heliumphoenix

The simplest solution....

Let anyone who HAS UNLOCKED their alpha (which one can do just by running the mender Ramiel arc, I believe) get an extra choice on completing any arc that rewards standard merits. Let them choose between Astral Merits and Reward Merits.

They can be changed (one-way, from astral to reward) by Astral Christy in Ouroborus......so those that WANT reward merits still get them. And those who are working toward Incarnate powers can get them as well.

This would be obviated by providing a method to convert reward merits into astral merits as well.....though they'd probably be put on a "X reward merits = 1 astral merit" system to prevent unbalancing things.

You can easily earn several reward merits running a standard story arc. If each of those awarded an astral merit instead (or you could convert to it), then soloing would be slower, but viable, for those going Incarnate. Not to mention those of us with 100+ reward merits saved up would be able to dump them into the incarnate system and avoid running the incarnate trials another 50 times to get the next level of incarnate slot filled.....

Running the same trials over and over gets old, devs......and since they are currently the only way to earn any advancement in the Incarnate system (aside from the WST and the SSA, which can be worse depending on which they are) we need more solo-friendly options.

Now, according to some, shards drop even in normal play for those with the Incarnate stuff unlocked. But the drop rate is SO low as to be unworkable. 1 in 1000 minions, 1 in 150 lieutenants, 1 in 50 bosses.......when solo, you will likely only have 1 boss in a whole mission, and some won't have one at all. That means an average of 50-100 missions to get 5 shards! That's 100-200 missions to craft ONE component from threads bought from shards. Three components for each ability, that's (average) 450 missions to make just ONE slotted power (and then only the base level, as uncommon or rarer components take a lot more!) That's too much of a penalty for solo play.

Let us convert Reward Merits to Astral Merits. Even at 5 to 1, it would make it workable.

"You fail to grasp Tae Kwon Leep. Approach me, that you might see."

Well, from the point of view of "CoX on Linux" people, this should be a good move.

While Macs are based on a BSD derivative, porting from BSD to Linux is not THAT horrible to do. Most of the libraries and headers are indentical (functionally), so if they have a makefile & source that will compile and link under BSD, getting it to compile and link under Linux should not be too difficult a proposition.

Now, the real issue comes in the whole 'number of flavors' and 'variation of hardware' problems. Macs are (effectively) closed hardware, so developing for them is easier (if it runs on one, it should run on all). Linux boxes vary WILDLY. And having builds for just the most popular flavors would still entail having to maintain 5-10 different builds.....they sure aren't going to release source so people can compile it themselves!

But it is a step in that direction. Since CoX uses OpenGL for it's graphics API, porting to Linux isn't quite the bear it could be....like for a lot of other games (which are D3D based).

Wait....is there a Mac emulator for Linux?

Sorry again, but my figures for seating capacity come directly from the San Diego Convention Center website.

San Diego Convention Center Website - Check it yourself. (use the "level details" then select the "room viewer and seating configurations" for each floor)

The Lower Level (exhibition hall):
ABC - Max Seating 20000 (empy) - 15000 (banquet)
DEFGH - Max Seating 28910 (empty) - 15200 (banquet)
total for level: 48910 (empty) - 30200 (banquet)

Mezzanine Level:
Rooms 12 to 19 - Max Seating 2589 (empty)

Upper Level:
Rooms 1-11, 20-33, and Sails Pavillion - Max Seating 27398 (empty)

TOTAL seating (empty) 78897.

And "empty" is the equivalent to theater-style setup usually, or slightly more.

And those are Fire Marshal Code limits. If there were 125k people in there at once, it would have been shut down (not to mention have been so crowded EVERYWHERE that you could not breathe.)

Assuming a normal split of convention layouts, and exhibition space usage, that convention center can comfortably hold about 30k-40k people at once.

I have organized, run, and worked conventions of all kinds for the last 20 years. Trust me, I know how they cook the numbers and arrange for things to look and sound bigger than they really are. And I also know the logistics involved.


Oh, and by the way. I HAVE been there. Just not in the last few years. And at other convention centers.

The numbers I quote above are DIRECTLY from the San Diego Convention Center. It WILL NOT HOLD 125,000 people, even if you turn the exhibition hall into standing room only with no booths. Check the numbers for yourself.

As for the 'every single website' comment....I explained in my very first post that almost ALL conventions measure attendance in BODIES PER DAY. Yep, they do. They do this since it is the easiest way to count it for big convention centers where they can have people enter through turnstiles and such at registration, and also takes into account 1-day passes and such. You may have attended a lot of conventions, but apparently you haven't worked many, or you would know this.

Nice picture of the line. The Registration Line at DragonCon last year at some points stretched 5 city blocks, OUTSIDE the hotel, not to mention the winding path inside. If you think that picture impresses me, you are quite mistaken....I've seen a lot worse in my time working conventions.

The SDCC provides about 1 million sq. feet of usable space, with over half of it dedicated to the exhibition hall.

The FOUR Hotels occupied by DragonCon/ACE provide about 600,000 sq. feet of convention space.

And the attendance records for DragonCon/ACE specifically note that they are not measured in the typical "bodies per day" measure, but actual number of registered members.

Look up the numbers yourself. I have.

And as for the 'crossover'.....DragonCon is ALSO the Atlanta Comics Expo. If that isn't an appropriate venue for a superhero game, I don't know what would be....

*shrug* If you won't believe the numbers on the San Diego Convention Centers own website, feel free to continue to believe what you want.

[ QUOTE ]
Er, just so you know, the comic con in san diego fills a 120 thousand capacity building for 5 days in a row. 30k for Dragon con is like 20 years ago for the sd con. Sorry.

[/ QUOTE ]

You didn't read either my post, or the actual data at the con sites, or look at the data for the SDCC.

To wit:

San-Diego ComicCon 2007: Bodies Per Day attendance = 125,000 over 4 days (July 24-July 27)
(that equates to 31,250 attendees attending all 4 days)

Dragon*Con/ACE 2007: 30,000+ attendees for 4 days = 120,000+ Bodies Per Day Attendance.

They are comparable in size.

Also, just so you know....the "120k capacity" figure for the San Diego Convention Center is wrong. The max capacity with all function space set up to maximize seating (usually theater configuration) would be around 80k (50k of that is the exhibition hall), and they most certainly did NOT have the exhibition hall set up in such a fashion. The upper level alone (where most of the function space resides only provides space for about 25,000 attendees, mostly in the Sails Pavillion which holds a max of 8700 and rooms 6 & 20, which in max config would give another 7000). Oh, and the rooms are RARELY set up completely empty/theater mode, since it isn't conducive to the functions held in them. Expect 50%-75% of that as useable seating/space.

It's not unusual for people to over-estimate both attendance (due to the bodies-per-day figure most conventions use to inflate the numbers to be more impressive) and space considerations (since convention centers also use the 'max' numbers for advertising.)

Dragon*Con/ACE is about the same size as the San Diego Comic Con, despite what the marketing speak tries to tell you.

In your own words:

"Sorry."

The one East-Coast convention that SHOULD appeal most to them attending....

It is the LARGEST convention of ANY type in the South-East United States.

It is a combination of TWO conventions, one of which is a specific COMIC convention.

It has a LARGE super-hero/villian presence and interest.

It is centrally located in the South East United States, with a large metropolitan area and major travel hub.

And players from the region have been asking them to attend it for the last 4+ years.

Dragon*Con/Atlanta Comics Expo in Atlanta, GA.

With an 8 hour drive or less, you can reach Atlanta from as far as Northern Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and the nearer parts of adjoining states (Florida, West Virginia, Ohio, Louisiana,maybe others).

Hartsfield International Airport is a major hub, and many commuter flights are available from many areas throughout the eastern half of the US for a relatively low fare. (Chicago to Atlanta, checked today, for DragonCon dates: 5 available in the $230-$260 range, ROUND TRIP.)

Why hasn't NCSoft attended the largest (over 30,000 attendees last year! That's head-count, not 'bodies per day' that many conventions, including ComicCon, use! It FILLS the FIVE large hotels it occupies. Using the BpD measure, D*C exceeds 120k), most centrally located (for its size in the SouthEast), most appropriate (Media & Film, Comics, Sci-Fi, Fantasy) convention?

A really good question....

Snow,

Have you asked our local NC reps if it would be possible for them to have a redirect setup? So that something like "www.cityofheroes.com/cityscoop" is just a redirect to the link above?

I know getting an actual domain name is a bit prohibitive for a non-profit publication, but even a redirect like that would be better.....

[ QUOTE ]

We discussed larger price points like what you are suggesting. However, doing so sets us up for more possibility of being in a refund situation.

For example, a customer purchases 36 slots for whatever nifty price we offer it for, thinking that they can apply them all to a specific server, only to find out that they can't because of the current max slots limitation. We can then envision that they won't like that and, not wanting to apply those slots to a different location, contact us for a refund. Unfortunately, all sales are final (as will be clearly stated in the disclaimers when you purchase said slots).

Given this possibility of buyer remorse, we'd prefer to have the user buy them as they go and feel the 5 for $19.99 is a very reasonable "chunk" to do that in.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that if a player chose to buy that many, knowing they can apply them one-by-one to any server (that isn't already at the maximum of 36) and that there are no refunds (since, if a given server is already full, the remaining tokens can be applied to a non-full server) that is the purchasers own responsibility.

A 'max-one-server' package of 24 slots for $75 (approximately $3/slot, continuing the progression of 6/1slot, $5/2slot, $4/5slot)
is not unreasonable. And even if they had some left over, asking for a refund based on that would be silly (and the purchasers own fault).

Say they only need 18 to fill the server they want. They'll have 6 left over. To buy 18 would be 3 $20s, 1 $10, and 1 $6. That's $76. So they'd save $1 instead by buying a full 24, and have 6 extra to put toward another server. If they are buying fewer than 18 slots, then it would be cost-inefficient, unless they are already happy to put the additionals on a second (or third, or fourth) server.

Just put plenty of info on the purchase page explaining the 'break-points' for cost. If they can't be bothered to read it, including the BIG BOLD FLASHING NEON "slots purchased are non-refundable", then it is their own fault.

The only case where this would be an issue is if someone has 36 slots on almost all the servers, and tried to buy more than they could possibly slot. The purchasing system should get a total number of slots available to purchase (based on the max - applied), so the buyer can never buy more than they could possibly use. Shouldn't be that tough.....

[ QUOTE ]

Hating the proposed TK change right now, not that I PvP too much with my Mind Dom...but will be even less inclined to now.


[/ QUOTE ]

Amen. So Mind Controllers and /Mind Doms just lost the one 'equalizer' they had.....<sarcasm>so very fair.</sarcasm>

No pets to help distract in PvP (not that anyone in PvP bothers to fight the pets if they can target the summoner, since the pets instantly die when the summoner is defeated...) A single inspiration neuters our primary (save one power, which is smashing damage.) for 30+ seconds. No containment = piddly damage and no mez = no damage mitigation. And against any melee types? BFs having immunity periods was a bad idea to begin with (certainly as long of a period as they do, at least.) They were a band-aid solution to the binary nature of mez in CoX.....instead of working up a non-binary system.


[ QUOTE ]

Are other aspects of TK going to be adjusted too now? Are you going to look at the endurance costs of the power now, considering that you are proposing a major nerf to it you should also make a major change to its end costs.


[/ QUOTE ]

I certainly hope so. Castle? Considering you removed a major part of TK's effectiveness, I'd hope both the End cost and Recharge will be reduced to compensate.

[ QUOTE ]

Also, if you go with the 2 inspirations = breaking repel alternative, please use Sturdies instead of Break Frees. A BF is already too much of a one stop answer to countering everything control related, it already stacks too well with the plethora of counters to control in the game too. Make a player have to make a load out decision on which Inspiration to fill up on when going into PvP rather than the simple choice of grabbing a tray full of BFs and laughing at control based toons, specifically Doms.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT. Put repel resistance on the Orange Insps. Sturdy's and such. So that a single insp isn't the end-all-be-all of controller/dom neutering.....make them take several to be safe, just like we do.

Personally, I'd change it all so that:
BreakFree = Hold resist.
Sturdy = Repel/KB resist
End = Sleep resist
Heal = Confuse resist
Defense = Fear resist

That way people couldn't just 'load-up' on BFs and know they can run for several fights without worry of being mezzed.

Even if they doubled up, so DefInsp = Fear/Confuse, SturdyInsp = Repel/KB, and BF = Hold/Sleep.....it would still give us a little more viability in PvP, since they couldn't just come with the classic "FULL TRAY OF BFs"

*sighs* C'mon, Castle. Would it be fair for any other ATs to have 75%-90% of their main powers effectiveness and their damage mitigation REMOVED for 30+ seconds by popping a couple of inspirations? Think about it.

Hmmn.... If I'm counting right.... 11 servers, 12 slots (currently) per server, new max per server of 36 slots. 2 free new slots, up to 4 free vet reward slots.....

(11 x (36 - 12) ) - 6 = 258 current minimum potential slots to buy.

Current best pricing (in 5 slots for $20, or $4/slot) gives....

258 x $4 = $1032 to get max slots when I12 goes live, up to $1052 (new player).

<O.O>

A cool grand to max your slots.

I wonder who'll go completely insane and do it just for bragging rights....

Thank you BAB. This will hopefully clarify the reason PC hasn't been done already to more people.

However, I have to wonder about the codebase of CoX's power system based on your description of the problems.

It sounds like the original pre-alpha code (back when there weren't powersets, just powers) wasn't scrapped, but used as the base for the re-design, and thus the powers weren't designed in a true OOP architecture. To wit:

BasePower()
defines damage/buff/debuff/heal/def/res/mez values, and the accessors.

PFXSelf()
defines effect a power has on a player or team

PFXOther()
defines effect on target

BlastPower() : BasePower()
Defines powers that 'shoot' at an enemy, inheriting & overriding where necessary

Levitate() : BlastPower(), PFXSelf(), PFXOther()
Defines specifics to levitate, and assigns the FX to the power.
By inheriting the FX & BlastPower classes, can override where needed.

Now, this is highly simplified....and there are a lot of other ways to separate out the OOP elements.

But somewhere in the FX class there would be data loaded from file/DB about color, texture, geometry, duration, animation, etc.
Now adding customization simply becomes an override function and a player data lookup for those elements customized (any not customized remain at default values).

Now, completely re-writing the architecture for the power system is obviously a major undertaking (it is, after all, the heart of the game.) But that isn't to say it couldn't be done over time, based on a frozen build (say, I12) and worked on sparingly over several issues, and incorporating fixes/changes from each issue when applicable.

I'd have been happy to work on it, but the NCSoft programming test I got when I applied was borderline ridiculous. I've been a software engineer for 8 years.....and I personally know plenty of PhD's in computer science that couldn't have completed it in the time allotted. And I'm betting quite a few of the current devs couldn't either (pohsyb, maybe....but he's a coding mutant.) If all the applicants got that same test I did, NCSoft isn't going to be hiring many people anytime soon.....

{qr}

Okay....flashback will be reality. But I have to ask....

Will an Outbreak flashback be available? Let that one lone contaminated in RV get some rest......

Pretty please? My early characters (pre-badges) would really like to get those without having to work for eons in RV farming one mob.......

Please, Posi?

With sprinkles on top?

[ QUOTE ]

Now, back to the design grind... anyone know a good way to pick a handcuff with a mechanical pencil, a Hero Clix, and a poker chip?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, since you asked...

Use the poker chip to pry the pocket clip off of the mechanical pencil.
Use the poker chip and heroclix base together to bend the straight end of the pocket clip carefully into a right angle.
Pull the guts of the mechanical pencil out, and get the lead tube.
use the poker chip and heroclix base together to flatten the lead tube, and then slightly bend the end upwards.
Use the pocket-clip as a tension wrench, and the flattened tube as your pick.
(This is assuming a pro set of handcuffs. For cheap cuffs, you can probably just pick it with the pocket clip if you bend it right)

.....why yes, I did six-slot lockpicking. Why do you ask?

Designing a mission isn't really all that great (as it stands) since you basically get to define the text involved (mission offer, mission acceptance, mission entry, possibly mob flavor text) and a few basic elements (kind of mission, type of clicky (if any), name of hostage/boss, enemy types, tileset used).

I would much rather the devs provided the tools (or at least let us know which public tools should be used) to create our own tilesets FOR missions, and maybe script some text/plot for inclusion as policeband/newspaper missions....maybe even for TFs/Trials (though trials usually use custom, fixed maps in places).....and provide a SDK with the current tilesets/textures as a template.

All non-special missions are (mostly) randomized tiles connected together. Natural Cave, Dug Cave, Orenbega, Lab, Warehouse, Office, Arachnos Base, etc.

If we know the needed tile designs and the specific connection points, as well as the texturing restrictions, we (the community) could quickly build HUNDREDS of new tilesets in a relatively short order.....

Give us the needed info & tools, and the modders will come out of the woodwork and dive in head first.

Remember, 90% of the players won't even try. Of the 10% who do, about 75% won't ever get anything built they will submit. And of those who do build and submit, probably one quarter to one half will be joke/nude/etc. that can be quickly tossed out (at least at first.) So that's about 1.25% of the playerbase that knows about it that actually creates something useable. If about 1% know, that's about 0.0125% of the 120,000+ players. That still works out to 1500 players submitting work!

Now, allow it to be peer-reviewed via forums (for initial review) and Test Server (test review). Expect only 10% to make it to Test, and of those, probably around 20% would make it to Dev Review.....about 30 submissions. How often? Well, that depends on the specifications provided.....and it could be controlled (say, each player/team is allowed one submission per month.)

That seriously knocks down the chaff, and the added workload to the Dev/Support teams, while allowing players the opportunity to actually ADD something to the game they've worked hard on and supported.

(naturally, all submissions would become the property of NCSoft/CrypticStudios, as needed for them to be able to use/modify them freely)

[ QUOTE ]
Teleport Foe. Ha! I can't figure out how this would be useful in a Hami Raid. Sorry.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure the old ones were immune, but has anyone actually tried to TPFoe one of the new mitos? Wouldn't that be funny, being able to pull one out at a time, destroy it, repeat, until Hami was all alone?

Yeah, I know, not likely.....but someone ought to at least test it.

{QR}

Would these stealth bonuses also knock out the MM Supremacy inherent?

Slot one or more with +stealth, all henchmen lose supremacy bonus..... le suck!

[ QUOTE ]
Good suggestions... but I don't use Firefly. In fact, the entire Poser render system pretty much blows and I never use it for finished work. I can't stand shadow mapping.

I use a true ray-trace system that gives some great effects.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah, I do vaguely remember you mentioning that before. What do you use for your final renders? Lightwave, 3DSMax, Maya, etc? Most of those also allow you to specify ray-recursion depth , and the defaults are usually quite high (often 8 or 16 levels), which is WAY more than is needed for most renders.....

Most of those also have distributed rendering systems built into them, so if you have mulitple machines available, you can spread it out over them.....

I'm sure you know this stuff already, but we all forget to check default settings on occasion.....I know I have.

(just to note....I love your work. I wish I could make a living at it, but for me it's just a hobby.....though its a hobby I've been at for about 24 years....)

[ QUOTE ]
As far as the use of nvironment maps, I usually don't go that route because I like the feel of knowng the reflecions are 100% correct. However, I didn't expect the chrome to take 40 hours to render and I might have used the environment map method if I'd known. The reflections were actually *too* reflective at the raw render stage and I took them down about 50%. Still, it wasn't a big deal since I set the render to run on one of my backup machines and my workflow wasn't seriously impacted.

[/ QUOTE ]

DJ,

Have you tried rendering your own environment maps? It's not that hard. Set up a few cameras, hide the reflective objects, and render the cube map faces. You lose inter-object reflections, but it certainly reduces rendertime.

Also, you might want to reduce your raydepth in Firefly if the render took 40 hours. Even just a depth of 2 or 3 will be sufficient for most renders, 4 is about the maximum you want to go (since more and interobject reflections get seriously slow).

Now, when you add in refractive objects as well, nothing is going to help (save just using environment/transparency maps)........

I just wish Curious Labs would hurry up and optimize the renderer code to support dual core CPUs and multithreading......

Well, that's it.

It is finally correct, appropriate, and makes sense.

Cuppa is leaving, so....



DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


(Cuppa, we'll miss you! You've been a ray of sarcastic, sardonic, and smirking sunshine. Yeah, I like alliteration, sue me.)

[ QUOTE ]
Submissions can be made by emailing your screenshots (details below) from FRIDAY JULY 21st until 12:00 AM (CST) FRIDAY JULY 28th.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're kidding, right?

I've been playing the game for over two years, and I still haven't even SEEN half of the ones on that list. And that's including time spent JUST LOOKING FOR THEM.

Kraken, Jurassik, Babbage (boomtown version)

I've only seen Eochai, Jack-in-Irons, and Adamastor ONCE.

And we're supposed to get good screenshots in ONE WEEK?

Please tell me you're going to have them up the spawn frequency on those by a factor of 10. Please.

[ QUOTE ]

I met Chuck Norris once.

Once.

(Thanks, folks!)

[/ QUOTE ]

"You shouldn't hang me on a hook, Johnny. My mother hung me on a hook once. Once." - Joe Piscapo as Danny Vermin in Johnny Dangerously (1984)

Ah, old movie quotes abound...

[ QUOTE ]
Recluse: Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL!!!

I'm one of the few old enough to get that! Sidney rules! LOL!

The Inspiration Shop Sketch (apologies to Monty Python)

(Lord Recluse clicks on the contact.)

Lord Recluse: Good Morning.
Cheese Contact: Good morning, Sir. Welcome to the National Inspiration Emporium!
Lord Recluse: Ah, thank you, my good man.
Cheese Contact: What can I do for you, Sir?
Recluse: Well, I was, uh, sitting in the Arachnos Headquarters in Nerva Archipelago just now,
skimming through "Rogue Islands" by Hugh Walpole, and I suddenly came over
all peckish.
Contact: Peckish, sir?
Recluse: Esuriant.
Contact: Eh?
Recluse: 'Ee, Ah wor 'ungry-loike!
Contact: Ah, hungry!
Recluse: In a nutshell. And I thought to myself, "a little power boost will do
the trick," so, I curtailed my Walpoling activites, sallied forth, and
infiltrated your place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some inspirational
comestibles!
Contact: Come again?
Recluse: I want to buy some inspirations.
Contact: Oh, I thought you were complaining about the bazouki player!
Recluse: Oh, heaven forbid: I am one who delights in all manifestations of the
Terpsichorean muse!
Contact: Sorry?
Recluse: 'Ooo, Ah lahk a nice tuune, 'yer forced too!
Contact: So he can go on playing, can he?
Recluse: Most certainly! Now then, some inspirations please, my good man.
Contact: (lustily) Certainly, sir. What would you like?
Recluse: Well, eh, how about a little red enrage.
Contact: I'm, a-fraid we're fresh out of red enrage, sir.
Recluse: Oh, never mind, how are you on insights?
Contact: I'm afraid we never have that at the end of the week, sir, we get it
fresh on Monday.
Recluse: Tish tish. No matter. Well, stout yeoman, four ounces of Restoration, if
you please.
Contact: Ah! It's beeeen on order, sir, for two weeks. Was expecting it this
morning.
Recluse: 'T's Not my lucky day, is it? Aah, Break Free?
Contact: Sorry, sir.
Recluse: Red Focused Rage?
Contact: Normally, sir, yes. Today the van broke down.
Recluse: Ah. Phenomenal Luck?
Contact: Sorry.
Recluse: Keen Insight? Sturdy?
Contact: No.
Recluse: Any Second Wind, per chance.
Contact: No.
Recluse: Luck?
Contact: No.
Recluse: Take a Breather?
Contact: No.
Recluse: Catch a Breath?
Contact: <pause> No.
Recluse: Dramatic Improvement?
Contact: No.
Recluse: Emerge, Bounce Back, Resurgence?
Contact: No.
Recluse: Discipline, perhaps?
Contact: Ah! We have Discipline, yessir.
Recluse: (suprised) You do! Excellent.
Contact: Yessir. It's..ah,.....it's a bit runny...
Recluse: Oh, I like it runny.
Contact: Well,.. It's very runny, actually, sir.
Recluse: No matter. Fetch hither the inspiration de la Belle France! Mmmwah!
Contact: I...think it's a bit runnier than you'll like it, sir.
Recluse: I don't care how [censored] runny it is. Hand it over with all speed.
Contact: Oooooooooohhh........! <pause>
Recluse: What now?
Contact: Mynx's eaten it.
Recluse: <pause> Has he.
Contact: She, sir.
(pause)
Recluse: Awaken?
Contact: No.
Recluse: Iron Will?
Contact: No.
Recluse: Robust?
Contact: No.
Recluse: Righteous Rage?
Contact: No.
Recluse: Strength of Will?
Contact: No, sir.
Recluse: You...do *have* some inspirations, don't you?
Contact: (brightly) Of course, sir. It's an inspiration shop, sir. We've got--
Recluse: No no... don't tell me. I'm keen to guess.
Contact: Fair enough.
Recluse: Uuuuuh, Sturdy.
Contact: Yes?
Recluse: Ah, well, I'll have some of that!
Contact: Oh! I thought you were talking to me, sir.
Contact Sturdy, that's my name.

(pause)

Recluse: Uncanny Insight?
Contact: Uh, not as such.
Recluse: Uuh, Rugged?
Contact: no
Recluse: Present,
Contact: no
Recluse: Good Luck?
Contact: Not *today*, sir, no.
(pause)
Recluse: Aah, how about Respite?
Contact: Well, we don't get much call for it around here, sir.
Recluse: Not much ca--It's the single most popular inspiration in the game!
Contact: Not 'round here, sir.
Recluse: <slight pause> and what IS the most popular inspiration 'round hyah?
Contact: Escape, sir.
Recluse: IS it.
Contact: Oh, yes, it's staggeringly popular in this manusquire.
Recluse: Is it.
Contact: It's our number one best seller, sir!
Recluse: I see. Uuh...Escape, eh?
Contact: Right, sir.
Recluse: All right. Okay.
'Have you got any?' he asked, expecting the answer 'no'.
Contact: I'll have a look, sir...
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnno.
Recluse: It's not much of an inspiration shop, is it?
Contact: Finest in the district!
Recluse: (annoyed) Explain the logic underlying that conclusion, please.
Contact: Well, it's so clean, sir!
Recluse: It's certainly uncontaminated by inspirations....
Contact: (brightly) You haven't asked me about Recall, sir.
Recluse: Would it be worth it?
Contact: Could be....
Recluse: Have you --SHUT THAT BLOODY BAZOUKI OFF!
Contact: Told you sir....
Recluse: (slowly) Have you got any Recalls?
Contact: No.
Recluse: Figures.
Predictable, really I suppose. It was an act of purest optimism to have
posed the question in the first place. Tell me:
Contact: Yessir?
Recluse: (deliberately) Have you in fact got any inspirations here at all.
Contact: Yes,sir.
Recluse: Really?
(pause)
Contact: No. Not really, sir.
Recluse: You haven't.
Contact: Nosir. Not a scrap. I was deliberately wasting your time,sir.
Recluse: Well I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to one-shot you.
Contact: Right-0, sir.

Lord Recluse faceplants the Contact with a single punch.

Recluse: What a *senseless* waste of a potential minion...

[ QUOTE ]
Will Lord Recluse be making a statement on beating the Freedom Phanlanx back ? will he expand on where he and the signiture villains were during this war?

[/ QUOTE ]

He has. However, I am quite sure that Lord Recluse will NOT be giving privy details about their secretive operations to us. Rest assured, while the Freedom Phalanx and Longbow Operatives were busy raiding the Rogue Isles, a dastardly plot was being carried out in Paragon City......we must simply wait and the details will eventually manifest, much to the regret and discomfiture of Statesman and his cronies.

[ QUOTE ]
surely Lord Recluse would be petitioning for sanctions against the U.S and the 'Terrorist Supergroups' responsible for this Unprecedented and illegal attack on the freedom of the people of the rogue isles ?

[/ QUOTE ]

No, Lord Recluse is above such petty and ineffectual 'litigation' based reprisals. Though he may have one of his legal contacts file a class-action suit, on behalf of those injured or hospitalized by his violent actions, simply for the bad press it would cause Statesman and crew. But as I pointed out, I'm quite certain that with the FP away from Paragon, Lord Recluse and his close servants made good use of their absence.....

Someone earlier mentioned the "monologue" and "tirade" inherents. These should be extended, specifically:

They are toggle powers, with a VERY LONG recharge (and they don't accept recharge reducers). Activating any other power turns the toggle off.

Monologue roots the villian in place, Tirade does not (villian can move normally).

While active it is an AoE +DEF buff that is VERY high.

While active, regen rates are zero. You can't use a monologue to gain breathing time to recover END or HEALTH.

Although it is a toggle power, it does have a duration. This prevents it from being a "I'm invulnerable" defense button. The duration is long enough to do a good monologue, but not excessive.

Putting it simply, when the villian monologues, the heroes can do nothing but listen (well, they can, but almost everything will miss, or the villian attacks.) The villian can end the monologue at any time, but cannot attack and continue to monologue.

Tirade is identical, only it allows the villian to stomp around and move freely.