Doc_Scorpion

No, we don't need them to be more useful than IOs. We just need them to be a viable alternative to IOs. And given their current costs and the speed of leveling... The problem with SOs is as much economics as anything functional. I've repeatedly seen people being urged to use IOs not because they're functionally better* but because they're cheaper. And the same reason (expense) is sometimes given for not enhancing at all until you're in your twenties and thirties or even waiting until you respec into an endgame build. * Other than not expiring, they're functionally worse until you're in your 20's.

It wouldn't because it wouldn't outweigh the 1,234,917,547,832 other reasons that people dislike redside. (Some of which @tidge alluded to and which we need not further belabor as the details are irrelevant.)

Which also earns you badges...

Reminds me of a discussion we'd sometimes have when I was in the Navy... Over the type of captain you'd want to go to sea with and the type of captain you'd want to go to war with. (The canonical example of the latter was a certain CO known throughout the Fleet as the "Terrible T". One mean SOB who treated the crew like shit and ran them right to the ragged edge... But who was also well known for his technical and tactical acumen.) So while Blue Steel isn't exactly the nicest guy around... He's also the kind of guy that sometimes you want to have around because sometimes there's just no other way. The practical dilemma is how to keep him bottled up when you don't need him. The moral dilemma is whether it's acceptable to keep him around at all. My heroes are mostly... just heroes. They have no particular reason to be heroes other than a vague sense of that's what they're supposed to be. There's not a lot of deep thought involved because in the main I don't have a lot of headcanon as to their morals and motivations. (Except the Doc himself, who loathes the Rikti with a blinding passion, and there's some backstory there.)

That's already in work.

Yeah, I'm discovering the trollers and fenders have a pretty easy time of it if they're 20ish+ and have decent heals/buffs on hand. (MM's thinking like fenders/treating the audience as pets also do well.) 90% of keeping completion times down solo is (IMO) turning down the mish difficulty and keeping as much of the audience as possible alive through the first round of combat. EA with it's ranged group heals and buffs is a real standout in that respect.

Norton does not like programs that aren't used by a large number of people... I've had it false positive on a variety of niche stuff over the years. But it's a long time since it pinged a false positive on COH/H for me.

Looking at https://modthesims.info/ts2/ (my source of mods back in the day) it looks like the Sims2 modding scene is alive and well. Maybe not as big as it was back in it's heyday, but it's never really died completely.

You don't even have to do anything but click Posi and haul tail and hang out by the door... Manti and Pschye can clear the mish on their own without any player intervention. It's boring as heck and takes 15-20 mins, but it can be done. Also, by setting the wrong mish on a team this morning, discovered that a team exemped down to lvl 11 can still complete this mish pretty easily. @Cobalt Arachne You really nailed this one but good. Bravo Zulu.

If you use the "stay" command, then there is a leash that prevents them from moving more than (IIRC) 20 feet from that spot. I regularly use goto/stay to reposition my bots. Not quite what you're asking for, but very useful for pets with ranged attacks.

Things I've learned after a number of solo runs with my kinda ok/average toons of various archetypes and levels and my own kinda ok/average self at the keyboard: - Let Manti and Psyche tank for you. - Completion time seems to hover around 15mins no matter what I do. I've had a couple of anomalously short runs with EA defenders (ranged group heals and buffs), but that seems to be luck of the dice as much as any contribution I made. - Being able to pick off non AVs doesn't seem to help much WRT time. - Let Manti and Psyche tank for you.

Keeping your pets, your key (practically only) source of offensive firepower, alive is the core skill for the Mastermind. That's why all MM secondaries are defensive and/or healing powersets in the first place. And it's much less a matter of which set than it is learning how to use your chosen set. Knowing when to summon (and upgrade) your pets is a skill all Masterminds must master. You don't necessarily need them all out all the time. (I often skip calling out my T3's when playing on teams. That allows me to concentrate on keeping my T2's and T3 alive and in the fight.)

If you were running the hero version, that sounds like a known bug. Otherwise, drop a bug report in the bugs forum.

Just ran it once, looks like I need to plan lots of AFK time for my squishies. (It's easy to get a team now, that's gonna tail off after a week or so at most.)

Any hints on passively soloing it?

I won't ground rule out the existence of people who like being villains yet snub red side because of some weird hangup about Mercy's map... But I can't image there's any significant number. No, red side has always had a dramatically lower population than blue side. Write that on a sticky note and put it on your monitor. Every time you get the impulse to propose some magic thing that will magically change that, re read the note until the impulse passes.

They've re-released both for the games 25th anniversary... The Sims 2 bundle, which includes all the expansion packs save 1, is only 29.99. I played the ever-lovin' heck out of Sims 2 back in the day. (Until a disk crash took out a 10 generation game I had untold hours invested in across about six years. After that I just couldn't.) But do I really want to spend 29.99 just to discover that you can't go home again? Especially given how much money I have invested in Sims 4.

Nit: Power, not Powers. You only receive one, appropriate to your selected origin, when your character is created. That is, two of the three powers in your initial post come from the S.T.A.R.T. vendor and are Prestige Attacks. (Unless you've revoked your Origin Power at the S.T.A.R.T. vendor, in which case it's possible all three are Prestige Attacks rather than Origin Powers.)

No, thank you. I do not need CoX listed alongside Sims 4 and Planet Crafters and telling me how much time I've wasted. 😅😅😅

Don't be a hoarder... Especially of common and uncommon salvage, or DOs/SOs, or generic IOs, or... well, of pretty much everything that isn't rare salvage or IOs.

Use the XP lock.

I have no idea how. I didn't do anything to make it happen, it just happens. I'm just reporting my experience. @lemming Yeah, now that you mention it that sounds about right.

I've moved my base teleporter out of the entrance area and into an alcove off the main room. (I don't remember why I did that, it seemed a good idea at the time) They followed me from room to room (four, connected by hallways) without a problem.

Per your initial post, you didn't ask for the to Go To, you asked for them to Follow. Either way, I just went and tested with one of my MM's, and my bots followed me around my (relatively small) base just fine. Goto only worked in the same room.

Might be best to post this as a standalone question where would be more visible.