SmokeSignal

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but I do take objection to your "I'm a positive person and I'm not complaining because I can log in, maybe you should stop being so defeatist! " condescension.

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Actually, I wasn't being condescending. I was responding to this:
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Honestly, though, why should we accept shoddy products just because others are also producing them? I can't play my Illusion/Kinetics Controller right now because he crashes constantly. The global channels are bugged. Bases kick you out at random intervals. Invincibility was bugged, offering triple DEF, and sets were balanced around this ability which was subsequently fixed with no commensurate fix to the sets. I don't need my enjoyment "destroyed" in order to point out this process is not assuring quality.

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There are plenty of people playing the game that are still enjoying it just fine, even with the problems you described. However, since I don't like to speak for other people, I try to use only my own experience as an example. If that came across in a way I did not intend, then I apologize. I try to state my opinion and have respect for others with an opposing view point at the same time. It doesn't always broadcast that way.

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Sometimes even the gods dance with mortals.

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I'm good like that.

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Honestly, though, why should we accept shoddy products just because others are also producing them? I can't play my Illusion/Kinetics Controller right now because he crashes constantly. The global channels are bugged. Bases kick you out at random intervals. Invincibility was bugged, offering triple DEF, and sets were balanced around this ability which was subsequently fixed with no commensurate fix to the sets.

I don't need my enjoyment "destroyed" in order to point out this process is not assuring quality.

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And yet I'm still able to log into every one of my many many characters and have a great time playing this game. You seem to be the one with the defeatist attitude, or at least a very negative one. I tend to keep a rather positive one, myself.

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Are you sure “defeatist” means what you think it does? I’m determined to hold the QA team to account for letting things slip through far too often. You’re resigned to accepting things as they are. How am I defeatist for not being able to play a character due to a bug?

And, you know, your statement would make me very happy if my enjoyment of the game was derived from you being alright, but sadly, selfishly, I only garner enjoyment from playing it myself.

Seriously: Do you hear yourself? “I can log in, so what’s the problem?” Who gives a rat’s sewer-drenched tail about you? Go tell the people in this thread that they’re being defeatist because you can log in and have a great time. See if you get as polite a response as I’ve offered.

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Also, pointing out that the test server population caught bugs that made it through QA doesn't surprise me when you think about the active test population. Might make for a good argument if we had any idea how many bugs are caught by the QA teams. Then you'd have enough information to make a valid ratio. Until then you're just numbering yourself among the many that remember all the mistakes and seemingly log them just to chuck them out in threads that make it convenient.

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It doesn’t matter what population difference there is. Simple things like whether a power is applying the appropriate debuff or not aren’t reliant upon large-scale testing.

We aren’t talking little text error, or maybe something lasting for 3.5 seconds instead of 3. A proper QA suite should have tools set up to help them notice things like, say, glaring decimal errors (50 instead of 5) or, y’know, if you’re fighting +7s and doing just dandy, common sense dictating that something's up.

In the end, though, I don’t care what you think. There’s plenty of evidence that something’s rotten in the state of Denmark, whether you want to admit to having seen the ghost of dead king’s walking around or not.

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I didn't say everything regarding their process was peachy happy sunshine la-la land, nor did I say that the things wrong should be left unfixed. I just don't think that you and others whining about their internal processes makes one tiny bit of difference. The process will change or stay the same, regardless of whether you like it or not. To think otherwise is to allow yourself a few more notches on the importance totem then you're really worthy of. There's a big difference between being resigned to accepting things as they are and being patient enough to wait for the fixes to come down the pipe.

Seriously: Do you hear yourself? My point of view is invalid because you do not agree with it, yet yours is somehow visionary to the point that it garners more importance. I'll dance a forum ballet with you all day if you really want to, although, if you truly don't care what I think it's a bit odd you take the time to respond to me at all.

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Honestly, though, why should we accept shoddy products just because others are also producing them? I can't play my Illusion/Kinetics Controller right now because he crashes constantly. The global channels are bugged. Bases kick you out at random intervals. Invincibility was bugged, offering triple DEF, and sets were balanced around this ability which was subsequently fixed with no conmensurate fix to the sets.

I don't need my enjoyment "destroyed" in order to point out this process is not assuring quality.

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And yet I'm still able to log into every one of my many many characters and have a great time playing this game. You seem to be the one with the defeatist attitude, or at least a very negative one. I tend to keep a rather positive one, myself.

Also, pointing out that the test server population caught bugs that made it through QA doesn't surprise me when you think about the active test population. Might make for a good argument if we had any idea how many bugs are caught by the QA teams. Then you'd have enough information to make a valid ratio. Until then you're just numbering yourself among the many that remember all the mistakes and seemingly log them just to chuck them out in threads that make it convenient.

If I've garnered the wrong impression, I apologize. But, that's the way it comes across to me.

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No, it isn't. Maybe it's doing better than some other MMOs, but either the QA team here is crap, or the Cryptic coders are so woefully slapdash as to make the QA department overworked. The list of very major and very easily caught bugs that they've overlooked is surprising.

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I've played a lot of different games and the bug list here doesn't seem to be any larger then they are elsewhere, at least in my experience. There will always be bugs, both big and small, no matter how good their QA departments are at either Cryptic or NCSoft, and who knows what exactly needs to be done to correct the seemingly easily caught ones that squeak their way through. If it's not destroying your ability to enjoy the game, I'd vote for patience.

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Powerful in pvp: Yes. Easily countered by any experienced PvP'ers?: Yes.

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How is it easily countered by any experienced PvP'er? What about those that don't have a status effect toggle? What about the team that doesn't have an emp or a kin in it. Show me the experienced PvP'er that can easily counter it in that situation.

To other posts after yours, the QA team may have some issues and made some bad mistakes since launch, but it's still head and shoulders above other major companies. That doesn't mean some of their more painful messups are ok, but it should still be considered when general slams are going to be issued.

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The instant your controllers or blasters holds come from a pool with nothing else going for it that you're now locked into for no good reason we can talk about it being 'like any other'.

We were told the PPP's would infact be better than the hero equivalents. This power actually qualified. It makes zero difference in PvE, in PvP it can be effective but anyone who falls victim to it twice is either unlucky or not in the right team.


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Simple fact is, it's a hold. It doesn't say it's a super secret special hold, it says it's a hold. It doesn't say anywhere in it's description that it's better then any other hold, nor is it hinted anywhere that that is the case. To think that this hold in particular should be mechanically different then others is a bit on the silly side.

As previously mentioned, it's just another case of those that are using it and enjoying it's unintended side effect being upset that it's getting fixed. Anyone familiar with the game at all should have assumed this to be "not working as intended". To claim otherwise is ridiculous.

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Which part is a bug, the BF beforehand negating the power, or the power negating the ability to use a BF and free oneself?

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Heh, I think we'll need a redname to give the final word, but I'm certain it's the second part that's the bug.

The floating, spinning action is supposed to be the visual manifestation of the hold. If you're not held, poof, no manifestation.

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One might think, but little would surprise me at this point.

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Forever my Negative Nancy.

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TestSubject1 - MasterMind Robots/Poison level 50

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Woo hoo! Good job!

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::Puffs smoke then falls over.::

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Quit bogarting!

Puff, puff, pass -- cummon, already!

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Hey! I'm not a piece of meat! I have feelings, damn it!

Congrats guys. Great accomplishment!

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Wheeee! We won Best Community! Way to go guys!

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Best Community? In game? Maybe. The forums? You'd have to be kidding. If that's the case then I do not want to go anywhere near their forums. The community here for the most part, with a few exceptions here or there, seems to do nothing but urinate all over the developers efforts. Anyone who either agrees with the developers decisions, or those who don't but understand the decisions and why the developers had to take the path they did will get treated as being less than human. Those that don't understand seem to think that there is some big conspiracy where the developers hate the players and are trying to destroy their own game.

I'm tempted to think that the problems with this game aren't with the game so much as they are with the dregs of the community, those in game and especially those in the forums.

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Actually, the problem is more with individuals who blindly support the developers, blithly thank them for fixing problems, and act incensed when people criticize the devs. As long as there are folks like this heaping praise on the Devs for making the game harder, stripping away powers, and generally fixing their own damn mistakes .. then the developers will have no real incentive or reason to improve game quality and testing. Yep, these "Thank you for whacking me" types really need to go elsewhere, so we can get the game improved.

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What about the "OMG U NERFED X, Y, AND Z!!1!", "We used to be Super.. might as well be City of Pedestrians.", and the "The devs don't care! They hate me and are trying to ruin their own game because they hate money too!"? Where do they get to go?

Call all your friends and explain to them that your CoX is down. That it's been down for hours. And that you really don't know what to do until it comes back up.

Ask them for suggestions.

Then what to see what they say.

Or maybe this kind of thing is only fun for me..

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Best Community? In game? Maybe. The forums? You'd have to be kidding. If that's the case then I do not want to go anywhere near their forums.

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Then let me be the first to suggest you never, ever, ever go to another MMO forum. Ever. And the forum community here is great. There are the vocal and negative minority that seem to enjoy relieving themselves wherever possible, but you get that anywhere, and in a much smaller quantity here.

At the end of the day, don't worry about all those dirty negative Nancy's... If you can smile, stay positive, and have fun, then nothing else matters anyway.

Threadromancy.

Threadromancy.

...I just wanted to say that myself.

I really like the changes. Now I have to pick up Slash. Now to figure out what to drop in it's place...

The faster animation makes a beginning game attack chain possible and increases the dps. This is excellent news for those of us that took Strike and then waited for Follow Up..

After testing it a bit I'm really liking my chain a lot better. I don't have to worry about downtime between attacks and feel just more effective overall.

Thanks _Castle_ for bringing this about!

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I have a suggestion, but I don't know how much this would take to apply

While the toggle drop values seem a little low right now(i think def, corr and 1st power of a dom should have a little better chance) (i also think the dom 2nd power should be a bit lower like 33% maybe)I think there would be a perfect way to still actually have people think it's worth it to get in there for toggle drops even though the danger has increased significantly for squishies

I think there should be a 2 minute recharge debuff on any power that has been toggle dropped, otherwise toggle drops dont mean much to tanks and such as they can throw it back on in 2 seconds, this way any tank that has a toggle dropped would be in a bit of danger and actually get scared

lemme know wut u think of this

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Ummmmmmmm.......No.

If I could hit a Blaster with a power that made them unable to use their offense for 2 minutes, would you think that'd be fair?

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You can. It's called death! I keed I keed.

Suppression of some sort would likely be a better solution then toggle dropping. But even if something like that were instituted, 2 minutes would be far far far too long. It takes way less then that to destroy someone that has their key toggle gone.

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Here is how I see it: lots and lots of people cried to get the chance to get the Isolater badge, even to the point of saying that they would do just about anything "in game" to get it. The Devs listened to the cries of the masses and granted thier request in the affirmative. They gave them a "chance" and even stated it that it would not be very easy. And now that the Heroes have their chance they cry about how hard it will be to get. It seems to me that a lot of people don't really mean what they say, and will find any excuse to complain even if they are given what they want.

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QFT all over the place. And saved me typing time.

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Where does this leave Assualt Rifle / Devices blasters?

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In the toilet. Good luck toe-bombing that frisky jumping Brute at all, let alone getting a toggle drop out of it, let ALONE actually hitting his status toggle (maybe 1 chance in 20 or 25, considering a typical 4 or so toggles).

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Took mine to Sirens and Warburg yesterday for several hours and had a good time hunting stalkers and others and "running away until I was 'safe'" right by my bank of trips. Only died once when I got held by an ice corruptor. Haven't had as much fun in a zone in quite a while.

Is it possible to have a serious debate on this issue without resulting to insulting posts dripping with sarcasm? When things like this are introduced we move farther and farther away from anything resembling a meaningful discussion and drift more toward personal issues with varying posters. This doesn't do anyone any good whatsoever.

Random assumption on what the devs have or have not done, have or have not considered, or have or have not looked at is pointless. Nobody has any idea what prompted the changes or what research and ground work was laid out prior unless a redname specifically states it. The assumptions, especially the negative ones, only show unhappiness with the change and an inability to attribute it to anything valid regarding pre-existing in game mechanics.

These are test numbers. Whether you're happy with the numbers or not happy with the numbers, we don't know what the final changes will be until they are applied to the live servers. Don't like the numbers? Think they'll negatively impact the live PvP game? Go out and test them! Put yourself in set up scenarios with varying AT's and see what happens. Record your results! Post them here! Give the devs something to actually look at and consider! You're not going to garner much attention by saying something like, "These numbers are horrible! I won't be able to survive 5 seconds!" or, "This is good. It's about time.".

I took my fire/nrg blaster and my assault/dev blaster out yesterday and had some people test with me. Thank you to ElectraFlame, Surge-Protector, and the rest for helping me. My /nrg blaster was still able to 2-5 shot defensive set melee AT's (/sr scrapper, /nrg and /ninj stalkers) with aim and buildup running with a chain of BS, Nrg Punch, and blaze and fireblast on the jump back (fireball or another fireblast if necessary). Toggle dropping had no influence. Resistance based sets were more difficult, of course. Fighting an invul/ss tank and nrg/invul brute I did get an unyielding drop on two occasions out of 12 instances (lucky in my opinion) and was able to utilize the mez'ing aspect to get a few kills. Movement is still key, as has always been the case. My art/device blaster has always had to use distance and set up as a means to garner kills. Leading targets into tripmines is still a viable tactic (I don't have tp foe on him). Running teams with some support AT's and melee classes made all the difference. I still have to test my elec/elec, an ice/ice, and a sonic/nrg.

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Yes, such a pity that Tankers are immune to Clear Mind, Clarity, O2 Boost, and Break Frees. Such a pity that, despite running upwards of seven toggles, Blasters can manipulate probability and chaos to always drop Fire Shield first.

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Sorry. Too much overall emphasis is being put on toggle dropping in the first place. It's a blasters burst damage that makes them dangerous. I have an /nrg blaster, sure, but I also have an /ice blaster, a /dev blaster, a /fire blaster, and a /elec blaster. Counting on one thing that is subject to a % role is foolish. I love BS.. for it's damage. I could care less whether it drops a toggle or not. I blaster 'can' drop a tank, brute, or scrapper without toggle drops. Happens all the time.

This is exactly what everyone has been asking for and exactly what was, in my opinion, very necessary. The chance to drop them is still there! It's just not guaranteed. There should never be one dynamic of a system that is counted on for a chance at success. If toggle dropping was a characters sole chance to be effective, then I think you need to be looking for a bigger problem here.

Some people are so negative it baffles me...

Positive people for the win! Wait and see. Sheesh.

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awesome, a 5th column gladiator!

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I was hoping!

Wheeee!

*runs off throwing flowers*

Happy Anniversay! 2 years goes by fast. Here's to 2 more.. and 2 more after that.

The future content sounds very exciting! *rubs hands together*

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Okay so all the drawings I have had done of TA are illegal?


or against the policy?


I certainly don't wanna get anyone in trouble

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You're always trouble, big boy.