Veteran Rewards: Dangerously Timely Commentary

I'm not here to answer any questions about the sexy new Vetaran Rewards program. Go read that nonsense here. I'm just fairly psyched (in a hot-and-cold sort of way) about the new goodie-bits and felt I should extend my shiny new 2 pennies worth to the hard-workin' folks at Cryptic. (And, as we all know, they read my site religiously for sure-fire suggestions.) Here's the goods, followed by my scentilating pearls of wisdom.
3 Month Milestone: Trustworthy
• Trustworthy badge
• Costume Piece: Trenchcoats
• Costume Change Token given to all characters on account

OK, right up front, let me say the badges for all these things are a good idea. They seem to resemble cyber-crack for a lot of folks who make special "day trips" through the city just to gather them up. Yeah, you're supposed to get em just for paying the bills for as long as you have, but should you have to work for them? ...do a little mission or something first? I dunno.

Trenchcoats. Aaaah, say it with me... "T R E N C H C O A T S!" I spoke, they listened. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Fulfilling, and a nice opener to the list. OK, you've got my attention.

6 Month Milestone: Faithful
• Faithful badge
• Costume Piece: Greek Alphabet Chest Emblems
• Costume Change Token given to all characters on account

And now!..... "Greek Alphabet Chest Emblems"!! [cue screeching, wipe-out noise] After trenchcoats, that was kind of a shock.... like stepping from the warm warm sun into the ice cold pool. I almost had shrinkage. After giving it some thought though, I understand. The list of goodies should start small and grow. The first reward needed to get everyone's attention though, so was abnormally large for this end of the scale. If not for that decision, the Greeks here would probably be reward #1. Still..... weeeaaak.

9 Month Milestone: Dependable
• Dependable badge
• Costume Piece: Belly Shirt for Females, Scottish Kilts for Males
• Respec given to all characters on account
• Costume Change Token given to all characters on account

Daaamn. Chicks got screwed. Belly shirts? [yawn] Kilts for the guys? Cool for those who dig 'em, and fairly easy to accomplish graphically. Well done. And a handy respec... They're like car insurance.... you seldom need 'em, but you're happy to have 'em when the need arises.

12 Month Milestone: Loyal
• Loyal badge
• Temporary Power: CHOICE: Permanent Ghost Slaying Axe or Permanent Sands of Mu
• Pre-Order Sprints: Rush, Dash, Quick, Surge
• Base Item: Wall Mounted Weapon Displays

Bonus powers! Now we're talking! At one year, you get choices. I like that. I can guess what the axe does. I have no clue what the hell "Sands of Mu" is or what it does. Same with these cool-looking "Sprint" things. I'm going to have to dig to find that out. Woulda been nice if it'd been on the FAQ page (being as "what do these things do?" is probably going to be a frequently asked question).

Weapons displays for bases? Meh. I try to think what rationale conjured these up, but nothing kind comes to mind. Moving on....

15 Month Milestone: Zealous
• Zealous badge
• Costume Piece: Angelic Wings, Demon Wings
• Costume Change Token given to all characters on account

Now this is a meaty reward. But, boy howdy, are whiners gonna rally 'round this one. "You mean I gotta play for over a year before I can have wings?? That sucks!" Sorry, junior. That's why they call it "Veteran Rewards." You get rewarded for being a veteran. Clever, huh? I think it would be funny as hell to monitor the boards over the next month and count the whines. But I'm not nearly that bored. As for the wings themselves, I'm pretty impressed. My only comments would be that I'm a little concerned about the size of em (they seem a touch small) and the fact that you only get to choose between bird or bat wings. I don't think butterfly, fly, dragonfly, or even mechanical wings (maybe even a jet pack?) would go unappreciated. I suppose it'd take additional animation though.

18 Month Milestone: Unwavering
• Unwavering badge
• Costume Piece: Samurai Armor
• Costume Change Token given to all characters on account

Hey, snazzy. I'm thinking, not nearly as groovy as wings though, so they really belong below them on the scale.

21 Month Milestone: Steadfast
• Steadfast badge
• Costume Piece: Shoulder Cape
• Respec given to all characters on account
• Costume Change Token given to all characters on account

Shoulder capes for 21 months? Show hands, who thinks this is that cool? Yeah, I thought so too. Belongs somewhere below the Samurai armor. How about truly "full length" capes? ...something that touches the ground? Maybe the combination would earn this slot.

24 Month Milestone: Devoted
• Devoted badge
• Prestige Power: Emergency Base Teleporter (long recharge item that teleports you to your Base)
• Base Item: Posters of the City of Heroes Comic Covers
• Veteran's Titles for Level 15 characters

This would be worth the "wait" if it either A: was fast but intruptable, or B: was slow but uninteruptable. But it's both slow and interuptable? So it's barely convenient, and hardly life-saving. Pass.

On the whole, I like the reward system, especially in concept if not always in practice. But it strikes me as fairly obvious that someone decided "we wanna give em coats at 3 months and wings at about a year. Now we just have to fill in the in-between slots." I wish a little more effort had been put into some of the choices.

Grade?: B+