How do you keep things interesting?

[nihilii]

I like going for new approaches and revisiting old patterns, as you mentioned.

Another thing that has kept my interest is multiboxing. If we have N possible combinations normally, it stands to reason multibox is M of N (or L of M of N, if you run three characters at once). There is a lot to manage and many interesting new dynamics emerge. For example, animation times that feel unbearably long on a single character aren't so bad when you're juggling several guys at once.

For a niche within the niche, my favorite multibox guilty pleasure is... I don't know what the word is for it, but think of those 2D fighting games. Think of the game modes they sometimes have when you have 2 or 3 characters in your team, and face 2 or 3 characters from the other team, and you play 1 on 1, either team replacing their character with the next one when they die.

 

So, when I multibox, I sometimes bite more than I can chew and my roster wipes. What I then do is resurrect 1 character with Return to Battle, toggle up, try to fight the crowd that just punked me. Then if that character dies, I move on to the second alt. Then the third alt.

It's objectively a terribly inefficient way to do things yet it has become my favorite "easter egg game mode". You get a variety of styles as you move from one character to the next. I suppose there is nothing that stops me from doing that *normally*, save that if all characters are upright and toggled up, might as well have them fight all at once for maximum efficiency... Starting from the floor gives me an excuse to do this weird gimmick.

[MyriVerse]

Altitis.

[Zect]

On 8/29/2023 at 6:55 AM, carroto said:

get as good as you're probably going to at Mids'-craft

 

Haha, no such thing.

 

 

Kerrigan: Tell me about your work.

 

Abathur: Look at flesh, see only potential. Strands, sequences, twisting, separating, joining. See how it could be better. Eat flesh, splinter bone. Inside me, can touch it. Weave it. Spin it. Make it great.

 

Kerrigan: But not perfect?

 

Abathur: Never perfect. Perfection goal that changes. Never stops moving. Can chase, cannot catch.

 

 

There's also a world of possibility if you want to look beyond optimizing meta builds and start considering unconventional or very specialized build goals.

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Zect

[cranebump]

While reading this thread, and ruminating on what I've yet to do, it just occurred to me: I've played exactly one Kheldian (and for less than 10 levels). So...I guess I know what to do next (especially as they're supposed to have their own storyline?)

[carroto]

2 hours ago, cranebump said:

they're supposed to have their own storyline?

 

Yeah I use the story arc list a lot to guide which contacts I want to talk to and I always see those extra arcs for Khelds only and have a similar thought.  I should go back and try a Kheld again one of these days.  I've had a hard time sticking with them in the past.

 

[cranebump]

12 minutes ago, carroto said:

 

Yeah I use the story arc list a lot to guide which contacts I want to talk to and I always see those extra arcs for Khelds only and have a similar thought.  I should go back and try a Kheld again one of these days.  I've had a hard time sticking with them in the past.

 

Same here, obviously.:-) I also avoid Shadow Shard arcs and Croatoa. So....I'm thinking my impending Kheld might have an interesting path to tread.:-)

[Six-Six]

After 3 years of playing, I have still yet to feel any semblance of slowing down or deteriorating interest. One factor is how I treat missions.

I like to be anal with mission directives. "Steal" missions means stealthing and trying to avoid enemy contact... being detected even if I need to get rid of a guard to access an object, I feel the mission wasn't a perfect success. Defeat "_____" means minimal contact, usually just the target and his boo or the immediate ones in the room. Kidnap so-and-so, you need to carve out an escape route, preferably through as few guards as possible. So unless it states defeat all, I try to strictly follow this rule. stick to the mission objectives, no more no less. The only downside of this is less drops; I don't mind the less XP from not killing foes as I try to control the levelling up speed anyway as to not out-level certain contacts. Speaking of contacts, I try to get through every contact within a zone for a particular level. In Mercy for example, I do Kuzmin, Burke, Firewire, Creed, Kalinda, Harris, Mongoose, Graves and Marino, (leaving just Weber as a Pillar mission... for the Agent of Chaos badge) in a certain order since half of the buggers are level-locked.

Other than that, I also believe concept is king. After the first few toons to learn the ropes, I too tried the meta build (aka Winter-PvP-Purple-soft cap), but I found it boring. I instead preferred D-list villains who would shake in their boots if they bumped into a red-conned Lt.. 

Costume, power sets/power picks and play style are dictated by the toon's concept. Just because a certain power is open doesn't mean you should take it if it doesn't jive with the overall character concept (i.e. an AssRifle toon that takes only submachine gun powers and not buck or flamethrower). Similar to @Glacier Peak's blue bar, I have a /dark miasma toon whose concept is blood (yes, red+maroon power colours with red slime aura) so using his own blood for his powers is taxing on him. As such, I didn't go meta with his recovery and purposefully left it a notch below comfortable. This means he has to choose/plan his altercations because he can't handle a prolonged tangle. Toons that don't have a Magic origin have no right to take the Sorcery pool; similarly toons with no business flying don't and those with no rationale to be able to use super speed or super jump just have to foot it. So I treat getting to a mission in one piece part of the fun. Navigating through Oakes' Family-friendly streets as a lowbie or infliltrating Agincourt's purple-conning guards and turrets is fun in and of itself.

Finally, I've realised the what gives me the most fun is the fear of death. For well over 2 years now, all my toons have been hard core hobo: you pay your own way up and you die you delete. The current toon I'm playing has been "regressed" back to breaking out of the Zig more than half a dozen times already over the last few months.

Edited September 8, 2023 by Six-Six

[BazookaTwo]

On 8/28/2023 at 5:55 PM, carroto said:

This line of thought has led me to reconsider Placate on Stalkers recently.  Back in the day the conventional wisdom was that it wasn't worth the power pick.  Only some power sets even had a single attack that could be paired with it for a boost in DPS. 

 

I noticed on my dual blades stalker that Placate is part of the combo system, so that's interesting.

[Enchantica]

I am not an what they call "epic player" I have however accumulated several level 50's from issue one till close during live.  I, on my return have Created several more. I don't think I have the burnout like your referring to.  I have always just played the game in the spirit in which it was created. To me I am not only playing a game but am also reminded of what is best in each of us to become. I can't Fly or shoot beams of energy but I can for a little while and in a small part know what it feels like. I play with that mentality and the game never ever gets dull.

[Dona Eis Requiem]

An answer a little more in the spirit of the thread, this time:

 

When I came back to Homecoming, I started off with all new toons and continue to make many more. 

However, I found an old game doc that had all my characters from live listed and a new mission begins.

Project Resurrection: Memory! 

Now it's time to pull those heroes back from that dreaded 'Sunset' dimension.

I don't know how many I can actually faithfully recreate, but I will try. 

Alas, I have always been an altoholic so wish me luck!

[Without_Pause]

I tend to get a build to 50 and then move on. I don't have that many 50s who have really delved into Incarnates. I recently dusted off one, and found I enjoyed it a ton, so I am working on getting it T4ed.