Wizard Weakness for unlock

[Ukase]

So, in pursuit of the weekly, I set about to do a mortimer kal SF. And...I discover I couldn't lfg to it, I didn't have it unlocked. Surprise, surprise. Something new for a player who does mostly blueside stuff and has all the badges on a couple of characters. 

And, as you might imagine, I didn't have that tip that's required. And it's not available in the SG computer, either. I even switched to villain to be sure, it's not. 

I did finally beat up some toxic tarantulas to get the tip, and after doing the sf, I see how the stories come together. But why? 
Why isn't the tip mission just the first part of the sf? I see no good reason for a player to have to do mindless hunting for a tip to do a weekly SF. Just seems stupid to me. My suggestion is to just make the tip mission the first mission of the SF. 

[MTeague]

some of the one-off tips, I believe, were intended to provide a gradual feeling of progression for a Villain.  Not just a checkbox for "okay, i did this TF and got this badge", but a feeling like your character is having some agency and some plans gradually come together as you come into your power.

 

admittedly, that's no doubt less important to a primarily bluesider who's at most a tourist to redside, but ... is what it is. 

I like the current system. 

[Ukase]

Fair enough. If one person liked it, that's plenty of reason for it to stick around. I am just a tourist, after all. 

 

[MTeague]

There might be some way they could split the difference. 

Ie, if leader already has credit for the tip, bypass it, if not, add an extra pre-requisite mission to the Strike Force.

or maybe if every member of the strike force has credit then bypass?

 

Not sure what would be considered proper balance.

I mean, that probably wouldn't be fun to CODE.

but it would allow longer-term redsiders to have the feeling of gradual progression while not leaving visitors stuck behind an unexpected "Nope!"