Luminara

Isn't there already a doppelganger system in place? I'm certain I encountered that years ago, both solo and on a team. That system would be comparatively easy to adapt to a nemesis system. Comparatively. I can also speculate with a high of confidence that the long-term goal of that existing doppelganger system was giving players their own arch-enemies. It was a frequent request on the original forums, and the original development team was always keen to deliver features which the majority of players wanted. So, presuming that living in a magical forest hasn't clouded my memory, the real speed bump here is implementation. With the existing doppelganger system copied, modified and set in place to create a unique arch-enemy for each character, how the system is implemented becomes the crucial factor. Does the nemesis have its own story arc and/or task/strike force(s), or does it merely appear in random missions, replacing standard bosses? Would it appear once per level? Three times per level? Once every five levels? How does the doppelganger spawn, meaning, does it respect the player's difficulty setting, or is it always a boss (or EB, or lieutenant, or AV, or...)? Would the defeat of the arch-enemy be a requirement for progression, or would it be something they could skip? Should this "Surprise, it's your nemesis!" foe appear when players are teamed, or exclusive to solo play? If it spawns when a player is teamed, do all teammates potentially spawn arch-enemies? If it spawns as EB or higher when teamed, does that create a sense of resentment and unwelcomeness for players who opted into the system because it poses the threat of wipes or drastic slowdowns? If it's exclusive to solo missions, and both challenging and as awesome as it could be, how does one prevent players from eschewing all team-oriented content in favor of nemesis content? I suspect that it was questions like these which continually pushed a nemesis feature to the back burner, despite existing code which made it possible. I also suspect that a fully-fledged nemesis system would shift the story focus away from the major NPCs and various zones, more toward a single-player style, which would be less enjoyable and applicable in the existing MMO environment. Simply putting a nemesis system in, that should be possible with the doppelganger code. Creating a 1-50 arc is definitely possible. Beyond that, you're looking at redesigning the core content of the game. And you want to be very, very cautious when you dip your toe in that water.

Nemesis would still be applicable. It would be lowercase in use, which would be sufficient to differentiate it from Lord Nemesis. That said, Nemesis was the goddess of righteous wrath and retribution (Roman, if i recall), so it's never really been appropriate in modern usage. Even her image, that of a blindfolded, sword-wielding maiden, isn't used in the proper context (it's supposed to symbolize justice now). Just a bit of historical trivia.

Fly with every bonus and max slots is still subject to the speed cap of 58.6 mph. Hurdle can exceed that with the addition of one slot and comparable bonuses. The only way to fly faster is to spend two more power selections in Flight, to unlock and acquire Afterburner. One slot, or three powers. As with everything else in this game, it's your choice, but being an opinionated, prejudicial ass to those who don't make the same choice isn't appropriate. Even less so when you're ignorant or misinformed.

Hurdle with three SOs is nearly the same speed as the Fly cap. Hurdle with two level 50 IOs and few very inexpensive and easily obtainable +Jump Speed/Movement bonuses is faster.

Then leaving threads like this one active would positively contribute to the overall health of the forum. Public humiliation can be a versatile social tool, when used properly. Of course, so can gene-spliced carnivorous wasps carrying viral payloads... but public humiliation is cheaper.

Statistically, it is irrelevant on minions, due to the functionality of attack chains coupled with the way it triggers based on target hit point percentage. If Scourge triggers, it's most likely to occur on the final attack of a chain which would have done the job without Scourge. It's not useless or pointless, but it's also not generally applicable for that category of foes.

Preventing people from experiencing a clue-by-4 to the face doesn't do them any favors.

Cupcake, everything I said was factual. You began with a faulty premise. You created and conducted a test based on that premise, a test which was designed to ignore every variable which didn't fit your predetermined conclusion, and which betrays your utter and abysmal lack of attention to basic game mechanics. You made every possible mistake in your approach to testing and proved only that you understand absolutely nothing. Furthermore, others have already spoon-fed you all of the necessary information, which you (unsurprisingly) either ignore or simply cannot comprehend. Everything you need to understand why your corruptor simply cannot be a "better" blaster has been practically nailed to your eyeballs. But since you asked so nicely, I'll add my numerical breakdown to the already extensive pile. There are several variables assigned to attacks. The archetype assigns a variable. Whether the attack is melee or ranged is a variable. The target's resistance is a variable. We're going to concentrate on a few specific variables, though. Your corruptor has a 0.75 multiplier for both melee and ranged damage. This means every attack, regardless of position, deals 75% of the base value of that attack. A blaster has a 1.00 multiplier for melee attacks and 1.125 multiplier for ranged attacks. Thus, a blaster will deal 100% of a melee attack's base value, and 112.5% of a ranged attack's base value. Ignoring all other factors, a blaster's default ranged damage output is 150% that of a corruptor's. 0.75 * 1.5 = 0.1125. There are exceptions, things like pseudo-pets and attacks which have been specifically redesigned for specific ATs, but none of particular relevance, and I am trying to keep this simple. Both archetypes have a 500% damage cap. The unslotted, unbuffed attack is counted as 100%, meaning both are capped at +400%. +damage includes all sources. Inspirations, enhancements, Assault, Build Up, Aim, Fulcrum Shift, it's all the same as far as the engine is concerned. You can never buff your corruptor to a higher damage cap than the blaster can achieve, because the game has limitations which prevent that. Another variable is the value of damage buffs themselves. Corruptors use 0.085 for melee damage buffs and 0.100 for ranged damage buffs. Blasters, however, use a 0.125 modifier for both. What does that mean? It means the strength of your damage buffs is always less than the strength of a blaster's damage buffs. In other words, not only does the blaster deal more damage unbuffed, it also buffs damage better than your corruptor. But you have Scourge, right? Double damage crits! Obviously, that has to make corruptors "better"! Nope. Scourge doesn't kick in until the target's hit points drop below 50%, and it's not guaranteed, it's a 2.5% chance for very 1% of a target's hit points below 50%. For normal day-to-day combat, plowing your way through minions and lieutenants, Scourge contributes practically nothing. Scourge triggering on minions is irrelevant, because unless you're deliberately holding back, or hopelessly inept, the attack which Scourged was extremely likely to have defeated the minion eithout Scourge. On lieutenants, it has slightly more value, but concurrently, by the time you could reasonably begin triggering Scourge, the blaster will have already defeated the same target and moved on. Until and unless you're facing targets with extremely large hit point totals, Scourge accounts for very little of your actual combat damage. Even for ordinary bosses, blasters, presuming they survive the alpha and retaliatory strikes, tend to deal more damage in a shorter period of time than corruptors, because corruptors spend time buffing and/or debuffing and dealing less damage until Scourge activates, whereas blasters pop Build Up and/or Aim and get down to the matter at hand. It isn't until you're fighting Elite Bosses and above that a Scourge-friendly environment exists. And I have bad news for you, Kitten. Even on EBs, GMs and AVs, you're not making blasters weep with envy. Yes, when it triggers, you're (finally) dealing more damage than the blaster... but for the first half of the fight, you're not, and you're not even getting reliable Scourges for most of the second half of the fight, not until the target's hit points drop low enough (remember that scaling 2.5% chance? this is where it becomes relevant). There is a formula you can use to figure out exactly how much damage Scourge contributes, but the simplest way to state it is to say you're seeing about a 30% improvement in damage output over time, and even then, it's based on the presumption that you'll forego buffing and/or debuffing and focus exclusively on attacking, and presuming you're actually fighting EBs and above, of course. Which would correspondingly presume you're teamed frequently, or soloing with the difficulty scale maxed. Of course, if you're teaming and refusing to buff or debuff because you're BETAR TAHN BALSTARS, well, you're going to be soloing a lot, and if you're not buffing or debuffing solo, you're not going to be soloing at +4/+8. Either way you look at it, you're losing damage output and falling farther behind the blaster. And, as much as you want to believe that Scourge, coupled with your magnificent grasp of the game's mechanics, capped damage and flawless play, will make your corruptor the blaster-beater, it won't. That's simply not how math works. Note that I don't mean that's not how math works in this game, or for this particular example, or in a specific case. I mean that's not how math ever works, at any time, anywhere. Sorry, Princess, but in a clash between your ego and the fundamental concepts of the universe, you lose. Next time, do the damn math.

Your test was poorly conceived and nightmarishly flawed, took significantly longer than simply doing the math, began from an erroneous premise which you desperately wish were true and conducted your test to justify your conviction (not the appropriate scientific methodology), and arrived at an erroneous conclusion. In other words, you're wrong. Do the math before you consider making another post.

... Despite not being able to play, I was in a reasonably good place, emotionally, because I know I'll eventually get there. But this... this makes me want to curl up in a corner of my cabin and weep. I'm going to miss out on this. 😞

If the surgeon's name is Vahzilok... run.

Quark: "Read me the first word of every rule." Rom: "'If' 'never' 'keep' 'profit' 'a' 'good' 'smile' 'honesty'"... Quark: "Aha! If never keep profit... a good smile. Honesty!" Rom: "What does it mean, brother?" Quark: "It means... absolutely nothing."

Origin powers offer a small degree of additional flexibility. Example: Oil Slick Arrow can only be ignited by fire or energy damage. Creating a tech or magic */TA or TA/* character means one can select any primary or secondary available without sacrificing the ability to ignite OSA, or relying on procs or limited-use temp powers. So no, they are not pointless, or outdated. As with everything in this game, nothing is truly worthless, merely less valuable to some and more valuable to others.

What?

Several hundred million tons of water would cover a few miles quite easily, quickly and as destructively as a high yield nuclear warhead (or ten). Even with the War Walls in place, Galaxy City would likely be scoured off the face of the planet if the dam were ruptured.

My solution would be to add the ambushes to the next indoor mission in the player's queue. It would require new code, or jiggery-pokery with the existing code, but it would be more thematic and less traumatic for the lowbies (been on the receiving end of someone else's purple-con ambushes as a lowbie... not fun to be one-shotted by a bunch of Malta casually loitering at the tram in AP).

I acquired the Illusionist badge on my TA/A. I never even attempted it again, even on my strongest characters, because the experience of farming those insufferable jerks nearly drove me to quit the game. Leveling that TA/A to 50 before Issue 7 was a cakewalk by comparison. My loathing for Carnies burns with a heat unrivaled by the corona of a blue giant. Also, Warwolves. For years, the lieutenant who self-destructed and respawned as a Warwolf always became a boss, regardless of difficulty setting, and they typically conned purple to my characters. This was before IOs, and always in the mid-20 level range, so I never had a key power, or sufficient slotting or enhancements, or anything more than a few inspirations. So many hospital runs, so much debt... I eventually just stopped doing any Council or 5th Column missions. Even long after the bug was fixed, I avoided them.

Force = mass * acceleration Propel would, theoretically, have a specific limit to the force it could apply. Thus, while a pool table may have significantly greater mass than a desk phone, it would also experience less acceleration, as the fixed value of force would impose a restriction on acceleration. As a result, while it would deliver the same amount of damage to a single target, the reduced acceleration and subsequent loss of kinetic energy as it struck the initial target would leave too little force to damage additional targets. It would knock them down, but likely not hurt them. Physics.

KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE AND KALKIN AND ROSE YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Hi. Missed you two... a bit. >.>

Are you retired? That probably seems like an abrupt question. So I'm editing this post to clarify the reasoning behind it. Your profile states that you play from ~5 p.m. to ~10 p.m., and that you're available for teams. This indicates that you have a "normal" daily routine. You wake up in the morning, do something during the day, return home in the evening and sleep at night. Your post history (which is all over the place) supports this, and you also say "Been in the biz for almost 30 years" (present tense, not "was in the biz", past tense), so your morning through afternoon commitment isn't high school. Thus, you're either posting from work, or you're retired and behaving like a cranky millennial SJW because whatever you do during during the day isn't fulfilling. If you're retired, I'm certain the bright minds collected here can help you find something more satisfying, and worthwhile, to do with your day. If you're not retired, then it might be a good idea to excuse yourself from further discussions of this nature.

I've worked in IT, healthcare, farm and dairy, food service, warehousing, banking sectors and more, across half the North American continent, and had more than 3000 co-workers over my working lifetime. I don't have to take my shoes off to count the number of them who truly were overworked and underpaid. The vast majority of people just don't care, when it comes to employment. Employers and employees. There's always another job somewhere, and there's always another employee, somewhere, so neither side puts much effort into retention. Like everything else these days, employment is disposable, so few bother to treat it like it matters. There's little or no incentive, on either side of the fence. This is the modern work culture. So when I say "lazy and sloppy", it's a reflection on that culture. Not an accusation or admonishment of the individual, but of the system, what it has become and what it has done to us as a whole. Employers expect little from employees, and most employees deliver precisely that. The people who actually are overworked and underpaid are the people who grew up in a different culture, with stricter employment standards, or those compelled by desperation to hold on to that job (people with social anxiety disorder, for example). The people who don't know where the restroom is because they've never used it. The people who go to work instead of going to the hospital when they're in serious distress. The people who work off the clock to keep the business afloat, just to ensure that they've got a job the next day.

This works, folks. System Shock 2 was out of publication for over a decade, the licensing and distribution rights so muddled that it seemed as though it would remain in "abandonware" limbo for eternity. GOG managed to untangle the web of crap and resurrect it.

In the final minute of the Apollo 11 mission's lunar landing phase, there was a computer error. The computer was signaling an obscure error code, and MC was seconds away from aborting the landing. One man in MC had a list of all error codes the computer could generate. He identified the error and gave the thumbs-up for the mission to proceed. The success of Apollo 11 came down to documentation. This is the legacy we should strive for. Instead, we settle for "Not on fire? Ship it".

Because many of us remember the days when code was tight and clean. It had to be, and developers took pride in making software work efficiently and in as few lines as possible. Even the most complex software was kept as simple as possible, and thoroughly documented. Modern software developers working in businesses are lazy and sloppy. Code bloat has become rampant, with everyone assuming there's no need to trim lines or remove unnecessary code. After all, we aren't using floppies, and we aren't restricted to a few megabytes of RAM, and we aren't measuring our CPU cycles in kilohertz, so why bother? Screw it, it'll run, good enough. And documentation is either buried in the code as a paltry few commented lines here and there, or skipped altogether, because time spent noting what was done and what it does is time not spent selling the product. We're constantly surprised because we haven't forgotten the elegance and efficiency of yesterday, and we can't understand why others don't seem to remember... or care.

Undead capybaras in the city! Mayhem! Terror! Doom cuddles! Heroes and villains teaming together! Mass hysteria!