Ukase

I just think there are other questions to ask. Granted, I can ask them myself. So fair point. But I don't need you to point it out. The poll makes it clear that the Hard mode stuff is hit or miss for 85% of the player base that participated in the poll. For 50% it's a complete miss. A complete miss by half the players! Again, there are better questions to ask. My answer is don't spend time on making a level 50 tf a hard mode tf, because only 12% (as of this writing) would run it routinely. About 35% are maybe, maybe not. And over 50% are a clear "No". So, why ask the question as "which level 50 tf/sf", but instead, "Do you want to see more level 50 tf/sf adapted for hard mode?" Maybe better put, survey first. Then ask the question based on survey results.

I think this is the wrong question. What I'd like to see are all zones with mobs like event mobs - unleveled, or the same level as your character. I'd like to see posi 1, if led by a 50, get played at level 50 against level 50 characters. But, if I'm to answer your question, for me, the easiest, most boring TF at level 50 are the shard tfs. Rularuu at level 54 aren't always a cake walk, but because the tfs have so many missions, most players would rather watch Marie Osmond singing "Paper Roses" on repeat than play a shard tf at 54. I'm not sure if the TF just needs to be revamped (shortened) so folks would run it at 54, or if a hard mode version should be implemented. Miss Lib and LRSF, while simple when sped with a team of competent players, is quite nerve-wracking on certain pugs. I think if you look at the poll, a hard mode version of any TF only really serves about 15% of the player base, and another 35% "sometimes". I just am not sure if that's the best use of time, all this hard mode stuff. I could certainly be wrong.

At the risk of being labeled as only slightly better than a mediocre player, YOU may not need a "Super pimped out build" for the higher level difficulty, but I tend to think I do. If I don't see a minimum of 40% defense in several categories on my blasters, I get quite antsy and nervous in routine play, let alone the harder stuff. I realize that may be just me, but I loathe the taste of defeat. I can't think of any worse experience in this game than seeing my character slump to the ground. It's almost physically painful for me to see it. This, and my aversion to turning toggles on are what lead me to slot for as much layered defense and resistance as I can without giving up too much dps. So, yeah, you NEED the best build you can afford for the hard mode stuff, unless you really have a fantastic team that you trust with timely heals/buffs/debuffs and aggro management.

I like the idea. But, the biggest issue will be that only a fraction of the players visit the forums. You can lead them here with a URL in the help chat, but will they actually take the time? I think most folks won't. It's just easier for many folks to wait for someone else to do it. I still think you should do it. But here's what I would consider the dilemma: You have a new team lead, and perhaps you've taught him via video how to make a pop menu, how to edit it, if needed. And, let's say the player actually places the pop menu in the right directory and shuts down the game, reloads it, and has it at the ready. Will they know when to give the instruction? Some will pick up on it, I'd hope, but others might not. I know the underground trial as well as anyone, except those who know how to pigg dive, and I still have to scroll through my pop menu to be sure I'm giving the right instruction at the right time. In other words, yes, better for them to have the tools, but I just hope they'll know when to use them. But I don't think it would hurt to have something like that available.

Contact: Phillipa Meraux Story Arc: Corporate Culture (not through Ouro), 30-34 Mission: Second to last of the arc; Rescue the Kellermans before Giacomo enters their minds In this mission, I'd already rescued Ken, led him out. The mission objective changed to rescue Kimberly. When I defeated the mobs, and began to lead her out, I noticed the objective changed to lead Ken out. Ken is already out, I'm leading Kimberly. Certainly not a big deal, just a minor thing, but if you guys can find it in the code, should be an easy fix. (but I really wouldn't know)

Oh my...that's so...interesting, and likely true.

I think you're exaggerating a bit. Because I know that you know anyone could just take any uncommon or rare IO and blow converters to convert into the Crap of the Hunter simply and easily. (and of course, the same "why" question would follow.) Perhaps "why not?" is a better question. With a better answer. And I will add, I'm not replying to your comment in context - just this little bit of it. Overall, I think you and I are mostly on the same page.

So, I am one of those people who generally know where to find the mobs I'm looking for. But occasionally, I run across a request in help chat where a player doesn't want to ask each time they're looking. This drive file came in handy to resolve that player's situation, so props to you for taking the time to type it all out!

There have been two characters I was having a good deal of fun with, so when they died, I just said screw it and kept going. Both have only had the one defeat - except when I deliberately went to Monster Island to kill them purposefully for the High Pain Threshold badge. Pay off 200K debt. The only way to get it is to be defeated, so I don't count those.

Yes, yes I do!

I've done the Hardcore Rogue challenge, as you describe it. The only difference was the +1 started at level 10, +2 at 20, +3 at 30, +4 at 40. I had a lot of failure before I finally got a fire/energy blaster (hooray for knockback!) and a dark/dark defender through it. The DD was painfully slow in the higher levels, the npcs missed a lot, but my dps was a bit underwhelming, took me a long time to get through the bosses I ran across. I like this Diner option... Thanks!

There seems to me to be a lot of variables at play for hard mode participation and success. First - the time commitment. I know with someone like Mez that it's not likely going to take as long as it otherwise might with someone else at the star - like me. I like things fast, but I'm a bit retarded in my play ability, because I refuse to use the mouse for movement, nor will I use WASD, because ...reasons that make sense to me only, I think. I've only done the Hard Mode ITF twice. Once was successful, the second time wasn't. (tho on the test server, you really can't fail because you can auto-complete.) Thing is, while it is challenging, most people will not do this because it's too long, even if you know what you're doing. I was coached along the way by Stitch and other TFJers, (task force junkies, a public chat channel) and we made pretty good time, all things considered. Even at 45 minutes with 7 other very competent players, that stretches my interest to just about the cap. I don't like sitting down for that long at one setting. I prefer a smaller block of time, and I know I'm not alone with that thinking. The second run was with the Cosmic Council SG, which is basically a PUG, because they take anyone as a member, but the use of discord eliminates a lot of the "ignorance" factor, because the lead is explaining things to folks as we go through. It was more casual, run more to explain things and let folks explore the TF, not really worried about the end result. Still, two hours, over 100 defeats...both attempts were on the max difficulty. Further, on Test, you can tell everyone to slot for the radial barrier. I know on Excelsior, only my badge characters likely have enough materials to do that, as most go Barrier Core, if they go Barrier. With a PUG? I'll never run this on a pug (unless I have visual proof that it's Kathy Ireland or Heather Locklear that's asking) because I don't want to take two hours to do anything in this game. I might do it for a Transcendent merit, but probably not even then. The content isn't fun enough to suffer through repetitive team wipes, in my opinion. Second, player competence. Most of my characters can handle most things. But in these hard mode situations, when the tank goes down, my blaster will usually go down fairly soon after. Having to retoggle is so annoying that just getting defeated sucks the fun right out for me. And if it's one of those situations where a few players get clobbered, and hosp it, leaving the rest to try and handle what the 8 of us were struggling with...it's just not a good time. Granted, figuring out how to prevent those things from happening is a fun part of the game - but when you've got it figured out, but some of your teammates don't, and the lead has explained it, but they don't grasp it, or simply lack the finger speed on the keyboard...what would have otherwise been successful can turn into failure. It only takes a couple of weaker teammates to ruin the experience, despite their best efforts. And everyone is supposed to just be cheery and say, "well, we tried. That's all we can ask." This is what giving everyone a trophy gets you. Instead of competence, it's about participation. Third, Team composition. When you try to tackle both robots, the game doesn't really let you split them apart for very long, if you can get them separated at all. So, having two methods of aggro management is fairly important. A high DPS, with high buff/debuff might be able to get away with one, but it's going to take some special folks to see that through, in my opinion. I saw this kind of thing after Aeon was introduced. You'd have all the badgers come out, and it would be something crazy like 5 tanks, a controller, a blaster and a corruptor. Not the ideal team comp. So, there's usually 2-3 folks willing to switch, but when it's potentially a 2 hour commitment, fewer folks are going to be willing to switch. Why the people wanted all the ATs to matter in content, I'll never know. Requiring a preferred team composition for success is just a hassle, slows things down. Fortunately, it's only for the few challenging missions in the game. I will do the new content for the badges, but after that...probably never again. I mean, why? The rewards are meaningless. My character could be dressed like one of the default phantom army, once you start playing your character, it's not like you can see any costumes. But I'm very sure I'm in the minority in that regard. Some of you would rather put on a costume than get xp. And that's probably for the best. It takes all kinds of people to keep a world running.

If it is true that the only thing you were after is the +5 health and a badge...well, no getting around it if you want all the badges. But if it's really just the +5 health - go for Invader on Red side. Then, you'll have what you seek in a lot less time. You'll still be repeating the same content a zillion times, but it's much faster. (and for those that don't know - you can get Invader easily by unlocking Schweinzer in Port Oakes. ) I typically unlock him by doing the SSA out of Bricks, using the contact Dakota Berg. The third mission will allow you to get the Bloody Hands badge if you run it at 0/8. If memory serves, you can probably get away with 0/3 and be okay. I run it at 0/8 just to be sure, and it's always awarding well before I'm done with that third mission. Once unlocked, you can get all 9 mayhem explorations easily and quickly. If you have multiple accounts, it might be worth your trouble to multi-box it, and unlock it for a character on each account, so your upcoming alts don't have to worry about unlocking it, and can just load in an alt with it unlocked, and invite your new alt - and you can get invader at level 1, if you like. I recommend waiting until you have a travel power, though.

So, if my ranged is 22%, and the attack is ranged, fire, despite my having 58% fire defense, the game is using the 22% instead of the fire value of 58%. (in some cases, depending on the attack from the npc) Interesting...so I can probably drop some of the fire, and pick up the ranged...somehow. Or, boost the regen. The interesting thought for me is this: someone will figure out the proper AT/powerset to continue business as usual. So, what's really the point of the change, once the cat gets out of the bag? That's a rhetorical question, by the way. Too many varied opinions, and some folks are too emotionally involved right now to have an intelligent conversation.

So, I like to think I understand the basics of attack mechanics for CoH. But, it's certainly possible I've missed something, or forgotten something. My character, for the purpose of this question, has smashing defense: 48% Melee defense: 42%. Ranged defense: 22% A ranged attack having smashing damage comes at my character. My understanding has been that the game checks all defenses and uses the highest value. In this case, smashing defense being 48%, the toHit roll uses that value, 48%, rather than the 22%. This change is slated to come in the next patch, if nothing changes. So, where does this leave our characters? Seems like it checks both positional and typed, but many attacks from npcs tend to have two different types of damage. Sometimes it's cold/smashing, or fire/lethal, or some such. Do we know how this new adjustment will play out? I went to the Test server to see if I could sort it out, but my combat log moves too fast to actually see what's going on. So, does anyone know if the combat log can be logged and reviewed after a mission? If not, can someone elaborate on how the characters will handle incoming damage in terms that are a bit more clear for that first bullet point? I mean, if it only checks against "up to one", then it seems like it's possible it might not check for any. And if it doesn't check for any defenses, does that mean it's auto-hit? I'm trying to sort it out...but I'm too obtuse, I guess.

I know you and I don't see eye to eye on a number of things. But, may I encourage you to copy one of your characters to Brainstorm and just take a peek at this content? I think you'll find it's plenty difficult as is. It certainly doesn't need to be longer. Took my SG 2 hours to complete, and we had to auto-complete against the two robots because we simply didn't have the dps. (it was essentially a come as you are circumstance, no attention was paid to team comp, rather the intent was to just explain the different nuances to folks who'd not been through it before. ) Well over 100 defeats. Over 2 hours. And the currency will be tradeable. And it won't be that expensive, given how it will drop after weekly tfs as well as the Aeon and the ITF.

Nope! Never noticed it before!

Sheesh! I would've never thunk it. But it makes sense given how you like to school me when I make ignorant remarks.

I feel a bit badly that you, and apparently others feel that way. Just so you and others are aware - consider this: Initially, they had planned to remove the vet level rewards within AE. Our feedback on that - they listened to, and they changed their minds. Whether it was for something worse - that is subjective, depending on how you typically do things and your perspective, and the future. But they did hear our opinions. I'm still wanting ...well, more candid statements from the powers that be, and hope we'll get them sooner than later - as to the specifics of why, and what they hope the end result of this change will be. It was John Lydgate, (A poet) who said, "You can please some of the people all of the time. You can please all of the people some of the time. But you can't please all of the people all of the time." Which is strange for me - I know the quote, but never heard of Lydgate. Had to look it up, as I thought Will Rogers said it. Anyway, it would be a bit unrealistic to expect to be pleased by every change the HC devs will make. But I am somewhat comforted in knowing that they DID hear the objections and sought another method to curb whatever behavior they were trying to curb.

I can see myself running the content on Hard Mode to accompany certain in-game friends. But, it wouldn't ordinarily be something I would recruit for to run, unless there were a badge only available in the hard mode run. I mean, there's nothing to compel anyone to run it, other than in-game loot which doesn't really mean much to me. The only reason I'll look into acquiring the new Prismatic Aether Particles is for the badges. After that, they're pretty much without utility for me. I can make more merits doing something easier, due to the time commitment hard mode often requires. The story of the new HM ITF isn't any different, the cut scene is the same, so other than badges, no reason to run it, unless, as I stated, some friends needed a hand.

It's no secret that the 2xp from p2w is being adjusted to actually giving 2xp instead of 3xp. How about a 3xp buff available at a high cost? 10M or so, maybe 25M. A 5xp for 100M So, here's the advantages: Quicker PL to 50, which means less strain from farming in AE Less influence in the economy The only con I can think of: The same players who get to 50 and don't know how to get to PI or Cim. still don't know how to get to PI or Cim.

I think you can - but that doesn't mean the players on a given league have done that. Seems like what the OP is after, is for an idiot/lazy proof way to ensure the players can discern league chat from other chat. Now, some folks have a special tab set up for league chat, and some folks take the time to color things. But there's a lot of folks who are blissfully unaware that any of the UI can be changed.

Bud counter - yes. Instanced - I'm okay with it. But, with regards to the instanced version, consider the idea that whomever is griefing can do so whether they are on your league or not, can't they?

So, this is a thought, and I don't think I'm the only one to think it. It may be due to learning curve (and my overall disdain for the normal ITF due to the senseless screaming by some npcs), but with regards to the rewards: Why is the hard mode ITF half as many Prismatic Aether Particles when it takes twice as long to run? They should at least be the same, if not more PAPs. I mean, with Aeon, you can incan the team (assuming you know where to go, and skip quite a lot, safely, effectively). In the HMITF, you pretty much have to kill your way through for the most part. And it may be that we'll get used to some of the mechanics like the Hostless Nictus...Nicti? And it may not take as long, but it certainly seems harder (and longer) to me than ASF. Obviously, opinions will vary, and some folks probably don't zip past parts of ASF and suffer as much as they would during the Hard Mode ITF. But I am curious as to why the rewards are half given the likely time differences in running them.

Got it? Good! In all seriousness, consider this a mea culpa. I was a hypocrite. If you hadn't quoted it, I wouldn't have remembered saying it. Still, you should acknowledge your own error. I never said I solo all the time, but I solo a lot. Running off to some other game that I never heard of is an unacceptable solution to me, particularly when I don't see a problem. You are one who seems to believe that solo players and/or farmers are having a negative impact on the game. There is no evidence of this, but that's what I get from reading your comments. If you believe differently, perhaps you may enlighten us.