Llewellyn Blackwell
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Posts posted by Llewellyn Blackwell
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that is actually really bad play for all to dog pile on bosses, certain AT are by their nature the boss killers, if the minions and LTs are emlting that fast to aoe your already OPing the dif and dont need to stress dog piling.
A stalker can solo kill a boss in 1 to 2 hits tops, a scrapper with a lucky crit the same with their strongest attacks. Classes like Brutes should be rapid pummeling through minions to build up their rage fastest. Blasters should have a single target dps chain and aoe chain for mass mobs.
I just Duoed Synapse TF yesterday I was on a psi stalker my bro on a psi brute. Once I asked him to leave bosses to me, things went a lot smoother as he was not wasting dps on targets that I could one-2 shot. He was also abit chagrined when after insta killing bosses Id then turn around and kill the rest of the mobs faster then him even with his rage bar well up. Stalkers be killers like no other when used well.
We completed it in about 90 min, faster then most full teams Ive run with because we carried our weight and acted strategically rather then a mindless pack piling on the big target.
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Or you could just first unload at the AH before you go toa vendor, thats what I do, hit the steel WW, then swing by the near by science shop I think it is just down the street. The bank is also near there so you can just store rare mats if you dont want to sell them.
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You could you know just be a teleporter with tp to any zone you know if its a real want for you. Also Base porters and tp to base exist. There is evena macro that will let you just go to your base anywhere any time no casting animation or cool down.
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not only should all of those costumes, event and special give away wise be added. IMO all temp powers taht exist in the game in any form should be added to P2W. This includes the special mission costumes where we are taking on another character with their powers, and include the power use with those costumes. Shape Shifting power absorbers are a thing in comics and such costumes would help those wanting to RP such bring a concept like it to life.
The various weapon temps, things like the nictus fragment from the early vil mish that gives war shade teleport, why not, we havea dozen jet pack temps, why not a teleport temp.
Keep in mind I am not suggesting 1 time fee unlocks I am suggesting either charges or time limited just like the jet packs, and other useful temp power attacks like the envenomed daggers.
We def need some high cost inf sinks to help keep the economy from getting to bloated over time. tons of pricey limited duration temp attacks would be a great way to sink it up.
For example the Wheel of destruction fire powers, Id paya mil a pop for each hour of use of those up to 8 no second thought on magic themed characters. Heck add a second sands of mu with an hour duration for a mil and let it stack up to 72 hours like the one we get from the mission.
More is always better. and more sinks for inf as well.
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Important to note, the Brute is the counterpart to the scrapper. The MM is the counterpart to the Tank, and the stalker the counterpart to the blaster.
Brute and scrapper are the same role, front line dps that while tough takes some effort to be as survivable as a tank.
MMs main job is to grab aggro and hold it. The body guard mechanic allows them to basically have 80% universal DR right out the gate. A well played MM can never die no matter what they face.
Stalkers while doing it up close, exist to basically nuke groups or alpha strike single big targets the same way a blaster nukes or snipes.
Brutes do largely outdate scrappers because constant dps is more in line with meta gamers that dont like to trust to RNG like crits.
Stalkers are very close to scrappers now in a lot of ways, but still tend to be squishier then scrappers and a great many I see eat dirt as often or more often then bad blasters.
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Your problem Op is one of the META gamer control freak that does not even exist to the truly immersed role player.
1st. not everyone out there is a hero,villains, rogues, and vigilantes are all notorious for being go their own way types, and are not in any way required to abide by the dictates of anyone even the raid organizer. Nor are heroes motivated by the greater good and see swift action rather then meta politics as the appropriate thought process.
2nd MSR never really have been fun, especially when just doing the routine meta approach. My best times on live always involved me not being a part of a team let alone the league and just doing as I wished on the ship once the shields fell. I know Lady Grey trusts my instincts and would not want it any other way.
3rd now with the reduced v merit to reward merit conversion, even with a really good merit haul the reward doesnt not make the lame time of a slide show they become with all the overly bright flashy powers being used. Seriously people create a costume with all the powers set to the least visible color choice and minimal effects when possible for such things. Even turning off as much in the settings only helps so much.
4th So far Ive noticed all the typical raid leaders for it have a very bad habit of especially when not all team eladers are part of their clique, assigning bodies to optimize their teams personal reward rate. Its a good thing I am the blaster and can solo clear 1400 merits out there and teams I join are bloody lucky to have me, as the one time I went out there with a non aoe toon and got put on one of the B teams we all only cleared like 500 merits because all the aoe dps got put on the leaders SGs squads teams. Basic greed at its finest and why I dont see any need to team at all or listen to an MSR leader as just because they are leading dont mean they are good leaders, they are there for number 1 and the rest may as well be minions of a mastermind to them.
On the subject of leeches, basically every non incarnate out there is a leech, they simply cant bring anywhere near enough to the table without a lvl shift and serious aoe dps from judgement to contribute to the aoe madness required to make an MSR as profitable as possible.
In the time it typically takes to organize and run an MSR one can run a speed Yin and Speed moonfire and get more straight merits and actually play the game rather then slide show it.
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IO set bonuses have done far more to homogenise archetypes than Incarnates ever have
It's a compounded effect. As I stated before, Archetype homogenisation is a similar effect to power creep. Remember, set bonuses happened many Issues (content patches) before incarnate powers.
This is no way contradicts what I said.
Maybe... but only if what you said was irrelevant. If we pretend the argument is about big numbers, then the argument you're objecting to is something like, "100 x 100 is too large a number," with you responding, "well, 100 is a big number, too." We're concerned with the ten thousand here; so you might not be wrong if the point you're making is just that it has factors, but it's also not responsive to the point.
re other points, set bonuses specifically distorted three areas disproportionately: recharge, endurance, and Defense. there's a reason why there is less mez protection available from sets than from pool powers. and yes, people have and still do suggest those three things should be managed/mitigated/nerfed. i personally think the game can absorb the 'broken' endurance and Defense just fine. recharge is... a bigger discussion.
Those using build guides are forevera t best that tier because someone using a guide will never even be a peer to the one that created that guide. . . .
my character of the same name as my handle here was a blaster that would not falter or fail . . . Id lead Lady Greys and ITFs daily and no matter the AT used some players just could not keep up. I had everything from scrappers to brutes to full on tanks complain about how gimp the power sets or combos they had taken were . . . among the returnees as I have only encountered a single brute played that ineptly. . . .However I have met those that also do not wield their incarnate abilities very effectively in large part because they are new to them as they hadnt been playing during the last year of live.
Look, all the anecdotes are great but that's not really what the balance discussion is about. I've made or revised builds for plenty of players better than myself, and cheered for everyone pushing the limits of what any AT can do. I'm thrilled when possibilities open up because of new mechanics or interactions. The concern isn't that X build is too strong, or that an AT can perform a slightly different role than it was designed for. Instead, it's a problem with and for content, more like the "superman problem." Bear with me for a sec.
Writing a good Superman story is hard because he's canonically only worried about three things: kryptonite, his friends/family, and the literal end of the world (which ties into 2). (Canonically, magic also hurts him but this comes up rarely.) There are no other challenges that phase him, so basically every superman story is one of: Lex Luthor gets ahold of some Kryptonite; Lois Lane (or Ma Kent or etc) gets kidnapped; Braniac (or Darkseid or etc) threatens the world.
It's almost hard to say at this point which is the worse Superman story: Superman shows up and beats up the bad guys because nothing was a threat; or Lois Lane gets kidnapped. They are dull to the point of tears. In order to solve this, the writers either write Superman out of his own stories (off saving the galaxy, gets sick, red kryptonite, etc etc); or they nerf him directly or relatively (e.g., "What if there's a monster so tough even SUPERMAN can't punch it hard enough!" -- despite "can punch hard enough" being one of the core Superman powers until it suddenly isn't); or they make the problem complex enough that being fast and punching just isn't the solution (and for the last one, you have to remember that e.g., global thermonuclear war is solvable by being fast enough and punching hard enough); or they make Superman the villain. (Edit: I realized after writing this that Batman v Superman literally rapid-fires all of these problems. Geez that was a terrible story. Pretty dream sequence though.)
The point we're... at, really, or anyway right up next to... in City of Heroes is "everyone's Superman." And that's great until you realize that it means new missions all have to be Superman stories. Either they're all on timers, or all of the sudden Incarnate powers don't work (or they hit like wet noodles against these specific bad guys for some reason), or they work but don't affect the actual mission (there's no 'find all the clickies which were deliberately hidden in obnoxious corners' Incarnate power). Or, somehow, they're evil or something... I'm sure there's a way for that to work. But for a long time, the best Superman stories have been Justice League stories; stories about big, complex problems Superman can't solve as a blunt force. And this thread is literally about not being able to do that anymore in CoH.
This is why I don't understand folks defending the 'it's fine everyone's Superman' position. It is, I mean we can all have a blast with that for a few hours, but it's deadly to the story. Even the cool high concept stuff like Battalion becomes "8-40 Supermans get in a fight with bad guys and then win." All of the planned Incarnate content was based around the idea of making Incarnate powers functionally irrelevant to the Incarnate story -- we were literally never supposed to be powerful enough to fight Battalion on our own -- and that just seems...
small.
Not everyone.just every META gamer. and we should never care about how those types abuse content and defile the game, or it will lead to ruin like how AE got hurt because those sick twisted self centered types couldnt keep their grubby fingers off the one MMO that had a good RP community and content that clearly was made for their creative minds.
Role Players tend to only take characters that fit being incarnates to incarnate status, just as we dont make every character a fully IOd out demi god while leveling.
You think I make my batman esque character an incarnate? Nope dont need to, I dont do every bit of content with every character. Some just are not meant to walk that path.
Some are, and they are not what they are because of incarnate powers but are complimented by them.
Keep in mind in lore, Galaxy Girl a non incarnate accomplished more by basically using a super form of self destruct during the rikti invasion then any incarnate class being like States did.
And powerful foes have powerful counters. In the dark Knight Returns, Batman uses every trick and tactic to weaken, and distract superman to get a piece of K close enough. And that is a mere human. If a being had bats brains and doomsdays powers Supes would despite all his godly power be royally frelled.
So had the Battalion content been made and had they been given the means to peirce through defenses and wreck us like Qs wreck kheldians I for one would of thought it perfectly logical.
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While I am happy to help with lore your Qs are still quite broad and dont really help me zero in very well.
The shadow shard is basically a magical prison constructed by the midnighters lead by the Dream Doctor to contain the Ruluruu. Basically an interdimensional version of Galactus.
Some Rumors from the possibly totally BS leaked bits of the maybe Lore Bible claim some stuff most of us dismiss as it tends to not really jive with in game canon. So we tend to treat that leak as bad fanfic more then anything else.
What we do know from actual in game material, He has devoured thousands of dimensions for who knows how long. He is worshipped by a cult called the Rulushin. You can encounter them and learn abit about it all running the sig arc series that begins in skyway with theoden.
In general for mystical groups to research for the good/neutral types we have the Midnighters. For the nuetral/evil types we have the Circle of Thorns, and the Tsoo. For full on evil we have the skulls, the hellions both low teir culty dabblers in magic sorts. then we have groups like the Mu types found in arachnos, several magical monster groups like the coralax and the banished Pantheon.
Tilekku was the goddess that first learned how to wield magic, she and the other gods used this to basically bribe humanity into mass worship by bestowing power upon them. One of her lesser god disciples Ermeeth felt this was wrong and betrayed the gods to teach mankind how to learn and use magic without the need for gods.
This lead to the ancient war between Mu and Orenbega. Forced the Orenbegans to make pacts with demonkind to not be wiped out by Mu and the gods, and lead them down the dark path we now see today as the Circle of Thorns, and why I describe them as neutral to evil, as we do see a few hints in game of some of the old souls not totally forgetting the reasons they fought and took the pact in the first place.
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In the case of lady grey, you seem to forget its not only for heroes. Why on earth should a sick twisted serial killer who is only even lending his abilities for the sake of keeping his hunting ground intact have to show selfless compassion on top of it?
In the case of moonfire, Todd is one of those crazy ass get themselves killed types.
Now I personally do the wait by the door and ATT trick with todd every time. I find it faster actually then letting her die.
However what you suggest would make it so you would sooner solo these TFs then risking some one who has a personal issue like a having a bad day, not liking how you post on the forums if on your name sake etc piss all over the TF with your frankly terribad idea.
Dont like how a pug acts leave the pug. Stop trying to bend others to your play style. Dont jive, ignore em all to avoid them forever after. You choose who you play with. You dont come here and demand energy spent by the HC team on this nonsense.
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A brand new character has just completed the Galaxy City tutorial on the real world date of June 23rd, 2019. They have had no other adventures since. It just happened to them. The dust of the fallen buildings hasn't been cleaned off their jacket as they speak with Matthew Habashy, who fears for the safety of his wife, still missing from the same incident. When did the destruction of Galaxy City take place in the game's timeline?
The vast majority of characters have completed few, if any, incarnate trials. Has Tyrant detonated a nuke on Praetoria yet?
How long has Sam Wincott been missing in the Hollows? Has he been rescued yet? Which heroes were on the team that rescued him?
It doesn't matter what your answers were, because every answer is wrong. The game's timeline is already intractable. If you can't roleplay with the punches, you can't roleplay.
actually no there was back on the days of live a very interesting discussion about how years pass as we level. the single best in game way to see this is penelope yin
Penny is basically around 14, a young mutant in 2006. one could argue that when we are in that level range going to faultline and working those arcs, that is the year and even the very month, that the issue was released.
its 5 and a half to 6 years later when our characters reach Ip and meet the older Penny. It doesnt matter how fast or slow we play through the content. nor what year we made our characters as there is an in game timeline
Galaxy City was destroyed near the end of 2011. now personally I skip any content that doesnt fit in with a given character concepts personal timeline and then use time travel to clean up those arcs later.
Granted the timeline issue can bea real bit of timey whimeyness. Hoever since most characters start time traveling before they are even high enough to go to faultline, it adds flexibility.
Most RPers I role with either keep their origin specifics vague enough to avoid conflict, or use a specific historical event to anchor that characters personal timeline to.
Ultimately I find it kind of funny this has worked up so many people. As my intent was simply to discuss lore and how to try and sync it up enough to avoid RP conflicts.
Because just like any conflict be it play style, social behavior etc we dont have to deal with those that negatively impact our personal preference. My own is as thorough an immersive experience as possible. I also dont tolerate alot of deplorable social behaviors and put such on ignore. Does that make me an evil elitist as well because I dont care to here douche bags disparage people of differing culture, skin color, gender, or the like? When I put a guy RPing a crude Pimp on ignore because nothing about such a character or their RP was something I wanted to interact with, did that make me an evil elitist?
We each get to pick and choose our social circles and should strive for ones we enjoy rather then ones that in any way ruin our play time.
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So, I promise I'm not trying to be confrontational, or throw any shade. Especially now that it seems this thread migrated from its original point.
But is anyone going to point out to the OP that his RP policing looks bad when 'Bentley Berkley' is a canon character in the Midnighter lore, and RPing a lore character you didn't come up with is usually pretty bad practice in an RP community.
Nope the opposite,, in CoH it was always seen as a true sign of loving the game to find lore based names and flesh them out into active characters.
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Asking someone (a total stranger at that) to rename their character, when they have likely spent quite a while either building the character's backstory or even finding that name in the first place, is a bit cheeky you have to admit.
You seem to have failed to understand what I wrote. As I never told the player to rename their character. What I did was suggest in their bio refer to an earlier identity used prior to the destruction of galaxy city, and that they had adopted the new galaxy city related name as a way to honor that which was destroyed.
And frankly no there is nothing wrong with that as I have done it a number of times these last weeks and mostly been thanked for helping them make their character back ground better fit in the game world.
For recent example I met a guy at the Keyes Lounge, that was an alien in his bio he had the Rikti being galaxy invading monsters, and I pointed out OOC politely rikti are not space aliens but humans from an alternate earth who where tricked into attacking our world by Nemesis. By the end of our chat not only had he thanked me several times, but also simply switched his alien invaders in his bio from the rikti to the Nictus and that little change made his whole bio still work and his reason for being on earth, hunting the nictus still give him an in game faction to focus on as his main foe. And in doing so made his character be a firm ally of Berks in his battle against the Path of the Dark.
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I should clarify. I actually don't super care if someone plays a lore character that the game itself hasn't really developed or fleshed out. Both Berkley or your guy count among that. What anyone does with their time is entirely up to them, and everyone has the opportunity to cultivate their own experiences, and more power to them.
The issue is that this thread is really just an elitist bit of whinging when, to someone of another stripe, the OP himself would be under intense scrutiny.
I ultimately have no dog in this fight, I just thought it was odd to throw stones, given the circumstances.
The people stating to just have fun, do what you want, and try not to let the haters dab on you, have the right general idea.
Under intense scrutiny by whom? Because I was known even to the devs on live. I talked with ghost falcon as invisible falcon, I hailed Infernal by his name Kvarr on T'Keron Valmaz. Some fools tried to get said characters genericed not understanding the rules of such, and was in fact given props by said devs for actively taking part as a player in expanding the lore via RP.
I guess youve never played a session of D&D where all the characters are pre rolled and its part of a test of an RPers skill to like any actor take any character role and make it their own. Look at the history of The Doctor in doctor who as an example. Each actor has taken the same role and made it a unqiue new incarnation.
Because since year 1 of live Lore Based RP was a thing with a fairly active community, and frankly Ive been getting plenty of in game props for my ol Berk. Been rebuilding the Midnight Club, and even getting friendly tells from those saying hey didnt I rescue you the other day to which I always reply, yes and thanks for the save this ol berk has a knack for biting off abit too much.
Its actually those who ignore lore to say they are this or that often subscribing to being more powerful then characters in lore like Statesman etc, before they are incarnates that are RP elitist, basically god moders wanting to act all powerful or above established lore to sate their ego.
Hell I use self destruct every time I enter a council map with a cell block so I have to be rescued by my party while I break out from inside. And you know what even in rp pugs that always gets a laugh from them.
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since year one there have been plenty playing D&D style elves and drow. Closest in game faction we see with traits even close are the red caps. Who tend to be more of the short elf gnome dwarf type as is often depicted in certain myths and legends. Keep in mind much real world myth and even religion needs to be adapted through the filter of certain crucial cohverse concepts.
The biggest being these high points.
All gods etc began as Spirits that fed off of human emotions etc or as I tend to term it are basically parasites that feed of the latent psychic energy in all humans.
As such in COHverse that is likely what the Sidhe or Sith began as to. The Cat Sith of scottish lore that was in fact in RL likely based ona unique sub species of the scottish wild cat would more then likely be one of these spirits that never became overly gluttonous and perhaps even had genuine affection for humanity.
We also can say with some surety that Demons are more then likely just another variation on human, like the rikti. Of one of the possibly oldest surviving dimensions not devoured by the Ruluruu. And that Demons may rival or even surpass the magic wielded by Tilekku and her followers. As her zealout and mad disciple Hequat's forces found themselves brutally driven back inspite of their divinely given powers once Valmaz made the pact and gifted the thorn blades to the Orenbegans.
Its one of the stranger points of CoH lore Tilekku is treated as a good thing in the dark astoria arcs, however she saw humanity not following gods and worshipping them as intolerable and worthy of destruction for. Basically in this early era, the Orenbegans where the heroes all gods the villians, and demonkind the extra dimensional allies that saved humanity from enslavement.
All my mystical characters praise Ermeeth and are very anti worship of gods. Saw Statesman being the avatar of zeus as a serious threat to humanity and dieing as a GREAT thing, his statue in Kallisti Wharf a sick charade to appease the ignorant masses. And Arachnos as basically a cult of Aries.
So ultimately if you want the pretty boy LOTR style elf you can make it but there doesnt really seem a fitting place for it as a larger race, rather Id suggest treating them each as unique spirits that only feed on humanity in minor ways.
I was considering making a Dryad character taking that very route. That she was a forest spirit that ancient primitive people worshipped through a massive tree, and when that tribe faded away she was reduced to a humanoid being that needed to merge with her tree to be sustained by the water and light. Basically a dryad but not part of a dryad race as depicted in so many popular fantasy series.
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sorry but even in year 1 a very real melee exploit style with SS called jousting was used to ignore virtually any risk. Scrappers ofcourse being the ones doing this. they would be able to reliably one and two shot even the bosses in groups with little to no counter attacks as they would be out of aggro range before the game could respond.
Many of us myself included had asked for travel power speed being reduced in combat because even the flash eventually stands still to punch long enough to get attacked back.
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Incarnate powers are meant to literally make the character into a demi god at the least. That is what a great many will be at because they lack the build talent and play talent to be more.
Those using build guides are forevera t best that tier because someone using a guide will never even be a peer to the one that created that guide. Back in the day when 99.99% of all blasters on live were seen as glass cannons my character of the same name as my handle here was a blaster that would not falter or fail when entire teams wiped around him. And this was pre incarnate. Id lead Lady Greys and ITFs daily and no matter the AT used some players just could not keep up. I had everything from scrappers to brutes to full on tanks complain about how gimp the power sets or combos they had taken were to try and shift the blame off themselves.
Thankfully it seems most of those players are not among the returnees as I have only encountered a single brute played that ineptly. I suspect OP your real issue stems from almost the tnire home coming population being made up of likely the best and most committed players the game had back on live.
However I have met those that also do not wield their incarnate abilities very effectively in large part because they are new to them as they hadnt been playing during the last year of live. Many foolish players especially blasters ignore Clarion, a true must have for the skilled blaster build. Likewise many ignore Storm Elementals, easily the best Lore Pets especially for flying characters.
Even before Incarnate powers there were those running at max dif solo with impunity. My scrappers all did and I had multiple maxxed scrappers of a variety of sets. I had a Kat/SR, a BS/Regen, Claw/WP, MA/Shield, and an Eng/ENG brute all who pre incarnate trivilaized content and would lead TFs of any party make up to victory because they honestly didnt matter. However I felt the true trick of being a good leader was not letting them realize that. Basically knowing when to be clark kent rather then superman.
Inc abilities no more triviliaze lvls 45+ when exemping then smat exemp builds already do at other lvls with the right sets. Hell its easier then ever with easy access to attuned IOs that take away the need to sacrifice some % from the IO itself to have the set bonuses at the lowest level possible. 5 LOTG recharges and 5 lvl 50 purple sets make everyone exemping down to 22 way way more powerful then the content can challenge. That is by design because we are not a holy trinity MMO. Not even in year one. tanking and spanking, corner pulling etc are seen as basic intro play styles, not skillfull or the way its done. But what came to be known as wowtard play style.
No AT was ever a need that is a good thing. People should be free to play what they want with whom they want and not be forced to alt because a different AT is needed.
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I went and spent a lovely hour of relaxation on the boardwalk today. My devoted servant accompanied me and we found it a most impressive bit of work. We wondered if perhaps we could arrange a face to face in game and get abit of a consultation on some of the amazing tricks used. As we have grand ideas, but our talents in base building are rather rough still after all these years.
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While I get that some are not into the idea and want it meaningless. That was basically the view of Jack the tyrant Emmert who over road and stamped out everything he didnt like and did so while saying you dont know better then me so thank me for knowing better then you.
Hitler ate sugar. This is not an indictment of sugar.
So what about this, instead temp power vendors similar to P2W, that carry things in the same line as our origin powers, or even higher teir versions of our origin power we can sink inf in to upgrade?This could work, but if origins can't be respecced, a lot of people are going to be faced with a character who would've made more sense as a different origin had they known in advance which powers would be associated to what, and now have to rebuild the character from level 1. Nothing will make a system unpopular more quickly than inconvenience.
Sugar is evil though, like seriously fuck corn syrup and soda and all the diabetics it has helped create. May as well let us buy hard drugs and radioactive isotopes over the counter to, because free will and all that crap right?
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Whoah peeps, let's all calm down and get back to the main point...
... Which is that origins shouldn't be more relevant to the game play, that is. ;D
Thank you. :)
I mean, for getting us back on track, not about origins. Speaking of, is there a reason you think they shouldn't, aside from some form of "they haven't been up to now"? I mean, I should make it clear that I'm perfectly aware of their lack of historical relevance. I wouldn't have started this thread otherwise.
Should power color affect the power's effect? Should red powers do more damage, and white powers add -recharge?
Because when that's the same argument that I could make for origins. If they have an effect, then other things like power color should have an effect. A LONG time ago, the Devs decided that certain things that were cosmetic shouldn't affect game play. They made origins largely cosmetic with their design choices. We should follow their lead, IMHO.
No not the devs, the head Dev, Tyrant State Jack himself who treated those who stuck with us like Sister Psyche as unworthy of even having an opinion that made sense.
Its not merely cosmetic, especially at launch the starting contacts had a huge impact on what foes youd face. and most RPers tend to do the same still picking those early foe types connected with their origin as their main targets. mystical detectives seek out skulls and hellions, street wise mutants hunt the outcast and trolls etc.
Our origin does have a strong psychological motivation component clearly.
I personally want this simply because Jack told everyone no he was right and this is how it is. While no big fan of sister psyche compared to say War Witch, I firmly believe she was the one in the right with her view of origins if not quite as draconian in how Id see it done.
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So lets look at what the current origins powers are and do.
Magic is a little rune attack.
Natural is a throwing knife.
Tech is a stun dart
science is a tranq dart
and mutation is basically poisoned capsules not unlike something we see batman use.
The fact is all of these could be used by anyone of any originm with maybe the exeption of the magic one if we say you need to know magic first, rather then see it as some kind of magic item.
They are all basically throwing devices, no different from grenades, and the envenomed dagger, or the various throwing attacks found in power sets.
Considering we are not allowed to respec our origin it suggest to some extent devs did want it to have a meaningful impact. the bits of flavor lore on SOs does add to that sense of difference but not much.
While I get that some are not into the idea and want it meaningless. That was basically the view of Jack the tyrant Emmert who over road and stamped out everything he didnt like and did so while saying you dont know better then me so thank me for knowing better then you.
Currently SOs are utter trash next to IOs. have been since IO sets happened. So their flavor has been virtually lost as most of us never read it anymore even in passing.
So what about this, instead temp power vendors similar to P2W, that carry things in the same line as our origin powers, or even higher teir versions of our origin power we can sink inf in to upgrade?
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The /JRanger is because I don't want origins to be more relevant. I want them to remain as decoupled from gameplay as possible, and only existing for RP/flavor.
Understood, even if I truly am baffled at the resistance to making an element of the game more engaging, even if just in concept.
Edit: And I'd like to point out that origins currently aren't just for RP/flavor. They limit what enhancements you can slot. Origin already has a mechanical consequence -- I'm just asking to make it an interesting one.
Now while Im not quite a fan of the total lock out of power sets behind origin types, what I would love to see is and this is using pretty much the best ingame example we have, our origin to make one of the various side pools inherent alongside fitness.It's interesting but do we run into too many powers? I mean, if we make Sorcery inherent to Magic origins, and I have Tech, I'm assuming I can still get Sorcery when the time comes for me to pick a pool, right? But then I also have my inherent Tech powers (whatever those end up being).
But I do like the idea. What if we kept the pools as-is but gave a character some kind of bonus based on origin? So when a Magic origin character uses a power from the Sorcery pool, they're more effective at it?
Just want to point out that your fear of too many powers was something said by those who opposed fitness being inherent, basically saying they didnt want more temptations to divide up their slots.
So yes you could obviously still take the pools made inherent as chosen pools if wished in my suggestion. Nothing wrong with petty dabblers in the arcane arts;)
As always the amount of powers taken in the sub pools,and how we slot them would remain unchanged. It would still be our choice.
However I dont think your suggestion is a bad one. It would still require other pools being made for the other origins. Id think that level of work would be more warranted if it was part of my inherents being added suggestion
Right now we kind of see that with the staff vet powers, and most still dont bother with them after a few levels.
My desire would be to see it become the standard that magic users having some clear magical attacks etc.
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From waht I have gathered back during development there was actually quite a heated debate involving origins and power set access. Sister Psyche wanted for example a Psionic Origin, and for all power sets that did psi dmg to be gated behind this origin. Jack didnt want origins to have any meaningful impact and to be largely a purely flavor choice.
Now while Im not quite a fan of the total lock out of power sets behind origin types, what I would love to see is and this is using pretty much the best ingame example we have, our origin to make one of the various side pools inherent alongside fitness.
Example magic origin would make the sorcery pool inherent. Now maybe that would be too much I dont know, but I dont feel so as it just means more power choices to have to divide slots up among which always acts as a natural limiter.
Natural could get fighting, some sets using in game abilities to fit science,tech and mutation, and We could if possible finally create the psion origin that Sister Psyche always wanted, and give it a few of the various psi sets lower teir tricks, a psi dart, maybe a psi blade, perhaps a confuse or sleep aoe and lesser drain psyche for the upper tiers, or a psi pet like penny yin has.
Just some thoughts to make origins really mean something that I dont think would really be power creep somuch as continue the spirit of power proliferation and even finally make the dream of one of our devs come true by making the origin she always stated as being the actual origin type of her ingame avatar.
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For those that have bothered to get the buff pets, you may of noticed they die instantly in any fight, even if you are taking all the aggro a single aoe effect will ash them.
I frankly feel they should get around 10 HP a level and have a very high aoe defense to actually allow them to serve their stated function. They cant very well grant buffs if dead the moment you engage an enemy.
While some ATs have power sets such as force fields to buff up the pet, buffing a buff bot kind of defeats the purpose of a buff bot to those who cant buff them up enough to let them do their job.
Many of us enjoy a few visual companions especially when soloing. At this time all they really are useful for is RP, and that is sad, and that comes from one of us evil serious RPers.
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I consider them intertwined and build accordingly. however that doesnt mean a character cant be optimal, and infact the only way one can really justify RPing some kind of serious superman class bad ass is to be both well built in concept and performance.
For example I will not remotely acknowledge anyones claims in RP that they are resistant to psi abilities like mind reading if their power sets or IO set bonuses do not indicate at least some moderate level of resistance or defense.
On My pure human claw/wp toon I dont take rise to the challenge. I only give him moderate amounts of resistance and push more into defense to show he depends to some extent on agility and only has light armor. I use multiple sets procs in his attacks so he doesnt have alot of higher teir set bonuses, but his attacks while all not having more then 40 or 50% dmg bonus hit plenty hard and have all sorts of modest CC effects to help hinder enemies and compensate. On live this build never updated after fitness became inherent and was in fact much weaker then it is now, but even back then more often then not id have people impressed with my characters performance and compliment me evena s they asked why I didnt have inherent fitness.
build should reflect the character as they are RPd. We call those who act super awesome at low levels god moders while we recognize incarnates as the god like beings they are. Our Security level is an in game concept reflecting both our power rating and our success and effectiveness. We use pets, emotes, and power animations when we RP.
Our character is a sum of all its aspects when we RP. otherwise your just talking shiite in RP and not worthy of others time.
Sometimes a master craftsman forgets the arduous journey he took to get there in the first place, and scoffs at the work of a young man's first try at the craft. He forgets that he too was once an apprentice with much to learn. And had not another master craftsman taken the time to teach him he would not be where he is today. He forgets that before he was an apprentice even, when he knew very little about the art, that his own initial attempts at crafting himself were pitiful and hardly worthy of praise. He forgets that those initial attempts were the best he could do. He forgets about the friendly journeyman passing through town, who took the time to talk to him about the craft, and inspired him to continue in the journey. He forgets that journeyman spoke to him at his level, praising the effort that went into the work, and encouraged him to keep trying. That journeyman who never spoke poorly about his attempt, even though they both knew it was not quality work. He forgets that it was that encounter that spurred him to try again. And again, until he knew that this was something he truly wanted to do with his life and finally apprenticed himself to a master who he could ask and learn from.
That master craftsman now ponders...maybe I was too quick to scoff. We both know it's a poor attempt, but perhaps if I just talk to him like that journeyman once talked to me, that this too might be another master craftsman in the rough, waiting for someone to notice the sparkle of the diamond he could be. He struggles to remember how the journeyman approached him. Not with criticism, but praise. But how can I praise this poor attempt? How can I even humor it? He remembers now, the journeyman praised his effort, not the quality. They talked about the passion of crafting. He talked at his level at the time so that by humoring the young man that he was, he was inspired to continue the journey.
Bentley - I say this to you with absolute sincerity and zero attempt of sarcasm...you are a master craftsman at lore based RP and RP in general. I would love to team with you because I would no doubt love the experience of teaming with someone so versed in the lore. But I would be afraid to, because, alas, I am a mere apprentice. I know it, you would know it, and I would rather not invite your scorn. I role play because I have some passion around it, but even at the "set in my ways" age of 46, I could those fires being tamped out and the enthusiasm lost.
The post is a morality tale...it's my own creation, and it's clearly my opinion, and not based in any universal set of right/wrong. But having mastered some crafts, having attempted others only to see my attempts squashed, and having journeyed along the path with others, these are my perceptions.
Uhm Flattery will get you everywhere?
But seriously, my jouney to lore based RP was not long nor arduous it began in my first weeks in game, which was about 8 months into the games life. I was immediately annoyed encountering god of chaos this, lord of entropy that, all these other fellow lowbies acting like they deserved worship and should be treated as vastly more powerful then I because they said so. Classic god moding of the worst kind.
I was like hm who are the actual powers, gods etc in this game, and set out reading an early wiki site for the game and pretty quickly came across Infernals bio page. As soon as I was done reading it I had the perfect response to all the most powerful dark power god moders. Valmaz Lord of Demon kind, and even better a unique way to approach being such a entity and yet not being a god moder.
Because it clearly said he ahd been fused with infernals friend T'Keron, and so I made T'Keron Valmaz, a kat/SR scrapper that used a mystical sword and his inhuman reflexes because he couldnt be sure how much damage this strange new half mortal body could endure. I RPed him as having 3 seperate persona;s T'Keron the man, Valmaz the eons ancient entity, and a fusion of both. I would go on to create costumes for each and as time and options added refined the look of the demon form as full valmaz mode especially.
So well did this concept work for me that every addition felt as if tailor made for this singular character. epic pools, IO sets, incarnate powers each a step on the path to him regaining his lost powers. This was all when I was a proper newb that I first began this character. who was my only year one vet badge toon to not ever get deleted because he was just always fun to play and RP.
When going rogue came out and I went rogue with him, I started running the various SFs that had Infernal in them and would talk in local caht to the NPC, and was often complimented by my various pug team amtes who said I had added something special to what had otherwise become static and boring for them long ago.
Yes I take lore rp perhaps abit too seriously,but its not something that requires years of playing the game to learn, just a few hours on a wiki at most exploring those aspects of it that interest you for a concept.
And for true newbs I always suggest praetoria now, because you learn plenty of the world while there, and then are rightly in a strange new world once you reach prime earth, thus are able to easily RP being a stranger in a strange land.
I was no different in D&D I always wanted to read about a campaign setting before making a character so I could actually make my character feel like he was a part of that world.
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Id have to say maneuvers as you can slot an lotg in it, if your going no hasten trying to get 70% global through set bonuses which isnt too hard at 50 with purple sets is still basically perma hasten in the pre ED sense because back then that is what perma hasten gave, nowdays to get perma hasten you already exceed hastens global benefit enough as to overshadow hasten. Fact is if you a build with lots of toggles hasten is far less a must then say a blaster with tons of attacks, or regen with a lot of clicks in their defense 2ndary.
Then Id say tactics because the perception bonus isnt nearly as shitty as the primary aspect of it on non defenders, so a tank using it is still helping people reach perception cap which can be handy especially when dealing with arachnos widows etc.
Then Id say vengeances and rush of victory are both useful. rush of victory at low lvls can help alot with endurance, and vengeance well hell especially if youra tank who depends on support like healing etc can in that case be ready to go veng if their support falls.
I actually use it on a blaster who tends to outlast everything including tanks quite frequently, thus when someone else inevitably falls trying to keep up with my blaster, my blaster then goes veng mode and is a nightmare for any mob. And its taken very much as an RP thing as I run my SG, see my midnighters as my children to be guided and protected, and to harm one of them is to incur a rage that only a venged blaster can deal out.