MaestroMavius

Getting to say I told you so is good stuff huh.


Also;

The only problem I have with the new tutorial is the fact that it sets you up to be let down if you have no prior experience with this game.

I was in Atlas and I overheard a group talking in local about wanting to see some cool things other than gangbangers, the 4 of them were all brand spanking new and had just hit level 8 on the same sewer trial team. They had all already picked up Fly so I offered to take them on a quick Giant Monster tour. I was already planning on showing my new sidekick the GM's so seemed like a good time.

We went to Croatoa first and I introduced them to Sally, then I asked them to wait by WarWitch. I found a safe spot to observe the Jack/Eochai battle and assembled the team, warning to 'not move'. They were awestruck by the fight, with all the witches lightning and all. We stood there for quite a while talking about the zone and what level they could come to it.

Then I led them to IP to pay Lusca a visit. I checked the top corner first and sure enough she was there. I neglected to warn them this time though and upon spotting the beast 3 of them charged her! After meeting them back at the Hosp and explaining that she requires a team to take down, we headed to Boomtown and tracked down Babb's.

I left them to 'play' around the skyscrapers as they were really enjoying the sensation of flying. Took a bit since he wanders but I located the big boy and assembled the team once more. After advising them to give it all they had, we attacked en masse. I knew we'd die but it'd also be the quickest way back to the door and no debt so...

After we're flattened I offer to run some missions with them. I grab a defeat boss radio and we all head to the mission. We go through without much trouble, few tips here and there regarding etiquette. One had picked Recall Friend and was 'playing' with it needlessly. Another was a Eng/Eng blaster who loved his KB and had no clue the... fallout.. his playstyle would cause on a real team. So I offered advice as we plowed through, having a great time! We get to terramis and arrest him with a quickness and the mission completes.
"Nicely done!" I announce to the team.
"Red con bosses are no pushovers." I continued.

"That's it?" One of them responds.

"Sweet I lev'd" another remarked.

"Wheres the reward window?" My friend asked.

We exited and I explained that the reward window is only for trials and TF's. explained a bit about what TF's are.

1 guy left and 1 of the others then asked...

"Can we get a mission to fight something big, like the tutorial and hydra thingy?"

Glancing up at the level 16 in my healthbar I pause for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"Yeah, I wanta fight somethin epic again!!" The other got excited.

I ended up explaining that those encounters are brand new and that, for the most part, missions and arcs/TF's are going to focus on more human sized enemies. The GM's I showed them and the higher level trials would be the only thing that could qualify as 'Epic' to them, after the intro they'd had.

The other 2 left at that point, with words of thanks and a final question about where to buy enhancements.

Standing there with my friend trying to think of what we should run, I decide to log into my level 38 and take him along on some HeroTips. Half way through the 1st mission he stands up after Resting and proclaims,
"This sucks, let go do a sewer trial!"

/Facepalm.

He's level 17 and all but 4 of those levels have been at the mouth of the Hydra...
I had to 'lie' to him at that point and tell him the sewer trial was really only meant to be ran 4 or 5 times on the same toon, that the rewards vs time spent started getting worse. He's freshly addicted to the game, so he was happy with my response. Still, it left a bad feeling in my gut.

The tutorial combined with the outta the gate Trial is a one two punch designed to WOW newcomers and returnees alike, sadly it also has the affect of letting down the newcomers once the find out the real game isn't made up of that kind of fast paced 'fun'.

I love Death from Below. It's a thrilling, quick and fun little trial. The Q makes forming one simple as pie. Sadly, I'm a 6 year vet, so I can understand what we've been given. New players can't.

From that little outing I learned that, for these 5 newbies, the tutorial and subsequent intro to the city, did very little to actually teach them anything. In the end all it really did was bring their expectations up to a level that the main content of the game can't support. Not sure how big an issue this may be in the long run, but that's my take on it.

I've run this arc a few times now Hero side, haven't ran it Redside yet. The first play I indeed failed the 1st mission. Making it close to the door before being flattened as I ran.

After that though, and knowing where the other door was, I was able to complete the mission. Which makes the arc a little more fluid since Enchida came outta nowhere the 1st play through (having not seen her up to that point)

My question is, I ran it a thrid time because someone said if you make it to the extra door but then just stand there, you'd get an animation of falling rocks.
All I got was the fade to black put you outside deal. Am I just missing it or is someone pulling my leg?

Have a few questions about my WM/Shield and this threads still new enough I didn't see the need to make another.

I'm heading into the 20's with him and can't believe how smashtastic he is! While I was replacing my dead DO's at 17 I decided this guy deserved better. This is one of those rare times for me that everything comes together so well. Concept, name, costume, powercombo, without even trying. That's how I know this is one of the rare ones I'll probably make it to 50 with.

(I have terminal altitis and spend most of my time in the 1-30 range, so I've never focused on IO's)

This guy deserves better than having to replace aging SO's. I decked him out with standard dam, acc and def IO's and picked up a -KB.
Then I filled 2 slots in Stamina with standard IO's but I paused before placing the 3rd one. The only problem this guy has so far is endurance issues. I've got endred in the toggles but with Hasten already in the build...

My question is; I looked at picking up a Perf Shift proc, but I've never bought one before so I didn't want to blow 100 million on something that would be of minimal benefit. Will the Perf Shifter proc make an impact on my drain?

Also, what other 'goodies' should I look into picking up at 20? I always say I'll wait til 30 to IO but then I never end up playing most toons past that. Are there any procs that work below 30 like the -res or something I should be looking at?

Thanks again!

Just for reference, in my office*, the 1st pic was the only one considered NSFW. :P

Welcome back.


(This was coming from the female boss mind you, "skin bad, sillouette okay" she said. *shrug*)

That's what I advised him of, to make it a temporary host. It's a battleMech that was discarded and was the only vessel avail. at the time. He didn't want a joined character/shared mind deal so he's okay with it dying at the end of his story arc. Already planning out the 'Grand Sacrifice' finale I think. Thanks for the backstory by the way!

Because it's the best fit for my concept of Breakneck Biker. Just your ordinary biker ruffian until exposure to a chemical makes his skin impervious, He's never been trained in martial arts, doesn't look right with a sword or axe and really, would just go around punching and taking hits.

That is why I'm looking forward to it, sight unseen no less.

My bet is SSA #2. It's a new month after all and even though the last one just came out, I suspect they want to normalize the release to the 1st of the month... The arc probably has us invading a base or taking it over.

Personally I'm really hoping it's Street Justice though!
Breakneck Biker has been sitting in reserve for long enough.

I just linked this to a buddy starting his first WS last night.

He came up with the name War Vessel and wants to make the concept be a Nictus using a machine as a temp. 'host'.

My question is, since Kheldians can manipulate matter and energy, would the Nictus in theory, be able to turn metal into organic and back, or is that to jarring a concept?

I encountered a bug that ended up being the most memorable cinematic moment shortly after GR. It was on my Praetorian Energy/Energy Blaster, Had just hit 20 and gone redside. Was running a tip mission, I think it was against Sky Dragon.

The mission was outside, typical steel canyon type neighborhood with a construction area in the corner. I was solo on a Blaster so I flew around searching for Dragon, He conned as an EB I think. So I Tp'd his entourage away and proceeded to get in his face, expecting the typical assassination with builtup aimed bonesmashers and Bursts. However, I'd neglected to refill my insp tray which to my dismay was empty save one blue. Then my Burst and Thrust both miss back to back. I was in trouble!

I took to the skies, hoping to make a quick retreat and circle back around to finish off my injured prey when my opponent lived up to his moniker and followed my into the clouds. I zoomed and zigged, dived and climbed trying to shake him yet he pursued.

My health flashing red, I had to lose him to regain my composure. Still I couldn't shake him, every action I took he mirrored. I climbed to the very top of a building and landed near the edge, quickly hiding behind an AC unit I waited. Wasn't long before he was on me once more. I stepped out from behind my cover and unloaded with everything I had, knocking him back a peg. I knew I wouldn't survive his counter blow at that moment so I again tried to lose him.

Flying through the air it looked as if I had indeed lost him, spotting a construction crane sticking out into the air, I took the chance and landed to rest.
I'd just kneeled when he slowly came into view, raising up above the crane before landing directly in front of me. I was vulnerable as could be, kneeled down in front of my foe, high above the street on a catwalk just big enough for us both...

I'd had enough running. I would never be able to shake this guy. I was going to go down fighting. I once more hit him with everything I had, getting a lucky shot in that stunned him right as we got to the edge of the catwalk. I used Thrust and sent him flying off the crane, not waiting for for the fall I leapt off after him, tagging Air Superiority on him as we fell just in case.

I caught myself inches before hitting the ground, raised my hand and blasted away the last of his life as he raised himself off the pavement!

It was like I was fighting a real person. That was the most adrenaline filled mission ever, not being able to lose aggro no matter what, never having a chance to stop moving.
If I'd died he probably would've reset and I'm not even sure it was a bug, his speed could've been such that I just wasn't able to break aggro range, all the same, I'd love to have more missions like that.

(Btw, anyone know what mission this is? I didn't take note of it at the time and have wanted to run it every since then.)

It quickly bacame obvious once Freedom was live that the free tier was nothing more than a 'Demo'. Restrictions are one thing but this is overboard. Not being able to give an awaken to a fallen comrade isn't an enticement to buy points, its an unneeded annoyance.

More than likely, it's not something they can easily adjust though. As I'd expect it's an all or nothing deal when it comes to trading. Giving free players the ability to drag and drop inspirations might only be possible by giving them ability to trade as well...

Still, it really makes selling friends on the game a chore.

That said, the Premium and ViP tier is rocking!! I've seen so many returnees saying how much the game has changed and after a few hours back they just went ahead and resubbed!

Mission accomplished there. Now to ensure we dial in the best level of restrictions on free players to get them feeling the same.

Years ago I made the suggestion to add a new tier of enemy, one below minion called lackey. For every Lt. spawned 3 lackeys would as well + the regular assortment of minions. They would con grey and only award a bit of influence, but plowing through the lot of them surrounding the core 'threat' would have made us feel Heroic for sure.

The points for September were rewarded with the launch of Freedom. They were included in the bank of points up to that point.

With your renewal date being the 30th, you will recieve you next set of points on the 30th.

Personally, I've wanted the arm cannon seen on the Warwork on the banner since the 1st time I saw it.

Currently I'm making a Clockwork rogue and kept going back and forth on powersets. I wanted to be a blaster but all the sets that would work, I already have toons with. I don't like repeating sets. So I relented and decided to make him an Electric scrapper instead. If I could have Beam Rifle, coming from a wrist cannon or such!

Not sure how much work that would be though, see also: SCR.

I've been dreaming up a Mech Epic AT, kind of a mesh of Kheldians and VEATs, with a human form (pilot of mech) The MechSuit then either deciding to go Melee power mode or Ranged assault mode. Only issue I see would be the sudden emergence of numerous giant HVAS sized players...

Otherwise most of the animations and rigs are already ingame and would only need minor tweaking. Also size issues in caves etc.

Hey! I like the tech mace...

It's the perfect look for one of my concepts.

Soon™


Or so the Dev's hope.

I've noticed this as well but seeing as I have Reveal, Vidiotmaps and most of the zones memorized it isn't that annoying to me.

What is annoying is the bug that gives you a blank map, with no trainers or stores or anything on it.
I've been teaching a new player the game and I noticed them heading to atlas every time they levelled. I told them that every zone has a trainer and he said this was just easier cause he knew how to find her.

I replied that the trainer would be a green icon on the map. To which they said "I don't see her"

I figured he'd either reduced his map so all the icons were squashed together, or just wasn't looking.

Then I logged in an old toon and pulled up the map to find a Tech store...

WTF.

Fix that and put Rest back in the tray at level 2!!
(I had to tell him how to find Rest at level 13 when he complained about the downtime and inquired about rolling an AT that could kneel to regain health...)

Game starts at level 12 with DO's for me.
Two Sewer runs is all it takes.
I couldn't be more pleased.

Welcome to the club

We have coffee and doughnuts on the table by the wall, provided by Zwill, and the group therapy session will begin shortly.


(Head to the last page for the 'Never remembers me' issue.)

Do you not know anyone that intends to remain here as ViP?
If you do, wouldn't it be pretty easy to have them put an alt in your SG and just sign on when/if you return?

Even if you don't know anyone that sticks around as ViP, when you return all you have to do is ask the 1st ViP near you to join and pay right quick, maybe for a million or so influence and Voila!

The risk there is they could take your 700+IO's and log out but then again, it really isn't a risk. What happens then? You leave and don't come back. Well, isn't that what your doing all by yourself?

It's only a problem because you want it to be. You need a reason not to spend the cash on tokens, any reason really, so you can justify leaving.
I'm not saying that to trivialize the emotion, fun is varied for us all, I'm just urging you not to 'leave angry' after all the good times you've had.

I'd be willing to hop on over and pay the rent whenever you pop in with just a tell, no fee needed! I freely give away millions and don't play high level so the risk is minimized.

Otherwise, may the force be with you.