PaxArcana

I wouldn't go quite that far; that does smack of "if you don't do X, you're not doing it right". Which is exactly the sort of thing that appears to have been (due to a misunderstanding) at the root of Zot's side of his exchange with me.

No, it makes perfect sense. I honestly wish that for each pet summon, you got to see the pet's own powers with their calculated ENH values, as a sort of indented list below the summon power itself.

Better idea: Back before Sunset, I was part of a lite-RP supergroup whose theme was "teen superheroes": Young Paragons. The characters, not the players, but ... that's still not a shabby idea: a supergroup for younger players, and their parents/guardians/etc.

+1, and also, +1 INF. Capital idea!

As a player who DOES play redside - and whose sole pre-Sunset 50 was a villain (Robo/FF Mastermind) ...? All of those, except morality, are downsides of playing redside. But especially the low population. Blueside, I can skyrocket from 1 to 16+ in two hours of running DFB, with minimal effort to find a team. Redside, that's .... not so simple a thing. As for morality, maybe it's just me, or maybe it's that I have forty years of experience with tabletop RPGs (like Dungeons and Dragons). One of my favorites is Shadowrun - whose "good guy" player-characters are often worse than other genre's villains, and whose entire setting is horrifically grimdark, if played straight. In D&D, I have a penchant for Lawful Evil characters, and/or, actual undead. All of us have a dark side. I find games to be a safe way to let mine out to stretch it's legs and get a bit of fresh air - keeping it more docile the rest of the time. :)

And, completely aside: I have a proposal for Black Zot. I'll delete my replies to you in this thread, if you'll commit to doing the same. All of my replies directly to you. (I'll even leave that first use of "esoteric" unchallenged.) What say? Bury the hatchet, other than in each others's skulls?

Just to take a moment to clarify: until his most recent post, all he had said was "manual dexterity issues". There's a wide, wide range of possibilities in there. It wasn't until that last post that he specified just how catastrophic his limitations are. Catastrophic issues, I grok. I've got my own, in different areas of life. It was the blanket rejection of even the idea of using binds that stuck in my craw. And then, well, that's one of my issues: I have a really hard time letting go of an argument. One might say, a catastrophically hard time. Especially when the other participant(s) is/are being just as obstinate as I am, to be fair all 'round. (I am still irked by the persistent misuse of "esoteric", though.)

Yeah, the wiki means that - back when NCSoft was still running the show - paying actual cash would have unlocked it for every character. Now, especially where there's no actual cash involved .... not so much, as you've learned. :)

The only one being arrogant here is you. And I'm done with you. Begone.

I ignored nothing. You decried ESOTERIC (your word, not mine) keybinds. The ones I and others here have described hardly qualify as "esoteric". Don't try and cry poor mouth to me. You won't win that contest. 40 hours at Federal Minimum Wage would be $1,256.67/month - even with an effective 10% tax that'd be $1,131/month average. I survive on Social Security Disability payments. I live on all of $956/month. So like I said, don't try and cry poormouth at me. Meanwhile on Amazon right now, you can pick up a Logitech G600 mouse, with twelve programmable function keys under your thumb, for just under $34 ... and free shipping (not Prime, just free at all). Yes, the Razer Naga Trinity (my bad for misnaming it earlier) is a seventy-four dollar mouse. But there are plenty of cheaper options. Hell, on Amazon right now, there's several that are under fifteen bucks. For more money, that Razer Naga Trinity has an option with a ring of just 7 buttons. It'd be awfully hard to misclick those. ABSOLUTELY NO-ONE HAS FUCKING SAID ANYTHING CLOSE TO THAT. Good god damn, man. You've been trying to make binds out to be impossible to learn, calling them "esoteric", without bothering - until just now - to mention that you personally have such severe motor-control issues that typing a post on a forum is intensely difficult. And that, the idea that keybinds are "esoteric" (I'm convinced you have NFC what that word even means), that they're hard to learn at all, is all I've been arguing against. ... https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/esoteric

On Live, I liked throwing out Rain of Fire + Caltrops on the same spawn. I mean, it wasn't really that effective, but the gigantic stream of orange -1's and -2's was delightful to see. :)

Dude, if "press shift while you click with your mouse", or "press shift and Q at the same time" is esoteric (your word), then so is WASD. Oh, and also: in your post just now, you used capital S (shift+s), capital D (shift+d), and capital I (shift+i), in just the first three words. Obviously those aren't physically impossible for you to use, so I'm going to call bullshit on your whole claim. Not to mention, you just completely ignored the whole "get an MMO mouse" thing. The Tazer Naga Triad is one I'm looking at myself, or example. One of it's options is just seven extra buttons, in a ring around the thumb-contact-point.

The Arena was Issue 4 or 5. Issue 6 was City of Villains and the open PvP zones. :) ... Travel power changes were not because of PvP. They just happened to come out at the same time. Those changes were intended to stop people from doing "fly-by" attacks, eliminating all risk from combat.

"Shift-click" is hardly esoteric, Black Zot. And certainly no more difficult than pressing 1, 2, 3 for buffs, attacks, or whatever else you mgiht be doing during combat. And having a quick GOTO command is what makes an MM less annoying to team-mates on maps with close quarters ... and narrow doorways. When My hand is in WASD position, my little finger is directly over the Shift key ... making shift-click easy. The finger on the A button can easily shift up to the Q button, so shift-q is also not especially hard to learn. Alternately, get yourself a bloody MMO mouse. Bind these commands to the extra buttons on the mouse. Problem quite likely solved.

Both. No, seriously. Try both. When you create the character, skip the tutorial and go right to Atlas Park. Pick up a couple hours of +100% XP boost, and some of the Premium Enhancements (especially the one with the knockdown proc) to slot into your damaging powers. Then run DFB. You should get to 15th or 16th level within two hours, maybe within one. Then find a lower-level TF (Posi 1, Posi 2, Synapse, or Yin are all within range). That will give you a good feel for how that archetype will play. When you've done that for both .... ask yourself, which one was more FUN to play? Go with that one. :)

THIS, in so many ways. Remember that CoH was first released in 2004, and even then, it was not on the cutting edge of graphics. CoH is a game that can, and does, run on surprisingly low-end machines. I would not at all be surprised to find that modern integrated graphics chipsets could handle CoH on Low or possibly even Medium settings.

/subscribing ...

^^^^ Also, this. Seriously, make all three. Each one, grab 2 hours of +100% XP, and run DFB until you're 15+, then go play normally: a little solo'ing, maybe a few radio missions, possibly even a TF (Posi, Synapes, Yin are all options for a 15-20 character). That should give you a decent feel for which one you like best, with maybe 90 minutes or so spent on each. :)

Yeah. I get in a group for a TF, or even DFB, and I look at everyone's archetype and powersets. Not to find someone useless, but to note the team's STRENGTHS. Was on one last night or this morning - three controllers, a dominator, two tanks, and a corruptor. My comment to the team? "Three 'trollers and a dom, this's going to be Lockdown City .... fun!" Another DFB, four defenders a couple sentinels a brute and a controller. "Holy heck, four defs, thassa lotta buffs and debuffs!" And so on. :)

Is overcomplicating things by a huge amount. You know what binds I use most often on my MMs? SHIFT+RBUTTON "petcom_all Goto" SHIFT+Q "petcom_all Defensive Follow" CTROL+Q "petcom_all dismiss" ... and the actual button macros the game provides me. The most useful of those is the Shift-and-right-click. I have to left-click to confirm placement, but, it's a LOT faster than moving my mouse to the GOTO macro, clicking it, then moving the target circle to the desired location and clicking again. EDIT TO ADD: a shift-and-left click scheme would be even quicker ... but I tend to reserve that for Teleport. I can pop clear across a zone, going up to the 10th or 15th story for height, without taking Hover, using that keybind. :) Control+Q gets a lot of use too, 'cause I don't want to drag my pets through half the zone on my way to the next mission. And the Shift+Q, is just a quick "panic-shift-to-Bodyguard-NOW" control. ... Mind, I have set up far more, and occasionally use it. But I find that just a few, key binds (pun not intended) makes for a much easier, smoother experience managing those pets.

This.

Sentinel will be better overall for Solo, because your secondary will be a defense set. Blaster will have higher DPS than a Corruptor, and longer range than a Sentinel. Corruptors will have stronger buffs/debuffs, especially from their Support secondary powerset. ... For myself, I'd say Sentinel for solo, and Corruptor for teaming.

... really?!? :o I ... I will have to check that out, next time I log in ... :o

The problem, IMO, is that they are too attractive a target for those attacks. On my Robo/FF mastermind, when I've stayed well behind my pets, and the VetPet was behind ME, when I ordered the robots to open up on a spawn? I've watched two of the three NPCs run past the pets, run past me, and beeline right for that VetPet. While being attacked by my robots, and even ForceBolt'ed by myself. The bloody thing has a better taunt than a level 50 Tank ...!!

And on the rebound, let me point out to you that those of us opening up here? We're not just introverted, or lacking in self confidence. Like I said upthread, I get literal panic attacks just having to call someone I don't know, or answer the phone when someone I don't know is calling. (Thank the gods for Caller ID.) Intellectually, yes: I know that assembling a team, even a TF, a SF, or Trial, is mind-numbingly simple. Even if you start at the "I am a team of one, I need 7 more" recruiting stage. I also know that actually running a team for any of those is also mind-numbingly simple. None of that matters. My emotions still start yammering "FEAR! TERROR! FEAR!" at the very idea of doing those things. It's a phobia reaction. It's not rational, so it can't be quieted with logic. The best it can be is muzzled, kicked hard a few times, then thrown down the basement steps. Which I can do, to JOIN a team someone else is assembling. Because I can put all my energy into keeping that basement door shut tight ... and not try to do that, AND assemble or lead a team. With people I already know, it's easier - but even then, it's not simple and I'd still rather pass the baton off to someone else.