Ukase

Of course I ask why. I ask why because I don't understand your perspective. Granted, I don't have to, nor do you have to understand mine. But why wouldn't you do all you could to be as good as you can be? You may think of it as elitist, but you say that like it's a negative. I am just trying to save time. It's like in the real world, and I want to hire someone. Do I hire someone with very little experience or someone with a lot of experience? I go with the person with the most experience. Particularly in this game, because I don't have to pay them - the game pays them. And while we all get the same rewards for the most part, the ones that go the fastest make more per unit of time. That just makes sense to me. But hey, to each their own. That said, I understand that folks will want to actually read what the npc/contact says, or perhaps ruminate on certain bits of dialogue. I have no issue with that. Just not on a speedy run, thanks. I can further understand that some folks, for thematic reasons may want to forgo a travel power when they play. I have such a character, newly created called Thong Kong. It/she is a gorilla, sort of, that wears a thong. Makes no sense for Thong Kong to be zipping about using super speed. So, it/she uses beast run. BUT - I do have Super Speed, and it/she will be using it on speed runs. And why not? Makes no sense to persue merits slowly. At least, not to me. But, if going slow is your cup of tea - savor it, if it tastes good to you. I have my moods where I'll go slower with certain characters. Particularly during the week when I might have to take a call and am solo. But, when teamed, I ensure I'm not a hindrance or anchor, at least to the best of my ability. Nobody owes me an explanation for anything. But it would be nice if I could understand that perspective more clearly. I'm trying to broaden my horizons. What about you?

Vitriol? Cruel and bitter criticism is how that's defined. Nobody was cruel to you. In fact, we were all supportive and encouraging. I get the feeling that you see what you expect to see. I'm rooting for you. I'll never team with you because your expectations are ridiculous, but other than that, I'm pulling for you.

For a master tf or trial run, at least 500 badges. Why? Because in my mind, it shows a commitment to badging. Even though those can be got by doing just the explorations, it still shows commitment, as opposed to someone who was just bored and wanted something to do - who didn't really care about a master badge in the first place. Not to mention, a higher badge count increases the likelihood that they've seen a decent cross section of what the game has to offer. They're more likely to at least have been exposed to various debuffs and game mechanics. No guarantees, but the more experienced a player is, the more likely they'll know to avoid jumping in a mob without a suitable strategy. On a master Kahn, and someone hops into that laser room out of curiosity and then dies - despite warnings to not go in there - they die and effectively tell the team they don't care about the other person's time. Time is important! Don't get me wrong, I don't insist everyone have TT. I just shake my head and wonder why they don't have it when it's so useful. I fully understand that there are players who like to do things their own way. I'm one of them. My way is just different. Some folks build a character for max dps. Some max defense/resist. Some max recharge. There's no right or wrong here. But there is definitely a faster and a slower, at least with regards to getting to missions. Why be slower? I get that for thematic purposes someone might forgo a travel power on their new gorilla tank, as beast run fits better in their theme. But, that's on you. If you want half the missions to be complete before you get there, should you be on a speed run tf of some kind - where's the fun in that for you? Now, some will just avoid those kinds of teams, and that's fine. Do you. I just think it makes perfect sense to go as fast as you can go unless circumstances warrant you go slower - like a traditional leveling team where everyone starts at level 1, plays for a set time, and meets again the next week. No need to speed something like that. Get there when you get there. But when you're level 50, you've got a new alt in mind, and you don't have the funds like I do, you need those merits, and you want them sooner than later. And there's only so much game time you have. By going slowly, you've just pushed that idea you wanted to try even further away. For me, the game is easy. It's no longer really enough for me to get The Really Hard Way Badge. I want to get it faster than we did last time. I want to improve. But I completely get that's just me, and I don't expect that of you. But it would be better for me if you did. Better for you? I'm not worried about that. That's your department.

I don't think it's ridiculous at all. TT is a valuable tool. It saves time. Most of us aren't kids any more. We have responsibilities, demands on our time. Anything that will shave minutes or even seconds on a task force is worth the influence to me. Anyone who's got the inclination can make 10M from the AH in minutes. The idea that EVERYONE doesn't have and make full use of Team Teleport is laughable. There's not one reason to not use it every chance you can. To see the same npcs robbing the same purses? To see the same buildings in the same cities? Seriously? Why? It's not new. (then again, most of the content isn't new either - but it can seem new with a new character and a new team. ) It's not like 10m is expensive. There's nothing in this flavor of CoH that's expensive, so why not?

Hmm....

@Solarverse Could you share which tf/mission you're talking about? I'm trying to think of various ones with bombs and an AV...LRSF?

The reason to go to that amount of trouble is with Ouro, you'd have to suffer through the preceding missions every time you wanted the badge. With Voltor's method, you keep the mission on standby for any character that wants/needs the badge. Saves a lot of time. Bear in mind, Voltor is like a select few of us that make multiple characters to get all the badges. Most folks aren't this crazy.

The big things in my mind for gold side: Need praetorian equivalents of the 4 passive accolade powers. Gold side needs task forces. I know my thinking here is off the beaten path, but I think alignment in this game is ridiculous. This whole idea of heroes "registering" with city hall, and villains openly approaching contacts for dirty deeds, it's all quite silly. You think there are crooks that don't enter into a given area? Sure, there are. But there are also other crooks who do, and freely, because they are better at being a crook and escape detection. The population, the police, nobody knows they're crooks. This idea that a stalker, who's basically invisible can't freely stow away on a ferry to Paragon unless they see some bird on a van in an inter/non-dimensional club that plays the same music on a loop...seriously? Lose the bird. Lose the van. Heck, lose pocket D. All characters should be able to access all areas regardless of alignment. I get that it will never happen. I'm fine with it. I am okay thinking in my head that it's just silly the steps we have to take, but am grateful I don't have to do 10 missions and then a final mission to switch sides. But the two big things remain. If you want to level up from 1-50 as a praetorian, you're at a disadvantage, compared to heroes/villains.

I have literally 10,000's of threads across a number of characters/accounts. But - wait! There's a RHW this Saturday! Every Saturday. The characters with all those threads already have The Really Hard Way badge, and Master of Magisterium. So, what to do? I just spent all my threads getting this newer character ready for RHW, getting t-4, etc. No more threads left! At least, not the 400 threads needed to get the inspirations desired. 4*30 ultimates =120 4*30 dual team red/yellows=120 8*30 Team reds = 120 4*10 solo reds = 40 400 threads That's a lot of threads unless you have done a ton of content with your newish 50. And generally, we use threads to make the common components needed, right? So, anecdotally, that's what happens in my case. I try to get my alts that are thread rich to stash what's needed in my sg base ahead of time. And generally do. But every now and then, I get busy and can't get that done. So, I end up over-paying for these inspirations. (usually buying them from my own alt, lol) Additionally, the staging area for iTrials is sometimes Pocket D - which doesn't have a Luna to sell them. Recently, folks have been using Echo Plaza, as there's a Luna there as well. This may actually cause the prices of these inspirations to drop.

So, Ukase is far too embarrassed to ask this himself, so while he was on a call, I snuck on here and typed this out. He's at his wit's end coming up with a gorilla with a thong for reasons that escape any rationale I can think of. So..this is gonna sound super strange - but what he wants is the closest thing he can get to a gorilla. And, heaven help those whom he teams with, a thong. He claims it's impossible to have monstrous fur and a thong. Nor any gorilla/ape/monkey type heads. But he wouldn't really know - he just hits the random button most of the time. But, I'm sure some of you know the costume creator better than he does. Maybe it's hidden in there somewhere. I will see to it that you're rewarded if you submit a file I can download for him when he's not looking, if yours is chosen. Thanks!

This comment made my night. Thank you.

I disagree with this idea of folks routinely dying during any TFC task force being an experience that's "as intended". To me, defeat means you're doing something wrong, either tactically, or poor execution of an otherwise sound tactic. Unless it's your very first or second character. In that context, I can understand growing pains. Learn from it, you win. You don't, you lose. But I'm sure that's just me. You do what's fun for you. But me? I'm with the OP on this one. That would be torture, in more ways than one. I can't fathom sitting down for more than 90 minutes at a time. My legs get stiff and my feet start bouncing up and down, telling me to move!

So...I'm not quite sure what to make of this. I read your rules, and you lost me with the word rule. You're entitled to your conditions, but I'm not surprised we haven't crossed paths, particularly since I play a blaster more often than not. Then I read about this ...condition you're in. It made me feel badly about instantly mocking you in my head. With all the physical issues you have, it's not a surprise you find yourself ignoring a lot of people. You must be truly miserable, physically, if not emotionally. And I find it hard to believe the two aren't connected. I do want to encourage you on the weight loss. I know it's not easy. I was 280# when the game shut down. Probably the best thing that could happen to me, suddenly having extra free time. Now, I'm 215 and in the best physical condition of anyone I know, and winning indoor rowing competitions across multiple states, including collegiate rowing teams. And I'm 54, making college rowers wonder what I'm doing differently than they are. I bust my ass, is what I do, And I diet with purpose. But I didn't get in this shape overnight. I started walking 2.5 miles a day. Increased it to 10 miles a day. That was taking too long, and I discovered the indoor rower. I'm really too short to ever be world class in it, but worked at it, and got very good. I know this is harsh, and I don't mean it that way. I mean it to be serious, though. Whatever you're doing to lose weight - please keep doing that. But also, consider limiting your play time in all games. They're just recreational, and there are better ways to recreate until you get your weight in check. Even if you're 7 feet tall, that's way too much stress on your heart & your joints to carry around for too long. Try to be active in some way, every day.

Consider a spines/fire brute. Properly built, in most cases, you can put burn on auto and just chill. Doesn't need to be a fire farm, either. With Melee defense focus, there's very little to worry about, except in an ITF when cascading failure can easily happen - but with inspirations and healing flames, you can see your way out if it rather easily. But for most content, you can snooze your way through, if that's what you choose.

Had a brief discussion with someone about this yesterday. I will ask you what I asked them. How often would you like to see a contest? What prize do you see as acceptable, sustainable over time?

Team inspirations are the only ones that will help an MM pets - UNLESS you literally click and drag an inspiration to your MM's stat bar in the pet window. And even then, they have to be within 20 feet of you. This is why I often disobey our league leader during RHW runs, as I tend to wait for teammates to be within that 20 foot radius. For most of these fights when solo, other than the reds, I'll just use them just before I engage the AV, to hopefully mitigate the alpha. I'm generally not worried after the alpha, and just want to clobber the AV as fast as I can. Thus, the reds. In a way, it's interesting to me to hear others thoughts on these "tools" at our disposal. The team supers cost 30 threads. The individual ones only cost 10. And yet, The supers often command a 4-5x price point. (and, lol, sometimes they don't) The game seems to think that 10 shards, converting into 10 threads (once per day! ) is worth 1 million. Could that suggest that, given our old Paragon Studio devs tendency to look for inf sinks at every opportunity, they thought 10 threads was worth about 100k? Or a million? Ultimately, they're worth as I stated initially - as much as someone is willing to pay. With Luna, and the abundance of players with farmers on second (and even third or fourth accounts), threads are all but free, outside of the opportunity cost of time - which is often paid by pursuing XP, drops, whatever. The threads are a bonus. I think this is the only thing keeping the price of these sky-rocketing to 2M or more. The demand is definitely there. I sell out routinely. My poor farmers are rebelling, having been stripped bare of their emp merits, and now their threads. (no, they aren't really rebelling. But sometimes..I swear they are looking at me cross-eyed like I'm an evil slave master. ) In my mind, the single supers are worth no more than 500k, and the teams no more than 1.5M. Crazy, right?

There's no question the Ultimates are primarily used for Really Hard Way and serious speeders on speed tfs/trials. Same with the super rages and intuition imbuements (the team super dual red/yellows) When I solo tfs and fight an AV, I will use a boatload of the super team reds, (for the summons or lore pets) but never even think about using the ultimates, and I have no idea why. I will also use the super lucks on master runs, just in case, or to shore up any numbers when facing AVs. But, you make a point, it's often over-doing it, as their chance to hit is floored with a small luck in most cases, but I can never be sure about debuffs.

Ice/ice blast is super fun. I think it's the best in game - but the numbers say I'm wrong. But, anecdotally, it edges out my fire blaster. The thing is - it all depends on how you slot the characters. One character might be fantastic with one build, but sheer trash with another. But overall, I think ice/ice blast is a great way to learn to blast. You have a nice hold, that's super fast, to help mitigate incoming npcs, and an ice patch for the ones you can't get to. Proc 'em out, and they can really shine. But, all depends on playstyle, and how you build 'em.

So...my character emails are filled with winter sets and ATOs, and my sg has 10 bins for purples - one for each kind. When I get a purple, I don't convert them, I just craft and drop it in the appropriate bin. Oddly - Apocalypse and Armageddon are easily the least dropped - at least for me, anecdotally. Have never kept a specific work sheet on them - but over time, it's curious how I have 80 something of all of them except Arm & Apoc. Only about 50-60 of those. I thought maybe it was because of slotting..but I seem to use more Hecatombs & Ragnaroks. But now - a curious question since some of you are bored. We all know an item is worth as much as people are willing to pay for it. But, I have a farmer with close to 10K incarnate threads. That's only 333 super team inspirations I can get. Sometimes, they go for 2 million, but you'd have to be fairly patient to get that. Presumably mostly on the weekends. 1. What do you think they're worth? 2. Why do you think they're worth that much? With an IO, we have seeded salvage that can put a cap, ultimately, on what the salvage is worth, plus the crafting cost. So, we do have a general sense of what an item is worth. It's the perceived utility of that IO that drives the price up or down. Common IOs that cost close to 500k at level 50 to craft are routinely sold for 300k or much less. This is often due to insane people like me, who badge. When the game has you craft literally hundreds of common IOs and you don't want your AH slots filled with items that will never bring you more than 300k on average...you may be inclined like me to sell them cheaply, take a loss just to be rid of them. The salvage is seeded to put a cap on what they are worth, and they're also bucketed to further suppress the demand, which keeps the cost on the AH down. Not to mention all the winter packs that were bought with who knows how many damn brain storm ideas that are still left in emails. So, supply and demand seem to be the primary drives of the price of super inspirations. The large, despite their low resale value at the vendor can usually claim 25k up to 100k, depending on the supply/demand. But the supers...they don't drop, unless someone claims it as a reward, but you only get one. Seems odd that someone would claim those anyway. I thought maybe I would "upgrade" some shards to threads...and pay 1m to upgrade 10 for 10, but 10 threads won't get me a super team, only a super. And those...occasionally you might get 1m, but seems like those are usually selling for 250k, or thereabouts. Only rarely would it be worth it to sell those, in my opinion. I think I did see the super reds sell for 500k about a month ago. And candidly, since I have so many, I don't really keep track of the prices. But, I think the super teams and the ultimates are the most popular, as far as AH goes. Thoughts?

I have done this challenge before, and made it to level 50 +2, vet level 2 until I foolish went to a hami raid and got over-eager and jumped in GM scrum for EoE. I figured since I was level 50, I had already beaten the challenge, so I kept the character. Most of my characters go this route, except for the immediate delete. I tend to respec the IOs out first. Deleting a build...that's just nuts.

See, I generally only play with what drops. I rarely buy stuff to convert or craft and resell. I might, on occasion buy some IOs that I normally sell that some foolish person is listing for cheaper than they usually sell for and relist. I can do that all day long. They will sell at the regular price in a day or so. When I do buy recipes, it is, indeed in bulk, and makes me about 300-500M a day. But it's so tedious and time consuming, I tend to only do that with characters that need crafting badges. (2k items crafted takes some time, lol!) And - they are generally pvp IO recipes, where I know I can make some inf.

So a little caveat about my advice. I make each decision not as if I have to pay for a converter, but that a converter is opportunity cost. That said - I craft every uncommon and rare I get, unlike young Yomo the wise. Why? Because you never know what you're going to get. And, I can afford to do it. It would probably make more sense to me to not craft uncommon Ranged AoE, and Sniper recipes - even the rares and uncommon are trash in those categories, and often require a rare to craft. And you tend to have to burn more converters to get something good. For me, all salvage and converters are basically free, so why not? If you haven't figured out the practice of recycling your farmers for emp merits, well...time to look into it. I also never deal with IOs that sell for less than 3M. I only very, very rarely will touch a 2m IO. Just not worth the slot in the auction house. My advice is in bold - just to make it easier to see. (level 10) Unspeakable Terror: Acc/End - craft it, by all means! Hope for the Accurate Defense Debuff Achilles -res debuff. If not, you might get the steadfast kb or 3% def. All kinds of goodies in that range! Jaunt: End/Range - Craft it. Convert in category if that's the uncommon. You'll get a rare, then go out of set, see what you can get. Extreme Measure: Acc/Range/Rech (weird one - last purchases range are 200,000. 8,000,000. 8,500,000. 21,000,000. 4,000,000) The AH is glitching here, or someone is vastly overpaying. Convert it out of category, then go for a rare. Artillery: Acc/Dam/Rech Too many of those targeted AoEs (ranged AoEs, excuse me) convert out of category, hope for one you can convert in category for a rare. Lethargic Repose: Acc/Sleep/Rech convert in category for a rare. Enfeebled Operation: Acc/Immobilize convert in category for a rare. Then convert out of category until you get something good. Lockdown: Acc/Rech convert out of category. You won't get much from any hold IO. Gladiators Strike: Damage/Rech Convert until you get a glad, a panacea, or shield wall or until you just get the chance for toxic or chance for -res. The other procs sell well enough, but they don't bring in an 8M price, usually. And the big three sell much faster. Experience Marksman: Dam/End/Interrupt Convert until you get a glad, a panacea, or shield wall or until you just get the chance for toxic or chance for -res. The other procs sell well enough, but they don't bring in an 8M price, usually. And the big three sell much faster. Red Fortune: Def/End Convert in category until you get LotG Def, Def/End , 7.5% Red Fortune: Def/End/Rech Convert in category until you get LotG Def, Def/End , 7.5% Blood Mandate: Damage/End Convert in category, then convert out of category once you get the rare. Perfect Zinger: Taunt Convert go out of set, see what you can get. Mocking Beratement: Taunt/Range Convert in category. You'll get a rare, then go out of set, see what you can get.

Whoever tells you this clearly doesn't understand how to play the market.

You stole my question! lol The Paragon Wiki refers to them on blue side as "City Information Terminal Kiosks". They were added with Issue 2. No mention is made about them on red side. Just seems like they'd have given villains a similar way to see who was bashing the most npcs and what-not.

There are three things that put a player on my naughty list. Deliberately profane character names (No offense, but your name offends me. If that's your cup of tea, probably for the best we don't team up) Political nonsense over chat/discord (if it's politics, it's nonsense) and leaving a tf before it's over. That last one. It's a hold over from live, before IOs, back when you looked for specific ATs with specific skill sets. Nowadays, someone leaves, it really doesn't matter as much. But, I still maintain that if you start something, you finish it. And if it's untenable, the team just doesn't have the stuff, you can discuss it openly and see what the team thinks. But you don't quit without that discussion. "I don't like a movie, I get up and leave!" kind of mentality goes nowhere with me. How would an MSR look with people taking out the pylons, setting the bombs and killing the GM and then...just leaving? No, that's not proper. While I get that if there's a huge misunderstanding, you may want to bail, young Snarky did what was right, even though it was a pain in the crickets? Something like that. I don't have a real clear picture of when the team lead said he would bump it to +3, but if it was after the tf started, the fault does lie primarily with the team lead. But, this is where we need to remind Snarky that he can always lead a TF himself and control these things. It's quite simple. A headache at times, but sometimes a real hoot.