Memphis_Bill

PVP IOs, yes. Just ask those farming the IOs in BB.

Level, not sure what it'll use, zone or character levels.

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Does a Blaster have to build Domination?

[/ QUOTE ]Do you need to be seen to build domination? Don't you have an entire secondary to build domination?

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Did you read more than the first sentence? Or the other posts made on this?

My guess is no, as Domination (and Containment, as an aside) have been touched on further.

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Mind explaining how this differs from the applications of Cloaking devices in gadgets?

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Does a Blaster have to build Domination? Also, and more to the point, how many power sets have *two* invisibility powers (not power pools) in them?

How does having two (the biggest issue when it comes to Invisibility in Illusion) help with Domination in the hypothetical direct-port of Illusion to Doms that sparked this? How is it at all useful for Controllers now, with the limited real control available to Illusion?

Or, to look at it another way:

What sets up Containment in an Illusion controller, right now?
- Blind
- Flash

That's it. Spectral Wounds can take advantage of it, of course. The three pet powers - no go. The confuse - nothing. The two invisibilities - nothing.

Now, looking at it from a Dominator perspective, they don't have Containment, and post I15 buff, won't need the damage boost anyway - it'll be there all the time. Domination will help with status effects- increasing your mag, and protecting against them.

What will build it?
- Spectral, if it were left in (which I doubt, personally,)
- Blind
- Flash
Trying to recall if confuse does it, I'm thinking "no" but may be wrong there. That said, we have a whole secondary to build it with.

What would take advantage of it?
- Blind
- Flash
- Deceive.

That's a pretty weak list. Invisibility isn't buffed by it. Defense isn't. The pets aren't. So what, exactly, would be the point of even paying attention to Domination other than an END refill? Might as well just port a Controller over with GR and bring breakfrees and blues.

Thus my comment on the uselessness of having invisibility - specifically *two* invisibilities in a control set. I think it's useless as a Controller and is just as counterproductive in a theoretical Dominator. If there were just one - eh, I wouldn't care all that much, as there'd probably be something useful there that actually helps in real control instead. It's also why I did the either/or in the set writeup.

I've laid out reason for my labeling it that, which is also the reason it's combined to open up a power that would actually work with the AT.

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Invisibility does nada.

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Well, except for that whole invisibility thing.

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So it burns end and doesn't build domination.

You're not selling me on this...

Getting to the end of things...

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1st: Is it true Masterminds run at difficulty 4-5 as early as lvl1 solo?! How is that possible?!

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I wouldn't. You could, potentially, start early on, but running Invincible at level 1, no. I'm thinking people are overstating bodyguard that early.

That said, as you develop, you certainly *can* run the highest levels solo, solo AVs and the like, yes.

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2nd: Is it completely true that its not a good idea to get the personal attacks of each set? What about bodyguard mode? Wouldnt the personal attacks attract enough aggro for the mode to be useful?

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It's something to consider - early on, they can help with damage. Later on, your pets are doing more. I have one on some of my MMs, just for snagging a runner or getting attention, though Provoke will work (for tankerminding) as well.

That said - if you want one, snag it, unless something more important (a buff, debuff, pet or pet upgrade) is available.

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3rd: I dont suppose there is a way to rein in wayward minions who run headlong into melee, is there?


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Look into the macros and such available.

Petcom Def Follow. Sometimes you'll have to put them in Passive. On occasion, if they refuse to do anything, a dismiss and resummon, but that's rare.

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4th: Going more specifically into the builds now:
A) Is /FF's two starter bubbles really required with Bots? Protector Bots have a bubble they cast well enough on their own after all..

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The more def the better, IMHO... plus if you want to bubble for a team and have the bots take care of themselves, well... I'd take them.

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B) Do Mercs and Thugs do the same damage type (lethal)? I've seen how painful how resistances on it are higher up (heroside) and would like to avoid that.

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Arsonist - fire.
Brute - smashing.
And don't forget your secondary. My Thug/Poi didn't feel like the resistances slowed her down at all - unlike my MA/ Stalker, who felt like she was barely tickling the enemies.

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C) /Traps looks to be a all-or-nothing secondary to take. A lot of people swear by Acid Motar, Poison Trap, Trip Mine and even Detonator. That basically leaves nothing but a travel power, fitness pool, and very short on slots too.

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Don't recall if Poison Trap got altered like the Corruptor version. I'll let the trappers answer this for you.

I don't disagree with that at all, James. And it is part of my issue with it - it's a very hodge-podge set of powers.

While I wouldn't argue with a damage boost, you also have to realize that no two defenders are alike. What may be a nice, reasonable damage boost for an Empathy defender's secondary could be far too much for, say, Kinetics.

Also, don't forget that *everything* a Defender does with an attack has a decided secondary effect - the target's getting hit harder afterward (Sonic's -res,) or they can't hit as well, or they're getting hit more often, for instance.

Plus, given most defender *primaries,* while they may not be hitting as hard, they're generally safer - I've had my lowbie Rad defenders, for instance, standing in the middle of an enemy group "dancing" as everything around tries (and fails) to hit my character. Empathy can 'erase' damage, to an extent. Storm's a mixed bag of tricks. Obviously, some have it easier than others.

The point I'm trying to make in a roundabout way is that no single fix really works over the entire range of Defenders, just because of how varied their primaries are. I agree Vigilance could use looking at - and seeing tweaks to Domination and Defiance (and, somewhat, the Assassination/Hidden status of Stalkers,) we know the devs aren't against doing so. I'd *like* to see it tweaked to be more useful solo. But I don't want to see Defenders defined by one primary (such as "Controllers are too powerful, just look at Fire/Kin!" - despite the calls about Empathy, Defenders aren't in that situation at the moment.)

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Because, IMHO, it's two power slots that do nothing to help a Dominator, and do nothing to help get any control going.

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Tree of life get's Dom going? Or Hot Feet? Or Bonfire? Or any of the other soft controls?

Don't like 'em don't take 'em.

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Tree of life - one power out of nine, and it at least directly assists the team. The closest thing to a "wasted" power in a Plant dom/controller is Spore Burst.

Hot feet - A slow, a "keep away" power, and damage.

Bonfire - Placed area denial, KB if you want it for that, damage if you don't. Essentially a stronger Ice Slick or Earthquake (stronger as in KB instead of KD,) with Fire's Damage secondary effect as opposed to Ice's slow, or Earth's debuff.

Invisibility does nada. At least Stalkers get extra damage from theirs while hidden. Then there's the AOE fear (spectral,) which doesn't set up Containment for Controllers, and doesn't give Domination to Doms. PA and Phant also would not give Domination.

The only plus to giving Illusion to Doms, as is, is that at least they have a damage secondary and are *guaranteed* to be able to do SOMETHING while waiting for PA, and aren't reliant on Containment (set up only by Blind and Flash.) Plus at least their secondary isn't going to lose damage from that "healback" nonsense. They'd actually be useful from 1-32.

(I'm trying to keep my *extreme* dislike of Illusion as a so-called "control" set out of this. *blind*sw*blind*sw*blind*sw*blind*sw*yawn*)

I'd throw some advice around, but my mind/electrics are lowbies as well. (No reason other than working on other characters a bit more at the moment.)

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It's just annoying being actually "LoL-ed" at by pugs when I'm on my Mind Controller since Plant has more control by level 8.


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LOLed at?

I've had teams tell the *tank* to let me set things up first. The only reason it's not the first FOTM set to come to mind (heh) is Fire/Kin's insanity. And then you look redside, where Mind/ is almost worshipped.

Mind solos and teams very well. It solos *differently* from Plant.

(And as much as I like seeds, the reason it comes in earlier is (a) it's a cone and (b) it causes aggro. Confuse and Mass Confusion do not. Seeds pairs very well with /Thorn on a Dom, since you've got more damage to take out groups before Seeds wears off.)

Just put them nearby, they should (IIRC, been a bit since I had to do this) highlight the teleporter they're 'attached' to. You don't physically "attach" them to the 'porter.

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Honestly I'd rather see what they can do with Illusion as a Mastermind set myself.

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That's an alternative, but IMHO it'd really lose a lot of the flavor of Illusion (which is mildly burnt-coffee-raisin-and-almond.) The pets would end up having to be vulnerable and "real," for starters.

Turning it into a mastermind set while keeping it feeling (un)real would be an... interesting challenge.

Woohoo, I can argue with EG

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There's several other sets if you want a plain vanilla Dom. Illusion both as a Controller and as a Dominator would provide a different experience.

Take Spectral Wounds. This power is very thematic to Illusion and it a straight up blast that gives some of it's damage back. It's a signature power. It's more thematic to Dominators than to Controllers.

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But, as mentioned, it's *redundant.* Controllers can use the damage. Dominators have an entire secondary dedicated to it. (And obviously we disagree that it's thematic, or core to the set.) Plus, more control *is* needed, really. Spectral Wounds doesn't help with a runner.

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I got no beef with your suggested changes to Flash.

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Hey, hey, now - don't end up not arguing, or even agreeing. I see what you're doing, EG, trying to confuse me...

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As for making the Invisibilities exclusive, I don't see the point. The invisibilities aren't overpowered to have in conjunction as (arguably) having build up and follow up are. Again this is a place where people who just don't like Illusion should probably look to a different set. Mind provides a metric ton of control power for people who want a psi like controller.

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Because, IMHO, it's two power slots that do nothing to help a Dominator, and do nothing to help get any control going.

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Lastly, gosh darn it Bill, leave Spooky alone. Spectral Terror is Awesome.

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Thus the "pick one or the other." It's not removed, it just has an alternate available that will help you directly build domination - and actually control what it's being applied to.

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IMO Illusion works so well because hard controls aren't useful in most of the game. Where they are, they're awesome, but often the indirect controls of the PA or Spooky do a lot better for the team.

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And I obviously disagree. My Illusion controller is one of my least played characters because of how limited it feels. Waiting on PA to recharge (it's in the mid-late 20s) drives me up the wall. Having little to nothing to do in the meantime but try to spam Blind/SW and keep something confused makes it feel useless as a controller (especially when I see the pair of invisibilities.) And if I'm about to face a boss or higher, it's sit-wait-hope everything's recharged. On a team, I'm trying to herd my PA somewhere so it's actually contributing instead of scattering.

That's not control to me. *shrug* And as mentioned, a direct port does almost nothing to help with building domination, and wouldn't benefit from the changes on test.

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Hm, possibly replace Spectral Terror with:

Nightmare
Targeted AoE Sleep (Mag 3, semi-low duration), 66% chance for Mag 3 Fear, 33% chance for (an appropriate percentage) tohit debuff?

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As the alternate?

See, part of what I was trying to do with it is give ST itself to those who'd want it (wanting Illusion directly, or preferring a placed Fear AOE,) while giving an alternate for those who would prefer being "the source' of the fear.

I'm eh on the sleep, personally. I use them, yes, but a nice, relaxing nap just didn't quite click with the rest of the set Plus PA and Phant would break the sleep pretty quickly.

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Interesting idea overall, though I'm not quite sure if I like it or not.

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1. Torpor - ST Immobilize/Slow. (Much like gravity, it has a distinct slow component if the Immob doesn't take.) You slow the reflexes of your target. Like in the nightmare, if they can move, they can't do it very fast.

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It's a small thing, but whenever I see that word, I think of this. Maybe a different power name would be better?

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I was looking for something like lethargy, sluggishness and the like - without making it sound like a sleep power.

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Another Either/Or. Some folks may like Spectral Terror. It's a placed pet that does fear - but it wouldn't build domination. Me, both thematically as a Dom and mechanically to build Domination, I'd rather have Terrify or Fearsome Stare. A touch of -tohit wouldn't hurt.

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Spectral Terror already has a -tohit though.

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I was comparing to Terrify.

Inspired by a request for Illusion to be ported to doms.

Now, I'm going to start out with my biases - I think Illusion, as a direct port to doms, would suck so badly nobody would have to vacuum their houses for a decade. It would put black holes to shame. It would work roughly as well with Domination - current or new - as a sheet of lead would for a flotation device. I'm not particularly fond of it as a *controller* set, due to its lack of direct control and (IMHO) wasted powers.

That said, I have to acknowledge it is a popular set, the only "pet set" we had until Masterminds, and that people may be interested in playing it redside. I just don't think it'd work very well.

So, to start with - let's look at the Illusion Control powerset:
1 Spectral Wounds 1
2 Blind 1
3 Deceive 2
4 Flash 6
5 Superior Invisibility 8
6 Group Invisibility 12
7 Phantom Army 18
8 Spectral Terror 26
9 Phantasm 32

(That's place in set - name - level available, if it's not obvious.)

So, for control (direct) we have 3 powers. One indirect control power (Spectral Terror.) One direct damage power. Two invisibilties, and two pets. When I see this, and think of Domination, I see wasted powers.

What to do?

First, we take four things into consideration -
1. Dual Builds are available,
2. We have "exclusive" powers technology thanks to the VEATs, and
3. Some people would want to play this as is, others (like me) wouldn't.
4. Dominators have a whole secondary full of damage, unlike Controllers.

What are the problems for doms?
1. Summoning pets (1/3 of the set) doesn't build domination.
2. Being invisible doesn't build domination (2 powers.)
3. Nothing that does an Immobilize. No, this doesn't hurt Mind, but Mind has far, FAR more control available to it to deal with, say, bosses and runners.

And what defines Illusion?
1. All the pets.
2. For some... invisibility.
3. The skippability of Flash. It's a REALLY bad AOE hold.

So let's rework it. Some of this will stay the same, though the names may change -
Spectral Wounds
Blind
Deceive

So far so good. Except Doms have a damage secondary, so Spectral wouldn't really work out (IMHO) in slot 1. I have nothing against damage powers in a primary, mind you - but with a primarily-damage secondary like Doms have, well.... Let's put in something that's missing.

1. Torpor - ST Immobilize/Slow. (Much like gravity, it has a distinct slow component if the Immob doesn't take.) You slow the reflexes of your target. Like in the nightmare, if they can move, they can't do it very fast.

2. Blind.
3. Deceive.
4. Paralyze - This takes some of the duty of Spectral as well as Flash. Small AOE hold that does damage - and like Chain Induction, it can "leap" from one target to another. Plus, of course, it builds Domination. (The name's a placeholder.)

Now we come to the invisibility powers, and the first toe into the exclusivity of choices -
5a. Superior Invisibility
5b. Group Invisibility.

Just like the Controller version - but picking one means you can't pick the other.

Well, this frees up a spot for a new power! We have our ST immob, ST hold, a nice confuse, and an AOE hold. We could go for another AOE effect, of course, but we've got one coming up (just wait.) At level 12, there's generally a power that's either really useful (Ice Slick, Stalagmites) or eminently skippable (dimension shift.) Some of these can be almost set defining - heck, the entire Stalker AT gets Placate here. So, what to do.

Sometimes a Dom just has to get away. Illusion, of course, hints at deception and redirection. So let's redirect aggro. We've already got confuse at a single target, we don't want to go to mass confusion - not only do some people not like it, but there's no way it'd get into a set that's somewhat pet heavy. What we could potentially use is a decoy.

6. Decoy (pet) - Low AOE damage on summon, targeted AOE summon with taunt. Stationary. (?)

If you're getting chased, you throw out a decoy that gets the attention of anything around it and does a small AOE, letting you get some range between you and them to do whatever you want to do.

7. Phantom Army. As controller version.

This is a signature power of Illusion. I'm not changing it! Aside, perhaps, from graphics.

8. Spectral Terror / Primal Fear.

Another Either/Or. Some folks may like Spectral Terror. It's a placed pet that does fear - but it wouldn't build or be buffed by domination. Me, both thematically as a Dom and mechanically to build Domination, I'd rather have Terrify or Fearsome Stare. A touch of -tohit wouldn't hurt. And we've got a whole secondary of damage, so let's take Fearsome Stare. We'll rename it.

9. Phantasm

Yeah. Like I'd change another signature pet.

So, what do we end up with?

1. Torpor
2. Blind
3. Deceive
4. Paralyze
5a. Superior Invisibility
5b. Group Invisibility
6. Decoy
7. Phantom Army
8a. Spectral Terror
8b. Primal Fear
9. Phantasm.

Potentially three more Domination-building powers, more control, yet able to be built almost exactly like Illusion for those so inclined.

Very nice.

... must keep them in mind.

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You build your hero villian as you want and can choose to not get your self buffs, but no AT or powersets bar any hero or villian from self buffing powers.

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I'd imagine the OP is talking about certain powersets such as /Thermal where you can buff and shield your teammates but are unable to do the same to yourself.

This makes certain sets extremely unattractive to soloers. I have a Fire/Therm corruptor, and of the first 5* powers in his secondary exactly ONE of them, the tier 1, is usable if I'm not in a team due to the "Cannot Target Self" rule.

*I can't speak for the latter 4 powers, as I've yet to level up that far.

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And this is why you use dual builds. (And in many cases it's part of why I *like* the sets, now.)

Team build - heavy on the secondary, some offense.
Solo build - LOTS of room to play.

For instance, my Dark/Thermal Corruptor was fun, but irritating me a bit before dual builds. There were powers I wanted, either because I just *wanted* them or for concept, and powers I felt I had to have for teaming (shields, rez, etc.) This made it a somewhat weaker, though generally survivable, soloer.

With dual builds? The team build is somewhat weak on offense (and no, not "one attack with full secondary," she does have several attacks,) and heavy on the secondary. The solo build? Almost a full primary, the Presence pool (for the concept - needed the fears, and they're rather fun to use) and almost nothing from the secondary.

It's not quite that easy with some powersets, of course - I think very little is skippable for either build in Radiation emission, for instance - but for others, it's great.

I'll second both reading Plasma's guide as well as heading to the Kheld forums. Browse first, then post.

You are correct in that your human form powers are not available while in Nova or Dwarf form. That said, anything with a duration on it (pool powers such as Hasten, or human powers like Essence Boost or Conserve Power, will still be active for the full duration. (Warshades take advanatage of this by using both Human and Dwarf form mires.)

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Personal Opinion

I am, as always, strongly in favor of client-side filtering. Something like:
Accept email from:
o Friends
o Global Friends
0 Supergroup
**o Teammates
**0 Coalition


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I could go for this as well with the default being Friends and Global Friends (as this is what the player has the most control over).

I marked teammates; being that they really don't need to email you while you're teaming (Tells and Team chat)... plus if they're good enough to be in your email list then why not just add them to your Friends list.

And unless you coalition is a tight-knit group; I wouldn't advise that as an option either.

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Well, why are you coalitioned with them if you can't trust them?

That and I was thinking of groups like the Legion of Catgirls and Repeat Offenders (The Legion of Repeat Catgirl Offenders?) as well as just dealing with leader to leader email.

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Ok I know you say you will fix both of these but the CoP has been down 4 years.

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CoP went offline October 2006, unless my math is borked it's not been 4 years.

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It's broked.. its been down since before I came, and I came in i3 to 4 ish gotta be longer then that, and I agree with the devs corner thing XD I need a dev to post to do that though.

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Started with issue 3 here, as well.
PVP introduced (Arenas) in Issue 4.
Bases introduced with COV, issue 6.

It was online briefly, but so exploitable (and generally broken) it was taken down and has not returned. The PVP and base changes we've seen recently are the groundwork for bringing back a new base raiding system, which is needed before a COP-like raid is introduced. The CoP itself needed to be rewritten from the ground up, we were told.

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Common topic : Email changes in response to RMT Spam

There are quite a few ideas floated typically for dealing with RMT spam. Trial account limitations were one thing tried by the devs, and worked reasonably well until lately (early 2009.) This is a common topic in the suggestion forum.

Since it is, a tip on searching.
1. Click on "Search" up at the top of the forum.
2. On the left, under "Forum(s) to search," select "Suggestions and ideas."
3. On the right, Keyword Search Terms. This is probably where your problem was if you did search. Try the following, exactly as typed:

+mail -"re: "

This will search for anything with "mail" in the title. Why not "email?" Because not everybody spells it the same. Some will call it email, others "e-mail" or "e mail," and still others may just call it the "mail system" or "Filters on Mail." This gives you a better chance of catching all of those. The -re: portion of it removes replies, so you'll see the root of every thread that comes up, letting you see just how many threads there are on this. (The last helps for other subjects, as well.)

4. Click the "In subject and body" radio button. Normally I say just in the subject, but this comes up in a few different ways, so for this search - both.

5. Leave Username Search blank.

6. Date range, Newer Than, change the 1 to a 3, and the time to Months.

7. Result format doesn't matter. Click on "Submit."

What do we see with this result? There are 34 returned threads as I type this (3/23/09.) My first page? Here's part of it.

Give me an option to block emails, Im sick of spam
Change email to mail system
We need another ignore list
Lock out e-mail until 15
Be able to disable or restrict e-mail
Maybe the worst idea ever, or maybe not.
Tired of RMT Emails?
Shared storage slots
Email link not turning red
In-game E-mail spamming

Going to just one month would have cut it down to just 13 results, in this case. Three months, though, is a decent search range. You can see already the reason for putting in "Mail" instead of "Email." And those without it in the title have it in the body somewhere.

Personal Opinion

I am, as always, strongly in favor of client-side filtering. Something like:
Accept email from:
o Friends
o Global Friends
0 Supergroup
o Teammates
0 Coalition
0 Any

with "Any," honestly, being the default - I use the system and help people I run across in PVP zones, for instance.

Why not keyword filtering (blacklisting?) Well, say I'm spamming from www.infspammer.com. I can tell you right now, just from *regular* email experience, that the second you block the entire name, it's going to get changed. www. infspammer. com is not the same. Block infspammer? 1nfspammer. i n f s pa a m m e r. in fs pa mm er. And if you finally manage to blow all that time and money setting up and testing the blocks for all the permutations of that - I spend five bucks and get buymyinf.com, and you get to start all over again. A blacklist is just more work for less gain. After all, years after the huge push from overseas, I still get the occasional creative spelling of "viagra" showing up in my own (whitelisted) junk mail filter.

That said, I'm also strongly leaning towards totally disabling email on trial accounts by this point. Yes, it's another trial limitation... but the RMTers are getting around it by PL'ing up characters already. As much as I *dislike* the idea, I can't help but think that it'd be needed at this point.



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You'll get along famously with the folks in the Defender forums, I can tell.

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Which why it's better to stay in the Corruptor forums, where people actually know to use their entire powersets.

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You'd think...

*thinks of the Rad/Rad who had only the healing aura, AM, and rez at 36....*

And happy birthday to Lisar!

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And yet Nightcrawler, Jubilee, Cyclops, Flash, etc have proven themselves time and time again capable without the use of a secondary power. Granted I could just use a secondary, ignore it, and then move on with my life, but I still dont think it answers the question as to why. Perhaps this argument is fruitless.

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Comic writer: "I need to be able to do X, Y, Z."

*writes it into the story, writes around the abilities, making it a strength or weakness as needed.* - witness the "Superman's got to have a new weakness this issue - I know, plaid Kryptonite!" and the steady stream of powers that got added to him from when he was introduced ("Forget leaping, we'll just make him fly") and taken away.

MMOs are not continually guided action by action by a writing staff, or a game master. What would, frankly, gimp you in a game is workable in a comic book. Plus, really, "one power" sets? Use matching primary/secondaries to simulate it.

You want someone who has one power - but even those who have "just one" ability vary its use for the situation. In game? Let's take Energy/Energy - you use a little bit when needed (tier 1 attack,) concentrate and unleash a longer range blast (snipe,) use a wider wave of the power (torrent,) or just let it all fly (nova.) You can direct it to another body part and use it in melee (pretty much all of the secondary.)

Use your imagination.