DarkGob

Yes, but the _NA and _EU thing appeared when they combined the NA and EU forums (which I think was the same time as the change to vBulletin?), which happened a couple years before the NA and EU server merge. It was how they avoided name collisions.

I think it's more "This is so cool that everyone will want it, so let's use it as an incentive for people to work up to T9 VIP quickly".

I'd like the set, myself, especially that back piece, but I'm not about to spend $100+ to get there instantly. They'll come back around eventually.

But then that would make Enhancement Boosters actually useful, and we can't have that.

From what you've described, yeah, you're probably not gonna be too happy with the Trial system. My Blaster is T4 Alpha/Judgement, T3 Lore/Destiny/Interface. I was already kind of burned out on BAF and Lambda by that point (Keyes wasn't out yet), and when I wrote down all the components I would need to T4 Destiny and Interface (not even including Lore) I just sort of fell into "well what the hell's the point?". I was hopeful that when Keyes came out I'd have something new to run, but nobody ever runs Keyes because everyone is predisposed to the path of least resistance, which is BAF. Supposedly Keyes and the new Underground Trial now gives 2 Empyrean Merits instead of the 1 that BAF and Lambda give, so I'm somewhat hopeful that they will get run more often because of this. But otherwise...yeah I may abandon the Incarnate System for a while myself.

I want to point something else out though, you keep linking IOs and Incarnate powers, and I'm not sure why. You don't need IOs for the Trials. They definitely help, but you don't need them. A competently-run trial (heh) will have enough buffs (Incarnate and otherwise) flying around that your relative survivability will be a non-issue (which is not to say you won't die, just not more so than anyone else). Incarnate Trials don't require just the right combination of characters to succeed, or at least BAF and Lambda don't. Keyes and it looks like Underground do require a bit more specialized tactics, mostly in terms of making sure you have some folks with Rebirth Destiny for heals (but since you can craft multiple powers and swap them out, this shouldn't be a major problem), but they're not strictly necessary.

The fact that none of the current 4 Trials require you to have any of your Incarnate slots even unlocked means that you shouldn't have to grind the previous Trials in order to do the next one (although we don't know if this will change for later trials and the next group of slots, whenever we get them). You could grind Underground exclusively to unlock everything, or you could do one of each and alternate (but of course, this is subject to finding people to run them).

Maybe I'll just change my forum handle to Parentheses Man (since it would clearly be fitting, right? (or possibly Poor Reading Comprehension Man)).

damn you I can't unsee it

Some people find steamrolling fun. Some people find a legitimate challenge fun. Some people like both.

Mind you, the "steamrolling" of BAFs I spoke of doesn't have much to do with min-maxed builds. The BAF and Lambda Trials were initially quite difficult because nobody had any post-Alpha Incarnate powers yet, and also strategies were still being worked out. By now, people have had plenty of time to get at least some of the 4 post-Alpha slots filled out (maybe not all to T4, but that's okay), and also most people are pretty familiar with the trial. It also happens to be the least complicated of the 4 existing trials.

And really, the steamrolling of other content happens for the same reason. Yes, we now have tweaked-out IO builds, but a big reason why content like the ITF is steamrolled these days is because we all know exactly how it works, what to expect, and how to game the challenges so that they aren't as difficult. You ask "why?". Humans are hardwired to achieve the greatest reward for the least effort.

The barrier you seem to be hitting in your understanding here is "what's the point of doing the Incarnate Trials without Incarnate powers?" And you're right, there really is not much of a point in doing them if you're not interested in pursuing that path. The trials are specifically designed to be run by characters with those powers. On the other hand, if you do them, you will begin to slowly get those powers anyway, and as long as you're not hung up on instantly crafting up to T4, it shouldn't feel like a grind. And you don't really need to be a hardcore player in order to do this.

It's really tough to have a discussion about what's fun because the definition varies for everyone. If you're unable to derive any enjoyment from a 12-24 person raid, then yeah, you're stuck. If you don't have (or simply don't wish to spend) the time to progress through the Incarnate trees, then yeah, you're unfortunately also stuck. It would be really awesome if there were a solo path for Incarnacy (it's a word now, jerks!); you can get Incarnate Threads from the new Signature Story Arcs, but they're not intended to be a full solo path. Positron claims that a truly viable solo path would completely invalidate the trial system they've set up. Maybe he's right, I dunno, but it's a shame either way.

The short of it is: If you want to do max-level content and you're defining "max-level" as the official endgame (i.e., the Incarnate System), then yes, prepare for some grinding. Nature of the beast. But if you're content with being simply level 50 instead of 50+1, you should be perfectly fine to run non-Incarnate content, but if you're teamed with Incarnates you will naturally be outclassed. Again, nature of the beast. Non-Incarnate IO'd characters may also outclass you, but it depends on how they're built, what kind of character they are, and what kind of character you are.

"Wussy" doesn't mean you're weak, it means you're a coward. Statespunk isn't man enough to even face Tyrant's lieutenants, never mind the Praetorian Hamidon ("meh, Desdemona's got it"). Hell, a single ACU is probably the only thing he's actually willing to dirty his precious hands with.

I choose to deliberately ignore that link and refuse to further acknowledge its existence.

Still would not be as ridiculous as the last one.

The hunting missions aren't the same as the original hunting missions. You're led to a specific area containing the specific mobs you need, which respawn on a very short timer. You don't need to run around looking for Hellions (which, admittedly, were already pretty commonplace in Old Atlas) like you used to.

And yeah, the missions beyond that are quite a bit different from the old-style "enter cave, punch dudes, win" missions.

I considered that but believed it to be the less likely of the two possibilities. I certainly don't see anyone on this inexhaustive list that it could possibly be.

Jumping to conclusions is only bad if you're wrong.

You really shouldn't make tribute characters if you don't even know the name of the person you're making a tribute to.

It's Hawking. Not Hawkin, not Hawkins, not Hawkings. It's. Hawking.

Sorry but people getting his name wrong is a major pet peeve of mine.

It turns out I don't actually have them, so that's the actual reason.

Yeah, it's not hard to imagine that it wouldn't be a priority. That part makes sense to me. The legalese, not so much.