Carnifax

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It really is possible to like both WoW and CoH. They are not mutually exclusive. Both have strengths and weaknesses. I'm not sure why ppl get so petty about it. For myself, I'm looking forward to dual specs and Ulduar in WoW, and MA over here. good times for me

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I just can't get WoW at all. I even resubbed a few weeks ago and started playing my 20-something Warlock again. After a few hours grinding wolves and bears and spiders (oh my) solo I just gave up again. It's like playing solo CoH and street hunting all the time. And some of the quests where you have to kill specific enemies in tight locations (a Mine) resulted in me getting ganked by 3 enemies at the mine entrance repeatedly.

The only social interaction I had was with one guy would did a chicken emote at me while I was waiting for some boss to respawn for another quest, and some chap who seemed to be throwing out blinds just so he could gabble at us in some foreign tongue and didn't seem to understand English.

I could see it being fun if you managed to get regular teams, some of the locations are pretty cool, but that's rare than hens teeth (probably the only thing someone didn't ask me to gather 10 of when I was playing).

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and after a spectatular cascading defenses failure wiped the tank we ended up playing in a more normal style with me taking the alphas instead and everyone just piling in

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So you are saying a herding tank "showing off", or in this case doing his job and taking alpha and aggro, prevented you from showing off on your fancy EAT, thus he was spoiling your fun and stealing your thunder.

A little playful radical interpretation of the text there on my part I admit, but the point is still valid. A tank taking aggro is simply doing his job. I don't see how ego comes into it.

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Not at all, I'm quite happy for a Tank to run into a group, distract em and keep them occupied. Taking Alpha & general tanking != Herding.

I don't like the "extreme" version of that, where everyone has to wait while the tank herds, generally there's little reason to do so in the game except for certain rooms.

A Tank who insists on everyone waiting while he herds every time is a bit too "Stop-Start" for me. Plus I find it makes a lot of my chars either fairly obsolete (controllers) or (in the case of my Warshade) I hang around watching my lovely self-buffs expiring while they do so. There are a few ATs who excel at steamrollering and herding tends to defeat that due to too much hanging about. Warshades on the Heroes side and, in the case of cross-faction playing I can't imagine it's too much fun for Brutes or Doms watching their bars decrease while they wait for the Tank to herd 3 groups when they'd be better off steamrollering them one at a time.

Like I said earlier I just don't like the mentality that every spawn and mission should be done by the Tank Herding to a corner whilest everyone else waits about.

I do love a Tank who will take Alphas, manage aggro, can do short pulls or will herd when the situation calls for it. A really good tank will change how he tanks rather than sticking religiously to a single playstyle (which is what a lot of herders tend to do).

Oh and...
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prevented you from showing off on your fancy EAT, thus he was spoiling your fun and stealing your thunder


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Partial quotes for the win. If you reread my original post you'll see I said my "fancy EAT" was probably showing off more with them herding. It just bored me to tears doing it. I did enjoy it when the situation nullified the Tanks 1 dimensional playstyle completely though.

Maels post sums it up for me really. Aggro control and gathering them into a nice wee group is nice, taking that to an extreme is less so.

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I actually like it when the Tank herds, as long as it doesn't take forever. Watching a Granite slowly crawl through the room is snore-inducing. Watching one quickly bounce about with combat jumping, I can handle that. Piles up the mobs nice and tight for my AoEs (especially fun on my Warshade).

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Was there any point in the LGTF last night you wished someone would herd though? Steamrollering was just as effective in plowing through all those Rikti.

Hell we didn't even bother pulling anyone really. I pulled the end, non-Honoree AV towards us slightly just so Honoree wouldn't pile on top of us too when it came through but that was the height of it and we did pretty well (with the exception of those damn Mitos)

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2 minutes? Less than a minute per spawn isnt much. Also i enjoy effiency thus making it fun for me.

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But it's unnecessary and dull.

Was on with a Herding tank 2 weeks ago, sure it meant my WS could do AOE carnage but after a mish or two is was "zzzz". Happily in the third mish we faced those Defense debuffing robots (Neurons?) and after a spectatular cascading defenses failure wiped the tank we ended up playing in a more normal style with me taking the alphas instead and everyone just piling in

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but LoTR has boxes out, even the apparently awful AoC has boxes out, I've seen 'em! So why no CoX, which is arguably still a damned good MMO

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Lotro has boxes out because it launched a new paid expansion not so long ago, and on the back of that it shifts fresh boxes of original product. Exactly the same thing for WoW. AoC has boxes out because it isn't all that old and the initial print run hasn't yet sold out.

CoH is a five year old game.

Unless they're planning some kind of relaunch with a metric tonne of new stuff in there to attract new players, you are not going to see a new box on the shelves this side of the Atlantic; it would be a monumental waste of money.

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Well there is the impending I14 Mission Architect coming, a fairly unique new feature which should result in a lot of new content. Sure it's reusing old assets, but hopefully it'll result in some unique and fun new content.

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I think herding is fine from 5+ members myself, since a lot off debuffs and such are aoe centric and get maximised effect when all are in range instead of everything being scattered all over the place. Herding feels more efficent to me and much safer. Thats on unyielding/invinci though.

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It might be more efficent. It's certainly a lot duller standing there waiting for the tank every 2 mins and then just nuking the resulting spawn.

Efficency is overrated. Fun is more important IMO. Standing there watching a tank show off reminds me of i4 days when playing with a Herding Tank made one feel like they were there just to bulk up the spawn sizes.

That said I like a Tank who knows the nasty spots on a map where there are 2 or 3 spawns close together and deals with it by herding.

Herding when necessary is good, herding all the time is a snore-fest.

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How does telling everyone who's searching for team members that you're soloing say "hey, I want to join your team"?

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It doesn't, but it also doesn't clearly say that you do not want to team. People do a lot of things that I can't see the logic behind, trying to figure everything out would drive me mad.

The point is that since writing something 100% clear isn't much more effort than making it even 1% unclear why don't people just be clear?

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Jeez. How much clearer do people need it to be? Do you really need things spelt out that much for you? How do you even function in real life if you need to be spoon-fed information to that extent?

Even if someone had "Alone" in their comments I'd assume that's the way they want it, rather than it being some Facebook-like statement of how they are lonely and would really welcome some company.

Even then I'm not saying its a crime to send them a tell. But it is to then get annoyed because they don't reply. Put 2+2 together at that stage and move on people.

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Rain of Fire + Tar Patch.

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Ooh, I like it!

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Rain of Fire + Freezing Rain is similarly effective, if not as quickly available, if you're still considering Fire/Storm.

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More effective! -Defense so your follow-up Fireball will hit em, -Recharge so you'll attract less return fire and the falling over.

Such an amazingly good power.

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DOOOOOO........wait. That looks good, to be honest!

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I know. I can't even give out about the interface, it looks pretty good to me so far.

Sinster Shadow, Known Powers : Thugs / Forcefield! Huh? Did they get MM pet sets in there after all?

Looks nice I have to say. The offices remind me of the company in Total Recall.

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Simply because the "not looking" is default, it is interpreted by me, and i know by several others as well, as a "not doing anything or i just logged in flag". I do not mind at all getting asked to join teams with the not looking flag up. And simply putting "soloing" in the comment is in my opinion really not giving enough information that you are soloing and want to be left alone. Like i said before, it could be equally well interpreted as that you're just alone atm and up for grabs.


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If someones in the default Status I'll send them a tell (assuming their comments don't discourage it, I count "Solo" or "Soloing" as a no) but I don't get miffed if they don't reply. No skin off my nose, I move on. I've the same attitude towards receiving tells, I'll probably reply but if, for various reasons I don't, I assume they'll move on after 60 seconds anyway.

I just don't get why people get so darn upset about it.

Basically I eqaute the default status setting to "I might join, I might say no ta, I mightn't say anything at all". All 3 are fine as far as I'm concerned.

And yes I am indeed slightly antisocial sometimes and don't want to talk to the general populous but may join someone I've teamed with before and Friended.

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This is a MMORPG, therefore teaming and communication HAS to be the 'norm' under the default setup otherwise the game simply won't work

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Actually I'd say CoH is an abberation in most MMOs. WoW has very little teaming in it really, at least in the normal PvE gameplay (mine last week comprised of someone randomly chickening me and then running off and a Blind Invite leader who seemed to be spamming invites so he could talk gibberish at us. I quickly remembered why I got bored of it so quickly last time).

WAR is pretty good for getting a team thanks to the "Teams near you" system but there wasn't really that much communication going on between PuG members.

Just to the far side of the spawn is pretty much where you want them to be, just so any rogue cone attacks don't make it towards the team. (do I win a nitpicking award?)

I've got TP Other with Carni but never bothered using it on the Phanty, you can never tell who he's going to decide to use the cone on anyway really.

I used to do it with a Singy but it's a bit slow and tedious. Useful with a Dark Servant though (for Chill of the Night and the PBAOE heals).

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See, this is the wonderful thing about text - it doesn't portray emotion too well. It also hides frustration and annoyance easily. If you are annoyed at a /tell asking you to join a team, all you have to do is reply with, "No thanks, I'm soloing" and add a smiley at the end. Simple.

Of course, getting six or seven /tells in less than 10 minutes can be irritating, but it doesn't take a second to send a stock reply. You can rant about your annoyances later.

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It works both ways though, if you get no reply within a reasonable length of time (say 60 seconds) just assume they're busy / AFK / Not interested and move on rather than getting upset about it. Assuming people are rude, ignorant or arrogant for not replying to a message from some random stranger is just odd.

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and add a smiley at the end. Simple.

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Yes, as the Church of GG teaches everything is better with a smiley at the end of it.

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The OPs issue would be nicely solved if the devs would add a "Teams looking for members" search box (or even just showed Team Leaders in the Search box). BaBs mentioned it ages ago as a cool feature he'd like to see in CoH and it was never heard of again since.

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I agree that'd help a lot, but it would need something more - not just team leaders.

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The Team Leaders would solve the OPs issue somewhat. At least one wouldn't be sending 5 tells to different members of the same team (which is the main reason I don't do it) and probably be easier to implement.

I'd love to see a WAR implementation with an Open Teams tab (obviously without the "Distance Away" info it shows since that doesn't really apply / matter in CoH)

Hopefully they've got some QoL things like this in I14 (I live in hope).

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With a damage and a recharge getting replaced with the Pet +Defense and +Resist uniques if I can get them (the Spirit doesn't need to be out or anything for these to work on all pets so he works nicely as a mule for them)


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It actually works like that? That's pretty sweet...looks like I might have to start saving some Inf for those then.

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And just to throw an onion in the ointment, if you slotted with ToHit Debuff/Recharge IOs not only will they boost the Recharge of the power but they'll also boost how quickly the Spirit fires off its powers with a ToHit debuff (Ghastly Blast and the Life Drain heal).

The OPs issue would be nicely solved if the devs would add a "Teams looking for members" search box (or even just showed Team Leaders in the Search box). BaBs mentioned it ages ago as a cool feature he'd like to see in CoH and it was never heard of again since.

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I think i would have to agree with Scarlet on that one.

"Soloing" can be interpreted as they're soloing at the moment. If they really wanna be left alone, go hide.
Could just as well be read as "soloing right now so i'm free for teams".

If you really wanna tell everyone you're soloing only, set the tag to not looking for team and the search note to "I don't want to team".

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The default tag setting *is* "Not looking for team". People may not want to use "Hide from Searches" in case someone they know pops on.

I love PuGs, I rarely solo. However if I see "soloing" in someones comments unless their Status is actively set to LFT I'd assume they're up to something themselves and quite happy.

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Either way arguing about it here will solve nothing anyway :P


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Pffft. Like that ever stopped us before

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Which, of course, makes it okay to ignore it.

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Exactly so.

If your message is simply "Soloing" that doesn't mean you are defacto NOT looking for a team. If you are really not looking for a team, then take yourself off the grid. "Soloing" just tells me what you're doing now. It doesn't say that you do not want to team.

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Erm no, soloing means "I'm playing solo". Doesn't take a massive logic leap to infer they've got "solo" in their comments because they Vant to be Alone.

If someones got "Soloing" in their comments it's highly unlikely they're just saying "I've no team at the mo but I'd be happy to join one so send me a tell anyway".

If you're going to say "Then stick your Status to the Red one" I could point out that the default is "Not looking for team" and you should only be sending Tells to those actively LTF if you're going to be such a stickler that people should set their statuses properly. It works both ways.

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If they Vant to be Alone so badly why they playing an MMO?
People forget to update their status regularly.
You might be soloing and I might invite you to form a team. It could be that having gotten an invite it might be just the mission you want to do. You can either join, or decline - but I'll be polite when I invite you so where's the problem?

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None, but don't get in a strop if they don't reply because you're unable to read.

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If they Vant to be Alone so badly why they playing an MMO?


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Ah this ridiculous old chestnut. Because they like the game but may be called away at any moment due to various RL things? Because they like teaming with their SG and don't like PuGs for various reasons? Because they're currently shopping / getting dressed up? Because they are working their way through their own arcs at their own pace? How many reasons do you need?

Oddly I was in a nice mood last night. I even replied to the people who can't understand "Doesn't farm" in my Comments.

Of course maybe they thought that at the moment I wasn't farming but I'd jump at the chance if only someone would invite me to a farming team, huh?

I stuck a Performance Shifter PROC into an extra Dwarf Slot last night, works very well.

Also have 2 Resistance & 1 Resistance/End Reduction into the form as well. That should stave off most of my End woes.

I'm now debating a second slot in Nova form for either another Perf Shifter PROC or maybe just an End Mod/End Reduction although I've fewer problems with End in nova form (since if I'm in Nova form then I'm probably mowing down Minions which can be harvested for End).

You should get as many Damage Resist/Recharge IOs as possible into Eclipse (I ignore set bonuses for the most part for it). You want that sucker maxxed out.

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Which, of course, makes it okay to ignore it.

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Exactly so.

If your message is simply "Soloing" that doesn't mean you are defacto NOT looking for a team. If you are really not looking for a team, then take yourself off the grid. "Soloing" just tells me what you're doing now. It doesn't say that you do not want to team.

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Erm no, soloing means "I'm playing solo". Doesn't take a massive logic leap to infer they've got "solo" in their comments because they Vant to be Alone.

If someones got "Soloing" in their comments it's highly unlikely they're just saying "I've no team at the mo but I'd be happy to join one so send me a tell anyway".

If you're going to say "Then stick your Status to the Red one" I could point out that the default is "Not looking for team" and you should only be sending Tells to those actively LTF if you're going to be such a stickler that people should set their statuses properly. It works both ways.

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It's got more to do with the fact that Mayhems were designed with the idea that you fight your way to the bank rather than ghosting it really, the polar opposite to how Safeguards are intended to be played.

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Guess whoever designed mayhems have no idea how a real life bank robbery is done. At least safeguards is a little bit better.
Guess SuperVillain means SuperStupid.

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In terms of real life, sure.

In terms of gameplay I find the Smashy-smashy of Mayhems way more fun than "run to the bank, beat up boss, exit out again" Safeguards.

I'm still hoping we get the chance to make Hero Mayhems with i14 (hey it's all virtual right? So no problem with it being unheroic any more).

I always feel sorry for the people who picked a fairly cool name but spelt it wrong. Like some poor soul in the Hollows who had "cheif" in their name last week.

I never have the heart to tell them.

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would this be in the same context as people who insist on flying directly to a bank when you have 8 on the team and dont actually realise that by doing that they trigger LOADS of longbow and then wonder why everyone is wiped out.


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This has more to do with that the entire team dont arrive at the same time because of the disparity in travel powers, or some schmuck being afk or still in the load.
The group teleport power, either in its pool power, temp power or veteran power version goes a long way to remedy this.

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It's got more to do with the fact that Mayhems were designed with the idea that you fight your way to the bank rather than ghosting it really, the polar opposite to how Safeguards are intended to be played.

Fun when soloing a flying brute though. I like fighting my way to the bank and then flying up and around it a bit before ducking in in order to generate some lovely clustered bags of XP at the doorway.

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Could I double check once again...

Is accepting Influence for power leveling a character something that would be punished by the powers that be?

If a redname could give a clear answer on this I would maybe offer to help the OP with the question that sparked the thread.

Thank you x

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Nope, there's nothing wrong in ingame trading of Inf for Power Levelling.