Memphis_Bill

The three are not the same. Which is an eternal argument, it seems.
I'd strongly disagree. Stopping the exploits is certainly not a waste of time - and should be done more rapidly. People have pointed out the effect on the market (and I've benefited from that - the *common* salvage I list at 50, that usually goes for, oh, 100-1000 inf selling for 50,000-250,000?) The effect on some of the playerbase - "AE baby" is not a term of praise, after all. And getting bored with it? The last one's been around for probably a month, going from word of mouth. If the big rush was "to get a 50," well, everyone who wanted one or more probably has them.

Honestly, I think the only reason this is getting more of a spotlight *now* is that the Praetorian zones have lost some of the "new shiny" they had, so people are looking back at hero/villain zones and the "AE Farm LFM" broadcasts that announce a new exploit are being noticed again.

Which has jack-all to do with the responses. I PVP, yes. I mostly PVE. I responded specifically for PVE. Quit looking for an excuse for the idea being shot down on the grounds of anything but "It's a bad idea."

If you're looking at "With a single application of a single damage type," that's what the one shot code prevents. I got into an argument with Alpha about this a ways back, took a very low level into the RWZ, put them in rest, and let something that did a single damage type (think it was a drone) hit them.

Result, 1 HP. Even though the shot exceeded their HP. (And as a note, this is exactly what the one-shot code is designed to prevent dying from.)

Healed them up, let one of the energy blades hit them. Damage, shot of Energy, shot of Lethal - they died. (As pointed out, yes.)

Now, yes, this is an extreme example, but with enough of a level difference, non-AV NPCs can do enough damage where a PC would die from one shot. And you did say "In any way."

Just to give a counterexample, bots/ff nearly turned me off MMs all together. If you like to be particularly active, this tends not to be the set to do it in. Sticking with bots, /traps is fun (have 2-3 of those >.> ) and while I haven't paired it with bots, /storm works with my ranged Mercs pretty well.

... wha?

I think I'm the only person who mentioned PVP at all this time 'round, and there was certainly no blame there, just reiterating a suggestion that had been made before that would remove one incentive to run these.

Also,

A reduction in rewards is a mechanic already in the game, with Ouro and (IIRC) TFs. Applying it to AE wouldn't be new or shocking. Run the same arc = fewer rewards each time. Run different arcs, even in AE, full rewards. So, to be honest, you don't really have a leg to stand on there.

That's like saying we don't need to increase fuel efficiency of semis, we just need to make all cars run at 70s luxo-boat MPG levels.

So, which are you doing - showing it to a friend, or running it 5 times an hour? You can't see the difference in that? Run, finish, turn around, run immediately, finish, run again immediately, finish, run immediately, finish - I'm sorry, I like some of the arcs in the game, both dev and AE created, but there's no arc I'd do that to solely, or even mostly because I like it.

That's farming activity, no matter where it is. And I'm not coming down on farming in and of itself. In fact, you'll see it again shortly when the Winter event comes around as people try to - yes, farm - candy canes for rewards. I'll be doing that, as well, to get that Winters Gift slow resist IO for some of my characters. I won't be doing it because I just loooooove dealing with Baby Mutant and Snaptooth.

And as far as "the people who find these exploits doing what the devs should have done?" Sure. If you find an exploit, say, level 14 skulls providing 100,000 XP and INF a piece, great! /petition Reward issue in AE, send them the info. THAT is what is supposed to be done. Not "Make map, tell everyone to try to keep it quiet, PL 1-50 in an hour for the next few weeks."

And no, running an arc over and over, again, doesn't make it an exploit. The exploits, however, lead to running the exploitive *maps* over and over. Again, going back to my theoretical skulls - if they're giving normal rewards, people will run them on occasion, sure. Maybe someone will run it twice in a row to show it to someone (though they can send the arc number) or see just what I did in the mission. If they're giving 100k XP and INF for a minion? You'd better believe you'll see groups grinding that map out and restarting as fast as possible.

All the above is why I'm perfectly fine with the "5 level limit" suggested elsewhere. If someone wants to run an arc several times, they can. If someone wants to PL on that arc, it'll take them 10 days, and if they want more rewards, well, they can stick their nose out into the rest of the game world (or, yeah, go to an alt, but that will still be limited to 5 levels.)

(Edit: For one of the other PLing reasons, I'm still up for PVP-only characters that can be made @50, yes.)

In theory, they do. One of the earlier exploits mentioned locking the AE slots from accounts creating and running (IIRC - might have been creating) exploitive arcs. Whether it's all their slots, I don't know - obviously it doesn't keep them from running the OTHER peoples exploits. Then again, it has to be a paid account.

So, sure, someone could keep getting their account or arc slots locked, paying for a new copy of the game, getting that locked, etc. to get around it, but other than that....

Not exactly. The way I read what he was saying is that when the exploited arc is found, it's run almost solely or repeatedly.

Now, if he wanted to target *that,* they could put in the same sort of rule as task forces - run it again, rewards go down, run it again, rewards go down. That, of course, is easy enough to get around by having multiple copies or un/re publishing the arc, though.

My Warshades would like to argue with your reference to those as "chaff." IIRC they'd fit well with Caltrops type powers as well.


Personally, I'd like to see a set that has elements of both Healing and Recovery (call it a "wellness" set or something) in it. For powers like Psy Drain, Speed Boost and the like - there are quite a few out there.

Use the advantage of a "team-based" set and a second build. Team build = less offense, more buffs. Solo build = more room for attacks and things like Leadership and/or Fighting.

Just had that in GR, too - rescuing... gah, what was the guy's name, the hacker. ALL the TEST ambushes arrived at once. Not "Some were slowed," but I got multiple sets of dialog about the kill teams just flooding chat. Sure enough, step outside the room (since the mission goal was now "Survive the ambush" - very $*&%#$ funny) and get flattened. Sure, managed to immob them (elec/elec dom) - then got killed.

Yes, it let me finish the mission a proper way when I got back from the hospital - pulling one ambush set at a time and defeating them. But the pile-o'-ambushes? No, thanks. If I'd wanted to run solo on x8, I'd have set my difficulty there.

I'm assuming it's broken and will be fixed sometime after I19 (like around I21,) but it's still irritating.

For me, personally, I find it annoying, yes. I don't know you, so no, I'm not interested in joining your SG. That said, I'll typically just say "no thanks."

As for your tactics and reply above? You don't have to "know them personally," but there are better ways to recruit that will get you better people and a longer lasting SG. For instance, run some missions with them. See if they get along with your or not, then ask if they want to join the supergroup. That way, *they* should have an idea that it's not just some prestige farm they'll get kicked out of, and you'll know you're not getting someone you'll end up kicking a day later because they're getting on everyone else's nerves (or coming in to find they've cleared out your enhancements/salvage and sold it on the market.)

Alternately - even though it *can* be annoying, an occasional broadcast telling what your SG is, what they're interested in and that they're recruiting isn't that bad - I prefer it over getting blind SG invites, though I don't tend to reply to them.

And there's always the server boards down below. Mention you're starting an SG, what it's about, etc. and see who bites.

"Rare" and "Ultra Rare" taking time/money to get doesn't sound broken to me. That's what I think.

(Edit: And before anyone says it, no, I'm not rich. I might, if I pool *all* the INF across my heroside characters, afford some of the lower-cost PVP IOs. One, perhaps. Richest character has 300 million. Any over 100 million probably got a very lucky drop.)

*closes eyes*

Mork calling Alpha, Come In, Alpha.
Mork calling Alpha, Come in, Alpha....

Techbot's probably the most vocal I've seen on this. It would, of course, have to be an EAT and likely unlocked somehow.

The biggest issue I see with it isn't costuming - the Arachnos soldiers show they can lock parts in to a slot - but existing arcs. I mean, running the Organ Grinders or the initial RWZ arc and learning Rikti used to be... Human! *gasp!* Oh, wait, you are one and know already. Yeah. Makes lots of sense. It's harder to fit into the game world, IMHO. That aside from continual invasions and the like.

I'd say they'd have to be introduced with a further, massive change to world lore where the idea of a "good" Rikti is accepted a bit more, as opposed to seeing them as invaders (which, with Rikti invasions, well....)

Dear god, no. That's one of the things I absolutely hate about SOAs (along with the utter crap "storyline.") Now, if the split came earlier (say, 10,) no big deal. But wasting half your levels before you get to be what you chose to be irritates the hell out of me, especially with the forced respec.

Let's see.
1. It doesn't expire, unlike a temp. No getting halfway to a mission, seeing it flash, and falling to the ground.
2. It takes sets. Little extra recovery, regen, or health, and/or travel with stealth (without picking up another set,) some defense, slow or KB resist.
3. It doesn't cost you anything to craft or purchase.
4. While you might throw this under "concept," it doesn't require you to have something strapped to your back.