Stargazer

Doh.

Actually, I suppose technically it's correct, but not currently *possible*.

If you're SKd to *a* lvl X, then your Combat Level becomes X-1.
If you're SKd to lvl X, then your Combat Level is X (if you're SKd to a lvl 50, then you're SKd to lvl 49).

I meant the latter, but should have used a level other than 50 for my example.

Thanks for pointing it out.

I'm going Damage on at least one character, and I'll probably end up using it on more.

Accuracy? Now that one seems kinda meh (for me) in most circumstances (unless you really want more Def, but most of the powersets that would get significant Defense increases from this would already have "enough" (for me) Def without it).

This seems Wrong.
What you're calling "combat level" here is not Combat Level, at least as it has been used up until now.

Combat Level has been used to describe your "current" level.

If you are a level 47 character playing your own missions, you are Combat Level 47.
If you are a level 47 character playing SKd to level 50, you are Combat Level 50.
If you are a level 47 character playing RSKd to level 17, you are Combat Level 17.


Your Combat Level (together with your Class ("AT")) determines some *base* values. For example, it determines your base Damage, your base Mez durations, and your base Health. Yes. Increasing your Combat Level increases your Hit Points. If Level Shift doesn't increase your base Hit Points, then it does not increase your Combat Level.


I haven't really looked closer at what Level Shift does, but it sounds like what you're describing is a change in Combat Modifiers, the scaling of your power effects depending on the difference in Combat Level between an attacker and a target (what tends to be called "purple patch"). If Level Shift does indeed provide an offset in the determination of Combat Modifiers, then things like damage, control duration, debuff potential, chance to hit would indeed be increased (effective values *against a target*; base values would not change), just as you say.

I can understand if you feel that describing things this way would be too cumbersome, and that you want a catchy way to simplify it, but describing it as "an increase in Combat Level" would be false.


If Level Shift does not actually give an increase in Combat Level (and again, it doesn't seem like it does, at least not according to the hitherto used definition), then it should not be described as such. Calling it an increase in Combat Level would be providing misinformation, and you should come up with some alternative way to describe it.


edit: level -> combat level in one place

Try it again now.

I'm still around, but due to time constraints I'm spending significantly less time on the forums.

So yeah, I suppose that could count as "semi-retirement".

*squbuh?*
*squeeebacon*
*squee<grin>ee*
*squack*
*squroooooom*

And sometimes people even question answers.

Or you could send me flowers and chocolate.
If you do go with that option (unfortunately very few do), just don't forget to also leave a note with your global ID so I know who to unsilence.

Maybe it's just me, but that sounds awfully limiting. There must be at least dozens of cookies *beyond* the horizon too... But maybe that's just implied...

For some obscure reason lost to the mists of time, Swedish actually has 63 phrases with that exact meaning.

I disagree. 3% Defense is quite nice for just about any character, but the thing is that if you're willing to spend 2+ Billion to get 3%, you are generally also willing to spend the far less that is required to get far more through set bonuses and other IOs. Thus, people who get the +3% Def IO in question generally also already have significant Defense from other sources.

Also, you should probably make a distinction between "squishies" and "characters with little other Defense". Squishies generally tend to benefit *a lot* from Defense, so there are quite a few squishies with quite a bit of Defense. If you have quite a bit of Defense from other sources, an extra 3% can be rather significant.

Only when I'm in the market for an effective biological weapon.

Gravlax though... Mmm...

The buffs being random won't prevent "min-maxers" from using them. That just alters how often they'll get the "optimal" benefit. Usually, they'll still get *some* benefit, but it just won't always be the one they'd prefer. What could stop "min-maxers" from using them would be negative effects that outweigh the positive effects. As it is, the Monkey "debuff" is quite significant, but it also seems to be fairly rare.
If, as you suggest, the negative consequences would be removed, there would be no reason for "min-maxers" to not use the buff, and sometimes they'd get the "big" benefits.

Basically, your second sentence negates the reasons you give in your first sentence. (and those reasons don't seem very strong in the first place)





I don't tend to get the lab machines either. The benefits can be nice, but often the negative side effects are annoying enough to more than offset this. However, the situation would be quite different if you got a positive buff 99% of the time, and a debuff only 1% of the time.

Doh. That one always gets me...

I'm not sure what else to do with it though. I certainly can't *eat* it...

What gave me away?

I'm not sure if he's talking about this "recharge bug", but...


When two mapservers are running on different times, moving from an instance on the mapserver with the earlier time to an instance on the mapserver with the later time will cause the following:

1) Toggles will drop, buffs will expire, and Recharges will be reset
2) Patrol XP will be awarded based on the time difference between the two mapservers
3) Any applicable Day Job progress and/or bonuses will be awarded based on the time difference between the two mapservers


This isn't *really* a bug (though I would have preferred it if Day Jobs used one authoritative time server instead of relying on the individual mapservers, but that's probably more complicated than needed), since this is exactly what is expected to happen when a mapserver "notices" that you haven't been online for an extended period of time. You're supposed to log in without toggles and buffs, your powers are supposed to be recharged, and you're supposed to be given PXP/Day Job progress.

The problem happens when one (or more) server(s) is misconfigured, running on the wrong time. For a while now, *all* mapservers are supposed to run on UTC. However, occasionally some mapservers will end up running on another time (usually ET or PT - corresponding to where the server is located), which will mean that the effects described above will occur.



So, how does this affect Secondary Mutation?
Well, when you move "forward in time", the SM power will be recharged. However, since the SM buff itself only counts down during *in-game* time, it will still remain at the same remaining duration as it had before zoning. This way, you can use SM again, and (if the rolls favor you), get another buff. This doesn't even require using Walk, you just have to roll a buff that you didn't previously have.

If you really want to prevent this from your end, you should be able to change the buff from having an in-game duration to a plain old duration.

However, this shouldn't really be a problem on the live servers, since misconfigured mapservers tend to be rather rare (at least on some servers.........). If there are no misconfigured mapservers, this issue won't pop up.

The overall most effective "fix" however would involve finding a newspaper, rolling it up, tracking down whoever is in charge of the servers, and repeatedly smacking them on the head until they set the time right on the errant mapservers.


(I'm currently on a misconfigured mapserver on Test, so if you send me a tell "soon", I can show you)

Pfft, he's no more a Swede than I am...

Well that knows everyone duh already.

Little known fact:
"Saturday" has its origins in the Norse term "Sathyréamàl" - "To eat Cookie".

At least that's what I heard.

I don't think they do.
That way you'd still need to keep some form of record of what channels a player was a member off (it wouldn't strictly need to be a list kept on the Global server, you could for instance essentially start performing a /chatload at the time of login after an extended absence. Either way, it'd almost certainly complicate things), and I've heard no indication that it would.

It's worth looking into though.