iBot

If I have to stop and think about it I'd say for my namesake the character chose me. It all came about as I was making a new character and I happened upon the robot arms. It clicked. BAM! iBot. Everything else just fell right into place from there. I really had no conscious control over that character beyond the concept of he's a robotics specialist that was injured in the original invasion and used that knowledge to become the hero. It all hit at once. 90% of the other dozen or so toons I had on live and the 32 I have now on HC were all generated because my group of SG mates were running a themed sort of event and I needed a toon that fit that theme. The final 10% are because I came across a power set combo that sounded fun to mess with and I spun up a toon for it. No thought beyond a name that is unique and I can pronounce. Sometimes the name is a play on the power sets and sometimes it is just random keyboard strokes until I can say it.

New enhancements will most likely spike as players reconfigure builds. DSOs will mostly likely be in high demand for a while as we build up a supply. Respec recipe may go up as players redo older characters with new power changes. Bunch of alts being created so staples should go up in price for a while provide players buy new and don't recycle. Could be an influx of returning players that faded out of HC for a break and are back to check out the new shiny things. No doubt a bunch of badgers will log back in to get the new shiny things and may have to redo builds to turn up for difficulty changes.

Same. I've done combinations of solo/team/double xp/normal xp but ultimately my altitis was cured long ago so I'm content to play one toon till done then move on to the next. So far I have 31 50s and 1 32ish. I rarely bother with backstory, name, power sets, costume, or even theme beyond what might be needed for an upcoming event. It is all just button mashing to me. I log in because my friends still do. Otherwise... done.

Nothing scarier than a hamster on meth 🙃

I'm only going to push back a little here though keep in mind everyone has different agendas when in game. When everyone on the team has the same agenda it is all puppies and rainbows. When they don't well this kind of forum post happens. When the goal is maximum XP per unit of time then some believe that clearing the map is best. Others say going to the end and getting the bonus completion XP is best which requires doing missions as fast as possible skipping anything that doesn't result directly in that exit button. I remember all kinds of arguments that used to occur on live about which was better for XP/Time: street sweeping or running missions. And that was before radios/papers. I don't think I ever saw a definite answer one way or another though I do believe there have been a few limited study posts on these forums about the relative XP gains for various arcs at various levels and difficulty settings. For my money the math works out like this. CoH is a brute force clicking game. The more you click the more rewards you get. The optimal play is to maximize clicks per unit of time. So kill everything in sight as fast as possible and move on to the next map when this one is empty. If not defeat all and you skip 1 room as long as it would have taken longer to clear that room than it would have taken to get to the next map and start clearing then the net result is moving on is faster. If it takes 2 minutes to clear that room and it takes 5 minutes to get to the next mission then clearing the room is better so long as that ratio holds. My guess is over an entire play session of say an hour or two both methods are valid because the ratio of clear to travel averages out and it is purely preference as to which you want to follow. Personally, if the team is clearing I clear. If they aren't I don't. XP comes with relative ease that I have better things to do with my time then worry about what someone else is going to do. My only major gripe is when the team agrees to wait for all to enter before running off and someone doesn't give the courtesy to the rest to at least load in. Beyond that it is all preference. And to OP: for a retired tractor trailer driver surely you can understand the need for speed and passing someone that is going slow you know admiring the scenic view while you've got a load to deliver.

Couldn't resist 🤣... Sounds like fun fun ... will have to check it out if in game.

I think the last time we kicked around INF sinks we came to the rough conclusion that no matter the sink players would ultimately find a way to earn that back in a few days so ultimately it was a self defeating problem that wasn't worth the time it would take the devs to implement it. They could confiscate all of @Yomo Kimyata and @Ukase assets and the two of them would be right back on the leader board in a matter of days if not hours. And those two are just the most visible here on the forums. There are dozens if not hundreds of others just like them or damn close. So where do we go? Well this is an age old problem. When is enough enough? I'm all for trading INF for reductions in time required to do something. I am grateful for the double XP boosts (and the fact that they cost nothing) gee maybe a cost added there. I'd be happy to use extra P2W boosts for other things too like incarnate XP or threads or emp merits or even reward merits. But ultimately those fall back to the same problem at the start. At some point you have enough that the cost of those things is negligible. Some things are just a result of playing the game and really the only way to not earn more is to stop playing which is something no one ever wants to admit but sometimes it is a good thing. A break is nothing to fear or be embarrassed about. Anyway my 0.02 INF.

Game development is chaotic in the best of times. Worrying about the impact of CoX on any current or future development is kinda like worrying about how oh say Path of Exile is affected by Grim Dark. Or any other games that are all in the same genre or share a common theme. Games for better or worse stand on their own merit. Now is there the will in the industry to fund a project in the vain of CoX? Who knows. According to the article there were kickstarters out there that fizzled and major titles that failed to scratch the superhero itch as well as CoX did. But I personally think anyone with guts in the industry would look at what HC is doing and say "Gee, I wonder if we could turn all those fans into paying customers?". Which is essentially what 100% of developers want. So I'd say my take on the article is that the author is worrying for no good reason other than to get us to click the article.

Joking aside. It isn't pretty.

There is a post on the forum around here somewhere that has a pretty good picture of the source code for the market. Let's see...

A few things come to mind: 1. The last 5 bids displayed is extremely misleading and down right wrong some times. Don't rely on it except for a very coarse guess at what something may sell/buy for. 2. Converters are funny. Prices goes up, prices goes down, prices goes round and round. I've had runs where it is 65k to buy and upwards of 80k to buy. I tend to list in the middle of those values which seems to take a day or so to sell. Though the last 2 weekends even a list of higher sold in a matter of minutes. So again converters are funny. 3. The AH is in no way FIFO. Our best info and from gathered brave souls that actually have seen the spaghetti and lived to tell the tale have determined that we know for certain highest bid goes to lowest seller. In the case of a tie, it has something to do with the alignment of the planets and the whims of the great and powerful RNGesus. Best advice, avoid the human tendencies towards 0 and 5. You'll have better luck. 4. Wait... ok 4 would be more than 3 and thus should not be used in this context. 🤑

Winter packs are available on the AH always. When the winter event is turned on the packs are reduced in price from 25 mill to 10 mill. So a lot of players buy up a bunch of them at 10 mil with the thought of later selling them for 20+ when the price goes back to normal thus making a nice profit.

Talk about first world problems. 🤣 Anyway, I think my strategy this year will be similar to others in that I'll probably buy a bunch with whatever spare inf I've got laying around on the various characters and then relist most of them later. Hell this time I may even just relist them immediately because there is no point in waiting with them in inventory. I may open a few packs myself because as I mentioned in the other threads we had going for this that I do have a few builds that would benefit from having WOs on them but it is not that high of a priority for me. Side note: Good to know there is actually a limit to the email system. Was speculating about that with friends a while back and no one had an answer since no one we know had hit that limit yet. I guess now we should just push for the ability to convert inf into super inf at the rate of 1 bil to 1. 🤑

We've debated the "why's" of the market multiple times and mostly have come to the consensus that people are funny. She's funny, their funny, everybody's funny. Now you funny too. As to this specific question personally it is convenience and impatience. I know that if I list something for low inf it will sell fast thus giving me a nice little hit of cash and I didn't have to spend too much time doing it. Granted if I list too low then someone could potentially get that low sell for way below market but honestly when that happens I just figure it was me giving them a nice gift. You know kind of a pay it forward thing. The only difference is when I'm on my farming toon that only exists to earn inf. There I'll stand at the vendor in Pocket D with the AH open. If the going rate for something is not above what I can vendor it for, then I vendor it. Otherwise it goes on the AH for the vendor price + cost of listing + a small ( or large) profit. However I've not done this in quite some time because I've since realized that I can self-fund a toon way easier by just paying attention to merits and converters.

I don't necessarily think the sky is falling but I do think that until there is another big influx of new/returning players or somehow in the future HC is considered "less legally dubious" we'll have to get used to a smaller and smaller group of players that buy things on the AH. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing since many have proven that while the cash cow of the AH (and thus other players) is nice it isn't a must have and it is possible for players to get the builds they want in time. Another possible cause to throw into the mix could also be that players have enough alts around now that they start to remove enhancements from toons less played thus not needing to purchase those items again for a new toon. There is a lot of overlap with sets and it seems logical that some may decide it is easier to snag those pieces off another character they rarely if ever play.

My 0.02 inf for what it is worth: Wouldn't the market naturally fall as more and more players are able to do the "self found" thing? Think of it this way. I am probably in the severe minority in that I don't have a personal base that isn't stocked to breaking full of salvage, recipes and crafted items. But how many are out there that do have those bases filled? And why would those players ever need the AH again? So prices start to fall because fewer players are buying and players start to get impatient that items aren't selling so they start to list things for less and less until a new balance is found. New influx of players see these new prices and figure that is the norm so when major marketeers attempt to boost the price back up there is a revolt of sorts and the price again drops back to the lower levels. Thoughts? Or am I crazy?... well... OK that part is true but the question still stands. 🤪

They run. We chase. Seems reasonable to me. My SG runs all sorts of team make ups for these and invariably there is always someone (usually the same person) that complains that the AV won't stand still and take the pounding like a real person. Personally, I don't see the big deal. Press "F" and run all over the map with them. Or even better, play ranged, slot for range, stay in one spot, and blasterize them from across the map. ☠️

Agreed with you there. All I meant was that a farming toon must have both in order to be "viable". And of course "viable" means many different things. My own fire farmer isn't maxed out in defense so any map that has patrols I need to use purps to survive it at +4/8. So cheaper builds certain can do it just maybe not be able to AFK certain maps or mob densities.

I've not used dual blades but I did take an energy aura stalker to 50. That was an electric melee primary. Look forward to your posts.

Thank you @Ignatz the Insane for keeping us posted. More hard data and proof that the crusaders out there that lament that the "little guy" can't possibly afford to make a character from scratch and play it to have fun just don't know what they are talking about. My other request if you are willing would be to maybe do it red side next time? Cause you know... red side is best side 😈

Awesome idea there @Yomo Kimyata. One quick thought: Doesn't the level not matter? Meaning someone could post a say level 21 (to use the example above) on the AH and your bid would fill at whatever level you put up? Or am I missing something here?

Definitely something I need to remember when leveling the next alt is going to be utilizing hero packs more. I've basically ignored them so far but really they seem to be a much better way to turn 100 mil (for 10) into useful stuff especially while leveling up because of the chance for the XP boost temp. Good info.

@Diantane if you follow the low budget fire farmer guide that was linked above you'll have zero issues with influence and be able to afford a fully tricked out fire farmer by the end. I did it from scratch in about a week. No seed inf. No boosting. Just fire farm. There are some very specific things you need to do with the build in order to achieve full 4/8 status. You cannot get there with SOs. You cannot get there with generic IOs. You can get there with IO set bonuses, certain pool power picks, and incarnates. The rad melee / fire armor brute is one of the best active farmers. If you wanted AFK (which can still be done with the brute) it is easier to go with a fire armor/ rad melee tank. But that is a preference and more academic in that they play almost identical and the difference when the numbers are run is minuscule.

My point about the budget fire build was that my build is a bit different from the guide. If memory serves by the end of the guide the author's build can handle 4x8.

Windows 10? I run Win7 and I think HC has crashed less than half a dozen times on me. Win10 I've anecdotally heard from SG mates that sometimes it crashes though I suspect it is more a driver issue there. Just wondering.