Jagged

Daredevil cancelled by Netflix.  Cost and increasing difficulty working with Disney cited.  Jessica Jones and Punisher wrapped recently on their next seasons, but it's a safe bet that's it for Marvel on NF.  Too bad.  
 

Movies like Ant Man actually appeal to me more than their big ticket items: its small, fun, and just like the comics.  I'm not burnt out on superhero films, I'm burnt out on the big event like I got quickly burnt out in comics.  Tell a good story, don't feel compelled to make it something else. Crossovers get annoying swiftly.

I think this might be setting up Disney's channel, start up new series on there.  Which would be unfortunate because I won't be getting Disney's channel

I just hope they get Doom right. Victor Von Doom is Marvel's greatest villain, maybe even greatest character,  and I want to see him done at least as well as Magneto. And that means being played by a top notch actor, not some loser like Julian McMahon.

Doom is a ruler, a scientist, and a sorceror.

If they do another FF movie, it should act as if the others never happened.  And cut it out with these Ultimates reimaginings of the story.  Its so easy to do: Reed Richards as an inventor chasing the prize for first manned independent space flight flies into unknown cosmic event (cosmic rays obviously won't cut it these days -- but what if its some sort of radiation from the Silver Surfer as he makes a first pass on earth?  Or some sort of Infinity Stones byproduct?  Maybe energy from Ego's destruction that reached earth just as they make a flight?).  The story pretty well writes its self.  And then you do the Mole Man story because I don't trust anyone to do Dr Doom right yet.

Airlifting a C5A full of Budweiser to Reykjavik would probably be taken as a further hostile act, too.

I'm actively opposed to things like this.  I think it's a horrible value and I won't go for any of these single-provider streaming services.  I'm actively rooting for them to all fail.
 
The way I see it, I already have most of what this service would offer.  I have Netflix and Amazon Prime, and each of those services offers me hundreds (maybe thousands) of different movies and TV shows.  I can almost always find something I'd like to watch.  If this DC Universe thing doesn't exist, then I can watch most of what they're offering on either Netflix or Prime.  I can do that already.  So what are they offering that is new that I can't watch right now without paying for their service?
 
I know they're planning on removing their shows and movies from these other streaming services, but that just means they're taking away value from me that I've already got, to try to promote their own service.  I don't like that, and so I won't support it.  Even if it wasn't a bad value, I wouldn't support it because I don't want to encourage other companies to do the same thing.  It's part of why I won't get CBS All Access -- I'm not going to be goaded into getting it just for a show they'd have put on Netflix otherwise.
 
And finally, I just don't think they've got enough content for me to want to pay just for their stuff.  It's not a very good deal.  I don't even think Disney's service is going to be worth it to me.  They don't have enough stuff for me to want to see each and every month.  When it's October and I want to see scary movies, what Disney films will I watch?  You can only watch the Legend of Sleepy Hollow cartoon so many times.  I think these specialty services have very limited appeal, and a very limited library.

I didn't pick up on this comment until much more recently. Would Champions: The New Millennium, that came out in the 1990s in that short partnership between Hero Games and R. Talsorian Games count as a "rules-light" version of Champions? I remember briefly owning it and from my playing experience, the rules were simplified to make the Hero System to fit the Fuzion Games system for character creation, powers, and so on. I also remember reading about confusion in various fan forums on whether or not Champions: The New Millennium was its Fifth Edition or not (it wasn't, as Fifth Edition came out a few years later).
 
I share the same disappointment in that the development of a rules-light version Champions wasn't even discussed for consideration. In general, when I'm introducing the superhero RPG to brand-new players, my go-to system has been Icons: The Assembled Edition as a result. Although I occasionally get brand-new players when I run Champions at game conventions, the majority of the participants have been players who, "played it for several years then stopped after <insert edition number here>" and wanted to play for the nostalgia.
 
"HERO seeming outdated and falling behind the times"... I thought that I was alone in that sentiment when I compare Champions to Mutants and Masterminds, Icons, or even the Super Powers Companion for Savage Worlds. Guess not...

4th edition with a few bits cribbed from 5th.

Jagged,
 
I think you hit the nail on the head.  It would be great if the drawing and AoE Templates could be set to Hexes instead of the default Squares. Other than that I love MapTool and have been using it to run Hero for years. 
 
One other thing that would really help is an updated and accurate Hero System Framework.  Nolgroth posted one way back and had been updating it but it looks like he's given up maintaining it now.
 
I personally use a mix of an earlier framework with some custom macros of my own design.  Nothing too fancy.  I personally don't try to do everything for the players.  Just enough to help the game along.
 
I will think about it some more and post again if I come up with anything else.
 
Deadman

I am a contributor to the Maptool project.  If you are unfamiliar with Maptool its a open source, totally free virtual table top (VTT) application. Its is probably the longest running VTT project, has more functionality than any other and is still growing. What it is definitely NOT is the nicest looking or easiest to use ? We like to refer to it as the Millennium Falcon of VTTs as it might not look like much but she's got it where it counts kid.
 
Anyway, I am hoping to run a hero system campaign in the not to distant future and am in the process of trying to improve some of the hex based features (such as drawing tools and area effect templates) but was wondering if there are any missing killer features that would make running a hero system game that much easier?
 
Have you ever thought, "It would be so much easier to play hero system if I could just ..." ?  If you have I would love to hear what it is and maybe I can do something about it. No promises mind ?
 
Jagged
 

I can live with pouches.
 
Venom on the other hand is one of the most revolting characters ever created!
 
Hard to believe something so disgusting was created by David Michelinie. Still I suppose anyone can have an off day.
 
Was probably McFarlane's idea anyway. 

MF clearly deserved shooting

MF clearly deserved shooting

MF clearly deserved shooting

Doesn't everyone?

I had no problem with Thanos's motivation in this movie. He's the Mad Titan. Not "the Misguided Titan," not "the Disputable Titan." He expects gratitude for genocide. He confuses torture for parental love. He claims compassion but revels in brutality and destruction. He's a psychopath, and clearly delusional. That's why he has to be stopped. If his plan made sense there'd be some debate as to whether or not he should be stopped. But his delusion is no more profound than what many real people live with.
 
Now, planning to wipe out the entire universe as a gift to win the love of the personification of Death... that's a whole other order of magnitude of mad.

Speaking of previews, did anyone else get an Incredibles 2 preview before IW?  Want.

I think 10/10 is justified. For this type of movie it's about as close to perfect as you are likely to get. Personally I never liked these "cosmic" team ups in the comics and up until now have not enjoyed the film equivalent. This one, unusually, managed to deliver on the hype. 
 
Given the huge number of characters they can't all get backstory but what we get is quality. They do well taking Thanos beyond the pantomime. The scenes with Gamora and the flashback to his home world combined with the decision to drop the "courting Death" idea produce a villain that is at least an understandable psychopath! 
 
On the acting side my MVP Award goes to Chris Hemsworth. His scenes with Rocket were excellent. Not many actors could deliver the jokes while retaining the underlying sadness. Awesome. 
 
And lastly I don't usually seen movies on their opening weekend but I was glad I went early to avoid the inevitable spoliers that will come. Marvel managed to surprise me and it's rare that a movie does that. And if I had made bets on which characters lived and died I would have lost all my money! Black Panther and Spiderman? No way could they be in any danger. 

I think 10/10 is justified. For this type of movie it's about as close to perfect as you are likely to get. Personally I never liked these "cosmic" team ups in the comics and up until now have not enjoyed the film equivalent. This one, unusually, managed to deliver on the hype. 
 
Given the huge number of characters they can't all get backstory but what we get is quality. They do well taking Thanos beyond the pantomime. The scenes with Gamora and the flashback to his home world combined with the decision to drop the "courting Death" idea produce a villain that is at least an understandable psychopath! 
 
On the acting side my MVP Award goes to Chris Hemsworth. His scenes with Rocket were excellent. Not many actors could deliver the jokes while retaining the underlying sadness. Awesome. 
 
And lastly I don't usually seen movies on their opening weekend but I was glad I went early to avoid the inevitable spoliers that will come. Marvel managed to surprise me and it's rare that a movie does that. And if I had made bets on which characters lived and died I would have lost all my money! Black Panther and Spiderman? No way could they be in any danger. 

I think 10/10 is justified. For this type of movie it's about as close to perfect as you are likely to get. Personally I never liked these "cosmic" team ups in the comics and up until now have not enjoyed the film equivalent. This one, unusually, managed to deliver on the hype. 
 
Given the huge number of characters they can't all get backstory but what we get is quality. They do well taking Thanos beyond the pantomime. The scenes with Gamora and the flashback to his home world combined with the decision to drop the "courting Death" idea produce a villain that is at least an understandable psychopath! 
 
On the acting side my MVP Award goes to Chris Hemsworth. His scenes with Rocket were excellent. Not many actors could deliver the jokes while retaining the underlying sadness. Awesome. 
 
And lastly I don't usually seen movies on their opening weekend but I was glad I went early to avoid the inevitable spoliers that will come. Marvel managed to surprise me and it's rare that a movie does that. And if I had made bets on which characters lived and died I would have lost all my money! Black Panther and Spiderman? No way could they be in any danger. 

Ballsy ending.  A big creative risk, but hopefully pays off in the next one.

I think that list needs 100% more Wilson Fisk and 200% more Kilgrave.