Rudra

All the original content from the original Mercy Island is maintained in current Mercy Island, just re-organized for where the contacts are and where some of the missions take you. Mechanically, the order of progression through the zone is re-arranged, which is what most of the complaints are, and a phase shifting area was added. Other than that, it adds a few new arcs.

I've never seen it work when I had pets in Defensive GoTo, but that doesn't make that post wrong. Just means I enjoy another bug.

Incorrect. Bodyguard Mode is Defensive Follow. I've heard that there is another option still using Defensive, but the only time I've seen Bodyguard Mode work is in Defensive Follow.

That would require a lot more work than just adding an option that lets players select their pets' default state. The option is both easier and doesn't step on any players' current play style. What I feel strongly about is your insistence that everyone have the Stay command be their MM pets' default state instead of a selectable option. What I feel strongly about is that you insist others adapt to how you want to play. That is what I feel strongly about. that's not a use-case, that's a description of the functionality. But like I said before, your needs are valid and right now it feels like one of your needs is that the way you interface with the game remains stable. I can understand that, I respect it, and honestly this is one of the best places for a person with needs such as yours. This very much is a use case. If I am on a team and if I want to stay with the team so my buffs stay on them and I can heal them when they get hurt, I need to be able to move with the team. So if I need replacement pets, I summon them as I go and let them catch up to me. They can be upgraded during the next fight. If they are changed to Stay instead of Follow, then not only do I have to summon my replacement pets, now I also have to command them to get moving and follow me. Something I do not currently have to do. That is very much a use case. Or how is one? I'm running from a fight that has overwhelmed me. Without my pets, my MM is very squishy. So I'm running away and pausing long enough to trigger one of my summon powers so I have pets to shield my health. Something they won't do in Stay. Because they are almost immediately out of my Supremacy range as I flee the enemies. Worse? They could have survived if they had stayed following me. Now instead odds are they get wiped out because they are just standing there. There are a variety of times and reasons why a MM player may want to summon on the move. And when you do, you want those pets following you. Even if only to shield your health. I definitely did imagine the possibility that a new player might play the game, and in fact I show this game to everyone who will listen. I believe that the proposed functionality would be beneficial to them because it would allow them to play Mastermind more like a strategy game, which is the background that most of the players I bring have. And if the player is not someone that you introduced to the game and decides to play a MM? Why should they expect their pet(s) to not automatically follow them when with every other AT their pets automatically follow them and in every other game with player summoned pets they also automatically follow the player character? Look, this is going to sound angry and/or mean, but I'm thinking it is necessary at this point. If your response is going to insist that all MM pets default to Stay rather than Follow, then my response is going to change from that is a good option to let players set, to learn how to control your pets. Does that sound like a nice thing for me to say to you? Oh, you just need to learn how to correctly control your pets and they will do exactly what you want them. Sounds nice, right? No? Well, your insistence that MM pets all get set to a default Stay command instead of a default Follow command instead of just asking for an option for the player to set their preferred MM pet summon state is basically the same thing, just reversed.

This is the 3rd thread for this on the current page. Edit: Oh, nevermind. You had the default portal being complained about and a Communications Officer portal too. My mistake.

Zero at level 1. No, it was 5 at level 1. I typically grabbed all my early explores at level 1 and they always awarded 5 xp unless I had xp turned off.

Well, that would definitely make it easier for me to get the Signature Heroes/Villains badges, so I guess no complaints here....

Yeah, the regular turrets are level 54 bosses. However, the turrets on captured pillboxes are not all level 50 bosses. Only 2 of them are. The other 2 are level 50 lieutenants. (Or minions? It's been a while.) If the captured pillboxes got their four turrets as all level 54 EBs, then at least some of the signature characters are probably going to die when they attack the pillbox to take it away. Edit: Just did a re-read of the start of the quoted post. I'm not following. Are you saying you want the way the pillboxes work to spawn a signature character to help defend it?

The regular turrets are level 54 bosses. If the captured pillbox turrets are all level 54 EBs, they will probably eat the signature characters sent to retake the pillbox as a challenge for the players.

The game doesn't differentiate between teams and solo players when it comes to just randomly clicking the wrong door. So like @lemming said, that could really hurt a team. Edit: Hells, it can hurt a solo player too. I can't recall the number of times I clicked the wrong door for a mission because the marker was between 4 doors on a building but only 2 apply for the mission. Especially on a timed mission. You click the wrong door and instead of a "You cannot enter.", you actually enter, rush through the mission clearing things, finish the mission and exit, and then find out that you entered the wrong mission and are about out of time on your timed mission. (Edit again: There have been many instances during the Halloween event where I'm rushing to a mission, click the door, and mobs pour out to attack me instead of me entering the mission because it was the wrong door.) And then how would the game differentiate between single AE missions and full AE arcs?

It was 5 at level 1. I believe it was 10 at level 2.

I explained this to you on the other thread where you mentioned it. You found a zone event. Specifically, you found the Syndicate zone event in Imperial City. Zone events are not limited by side. If you can get there, you can do them. The Syndicate were actually leaving a specific building to defend it, and then moving to fight you because you were there. If you pay attention to the Syndicate at the event, it is pretty clear what building they are coming out of. When the first phase of the zone event is completed, you enter that building and fight your way up to the top. In Nova Praetoria, the zone event shows some seers and civilians. You initiate that event by either attacking the seers or the civilians. Then you follow the instructions of the event to progress it. In Neutropolis, you find a zone event where ghouls and PPD are fighting. You initiate that zone even by either attacking the PPD or the ghouls. Then you enter the building they are fighting at to progress the event. In St. Martial, the zone event is near the Golden Giza. You fight the Longbow gathered around the building. When you clear them out, you enter the building they were surrounding and fight the Family. Then you fight Longbow again outside to finish.

Like I said, if you want the devs to add an option that lets you configure the default state for your pets, I'm fine with it. If you keep insisting that everyone has to have their pets default to stay, then I most definitely oppose your suggestion. Just because you would like to run your MMs differently does not mean you get to impose that on other players. What is the use case for preserving the current style? When I summon my pets, I can do so on the move and not have to spend extra effort setting them to follow. If you get them changed to default stay, then you are adding extra steps to my play style in the name of your play style. So, option for setting pet default state to stay? Good. You get what you want without imposing it on others. Changing the default state for everyone to stay? Bad. You do not get to dictate how other players approach their MMs. (Edit: For that matter, can you imagine how this would affect someone new to MMs? They summon their pet, run off into combat, die, and wonder why their pet didn't move down the hall to help them fight. The expectation would be that if a pet is summoned, it will follow and support. So adding an option so that you and anyone else that wants their pets to stay put when summoned can configure them to do so is fine. Whereas requiring everyone to adapt to your preferred approach is not.) To the best of my knowledge, that would not work. At least not with this game engine. And you can upgrade your pets as soon as they show in the pet window. You don't even have to have them targeted. I've upgraded replacement pets by applying their upgrade powers to my Dark Servant. I've upgraded replacement pets by applying their upgrade to Manticore, Ms. Liberty, or any other combat NPC I have to escort.

That doesn't make the character unplayable. It just means you need to scroll out first. Setting aside that comment, being able to set a camera preset distance by character would be a nice option.

The PDP entrance I saw had PDP fliers strewn around like the Pocket D fliers strewn around the Pocket D entrances.

I never even noticed and they don't affect me. My MMs already had sufficient recharge on pet summons that there was insufficient delay between my ability to summon the pets and then summon replacements. The longest I had to wait since HC was available was maybe 10 seconds. And I build all my characters to manage END. So even if I had to summon all my pets and then apply both pet upgrades, I could still spam heals. Though I usually had to hold off on my own attacks until my END got back up to a safe level. So really? These changes did not affect my game play at all. Changing how my pets work when I summon them? That will affect my game play because then I would have to further delay my heals, debuffs, buffs, and attacks to get my pets back to where they do what I need them to. Oh no doubt. I am thinking, given what's already been discussed, that the pets don't yet "exist" when you activate the power, so there's nothing to apply the command to, thereby making the behavior command apply to nothing... The thing to remember about MM pets, or any pets really, is how long it takes for them to spawn. That is the primary concern for anything with them. And the pet window is an excellent tool for tracking that. Summoning animations can go over long, the thug and his motorcycle for instance. In those cases, you should be seeing that pet in the pet window even before the pet has finished his summoning animation. In this case, the pet is still subject to being affected, such as by applying an upgrade to another pet and having it apply to the motorcycle rider thug. Any commands given after the pet shows up in the window but while the pet is still animating will appear to be ignored. Because the pet has to finish the summoning animation. However, unless the game bugs, after the summoning animation is done, the pet follows the given command. You can see it if you choose to use an Aggressive pet state macro. The pet does nothing while getting off the bike, but his status shows aggressive and he immediately attacks the nearest target within his aggro radius after the animation. Now when he rides up and you can see him but he still isn't showing in the pet window? It doesn't matter what you try to do with him because he still doesn't actually exist as your pet yet. (Edit: It should be noted however, that just because a pet is not yet listed in your pet window preventing you from affecting said pet, that does not protect the pet. The model is already there and can be attacked by mobs, just not affected by you. Like when a Freakshow rezzes and you can't target him until he finishes his animation but your pets can if set on Aggressive.)

That's why I watch the pet window. If they are in the pet window, they are valid and can be affected. If they aren't, they aren't valid and can't be affected even if you're looking right at them.

Uhm... what? If using macros isn't your cup of tea, that's fine. However, your reasoning here fails. If you have a Stay macro set up to command your pets to stay, then all pets you currently have update to that command even if they are already affected by the command. It doesn't matter if they've always been there or you just summoned them. Now if you hit your Stay macro before all your pets are listed on your pet window? Then yes, the ones that weren't spawned yet will ignore it because they didn't exist at the time you gave the command. As long as your pets show up in the pet window, they are subject to your commands. (You can also set specific pets to stay, go, follow, whatever in the pet window as long as you have it set to Advanced Mode.) I wonder, then, how you feel about the recent Mastermind rework? Where they changed the functionality of the summon spells, among other things? The only changes to MMs that I am aware of is that some pets had their defense or damage resist moved to their 1st upgrade power so players can buff their defense or damage resist. And when it works, I'm fine with it. When it doesn't work, I'm not fine with it. What changes are you talking about? (Edit: Or are you talking about the changes made to the MM's native attacks with their own weapons? They didn't change how I use them, so it doesn't bother me. Changing how pets function when summoned though? That will change how I use them by requiring me to add steps to summoning them.)

*sigh* If you want to host walking competitions, no one is stopping you. You can even make SG bases specifically for your competitions.

Almost all my MM characters have 6 macros. Aggressive, Defensive, Passive, Follow, Stay, Dismiss. (Edit: Each macro applies only a single pet command, as labeled.) With those 6 macros, I can summon pets at a distance from me and then immediately follow with the Stay macro and have them stay there. @biostem's bind summon would probably work better. As would pet command binds for Aggressive, Defensive, Passive, Follow, and Stay. I would be fine if an option to change MM default pet states were made available. However, I am very much opposed to changing MM default pet behavior to Stay. If you want an option that better suits how you use your pets? Fine. Just don't seek to impose it on me or anyone else. Edit: 7 macros. I also have an Attack macro.

MM pets are default Follow so they stay with the MM. If you want to summon pets and have them be at enemies, summon them and use the Go To command. They will go to where you send them unless you move too far away. (Edit: A tactic I use if I want my pets fighting away from me is to set them to Aggressive and then use the Go To command to send them into the spawn(s) I want them to distract or fight. They run to their designated spots and fight there without running back to me, so I can run past or weaken an enemy position if needed while retaining an easy escape vector.) Summoned MM pets in combat immediately move to attack enemies not because they are summoned in default Follow, but because they are summoned in default Defensive and either the MM or at least one of the MM pets is taking damage.

I just checked my beam rifle character. Not invalid. Not as a character running around or when I visited a tailor to check that possibility. So I'm not understanding this comment.

Getting infinite free costume changes for 9 whole levels plus 5 free costume change tokens isn't enough for people?! And as I have maintained this entire time, there is no need to be fully slotted with enhancements at all times, especially when talking about SOs. Edit: And hey! There is even a popup that tells players IOs are available and what contact to see to learn about them. So now there shouldn't be any complaints about new players not being informed about IOs,

At level 10, the player should have already settled on what they want their character to look like and even get a free tailor token for having reached level 10. Plus another free tailor token at 20, 30, 40, and 50.

One thing I would like to add that keeps getting overlooked in conjunction with your costume point: Which is why all tailor visits up to level 10 are free. So players can tweak, alter, or even completely replace their costumes at will until level 10.