Captain Fabulous

How does one test a support character when there aren't a sufficient number of people to form a large team and who are willing to run extended missions with you? Unless you only want to assess solo performance. While I'm sure some people do this, test server population numbers indicate this is not likely the norm. Either way I don't think it's something most people are going (or should have) to do before making a new character.

OK, now that I've stopped cackling, I will add this: there was a discussion thread not that long ago with what IMHO were a number of ways that Regen could be improved without turning it into Willpower. I think it can be done, but the devs need to have the willpower to do so.

I may have just cackled. 😂

I gotta agree, MMs seem to spend all of their time debuffing critters or buffing/healing pets to keep them alive because they're just really squishy. The level shift only makes it that much worse. And while like all ATs IO sets help immensely, that shouldn't be the baseline that's necessary for an enjoyable play experience. I want to enjoy playing my MMs but find it doesn't take long before I'm over it.

Just copy the entire Homecoming folder to a backup device. That way it's all there.

Using the test server assumes you believe that a character may not be fun to play before you actually play it. This simply does not happen in most cases. People don't seek out playing sub-par sets. It's something you discover AFTER you've already invested time and energy. It's a nonsense solution. As usual you make a myriad of assumptions and engage in multiple fallacious argument to prove a point which simply does not exist. Do me a favor. NEVER respond to anything I post. Ever. I will no longer engage you. It's a waste of my time. Consider yourself ignored. I never said it was a need. All I said is that I didn't understand why people were against it because none of the options offered were a viable fix for the problem presented. It's like arguing we shouldn't have respecs of any kind. I mean, with 1000 slots you can just remake a character from scratch if you have a build you don't like, right? Or hop on the test server and make them there to ensure you get it right before making them on live. So can I assume then you're in favor of removing respecs altogether? Cause it sounds like you are. I mean, we don't really "need" them, do we? Just make a new character and powerlevel them to 50 with the build you want. Problem solved. 👍

The available options are insufficient. If they weren't there would be no need to ask for one that is.

The already-posted comments are all of the same theme, "just make a new character", which isn't always an ideal solution. I have yet to see anyone present a cogent reason as to why it would be a straight up bad idea, in that it would have some kind of drastic negative impact on the game. I don't recall the original devs ever saying it wasn't possible. What I do remember them saying is it wasn't something they were interested in doing because they had a vested financial interest in people making new characters and playing them. This is no longer the case. You don't. But IMO if this becomes an option it shouldn't be limited to a one time deal, and as such one could theoretically do it as many times as you like, provided you have the resources to obtain the necessary token to do so.

I don't really understand the hate for this idea. It's simply a matter of convenience and time-saving. Not every character is powerleveled to 50, and not everyone wants to do that. If I've invested a decent amount of time and energy playing a character to the late 30s or early 40s and realize they're just not that fun to play (and I have one of those right now), the ability to swap out a powerset saves me a lot of time and energy in remaking, swapping gear, and replaying back to the same level.

I'm leaning in this direction myself. While the XP on the 54 team is great the play experience on a relative lowbie is sub-par. And it's very easy to run into the issue described in this thread.

Yep, already said so.

I stated my opinion and outlined my reasoning in detail. If you don't like it you can feel free to disagree. Slinging passive-aggressive insults like a child is unnecessary. If "how others play the game" has a negative impact on their teammates I'm gonna call it out. That's how I roll. The scenarios I described are not rhetorical or straw men, as I often experience them in-game. If you were insulted by a statement I made that was not directed at you personally, then I obviously held up a mirror and you didn't like the reflection you saw. That's a you problem, not a me problem. I also clarified I was only speaking of Tanks that were running ahead and leaving squishies behind to die. If you don't EVER do that, then what I said doesn't apply to you, so you have absolutely no reason to be offended. Sorry, but I'm going to continue to speak out about bad in-game behavior when I see it, and you are completely free to ignore me when I do.

If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise frak off. I'm not in the mood for anyone's passive-aggressive bullshit.

Nope. Also wasn't teaming with Captain Ad Hominem.

It would decimate door-sitting. Whether that's a good or bad thing is an entire discussion of its own.

Tanks that run in and aggro the entire room, immediately run to the next room after the Blaster nuke, and expects everyone else to finish off what's left definitely fall into both these categories.

This goes back to what I said, that you play differently based upon the team composition. If there is no danger of people being wiped out by stray critters then sure, run ahead. But if not, then you need to stick around and help cleanup to ensure no one dies.

But that's the whole point of a Tank. They have increased HPs and armors so that they can withstand attacks from bosses that would easily kill ATs with far fewer HPs and no protection. You don't need to be ub3rl33t to help your teammates not die -- just do your job and distract them while everyone else pummels them. Blasters, Controllers, and Dominators (and some Corruptors too) are well-known for their ability to peel critters off Tanks. Tsoo, Malta, and Sky Raiders teleport all around. Freaks rez themselves. CoT ghosts will disappear, run away, and come back. Council wolves move VERY fast. A poorly-aligned knockback can push a critter(s) out of a Tank's aggro range. A targeting error can accidentally aggro a second mob. And many missions have ambush spawns that come from behind. There are plenty of reasons why a Tank can lose aggro on one or more critters that are going to bear down and squash the back line. The Tank should be there to protect them, not running off to the next spawn. Now if the back line is strong enough to deal with strays then that's a different story. But I've been on too many teams where this was not the case and people were unnecessarily dying because the Tank was hell bent on getting to the end of mission as quickly as possible instead of doing his job.

It depends upon what you're playing and who you're playing with. Obviously most of the game's content is going to be trivialized for a team of vet 100+ with full IO gear. But when playing level 30 content on a PUG with a common IO or SO build? Not so much. There's an entire game under level 50 being played by non-godly characters that aren't zerging thru content at +4/x8, where you have to work as a team if you don't want to get wiped. A huge part of the fun of this game is adapting to team composition and figuring out how to do your part to make it successful. Characters can be played in different ways depending upon what's most beneficial to the team, and this is the thing that keeps them feeling fresh and fun to play. At least to me. 🤷‍♀️

Hard disagree. The tank's job is to hold aggro and protect the team, not run off and leave stragglers behind because he needs to be the star who has to prove how ub3rl33t he is. When you're playing normal content on a PUG you get all different kinds of ATs, builds, and levels on your team. Do not assume the rest of your team isn't going to get curbstomped by stray bosses you were too lazy or disinterested to go back and deal with. Also, why would you want to run into the next room/spawn if half the team isn't ready because they're dealing with the stragglers you left behind? That's not how a coordinated team works. That's how a tank who thinks they're special and doesn't need the rest of the team works. I've been on a number of teams I've had to leave because the tanks refused to mop up before running ahead and the squishes kept dying because of it. It's not cool. And it's not fun.

FWIW I really loathe tank-types that run off to the next group leaving critters behind to attack the squishies on the back line.

There is currently another thread about this in Help & Support

To the best of my knowledge the game's textures are just 2D bitmaps that the game wraps around 3D models. So upgrading to higher-resolutions versions requires no 3D modeling. It's also fairly easy to extract the current textures from the PIGG files, change them to whatever you wish, and then place them in the override folder for the game to use. Tho you're the only one that will see the changes. The difficult part is figuring out the names of the textures you're looking for.

Pet pathing problems have already been extensively documented.

Depends what I'm doing. If it's something new or something I want to speed thru I'll keep the map open on the right side of the screen. Or if I'm looking for badges/plaques.