it's because you would level so fast that it's like a car speeding past you, MMMMMMMMEEEEEOOOOWWWW!!! I think vroom would have sufficed, les kitty-confusion.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
apparently the devs DO dislike farming, as the message from synapse seems to confirm, and as the post by Posi also stated. If they were just fixing a flaw that they accidentally put in no one would really be upset (well, someone might be, but the rest of us would ignore those that far out of touch from reality).
[/ QUOTE ]
Honestly I think it's due more to the fact that the MA is flooded with farm missions, making story missions hard to find, which defeats the intended purpose of the Mission Architect, which is to allow you to create stories and play stories that others have created.
[/ QUOTE ]
It also gives the wrong idea about MA. For example, someone gave one of my arcs a low score because "it doesn't auto-SK and gives out very few tickets"
Before the issue came out on test, I half-expected MA critters to act like the Rikti and Zombie invasions do: level-less, etc. Then the level spread of the team wouldn't matter and the exploits that come from choosing critters of this level, and allies of that level to make it 45-53 for example wouldn't be possible.
[ QUOTE ]
it's because you would level so fast that it's like a car speeding past you, MMMMMMMMEEEEEOOOOWWWW!!! I think vroom would have sufficed, les kitty-confusion.
[/ QUOTE ]
ROTFLMBOSMC ("Scaring My Cat")!
This is the first time I read that explanation.
Awesome!
Interesting. I agree with pretty much everthing you said regarding the Mission Architect. I do have one quibble, though:
From what they've said and done, it is my belief that the Devs are not trying to eliminate ALL MArch farming, they're trying to reduce or prevent the MArch missions that are built specifically FOR Farming. As you said, ANY content can be farmed. But there's a difference between that and missions specifically built to produce maximum Reward for minimum Effort.
just my 2 inf. on this, but has anyone else seen the loading screen that says "you can level from 1-50 in Mission Architect"?
[ QUOTE ]
We're not supposed to discuss exploits on the forums and we don't know what's still there or not, but fine...
[/ QUOTE ]
If it's no longer exploitable then I would guess you can discuss it. Just don't discuss current exploits.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm personally still stumped as to why they were called "meow".
[/ QUOTE ]
From what I heard, 42s were called Meows because they were as harmful as kittens for the reward they gave. The Meows were a convention to make them easier to find in MA searches.
The 54s were named Rikti Dolls before they were banned.
[ QUOTE ]
just my 2 inf. on this, but has anyone else seen the loading screen that says "you can level from 1-50 in Mission Architect"?
[/ QUOTE ]
And you can.
Just not in four hours anymore.
<QR>
Personally, if I were the devs, something I'd do with each major change to the MA is get a group of people who knew how to abuse the MA, get them on test and basically go "ok, break it" while datamining their sessions and have them report things to the devs.
Because I don't disagree that there was blatant exploitation. I do disagree that the exploiters are 100% at fault. More like 98-99.5% at fault. Things shouldn't have to be rolled back after being live for weeks because all that does is anger the playerbase and give those who did it cause to say "well, you let it go live, so we weren't supposed to do X or Y?"
[ QUOTE ]
From what I heard, 42s were called Meows because they were as harmful as kittens for the reward they gave. The Meows were a convention to make them easier to find in MA searches.
[/ QUOTE ]
I've also heard rumors that the most popular one when people were first figuring this out had a catgirl as the contact, hence the name.
[ QUOTE ]
just my 2 inf. on this, but has anyone else seen the loading screen that says "you can level from 1-50 in Mission Architect"?
[/ QUOTE ]
You're not supposed to be able to do it in one game session though... 
Cascade, level 50 Blaster (NRG/NRG since before it was cool)
Mechmeister, level 50 Bots / Traps MM
FAR too many non-50 alts to name
[u]Arcs[u]
The Scavenger Hunt: 187076
The Instant Lair Delivery Service: 206636
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
apparently the devs DO dislike farming, as the message from synapse seems to confirm, and as the post by Posi also stated. If they were just fixing a flaw that they accidentally put in no one would really be upset (well, someone might be, but the rest of us would ignore those that far out of touch from reality).
[/ QUOTE ]
no actually - the devs have no problem with players farming missions. legit farming. you want to reset that misison and do it again to farm the kills for a badge or drops? they dont mind at all.
so long as you arent exploiting some loop hole to gain an unfair advantage. using these particular mobs was that loophole. it wasnt farming - it was exploiting.
it's still possible to get stupid amounts of xp out of ma missions. it's also still possible to bridge and get even MORE stupid amounts of xp out of dev created missions. it's also possible for a solo stalker to plevel 7 people on newspaper mission completion bonuses alone. but these arent exploits if they were they would have been fixed years ago.
no. it's not the same thing. the devs arent outlawing farming. they are outlawing exploitive farming. getting twice the xp of a boss from a minion? exploit. making a mission where you hit a glowy for maximum ticket returns every 3-4 minutes over and over? exploitive. making a misison with nothing but lieutenants? not exploitive (since they give normal lieutenant xp and no matter how easy you make 'em, a crowd of lt's will destroy all but a few builds of a few classes)
[/ QUOTE ]
But there are some folks who have been hit with the ban stick even though they didn't use MA. The "Dev Crackdown" on farming isn't being limited to MA alone. (This doesn't include the "mistakes" of banning folks who were only level pact-ed with violators.)
I had published some missions with MA. I have deleted them all, because I have no way of knowing if someone on the other end might decide that my arcs could be used for farming. I asked, and was told, "we can't tell you that." Since I don't want to "accidentally" contribute to someone else's banning, and I don't want to be banned myself, I won't use MA. I will also be damn sure not to level too quickly. (I've started turning off XP every other mission, and deleting all drops from those, just so it won't look like I'm leveling too quickly.)
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
We're not supposed to discuss exploits on the forums and we don't know what's still there or not, but fine...
[/ QUOTE ]
If it's no longer exploitable then I would guess you can discuss it. Just don't discuss current exploits.
[/ QUOTE ]
Umm, that was why he said "and we don't know what's still there or not",
meaning it still might be a sensitive topic to discuss.
.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
We're not supposed to discuss exploits on the forums and we don't know what's still there or not, but fine...
[/ QUOTE ]
If it's no longer exploitable then I would guess you can discuss it. Just don't discuss current exploits.
[/ QUOTE ]
Umm, that was why he said "and we don't know what's still there or not",
meaning it still might be a sensitive topic to discuss.
.
[/ QUOTE ]
And based on the fact that after a few people responded to my post rambling post, I got a PM from a non-dev asking me what exploits are still in the game... -___- ...yeah.
Someone upthread said
[ QUOTE ]
I'm personally still stumped as to why they were called "meow".
[/ QUOTE ]
I pretty much figured it was because if you called them "farm" you might draw attention.
It's two steps up from a guy in junior high school talking about "reeb".
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
[ QUOTE ]
The Devs never intended to have Rikti Comm Officers act the way they did, it was a complete oversight on their part, when the "Special" versions were included in the MA. That was their fault, as they should have realized the differences in the Spawn of that Critter.
[/ QUOTE ]
Not true. Before alot of you started playing, Rikti Comm Officers gave normal xp but the Rikti Portals and minions also gave xp. The portals gave ridiculous amounts. People were farming the Comm Officers for the Portals. When they nerfed it, they increased the XP of Comm Officers.
If I recall, the other NPC that got nerfed around the same time were the BP Death Shamans.
@Ra Ra
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The Devs never intended to have Rikti Comm Officers act the way they did, it was a complete oversight on their part, when the "Special" versions were included in the MA. That was their fault, as they should have realized the differences in the Spawn of that Critter.
[/ QUOTE ]
Not true. Before alot of you started playing, Rikti Comm Officers gave normal xp but the Rikti Portals and minions also gave xp. The portals gave ridiculous amounts. People were farming the Comm Officers for the Portals. When they nerfed it, they increased the XP of Comm Officers.
If I recall, the other NPC that got nerfed around the same time were the BP Death Shamans.
[/ QUOTE ]
I dont recall the summoned rikti giving xp but i know the portals gave large xp up untill very recently when they took all XP from portals but gave comms rikti LT xp but minion HPs. Reason being in the RWZ people were running around tagging the portals and running off, after a while they despawned and the free xp would flow.
[ QUOTE ]
(I've started turning off XP every other mission, and deleting all drops from those, just so it won't look like I'm leveling too quickly.)
[/ QUOTE ]
Wow. You must be a super stud of power levelling if you really think that that's necessary.
Either that or you're overreacting.
[ QUOTE ]
Looks to me like you couldn't just 'roll up' a meow without considerable forethought.
Which takes the "I didn't know it could be used for farming!!!" argument, wads it up, and tosses it in the oubliette. Exploit city, this.
[/ QUOTE ]
Oh horsepucky, unless you mean specifically the exact mission described above. One of the first things I did in AE, for my own amusement and because I do things like this in any editor I get my hands on, is pick a map and fill it the [censored] out with all kinds of allies, protect objects, ambushes, patrols, just maxed it out like crazy and when I play that map currently it's insane XP and probably looks like a "farm" or whatever may or may not have been defined above.
This thread is blowing my mind. Someone asks what "meow is" one person says "i'll PM you" and then we get like 5 explanations of it anyway and 2 pages later people are still wondering what it is and asking to also be PM'ed when it's been explained perfectly well already.
Then we have a comparison of tools, AE to Hammer and some dingbat thinks it's a comparison of AE to Murder. 
Folks that blame the player over the AE don't realize that this self same argument has been going on in the form of gun control and 2nd amendment rights for YEARS now. If the "real world" can't come to an agreement about "guns don't kill people / people kill people" how are you going to suddenly come to a consensus in a video game with very little in the way of "serious" consequences.
Video game and software developers have had the BS luxury of pushing out faulty product and patching it live for years now. They need to realize if they take advantage of this tactic they must also eat the [censored] that comes from it. If you don't want people doing some specific thing with the AE tool then don't publish it until you are satisfied that it can not be used to do that specific thing. If you are forthcoming with what you do and don't want it to be used for and consistent in you design and implementation then you'll have a lot less smokescreen for the end users to rant through and a solid base for you to proselytize from about what you intend for it to do/not do.
Okay that was a bit angry of a post so I'll leave you with this quote from The Office.
"Pam: When a child gets behind the wheel of a car and runs into a tree, You don't blame the child. He didn't know any better. You blame the 30-year-old woman who got in the passenger seat and said, "Drive, kid. I trust you."
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The Devs never intended to have Rikti Comm Officers act the way they did, it was a complete oversight on their part, when the "Special" versions were included in the MA. That was their fault, as they should have realized the differences in the Spawn of that Critter.
[/ QUOTE ]
Not true. Before alot of you started playing, Rikti Comm Officers gave normal xp but the Rikti Portals and minions also gave xp. The portals gave ridiculous amounts. People were farming the Comm Officers for the Portals. When they nerfed it, they increased the XP of Comm Officers.
If I recall, the other NPC that got nerfed around the same time were the BP Death Shamans.
[/ QUOTE ]
I dont recall the summoned rikti giving xp but i know the portals gave large xp up untill very recently when they took all XP from portals but gave comms rikti LT xp but minion HPs. Reason being in the RWZ people were running around tagging the portals and running off, after a while they despawned and the free xp would flow.
[/ QUOTE ]
If you had been around longer you would know that they indeed used to give XP for the portal and for the summoned rikti too, just add it as a precursor to what you just talked about.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Looks to me like you couldn't just 'roll up' a meow without considerable forethought.
Which takes the "I didn't know it could be used for farming!!!" argument, wads it up, and tosses it in the oubliette. Exploit city, this.
[/ QUOTE ]
Oh horsepucky, unless you mean specifically the exact mission described above.
[/ QUOTE ]
The exact mission, yes.
* It had a specific known-to-be-high-xp target mob.
* it was set to a known-to-be-high-xp LEVEL. One object was placed to force everyone to auto-sk to the optimum level.
* The 'allies' were specifically constructed to provide defense even when set to Passive (so no diminishing returns on XP or tickets), and their benefits would also stack as you 'rescued' more of them. This makes the mobs less and less likely to be dangerous.
* the map was HUGE and had an insane number of spawn points.
At first glance, it looks 'random' but I don't think you could just throw something like this together, you had to think about what you were building.
Thus, "I didn't know my mission was being farmed!" is, using your term, horsepucky.
"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."
[ QUOTE ]
At first glance, it looks 'random' but I don't think you could just throw something like this together, you had to think about what you were building.
Thus, "I didn't know my mission was being farmed!" is, using your term, horsepucky.
[/ QUOTE ]
I think there's a miniscule chance that the ORIGINAL mission was designed by a TRULY demented 37th level scrapper, who wanted to take on some +5 Rikti. Or, given the number of allies, maybe it was an equally demented, albeit squishier, 37th level insert-other-AT here. And when I say "miniscule", I mean something like less than half a percent probability.
Now, even if that were the case, it all fell apart when the first lower-than-37th buddy played it and got more XP's than s/he could carry, and either told someone else or made their own. And the odds that NONE of the creators of the other 73,497 or so, very-quickly-pulled-by-the-devs knock-off farms DIDN'T know what they were doing?!
Probably about the same odds of someone hitting the lottery... ...while being struck by lightning...while being eaten by a shark.
"But it wasn't anything some purples and oranges and lots of screaming in fear couldn't handle." -- Werner
30 level 50's: 12 scrappers, 7 other random melee types, 11 blaster/blapper/support squishies, two accounts, and a TON of altitis since 4/28/04
[ QUOTE ]
I'm personally still stumped as to why they were called "meow".
[/ QUOTE ]
The same reason gamers started using the term 'pwned', some kid miskeyed the word owned, his friends who saw it thought it was cool and thus it spread. Just like a lot of the 'l33t speak' out there. Someone who REALLY likes cats wanted to mark their mission so their friends could fins it and so put the word meow in the title. Their friends searched for it and then their arcs used the same thing.
There were plenty of farm MArcs what were not so marked but so many of them were and so many others thought it was cool that it spread.
Note that NONE of the above is based on actual evidence or knowledge on my part, just a study of human nature. It might have been because the first Meow farm mission builder asked their cat what to call the MArc for all I know... 
"Comics, you're not a Mastermind...you're an Overlord!"
[ QUOTE ]
If you didn't get penalized and didn't fall into the window of exploitive conduct then you're in the clear.
[/ QUOTE ]
Until you get banned.
We've heard of apologies and free 30 days of game play being handed out by NcSoft, so hopefully all of the wrong bannings have been fixed.