Turgenev

It's official. I'm now researching how to knit panties.

(IRL, I haven't got the foggiest clue how to knit, but I actually know three people who do... they're gonna love this email...)

Smooth as silk, yep. Great job, guys.

Gaddammit, I keep forgetting you're Pandoman. :P (My playernotes archive still is on the old machine...)

Oh, I think we all know this by now. Seeing Beef win it just put the steel in our spines to give this more of a whirl. We could be happy waiting on the patch, sure.

Or we could keep goin' on while I'm waiting for the patch, streamlining the mechanics with everyone. I, for one, am gonna keep dancing around this Master run and having fun while I do it. If it stops being fun, I dunno, I'll go knit or something.

That's actually standard practice for raids here. Use broadcast for general "LFT" commentary, and request for actual marching orders by the raid/team leaders.

Yeah, that's always where bad leadership breaks; one team wipe, and it's suddenly "omg u all suk" and they leave, while everyone's waiting for new orders. Two minutes later, people give up.

If you see that and you have the stones for it, step up! Stop attacking and give instructions to everyone gathered. If people see some organization, they'll continue rolling, but leadership is a big, big factor. Reform on the south rim and push forward again; or reform on the ridge west of center, then push down slowly back to center. Once you own the hub, send out tank parties to bring the enemies to you. Or, start moving around the three lanes on the saucer and go after more grates to lengthen the time if that's your thing.

The problem you describe is primarily a role issue. Don't ever be afraid to assume command of a raid if you see the leader faltering. The worst that can happen is that people give up. The best? You win.

A good RWZ raid is 89% leadership. Was the leader effective, or just "GO THERE" "NOOOO" "HELS PLZ"?

Sure, if only for the fact that we need to school you on some liquor, son. Take a seat, and let me whip up an espresso martini a la Turg.

(Seriously, JD? You have access to Macallan and Glen X single malts, and you're proud of JD?)

Depends. Didja bring some ale?

This has been discussed since the anniversary badges were released. Here's one thread where the discussion was bunted about on both sides. I'll answer your argument with my opinion from that same thread.

Be warned. The responses tend to be very much redstate vs bluestate. Take everyone's opinion into account, and form/rehash your own. But to answer your original question, I'd call it a bad idea. Click the link above to see why.

Awesome. We had 3 trollers on our team, and we could NOT get that damn Greenie held long enough to make any difference.

If you can do a 9/10pm run tomorrow, I'll be there, Kotch.

I understand congratulations are in order. So what'd you do to get past the Hami? 2 permadoms?

First off Razzle, welcome to City of Heroes.

You're in for a treat with this game. It's just hella fun to play. I toy with other MMOs on occasion, but I always come back here, and quickly. Six years later, I think I'm man enough to say I have a problem.

A Mastermind is my most favorite of the villain classes because it's unique. The combo you picked is great (I have a bots/traps named Supreme Soviet on Freedom server, myself), but knowing the knack of playing an MM can take a while. That you made it your first toon should make your learning curve interesting to observe.

I'd suggest also rolling a hero and trying out the "good" side as well. You have the best of both worlds here, good or evil. Depending on your server, you may encounter low population issues (traditionally, villains are less popular than heroes), so if that's the case, don't get too discouraged. Infinity's got a good crew over there. I run with Freedom (alternately the most populous server alongside Virtue, and we're all about playing like mad, mad berserkers with a gimped leg), so I never have teaming issues, but you'll come to find that every server has a population flavor. Try each server out for 5-10 levels and see which one meet your personality best.

I didn't see it mentioned, so I'll mention it here. The website paragonwiki.com is an excellent source for all topics concerning this game. There are others, but this one's easily the most comprehensive one out there. If you have questions, start there! If you STILL have questions, c'mon over to the forums and ask away.

Looking forward to your participation in this community. Take care, and don't be a stranger.

-T. of IRON

PS: Someone already mentioned the "Mentor Project". That's a player-built resource of which I think you should take advantage. Check it out, and get your own personal trainer for the game.

I wish WebOS had Apple or even Google's marketing team. This little OS runs circles around every smartphone I've used, iPhone especially. I wonder if Palm got their marketing team from Betamax...

Naw, this was around 6pm EDT. I actually got home early to try my hand at this. After the fiber failure/reconnect, I figured screw it, dinner. Then my run with you guys last night got interrupted by, of all people, my mother. Love her to death, but I really don't care that my cousin's newborn baby is keeping the parents up. That's what babies do. It's in the contract. I get it. My mom gets it. Why my cousin and her husband DON'T get it is beyond my comprehension.

...er. I think I vented right there.

Haven't seen the notes yet, but I'd suspect the stealth fix was for something else. GL to your communal stability though.

Shore leave from the USS Whup-butt?

That was me. Blame my non-return on my neighbor's cable contractors futzing (I say futz, but I really mean a bad word) with my fiber post for no reason thinking it somehow belonged to Comcast. ;( You woulda liked the aggro I generated at Emil the Dimwitted Contractor...