Ukase

One of these days, just maybe....a TF/SF will scale to the level of the team lead, without respect to level range. Level 50, want to do a posi? I present you a level 50 Dr. Vahzilok to fight. Or, a level 50 simulacrom, depending on which posi you do. Want to do a synapse? Of course not - but if you're motivated by some sinister force to do it anyway, do it at level 50 and use judgement on those level 50 gears before they run away! I can dream about it, right?

The crazy thing, I was on Indom. I've been trying to be helpful, in a small sense. Just trying to help with GMs and such with addtional (if just slightly better than mediocre) manpower. There was no debate there. I didn't bother to argue. I just didn't have the energy. I also still feel like a visitor here. No sense in antagonizing some player I don't know over a question that can cause such a distraction, the player that asks the question leaves with more questions and confusions than they came there with. My old self would have made it clear - the content you do tends to determine which salvage you'll be using. Doing iTrials tends to encourage a player to use threads - because shards don't drop in iTrials. Doing TFs - you'll get both. I have a clear memory of getting t-3 in alpha on day 1 of being 50 by doing a TF train with K (I have no recollection of their global. Special K, maybe?) I took the shard component in lieu of reward merits, so it was a costly effort, but reward merits drop from the sky more cheaply than shards. Because of the cost of merits, it would be crazy to suggest that to a newer player. Still, I can't help but think players DID do just that on retail. I don't remember doing that, but it seems plausible. That doesn't mean it's the right advice of course. I just want a newer player to be told about both pathways if we're going to have two paths.

To be as transparent as I know how - I should have never made the suggestion. I was just so ....I guess the word is frustrated. I see a new player asking a question. Another player answers the question with such certainty with incomplete information, they do a dis-service to the newer player and anyone else asking the question. We're all different as people. So, it's certainly reasonable that we're going to play different content with chances of different rewards. But it's very time consuming and a bit challenging to relay this to a newer player who may not understand certain terms used or what part of the interface to use to accomplish certain things in help chat. What I'd love is for every player who wants to answer the inevitable question about Shards vs. Threads to recognize that not everyone is going to do Speed Lambdas repeatedly, with maybe a BAF thrown in to get their loot. They see the threads drop, particularly at specific vet levels. But they never explain to the new player that because there are 5 more incarnate slots that will only take threads, and you need 5x more threads than shards to make the same thing, it makes perfect sense that threads drop more than shards. What I should have suggested instead was the vet level 1 drop 10-20 shards for the t-1 alpha (if they don't have it already) Or something along those lines so the folks that are literally pushing threads over shards can finally recognize if a player has shards - why not use them? They just tell them to convert into threads. In some cases, absolutely, the right, efficient move. But in probably half the cases, it's a foolish move. And I hate referring players to information on the forums. (I'll do it, of course) Having to tab out and read is just not my idea of a good time while trying to play. I get that we all had to learn the game in some fashion by reading, but the more we can get in game, the better.

So, I'm on the outside, looking in, in a fashion. While I "know" (or more precisely, know of ) players that are in closed beta and have an ear, if not a voice on how/what decisions are made, I have a very clear recollection of them proposing a change of disabling the earning of emp merits in AE. This was proposed, in conjunction of them removing the option to convert emp merits into reward merits (and I'd further convert those reward merits into converters, and essentially farm converters for my own use). I made no secret about it - I thought it was fantastic for the player base, because at the time, I don't think maybe 5% of the players both understood and had the desire to craft and/or convert recipes into the more popular IOs for the player base. And, since I was in that space, and could see where competition was coming from, I feel more than qualified to say that. I certainly can't state specific values with certainty, but I do think it's fair to say not many players where doing this kind of thing. There were plenty that were curious, but ultimately most found it more easy to just sell their converters. I probably wrote a page and a half why I thought it was a bad move. And "they" kind of met me in the middle. I can still earn emp merits in AE - but I can't convert those emps into reward merits and consequently, into converters anymore. Fortunately, I can now use those stashed T-merits and "complete" certain characters without suffering through the same incarnate content for the 350th time. (Sometimes I'll do the content - but I have to really enjoy the character. And some characters just aren't as good in game as they seem to be in mids.) So, while I see where you're coming from, I don't think it's as black and white as I'm interpreting what you're writing. I don't want to put words in your mouth, so to speak. I do agree - they're not likely to change how they do things. While I agree that this term transparency has been stepped on a fair bit, I don't think it's intentional. On the one hand - why mention proposed changes when you aren't sure they're going to be implemented? On the other hand - why code proposed changes if you're at all unclear how the player base as a whole will react to it? That's where things become clear - we're guests. Not customers that have paid cash for time to play. They code those proposed changes (which could have been one of my suggestions, who knows? Or maybe one of yours!) because they are changes they want to see in the game. What we think about it is important, but to a lesser degree. So, I do kind of get where you're coming from. But I think the comment misses the mark a little. And, of course, that's just my perception. I could very easily be wrong.

Just maybe we could do away with shards, or increase their utility. Tired of the debate. It's like hitting my head on a wall trying to explain to people who are explaining incomplete options to new players. They swear they fill their slots faster with threads. I say, go with what the rng gives you. Sometimes, if you get enough shards, use them. Can we haz this? Please?

My times vary. I've been on the early-mid mornings and candidly - there's really not much fun in running around by yourself with your initial token level shift from Alpha. The shifts from defeating a fog only last 5 minutes, and it anecdotally takes me 2x as long to find another one. The minotaur - lately - has had an easier time finding me with the Malevolent Fog having |----| much health left. With 11 level shifts, he only hits for about 600 with his initial attack. But with just the alpha shift, it's pretty much instant defeat. His accuracy isn't that great, thankfully. But it's not the type of GM/AV you can ignore while focusing on something else. By design, no doubt. I've been on in the evenings, fairly consistently since the day after it hit. Just not for very long - maybe 30 minutes in the labyrinth, and 45 minutes with the marina secondary power set. I think the best time is to be on for the Labyrinth (on Excelsior, anyway) is in the evenings between 7pm and midnight central time. I don't know who's doing it - I've only teamed up once while in there - and it was pointless, as we were without focus, nor did we have a clue of what to do. We began fighting the minotaur. I was the only one with the special insp, as far as I know, but the Minotaur was 54+6, and the rest of us were 50+1. Maybe we started at +3 for a moment, but that didn't last long. So, if I were king for a day, I'd have two teams running in tandem, or a league, if that works in there, hunting the MFogs, and other EBs for level shifts. And when we got to 10, I'd have both teams hunting the minotaur (by remaining stationary) and then if successful in defeating it, break off and go looking for various secret spots and potential history/lore clues.

This is the kind of thinking that boggles my mind. It's a good idea - but I just don't think I'd ever think of it in a lifetime. This is part of the reason I come to the forums - aside from imagining Okie talking with a southern drawl - to read ideas that I wouldn't come up with.

I think many of us have gotten what we wanted in the past several pages. And we also got some things we didn't want. I recall when the instant base teleport that "Leaked" was disabled/taken away - and replaced with the current base teleport and lrtp options. At the time, I was annoyed, maybe even a little bit pissed. But now, I'm super happy with it. Like most changes, it just takes getting used to. It's super easy for someone like me to point out what I don't like and what I do like. To actually imagine what I'd like and articulate it, I really don't know I'm able to do that with any clarity. I know I want less reliance on external websites that aren't run by HC. I completely get that someone has to volunteer to do that kind of thing. I'm just worried how things might play out if HC wiki never updates beyond the current point. I know I want the Rogue Isles to be completely revamped to look like Praetoria. (the audio files may be kept, tho) No, I'm not serious with this one. But seriously: I know I want all contacts to stop offering hunt missions. Now that we have the labyrinth, there should never be a need to hunt anything in the open zones unless you just want to. I know I want all contacts to have a menu of their missions or story arcs in the same fashion that Lord Schweinzer lists the mayhem missions. And a note about how many reward merits the arc offers would be nice, too. (so I don't have to tab out and look it up on the wiki.) I want inf sinks. Like the ability to buy with inf extra storage for my base. The ability to buy with inf extra storage for my character. Like 1000 pieces instead of 182. Yeah, I know it's a burden on the server, but you asked. I honestly wouldn't mind seeing our current iTrials adjusted in some form or fashion to make things interesting. Not harder, but more interesting. As for what more interesting looks like, it could be Dr. Aeon breaking through the cut-scene and cracking a joke, to having Mother Mayhem come out and fussing about having to take care of things herself. Or in Underground, having Desdemona not requiring an escort - by having her tell us where to meet her later while she works on some rituals. As for powersets, I'm just not creative enough to come up with anything to test. I'd rather see the stuff we have now adjusted to be more player friendly/intuitive. Like Ranged/Targeted AoEs. I grasp that some powers a player might not want to drop on an npc target. So, my desire doesn't align with what those players would appreciate. When I tried Marine Affinity, ( I left feedback as such) there was a self-teleport, knock down, do damage power that I loved because I don't have to place a reticle. I end up executing the power on the npc I have targeted - without placing a reticle or using a macro to executed at my cursor or at my target. To me, they should all work like that. Or, perhaps something in options to let them work like that.

It's not my intent to defend "mr first post ever", but when they state "balanced around level 25 enhancements" (I took the liberty of correcting the spelling/word choice. No idea what an enchancement is), my guess is they are still working with level 25 enhancements. Hopefully basic IOs and not level 25 SOs that are now red and inert. No idea what their build is, but I'm guessing they're not using any sets or procs. It is a different game, really. Playing with just SOs requires more knowledge and experience, I believe, to have a similar experience as a player with IOs and Set bonuses.

Last night, a gladiator mentioned they got their power from the motes...6 motes, I think. Possibly 7. And that "even you might be able to siphon some of the power". I suppose that mystery will be revealed when the time is right. (Side note: mote is a particularly obscure word. I haven't seen it anywhere outside of the Bible, in reference to something in the eye. Kudos for using it.) I've been trying to keep an eye out for the gladiators and the malevolent fogs. Figured if I saved up 4-5, I might be able to get out of the fog...but even with the insp active, that utility is very brief. Maybe 5-6 seconds. And it was a bit saddening that I couldn't speed-phase through the maze. I need to take one of my tp characters in there and see how that plays out.

The level shifts inside the labyrinth are interesting. As I understand it - the level shifts I have at one moment are earned by other players in the zone, in addition to the ones I earn for defeating a malevolent fog. I was thrown off by my first experience with the shifts, because I started at 10 shifts. It seemed odd that a 54+6 (or so) boss was surrounded by level 54+1 mobs. Typically, if I'm 5 levels above a minion, I can one shot them. That doesn't seem to be the case here for whatever reason. I'm relying on color, rather than the level ranks, because I don't want to take off my socks to do the math required. Entering the labyrinth earlier yesterday, I had no shifts. I look around for fogs to earn more shifts. But they are only temporary. 5 minutes if I'm recalling correctly. So, time of day (and the resulting population and objectives/goals of those other players) is going to factor in the shifts and how much fun/interest there is going to be for anyone that's there. I think an experience like this, if people want to get the most out of it - they're going to need to rely on groups. The lower populations are going to struggle with this, I think. I have no idea what a solution could be or would be, and I could certainly be wrong, but I don't see this getting a lot of play on those servers. The Malevolent Fogs (pinatas) seem to be randomly placed, which is fine, as it encourages explorations. Same with the gladiators. The problem with the gladiators is they are also randomly placed and the ability to fight them is also somewhat random. I think if you're within a 2-3 shifts of what they are, the potential to fight them should be a higher percentage. I only say that because I'm thinking of the badge. Anecdotally, I've had poor luck getting the option to fight them. I might rethink that if they spawn at 54+10 while I'm 50+1. I guess what I'm hoping for is more of a chance to tackle them while having somewhat of a challenge, but not a level playing field. I am thinking it might be better to increase the duration of earned shifts while the population of the zone is less than X, whatever fair value X might be. Maybe it's 8, or 10. Or 5. But if you're in a low population labyrinth, it might be helpful to have a little more duration.

Change is scary. But as much as I usually hate adapting to change, I reluctantly recognize that to change nothing will result in tedium and boredom for everyone, eventually. So, I appreciate the sacrifice of time, even if I don't always appreciate each change. The one thing about the labyrinth - a word that I rely heavily upon spell check to type out accurately - the place is interesting. I've never had the same experience there. Each time it's a little different.

No idea if it needed confirming, but I did confirm Just to add my perception of this peculiar zone: I've been here 4 times on 3 characters. Each time the experience has been different. Some times it's easier to find the gladiators..at least, anecdotally, my blasters seemed to have a radar for them. My brute and tank...not so much. No matter what door my brute or tank took, I could NOT find myself in the foggy maze. I found this odd, when the first time I was in there, it seemed like every other door led to the foggy maze. I did recognize that the click area is not the portal itself, but the platform it's on - at least, that's how it looks on my screen. So no further worries there, thanks for the tip. I also found this! Thank you! No idea if it was there the whole time and this is the first time I noticed it, but it's so useful to just port there instead of going there through the zones to get the club.

I have also come Down with the Cygnus. It was such a strange thing. I like to look out for league leaders; so I gave them a free PL. (I rarely allow anyone on my farm maps. But, If I know they know what they're doing, I don't mind so much) Then the next day, they're leading me (and others) on an MoUGT. (successful)

This will be a somewhat incomplete assessment. Trying to test the warriors while assessing the MA secondary on an ice primary corruptor. So, my first pass, the character will only be level 25 - possibly 26 if I ouro won't give me the option to do a specific arc at 25. My first thoughts are about the animation for Toroidal Bubble. I have no idea how good or bad the power may be - but the animation is enough to skip the power. It looks pretty weird. Tide pool...well not sure what to think. If I were using a male avatar, I'd be looking for a urinal. It could just be the costume creator and my system having some lag or latency issues. A lot going on with my machine now. As I read another's post - I should be more clear - the only thing I see is a splash of water from the waist of my avatar. Brine...I'm older. I'm not the only one who's older. The icons for Brine and Tide Pool look a lot alike. I can just barely tell the difference. The larger white area at the bottom.., the circular arc over the top of the "explosion" vs the arc under in the other one...Maybe a different icon for one of them? White cap...this power took me by surprise. I used Tide Pool, and placed the reticle at the warriors feet - maybe 60 feet away. Then used white cap and I was instantly there, or they were where I was...pretty neat. I hadn't realized it was a self-teleport. The thing is - it automatically goes to where the target is - which I loved! I don't have to make ANOTHER macro to execute it. That is - I just target and mash the button, it fires. This self-teleport doesn't work like Shield Charge or Lightning Rod, nor Savage Leap. Nor Spring Attack. It's the only one that just ports you and knocks them down and does damage. It's awesome! That said, I don't think everyone will see that as a feature. But I do. If the stats for the debuffs go unchecked...this will likely replace ice/cold as the next meta corruptor. Or maybe they shouldn't stack? I dunno. They seem strong.

It's no secret I type too many words. This will be a bit incomplete due to my own time constraints. I went about this a few different ways. With a 50, exemplared, doing Crown of Glory, on my fire/fire brute at 0/8, because if I were exemped, that's how I'd likely run it. First - no real surprises here challenge wise. A level 50 exemplared (and a fire brute at that) will never have much trouble with warriors - but they did floor my defenses by more than 50%! I am capped at 90% s/l, (even at level 25), so I can type this with burn on auto. I did enjoy the different look. It's nice to see the npcs dressed in something different, where they don't all look like they shop at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. Not that there's anything wrong with vintage clothing, but they are different people. They wouldn't likely all be wearing the same thread-worn pants. So, the new look is nice. Next, to try and be efficient, I'm going to take a level 26 ice/marina (also through ouro) and run it the way I think a "beginner" or inexperienced player might if they were to do it solo. I didn't use sets. Just basic IOs. Level 26 (so I could use Ouro instead of doing the first arc of Mercedes) I think my primary was more to blame than the secondary. Having blizzard at level 26 is a bit nuts. I like it - but since I'm not using any special IOs, I am gasping for breath. To be expected, I suppose. I will know more with some more slots. Frankly, I noticed from combat stats that my defense gets floored a lot more quickly. (referenced above - probably noticed it more because of running at 0/8 instead of +1/2 ) But, if I'm not monitoring that, I really don't notice much. It's hard to tell if it's because I'm playing with just basic IOs, or any changes in the mobs. Still, it's easy enough to get through without much risk. It's worth mentioning at level 26 - there's like a smidge of defense from Combat Jumping...but other than that, there's nothing. No resists either. Kind of like being in a 4*lgtf. Reliant on buffs...but there are no buffs, lol. This is really hardly worth posting, but it's worth seeing how the set runs at lower levels instead of just 50. Still, while it would take some getting used to - I like the set. I will make one when it hits. I don't know what the primary will be, or even the AT, but I will be making one. One note - may be worth mentioning. A lot of ambushes with this arc I'm doing. I do think a newer player would struggle with some of what seem to be harder hitting lieutenants and bosses. If I had done fire, I'd have done a lot worse. The mitigation ice brings to the table is useful and something I'm comfortable with. I would anticipate some newer players expressing some dismay if they're accustomed to easy mode. Not a lot of players, mind you, just a few. As for me, I'm probably too obtuse to see anything change.

So...I think it's worth typing this out - because some folks read the patch notes, and have brilliant minds and remember what they read an hour ago. Others...not so much. I had to do a fair amount of tabbing in/out to see if I could figure some things out. First - folks need to be aware that the place is going to be different every time. Go down a hall, take the first door on the left, you might come out at place "X". The next day - take that same door, you might come out at place "Y". At least, that's how it worked for me. I wanted to get back to fog, armed with my ghosts of draught inspirations and I couldn't even find the fog. Also much different from yesterday, my level shift was at 1, not 10 like most of last night. In fact, I don't think it changed at all last night. Whereas, this afternoon, it went from 1 to 6. And the minotaur was stalking me for most of it, while I was trying to clobber the malevolent fogs. Thankfully, he doesn't hit too hard. But while 8 incarnates were hitting him, he took almost zero damage. He's like a Tyrant level AV, being 54+6 and we didn't have any ultimates. We were 50+3 at the time, I think. I guess I should be grateful I hit him at all. My next time, I'm going to try and see how/if the xp in there stacks when you're not level 50. Or at least try to. Those npcs are hard to kill if you're solo. At least, they were hard for me to kill and survive.

A minor thing - in the "safe" area of the lobby, I hop up on the pedestal to click on the portal to enter..and I'm not close enough. I have to get closer still. It just seems like the distance shouldn't need to be that close to click on it. There is another thing I'd like to see - another path to get to the content. The midnighter club locations - Steel, Croatoa, Founders and Cap... The locations themselves..nothing wrong with them, but there's no path to get there quickly. LRTP to Steel, half the zone to the club. Founders is a little better. Cap is better still. But it would be nice if additional transfer points were also in Pocket D, Grandville and Peregrine Island. And...just maybe...not sure right now if this would be more annoying than funny. I entered a van in the labyrinth that looked suspiciously like one of the two vans in Pocket D. I thought, "Could it be?" I don't see any fliers promoting it...but I wouldn't have been surprised at all to find myself in Pocket D or Echo Plaza.

I want to give these a look today. I see the changes, but it's not super clear to me what a bullet point like this actually means: Warriors with Crossbow levels 20-39 replaced with Crystal Arrow at 40+. Does this mean a Crossbow Warrior that's level 25 is going to have access to the Crystal Arrow that previously wasn't available to them until 40+? I am thinking of auto-leveling a corr with marine affinity to look at that at the same time - and doing the Mercedes Sheldon arc with that huge map (the atta map is what I call it in my head). The arc is called Crown of Glory, and it's a 20-24 arc. Would it be best if I just ran through it as I normally would and just report what I liked, didn't like, or something else?

There's a number of reasons - most already listed - for this drought of success on Master runs. The biggest is simply an absence of knowledge. My father, who taught all manner of business courses - Economics, Investments, Real Estate, Finance...etc. shared with me this: The only way to really learn something is to teach it. It stands to reason people fail at Master runs because they haven't run the content enough to have mastered it. That's not to say that even the best players can't make a mistake and get defeated. It happens. Just not very often. Experience is a great teacher. Some say the best teacher. This is why I tend to look at the badges potential teammates have before things start. True, some folks with 47 badges at vet level 50 can be better players than someone who has a 600 badge count. But generally - the 4 passive accolades are likely indicators of a player who has invested in their character and may prove to be more prepared than someone who hasn't invested in their character. Please understand - it's not cast in stone. Some folks with a high badge count are carried along by a strong SG. Nobody with a badge count over 1200 gets there solo. The community has helped them at some point. But, it's my opinion that high badge counts lead to higher badge counts. When people are willing to invest that time in their characters, it tends to suggest they will do what they can to get the same badge you also want. But, you may have to do a cheap imitation of Cadd and recruit, and explain to succeed.

So, when I heard this voice, flashbacks of Advanced Mode LGTF came to mind. So, that was fun/interesting. I never did see the Minotaur. Probably for the best. I was trying to orient myself. I noticed the elevators have labels - gamma, epsilon, etc. So that could potentially be a way to orient one's self. I did talk to three gladiators. One said something that didn't make any sense to me. The 2nd one attacked me, and I summarily dispatched him. The 3rd one gave me some kind of a warning. I got this badge by sheer accident - and if I didn't get it by accident the first time, I'd have gotten it a second time. I found one of those ??? spots, but couldn't get out without ending up in the fog again. I am guessing there is a way out of there - you just have to wait for those white or black lines to show you the path. But, I haven't figured that out yet, if that's even correct. As for just looking around, I kept expecting the mobs to see past my token 65 feet of stealth. I was able to zip around with no issues - except once. An Ancestral Spirit saw me, I guess. Now, I've read what's in the patch notes, and I recognize this is best experienced with a team. But what I haven't determined yet is what exactly am I supposed to experience? I'm looking for this minotaur, and he's looking for me, presumably - odd that after an hour, never even saw him. Seems like he should be hanging out in the fog. Bound to run into him there. But I guess if I ran into him, there wouldn't be much point in going back. Got a couple of these from clobbering....a pinata? Can't recall the name of it. Just seemed like a punching bug - and I guess the whole purpose of it is to get these inspirations. Seems like it should hit back or something? It didn't do anything. Maybe it was stuck in the storage racks. I'll take a look again tomorrow, see if I can't find something else to "test". I don't think I tested anything though; I just experienced a fraction of it.

I like the idea, but if they're in the midst of a story arc, that kind of puts them in a situation where they lose out on time investment if they don't finish. Maybe at the start of an arc. if applicable.

When you wrote "in order", I can only hope this is a figure of speech, and not that we have to collect the badges in the order listed. Dare I assume that if you already have these badges, you don't need to re-earn them?

I have an embarrassing memory of being on Champion and hosting an MSR, with support from @amygdala and her friends. And I was telling people to start at pylon 11, and apparently, they were accustomed to starting at 17. I suffered some temporary confusion. Some of which is apparently persistent.

I have got to train myself to look at post count. It's just not something I normally do. That has to change.