The moment a character goes to the "It" list.

[Luminara]

I have fifteen or sixteen level 50 characters.  Some I enjoy immensely, others I thought would be nifty when I started them, but turned out to be less than expected, or couldn't be adapted to my play style, and some that are fine in every way, but just don't grab me the way I hoped they would.  But of the ones I play regularly, only two have crossed that invisible threshold.  And for me, it turns out that this threshold is salvage storage capacity.

 

I've always enjoyed my Ice/Willpower sentinel, but after the Page 5 revisions, I've been playing it so much that I ran out of storage for salvage several times.  I'd be flitting along in a mission and see that red text glaring at me, mutter and grumble and open the window to dump some stacks into the vault.  Logged into the character this morning, checked my inventory, and saw that I had about 130, but no full stacks.  And I knew that I'd be stopping at some point today to juggle salvage if I didn't do something about it.

 

Okay, you're wondering why I'm not just clearing my salvage storage daily, emptying the whole thing and moving on.  See, I craft all of the uncommon/rare/very rare recipes that drop, and since we don't have access to the market from bases, where I do my crafting, it's easier to just keep it in my inventory.  I have four salvage bins... and they're all full of rare salvage, catalysts, Aethers, et cetera, plus a handful of common and uncommon stuff for empowerment buffs.  I carry common and uncommon salvage on every character, moving stacks out when I have more than 10 of something.  It's convenient for me.

 

Until it becomes inconvenient.  I don't play most of my characters often enough for it to be a nuisance, certainly not enough to warrant spending an hour crafting level 25 and 30 IOs and deleting them or selling them at a loss just to get rid of them.  That's just not part of the allure of this game, for me.  I'm playing to pew-pew smushsmush, not micro-manage drops and inventories.  My base storage is a cluttered mess, enhancements and salvage scattered all over the place, despite my best intentions when I put the storage racks in.  I live in a 12'x16' off-grid cabin, I don't have indoor plumbing, I work odd jobs, so I'm already well beyond my happiness level when it comes to micro-managing things.  Water, power, firewood, finances, time, space inside the cabin... I'm just not doing it in a game.

 

That was when I realized that I'd crossed the line with this sentinel.  Not because I was still excited to play the character, or that I was exceptionally pleased with the results from my latest respec, or because I wanted badges, or even the Page 5 improvements, but because I'm willing to dedicate myself to a task in which I have no real interest.  When I chose to make an improvement for which I almost never feel a need, or even purpose, even though it was boring and could've been easily sidestepped by simply throwing away a bunch of almost worthless salvage, that was when I understood that I was dedicated to playing this one forever.  It's not just an alt, it's not just another character, it's special.

 

Everyone has that moment.  The decision to commit fully to a character.  What's yours?

[Snarky]

I am playing this new fire mental blaster Demon.  I knew i liked it when i had to tromp over and do the tedious task of killing a bunch of Paragon citizens just to keep him “happy.”

[Cancrusher]

 I usually know by level 50.  If it feels like there's some bugs that need to be worked out, I'll grind out my T1 incarnates to see if that solves the problem.  If not, I'll use my alternate build slots to rework the character and see if I can get something I like.  

 

If I haven't gotten a result that I enjoy to play by that point, I typically shelve the character (or even delete it).  If I like playing the character, I'll fill out my incarnates to T3 and it becomes one of my stable of favorites.

 

I'm just now about to get my first character with all T4 incarnates (A sentinel, ,as it happens).  Until I tried Hard Mode (and enjoyed it), I never bothered with chasing down the T4s (having to work up the ladder twice seemed like too big a hassle to bother).  Now I want them on at least 1 character, for playing Hard Mode content.

 

Also, I may come up with a costume/concept that I really love and it may take trying out several different AT's and combinations of powersets before I find the one that best simulates what I had in mind when I made the costume.

 

Anyway, that's how it works for me, usually.

[Glacier Peak]

1 hour ago, Luminara said:

I have fifteen or sixteen level 50 characters.  Some I enjoy immensely, others I thought would be nifty when I started them, but turned out to be less than expected, or couldn't be adapted to my play style, and some that are fine in every way, but just don't grab me the way I hoped they would.  But of the ones I play regularly, only two have crossed that invisible threshold.  And for me, it turns out that this threshold is salvage storage capacity.

 

I've always enjoyed my Ice/Willpower sentinel, but after the Page 5 revisions, I've been playing it so much that I ran out of storage for salvage several times.  I'd be flitting along in a mission and see that red text glaring at me, mutter and grumble and open the window to dump some stacks into the vault.  Logged into the character this morning, checked my inventory, and saw that I had about 130, but no full stacks.  And I knew that I'd be stopping at some point today to juggle salvage if I didn't do something about it.

 

Okay, you're wondering why I'm not just clearing my salvage storage daily, emptying the whole thing and moving on.  See, I craft all of the uncommon/rare/very rare recipes that drop, and since we don't have access to the market from bases, where I do my crafting, it's easier to just keep it in my inventory.  I have four salvage bins... and they're all full of rare salvage, catalysts, Aethers, et cetera, plus a handful of common and uncommon stuff for empowerment buffs.  I carry common and uncommon salvage on every character, moving stacks out when I have more than 10 of something.  It's convenient for me.

 

Until it becomes inconvenient.  I don't play most of my characters often enough for it to be a nuisance, certainly not enough to warrant spending an hour crafting level 25 and 30 IOs and deleting them or selling them at a loss just to get rid of them.  That's just not part of the allure of this game, for me.  I'm playing to pew-pew smushsmush, not micro-manage drops and inventories.  My base storage is a cluttered mess, enhancements and salvage scattered all over the place, despite my best intentions when I put the storage racks in.  I live in a 12'x16' off-grid cabin, I don't have indoor plumbing, I work odd jobs, so I'm already well beyond my happiness level when it comes to micro-managing things.  Water, power, firewood, finances, time, space inside the cabin... I'm just not doing it in a game.

 

That was when I realized that I'd crossed the line with this sentinel.  Not because I was still excited to play the character, or that I was exceptionally pleased with the results from my latest respec, or because I wanted badges, or even the Page 5 improvements, but because I'm willing to dedicate myself to a task in which I have no real interest.  When I chose to make an improvement for which I almost never feel a need, or even purpose, even though it was boring and could've been easily sidestepped by simply throwing away a bunch of almost worthless salvage, that was when I understood that I was dedicated to playing this one forever.  It's not just an alt, it's not just another character, it's special.

 

Everyone has that moment.  The decision to commit fully to a character.  What's yours?

You may want to try what I do to remove that glaring red text - make floating power trays and arrange as desired. Once that is done you can then disconnect the inspiration tray from the original power tray and then dismiss the original power tray by hitting the "P" key or clicking the 'Power' text on the menu bar.

 

Further customization can occur of course, but that's what I do for my farmer when I just want to smash.

[KaizenSoze]

I was pretty unimpressed with my Night Widow, then I read Galbasuar's Fortunata guide. Respec'ed into a Fortunata... and still wasn't impressed.

 

A few weeks later, I came back and re-designed her in Mids to my tastes. Respec'ed again, got her slotted out, then the light came on!

 

Now, if you put a gun to my head and said I had to pick one character. It would be a Fortunata.

[Doc_Scorpion]

3 hours ago, Luminara said:

Everyone has that moment.  The decision to commit fully to a character.  What's yours?

I don't know that there is a moment, a particular indicator...  But, somehow, I generally know by the mid teens whether I'll keep playing, only drag them out when a low level TF is the WST, or delete them entirely.

[PLVRIZR]

After five or six years on Live, I pretty much knew.  Once I found HC, I immediately began remaking my favorite toons from Live.  Looking at my list, I obviously tank alot 🤣.  The one that (obviously) stuck...and is my go-to when I just want to cruise...is NUT.  Played him for so long he's VL 475-something and T4 in everything incarnate.  Foot Stomp is just too satisfying.

[Frozen Burn]

For me, it's the character concept:  their backstory, costume, name, and powersets - if it all jives, then I will certainly enjoy playing it.  Even if the powersets don't fit perfectly, I'll still enjoy - I like characters that have flaws, a weakness to overcome, and such - it just adds to their depth and creates a better challenge for gameplay.  So it's a "win-win" even if I choose poor combos, as long as the concept engages me.

 

The only difference is my Main / namesake:  Frozen Burn.  He's an Ice/Fire/Fire Blaster and the first toon I made back on live in 2004.  I had a backstory early on and it sucked so i deleted it.  The costumes were "meh" at best (still are).  The name "Frozen Burn" - I always hated it (still do), but I'm not good at naming things - and NO, I purposely did NOT want "Freezer Burn."  But I had a new game and it was already taking me hours to create my very first toon and I needed to get in game to join my friends who also just purchased it. 

 

Turns out, that Ice/Fire blasting is just WAY too fun, survivable (even back on live at the beginning of the game before Blasters got buffed), and I just for some strange reason love to play this toon.

 

So, I guess that's why when I do have moments of brilliance where a toon's concept (name, costume, powersets, and backstory) jives - they quickly become a favorite "go to" over the others. 

[Nurvus]

[Doomguide2005]

     For me it's mostly a slow realization that this is going to be one of my favorites.  Most of mine hit 50 eventually, but there's ones at both ends.  Ones that slowly fade, never get deleted but end up never being played nor hit 50 and then there's the ones that I continually grab, get 2nd or even 3rd builds, and probably end up with several builds in Mids (and lots of IO loving).  Then there's all the rest in between with a smattering of IOs, maybe a build in Mids that maybe they get slowly, actually get converted into.  But that moment is rarely 'a moment'.  

[twozerofoxtrot]

It's the character I mained when I played Live*.  Just too pleased with myself at her design, even if I get bored with her gameplay. 

 

Didn't help when I started roleplaying her. Or badging her. Or commissioning a bunch of art. Just made me more committed. 

 

I've got a few other characters I really like. Mostly because of the stories I could tell about them. But Glyphica is my 'it'.

 

 

 

 

*except she was a Brute on live and a Tanker here, though same powers. It would end up being an auspicious divergence. 

[Sir Myshkin]

I couldn't possibly choose just one of my children, that would be madness!

 

Although really it's more about whether they get their Incarnates knocked out. Hitting 50 is inevitable, but whether they score a full T4 set or not isn't always the case. Some only have T3 sets, and others barely have an Alpha (if even that much effort advanced).

[Clave Dark 5]

I often think "Ooooh, this one's going to be THE ONE for me!"  And that statement should also spell out for you that I was wrong.  I have been having some fun revisiting old 50s lately too, finishing up a build, or realizing I never fully IOed them or something.  But still, so far, there is no ONE.

[Lyrium]

23 minutes ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

I often think "Ooooh, this one's going to be THE ONE for me!"  And that statement should also spell out for you that I was wrong.  I have been having some fun revisiting old 50s lately too, finishing up a build, or realizing I never fully IOed them or something.  But still, so far, there is no ONE.

I'm in the same boat! Right now, THE ONE is a Necro/Dark MM...lets see

[Shred Monkey]

20 hours ago, Luminara said:

since we don't have access to the market from bases

I use the Vanguard base for most of my hero administrative work.  It has everything... merit vendor, quartermaster, crafting table, even a costume editor, and a base portal if i need to get something from storage.  AND it has market access.

[Luminara]

4 minutes ago, Shred Monkey said:

I use the Vanguard base for most of my hero administrative work.  It has everything... merit vendor, quartermaster, crafting table, even a costume editor, and a base portal if i need to get something from storage.  AND it has market access.

 

It doesn't have privacy.  I like to be alone when I'm touching my things.

[Shred Monkey]

20 hours ago, Luminara said:

Everyone has that moment.  The decision to commit fully to a character.  What's yours?

Mine works like this.  I get an idea for a character.  I start a very exhaustive pre-work process of calculating attack chains then creating builds.  Most ideas never get beyond this.   But the ones that do, get rolled up in game.  Then over the next 50 levels (always played out in content, not farmed) I basically focus on getting the costume right.  Often changing names and concepts entirely if a costume looks good enough.  At 50 I roll out my final build, and get all my T4 incarnate powers and I play it. 

 

Then... (and here's the answer to your question)... I hit a tipping point where I say to myself, "You know... that last Task Force would have been much better on toon X" and I go play toon X.  OR... that tipping point never happens, and I end up with a new main.  It's kind of like how boxing titles are kept.  You're the champ until a challenger comes along and beats you.  I had a fire/energy blaster as my main for over a  year, that got replaced by an energy/energy stalker.  Now that's been replaced by a seismic/martial blaster who's held the spot quite solidly against several challengers.

[SeraphimKensai]

I think for me it's all about the chase. I have a ton of characters that are well built lvl 50's that haven't been logged in for over a year.

 

When I'm building the toon and testing it out they are all fun, but they kinda get shelved eventually, when I get a new idea for a toon. That said I'm at the point I've been running out of ideas I want to try, so who knows maybe eventually when I completely run out of toon ideas I'll put all my characters in a death match and the winner will become my "main".

[KC4800]

I retired my first tanker from Indom. Moved all of his great enhancers to another tanker, a lvl 48 Elec/Elec tanker. He is my newest project. Before that I was just slotting him with whatever dropped. What do I do to minimize the Power Surge penalty? I would like to use that more, but the cost is too great.

[cranebump]

I don't think I have a definite process. But the one I keep returning to is just a simple AR/Tac Arrow blaster (with Presence and Munitions as [hardly-used] secondaries). He's not going to outshine anyone, but can always find a way to contribute something to a team (slows, stuns, knockdown [through slotting], flash arrow, etc.). Plus, he moves quick (within the bounds of concept, so Athletics+Sprint+Infiltration), has fast recharge, and never runs out of endurance (and rarely runs low). I like my staff scrapper, as well. He's fairly tough, quick and fun.

 

It's probably easier for me to name what won't be on my "you're the one list," which includes: anything where I have to actively monitor teammates so I can buff/boost/heal them (I'm just no good at tracking this - I want to shoot/hit stuff) ; any powerset that has multiple area-target AoE's (the ones where you have to choose the spot on the ground, which is problematic if you're on a speeding bullet team, and you have 60-year old reflexes); and Masterminds (I don't like pet management). 

 

So, arrows, guns, and sticks -- I guess I'm just an unimaginative, lazy ass player.:-)

 

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by cranebump

[Mayaedits]

I think for me, I have to sit with a character that I've made after a while and decided do I really like this concept, or was it just a one-off "This might be cool" thing? If I think I do, then I start trying to put the backstory I thought into words for a bio. If I struggle to put it into words, then I re-evaluate if I actually like it.

 Not a hard or fast rule or anything like that, just something I think about.

[momentarygrace]

I'm very character concept focused, even when I don't have a backstory. Some backstories take time to reveal themselves, others never do. But when I log into a character, maybe one I created in a rush of concept and then dropped at some point to play my one definite It,  and come back after some time, a few of them will start talking. In my head. Commenting on the mission or whatever is happening. There's an "It" in the making. If they continue to talk in my head every time I play with them, the rest is hopefully history.

 

I logged on to pretty much all the alts I have for this year's trick or treat/prismatic aether fest, since my playstyle is such that I won't be getting those things from hard content, and several suddenly got very chatty. I'm looking forward to revisiting them now and see if they still care to commentary the game for me.

[DougGraves]

I just don't commit to characters.

 

I have a pool of about 12 characters at levels 13, 19, and 23 and about 4 characters at level 29 and 34.

 

When I get on, I pick a lvl 19 character I haven't played in awhile and look for a low level team.  If I find I don't choose a character for months I delete them.

[MTeague]

When I come up with a good backstory.

[Zeraphia]

For me I could never fully devote myself entirely to just one character as I feel a lot of the sets gameplay-wise are just simply too fun to pass up on. However, I did decide on a "main" that I go to. That turned out to be my fire/fire blaster. Although I'm sure someone will accuse me of being a "meta slave" I genuinely did NOT make this character because I wanted a meta character, I just wanted to try out the gameplay as a "meme" of sorts in that I'd turn out to die a lot.

 

I ended up loving the character so much I got every badge on her (at least all that were available ~2 years ago) and still use her to this day. The unique character creations I could do with Fire/Fire ranged from heroic angel, to demonic hellspawn, to just average everyday Karen with an angry face. 

 

I loved the versatility, gameplay, theme, and idea of Fire/Fire enough to permanently main her. I never once regretted it. I understand it's a popular choice, but I fully understand the commitment many have to this character combination.