Vox Populi

Like every Big Lebowski fan, I had to try In-N-Out Burger when I was in LA. I didn't find it to be anything special. Better than the average fast food, but I wouldn't eat it regularly if there was one in town.

If you're ever in Calgary, Alberta, go to Peter's Drive-In for the best fast food burger in the world.

The game already costs $180 a year. The fact that we're already asked to pay extra for costume packs is ridiculous, why ask for even more?

I like to think of both Superman and Lex Luthor as symbols of America, and its constant struggle between greatness and greed.

The main problem with the story is that Superman has been a "citizen of the world" for decades. But inconsistent characterization has been part of the Superman books for so long, why stop now?

Secondly, the story suffers from the same problem as a lot of modern Superman stories- it's characters standing around talking about Superman. The title is "Action Comics", why not have Superman perform an act that shows he's not a political tool (like stopping a US-launched missile fired on a foreign city), rather than just tell us?

That would also avoid dropping Superman into very serious, real-world current events, which I think is kind of poor taste. (I realize they used Iran instead of North African, but still...)

What makes pop music popular is familiarity. If a song doesn't kind of remind you of another one, it probably won't be very successful.

#7 is one of my favourite comic panels of all time.

Creating a whole new system of currencies, salvage and merits just to deal with the first week of release seems like a short-sighted waste of time.

"Congratulations, Vanden! You've hit level 50+3! Now what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to... complain on the forums!"

For a basic build using the powers you chose, I'd recommend something like this:

Well, people from this thread, who went to see Source Code?

I found it similar to "Moon" in that it's a really well-made and acted film that never really lives up to its great premise. That's not really a knock- I prefer a movie that aims high and doesn't quite hit the mark over a lazy bullseye.

I know a lot of people don't like the dull, time-consuming respec system. Especially if you're level 50 and only want to move around a few slots. My suggestion is for a simpler, more free-form respec system, so you can start over from scratch or just make a couple changes. However, these changes require a few rules to be broken.

The respec screen would look much like the Enhancement management screen we have now, your build doesn't change when you start the respec. You can choose to do a full respec back to zero (removing your power choices and putting all your Enhancements into a storage screen), or you can delete or add as few powers or Enhancements as you like.

To keep things simple, this is where the rules of leveling up get broken: Apart from a few powers you must take (one of your first two Primary powers, your first Secondary power, four of your first six choices), you can choose any powers that are unlocked at your current level, and move Enhancement slots around freely. There's no simulated leveling up- at what level you chose each power and slot no longer matters.

This would effect Examplaring as well. You would have all powers that a) you chose, and b) are unlocked at your current level. For example, if you chose a level 6 power like Hasten at level 49, then Examplared down to level 10, you would have access to Hasten.

Prerequisite rules for Power Pools would still apply, but now you would be able to take all five powers from an Epic/Patron Pool, and six-slot all of them. All that matters is that you're high enough level to have them all unlocked (level 47) when you respec.

With this looser system, it would be easier to make small changes or swap around a few slots when you respec. When you delete a power or slot, the Enhancements go into storage. You can then pop-up the storage screen (like viewing detailed power info) and slot them back in at any time.

If you choose to do a full respec, the screen would be mostly empty except for "Add Primary Power" and "Add Secondary Power" buttons. Once you've chosen your first four powers, all other powers (including Power/Epic/Patron Pools) are available to choose from, and you can add slots at any time. There would be counters telling you how many more Powers and Enhancements you have to select.

Comments? Critiques? I can clarify anything that doesn't make sense, I'm not sure how clear my description is.

Graphical and content revamps have already been mentioned many times, so I'll just add: Revamp status effects. It's too binary, you usually have a gaping hole or total immunity. I don't mind being knocked back sometimes, it's kind of cool.

This isn't a proposal for a complete PvP revamp, just a new style of Arena combat that I think could be fun and get people playing and enjoying PvP.

The goal is to keep things as simple as possible. Your build doesn't matter, your enhancements don't matter. Invention Set bonuses don't matter (though they could be optional). You get a set of powers based on your Archetype and Primary/Secondary powersets, plus one travel power (the first one you picked, or possibly just choose one before the match). Some powers may be changed to help balance the Archetypes and powersets, while enhancing their own unique styles.

Everyone can just jump in and play and know that everyone else is relatively their equal. You have less powers to worry about. There is no Inspiration use, though if possible, some 'power-ups' may be scattered around the map. Your losses aren't counted under your PvP stats, only wins. So just go out there and have fun.

And oh yeah- the "profit" part: There could be different types of matches (team, free-for-all, capture the flag), but they're all timed. Once the timer runs out, everyone, win or lose, has a chance to receive a random PvP recipe drop.

Obviously there's a lot more details to hash out, but what do you think of a simplified PvP system that reduces you to six or seven core powers and puts everyone on a level playing field (as much as possible)?