Llewellyn Blackwell

Well I did once have a big biker looking furry in the D trash talk my guy for wearing a black dress shirt and black slacks, like I guess he didnt like I was chatting it up with a cute fox girl at the time and just was trying to start trouble to be disruptive, but that is literally the only time I can think of I had the appearance of any of my toons trash talked. More often then not I get compliments, not like CC winning levels, but for example my PB skylord is RPed as being part of Vanguard, so he has several outfits with a t shirt or tank top in vanguard colors with the logo on the short, and we are talking literally that simple, t shirt, pants/jeans black/purple/grey color schemes and the vanguard logo and that somehow gets me a complimentary tell or two when I am afking at atlas almost every time I do it. Or my main llew who generally gets compared to either as in my display pic Paul Rudd, or John Wick, usually in a positive tone.

Uhm you know that is in no way considered the soul theory among the anthropological and social anthropological communities right? In fact I tend to lean towards the views and theories that humans are as atypical as we are in the world because we dont follow the same social behaviors we see in animals closely akin to us. This is actually somewhat supported just by our physical form. The way male and female stand, and expose aspects of ourselves when nude, are very very different in form and function compared with every single primate we know of, and now days when the old term "missing link " gets used, that is actually what they are talking about mainly, the mysterious and very difficult to explain transition from male primates that keep hunched over to help protect their private bits, and human females by walking upright are well obviously far less exposed and accessible for mating purposes when compared to well how female chimps, baboons, etc are when in heat basically flashing a come and get it sign for potential mates. It has lead to no few theories( as in actual science rated theory) that what we think of as unique human traits like language, complex society, and possibly many other things we tend to think of as part of the human animals soul domain, may well be the tools proto humanoid primates are the first developers of, and it was that which lead to our evolution into this strange animal so unlike all others on our world in form and function. In the fields that study human education, and development, no few suggest that those who tend to gather up and follow others are simply a product of poor education. That the more someone knows, and is empowered by that knowledge, the less likely they are to follow someone who shows less ability and knowledge. We can actually see this kind of example of social behavior in all sorts of childrens groups like the boy scouts. I myself recall as a wee lad in such a group, that because of my family being very active campers and outdoorsfolk I was the kind of 5 year old parents trusted to carry a proper fixed blade bush knife( practically a short sword when your a wee lad) and waterproof matches when we went camping just in case. So naturally as someone very familiar with camping etc, when my scout group went on its first camping group, I instead of sitting around watching and listening to the scout leader went off and found a good spot I cleared of stones etc, laid down a light plastic tarp then set up my small tent , and then while still being basically on my own because the scout leader never noticed I had gone off on my own, I then built a small camp fire a few feet from my tent by first digging a small pit using my knife as my war vet father had taught me when I was like 3 or 4, pulled out my home made tinder kit my mom a girl scout from the state of washington had taught me to make using simple cotton balls and vaseline, to get even the damp kindling I had gathered to stay burning long enough to dry out and then kept feeding small bits to. I actually ended up being kicked out of the scouts for all this, because I wasnt being a good little scout following the scout leader. I learned then at that young age, that those who see themselves as leaders due to false authority hate and cast out even children who wont fall into line for them. Lucky for me I had only joined them to hang out with my best friend who was in them, and not because it was anything close to my only outdoors outlet. Hell where I lived in Oregon growing up, my back yard was a literal forest with the odd bear and wolf pack calling them home, and the only rule my folks had for me going out alone was to wear a bright orange hoody, and carry a whistle around my neck on a string to blow in response to my folks whistle to signal I heard and was heading home. Its likely why I really am blown away and baffled by how incapable so many children at that age seem to me. I tend to gravitate towards a very eastern view of children, which is that by the age of 8 or so, they should basically be mini adults when it comes to looking after themselves.

I am actually surprised so many in here seem to think the community so friendly. I mean have you seen the kind of vitriol that gets directed at users of KB power sets? I mean hell when I am on my PB or my energy blaster, I can literally be standing around semi afk adn get random tells saying I should delete those toons and never use any KB sets unless I want to only solo and end up on everyones ignore list. Like seriously I get random tells from the anti kb faction in game like that literally while not actively playing or even being familiar with the names of the toons /global rando PMing me. Ive heard some similar things from MM friends who say they frequently get told things like just quit the game if you need the game to play itself while you watch, and other such trash talk simply for playing a minion using class.

As far as forum behavior goes, my pov on toxic and negative behavior vs just being a cold shoulder who wields words like a bam bam club seem quite at odds with no few. For example I think the frequent off topic derailing and use of obnoxious visuals like gifs are far more toxic then someone telling another they seem unable to have other then terrible ideas based on emotion and personal bias. Or asking folks to not include or use RL aspects of themselves in conversations as a way to smokescreen or then point to and say hey your just attacking me personally( well dont post personal things if you dont want them subjected to discussion) is to my mind just asking someone to keep things business like, but seem to be treated as being hateful. Like hey the fact is unless its in the off topic section I dont want to hear about peoples personal drama, health issues, and whatever else may be going on unless its actually somehow relevant, even if its just by way of saying "Hey sorry if I have been acting like a cuck, but this *insert personal drama* has been going on and had me on edge emotionally." In game I actually do see a fair bit of clique behavior, and the control some too large SGs/coalitions can exert over game spaces. A few recent examples spring to mind. Maybe a week ago or a bit more I joined an shard TF, Faathims, Was on my one man army PB who solo's +4 x8 against most factions reliably. He is also specced to offer modest healing and support, even running the barrier that raises 2 at a time. The leader of the team and his sg mate from one of the more well known SGs with members that frequently lead Raids and host CCs were being pretty laid back, but there was one problem player who kept rushing off and getting killed, causing the team to pull in 2 directions, and in general rather then actually speed up our clear speed was causing it to really slow down. Anyways when we near the last mish the sg mate of the leader DCs and misses the team transport, so the rest of us are waiting outside the mish entrance. Then the stalker go4es in, a few others follow as has been happening time and time again. I step in because my spidey sense is tingling, and sure enough kill crazy stalker has lead all but myself, the star, and his sg mate into a battle, gotten 2 of them incapped, and the AVs health is dropping steadily, steadily enough I yell in team chat for them to slow the fuck downa dn wait for our late arrival to get in mish so they dont miss the fun. And yell to the SG leader for he and his sg mate to get inside asap. They do, but only barely, not really getting to see the AV at all, and the stalker got quite rude and dismissive of the complaints about them not waiting for the team. Now I know this SG is big enough, that the black listing this stalker got is likely more substantial to limiting their future teaming options then you might think, and I am friends with more then a few members of this SG/coalition that I dont think ill of it in general, but then lets take an alternate example that involves the same SG a couple months back I log on one early morn still sipping at me first cuppa, and see an ITF has just started adverting and figure hm sure sounds like a good morning wake up run. I end up being like number 7 of 8, and the only one so far not in the SG, I think ok kind of odd for a 6 man sg team to pug out the last 2 spots, as ime that always leads to a feeling of our team +2 to be kind of ignored while the rest do all their talking in sg/coalition. Anyways the 8th spot fills, a nice vidow who is abit of a odd duck socially but always a real try to help those in need of it type, gives away full purple sets via random in game email to those asking for build advice as random acts of kindness etc. Anyway one of the sg team mates says something to the widow like I hope you are not planning on griefing us with teleport again, and the widow seems genuinely confused. To avoid the back and forth further, the gist seemed to be on a LGTF said sg member and widow had both been on, several members of the team kept getting terribly lost, and the widow had incandescence slotted, so used it to gather up the stragglers as often as any one asked for a tp to the team. Apparently the SG member called that griefing, because they personally refuse to use the prompt team teleport feature, saying it is only an anti griefing tool, and only griefers tell players to use that option. This devolved into the entire 6 man sg faction really tearing into the widow player, who as I said is also someone I am on friendly terms with. Seeing how this member of said SG was using the power of the group to outright attack and then get my friend black listed by the SG/coalition when imo the widow was not the one being a problem player in the least based on everything I was hearing, lead me to leave the TF run after the 2nd mish because I only came to have that full picture because they kept trash talking my friend during those first two mishes of the ITF and I had enough. I ended up putting every member of the SG in that team on ignore, and it has since caused me some in game drama because as I said I am pretty good friends with some members of this SG, and consider some others to be among the worst kind of mentality to be found in the community. IMO this is why SGs should actually have had very small roster limits and Coalitions should not include a chat channel. I think letting people grow large cliques in games is very problematic in MMO in general, with many treating the unguilded as true 2nd class citizens denied access to certain sources of in game power. DDO is perhaps the worst offender, in which guilds with massive air ships and top teir guild buffs have a true OP advantage compared to those not in guilds. And ofcourse the big guilds there are very abusive to all not guilded, and treat any suggestion at making guild specific perks more accessible to all via some non guild based mechanic as a direct attack on their divine right to have the most power because they are guilds, and those unguilded clearly are just anti social misfits jealous of what the guilded have. I mean really its a lot like being the one guy in a town that doesnt go to the church everyone else in town goes to. You are always told to either join, or simply accept you will always be treated like an outsider.

This is really I mean I do get your point, your one who feels red siders need more personal autonomy in their arcs to let players be more the villain they want rather then some pawn of prophecy. But that is the hard truth of the very metaphysical foundation of the cohverse. prophecy, destiny, divine possession, and so much more are all baked into the very concept of the multiverse we are playing in, and even if it bothers us, that basically is a verse where Free Will is fantasy not reality. But to try and make it more palatable for such folks, Id probably go ham handed game master red side witha simple classic approach. Ghost widow has your soul, she has every red siders soul, in a nice neat collection of jars or crystals or something in a bunker somewhere. You all are her bitches, you dont do her bidding your soul is her on her tray as a cookie to go with her milk at bed time. Problem solved, every red sider has a reason to play ball, and its logical within the world setting, and right on par with how the so called good guys ran a bad guy like snake plisken in escape from new york.

Well if you are going for an actual kheldian name rather then a human host name then really anything with a theme similar to what we see in game works well, One of the things about coh lore is that while they treat the kheldian more as a symbiotic life form like the trill in star trek, we actually see little evidence of the original host in any of the NPC khelds we interact with. And in the few glimpses we do get of hosts/former host does seem to suggest the kheldian really is in true control, with their power and will that has known many life times being like an ocean poured into a fresh water lake. Sure what is there after still is wet, still has fish swimming in it, but it is not the thing it was. If a devoted PB fighting the war on the nictus, then consider names that use things like The Path of the Dark, and major names in the Nictus like Requiem to draw inspiration of. Some random thoughts like Stalker of the Dark, Darks Bane, Even something kidn of fun and super hero like Lamp Light, Torch Light. On Everlasting easily the most recognizable of the RP PBs is imo "A Girl and her Dwarf", who RPs as a queen sort of PB who survived for unknown reasons on earth in a cave healing local wildlife and giving birth to fresh khelds who bonded with the animals for centuries. She Rps this as the source for the various animal guardian spirit type lore much as its suggested the war wolves and time travel are the source of werewolf mythology in coh lore. So you could try a dual name thing like Billy and Glow Squid.

Posi part 1 is cake on any toon with stealth( original posi as well via Ozone for that matter) Posi part 2 can be a decent bit trickier as Doc V isnt exactly a pushover, but especially if you got hover to hover tank him with and envenomed daggers to shut down his regen just about any AT should be able to whittle him down solo if they really want. Id bring stun grenades for his mob adds. Synapse is actually very easy to solo at level especially with psi dmg based toons. The temp power they give you for the fight with the king will really hold him good. Oh and additionally if you actually played through content to get to that level, there is a quest around that level range that gives a 30 charge temp power for a go kill x clocks hunt mish. dont finish the mish, and use that wave scrambler, it hits like a nuke against the king. That combo has let me solo him at level on a psi stalker and psi blaster. As others have said Shivan hards are a real boon to the solo AV fighter. You can get them early, and they never stop being useful. Even in the toughest end game content its not unheard of for players to bring shivans. Hell they are always nice on MSR bowl bashes to. Citadel is easy, nazi even a nazi AV is kind of a push over, strong melee defense is all you need to blunt his fangs. Manti can be abit tricky with the 2, but fall back to the entrance after you drop hoppy and you can deal with CC alone, and then go back and finish hoppy round 2. Numi is a bloody dull slog solo just due to the city wide hunt phase. End boss is so squishy to smash dmg all sorts of power sets tend to wreck him well. Penny yin is actually imo a harder solo then Sister Psyche, the TV like end fight on a yin doesnt seem to scale down solo, so unless you have some series aoe mid level that stuff tends to get overwhelming. Kind of like trying to solo a TV trial, its not that the mobs are hard fora good build but the numbers and need to keep the reactor safe is something most ATs will struggle with especially at mid level. Clamor on the other hand in Sis psyche is a fairly easy lone target for a solo run.

So Regen is one of those sets that because of the popular trope of a hero who can heal from even mortal wounds has a certain appeal to a wide variety of mind sets. From those who live in fear of injury and illness, to those who crave eternal youth/life and those who simply wish they could fight forever without weariness or wound halting their eternal war. Many games have tried to create a game play viable approach to this that does not simply render the player into a state of natural god mode. Some of the ideas here, reflect many others and are not at all bad but not how I would approach it if in charge. For starters, I actually do agree that the ability to self rez should be the foundation identity of the set. While a power like Rise of the Phoenix sits well as a master of/one with the flame end tier power, in regen, the ability to simply not stay dead belongs as the base to build up from. So for it to be tier 1 makes sense but also needs a 2ndary aspect that fits with,compliments, and will make having it something every regen needs. How do we do this? Well one of the other common themes in pop fiction for regen characters is that even if in every other way normal human, because of the abuse their body endures, their fight or flight response operates at a much more extreme degree. This is generally the very simple sci fi logic used for why characters like wolverine and deadpool have atypical strength and speed and become lost in more of a haze of pain and reaction as a fight goes on. In the old days blasters had a different kind of defiance, one some blasters really loved especially self rez fire x3 builds, because it truly leveraged a play style that made having a self rez useful. To that end Id suggest that along with self rez being the tier 1, it comes packaged with a variation on that old defiance, in which the character gains dmg.recharge/ and move speed the lower their life is. This way when their click heals are over taxed, and they are suffering the most , their mind and body become one fusion of raw fury lashing out on reflex and rage, until their body heals enough to let them focus again. I might even give it a to hit/def debuff that scales, to let those bonuses get really nice without being just pure buffing. Because I love me Regen but of late it does feel not lacking entirely as also out of order. Rez should also maybe work more like a mog/rez hybrid so when they do get up they get up ready to swing.

Honestly imo the #1 fix for this feeling is just be the team leader. By being the one who is building and directing the team, you are already doing the single biggest bit of heavy lifting anyone can do for the team. By making that team happen. It is my own number 1 secret for while leveling toons, especially late bloomer builds. I lead the teams. I put them together, and I keep them moving. And even when on a near naked new toon, I feel more useful then anyone on the team. Because I know the moment I leave the team it almost always falls apart. There is a lot of hub bub in our world from the height of RL to the most modest team based games about both being worth the spot one takes up, and whether the spot we take up is worth it to the individual. This can vary a lot from culture to culture, and family to family. And just like for ourselves in the RL, for each character in game, their purpose, their destiny, and the impact they make in it is entirely on each of us. Each of us alone sets and defines what we are worth to ourselves and to the world at large. If you set your sense of self worth by how others see you, and value you, then you are on a hamster wheel that will only end when you have run your self to death trying to please others. Each of us is first and foremost responsible for only our own sense of happiness and fulfillment. It actually is the root of what we call co dependent behavior to have this need for others to constantly praise and support your actions so you feel justified in doing them. This can even lead down the road of terrible manipulatlion and abuse. We are never alone in our modern world and society, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the tech we use in these moments to write here online all connect us to every hand and mind that helped bring these things into being. Do you think the spinner of the threat from the silk worm on the other side of the world ever thinks about or cares if you like the silk shirt your wearing? No they take their sense of self value from the act itself. They do not need every person in the world sending them a thank you note each day for the shirts they help take part in making? Angels might fall from grace, and every hero die, but they will never be seen as such if first they did not reach for the sky!

Sometimes things happen because we are in a hurry or just not really thinking about what we are doing with our full attention. That very thing frankly happened to me recently I was casually role playing a alas park while also doing some shoping and crafting of a few rarer recipes worth making and taking away for future alts. One of them needed something rare, cant remember which, but I went to do my typical 555,555 bid for a single bit of rare mat. But I guess I was so distracted with RP I just zoned out and added another 5 and didnt think to remove it. Maybe I even had noticed and though eh why not 5 mil is still not all that much and it may give someone actually tight on funds a good day. But and here is the kicker. I also had somehow manage to have it set for 10 of the thing. so I dropped 55 mil and change on 5 mil in rare mats. I mean sure even 55 mil is only a small percentage of the total cost of a fine tuned build. Still I have to admit when I did realize the next morning what I had done) it was also late so I may have been abit too tired too in my defense!) I felt a fair bit of chagrin at myself and was like doh damn it homer.

So? L2P posts are valid posts, especially because in the world of gamer speak players calling content they dont like personally bad design, is code for them actually being bad gamers. Croatoa content has been to the best of my knowledge on live, and now some of the content everyone seems to try to play through at level because its so beloved. So clearly the OPs dislike for it is largely personal, not objective. Because content that popular must be so for some good reasons. I myself tend to do it mainly only on magical toons, but that is because I tend to focus on content based on concept more then reward. As some others have said the content actually has a kind of laid back vibe to it really. sure it draws some stuff out but in the era it was made in that was still a pretty mild time sink in such games. As for hostages and escorts, Ill say it again CoH moreso then any other kind of genre of MMO is the kind that such content fits and makes sense and helps to immerse one in the world. Sure the ai could be abit better, but over all I find NPC allies and hostages are pretty tolerable to lead about. I also am one of those who like the added extra bit of challenge when soloing such as a stalker and needing to put the concern of my ward over myself and need to get rough and brutal fighting our way to freedom like daredevil at the end of episode 2 season 1! So frankly I rather wish we had more stuff that was flavorful with allies and escorts that forced players to adapt and step out of their comfort zone of mass murder.

Most seem to agree in this day and age while khelds are far from bottom tier they have certainly not aged the best either. While many tend to discuss mainly their forms I personally think the addition of several ancillary pools via some patron styled quest lines given by the PB and WS contacts could give them some much needed additional variety among the ATs themselves and expand their lore based flavor. My first thought is a mini master mind style pool for light and dark themes respectively that give the khelds a pet in the style of the ones many patron pools get but as a unbound kheldian essence as the intial power, and several buff it up powers for to fill out the pool to make it if given the powers and slots to focus on it, viable enough for base line end game mobs. 2 more of the pools again would be more about human and Bi form builds, the idea being a pool of a more unique nature, each with a toggle that keeps you in human form but grants you the additional powers of the form in a temp power bar as we are seeing more powers use in limited ways. This would obviously be aimed and give a way in high level builds to access the powers of the forms but dont like the look of the forms or way they cut off access to their standard powers. I think just the fact it would still be very limited by slots over all would keep such things from being OP. Finally the 4th pool for each would be for in the forms only and be new form only powers to enhance both forms equally. I would think in keeping with the team nature of khelds, they could be support/buff/debuff auras that would be equally useful to both forms and allies of varied sorts. Granted this is a very rough idea, and one I imagine the far more hard core number cruncher and power theory builders can do better with. And while this will only help/alter khelds at the higher levels I figure that is maybe the best way to approach it rather then something more broad reaching. As for the quest lines, really they could be carbon copies of the vil patron pool arcs with a kheldian/nictus/ council skin thrown on everything and they would work just fine.

My fave example of balance with AOEs will always be good old school D&D at the table top. full friendly fire, demanding those with AOEs like a classic fireball use it with care rather then impunity. Some of my fave turn based tactical rpgs are very unforgiving in that aspect as well. Even DDO has a hand full of spells that do effect allies as negatively as enemies to keep something of that spirit of challenge. The fact is its the only real way to balance aoe dmg and not nerf it to the point of why bother. We would basically need it to be full on open world pvp, where you can hurt ally as easily as enemy, and need to use ones powers far more wisely. But I doubt anything close to that could ever work in coh, the playerbase likely could never adapt to only nuke when alone

Because even many top end builds have their players bitch about Malta sappers. So obviously its not such a build and forget issue. If the HC devs for example have the sense to ever make new top end mob factions that logically should be loaded with the tools players bitch most about like def/dmg res/ heal debuffs and constant sapping to really stress builds, then we will see what builds really do have no endurance issue. My perma light form PB with no real toggles on in combat but hover and a end cost reduction clicky to boot eagerly await such a mob faction that leaves most sucking blue like they were level 1s fighting a pack of clock works.

Well then you and I at least are of entirely different views on game design. IMO a 2 part set bonus should be much weaker then a 5 or 6 part set bonus. And if they ever want to create sets with regen/recovery bonuses in that tier of a set bonus I would be fine with them being much stronger then the current 2 part set bonuses. In literally every game I can go back in time thinking of that has used the set bonus mechanic, such as old Diablo, almost all the really good set bonuses required wearing a part in just about every gear slot, which costs you lots of other cool build choices via gear kit. You keep thinking we are talking about you, I am not. I am not talking about whatever claim your making about others attacking or questioning your build ability. Positrons blast is one of my go to sets for leveling builds so no idea why you think it so much better then bombardment, and energy melee also does not suck. You are clearly talking from a pure META pov, and not everything can be fine tuned to the current meta flavor of the month. However as you seem intent on ignoring every single one of us that disagrees, rather then try to understand our pov and its equally valid position, you seem incapable of anything but yelling that the things you dont think are great just are too sucky to be useful in any circumstance to any possible build. So I am just going to sum up my position as a very hard no for your suggestion,and hope the HC Devs have sense enough to see its not worth their time.

Something else to mention, is in the post ED era, optimal slotting of a power was in the Devs mind to include mac end cost reduction for every power. A great many players put top tier power set bonuses which by design came at the cost most often of sub optimal enhancement of 1 or more aspects of a power, especially true of attack powers with debuffs, as their build priority. Virtually any build, especially when franken set slotted will have the end cost of powers reduced by the max possible while also putting out top dmg on attacks and top def/res/heal on defensive toggles. If that is the focus a player desires in their build, max end consumption reduction, they have that option to build in, and will see very great results that, becaase recovery set bonuses are almost all 2 part bonuses, when it comes to franken slotting can often literally have 5 of every single bonus in a build on top of max end cost reduction very easily. So it is very much a hard no from me on buffing the set bonuses rather then making new sets with 5 and 6 part bonuses granting the end recovery boosts you crave.

I dont want to get sucked into all the drama back and forth in this discussion, it seems like of late all I do is let things become too personal, so I am going to focus on right here your opening post, the premise and point I take away, which maybe I am not getting the point right so feel free to say such. So you state right here that the 4% bonus, (which folks correct me if I am wrong but is still like a 2 part set piece bonus right?) is not even half of what you get from the Power Stamina with a common SO in it, correct? That is what your saying, and your complaint is compared to what we get from Stamina+ SO boosting it, the single set bonus is too paltry to matter? Now not to be obtuse nor combative, but that seems a very odd analogue to use to reach the conclusion your logic circuits seemed to have reached sunny. Let me use the same analogue to refute your premise if I may, with no ill will meant, just my own simple logic drawing from similar baselines. So Tanks in several of their primaries( Tanks who when it comes to primaries have some of the strongest base %s in any powers of a non dps nature) have an ability that grants them an inherent global recharge bonus. Last I checked it was 20% on the various powers that do this. Now the strongest sets in the game, the lvl 50 only sets, at 5 parts only grant a 10% global recharge bonus. That is fully half of a ATs primary sets equiv power being granted for a power slot being spent. And that is on a 5 part bonus, on the highest tier sets in the game rarity wise. To suggest that low tier sets, or low part bonuses grant even half what an actual power, inherent or not, with even one SO worth of boost enhancing it, seems to me to be asking for far too much from such set bonuses. Its also a simple truth that a build that leverages all the tools spoken of here not only defeats the standard end management issues, but will generate so much as to negate even the strongest sapping mobs in the game, Something that as we still frequently see even the common malta sapper remains among some players greatest banes. Now if you want to suggest some new sets that for their 5 and 6 part bonuses are some new much larger end related bonuses, I actually wouldnt mind that, maybe some sets that do a lot more end reduction but little recharge or accuracy. I hope you can see my very simple point, as bonuses of less then the 5 or 6 part variety and on rare pricey sets, the bonuses should be frankly weak as can be.

As the HC team have said, just finishing KW would take a huge amount of time and effort, because there are all sorts of things we dont see like pathing for mobs, that needs to be done. The new outdoor bases are amazing, got a few I enjoy calling my virtual homes for my toons. But if you have gone in with pets you may have noticed they often follow only a bit, and often end up stuck just standing around lost. Because there is no pathing in those outdoor bases we are making. Thats because we are using a trick to basically leave the actual game space and build outside of it. Its one of the reasons why even if they opened back up base raiding all sorts of powers dont work outside of the bunker base area. For example ever try to teleport in the outside area?

Maybe you are unaware, but back on live after the ability to have several builds on a character, while it was done for pvp builds to be able to be done on pve characters without having to give up pve optimization, the main use for it ended up being players having a solo build, and a team build. But thank you for the needless insults because nothing in my post is telling others what they have to do, just what I value in team mates, and what I do not. For example a guy who can solo the end av and all its mobs, and ghosts to do that while ignoring the team is to me and the people I tend to play with, a bad player who is a selfish glory hound and ruining the game for the rest of us and should just be playing solo. The thing is though, those glory hounds need to be on teams to feed their ego, so they intrude and ruin the game for the rest of us because they cant stay in their own game space. I am not going to tell anyone how they have to play in my teams, but if how you play negatively impacts my play, dont expect to stay on my team till the end of the TF. I mean really is this any different then for example the endless KB vs KD debate and how people who use KB can ruin others fun by doing things like scattering mobs and lessening the effect of drain powers others use etc? Now yes I love it the most when all can self stealth. But the stealth pool isnt actually all that popular, many hate anything that obscures their toon and never take it. Same with super speed. Many actually hate its level of speed while being on the ground. And for those that do like the speed, the new alt super speed in experimentation is growing in popularity because it has a built in way to deal with vertical obstacles. In fact about all I ever see from speed anymore on folks at all often is hasten. So folks with full stealth are actually not all that common in the pug scene. And when you pug, you build to be able to help others if your wise, as then you can lift them up rather then have to see them as dead weight or hear them complain about the games balance, mob type or some other such nonsense.

Play a master mind then. You are basically asking to nerf the primary dps ability of Ill trollers in asking for its dmg reduced. I dont see your suggestion as anything but a disingenuous attempt to get a set you have some issue with nerfed. There is no need for them to last longer. You can make them perma, and the re-summon lets you put them in the front as needed every minute. This is actually a needed tactic as we cant direct them like an MM can. Maybe what you should ask for is an ILL MM set. I think that would be awesome actually.

Hate to tell you but Johnny come lately is correct. what you did is generally considered weak forum fu. The way you should of approached what you did was to quote the entire post, then highlight the section you wanted to specifically respond to, to show both the poster you respond to, and those who join the conversation later, that you are not trying to create a false narrative to late comers who dont read the entire thread from the first post. Because you see there is at least an unwritten right and wrong way to approach forum fu. And you sir need to learn it better if you dont want to basically be a thread derailer as you are in this one to date. And when it comes to actually playing the game in anything other then a solo fashion, which is to play in a way that does not annoy, piss off, or in general in any way conflict with he team. And one of the most common aspects of such building dating back to year one and never changing even at sundown is those who team often, have stealth, and run TFs take recall so that should the call to ghost the run be made they can do that effectively rather then try to solo end rooms like glory hogs. I can assure you as one who has lead likely thousands of TFs on live and probably at least another thousand since HC, that in general a team doesnt give two figs if you can solo the end room if you do it without them, they are gonna be pissed. And there is literally not one build, that could be considered so flawless that it couldnt find a way to fit in recall if you also stealth. Stealthing is all well and good solo, but in a team solo killing boss rooms will always be so much faster with the full team, no matter ones personal super solo build, that those who want to run tfs in teams for all the perks of faster xp etc, should be giving back to that team. Anti social solo builds rarely last a full tf run with me, as I will boot them the second I feel they are neglecting even one team mate. My only 2 rules as a tf leader. Do what you do to the best of your ability, and always help ones allies. Those with selfish builds that cant help their allies in a meaningful way like recalling them because they are a selfish solo stalker build can go solo and stay out of my teams. Such players however want to be in my teams because teaming is the best xp gain for such toons who mainly excel at single target dps. You want to roll on teams, be liked, valued, and wanted back, you need to be more then full barbie doll dps mode. You need to have the tools that let you interact with your team mates as well as the mobs. And a once in a while ATT just isnt going to cut it. So really folks like you should be on the remove all cs from att bandwagon, so all desire for players to actually be team players on teams via build choices can go the way of the dodo and we just all build 100% meta game optimal solo builds and just use temp powers to help allies, because obviously no one else even when on a team really should matter. Its like those runs I have joined lately where someone incaps, and everyone else just ignores them, and I am the only one coming back to help recover them. I have a feeling this is growing in common practice as I seem to be getting ever more enthusiastic thanks when I do as if I have done something no one else would ever think to do. Frankly its really reaching a point in game even on bloody everlasting were folks just lack any sense of civility or social build ability. Puggle TFs are growing ever less fun as each seems to be at best 50% decent folks worth being around, and 50% the kind of trash that should stay on solo games because all they do is things that ruin the fun for the people who actually want everyone to have an equally good time.

as far as I could tell on Champions it was just basically a visual for the zone, and enabled some kind of fly effect while in their underwater zone, as all actual travel powers got supressed in it if I recall right. I actually did like the lemuria zone there a fair bit in concept and actual play. even had my guys all have a underwater costume set. I think in theory at least if they could create a underwater atmosphere effect, they could recycle some outdoor maps into underwater locals and just have us all be in auto fly mode in it.

Nope just kind of tells you if the leader of the msr is cool or a dick bag. A good MSR leader spreads out AOE ATs among the teams to help insure everyone gets a good amount of merits. IME if your on a MSR and not getting good merit drops, its likely that you have a lot of afkers with just one pbaoe or pet summon on auto and are just milking it for easy, rather then try harding for the team as a whole.

The old outdated aggro system. I loathe anything resembling tank and spank/cc lockdown type of play. I really prefer combat when everyone is fighting and being fought back against. Its far more fitting of the genre we are meant to be in.

First, forget about seeing all the content on a single character, Especially if your into alting, then instead try to experience and enjoy the many many different paths to level through. No 2 toons ever need have the exact same adventures, though some story arcs and areas are so well done you tend to want to do them every toon. You do not have to spend all that much time at the AH, I spend very little. I liquidate reward merits from story arcs and TFs into influence via Econs. However that is stuff you dont need to fret over, for now stick with what I did on HC with my first toon as I was building wealth. Lvl 15 common IOs have a healthy % and work no matter your level. You dont need the most at level IOs that cost more and do not always give much more % then the previous teir, the lvl 15s and lvl 25s are imo ideals for poor man first character builds. Understand just running in groups doing random content is the least rewarding way to approach the game. Unless they are your story arcs, you wont see merits. Merits are the big money reward for content completion. Influence from kills is and always has been the lowest gain of inf income earning. Your the perfect level to go run Who Will Die part 1. The signature story arc series, its first part is lvl 20. You will get 20 merits for getting through a very easy and fast few missions in skyway that have almost no travel time between them. Look for a lost pariah npc contact there. You can also use O-Zone to flash back run it. either way just about every player I know runs that sucker once a week on every toon in their stable for fast easy merits.