Discussion: Issue 11 "A Stitch In Time"
By
1_800_Spines,
Posted on: 2007-10-02 13:08 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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i11 has been released! I've been looking forward to this all month! The first thing I did was build those vanguard claws that I can never correctly remember the name of!
Then... it sorta fell apart. My costume changes took 400k EACH, which would have been cut in half by the free tailor token, but someone goofed there. Understandable, and I can earn the inf back relatively quickly. However... the announcement of a free respec in addition to the respec recipes got me pretty excited, until I read Lighthouse's post that they're withholding said free respec until December 7th. Over a week away, with no explaination that I've seen!
LAME LAME LAME. I can't stress that enough... I've been waiting to respec my main for awhile now due to some pretty sorry power choices, yet now it'll cost me loads of inf or time to get one before the week is over, AND I'll have a free one sitting there unused afterward. Can we PLEASE get a good reason for this? I've not read one, and it would put my mind at ease if there was a reason for not handing out the respec now.
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Hi Anonym,
Our apologies that you were inconvenienced by the timing of the free Tailor Tokens and Respec. With free respecs we've always given at least a good week's time for people to assess their options post release before making the respec available. That way, they can also make use of any respec they may already have (because the free ones do not stack). Also, it allows any new characters made (like the many in this issue made to play with the new power sets) the option to respec.
Hopefully you can understand our reasons for the timing on this respec.
Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.
Things happen. They can't please all of the people all of the time.
Second first post after red name.
I see your point with the stacking of free respecs, and totally understand the problem with the free tailor session, but here's how I see it:
First, the new characters don't need the free respec; not only have most people had every opportunity to test the new powersets on Test and read about them on the forums, but every single new character has three respecs waiting for them with the Terra Volta reactor missions, which while moderately time-intensive are by no means difficult and always there to do, once you get to the required level. There's not really any genuine need to have another free one so early (IMHO). Within a week at least some if not most of them will be level 50 and have access to all three respecs.
Secondly, there's no true need to assess power options post-release in this particular case; if you don't know your powers and didn't read about any of the changes made to them in the release, it's your fault for making poor choices. From what I've seen the powers haven't changed much anyway.
On top of that, you can always WAIT to use it, and let those who have their respec planned out already and DO read the forums and keep track of changes have their respec to use. Some of us are totally ready, and those who are not ready can make a choice on whether to use it now or not.
The old 50's (and new ones like mine) have had NO ability at all to change their powers once all three respecs have been used. We finally get it, and believe me I love you guys for that, but holding out on the freebie after temping us with it is kinda mean. Especially if it's for the sake of all the alts and noobs and "I-only-play-when-new-stuff-comes-out" players who have three easy respecs in addition to the new respec recipes.
ADDITIONALLY, anyone who already HAS a free repec sitting on their toon obviously doesn't need another. If they needed to respec, they would have already, unless they're in the planning phase or something. I'm pretty sure that's a minority.
This is a huge post, sorry about that, but I don't have much inf on my ONE toon over level 10, nor do I enjoy grinding for it so I can buy (or find) a respec. It's something I'll do, of course, because it'll be quicker than waiting for the free one. It won't be fun though, more like work so I can have fun later, which I have enough of already (IOs).
Okay, last paragraph. I'm not a horribly disgruntled player who will quit if I don't have it my way. Don't take what I'm saying the wrong way, I absolutely love the new release, and from what I've seen the devs have done a great job on i11. I don't imagine it was easy, or that they could think of everything, but this particular bit was pretty lame. Personally, I'd like to see the respecs doled out early, but (correct me if I'm wrong) the chances of that happening NOW are slim to none. Thanks for responding so quickly by the way, Lighthouse.
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i11 has been released! I've been looking forward to this all month! The first thing I did was build those vanguard claws that I can never correctly remember the name of!
Then... it sorta fell apart. My costume changes took 400k EACH, which would have been cut in half by the free tailor token, but someone goofed there. Understandable, and I can earn the inf back relatively quickly. However... the announcement of a free respec in addition to the respec recipes got me pretty excited, until I read Lighthouse's post that they're withholding said free respec until December 7th. Over a week away, with no explaination that I've seen!
LAME LAME LAME. I can't stress that enough... I've been waiting to respec my main for awhile now due to some pretty sorry power choices, yet now it'll cost me loads of inf or time to get one before the week is over, AND I'll have a free one sitting there unused afterward. Can we PLEASE get a good reason for this? I've not read one, and it would put my mind at ease if there was a reason for not handing out the respec now.
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Hi Anonym,
Our apologies that you were inconvenienced by the timing of the free Tailor Tokens and Respec. With free respecs we've always given at least a good week's time for people to assess their options post release before making the respec available. That way, they can also make use of any respec they may already have (because the free ones do not stack). Also, it allows any new characters made (like the many in this issue made to play with the new power sets) the option to respec.
Hopefully you can understand our reasons for the timing on this respec.
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Considering the number of characters I'd made when new power sets come out, I'm more than happy if it was standard policy that when free (power) respecs and costume tokens be given after the patch, so people can get the chance to make new characters who'd be able to use these.
After a while, the 'wowness' of powers die down a bit, and people get to find out just what powers they find suits them and there characters, that character might just be shelved until (if there is a next time) a new freespec comes out.
Any new character has three respecs from the Terra Volta reactor, and now more from the respec recipes.
50s who already used their three respecs (and STILL didn't manage to get it right, like me) stand to benefit the most from the new respecs and a free respec.
Currently on Freedom respec recipes are going for 40 million inf... so unless you get lucky and loot one, or want to spend/earn that much, you aren't getting a respec yet.
At this rate, everyone will likely get a free respec right as the prices on the respec recipes drop down into the "barely reasonable" range. If the price goes down (significantly!)sooner than that, why have a free respec at all? Everyone who's not a lazy bum already got one.
This decision ultimately favors everyone equally, from the new toons and alts who shouldn't need a respec anytime soon to the 50s who've been waiting for one ever since they botched the third TV respec. Sounds like communism to me :P
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Any new character has three respecs from the Terra Volta reactor, and now more from the respec recipes.
50s who already used their three respecs (and STILL didn't manage to get it right, like me) stand to benefit the most from the new respecs and a free respec.
Currently on Freedom respec recipes are going for 40 million inf... so unless you get lucky and loot one, or want to spend/earn that much, you aren't getting a respec yet.
At this rate, everyone will likely get a free respec right as the prices on the respec recipes drop down into the "barely reasonable" range. If the price goes down (significantly!)sooner than that, why have a free respec at all? Everyone who's not a lazy bum already got one.
This decision ultimately favors everyone equally, from the new toons and alts who shouldn't need a respec anytime soon to the 50s who've been waiting for one ever since they botched the third TV respec. Sounds like communism to me :P
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I really can't see why this is surprising. You want a respec recipe today, something that just went live today, and are surprised at cost? 
Shocked I tell you...
Simple economics dictate that low supply and high demand usually will equal heavy pricing. And I believe the demand will be high for quite some time; I doubt even "lazy bums" will miss out on making some nice Inf if they snag one a few months from now. The price on unique Numinas certainly hasn't depreciated much since the launch of I9, AFAIK.
And I'm absolutely amazed that someone complains that a free gift isn't coming sooner (now Now NOW, as it were). Something about gift horses comes to mind. I would just be thankful you're getting anything at all, regardless of tenure, level of character, number of lvl 50s, etc.
Perhaps the prudent thing to do is save a respec for a rainy day? Seems to work well for me <shrugs>. I haven't even touched a single vet respec, even on my main. Needless to say that, if I am fortunate enough to receive a Respec Recipe, it will be another for which you can bid on the Market.
I could go on, but anything else I would have to say would be pretty abrasive.
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i11 has been released! I've been looking forward to this all month! The first thing I did was build those vanguard claws that I can never correctly remember the name of!
Then... it sorta fell apart. My costume changes took 400k EACH, which would have been cut in half by the free tailor token, but someone goofed there. Understandable, and I can earn the inf back relatively quickly. However... the announcement of a free respec in addition to the respec recipes got me pretty excited, until I read Lighthouse's post that they're withholding said free respec until December 7th. Over a week away, with no explaination that I've seen!
LAME LAME LAME. I can't stress that enough... I've been waiting to respec my main for awhile now due to some pretty sorry power choices, yet now it'll cost me loads of inf or time to get one before the week is over, AND I'll have a free one sitting there unused afterward. Can we PLEASE get a good reason for this? I've not read one, and it would put my mind at ease if there was a reason for not handing out the respec now.
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Hi Anonym,
Our apologies that you were inconvenienced by the timing of the free Tailor Tokens and Respec. With free respecs we've always given at least a good week's time for people to assess their options post release before making the respec available. That way, they can also make use of any respec they may already have (because the free ones do not stack). Also, it allows any new characters made (like the many in this issue made to play with the new power sets) the option to respec.
Hopefully you can understand our reasons for the timing on this respec.
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I knew the respec was coming on Dec. 7th and could guess why... however, I thought we were getting the free costume tokens immediately with Issue 11 going live. I mean, how could you not expect everyone to be rushing to the tailor to change their hairstyles, weapons, and other little details?
Unless that was the point... make us blow lots of influence on these items and give us the freebie tokens later. "Ooops, here ya go. Too bad about that influence/infamy, though. Guess you'd better get out and earn more."
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I knew the respec was coming on Dec. 7th and could guess why... however, I thought we were getting the free costume tokens immediately with Issue 11 going live. I mean, how could you not expect everyone to be rushing to the tailor to change their hairstyles, weapons, and other little details?
Unless that was the point... make us blow lots of influence on these items and give us the freebie tokens later. "Ooops, here ya go. Too bad about that influence/infamy, though. Guess you'd better get out and earn more."
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And if you bothered to, oh, I don't know, read the posts that Lighthouse has made here, here, here, and here, you would see that the tailor token was supposed to be out with I11 but for some reason it didn't work correctly and rather than taking the servers down again today (Wouldn't that have made people happy 
) they are giving them out Friday.
BTW, you can find all of Lighthouse's posts very easily by going here. Checking it a couple of times a day makes it easy to keep up with announcements and official information here. You can even keep up with the dev posts on this thread.
Justice Blues, Tech/Tank, Inv/SS
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Fighting The Future Trilogy
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1) Not surprised at the cost, really. Where did I say that?
2) by the time the free respec is given out, I'll almost certainly have earned one. Why wait when my toon's powers aren't very good NOW? Of course, I can wait a few months for one of the vet respecs you mentioned, but to be honest that's the dumbest thing you can possibly bring up. That would take even LONGER to get.
3) Now now NOW. Yes NOW. Holding back and giving the respec out when it's not needed (I'll say this again: By the time it's given, most people with even a little time to grind will probably have found a way to get one) is like giving a bucket of water to a man who WAS on fire a few minutes ago, but isn't anymore. Does it hurt to get something free, even late? No. Is there any really good reason for them to have held off? No. Would it have been BETTER to give the man a bucket of water when he was still on fire? YES.
4) If you'd read the end of my first post, I thanked the devs for i11. It's a great update and I'm pretty pleased with it, but it could have been much better with this minor change.
has anyone done the Mender Silos T/F? i tried it with a few toons, made it all the way to the final AV, and it was stuck in an oil rig, we couldnt hit it, but it had incredible range and was hitting with psionic dmg(1200dmg per hit). you couldnt get close enough to hit it. im wondering if that was a bug.
Dear Auto Repair shop,
I am writing this letter to you in disgust in regards to your repair service.
Recently, I discovered that my car needed maintenance and had to take it into your shop for repair, due to harsh driving conditions and my lead-footed acceleration and breaking. However, because of your schedule with other customers and obligations, and because some parts were not readily available and had to be ordered, my car was not finished within the infinitesimal amount of time I would associate with such trivial repairs. I was greatly inconvenienced by this fact, and was actually forced to carpool with a coworker for a day until the repairs on my vehicle were completed.
As my only other option was to use an express repair shop that prices their services far in excess of what I can obtain at your shop, I am highly dissatisfied that your lower-cost service cannot provide the same sort of expediency and workmanship as the faster, much more expensive shop on the other side of town.
Furthermore, my car was also in a need of a new coat of paint. And although I saw your advertisement for Crazy Free Car Paint Friday, I lacked the patience and virtue to wait two whole days to have my vehicle painted for free, costing me money to have it painted immediately after it was repaired.
Please note that, due to these inconveniences, I will be discontinuing the use of your business, and will recommend to others who will listen to not patronize your establishment.
Finally, please expect to hear from my lawyer in regards to a lawsuit filled against you for mental anguish and suffering.
Sincerely,
Disgruntled Customer
wow... wait to miss the point entirely.
1) I definitely stated at least once that I understand the problem with the free costume change tokens.
2) There were no good reasons stated for withholding the freespec. No "We didn't have the parts on hand" reasons that could not be avoided. Lighthouses' reasons were, IIRC, to:
A) give the ten thousand new DB characters a free respec
B) FORCE people to wait, instead of giving them the OPTION to wait, until they've tested any of the minor power changes announced
and C) give people who already have a free respec tucked away somewhere to use that one so they can get another one
So... we who need one have to shell out time, inf, or wait for a week so the people who don't have any good reason to have a freespec, can have a freespec. NOT a good plan.
And, on top of all THAT, I also stated somewhere that I wasn't horribly and irreversibly disgruntled over this mistake. Did you not read ANY of my other posts?
Dear Auto Repair Shop,
I am writing this letter to you to express my concern for your recent service.
Over the past few weeks, I realized my car has some problems that are hampering its performance, due to my inadequate skills at maintaining it in the past. I read an ad saying your shop was giving out the tools necessary for someone like myself to correct my past mistakes, and the offer of a free set of the tools was impossible to pass up. I signed up, of course, but the new tools have yet to arrive.
It is my understanding that you are withholding these tools from everyone, though you already have them all on-hand, in order to give people a chance to get rid of their old, still-functional sets, buy brand-new cars, and assess their vehicles to find the exact problem and predict any future problems that may arise. This leaves people like myself, who already know the problem and could use the free set, out in the cold. Now we must purchase these tools for no small fee from a third party, if we want our cars to perform well before the free tools are sent out.
I still plan to continue my service with your shop, but I am confused as to why this policy was used, and wondering if it will happen in the future.
(There you go, fixed it as well as I could with the time I have. Please understand that while yes, it could have been worse, it could have been better with a very simple change)
Wait, why are you complaining about the lack of a respec? Because you have to wait a week? For a free respec? And you're making this big a stink about it?
Wow.
Kung Ru - 50++ MA/Regen Scrapper
Kalleesta - 50 Necro/Dark MM
Hidden Justice - 44 Kin/Psy Defender
Altaholic
This is definitely not what I consider a "big stink", but yeah I'm voicing my opinion of the decision and defending it against people who argue with it. That's kinda what this part of the forums are about, right? That and complimenting the devs on their good work, which I've done at least twice so far. Not that many seem to notice it, but it's sincere.
You're saying if you can make something "good enough", but it could be better with little to no extra effort, you'd just leave it as good enough?
I simply hope that they consider using a different policy on things like this in the future.
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2) There were no good reasons stated for withholding the freespec. No "We didn't have the parts on hand" reasons that could not be avoided.
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Clearly the devs (and many others) disagreed.
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Lighthouses' reasons were, IIRC, to:
A) give the ten thousand new DB characters a free respec
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and every other new character that's been created since I11 went live. I have heard that there are one or two that don't even have DB.
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B) FORCE people to wait, instead of giving them the OPTION to wait, until they've tested any of the minor power changes announced
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In the past, there have been major outcries when changes have been made. (I don't think I've ever seen a change made without someone at least crying for a freespec).
Some people (present company apparently included) burn through respecs as soon as they get them.
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and C) give people who already have a free respec tucked away somewhere to use that one so they can get another one
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Again, not seeing the downside here.
Oh, wait, I forgot. Your lack of respec is apparently like being set on fire. All I can say to that is: grow some perspective.
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So... we who need one have to shell out time, inf, or wait for a week so the people who don't have any good reason to have a freespec, can have a freespec. NOT a good plan.
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A whole week? Wow. That must be tough. Too bad your character is so crippled he can't even go outside without killing himself. I bet he'd really enjoy all the new stuff from I11. What were you going to do if they had not given out a freespec with I11?
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And, on top of all THAT, I also stated somewhere that I wasn't horribly and irreversibly disgruntled over this mistake. Did you not read ANY of my other posts?
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You are disgruntled enough to post about it. Repeatedly. At length. With lots of words in ALL CAPS. Really, what are we supposed to think?
J
Quick question-
Can you get xp when doing the issue 11 missions from the past that are lower levels than what your toon is at?
Thanks.
Champions Server:
Brodir, 50 tanker
Outbreak, 50 mastermind
Freedom Server:
Black Griffin, 50 scrapper
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Quick question-
Can you get xp when doing the issue 11 missions from the past that are lower levels than what your toon is at?
Thanks.
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No' it's like being exemp'd: you will get Influence and/ or Prestige, and work of Debt, but will not receive Experience.
Also, Contaminated never grant rewards of any kind, not even Inf.
Gotta say I really love the new issue so far. Especially the new difficulty selections when playing the missed missions.
Also, since everyone else seems to be discussing the free respec I also shall voice my opinion.
I am glad that the devs are waiting a week. The waiting period gives people who have other obligations besides COH and don't have time to read all of the forum posts and details of a new power, which is crazy, a chance to test drive the new powers and then respec once they have a good feel for it. It also stops people from blowing through their free respec then getting upset about a powerset and blaming the devs for everything.
If you have one toon who has used all three terra volte respecs and any of the veteran respecs you should give up and start over. You have gone horribly wrong at some point and should just delete your train wrecked toon.
actually, u will be exemplared down, so you will get influence or prestiege, i tried it on test, and i was recieving influence with my lvl 50.
Where is the contact that sets you up with the Ouroboros?
I remember someone saying it, but I forgot
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It is my understanding that you are withholding these tools from everyone, though you already have them all on-hand, in order to give people a chance to get rid of their old, still-functional sets, buy brand-new cars, and assess their vehicles to find the exact problem and predict any future problems that may arise.
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Here's the problem:
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tool
Pronunciation - /tul/
noun
1. an implement, esp. one held in the hand, as a hammer, saw, or file, for performing or facilitating mechanical operations.
2. any instrument of manual operation.
3. the cutting or machining part of a lathe, planer, drill, or similar machine.
4. the machine itself; a machine tool.
5. anything used as a means of accomplishing a task or purpose: Education is a tool for success.
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gift
Pronunciation- /gift/
noun
1. something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.
2. the act of giving.
3. something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned: Those extra points he got in the game were a total gift.
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Respecs are tools, and for good reason. They give us "a means of accomplishing a task or purpose"; in this case, character respecification. This tool has a value, even as a recipe. Because there is a limit on these tools, it retains value. They make players respect builds, since players can't merely switch out powers and pools at a whim.
In this scenario, the tool which you desire is a gift. Gifts are often "bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned."
Devs are certainly under no obligation to hand out freespecs at all. They could just tell you that, since there's a recipe for it now, that you have to earn it the hard way, by playing a lot or buying it for a lot.
However, the devs changed some powers and animation/ activation times, and aren't completely heartless. So they grant freespecs. But this only happens 2 or 3 times a year, so people who don't use them outright usually nest them until necessary.
You argue that many new characters who receive this gift do not need it. Since a gift is "something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone", why does this matter?
Should we not let new characters have respecs for use later, as it could be several months before another is granted?
Should we not let players who are returning to the game with the launch of this issue have a chance to use their previous freespec with an ample amount of time before it is possibly overwritten, so they can save this next freespec for later use?
Your argument is "I need one right now, new characters be darned since they were just rolled". Other characters need them too however. And with changes made to the game, it's prudent to let them have a chance to test out their current builds and use a freespec if need be, before the next one is granted.
Not everyone wants to go to Test to test builds on the newest version. It requires additional setup and HD space. It also spoils new content for those who like to wait until launch. Giving them time after launch to try their builds is a better way than outright overwriting a freespec during launch.
In summary, I suggest you either wait until next Friday, or start saving some Inf for a WW showdown.
There isn't one. You have to be level 25 and have been exposed to time travel. The open beta boards have a list of the badges and souveniers that will trigger the portal power (if you've got them before 25 when you hit 25 you'll get it, otherwise you'll get it as soon as you acquire one of them). If you are 25 or over and don't have the portal yet (its tied to the Keeper of the Secret badge) you can hop thrugh someone elses, go to the top of hte citadel and get the exploration badge there to get the badge/portal power. You then go through a tutorial of sorts to unlock the flashback system and some new TFs.
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Where is the contact that sets you up with the Ouroboros?
I remember someone saying it, but I forgot
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First, you have to be lvl 25 AFAIR.
Second, you have to be Entrusted with the Secret. This involves completing a stroy arc that involves time Travel, like Echo Down the Aeons, the Mysterious Mr. Ubelman, the Psychochronometron arc (from Faultline), etc.
When you are Entrusted with the Secret, you'll get an Ouroboros power that places a teleport pad on the ground. Go through this, and you'll go to the Ouroboros sanctuary. Talk to Pilgrim to get started.
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Can we PLEASE get a good reason for this? I've not read one, and it would put my mind at ease if there was a reason for not handing out the respec now.
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Could it be that the respec is being delayed so that people can get a feel for the two new powersets and have an opportinity to correct any oversights or errors they might make in the early starges of building one of those characters?
Arc #1267 The Key of Brass and Flame