macskull

I know all these things but what you're overlooking is that unlike every other melee attack, Assassin's Strike is interruptible. I can't queue it up and then have it go off as soon as I'm in range. I either have to find a target that is moving predictably enough (or not at all) and get the AS off then, or I have to be able to figure out where and when someone is going to land and be waiting at the exact right spot and moment. You'd be surprised at the number of zone Stalker players that can't even get an AS off on a moving target when the target is only moving in two dimensions, let alone three. Part of dealing with that is being mindful about the attacks you're using and where you're using them so you don't predictably plant (or use one of the several methods available to not plant at all).

I would somewhat agree with your first bit here. There's not necessarily much skill involved on the part of those Stalkers but that's because you're making yourself such an easy target that there doesn't need to be any skill on their part. Complaining about Stalkers was extremely common both in broadcast and the forums when the game was live but a decent player knew that the best counter to 90% of the Stalker players out there was (and still is) to be continuously moving in all three dimensions. Stalkers can't AS what they can't hit and only the best Stalker players could reliably AS moving targets. That being said, it is players attacking other players, which is by definition PvP. Is it high-quality PvP? No, but that's not the point. I don't think PvP is dead here. I'd say as far as high-end PvP goes it's been more active more continuously than it was back on live at any point after I16 or so, and that's with an overall playerbase that's a fraction of the live population. This game's PvP population took a huge hit when the I13 changes were rolled out against the protests of nearly every PvPer and it never really recovered but that's a different story. It's also worth pointing out that the types of players that tend to exhibit the behavior we're discussing are also pretty bottom-of-the-barrel PvPers who aren't taken seriously by the PvP community at large.

I wouldn't. I'll let the people who find that interesting spend their time on it for me.

Based on the GM reply after my last post on that topic which said "Yes, you can PvP people who don't want to be PvP'd" I would interpret that as not harassment.

Some of the PvE vs PvP powers changes depend on the target of the power, and some depend on the type of zone you're in. A single power can have multiple effects if it hits multiple combinations of targets - for example if I use an AoE on a player standing in a group of NPCs, the normal PvE effects will be applied to the NPCs and the PvP effects will be applied to the player. Not every player-affecting power follows the same rules though. Another example: if I get confused in PvE and hit a teammate with, say, Fossilize, it'll deal PvP damage and the hold will only last for a few seconds (if the player had no mez protection, otherwise it would not mez the target at all). If I use Clear Mind on an ally, it will give mez protection in PvE but if I use that same power in a PvP environment it will give mez resistance instead. Melee armor set mez protection toggles/clicks/autos also use zone type to determine their effect. Because of the way some of the PvP/PvE differentiation is done, it's not really possible to have open-world impromptu PvP because you'd end up with a mixed bag of PvE and PvP effects.

Ugh that definitely wasn't a thing on live. You'd figure the warning entering a PvP zone would be enough but...

I've got the OP ignored for myriad reasons but based on the replies I've read so far I'm guessing the post was something like: I want to be able to flag myself as non-PvP in a PvP zone because other people are mean and keep killing me when I'm trying to get badges or temp powers but I also want to be able to flag myself as PvP in non-PvP zones because I want to be able to have open world PvP a la Champions Online Regarding item one, if you don't want to engage in PvP just... I dunno, stay out of PvP zones? There's nothing that's required for the game in those zones, and for the most part the badges/temp powers offer a reward commensurate with the risk. Plus, y'know, unless you're in RV on Indomitable the odds you're going to run into someone who's there for PvP and not badge hunting like you is pretty low. Regarding item two, the game's PvP population is small enough as it is (the Homecoming PvP Discord has, as of this post, 1314 members) and spreading that population out even further reduces the likelihood you'll ever find someone to PvP against. The game already has mechanisms in place to PvP from anywhere at any time, and because of the way PvE/PvP powers separation works, it isn't actually possible to enforce some of the PvP-specific mechanics changes in non-PvP zones. EDIT: Apparently after reading the last shitstorm thread that got locked, you could potentially interpret some of the posts there and here as saying if a player is in a PvP zone and has said they want to be left alone (aka not engage in PvP in a zone existing expressly for that purpose) then you cannot continue to PvP, even if you're trying to get a PvP IO, and even if that person is the only other one in the zone. That seems a little ridiculous to me. Is that what @GM Widoweris saying? EDIT 2: Just for clarity, because I'm sure I'll be accused of being one of the types that sits in PvP zones and waits to gank someone over and over again... no, I won't do that. I'm like the majority of players who tend to go into PvP zones mostly for badges and accolades (unless it's RV) but if I see another player I will probably attempt some PvP. I might kill you a few times but I won't continually follow you around over and over and over.

I don't think the animations changed when fast snipe changed. They were all 1.33s (some were 1.67s I think?) and they're still all 1.33s/1.67s.

Apple has never been "actively hostile" to video games and game developers, what on earth are you talking about?

Another useful link for damage proc scaling. Also my proc list and chance calculator in my signature.

To be fair, Classic worked in every PowerPC-supported version of OS X except 10.5, which was released in fall 2007, almost six and a half years after the first OS X release, and it didn't work at all on the Intel releases of 10.4 and 10.5. Likewise, Rosetta (PowerPC -> Intel) was available for all OS releases for about six years, and OS X didn't drop support for 32-bit applications until just last year. The thought process there is that any commonly-used software will almost certainly be updated in that time frame and the compatibility layers are no longer needed because they add complexity. Obviously if you're using some kind of niche software or abandonware the story is a little different, but you can still run older versions of OS X that support those features in a VM (Intel) or emulator like SheepShaver (PowerPC) if you're so inclined.

To be entirely fair, most of the "speed"-related Homecoming changes originated on the Resurgence server and were designed so the game would be functional and playable with a tiny population, and some of the changes have been toned down or rolled back since Homecoming launched. Take a look at, say, Rebirth or coxg, the highest-population I24-based servers, and see how long it takes to get IOs and incarnate powers on a single character. Even with Homecoming's population, the vanilla CoX experience would be downright awful compared to live.

Also, Reach for the Limit is odd in that it uses PPM but I haven't been able to find exactly what its PPM rating is anywhere because there's next to zero documentation about how it actually works.

Oh yeah, Staff's forms and Bio's adaptations are also unslottable powers. But, like @Monos Kingsaid, those are just powers which unlock other toggle powers which change secondary/tertiary effects. Unlike Reach for the Limit, neither of those have effects on their own, they just modify other powers.

It's a very odd power. It's the only non-temporary power in the game I can think of that doesn't even let you slot it (no, the new origin pool popup powers don't count). I have no idea why it doesn't take sets.

To comment more on the original topic of fixing PvP zones: Back on live, you could usually find at least a few players in most PvP zones on most servers - the lower-population ones weren't usually busy, but Freedom, Infinity, Liberty, Justice, and Virtue had some activity. That is, at least, until the Issue 13 changes wiped out most of the PvP population. After that it was hard to find players on any server that wasn't Freedom. Homecoming's population is far smaller than the live servers ever were meaning the PvP population is smaller as well, to the point where only Recluse's Victory on Indomitable is the only regularly-busy PvP zone. Other zones and other servers might occasionally have players, but if I log on with the intention of going into a zone and engaging in PvP the only place I'm reasonably sure of finding it is RV on Indom. So... how do you bring the population of PvP zones up? Well, the first step is providing meaningful rewards for engaging in PvP. While it is true that rewards for PvP have been added (PvP recipes, inf/salvage/incarnate shards/threads/inspirations from player defeats, etc.) they did not address the population issues - the PvP population was far higher when there were no rewards and the addition of rewards didn't significantly increase the population. Why? I feel like at least part of it is due to the large changes in mechanics between PvE and PvP which are neither explained ingame nor particularly intuitive. Another part is the game's playerbase in general - this game is very easy and very casual-friendly which tends to attract the type of players who just aren't interested in PvP in the first place and there's nothing you can do to change that. The "activities" in the PvP zones were originally meant to get those players into PvP zones to at least experience it, but because you were never required to engage in PvP to get those rewards those players complained. PvP recipes were basically the only attractive reward that could only be earned through PvP, but the drop rate plus lockout timer meant the actual chance of getting one was so abysmal that the majority of the supply back on live came from people AFK farming them. On Homecoming PvP recipes drop from PvE mobs which means once again there's no actual incentive to PvP. The next step is mechanics changes, and making things easier to understand, but it's highly unlikely this will happen because it would require significant time investment on the part of the dev team with no guaranteed payoff. One of the common barriers to PvP I hear about is "I need a whole different character with a different build and I don't have time or inf to make that happen." That's a legitimate concern, which is why I think it'd be neat to be able to create, level, IO, and accolade a character for free - as long as that character is only used in PvP zones or the arena. Suddenly one of the largest hurdles to participating in PvP is removed. When PvP was the weekly discussion topic some months back there were multiple thoughtful and well-supported proposals for changes. The ideas are out there, it's just a matter of implementing them. My personal suggestion, aside from mechanics changes, is to change the reputation system - right now it decays relatively quickly when you're not logged in, the lockout for defeating the same player is too long, and you can't use it for anything. Make reputation redeemable for ingame rewards and you might be on to something. Likewise, the bounty system in Siren's Call is a good mechanic but it's underused because the items you could buy with it aren't worth the amount of bounty it takes. Adjust the items available and the cost, and maybe add a similar system to the other PvP zones.

Yeah, there have been several mentions of how +/- special aren't supposed to effect each other starting with the release of Issue 26 Page 4, it's just that Power Boost in its various forms (Energy Manipulation, Primal Forces Mastery for Controllers, Soul Mastery for Defenders and Corruptors, Mace Mastery for Masterminds, and the various Dominator versions of Power Up) never got the "ignores buffs and enhancements" flag that Weaken, Benumb, Clarion, Amp Up, Adrenal Booster, and Power Build Up all got.

IIRC a certain someone (who would likely know) said the changes to the way powers data is saved doesn't work with City of Data's current coding.

I don't think "we" are anything with regards to personal attacks, as I haven't attacked you personally a single time. You're forgetting a third category of player - players who go to a PvP zone to PvP. While I'm sure the player you describe in category 2 does exist, they are certainly not in the majority. You couldn't possibly have "settled in" on Indomitable "when HC started up" as the server didn't exist when HC went live, and at any rate it was designated as the unofficial PvP server within three days of its creation. If you couldn't see a stealth-capped Stalker with your capped perception, then that Stalker was more than 10 feet away from you. It's not a bug, though it might have to do with server latency. See also my earlier statements about autohit debuff auras or patch/rain-type powers which would either remove the Stalker's stealth entirely or at the very least just drop them to Hide-only stealth levels (500ft stealth radius, IIRC). Since I never said that it takes skill to AS a player that's standing still, I'm confused by your comment. But please, continue to insist Stalkers are "no skill pussy play" - if your opponent has no skill but you are unable to counter what they're doing, what does that say about your skill level?

"Griefers." Point of clarification - PvP was always intended to be part of the game, but it wasn't included with launch because it wasn't ready. The game was barely a year old when it was added, but zones didn't exist at the time because there was no thematic reason for them to exist. The addition of villains gave a perfect thematic reason and bam, here we are. The game has had PvP and PvP zones far longer than it didn't have them. It is an unfortunate reality that zone PvP is not the most balanced form of PvP in this game and that it's also most peoples' first experience with PvP but there are two general categories of players in this game with respect to PvP: Players who go into a PvP zone and get facerolled but are still interested, go "that was pretty intense!" and end up learning why they are getting facerolled and make improvements Players who go into a PvP zone and get facerolled and complain about it My first experiences with PvP in this game were rough, but instead of complaining I figured out what other players were doing and took the initiative to learn and make myself better - learning the systems, learning the builds, and so on. As a whole, the PvP community in this game is relatively friendly, if somewhat abrasive, and extremely helpful. You are approaching this from the point of "I don't like this so it should be changed to cater to me" which is going to get you exactly nowhere. I also notice that you refuse to acknowledge what I said about the live and Homecoming GM teams, and refuse to acknowledge that I am actually trying to help you deal with at least one of the problems you're having.

There it is again... I think in-game roleplaying is silly but I would never ask for it to be removed because I know other players enjoy it. I think badge hunting and the "gotta catch em all" mentality is silly but I would never ask for it to be removed because I know other players enjoy it. I think the Flight travel pool is awful but I would never ask for it to be removed or outright replaced because I know other players enjoy it. See the pattern here?

If you're dying to a single Stalker using AS (an interruptible attack with a 4-plus-second animation) plus a followup attack or two (likely 2-3 seconds worth of animation time) you might want to re-evaluate which of you is the bad player.

And yet again (what is this, the eleventy-fifth time it's come up in this thread alone) attacking players in a PvP zone isn't griefing. If you want the badges/temp powers/whatever from a PvP zone but aren't willing to accept the risk of getting them you could either 1) not get them or 2) come back later or on a different server. The entire reason those badges/temp powers/whatever are in PvP zones is to get people into PvP zones. The best part is, not a single thing you can get in a PvP zone is required to play the game. EDIT: Also worth pointing out that the apparent stance of the GM team back on live, and the GM team here as well, is that attacking other players in PvP zones is not griefing. If you're getting repeatedly teleported into geometry that you can't get out of by another player then you might have a case (and even then that's barely arguable since there are many ways to prevent that from happening) but just being attacked by another player while in the zone? Nope, sorry. EDITx2: The "getting attacked by other players when I don't want to be" argument is weak at best simply because 1) free server transfers exist and servers that aren't Indomitable have virtually empty PvP zones and 2) even on Indomitable the zones are mostly empty aside from RV.

In other words: "I don't enjoy the aspect of the game that you like so it should be removed." That, folks, tells you all you need to know about the OP's intentions.