Influence sink...good? bad?

[TraumaTrain]

Create your own sink.

 

If I had that kind of bank, I'd host costume contests, trivia games, scavenger hunts, hide n seeks... Whatever.

 

I think altogether over a hundred characters, I could scratch up about 3 billion. Towards Christmas I might host a series of games, but it would be quickly done and gone forever for me. I don't farm and I don't play the market; it would take a long time to save up again for another series of games. Maybe annually or something...

[Dazl]

3 hours ago, Ukase said:

I have to be careful here and be more receptive to perspectives that I haven't thought about. I don't want to bemoan every suggestion. So, I hope I'm not coming across that way. 

But, how many times can someone stomach doing the same thing over, and over, and over again? I earned ...maybe 800 hero merits worth tanking hami a couple of years ago, doing that every day for months. The only reason I do those now is for the buddy badge. Once I get the 100 buds, I stop, until the next character wants/needs the badge. 

MSRs and Hami raids are a great way for folks that need the influence that those merits from those tasks provide. I almost feel guilty for taking up a spot as it is! 

Yet, perhaps if I can buy whatever I want - that would also detract from the game itself. Maybe it's for the best. I dunno. But I know I'm going to opt to farm for the foreseeable future for those emps, rather than attend Hami raids & msrs  (though I do have several characters who will be in pursuit of buddy badge and those two irksome MSR related badges for Ukon and the bombs) 
Even so - 4 emps per hami raid, per character. 
You'd have to do that same thing 45 times to get the necessary emp merits. I've already done that thing 1000 times, at least! Enough of that tired story. The chatter while waiting used to be somewhat entertaining, but the more amusing players have left, gone on to other games, it would seem. I don't mind repeating certain things a number of times, but that's too many times, and you can only get 4 per day. (per character). 

I could swap characters, and send the emps to a specific alt, but that's still doing the same thing ad nauseum. I may as well farm. I can get a few vet levels, I think, before a triple run hami is completed. (maybe not...I'd have to check & verify that. I think I can, tho.)
 

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. What people find fun about the game will vary greatly I suppose. If nothing is really fun anymore maybe you should take a break from it for a while.

[Ukase]

4 minutes ago, Dazl said:

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. What people find fun about the game will vary greatly I suppose. If nothing is really fun anymore maybe you should take a break from it for a while.

I could - but the last time folks took a break - the game shut down! 

[A Cat]

2 hours ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

I think the developers should put these items on the P2W vendor for 25 million apiece.

1. A one use instant level 50 token that is character bound.
2. Cool gold colored titles. "Terminator" "Sith Lord" "There can be only one", etc. Bonus points if there's a badge associated getting any one of these titles.
3. A power that's a one use giant banner that says the character's SG name in giant letters, or "Costume Contest" or something else useful. Like the banner should be bigger than a GM. Useful for meeting spots or recruiting or RPing or costume contests.
4. A power that summons a chair and then has your character sit on it. Also useful for meetings or RPing.

1. Should be more expensive. Maybe 10x more expensive.

2. Might get sued for that second one, lol.

3. +1

4. +1

[Erratic1]

1 hour ago, Riverdusk said:

 

So, my own experience "isn't true".  Got it.

 

Not what I said.

 

But if your habit is to twist people's words with snarky one-liners, please feel free to put me on ignore and neve respond to anything I post ever again.

[Riverdusk]

14 minutes ago, Erratic1 said:

 

Not what I said.

 

But if your habit is to twist people's words with snarky one-liners, please feel free to put me on ignore and neve respond to anything I post ever again.

 

I posted with my personal experience and your response was literally "not sure this is true".  And, since you are the one who responded to me first...ditto.

[Erratic1]

2 minutes ago, Riverdusk said:

 

I posted with my personal experience and your response was literally "not sure this is true".  And, since you are the one who responded to me first...ditto.

 

 Since English apparently is not your first language (or second, or third...or fifty-seventh), let me explain to you the basics of reading for comprhension--something people who learn English as a first language are typically taught in grade school....

 

Your post:

 

Quote

I've been playing on HC for most of the time it has existed.  I play a decent amount.  I've yet to ever reach the inf cap on a character even a single time.  I probably have maybe 300 million right now across all my characters for inf on hand.  Although, I do have quite a few decked out characters and quite a lot of enhancements in storage.  But to this day I don't feel like I have an overabundance of inf yet.

 

Maybe because I don't farm?  And I only play the market once in a while.  Not overdoing either of those things and this isn't a "problem".

 

 

My response:

 

Quote

I've been playing on HC for most of the time it has existed.  I play a decent amount.  I've yet to ever reach the inf cap on a character even a single time.  I probably have maybe 300 million right now across all my characters for inf on hand.  Although, I do have quite a few decked out characters and quite a lot of enhancements in storage.  But to this day I don't feel like I have an overabundance of inf yet.

 

Maybe because I don't farm?  And I only play the market once in a while.  Not overdoing either of those things and this isn't a "problem".

 

You draw a conclusion at the end of your post. My post rebuts that conclusion. It does not at any point refer to your experience. Indeed, the entire portion of my post spent doing calculations about how influence is gained and how long it would take to reach the cap clearly indicates that I was referring to your conclusion--a conclusion which is speculative on your part and not part of your experience (beyond perhaps not playing the game sufficiently).

 

And with that, Basic Reading Comprension 101 is over.

 

Welcome to  ignore.

[Riverdusk]

1 minute ago, Erratic1 said:

 

 Since English apparently is not your first language (or second, or third...or fifty-seventh), let me explain to you the basics of reading for comprhension--something people who learn English as a first language are typically taught in grade school....

 

 

And with that, Basic Reading Comprension 101 is over.

 

Welcome to  ignore.

 

So, now you go to personal attacks, nice.  Notice that I never personally attacked you, and will just wish you a good day.

[Ukase]

1 hour ago, TraumaTrain said:

Create your own sink.

 

If I had that kind of bank, I'd host costume contests, trivia games, scavenger hunts, hide n seeks... Whatever.

 

I think altogether over a hundred characters, I could scratch up about 3 billion. Towards Christmas I might host a series of games, but it would be quickly done and gone forever for me. I don't farm and I don't play the market; it would take a long time to save up again for another series of games. Maybe annually or something...

How would one do a scavenger hunt? Not like I can leave a hero pack on the ground somewhere? 
Still, you raise a good point. I was going to give each SG member a large amount of influence, but I was discouraged by the SG leaders because they feared it would lead to a lack of motivation. 

So, I think I'll just start giving away various goodies in game. But still, I sure would like to "buy" a ton of emp merits. 

[Bill Z Bubba]

5 hours ago, Ukase said:

But, how many times can someone stomach doing the same thing over, and over, and over again?

 

I took down 50 pylons in a single day for testing purposes.

[merrypessimist]

3 hours ago, gamingglen said:

How about a new emote:

 

/emote McDuckdive  -  into a pile of gold, of course. 

 

a second one:

/emote swimingold - do you really need an explanation?  😄  

 

Hilarious and I'm all in favor of more animations.  Only problem I know of is that I'm 95% sure none of the Homecoming devs are animators.  They're great coders and good writers but those skills don't necessarily transition to animation. :)

[Heraclea]

The trend of the game has always been inflationary, and it was way worse on Victory.

 

Now, the glory of the game has ever been that most 'loot' that it offers is infinitely tradeable, reusable, and vendible.   My mail is full of Hero Merits and Transcendent Merits, mostly so I can avoid the market for anything but occasional salvage and converter buys.  This is mostly because I don't trust inf as a store of value, and generally do not play for inf or buy much with it.  Instead, I have most of the frequently slotted set enhancements in one of my SGs in storage, and I try to get on and plan several of my large roster off 50s so I have the catalysts I need.   I get more catalysts than I need this way, which are used mostly to make Panacea, Miracles, and Numinas that up and coming characters can slot. 

 

Adding very valuable things like an instant 1-50 token would put me at a disadvantage, mostly because I consider Inf a form of Greasy Kid Stuff and try to exchange it with something of known and durable value like converters.  No character of mine has more than 300 million inf, and that's time to start redistributing it in email.  I consciously try to rid myself if inf when it starts to build up.  I am used to inf as something to work around.  I would prefer it not become a bigger deal  than it is now. 

[GraspingVileTerror]

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/32174-influence-sinkgood-bad/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-409658

Scavenger hunts, @Ukase?

 

See here:  https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/31366-the-upside-park-graffiti-wall-duck-hunt-final-contest-info/

Hide something somewhere and ask people to post screenshot evidence here in the forums.  First poster(s) to provide the screencap(s) win the prizes!

[Dazl]

4 hours ago, Ukase said:

I could - but the last time folks took a break - the game shut down! 

Homecoming has been going for 2 and half years, I get the feeling it's not going anywhere and is only going to get better. If you stay I hope you find something to fill that hole.

[Optimum_Man]

Costume Contests are always popular or you can send some to me @Battletoad 😂 I’m poor.

[UltraAlt]

16 hours ago, Ukase said:

I've got billions (of inf) And billions. like about 400 of 'em. I ask myself, where can I spend this?

 

Hosts costume contests.

Host bio contests.

Hosts task forces that you aren't burned out on and give everyone that joins and stays until the end 10 mil.

Give away some to random sub-level 10's.

 

Get all the Vanity Pets.

Buy lots of temp powers from the P2W vendor.

Buy card packs and sell everything you can on the market.

 

 

16 hours ago, Ukase said:

My dilemma is there are 6 incarnate slots.

 

The agony! (throws up arm in front of my head to show how forlorn I am with despair because of end-gamer woes).

Must be horrible to have 6 incarnate slots to fill, and it's too grindy to do end-gamer stuff. 

You know why all that grindy time consuming stuff is there? It's to give you something to do since you if you don't want to alt out and explore the rest of the game.

 

I hate the Incarnate system, but it's for those that want a L337 feeling and you have to grind for that.

Leave the L337 grind for the L337 and don't dummy-down the L337 down with P2L337.

---

Enjoy the game. Enjoy it your way.

But, f you really need to be maxed out to enjoy City of Heroes, I really truly feel bad for you deep-down in the core of my non-conformist heart.

 

Variety is the spice of life. Alt out.

Don't rush it. No x2 XP.

Explore the City. Fly between missions.

Just run around saving hapless heroes on the street. Join that DFB, POSI 1, POSI 2, random PUG, etc! Check out other servers!

 

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by UltraAlt

[SuperPlyx]

Can't think of a meme for missing the point because there is a lot of that going on in this thread.

 

Also I fear this may become green vs purple.

[Snarky]

18 hours ago, Ukase said:

I'm not opposed to giving inf away. But, 

1. It has to be my idea. Nothing is more stinky and creepy than a beggar. 
2. Anecdotally, the only time I've given inf away and that player kept playing the game is once - and despite my telling them it was a gift, they repaid me in a few months. It's just anecdotal, but folks I've given large sums of inf to - they just stop playing. 


I should add, it's clear you're not serious (although you'd likely accept it, lol). So I'm not labeling you as stinky & creepy. 

Ukase is not kidding.  He will hand large sums out.  I was in a Costume event with him and forgot I was on a zero inf Alt i had loaded to show costume.  I went to tailor and....   So i asked if anyone could toss me a little inf.  Ukase gave me 100 million.   Unlike the person referenced in the above story I never paid him back 🙂 

[Ukase]

3 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

 

Hosts costume contests.

Host bio contests.

Hosts task forces that you aren't burned out on and give everyone that joins and stays until the end 10 mil.

Give away some to random sub-level 10's.

 

Get all the Vanity Pets.

Buy lots of temp powers from the P2W vendor.

Buy card packs and sell everything you can on the market.

 

 

 

The agony! (throws up arm in front of my head to show how forlorn I am with despair because of end-gamer woes).

Must be horrible to have 6 incarnate slots to fill, and it's too grindy to do end-gamer stuff. 

You know why all that grindy time consuming stuff is there? It's to give you something to do since you if you don't want to alt out and explore the rest of the game.

 

I hate the Incarnate system, but it's for those that want a L337 feeling and you have to grind for that.

Leave the L337 grind for the L337 and don't dummy-down the L337 down with P2L337.

---

Enjoy the game. Enjoy it your way.

But, f you really need to be maxed out to enjoy City of Heroes, I really truly feel bad for you deep-down in the core of my non-conformist heart.

 

Variety is the spice of life. Alt out.

Don't rush it. No x2 XP.

Explore the City. Fly between missions.

Just run around saving hapless heroes on the street. Join that DFB, POSI 1, POSI 2, random PUG, etc! Check out other servers!

 

 

I won't review each item on the list and just thank you for the energy to reply. 

I suppose the reputation I have doesn't align with how I play this game. 

I do enjoy the game the way I play. I'm just trying to enjoy it more. 

I will say one thing: I'll never host, or knowingly sponsor a costume contest. I think those are patently unfair, because all of us have different graphic settings and there's no way to know what the other player is seeing. A trial leader once referred to Will of the Earth (a debuff swirl that gets cast onto the feet of someone in the trial) as brown. On my screen, it's yellow. I mean, it's not even close to brown. I also don't think it's even close to fun having your character passed over when you see some of the outfits the winners are wearing. So, pass on that idea. 

I have several characters in play that avoid p2w altogether. No 2xp, no nothing. No aid from the alts. It's good to be familiar with how a newer player struggles. But please know that I already do just about all of those things on the list you suggest. This post isn't about me whining about not having any fun. This post is simply asking your thoughts on an ability to buy emp merits in bulk as a good, bad or horrible idea. Not for the way I play to be assessed and reviewed. 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Ukase

[UltraAlt]

10 hours ago, Ukase said:

How would one do a scavenger hunt?

 

Hide somewhere in a zone, broadcast for people to find you, offer a prize, and make people find you. 

If you wanted to be generous, give out clues to your location until someone finds you.

It becomes a scavenger hunt when you give away IO set enhances when someone finds you.

You could always stand on an exploration badge marker as well.

Edited October 26, 2021 by UltraAlt

[UltraAlt]

11 hours ago, Ukase said:

I could - but the last time folks took a break - the game shut down! 

 

I didn't take a break from CoH back then. I terminated my sub and quit playing in protest.

Scrubbed ally my bios. Changed all my character costumes into a Praetorian Clockwork. Took my characters to under that Atlas Statue and self destructed. Logged out of that character and never logged back into it. With all of my 150+ characters.

I loved City of Heroes, but I was becoming increasingly angry at the direction of the that the game was going in. It was an ever increasing downhill slide from the release of AE on when the DEVs didn't stick to their 40-ton Ban-Hammer over abuse of the AE.

 

Homecoming is what the game should have been come to subscribers instead of the money grab on top of a subscription that it was. And I still do hate the Incarnate system and farmers so much, but I can avoid both. It was hard to avoid the P2W and the goldfarmers before the sunset. Atlas Park is no longer completely overrun with AE babies that couldn't find their way out of Altas Park once they hit level 50 in the AE.

 

I love Homecoming. I'm so glad that the brought City of Heroes back for us. /e bow

 

[The_Warpact]

Do your own Squid Game.

 

Lvl 1 first one to make it from zone in PI to Portal Corp wins. Any deaths is disqualified.

 

Lvl 15 in Bloody Bay hide and run, "check in" at meteors get all and make it back to base you win. Any deaths occurring from enemies or player characters then disqualified. 

 

Etc, etc, etc.

 

Make the stakes high enough, only choose a few people to participate at a time, keep it secret, and record it so you can post the results for our enjoyment. 

 

 

[UltraAlt]

46 minutes ago, Ukase said:

there's no way to know what the other player is seeing

 

You will see everyone with your graphics settings so they are on an equal playing field as far as that goes.

 

It would be based on your judgement, so you would bring your own bias too it as well. Everyone does that hosts a contest.

You aren't being judgemental of anyone. You are just picking what you think to be great costumes regardless of what makes you think a costume is cool.

 

I've been in costume contests and won. I've been in more where I lost. Sometimes the person running the contest give some influence to everyone that participates. Some do top 3 or 5. Some do the top 7 and invite winners to their team and transfer loot that way to make it easy.

 

People like to participate in costume contests even when they lose ... well, at least I do. 

 

51 minutes ago, Ukase said:

On my screen, it's yellow. I mean, it's not even close to brown.

 

Some people are color blind.

I game with someone in another game that is color blind.

 

52 minutes ago, Ukase said:

This post is simply asking your thoughts on an ability to buy emp merits in bulk as a good, bad or horrible idea.

 

As you see by my post, I'm against it.

 

53 minutes ago, Ukase said:

Not for the way I play to be assessed and reviewed. 

 

You opened yourself up for it.

You appeared to be a player that was fixated on the end-game and didn't want to have to grind to be L337.

 

Just between you and me, I hate end-game stuff in all games. End-game stuff is stuff that is tact onto the end of a game to retain players that have completed the game. The stuff before the end-game is the actual game. 

 

 

[UltraAlt]

18 hours ago, Krimson said:

the NPCs in whatever zone you are in start talking about you.

 

I thought that they already did that once you had achieved things in the zone?

Maybe I'm confused again or is that blonde moment? I don't know.

[Ukase]

2 minutes ago, UltraAlt said:

 

I thought that they already did that once you had achieved things in the zone?

Maybe I'm confused again or is that blonde moment? I don't know.

The NPCs do tend to speak up about you, particularly when you've recently completed a story arc or task force. If a Task Force, they mention the task force "name", like "Task Force Nebula", or "Task Force Profit". 

I believe it's just a local reference though, not zone or game wide.