Ruin Mage

So I had to go to work and missed a few pages. I'll keep this reply short for the sake of not going in too many circles. Circle of Thorns does not equate a WoW model. The reintroduction of Ruin, Madness, and Agony Mages (among other enemy types) is not an enforcement or evidence of this. Now if it was skewed towards spawning a lot more Ruin Mages (the deadliest of the mage bunch) than any other? I'd be more inclined to agree that the Circle changes missed. However, I'm also going to be the sort to point out Difficulty Settings are yours to tweak. You choose what you want to face. NuCouncil should have been 45-50 only. I don't disagree there. Excraft: I do believe that the other TFs will get their HM versions in due time. It's just not going to be every page. Right now the ones not done are LRSF, MLTF, Kahn/Baracudda (god help us all for HM Reichsman!), 3 of the Shadow Shard TFs (Dr Q is below the 50 mark, so I don't count it), and ApeMage. I'm not sure I could confidently guess at a Hard Mode ApeMage.

This means war, Excraft. My caveat is that it should only be done in Task Forces, Strike Forces, Trials, and Raids. Regular story arcs I don't really see a point, but in the team game I believe we need to promote every AT having a spot, or there being roles. As far as I am aware, this level of stuff is only in the Hard Mode content. I haven't seen/heard (personally) of it being in something like the new Striga arcs. Yes and the white knight brigade is, to put it crudely, cringe as fuck. They need to get their things hidden just as much as the non-feedback folks or those who jump to attacks on others. It's a shame that others feel it isn't worth it, but it is worth it or nothing changes or not enough changes. The damage may be done, but damage can be healed I hope. CoT was just too easy by way of losing a LOT of their mobs before the 40s. They lost Ruin, Agony, Madness Mages. They lost their spooky ghosts or most of them anyway. The CoT change was needed to not make it "oh yay another death mage." type of group. Bringing back the early pain of CoT to 45-50 was absolutely the right choice to make the group different. I think their spawn chances were a lot worse back before that change made it to live too. I for one think Council did need a change, but I also am the sort to get put to sleep by mindless +4/x8 Radio grinds. Fighting one single group because its the easiest should not be at the 45-50 experience, but I know that isn't what others want. I'll stand by my opinion that 45-50 should be where you're expected to use your notoriety settings until you can handle +4/x8 or to pick your battles carefully. Incarnate stuff being accessible in the open world is a big issue, but that's a fight for another thread. Thankfully, the Hard Mode content has four tiers of hardness and is only currently locked to: Aeon, Imperious, and Lady Grey. Nothing about the game as a whole is being designed around the top players. Maybe special K'ong in 4-star HM LG but that's it? 4-Star Vanguard fight, for example, is...decently easy and optional. Now if Hard Mode style content ever breaches outside of 3 TFs? Then I'd probably be singing a different tune. But for now its always remained optional. Despite what might be claimed, the aim isn't to make this like WoW or "Mythic+" like one (or more?) poster might claim--it's just a real hard balance to achieve that won't please everyone. Pleasing everyone, as it goes, is also not what anyone should do.

I have a few things to say about this as one of the beta testers of ye olde pages. The game's health is very very important for a server to add content. New arcs, new enemy types, upgraded groups - everything needs to be able to evolve and change on the whims of the developers. Why? Because at the end of the day, what we get comes down to what they want to work on. Occasionally it overlaps quite well into what people have asked for--just not usually exactly how it was asked for. If HC's whole idea was to remain stale and set in i23/i24 era gameplay? Sure, we wouldn't have half the stuff we have now. I must absolutely refute your statement about where content is heading. If you want to be optimal in +4/x8 content or Hard Mode Content? Absolutely. However, there is very little evidence to support that we're heading towards a "WoW model" - that's just a general MMO model. There's also a very big hurdle to content in general at some point in the form of Incarnate Powers - which can homogenize things a little too much. Having a support on the team (for task forces/strike forces/trials/raids) should absolutely be pushed, because we have 4 archetypes that have access to that sort of playstyle. Defenders, Corruptors, Controllers, and Masterminds in particular. However, AT balance is a whole other can of worms. Yes, certain groups have been made a little more tedious or tougher. This is necessary for the game to grow and for the game to be healthy. Easy groups should not exist past level 40--anything before hand is...eh. I personally believe that groups should start coming into 'using your brain' levels around level 40. Others can and will disagree. Obviously, some of that may fall through the cracks or trickle down too far into lower levels. On feedback getting hidden, there's a few major problems that people fall into (myself included in the past) with feedback. They do not provide data, they attack other's feedback, or they simply say "This change is shit" but do not explain why. None of those three things help the developers nor do they help the Focused Feedback threads at all. This happens every time there are open beta cycles. People need to get better at the feedback they provide. In this case there is a right way to give feedback and a wrong way. It is this fact that tends to get put aside. Reacting to patch notes alone does not tell the developers much, or so I am inclined to believe based on previous pages. Now, some feedback has worked to get a change walked back. Other times, the feedback is used to dial things up or down. It's not ALL feedback, but it has happened in the past. It can happen in the future if people are better about their feedback. Not all feedback is good or useful and that needs to be accepted. On the flip side it can be annoying to see primarily praise in a feedback thread--from a player's perspective at least. There are changes that people did not like that, unfortunately for them, had to go through for COH to grow. Fly Change, Defense Type Change, AE changes, and enemy group changes (COT/Council primarily right now). On the flip side, there have been very questionable changes that have gone through (Beanbag in AR had some diehard defenders for some odd reason, personally speaking) - though they usually also came interconnected with fixing/buffing/changing things for the better. The direction of content is primarily driven by the developers as far as I am aware. We've gotten new arcs at mid level. We've gotten a whole new set of contacts on Striga. Those things don't follow the 'WoW Model' as you think. Now Hard Mode can be done without a effective team. It has been 4-manned if not 3-manned before. I've had less-than-stellar teams go through the 4-Star ASF with trouble, but we've done it. At least that is my personal experience with it. Now, I'd be more inclined to agree if the Hard Mode approach was being widespread. Two groups and a set of level 50+ content do not...affect the whole game yet. Yet being the key word there--I could very well be wrong next page or next issue! However, for the time being? The doomsaying? around where content is heading is a touch silly if not out of place. It's harmful at worst. In summary: I disagree with what you're saying, but we've also had very different experiences & have different views. Also, to see "vote with your donations" pop up in a thread has made me laugh way too hard at this hour. Thank you for the laugh, Warboss.

Thunderspy has a playerbase that vehemently believes HC is lying about its server costs, that Leo is some sort of Antichrist, and so on. Probably best to avoid them.

time for my 2cents: The game at 46-50 needs to not be a joke. Right now, in most cases, it is. At 46-50, you should be expected to use your full suite of powers and more as you change your difficulty settings. Every group should be some variant on the word tough and not be a mow-them-down mindless exp pits. Mindless EXP pits are for the AE and that's just fine by me. At most, Council is tedious right now and that joins up with most of the 46-50 groups depending on AT/build or skill issues.

Need to update this thread, but the invite has been updated at the very least.

They either were not interested or could not be reached.

Updated our link. We've had to re-do it a couple times since 2023 due to people clicking suspicious links. Also we're turning five years old as a Discord this month 🙂

Released Path for someone to use.

Most RPers hang around Everlasting, but yeah.

And you are wrong, but its okay to be wrong. It is about them because it's about what they want to do when they have the time. They can try to take our ideas/suggestions and try to implement them. It happened with PVP stuff over the years. It's happened with the RP community here and there. But they aren't going to do everything we suggest. It isn't our server to dictate things and it never has been. If you want a server like that? You can certainly try looking elsewhere. But no one that is developing content of any form is beholden to the community - this much is true across any rogue/private server since the inception of them. I'm pretty sure that no one asked for Seismic Blast, Symphony Control, Hard Modes, Electrical Affinity, Energy Melee Revamp, or plenty of other keystone changes. Now, they HAVE done some highly requested things at times. Such as the Sybil robes for females. They've also taken community members costume patterns before if I remember right. These things can happen, but they are by no means any under obligation to forgo their interests just because the server exists. This does not change just because donations are a thing. Donation is not a buy-in as I said before. Running the server/making content for the server does not come at the cost of their interests. Believing otherwise is a delusion plain and simple. Want to have a say in development?: - Make sure to test stuff on the Open Beta Server when there's a new Page/Issue. - Find your way to the Beta Tester Discord - Apply to be a developer. There's your three choices.

Okay, since you really want to open this can of worms. 1.) Donations These are an optional way for people to contribute, but do not come with entitlement to anything. It is not a subscription fee, it is not a "buy" - you are choosing to donate of your free will. Would the servers still be up without donations? Who knows! What we do know is that this isn't like a WoW private server where you can donate for items, boosts, or some VIP service. None of the other servers do that. 2.) What Players Want Fun fact: The Devs are players too! The server they are developing is the server THEY want to see. That's what we're getting. Do we often get suggestions made into reality? Sure! Is it all the time and to every last detail? Absolutely fucking not. That's not how it works, that's not how it has ever worked, and that's generally accepted. Not everyone on these forums have good ideas for game design - even design for a licensed server like ours. It is entitled whining coming from you and I can read you like a book on this. To say the devs don't care just because they're putting their interests into the mix is shitty and stupid of you to do. It's THEIR free time they are spending on Homecoming. There is no pay for them for this. There is only the gratification of seeing their work touched by others and producing what they think is cool/what aligns with what direction the server is going.

I forgot the world revolves you. My bad!

because development from volunteers is based on personal interest, time available, and (guessing here) making sure the idea works in execution.

Warrior update is probably being saved for the eventual Wharf Update(s)

As someone who closed beta tested them; Skill Issue. It sucks to be denied entry to a team but that doesn't mean they failed. It's optional content that rewards decently, takes some brain power, and can usually be done decently quick even now - though Your Mileage May Vary applies here. It can be frustrating to wipe several times but that's why you do 1 or 2 star. 3 star starts to require some thinking and 4 star? Well, you're going to have a hard time if your composition isn't even a little thought out in my experience. At least if you're going to PUG it. My source is that I've run through 4-star Aeon multiple times, beat the Vanguard full fight multiple times, and had an absolute blast. Repeat the same for the ITF (except for the singular run stopped by the colossi) and now the HM LGTF. I can say from personal experience that MMs have never been denied, but groups can pick and choose who they want. That's the fun part about MMORPGs: no one is obligated to invite you to their team! An example of sets I've personally run with; Nature Affinity, Dark Miasma, Empathy, Pain, Thermal, and Force Field. Mind you Force Field, Nature, and Dark are all REALLY good and help out against the Hard Modes. Hell, I've beaten the Vanguard fight with a fire farmer brute as the tank. Now THAT was a fun run! Try forming your own! Maybe do a 1 or 2 star at first and then go for 3 or 4 star. Cultivate and curate your own teams and you won't have these issues. It's either that or move servers, but that may not be the greatest option depending. But the hard work of the devs shouldn't be decried as a failure or removed just because YOU can't get on teams for them.

Perhaps as a free comic and not one for money. Plus it'd open up a forum fire unseen of. Anyway, Castle deserved to be moved because he was a dev-insert and the dev ruined PVP. Or so I heard. Incandescent works where she's at until vague future comes to pass.

Woops, small issue with the flyer folks! Base code is meant to be ROLEPLAY-32140, not 104 Sorry!

You can drop that your group is attending here or in the City of Roleplay Discord. You can also just show up, but I might end up assigning booths to those that sign-up ahead of the 9th and 10th.

This is this weekend!

Here's my 2cents; By the time you are in the 46-50 range, you should be facing groups at their full might. This means there should be no real "easy to farm/mow down" group in my opinion. There should be something that makes you consider even the lightest bit of strategy. Does that mean the groups in the 46-50 range need to be Omega Hard? No. But the abilities they have/the tools they have need to put characters to the test just a little bit. The reason I say this is because we have the ability to adjust our settings for what difficulty we face. We're also not playing a static/content-locked version of the game and haven't been since HC started. Things needed, imo, to be adjusted to match the level of power our characters can reach. So this type of thing was what I think we needed for those level ranges. The Council is probably just more tedious than anything, but its better than keeping things as is. More adjustments might be needed.

So our base builder has been hard at work as I've shown in various little teases. Enough so that they've given me the information I need to change where we're hosting the March Recruitment Fair. That is right: We are going to be hosting it within the City of Roleplay base. The dates and the times remain the same, but the location has changed--a new flyer will come sometime soon with this updated information. We would not have been able to do this without the base builder Psi and their hard work over the past few weeks. A major thanks to the Scourge community for also helping us fund Psi for their hard work! The base is set up to have areas for supergroups to place themselves without too much issue. We won't be doing a 'reserve your spot' or banners within the base, but that may be a topic revisited for another Fair. The old rules (which I will repost) still apply within the Base--though some new ones may crop up between now and the week of the event. If your group intends on attending and is open to new members? I ask you post on our forum thread so that I can gather a list. Optionally you may include a small blurb about the group's concept. This will come in handy both for expected attendance and for a later forum post. If your group is attending just for the roleplay/to support the event and ISN'T recruiting? You do not need to post this information. We appreciate your support <3. The base code won't be released outside of the admin team just yet. We're noooot quite ready to fully show it off beyond a few screenshots. We hope people enjoy the base, the event, and all things that come from the two nights. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions please feel free to post them or send them my way in DMs.

Fun fact: That's how the arc ends!

There was one issue that people kept latching onto: That it would encourage "picky" teams / encourage shitty picky nature. Something that already happens without the Aether reward. That's it. That's all people thought was a big bad deal outside of the placement of ATs (which is w/e - its a hard balancing act to get that right and you can't please everyone)