Primal

It's wonderful there are people who enjoy playing all manner of combos, as they leave me to play something else with no guilt. I'm a big fan of scenarios in which everybody wins.

Let's consider Tankers. Plenty of people love 'em, some don't like playing anything else. That's great, because I can't play them at all. Actually in thinking about it, I'm gonna say the "weakest" combo, which I'm defining here as "I'd never play it because it's so incredibly at-odds with what I'm looking for in a game", is an Invuln/Ice Tanker. (Yes, I know, now someone will say "Hey, I took one to 50 and it was endless joy!" That person am Bizarro-me.)

So basically, there are no weak combos at all. As long as you define "weak" as "dies a lot, can't level", that'll never strictly happen, as you can make progress using any powers at all, with the main concerns being time and patience. Given infinite quantities of both, it's impossible to not level. You'd have to actively TRY to make absolutely zero progress, by never attacking at all. And you'd have to stay solo the whole time, any teams would drag you along even if you were just dead and leeching.

There are combos that don't do much damage at all, but have huge amounts of mitigation, and therefore will be perfectly safe but tough to solo. Earth/Empathy Controllers, I think most would agree, would be a wonderful teammate but an exercise in masochism to solo. Other combos have the potential to die a lot, but they'll still make nice progress by virtue of giving up on mitigation.

Personally I find Force Field the most boring "support" set in existence, and Eletric Blast the most boring attack set, so a FF/Elec Defender is something I'd avoid making. (I used to have a Dark/Elec, but I disliked Elec so much that I rerolled her from 32 as a Dark/Rad, and she's so much better now.) Aforementioned Earth/Emp is also something I'd avoid, mainly because that's very much a team-only set (as far as me playing it is concerned), and I can't count on finding teams all the time. Neither of these combos are actually weak, however, they just don't fit ME.

I dunno, man, every time I read people laughing about clueless people who've obviously done nothing but hang out in AE, it makes me think of people who do nothing but end-to-end [x]Fs for the Merits. I'm not saying they're the same thing or that anyone's "wrong", but both strike me as an awfully narrow way of traversing the game, and I personally avoid both.

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I don't know about you, but I've basically become a PERMANENT team/TF starter. I only play in full teams nowadays (unless I'm working at the same time ) and I almost always form and run them.

Stop by Justice sometime to see what I mean, heh.

P.S. LOLteambalance

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When I'm forming a team, I send a tell to everyone that's A) not in a team and B) doesn't display "accept no invites". I figure out SK/Exemplaring later. I send a TELL mind you, not a direct invite.

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Wow, where are you when I play on Justice. Sometimes when I play there I wonder if I got bugged somehow and wound up on everyone's ignore list. Other servers not such a problem, Justice you can hear the crickets chirp.

Like Bruthaman, if I'm the leader I feel obligated to act like one, which isn't needed, and therefore the whole thing feels really uncomfortable. I avoid it when possible, and if I don't see a team, I either solo or play a character that can.

Team "balance" is a really silly idea.

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QUESTION: Does your own general playstyle seem to reflect how you react in other social situations (not necessarily choir, but other similar kinds of groups)?

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I'm a loner in life and in game, but not aggressively so. I team just fine, but once the job's done and/or the group starts breaking up, I have little problem walking away.

I get along with most everyone and have a great many acquaintances, but it's exceedingly rare that I make actual friends.

I have been in organized large groups, but they either broke up around me, I've been booted (rare), or I lost interest in them.

I always play as though I am the only one I can rely on, although help is appreciated.

I'm actively disinterested in speeding through something to get to the next, and will avoid "efficient" people and min-maxers, regardless of the "rewards". Cliched but true: it's the journey, not the destination.

Anyone spouting beliefs I disagree with, is someone I avoid if at all possible, and often even if it isn't. I despise racists and sexists and assorted other jerks. I guess everyone would say they do the same, huh.

I used to be in church choir, back when I was the church-going type, and was in choir at all three colleges I attended. I was (and am) a bass. My favorite piece to sing was the Faure Requiem, followed closely by Handel's Messiah that we sang in German. I'm too self-conscious to be a soloist, but once performing in my church choir, everyone else lost their place during the grand finale, and I was alone in belting out the final sustained high note. To thunderous applause. I can't really translate any of this to CHVR, but I did want another paragraph after that winky-face above so I wouldn't give off a Golden_Girl vibe.

Want even more data? Over 5 servers:

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
Scrapper 8 (1 50, two are MA)
Blaster 5
Controller 5
Defender 2
Tanker 1
Pb 1
Ws 1

Mm 5
Dominator 4 (1 50)
Brute 4
Corruptor 3
Stalker 1
Widow 2 (one of each)
Soldier 1

Magic 14
Natural 12
Mutant 5
Science 5
Tech 4</pre><hr />

Hi, my name is Primal, and I like to Scrap. I like teaming with Tanks and Khelds, but I don't like playing them at all, solo or teamed. I'm a good Defender but I admit I can only play them on teams.

When I was going to work once a few years ago, it suddenly hit me how much my local downtown makes me think of Kings Row. Or vice versa, at this point it's hard to tell. The RL buildings aren't nearly as tall - the tallest building here is 11 stories, others hover 4-7 - but that "industrial downtown" look is pretty much nailed. Yes, including BAR and GUN signs in proximity.

The people on the street are much more likely to be students and/or skateboarders than gang members too, but visually there's not much difference. Heck, there's a regional police training complex there now too, with cops and wannabes alike hanging around, so the lines just keep getting blurred.

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or even just add a new button to "Delete All" emails at once rather than having to delete every message individually if you want to clear your email box.


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This.

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Excellent idea. I recall precisely one email ever that wasn't spam, and it was telling me I'd been kicked out of the SG. Which I could pretty well tell already. It's spectacularly useless to me, and if I can't utterly disable it this is the next best thing. (If only I could ignore the red text....)

It still amuses me, in a really sad sort of way, that hitting the Spam button causes someone else to drop OFF my Ignore list. I just hit Delete now.

I'm divided on AE. I don't participate in it at all as the concept of it does not sit well with me, but I don't (can't) have much objection to other people living in it. I solo a lot more than I used to, but since I don't like (read as "avoid at all costs") making teams and never have, I can't object based on those grounds. I liked the game better without it, but if it increases sales and/or pleases the majority, I benefit from that.

I'd rather have a second helping of the main course, or more macaroni and cheese, and just leave the dessert off, myself.

Perhaps a 1% for Other is in order.

Threadjack ahoy!

Motion has differing effects for different people. Age might or might not make things worse (or better), it's all about the ear and/or eyes. (There are various theories for both.)

I can't play an FPS longer than a couple of hours. I try, I get nauseous and start to feel unreal, like I'm floating. I'm just fine 'til then. It's not age though, I've been like that since at least Wolfenstein (i.e. 17 or so).

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- You create a Superman clone who has Super Jump rather than Fly. (+2 Geek Cred for getting this joke)

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- You make a Batman clone and immediately put in a bid for the Revolver recipe.

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QR

First the rampant AE farming, and now cross dressing, what is this game coming to?

Next thing you know there will be guys playing female characters.

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Good thing the OP can escape to real life where that sort of nonsense isn't happening.

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Tomorrow I have to get up early and get to farming. It's a terrible turnover rate too, you grind for 9 hours plus, yet there's precious little influence to show for it.

Oddly enough though, if I just stay in bed, my infamy score goes WAY up! Sadly, too much of that and I get dropped from the team. It's madness I tell ya.

No cross-dressing though. ...Well, okay, there is one client we're not too sure about, he's way too pretty. And I've heard rumors that another, despite the female voice, totally has man-hands.

Well, being Bosses, they're not too annoying in a solo mission, since there will only be one total. On teams is where it gets icky, when there can be two or more in every spawn. On teams I play Mook Mash with my fast-recharging Lotus Drops, then help out on the Bosses when they're the last ones standing. It is my experience that teams tend to focus on Bosses anyway, so this way I get that coveted Combat spam (You have defeated You have defeated You have defeated). I'm usually the only one that knows I'm saving the Bosses for last.

Obviously if I wanted my Talsorian Katana, there just wasn't avoiding Rikti.

Spectral frustration or lack of can also depend highly on what your damage type is. I know my Katana/SR, though she can survive against them just fine, doesn't precisely go looking for them either. She feels the same way about Freakshow Tankers and Chief Soldiers, in that they'll take forever to chip down (and if the streakbreaker decides she's lived too long, things can quickly go south). She carries the Ghost Axe for use against Spectrals, but the others are just plain tedious.

The phrase is "More trouble than they're worth". Sure, some people see drawn-out fights as a challenge, but others are more interested in going ahead and defeating stuff.

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OH SNAP! I just remembered I have cheesecake in the fridge!

*Wanders.*

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*licks fingers* Oh. Were you saving that?

Heh, it's like anything else. CCs aren't ALL rigged, but holy heck does it leave a nasty taste in your mouth when one blatantly is. Even if you're just watching one, it's a pretty despicable display.

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I don't run CCs anymore (not in 4 years or so) but occasionally if I'm in Atlas on a 50 with a bunch of spare inf. I'll swing by somebody else's contest and offer "supplemental prizes" to costumes *I* like but that didn't make the cut for the official host. Makes it less of an exercise in futility when somebody random hands you a million inf. even if you're not the underdressed ****** or the darktiy dark demon of the week.

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Though I don't currently and have never held my own, I've been known to hand out prizes to CC "losers" as well. It's gotta be a combo: nice costume, name, and the bio to back it up. Skin-showing types and demons have been on that list, just depends if I think it's done well.

I've never entered a CC, as I'm very much of the low-key, military, or "street" schools of design, none of which have much of a chance against the competition. However, I have been gifted myself as in the above.

I might change my Dark/Rad Defender's blasts from yellow-greenish to something else. Something purple maybe.

Also might change my Energy Blaster's attacks to a more watery-looking color. She's not specifically a Water Blaster but Energy always has made me think more of water, Torrent especially.

The large majority of my characters are either this or this. I have a few who aren't female.

Otherwise pretty much every character fits a trope or two. Kind of the nature of a character.

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if you have COSTUME SLOTS that look like men and some COSTUME SLOTS that look like females that is called drag.

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[...]Or it's called "these are 5 different characters under the name Sentai Force".

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I just wanted to say how clever an idea that is.

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Was kinda surprised to get the "Retaliator" (even on Pinnacle). He's not my favorite by a long shot (I play on Virtue these days), but it's definitely the name I feel most lucky about snagging.

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I have Retaliator on Justice. Dark/Kin Corruptor, who I don't play much.

My favorite name among my characters is a tough call. If forced, I still can't pick between B'riyah (Fire/Storm/Psi Controller) and La Doctora (Mercs/Poison MM), the latter of which surprised me in its availability.

The names I've gotten the most comments on are Buttered Cat (Gravity/Ice Dom) and Dr. Particular (Ill/Rad).

I was recently quite amused to find "Primal" taken on every server. My version only exists on Triumph.

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I just wish there was a way to skip the 13-22 levels. 1-12 I enjoy as you're leveling up quickly, lots of new powers fast, getting used to a (usually) new powerset, digging on a new cool costume. By the time the teens roll around though, damage scaling starts kicking in for non-damage primary types, endurance becomes a serious issue, and leveling progression slows down quite noticeably. 22 with SO/IO's and Stamina picks it back up again for me.

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Agreed with this. Although I move it up slightly: 15-21 is the deadly part for me.

I don't know if I'd just skip it outright via a vet reward though. The age-old problem with allowing people to skip ahead is that it still leaves people stuck there, except now they're all alone too. The best way to get through boring spots is via a team, I've found, although it's not gonna work for everyone.

I like levels in games, it's why I play RPGs at all. I enjoy obvious points of progress. A level-less game is not one likely to keep me interested. Not that levels automatically make things better. I hated Guild Wars.

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Scirroco is my favorite of the signature villains and mostly because not only is the the well-intentioned extremist type but he also is the only one who acts civilized. The rest all are brutish and/or petty, while Scirroco shows that being a jerkass is not a requirement for being a villain.

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I don't really care for any of the Signature people at all, but if forced to pick one I also choose Scirroco, for the reason above. But I don't find any of them particularly interesting. Sorry, CHV writers.

My favorite character in the game so far though is Ashley McKnight. She has a matter-of-fact way of speaking that's refreshing. I especially like the line "This task is not full of combat and near death experience. So, if that's what you're after, perhaps it's best you go elsewhere and steal something or mug someone. " I keep wondering how she'd be as an opponent, or an ally.

Heh, as far as costumes go, it's Foreshadow all the way. That dude has the slickest costume in the game by far, and quite honestly is better than in many other games period.

I don't care much for the costume stuff, but the ability to do the "petite regular person can go HUGE MONSTER FORM" thing is worth far more than $10 all on its own. I don't care how overdone it is, I've wanted it for years.

...you're given your third debt badge immediately upon selecting the mission. You didn't have any debt badges at all before.

... [color= green]Blue Steel: Um, yeah...hey, SG calling, laters all.
Statesman: Sorry, cat needs walking.
Synapse: We have Vengeance, right?[/color]

... The mission text reads "Imagine if you called him Charlie and made fun of his beard."

... The text reads "Imagine if you called him Baldy and said something disparaging about people who are into D&amp;D."

I agree with you entirely. AVs (and a great many EBs) in this game are just roadblocks to me. I either get a team to help get rid of them or just drop the mission.