Rudra

I personally hated it when Tankers did old school herding. The squishies are being overwhelmed and the Tanker is running off somewhere nowhere in sight grabbing more aggro? Especially when all that aggro gets the team except for the Tanker(s) killed? (To which the response would normally be along the lines of "Don't worry, I'll clear them out. You're still getting full influence.") I can't tell you how happy I was when that stopped. Maybe I was just running with some poor examples of tanks, but it was old school herding that taught me and several others I knew back then to treat Tankers on the team as if they weren't there, to flee the area when the Tanker came back with 'horde o'baddies' and leave them for the Tanker to deal with if (s)he could, and to laugh at the Tanker if their aggro-focus got them killed. I'll even admit to hoping those Tankers would get themselves killed on several occasions. (Which helped drive me into a solo-focused play mentality. If running with a team was just going to pile on the debt, then it's better to solo. Especially since there was no such thing as a debt cap back then.) Tankers running wild gathering everything on the map while solo? Don't care. You do you. Tankers on a team should be more focused on helping the team survive instead of "gathering the map for max xp". Edit: And before anyone says something along the lines of "What are you complaining about? You were making progress on your debt badges!"? Remember that there were no badges back then either.

Customizing the chat channel colors for non-player created channels would only change what that specific player sees on that specific character. From what @STiTcH is saying, the desire is to change the chat color so that everyone sees the new color. Which would require the devs to just change the current color to something else since only that would apply it to everyone. And sure, I could see a more in your face attention grabbing color being used instead of the current pale blue. I could also see just expecting players to actually pay attention to League chat since they need to know what the league is doing or is about to do, but that doesn't seem to work out as well as it should. I guess that makes me indifferent to the suggestion. Good luck with it.

You used to be able to change chat color by right clicking the chat in the window, not where you type, and choosing to edit the color. However, I think that only applied to custom chat channels and not game set ones. Edit: Also, it would only change the league chat color as you see it, not as anyone else sees it. There is no way to force your palette preferences for chat on others. Which is why some league leaders use the Request channel and warn others to stay off it while the league is running.

No, I cannot. Sorry. You would have to find the Live forum files and look there. I'm only telling you what was circulating among the people I played with back on Live at the time. So it is strictly hearsay. I was not on the forums at that time. Hence the "If I remember correctly, there was a discussion...". And the discussion was not about a change to the Leadership pool, it was about why the pool was working the way it does.

If I remember correctly, there was a discussion early on Live about the Leadership powers and why they worked the way they do now. There was discussion about the Leadership powers, particularly Assault, using different calculations for their boosts. However, it was decided they would work as is so that other players could take the pool set without fear of trying to join a team and being told the team already had someone with Leadership. That is why the Leadership powers stack with themselves. That is why Assault calculates from base unenhanced damage. Otherwise, the powers would not have stacked. Edit: Also, your analogy is flawed. A mod that improves your engine's performance by 10% would be factored as doing so without any other mods to the engine. Which is what Assault does to your damage.

Which again boils down to just how OP do you want this power to be? It stacks with itself. So it should not be affected by other buffs. It should not be calculated at the end after all other buffs have been applied. If it did, then using a 95% enhancement bonus boost, not set bonus, with the Assault bonus, you would go from 210% damage as is to 224.25% damage . On a power that is already part of the Holy Quad 'must use or be noob forever' power sets. And if you want to look at parity with Maneuvers? Maneuvers gives a boost to your and your allies' defense. All defense, but just defense. Assault boosts your and your allies' damage. All your and your allies' damage. It also provides resist to Placate and Taunt. So you and your allies can keep attacking the target(s) you want. Parity with Tactics would be unreasonable because Tactics is a gated power whereas Maneuvers and Assault are not. Edit: And those calculations are if you are solo or the only member with Assault. Now apply it to a full team of 8 with everyone running Assault.

There is nothing malicious about what I am posting, but you are correct in that I am being technical. And this reason you gave is why I am being technical. (Well, that and because I am always technical in my considerations.) There is no reason for a single power to grant everyone a 120% damage boost on a constant basis without any enhancement considerations. Even Build Up only gives a 100% damage boost that cannot be improved for 10 seconds. As opposed to Assault's always while within effect radius. And that would be my guess as to why Assault's 15% damage boost works the way it does. The net result is a less than 15% damage boost after all other damage buffs are applied. And since I've seen builds get to +200% damage, then that unenhanceable 15% is always going to appear smaller.

Except it does give the bonus it says on the tin. That bonus is not subject to other buffs or other boosts, but it does stack. So while it gives a 15% damage boost, with all the other damage boosts most characters have, the overall perception is that it is lower. It does exactly what it advertises it does. Why does it need to do more? (Edit: Also, those LotG procs in Manuevers only helps the character with the power. So as a team support power, I'm ignoring the effects of LotG procs in Maneuvers for this discussion.)

Assault can't accept damage buffs because it doesn't do damage. And there are no damage buff buffs in the game. And Assault having an accuracy debuff, defense debuff, or mobility debuff would turn it into an debuff toggle and would result in it being turned off (or suppressed when Page 4 comes out) when the character is mezzed. It also makes no sense for the power. (Edit: Assault, like the other Leadership powers, drives your allies to fight harder. That should not affect your enemies' ability to fight. They can and will fight back just as hard as normal, but you and your allies fighting harder makes it more likely that your enemies' efforts won't amount to anything. You want a pool power that debuffs your foes and is not already in the other pools? Ask for a new set set called Despair, Harangue, Undermine Morale, or whatever.) I'm rather with @Clave Dark 5 on this. While I would like to make Assault able to use sets, it is already a go to power for min-max builds and even several non-min-max builds. A power already in high demand does not need or warrant being able to do more.

And yes, players have been asking for permanent versions of the Malta Gunslinger and Carnival of Shadows Harlequin ever since those costume powers were released, so this is a request players have wanted for years.

According to the beta notes and the data on the already existing costume powers, including how they already work as used every Halloween, they do not replace your character's powers, just your character's appearance and power animations. Except for toggle powers that are primarily stealth such as... ahem... Stealth.... Stealth powers do not work in conjunction with costume powers as normal. Edit: To clarify, the added costume powers work exactly like the already available costume powers except that they are permanent powers each character can individually acquire.

Some characters are already defined by their players as being able to breathe underwater. My sea demon for instance. Or lacking the need to breathe, such as an elemental character. A scuba tank would make no sense for them. Simplest solution would be the cheat CO uses for their space mission. There is a locker that has a spacesuit, or in this case, diving suit, that gives the character a scuba look if used. Those characters not able to breathe underwater click the locker and go. Those characters able to breathe underwater don't click the locker and go. Those players that don't care about whether or not their characters would feasibly drown don't click the locker and go. The water environment is simply an aesthetic with no drowning mechanic. There are a LOT of inhuman player characters in the game.

Whips as a standalone power set was mechanically not feasible according to the Live devs. That is why we have the Demon Summoning set with range attacks using whip animations and not whip attacks. If that has changed? Then yes please, a whip power set not embedded in the Demon Summoning set would be welcome. And the OP didn't make a point with any numbers. The OP didn't even comment about what changes were being asked for. It was specifically "Masterminds have wanted changes for years. And what did we get? Bards." On an update still being worked on that the devs are asking for feedback on. And when the author was told to go post his rant, I mean, feedback, where the devs said to post the patch's feedback? He declined. Petulantly. From what I've seen the devs doing both on Live and here? A simple damage boost is something they try to avoid if they think there are better fixes. From reading the patch notes, it looks to me like the devs did try to fix Masterminds in general, and Mercenaries specifically. For Mercenaries, they reduced the duration of the DoTs so now they do damage faster, improved the pet attack animation times according to someone who went to the test server and tested the changes, and fixed what powers were being assigned to the pets. All those are attempts to fix the Mercenaries set. They aren't the fix the author wants, but they are attempts at fixes. And if those attempts are insufficient? They should be reported on the patch feedback threads. Feedback about the Mercenaries possibly needing more damage still even after the updates' changes could have been given on the update feedback threads like the devs asked. If you were writing code and trying to make sure it worked, fulfilled your intentions, and didn't introduce any new bugs to the system, would you spend your time on the HC Suggestions and Feedback forum or would your attention be solely focused on the Beta Suggestions and Feedback threads where you asked for feedback? As for Masterminds in general? As you and others have stated, the AT is likely difficult to balance because of the way it works. However, the complaints given? Except for a few, are strictly play style and opinion.

Sounds good to me.

In the interim, you could just add the Eternal Guards from the Black Knights faction to your group(s). They have Taunt and love to use it.

Wouldn't a permatimeout command just be the ignore command?

It's great that you changed the poll, but the poll is biased now. Those that chose option 3 for the first choice and had to choose either option 1 or 2 for the second choice can't change their vote to reflect they chose option 3 for the first choice. (Since prior to you changing the poll, our choice was limited to either the lower level mobs are fine or they bother us.)

No, they don't. They simply have the best reason to. Leadership buffs the entire team, and MMs are single-player teams. MMs no more have to take Leadership than any other AT out there. Also? Leadership is part of the Holy Quad of pool sets, so arguing that MMs take Leadership makes even less sense. Never taken it. Not for my MMs and not for any AT. So the reference is lost on me. Fighting can help the MM's personal survival, which helps with re-summoning pets, but again, is not necessary. Bodyguard Mode works so much better, but Bodyguard Mode with Fighting Pool is more resilient. Hasten? I don't take. On anything. I can get more than enough recharge from set bonuses and individual enhancements. That is a matter of opinion. My MMs and my Corruptors debuff equally difficult targets equally well as far as I can tell. Because the MMs primary set personal attacks are supplemental. Even at that though, my Ninja/Dark MM, which is my primary since it was the first MM I ever made back on Live and so was the first I brought back on HC, has no problems doing appreciable damage with the bow attacks and no pets. Less damage than other ATs? Of course, I'm not using my primary damage powers, the pets. I refuse to use Thermal or Cold for personal reasons. I've never tried Time. Dark, Nature (which is funny since I didn't know that Rebirth was both heal and rez, and was just using it as a rez), Pain, and Storm are the secondaries I use most often. My Robotics/Radiation MM is still low level, so that character is still going through the teething stage of development, which precludes me from commenting on how it plays. Every secondary has its tricks to learn, its benefits. It just takes time to sort through them. MMs have the same flexibility on procs as other ATs. I take the pet procs to help my pets. I've also run without the pet procs and still had the same survivability rate for my pets. In fact, most times I wonder if the pet procs are even worth bothering with since I could just slap more damage into my pets with more procs. A six-damage proc tier 1 pet power would probably be mind blowing for sheer damage output. All ATs should be able to do that so I don't think as a Mastermind you should be feeling good about doing what ever other AT can do. No, they shouldn't. AVs were originally the 'must have team to defeat' enemies with GMs being the 'must have multiple teams to defeat' enemies. The fact anyone can solo them just shows how excessively powerful characters have gotten in the game with all the proposed and implemented changes. And since one of the complaints is that an MM can't defeat a level 54 AV, the fact my MMs can without any special talent blows a hole right through that argument. MMs are also the only AT that can be mezzed and not care. Tankers, Brutes, Scrappers, and Stalkers? They simply aren't affected by mezzes until their protection is exceeded. MMs? Can be mezzed and know that until their pets go down, they are still perfectly viable. And with any real amount of mez resistance? Will break out of their mez and be able to recover their injured and defeated pets before the enemies can finish taking them down most times. Corruptors can't do that. Controllers can't do that. Dominators can't do that. Defenders can't do that. Blasters come close, but only have their two lowest attacks available. MMs require a lot of work because they have a lot going on. Their offense is their defense. Their defense is rock solid when managed. Running 6 (or 7 if /Dark) pets will always be a lot of work. The work pays off in what MMs can do. Yeah... that always baffled me too... total agreement here. Except Controller pets and Dominator pets just run around attacking whatever they feel like. Sometimes they just stand there because the attacking mobs are outside the pets' aggro radius. MMs can order their pets to attack a distant enemy or pursue a fleeing one. MMs can order their pets to stay with them and ignore enemies until the Mm is ready for the pets to fight. MMs can have their pets take a share of the damage being hurled at the MM by mobs ignoring the pets because the mobs routinely seem to not recognize MM pets as threats. Look, we can argue until Doomsday about MMs. I personally do not see (most of) the problems other players complain about. (The ones I do see, I agree with. Like Grave Knights. Please fix their resists so it makes sense. And make the pets better able to keep up with the MM. Sure, there are problems to be fixed. All ATs have problems to be fixed though, so I don't understand the apparent rage of the OP.) You may know how to manage MM pets. My MM friends definitely do. Most MMs I see though? Seem to have no idea that controllable pets can be controlled and should be. And if they started actively managing their pets and secondary powers? They would find that MMs are a lot more capable than they have been giving credit for. There are outlier power sets in the AT, such as Mercenaries apparently being at the bottom end of the AT's damage spectrum, but there are outlier power sets in every AT. This entire thread has me confused and frustrated. Because the thread reads like MMs are garbage. Especially if a Mercenaries MM. And all they are, is a different play style to be figured out and enjoyed.

MMs get access to those same powers. Same with MMs. Sometimes speeding up a key power completely changes how the MM plays. So does every other proc in the game. That was done to keep the MM from being too powerful. Biggest problem I've seen with MM pets? Are MMs that make no effort to manage their pets. Though the equal level pets in incarnate content is definitely nice. I definitely agree with you here. Pets went from just staying in damage patches and dying to pets running for the hills and barely doing any fighting when a damage patch is dropped on them. One of many cases of game fixes that caused more problems than it fixed. I've never noticed any major disparities between the sets. Do some do less damage than others? Yes. It was never so bad I cared though. As for Necromancy? I never found Necromancy bad, just boring as hell. (Edit: Zombies could definitely use a speed boost when not running away from damage patches though....) And as for Mercenaries... Then you should probably give it a try before saying it is bad. Running a Mercenaries/Traps MM is tricky, yes. I find that to be a /Traps thing though. They can all sustain and bolster the pets. Some have a higher learning curve than others though. I've run several missions without my pets. (Though never at a high difficulty.) Back on Live, there was the petless MM thing going. It seemed very popular for some reason, though I never understood why people would make an AT and skip its core abilities. I have multiple MMs that sneak their missions. Hells, when on a team with my friends, my MM is the one running unseen through the map and recalling everyone to their targets. In the end, you can run an MM pretty much any way you want. I've soloed AVs. I've soloed some GMs. I sneak my friends around when they want to sneak, provided I'm on a /Dark MM or I took the Concealment pool. (I've never taken Super Speed on my MMs, so I never used the stealth proc+SS bit.) I never understand the rants about MMs on the Suggestions and Feedback forum because I've played every MM primary and almost every secondary and never had any of the problems others cite in their posts. The closest I got to a problematic MM? Is my Mercenaries/Traps. And that one just requires I be a bit more careful about my pet management and situational awareness. And when two MMs are on a team? That's a dead map. Could MMs use a little attention? Yes, but so could every other AT in the game. (I think the attention Tankers need is to have some of their over-abundant buffing reduced/removed, but I'm most likely in the minority on that.) Other players can say that they find MMs to be bad. That is their opinion. It is the presentation that those complaints are fact, that it cannot be disputed, that only THAT BUILD is viable, that frustrates me about these threads. MMs are not a passive AT. They were never meant to be a passive AT. They are only a passive AT when doing low difficulty missions. Running a MM takes a lot of effort to manage the pets, keep the hostiles off-balance and unable to mount a proper response, and keep the MM chugging.

If you're trying to avoid T9s in those two zones, then you should remember that fighting at level 30, they will be level 30+5. And primaries get their T9s at 32.

Not saying it is any different. Was just making a note that the goal of differentiated PvP levels won't happen. If anything, the current configuration where those in Bloody Bay are limited to level 25+5 gives starting PvP players a better chance to learn before facing the unbridled might of a fully developed PvP character. I'm not a PvP player. I'm pretty sure I will never be a PvP player. So while I may make notes and observations, that is all they are. Sorry.

And I think it may already work with the various power animations since it is basically two capes. We see the Sybils in Cimerora able to run while wearing it and Selene fights while wearing it. (Edit: As do the BP sorceresses and female Elders/Ancients.)

Yeah, that goal as you portray it isn't going to happen. If there are PvP players/fledglings learning the ropes in PvP zone Epsilon, then PvP players will go to PvP zone Epsilon to hunt them. Why? Because they are available for PvP. I've seen PvP players (in other games) specifically going into starter zones to pick fights with the new characters. (And not surprisingly, a lot of the new characters took the bait {insults} and fought the PvP player only to get completely annihilated.) It doesn't happen in CoX because it can't happen in CoX. (And if you want to know what games I saw that in? It was CO and WoW. Level 40s in CO challenging level 6 characters fresh from the tutorial and level 60 characters in WoW sneaking into starter zones to gank NPCs and level 1-3 characters.)

I think that may just further embitter PvE players towards PvP players, but as you said, it is a PvP zone. It has PvE objectives thrown in there to lure PvE players in there for some PvP, and no one likes just getting completely demolished, but it is a PvP zone and that already happens. I think the zones should stay as is and said that, but it is for the PvP players to decide what happens to them.

The reason there are no more than 6 enhancements (and sometimes less) in a set is because you can't have more than 6 enhancements in a power. And to get the set's full benefits, you have to slot all the enhancements. Edit: And just so you know, your post reads as "I want my preferred set to meet all my needs so I don't have to consider other sets". I'm not saying that is what you are intending to say, just that is how it reads to me.