if there are ways to purchase them through Tickets ( which are global) why can't we make the merits do the same? they are earned reward for playing the game afterall right?
Why have so many different way of paying for something? we already have Inf and merits why do we need to add a 3rd way with Tickets? just give Merits to people who play and create MA content and vote.
[ QUOTE ]
if there are ways to purchase them through Tickets ( which are global) why can't we make the merits do the same? they are earned reward for playing the game afterall right?
[/ QUOTE ]
See sig ^_^
The more i read about t he MA thing the more I'm convinced its going to either be a massive re-invention of the game, or a complete dud. I see little room for in between.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So I guess being forced to play as limited a pool of characters as possible if you want anything more expensive than a random roll is Working As Intended?
[/ QUOTE ]
... I may be misremembering/misunderstanding, but don't you typically get Merits only from situations where previously the only option was random rolls..?
[/ QUOTE ]
That's true, but entirely irrelevant to my point.
[/ QUOTE ]
Your supposition is a false dilemma. There are still other ways to get desired recipes and enhancements, such as the market. There will also be a way to purchase them through Tickets.
[/ QUOTE ]
I would say probably that the original point, if looked at objectively, is correct. The devs want only those characters that the player chooses to concentrate his actions on to be able to avoid the random roll mechanism.
This reduces the amount of unwanted IOs on the market, since there are people who will skip getting them, but will not eliminate them entirely. There are other methods, which may produce more random IOs, as you said. This provide a supply for those who perhaps do not want the highest quality IOs, and want to use those that are less popular.
Not that I'm an expert on the matter, but that would be my guess at the economics involved.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
if there are ways to purchase them through Tickets ( which are global) why can't we make the merits do the same? they are earned reward for playing the game afterall right?
[/ QUOTE ]
See sig ^_^
[/ QUOTE ]
Except that a vacation you take is also a vacation for your brother ( being he doesn't have you in the way 
) thus 1 vacation for you = 1 vacation for your brother... thus a global share of the merits
[ QUOTE ]
if there are ways to purchase them through Tickets ( which are global) why can't we make the merits do the same? they are earned reward for playing the game afterall right?
Why have so many different way of paying for something? we already have Inf and merits why do we need to add a 3rd way with Tickets? just give Merits to people who play and create MA content and vote.
[/ QUOTE ]
Tickets are both global and specific to a character. When the MA earns tickets for you, they are global. When you earn tickets with a character, those go that character.
One reason for the difference, obviously, is just that. Merits can't be earned globally, they don't have a mechanism for that. The mechanism needed to be created, and rather than try to kludge it into the existing Merit system, they created a second one.
The other reason is that they're trying to distinguish rewards you earn from the MA from regular rewards. Not just to prevent exploits, but so they can tweak and balance it separate from the "real" mission system so they don't break Merits trying to adjust Tickets. Plus, Tickets combine the rewards of Merits, Recipe drops, AND Badges, that you can't get with the MA.
(Hm... could it be made possible to buy Badges with Tickets? I suppose it's not necessary, but might help with the fact that you can't get certain Badges that way)
[ QUOTE ]
Except that a vacation you take is also a vacation for your brother ( being he doesn't have you in the way ) thus 1 vacation for you = 1 vacation for your brother... thus a global share of the merits
[/ QUOTE ]
Your brother can't take time off from work just because you have some vacation time...
Oh, wait, I get it. You're saying not having you around is a vacation. Funny, but not really correct.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Except that a vacation you take is also a vacation for your brother ( being he doesn't have you in the way ) thus 1 vacation for you = 1 vacation for your brother... thus a global share of the merits
[/ QUOTE ]
Your brother can't take time off from work just because you have some vacation time...
Oh, wait, I get it. You're saying not having you around is a vacation. Funny, but not really correct.
[/ QUOTE ]
True but at the same time he doesn't have to deal with you for that week your on vacation 
Stretched logic is stretched. Your brother still can't use your vacation time to take time away from HIS job. I believe that was what Feihung was getting at.
If you're keen to argue though, take it up with Positron. He stated in the OP:
"Now if you are simply asking that Merits be a tradable resource, or even trade-within-account, I am sorry, but that's not going to happen. Characters of different levels earn Merits at different rates. Merits are supposed to streamline the reward process for that character, and that's not going to be changing any time soon."
(Bolded where appropriate for effect)
How about letting us finally get account based storage like all the other MMO's have.
Doubleplusungood. We have more than enough (i.e. "any") shared storage in SG bases now.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
sorry the last post was more a sarcastic way of saying I understand. I probably wasn't clear enough. Sorry for the confusion
[ QUOTE ]
Stretched logic is stretched. Your brother still can't use your vacation time to take time away from HIS job. I believe that was what Feihung was getting at.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah. I suppose if you earned a bonus from your job that gave you free TICKETS for a vacation, say a flight to somewhere, and you could take family members along, then that would be a "global" reward. You could then choose to take your brother, or your wife or kids, however many tickets you had.
And yeah, the use of the word "tickets" there is entirely coincidental. Sure it is.
Personally, though, I would consider rewards from creating a MA mission to be somewhat akin to a Corporation. Everyone in the Corportation benefits from the rewards. But they still earn their own salaries as individuals.
....I wonder if i have Sig room to add in what Posi said there first....but then, my sig would be longer than at least half of my posts. They'd hafta whack it with a nerf bat just to balance it out
/cheeky grin
[ QUOTE ]
sorry the last post was more a sarcastic way of saying I understand. I probably wasn't clear enough. Sorry for the confusion
[/ QUOTE ]
Ah, thought you were still trying to make a counterargument. No problem. As I said, I think the idea of shared rewards is valid. It's just the exception, not the rule. (No one ever gets paid in just shares of stock in the company, and in this economy probably no one would want to. )
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Except that a vacation you take is also a vacation for your brother ( being he doesn't have you in the way ) thus 1 vacation for you = 1 vacation for your brother... thus a global share of the merits
[/ QUOTE ]
Your brother can't take time off from work just because you have some vacation time...
Oh, wait, I get it. You're saying not having you around is a vacation. Funny, but not really correct.
[/ QUOTE ]
True but at the same time he doesn't have to deal with you for that week your on vacation
[/ QUOTE ]
Unless the vacation is in a coop zone. In which case, as the only villain I will tolerate, he will be forced to battle snaptooth (last time, I swear)with me in Amsterdam.
I personally would rather just solo it.
Well, it was worth a shot.
Thanks for clarifying, Positron.
Current Published Arcs
#1 "Too Drunk to be Alcoholic" Arc #48942
#2 "To Slay Sleeping Dragons" Arc #111486
#3 "Stop Calling Me"
[ QUOTE ]
Over the weekend I posted:
[ QUOTE ]
When people play your arcs, tickets earned that way go into a pool.
You can then claim tickets out of that pool onto any character.
[/ QUOTE ]
And a few of you said "Please let Merits work the same way".
I don't think a few of you understood me correctly the first time.
>>When other people play your arcs.<<
The idea is that, since creating MA content is account-wide (anything you write can be "published from" any character on your account), that the tickets generated from other people go into a pool. You can then claim tickets out of that pool on any character on your account.
HOWEVER, when you PLAY Mission Architect content, tickets you earn are exactly like Merits. They are earned ON that character, and can not be traded.
Merits already work like this, and there is no correlation to the account-based publishing for Merits to "work the same way" for.
Now if you are simply asking that Merits be a tradable resource, or even trade-within-account, I am sorry, but that's not going to happen. Characters of different levels earn Merits at different rates. Merits are supposed to streamline the reward process for that character, and that's not going to be changing any time soon.
[/ QUOTE ]
So, then, who do we complain to when 'streamlining' means grinding through arcs over and over, ad nauseum, to get enough merits on one character to purchase a set we USED to be able to purchase directly for a (usually) nominal amount of influence/infamy? 
Cuz, ya see, that's my whole issue with the merits process. Less stick, more carrot, PLEASE. 
Basically too many 50's to count, but I'm generally a brute/scrapper/tank kind of guy.
[ QUOTE ]
How about letting us finally get account based storage like all the other MMO's have.
Doubleplusungood. We have more than enough (i.e. "any") shared storage in SG bases now.
[/ QUOTE ]As if every single super group in the game has totally trust worthy members. Lets not forget all the SG thefts that have gone on in the past.
Bump and Grind Bane/SoA
Kenja No Ishi Earth/Empathy Controller
Legendary Sannin Ninja/Pain Mastermind
Entoxicated Ninja/PSN Mastermind
Ninja Ryukenden Kat/WP Scrapper
Hellish Thoughts Fire/PSI Dominator
Thank You Devs for Merits!!!!
[ QUOTE ]
Now if you are simply asking that Merits be a tradable resource, or even trade-within-account, I am sorry, but that's not going to happen. Characters of different levels earn Merits at different rates. Merits are supposed to streamline the reward process for that character, and that's not going to be changing any time soon.
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the clarification about this, recent posts made me doubt future merit status. I get the reason behind it. But the end result is: the funnest part of CoX died for me with merits. I rarely play alts anymore. The only thing that is worth it is getting on my merit main and do SF/TF's for merits.
When you think about it, I have not created new alts I played since i13. After all, why bother anymore? If I want to deck out a new brute with IOs, it makes more sense to get all the IOs on my merit main and transfer IOs. But then again, by the time I got enough merits to deck out a second toon on my main... why would I actually create the planned toon? nothing really exciting to do with him that's left except level him up real fast to levels at which he can use merits. And earning merits by playing him in the first place is terribly inefficient.
So while the disparity between merit earning time between chars is a reason not to render merits intra-account, the sheer fact that it exists renders merit earinng on anything less than the optimal toon pointless, thus taking the fun out of creating alts for me.
$.02
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So I guess being forced to play as limited a pool of characters as possible if you want anything more expensive than a random roll is Working As Intended?
[/ QUOTE ]
... I may be misremembering/misunderstanding, but don't you typically get Merits only from situations where previously the only option was random rolls..?
[/ QUOTE ]
That's true, but entirely irrelevant to my point.
[/ QUOTE ]
Uhm, actually it's fairly relevant. It is player choice that has made the market distintegrate; there are just as many opportunities for random rolls as before (actually more, if you consider the merits for mission arc completion). If people are not choosing to take that opportunity, it's hardly the dev's responsibility, now is it?
[/ QUOTE ]Its their responsiblity to fix the issue where we cant select the level of the random roll. That in itself is one of the main reasons why people are hoarding merits and will end up hoarding tickets too. The system by design encourages people to hoard so they can select the specific level they want.
Bump and Grind Bane/SoA
Kenja No Ishi Earth/Empathy Controller
Legendary Sannin Ninja/Pain Mastermind
Entoxicated Ninja/PSN Mastermind
Ninja Ryukenden Kat/WP Scrapper
Hellish Thoughts Fire/PSI Dominator
Thank You Devs for Merits!!!!
[ QUOTE ]
Its their responsiblity to fix the issue where we cant select the level of the random roll. That in itself is one of the main reasons why people are hoarding merits and will end up hoarding tickets too. The system by design encourages people to hoard so they can select the specific level they want.
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, I've been hoarding Merits simply because I can't really think of what I want. I only stopped by a vendor recently to see what's available, and Merits have been out for a while. I could cash some of them in and sell them on the Market, I guess, but I just haven't decided what I want to do yet.
This may be the bigger problem. There just isn't an encouragement to cash in the Merits you don't want to use, except to sell them on the Market. And I don't really see any way to get around this with Tickets either. You can't assign random drops with the MA because of the portion of drops that will be global.
All I can see is this, if merits dont become global and or we dont get some account based storage soon, alot of people are going to get burned out on this system. I understand they want people to play more but this is getting some what rediculous. This game heavily relys on the creation of alts to keep the game fresh, but when you get burned out on all the content and you have little reason to create alts because you dread how long its going to take to get some of the IOs, and playing multiple characters makes it take longer to get even one of the desired rewards. Never would I thought I would see the day when you get punished for making and playing alts .
Bump and Grind Bane/SoA
Kenja No Ishi Earth/Empathy Controller
Legendary Sannin Ninja/Pain Mastermind
Entoxicated Ninja/PSN Mastermind
Ninja Ryukenden Kat/WP Scrapper
Hellish Thoughts Fire/PSI Dominator
Thank You Devs for Merits!!!!
[ QUOTE ]
All I can see is this, if merits dont become global and or we dont get some account based storage soon, alot of people are going to get burned out on this system. I understand they want people to play more but this is getting some what rediculous. This game heavily relys on the creation of alts to keep the game fresh, but when you get burned out on all the content and you have little reason to create alts because you dread how long its going to take to get some of the IOs, and playing multiple characters makes it take longer to get even one of the desired rewards. Never would I thought I would see the day when you get punished for making and playing alts .
[/ QUOTE ]
As opposed to getting punished for teaming, in terms of the regular drops you get?
Face it folks a bit of the CASUAL aspect died in this game when IOs were introduced.
Fortunately some of us don't think that's a totally bad thing.
I do agree that the market (for lower level IOs) needs help.
Blazara Aura LVL 50 Fire/Psi Dom (with 125% recharge)
Flameboxer Aura LVL 50 SS/Fire Brute
Ice 'Em Aura LVL 50 Ice Tank
Darq Widow Fortune LVL 50 Fortunata (200% rech/Night Widow 192.5% rech)--thanks issue 19!
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So I guess being forced to play as limited a pool of characters as possible if you want anything more expensive than a random roll is Working As Intended?
[/ QUOTE ]
... I may be misremembering/misunderstanding, but don't you typically get Merits only from situations where previously the only option was random rolls..?
[/ QUOTE ]
That's true, but entirely irrelevant to my point.
[/ QUOTE ]
Uhm, actually it's fairly relevant. It is player choice that has made the market distintegrate; there are just as many opportunities for random rolls as before (actually more, if you consider the merits for mission arc completion). If people are not choosing to take that opportunity, it's hardly the dev's responsibility, now is it?
[/ QUOTE ]Its their responsiblity to fix the issue where we cant select the level of the random roll. That in itself is one of the main reasons why people are hoarding merits and will end up hoarding tickets too. The system by design encourages people to hoard so they can select the specific level they want.
[/ QUOTE ]
You can't? When did this happen? I can move the level slider just fine to chose which level zone of a reward I want to roll in.
I sit in my zen of not being able to do anything right while simultaniously not being able to do anything wrong. Om. -CuppaJo
It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So I guess being forced to play as limited a pool of characters as possible if you want anything more expensive than a random roll is Working As Intended?
[/ QUOTE ]
... I may be misremembering/misunderstanding, but don't you typically get Merits only from situations where previously the only option was random rolls..?
[/ QUOTE ]
That's true, but entirely irrelevant to my point.
[/ QUOTE ]
Your supposition is a false dilemma. There are still other ways to get desired recipes and enhancements, such as the market. There will also be a way to purchase them through Tickets.