Grindingsucks

No sweat. 😁

@cranebump The missus and I had a late night, so I'm just crawling out of bed and pouring some coffee down the hatch to wake up the ol' brain-box, but I'll be logged on shortly. 👍

Hee, hee. You know, I suppose it does lend him a bit of a disgruntled look. 😂

I don't post my own toons very often, but I really like how the color pops on my most recent character, so I'll go ahead and share this one:

Great! Will do! Awesome! I've never learned how to use the AE mission creator (still something to scratch off my CoX master checklist. 😁). I will admit, I actually HAVE played part 1 of your Leviathan series (saw one of your posts about it in the dedicated topic), and I was dully impressed! Sadly, I got distracted (my cats were creating a catpocalypse in the adjoining room. I'll spare you the ghastly details😛) and let the villain escape at the end. 🤷‍♂️ Anyway, no pressure- but suffice it to say that I'll happily take you up on that offer. 👍 EDIT: Also, have gotten quite a bit more done on the base, so update should be coming relatively soon. In addition, I've overcome my jitteriness about Discord and have taken the initial steps to make one for our team. Still need to rough out a few of the channels, but I'll post a link for you guys (and in the Everlasting SG recruit channel on Homecoming Discord) as soon as it's finished. Apologies if things are moving a bit slowly. I'm not a computer guy, and this is the first time I've attempted to start my own SG, so I'm probably going about it somewhat haphazardly, compared to the vets. 🙏

Pistols, probably not so much. But any blaster with snipe and a stealth power (or a stealth proc slotted into a sprint, or similar) can play as a very potent assassin. Teleport Target, to isolate single foes and thin down groups of mobs can be used, as well. It won't work in 99% of team play, because of the tactless, berserker chaos that comprises most CoH team combat. Rather sad, IMO- but that's how it is.

And you know what? That's completely legitimate. Some people really love to lead teams. Other people don't. This game is a recreational pastime that we participate in to have fun and relax. If you find leading teams to be a drag (too boring, too stressful, whatever), there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with declining to do that. If anyone who might be offended by that (I can't imagine why anyone would be) stops to think about it, I'm sure they would prefer to have a team leader that is enthusiastic and competent, rather than one who is reluctant and unhappy, as this can only diminish the team combat experience for everyone. It's just a game, folks. Let players play to their strengths and everyone should have a better time, as a result. Trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole benefits no one.

There's a lot of educated guesswork involved. It's typically "good" guesswork, based on sound scientific principles. I reckon the guesswork in this case, is pretty close. Enough of the upper jaw structure is intact, and similar fossils have been found complete from other species, we can be confident that the lower jaw did look something like this. On the other hand, the lower jaw almost certainly did not look "exactly" like this. Most likely, in time, they'll unearth more fossils of the species and we'll be able to fill in more of the blanks. It's a gradual sort of process, as more specimens are discovered. Likewise, determining how the creatures lived is an exercise in educated guesswork, refined as we unearth more fossils that improve our knowledge and correct former assumptions (which happens relatively frequently). Peer review does have many problems, as Shred Monkey rightly points out, but it's still the best method we have for verifying scientific discoveries. Even if you have solid, laboratory proof, you have to have that proof verified through peer review. Otherwise, it's just a "claim" that you have solid, laboratory proof. The real problem is greed, ambition, and human ego. If we could get rid of those things, there would be no problems with peer review. Sadly, I see no resolution to the latter two of those particular problems. The first, while theoretically surmountable, I also have grave doubts about. 🤷‍♂️

@jkwak It's a cool concept. My condolences for the loss of your leader and to all of her friends and SG mates. Here's hoping her E.T. Enclave will remain a haven of safety and home-away-from-home to all of those wanderers from far planets and strange dimensions. 🙏

I enjoy both PC and the RI. Praetoria I like, conceptually, but it's so very quiet there. Also, it feels kind of like the door has closed on the part of the setting, story-wise. Praetoria has fallen, Tyrant is overthrown, Hamidon runs amok, levelling all the cities and returning everything to nature... ... actually, that sounds pretty great. Can I move there? 😛

New badge suggestion: Cryptid Murderer 😛

I will grant you that it could certainly feel that way to the person presently holding the star. Most people asking for the star are really just offering to take it so that everyone can get the biggest xp boost and/or challenge from the run, though. I don't think there's (usually) any malevolent intent behind it. There will, of course, always be exceptions. PUG's are often dissatisfying to me, though- unless I'm lucky enough to get in a group where all the members are within 2 or three lvls of my character. Any greater level difference than this, and I find play either frustratingly difficult or (more commonly) a boring steamroll.

I have no trouble believing you can achieve stats like the ones that you posted. Highly skilled character builders (you clearly are one such) can get astounding results in this game, making their characters essentially unkillable (practically speaking) in anything other than 801. missions or PvP. But, as I don't PvP, I've never seen the point of creating a character that would render the PvE aspects of the game a cakewalk on +4/8. Frankly, I often find the game dull when playing on +4/8 with far weaker characters. Certainly, this is true during any team play other than 801. (which, while fun and challenging, is not exactly the sort of stuff that will keep an avid RP'er interested).

Well, I've always hated dice pool systems, for the most part (regardless of the particular RPG). Nothing destroys my immersion like a giant handful of dice clattering all over the table. Nothing slows down an action scene like trying to pick through that mess to determine the outcome. I love the world of darkness setting and lore. The mechanics don't drive the feel of the setting for me, though; they destroy it. Having said that, I've drifted more towards fast, player-facing mechanics that drive the narrative, like Powered by the Apocalypse games, over the years. (Well, if I'm to be COMPLETELY honest, the older I get, the more tiresome I find other human beings. As a result, I've drifted toward online gaming, because I find it less stressful to interact with my fellow man at a remove. 😛)

They really can't "steal" anything, because the star must be given freely. One should always ask politely, rather than demand, though. That's just simple courtesy. If you want to pick a word to describe the latter, "pressure" or "bully" might be a better choice.

Well, IMO, it's more accurate to say that the game is not balanced at all, anymore, thanks to the power creep introduced by IO sets and Incarnates. Certainly, the Homecoming team is trying to address balance as best they may, but to get true, balanced team play would require either removing those two elements of the game or across the board power nerfs (don't have an apoplexy on me, here; I know we're not supposed to mention nerfs. It's not going to happen anyway. I think the great majority of the player base shares your feelings on nerfing powers, so that will never happen). But, my position is this: if you can't address balance issues by nerfing overpowered aspects of the game, then at least don't exacerbate the problem by adding more power creep. 🤷‍♂️

Right. Point taken. 👍

Well, one thing that is certain, the crashes that cause your endurance to completely tank are near guaranteed death for AT's that live and die by toggle powers. Very few people will those kinds of toons will choose a power of this kind, for obvious reasons. Crashes that cause your health to drop to near nothing are almost as bad. I don't mind impaired endurance recovery and damage, as much- I can always have a couple of blue and red inspirations in reserve for when I know the crash is coming to compensate for that. The T9 that I use the most is the Willpower T9, which I think is a pretty good model for how they ought to be balanced, in general. I don't want to completely remove any crash aspects from the T9's. The power is supposed to represent a heroic, last ditch effort to give everything you've got to save the day (and, hopefully, live to tell about it). The problem now, as I see it, is that there's often little-to-no chance that you WILL live to tell about it, even if your a smart, prepared player. If there were no IO sets or Incarnates in this game, I would say, "Just get rid of the crashes." But there are, so I don't think the T9's should exist without this drawback. I just think the drawback is applied much too aggressively to many of the powers.

I'm onboard with lessened but not removing it entirely. Other than that, I agree completely.

I mean... it's possible they might not. I'm inclined to think that it's actually you that has that particular problem. Inconceivable? Well, you do seem to want to build an echo chamber where you'll only receive feedback that agrees with suggested changes in your original post. For example: Please don't suggest nerfs. 🤠

Welcome to Everlasting! When you get your character made, feel free to msg me for an invite. We'd love to have you! 😁👍

For the most part, I target like RikOz does. I do sometimes make targeting macros for specific things like Sappers, Cimmeroran Surgeons, or whatever. Bosses and the like, I typically just click on them or if it's a particularly hectic fight I'll jump/teleport near them and start spamming AOE attacks (or fire them from a distance if I'm playing ranged).

Okay. But as long as you can build a Tank (pre-incarnate, no less) with numbers like the one you posted, no Tank will ever need (or want) the T-9. I mostly agree. I think the logical thing to do would be to ner... ah, wait. You don't want to talk about that. Nevermind. 🤷‍♂️ I could get behind the idea of a minor to moderate reduction to the crash aspects of the T-9's (which, I agree, are too excessive). I don't think removing them altogether (or even halving them) is a good choice. Beyond that, I can't see much that would be accomplished by any of this, without adding to the already excessive power creep in the game, although it could improve PvP (I don't know, as I only ever play PvE stuff on CoX).

Couple of other things that are probably not intuitive/obvious... This Scry Glass is also a dimensional teleporter. Just click on the center of the galaxy (circled in red): The Garage contains the .38 Specials Recon Truck (equipped with surveillance gear and a holographic device that disguises it as an ordinary box truck). You can click on the console that is meant to open the garage doors. This simulates taking an underground tunnel with the truck, that has exits in both Boomtown and Steel Canyon: Just a reference view, from the other direction, facing the big, hydraulic, garage doors:

So, oddly, the portal room is actually just north of the command center, so it's fairly easy to get to from where you enter the underground part of the base. It probably doesn't "feel" like that's true, given the sprawling layout of the base, but here's a map reference to give you an idea (the red "X" is where you step off the lift from above): I do often disguise base crafting stations, or put them together with other objects to lend them a more interesting look. This might be part of your difficulty. Most everything you might need access to should be in the science lab, medical center, or arcane science lab. Obviously, storage is going to be in parts storage and vault which, I'll grant, is less convenient. If I've missed anything, do let me know. I can always add it in. That's very generous. Thank you. It is somewhat daunting to navigate, as you said. I probably need to get everyone together for a little base tour/walkthrough sometime. I suppose taking a few screenshots to illustrate where the crafting stations and such actually are, wouldn't hurt either. 😁 EDIT: Went a head and took some screenies for visual reference... This large science station is a combined Inspiration Collector (Red), Super Collider (Green), and Workbench (Blue): A standard Enhancement Table (fitted next to a clean tank) in the Science Lab: This magical Forge disguises a workbench (flat, metal plate on the stone table, which is actually the top of a computer tower):