The redheaded stepchildren of enemy groups...

Flamethrowers are probably the worst offenders in terms of Longbow lore, with references to hiding them from the news cameras. Longbow shouldn't get to kvetch about Wyvern's shadiness when they spray napalm at fellow humans on a daily basis.

It's another sign of CoV's unfocused plot, or maybe just a weak attempt to pump Longbow up as an adversary by making them amoral hypocrites.

Of their existing units, I do love Eagles, Spec Ops, and Ballistas though.

I think back then it was mostly a matter of lacking anything better to put in those zones, or the non-existence of say, the Crash Site/War Zone, so the Rikti had to show up somewhere pre-I1.

On that note, it seems terribly strange that Nemesis doesn't show up in Founders'. It would fit his style, I think. Unfortunately I'm not sure what else you'd stick in FF. I could see changing Crey's level range and putting them in the Rikti spawn points and putting Nemesis where Crey once was, but then what to do about the Council? Their presence is equally pointless.

/Signed!
I'm a villain, I'm bored and I wanna do evil!
While Longbows are fascists that need to be taught a lesson - over and over again - it's pretty good D..n boring. Wyvern is a bit boring, but I'm sort of in love with the Legacy and Luddites (being a history teacher'n'all)... well, beating the livin' $##$%& of'em, that is!

Why we - as chosen ones - fight Arachnos all the time is beyond my understanding. Sure it's sort of sith-style evil, but ..for cryin' out loud! Let me be seriously evil, yet within the age rating.

Quite often I'm almost stunned by a feeling of amazement of how they've put in so much nice stuff, yet don't bother to use it: Factions, city zones, nifty little features...

Oh, well, it's their game! I guess it's up to them to mess it up in whatever way they want...

Cya in I20, possibly GR!

I'd like to see a few issues dedicated to fleshing out existing factions with new story lines. New arcs, new contacts and revamped CoH contacts, and give CoV a new zone. They can use existing CoH zones, there's more than enough of them already.

Carnies already spawn down to level 30, so let's add them to FF. Place some scattered spawns in the neighborhoods, and place some tents up in the wooded areas on the edges of the zone. Maybe have them fighting DE and Thorns for territory.

Wyvern and Legacy Chain really need to be extended up to level 50. It shouldn't be too hard to find higher level powers for the Legacy chain, and there's more than enough powers in trick arrow for Wyvern to have some interesting variety. Maybe even give Wyvern some katana and dual blades types.

Add more exotic powers to Longbow, or at least give them some more interesting things to do with guns. Longbow Gunslingers anyone?

The 5th Column are back, but they seem to be missing something. The Council have everything they do, plus Galaxies and Ascendants. The 5th really need something unique to differentiate themselves, especially for newer players who never saw them before. (like me)

Some groups could stand to do more with the variety they already have. Tsoo have a million bosses, but only 2 lieutenants and, after you level past the ninja, you only ever see one type of inkmen at a time. Similarly, the Circle of Thorns have only one type of mage boss, lt., and elemental thorn caster minion for each level range. Some overlap would help make things more interesting.

I think you've more or less hit the nail on the head, Leif.

The older content's age is starting to show. Back when it was new, there were fewer enemy groups and the world was generally a simpler place. But now the bigger, badder, more complex stuff is here and makes the old-timers look sad by comparison. The game advanced, but the "core" content got left behind, buried beneath the shiney newness.

This is why I want to see a massive uprising of groups like the Skulls and Hellions. It'd be great if the older, unloved underdogs suddenly got beefed and made their presence known again. Even if it was just temporary, like an event or something.

I would agree that part of the problem is that some of the old content is showing its age, but I don't think that's all. We can level a lot faster now than we ever could have at game launch. Unless you put the brakes on specifically to experience all of the content, you're going to whip past arcs and probably never even know you missed them unless you pick them up later in Ouro. A lot of backstory is tied up in those arcs, and a new player doesn't get the opportunity to see as much of it.

Back to the OP, I would desperately love to see more of these "forgotten groups". I'll agree that having a few here and there that are integral to specific zones does a lot to establishing a distinct identity to the rogue isles, but there's also quite a few who come and go with no real rationale. Banished Pantheon, for example, are built up as these big bads, with the backing of the old gods, but they only show up for a short level range then disappear with no reason given. There's some portal missions at 50 that feature them, but that's about it.

Wyvern is another. I would love to see Wyvern get a lot more variety and grow into a Malta-class group of enemies. There's an awful lot of powers in the Trick Arrow set that could be used in horrible, horrible ways: huge -res, -def, slows, maybe a boss with EMP arrow. But they sort of cap out at the low end of Nerva, and there's not any reason given. At least when groups like Clockwork and Vahz disappear, there's a mission at the top of their range to explain it. It just makes me sad...

I have to agree that Longbow and Arachnos are a bit more common villain-side than they should be, while the Legacy Chain and Wyvern need a lot more coverage (Especially Wyvern. They're basically Manticore's personal army! Why don't they go up to the level he appears in?). Villains could use more high level heroic threats than PPD and Longbow.

It's funny how there's one villain group that's so often forgotten that they haven't even been mentioned in this thread yet. Did everyone forget about the Minions of Igneous? They appear for a grand total of one door mission, one hunt mission, and one trial, since they are the main enemies of the Cavern of Transcendance. After the Cavern, they disappear entirely and are never spoken of again. Granted, the Spetznaz have it even worse, not having any outdoor spawns or their own "Know Your Enemy" page but people still tend to forget about the Igneous after (usually) getting the tar beaten out of them in the one mission they appear in. Ever since Manticore actually showed us the part of the story bible that involved their leader, I've thought it was a shame that the story potential with this group is untapped. I'd like to fight Igneous the Magma Master himself!

EDIT: Sam, Leif was referring to the SKULLS as small time necromancers, not the Banished Pantheon. The BP are, as you mentioned, a much greater threat that I believe deserve a longer "lifespan."