position. The later 80s versions you mention, like the white and heavy weapons ones, are inventions of Eric Saward, from the time whne the series began to go downhill, not least because they couldn't write a proper Dalek story. For goodness sake, one of the Doctor's later companions defeated a Dalek with a super-powered baseball bat.

Repainting the entire Dalek army in a rainbow of Teletubby bright colors makes them superficially more vivid but loses their presence as a massed army. And yes, Dalekmania did sell a lot of toys in the 60s, at the cost of overexposing them and turning them into kitsch. The paradox of the Dalek is that although its "pepperpot" shape is, frankly, silly, they represent implacable hatred in a way that no other science fiction TV villain can, even in adult shows. By revising their design into something more toy-like, the New Who producers risk the balance of the Dalek's appeal.

This is, of course, the most pessimistic interpretation of the current state of affairs with CoH Freedom, fair or not. (I've given up trying to predict when I'll get my points and have been playing other MMOs instead.) When quality control and customer service go down the tubes, the resulting loss of good faith among players inevitably leads to such conclusions.

At this point, it should be an embarrassment to Paragon Studios that this thread is still open, five months after CoH Freedom went live.

Try intoducing him to DVDs of the old Land of the Lost or, if he wants up-to-date CGI, Primeval. Both of them feature time travel and dinosaurs and are superior to Terra Nova.

Well, that's a solipistic approach. Whatever works for you.

That's highly subjective reading into a generic spider queen costume design. One could as convincingly argue it's an allusion to the Pre-Columbian Teotihuacan Great Goddess.

You are aware that the BBC is a chartered public service broadcasting corporation, and that's not an aesthetic defense. It tends to get trotted out whenever there isn't one, though.

The central theme of the Daleks as villains in Doctor Who, like the Sontarans and the Cybermen, is that in their mission to conquer and destroy, they've utterly deindividuated themselves. (Daleks with their own names in New Who are heretics of the Cult of Skaro, for instance.) Making them color-coded for convenience misses the point - unless the point is to sell more toys.

You are aware, I trust, that things exist outside your own narrow experience, so toy tie-ins are a real factor in New Who.

Also, if you think the Daleks are amusing, then you're already missing the point Terry Nation was making.

And with all hodge-podges, some elements don't work that well in the mix. Jumbling up Daleks, spaceships, Spitfires, and bad Winston Churchill impressions is simply juvenile. If you want to see how Doctor Who can pull off World War II allusions, go watch "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" serial.

(Also, Forgotten Realms? Now you're just trying to find things in Doctor Who to suit your own tastes.)

I'm the opposite. Since I had some leftover points, it made more sense as an impulse purchase - perhaps overpriced but with an assured result - than playing the odds with Super Packs.

It wasn't awesome with Peter Cushing's Dr. {sic} Who and the Daleks movie, and it's not awesome now. It's a blatant tactic to sell a new line of Dalek dolls.

Is this Doctor Who or The Care Bears?

I'm just relieved Matt Smith's second series didn't have any such misfires. I'm a little wary of the rumors that next series, Smith's Doctor will visit the ruined planet Skaro, though.

You have our sympathies. It's as though Mark Gatiss asked himself, "How can I make a Dalek episode that was worse than Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks?" It's as though he played with model airplanes and toy Daleks together as a child to come up with that one.

With New Who, I've learned that some episodes require a memory wipe.

That's specially designed swimming gear. He is, after all, THE HERO OF THE BEACH.

But "stuff" doesn't exist in a context-free vacuum. There was an overt subtext to the design decisions that players complained about, which the devs are now correcting with the more recent designs. Tallying "stuff" for column A vs. column B comparisons misses the statements that the superhero fashions are making. (There is no accountant for taste.)

Yet that desire, as you've expressed it, is an aquisitive one. There's nothing wrong with that in this game, but it does muddy the larger issues about costume design that are being hashed out. I'd like a sash for my male Kheldian, particularly since it would go perfectly with his costume and backstory, but that's completely separate from broader issues of superhero gender roles as expressed in COH costume types.

That's not true at all!!!

Quite so. (I noticed my mistake last night just as I was turning in but couldn't fix it because of the bloody log-out bug.) Anyway, if the devs do decide to give us waxed or oiled male (and female) bodybuilder skins, then I have dibs on the character name "Muscleman of Mystery".

Well, a Flex Mentallo, Man of Muscle Mystery tribute toon would be within reach with those options.

Don't forget the Wedding Pack's cheesecake-a-rific Angelic, Excess, and Hearts costumes. (Those make the lingerie-like bridal costume, complete with lacey bustiere and miniskirt options, look demurely restrained.) Males got only a tasteful tuxedo jacket out of that pack, but nobody tried to defend this obvious imbalance by complaining the female model had too many additional costumes.

The Carnie Pack was clearly designed as the first major market-intended set under Noble Savage's policy of designing NPC costume pieces for player use as well. Unfortunately, someone decided to cut corners by using existing parts for the male Carnival of Light NPCs. After the bruhaha over this in the forums, they won't be making that mistake again. (Although considering the entitlement with which some arguments for the male sash are being made, the art department may well decide to wash its hands of this.)

The underlying problem, which the devs are making a genuine, if erratic effort to address, is that the cliche of comic book costume design demands that male superheroes should look powerful and female superheroes should look sexy. The devs' decision to split the difference with female costumes by giving them not only powerful options, but sexy ones as well is turning around to bite them now. Ideally, it shouldn't be an either/or proposition: There's nothing wrong with cheesecake* in itself, only that there should be other options on the menu.


* Or, for that matter, beefcake. There's comparatively little of that in CoH, however, to no great complaint from the player community.

If that's a direct quote from Zwillinger, then according to Snow Globe's scale, we should see Issue 22 in "Around a week to two weeks away. Often accompanied with a hint in meme form referencing the thing that's coming."

Certainly. Additionally, the male and female base layers look like solid foundations for a variety of costumes - they look like they'll play well with a lot of the futuristic pieces from the various Praetorian sets, for example. No doubt the costume-making community will make fashion statements I would never have expected, like mixing Chinese Dynasty with Gunslinger.

I've put down my money for this set as well, not only to vote with my wallet for costume sets with all of the above advantages over placing bets on Super Pack costume pieces, but also because this wonderfully designed set has as much potential as the Elemental one for unusual combinations. Although there are some pieces in this case that I don't have a use for - at least, not yet - there are many others that have potential to be mixed with existing ones. (The old Martial Arts Super Booster Pack I bought ages ago proved to be remarkably flexible beyond just Asian-themed costumes, and I'm expecting the same from this one.) Kudos to the art team!

At least he's candid about what's necessary for a Ghostbusters sequel at all: "We’re not going to do a movie that exploits the franchise. The script has to be perfect."

Like this?

Since an official red-name thread in the Beta Forums on this topic hasn't been started yet, one here in general discussion could serve as a sounding board in the meantime.

For instance, what would people like out of an improved "New" tab or a "Featured" tab? What would make searching for items easier in the UI? Should Paragon Studios go back to the original third-party developer, or should they bring the project in house? What's the provervial Most Wanted UI element in the current version of the Paragon Market?