As far as feeling poor, I thought it was just in my head. I've been teaming with my friend who is about 3-4 lvls behind me. I'll lackey him for my missions and he'll malifactor (sp?) / exemp me for his so I can earn infamy & prestige for our VG. Lastnight I decided to exemp to his missions to pay off debt. I noticed that I wasn't getting any infamy and it all went towards debt. I did get prestige though. So if I'm really hurting for infamy, I just exemplar/malifactor (sp?). 
At the moment I want to respec my powers but only at lvl 20. I have a Robotics / Dark Maisma. I'm thinking of rolling my toon to change up power pools. I like the game enough and don't mind starting over again. This way I'll have 45k of infamy to start with.
@FOSSIL
Victory Server Glo-Worm Rad/Dark Defender
Justice Server: Fossil Stone Stone/EM Tank
If the green cons bit doesn't appeal try looking for bosses as they give a much higher infamy per xp gained than minions or Lts. From my most recent mission:
You have defeated Longbow Rifleman (minion)
You gain 32 experience and 22 infamy.
You have defeated Longbow Nullifier (lieutenant)
You gain 70 experience and 83 infamy.
You have defeated Longbow Officer (boss)
You gain 139 experience and 278 infamy.
So my minion kill is about 0.56 infamy per xp gained. My lieutenant kill is about 1.19 infamy per xp gained. My boss kill is about 2 infamy per xp gained. If I levelled exclusively on bosses I'd have 4 times the infamy compared to levelling exclusively on minions.
As I've said, I'm not having a problem with infamy (50% of my slots have SOs and 40% have DOs by the start of level 23). But if you feel you are, that's one way to boost your infamy income, one which may feel more challenging/satisfying than going after green cons.
I can't believe no one has said it (at least I didn't see it). We're poor in CoV because...
Crime doesn't pay!
Anyway, I too have felt much poorer than I did in CoH. I do remember being able to stock up on DOs and then SOs completely with my heroes before I knew any high levels to give me gifts. Granted, it wasn't a full set all at once, but I was able to fill them out before it was time to get the next set.
CoV does feel like I'm leveling faster than I did in those first few CoH days. Granted, I'm much more experienced with the game, as are the people I play with. Mission reward bonuses are higher than they used to be, too, so that contributes to the quicker leveling, as does fewer deaths and lower debt from a death.
However, I haven't felt ineffective by not having a full set of DOs at lvl 16 or 18. I put DOs in the important powers, like ACC, and for the rest I use dropped TOs as I can to save on buying.
I have to agree that there is more possibility of Influence as compared to Infamy, in my limited game-play thus far.
Its not that I'm *shorted* Infamy, its that there is simply a better way to get Influence in CoH.
Pirates and their[Censored] withstanding, here are some things I remember:
1. If I solo'd, and sold ALL my TOs through level 12, I would have about 70-80K Influence in CoH.
2. I'm at level 10, and have done the same thing on my Fire/Dark Corruptor, and have about 35-37K Infamy. Not sure if this will double in 2 levels, but its a pretty good bet.
3. DOs are rewards for 20-24 Story Arcs, and SOs are rewards for 25-29 Story Arcs. Look to utilize DOs and SOs from story arcs in specific enhancement spots, particularly when you go up to an odd numbered level and gain additional enhancement slots.
4. Solo Green Con Bosses with Hostages provide the best Inf/hr without leveling too quickly.
5. There's always debt. There's always malefactor. There's always playing without filling every enhancement slot in every power.
Hope this helps!
Oh, and I agree that the heist after a broker is filled would be a great way to bring an increase in Infamy.
There are lots of ways to optimise inf income. The problem is that most of them simply are not "fun".
The problem is rooted in the tension between leveling vs income. If you play to max your leveling you tend to decrease your income. The reverse is also true.
Let's face it, the major source of income at the lower levels comes from selling drops. However this is a horrible time sink. Of course this is by design. I'm 45yo and have the patience of a rock. I don't mind shagging my butt to a quartermaster whenever I have a full tray and in fact, if I get to 8 or so, I'll start heading back doing street sweeps to have a full tray by the time I get there.
The downside is of course I level slower then somebody who is just bashing mobs and selling when they need to level up at a arbiter.
Result? I had at level 11, optimised enhancements, when I dinged 12, I had enough for 7 DOs. By the time, lvl 13 comes I will have at least 4 more DOs and perhaps 5. I expect to be fully kitted out by 14 although I will probably just use TOs on the less important ones as I prepare for lvl 17 and especially 22.
This is IMHO the proper way to play a "first" char without higher level toons to fall back on. It's somewhat slower as you spend a lot of time running back and forth but OTOH, I kill much quicker then somebody who has only training enhancments.
As always YYMV and I can well understand that my way isn't for everyone. As an example I don't have any travel powers yet and probably won't until lvl 20. The distances to go are pretty small (as anyone who is used to Independance Port will realise) so I don't mind much. Again, this means I have extra abilities to beat on things which frankly is what this game is all about.
Gotag
As far as I'm concerned, my Mastermind is going to skip DOs. I'll just keep saving up until I reach SO level. At level 17, I have 55k infamy. That's almost enough for two SOs. I just have to keep going and maybe I"ll be able to reach 6 or so SOs by the time I"m leveled up enough for it.
Any chance this thread can be moved to another forum, so we don't lose it?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The reward tables for CoV are the exact same ones as CoH.
The store definitions for CoV are the exact same ones as CoH.
You don't start giving up Inf. for Prestige until level 24.
[/ QUOTE ]
You don't get all the rewards that are available in COH as you do in COV. No drug bust or mugging rescues to gain extra infamy in COV like there is in COH so no it is not the same rewards.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, but there's no ghost-pirate spawns burying treasure chests in CoH.
We couldn't POSSIBLY put extra rewards on those... could we? 
[/ QUOTE ]
Pos...
Any chance of a hint where those ghost pirates might be??
Member of Team Awesome���
Justice Server
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The reward tables for CoV are the exact same ones as CoH.
The store definitions for CoV are the exact same ones as CoH.
You don't start giving up Inf. for Prestige until level 24.
[/ QUOTE ]
You don't get all the rewards that are available in COH as you do in COV. No drug bust or mugging rescues to gain extra infamy in COV like there is in COH so no it is not the same rewards.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, but there's no ghost-pirate spawns burying treasure chests in CoH.
We couldn't POSSIBLY put extra rewards on those... could we?
[/ QUOTE ]
Pos...
Any chance of a hint where those ghost pirates might be??
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm trying not to search on too many things as I want to learn about content on my own, so if this is comon knowledge excuse me...but...
The other night, my wife and I stumbled upon a NPC in Port Oaks, NE by the fort. I'm at work so I forget her name and can't look it up, at any rate, she basically wouldn't talk to us because we didn't defeat enough ghosts. We proceeded to pound on a bunch of pirate ghosts in that area, but it wasn't enough for her. Don't know how many she needs us to beat or what will happen next, one of these nights we'll just do that and find out. Never saw any treasure chests though.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm trying not to search on too many things as I want to learn about content on my own, so if this is comon knowledge excuse me...but...
The other night, my wife and I stumbled upon a NPC in Port Oaks, NE by the fort. I'm at work so I forget her name and can't look it up, at any rate, she basically wouldn't talk to us because we didn't defeat enough ghosts. We proceeded to pound on a bunch of pirate ghosts in that area, but it wasn't enough for her. Don't know how many she needs us to beat or what will happen next, one of these nights we'll just do that and find out. Never saw any treasure chests though.
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually what you need to do is drag a ghost to the various traps that are laying about inside the fort and defeat them atop/near it. Took me a while to figure it out also as the contact isn't very clear about what exactly she wants or how to go about it. First badge is at 50 Ghosts and the second is at 100.
i still think the answer lies with the 5th mission/heist you do for the contact, if they made the bank robbery/casino heist etc paid a decent reward, like maybe a decent imfamy payout or a DO/SO selection option, i think people would be more focused on completing there missions to get to these special missions...i know its because the economy is depressed and in a few months it MAY be remedied as heros hit the 40 max, but im not so sure, for a start the removal of PL/herding abilities has severly cramped the ability of people to amass inf, so they are less likely to give it away instead financing their alts, and with a 40 max (ATM) there is not much time to get inf since if COH is anything to go by, you didnt earn more than you needed til 35+ so thats 5 lvls to earn infamy above and beyond what you actually need.
also since the devs have actively been trying the slow the game advance down, this process of many people getting to wealthy stage will take ages as the game is now focused on stopping people hitting the game cap...
so they need to look at ways of allowing us to either
a) transfer influence into imfamy, and make use of the the wads of cash sitting in heroes bank accounts...i mean what else can we use it for...traading for prestige at a pathetic exchange rate...DONT THINK SO...
b) make special bonus missions pay us out more, you say risk vs reward...i say risk vs poverty...
for those that spout the devs line about infamy/influence isnt money, well if its not money then how is it that ou can buy training with it...(enhancements) why shouldnt we who have spent so much time playing this game and making lvl 50 alts not gain some benefit from these chars being wealthy...
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The reward tables for CoV are the exact same ones as CoH.
The store definitions for CoV are the exact same ones as CoH.
You don't start giving up Inf. for Prestige until level 24.
[/ QUOTE ]
You don't get all the rewards that are available in COH as you do in COV. No drug bust or mugging rescues to gain extra infamy in COV like there is in COH so no it is not the same rewards.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, but there's no ghost-pirate spawns burying treasure chests in CoH.
We couldn't POSSIBLY put extra rewards on those... could we?
[/ QUOTE ]
Is this something you MIGHT do or something you HAVE done?
I ask because I came across a group of pirate ghosts and there was a clickable Treasure Chest next to them. I beat the pirate ghosts and the chest disappeared after a couple of seconds. I didn't notice any reward out of the ordinary for defeating that mob group, and nothing happened whenever I clicked on the chest before it disappeared.
I just figured the chest was a prop to make the ghosts more "piratey". Arrrr....
I'm seriously shocked that *so* many people are complaining about the lack of infamy... I know I'm going to rephrase a bit here, but how do you folks think CoH was at its release? The only reason it has such an abundant economy is because it's been around for a year and a half. And just how many level 50's does it have now? Given that at roughly level 35, heroes start to actually earn "profits" (gaining more influence than they spend), it's no surprise that they are "disgustingly rich". And as has been stated prior, w/o CC's, handouts, and dumping on alts, CoH is also a struggle in terms of affording enhancements. Fine, so maybe it isn't *as* bad as in CoV, but you always have options. For those who are so frightened of out-leveling contacts, and those who have such a huge issue w/ debt not accruing(sp?) until level 10, one obvious answer for you: Malefactor (and btw, I find it sad that, as far as I can remember, this solution wasn't offered until the 10th page of this thread). By exemping down, so long as you're out of debt, it's *all* infamy. Fine, so you'll *temporarily* lose some of the latest powers you just obtained, but if it's so that you're able to afford SO's for those powers, is the trade-off not worth it? I firmly believe that, in about 6 months (tops), CoV will start having its own CC's and whatnot. As soon as we have a plethora of 40's (assuming the 40+ content isn't out by then, although, even then, the 40+'s will still be earning "profits"), the CoV economy will *begin* to rival that of CoH (I say "begin" only because CoH has such a head-start). I will say that I agree that heists should give more infamy (as a Villain, would I not be greedy and pocket some of that which I stole?), but otherwise things are just as they probably should be (maybe a few tweaks wouldn't hurt). Bottom line, imo, is that this is what you get for playing the game at its release.
On a side note, how about revamping the Prestige system since, even though the trade-off isn't quite worth it, heroes have a severe advantage over villains in that the horde of influence they've earned can be converted over (either give us more or reduce the prices of the necessities)?
(and yes, I know this comment belongs elsewhere, but it does have its relevance in regards to the struggling villains' financial standings)
[ QUOTE ]
No, this is a REAL problem. I've played a lot of CoH, and I can tell you we are very cash poor in CoV.
And it is now serious. Apparently level 19, is the breaking point. I'm now at level 18, and DREADING getting to 19. That's because almost all my enhancements will turn red, and i won't have anywhere near enough infamy to get enhancements, And with most of my enhancements going red, i won't have the power to get the infamy.
[/ QUOTE ]
Don't buy all DOs. Buy DOs for the powers that need them and the others use drops and if you must, buy TOs. My Merc/Traps MM is up to level 15 and I currently have 4 DOs, the rest are either TO or empty/red. The 4 DOs I have are all in Aid Other, 2 heals and 2 recharges. While DOs do make a big difference, Masterminds especially can do well without them. I'd recommend slotting your Twilight Grasp (I'm going by the lvl 18 MM in your sig) with DOs and not worry about other slots for now. You'll want your heal to be decent to help keep your henchmen and teammates up, but your other powers are generally good enough with just TOs. I rarely even use anything in my MM's secondary (only have Web Gernade so far) and can get by fine, so I'm sure even if you just have Twilight Grasp (since you have to have it) you can do fine as well since it is much better than Aid Other for combat heals.
From what I've heard it won't completely solve the problem, but the extra infamy will be handy by the time I get to 22, even if it only means an extra SO or two, but I'll probably use a similar technique and just switch up one on each until infamy isn't as much of a problem.
I am curious about the treasure chests Positron mentioned. I never saw any in beta and haven't seen any in live yet either. Do they spawn in every zone and are they located in specific areas or are they random spawns anywhere in a zone? Also, how much infamy do they give?