Ukase

This isn't always true. It's mostly true, but there are a couple of threads with clear frustration at the inability of some folks to read, particularly when it comes to Triple Threat in the Magisterium trial. And in Kaizen's defense, he clearly stated he did ask the tank to slow down, but didn't push the issue because he didn't want to potentially ruin the tf for other folks. Even when you try to be polite to some folks, they don't always see it like that. They want to play "their way", even if it means the rest of the team doesn't have it as easy. In most cases, it's easy enough to overcome. But damn, re-toggling is annoying, even if it's just a few toggles. A tank should be paying attention to the health of teammates. It is literally the only reason they are on the team - to help keep folks from unnecessarily being defeated. Unfortunately, there really is little that can be done, other make a note to not team with that particular tank in the future.

Anecdotally, I understand the annoyance. There are a lot of ways to handle this type of thing, and none of them are perfect. People are gonna do what they want to do. For the most part, a lot of folks in CoH are "Monkey see - Monkey do". They're playing the tank the way they've seen one played. The best solution might be to make a tank and play it the way you think it should be played. You might even go further and whip up some keybinds that you can use to explain where you're going and why you're going there.

I appreciate the explanation. I wouldn't think distance from the servers would have had such an impact, but I've confessed previously, I'm no expert.

I recently made an SS/Fire Brute, and had so much fun with it, I made a second one, just a bit differently. I never even notice the rage crash. I don't see why it's such a big deal. It's 10 seconds, and I'm usually done with one mob headed to another while it's crashing. And if I notice it, I just slam judgement or foot stomp or burn. Rage only partially impacts them because they're procced. Then I fold space the new mob into position and rage crash is over. It's really a trivial issue. Would I prefer to not have a rage crash? Sure. But I'd rather have my fiery armor characters have status protection from KB more, and stronger mez resistance. When I do the first mission of moonfire at 0/8, a few times during the map, my fire brutes will get mezzed. My electric and shield brute - never get mezzed. But then, it takes them about 50% longer to clear the map, too.

The solution is very simple, but I don't know how popular it would be. Just solo them when you encounter them. And if you can't solo them, bring out a summons or a lore pet. But if you want a challenge, solo them. Some folks might be a bit fussy because in the case of some GMs, they may spawn more rarely than others. Or alternatively - Make a vow to only fight GMs at level 30 or below - as in, nobody over level 30 can join you, or if they do, they're stuck at level 30. Or some other level. You find the gm, tackle it your way.

You mention latency and struggles with lag. A change in the location of the server would do what exactly? Why would anything change? I would imagine a "new" server would be the same size, speed, etc. Maybe even the same physical server, I've no idea. My thinking regarding internet & computers has always been there's a bottleneck somewhere. Could be your hard drive, could be your memory, the size of your page file (if you use that to pretend you have more memory than you do). Could be you've got ISP service from a cable provider who love to put a throttle on your uploading packets. Maybe even a throttle on your downloading packets too. Could be your ISP is burdened with other traffic that slows things down on your end. Or, it could be the server. I just find it unlikely because others play with no lag on the highest graphic settings. Some folks play with multiple instances on the highest graphic settings with no lag or latency. Obviously, some folks have a better system than others - but mine is easily 10 years old and seems to carry 3 instances without issue, with no lag or latency - except during those events like the Map Server event when it was difficult to target foes that you could actually attack. Having well over 100 folks in a zone might have something to do with that, too. That's a lot of flowing cape graphic math, I guess. In short - given that literally hundreds of players are playing this game without latency or lag most of the time - couldn't it be something to do with your system? Just asking.

Not sure. I opened about 30 winter packs earlier without an issue; but later today, my hero packs are just staring at me, unopened. Well, tried to open a winter pack - no failure message, just nothing happens. So...what I did, I shut the game down completely. Checked for updates (none) and verified the manifest, and am now able to open packs.

You're missing the point completely - probably because I didn't elaborate to make it. When you ask people to download an app specifically to communicate with you to play a game, you should probably understand that they have not used it before. As such, not only have they not had an opportunity to determine how far away the mic should be, nor would they even be aware that adjusting the sensitivity of the microphone is possible. Moreover, they will NEVER know just what you're hearing and what you're not from their end. You're asking someone to use a new program and then you get upset because they've no idea how to work it properly. You just dump YOUR problem in their lap and expect them to resolve it. And, the sounds of my breathing, if it is unsavory to you - it is YOUR problem. I like breathing. While I don't deliberately breathe into the mic to disturb you, I sure am not going to spend any time during my gaming to adjust these settings for your comfort. If it's such a hassle - use the team or league chat settings in the game. Then you don't have to hear anything. True story, and kind of amusing: I activated Push to Talk using Z as my push key. For several months, I would find my hasten was no longer on auto-fire, and I didn't really think anything of it, until it got me in trouble while I was tanking Hamidon. I needed the recharge for my self-heal and realized it once again had not been on auto-fire. Turns out the default key in CoH for cancelling a power is Z. Never occurred to me there would be a key for such a thing, but now, I have chosen to not use push to talk. I'm not going to go to the trouble to switch the z key to some other key on my 200+ characters. Screw that. Communicating over discord with folks with sensitive ears just isn't that important to me. Don't like it ? Too damn bad. I make no apologies. Next time you encounter such noises over a discord, perhaps you should kindly volunteer your time - holding everyone else up before this event - to illustrate using shared screen precisely where these settings are, and how to adjust them - because Discord's "Help" section isn't very helpful. Keep in mind - a lot of us are not old, but indeed older. Older folks haven't used a lot of these newer apps and aren't familiar with them. You should be grateful we're willing to use them in the first place, even if it is "improperly" or perhaps, rudely (from your perspective). The notion of anyone thinking my breathing is my problem is hilarious. It's your problem. I can go on breathing for a long time. Doesn't bother me a bit. And if I were to stop breathing at your request, I think the Catholic Church might take issue with that. And far be it for me to have a problem with the Church.

So, I had to remove my entire post because either I didn't understand what the OP was trying to say - or the OP didn't say what he was trying to say very well...either way: Using Discord to form up for specific team events is done in my SG's discord daily. Suggest you find some like-minded folks in game, and find out when they play. On one hand, I can understand your willingness to log in if something is going down that you're interested in. What discord channels do you belong to? Pretty sure folks use the HC Discord to team up routinely. Same with a few other discords I belong to. As an example: Cosmic Council posts events for the week in their Discord (some content may not be visible unless you're a member). Here's a snippet of last week's events. I cut off who was leading as I didn't see the need to make them famous. Is this kind of what you were talking about?

No. But, strangely, the older I get, the more I skim over things and don't actually read. My mistake.

you must be playing over a slow connection. My attacks fire instantly, unless they're something the game purposely slows down like Total Focus or Knockout Blow, which have longer animations. When I say "instantly", they're not truly instant, but I mash the button, the attack fires. I don't see a circle around the power unless it hasn't recharged yet. It's quite fast on my end. Maybe my brain is slower, lol.

I didn't even consider that. I still wouldn't use it for a situational power like fold space. It's already up every other mob, give or take a few seconds. I think some folks must be using it (Fold Space) more creatively than I am.

Recently, I'd leveled up an SS/Fire brute, and had a fair amount of fun playing it. It came in useful having Foot Stomp and Burn available in Moonfire, which I like to run the first two missions to go towards the Atlas Medallion. Figured I'd make another one, only make it a little different, avoiding leadership pool, and using Fold Space to bring the mobs in for the foot stomp with the FF recharge proc, and burn procced out right after. Hit level 49, and wouldn't have enough slots to do much with a ranged attack, so figured I'd just take taunt. I knew there was a D-Sync to slap in there. This is what I saw, lol. Only one for sale. Given the 20 different ones available via the RNG...sheesh...a 53 is gonna require more than a few runs, I'd say. Damned if I won't just slot a Perfect Zinger in it for 800k, though. I ain't spending that kind of loot for one enhancement, even if I can buy a ton of them.

So, perhaps I'm confused. Or lack in reading comprehension. You're stating that you would simply buy the enhancement at a price of over 4M, and sell it at a price of less than 4M. That's only profit when someone has made a mistake overbidding due to impatience, clumsy fingers, or insufficient knowledge of AH price glitchiness. To hear you say it - our fellow players (not to be confused with savvy ebil marketers) are confused or have clumsy fingers or insufficient knowledge more often than not. While this may be the case, I do not think this is in anyone's best interest, least of all, yours. Buying high and selling low...that's no way to make inf.

This path is paved with madness. But hey, it's not your fault people are foolish enough to overpay. (or have clumsy fingers and mash in an extra digit) I stay out of this niche for no other reason than I do not wish to pay for IOs from the market. I just sell my drops. Only with pvp recipes will I buy from the AH because the profit is worth the effort to me. My grandmother would tell me, "It's not how much money you make, but how much money you save. Every dollar you save multiplies to the bottom line." My 7 year old self wasn't too clear on what that last part meant, but if the first part takes root, the second part takes care of itself. Buy low, sell high, that's all good. Buy buy nothing and sell fair, that's even better.

I don't see it a lot, but give it a couple of minutes.

So, playing an MM and I am finding non-team inspirations to be far less useful than team inspirations. I thought to myself, "It might be nice to disable non-team inspirations"...but no such option exists. No idea what kind of hassle it would be, but if it's easy, why not offer it?

I love it when he slaps the minion, lol. On repeat, no less.

Well, I've marketed enough in real life already. Does that count?

I dunno, the best character builder I can think of would be a part-time job making donuts. Something about waking up at 2am, working half-asleep, that really helped me develop a work ethic. You tell your next boss you never missed a day of work AND your work day started at 2am, that says something.

My MM in question has reached 50, recently t-4'd barrier. T-3 in everything else. I alted out and played my ill/rad controller, and surprised to see I had named my Phantasm "Stupid". My phantasm keeps up with me, usually. Seems to be game to attack whether I tell it to or not. But...in one limited perspective, the phantom army and phantasm are really better pets. Sturdier, and once spawned, I can pretty much forget them...until 58 seconds and I need to spawn the PA again. It's like comparing apples to oranges, really. I use binds with all my characters. I'm just not going to use a ton of them with the MM. There really hasn't been a need so far. For me, it was more about seeing what the MM player is going through, so when I team with them, I have a better idea of what I can expect, and well, to see if I was missing out on anything fun. I am sad I didn't think to get Burnout for Gang War x 2. Might respec into that. Doubt it, Gang War just isn't that useful from what I can tell. (Beyond once every couple of minutes.) Still, props to you MM players. It's not as simple as it sounds, letting all the pets do the work. I can certainly see the lure of an all MM team, though. Never could before.

Depends on the character, but usually, my goal is to finish story arcs as fast as I can for the XP reward at the end, rather than fuss with making XP within the missions. To me, Stealth pool is usually a waste. I don't see it as a practical choice, as it doesn't help you kill mobs any faster than a character that doesn't choose the stealth pool. What's the point? To be invisible? As Loc points out, SS + Celerity: Stealth, and you've the same thing. Not like anyone is going to pass up Sprint. I guess some folks don't care for SS; to each their own. I find it much faster than flight, and usually faster than teleport, unless the zone or travel area is clear of buildings. Anecdotally, teleport in the central part of Grandville is every bit as annoying as Super Speed. Flight is just better in those situations, and there's a handy jet pack that doesn't cost any slots or powers. The only case I can see where I might choose stealth would be in pursuit of a place to stash an LotG - but flight has more utility than stealth, so may as well go that route, or Leadership. But, that's just my thinking on Stealth. I don't see it remotely useful with the use of Celerity Stealth being an option. Take that away, then I would find a way to fit stealth in most builds.

The truth is - "best" is always subjective. I know some folks who swear that enhancement boosters are a better value than converters, as far as selling them goes. Some folks swear running tfs, using the merits for recipes is the easiest way to go. But the math says that it may be easy, but they're paying more from a merit cost than they need to for that simplicity. In my opinion, as someone who has amassed a ton of inf: Play your character as you see fit. Craft all recipe drops when the salvage you need for them drops. If you've outleveled the recipes and that lower level salvage doesn't drop for you, then go ahead and by it, or if you're really frugal, you can just run an ouro arc in that level range until you get the salvage you want. Either way - craft every uncommon and rare and pvp and Very rare recipe you get. In some cases, you may want to actually use the crafted IO. In some cases, you don't or can't. So, you can convert it into one you can, or sell as is, or convert it into one that will sell for a better price. The latter is my approach. I have an afk farmer. It sits in the map with burn on auto. When the map is clear, I reset it - taking care to craft and convert before I run out of room. Then I stash the ones I want to keep and sell the others. I do the same thing on non-farm characters. Craft and convert - keep or sell. This has provided me with all the influence I could ever use, and then some. If I stopped farming and marketing, I could fund all 1000 slots worth of characters at buy it now prices. The bulk of this pile of influence was acquired by placing low bids for level 10 pvp recipes, crafting, and converting them to ones that sell better than others. I make, after all costs, including opportunity cost for converters which I "farm" by recycling my afk-farmers for emp-merits, about 3-5M per IO. Just depends on whether folks bid-creep, or just plunk down 10M or more because they can't be bothered. I have since stopped - except for a couple of days ago when I saw the price of Shield Walls had creeped up over 10M. Had to bring the price back down to 8m. Not that I mind folks paying that much, but it's clear there weren't many to be sold. So, figured I'd replenish some of the supply. So, what's better than the Wentworth's train? In some cases, the D-Sync (Hamidon Enhancement similar item) have some that sell for a very pretty penny. Literally 100's of millions of influence. But - they are a crap shoot on whether or not you get gold or trash, and the converters do not work on those enhancements. So, most folks take the merits, because most don't want an acc/mez or similar less useful item. Because of this, the folks who take the risk and choose the d-sync, if they get the good ones, they aren't shy about charging a ton. More power to 'em. They took the risk. But, in my opinion, there's nothing more lucrative than using reward merits to get converters and actually using the converters on your drops. It's faster to actually buy recipes and crafted IOs to convert, but you have to find the right bargains. But you can definitely get rich doing that.

At the risk of being confused for Snarky, I should probably remind everyone that the medicine pool is available to aid teammates with if you really wanted to do so. Talk about nostalgia...I used to actually get that on my blasters before I learned there were combat attributes and the different ATs had different Hitpoints and such.