_NOPE_

Honestly? I think the solution is EXACTLY what they did to Superman. Incarnates need a Kryptonite. Just as Kheldians have the Nictus and Quantum dudes that can do massive damage and show up randomly, I think each Incarnate power chosen above a certain Tier should cause some sort of weakness to appear in missions, or on the map if the user is out in the world. We need an army of anti-Incarnate enemies and effects to keep things interesting and challenging. At least, that's what I would do.

This. All of this. Paid supporter here, very disappointed so far in my investment.

You wanted a solution, I provided one. If it's REALLY bothering you that much, there's a way to resolve it, if you're willing to put in the work. If you're not, then I guess it doesn't really bother you badly enough.

ED and GDN were necessary though. For the same reason why people have to keep writing new ways to weaken Superman (Green K, Magic, Mind control, his loved ones). Because, when you have someone SO super powered that they are nearly unstoppable - where's the drama? Where's the challenge? Where's the underdog that we want to see triumph over evil? Sometimes we have to bring our heroes down, because challenge is what makes things... interesting.

GUILTY! I filled up all my T5s this way, because I was playing the concept of a Defender the never teams (which I succeeded in).

It's a good policy, so I don't think the rule should be taken out. People LIKE things and they don't like it when those things are taken away. There's a reason why pure democracy is one of the worst forms of government - because mob rule is notoriously terrible for minorities. If I was in a minority, I'd HATE it if something I liked was completely changed to something else. In my opinion, the cottage rule should stand. In fact, I'd argue that there's no reason for any power to be redesigned and replaced rather than just buffing/tweaking them. Why? Because alternate power choices is already tech that's in the game. You don't like a power, and would rather not have to choose it? Well, the tech exists to make that possible and choose something else. "Power Trees" can be a thing, and already exist in the game. Perhaps they should just be made more pervasive to create more alternatives to lesser liked powers. All that being said, if a power is under-performing, then it should definitely be looked at for buffing.

Here you go:

This is old, but it's still useful I think for a total newbie: https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/The_Combat_Handbook Also, browse ParagonWiki itself, there's TONS of good info there.

Yeah, no, they're KIND OF a big deal, and been around for over twenty years now... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Archive

I suppose if you don't trust that the Internet Archive would actually scan all content that gets uploaded to their servers...

You don't trust the Internet Archive?

I LOLed.

Well, why didn't you say so??? @Bopper, @WanderingAries, @Redlynne The Dev Tracker is BACK, and is just as slow as ever!!! Seriously though, I do want to revamp this thing and make it faster and more user friendly, I did just enough to fix what was broken, and maybe make it look a tad bit nicer than it used to. @Jimmy Isn't there some sort of similar functionality built into Invision Community somewhere?

This, all of this. However, I can see where they might not be able to do this. Right now, I suspect that since the negotiations are ongoing and seem pretty serious, it looks like the HC team have to, legally, wall themselves off from the playerbase, both for the protection of the on-going negotiations (NDAs are a heck of a thing) as well as the protection of the playerbase itself. Try this thought experiment - if HC WAS to completely open their doors, and allow anyone to "work for" them even while the negotiations are ongoing, what would happen if the negotiations were to fail? Let's think worst case scenario. Let's say that NCSoft changes their mind about the whole thing, they decide that they want to play the game of whack-a-mole to shut down all the servers and keep their property to themselves (even if they aren't friggin' doing anything with it). If HC was in those negotiations, they may have to legally provide the names and other personal information of all people that had ever touched NCSoft's legally-owned code. Then, NCSoft could go after anyone that's ever tried to "help" HC or any other private server. It would be McCarthyism at a smaller scale. "Are you or have you ever been a CoH Code Tinkerer?" Just a thought as to why the doors might be largely closed, at least for the time being. I could be completely wrong, of course.

Except that this game, as it stands now, is free, and costs nobody any real world money except those that volunteer it.

Yes, it broke when the forum changed. Frankly, I didn't ever fix it because: I expected with the new software that the Devs would be able to make their own Dev Tracker I haven't had the time really to fix it, due to a job change, and Nobody seemed to care - until just now.

@quixoteprog, you make good points, sir. So the question then is, how do you define "balance" in a game economy? Before we start talking about any potential changes, we must define: What does a "healthy" game economy look like? What are the parameters that make it so? Does this game exist within those parameters? Only THEN can we can go to the point of 4) What can/should we do about it? But, let's not put the cart before the horse and assume that the economy is "bad" before defining what exactly "bad" is, right?

Fixed that for you.

@quixoteprog, sounds like those that want to have that bragging right and do that kind of extreme action would actually be HURTING themselves by buying the most l337 gear. I can't remember the term, but there actually is a precedent for gamers that intentionally gimp themselves of the challenge of their skills - those gamers that start a fantasy RPG with no armor and just a dagger, and play the entire game like that... MAN I wish I could remember the term. A CoH player could do the same thing by never slotting anything ever, only ever using one power, that kind of thing. I myself have done something similar recently by running a FF/Elec Defender from level 1 to Veteran level 45+ (I can't remember the exact level) without EVER teaming. So, I guess it comes down to this - if you WANT a challenge, this game gives you the freedom to make a challenge for yourself. If you don't want a challenge and want to steamroll the game, then that option is there as well. In my opinion the game as it stands now is perfectly balanced, because both options are there.

I thought that was what Incarnate Levels and Trials were for, along with the ability to modify your difficulty settings? Badges? There's all kinds of accomplishments in this game that don't have to be tied to the in-game currency.

There are influence sinks and limitations already built into the system: Auction House fees Altitis/Equipping Alts The two billion influence cap Purples

@Rygenix, I don't see why. We aren't paying money for this game. So what if everyone is rich and everything is cheap by comparison? What does it hurt if everyone can get everything that they want easily? Pretendy Fun Time Games Go. Hunt. Kill Skuls.

It looks like pretty much everything is on hold except for game engine updates while the negotiations are ongoing.

@KBWarriors, yeah, that's an example of why he's on my short list of only five ignored users.

I concur.