UltraAlt

I haven't read through the whole post, but I'm assuming that the vidiot map hasn't been updated to show the badge behind Ms. Liberty. I made a new character and picked up all the badges for the Atlas Tour Guide accolade and did get 5 merits. It wasn't enough to unlock the fast travel power. I then went to the Pocket D, picked up the badge there, back through a base teleporter to Peregrine Island, went inside of the Portal Corp building, and that was enough to unlock the Long Range Teleporter. I did go get the one in Talos as well, as Talos Island is a Nexus location with a base portal directly near the tram, Wentworth, stores, and a detective. I know that this thread is really about making some starting cash and not about the travel power necessarily, but, overall, I don't use the Long Range teleporter that much since I have access to a base(s) and a teleporter to get to base when I'm not near a base portal. The day job for parking near a base porta allows you to teleport to a base (up to 30 charges) and is often enough to get around when you need to. Log out a base portal once you get enough patrol xp, and you'll get the Rapid Responder accolade and start getting charges to summon a base portal (up to 30 charges) as well . (The same goes for getting a free fight pack - that charges to a max of 2 hours of flight time - for getting the day job from the shadow shard). Honestly, saying that, I email influence to myself and then give enough to every new character to get one of the P2W/START flight powers and all the Prestige power teleports. I end up using the Long Range Teleporter most of the time when I first log a character into the game to get to Atlas or the Pocket D if that is my destination and I'm not there already - which is really lazy since I can simply go to a base and then go wherever I want. (The advantage of the Shadow Shard fight pack to the void disc, magic carpet, or rocket board is that you can use your powers while the Shadow Shard flight pack is active. The advantage of the void disc, magic carpet, or rocket board is that they don't have a timer on them.)

Play with the same Tuesday night team with already existing characters ... turns out ones that we hadn't played for over a year or so ... and spend way too much time in the forums trying to catch up from being behind since Thursday or Friday last week ....

I like their influence. Please keep buying procs! What do I know, I don't play the end-game. But I would say, why not play the actual game instead of what is tacked onto the end of it? The original game ended at level 50, and there wasn't anything after that for years. 1 "Through the Looking Glass" Raised the level cap from 40 to 50, introduced new high level enemy groups and zones for these levels, and added a tailor feature allowing players to alter character costumes. June 9, 2004 19 "Alpha Strike" Issue 19 included the first part of the new endgame changes referred to as the "Incarnate system", as well as an Ouroboros task force that unlocks an "Alpha Slot" on Level 50 Characters. Two difficult task forces were added for characters who had gained their Alpha Slots. Other changes included Zone events in all Praetoria city maps, opening Praetoria to levels past 20, merging subways/ferries to include all destinations (across same alignment only), power animations, increased tip mission drops, mission architect enhancements, hazard zone badges, and making the Fitness Power Pool inherent to all characters.[33] November 30, 2010 22 "Death Incarnate" Issue 22 relaunched the Dark Astoria zone as an Incarnate Co-op Zone. The first zone of its kind in City of Heroes, Level 50+ characters could gain Incarnate XP to unlock slots while fighting solo or in teams in normal missions (whereas before, Incarnate XP was only gained by participating in trials with League play). Further additions included a new Incarnate Trial (Dilemma Diabolique), new power sets (Beast Mastery and Darkness Control) available from the Paragon Market or free to VIPs, and a new Trial (Drowning in Blood) for Level 15+. Also of note, starting with this release Statesman had been removed as a living contact/NPC in City of Heroes after the cliffhanger of the "Who Will Die?" Signature Series player arc was revealed in January. March 6, 2012 I quit subscribing about a year before the Sunset and was completely turned off by the P2P of the Incarnate system on top of paying for a subscription. P2W microtransactions were getting shoehorned into the game left and right. The extra stuff for the "end-game" was tacked on originally to keep subscriber's subscribing. By that point the game was already F2P (in order to get more players into the game to game with the subscribers and keep them subscribing) and, it seemed like a large number of players were bypassing the "game" to go directly to the "end-game" by being power-leveled in the AE. This created the wave of "AE babies" that were power-leveled in Atlas Park who came out thinking the game world was incredibly small because they had no idea how to out of Atlas Park. yes, seriously. Some people still feel like that is the only way to enjoy the game. Why take the long journey to level your character when you can bypass it and have all your powers? Well, because the journey of leveling is "the game". I'm not sure when the whole veteran level thing started, but that has just helped those that only want to play the end-game and the people that think that they will enjoy the "end-game" more than playing "the game". To me, if you only play a couple of Alts - or for some just one - and you bypass "the game" then you are really no getting the full experience and varied content of THE CITY. But that is on each player. You don't have to play the "end-game". I have like 3 50's. The Incarnate system works better than it did, but I still don't like it, and I certainly don't feel that the Incarnate system works into any of my characters' conceptions ... even the ones that I went ahead and used to check out the incarnate system because I felt I had to do so due to peer pressure. I will be level locking all my characters at 49 from now on, not just because of the Incarnate system, but also in protest of the "name release" system allowing level 50's to never lose their names without ever having to log in ever again - simply because they are level 50s. So far the "name release" policy active but it isn't turned on. I hope it never is unless the "name policy" affects level 50's as well. I know full well that I have characters that have been active in THE CITY many more hours than a good number of level 50's, and I'm not the only one in that position. But that is all kind of going off track. Back to my point, the "end-game" stuff is a grind intentionally. There is far more game in the actual "game" than there is in the "end-game". But some people like to grind and to feel L337. I like their influence, so I'm not going to complain if they need the procs I sell in order to grind at the end-game.

Thanks for your years of generous service to the community, Yomo. Someone in the Community that I PUG'ed with (early on in my time on Homecoming) found out that I had played before the Sunset so they gave me 30 Mil to start my Eb.... er... auction house trading. I don't think that was you, but, since they helped me out, there was never a need for me to hit you up through email for the 20 mil or whatever it is at this point. And, to that player that did spot me the 30 mil, I have given far more than that back to the Community in one way of influence transfer or another. As they say, when someone helps you, pay it forward. When all is said and done, I hope you have more time to play the game.

All my characters have "bio" before they zone into THE CITY. All 150+ of them. Mine generally have a couple of formats. x gained their powers this way. x started using their powers because. x does y. x's life was like this. Things changed to x when y Now X, does this. Are you reading this? I don't know if I should be telling you about my life or not. No don't go expose yourself to radiation/get experimented on by Long Bow/learn magic from the CoT, .... and don't go wandering round dark alleys and get bit by @Snarky in order to get superpowers! Okay, so maybe that is how I got my superpowers, but it's not a good idea to try it! You'll get yourself killed! Or something like that ... they don't all fit into any of those frameworks and, no, @Snarky isn't in any of my characters' origin stories ... even the vampire ones.

General chat was created to give people some place to chat rather than doing it in /lfg or the /help channel and, I would think, that a good number of us would think that is a good thing. That being said, since long-winded conversations go on in that channel, I don't tend to monitor it when I'm trying follow /lfg and the /help channel as I try to help other players and maybe posting in or looking for posts in the /lfg. I go to the tab I have with general on it when I don't need to pay attention to the other stuff.

Have you bothered to read the Code of Conduct? https://forums.homecomingservers.com/code-of-conduct/ You don't have total freedom of speech here. You don't have the freedom to create a character that has a copyright either. There are limitations. Read the Code of Conduct.

Put on your badge deputy. We need you to document and report. Menu>support>pick option once do that, you can come to the forums and update the ticket in the support section - add documentation, pictures, etc.

"1967 A is a fictional comic book hero created by Steve Ditko. Unlike most of Ditko's work, the character of Mr. A remained the property of Ditko, who wrote and illustrated the stories in which the character appeared entirely himself. The character first appeared in Wally Wood's witzend #3 (1967)." - wiki

Careful. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Meanwhile, others rant on about the "Holy Trinity" of gaming.

No. It isn't. You are arguing semantics to try to prove your point. If you take pets into account then your argument is moot. You can use "ally only powers" on pets. Okay. The point of the discussion is to get approval of what you want from other players and possibly the DEVs, but, apparently, you think that other people don't have a right to express their disapproval. You want to discuss something you have to accept that there are those that aren't going to disagree with you. Empathy was one of the first sets released for the game. I'm going to say it again that I'm on the side of leaving it alone other than "Absorb Pain". There is no other self sacrificing Primary or Secondary power that promotes a for player character becoming a martyr for the team. The shields and buffs are a huge power-leverage for a team. The team in turn should be looking out for that character. If you want to solo, fine. Deal with the restrictions you have as a solo player. I don't recall ever running into a thread like this on Homecoming before. I'm pretty sure their were little to none of them before the Sundown. Playing as a solo player is on you, and doesn't require changing the game for everyone else. There are plenty of archetypes, power sets, and power pools that don't affect allies only. "It's not fair that I don't get credit for the kills by enemies that I confuse." "You could try another power set." "No. I want to get credit for the kills made by enemies that I confuse. You are being prejudice against me because I want to get XP." That is pretty much what I see your point to come down to. Or we could leave it alone as it isn't something that has caused an issue since the game was created.

What done is done. I'll step away so you can do what you feel needs to be done.

Yes and Yes. One player is not a team. One player is not a "group". Two to eight players are a team. Leagues can have more than 8 players and have multiple teams. I solo sometimes, but the game is built around team-play dynamics. The different archetypes are supposed to synergize to create a greater result than a character can when soloing. The DEVs drew the line. I didn't. Also teams are generally 4 or more on a team. I do spend some game play as duos for up to 6 hours a week, but most of my teamplay is on teams that have 4 or more players.

It was just a suggestion to promote what you are working on. Just a suggestion. You need not feel required to respond or even read the spoilered section of this post. I'm unsure why you are showing them appreciate in a thread that is only replying to me. Perhaps is to point out that my participation is unwanted, so yet another reason to try to back out of this conversation.

As I stated, not remembering something happens. However, it did occur. From February 7th of this year? You have requested a visible record, so I am supplying one.

Anyone of them that has minions. I'm not talking about teammates or side kicks. Sometimes the line blurs for sure. Are you talking about in the comics? Or about trying to create him in the game? Dr Doom in City of Heroes would be a Supergroup leader from my point of view. Other players would play parts of higher level flunkies and DoomBots. Perhaps Some of those playing DoomBots would be masterminds. I mean in the old days - no telling what is going on now - he was the ruler of an entire country. Captain America was always ripping the "mask" off some body and the "bloody" Red Skull was revealed ... just saying ... SHIELD had a lot of cover-up work to do whenever the Red Skull was revealed. There is a big difference between who/what is a mastermind in comics, what a mastermind is in CoH, what characters can be made as masterminds in CoH, and what characters that are masterminds in comics can most easily be played as masterminds in CoH. Most Batman villains were historically masterminds with henchmen. Lex Luthor historically was portrayed as a minionless mastermind. The "mastermind" is not necessarily linked to the minions in comic books. More so, it is toward the cunning and scheming which often entails the use of followers, hangers on, or paid henchmen/thugs. Being a mastermind is relegated to villains. In general someone like Nick Fury (Agent of Shield) or Black Hawk wouldn't be considered Masterminds even though they obviously have minions. I guess Nick Fury really isn't such a good example as he usually ends up going it alone. One of the things that typically separates minions from sidekicks and teammates with matching uniforms. Note that teams like the Fantastic Four (Is Reed Richards scheming enough to be a mastermind? Did he secretly cause himself to get stretching powers and turn Ben Grim into the thing in order to win the love of Sue Storm? And did he intentionally change Victor von Doom's calculations and cause Doom's disfigurement for the same reason?) and the X-Men wear wear themed outfits - they don't match completely. Fu Manchu? oh, yeah, a mastermind for sure. The Hellfire Club has a bunch of minions but I can't say that I really took any of the superpowered leaders to be masterminds. But, of course, in CoH, all the minions don't dress the same.

I agree that Absorb Pain is worthless as it is now. It doesn't even do damage like https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Inherent_Powers#Self_Destruction Empathy is a buffing set and not a debuffing one. You need to think of something that would help your teammates instead of doing something against the enemy. One possible example would be some variation of leadership (https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Leadership#Maneuvers, https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Leadership#Assault, https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Leadership#Tactics) combined. Not as powerful as having the individual leadership skills and a click rather than a toggle. My main problem with Clear Mind is that it wasn't given the same treatment as Bubbles/Shields. Cast on one, all nearby teammate are "Clear Mind"ed as well.

If I'm the team leader, I warn them that they are on my team and, if they don't like it, they can leave. If they continue, they get the boot. If they are the team leader, I leave the team. If we are both team members, I might ask the team if they have an issue with my playstyle. I might think if they are just complaining or trying to give me advice. I might tell them what they can do to help me do my job better. Or I might just put them on ignore. (I know, big shocker there) You didn't let anyone die. They killed themselves because they didn't know when to fallback/retreat. There are times when I have fallen on a team, and it was the other players fault, but I can tell you, that pretty much everytime that happened was when a damage dealer or tank that I had buffed/shielded/was-healing for some whacked out reason decided all of a sudden - mid battle - that they were going to stop fighting, figure out where some temp power heal or buff was in there tray, and try to heal or buff me. I mean seriously, yes - it had happened to me more than once.. And, I will admit, that I did get a bit irate about it. I told them to stop bother trying to heal me and fight. If they kept doing it, I would have quit the team without saying anything, but I do think that is different. Seems logical to me, but I've played CoH for years with countless PUGs. Agreed. Unless they are playing you influence to be their pocket healer/buffer/shielder, you are playing your character for your enjoyment. You sound like you are trying to work with the team. It seems that some of the players on the team simply didn't want teammates but minions. (Is this where I have to admit that I have a petless demon mastermind and when a player complained about me not having any minions, I said "I don't know what you're talking about there are 7 of them on the team.") Just because of one jerk? Was anyone else on the team complaining? Doesn't this at least equal out for the jerk that didn't know how to take care of themselves complaining that you aren't babysitting them enough? It seems like your main problem to me is .... The end-game breeds elitists. Make a new character and come back to play the game. The end-game is what is tacked on because the game has been completed, and it gives people that don't want to explore the game in different ways something to do ... primarily to keep them paying for subscriptions and microtransactions - both of which aren't a thing any more.