Smiling_Joe

I can think of no better place to say goodbye to my favorite game than in the forum shared by my favorite bunch of squiddy gamers. It was fun while it lasted, and it'll leave a dwarf-sized hole in my heart when the servers are brought offline.

Such is life. I've signed all the petitions, but I doubt there's much hope. I'll keep on the forums for a while (mostly lurking) but I doubt I'll have the heart to log into the game much in the near future.

So here we are, and I can think of no better bunch of folks to spend these last weeks with than you. You'll all be missed.

It's good to be with you fellow kheldians, here at the end of all things.

TWK6-WPJX-GPND-ZCYA-DT6L
TWJR-EAR2-QALQ-6SE3-245C

I thank you, and my wife thanks you!

Ohhhh, I wouldn't go THAT far. Sent you a PM!

And welcome back! You were missed!

I like Tannim's idea too - but I don't think threat generated by Taunt can be separated from other threat.

You could always attach the proc chance to the Taunt power itself. In other words, in addition to generating threat, Taunt grants the caster a power that grants a 2% (pulling numbers RIGHT OUT OF THE AIR) chance per affected target (for Taunt's maximum of 10) for the tanker to proc additional damage with each attack, similar to the way fiery embrace works.

Would that not achieve a similar effect?

Alternately, Gauntlet could be given a defiance 2.0-like effect that grants a small chance per target hit, but that would require.... a bit more work.

I'll divide my thoughts into two parts: Community Rep Events and Dev Team Events.

Community Rep Events:

You know what? I don't care what anybody says, you folks did an awesome job, and knowing what you go through to achieve it makes me appreciate it all the more. This latest event might have had some snags, but it was flat-out fun for my wife and I. I can't thank you enough that you took the time to do this.

That being said, nothing is perfect and I know there were some snags. A suggestion off the top of my head:

Spawn some neighborhood level appropriate invasion mobs all over the map. They don't have to be participating in the actual invasion, just spawns of them for people who can't - for tech, timing or other reasons - participate in the actual hosted event. ALL OVER the map. Everywhere a normal spawn would be, drop a level-appropriate spawn there. Save the harder spawns/GM's for the actual event and the neighborhood immediately affected.

That way someone who can't handle the lag or arrives too late for the main battle can still participate in some small way. And if you happen to see a player/team hunting the spawns, you can drop a couple "bonus mobs" on them or put in some sort of appearance as you're taking care of other instances or tending to Pocket D. (and how cool would it be to have a dev swing by on a signature hero to help a team or a player in trouble?)

Dev Team Events:

I've already gone on record (several times) as not particularly caring for the Nemesis event. It was fine for what it was and I don't want to complain that it happened. I just ignored it after the first day.

But I do have opinons on these scripted zone events, both good and bad.

The Rikti invasions are probably some of my favorite zone events in the game. From the atmosphere of the green sky/no war walls/air raid sirens to the distinct phases and unique quirks (like seeking physical cover so the drop ships don't see you) to the accolade you get from it, I think it's hands-down the best zone event in the game. It's thematic, it's fun and it's epic. There's a reason it usually sees wide participation.

After that, you've got what I like to refer to as the "Zombie Apocalypse Clones." The Zombie Apocalypse itself was fine and a fun addition, but with nothing to speak of outside of a costume piece for rewards and no special phases outside of massive hordes of zombies popping up out of the ground, it really doesn't get the attention it deserves from players. I still go whenever I see them up because they're just plain creepy fun.

The clones of the zombie apocalypse, not so much. The Nemesis event in particular featured nothing but Nemesis soldiers spawning ad nauseum out of thin air. After a day or so I thought "You know what? If I want to street-fight Nemesis I'll go to Peregrine Island." There was NOTHING thematic or creative about that event.

IMHO future invasion scripted events need to follow the Rikti invasion template:

1 Have at least two phases with unique goals.

2 Have a theme that affects the entire zone. Differently colored skies, Nemesis' voice booming through loudspeakers (Like Lord Recluse in Grandville) Or the fog of a Banner Event
EDIT - Oh man how cool would an Arachnos Invasion with propaganda vehicles roaming the streets spewing the Recluse soundbyte be? Get a badge for destroying the vehicles, a badge for repelling troops and a badge for signature villains. Hell yeah!

3 Have a desirable reward that can only be achieved through completing multiple event-related goals Can't stress the multiple goals enough. It doesn't have to be some power or accolade, but a costume piece, badge, something

Speaking of Banner Events, I think the ONLY reason people don't do those is that there's really no reward outside of badges to speak of to merit the somewhat complex (for a zone event) mechanics. No one on Liberty ever seems to attend them, and that's a shame. They're one of my favorites.

Last, I have to include Giant Monsters spawns. Something needs to be done to motivate more people to do those. A different reward for killing multiples would be nice (Geas of the Kind Ones is a fantastic reward connected to the Croatoa Monsters). A zone-wide siren sound wouldn't be out of place either IMHO, to let players in zone that a giant monster has spawned.

Alright any longer and I"m gonna have to move this over to the suggestions forum.

But I can't resist one last request - can we get level-independent coralax spawning with Lusca ALL THE TIME in the future?

It was so cool to see them floating out in the water with her!

You heard it here first, folks! This event is the kickoff of a new motorcycle travel power!!





.....and an em/Fonzie double thumbs up emote.

Puns are so inature. Grow up, people!

To the devs - I've really been rooting for you where this set is concerned. Now all I have to do is pick a concept.

Hmmm...

Leaf Ericson (Archery/nature corr)

Smoky the Bear (Fire/nature troller)

Bob Barker (nature/sonic def)

Sigh... So many characters, so little slots...

So let me get this straight - a player suggests that the developers do an event for Shark Week, and then they actually PUT AN EVENT TOGETHER on the heels of not one - but THREE OTHER SUMMER EVENTS and people are actually carping that it wasn't GOOD ENOUGH?!

And did I actually read that someone PREFERRED the Nemesis invasion - where Nemesis troops - apparently using Rikti technology - just pop out of thin air to gank anyone loading out of missions ad nauseum for weeks on end? Seriously. After the badge was awarded on the first day to nearly everyone in the server no one actually showed up to fight them anyway. It became an annoyance. I'll take this event ANY DAY.

Bah! You people just want to complain.

And for my part, the event on Liberty Blueside was EPIC.

It started out with very little fanfare. A league had formed at the ferry, and everyone was waiting for.... something?

Then over broadcast: When did Lusca start spawning in PI?

The response: What? Where?

It was on. Lusca and a whole herd of Coralax were sitting right off shore. A few adventurous heroes swam out to meet them, but were quickly driven back ashore. At last the leagues got gathered (there was more than one) and we all went in.

In broadcast: A giant monster? That's it? This event is a phail!

We killed Lusca and the Coralax and gathered on the beach. Some started looking around the island.

Two or four Arachnos Fliers dropped a herd of Coralax on top of us on the beach. All incarnate level. Halfway through the battle two Luscas come up from the depths.

Then over broadcast: Coralax now? ROFL PHAIL!

Two Luscas were followed by five. Things start to get sketchy here because I was in the thick of it. I have no idea where the third wave of Coralax came from, but I do know they came.

And the same guy over broadcast: LAME. It's shark week, not squid week. Where are the sharks? This event is stupid.

We were still swatting Lusca heads when the next wave of Lusca/Coralax hit us. More tentacles than you could wave a sucker at. People were going down, and just as quicklly rezzed by league members. Broadcast was filled with people shouting for Mako and generally getting into the spirit.

Then over broadcast: red type. It's Mako.

NO ONE EXPECTS A SHARK ATTACK!

There was much rejoicing. And then the mass-o-tentacles spawned. No Lusca head, just tentacles. And tentacles. And tentacles. Holy carp the tentacles! Coralax swam among them - I know, a large member of the Coral species pwned me rather harshly.

More taunting between the players and Mako over broadcast (I never saw Mako), and the announcement that we should go to Pocket D after the event.

Then more tentacles and Coralax. By this time it was 10 pm.

And the same guy over broadcast: A shark week event with no sharks? This event was epic PHAIL.

Dark matter auras were given away in Pocket D (and 100 sided dice were rolled) and one Retro Scifi code.

So shove your complaints. This event rocked.

EDIT - and my level 48 blaster came out of it with two additional bars of XP and around 20 extra reward merits. Not too shabby for two hours' work.

It just occurred to me what the problem is. The last Double XP weekend I took Friday off. Unscheduled maintenance delayed the event another week. THIS TIME I took Friday off. Unscheduled maintenance...

.....I'm cursed, I tell ya! CURSED!!


DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

.....despair, and agony on me!

EDIT - I'M IN!!!!!!!!

.......OR maybe it's the standard weekly maintenance like the popup said when they brought the servers down and someone got the time wrong in the announcement.

Just sayin'.

Omega Carp.

A costume swap power that changes you into a GIANT HOPPING FISH! Complete with fin slap emote.

DOO EET! DOO EET NAO!

I guess it's sort of like the opposite of Spectral Wounds.

So anyway, to sum it all up I had speculated about changing our inherent to give teammate-based procs similar to the way interface attaches procs to powers.

Instead of a straight up damage buff for every kheld-appropriate teammate in range, peacebringers and warshades would get a chance for extra energy (or NE) damage with each attack for every appropriate teammate in range.

The slow resistance granted by other epics would be replaced by a small recharge proc, and - after having thought about it - the resist bonus would be replaced by an absorption proc.

Alone and on small to medium-sized teams there'd be no measurable difference in performance. On leagues and large teams, however, it would free us from our respective caps and let us contribute something besides versatility, which is in abundance with or without us in those circumstances.

Just summing it up here in case it got lost in the storm of farming debates...