Journal of a first-time MMORG player
By
187nut,
Posted on: 2005-01-20 01:10 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
[ QUOTE ]
Dark Mass
[/ QUOTE ]
That's a good name for a tank. When I read it I started to think of dense stellar matter... sort of a dark dwarf star. But the interstellar science if for another thread. I probably need to get my head out of the clouds. 
"Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you... you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end..." -- Q
Brest Thread Ever!! It took me 2 days to read it at work but it's really worth it! Keep up the good work!
[ QUOTE ]
I've taken CRM from level 11 to 24 in just three days.
[/ QUOTE ]
tpull, how many hours a day were you playing during this time to accomplish such a feat? How are you fitting real life in? 
By the way, you keep mentioning late-night gaming. That's me on the weekends. The wife goes to bed, and I'm up until 3 or 4. One of these days, I will see the sun come up. For some reason, that's a stated mission of mine.
One other thing...best thread ever.
tpull for teh win!
I realise that doing TFs is a very fast way to gain levels when you're a lowbie. I took my Earth Controller to 26 doing nothing but TFs (other than streets to get to the Hollows followed by the Hollows missions to get to the Trial). Let's see, that's Positron, Synapse, Sister Psyche, Moonfire and Citadel. At one TF a day, it means that I got from level 12-ish to 26 in 5 days. Darn, tpull still beat me to it 
I foresee that the 30s won't be as fast tho. Oh well.
And keep up the marvelous posts If only I can give it even more stars, hehe..
I think I had three days off that week to do that, Startle, putting in at least three hours a day, possibly more. I wasn't keeping track of the hours, they kind of just flew on by while I was having fun
Entry 62
I shelve Martial Master as soon as Issue 4 is released. After a week or two into the Issue 3 Update, they pulled some changes back, so I'd rather wait until the final shakeout to see what my character is going to be left with. I had wanted to run through the big AV story arc with my perma-Elude for a last bit of fun, but they implemented things a little earlier than I figured they would. It had sounded like a lot of things still needed to be ironed out.
Diamond Cut tells me to log on so I can check out his two new costumes. It looks like we have some good choices with the changes! I go log in another alt just to get the anniversary badge, then log in my new Dark Mass character so he can get it too. I'm gonna have a lot of log-ins if I want all my characters to get that badge! I head for the Arena and ask for a volunteer for my first PvP experience. Another level 2 character, Megaparsec, takes me up on the offer. He backpedals constantly to try to stay away from me, slows me with his Ice Bolt, and immobilizes me with his Electric Fence. When he gets in trouble, he climbs the machinery, where I can't reach him in my slowed condition. He beats me 3 to 2. Interesting. He used good tactics and beat me just about the only way he could, I think. I will definitely try this again with my higher characters, since more powers equals more fun!
I decide to do just one mission while I'm here, and on a whim tackle two orange-cons on my way, with reasonably little difficulty. This is the first time I've been in the lower-level maps since they revised them, and it looks awesome! Burning walls, gang-strewn graffiti, this is much more realistic," and much cooler looking. Can't say I care much for the dim lighting. It takes me a second to spot the separate "Exit" button instead of just clicking on the mission complete.
The next night, all I do is log on to all the servers so get the Celebrant Badge for each of my 19 characters, plus the 6 other characters that friends and relatives have created on the game. Meltworks is still in the Tutorial, but he's got a badge and a Respec already. Woo hoo!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 63
The night after that, I try out Martial Master just to see what his damage is (or rather, the damage done to his build), as a result of the changes to Elude. I never added a slot to Focused Fighting from day one, let alone taking Focused Senses or Evasion, I was relying on my passives and slotting them the whole time, even before Elude became powerful. I had just discovered the forum boards when Elude was changed, and I was already close to getting it. My settings are currently on Heroic, which I had just changed from Invincible because my original plan was to tackle Inferno, or whoever that first AV is in the Praetorian story arc. I've got three missions up, so since I don't have enough time to start a group, I go do another mission instead. Things like Issue Updates make me wish I could have four missions to choose from at the same time. The first thing I notice is the lag, and then the game freezes up on me. Greeeat.
I reload and head into the portal mission. I have blue-cons to start with, and I notice the old sound of Storm Kick is back, there is an additional swishing sound effect that reminds me of when we had the "wave your foot at evil" animation that took forever. I don't bug it right away, I want to enjoy the sound again for a little while. I miss the blue-cons a lot. I whiff about six times out of eight attacks on one of them. Did they do something to Accuracy as well? More testing. Four or five whiffs in a row? Missing three out of five times? Against blue-cons?!? What the heck?
Test again. Miss first three of six attacks. Next opponent. Miss until attack 6 and 8. Miss until attack 5, 7, and 9. Miss until 2 and 4. Never in this game before have I missed my first attack on a bad guy four times in a row. I finally use Build Up, just so I can land a hit on these guys. 5 and 6. 3 and 5. 1 and 5! I finally land my first hit, only to miss me next three attacks. This is the worst time I have ever had on the game, I am not enjoying myself at all. I'm level 49, with level 51 accuracy enhancements, and supposedly Martial Arts has a bonus to hit, and I'm whiffing on blue-cons like it's the cool thing to do. I don't feel like a super hero, I feel like a chump. I quit keeping track and just buckle down to get through the mission.
Then I pop an Acc Inspiration, make all three of my next attacks and take down a guy, and then miss my next three attacks on the second blue-con, with the Inspiration still active. This just makes no sense to me. I send a call for support, and play on, then I get disconnected from the Mapserver. I call up DC and ask him about it, he confirms it's just a bug. Phew! Oh man, that was scary! I could care less if they increase the hit point totals for every bad guy in the game, I at least want to be able to connect with a punch more than 50% of the time! I sincerely have no desire to have to pound my keyboard twice as much to get through the same fight, my fingers would develop health problems for sure. I decide to check the boards each day, because I really don't think I'm even going to want to log on until that aspect is fixed.
My disconnect turns out to be related to my internet service provider, who doesn't ever answer their customer service line. I check again a couple hours later, and I'm finally back up. The response from CoH directs me to a post I've read already, and then it clicks. Out of habit, I turned on my Super Speed, forgetting about the Accuracy Debuff. Actually, I had also already read Statesman's proposed solution about suppression, and I liked it a lot better, so my mind had concluded I didn't have to worry about it. But they could not have possibly rolled the change back that quickly, they haven't even tested the suppression yet. I had just experienced the debuff from using Super Speed is all. Even turning it off would not have made me happy, as having to engage/disengage yet another toggle would have been an uncomfortable additional step, so I'm glad just from a button-mashing angle that I won't have to turn off my speed when I go into battle. Now I'm curious how I can perform if I just turn off my speed for the duration things are like this, but it's too late for me to try anything, and I'm gone for the next three days. We'll see if I have any withdrawal symptoms...
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 64
Minor problems as I have trouble getting free time, but that just gives things time to settle down, as the Devs work out the bugs for Issue 4. I have a constant-crash problem that I fix by re-installing my latest video card drivers, but this time turning off my antivirus protection before I do it. DC is level 33, CRM is level 32, and we take to missions again after what I think is two entire weeks, maybe a little more. Back in the saddle again! I observe the different features of Issue 4. Fade in appearances as we log and zone, good. No more crashes since I redid the video drivers, good. Status effects are now spelled out in red, besides the icons, good idea! The new costume options are nice as well.
Suppression is what I'm really interested in, though. I like the way it works! I'm used to the old way, and I'm of the "I have speed like the Flash, so why would my accuracy be lower? His isn't lower," mind set, but I guess I can understand the idea that the villains should have a fair shot to get back at you, hence the hesitation' of suppression. I'll take the hesitation over the whiffing any day. I'm going to keep an open mind on this change, and see how it develops. Fly is an improved power now, with this option. As soon as I get a chance, I've got to take Martial Master for a spin, since my last outing with him was pre-suppression. I find myself wanting my new computer sooner, so I can get on the test server more often to help out. I'm hoping the more player-testers that chime in, the better feedback the Devs will have that will actually be taken under consideration, so they can find their mystical balance,' while we preserve our individual tastes of fun.'
Diamond Cut and I run through some more missions and have little problem. Needs for heals are few and far between, and I mention he could probably do this all solo by now. He types in, "I've played with a few healers and you put them to shame. For true. That helps a lot." High praise indeed! He's been around the block so many times regarding computer games, he makes me dizzy. He's the type of guy who takes Dawn of War, beats it in a couple hours, and then puts it on the Insane' setting to see if he can make it more difficult for himself. I could do better if I didn't stumble all over the maps, but I noticed with Martial Master that I could navigate maps as well as half the players, at least. DC runs them better than most I've seen, which makes it a breeze for me to auto-follow through the sections that always trip me up, and keep me right at his heels for heals and buffs. He's such a whiny Fortitude addict now, he calls for it as soon as it drops. Even if I'm watching for it that precise second, by the time I'm casting it, he's already called for it. He's gotta be the only player in the game that has fort" hotkeyed!
He calls me on the phone to talk about other stuff, and we enter a mission. I jump into the thick of the melee, even though he's still talking on the phone. He laughs and swears I'm gonna die, but I pull off a heal just right, and watch him scramble to take the heat off of me. The game flows so smoothly right now, I do junk like that every now and then just to make him work a little harder. Bwah ha hah! It really does seem easy right now, but he figures that's just because we mesh so well, we can fight side-by-side and know what the other is going to do.
I level to 33, and add a final slot to Proton Volley, one to Hasten, and a recharge slot goes to Aim. DC hits 34, and puts slots into his two main attacks. When we go out for a spin the next night, he's one-shotting red-cons (to me). I suggest he slot up everything except his attacks so there's still a semblance of a challenge. I am really noticing the difference between my damage and Scrapper damage now. I'm a little jealous too! We're both on Invincibility on a DE mission, and he asks, "What's with all the whites?" It's a new mission, so I suggest maybe since it's a timed mission, they make the foes a little easier on us.
Note: There are tons of terms that get abbreviated, so if a new reader has trouble with any of these, send me a PM (Abbreviation of Private Message -ack! I put an abbreviation in my note about abbreviations!), and I will make a greater attempt to spell terms out.
Note: Last entry for a week as I go to San Diego Comicon. I will probably put my encounter with the CoH presence there in another post. Cheers!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
[ QUOTE ]
He's gotta be the only player in the game that has fort" hotkeyed!
[/ QUOTE ]
I do not have Fort hotkeyed.....
I think I will now tho since tpull brought it up.
Entry 65
Just before I met up with DC, I set up a new MA/SR Scrapper, MM II, a mystical duplicate of Martial Master. This guy's going to concentrate on toggles this time, since MM the original skipped the toggles for his defense, and slotted mostly his passives. In Atlas, I run across Wet Dream, and Madaam Nasty. Which tells me there are disturbing people in the game. And that there are more of them, because the spelling suggests another Madame Nasty already exists on the same server! How many Madame Nasty variations are there? All the good names must be taken... I hit a group of four orange-con Clockworks, and take out two before I'm sent to the hospital. Then it's running sloooowly back to Azuria each time for my next mission.
I also give CRM a cape, and a second costume. He has a beard and a baseball cap on backwards, so he looks like an old guy having a mid-life crisis, dressing like a kid. DC and I finally come up against some good competition, a purple-con Paragon Protector! ...and proceed to lay him out before he can activate his emergency power. DC likes the Disorient on my Cosmic Burst! I really should slot that up next. I find that I have just enough slots in my attacks that I can actually take out a purple-con on my own now. Fun! I whiff a lot, but the latest power is Cosmic Burst, and the Disorient really makes the difference. We refer to a Paragon Protector as "pp," and anyone looking over my shoulder would probably think we were obsessed with something, with all the pp references in them.
Speaking of terms, on our final mission of the night, we can't find the final hostage, and I type in "bs." Which is caught by the language filter. Cute. I try to type in "kk," in response to something DC says, and hit an extra k,' learning that the filter also won't let you type "kkk." Which is also slightly amusing, because I never would have thought of that. Is racism a big problem in virtual games? I hope there's no SG around that tried to register that. It's amusing, but also slightly sad that the developers had to think about things like that. It also means I can't type out how much the kkk sucks without the filter catching it, but the filter provides all the fun and the funny, so it stays on! We end up calling for a GM, and one enters as a Controller, which answers an old question of mine. The GM's log in under whatever AT they feel like. This one liked a Controller. Seems appropriate for a GM. He helps us find the final hostage for the mission, which we were unable to do for more than fifteen minutes. Not sure if we missed him, or if it was bugged. We probably missed him, he was at the bottom of what I call a corner silo, I think I checked all of them but that one.
I suggest we play our other characters too, the new ones on Virtue, but DC likes to finish things one at a time, so it looks like I'm playing CRM until he's 50. It means as long as my friend is willing to play, I'm gonna piggy-back with his playing desires, but that just means I have to stifle my alt-itis for a while. Small price to pay for having a constant teammate as good as he is.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
This is such a good series. I can't wait to see what happens with MM with i5 about to hit... <evil grin>
Entry 66
The next night, MM II hits level 4 and grabs Agile, while running past Hot Stud and Mighty Mammory. Sigh. This character, I'm going to skip the Hollows and do the King's Row stuff. I'll probably do the Hollows stuff twenty times more, so just for a different pace, we'll hit KR. At level 5, I go mine Gemini Park in Galaxy City until I get to level 6. I try to test out the theory about three even-cons being a challenge at level 5. I dive into a group of four even-cons, and take them all down, then immediately move over to another group of four, with a fifth that's yellow to me. By the time I'm done, I've used all my inspirations, didn't need to heal anything, but I'm down to 0 END.
My pacing goes like this: at the lower levels, you have a little downtime for END and health gain, but it's not enough time to read a book or a comic. So I attack until I'm low on something, and then I go type stuff up for the journal. Unless I still have an Inspiration active, I hate to waste those. I'll keep fighting until my Inspiration wears off. For some reason, my mentality sees that whenever I have health, I can do stuff. So when I hit level 6 and turn to go train up, I stop to engage a mob anyway, because I have full health, after all. They get me down to about 50 health points before I have to run away. I get clear, but pop an Inspiration and go after a couple of white-con Hellions nearby, because hey, I've got some health left to play around with, right? One of them hits me for 25 points of damage, but I take them out. Ah, my Enhancement bar is full, so that means it's time to sell! Now it's also time to stop fooling around in the park and pay a visit to Back Alley Brawler!
I have yet to take the Fighting Power Pool with any of my characters, so it's finally time to take the plunge. I grab Kick, since I don't plan to use either of the two choices much. It looks similar to Thunder Kick, almost, and I don't plan to slot it up. But it makes for a great replacement for Brawl when I want to finish off someone with low health. As a matter of fact, it gives me an extra measure on control, since it manages to knock a bad guy on his keister quite often. I may have to end up disagreeing with the boards on this power, it may come in useful to me after all. I notice a new banner over a building in KR with a gun, a target, and some bullets. Ptheh! It won't let me enter.
A Hellion knocks me to the ground, and another is standing right over me. He fires his weapon point blank, and misses, natch. That's just so cool to see. Diamond Cut isn't on tonight, because a splitter went bad, and the cable company can't get anyone out to fix it since it's the weekend. Poor guy.
I stumble across some bad guys, and one of them is a level 6 Bone Daddy, orange-con to me. My Blaster characters are used to running like a bat through Bruce Wayne's window at the sight of them, but I decide to see how I do. I take him out! Used a couple Respites, and the last goon takes a while as it devolves into the duel of the panting losers, because I'm out of END, and have to wait for some to come back before I attack each time. The next challenge are a couple clocks, and they get me down to 14 health. Phew! This is a challenge, I think, as I pummel through the various different villains. At this level, anyway. I can see how many people would get bored with this sort of grind each time with different characters, but for some reason I am still entertained as I try anew to see how close my Scrapper can come to death without actually crossing over that grim line.
I get a blind invite and decide to try it. A Blaster and a Scrapper, and another Scrapper gets invited after me. I lead them to some mobs, and after we take out a few, the team leader says, "find a healer." As soon as I type in that we don't need one (the lowest health bar is mine after the fights), another member says, "Good idea." I sigh, type in, "No thanks, guys, have a good one," and quit the team. I tackle a smaller mob by myself immediately, and notice as I fight that the team of three is still standing around clueless in the middle of the intersection where I left them. The leader sends out a Broadcast for a healer. If I hear one more person in the game say that we need a healer outside of a task force, I'm gonna scream. I know we can go without a healer in a TF, too, but it never fails that at least one person demands a healer all the time there, so I know that's a lost hope.
I pump myself full of candy to try out a hard group of Clocks, but one of them always puts me in an electric cage when I activate my Focused Fighting. It negates my defensive power, so I run away, and try to tackle just two guys on the corner with my candy still up, but a Cadaver vomits on me and sends me to the hospital. Is there anything worse than dying by vomit? Maybe monkey gas... I tackle four yellow-cons right out of the hospital to salve my wounded pride. Hey, that wouldn't have happened to me if I'd had a healer! (Snort!)
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Great work t-pull. It's always exciting when I see you've added another post and I get to read more about your CoH adventures! You have a great voice and writing style, keep it up.
By the way, this was truly a 'lol' moment:
[ QUOTE ]
the last goon takes a while as it devolves into the duel of the panting losers, because I'm out of END
[/ QUOTE ]
Oh, how we can relate to the fun/frustration of the pre-level 20's!
Entry 67
I've been scouting for Thorns all night, and I know where to look these days. It's been slim pickings, so when I finally find a group, there's 7(!) of them. I know I'm gonna die, but I need 7 more still, so I decide to take the plunge. And MM II dies. But I got four of em! I head back to clean up the rest. When I get back to them, one has flown the coop. Pesky roof-dwellers! I find another group on top of the helipad building, and get the Upgraded Badge as I finish my mission. Cool! Then Diamond Cut calls, and he is mysteriously up and running after all. Time for the Manticore TF!
This is an interesting Task Force. We grab seven people, and right away the highest level Tank is acting like a know-it-all. Diamond Cut is 34, and CRM is 33. I lay out the ground rules for everyone like usual, announce when you go away from keyboard, and don't quit without announcing it, please wait until the end of a mission. No sooner do we get to the mission, than the level 36 Tank is talking about how the enemy is a bunch of level 39 paragon Protectors (PP's), and he doesn't think we can take them. We proceed to take them.
Before we're too far along, I send a tell to DC pointing out that our Tank is not using his Taunt, and less than five seconds later, the Tank has quit without notice. Leaving six of us facing level 39 PP's. Which sounds kind of kinky. DC is having the time of his life, as we finally have a real challenge. Most of us wipe the dirt once, and the grumbling starts. DC and I know we could manage, because the group is good overall, even without the level 36 Tank. But I sense the mood of the group and cask them to regroup at Manticore, where we will reset the TF and try again. Everyone agrees, and once at Manticore, we draft a level 32 Peacebringer, called Two-Fer.
Back into danger, we do quite well. It turns into a drawn-out Positron-type of TF as we go, though. It gets late and our Kinetic member, Sycophant, has to log, which stinks, but we'll manage. Somewhere in here, I've crashed at least once, and leadership goes to Diamond Cut. Then later, our Blaster has a second computer crash, and she's already told us if she crashed again she probably wouldn't be back. Even later, a good Tank named Boogie Monster finally has to give up the ghost. I crash again, and while I'm out, DC calls me to tell me he's crashed too! Leadership has gone to the second healer of our group, and as I log back in, it's just him, Two-Fer and me, but DC logs back on successfully. Phew! Someone suggests I turn off shadows, and voila! No more crashing.
Down to four people, but only three missions left, and we grind through, determined. I point out to DC that this is harder than all the other TFs, and it's not as easy as I remember it being when I did it as Martial Master. Two-Fer has Stealth, and jumps ahead even though I don't like it. I try to auto-follow DC as he goes, but our second healer gets held up at the elevators by a purple-con, and I stop to help him. The three purples chasing after DC have given up, and come back and face-plant both of us. DC says he meant for me to stay while he went ahead to knock out the boss. That would have been nice of him to tell me BEFORE I died... I think I need to have another ground rule at the beginning of every team, nobody tries to go ahead and skip to the boss, some of us always die.
To be honest, the second healer wasn't very good. He had to be prompted a lot for Fortitude, and he didn't use his Recovery Aura opposite mine very well, and sometimes didn't cast it entirely. My RA is down, and I'm out of END when I go to heal Two-Fer, and nothing happens. She bites the dust. Gah! It's hard to be too critical, because we were all tired of being up at o-dark-thirty, and none of us were playing in an optimal condition. I'm sure I missed some heals myself. We make a note not to try the TF so late at night again. DC and I both were very good about spotting the Quantum in a group, though, and taking it out as soon as possible, to get it off Two-Fer's back. We beat the TF, add some Friends to our list, and say our goodnights.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
I'm glad that you are back, and posting regularly.
I was starting to miss your stories. :-P
Is there any chance you can give Gilgamesh a hand? He seems a bit overworked. 
"Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you... you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end..." -- Q
I'd help out, but they'd have to pay me. This I do for free.
Entry 68
The next day, we want to do the level 34 Respec Trial, so after we do a couple missions in the afternoon to get me to level 34, I go to change my Reputation down to Heroic. Wait a second! DC asks if I changed my Rep for the TF. I didn't, and neither did he. That was why is was so hard! Nobody ever stopped to look. I wonder if, when the leadership went to the second healer, if the difficulty went down for the final few missions, because he was at a lower Rep setting than we were. We laugh and feel good about knowing we can tackle even the hardest setting with a seven-member team, and try to scrounge up some Respec members. Nobody is around. I basically end up asking passerby's in Founder's Falls to join just so DC and I can do it, and they can quit as soon as I start the Respec. One guy decides to Exemplar and stay, an SR Scrapper (yay!) Called Ink Jet.
Once in the Terra Volta Reactor, DC runs by and sets off a Proximity Bomb. He outraces it, but Ink Jet and I were standing there waiting for him, not expecting him to set off a bomb. We both hit the ground! DC has one Awaken, so I take it and Res Ink Jet, but DC is concerned now that I can't die in the Reactor, because we have no other Awakens. Turns out to be needless worry. This is like the easiest Respec ever. We are amazed at how easily we take care of it. Ink Jet has tried the Respec a few times without success, and he is surprised at how easily we do it. He says he feels stupid that he couldn't succeed at it before, but I'm sure it was because of either a bad team or too big a variance in the levels of all the participants, because he was an awesome player, himself.
We log off until the evening, where we start a Badge mission, and in a little while, I'm using the Friends channel to make fun of DC and stuff. The Friends channel is woefully underused, in my opinion, I type in, and Boogie Monster admits it's the first time he's even used it. After chatting for a little bit, Boogie Monster and Sycophant both join our team. Fun! We end up on a Circle of Thorns map, with purple-cons galore everywhere, and a Destroy All Portals mission. I blink once and both Boogie and Sycophant bite the dust, as there was a room full of bad men, and for a few seconds it's all I can do to keep DC and myself alive. Boogie uses an Awaken, and I heal him like mad, then Res Sycophant. Once back in action, we don't lose anyone again. I get to heal more, so it's great fun for me, and a little change from the normal dynamic duo stuff that DC and I usually do. I do notice, however, that with four of us, it's definitely harder, and I don't have as much free time to spout jokes (yeah, yeah, I know they're lame anyway...). Often we're going full-tilt, nonstop from one mob to another, and there's only time to fight. Which is just fine by me! It's when things slow down that I have Tourette's Syndrome of the fingers, and have to type in tons of inanities. I can only imagine what will happen when I get TeamSpeak, my friends will probably stop using it just because of me! "Guys? Did you change the channel again? Guys...?"
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Quick note: Martial Master will be hunting Infernal and Requiem and company, so I'm fairly sure I'm going to turn 50 today. Log on if you want and join me with one of your high-level characters if you'd like to hunt some AVs, we're going to try it all on the Invincible setting.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 69
Another night on the town, Paragon City style! I found the Leroy Jenkins clip, and laughed so hard I cried. I showed my coworkers, then after work I showed Diamond Cut, and we're both wiping tears from our eyes. Best laugh I've had in a year, that was so funny. We log on to do badge missions, and once I type in, "Leeroooooooooooooy JENKINS!" I'm thinking of changing it to my battle cry on one of my characters. I think I'm gonna save that file for days when I'm sick, and need cheering up. It's true, sometimes your only purpose in life is to serve as an example to others... of what NOT to do.
I type in "[censored]" once, and the language filter catches it, turns it into one of the @#$! That I love so much. I test hell, what the hell, and wth, and those all get through. I test [censored], and it gets @#$! Cute! Later I'm caught in ice by a Crey, and I hit the dance emote. I type in to DC that when I dance, it looks like I'm trying to hump the ice. I realize hump got through the filter! Hump hump hump hump hump. I love this game just for the filter alone. I am such a little kid... We go after Circle of Thorns goons, and I hit level 35! Oboy oboy oboy. We're in a groove, though, so we actually go to our next mission, and I forget all about training up until we're done. That's when you know you're having fun, you actually forget to go get your level 35 power!
I tell DC I took Recall Friend, and he calls me a liar. Running joke between us. "You get it! "No, you get it!" I grab Neutron Bomb for real, and it's another fantabulous animation! I'm running out of room to put down my powers on my two trays. I finally yank out Rest to have a place for my Neutron Bomb, but I hotkey it to my add symbol on the number pad anyway. I just need a place on the tray to see when it has recharged.
I've been reading the boards for clues about CoV, and I'm really getting excited, hoping to get in on the Beta testing, since I've never done that before, and wondering how many skills one character will be able to have. I've found pictures of the Bow powers, and hints of new badges, and speculation on the new zone, and I can't remember having this much anticipatory excitement for a hobby or a toy for quite some time. I think back to the previous Issue Updates, and I really have to give the Devs a hand. I thought the game was great right out of the box, but the changes have been really cool. I especially dig small things like the great new tunes that the sections of Talos has when you run through it. The revised search menu is great, the new villains are great, the Arena... well, it's here. When I have more time, I'll try to explore it further, but I hear it's mostly vacant. I wonder if there's enough "business" in it to have warranted all the attention after all. Striga is the new template for an exciting zone. A little grumbling about power nerfs, but that will probably always be around.
Oh, I finally saw the Ghost Ship the other night! Nabbed a couple ghosts, too. I hope just damaging them gives you credit, it's about time my are of effect attacks come into good use other than as an aggro-magnet. I still haven't gone after the Paladin in King's Row, so a year into the game, with all of my characters, I still haven't gone through all of the content yet. I have absolutely no idea how people with jobs manage to play more than I do. I'm not jealous (well, not much anyway), just a little dumbfounded that I have read so many statements on the boards about having been there and done all of it and being totally bored now. Of course, I'm having fun re-rolling a second MA/SR to try a mainly-toggle build for the first time, so maybe my mind is just more easily entertained. But it's my mind, and it is entertaining, so I'm sticking to it!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 70
Ever have one of those nights when you know you should not have played? Diamond Cut is not available, so I log on MM II. He gets a mission in the Hollows, which is the area I wanted to avoid this time. It's also a Thorns mission, which means a blue cave, which is the worst map, right along with Perez's twisty paths and the water part of the Council maps. I die once, have to jog back to Hollows, go a mile to the cave, go back down in the cave... a Life Mage blows up in front of me and kills me again. Sigh. It happens the same way, I whittle him down to a sliver of life, and then when he tries to blow up, that's when I whiff! Makes you want to scream. I go work off my debt, and DC is online. I'm a little tired, but I log on CRM anyway.
Big mistake! We have a Thorns mission with portals, and they seem to glom onto me like I'm cool. I'm a lot more tired than I thought I was, and we both end up dead. My attempt to Rez him is hilarious. I have to drop through a hole in the ceiling back on the map, and I realize Hover is going to slow, I'll get nailed if I don't move faster, so I switch to Fly. Now I'm next to DC, but I think I was frantically stabbing Absorb Pain instead of Resurrect, so I bite dirt again. First mission he's ever failed. At one point, he's surrounded by Behemoths, and he's not attacking the portal. I notice, but I'm so dang tired, I don't even bother to type anything in, my eyelids are threatening to close on me. That'll teach me!
The next night is a little better. I still tend to jump into a big group of Hellions and Thorns at the lower levels, though. MM II dies a couple times as he bites off more than he can chew. I decide to invite someone lft to my team, a Scrapper, and he joins just long enough to quit as soon as we get to the mission?!? He quits just as I click on the door to the mission, so I don't even have a chance to say bye. I see him later on, in a team of four. They tackle some high-cons, relative to them, so I stand and watch. They break and run like little girls, and one of the yellow-cons sees me nearby and attacks. Then another yellow-con and an orange-con from the group come back. I take them all down, and the hero group moves on to another group nearby. I'm kind of glad he quit, all of them together aren't very good, and they're all within one level of me. No way a Scrapper should be running away so fast like that, even at this level. I'm guessing those are new players, and that maybe I've got a leg up on the game by now.
I get an invite later, and even though it's in the Hollows, I take it. We have a good time taking out Frostfire, which never seems to get old. Old course, I don't do the mission seven times in a row like some people end up doing! After a couple people quit, the leadership bounces around and no one seems to have any plan or direction, so I bail. A second group invite takes me to Perez Park, where I request we take out some Thorns for one of my missions, but the team leader never seems to get around to it. After an almost total group wipe, the remaining Scrapper stands there while I get killed, and after I point that out, he somehow gets around the language filter and tells me to perform an anatomical impossibility on myself. I thank the leader for the team, and leave. Not sure why people get uptight when they're not even the ones dying, but I'm in search of fun, not attitude. I hit level 10 and grab Practiced Brawler, one of the best powers in the game!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
I saw in your sig that you ding'ed 50 - congratulations!
Thanks! Free pie for everyone, spread the word!*
*Valid only when a super hero is knocked out and visits the hospital. Not accepted in Kentucky, North Dakota, New Hampshire, or Vermont. Offer void where obtainable.
Oh, by the way, the first character I created using Marvel's role playing game was called Radiator. He had a solid white body Incredible force field that had Unearthly Laser Reflection, and Unearthly combat mind for engaging in hand-to hand combat, along with Incredile Electrical Manipulation. Good times, good times...
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Quick note for those who may be interested.
New tpull guide posted:
A Guide to Creating a Name for New Hero Characters
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 71
Diamond Cut and CRM are back in fighting form the next day, and start rocking through some missions effortlessly, as I level up to 36. Two slots fill out Hasten finally, and one goes to Cosmic Burst. Neutron Bomb doesn't seem good enough to keep for this character, but I'm already sad that I'm going to Respec out of it; the animation is so awesome. It would work better with a Tank that could better hold aggro. With the way things are, I'm better off sticking to single-target attacks. Maybe I'll have to do another Empath later and focus on my AoE attacks...
DC did a Respec of CRM on the Test Server, and left me with just Proton Volley, Cosmic Burst, and Neutrino Bolt, all fully slotted. He gave me Stealth and Grant Invisibility instead. It works nice, except I egg him on to tackle a level 39 Paragon Protector, who proceeds to two-shot the Test CRM. Heh. My plan is to hit level 37, Respec, and go buy level 40 enhancements as much as I can afford.
Our friend Bice the Peacebringer joins us for the last few missions, and we end up with a Thorns mission again, and boy is it a doozy. We get slowed down by multiple stacking Quicksands; sometimes I can't get within range fast enough to heal, other times we just get smacked down hard! Although dying can get old, this is the first really challenging regular mission we've had in a while, aside from a Task Force or Trial mission. Makes me think we died a couple times on the Thorns portal mission because of Quicksand too, not just because we were tired. Bice hits level 34 while he's with us!
We muddle through it, and we all die a couple or three times, but it was actually a lot of fun. On our way to the next mission, I spot a gaggle of Thorns running after the other two, and call out that it's heading their way. I'm under brush and can't fly, so I'm stuck behind them. The other two avoid it and enter the mission, which means they all home in on me. I take out an orange-con, but can't handle all his buddies that show up two seconds later. Gah! I feel like the squishy abandoned by his teammates! We hit one final mission that's a breeze by comparison. If Quicksand works that well for us heroes, I'm definitely gonna have to roll a character with that power. The effect lingers after you've defeated the Thorn Mage!
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 72
Okay, it was quite possibly the worst thing in the world for me to have started off as a Scrapper in this game. I am so used to being able to do better in melee, even my squishy characters tend to stay in the thick of things too long, as some Freaks send me to the hospital. After a few round with CRM, my schedule is off from Diamond Cut's for a while, so I take MM II out on the town. It's frustrating for a while, because at level 10, he's getting sent to the hospital more often than I think is fair. Which isn't as often as Martial Master went to the hospital, but I keep missing on the Vahz Embalmed at just the wrong moment, and it's curtains for me! Things shape up better within just a couple levels, though. One thing that helps is I am no longer stingy with my Respites. Used to be, I would hoard my last one like it was gold, and risk a hospital trip just to make sure I felt I had one when I really needed it. Now I'm willing to use one if I've got it, and go hunting without one in my tray, and it's proven to be a much healthier strategy.
In a warehouse, I'm taking out a thug, and I turn around to take on whoever's next, and right in a row I am facing three Blood Brother Brawlers, and they look like identical triplets! Lots of inbreeding in these gangs, isn't there? In another part of the warehouse, a Gravedigger Slammer has decided his gang buddies can go hang, for all he cares. He's jumping from a one-man lift down to a crate, down to the floor, then running back to jump up on the lift again. I'd leave him alone with his little fun, but he's got a loaded gun in his hand, and think I need to talk to him about safe gun practices. Plus, it's an "arrest all" mission. Heh.
As I go to sell, there's a flock of Advanced Oscillators camping outside Cooke's electronics in Steel Canyon. They're all purple to me, but it's the first time I saw villains actually "camping." I thought only we were allowed to do that! I thought it was just one, as he attacked me when I left the store. I ducked back in for a few seconds, and sped past him. When I turn to check, though, he has several friends actually loitering around the top of the store. Hey, maybe they were assembled in the back of Cooke's Electronics!
There's a new law called Tpull's law. It means that whenever you are actually interested in an invite, it's too late for you to play. After so many months of playing, I've noticed I keep getting irritating blind invites. Almost every other time that I'm actually sent a tell first, and I'm interested, I happen to be logging in five minutes or less. It doesn't matter if it was Martial Master who finally got an invite at 2:00 a.m. to the Eden Trial, or 9:30 p.m. on a work night with MM II, the people who send tells to ask usually end up getting a decline from me, right when I would have accepted. They must all be Devs who have data-tested my playing patterns, and know when I'm about to log. They know exactly how to send good tells, and they are doing it to torture me. I know it!
There's a small bug in the next mission, and the two villains near me when I enter have this dialogue:
PATROLLER1_SEARCHING_DIALOG
PATROLLER2_SEARCHING_DIALOG
Instead of the regular comments about finding what they're searching for, or overhearing them mention I might be dropping into yet another ambush (and why do I keep falling for that trick?), the computer shows the actual command string for their dialogue in my chat menu.
Endurance management is as big a pain as ever with both MA and SR. After I take out two white-cons, I have to shut down my Focused Fighting (FF) for the third goon in each mob. Often, I ll get pasted for tons of damage on the last guy, where I took out the other two without them laying a hand on me Of course, other times I'll run in against just two foes, confident of victory, and they hit me like my FF isn't up, even though it is. A couple Vahz get me down to 16 health before I take them down.
I move so slow without my travel power, I know some people go without one for longer, but I can't wait for level 14. I'm even starting to think Swift looks good, by comparison! I'm also trying to figure a build without Stamina, but thinking I'll go out of my mind with all the extra downtime that would entail. Trying Endurance reducers isn't working very well, even with all DO's. Combat Jumping (CJ), on the other hand, is really cool. I only have it with one other character, and I had always turned it off after using it in a fight with her. With MM II, I leave it on and experience the extra vertical help, and it's just lovely! It's just right to help me clear tons of things that I could never quite manage with my other characters, and it helps me to take quite a few minutes off my travel time getting to places, not to mention avoiding high-level bad guys that would otherwise be directly in my cement-bound path.
I'm doing Jill Pastor's story arc where the Vahz are trying to put stuff in our water. She has just put the pieces together, and she says the drug will "lower our resistance to implants." Heh. She might do better with some implants, but I'm a guy! I've got to stop this horror! Or maybe I should stop right here and go see the Security Chief. He needs help too, Jill says.
You want to hear something weird? I still enjoy it when I catch the animation showing I've filled up another bubble. The pink all goes to the right and another notch on my circle appears. It never gets old. In the meantime, when you turn your camera view just right, it looks like my Kick power is hitting a Reaper right in the nads! It's the "little" things in life that you treasure the most...
I'm trying very hard not to tire myself out too much on work nights, so I just position myself in front of the next mission, and I log off. I'm so proud of myself, I always tend to say, "Well, since I'm here, I might as well head in and clear this one out real quick." I may still be addicted, but I can stop after smaller doses now.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 73
MM II is directed to Perez Park for the Fortune Teller mission, that famous one that everyone was offering ridiculous amounts of influence for when they first introduced badges. On the way I also get the mission to take out 20 Skulls and 20 Hellions, so I decide to take them out, but only the Bone Daddies and the Damned, so I can finally work on a couple of badges myself. I'm skipping past everything but the Damned, so I'm accumulating a long string of thugs that are following me around, trying to land a punch. I get up to two blue-con Damned, but after I take one of them out, I start taking a pounding in turn. Evidently, 50 greys can actually send you to the hospital! How embarrassing for me! I finish the badges and the mission, and later finally level up to 14.
I've been burying my Target' window beneath my map since day one of playing the game. Diamond Cut tells me to move it over so I can see it. I finally see how to tell how many hit points the villains have! I'd been confused about that. I try to find a good place on the screen to keep that one up too, it makes it easier for certain things. How long have I been paying this game? And I'm still learning these things?
Super Jump! I've have people give me this power temporarily, but this is the first character I've actually used to take the power on a permanent basis. It's really neat, but I get tired of holding down the space bar, so I hotkey the power, and set another key to keep me jumping all the time, until I turn it off. That way, I can Super Jump to the highest each time and get across town without holding anything down. I'm in Skyway City, going to a Contact who won't give me any missions until I'm 15. Ptheh! I keep hitting my head by super-jumping into the underside of the freeway. Doink! Doink! Doink! The bind is working well, except sometimes I continue jumping after trying to turn it off. I'm not sure if that's my keyboard, or a problem with me just not hitting the key right, but I learn to hit stop, turn off my SJ, and then hit the hotkey once I hit my destination. That way if my auto-jump doesn't turn off right away, I won't overshoot my destination, and I won't have to wait too long because I'm auto-jumping as high as I can. I will experiment more, but I must admit, I'm still partial to Super Speed. Think I'll keep the power for this character.
I'm aiming to hit the tram line just right, and I think I've got it, but I slide off and fall to the ground. Another time, I hit it just right, and bounce off the rail! Yet another time, Practiced Brawler auto-fires, and I fall straight to the ground. Hmm, that might make for a problem from time to time...
Another thought, I'm having a hard time fighting without Hasten on at this point. I can use all four attacks, including Kick, and I don't have a power ready to use for the attack. I'm taking Quickness as soon as possible, before I make the conclusion I'll have to take Hasten. As easily as my Endurance runs out, I'm just going to bite the bullet and take the Fitness line, though.
I've had my "looking for task force" button toggled for about 15 minutes or so, and someone invites me! This is one of the harder task forces in part because people are more willing to quit, as it is the first time they encounter something so difficult. Sure enough, after a group faceplant, one guy quits. We reform and add a Defender, who wants to skip to the end with Group Invisibility. On the first mission. Sigh. I always die when this happens. I die here too. Then the pushy Defender quits without notice. We reform with only 5 members instead of eight, but the new leader, a Peacebringer, won't let Diamond Cut's new character, Taenia, join. I say sorry, but if that's not gonna happen, I'm going to go hang out with my best friend! It reinforces that I should be the one to start the TF, and not join pick-up TFs. They usually don't work out. We hook up with Bice and Boogie Monster, two excellent players I've mentioned before, and we rock the town, blowing through almost every mission without too much difficulty. Even Diamond Cut dies once, though, as we are tackling a butt-load of purples in the missions. Bice dies once when I'm locked into a snipe attack, and I feel badly about that one, because I could have prevented it.
DC is not taking the Circle of Thorns missions right now. He is irritated by the stacking Quicksands. It makes the fights hard enough that we risk death, and I'd like to do them, but he insists it's just because they're too frustrating from the slow aspect of the power. I'll keep working on him to take those. I hit level 37! I go immediately to buy level 40 enhancements. I skip the range increase in Cosmic Burst, it wasn't enough with just one. DC asks me where I put my new slots. Doh! I forgot to train up! Lessee... one for Cosmic Burst, to make it 6-slotted, one Defense for Fortitude, and one To-Hit buff for Aim. I finally have Hasten and Recovery aura 6-slotted with plus-three enhancements. The next and last mission for the night is no trouble at all...
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp
Entry 61
" I reply.
DC and I go off to start our other missions. We've been playing from just before 1:00 PST to almost 4:00 for the TF, and Azurra says hi. This is one of the players from our Best Task Force Ever!, back from the Psynapse TF days. She and D-Fib, also from that TF, join us. It's great. D-Fib doesn't get to play as often, so I offer his lower-level character a sidekick, and we play for another two-and-a-half hours. D-Fib actually dies a few times, but that's kind of hard to stop, low-level side-kicked Blasters are extra squishy! They die in one-shots sometimes. These two are so cool. Excellent players, and both with a quick wit, they quickly remind DC and I of why the Psynapse TF was so awesome. This becomes one of the teams I raved about earlier in the Journal, the kind where you're owning the map, constantly cracking jokes, and the few deaths are shrugged off so quick you almost forget they happened. We have a MMORG heaven, chatting/fighting team!
We alll decide to quit for food (we've been playing all day!). We've been on the move so much, I barely had time to train up, let alone go shopping. I decided to add a slot to Proton Volley, but I keep going up against such upper-level foes, I decide I can contribute to the core group more by different slotting than I would as an individual. I add a slot to Fly so I can move faster when I need to, and a slot to Aim for a To Hit buff, so I won't be missing as much. I realize DC has played so much he had gained almost a full level on me, and when I call him out for cheating' on me, he suggests I can play CRM solo when he's not on. Which is fine, but when would the Journal get typed up? He doesn't do that stuff. (And when would I eat? Or sleep?) Two Task Forces in two days, and I finally get three enhancement slots per level-up. I'm still loving this game!
I'm so bushed I log off as soon as I train up, and log back on the next day to go shopping for SOs. I'm beginning to understand why women get excited about shopping, it only took virtual items to get me excited! On the way into the special store contact for Naturals, Agent Six, I'm still using Fly as I duck into the tunnel, and realize for the first time how cool I look "flying in water." I wonder if anyone has done testing to see if there's any "Drag" on your speed from the water. I finally have some money, but not enough for everything. I forget about Sprint, Brawl, and Rest, and looking at Clear Mind, it doesn't really need any desperate upgrade, even if the Recharge Reducer I have in it goes "stale," as I call it. Stale in this case meaning they're yellow for just-below-your-level, as opposed to light blue or green. I want to put a Defense in Hover, but I've got other places that need priority. Aim, Recovery Aura, Hasten, Proton Volley, Fly, Healing Aura and Heal Other get all the love, with new Recharge SOs for Resurrect and my new Adrenalin Boost, and then I upgrade my damage until I'm broke again, since most of those went stale as soon as I hit 32. I manage pretty well, but Fortitude has to go without, and my Neutrino Bolt and my new Cosmic Burst are not maxed yet. Just need another half-million...
I'm solo for a few minutes, so I run to my contacts are clear up my mission board slots so I can grab the new costume mission. Once outside, I'm ambushed by four orange-con Creys! Oh, man, the slider is still on Invincible, I'm running solo, and they just got the drop on me. I'm surprised as all-get-out to find that I am holding my own. I'm chewing candy like there's no tomorrow, but two are down as Diamond Cut logs on, and I tell him what's up.
"On my way," he says.
"Finished.
I'm not sure how often I can pull that off, but I'm a healer with six powers that only help other people, and pitiful slots in Irradiate and my new attack, Cosmic Burst. Proton Volley can't be used at all here, and my two other attacks are some of the lowest damage in the game. At least I have Recovery Aura, so I don't have to worry about END, and I can use Healing Aura a little bit. I have to chew a few green Respites even considering that. But by the time the dust settles, they are gone, and I'm near full health, with my END still going up fast. Lovely!
We start the War Wall Defender mission, and I test out my new Adrenalin Boost on DC. He doesn't really need it, but I think the faster recharge for his attacks is the best part for him. Fortitude is more of a benefit for him. I get involved in a couple of conversations with Global Friends, and his health drops close to red. I don't usually let it fall that far, but I'm healing "Other" for over 600 points now, and that's not even bothering to drag out absorb Pain, so I'm not worried. I can let him get down to 100 points and still bring him full in a couple seconds. I tell him Global Chat is kind of like driving while talking on your cell phone, and he says that he's the one who dies, though. He's always calling me a whiner, teasing me about my comments and witty observations during the game, so I make fun of him when he says that. "Whiner whiner whiner! You haven't even died once yet!" I push it farther and tell him how low I can let him go, and while he's threatening to deck me if I do that, I type in that the Nameless Blaster from the Calvin Scott TF is my hero. As he declares his dismay, I start to tell him what powers he should take for his build. Too funny. I can only do it with him, with anybody else they might think I've actually turned into a jerk or something, but he's known me long enough to tell I'm only pulling his leg. Me, I can't stop laughing.
DC and I have plans to launch all-new characters on a server where we don't have any characters, so we can't transfer influence from our higher-level guys to our lowbies. This'll make it more of a challenge for us. We go to Virtue, because it's one of the few servers where I don't already have a presence. He settles on a Defender called Diamond Soul, while I roll an Energy Melee Tanker. Mainstay and Prime Mover are both taken (drat!), and so is Terra Burst. Wow, someone else actually thought of Terra Burst? I settle for Dark Mass, thinking it's got to be taken if these others are, but it passes. (You guys will have to let me know what you think of the name choices, including what I ended up with).
We grab our Isolator badge as I grumble about needing food, and log off.
I have an idea! No wait...it's just gas.
Hellscorp