Gemini_2099

It is a grind, and once the shine wears off, people will be surprised it made it this far.

When given the illusion of choice, the reality can be dismissed. Honestly, end game can't be radically different, or else it no longer is end game. Furthermore, once end game has been pushed down the slope, you can't stop at that point. End game must be perpetually afloat, which results in other areas being neglected.

Towards your trek to 50 you will encounter mobs that resist psychic damage more than lethal. There are mobs that are very vulnerable to lethal (e.g Carnies) damage too.

NB, DB, BS, and Spines are all more than satisfactory. Claws is the set that has given other lethal sets a bad reputation in my opinion.

With enough recharge, buckshot, full auto, and the single target attacks are more than satisfactory for your playstyle. Don't worry about flamethrower IMVHO.

If we are talking about devices as a secondary, I can see the value of having flamethrower, but that is not the case with your combination.

Comic book stories =/= End game content lore

They simply don't work together in my opinion, but I am willing to let this comic book story of Praetoria play out. The problem with this comic book "story" is that it may be dragged out to explain everything in the games "lore", which is a problem.

I would prefer that the end games currently in place to be expanded upon....IO's and AE. Putting in a semi-traditional end game is fine with me if it involves a new threat.

Extremely proud, and thankful of NCSOFT's generosity. Thank you very much.

Let me also say, that we as a humanity are in this together. *hugs*

I am not sure why ninja blade, and dual blades would have the stigma of not having burst. Not only do both power sets offer burst, but better scrapping ability. I would hesitate to put energy melee ahead of ninja blade and dual blades, but an argument could be made. Electricity, KM, and Spines make up the upper tier, while Claws, energy melee, and MA make the lower tier for stalkers in my opinion. Dark Melee, Dual blades, and ninja blade are middle of the pack, but it could be argued Dark Melee should be at the very top due to the negative energy damage.

Claws is straight up scrapping though, and the attempt to give it more single target burst with eviscerate was a mistake.

Most experienced stalker players prefer AoE sets, while newcomers like stalker sets that are single target focused. Claws simple doesn't fall into either category.

AR/Storm can be incredibly fun, but requires a lot of work to leverage the cones. With that said, I think /Storm is a very strong secondary in my opinion, given that you have access to freezing rain a lot sooner than what a /Cold corruptor can access with Sleet. I can honestly say that /Storm covers up many of the weakness of AR extremely well. Only thing missing with /Storm is an immobilize so you can leverage ignite.

Knockback mag is fun to slot.

Buckshot, grenade launcher, ****, sniper rifle...yum.

Grenade launcher I find the hardest to use because it is radial, but as long as you target the NPC closest to you, it should knock every other NPC back instead of the sides.

I don't want the game to pick up the reputation that is a P2P game that also has microtransactions for content that used to be standard for almost every issue for free (costume pieces). Which is why I hope there is some new costume pieces for everyone in Issue 20.

The trailer was too similar to Issue 18, and 19. I think it is a big mistake to keep the same monotone feel with this teaser trailer. Mix up the music, choices of words flashed on screen, etc....pretty much anything to catch the attention of the viewer.

I don't know where the perception that PVP requires a lot of resources to maintain, or fix comes from to be honest. PVP is not resources intensive like an end game for example. Minimal story telling, maybe none at all, is needed to be updated. No new currencies to worry about, or progressing paths, or new grouping encounters. Bug fixes, and some changes to coefficients really. Most MMORPG's would love to have PVP powers acting differently from PVE like it is in CoX. It would allow PVE balance to not change so wildly, and PVP would not be effected by any PVE changes. It keeps both the PVE, and PVP player bases content.

I am inclined to agree with Memphis Bill, that nothing new introduced has really been completed. Praetoria may be the first, but I am not convinced. The reason being, end game content probably doesn't end with Praetoria. So, do they continue the story line, lead to another, or let this end game content stay as is to move onto the next shiny.

Server merges are awesome though, but Issue 20 needs more of a punch at this point from my view.

My initial impression on what has been posted recently in this thread brings up a point no one has really touched upon. That is, it is said that, a separate dev team has been split off to work on Praetoria, many times by many posters on this board, and the other half is working on something else. But where is the evidence that is the case? Based on what we know, which has been made public to us thus far, it appears the entire dev team is working on Praetoria.

I can understand the frustration with some players that feel Praetoria is not only over saturated at this point, but it is devoting the majority of dev time too. I think it is that combination, not really either one soley, that, is driving such polarization amongst the players.

Anyways, I look forward to what Praetoria brings, and as for stealth, I think, that, unless they are planning a temporary power that can be purchased cheaply from the Market, it would be opening too many cans of worms. It is not like the first time that specific powers have been sought out for a TF. But it would definitely be the first time that the dev team would intentionally design an encounter needing a specific power that is very iffy at best.

Costume pieces being released alongside the release of new enemy groups is a nice touch I must say, and I approve with two thumbs up.

Revamping zones isn't time consuming if done right. As it has been pointed out, graphics revamp isn't necessary with the introduction of Ultra mode. It is the content to fill this new found lush graphics that will mesh everything together coherently to create a smooth gaming experience for vets, and new players a like.

I think the key is that the devs need to embrace options, and diversity, as this narrowed path can only lead to more frustration IMVHO.

Objective Feedback: Unless I missed it, it needs to be made clear, that, the launcher can be closed when the game is launched so it is not running in the background. Opening links based on browser preference is a sound decision.

Subjective Feedback: I like the use of greys and blacks for the launcher making any images put on the splasher far more vibrant. I also like the list of games subscribed too, as it makes it easier to keep track of NCSOFT games you are playing.

I think they need to be a bit more forth coming when talking about future issues 20, and 21. Understandable that hot topics like F2P, and CoX2 were not touched. But, it seems to me, it can be counter productive not to talk about more of what is to come. For example, the hint that they may change the existing zones to match the new end game lore, is something to keep an eye on if it makes it to the drawing board.