Should we be saying something about this...?
Dual Weapons |
however i didn't give 2 ***** to read the announcement thoroughly because it didn't have much of what i was hoping for so i'm probably wrong
I am a pretty new player-- I have been around for just over 6 months. I feel infinitely horrible for all of you Kheldians who have been waiting to be buffed for years. How is it that they can update enitre ZONES, but not even acknowledge Kheldian concerns? |
obviously khelds aren't nearly as labor intensive as any of those, depending on what they decide to do with the AT if anything at all, but thats still the habit they've formed.
I have been in every single U Stream chat that Zwil has ever done, and every single time during the Q&A I ask for someone to at least acknowledge the concerns of Kheldian players. I've seen Dechs in there, along with many others, asking for Kheldian attention-- dechs was asking something as simple as power customization, which is honestly one of the least of our worries... They still wouldn't say anything about it. The bottom line for me right now is, if you can revamp entire ZONES, can't you at least ACKNOWLEDGE that there are some issues that need to be addressed with Kheldians?! If you're going to add new powersets, can you PLEASE fix your underperforming Peacebringers? |
Sure, people are able to do amazing things with Warshades, but it is a gigantic hurdle compared to the other AT's. A skilled Warshade is special because it not only requires playing and building your character well, but also finding ways around and flat-out coping with severe developmental flaws. Warshades LIVE in Melee... VEAT's get status protection. Why is it that we have to WASTE one of our Incarnate powers to get it!? |
I'm not sure if we're just being too passive. Zwil got harassed about PVP in U Stream and now he participates in weekly PVP events. What can we possibly do to get the Development team to look at Khelds? Before, they were just ignoring us. Now, they're making New powersets! Should we just be skipped over? I wish I could understand how this logic works. |
on topic: theres really so much you can do in terms of advocating for changes to a game, you can give as much numerical and subjective evidence and feedback as you want but it really doesn't matter because the devs are going to fix something when the devs damn well please. period. pvp is a prime example of that, theres 3 years worth of data, feedback, and anything else you an ask for, yet nothing has been done. it's not the fault of the players for lack of trying, just nothing is going to get done until the devs decide they wanna do it. Dats just da way baseball go.
In short, I don't think theres anything to worry about. the AT as is has some serious flaws but still plays okay. it underperforms, sure, but not at all unplayable. when(if) the changes come, it'll be gravy, but not having anything isn't game breaking.
Positron's i13 letter: We are trying to make PvP more accessible to new players, while giving experienced PvP'ers the advantage that comes with formulating tactics around the new systems we're putting in place. PvP from now on will be on our priority list. If something isn't working out, we'll be in there tweaking it and making it work, for the entire future of the product, not just Issue 13.
I agree with THB on this. It is possible that becoming more vocal would put pressure on the devs, and it's not like it is going to hurt us to do so. That's why I think Time Shadow's Comprehensive PB Proposal thread was such a good idea. I'm tired of hating my pb. I'm tired of seeing "lolkhelds." I'm tired of having arbitrary limitations that are neither sensible nor balancing.
I don't think it's necessarily in the same boat as pvp. Fix pvp, and several people will go back to it, and some pve'ers will do it casually again. Fix khelds, and a slew of people will try an AT that they previously avoided because it had the stigma of being "gimped." Khelds also being a future "unlockable-with-points" AT means that they are going to risk disappointing a lot of people by selling them a "broken" archetype.
The Inspiration Maker's Guide [i12] UPDATED with POPMENUS and Movement Binds!
A Flash in the Dark: The Electric/Ninjitsu Stalker [i23]
Kheldian Inspiration Macros UPDATED with POPMENUS and Movement Binds!
Guide to the Katana~Ninja Blade/Electric [i23]
on topic: theres really so much you can do in terms of advocating for changes to a game, you can give as much numerical and subjective evidence and feedback as you want but it really doesn't matter because the devs are going to fix something when the devs damn well please. period. |
Well, this is the best I can think of in terms of an outreach to the Devs. Zwil and other members of the staff have gone out of their way to emphasize on U Stream and other official announcements that the subscribers are the most important part of this game. They've called the forums invaluable, and said that what we post here carries weight in terms of feedback and the future of the game...
I know I haven't been around that long, but since I started playing this game my subscription has lapsed once and it was for less than a day. I have every intention of keeping my subscription on autofire (I've built for perma COH) if the staff plans on standing by what they've said--- Once again, that they value the opinions of their subscribers and take into account the feedback they get on the forums and every other means they've provided-- Which I've exhausted.
Bottom line: If the powers that be really read the boards and value the opinions of their subscribers as much as they claim to... I like playing my Warshade. He does way better than he should considering what he has to overcome. I want to like playing my Peacebringer, too. I fail at numbers and all that, but a lot of players who are AWESOME at telling you exactly where the problems are and how to fix them post on the Kheldian boards. Please read what they have to say, and try to fix it.
I agree with THB on this. It is possible that becoming more vocal would put pressure on the devs, and it's not like it is going to hurt us to do so. That's why I think Time Shadow's Comprehensive PB Proposal thread was such a good idea. I'm tired of hating my pb. I'm tired of seeing "lolkhelds." I'm tired of having arbitrary limitations that are neither sensible nor balancing.
I don't think it's necessarily in the same boat as pvp. Fix pvp, and several people will go back to it, and some pve'ers will do it casually again. Fix khelds, and a slew of people will try an AT that they previously avoided because it had the stigma of being "gimped." Khelds also being a future "unlockable-with-points" AT means that they are going to risk disappointing a lot of people by selling them a "broken" archetype. |
I'm crossing my fingers that CoH Freedom means they may have to address Kheld concerns or risk losing money. New players will hear the playerbase saying "lolkhelds" and they may not be willing to pay real money to try them out. The Dev's might not see the Kheld situation as a big deal but someone from marketing will.
@Dawun
Old School
Renegades
Well, this is the best I can think of in terms of an outreach to the Devs. Zwil and other members of the staff have gone out of their way to emphasize on U Stream and other official announcements that the subscribers are the most important part of this game. They've called the forums invaluable, and said that what we post here carries weight in terms of feedback and the future of the game...
I know I haven't been around that long, but since I started playing this game my subscription has lapsed once and it was for less than a day. I have every intention of keeping my subscription on autofire (I've built for perma COH) if the staff plans on standing by what they've said--- Once again, that they value the opinions of their subscribers and take into account the feedback they get on the forums and every other means they've provided-- Which I've exhausted. |
Bottom line: If the powers that be really read the boards and value the opinions of their subscribers as much as they claim to... I like playing my Warshade. He does way better than he should considering what he has to overcome. I want to like playing my Peacebringer, too. I fail at numbers and all that, but a lot of players who are AWESOME at telling you exactly where the problems are and how to fix them post on the Kheldian boards. Please read what they have to say, and try to fix it. |
Khelds also being a future "unlockable-with-points" AT means that they are going to risk disappointing a lot of people by selling them a "broken" archetype. |
but i think one way or another, they'll get fixed
Positron's i13 letter: We are trying to make PvP more accessible to new players, while giving experienced PvP'ers the advantage that comes with formulating tactics around the new systems we're putting in place. PvP from now on will be on our priority list. If something isn't working out, we'll be in there tweaking it and making it work, for the entire future of the product, not just Issue 13.
I'd hate to sound cold or vindictive (I'm really not trying to) but the way I see it is there is very little return on investment with fixing these age old problems. The truth is that the game is in the tail end of it's lifecycle. As much as the devs want to paint "freedom" as some kind of new beginning, the reality is that the team needs to focus on things that will keep the game alive and keep the money flowing.
Not that I don't wish they wouldn't devote an issue to fixing everything.
It's not like we're asking for a COMPLETE redesign of the AT's... We're asking for things that would be simple fixes. Perhaps the more mathematically inclined Kheldians should work on typing out an entire list of demands for things that need fixing in less objective and more concise terms than I'm capable of doing but...
Shorter animation times for form shifts.
Uninterruptable shifts to dwarf- Remember, this is our "status protection."
Toggle suppression. Stop dropping our toggles every time we shift forms! Every other archetype with no status protection access can at least have acrobatics. You won't even let us keep that.
Better damage scales. What else do you expect us to be doing?
Higher damage cap. Why should Warshades have the same damage cap as defenders when we are not support characters? PB's have one heal-- Does that really justify negating 100% damage from both Kheldian AT's?
Buff Photon Seekers to perform on the same level as dark extraction (after damage scale buff.)
Buff light form to a point where it is as useful as Eclipse (that's the point of this power, right?)
These few things would probably take a group of developers a week or less. All this time, COH has been rebuilding two zones, creating a totally new zone, making more than two new powersets, making a new tutorial, developing a free to play model, creating new incarnate trials, creating all new level 1-20 mission content, and probably working on new incarnate slots also. Fix the broken stuff first.
It's not like we're asking for a COMPLETE redesign of the AT's... We're asking for things that would be simple fixes. Perhaps the more mathematically inclined Kheldians should work on typing out an entire list of demands for things that need fixing in less objective and more concise terms than I'm capable of doing but...
Shorter animation times for form shifts. Uninterruptable shifts to dwarf- Remember, this is our "status protection." Toggle suppression. Stop dropping our toggles every time we shift forms! Every other archetype with no status protection access can at least have acrobatics. You won't even let us keep that. Better damage scales. What else do you expect us to be doing? Higher damage cap. Why should Warshades have the same damage cap as defenders when we are not support characters? PB's have one heal-- Does that really justify negating 100% damage from both Kheldian AT's? Buff Photon Seekers to perform on the same level as dark extraction (after damage scale buff.) Buff light form to a point where it is as useful as Eclipse (that's the point of this power, right?) These few things would probably take a group of developers a week or less. All this time, COH has been rebuilding two zones, creating a totally new zone, making more than two new powersets, making a new tutorial, developing a free to play model, creating new incarnate trials, creating all new level 1-20 mission content, and probably working on new incarnate slots also. Fix the broken stuff first. |
second, while i know the chances of this getting fixed are much higher than pvp, pvpers have been using the exact same argument you just used in this post for the last 2.5 years. It doesn't work all that well. not that it isn't a good argument i'm just saying that no matter what we say, the dev's won't do **** until they damn well feel like it.
Positron's i13 letter: We are trying to make PvP more accessible to new players, while giving experienced PvP'ers the advantage that comes with formulating tactics around the new systems we're putting in place. PvP from now on will be on our priority list. If something isn't working out, we'll be in there tweaking it and making it work, for the entire future of the product, not just Issue 13.
i might be wrong on this but i don't think this is a new powerset, they're just adding more two handed weapons into the game.
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/this.
I want people to set aside their anger at the "we've been ignored all this time!" point and pay attention to something very important.
Paragon Studios is exercising some rather rigorous control over information concerning "what's coming" in the future. How many people here *FORESAW* from 2 weeks ago the announcements of CoH: Freedom in the form that it has been revealed to have taken the business model ... and *FORESAW* the Time Manipulation and 2-Handed Weapons Powersets ... and *FORESAW* the revamping of the Galaxy City *and* Atlas Park *and* Mercy Island zones?
I'm willing to bet that before the announcements were made, remarkably few people outright *FORESAW* those particular surprises, in the form(s) they ultimately are going to be taking. Furthermore ... and this is the critical point ... Paragon Studios was very determined to not release any definitive information about any of this stuff prior to announcement. I know. I attended many of the critical chats. I asked, Live, when the announcement of a New Zone, which would not be a Trial Zone, if the New Zone would be a Co-op Zone or not. I repeatedly asked that question in the UStream Chat(s). It was repeatedly NOT addressed.
In fact, the answers that were being given about the New Zone were extremely non-specific, beyond the fact that it existed (and therefore was being worked on).
So the important thing here may not be what is being SAID, but rather what is being very deliberately left UNSAID about particular longstanding topics (Base Editor, Kheldians, PvP, etc.). And I say this not *just* from a standpoint of "wishful thinking" ... but from noticing exactly how information on future developments is being rigorously controlled (re: Black Pebble).
It is therefore *possible* that the Extreme Silence that WE are hearing on SG Bases, Kheldians, and the rest, is because they already ARE being worked on ... but Information concerning that work is NOT cleared for release ... in which case the questions concerning these issues CANNOT be addressed.
How many times have Devs in the UStream chats been told "I/we can't answer that" in response to questions, without revealing what the question is? Quite a few times, if you've been watching them.
So it's *possible* that Kheldians are being worked on "right now" ... but the Devs are "not allowed" to talk about it. This would be Standard Operating Procedure for Paragon Studios, as evidenced by how they have controlled the release of information of coming developments in the past few months.
Unfortunately ... there's no way for us, the Players, to differentiate SILENCE due to a release embargo from SILENCE due to ignoring the topic very heavily and just never doing anything with it. From our end the "quality" of the SILENCE is exactly the same.
That's fine and all, but since we don't know, it doesn't have bearing on whether we should be more vocal or not.
The Inspiration Maker's Guide [i12] UPDATED with POPMENUS and Movement Binds!
A Flash in the Dark: The Electric/Ninjitsu Stalker [i23]
Kheldian Inspiration Macros UPDATED with POPMENUS and Movement Binds!
Guide to the Katana~Ninja Blade/Electric [i23]
How many times have Devs in the UStream chats been told "I/we can't answer that" in response to questions, without revealing what the question is? Quite a few times, if you've been watching them. So it's *possible* that Kheldians are being worked on "right now" ... but the Devs are "not allowed" to talk about it. This would be Standard Operating Procedure for Paragon Studios, as evidenced by how they have controlled the release of information of coming developments in the past few months. Unfortunately ... there's no way for us, the Players, to differentiate SILENCE due to a release embargo from SILENCE due to ignoring the topic very heavily and just never doing anything with it. From our end the "quality" of the SILENCE is exactly the same. |
People are saying things about it already, don't worry. Heck, they've been saying it for years.
It's good to remember that just because nothing is happening doesn't mean there isn't a desire to do something. There is only so much development time that can be put into different things. Still, I would like more of a look at bugs that have been around for long periods of time, as well as long standing development issues, like Kheldians.
I'm also never quite sure what does finally get some action... BAB would occasionally go on graphical bug hunts and ask for help from players, Castle suddenly decided to rework Burn after a thread in the Scrapper forums, even though people had been talking about how Fiery Aura needed some tweaking for years as well. Time becomes available or a developer decides to spend enough time on it.
Guide: Tanking, Wall of Fire Style (Updated for I19!), and the Four Rules of Tanking
Story Arc: Belated Justice, #88003
Synopsis: Explore the fine line between justice and vengeance as you help a hero of Talos Island bring his friend's murderer to justice.
Grey Pilgrim: Fire/Fire Tanker (50), Victory
Wild Streak - Lv. 50(+3) Beast Mastery/Sonic Resonance Mastermind, Amnesty - Lv. 50 Staff Fighting/Dark Armor Stalker
But when it comes to Kheldian questions, they don't even say "Yes we know Kheldians need some work, we are aware of the issues." They just IGNORE IT. They don't even let us know they saw the questions...
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...
-Kheldians are on the short list of powersets that are go9ing to be looked at when time permits ... |
It's not like kheldians have never gotten any attention, you know. There are a few small changes coming in 20.5, but go look at the patch notes for Issue 13. Then for added perspective take a gander at the laundry list of handicaps they launched with in Issue 3.
Yes, there are many powers that could use tweaking, but at this point slapping spackle on the holes is not going to do anything to address the systemic issues stemming from fundamentally flawed design decisions made six years ago by an inexperienced dev team and a powers designer whose basic philosophy was "I'll throw numbers at it until I find some that work okay."
The most critical one is this: kheldians were designed as shapeshifters with alternate forms tailored to specific purposes, specifically "shoot things" and "be hard to kill," which together encompass most of the highly nuanced combat system the same inexperienced dev team built into the game. At the same time, human form powers have significant overlap with the powers that come with those alternate forms. Human form, which actually contains the vast majority of available powers, is thus unavoidably consigned to comparative mediocrity, because it cannot--not will not, not should not, cannot--come too close to the performance or capabilities of the alternate forms without making them completely redundant. And if you do that you have just completely eliminated the core concept of the archetype. It's a Catch-22 situation.
You say you're not asking for a complete rework of the AT, but really you should be. Any changes of any significance that don't somehow address that foundational issue are worrying about carpet color while the house is on fire.
You say you're not asking for a complete rework of the AT, but really you should be. Any changes of any significance that don't somehow address that foundational issue are worrying about carpet color while the house is on fire.
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I still don't know what the original devs were thinking with how Kheldians first came out, but there was a solid idea behind them that was still fun to play.
Guide: Tanking, Wall of Fire Style (Updated for I19!), and the Four Rules of Tanking
Story Arc: Belated Justice, #88003
Synopsis: Explore the fine line between justice and vengeance as you help a hero of Talos Island bring his friend's murderer to justice.
Grey Pilgrim: Fire/Fire Tanker (50), Victory
There's been a lot of good brainstorming, I know. But Geko started from a very flawed premise and I just cannot see getting over that without changes at least on the order of the Dominator overhaul, which if you start tabulating suggested changes and indentified problem spots is probably an underestimate.
The purple-drank slug thingy is partially right. Warshades, when 'purpled out' are amazing, but sadly, before that they are subpar in comparison to the archetypes their forms encompass. The mechanics of the Warshade are very, very unique while the peacebringer isn't. Perhaps the peacebringer needs the 'overhaul' and Warshades simply need some number tweaking?
I dunno, but there are a few minor problems such as transforming time, mez protection, damage scale (LOL 0.65) and so forth but the idea behind the EATs are good, or atleast, the warshade is due to it's 'master-of-none' playstyle.
Whining about everything since 2006.
Ammo switching for Dual Pistols was my idea:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=135484
There's been a lot of good brainstorming, I know. But Geko started from a very flawed premise and I just cannot see getting over that without changes at least on the order of the Dominator overhaul, which if you start tabulating suggested changes and indentified problem spots is probably an underestimate.
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I would agree that Kheldians need some adjusting, but I can't follow you with the "flawed premise" statement. Most suggestions I have seen that would work would at most require changes similar to the Dominator revamp, or significantly less (and I would say Peacebringers need more adjusting than Warshades). The basic idea of the AT as a shapeshifter, jack of all trades, is a fun and good one that I rather like. It needs more adjusting to get it to sit right in the CoX environment, but it's not flawed overall.
Guide: Tanking, Wall of Fire Style (Updated for I19!), and the Four Rules of Tanking
Story Arc: Belated Justice, #88003
Synopsis: Explore the fine line between justice and vengeance as you help a hero of Talos Island bring his friend's murderer to justice.
Grey Pilgrim: Fire/Fire Tanker (50), Victory
I'm trying to figure out how you can flip-flop so much in a sentence, other than you having a very odd definition of "flawed premise." The reason for this is that you make comparisons to Dominators and their revamp, even though they did not have a flawed premise. After their revamp, they still function as they did: their initial premise or design is intact. They mez for their primary and do damage for their secondary, and their inherent works the same way... the main change was where their damage came from: rather than domination, that damage is baked into their powers.
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I would agree that Kheldians need some adjusting, but I can't follow you with the "flawed premise" statement. Most suggestions I have seen that would work would at most require changes similar to the Dominator revamp, or significantly less (and I would say Peacebringers need more adjusting than Warshades). The basic idea of the AT as a shapeshifter, jack of all trades, is a fun and good one that I rather like. It needs more adjusting to get it to sit right in the CoX environment, but it's not flawed overall. |
The Kheldian human forms are purposefully limited (no mez protection for example) in order to make the form shifting desirable enough for people to use. It's Castle trying to salvage Geko's poor design. Whereas Castle's creation VEATs have a synergy among their powers that is wonderous to behold. For example, on a lark I decided to make a ranged only Bane Spider. That seemed to be the crappiest VEAT combo by a mile. How did it turn out? WHOA! It's really good. It feels like the Nova form should. A heavily defended ranged gunner who can spam AoEs. I was just going to take that character to the 30s and then respec, but I think I'm going to stick with it. I'm always finding interesting things like that with VEATs. It's the mark of a very well designed AT that there are so many things you can do and still feel you have a valuable character.
With Warshades, you do get to a point where your character is solid and fun. But with PB, you just never come out with a character that's ever going to shine. It needs fundamental changes. If shapeshifting is the name of the game, then we need to make that conversion something that plays well with the game.
After Timeshadow's thread, I've really given up on Kheldians for awhile. The community is just too split about what needs to be done. Some folks want a major change and others want small tweaks. I don't see the devs moving too much while that rift exists.
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
These few things would probably take a group of developers a week or less. All this time, COH has been rebuilding two zones, creating a totally new zone, making more than two new powersets, making a new tutorial, developing a free to play model, creating new incarnate trials, creating all new level 1-20 mission content, and probably working on new incarnate slots also. Fix the broken stuff first.
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That said, since people love to bring up the laundry list of things that have changed and not changed, I'd like to point out that on your list, literally 75% of your list is made up of items that are done by completely different people, particularly writers and artists who can't just be retasked into programming and system balance.
There's a big difference between it taking a short period of time to pound out some code or change some defined values willy-nilly, and actually testing it, pushing it through version/change control, etc.
You're welcome.
It's not like kheldians have never gotten any attention, you know. There are a few small changes coming in 20.5, but go look at the patch notes for Issue 13. Then for added perspective take a gander at the laundry list of handicaps they launched with in Issue 3. |
That's a much more significant change than you seem to acknowledge. That one change removed this Jekyll and Hyde feeling to the AT and turned it into a mainline DPS AT that can intermittently exercise extremely strong controls.
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Kheldians have had their premise clouded like Domination: special enemies that do special damage, having their damage be down when they are solo, etc. Those things have been mostly peeled away, but not entirely. As you pointed out, the time shapeshifting takes inhibits things for the premise of Kheldians still, among other things.
But I am not saying they don't need changes, they do. I'm just going to resist anyone saying Kheldians have a flawed premise, because they don't. They have a fun concept behind them (or since some get hung up on the term "fun," the concept is one that can be effective), and there is further adjusting needed to making it happen. People have been pretty united in the idea of their needing an adjustment, so I don't think anything is holding back the developers there.
People tend to paint pictures overly dark, and I rather hate that. So that's why I jumped on the "flawed premise" statement. There aren't any broken ATs in CoH... you can do well with any AT out there. Some still need adjusting to get more in line with the others, however, probably Kheldians and Stalkers, mostly.
Guide: Tanking, Wall of Fire Style (Updated for I19!), and the Four Rules of Tanking
Story Arc: Belated Justice, #88003
Synopsis: Explore the fine line between justice and vengeance as you help a hero of Talos Island bring his friend's murderer to justice.
Grey Pilgrim: Fire/Fire Tanker (50), Victory
To recap recent City of Heroes announcements...
-Atlas Park and Galaxy City are being COMPLETELY revamped
-New powersets are being added- Time Control and Dual Weapons (I forget the exact, official term) have been confirmed.
I am a pretty new player-- I have been around for just over 6 months. I feel infinitely horrible for all of you Kheldians who have been waiting to be buffed for years. How is it that they can update enitre ZONES, but not even acknowledge Kheldian concerns?
I have been in every single U Stream chat that Zwil has ever done, and every single time during the Q&A I ask for someone to at least acknowledge the concerns of Kheldian players. I've seen Dechs in there, along with many others, asking for Kheldian attention-- dechs was asking something as simple as power customization, which is honestly one of the least of our worries... They still wouldn't say anything about it.
The bottom line for me right now is, if you can revamp entire ZONES, can't you at least ACKNOWLEDGE that there are some issues that need to be addressed with Kheldians?! If you're going to add new powersets, can you PLEASE fix your underperforming Peacebringers?
Sure, people are able to do amazing things with Warshades, but it is a gigantic hurdle compared to the other AT's. A skilled Warshade is special because it not only requires playing and building your character well, but also finding ways around and flat-out coping with severe developmental flaws. Warshades LIVE in Melee... VEAT's get status protection. Why is it that we have to WASTE one of our Incarnate powers to get it!?
I'm not sure if we're just being too passive. Zwil got harassed about PVP in U Stream and now he participates in weekly PVP events. What can we possibly do to get the Development team to look at Khelds? Before, they were just ignoring us. Now, they're making New powersets! Should we just be skipped over? I wish I could understand how this logic works.