Bosstone
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:Sure, whatever you say, 'friend'.Originally Posted by Lycantropus
But only on the last 5 purchases, which is easily manipulatable, and I don't even play the market, have a single character that has ever earned or had to be concerned with carrying more than 2billion inf personally, or anything of the sort. I'm not a market player nor care to be... I am (generally) a patient one though.
If you think those last 5 sales is some kind of true indicator or safety net on some particular items, then well my friend... you are wrong!
I only said it's far more useful than seeing only what the sellers want you to pay. I stand by that. -
The AH could be a lot better, but at least it tells you for what prices things have been selling, rather than what the in-stock prices are. If the only data you have is what the sellers want for their goods, you have no easy way to know if that's the moving price or if those are the expensive leftovers nobody will buy. You can't work well on that info alone. Telling you the prices people have been buying at is vastly more useful.
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Quote:Sure, but that was an exception, not the rule. Most regular content is easier with 8 than with 1 (or the TF's minimum).Originally Posted by Void_Huntress
Counterpoint, because I love you: Old Positron TF was SIGNIFICANTLY easier with a minimum team than maximum.
Especially before super sidekicking let us keep powers from 5 levels above us when exemplaring down.
I think that's something else to consider, too. We're used to steamrolling content with 8 people. With normal content, the force multiplier of each additional person in the group outstrips the ability of the game to scale difficulty to the point where 8 people are essentially invulnerable.
As a result, we've been conditioned to turn our brains off at max players. If you're soloing or playing at minimum, you know you don't have the brawn, so you keep your brain in gear. You have to think more to pass the content. Even if you're soloing a simple tip mission, you have to be aware of everything. Tactics come into play. But as the group gets bigger, the difficulty goes away and things become simpler due to the force multiplier effect.
The iTrials, on the other hand, do not become simpler. As I understand it, there is some scaling according to league size that's different from normal content (don't know the specifics though) and the objectives are constructed such that you can't just steamroll right on past it. They can get easier, but brains are still needed, and in some cases they actually get harder with more people, like oldPosi.
It's hard to tell if that's a good or bad thing. It's certainly different, and the difference itself is a double-edged sword ("We want something new!"/"This isn't City of Heroes!"). -
I think there needs to be a distinction made that I'm not sure has been made in this discussion and similar: minimum and maximum size.
See, when we think about a story arc, we think about it as something to do solo. We get folks claiming that soloing is more difficult, since on the same content a team of 8 is just a straight mindless steamroll. Most story arc content is geared for 1-8 players, but we think of it in terms of one person.
Now, when you do a trial or a TF, you're always looking for the maximum, because it's a group activity so you might as well go all the way. So we get folks claiming that the iTrials aren't that much more difficult than solo content, because how can anything be difficult when you're throwing 24 players at it?
But here's the thing: nobody ever really talks about going into an iTrial or a TF with a minimum number of players. It's significantly tougher to do so, especially if there's some trick or gimmick to it.
TF example: Kahn is extremely simple and straightforward with 8 players. Even the final fight is just constant spamming of attacks, with a portion of the team splitting to fight AVs or even just bringing them into the AOE hell around Reichs. I've been on Kahns where we killed Reichs so fast that one AV would activate before the previous died.
By contrast, I did a 4-man Kahn the other night, and it was simultaneously the most challenging and the most fun Kahn I've ever done. The combat was frenetic and walked the razor's edge, with a couple of us dying at least twice during the fight. We barely had the damage and -regen to actually drop Reichs' health, and when the AVs activated three of us went to kill it ASAP while our Brute did his best to stay alive with Reichs. We won through tactics and rapid response to problems, rather than just unloading attack spam on the bag of HP.
Even now, I don't think many people want to play BAF with only 12 people. It would (or should) be winnable, but it would be hard, even for +3s. Mainly because of the prisoner escape; there's just not as many people to saturate the paths and catch all the prisoners. A higher minimum requirement does mean things become more complex, even if it's only because there's multiple objectives to complete simultaneously which means splitting the team (anyone remember how tough the Cavern of Transcendence Trial is?).
So I think you have to be careful when comparing content. Most folk seem happy to compare 1-8 content assuming 1 player with 12-24 content assuming 24 players. That's at opposite ends of the spectrum and can distort perspectives. -
Well, you can't compare the story arc rewards to SSAs or tips or TFs, you can really only compare them to other story arcs. That said, I'm admittedly unsure how the FW arcs stack up to regular arcs, but I do know the FW arcs were all pretty quick, like 3-4 short missions each.
I saw First Ward as an experiment, myself. They were trying to pack the story into the mission rather than compartmentalize it into the accept/complete dialogue and Clues. It worked for me, as although I do my best to read mission text when soloing, I don't always grok the plot, whereas I did for the First Ward stuff. The avalanche of NPC text was indeed overdone, though, especially since it frequently happened at the same time as an ambush or similar.
I didn't...hate the zone? But it's not really repeatable for me either. I went through it once for the story, but I have no pressing desire to return with another character. -
Quote:Sssshshhhhh!Originally Posted by Ogi
What does Master of <TF> award beyond a title?
What are you, crazy? You wanna wake the badgers? -
Quote:How long have we been paying $12-15 a month for a virtual game? That, when it finally closes down, will leave us with nothing tangible to show for our $180 a year?Originally Posted by Lazarillo
Of course, Paragon isn't stupid enough to adopt the sort of business model that trades nothing for something. Funny, though, that they seem to think we should be.
"Paragon thinks we're stupid enough to pay something for nothing" is pure rhetoric that should be obvious malarkey to anyone who plays MMOs. You're buying the ability to have fun using Paragon's resources. That's true whether you're paying a flat sub or buying services and items a la carte; the services and items aren't goods to be owned in and of themselves, they're there to enable your ability to have fun. -
Quote:Maybe you're just not the kind of person that buys a lot of stuff. The market doesn't have to be broken for you to decide you're not going to spend.Originally Posted by Casual_Player
This is obviously not the result the devs intended. In my case, the new mini-game is failing somehow. I'm trying to work out why.
Meanwhile, I dropped $100 a few months ago on 9600 points with the idea that between that initial infusion plus the monthly stipend, I'd basically never have to buy points again.
I'm already down to ~2400 points and strongly contemplating buying another $150.
Don't assume that because you aren't spending that nobody is, and that there must be something wrong with the system. Not everything can please everyone, and it's usually foolish to try.
Regarding things like costume slots, salvage slots, and enhancement trays, don't expect them to go on sale. It's possible they might, but keep in mind that these are account-wide unlocks. Once you buy the second enhancement tray, EVERY character you have or will have gets it. Forever. That's why I don't think it will ever go on sale and why it's so expensive; it's a one-time purchase. (That said, the price point makes me cringe too. I think about buying extra salvage or extra costume slots and the cost makes me balk every time.)
Stuff like character slots are a little more flexible; since you 'spend' them both by locking them to a particular server and by filling them with a character, they're considered consumable, or at least consumable enough to put on sale every so often. -
Quote:Yeah, that's the kind of thing you ought to duke people like a mil or 10 for. They're taking the time to help you out.Originally Posted by Rodion
Samuel is minding his own business and being badgered by people who want to team with him. People who solo TFs badger other people to sacrifice their time in order to stroke their own egos.
I have no problem with a group of players who need a body or two to get an ITF going, and am glad to help them out. I also think the required minimums on many of the TFs need to be adjusted downwards. But it's still pretty selfish for one person to make up to seven other people stand around waiting so that one person can get bragging rights for soloing a TF. -
I'm just guessing here, but it sounds like he thought he wouldn't get anyone if he advertised UGT, so he tried to shanghai folks.
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Quote:Well, it doesn't help, but it sure is fun.Originally Posted by Nalrok_AthZim
It also helps to not meet every disagreement with an insult or a snarky inference.
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Quote:In fact, other than the ITF January is a straight-up repeat of the weeks of November 29th through December 20th. The only difference is the respec trial is a different level bracket. Weird.Originally Posted by DMystic
Geez Redside needs new SF's badly.
Looking over the list Ice Mistral comes up 4 times in 2 months.
Isn't that kind of ridiculous? -
Quote:And at the Behavioral Adjustment Facility, we can do just that!Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
I was going to say, "But it doesn't require coercion, it requires changing your mind."
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Quote:I'm staggered. I truly am. I think I have to revisit that post of mine that judged your lack of connection to reality. I meant it as a pointed joke, but you've given me strong evidence to the contrary.Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
This is re: Bosstone:
Telling people how to play the game is the foundation of this forum as you are probably aware.
Here's a little extra food for thought, coming from a different direction:Quote:I disagree that finding teams is a trivial matter. Broadcast can work, help channel can work on some servers (not on Virtue, let me tell you!), but the devs did revamp the search function recently for a reason. They specifically made it possible to see someone who was solo on a mission. I don't know about you but that was the point where I started getting way more requests to join than I ever had before. It was expressly designed to work this way, and it seems to work pretty well. That's part of why it bothers me when people revel in avoiding the system.
If you enjoy teaming, and you enjoy teaming with random people using the search function, do you really think you'd have fun teaming with the kind of people who would rather set themselves on /hide and decline all invitations?
I'm happy to let people opt out of an activity, because that means they aren't interested in the activity for one reason or another and thus if they participated they probably wouldn't be having fun.
I wish everyone knew about /hide. That means that the people you see in the search box want to be seen, which means that while there may be fewer players visible, the chance of finding a team among the visible players would be much, much higher. -
Quote:Help channel. Broadcast channel. Players who flag themselves Helper (which is where newbies SHOULD be looking first). SGs are always recruiting in Atlas. The DFB exists to give them their first taste at teaming, too.Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
Void, I'm guessing then that you're not one of the people who never leaves /hide.
Bosstone, unfortunately for a new VIP today the search function essentially is "the world" as far as CoH is concerned. Most of us are probably members of a dozen or two global channels, the newbie is not. She may not even know the global chat system exists, or have ever visited the official forum. Most people in this thread were not advocating opting out of the most basic in-game tool for just that kind of player to have any access to teams at all, but a few were.
Few people enter an MMO not knowing anyone, either. They usually have friends or are quick at making them.
And heck, if it were a new player asking for help on something tricky, I might actually agree with you; a 'sorry, go away' is a turnoff when you're trying to get some honest help. But someone asking just to tag along on your team, as opposed to looking for players for their own team, is looking for a free ride more often than not. Why subject oneself to it?
All of that is irrelevant, though. Bottom line is that if you try to tell people they shouldn't be allowed to choose how they play the game, which is what you're doing when you chastise them for not accepting a random invite, then you're just going to get laughed at, and rightly so.
I suggest your next post be about how players not helping out those poor lost souls is actually a form of griefing. It would be in the same spirit as your previous posts and would be entertaining as well. -
Quote:Except that nobody here has done anything of the sort. You are equating "random invites/requests for invites" with "the world." Do you not see the problem there?Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
I solo most of the time too, Void, but that's the thing. There's a difference between soloing a lot and shutting out the outside world.
I'm quite positive the people in this thread know themselves better than you do. If they have realized through experience that random invites never work out well for them or their particular situation, then it's arrogant in the extreme to tell them they're wrong.Quote:The person who was having no luck finding a team, and probably your own as well.
There's always the chance that there really will be an exiled Nigerian prince who's ready to split his offshore account with me, too. I could potentially be missing out on millions of dollars if I just delete those emails unread.Quote:The difference is that if you take steps to completely preclude any contact from strangers, you'll never have to reevaluate that situation. You are depriving yourself of potential positive experience in one broad stroke.
I think somehow I'll survive. -
The January WSTs were mentioned somewhere. I know that the January 3rd WST is the ITF. Let me see if I can dig it up, since the official post in Announcements isn't updated.
EDIT: Sorry, I really can't remember where I saw it, but it doesn't seem to be on the board yet. -
Quote:Do you not realize that your two sentences here directly contradict each other?Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
Except that I've said three or four times now that it's legitimate to decline their request for whatever reason. Again, what I am challenging is anyone's assertion that automatically declining their request is good.
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Quote:Jokes aside, where you go wrong is that your posts in this thread have all assumed that someone who declines people who send them tells is exhibiting a character flaw.Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
In response to your previous post, you don't seem to have noticed that my point is that I invite people who send me tells. I fail to see how that is a character flaw?
If you want to invite any and all people into your team, nobody's stopping you. If that's how you have fun, more power to you. But don't think everyone else should have fun in the exact same way you do or else they're doing it wrong. -
Quote:Given that your posts in this thread have had little correlation with reality, I must conclude that you are suffering from paranoid schizophrenia (DSM code 295.3/ICD code F20.0).Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
Since everyone is so deeply offended that I used a real thing instead of a fake thing, it has now been amended to be a fake thing. Feel free to instead focus on my point, which was that there's no reason to become a virtual recluse in city of heroes, unless you happen to have incredible spider powers.
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Quote:Quite right, how silly of me. You were kind enough to offer your own armchair analysis.Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
I think you'll find I never advised anyone to spend a single penny at a psychologist.
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Quote:Good heavens!* You're right! Wanting only to play with friends is precisely the same as being an anti-social jerk who needs professional help!Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
Because more than one of 'em shared the great tip of sticking in /hide mode 100% of the time so that they would never again have to encounter anyone who isn't in their global list already.
*I know you can't see it, but please try to imagine my monocle flying off in shock. -
Quote:Done:Originally Posted by OmegaS
Why not give VIPs one or two super packs a month as part of the VIP subscription, one more reason to stay VIP and a little bit of 'the first taste is free',... may help spur more sales of the packs
Quote:Originally Posted by Zwillinger
- Super Packs will be available as a Tier 9 Repeatable Paragon Reward Program option. Right now the idea is that players will be able to redeem a Paragon Reward Token for 5 Super Packs. This number is, as is the case with all things in beta, subject to change.
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Quote:Why are you assuming the people who've responded to this thread only solo and hate teaming? You're more biased than they are.Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
Surely it's more reasonable to try new things on occasion than it is to simply dig yourself into a bunker and assume the war's still going on years later? What exactly are you putting on the line by inviting some random guy to join you? As I said, I do it all the time and as far as I know it has never caused me any harm, material or otherwise. Compare that to putting yourself on /hide so nobody will ever be able to send you an invite or tell. How is that going to improve your experience in the game? Again, we're all free to do whatever weirdo things we want, obviously, but barricading your door and cutting your phone line so that nobody can break into your house and change your TV stations... uhhhh, sure. That's a reasonable position, then?
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Quote:I think right about here.Originally Posted by Nalrok_AthZim
....
What?
Seriously, what? Where did you get the idea I was getting mad? Where? Quote me and point out where I'm getting mad.