biostem

So we should give everything away for free, yes? Instant level 50s and IOs, right? Maybe we should just let players pick whatever powers they want totally freeform, irrespective of AT. There are obviously some things you support in the name of balance, yet you have a blind spot with regard to hasten...

Who asked for it to be "at the top of the list"? Or, you are so in love with hasten and being OP that you cannot look at things in a wide and objective sense.

Wait? Are the devs unable to address multiple aspects of the game? Are they unable to do both? Where's your brain gone?

Which is irrelevant because CoH:HC is no longer for-profit.

You're also assuming that they *didn't* just go with the notion that people like power creep, and so just rolled with it, either. Since neither of us can demonstrate the devs' actual intent, perhaps it's irrelevant. CoH:HC is no longer for-profit, so things that improve the overall health of the game should trump those that make a tiny fraction of the game's builds better.

Sometimes the medicine is bitter, but helps in the long run.

Right back at ya, buddy! This is a DISCUSSION about what can/should/ought/or not, be done, with said game...

The entire game? No. I wouldn't even say certain aspects of the game. Contrary to popular belief, "balancing" != "redesigning".

Possibly - Maybe they should be looked into, but that's not what we're talking about right now. For the record, I *do* feel that all the set bonuses from inventions are too OP, due to how they can be stacked.

It may not benefit *you* at all, but IMHO, it would benefit the game as a whole. Certainly it would be a blow to those top-end players that maximize as many aspects of their character as possible - I'd never deny that.

So let's say you have ~ 3 recharge reduction SOs/generic IOs in a power. Hasten grants roughly 2 SOs of further recharge reduction. This total bonus is not impacted like as if you tried slotting 5 recharge redux in that power - that's what I meant. As for Incarnate abilities - that's a whole 'nother can of worms...

Well, there's no reason characteristics of the game can't be reexamined. Nothing is set in stone, afterall...

The diminishing returns from ED, for one thing.

Imagine if there was a power that globally increased the magnitude of all mez effects. Would you be fore it or against it? Most powers have a cooldown time. Some don't allow you to, within that power, reduce that recharge. Some also don't benefit from global recharge buffs, but those are much fewer in number. Can you not see how being able to work around these kinds of restrictions is terribly unbalancing? Maybe we shouldn't be able to have things like perma-dom or T9s. Maybe if we didn't have these kinds of work-arounds things that actually need attention would get it. I also get a good chuckle when some people equate "doesn't agree with me" to trolling. Unless you can actually demonstrate that is the case, then you are just someone who can't argue your position, and resorts to name-calling.

Hasten "breaks the game" insofar as it essentially allows you to bypass restrictions that were put in place and allow you to not have to worry about taking or slotting other powers. Why bother taking non-mandatory lower-tier powers when you can just take hasten and use higher tier ones? How would you react to them saying that a whole slew of powers would no longer benefit from global recharge bonuses? You could still slot the power directly for recharge, but it wouldn't benefit from hasten and all those other global recharge buffs? Meta-powers are insanely powerful, and should be granted very sparingly and with great consideration for their impact on all other aspects of the game.

Mmm. Nothing like a little ad hominem to get a conversation going right.

Nice shifting of the goalposts.

No. You have to be persistent and able to memorize and regurgitate. Would you really want to be operated on by a doctor who got a C or C- in medschool? No, the difference is that hasten is a great power, full stop. Maneuvers is a good power under specific circumstances. Quite different.

Correct; The reasons I gave make them bad at it.

Teams. TEAMS. So if 8 people take it AND they slot it, then it's really good. Not the same.

Except that it's not just about "attacking as fast as possible" - it's about using your best powers as often as possible, in lieu of having to create/manage a more realistic attack chain.

Having a degree in something doesn't make you good at it - it just means you managed to retain and regurgitate the requisite information. You seem hyper focused on this idea that "if it doesn't affect you personally, then it's not a problem", and that's simply a myopic approach to take. As for your fire blaster example - they trade more damage for other potentially useful effects in their powers. You deflect deflect deflect, but can't seem to grasp how a meta-power with such a huge benefit can be a problem.

Which, as your post pointed out, is only the case in very specific cases; Hasten is *always* a benefit to have, and provides a much greater buff than the 3-6% or so defense maneuvers grats. Hasten is great solo, hasten is great on teams, hasten is great full stop.

Which has a constant end cost and provides a much smaller bonus.

The question becomes whether things like perma-dom/perma-lightform/etc should, from a gameplay perspective, even be a thing. Frankly, does anybody really care about swift, hurdle, health being made inherent? It's really just stamina that everyone wanted. I'd have preferred removing the power and just adjusting the global end recovery rate. Similarly, maybe overall recharge times on powers should be examined/adjusted and hasten should be removed.