I'm not quite ready to do my "So long, and thanks for all the fish" post yet. (For those of you who don't get that, it is a reference to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy . . . it is what all the dolphins said as they left the Earth just before it was blown up to make way for a hyperspace bypass.)
I (kind of obviously) love controllers and I have enjoyed sharing my experience just as many folks shared with me over the years. There have been lots and lots of people who shared their experiences and ingenuity. We also have to thank all the people who stepped up to provide resources like Red Tomax (City of Data) and Midnight (Mid's Hero Builder), and most of all TonyV and everyone else at CoH Titan, who continued these great resources. Arcanaville is another person who deserves special mention as a great resource of information.
There were also lots of folks who wrote guides. These guides were increadibly useful to me, to the point where I wanted to contribute, too. Also, helpful folks on the forums spent countless hours reviewing people's builds to help fellow players improve their characters. The Forums have been one of the best parts of an already great community.
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
Ketch & Local said it quite nicely. Despte self-imposed semi-exile from the main forums for a while, I've always loved this community. I think I've even posted once or twice to say so prior to armageddonlike circumstances. The sheer number of awesome people here far exceeds my feeble memory, so I shan't try to name names.
Here's hoping they give us or we make for ourselves another 7 years at this game-- I could be perfectly happy exploring illusion and earth, as well as my standard faves, with /DA, /Nature, and /Time, for quite a while yet.
Choosing a Controller V2 | Splattrollers | Plant/Rad | Fire/Storm | Mind/Emp & Mind/Rad
Weird Controller Powers | Conf & XP/Time | Controller Damage
Being a Healer | The word Necessary | Natural Concept Characters
With the end looming in sight, I want to say thank you to the good folks that frequent the controller boards.
From my very first foray into Paragon City I've been a controller player. I started with a grav/kin, a grisly old man (whose name I've forgotten) whom I abandoned in the Hollows. My next attempt was a mind/emp with the unfortunately spelled name of Tirage. Eventually controllers started to click into place with my ill/kin and earth/storm. That ill/kin would later become my first 50 and has been my global name for quite some time (@Malli). Eventually, I would take all the control primaries to 50 with a few making repeated trips. The last character I log will be a controller.
But, none of this would have been possible without the insights and help of the many kind people that populate this particular AT. I'd like to thank everyone who has helped guide my experience, but many of those names are lost to time. However, I can offer my thanks to the following: Local Man, Oedipus Tex, Tater Todd, Boomie, Magicj, Etnantiodromos, Maud_dib (rest in peace), UnicyclePeon, Laevateinn. You have all made my game experience more enjoyable, informed my decisions, and challenged my ideas. Thank you all and to the many others I can't recall.