Stormbird

LOL@"Sense of entitlement."

Oh god, that's just rich. Do you even read what you write? LOL! The fact people can play for free now from 1-50 must really burn you up if you think that.

"Demanding handouts?" LOL. The OP's suggesting a TRIAL of post 50 content to get people who otherwise wouldn't see it AT ALL interested in paying to keep going. One with limits! Ones that sound reasonable, too! You make it sound like he (assuming he) wants all incarnate stuff free 100% of the time. THAT would be "demanding a handout." Not to mention the added hook of premiums hitting 50 - you know, people who HAVE paid money to the game, but may be coming back from before Incarnates - and getting a little time to play with their friends who ARE Incarnates. Another hook to get them to start paying again.

But no, "He wants a handout!"

Oh my freaking god, you're a laugh-riot at times.

Do you also go to the same dealership you got your car from and go blue in the face when people get to test drive a car for 30 minutes? Y'know, the dealership giving them a taste of what the car is like so they might buy it?

Sounds more like someone going "OMG, no, get those nasty freebie peons away, don't let them peek into my exclusive little club! I don't care if they get kicked out shortly after!" to me.

What do you have against more ways to get people to pay money and keep this game going?

/golfclap

I agree with the OP. If there's something that needs to be brought up in an issue discussion, feedback from *all* the affected players should be able to be heard.

Workaround - start a thread in one of the all access sections and hope a redname sees it/it doesn't get modded for being "duplicate"/it doesn't vanish down 10 pages.

As much as I hate to admit it - /this.

The more people do something, the faster the bug gets noticed and the higher priority it gets. AE farm that gives outsize rewards? Fairly quick. If, say, the SSA came out and wasn't locking the rewards (so you could run it 4-5 times in a row and get a hero merit each time,) that would get fixed quickly.

PVP's never been big in this game, and since issue 13 it gets so little attention that being seen as an after thought would be an improvement. It gets "attention" in that a redname might come in and agree to be beaten up from time to time, but it's been 9 issues since the major changes where they'd be "collecting data" and "adjusting," etc. afterward... yeah, right.

/this. 100%.

I've got to step in here.

Would it be any better if he named it Danny o'Mite? After all, the Irish had their fair share of terrorists. And I'd be willing to bet more than a few British families still think N. Ireland over Middle East when it comes to terrorism - even though that's been past for a while now.

Honestly, *EVERY* race/creed/color/religion has spawned terrorists (or "freedom fighters," I suppose, depending on what side of the equation you're on.) What if I made a white, late-1800s-ish US soldier, a Nec/Poison MM, and called him.... oh, Blanket Statement? Might take a bit for some people to catch on to the reference....

The OP, to me, is taking a concept (the terrorist - a concept, by the way, that isn't restricted to the middle east, even in comics/cartoons) and using one of the puns it opens up, name-wise - one that ties into (mostly by "homage" definition) another popular property.

And, quite honestly, I *don't* think it'd fall any more afoul of the quoted bit of the EULA than someone portrayed as some ultra-nationalist yelling "For king and country" as they shot people. It's the character. It's not aimed at a race or religion, etc. even as it uses a phrase associated with it - any more than saying "God bless you" when someone sneezes is invoking or intentionally referring to Christianity.

Frankly, I think the character - as described, once described fully - would be less offensive than many I see running around in the game.

I'd have to disagree. I've had others go charging off starting another fight while I'm trying to finish one.

What I'd like to see is one (or both) of the following:

1. You get a hostage mission where you'll get "helpers." As part of the mission, you get a temp power that will let you heal them - so if you don't have an inbuilt heal or the Medicine pool, you can still fix them. (Along with being able to see their health without clicking, as mentioned.)

2. For missions where the hostage is not part of the end goal of the mission (so not, for instance, Lady Jane, where you have to take her somewhere) have an option to click on them and say "Thanks, but I don't need the help, the way back is clear" and force them to leave the map. Or at least escort them back and have them exit when you reach the door.

Before they pushed PVP, they'd have to *fix* PVP. It's been (once I22 lauches) nine issues since they broke it, so I don't see that happening.

IMHO, it's even more broken with only some people having access to inventions.

Plus, I can see people getting *really* irritated that said handout would not just be subscriber-only, but tied to PVP (which really hasn't been very popular, even before it was broken.)

RATING THE POWERS

You're going to see four listings with the powers - Defender, Teamed; Defender, Solo; Controller and Mastermind. Given the majority of controllers have pets (and all standard masterminds do,) they'll find more use for the team-based powers when solo. I'm listing Solo and Teamed for Defender because of dual builds - with some powers, you can skip them and fit something from your secondary (or a pool power) in.

Rating will be 1 (poor) to 5 (must take.) Alternately, you'll see "Depends," especially with masterminds, as it's strongly dependant on your other powerset. I'll explain why when we get there.

No builds included.

THE POWERS

PERSONAL FORCE FIELD
Defender (Solo) ***
Defender (Group) **
Controller ***
Mastermind *

This power encloses you in a bubble, giving you extremely high defense - at the cost of not being able to use any powers that affect friends or foes. Leadership? Affects only you. Forget bubbling the team. Dispersion Bubble? Everyone else loses the effect.

Plus, I've seen people get upset when they get killed through PFF. High enough Acc/Tohit *will* hit you - your level 1 defender is NOT safe running through the parking lot in Peregrine Island with this on. It's not Phase Shift. And no, Masterminds cannot control their pets.

In short, it's OK as an emergency button, in some situations. Personally, I don't find myself using it much. A Mastermind's minions can be thrown at whatever to help you get away, a Controller's controls are more useful to it. The solo Defender will probably get the most use out of it.

IO NOTE: This is, however, a great place to put a -kb IO. (And given they're purchaseable from the Paragon Market, thus usable to premium players, I have no problem mentioning it.)


DEFLECTION SHIELD:
Defender (Solo) *
Defender (Group) *****
Controller ****
Mastermind *****

Baby's first bubble. This ranged shield gives your allies defense to Smashing and Lethal attacks as well as those in Melee range, as well as resistance to Toxic damage (great for those sewer runs - every bit helps.) In addition, not long ago this was changed to a targeted AOE - pick an ally, everyone in range gets bubbled (except the caster.)

Solo defenders get one star (instead of none) as some *may* want to have it either for IOs (again, knockback, primarily) or want to shield temporary pets, helper allies and the like. Other than that, it's useless solo. For group builds and masterminds, of course, it's a must take. Controllers get four instead of five stars simply because while most builds get pets, not all do, so in rare builds this is slightly less useful. And the "mostly soloist" may have less use for it because of that. But most will want it for teams and their own pets.

Note that if you keep applying it, it only resets the duration. Bubbles won't stack from the same caster. They WILL stack from multiple FF users, though, for higher defense.

Overall, though, this is a must take power.

IO NOTE: Set bonuses, procs, etc. ONLY AFFECT YOU. A -kb IO in here will NOT grant KB protection to everyone shielded, for instance.


FORCE BOLT
Defender (Solo) ***
Defender (Group) ***
Controller ***
Mastermind Situational

Force bolt is a single target ranged attack. You launch a bubble at them. Damage is minor - really, it's almost unnoticeable, even when slotted for. It's reliable, single target knockback - but being knockback, you'll see some enemies barely touched by it, others get knocked farther than you think (such as the barely-resistant Clockwork.)

Useful for positioning and as a "keep away" if something gets too close. And being single target, most teams won't mind (or notice.)

Masterminds, depending on their primary, will see varying levels of usefulness from this. Highly ranged sets will get more out of it (as you smack someone away from your pets.) Melee sets (Ninja, for instance) may use this as a keep-away tool, but may find less use from it.


INSULATION SHIELD
Defender (Solo) *
Defender (Group) *****
Controller ****
Mastermind *****

The other half of your ally shields. This one protects against Fire, Cold, Energy/Negative Energy damage, as well as Ranged and AOE attacks. The other plus is the resistance to Endurance drain (especially early on.)

For usefulness, see notes on Deflection Shield.


DETENTION SHIELD
Defender (Solo) ***
Defender (Group) *
Controller *
Mastermind **

Detention Shield is a single-target "capture." Hit an enemy with it and they're stuck in a bubble. They are NOT held - this gets no benefit from containment, and if the enemy can heal, they'll still be able to in here. However, they can't attack or aid their allies.

There's no in between with cages. Some people love them, some people hate them. I do, on occasion, find them useful. Their biggest problems tend to be people not noticing the bubble until they've wasted attacks, and the fact you can't turn the bubble OFF - you have to wait for it to end.

For the solo defender, it's more useful - you don't have teammates to complain, and you can pull something out of the fight for a while. And for masterminds, you have your pets full control (in theory) so it's slightly more useful. The Controller will probably get more use out of their controls - and the Defender has a team who can probably kill the threat in less time than the bubble takes to end, so it's a matter of taste.

IO NOTE: This doesn't even work for a set mule - there are no sets for it at all.



DISPERSION BUBBLE:
Defender (Solo) *****
Defender (Group) *****
Controller *****
Mastermind *****

Sets up a player-based AOE bubble that increases defense to everything, resistance to Holds, Immobs and Disorients. Affects the player and everyone in range.

This is a must-take power for everyone. Just do it. Note, however, that it's not 100% status protection - sleeps are the biggest culpret for knocking this down (see Knives of Artemis and those freaking darts.) However, the enemy version has the same flaw - so when you see a Fake Nemesis put this up, if you can hit them with a sleep, do it.



REPULSION FIELD
Defender (Solo) ***
Defender (Group) *
Controller SITUATIONAL
Mastermind SITUATIONAL

Toggled PBAOE that sends out pulses to knock nearby enemies back.

One, it's knockback. I don't normally have a problem with knockback, but this pulses so slowly it's not (to me) as useful as it could be because of that. It's fairly short range, too. As a FF defender, in a group you just shouldn't get that much attention to make this useful.

Note both Controllers and Masterminds have this set as Situational. If you're a Controller with melee-based powers (Hot Feet or Arctic Air, for instance,) this power will act against you. Same with masterminds - if you like to stay in melee with melee-based pets, this will work against you. Even if you're ranged/ranged, though, this pulses slowly enough that there can be better options.


REPULSION BOMB
Defender (Solo) ***
Defender (Group) ***
Controller **
Mastermind ***

Ranged AOE damage and knockdown, with a chance to stun.

It's knockdown, which teams won't complain about. The stun is purely a "chance to," though - I'd like to see this be more reliable. And while it does do damage, it's still nothing to write home about.

Controllers will find this slightly less useful as they have more control options than Defenders and Masterminds. Also, Controllers do not get containment damage when using this on held/immobilized targets.


FORCE BUBBLE
Defender (Solo) ****
Defender (Group) ***
Controller ****
Mastermind SITUATIONAL

Force bubble is a player-based AOE - a fairly good size one - that repels enemies. While this sounds like a duplicate of Repulsion Field, there's two vital differences. First, it's a much larger AOE. And second, it's a Repel effect versus Knockback. Not only is this resisted less, but it's much more useful to the Controller. (Your AOE Immobilize kept everything spread out? Use this the "long" way to scrunch the enemies together - most Immobs have Knockback resistance, but won't resist Repel.)

Masterminds, again, will depend on if you've got Ranged or Melee pets. Staying in the middle of Melee, this is less useful - though if you want to stay back and pin enemies in a corner, it's fairly good for that (as well as blocking doorways.) Ranged pets - it's almost custom-made for, say, a Bots/FF.

It loses a star for Group defenders because it's very easy for some people to misjudge the edge of the bubble - it is much farther out than the edge of Dispersion Bubble, which most people will also be running, so you can find yourself inadvertently shoving enemies away from melee, AOEs, etc. This is not something to leave running all the time.


So is it worth it?

That's 100% up to you. Some people like having a fairly hands off primary, and with the recent change to ally applied shields that has them apply to everyone in range, this can be very hands off. Others are going to find the play style boring, or are going to look for a set with more "tricks" to it.

I'm one of those that likes playing force field "sometimes," and with some sets. To me, it's best with a controller. I have plenty to do with my primary, and (I have to admit) enough skippable powers usually to get all the "toys" of the primary. I do agree it could use some tweaking for the modern game, but I don't agree with those who call it useless, especially as their yardstick seems to be IO'd out incarnates many times. The extra defenses and mez protection are nice early on. Plus, of course, Free (and many Premium) players won't be IO'd out incarnates simply because they can't be.

I can't.

Honestly, this is silly. It feels like they're taking shortcuts, if that's how they're going to release things from now on, I'm walking away. It's not how they used to be - then again, they also "used to" not have a Paragon Market.

(What brought me here, really, was the ridiculous setup of the female ID top. Looks like it's a "with skin" piece... but isn't... but "is," with the skin color preset, so it looks ridiculous on anything not "pasty white-ish skinned." Not something you can tell from the screenshots. Boooo. Yes, I hope this is one of the things getting fixed - but I'm very disappointed. That's worse than "pretinting" like we have on Celestial. Guys - *stop rushing things.*)

I tend to see it as the flipside - it shows how ridiculous (and IMHO poorly thought out) the Judgement nukes are, that *any* character of any class can get something that far overshadows another AT's T9, without penalty.

The benefit of just having to pick the power (and getting it earlier - 32) just doesn't outweigh the ridiculousness of Judgement nukes - which also (can) have a higher target cap.

Honestly, I *like* the idea of having a tier9 that really feels like you're pushing yourself past the norm for your powers - you're "overcharging" yourself for a big result (this goes for the various tanker/scrapper T9s, as well) and thus does have a penalty. But the effects, now, just aren't worth that penalty compared to the freebie Judgement nukes. And you know they aren't going to tone down Judgements at this stage.

(I do have to wonder if they're seeing this power creep and are having to do some redesigning - thus us not seeing any of the last 5 powers yet.)

Fixed.

Let's see, if they went insane and tried to do this:

1. They'd have to rework - what, everything? Does the vita even work with OpenGL? - to work on the Vita.
2. They'd have to rework the UI - which, for my characters, has several chat boxes, usually five or more trays, a map that's already kind of small unless stretched out, a combat UI, nav bar, health, etc. - so it somehow works on a *five inch* screen.
3. They'd have to hope the system will still be around by the time they finish the port
4. they'd have to either force the people into being VIPs, or just expect to lose money on it
5. ... because people are going to see a ported, eight year old game
6. ....in a fairly specialty niche (superhero MMOs.)

So, they do all this work and - what, 100? people might play it.
(after all,
... compare to the 3ds, which in the first month (less time than mentioned above) had sold over 3 million units. (Release feb, 2011. "As of March 31, 2011 the 3DS has sold 3.61 million units, short of the 4 million Nintendo was expecting.")

Also,
... 3-5 hours with all that off... well, means you can't play COH, since you need the network on. And think about trying to find glowies without sound - so you're going to have that on. Better stay plugged in - but if you're going to do that, why not just stay on a real computer?


Quotes from wikipedia.



TLDR version:
It'd be a lot of work to a not particularly compatible interface for what doesn't look like a heck of a lot of profit.

Other than a *very* few people - not sure why you'd think that.

The solo and small team content would (finally) allow people to progress when they don't have time/just don't want to run a trial with 500 of their closest friends. (A step towards fixing the mistake of not continuing what they did with the Alpha slot.)

What you're saying is, "Now that there are vegetables, the people that wanted those will never eat a hamburger again." Nope. Some people will be strict vegetarians, sure. Some people will chomp nothing but burgers. Most people will be having a mix of both in varying proportions.

/agreed.

Still a ridiculous argument. Basically "Here, a Controller IO set! What, you only like playing melee so you feel like youv'e wasted your money? Well that's just YOUR FAULT isn't it?"

I don't get why people don't get this.

Costume set X = 400 points. You know you're getting a costume set, you know you have to spend 400 points for it.

Elemental costume set = ? points. You could get all the pieces right away. You could get a cruddy string of luck and get the "same" piece, you could get nothing for a long time - and meanwhile fill up with stuff you don't want.

So, no, you don't know what you're getting (and no, "A super pack" is not the correct response,) or how much what you *actually* want will cost.

Not me. I don't like "guess what you'll get this time." PS, in my case, would get more money from me releasing the items (the costume sets at least) for sale outside the pack. Guaranteed price with guaranteed result = a sale, in my case. (And I don't really care about the ATIOs.)

Oh, bravo. Really, I'm heartbroken.

You DO understand that's a specific reply to a specific post from certain someone that throws smilies into everything and seems to INSIST on inserting herself into every third post in a thread, right? Not directed to you in any way, shape or form? Or did that go over your head?

Stick your smiley somewhere and think about it a bit. The statement seems a bit straightforward if you're not trying to be a dev apologist like you typically are .