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Posts
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Quote:It's the same mistake they made with the Patron Power pets, and the PP's themselves actually, so don't hold your breath.
I do, however, feel the Devs made a mistake here, and I hope they're learning from it. -
Quote:I suppose we should be grateful for the T rating, then.
Maybe Laurell K. Hamilton stealth plays. -
Quote:Do you seriously want me to recite the litany of sins committed by the recent so-called "writing"?
Just because someone reads a book and doesn't like it, that doesn't automatically mean that the author has written a bad story. -
Quote:Great, all of our characters get to be necromancers.
Because the pets are not "real" pets - they're the essence of defeated Incarnate-empowered enemies that you draw from the Well
Why does ANYONE think this is a good idea? -
Yes, and I'd be willing to delay the entire incarnate system if that would let them uncouple it from the terribad Well/Praetoria storyline.
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Quote:Yes, they are Praetorian mobs, yes, we all read the stupid flavor text, and no, gluing feathers to a rat doesn't make it a swan.
They aren't Praetorians. You are using your connection to the well -
So far I think the only thing in official content that's butted up against my arcs is the use of the name "Ramiel". I considered changing "The Christmas We Get" but decided against it. Anyone looking can see the arc's original publication date, so it's not my problem the devs used the name, it's theirs. ;p
Of course, "Chains of Blood" is still total Joss bait.
In any case my slots are filled and I doubt I'd buy more even if I could. -
Quote:Mule muffins. As numerous respondents have already mentioned there are other alternatives available right now.
Maybe when we finally beat Cole and disconnect him from the Well, the Lore pets will have other options. Right now the Well* doesn't have time to whip up new Essence Pets.
Furthermore: if you can't do something right don't do it at all. No one put a gun to the devs' heads and made them implement a half-baked pet power as part of the Incarnate system. It was a choice. -
Quote:No, it is saying "this is your new origin, deal with it" and the Lore pets prove the lie.
Well if it's a terrible story, that's one thing. But the point was, it's not saying "You are this new origin" it's saying "we're increasing your potential along the origin you picked" -
Quote:Yeah, we read the story the first time. We get it.
It's already been said the Well of the Furies is responsible for opening up the 5 Origins of Power as it is. Now they're just saying it's giving you more power directly.
The point is that it's a terrible story. -
Quote:One of many recent facepalm moments for me. I can't imagine what makes them think we all want Praetorian mobs for sidekicks. Praetoria really has become the latest in a long line of darlings that need to be killed.
Why must the pet be Praetorian? Why not a more generic pet? Or better, a generic pet with multiple models to choose from, like the buffing pets from the vet rewards? Oh right, never mind. Hail Emperor Cole, future overlord of the multiverse. -
Quote:Somehow we'll muddle through without you.
Now... I don't feel like helping them anymore. -
Agreed that this is underwhelming given the hype, and agreed that we've had enough of the goatee universe.
I particularly do not want level 20 TFs. We don't need anything under level 50. -
Quote:People argue about lots of things...Coke vs. Pepsi, McDonalds vs. Wendy's, whether Stephanie Meyer or Justin Bieber is the true Antichrist, etc. That doesn't mean anything will ever be settled, or that the arguments have any validity in the first place.
People argue about aesthetics all the time.
There are plenty of qualities in art that can be evaluated and debated, ranging from (in our case) minor points like grammar and spelling to major points like effective use of themes or morals, plot consistency, etc. If I didn't believe that I wouldn't have written so many AE reviews. But there are at least as many that can't. The developers like cheap, shlocky stories about time travel and parallel worlds and seventeen copies of a character no one cared about in the first place. They don't particularly care about how stories treat the player-character. Stories that throw Idiot Balls by the crateload are fine; in fact they think this is a cool way to show just what a "master strategist" a villain is. Etc., ad nauseum. If this is what they like to see in stories then there is no chance of talking them out of it, any more than you could (e.g.) convince a muddleheaded deviant who prefers pie of the obvious superiority and wholesomeness of cake.
You can't get theah from heah. -
Quote:One of the things I wanted to do with AE, which I shelved because almost none of what I needed was possible, was a replacement for the Positron TF using the DE as the main threat (because the "interview" with him in the Top Cow comics said they were his main concern). It would have opened with human eco-terrorists attacking the Steel Canyon university and used DE creatures as Elite Bosses in the last two missions, culminating with an AV-strength Devoured.
Another thing that really bugs me, is that there is no lower level human component to the DE.
Quote:Well, if that's what you want, all you need is a really good argument. -
Quote:My fixes would likely become a matter of some discussion, since I would do things like utterly destroy Ouroboros and time travel in general, kill off Nemesis, eliminate all parallel Earths (not to be confused with alternate words, i.e. Praetoria is a parallel of City's Earth, Narnia would be an alternate world; I would reclassify the Rikti homeworld as an alternate world) and probably Kill Off For Real all or most of the signature characters.
I think you could fix it. -
None.
The recent storyline work has been wretched enough that I'd just as soon not see anything but more static set-pieces like the new raid-level events.
Besides, most of it has been left languishing for so long that nothing the developers do to progress or end it is going to satisfy anyone. It is pretty clear that they had (e.g.) no idea what "The Coming Storm" is or who Mysterious Letter Writer Guy really is and have just been playing for time all along. Almost anything could be written to fit what little information has already been put out there, so really, who cares? -
Quote:Fixed.
These folks couldn't be more obvious if they had 'Nemesis Automaton, All Rights Reserved' embossed on a brass plate bolted to their [CENSORED]s.
Like anyone's looking at their foreheads.... -
Quote:Fixed.
Phenomenal, Cosmic Power--
As for the actual point, I don't want to run most of these TFs once. Having to run them on multiple characters...bring on the speed runs. -
Quote:Either you are making a dualist argument -- which, at our current level of scientific understanding is not really viable -- or you're being complete irrational.
It's not about breathing or having blood - it's about having that special spark that living creatures have, which a machine can never have.
If consciousness is the result of having a "soul" (and there is no evidence this is the case) then strong AI is impossible and the point is moot. If it is not, then consciousness in an organic brain is only the result of natural processes, meaning the brain is nothing but a computer that runs on carbon chemistry instead of semiconductors. That does not necessarily mean that it is inevitable that we will learn how to emulate it but if we do it would be nothing but bigotry to deny the resultant consciousness all the rights we afford each other. -
I don't have time for a full reply but I just wanted to hit this:
Quote:My AR/Dev, now level 50, played on +0x2 starting in the 30s (when the capability became available) and with her current build runs at +1x2. She only just got Aid Self in i19 and has never had AirSup. She has never had any option to be anything but an "all-range Blaster".What happens when you become an all-range blaster without air superiority and aid self? You die.
My 45 DP/Dev is on +0x2 (should probably raise it) and my 34 Elec/Dev is on +1x2 (does have AirSup). My other Blasters are all below 22 and are still on base difficulty. I suppose someone will cry foul because the older ones are all Devices, but for my money, if your Blasters are dying on base difficulty I don't know what you're doing but you're doing it wrong. -
Quote:Yes, you can, all it takes is an end to the killer GM attitude.
But you can't expect that.
Quote:Take Longbow, which no one has been arguing about. When you start getting bosses in spawns (around x3 or x4 players) then you start having the difficulty ramp up considerably because Wardens have buffs.
N.B. that the bulk of the original complaint is less about factions than it is about mission design. "You can lower your difficulty" is no excuse for throwing (e.g.) ten-wave ambushes at people, particularly under level 20. That's got nothing to do with what factions or powersets are in play. That's just a mission writer being a horse's patootie. I called people on that kind of bad design when I wrote MA reviews and I'm not giving the devs a pass on it either.
Quote:Powersets are not balanced around the assumption that any given player will be able to handle +2/x3 to +3/x6 solo.
Quote:Castle said at one time that the base difficulty is not intended to be "easy mode." It's intended to be the standard difficulty.
I agree that base difficulty shouldn't be easy mode, but then I argue that we shouldn't be talking about "base difficulty" at all because there shouldn't be any other kind. The game should be balanced and all characters should be playing in the same ball park. The developers chose not to do that; they chose to allow wild variations in character power and to allow players to tailor the environment to their tastes, trusting that they would chose appropriate difficulty settings. The result of that design decision was MA farms.
Quote:The standard difficulty should offer some risk of defeat.
Given what the developers have already built it is utterly unreasonable to expect any player with a competent mature build to run around playing at base difficulty. The resultant play experience would be mind-numbingly boring. Implicit in the design of the game we actually have is the assertion that a player will be able to pick an appropriate baseline difficulty for the particular character he is playing. Allowing mission writers to toss out any standard of difficulty contradicts that assertion and is just plain shoddy craftsmanship. If that's the way it's going to be, if mission difficulty is so volatile that players can't rely on being able to play on the setting of their choice, then the ability to change difficulty setting needs to be at the players' fingertips, not in the hands of an NPC that might be on the other side of the zone, or in a different zone altogether.
Quote:A player with little experience will face defeat and often. There's nothing wrong with that. -
Quote:Actually it's exactly what I said.
That's what you're saying. Venture said nothing of the sort. -
Quote:That argument went the way of the dodo when the developers decided to implement difficulty adjustment in lieu of actually balancing the game. If the developers want everyone to play at base difficulty then they need to prevent people from building characters that can play at higher levels, and we both know that's not going to happen.
Not if you're normally playing beyond +0/x1. If you play on ANY difficulty higher than that, then you have no reasonable expectation that you'll be able to handle any particular mission solo.