Nemo_Utopia

(*GASP!!!*) ZOMG!! A FURRY!!! (*runs around in circles like a chicken with its head cut off screaming like a little girl*)


(/sarcasm)

Nah, seriously, wish you guys luck, and may you give a sound thumping to those that oppose you (be they player or enemy!)!

Actually, making perma-hasten only 4 SOs really wrecks with balance. The recharge time should be reduced, certainly, but only to the point where 6 SOs still yields perma. But then, I believe this is exactly what the devs are avoiding, so...

Enemies definitely are going to need a nerf similar to our own...unless by some miracle the game truly is balanced. Though, personally, I'd rather have the miracle, and thus have player faith restored in the devs for all the DOOM sayers.

As for contacts giving out phone numbers / communicators / telepathic conduit, whatever, that just doesn't seem likely. I think the idea is based on earning trust contact by contact as your security level increases. Which, while annoying at times, has been a fact of the game...since release. (*shrugs*)

Also, to all the boycotters out there...you all are like prophets of DOOM! I mean, seriously. Y2K flashbacks, anyone? Same for those of you considering it. You don't HONESTLY know how the game will be affected yet, so boycotting based on something you might actually approve of is, put simply, stupid. And I honestly don't care if that's taken as insulting. Because, calling me out for an insult means I can call you out for petitioning on the boards, and SOMEBODY has to say it. Maybe it'll help get the point through your skulls. Hey, even a 5% chance is better than 0%. On the same note, none of us beta testers can actually tell you facts because of the NDA, or even reference anything. But what I CAN say is that we all wish we could right now, because it would probably settle the argument right now. (*sighs*) You people with no patience end up badge robbing (monsters...or worse, ensuring NO-ONE gets it), jumping the gun and causing team-wipes, indirect griefing, and headaches all around (here and in-game). Instant gratification: tough. Always getting what you want: tough. Sure, the game is supposed to be heroic, but certain aspects of real-life apply. Cope.

Pos. Buddy. Pal. You know me, I'm that guy who's patiently adapted to everything you've done, and defended you where I could. But this...this...I can't honestly say this bites, but this certainly is FAR beyond all expectations. You, the developers, should know more than ANYONE that a simple endurance discount just doesn't cry "Balance." And don't say ALL powers. That's beyond wrong. Auto powers? No benefit whatsoever. Toggles? A benefit that's almost scary. Attacks? Lets you use more in a shorter space, same for buffs etc. which is admittedly going to be necessary now. That's a VERY uneven "balance." I
understand a desire to take a cut at Stamina/Hasten addicition. Personally, I share it. But you know darn well that those are FAR from the only two powers that accept only one type of enhancement, or only one useful one. I'm no tanker, but I can see the disaster waiting on that front, as well as many others.

I understand the reasoning behind this change, but you have to
understand that many players are litterally viewing this as an ATTACK. Not even a nerf, an ATTACK. I can't honestly say that I blame them. You say diversification, and I can see this IS an attempt at such. But this one is doomed. Min/maxers are a fact of MMOs. Because of the way they work, they can't be removed, ever. This is not a move that will limit min/maxing. It will simply reset what the min/max happens to be. The only players who will adjust are those like me, the ones who slot against the norm anyway. Actually, it doesn't affect us much, if at all. I'm not trying to cry "doom," but like Teresias the prophet, I have to try and warn you no matter how much I know my advice falls upon deaf ears. This is practically a suicide action, unless you find someway to recompensate for it, which defeats the entire purpose. As others have also mentioned, it's very hard, nigh impossible, currently to actually solo post 40+, a part of the game many people partake in. This is the exact opposite of both "no more major changes" AND "not forcing heros to team." The very balance you've worked so hard for is going to fly off, spiraling into another direction. You'll back at square one. I pray that I'm wrong for once, something that has yet happen to happen on this kind of insight for me. If other MMOs, the histroy of City of Heroes, the player base, player response, my own natural hesitation, and a million other factors are any indication: this is a mistake. Again, I pray very hard that I'm wrong.

I'll try this: you probably have statisticians, isolated testers, and marketing assistants. I can't think how anyone but the statistician could possibly advise this move, and regardless, I'm here to tell you that whoever did is going to have a lot ground to fight against to prove this is not a "DOOOOOM!" move. To all of the players out there who actually play the game in all its forms. Because the reaction to this is very predictable, and not having a way to prove your point is just plain idiotic on every level. Your own response in this post, as an addendum to the other, itself shows you haven't thought this out as far as you think. I'm praying to the powers-that-be that I'm wrong. Because I would hate to see such a great game fall apart because of this.

The core of the strategy of a blaster DOES boil back down to: You...ARE...A...[censored]. So play like one. Hit em while they're down, shoot them in the back. When you fight a new group of villains (for you) and don't know them, you very quickly learn who you hate and why.
You HATE those Sorcerers. Always debuffing your acc and zipping around healing! You HATE those Air and Earth Thorns. The Damage! And the KB! And the Slow! You HATE how those bosses and lieuts vengance their minions with Nemesis! So remember who you hate and why you hate them. This will fuel your inner [censored] to develop your strategy for you! Who to take down, how to take them down, everything! Because your inner [censored] hates them SOOO much that it NEVER stops thinking about how to beat them!
Combined with your inner child, you can also come up with amazing new tactics and ways to surprise those baddies! Well that's just even better! So, make sure your inner child and inner [censored] get along, feed them regularly, and let their natural traits guide you to victory as a Blastard!

The Phoenix Brigade
Our Homepage is: http://www.melciaholegarky.com/


Who we are! (So we tell them...)
We are just a bunch of heroes on Infinity who believe in the following:

1. Justice is blind.
2. Bravery is not
3. Evil has 4 faces: chaos, order, apathy, and ignorance. Learn to recognize and fight all of them.
4. Though sacrifice is honorable, do not be a martyr for lost causes.
5. Persistence is rewardable, tenacity is respectable, but repeating mistakes is deadly.
6. Emotions have its time and place, rarely during battle.
7. It takes a bigger hero to gracefully admit defeat than to blindly rush death
8. And as seriously as we take this supergroup, remember that in the end it is just a game. Have fun.

What we believe
* Friends have no country
* Friends have no race
* Friends have no religion
* They have no prejudice
* They need no vendattas, no causes
* no jealousy, no envy
* Friends have good times
* Share lots of opinions
* Definitely have and acknowledge differences
* Share burdens
* Lend ears, hands, and shoulders
* And need only each other.

We exist to provide a fun and friendly environment for our members, and an example of our colors and symbol can be found on our site. We focus on having fun together in game, and promoting the game! If you become friends with any of our leaders and find you are on Infinity when we are consistently, talk to us about joining up! If you want to be affiliated with us in a non-active way, we are currently forming the Phoenix Brigade Reserves for those interested in doing so and our own non-active alts .

Leaders to Contact: White-hot Burn
Hellcat
Au-Man
Dark Genius
Star Scout MK-4 (myself)

You can contact us indirectly through ANY sg member, and this list is not final as we are a constantly morphing group with a constant theme and constant players.

Ill / Emp is one that depends entirely on what you do. Solo vs teaming, your role on a team, etc. There are so many GOOD options (rare for a set of two powersets), it's very hard to choose. Slot to fullfill your purpose, and count on respecing. Putting your slots evenly among all your powers isn't really a good option...have a few signature powers fully slotted, and fill in the rest as you reach higher levels.

heh...you seem to be in my boat, I can't find an Ill/FF guide myself. So do what I am if you can't find one: build one!! Granted, mine has a long way to go (*curse lack of playing time!!!*), but it WILL be done...eventually.

....so many ideas on this thread....Well, I guess I'll start here: 1)remove rooting. This is perhaps the single point I agree with most, since watching a baddie, whom you are urrently blasting for dmg no less, get CLOSER is nuts. Range to match baddies would definitely be nice, after all, it is rather hard to be king of damage when you have to waste slots on range. As for melee...I'm not TOTALLY against it, but I shouldn't find myslef there in every fight that involves more than one minion (*NB: this includes team fights*). My primary experience is an Energy Blaster, so understand that's where my somewhat jaded view comes from...but if you have Hasten (*or better still, perma haste*), you CAN cycle through your ranged powers without needing to go into your melee to keep constant attacks up. On the same note, if a badguy gets too close, you can cycle through a melee cycle to take him out. This DOES only apply to one, at most two, close enemies. As I selected my powers, I knew I'd end up in melee and just had to deal with it. So the first thing after my ranged cycle (and of course, Hasten) was to pick up the punches. Engergy perhaps has an advantage in this category with Disorient and KB, but KOing close baddies certainly removes the trouble of needing them. I have fiddled with the other sets too, but can't speack for high lvls, yet it seems that "no rooting" plus "match villain ranges" and dishing out enough with ranged to make it worth it to avoid melee solves most of the Blaster issues right there. I'd love to see a long range snipe not always make the enemy know you're there effect happen too, becuase let's face it: sniped heroes DON"T know most of the time. If I have to spend as much as seven precious seconds LOOKING for the baddie, nm closing to range, so should the baddies I snipe!! Anyway, I've been able to enjoy the game with the powers available, tho tweaks to how they work would let a Blaster live up to his/her name. After all, a Blaster who can't BLAST is like a Toaster that doesn't toast: they get replaced. Tanks TANK, Scrappers SCRAP, Defenders DEFEND, and Controllers CONTROL. Granted, this requires smart building, but when even the best built Blaster can't BLAST, there is a disparity between him/her and his/her fellow heroes. Minor changes make the fix, so just implement them!

Regardless of what people think, this is not a good plan. I'll easily grant you the point that it will remove PLing alltogether. But part of the fun in playing the game (IMO anyway, and I know I'm not alone) is the combination of the story AND leveling. Doing all the story as a static character with only potential respecs would bore me very quickly. PLing, to me anyway, is unattractive: I miss out on the story arcs, which are fun. Sometimes I'll permadebt just to get more story and Exemp even with no debt to go back and get some story I missed through other character's arcs. Or create a new alt with different powersets but the same AT and Origin, just to see the ones I missed. Removing PLing isn't truly neccessary. Are PLers annoying? Sure. But so are the people who can't seem to figure out that there is no "I" in team and that giving advice to someone who didn't ask / knows what they're doing is annoying too. They're not going to eliminate teams and chat just to fix those problems, now are they? Think of the fuss and how many quits they'd have. The game, as it is, seems to be very well done, and only slow upgrades and small additions (or Issues) truly seem to work. I'd love to never see another PLer, but I don't want the game to lose what attracts me to it do so. Some evils are neccessary, so quit whining and go be a hero.

....I must be the only guy who likes Illusion and Force Field...if there's anyone who can help me out, or a combo of guides to look through for a good idea, please inform me, being a blaster at heart and a total n00b when it comes to cons. Thx!

(*The hero known as Star Scout walks in in his MK-4 Blaster armor and sits down and waits. He starts as he notices the light is on on the camera and clears his throat, then removes his helmet*)

"Uhhh....hi....I'm Star Scout, specifically Mark four." (*ruffles paper in hand*) "Um....
1) What is your name?"
"...heh, well, I guess I said that one already..."

2) What is your occupation
"well...I am a hero, naturally, and I develop and improve cybernetic components to help other heroes when I'm not fighting crime."

3) what are your plans for the future
"...uh, I plan on keep fighting crim...and....working...and not dying anytime soon...."

4) describe your ideal date?
"Not having to wear this armor get-up to impress a woman and taking her out for a walk....the oak tree that just walked out of here might be willing to provide some shade for a walk in the park...uh...yeah..."

5) what is you look for in a woman/man
(*coughs into gauntlet*) "Well, I'm an openminded guy, I mostly just look for a woman I can talk to without...uh...acting like I am on this video....yeahhhhh...moving on"

6) What are some of the your best qualities about yourself?
"Ummm....I'm...smart?...(*blushes*) no, that's no good...uh...well....I'm easy to get along with and most people think I'm funny...on occasion....sometimes.....(*coughs again*) anyway...."

7) what is it you can offer a woman/man?
(*sighs with relief*) "I can be understanding and kind, I can relate to hair problems women have, and I can cook and clean up after myself ^^ (*blushes again*) (*mumbels*) I sound like I'm selling a pet monkey..." </mumble>

8 What is something you would like to say to the person seeing this video?
"Umm.....hi?... I mean...anyone?....uh....thanks for watching, hope you pick bachelor number 1....(*ducks head in embarassment and turns off the camera*)