Klatteja

I'd like to see this come to pass just to see if they'd faithfully adapt Dr. Destiny's diner scene from the very early issues of the comic.

For my soul-fueled-magic-wielding superhero-sorcerer main: Spirit Warrior

But the one I use most often, for the large part of my heroes and villains who have less-than-deadly-serious attitudes about what they do: Poor Impulse Control
(Blueside: "Oh, hey! A mission in Perez Park to kick some CoT magical@$$! Cool! I just picked up my level 8 power, so this should be cake!" ...travel... locate... attack... hospital... )
(Redside: "Hmm. While I'm here in this Mayhem Mission, lemme just stand right next to this police van while I chop it to bits... almost got it... **BOOM** ...aww, not the cell again!")

A few months ago, I picked up Tek Grrl at Big Lots for 2 bucks. A quick perusal of the cover showed it was about superheroes, the title character used super-technology that she apparently made (which is a hero/villain type I like that can only be somewhat realized in CoX), and it was the second book by that author. Also, the two books were related, sharing the same universe. A great deal, says I!

Got it home, and a deeper look soon showed, to my horror, that it was a superhero romance novel. I didn't know they existed!

Wife laughed her @$$ off, and the book is now sitting in her pile o' books to read.

My favorite name (which isn't my own) I saw years ago, once, and then never again. Likely because that character was generic'ed for the name. Sure, we're, what, T for Teens, or something? Mature? But everyone knows young kids play this game as well, so the racier names probably draw the wrong kind of GM attention, as well as being reported because you can't just change this channel. (Okay, you could change your server, but now you're just being obtuse. Or I am, since I'm typing this to a rhetorical you, which is actually me talking to me as I write thi--STOP!!)

The name?

Hedda Bobbin.

Yeah, I know, all kinds of sexist. And to be amused makes me an immature pig. Still. Bio attempted to cleverly back up the name, but I gave it only a 5 or 6 out of 10.

Just as an aside, once I had a character with a two-word name, with one of those words referring to a line in the story of the first comic book appearance of a famous Superman villain, said story being published in the '50s or maybe even the '40s. I was quite surprised and pleased that someone later came up to me and said something that let me know they "got it." Obscure references FTW!!!

I...think I'm in shock.

I only thought I was keeping track of my characters. I only thought I was recording data.

I have heard of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates.

Morons.

The sheer complexity...and it's obvious, after some examination, that many of the rules governing your processes are indeed inside your head.

You have indeed invented your own game, in the form of this Tournament (the capitalization is well-deserved!).

Unfortunately, I doubt I could play such a Tournament myself. Oh, knowing more about the rules, I'm sure I could master the ins and outs, given time and practice. But there's the rub...I don't think I'd have the time. You mentioned in an earlier post (in another thread?) that your financial situation was such that you didn't have to work; this obviously allows you to devote as much or as little time as you wish or might need to the advancement of the Tournament.

I salute you, sirrah, for your complex achievement, and find in you a kindred spirit. Alas, I fear I shall never be your peer.

Thanks for sharing your work. I won't give up on the idea of somehow using it myself, or at least some of it.

So, we're, like, limited to 6 transfers per day? 6 transfers period? Whahuh? I could swear I saw the word "unlimited" bandied about in regards to the amount of transfers one could do, as long as they're accomplished during the days specified, so I is confuzzled as to why I do 6 transfers and can then do no more. Anyone else encountering this?

My wife and I have 6 supergroups, 3 hero and 3 villain, spread across 6 servers. We just expanded to 5 more SGs on the remaining servers. We've been playing for less than 2 years, and our oldest, original SG base is completely tricked out with millions in Prestige left over. We've not bothered with any of our other bases. That's mainly because we use our bases merely and almost completely as storage warehouses. With the ability to now email items to global addresses, we're able to deliver salvage, inspirations and crafted enhancements anywhere they're needed, regardless of where they're stored. This will only improve with Going Rogue and the ability for heroes to claim items sent by villains, and vice versa.

We, too, do not miss the lack of base teleporters. There are so many ways to get where one normally wants to go that the mild inconvenience of traveling off the beaten path (Boomtown? Dark Astoria?) is next to nothing, as measured in time. And the mission transporter even helps to cut that down.

Did I mention that all of these SGs, hero and villain, are completely composed of all the characters my wife and I have made? Sure, it takes time to build it up, but consider this: just two players (or one player with two accounts) on one server with 12 character slots each can make a SG base with a large workshop room and four salvage bins immediately (immediately after one character on that server gets to level 10, that is).

Not that we don't play with others, but we do mostly duo or solo. And for the purpose we put our bases to, we don't see any need to join someone else's SG. Of course, not everyone is like us, and the OP's point, I think, was that SGs should be about (lots of) players having fun playing together. If I choose to grind, that's cool, but if you tell me to grind, forget you.

What was I sayin'? I was totally goin' somewhere with this...

Very interesting experiment, and quite fun to follow. And I learned things!

My one and only guess: $854,660,041.

Thanks.

I searched for a guide or some other helpful reference in this forum, but didn't find anything up-to-date, I think. At least I didn't find anything that looked like the computations you'll see below.

So. I'm looking at the Help tip that's accessed by clicking on the question mark located towards the upper right of both the Primary Sets page and the Secondary Sets page when building a custom character in AE. This brings up a large box, titled "Experience Value," and I've been trying to understand how the described computations work for a couple hours now. My head hurts.

For the examples used in my computations, I will use the Primary Set "Claws" and the Secondary Set "Willpower," both found in the Scrapper section.


Calculations
1. The 5 highest Alpha values of powers without beta are added to a list.

Primary powers all seem to have only an Alpha value; secondary powers all seem to have an Alpha and a Beta value. So, looking at Claws, I pick the following 5 powers, which have the highest Alpha values to be found in the set, as follows:

1. Swipe: 75.0
2. Strike: 75.0
3. Slash: 72.0
4. Focus: 105.0 (also the obligatory ranged attack)
5. Eviscerate: 69.0

2. For each power with a (sic) alpha and beta, it multiplies the top list values in the by beta, alpha times.

There appears to be a word missing between "the" and "by;" my best guess is the word is supposed to be "list." For our exercise, I've chosen 4 powers from Willpower, as follows:

1. High Pain Tolerance: Alpha = 3.0; Beta = 0.067
2. Mind Over Body: Alpha = 3.0; Beta = 0.067
3. Fast Healing: Alpha = 3.0; Beta = 0.033
4. Resurgence: Alpha = 5.0; Beta = 0.400

Here's where my confusion first starts. Let's take the Alpha value of Swipe (75.0), then multiple it by the Beta value of High Pain Tolerance (0.067). This gives us a result of 5.025. We then multiply that by HPT's Alpha value (3.0) to get 15.075. To the best of my understanding. the computation is correctly done according to the instructions given so far.

We carry this out, multiplying the Alpha value of each Primary power by the Beta value of HPT, then multiplying the result by the Alpha value of HPT. We repeat this process for all 5 Primary powers, using all 4 Secondary powers, and we should end up with a total of 20 calculated numbers.

15.075 + 15.075 + 14.472 + 21.105 + 13.869 = 79.596
15.075 + 15.075 + 14.472 + 21.105 + 13.869 = 79.596
7.425 + 7.425 + 7.128 + 10.395 + 6.831 = 39.204
150.0 + 150.0 + 144.0 + 210.0 + 138.0 = 792.0

3. The total value of the list is summed.

We then add all those numbers together to get a grand total, which for me came out to be:
79.596 + 79.596 + 39.204 + 792.0 = 990.396.

4. That (sic) sum of the list is divided against a standard point value determined by rank and value of the custom character:

Percent XP = List Total/Point Value

If level is less than 20: Point Value = (Rank Value + level/20 x Rank Value)/2
Otherwise: Point Value = Rank Value + (level-20)/30 x Rank Value x 0.2

Rank Value Table:
Minions: 250
Lieutenants: 340
Bosses: 430
Higher: 450

So, having gotten to this point, I attempt to calculate the XP percentage of a level 50 Lieutenant with the above powers.

Point Value = 340 + (50-20)/30 x 340 x 0.2
Point Value = 340 + 30/30 x 340 x 0.2
Point Value = 340 + 1 x 340 x 0.2
Point Value = 340 + 340 x 0.2
Point Value = 340 + 68
Point Value = 408

I plug the numbers 990.396 (the sum total of the list) and 408 (the point value of the level 50 lieutenant) into the formula:

Percent XP = List Total/Point Value
Percent XP = 990.396/408
Percent XP = 2.4274411

My math rules are only fuzzily remembered. Is that total 242% or 2.42%? I wouldn't think that XP percentage would rise above 100%, so one of two things is happening here:

1. A level 50 lieutenant with the above powers only gives 2.42% XP (highly unlikely), or
2. I have calculated incorrectly in one or more places, and perhaps have misunderstood the process completely.

Has anyone else tried to follow these calculations? And succeeded in getting the correct answer(s)? If so, I'd really like you to chime in and correct me, please. I know I'm doing something wrong; I just don't know where.

Thanks for any and all help, feedback and comments.

Yay, necro-post time!

Ice/Earth has been mentioned a few times in this particular thread. What about Earth/Ice? I would mostly solo, frequently duo, and only occasionally team. This won't be a Badge toon, or one to run Task Forces/etc. Don't need an AV killer. Just curious how well these two might mesh, if at all, for a concept I'm working on.

Everyone knows (or should) that the Raptor Pack is a temporary power that allows a character to fly, albeit somewhat slowly. Said Raptor Pack is obtainable by completing 3 radio/newspaper missions and then successfully completing a Safeguard/Mayhem mission before level 10 (at level 10, I believe the Zero-G pack is awarded because the Safeguard/Mayhem mission offered is the Kings Row version, the next step up).

Fairly easy process. It gets you XP, Prestige if that applies, Influence or Infamy, and possibly Enhancement or Inspiration drops. Maybe Salvage drops. Don't know about recipes at that level, but I don't think so. Then, when you get the Raptor Pack, you get 2 full hours of Flight time, which you whittle away minute by minute. Lasts a good long time, in my experience; so much so that I have level 50 characters that still have time left on their original Raptor Pack (from lack of use, not because I hit level 50 inside a week).

Easier still, especially with a richer alt emailing the funds to a poorer low-level alt, a low-level character can carefully make his way to Grandville or the Shadow Shard via Peregrine Island and buy a Raptor Pack for a mere $10,000 Influence/Infamy. This also lasts 2 hours, and (correct me if I'm wrong) even a level 1 character can get this temporary power. If that character is careful.

But now it's possible to get the Jet Pack temporary power recipe, either via a drop or the auction houses. It does require 4 pieces of salvage to craft, 2 of which are Tier 3 Uncommon (!), but the real reason I'm scratching my head (okay, the real two reasons) is the crafting cost and the amount of Flight time.

$40,000 to craft? Really? Why? Why so high? For that price, you can buy four Raptor Packs, for a total Flight time of 8 hours.

Once you get the salvage and craft the recipe, you find that you only get 30 minutes of Flight time. Again, why?

I can think of only 2 sets of characters that might need either a Raptor Pack or this Jet Pack recipe: lower-level characters that haven't taken Flight yet, or characters who don't take Flight at all, and want the Raptor Pack/Jet Pack for vertical movement, during the few times they might need it.

Setting aside the idea of what the salvage might cost you, you can spend your $40,000 on 4 Raptor Packs that give you 8 hours of Flight time, or $40,000 to craft the Jet Pack recipe, which gives you 30 minutes of Flight time. For the same amount, you get only 6.25% of the Flight time (with the Jet Pack recipe) you could have had with Raptor Packs.

Don't quote me, but I think the addition of the Jet Pack recipe is a recent thing. Who decided this useless (when you consider the alternatives) thing would be added to the game? Is this a true money sink? Anyone who does the math won't craft the Jet Pack recipe, therefore I submit that the addition of the Jet Pack recipe was a waste of time, no matter that it likely took very little time to actually cobble it together (probably the Dev effort could be measured in minutes).

Again, and yet again, I ask: why?

Does anyone know the reasoning behind this?

Ladies and gentlemen, this finale was what it was due to, IMO, a conglomeration of things:

1. The writing. Wasn't always good; even its "best" may not rank anywhere near the top of television writing excellence. Even so, the writers and creators (here I'm including all creative forces behind the camera) delivered an experience to be remembered.

2. The acting. Again, wasn't always good. But the actors also delivered that special experience. We came to know these people enough to care about what happened to them.

3. The audience. And here I'm not just speaking of the people who post in this board's Lost threads. I can't put into words, exactly, how the viewing audience contributed to making the show what it was, but perhaps it was the love of the true fans.

All of these things combined into something that was actually more than the sum of its parts. Maybe it's the melancholy talking, knowing that it's over, but I recall only a very few shows that are in the same category as Lost. An earlier poster mentioned a few television shows, M.A.S.H. among them. Again, I'm not saying that Lost was the best show on television ever, but it IS, again IMO, one of those rare shows that come along only once in a lifetime. Although, *heh*, I just mentioned that it's not unique in that regard...nevertheless, I stand by my statement. Once-In-A-Lifetime-Shows is a category, not just "The Best Show Ever and Nothing Like This Will Ever Come Along Again."

You meet thousands of people during the course of your lifetime. Only a precious few do you hold dear.

You watch hundreds of TV shows during the course of your lifetime. Only a precious few do you hold dear.

Thank you, thank you, to everyone ever involved with Lost, whether behind the camera, in front of the camera, or in front of a TV screen at home. I'm hopeful that another show will mean this much to me in the future, I'm sad that my relationship with this show is at an end, but I'm very happy and thankful that it was a part of my life.

/drama king sentimentality

P.S. I cried during the finale more than my wife did. I'm pretty sure it's one of the reasons she loves me, but I dunno; women are still a mystery to me.

Congratulations to Luminous Cowboy for being the first to locate me! I think he managed it in less than five minutes, too! I guess I'll have to find a much better hiding place or give out less helpful clues next time!

Short Notice Contest!

Between 1:00pm and 2:00pm CST today, Saturday the 15th of May, I will be holding a Hide 'N Seek Contest! It will be held in Atlas Park, and I will give clues to my location. The contest will be open only to characters level 10 and under, characters who only have the 3-month Veteran Rewards badge, or both. The prize to be awarded to the first qualified person to find me will be $50 million Influence!

Take advantage of my momentary delusion of feeling charitable! Be ready to go on the hunt at 1:00pm CST! See you soon, you lucky winner you!

Great suggestions here. I think I'll be implementing more than one of them.

Long, long ago (this is my second account, so don't be fooled by my forum registration date; I'll be hitting 4 years end of this month), the first character I got past 25 was indeed a FF/NRG defender. Deleted that one in favor of an NRG/NRG blaster (I lurves me some knockback as a mitigator!) which ended up being my first 50. Time to try that defender again.

I like the idea of a stalker starting out in Praetoria. Maybe Kinetic Melee will serve there.

As I mentioned before, I haven't actually tried the Stealth/Concealment pool. I will do so.

I will also look into a Stealth proc. I got Mids, so I'll play around.

I guess it's no real surprise that no one has done a Power Pool guide. Methinks that would be a lot of research-y type work.

Thanks, all, for all your suggestions! You've given me the basis for another 4-6 alts...you enablers, you!

/alt-itis whine

Stealth, yeah, that's what I meant to say earlier.

Now, I know a Primary or Secondary power is supposed to, by definition, be better than a Power Pool power, but is the invisibility in the Stealth pool any good? I mean, does it work, not at the level of Superior Invisibility, obviously, but good enough to spend a power choice on? Anyone have any experience with it?

To expand on the title, I have a character concept I'm contemplating (Attack of the Angry Alliterative Avenger! -- and no, that's not the concept) and I'm thinking how to reproduce it in-game. Think of the number of comic book characters who can turn invisible. You've got just a couple or so for whom invisibility is their main thing (Invisible Woman, Invisible Kid from the Legion, anyone else?) and only a very few more for whom invisibility is just another in their bag of tricks, and not the main thing brought to mind when you think of them (Martian Manhunter, uhm...).

So I want to center a character around invisibility. There're two ways to do this in-game, to my knowledge: make an Illusion controller and pick up Superior Invisibility, or dive into the Concealment power pool (something I admit I've never tried to use).

But even when your supername has the word 'invisible' in it, that doesn't give you any kind of power to kick some. Maybe that's why Invisible Kid has always seemed far less than useful; his power is nothing flashy, and he's way outclassed offensively in that group. As for Sue or J'onn, the invisibility comes with other strong powers that overshadow it, almost making it unnecessary.

So, down to my question: if I want to simulate a hero who has invisibility as a main power, would I be gimping myself to the point of unplayability to make an Illusion controller and never take any of my pet powers? Even if I did this, what possible secondary could I use to bolster my hero?

I could continue on, and in fact I've written another 3 or 4 paragraphs and then erased them several times. I'll end this post for now, and participate in any discussion there might be.

Never made a catgirl. Or a bunnygirl, either, for that matter. But the concept that hit me inna flash was so perfect, I just had to...

Humanoid pink bunnygirl in a green dress (first time I've ever used the puffy sleeves or the baggy socks, or, well, the bunny ears and tail). And I named her...



















...wait for it...



















...Hare-Trigger

Okay, knock off the groaning!

P.S. Bonus points for the first person to name the video game reference.

GAH! I haven't done an actual post-by-post count, but I believe the derail posts now outnumber the posts addressing the thread topic. Does anyone else find this a bit ironic considering that the original topic revolved around etiquette?

I don't dismiss or magnify the importance of the language issue addressed. For those who posted again and again and again on the derail side of things, my opinion is that, whatever your stance, you make it and yourself look foolish by insisting on arguing your point in this particular arena instead of starting your own particular thread on the subject.

Thanks to all those who replied to the original issue queried. You've helped me clarify the issue to my satisfaction.

Sheesh, you win, internet authorities! Unsubscribing from my own thread, a first for me. Have fun!

Thanks muchly for the replies thus far. I see a couple of things that address the things I didn't really say but that were relevant to what I was trying to say. I myself stated that (in effect) there are as many different playstyles as there are players. Someone pointed out that what drove team behavior once upon a time was no longer relevant, yet that behavior tended to persist in veteran players, mystifying new players as to why the older players insisted on behaving in such-and-such a manner.

I think the bottom line consensus (is that redundant?) is that courtesy is relative. There is no general standard of behavior/etiquette, so the team leader must communicate what he/she/it/they expects of the other players invited to the team, if the team leader holds certain things to be important. Without that communication of expectations, there is no crossing of lines as there are no lines.

As others have pointed out, whether one likes it or not, the team leader has responsibilities. Inform others of expectations. Keep the game moving. Tell others when their actions are to the detriment of the team as a whole. Do something about players who are a disruption to the well-being/fun of the team or who deliberately go against against the stated expectations.

Now me, I'm the non-confrontational type. I'd make a bad team leader, as I'd hesitate to speak up. I supposed that's why I solo (or duo) almost all of the time. When I do team, I shut up, do my best, and keep the fun of the other players in mind.

Thanks for helping me clarify in my mind both what I was trying to ask about and what players in general think about my (largely unspoken) topic.

Lastly, I'll even throw in the motivation for this post to begin with. As I said, I mostly solo or duo with my SO. With Double XP Weekend, the drive to team is high, to squeeze all possible points out of every single hour. My SO was leading a team as she's frothing at the mouth to get a villain to 50 and unlock the VEATs. The mission difficulty was set at +2 levels, and was on an outdoor map. By the 3rd mob, the team (which had run together through 2 or 3 missions previously) wiped due to either 3 mobs being too close together (and thus all 3 being aggroed) or someone on the team deciding to "heat things up" and bring the XP in faster by deliberately bringing in extra mobs.

We tried using strategy, discussed among the team, for the second go-round, but pretty much the same thing happened. I still don't know if it was because the 3 mobs were too close together or because certain players were too confident of their own abilities. The difficulty was lowered for the 3rd try, and things went much better. However, the team leader hadn't specifically settled the debate going on among the team members; she hadn't stated what she wanted the team to do. This particular mission could be ended by defeating a boss, and a player who had said nothing at all during the debates defeated the boss (who was in or near about the 5th mob) and immediately exited the mission.

The team leader and myself were incensed; this player decided for all of us to end the mission. I see now that the team leader's mistake was not clearly stating how she wanted things to go. She kicked the "offending" player and half the team seemed mystified/exasperated/unhappy with that action. The player himself asked (in tell) a few minutes after why he'd been kicked. Our perception at the time was that he knew damn well why he'd been kicked; thanks to the help from all your replies, I see now that there's a good possibility he actually didn't know, and we were just assigning selfish motivations to his behavior at the time where none actually existed.

Again, the bottom line: there is no standard behavior for teams, so the only way to avoid stepping on sensibilities or over "invisible" lines is to communicate, and that responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the team leader.

Thanks again for your help.

We all know that teaming with other players, especially with those you haven't played with before, brings together different playstyles. I'm sure most anyone on these forums can recall several bad PUGs they've been on. Hopefully they would also recall really good teams. I mostly solo myself, so I consider myself leaning towards the "hermit" side of the game. Even so, I thought I had picked up on a few "rules" (guidelines, more like, I'm sure) of etiquette when teaming.

I'll throw out an example of what I'm talking about. If it isn't your mission specifically, you don't click the glowie or otherwise end the mission without the mission-holder/team-leader's okay. There are others, to be sure, but they're probably not universal. It frustrates me when others on the team act differently than I expect them to. Not that everyone has to play like I do, but I think I try to mix courtesy in with my play when teaming, and I think I see other players not being concerned with such nonsense lately.

The real question is: have I misunderstood the way team members interact with each other? I think I've gotten "team rules" mixed up with being polite, but maybe that has no place in the middle of a fight?

I am indeed an old man with kids on my lawn, but this post isn't intended to be a whiny screed. Am I completely off-base? On-base and need to get over it already, Pops? Both? Both and something else, too?

Geez, I need my pills.

I do plan to read over the 800-someodd posts (as of this post) in this thread sometime immediately after the FDA approves the No-Sleep-EVAH pill, but for now I have a question. Has there been any word of how supergroups will operate with Going Rogue?

Will a hero in a supergroup who turns to the Dark Side stay in that same SG? And the same for villains? If so, does this mean there's a potential for having heroes and villains in the same SG?

<scratches head> The only thing I can think is that a hero turning dark and gaining access to the Rogue Isles is still a hero, so he stays in the SG he's a member of. Villains likewise.

So. Any information along these lines?

My own entry is an example of the Muse striking whenever she damn well pleases, and forget you if you're not able to keep up. I'm not tooting my own horn, just stating a fact when I say that I wrote the following in one go, BANG, in less than 5 minutes. I couldn't do this again if you put a gun to my head.

Dapper Jack Scarlet (villain; specifically, a Stalker with Dark Armor):


"My existence is naught but a swirling dark madness. I know not how long I have suffered thus, for the passing of time is a disjointed trickster for me. I snatch random moments of conscious thought from the gibbering shadows that reel about me. My senseless memories are bolts of lightning that strike and are gone. My torment is unending, yet I endure. I endure. The only act which brings me even a moment of sweet clarity is the snuffing out of a human life, I know not why or how I came to know this.

Oh, sad candle that burns so briefly! Tell me, ere the light fades from your eyes! How did I come to this? When will I be free? Why must I suffer? Why? WHY?

Curse thee, then, and thy blood that shines so. I will have none of you and your ragged shell. I am Dapper Jack Scarlet, and I have walked the nightmare shadows of this world for ages untold. All fear my hand; none can avert it. I turn even now, your pitiful screams forgotten, and hurry to my next tryst, darkness folding about me once again..."


Almost certainly inspired by the legend of Jack the Ripper, but this is probably not the same person. I think. 'Cause that would be too, what, egotistical of me? So, okay, not Springheel Jack, then.

On the other hand...