Llewellyn Blackwell

Uhm guys influence is not money in any way shape or form in the game world. It should not be able to be gambled with like money can be in RL. Just breaks the immersion imo. Now if they wanted to create a new form of actual in game world currency, perhaps attached to day jobs( how people actually earn money) or for villains as part of bank heists that could be used, Id be all for it. What would this currency be useful for? Id say nothing game impacting, like for costume changes at Icons,

I just cant see why we should be giving such control to a party leader in general. On TFs for challenge badges sure. But your position is that the 5 levels make us over shadow the team. As if it isnt almost entirely player knowledge and build ability that creates the real divide. Keep in mind the entire concept of exemplaring is the higher lvl is the hero, the lower level is still the sidekick. We re suppose to be stronger then them both mechanically and from an RP pov. With unlimited character slots, if you want a toon for playing with legitimate new players, then make one and play a static duo with them and hold yourself back. Creating options that let people limit others on their team is really iffy, and when folks blindside others on TFs by using the challenge options Ive already seen such instantly lead to the tf team dissolve as people really dont like others placing their limits on them in actual play from what Ive seen. The simple fact is that those who build casually vs those who build optimally are always going to be on different points in the power spectrum and thats a good thing. Its how we are able to choose what our characters own place on such a spectrum should be. However wanting to be able to place restrictions on others just because especially outside of TFs and the pursuit of challenge badges just smacks of wanting to dictate how others play. Not to mention the divide between optimal power combo pairing and random concept pairing. Your basically saying you cant control yourself when playing with a newbie and really if your goal is to bring a newbie in you should be on a support toon to support them while they play the active combat hero role. IME most newbies/casuals expect us more veteran players to over shadow them and be able to do things they just cant yet. The trick as a vet is to make such a learning experience and be able to teach them how to step up their own game. There are Bruce Waynes, Dick Graysons, and jason todds. The JTs are often over eager, over confident, and maybe a tad envious of the DGs, The DGs have worked hard to get out from under the shadow of the BWs, but well when your a BW the shadow you cast will cover all of those around you because that is the nature of things. Sidekicks are not heroes......yet. Instead of trying to drag heroes down to the level of sidekicks, the answer will always be that heroes need to be training the sidekicks better. Considering how many Ive had leave SGs to join mine because I am active in the role of mentoring and teaching, it tells me the real issue is as always too many out there not taking on the mantle of teacher. Even you OP, are you just tossing them sets or are you teaching them. Are you explaining why some power pools synergize better with others? Why some set themes work better with some power pools better? How to make use of the fewer slots while leveling via franken setting? After all going full IO set during leveling is actually not that good a thing unless some powers are just being left unslotted and largely useless to fill out sets ona few powers faster. Be better, be Batman and raise a batfamily that will soar with you rather then push to clip the wings for the sake of those still clinging to their mothers.

Funny you should say that. I can think of a few MMO that actually do attach ally buffs and even heals as effects triggered by attack chains. In Vangaurd a saga of heroes there was a monk like class that had to be using its martial art style attack comboes on enemies to heal and buff allies in range. Over on DDO monks can trigger a healing effect on allies as part of their martial finishers. In both cases these abilities where not obvious to allies. Once simply had to learn to stay close to such characters at all times. And I am not putting words in your mouth, the OP and the faction your on the side ofs main point is it can cause a trigger event to those sensitive about the topic of shock therapy. Because the it makes me look held QQ is even less of an issue. because as has been pointed out in combat it is instantly dismissed during movement and attack animations. Hell who even looks at their character during play? I am too busy watching my teams health bars, their location icons on the mini map, and my powers cool downs. Not to mention when on teams I am usually so lit up by ally buffs my character isnt even visible. Nor do I feel just because its a buff an ability or animation has to look a certain way. Id find a ray gun that healed for example fun and fine. Or a healing grenade which I have seen in games over the years.

That has more to do with visual range of mobs, and wanting to allow CC ATs with less dmg and mitigation be able to actually handle things. Not every AT can handle several mobs at once especially at lower levels.

If a CoH 2 was somehow to happen I hate to tell you all but there is no way it would have another red side. That was deemed such a failure development wise, and had such low player use it remained one of the biggest negatives against the game for the rest of its original run. There is just no reason to think it would go down differently this time around. Most comic book fans are into playing as heroes only. And well to make it worthwhile the game would need to be built from the ground up around pvp interaction and balance to even begin to justify a reason for player factions.

No I am the one pointing out that the nazi imagery and constantly seeing animals die and the mournful howl of a wolf which is actually very disturbing to me, someone who has raised a beloved wolf dog hybrid and even years after her death find anything related to wolves being killed very emotionally distressing. That howl played constantly is not a noise wolves make when happy. I actually had a close relative who has suffered an ice pick lobotomy and underwent shock treatment as well. Yet I find this animation in question a non issue as its barely ever noticed. The idea because its a buff it cant have an animation that is thematically appropriate seems a very weak point to be frank. We after all have had since launch powers that inflict visual effects on us. I for one on my mortal man batman homage utterly loathe any and all buff visuals that make me look like I am on fire or glowing like a night light. Yet those are ok to be forced upon us all these years why? I am not for a single power being changed due to this point of yours, Id only agree with a null option that would disable every single buff visual effect at once from allies on my characters.

Yet you and those taking your position have yet to explain why this is such a greater issue then many, and I mean many long standing aspects of this game that are at least to my pov far more disturbing to the average person. Nazi, burning people alive, death cults and human sacrifice. Hell seeing the animals in beast mastery die is frankly to me far far far more disturbing then this animation your so riled up about. The only semi valid position Ive seen is simply disliking players being able to force an animation upon them during social RP. However at least the kind of RPers I hang with will more like in general appreciate it as an RP emote tool rather then something to be disturbed by. I mean seriously what do you think is more common, an animal lover being disturbed by seeing animals die, or someone who has actually undergone shock therapy being bothered by a brief animation most are likely to never even notice in the flurry of combat.

Frankly considering the encounters Id had with you on everlasting before finally putting you on ignore, and the frequent backhanded insults you throw around on these forums at the HC team and other players I must say this post of yours paints you as quite the hypocrite in my pov. You seem to forget this is the HC teams sandbox, their rules, and we are all guests. If they decide everyone has to wear pink tutus and werewolf masks then that would be their privilege as well. Go smoke a joint and chill.

Actually you touch on exactly why changing this at all and the claim it is too disturbing to be in the game rings hollow. If we can do it to mobs, having it done to our characters is simply logical. I know no few in game who avoid a variety of power sets due to their silver/golden age approach to character concepts avoiding any set that seems too lethal such as fire, and many who find the idea of a flamethrowers being used on people, something many feel is truly evil to do. Trying to make a mountain out of this mole hill of an animation is very much a slippery slope in my pov. As others have pointed out this animation isnt even noticed when actively playing between the myriad attack animations and buff animations etc. If its ok to be used on NPCs its ok to be used for players. If the complaint is it is somehow too disturbing, a great many other things in game exist that the same argument for have greater merit then a very brief animation caused by a specific power set that among the many that exist will be a rare occurrence at most.

Talking about rape most certainly will get someone a chat ban if you report it. Do not think oh there is no point, if you see people talking about raping an NPC in public chat that is still most certainly worth reporting. While once upon a time using the word rape in phrases like we sure raped that boss was seen as acceptable that era is in the past where it belongs along with the rest of the archaic toxic terminology.

Many buff powers can be colored to look like fire for example. Why is my character being set on fire( even if its actually a buff) not wrong but a little animation that quickly passes is such a huge deal? For me it needs to be more then a selective single power being called out like its a big deal. Either every single buff effect in the game needs to have its animations and visuals effecting our characters able to be opted out of or none should. The only time this animation could possibly be an actual issue is during RP, and most RPers I know are going to enjoy having the ability to tease each other with such a power rather then see it as something negative.

This would be the only way Id approve of the OPs idea, because I personally find people covering up my characters with a bunch of visual auras way way more invasive to my personal space then an animation, that actually has real RP value among other things. If anything Id have this animation become sop for all electric powers offensive and defensive alike. I prefer immersion and this kind of animation effect is just that imo. Oh and FYI my grandmother was subjected to shock treatment and lobotomized during that tragic era when the ice pick lobotomy was not uncommonly done to women suffering "hysteria". And saying this animation is some kind of huge trigger vs say all of the nazi themes in our game that really can stir up players and lead to some real bigotry fueled tirades just seems well overblown in the outrage department.

Uhm no it isnt. It may seem that way simply due to every AT having access to one, but Any AT with its own actual nuke is using it far more often, and since its pretty rare to be on a team with none of the nuke capable ATs, there is always at least one nuker with a nuke that can be used 2 to 3 times as frequently as judgement. Likewise plenty of AOE heavy sets even on the non nuker ATs will be able to clear the trash minions just as fast as an actual nuker. The only meaningful threat in any group are the bosses and maybe, and I mean maybe some LTs with something atypical like buff or debuffs that are abit above the avg trash mobs abilities. Except again maybe and I mean maybe at max dif settings where minions might live just long enough to throw a few attacks that can dent squishier builds. About the only time I see constant judgement rotation at all is on mindless, non threatening, no real risk and easy reward PI council radio runs. And that is still not that common as typically not more then 1 or 2 incarnates helping PL lowbies are on such teams ime. Since your hear trying to prove there is a problem, why not make a video showing how all the teams your on just judge rotate hmm? Because you and yours here are trying to prove a need to alter the game for all of us, yet besides hyperbole I have seen 0 evidence supporting your sides position.

Prices wont go up, because merits exist. If it ever reaches a point were people are trying to get more for a recipe then one can earn via merit liquidation or playing the conversion game, then people will just shift back to using merits to buy IO sets directly. And since we cant trade merits this helps create a stable price cap on things we can trade.

You mean 5 leadership powers dontcha? And SS+SJ is a classic combo for high speed global mobility. Not to mention any homage to Superman demands flight, super speed, and super jumping. Without any one of those its just not a true kryptonian homage. Only pure meta gamers have issue with such paltry impacts on over all potential. If a build can sustain all the leadership toggles and the player teams most of the time, then its far from a bad build choice. Plenty of primary/secondary sets have powers that are easy to skip over even from a meta perspective depending on play style. This is perhaps most true for offender builds that will not take any powers that effect allies only. This gives them plenty of free power choices to just make something fun and flavorful while still being a solo Monster Slayer.

Again abit off topic, but personally I do not rate a comic book character, or anyone in RL for that matter, as more heroic based on how much risk they personally take. In fact if risk taking is a prereq for being heroic, then one could argue that Lex Luthor who is but a mortal man challenging The Superman( along with the rest of his cosmic class peers like GL and WW) and in fact does so because he views such beings as inherently threatening to humanity is the greatest of heroes( fun fact that actually is a long standing popular pov from LL fans I gather). Now do not get me wrong I love my mortal man charcters that are homages to the likes of batman. I do however intentionally gimp them abit by design to capture that feeling. IMO thats a good thing. That the level of personal power we want for our characters via concept is well within our control. Just as if those truly seeking challenge want, can make custom AE content that will target their characters weak points in various ways. The fact most AE content is farms or very story driven and little is made to actually stress test builds is exactly why some of us here say folks wanting mass game wide power balance toned down are in an extreme minority. Actions speak loudest to me. Until I see some kind of in game trend that suggests otherwise, my view would be that the OP and those here that want such things would be better off making a small private server to find the play experience they seek.

You seem somewhat confused. Within the comic book hero genre are several distinct sub genre, you seem to be speaking specifically to the costumed vigilante genre as your preference. Characters such as batman and punisher who are but mortal human men using skills and a private arsenal to wage war in the streets. Superman is most assuredly the icon of the actual super hero genre. And I myself enjoy both genre equally along with the various other sub genre such as the anti hero genre. However trying to infer men like batman and punisher are more heroic than say The Flash is absurd. Punisher and Batman are both examples of severely mentally ill men suffering from all sorts of disorders. Both could even be considered borderline authoritarian fascists as they are willing to use violence and intimidation to enforce their personal ideals upon others. Especially in the case of batman who has wealth enough to do plenty for the downtrodden and desperate and remove many of the social pressures that drive people to common street crimes like drug dealing, pimping and prostitution, and gang life in general which largely depends on children from poor homes largely neglected by family and society to fill their ranks. The trait of Batman that has largely defined him as a hero is the version that is unwilling to take a life no matter what. A strict code of honor like that in the face of all the evil he sees is very much super heroic. Superman is super heroic because he so easily could instead be a living god ruling over humanity as a tyrant till our sun fades from the sky. Its his tight grip on the morality instilled by his foster parents that makes him super heroic. Random dude taking the law into his own hands and taking lives is what we call a murderer not a hero.

While it may be true that due to the nearly unlimited character slots many like myself have made pages of alts that are just collecting dust and day job badges until their turn in the Q to be capped comes up, The extremely active, vibrant, lvl 50 pugging scene makes a liar of anyone trying to claim its comparable to the virtually nonexistent PVP scene in terms of active player participation.. I have 7 fully decked out 50s among my roster. They all get plenty of play time alongside whichever of my lowbie alts I feel like leveling atm. My SG is thick with capped and incarnated 50s. And even the more casual players tend to log in a few times a week on them. Many revel in running ITFs and LGTFs. They are seen by many as introductory incarnate content. A good way to test ones limits and work on unlocking their slots. The Shard TFs are treated by many as incarnate content exclusively ime, as a great many hesitate to go there otherwise. I know PVP has always beena near nonexistent portion of the CoX population. But trying to act like people playing at cap is as rare is insane, as it is well known in literally every MMO the majority of the population prefer playing at cap with fully developed and kitted characters. Its why WoW had to constantly expand the level cap and devalue the current BIS gear, because so much of their active population would have achieved that and need to have the goal post moved to keep them going. In CoH even on live most everyone I knew who had been around for more then a year had at least 1 capped toon well setted. When incarnate stuff hit, TFing blew up in popularity due to the WST mechanic drawing many who had given up on TFs due to a bad experience in the early years. As an active TF leader back then for PUGs I met many during that year who had not touched TFs since year one. Who once they got a taste for smoothly lead TFs became TF junkies, in large part due to the incarnate system and quest for notices and double merits.

Let me make it as plain as I can. My blasters, sentinals, even my PB have nukes with CDs or around 35 seconds or less. The nukes are far better and up more often then any judgement choice. Lore Pets have a good amoung of CD between uses, meanwhile my sentinal has a nasty widow who is perma'd. So my dark/regen sent who can just float around laying waste, and always has a strong pet is supposed to feel surpassed by peoples incarnate powers? Because that seems to be what those hating on incarnate powers and judgement seem to be saying I should feel like. However I dont. Because news flash nuke up every 27 seconds is what matters to my mass murder power, not a only at 45-50 long cd nuke. This isnt whataboutism. Power set nukes are clearly a superior power to judgement nukes in every way. Ive seen plenty of brutes bitch about the power of blasters and sentinals in actual game play for the very reasy that such high recharge nuke builds can indeed single handedly go from room to room nuking and leaving the bosses who are half dead to be cleaned up by the stalkers and scrappers. When a Brute cant get their fury meter up I notice they get very moody. OP do you main a brute by chance?;)

Let me help cure your ills. 1st step. Stop crafting. Yep you heard me. I mean why bother. Sell everything you find of any value. liquidate merits for inf, and buy attuned IO sets that can be hand me downed to future alts after you fine tune and trick out their capped build. thanks to number 1, the answer for number 2 becomes clear. Dont bother storing salvage. Instead use a base empowerment station regularly to keep salvage from maxxing out. Sell rare salvage when found for a nice little burst of inf. 3. Enchancment storage becomes only for those hand me downed attuned sets you have now. which are way way better for leveling with then any other option. Only my first toon struggled on HC. Since then every toon starts getting tricked out early by my collection of attuned sets Ive built up. And boom, your now free to play the game and not spend time crafting, sorting, and can just have fun.

If only that was true. It is said the power of an Incarnate can make a bad build functional, a poor build decent, an average build ok. But a good build is good no matter what you put on top of it.

First, ever on a team with a couple blasters with their nukes recharge at 30 seconds or so? Yeah next to that a team full of judgement isnt that impressive. Likewise lets see its only from 45-50 exemped incarnates get access to their powers. Most folks I know wont even try shadow shard TFs if at least a few full incarnates are not on the team to help speed it up. I cant even think of content that is drastically impacted by going incarnate, but I suspect that has to do with the way i build my toons. IME people like the OP here are really QQing over nothing, because odds are they will be dead weight for most teams with competent builds and players behind those builds. Because lets face it, what the OP is really saying is he feels useless as a moderate DPS build, that offers no utility or support to the team, so they are pissy about feeling useless because they build to be a one trick pony, and then found out their pony wasnt the Black Stallion.

Something to keep in mind. in the pre ED/IO Set era, hasten being perma was a staple, but that was only hastens bonus globally. If you get at least 70% from sets and special IOs, your as good as having hasten perma back in the 1 acc and 5 dmg SO building days. For ATs like scrappers, if they take most or all of their primary set, then they will have a full attack chain without hasten being in the mix. If your toggle heavy, then global recharge really isnt doing that much for those powers either. For example I never bother with heavy global recharge on a set like will power. maybe a few lotg specials and some easy set bonuses at most for abit of extra but its not a need like on say a click heavy set like regen.

Im not sure why you seem to be so combative and hyperbolic in your response. Im not suggesting some massive over haul, and trying to offer an idea that both encourages team centric play, while avoiding an out right buff to the discussed powers in terms of duration that could be exploited by dual boxxing. And yes blasting may be a defenders 2ndary but that doesnt mean they shouldnt be able to enjoy doing such actively on a team and not merely play cheer leader to the big bad warrior ATs. And what about controllers? Their buffing aspect very much is their 2ndary, yet they can also be expected to go full nannybot by certain player types who demand support be the focus of such ATs. Its pretty common knowledge among MMO gamers that support characters are always in short supply, in large part because many dont enjoy the style of play. CoH has always been atypical in that its support classes can often be very strong in offense or control, and that buffing allies has typically seen it made more user friendly to encourage more trying the ATs. I have troller and defender toons and honestly do rarely play them as support as a primary aspect of my play time isnt that fun at all. I do such as a way to help the community, so yeah I myself am an advocate of making support play something more will try by making it as stream lined and hassle free as possible.

Should of quoted and asked me, as the OP of the comment your asking about. Nothing about my post suggest changing the nature of the powers themselves. Its simply suggesting that once a buff is applied. by simply staying in regular close contact, the buffs being talked about here, the annoying short term, single target ones would re apply. I suggested this inspired by the title of this very thread. The core goal seemed to be to reduce the hassle of playing certain support sets, while also promoting team interaction. My idea was with the goal of keeping the buffs themselves short, so buff botting, or buffing and then letting team mates go running off on their own wouldnt be able to benefit. But a team sticking together and working together, will find the buffs basically endless in duration once cast, freeing up defenders to use their blast set, and trollers to focus on controlling, rather then being forced into nannybot duty due to the nature of short duration single target buffs.