cranebump

Only a week? Lucky you.:-)

Radios do grant contacts though, if you’re unlocking story arcs.

Yeah, seemsh the Shadow Shart kinda shucks ballsh doeshn’t it?

Usually, zero. I've probably used a grand total of 5 respecs for all the characters I have, since joining HC. My style of play doesn't really necessitate it (casual player: usually on default settings when I solo; tend to drop characters post level 30). Now, if I were constantly incarnating, or trying to be a godlike solo artist, I certainly might look into it.

Obligatory toon pic: Chillin' at the base after a long FF run... (And correction: This version of Acro is a Brute--no wonder he seems to do more damage):-)

Toured the base briefly earlier. Flavor! Cool conceptually and interesting to navigate. I have no idea you could put together something like that. Certainly fits with the basic SG idea and theme. Acrobattle (version 2) joined up, then ran with a team that was running Frostfire via Ouro. Team of 3, set on +2 (or maybe it was +3). Was like running a farm. Got to 18 by the time it ended. Hoping to hit the magic 30s before too long. Thanks for the feedback on baddies and mishes. My current Leviathan arc features come 5th Col, and some customs. I might use that as inspiration for a custom nemesis for the Specials. I LOVE the idea that they're "off the grid," ethically gray. Wide range of things we can explore there. It'll be a bit before I have something concrete, but will be doing some initial scripting this week. On that: I'll work on developing within the 30s range (with cap at the SG max). Gonna do some lore review to tie the Specials in to the game world in a significant (and logical) way. Thanks again. This is all cool stuff.

Thanks much, kemosabe

Hey @Grindingsucks, sent you a message asking for invite for Acrobattle (a reboot of my main from Excelsior; currently a L10 Staff/SR scrapper).

Peachy.:-) I've been scripting arcs under the assumption they're being run solo, so going at it from a team perspective will be great fun. On that, what specific elements would you like to see? Is there a specific tone you're looking for? Do you have any special nemeses in mind for the Specials? Is there a particular type of baddie you'd like to see? Any zones you want the adventures to focus on (I write a lot of stuff with King's Row in mind; I'm assuming the Specials aren't tied to a certain zone, but if they were, I could focus on that). I'll work on getting some additional slots, then mull over some ideas. When I get something finished, I'll label it with the "Comic/Issue #" upon publish.:-)

Doooooooooo it........:-)

I'm definitely down to join the party here. Also: I do SFMA AE content, focusing primarily on lower levels (which my latest arc firmly pegged at 30-35). I'd be happy to script some arcs specific to these levels/this group, if this were desired. If you want to preview what I can do, just do an AE search using cranebump in the search string.

Late to the party, but I would be interested. Not entirely sure about #4. Does that mean we cannot solo, then come back and help someone run the same story arc?

I feel like the archetype name sorta sums up what they do (though the villain tags might require slightly more explanation). If you're a first time player coming in, the Hero AT functions seem easily recognizable by name at a glance (Tank, Blaster, Controller, Defender, Scrapper). The Villain ATs are less easy to immediately pin down without a bit of quick study: Brute, Corruptor, Dominator, Stalker (they aren't straight analogues of the Hero ATs). Mastermind, a Hero/Vill AT, is easily grokked at first sight (pets). Kheldians and Arachnos AT's are their own thing, altogether. You have to consult the verbiage/lore on the ATs (though, back in the day, once you played enough Blue content, you were pretty familiar with the Arachnos types well before you unlocked them). Even so, you can't depend on the basic label completely. I have an AR/TA Blaster who can run somewhat like a Defender, thanks to acc debuffs, slows, immobs, stuns and KDs (all his KBs are proc'ed to KD). He'll never out-defend a Defender (no teammate buffs), but he can fill in to an extent on most teams, even when facing off against foes with high resistance to lethal/smashing. Still, he's very much a "ranged damage dealer," first and foremost. So, the name covers the main thing he can do. It's not perfect, but it fits. The rest of the labels do, as well, once you school yourself a bit. I don't think it's too much to ask a new player to educate themselves on what's there, rather than haggling over how to more accurately define a general label, for a general spectrum of playstyles, in order to mitigate what can only be a small, and rather temporary amount of initial ignorance.

Not nearly as hard to find when I'm wearing the headphones. But I'm seldom wearing the headphones when I play CoH.

+1 million (though I have to say, I've never experienced otherwise--if I have, I can't recall it).

I dunno. If I request the star, then run something other than what the original leader proposed, it feels like it has become my team (and I have therefore "stolen" it). I wouldn't call a TF where the star was passed stolen because everyone knows what the team intends to do. These observations beg these questions: (1) Why would I bother to ask for the star on someone else's story arc? I mean, I show up, then say, "Hey, gimme the star," then run what I want? That's just major jackassery. (2) Why would anyone pass off the star on anything other than a TF?* If I'm just running a story contact team, and I pass the star off, I assume the leader is going to pick the mishes from then on, which might include mine, theirs, or someone else's (on that, I think the tacit protocol there is usually for the team leader to ask the team member if they mind if/want the team to run their arcs). Has anyone here ever brought a pickup group together, then went, "Okay, what should we do?" I ask because I've never specifically seen that, outside a group of friends/SG mates forming up spontaneously. *Or other related tasks, like zone events, bank mishes, and so on.

Well, as far as typos go, the comma after the ampersand needs to go, unless replaced with the word "and" (before which you may, or may not, want to add the Oxford comma).:-) If I get a chance this weekend, I will look at it. Busy weekend, unfortunately, so I may not have any time until next week. Thanks for sharing your work!

I think that’s just an emote?

I no longer bother forming TFs these days. First, someone's always doing it, anyway, so I don't have to. When I do run with these teams, I find the current SOP=bumrushing to the end of everything (to include not waiting for others to even get to the mish door). It's seldom fun (though, to be fair, when you've run the same TFs a thousand times, it's hard to make it super fun again). So, maybe rush-rush get-it-over-with really is the best recourse. Still, I can't tell you how many TFs (and a few mission teams) I've jumped onto the last few months where it seems like 2 people want the rest of the party to stand there and shine spots & strobes on them. During one such run (Yin), I literally said aloud [well, my cat was there, so I guess he counts], "Why am I even here?" Then I remembered: "It's a TF. They all get bumrushed. You're here because you need 17 more merits to get the last enhancement in Blaster archetype set." Get over it.* In any case, having to rewrite the current SOP for TFs isn't something I want, or need, to do. It is what it is. I just hope new players don't feel completely left behind when the party tank-types (not always actual tanks these days) keep b-slapping mobs, then leaving a good portion of them for others to mop up, so they can go b-slap another mob.** Outside the TF's [which is where most of my current teaming is these days--I spend a lot of time AE scripting otherwise], I've run only a handful of mish groups since joining HC. Part of my reluctance is because I (perhaps wrongly) anticipate that the current TF mentality may be pervasive (and I don't want to herd impatient kittens). But the real reason is that teaming just isn't the same as it was before the "reboot." In these days of (relatively) easy power acquisition, it just doesn't feel like we all need each other as much as we used to. That was an aspect to teaming that I enjoyed the most (well, behind good team banter, which you can still get on any team, thankfully). I would imagine this aspect could be replicated simply by forming more lowbie teams. However, I recall the last 3 times I advertised for the first KR bank mish. Crickets. No reason to run it, I guess, when you can explore AP, exchange merits for enhancers, sell the enhancers, then buy a cheap jet pack, if you want one. When I advertised for Frostfire, though, no problem. So, there are ways to get what I'd personally like to see on a team I would run. I probably need to practice that patience I preach about about when I'm team forming. Hope this doesn't sound like a ton of complaining. I realize any issues with team style are simple fixes. Run my own teams. But I did want to address the issue of why someone who didn't formerly mind the star now more or less shuns it. As with all who do, it is really our own issues & expectations more than anything else. The game elements themselves are merely clay. *I actually had a fairly useful character, and actually did find a moment to shine during the end mish, when we got multi-mobbed (and some -Accs, Slows and multiple KD AoE's helped slow the tide). **Ever feel like you're playing free safety? Play a blaster tagging along with someone who does that. Every. Single. Mission. Every. Single. Mob.

Don’t think so. But, yeah, it’d be nice to exclude farms when lf SFMA mishes. Of course, I can type SFMA, but some of those marked that are thinly-disguised farms.

Can I quote you on that?:-) Yeah, I should ask about this, I guess. Speaking of that mega-arc, it did leave open the possibility (still) of "fissures," which would've justified various types of one shots, special events, etc.). That was one of the reasons I went that way. You can have displaced Vikings, for one thing.:-)

I wish. It was mainly because it always took a while to get them. And I felt nagging would have the opposite effect. That said, I think I can do Mobius in at least 10 fewer missions.:-) what I need is to get all the slots moved to one account. So I’d be asking for 9 slots (I think), plus extras for current stuff (I’d like at least 6 more). Feel like a lot to ask for someone who’s never won an award or anything.

This, no question.

I think you can insert "X" for "evolving world" and have some truth to this statement (because what the playerbase wants is not even close to uniform). Everything you recommended is in line with what I'm also saying ("change the game world"). I expect that's the route we’ll see. I'm just saying the Devs shouldn't be afraid of taking a risk for the health of the game, that's all. For the record, I'm good with the game as is, because I can tailor most of the experience to my own tastes. Just adding my opinion, is all.

Again, just my 2 cents, but, if it’s going to be a game changer, then it should actually change the game world. This would mean eliminating certain factions and developing new ones (or evolved versions of what we already have). I’d say change the game on the player end, but the trend has been to make things easier and easier for players (travel, Insp access, the marketplace, new/better power sets, etc.). So an evolving world seems the next logical thing.