Seldom

*Edit* Signup entry redacted- real life plans will keep me from attending. Best of luck to those involved.

Going through my character selection screen, organizing alts (I keep 'em set by level) and swapping for day jobs and SG/VG group status retention, I noticed which archetypes were well represented, and which were less so. It got me thinking about which I really like playing, and which were made more from curiosity.

So, in the tradition of internet lists, where do all the archetypes fall in terms of your gameplay enjoyment?

I'll start: (#1 being most fun, #14 being least of the list)

1. Dominators
2. Brutes
3. Soldiers
4. Corruptors
5. Masterminds
6. Blasters
7. Defenders
8. Controllers
9. Tankers
10. Warshades
11. Widows
12. Stalkers
13. Peacebringers
14. Scrappers

Just thought it would be interesting to see the differences from player to player.

So very hard to choose favorites, but I will echo the earlier (perma)dom reply.

Favorite: Mind/Psy/Soul dom, with void/reactive(-res)/phantasm/rebirth

Control? Best in the game. Damage? good to excellent. Debuffs? Floors regen, recovery, has consistent -resistance. Pets? why not. Healing? Sure, with +regen

Second is my Fire/Fire/Fire dominator, with pyronic/reactive(+fire)/drones/rebirth

This has okay control, but ridiculous damage, both AoE and ST. Permanent rain of fire, AoE attack chain, blaze up every other attack, fiery embrace up 2/3rds of the time, healing for what comes through, it's a blast. Of Fire. Constantly.

After having run this on several "good" teams, and several standard 'bring your favorite" teams (i.e. often mostly blasters, tanks, and scrappers) It seems fairly clear that this was designed at least partially to give healers a place again. The 70% unresistable, auto-hit blasts simply scream "you'll need green numbers here." But I hate to say it, this makes the trial needlessly difficult for a team without healing. It's also deadly to defense-based characters, especially without healing.

What I'd do: reduce the pulses' initial damage, so that it only ramps up when antimatter is damaged. This makes things easier on low-heal or no-heal teams playing smart, but gives full punishment to those pounding on him. make pulseshave high tohit, rather than auto hit, so that the defense-based characters have a way to stay unhurt, though it would be difficult.

Add a disintegration scrambler terminal to the final fight, far from the battle. Without healing, the disintegrated target can run to the terminal and get out of the death card.

All in all I'd say this would be the goal:
A full league, playing smart and of ANY archetype/powerset mixture, (including no ally healing powers, or even without buffs/debuffs) could conceievably make it through the entire trial WITHOUT DYING, should they play smart.

Not to do a cop out, but put me in the 'both' camp as well, with an addendum: They must all have a real motivation. Why would a villain waste time stomping kittens? Why would a villain try to destroy the world? Why would a villain devote their lives to doing what society told them not to do?

"Because they're a villain" is to be frank, daft, creatively bankrupt, and intellectually lazy.

The 'glamorous' villain is the easier of the two, and perhaps most relatable. Any suffering they incur is a happenstance or in response to the other party's behavior. They don't go out to find ways to ruin someone's day, though they may well ruin the day of someone who tries to cross them as an example. The motivation is simply selfishness. They want power, money, to 'look good.' They are climbing the societal latter my by force, stepping on people and rules to achieve greater rewards for themselves.

The 'disgusting' villains are far harder to explain. Usually, to be blunt, because no explanation was conceived. These are often the by the book antagonists that are as deep as 'is evil, punch them.' The characters that will take your dear old granny and feed them to their sharks while cackling maniacally. What would motivate someone to do that? That said, when you CAN give motivation to these characters, they can be far more interesting. Joker is about as "this man is evil, punch him" as you can get, but he does the evil as a game. He simply can't even care less about causing death and suffering, he's showy about his evil because it's a provocation to his enemy, who he wishes to destroy out of revenge and frustration.

BaF: open area, clearly designated objectives that with no temp power gimmicks. Coordination comes down to pulling and killing stuff faster or slower. To be honest, this one plays the most similarly to the rest of the game, is pretty forgiving so long as people pay attention, and demands nothing newer than killing/controlling/debuffing/chasing stuff.

Lambda: varied areas, some open, some closed. Lots of ambushes in a timed area, REQUIRES temp powers, final battle goes from doable to impossible depending on performance in the speed run portion. Requires people to be good at/familiar with ITF speed run style glowie smashing, temp power usage, and good navigation in twisted corridors. Good for the ITF speeders, and folks who don't get lost. Most people have the hang of the the maps in a basic sense, or can tag along with those that do. It's easy enough for a second empyrean merit, after a BAF when some peter off and you don't want to recruit.

Keyes: requires temp powers, repeat group defeats, precise pulling (if team isn't fast) lots of awareness, map navigation, mitigation for auto-hit mostly unresistable burst of damage alongside consistent high end enemies. Without good healing, the final battle will consistently kill players and heal the boss, and the patches auto-hold and do huge damage for those not paying attention. Pets/stupid targeting cause damage to the boss, increasing deaths from pulses.

Of all the trials, the BAF is most forgiving, and goes best with the strategies of the rest of the game. The Lambda brings new tricks, but they play to pre-existing strategies and has pretty blatant/easy objectives. (blast this, use temp now, etc.) Keyes ignores defense in many ways, punishes anything without healing, and defeats players very consistently. At first I thought the complexity was to blame, but Lamda is actually just about as complex as Keyes. But here's the thing: a good player can get through Lambda without death on their own.

Even a good player, if you don't have a good self heal or destiny or green inspirations will die, at least on one's own. If you have a team member who can help this is less a problem, but relying on someone else to have a specific kind of skill and be able to be attentive to you and your health for you to live. A trial that needs somebody else to do something challenging, a specific trial reward that uses a lot of investment, and may be outside your abilities to never die? Kinda risky. Or you can just die.

There's no huge problem with death around here, but it is probably the least favorite thing you can do to a player's character- kill them, especially in an unavoidable fashion. Things that defeat the player's character are avoided almost universally. Why? People play this for a number of reasons, but I'd venture to guess that winning, being victorious, and feeling powerful are up there in the list, even if unconsciously. Having your level 50 faceplant gives the message "you're not strong enough" or "X is stronger." Make these semi-unavoidable, and you've got something people will shun to varying extents.

Just happened upon this thread. 'Tis a fun topic.

When I make a character, it's often a weird conglomeration putting together a character, a story, and a powerset combo I'd like to play. Sometimes the powers/gameplay are the driving force, other times the story- but the name is what brings it together. A good name explains your character, makes you stick out. Other times it builds on the character story in an unexpected way. This isn't to say I'm stuck on a name- I've changed them sometimes, but it's rare.

My favorites: (for name, story, and powers coming together)

Dreameater: Once an abused orphan girl with psychic gifts, she learned to feed off of the psychic energy of others to sustain her own mind, and even body. She can cause foes to slumber, and they relax their mental barriers in that state, allowing her the deepest access to their most potent psychic energy- usually found in their passions, hopes, and dreams. She absorbs this energy, giving herself lengthened life and greater power, but leaving them fully capable physically, but incapable of any sort of desire, emotion, or fantasy. Hence, she's the "Dreameater."

Powers: Mind/Psi/Soul dominator. Mind/ covers the sleep portion, /psi has 'drain psyche and various mental attacks, and /soul has soul drain. All perfect for the whole "putting foes to sleep then taking their minds' power" theme.

The Watchman: He had three great powers: inhuman strength, strong physical resilience, and the ability to see through nearby matter and time. As he could observe, foresee and interrupt many criminal plots, the last made him too much of a threat. Using a magical trap, he was ambushed and captured, and his eyes were taken from him. They let him live, thinking he was no longer a threat. Problem was, he had seen every part of the city, and knew it through and through. He also still had his strength and resilience. As such, he navigates Paragon by memory, and what he can sense through feeling, hearing and even smell. These give him limited ability to navigate, but he makes due.

In gameplay: he's a Willpower/super-strength tanker. This covers the 'naturally resilient and strong' aspect, then I turn the gamma all the way down to simulate the blindness/limited awareness of the surroundings.I really could not make this character work as well with any other name. 'Watchman: the blind tank' just works too well.

Deathsman: (A Deathsman is an archaic term for an executioner) A former hero that gained the ability to manipulate the energies of life and death, he came to the conclusion that all of life's pain and suffering is due to life, and that real peace and rest can only come through death. As such, he seeks to save the world from its sorrow and struggles by killing everyone/everything that lives.

He is an energy melee/dark armor brute, allowing him to use his own life energy to attack (energy transfer) and suck the life from enemies and return to life as necessary. (Dark regeneration/Soul Transfer)

Pyrolator: (The word means "fire worshiper")A former villain who could control fire. He got caught, and lost everything, including his wife. Through regret and remorse, he came to the conclusion that fire is a force of purity, and should be used to cleanse. He thinks and he was judged for the misuse of its power, and is consumed with his quest to use it to burn away all evil from the world. He was once name 'Cremator,' but I find 'Pyrolator' matches his reverence for fire much better.

He's a fire/fire/fire dominator, and is capable of permanent rain of fire and up to three bonfires, matching his 'set the world on fire for justice' theme well.

The Viduate: (Viduation is the state of being bereaved/widowed) A male recruit to the blood widowed, he lost his wife and then was seduced by his overseer. When he found out she killed his wife, and that his colleuges had kept this a secret, he offed her and quit Arachnos. I like how the name is both a play on his being an ex-widow and a widower in mourning.

Silent Seth: A little boy who was abused by his father, something his family/neighbors ignored. He was locked away and could only play with his chemistry set, but found a way to escape making acids. He found a book of dark magic in a forest nearby as he escaped- when his father came for him, he used a dark spell from the book on him. The father tried to take the book away, but it kept returning to Seth. So Seth's dad sewed his eyes and lips closed, so even if he had the book, he couldn't read the spells or speak them. Seth knew the spells well enough to remember, though, and in revenge he poisoned his father, as well as the family and neighbors that had refused to intervene. He used his spells to resurrect them, and uses them as servants.

Seth is a Necromancy/Poison/Soul mastermind. The necromancy covers the undead servant part, (all pets named for family/neighbors) the poison covers the acids and chemistry he uses, and the dark/soul parts cover the dark magic. He always uses the stitched supernatural face. I like the alliteration of the name, and using though bubbles to speak. I just wish the 'silent' little lad didn't have a baritone when he jumped.

I always thought it would be cool to have either (a) a Nemesis invasion event, or (b) Nemesis army mobilization during a strike force. In such cases, I could see the Nemesis steamponies acting almost identically as the Arachnos flier as a troop dropship, and with the steampunk steam vent used as it releases its troops onto the ground. In such circumstances, shotting down the steamponies could minimize the number of foes released onto the field. Ooh, and for the fun of it, the ponies could be accompanied by flying nemesis escorts, using the steampunk jetpack.

The extra enhancement trays would be wonderful for respecs, if you are switching out one set of enhancements for another.

But even that, as a valuable QoL, is not worth 4 months of points.

Market space: pretty good, as you can stack many items in these. That said, the other means of earning extra space is far more preferable than 2 months' worth of points.

Recipes/Salvage: Less useful, but still handy. Fewer times you need to empty your pockets, meaning less market/vendor dump breaks. Again, though, the other means of earning extra space is far more preferable than 2 months' worth of points.

Vault space: Inopportune to access, with a set limit. Yay. Least valuable offering, and for a price that is equal to the others.

The only pricepoints I would start to consider spending at:

Enhancement Trays (10 extra) - 400 points/$5, Max 2
Salvage (10 extra) - 200 points/$2.50, Max 10
Recipes (5 extra) - 200 points/$2.50, Max 6
Vault (10 extra) - 200 points/$2.50, Max 6
Auction House (5 extra) - 200 points/$2.50, Max 6

I see far more downsides to this suggestion than upsides, and for that, I'd have to say I hope it doesn't happen. With unlimited changes to their build, there is no finality to the build. All of a sudden you change things up later, and they're stuck with their choices all of a sudden. The worst thing a system can be is inconsistent, as that makes it far more difficult to know what works which way, and what you can expect. Likewise, unlimited changes at such an early level reveal nothing about how the character will actually work in the end. You only get access to early pool powers and a handful of your own primary/secondary abilities. Besides all this, respecs are user unfriendly, especially to beginners. Putting them right there for beginners? Not the best introduction for a player/character.

Perhaps a better approach would be to have at the powers select screen a version of the power customization screen, with an enemy so that both the effects and animations are shown.

Ahh, goshdurnit. Sorry but my "tentative" (@Chicagodoodler) just became a "Negatory." Real life obligations will prevent me from attending. Good luck to you all!

"Challenge" in my mind amounts to a difficult task that is doable with what abilities one has, but requires effort/skill to complete. The BEST challenges play to both the strengths and weaknesses of a player, but in such a way that it takes practice and thought to overcome. What I mean by playing to both the strengths AND weaknesses: If the player is smart/coordinated/etc, the game deliberately leaves an opening/easier route that the smart player can use their abilities to exploit and attain victory more easily. Likewise, it does things that penalize the player for not paying attention or not thinking things through in such a way that deliberately targets the weakness of the player for maximum effect.

Where "Bad" challenges come in: when a 'challenge' does things that disregard skill/forethought. When it ignores both strengths/weaknesses in ways trivialize what the player is good at, making their strengths insignificant, and do not teach or reward the player for avoiding their weakness.

Of course this is something that is necessarily tougher on an MMORPG. In a single player game with very limited abilities and checkpoints, it's easier for the designers the plan around what abilities to expect. Here we have hundreds of powers in a bevy of classes, all sporting a myriad of primary/secondary powerset combos, different inventions, different power pools, and now very different incarnate powers. What strengths/weaknesses can be assume and worked off of to make a good, fair challenge?

I could see how making enemies with overpowering damage, autohit attacks and unmezzable resistances would be the "straightforward" way to make something challenging. Counter what the players can do to pose an unmitigatable danger. But where this runs afoul is that it trivializes a player's strengths along with their weaknesses in ways that do not reward the character for being doing a good job at what they've been trained to be good at. It's a sideways progresses that changes the rules to present a challenge rather than abiding by those set up previously.

My personal opinion? In this game, it is better to build toward the strengths and weaknesses of a player than those of the enemy/encounter being designed. What do I mean? Rather than figuring out how to make an enemy immune to something, find what powers the players is 'supposed' to be using, and purposefully make them vulnerable to that. Likewise, no 'blank slate' powers that become overwhelmingly potent to overcome on characters' strengths but completely obliterate another for whom that is a total vulnerability. Example: you have a control character on the game. The encounter then has portions of the encounter that are easier to complete with control. Not necessary, but having someone who is good at control adds to the team's ease of victory. Likewise there's another optional element that is far easier to take down at close range, or in the reverse, is best shot at. adding portions that play to strengths make the player seem capable and valuable, rather than pointless. Making such things optional also relieves stress, and overlaying different portions of a challenging encounter with different weaknesses gives variety of strategy, allowing people to adapt to what present abilities they or their team have.

Funny this should come up. I have a list of suggestions for filling in conceptual 'holes' I've been working on, with complete powersets to list. I keep tweaking the ideas, so it's taken a while but here's the abbreviation of it:


Primary................Secondary.................. .......Code: Green=Existing Yellow=New
__________________________________________________ ____
Blasters
__________________________________________________ ____
Sonic Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Sonic Attacks Sonic Manipulation
.................................................. ....................................
Light Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Solar Blast Energy Manipulation
__________________________________________________ ____
Controllers:
__________________________________________________ ____

Natural/Tech Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Gadget Control Traps
Gadget Control Battle Strategies

.................................................. ....................................
Dark Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Dark Control Dark Miasma

.................................................. ....................................
Leader/non-tech natural/Military Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Mind Control Battle Strategies

.................................................. ....................................
Pure Psychic
.................................................. ....................................
Mind Control Psychic Mediation
__________________________________________________ ____
Corruptors:
__________________________________________________ ____

Leader/non-tech natural/Military Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Assault Rifle Battle Strategies
Dual Pistols Battle Strategies
Archery Battle Strategies
.................................................. ....................................
Light Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Solar Blast Thermal Radiation
Solar Blast Radiation Emission

.................................................. ....................................
Pure Psychic
.................................................. ....................................
Psychic Blast Psychic Mediation

.................................................. ....................................
Poisoner/Mutant/Chemist
.................................................. ....................................
Poison Blast Poison
__________________________________________________ ____
Defenders:
__________________________________________________ ____

Leader/non-tech natural/Military Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Battle Strategies Assault Rifle
Battle Strategies Dual Pistols
Battle Strategies Archery

.................................................. ....................................
Pure Psychic
.................................................. ....................................
Psychic Mediation Psychic Blast

.................................................. ....................................
Light Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Thermal Radiation Solar Blast
Radiation Emission Solar Blast
__________________________________________________ ____
Dominators:
__________________________________________________ ____

Natural/Tech Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Gadget Control Armed Assault

.................................................. ....................................
Leader/Non-tech Natural/Military Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Mind Control Armed Assault

.................................................. ....................................
Dark Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Dark Control Dark Assault

__________________________________________________ ____
Masterminds:
__________________________________________________ ____

Mind Controlling Leader/Super Brain
.................................................. ....................................
Mercenaries Psychic Mediation
Thugs Psychic Mediation
Robotics Psychic Mediation
Robotics Battle Strategies
Monstrosities Psychic Mediation

.................................................. ....................................
Leader/non-tech natural/Military Theme
.................................................. ....................................
Mercenaries Battle Strategies
Thugs Battle Strategies
Monstrosities Battle Strategies

.................................................. ...................................
Poisoner/Mutant/Geneticist/Chemist
.................................................. ....................................
Monstrosities Poison

__________________________________________________ ____
Stalkers
__________________________________________________ ____

Assassin/Master of Stealth & Disappearance
.................................................. ....................................
Ninja Blade Cloaked Presence
Martial Arts Cloaked Presence
claws Cloaked Presence
Dual Blades Cloaked Presence

Team 1
1) @Amygdala - Sonic/Pain Corruptor
2) @ResplendentMs - Emp/Dark
3) @SovereignSavior - BS/Regen
4) @Captain Drej - Thugs/Pain MM
5) @Cobalt Azurean - Elec/Elec Dom
6) @Tommy Truestar - Blaster
7) @Jaguard - Rocky Vines Dominator
8) @Jitsurei - Soulstruck Elec/Psi Dominator

Team 2
1) @Thul Sorapa - Willpower/Battle Axe Tanker
2) @Zero Force - Elec/Elec Blaster
3) @Stray Kitten - ...something
4) @The Crimson Brigade- Energy/Energy Blaster
5) @ChicagoDoodler Mind/Psi Dom (tentative)
6)
7)
8)

I play and love my fire^3 dom, but have to say this: how capable you are of surviving is directly linked to flashfire. The better the accuracy, recharge, and stun duration it has, the better you will survive. If you get good enough +recharge to make flashfire always available, you also will have a very large variety of AoE's constantly available too, as you secondary/APP blasts will be boosted as well. I don't deliberately 'farm,' but do solo x8 hero tips for alignment merits easily once my recharge was high enough.

The sky's the limit, though the entry point is shakier than other doms. They start out far more vulnerable than most, (Only two readily available 'stop attacking!' powers, one slow) with enough AoE to make even a tanker work for aggro control. Overcoming this is the main concern early on. I joke with my teamies that I'm a fire blaster with a couple controls.

My personal pick was Mind/Psi/Soul. This was thematic, but works wonderfully for function as well. Soul drain gives /psi something it lacks: a build-up. Not only this, but it's a pbaoe- awkward to some, but perfect for someone that can do drain psyche+Psy shockwave. Dark obliteration gives a good, easy to use AoE that is an 'exotic' damage type. The armor is good as well-haven't bothered with the pet, though.

Hm. I like the addition of regeneration, though saying that sound makes you heal does seem a bit odd. The rest? Clarity is nice for a non-hugging team mez protection. The KD seems a cool take.

Just to note: I made a few suggestions on improving Sonic Resonance a bit back here, and emailed it to a Dev. The dev said that everything was reasonable, but that the sets in the link above were not underperforming, so weren't receiving attention any time soon.

Amygdala, I believe @Sovereignsavior wanted in, putting team two at a full 8 members.

Are you all aiming to use voice chat? I have vent installed, but can't offer a server for this event, so it would have to be obtained elsewhere.

Glad to hear this has been worked on. Hasn't been a major issue for me on my end, but when playing with friends we've had to stop and wait for team members who crash/lockup/etc, and there's been connectivity besides that causes 'stutters' for some as well. (This on good hardware) If this resolves those issues, we will have a much better experience.