Hypothetical: Most cool looking power v. Most powerful power

Cool-looking/fun factor definitely comes before power. I took both Handclap and Whirlwind.

If there was a choice, I'd always pick a power by how cool it looked rather than what it actually did

Hmm, if a power just looks plain cool, so cool that any flaws it may have are overlooked, it's more likely to be used by others. I can't have 'my cool' being on everyone else's toons, it detracts from the coolness. The rarer the cool, the better, IMO.

For example, if we got a new awesome looking Scythe weapon set that sucked for sustained DPS but was at least adept at DPA, I'd bet there'd be swarms of people playing it. Meh, I'll pass. Then when people start whining they aren't the best with it and go back to their SS brutes and DM/SD scrappers, I'll pick up the set and love it.

So, for the most powerful power, if it's readily available/accessible players will flock to that (eventually) and leave the coolness for those that truly appreciate it.

We need both. Even if it's for that min/maxer that wants to look cool on every other weekend or the hopeless superficialist to grind some farms with their superior power to make their cool characters decent.

It depends on my character.

I have characters that shouldn't have the ability to call lightning from the sky. Those will take the mechanically powerful one with no visual effect.

My characters that should have the ability to call lightning from the sky will absolutely take that over the more mechanically powerful power.

I took Frozen Aura before it did damage. On purpose, even.

Cool looking!

Dual Blades, Dual Pistols, Martial Arts, Electric Melee...these are a few of my favorite things!

For the most part, function trumps form for me. I want to play Gravity but I just can't, for instance.

If the difference is marginal, though, I choose the cooler one. For instance, one of my corruptors uses DP even though Fire is generally better by the numbers.

Although, once I've made the larger decisions on powersets and individual powers, I use whatever feels more fun at the moment.

Going by the thread title, for me this is a hard question to answer, and for a simple reason - both concepts are intertwined in my head. Let me explain.

I define "cool" not as something that specifically LOOKS cool, but something which generally FEELS cool, and "feels" is a very abstract concept. When it comes to powers, the coolest ones to me are the powers I feel like I want to use the most. I'm not talking about a conscious decision that "this is a good power, I want to use it," no. It's kind of like smelling your favourite food and feeling like you want to have some. There are certain powers that I feel this about.

So what makes said powers cool? Well... To be honest, performance, to a large extent. I don't know if this makes me suggestible or observant, but the more useful a power is, the more it tends to grow on me, and the more I start associating its look, sound and "feel" with good memories and good emotions. For instance, Blaze is probably one of the least interesting, least inspiring visuals in the entire game, yet the power is so good that I've grown to adore that tiny little devastating fireball, to the point that it soured me on all other Blasters who had nothing of the sort (which is why I no longer play them). By contrast, a very cool-looking power may start out impressing me, but once my sixth sense realises it's next to pointless to use it, I end up feeling reluctant to try it, and I start associating its visuals with bad memories and negative emotions.

I've always been like this, to be honest, both with games and longer-running series. I'll start out a game and look through the available selections of characters, cars, spaceships or what have you, and pick the ones I think are the coolest. As I play it, however, oftentimes the squinting bucktooth hunchback of the lot will start showing its true potential, and will convince me to see its charms where before I saw only ugliness. Capcom's Jin Saotome from the VS. games is a good example. I never really liked the guy's look, and everyone seems to regard him a joke character (even if they're wrong), but I've found myself drawn to him once I figured out how to play him.

This, in large part, is why I've made so many arguments about how some powers - particularly snipes - should be more powerful than they are, and that some powers don't really deserve to be as strong as they've been made. Sidestepping the Blaster Snipes controversy, Blaster Nukes are hideously underwhelming, even for how short a duration they have. Have you ever activated Inferno without any enemies around? It's more or less just Combustion with screen shake. Where's my giant mushroom cloud? Where's my supersonic flaming shockwave? Where's my pillar of fire to the heavens? The graphics for nukes are EMBARRASSING in this game, and there's no excuse for it, not with how strong they are.

I also want to complain about the Incarnate AoE attacks, but I've only seen clips of them so I'm not qualified to comment. Suffice it to say, though, I don't think they look nearly big enough, from what I've seen.

Quote:

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.

Hmmmmm.

Propel gets mention because of it's neatorific effect. To bad it misses tons and is slower than turtles with bricks tied to their feet.

Widows Poison Dart gets mention because the sound effect (Shnikt!)

Force Bubble Gets Mention because...Well...for an Oh Shoot Button watching everything fling away just feels awesome.

DB Gets mention because of the fact that it looks beautifull.

Radiations Snipe is Awesome to hear and look at. It feels Comic booky Cartoony good!

Most powerfull (Im not talking damage) are Oil Slick arrow and Ice Slick. Because it messes baddies up...bad!

Cool. Every time.

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

Where's my peeps looking for power? All these cool looking powers mentioned here are hardly seen on an ITF so I know I'm not the only one!

Basically what it comes down to for me is this:
The visuals of each particular power are just one thing adding to looking cool, but there are more.
For instance: if you leap into a LARGE group of mobs and fight an epic battle, doesn't it look cooler to come out on top standing there possibly scratched but dominantly in the center of the group as the last few mobs fly off of you in their incapacitated state than it does to get owned in a visually pleasing manner and end up doing pro floor inspection with bored mobs stood around you?
Yet aesthetics as such aren't the fuel that gets you there.

Carrion Creepers for me. I just love those squirming tentacles of doom and the spam of tiny numbers and exploding corpses it leaves behind. And it takes all sorts of wonderful PROCs.

I also have love for a Dominators Power Push.

So I suppose I like having my cake and eating it too (what's the point of cake otherwise?)

Powerful. Definitely powerful. I'm not that visual a person to be honest. I'd much rather take a power that makes me 10x more badass and looks like crap than one that looks pretty but doesn't do much.

I prefer Cool-Looking, as long as the Power Level is 'pretty good'. It's why, for my Brute, I'll likely get Ion Judgement instead of Void Judgement come I20, even though the latter seems better numerically for a Brute. But Ion looks way-cool, and it's 'good enough' so there you go.

If a power isn't all that good, though, I'll still skip it (or minimal slot), even if I think it looks Cool as Hail (talking to you, Handclap), and I'll skip on a power that's extremely good for my build if I don't think it cool looking (ie. Gloom)