Ogon_Dark

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just my 2 inf. on this, but has anyone else seen the loading screen that says "you can level from 1-50 in Mission Architect"?

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And you can.

Just not in four hours anymore.

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This thread isn't about schooling folks in debate, it's about Smurphy's plans to better optimize his playing of this game through the means he's outlined in his posts in this thread.

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Then why the need to try and directly address the NcSoft employees?

What you describe doesn't require that being repeated twice in the same thread.

Please reconcile those things, then I'll believe you.

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Um where does he directly address the mods? All i see is a vague reference to them and if they would alert him to it being wrong.

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Oh, I see, if he doesn't literally say the words "And I direct this to you NcSoft Employees:"

but he does say

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I am sure that the NCSoft employees would kindly notify me if such plans are for some reason deemed "not allowed".

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I am also sure that NCSoft employees would be able to kindly explain to me exactly what part of my plan needs to be corrected.

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I'm also sure with this approach that NCSoft employees would be willing to kindly explain to me if this behavior is "not allowed." If this behavior is "not allowed" I am sure that these employees would be willing to kindly explain to me exactly which parts of my plan are "not allowed" so that I may adjust my behavior so that I may act in an "allowed" manner.

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Now, you could make a case that these quotes weren't directed at NcSoft Employees, but you would be wrong. I see three direct references just on page 1. Those don't seem vague at all, or are we coming up with new meanings for the word vague now too?

(You're the one that introduced Mods into the equation. Obvious is obvious. If the preceeding quotes weren't directed at the NcSoft Employees, just who were they directed at? Does someone have to name each one to satisfy your criteria for "directly" addressing someone? Do they have to use the full name, is the use of a middle initial o.k.?)


You see, you can play word games, but the intent is obvious, much like the MA farms themselves were...

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This thread isn't about schooling folks in debate, it's about Smurphy's plans to better optimize his playing of this game through the means he's outlined in his posts in this thread.

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Then why the need to try and directly address the NcSoft employees?

What you describe doesn't require that being repeated twice in the same thread.

Please reconcile those things, then I'll believe you.

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I'm also sure with this approach that NCSoft employees would be willing to kindly explain to me if this behavior is "not allowed." If this behavior is "not allowed" I am sure that these employees would be willing to kindly explain to me exactly which parts of my plan are "not allowed" so that I may adjust my behavior so that I may act in an "allowed" manner.

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Yes, because "NcSoft employees" have nothing better to do than to scan the message boards looking for events to approve or disapprove of.
*snip*

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Dang, I would sworn that there were in fact, just some such NCsoft employees to do precisely that very thing...


Oh yea, I remember they're called Mods! *wave*



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If you think that the Mods sit and read every thread then you are way, way, way off base.

They are probably overwhelmed just trying to keep up with the threads that someone has notified them about or cleaning up the tears that threaten to drown the offical threads on the subject.

nice try though.

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Quit while you are behind. Because there is no getting ahead with the positions you are staking out.

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No, please I beg you, show me the error of my ways.

I mean, all I said was that Mods don't sit there reading every single thread. It doesn't happen. It isn't possible.

Go ahead now, make up some positions that you think I'm staking out. Because my contention in what you quoted above is that the whole concept of a thread just randomly being read by an NcSoft employee that will then notify the OP that their plan is or isn't o.k. with them, is just about as dumb as an assertion as you can make.

Of course, because I don't agree with you, you'll try to paint my position as being something else or try to insinuate that because I don't agree with you that it means I am just agreeing with the Devs to curry their favor. Which is a whole different league of stupid not just the kind of stupid that this thread is.

But please... do continue, you've just been a fount of wisdom regarding ths topic over the last few weeks, I'm sure I could learn so much. If only I would agree with you instead of thinking for myself.

Good luck.

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I'm also sure with this approach that NCSoft employees would be willing to kindly explain to me if this behavior is "not allowed." If this behavior is "not allowed" I am sure that these employees would be willing to kindly explain to me exactly which parts of my plan are "not allowed" so that I may adjust my behavior so that I may act in an "allowed" manner.

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Yes, because "NcSoft employees" have nothing better to do than to scan the message boards looking for events to approve or disapprove of.
*snip*

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Dang, I would sworn that there were in fact, just some such NCsoft employees to do precisely that very thing...


Oh yea, I remember they're called Mods! *wave*



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If you think that the Mods sit and read every thread then you are way, way, way off base.

They are probably overwhelmed just trying to keep up with the threads that someone has notified them about or cleaning up the tears that threaten to drown the offical threads on the subject.

nice try though.

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I'm also sure with this approach that NCSoft employees would be willing to kindly explain to me if this behavior is "not allowed." If this behavior is "not allowed" I am sure that these employees would be willing to kindly explain to me exactly which parts of my plan are "not allowed" so that I may adjust my behavior so that I may act in an "allowed" manner.

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Yes, because "NcSoft employees" have nothing better to do than to scan the message boards looking for events to approve or disapprove of.

Wow, this is just such an amazing point you are demonstrating.

Though if you are using MA for this, and you really want the "toughest" challange, shouldn't you let users design custom bosses for you?

If the point is that you are going to only face Dev created enemies, then why do it in MA, those enemies exist in the regular game and the missions containing them can be reset just as before MA came along.

So if this is to prove something about fighting the hardest enemies in MA and still being to level at faster than normal speeds, I think the proper challange would be to fight the actual toughest enemies in the game, which are not the ones the Devs have created. (or may be some mix of Dev created and custom)

I'll open the bidding for creating a mission for you to level up through in this manner at 250mil Infamy. You pick the map (so you can have your great big farming map), I design the critters, all leveling has to be done through that map.

Then we'll see if we need any NcSoft employees to slow you down.

I just need to add my appreciation for all the work Mids has put into making the Hero Designer. It was absolutely as useful and vital to my experience in enjoying the game as everyone else has described. And it can't be said enough just how well made the interface and overall design of the program was executed.

Thanks for all the hard work you've done, and it is great to know that there is someone who will be picking up the project who cares as much about it as the rest of us. So thank you in advance for that Steiner.

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Yeah, I sent a gift to the Devs. You think that has bought me some kind of favor? If so, I'd love to know what it is, because so far it has eluded me. I must have forgotten to read the "Now that you are in the Devs Secret Club, here's what you can do" packet that came in the mail.


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Ogon its not all about you. There have been others.

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I'm aware. I wasn't saying it was all about me.

Going out on a limb here, but I'll say that the others had a very similar experience.

So, feel free to insert the idea of "others" wherever I referred to myself above if you like.

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What I find sad is that the desire to be on the right side of the Devs (Fruit basket anyone ?) has so warped perceptions that many dodn't even see how far off base they are.

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Ya know, what I find sad is that you think you are making a point. I'd like to show some random people on the street your posts from the last 2 weeks and ask them how you come off.

Believe me, it isn't good.

Yeah, I sent a gift to the Devs. You think that has bought me some kind of favor? If so, I'd love to know what it is, because so far it has eluded me. I must have forgotten to read the "Now that you are in the Devs Secret Club, here's what you can do" packet that came in the mail.


Here's the real secret: If you send them something, they say thank you and move on with their lives, like normal people. Before you go casting aspersions, maybe you should look in the mirror, why are you hung up on something that the parties involved have already moved on from?


Look at where your argument has come to. Who are you to assign people motives? What makes you correct? It is just poor style, and it does nothing to advance your "cause". You know what though, you've been spinning your wheels for two weeks, I doubt there is anything I can say that will make you come out of that bunker and take off the tinfoil hat.

Do carry on....

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I hope ya'll are doing the smart thing and depositing these gifts from people you don't actually know directly into a dumpster. I don't doubt that they are actually well meant gifts from well meaning fans, but caution should be advised concerning anything consumable, especially since you've been making a show of them on a public forum. Yeah I know, I'm a wet blanket, but it's best to err on the side of caution.

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I'm sure this is a legititmate concern, but so far all these gifts have been packed and shipped by 3rd party vendors. (not by the individuals who sent them)

If Harry and David started sending out poison fruit, I think that would pretty much end their business.

If something came from an individual, well... that's what you hire interns for.

Here's the best part, TD, it works!

I've been in the Going Rogue super-sekrit double-closed beta since last Friday and it is awesome!

Everyone should send them stuff!


Oh crap... I just broke the NDA didn't I?


Well, it was fun while it lasted, but I have to admit I really spent most of my time playing with the Big Red Ball. I was going to write a critique of how the new universal currency Inflameriticketstorms has been implemented, but I guess that will have to wait until open beta now, hopefully they'll rethink the decision to locate all of the exchange NPCs in PvP zones.



(Nice on the gift, btw! Whoever sends something next really is going to have their work cut-out to top that. )

While I think this sounds pretty cool, one thing I don't think it sounds like is "Market Merge Inevitable".

It is a possiblity, but it doesn't seem like they have to merge the markets for the rest of the system to be implemented. We'll see what happens, I guess.

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And Samuraiko Productions rings in another one, with a commemorative video to celebrate the Fifth Anniversary of COH/COV!

History In The Making (high rez version - 150MB)

History In the Making (YouTube version, might not be live yet, so you're welcome to keep trying)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

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DR, just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the video. I'm one of those COV players that really has never played much of the COH content, and still I found it really easy to follow, to the point of actually helping me fill in some of the gaps.

Entertaining, educational, I give it a 10, or 5 stars, or a thumbs up, whichever is better just make it that one.

Thanks for taking the time to make that, know that it was really enjoyed by this villain.

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just about the only thing I could think of would be if they had an investor who was willing to put $100mil into COX, on the condition that Arcana be held out of Beta for 1 week.

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Heck, I'd sit out voluntarily for fifty mil.

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I am working on the prospectus!

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Dear investor,

We are presenting you with the opportunity of a lifetime. For the nominal investment of $50,000,000, we will be able to keep one of our most talented beta testers from helping us. As you can see, the benefits of this strategy are many, probably too many to even list here so I won't even try.

Please send your check as soon as possible, we are not sure how long we can keep her from productively testing things unless we recieve your funding soon!

You make lot of money we make big money too, every happy.

Sincerely,

Positron

CEO of NcSoft Nigeria

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Hmmm... Maybe it needs something about how an NcSoft employee died with $250,000,000 worth of sick days and no relatives. I'll keep working on it, and hopefully I-15 will be called "The Botnet Cometh".

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I have one question I have not seen an answer to. I know we can save the arc with all details. It looks lilke you can save the costumes created as we do for our characters. My question is if we create a custom villain and a custom villain group, is there a way to save the NPC charcter data as a separate file. I would dislike creating a custom group, but would have to edit a previously created arc to use that group in another arc.

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My guess is that this is not going to be a problem.

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Everyone knows you're in beta Arcana.

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Although I would not rule it out, I would not take it for granted either. Arcana does not get a free pass at the first wave of betas just because she is Arcana. There is actually a high chance that she does not get into certain stages of certain betas precisely because she is Arcanaville.

Sometimes developers need a less knowledgeable yet dedicated mind to go through things so they get a real idea of how the general population will react.

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Considering Posi wants to give her her own badge, I am going to say that this isn't the case.

I'm sure they are quite happy to get the feedback of "regular" players while at the same time letting Arcana get to work tearing apart their carefully contstructed machinery.

I would really question their methods if they thought there was an upside to holding her out of Beta for any length of time. The one you described doesn't seem to be worth it, just about the only thing I could think of would be if they had an investor who was willing to put $100mil into COX, on the condition that Arcana be held out of Beta for 1 week.

Then I would concede it would be a good idea, but if it was 2 weeks they might have to throw another $25mil on the pile.

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Re: Ticket System

This system is in place so that we can better control the non-XP, non-Inf. rewards that are handed out by the system. Since the Architect determines a lot of the details of the mission, this puts a great amount of control over drops into their hands. With tickets, we can set a threshold that is simply unsurpassable.

That said, we want the ticket system to mirror in quality and quantity of reward as compared to the bulk of the normal game as much as possible. The idea being that if you levelled a character from 1 to 50 exclusively in Mission Architect, you won't be gimped or OP as compared to a level 50 that never touched the system.


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I'd like to know if there is a specific plan in place to deal with unintended consequences for the Market if Tickets become a currency that people desire more than Inf? By having the property of being able to get you selectable rewards, as well as other items that would have previously not been droppable by an enemy defeats in the normal random system in place for in-game content, it seems as if the potential is there to impact Pool A,B and Salvage production, even if only a relatively small percentage of the population shifts their earning preference.

And second, I know you can't promise us anything, but is there any intention of implementing the Ticket system game-wide, or can we expect that playing regular missions will still use the same reward system it always has, or at least that is the intention?

Thanks for answering questions on a Saturday Posi, you rock!

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I see your point to an extent. But keep in mind that those people who acted 2 weeks ago based on info from the Beta could very well have acted on erroneous info.

You could actually have dodged a bullet there.

I'm sure a lot of those people acted on uninformed speculation as well.

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Well, I wish I could have taken the bullet that all those people who bought Purples during the I-13 Beta took.

It isn't often that changes this big come along, I'd rather take my chances with more information than less. I know that I lost on the I-13 deal. We'll see what happens here.

And for the person who mentioned I-9, doesn't really seem to be the same. No one knew what the market was like prior because there was no market. Having an established market, the introduction of Merits and the exclusion of Purple recipes from the Merit vendor made it extremely easy to see there would be a far reaching consequences.

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If they were to say, "All rewards are purchasable via skeeball tickets currently, but that is subject to change." How would that affect your market activities.

Whatever it is...do that.

If it turns out not to be right *shrug* it changed.

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Sadly, as the point I have been trying to make, that information really would have only been helpful a couple of weeks ago.

That would be the point. I have already done whatever it is I would do based on what we know now. What I am saying is that for the 2nd issue in a row, people who knew this 2 weeks ago have been able to gain an advantage, and they have used that advantage.

You might not care about playing market games, that is fine. It is part of the game that keeps me here. Since I can't go back in time and use this information when the people I play that game against were able to use it. There is nothing that can be done.

The other kinds of stuff that they want to keep secret during Closed Beta I could care less about. I can wait. This part affects the live game, as I play it. I can still place my bets and I'll probably still make some Inf., really not the point. Some of the recipes that I was watching 2 weeks ago get back into the 60mil area, now are trading at 120mil. To act on that information now would be much riskier, but I can promise you, that if I had known 2 weeks ago, buying as many as I could at 60mil would have been a no-brainer.

That is the game I play, it probably doesn't matter to most people. I think the whole secrecy thing is a joke, there is no secrecy except for the people who actually follow the rules. Obviously someone isn't, because the market already moved on Live. Why those people shoud get a pass to protect something secret that really isn't, is beyond me.

But like I said originally, YMMV.

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Also, your playerbase is by and large pretty mature. Telling everyone "Yes, you will be able to buy Pool A,BC,D,E and Purple Recipes as well as Randoms at the Ticket Vendor", and then at some later date deciding you don't want C and D in there, wouldn't cause the kind of chaos you seem to think it would. Especially if you just plainly stated that you use that information at your own risk, that it could change, many of us are adults here and can quite easily deal with that.


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Experience has demonstartated that many of us aren't that mature. Whenever the devs announce something with the caveat: It may change, and it does... well... there's alota screaming. I too would like the information, but I can accept a position where in it's better to insulate oneself from possible fallout as long as possible.

In a few weeks Beta will open up (hopefully) and we'll have all the info we need (with the standard caveats). We're just gonna have to ride out the storm of people playing havoc with the market

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I would like an example of this experience that has shown us. As far as I can tell none exist.

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Skills system. Which got morphed into Inventions.
City Vault.
Badges.
Cathedral of Pain.

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ETAs on issue updates more specific than Late Q1/Early Q2 or Summer of O9, etc.
PvE changes due to PvP.

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Funny, the more you guys list of these (which if you read my original post, I clearly said was pretty much beside the point), the more obvious it is that they give out information that changes later all the time.

So now, considering that all of those information releases did not have a widespread impact on the market, what could possibly be the reason for withholding information that does have such an impact?

And the whole notion that this information is held back is a joke to begin with, if it wasn't for people who are in Closed Beta either using the information themselves, or breaking the NDA to tell others, I would have never been able to notice it on the Live market.

Since this happens all the time, why not actually make sure that something that is affecting live, as we speak, is available to all that play there, and not just a select bunch and their friends?

I'm not suggesting that everything should be made public, but it is a different issue when you are talking about people taking advantage of things to gain a leg up in the Live game. I could care less what is on Test, I don't want anyone to break the NDA to tell me what is going on. I pay my money to play on Live, that is all the promise us, but somewhere in there, I feel there should be a promise of trying to keep an even playing field when possible.

I believe this is one of those cases. They could easily level this playing field and take care of an issue that affects the live game, and all it would cost is a couple of hurt feelings if something were to change. As you all have so helpfully pointed out, happens nearly constantly.

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Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't defeating level 50+ enemies still the only way to get Purples? I was under the understanding that Purples were not available for Merits, which means that the fluctuation in market price for those Purples that you are complaining about has nothing to do with Merits

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Yes, defeating level 50+ enemies is still the only way to get purples. They are not available for merits. But everything else is available for merits, which caused a flow of influence from pool C recipes to purple recipes. The inflation was inevitable. I knew about it in time to buy a bunch of recipes at 40 million each which I could easily sell for 60 million now, maybe 70. I was planning to hold out for 80 million, but if I14 will make purples purchaseable with tickets, then I had better sell my purples right now. People in my position who already have that information have a distinct advantage over me.

I'm not going to cry about it, but Ogon is absolutely right when he talks about the market.

(On the other hand, Ogon, I think you're way off when you talk about the playerbase. Posi made one offhand comment early last year about how I13 might be called "all your base are belong to us" and there are still people griping that the devs lied to them and ripped them off and slapped them in the face because I13 didn't have very many base changes, and not all of the changes were improvements.)

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Thanks for explaining how Merits did indeed influence the price of Purples (and how that would have been obvious to anyone that is active in the market and was also in Closed Beta), you saved me writing that up.

As for the other part, there are two considerations.

1. The information is already getting out.

Obviously, by looking at the market pre I-13, and now pre I-14, there is no question that the information we are talking about is not staying contained in the closed beta. In that case not only are you allowing those people to take advantage of the inequality of information, but you are essentially punishing people who do follow the rules. Since people aren't following the rules, the information gets out anyways, why not give access to it to people who are doing what they are supposed to, instead of, by default, only allowing people who aren't doing what they are supposed to, profit from it?

2. Comparisons like City Vault, for example, don't really make sense.

First of all, the examples listed show that this isn't much of an iron-clad rule, they make statements about things that don't end up happening, and the world keeps spinning. But that is not what I am asking for.

I am talking only about a very specific type of information, changes to systems that will have a widespread and predictable impact on the market. We haven't had many of these, but they seem to be coming more frequently. In most cases the type of specific information they would be giving (there will be a ticket system, there will be a ticket vendor, it will sell from Pools X,Y,Z) isn't at all the same as introducing an entirely new feature then not producing it.

There was next to no chance that the ticket system wasn't going to be used, the ticket vendor was going to be there, the only changes that might happen probably pertain to exactly what rewards are in there and their specific costs. If those specifics changed, but the system was still in place, it is hard to imagine the outcry would be anything like announcing a brand new feature then not producing it at all.

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Also, your playerbase is by and large pretty mature. Telling everyone "Yes, you will be able to buy Pool A,BC,D,E and Purple Recipes as well as Randoms at the Ticket Vendor", and then at some later date deciding you don't want C and D in there, wouldn't cause the kind of chaos you seem to think it would. Especially if you just plainly stated that you use that information at your own risk, that it could change, many of us are adults here and can quite easily deal with that.


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Experience has demonstartated that many of us aren't that mature. Whenever the devs announce something with the caveat: It may change, and it does... well... there's alota screaming. I too would like the information, but I can accept a position where in it's better to insulate oneself from possible fallout as long as possible.

In a few weeks Beta will open up (hopefully) and we'll have all the info we need (with the standard caveats). We're just gonna have to ride out the storm of people playing havoc with the market

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I would like an example of this experience that has shown us. As far as I can tell none exist.

And the point is that the damage is already being done. I'm one of the people playing games with the market, it is part of the game I enjoy. I don't enjoy a group of people benefiting from information that I don't have.

The fact that the Market has moved based on changes in I-13 and I-14 prove that the information is not staying in the Closed Beta. So essentially, people who either A) Should be testing content, or B) Shouldn't know what is going on in Closed Beta but have been told something from someone who broke the NDA, get to have an advantage in the market mini-game.

I know that Open Beta will happen, I know that it is still possible to make Inf in the market before the issue comes. That is absolutely 100% not the point.

It is impossible to deny, that people who were buying Purple's for 35mil during the last Closed Beta, had an obvious advantage over people buying them at the 55mil price they went to when it went open. In terms of market speculating (this issue I am concerned with here, as it affects what I like to do in the game), they were able to make more profit, and invest more with a lower risk/reward profile, than someone who didn't have that info.

And for the record, every single announcement that the Devs make is accompanied by a huge outburst of positive and negative comments. So what?

And the fact is, that the same basic argument, "the players can't handle it" was used to keep Real Numbers out of the game for years. It was the wrong argument then, and it is the wrong argument now. Some small percentage of the playerbase will freak out if something changed from the announced to the real version, but they are alienating at least one customer right now trying to keep that other guy happy.

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Could we get some details about what will be able to be purchased?

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Not yet.

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I just want to say, that I am very disappointed in this answer. (Not on your part pohsyb, I understand answering that question probably wasn't up to you, and the amount of questions you answered in this thread was pretty amazing)

This is the second issue in a row, where there have been major changes that have an obvious impact on the market, where I have sat and watched the market react to those changes while they were still in Closed Beta. (As I documented here two days ago.)

What is so special about this information, that it can't be released to everyone who likes to play the market, and not just people who are either in the Closed Beta or getting information from it?

I-13 produced a noticable spike in Purple prices when it went into Closed. Now I've watched Purple recipes that were headed down in price after the frenzy of double xp weekend, shoot back up and make new all-time highs right after the I-14 Closed Beta starts. And to no surprise, we now get information that seems to lead in the direction of less net Recipe production in Pool A, and people speculating just like they did before I-13.

I wish the Devs would take another look at their policy on this. For a long time we were told that because things might change, that it was better to not release this kind of stuff. I would ask that a small exception be made for market-related information. Because, while things may change, I have yet to see an example related to the market where the changes would have hurt the people who speculated based on Closed Beta information.

Also, your playerbase is by and large pretty mature. Telling everyone "Yes, you will be able to buy Pool A,BC,D,E and Purple Recipes as well as Randoms at the Ticket Vendor", and then at some later date deciding you don't want C and D in there, wouldn't cause the kind of chaos you seem to think it would. Especially if you just plainly stated that you use that information at your own risk, that it could change, many of us are adults here and can quite easily deal with that.

For one, I'd rather be on a level playing field when it comes to the people I compete with at the market, even if it means following them off the wrong cliff, than to sit here in the dark, while other people inflate their Inf holdings at everyone else's expense. I understand that some might see it as a minor point, that is fine, that is pretty much how I might see any argument involving badges. What is a minor point to some, is an intergral part of the game to others. People gaming the system to gain an advantage at the market, spoils the mini-game that I enjoy, for me.

As with the entirity of life, the universe and everything, YMMV.
(but will tend to hover around 42 )

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They can take these tickets to an Architect ticket vendor and redeem them for various in game rewards, such as enhancements, recipes and salvage.


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Yet *another* loot ticket/vendor/unlockable system? I love the rest of MA, this gets a big thumbs down.

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Ok, seriously, if a signifigant portion of your players start playing MA missions, they start earning Pool A and Salvage drops like they earn Merits now. This system would then come with all the same drawbacks that we have seen so dramatically played out in the Market over the past few months. If tickets are like Merits for Pool A and Salvage drops, the market and whatever is in "store" for it (hopefully that wasn't a real hint about more stores coming, because we don't need this to become more store-like, that has been part of the problem recently.) could be impacted rather harshly.


Could we get some details about what will be able to be purchased. All Pool A recipes including Purples? Will there be a Random option like at the Merit Vendor?

Will ticket storage have the same kind of 9,999 limit like Merits?

Thanks for any and all answers, MA looks great, the tickets worry me a great deal.

My main character "Ogon Dark" a Level 50 also experiences near constant de-sync'ing when zoning.

I do not see this issue happening on my other characters with any regularity.

I wanted to also mention, that Human_Being mentioned a pet theory about the /sync problem and it having to do with an excessive amount of Set Bonuses. Looking at all the people with 50's reporting it in this thread, it might be worth asking if many of these same 50's have long lists of Set Bonuses.

Just throwing it out there, as after watching the behavior of my characters that have /sync problems, ones without any bonuses never go out of /sync. So perhaps there is something to that?

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1. If the intent is to allow any market involvement with the Merit system, and since we know that Infamy is more valuable than Influence, how can any system justify having the same fixed reward rates per hour on both sides? Even if you were to assume that COV players had the same Merit earning potential, the fact that at some point for the system to work Pool C's have to make their way to market, means that the flat pricing and flat earning rates of Merits per hour is an inherent penalty against Villain players.

2. In the Base Design Q&A thread it was stated that the reason for lowering the Salvage storage requirements was to prevent hoarding and encourage participation in the Market, which is inevitable now that Base Salvage is no more. My question is why this seeming contradiction in game design? With Merits you explicitly state that you are giving people a way out of the market, while with the other hand you are pushing other people into the market. This is really something Positron should answer I suppose as the overall vision is part of what people are having trouble understanding. (As well as the unrelated question of why introduce something that encourages ghosting, which seems to fall more under philosophy than mechanics.)

3.
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Before I answer your questions, I'd like to give you some information about the Merit Reward system. As most of you understand average (median) completion time is the primary metric we chose to use to determine the how many merits a task would grant. In fact, longer tasks give an additional 5% bonus to the number of merits they award for every 100 minutes of average time. Lastly, we use difficulty as a factor to round out numbers. So, some tasks get bonus merits because of their overall challenge. A good example of this is the Lord Recluse Strike Force. It normally would grant 18 merits due to its relatively short average completion time, however because of its difficulty it gets a +7 bonus granting a total of 25 merits!

Taskforces give an average of 1 merit every 5 minutes of average time (12 merits an hour), Trials give an average of 1 merit every 4.5 minutes (13-14 merits an hour), and Story Arcs give an average of 1 merit every 12.5 minutes (4-5 merits an hour). The reason for this major difference is due to the considerable time and effort Task/Strike Forces can take to set up and complete, so naturally these tasks grant a much greater reward.

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Next, the Merit Reward cost of items on the merit vendor are a bit more complex. The factors that go into determining the costs are: rarity, the drop table they originally came from, set bonuses, and then a few modifiers like perceived value and whether they are unique or not. You end up with some really powerful enhancements like Numina's Convalescence: +Regen/+Recovery as being very expensive as you would imagine because, it's high level, has good set bonuses, has a high perceived value, and drops from a Task Force reward table. This particular recipe goes for 250 merits. Another set I've seen mentioned a number of times is Crushing Impact. Some players wonder why its so cheap, only going for 50 merits each. The reason this set is so much cheaper is: it's an uncommon drop (not rare), has good (but not amazing set bonuses), and its perceived value varies. They can get up there in cost on the Auction Houses, but they're no Numina's.

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I think at the heart of it, this is what troubles me very much about the Merit system as it is currently implemented. I appreciate that our feedback has been at least given a good hearing, and some of it, like the Knockback uniques and the Random drop pricing has been tweaked.

But from my point of view, much of the system relies on a set of somewhat subjective views of what many things are worth.

One would be that you value the Merits/hour formula in a way, in relation to Story Arcs that seems to be way too harsh of a penalty for the trouble of starting up a team. I mean, it doesn't seem balanced that the penalty for that is to slash merit earnings by 66%. For setup time? While at the same time, because you don't really count setup time when Datamining times for the LRSF, but there is no way that thing is getting run in an hour an a half without many players spending almost as much time gathering materials.

Second, it seems assumed that giving longer tasks a further bonus is a good thing, and it may not be, it may be exactly what leads people to ghost through missions and discover exploits. The more logical way, IMO when adding a system like this, would be to scale the rewards for the longer tasks. So sure Dr. Q would still give the most Merits, but it would be something like 75 merits. Another benefit of that is that people wouldn't be tempted into thinking of 3 Dr. Q's=Any Shiny they want. In order to get that shiny, they would have to embark on and complete the 4th Dr. Q, so the question of spped running, while it would still be done, wouldn't be given as heavy of an incentive.

Third, you refer to the pricing of Recipes, and you cite an number of factors, but it seems needlessly complicated and also too dependent on the subjective value of some items. "Amazing set bonuses" is entirely in the eye of the beholder, and can change with FotM builds or new Powersets and proliferation of old ones. By trying to give each IO some kind of subjective value, you will create a distortion somewhere in the market for items.

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The Merit system gives players who don’t like to fiddle with the markets the chance to buy that IO enhancement they’ve always wanted but haven’t been able to afford with influence/infamy. It also gives players a way to have greater control over supply and demand on specific items by allowing players to buy that incredibly overpriced recipe listed on the Auction House, thus decreasing the demand for the item on the auction house.

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To me, you can't believe that in its current implementation that Merits will take care of demand at the marketplace. We (especially in COV) have a market where most of the items are already in short supply. The Merit system will take needed supply out of the market. The people who don't run TF's and were previously able to exchange Inf for the Pool C drops of those that do, will find that they need to spend more Inf to get recipes that can now be bought in a deterministic way. In this way, the balance of trade between the suppliers of Pool A and B recipes and the suppliers of the new Pool C recipes favors those Pool C suppliers, as they deal in a currency that has a property (determinism) that is intrinsicaly more valuable than Inf.

Further more you suggest that some recipes are incredibly overpriced, but from the point of view of a player, the question is their entire build, not just the cost of one uber-recipe. By slowing down the supply of Pool C's in general, it slows down everyone's progress, and I believe this will be expressed in generally higher prices for many things. The point being that in the general case, the goalposts have been pushed back, and the people who that seems to least effect are the ones that already prosper under the current system.


Uh.... I'm not sure there was a question in that last part there...