Below is a “stream of consciousness” rambling collection of my thoughts, ideas & suggestions regarding CoT. Yes, they should probably be split across several posts and threads. Yes, they could be better organised. Unfortunately, it’s lunchtime in the office so I’ve let my mind wander and posted this at the top to give some (any) form of context.

Travel Powers: (I’d like my chosen one by I leave Tutorial, or reach the Tutorial finishing level if I skip Tutorial. I’d really like it from the start, like in DCUO)

Flight. Multiple poses please.
Superspeed: Running up walls please and across water please.
Leaping: Include wallcrawling please, so I don’t plummet if leap ends on a wall.
Swinging: Include wallcrawling please, so I can get to swinging height in the first place. Add gliding capability too, so I can leave go of swingline mid-air and land safely.
Teleportation: Don’t let me land in mid-air. It’s embarrassing. The CO “short term invisible flight” version had its merits, but I’d rather go with choosing a landing point and insta-zapping to it. Thoughts on animations later. Using it to bring teammates or enemies to me is also desirable.
Tunnelling: Teleporting with different animation. No emerging from tunnel in mid-air. Looks silly.
Superswimming: Involves arguments involving water-breathing as a power, how long someone can hold their breath etc. Would need underwater missions for me to consider it worth looking at, but what use is it anywhere else? Maybe one for a post-launch update.

Defenses:

Energy/Endurance Defence: Obviously only useful if you have energy/endurance points to use/lose.
Health Defence: Can’t see players not having life points, so this is necessary.
If have Endurance and Health, then could defend as follows:
• Endurance Defence: X Points subtracted from each Endurance Reducing Attack/Debuff. Half as much subtracted from Health Reducing Attack/Debuff.
• Health Defence: X Points subtracted from each Health Reducing Attack/Debuff. Half as much subtracted from Endurance Reducing Attack/Debuff.
On me, part of me or part of costume. No other visuals needed. If I want visible armour, my avatar will wear armour. If I want a forcefield, I’ll give it an aura. If I consider it a form of invulnerability, it gets no visual, or I have green skin (or similar) Have it as a permanent (but enhanceable power). If buffing someone else, use a bubble or an aura-like effect. They’ll know buff gone when effect goes.
If not using Endurance, and just using power recharge times, then Health Defence only affects damage targeted at Health and Endurance Defence replaced by buffs that increase recharge time. Again, no visuals required unless buffing someone else.
Regeneration: Speeded up healing times. Only question is how much faster, and can you enhance/debuff it?
Heal Self/Heal Other: If only using Health, then it returns a certain amount of Health to target. If using Endurance, then it returns a certain amount of Endurance to target too.
Buffs/Debuffs: If it can be used, allow it to be enhanced or hampered. Increase/Decrease accuracy, range or damage. Turn a travel power off or increase its speed and/or range. Allow people to buff themselves, and buff or debuff others. Some may choose only to affect themselves. Others may design a hero/villain that does nothing but buff and/or debuff others.
Healing by Harming: This allows the user to choose 2 targets. One target is healed by Health than is stolen from the other. I’d make this a high level power or – if you want it as a starting power – make it less effective at healing than a pure healing power, (Say 67% as effective), to compensate for the damage it is also doing.

Animations:

Flight poses would be fun; stops us all flying like the Big Blue Schoolboy.
A spray effect (using appropriate particles) would work for Superspeed. (Dust if on land. Spray if running on water. Same physics, different visuals)
I’d suggest a Fade-out/Fade-in animation for Teleportation; maybe allow player the choice of colour(s). Other animations could be post-launch add-ons.
Two animations spring to mind for Tunnelling; for players, a dive in (like diving into water, but with Earth particles flying up instead of water droplets. Again, same physics different visuals) and a leap out (like a penguin going from sea to land, but much more graceful). For zombies, and other tunnelling bots, a digging motion to tunnel slowly into the earth and - for coming out of the ground – a cracking of the surface followed by the bot slowly pulling itself out and to its feet.
For creatures coming out of the water, (like Fishmen), use a variation on the above. Have ripples appear instead of cracks. Have the fishman then go into the treading water animation, rather than climbing on top of the water only to drop back in again.
Area of Effect animations; make them spherical but have the ground hide the bottom half. That way they look hemispherical on the ground, but aren’t bizarrely hemispherical in mid-air or while treading water.

Invisibility:

Essentially a Stealth buff and Perception debuff with a see through avatar. Having it reduce speed, and break when taking/inflicting damage may be annoying, but are traditional (especially for PvP). I’d give it duration too, especially if usable on others.

Holds and Area of Effect Powers:

A Hold is a Travel debuff that has an accompanying animation effect. These can be AoE or single target. Whether Held target can use attack powers is open for much debate.
AoE can be centred on a target – or patch of floor – at range, or centred around self. Being able to centre a radius effect damaging power on a teammate, without damaging them or other teammates, would be great. Duration should be buffable, and possibly debuffable.

Falling damage:

For the sheer fun of it, I’d split this between PvP and PvE.
In PvP everyone takes falling damage. It makes knocking a speedster off a wall or deactivating Flight while your target is mid-air into a valid combat tactic.
In PvE, only the bots take falling damage. It means the player has the tactical advantage; both sides can use the same tactics, but the player benefits more.

Sidekicking & Exemplaring: A big ‘Yes’ to both!

Team Sizes:

Obviously there has to be a maximum team size, but what should it be? 4, 6, 8 or more? I’d go for something like this:
• 8 Non-Pet Users.
• 6 Non-Pet Users & 1 Pet User.
• 5 Non-Pet Users & 2 Pet Users.
• 4 Non-Pet Users & 3 Pet Users.
• 3 of each.

This is not designed to annoy Pet Users, although it undoubtedly will. It’s to cut down on lag etc. If each Pet User had 4 Pets, you’d be looking at possibly 7 Players and 12 Pets on the screen, plus enemy bots. If it was a PvP team match, you’d be looking at possibly 7 Players and 12 Pets per side.

Pets:

Shy bairns get nae cake. (Translation: Shy children get no cake. Meaning: If you don’t ask, you’ll probably never get. Yes, I can translate Geordie into English)
I’ve no doubt that Mastermind lovers will be a trifle miffed at not having their Pet User & Pets at launch. I had a necromancer in CoV. MMs are great, but they are resource heavy as I’ve no doubt the Devs will point out (if they haven’t already).
However, by cutting down on certain things, it may be possible to bring them in faster. May. I’m no programmer. If I was I’d have offered to help.
If you only allow a MM to summon pets when they have a target lock on a foe, then you prevent the issue of pets standing idly around or chasing the MM across town. If the MM is careful about target selection then this shouldn’t be too painful. Maybe.
Locking Pets onto one target, then attacking another yourself is a valid tactical choice. Having your Pets in Passive or Aggressive Mode is also a tactical choice. Removing Aggressive would force you to select their target all the time, which would be a pain but may cut down on programming time. Again, that’s a ‘may’. The enemy bots target players as part of their programming. Would the only difference with Pets be that they had to know which bots to target next? (“Zombody, stop eating the bystanders! Attack the [Insert actual target here]”)
Giving them an idle duration may also be beneficial. For example, the Pets vanish after X seconds with no valid target.
It would mean they could only sensibly be summoned just prior to combat, and would only remain X seconds after the combat ended. (If using recharge times, then be careful when planning how/when to attack multiple mobs)
If the type of pets was limited, then this would cut down on programming time too. It would also cut down on arrival/departure/attack animations. You could start with robots, zombies and wolves; with other options being added at various post-launch intervals. You could also limit them to ‘melee’ attacks only to start with. (Robot: Punch. Zombie: Claw. Wolf: Bite) Ranged attacks could come at higher levels, as post-launch add-ons or both.
As much as I’d love MMs at the start, I can’t see it happening, but ‘MM-Lite’ may speed things up.

Arch-Enemies:

While CO didn’t get this totally right, hats off for the effort & showing it can be done. You need not start the game with Arch-Enemy specific missions. You could design one – after you’ve done your own avatar – then have it introduced to the game world at a later date. Maybe it could ally itself initially to whichever Faction you upset sufficiently first; appearing as a Big Bad at the end of a Faction mission. For example:
My Hero Alt, Greywalker, has really upset the Black Rose. He foils their plans and attacks their mobs more often than any other. (Maybe I patrol their territory more, who knows) The alignment system means that they’ll start returning the favour. Maybe with a random mob attack. Maybe with a random mob attack accompanied by my Arch Enemy; Darkwalker. Maybe, if I do an instanced mission against the Black Rose, Darkwalker is the end of mission Big Bad. Not because he is a member of the Black Rose, but because the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
My Villain Alt, Obsidian Omega, has upset the TCPD. He could be on the receiving end of random arrest attempts, or maybe have a SWAT Team guest star in an instanced bank raid.
In case you’re wondering what would happen without an Arch Enemy; the end of instance Big Bad would be a bot associated with the Faction opposing you in the instance. The Arch Enemy replaces it for a bit of personal colour, that’s all.
Missions specifically against your Arch Enemy could come in at higher levels and/or as post –launch add ons. They could be added to Jailbreak attempts too; randomly, so other folks can fight with or against them if you don’t happen to be there. After all, they’re a skin and a powerset; just like any other super-bot.

Tutorials: I like them, but please don't make it compulsory.

Anyway, long lunch over. Hello long afternoon :(

Later all! :)