Wulfman

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when mite the next hami raid be? i would like to be part of the next one, for sadly i have never done one in all my 5 years of playing :{

if someone could let me know that would be great

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Tomorrow night. Folks will start forming up in the Hive around 9:15 or so....scheduled to start at 9:30 Eastern. I will start clearing DE as soon as we have the numbers we need to succeed.

See you there!

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Don't know if Wulf is back

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Yup, he is, and yup, it is.

Nice work again tonight, folks. We had full teams and were ready to start spawning Hami on schedule, had a full Hive shortly thereafter, and took Hami down in a very efficient 32 minutes. Nice job by my team leaders, as always (Terra Cotta Warrior, Grim Maligne, Lady Bellacose, Ariel', and La De Da).

I will not be present to lead a raid next week, as I will be out of town. If anyone would like to take the reins, feel free to contact me for my macros or input prior to that time. I am planning to be back and leading in two weeks.

Hope to see you then!

I didn't say I was there for the attempted restart. But I did talk to Laylyn, both in an ongoing way during the original Guardian Wars as well as both before and after the attempted restart.

And just so you can get some of your facts straight, TA was involved in more than 2 of the original Guardian Wars events...we were involved on some level in just about all of them. It's one of the reasons why Laylyn was registered on our forums...to discuss these kind of events.

I told her before the attempted restart that TA wouldn't officially have any involvment because we weren't doing that much PvP anymore, but that we might have some individuals show up. After it was done, she sent me a message indicating that it was clear it wasn't worth trying again. And while she did indicate that the numbers were low and unbalanced, she specifically told me that there were a number of jerks present that made the "casual PvP" participant not enjoy the event enough to stick around. If you say that wasn't a part of it, maybe you were a part of the problem. I don't know who those folks were, just that they were present according to Laylyn. It was a very negative experience, and that is why I say I doubt you'll see her do it again.

And if you want to talk about cookie people on the server, don't breathe my name in the same paragraph. Never been one, never will be. Better yet, just answer the question that's originally asked and keep your opinions about other people's right to do the same to yourself...especially if you don't know as much as you think you do.

Laylyn came back and tried to get Guardian Wars restarted awhile back. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of jerks that showed up to the event and made it so irritating for the majority of the folks present--as well as for Laylyn--that there was only the one attempt at it.

I doubt very seriously if you'll ever see Laylyn or Haunt come back to make another run at it.

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No matter what you may hear around here, Portal Corp portals still drown out the noise, wake up the kids, and leave your senses with a nauseous buzz, and slaughtering what's on your map can take all the frustrations away.

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And there's still always room for jell-o!

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I guess that one time I tried a few months back was that really unusual scenario then. Heh heh

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I don't know when you were referring to exactly. There were a couple of attempts that weren't very successful for one reason or another when I was sick or out of town, so perhaps that's why I don't remember any such unusual occurrence.

I do know that no public raid I've led (to my recollection) has gone later than 11 EST. If I estimate that it won't be done before then (and I can usually hit it pretty closely), I won't even start it.

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I'll just be thankful for what I get, instead of playing Oliver Twist.

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So what you're saying is that instead of expecting the devs to live up to the same expectations they've established for 14 issues, you'll subscribe instead to the "whatever you want to give us is what we deserve" school of thinking? Sorry, I don't go there.

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I think what I'm trying to say (and I'm pretty sure it's what I'm trying to say, since I'm me ) is that I have realistically expectations given the current development schedule that has been announced.

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And I can agree with that. My point is that the schedule was rushed to the point that no one's reasonable expecations were met for what an issue should be based on previous iterations. They would have been better off to delay an issue than force it through in this condition.

I'm not questioning the decisions they made based on their current developement schedule...I'm questioning the decision-making behind the development schedule itself. It appears that this one, for one reason or another, wasn't thought through very well. That's something I would have expected from the former creative team....not this one.

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Thanks for the fun folks. If it's like this every week then I have time right before work to join in again. I only stay away because 11pm is my cut off pony but tonight we were suitably under that.

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Barring something really unusual, we will always finish before 11 EST.

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I'll just be thankful for what I get, instead of playing Oliver Twist.

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So what you're saying is that instead of expecting the devs to live up to the same expectations they've established for 14 issues, you'll subscribe instead to the "whatever you want to give us is what we deserve" school of thinking? Sorry, I don't go there.

If you want to placidly submit to being given whatever scraps the devs want to give you without a word of protest, more power to you. But if it's being Oliver Twist to expect the devs to live up to what they have established as the norm, then just call me Ollie.

Nice work tonight, folks! Once again, I had outstanding team leadership by Grim Maligne, 2BeOrNot2Be, Kiddygrade, Street Stalker, and Sausagetoes, and we took down the jell-o in a very efficient 35 minutes.

Outstanding work to everyone involved, and shame on you to the few who remained hidden and uncooperative only to "steal" a hit for something you didn't earn. Next time, either unhide and help or get out of the zone so others can get in.

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Aw, there there. This came on the heels of Issue 14, was supposed to be released earlier (but delayed thanks to MA changes), and precedes Issue 16 (which will probably be the expansion). Frankly I'm surprised people were expecting more for something that is crammed in between two big releases.

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This is a part of the point, though. Why cram it in? Just so they could say it happened on the 5th Anniversary?

I'm sure there are reasons we're not aware of--whether good or bad would likely be based on your own perspective--but rather than release an issue that is so small (relative to past issues), why not put the MA changes into a patch (some of them are fixes anyway), and hold the other stuff a little later in the year? It would potentially allow time for other things to be included in it and for it to be released as a regular-sized issue, and would still allow for down time before the release of the expansion and/or i16.

For all that there are a lot of people who want new content and were not thrilled with the MA for whatever reason, a small delay for a larger payoff would have been better IMHO than "cramming" something in and calling it an issue.

I'm looking forward to the TF/SF. Some of the MA changes may be very nice. But it's not enough to warrant being called an "issue" by the standards they have previously set. I hope it's a case of technical delays and scheduling issues rather than a harbinger of things to come. I've been very pleased overall with the work the design staff has done since Statesman's departure, so this series of events was unexpected, to say the least.

Here's hoping things pick up again soon...

So from these posts, it seems that unless you come in and post with nothing but sunshine posts and yay everythng the devs says is uber wonderful, you shouldn't bother to state an opinion. Sorry, that's not the way open forums work. They are meant for discussion, whether you agree or not.

I really didn't want the post to sound negative. But there have been a lot of negative things in a sequence over the last few months, and stating that perception is simply telling the truth as I and some others see it. Nothing more, nothing less.

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Oh no! You mean things might happen during development that push an *estimated* time back!

Say it ain't so! Obviously that never happens *Anywhere* else.

Go visit the dairy section, you're in danger of running low on cheese to go with that.

Oh, by the way... we had to pay for the *last* expansion - NOT ISSUE - as well.

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I never said an estimation couldn't be inaccurate, if you care to actually finish reading before you start formulating your response. All I said was that for the minimal amount of content contained in this issue, missing an estimate by 2 hours is pretty poor.

And I never suggested that we didn't have to pay for the last expansion. Again, Reading Comprehension 101 comes in handy. What I said was that we haven't been told anything that is coming down the pike except for the expansion (which, of course, we have to pay for just as we did the last one). That doesn't tell us anything about what we can expect in future issues, which is something this creative team has done several times over the last year or so.

A little information, even if it's just an idea of things to come, would go a long way to helping smooth what has been a fairly erratic series of events from many people's perspective.

Not to sound like sour grapes here, but this has been very poorly handled.

First, we're told that the big 5th anniversary is going to coincide with the next issue release. So everyone expects something pretty significant.

Let's face it, i14 was MA and nothing else. So if you were one that didn't really get into writing your own storyarcs, or filtering through the mass of "meh" created content to find the few really nice ones, there was nothing there for you. So i15 should be something very nice, including not only some new content, but perhaps a new zone, powerset proliferation, etc.

Then we get the overview notes, and it's nothing more than a single TF/SF (although a very nice one, bringing back the 5th Column), a few costume/character design things, and a bunch of bug fixes from i14. I'm sorry, but that is NOT the level of content we've come to expect with a new issue release--especially since the new creative team took over.

Then the release didn't coincide with the 5th anniversary...unless you count possibly hitting in the same month as coinciding. So not only were some folks underwhelmed by the content, it was late to boot.

So now they actually try to put it on open beta, and are currently 2 hours over their own estimation. Granted, technical things can happen. But come on....for the little bit of content and vid fixes, there's no way it should take that much longer.

Add in that the only thing we've heard about coming down the pike is an expansion that we'll have to pay for (and nothing about what may be coming in the next REAL issue), and it's a very disappointing day all the way around.

Sorry this is so pessimistic, but I've come to expect better from the current creative team. This whole thing has a slapdash, disorganized feel to it that I've not seen since Statesman left.

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Well thanks to all who came out, the multiple invading villain teams didn't even make it to the globe, and no pillboxes were taken Pinnacle FTW.

There was a good 40+ in there last night. Much more fun than killing tazz over and over like the night before.

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Sorry I didn't get your /pm last night. I got tied up at a business meeting and didn't even get home in time to participate. I hope you were able to contact the folks who were present, though.

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Yes we contacted them over and over in front of the villain base. Was good fun though.

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Glad you enjoyed it. I figured you and some of your guys might show up on your villains to balance the fight a bit more, but switching back and forth can get tedious after awhile as well.

There was enough fun for us on both servers that we'll likely do it again sometime down the road.

The other powerset that you could "revamp" into a "new" powerset is the Dark set. This is a very underused power, IMHO, and one that should be modified to be available to a number of other ATs.

Of course, the order of the powers could be adjusted as needed, or even a couple of substitutions made, if necessary to balance. But I tried to keep them balanced to the other sets in each AT. Some possibilities I've come up with include:

[u]Dark Control[u] (For Controller and Dominator Primary)

1) Petrifying Gaze
2) Tar Patch
3) Tenebrous Tentacles
4) Life Drain
5) Cloak of Darkness
6) Dark Pit
7) Fearsome Stare
8) Black Hole
9) Dark servant

[u]Dark Assault[u] (For Dominator Secondary)

1) Dark Blast
2) Smite
3) Gloom
4) Shadow Maul
5) Soul Drain
6) Nightfall
7) Dark Regeneration
8) Moonbeam
9) Blackstar

[u]Dark Blast[u] (Blaster Primary)

1) Dark Blast
2) Gloom
3) Moonbeam
4) Dark Thoughts (Aim-type power)
5) Nightfall
6) Torrent
7) Touch of Fear
8) Dark Obliteration
9) Blackstar

and

[u]Dark Manipulation[u] (Blaster Secondary)

1) Shadow Punch
2) Tar Patch
3) Smite
4) Cloak of Darkness
5) Soul Drain
6) Dark Regeneration
7) Dark Consumption
8) Oppressive Gloom
9) Midnight Grasp


Sometimes you don't have to re-create the wheel....or design a new wheel altogether....to come up with something that could bring new interest to a variety of ATs.

Here's a portion of a note I sent to Castle awhile back suggesting a "new" powerset. There's nothing overwhelmingly new about it, per se, and it incorporates a number of powers and animations that are already in the game. Instead of straight powerset proliferation, however, the powerset has been modified to better fit a different AT altogether. Anyway, here it is:

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I give you...Electricity!

Yah, I know there are a number of ATs that use electric attacks and/or resistance, and am hoping that it will get proliferated to other ATs as well (please give me my electric armor/electric melee tanker!). But that would leave out a number of ATs, and electricity is too good of a power concept to be ignored.

The Electricity set I'm proposing would be a primary set for defenders, and a secondary set for corruptors and controllers. It's possible it could be used for a MM secondary as well, although the shields may make it unbalanced when compared to the other secondaries found there. The powers included would be:

1) Shocking Bolt - single target hold, slight -end

----- This is the same as the existing power of the name, but with appropriate AT modifiers.

2) Charged Armor - grants 20% resistance to smashing/lethal/energy damage to the target.

----- Enables the caster to give charged armor to teammates, and should have the same buffs, recharge, duration, etc. as the sonic shields.

3) Conductive Shield - grants 20% damage resistance to energy/fire/cold and 12.5% resistance to negative energy

----- Enables caster to give Conductive Shields to teammates. Same activation and use numbers as Charged Armor, above.

4) Healing Conduit - Targeted PBAoE Heal

----- This power is essentially an electrical version of Twilight Grasp, complete with its accuracy check, but with a slight end drain to the target instead of a tohit debuff.

5) Defibrillator - Ally Rez

----- Same use numbers as other ally rez powers like Resurrect, but with a +recovery buff for the rezzed toon for 60 seconds.

6) Shock Treatment - Ally Mez Protection

----- Same effect as Clear Mind, Clarity, Thaw, etc.

7) Static Shield - PBAoE shield (toggle) resistance to hold, sleep, Disorient, end drain, recovery debuff, teleport, and 20% resistance to psi damage

----- Again, this would function as the Brute version of the power, except in a 25' radius around the caster to protect teammates and with a defender AT modifier. Numbers for usage should be consistent with Dispersion Bubble and Sonic Dispersion.

8) Electric Drain - Targeted end drain with PBAoE +end

----- This should function practically as transference does for the Kinetic set, with comparable end drain, +end, and radius, but be centered on the caster instead of the target.

9) Transformer - single target ally Buff

----- This teammate "super-charge" would have the same duration and recharge as Adrenalin Boost and Painbringer, but with the following buffs: +20% defense to all, +20% HP, +200% regen.

So there you have it. Of course, all of those numbers are for defenders, and I would expect them to be modified appropriately for controllers and corruptors (15% damage resist in the shields, for example). It's a set that's designed to balance the pure buffing toon (like empathy) with the buff and forget it toon (sonics and FFs), allowing a person to support in whatever way their particular team make-up suggests. It's not over-powered, as it combines many of the powersets that are already in existence, but would be a popular choice by many for its flexibility.

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Well, last week we bounced back nicely with a solid raid, and I'm hoping for a good turnout again tonight. Plan to be in the Hive a little early, as it fills up very rapidly. We'll start taking down DE as soon as we have enough folks and know we have the pieces in place necessary for a successful raid.

For those of you who haven't come out to try this yet, make the effort. With cooperation (which I get from nearly everyone at this point), we are taking Hami down in 30-45 minutes, based on specific team make-up, so even including spawn it's usually not more than an hour.

Start time is 9:30 EST. Hope to see you there!

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Well thanks to all who came out, the multiple invading villain teams didn't even make it to the globe, and no pillboxes were taken Pinnacle FTW.

There was a good 40+ in there last night. Much more fun than killing tazz over and over like the night before.

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Sorry I didn't get your /pm last night. I got tied up at a business meeting and didn't even get home in time to participate. I hope you were able to contact the folks who were present, though.

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The title says Recluse Victory then inside the Post it was "Free for All"

Is it s Free-For-All Arena or Warburg on Guardian, then Villains in Recluse on Pinnacle?

Why not Villains on Guardian?

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My apologies for the confusion.

It is, indeed, a zone event in RV. The "free-for-all" was not meant to denote arena, but rather that everyone is welcome to come and pick a side, regardless of affiliation or experience.

As for why we don't do villains on Guardian, Grass has stated it correctly. Our guild has its heroes on this server and its villains on Pinnacle, purely from a space available standpoint.

Hope that clears it up.

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It seems like everyone wants in on pinnacle these days

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Lol....we've been on Pinnacle since CoV went live.

Just as a point of clarification, we will be in Recluse's Victory on both servers--heroes on Guardian and villains on Pinnacle. The "free-for-all" reference was not meant to imply arena, but rather that everyone was welcome to come regardless of which side you play or how much (or little) experience you may have in PvP.

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Anything going on tonight or Friday night?
Rikti raids?
Hammi?

Just curious.

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SIGHS.... so YOU don't read the Level 50 MoTD either huh?

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I provide disappointment as just one of many services.

Care to share what it says or must I sit here and tremble with anticipation until I can rush breathlessly home to savor your words?

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Hami Raid is Wednesdays @ 630pm EDT/930pm PDT
Rikti Raids are Saturday @ 12am EDT/9pm PDT and Sunday @ 9pm EDT/6pm PDT

I haven't seen any regularly scheduled TF's in a while, but Timed Savior (sorry, International Lover now, hehe) runs various TF's all the time. Some are scheduled ahead of time either via the forums or with announcements in Level 50, Guardian and Guardian TF.

Hope that helps a little

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This is useful info, but the times on the Hami raid are backwards. It's 9:30 EST, although I suggest arriving 15 minutes or so beforehand.

Hostile Zone Takeover and Free for All Fun!!

The Twilight Avengers will be hosting a PvP event on Tuesday, May 26th, beginning at 8 p.m. EST. We'll start on the Guardian server with our heroes, and invite anyone who'd like to come out to fight with us or against us. After about an hour, we'll switch over to our villains on the Pinnacle server, and attack Recluse's Victory from the other side of the fence.

Want the badges? Curious about PvP but never had the guts to try it? Love PvP and need a little stress relief? Want a chance to get those rare, expensive recipes?

Whatever your reason may be, come join us for some serious fun!!!

Hostile Zone Takeover and Free for All Fun!!

The Twilight Avengers will be hosting a PvP event on Tuesday, May 26th, beginning at 8 p.m. EST. We'll start on the Guardian server with our heroes, and invite anyone who'd like to come out to fight with us or against us. After about an hour, we'll switch over to our villains on the Pinnacle server, and attack Recluse's Victory from the other side of the fence.

Want the badges? Curious about PvP but never had the guts to try it? Love PvP and need a little stress relief? Want a chance to get those rare, expensive recipes?

Whatever your reason may be, come join us for some serious fun!!!