Ukase

Sure. There are a couple of folks in the SG that have taken advantage of this offer. On the AH, as you may be aware, you can only move 10 converters per trade. From character to character, the limit is 10,000 in one trade, saving you potentially 1000's of clicks. As a disclaimer, I make it very clear that actually using your converters will make you far more than selling them - if you've a general idea of what you're selling and are willing to take the time. I'm not out to take advantage, although it is an advantage for me. But, I'm willing to take the time to do all the crafting and converting. May as well "wet my beak" a little. Because a patient bid (generally overnight) will get me converters for 70k each, that's the price I offer to buy them at. Any less, I'd feel cheap and dirty. Any more, and it would be over-paying, given how I can already get them at 70k.

Fair point, but the servers are down presently.

@EmperorSteeleYou should be aware that I will buy converters from any Cosmic Council SG member (which you are) for 70k each, no limit to how many I will buy. So, instead of clicking in the AH 30 x 10 each, and paying a 10% fee, I give you the full amount. Granted, sometimes more inf may be made by converting to boosters or something else, for someone that's got a zillion merits and wants to liquidate them for a big pile of inf - I do have the big pile of inf. I have brutes that are recycled farmers. When they hit vet level 48, I respec the build out, drop the IOs in a bin and let the next alt get them. So, I accrue emp merits specifically to get converters. So, in a sense, they're free to me. I do this as a courtesy. (but you can bet I'll recoup the inf by actually using the converters.) I don't even actively farm anymore; but I do pl certain characters to get past certain levels (and vet levels), so there's always drops to craft, convert and sell. Same for you @Ironblade.

I have been one of those folks that suddenly dropped before a tf formed for numerous reasons: a gross name (like I want to see the words Teste, or Fart when I'm playing - no thanks.), a character who's obviously not capable of doing well for the challenge at hand. As an example: a build without IO set bonuses for a master run and a very low badge count, with no passive accolades and I've never seen them in game before. That doesn't mean that these folks aren't up to the challenge, but in my estimation, the odds are against it. And, since it's my time and I don't want to waste it, I'll just drop and figure I'll get with a better team later. In this case, the circumstances just happened to be where I came late to the team and really didn't have much of an opportunity to assess, and candidly, I wasn't worried about anyone's build for a non-master run. My big thought about the whole thing was: 1. Why is this guy dying all the time? (that's an exaggeration, but it seemed every other mob) 2. Huh? The dude is level 34? How...? 3. Okay - dude isn't trained up - why not? And does it really matter why not? Ignorance is no excuse. It just means you're lazy and couldn't be bothered to figure things out. I know that's harsh, particularly if they're a new player who simply joined something out of curiosity. But..I mean, you knew enough to train from level 1 to 34...why stop there? The crazy thing is if they were trained up, I'd have just 1-starred them, with a note "this dude is either stoned, asleep or just woefully inadequate as a player". Not saying I wouldn't have teamed with someone who died frequently, but I wouldn't team with them for a master run type of situation. But, seeing mid-tf that they never bothered to train, I make the note that the guy isn't trained up. The world never stopped turning over something like this. I'm just wondering if people think this is acceptable behavior. Some of you clearly do, and that's fine. But it's not okay with me. I've had challenge characters that could only slot what dropped, if they could use it. To make that challenge even harder, I never teamed with those characters because it wouldn't be fair to have other folks carry me along. I know it's not real money, but to me it's like going to a bar without bringing resources to pay for your drinks. You want to team up, great! Safety in numbers, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts - but not when you come to the table with less than what you should have. But, that's just me. My thoughts are not typical, clearly.

Primarily, Excelsior. But I've got characters and bases everywhere except reunion. Reunion is where I transfer characters that I know I'll never play again, but don't delete them because just maybe, the devs may make a change to them that will make them more enjoyable.

This is why I haven't done a posi with anyone ...since maybe the first month or so HC came back. It's faster to solo it.

Maybe the times have changed. Back on Live - you NEVER EVER quit a task force. It's just plain rude. Granted, those were days when team composition mattered. Lose a blaster, and you lose key dps. Lose a tank and it might as well reform. Every player was important then. Now, I guess it's because we're older, smarter and can do the harder math - we can build our characters to be self-sufficient. Still, quitting a task force is a no-no in my book. Then, I'd be the jerk in action if not in attitude. Unless something severe happens in real life, you just don't quit a task force.

That's fair, too. But it's not really about the unsavory experience of carrying someone along for a free ride. It's "is this acceptable?". And I do have two groups of friends (miserably enough - there are a few in each group that can't stand a few in the other group - lots of hurt feelings and such), but I wasn't sure how much I could play today, so I jumped into the first group that was doing what I needed to get done. I don't necessarily mind that it took 40 minutes, even though that is a longer than average time for a team. I do mind someone essentially being carried to this degree without any thoughts about the rest of the team. At least I finally got some use out of Vengeance. It was annoying when it wasn't recharged, though.

Not necessarily so, my friend. You can slot common IOs, and they don't show up as set bonuses. And the difference between a level 30 common IO and a level 40 (presumably - no idea what their actual level was) isn't that great. The common level 50 IO is probably a bit more of a buff than the common 30 IO, but I can understand having 30's or even 25's, and waiting for 50 to slot the 50's if you're not sitting on big stacks like myself. And don't forget about the auto-upgrade feature. Granted, this would be...gosh..I dunno, if there were enhancements to upgrade, 70 SOs at level 43? (they upgrade to your level +3). I think 4 million is a fair guess? I don't have any level 40's to check at the moment. In some ways, IOs were a fantastic addition to the game, giving people something to spend surplus influence on. But, there is a divide between the player with common IOs vs SOs, and a greater one still when it's IOs with set bonuses vs SOs. And for newer players, not only is the influence a temporary barrier, but the knowledge of the invention system is another. More than one player has chosen to forgo these in favor of the simpler SO system. But the big thing I simply do not understand - even if you're going to run naked/sans enhancements - why not at least level up? At least that way, you increase your capacity to hold inspirations, salvage, etc. I can understand a couple of levels not being trained. Maybe you just finished another TF and this opportunity came up - but they had time to train before the tf started, as they were on the team before me. Maybe they didn't know what they wanted? I dunno. I just find it to be selfish or ignorant - and either way, there is no excuse. The information is available, for free. But what I think is irrelevant. What I'm curious to know - and am learning as I read, is if this practice is acceptable to others. Because I'm inherently frugal. My dad was an economist. I'd love to team up with folks untrained, unslotted to 50. That would save me a lot of inf. Maybe 5 minutes that I could spend playing instead of marketing!

Fair point. I knew better, too!

The team lead stated in team chat that the blaster in question wasn't trained up. That's the only way it could have happened outside of a glitch.

I would've liked the time to do that - but there are still 6 other players to consider. Over discord, not a problem, but over team chat - each letter you're typing is a power that could have been activated. It would have taken us from 7/8 strength to 3/4. essentially.

Just like the old NCSoft CoH, the HC CoH has a diverse population. Folks from Europe, Australia, Canada, US and who knows where else folks may be from. It stands to reason that there will be a lot of differing expectations when teaming together. Obviously, we're never going to like everyone we encounter in game. Some folks can make it really easy to dislike them, while others, for whatever reason, are a lot easier to like. I am probably more in the former category, as I tend to speak my mind, without a filter. Sometimes, I'm wrong. But, from where I sit, I don't think so, or I wouldn't express myself in whatever way I felt the occasion warranted. This morning, I realized it was Sunday - last day to get that weekly in before it changed. Now, I can solo a moonfire with rad/dark defender, I suppose. But, the character hadn't done market crash, so I got a spot on one of those. The leader was an affable sort. Polite, and clear on what they wanted. I don't relish a kill all usually, although sometimes, I'm in a mood for one. Today, I just wanted the purple, and well the notice of the well would be a bonus. As I entered the first mission, I see that our team of 1 tank, 2 blasters, 2 defenders and 2 controllers and 1 dom are facing +4's. This is really not a big deal, but it just means instead of taking 10 minutes for a speedy run, it's going to take 40 minutes because of the low dps. (More on that in a bit). When I play a debuffer, with a weak heal and a decent buff, I try to cast these powers where I think they'll do the most good. Most of you wouldn't be too surprised if I told you one of the blasters died a few times. Still, when we have all these holds and debuffs, nobody should really be taking much damage, at least, not until we face an av. And nobody was. Except this blaster. I finally realize that he's level 34. Not vet level 34, I checked. So, big deal, right? I check for powersets while I'm in the blasters info tab, and no powersets - which means they're using SOs - which is fine. Or, they're unslotted. Or, I suppose, it's possible they're using common IOs. No way to know without looking under the hood. My issue is with this player joining a level 40 minimum tf -- fighting at +5 for this player in question. I think it's fine, if you're level 40 and trained up. They clearly were not. I didn't make a big deal out of this, I just brought it to the leaders attention via tell. They said, "So what? Who cares?" I said I did. I find this to be either ignorant or selfish. I'm really not okay with either one from a teammate. I mean, they can't be totally ignorant. They knew how to get to Kallisti. They obviously knew how to train, or they wouldn't have gotten to 34. That leaves selfish. As if they are entitled to be carried about in the game without hustling for resources like everyone else does. Some of you know me as having a lot of inf. This is true. The only reason I worked to get all this inf is so I'm not "That guy" that leeches off the backs of others. It's just a game, but this is like going to a bar and letting all your friends buy you a round, but you never buy them one. Obviously, it's not my place to tell someone how to play, but is it okay to do this? I think in this case, it's not okay. We spend a horrid 40 minutes in this tf, and I'm grateful it wasn't more - but even a kill all Market Crash shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. But, our team had weak dps and half of the higher scaled dps we did have (the aforementioned blaster) was defeated and useless more often than not, aside from a lot of Vengeance. I feel bad for the leader, a little bit. But only a little. They should have checked that idiot from the start and refused them an invite. PUGs. Ain't they great? I already know some of you are "who cares" and some of you are "Dude, I'd have quit right then" or something along those lines. But is there a proper way to team up for a task force? Did this player violate unwritten societal norms, or am I just expecting too much? It's not hypocritical - I expect as much or more from myself to be kitted out as best as I can be with the resources I have. I just would never be okay with 7 strangers carrying me. Friends - that might be a different story - but on a PUG of unknowns?

So, in short, we need more of these for everyone!

I have no idea what a hogger raid is, but it made me laugh.

Someone seems to have dumped quite a bunch at a "reasonable" price. So, the community (the folks that use those, anyway) thank you. As far as I can tell, there are 1319 of them in the AH that are listed for 5M or higher. 5 reward merits to exchange for one booster, right? Maybe they are of the mind that a reward merit is worth a million, based on the merit vendors conversion rate. I would hope most players are aware that's a sucker rate. I can't think of any circumstance in which a person would exchange 1M inf for 1 reward merit. Perhaps someone more eloquent than I am should make the suggestion to disallow that from happening, for their own protection. To those whom have assisted in adding supply - thank you!

Thanks for pointing that out - I did mean boosters.

@Bionic_Flea raises a good point. But I still think it could work with proper implementation - whatever that might be. Who knows, could even be a badge or a reward merit tied to defeating a level 10 hellion boss in Atlas, lol. (assuming you were between levels 1 and 5, of course. Can't have your incarnate self laying waste to these NPCs just cuz you can. )

Granted, I know this is temporary, but it still irks me. Oh - well let me back up a bit. Someone in my SG tried to buy a booster, and was upset because he bid 1.3M and it wouldn't sell him one. So, I got my marketer, and I tried to see what the lowest price actually was. Not 2M. Not 3M. I actually stopped, thinking that the bored marketer that did this probably bought them all at about 1.2M and then tried to double their inf plus some for fees & time, and tried to relist them at 3.6M. Nope. 5M is what it took. Yeah, I pissed away 3.75M, cuz I resold it at 1.25M. Look, if it's one of you folks - you got me for that 3.75M. Big deal. But you are hurting your fellow players who aren't as market savvy/wealthy as we are. Think about who you team with. That tank may die because they couldn't afford those boosters - and then you might suffer an ignominious defeat. Shame on you. Really. You should be ashamed, and I am hopeful that our fellow marketers will see this as an opportunity to flush the market with more boosters leaving you with too much invested, and you have to pull them out and relist them at a more reasonable price, like 2m or so. Just disgraceful. We do what we do to get a profit, sure. But we aim to just wet our beaks a little, not take a full bird bath. Shame on you, whomever you are.

Sort of a tie in to that Dark Astoria arc with Tub Ci, where as you fight him, he gets stronger, increases his incarnate level by one for some unit of time or dps dealt to him - not really sure how it works, only the longer the fight, the stronger he gets. But...just suppose, you're zipping down the street in Steel Canyon, en route to a Positron TF, and a Lead Shocker Outcast Boss defeats you. Now, on our side, we know what happens. If over level 10, we get a bit of debt, we rez, or hit the hospital and continue on to our business, or perhaps clobber the NPC for their intrusion. But, I had a thought. One tiny thought. Just suppose you weren't the first player this NPC defeated since he spawned. Suppose it got enough XP to level up? Suppose further that perhaps this is in a mission, and your team is fighting Frostfire at level 13. Suppose further Frosty gets lucky or you or one of your teammates got careless and got defeated. Then, suddenly, Frostfire levels up to 14! And if he defeats another of you, level 15! It's bad enough these poor npcs can't use inspirations, but aside from Tub Ci, I know of no circumstance where they improve, making things a bit harder. Whether the mechanic would be utilized within a Task Force, iTrial or mission -or out in the wild, doesn't matter, but I do think it would be interesting.

I've been playing with the market for some time. And, I'm not too proud to admit I don't know everything. But, I really felt like I knew just about anything having to do with the AH. Then, re-watching @Dahle's video, after re-visiting the Iron Man thread, I came across this little tip that I never, ever noticed before. See that bit on the bottom in white letters? "Search for Salvage used in this recipe"....I never, ever noticed these words before. Had no idea they'd portray the salvage used in the recipe. All this time I was using the tool tip from the mouse cursor over the recipe icon. Ya just click on it, and it shows you. I'm sure many of you already knew about this - but me being the obtuse person I am...I never noticed! So, for the one or two of you who may also be a bit obtuse, or simply unobservant - here's your pro-tip for the day.

So...here's some feedback. Take it with a grain of salt, as the way I think isn't the way others think. My first thought was - this person is almost the opposite of me, in that, I solo more often than not. When I do team, your powerset and AT are irrelevant to me. I welcome your buffs and debuffs, but I don't need them. Soloing has helped wean me off dependency of such luxury. My second thought is a cold/dark defender. Cold has some good shields - which can offend folks who spend more time at the tailor than I do. They will insist you go to the tailor and minimize these effects as it covers their costumes. Avoid these people. They are silly. Cold is a great buff set, and it has a nice power called Benumb. I have no idea how effective it is on an AV, but in pvp, it kills my characters recharge timers, where what used to recharge in 6 seconds now takes over ...well, no idea, because I usually die before they recharge. In short, it's a great debuff. That's really all I know about it, other than what it says. Alternatively, Sonic/dark would be good, too. Good buffs, nice single target debuff for AVs.

Sorry, meant to come back here - but in the bugs section, saw a post like this, and stated how I overcame the issue. Log off, reverify the manifest, log back in, no worries. Everything worked.

Here's the thing about the Help channel, from my perspective. Certain players are noted for their knowledge. Bionic Flea comes to mind. There was a time when his voice was very active over the help channel, often selflessly going out of his way to verify various tidbits of knowledge if he wasn't 100% certain. And then there are other players who give well-intentioned, but false statements. Others may give well-intentioned half-true statements. This whole mess about shards vs threads. I could elaborate, but that is not the purpose of this thread. And some folks, I dare say, are giving knowingly false statements when it comes to the market, either because we can't detect sarcasm the way they've worded things, or it suits their purpose, as they may have some figurative skin in the game. In a few cases, I suspect they're just trolling someone, trying to get a reaction. <shrug>

So, it's no secret that our esteemed HC dev team is all volunteer, but since this area is here for suggestions, as well as feedback, I have one. Certainly won't be the end of my world if it doesn't happen, but it may be simple enough to implement. In each Portal Corp building, there are two portals for missions. On the left side of one portal, and on the right side of the other, there are a set of doors, that would presumably lead to the other portal, without having to go up the stairs. Granted, it's not at all a big deal to go up stairs, but I think it would be interesting to simply let those doors open and...I dunno, go through a portal to a different set of portals at the other two Portal Corp buildings. Maybe even have them unlocked account wide once you complete Multi-dimensional or Portal Jockey. I mean, they call it Portal Corp for a reason. I would think we could use the tech there to go just about anywhere, no? Just a thought.