Team Abilities
The issue here is simple: we need more! By adding more true Team Abilities, we wouldn’t have a need for Alternate Team Ability Feats, and no need for Keywords. The Morlocks TA disappeared from the Powers/Ability Card because the designers didn’t want the game to get too complicated. That’s funny since Feats, BFCs, and Special Powers have already made the game too complicated. If anything, TAs are probably the simplest game mechanic out there, so why don’t we have more of them? This is a game about comic book super heroes (and villains), and many players are avid comic book readers. By adding more Team Abilities, it will make the core players happier, which translates into more sales. There’s no reason why we can’t have a Sinestro Corps TA, even if it does something simple like grant the Incapacitate power. Where’s my Guardian of the Galaxy TA? Where’s my Doom Patrol TA? Where’s my West Coast Avengers? You’re going to give me a Defenders TA, but no true Thunderbolts TA? Really?

Feats
Feats are a great idea that is poorly implemented. The fact is that Feats are a great way to make low point figures more competitive (which is a good thing), but too often they are placed on high powered figures to make them too powerful. The 25-point Fortitude feat (character is immune to outwit and exploit weakness) is great on the Armor Wars Spider-Man (72 pts), but it’s just totally unfair when it’s applied to someone like V Icons Superman (251 pts)… or God forbid the DC Crisis Superman chase (317 pts).

Think about the numbers: by applying Fortitude, the AW Spider-man figure takes a 35% total cost increase; V Icons Superman takes a 10% increase in cost; and DC Crisis Superman takes a measly 6.7% cost increase… yet that one feat is much more potent on the bigger figures.

On that note, I think the 10% rule was a stupid way to fix a broken mechanic. I own 4 copies of Fortitude (25 pts), and you’re telling me I can only use one of them in a 400 point game? P-shaw.

To fix Feats, there should be a different cost mechanic to them. One solution is to limit the prerequisite to low point figures; For example, Fortitude could have the following prerequisite: “Choose a character under 151 points”. This would certainly curb its use on uber figures. The problem is that your high point figures won’t have access to some really fun feats.

A better solution is to simply make the cost scale up! For example: “Fortitude costs [20] points. For each 50 points of chosen character's point value, this feat costs an additional [5] points.”

Want to put Fortitude on a figure that’s 72 points? It’ll cost you [25] to apply the feat. How about a 120 point figure? That’s [30]. Now if you want to stick Fortitude on that 317 point Superman, it’ll cost you a total of [50] points. That’s way more appropriate than the measly 25 points that the feat costs now.

So there you go.