Organica

Yeah, I joined a (failed, unfortunately) SF this morning on my plant dom that I hadn't played in half a year. It took me only 1 spawn group to remember... oh yeah, justs throw out Seeds of Confusion first thing. If I do nothing else but that, I've already proven useful.

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I started almost 2 years ago, i bet some of you vets have great stories about the early days, dont be afraid to share, us noobs are listening

What was Hami like when it first came out? Abandoned Sewer Network? Rikti Warzone? Hollows? Items Of Power Trial? I bet we missed alot that we take for granted. It could not have been easy having to run to all the zones! What was the game really like when it first came out?

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Actually, you know, I would love to see a thread like this, with thoughts and comments from those who were there at the start or at last jumped in just after the gun. Not just the ED stuff, but all the changes, for good or ill...

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This is all off the top of my head so if my memory is faulty it's because I'm so old :

When the game first came out the max level was 40 and Peregrine Island didn't exist yet. They added PI with issue 1 I think, just a couple of months later, and I wasn't nearly level 40 yet so it didn't mean that much to me, but it's kind of strange to think about. (They did the same thing with CoV too.)

I participated in two Hami raids back in the early days. Back then Hami spawned on its own so you could only raid when Hami was up. There was no limit on the number of players in the zone, and raids were, I don't know, 100 to 200 players or something. Lag was immense, and there were player-made rules about having a costume with no cape or aura to prevent lag (which I suppose is still a good idea for some things).

Also since there was very little else to do at level 50 and no other way to get high-end enhancements, people fought over Hami raids a lot. Super groups would not always cooperate, and some people felt left out because of their AT or the fact that they weren't in a big SG.

I remember that controllers were able to hold Hami, so controllers were the biggest part of the raid. I had a fire/axe tanker who didn't fly, so I was not very useful. I remember super jumping to try and hit the mitos.

When it was all over, hami-O's would drop to players randomly. Some players would get 1, others would get several. Players would try to share or trade to get the ones they wanted, but of course some were greedy because they were the best enhancements in the game.

Anyway...

You could six-slot powers for damage or heal (for example) so in some ways figuring out how to slot your character was easier than it is now.

The Hollows didn't exist for a while. Neither did Croatoa or Striga Isle, and I think Firebase Zulu was added after PI?

In the early days you could successfully fight things much higher level than you, so one of the first big nerfs was the great purple nerf, where something more than 4-5 levels above you becomes very difficult to take down.

As many people will tell you, farming was there from the very beginning. In the early days it was common for a tanker to herd an entire mission or an entire outdoor map to a small space to be nuked all at once. Maybe you'd heard them to where a controller could lock them down and blasters let fly, or you herded them to a box where mines had been laid. If you were a fire tanker, burn did not cause enemies to run away so you could do all of the herding and killing by yourself. I did that.

Anyway I could go on about how powerful smoke grenade was... how powerful regen scrappers were... how a fire controller could have as many as 15 imps out at the same time... how an invulnerability tanker could herd so many enemies at once that they'd start to disappear because the game engine couldn't render them all... here's one thing that's probably hard to believe: in the early days, people derisively called the game "City of Blasters" because that's what everybody played, and scrappers would post long threads on the message boards about how useless their class was and how they weren't needed on teams. Kind of hard to imagine these days.

I had a regen scrapper that I played into the 30's before regen really got nerfed. I was katana/regen, and initially katana was the exact same animations as broadsword. But Instant Healing was a toggle that gave you massive regeneration, to the point that you were nearly unkillable (a huge alpha strike could kill you, I found that one out the hard way).

I never actually did the Abandoned Sewer Trial, but for a few months it was the most popular thing in the game because of the massive experience that was being rewarded. Also two different maps full of warwolves were popular because initially he doggies had no ranged attacks, they were all smashing/lethal damage (good for a fire tank -- well any tank really) and with their speed they herded very easily. When you run into Shadow Hunter in the... Maria Jenkins mission, I think? It's timed 30 minutes, and that's because they wanted to prevent people from keeping it and farming it.

One thing that I remember very clearly from the early days of the game was that high level ambushes used to spawn in low level zones quite a lot. I kind of liked it because it gave high level players the opportunity to play hero to lower level players, but it's true that often the lower levels just got run over by spawns twice their level.

I thought we were going to the 8th Dimension....

That so totally rocks.

At some point in the future there's going to be only 10 luck charms for sale and someone desperately upping his bid to try and get some of them.

5th column underwater moon base! You heard it here first!

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* Hey... look at this new bit of news from the Devs... They're going to be including a Blue Steel Task Force with Issue 16... saaaaay.. you don't think this has anything to do with the new difficulty system do you? I was wondering why they had that sideways 8 at the top end of the scale...

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Hmmm... Blue Steel TF...

1. First mission... attack Blue Steel with everything you've got. If he thinks that maybe you could have delivered 1 point of damage (if he were a weaker alternative universe Blue Steel, say) then he might allow you to carry out a series of missions for him.

(When first implemented, first mission was to do one point of damage to Blue Steel... but mission could not be completed.)

2. Second mission: Defeat all enemies... in Paragon City. All of them.

3. Third mission: Patrol the world. (Unique map of entire world built to scale.)

4. Fourth mission: Go. Hunt. Kill Rikti. All of them. Everywhere.

5. Fifth Mission: When there are no Riki left, it's time to destroy their home planet, just to be sure. A footstomp should do it... or, since you're not Blue Steel, you may need to run a side mission to gather a planet-destroying weapon.

6. Good. Now that we've got the preliminary parts out of the way, we can get down to the real point of the task force....

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* I'm sorry.. I have to quit the team.. no... it's not that you disagreed with me... no it's not how you're leading the team.. but.. your defender put an orange force field around me.. and I'm wearing purple... dear gods man! You've made me CLASH!"

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Equation/Arbiter Fabulous will NEVER run out of material to 'critique', now.

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Cat: Are you crazy? We can't go in there!
Lister: Why not?
Cat: Orange with this suit?

I17: Pole Axe and Halberd for Stalkers!

Yeah, I wandered around on Mouse Police (level 50) just to check it out, but I think I'll return tomorrow with Shinobu Dragonheart (level 37 MA/Invul). I can probably have some fun with her.

I have a 41 broadsword/regen scrapper too... but honestly my invul scrapper is very survivable, so I might try each to see how it goes.

Joined a respec team tonight. Right after I grabbed a set of Mako's and then did my respec. Took Gambler's Cut and Maneuvers. Current Defense: 19.01% Melee (w/o DA), 35.26% Ranged, 39.64% AOE.

That's my final build for now, I think. ^_^

You know, in all this time, I've never even gone there.

Guess what I'm doing tonight?

I do believe it's coming this morning.

(One of my LGTFs was run by Mr. Zombie himself. Good run!)

Electric Armor FTW! Sapper? What's that?

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QR

Future note to OP: Never come into the forums to start a vent post like this. It'll only invite the attention of snarky keyboard warriors who will take the opportunity to jump on you.

Just keep a level-head, and have a GM look into your issue. All the best.

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This quoted post contains the most important points in the thread.

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So true.

As a famous quote puts it, "It's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to post to the forums and invite a lot of other fools to respond."

Or something to that effect.

Seriously thought, you're not the first to have a mission banned just because it contained the word farm. If it isn't really a farm, it should be restored, it just might take a few days.

(But our other problem here is that everyone has a different definition of what the word "farm" means...)

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Welcome to the game? The OP has a forum reg date of 2006. What gives?

--NT

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Was wondering when someone else was going to notice this...

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I noticed it, but the answer seemed obvious to me (after I thought about it)... there have been quite a few people who have come back to check out what the game's like these days within the last six months.

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It was great for the first five minutes or so. Then it got even more awesome.

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Fixed that for you. ^_^

Seriously, I did two LGTF's last week, and while there were times that I couldn't see a thing I still love this bug. ^_^

Years ago when I played EQ on the Test server, they did a wipe like that... first they wiped the server completely clean, but there was such an uproar that they restored characters, sans money or equipment. So everyone got to start over. ^_^

(There were about 150-300 regulars on the Test Server... you couldn't copy characters over from live like you can do in CoH.)

Anyway... I'd expect the same things to happen. Some people rage quit, a lot of people [censored] and moan, and then everyone who sticks around quickly gets back into the game and rebuilds.

Yeah, smart money's on the "I can't log into Freedom. I pay for this game, they should fix my problems NAO!" threads. Coming soon to a message board to you.

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I'm just gonna continue yawning at all this dramacorn-bait.

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I have no idea what that means, but I find its syntax and rhthym intriguing.

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I'd guess that dramacorn-bait is what you use to catch a dramacorn. I think they're related to the jackalope.

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I just got a post card of an unknown creature.
Instantly I noticed its unusual features.
It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen.
Looks sweet and friendly. I don't think it could be mean.

Jackalope, tell me where you hiding, hey, hey, hey.
Jackalope, how come I can't find you, hey, hey, hey.

I stare at the post card.
Half jack rabbit, half antelope.
Now I know it's called a Jackalope.
A funny little bunny with horns.
Kinda cute, kinda cool, kinda wild.

I just got a phone call from the far away future.
Telling me the story of this mythical creature.
I went to the zoo, but couldn't find it anywhere.
The only things I found there were the reindeer and the hare.

Jackalope, tell me where you hiding, hey, hey, hey.
Jackalope, how come I can't find you, hey, hey, hey.

It was posted from somewhere in Texas.
It must be living somewhere in Texas.

Ja Ja Ja Ja... Jackalope.
Ja Ja Ja Ja... Jackalope.
Ja Ja Ja Ja... Jackalope.

I stare at the post card. Half jack rabbit, half antelope.
Now I know it's called a Jackalope.
A funny little bunny with horns.
Kinda cute, kinda cool, kinda wild.

Jackalope, tell me where you hiding, hey, hey, hey.
Jackalope, how come I can't find you, hey, hey, hey.
Jackalope, tell me where you hiding, hey, hey, hey.
Jackalope, how come I can't find you, hey, hey, hey.
Jackalope ... where are you from?

Shonen Knife rocks. I'd link to the video if there was one for this song. ^_^ (Maybe I need to make one...)

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Now, as for my projected build after a final (ha!) respec: would move one slot from Health to Sting of the Wasp and six-slot that with Mako's for more ranged defense, and might possibly swap out Stealth for Maneuvers (but keep slotting the same).

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Switch out Sting of the Wasp for Gambler's Cut. If you need reasons, let me know. I have plenty and they're all good.

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I would like to hear them. SotW is not usually a part of my attack chain but when I need an extra attack, it's there. It's supposed to be more damage than Gambler's Cut... what's the advantage to Gambler's Cut?

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Here's a question for the Mid experts: why is it that Stealth in the above build claims to give me 2.65% defense (under the info tab for that slot) but when I turn it on my defense jumps up a full 5.3%? This, btw, matches what I actually get in-game, a 5.3% bump with Stealth on. Supposedly Maneuvers would give me 3.21% defense and per Mids that appears to be all it actually gives me... so Stealth gives me the bigger across-the-board defense bump?

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This is because Stealth grants 2 unenhanced 1.875% +def(all) buffs. One is active all the time and the other is suppressed for 10 seconds when you attack or are hit.

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Ok, that makes sense. So Stealth is better defense for the ver first hit... and that's it. ^_^ Plus Maneuvers contributes to team defense, so there's that to consider too.

I assume you have a bid in for it in case it becomes available? Because that would solve your problem if your bid was suddenly filled.

Now, as for my projected build after a final (ha!) respec: would move one slot from Health to Sting of the Wasp and six-slot that with Mako's for more ranged defense, and might possibly swap out Stealth for Maneuvers (but keep slotting the same).

Here's a question for the Mid experts: why is it that Stealth in the above build claims to give me 2.65% defense (under the info tab for that slot) but when I turn it on my defense jumps up a full 5.3%? This, btw, matches what I actually get in-game, a 5.3% bump with Stealth on. Supposedly Maneuvers would give me 3.21% defense and per Mids that appears to be all it actually gives me... so Stealth gives me the bigger across-the-board defense bump?

Oh yeah, caveats: 1. Build is designed for as much positional defense as I could manage, so if my DPS or whatever suffers a little, I'm fine with that. 2. I like fly. 3. Another scrapper might dump Call of the Wolf for Instant Healing or something else (my friend can't fathom a regen scrapper without Instant Healing, but honestly I've never felt I needed it). YMMV.

Oh yeah, caveat #4: I like set bonuses. There are probably a few things I could improve by frankeslotting but... I'd rather have the set.

For what it's worth, Mouse Police's current build: (powers may not appear in the actual order I selected them though)

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Mouse Police Virtue: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Katana
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Concealment

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Sting of the Wasp <ul type="square">[*] (A) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (3) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[*] (3) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[*] (7) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance[*] (13) Crushing Impact - Damage/Recharge[/list]Level 1: Fast Healing <ul type="square">[*] (A) Healing IO[/list]Level 2: Flashing Steel <ul type="square">[*] (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage[*] (5) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance[*] (5) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge[*] (9) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (13) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[/list]Level 4: Quick Recovery <ul type="square">[*] (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod[*] (7) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Endurance[/list]Level 6: Swift <ul type="square">[*] (A) Flight Speed IO[/list]Level 8: Reconstruction <ul type="square">[*] (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery[*] (9) Numina's Convalescence - Heal[*] (11) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge[*] (39) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge[*] (46) Numina's Convalescence - Endurance/Recharge[*] (50) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance[/list]Level 10: Hover <ul type="square">[*] (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range[*] (11) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance[*] (21) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)[/list]Level 12: Divine Avalanche <ul type="square">[*] (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage[*] (15) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance[*] (15) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge[*] (17) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge[*] (17) Mako's Bite - Chance of Damage(Lethal)[*] (19) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 14: Fly <ul type="square">[*] (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range[*] (21) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance[*] (23) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)[/list]Level 16: Health <ul type="square">[*] (A) Miracle - +Recovery[*] (19) Miracle - Heal[/list]Level 18: Integration <ul type="square">[*] (A) Miracle - Heal/Endurance[*] (23) Miracle - Endurance/Recharge[*] (25) Miracle - Heal/Recharge[*] (25) Miracle - Heal/Endurance/Recharge[*] (27) Miracle - Heal[/list]Level 20: Stamina <ul type="square">[*] (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod[*] (27) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Endurance[*] (29) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy[*] (29) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge[/list]Level 22: The Lotus Drops <ul type="square">[*] (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage[*] (31) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance[*] (31) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge[*] (31) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (33) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance[/list]Level 24: Dull Pain <ul type="square">[*] (A) Miracle - Heal/Endurance[*] (33) Miracle - Endurance/Recharge[*] (33) Miracle - Heal/Recharge[*] (34) Miracle - Heal/Endurance/Recharge[*] (34) Miracle - Heal[/list]Level 26: Soaring Dragon <ul type="square">[*] (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (34) Mako's Bite - Chance of Damage(Lethal)[*] (36) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance[*] (36) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage[*] (36) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge[*] (37) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 28: Boxing <ul type="square">[*] (A) Damage Increase IO[/list]Level 30: Tough <ul type="square">[*] (A) Aegis - Resistance[*] (37) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance[*] (37) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge[/list]Level 32: Golden Dragonfly <ul type="square">[*] (A) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage[*] (39) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge[*] (39) Obliteration - Damage[*] (40) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (40) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge[*] (40) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge[/list]Level 35: Resilience <ul type="square">[*] (A) Aegis - Resistance[*] (42) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance[*] (42) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge[*] (42) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%[/list]Level 38: Moment of Glory <ul type="square">[*] (A) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance[*] (43) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge[*] (43) Aegis - Endurance/Recharge[*] (43) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge[*] (45) Aegis - Resistance[/list]Level 41: Weave <ul type="square">[*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed[*] (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense[*] (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance[*] (46) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge[/list]Level 44: Build Up <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO[*] (46) Recharge Reduction IO[/list]Level 47: Calling the Wolf <ul type="square">[*] (A) Mocking Beratement - Taunt[*] (48) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge[*] (48) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge/Range[*] (48) Mocking Beratement - Accuracy/Recharge[*] (50) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Range[/list]Level 49: Stealth <ul type="square">[*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense[*] (50) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance[/list]------------
Level 1: Brawl <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Sprint <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 2: Rest <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Critical Hit

I think the kind of chatter you're looking for might be provided by a SG or, if not that, a global channel. (I run a solo SG so nobody talks to me in SG chat, but I'm part of several global channels). Check the forum for the server you're on, most of them list the major channels, and there's usually several good ones per server.

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Like, how many toons/alts does a person play total?

Then, how many of those do they use the Market with - to a significant degree?
How active those toons/alts are - so far as, How often do you log them in?

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1. I guess I have well over 100 alts. I probably "actively" play a few dozen of them, for a given value of "active".

2. I actively market with 2 heroes / 1 villain on Virtue, 3 heroes on Freedom, 1 hero on Liberty and 2 heroes on Victory. So 9 characters that I work hard at turning a profit with.

3. I log in the above 9 characters at least once a week. I log a couple of them in much more often, but since it can take a while to log them all in I'll ignore some of them for up to a week at a time.

Just FYI. I have no idea how others do stuff.

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You can slot regen up for defense as well, sure. The best I've seen anyone manage in this regard is around 20% or so to all positions.

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Mouse Police (kantana/regen) has 41.72% AoE Defense, 33.60% Ranged Defense, and 21.10% Melee Defense. Once I can respec again I can six-slot Sting of the Wasp with Mako's for another 3.75% ranged defense. I can also add a slight bit of global defense by swapping out stealth for manuevers.

(And... if I ever get my hands on a Gladiator's Armor unique I know I could cram it into my build somewhere )

But basically, much better than 20%. Melee of course jumps well up when I'm in combat due to Divine Avalanche.



(Not saying that it's easy or that I'm not sacrificing other things in an all-out pursuit of defense, or that this somehow makes my regen better than another set with the same amount of money dumped into it... but still, you can get very close to capped positional defenses on regen.)