Llewellyn Blackwell

That is simply perfect. Melee centric characters always need gap closers in games with melee/ranged options. One of Champion Onlines few good aspects was the abundance of gap closer power options. Giving every scrapper primary a closer coupled with a strong immobilization aspect would be likely the most universal to every power set option they could go with that most melee players would appreciate. They could even poor man it by recycling one of the current closer power animations and just give it dmg effects based on the flavor of the power set.

I do think I get what you want and your reasoning. I just am not sure its needed. I imagine a pool power set called sniper rifle could be added that could have a sniper shot, a stealth, a placate, a form of build up that only works for the special attack, and maybe an additional attack for when one shot just isnt enough would be more then enough work for our volunteer devs and still cater to those wanted a true long range fighter type. An entire new AT, and many new power sets that would have to be from the ground up because of the ATs unique niche focus would be a lot of work and I am unsure just how many players would use this AT over the current ranged options. Also not sure really how well this fits the genre we are playing in. While there are some examples of evil sniper/hitmen types in the comics few of them are pure snipers. Dead Eye and Dead Shot, Death Stroke, The Punisher and The Grifter all come to mind as gun using villains and anti heroes. But it is important to note that none of these are really seen as traditional heroic icons, and none of them only use the sniper approach. A Sniper/Hitman is basically a murderer. Thats it pure plain and simple. Ranged weapon users like Green Arrow/hawk Eye are also well known for their melee abilities so again dont really work as genre examples. Can you point to even one main stream comic book icon that exclusively approaches being a heroic vigilante by putting bullets in the hearts and heads of criminals in mass? Closest I can think is the Executioner novels about Mack Bolan that Punisher was basically a comic book adaption of. During Macks early days he mainly assassinated mob bosses via sniping, leaving behind marksman medals as his calling card. He was basically a serial killer in the same vein as dexter, using his ability to commit cold blooded murder to remove those he saw as predators of society and civilization. And all that is also important. Keeping ATs and power sets fitting in the genre.

Ill be honest even with the new power suggestions I just dont see the point to the idea of this AT. Especially because you gave them AOE attacks. IMO to truly make this different enough from the current options offered by the various ATs to be built upon for a sniper, it would have to be a single target only ranged dps set. Only by not giving them any AOE could you justify creating a ranged AT with a higher single target DPS potential then already exists. Currently my best sniper build Ive made is a dark/bio scrapper who does far more dmg with a snipe after using soul drain, then my sniping stalker or blaster builds Ive tried out. I imagine a dark/ninja scrapper could maybe do more from a hide attack anyways but hard to say lest I bother to make one and fine tune and push the builds full potential. Even then its hard to say if the stealth dmg bonus would be better then offensive mode and soul drain for buffing the raw dmg. And if an AT that does sniping better is made, it does indeed invalidate the current sniping builds if it surpasses them. Im always on the fence about adding ATs that obsolete entire builds. Still not super thrilled about how Sentinal imo obsoletes peace bringers.

Ive already gone on record before in other threads that Im one of those who feel the whole idea of taunt tanking is a flawed and outdated mechanic just as tank and spank herding is an out dated form of game play that needs to be left in the past. So imo while it is basically going against the cottage rule, imo for scrappers at least the idea of them having any kind of taunt/aggro magnet power should be thrown out the window. Ive played and capped no few scrappers in my time, alongside brutes, and stalkers. No surprise I dont really bother with tanks because I dont want to be treated as a meat shield first and foremost. Having done so, I can actually say with a fair amount of confidence scrappers in general do need something. Just because the meta optimal scrapper power combos create a very high roof for their potential, many power set combos are well known to be at best passable and many being a pita to play till you reach the high end of the build. One of the biggest reasons for the non meta pairings to struggle is a lack of self sustain, just as blasters suffered for many years. Lets take SR as a classic example, pair it with Dark Melee for the utility of its drain attacks and SR is godly, any other and its barely passable and mostly a trial of suffering till you are high lvl and well slotted and setted to remove its lack of end recovery and self healing. IMO that is the issue and area that a power change alteration should be zeroing in on. Just about every scrapper primary could have their confront replaced with something maybe like a reverse victory rush, the bigger and badder your upcoming foe, the bigger the buff to recovery and regen for the non dark melee sets, and for dark melee maybe a variant that instead debuffs things like move speed and recharge speed.

Hm are you sure on that? I started playing around mid way through year one and ran a posi as soon as my first toon could. We only finished with 3 of us and could not recruit more once we began. So if they changed that it must of been very early in year 1. Granted completing a TF back that was basically pointless, the SO was the big reward and that really only made getting one on posi or syn at all special as you could just buy SOs outright after that level range.

Ah this thread brings back the memories of my teen and early 20s as a game master for my PnP group. Being a GM/DM can be tricky, you have to be one part host to the gathering even if its not at your place. You need to be peace maker when friends get heated and debate turns into argument. And you have to be the rule enforcer. But that didnt mean be a tyrant or make up all the rules. Whenever optional rules, splat books, etc got introduced to our group while I would be the one doing the reading and pondering how the new might impact the old, whenever new additions to be used were decided upon it was usually with the agreement of the core group of regulars and with the expectation if something did seem like it was breaking the game Id do something as GM to smooth out the issue. I do think on one hand meta data should be an important factor for what should be altered. However on the other I feel that how fun something is to use/play is an equally valid factor. As an example Ill mention regen. Many hate on regen, seeing WP and now Bio as doing basically everything it does better. Many who seem to feel that way imo also seem to spout a dislike for click heavy builds and want basically their actions per minute to be entirely DPS based, their only active play their offensive powers. They see protection and self sustaining as irksome chores and are also likely the same types who never ever build team builds, never offer any support to allies, and likely dont even bother to be social with their teams when on them. A game like CoH appeals to both right and left brainers as well as those who are a mixture of both, and imo its important to factor in those who play the game for the feel of it as much as those who play it just to master its systems and conquer it.

I remade a dark/regen scrapper as a sentinal of the same sets. Ive turned scrappers into brutes, stalkers into scrappers, most Ive remade exactly as live with at most some pool variation.

I think you discount something else, at least on everlasting many of us are RPers. I frequently lead PI teams with a dark/bio scrapper by the name of llewellyn blackwell. He is actually an RP team centric toon yet can do a pretty good job of soloing x2 and x3+8 and witha team just gets nasty. I often broadcast that lowbies are welcome as are all AT, between leaderships toggles and veng plus my barrier rezzing 2 at a time I do a pretty good job help even a team of pure lowbies stay alive and feel effective. 1 goes down and we get mean as I like to say. These teams can often become impromptu rp teams because of the community, and guess qhat everyone loves punching frelling nazi man. Sure they are easier mobs I usually only avoid carnies because they are slowing me down not threatening me. But I want my team to feel effective no matter the level spread having a team of such wide ranging levels is imo a strength of coh's side kick system. I mean I rather like the carnies as a concept I dont even see the mistress as really all taht evil were as nazi be nazi and space parasites be space parasites so Im gonna kill council and love it. hence why citadel and the striga tfs are some of my faves.

Actually towards the final years of live there was an active discussion on if using the same levelless always con system GMs use on every mob in the game wouldnt make it more interesting. Keep in mind weaker mobs would still have fewer powers so hellions wouldnt be a threat to an incarnate but it would basically mean people could engage in content in any zone and all content would be for all levels, this discussion ofcourse involved changing xp rewards to by the faction since obviously the factions made for high level would be more powerful. In such a case carnies for example would def be worth a lot more then many easier factions.

I think there is a subtle issue your missing with your above. Who is willing to lead and organize such things? The reason people do things like PI radio teams is because they are easy to put together and players can easily come and go from them. The fact TFs and certain longer story arcs can take a good chunk of time especially on a full team wiping maps to finish that it becomes a reason for many who are more casual to hesitate to run them I lead TFs often, one of the most frequent ways people part ways at the end is by saying something along the lines of thanks for putting this together. They say that because and I say this with no negativity meant, they are just not the type to try to put together or lead a team. I dont see it as them being social inept or afraid as some ruder types often suggest but I do think its because some feel a sense of pressure when having the star that simply dampens their fun. For example when Im on a toon with no ways to help allies, and allies keep dieing I drop down the dif because I get bothered by allies dieing often when Im not. I dont want them feeling useless or like I see them only as veng bait. Some people are likely still running that harder and less team run content, but they are likely doing it solo at their own pace. I met one guy said he spent a week soloing his way through the doc Q after he read it had no AV. That is likely the best example I got for you right there. No one wants to brag about something like that typically so people solo slomoing their way through things like that are not in general adding those stories to the bigger narrative of our forum discussions. Honestly one of the barriers Id love to see removed but cant see how is the whole lock in for tfs and flashbacks. The only answer I have come up with in my head that even close to works is taking all longer content and breaking it down into shorter bites, like the sig story arcs, so that people can more easily enjoy running them as a team without needing hours at a time free to do so. And then there is content preference ofcourse I myself for example love running those things that relate to the midnight club with my SG of the same name. So last night after recruiting a recent returnee on a nifty magical rp toon to the club I took him on part 1 and 2 of who will die, because ofcourse chapter 2 heavily features the midnighters. He seemed to have a ton of fun and didnt even know about sig arcs. But I know people who for example will never run say the night ward arcs, they hate every aspect of it and the mobs used there, I love it and the story so will solo or team those arcs often. Many people will resist seeing rewards added to content they genuinely dont want to run, because they see it as rewards being added for other players they wont enjoy getting for themselves.

The game changed into what it was years before sunset. Roles, and being in a box went by the wayside and almost everyone I know favors being able to build outside the role. Also your suggestions changes sounded like they would be mandatory not opt in like mine and most others here. If you actually kept abreast of MMO articles and metrics youd know for example that in just about every MMO ever made on average about 90% of the players played DPS characters because tanking, and support lock down/healing are not popular but rather forced upon players typically. Just today for example I was running a PI radio team, and when the tank left someone was like well uhm I can alt to a tank if we need it. I was like yeah no its good play what you want and they were like oh gawd thanks I hate having to play a tank. That is something Ive seen expressed so many times on so many MMO over the years that while some do enjoy the role its over all such a small part of the MMO community that its not something to push on players. You must not be aware that aggro caps and target caps are not something they can really easily set per AT. And the reason for the aggro cap was entirely because of solo afk farm tank builds. That you think it was because people tanked and spanked your very wrong. My blasters tank/CC, my melees bring plenty of support and utility, I dont need to be in the good little support role box or meat shield box to do those things while having fun wrecking mobs at the head of my pack. I love to lead teams on TFs and never ever ask for a specific AT role to be filled because waiting around for something specific is a true fun killer. If I had to get a tank and a healer and a CC for every TF Id never run TFs again. Also you seem to think what I meant by I hunters stealing our energy is it would be some kind of sapper unit. Not at all what meant to imply. Id make the I hunters be shadow shard constructs that function just like they do at the end of posi part 1. For every I character in the team there would be a chance for a incarnate powered doppleganger of them to appear that would also shut off our characters I powers. Now to me that sounds like one scary boss version of my character to have to face but it would be certainly very much optional. So for example if my namesake had a I hunter shadow construct of himself appear he would have clarion and rune of power so there would be no locking him down, and would likely just open up with a judgement and nuke on the team. And if more then one incarnate was on the team there would be more then one of these monsters showing up each with diverse and deadly powers while denying us access to ours until they were fully defeated. nothing like sappers that flatline your blue and render you unable to really play the game at all.

The whole oncoming storm thing got scrapped and reworked several times over the years. As was the original lore bible. For example Rully wasnt actually basically a galactus stand in and was someone that did what later they had Wade try to do, a mortal being who somehow was able to absorb entire dimensions worth of energy, very lame terribad idea to be the origin of the being and why it was never made official)) As I mentioned to you in another thread Id make access if it was made a co op zone would be to put it in the midnighters. Its their prison after all and the rikti themselves far too mucha threat for vanguard to divide its forces. (( Dont get me wrong if I had it my way I would see the war with the rikti ended and them and their mother ship leave. Id replace the warzone with a shining new city using assets from praetoria, Have the conflict with Arachnos ended while I was at it as his aid in the end of the who will die series really should have gained him some pretty serious hero cred and maybe the death of cole caused stephen to shift more to a rogue/vigilante fix the world rather then conquer it type)) IMO the oncoming storm should be something super twisted like the nictus possessing one or more of the aspects of rul, all the shard related mobs getting new dark dmg and dark debuffs added on top of everything else their attacks do already, and make the rul invade like the rikti and zombie outbreak city events. especially because in the above the rikti would be gone entirely or reduced to a rogue faction lead by their warlord who refused to return home. Ultimately though the issue with the shard is one of people not liking to spend time there traveling, and those who dislike flying especially loathe that zone. Me I love it and go there to solo wipe mobs for kicks often.

Honestly for CoH Id not do a customize personal nemmy system like in CO, rather upon reaching lvl 50 Id have players pick from the various AVs in game and designate one of them as their nemmy(( or hell more then one if the player really wants)) From then on if the nemmy dif option was toggled on for the player then the nemmy AV would have a chance to show up with a team to ambush in any lvl 50+ mission. IMO the lore of CoH tends to place non 50s as basically heroes in training, side kicks if you will. Its only when reaching security level 50 that a faction should look at you full time the way they might during mishes spawning ambushes outdoors. Id likely limit it to one appearance by your AV nemmy every hm 8 hours? maybe less, maybe make it have a slider option as well, would make beating him worth maybe 6 merits just because so people might actually want the option turned on. Like Ol berk here Id pick Nemmy, Req and maybe a few more thematic AVs as personal nemmy to have to deal with now and then.

Honestly if I was going to see the shadow shard given a new access point and made blue/red Id put it in the midnighters as an alternate place for the pillar to take us to alongside cim. The vanguard exist almost entirely to deal with the rikti, where as the midnighters are the ones who imprisoned Rul in the first place. I dont really want to see the old TFs updated much. though I guess as long as they are added to Ozone its not a big deal though if they are no longer ever on the WST list good luck getting a group for a classic Doc Q without the double merit temptation. Im a big fan of the game as it was at shut down so I tend to be very hesitant on updating/replacing old arcs entirely rather then adding. I certainly see nothing wrong with some new I era TFs being put in the shard. The real issue with the shard however will always be a mixture of travel time within the zone for those who see spending a minute or two flying between mishes as just too much, and the mobs there being built to wreck builds and most people shying away from such mob types. Sign me up for steam jet pack wearing nemmy snipers covering the all too often empty rocks of the shard to really spice it up;) While I think an update to make CoT mobs across the level ranges all scale to 50 I suspect that isnt as easy as it sounds for some reason, could be too many mob options to cycle through messes with the game etc as to why when the cot got a revamp they didnt do something like that.

Utterly terrible idea to bring back the forced teaming centric view some desire.

To the first yeah basically an incarnate equiv of a Q hunter for khelds. I usually try to draw from current mechanics when making suggestions especially for a vol dev team. They wouldnt need anything too special, maybe they could simply be immune to judgement or give off an aura that disables inc powers if such is possible. For the cysts, yes they would be an opt in dif scale slider aspect just like enabling solo AVs etc. If the leader has it on then yep you might get path of the dark foes, id actually call the dif option just that, path of the dark.

I feel compelled to talk about something you touch upon here that you treat as a negative but by the time the game shut down was seen as a negativ4e aspect in MMO that modern MMO devs were moving past. Aggro draw, in other words tanking. Tanking much like support healing has long been a heated and controversial issue, because as many have pointed out and rightly so, it depends on bad AI and is basically exploiting the limited ways AI can adapt to such things. CoH devs early on saw the issue with this hence the reduced number of mobs any one person can have aggro to. A fair few MMO gamers Ive seen tend to agree randomized aggro, or aggro based soley on personal dps/healing should always pull aggro no matter what. Because that is what we players do. We always ignore tanky soft hitters to focus on healing mobs, and mobs that hit the hardest. That the role of the tank as an aggro magnet is basically one that can ruin the fun of the game for many who no matter their AT/playstyle want to have at least some foes in their faces making them feel like the mobs see them as a threat and not just a blip. This is why you often see players scatter in maps so they each have their own mobs and fights, why some who lead TFs with AV solo killer builds will ask team mates to leave the big boss to them and do the other tasks at hand. And mobs should have a multiplication factor for larger teams to deal with them and the means to debuff and hinter the players. The above post of yours basically says sorry nothing can be done to actually challenge the players because the same tools we use are too good for the mobs to have.

Id go a multi pronged route. Id create Incarnate Hunters, Those who hunt Incarnates to siphon off their energy, Id tie them to the rulushin faction, maybe add a few bits of enemy banter suggesting this is to free Rulrul from the shard by feeding him the stolen power. Id make this only able to happen in content were at least one player has active incarnate powers. Id also start having nictus infused enemies and shadow cysts just become things that can happen at any level range and have nothing to do with kheldian players specifically. The Path of the Dark arc makes it very clear the nictus represent a long term global threat to all Earthlings. The Factions starting to have Nictus among their ranks whispering promises of greater power should be seen more often. Having a Shadow Cyst have a chance to be found in boss rooms alongside bosses as an example as well as a chance for the boss and his group having some added darkness abilities. I do feel that it should be mostly opt in, like our dif slider Id add the above as additions to the current system. Id make the I hunters have an increased chance of dropping threads and shards, and the Nictus stuff could be as simple as the few various nictus based temp powers in the game, and additional charges/time to them for beating the cysts and upgraded bosses. Something modest but fun and flavorful.

This would basically be my post on chaser items as well so there you go. Also Emmy you just made me think something funny. This guy here is Basically Carrot and we all telling him nope sorry human nature is what it is are being like Vimes. Discworld reference for those who know the books:) Cynics may live to be bitter old meanies, but we live to grow old. Those blinded by ideals tend to die young walking out into a street thinking traffic will surely stop for them.

First what argument? The statement you quoted is just observation. And you seem to forget several other things I mentioned about SR. with perma or near perma levels of elude combined with quickness one can easily offer a worthy race challenge to any SS/SJ zone runner. Does TM let you do that? No Kin does but not TM. It has DDR, something that TM does not have. It offers the strongest levels of CC pro to be found in any power set. Im not trying to say its a perfect comparison. Im simply pointing out that those trying to treat TM+ Power Boost like its something OP, are not taking into account the wide range of power sets and builds or the fact the final result when it comes to certain metrics is the same no matter the AT or powers used to reach those numbers. It doesnt really matter how one reaches soft cap especially by the mid 30s or higher. If this TM power combo existed at lvl 10 sure issue, if it let TM users reach numbers no other build could ever come near, sure issue. But these are not the case.

Oh you mean you dont know how to get eludes down time to less then the duration of a phase shift ? Well that certainly explains a fair bit about some posters pov. Im starting to think much of this thread and the QQ about TM comes from people who havent played the same game as those of us who do push the limits of a builds potential. So I think I really am starting to get a finger on the pulse here. This is a lot like nerf this thing I dont approve of threads over on DDOs forums. Its not about the upper limits of what a build can do, its about ease of reaching those upper limits. TM is basically a newb/casual friendly power set that dosnt require/demand the same investment to do some of the crazy things billion influence builds can do. So the real issue then seems to be not what can TM do but why can it do it for less investment. There will always be easy to use sets and sets that require a strong understanding of the set to bring out its full potential. This is actually a good thing, as its better for those looking for less challenge to have ATs and power sets that make the game easy, and those wanting to feel challenge having the option of less do everything power sets and sets that dont gel well together thus demanding better player skills to compensate. As a few others have pointed out in this thread, all roads lead to Rome, some are easier, some are more well traveled, some are over rocky and perilous terrain. In the end virtually all top end builds tend to share certain metrics if not certain specific powers. If one gets to soft cap def, something easily destroyed by high accuracy mobs with def debuffing, no matter how they got there its the same goal reached. If its because of a certain power synergy not even able to be used for about 70% of a characters leveling life then its a pretty high teir power synergy that producing strong results isnt some big deal. Maybe there is a bug, maybe there is an oversight in design, all valid things to look into and discuss. However trying to use older sets as the standard when basically nerf herding for a set released towards the end of the games life is basically trying to put the genie back into the bottle. By the twilight of live, it was very clear that most players wanted to be able to solo effectively on just about every possible build option. Thus newer sets for all ATs tended to be stronger then older sets that never got a real update. While no top end meta gamer I do tend to make strong characters and concepts to match that fit in the game lore. Thus many of my characters have something to do with time travel with that being such a big part of the gameverse. Yet I have bothered making a whopping one Time Manip toon that Ive stuck with. Its a nifty set for sure, but its not some oh ah nothing else will ever feel this good again set. This power combo under the threads microscope seems to be treating it like something unique, that it allows something no other build can equal. That is simply not so. Its another path, one that isnt even that smooth till higher levels. Late bloomer builds tend to see this kind of love/hate among the player base because those who level slowly cant really ever push through the rough start to reach the banquet and enjoy the feast.

There is a fair bit of behavior in this thread that comes across as head in the sand or a line drawn in the sand. Some tends to feel a lot more like trolling while using the thin veneer of discussing the topic to throw some shade at others. Since SR especially seems to be used as the warrior AT mitigation set held up as a comparison Ill try to keep the following simple. Super Reflexes can reach function with just its autos, a high recharge build, and Elude. Now I know many these days forsake the final tier crash powers these days. And in toggle heavy builds I myself do the same. However all SR needs is its autos, its clicky super defense and mes pro which can easily triple perma stack granting a level of KB pro to stand toe to toe with the strongest KB in the game like no one else can, It also comes with the perk of basically built in SS and SJ especially if you also slotted quickness up abit. Finally its basically immune to debuffing something far too many seem to be willfully ignoring. There is nothing the powers under topic can do that comes close to the above for as few power choices and as easy to use. I mean the biggest challenge to the above is having to manage 2 click powers you want to always be using in addition to hasten. Oh and one final parting fact. calling to gather for buffs is generally seen as a casual or newb buffer behavior. Skilled buffers take the time on a team to watch the team and learn their play approach. They take note of the alpha players running at the head of the pack and focus their power on them and if the others are close enough cool if not they dont matter. Its basically battlefield triage. You dont try to support everyone, you support those that basically function without support, not those in need of it. My namesake blaster is a great example of this. he doesnt need support, can and will lead any pack taking point and eager for blood. Give me evena little support, especially a kin and I become game breaking, the other people on the team just helping to speed up what is not a question of if we will win but when. Nothing Ive seen presented in this thread suggest a need for nerfing, does suggest the age for buff other only powers may have seen its setting sun, as many especially those building their defs to be solo capable offenders are ignoring buff other only powers making those powers less and less seen in game play outside of static teams. Because thats a real factor to ponder. if most people are ignoring powers they cant use on themselves, then do those powers need to even be as they are? If powers are seen as only fun part of the time and really only on those you team with, are they worth having at all? I mean Im a big user of powers like veng, I lead TFs and teams all the time, I get my use out of team only powers, however if I am in the mood to mainly solo those toons and builds tend to not even be considered as something fun to play on.

Yeah no terrible push for sameness in power sets in the quest for so called balance. Stalkers even sword stalkers are among the top DPS builds in the game. especially for single target killing. Your complaint about the synergy reeks of wanting optimal attack chains just handed to you. Stalkers already get the perk of AS, the sword sets are some of the few that didnt suffer a loss of a serious power to adapt to the stalker system. look at claw and dark melee as an example, the price they paid to be made into stalker sets was the loss of powers that basically defined their unique approach so they could have mere build up. And your here asking for a set that already does damn fine for stalkers to be made better because of a paltry little attack chain issue. I mean if your goal is max dps meta, why even touch a lethal dmg set in the first place?

for the first, well I suspect it has more to do with recent returnees not all having been on live after the end of the era of HO exploitation. Ive seen no few since coming to HC that got into the hami raiding, HO buying not being aware the exploit that made using an HO build worthwhile finally was fixed, and flipping out in zone chat etc when the fact was revealed to them. But Ill ask you this, what kind of bonuses do you want to see, that wouldnt equal more power? Also its a super terrible idea to add some kind of upgrade that once taken cant be changed to adapt to future build/power changes made by the devs. So the idea of something one slotted being locked in, just goes against CoHs spirit on just about every level. The only thing locked in is at character creation our power choices. Your building quite the strawman that this has nothing to do with elitism and haves/have nots. That is the very purpose of such chaser systems, to create time sinks, and the desire to chase them for a sense of in game superiority. Ultimately though why? Why do we need this system? Why do we need the devs to spend precious free time on it if its only going to be used by a very small subset of the population? How will this add over all to the general game play experience? Especially when many of us modern minded casual gamers recognize that the sense of pride and accomplishment some take in playing games is actually not seen as something healthy by the mental health community that see them as hand in glove with gaming addiction. The exception being those few actual professional E sport gamer types. What I am saying is, you really have not givena good reason for this new theoretical system/uber rare drop to even need to be and have in fact given reasons to not do it that you thought good points but in fact are the reasons not to do it. In other words, people who play games to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment do not need to be catered to, but may well be on the path to needing a serious game detox.

While I do feel the game is in dire need of more influence sinks, I do not feel the above is the answer but rather the outcome of people having too much and wanting something truly uber to spend it on. I dont feel this issue myself because I always have more alts ready to sink my funds into, but I have been meeting more in game who only play a single character and are amassing truly vast sums with nothing to spend it on. People use the word unique sometimes in this thread. This makes me think back to the days of P&P RPGs and even MUDs were actual unique 1 of a kind items existed. Because that is what both builders and gamers have in common, the dream of being the first with something, to do something. I recall on an MMO Vanguard a saga of heroes, that the first time a crafter made an item using stats of a given combo they would be noted as the first to have ever made that in the server. That when you crafted things your toon name was listed as maker. These allowed in game reputation, and made trying even junkier stat mixes something worth trying. I recall about a year in becoming the first in the server to makea low end short sword when i was just ranking up that toons smithing. Small things like that added to an otherwise lackluster MMO. So maybe what we need is something more then a rare drop. However the ideas that come to mind all seem like likely a lot of work for a volunteer dev team and hence why I am not sure any of this is really needed. We have threads demanding broad sweeping nerfs, and and threads wanting broad sweeping buffs and other major changes. Even one of the above suggestions in this thread could have a cascading impact on builds and cause unexpected exploits. While I dont think we cant progress I dont feel any ideas like this rank anywhere near the top of what needs to be worked on dev wise. So I say put this on the backburner, ponder it a few months, and really crunch some numbers before putting it back out here for discussion.