Thunderspark

I definitely understand how you feel, but Bodyguard mode does provide protection from the enemies which will eventually aggro you. Try as you might to avoid damage, ultimately everyone gets shot at one way or the other, be it area effect or a loner come to take you on. Masterminds have very low HP and virtually no defense, save for that they get from a handful of secondaries or their pets powers. In missions, particularly the trials, not using any defensive stance can be suicide.

I suppose that's one of my biggest bugbears. Being a Forcefield MM, my only real self-defense comes from my bubbles. My defense, when buffed by pets and self-buffed, comes to around 40%, which is great for the majority of content but in the Incarnate trials proves inadequate and weak where hit rolls are in the 50% range, and bosses seem to never miss. PFF is the only real defense I have which works, but naturally this disables Supremacy and leaves my pets open to some serious damage as well as restricting my own output.

I love being a damage dealer, and in a lot of content I can do just that. Sit back, let my pets go crazy on the attack (yes attack, not defense) and be happy in the knowledge that I'm making a decent contribution to the team effort.

Unfortunately, in some of the trials I'm limited to, as someone already mentioned, being a buffer. As a Forcefield MM, this is extremely limiting especially now that all bubbles are AoE (they were originally single-target for those unaware). So it basically means I cast bubbles, and do nothing but follow the leader for the majority of the mission.

The trial where you have to sway the public opinion is of particular note because it teleports you out of the building pretty quickly. This doesn't give a mastermind much time to switch her pets into passive mode (or indeed ANY mode), which can lead to some frustrating results and profuse apologies to the team. That's before I mention the dangers of being outside Bodyguard mode when a horde of screaming civilians start throwing molotov cocktails at you!

Right now I'm trying my best to get my defense as high as possible (possibly by taking the alpha slot defense mod for the occasion) so that I'm less of a liability in such teams. When it comes to boss fights, there's little more powerful than a raging Mastermind, but when it comes to delicacy, it's like using a missile to crack a nut.

You should come to Union server some time. It's deader than tie-dye shirts and headbands! You could at least be honest with this. PvP *did* take a nose dive after they changed everything. All the attacks have changed, as they attempted to 'balance' everything, and all they really succeeded in doing was making even less people interested in it.

PvP as it used to be was far from balanced, but at least it was more entertaining. Stalkers were actually dangerous opponents who struck from the shadows, not watered down meleeists with the occasional stealth-crit. Scrappers would really HURT when they attack you, not be met with inherent resistance bonuses. Yeah, I miss the old PvP system. Sue me.

As for the effects of inherent Stamina, personally I don't see it as such a big deal. It frees up some power slots, giving players the option to add more attacks to their arsenal, but it's not as if some players weren't choosing to opt out of Stamina anyway for those same slots. Regen and Willpower come with a stamina power anyway, and those classes are scarcely considered overpowered for it.

I just hope that inherent Stamina IS slottable. It'd make my life a whole lot easier knowing im not forced into taking three powers for just a single necessary one.

You can already do that with enhancements (IO or otherwise) using an enhancements table and you can use the salvage racks for salvage transfers. Recipes are still untransferable as yet, but here's hoping.

I'm kinda with the endgame group on this one. I love the game, I really do, but even I have to admit that the number of events for higher level players is miniscule. What's more frustrating is that virtually all of the content revolves around the same thing -- beating enemies up. I'll grant you that thats really what the whole game is about to an extent, heroes versus villains and all, but even heroes need to take a break for more leisurely pursuits now and then.

I've had a few endgame ideas milling around for a while and since the population is steadily becoming more dominated by the level fifties, it would be nice to see something like them implemented.

[1] Gambling minigames at the Golden Giza.
Play simple games like Poker or Blackjack by betting with merits. The higher the stakes, the higher the rewards. Unique badges could be awarded as well as gambling accolades if you're exceptionally lucky.

[2] Duelist arena.
Not a PvP arena as the name suggests, but a custom battle against an opponent of your choice. You select the team size, the enemy (or enemies) to battle, and have at them. This differs from MA in that all opponents will be scaled as if they were player characters. This means archvillains will have considerably less HP, but by the same token the minions you battle are now considerably tougher. You can also set personal handicaps and will receive special awards for winning battles when the odds are stacked against you.

[3] Special escort mission
Lead a small band of non-combat NPCs to their destination across the zone while fending them off from predatory villains. You will be exemplared down appropriate to the villains in the zone for the duration of the mission, you cannot be affected by players outside of the team (heals etc) and you no longer have the option to visit the hospital. Ressurection works fine, as long as there is at least 1 active team member alive, but should all members fall the mission is failed. All restrictions are lifted if a player either exits the team (cannot rejoin) or manages to get the targets to their destination.

Anyway, just a couple of ideas I had kicking around. I'm sure the devs could come up with far better pursuits. I'm just after a few more events to involve myself in. This really is a great game, but it needs more things to do besides the obvious.

If that's the case, at least you can't blame women for the world's strife!

I think my main character (Mary Grace) would probably just put her feet up, raise a family and be normal. Well, as normal as one can be with super regeneration and the ability to fly around shooting lasers out of your eyes. Doing the shopping at superspeed, flying the dog, and helping her husband fix the car by lifting it so he can get at the underside. You know, what every healthy average family does!