Latex

Well like everything in life not everyone is the same, some 'cliques' have extended a hook to some of my chars it does happen. Everyone has their own clique too, the friend groups you do stuff with and if you don't theres likely plenty of people like you who are looking for friends. I'm in a similar boat to chase, I don't play often enough to properly cement in some group-RP (but I have been invited to a few!), more often than not it's the individuals I interact with. If I RP in Pocket D I usually approach solo peeps, not groups, it's just easier to get involved.

Something completely off the wall but a popular trope would be like a slime powerset Can absorb an alpha strike and convert all the damage dealt to you to your enemies like a reflect. Absorb all the bullets/powers and springboard them back at the enemy, classic A power where you turn to a puddle of goop and an aoe effect that forces the enemies to be skidding around like the ice in the frostfire mission Superjump, but if you hit an obstacle or object you bounce off it like a golfball, this ability deals damage in a 10ft aoe every time it bounces. Jump at a ceiling in an office map and watch the show

4,400 concurrent players is actually an insane number This is Guild Wars 2; https://steamcharts.com/app/1284210 And SWTOR; https://steamcharts.com/app/1286830 It's Steam only so take it with a grain of salt seems both these MMO's have launchers off-Steam, it's insane to even come close to that number of concurrent players.

It's pretty difficult to be bad at City of Heroes you have to go out of your way to be truly bad, there isn't a measurement of good or bad players other than team sentiment (thus me posting in a topic called Bad PUG Experiences) and whilst at higher levels when people are setted out and enhanced the 1 person of a 7 person group could carry fairly easily (in standard +4/8 content), things are very different for the actual endgame content such as hardmodes and itrials. I think the assumption "If you're so bad at the game that you can't progress without being surrounded by seven living gods, the problem isn't the petless mastermind, it's you." here is outright the wrong way to play social MMO's, if everyone on the team has this attitude you might struggle and cause someone to post on the forums about bad PUG experiences. What happens when there isn't an overbuilt carry and everyone on the team thinks someone else is going to carry them? Bad PUG happens.

On Petless MM's... If I play League of Legends and one of my teammates doesn't buy items I can report them and they'll literally get their account suspended for griefing/trolling the game. They're not playing the game as intended and ruining the experience for everyone else. If you play Mercy in Overwatch as the only team healer and you never use heals, you'll probably end up with a game suspension after a while too (Blizz is generally more lenient on what is and what isn't trolling) but 'refusing to play your assigned role' is a punishable offence in most team-based games. If you're playing a Petless MM and joining PUG's you're doing the same thing and while it's not a competitive game (e.g. PVP) you're degrading the experience for the rest of your team, basically trolling. If you do it solo more power to you, but joining groups as a petless MM is just cringe.

Breaking into the established clique of Roleplayers is the final boss of Roleplay. If the group isn't interested in you as a player or character (and you will usually be judged by both from my experience) there is absolutely nothing you can do to get RP interest. Your bio could be immaculate with countless hooks, your character could be infinitely interesting with twists and turns that appeal to a broad range of RP styles, it doesn't really matter in general if you're using the proverbial 'RP Crowbar' to get in on something you're not part of. On a private server for a niche MMO it's even more rooted, cliques are rife, some people play the game for the clique they're in; I don't blame them, we all have our cliques (aka, people we're familiar with and skew our preference to RPing with) however... I think it's on the circle/group/clique itself to extend their hooks to anyone that expresses even the faintest bit of interest in what they're doing, more than the individual looking to involve. The tips here are great, but a lot of these circles have made up their minds before you have even approached them.

Was it Posi 1 or Posi 2 where you have to fight your clones? I remember wiping on that like 5 times, group was ready to give in. I said to all of them to just use 4 purple/Luck inspirations, downed it in 1 go. If you make a pug make sure people know the power of Luck

If you think PUGS are bad in COH you should try some other MMO's, because it's a whole lot worse than here. This game is pick-up and play and the rate of failure (and punishment for a wipe) is almost non-existent. There are no gear requirements for most PUG's other than Hardmode content and maybe itrials. Loot is personal (if we count recipes), it doesn't exist as a point of contention. I can't remember the last time people asked for experience in clearing a mission, itrial or encounter of any type. There is a meta of character build but 99.9% of people don't care. Your character/powerset choice won't be declined the vast majority of the time if they're considered underpowered/offmeta In normal mission pugs one well built character can hard-carry 7 others fairly easily. Reverse all of these points and you get the typical MMO, City of Heroes is extremely chill and casual by comparison, it's a breath of fresh air. There's no real feeling of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) that a lot of MMO games have inbuilt, I can play COH when I want, how I want, how often I want, and not feel like I'm behind, undergeared, underlevelled, offmeta, etc.

Fairly sure the majority of lore is in the 'COH Bible' might find what you're looking for there though it's only concurrent to 2004 iirc. Written by Sean Fish aka Manticore one of the original Developers, for everything else I've found the wiki works well. CoHBible-1.pdf

My favourite character is my Blaster and I've never quite understood the focus on being immune to CC, or 'Status Resist' it's a trap to build for imo, build for +DEF. Or if you really want to risk it, proc-build for more damage, though I personally like clearing entire mob packs solo, so I build +DEF. You have https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Defiance for one which somewhat mitigates the punishment for being CC'd. If you have a very strong desire to not get CC'd go /Martial. To avoid 95% of CC's go with a Hover Blaster with Ranged positional DEF capped (45%) though if you want to do Hardmode content you're going to need more than 45% Ranged Defence. Playing in teams goes without saying really, you're a Mage from other MMO's in essence, a glass cannon (until you have a thought-out IO Set build). Carry a few Break-Free inspirations for the rare chance you do get CC'd. Stack all of this up and you won't really worry about being CC'd.

City of... is sort of my backdrop for Roleplay. I play pretty infrequently but enjoy to Roleplay and PVE when I do. Roleplay here usually lacks the teeth I'm used to. Teeth being character stakes such as permadeath being on the cards (roleplayers roleplay very differently when there is something to lose, take my word for it). There's usually a lack of gravitas for a lot of themes in COH too. Lacking teeth isn't bad it's just different. I love COH for it's fairly casual log in, RP a few hours, log off style, from missions with quick-quips to a Pocket D hookup, or something more. The Roleplay here is great and I'd never change it.

After playing some on the Beta Server I decided to swap; The last Superior Blistering Cold for a Force Feedback Removed the Snipe for Water Spout with a FF, -RES procs and Knockback to Knockdown (Could work really nice?) Removed Force Feedback from Axe Cyclone and put in -RES Added one slot to Inexhaustible and put Panacea proc in it, build seems to have some end issues if cooldowns aren't up. Was soloing 4/8 Council with some struggles (new Council mobs are quite a challenge now!)

I have a character I love Roleplaying but I really dislike her build, I'm hoping to fit her story into something else, and that something else is Battle Axe alongside Bio Armor. I'm not quite sure but this build looks like it can pump with Crit + Buildup making almost every attack hit for over 1,000 damage. I found it surprisingly difficult to cap (45%) DEF so I leant more into having Parasitic Aura become absurdly overpowered with 10 targets totalling a Regen rate of 136HP/s. Placed procs into Axe Cyclone in an attempt to boost it's damage substantially, however, I'm not sure whether to put -RES proc in it or +Rech (Force Feedback), from my knowledge there's nowhere else I can put the -RES proc while maintaining high DEF, it's been a tricky build but I'm learning. With the goal in mind of keeping DEF and DMG high are there any ways I could improve on this build? Would Critical Strikes IO fit better elsewhere? Currently in Swoop. Can I squeeze more DEF out of the build to cover the Ranged DEF positional weakness? Are power choices good, is there anything skippable or something I've missed? Got Axed - Scrapper (Battle Axe - Bio Armor).mbd

One of the major problems with Private Servers is cliques and Homecoming is no exception especially if you know the long history of COH and private servers. The influx of new players feels like it's smashed down some invisible walls, there's a lot of veteran players welcoming to them, and there's a lot of veteran players who've retracted into their shells that little bit more. When a popular Youtuber plays here a little (for example maybe JoshStrifeHayes on the 'Worst MMO Ever' series) the population will explode far more than the current and I fully welcome it, the more players and new faces the better.

I like the choice of having it macro'd. Burst of Speed for Blasters is much like Combat Teleport and I have it set up to go off where my cursor is on a keypress, teleport to target would mean I miss out on a ton of AOE damage.

I've always wondered if -RES is multiplicative, because I seem to get more value out of it over +DMG For example say my Damage is at 400% from a /Kin boost, the target has -50% RES applied, would I do 600% Damage? Or would I do 450%?

Hi! I'd love it if the Blaster /Martial Arts power 'Burst of Speed' could have the same options as Combat Teleport for power customisation as it functions in a very similar way.

Been a little while, I've began to learn how to build better characters, appreciate all the help but I've scoped in on the character concept much more. Avoided Status protection due to Acrobatics, Superior Defiant Barrage, Inner Will and high ranged DEF, I usually play Corruptors who are much easier to build because they Hover, very very rarely do I get knocked back, held, slept, or otherwise despite not having things like Inner Will on them. + Avoided Sorcery themed Powers and Flight + 'Science Speedster' theme and feel + Leant toward making the character Tanky(ish) + Balanced choice of Ranged and Melee - Extremely low +Rech - Not Melee or AOE DEF Softcapped - It's Sonic, mods needed to make the SFX tolerable - Lack of Procs - Expensive - AOE Attacks that aren't S/L are going to obliterate you Am I missing something? Any tricks to fill the gaps in melee defense, or gain more +Rech while retaining at least Ranged DEF softcap? Also, not sure on whether to go Agility Core Paragon or Musculature. Blapper (Sonic Attack - Martial Combat.1.3).mbd

Also, tried to make a Dark/Cold, Dark seems a little weak damage wise? Dark.Cold.mbd

Tried to tweak the initial Fire/Kin build into Water/Kin, not sure if I'm doing this right, thoughts on the build? I've not much clue what powers in Water are awful and which are good. Though using Whirlpool as a mini-Sleet (2 -RES Procs) seemed pretty neat. Water.Kin.mbd

City of Heroes is a game of buffs and debuffs the most OP team combo's will bring a mix of both. Fire/Kin Corruptor Ice/Cold Corruptor Sonic/Sonic Defender Fire/Kin Combo brings the best teamwide +DMG in the game and can pump more than a Blaster while supporting team, I love mine, it's a true ranged class unlike Blaster which is a combo melee and ranged without anywhere near the utility and support. Ice/Cold strikes a nice balance, it has no flaws in what it brings. The best shields in the game +DEF, some very powerful -RES, insane -Regen for AV's, -DEF debuffs, it has everything except /Kins +DMG. Sonic/Sonic is all about -RES thus the Defender Choice, you're not there to pump, more to provide one of the most sought after debuffs in the game. -RES cap with +DMG cap from /Kin is going to melt anything in the entire game. If you want to Tank exclusively? My Invul/SS tank is Invincible, I get purposefully reckless on that character to try and die and still don't. The only threat seems to be stuff that completely negates DEF and RES and even then the absolutely gigantic HP pool with Dull Pain? It's not happening!

There's a range of endgame content and I don't think +4/8 is it, the true test of meta-builds is the 4 star content. If your team comp is bad you'll probably struggle, if your powerset choices are on the weaker side you'll struggle or get carried. For me, COH is one of the best RP platforms out there. But I also like to play the game, I don't really farm so working on a build and getting INF while playing the game works better for me. To keep to your point, City of Heroes is a weird MMO. I know a lot of the game (though still useless familiarity with sets and making an actual build), this is a game of Buffs and Debuffs, they're the premier powers, which is why having a /Kin, or a /Cold Corruptor on your team will completely change the entire tempo of the team because they arguably do the Buff and Debuff thing better than most other Archetypes -- for me they're also the true 'Ranged Damage' class, Blasters have to go into Melee to make full use of all of their damage, my Fire/Kin Corr pumps out far more damage than any Blaster I know, while being at range (other than to Fulcrum Shift). The thing is for any difficult content other classes, say an EM/Bio Stalker, will capitalise on the moments where all that AOE wasn't good enough, and all those Buffs and Debuffs on you and the harder foes make you really shine. If you truly want challenge then the 4 Star TF's are for you, the average +4/8 farm is going to be a stomp most of the time. Things like niche Badges from Incarnate Trials might be something to aim for too.

I've struggled with the bio limit too, but I think it's fine as it is. Reason being is that it forces the writer to keep things concise, straightforward and to the point, the rest of the key information can be articulated in Roleplay or through some quick quips. For an example of how it can get out of hand look at World of Warcraft's Total RP addon where you can write as much as you want about your OC and it's often nightmarish unless people have written things in a concise and easily digestible manner. Links in Bios are copy-pasteable, if you really want to go ham on exploring limitless character bios with art, pictures, fully fleshed out backstory and all the rest you could link to a googledoc in your character bio, and continue to keep things concise in-game, I usually do this myself just to remind myself about the intricacy's of the characters I'm roleplaying, theres a ton of free googledoc templates to make it look super good too.

Everlasting

Got some good ideas from this, thanks a lot Thrax