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Because we are being forced to adapt constantly to a game with increasing dificulty.
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True, but in a way isn't that actually accurate to the heroing experience? How many times have the heroes had to deal with strange mutations (Spider-man), crippling Weaknesses (Superman), or sudden loses/reduction in abilities (Deadpool's healing factor)?
(Note: This is a devil's advocate response and not intended as an actual argument)
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In the end, to me at least, I think the more "numbers" and "statistics" you have available to you, the greater the risk of cheapening the game and the more destructive it becomes to the enjoyment of the game.
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This observation underlines a fundamental difference between literature and games. In literature, a quality character has weaknesses to offset his strengths. In games, it's just strengths.
Games that don't try to have one leg in the world of literature don't run into these kinds of problems.
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I mean come on, I have a lvl 37 fire tank. I know how long it took me to get it there and how much attachment I have to my character. The thought of changes to it make me feel all squicky inside.
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I felt squicky once, but then my doctor gave me some oitment for it. 
Seriously, though, it is good to remember that the Devs are players too. When a nerf happens, it affects them, too, which helps to prove they are not out to "get us" or ruin our fun.
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The "roles" question is best addressed by Statesman - AFAIK scrappers dmg > Tanks. Tanks def/res > Scraps. Blasters = dmg via range. These are gross generalities.
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What really is the point of ranged damage if it's not the best damage, especially if it's give with zero defences? Shouldn't the scale for tankers and scrappers look like:
Damage: Blaster > Scrapper > Tanker
Defence: Tanker > Scrapper > Blaster
Other wise what really is the point of a blaster? (It's not AoE, as three sets have poor AoE or AoE that doesn't mesh with teaming well) If we have no defences, we can't tank; if we aren't the best damage then why not drop us for the best damage; and we don't really bring any utility to the team.
As it stands currently, the only reason to make a blaster is fluff wise, and if you're not RPing then that reason isn't there. I'm getting tired of reading through posts about how if blasters were "offencive Juggernauts" (like they should be) then scrappers wouldn't have a role on the team, well bugger to that, if you didn't look at the manual where it stated: "In team ups they are useful as front rank fighters, but often find themselves a bit overshadowed by the more specialized Blasters and Tankers." and just choose to ignore that comment, then you shouldn't be rewarded with pushing blasters out of their place on a team because your reading comprehension is sub par at best.
Can you just smack stateman with a rolled up newspaper until he gets the point that we are not at less risk then scrappers (they have defences to deal with where they are, that has been PROVEN), and that we should be the "Offencive Juggernauts," of the game.
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Can you just smack stateman with a rolled up newspaper until he gets the point that we are not at less risk then scrappers (they have defences to deal with where they are, that has been PROVEN), and that we should be the "Offencive Juggernauts," of the game.
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Giving blasters a lot more damage would be game-breaking. I mean, if you really don't want ATs outside of blasters and tankers to have a point, then sure... Change the game so it's not so murderous to blasters, so that the risk is appropriate. Boost their damage some? Sure. Boost it enough so they can one- or two-shot anything up to bosses? Please, god, no. I'd never team with a blaster again.
I know you didn't advocate that much, Orochi, but I have seen other people advocate up to and including one-shotting bosses.
Elsegame: Champions Online: @BellaStrega ||| Battle.net: Ashleigh#1834 ||| Bioware Social Network: BellaStrega ||| EA Origin: Bella_Strega ||| Steam: BellaStrega ||| The first Guild Wars: Kali Magdalene ||| The Secret World: BelleStarr (Arcadia)
Cuppa's job is to try to make every one feel better. No matter how bad of a job the dev's will, could, or will ever do he will still play the same song. I'm not saying that makes cuppa bad, I'm just saying the song and dance is not necissarily true. Just playing the song and dancing the dance doesn't make the lyrics true.
When the community has an extremely large of amount of postings and reactions to a change and many of the posters put in a great deal of time putting together examples and data to support an opposing claim to what the dev's claims are and then all that work is ignored then that is bad.
Ignored? Yes ignored.
The dev's were never able to back up thier exaggerated claims. They were still determined to make the changes regardless. They were unwilling to admit thier claims were wrong and never posted alternate reasons for the changes.
I really do not see any other possible perception other than things along the lines of "the dev's do not care" and "the dev's ignore us".
If they ever actualy gave a reason for the changes then that would at least be something. Sure not everyone would agree with the changes still, but at least the dev's would have given a reason. Vague, unsupported "just because we think so and want to" gets the response they got.
If the dev's want more respect then they need to be the first to give it. They made the game, but we paid for it and continue to pay for it. If the dev's are going to make a change and they don't give a rip about anyone else or data then they should just say so, but giving an extremely vague answer and then presenting shoddy data to support it was horrible.
Waiting 30, 40, 50 or more pages to respond is also extremely bad. The original regen thread count shot up fast and Bob only knows what the true count is if you count all the posts on many threads that have have been created.
The dev's got the response they should expect when they ignore everyone.
Making exaggerated claims, then ignoring people, then ignoring data and experience from people that obviously play the game more than they do, then presenting data that doesn't even support the claim and then going live with it can only be percieved badly.
If they realized they couldn't support the original claim then at the very least they could say they were going forth with the nerf for reason's X, Y and Z.
I could buy them taking many factors in to account in determining whether to nerf or not, but the original representation appeared to state the obvious power of integration and IH being far and above better defensively than other sets. If they wanted to recant that, but then state they were still going with the changes due to the advantages of lower down times, faster xp rate, or what ever then they should just say so.
No offense intended, but I'm much more likely to believe what some one does, not what a spokesman says some one does.
The reall issue at hand is much greater than adjustments on one power or power sets. The issue's involved is the communication or lack there of with the community, the carring or lack there of, of the player base and the reason/philosophy behind all the changes taking place.
Continualy balancing the game through nerfs only is very bad.
As many have already posted it's getting old to hear from Statesman what is fun and what is not fun. Only Statesman can tell us what he thinks is fun. He may be able to tell us what his buddies, or personal think tank is fun, but he certainly can't tell everyone else what is fun for them; especially when many people are trying to tell him otherwise.
This only continues to support the notion that he does not listen the community. If many people are saying thier favorite color is blue, green or purple and he responds by saying our favorite color is red what other conclusion can we possibly make other than he isn't listening or that he just doesn't care?
He's acting like a scientist that just can't believe the test results and so he's throws them out the window exclaiming that they can't be right.
As also mentioned the dev's, including statesman himself, should seriouslly consider making game mechanic changes that the community wants to initiate. I know the possibility of players knowing more about how the game plays out more than the dev team would be a blow to thier ego's, but it's those ego's that can get in the way of the best changes in the game.
This is my first MMOG experience with an ever changing world and my opinion of it based on recent observation is very suspect.
Heh my main is a blaster and if his damage was raised anymore he'd explode!
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I am OFFICIALLY making a complaint here.
If you agree with the Devs you can insult, belittle and slander as you want.
If you disagree you get editted.
How about editting some of these personal attacks on ME?
EULA and TOS.
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Yes, because you telling me to get a girlfriend wasn't a personal attack.
You deleted all your toons in a huff mere hours after I4 went live. That's not smart. You also said you'd leave, and that you're a man of your word. You're still here because.....?
You made the most inflammatory remarks towards the devs I personally have ever read on these boards. And you expect people to treat you with calm levelheadedness and kid gloves? Please.
Door's thataway---->
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Cuppa's job is to try to make every one feel better. No matter how bad of a job the dev's will, could, or will ever do he will still play the same song.
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You do realize that CuppaJo is a woman, right?
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The dev's were never able to back up thier exaggerated claims. They were still determined to make the changes regardless. They were unwilling to admit thier claims were wrong and never posted alternate reasons for the changes.
I really do not see any other possible perception other than things along the lines of "the dev's do not care" and "the dev's ignore us".
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And what about all the times the Dev's HAVE listened to us? Such as fixing the MA animation times based on player complaints, rolling back the upgrades on Bosses AND setting it up so that bosses do not appear when playing on the lowest difficulty setting, creating the new Knockback/Knockdown system so that players like Tankers can decide if they want knockdown or turn it into Knockback if Knockbacks are slotted, adding an inherint taunt onto many tanker powers so they DON'T feel like they had to take the Provoke Pool Power to be good tankers, among other changes. Just because you don't agree with some of the changes does not mean they do not listen.
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If they ever actualy gave a reason for the changes then that would at least be something. Sure not everyone would agree with the changes still, but at least the dev's would have given a reason. Vague, unsupported "just because we think so and want to" gets the response they got.
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Actually, if you read the patch notes, you'll notice the dev's have actually started listing reasons for why powers were changed. They may not be what you want to hear, but they are reasons.
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If the dev's want more respect then they need to be the first to give it. They made the game, but we paid for it and continue to pay for it. If the dev's are going to make a change and they don't give a rip about anyone else or data then they should just say so, but giving an extremely vague answer and then presenting shoddy data to support it was horrible.
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They do give us respect. They talk to us, they keep us informed of things. And they don't ignore us like on certain other forums. Hell, Supermartin alone outperforms the entire SWG's team.
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Waiting 30, 40, 50 or more pages to respond is also extremely bad. The original regen thread count shot up fast and Bob only knows what the true count is if you count all the posts on many threads that have have been created.
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And have you ever SEEN how fast some of those threads shoot up in post counts? The Dev's cant spend all their time on the forums, and most of 'em actually post in their spare time.
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The dev's got the response they should expect when they ignore everyone.
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Seriously. Spend some time on the WoW, SWG, or Horizons forums. THEN you will know what Ignoring is. Or better yet, try spending time on any forum with Derek Smart on it.
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Making exaggerated claims, then ignoring people, then ignoring data and experience from people that obviously play the game more than they do, then presenting data that doesn't even support the claim and then going live with it can only be percieved badly.
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And yet the players arn't always right, either. Hell, if I had a penny for everytime someone claimed Accuracy was nerfed, I'd be richer then Bill Gates.
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Continualy balancing the game through nerfs only is very bad.
[/ QUOTE ]
That would imply that they only balanced the game through nerfs. There have actually been way more buffs then Nerfs. Not only in this issue alone, but since the game went live.
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As many have already posted it's getting old to hear from Statesman what is fun and what is not fun. Only Statesman can tell us what he thinks is fun. He may be able to tell us what his buddies, or personal think tank is fun, but he certainly can't tell everyone else what is fun for them; especially when many people are trying to tell him otherwise.
This only continues to support the notion that he does not listen the community. If many people are saying thier favorite color is blue, green or purple and he responds by saying our favorite color is red what other conclusion can we possibly make other than he isn't listening or that he just doesn't care?
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And as the head designer for CoH, Statesman has the ultimate say in things. And really, SOMEONE has to make that decision. And it certainly isn't easy when even we, the *community*, cannot agree on how things should be done. Just mentioning Powerleveling proves that.
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As also mentioned the dev's, including statesman himself, should seriouslly consider making game mechanic changes that the community wants to initiate. I know the possibility of players knowing more about how the game plays out more than the dev team would be a blow to thier ego's, but it's those ego's that can get in the way of the best changes in the game.
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And yet even the community cannot agree on things. Some love powerlevelling, others loathe it. Some go orgasmic when you mention PvP, others despise it. Some people want to run around with names like "TheHumanTampon" and "JewKiller", while some of us want to have those people drug out into the streets and shot.
And, as proven several times in the past, Statesman HAS made changes based on player input. A good example was the Knockback/Knockdown that was initiated months ago. Or the revamping of Martial Artists animation times. (Seriously. You should have seen Storm Kick before it was changed. The animation time was godawful). Or the addition to criticals to scrappers (To combat complaints that we were worthless to groups). Or the inherint taunt now on tanks.
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This is my first MMOG experience with an ever changing world and my opinion of it based on recent observation is very suspect.
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Seriously. Go play Star Wars Galaxies, Horizons, or Endless Ages for awhile. You wont believe how good you have it here.
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Question, do you enjoy spending money on something that has little or no use to you?
While I know influence and power slots and enhancement slots aren't money, they're comparable things- currency you work to earn and can be "spent" to your benefit.
So the parallel is similar- people don't want to spend their hard-earned currency on something that gives them marginal (or nonexistant) benefit, especially when there's alternatives that are far superior.
Also, we're heros- We want to feel powerful. Its part of the game's theme.
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Now, don't get me wrong. I fully agree with the fact that people shouldn't end up wasting influence on enhancements that will not affect their hero's powers thanks to caps. The Dev's SHOULD have some sort of way of indicating to the player that yes, adding another Flight Speed SO (for example) won't increase your flight speed anymore thanks to the cap.
What I don't understand, for lack of a better term, is peoples desire to Min/Max. To wring every last ounce of power out of their characters that they can. I'm not saying it's a wrong playstyle, and if thats what you enjoy, that fine. But I just don't understand HOW people find that fun.
I guess what it boils down to is that while everyone else seems to want to be the Supermans or Galactus's of the world, I'm content with being the Spider-Mans or Ambush Bugs of the world.
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Like I said, it's subjective. I find picking powers without information repellant. I'm always wondering what I could be doing better. I find that FUN. I'm not saying that everyone else needs to.
This is a game, and as such I like to use every tool to be successful. I'll give you an example. My wife and I had to stop playing Scrabble together. I was beating her too easily. Why? Well she just liked coming up with interesting words, and I was always gaming the score tiles. Sure, I'll come up with an interesting word if it gets me that triple word score. That's what I find fun. I play card the same way, calculating the odds, even if only roughly after each pull.
I have no problem with people not liking to do math to play. Some people don't need to do that to enjoy the game. I do. It's that simple. If it weren't for these boards I would have gotten frustrated and quit. I NEED to understand the game to enjoy it.
IMHO, this is a critical mistake Statesman is making. He's so hell bent on protecting the virgin sensibilities of his "average" player that he doesn't see that there are people out there who simply want to enjoy playing the game a different way. I absolutely refuse to believe there is any negative to putting more information into the game, because information can always be ignored. But information can be consumed unless its there.
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
See, to me its always been the opposite. Maybe I'm just stat-obsessed, but I've always gotten far more attached to a character I knew inside-out than one where I had to guess at relative ability. Like my hackmaster characters, or customised Heavy Gear, in all those tabletops. I knew the to-hit, armorHP regression, damage, average damage, average damage with penetration rolls, average crit-severity, average initiative-result, and every other tiny little detail about one of my fighters.... And I never roleplayed more with any character than that one. Didn't need to think about the numbers or chances whatever the situation; I knew them and simply went along in character. So did the rest of the party.
Because you already KNOW the stats on YOUR end, but not on the enemies side [you can learn them, but that's where the variety and environment comes in to smack you a new one when you finally manage to get the ropes on one gang!], you have a pretty good idea what you can or can't handle, but without excessive testing (ie; 3 hours of grinding) first.
All that time I'm not spending trying to figure out exactly what that newest power can do, before even spending time trying to figure out what it can do to different targets, is time spent loitering around chatting, roleplaying, or thinking about something other than the numbers.
I feel that when you can just pop open the game, know what you'll be able to do, you can enjoy it a lot more than if you spend all that time trying to figure it out.
There's nothing wrong with NOT being told, if that's part of the game, but fact is most of us will try to anyways, thus leading to things like the brawl index guide. its a matter of saving some time, especially when a "Superior" attack is barely above "Moderate" but far above your "heavy" and equal to your "extreme".
The fact that the descriptor says "superior" for example is no guarantee that my blaster's an offensive juggernaut. But it can be a lot clearer for the players [saving the devs a lot of testing time; we can calculate the stuff FOR them and all they have to check is if the numbers match up or not, rather than spend 10 hours reproducing the results] and help out with balancing if the numbers are there.
For one thing, range-to-enemy would be a nice thing to have in our target-data box. Would let us get some hard numbers on just how much more range the little bastards (and their LT's, AND their bosses, AND of course their snipers) have than all of us...
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...In the end, to me at least, I think the more "numbers" and "statistics" you have available to you, the greater the risk of cheapening the game and the more destructive it becomes to the enjoyment of the game.
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I've played a lot of tabletop games, strategy and RPG both, and at no time did knowing the rules (and all the math involved) cheapen the experience or guarantee me success. It did help me to feel I was doing my best. An example: Marvel Super Heroes RPG - I would look at the rules and create my concept. That was never a 'Superman' who was all powerful. Usually more like a Cap A or Spiderman. Super, yes, but with obvious weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
Now I know there are power gamers out there who would do exactly as you suggest, but those guys are pretty much doing that now anyway.
Personally, feeling like my character is 'cheap' because I'm wasting resources (enh's, slots, powers, my time) makes me less than satisfied with my gaming experience. I have bothered to look at guides and modify them for my own concept and playstyle, but I just wish I didn't have to take another player's word for it.
A little more info would give me more confidence that I AM making an informed decision. I don't need the math, nor do I need a perfect build, but I like to know rules of the world I'm living in so as to have the most satisfying experience.
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Now, don't get me wrong. I fully agree with the fact that people shouldn't end up wasting influence on enhancements that will not affect their hero's powers thanks to caps. The Dev's SHOULD have some sort of way of indicating to the player that yes, adding another Flight Speed SO (for example) won't increase your flight speed anymore thanks to the cap.
What I don't understand, for lack of a better term, is peoples desire to Min/Max. To wring every last ounce of power out of their characters that they can. I'm not saying it's a wrong playstyle, and if thats what you enjoy, that fine. But I just don't understand HOW people find that fun.
I guess what it boils down to is that while everyone else seems to want to be the Supermans or Galactus's of the world, I'm content with being the Spider-Mans or Ambush Bugs of the world.
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Funny... my last post was written before I read this one.... in other words we're desiring exactly the same thing from the devs. We don't need all the formula's and the math, nor do we need the 'perfect' character, but we don't want to feel like we're making bad decisions due to lack of information, either.
I guess that kind of nullifies your 'everyone else' statement, though... I think there are more like us who are bringing up the topic, not just the min/maxers.
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Can you just smack stateman with a rolled up newspaper until he gets the point that we are not at less risk then scrappers (they have defences to deal with where they are, that has been PROVEN), and that we should be the "Offencive Juggernauts," of the game.
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Giving blasters a lot more damage would be game-breaking. I mean, if you really don't want ATs outside of blasters and tankers to have a point, then sure... Change the game so it's not so murderous to blasters, so that the risk is appropriate. Boost their damage some? Sure. Boost it enough so they can one- or two-shot anything up to bosses? Please, god, no. I'd never team with a blaster again.
I know you didn't advocate that much, Orochi, but I have seen other people advocate up to and including one-shotting bosses.
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So what's your creative solution then? Most Blaster really do feel underpowered and the most likely to die. Refering to someone else's exagerated post doesn't make a very good arguement.
I'm putting you on the spot, but I don't mean to put you on the defensive. I really do want to know what you think.
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The BIGGEST benefit of posting numbers is that, when dev's introduce major changes, ...
a.) potentials for abuse can be more easily noticed.
b.) potentials for bugs can be easily identified.
c.) players can follow the logic of the dev's and, hopefully, flame less.
d.) players can feel more confidant in their power & slotting choices.
e.) If done right, game balance can be tracked by both dev & player.
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While I understand your argument, this is something I don't exactly agree with. Because you want to start to introduce the numbers into the mix, people start seeing their characters as less of a "character" and more of a jumble of statistics and figures. It becomes less about creating a character you enjoy and more about being worried about how your character performs without that extra .08 of damage.
In the end, to me at least, I think the more "numbers" and "statistics" you have available to you, the greater the risk of cheapening the game and the more destructive it becomes to the enjoyment of the game.
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I do understand your "roleplay" point of view but for me the reality of the Arena PvP brings the need for numbers and knowledge . For exemple , after i got badly beaten by a very same MA/Regen scrapper than myself 4 times in a row in a 1 on 1 match , i started to ask myself where did i failed in my build . Why was I always getting defeated ? We were fighting using mostly the same powers but the enemy was regenerating faster than me , hitting harder and taking less damages than me . So , it was obvious that my problem here was my enh slotting . When doing PvP in the Arena , roleplay isnt something that is very important . You want to have fun and of course you do your best to win or at least give a good fight . I was just out of my league in that last fight yet we were same level with same AT and same powers . That is frustrating .
We must not forget that there isnt much left to randomness in this game . With optimal slotting , every same AT will always do the same damage to the same enemy . There are very few dice rolls in this game and luck will rarely give you the victory . When i fight someone of my conning , the only luck factor is Critical Hit and to a lesser extend the 5% chance to miss an attack , thats all . When there is so few left to luck in a game , you come to rely on numbers and enhancements because they are in the end what makes the difference .
So yes , i understand your point of view about the "atmosphere and roleplay" but the least you could do is to respect the other side of the window which is about maths and statistics .
Someone also wrote that if numbers and stats are your stuff that i may be playing the wrong game . Ill answer to that by just saying that there are lot of players who have been playing for months trying to maximize the potential of their toons and i feel there is a place for them in CoH ( especially for people who will be very involved into the competition in the Arena ) .
To conclude , id say that most people do care about numbers , some more than others . Granted , some people really dont give a damn about them . But many people like myself think numbers in CoH are important enough nowadays and are willing to ask the Dev team to share more with us about them so that we can make more enlightened choices when building our heroes .
Ok , im done , while waiting for more informations , ill go back in the Arena , still clueless about how to slot my powers for maximum efficiency and ill decline any challenge that uber scrapper could throw at me . But a day will come ... and ill get my revenge mwhahahaahahah
I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire
ok the saddest thing about this thread was I noticed someone called cuppajo a he, not knowing her sex, then someone corrected the misinformed poster.
When I read the correction, and found out cuppajo was a female, the first thing I thought was:
"I wonder if she's cute"?
I am a pathetic, pathetic man.
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ok the saddest thing about this thread was I noticed someone called cuppajo a he, not knowing her sex, then someone corrected the misinformed poster.
When I read the correction, and found out cuppajo was a female, the first thing I thought was:
"I wonder if she's cute"?
I am a pathetic, pathetic man.
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Nah, completely natural human reaction.
How do you know Cuppa doesn't wonder if you're cute? 
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ok the saddest thing about this thread was I noticed someone called cuppajo a he, not knowing her sex, then someone corrected the misinformed poster.
When I read the correction, and found out cuppajo was a female, the first thing I thought was:
"I wonder if she's cute"?
I am a pathetic, pathetic man.
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Nah, completely natural human reaction.
How do you know Cuppa doesn't wonder if you're cute?
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How can you be sure she is a woman for what matters ? Have you seen her in real life ? Its the only way to be sure on the internet .
I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire
Well....nuff said....this is why I still play CoH instead of the other MMO's out there.
Thanks Cuppa...
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Boost their damage some? Sure. Boost it enough so they can one- or two-shot anything up to bosses? Please, god, no. I'd never team with a blaster again.
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Just to counterpoint this: my best attack is my Zapp, with a 3 second activation time. You you know how may times this attack hit's nothing per day because the scapper/tank has taken down the whole mob before I can lock a clean target and fire the shot? Don't blasters deserve some of the fun, too?
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The "numbers" issue. I know there is a post around here somewhere where a dev says something about not providing #'s because we don't want it to be "City of Math" - I have seen some of the calculations required to get numbers and I have to say that my head a-sploded. Plus there is the maintenance of such a list - and well, you have seen how often the manual gets updated. (note on that - it is coming this month with I4 included) So I would also state that there are some resource constraints in that area. I doubt this will change.
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While it would be nice to see how an enhancement affects a power, and thus to be able to make informed judgements on how to slot it instead of 'just guessing' as it is now, how about another way of doing it?
Say, my MA/SR scrapper. I'm slotting up his reflex powers with defense SO's. Since I cant see the numbers, I dont know when I've hit my cap and further slotting will be useless, and since apparently thats something thats unlikely to happen, how about, a internal enhancement check program that analyzes the power, then, if it detects that the player has hit a cap, asks, "This power has reached its limit. Are you sure? Y/N" or some such.
Of course, that might be just as difficult as revealing all the numbers, I dont know.
I do know, that slotting blind isnt fun, and as the casual player does NOT have hours to spend on the test server going through every possible combination of enhancements just so as not to have anything wasted.
I think most of the players here would like to see SOMETHING along these lines. Especially since our powers are subject to change, and after a patch or issue may have to be reworked out.
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If the dev's want more respect then they need to be the first to give it. They made the game, but we paid for it and continue to pay for it.
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If your ISP suddenly decided to reduce it's max bandwith to 300bps, would you continue to pay for the service and complain about it? I understand people have time invested in their characters. Just what does that really mean, though? In the big picture, real life scheme of thing, of what worth exactly is a character in a game? If you no longer enjoy it, if it's no longer fun, fuind something else which is fun.
The dichotomy I see, especially on the boards, is that what differentiates MMORPGs from console games is the social aspect. It's what has kept me playing this past year. Yet the behaviour I see all to often is decidedly anti-social. It's all about personal entitlement, personal grandeur, belittling others (esp. the devs) while expounding an "I know better," attitude...
Do you see the connection? There's way to much "Me" going on. This game isn't about "Me". It's about "We". To make it work for the "We" some of the "Me" gets tweaked in ways some of us may not like. Sorry, but that's just how it has to be. This can't be all things to all people. It's just not possible. There's a much larger community out there than participation on the boards would indicate, and their needs need to be served as well. And no, we here do not proportionally represent the entire player community, so even if you see a large number of complaints/comments here does not meam thet everyone in the player base feels the same way. People post here because they have something to say, and usually complain about. What you read here is a skewed version of the community as a whole.
I've been on the other side of the firewall. I know what it's like to have customers demaning to know how something was done or why it was done. Honestly, they go on unknowing because it would take too much time to explain, and most wouldn't get it anyway. Most wouldn't care if the next guy gets royally screwed so long as they get what they want. That's fine for them, but not for the other guy and you have to be concerned with the majority, not just the loud ones.
We expect the devs to have thick hide six-slotted and be able to take any insults we throw at them. Guess what? People don't like to be insulted. When they are, and feel hurt, do you know what they're likely to do? Yep. Welcome to the ignore list. Now you really get to know what it's like to be ignored. And reputation counts for a lot. If you develop a reputation as hurtful, insulting and not constructive, it won't matter when you are helpful and constructive because you've already been shut out. That's just human nature.
If you want to be read, post in a calm, objective and thoughtful manner. Will you get a response. Probably not. If the devs spent the time to address each of our issue personnally they woudln't have time to develop a game. Will the read the posts? Judging by changes we've seen this past year resulting from player feedback, you can bet on it.
So keep in mind that the devs are not our personal valets, here to respond to our every wish. They're doing the job they're supposed to do, and doing it rather well I might add. And let's try being more social. If you really need to be anti-social, stick to single player consoles.
(If I was rambling a bit, it's becasue I was up late working off debt from no less than 8 face plants in one day, and haven't had my tea yet. Cut me some slack too, OK? )
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Tanker: Powerful, plodding powerhouse. The first line of defense for a team. Not a front line fighter..... The tanker IS THE FRONT LINE.
Scrapper: Prescise, lethal, fast. Incarnate warrior who can take down or disable foes with dispatch. Master of the decappatack.
Controller: Master of his environment. Specializes in confusion, misdirection and strategic control over large areas.
Defender: Force multipier and enabler posessing a fair amount of ranged support. The tanker may protect, the controller may control but the defender puts things back together when they go wrong.
Blaster: Overwhelming Ranged force. Irresistable and vulnerable at once. Master of mass destruction, lacking the prescision and combat prowess of the scrapper while maintaining a more versatile arsenal of attacks.
That's the way things SHOULD be.
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Agreed. Very cool thoughts!!
Once again CuppaJo has impressed me with a set of posts. I am not surprised by the content of the posts, as anyone who was not overly invested in their own dramatics can tell that the creators of this game really do care and that the various changes are all intended to make this better (whether you agree or disagree with the actual changes is entirely different). However, I think Cuppa has distilled some things that many posters don't seem to understand into clear and easy to understand language.
Excellent posts. You deserve a raise. /gift CuppaJo 90000 influence 
I would give you more, but apparently some Dev somewhere thought that trading more then 5 digits at a pop would decrease my fun.
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Question, do you enjoy spending money on something that has little or no use to you?
While I know influence and power slots and enhancement slots aren't money, they're comparable things- currency you work to earn and can be "spent" to your benefit.
So the parallel is similar- people don't want to spend their hard-earned currency on something that gives them marginal (or nonexistant) benefit, especially when there's alternatives that are far superior.
Also, we're heros- We want to feel powerful. Its part of the game's theme.
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Now, don't get me wrong. I fully agree with the fact that people shouldn't end up wasting influence on enhancements that will not affect their hero's powers thanks to caps. The Dev's SHOULD have some sort of way of indicating to the player that yes, adding another Flight Speed SO (for example) won't increase your flight speed anymore thanks to the cap.
What I don't understand, for lack of a better term, is peoples desire to Min/Max. To wring every last ounce of power out of their characters that they can. I'm not saying it's a wrong playstyle, and if thats what you enjoy, that fine. But I just don't understand HOW people find that fun.
I guess what it boils down to is that while everyone else seems to want to be the Supermans or Galactus's of the world, I'm content with being the Spider-Mans or Ambush Bug's of the world.
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Because we are being forced to adapt constantly to a game with increasing dificulty.