Barata

And kudos to you. I'm happy that I see an older crowd still enjoying the fun of computer gaming.

And yes, it's disconcerting when you bring up something that you take for granted, and everyone else has never heard of it. I just read story here or in another forum, and the poster worked in a music store and the teenagers looking at a picture of Marilyn Monroe thought it was Madonna. After he finished telling them who it was, they walked away whispering "It's so sad, he works in a music store and doesn't even recognize Madonna."

It tells me the grass always seems to be greener on the other side.

I was just leveling up my tank, feeling she's been ignored for too long. I chose Indigo as the contact since it's been a long time since I used her. While you hate Tina McIntyre, I absolutely hate Crimson and Indigo. Not only do they send you all over the place, but they insist on sending you to their counterparts. I swear, I've seldom been that frustrated! Each one sends you on a mission, and before you have them as a cell contact and can call them, you have to return to them, and they just send you to see the other one. I actually hit a point where both my O-Portal and my SG Base Transporter were still recharging. It was bad enough when Indigo was doing it, but when I finally got Crimson, he kept telling me to go see Indigo. The one feature I wish the devs would implement is the ability to punch a contact.

I think that's a good idea. On occasion, I'll use the flashback crystal to exemp myself back to a lower level, then do some street hunting because I like bashing that particular villain group. If it was a feature, I'd definitely be using it at points.

I do like the new super-sidekick system. I only read about it today for the first time, and I like the idea that the entire team is brought to the level of the mission. It sounds like it can save a lot of headaches.

True.

But what if there were no "rewards"? What if <gasp> the only thing you got as a reward was influence, and everything could just be purchased from a regular vendor.

(quote was shortened just to save on screen real estate)

I hear ya Sam. I've been taking a break from the game lately, logging in for an hour or so once or twice a week, only because I've grown so familiar with everything, I just need a change of pace. I even reinstated my subscription to WoW (and quickly realized why I never played it for more than a day. I'll have to cancel it again before it renews next month) just to try something new.

What you're describing is the thrill of discovery. Discovery can come from exploration, or it can be fighting a new villain you never fought before, or getting a new capability that is very different from anything you've had before. Exploration is the most noticeable, I feel. Going through an area you either were never in before, or hadn't seen in a while so that you've forgotten, can be VERY impressive and rewarding. You not only had the joy of discovering/rediscovering a little-used area, but you also discovered how well your shield defenses worked, and you discovered new tactics (dealing with multiple Death Mages). That's the type of thing I savor when I come across it.

And I do understand what you say about the "modern conveniences". I remember when there were few conveniences and almost zero loot/rewards. During that first year or two, content was the focus of the game. The forums at the time extolled the game to newcomers with common praise like "you'll like this game because there's no loot and you don't feel like you have to collect certain items to succeed." When true "loot" was added, and then made into a reward, focus shifted. Now, a good portion of the focus is on maximizing rewards. Modern conveniences mean you can effectively ignore the genre and entire game world, jump into your mission(s), and maximize your rewards.

I'd love for there to be more exploration-type content in the game. The problem with places like boomtown and such is that they're too repetitive. Any one area is just like any other area. And even if the scenery changes, it's still spawn after spawn after spawn (the spawns get repetitive). Instead, what I think would be great is something that you can explore that has a variety of interesting landmarks and challenges.

Frankly though, with the reward-centric focus within the game now, I'm not sure anything like that is worth the effort. Once you shift the players' focus on the rewards, the only content that will be played are the ones that offer those rewards. While a few people (myself included) would enjoy visually-interesting areas with fun challenges, I think the majority will simply say "there's no merits at the end? why bother!"

That was the coolest surprise for me. I thought it was a bug that my mission objective showed up outside the map area, but those tunnels (when I found them) brought me right to it. I love that.

Rikti bombs will do that during invasions. I distinctly remember one blowing up next to my stone tank and winding up on the roof of the neighboring building.

Interesting. I always thought the Vahz story arc, along with the wasting disease, was some of the better content. The disease only lasts for a single mission, and is one of the few moments in the game where you aren't babied and coddled. Actually, as far as I can tell, it's fully unique in what it does. And it's not like it makes the mission impossible. I've completed it solo on defenders (who do horrible damage). You have to pace yourself, certainly, but it actually adds challenge to the game, as opposed to all the buffs continually given out to make everything easier and safer. The story arc is also nice in that, without having to initiate a task force or some other special action, you are presented with an AV-class villain (and one of the best-designed ones, when you really look at him).

Then again, I liked when the code for ambushes was broken and the game would send a dozen ambushers after you. I found it refreshing that the constant feeling of safeness (which doesn't really fit inside this genre) was totally shattered.

hahahahahahahaha! Oh man, what a great story!

I didn't claim farmers were exploiting the game. As both you and Hydrophidian pointed out, there are different issues that make the AE more lucrative than normal PI farming. Convenience is one. You don't need to travel far and the hospital is right there. You brought up auto-sk, and that's a valid feature too. All of these give you increased XP per hour.

But it still comes down to this..... if AE wasn't more profitable than PI, people would still be in PI. Some of the things that make AE more profitable may not necessarily be the difficulty level or the experienced gained per boss, but all components do add up to make it more profitable.

With I16, focus should shift once more towards regular missions again. Right now though, AE offers advantages that PI does not.

And please, I didn't say farmers were exploiting. I'll say that some people were exploiting at various times (Comm Officers, Mitos). That's if we use the common definition of exploiting that is used within the game.... using an intended behavior or broken mechanic for gain.

I have to admit I chuckled at that. I started envisioning the broadcasts in AP.

"10 Tank LFF! I has skillz. Why wont ne1 invite me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Yes, it's convenient. That's one advantage that has nothing to do with experience. But like I said in the post preceding this one, serious farmers pride themselves on maximizing their rewards. That's not a derogatory statement I'm making, it's merely acknowledging what farmers have been saying for a long time now. Convenience accounts for some of AE's popularity, but it's not going to attract as much farming as it does if it didn't offer good rewards that at least match what you can get elsewhere.

I'm looking forward to I16. I decided I have nothing against farming other than I think it's boring, and I'm very much looking forward to upping the virtual team size and running through some of my missions.

Yes. Like you said, with the right team, it's more efficient. But that exact same reasoning applies to all content within the game. It's not like you can pick up a mission outside of AE and team build doesn't matter. Also, you don't need to use custom bosses with reduced experience, you can pick out standard ones that your build does well against.

As for it being a walk in the park.... it very well can be a walk in the park. I've run through a couple of those. Lots of experience, capped out ticket rewards, zero risk, little effort.

If PI farming teams are just as lucrative as AE, then why aren't more people in PI farming? If AE doesn't have all these advantages, why is it so popular? I'm serious. When people farm, they choose the most rewarding content. That's why you don't see farm teams running radio missions. So if AE does not offer advantages to the normal PI farm teams, then why do the farmers, people who admit and pride themselves on their knowledge of maximizing rewards, concentrate on AE?

Yes really, yes, and yes. And yes, some people still farm in PI. Anyone who says that the amount of AE farming is less than PI though is just kidding himself. As for whether or not an AE farm mission gives more or less experience..... more people farm AE than any other mechanism. It's obvious. Go to AP and look at how many farm teams are forming in AE. Then go to the other zones and add up those farm teams. You'll see that AE is being farmed much more than any other mechanism.

So if AE is not offering better rewards than PI farming, then why have the majority of players who farmed in PI now farm in AE? AE guarantees that every mob in a farm mission is boss level or higher, yielding the highest rewards and experience. No other content in the game guarantees that. AE can guarantee that every mob you face does the damage type that you are most resistant to. AE can guarantee that every mob you face has the least resistance to your own damage type. Do you debate that? Having guaranteed mobs of boss level, susceptible to your damage type, and inflicing the damage you are most likely to resist or avoid is efficient. So how is AE farming less efficient or lucrative than PI?

I'm not saying I'm for or against AE farming, or even farming in general. Someone asked what the difference was between PI farming and AE farming, and I explained. Those are the differences, and I'm not sure how it's debatable.

AE is more efficient. AE gives out experience in greater quantities. AE gives out experience with less effort. That's the difference.

If that wasn't true, people would still be farming in PI.

My bad, I was going from memory. I remember it having some other good bonuses too.

For my AR/Dev blaster, I'm shooting for ranged defense. I'm up to about 20% ranged defense (when Smoke Grenade's to-hit debuff is added in), and I still have quite a few powers left to add bonuses to.