Stone Daemon

Quoting that guy, who quoted someone quoting a guy posting in a graystar_blaster thread.

Perhaps you can get the link for this thread put in the MotD on one of our global channels, then? It would indeed be a good idea to spread the word, but most normal players don't visit the forums all that often, and from what I can tell the only people reading this so far are the choir you're preaching to, if you catch my drift.

It's an interesting idea, but as it is, it would be largely useless (and even bad in some situations) to a lot of tankers. I can't speak for the population at large, but I know on my tanks I make a habit of grabbing the enemies attention and positioning myself *away* from the team, so they don't get hit with AoEs.

Don't get me wrong, I could see it being useful on Fire Armor tanks or other such offensive builds (assuming the transferred damage from nearby allies didn't spike kill the tank), but I can see a lot of people not getting use out of that inherent at all.

The sarcasm isn't really called for, but if we're going to get snippy, here is my response:

So, it's a martyr complex then?

I can understand the sentiment, and I sympathize, but you can't exactly complain and have people feel sorry for you if you keep putting yourself in the same situation.

Well, I haven't quite decided on which way I'm going to lean with my shade. Layla has provided me with a crazy bio for her that I'm thinking about, but in the meantime mystery will do.

As for Squid, his back story is that he's Stone (real name David Browne), who is a scientist that turned superhero from a lab accident. The specific occurance in which he turned kheldian isn't going to work with a believable story (in-game the bio states that it was an insane statesman, haha), so it will have to be altered a bit. Perhaps in destroying a lab at a council warehouse he was infected, or a sample he collected got absorbed somehow? He doesn't strike me as the type to purposely inject himself with it unless he knew it was completely safe.

It's fortunate, then, that Slowy has 100% resistance to godmodding.

Hmm, how odd. I could have sworn they'd taken down the LotG and kin combat sets the week after they dropped. Perhaps they put them back up at some future point? Regardless, they're sure to be expensive, so the rest of my point stands. I'll edit my post to remove that last bit.

I imagine that could be a factor in many peoples minds, whether consciously or unconsciously. It would hardly be the first time such a thing as happened.

As for myself...

I just don't see the addition of purples to the paragon market really changing much at the end of the day. Let's assume they put every purple on the market--hell, let's assume they put the PVP ones too. There are three things standing in the way of this turning into the Newbz with teh Shiniez scenario some are afraid of:

Availability: Purples (and PVPs) will naturally be more expensive than the currently rare priced recipe sets that have been released already. By how much? I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but let's say a full set costs 1,200-1,500 paragon points. That's roughly $15 for one set. One set will not make a noticeable difference, of course, so that person will have to obtain the rest of the purple sets he/she needs to get the rest of those juicy recharge bonuses. Which means he/she will have to plunk down $60 more for 4 other purple sets, or find some other way to obtain them. I just don't see that many people shelling out that much cash that often. Sure, some would, but not enough to really matter.

Competitiveness: Enhancement Converters now exist, and can be used to convert "junk" purples that one gets to both make money, and/or acquire the purple a person needs. Already prices have started moving in the market. These new purple SBEs offer nothing unique or better in contrast with the existing purple enhancements--indeed, they can be argued as inferior due to the inability to boost them.

Ability: Say one of those people with more money than playtime managed to pay up for all those purples. How are they better off? Let's assume they have a build. Would they know how to make full use of said build, if they didn't have a lot of time with their character to know how to play it efficiently? Doubtful. Question: How does a noob poorly playing a character affect anyone beyond the team that gets stuck with them? Answer: They don't. If the person in question HAS spent a lot of time playing the character (say it's a character they've had for years, but they suck at playing the market and just can't two pieces of influence to rub together to get it the old fashioned way) and they know how to play it in and out. Who do they hurt in outfitting their beloved character? Again, no one.

And so, with all the other options one has at ones disposal, one more option is hardly a tidal wave of badness that some are making it out to be. Those who disagree with the SBEs can vote with their wallet by abstaining to buy them (because quitting the game will prove nothing to the devs, they won't notice how or why you're gone--but they WILL datamine SBE sales), and those of the inclination to buy them in bulk will be providing money to keep my favorite game running for years to come. And neither group will affect my game (apart from keeping it running, of course ).

And you don't HAVE to provide them with builds if you don't want to, that's up to you. But that doesn't mean that people who work more than they have time to play (that don't need builds from you, necessarily) hasn't spent a lot of time with their character, and are wrong for trading their time/money for this enhancement. Not everyone takes advantage of the market, after all, and many find it a chore. Perhaps the Dev's are responding to that demographic.

A good build does not make a good player, and the reverse is true as well. You should know this by now. And, as I said in a previous post, either way you obtain the purple, you're spending time and money to obtain the enhancement.

Also, I should probably mention that I'm playing the devils advocate here, and I mean nothing personal by the questions and statements I'm making. This is probably obvious, but I should mention it all the same for the people that don't know me.

How does Joe Schmoe on X server being able to buy purples hurt you in the least? Even if he used your build? He's helping his own play style, not infringing on yours.

Getting purples isn't the only means of progression in this game, though. Even if it was, the availability of them to purchase directly from the devs doesn't have to affect you in the least. It's like complaining you can buy them from Wentworths and insisting the only way people should get them is via lucky drops. I don't see the problem--it's only another way to buy the enhancements.

Look at it this way. There are three ways to get these things (I'm going to leave out person to person trades):

1. You get lucky. You cannot control the RNG, so this is fair.
2. You buy it off of wentworths, effectively cashing in time spent playing in the form of influence.
3. You buy it from the Paragon Store, effectively cashing in time spent in your real life job in the form of cash.

For both 2 and 3, you have worked hard (in some form) to afford these enhancements. Who are you to say that the person who had to work more than he played didn't deserve it?

The purpose of the game is to collect purple enhancements?

Ok, first--it's called a question mark. Whew, that feels better.

You're better off building smartly. Knowing what secondary you are would help, but you need to have a good build if you want to pump out the damage. I suggest posting your build in the tanker forums.

No.

I don't take unstoppable, but that's generally a matter of how you've built your build.