Clan_Jericho

This is distressing news indeed!

You'll be missed, LH.

~Gabriel

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I'm not going to chase their fuggin merits.

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On this point we are in perfect accord.

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I quite agree. Why grind needlessly when the Market provides?

~Gabriel

I think you need to add something about expecting too much at the wrong time. If you're logging in at 2 am, expect to solo. If you're logging in at 7-11 pm, teaming is gonna be a lot more likely.

If I feel the urge to play early in the morning, I grab a solo toon. It makes my life easier to go with the flow.

~Gabriel

None of my friends, even the ones who like comics, will play CoH. It's too counterintuitive, and the most common reaction I get is: "so...what else do you do, aside from fighting?"

To which I have no answer.

~Gabriel

Hey Evil, nice guide.

Regarding Revive and MoG, I'd like to point out that recent-ish changes to Revive have actually made it a decent power pick for any regen scrapper. I don't remember exactly when, but Castle changed Revive so that we wouldn't need to wait until the animation was finished in order to use another power/inspiration. What results? Awesome synergy with MoG. I like to farm lvl 54 Rikti with my Claws/Regen, and yes, they do occasionally send me to the dirt. Pop Revive, cue up MoG, boom, I have enough time to retoggle and begin fighting again...or run away, if I find my odds of survival too low.

Maybe not for everyone, but it's a hell of a lot better than Revive on its own. For those of us who're theme-builders, nothing is more regen-y than popping right back to your feet in front of that +4 Rikti EB and smackin' him on the chin.

You're probably thinking "why didn't he pop MoG BEFORE he died?" Good question. Answer: MoG is on a pretty quick recharge, and it often comes up right after you die. Click sets have a strong sense of irony...

~Gabriel

This is really awesome. You're the kind of dad kids everywhere wish they could have.

~Gabriel

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http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...3-22-58-21.jpg

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I have a few pictures too

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~Gabriel

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The one thing I question tho, he said they datamined how long characters were at certain levels. Could this info have been skewed by alt-itis? I know when I hit 22-27 range, I usually start another alt and run them for a while. Or even partake in a FOTM build.

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We have a "life at level" stat in seconds. This is how long a character spent at a particular level, logged in. While not a perfect indicator of levelling speed, it's an excellent starting point.

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I have to say, with the utmost seriousness, that you guys have really gotten better at dealing with root problems over the last four years. It's been really amazing watching you guys (and this game!) go from a kinda home-grown feel to downright professional.

I doff my cap to thee, Pos!

~Gabriel

I am awestruck. No other word for it.

By the by, Power Aide has a simple yet awesome costume.

~Gabriel

I have to agree that the video demonstrates several points quite eloquently, but perhaps not the points intended by the creator. Insofar as I was able to discern (and I did watch the entire video), it basically just proved that PFF is some potent stuff at keeping you alive.

...

Which, hopefully, we already knew. The use of all other FF powers in that video was unimpressive and unremarkable. Not bad, just not anything special. I don't know what you thought you were proving.

~Gabriel

That video showcases Mind/ a lot more than /FF. Every time you get in trouble, troller powers to the rescue!

Yeah, I'm not sure this thread is going anywhere.

~Gabriel

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Poor argument. If they can already complete missions on Invincible without suffering any defeats, it doesn't matter WHAT they add; they will still do just fine.

Don't read into this that I think FF is fine as is; just that particular line of reasoning always bugs me.

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I respectfully disagree with the idea that percieved value is unimportant in set balance. I've been playing a FF/Psy recently, and this isn't a phenomenon I'm imagining. I'm not talking about how valuable I feel; I'm talking about how I get treated as a FF/ by people who're recruiting teams.

This is the old scrapper problem from the early issues. Sure, they soloed well, and sure, they did good damage. But nobody wanted them on a team because the blaster did it better.

Opportunity cost from the team's perspective.

~Gabriel

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When no heroes are "needed", then all heroes are equal in value and use over not HAVING another hero on the team.

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No, dude, that's missing the point. Once a team has reached the immortality line (i.e. are in no real danger while defeating mobs), protection no longer has any value. There are a lot of forms of protection in the game, and all of them become useless once the team isn't in danger. That's just common sense. You don't need more when you have enough.

But! What you can never have enough of is speed. Damage, +dam, -res, whatever. Even making sure everybody has enough endurance improves the speed at which the team completes missions.

My point is that FF brings nothing to a team that isn't worried about dying. Those teams are super common in the later levels, and they have no reason to want a FF defender. Now, just about every other type of hero is still desireable. A scrapper or blaster brings raw damage. Any non-FF defender brings damage multipliers or buffs. A controller brings grouping and placement abilities, and most of the time has speed-influencing buffs and debuffs. That leaves tanks and FF defenders. Tanks, of course, do a lot more damage than FF defenders...

I hope that makes more sense.

~Gabriel

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The entire game is desgined around the idea that you never "need" any specific type of character to complete an objective. Now, alot of players THINK they NEED a specific type of character to complete certain missions or TFs, but the truth is that it is fallacious thinking to say that one set is "less" than another set because no team "needs" them. That's just simply not true. Give me a challenge, a specific challenge to try to prove that you "need" this type of hero or that type of hero for a specific objective, and in less than three months I will prove you wrong. There is always another way.

All heroes are equal in worth when no single type of hero is "needed".

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You need to reread the post you're responding to. I didn't say anything about need. I asked about usefulness.

~Gabriel

Let me say that I think there's a huge difference between a FF defender and FF controller. Every hero is defined by his primary powerset. A /FF controller is simply gaining team-friendly powers from his secondary, the same as any other secondary...and the fact that they don't include any offensive powers is of lesser importance because a controller exists to provide control first and team support second. A FF defender, on the other hand, is a one-trick pony, and it's too easy for that trick to become useless to the team.

Imagine a team that can complete missions without suffering deaths on Invincible. I see them from level 22 onwards, so it shouldn't be too hard to conceptualize. Now present an argument for why that team should consider a FF defender equal in worth to ANY OTHER HERO THAT CAN BE BUILT.

Thanks.

~Gabriel

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You know, I see a lot of suggestion that don't address a specific problem. Adding secondary controlling effects to various powers doesn't add something a FF defender actually needs...which is to say, a FF defender already provides awesome protection to his team, so why should he cut in on the troller's territory, too?

The only thing I think a FF defender -does- need is something to help him solo and contribute to the team's damage as a whole when he's on a team that doesn't really need his bubbles. Because there are, after all, teams that are already well enough protected, and adding a FF fender is just overkill. What we need is something to make us attractive to teams that are already surviving well...basically, teams at high levels.

Just my 2 infl.

~Gabriel

Wow. Am I the only person who plays this game that doesn't give a crap about "new content" (i.e. large, pretty new maps in which to beat up exactly the same bad guys)?

I would, frankly, much rather have cosmetic improvements and bug patches. Jeepers.

~Gabriel

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Self-Empathy is a cool set, maybe someday I'll come up with a concept that fits it...

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What, like Empathy makes any bloody sense?

~Gabriel

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Rick and I came up with Crypteia since we'd both worked on Cryptozoology first. We were trying to come up with names based on the "crypt-" part...

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Krypteia was also the name of the "secret police" of Sparta, that kept the slave workers in line.

~Gabriel

Global: @Ultimate Jericho
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Born: Los Angeles, California
Currently: Berkeley, CA
Joined the CoH Family: public launch
SG Affiliation: Heroes United
Most Recognizeable Heroes: Gabriel Jericho, Jericho, Ultimate Jericho

Should have gotten myself on here ages ago.

~Gabriel

Unfortunately, one of the problems with the boards is that both sides of any argument forget that it's all raw bias. Those same people you think are being ridiculous are doubtless totally secure in the belief that they have a legitimate point. Unless one side or the other invokes some ultimate source of truth and decision that I've never personally encountered, it's just name-calling at various degrees of intensity.

~Gabriel

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Oh, of course. I've seen professionals use their success to try to validate their work...but that's not Neil Gaiman.

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I have some inside experience on that front. I've met Neil Gaiman, and I know a few horror authors who're quasi-friends/peers of his. The man is (just in my opinion) an inexcusable jerk, and the fact that he writes whimsical fantasy doesn't redeem that sort of arrogance in my book.

I admit to margin for error in my estimation of Jack. But recall, if you will, his various statements regarding other professionals in his field, and universities that are offering classes in game design (and his contempt for them).

I don't want to get into this any further, since I intended it as a jest. I don't really think all that poorly of Jack, but some of his remarks have rubbed me the wrong way, and I used that (perhaps unwisely) as fodder for a quick joke.

~Gabriel

My initial post was mocking (hence the smiley and the reference to therapy sessions), but I'm game to argue for the sake of continuity.

Read my post again. I criticized Jack for his attitude, nothing else. If I judge by his rhetoric that he's becoming swellheaded, it's just rude of me to point it out - not illogical.

~Gabriel

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Seriously though, Jack falls into a category of modern "creative professional" that I can't stand. Along with him I lump Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Michael Crichton, and that sort of mediocre talent that thinks financial success is equivalent to artistic preeminence.

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I think you're assigning motives and attitudes here. It's not an uncommon attitude I see from people who feel that commercial success somehow devalues artistic endeavors, but it just doesn't make sense.

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By no means do I think success devalues art. But I do think success doesn't value art, either, and it's easy to see from their attitudes that a lot of successful professionals feel validated by their income brackets.

Surely you wouldn't argue that.

~Gabriel

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Yay, let's continue to crap on Statesman! We're at 10 pages now, keep it going!

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Seriously though, Jack falls into a category of modern "creative professional" that I can't stand. Along with him I lump Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Michael Crichton, and that sort of mediocre talent that thinks financial success is equivalent to artistic preeminence.

Whoah, that was fun. Same time next week?

~Gabriel