Maelwys

This is my first post on these boards in years.
When I heard of the news, I dug out my old login and came back just to find the petition linky.

Lots of us 'old hands' might have moved on to new pastures over the years, but I can guarantee that we still think of this game and all you guys very fondly.

Don't give up hope folks. You're all Heroes (even the Villains!)

Has anybody got any problems with the account rename?

Every complaint I've seen (or at least taken note of - it's been a long thread!) so far has been about the global names, not the accounts...

Nobody else "sees" your Account name (for security reasons). I don't see a big deal about the account names being changed. Heck, I wouldn't mind if mine was changed to a random number, as long as I could actually remember it... I guess that's the difference between being emotionally invested in an identifying name, and just using it to log in.

In fairness, whilst the EU has definitely had less official events etc, it's also had it's share of good times. And some VERY good + helpful forum mods.

You'd think it would have been very easy to forget about us when we were over in our own forums, yet I remember War Witch and a few others popping in for a chat... and Bridger and the other mods were always willing to stick their necks out for us and escalate any major issues we brought up. There were even several occasions where we were told certain details of patches etc. several days ahead of the US.

Comparatively speaking, CoH has fantastic player-to-dev feedback for an MMO. Sure, certain developer rednames which had a reputation for being vocal on the forums have left recently (Castle, BAB(s), etc.) so things have gotten a little quieter... but a quick glance at the Community Digest page shows that we still get regular heads ups on what's going on, and we still have a chance to voice our feedback.

We might not agree with the direction things go game-wise, but we hear about it in advance, we get a chance to voice our feedback before changes goes live, etc. And unlike the forums of certain other games I could mention, posts voicing opinions which are contrary to those of the devs are not deleted, and off-topic chat is generally tolerated. Even the things that have REALLY annoyed the playerbase, like ED and i13 PVP, we've at least gotten warnings and explanations about.

The dev-player interaction is the main reason I've stayed around for so long...

Thankyou!

Ballpark figure? I'd say several thousand subs.

Though you're probably talking maybe a few thousand people who are really active across the four servers. Defiant typically has a few hundred on it at any one time during primetime, Union has a substantially higher population. Vigilance and Zukunft are the two non-English-speaking servers and tend to be very sparsely populated.

There are roughly 50-80 people on Defiant who you could call the "Vocal Minority", and AFAIK roughly the same number on Union. And I seem to recall a "Forumite" global channel somewhere in the mists of time before the website merge...

Sometimes when you log on in the evenings at primetime or at the weekend you'll see Union, and occasionally Defiant, sitting at two "busy rating" bars (yellow) at the login screen. Despite all the talk of declining populations, prior to the release of "Going Rogue" it was far less frequent to see Union at yellow, and I can't recall Defiant EVER being yellow before then. I've never seen either go to red.

Zwi, as I understand things, at this point the changes are going to happen whether we want them to or not... however, please bring a few things to the attention of whoever has made the final decision on this:

(i) Trial accounts are by their very nature temporary. PLEASE do not include these in the final EU/USA global name collision detection process (doing a preliminary collision detection run and append Username_TRIAL etc could be an option).

Allowing trial accounts to force a rename upon migrating EU accounts would open up opportunities for griefing (a NA player forcing an EU player they don't like to have to rename) and is very unfair to existing long-term EU subscribers.

(ii) After how long do "Long-term inactive accounts" become worth less than active accounts? From a financial standpoint? From an 'identity ownership'/moral standpoint? At what point should we stop treating them identically? (If I remember correctly, inactive character login names below a certain level ALREADY expire and free themselves up after a set period of time...)

There are already instances in this thread where players have stated they'd far rather play on the existing four servers than lose their current Global Name. I'm surprised that nobody has so far posted that amalgamating all servers into one global list is a logical prelude to server merges, and started panicking about low/high server populations and the possibility of losing their character names as well further down the road...

There's a reason for this.

As I'm sure you're already aware, CoH is somewhat unique in that it forces you to personally invest in your characters - you need to think about the origin, the backstory, the character development... and in more recent issues the (slow) path to incarnatehood. Prior to recent issues (with SOs and no endgame) altitis was far more common than it is today, so if anything players are currently MORE attached to their characters.

As a result, players of CoH are usually far more emotionally invested into their online identities than players of other MMOs. For this reason the Developers will encounter major hurdles if they force those players to change something that is at the core of that online identity. Their "Global name" is how players identify themselves and their friends across all their accounts - all of their emotionally invested characters... you can't get much more "core" than that.

Speaking purely for myself; I currently play on the EU server farm and have access to four servers. I don't have a NA acccount and I have played exclusively on one server since shortly after character transfers were introduced. Adding more servers to my list will have no discernable effect on my gameplay, aside from possibly seeing a few different names in my global chat channels.

By that logic, I'd far rather stay with four servers and keep my global name.

Agreed.

(Somehow I don't think I could ever picture you as SinkingSkinnyGuy...)

Signed.

Inactive/Trial accounts affected in this way wouldn't take an active player's name, so the active player could rename themselves back again immediately. Regardless on what side of the pond they're on.

A weighted-by-veteran-status method would likely be fairer, but the above would seem very easy to implement since the renaming tech is obviously already there...

Weird.

Are you running the latest version of Mids (v1.92 with Incarnate Slots from http://cohplanner.com)?
I'll append the full export, usually don't do this because it takes up so much room!

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.92
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Mutation Tanker
Primary Power Set: Electric Armor
Secondary Power Set: Dark Melee
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Charged Armor -- HO:Ribo(A), HO:Ribo(3), ResDam-I(3), ResDam-I(33), ResDam-I(33), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(40)
Level 1: Shadow Punch -- GS-Acc/Dmg(A), GS-Dam/End/Rech(7), GS-Acc/End/Rech(9), GS-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(11), GS-%Dam(36), Dmg-I(43)
Level 2: Smite -- GS-Acc/Dmg(A), GS-Dam/End/Rech(7), GS-Acc/End/Rech(9), GS-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(11), GS-%Dam(34), Hectmb-Dam%(43)
Level 4: Conductive Shield -- HO:Ribo(A), ResDam-I(5), ResDam-I(5), ImpArm-ResPsi(33)
Level 6: Static Shield -- HO:Ribo(A), ResDam-I(37), ImpArm-ResDam(37), ImpArm-ResPsi(37)
Level 8: Grounded -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), SW-ResDam/Re TP(31)
Level 12: Energize -- Numna-Heal/Rchg(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(13), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(15), Panac-Heal/Rchg(15)
Level 14: Taunt -- Mocking-Taunt/Rng(A)
Level 16: Siphon Life -- Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Hectmb-Dmg(17), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(19), Nictus-Acc/Heal(19), Nictus-Heal(34)
Level 18: Lightning Reflexes -- Run-I(A)
Level 20: Lightning Field -- FotG-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(A), FotG-Dam/End/Rech(21), FotG-ResDeb%(21), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(23), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34)
Level 22: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 24: Tough -- HO:Ribo(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(25), Aegis-Psi/Status(25), ImpArm-ResDam(27), ImpArm-ResPsi(27)
Level 26: Power Sink -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A)
Level 28: Soul Drain -- Armgdn-Dmg(A), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(29), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(31), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(46)
Level 30: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 32: Power Surge -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 35: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 38: Midnight Grasp -- GS-Acc/Dmg(A), GS-Dam/End/Rech(39), GS-Acc/End/Rech(39), GS-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(39), GS-%Dam(40), Dmg-I(40)
Level 41: Gloom -- Apoc-Dmg(A), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(42), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Apoc-Dam%(43), Cloud-%Dam(46)
Level 44: Dark Obliteration -- Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(45), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(45), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 47: Summon Widow -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(48), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(48), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg(50), S'bndAl-Build%(50)
Level 49: Darkest Night -- DampS-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(A), DampS-ToHitDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(50)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A)

The build I'm referring to is this.

Be warned though: it's very expensive due to the PvP IOs, and unlike most higher-end builds it is tailored to [+Damage and +Resistance] first and foremost rather than [+Defence and +Recharge]. To that end, I'll be taking the +45% Damage "Musculature Core Paragon" Alpha Slot.

My line of reasoning for going for +Resistance was this: OK, on a squishy soloing toon with no mez protection, going for +Defence is a good idea. It cuts down on Mez effects inflicted upon the character and (taken in isolation) +Defence is usually better mitigation than Resistance... However on a mez-protected Tanker it makes more sense to go for as much Resistance as possible because it is far, far easier to get external buffs from teammates to your Defence than to your Resistance.

Cold, FF, Empathy, Traps all grant large amounts of +Defence... versus just Sonic and Thermal for +Resistance (I don't think anyone could realistically count Kinetic's "Increase Density" due to the short duration...) Not forgetting other powers such as Vengence, Maneuvers, "Mind Link" and "Grant Cover". The Dark Miasma, Cold Domination and Storm Summoning powersets also have PBAoE toggles which grant a little of both Defence and Resistance - Defence to everything, but Resistance to only a few Damage types, and never S/L Resistance. Tohit debuffs such as those found in Dark Maisma, Radiation, Storm, Traps, etc. will also stack with Defensive Buffs... essentially, on most teams with support characters you'll be getting your Defense amplified, but it's rare to get your Resistance buffed.

Elec is better suited than most tanker primaries (Stone's Granite Armor excepted) to getting a good range of resistance, since it can hardcap itself to the three most common types of damage and get a good amount of the way towards at least another three types - 90% S/L/E, 70% Psi, 65% F/C and 50% N isn't to be sneezed at. S/L/E is common all the way through the game, and Psi damage is fairly common at endgame.

With the Dark Melee Primary, you don't even need to pick between Defense and Resistance, you can effectively have both... at least versus single-targets which is DM's forte (to concentrate your ToHit debuffs upon). When facing Multiple foes, Darkest Night and Dark Obliteration also work quite well, and you have another option in gradually sapping foes via Lightning Field and Power Sink. Versus AVs, Darkest Night's Damage debuff will probably be more helpful than its ToHit debuff due to their Debuff resistances.

No, that means turning them on initially has a cast time of 1.17 seconds (which is then further increased very slightly by Arcanatime to 1.32 seconds). The time between toggle "automatic reapplications" is denoted by the "Activate" time - Every 2 seconds for Death Shroud and Oppressive Gloom, Every 5 seconds for Cloak of Fear.

Usually Offensive toggles don't overwrite themself, and Defensive toggles usually they have a set duration that just overlaps so that you don't get mezzed by them "dropping" to re-apply themselves.

You can tell whether or not an effect of a power specifically overlaps with itself by the "Effect does not stack from same caster" tag in mids' "View --> Data View".

Cloak of Fear, Oppressive Gloom, Death Shroud are all set to "Effect does not stack from same caster" for their mez effects, but apparently not for Taunt duration (so theoretically Taunt should stack with itself like it does for Ice Armor but not Invulnerability).

I could give a few pointers, but you'd be better served by doing a quick search for posts by Dechs Kaison

It's "all you can eat" for the huge price of 5 inf, and the menu is as follows:

Egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam; spam spam spam egg and spam; spam spam spam spam spam spam baked beans spam spam spam; or Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and spam.

(And if you're fussy, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it...)

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that there's an empty lot on the side of the road.

Some enterprising young chap decides it'd be a good place to build a restaurant.

The restaurant gets built, and gradually customers start to come by.

Over time the restaurant gets more and more popular, and becomes a popular neighbourhood hangout. Those new to the area are regularly pointed in its direction as a place to have a good meal, meet people and enjoy themselves.

The builder/owner of the restaurant finds they have to hire new staff members to handle all the customers. Some of the new staff members are liked more than others, but in general, the place works. It remains popular, and the number of people coming in and out continues to grow.

Gradually over subsequent years, the number of people living in the neighbourhood starts to dwindle. But despite the reduced number of residents nearby, the restaurant continues to do business and remains popular. It's open 24/7 - You can never go inside and find it completely quiet or empty.

One day, one of the staff members (with something of a reputation for being rather short-tempered with rowdier customers) is a bit more short than usual. This shortness is noticed by another member of staff and a staff meeting is called. At the staff meeting, the owner and the other members of staff hold a vote to determine what they should do.

The short-tempered staff member hears about the vote, and unbeknownst to the rest of the staff, they change the locks on the doors of the restaurant and declare themselves the new owner. The other members of staff, including the person who originally built the restaurant, are locked out in the cold and told to take a hike.

The customers are naturally somewhat surprised by this turn of events. The "normal" thing to do would be to file a complaint with the local authorities to get the disgruntled staff member forcefully evicted, and give the restaurant back to its rightful owner... but some of the customers think that the member of staff who seized control was right to seize control, and rally against the previous staff members when they attempt to get a petition going to give to law enforcement officials. The original members of staff walk away.

The customers still go along to the restaurant the next day, but find it changed. The atmosphere isn't as easy-going as usual. There is no music playing, there are people arguing loudly in the corner, and there doesn't seem to be anyone in the kitchen or behind the till.

Suddenly a brand new restaurant, complete with an attached bar/grill, opens right across the street... staffed by all the workers who had been kicked out. Customers who venture inside find the food and atmosphere almost identical to that which they had previously enjoyed in the original restaurant.

Customers flock to the new restaurant in droves. Eventually only a few "die-hard" stragglers remain behind in the original restaurant, unwilling to move across the street and arguing that the old place is still just as good as it always was, even though it is now virtually deserted.

The new restaurant quietly takes over as the neighbourhood go-to spot.

...sound familiar to anyone?

I "get this" from the silence ban which Kendai inflicted upon myself several days ago, as well as the batch that were being fired out last night, together with with a /tell conversation that I held with Kendai as a result of the forum post I made here about the silencing, pointing out the hypocrisy of his "Silencing will be used as a last resort" statement.

I was in-channel yeserday evening when Kendai was kicked off OP status (albeit temporarily) and I saw no mention of chat lockdown - in fact I'd say that the drama level and chatter was at an all time high. Regardless, I've been logged into BOTH channels this morning for about an hour so far, and there has been precisely one line said in DE:

"[Defiant Events]DANGER: still running ITF speed run.. send me a tell for invite"

This same line was also said in DE2, along with screenful upon screenful of the usual friendly chatter: welcomes to the channel/questions about maintenance/base editing chatter/invites to SG + Coalitions/light hearted insults/complaining about housework... etc etc. Much of it from the old DE regulars and OPs. If this channel (DE2) has been setup by the same OPs you're saying were trying to lock-down off-topic chatter from DE1... I can see no evidence of that currently taking place, and I know which atmosphere I'd feel more comfortable inviting a newbie player to.

As far as I'm aware Kendai demoted all the other mods again and silenced an awful lot of people who weren't hidden. There was an "apology" posted which someone might have the logs of, but which basically said that although they were sorry how things had turned out, they acted appropriately and this is how things are going to be from now on.

"Defiant Chat Channel" and "Defiant Events 2" are currently the go-to places for those who'd rather chat or attempt to organise events without an overdose of Drama. Probably better to join both channels if you can, as unfortunately the community has gotten a little fragmented because of this.

As was pointed out in DE2 last night, if a new player joined the server they used to get pointed straight to Defiant Events, where they could find a reasonably nice + friendly bunch of folk who were willing to chat and help them out. Sadly that's no longer the case under the "new management", which has made it pretty clear that it believes the channel is for 'events only' and there is to be no 'Off Topic' chat... and even if you can sneak in a conversation under the radar, the membership numbers of Defiant Events have plummeted (due both to bans/kicks and personal choice) so you'll be talking to far fewer people.

I think quite a lot of what I was going to say on the "channel takeover" has already been said here... but I wanted to add my side of the story on what seems to have been the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back" and resulted in the other original channel ops demoting you.

Kendai, I read the PDF containing your initial (now deleted) post, which showed a log snippet in which my @Maelwys global is the one you originally silenced for OT chatter in the DE chat channel.

As my comments in the log snippet indicate: on the day in question I had just sat through a fairly intense exam, and had taken to unwinding post-exam by playing CoH. Specifically, I was duoing my way through an Ouroboros TF (the 5th Column one). I had all channel chats displayed simultaneously in the Global tab on my chat window, and was checking it in between fights (you may notice the lag in between statements by Master Zaprobo, Miss Chief and AresCrusader and my responses).

Essentially I was in fairly high spirits, chatting away and barely paying attention to whatever else was being said in-channel. In fact, I didn't even notice you silence me. I was unsilenced almost immediately afterwards, and by this point I was waist-deep in Nazis and not in the most talkative mood. The next time I checked DE chat was after the TF- considerably later in the evening.

In any case, I was completely unaware until this afternoon that I had been irritating you that day. I also had a second account online and logged into the DE channel (my duoing partner) which was NOT silenced- since I frequently flick between screens, I could quite easily have used this account to post futher OT comments without realising I was causing any annoyance to you.

This is hardly a case where silencing was "used as a last resort"... if you were getting annoyed at me and had wanted me to be quiet, a simple /tell to draw my attention to it would have sufficed. I assure you that I was merely chatting normally, and I was not intentionally attempting to derail your TF recruitment efforts.

Even so, I'm not holding any hard feelings over a silence ban. I think most people who know me in-game could attest to the fact that I'm fairly laid back and not the vindictive sort.

That said, taking it upon yourself to kick the founders/creators of a chat channel - especially over something so petty - is juvenile and completely uncalled for. I'm surprised and disappointed to see that kind of behaviour from a former op.

Recharge from the Alpha Slot isn't "global recharge".
And only a small percent of the standard "common" boost ignores E.D.

http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Alpha_Slot_Abilities

You sir, owe me a new keyboard.

I'm glad we agree on something.

Seriously.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=170438

One of the very first MoSTFs completed on Defiant, that I know of.
Back whenever we hadn't a clue what it entailed and what ATs were "best".

We had an INV Tank (Ohh no Granite)
We had a FF and a Sonic (Ohh no Heals)
We had a Rad (Heals! Waitwat? "Debuffs"?!?)

Teams exist in the game with no healer.

Even in Teams WITH a healer - well, do you think the "rad" (which was on your list of "healers") could have kept everyone on that 8-man team alive without the Sonic and FF bubbles? Even IF they had slotted up their "Radiant Aura"?

Nothing against the rad, but if we'd dropped him and gotten a Cold (so everyone'd be softcapped with Cold + FF bubbles, and we'd still have -regen) we'd have had no "Healers" at all. And the team would have gone far smoother.

Why is this even an issue?

Animated Stone can tank Infernal indefinitely. And last I checked you can hold the summoning portal (before it aggroes) to prevent it from spawning enemies.

And what relevance does this have to a Bubble/Heal Debate?

Even if you said "no mezzing the portal" - Demon Minions/LTs/Bosses have no attacks that inflict Mez, and are susceptable to Stuns (Stalagmites), slows (Quicksand) and Knockdown (Earthquake) as well as holds (Volcanic Gasses). Any decent Earth Controller could complete that challenge (albeit slowly - I'm presuming that you left Earth off the list because it's got poor ST damage and the portal is just a big bag of HP). And that's leaving aside anything from the secondary, like Cage powers or -ToHit debuffs. And Set bonuses. And the Fire EPP shield.

In Short: "Whut?"

They bring Defence.
Which is better mitigation than Healing is.

We've already been over this one.

You certainly can.

Look,
I suspect you are getting so much flack because of your definitions.

There are NO healers in this game.

Rads and Kinetics and Darks only have one Heal in their entire set, and many Empaths, Thermals, and Pain Domination players will cringe at being labelled with that term (I know I do) because even with more than one direct heal they are primarilly "buff/debuff sets" first and foremost.

There are powersets which contain heals, but NO powerset is defined by its healing potential. There are Buffers, and there are Debuffers, and there are All-Round support sets.

There are no "Healers" in CoH.

You don't call a Defender a "Healer" in the same way that you don't call a Tank a "Taunter". A Tank does much more than taunt one foe - they contribute damage, they mitigate damage, and they crowd control. Some can even inflict End Drain or Mez. A Defender does much more than Heal - even Empathy and Thermal are defined more by their buffs/debuffs than their targetted ally heals.

If you want to say that you usually don't need extra mitigation from FF bubbles whenever an Empath is already keeping everyone buffed AND healed, fine. But (i) It's the buffs that mitigate the bulk of incoming damage and the heals that just keep the health bars "nicely topped up" after the damage has already been heavilly mitigated. (ii) What will you do if the empath drops and you're the only support set left on the team? "Aid Other" isn't going to cut it, even with Dispersion Shield. You'll need those bubbles.

You can't always count on their being a "healer" on a team - and in my experience, anyone that LABELS themselves a "Healer" isn't doing much buffing... and in that situation your FF bubbles will mean that for a few seconds of your time, the Empath will have to throw out a HECK of a lot less heals to keep everyone topped up, making them have far more "free time" which will let them contribute to the team in other ways. Such as Damage.

There's a reason why you don't see "All Healer" superteams.

Endurance drain from LR, like many of the other sources, can shutoff Granite Armor fairly quickly. Granite Armor + Rooted takes longer but is still quite possible. An Empath can keep a Granite Tanker alive indefinitely through the use of Recovery Aura or Adrenaline Boost, or a Kinetic can Spam Speed Boost on them... but at that point, it's not "Heals versus bubbles" any more, it's "Other Buffs versus Bubbles"... which I'm not debating.

If you're honesty still questioning whether you should take the bubbles: of course you should. They apply an obscene amount of damage mitigation for a pittance of slots (four in total- two extra slots are needed each to ED cap Defence, or one each if you use Enzymes) and power picks (again, two). If you don't take them then, like a petless MM, you can still function but you are intentionally gimping yourself.

The simple fact is that for the vast majority of situations you can think of where heals will be useful, FF bubbles will be MORE useful. And for the few situations you can think of where FF bubbles will be superfluous, Heals will ALSO be superfluous in all but the rarest of rare occasions.

+Damage might be generally more useful than +Defence on high-end teams, but +Healing is not.

So take the darn bubbles already.

I'd be a bit wary of ruling out Empathy as a powerset.

Fortitude is a *wonderful* buff. When Powerboosted it is nothing short of Magnificent.
CM and Adrenaline Boost are lovely to have along too.
The Auras reduce downtime and keep everybody topped up nicely.
The Heals are the proverbial "icing on the cake".

I'd usually rather have a good Empath on my team than a good FF'er, if contribution from their other powersets were identical. A good Empath can get a team through virtually anything, and can certainly bring more "shinies" to a team than FF can. But it's primarilly due to their buffs, NOT their heals. Fortitude will mitigate a heck of a lot more damage over time than heals will, and it improves a team's damage output as well.

The problem is that there are so few good Empaths about.

I can count on one hand the number of Empaths I've met since joining the game which are capable of stacking Fortitude on more than two people at once. For the majority of Empaths I encounter on PUGs, I'm lucky if they have taken CM.

Heals are Pants. Empathy Isn't.

:-)

I have, many times on PUGS.

Versus Lord Recluse, versus Hamidon, versus Lusca, versus Rularuu, versus Malta, versus Babbage, versus the Psionic CW King...

But most often versus Ghost Widow.

Typically she will one-shot hold them, making Granite shut off, then they die faster than an empath can heal them- due to both the lingering DoT plus extra (unmitigated) damage from her subsequent attacks.

With FF Bubbles, leaving aside from the fact that the inital detoggling attack would also have had a far smaller chance of hitting them, such a Tanker would still have had a fairly large amount of mitigation which could not have been detoggled.

Then I believe I've already proved my view, which is that Healing is the weakest form of Damage mitigation, and that a FF'er without Bubbles is like a Petless Mastermind (whilst possible, you're basically crippling yourself and your teammates for no good reason....). In which case we have nothing more to discuss...