Ukase

This guy's name is spoken of on every server as a great content leader. I keep meaning to visit Everlasting, but the last time I was there, he was doing a TPN, and I would hate to fall asleep as a visitor. (I do detest TPN. So much repetition)

I almost recognized *ic Flea myself, and was planning on getting him some props in the next couple of weeks!

You're not the first person to suggest accolades over badge count. Certainly, accolades certainly suggest investment in the character, if nothing else, given the boost in hp/end. I appreciate the perspective and will give it an either/or kind of thing. Either know them (or their rep) or look for the passive accolades, or a relatively high badge count. Fun fact on the badge count, as a metric. I've got a warshade and a widow - both are levels 42-43 and didn't do 2xp. All missions so far were kill through, unless mission objectives required otherwise. I've made an effort to get the exploration badges in each zone they're in, and neither one has over 200 yet. Mind you, I'd never make a badger out of these two, I just don't enjoy them enough to do so, but the low badge count makes me think that all of you are correct, I'm being unreasonable. (They are both locked to their alignment until 50 - so there's a limit to the low-hanging fruit badges for both as far as explores go.) I hope folks realize that even though I can be obtuse, I do try to take in other opinions and have an open mind. So, your counter-points are often considered!

I agree, to a point. There's a number of GREAT players who, for one reason or another don't pursue badges on a given character. But here's the context: I'm running an MoTF, I've got some choices of folks among a pug crowd. First thing I do, is check global name, then powersets, then badge count. If I don't know you - you might truly be the best choice - but I have no way of knowing that. When you want to make the most of your time, and not have to redo the tf because of unfortunate missteps, what metric would you look at? Leave everything to chance? I ask myself - why do they want this badge? They don't seem to be a badge hound. Vet level 12 and only 223 badges. I'd think they'd have quite a bit more by vet level 12, if badges were what they were after. Are they trying to be helpful, or are they just looking to team up with anyone? Just the challenge? And that's the dilemma I often face if I don't know them. I also look at vet levels if they're 50. Experience with a character is important, too. Although badge counts suggest they have experienced a lot of the game, rather than the same fire farm repeatedly. (not that high vet levels mean that - but they could) Obviously, I know with certainty that high badge counts do not guarantee success on a Master run. But, to me, it's a fair indication that someone with a high badge count: 1) wants the badge 2) has enough experience to know not to do things that are needlessly risky - like go afk during the 2nd mission of an ITF with all those ambushes 3) has stumbled across my path on one league badge effort or another in the past I'm very open to finding another metric to use. But I can't think of one that's a better indicator of success when considering an MoTF with someone I am unfamiliar with.

I really appreciate this perspective! And the time it took to spell it out for me. I have never played those games you spoke of, but I got the gist of it. So, I'm grateful for the explanation. I knew I had to be missing something, which was why I was asking in the first place.

I appreciate the perspective, thanks. I used to play the slow way, I promise, I did. I don't think I ever got kicked tho - and I've never kicked anybody for playing differently. But as I learned more, it dawned on me how much I was missing in the experience. Now, I guess I'm missing something else - more nuance, more silly commentary from the npcs, etc.

This is exactly what I need/want to understand more clearly in my feeble mind. I completely understand that there are thematic reasons or even at home/real life reasons why a player isn't out to be ..well....super fast. If the character is where you want it, then what is it that motivates you? After so many levels, doesn't something like War Mace's Crowd Control and it's satisfying crunch, doesn't that just get...old, stale? I have moods where the last thing I want to do are speed. And generally, I've found the squishier the character, the more likely I am to want to go more slowly - more order, less chaos. But, I'm not talking so much about in-mission tactics, but out of mission tactics. Is it just an old school preference to ride the slow turtle 30 miles to the quest door, a hold over from some game I've never played before? If that's it, that's fine - I just don't get it. And I don't have to, I'm just trying to understand it. I play a few characters that are "about the journey", not the destination. Oddly enough, I've learned to despise all three! A warshade, a widow and an MM. I chose the ATs because I hadn't played them before. Now I see why! Ordinarily, I'd just delete them, but they are each in a team crawl, so that would be letting the group down, so I suffer through it. My arbitrary list is exactly that. I've often heard that you have to measure something to know if there's improvement. So there's got to be a metric. Fun is subjective for all of us. It cannot be measured. We know it when we experience it, usually. But for me, because time is scarce, I want to be sure I'm not coming to the boards and complaining about people that don't deserve complaints, they're just...well, not in a hurry, whereas, I usually am. What really seems odd to me are the number of times the recruitment message is "speedy XTF", and there's usually that one player who never exits the map when the mission is over. Sometimes, it's just a long page load. Other times, they have scrapper lock and don't notice the mission ended. We'll yell in team chat, send tells, and optimally, use discord to ask what the delay is for. These are the folks that will make my hair gray. And one of the other folks are the ones with flight, have a celerity in sprint, but not realize that's not enough to let them zip by most mobs unscathed. You need super speed for that celerity:stealth to do you any good! And they die. And they wait there on the floor, as if some defender is supposed to tp them and rez them. The ones that do use the hospital, they miss the end of that mission, are late coming to the next one. In short - they prove themselves of no value to the team. Not even a joke as they lay there dead. It was advertised as a speedy run, and they are not speedy. Then THEY come to the boards and complain about how selfish we are. We're not selfish, we're just in a hurry, and our builds allow us to be in a hurry. We've gone to the trouble of making the builds, sharing it with friends, asking for their critical eye to help us make them better. We have farmers that allow us the resources to acquire anything in game without any hardship. It's so easy to do! And yet people say they hate it, can't stand it, it's ruining the game, etc. I stopped farming for one week on my accounts and suddenly the end mod perf shifter +end rises in price by 25%! Same with a number of other useful IOs that many of you use in every build. PvP IOs that I'd helped to reduce down to 8M are now back up to 10-11M as of this posting! Just because I stopped marketing for 1 lousy week. All thankless deeds, misunderstood by the casual gamer. But I digress. I just want to reach a place in my heart and mind where when I see someone who's playing slowly, I can instantly say to myself, "They're not stupid, Ukase. They just don't like the faster, more efficient way of play because X. And "X" can be anything, I just want it to make sense. Doesn't mean it will make sense to me, it's just what I want. And I may not get what I want, and that's okay. But if I don't ask, I don't get.

This may be something you're aware of and skip for thematic purposes, but if you have a character that has Schweinzer unlocked, you can get TFC in about 15 minutes. Simply log in an alt, or ride along with friends and do each mayhem bank mission and get the exploration within. You don't even have to defeat a single npc. In fact, it's advised you don't, as that would take the 20 seconds to zip in and out and turn it into a longer task. I have a character on each of my three accounts with Schweinzer unlocked and will typically get Invader, the red side equivalent of TFC on all my characters around level 15. Then, I switch them back to hero, and poof, I now have TFC. The only reason to suffer through those task forces that are repetitive and lengthy is because you want the merits, badge, or you derive some fun out of them. Or a combination of all three. But if it's just the accolade you want - invader is a faster, easier approach. Cosmic Council SG does a weekly/bi-weekly run for all 4 passive stat boosting accolades. Takes about 2 hours. Usually less if people are..well, speedy.

While I can't dispute the math, an overwhelming truth that gets shouted throughout the forums is CoH is about fun. A subjective term, to be sure. But, when HC opened - the first character I made and played (after creating what would be my main characters from Liberty to reserve their names) was a Sentinel. Why? Because at the time, I had no idea it sucked. It was a Fire/Rad sentinel. And you know what? It was fun. It was survivable. I had no clue what that stupid "Opportunity" meant, and didn't really care. The AT was brand new, so there wasn't much information on it. It was my first 50 here on HC. Got about 480 badges, so it's still a trash character not to be trusted. (Nobody should trust any character with less than 500 badges, lol - at least, none in my stable) But, I played it quite a bit, vet level 30, I think. It was fun. I haven't played it in over a year, but I'll never delete it. I look at the build now and wonder how I played it. I wonder how I managed to only get defeated 4 times over the life of the character, given the lackluster numbers. And then, when I was playing something else, the negative talk about Sentinels began. Me, I was clueless. I had no idea. While playing (teamed for the most part from level 19 and up) I had no idea my dps sucked. I think a Sentinel is a fine character for anyone to play. But...if I'm going for a RHW badge, I'm probably going to wince if I see one on the league. It's the only character I've got that's ever failed a RHW attempt, lol. (others have failed, but only after succeeding, and trying to help others get the badge.) So, yeah, I know why folks would play one, and I think they should, if it's fun. But I don't think I'll ever play one again, until they get adjusted somehow.

There's been quite a bit of negativity on these forums lately. From folks like myself asking questions "Why do something like that?" to folks bashing a shard because of some unpleasant experiences they've had. So, what I propose is that we all take a moment to think - and post - about someone who has made your player experience better due to perhaps their generosity of inf, time, knowledge, badge assistance, or whatever. The first player that comes to my mind is @Yomo Kimyata Yomo is filthy rich as far as in-game currency goes. And, what's crazy, is I'm sure he's still giving away 20 Million influence to anyone who asks him for it through in-game email. But it's more than that. Yomo doesn't talk ill of those who are broke, or ignorant. He goes out of his way to share his knowledge with anyone, as evidenced by his guides in the market forum. It's my aim to revisit this post once a week and name one player who makes this game better because of the way they interact with the players around them. It'd be nice if some of you would do the same. Sometimes, good behavior is taken for granted, and we should probably do more to recognize these folks.

Of course I ask why. I ask why because I don't understand your perspective. Granted, I don't have to, nor do you have to understand mine. But why wouldn't you do all you could to be as good as you can be? You may think of it as elitist, but you say that like it's a negative. I am just trying to save time. It's like in the real world, and I want to hire someone. Do I hire someone with very little experience or someone with a lot of experience? I go with the person with the most experience. Particularly in this game, because I don't have to pay them - the game pays them. And while we all get the same rewards for the most part, the ones that go the fastest make more per unit of time. That just makes sense to me. But hey, to each their own. That said, I understand that folks will want to actually read what the npc/contact says, or perhaps ruminate on certain bits of dialogue. I have no issue with that. Just not on a speedy run, thanks. I can further understand that some folks, for thematic reasons may want to forgo a travel power when they play. I have such a character, newly created called Thong Kong. It/she is a gorilla, sort of, that wears a thong. Makes no sense for Thong Kong to be zipping about using super speed. So, it/she uses beast run. BUT - I do have Super Speed, and it/she will be using it on speed runs. And why not? Makes no sense to persue merits slowly. At least, not to me. But, if going slow is your cup of tea - savor it, if it tastes good to you. I have my moods where I'll go slower with certain characters. Particularly during the week when I might have to take a call and am solo. But, when teamed, I ensure I'm not a hindrance or anchor, at least to the best of my ability. Nobody owes me an explanation for anything. But it would be nice if I could understand that perspective more clearly. I'm trying to broaden my horizons. What about you?

Vitriol? Cruel and bitter criticism is how that's defined. Nobody was cruel to you. In fact, we were all supportive and encouraging. I get the feeling that you see what you expect to see. I'm rooting for you. I'll never team with you because your expectations are ridiculous, but other than that, I'm pulling for you.

For a master tf or trial run, at least 500 badges. Why? Because in my mind, it shows a commitment to badging. Even though those can be got by doing just the explorations, it still shows commitment, as opposed to someone who was just bored and wanted something to do - who didn't really care about a master badge in the first place. Not to mention, a higher badge count increases the likelihood that they've seen a decent cross section of what the game has to offer. They're more likely to at least have been exposed to various debuffs and game mechanics. No guarantees, but the more experienced a player is, the more likely they'll know to avoid jumping in a mob without a suitable strategy. On a master Kahn, and someone hops into that laser room out of curiosity and then dies - despite warnings to not go in there - they die and effectively tell the team they don't care about the other person's time. Time is important! Don't get me wrong, I don't insist everyone have TT. I just shake my head and wonder why they don't have it when it's so useful. I fully understand that there are players who like to do things their own way. I'm one of them. My way is just different. Some folks build a character for max dps. Some max defense/resist. Some max recharge. There's no right or wrong here. But there is definitely a faster and a slower, at least with regards to getting to missions. Why be slower? I get that for thematic purposes someone might forgo a travel power on their new gorilla tank, as beast run fits better in their theme. But, that's on you. If you want half the missions to be complete before you get there, should you be on a speed run tf of some kind - where's the fun in that for you? Now, some will just avoid those kinds of teams, and that's fine. Do you. I just think it makes perfect sense to go as fast as you can go unless circumstances warrant you go slower - like a traditional leveling team where everyone starts at level 1, plays for a set time, and meets again the next week. No need to speed something like that. Get there when you get there. But when you're level 50, you've got a new alt in mind, and you don't have the funds like I do, you need those merits, and you want them sooner than later. And there's only so much game time you have. By going slowly, you've just pushed that idea you wanted to try even further away. For me, the game is easy. It's no longer really enough for me to get The Really Hard Way Badge. I want to get it faster than we did last time. I want to improve. But I completely get that's just me, and I don't expect that of you. But it would be better for me if you did. Better for you? I'm not worried about that. That's your department.

I don't think it's ridiculous at all. TT is a valuable tool. It saves time. Most of us aren't kids any more. We have responsibilities, demands on our time. Anything that will shave minutes or even seconds on a task force is worth the influence to me. Anyone who's got the inclination can make 10M from the AH in minutes. The idea that EVERYONE doesn't have and make full use of Team Teleport is laughable. There's not one reason to not use it every chance you can. To see the same npcs robbing the same purses? To see the same buildings in the same cities? Seriously? Why? It's not new. (then again, most of the content isn't new either - but it can seem new with a new character and a new team. ) It's not like 10m is expensive. There's nothing in this flavor of CoH that's expensive, so why not?

Hmm....

@Solarverse Could you share which tf/mission you're talking about? I'm trying to think of various ones with bombs and an AV...LRSF?

The reason to go to that amount of trouble is with Ouro, you'd have to suffer through the preceding missions every time you wanted the badge. With Voltor's method, you keep the mission on standby for any character that wants/needs the badge. Saves a lot of time. Bear in mind, Voltor is like a select few of us that make multiple characters to get all the badges. Most folks aren't this crazy.

The big things in my mind for gold side: Need praetorian equivalents of the 4 passive accolade powers. Gold side needs task forces. I know my thinking here is off the beaten path, but I think alignment in this game is ridiculous. This whole idea of heroes "registering" with city hall, and villains openly approaching contacts for dirty deeds, it's all quite silly. You think there are crooks that don't enter into a given area? Sure, there are. But there are also other crooks who do, and freely, because they are better at being a crook and escape detection. The population, the police, nobody knows they're crooks. This idea that a stalker, who's basically invisible can't freely stow away on a ferry to Paragon unless they see some bird on a van in an inter/non-dimensional club that plays the same music on a loop...seriously? Lose the bird. Lose the van. Heck, lose pocket D. All characters should be able to access all areas regardless of alignment. I get that it will never happen. I'm fine with it. I am okay thinking in my head that it's just silly the steps we have to take, but am grateful I don't have to do 10 missions and then a final mission to switch sides. But the two big things remain. If you want to level up from 1-50 as a praetorian, you're at a disadvantage, compared to heroes/villains.

I have literally 10,000's of threads across a number of characters/accounts. But - wait! There's a RHW this Saturday! Every Saturday. The characters with all those threads already have The Really Hard Way badge, and Master of Magisterium. So, what to do? I just spent all my threads getting this newer character ready for RHW, getting t-4, etc. No more threads left! At least, not the 400 threads needed to get the inspirations desired. 4*30 ultimates =120 4*30 dual team red/yellows=120 8*30 Team reds = 120 4*10 solo reds = 40 400 threads That's a lot of threads unless you have done a ton of content with your newish 50. And generally, we use threads to make the common components needed, right? So, anecdotally, that's what happens in my case. I try to get my alts that are thread rich to stash what's needed in my sg base ahead of time. And generally do. But every now and then, I get busy and can't get that done. So, I end up over-paying for these inspirations. (usually buying them from my own alt, lol) Additionally, the staging area for iTrials is sometimes Pocket D - which doesn't have a Luna to sell them. Recently, folks have been using Echo Plaza, as there's a Luna there as well. This may actually cause the prices of these inspirations to drop.

So, Ukase is far too embarrassed to ask this himself, so while he was on a call, I snuck on here and typed this out. He's at his wit's end coming up with a gorilla with a thong for reasons that escape any rationale I can think of. So..this is gonna sound super strange - but what he wants is the closest thing he can get to a gorilla. And, heaven help those whom he teams with, a thong. He claims it's impossible to have monstrous fur and a thong. Nor any gorilla/ape/monkey type heads. But he wouldn't really know - he just hits the random button most of the time. But, I'm sure some of you know the costume creator better than he does. Maybe it's hidden in there somewhere. I will see to it that you're rewarded if you submit a file I can download for him when he's not looking, if yours is chosen. Thanks!

This comment made my night. Thank you.

I disagree with this idea of folks routinely dying during any TFC task force being an experience that's "as intended". To me, defeat means you're doing something wrong, either tactically, or poor execution of an otherwise sound tactic. Unless it's your very first or second character. In that context, I can understand growing pains. Learn from it, you win. You don't, you lose. But I'm sure that's just me. You do what's fun for you. But me? I'm with the OP on this one. That would be torture, in more ways than one. I can't fathom sitting down for more than 90 minutes at a time. My legs get stiff and my feet start bouncing up and down, telling me to move!

So...I'm not quite sure what to make of this. I read your rules, and you lost me with the word rule. You're entitled to your conditions, but I'm not surprised we haven't crossed paths, particularly since I play a blaster more often than not. Then I read about this ...condition you're in. It made me feel badly about instantly mocking you in my head. With all the physical issues you have, it's not a surprise you find yourself ignoring a lot of people. You must be truly miserable, physically, if not emotionally. And I find it hard to believe the two aren't connected. I do want to encourage you on the weight loss. I know it's not easy. I was 280# when the game shut down. Probably the best thing that could happen to me, suddenly having extra free time. Now, I'm 215 and in the best physical condition of anyone I know, and winning indoor rowing competitions across multiple states, including collegiate rowing teams. And I'm 54, making college rowers wonder what I'm doing differently than they are. I bust my ass, is what I do, And I diet with purpose. But I didn't get in this shape overnight. I started walking 2.5 miles a day. Increased it to 10 miles a day. That was taking too long, and I discovered the indoor rower. I'm really too short to ever be world class in it, but worked at it, and got very good. I know this is harsh, and I don't mean it that way. I mean it to be serious, though. Whatever you're doing to lose weight - please keep doing that. But also, consider limiting your play time in all games. They're just recreational, and there are better ways to recreate until you get your weight in check. Even if you're 7 feet tall, that's way too much stress on your heart & your joints to carry around for too long. Try to be active in some way, every day.

Consider a spines/fire brute. Properly built, in most cases, you can put burn on auto and just chill. Doesn't need to be a fire farm, either. With Melee defense focus, there's very little to worry about, except in an ITF when cascading failure can easily happen - but with inspirations and healing flames, you can see your way out if it rather easily. But for most content, you can snooze your way through, if that's what you choose.

Had a brief discussion with someone about this yesterday. I will ask you what I asked them. How often would you like to see a contest? What prize do you see as acceptable, sustainable over time?