RemianenI

Uh uh, Castle. Cantatus was an Enchanter. One of the few who frequented Graffe's. That would surely make him very familiar with buff beggars and people traveling multiple zones to get a buff (or two, in the case of hybrids).

I'd like the prompt removed again but that's basically to remove the annoyance factor. What I'd really like fixed is the "penalty" for accepting the buff (the rooting animation).

Yep yep, that was exactly why I recommended it to my friends. Well, that plus the fact that the Ritz Carlton is a dump (relative to other Ritz's) and they were burning Marriott Rewards points.

Oh yes and you'd better not come to NYC without stopping at Junior's (in Brooklyn). You'll be sorry if you miss it (I'm not a cheesecake person but I love me some German Chocolate cake so I'm there every week grabbing one). And of course, since you were here last, a new landmark has opened (well, two but The Cathedral's the only important one ), Yankee Stadium. Catch a game there from inside the Hard Rock Cafe.

What you might be missing is what a lot of people from here miss. There are world class eateries OUTSIDE of Manhattan (and the number is growing every year). I also don't see why Jersey has been the only suggested alternative.

Within a short ride on Metro North or the LIRR, you could stay in a place that meets the requirements while also giving a different view of the city. Seriously, anyone who says Manhattan is the only place that's hopping either doesn't live here or doesn't leave their little bubble. That's not an insult, it's just stating what I've noticed. I live in NYC and have for most of my life (I was born and raised here) but I also stay in hotels here and all around the area (it's my job plus I'm lazy and don't want to ride the iron horse more than I need to).

Some places I'd suggest would be:

- Long Island (driving distance to a wide variety of activities in surrounding towns but still within reach of Manhattan via car or LIRR. The Garden City Hotel would be a good base of operations)

- Downtown Brooklyn: You've got major brand hotels (Marriott, Sheraton) and a couple of boutique properties (I can recommend the NU Hotel. Le Bleu in Park Slope is good too). You're just a short ride over your choice of bridges (Manhattan or Brooklyn) to lower Manhattan but you also have easy access to rapidly developing cultural areas (Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill). This gives you the benefit of being able to "break" a place (since most people aren't up on Brooklyn yet. But judging by the number of major chain hotels flooding the area, it won't be long before everyone knows about it).

You can also go north of the city (to Westchester, Rockland, or Putnam counties) for example. Last August, I had some friends in from Germany and they stayed at the Residence Inn in White Plains (since they planned to move north for a Basketball Hall of Fame visit and on to Boston) and they got back and forth to the city fine on the train. Well, first they drove but those parking fees in Times Square shocked their wallets enough to teach them a lesson. They even got to my house (in Bushwick) without me having to guide them (other than giving subway info. ie. go here and take this train to this stop and transfer to this train. Call me when you get to Gates Avenue).

Again, not meaning to sound insulting. It's the same everywhere in that local residents probably don't know much about hotels and amenities outside of the areas they frequent. There's far more to NYC than Manhattan or the Manhattan annexes (Weehawken, Hoboken, Jersey City, Rutherford, NJ).

Incorrect, I think. Read what Eva said.

So until those hostages are freed and leave the map, they'll be XP drains.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this. I read Eva's statement literally and with the bolded distinction.

Even if they were interested in story, you'd be the only one getting it, really. Team members don't see all the story you would as team leader. So you wind up with a lot of holes that you have to fill in largely by imagination. Plus, teams tend to run at a pace that makes reading the nav window text problematic (it slows the entire team down) and without that, the story the team members are getting is confined to flavor text inside the mission. I know personally, I'm not likely to join an AE team specifically because if it's about story, I'm not going to get my fix as a team member. It's like trying to get high off someone blowing their marijuana smoke in your face. Yes, it's possible but contact highs are inherently weak and suboptimal. Might as well just hit the blunt directly.

Bingo! I run maybe 20 arcs a day, almost every day, and I'll only do it solo (or duo, while boxing) because I need to control the pace and being in a team doesn't allow me that freedom.

Okay, perhaps a more apropos statement would be 'it's extremely difficult to find developers capable of constraining exploiters for long periods of time with a very tight budget'. StarCraft, if I remember right, was redesigned from the ground up twice prior to launch, wasn't it? How many developers have that luxury? What was the old Blizzard line? "When will it be out?" "When it's ready." It's why I can't fault developers for releasing "too early". They have deadlines and benchmarks to hit, regardless of how "ready" the product is. Hell, I bought a lifetime sub to Champions when I truly didn't expect the game to be any good until THIS September (at the earliest).


The problem (as I see it and I'm open to correction) is that authors cannot make missions that offer the same risk/reward as regular missions do. That's a significant barrier in and of itself. Making custom critters to exactly match those of 'stock' mobs isn't possible, is it? You have to make them a lot more difficult to reach the same level of reward (XP), don't you? While that might not be much of a concern to those willing to forgo character development/advancement for story, I don't think those folks are the majority of the target audience (judging from the reaction to the latest stopgap measure). As you know, bug reports probably aren't where the focus lies. If activity drops into the toilet (as many authors lament), it's just as bad (or worse) an indicator.

Realize, I'm not castigating the devs for the measures they've taken. They're probably doing the best they can given their resources and priorities. Knowing devs in both existing and forthcoming MMO titles helps to have that perspective. However, perhaps I'm jaded by that since knowing people in both camps (developer and exploiter), I can see how one is shackled (budget, benchmarks, focus/priority) while the other is fully free to pursue their goals. You're right, it's not impossible. Maybe just 'improbable' given the current "Get it out the door!" climate. I really don't know if the current system is exploitable and I'm afraid to ask around, honestly. But if it's not, that would be laudable though the feature's popularity may never recover to previous levels (which might not qualify as a 'win' if the method isn't universal). Besides, this would be one battle, war's not over. I don't know how you'd extrapolate MA's "fix" to say, GR (which is bound to be rife with holes, as many games and expansions tend to be). I'd like to see it (disruptive temporary fixes are annoying, after all) but it's one of those things that has to be seen before belief is accomplished for me.

First, I don't think exploiters are necessarily smarter than the devs, just like I don't think the above is a myth. It has to do with resources and priorities. If someone is focused on finding the loophole(s) in a game's systems and concentrates on finding it/them pretty much to the exclusion of all else, that's something the devs can't counter. They have neither the resources (man hours, since remember, it's not just ONE person doing this. It's often over a hundred....and several of them share info via websites devoted to this kind of thing) nor the focus to vet every single feature in the game (or even in one part of the game, like MA). Most devs can't play their own games in "hardcore" fashion (who has the time? Especially during crunch periods), which is where they fall behind those who can.

I'd like to see that change but as I said, it's not a myth. It's fact, as far as I've seen. If you have a thousand players constantly poking and prodding the game systems, looking for ****** in the proverbial armor, how is a developer supposed to combat that proactively? They can't, at least not if they expect to do anything else or eke out a profit of any kind. They're like roaches, really. For every one you see, there's a hundred you don't.

Yeah, I just did it on the other account (you'll see the message I left when you log in ) and typically do it a few times a week (though I don't think additional plays count?). I was prepping for a Damned or 2k Kelvin or something.

So help me Jesus, if the changed arc is Chris Jenkins, the arc is dead to me.

DEAD TO ME!!!

I like this idea but I doubt we'll ever see it. There are far too many people (especially on these boards) who automatically define a 'leveling' arc as a 'farm'. Yes yes, anyone with a brain will know that's not true, but those people exist (and the din they often make can be deafening). I like the tag option more though, as it seems the most elegant solution.

I also believe your proposed interface changes must (not 'should', not 'could', must) include a filter for customs. That is probably the #1 complaint I personally hear (as a person who uses MA on a daily basis, running a small number of arcs), with the aforementioned complaints excluded. Even if that filter includes 'Custom group' (which can often just be a bunch of stock mobs in a uniquely named grouping), there has to be that functionality. It could just be a filter that reads the 'Custom power selection' warning (which would be my personal preference, to avoid penalizing authors who use handpicked members of an existing group to simulate a dissident faction, for example). As it stands now, a lot of the time, you don't know what you're getting when you enter a mission with custom mobs. Having the ability to weed them out completely would add a lot of value to the interface.

Oh and if HoF and DC get their own tabs, I'd assume Guest Author would need one as well.

This. I don't have four servers full of 50s so the majority of my characters still value xp. However, that doesn't mean 'max xp is the only xp'.

Bingo! I don't see why that's difficult to understand, quite honestly.

This. Kitsune's point might've been dead on last year around this time, but now? Not so much. Besides, with dev content, I can load up a brute (over 30), crank the diff to +2x8 and raze most missions that I specifically choose to match that character's strengths, without even thinking about it. Can't do that in AE. Even if I make a Freakshow arc, the reward wouldn't be the same (as Eva pointed out - no xp bonus). The fact that I can stack the deck in my favor outside of AE more than makes up for the travel time.

And yes, I've tested it extensively. It isn't even in the same ballpark. It might have been at one time, but it's not now.

Who cares what those people think? They're not paying for anything, so they shouldn't have a say. Your wife is absolutely right btw.

My kins all have speed boost....because my kins all team with my characters, without exception. If one of my kins is in a team that doesn't also include another of my characters, chances are there are some close friends who needed her assistance.

In short, do what suits your individual playstyle best. Put SB in a secondary build you slot with SOs or something. IO the build that will best benefit that character the way YOU prefer to play it. What other people say or think is immaterial.

Yes, you can. I just did this with a Scrapper who had the 'Stop the Tsoo from taking over all the gangs in Paragon' mission. Had it at 22 and had just completed the 3rd and was holding the 4th 'Bust gang leaders and their crews' mission. She hit 24, I abandoned the mission and retook it and it's now 24. And that's a chained set of missions (i.e. each one is auto-assigned upon completing and leaving the previous one).

Well, considering the fact that I lost 15 vacation days last year (had 63, only used 48, and couldn't take 'em at the end of the year due to holiday staffing requirements), I need to use any and every excuse I can to take time off.

Yeah, I do the same. Easier to do it here than in years past when I played EverQuest (CoH is a lot more 'afk on a moment's notice' friendly). I have co-workers who do their mining in EVE during working hours. Everyone loves my boss.

They'd better, dammit. If they say otherwise, they're fired.

The problem with this, for me, is the above changes during the life of the character. Being someone who ABHORS missing and thinks 'beginner's luck' is a fallacy (I still miss way too much ), my new characters keep their trays full with Keen Insights. So there's no way I'd want to burn them up for anything else.

I'm like the OP (and Sam) except I take it a step further. Tier 3 insps go into base storage, without exception. I've got 4 insp storage bins in my villain side base, almost completely full of tier 3s (the fourth one has 10 spaces available). Do I use 'em? Sometimes, mainly when fighting heroes (Mynx, Numina) but most of the time, newp. I do keep a permanent set of bids for 10 stacks in on all characters for tier 2 insps, customized to the character's needs. Those I use, frequently. I tend to burn up inspirations in tier order (like others have said, chomping tier 1s as they drop, tier 2s as needs/wants arise, then tier 3 only in special situations).

Kaison, in the example you gave, my tray would've been empty since I would've gone all John Rambo on them.

God yes, this is my credo as well.

There are a lot (some would say too many). Yes. Rarely.

Bingo!

I treat AE like it was initially marketed: as an alternative to the content I've done dozens of times already. While I love a good story as much as the next person, I must have rewards since the primary appeal (reward wise) for me are tickets. Used to purchase salvage and recipes, tickets are more important to me than xp or inf (which I can get in abundance outside of the Architect). I'm not willing to "pay" on the reward side on a promise of a good story, partly because most of the time the payoff isn't there.

There are several arcs that I play literally every day (on both accounts) because I like the story and I like the fact that the rewards are decent. But I don't tend to move outside of that small circle of arcs because it's largely a crapshoot.

Or blaster. Or corruptor. Or MM. Or Stalker. Scrappers and brutes are easiest (arguable in the case of MMs) but they're not the only ones whose primaries are set up to 'kill stuff'.

I don't necessarily agree with Venture's assertion (I think the game was like that at launch but changes since then blur things significantly) but he has a point.

LOL I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought that a weird question.

To the OP, I'd venture a guess that the next double xp weekend will come around GR time. It's a bit late for them to announce for Memorial Day weekend (like a few other MMOs have done) so barring that, I'd say it would be for a major event of some kind.

It accesses the Armory.

Don't hate, congratulate. There are many people in this community who wish this game's developers were as aggressive in marketing this game.

CoH doesn't really have much to put in an app that wouldn't be covered by a fansite. The online portal that was promised last year (or two years ago) would fit but it's vapor (and probably won't happen at all IMO. Just seemed too ambitious). If I remember right, it was supposed to be along the lines of what Champions has, where you could access all of your characters and their relevant info and slotting and such. THAT would make for a decent app (since that's basically what Champions' app does).

Yes, the luddites can use their web browsers to surf over to cohtitan/Paragon Wiki but an app would be faster (assuming it's halfway decently made). But CoH isn't conducive to that kind of functionality (i.e. there's no point).