Scarlet Shocker

Great work thanks for sharing.

I know sometimes we gripe but it's amazing how much stuff the Devs actually - in a relatively short time.

QR, not read every reply here but I have a couple of thoughts

Good OP - but I think it's worth remembering that previous rewards didn't work as well. Many got farmed - Katie Hannon was a classic for that - and there were issues with the rewards

I believe that merits are an adjunct to the reward system. I think some people have already said you get inf by doing missions plus random recipe drops too - which can often be much better than the merits for the TF/Arc that's being run.

The big advantage with merits is that you can use them to get exactly what you want - and I'd guess people choose the stuff that's expensive in the markets... the heal uniques, the LotG +7 etc...

I also think that it's important to take Merits in the round combined with other rewards - for example Architect Tickets - which works excellently as a compliment. Run a few MA arcs, swap your tickets for a couple of random Bronze rolls or some super-rare salvage and you will probably have a goodly amount of cash to spend in the AH on the other stuff you want.

Yes, Merits on their own suck at their current level - but whilst I think they could do with a small boost* - they work very well with the other rewards in game and give you an opportunity to get the build you want - and a reason to continue playing a character after it's hit the big 50

*especially for the GMs - 2 merits for them is derisory and it'd be good to see GMs worth hunting again.

I can see two sides to this argument.

Long time vets could feel slighted if obtaining rewards were made easy - and recently joining players look at the long list of vet rewards and think "sheesh, I'm never gonna get all them."

Here's a potential solution: For every 8 vet rewards (ie 2 years paid game time) a player could purchase the next 4 Vet rewards early - for a fee.

However doing so means they don't get the badges, and they don't get different rewards when they play for the next year.

Not perfect as a system but it kind of hits a bit of middle ground for those who are impatient.

I don't take it on my thugs/poison MM or my earth/thermal troller.

Nobody complains and I mostly team.

A) defeat is a lot less likely these days

B) combining insps makes the ally rez redundant

C) it really doesn't take long to get back from the hospital if all else fails

In fact it seems to me the best things the Devs could do would be to add an optional power at that level - an either/or choice.

Thanks for the info peoples.

Cross fingers I think I've fixed it... a clean and upgrade of the firmware - there does seem to be something of a cavity behind the lens so gently teasing out some cat hair from there may have been the fix.

Here's hoping and thanks again

My trusty Razer Copperhead mouse seems to be giving up the ghost - the pointer doesn't seem to correlate too well to the mouse movement/position

I've had non-gaming mouses fail in this way but I've generally filed them in the round file under B. This I'm reluctant to... it's only 2.5 years old and I can't afford to replace easily. Is it fixable?

If not, what alternative choices do I have if it comes to consigning it to the great mouse graveyard to the sky?

I just left him a note telling him how it is.

If he responds, I'll be pleasantly surprised. But my cynical inner being tells me it'll be same day same black pebble.

Did it but left feeling a bit "meh"

I agree with comments by others that you're looking for answers to fit your existing hypothesis.

Heh

Sounds like the nerf is working then! This is a good thing.

/em ambivalence

We often talk about Caps... soft caps - defence, resistance etc. There's a lot of threads dealing with it and I'm pretty convinced getting to them is essential for the long term health of any toon you want to play seriously.

But one thing I've never seen mentioned is debuff caps. Is it possible to debuff a PC or a critter to a minimum? In other words can their "toHit" or "defence" (or any other attribute) be reduced to a finite limit - or can it be ongoing?

Does one player have a limit to the amount of debuff they can do - and does it stack? By which I mean if I debuff The Honoree (as an example) as far as I possibly can - could my team mate then add to that debuff?

I appreciate there's a finite level to which a debuffer can operate: Spamming debuffs takes time and they are of finite duration but is that the only limitation to them?

Are debuffs linear, insofar that they reduce an attribute by a fixed percentage or do they change incrementally with use, a la "diminishing returns" when slotting S/IOs? To put that in context if I have a power that debuffs an attribute by 10% if I hit my target 10 times will their attribute be 0 or will the power itself - without taking other forms of mitigation into effect - be less (or even more) effective?