The State of my CoH Union

AKA, "This, That, Some of That, and a Smidge of That Over There."

Oh, the places I've been, the things I've done since my last post back in friggin' August (some in CoH, some elsewheres). I've finally accumulated a random smattering of tidbits I'd like to lay on the 4 or 5 of you who stumble in here from the CoH fan site page.

The Coolness that will Never Be.
From August pretty much through December of 2007, I was drawn away from our beloved game to the virtual land of Second Life. Called a "game," it's essentially a glorified, graphics-based, 3D chat environment ....like IRC with pictures. While many tout SL as the be-all and end-all of online socializing, I scoff heartily. However, I have enjoyed myself there and do still donate a fair portion of my usual CoH hours to it. Mainly for the socializing, but partly for the things it offers that CoH doesn't. While the differences at the core programming levels just differ too much for CoH to ever adopt most of SL's cooly-bits, they would, in fact, revolutionize the game. For example... You can make things. ANYTHING you want. Yep... just build it yourself. Second Life is a 100% user-created environment. From buildings, to world to items. Wish your battle axe had a blade of glowing glass and a handle made of human skulls with a rubber duck dangling from the end? [buildbuildbuild] Here ya go. Enjoy. Same with costumes. Imagine hundreds of zones designed by people whose intelligence ranges from Nobels to numbskulls. Never be bored again!

The Reason I Started Playing CoH?
....because there was no such thing as Champions Online. Uh oh..... Tremble in fear, NCSoft, and prepare for an exodus the likes of which hasn't been seen since biblical times. Champions Online is now being created by Cryptic Studio (creators of CoH, so you know they've got experience at these sorts of things), and the things I'm hearing that they've got planned could potentially spell the end of CoH. Exhibit A: Point-based character creation! Create a hero with any fekkin' powers you want!! I need clean underwear just thinking about it.

Somebody's Listening: Volume 3 ... and 4
Once again my ego will not allow me to accept the possibility that anyone else could conceive this idea... therefore, someone at NCSoft and/or Cryptic Studio must be reading my blog and blatantly stealing ideas. Steal way, boys! My first example comes from the Champions Online site which describes: "Keep your enemies close: Every hero must have an archenemy. In Champions Online, you design your character's supreme adversary, choosing a name, powers and costume for a superpowered foe to bedevil your hero throughout his or her career." Now doesn't this sound an awful lot like: http://dwarflog.blogspot.com/2006/01/so-we-meet-again.html
Hmmmmmm.....
In our second bit of "coincidence," I see Issue 12 has been announced..... including mention of the mysterious group "Midnight Squadron." I believe someone [cough] started an ill-fated supergroup of mysterious 30's-era heroes on Virtue server named "Midnight Squadron." Why, they even have a logo, seen here.
Hmmmmm..... part deux!