ChaosExMachina

Yeah, it's crazy how some people act like the game lore is some rock hard defined thing. Most of it is self-contradictory and it's loaded with retcons.

Great analogy.

Ramiel suggests that it could be 'somebody' directing the well, but I don't know the quote.

I'm calling it a retcon because it went from 'incarnate of a deity' to 'mysterious power source that can be many things and that was just one of them.'

Seriously?

You mean that long series of retcons? It's been retconned again, judging by how the artifact that lets you draw from the well morphs into something origin-specific.

And there is not even a hint that the well has anything to do with mythology either. It's become some sort of mysterious power source directed by unknown persons.

I agree.

I would have made the incarnate system even MORE mysterious, i.e. undefined, and not called it incarnate. Incarnate was just a renamed magic origin Jack made up to say why his in game avatar was stronger than his paying customers', and there is no good reason to expand upon it.

However due to the many incarnate retcons in i19 it is at least much less egregious than the OoP and PP nonsense. A mysterious well of power can be interpreted in many ways.

Ramiel says that it is NOT sentient, just directed, whatever that means, at the incarnate info page.

That's actually what is most funny about the fitness RP arguments. Isn't fitness the most appropriate pool for a natural to take?

That if you have inflation of purples and PVP IOs and deflation of everything else a person who enters the market will increasingly have to sell more normal IOs. Imagine if you got an a-merit for every tip quest and you couldn't buy purples or PVP IOs with them, and that would be a fast way to it.

And no, they are not obtainable by everybody because you could easily go a year without generating a single high-value purple or pvp io (while others might get tons due to its randomness). At that point you have, not skill or determination, but pure luck, determining who is 'hard core' enough to use them, especially if they went over the inf cap and became tradeable only for multiple billions or each other.

I was away for a while.

Works best with those who have forum names since their reputations are probably more important than cheating.

Not those who knew what they were talking about. The crash was far from a surprise, but both banks and government had an interest in favoring certain points of view.

Everybody will like this graph because it can be used with equal credibility to support both DOOM and cheerleading.

How would I do that?

I think it was issue 11 that had jester and enforcer, which you didn't mention, and thus with weapon customization.

Steath and exoproto were later i think, maybe 12 or 13?

Regardless, those 4 were definitely late 07 to early 09. You didn't list them, or the other sets that were added, resistance, syndicate, and overguard, or the sets that are texture only, arctic, vandal, thorns, perplex. So I guess that your point that the devs rarely make sets makes sense if you don't count half of the sets. :P

Thus (sets asterisked):

07: vanguard set*, jester set*, enforcer set*, costume tweaks, female bunny tail
08: roman set*, stealth set*?, exoproto set*?, police set*, suit set*, Rularu/Talsorian/Roman weapons, day job costume options, arctic, vandal, thorns, and perplex texture sets
08 $: Wedding Pack*, Cyborg Pack*
09: waist capes for female widows, Valkyrie DB options, Vines and Ulterior costume overlays, new cc emotes, new faces, power customization
09 $: Valkyrie/Mac Pack*, Magic Pack*, Superscience*, Martial Arts*
10: animated tails, reflective parts, combat-only auras, firefly & snow aura at least
10 $: Mutant Pack*, clockwork*, sport*, PPD*, resistance*, overguard*, alpha* & omega* sets, Party Pack, Origins Pack

While there may yet be more 2010 costumes, the complainers have a surprisingly good case. After 8 free sets and 2 paid in 2 years before the boosters, there have been 13 paid and 6 pattern-only sets free in 2 years since.

There have been some major costume systems free, which is more significant than sets, but it is true, as far as I can tell, that the introduction of boosters also introduced a lack of free costume sets.

However, I would count the 5 sets with GR as non-booster. They're paid, but so are the rest in a similar sense. Add to that the I19 auras originally being scheduled for a reveal with I20, suggesting more free costumes in I20, and the culprit is likely not the boosters. Rather, GR diverted most of the costume team.

The verdict? There has been a major drop in free sets since boosters, but it was probably due to GR, not the boosters.

1. No. Both are desirable. (Though IO sets mix that up.)
2. No.
3. Yes. Perhaps it should get inherent mez or debuff resistance.
4. Yes due to how so few IO sets (and power pools) provide res vs. the more common def. That could be read as an advantage to EITHER type. Resistance sets can get both with enough def bonuses, while defense sets can reach high defense much more easily.
5. Well, if we're talking 2 points of res instead of 1 point of def in set bonuses, and they had some mez and debuff resistance inherent, yes they would be just as desirable.
6. Yes, by adding mez and debuff resistance or perhaps a chance to block them.
7. Buffs only.
8. Depends upon your set. Defense is much better to non-melee ATs due to its inherent ability to stop mez and debuffs, but I think a melee AT is probably best with a resistance set if they can afford tons of IOs.
9. Yes, by adding mez and debuff resistance or perhaps a chance to block them. Also buff the inspirations that grant resistance.
10. PVP, but that could be a whole other topic.

Which might work if it didn't pay for swap ammo with:

No Aim
Low enough values to make the debuffs pointless
Said flexibility only changes about half of it to non-lethal making the bonus to mobs with high resistance to lethal only half effective
Having to know the obscure resistance numbers of mobs to take advantage
Long animations
Low power

The balancing factors of that flexibility are way beyond double dipping.

The set is not terribly weak, but it is probably below average and its specialty is not relevant enough. If the secondary effects were stronger that flexibility would be worth it.