Rudra

Again, other than the KB, let me point you to Malta who has Sappers that nuke END bars with a single hit while also holding you, Stuns that never seem to end even when you're only hit by 1 of them and your pets or friends wipe out the spawn immediately after. Their lieutenants stun, immobilize, and hold. All of them as far as I can tell. Their bosses stun, immobilize, and hold. Again, all of them as far as I can tell. Their Hercules Titans merge into a Zeus Titan when one of them is sufficiently damaged, making them even more dangerous than when the fight started. I've watched Tankers get eaten by them because we missed the Sapper in the mix and the Tanker was suddenly less protected than the Corruptor with no available attacks. So no, I have a very hard time accepting that now the Council is more dangerous with their control abilities than Malta. They may be for your character, so you may need to turn down the difficulty, but between Arachnos, Malta, and the Council? There is a way to deal with the improved Council. Even staying at x8. It just may no longer be that anyone and everyone can solo them at x8 any more. Which puts them on par with other high level factions at the end game. Edit: Basically you are running into the original problems players encountered when the game first came out and they face planted into Malta et al. The Council have a new bag of tricks, so there is a new learning curve as players figure out how the improved Council work and how they can best defeat them.

I'm going to get a whole lot of thumbs downs for this, but I don't see that as a problem. You can solo everything at x8, but now one group gives you pause? They don't stop you, they are just a hassle for you? At full team size spawns? That is a good thing in my book. You yourself said you still cleared them. So there isn't a problem then. It's like fighting Malta as say a Corruptor. You decided to fight them at x8 and now there are 3 Operation Engineers, 2 Tactical Operatives, and 2 Sappers in the spawn backing up the 2 boss Gunslingers and the 2 Hercules Titans, and either you can't deal with them or they are problematic to deal with? Then turn down the difficulty when going into Malta missions. I have characters that can solo +2/x8 or +3/x8 or even +4/x8 that when I get a mission with a known enemy group in it, the first thing I do is turn the difficulty to a lower setting because I know that character has problems with that faction. Turning down the difficulty when you need to is not a bad thing.

Sadly, I can't just remove the Council from the New Praetorians story arc without, y'know, just not doing the New Praetorians story arc. But you can turn down the difficulty if a mission in an arc is giving you problems.

And that sidesteps the point of the comment. The comment was that you have an expensive build making the game easy. It doesn't matter how you got it, whether merit vendors, lucky drops, farming, playing, whatever. Yes, there are several ways to get the enhancements you want depending on what enhancements you want, like saving lots of money by spending merits at the merit vendor for the Winter set or Overwhelming Force set enhancements. All told though, the build is expensive if bought through the AH, isn't it? And as far as I can tell, that was the point of the comment you semi-contradicted yourself responding to.

That's a semi-contradictory statement in that you say you never had the money and you also say you can have the money. The claim of players spending 5 billion inf' doesn't mean they had all 5 billion at once to spend. Your response doesn't say you didn't build an expensive IO build, just that you didn't farm it, which does not counter the statement you quoted.

I've only seen maybe a handful of them in Tip missions that you actually fight. Out of the (I think) 25 you need to unlock direct Mayhem/Safeguard access.

There are? How? The only other method I know of is through the two dedicated contacts that only give those missions, but you need signature heroes/villains for the Mayhems/Safeguards to get them.

Are you kidding me? Malta is the only group I worry about. Between their extremely long mezzes and their Sappers, if you aren't a melee type and pick off the Sappers 1st, they're a problem.

I think there is a coding problem causing that.

There's a reason why when I make a new character, if I want to run all the content blue side, I turn off XP at level 4 and finish completing all the starter contacts. They may be origin based, but the origin restriction was removed a long time ago. And if you complete all their missions, they send you to the next contact in line. However, there are hidden contacts, mostly red side that I can remember, that will only be available if you meet their requirements. Like one of them requires you to have defeated 1,000 Longbow before he will talk to you. Those contacts you need to look up. (I'm not sure, but I don't think they show in Ouroboros either unless you completed their unlock requirements.)

There is also the question of what if not enough EoEs drop. I've been on a few raids that Hami popped and most of the league still didn't have even one EoE to their names. Others with more shared, but a large number of players had to go to the AH to get EoEs. And you can't access the AH in an instance.

Was the XM8 actually produced? I thought it was cancelled during testing. (Edit: I just think if you want a realistic rifle, then maybe one that was actually mass produced would be a better idea.)

What are you doing solo in a hami raid thats of an significance? The only reason people play solo in this instance is because they missed a spot on the league, or want to troll. You trying to make it easier for trolls? If you read all my comments, then you would see that on the rare occasion I go to a Hami raid, I join the league. There are others that choose not to though, and none of them that I was there to see were trolling the raid. So let me ask you your question in reverse. What is any solo person doing that is of significant problem to the raid? The only argument I saw that holds any real weight is people not staying in the bowl for when the buds spawn, so the buds may spawn out of view. And that can be remedied by making the buds always marked on the map. If they are marked on the map, then who cares where they spawn? That takes away others' ability to troll. Without taking away the ability for people that don't make it in time to actually be on the league despite getting in the zone or those that prefer to not be on the league for whatever reason to contribute to the raid. There is a means of neutralizing trolls' ability to troll without punishing everyone else.

And being a leader is difficult. You have to actually interact with others and get them on the same page. Just announcing your instructions on league chat despite the zone holding more players than a league can have is asking for players to not have a clue what they are supposed to do and not doing what you want them to. And cutting out players because they pop in the zone too late to join the league or because they would rather not be in the league and be inundated with all the random chatter but would rather just follow along, helping out as best they can, because one or two other players that are blacklisted is an extreme response punishing innocent players. The shotgun approach to punishing bad actors always gets innocents as well.

The suggestion would benefit leagues and their leaders in a league event ran by the league leader, in the process cutting out solo play, in a league event... And now you are back to something I cannot agree with. Asking for a means of dealing with bad actors I can support. Asking for a means to cut out players because they aren't joining your league I cannot. The bad actors would be ones that intentionally place themselves away from the bowl causing buds to spawn who knows where. Simple solution? Make the buds always show on the map so bad actors can't hide them. Aside from that, I can't see any way for a player to cause problems for the league on a Hami raid. If the zone filled before the raid leader gets there? If you have targeters in the full zone, message them and have them go to your zone, then announce the raid will be forming in your zone. Or do what someone else said and have an experienced member already in zone lead it. Or do both. Players not on the league are just sitting there and waiting for Hami to spawn, then popping over, hitting him for raid credit and running out? Annoying, but I would rather that than cut out others that contribute despite not being on the league. How does that saying go? Better 10 guilty walk free than 1 innocent go to jail or something like that? If your league can clear the raid, then who cares if a few bad apples just steal some credit. They aren't actually hurting the raid or you would not have been able to complete it. Edit: As for the creeper? Announce that character/player to all the world. (Edit again: On your server. Others using that name on other servers shouldn't be punished for that person.) When no one wants to play with that person any more, (s)he/they will learn their lesson. Until then, just tell everyone to put said person on ignore.

No one is asking for changes to league events to cater to solo play. The request is to not implement changes to league events to cut out solo play.

It was your comment. I get the desire to cut out bad actors. I don't have a problem with actual bad actors being cut out. It was how you phrased it that got me going. The fact that it extends to soloists too, even if that wasn't your intent, by virtue of what you said. Edit: Let me try it a different way. You have a player that does not join the league, but still follows along and does what the league does. You can't see said player on the map because said player is not on the league. You don't see said player attacking the monsters. And you only see said player when it is time to attack Hamidon. To many players, that person is a leech. However, despite not being on the league, the player is contributing. That player does not show until the attack on Hamidon because (s)he/they is hanging back for max range attacks, so the players on the league in the milieu don't see that player until they start during circles for the mitos. Yet, that player was there the entire time lending a hand. That player does not want to be on a league, but is still following along and helping out. And so others call that player a leech. This is not a hypothetical either. This actually happened on a Hami raid I was on. With several players calling for that person to go away, stop leeching, or if there was a way to ban that person. It took someone else who saw what that player was doing to point out that player was not leeching, but was following along as the raid leader had said to and contributing from outside the league. Do you see why your response gets a rise out of me now?

You can't except as a Praetorian character or through Ouroboros. (Edit: Gold side content is not available to Primal characters except through Ouroboros until they get to First Ward. First Ward and Night Ward are the only gold side content available to Primal characters outside of Ouroboros.)

Liking an idea and then later being opposed to that exact same idea because of why someone wants it is kinda yikes. At that point you’re no longer opposed to the idea on its merits but because you want things to continue to be difficult for that person. I didn't care about the idea. I wasn't for or against. And I even say so in the post you are quoting.

League chat is so full of random comments and conversations, the raids I've been on do all their instructions on the Request channel so it stands out. I personally join the league on the rare occasions I join a Hami raid. Despite being a soloist. There are others that don't. Leagues can have up to 48 players. The zone can have up to 50. And I've been on raids completed with half leagues. So I'm still not seeing the problem with the random soloist being in zone, following along, and contributing to the raid without having to be on the league. (Edit: Though I am a bad actor. My MM is always put on a ranged team, but I tend to go with the melees instead. Because my pets are melee. Or my Crab Spider is put on the melee team and I go with the ranged instead. Because I'm more ranged.) Okay, I can see the desire for an instanced raid for that.

And they still would be in an instanced Hami. If they are in the league already and doing that, then all you can really do is note them and not invite to them league next time. Or would you kick them out of the instanced Hami during the raid? (Edit: Actually, can you kick them out of the instanced raid and fill their slot during the raid?) Yes, the raid leader has a responsibility to monitor and deal with the raid, no argument on that. Actual bad actors popping in and trolling the raid though is something that can be reported. Cutting out soloists and saying "Hey, if you *actually* didn't do anything wrong, then go form your own league" is elitist and completely ignores why they refused to join the league in the 1st place. It says "Either properly join my league or make your own league, but either way, get your butt on a league." I don't have a problem with that.

No, I wouldn't be. Because on the raids I've been on, that is what they do. So I'm following the league and doing what they do. You watch the Request channel and there are instructions for what to do on it. So you do what those instructions say and you are not hindering anything. This part I agree with. And this part is what concerns me. I don't have any problems with that. That is why I stayed out of this thread until now. The issue I have is with: Because I know a person that to the best of my knowledge did nothing wrong but got blacklisted because of a personal matter between her and the league leader, you are asking them to try and make a league in competition with an established one that others will prefer to go to for being known, and treats players like they are automatically bad because they aren't in the league itself for the raid. So yes, I'm willing to toss more work at our volunteer GMs because it is part of the job description to look into these matters and deal with it. (Edit: And if it is hidden buds that are the problem, then have the buds added to the map. The raids I've been on, there was routinely a person sweeping the zone for buds. Alleviating that need or making their task simpler I can get behind.) I wasn't against it until that post I quoted. I didn't care if an instanced Hami was made. See my reasoning above.

I don't normally do Hami raids, so that's out.

I think what you just described is exactly why it needs to be done. I have to disagree. There are already people forming up Hami raids. Players that show up in zone and participate despite not being in the league aren't hurting anyone, neither are they taking away from anyone. They are there attacking the monster wall and then the mitos and then Hami' itself. That is not a reason to exclude players that don't join the league. Hells, on the Hami raids I've been on, players that aren't on the league but are in the zone are told to follow along and get credit. And I know at least one person that got blacklisted from the Hami raids I went to despite not doing anything I could tell that was wrong. She was even on the league and participating, and still got black listed. So at least being able to pop in the zone and follow along to get credit despite not being on the league isn't a bad thing in my book. They do. They kick the troublemakers from the team/league and depending on what was done, report them so the GMs can deal with the troublemaker. Now this sentiment? I have loads of problems with. If you want to have troublemakers dealt with? Report them. Let the GMs handle it. That's why they are there. Telling someone they can't play in your reindeer games, I mean Hami raid, and go form their own league is very elitist. If they *actually* did nothing wrong, then you have no reason to exclude them. I didn't care if an instance Hami raid was added until I got to this part of the discussion. Now? I'm against the instanced Hami raid request. If a player is causing problems, record it, report it, and let the GMs handle it. If the sole purpose of asking for instanced Hami raids is to ensure everyone is on the league? Forget it. Make the buds all marked on the map so they can be hunted down if someone is actually trying to make them spawn out of the way to troll the raid. If players are just camping out in the zone? Ask them to leave. Record them for doing so and see if the GMs agree that is bad behavior. Asking for an instanced raid because the scheduled raid leader can't get in? Form up in the next Hive/Abyss and broadcast it on the appropriate channels. "Hey, it's time for the Hami raid, but I can't get in to the zone, so come to zone 2 for the raid." You're the raid leader, right? So the raid will form up where you are.

If you're not enjoying the discussion, I apologize. We can be done. I'm trying to avoid derailing the thread with a discussion about the different ways a person can manipulate spirits or be manipulated by spirits. I disagreed with having the MM's own attacks come from a source other than the MM because it did not make sense to me. You pointed out Beast Mastery already does this and it works. Any further attempts by me to pursue this discussion would require me to either ignore Beast Mastery or derail the thread for the sake of derailing it when I already know there are other means of controlling spirits.