Why DFB is annoying

[Xtypething]

I just started playing again, after a 20 year break. I loved CoH, I had a few capped out heroes. Loved CoV, had a couple capped out villains. Plus a generous handful of alts that never made it. So I'm not exactly what you would call a "newbie", but I'll accept that mantle.

 

So I heard from a friend that CoH/V can still be played! Skip the details, I said "whoa" and now I'm on Homecoming, Excelsior. And I'm not kidding here, I rolled my very first villain, I'm barely out of the Zig, and some random says, "DFB?"

 

Back when I played in the past, you had some acronyms. "LFG", "LFP", "vampires", "kraken" - there was a finite number of acronyms that basically meant, "hey, I see you're a low level, and maybe you might want to jump on this thing..."

 

So I made the mistake of Googling DFB. You don't want to do that. Trust me, don't Google that. If you ignore my warnings and Google it anyway, don't blame me later.

 

So... later. I figured out what DFB meant in game terms, and went on a journey with a new friend. "I'm new to DFB," I said. "It's easy," he said. And then I spent 10 minutes chasing a bunch of people around a bunch of places. It was not fun. They might have scampered off to the north! Maybe they scampered off to the south? Maybe... you know, the other compass points.

 

"Where are you," asks the team owner.

 

"I'm back in 1999," I say.

 

I'm not saying this is how things should be, I'm just saying HOLY F*CK PARTNER. Where am I? Where are you? "It's easy" - dude? Easy when you've done it 100 times? So I figured out where they went and caught up. It wasn't that difficult, but seriously - ahh you know what, who cares?

 

I did the Positron task force after this doofus booted me from the team. I'm not going to obsess because some doofus didn't like my DFB performance.

 

I'm so happy that I can pick up this game and enjoy it 20 years later!

[TerroirNoir2]

Welcome back, and hell with the speeders who think everyone knows everything, and will never admit that they don't know a thing.  There's a lot of fun to be had.  You've probably found this already but check for the P2W lady in Atlas or Mercy, because there's a bunch of handy freebies you can pick up there, for, you know, FREE.  And get at least one starter zone's exploration badges, like that's Merits right there plus it should unlock some stuff.  The rest will come back to you or it'll just be fun finding out again!

 

 

[BazookaTwo]

Welcome back to game! If you're not interested in speed leveling via DFB, of course there are many things you can do instead. My recommendation on load in is this:

 

1. Go to the P2W vendor and grab anything free that looks useful. 
2. Costume edits are free at level one, so if you want to... Build all your costume variations before training for the first time. 
3. Getting all the explore badges in Atlas unlocks the Long Range Teleporter power. It also gives you 5 reward merits. Every zone does when you get the 8 explore badges for that zone. Vidiotmaps is still a thing btw.
4. Once you have your first 5 merits, and before you train to level 2, look at the buff amplifiers at P2W, they're super cheap for a level one, you can purchase 8 hours of a buff for 8000 inf.
5. Sell your reward merits for Converters or Boosters at a Merit Rewards ATM (City Hall and Wentworth's in Atlas have ATMs), and you can buff your character for the first 8 hours. It's very helpful. 

 

[Captain Fabulous]

DFB (aka Death From Below), it's a bit too long, but the 4 different buffs you get (along with 2 badges) are worth the effort of doing it 4 times. They'll stay with you till level 22. DiB (aka Drowning in Blood) is another trial you can do starting at level 15. Like DFB it awards 4 different buffs and 2 badges. Those buffs stay with you till level 29. But they won't stack with the DFB buffs; they will replace them.

[Clave Dark 5]

I still sometimes get that same kind of disdain from people running the super difficult high level content in the game, and I've been back for ages now.  To hell with those idiots.  Just keep in mind that's not all of us, let their imbecile condescension roll off your back and go find better people to play with, because you definitely will.  Welcome back!

[MoonSheep]

press M to open the ingame map, it’ll show you where your team mates are during missions - or you can click it open from the nav bar up top in the middle

[Greycat]

2 hours ago, BazookaTwo said:

1. Costume edits are free at level one, so if you want to... Build all your costume variations before training for the first time. 

 

 

Level 1-10. You don't have to rush.

[honoroit]

badge run? 

 

no aoe.  good job.  heh, its like folks are on auto.

 

its kind of a ritual, DFB. with how folks behave.

 

if theyre awful, thats rarer, but its a person with a problem theyre transposing to a game sysyem context, or their commentary around that as they see others.  something is wrong with their head, or place its at, not yours.

 

honestly, lvl a new char to 2, just run south and kill a few with double xp on.

 

few posts back up, someone made a nicer version of this infos.

 

as said, if you can stomach it, 4x DFB runs for the buffs - probably worth. they stick until your 22. makes life easier.

 

DIB, is more fun. people have powers to use by then, and the twin giants are challenging enough at that level that the badge for killing them both within 15s or whatever it is. more entertaining. 

[Scarlet Shocker]

I don't have a problem with how people play the DFB so much as the fact that DFB exists.

 

This means that it's very very difficult to get a low level mission team to run, you know, actual content, and get up to a reasonable level quickly and easily with some good companionship.

 

This game isn't hard, and there's a lot of amazing content out there that simply doesn't get played any more because people whizz past it. But it's not so much fun to solo, so one is forced into a situation where we either PL to incarnate level or take the path less travelled which becomes a grind.

 

Personally I would make DFB an exclusive mission: Run it once after you've created your character and then you're locked out (kind of like training missions) - I'd remove all XP from the AE - so that folks could enjoy creating and playing original stories - and then delete XP boosters from the P2W

 

I know that is somewhat heretical, but it would force folks to play the game rather than to endlessly loop PLing to 50.

[honoroit]

red side.

 

gooderer music, better atmosphere, 🎰 casino dreams, and mobsters selling them.

 

leave the guy to die in a fire in an early quest line. rob banks.

 

but no one's there.

 

the core loop is power combo and unlocks while levelling. so people want to accelerate that.

 

if they had (double) double xp on redside, people would move that day.

 

aint nobody got (time for that).

[biostem]

Is it that hard to just stick with your teammates?  I mean, it's one thing if you have to AFK, then lose track of where everyone is, but for me at least, I tend to put off teaming until I get my sea-legs back, with regard to a game I haven't played in a while...

[Etched]

Welcome back. 🙂 

I've been back a few years now and ran DFB twice and the second time i ran it I got lost, too. However, the great thing is you don't have to run it.  THe buffs are pretty nice but they wear off at lvl 21 and if you desire you can run it again to get another round of buffs that last... well, to be honest i don't know when cause i never run it. Teams are a lot more relaxed about low lvl joinin higher lvl teams as long as you can get to the mish and fight/play. So, don't sweat it and enjoy the game.

 

You are welcome to run mish with me. I play most mornins between 930am to 12pm EST on Torch. Not an extremely populated server but a lot of good ppl roam around.

 

Would be happy to hang with you while you relearn the ropes.

Remember it's just a game.

Global is @Etched

 

@Etched

 

Hit me up even if you decide against changin servers and i'll send you some start up funds.

Edited March 20, 2023 by Etched

[Snarky]

DFB takes one or two runs to memorize.  Then the only difficulty is in one fight against a boss you do not kill her zombies (badge) and teams will be unhappy (sometimes) if you do.

 

Other than that it is easy to pick up.  Think of it as training for the later Incarnate Trials and Dr. Aeon (do NOT do these....yet)

 

Oh, and Welcome Home!

Edited March 20, 2023 by Snarky

[Xtypething]

Thank you all for the replies! I take full responsibility for losing track of the team.

 

Yes, I used the map to see where they went - I press M all the time. They were already off to the next stage, so that didn't help. And the exit wasn't marked? That was weird.

 

It wasn't so much the fact that I lost track of them, it was the fact that I told the leader right up front that I hadn't done DFB before, and instead of taking that into account, he lit his short little fuse as soon as I didn't keep up. I just got onto the wrong team for that first run. I did a couple more after that and they were OK. Not fun, but not frustrating either. I just had to get into that macro mindset, where the last mob drops and you instantly run to the next. Last boss drops and you instantly run to the exit, or hit Exit... etc. Not a lot of talking.

 

No, I didn't jump straight into power leveling. I was talking about "my very first villain", but that wasn't the guy I took on DFB. I leveled that guy by running mission arcs and street hunting, to about level 26. Since I came back a couple weeks ago, I have two level 20-something villains, a couple of pre-teen heroes, and finally decided to try DFB with this latest one as an experiment. I wanted to see how a Demon/Dark MM would do with the Sorcerer pool flight and TP instead of the Flight pool, and without direct damage powers. Basically seeing how the hands-off (Diablo 2 Necromancer) gameplay style would work in CoH. Seems like it could work with that power set? Still not sure how it's turning out, or if it will be fun, but that was the reason for the power leveling - I didn't want to burn through respecs trying to poke around with build ideas.

 

Thank you again! A friendly and welcoming community you have here. 🤗

[cranebump]

9 hours ago, Captain Fabulous said:

DFB (aka Death From Below), it's a bit too long, but the 4 different buffs you get (along with 2 badges) are worth the effort of doing it 4 times. They'll stay with you till level 22. DiB (aka Drowning in Blood) is another trial you can do starting at level 15. Like DFB it awards 4 different buffs and 2 badges. Those buffs stay with you till level 29. But they won't stack with the DFB buffs; they will replace them.

If this is your route, I'd recommend doing them both, since, with 2XP boosters (as many folks use), the DFB buffs may be gone before you know it (at L22).

 

And: instead of pressing 'M,' maybe just keep a small map open at all times, in your hud, tucked off in a corner.

Edited March 20, 2023 by cranebump

[Crossie]

I join DFB's to be a sitter and I have only been booted once.  Crazy you were actively trying and got booted. 

[Xtypething]

1 minute ago, Crossie said:

I join DFB's to be a sitter and I have only been booted once.  Crazy you were actively trying and got booted. 

 

And on my first DFB! The next two went fine though. Bad luck on that first outing, I guess.

[Shenanigunner]

11 hours ago, Xtypething said:

"I'm back in 1999," I say.

 

I'm so happy that I can pick up this game and enjoy it 20 years later!

 

Heh. Great way to put it.

 

Well, welcome back. The good part is that the game is just the way you left it — or can be, even if you accept some of the improvements and streamlining. Or not, you can run the cape missions and the respec missions and grind just as hard as in the old days if you choose.

 

And take it from me, a charter member who's put a lot of time into playing and almost as much into making contributions to the community: I have no concept of why the 'speeders' even play any more. The ones who build each alt and then take every single shortcut to get to the end game content, over and over. It doesn't even seem as if they... like to play, any more than anyone likes doing gym work. it's just a slog to get a different AT to that end game content and see how maxed they can get it. Look! Another eighth of an inch on my bicep! I mean, __________ TF in 21 minutes flat!

 

I play to play. And I love meeting/chatting/teaming with like minds, and kind of wish my suggestions to built a speeder shard would be taken seriously.

 

And strewth? I still don't have a 50 on Homecoming. Two or three close enough, after several years, that I guess I need to nominate one to be the first. But I have more fun playing my dozen avatars than gaming things to get to the payoff.

 

So welcome to that version of the game... yes, it still exists.

Edited March 20, 2023 by Shenanigunner

[Shenanigunner]

2 hours ago, cranebump said:

If this is your route, I'd recommend doing them both, since, with 2XP boosters (as many folks use)...

 

I'd run up an alt or two to 20's, organically, just for the gameplay experience. Solo or team on regular missions, not the speeder ones. Skip the boosters. Maybe even skip the free powers and buffs.

 

Then, it's not too bad to run 2XP and load up on all the P2W free powers to get to 20 semi-organically. By about 24, you level just fast enough anyway and most of the free powers are fading in effectiveness.

[Oubliette_Red]

3 hours ago, Xtypething said:

It wasn't so much the fact that I lost track of them, it was the fact that I told the leader right up front that I hadn't done DFB before, and instead of taking that into account, he lit his short little fuse as soon as I didn't keep up. I just got onto the wrong team for that first run. I did a couple more after that and they were OK. Not fun, but not frustrating either. I just had to get into that macro mindset, where the last mob drops and you instantly run to the next. Last boss drops and you instantly run to the exit, or hit Exit... etc. Not a lot of talking.

 

PuGs in general are a toss-up.

 

Some team leaders expect you to follow, others actually lead.

 

[High_Beam]

I honestly never realize that the buff from DFB lasted till level 22 . . . this changes several things.  and the DiB . . . 

[TheZag]

I ran into more teams that are in speed mode with less communication on excel.  Thats just to say that the player experience does vary quite a bit between servers,  not that fast and quiet teams are wrong in any way.

 

Torch has less population but alot of quality players,  probably have to form most low level groups yourself though as ive never been sniped for DFB on a new character here.

 

Everlasting has alot of population like Excel but many of them are in Pocket D or a superbase doing roleplaying stuff.  I dont roleplay so i havent spent much time there.

 

Indom has a low population as well.  Im going to call it the quiet server but only based on my short time there.  I made a character at an indom players forum request.  I tried to greet everyone online and got no response.  I do like quiet but that was too quiet.

 

Reunion is the european server.  That is to say the server is actually in europe.  I never made a character there but european players probably get alot better latency with that server.

 

[Shenanigunner]

6 minutes ago, TheZag said:

Thats just to say that the player experience does vary quite a bit between servers.

 

I'll be among the very last to complain about anything to do with the game management and operation — I'm too busy sinking to my knees in gratitude for it all — but I am always a bit surprised that (1) at least two and probably three servers are maintained for almost nil user populations, while (2) my occasional suggestions that speeders be given an optimized server to play on (basically: insta-50) are howled down largely on the argument that there's not an unlimited time or money budget for servers.

 

Okay, nobody listen to Zathras. Zahras go back to play now.

 

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by Shenanigunner

[ZemX]

38 minutes ago, Shenanigunner said:

Okay, nobody listen to Zathras. Zahras go back to play now.

 

Not the one!

[honoroit]

not gonna presume OP knows:

 

you can detach the map.  the blue button on the bottom left of it when it's displayed - makes it free floating window.  so you can then make it mini, and give yourself that.

 

pressing m will make the free floating version vanish and reappear from then on and itll remember across sessions of play.

 

i get lost all the time, bloody caves and thing are hard to navigate.