Keen Stronghold

In regards of costumes, my policy is GIMMEY MOAR!

I can't attend to any of those conventions (I'm not even in North America) but I'd definitely ::coughs:: pay extra for *that* costume set. So, I'm with the previous posters here, too.

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* Change it into a pet that follows you and has it's own PBAoE Repel ability.
Eek! I bet it's gonna be suicidal. I vote no.

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This was one of my very outside the box suggestions. Honestly it would be no more suicidal than a Gravity Troller with Singularity. The only difference is that the FF pet doesn't attack. Having a Grav Troller with a Sing I can personally attest as to how useful the repel affect on the Sing is. Boss bearing down on you? Hide behind the Sing and watch it go flying. That's pretty much the idea I was going for, essentially a non-attacking Singularity.

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For this, I had a mental image. I keep seeing my teammates' "fairy" pets chasing enemies. So if it did repel, it would repel the enemy. Chase the enemy, repel it again. Rinse, repeat. How many nearby groups would be aggroed by that?

On the other hand, Singularity behaves quite nicely. I don't know if the AI is different or specific for it, but I don't remember seeing Singularity chasing much, if at all. Now the "fairy" pet is just scary, and I had that in mind while looking at this suggestion. :P

I'd vote yes, if the pet behaves.

Here are my player opinions about the consolidated list of requests.

I see all powers in the game should fit thematically, and the list, IMO, contains a lot of things that just don't fit. But YMMV. I am also not commenting on any new power suggestions because I don't think it will be possible with the current powerset. (You can't say "Gun Drone" is a new power, if any want to use that as an example.)

General Requests
* Add a Defense DeBuff somewhere.
I don't see where it could be added.

* Give us a way to add to the team's damage.
Why?

* Add "movement powers" to the set, like Kinetics has, justified as us giving our selves and teammates "low friction".
Could as well make the allies fly inside their bubbles :P It would be funny as hell but I don't think it's likely to happen.

* Add more contextually-sensitive elements to environments that activate for various effects under various conditions. Similar to dynamite or light-able oil-slicks that already exist in-game.
That would apply somehow to all powers in the game. But how would they fit in Force Fields?

* Add a "combo system" to the powerset that would give team buffs or enemy debuffs depending on in what order powers were used.
The "order" of powers would not make sense. Perhaps "combination." Say, if a player has both Deflection and Insulation Shields on, extra buffs would happen.

Power Specific

Personal Force Field:
* Allow slotting for +Res.
Would make the power way too powerful. It is already powerful enough.

* Allow the field to be "suppressed", allowing the bubbler to fire through it with either a loss of defense or with a severe defense and/or resistance penalty.
This is a good suggestion.

* Allow the user to affect allies while in the field.
The "OnlyAffectsSelf" flag is binary. Either you affect everyone, or noone. I don't think the current engine supports this.

Deflection and Insulation Shields:
* Switch the Defense percentages between Dispersion Bubble and Insulation and Deflection Shields.
What would be the reason for this? In the end, wouldn't the percentages be the same? I'd not like to see that changed, because I want my castable shields to be more stronger than Dispersion Bubble, as they are currently.

* Make them into PBAoE auras.
I wouldn't like to see this. There are situations I need to stay away from my tanker. Let's say, an AV casting Targeted AoEs on him. Even with all the Defense, eventually the hits will get through, and that would mean debt to the bubbler. I vote against this change, even that it would make both shields affect the bubbler.

* Add +Recovery to Insulation Shield.
Why?

* Prevent stacking from same characters on zoning and make them last 15 minutes or until zoning.
This affects all single-target buffs and should be looked at as a global bug that needs to be fixed.

* Speed up the cast times.
Absolutely.

Dispersion Bubble:
* Replace the sleep weakness with an immobilize weakness.
I think the devs have decided that the main weakness of Force Fields is sleep and psi. Since both are related, I see it makes sense. Because you can say sleep relates 100% to mental powers, but you can't say the same for holds, disorients or immobilizes. A solid shield cannot block a mental power, and that's probably working as designed.

* Add +Recovery to all allies.
Why?

* Increase the size to the same as Force Bubble, or switch their sizes.
That would be awesome.

* Add some defense debuff resistance.
It would be interesting, but I think that debuff resistance only relates to self-powers that grant defense. Super Reflexes, for example. Even so, a minor def debuff resistance would be something.

Force Bolt:
* Add a low percentage chance to disorient, or a minor disorient.
Would make some sense, but if it does, all attacks that are blunt and do knockback would deserve the same treatment, so I don't think it's likely.

* Increase the toggle dropping ability.
Not a PvPer so I can't comment.

* Increase the knockback magnitude.
I'd say DECREASE the knockback magnitude. Maxed out, it can actually go around 50 Kb mag. It overcomes pretty much anything, and it's WAY too overpowered in my opinion.

* Add -Damage or -Resistance.
* Add more damage to the power.
* Add KnockUP Mag as well.
* Add an immobilize component against AVs/EBs/GMs only.
* Give it a 25-30 damage base.
Why?

Detention Field:
* Add a short-term placate effect to anyone that tries to attack the enemy that's detained.
Does placate makes the affected enemy unable to be targeted? That would be good.

* Change to a timed toggle power so that it can be turned off at will but is forced off if left on too long.
That would be an improvement.

* Change the graphic to where its super super obvious that thing has been detained.
Please!

* Add a power icon to the bubbler's status window to show when the field is about to lift.
That, too.

* Make the target of the field unable untargettable by anyone (possibly until 5 seconds before the power deactivate).

* Make the detained target unable to affect itself as well.
That would be a hold.

* Add -Regen to the detained target.
Why?

* Allow it to target enemies or allies.
Affecting ALLIES would be PvP, really. I'd HATE to be stuck by a power like this.

* Make Cold, Fire, Energy, and Neg. Energy attacks directed at the detained target become small radius AoEs of the same damage type - a splash effect.
Very interesting, but would it be possible?

* Change to a Mag 4 Sleep.
I'd say "Nerf!" but giving how useless the power is in PvE these days (compared to other powers), I'd not be so sure.

* Allow player attacks to "move" the detained target even if they do no damage.
So we can all play pinball, I see that...

* Change to an immobilize and adds -Accuracy to the enemy.
I'd change it to a Hold instead, where the field would smash the enemy, like Fossilize does.

* Make into a targettable AoE.
Huh?

* Make into a "reverse Personal Force Field". The enemy has high Defense and Damage Resistance but can't attack.
How that would change the problem the power is? It would make a really minor difference to be worth the trouble of changing it.

* Add damage to the Detained enemy while it's inside the field.
If the field smashes the enemy, sure.

* Increase the immobilize magnitude and add -teleport.
Immobilize mag really needs to be increased. I see Roman bosses running around with Sonic Cages on (I believe the same happens with Detention Field). They're supposed to be caged and not move, I believe.

* Reduce duration and recharge, and allow us to slot it for duration.
There are "Intangibility Enhancements" in the game that I have no idea where they can be used at. Does Phase Shift even accept them?

* Change to a toggle that has an increasing endurance cost to maintain.
I like that idea.

Repulsion Field :
* Increase the endurance cost per hit and increase the "pulse" rate of the knockback pulses, or change the pulse rate the the same as that of Repel in Kinetics.
Increasing the pulse rate = good.

* Add a knockback magnitude modifier that is based on the radius distance away from the PBAoE; the closer to the center of the PBAoE the higher the magnitude of the KB.
I think that would be tricky, code-wise. But it looks like +Pie, too. It wouldn't change the power much, if at all.

* Either increase the magnitude to make it more powerful or decrease it to make it knockdown.
I think the mag is good the way it is now.

* Add a small percent chance to disorient or a +Slow effect to enemies.
Repel would demand the same benefits. And why +Slow?

* Add a "negative Power Boost" effect: reduces all enemy effects i.e. mez durations, defense buffs, heals, etc.
Why?

* Give it a larger radius but decrease the pulse rate.
* Alternatively, make it half the size of Dispersion Bubble and increase the knockback magnitude.
I'd vote against that. For precise positioning, a small PBAoE is better.

* Change it to a PBAoE click power that disorients and knocks back all foes.
I don't see the repulsion hit is strong enough to disorient. I can understand Force Bolt with disorient, but not this power.

* Change into a Defender version of Bonfire: It would be a placeable AoE knockback object.
That would be very useful in some situations. I'd say, in more situations that the power currently can be useful for.

* Change it into a pet that follows you and has it's own PBAoE Repel ability.
Eek! I bet it's gonna be suicidal. I vote no.

* Give it a 25-30 damage base, and add a ToHit check.
Same reason as disorient, I don't see the hit being strong enough to cause damage.

* Add +Resistance to the user.
I'd say Defense, not Resistance. The repel effect would deflect things away more than slowing them down (and causing less damage). But maybe both would fit.

Repulsion Bomb:
* Decrease the animation and/or ca st time SUBSTANTIALLY.
Don't touch the animation. I love it. One of the best in the game. My opinion.

* Increase the chance to stun substantially, or change the knockback into knockdown.
Knockdown is already in place, and with the damage it now does, I don't think the stun check would be changed.

* Increase the recharge time of the power to 2 or 3 minutes and/or increase the endurance cost. (Assuming that one or more of the items above are done as well)
I'd hate to see that.

* Increase the damage the power does to that of a tier 1 blast.
It does better now, doesn't it?

* Change it to an AoE or cone version of Force Bolt.
I don't want another Gale power.

* Change into a Defender version of Bonfire: It would be a placeable AoE knockback object.
While I can understand the reason behind Repulsion Field to allow that, I don't see it applying to this power.

* Add a -Defense, -Resistance or -Regen.
Why?

* Change it back to ally-targeted, or fix the description in-game.
That was done already (description fix).

* Add a Transference effect.
Why?

* Make it a placeable AoE or targeted AoE with a "reverse knockback" effect that sucks all enemies towards it.
It would take away one power with an controller AoE KB capability (Force Bubble can't fit that role). While the idea is interesting, I'd see it in another new powerset, say, Force Field Armor for Tanks.

* Replace with a "Frostworks-Like Shield".
What?

* Change to a single target ranged 100% chance of Stun power.
That would change the power completely.

* Change it to be exactly like "the old Nemesis Staff".
How was it like?

Force Bubble:
* Increase the chance of knockdown/back.
I'd say increase the Repel magnitude.

* Make it give +10% Resistance to all, or 5-10% Defense bonus to the FFer.
Both would be fine. Force Bubble is already looked down upon (I respec'd it out long ago, but used it for a long time before that, too), but I wonder if a buff like this would make the power more interesting.

* Make it the same radius as Dispersion, or switch the radii of the two powers.
I think that, due to lag reasons, that would become a problem. Enemies would be able to get into melee range if the server response isn't fast enough to understand the enemy is being repelled. I already saw that happening with the current version of the power.

* Increase the magnitude of the Repel effect and/or add a +Slow component to the power.
Slow is good, while within the bubble, as Poobah said long ago in a reply to my first post here.

* Reduce the endurance cost or the recharge.
The endurance cost is not a problem, currently, I don't think. For Controller, that would be good.

* Change to a -Damage, -Speed, -Recharge, -Accuracy, -ToHit, or -Resistance aura. (Pick and choose your DeBuffs)
That makes sense. The enemy is strongly affected by a repel effect that affects most things he can do.

* Add a +ToHit or +Damage, +Regen or +Recovery to allies. (Pick and choose your Buffs)
But that would not. Why buffing teammates with a Repel aura?

* Make it exactly like Hurricane
Wouldn't it be better to say "Add a -ToHit component on it"?

* Change to a 30 second click power instead of a toggle.
That would be a nerf, IMO.

* Give all allies within +perception.
... why?

* Make mobs "stick" to the edge of the power.
That would be great.

* Make force bubble into two bubbles: Inner bubble same size as dispersion and act as FB does now, outside bubble would be the same size as FB is now, but does KD instead of repel.o Similar to the previous suggestion but: an inner bubble that pushes out, and an outer bubble that pushes in.
That would be ideal.

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This isn't possible. Knockback and knockup are the same function with the modifier that knockup is simply very low mag knockback (under 1.0 mag) because the mag determines the distance of the flight.

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Low mag KB is knockDOWN. KnockUP is a different effect.

(QR)

I've been using the /ignore_spammer, like, forever. But I eventually got tired of it. Not because I get so many spam emails on a few characters, but it's irritating to type a sequence of letters like llwwlnwlmelwn where you can not easily distinguish between uppercase "i" and lowercase "L", a lot of m's, n's, w's and the like. It's just tiring and annoying.

I should've been sending the petitions as well, but I am lazy. I want to log into the game to play, for once, not to track down 15 or so unrecognizable usernames and petition them all. Mostly because I work with computers for the whole day and my brain does not work at that level of detail when I start playing late in the evening.

/end rant

However, I have petitioned (as many here, I believe) a "Report Spam" button in the Email window, to make things just a WHOLE LOT easier and headache-free.

I don't know if the devs have a plan for that feature, but here is how I see this "Report Spam" button working. first on the player's end:

1. show a confirmation message like "Report this message as SPAM?" with a Yes/No choice, to avoid accidental reporting. Further procedures only apply if the user chooses Yes;
2. /gignore the sender;
3. send a copy of the message to the GM team, or a part of the GM team dedicated to fight spammers;
4. delete the message automatically.

On the GM's end, after receiving a spam report:

1. manual verification of the message sent. This process cannot be automated (like, automatically verifying if such message is a spam based on a few content rules and patterns), otherwise it would be easily abused.
2. if the message is NOT a spam (say, someone intentionally trying to report a non-spammer as one), just ignores it, or warns (by ingame email, maybe?) the user who reported the message.
3. if the message is clearly a SPAM, flags/blocks the sender access to the game immediately, and save the message somewhere for future use (like using it as a proof in case the sender claims not to be a spammer).

Might not be the perfect idea, but I think it covers most of the flaws that might occur in a system like that.

Thanks for listening.

My thoughts (PvE only, too.)

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Subdual – Subdual deals moderate Psionic damage and may leave the targeted foe Immobilized for a brief time. Immobilized foes cannot move but can still attack. Damage: Moderate, Recharge: Moderate

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Subdual != Subdue (from Primary) probably? So Psi Blasters have two ranged immobilizes? Both doing moderate damage? Nice, I guess. But! Subdual should probably do [u]minimal[u] damage (and not moderate, this makes blasters with two moderate [and ranged] attacks to use when mezzed) as most Blaster immobilizes, I guess. But²! If Subdual is supposed to be Subdue from Primary, what did replace the power in the Primary? Guess we'll need a Primary set power list soon.

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Telekinetic Thrust – A focused attack or intense mental power that violently sends a nearby foe flying. Deals minimal damage, but can be very effective. Damage: Minor, Recharge: Moderate

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I agree this should be the first attack, too. Because of Subdue. It does immobilize and more damage than Mental Blast (for Defenders, at least), and I don't know how Blasters feel having two immobilizes. But having a KB as first tier would add some variation to it, I think. It could be also a little downgrade (::coughnerfcough: when the blaster is mezzed and the enemy is using only ranged attacks.

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Psychic Scream -- This howl of Psionic energy resonates in the minds of all foes within its conical area of effect, inflicting moderate damage. Damage: Moderate, Recharge: Slow

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Weird that this power is in the secondary.

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World of Confusion – This toggle powers allows you to cause psionic damage and cause confusion within a group of foes, creating chaos. The chance of confusing an enemy is lower than then chance of damaging them, and it may take multiple hits to affect stronger opponents. All affected foes within the area will turn and attack each other, ignoring all heroes. You will not receive any Experience Points for foes defeated by Confused enemies. Recharge: Moderate

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Nothing much to say except the name made me laugh.

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Psychic Shockwave – Psychic Shockwave is a devastating Psionic attack that wracks the minds of all nearby foes. Affected foes may have a reduced attack rate and may be left Disoriented. Damage: High Recharge: Slow

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I'd take it only if the recharge compares to the Dom version (10s). But I wouldn't be surprised if this recharge time gets increased.

Everything would be wonderful if Latin America users were able to buy codes!

LevelUpGames doesn't sell bonus packs codes, just serial ones and cd-keys. PlayNC store does not allow us to buy anything CoH related (and Tabula Rasa/Guild Wars/etc). So, make LevelUpGames sell these special codes, like, now? They don't even sell GvE codes, which is lame. (aka: buy GvE edition of the game and get no bonus pack code, now isn't it nice?)

I already sent a ticket (to PlayNC) about that, also dealing with Character Transfer and Rename (incredible tools also unavailable to us). Now, the same happens with this new pack. It's frustrating.

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Edit: just read the post before mine now, and... that sucks, really.

I can share my own experience about it since I'm a Latin America user:

LevelUpGames (LUG from now on) "distributes" the game in Latin America, apparently. So, NCSOFT blocked users from this region to buy from their site to "enforce" them to buy directly from LUG. PlayNC site doesn't allow credit cards to be added to the account as well.

The thing is, that blocks quite a list of features:

- Character Transfer and Rename are dependable on credit cards added intto the PlayNC account. Since these accounts can not have credit cards, they can't use these two features.
- CoX store has been closed down to these users and they can't buy any serial code from the store, *but* LUG does not sell these codes other than GTCs and CD-Keys.

IMO, no matter the region I live in, I should have equal access to a game I pay to play.

Suggestions?

- Make LUG sell all bonus packs codes.
- Make LUG sells Character Rename / Transfer "tickets." Unfortunately, that would require the features to change their behavior a bit and work based on these "tickets" as well as from credit cards added into PlayNC account. So, when checking if the user has a credit card added, it should add an extra step (in case the first one failed).

Sorry if I'm digressing here. But I can't seem to find a proper place to post this. PlayNC support, as quoted in the above message, doesn't seem to want to deal with it.

Thanks for the reply! Very detailed. Most things you said indeed changed my mind, but I'll go through them one by one.

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I am a bit perplexed by your comments about repulsion bomb and force bolt, and why you feel they shouldn't have disorients. I guess you could argue the "real life" applications, but since we have no way of knowing for sure if you'd be dazed and disoriented if a large bolt of force plowed into, hurling you across the room, we can only speculate.

Now from first-hand experience I've been hit with a number of objects over the years that have knocked me off my feet and left me dazed or disoriented (like that soccer ball to the face in college, and that unfortunate incident with an old 70s telephone...), without causing serious injury (very minor damage, in game terms), so it's not completely out there as a concept. Force Bolt may not be a rock, but it IS a big ball of force. And I think getting hit with something like that *could* possibly leave one disoriented.

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IMO, two main things are responsible for disorienting a person: Sound and Impact. Hand Clap does the noisy clap thing which gets to the enemies' ears, leaving them stunned. As for impact, have Stalagmites as an example (I love how strong and impacting this power is, by the way -- it really fits as a stunner). I see it has to do with the hardness and speed the object hits you, not necessarily both at once (a soccer ball may not be hard but if it hits you at fast speed enough...), but a rock slammed at your face doesn't need much of speed to get this effect.

(As an aside: I do think Sonic Blasts should disorient foes rather than -res them, if you ask me. Oh, and Stone Melee too, but I think some powers already do that. I don't understand why Energy Melee does stuns, too, but that's subject for another topic. :P)

Force Fields are not hard, in fact, they are more like a pushing force. As a reference, you can see that from the Fantastic Four movies, where the Invisible Girl (I don't know if that's her name, we get a dubbed version here :P) has force fields. They seem mostly to push things away, rather than "knocking" them away (as in, hard-hitting them). There might be other references, but that's the only one I can think of at the moment.

However, I've seen in other super hero series, too, that force fields can be hard as glass. But the way they look in CoH doesn't suggest they're like this (well, they're even referred as "bubbles," and bubbles are everything but hard).

When I see a Force Bolt flying through a room and hitting an enemy, I do imagine a "pillow" hitting him. A pillow that gets constantly pushed towards the target and doesn't stop until the enemy is pushed back far enough: the aspect of the "force" in it. I get the same feeling about all the other FF powers in CoH, since they all look very alike.

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But then you gotta ask, what makes Force Bolt so different from the Nemesis Staff? Identical animation; both big balls of force, so why does one knockback and do lots of damage, but the other knockback with very little damage? The answer is "just cause that's the way it was designed".

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I think the devs thought the Force Bolt effect was cool as a blast, and reused it. Yeah, I think NS is lame because I see a Force Bolt being tossed, not a green energy ball (which I think was the idea of the NS). They could just have changed that effect, I suppose? I guess they got the "reusable" way of coding way too much to the letter in this case. But, again, I'm getting off-topic here, just wanted to share my thoughts about it.

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And think of Repulsion Bomb like a stun grenade -- they're not designed to hurt you, just daze and disorient you. RB is not really any different from Super Strength/Hand Clap except that it's ranged instead of PbAoE. And just so you know, the in-game text has been wrong for years. RB was originally a teammate-targeted power, but was changed to foe-targeted a number of years ago. The in-game text, unfortunately, was never changed. So I can completely conceptualize the idea of a big ball of exploding force that knocks you down and dazes you. Again, completely logical IMO.

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I had no idea RB was now enemy-based, really. So you toss it around him and his "friends" in melee range get KB'ed and stunned? At first thought I could go from "that blows!" to "hmm might find interesting tactics on that." So I'll give it more thought, maybe play with it on Test sometime, too, to see how it feels.

About the stun, I would understand if the wave impact of the Repulsion Bomb had some factor that could disorient a foe, may it be impact or sound. I do think a stunning sound could be made into repulsion force fields, or, the first burst of impact of the repelling cycle could be strong, yet having a short radius. It could be a concentrated force during that burst, which could make it for the "impact" requirement, making it able to stun an enemy. Some things to wonder about.

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Force Bubble is a completely different beast tho. This is the one that completely baffles me. There is no other power in the game like it at all; it is completely unique. The only other power in the game with a repel is Mind Control/Telekinesis, which also contains a hold and is actually quite useful. So unlike Detention Field, which is essentially like all other cage powers; Repulsion Bomb, which is similar to Hand Clap and its relatives; Force Bolt, which calls Power Push a cousin; and Repulsion Field, the red-headed stepchild of Repel, Force Bubble is like no other. Which makes its sheer and utter uselessness even more bewildering.

I mean, compare FB to the other Defender tier 9 powers. None of them you'd even consider skipping. FB is the only one that is universally reviled. Why? For exactly the same reasons no one like Repulsion Bomb and Repulsion Field -- all it does is scatter the mobs, pushes them away from the aggro controllers, and directs all their attacks on YOU. Oh, and let's not forget, like the 3 powers in the set that do nothing but (or little more than) knockback, there are too many foes that will simply ignore the repel, making the power completely useless cause that's all it does.

Now from my point of view I see Force Bubble as just that -- a giant sphere of outward-pushing force. The closest approximation in real life I can think of would be a wind tunnel. If the force exerted by the wind is so strong that you cannot move forward and all attempts to move forward simply push you back (repel) then it's logical that any physical projectiles, whether they be matter or energy, are also going to be slowed by the outward force, either not making to the target (-range) or having a reduced effect once they get there (-damage). It is also logical that your ability to accurately aim your weapon will be diminished, as the outward force could cause your projectile to alter course, missing the mark (-tohit).

Now in the event you were actually strong enough to move forward in the wind tunnel, chances are it will require great effort (-recovery/-regeneration), and be very slow going (-speed). Any kind of physical acrobatics would be impossible as you're hard pressed to just stay on your feet as it is (-fly, -jump). And since your movement rate and agility is so hampered by the force of the wind, you're a lot easier to hit (-def). You could also say that any projectiles traveling in the same direction as the wind are going to be accelerated, and consequently do more damage (-resistance). All of this would of course be in addition to all the detriments you'd suffer by just being at the edge of the wind tunnel (-range, -damage, -tohit).

Another way of visualizing Force Bubble would be like a giant ball of Jell-0™ brand gelatin dessert (only without the Cos). Most would never be able to enter the ball at all, and trying to shoot projectiles into the ball would prove difficult and highly inaccurate. And if you were strong enough to actually fight your way thru the goo, you're going to be moving very slowly, with very little agility, and expending a lot of energy to do it.

Either way you look at it, Force Bubble should be doing a lot more than simply pushing foes away from you. Any foe at the edge of the bubble should have their attacks severely debuffed in terms of range and damage (and though there should be a -tohit like in beta, -tohit is in essence +def, and I really don't think the set needs any more +def than it already has). And any foe that is strong enough to enter the bubble should have the rest of debuff library placed on them, as the bubble's force should not be binary (either you can enter or you can't), but should be constantly applying pressure to foes that are able to move through it.

Yes it's a lot of debuffs for one power to have, but here's the key to making it work without being overpowered -- the lesser debuffs like -range and -damage are only applied to those foes that can't enter the bubble, while the greater debuffs like -speed, -regen, -def, etc. are only applied to the stronger foes that resist the repel effect, mostly EBs, AVs, and GMs. This makes the power less effective against weaker foes, and more effective against harder foes, keeping things balanced. It's a lot like the changes Castle just made to Stalker's Assassin Strike. If nothing else, this would make the power a must-have for all FF Defenders, as it would be the only power in the set with foe debuffs, and the only thing they can bring to the table when fighting difficult foes. Not to mention bringing it in line with other Defender tier-9 powers.

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That was really insightful. I think I was thinking too much only about at the repelling abilities of it. I can agree with everything you mentioned about it, but...

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Do I have any expectation of a change like this being implemented? Not a chance.

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I keep all my hopes up until a dev comes and says "we're not doing that." As far as noone of them aren't saying that -- so far -- I can only keep my hopes up.

Adding up something as for my post-50 FF Defender experience, I totally turned him into an Offender. His secondary is /Energy Blast, and I had a lot of fun filling my attacks with Force feedback: Chance for +Recharge enhancements (and some other enhancement that has Chance to Hold on single-target attacks) and playing like I have Hasten on most of the time. And I don't even have Hasten itself. The point in that, though, is that he's way more fun to play now as a (weak) Blaster rather than as a Defender. And I (and probably many other players out there) thought it was supposed to be the other way around.

I'd take a whole lot of time reading all the posts on this topic so I'll just add my two cents. I have a 50 FF Defender which I would love getting some improvement..

PFF: no changes.

Dispersion, Insulation Shields: make the cast times and recharges the same as sonic rings would be too much? I feel that bubbling many people in a team is a slow process, at least slower than applying sonic rings on them.

Detention Field: Even with the changes to the bubble effect, it's not as noticeable as the new Sonic Cage (which is really flashy and can really tell the enemy is "caged"). So my only suggestion here is just to make the effect noticeable - for good.

Force Bolt: Fine as it is. No disorient, please! It's a force field, not a rock. It *pushes* you, not *hits* you. It does almost no damage for that reason. Disorienting is moving away from the concept of the power.

Dispersion Bubble: I'd love to have Sleep protection on it but I see it's unlikely (yet I'll mention it, anyway :P).

Repulsion Field: It's fine as it is. I would *not* like to see it changed from KB to KD, for the simple reason it's a player-based repel (the Defender being the center of the effect), and since it's going to repel the enemy away, it is *supposed* to do knockback, not knockdown. If the power were supposed to knock down, the effect would have to come from below (the ground), like Ice Patch does. It's not the case with RF.

However, if I were to add something ELSE to Repulsion Field, I'd add a small resistance to the caster. As it is a repelling effect, you can imagine a material object, like a sword, slashing through it. The repelling effect from the power would reduce the speed/strength of the attack being applied, and reduce its damage. Of course, it would be applied to everything else, melee, ranged or area, even elementals (i.e., fire blasts can be slightly dissipated when hitting the force field thus decreasing its damaging effect, same with energy, and so on), but certain damage could not be resisted that way. Intangible types, for that matter, like psionic damage, since Repulsion Field repels material things.

Repulsion Bomb: I don't have any experience with this power, but I'd suggest the same resistance effect with RF, applied to the ally instead. I don't understand why it does disorient, concept-wise. If, allegedly, knocking someone back can stun them (I don't think it could, if you ask me), then by all means do it. But again, it's a force field, not a rock...

Force Bubble: I'd add Defense to everyone (allies) inside it. Let's say an enemy shoots something from outside the bubble, as the thing (a bullet, a fire ball, whatever) hits the bubble and gets deflected during that moment, having a chance of missing the target.

I am indeed thinking a lot about the concept of the power rather than anything else. That's why I don't suggest Force Bubble debuffing the enemy (i.e., -damage, as someone suggested on this topic). Force Fields are supposed to protect the team, it's not a debuff set, although you can already achieve similar results (it can decrease the -acc of the enemies by improving the allies -def) but it is just consequences of having buffs by one side (which will "debuff" the other).

Now if I didn't think of the power concept, OBVIOUSLY I'd suggest Repulsion Bomb to do KD and 100% stun, Force Bolt with stun etc etc. But it would be one effect the power, visually, isn't meant to do. That way of thinking can make the suggestions actually coherent.