Yogi_Bare

I hope that you do realize that it's only the Lore and Destiny trees that give you the level shift; ie, the upper level of the Physical and Psychic Trees (at least in print).

Unfortunately, as far as the storyline goes, there isn't supposed to be one 'shining star'; there's a reason that it takes 16+ budding Incarnates to do the job.

It's an ego fantasy that can be realized by just getting their goodies and going back into regular play... heck; just taking my Controller from +0/x4 to +0/x6 off of all Tier 2s made me feel pretty amazing...

...but if Billy Badarse thinks he wants to stand out... then by all means; he can go do the trial while the rest of us act as filler and door sit. It already happens in non-Incarnate content; so why not here.

lol, I didn't want to be the one to point that out.

You didn't imply frequency in your post; nor did I, as it is mostly irrelevant to 'grinding'.

[Edit (because I had to rush out for an errand): Nor did you state goal of repetition.

Once I've taken 30+ alts through the same 30+ levels of content (I only have a handful of 50s); it's irrelevant whether I've repeated the content in one day or over the course of five years... its still a grind at times.]

Sorry to burst your bubble; unless they're coming out with a new arc a day, then you're grinding pretty much after the first few months (if not weeks).

After five years... 90%+ of normal play is grinding; whether its content, ATs, powersets, progression, badges/accolades, mobs, maps, zones, etc... and people wonder why I look forward to new stuff (ie. shinies).

[At this point, they pretty much have no option but to create new content (as they have come up with [systemic] means for a single toon to play all existing content). That, and/or continuing to build upon the AE system.]

They actually are, once you get the hang of them. Am I going to spend the next few months running them... no.



And yes, I play for fun and shinies... if there were no shinies; I wouldn't waste my time and many others wouldn't and the game would fold. It's a dang video game and an MMO to boot. (lol, definitely not here for the storytelling; right Venture?).

Whether its XP/levels, currency, gear, powers, pets, badges, costume pieces, new accesses, bragging rights... whatever; this game is 99% about shinies. To attempt to invalidate playing for shinies; especially in this industry, is a Fool's Errand.

And if you find it more fun to jump up and down in Atlas with your 50 than actually playing the game (at a cost of $15/mo); more power to you.

I know... but you responded to a post that primarily was talking about XP.


But yeah, as soon as the queue quits dragging... stuff does come fairly quick.

The XP isn't random.

Most of the Lambda Trial isn't even that hard... just go through and kill stuff; then go inside and kill stuff. The only part that's difficult is the part that's supposed to be difficult; fighting a pain in the butt Boss...


just like running the ITF (but with less lag). [easier, actually... just have to get the acid/grenade thing down]

On Lambda, we were getting around 30% per run; we cleared the outer streets, then the courtyard; then turrets... after going inside (1st time we got ourselves seriously lost messing with the stupid elevators), we hit whatever was in the labs until the timer ran out and then proceeded to get our behinds handed to us by the Marauder spawns.

I would've ran it a fourth time but I don't like dealing with mission crashing glitches.

We just had a single 8 man team for our League (making sure everyone was assigned to the same team) and went from there.

I cannot comment on the BAF as I have not had the opportunity to run it yet.

I was at 16% unlock on Destiny at the time of the boot and decided to turn in a Thread to see how much more it would unlock... a whole 3%.

Could have something to do with the level shift mechanic; I've noticed that when I die on a level shifted toon... the mob con color would change.

No, not really... I'm usually the guy with the 'White Knight Syndrome' but I know my limitations and I know my environment. I've been a victim both with and without assist; I've even been the aggressor. Most of the people I knew (at one time), however, were the (take no shorts) bad guys and are the reason I would caution people to not be 'thrill seekers' and 'costumed crime fighters'.

I've seen enough people get their faces punched in, property damaged, friends and family harmed and even deaded because they weren't as lucky (and I emphasize that emphatically) as you. Maybe our neighborhoods are different; maybe the people in your area aren't as prone to physically tell people to 'mind their business' as they are in mine. Or maybe I'm just surrounded by too many chemical dependents.

I've even seen people get into legal trouble for 'getting involved' in something that escalated beyond their control.

And I've seen more than my share of would be bad guys get turned into victims in 'vigilant acts'.

I'm glad to see that you've made it this far confronting people at night with a group of friends and a baseball bat but that's not the message that should be going out to people... I've seen both sides and discourage it greatly.


Again, in an age of cell phones and camera surveillance, there is a minimal need for people to wade into the thick of it. Call 9-1-1 from a position of safety if the situation calls for it. Don't let delusional thinking (or arrogance, overconfidence, routine) get you hurt. And don't mislead other people into getting themselves hurt.

And again, every situation is not confrontational or dire; so if 9-1-1 would be overdoing it and wading into the thick of it is not going to cause confrontation; then by all means... close the gap.

But running around with bats, stun knuckles, shields and/or a gang of buddies; trying to look all scary and intimidate people out of doing something is going to get someone hurt; even if it isn't you.

I have a friend that's sitting in the pen for manslaughter because he hit a guy, that was trying to break up a fight between him and another guy (over a girl), so hard that the guy went coma, then died a week later.

[My job does not allow us to follow suspected shoplifters beyond the main doors for safety reasons. Domestic violence calls are one of our PDs big cautionaries. People are always advised not to approach fugitives and/or suspected offenders, etc... in short, the authorities would prefer that many, if not most, actions be left to the authorities.]

We honestly have no idea what they're doing (only what they admit to doing) and if they weren't expecting physical [confrontation]... they wouldn't be walking around with shields and shock knuckles.

Fiction. People, in general, have been killed intervening in things like domestic abuse, breaking up fights and snitching; in this, costume is irrelevant. Especially in gang and gangster infested areas.

There are risks to 'patrolling' and looking for trouble; no matter what clothes you wear. Police are well aware of those risks and they take greater pains to lessen those risks through training, equipment, communication and strong organization than does the average citizen or wannabe superhero. Does that keep them from dying in the line of duty while 'patrolling'? No.

Does this mean that they can't have fun while feeding the homeless or similar non-aggressive activities? Of course not... but that's not all that these types are doing (or have been doing) since the 70s. (Or the 60s if you want to count the activities Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam).

There are extremes to this type of behavior; people that see themselves as the police alternative to keeping the streets safe in times of 'breakdown'. Militia groups and the like are common place and hold a completely different approach to community service than well established and qualified NFP groups like The BSA/GSA, Red Cross, local outreach and shelter programs.

I know for a fact, if one of these guys had a habit of being around when people in certain neighborhoods I've been in kept getting busted... it would only be a matter of time [before] their patrol would get cut short in dramatic fashion.

Big difference in your example and what the story was about. The students were on their way to a costume party; the participants in the vid are not.

And there's a big difference between dressing up like two known icons and looking like a crime-busting Christian Bale did in "Batman Begins"; before the Batman cowl was complete.

There's occasions for dress up (and if something happens during those occasions, so be it) but to pull a KA invites the same kind of pain and near death that happened in that same movie; without Big Daddy and Hit Girl to pull their amateur behinds out of the fire... even without donning a costume.

I'm not advising to do nothing... however I would advise against 'aggressively looking for trouble'.


Its not like I've never daydreamed about being a Punisher/Batman-esque or Guardian Angel type, but when it comes down to it... that's toeing both the legality and the personal safety line... and I don't need a poorly made, cumbersome costume to get a cat out of a tree, help an old lady across the street or dial 9-1-1.

If one absolutely must have a costume in order to deter crime; join the police, join the military or wear a neighborhood watch t-shirt and an orange vest. Anything else is an externalization of personal delusion.