Rooftop_Raider

I think this is proof we need more expansions.

Based on my experiences so far:

While I agree the fights are generally more challenging, there's not as many significantly-difficult challenges as there are for heroes. So far I feel I've been debuffed more, but controlled less (a fair compromise), and mobs are often one level higher (which I am fine with, actually) than I usually see hero or villain-side.

That's about it, as near as I can tell so far. I have very rarely fought more than 3 mobs in a spawn, most frequently 2 mobs, or 1LT and 1min. Rest is available after 3 fights or so, and I don't feel like it needs to be immediate. I've only had to run out of a mission twice in about 4 days of play, so far. The ambushes have so far been well-timed, but I can see how some people might have a problem is they aren't adapting to them. The only peeve I have is that some missions you apparently _have_ to solo to complete, which I am not sure how that will work out once I start grouping in earnest.

Actually, the only other peeve I have is knowing where to find contacts, if they aren't fed to me. I lucked into Ricochet, I believe her name is, only after someone else already had her, and once I went to her, I suddenly had her. I have no idea how I am supposed to know about her beforehand, or how many other contacts I am missing simply because I don't know they exist. But I digress.

1) Usually one mob from a groups runs away, but they always come back, though it can take a minute for that to happen. More experienced players can tell which mob is most likely going to run, and target them first. Or take action like using ranged attacks, control powers, etc. I would agree that I'd like to see most enemy groups not do this, but a few should still have the option (ie, Hellions, Skulls, etc)

2) The way the person fights, running around, I fight like that fairly often on some characters, particularly in outdoor missions, for variety, and coincidentally some mobs who would normally run, choose to keep fighting when I do this. I did think find it interesting that he was really impressed with putting recharge enhancements in all his attacks, with and how that sped things up for him and allowed to play in a more exciting manner.

3) He does speak very fast, though perhaps that's because he is of Hispanic descent, but I didn't find it hard to understand him personally.

4) The goofiness at the end with him trying to fall to his death, the character creation comedy, don't really lend anything to the review, which really wasn't that deep of one. However, it did hit some good points. I think the 1-2 minutes he put into it being goofy could have been better spent on other things.

5) The point about not being able to choose resolution in the beginning is really his most valid point, and I think some effort could be put into fixing that issue. Fortunately it's fixable and generally not a problem again on the same system, once you change the settings.

6) I found it amusing that he didn't understand the difference between the Loyalist and Resistance fighters. However, to be fair, you do bad things for good reason, and good things for bad reasons, in this game, so I can see how it would be a little bit of a challenge to understand what you are doing, and how it effects your growth towards being a hero or villian.

7) The focus on the mission teleporter power was unintentionally-funny, and I believe gave the wrong impression of what the power is used for, and the ironic things is the new expansion is designed in such a way where the power is less valuable than CoV or especially CoH.

8) I agree that mobs you are rescuing should help you out.

9) The instanced missions are still preferable to the non-instanced missions of previous generation MMO's and hold up fairly well to existing MMO's. I would like to see more tilesets and more randomized levels, but I don't think this subject was handled too well. The total variety of tilesets, missions, etc in the game are pretty respectable.

Sucks that I have to be at work when this momentous occasion occurs. The upside is I have a 9-day vacation coming up in a couple days. Should be fun.

I moved all my significant characters off Pinnacle, to either Virtue or Freedom, and I ended up only losing one name of significance, Donnybrook, my MA/SR Scrapper, whom I consider my second main character, behind my forum namesake. Most characters I moved, I was able to maintain their name.

At least for myself, the pros greatly outweighed the one legit con, as I've been able to get onto teams nearly instantly, regardless of the time of day, or what day of the week it is. I can still solo as needed. As much as I am for server merges, I just recommend people take the responsibility to move the characters as desired, if they want to increase their likelihood of teaming. It's worked wonders for me, at least.

In my opinion, PTOD was a manageable threat for Dominators, and so long as they can have a solid attack chain they can deal serious damage. I solo'd my Mind/Psi Dom to lvl 50 and beat every EB without assistance in all those missions. Some of this was before our boost to melee damage to 85%, though the rest of his soloing career was made with that change in effect. Having played several Blasters to 50 and a couple Dom's to 50 (and a few others of both AT's to a variety of levels, I believe Doms have an easier time leveling in identical conditions, however the Rogue Isles are a harder place to level, IMO, though it makes up for it in other ways (less travel required, more visually stunning, smarter missions and story arcs, etc).

I won't be abandoning Paragon City or the Rogue Isles, but Praetoria looks to be a wonderful place to adventure for the first 20 levels.

Most of us forumers are just too distractable, so usually when someone makes a bonehead mistake in a thread....

oh, look - something sparkly! (paws at a blue wisp)

I personally regret being away since Issue 13, as literally, some of my best gaming moments have come in this game. From all the personal friends I gained here, to the adventures I've been a part of, and the healthy and often hilarious debates and discussions on the forums. I can't wait for the next expansion.

IMO, Freedom probably has the highest villain population, as I think Virtue being the informal RP server, probably has the highest hero population, followed by Freedom. I did a ton of polling awhile back and the numbers in the searches tended to reflect the reality of population order, as well as overall online population, and I suspect that hasn't changed much in the last couple years, except that there are probably less players overall.

I've always been a fan of server consolidation, but even I could never say when that would need to happen, as the one real downside is the naming issue. There are other cons, and lots of pros, however.

I'm not even saying we have to drop down to one server, really, just maybe halve the number of servers.

Regarding zone revamping - I prefer that to increasing the number of zones. Having played EQ for some time, I saw how the game deteriorated as the population got split between all the zones, and at one point there were nearly 500 zones, and the vast majority were abandoned, or used simply to cross to other zones. There were other factors at work, but I think they could have spent more time improving the game than constantly creating new zones.

I would also personally recommend making Atlas Park the only starter zone for CoH, and revamping GC for another higher level zone. Level 20 or higher, given what is coming in the new expansion.

Just some early morning ramblings. What do you think?

Goodbye posts are, I believe, still against the rules. I think just letting all the drama go would be sufficient, and just keep playing and posting without worrying about it.

I am looking at one of my Stalkers moving to blue-side, and that's about it. I will mostly be making new characters and going about it that way. At least that's the plan for now.

Forgive my ignorance, here. How has INV been buffed? Thank you!

I think it's possible I might go with DM/SD, as suggested, as I've never personally enjoyed DM/DA (more due to DA than anything). Thank you, everyone! I really do appreciate your expert advice on this.

I'm only lvl 13 with my Demons/Thermal MM but his survivability and damage seem very impressive to me, and at least to this point, the tier 1 demons are very much like Blasters who stay at range in the beginning, and so long as I start out not to distant from the mobs I choose to take down, there's no issue with range. The second tier pet so far is more eager to go into melee, but I have adapted my gameplan so far and that hasn't been a problem. I can't wait till this guy is lvl 32 and I see what a decked out DS/TR MM is capable of. I'm very impressed so far.

Just to revisit a good MM duo with another AT, one good combo is a Brute and MM - especially if you mix self and player buffs. For example a Brute with a Dark/Fire/Electric/INV/Stone secondary mixes well with a /FF MM. Energy and SR secondaries mix well with Thermal. Pretty much any of the other secondaries work well with just about anything else. There are also thematic mixes, such as Fire/Fire Brute with Demons/Thermal, and so forth. Whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll have fun.

One new development for me is pets don't get in the way of players, so it's a big easier for dual MM's and beyond. That said, if you are mixing AT's, Brutes and Masterminds go well together, IMO.

If people from a particular SG behave pretty badly, I'll take note of the SG and be prepared for next time. Not to mention the particular players. But I don't personally avoid grouping with others from a SG because one or two miscreants.

Maybe we will see more zone upgrades, which make them look better. Perhaps the zones that are in line with what we might see in the new expansion. Atlas Park and Grandville, maybe.

What is the last zone upgrade this game has dad? Faultline? Has there been other zones since then?

IIRC when I had that power on my Mercs/Traps I mostly would just drop it down at the beginning of battle in around the center of combat. I think every spawn or two I would do that. Not a big deal but I believe it helped a little bit over time, and generally provided a little bit more of a margin of error. Not something that makes the set, however, but not totally useless (to me at least).