Bionic_Flea

While I appreciate all suggestions, to be eligible for the prize you have to submit a Mids build. That lets me look at the nitty griitys and have an idea of the IOs I'm gonna have to buy.

Phobophobia - the fear of fear itself. I was trying to think of a character that would use Fear to the maximum extent possible in the game. I also want this character to be a viable soloist and able to fill their traditional AT role in a team. I've designed three different characters and have ideas for a few more. But I wanted to see what the rest of you crazy, creative people could come up with. To encourage participation and make a contest out of it, I will choose one build from those submitted. The winner gets a PL to 50 and all the IOs for the submitted build. The winner will be chosen by me based upon: 1) generous use of fear-based powers; 2) apparent ability to reasonably solo +1/x8 or higher (at level 50-sooner would be bonus points) based on having sufficient defense, resist, heals, or other mitigation; 3) sufficient single target and AoE damage to be able to complete these missions in a reasonable time; and 4) ability to fulfill a standard AT role, meaning that a tank should be able to take huge amounts of damage and maintain aggro, a defender should be able to buff and debuff, controllers should be able to lockdown groups, blasters, scrappers, and stalkers should lay down some major DPS, etc. At the end of the contest I will post my builds as well and make a character. Even if I go with one of my own builds, I will select someone to win the prize. Ready, set, go make fearsome characters!

So people are paying you 1 million inf to open the pack and keep all the non-ATO goodies!

This is going to make people spend more money on SOs. That may be the plan. Get people to buy and continue to buy SOs to keep them in the green. While I think influence sinks are generally good, this (along with the Auto-purchase) is a regressive tax that will hit low information and low influence players and will not affect power gamers at all. I haven't bought SOs since before the official game was closed and I don't intend to start now.

My suggestions: 1. Don't buy TOs, DOs, or SOs. It's OK to slot what drops. If you can't slot it, vendor it. 2. Vendor all common IO recipes (unless you are going for badges). 3. Craft everything you can if you don't have to buy salvage, especially lower level recipes. 4. Post your crafted IOs on the market. Price it 1 inf lower than the average price. If you find the price is too low, grab it, convert it, re-list it. 5. Plan your build on Mids before buying anything. 6. Buy attuned sets as you can afford them while leveling. You'll never have to replace them. BUT you can buy a cheap attuned set today, and then replace with a purple or other more expensive set later using unslotters or a respec. Save that cheaper set for your next project. Additional thought: Do things that get you merits! AE farming is fine and radios/newspapers are fine but don't limit yourself to those. Run story arcs, TFs, and get all the exploration badges in a zone to get merits. Trade merits for converters. Use converters to turn junk IOs into highly desired IOs. Many people sell the converters. That's certainly easy enough. But I never sell converters; I use them.

Challenge: Accepted!

Can I have your stuff?

Correlation is not causation. Prices could have gone up because most of the country (or planet even) have been told to stay at home . . . or because there is a new set and power pool and people need to slot their new toys. Both of those increase demand, which results in increased prices. Prices go up and down all the time. If it stays up over a long period, then you may have an argument.

Playing soccer with my boy . . . and his giant pet tarantula . . .

Sorry. I realized that I may have misunderstood shortly after posting. Edited above.

Sorry, but that's wrong. If all IOs were part of 1 giant pool the price of purples and ATOs and other good stuff would SKYROCKET. Why? Because no one would want to risk the chance of turning a hold purple into an uncommon sleep recipes. So all the good stuff would be hoarded or sold for a higher price. That would also lead to decreased supply. With all IOs in the same pool you'd have to do a LOT on conversions to get something decent. Oh . . . wait. I may have misread this. We already have IOs bundled by rarities. I think perhaps you were joking. If so, my bad.

If other people are buying and selling the same item, you did not "corner the market". You did create a price spike. Did it last? My guess is no.

Except that your fictional marketeer cannot keep ALL common salvage. If I want to buy a luck charm its exactly the same as brass or any other common salvage. They are all in the same bucket. Don't believe me? Go look in the game and check several common salvage. The amount for sale, outstanding bids, and last five sales is exactly the same. So your mythical ebel marketeer would have to buy up ALL common salvage and most of it at the dev seeded price of 10K. At that point, the devs could seed more or any player could go punch something and get a piece of common salvage. This game is NOT like real life. You cannot corner the market when the supply is limitless.

I'm sorry, but you are wrong. Buyers set the going price, not sellers. The live game had very few influence sinks and rampant inflation. HC has essentially capped the prices of salvage by seeding the market and allowing you to buy any recipe (or IO) by merits. Prices do ebb and flow. Sometimes things get more expensive (weekends, for example, when many play) and sometimes they get cheaper. But they all stay within a relatively narrow band within rarity categories with a few premium items getting premium prices. But those premium prices are a fraction of what they cost on the live game. I don't know if this change will even be a blip on the price of items in the short or long term. Time will tell. But unless they remove and never replace the seeded salvage and remove the ability to purchase just about anything with merits, prices will NEVER match live. Guaranteed.

There are already "caps" in place. Thousands of pieces of salvage are seeded in the market by the devs at 1 mill rare, 100k uncommon, 10k common. You will never pay more for those unless you really want to. IOs are "capped" by their availability via merits. A merit is worth somewhere between 250,000 and 1 million inf. How did I come up with those numbers? You can straight up buy a merit from vendors for 1 million. And you can trade 1 merit for 3 converters and sell them for about 100k each (frequently lower). No reasonable player would ever pay more than 100 million for anything, as they could buy it outright for a vendor at that price. And you'll see that almost nothing sells for more than 25 million. Remember live when all the PvP procs sold for 2 billion, or more off market? That will never happen here.

But Jimmy, why can't I get twice the influence by fighting enemies at a lower level?

I like Sweet.

We talked about this in game. You asked what Alpha to go with and I responded it depended on the build and goals. As you have built it, I agree that Vigor Core is a good choice for you. However, I would switch some stuff around. You could still go with Vigor, but I would go for Agility Core for recharge, defense, and endurance. Here is my revised build: Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! SS-WP: Level 50 Science Brute Primary Power Set: Super Strength Secondary Power Set: Willpower Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Punch -- SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(9), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury(9), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13) Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(3), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(3), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(5), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(5), GldArm-3defTpProc(31) Level 2: Haymaker -- SprUnrFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), SprUnrFur-Rchg/+Regen/+End(39), SprUnrFur-Dmg/Rchg(40), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg(40) Level 4: Boxing -- CrsImp-Acc/Dmg(A) Level 6: Hand Clap -- SudnAcc-KBtoKD(A), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(33), MckBrt-Acc/Rchg(33), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg(34), MckBrt-Taunt(36), MckBrt-Rchg(43) Level 8: Knockout Blow -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(42), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(43), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(43) Level 10: Mind Over Body -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(11), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(11), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(13) Level 12: Taunt -- PrfZng-Dam%(A) Level 14: Fast Healing -- NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(A), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg(15), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(15), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(17), NmnCnv-Heal(17), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(19) Level 16: Indomitable Will -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(50) Level 18: Rage -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(36), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(46), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(48), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(48), GssSynFr--Build%(48) Level 20: Rise to the Challenge -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(21), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(21), Prv-Absorb%(23), Prv-Heal/Rchg(23), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(36) Level 22: Quick Recovery -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(34), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(46) Level 24: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(25), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(25), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(27) Level 26: Weave -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(27), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(33) Level 28: Heightened Senses -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(29), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(29) Level 30: Combat Jumping -- Rct-ResDam%(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(31), LucoftheG-Rchg+(31) Level 32: Foot Stomp -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(37), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(37), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Obl-%Dam(39) Level 35: Superior Conditioning -- EndMod-I(A) Level 38: Strength of Will -- Ags-ResDam(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(45), Ags-Psi/Status(45) Level 41: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(46), LucoftheG-Def(50) Level 44: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45) Level 47: Tactics -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 49: Super Speed -- Clr-Stlth(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Fury Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(34), RgnTss-Regen+(50) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A) Level 50: Agility Core Paragon ------------

I'm pretty sure auctions don't expire either.

1) I do think that a fire farmer is part of any good inf. generating program. Not only do you get a decent amount of Influence but you also get a lot of drops of salvage and recipes that can be sold, or crafted, converted and sold. Add to that a second account with a fire farmer. I know that not everyone likes to farm or PL but it just opens up so many possibilities that you may consider holding your nose and doing it for a little bit every week. You don't have to farm 24/7. 2) Patience is your friend. People complain about the price listed in /AH at any given time. The price of most things varies wildly over time. You probably won't get an LoTG +7.5 for 1 inf (but you might!) but you also don't have to pay whatever the going rate is . . . say 7 million dollars. Put in a bid for 3.5 million and leave it there for a week and see if it fills . . . or 5 million . . . or 6 million . . . or whatever price you want. The worst thing that will happen is that you may not get it at your price. Obviously, the closer you are to the going rate the more likely you are to win a bid and the faster it will fill. 3) Buy low/Sell high. There are lots of cheap recipes and crafted IOs that you can buy and convert into high-demand valuable items. Converter roulette pays VERY well. Again, patience is your friend. Put in a lowball bid for 10 and let it sit. Come back a few days later to find it filled! Then convert those into valuable items. 4) How do I know what's valuable? Think of the things you always want for your build. Or if you are unsure, look at other peoples Mids builds. Generally speaking, everyone uses defense, resists, and heals in their builds. If you do plan your build, see if you can buy 10 of whatever IO you need (using patient bids). Slot one, store one, sell the other eight. I think you'll find that you'll end up with much more than you spent. 5) Be conscious of crafting costs. Level 50 recipes cost a little under 500k to craft, but each level lower is cheaper. This market puts any specific recipe in a bucket with all the other same recipes, regardless of price. In other words, it costs exactly the same amount to buy a level 20 Scirocco's proc recipe as a level 50 Scirocco's proc, but the crafting costs are MUCH higher for the 50.

But Jimmy, how can I not get into petty arguments? They started it!

True. Assuming again the 20K price point, you could sell for 20,001 and cut out the flipper. But you are also reinforcing 20K as the price point. Of course, everyone is free to buy and sell at whatever price they like. But when you sell things at 1 inf to make you feel morally superior the player you are helping is the flipper.

Waiting is over. Twenty eight minutes.

Spend it?

To those selling at 1 inf to try and increase supply to drive down costs: Thanks, but please list a little higher. You are just feeding the flippers. They will buy yours for 1 and sell it for 20,000 (or whatever their price is). Instead, try to sell it a little under the current going rate. If the flipper has to buy it at 19,999 and sell at 20,000 the game is less fun for them. Again, I am just making up these prices so please don't take the numbers literally. Or if that pricing is too much effort, then consider selling for what you think a reasonable price for yellow salvage is . . . whatever number that is to you.* *(Waits for the person to say 1 is reasonable to them)