Eiko-chan

I was here for the founding of the genre, back when "MM" meant hundreds instead of thousands, "O" meant "via dial-up", and "RPG" meant pretty much what it means now - getting levels and new abilities, and sometimes a bunch of people standing around pretending to be elves and dragons and magical ducks and crap (and yes, "duck" seriously was a race in an early game I played).

Some of these games had team focuses. The vast majority did not.

Your statement is simply factually untrue.

Incidentally, the parents in this scenario of yours are being horribly unreasonable, because the only reason "my" wheels are unshiny is because the parents (dev team) are refusing to let me have any wheel polish unless I agree to play with Suzie and Bobby, even though I'm totally willing to do all the work polishing the wheels by myself.
By this logic, my ability to craft Incarnate Components defeats the purpose of having Incarnate Components be a selectable award at the end of a Task Force.

In reality, something worth 4 shards seemed to be ample incentive for many people (myself included) to run a Task Force or two.

If, as I proposed up in the Developer's Corner threads, they make the Notice cost the equivalent of 24 shards (which would be about right; Uncommons break down into 2-3 and cost 12, Notices break down into 4-6, so a cost of 24 would translate) - whether that be components + shards or, as I think is a bit more elegant and Task Force Friendly, one of each of the six existing Common Components - I am sure getting one for "free" will be more than enough incentive to get people to go for it as a drop, as opposed to crafted.

The ability to reach the top. Because the top was moved.

Also, my hope that the Incarnate system was going to be fully soloable, as it was decided we needed yet another salvage item to continue to advance. While it's possible this was intended all along, it seems a bit more likely to me that it was put in because of unanticipated shard hoarding (this wouldn't be the first time the dev team underestimated the player base's determination to get ahead.)

I'm glad someone liked it.

Before the release of the Strike Pack and the announcement of the Notices of the Well, City of Heroes had a fully implemented solo End-Game progression that allowed soloers to reach the same pinnacles as those running task forces, while still making task forces the preferred method for reaching those pinnacles.

Let me tell you, the praise was pretty epic.

Guy Who Posts Way Less Than He Should.

I'm not going to stop lumping them together. So if "they" (development and marketing) are actually working on an option for solo players to acquire Notices of the Well, then "they" (development and marketing) have no justifiable excuse not to tell us that "they" (development and marketing) are working on an option. No details need be provided - merely that the work is progressing.

If "they" (development and marketing) are not working on a solo option (even if they have plans to work on it in the future), then "they" (development and marketing) have good reason to couch their statements in maybes and future possibilities, allowing them the chance to change directions without blow-back.

Why should I trust cagey statements from a group whose only justification for caginess is to allow them to not deliver what it is I want from them?

I do not consider the marketing department of NCSoft or Paragon Studios to be separate from the development team of Paragon Studios. When I say "they" in reference to "the dev team", marketing is included. I'm not sure why this would not be the case. To suggest otherwise is to suggest that marketing works at odds with the developers, not in tandem.

I've been incredibly consistent about what I want - a solo path to acquiring the top tier Alpha enhancements. Samuel Tow is the one that is asking for solo arcs (I don't disagree with him, but it hasn't been the hinge of my requests.)

Nor did I suggest they should just "toss something out there". I already stated that a crafting solution probably isn't the best - but if, in the example given before, the "prototype" solution falls through, the crafting solution already exists, and thus avoids the trip of "oops, we can't do it after all."

They can do it. The technology to do it exists. It might not be elegant, pretty, or preferred - but impossible is already ruled out.

Alignment merits prove the developers already have the technology to time-gate crafting. Any argument for "unbalancing" would likely revolve around being able to acquire Notices quicker than anticipated. Time gating the craft solves the problem, and the technology to do that already exists in the game.

I'm a horribly creative person, and have actually thought about this a lot. If you want to come up with a scenario that unbalances things, feel free. I've run through a lot of ideas already, and I just don't see it.

Your trick sounds like it might be considered an exploit. That might be why other people haven't used it.

It's more that I cannot fathom a circumstance under which adding a crafting recipe option "unbalances" the game. Adding recipes to allow players to craft PvP and Purple recipes has not "unbalanced" the game. This would be no different.

PvP is short hand for "Player versus Player". The other game play type is called "PvE", for "Player versus Environment" (Environment, in this case, includes all programmer-created obstacles, including the non-player characters (NPCs) you'll find around the game.)

Players are often called PCs, for "Player Characters" (as opposed to non-player characters I referenced above.)

Your example would be valid if it wasn't for the fact that adding a solo option can be as simple as adding a recipe that converts shards into Notices. It might not be the best solo option, but it is a solo option, and an easy one at that.

If they actually are serious about delivering a solo option, it is, at this point, impossible for them to be unable to devise one. They are probably going to try to come up with something more creative and engaging than "craft stuff out of shards", but "craft stuff out of shards" is already the existing solo option, so expanding that to Notices of the Well is just a matter of deciding what the right amount of "grind" for them is.

Here's what actually happened:

January 10th: Second Measure posts "Producer's Letter to the Community". Conversation around that post explodes into a conversation about solo options for the Incarnate system. Topic gets split off the next day to corral it off. Developers offer no response.

January 20th 10:30am: Black Scorpion posts "Strike Pack!". Makes no mention of solo options. Thread explodes into a conversation about solo options for the Incarnate system.

January 20th 3:00pm: Black Scorpion posts reply to conversation about solo options, stating the following facts:

• WST is the only way to acquire Notice of the Well right now (adding, "We understand that this means grouping.")
• Issue 20 will offer more options to acquire Notices.
• The development team is "investigating" solo options for the future.
• Players should expect MMO design to encourage teaming.

January 21st - February 7th: Developers and Marketing offer no further insights. Player base on both sides of debate delve into wild speculation. Those asking for solo options are accused of impatience, childishness, power-grubbing and whining. Those supporting current development plans are accused of elitism, arrogance, selfishness and lack of empathy.

Or (as is actually the case) I reject how the "world of competitive business" works. It shouldn't work like that, and there's no justifiable reason for it to work like that.

If the restrictions the marketing department is putting on communications prevents the developers (or the marketing department) from verifying to their customers asking for a feature that said feature is in the works and will, eventually, be added, then the marketing department, whose job is to "sell" the company and the product to present and prospective customers, is failing at its function.

Customer says "I want X."
Salesman says "We'll have X pretty soon."
Marketing says "No! Don't say that!"

How does this scenario make sense to anyone?

At a university.

To TonyV and Clouded: I used the word "broken" metaphorically, speaking of my gaming experience. I never claimed any system was broken. I said my experience was "broken", and if I expected the developers to "fix" it, I had to let them know that it was broken. Otherwise I'm just sitting around with a broken toy expecting it to magically fix itself.

If they are actually working on such an option, there is no justifiable reason they cannot say "we are working on a solo option." That they have chosen not to say this is the issue.

Oh yes. Companies will go absolutely wild over a developer of a rival game posting "we are currently working on balancing several different potential solo paths towards acquiring these Notices to our satisfaction, and expect to release a solo path to full Incarnate power sometime after Issue 20. The solo path will come, but we are not yet ready to reveal more details on what it shall be, or when it shall be ready."

How can anyone hope to compete without keeping such vital information under wraps?

(NOTE: This is not what Black Scorpion posted. What he posted said "we're going to be looking at solo options, but you've got to understand that an MMO is going to be focused on rewarding team play." This implies "so don't hold your breath waiting for it.")

I find that communication style unacceptable. I'm not going to just sit around and pay them money if I don't know I'm going to get what I want out of that investment. If marketing won't let them tell me they're working on my concerns when they actually are doing so, then marketing is failing horribly at their job.

He did so in a wishy-washy manner that really made it clear (to me) that solo Incarnate options were not a development priority and that they would not be coming soon (or even Soon™.)

Because Black Scorpion's statements give no reason to expect solo options in i20, and heavily imply that solo options, if forthcoming, shall come later. He speaks of "Trials", which in-game means team tasks (Cathedral of Pain Trial, respec Trial, Cavern of Transcendence Trial, Eden Trial,) and also says they are "investigating" options, which carries the implication that implementation is a future step. Unless i20 is another four or five months away, there's not really time for both "investigation" and "implementation".

Eiko-chan, my main villain, has the Alpha Struck, Arbiter, Archvillain (my personal favourite badge in the entire game), Apocalyptic, Kitty's Got Claws and Servant of Recluse badges.
Violet Valkyrie, my back-up teamer, has the Temporal Strife badge.

(I don't have a character with the Weapon Master badge, but I have run through Apex on the Test Server.)

I think that's all the top-level Task Forces, so I have given them all a shot. I don't really enjoy doing them.

I would suspect that I am not alone in my dislike for Exemplaring.

A real incentive to do lower content would be to modify how the exemplar system works - keep the "lessening enhancement" effect that keeps powers balanced against lower enemies, but allow players to keep all powers and abilities acquired regardless of level. And let them keep Incarnate powers (equally scaled).

I bet that would get a lot more people running lower level task forces.