Lockpick

Or you could just announce that you will not make any changes to the current system and just shut down the entire issue. The current system is exactly how it was on Live. Nothing is being broken by the current system. It has worked since 2004. The number of players on HC is drastically reduced when compared to Live, so the number of names taken on HC compared to Live is likely much less. Why make this an issue at all? I would suggest just shutting it down by stating you do not plan to make any changes. After all, from a HC team standpoint there is nothing but downside. You make a mistake people get upset at you. People lose a name and they get upset at you.

Any chance of an I27 release?

I've made one as well and gotten it to 50. Still working on Incarnates. It is definitely strong and the combo works well.

Things to think about: What you think would bring the most to the community at large and why? Leveraging AE and the players to create the content with HC Team content approval for rewards seems the best route More zones is probably not a good idea as we have a ton of zones that get limited use now Khalisti Wharf is an exception and might be nice to add content here What is reasonable to expect given limited resources? It is hard to say as I don't know the limits of the team, but it seems to me that the easiest path to start would be to add some additional options for the notoriety (+4, +10, No Minions, Bosses Only, etc.) and challenge settings (No Incarnates, No Judgement, No Alpha, Bosses Only, No Minions) Is there an order in which you'd do things? Update Notoriety Settings Update Challenge Settings Reward Rationalization Update AE to allow players to create the content Add a process to have the HC Team approve the new content Add the content to a "Canon" state, so it gets full rewards that traditional content receives My solution (provided previously in another thread): HC Team would adjust AE to add more tags and filters, so players can find appropriate content Clean up AE and disable or tag missions where the creators are no longer active and the mission is not getting traction HC Team volunteer would create Community AE mission contests with the help of community volunteers HC Team would create reward badges and and provide reward merits for players creating and testing content to incentivize players HC Team volunteers would take the content that is lore based and fits the parameters of what the HC team believe are appropriate from a complexity, lore, and difficulty standpoint and tag it as Canon content HC Team would set parameters that limit the ability to game the system for inappropriate rewards Only provide rewards at completion of the mission Ensure that there are different enemy types in each mission and sets of missions, so if doesn't become a defacto farm Other parameters as needed Maybe have a monthly contest for canon story arcs that are accepted as Canon content and have quarterly Task Forces added as Canon content; that gives you 4 new TFs per year and 12 new story arcs per year in addition to additional content that may be selected as Canon Content by the HC Team Maybe do something similar for Incarnate content HC Team could have zone, level, or enemy faction specific content requests for the players to create content to add content where it may be lacking Once content is tagged as Canon it becomes HC Team content, so the creator can no longer make adjustments not approved by the HC Team Give Canon content the same rewards as TFs and Incarnate missions (i.e. reward merits, threads, shards, Astral Merits, EMPs. etc.) as appropriate Balance the rewards based on appropriate reward levels and adjust as needed If you find that everyone is playing the Council AE mission over and over because they are a weak enemy, lower the rewards The HC Team can also make some of the AE Content WSTs to get players to play it Have the player created content be accessible through contacts / radio that are in various zones as opposed to the AE Example: I create an AE mission as a portal mission in PI. I tag the mission as PI. Once the mission is approved by the HC Team as Canon content the mission can be selected via the radio and points me to a portal. Once I enter the portal I am basically in AE. These adjustments will provide many benefits: It should be relatively easy to implement because most of the work is focused on improvements to existing tools and leveraging the community to create and test the content It should be relatively easy to maintain (HC Team may have to balance rewards occasionally if the data calls for it) Content of many different levels of complexity will be created that should alleviate the concern of players that think the game is to easy because they will be able to play the hard mode content they crave You will never run out of new content, which is always the issue with a MMO People will likely play the content because they are getting the rewards they need for progression It will bring the community closer together because we will be working together to create and test content The HC Team will not have to worry about creating content and can focus on incremental adjustments, bug fixes, new power sets, etc. Players will be able to more effectively "own" their play experience by creating content they enjoy (of course it will still have to pass the HC Team gating criteria to get full rewards)

I usually fund my lowbies with the candy canes. I take the P2W power that gives 3 inspirations and sale one of the inspirations to the vendor and use that influence to sale the other 2 inspirations on the AH. I then use that influence to sale 5 candy canes. This will generally get me $55K influence, which is enough for thejet pack, reveal, and 8 hours of buffs from all 3 buffs. Then use the jet pack to get the AP exploration badges for 5 merits, then start converting and marketeering.

Deleted

I really like the experience power. It helps in that grind in the mid-40s and when you are trying to get to the next vet level where you earn 20 EMs.

I had no idea. This is awesome.

I took an Energy Melee stalker to 50 last week and it was pretty good. Between AS, TF, and ET I was able to one shot even level minions one after the other. This made progress pretty quick. Once I hit 50 I decided to go back to my KM and see how it compared. Both have EA as a secondary. KM is nowhere close to EM. Not sure if I am playing it wrong or what, but I have to hit enemies multiple times to defeat them. I see everyone say the animation times are fast for KM they don't seem that way to me (except AS out of hide). Is KM as bad as I think it is after my EM experience?

I thinking using travel and exploration to reduce the recharge of a travel power is pretty thematic. I would also suggest that adding pvp gates to unlock pvp content would be thematic. For example, in order to unlock a pvp stealth power that can be purchased from the vendor you have to spend an hour in a pvp zone. Just an example, I'm not suggesting this happen. I would suggest using pvp gates to reduce the recharge of a travel power is not at all thematic. In both cases, if someone wanted the reward they would have to earn it in game. If they did not believe the reward was worth the effort they wouldn't do it. Nothing unreasonable with that position. Another example: There are 9 Hero accolade powers that can be earned. I typically go for the 4 passives and do not go after the others because the effort vs. reward is not good for me. It may be for others. There is nothing unreasonable with that position. Power Effect The Atlas Medallion Auto: Self +5 Max Endurance Crey CBX-9 Pistol Click: Ranged Moderate DoT(Cold) Foe: Immobilize -Speed -Recharge Elusive Mind Click: Self +25% Defense(Psionic), +7.5% Resistance(Psionic) Eye of the Magus Click: Self +Resistance(All but Psionics) +Defense(All but Psionics) Freedom Phalanx Reserve Auto: +10% Max HP Geas of the Kind Ones Click: Self +Recharge +Recovery +Accuracy -Defense Portable Workbench Special (Summon Portable Workbench) Portal Jockey Auto: Self +5% Max HP +5 Max Endurance Task Force Commander Auto: Self +5% Max HP Vanguard Medal Click: Self +Special(doubles Disorient, Hold, Immobilize, Fear, Confuse and Sleep effects)

I'm buying the packs to keep the items, doubt I will sell anything. I was buying 10 to 20 packs per character, but didn't think to document the drops. For my last 2 characters I bought 10 packs and 4 for 14 total. Results: I didn't do rarity or anything, just total drops. Pack Item Pack Drops Brainstorm 12 Candy Canes 9 Catalyst 1 Converter 3 Inspiration 17 IO 15 Merits 3 Respec 1 Tailor 2 Temp 1 Unslotter 3 Windfall 2 XP 1 Grand Total 70

I checked to see if the Winter IOs were on sale and they were not. Is that sale being brought back this year?

I was playing a TA/DP Defender for a bit and was thinking that I would definitely like to see the Trick Arrow powers leveraging Dual Pistols. It would be much more thematic for me than trying to use a Bow + Pistols. I would also suggest doing this with Assault Rifle as well, so 2 new sets: Assault Rifle - Trick Ammo Dual Pistols - Trick Ammo Trick Ammo are configured with a wide variety of payloads which can dramatically change the course of the battlefield. Entangling Arrow = Entangling Ammo Flash Arrow = Flash Ammo Glue Arrow = Glue Ammo Ice Arrow = Ice Ammo Poison Gas Arrow = Poison Gas Ammo Acid Arrow = Acid Ammo Disruption Arrow = Disruption Ammo Oil Slick Arrow = Oil Slick Ammo EMP Arrow = EMP Ammo That is all...

The freebie Menu to unlock locations in LRT is not working.

I've never played Psy/Mental, so trying to figure my path. Trying to build for 45% S/L/R, but not quite there. I feel like I am missing some powers I should be taking. Any thoughts on the build or how to play Psy/Mental?

My first Stalker on Live was EM and after the nerfs I stopped playing him. I created an EM/EA Stalker on HC and have already hit 50 (I was off all week, don't judge me). I didn't like the focus mechanic on Beta, but have gotten used to it on Live. I wish the graphics could be minimized. Coloring the powers black helped. I still need to work through incarnates as I only have alpha at T1; the rest are still locked. I played solo, but also did TFs and I now have 3 of the 4 passive accolades. I got killed early on a few times and wasn't sure if it was because of the -hp attack or because my defense failed. It happened a couple of times in a row and I didn't think to check the combat logs. EM/EA pairs very well together. Power Crash worked better as an AoE than I expected. I can one shot 3 baddies by doing AS, then TF, and then ET. I can move through crowds of bads pretty quickly. I was thinking it was OP, but then I thought my Savage/SR can do the same thing using more AoE. Using the BU-AS-TF-ET combo on hard targets is pretty good. All in all it was a good experience, but I don't see it as much different than other Stalkers I have played. I'll play out the passives and the the incarnates and then it will probably get shelved. Still looking for the one character that will hold my attention through 100 vet levels. Haven't found it yet.

That would have set off a shit storm if they had done that. There were already complaints about pay to win and that would sent some players off...

Not true at all. There is a very long thread about this very topic - rewards behind content gating for progression. Some of the posters (including me) believe that some rewards should have to be earned by completing content. Others disagree.

That is why my suggestions are more around the HC team adjusting various settings (Notoriety, Challenge, etc.) and expanding and refreshing AE as well as focusing on the AE community. The only way to get hard mode / incarnate content out regularly is to have the players get involved and create it. The stories that have come out from the HC team are excellent, but to get content out faster it needs to come from the community.

I was in the threads when this came out and did the testing. I expressed my opinion then and tested it again on Live and have expressed my opinion again. I agree with what you are saying to a certain extent (especially about the recharge), but not the way you are saying it. At a certain point after a message has been shared multiple times by the same person it becomes less about the message and more about the person providing the message. We all knew, or should have known, that /enterbasefrompasscode was a GM code and was considered an exploit. We all knew, or should have known, that /enterbasefrompasscode was going to be removed one day. We all knew, or should have known, that we should not get used to using /enterbasefrompasscode because it was an exploit and was definitely going away. We all knew, or should have known, that when /enterbasefrompasscode was removed that if there was a replacement that the replacement would not be as good or as convenient as the /enterbasefrompasscode GM code. We are now at that day where the exploit has been removed and the alternative solution is not as good as the GM code, which we should have expected. What is the point of continually railing about it in an aggressive manner? The decision has been made and we have to live with it. I do feel you pain though. I really do. I thought most of the power adjustments were absolutely not needed. I expressed my opinion vocally during those discussions and the adjustments were made. Unfortunately, we are somewhat powerless in the direction of this game unless we want to set up our instances and I have no desire to do that, so I have to live with the decisions the HC team makes and make the best of it. For the most part I think they have done an excellent job. I also need to remember how miserable I was when CoH shut down and how happy I am to be back in the City. It could be worse. A lot worse...

There is a bug for Faultline and the team said it will be fixed in the next update.

Whose end goal? My end goal would be for the Devs to provide more ability for the players to create hard mode content, so that the incarnate powers would be useful in newly added content. I certainly wouldn't want to nerf the powers as many here are suggesting. The HC team just did a bunch of power adjustments that made some people happy and others unhappy. New content makes everyone happy. Nerfing powers make some people unhappy. Let's go for making everyone happy...

The major backlash seems to be coming from 2 people who are very vocal. I agree with you though. The HC team should have just removed the exploit and provided no alternative. Then in January maybe they could have provided a new power as part of a new update. Instead of all the current drama there would have been some future gratitude.

I decided to check out Regen. I haven't played Sentinel since my DP/Ninjitsu due to the low damage, but I decided I wanted to give Regen a try and see how it is. I built for Range defense and used cheap sets. Any improvements?

Isn't "a single power with a reasonable activation time (long enough to be interruptible and prevent mission abuse, etc.) to teleport to a base via its passcode, that I assume starts unlocked on a toon or has a simple unlock (you didn't specifiy that), that needs no prerequisite power used before it, and has a 60s-90s cooldown" basically the /ebfp? The only difference is you are adding a few seconds to activation so it can't be interrupted and you are giving it a CD that is longer than /epfb, but much shorter than any other similar TP power like Oro portal. I just don't see that as a starter position. I would love this type of power and I would really love it if it was a reward for doing some content. I just don't see it happening...