MessiahBlaze

Didn't mean to disappear on ya Scholarman.
The idea of a weighted system to measure the sincerity of a characters commitment to "switching alignment" could be found in the presence of influence versus infamy. While in Prob/Duress mode, maybe folks should earn currency in that area. With the obvious faction they belong to, they could only use the opposing currency at a neutral contact at the drop point?

Just an idea.

I definitely don't want to see this ties to either of those two places...
(Pocket D and RWZ), mainly because their themes are based on open cooperation, neither of which is represented by Prob & Dur, or Redemp & Fall.

I'm not sure what the balance should be, but tend to think that the notion of a hero or villain being temporarily manipulated to switch sides also leads to a believable level of coercion. But, whatever; the implementation of this idea far outweighs the ratio of who's who aspect.

The zone for this hero side should be Galaxy, Mercy villain side. This would promote the under use of Galaxy and also give mercy more traffic instead of being the zone everyone can't wait to get out of.

In Galaxy maybe position it in the northeast part of the zone; in Mercy the northwest part of the island, again to give those areas play.

Just an opinion.

My thinking, not sure the OP sees it this way, is that you flag yourself at the contact; this would create a list accessible to the other side when they too are at the contact. Your own actions thereafter could continue; you're default in the search window for your own side would most likely read "not looking".

Keep in mind, the spirit of the venture is centered around those already teaming one side or another and someone on that team crossing over immediately; there shouldn't be a lot of cool heel time.

Having said that, I would think that nature of this function while it is a step toward Redemption and Falling, is not intended for random use as much as it is to install the beginnings of that game mechanic.

More yet to ponder in working out the details, but alas, the devil is always in the details.

I don't think the flag should be able to be active during normal play. Hence the suggestion that the drop down be able to be seen only when speaking with the "dropsite" contacts.

It makes a little bit of sense, I suppose, to see who is on Probation or Duress in a normal circumstance, but remember that a hero or villain in this position/predicament would only be visible to those who have the dirt on them...

It's as much an RP suggestion as a viable mechanic.

That being said those commenting on this thread should read the thread in its entirety to have the best perspective on how to make this possible.

I am not trying to intentionally post to bump this thread, but I believe we should lobby for a sticky.

I think it's "too long; didn't read"... but I don't use it so, meh...

I don't see where any limits other than if the counterfaction team member dissociates for more than two minutes they will automatically be recalled to the dropsite in their native zone. If that means the team is suddenly weakened, so be it.

HOLY COW!!! I got a /signed and it only took 440 posts!

This is clearly going to become a love/hate suggestion.

Thought over recruitment.

If you and your group, any group (PUG, SG, casual mix of the two, anything) once assembled agree that you want to pursue this game mechanic, then there is no need to have any new strange in-game "let's look for a member of the opposing faction" interface... any of your team who wish to play probationarily or under duress could switch over and enter the cue. To flag themselves and thereby place themselves in this cue for this action they would simply change that part of the window we have now that says looking for any, missions, TFs, etc., to a new option created that would read depending on your existing faction (if there is one created) or "On Probation" or "Under Duress".

Heroside, when you speak to a contact at the dropsite, you will see a listing that shows all the Probationary villains... on the villain side, the dropsite contact will show you a list of heroes under Duress.

Using the contact to acquire these individuals is to eliminate people of the same faction from seeing you in the traditional search windows. (Obviously, a hero under duress has something important to take care of and may not want other heroes to inadvertantly cause a catastrophe by trying to help them unsolicited, and any villain trying to go straight or cooperate with the law might be hunted down by less scrupulous coworkers )

That seems to be a pretty good solution that would allow this idea to move forward with minimal distress to the devs and maximum impact on the game.

/signed for the overall OP, wow! This would be game-enhancing big time.

I agree with Tiglath that PVP banning this idea to keep things clean would make it a total win... and as far as the level restriction, no real need?

Not a slam on PvP, but until the kinks were to be worked out, I just wouldn't want to open that can of snakes.

Mulling over the recruitment angles still...

back to work...

I too would like to see very long hair.

Something I notice people saying but not saying is: If they can animate it for a NPC toon; why not for a live one? Ghost Widow. Available?

hmmmmm....

Bricks is a much better zone than FF for playing in. Sure FFalls is really *pretty*, but to level? Brickstown is a roll.

I am for immersion.
I am for more zones, content, and/or AT and/or Powerset Proliferation.
I want to see a West Coast US City in game.
I want to see a London-type.
I want to see a Tokyo type...
I want to see Personal apartments.
I want to see a Subway zone.
I hope the game gets to a state of better server management for populations with different gaming goals which would allow this thread to die because all parties would get what they want. PvP - RPPvP - PvE - RPPvE.
I hope for whirled peas.
Smile.

I can see the fans of Kheldians saying 6 months later they are just too cool. I resisted the urge to create one. I caved.

Made level 6. DELETED>

Now, I agree with the original poster and some of the things that followed. I agreed with some of the replies as well.

The biggest thing that caught my eye (I reread the entire listing) was the poster who suggested that after 50 levels of earning, to have something unlocked that forced you into an origin (origin meaning backstory, not Game Origin/Class) of being a 'merged alien' is a valid point.
This is true bile if its the reward for climbing to 50. And believe me, some of us climbed and not PL'd. I can't accept that in a world rocked by an alien invasion that any hero right up to Stateman (the in-story guy, not the developer) himself is even "okay" with the very thought that more aliens is a good thing. In fact, I would think that he and his buddies in the Freedom Phalanx would be unnerved at the idea considering how many of his closest friends paid the price to protect Mother Earth from an alien presence.

But OK, I'll say it's part of the CoH mythos. I'll bite.

In recent history, my hometown baseball team, the Diamondbacks, hired a manager (Wally Backman) they failed to do a background check on, and in the end never completed the transaction, and hired a new candidate because the Backman deal would not stand up to scrutiny.

Its not too late for that posters suggestion to be taken serious and implemented and CoH to rework its Wally Backman. I am going to spin it a little for modification purpose.

Make Kheldians an origin choice that can use both Natural and Science. Make a Epic AT that unlocks at 50 that allows for combinations the other ATs currently don't deliver. Several choices and then make the Kheldian ORIGIN become available here. This choice could then make the current Kheldian setup work out. Beyond this, the absolute TRUTH (a concept that people often in these boards take semantic repetition and razor splitting precision to unravel) is that the Kheldian AT is not a fair reward for making it to 50. I am neither impressed nor satisfied as a paying customer with the 'reward' for time and money invested and the accomplishments of the player.
Kheldians is a lemon; a "Let them eat cake" answer to hungry long-term players and a great example of someone else thinking their "cool" idea is your idea of a "cool" idea.
Just because each powerset has 16 powers does not mean you get all of them. And with one primary and one secondary to select from, the other ATs are still far more appealing to the the player for variance, origin, and story ideal.

Whether Kheldians advance the story concept for the Developers has nothing to do with you or I as a player advancing our own creativity or comic world that WE buy into. And they screw up the learned dynamic of player proficiency in groups far more than creating the opportunity for teaming to improve in quality.

The short answer is that I do not have to make a Kheldian if I choose not to. The long awaited anticipation will be that the next release of ATs is a true reward for my time invested and loyalty. That is will be a wider array of generic-type categorical ATs that allow for obvious difference to the beginning player.

If I want to say he or she is an alien or even a plant, that should be my choice alone.

Even if said before, never hurts to post again:

*Other blasters are your friends. By far one of the most pleasant experiences was an all blaster squad of 6... So much damage flying around the mobs had no time to retaliate. No one died, and the mission was incredibly fast. So we did 4 more...

* Corners are your friends. Not only do you break line of sight, but the AI loves the short route from A to B. So if you can put a round of caltrops at the corner and maybe an application of Burn or some other PB AoE, you will have some serious time to rip off a few extra attacks that make you twice the force you were prior...

*Cover others backs, especially your blaster brethren. That whole do unto others thing is its own powerful ally. Among all the ATs, we actually have more capacity to bail someone out of a sudden jam than most. Share you inspirations if you aren't using them, give away SOs if you can't use them. The barter system builds stronger toons that the commerce in game. I personally have given away more hami-o's than I have kept for my self.

* (This one is merely opinion) Slotting for accuracy is silly. Of all the things in the game a blaster can slot, it seems to me this is not the first priority. Accuracy can never be a constant; there will always be a chance to miss. Damage occurs everytime you hit with no variable. Slotting Damage, Range and Recharge Speed all have better and constant effects on your ability to deliver. In the end, an insight here and there has a better effect on your chances than slotting. If you have extra slots after considerations of the other three, slot for accuracy if that makes you comfy, but you will see a dramatic shift in your ability to hopscotch thru opponents with extra damage in there.

*Last suggestion for survivability: Pick on the weak. Its not very heroic, but it goes faster and farther than spending your time chipping at rocks.

Luck to you, Blaster brethren.

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I went away from the computer to check on some CoV stuff and *wham* I received 5 or so PM's asking "what is the Blaster's role?"

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Sorry man, it was just a question. If it upended your helmet, sorry, really
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Answer - Ranged damage. Now, the issue is more specifically - what does a Blaster do that a Scrapper can't already do? Or, even worse, is a Scrapper inherently "stronger" than a Blaster. We want each Archetype to have a well defined role , and part of our Scrapper testing is aimed directly at this.


[/ QUOTE ] Whoa, sounded like you have really said the primary focus is ranged damage.
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Secondly, I have no intention of removing melee attacks - it's just a "perception" by some Blasters that some of the Secondary Sets aren't as useful as Devices or Energy Manipulation. This is a rather frequent refrain in PM's (and the occasional forum post). This is something that we should also explore...we want all the Secondary sets to be fun.

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Well sir, it's kinda not fun to grind out late game. Out of the level 50s on our group, a certain three recruited prior to me making 36 at more than twelve levels (avg 24) behind me and those same three reached 50 before I reached 44 with comparable playing time because of the late game limits, and who were they: Scrappers. They were the first three level 50s in the group. Incidentally I was the 7th person on our roster to make it.
Statesman, I don't care if some melee powers stay or even all in some sets, but put on the pants and wade through the mud. All I am saying is that I and others I am sure of could have used your evaluation and modifications months ago. So don't play both sides of the fence. We are ranged according to you. So help us be able to survive and more importantly be competitive that way. I am tired of the boss-killer minion-killer labels. Fix it.

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I was referring more to specific powersets. Force Field users are becoming few and far between because the other sets can all do more. Empathy and Storm could also use some tweaks. Maybe Mind and Earth controllers as well.

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With all due respect. Start a thread in native forums. We are finally getting a lot of Dev shade in our scorched barren. Water is on the way. But this is the Blaster Oasis.