Journal of a first-time MMORG player
By
187nut,
Posted on: 2005-01-20 01:10 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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I head into a timed Vahz mission solo, and nearly get a hospital trip again on the first mob. I head for the entrance and double-check my difficulty settings. Im still on Heroic! Its like my defenses arent working at all today.
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Vahz are just unusually tough. They do a LOT of damage. It's even tough with resists cause you don't get much resists to toxic damage.
The pictures are nice, and your entries fantastic as always. Please keep sharing!
Entry 87
Waiting for Red Haven to call me, I log on MM II just to putz around solo for a mission or two. He logs on as Taenia for a couple minutes to play around with his enhancements. If you know what I mean. I accidentally level MM II after getting xp for a courier mission, and knocking out a 2nd Tsoo after getting immediately ambushed for the next mission the contact gave me. Since my three main attacks are six-slotted, and I see no need to slot Inherent powers or my Jumps, I add them to Stamina. Diamond Cut logs on, so CRM and he go to work off some debt from the Eden Trial. Im guessing it will be easier if we try it when were both one level higher. After a couple missions, Im debt-free!
DC wants to try his hand at the first AV in our portal missions (not naming him to avoid spoilers for lower-level reader), thinking I can heal him. My only experience is with Martial Master and perma-Elude, and I tanked him that way, so we go ahead. DC sees the AVs at level 42, and runs out to change his difficulty setting, while I razz him, saying Im going to get his name changed to Diamond Chicken, or Chicken Cut. We go back in, I give him some buffs, hand him a damage inspiration, and send him into the fray, after he feels the need to remind me to leave the minions alone for his Invincibility. No duh. Its no good, as he immediately drops to a sliver of health. I interrupt my snipe attack and auto-follow on Super Speed to heal him, but a second attack takes him out as my animation hits him. The AV hits me once as I fall back, but Im moving to fast to keep the aggro, and get to a safe place. I type in, You almost had him... rofl He grouses about getting all that debt back. And he calls me a whiner! Hes not upset about debt per se, he just doesnt like losing at anything. I stopped worrying about debt at any level a while ago. Im having fun with all my characters, so while I dont invite the debt with suicide charges, I also dont run away like a pansy from my teammates if they get in trouble. Ive known I-dont-know-how-many Defenders and Blasters who turn tail and run (and one or two Scrappers and Tanks!). I usually choose the moment things get dicey to jump in the middle with my heals and any buffs I can call up. True, I end up in the hospital as often as not when that happens, but the times I pull a rabbit out of my hat and keep people in the game is when things get fun and exciting. DC has to work tomorrow, so he logs, as we realize were gonna need at least one more helping hand with the AV. I do just a couple more missions with MM II before I also get tired. I do enough to land all of my new contacts for levels 20-25, on my way earning the Healing Node Badge, and with it the Collector Badge.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 88
I cant sleep, so I log on to clear out an old mission. Im mindlessly jamming through a bunch of green- and blue-cons when I notice Im getting hammered. I turn on Focused Fighting, and get pegged three times in a row, one a Critical Hit. A fourth knocks me out before I can hit a Respite. The Ancestor Spirit was a white-con, but they were all hitting me non-stop. Man, when SRs luck runs out, it really runs out! So much for playing while half-asleep.
I wonder who all these civilians are in the Tsoo drug lab. How did they get to be here? Im pretty sure they were helping with the stuff, even though theyre running around scared like always. Gets me suspicious. Gah! I find 11 of the blinkies, but have to go back through the map to find the 12. I go back through all four levels, and it turns out its back on the fourth level after all. Ptheh! Im really still not fully awake yet, but I know I cant go back to sleep anyway. I press on, and head to Talos Island for a brace of new missions!
Meh, the first mission sends me back to Kings Row. Halfway through, I turn the corner in the warehouse and run into six yellow-con Tsoo. Okay, but Im pumping candy for this many! I must admit, Im kind of missing the helpfulness of Cobra Strike and Focus Chi by now, as opposed to Martial Masters build at the time, but those were taken in lieu of the Fitness line at the time, and Im moving faster through things by getting Stamina at 20.
As I pass by steak houses and comic stores, I cant wait for the opportunity to actually go inside them some day. Super Jump is great for getting around Talos. I take the mission to go to Striga, where Super Jump is also great. I land smack dab in the middle of five Council goons in front of my contact, but theyre all blue-cons, and are easily arrested by my quick hands and feet. The hunt 10 Council mission, I head for a goon for the last two I need, and hes in the middle of twelve (I counted!) Other Council and Warriors. I figure, why not? Time for a test. I take a little candy every now and them just to use them up, because my tray is full. I only need to pop one blue to keep going. Yup, even a bakers dozen blue-cons give me no problem. Cool.
Jumping is a little problematic in Striga if I dont pay close attention. Right now, my relatively low level can get me killed if I get too close to an Underboss. I avoid scrapperlock on him and run away. Inside a timed mission, Im thinking, You know, they can give me just one Critical Hit any time today, that would be great. I think Ive gotten three in the past couple hours. Just after I think it, it happens. Cool as well! As if to reassure me the game is not broken, I suddenly get four more Crits on the next ten bad guys. I had an hour to rescue the guy, I get him in ten minutes. I want timed missions that are a little shorter on time, myself. I stay in the mission anyway to beat up some more Council. If the 5th are gone, these are the closest to ratzi jack-booted thugs for me to whomp on. I go find the boss and knock him out before I leave.
Its funny to watch Mek Men, which are machines, get all dizzy from a Thunder Kick. I like their skates, though, I hope we get those for CoV. Lots of Mek Men here, am I stopping the shipment from being delivered, or am I basically destroying the whole shipment as I go along? On the next Council mission, Im supposed to rescue four researchers and look for a crate. I do all that, knock out the bosses, and then it changes to an arrest all mission. Really? After all that I did, and now you want me to get all the rest of them. Sigh. I dont mind really, I just wish you had a better sense of when that was going to happen in a mission. These guys are like cockroaches, though...
I level up on the next mission! Level 22, and now I definitely want those level 25 SOs. Im tired of them having a sliver of life left, or using Kick and they still have a sliver. Were gonna go get some damage! I choose Quickness without hesitation at this point. Without Hasten, I need the recharge without question. Also, since I dont have Super Speed like Martial Master, being able to close in on my opponents fast will be an advantage.
Im getting tons of lag now, but I have to test out how I work at the new level. Im hunting Freaks, but all Im running across are Warriors. I take out two orange-con lieutenants without breaking a sweat, and immediately jump into a group of eight Tsoo and Warriors. I think I get hit twice. Ooh, lookee, Im a super hero!
I try to take on a red-con Warrior Elite, but he runs away from me the whole time, it didnt seem like a fair test. I do better against a slew of yellow- and orange-cons as I run through Talos. When I finally find some Freaks, theyre mostly blue- and green-cons. A speeding level 29 scrapper comes along and gets to several mobs before I do. Hey, hes MA/SR as well! He must be slumming. My final Freak for the hunt 20 mission is an orange-con Tank Smasher. I take him out! While Im looking over my enhancements, he rezzes right under my feet. I Crane Kick him over the railing into the water. 
Thats almost five straight hours of playing, thats enough for now.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
[ QUOTE ]
While Im looking over my enhancements, he rezzes right under my feet.
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Don't you hate when that happens? 
On the other hand... NO I DON'T... more XP! 
"Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you... you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end..." -- Q
Entry 89
Storylines are popping into my head as I play the game now. That Tech store is deep in enemy territory in Independence Port. They have to be playing both sides, supporting the villains, too, to stay in business. The Lost are the perfect group for Crey to be kidnaping off the streets for experiments. The ads by Crey all around town could have a subliminal compulsion element to them. There are so many potentially cool stories to tell here, Im hoping the Devs see the same potential.
On the way to Perez Park, MM II spots a Lead Brick and takes him out, obtaining another villain defeat badge, the Weatherman. Its one of the easiest to get, since they are so prevalent in Steel Canyon, the transit way-station between the inner circle of the city and the outer ring. I must finally be getting the hang of this game: a mission in Perez was at the end of a winding path, and I navigated it without stopping or running into a bush. The mission takes all of three minutes, as I find the hostage to rescue and complete the mission, getting a temp power, the Idol of Lughebu, to boot. I take out the boss real quick before I exit, since hes standing right across from me. I hate caves.
I have a Lost mission, and I want them to be at the same level as me, so I want to go to Atlas and get the cape mission. Providence provides for me, as I get a courier mission to take something to Azuria. Must be my lucky day, the kind where all the traffic lights are green for you. To top it off, I Super Jump over Paragon City Hall and get the Freedom badge, I totally forgot that was there. Huzzah! The good luck continues as I clear up a mission contact, and he gives me a mission in skyway next. The cape mission is in the Hollows, right next door. The Warrior mission is actually a little boring, almost all white-cons. I may have to visit one of those reputation-mongers, and up my difficulty setting. I change it to Tenacious before I try the Cape mission. Most of my time here has still been traveling from mission to mission. Ive gotta head back to Striga as soon as I can, I hope the new zone is like that, with most of the missions close by in the same zone.
Jackpot! Orange-con Pariah prelate bosses. Thats more like it. I use up almost all my END taking out two of them. Ive got my genetic Restabilizer, my confiscated Beanbags, and the Idol of Lughebu. These guys dont stand a chance! As a matter of fact, there are depressingly few of them, and I handle them way easy. Did I just wait too long to get this? I didnt even fulfill my arrest 20 Lost mission! I log off for dinner and come back later, headed for Striga. The Heracles mission is the one where the contact suggests you take help. Meh, not needed at this point. Im feeling uber, most likely because of the SOs. Thats not a complaint, it feels good to one-hit a white-con finally. After 20 levels, a little feeling of power doesnt hurt one bit. Im moving through them so fast, Im burning out of END. I turn off Sprint and Combat Jumping, just leaving Focused Fighting on. Maybe I should go to Rugged instead...
I finally die when I enter a mission with 20 Tsoo clustered near the entrance. I take out about five, but miss on an Idol of Lughebu. I turn around and do the slow-motion Baywatch run of death, as they kill me from behind. I see TUBS is online, and he joins me. Hes level 25 already! Quoklain from an earlier team is 29, is everyone playing this game non-stop while Im at work? Sheesh! He helps me finish the mission, then we get one from his contacts. Purple Sorcerors and Ancestor Spirits, oh my! I do pretty well, despite whiffing whenever the Sorceror brings up his big bag o wind. I level up when we hit the final bad guy and complete the mission. 23! Two more slots for Stamina. I have time for one more board train mission with him before I have to log off for the night.
Im going on vacation for a week, so I had to play as much as I could these last few days. Who knows when Ill be back online!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 90
Back from the Comicon, and Diamond Cut says Im not ever allowed to go away for a full week again! We look with some confusion on the test server list of all the changes to the power sets, and decide to play as much as we can with our existing characters and abilities. We play for just a couple of missions, as we work the kinks out, since hes been playing Taenia up to 35 while Ive been gone. He has to get used to DCs hotkeys and such again.
The next night, hes not rusty at all. DC likes to herd sometimes, but we dont usually do it except for some big rooms. We suspect herding will be greatly curtailed soon, so we spend the night herding everything. Ive been holding my Atomic Blast in reserve for a while, so I wait until DC herds an indoor lab room, one of the big ones, and then I cut loose with my Blast after an Aim and a Neutron Bomb. Almost all of the baddies go down, and DC is almost speechless. Im dancing at how cool that looked! We start herding everything in sight when we can, just to do it while its still possible.
On a Nemesis mission, I forget that the Jaegers explode, and Atomic Blast myself into the ground. Heh. I work off the debt in that mission, and level up to 40 on the mission complete bonus! Two final slots to Atomic Blast, and one to Regeneration aura. Then its off to Peregrine Island on a hunt 50 Nemesis mission, and we like the xp from purple-conning Fake Nemesis! A week away from the game, and we pick up right where we left off. Excellent herding all evening.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 91
No Red Haven with Martial Master tonight. Instead, he wants to log Taenia on and see how well that character does sidekicked. I finally get to go after Vanessa DeVore. My settings are on Invincible, so shes level 51. We breeze through the opposition to get to her, and Taenia tells me to run in. As soon as I do, Taenia is held, and we both take a dirt nap. Regrouping, I jump in with Elude already on and pump some candy, and manage to whittle her health away until she bolts. I use all my candy and still get knocked out! We run back again and hit her as hard as we can, and running doesnt help her this time. Not bad for just the two of us, Im thinking.
Taenia dies once on another map as I jump down into an open warehouse area. He was not following his mentor, tsk tsk. Ive got auto-follow on hotkey for engaging enemies, so as soon as I can lock onto one I engage. I change it a little and just auto-follow my teammate, so that way I dont get too far ahead, and I dont go off engaging groups while he engages a different group. I want to try herding, since we wont be able to do it much after Issue 5 hits, but he has an uncanny knack for using his EM Pulse in the big areas, freezing all the people I want to herd. I need them awake and around me if Im going to knock them down with my Dragon Tail attack.
Im so used to my buddy being a high-level unstoppable Scrapper, I leave him behind once on an outdoor map, and the lone remaining Carnie turns into a big old purple-con that he cant touch. I come back at his yell, since I had forgotten he was sidekicked. Its a little different for me with Martial Master, because in the old days, before the Elude change, I ended up as the team tank, with everyone following me automatically. If I noticed anyone get in the red for health, Id head back to help them out with Super Speed. All the other times, as Red haven or Diamond Cut, he could always take care of himself, so I have to adjust a little bit for the difference. I was just having so much fun playing my favorite character again, I got a little carried away. Taenia is acting like one of those jerks who tell you how to Respec your build. Ptheh! If I wanted to be cookie-cutter, I know where to go and how to build it. Theyre changing all the powers soon enough, let me enjoy this character the way I like him, for whatever short amount of time I have left. Who knows what will be playable after this? I dont think he understands that Im keeping him this way specifically to show that a player with a non-maxed build can still hold his own on the higher settings. Everyone already knows what the min/maxers can do, Im showing that the casual players and the concept characters can still play the game and enjoy it, even if there is one or two things that could be done to make the build better. Besides, MM II will be toggles, and I just cant fathom building two characters to be completely identical in every aspect. Taenia levels up to 40, and logs off for the night. I clear out all of my normal missions, until all I have left is Infernal and the timed Requiem mission. Hmm, Im pretty sure I cant solo those.
The next day, I log in to wait for Taenia to get free, and notice Ive been getting blind invites and invitations to mentor and be a bridge and all that stuff, like it was going out of style soon. I must have gotten more of all that in these two days than any two months combined of playing. People are really afraid of losing out if the Issue 5 changes go live, and theyre kind of panicking. I decline each one. I dont care what the Devs do, Im playing the game my way, to make it as much fun for me personally as I can, and I just happen to find power-leveling and bridging and all that related stuff boring. Speaking of having fun, the only other place for adventures and missions now is the Shadow Shard!
Its about time I tested the Elude changes against the Rularuu anyway. There are a couple of villains that chew through SRs defenses like it was tissue paper. I pop Elude a little early, taking on some grunts, but it lasts me all the way through to the boss and an orange-con Watcher. No problem. I take out the last mob without Elude, and Im down to about half health, but the mission is over. Another test taken care of, and no worries so far. Perma-Elude was more convenient, but this way is slightly more challenging after all. And my build is passives, with only one slot in Focused Fighting. I figure if I can take care of myself on Invincible, then all of the crying on the boards was exaggeration. The only place I need help is with an AV, and its always been that way.
I explore the Shard for a little while, specifically the Chantry, since I havent been there before. I dont have too bad a time timing the jumps, but if I mess up just once, I start back at square one. I can see how I might Respec just to get Fly if I want to hang out here. I manage to get by with Teleport, and go on my first Kora Fruit mission. Not really all that hard. I go call Dr. Boyd next, and do a monument mission. I take out the level 51 boss and get hit down to just a couple of health points, literally. I look down. No wonder, I did that without Elude on! If I can mange that without even hitting Elude, then why were so many of the toggle players saying they were gimped? Im starting to think a lot of the doom on the boards was out of fear, and not out of actual testing. Time to see what missions I can get from Lt. Volkov. Oh man, a hunt 50? Save me! I cant even get xp for those here.
Next up from Volkov is a timed Nemesis mission, and with Teleport, it only takes about one minute to get to the mission. Was this a trick? Its all Rularuu in here, until a group of Nemesis stumble upon me. I jump into a group of about ten to twelve Rularuu and my health goes down fast, so I pop Elude. Somebody sends me a tell asking to join my team in the middle of it. Its one of the same people who asked me to pl him earlier. Sigh. The biggest drawback to these missions is that I actually have to use Elude to survive the red-con Watchers, so I have a little downtime. As I type up my adventures, a three-man group of Nemesis finds me again, and I have to stop typing and go back to the game to dispatch them. Good thing I kept the sound on! All in all, with Elude downtime and typing, it takes about fifteen minutes to find all eight hostages. Elude goes down in the middle of a fight with a bunch of orange-cons, including Watchers, so I take a beating, but keep on going anyway. I pop Elude once more for the level 51 Warhulk boss, and there goes another successful Shadow Shard test, doing pretty much all of the missions you can get there. Maybe Ill try them with a team just to try to make it more interesting next time. Not that this was boring, I was lower on health for these missions than all my others in Paragon City. Ooh, got my 7th bubble of xp towards 50, too!
After dinner, I log back on to do a 45 minute timed mission from Volkov. 15 minutes and... done! I drop off the edge of a cliff and take the zone entrance to the Cascade Archipelago from Firebase Zulu, and then head back to Lt. Volkov from there, its about the same amount of time. But I cant teleport right into the wormhole. Ptheh! Okay, Ive run through all of the shard missions without dying, the only thing left is my AV missions, and the last two Task Forces for the Shard. I want big teams, think we need big teams for each TF anyway, but they are still hit-and-miss in getting them together. Less than a million influence left to go!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 92
Today is the day, I can feel it in my bones. I am going to take Martial Master to 50. Taenia logs in at level 37, and becomes my sidekick. He keeps saying we can do the missions ourselves on Heroic, but I want my main and favorite character to take the toughest the game can dish out. We get a Tank, and Fujiko Murakuma joins! You know those good and fun players that you wish were online at the same time as you more often? Thats Fujiko. Ive got a good feeling about this. Purity Goddess, a Defender, Empathy, joins. We rock through to the Portal for Infernal, and Fujiko asks if were really set on Invincible, heh. I post on the boards what Im doing, and when Im on bubble 8 towards 50, a fan from the boards sends me a tell to congratulate me. Cool!
Our Tank distracts Infernal, and Purity tries to keep him alive, while I go after the Portal alone. I get it down to about 9200 health, but my group is dropping one by one. Purity tells me to run, so I beat feet a little ways, and see were all thats left. I block a doorway and take out about six demons, to let her get clear, and then she teleports me. Were not far enough to lose aggro, so I tell her to go farther back, and take out a couple more, asking her to TP me when shes clear. She gets me right when my toggles drop from the Elude crash. I love it when a plan comes together! Our Tank has crashed, and Taenia crashes, but he gets back on fairly quickly.
We grab Thunder Alley, a level 41 Tank, and head back in, joined by gundam, level 50 Blaster, who plays very well, by the way. This time we handle it smoothly, no deaths. As the Scrapper, half the time Im the one who deals the killing blow to an AV, so when it happens, I type in, I killed him1 Me! Bwah-ha-ha-ha-hah-HAH!!! The six of us rock through a few more missions, and...
Ding! Level 50! I feel good. Hey! Im not getting any more xp! Fujiko laughs and tells me I got 10 more experience points, look up at my xp bar. Fujiko has to leave, so we do another mission, and switch sidekicks, so gundam has Taenia, and I have Thunder Alley. For some reason, on an outside map the others dont follow the Tank. I see them both drop, but if I had left Thunders side, he would have been in trouble. They also die one more time when we stumble across the AV, but they get back from the hospital in time to help us put the finishing touches on him! We do a couple more, and then break for lunch. In real life, I get in my car and zoom to pick up food for Taenia and me, using my Super Reflexes to avoid traffic and trouble. Okay, maybe Im blending realities, but Im pretty sure people can tell theres something different about me now. I think about buying a bumper sticker for my car that says, My other char is a level 50."
So I go to Red Haven/ Diamond Cut/ Taenia and we sit and watch a Batman cartoon, and then head back for more action. The others are offline, and gundam is in a mission as soon as he logs on, so its just Taenia and me. We do a couple missions, and I finally go train up, putting a sixth slot in two of my passives, and a To-Hit buff in Focused Accuracy. I am complete. Except for enhancements. Back to the grind!
We go into a lab and I jump into battle like usual, but unknown to me, Taenia has been knocked back. Ive been running without Elude, and I hit it too late. No heal comes, and I bite the big one. Taenia teleports me to safety and I res, but as I take stock and activate my toggles, hes run back to the enemy, and his sidekick drops, and he takes an immediate dirt nap. Does he not see the message that hes getting out of range of me? Thats what I call a brain fart. I TP him, and give him an Awaken, and we dont have any of that nonsense happen again.
For our final mission for this stretch, we take on Neuron, the Praetorian version of Psynapse. Ive faced him before, helping others out with their AV missions, and he is no pushover. For once, Im actually not sure if we can handle it, but were willing to try. The lab equipment inside gives us disorient and lethargy, and we both call out, Boo!" The third one gives us health regen, Yay! Neutron is by the fourth lab, and he sees us as we knock out his minions. I pop Elude as he comes around the corner and go to town. For three solid minutes I drop the beat-down on this sucker, and my toggles drop. I backpedal and pop some purples and a couple blues. Turn on Focused Fighting and F. Accuracy and jump right back in. Taenia heals me twice for the two times he does bad damage to me. Hes down! We took down a level 52 AV with just the two of us! That feels pretty good. We call for a break, since weve been playing for the better part of seven hours today.
Whats next? Well, I have to take a look at what badges I still need, I am going to complete the last two people that can give me missions, and then I might go on Kora missions looking for level 53 enhancements. Ive got to exemplar to do the Positron TF still, and Im also planning to spend a little time as a taxibot, and exemplaring for others who want help, on an occasional give back to the community day. Im even going to hold a costume contest one of these days! Ooh, and I need to spank 10,000 monkeys still! That never gets old.
My initial thoughts are that it should have taken another million xp to get to 50, but maybe Ive beaten the curve by running on Invincible all the time. I had thought by dying often in the early part of the game, like by not taking Practiced Brawler originally until level 16 or so, that I might be able to get through all the major content and get to 50 at the end of the AV story arc, but no biggie. Ooh, and Khelds! I need to roll a couple of Kheldians. All of these plans I have for Martial Master will probably take a back seat, as I will be teaming with DC as CRM most likely. The Issue 5 update will come soon, and then I will trot him out for more experimentation, to see for myself how the changes affect everything. Im not sure the process the Devs use for tweaking powers is the best way, it seems to upset a lot of people, but one thing is for sure, with as often as things change, Im not getting bored yet! Woot!
Soliciting for teams is still an effort, but I almost dont think about it anymore. Even if someone is marked looking for team, I still send them a tell first anyway. More often than not they arent available, but many of them thank me for asking. I have gotten the sense that people are really really really sick of blind invites, so much that they appreciate the people who send them tells.
Its a new night for hunting AVs, and Taenia sidekicks to Martial Master. We end up going after Nightstar, the Praetorian version of Luminary. She flies around like nobodys business! Our Tank dies and quits without saying anything. That is kind of disappointing, actually, because he played relatively well, but he bolted at the first sign of trouble. We recruit a new Tank, and surround Nightstar on a roof. Were whomping on her somewhat well, when someone uses an AoE and pushes her right off the roof. Great, shes flying again. I type in to the others to tell them to stay back, let her lose aggro and go land on a rooftop again before we re-engage.
My Elude is up, so I have no worries, but Taenia comes right up next to me, and Nightstar one-shots her. Someone else lands right next to us, and also gets one-shot. I feel like C3PO: Why doesnt anyone listen to me? But it is slightly amusing. A few members ask to reset the mission to Heroic, and I grumble to myself, but I go do it. I like to keep my team members happy. Nightstar is now level 50 instead of level 53, and we cut through everything like Swiss cheese. I resolve to come back with a different character and try her again on Invincible, Im convinced as long as we dont shove her off the roof with AoE, we can whittle away at her enough. I kept silent about asking Taenia to log Red Haven in to tank, I thought he wanted Ta to get the xp and the Portal Jockey Accolade early for that character, but later he tells me he just plumb forgot about switching to Red. Heh.
We log for dinner, and Im solo for an hour later on, as I decide to roll my first Kheldian. What to call him? Brane. A brane is what quantum physicists like to call a boundary between dimensions. Its not commonly known, and a spell-checker will single it out as a mis-spelling. I think it fits a Warshade concept, and I go into the tutorial. I complete my mission and then head out to get the Isolator badge, issuing a Broadcast invite for anyone who wants to join for it. ScarletSting is the only one to take me up on it, but we have a good time, and I tell her to do her mission and catch up with me in Galax City. We do missions for a while, with her leveling up about thirty seconds after I do each time. I tease her, alternating between calling her a slacker and a copycat. We play until were at level 5, and I make a new global friend. See how easy that is?
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Nice to see the 50 day finally making it's appearance! I was thinking that it had been lost somewhere in alts and such.
And while my play time is a lot less now, I'm still online often drop me a global tell @LaFollet or even global friend me. I'm always willing to cook up some adventures with the infamous tpull. 
Entry 93
Did you ever have a perfect night? I mean in real life, when youve had a good day at work, and then you have three hours to play online? And you get a good team? The next night I link up with Taenia again to start rockin. My old friends Kisume and jaggwar are online, and I quickly snap them up into my team. Kisume is a healing Defender, and jaggwar is a Claws/SR Scrapper, and long-time readers may remember me mentioning them. We are joined by a nameless Blaster, not to be confused by a previous Nameless Blaster that readers may also remember! The Blaster says no to an sk, which means at level 41 versus level 53 bad guys, hes going to be like a gnat. Kisume tries to give him a hint even, and tells him if he cant do damage, he does not belong on this team. She knows how jaggwar and I operate, and she has the same philosophy.
We go after Marauder, the Praetorian version of the Back Alley Brawler. I jump into battle head-first without Elude, and die fairly quickly. Im not sure why the team didnt bail, but they tough it out, and we have a group wipe, except for the Blaster who was hanging back. He says to get a Tank right as I am typing in to tell the team I will look for a Tank. Coming out of the hospital, the Blaster starts tossing out names of Tanks to invite, but with the names not quite right. I dont take his word for it, even though he speaks as if theyre his friends, but I send a tell to confirm it with one. I get a positive response from front line., and a level 49 Tank joins us!
Back into the mission, the Blaster is talking about great xp and wont stop telling me what to do, and Taenia sends me a tell to kick him. That launches me into my process, and I send a tell to each member, except for the new Tank, to state that I have received a request to kick a team member, identify who it is, and ask for their vote. Surprise, surprise, its unanimous. I announce that a vote has been taken, for his obnoxious behavior, pushiness, refusal to accept sk, etc., and ask the Blaster to quit or he will be kicked. He says, No! Please! I kick. Id like to think my process is fair, and I know Im more patient than most others, but I havent had to do that in so long, Ive forgotten the last time. Kicking someone from the team is actually fairly rare for me. Im a little dumbfounded that he could have gotten to level 41 teaming with others with his attitude.
We defeat the AV, not much trouble, and head for another mission. As we play, my team members ask me to invite others, so BlazingStar13 joins us, a Controller, and we also have Soul Tech, a good Blaster, and later Golden Phoenix, a level 28 Defender, join the team. We have a very efficient, fun team. Kisume and jaggwar have a great sense of humor, and I know Kis wont get offended by anything I say, cause she knows Im joking. I flirt like its cool, and everyone joins in the fun, mostly the three of us and Taenia exchanging barbs, but all of us joking. I think front line. (Note the period at the end of his name! Dont get him confused with a different front line) was the quietest, but that was because he was busy tanking!
We take out Chimera, the Praetorian version of Manticore, and I change to my other remaining contact to rescue a hostage. His name is Dr. Naples, and it sounds very similar to another word that the language filter allows. I lost track of how many jokes we had and how many times I typed in that word. Upon entry, I tell the team to let me die, and jump into a group of the Council. Taenia calls off one of the team who automatically jumped in to give me a hand.
When the dust settles, I type in, That sucks, I didnt even pop Elude! Ta tells me to keep going, so I jump immediately into the next mob, and they kill me. It feels good to have some debt to work off, since I cant earn any more xp. Maybe Im weird, but I wanted us to need a million more xp to get to level 50, so I could still enjoy a sense of earning xp with all this content left to go still. Kisume tries to find the hostage for the longest time, until Taenia locates him, and hes actually the boss (thats a minor spoiler, dont worry, youll probably forget if youre a low-level reader, or be glad to have that knowledge by the time you get to him). We then go back to the AV missions. Somewhere in here, BlazingStar13 had to leave.
Our final mission for the night is a timed one for Shadowhunter, the Praetorian version of the Woodsman. We jump in, and twenty minutes into it, front line. has to log off for twenty minutes. Another person quits without notice, but I smell something fishy. That was a cool person, not a coward or a rude one! My suspicions are confirmed, as it was the game crashing, and I re-invite. I type in, I knew you werent quitting, cuz this whole team is cool! Without our Tank, jaggwar and I take turns popping Elude and handling the aggro, and I tease him, calling him a battle hog as he skips my turn once, and heads in the lead again. Save some for me! I tell him. Hes typing in Bowling for doggies as he cuts loose with his Claw AoE attacks.
We reach Shadowhunter, and I lead off until my toggles drop. Jaggwar jumps right in, and gets nailed in one punch. Hes still level 49, and I guess that makes all the difference. I activate Elude as soon as it is up again, and Jaggwar is back when my toggles drop again. I dont wait to re-engage, I pop a blue and head back in, so jaggwar isnt exposed for more than a couple seconds. Im not waiting for heals from my Defenders, Im punching a Respite as soon as I get hit, and then their heals kick in, but my actions prevent me from taking an immediate dirt nap at least once. All Ive got is Focused Fighting and my passives, but I manage until Elude has recharged again, glad to survive, and glad that jaggwar didnt have to try to handle the heat again. We beat the AV... and our Tank logs back in about thirty seconds later, no joke. We mop up the missing, hunting down stray doggies, and we all decide that was awesome fun, and the Tank missed it, and its a great group. I can tell because Ive still got a stack of new comics I havent stopped to read, and Ive pushed back dinner. Red Haven can attest to how much I complain when I havent eaten. I cant afford to do that, Im so skinny I lose too much weight if I dont get food regular! Im about forty minutes overdo when the group has all pretty much decided to call it a night. Weird how right when I decided I had to log, the others were all announcing it was night for them too.
In real life, I head to Wendys order a larger burger than usual with my fries, and reach into my change compartment in the dark for some change. I pull out a dime and four pennies, the exact amount of change I needed. See what I mean? A perfect night!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
[ QUOTE ]
In real life, I head to Wendys order a larger burger than usual with my fries, and reach into my change compartment in the dark for some change. I pull out a dime and four pennies, the exact amount of change I needed. See what I mean? A perfect night!
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't get those too often... you have to savor those days!
"Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you... you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end..." -- Q
Entry 94
Lousy night next, it seems, must be because of the good night before. Im doing a mission when Martial Master gets a tell inviting him to a 44 Respec. I figure why not, its of the few trials I havent done yet, and abandon my current mission. After a mission, one of the team of four has to leave, but I reassure the leader we can still finish it with just the three of us. I notice the healer has not even been casting Recovery Aura, so I let her know that I will follow her when she announces it. Later on at the final mission, I also ask for Adrenalin Boost, and she gets snarky with me, actually tells me to shut up later, which is new to me.
Cowgerl, the team leader, asks me to let it drop until the mission is complete in a tell. I figure I might as well get the badge since Ive come this far, but the attitude was very unwelcome. The healer goes ahead through the corridor to teleport us to the end, while I let myself die. I had a bunch of Respites, and Elude was ready, but Id been debt-free for too long, so I wanted something to work off, maybe that makes me weird.
The healer, who hasnt been very good at doing much of anything, in my opinion, starts trying to count the waves of villains. Was that three? Or four? My friends son is watching me play, and he says, I think she has trouble counting. Heh. She goes on about how well this is going, and how easy it is. Duh. Cowgerl has two Phantasms out, drawing all the aggro from one group, while I go teleport to the second group as soon as they appear and handle them. Theres nothing higher than an orange-con to me. I even run over and give the healer a Break Free when she gets mezzed once. I basically sleep-walk through the mission, glad to get the badge, but eager to shed the team. Cowgerl was fairly cool, but if I never see that healer again, it will be too soon! I have no idea how people can get to that level, with the attitude and the lousy play. Luckily encounters like this are still few and far between for me.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
One good night, one bad night. It's the real life version of Cosmic Balance I guess...
"Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you... you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end..." -- Q
Entry 95
Its time to rock! We dont want Taenia to out-level the Numina TF, so we log on Diamond Cut and CRM, and assemble a team to take on the first Portal mission AV. Violet Healer (guess her powers), SMokenONE, a level 38 Tank, and MourningSnow, a level 41 Controller, join us. We take down the AV fairly easily, but when we go to do the mission for a second team member, DC gets dropped in what looks like one hit, unless I blinked. It seems a little harder the second time, for some reason. Violet Healer has to leave after that, but we sidekick a cool Blaster, StarChild., and another one I call NL, because the actual name is named after a celebrity, and I dont want to potentially see her get in trouble.
We actually have a fair number of deaths in the group, but its still a lot of fun. Were on Invincible, and going after a ton of purple-cons and red-cons. I bite the bullet once trying to rez a Blaster when Im low on Endurance. I stay locked for too long waiting, and the power goes off, but not before a Paragon Protector has seen me and drops me, but at least the blaster got away okay. The group mostly has deaths when the group is split up, which is easy to do on some of these maps, but DC thinks his Taunt might be messing up SMokens aggro, so he starts following the Tank. I think he had to make a small adjustment for that, because he has been basically tanking everything the whole time himself.
We lose both our Tank and DC in a big room, but I ask DC if he wants me to try to rez him. I cant really do this with squishies, but DC is made of tough stuff. Even though hes lying right at the feet of a group of red-cons, I queue up Resurrect and fiddle with my Super Speed a little, so I jam in, rez him, and have moved out to safety before the bad guys can react. Then Im healing and buffing DC for all Im worth, because hes suddenly in a very bad neighborhood! We pull it off, and I grin to myself, then we go get the goons off the Tanks corpse. They both die once more later on, they are both so fast on the maps! They were dead before I even got to the stairs, whereas they had gone on up and beyond that point. And us with no Teleport. I gotta find some way to blame this on DC...
The deaths didnt matter too much at all, nobody complained, and even though I think we could have avoided them if we went a teensy bit slower, its no big deal, the group was really fun. It dissolves after a mission, as practically all of us have to go eat or do something else in real life. Its funny how that happens, sometimes its a bad team that people are making up excuses to leave, but other times a good group gets into a kind of gestalt, and they zone through a ton of missions together, and then there is a group sense that weve reached a good stopping point.
My friends son wants someone to play with, so he logs on Krytin, a level 11 Peacebringer, and I bring out Balthraz, my Fire/Fire Tank. I still have a purple Discipline in the inspiration tray on Balthraz! I help him ding to 12 before I have to go eat, and then my friend who owns a comic store comes by. I show off the game to him, and let him design a character. He thinks its really neat, but a little too complicated for him to get into it. He says he has fun just watching people play, but that stuff isnt for him, he doesnt have the patience for it. Hes really impressed with the graphics and all the choices people are given, though.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 96
I havent been playing for a while, at first from being out of town, but the last couple trips out have been mildly disappointing. All Im trying to do at this point as Martial Master is take out the AVs on Invincible. Putting together teams is getting harder and harder, which makes me long for my solo days again, at precisely the time when I cant go it solo. I add on team members until we can take out a couple AVs, but people leave quickly, and one of the Blasters suggest we go do something easier. Instead we break for dinner, but when I log back in, Taenia is the only one around. Ptheh!
We decide to turn the difficulty setting down and just go with the two of us. There are plenty of level 50s online, but they all have their own agendas. Nobody wants to do missions, which I thought was one of the better aspects of the game. There is a ton of power-leveling, bridging, and herding going on, though. I think Im spotting more of it because Im receiving more invites to such things since Im finally at level 50 myself.
So Taenia and I take out a couple of AVs on Heroic, and Im basically able to whittle them down to low health until Elude wears off, and then pump a couple CABs for the finisher. After we do a couple that way and log off, I call up my buddy and tell him that was kind of boring. I know! He says. He was bored too. Its just no challenge for any of the mission until we reach the AV, but even an even-level AV can be taken down by two people. The excitement happens when you have a tougher challenge, and more people! Im moving ever-closer to the types that want a greater challenge, that thinks things are a little too easy, but at the high levels only. The first twenty to thirty levels seem fine to me right now, but Im caught in a paradox at the higher levels.
As much as I read on the boards from people saying the game is too easy, I can never find people willing to tackle the hard stuff in the game. Whether its setting Respecs or Task Forces on a higher setting, or tackling AVs at Invincible, I keep running across people who gripe about how its too hard, or they die too much. When everything hits the fan, most of the players do tend to take the easy road out. Im more interested in seeing where my limits are, but Ive always been that way. I also think the people afraid of death are a little short-sighted, because Ive got plenty of missions left where Im not gaining experience anymore, and I only power-leveled two bars around level 44 or so by accident, when someone invited me to a team and wanted me to bridge. Now Im in an uncomfortable situation of playing my favorite character, earning no xp, unable to get teams to do my missions that I cant solo, or run through them bored with Taenia.
As I think about the changes from when I first started the game, Im still liking things, but the ability to get a team together is still a big problem at times. The problems with the AV missions at level 50 are a large reason why my playing has fallen off dramatically, and I cant help but think a little that if the Issue 5 Update wasnt full of power reductions, I might have a bigger pool of potential teammates to choose from. Instead, some have left, others are on test, others are sitting out waiting for City of Villains, and the rest are pl-ing and stuff. All I wanted was to finish Martial Master before the Issue Update, but now Im thinking Ill save the AV missions and test the remainder of them after I5 comes out, that way I can see with MM II how the lower levels play with the power changes, and still be able to comment on the higher levels as well.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 97
Ive got a different kind of problem right now that also keeps me from logging on: my computer! It just cant keep up after all of the updates, so even when Im solo on indoor missions, it is not performing very well. There are delays, sometimes my character doesnt even do his animation anymore. I was supposed to be in a new house with a new computer ages ago, but delays have been coming like Murphys Law. Im still at least two weeks away from moving, and even though Im playing less, I still want to be able to play a little in the next couple weeks! Just had to vent. Ive been patient for about a year now, Im finally wearing thin. I was even going to set up my new pc in my old house, but that just would not make much sense, so I bite my tongue and hope there are no more delays. I figure I will do the rest of my missions that dont have AVs in them, as much as my decrepit, aging old computer will allow.
I hit a Council/Malta mission, and decide to jump a couple red-cons without using Elude, Focused Fighting, Focused Accuracy, or Conserve Power. I take some damage, but its not that big a deal. The biggest challenge is finding the fourth blinkie, which makes things feel a little like a time-sink at this point. I beat the final mission from Unai Kemen, which just leaves me with the repeating Shard missions, and the AV missions Im saving for Issue 5, so I go tackle a Quarry Monster over on Tempest Quay and die real quick, and then run over to take out some monkeys. Itll still take a while to get that badge! I wonder how many monkeys it takes to work off 110,000 debt...
I can live with Elude the way it is, but I still think the Devs missed the boat. First they changed it so the maximum recharge would still keep it from being perma, but then they changed the Hamidon enhancements and cut their effectiveness later, but they did not adjust the recharge time for Elude, so we ended up with an even longer recharge time from what they originally planned for us. The thing is, if someone wants to use the power, they will simply wait until its back up, and play on, doing something else during the downtime, maybe not even playing the game. With MM II, who is not taking Hasten, should I even bother to get it? Eh, I probably will just because I like the power, but thats going to make my slotting choices harsh.
It just seems like no matter what the Devs do, the players adjust and carry on about as much as they want to. The perma-Elude crowd has built to recharge the power as fast as they can, and some still run around firing it off as often as they can. The power-levelers were quieting down, but the issue update plans have driven them absolutely crazy with activity. I like the concept of Super Reflexes, its one of my favorite ideas still, but all of the announced changes have me concerned again. The Elude change that had me interested proved to be not the biggest problem, so Im hoping that the I5 changes will prove to be no big deal as well. Time will tell.
Ive heard stories about other MMORGs, where the developers reduced choices and abilities in the game, and caused a lot of chaos that resulted in players leaving. After more than a year, you wouldnt think these types of drastic revisions would be necessary, so Im hoping here that I can live with the changes and still enjoy the game, but the fact is, they are reducing our choices and taking away options we used to have, and that doesnt sit well with me just as an idea in the first place. I would much rather they find a way to beef up the challenges without reducing the powers we already have. Im hoping that 1) the game stays fun enough to keep my interest, and 2) that the game grows the player base, so I have better luck at finding teammates when I need them!
I may have to increase the difficulty level for MM II at this point. When Martial Master was his age, he was late in getting a travel power and Stamina both, so it took forever for me to get places, and I had a lot more downtime. Now that the difficulty slider exists, Im presented with a new problem. Do I want to have the game a little harder, or do I want to just sort of cruise through and enjoy the content again, because if I go any higher, Im going to out-level more content again. Right now, Im leaning towards more difficulty, because even with my computer lagging like it was cool, Im going through my missions without too much effort.
The very next day I log on, I have the opposite thing happen: very little lag, and the missions are harder! Maybe I had old missions, because these Banished Pantheon missions have yellow- and orange-cons instead of whites and yellows. On a team, my healer bites the dust while Im in a roomful of Thorns, I must have taken out ten of them before they finally got me. Maybe this level of difficulty is okay after all?
I level up to 24 inside of a mission (yay!), and go grab Focused Senses (FS), and notice that I have END problems now. So a quick trip to a Contact, and I add a defense enhancement to my FS, and fill in two more of my five slots in Stamina. Test time! I have to take out 20 Warriors next, so in a bid to keep from out-leveling content, I take out only Warriors, and end up stringing along about a dozen Freaks trailing after me. Defenses seem to be working fine...
I get another (?) Beat 20 warriors mission, and jump off the cliff, down where I know theyre fighting Thorns all the time. I do the same thing with them, leaving the Thorns in the dust after I beat the Warriors. I jump into a group of ten yellow-con Warriors, and proceed to take them out. Granted, I pump candy when needed, but at the end of it, Im at full health and full END. Cool! I decide to try my luck and jump after two red-cons and a purple-con boss, with three white-con Thorns also in the neighborhood. I succeed! And then knock out the Thorns anyway, because they were actually hitting me, and started to piss me off. Rassin frassin... They actually got my health down low on that one.
I spot an Elite boss soon after, and figure Im overdue for a trip to the hospital anyway. Ooh, I almost had him too! 3500 debt. Meh, I did it to myself. I get into a suicidal scrapper-lock sequence and take several trips to the hospital chewing off more than I can handle. Then someone broadcasts that the Ghost Ship is in town, and I go chase down some spectral spirits! And one of Statesmans Laws strikes, as always. MM II is supposed to go solo for the most part; my other alts are stuck at various points because each one needs to get a good team together and is not having any luck. But in IP and Talos and Striga, everybody and their mother is broadcasting looking for a team. I would have had a field day with any other character!
From the flavor text they drop in the clues for missions, Im hoping the books that they put out like Web of Arachnos will fill in some of the blanks, like how Cassiopeia died in the 50s fighting off an invading space armada. Who else is out there besides the Rikti? Theyve been here in the past. They could be re-introduced at some point for story content!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 98
August and September make for terrible months in terms of free time. I do manage to log on and create a new Defender on Virtue server called Good Sport (who says all the good names are taken?). A lot of the powers seem to duplicate other stuff already in the game, but the animations are great. It will be hard to please every player out there, as many have different tastes, many have different archetypes and want more things for the archetype they spend more time with and so forth, but the Devs are definitely trying to add content and powers and keep things fresh. By the time I manage to get in some real time, probably everybody and their dog will have completed Croatoa by then.
Taenia has created a Blaster called Zedd, and levels faster than anyone has a right to. I mention he played a Regen when they were considered the best, then an Invul after the Regen nerf, and now hes playing the flavor of the month with the new buffs from I5, but he insists its just a coincidence. I give him a hard time about it anyway.
Real life takes over as I move to a new house, and all my plans, carefully geared to minimize moving time and maximize spare time to get back to playing instantly disintegrate on the first day. Its not so bad at first, because the difficulty with finding teams was making me get a little tired of playing, so after three weeks I log on to create Good Sport, who is still in the Tutorial, but I had fun designing his costume and setting him up.
Zedd reneges on an offer to help me clean out my old garage to keep playing a Respec. It would not have been so bad if he hadnt made the offer to help in the first place, but it stings a little, as I expected him to actually quit something digital he could go back and do any time, as opposed to leave me hanging in real life. (Its not my fault he was still in the Respec into the evening as his sucky group had a group wipe). He recognizes that, and calls me the next day to apologize for being out of line. We were planning to do the Eden Trial Saturday, but I know Id still be a little miffed about the incident, so I let him know itll be a few days before I want to team with him again.
In my younger days something like that would have stung much more, but Im old enough to know all I need is a little time to get over my disappointment. Other people might have been clueless and continued on, so Im glad he was so fast to call and apologize. We skip Saturday, but Im already calling him to plan for the shortly-announced Hero Duo contest. We take our pictures of Zedd doing a mission with Ultra Meltdown, and I miss the posting deadline by ten minutes. Curse Central Time!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 99
Man, real life takes up a lot of time once in a while! Ive only been able to play an hour or two in a whole month, and next week Im out of town for four days. I finally get a couple hours free at one time to log in and see how I5 really looks. Personally, I dont like the $ sign for the stores, but thats not too big a deal. Ive forgotten where each character is and what they were all doing, so I log in MM II at level 24 and just plug away at my available missions. I still cant believe how much better the game looks with my new computer. The difference is impressive, and really adds to my enjoyment of the game. Less downtime, too! I make a game out of switching over to type up my adventures while Super-Jumping to each new location.
Dark Astoria for the first time on this character! I enter a Tsoo mission and take out the boss fast. Copperhead is an orange-con Lieutenant, and he goes down easy. Im remembering from reading the details that defense has been lowered, and we now have more damage, which is exactly how my original MA/SR was patterned. Cute, I was actually trying for a defense-heavy build this time around, but oh well. I have to defeat all, so I run through the rest of the warehouse, kicking butt and not bothering to take their names. Lawyersll probably have them out on the street again in a couple hours anyway.
I wish I was a number cruncher sometimes, I cant remember the average damage that I used to do, but I can waltz through white-cons easier than ever before. I catch a thug in a Crane Kick as he tries to run past me, and the camera angle swivels and follows him as I catch him in mid-stride. Im not sure if thats a new feature or not, but the game is starting to look more and more like a good action movie! I run right into a mob of two orange cons and more than six Green Ink Men. At this level I would expect to get slaughtered, usually. I receive a green candy, but hold it, even though Im in the red a lot. I take out the last Ink Man, and have health of 115 out of 698. To be honest, although I do find it fun, Ive sort of been here and done that already. I was trying to figure out a way to get hit less. Since Martial Master specialized in hitting the enemy hard and fast, I find with the changes, MM II can now hit harder and faster, and even up against nine or ten allegedly-superior foes, Im still coming out on top. My own preference would have been to go a different way, but it doesnt ruin the experience for me or anything. Im having fun just trying to figure out how to adjust to the new changes and get an internal feel for how my character handles. I must admit, though, with these design changes, MM II feels like more of a sequel than ever!
There are some very interesting delays in the Tsoo Sorcerors. One tries to teleport to me, and it looks like he rematerializes right where he was, only half into the floor! Another time Im kicking him, and the camera view shows me MM II from the front, and the Tsoo all the way down the corridor behind me. In the meantime, the stupid Warriors keep saying to kill me. Dont they know I just get sent to the hospital right away? They do know theyre in Paragon City, right? Heh, I actually punch a button for Cobra Strike once. MM II didnt take that power!
Another mob seems to connect almost every time, and I use two greens and still end up at 132 by the time I finish all of them off. Is that lower defense-related, because the first mob had higher-level opponents than this one. I decide to test more, to see if I can tell how low my defense really is, compared to the normal times when my number is just plain up, and the villains hit me every time. The next battle I dont even turn my defenses on, and two yellow-cons get me down low.
Oh wait, theres the real boss, Copperhead! Meh, he goes down like a blonde on prom night er, I mean, like a bag of rocks. Time to go sell!
My contact advises me to get some teammates for the next mission. Yeah, right! Inside the mission, I pop my first Sturdy candy to see how that affects my play. Gonna have to play around with that some more to see how I want to fit that piece of candy into my play. Sometimes I pop it, and the bad guys stop connecting, and it disappears before I get to the next mob, so I can easily see how it will be less useful in terms of getting actual use out of it, as opposed to any of the other candies. The only one I use less is Awakens, and Break Frees for my SR.
Red Haven calls me up, hes heading home and wants to play Diamond Cut and CRM. I dont have enough time left for that, but he begs me to log in Martial Master so he can help clear a mission for Zedd. Poor whiddle wimpie Blaster, cant handle a widdle diffculty? (Actually he can, he just doesnt want to. I tease him anyway. It is what I do.)
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Outside the Journal Commentary
For those who are interested, I am also doing beta testing for CoV, and you can read (a much smaller journal) here. I must admit, I was surprised, but very happy to see the redname comments so fast over there, and was greatly impressed by the encouragement I got on the replies and private messages, from players and Devs both, so I give a big thank you.
This brings up the question of whether you want me to meld my CoV experiences here with my CoH journal, or keep them separate. To avoid cluttering up the journal, please vote here:
Include CoV Journal w/ "first-time MMORG player?" if you want to keep this about CoH entries only, but keep in mind, that may mean an extended absence for me from the CoH boards if I spend a lot of time playing with the new toy.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 100
100 entries and more than a year later, and Im still around typing this? Im not sure what should be said about that, but its been a blast. I noticed something interesting about my play: it mimics how I read my comic books. Let me put it this way: when September 11 hit, and everything after that, it seemed like the news was 100% bad. All blood, all the time. Delays on my new house, my relationship with my girl hitting a stopping point, etc. I noticed that the worse real life got, I was buying and reading more and more comics. I was also playing the game more and more. My personal life wasnt actually bad, just a couple of speed bumps, really. It was my perception of the rest of the world that was having a bummer effect on me.
For the past couple of months, things have been different. Real life has been great personally, with success at my job, loving my new house, and a brand new girl that I spend inordinate amounts of time with, and actually enjoy the heck out of it. I stopped watching the news, so that probably helps too. But it also means that I dont devour all my new comics the night I get them, and it also means I havent been playing the game much at all. I think after a year, I have reached a new plateau anyway in the game, so to speak, where Im not eager to play every single night. So if my entries slow down, its because were just about real-time with them now, and there is less to type up, just so you know.
That said, Red Haven is leveling up his Blaster Zedd every time I blink, and he invites CRM out for a stroll. We have a team-up with Steel Justice, SCi Con, Akira Urameski, and Flurb-Skrull, and we rock the house for a couple hours. Somewhere in the middle, our good buddy Boogie Monster joins the fray, and its like I havent been away for a month after all. We take down everything in our path, moving fast and joking faster. Since Zedd is a few levels higher than CRM already, I get to make jokes about how Im doing four points of damage to the boss, and when I hit Aim, its seven points instead. Woo hoo! I make up for it with Fortitude and Adrenalin Boost spread around liberally, a constant Recovery Aura followed by Regeneration Aura, and healing whenever needed, which isnt so much, considering weve got six people on the team. Since I cant contribute much to damage, I stick to healing and buffing, and the longer we play, the better our teamwork gets. As we progress, I have to heal less and less, which leaves me more time for typing in various inanities. Somebody says CRM is now his favorite goofball in the game. Ahem! Thats MISTER Goofball to you! I tell him. And smile when you say it!
A few nights later, Zedd calls me to duty again, this time accompanied by Voladure, Obeel Tank, Gained Freedom, Tempest Shocker, and Frozenboy, the last three Blasters like Zedd. Talk about not needing a healer! I start launching chats with, Can somebody get hurt a little? Please? Just a little bit? We do have a half-group wipe on Infernal the first time, and after a couple are down, I feel an instinct to flee. I ignore it and jump in the middle, throwing heals and buffs out at record speed. A couple people get away, and I bite the dust. Debt is really meaningless at this level now, I feel. I die so rarely, and as a matter of fact, the debt is gone by the end of the same mission. Im not sure why Statesman keeps nerfing debt whenever he changes the game, but Im out-leveling tons of content these days, and part of it is because of all the reduced debt changes that have been made the past few issue updates.
Gained Freedom has to split, but Sci Con has come along again, and Flurb-Skrull is back too. Frozenboy leaves and is replaced by Harry Habanero, just as Tempest Shocker has to leave. We go through a couple more missions, and find a couple tough battles where people are actually getting hurt! Now this is more like it! I say, healing left and right. Someone says theyre happy Im getting some exercise now, heh. Zedd has some strange ability to find good teams, almost every one of them in the past few days has consisted of great players with maybe one exception (and we wont mention who that is).
It feels like were moving faster than ever before, and all the complaints on the boards about Issue 5 seem totally unsubstantiated, whether Im grouping with Zedd (and not feeling un-needed as a defender, as even my Clear Mind starts becoming useful again), or traipsing around solo with Ultra Meltdown or MM II at the upper and lower 20s, I seem to die rarely and do just fine, whether its with an SR Scrapper, a Blaster, or whatever. It makes me decide to hold silent on all of the Enhancement Diversity (ED) fervor until it goes live. All of the updates so far have not ruined the game for me, although I will finally have to do some Respecs with ED coming along. The message boards have been lit up with it, and my biggest sympathy is for people with two or three level 50s that have to Respec yet again, but Im crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. The public relations has not been the best with this upcoming change, but Ive seen Statesmans quotes twisted around until they look like retarded pretzels from another dimension, so I dont quite have the feelings of betrayal that others have expressed. With these types of changes, the only wish I have right now is that moving Enhancements around when doing a level 50 Respec was a little less time-consuming. It takes time away from me actually playing!
Entry 100 State of the Game: still having fun, wishing I had more time to play, but I have to admit, the newness has finally worn off, and many aspects of real life are more attractive than playing a game these days. I may finally be growing out of my second childhood. Ill be splitting my time between the new CoV and CoH, and I am excited about exploring all the changes, including the ones that come with CoV, especially the prospect of changing sides for a few of my characters later. I may be a different breed from the average computer gamer, because I have no desire to switch to any other game (no offense to them, Im just a little too addicted to this one). Im here for the duration!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 101
Definitely have the itch to play City of Heroes tonight! It feels so good to log on, dear friend, I have been away too long! The vibrant colors and sounds that my new computer system is able to display really impress me every time I log in. My heroes costumes look much better than I originally thought they did. MM II has a mission on the board, so I head for Skyway
via the wrong Metro line? I have definitely been away too long.
I take out some Family and some Tsoo, eating candy whenever my tray gets full, and never fall below half health on the Heroic setting. I stop and pull up my Enhancements screen to take a look, well aware of all of the Enhancement Diversity controversy, and realize I may not even have to Respec. Five slots in Stamina may as well stay there, my three main attacks are six-slotted with oneEnd Reducer each, I would just switch out a damage for a recharge, or maybe an extra accuracy. Three slots in Focused Fighting, and one slot everywhere else. Meh, forget the Respec, this should be good to go!
This is one of the advantages of playing so many alts, I dont have too many high-level characters that will need a Respec. Also, I do not have the experience of what those characters would have been able to do before all the nerfage, so my experience with them as I go along will be fresh and untainted by all the capabilities that were there before, with the original power design. I feel bad for people with six or seven level 50 characters, but that pales beside the envy I have for them being able to play so much anyway (I kid, I kid)!
I get a Warrior ambush at the entry to the next mission, which I like a lot. I tend to keep getting a slow-down, where my character chases a bad guy, and both he and I slow down, while the other bad guys notice me and attack. I thought they fixed that a long time ago. Ptheh! As I two-shot a white-con and one-shot another with a Critical Hit, I tend to think I should up the difficulty level. As much as I dont want to out-level things, I have to admit that I have gotten too good to play a Scrapper on Heroic for any length of time. I still enjoy the graphics, the powers, the bad guys, all of it, but I can only stay on Heroic for the earlier levels. Im glad that is the basic level, there are other Archetypes that I prefer to play on heroic, at least in the beginning, and I love the option we have to change it as we feel like. I wish we could have more things like that in the game.
I have absolutely no idea how well my defenses are doing. Im running Focused Fighting and Focused Senses non-stop, and I havent died, so thats pretty much my barometer for things. Did I die? No? Then Issue 5 isnt too bad for this character. I finish my mission easily and then run for a Hero Corps Analyst to move me to Unyielding before I hop off to the third mission. Three orange-con Tsoo at level 26! I take them out, and am still hit for 70 points of damage. Invisible enemies? I run out to reset the mission. Thats not a fair test! Ah, two level 25 Warriors show up now. That explains why I was down in the red on health. I run to another mob of the same size, and quickly have to eat half my candy to stay alive. I get through it and find another mob quickly, testing to see if Ive bitten off more than I can chew. Theres an actual chance of me getting knocked out here! Sometimes its fun to set things on Heroic and just coast, but tonight this is more my speed.
Another mob has several Tsoo, and as I take one out, a Sorceror teleports in. I get down in the red on health as I take out two more, so I run around the corner real quick, and tackle the last Green Ink Man as he follows. Im still in the red, but I leave my candy alone. The orange-con Sorceror appears, and I know he can take me out, but my luck is here tonight. I dont touch my candy, and Im down to about 119 out of 698 health, but I take out the bad guy! Woo hoo! Ooh, looky, I need to sell already
Im out of green respites, but I manage to take down the red-con level 25 boss, but I dont wait before charging on to three more mobs. As I take out the orange-con Sorceror, an Ancestor Spirit, the last guy as far as I can see, nails me from behind right as I was trying to activate one of those Resistance Inspirations, which I am actually not too thrilled about so far. I would much rather have my old defenses back. To the hospital it is, finally. I think the extra debt from dying on an advanced difficulty setting is more than offset by all the extra experience I am earning. And to be fair, my girlfriend called while I was fighting the red-con boss, which may account for some of my health being gone. I should just keep the freaking headset on at all times, mutter mumble, grumble, gripe
I head back in and run into two orange-con Warriors, and take them out without activating my defenses. I realize I have three more hostages to find, so I try to search the lower levels some more, and come across two more orange-con Ink Men, both of whom I also dispatch without activating my toggle defenses. Ptheh! Its disgusting when I cant notice the difference between the number of times they hit me, whether my defenses are active or not. I still feel that the changes to defense were not well-thought out regarding SR. It seems almost as if the developers have thrown the very concept of SR out the window, and Im not sure how well ever get it back, so I just play with what they give me. I do feel a little nostalgic for the older days before the defense changes, though, I must admit. At least for my SR. There should be a noticeable change when you activate two of your primary defense powers, thats all Im saying. Thats all I have time for, so of course I get invited to a Respec mission, and have to decline, as I sign off.
I plan to change the difficulty setting lower next time, just to try out each level. Im used to Heroic or Invincible, not the ones in-between. Id like to see how my character handles each of them. At level 24, is it normal to run Unyielding? If you are solo, should you try Invincible at this point? Fellow readers let me know, there are still many areas to this game where I have no reference point! I only know that I can handle any difficulty setting in the 30s, but for the mid-20s, I have no clue.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 102
I take Martial Master out for a spell to test first-hand the changes that Enhancement Diversity have done to my character. Looking at his slotting, I notice that I never have put any enhancements in my final slots for Lucky or Agile. Not too big a deal, but I laugh anyway. Off to the Shadow Shard! I change my settings to Invincible first, and head to take a mission from General Hammond, since SR is particularly vulnerable to Rularru eyeball villains.
Inside, I have to pop Elude early, and it wears of against the boss. I dont chew as much candy as I should have, and I bite the dust. Okay, lets try that again, only Ill actually keep track of my health this time. The damage resistance buff was completely worthless, by the way. Keep in mind, I have not done a Respec, my build is the same as it was pre-ED:
original build
My second time in, I pop Elude before I get back to the boss, but I take him down with little difficulty. Cobra Strike comes in handy against the Watchers, I must admit! Mission complete comes soon after, and my initial thoughts are:
1) The Invincible setting is now a little harder
2) A teensy bit more damage would be nice, as many of my opponents end up with a sliver of damage left that is slightly irritating
3) Elude was necessary, and the down-time is now too long, and Im slotted for what used to be perma-Hasten and four recharges in Elude itself; the timing definitely has to be re-thought on that one
4) One death on an Invincible mission is not bad
Time for a second test. This is my first time trying to use the marker lines that guide you to each jumping-point across the Shard, and its a little hard. I had an easier time locating them when hunting on my own almost! I suppose it will just take a little time for me to get used to them. I have to teleport for my last jump, since some of the slides are on different levels, which does not show up on our two-dimensional map very well. Those really should have been designed to be a little bit simpler. The Shard is still mostly deserted.
The first mob takes my health down from 1472 to 665 without me using Elude. Is that the correct ratio for me solo against level 53s? Its definitely harder in the sense that they cut through my defense like Swiss cheese, anyway. If this happened to be a different character, I might not be so iffy on it, but the very concept of SR is not to get hit. Without a Watcher nearby, I feel they really shouldnt be connecting as much as they are, with three passives and Focused Fighting fully slotted (the last two empty slots would account for maybe 3.3% of Ranged and AoE damage at this point).
I also notice my Endurance is running lower than usual. Im running Focused Fighting, Super Speed, and Focused Accuracy (that one with three Endurance reducers in it), and I had to hit Conserve Power a little earlier. The reduction they did to our Endurance costs still makes Stamina a requirement on this particular character, thats for certain. Without Conserve Power, I would run out of END in a fight with just those three toggles.
This time I knock out a bunch of level 52s non-stop, and then come across some 53s, conning red to me. I pump one red, one yellow, and one purple Inspiration, pop Elude, and run in. The mob is a Watcher, two Brutes, two Wisps, and I forget how many Natterlings. They all go down like pie. I run around and come across a cavern of four or five Watchers all clumped together with a few other types scattered about and dash in. I seem to be frozen for an instant while chasing after the first stunned Watcher, and then Elude drops. I pop a couple greens as I run away, all of their attacks hitting me after Im quite a distance away from them, using Super Speed.
By the time Im finished typing, Elude is almost fully recharged, so I go back to find that big group and decide to start using my Teleport Foe power finally, since I have been ignoring it for so long. Instead of turning Elude on, I use TP Foe. I miss the first time, then turn on my FF, Hasten, and Focused Accuracy, and I snag him. Its the one I injured, and I take him out, but another level 53 red-con Watcher and a Wisp have spotted me, and they whomp away on me. No candy using here, and no Elude, I decide. I take both of them out too.
Six left in the cavern, three of them Watchers. Using TP Foe, I take out the three small fry, although the Wisp does fly a ways after I stun her. That part is really irritating; I wish they would change that one aspect of the game. A Watcher tags me once as I take out the Brute, and my TP Foe fails on the Watcher too, but it does not attack me again. TP Foe again, and another failure. The third attempt works, and I take down the Watcher easily, but then go check my slotting to see what I had put in TP Foe. One Enhance Range, nothing else. Maybe I need an Accuracy slot in there? Sigh, I also notice my final, fourth slot for Focused Accuracy does not have a To Hit buff in it yet, that means I never even bothered to stop at the store. I think I was going to just let the desired Enhancements drop in the next missions I did, but I have had no luck with that so far.
The two +3 Watchers that remain fall like a sack of rocks, and the mission complete bonus takes away my debt. My second thoughts on ED for SR are:
1) I did have to change my tactics and start using TP Foe, which is good. Charging blindly in, heedless of the danger is gone, unless I have a big storehouse of candy Im ready to use.
2) If they want me to vary things up, I wish I didnt have to Respec just to put an Accuracy slot in TP Foe, because thats the only change I really want to make right now.
3) The Enhancement drops suck. I never get anything I can use! heh
Next, I need to test the changes out in a group. It only takes a little while to assemble some level 50: Marricon, who also happens to be an SR; Blast Lord, a Blaster, natch; Daemonwell, a Dark Scrapper, Misha Kahlahan, a Controller; and a level 45 Rad Defender, Naked Girl. We plunge into the Battle Maiden AV mission, at first surprised that some of the mobs are so few. Its a disgusting old-style blue cave mission, which I think most of us hate. Naked Girl gives me some timely heals as we go, as I decide not to turn on Elude at all for the regular minions.
We stumble across a level 52 Battle Maiden as we are split up, near the top of the multi-tiered cave, and she takes us down one by one, taking me out with one hit. Gee, did I mention how useless the new damage resistance to SR is? Not a total group wipe, but close. We regroup and take her again, just the six of us. By the time Ive typed in that I will lead off with Elude, Marricon has already done it, heh. We take her down before my Elude wears off. The team was awesome, what can I say?
My third observations about ED:
1) It was telling that there were no Tanks; there were several comments about how Tanks were now unplayable.
2) I dont need to have Elude up in a team setting on Invincible as often as I do solo.
3) We went non-stop from mob to mob for so long, I had END issues, although I had enough CABs with me to make it a non-issue this time. There are some possibilities for more downtime in this area, unless I re-slot with END reducers in place of damage.
4) I can keep my slotting exactly the same and run Invincible setting missions solo or in a team, and only run into the danger of dying in all the same old places I used to.
Initial conclusions? ED does make the game harder, and I still think SR should have a higher defense, but it is playable, it is survivable, and I am still having tons of fun. The problem is, I will have to test out all my other characters to see how ED has affected them, since the changes are so drastic. However, my favorite character can essentially stay untouched, if I want him to do so.
Its funny, I was sure Id be forced to do a Respec, and I still might, but right now all I need to do is switch out a damage Enhancement or two for Endurance reducers, and Im still good to go. I think I am -by definition now- playing with a gimped build, and I came through just fine. Yet again, all the doom on the boards does not seem to apply to me or my character. I have to reserve my final judgment based on how this has affected all Archetypes, not just one power set, but so far its looking okay.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 103
I came across a MMORG reference on Wired.com, and thought it was very interesting. game addictions
The author mentions coming across a class in a game he could not control, and that frustrated him, tainted his love for the game. That seems like what some of the game changes here have done. When people master something, whether it is software, hardware, or a computer game, they become used to doing some of the things automatically, like driving a car. If my car was updated, however, and I had to re-learn how to drive every six months to a year, I can understand how frustrating that would be. I havent hit that point myself yet, but I can see how some of the powergamers who have put an uber amount of hours into the game might.
There is also a mention of people playing more when the regular, real life seems a little in the dumps, which matched my thoughts exactly, from an earlier post. My playing time has gone down dramatically since real life has gotten busier, more fun, and more interesting. Some of that isn't all fun, as some of my time is also eaten up by pesky things that go wrong, which can be frustrating as well, but thats a different story.
I log onto Virtue server and play around with Good Sport, to see how the new power sets look: Archery and Trick Arrow. Im told the accuracy for Archery is among the highest, but I still miss more than Id like. I love the animations, though! The Devs did a good job on that. I am not used to being so fragile again, so by the time I get up to level 6, I die twice. I didnt want the debt reductions to take place, but Im not going to complain about not getting debt here. The low levels are slow without the travel powers, so Id have to say I side with the Devs once again on this too. Less debt equals getting closer to a travel power!
One of my defeats is to a level 7 Clockwork Lieutenant that cons orange to me. Hes in the red, but I keep missing. What happened to my accuracy? Grr. Although, I do look cool when I am lying there in the dirt, still clasping my bow
I havent been using my Glue Arrow though, so I use that on him next time, and pin him down in it more with my Entangling Arrow. I also keep on Sprint to back up faster until they are well and truly caught, since they always seem to get to within melee distance by the time they are ensnared.
My other death comes from having my Snap Shot on auto-attack. I usually dont do that with my characters, but the animation and recharge are so fast! One other time, Im typing things up while Good Sport is auto-running across Kings Row, and I switch back to find him in the middle of a fight with three Skulls! He didnt auto-attack them, but once he was attacked, he seems to have fired right back as a response. I take them out without dying, phew!
Even the sewers look cooler with the new computer! I am so enjoying the visual spectacle that is the game, I have to say I just relish all the neat details I am able to appreciate now. But I think I officially detest escort missions. Have I mentioned how much I hate downtime and time wasters? My first escort mission does not tell me how many people I have to rescue, and my third hostage does not respond to me when I save him. I end up escorting two others out at separate times, turning around and heading back in. The third guy disappears for a while and then shows up in his original spot later. For all that, and I get 40 xp? Boo! Hiss!
I swear the game knows when I Alt+Tab to type. I auto-run to a mission after leveling up to 7 (in Atlas Park, where it should be safe). When I shift back to see how close to my mission I am, Im fighting a couple of green-cons. Obviously, this game does not like to be ignored!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
[ QUOTE ]
Here are some pictures, let me know if you would like to see more in the future:
Task Force Speed
MM II faces Babbage
TUBS lying down on the job
Ultraman lying down on the job
Kicking Babbage in his unmentionables
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes! More! I suggest putting the links in relevant places in the text so that we have a picture for what you are describing.
"Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you... you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end..." -- Q