[ QUOTE ]
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Let's add on to that the creation of anything involving the MA system:
Involves considerable effort to populate and choose maps (which may be gone the next patch), and fill in good writing into all the blanks, using a clunky, character-limited text editing interface (for those who are serious about it),
plus the repeated runs to test for balance/challenge factor (which can again change without warning from patch to patch)
all in an attempt to either enjoy the map for oneself (except repeated playthroughs may just hit an invisible tripwire that calls CS attention to your map)
or to attract other players to your arc for fame and recognition, with a borked rating system, a proportion of players who are no longer interested in playing anything MA due to reasons stated above, and the added risk that as you get more popular, people may mark you down or find something in your arc to "report for content."
Following which, your arc might get pulled due to overreaction about possible farms (be it CS following their hunches or a player reporting what they perceive to be a farm) or some other nebulous "you know it when you see it" guidelines.
My personal reaction? Meh. Too much trouble for now.
Perhaps in I15 or Going Rogue, they'll put in more flexibility for choosing powers and branching dialogue choice systems for better storytelling, and/or have worked out all the "farm/not farm" kinks.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, this. Way too much risk for way too little reward.
... um, I mean too much work, for too little return. Yeah.
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There you go. Another few reason to raise hell over ticket nerfing. Even has the fear factor in it. Sweet. : D
Player on Infinity server
Overlord of "The Fiend Army"
39 Level 50 Toons
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I can't report on other peoples' moods, but I can report on mine: I'm avoiding MA until issue 15 at the earliest, but not because of nerfs. Until the rating and search systems get improved, it's as useless as the paps on a boar hog. The nerfs make me hopeful that some day the system will be used for story telling, and not power leveling. The only part of the nerfing process that makes me angry is that there is no sign that Positron has carried through on his threat, which is why whenever I pass through Atlas Park or Cap au Diable on Virtue, it is increasingly evident that people have concluded he was bluffing. And they may be right, for all I can tell. I hope he's not; if the powerleveling gets back out of control the way it was because Paragon Studios doesn't have the guts to penalize blatant exploiters, MA, and for that matter much of the rest of the game, will be dead to me.
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Someone needs to stop caring so much about what other people do with their playtime...
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QFT, the sheer amount of Stop Having Fun Guys from my fellow roleplayers towards the hardcores is absolutely [censored] disgusting. ;/
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And look, a flame war! WHOOHOO can I fan the flames?
Basically if farmers/PL'rs had just keep their exploits quiet, nothing would have happened. As it happened, all the farming/pl stuff FLOODED every aspect of AE and so people complained. Stop acting like you guys were just quietly playing in the corner when it was more like a massive block party.
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"You guys"? So you think the non-farmers and RPers are causing the problem?
Ohhh, wait, I get it. You thought because I was commenting on the annoying display of schadenfreude that I actually was one of these despised farmers, rather than someone who genuinely doesn't care how other people spend their time having fun.
You know what assuming makes you...
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I saw someone dissing someone else unnecessarily. I just wanted to jump on the bandwagon. 
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I wasnt dissing anyone. Just saying that as a person who roleplays a lot, I was absolutely horrified by how many people took the potential threat of farmer bans as reasons to rejoice that everyone who didn't like farming was getting to force their mode of play on farmers. Ironically just like how they claim farmers are forcing their playstyle on others.
Want comedy and lighthearted action? Between levels 1-14? Try Nuclear in 90 - The Fusionette Task Force!
Arc ID 58363!
Anyone seriously posting using the words "fear" or "scared" to describe their feelings about the MA is pretty dumb. Unless you leveled from 1 to 50 in an hour 6 times over a day the entire time it was possible and then sold your account, I don't think you need to worry.
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Spending a half hour playing any content, and only getting 200 tickets feels like I'm banging my head off a wall.
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Wait, what?
Using medium sized maps, default groups or custom groups with the full mix of minions, lieutenants, and bosses, every mission I've ever written has given somewhere around 140 to 200 tickets per mission. That's more like 10 to 15 minutes per mission, not half an hour, but still.
The only way that I know to raise the tickets/mission is to use large maps and eliminate minions ... at which point I (quite rightly) get graded down for content that is arbitrarily long, arbitrarily hard, and hostile to most characters' builds.
Do you know something that I don't, about designing high-ticket-count missions? Or are you saying that unless every spawn is all bosses, a mission is a waste of your time? What am I missing, or misunderstanding, here?
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Thanks Joyce.
So these people that are afraid of running anything involving the MA system:
Are afraid that their character might get removed and/or account banned based on criteria not given to the player.
Coupled with a ticket cap and reduce xp from custom mobs... gives them no reason to use the MA system over standard paper missions.
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Joyce's post did give the criteria. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to know when something is an extreme exploit. The Rikti Comm abusers and fire imp exploiters knew exactly what they were doing. Unless you're do something very similar, there's nothing to fear.
The examples have been given. It is impossible to define *exactly* what can be an exploit, because if they knew about all of them, they would be addressed. Players will always find a way to get around the system; they do so at their own risk.
Positron made it clear in his FAQ that "normal" farming is not in danger. It's only the extreme, worst of the worst exploits that are.
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Thanks Joyce.
So these people that are afraid of running anything involving the MA system:
Are afraid that their character might get removed and/or account banned based on criteria not given to the player.
Coupled with a ticket cap and reduce xp from custom mobs... gives them no reason to use the MA system over standard paper missions.
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Joyce's post did give the criteria. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to know when something is an extreme exploit. The Rikti Comm abusers and fire imp exploiters knew exactly what they were doing. Unless you're do something very similar, there's nothing to fear.
The examples have been given. It is impossible to define *exactly* what can be an exploit, because if they knew about all of them, they would be addressed. Players will always find a way to get around the system; they do so at their own risk.
Positron made it clear in his FAQ that "normal" farming is not in danger. It's only the extreme, worst of the worst exploits that are.
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they knew about these exploits and they didnt take care of them...
Lots of 50's yada yada. still finding fun things to do.
Cthulhu loves you, better start running
I�! I�! Gg�gorsch�a�bha egurtsa�ar�ug d� Dalhor! Cthluhu fthagn! Cthluhu fthagn!
You are in a maze of twisty little passages
Your reasoning: irrelevant.
Rules: forbidden: use of exploits: in place: prior.
Paragon Studios: personnel: 50 employees.
Players: superior numbers: vast.
Paragon Studios: code lockdown: 5th Anniversary.
Code changes: forbidden.
Analogy: fewer cops: more drivers; speeding: remains illegal.
Upright stance: lower ambulatory appendage: lacking.
"City of Heroes. April 27, 2004 - August 31, 2012. Obliterated not with a weapon of mass destruction, not by an all-powerful supervillain... but by a cold-hearted and cowardly corporate suck-up."
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Your reasoning: irrelevant.
Rules: forbidden: use of exploits: in place: prior.
.
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Glad they told people that an enemy that was behaving exactly as it always had was an exploit.
Its also good that there were clear and consistent guidelines on what xp/tickets could/should be expected from a mission or an enemy
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thread halted: dog won't hunt error
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Well I guess we will know that when we see it
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Glad they told people that an enemy that was behaving exactly as it always had was an exploit.
Its also good that there were clear and consistent guidelines on what xp/tickets could/should be expected from a mission or an enemy
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hahahahahahaha yeah right.
C'mon. If you thought you were "supposed" to be able to level that fast with basically no risk, you were delusional.
And has Positron banned you yet? Has he deleted any of your characters? De-leveled any? How about your friends? Any of them get hit yet? No? How about any person you've interacted with in the game? Not a single one? Oh, wow. Then maybe just maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe you're all over reacting.
NAH! Couldn't be that at all.
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C'mon. If you thought you were "supposed" to be able to level that fast with basically no risk, you were delusional.
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The comm officers ? I have seen very high speed leveling on freak and other farms. You would expect the comms to go even faster as there would be a full team of 8 working the map instead of 1 or 2 working the map and the rest sitting back
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And has Positron banned you yet? Has he deleted any of your characters? De-leveled any? How about your friends? Any of them get hit yet? No? How about any person you've interacted with in the game? Not a single one? Oh, wow. Then maybe just maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe you're all over reacting.
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How would you know ?
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Your reasoning: irrelevant.
Rules: forbidden: use of exploits: in place: prior.
Paragon Studios: personnel: 50 employees.
Players: superior numbers: vast.
Paragon Studios: code lockdown: 5th Anniversary.
Code changes: forbidden.
Analogy: fewer cops: more drivers; speeding: remains illegal.
Upright stance: lower ambulatory appendage: lacking.
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answer:bs
Lots of 50's yada yada. still finding fun things to do.
Cthulhu loves you, better start running
I�! I�! Gg�gorsch�a�bha egurtsa�ar�ug d� Dalhor! Cthluhu fthagn! Cthluhu fthagn!
You are in a maze of twisty little passages
[ QUOTE ]
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Glad they told people that an enemy that was behaving exactly as it always had was an exploit.
Its also good that there were clear and consistent guidelines on what xp/tickets could/should be expected from a mission or an enemy
[/ QUOTE ]
hahahahahahaha yeah right.
C'mon. If you thought you were "supposed" to be able to level that fast with basically no risk, you were delusional.
And has Positron banned you yet? Has he deleted any of your characters? De-leveled any? How about your friends? Any of them get hit yet? No? How about any person you've interacted with in the game? Not a single one? Oh, wow. Then maybe just maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe you're all over reacting.
NAH! Couldn't be that at all.
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here is a hint: if I point a gun at you, you are threatened. I dont have to pull the trigger for it to be wrong.
Lots of 50's yada yada. still finding fun things to do.
Cthulhu loves you, better start running
I�! I�! Gg�gorsch�a�bha egurtsa�ar�ug d� Dalhor! Cthluhu fthagn! Cthluhu fthagn!
You are in a maze of twisty little passages
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Anyone seriously posting using the words "fear" or "scared" to describe their feelings about the MA is pretty dumb. Unless you leveled from 1 to 50 in an hour 6 times over a day the entire time it was possible and then sold your account, I don't think you need to worry.
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Good idea, mocking people who are honestly worried that their arcs and/or characters are going to be destroyed does SO much to reassure people and improve their confidence. You should be a psychologist.
"I am scared to leave the house because I think there are thieves and murderers on the subway"
"You freaking wuss! They only attack RICH people! Stop being such a baby and get on the damned subway!"
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And has Positron banned you yet? Has he deleted any of your characters? De-leveled any? How about your friends? Any of them get hit yet? No? How about any person you've interacted with in the game? Not a single one? Oh, wow. Then maybe just maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe you're all over reacting.
NAH! Couldn't be that at all.
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Yes, as a matter of fact, It has happened. and discussing exactly who and why will get ME banned from the forums. Please stop proudly holding up your ignorance as 'proof'.
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MA missions are fun, for many reasons:<ul type="square">[*]The variety of endless content[*]Unpredictability of custom mobs[*]Contact/story is ungated and available to any character, just pick from the list[*]The synopsis tells you (with the exception of AV/EBs) what you're doing ahead of time: Defeats, patrols, hostage rescue, etc.[*]The ability to tell your own stories[*]Sidekicking/Exemplaring teams of disparate levels[*]Buy the rare/uncommon salvage you need[/list]
So whoopeedoo, the farmers are (mostly) gone and the population in the MA buildings is less; cry doom. This is what I'm seeing:
<ul type="square">[*]Normal players are still playing MA, and in many cases have returned after being turned off and away by all the farming and farm spam. [*]I'm seeing people actually play my arc because they can find it. And people like it. [*]Farming is still going on to a much lesser degree. It's quieter, moved to private channels and SGs, but it's still there. The farmers just use smaller maps or reset... like in the regular game.[/list]
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I'm finding the same thing. Just a few days ago I had under a hundred players and was wondering if I would EVER get the 100-player badge. Then the "nerf" happened - and suddenly my count jumped up to 118. (My arc isn't a farm, so I was never going to get that traffic.)
But somehow with less MArc players, more are finding me. And feels great!
Really? Some one else said if you're getting more than 600 or so tickets, you're doing it wrong?
Wow... Did one amazing Troll/Dyne Bust that took a team of 8, and several trips to the hospital, and one or two team wipes (at lvl 43 BTW) over an hour to complete... We never did clear the entire map of spawns either, we fought to the end of the objective... I still think my 2600 tickets weren't too much... It wasn't an outright gold roll but certainly worth a shot at that Call of the Sandman I've been coveting... Certainly was less than the comm officer fiasco and MORE time/risk but certainly MORE rewarding...
The tickets, and the ability to finally start getting back the good drops for content since merits arrived really energized my play... I expected and desired corrections on AE, but the first heavy Nerf Whack put me off, and the ticket cap made me change all my search parameters to "NO AE"
In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?"
-- Real Genius
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Its been about a week since the "nerf" and since that time, once again servers are back to normal population. Before...I had fun and it was fun to see all the players jumping online.
What kind of vibe is the community getting since the nerf ingame?
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My mood ring is showing kind of a blue-green plaid with a hint of orange trim. But I lost the little card that came with it, so I don't know what that means.
I'm thinking it's probably "Doom", but that's just a guess.
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Actually that means you have the "will"power to overcome your fear, and you've been chosen to inspire "hope" to the galaxy. But be careful though, since you look to be tempted by "greed!" 
As long as you stay away from black rings you'll be safe from the real "Doom". 
But to get back on topic, I STILL have a list of MA arcs to run from my friends and aquaintences and the list continues to grow as more people advertise and create new ones. I have yet to post/publish my own arcs because of two reasons, one is negative content-critique and the other is i'm determined to do something better than whats out there now. The latter unfortunately is the worse because there are good arcs that are forcing to raise the bar again and again.
I had always thought that was the intention and purpose of MA architect, to enjoy new make-believe content like making a zombie-map in Counter-Strike, or your own dungueon in a hack/slash game and all lvls/tix/loots was the bonus. So far, that hasn't changed for me at all.
*now when i look at the badge-list, thats another story! 
Main Server:Victory
***"When you surround an enemy, leave an outlet free [...] to make him believe there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair." Sun Tzu ***
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MA missions are fun, for many reasons:<ul type="square">[*]The variety of endless content[*]Unpredictability of custom mobs[*]Contact/story is ungated and available to any character, just pick from the list[*]The synopsis tells you (with the exception of AV/EBs) what you're doing ahead of time: Defeats, patrols, hostage rescue, etc.[*]The ability to tell your own stories[*]Sidekicking/Exemplaring teams of disparate levels[*]Buy the rare/uncommon salvage you need[/list]
So whoopeedoo, the farmers are (mostly) gone and the population in the MA buildings is less; cry doom. This is what I'm seeing:
<ul type="square">[*]Normal players are still playing MA, and in many cases have returned after being turned off and away by all the farming and farm spam. [*]I'm seeing people actually play my arc because they can find it. And people like it. [*]Farming is still going on to a much lesser degree. It's quieter, moved to private channels and SGs, but it's still there. The farmers just use smaller maps or reset... like in the regular game.[/list]
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I'm finding the same thing. Just a few days ago I had under a hundred players and was wondering if I would EVER get the 100-player badge. Then the "nerf" happened - and suddenly my count jumped up to 118. (My arc isn't a farm, so I was never going to get that traffic.)
But somehow with less MArc players, more are finding me. And feels great!
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I had 300+ plays before the bans. I fail to see a huge upswing in my vote count since. :P
Want comedy and lighthearted action? Between levels 1-14? Try Nuclear in 90 - The Fusionette Task Force!
Arc ID 58363!
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And has Positron banned you yet? Has he deleted any of your characters? De-leveled any? How about your friends? Any of them get hit yet? No? How about any person you've interacted with in the game? Not a single one? Oh, wow. Then maybe just maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe you're all over reacting.
NAH! Couldn't be that at all.
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Yes, as a matter of fact, It has happened. and discussing exactly who and why will get ME banned from the forums. Please stop proudly holding up your ignorance as 'proof'.
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Dean wormer will put you on double secret probation. jk
Lots of 50's yada yada. still finding fun things to do.
Cthulhu loves you, better start running
I�! I�! Gg�gorsch�a�bha egurtsa�ar�ug d� Dalhor! Cthluhu fthagn! Cthluhu fthagn!
You are in a maze of twisty little passages
[ QUOTE ]
"I am scared to leave the house because I think there are thieves and murderers on the subway"
"You freaking wuss! They only attack RICH people! Stop being such a baby and get on the damned subway!"
[/ QUOTE ]
No.
A better analogy would be:
"I broke a bunch of rules, told friends how to break the rules. We all profited grossly in excess of normal earnings and now we're acting surprised that this was noticed. We shall proceed to run around like chickens with our heads cut off ignoring the warnings given by the big bosses on the topic. Personal responsibility? Never heard of it."
I know of only one person that got a character locked. They went 1-50 in well under three hours.
If you've written a story-focused arc, it's not likely going to get zapped.
If you've written a one-mission trial arc, it will likely not get zapped.
If your arc levels someone 1-20 in 15-20 minutes;
If your arc got people 20,000+ tickets;
If your arc gives VASTLY more rewards than a normal mission arc would;
Then you have cause to be worried.
Questions about the game, either side? /t @Neuronia or @Neuronium, with your queries!
168760: A Death in the Gish. 3 missions, 1-14. Easy to solo.
Infinity Villains
Champion, Pinnacle, Virtue Heroes
Well last night I went back to tinkering with the MA. I looked at my one arc has been starred, with 10+plays and 6 bothered to rate it.
It's meant to be lowbie troller/defender soloable. It deliberately skipped mez protections and ranged attacks, 2 allies to help and was mostly minions, 1 "boss" LT to beat at the end. You could pull enough minions to get in trouble, but overall, quite doable. Pre patch adding ranged attacks it had been rated 5,4,4,4... post patch 1, 1 (best as I can figure). with a complaint that it was fun but not soloable... So I've pulled it.
Just very annoying and discouraging. It does not make me want to put time and effort into building and testing more missions for another couple weeks until I'm sure they won't pull any more big changes.
I find it rather amusing that two people in this thread are championing the nerfs because they got more plays.
So you're proud your arc got votes, that is great, happiness at the expense of others *shakes head*, rather selfish, if you're happy that is fine, to crow about it is immature, and just shows facets of your personality that won't show you in a good light to others.
I keep my blasters out of MA, they die too fast with the melee ranged damage, one is 42 with PFF, the other is 12.
My scrappers, brutes, mastermind, tanks, they can take it, and keep going, my squishies, well, ....no, and I don't have 120+ million inf to IO them, that shouldn't even be NECESSARY should it, it's not supposed to impact my playing if I don't want it, or so the devs said..
I'm currently trying to design an arc thats squishie friendly, I'm running into dead ends, I may have to use normal npcs, but that ruins the whole concept I had, this is trying to write a thrilling novel, but being told you can only use certain words out of the language, and it cannot possibly go out of bounds, cannot even hint of any sort of thing inside that another book ever had, and other restrictions.
It's like trying to play hopscotch with only two squares, the 10 and the 1, trying to figure out how to get there is a rapidly eating my patience, I'll just leave it until they get their act together.
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Let's add on to that the creation of anything involving the MA system:
Involves considerable effort to populate and choose maps (which may be gone the next patch), and fill in good writing into all the blanks, using a clunky, character-limited text editing interface (for those who are serious about it),
plus the repeated runs to test for balance/challenge factor (which can again change without warning from patch to patch)
all in an attempt to either enjoy the map for oneself (except repeated playthroughs may just hit an invisible tripwire that calls CS attention to your map)
or to attract other players to your arc for fame and recognition, with a borked rating system, a proportion of players who are no longer interested in playing anything MA due to reasons stated above, and the added risk that as you get more popular, people may mark you down or find something in your arc to "report for content."
Following which, your arc might get pulled due to overreaction about possible farms (be it CS following their hunches or a player reporting what they perceive to be a farm) or some other nebulous "you know it when you see it" guidelines.
My personal reaction? Meh. Too much trouble for now.
Perhaps in I15 or Going Rogue, they'll put in more flexibility for choosing powers and branching dialogue choice systems for better storytelling, and/or have worked out all the "farm/not farm" kinks.
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Yeah, this. Way too much risk for way too little reward.
... um, I mean too much work, for too little return. Yeah.
"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty."
"Nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man."
- Thomas Jefferson