Liquid

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  1. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Liquid View Post
    There are some bugs right now-- I found some Rares that were classified as Uncommon, and Uncommons classified as Rares for the purpose of these, for some reason. I reported the ones I found. Positron did say that some enhancements might switch rarity, but these appeared to be consistent (I converted a Undermined Defenses: Recharge into an uncommon twice), and shown by the dropdown for conversion type. I don't think I got them through a random chance to get a different type, specifically because the drop down listed their rarity wrong.
    I just realized that Postron was likely referring to in-set and in-category conversions when he said uncommons might become rare. What I'm describing happened in a conversion along the rarity type.

    I just wanted to clarify that for anyone who thought that maybe Positron meant that you could get a Rare enhancement when converting an Uncommon using the rarity conversion (the cheapest one). I don't think that was what he meant, and I'm positive that what happened to me was a bug (improperly assigned rarities for conversion's sake to those specific enhancements).
  2. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Balorn View Post
    OK, you already mentioned that "regular" purples and PVP IOs are each their own "rarity" despite both showing as "very rare" (which I totally understand and agree with).

    What about the separate categories of Rare IOs? For example, will a rare from the "Mission End" pool have a chance to change to one from the "Rare Enemy Drop" pool, or vice versa, or only into another from the same drop pool?

    And are these usable on recipes, the crafted enhancements, or either?
    Based on beta testing, it doesn't currently use drop pools, just general rarity. This means that you can convert a Pool B recipe into a Pool C/D recipe (I've done this, in fact).

    There are some bugs right now-- I found some Rares that were classified as Uncommon, and Uncommons classified as Rares for the purpose of these, for some reason. I reported the ones I found. Positron did say that some enhancements might switch rarity, but these appeared to be consistent (I converted a Undermined Defenses: Recharge into an uncommon twice), and shown by the dropdown for conversion type. I don't think I got them through a random chance to get a different type, specifically because the drop down listed their rarity wrong.

    They are only usable on the crafted enhancements.
  3. I don't think reducing Brute defenses will do anything for the "we don't need a Tanker" problem, as Scrappers were serving the "good enough" role long before we got Hero Brutes. And personally, I notice a large difference in survivability between my Tankers and Brutes. I don't think there needs to be a larger defense gap.

    I think Tankers just need to be made more fun in a less "raise/lower these numbers" way, if your goal is to make them more appealing.
  4. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
    To be fair, that's just for pistols. When I say "guns," I include weapons like rifles, machine guns, shotguns, miniguns and even sci-fi energy weapons. Even I'd have a very hard time explaining why the Redding Rail Rifle - which must be something like four feet long itself - isn't useful past nine feet away from my shoulders. That's kind of why I don't just ask for ranged weapons for melee ATs - it doesn't always work.
    Yeah. I specifically want Dual Pistol Scrappers, though. It's on-topic, but not a complete solution to your problem.

    Quote:
    I'm honestly not sure what a good solution would be. I just know I want to use guns on a character who's not fragile by design. I'm not sure how that could happen in this game, but I keep wanting to see it
    You'd want a Range/Defense AT. It's doable, you just need the damage and/or defense to be lowered so that they aren't straight up better than the Melee ATs, and you'd need to buff the hell out of Blaster survivability because they freaking need it anyway.
  5. Wow, that's awesome. I'm really happy that you decided to allow these to be earned in-game. The prices look very reasonable, and I think you just found yourself an awesome merit sink there. I'm normally not a fan of random rolling, but since you're rolling within categories, I'm even thinking about using them. The drops for VIPs is a good perk to add for VIPs, too.

    Am I understanding correctly that purchasing them for merits is VIP only as well? It reads that way, but since you specifically mentioned drops for VIPs, I thought I'd ask for confirmation. I think it's a good idea to add some more VIP only perks.

    Thanks, Positron.
  6. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha View Post
    With both sides no longer exclusive, I honestly think there is little excuse not to be looking at potential new ATs.

    Note New ATs, though. Dual Pistols on a Scrapper is still a terribad idea, except as an Epic Pool. Pistols are for *shooting* people with. Yes, they are shorter ranged than other firearms, but they are still RANGED weapons. You do not scrap with them.
    9 feet is "ranged". According to this analysis, the highest accuracy for pistol use for police officers hitting their adversary was at a range of less than 9 feet (3 yards). Beyond that, accuracy was really low:

    Quote:
    The police officer's potential for hitting his adversary during armed
    confrontation has increased over the years and stands at slightly over 25% of
    the rounds fired. An assailant's skill was 11% in 1979.

    In 1990 the overall police hit potential was 19%. Where distances could be
    determined, the hit percentages at distances under 15 yards were:

    Less than 3 yards ..... 38%
    3 yards to 7 yards .. 11.5%
    7 yards to 15 yards .. 9.4%

    In 1992 the overall police hit potential was 17%. Where distances could be
    determined, the hit percentages at distances under 15 yards were:

    Less than 3 yards ..... 28%
    3 yards to 7 yards .... 11%
    7 yards to 15 yards . 4.2%
    9 feet just happens to be the range of Titan Weapons.

    Please stop acting like close quarters gunfighting is silly. It's realistic. That doesn't mean we can't have characters with 95% accuracy rates when firing from 80 feet away in our superhero game, but it does mean that we can have people that need to be within 3 yards to be accurate (which in this game means used at all-- like how Executioner's Shot has a shorter range than other shots).
  7. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cende View Post
    I asked at PAX. I've been informed he's currently working on some SOOPER SEKRIT project and is currently chained up in Pohsyb's old box.
    That's good to hear. I miss Pohsyb too, but I also think it's pretty cool that he's at Apple.
  8. Now that both Titan Weapons and Staff Fighting are giving Melee ATs sets with a larger range (I think 9 feet?) I think it's fair to revisit a Dual Pistols melee set. Sure, superheroes can fire pistols accurately from 80' away at moving targets with 95% accuracy, but in the real world, using pistols between point blank and 15 feet is common and deadliest (with point blank to 6 feet comprising 81% of the deadly encounters in that article), so there's nothing silly about the idea.

    There is also nothing unbalancing about a Pistols set for Melee characters as long as they don't get more range than Titan Weapons, Staff Fighting, Spines, or Claws (unless, of course, you feel those sets are already broken).

    That being said, the only reason I want such a set is to pair Dual Pistols with powers like SR, Regen, or Invulnerability. There are a lot of concepts to be explored there, and there's plenty of precedent in the superhero genre. If they gave us a Range/Defense AT that had lower damage and lower defense, that would fit the bill too, though I'd personally like to be up close and shoot the bad guys in the face.
  9. The Clockwork King being in his early twenties at first made me say "whaaa?" Then I realized that most characters in the superhero genre, unless specifically designed to be otherwise, are usually under 30. I just always had this impression that the Clockwork King was 40+.

    So anyway, I guess that PM lays his motivations to rest. It's not fatherly protective feelings that he has toward her if Hero 1 felt the need to mention the age difference.

    I miss Hero 1. His LinkedIn says he still works at Paragon, but we haven't heard from him in a long time, and he wasn't at the Summit.
  10. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
    Just a side note: when Castle posted about his aggro investigation with Ghost Widow, he mentioned that according to their investigation the double-hate rule was still valid. Specifically, in order for you to pull aggro away from someone else, you have to have twice the hate they do. My guess is that the original programmers put that in there because if all it took was to exceed hate by any amount, that would be exploitable (two attackers taking turns hitting a target would constantly flip aggro back and forth and confuse the AI).

    I'm assuming that's still true, although when it comes to aggro I'm not 100% certain of anything.
    Thanks, I didn't remember that part.

    If you're actively hitting them, Gauntlet is going to contribute more significantly anyway, making the aura's taunt duration irrelevant (as taunt durations from two sources don't stack, from what I remember). So the second issue is really only significant for characters with poor or no AoE, or in situations where you're trying to hold a spread out group by doing something like standing next to some of them, taunting others, and using a ranged attack on a third group.

    It sounds rare, but it just depends on what you're fighting and when. I've encountered it when exemplared below Foot Stomp on my WP Brute, and on my SR/StJ Tanker on spread out groups like Praetorian Clockwork.

    The first issue is still relevant because AAO and Invincibility provide far more than twice the hate.
  11. Quote:
    Originally Posted by boppaholic View Post
    Why does SR and WP have a bad rap for their taunt aura? According to city of data, SR's taunt aura activates every 0.5 seconds and supplies a 1 second STACKABLE taunt. Effectively making it a mag 8 taunt aura. Sure if you jump away they won't follow but while you're standing in a mob you will only have the enemy's attention.

    WP is similar. It has a paltry mag 3 taunt that lasts for 1.25 seconds and activates every 1 second. But it too is stackable. Put a couple of taunt IOs into it (or Resilient core alpha since WP doesn't have endurance issues, but has taunt issues, plus higher resistance boost). Your taunt aura would become a mag 6, making it stronger than any other set other than SR.

    I don't think you need standardization. It just makes the game more vanilla. Use taunt for herding, then enjoy your higher mag taunt aura while you stand strong in the crowd.
    Two reasons.

    First, a Scrapper with AAO or Invincibility can pull aggro off of you because Taunt Magnitude actually isn't what is used to determine who has aggro (Magnitude just determines if it's taunted at all)-- it's Taunt Duration times damage times threat (that's a very crude representation, but we were never given the exact formula, just that) that determines that. Taunt enhancements will not increase the duration (they don't increase Magnitude, not that we need it) enough to surpass them, as Scrapper AAO and Invincibility have 17 second Taunt durations.

    Second, if you are facing higher level foes, the duration is lowered, and WP and SR end up with short gaps in aggro where foes will attack other players. Yes, they can slot Taunt enhancements to increase their duration to make up for it, but no other set has to do that.
  12. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Von Krieger View Post
    GRAVITY CHANGES!
    Wow, wasn't expecting that! Awesome. My primary controller is a Gravity controller (was Grav/FF, just remade her as Grav/Time). These changes look great.

    Quote:
    Projectile speed on Propel has been upped as well. That will be ported over to other things with slow projectile speeds.
    My fiancee has been complaining about slow projectile speeds on Psi Blast for her Defender for years, and will love you forever if you speed those up.

    So don't do it! She's supposed to love me forever!

    Oh, but she'd be mad if she knew I stood between her and faster Psi projectile speeds, so I guess go ahead and do it.

    Thanks for the summary, VK!
  13. Thanks for the response and for listening, Synapse!
  14. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vox Populi View Post
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aett_Thorn View Post
    8) Standardize the aggro auras on Tankers. WP and SR have significantly reduced aggro abilities.
    Bolded for importance.
    I agree. This is really the one thing I think needs to be done more than anything else. WP was given a weaker taunt aura as a drawback to make up for all the other benefits it has, which is like giving a particular Blaster set weaker damage as a drawback. I'm not sure why SR was given the same drawback, when it's not anywhere near as comprehensive, defensively, as WP. That does explain, though, why my SR Tanker has been having trouble holding aggro. I hadn't looked up the Taunt duration on Evasion and assumed it would be closer to the other sets.

    Honestly, overall, I think Tankers are in a good spot balance-wise relative to other ATs after years of fighting to get them there. I think some tweaks to have some internal balance between Tanker powersets and some aggro control tweaks are warranted, but I'm going to disagree with calls for overall defensive or damage raises. I agree that Scrappers and Brutes mostly make Tankers irrelevant on skilled teams, and that's been the case for years, but I don't see how you could fix that without making them overpowered or step on other ATs' toes without a radical change to the AT that lots of Tanker players may not like.

    Speaking of radical changes, one thing I always wanted, to make Tankers more fun, was to remove their reliance on taunt and have a position and/or proximity-based method of protection, where attacks intended for other teammates are instead redirected at the Tanker. Something like reverse Bodyguard, but with the ToHit roll being redirected as well. I know that may not be feasible for this game, but I just thought I'd add it.

    Regardless of my opinions, good work compiling the list, Aett Thorn.
  15. Quote:
    Originally Posted by AzureSkyCiel View Post
    I just hope it finally ends the stupid "Clockwork King is a Pedo" jokes. Ya hear that, people?! She's at least eighteen!
    I always took it as a him having a platonic, father-like view of her. Otherwise, wouldn't she be his Clockwork Queen instead of Princess?
  16. Yes, thanks for putting this together Bubbawheat!
  17. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Finsplit View Post
    By the way, was anyone as jarred as I was by the mention of Penelope Yin heroside and it being "five years since all that stuff in Faultline"? Game time and real time do not belong together.
    Yeah, that was really weird. Given how slowly content comes out (not a dig on the devs, you've been pumping it out lately!) relative to real time, I think the game should be using a comic-style timeline. It probably shouldn't be more than a year or two in-game since the release content.

    It explains why Penelope Yin is so grown up in Praetoria, though, if the devs have been thinking of it in real time. I always wondered about that.

    I really enjoyed SSA4 though. It's my favorite of the bunch so far, probably because the environment was so unusual.
  18. Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to PoliceWoman for nominating my arc!

    Now I have to get to work fixing it with all the feedback I got as a result of this.
  19. This is happening to me as well.

    The window also still slowly crawls up the screen when the Paragon Market is open.

    What's so special about the Inspiration window that makes it behave so differently from other windows, I wonder?
  20. I bought Titan Weapons, and I'm seriously considering the discounted character slots. I don't need them right now, I've got 3 open slots as it is, and 5 of my used slots are level 1s for concepts I haven't taken the time to play yet, but the discount is tempting.
  21. Best Arc - Villainous or Rogue

    1) Arena #456200 by @FredrikSvanberg

    2) Grunty McFisterson's Two Step Guide to Winning Respect #519044 by @Twoflower
  22. Best Lowbie arc:

    1st: Cole in Your Stocking #474611 by @Venture
    2nd: The Blue Devils #468738 by @Flame Kitten (aka Coulomb2)

    This was really hard, as I liked both of these two arcs for different reasons, so it was difficult to compare them.

    Does the voting end at midnight tonight or midnight tomorrow? I might be able to do one more category tomorrow if it's the latter. Sorry I didn't have more time for playing these.
  23. I should have posted this before my last one:

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Positron View Post
    Hey guys,
    I thought I'd jump in here and give some feedback on an idea that kept cropping up at the beginning of the thread:

    Costume parts for VIPs.
    Thanks for the information, Positron.

    What about costume parts for purchase for VIPs? Could you restrict the purchase of certain items in the Paragon Market to only be for VIPs, with a worst case scenario being Premiums subbing for a single month 3 years from now and then buying enough points to get all the VIP costume packs they missed?