Ukase
-
Posts
3310 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
7
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Store
Articles
Patch Notes
Posts posted by Ukase
-
-
Fair enough. If one person liked it, that's plenty of reason for it to stick around. I am just a tourist, after all.
-
So, in pursuit of the weekly, I set about to do a mortimer kal SF. And...I discover I couldn't lfg to it, I didn't have it unlocked. Surprise, surprise. Something new for a player who does mostly blueside stuff and has all the badges on a couple of characters.
And, as you might imagine, I didn't have that tip that's required. And it's not available in the SG computer, either. I even switched to villain to be sure, it's not.
I did finally beat up some toxic tarantulas to get the tip, and after doing the sf, I see how the stories come together. But why?
Why isn't the tip mission just the first part of the sf? I see no good reason for a player to have to do mindless hunting for a tip to do a weekly SF. Just seems stupid to me. My suggestion is to just make the tip mission the first mission of the SF. -
1 hour ago, Neiska said:
It might just be me, but I don't enter CCs to win infamy. Sure, it may be nice to get noticed when you win, (and I never have. I think I have placed in the final group once). But honestly? Even if I don't place I still get tells from people saying "I really like your costume" and so on. And on top of that, I like seeing all the amazing things people come up with for looks, style, creativity and so on.
But if money is what I am after, I don't count on CCs. Some of them can take quite a long time, over an hour or two in some cases. I would usually make more in that time powerfarming by myself than I would if I won first prize.
To be very clear, I would never be in it for the money. The SG I'm in, they give "participation" prizes, which I tell them to keep. I have more inf than I know what to do with. Not quite 300 billion, but getting there.
My whole reason for asking is so I can be clear that it has nothing to do with my costume, but everything to do with the system the judge(s) play with. -
On 5/9/2021 at 7:46 PM, Andreah said:
I never plan to have to be lucky to get a profit.
I work out the averages, and then I count on the law of large numbers for doing what looks right on average in great volume.
I'm going to make a profit doing X ten thousand times over or I'm not going to do X at all.
When ever you do a conversion, there are only so many things an IO can convert into. Some of those take you closer to what you want to end with, and some don't. For making, say, LoTG's from a certain start, count the number of equally likely outcomes at each step and then ratio the number that yield a success vs a failure. (Or you can have done it enough times and recorded your data well enough to be confident you have a good estimate of the expected number of trials before success) This probability of success is your Bernoulli sequence rate parameter, and you can use that to determine the average number of conversion attempts needed to achieve success .. 1/p, where p is the probability of success. (In the stat literature, Bernoulli sequences are often termed as runs of successes before a failure, so we're backwards of that -- number of failures before a success. )
From this you can estimate your average production cost, and then from that, the cost of the starting input, the cost of the converters, and the market fee you'll need to pay, work out the minimum listing price you can list at for a profit, and compare that to the typical selling prices on the market. Your strategy to choose a price to list at to sell fast may not be at the minimum profitable price, of course, especially in a high volume and competitive market like LotG's, and that's another topic entirely. 🙂
Clearly you're smarter than I am. But if you're doing all that math before you do a conversion...I'd say you're overthinking it.
Converters are essentially free. Yes, they have an opportunity cost, but they are free. Burn 'em at will.
I don't have to tell you how they're free do I? (alt account, recycling brute farmers that convert emps into merits into converters)
If you stick with IOs you're familiar with - solid sellers - oblits, lotg's, perf shifters, Aegis, Unbreakables, certain procs...you already know the opportunity cost. You literally only are laying out influence for the AH listing fee. The rest is gravy. You can sell at a loss, or a profit. Depends on your goals. Why some folks sell an item for 2m when it's clear people are willing to pay 3m...I'll never understand those people who give up 1 million just because...they can, or they don't have the inf to list it higher, or they just want to torture everyone else that knows what the item is worth to most of the other players.
I remember ...maybe a year ago, a couple of days after the 2xinf/no xp rule came out. Prices of LotG 7.5% dropped from 7M on average to 5M. I still don't understand it. It was only for about a day, a 24 hour cycle. People were willing to pay 7m before. They still are. But now people list them for less than 6m. Why? Because they want them to sell quickly. Why? Because they're too lazy to use multiple characters/accounts to do transactions. Sell 10k of them if you have them. But you can be patient and just wait to rake in the inf by charging the going price. You might get undercut from some folks, but generally, those are the folks that got a lucky few conversions and just want to cash in. The cheaper ones will sell - to a marketer most likely - and get relisted for a better price. But it rarely makes sense to sell something at a cheaper price than you can get. You might as well hand out free inf in Mercy.
The rest of your post - which I didn't quote - was absolutely spot on. -
I agree with the point it's subjective. I am just wondering how different things look between my system and other systems. I USED to have one of the top 3 cards...now it's a middle of the pack card. Still more than good enough for this game, but I do wonder how to make things look more real, and less "comic-book-ish". Like the opposite of cel-shading.
-
1
-
1
-
-
Let me preface this by saying I don't really spend too much time in the costume creator. I used to, but for the most part, I think I may have placed 4th in a contest that had 3 people in it..and that was my best result.
I saw a comment in general chat a couple of days ago about "cel shading". I wasn't quite sure what that was, as I was unclear if CEL were an acronym or a lazy typist's way of using Cell. In any event, I noticed - which I'm thinking wasn't there before, but I can be quite obtuse, an option to use Cel shading, and I tinkered with it. I left the setting where it was after I tinkered with it - and found that the next time I logged in, my other characters looked quite different. I could barely see the costume, as there was a lot of "shine" to the core of the character. It wasn't like that before.
The bottom one is with Cell shading on, the top with it off.
I guess my questions is this:
If I have my options set to cell shading off, and you have them on, are you seeing the picture above (off), or below (on)?
There's a zillion different settings (well, maybe not a true zillion) within cel shading option alone, let alone the other changes one might make.
If I have cell shading on, and you have it off, or vice-versa, I don't see how it is that you see the same thing I see. I suppose it's a level field in that nobody else knows what you're really looking at either, so they could have the same discrepancy. But they might not. You might both have it off, or on.
Obviously - this costume is just a fairly plain costume, just going with an adjusted random costume, taking away the default animal head I always end up with, removing the tail, and the nasty looking aura. I wouldn't expect this to win much of anything. But it's the costume that made it apparent (to me) that there's a larger difference in video settings than I thought.
How do we know the playing field for a costume contest is a level field?-
1
-
-
21 hours ago, EmperorSteele said:
Would Hami-Os be worth controlling? The big ones don't seem to move fast enough, and the low-end ones go for the same price as rare salvage. Plus, Hami raids happen every night, and one can get them from running the MLTF and LRSF as well (well Synthetics but they're bucketed with the normals). So it's not like these things are all that rare or hard to come by.
One could certainly turn a profit running these back to back, taking the (S)HO reward and selling it, but I feel like the (legit) demand would dry up pretty quick if someone did this every night. But maybe that's just me.
Don't forget about the Titan-Os and the Hydra-Os. They come at a lower level, even when you're 50, but the Titan-Os only take 4-5 minutes to get on speeden run. (speed eden)
I had the level 50 cyto in my base already; combined 4 times with the Titan-O version...and I've got a 53 cyto - which for some silly reason has historically sold for 300M. Personally, I wouldn't pay more than 5m, but that's just me being cheap. But if they want to spend even 100M on one, I'll sell them all day, if I can get them quickly enough.
A number of folks aren't aware you can combine a level 48 titan-O with a level 50 Hami-O, and get a level 51 hami-O. Same with the hydra-os.-
2
-
-
11 hours ago, Naraka said:
I'd argue darkness isn't "focused". There's always a gradient. Darkness is only sharp like that in the presence of light otherwise, it's merely the absence of light.
Feel-type, I'd say if you want "crisp", there are set for that. While I can understand your perspective, I feel variety in feel is more important than trying to adhere a specific AT to only a specific style. That was what was in place before proliferation but has since faded. While I'm not a big fan of Dark Blast in general, I do like Darkness Armor, Dark Miasma and Dark melee and Dark Blast is an extension of those themes.
I completely agree with you - we have options. The question was what was dark missing. For me - I listed what's missing from it.
Dark Armor is fairly nice - but like fire, it lacks kb protection. Easily enough to tackle with the kb procs, or certain set bonuses - still, it's something that has to be addressed by the player. With fire, it's almost okay because of burn. But I never did see anything particularly special about dark armor to compensate for this. But - it is not a stretch to consider me "obtuse". The snake usually has to bite me twice before I notice it.
I'm glad dark is there for those who enjoy it. It's just not for me. -
17 hours ago, KC4800 said:
Ever since the Upgrade button was added I pretty much abandonded sub lvl 40 common IOs. So having a crafting character just seems meaningless.
While it's true the upgrade is more convenient, a level 30 IO out-performs a level 30 SO, and you don't need to replace it at level 35. The SO will degrade as the character levels, the IO will not. If influence is no object, I can see using upgrade, keeping +3 SOs - until they no longer outshine the IOs. But even then - how can you pass up those IO set bonuses?
-
For me, the thing against dark is the sound and look of the attacks. It's why, even though I've tried them, I just don't like dark. The powers seem to come out more slowly, and aren't in a fast, "crisp" fashion like ice blast. The animations are ...not to my liking. The sounds are not to my liking. The look of the blasts heading toward the npc are not to my liking. I want a concentrated tight, focused beam, not a diffuse, foggy looking beam.
-
Opinions are going to vary. I would never advise anyone I know to even mess with salvage, other than just buying what you need before you need it so you can bid more cheaply and just wait for it to fill.
For my starter guys, they kill a few mobs before I get 2xp buff, then I'll skim through the AH for rare recipes being sold on the cheap. And buy as many as I can for as cheap as I can. I'll use inner inspiration, sell those, maybe buy some small insp for 15 to 25 inf, then vendor them for 50. Like Razzle Dazzles. They're rare, and go up to level 30, if I recall, so I know if I buy them for 1k each, I can sell them for 6k at the store. I buy a ton of those. I don't know why people other than badgers ever sell an uncommon or rare recipe, but I'm not complaining.
The only reason I can think of to buy salvage in large quantities is to sell it for badges. Take a loss, get rid of that junk. But, hey, you do you. I think a great starting path is the explorations at level 4 in Atlas, Echo:Atlas, Echo: Galaxy for 45 converters (5 merits x 3, x 3 converters per merit) Sell half of them at 65k or whatever the going rate is. Keep the rest for when you have a few hundred thousand and can either buy a cheap IO to convert (perplex, Air Burst, Multi-Strike, that kind of trash) for 250-300k, then convert to something worth 2x or 4x, depending on the rng.
You guys already know this stuff. But I'm a bit disappointed you'd direct folks to a salvage play. There's chump change, but that's about it. -
17 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:
Yea, seriously. When you're down to "well, they rock in AE" but might as well go with one of the other two for everything else, there's a problem that needs fixin.
There need be no nerf to tanks if brutes get the buffs requested.
Who says this, though? Brutes are excellent outside of AE as well as within them. You just have to be creative in the slotting. No one size fits all, of course, but brutes are fantastic as is. And so are tanks. I really encourage you to not listen to these people, whomever they are, because they clearly are only using anecdotal evidence, which can't be trusted anymore than a pylon test. Pylons don't move. They don't do much of anything. Heck, I don't even think they debuff.
And you can't just look at a brute or a tank at incarnate levels. What about level 15? Level 35? Level 27? Level 40? I am growing weary of all these folks looking at an AT fully incarnated and making a judgement call when that's only a fraction of the equation. You can't discount the folks that play non-AE content to level 50. Their experience with any given brute or tank counts, too. And because most everyone slots differently, the experiences will be different, as will the judgement calls.
Neither brutes, nor tanks need adjustment. Scrappers could use some more aggro management, but it's clear from some dude named powerhouse they're not gonna get it. I just won't play them much anymore. Problem solved. -
12 minutes ago, Cirque said:
Would also add that fiery aura isn't really a good comparison when it comes to scrappers and stalkers. Fiery Embrace is nice, but aside from that it isn't great on those AT's due to the lack of taunt aura. However, there are a handful of scrapper secondaries that do have a taunt aura so it makes clearing things very quick.. especially with bio and rad.
Which goes to my point - we can't arbitrarily nerf/buff with the drastic differences in powersets between ATs. At least - before we do, we should take a very close look at how said change would play out.
-
If you'd have sent me a tell, you'd have gone unanswered. Why? Because my farmer is an afk-farmer, and I'm at work.
-
3
-
4
-
-
Opinions will vary. Why? Because builds and powersets will vary!
I just finished leveling a mace/fire scrapper. I have determined that scrappers are fairly worthless.
"But, man, the dps!"
No, sorry. When you have to chase down the mobs, you lose whatever dps edge you may have had. I won't say it's not fun, but it's not the dps king, not even close to my brutes or blasters. Anyone that tells you differently....they have built their scrapper differently. And that is the primary point I want to make. Each player builds their character differently - if they're not snagging one from the boards or some other place. One Brute may have 23% damage bonus from powers & sets, while another might only have 6%. One guy takes assault, another guy doesn't. One tank takes assault, the other doesn't. One tank has assault for hybrid, while the scrapper goes melee to get some sort of taunt going. It's all going to vary. Even the same AT and powerset is an apples to orange comparison due to build/power selection differences, and play style differences. Even if the builds are exactly the same - if the content chosen differs, the in-game experience will be different, and so will the anecdotal conclusions.
This notion that you want to rework an AT or two based on your own experience with them is just not enough data to suit me, particularly when it flies in the face of my own anecdotal evidence.
Give scrappers a taunt aura and it will all be fine. But that's just my own experience. I can hardly expect everyone else to feel the same way.
Tank damage is still woeful compared to a brute or a scrapper. So the cone is larger. Big deal. Only on my fire/ice tank have I even noticed that being a benefit. But, I'm still working through all the armor/powerset combos, so my jury is still out. Do not nerf tanks. Yes, buff brutes. Mine could all use more damage, as the fury bar rarely gets mine much over 190% damage bonus. Let that fury bar burn higher when fighting. Seems like it should reach the cap without inspiration use or external buffs, but it never does. But then again, if it did, everything would die too quickly and we'd be back to City of Brutes again. Wishful thinking, I suppose.-
3
-
-
So.. I wanted to caution all of the avid badgers with these suggestions. Some of you - after you complete one character with all badges, you begin another! There are at least three people that I know with certainty, other than myself that have completed multiple characters. I have 2 myself, with 2 more once/if the nemesis event happens, and 6 more bringing up the rear. Voltor, Sentenza, Stitch and who knows how many others.
If they introduce too many badges, we're gonna be awfully busy, running SSAs or whatever into the ground! I'm all for the idea, but we need to be mindful of how much grinding do we want to set ourselves up for. -
I like the idea about snipers, but it should just be Crey Snipers. The nemesis snipers are found in missions quite often, and it would be a simple thing for the badge to be obtained easily. We already get a badge for the fakes, the hulks and the jaegers. I think that's quite enough glory for Nemesis.
-
So, currently, I see "something" that I consider manipulation. Uncommon Salvage.
We know the devs have seeded the salvage, and that essentially, one piece of uncommon salvage is the same as any other, as far as listing them for sale on the AH or bidding on them.
Yet, there IS someone who has painstakingly placed bids for the unseeded salvage at some low price and relisting it. Generally, I can buy uncommon salvage for 1-2k with no waiting. The price in the past couple of days crept up to a 10k "buy it now" price. Whomever it is, is buying the uncommons my farmer sells for 1.5 to 2k, and relisting them for a much higher price.
Now, we can assert this is just someone that believes uncommon salvage, being seeded at 100k should cost 100k to buy, and they aim to make it so. At 10k, it's not enough for me to use my brainstorms to make uncommons, so I let it pass. If that's the way someone gets their kicks, have at it. But, in my mind, this is untenable in the long run, a short term hiccup. But to me, it's manipulating the price. If I wanted, I could do this same thing with just about anything in game, but I couldn't keep doing it. And I might not make any profit after all is said and done.
To me, this kind of thing seems ...immoral. It gets whomever is doing it a lot of buys and a lot of sales, with some tiny profit per sale. But you got to have a LOT of sales to make meaningful influence at 4-7k profit per salvage. Even at 100K sales, that's not worth my time. I can do better. -
So, I got my High Pain Threshold accolade, and when I switched from Villain to Vigilante, all my accolades disappeared, impacting my stats, as evidenced by the drop in Hitpoints in combat stats.
When switching from Villain to Hero, they remain. And then if I switch to vigilante, they remain.
-
I tend to auto-complete Maria Jenkin's first mission, against infernal. He's already in her arc, so no need to beat him down twice. But, if I'm playing a fiery aura brute or tank, I might just set it to +4/8 and PL myself a bit.
Occasionally, I will auto-complete the mission against Honoree and Captain Dietrich in the unlock alpha arc. Just depends.
I have only rarely auto-completed that "stop 30 fir bolg from entering the door" and the other final mission of Buck Salinger's arc, also in Croatoa, where the red caps keep trying to prevent the ritual. I kind of like them. -
3 hours ago, LonnyZone said:
I'm on Everlasting. There are things run off the LFG, I just find very, very little in the way of high level content for PUGs.
Have you thought about doing either of these 2 things?
1. Form your own trial, like a baf. You don't really need instructions, most folks know this one backwards and sideways. If not, and you don't know - read the guides in the forums here. It's fairly simple.
2. Simply state in lfg chat, "Casual incarnate player looking for incarnate content". -
Routinely, when I run a citadel, which caps at level 30, I see the occasional level 19 within one or two of the maps.
I say, "Why don't they let that guy level up? or at least sidekick him?" -
On 5/4/2021 at 3:11 AM, Jimmy said:
Sewer Network & Abandoned Sewer Network
- The "Living Dark" badge in the Abandoned Sewer Network has been moved into Vahzilok's lab
Um..so, where is Vahzlok's lab? I don't see a gate/entrance from within the abandoned sewer network. I'm assuming without evidence to the contrary that I now have to do Doc Buzzsaw's new arc to get access. As a badger, this arc has so many pre-reqs it's like one of the last things I'm likely to do on a character. I'd rather not have that one exploration outstanding for so long. Is there a different path to the badge other than the arc, if my assumption is correct? -
I was pretty annoyed when I'd bought my first void skiff, as it had detoggled all my armors. This latest patch, you folks opted to change this, and that's fantastic! But why can't we use our powers while in flight? In most cases, it's not a big deal, but in certain situations - fires in steel come to mind, flight is useful. But it's so situational, it's not worth taking flight - which is still slower than SS (all travel powers should be the same speed!)
I suggest you allow us to take the temp flight powers and still be able to use a fire extinguisher, or even our own attacks. I don't see the harm. If someone wants to forgo a legit travel power, let them. They'll be slower, it's a fair tradeoff.
Are costume contests fair?
in General Discussion
Posted
Zounds! (an archaic word I think I heard Hercules utter in a comic book when I was a kid. That was a long time ago, which is why I say it's archaic)
Why am I marketing when I could be fleecing money off all you costume contest fans? And pick the winners I like and maybe start a push towards more traditional looking costumes - i.e. Captain America, Vision, Daredevil, Fantastic Four type stuff : 1-3 colors. No crazy things on the shoulders, maybe a cape, maybe not. Maybe a mask, maybe not. But certainly no kittens on the shoulders. How's Atta going to react to that in battle? Moreover, how is it the kitten remains affixed to the shoulder during battle. If the player gets defeated, what happens to the kitten? There's too much suspension of disbelief required there, folks.