Winterminal

Considering how easy it is to get rid of, I think the move was done simply as a visual way of saying "Look at all the stuff there is!"

Yes, it is totally unnecessary, but I guarantee a few people have come across the random costume, and found a piece or two that they may otherwise have overlooked.

If you are someone who does not necessarily enjoy the Incarnate System, Premium is only as good as VIP provided that you are a high enough reward tier. I just opened up Tier 6 yesterday, so you do the math.

I like new ways to customize my toon's abilities (i.e. the first 5 Incarnate powers) to make them more unique than another toon with the same archetype and power sets. I also happen to like new content, and get a kick out of large scale assaults. But I dislike grinding. So the Incarnate system has simply become a string of large-scale attacks in which I will participate with each one of my 50s once or twice each, and then be done with them. However, I will be continuing my subscription due to the other stuff on which I would miss out (i.e. generic IOs, my most used type of enhancement).

I'm always down for a new blast set, and Earth is something we blasters lack. I like the idea behind the different buffs too, to keep it unique when compared with other blast sets.

...but only if we get an Earth Manipulation secondary with it

Simply put, I wanted to "live" the same characters that I have grown up reading about and watching in cartoons and films. But that was back when I started playing, because it was all I had to go on. I found it a lot of fun to see just how close I could get the costume creator to imitate some famous costumes.

After that brief initial phase, I found myself creating characters with similar power sets to my comic book idols, but with unique costumes and stories. I can go back and look at any character I created in my first year playing (that stuck), and I see power set inspiration from Iceman, Green Arrow, Ironman, The Human Torch, and Captain America.

Since then, concepts have been my own ideas, for the majority.

The argument that the new powers are "quirkly special use powers" as opposed to "must-have powers" is unsound. Both of those qualifiers are a matter of opinion, as someone might view the new Hold Alpha as a must-have power for their Ice character (as an example).

I understand the devs' desires to keep these powers from being achieved on day 1 by those who have stockpiled Incarnate Salvage/Merits. That said, I ask that they look at this from the point of view of a brand new Incarnate character, a character who (perhaps) is a teleporter, and would therefore very much benefit conceptually from the new Judgement and Destiny powers. Is it fair that that brand new Incarnate has to spend his first 30 Empyrean Merits just gaining access to his desired Incarnate tree, when their Electric Blast buddy has access to Ion simply by unlocking the Judgement slot?

Thankfully, none of the to-be-added Incarnate abilities interest me for any of my current 50s, so I have little reason to continue grinding the trials for the Empyrean Merits to unlock the trees, nor to craft the abilities.

I'd like to specify something: I actually like the trials as content. The story of a grand assault on Praetoria and opening the eyes of its citizens to the twisted nature of their emperor is great, and the grand scale of it makes it feel epic. It is the same reason I enjoy running Rikti Mothership Raids. The banding together of many supers, most of whom have little reason to work together otherwise, to take down an imposing and difficult target is straight out of the comic books from which we get our inspiration. But I don't need to go into the differences between the Mothership raid's rewards and the iTrials' rewards...

Basically, even though the success was due to a glitch, I had a challenging but fun experience when leading my one run of the Underground Trial, because I enjoyed the story. But once I've run the story, I don't want to grind any more because, as you say, grinding isn't fun. So until some other stuff changes, or they release some stuff that I really want (enough to justify the grind) I will run the new trials probably 1-2 times per character, for which ever character's story is appropriate, and that will be that, heh.

I like the idea, and kudos for thinking it through from beginning to end (though I think this belongs in the suggestion forum...).

You have to remember though, we've been told that the Incarnate Storyline is currently focused on Praetoria. There will be others exclusive of Praetoria. There are two new trials in the beta: TPN will most likely launch in the next month or so since it has already been announced, and it stands to reason the Mother Mayhem trial can't be too far off after that, since it is already in the beta-testing phase. That's six of the seven promised Praetorian trials, with the "confrontation with Cole" being the most likely finale.

They have also just now started in on the Coming Storm saga, which is only natural since the Praetorian saga is wrapping up. I bet we'll see new Incarnate stuff focused around that once Praetoria is wrapped.

But hell, I'm all for speculating!

Hey all,

Just a friendly reminder that the VIP Beta is now open for the Issue 21 Special Update: Media Blitz. If you can find time this weekend and/or over the next week between your Halloween festivities, I highly recommend checking out some of the new stuff.

I am sure we all remember the debacle that we went through last month with the launch of Issue 21. Granted, most of that was due to a lack of Mac users being included on closed beta and the fact that a lot of way more complicated systems were being implemented. That said, we can all do our part now to ensure that the new trial, incarnate powers, and other new stuff are functioning normally for us, as well as the rest of the player base.

Do yourself and everyone a favor and hit the beta server for a couple hours over the next week so you can offer feedback. Hope to see ya in there!

-Winter

Liquid's above post is a bit long to quote, but I agree with everything he said.

I will not lie: though I find the Murder of Crows cc emote, Bat Aura, and all of the pieces in the Halloween costume pack to be very cool and well done, I have no current characters nor pending ideas that are in need of any of it. So I have yet to buy it. However, the fact that it will all be gone in a month, at least until next year, has me wondering if I should get it "just in case."

I understand that inciting that mentality is part of the marketing strategy, but while it may work for short term gains (as I am sure many people thinking similarly will buy or have already bought the pack), it becomes an annoying gimmick over time. You leave your customers feeling pressured to buy your premium products, even if they many not need it right now.

There is another industry in our world that does the same thing: Insurance. And nobody likes insurance agencies. Sure, we all buy it because yes, odds are one day we'll need it. But I do not think a gaming company should want their customers feeling like they are buying costumes for insurance purposes.

Yes, those are the Celestial Costume pieces, available only to V.I.P. players in Tier 9

(only Tier 6 grumble grumble...)

I expect to see "free for VIP" power sets about as often as we saw them prior to Issue 21. Unfortunately, that is a grey area. The last completely new power sets that we received were Dual Pistols, Electric Control, Demon Summoning, and Kinetic Melee, all released (not counting Going Rogue pre-orders) in August of 2010, over a year prior to Issue 21. Upon release, those had to be purchased in the bundle that was "Going Rogue," but now have been assimilated under the umbrella of "VIP" and are accessible to any subscribing players, regardless of whether they previously purchased Going Rogue or not. (We all knew that would happen eventually, since they did the same thing with City of Villains.)

Given that we just got Time Manipulation, I am going to say/hope that we will get a new "free for VIP" power set every six months or so, roughly 2 a year, considering the rate at which they are (and hope to continue) releasing power sets and costumes. Perhaps that's a bit lofty, but hey, that's my estimate.

On it.

If this works... what a boon!

Welcome back, Progressman.

In referencing those "end raids," I can only assume you are referring to the Incarnate Trials. If that's the case, you've actually only been gone six months (since those were released early April), but I TOTALLY understand the burnout (having suffered a bit of it myself after i20 went live).

If you are referencing a different end raid (i.e. Hamidon, Mothership, etc.), and you quit because the grind got too boring well... I hope you like the new 1-50 content! Because the Incarnate Trials are pretty grind-y themselves. Though, with 4 trials released (and a 5th in the not-too-distant future), there is at least a growing variety of which trials you want to grind...

Cool costume pieces!

Wish I could be there...

If anyone is so inclined, I'd love to see some pics of the new options for Beam Rifle. At work currently. If not, I eagerly look forward to getting home and checking them out!

I eagerly await an influx of story! This most recent entry is a weighty one. Ironically, it coincides chronologically quite nicely with the project group on which I am working, set to go public soon...

Congratulations to you both, Liquid and Fatare!

My girlfriend knows I am a superhero geek. I make no means to hide it, and she likes that I am so open with it. She will even accompany me to the latest superhero movie in theaters. But I don't know if I'll ever get her to play this game with me... though, she's working towards a doctorate, so an MMO may not be the best thing for her :P Maybe one day!