Rigged

My point is not moot. I certainly don't object to an addition of what you suggest, but my point is to inform people about this discrepancy in the sell prices between regular vendors (26% or less) and these specific ones (40%, which means you can buy a new SO for every 2.5 SOs you sell). This serves two purposes: 1) it provides an option for everyone to use just in case the devs do not implement your suggestion and 2) it helps your case by refuting everyone above who states it would be unbalanced or be too beneficial, because as I said a cheaper alternative already exists (2.5 SOs vs 3) with even less restrictions (no gatekeeping by type/origin/level), it's just less convenient. This is why I suggest gaining access to a player base with the vendor, by the way - convenience. There is a base portal in every PVE zone except Cimmerora/Ouroboros/Midnight Squad (which have their own vendors anyway - and I sometimes pop into Ouro specifically to sell to Roebuck), or you can just use a base teleporter. Using your base teleporter also has the added convenience of putting you back at the exact spot you teleported from, if you exit by the entry portal. I certainly would support even more convenience, such as a temp power that summons a vendor in the same manner that we have the portable workbench, but how convenient things get is not my decision. Seriously though, a summonable vendor would be incredibly convenient, much more useful, and much easier to implement than an enhancement combine system. I'm just going to guess though that this kind of convenience is going to be opposed to all the difficulty purists who complain the game is too easy now. I do have to ask you to clarify the implementation of your suggestion though - for your 3 enhancements, do you get a random type for an enhancement of the same origin/level or do you get to pick? I presume it's the latter - how would it work if the latter? There are 26 enhancement types, so are you suggesting we put in a gigantic menu (similar to the 8-option insp combine one, just gigantic with 26 options) from which you click? Or are you suggesting a combine window where you drag 3 enhancements in, click a specific enhancement type to output (again from a gigantic 26-option menu) and then click "combine"? Either way sounds very cumbersome as far as the UI goes, because the devs will have to code in output options for each of the 5 origins, so that would be 5x26=130 in all... why not just do a summonable vendor? See, I don't want to put down your suggestion, but you have to clarify what the implementation is going to look like.

As I said, you can certainly ask. But if you are asking the devs very specifically for a new powerset with light blasts with -tohit in all attacks called Light Blast, I am just going to guess you are destined for disappointment. In the meantime consider Radiation Blast instead, which has no knockback. Light is after all a type of radiation. This is not "imagine it is light". Light is radiation. No imagining needed. Alternatively, you can also play a Peacebringer which has entirely light blast attacks, you just have to tolerate the fact that their powerset is called Luminous Blast. Again, please consider not being so attached to the powerset name. Consider the animations, power FX etc that best matches the idea you want. Just because the devs used a broad, generic name for the powerset does not mean it cannot represent your concept. This is like complaining that Martial Arts is not good enough for you because you insist on using a powerset called Karate.

Thank you for confirming that you solely want to argue for the sake of arguing and not to actually discuss the point. As I said, I have no desire to discuss lore with you. Oh well, that's not a problem then, since we can't use any NPC supers' names! Not at all. The only way you think it could apply to player characters is if you consider players and their experiences no more important than the unintelligent NPCs. Because players see their own characters a lot more often than "briefly on your screen". Also, whether you are in favor of the OP does not change what I said about you /jrangering everything you do not have personal interest in. And I am saying that the old rule isn't relevant because the HC devs don't have the same direct connection with the NPCs the way that Positron was literally Matt Miller's old Champions character. In any case, the HC devs clearly did not object to adding Infernal's Axe to the available weapons along with the once-forbidden Malaise colors. Perhaps they made special exceptions for those, but it's more likely that the actual restriction on adding more pieces is either technical difficulty or quality control, issues that the two mentioned staves do not suffer (since neither axe nor pattern require color customization or adapting to body shapes, being a weapon and texture respectively). This can be overcome, but it's man-hours they have to prioritize. Although for all we know maybe they are saving these spears for a future x/x/spear epic (hero patron) power pool. Valkyrie does after all have a neato spear-throwing animation to hijack.

This is already in the game, and is not restricted by SO type, origin or level. It's called selling to the right vendor and buying what you want. Julia Pria in Cimmerora, Mender Roebuck in Ouroboros, the Midnighter Store, and the Vanguard Quartermaster (the latter two can be placed in player bases) will buy ANY SO at 40% sell price. Additionally Origin store contacts will buy the respective Origin SOs at 40% sell price. Most other vendors buy SOs at 26% or less. So in fact, you can not only convert 2 1/2 SOs to another, but you get to pick the specific SO you want. The OP's suggestion (3 SOs for a random SO?) is in fact a bit of a nerf. I advise creating your own player base to sell to. Put up the vanguard quartermaster and sell everything to them.

You are just being pedantic for the sake of it. You know exactly what I mean. Even if we accept your idea that there are a limited number of alternate dimensions (I have no desire to debate lore with you), there is no such thing as one-of-a-kind items in an infinite multiverse. Perhaps you should tell the Flash about the case he has against Professor Zoom, I'm sure that'll work out. Even in the comic book genre, characters rip each other off constantly. You are free to inform the current players of the old reasons but there is literally no reason we have to adhere to them. Saying "No we can't change it because maybe the HC devs want to keep the same old rule as Live" is not a valid refutation. The entire point of the suggestion forum is so we can make our case to the HC devs why a silly rule like this should be abolished. Well, that's a very interesting admission that you consider every other player's experience to be unimportant, on par with NPCs. That response does explain your "If it isn't something that I want personally I'll /jranger it" attitude towards everything in this forum. Yes that's what a suggestion forum is actually for.

This is a poor argument. You can certainly ask for stuff. But when someone else says "You know, light is energy and you can color energy blast white so it's light, and light is also Radiation and you can color Radiation Blast light too", it is not reasonable to say "well then no one should ask for anything ever again". If you are telling me that you must have a powerset called Light Blast and you cannot use a powerset called Radiation Blast even though Radiation blast does EXACTLY what you would expect Light Blast to do and LOOKS exactly like what Light Blast should look like, then I have bad news for you because I suspect you will find yourself very often disappointed. Yes this. The key is the animations and the power effects.

This idea that NPC items have to be unique to them is very silly. None of us, in the real world, are superheroes or have magic or super-tech, but in the real world we are perfectly capable of recreating the appearance of whatever the heck we want, and amateur cosplayers do it all the time. If, in the real world, I wanted to make a spear that looked exactly like Valkyrie's or Shadow Hunter's, or even crap like Statesman's faceplate, I definitely could. Let alone the methods available to actual superheroes inside our game, with access to exotic materials, equipment, tools, and magic. If my character wanted a shawl that looked like Swan's they would be able to sew one with little trouble. For that matter, in our game lore there is no such thing as one-of-a-kind. We have alternate dimensions, and there are an infinite number of them, including an infinite number of alternate versions of an alternate dimension. It is not a small part of the game, either, being 90% of the lvl 50 content (Praetorians, Shadow Shard, Rikti, and probably more that I have forgotten) and an entire expansion. I could find a spear that is from an alternate War Earth where Valkyrie tripped on a rock and cracked her skull open before popping into ours. Whoops, I'm the m*********g Valkyrie now. Heck I don't even have to go that far. Since my characters are mostly villains, I could go to that alternate dimension and murder the NPC for their costume. Heck I could go to lots of War Earths and murder alternate Valkyries until I found a spear that was blue. Stop worshipping the NPCs. They are set dressing and not important, and in fact many of the so-called iconic characters like certain members of the Vindicators barely have a backstory or screen time, making them even less important. The most important characters are our player characters, and in fact we are the only important characters ever since the game died and the NPCs are no longer the avatars of the original developers. The only reasons we should pass on a costume item is if it is difficult to port to players on a technical level or for quality control, not because some jumped-up bit extra has to look oh-so unique. And because I know some naysayer (we all know who they are) is going to say, "Oh it'd be lame if we can use the same stuff as the NPC", my response is, "Yeah well, that's just like your opinion, man".

"You exist because we allow it, and you will end when we demand it."

You are critically misunderstanding the mechanics of the market. You are not going to win ANYTHING offering an "average price". Get that out of your head right now. The market is an auction. The winner of the auction is not the guy who bids the average. The winner is the guy who bids then HIGHEST. You must WIN the bids, and WIN them by offering the HIGHEST price, not the AVERAGE. Yearly median price is useless. If you want to pay the yearly median price, expect to wait for months. The last few bids - granted, having more than 5 would help - are what you need to know if you want to buy in FIVE DAYS. You need to offer at least as much as the last bid, and more if you think someone else offered more than that. There is no way at all to corner a market on anything that you can use a enhancement converter to convert to. Learn how to use an enhancement converter and you will understand how stupid the concept of market manipulation is for yourself. If indeed someone is buying up all the enhancements to sell at stupid high prices, then all you have to do is use converters to make those enhancements and undercut them to make a killing. Learn how the market works and you will similarly learn how Sisyphean the task of manipulating it is - a process bound to fail unless the pool of marketers shrinks even further. Yes that is right, if you reduce the number of marketers, manipulating the market becomes even easier. You want to punish marketers, but you fail to realize that in this game, the marketers are the ones creating the supply. The converter is the tool they use for this. No, it is not farmers, it is not regular players like you, it is marketers who create the goods. Do you really think players farm enough LOTGs to sell at 6m each when just about everyone buys five? Have you any idea how much they cost on Live back when converters were highly limited? If things are too expensive for you, it is not because someone is manipulating the market, it is because lots of people want to buy the item for the exact same reason you do, and there are not enough marketers to fill that demand.

No, there is no change to the actual actor. Both of these functions can also apply to the player character. The game uses GrantPower on you all the time, most prominently in the Hybrid Slot Incarnate powers and the same function also is how costume powers work. Neither change your actual actor (the character). You are still using your own stats, etc, you just get a new power or you change your costume. This is the case even when you are playing as another character in a flashback, like the mission where you play as Tyrant Cole - GrantPower hands you a new power bar using the same mechanics and changes your costume (whole body) to Tyrant's. Once the mission is over, GrantPower fades, removing the bar and the costume. You do have a point, however, in that the granted costume power might be a "full costume" power, overriding the minion costume entirely as opposed to just adding the sword, etc, which can include customization changes for the purposes of this thread. I have a question then for those who happen to play on *that other server*. Does anyone know what happens there, visually, when a Ninja MM uses Kuji-In Zen to upgrade their henchmen? Did they change the upgrade power to no longer grant the costume, or does the costume only add the sword, etc?

OK I think I see the issue. In https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=mastermind_summon.ninjas.kuji_in_zen&at=mastermind as part of the upgrade, the power uses GrantPower Mastermind_Pets.Genin_3.Costume1, which changes the costume. This is only for the 2nd Ninjas upgrade (Kuji-In Zen). Train Ninjas does not have an associated costume grant power. But this does raise the question: is this costume change for the entire model, or is it one of those costumes that just adds a costume part?

No see, this is the exact reference I was using too. The mechanic I was discussing is in the upgrade power: https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=mastermind_summon.ninjas.train_ninjas&at=mastermind This is how it (supposedly) works: The upgrade power uses GrantPower on each pet, granting for instance: Mastermind_Pets.Genin_2.Storm_Kick, Which is the Storm Kick power. The power is just called Genin_2 to make it easier to distinguish for internal reference. Can you point to me if I am mistaken and there is some mechanic which replaces Genin with Genin_2?

Are they actually hardcoded by upgrade? I had the impression the power mechanic uses GrantPower, which adds the powers to an NPC, not creates a new one with the same HP and END.

I suspect the justification for leaving off Shield Defense from Sentinels was likely animation-related. I can't imagine any mechanical or balance reason, barring AAO normally needing to be in melee range to get bonuses. Why not just give a fixed damage buff for sentinels instead, the way Invincibility works for Sentinels and Stalkers? If this is indeed the case, could we possibly explore using a different set of animations? Like, maybe Force-field Defense, where instead of shield charge you have "Overload Shield"? We could use the Force Field animations the way Thermal used Fiery Aura animations. This is just a suggestion; we could just as easily pick something else like Sonic Defense and use the Sonic Resonance animations. We could even proliferate this set so people could use the Shield Defense mechanics without actually having to carry a shield, or to use it in melee powersets that do not allow you to pick Shield Defense, like Titan Weapons and Staff Melee.

Actually, since I have not read in full the previous arguments for and against MM customization, has this specifically been addressed? For those unfamiliar, allow me to explain: a very large part of MM pet customization discussion revolves around *that other server's* feature, which allows full costume customization of MM pets with at least a little jank. The tolerance level for this jank varies by individual, is hence controversial and argued to death, and is not related to the OPs suggestion so let's not get too far into it. However, this suggestion by the OP specifically uses the currently existing system for pet customization seen in controllers, where you get to choose which color they are (green fire imps, etc). How much more feasible is this? I would actually be very satisfied with just being able to choose my minion's uniforms or my robots' paint jobs. I may not need to get Clown Summoning if I can change all my thugs to wear bright pink and green.

Have not done a starred ASF, so I don't understand: what about the Aeon SF makes the starred version so much harder than other starred TFs? If you can do the starred ITF I presume the starred ASF is not particularly more challenging. I have only done the ASF a couple of times myself, but I have a different point of view: It is sadly destined to become like so many other unpopular TFs because of how long it is, run only when it is the WST. I read the writing but personally was annoyed I could not follow the long conversations during briefings. Only the TF leader can do that. If you ask me, the golden roller mission should have been a separate trial, removing the optional objectives to shorten it. The rest of the missions being the main TF would have been fine.

All in the title. Alternate sprint animation with a big hamster ball. Not very hard to implement since there are no new animations and the model is just a transparent sphere with some airholes. Please consider, devs. EDIT: Please consider a version that triggers the travel power stance so I can use the beast run animation in it.

Actually, while the fly/mystic flight/void skiff/carpet options have already been discussed, it would be nice to have more options for the purchased jetpack, just for variety and theme. This feels like a low-priority, high-effort change though, since it would require new art assets. For now, using the tech-themed jetpacks is perfectly fine but it seems like a possible consideration if HC ever gets more volunteer 3D modelers.

Oh man I remember that! We used to call it the "smell my foot" attack. Might be fun if we could get that as an alt animation for Flurry and Shadow Maul.

I have no comment on the threads/shards issue, but I am wondering: How feasible would it be to unify all the thread-based (itrials and DA arc) incarnate salvage in each rarity tier? By this I mean, why not make ONE generic common salvage, ONE generic uncommon salvage, ONE generic rare salvage and ONE generic VR salvage, change all the old recipes to use those instead of the specific salvage items (with respective rarity) and make itrials/DA arcs drop ONLY the generic salvage from now on (EDIT: For clarification, no change to the drop rates by rarity, so you will still get the same number of Uncommon, Rare, and VR salvage). Then create an NPC (or just use Luna) or add options to the incarnate window to convert all existing salvage to the generic versions. If you want to make it even easier you can just use an existing salvage in each tier as the generic: let's say, Meditation Techniques, Dimensional Pocket, Semi-Conscious Energy, Living Relic. Then apply all the generic stuff mentioned above to them (make all the recipes use those instead, drop only those in itrials/DA arcs, and allow direct conversion of the other salvage by tier to them). The point of this is to streamline the system, make the system easier to understand for newbies and also to remove a whole bunch of unnecessary conversion recipes from one specific salvage to another (and if you put the legacy conversions on an NPC you also declutter the incarnate window; this is feasible since you will only have to convert legacy salvage once). Now, I want to point out that this is not for my own benefit. I am doing incarnates just fine right now with the current system. But OP does have a point that the system is needlessly complex and I have had to explain to more than one newbie ingame how the incarnate crafting works and during the course of that explanation it really highlighted how pointless the varied incarnate salvage is for each tier. The complexity also makes the system intimidating for newbies. I want to head off the usual naysayers who are going to complain about making things easier - this is not any kind of EZmode nor will it be significantly easier to get your incarnates over the current system - it just makes the system easier to understand. For most people, the process of collecting incarnate salvage is going to be from the menus in trials or by converting threads - so you already get to pick the specific salvage item. The only time you get random nonspecific salvage is from, I believe, badge rewards in the itrials and a random common at the end of a DA arc. This is minor enough that streamlining all the salvage will not particularly change the rate of acquisition of incarnate powers except for the fringe unlucky person who rolls like 20 Biomorphic Goo in a row. And if you are the kind of elitist who thinks people who don't understand the system should not deserve to play with incarnate powers, consider this me pre-emptively flipping you off. If you are so inclined you can also remove the shard system recipes and instead allow players to trade shards and shard salvage (Ancient Nictus Fragment, etc) for the generics, above, then replace the old shard salvage rewards in TFs with the new generic salvage. Make the weekly strike target give out a Generic Rare Salvage instead of the Notice of the Well. This however will make it much easier to grind the incarnates using TFs (shard salvage is currently only for the Alpha slot) so I can understand not including this part of my suggestion - but it WOULD allow us to remove the shard system recipes from the alpha crafting window and make it that much less confusing for newbies.

For heaven's sake I specifically avoided making references (and in fact deleted a whole chunk of my post that did) to the balance of Hasten because I did not want to ignite the literally almost-decades-old discussion on it that derails EVERY SINGLE SPEEDSTER SPEED POOL REVAMP THREAD. I am NOT advocating any change to the status of Hasten, UNLESS the HC devs insist on keeping the speed pool to exactly five powers, meaning that to add a new one would require moving or removing another. I suggest either Hasten or Burnout, because those do not have a speedster-aesthetic animation, that is, they could easily belong to another power pool that is not Speed. I have long ago given up on the Hasten balance question, and I only care about getting more speedster powers. I want a more cohesive speedster pool, only. I am happy to have no changes to the Speed pool if a new Speedster powerset becomes available. If you would like to discuss whether Hasten should be made inherent or whether it should be removed/nerfed because it is overpowered or whether it should be put in a different power pool simply to free up one of the 4 power pools or conversely if you never want it to be changed ever, please consider making a new thread. Because otherwise this is going to end up derailed into another long flame-war where lots of people make the EXACT SAME ARGUMENTS SINCE FRIGGIN BETA, NINETEEN YEARS AGO. That's right, the Hasten argument is OLD ENOUGH TO VOTE.

Yes and I am free to call your nitpicking exactly that. Which I did. Acknowledging that you are a hypocrite doesn't magically give your statement any moral backing. I am well aware of how you respond to people, and frankly that seems to be the forum culture here. I am, as they say, doing in Rome. I have no intention of making a special exception for the devs. The moderators have the power to tighten the rules of civility, and I would gladly adhere to them. That they do not means this is inevitably where we end up. When forum regulars like yourself, Snarky, Wravis, and countless others are consistently peppering their posts with backhanded smartassery, I am compelled to follow. I'm not sure if you realize that it is entirely possible that might be the reason you miss the acidity of your own comments. You can check my earliest posts for the polite way I used to frame everything before adapting to the acidity I received in response. These days I only insist on retaining civility with newbies and people asking for help. Also, let me be perfectly honest here, you are amongst the least qualified (EDIT: on reflection that was a little unfair. There are way worse) not particularly qualified amongst the people in this forum to advocate civility in it. I know. Like I said, you feel compelled to defend against any kind of criticism to the game. I never even addressed the actual suggestion. My opinion on the actual suggestions? Didn't address that quote to you, I addressed that at Crasical. That you happened to be in it is not related to this thread. I'm not sure what you even quoted that for, because you didn't address anything of what I said in it. Did not ask for this. I commented that it didn't really belong but did not ask for it to be taken away (EDIT: and in fact later in the same post I note that the pool version should be less powerful than the blaster version, implying that I don't want blasters to lose it). This is the second time you are taking an issue with something I never asked for. You do understand that we can add things without taking them away, right? I am. But I am have no objection to the idea that it can also be a pool set. Like I said, lots of pools are merely reflections of powers in the AT sets. In the very least, Super Speed needs to stay a travel power and there needs to be a pool to support it. <EDIT: Deleted a whole bunch of crap that might ignite a debate on Hasten's balance that I did not want to derail this discussion with> My issue for the purpose of this post is that I want Burst of Speed available to non-blasters and that the devs might be reluctant to give Speed six powers instead of five, meaning to add it would require removing one of the others. I suggest it be either Hasten or Burnout. I don't object to Hasten staying in the pool or even for the pool to be untouched, if there is an alternative like an AT powerset where we can play the speedster that is an actual genre archetype, in the non-game meaning of the word. In fact, all the issues you have with mechanics I already acknowledged in my original post, where I provided the set suggestion in anticipation of the likelihood of someone, or the devs, not wanting any changes to the pool.

To be fair, Martial Combat is already in many ways a Speedster powerset, considering it has Reaction Time and Burst of Speed. It just lacks a Flurry-style attack. EDIT: Actually, a Flurry-style attack would be very welcome in Martial combat. It can double as both a speedster attack and a reflection of the persistent theme of martial artists hammering enemies in a massive barrage of punches, one of the most well known being Donnie Yen's Ip Man.

I get that this might be asking a bit too much, but I would also like Speedster Melee powers to be available as a blaster or dominator secondary, with possibly additional wind-based range powers to round out the set for those ATs.

This is definitely a way to dismiss valid criticism using personal attacks. And before you say what I am pretty sure you're about to, making fun of their obsessive need to add silly mechanics is absolutely valid criticism of their balance decisions. I even made a constructive suggestion in concession to that obsession, because I acknowledge they want it even though we all know the vast majority of players ignore the mechanics due to the speed of clearing making them pointless past lvl 25 or so because of the way attuned IO set bonuses carry with exemplaring. Even Rudra, in the thread for Storm Cell, advocated ignoring the Storm Cell mechanic when the group is moving fast enough to render it inefficient. One of the rare times I actually agreed with them - stubbornly adhering to mechanics is pointless in any situation where doing so would reduce your efficacy more than the mechanic contributes. Now if your goal is just to make personal attacks, that's fair, and my reply is that you are a poop-head. Please ignore this line if it that was not your intention. It is thoughtful. I just do not feel the need to treat the devs with kid gloves, since they are adults. Rudra, I get that you feel obligated to leap to the defense of the devs every time you see even the faintest criticism appear, but kindly address my issues with balance rather than complaining about how I characterize the set's theme in my post's introduction, or the little jabs I make over the course of it. If your issue is with the jabs themselves (and let's be honest that's probably it) then just call that out specifically and I can address it, like I did Crasical. Also, you don't have to devote lines defending Flurry and SS when I already uphold them in every suggestion I made - I assume the reader is entirely capable of figuring out themselves how I feel about it and I assume you are intelligent enough to do it too. Or take the power to begin with. Yes I know unwise people do it all the time and I don't object to the idea that they do. Certainly not me, so I don't know what that whole paragraph is about. I said it sucks because we don't have a speedster melee powerset. I didn't advocate removing the pool. Please look at the first line of Proposal 2 - I suggest adding a Speedster Melee set if the devs do not want to revamp the Speed Pool. This would allow a player to play the classic speedster without having to lean so hard on pool powers which are under 1/4 the effectiveness of an AT power. If there is a Speedster Melee powerset I would have no objection to keeping the Speed pool as is, for those people who want to take the powers for entirely thematic reasons while using other powersets (even other melee powersets).