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I’m also unclear on how exactly this change helps. But I think that’s more because I’ve not been aware of there being a problem. But moreover, I’m in the camp of needing to earn things in the game. I’d hate to have free patron badges, let alone free access to top range powers. If this is a needed change, for whatever the reason, could a better move be to lower the level range of patron arcs (though I foresee issues with villain groups) and have mirror blueside arcs to get the same badges? I think that last thing would be nice to have regardless, but I think that’s irrelevant to this subject.

I think OP is asking a fair enough question. It does come up quite regularly, though, to which the answer is always whenever the volunteer HC team has time, so there's not a lot to be said. Road maps will only serve to create disappointment - there are a few GM and HC team posts saying this scattered around the place. I think your indicating that this is for a review, and that you create videos, implies an agenda. But I'd give you the benefit of the doubt that it's an unbiased comparison of servers. Actually, the last unbiased comparison I saw was really helpful for seeing where other folks have taken the game - there is too much vitriol out there from the rocky relationships some of these servers had to start with and I hope it eases off soon. For me, the rate that other servers appear to be putting out content is a deterrent rather than an attraction to them. I hear mixed reviews about the quality of them and I'd prefer to play it safe. HC can stay in the state it's in indefinitely, I've buried my feet in here.

*Consults the Tome* Looks like levellings pacts were i14 and supersidekicking was i16.

I'm sorry that you have had bad experiences, but this makes me wonder if your review may be coloured by your own individual experiences. I've found homecoming very satisfactory as a service. As for content, I only expect as much as CoX had when it was shut down. The fact that it has had any development at all is a miracle. As others have said, the 64-bit client is a massive bonus. I think the other servers are having some really cool ideas and testing out some awesome stuff. But Homecoming has everything I expect the game to have and more, with the benefit of a large playerbase. I don't know what it would take to tempt me elsewhere; I doubt I could be. New ATs and Powersets are pretty, but feel premature at this point when we've not really got a handle on creating new visual assets. CoX had plenty of content as it was and I'm a very long way from being done with the existing game.

Also a bit confused; I think OP might be misreading things as more hostile than they actually are. Besides a few chilly phrases, I don't think anyone was aiming at being alienating here, but the prevalent response seems to be that not many people have the same issue as the OP. There's good discussion here about the effects of seeding the market with recipes (dunno if anyone mentioned how easy it would make playing the market with converters, but that was my first thought). Some have pointed out that the inf to merit conversion basically means this exists anyway. Folks have recommended looking at crafted IOs rather than recipes, and given good reason why. Finally, some have expressed that IOs are an unessential luxury anyway, which I agree with. I like having to earn mine over time. I've also never had a problem buying what I need off the AH, though I sell on it a lot more than I buy off it. Maybe if the game population lowers dramatically, this might become necessary. I think this was a valuable thread, and I'm a bit sad the OP didn't see it that way.

Unless a build is actually struggling (endurance issues usually being the culprit), I always play like this. i have one totally decked out toon, the rest I’m slowly working on. Wouldn’t do it any other way. (edit: oh, I do buy salvage)

It’s worth noting that the Kheldian Forms are energy ‘memories’ of prior alien hosts thats the Kheldians have used. The forms themselves aren’t Kheldian. Novas are Hulmanim and Dwarves are Kurukt. That gives the potential for a lot of scope, if you expand the repertoire of prior Kheldian hosts.

This is what I think isn’t being understood; we’re not asking for more grind, we’re asking for less. We’re not roleplayers, a sandbox is just sand to us, we don’t want to take the single most efficient way to 50, because that sounds like a grind. Eight hours of AE? Forget it, sounds like hell and I’ve not got that sort of time. That’s more than a day’s work of pressing buttons, I want to have fun and do a lot of things. You guys who want the sandbox have been catered for. HC is easy. Yay you. We want incentive to take a different path: do one arc once, get the hat reward for it, never do it again. That gets us the levels to the next point. If you’re PLing over 8 hours, what’s 20 more minutes for that one hat that’s so freakin essential for your character concept? Or do you need to be immersed while you PL as well? At the moment, the rewards system heavily incentivises doing the same few things repeatedly, especially AE. The same few taskforces, the same MSR. That’s grinding, even if you do it quicker. Many of us take the slow and steady way because we want variety and to not grind, but there’s only so many months of kneecapping ourselves we can take. I have a rule not to run the same TF twice on any one character (with the sole exception of Mo badges on my badger) because I don’t want to grind. I want it to matter that I’ve chosen to do The Hollows or to street sweep Perez Park rather than do my fourth or fifth run of DfB, but the game doesn’t encourage it. It encourages DfB. It encourages the grind. All I want is a hat. I’m not trying to show off here. ”Hey, I’m missing the vahzilok hat, does anyone know where I get it?” ”Sure, that’s John Doe’s arc.” ”Sweet, thanks. Anyone else need it?” ”Yeah, I’m missing that one. Can I come?” Or, y’know, that eighth ITF. To me, this server has more nonsense grinding than live did, because rewards are so unvaried and heavily concentrated in certain areas. Live had a variety of rewards for a variety of content. We’re asking for some of that back so that the way we play can have some meaning. This is me compromising. If it were up to me, I’d be sticking costume sets behind arcs, but I’m happy to meet you at literally hats. ”But my RP requires the hat!” Alright, then spend the half hour it takes to unlock the hat. ”No! I haven’t time for that! I shall farm AE for eight hours and press my ‘instant-all-hats button’!” It just doesn’t hold water. But yeah, if HC is gonna be a sandbox then I’ll be out. I don’t want to grind either.

There’s one! Get him! I kinda like the searching as well. But I’m the sort of person who turns quest markers off in Skyrim.

One thing to keep in mind is that the code for i24 and the code for i25 are very different. Since Ourodev has made i24 available, servers using it can reap the benefit of many people contributing. Any changes made in i24 would need a rework by HC before they make it into i25. Hard to know which of these double-edged swords is worse.

This thread has given me more pause than any other whether to stay on HC or switch over to rebirth or thunderspy. Not for any particular poster or discussion, but just the reality that the HC trend isn’t really sustaining my interest. Which is a bit sad, but folks are right that a separate server is better for someone like me.

Disclaimer, my scenario was hypothetical. I'm not married to the idea that if I make stuff it must be an unlockable. I'm just wondering where folks would stand with that.

That'd be sweet! Some badges (master ofs or significant accolades) could become gold titles too, or completing all arcs with a certain villain group. Stuff that really matters.

Display Name MVP of the Suggestions & Feedback board!

I agree with this! Obviously something would have to fill ToT's shoes. Here's another hypothetical, just for interest: Let's say I'm a 3D artist (which I am), and I design a costume set (ok, I'm more architectural... but lets say) and the set is pretty sweet, it's got like sequins and shit. But I say I'd like this costume set to be unlocked from a certain arc if I'm going to contribute it. Since I'm coming from the 'earn creativity' camp, it would make sense that I ask for this right? I'd probably take my stuff elsewhere or stop making things if I'm told it'll be given free or nothing. Would you prefer to not have any access to my models, or to have it as an unlockable?

There's a few people who have come into this thread and made their position clear, absolutely. And I'd expect that most people who would comment are those who are adverse to the idea - these kinds of suggestions attract opposition as they, as has been discussed, may interfere with gameplay. This isn't enough of a sample to call that a majority, but I'm not going to claim to be in the majority either. It bothers me that the response is to /jranger it. Unlockables were part of the retail game which clearly a few of us reflect fondly on. It was one of my first comments on returning and continues to be my biggest gripe. It's an oversimplification to say that they were there just to take our money. Well by extension, they did so by holding our attention and give us some things to do. A variety of content was rewarded in a variety of ways. The fact that that is gone is a legitimate problem for myself and others, and I'd like that to be recognised and appreciated. I would like to know what you and others would say to the idea of the Nemesis Hussar helmet being locked behind an arc. Literally just the helmet, not the rest of of the costume. Helmet alone. I just want hats.

Isn't it just p2w at the moment? I think the nemesis staff used to be a veteran reward, wasn't it? (disclaimer, I'm not suggesting locking away things that have already been made available. Just talking about prospective, hypothetical new stuff.)

I think this is exactly the sort of unlock methods Hero was advocating. Even the 50% chance drop is more grindy and less certain than what's been suggested.

You know those brass helmets with plumes that Nemesis soldiers wear. Say those were unlocked behind some Nemesis arc. Would that be too much? Genuinely asking where the line is. Because I want to collect hats.

I hear ya.

Like in the last thread, this is a single issue where folks have diametrically opposed expectations. This can only be a stalemate. Adding unlockables will deter one kind of player, front-loading all rewards deters another. Knowing that, can we keep this as a discussion. It's an important one to me and I don't want this thread to get heated over it. At the moment, I find the purpose for playing the game too lacking. Others will feel differently, of course, but we can't argue each other out of their experiences. I'd like to know where the compromises are for you guys in favour of no locking, referring to my earlier post.

Being naked too often.

For me, a lot of the rewards in the game have suffered from being a bit drowned out by homogeneity. There are, what, like 1500-2000 badges rolling about now? You get some of them by literally doing nothing for a few days. I have a badger toon at like 750 badges, but it's worn thin and lost its substance at this point. Some of us are making the case of "We need more drive" and the counterpoint is "You already have drive." It's not really anyone other than me who decides that, and it would be unfortunate for me if things keep getting given directly to us. I've not been able to get my teeth into the game for a little while now already, I'd like to have a little incentive to do things. But if others feel differently, then, y'know, there are plenty of games out there for me. For me this is coming from enjoying more traditional RPG progression, and the feeling that doing something leads to being rewarded something relevant and substantial. Souvenirs are a closer parallel than badges to what I mean, but the game gives them zero weight. You have to explore a few menus to even find them and they're clunky and unassuming in themselves. I don't care that I can't share them, that's not the point, just to know there was a reward for content. What about base items that are villain group members behind bars, even AVs for completing certain arcs or a string of arcs? Or relics, like the signature hero items you can get? I'm thinking of things that kinda level of relevant uniqueness and substance while avoiding costume elements.

Can we not try and diagnose each other's mental states here please?

Let's assume we take costume unlocks off the table for now. (Though I'm an advocate of unlockable, villain group specific, account-wide hats, like the arachnos ones you can get. I'd never wear them, I just want to collect hats.) What else could there be? Definitely more story content - there are a few examples of this already. Unique IO Sets, like the Overwhelming Force from SBB. Temporary Powers - This happens a lot already, and actually gets kind of annoying. Unless you're Coin. QoL features, like travel or crafting aids. Anything else? That feels kinda luck luster to me so far.