[Holy Name-Release, Batman!!! 😱]

I half expected there to be a sudden market selling names. Still might happen, like way back when people were snatching up company names when the internet got popular. People grabbed company .com names and were selling them. No idea how successful they were in that.

[Controllers Need Not Apply?]

This kind of makes me want to make to most annoying AT possible. Controller with group fly, fold space, and knock back. Unsure what else. Just for giggles.

[Team etiquette]

How about we let people play how they like without lecturing them how they like to play is the incorrect way? Can we try that?

 

You want to stay? Great! Have fun!

You want to go? Great! Have fun!

 

Team members disagree? Find new team members who like to play the same way as you do. 
 

For the record, and feel free to quote me here, but the only thing that I “have” to do is put in my password when I log in. After that everything else is 100% my decision. If I want to stay or go, team or solo, farm or yolo, I’ll do whatever I damn well please. Long as I’m not breaking any rules (and I’m not) if you don’t like it than you and anyone else who doesn’t like it can kiss me where the good lord split me. (Not meaning anyone specifically by “you”, speaking rhetorically here for context.)

 

tldr - you do your thing, I do mine. If that involves us not teaming together I’m perfectly fine with that. I would sooner play entirely by myself than be held to the standards of  entirely random strangers in a video game.

[Power farming for XP vs Influence]

Personally I care more about the ease and consistency than how much I get per hour. If I’m chill farming, I can do it for several hours. Sometimes I don’t even pay attention to how many levels or how much inf I get. I pause to sell things when I’m full and go back to it. I find it quite relaxing with the right setup.

[Why a Brute?]

1 hour ago, Erratic1 said:

 

If the Brute has to spend time recovering from the greater incoming damage the Tanker does not, the Tanker pulls ahead when considering performance over time.

Normally I would agree, but in both examples they were Bio armor, damage recovery is kind of its speciality. So bad example on my part I guess? Didn’t really pick those out of the hat, they just happened to be my respective best brute and tankers to compare.

 

But do agree that time spent on the defense/recovering also matters. As I said before, more a situation for the big brains to calculate. All I know is that despite the math, my best brute beats some of my tankers. But that is still kind of apples to oranges, and if you include recovery, and how fast things die and so on, that’s not just apples to oranges, but apples to oranges to pineapples too!

[Why a Brute?]

Did just have a random thought. 
 

Is it possible that we (rhetorical here, no one specifically speaking) are putting too much value on the “increased aoe” targets here? 
 

I mean, let’s say both a tanker and a brute engage 2 spawns of 8 enemies each, or 16 targets in total. 
 

Tanker can damage all of them. Brute can damage all but 4. Tanker wins right?

 

But the thing is, is the enemies don’t all die at the same time, or even the same rate. You have normals, lieutenants, bosses, elite bosses, etc.

 

But for both, tanker and brute alike, the whites/normals will die quickly, in a few attacks a matter of fact. Which means the tankers AOE capabilities only matters for those first few attacks, after that they have the same amount of enemies engaged, and if the brute has better aoe damage (bigger numbers, not more targets) couldn’t they pull ahead?

 

More of a rhetorical question, one more for the big brains than mine. I was just musing on how my brute can beat most of my tankers, even though math and conventional wisdom would say otherwise.

[Why a Brute?]

8 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

 

No.  I am saying that Brutes are fine because they don't suck at all.  Most well built brutes can solo 85-95% of the game at +4/x8.  Badly built brutes can solo most of the game at /x8.

I wasn’t going to say anything, because I know the numbers don’t support it, but my savage/bio brute actually solos more content better than most of my tankers. Only my Fire/Bio tanker can melt things as fast. But the rest? The brute is almost always faster. And it’s not a case of inf invested, or incarnates, as they are all in the same ballpark. 
 

I really can’t explain the hows or whys. Just out of all my brutes and tankers, those two do the best and they are very close. I know math would say otherwise and I can’t really explain it. It’s just how it is?

[Displaying first appearance of character?]

26 minutes ago, Greycat said:

 

Congrats, that's you.

 

Other people find fiddling with builds to get that LAST .05% recharge or defense, or RP, or building for PVP or chasing the market or screwing around with costumes for an hour to be the same way.

 

Fortunately, the game can fit us all in and adjustments to things that one group might care about even if the others don't can be made as needed.

Fair. It just strikes me as odd for someone to be so concerned over something that doesn’t affect them.

 

I mean, let’s play hypothetical here. Let’s say you want to see it, but they say no. It’s not like you can force them to show you.

 

And for the reverse, if you have it displayed and someone has an issue, I’d say that’s their problem. It’s not as if you can change it even if you wanted to, except to delete and remake.

 

And a character’s birthdate doesn’t really mean anything other than when it was made. It has zero effect on a players skill or game knowledge.

 

So….. what’s the point? 

[Displaying first appearance of character?]

Isn’t this kind of bottom-of-the-barrel of things to complain about?

 

I care more about the lives of Tardigrades floating adrift in space on debris left over by past space shuttle missions than someone else’s fictional characters “first appearance” date.

 

Seriously, this is impressively in the “who cares” category. Made 5 years ago? Don’t care. Made 5 minutes ago? Still don’t care. And I find other people caring this much about other peoples first appearances mildly amusing.

[Is the slash command enterdoor considered an exploit (e.g. during Halloween TOT outdoors)]

I don’t see why not? Macros have pretty much always been a part of the game as far as I’m aware. There is even more things you can do with macros, some of which are much more egregious. 
 

As far as I’m aware there’s no rule against using them either.

[Why a Brute?]

My favorite and best brute is savage/bio. 
 

Overall, tanks do more aoe and are more survivable with most power combinations. Not all, but most. 
 

Another thing is that tankers get more from +damage than brutes do, such as super strength. 
 

I think where brutes shine, is fast paced teams where they can keep their fury up, and some mechanics like bleed or dot damage is affected by brute fury bonus. 
 

None of this is to say brutes are “bad.” If you like being an angryboi, then I say to heck with the math and have fun. I think most differences would be minor in comparison, and there are circumstances where a brute can shine. Spines/fire certainly, or even a fire/fire brute can be great. I’ve even done a dual wield and battle axe brute and they both were great.

 

So I say if you are enjoying it, then stick with it. Comparison is the thief of joy and all that!

[Petless Mastermind. A poor choice.]

I care more about the person playing the build than the build itself. And I would happily team with an entire team full of petless MMs before the kind of person who thinks they can tell other people what they can or can’t play.

[Help me tidy up my Crab!]

34 minutes ago, Maelwys said:

+ Not sure why you're taking Crab Spider Armor AND Wolf Spider Armor on a Crabber that has Fortification? The additional Mez protection it grants is negligible and you're giving up a prime opportunity for a LoTG +7.5% Rech and substantial +Ranged Def in "Combat Training: Defensive".

 

I take both as well but I tend to focus on DEF/RES on my crabbers, and those are great spots to put things like impervium armor: psionic resistance to plug any psi holes you have, or 3 piece unbreakable guard for energy/negative resistance, plus other uniques. I take RoP as well for the same reason, that and its nice to have a panic button.

[How do I contact the Develoeprs here?]

I’ve had the best luck with Dino chicken nuggies and alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

[Non-Brute/Tank farming builds?]

8 hours ago, WumpusRat said:

Depends on the MM, really. 

My bot/FF MM can cruise around in +4/8 in Dark Astoria pretty casually, but that's a pretty specific high-defense build with automated healing due to the maint drone, and I specifically tailored my build to give the bots incarnate-level soft-capped defense.

It's not the most efficient though, that's true.

 

 

Oh for sure, where and what you are farming matters just as much as the AT. I was speaking in generalities.

[Non-Brute/Tank farming builds?]

@shmurtypants thoughts come to mind.

 

The first, is you “can” farm with MMs, but unless you are multi boxing, it’s far from efficient or stress free. Playing 2-3 MMs at once can be fairly fast, but it takes skill and practice.

 

But what I do now is play whatever you want, but have 2 tanks/brutes on follow. I am currently farming on my crabber SoA, and I have one Savage/Bio brute and a spines/bio tanker on follow auto casting their AoEs. So I can pretty much farm whatever I like with that setup. You don’t really even need two, one would be doable, it’s just faster with 2. 
 

No muss, no fuss, smooth and easy farming even on 4/8.

[How do you feel about 'lone wolfing'?]

2 hours ago, ZemX said:

 

I don't really because I keep hearing it's for the challenge and.... that doesn't add up.  It has to be more than that because the same or greater challenge can be had solo.   Which means the people doing this lone wolfing either want an audience for their greatness or they just want to benefit from the increased XP that a team gives them, which is somewhat ironic considering a few of the comments up-thread about not wanting to "carry" weaker teammates.   I suppose it's also possible they think splitting away is better for the whole team, but that's very debatable. 

 

It would be a more interesting discussion to have than the one we've been having at least.

I don’t claim to speak for anyone but myself, but I can offer alternative possibilities.

 

The reasons why need not be malicious in nature. Some people including myself enjoy “red lining” the engine so to speak. Pushing a build or even a concept build as far as you can.

 

It might also depend on the enemy or mission in question. Some enemies like carnies can be pita. Missions like “kill all” might certainly be faster if people split up. The same goes for “finding the McMuffin” objectives.

 

I doubt splitting up on missions is for any kind of ego, as it’s not really a feat that’s impressive. Soloing an itf is impressive. Soloing GMs and AVs are impressive. Getting a ton of vet levels is impressive.

 

And this isn’t considering the inexplicable. Someone may have taken a wrong turn, or just isn’t paying attention. They might have been enjoying a few adult beverages and have impaired judgment. They might just be on “autopilot” mode.

 

Point is, is there are many other possible reasons why someone heads off alone before trying to show off or act with ill intentions. If bad intentions were their goal, I can think of many far worse things than running off by themselves that they could be doing. Overpulling mobs for example, or trying to deliberately wipe the group or sabotage the mission’s come to mind.

 

As long as it doesn’t cause problems, I don’t mind if people run off. Others might agree. The only thing that really bugs me is when stealth people sprint to the glowie, skipping “everything.” 
 

But it’s okay to like different things. But others liking different things than you doesn’t make them bad, wrong, or malicious.

 

If these things are so terrible, I would respectfully ask what makes them so terrible? What was the impact on the mission? Did it cause it to fail somehow? Asking in earnest here, because tone of voice is difficult to convey only through text.

[How do you feel about 'lone wolfing'?]

28 minutes ago, Andreah said:

 

The way I don't play with them, on the team I created, recruited, and manage, is that I boot them off. A hard requirement for being a level 50 on my teams when we're doing content open to all levels is that you help carry the lowbies by staying with the main group. And when they're tough super-powerful 50's, they'll come back and help carry other people's new alts, too. 

 

You may say, oh I leveled myself up to 50 solo and have no obligation to carry anyone else's low level alt. You're right, go make your own team, you'll be booted from mine.

 

I agree. Booting is allowed and is one of the ways to play “with someone else.”

 

I can count on my fingers the number of times I’ve booted people. Most of the time it didn’t have anything to do with how they played, but what they said. They might have been rude and bossy, or something they said was a hot or sensitive issue that I don’t care to see in my personal leisure time.

 

The thing about booting is, there’s no rules for it. If you want to split hairs, you don’t even need a reason.

 

If you want to control how other people play, be the leader. But with that if someone doesn’t like how the leader leads, then people can leave or form their own teams. Someone who is too overbearing or controlling might find people leaving suddenly, perhaps even at the most inconvenient time. Especially if they are going for a badge or hard mode or something.

 

The “play nice with others” goes both ways. I’ve left toxic leaders before, and took no small amount of satisfaction in doing so. People aren’t obligated to do things “your way” even if you are the leader.

[How do you feel about 'lone wolfing'?]

14 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

 

First, I started playing in 2004 as well. So you have no seniority over me as far as game play.

 

You are overly defensive toward power-leveling (replying to my comment about power-leveling through AE-farm door sitting and joining level-50 radio mission teams) by extrapolating my comment into a bunch of other instances that I did not state.

 

 

Sure. There is nothing in the CoC says that say you can't ruin other players game experience by doing what you are stating.

I don't think that you care about what other players think if you think that behaving in that manner to teammates on a team of characters that are leveling is your right regardless of what the rest of the group thinks.

 

If you are on my team doing that, you are going to get warned and then you are going to get the boot.

... and, guess what, that isn't against the CoC either.

 

Also, if I'm not having fun on a team - for example if there is someone on a team that is doing what you are suggesting that someone would like to do for "fun" - then I would most likely leave the team as politely as I could at the soonest opportunity. 

If other people on the team complained about a character doing what you are suggest, then I would also complain to the team leader about it. And, if there were enough complaints, I would hope that the team lead woud boot that character from the team.

If a teammate complained and I backed them up, and the team lead came back with ... say "Oh, he's a friend of mine. It's fine", then I would most likely immediately leave the team.

 

Other players are free to behave as they like as long as they aren't breaking the CoC.

Outside of that, we can state what we as players feel to be respectable conduct. You have expressed yours. I have expressed mine.

It doesn't appear that either of us will change our minds on our stances.

 

The game provides us with tools to use against players that we find to have issues that we would rather not game with/deal with during our gaming time when we are trying to have "fun".

For example, if I feel someone is behaving in a way that I have to boot them from a team, I may very well put them on ignore so that I can't see them sending tells to try to join teams that I'm recruiting for (at least until they spill out the otherside of the very short - in my opinion - ignore list).

The same could go for someone that is "steamrolling" content instead of playing as part of a team.

 

I'm sure there are those that don't care. I do. Other players to.

I think it is important in life to be respectful of other people.

I don't think it is respectful to join a team and then not play as part of the team because you would rather solo because being a teammate is boring.

That is how I see it.

 

 

Good for you. You have found what you like.

I have found that I do not like the end-game, but not simply because of the behavior/mind-set of L337 end-gamers.

 

I have 3 50's here. Last 50 dinged probably well over a year ago, but I don't keep track.

I am not going to get another 50. I'm level-locking/turning off XP at 49 if a character gets that far.

Most of the time, I level-lock.turn off XP at the level of power that I feel is rational to that character's conception and/or to avoid leveling past content that I want them to play before continuing to level or to have them available to play content at or around that level.

 

So there you go. We are looking at this from two different angles/viewpoints.

 

Of course, you support level 50's joining lower level content, not playing as part of the team, and steamrolling lower-level content because apparently you are that kind of gamer.

It is what you do. It is how you play. Therefore you support it.

 

 

makes no sense.

 

 

If you had been paying attention this thread, I thumbs down one of  your posts because I read it while reading other posts on this thread.

 

And, my reply was to the OP and what they are asking and not ot other people's posts.

At least come of the posts on communication I gave the thumbs up or thanks ... but ... if I remember correctly ... some of them might have said things that I disagreed with so I either didn't react to it or reacted to it negatively.

 

Yes. Communication is important if a teammate is acting in a way that someone on the team disagrees with for one reason or another.

That can be through /team channel or by /t to the team lead so that they can deal with the situation as they see fit.

 

 

lol.

I already do that.

Maybe you should pay more attention. Like maybe check my post count.

 

 

I'm not "demonizing" anyone.

You are being overly defensive because you support the kind of behavior that I find disrespectful.

I guess I hit a nerve - which was kind of the point.

 

Other people don't like the kind of behavior that is being discussed.

Just because people that like to play that way support it, doesn't mean that the 7 other players on the team appreciate that behavior.

 

Players that "lone wolf" - run off and do their own thing while they are on a team - should know that other players are on a team are on a team to be playing as a team and they aren't door sitters there to increase the mob-size for the level 50 that wants to steamroll the content.

 

In general, if you are on at team. It is respectful to stay with the team and not run off and do your own thing.

 

If you are level 50 and you can steam roll the content, maybe that player should be the one to ask the team lead in /team for them to steamroll the content so that not only the team lead, but all they team can decide on how they want to "enjoy" their game time. That way that team lead can make it clear to the team from the start that they expect.

So yeah. The 50 can communicate as well.

... and maybe if you are a level 50 on a team and you are bored with the content, you can quit and find something else to do that isn't boring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By all means, let us pay heed to that giant pile of gabby-gook word salad from someone who by their own admission doesn’t play their level 50’s on what the correct way to play a level 50 is.

 

Please, rain down upon us your hidden secret knowledge, shower us with your continence based upon your lofty self appointed superiority. We all hold such platitudes in the highest regard, kiss elbow promise!

 

Yea but no. This is a “sandbox” game. People can all play and enjoy the game differently. There is no “right”, “correct,” or “wrong” way to play.

 

If you style clashes with others, then just don’t play with them. It’s fairly simple. But what nobody gets to do is lecture other people on how to play or have fun. And unless you name has “HC staff” next to it, than your opinion is just that - an opinion. Not a fact. Certainly not a law or rule. And you most certainly don’t get to pretend that you are the sole arbitrary authority on what is or is not correct.

 

Dont like someone? Don’t play with them. Go do your own thing with other people. No need to crow about it, no need to stand on your soapbox and address the ignorant masses on why your sole objective and style is the only correct one. 
 

Just put them on ignore, give them a 1 star to remind yourself, and press on with life. 

[Thoughts on Fold Space Etiquette on Leagues and Teams]

3 hours ago, Sanguinesun said:

 

Except the issue people are getting upset with in the ToT leagues in PI and Kalista Warf is that its 1 person who -NEVER- joins the leagues there and multiboxes their MM's -every year-  all day  and every day of the event for years now who then teleports away the EB's into the middle of their parked multiboxing mms to kill/tag.  

I would like to go on record in saying that even though I have a few posts about multi boxing MMs, this is not me! 😆

 

In seriousness though, I can guarantee that unless they are using software to multibox, it’s more difficult for them to control and maneuver their pets than a group of random people tagging it. Long as you get a hit in, you should get credit. And if it’s on +4 it will take them time to chew down any EB. 
 

Another option is just to teleport it back? But correct me if I’m wrong here, but I thought EB’s couldn’t be teleported? Or am I thinking something else?

[Thoughts on Fold Space Etiquette on Leagues and Teams]

2 hours ago, biostem said:

IMHO, if the rest of the team isn't expecting it or are just unfamiliar with the power, then it can lead to some confusion or frustration - kind of like folks using intangibility powers on enemies...

 I meant be flexible as the fold space user, not everyone else. 😆

[How do you feel about 'lone wolfing'?]

I don’t mind as long as it doesn’t mess up the mission or if the lone wolf bites off more than they can chew and blames others. I hasten to add not all of them do this, but some do. Long as you aren’t expecting people to follow you then I am fine with it.
 

I have bigger issues with stalkers who just sneak to the glowy, click and dip out as soon as possible without helping kill things. I mean if you are just going to sprint to the clicky what’s the point? That’s missed exp, inf, salvage and recipes. Why bother teaming if that’s what you are going to be doing?

[Best Non-Blaster ranged for fast moving teams]

To add another suggestion is an SoA.

 

You support the team just by being there. No effort to buff needed. The SoA maneuvers toggle alone is 16% all defense. Then there’s tactics and assault to.

 

The new  Leviathan pool is awesome on Crabbers. Your venom grenade and acid spew both have -resists that stack, especially for -toxic resist. Then you follow up with Bile Spray for an AoE toxic dot. Then you have spirit shark and your other crabby attacks. And nearly all of your attacks have built in debuffs. Either-res or - defense.

 

Most people build crabbers for recharge for permapets, which is possible but takes a lot to get there, and takes a ton of slots doing it. 
 

But I actually prefer to build my crabbers differently. I build mine for flying and durability. Some don’t realize that you can get up to 85% resistance on a crabber, and it’s pretty easy to get the defense soft cap. You can be pretty dang tough as a crabber, there were times I was tougher than the tanker on the team.

 

So my crabber is a flying artillery piece that both buffs and debuffs with great AoE, but kind of meh single target. Fully capable of soloing +4/8 difficulty, but you don’t have the tools to solo GMs or AVs. You won’t be few big numbers, but you will see a stream of constant AoE damages. Another downside is you have to plan your endurance use carefully as running so many toggles at a time is very hungry on your blue bar. 

 

And a crabber performs well on almost any kind of team. So if you like being a tough flyer with great aoe, buffs and built in debuffs give a crabber a look.

 

PS - just got home and decided to show a screenie of the mids. No holes, End holds up well, fantastic defenses for a flyer, and protects them with both elusive maneuvers and -def debuff protection from Ageless. Lowest resists are 68%. Even has good PSI resistance! This is just her with toggles on, no barrier, no RoP (though she has that too).

 

Note - don't be fooled by the melee/ranged/aoe DEF, that's just Elusive Maneuvers when its on. The actual combat values are 45/45/38.

 

 

I've given thought to trying a build focusing on Toxic damage via venom grenade, artic breath, bile spray, even poison stuff from experimental pool. But haven't figured a build for that yet, but hoping toxic dart might help with the ST dps with all the -toxic resist it would bring into play. But that's a project on the back burner. This is my main Crabby setup and it works fantastic for me.

[Thoughts on Fold Space Etiquette on Leagues and Teams]

Don’t recall Fold Space ever being mentioned good or bad in a league.

 

On teams though, it depends. If there is a tank or brute on the team, or even some scrappers, I tend to view them as the anchor. They are the ones who decide where we engage. 90% of the time it’s where the enemies spawned, but not always. I usually wait until they have a nice big pile before doing anything, and I usually use fold space to pull enemies who are staying ranged into the pile, or pull runners into the taunt aura.

 

On teams without a tanker or brute, it’s kind of the Wild West. It takes a few pulls to see what the dynamic will be. Sometimes in such cases it’s me on my MM or SoA that plants the flag, but just as often it’s a controller or dominator locking things down who decides.

 

So to me when it comes to tools like fold space, the key is to be flexible. Some circumstances call for it, others don’t. It depends on the team and difficulty. On some teams things die so fast that fold space isn’t even really necessary.

[MM primary also with matching secondary? (best synergy)]

Complimentary pairings are good, but others can be just as good too.

 

Robots/EA can be fantastic, even though one is defense and the other is resist.

 

Robots/Dark is another great pairing.

 

Demons/dark, demons and thugs pair with just about everything.

 

/Time goes well with any pet set too.

 

 I think it might be more important to sit and plan out a build, so you can get an idea of what your final values will be. And some things like debuff numbers aren’t always obvious either.

 

Anyway, tldr is you can make any pairing “work.” The biggest differences will be in play style, and how high of a difficulty you can solo. But don’t forget, sometimes the builds that don’t solo well, can prove to be some of the best support on a team too, especially on hard modes where debuffing is often what sets the tone of the team.