Been back 5 weeks after 11 years to find 2x xp buff and 100% influence loss...WHY?

[Spark Inferno]

Maybe it is just me but I do not recall this game being like this too much has been changed it is not the CoH I played many years ago. I would have been happier if I never saw the damn 2x xp buff so here is my gripe, comment and suggestion about it for all it is worth. I have been back after 11 years for almost 6 weeks and was told immediately when I first came back about the P2W vendor and to get the 2x xp buff. never thought once about reading the damn thing until a couple of nights ago. Well for weeks I have been wondering wtf can't I afford to get any IOs to slot on any of my 5 level 50 alts when lo and behold I was looking through my powers and checked on the xp buff to see how much longer it had before I had to get more and I had to doa double take this is why I can't afford anything. Who had this bright idea? Let them get to level 50 faster but give them zilch/zero/nothing/nil/nada in influence so they can't play the character anymore because they cannot afford the IOs to slot it. Where is the sense in this? This is like giving a starving man a stick with no string, hook, or bait and then telling them to go fishing for their food. At least in live I had my Corrupter Fire/kin who could farm the PI portal Demon mission but oh look the demon farm is gone and so is the original power set for my fire/kin. Okay so now I get a build for a Rad/Fiery Brute as a farmer oh wait I get it to lvl 50 and wtf can't use it to farm cause I can't afford the IOs not to mention the fact that it is so endurance heavy I can barely use it to fight normal missions alone. If this 2x xp was designed for players who have been playing for years and can afford not to make influence early then maybe make it so only they can get it by maybe umm buying it. I was happy to be back until now because I cannot even play my characters since I can't afford to make them worth playing since they die if u sneeze on them. Maybe just get rid of the xp buffs and let ppl play how it was meant to be played in live and not rush to lvl 50 with nothing to show for it other than badges.

 

 

I felt this was the best place to post my replies to all the responses because it would be seen first. I will also not delete my post because that would be trying to cover up a mistake instead of correcting it and learning from it.

 

I want to say I was not mad or frustrated I was more upset that day and this was a topic that came up so I vented about it. Now when I am typing my mind works like a flowing river so if I stop at any point I lose track of my thoughts hence I do not bother to edit or punctuate for the most part I let the PC do my edits and I try to fix most of them after. I also have issues with being the queen of the typo on top of a brand-new keyboard, long fingernails, arthritis in my fingers so I do not always hit the keys hard enough to get them to work, and most often reversing letters in words. Being I am 54 years old with a couple of disabilities I think as long as my point gets across that's what counts. Now after finally coming back to the forum and reading what I posted, I would like to say I will do my best not to post stuff when in a weird state of mind as several things in it can be taken out of context as well as things that have been taken the wrong way such as me having an I do not like it so it should not exist attitude which I do not.

Yes, it was my fault for listening to someone without reading the description.

I have gotten maybe 2 purples and mostly yellow salvage most of the money I have on my main was given to me by a friend I made or the hami's I get now.

I do not pay attention to most of what the system says in the chat window like exp earned or inf gained I have that taken out of my chat windows.

 

I do appreciate those who tried to be nice about it and offer advice on how to make inf and as for the others well I have not played WoW in like 15 years so I do not play with trolls anymore.

 

 

Edited January 21 by Spark Inferno

[lemming]

Woo, formatting.

 

First character is going to be poor, but once you learn a couple ins and outs, you can actually make some decent inf outside of what you would get via defeating mobs.    The amount of inf you lose on 2xp is fairly insignificant vs what you can get from recipe drops and other methods.  Just check some of the influence gaining guides.

 

I think my first 50 struggled for a bit, but once you just run content, you get a fair amount of inf dropped.  100k for a level 50 generic IO recipe for instance.

 

The "Demon mission farm" got changed back on live.   Fire/Kin power set still exists for corrupter.  In some ways, it's better than it was.

 

In any case, 2xp is not the problem.   (Also, it existed on live, just in a different form...)   And you five level 50s should be earning inf since 2xp turns off then.

[GM Crumpet]

The auction house is the place to make inf. You get more inf selling an orange salvage than you do from level 1 to 20 at normal rates. An orange salvage will fetch roughly 500k inf each. Yellow salvage is fetching around 15k-20k. White salvage is best sold at a vendor. Recipes purples will fetch around 8 million inf, then orange and yellow are variable. It's bestto check each one individually to see if they are selling for more inf than a vendor will buy them for or vice versa. Merits can be exchanged for special salvage. Enhancement converters are always a good choice, boosters are getting a good price. 

 

I've done an experiment of only getting inf from 1 to 50 at single XP and it's not nearly enough to get your sets and procs. It's still a lot better than live though. You can fully enhance your character for 500 million, where on live you were paying a billon per enhancement.

 

Were you farm sitting to get to level 50 so fast on 5 alts? Drop rates are halved in farms and if you aren't maximising your drops on the auction house you are going to be missing out on a lot of inf.

[MoonSheep]

3 hours ago, Spark Inferno said:

Maybe just get rid of the xp buffs and let ppl play how it was meant to be played in live and not rush to lvl 50 with nothing to show for it other than badges.

 

that is still very much an option which is chosen by many people, however the double XP buff is optionally available for those who want it, such as people like you who want to rush to lvl 50

[Defeat All Snakes]

4 hours ago, Spark Inferno said:

Who had this bright idea?

You did. Five level 50s and you didn't think to read what you were going out of your way to opt into on any of them? C'mon, man. That's not on anyone but you. There are no fingers to point, here.

The silver lining is that this is a totally rectifiable mistake with no long-term consequences even inside the enclosed fantasy world this game consists of, and you'll probably make more pretend money in a single evening on a level 50 than you would across your entire career as a 1-to-40. If I were you, though, I'd take a break, a couple deep breaths and go for a walk.

[Saiyajinzoningen]

the fact that you have 5 level 50's means you are already infected with altitus

welcome

on your next char just play the game normally and your will easily make more than enough inf to fund all your toons

use the merit vendor to buy converters and sell those for quick cash

last but not least

maybe don't rush to 50

enjoy the ride

[Scarlet Shocker]

There's a bit to unpack there so let's try:

 

Nobody makes you use a 2XP boost. It's entirely optional - you can go at your own pace even when teaming. Personally I tend to use a 50% XP boost, which still gives me inf to get started, while getting me through those first 20 levels or wherever I see the character needing to be.

 

I'm also spending a lot more time Redside and exploring content more which is interesting. There's a few gems there I've not encountered before, so it's a win-win and when I do team I still get a goodly amount of XP.

 

While I'd agree that XP boosts generally are unnecessary, I suspect we would be in the minority because people want to get to 50 fast, regardless of the fact that in my eyes at least, the journey is the destination. You only need to see the shouts in Excelsior's Pocket D for people wanting to be carried along (which I have done, but found unrewarding once I got to 50.) In other words, we're stuck with it, and must provide our own solution to that issue.

 

Your blindingly intense wall of text wasn't able to let me see what server you play on. Go to one with lower pop density, team, RP, play the game as intended. Find an active SG/VG on your server and join them. Just because they do it that way doesn't mean you have to be sheeple.

 

Play the game. Have fun with it. DXP boosts are the least of our worries in any environment.

[Snarky]

7 hours ago, Spark Inferno said:

Maybe it is just me but I do not recall this game being like this too much has been changed it is not the CoH I played many years ago. I would have been happier if I never saw the damn 2x xp buff so here is my gripe, comment and suggestion about it for all it is worth. I have been back after 11 years for almost 6 weeks and was told immediately when I first came back about the P2W vendor and to get the 2x xp buff. never thought once about reading the damn thing until a couple of nights ago. Well for weeks I have been wondering wtf can't I afford to get any IOs to slot on any of my 5 level 50 alts when lo and behold I was looking through my powers and checked on the xp buff to see how much longer it had before I had to get more and I had to doa double take this is why I can't afford anything. Who had this bright idea? Let them get to level 50 faster but give them zilch/zero/nothing/nil/nada in influence so they can't play the character anymore because they cannot afford the IOs to slot it. Where is the sense in this? This is like giving a starving man a stick with no string, hook, or bait and then telling them to go fishing for their food. At least in live I had my Corrupter Fire/kin who could farm the PI portal Demon mission but oh look the demon farm is gone and so is the original power set for my fire/kin. Okay so now I get a build for a Rad/Fiery Brute as a farmer oh wait I get it to lvl 50 and wtf can't use it to farm cause I can't afford the IOs not to mention the fact that it is so endurance heavy I can barely use it to fight normal missions alone. If this 2x xp was designed for players who have been playing for years and can afford not to make influence early then maybe make it so only they can get it by maybe umm buying it. I was happy to be back until now because I cannot even play my characters since I can't afford to make them worth playing since they die if u sneeze on them. Maybe just get rid of the xp buffs and let ppl play how it was meant to be played in live and not rush to lvl 50 with nothing to show for it other than badges.

Hey, maybe do not get the exp buff…

 

bonus suggestion:  turn off experience at 4/5/7/9/14/19/24/29/34/39/44 and do ALL content in that level range.  True respect if you side switch and do both red/blue.  And….you will be able to afford SOs.  
 

Also, check out Yomos giveaway.  Bumped to too of General

[JasperStone]

Double xp is an option. It does show that you gain 0 inf.

 

Yes, learn to play the market...

...

Bases are free now and I love that decision. 

Create your own SG and house your alts in a base.

Start a small stockpile of IOs and salvage. Small. Sell alot(most) of it.

It takes no time to set up a crafting table, vault, and storage.

Teleport pad can be tricky, but easily figured out. I rely heavily on my Base for Travel.

I can completely kit out a 50, not with purples, but with Uncommon sets, Hami-Os, and, AT sets that I have accumulated.

 

ITF, especially a KM, will get you a lot of inf and help with your Incarnates too. I also do a Yin or TinPex as they are mostly short and repeatable without feeling like too much.

Market Crash is good for one purple, but I join teams that speed and selectively clear to earn substantial inf.

 

Double xp is a choice... 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by JasperStone
fixed typo goof to good

[Mopery]

The Influence really doesn't start pouring in until lvl 35+, until then it's fine to use double xp with no influence. You'll still get recipe drops, and the lvl 50 ones vendor for 100k+.

 

Want more Influence?

 

Play your level 50's for a month. You earn more Influence in a single day at lvl 50 than you'll ever earn from the whole trip from 1-50.

 

If you keep double xp on from 35-50, you'll hit 50 faster, but lose out on about 100 million Influence.

[Frunobulax]

btw you can just fight whatever at 50 and make decent insp, and drops, and maybe merits depending on what you do. And if you actually try to make inf, you have enough 50+ characters that a round of daily tinpex's would be a decent income.

 

But if you're bound and determined to farm,  you can mail yourself inspiration and simply stack it while trying to farm with low resources, and converting the insp you get in battle which is something you often want to do at any level of gear as a farmer anyways. You can search something like "city of heroes macros to make red" to find lots of example macros, and you could make some macros for purples as well until you're geared.

 

And you could farm on city maps where you can engage each group on your own time until you're ready to fight your cap nonstop.  

 

The raw inf that you make 1-50 is negligible you didn't really miss much, most of the worthwhile money you can make 1-50 is from drops and merits, which the XP buff does not prevent.

 

This io stuff is overwhelming at first, but you'll eventually gear some characters to your liking, and then everything they do will be pure profit.

 

 

 

 

[Luminara]

1 hour ago, Snarky said:

Youareluckyyouvetspacesspellingandpunctuation

🔪

[FFFF]

This is absolutely the easiest COH environment to make influence. HC simply rewards you with merits just for completing all the exploration badges in a zone. Convert that into converters and list them at 10 and you have almost a million inf just for Atlas Park. This can be completed for every zone and you get even more merits for every story arc completed. 
 

This is by no means the best way to even use converters to make influence, but it’s brain dead simple and requires zero knowledge of market trends. 
 

I understand complaints for inf in other COH interations but not here. 

Edited December 23, 2023 by FFFF

[GM Crumpet]

While I understand the OP was typing in frustration and not coming across at their best, please keep this thread civil and try to be a little less judgmental. A lot of games are designed to be a grind to level 50 and the fun stuff start at level cap, where this game isn't. We have the fun stuff in the level 20+ range. A lot of the newer content is from 20 to 40.

 

I understand OP's frustration, I always tell new and returning players not to take the double XP boost initially. Avoid farms, even avoid DFB in the beginning. Learn what you are doing and get used to the system first. Then think about short cuts to levelling.

[Bionic_Flea]

11 hours ago, Spark Inferno said:

Maybe it is just me . . .

Welcome back!

 

Sorry your first few days back were frustrating, but if you spend some time reading the forums and following the farming and marketing guides or ask for help in the in-game help channel I think you will find everything you need, and then some!

 

Happy holidays.

[Vanden]

One of the cool things about CoH is that it's from the era of cheat codes, something that most games these days don't have. To use the money cheat in CoH, type "/hc Hey I'm new, can someone spot me some inf to buy enhancements?" in the chat window and hit Enter.

[starro]

 

welcome back to the game!  It's hard not to compare today to the past.

There is still no wrong way to play the game.  1-50 solo, group, tfs, ae contente, farms, fire builds... some times I love to run to 50 with dble xp and all that.  sometimes I love to go slow and get there when I get there.  

 

I just love the fact we have SO many slots per server and I can build a new character that runs only missions, mostly task forces, only team play, only solo, one AE arcs,  SO many options.  Yeah, I have my farmer and my solo money maker x8 +4.

 

Still - welcome back!!!

[Glacier Peak]

12 hours ago, Spark Inferno said:

Maybe it is just me

Great way to start a wall of text!

 

Edit: Oh and welcome back!

 

Edit 2: I think even without the Double XP temp active, and aside from turning off XP entirely, one could start intentionally incurring debt after Level 10 as a way to slow their leveling journey. Debt is rather trivial at this point. 

Edited December 23, 2023 by Glacier Peak

[Crossie]

I just sent my alts a bunch of influence.  Problem solved!

[Tacheyon]

I have played my characters without really any Enhancements till 30 at least.  The only caveat is Stamina.  Most of the other bonuses are not material enough till then.  By that time I do have some money for a few key basic IO's.  Accuracy, End Mod and some Damage.  Usually by 35-40 do I feel that I this character has legs (either in concept or build) and I'll take them to 50 and at least Basic IO them out which isn't too expensive.

 

But yes, sell those level 50 basic IO recipes and you can make a decent amount of cash.  Some of the set's you'll have to check the AH to see if it's worth it to sell there or vendor trash it.

 

Save all your yellow or orange salvage to AH it.  White's I only sell for badges.

 

I do understand that the 2xp no Inf is frustrating on your first character, but you will build your bank sooner than you think.

[Snarky]

Really strange to hear a complaint about perma double XP weekend from a Vet….especially since we are sending multiple offers of throwing buckets of cash or showing how to make inf incredibly fast

[windezz]

14 hours ago, Spark Inferno said:

Maybe it is just me

It's just you.

I started around Thanksgiving, except I read through the forum to catch up to the current trends and changes first.  And then I searched the common methods on inf farming.

Grinding has never been a quicker way than AH to make inf; playing the AH made trillionaires back on Virtue, and it still does here on Homecoming.  Hammer that concept into your head before you think the sky is falling because of a double xp bonus that removes a nearly inconsequential part of your lifetime inf earning.

Do your research, there are stickied guides on the forum that literally point you to a golden path on inf making via AH, if you are still dirt poor after that, then you've got bigger problems to worry about.

Here's what I've managed so far on a fresh account, no donations, no outside helps, no farms, always double xp.  My main is a solo only MM.  I've done 1 MSR, a couple Yin's, and a handful of ITFs.  I'm too old to keep up with the fully IO'd pace of runs, and I've got a waifu now, so when she needs cuddles, games can wait.

 

	level	creation date	inf (billion)	ATO sets	purple sets
main	50	11/21	1.29	2	2
alt	43	11/30	1.17	2	1 (stashed)
alt	50	12/07	1.15	2	3
alt	47	12/12	1.38	2	1 (stashed)
alt	15	12/18	0.66	0	0
alt	5	12/20	0.04	0	0

Once an alt hits lvl30, it usually gets as full build as possible, with unequipped enhancers waiting in a bin at base.  I keep 2 alts to craft, and rotate to a fresh alt once an alt is done with getting what it needs for the full build.  No alt hits lvl50 before getting 1b inf.  It's just how I play.

No lvl50 necessary, no farming necessary, no IOs necessary.  If my lvl15 can carry over 500m while still shooting at Snakes, then you can do better with your roster of lvl50's.  You've got some forum reading to do.

[DoctorDitko]

Welcome home!

 

Here's a pro tip: open your Powers window, right-click on Double XP Booster, and select Delete Power.

It works for any power you dislike.

 

Now you may buy a 50% XP Booster in its place (which will earn 50% inf) or just ignore the P2W vendor until you can afford niceties such as the Team Transporter, Reveal, or the ever-useful Inner Inspiration. Personally, I like Self-Destruct, which works to dodge debt if you are about to be defeated, and also makes a handy way to get to the Base Rez Ring or the local Hospital.

 

I'm on Torch mostly, and always glad to team with another Vet.

 

 

[Oubliette_Red]

Wait until they find out you can create an insta-50 for PvP...

 

About the only character I (or my friends) don't use 2XP on are Goldsiders, otherwise it's running 24/7.

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by Oubliette_Red

[biostem]

I never understood the mindset of "I don't like this thing, so nobody should have access to it".  Even with the double XP buff, though, my alts tend to quickly become self sufficient by being patient;  I'll take the "Inner Inspiration" power as my free pick from the F2P vendor and sell off any large inspirations or in-demand mediums that sell for a good price on the AH.  I'll sell some low-level enhancements for the seed money to post them.  I'll run a couple AE arcs and use the tickets to buy orange crafting components, then sell those.  I mean, early on, you barely get any inf anyway, so, (at least IMHO), I'd rather get the levels faster...