Ukase

I have a few categories, so to speak. The first shout out would go to @Snarky because he is amusing. Especially when he's not trying to be. A real renaissance man - studying German and music in his spare time, doing Pilates and some basic weight lifting to keep old age from catching up to him. (Run faster, Snarky!) The second is harder to articulate. In my experience, behind every good leader are good people who help that leader accomplish the goals. Now Guardian Maiden leads a hami on Tuesday nights - but also helps in the afternoon hamis when they're not leading. But it's not the Tuesday lead that gets them the shout out, it's the assistance they provide the other hami leaders when they're not leading. And GM isn't alone in this category. I'll likely butcher this name, and probably leave some folks out - @Lauciannacan perhaps elaborate a bit if she has time, I read somewhere she's fairly busy outside of the game this week. But there are a collection of players that seem to be quite useful. Wispur, Queen Maya, Deidre in the Disco, and lord help me...I can't recall the name of the other character that shouts the /loc for those 2 folks who got in, but can't fit on the league, letting them know where the Giant Monster scrum is, and where the staging area to tackle hami is. And as magical as the Goddess is with her many macros, without those folks helping her with the timely incans (in the labyrinth/murder room, too!) I suspect things would be quite a bit more challenging. Guardian Maiden is usually one of the tanks, and the other two..(I cannot recall at this time but I know Will is in one of the names somehow) Tanks are often doing thankless stuff, and it's easy to forget how badly things would go without them. And there's a Screaming Scuttie - I have no idea if they add any strategy but the commentary is usually silly, which is generally appreciated. Oh - special shout out for Amethyst Angel who read my comment that I was 36 prismatics shy of going mini-mode (or something like that) and they tried to gift them to me! I imagine they had never checked my global and was unaware I'm quite capable of buying all the prismatics if I want to. It was really a selfless act. Or maybe they don't visit the forums. Or just didn't care and had a bazillion prismatics. I know my alt that holds most of my stuff has a bunch, but this character was going to earn them. And lastly, @Bionic_Flea. Flea has probably forgotten more than most of us know about CoH. And still knows more than most of us. He is really selfless on the help chat channel, and must have City of Data, HC Wiki and who knows what other sources of information he has available - but I don't think there's anyone that has helped more people in that channel.

I have felt this way before...and really it was just about the latest patch with the name policy began to be implemented that I decided to simply play my level 50 fire/natty. I am somewhere around vet level 38 or so. Got about 1220 badges or so. Somewhere around 200 hero merits. And the inf keeps rolling in. When you don't make alts, you don't have to sweat farming or marketing. Just do the stuff that might be interesting on a given day. A break from CoH isn't the worst plan. Just be sure to check in for new content so you don't miss anything.

This is an excellent point. And it would likely add an additional chunk of code if it were to be implemented. But wouldn't it be nice if all those sets went to 50 in the first place? Still, that is a good point and adds to a sound reason why it wouldn't happen - despite my desire to see it so. Since when are QoL requests "necessary"? He all but told me to in his reply to my post. Still, the "necessary" perspective you have on QoL additions to the game - think about that? What has been added that has been "necessary"? You don't think the portable SG base was necessary? It was a gift! (one I use many times through the day)

There's no point in my discussing this if this is your approach. "Need" doesn't enter into it. "Want" is the driver. Now, before you take exception - I stopped reading your post when I read this. It's just clear we're not going to agree on this - and that's fine. I know you know your stuff - and you're probably gifted with much faster fingers than mine. I just cannot enjoy the game going sans enhancements. Fortunately, I don't have to.

Slotting build choices, as you say, should (and do) require thought and effort. The thought and effort is on the sets chosen. Common IOs require nothing but the perfunctory 1-2 acc, 2-3 damage and 1-2 recharge and maybe an end redux. The "detuner doesn't seem necessary" - the OP never said they were necessary. The OP offered a solution to a problem that players often have in game. We use attuned sets because we see value in those sets over the common IOs. When you play a character that uses sets, and then take the sets out for common IOs, it's no longer the same character. It's a weaker character. Lower recharge. Lower recovery. Why set a player up for that kind of experience? It's obvious, a lot of players use these common IO and strip them out. But why even offer that as a way of doing things to a player who's already reached 50? The post is about the dilemma presented. The usage of common IOs doesn't address it, it just makes the OP's character a lot weaker if they happen to exemplar. A lot of players who don't level up with invention sets won't see the value in this detuner proposition. I do! But it would depend on how it would be implemented. Because the last thing I want to do is accidentally use one and detune something I didn't intend to.

Well, no, I would never tell players that just use SOs over level 30 have a trash build - but I would think it. Most of us already think it in terms of "good enough, but not what I'd use". That's not a secret. They're "good enough" for most things, but for certain content, unless the player is known for competence, it's not going to inspire confidence. I'm thinking of the OP's dilemma. Wanting to have your stuff boosted, but recognizing that unslotting or burning a respec to get the attuned out and replacing with level 50 replacements is a bit tedious and time-consuming. The idea of a de-tuner is a reasonably good idea, depending on the implementation and cost. It would solve the problem presented. Now - your solution could solve it - but not nearly as well, nor as efficiently. And, when the OP, who's already 50 does some sub-50 content for a weekly...the stats they leveled with...gone. Because they used your advice. The recovery they were used to - gone. Your solution is viable, but ultimately, the character the OP would be playing just wouldn't be the same character. It would be weaker. Or, as I call it, trash. As for the 2nd part, I hadn't gotten to Tyger's post yet. I'm not singling you out on purpose. I don't even pay attention to whose post I'm responding to. I'm just looking at the content of the post itself. Don't you worry, his take on the OP's suggestion is even worse. I recognize that the OP recognizes this is just a QoL suggestion. The world's not going to end if the idea is tossed out with the trash. But, I think there's some merit to it. It would be quite useful. I'm not sure how often I'd use it, as I'm not clear on is how viable the "detuner" would be if the cost exceeded that of 5 boosters- whatever that cost might be on any given day on the AH. Sadly, the market cost of various items vary with demand and supply, and as a result, it can add a layer of complexity to how said unit would be acquired. Through a merit vendor makes sense, but for all I know, they could have it be some kind of super-rare drop for dropping a contaminated that spawns in RV. As for me, my current character, a fire/natty corruptor has about 1/2 and 1/2 boosted and attuned. I have a supply of unslotters that I use before exemplaring. I've opened so many packs that I have well over 3000 of them because to click that many times to sell the surplus just takes too much time. So, I just burn a bit of opportunity cost inf when I exemplar and then replace the attuned with the boosted when I go back to the 50 stuff. And, sometimes, I even forget, I barely notice. But If I forget to slap the attuned back in, I notice that, particularly with end recovery.

I have no doubt your heart is in the right place, but I have to disagree. Here's why: The dilemma presented by the OP as I understand it is, the sets are now attuned. They would like to boost them. Clearly, we know we cannot boost attuned IOs. Nor can we remove the catalysts. (I'm sure folks that mistakenly catalyzed a purple would love to have one of these "detuners"! ) As mentioned previously, if you're going to have non-sets in your build, then using common IOs leaves you without set bonuses. Depending on content, the AT/powersets, sure, you can make a viable character with common IOs. But they're not likely to be that super, at least, not compared to a build with set bonuses. All those marginal gains add up. Since the OP's sets are attuned, I would imagine they began to slot them when they could afford them. Some in the 20's, some in the 30's, etc. So, it could be they didn't get used to playing in "god mode" quite so early. But not having any set bonuses? At all? I would surely die a lot more if it were me. And that is not a good time. Far better to market a bit, pony up the inf and go with sets. A "Detuner" could be a viable solution to the OP's dilemma. Certainly easier than unslotting and replacing with a level 50, and then finally boosting it. I could never in good conscious affirm or recommend generic IOs to anyone. It's too easy to market and make 100's of millions overnight. The sad part is probably the potential merit cost per detuner. No idea what a "fair" price would be. Somewhere between a catalyst and 5 boosters, I guess. My main concern - how would the system prevent an accidental "detuning"? I look at where the boosters are next to the catalysts in the enhancement management screen, and I'm always making darn sure I use the one I want to use and don't mis-click. I get so nervous about this, I sometimes will stash my unused boosters or catalysts (depending on which I want to use) in the AH to prevent their accidental misuse.

Because you would then have a sub-par build. You already know the stats from the set bonuses add up. Common IOs are fine for something like hasten, but I'm NEVER using a common IO in an attack or an armor at ANY level. It's a waste of influence. Below level 30, the IOs don't have the value of SOs. Above level 30, you might as well use an attuned set and let it level up with you.

I do like some of the idea. Instead of seeing "The Winter Lord is causing havoc" messages, it could be akin the the rikti or nem invasions. The GM could be the same Winter Lord that spawns, only instead of spawning alone, he'll send the minions ahead. The only problem I have is the trigger. Right now, I have the liberty of killing a Winter Lord in the wild if I choose. But if we have a trigger, I do not, unless I want to do one of these events. And well...I'd rather not have the Winter Lord limited in that fashion. I don't want to be forced to do the Lord Winter's trial just to get a GM.

That clears that up, thanks!

Yes, I'm not clear why a Crey PP, (or at least dressed like one) defeated other Crey in this room.

It's a fair tip, at least for the Tuatha. Anecdotally, if I am pursuing the Geas accolade, Tuatha are ones I'll need to hunt a bit, because my ranged characters don't usually ramp up the spawn size, although my melee characters might. Red Caps, anecdotally, I generally get in Katie Hannon in combination with the red cap missions in the story arcs. Still, anytime you get a tip like this from Voltor - take note. He's done this at least once, lol. He might know something!

So, I gave some feedback on this arc when it was in Beta. I seem to have caught the badge bug, so this has a badge, and I'm doing it on my latest fire/natty corr, Naughty Zoot. In the 2nd mission, "Investigate Bein Lab 4", I get to the room with the lab manager - one of the objectives to "defeat". I see this, and I apologize for the clutter; it took me a second to bring up the Snip & Sketch. What you're seeing is just prior to this: I am not one who reads or even skims when I'm just trying to through something, particularly an arc I've done before. But I don't recall seeing this when it was on Beta. I would have mentioned it, because the purpose of my post now is to ask, is this WAI? If this should be moved to General or something, feel free. Wasn't real sure where to ask.

I can understand an event not meeting expectations. I can understand real life getting in the way and preventing enjoyment of the game. (or even just getting to log in) And, I can kind of understand the frustration of being bored with the same old thing. We got a new badge, but other than that, there's nothing new to the event if you've been here for a year or more. I've stated in these forums somewhere, 2 things lead to disappointment: unrealized expectations and unrealistic expectations. I'm not very clear on what the OP was expecting. There's never been any kind of promise, nor even a responsibility of the HC devs to provide new content. At least, not to my knowledge. I have never expected new content. It's awesome when it happens, even if that new content isn't something I'd choose to do frequently. (Cobalt has done amazing stuff with the Labyrinth, by the way. By far my current favorite thing to do in game) Should I be expecting more? I don't think so. Nobody's getting paid. And, in my experience, money isn't a motivator. It's only the lack of it that gets people moving. Kitsch is close enough, but the reference that everyone else is an idiot for participating is a bit too much to be taken seriously. Although, having just clicked on 200 glowies for a silly badge...maybe the OP isn't too far off the mark, lol.

So, I've apparently relapsed and gotten the badge bug again. These /locs were super helpful. But, while the boss names vary, it would seem that most of these boss prisoners have henchmen. So I've taken to using a target macro for henchman, and I've been seeing 2-3 more that I wasn't seeing before. As many of you have already experienced, they may or may not re-spawn every circuit.