Eiko-chan

As Positron explained in his blog post on the subject a few months ago, new currencies are implemented to keep the high-performing players from acquiring new things on day one and coming back on day two to say "okay, now what?" I really don't think acquiring things on day three is functionally different from this.

I've tried to articulate just exactly this same sentiment many times before, but I think you really nailed it, Lazarillo. I'm right there with you.

I have still never completed a villain respec trial (and I have never tried running one with a character that needed a respec). The hero one is stupid, but not difficult.

You'd think developers would have figured this out by now.
If you have your Alpha slot unlocked, you will be able to gather Incarnate Shards from doing any content (assuming, I presume, you are running it at even levels; it's hard not to these days), whether you are running at 50 or you are Exemplared down. Clearly, the developers do not agree with you that it would be silly to have the same rewards for the Positron TF, and thus there's really no reason for them to create new currencies for the new incarnate stuff. Earning credit towards Incarnate powers should come simply from doing stuff as an Incarnate and not for doing specific stuff as an Incarnate (as is the case with non-Incarnate rewards throughout the game - they are rewards for doing stuff, not for doing specific stuff.)

Outside the Incarnate system, Vanguard Merits are the only reward that require doing specific things (AE Tickets transform into other rewards, and thus are not operationally different from those other rewards), and those only mandate specificity in enemy type, not in how you go about defeating that enemy (so I can still solo mission, team mission, TF, street sweep or even raid to gain them.)

Well, good. If they're fun, there's absolutely no justification at all for tying the sole path to higher level Incarnate abilities to them. They should just be fun, and drop shards and components like other high-level content, and thus, instead of being "the next step", they can just be "more fun stuff to do on your way".

If the Trials were just another way to garner shards and components, instead of being tied to new currencies, they would simply be more options, and those that like them can do them and get stuff, and those that don't like them could do other stuff, and still get the same stuff, and everyone would be happy (except for the small subset of people that think we should have to "earn" our rewards in some method other than paying for them, and forget those jerks.)

I would prefer to do none of the trials, and be able to acquire the new slots by completing the missions and task forces I like to play, rather than having to compete in trials I don't like to play. If they want people to play their trials, they should concentrate on making them fun and engaging, and not resort to bribery.

Because with one currency, I can earn that currency doing whatever I want to do, and then use the currency to buy stuff I want. With multiple currencies, I have to do specific things to get specific stuff.

I've spent the past month away from the game and the forum. I generally only post on the forums when I don't have the ability to be playing a game (whether this one or a different one). The only thing non-casual about my interaction with this game is my (previous) investment in it. I was non-casually invested in the game, but I played it casually. I am now casually invested in the game, and don't play it at all.

I didn't figure you actually paid attention to what people said, so I'm not very surprised you thought that.

By players, yes. The incident I'm referring to, however, was the developers (well, the community managers) doing so.

The ITF is still hard. I've still failed it multiple times. I can't even contemplate getting to Romulus in twenty minutes.

While I'm going to assume you're not stupid and thus realise that time spent posting on forums doesn't automatically translate into time available to play the game, I should also point out that it can take a minute or less to make a short (or maybe a bit more to make a long) forum post, and that you can't really get very much game playing done in that time.

Those of us that did not want a grind were explicitly told to take our comments elsewhere.

Devs hate villains.

Traditional board games, no. Not so much. The group of friends I play board games with are largely non-competitive (or if we compete, it's against the game's rules more so than against each other.) I frequently lose, and generally expect to.

And I hate competing in online PvP.

It can't be because I hate to lose; I lose all the time, and keep playing board games. So maybe it really is because I don't like competing with people, don't like exercising in zero-sum games where my victory means someone else's defeat (most board games are not zero-sum; someone might have the most points, but other people still have points and still accomplished things too. Being zero-sum is a large part of why monopoly sucks.)

And the Incarnate Trials, and the RWZ, and Cimerora. And the new SF is still about fighting Praetorians.

It's also lazy. There's an entire other game here, called City of Villains, that's getting ignored because it has 1/3rd the playerbase of the other game. Personally, however, I didn't buy City of Heroes; I bought City of Villains (in a pack that came with City of Heroes), and it's City of Villains I've been trying unsuccessfully to play this past year.

No tears for Caesar.

You're not. The point I was trying to make in my post is that I'm interested in a changing story, and not at all in evolving game play.

I play new missions, but I, too, prefer new missions that match the mechanics used in older missions (with some caveats, like the missions that literally did force teaming).