alexus_NA
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Posts
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Quote:Well, I can't say that I agree with you, on what 'might' happen, if set bonuses could exempt farther than they do.Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
PumBumbler is right here.
WoW's biggest downfall in my eyes is that it practically requires you to get to the max level before you attempt to do anything. It's not a game mechanic requirement, it's a requirement of other players. If you are not at the level cap, and equipped with the best gear you can get for your class, your chances of getting invited to do something are slim.
If exemping had no penalties at all, you would probably see a similar attitude become more prevelant here.
I don't know about you, but I don't like the idea of having to solo up to 50 and get set bonuses before anyone will consider inviting me on a TF.
If set bonuses didn't disappear when you exemped, only max level enhancements would have any value at all, making it very difficult for low level characters to earn enough money to buy them.
That would lead to getting to level 50 ASAP and grinding to earn enough influence to buy enhancement sets. Do you REALLY want CoH to morph into a grindfest? That is part of why it is still around and going strong, it avoided the grindyness of previous MMOs.
As someone else pointed out, you don't even need the IO's sets to play the PvE game, and I can definitely attest that you indeed DO NOT need them. (for PvE)
I think it's a pretty big stretch to say that people wouldn't invite you to a TF because you didn't have a specific set bonus. It's almost laughable.
People don't do that now, they certainly wont do it if the rule changed.
I occassionally get asked what my pwer sets are, but I've NEVER been asked 'gee what set bonuses do you have?', nor could I ever imagine someone saying something like: "gee Alexus, you don't have the Numinas +?? I'm sorry but you just can't go on this ITF with us....."
As far as affecting the market? Again - I don't see this happening. At least not in the 'end of days' senario you're describing.
As it is now: IO sets at lvl 50 are the most expensive. Typically.
Recipes that are in the 30-33 lvl range are the 2nd most expensive.
If the set bonuses did exempt down, then suddenly the lvl 34 recipe is a tiny bit more expensive than the 33, because it is more powerful.
As it stands now - recipes between 34 - 49 are less desirable. Change the exemption, and suddenly this group is worth more.
Now I don't have to wait a month for a potentially desirable recipe to hit the market at level 33. I can buy the lvl 35.
It would likely have the opposite effect you predict. The market is about supply and demand. If all recipe levels are viable to achieve a bonus, suddenly you have a bigger supply, and prices go down.
If they wanted to keep the 3 level exemption for PvE - that's fine with me. I'm much more interested in bonuses exempting down in PvP.
The PvE game easily beatable with SO's.
PvP is another party altogether. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Westley
But that was the whole POINT of super-rares, was that they exemplar down where other IOs do not. That is exactly how they were advertised as being BETTER than standard IOs.
Attempting to change that because you aren't getting rare drops... tsk tsk.
Westley, you are officially more obsessed with my lack of rare drops than I am.
You haven't even attempted to explain why set bonus exemptions exist in the first place.
Clearly your comfortable with it, and you want pvp to be competitive only for the hardcore crowd.
I understand your position, and you are entitled to feel anyway you like. I simply disagree.
I want pvp to be more competitive for ALL levels of characters, not just the hardcore.
I've even pointed out that the hardcore will always have an advantage, again perfectly acceptable as they've earned it one way or another, but does the gap have to be so large?
I mean... really?
Again, I'm talking about zones below RV. In RV everything works and you can be competitive with regular IO sets, and I am.
The arbitrary 3 level exemption everywhere else is exactly that, arbitrary. It existed before purple sets were even introduced.
Made no sense then, doesn't make sense now... so what purpose does it serve? What is the reason?
It's nearly as time consuming and costly to build strickly lvl 33 sets, as it is to aquire the rare sets, ever since the merit system was introduced.
No matter how you slice it or try to spin it, by design, PvP is tailored for the hardcore crowd.
Ease up a bit, is all I'm saying. It will benefit everyone in the long run. -
Quote:For the purpose of this study there will be no attack chain, just the tier 1 primary power, as I detailed in my example.Originally Posted by macskull
This isn't a hypothesis, this is a fact. Unless the Corruptor has some way to either completely drain the Blaster's endurance or floor their recharge before the Blaster gets through their attack chain a few times (all that's needed to get a kill, really) the Blaster will win. Way too much time in zone since I13 has shown me that unless you've got teammates near you, Hibernate/phase is up, or you're by a lot of buildings, you're gonna be screwed if a halfway intelligent Blaster gets the jump on you. It's even worse in the lower level zones where no one has their epic shields and the damage figuring is a bit different.
An emphasis on damage spam over support, a seeming dislike of teaming, and huge misconceptions about the PvP system are the reasons we are where we are today. It's not the players' fault.
The attack chain adds more complexity and makes it more difficult to establish control elements within the study. -
Quote:Originally Posted by UberGuy
I'm not sure why you think 1000 merits would suggest you should ever have seen a purple.
The most optimistic numbers I've seen suggest that, on average, a purple drops once every 1500 mobs. (This is a very round number, as it treats all mobs as a kind of aggregate, even though drop rate varies by mob rank.)
When you run on a TF, you are almost certainly doing that on a team. When a mob drops something, it drops one thing. When you play on a team, that one thing a mob drops is randomly assigned to someone on the team. So if you are playing on a team of 8, you're reducing your odds of getting any given drop by a factor of 8. That takes that (possibly very optimistic) on in 1500 chance of a drop and makes it one in 12,000.
Frankly, I'm not at all sure the teams I play on would come close to putting down 12,000 mobs in the number of TFs that it would take me to earn 1000 merits. On a very conservative number of 25 merits/TF that's 40 TFs, meaning we'd have to defeat 300 mobs on every TF just to hit the average number of mobs for me to get one drop. And of course, probabilities don't work such that you're going to get a success just because you did the number of tests to get a result on average.
I'm not disagreeing with the numbers, just lamenting my bad luck in comparison to my friends. -
Quote:*sigh* Westley Westley Westley.......Originally Posted by Westley
Ah, so now we come to the heart of the matter... simple jealousy towards those that spend hours farming to get purples and PvP IOs.
You wish all IOs exmplared down because you have either no desire or no time to put in the effort to get the "good stuff".
If I was jealous, I'd be complaining that they are too powerful, which I am not.
I most certainly have the desire for them, as I have stated before, so on that point you are also incorrect. I simply cannot make them appear out of thin air. I can only run the hampster wheel, and hope for the best.
Time is another issue altogether. Once again, I did not begrudge those who 'have' acquired them, however they managed to do so.
Ok... maybe I'm a 'little' jealous they got a 150 million dollar drop when I got my 30th Call of the Sandman, but honestly speaking here, it's 'not that difficult' to make money on the market, so I can and do, make up for my bad luck in other ways.
My friends and I invest the same amount of time doing these tasks, because we always do them together. They've gotten dozen's of drops, I've gotten 1.
It is simply the luck of the roll, I understand that, move along.
It doesn't change my view, one iota, that allowing set bonuses to exemplar down in pvp, will help level the playing field and allow for more competition. (Before you assume anything else, please note I said: HELP, not cure, fix, finalize, or even balance... it is simply a STEP in the right direction.)
If you feel exemplared IO's will hopelessly break pvp, then just say so, and have the curtesy to explain why you feel that way.
Don't waste your time trying to 'read between the lines', when I feel I've stated my case very clearly.
I want non lvl 50 characters to be more competitive in pvp, in their appropriate zones. -
Quote:Originally Posted by macskull
Under the current PvP ruleset the Blaster would win that fight just about every time regardless of whether or not either character has damage procs slotted, because all the Blaster would have to do is spam attacks at the Corruptor, who wouldn't be able to heal or get away.
hmmmmm.... interesting.
I'm going to put this hypothesis to the test, later tonight. 1v1, blaster vrs corr, tier 1 spamming only.
No healing, no buffs, no running away, no shields, standard IO's, no set bonuses.
Test server should be perfect for this. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Westley
Must..... resist.... urge...
Speaking of rarity Westley.... You aren't kidding!!
Despite the countless lvl 50 tf's and hours I've spent in pvp, I've collected a total : 1 purple recipe.
No no.. you read that correctly.
1 purple drop since they were introduced.
I've earned/spent over 1000 merits on 1 character alone. Earned a 300 rep in pvp on another.
It is not for a lack of trying. My friends get purple and pvp drops all the time, I just happen to have incredibly bad luck... apparently.
Rare is an understatement.
I don't even use them in my 'mids' builds anymore, because I know I'll never get them. -
First off - let me say thank you to my fellow posters for engaging in a healthy debate/discussion, instead of the tired old flame war.
I sincerely appreciate it.
That being said, let me address a few issues, because I think perhaps I did not make my position clear.
I'm not contesting, or complaining about the difficulty of getting Purples or PVP recipes.
My 'main' complaint is that 'other' recipes do not exempt down beyond those 3 levels, as well.
In addition: I think 'most' would agree that other recipes exemping down, would NOT adversly affect pvp. In reality, it would level the playing field a little, and would make lower level toons more viable, and perhaps even encourage more casual pvpers to participate, UNTIL they too are able to get and slot the higher end recipes and rule the world.
Something to work for, and look forward too, if you will.
Restricting lower end io set bonuses to a 3 level exemption doesn't make sense in terms of encouraging true competition. At first glance, it simply appears to be nothing more than a money sink. A means to remove trillions of dollars of infamy/influence from the game.
I don't have a problem with that, but I feel the un-intended side effect is it imbalances the pvp playing field more dramatically than it should.
Case in point: A blaster and a corruptor go toe to toe in Sirens. The blaster has 3 pvp prox slotted in their tier 1 power. The corruptor has say... a devastation lvl 40 set in their tier 1.
Neither toon as any other set bonuses.
Who will win this fight?
The blaster, no doubt in my mind. Spamming only their tier ones, the blaster has 3 30% chances, every 1.5 seconds, to get luckly and have a prox fire off, doing a substantal amount of additonal damage that the corruptor doesn't have.
A pretty significant advantage, imho, which I'm sure the blasters deserves having recieved or purchased those prox, and presumably worked for them.
I DO NOT fault the blaster.
However, where is the harm in giving the corruptor the mild set bonuses they have earned?
Does it 'break' pvp? No.
Does it create a massive imbalance in the game? No.
Does it discourage the corruptor from getting the PvP io's, or the purple sets? No.
Does it diminish the blasters accomplishments? No.
Does it make the corruptor more competitive at a lower level? Yes, I think it would.
Granted, in my example 1 set bonus would not radically change the outcome, but hopefully that realization will drive home my point.
Giving us our set bonuses in PvP, regardless of level of the IO set, WILL NOT BREAK PVP!!
If ANYTHING, it might actually encourage more people to casually engage in pvp. The min/maxers will still be kings with their 'leet' gear, and I'm not trying to take that privilage away from them, by any stretch of the imagination.
It will not radically alter the playing field, but it WILL allow lower and mid level toons to be more competitive.
Will they still get ganked? Of course, there isn't much you can do when you zone in, and promptly get sniped and all three prox slotted in the power fire off. Your dead before you even know you were attacked.
I can't speak for everyone, but typically, by the time I hit the mid 40's with a toon, I've got set bonuses with IO's ranging from 25 - 40's. The bonuses help round my character out, and make them more survivable.
Some are drops, some I've purchased, but nobody can argue that I didn't work for, or earn them.
We all know that 'some sets' are much harder to get, and cost 'nearly' as much as the purples and pvp sets.
Yet, suddenly losing those bonuses because I didn't get the last 2 IO's of my set until lvl 38, makes me feel like I"m being punished.
Is that REALLY the feeling the devs want to promote??
Even getting those bonuses would not diminish my desire for some of the purple and pvp sets, but at least on my long road to acquiring them I wont feel quite so brutalized and abused.
It is EXACTLY these kinds of imbalances that frustrate me, as a player, and cause me to cancel my account, periodically.
Yes, I've cancelled my account at least 4 times now. (will be again in a few days)
I leave for several months, and usually come back when a new expansion is released to check it out. (can't help myself - this is STILL one of the best mmo's I've ever played)
Despite my frustrations.....
Never the less - Cryptic has lost around $300 worth of subscription services from me over the years. I punish them the only way I can. I show my frustration and disapproval of their design decisions the only way I know how.
I ***** here.... quit... and come back in a few months to see if they've changed anything.
I guess I'm a sucker for punishment.
No seriously now... I do appreciate the incredible work those guys have put into this game, and it has set a standard by which I judge all other MMO's.
I think that says a lot.
I just happen to feel that PvP could be SOOOO MUCH BETTER, and as a result, much more popular.
Will my idea change 'everything'??? No, I don't think it will, but I do honestly feel it's a step in the right direction.
So what do you say Devs? Give us casual and fence sitting pvpers some love!! -
Before I built my current computer, I ordered one from Ibuypower. When it arrived, the deluxe CPU cooler had broken off. My ONLY recourse was to send it back for repair. This is after waiting 3 weeks for the delivery, mind you.
This of course, was going to take another 3-4 weeks, for repair and shipping back to me.
I told them to stuff it, and give me a refund. Fortunately - they did.
So - in the end I built my computer with parts purchased from NewEgg.
Although, I do have a friend who bought their system from Ibuypower, and they've had no problems other than the 3 week wait to get it.
Honestly - if you have the technical skills, build it yourself. Not only will you save some money, but you can build a much better system. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Fleeting Whisper
So that IOed characters don't significantly outshine teammates when exemplared to the point that the teammates feel useless.
Well, I can't tell other people how to feel, but I can say from personal experience I've never felt useless on a team, unless I couldn't handle +4 mobs to begin with. -
Quote:I don't know, because they are significantly better than what I've got slotted??Originally Posted by Westley
Because that way Purples and PvP recipes are MORE valuable... since, you know, they are much more RARE than normal set IOs.
If you could just use normal set IOs at any level... why would you need/want Purples and PvP IOs? What would make them more desirable?
That alone makes them more desirable. Oh I want them alright... just... takes a long time to collect or purchase them. -
Quote:Originally Posted by AnimeWarrior252
Sorry about this short rant, everyone! I HATE Drive-By-Buffers! Why do they think they have a right to Drive-By-Buff anyone without asking their permission first? Don't they even know, or care, the least little bit, that by doing Drive-By-Buffing, without asking first, is gonna make them a ton of enemies! *End Rant*
I've read your points, and will conceed you are certainly entitled to your feelings, but you know what?
I'm going to continue to do drive-by buffing, whether you like it or not, and will continue to be 'rude' about it by not asking first. -
By this I mean, what is the purpose/philosophy/design decision to nerf / eliminate set bonuses that are above the PvP zones level?
If I've got Posi's blast level 40's slotted and enter Sirens, I no longer get those bonuses, but If I slot Purples, or Gladiator sets, I still do??
This seems rather unfair, if you ask me.
Not to mention it creates an imbalance in the lower PvP zones. I mean, what is the point of entering Sirens when I hit lvl 30 if I'm actually fighting lvl 50's, with purple and gladiator sets, that I simply cannot and do not have??
I can't truly be competitive if you've got elite procs firing off that I don't even has access too.
It practically forces a player to max their character, in order to be competitive in lower level zones, so what is the point of the lower level zone to begin with??
Why is my lvl 40 set bonus eliminated (Sirens) but the level 50 purple isn't?
Why are set bonuses eliminated when you exemplar down 3 levels, to begin with? When you 'can' (provided you can afford them, or have enough time to grind for them) have set bonuses that DO exemplar down??
Isn't the purpose of DR to try and level the playing field? If so, when 'why' eliminate the set bonus if it's still subject to the DR rule?
Purple sets are DR'd, Gladiator Sets are DR'd, set bonuses below the level cap are DR'd, but set bonuses above the cap that aren't Purple or Glads are just eliminated altogether??
That just doesn't make any sense.
There isn't a radical game breaking difference between a lvl 33 IO and a lvl 38 IO, but there IS a big difference between a 33 IO and a Purple or Gladiator IO.
I thought the point of all the PvP nerfs and changes was to make it more fun, and more competitive for a larger group of players, but in reality you just made true competition and equality harder to obtain.
At any rate: I AM looking forward to 'going rogue'. It should be interesting running around pvp zones that appear deserted because everyone on both sides is a stalker at invis cap. -
I feel Self Destruct was a total waste of my $10. It doesn't do enough damage to justify using it.
The last time I used it fighting +3's - it did less damage than my fire blast attack. -
Is it possible that COH/COV would cache some of these sound files, for later use??
I ask, because I sampled the sound i wanted to change in game, with a mic; edited the sound in another program, converted it to an ogg, then dropped in the specified directory.
I took at least 3 restarts of the game for my new sound to start being used. -
Sorry about that, this whole EULA thing is a bit confusing. How can ANYONE post ANY information regarding ogg files, without first viewing a pigg to see what the file names are??
All this double-speak is making my head spin.
Manipulating an ogg, contained within a game pigg is a EULA violation, but subsitution is not???
That is 'technically' what we are doing, isn't it??
So it really doesn't matter what sound bite I use as my replacement, as long as I do not touch the existing ogg files, and piggs??
The only thing that really matters is the audio format "ogg", the file name, and the folder path created within the COH directory??
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Has something changed recently, that this no longer works?
If I hypothetically extracted the psionic4.ogg file, converted it into a wave file, edited it to a more tolerable wadda wadda wadda, then re-converted it back to an ogg file, dropped it in the folder city of heroes\data\sound\Ogg\Powers; that the game would then replace the sound????
If i could then verify the path with a pigg viewer, that the subsitute was linked?
Would I then hear the new sound in the game??
If I don't, would that simply mean it wasn't the file I was looking for??? While psionic4.ogg sounds pretty similar to the psionic dart, the game may actually be using another file for that sound?? -
Wow - I can't believe everybody doesn't love FrostBite???
I run with a F/F tank (SG buddy) as often as possible, and created my Ice/Storm controller specifically to aid him.
Once he grabs aggro - gets the NME's bunched up around him:
I frostbite them all, then he hits BURN.
No more 'fear' from burn.
Well... they may be terrified, but their isn't much they can do about it.
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(Just because you can't do it doesn't make it impossible. I know people who aren't level fifty that can take on AVs all by themselves. Don't tell me it's impossible because you are incapable. )
Er.. ok.. I didn't.
Just because I didn't say it, doesn't mean I did.
I didn't say it "couldn't" be done. It is however, somewhat rare, IMHO.
If it isn't, then I'd like to know what kind of toon can accomplish this feat - what lvl, what lvl of AV they are fighting...etc..etc.
Case in point - I was with a group of 6 last night - fighting Nosfaratu - after bulldozing through the entire mission we get to the AV and start the fight.
25 minutes later - we are forced to recruit 2 more members to the party.
20 minutes after THAT - we finally bring him down with our party of 8!!
3 Controllers with pets, 2 defs, 1 Tank, 1 blast and a PB - and a 45 minute battle.
It was insane.
So? Your telling me 'someone' can solo that????
Please explain - because if THAT battle is any indication - I don't believe you. I'm not saying it's impossible because I've 'read' of it happening..... PRE i5.
I just don't see it happening now. For sure. But hey?? Correct me if I'm wrong!?! What is the magical build and match-up criteria??? -
What is this talk of solo'ing AV's? I did the babbage TF with a friend, pre-I5. The rest of the team dropped, but for 2 days my Tank buddy and I ran the rest of the missions.
I was playing a Dark/Rad defender, he was FF tank.
We could NOT take down the AV. Period. No way we could do enough damage.
So where is the poppy [censored] about solo'in AV's and +5 NME's?
I've never been able to hit ANYTHING above 3 levels??
And if you mean SOLO when your level 50, well?? You SHOULD be able to solo an AV at level 50...
No - these nerfs are for PVP with COV. Period. End of stupid story, and more likely than not, a few more accounts.