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I quite agree with Rodion here. You don't build the game to cater towards a very small minority. You work to cater to a broad audience. The exception to this, of course, is when you're trying to make the game inclusive, for example, adapting to color blindness or remove effects that cause migraines. You don't build to satisfy someone's sense of entitlement.

This is a poor analogy. AE farms have largely skewed the risk/reward table using blatant exploits, such as the Mito and monkey farms. Hoarding parts from iTrials requires the same investment of time and effort whether that is spent now or after a new trial is released and requires all players to participate. There is a world of difference between door sitting the way to fifty and actively participating in the iTrials to secure the next big thing.

Perhaps a more apt analogy would be when the invention system was introduced. Veteran players had accumulated much, much more inf than newer players and could easily afford to buy the IO's and recipes they desired as they came to the market, while others labored through the same TF's again and again. Where was the outcry for fairness then?

I agree with this 100% and I have commented as such in other places. Progress to the third and fourth tiers seems to hinge on luck. The deterministic path to acquiring these things should produce faster results on average than random drops. As it stands now, I have only rarely built a piece of rare salvage with Empyrean merits and never done so for a very rare. In my opinion, the drop tables should be replaced with astrals and emps of an equivalent value. That would do away with the need for silly conversion rates and the feeling that you got a booby prize when you get yet another uncommon.

Really, I think a system like the one Zortel describes would be best, eschewing the need for a new currency entirely and preventing hoarding, but that boat sailed a long time ago.

Unless you want to experience the new content. Just like you don't have to level beyond 30 if you don't care to see the content there.

I'm a little wary of the idea of buffing others with Def Resistance. On one hand, it would certainly set FF apart from other sets that can buff defense and it would make the set desirable to have around even for Armor sets that are capping themselves with IO's but have little Def Resistance. It's really a tough call to make.

I know it's been suggested before, but I'll reiterate the idea. It would be nice to see DF with a large amount of -regen and -recovery (perhaps even a very large magnitude hold). Sometimes caging an enemy just gives them the chance to regen or self-heal. It would be nice if it really put them in stasis. Of course, it comes with the problem of how to apply those affects only when the cage actually works.

I agree these powers could use a boost. I've seen -tohit suggested often and it makes thematic sense to me at least.

Adding to this: in the Underground trial, you can cage the regenerating Lichens during the battle with the LIWW. That's a heck of an easy way to cut off some of it's regen. If you have two bubblers with DF, pull the LIWW to the corner, and it should be a relative breeze.

When people think of creativity the default image to jump to is the creative artist, a person working with a blank canvas, making the vision in their mind a reality. But what of the creative inventor, a person limited in scope by a particular problem? They don't merely discover a solution to a problem; they invent, or create, the solution in their mind then work to make it a reality as well. However, they do so with a great number of limitations. Didn't inventing the light bulb require not only knowledge but a great deal of creativity to think about the problem of lighting in ways perhaps no one before had?

In the case of the player, the problem is "How do I create a character that meshes with this pre-established world but still stands out?" Not only is their the lore to contend with, but there are a wealth of cliches and tropes from the superhero genre to avoid. It becomes a very good exercise in creativity and thinking outside the box rather than pretending the box simply doesn't exist.

When a designer is hired to create or redesign a logo for a company they are hired to be very creative. However, they aren't give a blank canvas with absolute artistic freedom; they are held back by a number of things: brand recognition, corporate philosophy, target market, etc. They should acknowledge and utilize these things to their advantage. This is the thing that often separates a good artist from a good designer.

So I must disagree. Asking a person to be creative in a limited space isn't hypocritical if they are well aware of the limitations and challenges ahead of time. Part of the job is in the give and take of what you can and can't do.

Unfortunately, Creepers will replace the old set so you can only have one at a time. And if you're thinking two sets of PA, it works the same one: we're only allowed one at a time. You could, however, throw out multiple lightning storms and tornadoes with a stormie.

Ah, it's been quite a while since I leveled it and had forgotten that. It still can benefit from accuracy however, but must use IO's to acquire it. The same is true of Choking Cloud.

I need to test, as I haven't seen any mention of it, if Time Crawl or Time Stop self stack the -regen. If so, I think they may be worthy powers; if not, then they're only mediocre, particularly Time Stop on a controller.

Corrupters and Controllers share the same debuff values across all sets. Why should Time Manipulation be a sudden exception?

I think you're looking too much at singular powers here rather than what the set can do across the board. RI beats out Slowed Response in -def and Time's Juncture in -tohit. However, time compensates for that in Farsight, which provides +def to offset lower -tohit and +tohit to offset lower -def. Additionally, Time does not rely on enemy based toggles which many find inconvenient and cease to function when a.) the anchor is defeated or b.) the caster is mezzed. Also, consider the fact that while -tohit and +def are doing essentially the same job debuffs are resisted while buffs will retain their effectiveness against higher conning enemies.

I use Distortion Field in conjunction with Static Field. SF has a small -recharge attached to it that helps floor the recharge of enemies in Distortion Field. I could see Ice doing similar and Earth using it for extra magnitude on top of Volcanic Gasses or to slow down the attacks that leak out of a a mob bouncing on Earthquake.

I'll agree with this. The recharge and damage bonuses are quite worthwhile. I wouldn't put it as high as Fortitude, but it does seem a bit better than Forge.

Agreed.

My immediate notion with Time was to pair it with those sets that lives in melee. Unfortunately, it does seem end heavy and that's a disadvantage for both Fire and Ice as they struggle with their own endurance issues. Electric Control seems like a natural synergy since it helps manage those endurance problems, takes advantage of the PBAoE effects, and layers on some early mitigation with it's confuse.

Six slotting a power for anything is generally a poor decision. In this case, you're ignoring the fact that Arctic Air must make a hit role. So no matter how long the confusion duration, it won't apply until it actually hits. For SO's or common IO's, I'd recommend slotting 2 acc/2 confuse/2 end reduction in AA and you'll see much better results.

I'm sure the standard code rant applies, but I would think that Burn Out could be flagged to recharge itself.

A curious question: does anyone know how Burn Out affects powers like One with the Shield and Strength of Will? Does it circumvent the fact that these powers are flagged to ignore +recharge?

QFT. Not only is each individual mission repetitive with their 20 glowies, but it's an overall snooze fest of "Go look there. Done? Now, go look over there."

I personally find the lore behind all the multi-dimensional hijinks pretty interesting. It's a thread that runs throughout all levels if you read the descriptions, plagues, and clues. I'm not sure I would want it all streamlined, but Unai is definitely an example of where some good ideas were poorly executed.

That's right. Slow enhancements only affect run/flight/jump speed and not the amount of -recharge.

As for elec/time, it's drawn my interest for the variety of mitigation it offers. Controls, slows, end drain, and a nice combination of def/-tohit. Quite a good grab bag in my opinion.

Which is?

I saw three benefits to the Enhancement expansions: the first was the added space for respecs, the second was more room while crafting, and the third was more enhancement drops during low levels when I might use them.

Now, I'm just waiting for them to sell a version of the portable workbench.

Except for PB'ed heals that can't keep up with incoming damage, or PB'ed controls that add unnecessary duration, or PB'ed debuffs that are highly resisted by AV's, or... well, you get my point I think. Really, Power Boost, while a nifty power, only shines brightest when paired with specific defensive buffs. Honestly, I'm surprised to find that the devs didn't throw in some token resistance to spurn Power Boost as they did when the gave Dominators Linked Minds (and it's unehanceable resistance to boot).

A bit more on topic, I'm finding elec/time a fun combo for a controller. The -tohit in from Time's Juncture and the defense in Far Sight make getting into melee a little easier while the +recovery from Conductive Aura helps offset some of the endurance spent.

It's hybrid when talking to current subscribers; F2P when talking to everyone else.

Between the attitudes presented towards free players and the overwhelming feeling that we're going to be nickle-and-dimed, I doubt I'll be around much longer.