Snow Globe

The store codes are what I'm talking about: CTIAANBO, CTIAANBT, CTIAANCA, CTIAANCE, CTIAANGL, CTIAANMK, CTIAANSP

A player can take a character which the anniversary badges to Null the Gull, and ask him about the anniversary badges. At that point Null tells the market system that the player has the anniversary badges with the appropriate store codes. Seeing the market system applies codes to every character on the account the badges will award globally. Any future anniversary or other global badges could just need the player to talk to the gull after they get the badge.

At no point badges are in danger of being lost as the characters that qualified for the specific badge would have already earned it and this would just be another means to earn the badge for the characters that haven't earned it. It wouldn't tie up cycles in the game (the game doesn't need to constantly check for the badges), it uses existing tech (store ids), and I'm pretty sure the market has plenty of room for growth of new codes.

The programming hurdles would be limited to giving the badges a new "earn" condition and giving Null the ability to let the market know which badges have been earned. We're talking less than 10 badges and the code for one badge can pretty much be copy/pasted (changing the store ids) to the others. So the badge conditions programming (and yes, I've seen how the game checks for "earn" conditions) isn't terribly time consuming.

The largest programming cost will be to Null the Gull.

In the future existing authbits (Collector's editions) could also be transferred to the market system, though most of the boosters have already have this done to them.

Pros:

• This is an OPT-IN process. If you don't care about the badges, you don't have to ask Null to anything with the badges. In other words, no one is forced to turn the anniversary badges account wide.
• People happy to have the badges globally.
• Not much development time needed. Can be done with far faster schedule than it would have otherwise.
• Future use can free up existing authbits.
• No potential badge loss.
• Limited game cycles needed to check for the badges, and only when the player requests it.
• No need to take down the servers and run a script to check for the badges.
• Does not require NCsoft Austin to run a script and isn't as costly on an ongoing basis because it isn't asking them to do this.
• Doesn't take down the servers for any length of time while the server scans the entire character database.
• Doesn't award badges that the player hasn't earned.
• BecauseThis is an OPT-IN process. If you don't care about the badges, you don't have to ask Null to anything with the badges. In other words, no one is forced to turn the anniversary badges account wide.
• Makes Null even more useful.

Cons:

• Not automatic.
• It will take some time away from other development, but hopefully not too much.
• Null the Gull needs to be able to communicate with the Market Server.
• Players will have to go to Null the Gull for every new anniversary (or similar) badge.
• The bird (and market) will be initially swarmed/swamped. This will happen about once a year.
• Makes Null even more useful.

Conclusion:
This is a time and resource -light request that gets around the need to use authbits to grant anniversary badges globally. So any comments, suggestions, or details that need to be explained?

PS. I'm still looking for bug hunter.

More like a "not even a week". My computer can't do more than 80 rebirth uses in a row before crashing (I'm convinced there is a memory leak in the destiny powers), but was able to get the Empath badge in a week on a FF/Ice Controller. If you can convince a MM or two (or even more) to help you, you can speed that up immensely.

That is disingenuous and you know it.

1) We're talking about incarnate trials, not task forces.
2) For every player on a task force, there is one less player for a trial.
3) You could be talking about a year ago, not in the last month. You just said before a 2XP weekend.

Even if people were using Rebirth destinies in various raids (Mothership, Hami, iTrials), getting the healing badges aren't "easy". It is only when they find loopholes like the Cimerora group above Imperious or the groups in Mercy where it crosses the line between "easier" and "exploit". Truth be told, if they fixed the Rebirth powers to not count healing the bumped HP limit, it wouldn't be as easy as you say.

I don't have any problem with any AT getting the healing badges with Rebirth or other powers. My issue is that you are claiming a couple broken powers (when compared with other healing powers) makes things "too easy". Other than the three Rebirth Core tier 3 & 4 powers, no other power in the game counts max-hp targets for heal credit.

It took 5 years of mostly non-farming (a few nights of arena farming) play to get my Illusion/Empath controller to Empath. I did a couple HUNDRED ITFs, healed at pre-issue 9 hami raids and played the character for FIVE YEARS and when the change came, I was still a couple thousand short of 10,000,000 HP healed.

I don't think that is "too easy" in the greater scheme of things. That people can grab a T3 or T4 Rebirth Destiny and farm it in a week shouldn't be a factor in deciding if a badge is "too easy".

If you want to farm a badge, go ahead, but to claim the badge is "too easy" is a bit much.

I know someone that is still using the obsidian guard/rescue positron mission for damage badges.

Hmm. It was my understanding that no AT beyond Stalkers, except Illusion Controllers with Superior Invisibility, could possibly get enough stealth to enter the doors.

To get up to hide (stalker) level stealth, you'd have to have some combination of Stealth IO, Super Speed, Invisibility, and have someone Grant Invisibility and/or Group Invisibility on you. Shadowy Presence doesn't work as it turns off if you move and has a 10 minute recharge (half the phase).

I thought that is what I said.

Highlighted critical portion.

One of the main problems Triumph has (beyond not being able to dodge), is that between other games and other servers, that the population has pretty much been decimated.

Sorry, we're half way through the planned Incarnate Slots. Unless the ones we're missing are completely and game-breakingly overpowered, I'm going to say that even then it is going to be difficult/impossible to get on some servers. Why? It is because I sincerely doubt that that many people will still be doing the Incarnate stuff on Triumph. People aren't going to get 5-6 characters to Omega, much less having multiple abilities in many slots. And that is if there will be enough to fill out a league at that point because people have left for other servers.

I don't think we'll get another level shift until Omega, if then. Even at that point, I doubt people will bother because they'll be after the Omega-level trial badges.

People don't bother running any of the trials at this point, especially MoM, DD, or Underground. There are still BAFs, Keyes, or TPNs, but even those aren't frequent. Lambda is somewhere closer to the first group. Also, completely forget about any badge runs.

Thank you for the compliment.

PunchinJudy gave the link to the I24 badge consolidation thread, and I've just updated it in the last 30 minutes.

I'm serious. Either I'm finding a new griefer every run, someone new that "wants to try the temp power" or just not get enough people bringing enough ability/DPS. I'm still seeing 2/3 the groups wiping out due to lightning strikes. Then again, I see the exact same thing with the MoM trials too.

It has got to the point that two of the leaders (myself and one other) have pretty much given up on the Really Hard/Hard Way badges. Some of the people that were supportive earlier have taken to refusing to do the trial at all.

So much for some players saying "oh well, people will get used to it". Kind of hard to do that when the trial has been pretty much abandoned. Yes, I (and the other trial leader) are keeping tabs on the trial situation and outside the two of us NO ONE is leading them on Triumph.

Edit:
And that is why, since the Magisterium appeared on Beta, that I've been so adamant about what is wrong with this trial. I knew, KNEW, exactly what would happen on Triumph with the trial as it stood. The Lore pet nerf pretty much eliminated any hope that Triumph will get the Hard Way badge any time soon.

Not only that, but people are leaving for other servers to do trials. I'm one of the few people that are willing to lead trials, and I'm so annoyed with what I can get to do trials at the moment that I've been playing another game instead. Yes, it has got this bad. I still remember other players offering to "come to Triumph" to "help out". Well, they stopped and so did the trials.

So for all the people that told me that "It would get better":

I told you so.

I don't know where you are getting your information from, but it isn't paragonwiki.com.

333 Redcaps. This has been the case since Issue 5 (August 31, 2005). Even Toothbreaker badge requires you to beat Snaptooth 5 times.

Even a full team needs far more than a single Snaptooth mission from DJ Zero to get Cap Buster. Even the Winter Event needs more than 7 full-team runs to get Cap Buster.

The -best- way for a villain to get Cap Buster is to turn rogue and hunt Croatoa or join Katie Hannon Task Forces.

Repeating myself:

Check out this guide:
Mini-Badge Guide and Popmenu: Efficiency Expert ( http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=277110 )

If you use the pop-menu, you'll see the names/objectives of the needed missions and if you've done them right.

Each of the correct missions has a hidden badge associated with it. The popmenu uses those hidden badges to tell if you did the mission correctly or not.

I need to correct myself. Only one arc does this:

Story arc info - Complete Graham Easton's story arc - Last Rites (level 20 - 24 on Ouroboros, level 15-24 outside of flashback)

Deadly Combatant - Hero/Vigilante ONLY, cannot be acquired the same run through as Dignified Combatant.
How to get - You obtain this badge by choosing to kill Sun Xiong after you defeat him.

Dignified Combatant - Hero/Vigilante ONLY, cannot be acquired the same run through as Deadly Combatant.
How to get - You obtain this badge by choosing to spare Sun Xiong after you defeat him.

From the Valentine tips:
As you can see, it is a desperate plea for help, because they are getting beat back so often.

If I recall correctly, only 2 arcs do this. Both of them are hero arcs in Steel Canyon.

I think you are confusing actions with intent.

Tyrant's actions are evil. No question about it.

Phipps' actions AND intentions are evil (and destructive) in a way that no other NPC in CoH can match.

Is consistently self-deceiving, with the intent of avoiding guilt and maintaining a self-image of perfection? Yes, Phipps is that.

Deceives others as a consequence of their own self-deception? Phipps has made this an art form.

Projects his or her evils and sins onto very specific targets, scapegoating others while appearing normal with everyone else ("their insensitivity toward him was selective")? Phipps to the core.

Commonly hates with the pretense of love, for the purposes of self-deception as much as deception of others? Phipps to the core.

Abuses political (emotional) power ("the imposition of one's will upon others by overt or covert coercion")? Cole & Phipps are equally guilty of this.

Maintains a high level of respectability and lies incessantly in order to do so? Cole & Phipps are equally guilty of this.

Is consistent in his or her sins. Evil persons are characterized not so much by the magnitude of their sins, but by their consistency (of destructiveness)? Nemesis, Hamidon, and Tyrant aren't consistent in this respect. Phipps is.

Is unable to think from the viewpoint of their victim? Other than to think how much pain his actions cause, this is true of Phipps in a way that Nemesis, Tyrant, or Hamidon can't achieve.

Has a covert intolerance to criticism and other forms of narcissistic injury? Most of the big villains suffer from this, but Phipps goes out of his way to make sure that any criticism is deflected onto others.

Yeah, you sound plenty entitled, so I have to agree.

How about practicing what you preach?

I have most of the exclusives, and I do NOT mind in the least other people getting them. As to your "going back on their word" argument, that doesn't hold water either, as all legal notices say that things can change without notice.