EmperorSteele
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Posts
1832 -
Joined
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I don't have any defensive items...
Time to make a Danger Room =D -
Quote:What's this talk of "real money"?? The store takes Paragon Points, which, as a VIP, you get a bunch of for free every month.Originally Posted by UberGuy
I wouldn't buy one for real money, no. It's not that hard for me to get them in game, and they work well enough for how I play that spending this kind of money for them just doesn't make sense. That's not a complaint. I think they should be priced such that only certain people will by them, or there'd be no reason to have the ways we have to get them in game. -
Quote:As useless as every IO ever before boosters and their half a percent increase were introduced?Originally Posted by OneFrigidWitch
Wow, that makes them useless then.
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Quote:That never would have been an issue if AE's XP was capped. It doesn't do the story writers any favors.Originally Posted by SinisterDirge
By culling the broadcasts in certain zones about ambush farms. That dies down for awhile, and the people that like to see farmers get punished let out a big sigh or relief because it seems like the devs have heard their plea making them feel important.
I... think that's stretching it, a bit. I can't think of any honest attempts at storytelling where the writer pretty much enabled god-mode for the player through NPCs. Not saying it's never happened, but that's a trick i saw a lot in farms more than anything else.Quote:Its good for the story writers because the need to write in and enable the player of your story complete invincibility without even having to click an inspiration is bad writing. Just look at the alpha slot arc. Sure it is fun to be that powerfull once, but it is actually very boring to run it much more than that.
What if i want players to fight Cimmys, complete with their support units (though that's easily fixed by making a custom character... BroadSword or Kat/Emp... point is, I shouldn't have to)? What if I want them to fight Ritki, complete with Comm officers? What if i want to ambush them several times without them griping "This isn't worth the XP!"? Those options have been taken away
As long as farming in AE is worth-while, people will continue to farm in it... and in that vein, some will continue to conjure up exploits. The devs will close those exploits, taking options away from story-tellers who used a similar tactic or type of character as a mild challenge instead of using it to an exploitative degree. They'll then find their arcs no longer work the way they want them to. This will continue to happen until the Devs make AE unappealing for farmers, and by extension, exploiters.
You want to "cull easy paths to XP"? Cap rewards in AE. That's it, end of list, instead of playing catch-up every few months.
Except the actions of certain farmers have resulted in nerfs which means my mission ideas get messed up. I have a right to voice my concern over this. If the steps i suggested were made, farmers would just go back to farming everything else. Demon maps, flashback missions, I-Trials, TFs, whatever. No DOOM would be necessary =)Quote:Just accept that farmers are players too.
They deserve to play this game how they want and there is nothing you can do about that. -
Yeah, you're not looking for a "jack-of-all trades". What you want is high damage and high survivability, solo. Easy enough to do on any toon. This says nothing of team-play value, buffing, debuffing, controlling, agro management, or other means of mitigation. If you want versatile, you want to be able to do (most of) these things. You want to have different damage types so that if some of your attacks are heavily resisted, you can use a different attack chain. If enemies have debuffs, you need to be able to counter those debuffs.
THAT would be a "Jack of all trades". Otherwise, just take your favorite toon, give them soft-capped defenses and a high-damage ST attack chain and you'll be able to do the things you listed in your post. -
Quote:I'm trying to prevent any future nerfs by introducing a system that would not be worth farming or exploiting. How does reducing the XP of ambushes and the removal of certain critters make things better?Originally Posted by SinisterDirge
Logic dictates that the evolution of the game that has occurred has actually made the game better. The exploiters ensure that the devs cull the easy paths to xp and therefore make the game more interesting and challenging. While you as a writer are seemingly interested in giving your fans easy xp by bursting Hamidon spores and having npc's heal them for a capped amount of rewards. I as a farmer am more interested in defeating gobs of extreme set mobs with the rewards determined only by how many mobs I have the ability to defeat.
I have been told that the system already delivers both of these types of reward systems. Conveniently, all you have to do is make your custom mobs with just a single power from your secondary to curb the rewards your mobs give. The devs have already given you what you ask for.
That said, I see your point. If one can defeat hundreds of foes in quick succession, that's certainly not an accomplishment I'd wish to punish. On the other hand, the Devs seem dead-set on removing the means by which people are able to do this anyway, and thus removing tools for story-tellers. -
Can you dismantle my logic step-by-step? Seriously, I'd like to know where it's flawed.
IF: Devs make nerfs because of Farms = True
THEN: No farms = No Nerfs.
Which part of that isn't true? What evidence do you have to support this?
You so far haven't argued that the devs have made the nerfs because of other reasons. You also haven't persuaded me that the absence of farmers would prevent further nerfs. You haven't attempted to argue that farmers would still farm in AE even if it mathmatically wasn't worth doing so. So WHERE, exactly, does your objection lie? Do you think maybe the only reason you don't like my idea is because it would inconvenience you and that you don't have a logical leg to stand on in defense of your practices?
In other words, maybe my logic is sound, but you are incapable of seeing that because it would mean that you're wrong. And of course you won't consider that prospect, you're only human, after all. -
Quote:Do you mean it's not hard to find stories, or the interface isn't loaded with abandoned farms? But Ok, i'll grant you, clicking on random pages, a little more than half the arcs seem to be legit attempts at storytelling. So I guess that's a far cry from "hard", but still disconcerting seeing as AE was and is billed as a STORY-TELLING tool.
EmperorSteele
It's hard to find story arcs when the interface is loaded with abandoned farms.
Xanatos: No it's not.
Uhm, yes it is. If i want to create a character with just lightning blasts and hurricane, lo and behold you can't get full XP for it, even though it has all the same powers as Dev-created Cabal. It's punishing to those who would play my arc that I have to make a /storm with almost EVERY POWER in their secondary and make them completely OP in order for anyone who'd play my arc to gain fair experience rewards. And why is this way?Quote:EmperorSteele
It's hard to create NPCs and enemy groups when the Devs have to keep re-working things to prevent gross powerleveling.
Xanatos: No it isn't.
Because the devs assigned "alpha point" values to every power to govern how much XP players get from critters using certain powers in order to combat exploits. Exploits which, if AE gave less or capped XP, would have never been worth making and would have never existed, and we wouldn't have this messed up system governing how we make our NPCs.
Additionally, what if someone wanted a group of all lieutenants? Or minions and bosses with no LTs? Or a group of just AVs? There could be many legitimate, creative reasons people would want to create groups like that, and... well, they CAN, but people playing their arc will only get a fraction of the rewards, making trying to go this route punitive and self-defeating. And why does this happen? Because people were making all-minion and all-LT farms.
I mostly answered this above, but I'll add: what about the XP nerfs to ambushes? Now I'm afraid to add more than one ambush to a mission because I don't want to rob players of XP or rewards. Again I'll point out the "alpha value" system making us have to make our foes harder than we want (or going against what we think is thematic for the foe) because we don't want to rob players of rewards. What if I wanted to make an AV with Hami mitos assisting him? Nope, can't do that. What if I wanted to use Cimmys in my mission, complete with healers? Nope, can't do that. With every exploit the devs close, they end up taking choices away from people trying to tell an interesting story while still giving those who play their stories full rewards.Quote:EmperorSteele:
Every anti-exploit measure made makes it harder and harder to make mechanically well balanced content.
No it doesn't.
It is my contention that if AE had been made unappealing to farmers (by having a daily rewards cap), then none of these things would have been nerfed and story tellers would have more creative options for their stories. It is my further belief that by INTRODUCING said cap, then the farmers and exploiters would leave en-masse, and no more nerfs would be required. Do you disagree with this hypothetical scenario, or is there a factor i'm unaware of?
"no it doesn't/isn't" is hardly a convincing argument. You got me on the first point, and I'll concede my mistake there. But you took your brevity gag a bit too far and you sound incapable of forming a reasonable counter-argument. Most telling about your failure to convince me is that you didn't debate the main point, this:Quote:EmperorSteele :
Is there a particular part of that logic you disagree with? If so, please specify.
Xanatos: Firstly, you're not using logic.
Secondly, see above.
Logic dictates that if farmers (and by extension, exploiters) didn't use AE, then the nerfs (most of them, at least) would have never happened. Logic further dictates that if farmers are somehow eventually forced to vacate AE, no more nerfs will be necessary. No more broken arcs, no more having to re-adjust everything between major updates, no more worrying that an arc will get down-voted for not giving enough XP... heck, maybe we can get some old toys back like hami mitos and Cimmy Healers. That's a win in my book.Quote:And don't think for a moment that EVERY SINGLE ADJUSTMENT made to AE HASN'T been to counter-act powerleveling or other types of farming. -
Quote:Ahh, but see, allowing the AE to be used for farms prevents me from playing the way -I- want to. See, it's hard to find story arcs when the interface is loaded with abandoned farms. It's hard to create NPCs and enemy groups when the Devs have to keep re-working things to prevent gross powerleveling. And don't think for a moment that EVERY SINGLE ADJUSTMENT made to AE HASN'T been to counter-act powerleveling or other types of farming.
not worrying about how others are playing it
People want to farm and powerlevel? Hey, good for them. Keep it out of the AE though. Every anti-exploit measure made makes it harder and harder to make mechanically well balanced content. And if AE had capped XP, then the farmers and exploiters wouldn't use it, and there'd be no need for the constant nerfs and adjustments. Is there a particular part of that logic you disagree with? If so, please specify. -
Here's a related question: Now with the advent of Enhancement boosters, a single Endmod IO can have a little extra kick. So, assuming one has 2 slots in Stamina, what's better: 2 lvl 50+++++ IOs (which gives 49.98% recovery), or one lvl 50++++ with the Perf. Proc (which is 38.5, but the proc gives an automatic 10 points if/when it goes off)?
Looking at the numbers, 2 fully boosted End Mods would give a bit more mileage than one with the proc... the only mitigating factor is that AFAIK, the Proc isn't affected by Recovery debuffs (because it's not a recovery bonus, it's just a straight, flat infusion of 10%), which might be handy.
Thoughts? -
So in the villainside version of "Who Will Die pt 1", the Freedom Phalanx arrives to recover Synapse. However, they're level 40, and you're level 20.
I was curious, what types of buffs/debuffs would be enough to leverage the 20-level difference? You'd need a way to debuff their Damage, Defense, Resistance and ToHit/Acc, and boost your own stats in those categories.
I'd think everyone running the leadership pool toggles would be a must. You'd need 2 or 3 Ice and/or Cold users... are there any auto-hit powers which debuff to-hit?
Now, I realize that being +20 AVs, you could only debuff them so much, as in, hardly at all. But what 8-man team (remember, level 20, so having powers up to 24 if examp'd) do you think would stand a chance? -
Slightly OT, so I apologize, but, this kinda bothered me...
Quote:Now, I know the context of the sentence states you're bored of the current offerings. Fair enough. BUT, can we put this notion to bed? There are EIGHT(8) TFs/SFs aimed at level 50 characters. There are 4 trials with 1 coming within a week or so, 1 more in the pipeline and more coming after that. There's also Hamidon and Mothership raids. Now, that's about 14 things to do, hardly nothing... and true, that's a pale number compared to the total number of raids in "WoW", EXCEPT... MOST of THOSE raids are NOT at the highest level! Most of them are for level 50-80 (current cap is 85 iirc) and therefore no longer constitute "End-Game". In fact, for players at the level cap, there's only... 5 raids. Suddenly, our end-game content doesn't seem so limited, does it?so the endgame (or lack thereof) -
He may have completed a hero tip less than 20 hours ago, though if you do the 6th tip and he gets credit, then that is weird...
Is it -possible- that he's lying and just wants to keep the team together to steamroll for more XP/inf? -
Quote:Well the thing is, people keep using AE to create exploits which the Devs then feel compelled to patch up, which then breaks other existing arcs. For instance, the DR on XP with ambushes. If rewards were somehow capped anyway (as in, you could not gain more than X levels or tickets per day no matter what), the Devs wouldn't need to nerf rewards... or give certain powers "alpha values" so that you need to make a custom enemy twice as powerful as any like-ranked critter in the game just to have 100% XP from it... or take out certain enemies like Surgeons or Hami mitos... or force us to give every group minions, LTs, and bosses lest the entire group has their rewards diminished.Originally Posted by MrHassenpheffer
All I really got from this thread was people wanting to ruin other peoples fun for no other reason than /em controlfreak.
/unsigned on every single idea on this thread.
We could have those things back, and you could still farm, but you'd just have to switch characters between missions. Exploits simply wouldn't be worth exploring, and story creators could have all their tools back without having their creativity hampered by anti-farming measures. -
Sounds like the farmers don't like this idea.
Which means i REALLY want the devs to impalement this! Get out of AE and stay out! -
you know, funny you should say that.. i think sometimes the damage just doesn't pop up. Like I'll watch foes and their HP goes down but there's no damage number. MIGHT be a bug with one of the procs, but I'm not sure which...?
edit: ninja'd by Mike! -
I have the same thing, but my procs work great. Though they only seem to proc a maximum of 3 times while the power is active. I think the procs can only go off when DF makes a roll to try and hold something, and it only makes 3 or 4 of these rolls while the power is active.
To test this, find a LARGE group of foes (i suggest Dark Astoria or find the rampaging Tuatha in the southern part of Croatoa.. i once saw 30 of them in one place!) and watch when the procs go off. If they go off, they'll hit multiple enemies at once, then not go off again for a while. So say 3 enemies out of 10 get hit. No one will get hit for a while, then BAM, 5 more will get hit all at once... then nothing then BAM, 3 procs go off on one guy, kills him, and then the power fades out.
That's my observation, at least. -
So we have a conundrum. Story-tellers don't like it that farmers are clogging the AE list with farms, the devs don't like exploits, (And i don't think ANYONE likes the fact that there's 1,000s of pages of broken, unplayable arcs) but any attempt to gut rewards would have a negative impact on the story-tellers (Sorry, but I'm not playing Citzen Kane: the story arc if its not gonna give me rewards for my time). I think I have an idea that, while not hurting rewards for running a story-arc or two, would make AE unsuitable for farming or exploits.
Introducing: AEXP!
When you first enter an AE mission, you are given X* bubbles worth of AEXP (See below), shaded in a greenish aqua color, much like PatrolXP or XPDebt. As you play through, these bubbles are diminished, much like XPDebt/PatrolXP. So long as they persist, you gain the normal amount of experience, inf, prestige, and/or tickets. However, once you run out of AEXP, you're barred from gaining any more rewards or drops of any type (except inspirations) within AE until you attain more AEXP. AEXP is shared across missions, so you could go into one arc, use up half your AEXP, then play another arc and use up the rest. AEXP would not refill upon entering a new mission arc. How do you get more? See below...
Earning AEXP
AEXP would regenerate every 12 hours, OR, it could be bought with Tickets (250 per bubble, 1115 for half a level, 2175 for a whole level's worth). You may only buy 20 bubbles/2 level's worth every 12 hours. (Note that these numbers are meant to offset the number of tickets gained even in farms, so buying them is seriously not worth it, but that's the point. If someone just wants influence and XP and doesn't care about tickets, then that's their prerogative)
If you leave the AE building, all your AEXP is wiped out and you won't be able to get it back until you either buy more, or 12 hours has passed from the time you first got it.
The amount of AEXP you are granted every 12 hours is determined by your level:
1-15: 3 levels worth (or 30 bubbles)
16-20: 25 bubbles
21-25: 20 bubbles
26-30: 15 bubbles
31+: 10 bubbles
(These numbers were chosen instead of 1 flat rate because a level 49 has to defeat a LOT more enemies to fill up a level bar than a level 1. Restricting low level characters to only 1 level would dampen their playing time and make playing longer arcs not worth it, but allowing high level characters to defeat thousands of foes with no penalty would be counter intuitive to this proposal)
Also, granted AEXP does not stack with itself. So if you're level 40, run a mission, use half your AEXP and wait 12 hours, you're only given back 5 bubbles. You can buy up to 20 more bubbles/2 levels with tickets, but that's the only way to increase your maximum allowance.
Other thoughts
Because of this, many past restrictions on enemy creation and group composition could be relaxed. In fact, it might be necessary to do so, as people could create low-XP yielding foes and just farm them for tickets (Though I'd hope tickets gained were tied into how much XP a critter could give).
This, in addition to suggestions other people have had (randomized front page, a simple like/dislike rating feature, purging the list and starting over) would help make AE an attractive feature for people looking to run a new story arc and not get slammed with 1000s of pages of abandoned farms and broken exploit missions. Story arc authors would pretty much have the place to themselves, though a few inventive farmers might find a way to squeeze this system for everything it's worth and still be able to collect plenty of tickets. Certainly, exploiters would definitely get the shaft, as there'd be no point in maximizing XP gain if all that means is you wouldn't be able to use AE after 5 minutes.
Thoughts? -
Khel: I'd wager flashbacks to Praet missions. Safeguards/Mayhems can still be attained simply by teaming with a lowbie, or by starting them on your lowbie, getting a team member, quitting, and re-logging on your badger and joining the second person in your alt's mission. AFAIK the praet morality badge missions are solo-only so they're really kinda impossible to get, short of a bug.
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80 points for War Wolves? Sign me up!
The rest? Bleh. -
Well in the last year they've introduced the Signature Story arcs, which allows someone to get an extra A-Merit or two every week. Dunno if you were around for A-Merits, but basically one will let you get 5 gold rolls. Or, you can spend 2 and get any specific non purple recipe. They're kind of a deal breaker for the market.
Then there's also the Paragon market, which offers enhancement unslotters, (so you can swap enhancements between toons without respecing), and account-bound uncommon enhancements (Karma is a big hit there), all for real money (or rather the paragon points you buy with the real money...)
And there's ALSO the incarnate content, which you can buy recipes from by saving up astral/empyrean merit rewards.
So basically, there're many more ways to get the moderately sought-after items. Things like Purples and PvPIOs still reign supreme as far as bang per buck, but just about anything else only takes less than a week of playing. You can still find niches, but they won't be as profitable. -
Hmm... Lemme see if i can shine some light on your concerns...
XP Debt: Let me ask: what SHOULD the penalty for dying be? You've played WoW, are you saying that having to play a little longer to get your next level is really more tedious than running back to your body to get your broken gear and having to re-craft it? Think about all the XP you miss by having to skip enemies and run away from them!
Miss Rate: You need to make sure your enhancements are the highest level you can slot (anywhere from even to +3 to your current level). This game is balanced around having enhancements, NOT the powers' default stats. As an FYI, you have a base ToHit chance of 75% (against an even-conning minion), which is multiplied by a power's Accuracy (usually 1.0, but AoEs tend to be like 0.8 or something.), so you're going to miss at least 25% of the time unless you enhance your powers. Especially once you get past level 20 and you have Single Origin enhancements, which give you much better value than "training origin" Enhancers.
Hosp runs: I can appreciate your frustration, though I assure you your experience is subjective. You sound like you're just playing at too high a difficulty. Go to a HeroCorps representative (the dudes in blue, they're on your map) and set yourself to -1 with No bosses until you get the hang of your powers =) Also, there are ways to resurrect yourself from within the mission, such as Inspirations and temp powers (though you'll wanna be more than 60 feet away from any enemies before you try using one of those).
UI: I agree with ya here, actually. The UI looks nice, but it's cluttered. Chat window, team window, pets window, target window, nav window,and a power tray taking up a huge portion of the screen... it's all scalable but then you can't see a darn thing! The ability to make custom windows would also be nice.
Graphics: Check your gamma settings; game is nice and bright for me. Then again, right now the Halloween event is live, and it's 2+ weeks of full night, NO day cycle, which may explain that.
Autorun: Autorun by default is tapping the R key. I'd never heard of holding down two mouse buttons o_O
Animation lock: Nothing can be done about this, sorry =/ I feel ya though, there are times I'll be doing something, and something unexpected happens but I'm stuck. Just gonna have to develop better situational awareness.
LFG: yeah, the system could be worked better. The problem is that most people form their teams OUTSIDE the queue, which doesn't allow people to join in, which was the entire reason the LFG tool was formed. It's more of a player attitude problem than anything. You may want to try a more populated server like Freedom or Virtue, or Union if you prefer a European server.
Group Combat: That's actually the GOOD thing about this game: You don't NEED Tanks or Healers. Some dedicated group content like Task Forces encourage you to have tanks or buffs, but they're still not required. Your grouping experience where 6 people quit is far from the ordinary. Give it another try.
I'm sorry to hear your experience has been frustrating so far. If you have chat channel access, try forming a team of like 4 or 5 people and run Positron's task force (which has been changed recently if you'd done it before), both parts. It's a nice romp that's perfect for a small team. -
Quote:The funny part came when 2 people after me suggested it SERIOUSLY =)Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
....I was waiting for the Funny part... >_>
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Can I buy a level 50 so I don't have to bother playing the game to get the character I want?
I mean, everyone here has already asked for every single reward short of XP to be available for purchase, and XP is already available, sorta, so, yeah. Just gimme the levels!
And before people start saying there's a difference, because they want to be able to make a fully realized concept character right out of the Character Creator without having to wait X levels and do such-and-such a mission, I counter with this: How many of your concept characters are SUPPOSED to be complete and total weaklings? =P
...I should point out that I'm kidding =P -
By fee per month, do you mean in real money, or in in-game currency (like influence/infamy)? If it's the first, I dunno. If it's the second, bases/supergroups have their own special currency called "Prestige".
In order to earn prestige, you must be in an existing Supergroup (or make your own after level 10), AND, you must enable "SG Mode". You will earn Prestige along with XP and Inf, but you'll earn slightly less inf from mobs. Also, Prestige isn't kept on an individual character: It's automatically banked into the SG's coffers.
You must be in a supergroup, AND have base edit permissions, to do anything with a base. You can enter other SG bases, provided that you are in a coalition, or you're on a team where the leader is in an SG. But you can't do much other than look around and use zone teleporters.
As for fees, "Base rent" is assessed by how much storage you have in your base. So if you have 5 storage containers, your base rent will be 5000 Prestige a month. Base rent is paid at the Super group Registar (either in Atlas Park or Port Oakes). Any active member can pay the base rent, AND use their own Inf to "buy" Prestige at a 1000:1 ratio or something ridiculous like that (that is, a thousand inf for one prestige... and it's only available in blocks of 1,000 prestige, so you better have lots of inf to trade!)
Hope that answers your questions =)