tidge

Ehem. This thread was a discussion about making all stuff available for free on the marketplace... you are the one who derailed it about "grinding." The Live and HC devs explicitly put optional stuff in place for players to use to avoid the things that the devs saw as 'grinding', which include: DFB, and introductory level 1 task force Multiple-XP boosts, plus extra-XP times, and "Experienced" Patrol/Day Job XP (not really optional, but that is a different grief!) Exploration badge XP Fast travel options (between zones, missions) Travel powers at level 4 The many added extra connection points between zones Incarnate XP (and rewards) unlocked without having to do incarnate content Alignment changes made trivial SG Bases are no-cost, and travel points are all unlocked Furthermore, the HC devs have lowered the levels at which higher tier (and Epic/Patron) powers can be taken, explicitly to allow that "top tier feel" to happen even sooner... hint, it is below level 50! We also have a full suite of temp attacks, prestige powers, and buffs available at the S.T.A.R.T. vendor. Any/All of these things makes it pretty easy to play sub-50 content, all the way down to level 1.... and it makes it easy to get to level 50 if that is where the content is that people want to play. On top of all this, we can convert merits (which are trivial to get) into PVP/Purple recipes (i.e.not gated behind either content or play time) and ATO/Winter pieces... not to mention every other recipe can be purchased via merits or inf without having to visit AH (or even take the invention tutorial). Almost everything on the AH itself is fungible, and because of the existence of useful crafting badges for 25/30 and 45/50 IOs, there is no shortage of inexpensive IOs at those levels. TL;DR: the devs and players have different attitudes than the ones you've expressed about both grinding and rewards. The devs even have a server explicitly to test builds (at whatever level) that many players use to see if they'll be happy with a potential character before they invest any effort into it. You want to argue against this, but the devs have provided exactly the thing you claim to want. I know your argument against brainstorm is "boo hoo no one will play with me", but on no other server is a PUG not going to play with you because your character isn't loaded to the gills with Purples/ATOs/Winters/PVP/Signature summons/blah blah fishcakes. And if you are somehow part of a cohort that does require such things... try asking them for free stuff. Nobody here is passing judgement on the way players want to play, or how they build their characters... except you who wants everything to be free and also wants to pass judgement on everybody else who is ok with this fun game's play options and reward structure. Asking for everything to be free is pretty much NOT playing the game.

This wall of exposition offers no evidence that any players wanting around to play level 50 content also want enhancements to be effort-free. +1

That is an export from the game using /buildsave I think the game exports "Strike" as "Lunge".

I avoid the Fighting pool and Hasten for similar reasons. I have some (older) builds... this version of the Fortunata does include Hasten... I popped it in after a respec to try out Fate Sealed, and it is pretty late in the build. IIRC I wanted to see if I could get some quicker return times on some longer powers. Night.txt Fortunata.txt

Paragon city has become entirely too 'voke.

It doesn't sound like role-playing is your idea of fun, or you wouldn't be whining for free enhancements. Nobody has chimed in describing themselves as grinders... except for you. If this game isn't for you, you should try to find one that is more your speed.

I haven't forgotten what triggered your endless back-in-forth in this thread was my statement that clever players will know how to be able to play exactly the way you describe (PL to 50, full-kit). You are the one who equated being able to do exactly this as a "grind", whereas other people don't see playing the game for rewards as a grind. I'm not mad at you for advocating laziness, I'm disappointed in you because you know the game isn't going to give you want for free, you know it isn't a grind to get the stuff you claim to want, and the arguments made to support your position always come back to somebody keeping you (and some unknown number of hypothetical players) at the bottom of some hierarchy that only exists in your mind. As @Demobot points out...if you can't find people to play with you on Brainstorm (and it isn't because folks aren't eschewing your global for some other reason) it is because players would rather play on a server where the enhancements (and accolades, and whatever) require more than an "I win!" button.

CoX offers so much more content variety below 50, that this ^guy^ has got a warped perception of CoX and what is grinding. Lulz if playing the game after 50 doesn't satisfy the criteria of "gaining experience points or defeating enemies". Nobody cares if a level 50 on a PUG is poorly slotted.

You must be a lot of fun at McDonald's when you find out they won't serve you a Wendy's Frosty.

And vice versa!

I just checked, the devs have completely agreed with you and have created a server called Brainstorm that can give you everything for free! You might have to type a command or enter a pop menu, I hope that isn't too tough! Congrats, you won the internet and every agrees with your wisdom! I am truly humbled!

Gatekeeping, bitter, and I wash down steak every night with the tears of hypothetical players while rolling around on piles of inf. IS there no end to the enjoyment this game can bring?

Often I will add a 'lower-performing' melee cone to slot a specific set (for the bonuses), with the (as noted by @arcane) side effect it becomes a semi-decent ST attack.

I'm on-board with Mother Mayhem being voiced by Martha Raye, as long as Seige and Nighstar are voiced by Jim Nabors and Ruth Buzzi.

When considering %damage procs, my general rules are: If the base recharge is below 15 seconds, the only %proc included will be part of a set I want to slot. (because rates will be bad) If the power is a single-target, the only %proc included will be part of a set I want to slot. If the base recharge is longer than 90 seconds, the only %proc included will be part of a set I want to slot. (because recharge is probably more important than the %proc) It is possible to get better performance by working around the margins of the above rules, and considering the context of what the power is actually doing for the character (and power chain) but I find those to be a good foundation. I certainly have characters that break some of these rules of mine.

Try the set in Phantom Army!

The team has given you and like-minded folks Brainstorm to play on. Use it and stop being a pest. The content is worth playing, and part of the content is the reward structure... it always has been.

Playing the game from level 1-50 isn't grinding. The game at launch didn't have 40+ content! Since we've now degenerated into unsubstantiated, unprovable claims: I believe it is more likely true the sort of people who would give up CoX because they can't insta-50 with all free stuff are more likely to sooner give up CoX than people who enjoy playing the game from 1-50. Nobody (including the game itself) is gatekeeping or forcing "grinding". Furthermore, nothing restricts players from content except for very limited circumstances: Alignment restricted content (trivially addressed, although low level gold-side starters have it harder) Limited amount of incarante content (which doesn't require "slotting" with stuff on the AH) I'm not some Uncle Pennybags sipping port, smoking cigars and laughing at the @Battlewraith roster of unplayed, unloved, unwashed, sub-par level 50s hanging out in AE... I'm playing the game, collecting rewards as I go, jamming with pals, and kitting out characters with what the game is dropping in my lap. Maybe the game would seem to be less of a grind for your roster if you took them out and played something other than AE farms Tinpex? If this game bores you, giving you free stuff isn't going to make the game less boring to you.

But that isn't the game, so why should we toss out rewards just because people don't want to play the game they are given. Those players can go to Brainstorm. If they want to team, they don't need full-kit level 50s.

One of the reasons I enjoy playing new characters to 50 through content (i.e. "playing the game") is because I find this approach to be an excellent way to see how powers actually work, alone or in combination, and get a feel for how the game's AI handles them... not to mention I get to play with slotting as I level to get a feel for them. I also get to see how I can address shortcomings in a build as I level up the character. Plus, I'm getting rewards I can use for that character. I know that there are self-proclaimed MIDS-wizards who feel that they can make a perfect level 50 for any AT, any combination... but there are also Fantasy Football Sports Radio enthusiasts who think they can GM a pro Football team to a a Superbowl victory every year. I've certainly got common slotting choices I make for my level 50 builds... but it is pretty common that I end up tweaking my "default" set of choices because I've tried some new things on the way up. I find the game to be fun while leveling up... CoX isn't like other MMORPGs where the game doesn't start until the character is max-level and full-kit. I simply can't reconcile someone being "bored with repeated play" and that player not already having accumulated stuff to kit a level 50. Even if a player is simply PLs alts to 50 in AE should also be accumulating rewards like Inf and drops... if this sort of PL is seen as a grind, step out of AE (or the Mapserver/ToT League) and try some content.

I really liked Ironheart. It had a good scale, and is obviously in the MCU. I see what you did there.

I don't know if this entirely counts as 'being killed by the developer', but a million years ago I really enjoyed the arena matches of Star Trek: Elite Force 2. It predated (mostly) any form of real-time team communication, and the folks who tried costume mods/hacks didn't really reap any benefits. When teh last servers shut down, I just didn't have the heart to go to another arena system. Elite Force 2 always seemed like a bit of an afterthought, but it felt like the arena servers stayed Live for a long time after the game's release. Even before that, the pre-2000 MSN Gaming Zone was a time sink, especially to play pick-up card games. It was always fun to find a random partner and dominate at Spades. More than once we'd be accused of cheating, but I think the only common tech that existed at the time would have been something like IRC.

%proc math for Tankers absolutely needed to be corrected. After that, I think there were/are some individual powers in sets that needed some hard looks (mostly because there exist powers that were over-performing due to the stats in the powers). There still are a handful of T9 powers in Tanker Primaries (and other AT secondaries) that should have been tweaked by now, because those practically don't "perform" at all... seriously, if the base timer on an armor T9 is longer than an incarnate Hybrid cycle... something isn't right.