Winterminal

Given the rate at which they have been able to release new things, thanks to the increase in revenue, I say it is justified.

Granted, I am a minimalist. I have purchased the Beam Rifle power set, the Halloween costume set, and the Rocket Board because I wanted to support further development of alternate travel powers (though, I had hoped they would be looking into things like ice slides and other travel power customization). That's it though!

I currently have quite a bit of stipend saved up simply because I refuse to buy something that I do not want nor will use. If I get an itch to try something new, as Darth_Khasei pointed out, I have access to the Beta server, I can go try it out there to see if I actually want to buy it. (A feature for which I am VERY grateful.)

So far, I am happy with how they are conducting themselves. Some things have been a bit ridiculous (like a certain pet a last week), but on the most part, I feel they've done a good job of releasing appealing but optional items.

I gotta admit, your UI is what first caught my eye too

Nope. Beast Mastery is like Beam Rifle, Street Justice, and Titan Weapons. Anyone who wants it is going to have to purchase it.

Trust me, I think it is odd too considering only one archetype can use it...

Done. Thanks for the reminder Kahzi! I have gotten so into the routine of simply updating the date, I forgot to check the other stuff.

(There's a TL;DR version at the bottom)

Last night, I had about a half hour left to play before I was going to hit the sack. I did not have any desire to do anything specific, and since 30 minutes is not that much time, I resolved that I would simply chat the time away.

Then I saw a free player, whose name I had seen a few times before over the Help channel, requesting help on a mission. I figured why not, I was on my 50 Sonic/Sonic defender, I could probably offer a hand. I send him a tell, get to his mission in Peregrine Island, and I see that he is a lvl 41 StJ/WP Scrapper, fighting a radio mission featuring Arachnos at +3/x3. I think, "Okay, that's a bit much, but should be doable. I'll boost his resistances, throw Disruption Field on him, and let him go to town on the enemies while I lower their resistances with my attacks."

We start off weak. I notice his attacks are not doing a whole lot of damage, but I write it off since most of these enemies are red and purple to both of us. Then I notice his blue bar seems to be hovering on the low side, but again, I write it off as a consequence of a lengthier fight considering it is taking us a while to kill these guys. We get in trouble with a bigger mob and we both get defeated. Regrouping, we decide that I should pull. So I pull around the corner, and expect that he'll catch them as they come around, but he doesn't! I end up dog piled and defeated again. At this point, my impulse reaction is frustration and annoyance. That's when the realization occurred.

No one had ever taken the time to show this player the ropes. He had not been PL'd his entire career; I had seen his character name for a while, teamed with him on lower characters, and he is still just now reaching 41, even after 2XP weekend. Yet it was clear that no experienced player had ever taken the time to give him some advice. His low damage output was most likely due to uninformed enhancement/slot placement decisions. His rapidly depleting blue bar was probably a consequence of no one advising him to slot up Stamina. (I didn't get a look at his build, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did not have Quick Recovery.) Finally, upon asking him, I found out that though he was familiar with the "pull" strategy because he had seen it done, he did not know that, as a Scrapper, he would be expected to catch the incoming enemies before they reached the less resilient puller.

I am not saying anyone should be a martyr and dedicate all of their game time to educating the new players. All I am saying (all I CAN say for that matter) is that I am here right now because, when I first came to the game, a couple players had the patience to show me how to get the most out of my experience. This was the first MMO I had ever played, so everything was new to me, and I am sure my ignorance, my apologies for said ignorance, and constant questioning may have been grating. But they took the time. And I am frequently grateful to them for it, because had they not, I probably would have quit out of frustration and may not have come back.

TL;DR, in summary:

I cannot tell you to help inexperienced players. I cannot make you feel guilty for not helping inexperienced players. All I can do is ask that the next time you feel the impulse to ignore a player, or get frustrated with a player due similar reasons like those I have outlined above, take a second and offer some help rather than shunning them. Sure, there will always be trolls around, but most of these players have just never been told otherwise. A couple years down the road, you could be that player to whom he or she is grateful, just because you took the time to explain a couple key mechanics that would enhance their gaming experience.

GAH! I am looking forward to when I get my next 50 so I can experience all of this. I still haven't set foot in the place!

Personally, I am a much bigger fan of them "making new out of the old" rather than introducing completely new stuff. For the time being, the completely new stuff should be exclusive to the Incarnate System. I would much rather they continue to revisit and refine older zones and content, to make them more appealing.

I am glad that we now have so many options as to how to go about leveling. What upsets me is that some options are far more appealing than others.

Despite having run the arcs dozens of times, The Hollows remains one of my favorite string of story arcs. But now, if I ask if anyone would like to run missions in the Hollows, I am greeted with one of two responses: "Why not just run a DFB?" or "What's The Hollows?" And The Hollows do not need a revamp! There is a trainer in the zone now. There is a hospital in the zone now. And with the amount of inherent travel powers now available through the market, most people have the means with which to navigate the Hollows with ease. Yet, no one wants to run the arcs any more. Granted, some would say that's because they have run the arcs so many times already. To that I say: and how many times have you run the DFB trial?

To keep this short: I would prefer that they continue to make the older content more appealing, rather than continue to tack new things on. When content is going untouched, making it appealing again can be just as good as adding something new to the game.

55. Shave his head, wax his legs, and use him as a surfboard.

56. Once he stiffens up, throw some preserving oils on him and he becomes his own statue. No sculptor needed!

Last night was tough. Due to 2XP weekend, we had an unusually high number of lower level toons, so we had a couple mass death tolls, but we pulled together and got to the center bowl and held our own there for the duration of the raid. So kudos to you, Pinnacle! Though, one raid seemed to be all anyone had in them.

Thanks for coming out to these on a weekly basis. The fact that we are consistently running this with 6 full teams, whereas the raids of old were 3-4 teams on average, is phenomenal. It has definitely become one of the highlights of my week.

Updated!

I have a freakish memory, so I can honestly say that this particular occurrence has never happened to me before. I HAVE, however, gotten home only to find out that the awesome name that I thought of is already taken.

I have also forgotten costume ideas in this fashion.

First, know that you have to have confirmed your Heroic or Villainous alignment at least once before you can claim a Hero or Villain Merit from the SSAs. (It sounds like that is your plan.)

Then, you should know that each character can gain a Hero/Villain Merit the first time they run each of the stories, before they are credited with the once-a-week Merit. So currently, that's potentially 7 Alignment Merits (6 story parts plus 1 weekly) in one day for any character that has already confirmed their alignment, is high enough to complete all of the arcs, and has never completed any of them before.

Just food for thought.

From today's Facebook Freedom Fridays, in response to someone referencing this exact thread:

First, let me say that I think this should be something that is free for VIPs, purchasable for everyone else. That said, if the situation is such that it will not receive attention unless they release it as purchasable for ALL, then yes, I would pay for it.

I believe in funding worthwhile investments. "Global power customization" is a worthwhile investment of both time and money (as opposed to, say, the Leprechaun). Powers are a huge part of a character's definition, so this really needs to happen.

Considering the tech already seems to be in place (see: how the Judgement and Destiny customization menus do not appear until you have unlocked the slots), I would not be willing to pay more than 800 points for this, with a guarantee that any further customization options released to said Pools/APPs be automatically tagged on for those who have purchased the customization option.