The pay-per-view effect

I have a feeling (and it's only that) that future issues will bring out Incarnate arcs and solo missions that offer greater rewards in the form of shards and components. Making an uncommon purely from shards already takes something like 32 (?) shards and so, if the developers intend to allow people to solo their way to rares and ultra-rares as a viable path, they're going to need solo content that provides greater rewards than "One shard every couple missions". I'm envisioning contacts who don't talk to you until you have your Incarnate unlocked (or maybe even not until you have a particular tier slotted) and difficult missions with either a greater drop rate or else component rewards in lieu of merits at the completion of the arc. You might even see repeatable missions such as the Maria Jenkins one-off AV fights that give greater drop rates or even a guaranteed common shard at the end just to keep a solo path to ultra-rares open.

And, with the examples of recent arcs behind us, I could still see those solo arcs being pretty cool and epic.

I don't want to kill you and you don't want to be dead.

IF that materialises, then that would be indescribably satisfying and amazing. I know the developers have the capacity to make excellent, well thought-out, beautifully designed, epic story arcs (when they want to - looking at you Maria Jenkins!), but my question is "will they?" Because look at what they did with I19: Two end game TFs and two story arcs (was it two?) that aren't even within bombing range of the Incarnate content. I sincerely hope they don't intend to retain this split in the future.

However, what you describe is pretty much everything I could possibly ask for. Specific missions with either "epic" foes or "epic" circumstances that play on our nature as Incarnates and specifically and directly award progress towards our Incarnate nature, as opposed to just dropping Shards as an afterthought. I don't mind them being slot-gated, I don't mind them being boost-gated. It only makes sense, just so long as they exist.

While I agree with you completely, I don't think that's an option considering how many powers would have to be redone, and what kind of horror show this would result in for power customization.

THAT SAID

I still really like this idea. I harken back to The Force Unleashed 2, where Starkiller can enter "Force Rage" where all of his powers become practically and visually far, far more impressive. Force lightning gains much thicker bolts with far more arcing, force push gets a much bigger ball of energy and a far denser effect and so on and so forth.

In this respect, having my Flares shoot out a burst of Blaze-looking projectiles and having Blaze shoot out a bigass ball of fire with the de-facto Fireball power making a mushroom cloud and Inferno a pillar of fire to the heavens would be so amazing I cannot describe the projected joy I would have. Even if it won't happen, I still say it would be very cool.

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Or do you?

I also don't want them parading that opening mission to the Ramiel arc as a common practice either. If we are that much more powerful, let it be an accurate depiction of our increased abilites, as opposed to the shadow puppetry that that first mission seemed to me. Because upon reflection, while that first mission tells us we're powerful, it feels really false for one of my characters to run roughshod over all the big names as easily as I did.

This.

For all of the love I have for it, a Hell in the Cell 4 Mondays in a row makes the lil ole Steel Cage on that one special Sunday seem awfully meh.


I "kind of" agree about the feelings wading through all the show stoppers and A-List'ers ... it is kind of weird imho to go from being the Barry Horowitz of Heroes to feeling like the Undertaker in middle of a righteous push ... but to me, it's the good kind of weird.
I dig it.

I just don't want to stop digging it (which is what would happen should this ever become anything close to a regular gig).

This is a very "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation.

1) Hundreds of minions swarm you and you get a "can't touch this" power. For some people, it's a "I'm the god, I'M THE GOD!" moment. For others, it's a "yawn, can I go back to doing the same thing except with good rewards?" moment.

2) Hundreds of -1 Underlings swarm you. For some, it's a "pathetic humans, COWER BEFORE ME" moment. For others, it's a "I'm only winning 'cause the deck is stacked, boring" moment.

3) Hundreds of regular minions swarm you. For some, it's a "the odds were against me, but through judicious use of my talents, I came out ahead and it was AWESOME" moment. For others, it's a "I died like twenty times on this. why do I feel *less* powerful now? /drop_mission forever" moment.

Cheating? When the enemy's consciousness expertly spans four or more dimensions, are you sure you really know what the rules are? :3