Rathulfr

Different things. The "enterbasefrompasscode" exploit doesn't negatively impact everyone, while the double-Inf exploit does, by fueling inflation across the entire economy. It wasn't discussed in advance because doing so would've caused a stampede of folks trying to make double-Inf while the getting was good. I have two fire farmer characters (one on each of my two accounts), and I didn't even know the exploit existed until it was fixed. Had I known before then, you bet your bippy I would've been farming 24x7 to grab as much cash as I could before it was fixed. That's just normal human nature. Again, farming for Inf is not an exploit, nor is making lots of Inf in general. The exploit was the unintended consequence of disabling XP and having rested XP generate double Inf. And that doubled Inf was being pumped into the economy too quickly, which was one of the factors driving inflation across the board. So it had to be addressed, before it got too far out of hand (as inflation got out of hand on retail).

Here's my anniversary photo, taken today!

@brigg actually shared this on his YouTube channel a few months back (before the CoC change restricting videos). You might want to look for those or touch base with him.

I'll take a stab at a simple starter build that you might try and others can improve upon. This is a "hover blaster" build: all ranged, no melee. It emphasizes hovering up and over your targets to attack them safely from range. This is actually contrary to many */Fire builds, which are more geared toward "blapping" in melee. I'm sure someone else will post a blapper build, at some point. If you want to play a blapper, ignore me completely (LOL). The build below includes SOs and minimum level IOs that offer key procs. I know that you probably can't afford those IOs right now: I just put them there as placeholders for your consideration. Feel free to ignore the IOs and just slot them with the appropriate SOs, instead, until you get some cash and can start buying attuned versions of the IOs.

What's your global handle, @Super0Fluffy? I'm willing to help out a fellow Energy Blaster. I've got a few of them myself. Unfortunately, I haven't played a */Fire Blaster since retail, so I have no idea how to build one or offer advice on leveling one up.

Ok, now I see: we do have different definitions of "farming". I see farming as something I can do at a leisurely pace, without much active interaction. I can set Burn on autocast and let the mobs come to me and melt while I'm doing something else (usually work). Every minute or so I'll switch over to fire off my Incarnate AoE (90 sec recharge) or gobble a bunch of reds, but I'm not really engaged in every moment of combat. It's definitely "extremely boring", but that's what I like about it. And that's why I use defense/resistance capped Brutes/Tankers: they won't die if I go AFK to answer an email or fetch a beverage. Blaster farming would definitely require a lot more interaction, and I couldn't go AFK at all. That approach is definitely all about speeding through to get the most kills in the fastest times. Now I understand why some folks like to Blaster farm: that makes sense to me, now. I probably still won't do it, as I would prefer to spend that attention and effort on actual content, instead of dull AE farm maps. But now I understand how it might appeal to some people. Thanks for giving me the grace to "catch up", LOL. 😄

You're welcome. Your search was probably fruitless because it's not really the "floor", per se: it's a "Room Section" object, a 4x4 square area that extends from floor to the ceiling. I agree with you that the documentation on base editing is pretty thin/incomplete. Heck, the base editor GUI is pretty clunky, but I suppose that fixing it would be pretty complicated. So we'll just have to look out for each other here in the forums.

Thank you for a year of wonder and fun, and for bringing back this game!

I had this problem, too, @wmh2. Here's how to fix it. With the column selected as pictured, click on Object in the lower left corner of your screen: This will open the "Room Section" panel on the right side of your screen: Click on the gray sections so that they say "Remove". You'll see the column sections disappear to match.

I do DFB exactly 4 times, just for the buffs at the end, and whatever SOs might drop along the way (I think it's a total of 20).

As far as I can tell, these two quotes address the bulk of the OP's concerns. First, nobody is going to get generic'ed just because some other player thinks it violates copyright: the HC GMs (human or otherwise) actually make an informed decision based on available evidence, not just some drive-by complaint. Second, anybody who does get generic'ed gets notified in game, and a support ticket is opened, so that the player can seek more information or appeal the decision. That's it: seems fair enough, to me. We don't need any more gyrations on this, we don't need miles of arcane legalese, and we don't need to spiral out of control on tangents. If you're concerned your character is going to be generic'ed, don't sweat it unless/until it actually happens -- if at all. And be responsible enough for your own creations to make sure they're not in jeopardy by avoiding to make copyright clones in the first place. It's not rocket surgery. Just use common sense, remember that you're playing for free on someone else's dime and sweat, so follow their rules. If you don't like it, go somewhere else with different rules, or spin up your own server. Homecoming is just one of several groups hosting CoH now: you're not "stuck" with them, as we used to be when there was only one game in town. We're free to make different choices now.

Make one of each on the test server, and see what numbers you get there, instead.

TL;DR: the gap is shorter, but Brutes still come out ahead on damage, especially single-target. Tanker AoEs are now better than those of many Brutes; however, it really comes down to specific builds. YMMV.

You do know that you don't have to create a new forum account for every alt, right? 😆

You should post this in the Help forum, or ask for help in Discord. You'll get better help from the tech people, not here in the Announcements section. My 2 cents (for whatever it may be worth): spontaneous restarts like this are often caused by overheating, and CoH can tax some graphics chipsets.

The Atomic secondary on Blasters is better suited for blapping than ranged. If you want/like to get into melee, then it's a strong pick. But if you want to stay at range, I'd lean more towards the Fire/Rad Corr (given the choice between only those two options).

Defenders didn't get nerfed (they've actually been buffed a bit), but some builds become less relevant once everybody gets to 50, slots their uber purple builds, and T3's their Incarnate abilities. There just isn't as much of a need for healers or buffers when everybody is basically untouchable and buffed by IO sets and Incarnate abilities. FF and Empathy Defenders are probably hardest hit by this. The one niche where Defenders shine is debuffing. Defenders are still kings there, and everyone wants -Def, -Res, and especially -Regen debuffers for taking down the +4x8 mobs and AVs. Rad, Kin, Time, and Sonic are notable favorites (but by no means the complete list).

No and no, thank you. I don't see how getting all of the powers in a pool helps anything: you can already get all of the powers in a pool now, if you like. And where would these additional powers fit into a build? If I want to take Hasten and get Flurry, Super Speed, Burnout, and Whirlwind, would I lose my ability to train powers in other pools, because there's no room for them? And what about slots? What's the point of having additional powers without additional slots? It doesn't make sense: we'd have increase the number of power picks and slots to make it work. How many more powers do we need before choices are meaningless? There already is a cap on the price you can sell enhancements for: a maximum of 100 Merits per enhancement/recipe, or the equivalent in currency/goods (boosters, converters, unslotters, etc.). Single-Origin (SO) enhancements are always capped at 1 Merit each. You can get a complete set of ATOs or Winter's IOs for a maximum of 600 Merits. That means you'll never pay more than that amount in equivalent currency. It doesn't matter how high or low the price of Converters goes, the maximum price for a purple, ATO, or Winter IO is always 100 Merits. Consequently, the price of Enhancements is already capped at whatever the value of 100 Merits happens to be. For example, Converters are currently selling for about 75K each. You get 30 for 10 Merits, so 100 Merits = 300 Converters, 300 Converters X 75K = 22.5M Inf per Enhancement maximum, or 135M for a full ATO or Winter set.

Or you can just transfer an existing character. You get 5 character transfer tokens every 3 days for free. I use them all the time. Just be sure to reserve your name on both the source and destination servers (if possible) prior to transfer, and then use the unlimited rename tokens, as needed.

Defenders are support primary, damage secondary; Corruptors are damage first, support second. The Defender inherent is Vigilance, which offers a bonus to damage and endurance when solo. The Corruptor inherent is Scourge, which boosts damage (up to double) when the target's base health is below 50%.

The tailors in Pocket D and RWZ also do the body mods, same as the surgeons at Icon and Facemaker.

/jranger

Are you using your forum password or your game account password? They're different things. For example, your forum account could be named "Fred" with a password of "Wilma123", while your game account could be named "Barney" with a password of "Betty456". Where most people get in trouble is either: Not realizing that the forum account is not the same as the game account. Creating a forum account but not a game account. Confusing the forum account password with the game account password.

And into which of the categories defined in items 2 and 3 above does the so-called "market exploit" fall? You don't have to provide specifics, just the category. If it's number 3, that could encompass a lot of things, depending on how one defines "deceive" and "cheat" for "your own gain". Is buying and then reselling multiple items at unusual prices to skew the last 5 displayed considered deceiving or cheating, or is it just gaming the system? I've read about and heard people brag that they do this, but I wouldn't consider it an "exploit". It's just extreme marketing, as far as I can tell. I don't think it's "fair" or "ethical", but I wouldn't consider it out of bounds. It may be a dick move, but it usually works itself out over time, eventually. It's not all that much different than normal spikes and dips in market prices. This is what I think most people get upset about when it comes to the market, or capitalism in general. Many complaints about trade systems boil down to sour grapes or misdirected angst. No human system is without its flaws, and some are more egregious than others. But not understanding how a system works, or not knowing how to maximize the use of that system, doesn't make taking full advantage of that system a crime, necessarily. That doesn't mean we should accept systems as they are without seeking to make them better/fairer for everyone, but don't throw out the baby with the bath water (as the old saying goes). Without more details about the exploit, it's hard to say. But I understand not discussing it if it's a "real" exploit. I'm just curious if we're defining terms in the same way. I believe that's what @MunkiLord wants to sort out as well, even if a bit less diplomatically than I'm trying to do here.

I believe that they were trying to nerf excessive Inf gain with little-to-no effort, to slow down inflation. The issue isn't that farming generates Inf: the issue is that farming + the disable XP/double Inf exploit = too much Inf too fast. Farming still generates lots of Inf (as you've described above): it just does it slower now. They also wanted to make players who don't farm feel less like they're missing out on Inf by not farming. Why bother to play regular content if it's nowhere near as rewarding as farming? At that point, why not just play a super-hero themed Farmville or Animal Crossing? I have to admit that I created my fire farmers just to keep up, because there's no way I can compete afford AH prices, otherwise. But that just exacerbates the problem, not fixes it. The other alternative would be to simply double all the Inf generated by regular content, which would effectively nerf AE farming just as hard. But that would just add fuel to the inflation fire. Since AE farming is a niche activity, relative (ostensibly) to running regular content, it makes more sense to fix the problem for the smaller niche population, rather than the wider player population. Yes, it sucks for the hardcore AE farmers, but it's better for everyone else, in the long run. Like most medicine, it doesn't taste good going down, but it makes one better, eventually. But that's just my opinion, and it's worth exactly as much as anyone else's.