Rudra

I'm running the risk of getting another warning with the length of this debate. So I'm just going to leave it at:

Then the devs need to be reminded that statement is there and needs to be updated.

The tutorials give you 2 level 1 enhancements to teach you how the enhancement system works. They are tutorials, teaching players how the various parts of the game work is their purpose. And if you don't slot those enhancements, you will notice no difference in the tutorial run through compared to when you do slot them. (I've run the same character builds through the tutorials both slotting and not slotting the enhancements. I never noticed a difference between the characters.) Enhancements and enhancement slots are a fundamental part of the game, yes. Use of enhancements is necessary to keep the game progressing at a comfortable or enjoyable pace as you level, yes. There is no argument on that. Fully slotting your characters is the part we disagree on. It is absolutely not necessary. Just a few key enhancements in your powers will let the game keep progressing without slogging down. The use of generic IOs starting at level 7, because you can start slotting them at level 7 since they have a minimum enhancement level of 10, will alleviate the dependence on getting new enhancements every 7 levels. Slotting the START free enhancements provides the character with 4 enhancements that they will never outlevel starting at level 1 if they skip the tutorial. And using just a few key enhancements keeps the character at fighting trim.

The game does not push anyone to TOs because they basically no longer exist. You can't get them any more that I am aware of.

This is so wrong it hurt me to read You can absolutely get to 50 without enhancements, but it will suck and be really unfun as this game was designed for you to get enhancements very early on, hence TO/DO existing at all. I said fully slotted. Yes, playing without any enhancements is a challenge. It is doable and I know players that do so. However, I also understand that to keep the game moving at a decent pace, enhancements are needed. Just not fully slotted characters. See below for the part you are choosing to ignore:

I am not. The game has a great many issues that the Live devs were working to fix and the current devs are still working on fixing. However, I maintain that the enhancement system is not one of them.

And you are also missing the point. No one needs to be fully slotted with SOs or even DOs until they hit the end game. The focus on "my enhancement slots are empty" is a hold over from other games in a game where it does not matter until the end game.

And the point that is being made that you refuse to accept is that new players can play without filled enhancement slots and still enjoy playing the game because that is what it was meant to be. A fun game where the enhancements make things easier but isn't necessary until the end. So for the purpose of having fun, a player just needs to slot the minimum, a few accuracies and endurance reductions, the free damage/recharge/damage proc enhancements from START, and they can just have fun with the game until they get to the point where they need full sets at the end game. It is that "I must always be at max effectiveness" mentality that ruins things.

That's irrelevant, because, as I've said multiple times now, this is not about effectiveness. It's about the player experience. So again, you are covering your eyes and ears singing "lalala I can't hear you" because what I posted does not line up with what you are claiming. You are even citing my comment about player experience to say I am not talking about player experience. So again, you are arguing in bad faith.

I actually skimmed them before posting. So correct, I didn't do an in-depth reading, but I did check to see what they said. I explained what player experience meant to me. You said to look it up. So I did. And neither of those say anything about players being at max effectiveness to have a good player experience. And my personal experience says you don't have to be at max effectiveness to have a good player experience.

https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/9/10/the-player-experience http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/spectrum-exploring-the-effects-of-player-experience-on-game-design/ Edit: So lets compare apples to apples then. Enhancements are upgrades to our powers. And in WoW, it cost a preposterous amount to upgrade the character's powers. Or even buy new ones. While CoX gives new powers for free, but not the upgrades.

I'm not following since the player experience I'm aware of is how the game itself is played, not if I can keep all my enhancement slots filled. Even in WoW I would run around without all my equipment slots filled because I couldn't get equipment to fill them. So I'm not understanding how empty enhancement slots are such a big deal in driving off new players. Edit: Here's another thing. I keep hearing that new players expect to be able to fully slot their powers because that is what they do in other MMORPGs. And yet, when I was playing WoW, you couldn't even afford to buy your next power or power upgrade just using drops and sales. I remember every time I leveled up in WoW, it would cost easily 100x more money than I had just to upgrade my powers. For instance, I remember one power cost 5 gold to get, but the mobs were only dropping coppers and the occasional silver. In a game where it took 100 copper to get a silver and 100 silver to get a gold. So if they are coming from other games and thinking they should be able to keep all their enhancement slots filled, my question is why?

Incorrect. They start spawning as soon as you enter the mission. I witnessed them doing so with the very first portal.

And the response being given is that the game is not balanced around having your slots filled. Even at high levels, most ATs can do just fine without any enhancements at all. The ones that can't can still complete the missions, but it is more difficult/dangerous. The expectation is that players will slot something to improve their capabilities, but not that they will slot everything. And it is the mindset that the player needs to slot everything that we are trying to explain to you is what needs to be explained to new players as being unnecessary while also explaining how they can get more enhancements for their slots. Correct, because we are expected to make use of the AH to get what we want and we have IOs we can craft/buy to bypass that concern. Which isn't even necessary as already stated. Until you hit the end game and start tackling things like Hard Mode, you're perfectly fine running around with empty enhancement slots. SOs aren't the lowest tier. DOs are. And if you just go for DOs, slotting SOs as they become available through drops, it is far easier to keep your character slotted. Which you don't even need to do until late game. (Edit: Especially if they make use of the free enhancements from START.)

Now I'm curious. Horus was the Egyptian god of weather, though Tefnut was the goddess of rain and dew. So who are you referring to?

Then your character was corrupted. It happens. If you haven't already deleted the character, you can request the character be recovered.

My personal bias on patrol xp is exactly that, mine. When it comes to talking about how others are affected by something, I have to take a step back and view it in more neutral terms. Or at least try to. I don't expect anyone to think I'm in favor of patrol xp in any matter, but in this case, we're not talking about patrol xp itself as a game mechanic, we're talking about explore badges awarding patrol xp instead of regular xp like they used to. When they awarded regular xp, it didn't matter how long it had been since any given character was played. Unless they had xp turned off, they got the xp award even if they were maxed out on patrol xp. Now, if they are maxed out on patrol xp, the explore's xp reward simply goes away. Or if they are unable to run off and grab the explore during the course of playing, as will often happen to a player on a team that is not willing to wait on said player to possibly have to race across the zone and back to grab said explore, leaving that player as a non-participant on the mission that depending on the distance to the explore will find the team exiting the mission and going to the next before the explore grabbing player even gets back, then again they don't get the benefit of the patrol xp until it doesn't matter any more. So players with lots of alts that don't play them more frequently than every 10 days and players on fast moving teams will over the course of a normal game session find the patrol xp reward the explores now give does not benefit them. Whereas an increase in regular xp would still benefit them the same way it benefits everyone else.

Try clearing your computer's memory. It can retain old data and that can cause problems. Otherwise, have a GM take a look at the character in question. The character itself may be corrupted.

Except in Adamastor's case which really is just simply walking up to his ritual and clicking to complete the ritual to summon him.

And you're missing the point too. The XP award from explore badges could have been boosted to give the same reward as the patrol xp the explores now give and not have compromised anyone's playing be rewarding those that play their characters more consistently while penalizing those that don't. Edit: You can call the situation @Frozen Burn, myself, and others find ourselves in niche cases all you like, but it doesn't change the fact that we are still part of the gaming community in this game and the explores now awarding patrol xp is still a change that penalizes us for not playing our characters more often than every 10 or more days unless we specifically stop a normal game session to go looking for explores, interrupting our teams if on one or our own play sessions, all in the name of rewarding players during a normal game session. Which is what the dev said was the intent on the other thread, for players to get the reward over the course of their normal game session. (Edit again: And please don't insist on comparing the change to how the awards used to be for value when the discussion is about what they could have been bumped up to as regular xp as opposed to patrol xp instead.)

Okay, so I have a few questions: Was this on a single play session or multiple play sessions with that character? Have you ever successfully summoned minions on that character? Did you have minions summoned and then dismiss them for any reason before the problem happened in that play session? If you previously had minions on that character and you dismissed them prior to the problem appearing, what were the exact circumstances under which you dismissed them? When you encountered the problem and logged off then back on to try and be able to summon the pets, how long did you wait before logging back on the game? Did you try a system reboot? Did you try clearing your computer memory?

Yes, that's why the Council was made and the 5th Column sidelined for a few years. It doesn't change the game lore which is being misrepresented on this thread.

Not that I've seen and I've run a new character through that level range since it was added. A popup when you get to level 20 or 21 would be fine in my book. So would adding a mission to the appropriate level contacts that sends you to Striga to find him like some other contact missions do. I'm just against like a broker introducing him.

Will you please go read the lore. The 5th Column came into existence in 1938. (Edit: Founded by Requiem, Arakhn, and someone else.) The Nictus have been on Earth since Cimerora. Likely even before then. The Council was a break off group from the 5th Column that usurped the 5th Column's place but did not eradicate them. The Council and the 5th Column are embroiled in a war of dominance against each other. The 5th Column has sleeper agents in the Council, because the Council includes a lot of former 5th Column troops in their numbers. The Council and the 5th Column have Nictus troops. The 5th Column is led by Reischmann. The Council is led by The Center. Neither the Reischmann or the Center are Nictus or Nictus-infused. Requiem and Arakhn are Nictus-infused, in different ways, and are trying to take over as leaders, but neither actually leads either faction. (Edit: Which is why you find Requiem in the process of taking the 5th Column from the Reischmann in that incarnate arc. He has finally grown powerful enough to defeat Reischmann and take back the 5th Column.)

What does this have to do with new players? (I'm also against more GMs just being plopped in zones.) You got a random mission from Vince Dubrowski. You can just abandon it and he will give another mission. His other missions, other than the talk to one(s), are instanced missions. And he is a level 20-24 contact, so he is an appropriate contact for your level. (And The Pit is a level 23-27 area. With a little bit of searching around, you can find lone Scrapyarders of manageable levels to fight.) Oberst Straxt is in Striga. I can agree with a contact referring the player to him or giving a mission to go talk to him, but not as a contact given out in Sharkhead Isle itself.