Doctor Vivian

I wasn't on this Friday run (I do the Saturday ones), but I've heard that suggestion many times before. And having faced, then failed, against the Storm aspect before, I'm beginning to think they're right.

We are not in the kind of situation where we're beating this regularly, and we can look at the Storm aspect and say, oh ho -- more of a challenge!

No, we're in the situation (or at least the Saturday team is) where despite our best collective efforts over several weeks and runs, we aren't winning against ANY of the aspects.

Right now, despite some of the most experienced veterans and most powerful toons in the game participating in this effort -- even WITH nukes being dropped -- it's been one brutal, frustrating team wipe after team wipe, with our forces all struggling ineffectually against a towering monster with sky-high regen and a limited attack window through his shields.

So I'm of a like mind on this. Until we all get this down and can regularly win against at least one if not all of the other Elemental aspects, CoP Trial teams should probably reset if they run into the Storm Aspect.

Especially now that we can't use Warburg nukes in the CoP.

-- Vivian

I know the weekly Saturday 4 PM PST Earthclan Elite one is scheduled.

Just send a /tell to @Kinimp3 and let her know what ATs you have available to bring.

She'll let you know what's needed and will slot you onto one of the teams.

-- Vivian

If MA was advertised as an alternative way to level, then I've been thinking about it the wrong way all this time. I always considered it a storytelling venue.

I'm sorry I wasn't clear -- that's the problem of hastily writing replies. I was talking about Purple Recipes and PvP IO's, neither of which are available through MA Tickets, and the items most subject to inflation from INF injections into the virtual economy.

My complaint was that things DO drop, i.e., in Dev Choice missions.

It made no logical sense to me that anything would drop from the virtual world into your inventory. It made no more sense to me than the fact that you could make INF, Prestige and get Drops from what was basically a virtual "Danger Room" style experience.

Even a cheap narrative device that could have explained the INF and Prestige away wasn't present, such as "Millions of fans of the AE Channel watch the daring exploits of heroes online and on TV from their homes, placing bets on outcomes." Something like that would give a quasi-realistic explanation as to (a) Why AE Corp was really doing this (profit from the betting), and (b) Why Heroes got INF and their SG's Prestige, as millions of people were watching them on TV and seeing their exploits rather than hearing about them second-hand. This would also explain why you got Debt, even though you weren't using the Medical Transporter system -- by being defeated on National TV in front of millions of viewers, your ratings would necessarily take a hit.

However, if the goal of MA was to deliberately provide these things as an alternative to levelling using the rest of the game's content, I'll withdraw all my complaints.

I've just been looking at it wrong.

Viewed in that light, it is what it has to be, to accomplish that goal.

-- Vivian

Unlike some people, I am not adverse to being proven wrong.

In fact, I wish in this instance that I am!

But since I saw it still happening just 3 nights ago, I'm pretty sure it hasn't abated since.

However, who knows? Things change. If I happen to be up to 2-3 AM tonight, I'll take another look.

When I spot some farmers, I'll copy down their globals and name names.

-- Vivian

Hmmm, I still see them every night, through the early hours of the morning, cycling their team of 8 "Dyyywoy4"-random-keystroke toons through one AE mission after another, appearing only long enough to queue another one up and jump back in.

It's not an illusion. They're there, doing it every night. Just keep an eye on AE in Atlas on any server in the wee hours of the morning.

I really hate to disillusion you but it's still happening. When you look at prices for Ragnarok and see they're in the 400 Million INF range -- even after the Market Merger, what do you think? Pre-merge (I haven't checked since) some PvP IO's were selling for over 1 Billion Influence each -- what does that tell you?

Drop Farmers, who farm normal content missions and street areas in PI, reduce the prices of items in the market, as they are adding to the supply. MA Farmers, on the other hand, who only get INF and no drops, inflate market prices as all they do is add to the money supply available to make purchases.

Every night.

-- Vivian

Even assuming that the Devs intended for there to be a visible field effect around an operating Slow Field, and even if they intended for Slow Field Generators to be operating all the time (even when a Base Raid was not in progress, and even though no other Base Defense Item operates that way), I am fairly sure they did not initially intend for that effect to be used as a substitute for water when those Slow Field Generators are floated... since floating items wasn't planned for at all. The ability to float items is itself a bug that has been continually exploited to such an extent by Base Builders that it has become accepted practice -- and impossible to "fix".

I agree with your earlier post that decorative Base Builders would need a substitute water effect system before any changes can be made to Slow Fields -- and it would have to be a better water system than the effect around the current Slow Fields generates; so much better, in fact, that everyone would want to use the new system. That way no one would feel bad about them being changed. I would say real water, that you could splash around and swim in, would be the ideal solution.

-- Vivian

It may have been that it was placed just before the party, and the Base in question was never empty of people until after the party (i.e., it was never unloaded from the memory of the Base Server until the event was over).

In such an instance it would have remained "on" until that happened, just like Force Field Generators would have shown their field effect operating.

-- Vivian

Repulsion Field Generators are also Fields, but they are off when a Base Raid is not in progress. As are Force Field Generators.

Slow Field Generators are just like Gas Generators, Repulsion Field Generators or High Explosive Land Mines.

I.e., you can see the item if you look, you can target it and you can attack it. They're not hidden, just hard to spot when you're in the middle of a fight and running around an enemy Base, getting attacked.

And all the other traps have no visible effect until an enemy enters the trigger zone. When they do -- bang, the effect triggers.

Even Weapon Shield Generators and Generator Energy Curtains are off when a Base Raid is not taking place.

Why would Slow Fields differ from Repulsion Fields and every other Base Item in that they would need to be "always on", even when the Base was not under attack?

-- Vivian

I can't say without experimenting (removing or spacing out Slow Field Generators) what is specifically causing the lag, but I can say that Pre-Issue-13 we did not have as many Slow Fields in the Base as we did after the Base Re-Pricing went into effect.

Now we have quite a few overlapping Slow Fields, which could be contributing to the lag. Or, just as possibly, it could be something specific to the unique nature of the Slow Field water effect, as it certainly differs from water effects seen elsewhere in the game -- as a result, it may be requiring more CPU or GPU overhead to draw. After all, the overlapping Slow Fields were not causing any lag issues in Issues 13-16 (i.e., before Issue 17's Ultra Mode came about).

Regardless of how Base Designers may feel about it from the standpoint of inconvenience, I honestly feel that the water effect around the Slow Field Generators is a Visual Effect Bug, which is why I listed it here.

But I think we are both on the same page when I say that I hope -- indeed, I think it necessary -- that the same Issue to fix the effect problem will also add better alternatives for putting water -- real water, that you can swim and splash in -- into people's bases.

-- Vivian

Reverting them back to Pre-Issue-17 would be fine, as although there was still an improper effect that seemed to have water on the floor with some users' graphics cards, it did not lag the game client. Ideally the water effect should be removed entirely -- I really think it is a Visual Effects Bug.

However, I strongly suspect the fact that many decorative Base Designers have been using Slow Fields to generate water effects in lieu of water tiles will postpone any changes being made until the long-awaited "Base Love" Issue where we will get more objects, tilesets, textures and elements like water, swimming pools, etc., for Bases. Otherwise, all of the decorative base designers will complain about their base's water effects suddenly being shut off.

After all, with Base Raids currently turned off, the only purpose for Base Defense Items is to be decorative.

So a full fix seems unlikely anytime soon, but relief from the lagging and "flooded" appearance would really be a good thing.

I would, honestly and with all respect to your own opinion, politely disagree.

I maintain an extremely Raid-ready base. I have deployed and experimented with every weapon system in the game, in actual Raids.

While items such as Force Fields, Stealth Strippers, etc., activate in the fashion they should during a Base Raid when they are first "placed" in the Base Editor, they immediately turn off -- and remain off -- the moment the base is unloaded from the Base Server's memory (i.e., when all heroes have left it and it is empty for a short period of time).

It's not that they break when being moved around, but rather that some Base Defense items are broken from the get-go -- a fact I have repeatedly submitted bug reports on to no avail. I.e., while they turn "on" when placed, many items don't activate when they're supposed to -- during an actual Base Raid.

Weapon Shield Generators do not turn on when placed, but they turn on and show an effect around their linked weapon to demonstrate they are working during actual Raids -- although their effect is only "visible" on normal-sized, non-Elite-class weapons, such as Sappers. Elite-class weapon systems do not show the Shield effect during raids. With the shield effect not showing, who knows if they're shielded or not?

Force Fields and Stealth Strippers, on the other hand, don't turn on in a Base Raid. They just don't activate. They have no apparent effect and generate no animation or display during a Base Raid. They are broken, and take up Power and Control to no purpose. I have submitted quite a few bug reports on these -- and even many inquiries, asking "are these items working even though they are not generating an effect?" -- but no one in Customer Support (at any level) had a clue whether they were or not, and nothing in regards to Bases has been fixed that I'm aware of since the Cathedral of Pain was taken offline.

On a slightly different topic, something that's important to remember is that Repulsors, Gas Traps and Slow Fields all are in the same category -- hard-to-spot traps -- and none of them should be active when a Base Raid is not in progress. To put it simply, even when active, they should not be generating a huge water effect on the surrounding floor tiles. It doesn't exactly make them hard to spot. Even a Gas Trap only sprays gas and has a visible effect when an enemy comes into its trigger area. It would make no more sense for a Slow Field to be "always on" than a Gas Trap to be constantly spraying gas.

This error (and I really believe it is an error, given the nature of all the other trap systems in the game) -- i.e., this water effect -- has remained in place so long, despite many bug reports, that it has become incorporated into many bases as a substitute water effect (since no water tiles were provided in the editor), and I would speculate that even if fixing it was on the agenda of the Dev Team (with all the other work they have had on their plate between Issue 17 and Going Rogue), this kind of prevalent use across all the servers would actually now be hindering it being fixed.

Indeed, I would speculate that it may well be the reason for the extra-strong water effect that appeared with the advent of Issue 17's Ultra Mode -- so many people are using Slow Fields for water effects, the Devs may have said "well, let's just make it look even more watery in Ultra Mode". Alternately, it could be a completely incidental and unplanned effect, unrelated to Slow Fields or their use as a decorative item -- Issue 17's Ultra Mode affects all water surfaces, and if one surrounds Slow Fields, Ultra Mode would simply treat it like any other water surface in the game.

-- Vivian

*giggles* You didn't follow the very clear Warning on that link.

You're not supposed to refer to me by my correct name!

-- Vivian

PS: I do kill aliens and stuff!

PPS: 4chan memes! To what depths have we sunk?

Any extra feedback from folks would be very welcome!

-- Vivian

I'll try and turn them off in the next revision I post.

While Defense is good for PvE, since the changes in Issue 13, I've found that Resistance is actually better to have than Defense when it comes to PvP.

I will put my head into this when I get out of work and am home today! But looking at it on the surface, I do think that extra Fly Speed IO Enhancement Slot on Hover would be better on Super Speed. I've always found it much more important to be able to run fast on the ground (ideally with the Winter's Gift Slow Resistance) than it is to Hover a little more quickly -- Idun only switches into Hover mode before fighting aloft for END conservation, after all. Similarly, the boost from Swift is so miniscule that it's almost always better to take Hurdle -- that extra jump distance can get you over a lot of obstacles and makes it possible to kite during PvP, especially if slotted with a Jump IO.

Flight is no good for Idun in Purple Cave Tunnels or similar tight, closed-in environs with obstructions, she just gets stuck on things and it's pretty annoying. Super Speed works much better for almost every "indoor" environment, from Warehouses to Council Bases. Plus, when Flying, if you are hit by a Web Grenade or similar -FLY attack in PvP you need a second travel power to be able to get away or you're toast. Super Speed has saved Idun from an untimely demise in PvP probably more than a hundred times.

-- Vivian

Awww! Thank you, Psynder!

-- Vivian

Well in Temp Invulnerability I have an Aegis Res/End and an Impervium Res/End, so I think I'm doing pretty okay there unless I was to drop in another Enhancement Slot and put in a pure End IO, or a triple, as you suggest -- it would give another Set Bonus, after all, either way.

On the Cloaking Device I already have the LotG Def/End but I could swap out the LotG Def/Rech for a pure End IO -- this would cause me to lose the +9% Accuracy Set Bonus but Idun has a really high Accuracy bonus already. I just wonder if the difference in End would be noticeable, and worth giving up the Accuracy, Def and Recharge -- Cloaking Device isn't that big of a power drain to begin with.

I could pull the pure DEF IO from the PFF, it's true, or take out the LotG Def/Rech, although that would lose a Set Bonus. The DEF IO would probably be the best one to pull, and switch that Enhancement Slot over to Temp Invulnerability for the End IO or a Triple with End in it, but I do want to stay at or near the DEF cap in PFF -- Idun doesn't use it much, but when it's time to turn it on, things have really gone South -- it needs to work as well as possible.

When it comes to Recharge, the more damage per second Idun can deliver, the better off she is!

-- Vivian

Yes, and thank you for giving me feedback -- I really appreciate it!

I agree I'd prefer to reduce that, and an END Reduction IO or two in each would do the trick. The only reason I didn't do that is I've been unsure of where to pull the enhancement slots for them from. What do you recommend? I would pull the third from Hasten but I'm not sure if Idun will still have perma Hasten if I do.

If I drop Tactics I won't be able to take Vengeance, as you need two Leadership Pool powers before you can take Vengeance, and Vengeance is home to a LotG +7.5 Recharge.

Electric Blasters have always suffered from some of the slowest cycle times and also lower damage when compared to say Fire Blasters, etc. I can see the rationale for this in that Electric Blasters are also draining END from their targets with every hit. If only that line in the Electric Blaster's Description, "some of that END may be returned to you" was actually true! Either way, with Idun's base 121% recharge (291% with Geas+Hasten kicked in), she's on a more equal footing, and the constant END drain on opponents is actually helpful in longer fights.

-- Vivian

Yes, when flying above a fight in open environments I switch to Hover for its lower END use and DEF bonus.

Plus it holds my fifth LotG 7.5.

-- Vivian