NEW AE Possibilities....what if ?

The following is an idea that would be an interesting way to breath something new into AE.
Keep in mind that I do not expect this type of thing to ever happen, but what if ? :

The AE missions could be accessed and utilized exactly as they currently do but a new feature added which allowed you to create an alternate avatar of any powerset combination and level.

You would build this avatar through a new interface that let you set up essentially an AE only character. Then you would slot up his powers using a special AE-only set of enhancers. This avatar would be given a name such as: "Aspect of Biospark" (using my name as an example). It would be unable to leave the AE building, and while you were driving this avatar, your character would be "locked" into the AE computer.

There could be other limitations on what types and levels of avatars you could build to explore the AE missions, but the idea is to give players a tool which could help them try powerset combinations AND explore unique AE missions at the same time.

You could save these avatars just like we currently save costumes, and you would get the full range of costume/power customizations, you just could never take these avatars out of the AE building. In fact, if you actually left the building, you would find yourself back inside your regular character that walked into the AE building in the first place.

These avatar creations would not earn experience or influence, but could earn tickets. The tickets would be awarded to the character that is in suspended animation once you ended the avatar session. One limit that could be imposed is that you cannot make or drive an avatar that is higher level than the character you entered the AE building with. This last part is something that I am not certain whether it is necessary, but it seems to me rather unbalanced for a player with no experience being able to make and drive level 50 FotM builds in AE and generating thousands of tickets before ever playing a character to 50 first.

Why would this be nice ?

I like the whole AE concept of making custom missions and playing custom missions, but... I don't like the AE rewards system AT ALL !
If you could use it to try out new character concepts and earn tickets as a side effect then it would be pretty sweet.

any thoughts or suggestions ?

I like this idea. It allows people to test out plenty of builds without the dreaded LEVEL 50 BUTTON. It'd be nice to see what some of my lowbies would be capable of at higher levels.

My exploit senses are still tingling, though. Make it so you can only team with other Alternate Avatars or solo, and you have a deal!

I like it... except for the "tickets go to another character" bit. Partially for the reason you give here:

See my Guides and Tutorials

Great feedback so far. Thanks Guys

For what it is worth, I had thought about the tickets only usable by the avatar to purchase and upgrade their build with AE-IOs, but I decided that the actual player should get some reward for their time spent in AE. Not to mention that these avatars would be restricted to AE-only enhancements which would not necessarily include anything like Hami's or Set IOs. Just SO-strength enhancements. This would limit the ability of folks to create Farming monsters somewhat. Also, if I did not mention it, you could not create an avatar higher level than your character that was visiting the AE at the time, so unless you actually have a level 50 character, you will not be making level 50 "aspects" to farm with.

I would love to be able to do a story where you play Someone Else. But there would be serious foundational and design problems. But I'd love it.

And yes, I would kill for a way to Test Builds. I would love this because I came from a game where respecs were plentiful and cheap and I'm used to trying a couple out in a day if I feel like it.

So are you saying that we'd be able to make a NRG Blaster with MA secondary? In terms of fun, that'd be one hell of a good time. And as for the whole people exploiting AE to farm tickets, they already do anyway. And without set bonuses on said avatar, it'd just be much tougher to do it. Anyways I like the idea, but like you said the chances of them implementing it, not so likely; especially when the Test Server still exists.

*Looks out for James Cameron* heh

I can /sign this. I am very much in favor of:

-Only being able to play an avatar at the level of the "driving" character (to prevent new generation of AE babies).
-Rewards being only for the avatar, with minimal, if any, inexploitable rewards for the character.

That second part would really help someone like me suffering from alt-oholism. All those concept characters that, in actuality, I just want to take through this one story... that would be possible. Design the 5 missions in the arc, throw together the character, play through the arc, and bam! I've gotten my fix for that character.

Of course, having written that out, therein lies the downside. Some characters, that people would normally spend more time playing in order to get to a level where they could play through their designed arc, would not be played, nor even created for that matter. I suppose that is the exploit: Someone gets one level 50, and all of a sudden they can play whatever archetype and respective powerset combo they want.

Hmmm, how can we work around that?

and (some large number) years later, the city outside the AE buildings has fallen into decay and disrepair because no one ever leaves the Matrix. :/

Those are the reasons why I felt that you should only be allowed SO-type enhancers on these avatars. You would get a "taste" of what this character would be like. In order to actually get an IO-ed version, you would have to go out into the "real" world of Paragon and build/play the toon.

I too suffer "terribly" from altism. My problem is that once I get a character into the 20s, if it has not become what I expected by then, it can often get "re-created" as another combination before pushing on into the late-game. As a result, I could have missed out on what that combination really had to offer. For example, I have never succeeded in getting SR past level 30. Yet that was the very first melee defense set I wanted to play back in 2004. 6+ years later, I still do not know how it feels to play Super Reflexes once it blooms. (Well sorta, I have a level 30+ Shield Tanker that is totally awesome).

It sounds like what you really want has little or nothing to do with AE, and more with "instant 50s on Test" (for example).