Innigo

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With or without Influence -> Prestige?

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Just the total prestige number. It's source doesn't matter.

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Oh and your little group can already build a decorative base, so not that well said.

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Um, what? Our base is functional. Power, control, workbench, mish computer (1st TF on Saturday) and with the 1st telepad expected early next week and as I KEEP saying, HALF of the necessary prestige to afford this was earned by 3 members playing roughly 15 hours a week.
Therefor a six player SG will the same level of activity would be in the same position.
Out of curiousity, roughly, what's the total prestige earned by your SG in the past 3 weeks, and specifically, how much have you earned?

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If your SG can only play for an hour or two a week, why should they be able to afford a working base? Would you expect to get to level 50 in a little over two weeks playing that often?

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Well said and gratz on the teleporter

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Innigo, noone is saying they want the largest base possible with amazing defences for a small supergroup. All we want is a FUNCTIONAL base within a REASONABLE amount of time.

You seem to be tearing down an argument which we are not making.

We shouldn't have to join a bigger supergroup! We should have access to a small base with basic functions - and by basic functions, all I mean is control, power and a workbench. That's it. No teleporter, no mission computer, no maze of rooms, no huge plot. Just BASIC stuff.

That is not too much to ask for what we paid.

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My question back to you is; why don't you have it. 3 members of my SG managed to pull in 300k of prestige within three weeks.
30k-ish per member per week (yes, the rest of the SG has been busy on CoV, but there you are) for 15 hour/week. Or 2k per hour of play. Therefor all I can see is that a dedicated 6 man SG - and I assume that's why you're member of a small SG - could get to the functional base stage within 300 man hours, or 50 hours apiece. 15 hours a week is hardly power-gaming, so that means less than a month for a reasonable about of gaming.
That's where I'm coming from, those are the numbers that are fixed in my head and I don't see it as unreasonable/
6 man team - functional base
2 weeks for heavy gamers
4 weeks was moderate gamers
2-3 months for average gamers

Am I missing something? Entirely possible, if so then please tell me.

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So....we should all leave our established groups of friends for the large ones?

OR

Spend three weeks prestige farming (which I still don't think will get us 750k)

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And this leads me to my main suspicion - you haven't really made any serious effort to get prestige yet, and yet are on here complaining about how hard it is.
Not a criticism as I was initially intimidated by the seemingly huge cost of things, but nearly 120k later nothing seems as expensive as it once was. A half dozen of you is enough to get to the point of having tpers to hazard zones within two-to-three weeks, based on 15 or so hours per week of play, with your established toon still having a long way to go before he hits fifty.
And the beauty of it all is, you don't have to think about it. Switch to SG mode and it all happens by itself.
Trust me when I tell you that your maths so far have been wrong, WAY wrong and make it look much harder than it is.
Look at it this way, if you get the necessary 750k to get the workshop, you can build your tpers are mish computer, dismantle the workshop, place the computer and then go on the TFs to earn the prestige to build the tp room and place the telepads. AND then, work on earning enough to build the workshop again.
I'm not telling you how to play the game, the point I'm making is getting a base that adds to the gaming experience is WAY easier than you're making it out to be.

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Bottom line, if you're suggesting that a base with all the bells and whistles should be fairly easy to obtain for an individual then I disagree. Bases are for SGs.

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Then get your established toon into a larger SG, one with an operational base, or at least well on its way to one.
I'm getting the impression you believe that because you have an established toon you deserve an established base. Yes/no?
An SG of six regular player could have an operational base by now. That's three weeks - for a SMALL SG. I think that's perfectly reasonable.

Bottom line. If something's added to the game, I'd rather not play for months on an established character just to use it at the minimal level I'm looking at. Bells and whistles are for the large SG's.

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There's been a couple of people complaining they can't have a big base all to themselves.

Also if it's going to take your SG 140 days to clock up 750k prestige then it mean that collectively you're putting in about 2 hours per day and will take something like 2 years to get a toon all through the lvls.

Finally, I didn't realise you got prestige for killing another player in a PvP zone. Can anyone confirm this one way or the other?

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By the time I hit 50, I'm not gonna NEED the effects of Salvage....See my point? A free can of beans every 1,000 pounds spent is not just a reason to buy more food. (and god have I tried to get Mother to realise this...)

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I don't know what it is you want to do. If you're trying to do this all by yourself then naturally it's going to be very difficult. Bases are an SG facility and are designed as such and presumably the costs have been established with this in mind. To get the most out of a base you NEED more than one person. You can't do the SG TFs for example (at least I don't think so - might work with coalitions).
You can't get IoPs and you won't be able to defend your base from raids from other SGs.
You could get a medical facility or better yet the telepads for flicking around the map - which we're saving for atm.
From lvl 1 a single toon could get to the point where his base has teleporters before he hits 50, but starting from 40? No.
But so what? This is a rather specific requirement and the Devs catered to this then for even a modestly sized SG getting a fully kitted out base would be ridiculously easy.

Bottom line, if you're suggesting that a base with all the bells and whistles should be fairly easy to obtain for an individual then I disagree. Bases are for SGs.

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My villans will probably have a base up by their 20's; but exactly how do the level 40-50 heroes make one?

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Between lvl40 and 50 you should be able to earn over 500k prestige, but there's nothing to stop you continuing to earn AFTER you hit 50. And if you're on your own you're not going to need a defensable or raid capable base.

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Of course, you defeat a lot more mobs per level than low level characters. Playing in COV, I've earned about 100k from level 1-24.

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Someone guesstimated that it would take 20 lvls to earn the first 100k. Nice to have a confirmation.
But I'm beginning to suspect that the doom and gloom about how hard it is to get prestige is coming from people who haven't earned much yet.

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Multiply by 6 and you'll be level 59....

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Actually no. You need to multiply the XP, which increases every lvl. Multiply THAT by six takes me almost exactly to 50th
So is that equation holds for the prestige then from 38th-50th my toon will have earned somewhere in the region of 750,000 prestige.
Enough to build a basic functional base all on his lonesome.

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I was more thinking that in a year we'd be level 60/80's...

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Ah, I see. You can't start alts?
But see my other post about prestige/level. I think you're calcs are way off.

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Innigo, can you quickly check over the majority of small SG posts and check that we just want a SMALL functional base; of lowest quality and that will take us 6 months to a year; and that's without focussing on the fact that most of are 30-40, which means there's only about a month's play left in those characters?

Thanks.

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I honestly have no idea what the issue is. I've earned 117k prestige since this all started. When it did I was lvl38. I should hit 41 tonight. Multiply that by 6, add some alts for the bonus and you'd be at the point where you'd have power, control and a workshop and have your eye on that mission computer.
That's in under 3 lvls. So what's the problem?

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Thats a load of [censored]. Tons of people have very very little time to game, myself included. Today I went on for two hours, which is the most I've had time to play for oh, two months? So it's going to take a LONG time for casual players to even get a funtional (control, power, workbench) base.

(I say functional because everyone get's salvage in supergroup mode, yet they have nothing to do with it...)

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If you're in a small SG full of casual players then you're not going to get involved in the IoP aspect of the game. But you can build tpers and get the mish computer and go on team TFs.
My relatively small SG has its mission computer now and perhaps by the end of the weekend it'll have a telepad.
Now, almost 2/3s the total prestige for the group has been collected by 3 players. Me being one, my flatmate being another and we don't play THAT much.
So, to everyone that comes on moaning about how they can't have the base they want I suggest they look at the base as they look at the toon. You have to work towards each new base facility they way you have to work for each new power.
If you can't play much you'll lvl slower.
Someone claimed they could only play 5 hours a week, ok, so it'll take over a year to get a toon to 50 and will take months to get a basic operational base.
But let's turn it around about. To the ppl who think prestige requirements are too high. Assume an SG of 10 ppl who play 4-5 hours a week each. How long SHOULD it take to get to the point where they have a functioning workshop?

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Just a year playing our level 30-40's. Can you see a small problem there?

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You maths is rubbish? In a year, based on the last three weeks, I'd collect somewhere in the order of 10-15 million prestige (that's including taking time to earn inf as well). How big a base are you wanting?!?

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We calculate around a year for our small SG to get everything it wants. Good point well made...

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Since you didn't post your calculations I can't comment on them specifically, but I suspect they're rubbish.
OR
Your small SG is made up of casual gamers who player only a few hours a week and you just don't see why you can't have a big base with all the bells and whistles NOW.

Apologies if this has been asked before - I couldn't see anything.

What kind of missions do you get from the mission computer. I know that ultimately you get the IoP missions, which my SG is NOWHERE near ready for, but does the computer issue other, non-iop SG missions?

We finally got a workbench up and running and I built a telepad and mission computer - thanks to the gigantic pile of salvage I was hauling around with me.
Couldn't place the telepad for obvious reasons.
But could place the mission computer - which I didn't dare do. I have no editing rights and am not a leader within the SG. Given that it costs 75k to place I though I'd better check what happens if one of folk on the SG decide they don't want a mission computer yet and sell it. Do we get the 75k back? And what happens to the mission computer? Sodl for ZERO?

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Our 15 man group doesn't want a huge expensive base.

I just want something to do with all the salvage piled in one corner.

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Nothing in the game prevents you from getting to that point. It's simply a matter of time.

The very top lvl base should be reserved for only the most commited of SGs, wouldn't you agree - a task that 3 weeks in looks almost impossible, but may look different in six months time.

But you brought up an important point - the huge costs of the bases are forcing SGs to pull together to earn the prestige to buy the toys.
And surely that's what CoH has always been about - teamwork. The sheer scale of the task at hand demands that SGs work as a team.

Sure, there are people on here unhappy about not being able to have a big base shared just between themselves and a couple of mates, but frankly I've no sympathy. Might as well ask for "advance to next level" button to save all the hassle of going on and fighting mobs.

I agree that there should be more ways of earning prestige - such as purely SG orientated missions or even TFs. All of which may come in time.

SG collection may look something like this;

1-20 - 100k
21-30 - 200k
31-40 - 500k
41-50 - 1000k

This would involve running influence lean and require support from the more influence rich members of the SG, but I don't see 1.8 million over a career as being too shabby.

The thing I'm finding is the more prestige you chalk up, the more reasonable the prices start to become (in your own mind). 2 and a half weeks work (maybe 25 hours) for one player to buy a workshop doesn't seem too bad.

Then there's all the other stuff you can do when you hit 50. You can exemplar into mission, you could decide to take on sime silly challenges - we want to go to the Giant DE island in PI and clear it out. Don't know if it's doable but I'll bet we rack up huge amounts of prestige finding out - and have a good laugh while we're at it.

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Normal person + internet * anonymity = Tool.

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Lmao. Perhaps the most profound equation since E=mc^2

First of all, I disagree with your calcs. I've brought 100k prestige between late 38th - early 40th lvl so I don't know how you get 500k for 50 lvls. I exepct to bring in another million before I hit 50th.
Secondly there's the opportunity for exemping - which is another good way to earn prestige and if you've made it to 50 you don't need any more xp, so where's the problem - and you get a chance to get those nasty AVs who maybe killed you first time around

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The benefits to running a big SG are:

- Easy teaming in large groups to get more XP

- Easy teaming for Task Forces and Archvillain missions

- Enhancement trading

- Plenty of potential lower-level characters to exemp down to for bonus Influence/Infamy

- Plenty of higher level characters to coach new players or to help them out with missions and Influence/Infamy

That should be why someone joins or runs a large SG, not for an impressive base. If SG membership and activities become focused on Bases, which they may well do at this rate, then people who aren't interested in PvP or who don't own CoV (like myself) will miss out.

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Wow, with all those benefits why on earth would you want to be a small one?

But here's what I see in a big SG...
A complete mish-mash of lvls. If you're lucky one or two within you level range are on at any one time.
Now the bickering about prestige - ours member contribution range from 100k to zero.
Internal politicking as people want promotions or start badgering the leaders "why is he a captain, he's never on. Why can't I be a captain as well?"
Now as a leader you have to keep up in the prestige stakes or people are going to start moaning.
People want design input into the base design.
Not everyone in the SG if your friend and not everyone is actually particularly nice.
You get pulled into SG missions with other memebers who you know are cr*p and going to get you killed.
And so the list goes on.
I'm currently in a medium sized SG and it seems to be the best of both worlds, but some of the bad stuff still creeps in. Lot of working getting the prestige though.

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You got 2 rooms and some furnishings? That's it? How big were the rooms?

My character is very Batman-based, so I want a big, underground Lair for him, something with different rooms for different purposes, an infirmary, technical laboratory, central control room, library (all non-functional), with lots of space to move around.

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Having gone over your posts again I'm reading that you want this gigantic base basically with no effort involved - some of the functional items you're willing to work for, but the actual geography, no, that should be near as damnit free.
Is that right?
Do we actually believe Batman was a lvl 10 hero?

I though you wanted somewhere u could RP in private, but that's not enough, it has to be somewhere huge. You can't whack up some of the bookshelves and call that a tech library for the mean time.
RPing has obviously changed since my day - it USED to be all about imagining things. Point is, you can have all that if you're willing to save - 100k in two weeks isn't difficult.
A month of that gets you a big room - true its a small plot but personally I think you're being entirely unreasonable because you have a very definite idea of what you want your base to be and don't like the fact the game doesn't cater to it.

A solitary low level hero should never-EVER have a big base imho. Hell, spiderman operated out of his bedroom!