Lionors

[ QUOTE ]
Unlockable costume pieces and items are now available through ticket redemption at Architect Entertainment Vendors. Please Note that Unlocked content from the Architect Entertainment Vendors is solely for use within the Mission Architect system, and NOT for a Player's character's use.

[/ QUOTE ]

To me, this is the one downside of the whole rewards program.

I thoroughly enjoy the new content. I'm looking forward to writing a few arcs of my own eventually. I think it's great that recipe drops such as one would get for task forces are included, too.

However, the downside is that there's really nothing I want for rewards. I've gotten away from badge collecting and in any event, only did it with one character. I don't crunch numbers and don't bother with set collecting, so the recipes aren't of interest. There's really nothing offered as a reward to appeal to me.

The one thing I would dearly love to see added is the unlockable costume content *for characters*, not for the MA mission characters. I wouldn't care if you charged the earth for them; I'd work until I got it, and it would be *fun* besides. As it is, I enjoy the missions, but the tickets are a waste.

It's not that I can't or won't run task forces to get the costume pieces. We've run innumerable task forces over the past four years. It's simply that I've run the ones with unlockable content many times. I don't want the pieces simply given to me. I'd just like another way to earn them that didn't involve having to do the same thing over and over.

Too, with a new baby in the house, I can't commit to task forces as I once could. I know many other people who have similar time crunches which preclude them from *ever* running task forces and getting this content. We'd all be very grateful for an opportunity like this.

Please add this to the rewards mix. It would be a purely fun addition which would delight a lot of people and would cause no game balance problems whatsoever.

~Elizabeth

Thanks, Plasma!

I am seriously delinquent in doing my own research I'm afraid - been doing r/l construction for upcoming family addition. So, didn't get to make use of my beta invite this time.

Question: Does anyone know if there are any last-minute changes to the rent rate now that the issue has gone live?

Second question: Are we now allowed to have more than 18 storage units or did all the limits remain the same? Did not see a ref to it, but if teleporter amounts changed, I figured anything's possible.

Thanks!

~Elizabeth

OK, we've petitioned...

We've waited 3 and a half hours on Liberty -- again -- and have not seen a sign of a zombie attack.

We have yet to see one this week on Liberty. I know they've been there, but we've waited two and three hours several times this week and seen nothing.

I'm about to give up on the event. I got to see one raid on Pinnacle, and it was fun, but our main characters are Libside, and it's really discouraging.

Please, PLEASE...can this be fixed this weekend so those of us with limited play time can actually participate in this?

~Elizabeth

Edit: Turned out to be a five hour wait, but we did get one -- all zones all at once. Hopefully this means all fixed? Thanks.

Have not been able to get on tonight, so hoping for an update.

Has the spawn rate upped for the invasions yet or is it still 3+ hours in between? I'd love the badges, but I can't hang around for hours waiting for an invasion - just a very bad time of year workwise.

Unthrilled with invasions so far. They'd be great if we didn't end up just sitting around for hours waiting for one to happen and being unable to commit to anything extensive because of it. In three days, I've seen one; husband at four days on blueside Liberty, is still at *zero*, and he plays during normal playing hours in the evening. This is just strange.

~Elizabeth

Timing on invasions still appears to be seriously borked. We were on from 8 until almost 11:30 CDT on Liberty...not a thing. Given that this is prime time for most players, I find that a bit odd.

~Elizabeth

The good: The zombie invasion's a great idea! Also very glad about the doors.

The please fix: Please up the frequency on the zombie invasion. For those people who don't have four and five hours a night to play, it's very difficult to find. It's even harder if you play weird hours of the night and have to find a team - there may be an invasion, but if you can't get enough people together at 4 a.m., you're not getting anything but the lowbie badges. I got lucky Saturday night - my husband's hung around for seven hours over the past two days and hasn't seen a thing.

And, would please like to see more Halloween salvage, ghosts and Tier 3's.

Thanks!

~Elizabeth

The strategy for our first time through mirrored Rial's group.

We tried it once by taunting away the Nicti; didn't work. We put our heads together and decided to just bring in what we had and all of us target through our lead tank, who held the aggro and beat 'em down with whatever range we had.

Things went very smoothly after that.

However, the lack of inspirations for a mixed team is still a problem. I have not tried going to the base to see if that breaks the team, but it's a real pain (and rather silly) that we can't buy them there. Someone mentioned going to Pocket D. While you can teleport to the D and not break the team, but there's no way back to the zone.

~Elizabeth

[ QUOTE ]
I can confirm that TPing into the D does not break the team, so I would assume that the Club works the same way.

[/ QUOTE ]

Awesome. Thanks so much. We're going to run another mixed team this afternoon, and it's a lot easier to stock up that way.

~Elizabeth

One more question.

In LGTF, if you have a mixed team (hero/villain) and try to leave the zone, you get kicked from the team. Not a problem; you can buy inspirations there.

However, we've been looking around Cimerora and haven't found anyone who can sell inspirations. I'm told there are contacts inside the Midnight Club, but we weren't certain if going there would break up the team or not (and weren't going to experiment when we were on the AV of the last mission).

We decided to just do some additional mobs for the drops and combine what we got, but it would definitely have been quicker to restock, if we could.

Does anyone know if going to the Midnight Club mid-TF will break the team, and if the contacts there will sell during a TF as they will in the RWZ? Thanks.

~Elizabeth

I only noticed one massive stun, so would assume that is the case.

~Elizabeth

Did the run tonight. The original guide was great, but did want to add a 'fair warning'.

We did ours tonight with 4 tanks, 2 blasters, a /kin defender and a bots/poison MM.

We got hit much harder than expected when we approached the AVs because the NPC Imperius decided to do a Doc Delilah and charge in, thus stomping on our initial strategy.

We regrouped and implemented our initial strategy, which was to focus through one tank, let our meat walls take the heat, and whack each Nictus in turn. Worked like a charm. We did toss out some shivans and a couple of nukes, but that's about it.

So, note: *Don't* take Imperius with you on the last charge. Lose him somewhere, let him die, but don't take him with you unless you want a meltdown.

Thanks for the guide and for all the suggestions thereafter! It was a huge help!

Edit: For the record, this is a FANTASTIC task force. Lots of work, takes some strategy, but workable by thinking through it and using good teamwork - our favorite kind of TF.

~Elizabeth

Thank you!

I tried floating the furniture first, but it wasn't high enough. Finally figured out what I wanted to put there wasn't as high as the desks, so the 'float' wouldn't work just right. At least I was on the right track!

And great job on all of those - especially like the hydroponics and meditation area, although the barnyard is really original.

~Elizabeth

I know this is just a head's up, but it does bring up the issue, and it's actually one I've been wondering about since I first heard WoW was integrating voice chat.

I realize there are many people who will be helped by this; I'm a fast typist, but I understand that not all are or can be.

I can't use voice chat myself because I can't concentrate on what I'm doing. I may be one of 3 people in America who won't use a cell phone in a car unless it's a dire emergency for that very reason. For me, as with others, it also interferes with RP.

But again, that's all me, and I don't expect everyone to have the same experience I do.

I also second the concerns of how the integration of voice chat may negatively affect some aspects of the game.

I have a few friends I have stopped teaming with because they all use Vent. I've been invited to the channel, but I don't care to use it for the reasons stated above. However, because *they* are using Vent, they forget not everyone is *on* it...and it makes for some extremely boring teams because they forget to read the chat line or forget I can't hear them if they respond in the Vent channel. I love them dearly but I nearly fall asleep of boredom from the dead silence or scream in frustration because they implement something which I, of course, could not hear them plan.

If it were all as simple as just turning it off, that would be fine. How the turn-offs and the turn-ons manage to team successfully together is something different.

More than all of that, however, is the safety factor if there is no screen or voice alteration.

I'm female and I've RPed online for years. I learned quickly to be careful whom I talked to OOC, as there *are* such things as cyberstalkers. Heck, another reason I don't like Vent is that I used to work in radio and I have an appealing voice. I can deal with having friends tease me about it on a Vent channel, but I am absolutely not up to dealing with the typical teenage boy making prurient comments. I *know* my husband won't be. I doubt we'll be the only couple in that kind of position.

~Elizabeth

Kat, I have to know how you managed to place the furniture on top of the bookshelves! I struggled with that and finally gave up and left bare floor areas on the top part of this. Maybe it was just what I was trying to use.

Not precisely new, only because it takes me so long to finish some of these projects. Also realize this may not be to everyone's taste, but our Liberty base is more tech oriented. I wanted something that looked a bit like the library at the university.

Library (3x3 oversight center):

Full views:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...7-04-11-43.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...7-04-11-52.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...7-04-12-07.jpg

Upper Story:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...7-04-12-24.jpg

Underneath the loft:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...7-04-37-01.jpg

Carrels:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...7-04-24-05.jpg

Resource center:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...7-04-23-47.jpg

And for something completely different:

Dojo:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...7-04-12-38.jpg

Hangar Bay

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...7-04-13-44.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...7-04-13-59.jpg

Nothing overly impressive, but I'm definitely hooked on desks. And many thanks to Kat's guide, because that made all the difference!

Now, if I could just manage better screenshots...

~Elizabeth

Did take six tries for the 30 minute badge for me, and we didn't manage it duoing (some of which was due to operator error, I admit).

If you don't have stealth or superspeed or a stalker on your team, the 30 minute badge is not easy, but having looked at some of the other options, I have to agree what's recommended is pretty much the only choice.

Three things which helped me, and which you may want to throw in for people to consider for the 30 minute badge: 1. Solo it if at all possible if you don't have a stealth person on team. 2. The stealth empowerment buff isn't worth much, but it did make enough of a difference that I could fly by mobs without *too* much trouble. 3. Cut down travel times between the Cap and Port Oakes mission by summoning the Ouroboros portal *inside* the second mission, after the mission completes but *before* you exit the mission. Use the Ouro portal to go directly to the next mission zone from inside the second mission - the missions always came up in the same zones for me, so that wasn't a problem.

Also, the last mission always came up as the funky mission inside the Arachnos building. It had been so long since I'd run a mission in that zone, I'd forgotten about that. Urk.

I know the bit with the Ouro portal may sound silly, but it eliminated two zones - and as I finally finished with just 45 seconds left on the clock, that probably saved the badge for me.

~Elizabeth

P.S. Thanks for the guide!

Her daughter did the Synapse TF. Still not a walk in the park, but not Positron.

[ QUOTE ]
If you read the thread before replying to it, you would have read how TFs were originally meant to be time consuming, multiple play session events that were meant not for PuGs, but for groups of players who knew each other in real life or formed a stable Super Group.

[/ QUOTE ]

With all due respect, we *have* a stable supergroup; two of them. I belong to two stable villain groups as well.

Know what? We still won't have the time to commit to something like this.

Perhaps you come from another MMO, where time-consuming grinds are the meat and potatoes of the game. There's a reason people like us do not play those games. It's because we enjoy gaming but we can't commit to that kind of time. That's one BIG advantage that CoX has that other MMO's don't.

I don't know how many task forces you've done, but we've run an average of one a week for the past two and a half years. I can tell you that what was described was beyond insane for a level 16-20 task force. Synapse should take about four hours - allowing time to take breaks, chat a bit, sell off if needed, and generally proceed at a leisurely pace. That's an evening's gaming. Yes, it can be done faster, but believe it or not, not everyone goes into a task force with the idea of sprinting through it at top speed.

Very simply, such grinds are not fun, not practical and not feasible.

If anyone wishes to differ by saying 'oh, it's easy for all of you to meet at the same time each night', try having a supergroup with people who are in Australia, with people who work nights, work weekends, have young children/multiple jobs/etc. Try organizing just one event with six to eight people online over multiple days, and then get back with me as to how easy it is to do. Trust me, it's not, and frankly, *I* am not using my play time to do it.

I understand wanting to end exploiting. However, I don't see how this is doing anything but *helping* the farmers and *hurting* the people who haven't done anything at all to cause the problem.

~Elizabeth

[ QUOTE ]
High Beam
SOLUTION - Standardize all Task Forces/Strike Forces to have a Minimum Team Size requirement of 5. The LSRF and STF being the exception as they are supposed to be the pinnacle of challenge. This means that those farmers that try to roll in and farm one solo are going to face a super serious challenge. They may be able to handle mob spawn sizes of 4 but 5 I hazard to guess will thin that herd a lot more, making them a negligible minority.

SOLUTION – Revamp the older TF’s by reducing the number of pointless missions that are nothing more than padding. There is no real necessity to hunt this and hunt that and click this and click that. The Shard TF’s are overly crowded with this sort of crap and their presence adds no real value to the TF. The Villain side has that figured out pretty good.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like these solutions and agree with the assessment of the strike forces versus task forces. I'd prefer four instead of five -- again, five's easy enough on a high population server like Freedom, but is not on a low population server at off-peak hours -- but otherwise, I can go for this.

I couldn't care less about the drops and I highly doubt many others in our groups do, either. Our groups do task forces because they're a fun and easy to organize group event. Some people like the badges, some few want to get a level a little faster than usual, some will run it just to hang with the rest of the group and enjoy the company.

Above all, it's content we can all do together, no matter what the level, because we don't have to fiddle around with exemplars to do regular content. Our precious game time is spent *playing*, not having to do the song and dance which used to be necessary in the old TF days pre-auto exemplar.

As it stands, I'm not certain if we'll be able to continue task forces as events, and that would be a serious blow for our group, as well as many others, I'm sure.

Again. Please look at your baseline, your casual players, and stop discouraging those who committed no abuses from playing the game.

~Elizabeth

With all due respect, this is another change that is unnecessary and done without thinking through all the ramifications.

Several of the task forces take ENTIRELY too long to run in one comfortable sitting. Three of four of the Shadow Shard ones in particular are, and Quaterfield is the most borked and ridiculously redundant task force I've ever run. For its level, Positron is right up there. It's so long, it's not even fun as it *is* -- and that's if you run with a minimum team.

The one and only way we *ever* have time to run Quaterfield is to start it on the tail of one weekend, and have each person work on it a piece at a time until we all meet back again the next weekend. Now, that will be impossible. We were already giving up a great deal of XP and prestige just to be able to do this together. Apparently, now we're not supposed to be able to do it unless we have twelve hours to devote to a task force. We're grown, with families and responsibilities; we don't have that kind of time or inclination. That's why we *don't* play the games which require that kind of grind -- and a grind is precisely what it is.

Further, I disagree with the statement that 'the numbers required are not a problem'. They are. Perhaps they are not on high population servers, but if you play a lower population server late at night, it is if you don't have a supergroup. Try getting together even a minimum team for Positron some time at about 3 a.m. on a low population server. Good luck doing it, too.

Finally, one cannot control the fact that people DO drop out in the middle of a task force - particularly if it's a PuG. Is it fair to punish the rest of the team who's been plugging along because other members have had to leave? That's precisely what this measure does.

Positron and Quaterfield, in particular, should be thoroughly revamped in the light of this change. In addition, the Shadow Shard task forces should be reduced from an eight man to a six man team at the very most. Otherwise, this change what SHOULD be a fun event to sheer drudgery -- and trust me, we don't pay for drudgery; we go to work for that.

If abuse is going on, then please, deal with the abusers, but please STOP making changes which unfairly penalize those who *don't* abuse it and who don't have endless hours to play.

~Elizabeth

Didn't get to attend the event (we were at a real life Valentine's murder mystery dinner.)

However, for the record, I had to speak up on this -- I didn't have any problem with buying the additional pack. And THANK YOU for doing something for the RPers. Any little extra is always good.

~Elizabeth

Wow, great job!

We don't raid, either, but I do like the fusebox idea, provided it's structured along the lines suggested. There were many times during basic construction I had to pull down teleporter beacons and such in order to bring up a worktable. Could be a big help to people starting out.

~Elizabeth

Why not make a spare fusion generator and keep it in inventory? You're not charged until the item's placed.
Ditto any item which would be extremely difficult-to-impossible to replace if your base was crippled. Sure, it might be a salvage drain, but with some pre-planning, still doable.

Second the motion for a tutorial. Even a reasonably comprehensive help section would be a huge plus. I picked up the basics thanks to a base building friend and the rest has been trial, error, and what's been here.

~Elizabeth

@lionors

We have hero bases on Pinnacle and Liberty and a villain group base on Pinnacle. While I can't open up edit permissions on the live bases, we do have a base on test server and I'd be glad to open that up.

~Elizabeth