Lothic

Sure we can debate which Star Trek captain was better than the others but at least none of them ever had to stoop so low as to have to drink Baldrick's water.

Is the concept I'm trying to explain really that hard to understand? We're talking about a matter of CHOICE here.

Sure if the Devs decided to apply bonuses based on Origins then my current characters would get whatever bonuses were related to their Origins by default, whether they were of any use to them or not. But unless the Devs also provided a means to allow our current characters a way to respec their Origins so that we can have the CHOICE about which Origin bonuses we'd want it would be grossly unfair to any existing character. Without that our old characters would be (through no fault of their own) out of luck if they were stuck with Origins that were for whatever reason no longer appropriate.

I think you're missing the point on how much things would change if Origins suddenly had a significant game impact like this. That's precisely why the Devs wisely DID NOT attach in-game bonuses to them. Without Origin bonuses we don't have the added headaches you seem to have no problem wanting to introduce into this game.

I'm aware you believe that the bonuses you're talking about are small enough that people would still choose Origins based on RP reasons despite these bonuses. But if that's the case then why should the Devs add bonuses like this at all? What value added would we get from it if you're basically saying they wouldn't impact on our character decisions? You can't have it both ways here. You seem to be unaware that far more people play games like this with the mindset of doing anything they can to min/max their characters' stats. Origins which grant unique bonuses are going to be picked based on which bonus works the best for their characters, not which bonuses "fit" their characters' RP concept.

As I said before if the game ALWAYS had Origin bonuses like this then it would be a fact of the game we would've all accepted as "normal" by now. But introducing something like this seven years after launch would actually be far more problematic than it would ever be fun or useful.

Origins are a non game affecting way to detail our character for RP purposes, period. Just like costume items provide no in-game bonuses neither should Origins. These things are "bonus-less" so that we are free to choose any of them we want without having to worry about (or being locked into) picking the best combinations to min/max our stats.

But it was funny that out of the few lines Lee Major was given to say in the episode just about every sentence contained the word "million" in it.

It's interesting that you would mention a relationship between Singapore and Praetoria. I've been to Singapore several times and if I were to say there was any place in real life that most reminded me of Praetoria it would be Singapore - minus the super powered people of course. The general collective organization and "vibe" I get from Praetoria's "well ordered Big Brother society" mirrors Singapore's quite well. I suppose the fact that Praetoria is mostly an island-based city state like Singapore is helps that impression as well. I wouldn't call Singapore a perfect model for say how most Americans might like to live, but I think their British-based "structured democracy" has many positive aspects that seem to be bringing peace and prosperity to that part of the world.

Enough of that tangent...

The main problem I see people talking about here is mostly a matter of choice - or more precisely the typically lack of choice most computer game players have so far suffered from. I think until games like this start allowing us total freedom to react to storylines any way we want (the Matrix, anyone?) we are always going to be confined to the few hardwired choices the Devs of the game program in. It really doesn't bother me if the choices in Praetoria are really more "political" and/or "moral" than I'd like because I already accept the idea that I really don't have complete freedom to do what I might like to do in this game anyway. It's not really a failing of CoH in particular - it's just that computer games in general aren't quite sophisticated enough to provide a truly realistic experience yet. *shrugs*

I think the theory behind getting 60 merits as a Vigilante or Rogue is that it makes up for NOT getting an alignment merit (which is technically worth 50 merits and 20 million INF if you bought one).

Like SilverAgeFan said when you think about it they aren't talking 60 complete costumes, they're just talking individual items. When you add up all the individual heads, tops, bottoms, gloves, boots and so on that could easily come out to be 60 items total for just a few "complete" costumes' worth. And that's not even considering the 3 body types as well.

It just sounds more impressive marketing-wise to say 60 costume pieces than just 5 outfits.

It doesn't really matter how "small" these bonuses might be or not. That's not really the point here.

If Devs reworked Origins to actually provide in-game bonuses like this without the ability to "respec" our Origins then yes, I would be relatively upset. Probably not upset enough to quit the game over it, but the fact that a choice I made SEVEN YEARS ago might lead to ramifications such as this is fairly unacceptable all thing considered. Why should the game allow a new character to have the benefit of factoring in this new feature but an old character not be able to?

This is precisely why the Devs have wisely chosen NOT to allow Origins to provide these kinds of bonus. I'd rather be able to roleplay ANY Origin on any character without having to worry about whether or not I'm taking full advantage of any in-game benefits. Had these bonuses existed since April, 25 2004 then this idea would not be such an issue. But adding in this new twist almost 7 years later? Why bother at this point?

So using your numbers the idea of powering through TFs fast enough to earn this badge in 2 weeks (set at 25) would be OK but having to wait a whole entire 4 weeks (for the badge set at 50) would be out of the question or considered "too much" to ask for? Forgive me if I really don't see the incredible difference an extra 2 weeks would really make in this case. *shrugs*

People who predict doom so precisely that they provide exact dates for when this supposed doom is supposed to play out are pretty much "alarmists" of one variety or another. *shrugs*

I'm sorry if this particular 50 count badge doesn't fit in with your desires for the type of badges the Devs should now be adding to the game. But frankly using the vague implication that such a badge might be "harder" to obtain at some point in the future as the main rationale for why it's a bad badge is a fairly hard position to justify, especially when you consider there have been a good number of badges (e.g. Villain for heroes, Isolator for pre-I2 characters, etc.) that have actually gotten EASIER to earn over time. Your "patterns" can be seen both ways.

My main badging character is now 1/5 done with the 50 count TF badge after only 6 days - if for some reason that pace drops off so that I don't finish the rest of it for another couple of months or so I think I can still live with that.

That's why I gave it until the end of the month to give it a little bit of wiggle room.

I can understand this game having a policy about people not talking about other superhero-based MMOs to any great detail. But I actually had a post edited one time that related to board games like chess and checkers. For all I know the very fact that I just mentioned chess and checkers again here makes me expect this post will get deleted too.

It's the classic example of where the strict interpretation of rules gets in the way of the "spirit" behind why those rules exist in the first place.

I almost have to think that there's some kind of bug that's only affecting you, or at least it's not affecting everyone. Since I crafted and slotted my rare Alpha on my main character she's probably earned at least 50-60 more shards via all sorts of means (either by rewards at the end of raids/TF/SFs or just by random drops from critter defeats).

I suppose it's possible you've been very, very unlucky with the RNG. But if you've run as much as you say you have with a rare Alpha slotted then I have to think even with very bad luck you would have gotten a few by now. Might almost be worth /petitioning it. *shrugs*

Far be it for me to claim I'm the absolute best CoH player out there. I'm quite sure there are plenty of people more skilled at it than I am. But I've gotten to the point that if I'm on a "perfectly balanced" team run by competent players I can pretty much sail through things like the STF and LRSF almost with my eyes closed. Being Level Shifted with the rare Alphas only make things like that even simpler.

The only serious challenge I can give myself now is to run TF/SFs like that with "sub-optimal" teams. Fortunately I play with a group of people who basically never discriminate for or against AT/powersets on a given team. Sure there are times when it might take an extra 10 or 20 minutes with a badly balanced team, but I really can't remember the last time I was on a team that totally failed to finish a run. That probably hasn't happened to me in like 3 or 4 years now.

I'm convinced that the "elitism" being talked about here only comes from general ignorance and inexperience with the game. People who think there's only "one best way" to play these TF/SFs simply haven't bothered to learn any other way to do it. You can really only feel sorry for those people and avoid them whenever they pop up. *shrugs*