Jupiter_M

I find it interesting that Stateman was mentioned here. As I remember him posting, at one time, about how he originally didn't want to have NPC merchants selling enhancements, but they would instead be something which players would receive as drops and sell to each other (sounds familiar).

[ QUOTE ]
You can get the stuff either way, you just are restricted to mostly lvl 50 stuff or you gotta pay thru the nose to get it. The stuff is mostly there. I was mostly talking about the stuff in the lower ranges

[/ QUOTE ]

I was also talking about the stuff in the lower ranges. My experiences have shown me that they higher lvl stuff is doing just fine on the bm.

[ QUOTE ]
In all honesty I only see the problem for both sides is just pool c rares being borked.

[/ QUOTE ]

My experiences on the bm are leading me to a different conclusion.

Interesting ideas. My experiences with the bm lead me to different conclusions about the cause of villain problems, however.

[ QUOTE ]
A) Reserves. Reserves are in essence total amount of goods available on the market. The higher the population the larger the reserve, larger reserves turn over faster and larger reserves usually result in lower prices. Red side doesn’t have enough reserves to hit the “mystical critical population” mark. The question is how to get more reserves with out increasing population or merging the markets. Total reserves in this case is the number of items available which directly relates to the number of players using the market and the total number of transaction slots available to each market user.

Solution – increase the number of available transaction slots on both sides.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'd love to see this get implemented. Not that it would actually help out the portions of the market which are anemic, but 3 more transactions slots per toon would greatly increase my profits as I can move more product.

[ QUOTE ]
Part of the problem is the lack of 'critical mass' numbers of players redside. Check

[/ QUOTE ]
I've begun to suspect that the problem redside is less about population and more about people's desire to participate in the BM.

[ QUOTE ]
Happy that Mind/Psi has fewer issues than in the past. A part of me is *still* annoyed about the downgrading of the Shockwave animation and sound effect though.

[/ QUOTE ]

I loved how PSW's fx used to be. The current version of simply a whimper compared to how it used to animate.

*Looks at calendar*
Yup, its that day again.

[ QUOTE ]
Great guide! One thing I noticed you didn't comment on, is how during Domination the chance for Immob in Subdue and the chance for Stun in PSW roll separately.

That is.. rather than an 80% chance for mag6 Immob in Subdue during domination, it's two 80% chance for mag3 Immob's in Subdue.

Same with Psy Shockwave, rather than one 25% chance for mag4 Stun in PSW, it's two 25% chance for mag 2 Stuns. This is why sometimes you get "DOMINATION!" over a lt's head, they don't get stunned by Psy Shockwave. (Limitation of the "critical" code which they essentially used here. This is partly why the devs don't have "multi-crits", multi-Scourge works fine but it's a different code.)


[/ QUOTE ]

Glad you liked it.

I didn't add any of the more technical portions as I envision this guide to be more of an introduction to the mind/psi dominator. My hope is that after reading this guide, someone will like this combo enough to try it and understand enough that they'll avoid common pitfalls which can act as a deterent.

Mind Control: The set, power-by-power

Mesmerize (available at level 1): For some reason, there are people unimpressed with what sleeps can do. It’s simple; as long as you don’t attack a slept target, it won’t attack you. Mezmerize is a mag 4 sleep (but will agro unlike Mass Hypnosis), which means that it’ll sleep a boss/EB/hero, in one shot. A great tool to have in a lower level dominator’s arsenal, and will always have value at any level.
Stats: ranged attack (100ft), psionic damage (36.15 damage at level 50), effect (44.7 second Sleep (magnitude 3.5) to Target), animation (1.67 seconds), recharge (6 seconds)

Levitate (available at level 1): The only soft control in the whole set (along with being the only power in the set with –fly). And due to its higher damage, I have never found a dominator build that wouldn’t benefit from having this power. Yeah – you can live without it, but why try?
Stats: ranged attack (80ft), smashing damage (47.71 smashing damage at lvl50), effect (12.463 knockup to target, -1.6 fly to target for 10 seconds), animation (1.87 seconds), recharge (6 seconds)

Dominate (available at level 2): This is the best single target hold in the game; no argument is possible. Labeled as only a psionic attack, the only way to defend against it is to have the rare psionic defense (this is the only st hold which is not typed as positional). This means that dominate is generally the hold to depend on to hit. Also the second fastest animating hold, and deals psionic damage. You are not playing a mind dominator if you do not have this power.
Stats: psionic attack (80ft), psionic damage (36.15 damage at level 50), effect (17.88 second Held (magnitude 3) to Target if (target = critter), 11.92 second Held (magnitude 4) to Target if (target = player)), animation (1.1 seconds), recharge (8 seconds)

Confuse (available at level 4): Some people love it, and others don’t. I only suggest trying it out to see if it fits your play style, and then add your own voice to the argument. It is a confuse power, which makes an enemy switch sides. They will no longer attack you, but attack their comrades and even give you buffs (if they are a buffer). While it is fun to get force-fields for free, the more damage that a mob does to its comrades,, the less you (or your team) will receive. The sliding scale of experience heavily favors the team, but some people hate the idea of losing even one point of experience/infamy.
Stats: ranged attack (80ft), non-aggro, effect (29.8 second Confused (magnitude 3) to Target), animation (3.37 seconds), recharge (8 seconds)

Mass Hypnosis (available at level 8): Again, there is the argument about the effectiveness of sleeps (see Mesmerize). This power is an aggroless, which you’ll be very glad it when on the teams with people who love to AE everything without any regard for agro. My opinion is that this is a very important tool to have. But, I have made successful builds without it. It’s most well known use is being able to keep a very close second group of mobs from aggroing on your party, along with being able to permasleep the Freedom Phalanx (the critical part of the LRSF). I only urge people to try it out, and form their own opinions.
Stats: Targeted AoE (80 ft), target limit (10), radius (25ft), non-aggro, effect (17.88 second Sleep (magnitude 3) to Target if (target = critter), 11.92 second Sleep (magnitude 4) to Target if (target = player)), animation (2.03 seconds), recharge (45 seconds)

Telekinesis (available at level 12): Some love it, and some hate it. The only thing that everyone can agree on is that it is an endurance hog. The only toggle AE hold amongst any control set. This power is also a repel, which means that it takes some practice to use well. Want to know how to spot someone who is really good at playing mind control? See if they have telekinesis (tk), and how well they use it. My only advice on this power is to get total domination (td) if you want to skip this one. In fact, my only recommendation is to not get both tk and td, but select one or the other.
Stats: Toggle, targeted AE (50ft), radius (10ft), target limit (5), effect (1.118 second Held (magnitude 3) to Target if (target = critter), 1 Repel to Target for 0.75 seconds , 1.118 second Held (magnitude 1.5) to Target if (target = player)), animation (0.3 seconds), recharge (60 seconds), end drain (1.56 endurance per second), active period (0.5 seconds)

Total Domination (available at level 18): Sometimes in a fight, you just need a power which is going to put the brakes on everything. In the hands of a mind control dominator, total domination is the biggest brick wall that anyone will see. In one instant, a room is transformed from extremely hostile to a museum of statues. Brutes may worry about rage, but everyone else is going to be happily blasting away as they don’t have to worry about agro. The downsides to this power are duration and recharge. Mind control also has so many options for control, that this is the only set which can easily get by without its AE hold (although ice control makes a nice argument for this distinction also). Get it if you want, but please realize that you may end up not needing it.
Stats: Targeted AoE (80ft), target limit (10), radius (20ft), effect (11.92 second Held (magnitude 3) to Target if (target = critter), 8.94 second Held (magnitude 4) to Target if (target = player)), animation (2.03 seconds), recharge (240 seconds)

Terrify (available at level 26): I used to make the mistake of comparing this power’s effectiveness to td before discovering that they are nothing alike. Mind control’s level 26 power is a fear, which is somewhere in effectiveness between a sleep and a hold. A mob won’t attack unless it is attacked. Even then, it is one shot before returning to their non- attacking and trembling pose (although there is a small chance that they will run). Please note that this power deals damage, so it will not negate an alpha strike, but will negate the beta. I consider td and mass hypnosis (mh) better at negating alpha strikes, but this power is great for applying continual control. This power is a keeper.
Stats: Ranged Cone (60ft), target limit (10), radius (60ft), arc (90ft), psionic damage (36.15 damage at lvl50), effect (22.35 second Terrorized (magnitude 3) to Target (after 0.25 second delay) if (target = critter), 10.43 second Terrorized (magnitude 4) to Target (after 0.25 second delay) if (target = player)), animation (2.0 seconds), recharge (40 seconds)

Mass Confusion (available at level 32): While every other dominator set gets a pet at level 32, mind control gets what is almost inarguable the most strongest control power in the game. I already detailed the argument about confuse type powers, and won’t repeat it here. However, I want to point out that being able to throw out a non-aggro mag6 (with domination up) AE confuse has its advantages. Think malta groups which are loaded with sappers. Try it out. You will probably find more uses for it than you think.
Stats: Targeted AoE (80ft), target limit (10), radius (25ft), non-aggro, effect (29.8 second Confused (magnitude 3) to Target), animation (1.67 seconds), recharge (240 seconds)

Psionic Assault: The set, power-by-power

Psionic dart (available at level 1): It is fast recharging, which makes it a perfect low level domination builder. It is only power available at this level, so you have no choice on whether to take it or not. I would rate this power above mental blast in terms of utility since its fast animating, and fast recharging. Its speed also makes it a good candidate to slot up with procs. You may not be impressed with its damage, but it can get domination up that much faster without drawing a lot of agro.
Stats: ranged attack (100ft), psionic damage (21.69 at level 50), effect (-30% Enhancement to Target for 5 seconds), animation (1.33 seconds), recharge (1.5 seconds)

Mind Probe (available at level 2): Until psychic shockwave at level 38, this is psi assault’s highest damaging power. It remains a very useful power throughout almost all of a dominators lifespan (only losing its utility for those dominators that have gained enough recharge bonuses to make PSW its own attack chain). For pvp, it’s a 5% toggle dropper. For any starting psi dominator, this is a great power to have. Just be careful about being in melee though, you are very much a squishy.
Stats: melee attack (5 ft), psionic damage (68.4 at level 50), effect (-40% Enhancement to Target for 6 seconds, 5% toggle drop), animation (1.17 seconds), recharge (8 seconds)

Tk thrust (available at level 4): While I consider it proper guide writing to avoid making any comments which will cause people to only create cookie-cutter builds, this power is just useless to a mind/psi dominator. Levitate does it better, faster, for more damage, and at range instead of melee. One get this power for preference of graphical appearance, you prefer melee oriented powers or prefer knockback instead of knockup. The only way that this power should even be considered would be if it had its mag increased and animation time severely reduced.
Stats: melee attack (5ft), psionic and smashing damage (16.68 Smashing Damage, 16.68 Psionic Damage at level 50), effect (16.617 Knockback to Target), animation (2.07 seconds), recharge (6 seconds)

Mental Blast (available at level 10): Remember when I stated that you don’t need many powers from the psionic assault set to be effective? This is a completely skippable power. This power deals as much damage as mesmerize and dominate (levitate deals more). Slower animating than these powers also makes this an also-ran in many build selections. If you already have mesmerize, dominate, levitate, and want more ranged ST damage, then this power is a good choice. Yeah, it does have more range than leviate and dominate (mesmerize has the same range) along with dealing a recharge debuff, but most builds won’t miss it.
Stats: ranged attack (100 ft), psionic damage (36.15 damage at lvl50), effect (-30% recharge to Target for 6 seconds), animation (2.67 seconds), recharge (4 seconds)

Psychic Scream (available at level 16): The other AE attack in the psionic assault set. PSW is such a star that this average AE attack is rarely ever talked about. It’s not bad damage, for an AE attack, and can make a great earlier on component of a psi dominator’s tool belt.
Stats: Ranged Cone (60ft) , target limit (10), radius (60ft), arc (30degrees), psionic damage (37.59 damage at lvl50), effect (-50% recharge for 10 seconds), animation (2.67 seconds), recharge (12 seconds)

Drain Psyche (available at level 20): It has been noted that it takes the most suicidal of blasters to play a dominator effectively. This power is the reason why that perception exists. Drain psyche will turn a psi dominator into a mad regenerating and recovery machine. Your team is going to wonder what is happening to you as you are obviously taking damage, but your health bar isn’t moving. Against AVs and in PvP, this is a great power to have as it will halt anything (or ones) regeneration and recovery rate. This is a great power to have, and should be considered essential to have. Be careful though, you’ll only have 30 seconds to enjoy your invulnerability.
Stats: PBAoE attack, target limit (10), radius(10ft), effect (100% Regeneration to Self for 30 seconds, -500% Regeneration to Target for 30 seconds, -3000% Regeneration to Target for 30 seconds, 100% Recovery to Self for 30 seconds, -500% Recovery to Target for 30 seconds, -3000% Recovery to Target for 30 seconds). Animation (0.73 seconds), recharge (120 seconds)

Subdue (available at level 28): Any mind/psi dominator which makes it to this level will be really glad to unlock this gem. A great addition to almost any attack chain, this is the 3rd highest damage dealing power in the psionic assault set. It should be noted that this power adds another control option for the mind/psi dominator by introducing a st immobilize. This is a great power to have, and really makes life better for any psi dominator which reaches level 28.
Stats: ranged attack (100ft), psionic damage (59.28 damage at level 50), effect (8.94 second Immobilize (magnitude 3) to Target (80% chance) if (target = critter), 5.96 second Immobilize (magnitude 3) to Target (80% chance) if (target = player)), animation (1.67 seconds), recharge (8 seconds)

Psionic Lance (available at level 35): Whether deserved or not, this power’s claim to fame are questions about its utility, and that an inexpensive set which provides a 7.5% recharge bonus can be slotted into it. It’s a snipe, and probably not something you should think about using in an attack chain due to its animation time, endurance, and interrupt ability. It is a high damaging, and very long range attack. Being able to have a long reach may fit with your play style, but you can make an effective build without this power (I have done it many times). The recharge bonus is nice to have though.
Stats: ranged attack (175ft), psionic damage (99.76 damage at lvl50), effect (-15% recharge to target for 10 seconds), interrupt time (3 seconds), animation (1 second), recharge (12 seconds)

Psychic Shockwave (available at level 38): There is no single power which has been discussed as much amongst dominators as Psychic Shockwave (PSW). This power breaks all the rules, and then puts them back together in its own way. If you don’t feel absolutely excited when you get this power, you may need to check your pulse for signs of life. Cliché, but this power is anything but. PSW is a large area (25ft), high damaging, low endurance, attack. For pve, it is your 25% chance to disorient anything that it hits. For pvp, it is your 64% chance toggle dropper. No single power in this game is supposed to be this good, but psychic shockwave is.
Stats: PBAoE attack, target limit (10), radius(25ft), psionic damage (70.85 damage at lvl50), effect ( 8.94 second Stun (magnitude 2) to Target (25% chance) if (target = critter), 5.96 second Stun (magnitude 2) to Target (25% chance) if (target = player), -50% Enhancement to Target for 20 seconds, Toggle Drop (64% chance) if (target = player)), animation (1.97 seconds), recharge (10 seconds).

Leveling
Note: The sample build that I give should only be considered as a guide for those who have never played a mind/psi dominator before. As your experience grows, you should be able to easily form your own build without anyone telling you what goes better where.

The Early Levels (1-19): I usually lump these levels together as a mind/psi dominator isn’t even seeing an inkling of their later power. During these levels, it is normal to have the feeling of having decent control while lacking any real damage dealing ability. Fortunately, psi resistant mobs (Arachnos being the only one that comes to my mind) are easily avoided. Low level teams are always full of people just learning how to use their characters, so a mind dominator’s control will be more useful than their damage.
Sample Build:
Level 1: Levitate, psi dart
Level 2: Mind probe
Level 3: 2 slots in mind probe
Level 4: Dominate
Level 5: 2 slots in levitate
Level 6: swift or hurdle (swift if you want flight or superspeed as travel power. Hurdle if you want superjump).
Level 7: 2 slots in dominate
Level 8: Mass Hypnosis
Level 9: 1 slot in mind probe, 1 in Mass hypnosis
Level 10: confuse
Level 11: 1 slot in levitate, 1 slot in dominate
Level 12: travel pre-req (hasten, combat jumping, hover)
Level 13: 1 slot in dominate, 1 slot in mind probe
Level 14: Travel power
Level 15: 1 slot in travel power, 1 slot in Mass hypnosis
Level 16: Health
Level 17: 2 slots in levitate
Level 18: Total Domination
Level 19: 2 slots in total domination


Middle Levels (20-39): There are good levels to play a mind/psi dominator as the most important powers get unlocked. Although these levels start slow, the pace rockets ahead towards the end. With the base control powers selected, psi assault starts to unlock its best powers. These levels can initially be tough for a dominator as most mobs seem to take a huge leap forward in difficulty. But don’t worry, the last laugh is yours.

Sample Build:
Level 20: stamina
Level 21: 2 slots in stamina
Level 22: Drain Psyche
Level 23: 2 slots in drain psyche
Level 24: Psychic Scream
Level 25: 1 slot in drain psyche, 1 slot in psychic scream
Level 26: terrify
Level 27: 1 slot in terrify, 1 slot in drain psyche
Level 28: subdue
Level 29: 2 slots in subdue
Level 30: hasten (assault if you already have this power)
Level 31: 2 slots in subdue, 1 slot in psychic scream
Level 32: Mass Confusion
Level 33: 3 slots in Mass Confusion
Level 34: 2 slots in psychic scream, 1 in total domination
Level 35: Psionic Lance
Level 36: 1 slot in total domination, 1 slot in terrify, 1 slot in Mass hypnosis
Level 37: 1 slot in mass confusion, 2 slots in drain psyche
Level 38: Psychic Shockwave
Level 39: 3 slots in psychic shockwave

The Grandville Levels (40-50): By now, a mind/psi dominator should have PSW and 4 slots in it. These later levels tend to be easy as a mind/psi dominator will now have great damage dealing ability to go with great control. The biggest consideration now is which patron to choose. There are some great guides on that subject, and that is too big of a subject for me to repeat here. But by now, anyone who has played a mind/psi dominator will have a deep understanding of what they want. The last thing I want to mention about these levels is that psi resistant mobs appear in a greater number. This resistance also becomes very noticeable. It is for this reason why I tend to shy away from any carnival missions.

No Sample build given as by now you shouldn’t need it.

The New Mezmeron Guide to the Mind/Psi Dominator

Note: This guide as based on my experiences playing a Mind/Psi dominator. Your experiences may differ.


General Notes about this guide
What is a dominator?
Why Choose Mind/Psi?
Domination- What is it?
Permadom- how hard is it to achieve?
Mind/Psi: Notes about the Combo
Mind Control: Notes about the Set
Psionic Assault: Notes about the Set
Mind Control: The set, power-by-power
Psionic Assault: The set, power-by-power
Leveling: The Early Levels (1-19)
The Middle Levels (20-38)
The Grandville Levels (39-50)


General Notes about this Guide

Originally written shortly after issue 7 was released, I found that most of what I wrote in the original guide has been pretty much been rendered obsolete (the original mentions drain psyche not able to accept accuracy enhancements). So much has happened that I decided to start over. About the only thing that has stayed the same are the listings as I feel that those are still valid.

What is a Dominator?

When CoV was first released, the dominator AT appeared to be just a copy of a controller with an attack instead of support secondary. After a few years, changes to domination, and the introduction of inventions, dominators are known very much their own AT. The simple answer the question of what a dominator is, is that they are an AT with little defense, but immense control and assault powers that can easily take control of a fight. The real answer is that this is the AT for only the most aggressive of players. And, it is only amongst the most headstrong and overzealous that the true power of the dominator will be unleashed.


Why Choose Mind/Psi?

Choosing a primary and secondary for any character is not only the most important decision, but one which is made with the least of amount of information. So why combine Mind control with Psionic assault? Essentially, this whole guide was created to answer that question. But the quick answer is that the sets mesh exceptionally well, and a high level mind/psi dominator always knows that they’ll be bringing a lot of control along with a great AE damage to any team that they are on.

Domination- What is it?

Domination will turn a mild-mannered dominator into a rampaging engine of destruction. Once clicked, mobs become like tissue paper and you'll find yourself running into mobs faster than a suicidal blaster (which is okay since you'll be able to handle it). Keep this power in reserve as an 'Uh-Oh' button or click it to fly through missions faster or to make a tough boss look like a minion with a couple more hit-points. With domination, you'll deal damage like a blaster, stack magnitude like two controllers, enjoy power boosted like durations, and your endurance bar will completely refill so that you can start at full steam. Domination is arguably the best inherent in the game (and the only clickable one), and once clicked creates a peak that no other AT can match. Be careful though, this power only last for 90 seconds at a time.

PermaDom- How hard is it to achieve?

Permadom refers to a dominator having enough recharge bonuses (coming from either set bonuses or buffs) that their inherent power, domination, is able to recharge before the effect fades. If the power recharges before the 90 seconds of its durations, then the power can be activated again as the domination bar stays at 100 while domination is active. I’m not going to delve into the argument of whether this is overpowered or not, but being able to go permadom represents a significant leap in power for the mind/psi dominator. I will, however, point out that we have a rather low damage cap of 400%.
Being able to achieve permadom gives the dominator three distinct advantages: increased damage output (+75%), scrapper level status protection, and greatly improved control (double mag and increased duration). Having your endurance bar refilled every 90 seconds is another nice bonus. An easier comparison when running permadom is to think of your dominator as being worth 90% of a blaster and two controllers (but with a smaller AE target limit) with some pseudo-defender style buffs (yes, I do expect to get ‘corrected’ for making that statement). Egotism aside, an dominator combo which is able to reach permadom will find itself in the upper echelons of raw power in this whole game.
A great goal, but how hard is it to achieve? From fairly to extremely hard, depending on the build/combo; but the magic recharge number is ~125%. This means not only taking hasten, but having to make it as near as possible to perma. The number which I like to look at from set bonuses is +70% (mostly as this will let me move some IOS from hasten to other powers). However, as this is a mind/psi guide, you are going to want more recharge bonuses as you will want drain psyche and psychic shockwave recharging as fast as possible. In an ideal build (and extremely expensive), psychic shockwave would be its own attack chain. To anyone wanting to achieve permadom, the best suggestion that I can give is to do research.

Fast guide to looking at set bonus preferences for a mind/psi dominator.
1) Recharge
2) Recovery (be aware of what is enough, and what is too little or too much).
3) Regeneration
4) Health or Endurance (if you take more damage, get health. Problems with endurance? Get endurance).
5) Bonuses that either fill holes or enhance your build

Mind/Psi: Notes about the Combo

In this combination are combined the best AoE control powers with the best AoE attack set. The Mind control/Psionic assault dominator brings a lot to the table, and is arguably one of the absolute best combinations for dominators. Mind control is considered the set of choice for dominator pvp, and has the ability to be effective on the Lord Recluse Strike Force (thanks to Mass Hypnosis). Psionic assault, thanks to Drain Psyche and Psychic Shockwave, is a great secondary to have for doing things like respecs or infamy farming (if you’re into that).
The next thing to mention is about how these two sets mesh. Having primarily played controllers prior to CoV launching, I prefer to make sure that I have enough control first. And mind is a very hard set to mesh as you’ll really want to take all the powers. The actually works very well with psionic assault, as it is a set in which you only need (or will want) a few.

Mind Control: Notes about the Set

Power for power, and comparing sets as a whole, there is no single better dominator set if all you want is control. The only dominator set with a toggle AE hold, and no-aggro controls. Not to say that mind doesn’t have single target options. In this it also reigns supreme with 3 hard controls (mesmerize, dominate, confuse), and 1 soft (levitate). If you’re thinking about pvp, tk (telekinesis) is essential and dominate (thanks to being only listed as a psi attack) can easily cut through most any defense.
Mind control is not a set for lightweights, or people unfamiliar with the idea of control. This set is for the control expert who wants nothing more than being able to bring the most overwhelming control to any party which they may join. Nothing screams safety more than a high level mind control dominator.
Though this is a set with no real downside or limited power selections (no easily skippable powers), its effectiveness does get questioned. If you’re reading this, and you feel convinced that something like Plant control is a better set since it gets Mind’s lvl32 power at lvl8 plus a plant, then maybe a plant control dominator is more your playstyle (I have one, and they are a lot of fun to play). The Mind control set is about bringing control to the table, pure and simple.

Psionic Assault: Notes about the Set

There are really only two powers which are indisputably essential to have in this set: drain psyche and psychic shockwave. This means that anyone wanting to take psionic assault, as long as they take those two powers, should be effective with this set. The only other power which I feel that everyone should pick up is Subdue. Mind probe is another great pick, and should be in the mind/psi dominator’s arsenal until they are able to make PSW (psychic shockwave) its own attack chain. The reset of the psionic assault set can be inserted or removed from a build without really compromising what the set can do.

I really like what I am seeing so far with this issue.

But, how about some more content that is villain only?

The only way that I could support this idea is if they created the story arc recipe pool again (which make sense as Oroborous allows people to do story arcs), and placed the majority of the not-so-very-good recipes in it.

I have always liked the idea of a TF/SF being something that is an event, but it is exceptionally discouraging to spend so much time on something to receive a reward, which most of the item, makes me feel like I wasted my time. And to those who feel that doing the TF/SF should be its own reward- where that true, there would be no recipe given out at completion.

Personally, I dislike spammers the same way that I hate junk mail. Seriously, if I wanted to buy viagra I am sure as anything not going to be buying it from some person who just sent me a random email. I should have a choice about whether or not I am exposed to advertising, and my paying $15 a month to play this game with an EULA that prohibitively forbids it should be a clear message that I am not interested in playing City of Spammers. If I read that spamming was allowed in this game prior to opening my first account, I would never have bought this game in the first place.


[ QUOTE ]
I say if you're one of the innovators of these ideas, flood NC support like your in-game email gets by these souless pigs

[/ QUOTE ]

Being a person who works in IT, I have to say that probably the worst thing to do is to start flooding the helpdesk. While it may be satisfying to shoot off 10 emails about the same thing, the person who creates the tickets isn't going to be creating anymore tickets for the exact same thing. Plus it is an annoyance, and will take them away from being able to handle other relevant issues.

My suggestion for handling the spammers is to datamine how many people have used the /ignore_spammer command. This can provide the information about who is being considered a spammer (along with being able to figure out if most of the spamming is coming from trial accounts), along with some hard numbers as to how many people in the community are being affected by this. With this information it should be possible to configure a client-side filter that would be able to handle most of the spam (i.e. like giving an option to not be able to receive any tells from someone using a trial account).

Personally, I dislike spammers the same way that I hate junk mail. Seriously, if I wanted to buy viagra I am sure as anything not going to be buying it from some person who just sent me a random email. I should have a choice about whether or not I am exposed to advertising, and my paying $15 a month to play this game with an EULA that prohibitively forbids it should be a clear message that I am not interested in playing City of Spammers. If spamming was allowed in this game, I most likely wouldn't have an account.

[ QUOTE ]
Do the support team ever comment back on anything said in here?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not knowing how things are set up at NCsoft, this is just a shot from the hip. But, my guess is that Positron and the rest of the dev team don't handle the servers; but create (and manage) content to be uploaded on it. It could be that this whole thread is a way for the dev team to bring something to the team that handles the servers in order to get them to dedicate resources to removing the spammers or creating some filters to minimize their annoyance.

[ QUOTE ]
My department handles thousands of spam complaints each year and I truly wish there was good legislation but there isn't.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am willing to bet that inside of 5 years we are going to be seeing some legislation regarding spam in the U.S. As companies like At&t, netflix, comcast and others start to offer more and more services online, bandwidth is going to become a *very* precious resource (tks basic copper-wire networks). And since every report I read about internet traffic says that at least 80% of *ALL* the traffic on the internet is spam, I can see those companies starting to knock out spammers in order to gain access to that bandwidth. If anyone in the world can destroy spammers, my money is on AT&t.

[ QUOTE ]
All three sites are based in China. I checked the online registries. In all three instances, the owners live in China, and as far as I can tell, the sites are hosted there as well

[/ QUOTE ]

The sites are hosted in Canada from what I have been able to gather. But, the owners themselves are from China. Then again, they could be Canadian and simply manipulating the whois to show that they are from China (i.e registering it with a dummy corp in China which can be done).

[ QUOTE ]
It's entirely possible (although not in the least excusable) that the spam origination laws are different over there than here. HERE, what constitutes email spam has been LEGALLY defined by government agencies

[/ QUOTE ]

China is *way* behind the curve when it comes to any sort of laws governing the internet. The only basic law there is not to criticize the government. Moreso, China is one of the worst places in the world (it might even be the worst now) when it comes to malware. Still, the spammers could all be based in Canada (which has laws similar to the U.S regarding spam and copyright), and trying to make it appear to be from China. Only the people who have access to the logs of IPs that login (which can also be faked due to proxys) can give any sort of clue.

When people talk about the spammers impact upon this game, I remember Blizzard's original online game center (the name escapes me) which allowed a person to be able to play Diablo 2 online. Even though that feature was free, alot of people avoided it simply for the fact that it had gathered a bad reputation for being a place that was easy to crack. Spammers are also high on the list of things that can kill anything online as they drive a community away through sheer annoyance.

[ QUOTE ]
NC could easily shut these people down, or at least make them go away, I mean if Microsoft can nuke your 360 by issuing an update to kill modified consoles

[/ QUOTE ]

This is comparing apples to oranges.

Microsoft has far more control over the Xbox than NCsoft has over your PC. When you log onto Xbox live, a system check is made for any suspicious hardware/software. How many people would play CoX if they had to allow NCsoft complete access to their computer prior to login?

Even if that was to happen, the Xbox is easily shut down as Microsoft can gather your MAC address, and to put another NIC in the system would be an unauthorized modification which would easily be detected. Who wouldn't laugh if NCsoft informed you that changing your NIC or other hardware on your computer could cause you to get banned?

I'd love to be able to create a waterfall in my base. Or perhaps being able to create a pool of water like many people seem to also want.

It's nice to know that people have found fun ways to make use of bases.

I have long wanted pvp in CoX to be something that is done by more than just a couple of people. Its understandable that there are people who just do not want to pvp at all, but I believe that the majority of Cox players would pvp regularily if it wasn't so absolutely easy to be sent to the hospital.

1) Reduce the effectiveness of buffs in pvp.

2) PvE does not require a group to be effective, why does PvP have to differ?

3) Split bounty. Playing a villain, little is more irritating than the KSing stalkers.

4) 2-shot kills are not fun. PvP would be more fun for me if I actually had to engage in a battle with a target rather then catching them when they aren't looking (or they catch me when I'm not looking).

5) People who consistently use tp foe to drone people should get a boot from the zone they do it in. When someone gets droned, it is checked to see if someone recently used tp foe on them. If they did, a check is placed next to the person who used the power. After meeting a certain condition (i.e. number of times or time period), the person would then be forcibly booted from the zone for a period of time.

TK thrust still needs its animation time seriously reduced.

Yeah, that base is *HUGE* and very well-done. It is exceptionally easy to get lost in there (as I did a few times). What I noticed the most about the base though is how incredibly dark it is in there. Overall, I highly recommend to anyone who has a chance to tour the base to do so.

I don't know if this could be an issue as its more a graphics glitch than anything else. But if you use one of the base buffs, as soon as domination becomes able to be clicked on all throughout its duration until it is over, the domination activation animation continously loops. It doesn't seem to affect perfomance other than making the dom look like they are having convulsions.

Looks pretty cool.

[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to know about breakpoints for To Hit and Defense and how you, the players, think it should work. I'm not talking about mechanics -- I'm talking about the expectations you have in a fight.

1) You have the default To Hit value (ie no buffs), your target has no Defense value. How often do you WANT to hit him? Conversely, as the defender, how often do you expect to be missed?
2) You have the maximum possible To Hit value, and your target has no defense value. How often do you WANT to hit him? Conversely, as the defender, how often do you expect to be missed?
3) You have the default To Hit value, and your target has the maximum possible defense value. How often do you WANT to hit him? Conversely, as the defender, how often do you expect to be missed?
4) You have the maximum possible To Hit value, and your target has the maximum possible defense value. How often do you WANT to hit him? Conversely, as the defender, how often do you expect to be missed

[/ QUOTE ]

1) 50% for both (any deviation should favor the defender)
2) 80-90% to hit. 10-20% to be missed
3) 10-20% to hit. 80-90% to be missed
4) 50% for both (any deviation should favor the defender)

While this is a very interesting post, I think it should also be considered when looking at these values is how possible is it to achieve the 'maximum' value for either to-hit or defense. If it is very easy to achieve the maximum to-hit while it requires a *very* specialized build to achieve the maximum defense value, that tends to severly skew the real-world application of to-hit and defense (and vice versa).

I know that this thread isn't about the mechanics, but to-hit vs. defense expectations in pvp. It's that I feel the viablity to achieve theoretical maximum numbers goes hand-in-hand with how well those two sides will mesh.