A question for farmers

[Greycat]

Since I'm doing an "out of curiosity" LBFF at the moment (and for me it's experimental, seeing what I can do, similar to when I ran one of the CEBR brutes in late-live,) I thought I'd ask:

 

How many of you farm because you enjoy the act of farming, and how many do it only for the rewards? (Inf / "this lets my SG run CCs" / "I can get people PL'd up.")  Would you find yourself running farm maps if it weren't for farming bringing in the most INF? (There's also the "And why" here - is it just mowing down this many enemies, seeing what you can do to really optimize builds? Or all about that inf?) Or is it a balance between the two ("I do it for the inf, but I enjoy it and would probably run farms anyway, just less frequently" sort of thing?)

 

*Pure* curiosity here. (Similar to badgers who don't like PVP going in to PVP zones to get those badges, versus those who enjoy the game and the badges are a plus - they'd find themselves in there at some point anyway even without badges.)

[Silverado]

Farming is just about one of the most tedious activities in the game. There's a reason why so many people run builds and maps that allow them to farm while afk.

[Greycat]

So do you farm? "Just for the rewards" then, or just an outside observation?

 

I should probably answer my own question here:

1. As mentioned, curiosity. I don't generally farm. (And if you watched me farming... I'm pretty sure the facepalms and "why are you doing that?" questions could be heard from COH to the other side of WOW.)

2. Rewards. I'd rather spend time and tickets getting rare salvage than buying it or hoping for drops. I can specify what I need and pick it right up. And, yes, dump the rest on the market.

Edited May 14, 2020 by Greycat

[SchnauzerXL]

I initially used AE farming for cash, it is a nice low barrier entry to get started.  It has since transitioned to only being a way to PL new toons.  All the cash I make now is from the AH or every day play.  I don't find it particularly enjoyable to farm solo or in group, but there are no better ways to skip waiting for groups at low levels.

Edited May 14, 2020 by SchnauzerXL

[Greycat]

So you could also say you used it as seed money for getting into marketeering and the initial few characters you made?

[Psyonico]

I only farm on occasion because I find it tedious... most of the time...

 

There are occasions when I want to just mow down purple mobs and bring in the inf at the same time, which is when I do farm (or run +4x8 ITFs)

[Troo]

Some folks have reported that they enjoy the farming and find it relaxing to stay in semi-continuous combat rather running mission to mission.

 

Me? The game is so easy and leveling is so fast at this point, I'll do it to power level someone on request.

 

Rewards drops from farming fall too much with others in the mission to make it worth it just my opinion.

[Yoru-hime]

I have a rad/fire brute that I use for farming and do not AFK farm. I got into it for the rewards, but I have more influence than I really need.

 

I'd say that for me farming is almost a zen thing. Sometimes I want to TF or badge hunt and sometimes I just want to log in and mindlessly cut loose while listening to music. Nights like that, farming is very relaxing and satisfying.

[Rathulfr]

I use my farmer for leveling alts to the mid-20s so they can use common IOs that are functionally equivalent to SOs.  I'll also farm if I'm tight on cash for a level 50 build.

 

Oddly enough, most of my farming was done with Spines/Fire Brute equipped with common IOs and a few procs.  Then I reviewed a few of the budget builds and decided to try building one with orange IO sets -- no purples, no ATOs.  I actually got a decent build that's almost soft-capped on fire defense while idle (Incarnates fill in the rest).  I spent about a week refining the build, and then tried it on both a Brute and a Tanker: I decided the Brute was still better.

 

[Apparition]

I farm for INF and drops to kit out my new characters with and to give away as prizes for the instanced MSR trials I run.  I realize that marketeering is “better,” but I am an auditor IRL and spend all day in Microsoft Excel.  I have absolutely no desire nor interest in that aspect of CoH.

[EmmySky]

I initially made a farmer because I never did on live.  It seemed like a lot of people enjoy that part of the game and who am I to naysay without trying it.  

 

So I annoyed all the farmers on Indom to let little TankYou tag along and learn the ropes.  And boy did they teach!  

 

Then I reveled in the fact that I had buckets of inf.  Look, 200m!  Look, 800m!  Look, 2b!  That got old fast.

 

Now I jump in and farm if there are no teams available or if I am sick of running KR again.  I can farm, watch my dvds and chat all at the same time without having to focus too much.  Its kinda relaxing to burn the place down while keeping up with a witty chat in Gen.  

[Coyotedancer]

I'm very much one of those "farms for fun" types... My fire farmer is a strictly active-farming-only Fire Armor and Claws guy, built for clearing speed rather than safety. (I couldn't AFK farm with Harry even if I wanted to, and that was an intentional design choice. AFK farming has always felt a little cheaty to me.)

 

I honestly really do enjoy just tossing my farmer-bird into a huge pile of colorful goons and making a complete mess of them. I enjoy doing that with my non-farming brute and a few other characters out in the "regular game" as well, so that's not *just* a fire farm thing by any means, either. Farm maps just make it an easier, all-in-one-place sort of experience. I don't have to bounce all over a zone, trusting to the luck of the scanner or my memory of what each contact's arcs contain just to have fun bashing a horde if I'm playing City of Farmville.  

 

As for the rewards... I put them in "nice side-effect" territory. Having enough INF and assorted purple or PvP recipe drops to equip my alts the way I want to really IS a nice bonus. Especially since I don't enjoy marketeering at all, and that's basically the only other real alternative when you're looking at a list of 30 characters who've all needed equipping at some point, and you're the kind of player who wants at least reasonably sound set-builds for all of them. Without my farmer, I'd have had a heck of a time kitting the rest of the gang.

 

Also, Harry has been useful as a burn-out dodge. After 29 other characters here, plus the small tribe I had in the Old Days, I've run the game's low-level content so many times that I'd rather never see any of it again. o_0 Having my farmer on a secondary account means I can toss newbies into a farm map with him and short-cut them straight to mid-levels. That's been a nice thing. I'd MUCH rather play through the 32-50+ game than face 1-31 again.  

[iBot]

I know OPs question didn't involve "those that don't farm... why?" but I feel compelled to share my 0.02 inf anyway.  Simple.  Boring.  If I wanted to run the same content over and over and over and over and over and ... well I'd play normal missions which is what I do.  I find leveling alts just as fast on a full team running 4/8 as any farm.  I don't have a hundred alts to kit out so inf is no worry.  I sell all drops as I play anyway and then have one dedicated 50 that crafts the IOs I want from components purchased on the AH at the time I need them for crafting.  I don't have any billion inf builds and if I tallied all the inf on my various toons it is probably less than a billion.  The only exception is once in a while I may join a friend who is farming to boost a few levels if there is a TF forming up that I'm a level or 3 shy of being able to bring my latest toon on.

 

It doesn't bother me in the slightest that some players use AE for various reasons.  I'm just in the category of "eh, let's run radios."😎

[KC4800]

I dont fire farm, I energy farm. Same tired moon map. I do it because I don't have to seek it out. Its the easiest way to get inf to email my alts so I can play them the way I want to.  I don't even care if I am the least efficient farmer, using the wrong map...etc. I found something that works and Im sticking with it. I definitely don't AFK farm.

[Seigmoraig]

I farm to get inf to fuel my altitis. Before confinement I would farm to level my guys to 22-27 or something (for 25 or 30 IOs) and then give them enough inf for their starter generic IOs + Panacea, Miracle and numina.

 

Since confinement... I have been AFK farming pretty much non stop on my second monitor while I work on my business laptop plugged into my main monitor. Farm monitor doesn't even need a real keyboard plugged in, I just have my dinky little portable keyboard/mouse controller thing I use to change youtube videos while I'm on the couch. Just set them map (2915) once in the morning and I just use lclick+rclick to move around to reset to maps

[Without_Pause]

#1 reason for me to farm is for dual boxing. The second character doesn't really matter to me. 1-49 for leveling, or 50+ for Incarnate rewards and full influ runs on two characters. 

[Dazl]

I find farming to be very boring, but it is handy for supporting my other characters and to fund my marketeering. I'll craft all my recipe drops (since I don't sell my salvage or recipes) and convert them for sale on the AH, or keep them for other characters. My farmer is like my game quartermaster. I still do regular hami raids, so between the merits and what the farmer makes, I can support my other characters very well.

[SuperPlyx]

6 hours ago, Yoru-hime said:

I'd say that for me farming is almost a zen thing. Sometimes I want to TF or badge hunt and sometimes I just want to log in and mindlessly cut loose while listening to music. Nights like that, farming is very relaxing and satisfying.

This sums it ...you can just unplug your brain and something about the repetitive task is soothing to me. Altho I do not do it often any more.

[Saikochoro]

Power leveling my alts is 100% of the reason I farm. Getting some influence and drops while I do it is just a happy coincidence. 
 

If I just wanted to fight horses or mobs there are much more fun ways of doing it in my opinion. 

Edited May 15, 2020 by Saikochoro

[Saikochoro]

7 hours ago, Apparition said:

I farm for INF and drops to kit out my new characters with and to give away as prizes for the instanced MSR trials I run.  I realize that marketeering is “better,” but I am an auditor IRL and spend all day in Microsoft Excel.  I have absolutely no desire nor interest in that aspect of CoH.

I used to be an auditor. Got sick of public accounting and moved into the private sector. Still look at excel all day...

Edited May 14, 2020 by Saikochoro

[Wobegone]

9 hours ago, Yoru-hime said:

I'd say that for me farming is almost a zen thing. Sometimes I want to TF or badge hunt and sometimes I just want to log in and mindlessly cut loose while listening to music. Nights like that, farming is very relaxing and satisfying.

Farming and Civ are great for listening to some jams.  I don't farm often, but when I do it's to zone out.  Only problem with that is I also often forget to pay attention to my end bar.  

[Burnt Toast]

I mainly farm to PL my own characters or those of friends. I RARELY farm solo... usually have someone in Discord with me chit chatting while I farm our/their toon. 

Originally I farmed to PL and gain influence, but now influence is not an issue at all. I do not farm very often anymore truly.... When I do it is usually just to get a toon to 50 so ... 3 hours or so. 

 

 

[Peacemoon]

I farmed until I completed my expensive build on my rad/ar defender. Now he just does all content on +4/x8 and gets silly amounts of inf as a byproduct while doing story arcs and the like. TBH I prefer it that way as less of a focus on trying to maximise inf gain, and you get loads anyway. Some mobs in story arc missions are easier than AE farms anyway.

[Kabuki]

I farm to level up new concept characters and get some seed money to get them started for the most part, but I will also farm to help other folks level up. However, I do farm sometimes as a zen like thing, it is simple, soothing and repetitive to help me unwind, and I can do it while chatting with friends in game. I mean, it isn't "fun" per se... it is fairly monotonous... but I find it relaxing and enjoyable all the same. I don't AFK farm (aside from getting up to grab a drink while in a mission or something), and I don't generally solo grind farm for cash, because I prefer to chat with folks while doing it.

[golstat2003]

I farm to level up new builds to try out. I have a farmer on each of my accounts. The inf and drops are icing on the cake. 

The other is for getting vet levels so that I can get the emp reward, which I convert to Reward Merits, and the converters, for marketing. Helps to fuel alt builds.