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As best I can tell: Some folks are simply unhappy that %damage enhancements helps characters who choose to leverage them. I suspect is because these fall into the category of "I see someone else getting MOAR, that seems unfair." I see very little (relatively speaking) pearl-clutching about the ability to raise resistances and defenses via globals and set bonuses. The current PPM formula is, as viewed by me, working quite well(*1). The player base uses a large variety of ATs (in open world). I know that I can design all sorts of different characters, some try to leverage a lot of %damage, some do not. (*1) There are IMO a few areas vis-a-vis %damage that I think ought to be looked at, but primarily to ADD more options for %damage via Enhancement pieces. Off-the-top-of-my head: Powers with more 'extra effects' can benefit more from the (now, many) %damage pieces. I have no proposal, just something to keep an eye on... especially when enhancement sets include Very Rare %damage options. I don't think we need any more %damage pieces in Hold or Ranged AoE sets, and I think Slows are now in a good spot. Stuns, Confuses and Fears kinda stink, unless they happen to be ranged AoE (and include a damage component) Threat (e.g. Taunt) is in a weird place IMO. I want a Very Rare (or PVP option) but I don't need one. If I had more options, I would do more with them! I still dream about a Very Rare %Contagious Threat piece. If I had to guess, I would guess that Fear and Threat enhancement sets are probably the least-used of all enhancement sets. Threat powers are taken, but I think the disproportionate secondary market cost of D-Sync Provocation reveals how bad the options for Threat slotting actually are (Mocking Beratement is one of the few Uncommon sets I will choose over a Rare, every time). I suspect few people take Fears with the goal of slotting Fear sets (I've done it, but only to chase slightly more global Recharge).

A limit on what? EDIT: is there a better limit than "number of slots"?

I want to explain my "thumbs down": as shown by the damage scale (see the post by @Ston just above), removing %proc damage from low-damage-scale character ATs (Defenders, Controllers, 'pet-less' MMs) seriously hurts the ability of those classes from collecting XP on time scales commensurate with higher-damage-scale characters. The game is fundamentally geared towards doing DPS... that is how XP, Inf, and drops work! [*1] The game is more fun for Controllers (for example) because they don't have to take 2x as much time as a Blaster to clear a "defeat all" map, even at low difficulty settings. If %damage was removed/limited from those classes, the difference would be even more pronounced at larger spawn size settings. [*1] There is no circumstance I can imagine where it would make sense to use the inverse of the damage scales to dynamically alter per-AT how much XP/inf is awarded per defeat, so let's not be too quick to change %damage.

I'm not sure glassdoor reviews are going to sway me to install/use discord. Just sayin'

I have not delved deep into the Teleportation pool since the Homecoming revamp of travel powers. I try to take Combat Teleport on Melee/PBAoE characters, its just that I dislike (personal) Teleport as a travel power, and the rest of the powers strike me as very situational. I appreciate when teammates can pop us around! It can be a fun pool to experiment with. I really like the Presence pool, but the Provoke is a solid meh. It requires Accuracy slotting, and it's target cap is well below a x8 spawn size. The first three powers in the Presence pool all have limited utility IMO, but the last two are awesome powers that (with enough recharge) can pay off (again, for characters in close combat). I do not recommend taking Provoke as a means of trying to generate Threat, unless you plan to use the rest of the Presence pool. A player can generate threat (and have other useful effects) by using other pools. For example, Force of Will includes a ranged debuff, a ranged ST attack, a ranged cone attack, and a PBAoE knockdown.

I won't spoil who is responsible for the split, you will have to do The Mender Lazarus Task Force to discover that.

I'm smirking. I had a PUGmate on a TF mansplain to me a couple of "important" points about my use of Group Fly: Although it is possible to ignore the effects of Group Fly, I shouldn't use it because many players don't know about Null the Gull, or choose to not use it (like his toon did not) As soon as we were on a instanced map where it actually helped his "why should I take a travel power?" toon, he felt obligated to write "this is the ONE instance where Group Fly is a good thing." Meanwhile: while recruiting, before we started the TF, two other PUGmates went to Null to adjust their setting while the subtle points of teaming were explained to me. *eyeroll* I am often surprised when a teammate uses Group Fly, but my surprise never lasts more than 5 seconds. Anyone who has a character with a Flight power should recognize what is going on. I suppose if the character has a significant number of powers that require being "grounded" to use (e.g. Traps) and the player has literally never learned the flight control buttons that Group Fly could rise to the level of a peeve... but seriously!

I recall a couple of changes to AI behavior; I *think* both of them were applied prior to Issue 16. 1) There was a change made to prevent Devouring Earth Swarms from hugging Fire Aura characters until the Swarms sacrificed themselves and XP to the character. Is it possible that this piece of AI was later applied to more/all critters? 2) The second change was not so much in the AI, but the code was tweaked to prevent critters from speeding away from a player at Mach 2 if the critter was disoriented. Prior to that fix, it was obvious that there was something in the AI code that was prioritizing a disoriented enemy to move away from the player who has applied the stun. I have long wondered about the "desire to run" behavior that supersedes all else... it's been part of the game since launch (those Atlas Park purse snatchers). I think I was on a hardware-related break (i.e. "PC was broke, player was broke") from the game when Issue 16 dropped, and while I was playing when Fear replaced Afraid I don't specifically remember how those effects worked with critters.

Enemies with no Melee attacks are reluctant to move, and if the taunter is still with their (debuffed) range, they don't have to move.

FTR: I six-slot Taunt (with Mocking Beratement). I haven't noticed any issues at all with Taunt, Gauntlet, or Punchvoke. I tend to build to maximize ToHit, because if I want to build and keep aggro passive effects and an occasional Taunt isn't enough. My non-tanks can strip aggro from a tanker or brute that is only relying on an aura. Several of my characters go out of their way to do this, just because. There continues to be (since, forever) an AI issue when a critter decides to run, there is nothing short of an immobilize or hold that will stop it.

"Fly 'em if they can't take a Gull."

Like other attacks, it greatly benefits from slotting. It may not need much, certainly Accuracy... and if you begin to leverage it, Recharge and Stun duration. Stuns are a bit of an odd duck: by themselves they don't speed up collecting XP (and/or Inf), yet if used appropriately against an enemy that would otherwise do something to keep you from defeating it (Fake Nemesis, Paragon Protectors, Carnies, Tsoo Sorcerers etc.) it can "speed up" collection of XP (and/or Inf). It is possible to adjust playstyles such that a player would never see the benefits of Stun (e.g. the spawn sizes are so large that they can "wait around" for certain enemies to "come back"), or the spawn sizes are so small that DPS defeats enemies before Stun would be needed. I find Stuns to be oddly satisfying when stacking enough Magnitude on certain enemies, but I won't fault anyone for not using them.

I skipped the Hollows on my "every Blueside" contact; I think you need to start that before level 10. IIRC, I did not get offered Aaron Thiery as a contact (or I was given a choice but choose an alternate) so I did his arc through Ouroboros. You will know if you have all the "old school contacts" (for your level) if you complete a Safeguard mission and the police contact doesn't introduce you to anyone new. There are newer contacts that you simply walk up to to begin their arcs.

I don't think you did anything wrong; there are some contacts that will offer all the same missions as other contacts. In my recent run through this exact exercise, I got the "Rescue the Fortune Teller" from a completely different contact than the one you get if Ouroboros is used. Before leveling up, do a Safeguard mission as well. If you collect the exploration badges at every 5 levels it will save you some effort later. At low levels you only have to do 3 radio missions to get a Safeguard.

Level shifts: I will (almost) always run normal content at +1 after unlocking+slotting Alpha (and typically keep this for solo low level content); I (almost) never run solo at +4; I simply don't find the rewards to be worth it.... although if I am running Incarnate content (which I rarely do) I do turn up the difficulty to match Incarnate shifts, otherwise some content would be too boring, Spawn size: I'm almost always slotting sets as I level, so usually by level 40 I will turn up the spawn size to x3 or x4, depending on if I am getting bosses that count for badges and if I want faster XP. More than that and I find it is a bit of slog pre-incarnate. With a full kit and incarnates, I will happily run +1x8 (or +0x8) and do solo "defeat alls" to farm drops. The drop rates don't care as long as the enemies don't con gray. If playing with others: I am happy to turn up difficulty and spawn size, no matter the level content.

My stand-bye: "TODO: Write Dialogue"

I have a memory of what must have been in the first month of Live: My first character (Inv/EM Tanker) was on a Positron TF in which slowly every quit. I want to believe that the first left after an hour, but after 4 hours most everyone had had enough. In those days, I don't think you could START a TF without a minimum number of players... so I logged off for the night, and the next day I decided to try to finish it by my lonesome. And I did! It wasn't pleasant. Fast forward to 3+ years of Homecoming: On a lark, I will often take characters through that original arc... I'm shocked at how much easier it can be with a semi-kitted character.

Writing only for myself, and my personal feelings: I am not bothered, nor do I personally believe a line is crossed by applying the artistic tools to make a costume that looks like a well-known comic book character(*1), I definitely think that copying the names (even tangentially) is firmly in the realm of violation, combining the names and costumes is bad behavior. I also feel that copying costumes and powersets pushes the character over the line. I wouldn't be surprised if those get genericized when caught in public. (*1) For players that simply want to experiment with costumes, the facemaker(s) can let you have alternate body types, so with that done (AFAIK, only available in public zones) and all the extra costume slots you can be free to redesign costumes in the privacy of a SG base. I doubt anyone is digging through the many costume slots to discover that Dark/Dark Tanker "Freddy Whipperwill" has a Wonder Woman cosplay costume that he sometimes wears in his SG base. If your non-obvious infringing name gets caught in public (including standing outside of AE), don't be surprised when the hammer falls.

Another (negligble) change I'd like to see, but one that probably cannot be implemented: In COMBAT ATTRIBUTES I'd like to be able to monitor "Last ToHit ROLL", simply to be able to immediately see how cruel RNGesus is acting.

I think I'd like a small change where the CLUES from TIP MISSIONS don't vanish as soon as the EXIT button appears, that is: a player ought to have the chance to read them before the player exits the mission.

I want to add my confirmation: I started Ganymede, in his final mission I used Null the Gull to become a Rogue and completed the mission. I then started Scratch, and on his final mission turned Vigilante to complete the mission. I believe this is when I got the badge. I always entered that final Arachnos mission and defeated at least one enemy before switching, I don't know if this makes a difference. I wanted the map to be instanced before I switched. I then went to Ganymede to get the intro to DJ Zero, but I still had the Scratch arc in my mission list, so I changed to rogue to clear it out (otherwise he won't talk to a blue-sider). I then switched back to blue side (vig) but that was not necessary.

Thanks to the ice storm that has totally disrupted my ability to provide any details, I can't say much more than: This looks like a fun exercise! I wouldn't be quick to write off Infiltration. I have a character that is using it (plus a jet pack) as his only inter-zone travel power. It is slower than other options, but I like that I can slot it with a Kismet +ToHit (while leveling) in addition to Universal Travel and using it as a mule for Defense pieces. The Concealment pool also offers easy powers for LotG mules for Global Recharge that doesn't require a complete set. If you do a slow level, Infiltration (taken early) is a good place to add mules.

It's the radius of World of Confusion (8 feet?) that hasn't jived with my dominator builds. There have been generally a few different things getting in the way of my appreciating it: mobs in a spawn will get locked down such that they aren't positioned that an 8' PB radius gets all/most of them the duration is pretty short for a confuse I'm usually planning followup attacks with AoE (often cones) so the PBAoE aura works against this means of dealing damage AFAIK: it could stand to have Accuracy slotted, as well as Endurance reduction slotted... so single-slotting is probably best done with a Malaise's 50+5 piece (which seems like a weird choice, but hey if I want to make it work)... I suppose Dominators could be multi-slotting it for a potential Global Recharge, but I have to believe there are better powers to slot with better sets to get better recharge (i.e. damage sets, or holds) for better returns. I don't have an issue with squishies having (and always using!) Auras, and World of Confusion isn't the only squishy Aura that I have an issue with... my personal criticism is more like this: When I have a power pick of an aura that targets enemies, and that aura comes late in a build (now slightly less true of secondary T8s and T9s, but still true of Epic/Patrons), it had better not require a lot of slots to make "work" or it should force me to reconsider the power choices/slotting and playstyle for the build at levels before that Aura is available. I want to disclose that I am a tremendous fan of Confuses (Especially AoE, but also Single-Target with %Contagious Confusion), so the IMO mediocre World of Confusion simply doesn't measure up in my eyes.

Everyone who has ever taken World of Confusion: "What in the world was I thinking when I took this power? I must have been confused!"