Greycat

Flip side of this is that they can be a good way to just indicate disagreement without wanting to get into an argument, which is how I'll often use them. Of course, I'm well aware of, and have been the recipient of, what just looks like snipey, "oh yeah well here's one for you then!" - but, eh, if someone's trying to annoy me with that, they're barking up the wrong tree, wrong forest, wrong continent.

Not sure the soul extraction change was *needed,* but it's very much *appreciated.* 🙂 Have to get used to using it like gang war and waiting for the minions to be in combat, I think. About the only thing I'm kind of going back and forth on is if the spectre that gets summoned should be at the target's location instead of where I am or not. Mostly because there are times enough it'll just hang back with me. I'm not really set one way or the other on it, though. I wouldn't mind it using a different model, though, since ... COT. Maybe the old Soul Extraction sprite?

Why would NewGuy100 on my account, fresh and shiny and looking up the stairs in Atlas, have any progress on any of that just because GrizzledVet2 does? No, progress badges should remain per character. Since we're no longer on live, I do think the anniversary badges would make sense finally, though. Since you can *buy* them, they've lost any linkage to actual game time.

As a side note, this is the content I *love* doing. I don't care if "teams mercilessly plowed through it" already. Early content zips by no matter what. But the 20s-mid 30s? I love doing this content. So, yes, I'm greatly concerned about how this is going to affect the TFs *and* my solo experience - so if all you're thinking of (generic you) is "Team of 8 blows through level 20-30 in one hour" or "TFs only," that's nowhere near the whole picture. Edit: Hell, this is giving me flashbacks to live and Incarnates. "We have trials, why would you want solo/small team content?" Because I didn't want to and didn't enjoy grinding through trials. Had to make *that* argument a few thousand times it felt like, and being told that basically doesn't matter was what got me to leave the game for the first time since I3 for several months.

1. That is not an "emotional tirade," and if that's your definition of rude, there's nothing I can do for you. 2. Inappropriateness - read it again. It's been explained plainly several times throughout the thread, at least. Most of the other stuff you're throwing out are, frankly, strawmen. Temporary powers can't be enhanced and (depending on the power) run out, for instance. Non issue. Incarnate powers have been a subject of discussion for quite some time, but they're not going to change at this point. If you don't understand how getting some of these powers - *Not Just Nukes* - this much earlier will change things? You need to examine the powers and look at the content they'll now be available in and the mobs they'll be facing.

There's also "thoughtful adjustment" versus "Sledgehammer it in." We have both on beta right now. Pointing out the issues is not being a "dogmatic adherent" to "stagnation." We have people here who have been playing the game since launch or near launch. We're *well* aware of change. Our interest generally isn't "keep the game the way it was." (Yes, I said generally. I know there are some who just want it as it was at shutdown.) We *like* seeing change. But we'll tend to like it in the sense of "Well, we can put a nice fireplace over here" versus "START A BONFIRE IN THE KITCHEN IT'LL BE FINE!"

Um... no. Completely not the point. (And it's certainly not just "nukes," anyone focusing on that is missing the point even worse.) Those powers are *appropriate for the levels they're received at and the enemies they face later in the game.* They are OVERpowered for getting earlier. They are inappropriate for the earlier content. This is - say, playing Harebrained's Battletech and being given Warhammers and Atlases (100 ton assault mechs with much greater range and punch, for those wondering) on the second mission while you're still facing 'mechs 1/3 their size. Those would be appropriate *much* later with harder content. What do you think the result of that being the norm would be? Do you think that'll help retain players? It's certainly not solving any issue with the game itself - while some individual power sets might benefit from a power-availability-level reshuffle, making *everything* available by 30 - just, no. It's not the powers themselves. It's not nukes, it's not T9 armors, it's not top-tier buffs or debuffs, it's not controller pets, it's not MM top-tier upgrades being available. It's their *inappropriateness* for the content that they'd now be available to play through, content that's not *designed* for that level of power.

There's not technical issues, other than the result of what the author feels they've been driven to (or away from.) And this topic, oh GM, shouldn't have been unpinned. People are going to look to find out what's going on.

Given Troo mentioned "looks like you chased him off" (apparently directed at the devs) regarding PK in the force field feedback thread... yeah.

And Dominators have an entire secondary filled with attacks, melee and ranged. They don't need confuse suddenly changed to be that much faster for Dominators. It works fine with the *exact same animation* for Mind.

I've got to second the "They're dealing with trauma" idea, frankly. They've been burned by those mentioned groups (which, BTW, isn't "redsiders" unless someone's named their group Redsiders,) and so they're gunshy when somone who was associated with them comes up to join. (Noting I have no idea who anyone involved is, and don't care.) If you want to show you're *not* the person they think you are, and you think it's worth approaching them again? Get to know the *individuals.* RP with them. Just play with them. OK, it probably won't be as part of SG night or an SG event. Respect that. But give it time to show you're not what burned them. Don't do it as a goal or an ulterior motive. Just be a decent person and treat them decently, like you'd want to be treated. In the meantime? *shrug* Build your alt-SG base, stick your alts in it 'til they find their own homes. For the most part, I'm not in "groups," I'm in social circles and intercharacter relationships, with some of my alts grouped into similar origins or whatnot coalitioned (generally informally) with other groups. You can, after all, be friends, go out for coffee, game nights and movies without marrying into the family, so to speak.

Well, there's restoring and there's restoring... or, rather, restoring and reverting. Sounds like you're against reverting, which - yeah, I can get. "WHAM" ooh, it's back now is a bit jarring. Restoring, a la Faultline (though that was a little sudden) - I've been suggesting stuff like that for, say, boomtown since live. Something that literally builds it back into the game. Lot more work, though.

Except you: - Can't start there. - Have no contacts there. - Can't run missions there. - Can't even train there. So... "You can see the echo zone in Ouro" is missing the point of this.

Because they all need to be run in 5 minutes or less? Do we really need *more* speed runs on yet more content? Also, as general feedback - quite frankly, even as a longtime player who's well aware of power pool availability and the like, while making other characters to test other things, this... let's call it "compressed availability tree" of powers has felt rather like being told "NO! LOOK HERE, YOU MUST TAKE THESE POWERS NAO!" The lack of breaks in that leveling progression feels to me like it's going to dissuade people from looking at pools and diversifying builds earlier on. (No, not everyone uses MIDS and pre-plans every half-second of their character's life.) I don't see that as a positive. I really don't like the direction this is pointing. Edit: I should also add the point I made elsewhere. Our legacy content - IE, *most of the game* - was built with the expectation of certain power availability at certain levels. Yes, the +5 from exemping breaks it a little. But this runs over it even more, frankly. Are we going to see low level mobs "boosted" in difficulty, damage, HP, resists, etc? Or is there just going to be no reason to do more than PL past the old, "might as well all be grey to me" content? Should we drop XP for defeats thanks to the much lesser challenge? Example: I *like* the content in the 20s-mid 30s. Running Keith Nance, Jenny Adair, Croatoa - they all have challenges that feel fully appropriate to the level I'm at. I don't tend to ouro back so I'm at max-level-plus-five-powers-and-slots to them because it eases that challenge too much. With this change? I'll be running (say) the "Prevent FIr Bolg from escaping" mission with all my T9s available to me. I've been able to keep this at 0 escapes for some time, and felt like that was a (minor, granted) accomplishment because of what I've had to work with. With these? It would be far less satisfying. Might as well be a 50 punting Hellions in Atlas.

Except those first few levels, even without XP boosters and the like, *fly* by, and the enemies you face aren't exactly giant bags of HP. Besides, what would you do in their place? "Earn" nothing? Put the other power picks even earlier still? Should we be firing off nukes at 20? (Level picked randomly.) And, as a general feedback note: As I've been trying out other power sets and such... yes, this *has* felt very off. It feels like I'm being told YOU MUST PICK THESE POWERS NOW! versus "Hey... there's a break in the order now. How about looking into a pool power, or maybe catching something you wanted but skipped earlier?" They're highlighted in a way that just doesn't give a break that encourages exploring. Not everyone uses MIDS and plans down to the last picosecond every hundredth of a percent of everything in advance. I feel like this change is going to impact the "I just want to hop on and play" player's experience, frankly. Hell, I've played since I3 and this is impacting my experience.

... why? It's a confuse animation. It's the same confuse animation Controllers have for Deceive. It's a ranged control, not a melee attack.

Yes, because they don't need it and I, for one, don't think it's good for the game. The content was designed with certain levels and power availability in mind. Overpowering that makes the content trivial - which people are already bothered about on the high end - which doesn't lead to maintaining interest.

And my care about it is that it *is* here and I want it to be the best it can be, even if it does disappear tomorrow. If on (say) February 1st 2023 we get shut down, I want to say "It had another good run, felt good and I believed it was in good hands" rather than "Well, probably better it got canned now before it kept going the way it was." I've put in my reasons and an example of previous content that was affected by powers availability being earlier (and not, IMHO, in a good way) in the specific thread, if that hasn't been hidden. I don't think we need more of it. There's nothing about this game hard enough, 1-50, that moving power availability earlier solves. I do not believe it's good for the game, period. But, as I've also said, by the time it's at this stage, I have zero faith that feedback's going to do anything at all, short of having some gamebreaking bug (similar to when we initially got five powers in pools and it screwed up Kheldians and Dominators 'til they could fix it - but those were the days on live.)

Wouldn't argue with it (I liked starting in Galaxy when it was an option,) but ... probably more work than you think.

... the one where people could take invulnerability and flight, and be an invulnerable flyer with no attacks? ;)

About the only quibble I have is not *really* liking the name Vulnerability. I kind of miss the choice of buff or debuff on the T1 or T2, but not enough to really argue (yet.)

Some people actually *play* lower level content. I find myself preferring low to mid level content because I'm not going to be in the middle of "Cap this, Judgement that, Perma the other thing." This *is* pretty much literal power creep. And the game doesn't need it, quite frankly. There's no glut of oh-so-difficult low/mid range content or any problem this solves. Though, it's going in to the game anyway. I have absolutely zero faith that this is not going live no matter what's said. Didn't run into any bugs creating a character to test other things, so...

I'll second this. I tend to be a proponent of knockback. I think it's underrated, and mostly has a bad rep by people not bothering to learn how to use it (or not thinking before they do.) The one place I *will* put KB-KD IOs (well, two, bonfire's just insanely good with this) are pets, because the AI proves it's far more A than I and obviously *doesn't* use knockback well. I'd be fine with *every* pet that does KB having it dropped down to KD - not *player* powers, just pets.

Personally, I've always *appreciated* those gaps, I have to say. Usually because there's been something else picked up (say, a travel power) and those levels have let me "catch up" if I needed on the primary and secondary. Or it's let me finally have a place to grab a pool if I've felt like I've had so many required picks up to those points. This just ... kind of feels like "yay, people can min/max more easily now because that was so difficult before...oh, wait..." (Yes, I'm one of those who finds shoving power availability down to be *even earlier* frankly guts some content. We've *already* had this happen on live once. When we had the auto-exemp giving +5 levels of power? Took some of the fun out of Siren's Call, for instance, and made Bloody Bay have an even bigger level/power disparity. So... yeah, generally not... actually all that thrilled about this.)

Really not fond of the Force Bubble / Repulsion Field changes. I use Force Bubble to reposition things. I use it: 1. To affect things that are not affected by knockback, such as bosses, which often can be repelled just fine. 2. To reposition bad AOE immobs/holds. These *also* do not tend to resist a repel. You can gather things up again. You can move them onto burn patches, tar patches, ice patches, etc. 3. In places I do *not* want to do knockback. 4. In places I want a continuous effect (repel,) not a pulsed one (KB/KD.) 5. I use the *size* of Force Bubble to keep various dangerous things at a farther range, out of the (usually) more dangerous (to me) melee range. Now, I have: - A shorter range field, which - Also does knockback, which I may not want in various situations (and note, I'm a proponent of using KB, because I know and want to show others *how to use it responsibly and as a benefit to the team,*) and which - if I slot for KB->KD because of that, loses that very handy repel. And yes, the 10 second recharge on force bolt is *far* too long.