Ukase

So..I have a different take. I don't look at them as fans, but as copycats that need to learn some creativity. I treat these people with disdain and try to avoid them as best as I can. And I hope they behave themselves and people don't get the two of us confused.

You probably are aware, but maybe not. Assuming nobody has disturbed the area prior to your visit in the past couple of minutes, there should be 8 of the ww bosses to tackle. Roughly, the /loc for them are: [2417.4 0.0 3781.0] [2334.6 0.0 3963.1] [2591.9 -0.5 4039.9] [2879.3 -0.5 3571.1] [2529.5 0.0 3569.6] [2426.6 -0.0 3672.5] [2432.9 0.0 3885.5] [2625.8 1.0 4446.0] My strategy is generally to zip in between missions. If there are players there, ignore them and move on. Usually there's nobody. I just circle through, get the 8, then re-circle, and usually a few have respawned. Repeat 10x, and done. Usually. Sometimes one more trip, sometimes, one less.

What really needs work is that tiny stack of inf. Not even a billion on that damn character! Soon, tho.

I suspect some do use Fold Space. I did see someone mention that they may need to adjust slotting of Fold Space to include two accuracies, as opposed to just one.

I took this snip during today's MSR on Excelsior. By default, with my celerity in Sprint, and having super speed on, I'm at 65 ft Stealth. In the bowl, idle, I was at 70 feet in parts of it, and 100 feet in different parts. But as soon as I attack Rikti, the stealth drops to zero. How can I convince certain tanks that Shadow Fall is NOT impacting their ability to taunt? Anecdotally, I have noticed on my tanks that I have to taunt more often than I normally would, as they seem to lose interest in short order. Part of this is because I have super speed on, and move away too fast. But when I turn it off, they still lose interest after I've traveled about 30-40 feet. And this is before I even get to the ramps. And it's with 6 slotted taunt, all boosted to +5. Is it fair to say that at +4, some npcs are more resistant to taunt? Seems like it would make sense, but I've never heard of taunt resistance. If it's not Shadow Fall, or Arctic Fog, what is impacting a tank's ability to bring the Rikti into the bowl. They swear it's the stealth, but it shouldn't be, given that stealth suppresses upon attacking.

While I recognize that the General chat channel has a purpose, it's not for me. I try to remember to disable it, but sometimes I forget. And then I get reminded. Why this imbecile tells people of pressing matters he/she needs to attend to, I have no idea. I would rather not see/read such things. I do understand that there's nothing to stop folks from saying such things in any channel, when it was not disabled on my characters, I would see this kind of thing often, so I've opted to remove it. But I guess on this character, I forgot. So why isn't the choice to disable it a global option? I shouldn't have to specifically disable it for each character. It's strange. I have to specifically enable channels to appear for channels I deliberately joined, but specifically disable channels I have not joined. I understand that Help and LFG are viable defaults - but General -- I don't think should be in this category. I don't mind off-topic issues, and frankly welcome them sometimes, but I don't need or want to see profanity or crass issues like this at any time. So, I opt to pretend it doesn't exist. Until I forget it does exist, and then it rears it's ugly head.

As we all know, supply and demand will impact prices. But I don't think the perception of waning demand is a bad thing. Isn't it possible that people are finally comprehending what folks like Flea, myself and others have been telling them in the help channel? That if you want the LotG 7.5% and don't want or can't afford the 7M price tag, simply get a substitute good and convert it. I don't know that the HC metrics track new accounts. That would be a curious number. But, I would venture that new accounts wouldn't be our customers, at least, not initially. They'll likely be level 15 or so before they even get an invention recipe. Maybe a bit earlier, depends on how much attention they're paying to drops. Most folks don't even mess with IOs until 50 - which is a bit surprising to me with the ease of acquiring attuned enhancements. But, I guess since below 25-30 they don't really do as much as SOs, that's reason enough to at least do without them for that long. And it only takes some of these folks a few msrs & some kill most ITFs to get from 30 to 50 with the 2xp buff. And there's still a few reformed SO only players; players that are finding the IOs make things too easy, so they've just stopped using them, and are going the "Iron Man" route. I certainly only use SOs in most powers until level 30 myself. And when I'm 50, I'm not buying things from the AH, I'm crafting them myself, selling what was crafted and essentially trading for as close to equal value as I can. Buying from myself, in a round-about fashion. So it's not like any new demand is coming from me. Let's also not forget that all those packs, in conjunction with the hero packs - that's a few sets of enhancements that may satisfy needs without ever hitting the AH. What would be interesting would be to examine something like all the defense IOs and all the defense recipes, all levels and if we had the info, to compare the sales volume of all of them to last year or so.

That is useful, thanks!

Thanks. Clearly the patch notes are in error then. It clearly states that Rending Flurry will deal additional damage per stack of Blood Frenzy consumed. If it doesn't deal any additional damage, that certainly explains the underperformance, compared the brute - who builds more fury with each attack, making it appear that Frenzy is dishing out more damage to my uneducated eye.

So, you've all heard the discussions before - what's better for this powerset? Scrapper, Brute, Stalker? Tank? So, we have 1000 slots. I still have at least 800 left, so might as well try them all. So, I did the brute savage/shield. It was fun, despite my inability to really grasp how to optimize frenzy. I know some attacks gave more than one of the 5 units of frenzy. I know also that if I ignore Rending Flurry in favor of other attacks, eventually, it gets primed with Frenzy and I can let lose with Rending Flurry. I've tried to sift through combat logs, but as I'm trying, the panacea, perf shifter, etc - they keep firing, and it's kind of difficult to see what's going on, particularly while ensuring my HP isn't decreasing too much. So, I look at City of Data 2.0 to see if I can find more information. And I do! My scrapper is level 29 at the moment, so figured I'd look at level 30 Scrapper. But there's a lot here I just don't "get". +5% Damage for 15.1 seconds...am I reading that properly? I mash all these buttons to get more Frenzy for 5% more damage, and a 6% end discount for 15.1 seconds? (at least when I ding 30) +20 Global Chance Mod for all affected targets for 15.1 seconds. Global chance of what? What I'm trying to determine is not necessarily to be "optimal", because I probably lack the speed to mash buttons in any optimal way. But, all other things the same, I want to be fair in comparing these ATs with the same powersets. Just for my own knowledge. As a rule, I've always found Brutes to not be marginally better, but vastly superior to Scrappers. So, I have to be open to the idea that there are things that scrapper players know that I do not. Is Savage Melee on a Scrapper already been declared runner up? So far, it's underperforming. I got the two ATO sets, and maybe I slotted them in the wrong powers, but Critical hits are very few and far between. Not as reliable as the brute's fury. At least, that's my perception. I want to be fair to the scrapper AT, so if there's something I'm missing, by all means, shed a light please. So, are there any "must read" guides to criticals and scrappers I should read? And..what's the deal with that Global Chance Mod?

This ...guess I'll call it "Level discrimination" does have a reason behind it. And, depending on the player, not saying it's a good reason. At 50, of course, you have incarnate powers - so those are damned handy. But I think more than that, the folks that are forming and asking for 50+ are wanting to do "speedy". To me, speed TF/SFs have two categories: There's "as fast as we can go without killing ourselves", and there's "let's respec our powers specifically for getting through this and set a record." I'd say 90% of speeders are in the former, maybe 5% are in the latter, and 5% only think they're in the former, but are short in either knowledge, skill and/or abilities. I understand these folks who "level discriminate", but at the same time, if they're open to the concept of teaming in the first place - which recruiting suggests they are, they should realize that given the length of destiny durations, it's a bit overkill and not really going to save you that much more time. If a level 40 @STiTcH existed with enhancements outside of a farm, I'd take him over most 50+ players. You can wait another minute for that 50+ or just proceed with the level 40 that's right there, ready to go. Seems like a wash, to me. But, I leave open the notion that they may know something I don't.

Since it's on topic - figured no sense in making a new post. I logged in and saw someone in the help channel having difficulty. This badge is still annoying, but someone has done a lot of work to make it as easy as it can be. River rat locations are found here, using the /loc coordinates, with convenient "Copy" links already provided. On the surface, this may seem too easy - and you'd be right. Some of the locations seem to be obtainable in neighboring zones. The link provided is quite good at laying out the best odds of getting this one with minimal fuss. The servers shut down on us this morning before I could finish helping this player, but maybe he/she visits the forums and can find this link.

I have to agree with this - I make a note on these folks that do this, and am sure to be generous if I see them in the future.

First, to answer your questions - wealth in this game is relative. If they sent you practically a billion inf, then they had it to burn. It was of no consequence to them. Still, if you're determined to never play again, send it back. I had an in-game chat with someone yesterday who never had more than 20M. But, they'd never played a character over level 31, either. Anecdotally, I've sent large amounts to folks who looked like they were enjoying the game and asked good questions about the market, or about blasters. Ice blasters in particular. I don't send "that" much, because my experience tells me it has the opposite of my intended effect. Seems to remove any motivation they had to push through the content. So, it's usually a smaller amount. Many players agree with you on the dreariness of Red side. Fortunately, with Null the Gull, we're not stuck on red side once we complete the arc - we can change alignments instantly. After a time, the only thing that keeps people engaged in this game is the other people you play with, as it doesn't take long to run the new content to the point where you know the story and will find it a bit of a dull time.

It had been a while for me, too. I use Homecoming Badger to track badges. The site lets you "register" multiple characters if your one of our more eccentric folks that want all the badges on all your characters. The data is stored on your own computer. I just used the search function to select Events and went to page two. It is only my opinion, but if you choose to get serious about badge collecting - this site, in conjunction with the PopMenu from @AboveTheChemist found here are two invaluable tools. They are both free to use, aside from the time invested to add the badges you already have to your characters on the Badger site, and the time it takes to explore where your game files are to place the popmenu file in the proper place so it works as intended. As far as the pop-menu goes, since it is an add-on, done by a player, whenever there are new badges entered into the game, you'll want to re-visit these forums and ATC's link to check if and when he/she does the update. Unfortunately, some of our generous players get distracted by real life and may be unable to continue to do these kinds of things. Until then though, I intend to take advantage of their generosity, and suggest everyone else do the same.

The badge awards for completing both arcs.

Relax folks, I was just teasing Yomo. Note the last line where I say I'll change my position. Guess it was funnier in my wee brain.

I only ever pick the shield. There's nothing else in the pool except the Spiderlings which I may choose on certain characters to get an HP boost with 3 purples slotted in. Just a set mule. they're largely useless pets. (to me anway)

You can't be serious. You're telling me - you bid at low/very low prices, then re-list at higher prices? Have you no shame? You have a responsibility to the community to not do such things. There are new players without our deep pockets that could do without the non-value added surcharge. Crafting/converting, I absolutely get. You're spending time, energy etc. But if you're not adding value, then that's quite shameful. Tsk, tsk. And if I've misunderstood, shame on me. But if not, that's really quite disappointing. On the other hand, the folks that loathe the AH so much they can't be bothered to sell something for a proper price, they shouldn't engage with it at all. But those are just my thoughts in this very tiny specific moment in time. Once I finish the post, I will change my position to suit my needs.

I initially did - but I figured it would derail the thread. I had quite a bit and opted to delete it. No sense bringing folks down TOO much with my distaste for the ITF. I completely get that I'm probably one of maybe 5 people that play this game that would rather log off than do ITF. Here's a few of my knocks against it: I use lfg to get there for a pug. Typically, at least one person has no idea how to get there. Then, when they're told, they haven't got it unlocked. I completely get that the unlock is super easy now, once you know how. And it was always super easy before the midnighter badge in the mansion. The arc from Montague is fairly simple. But every damn character had to unlock it back in the day. If I see Percy again, it will be too soon. So, right off the bat, for a pug ITF anyway - there's always several minutes wasted. I thought the older I got, the more patient I would get, but it seems like it's the reverse for me. I hate to wait. I simply see no reason for this to require an "unlock" in any way. Secondly, I play with sound on. When solo, I'll have a podcast playing in the background, usually. But, even then, I have to turn that off and the game sound up to hear glowies. So, I'm used to playing with the game sound on. It also helps me to monitor chat for any tells - that tiny little ping is useful to me. And when I do ITF - those stupid Cims are always screaming. They couldn't have made them actually use words, (which would also get tiresome after a couple hundred runs through it) but the screaming is just annoying. Thirdly, it has a cut scene. After a while, I get tired of sucking the helium out of balloons trying to do voice-overs on Discord. It's old, and tired. And completely unnecessary. I wish it would only be visible once, or once per character..but no. Every time...there it is. Fourth, I'm never quite clear why all the girls in Cim are named Sybil. I thought Sybil was one girl with a dozen personalities, not a bunch of girls who all look and dress alike. I'm also not clear why the girl won't let me in without a key - but she'll let in all those cim traitors? Doesn't make sense to me. Fifth, Sister Solaris is slow. I get that magic can't be rushed, but I guess she's from the South and just talks too damn slow. Sixth, when you're new to it - you can be on a speed run - and die from the cyst exploding when you destroy it if you're not at full health. Fine once you learn this - but I'm still pissed off from learning it the hard way over a dozen years ago. Heck, this can happen just from zipping to the next cyst while someone is tackling one as you pass it. I get why it happens, I just would prefer it not happen to me. I hate to re-toggle. Seventh, 5 generals? Makes sense. Defeat the leaders and the army will lose discipline. So why in the blue hell isn't Requiem labeled as a general? It's just stupid. And it made me feel stupid. We had to clear almost the entire map before we figured that out when it came out. Like over 2 hours for the whole TF back in the day. The merit rewards were and remain insufficient if you kill most/all. Barely passable on a 10 minute speed run. Further, on the last mission, it's not clear which AV Nictus is which if you lose target mid-fight. All those AV Nictus look alike to me. They should be labeled differently. Wait...is it Nicti? I dunno. Lastly, and this is a minor issue, but I remember vividly when it first came out. I was literally on my ill/rad controller called Imperious Rex. Yes, that's right, I had the character name, lawfully stolen from the profane utterings of Namor, the Sub-Mariner from Marvel Comics long before ITF became a reality. It certainly pissed me off. The Paragon Devs stole my name for that KB fool, Imperious in the TF. Worse, they made him stupid. So, to be fair, it had a knock against it before it started. That was back when my global was @Ukase Rex. Here on HC, I opted to drop the Rex. And I've let them keep Imperious, even though I stole the name first. My favorite TF is Apex, and really, the only fun part is dodge ball with the blue patches. That's the only reason it's my favorite. Stick and move. Other than the Magisterium and to a degree, fighting Protean and Nosferatu, these are the more enjoyable mechanics in the game for me. The timing of attacks is a lot of fun to me. No long animations until after the patch, the crackle, the smite from Nosferatu, that red absorbing patch from Protean, that Will of the Earth swirl from Underground, the hug for the blue patch, avoidance for the red patch in Mother Mayhem iTrial...that's the kind of thing I enjoy. ITF has nothing but stand here and mash buttons. It's mindless. If that's what you like, or are in the mood for, that's great, but you just stand there and mash buttons. There's no thinking required once you've done it a few times. Boring, boring, boring. No need to run, no need to hide, no need to be careful. With a team of any competence, it's all but impossible to be defeated. (except for running by a Cyst when a teammate is killing it before you notice it as you run by) Now I feel badly for pointing all these things out - because invariably someone will try to argue why these things I don't enjoy - they love. That's really good. I'm glad for them. But ITF is really just a snoozefest for me. If I run it again...it'll be too soon. Only for the weekly notice. Certainly not for the merits. Maybe for someone else to use the helium for the voice-over during the cut-scene. Yeah, maybe that. But that's about the only reason. It needs something special in it to make it fun, and there's really nothing in it that does it for me.

Fixed that for you. ITF isn't fun for ME. You can go nuts on it if you like, I will avoid it unless it's the weekly.

I think I'm gonna hurl. I hate ITF.

Umm....I can't say every day, but since the change to 0XP/2xINF, the price of Lotg 7.5% has dropped (at least when I look) from routine 7-8M to routine 6-7M. I haven't seen it at a consistent 8M since then. Every now and then, sure. But mostly 6-7m. I've definitely seen pvp IOs drop a good bit...but only in spurts. Not consistently.

Um...I don't obey any suggestion with profanity, despite emoticons. Use proper words or you lose the argument.

On the one hand, I see the point. Not everyone is like me, with different tanks that have different strengths & weaknesses. If I am going to tank Recluse, it would never occur to me to bring a fire tank. I mean, it just wouldn't. There are so many other armors that are better suited to the task, so I'd just bring one of those. I am curious, how one of my fire/ice tanks would fare, they've got pretty good resists across the board. And ultimately, I'd kite Recluse anyway. (is that still a thing? I think so. It's been ages since I've tanked LR.) And I use Glad Armor in a number of the armors, plus the kb protection, as well as six slotted Overwhelming Force. So, he doesn't get KB'd, except very rarely. Still, I'd love to free up the slots for something different. I mean, Fire tanks are fun. In fact, for me, more fun than any of the others. Something about burn that just makes the weaker resists/defense, lack of DDR worth it to me. But, not everyone is gonna think of it the way I do. I just wonder..if you re-tool this for Fiery Armor - what's the offset? That's what scares me. If they keep changing things, the games not going to the same game. And that is my concern.