Abraxus

Captain America's fight with Thanos in "Endgame", starting with the hammer!

It might have closed just prior to you attempting to contribute. It took longer this month, than past months, mainly due to the large target we were trying to hit. But, the determination of this community to be able to do so before sundown on the same day is nothing short of incredible! This community has always been the best, and that tradition continues in the reborn version of the game. 🙂

My thanks for the efforts!

I think I'd counter with the concept that the game already offers the choice/opportunity for you to make things more challenging for yourself, and any like-minded individuals that team with you. But, I wouldn't like to see the devs devoting precious time to changing something that need not be changed in order for you to play in your preferred style. I'd rather they bring never before seen features, and content to the game that everyone can enjoy, rather than locking down play styles so that everyone has no choice but to play as a segment of the player base prefers.

In the end, I think it comes down to this. If you enjoy playing the game, and you like playing your fully developed character more than walking a new one through the ranks, then by all means play the heavy hitter Incarnate! The great thing about that is, you can always go back and do any lower level stuff you want, and be just as (if not more) effective as anyone you are teamed with at the lower levels. In the high level content, you are practically unstoppable, and your power just continues to grow with each new T4 your build. I think it gives you the flexibility to fill gaps, or augment your regular powers in different ways, depending on which combination you use. That sounds pretty powerful to me! If we have any idea of more Incarnate powers would be added down the road (originally, there were intended to be 10), it might be more worthwhile to just hold up until those became available. But, as it is, for the foreseeable future, the 6 is all we will have, so make the absolute most of them! It sounds like you are already well on your way!

I would think at minimum, you should warn teammates of this, so that they have the opportunity to go to Null the Gull to do this prior to launching into a TF, or mission, or Trial. Otherwise, your play preferences are affecting their enjoyment of the game, and without fair warning, that's a bit unfair. I'm sure most would be happy to accommodate, but if they are caught in this without warning, I could well understand their frustration.

If only that were so here in the states. With it falling in between Halloween, and Christmas here, it doesn't universally get the attention it should. It's become the carbo-load we do before heading out for Black Friday madness. 😆

I imagine that once the Halloween event is over, we will be looking at the Winter event coming along soon afterward. Much like society in general where, as soon as Halloween is over, our thoughts turn directly to Christmas, looking at Thanksgiving as the meal break in between. 😉

No, I believe they mean "Homecoming" version of free...which is free. 😉

I feel like there are other avenues for casual chatter, and that they should be encouraged to utilize those, and leave the HELP, and LFG channels to be used for that which they were intended. I don't feel like it's a 'bannable" offense, but a matter of respect, and MMO etiquette. If the problem is that prevalent, make a GM aware. But, beyond a simple reminder of the intended use of a channel, getting into a protracted argument on the channel over it's proper use could be viewed in a less than complimentary way in, and of, itself. As for the power-leveling request (for AE farms I'm assuming), AE is a recognized part of the game, and as such is just as entitled to queries about a team as anything else IMHO. I suppose you could suggest that they go to one of the AE buildings, and do a "local" inquiry to reduce server-wide traffic on the LFG channel, but I don't see the harm at this juncture. Again, that's just my take. Your mileage may vary. 🙂

With the donation target almost doubling since last month, I'm thinking there will be ample opportunity for everyone who wishes to do so, to donate this time. 😉 Those legal fees really piled it on, and I don't mind helping pay those at all. I just hope they result in the outcome we are all hoping for when it's all said and done. 😎

Done, and done!

Good stuff there. I have a Radiation Melee Brute that I'm learning to play a little better.

I wonder if that is what happens when I am in a ToT league, and crash about every 20 minutes. It only happens on ToT league. Not MSR, not Incarnate Trial leagues, not regular team play. Just ToT in a league.

Yeah, I do that too. It's kind of weird, but somehow enjoyable at the same time. I actually have 4 or 5 characters in there, so you're killing them too! 😉😎

I played an Earth\Earth Dominator extensively, and I loved the effects. Especially the sound, which always made me feel powerful.

Looking at the numbers tonight, Torchbearer sitting just over 500. Granted, Tuesday is probably not considered prime-time. But, the summer slide in numbers has definitely continued. 🤔

There are gears turning in an effort for full legitimacy, but we don't know when, or even if, that will be successful. So, for the time being, tell anyone you want. That, and some articles from Massively are where most people came upon the knowledge that the game was back. If the aforementioned efforts are successful, you can bet there will be a full-on shouting from the rooftops by us, the Devs, and anyone else who cares to join in. Until then, it's pretty much word-of-mouth.

IMHO, the argument was not a strong one when the game was driven by profit. Now that is no longer the case, there is precious little grounds to object to how anyone chooses to accumulate XP. If they reach 50, get bored, and leave, there is no threat to profitability, because there is none. Granted, I never want to see anyone leave for any reason. But, I know it happens. Not everyone will stay forever like me. But, to intentionally throw roadblocks in their way to prevent that from happening any sooner than it would anyway? I just don't get why anyone would advocate for it. I mean, if you want to say "Noobs should come up the old fashioned way, so that they actually know how to play when they hit L50". Ok, I get that. It's good advice. But, you can't force them to do that. If they want to be good players, they will. If they just want to blow through levels, and leave all the sooner...well, problem solved either way. 😎

In a free to play game, running on a (currently) non-sanctioned server, I'm not sure there is really any high-ground for determining what's right, and wrong. It's a wonderful game that went before it's time, and we have been given a very rare second chance to live in the world we love so much. Rather than making moral, or any other kinds of judgements about how other play, or should play, how about we just...play? I'm one that thinks that while we are playing, we seldom think of others as critically as we do here in the forums. It's not perfect in Paragon City, but if one were to judge from typical in-game experience, they would probably say that this is a pretty happy place overall. It's only here in the forum that one finds tension, debate, criticism, and lobbying for changes to be made to the game because of (fill in your reason of choice). Things are probably not as bad overall as they sometimes appear to be here in the discussions. But, even here, we could probably do with a little less pontificating on how the game would be so much better for everyone, if it just did (fill in your favorite universal fix). The truth of the matter is, that it is highly unlikely that any "bedrock" level changes are coming to this game. Improvements, QoL stuff, new missions. I could see that. But, for anyone expecting a full graphics overhaul (discreet fingers even?), or titanic shifts in the balance of things with regards to AE, Incarnates, Power Leveling, or anything else, I feel like you are expecting too much from a small group of volunteers, who have day jobs in addition to what they do to keep this place running. I really believe if you are looking for that level of change, keep pulling for the negotiations to be successful, and that the relative popularity inspires the powers that be at NCSoft that there should be a CoH 2 in the planning stages. Outside of that, things will remain pretty much the same around here IMHO.

I'd love to see more mission content too, or revamps of what's already there, to entice folks to go that route, rather than nerfing AE to push them that way. But, that's a huge undertaking that not even the dev team during live could accomplish, and there were more of them (plus they were getting paid to do it).

I guess my response is, why devote time/resources (which are all volunteer BTW) on studying, and possibly changing something that really doesn't need to be changed; when it could be better spent on things that will universally (or as close as anything can come to it these days) make people happy, and want to play more? I really don't care why people farm, and I don't care THAT they farm. My only desire is to see this server continue to flourish, and that folks genuinely want to play here for the long haul. I would like to see us steer clear of things that don't really accomplish that, but absolutely do alienate some players to the point where they would stop playing rather than do so under the new conditions. That will always happen to a certain degree, I suppose. But, there is a very strong, and vibrant farming culture here, and the changes you propose would likely not sit well with them. They would be angered, and probably leave. Then what have we really accomplished?

It's a choice, like every other aspect of the game. The idea is not to foist our preferences for what constitutes preferable game play, on anybody. Whether by disparaging what they do, or by advocating changes to the game, which would make what they do non-functional, or much less effective. I would prefer to see things that add to the enjoyment, and depth of the game overall, as opposed to efforts devoted to changing things that are working just fine, and aren't hurting anyone. Especially in this iteration of the game, which is no longer interested in keeping progression slow, so as to maximize profit. It's no longer a thing, so why do anything along those lines?

They are very similar in their responses.

Agreed! The performance, and reliability vs. traditional spin drives more than makes up for any small difference in cost per GB. It is money well spent.