Issues of tactics are not solely regulated to Defender issues, but I think it is a good policy to provide information if it appears people on the team do not uderstand the mechanics of the character you are playing.
Often times such coorindation can improve the team effectiveness. On such example, I was playing my tanker on a Sister Psyche TF and we had a stormy with hurricane who understood his class.
As the tanker I would pull toward corners instead of standing in the mob and he would round them up nicely keeping them in the corner while the rest of the team would whittle them down.
Had the stormy and I failed to coordinate our efforts the team dynamic would not have been as effective.
This is also why I advocate playing each AT.
I agree with what you say. I like how you and the storm synergized your powers and preferences for success. I think this is a layer on top of my original point that defenders don't know what their powersets do, and there is fatally flawed understanding of defender powers in general, especially when folks assume you are a pure dark because you don't use a player targetted heal on them when they are low on health.
Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.
If people don't want to get informed of the game that they're playing..... [censored] them.
I'm honestly tired of it all, worn out. Let a "new generation" of mentors teach the people that don't want to learn on their own.
there will always be noobs, sometimes i feel the same way "The_Player" but i always seem to find myself exemplaring down to the 1-15 range on my main more often then playing with people above say 35.
Yes, there are those stubborn people who just cant/dont/refuse learn how to play their powerset. Now i understand if some n00b scrapper doesn't know how a Dark/-- Defender works because hes a noob. And i only expect him to understand his own class for now. As time goes on and as he teams with more dark/-- defenders and as he plays alts, he'll start to get the idea of how each powerset works.
You cant expect some casual n00b to know EVERYTHING. yeha common sense is neccesary but agian. I don't expect a n00b X to know anything about class Y yet.
Patience. We don't want this game full of jerks (like some other MMO's i wont name) that dont help the n00bs but instead expect them to be "This" powerful and "That" knowledgeable before even considering teaming with them. Well how the hell do you expect them to learn if you don't communicate and help them yourself?
Whining about everything since 2006.
Ammo switching for Dual Pistols was my idea:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=135484
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there will always be noobs, sometimes i feel the same way "The_Player" but i always seem to find myself exemplaring down to the 1-15 range on my main more often then playing with people above say 35.
Yes, there are those stubborn people who just cant/dont/refuse learn how to play their powerset. Now i understand if some n00b scrapper doesn't know how a Dark/-- Defender works because hes a noob. And i only expect him to understand his own class for now. As time goes on and as he teams with more dark/-- defenders and as he plays alts, he'll start to get the idea of how each powerset works.
You cant expect some casual n00b to know EVERYTHING. yeha common sense is neccesary but agian. I don't expect a n00b X to know anything about class Y yet.
Patience. We don't want this game full of jerks (like some other MMO's i wont name) that dont help the n00bs but instead expect them to be "This" powerful and "That" knowledgeable before even considering teaming with them. Well how the hell do you expect them to learn if you don't communicate and help them yourself?
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Well, I think The_Player has mentored more people than I have (I'm pretty sure I even learned something from some of his previous posts... I'll refer you to, for example, http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat....e#Post10337647) I think he's already exemplified at least as much patience as is reasonable to ask of someone.
One thing that frustrates me more often than not on pick up groups is that even when you demonstrate an effective technique, sometimes they don't pick up on it (even after being hit on the head with a clue-by-four.) I've managed to lose my patience and insist on getting some sort of buff, or asking the team to position themselves in such a way, or let me manage aggro for the team (which I do more often on non-tanks than tanks). Usually, when this happens, things go well (if I'm annoyed and I want to prove a point, I'll prove it even if I have to rely on inspirations to do so.) But almost invariably, after that shining moment of glory, where superior tactics were demonstrated to all present, the team reverts to its previous strategies.
This is not to say that I've never seen evidence that people learn: it's one of the reasons that I still often play in the Hollows on my low level alts. (The other reason is that I'm sure I don't know all the good players on my server, and hopefully they occasionally run pickups too.) But there are only so many times that you can hear things like, "slow down, guys, I'm not getting a chance to kill anything!" from a newbie scrapper after you and an SGmate have been cajoling him into speeding up.
I remember what it was like when I first got on some teams that steamrollered through invincible missions. Once I got over my awe, I tried to figure out what they were doing that I wasn't doing. I get frustrated when other people don't seem to have the capability to do that. (Isn't the game better once you know how to play well? That was my personal experience...)
If I get annoyed at a noob because he hasn't learned something due to never being exposed to it, that's my own fault. But if I get annoyed at a noob because he hasn't learned something in spite of the fact that not only has he been exposed to enough information to figure out how to play it properly, but also been watching while someone else showed him how to do it and explained it to him, that's his fault.
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If people don't want to get informed of the game that they're playing..... [censored] them.
I'm honestly tired of it all, worn out. Let a "new generation" of mentors teach the people that don't want to learn on their own.
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AE IMO has brought on a whole new level of ignorance about the characters people are playing. It seems that people are leveling SO fast that they don't get enough time to play with their powers and to get good at using them. 'Back in my day' I would get a new power screw around with it solo or on a friends team to see how it works and then when I got an idea take it to the public. Doesn't work that way anymore. I try to drop knowledge once on people and if they accept it, I will give them more, If not I either just shut up and let them play how they want or if it is bad enough I leave.
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But there are only so many times that you can hear things like, "slow down, guys, I'm not getting a chance to kill anything!" from a newbie scrapper after you and an SGmate have been cajoling him into speeding up.
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To be fair... I've been that guy. I was SK'd up to 49 from 35, on an issue 3 team of an old school Spine/Regen and an Empath, and badguys were going down WAY faster than I was used to.
Learning the "tab, tab, f,1,2,f, 6 " dance - or whatever I'm doing- to attack people is NOT intuitive and DOES take time to become part of your nervous system. I don't even know what I'm doing on a mechanical level any more. I just zip over to that guy and stab him, slide a little left for the AOE, etc. I don't know when I turn sprint on and off. I don't know when I'm toggling "follow" on and off. Last night I noticed myself toggling a melee attack, jumping over a badguy to tap him with it. I noticed because that's a Tank move (the cones don't end up pointed towards the party) and I was doing it on a Blaster. Quite automatically.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
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AE IMO has brought on a whole new level of ignorance about the characters people are playing. It seems that people are leveling SO fast that they don't get enough time to play with their powers and to get good at using them...
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SO very true!
I've been seeing 35+ tanks that run into herds, mid-mission mind you, without any toggles going. I've had 'fenders stumble right into the middle of a mob that we're killing with hurricane spinning 'round him... the whole time spamming "I love Hurricane!". I've even seen a 28 tank run into a fat pack of foes, die almost instantly, and when asked what enhancements he was running, he says "None." While I love the AE system, the lack of knowledge is becoming far too common in higher level players.
Oh... and if one more level 50 team leader asks me if I'm a healer when I'm standing next to him with green glowing eyes and a huge Radiation Trifoil on my chest, I'm going to shoot someone... 
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But there are only so many times that you can hear things like, "slow down, guys, I'm not getting a chance to kill anything!" from a newbie scrapper after you and an SGmate have been cajoling him into speeding up.
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To be fair... I've been that guy. I was SK'd up to 49 from 35, on an issue 3 team of an old school Spine/Regen and an Empath, and badguys were going down WAY faster than I was used to.
Learning the "tab, tab, f,1,2,f, 6 " dance - or whatever I'm doing- to attack people is NOT intuitive and DOES take time to become part of your nervous system. I don't even know what I'm doing on a mechanical level any more. I just zip over to that guy and stab him, slide a little left for the AOE, etc. I don't know when I turn sprint on and off. I don't know when I'm toggling "follow" on and off. Last night I noticed myself toggling a melee attack, jumping over a badguy to tap him with it. I noticed because that's a Tank move (the cones don't end up pointed towards the party) and I was doing it on a Blaster. Quite automatically.
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Well, before I figured out how to do that on my scrappers, I had to watch other people do it. And honestly, we *were* in the Hollows, it's not like we were going *that* fast.
But isn't it fun to play a blaster like a tank? Lately, I've been finding that I'm playing my emp/rad as a blapper...
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AE IMO has brought on a whole new level of ignorance about the characters people are playing. It seems that people are leveling SO fast that they don't get enough time to play with their powers and to get good at using them...
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SO very true!
I've been seeing 35+ tanks that run into herds, mid-mission mind you, without any toggles going. I've had 'fenders stumble right into the middle of a mob that we're killing with hurricane spinning 'round him... the whole time spamming "I love Hurricane!". I've even seen a 28 tank run into a fat pack of foes, die almost instantly, and when asked what enhancements he was running, he says "None." While I love the AE system, the lack of knowledge is becoming far too common in higher level players.
Oh... and if one more level 50 team leader asks me if I'm a healer when I'm standing next to him with green glowing eyes and a huge Radiation Trifoil on my chest, I'm going to shoot someone...
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AE noobs remind me of the following scene from Aliens:
Ripley: How many drops is this for you, Lieutenant?
Gorman: Thirty eight... simulated.
Vasquez: How many *combat* drops?
Gorman: Uh, two. Including this one.
Drake: (expletive)
Hudson: Oh, man...
Lt Gorman is an AE noob.
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AE IMO has brought on a whole new level of ignorance about the characters people are playing. It seems that people are leveling SO fast that they don't get enough time to play with their powers and to get good at using them...
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SO very true!
I've been seeing 35+ tanks that run into herds, mid-mission mind you, without any toggles going. I've had 'fenders stumble right into the middle of a mob that we're killing with hurricane spinning 'round him... the whole time spamming "I love Hurricane!". I've even seen a 28 tank run into a fat pack of foes, die almost instantly, and when asked what enhancements he was running, he says "None." While I love the AE system, the lack of knowledge is becoming far too common in higher level players.
Oh... and if one more level 50 team leader asks me if I'm a healer when I'm standing next to him with green glowing eyes and a huge Radiation Trifoil on my chest, I'm going to shoot someone...
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AE noobs remind me of the following scene from Aliens:
Ripley: How many drops is this for you, Lieutenant?
Gorman: Thirty eight... simulated.
Vasquez: How many *combat* drops?
Gorman: Uh, two. Including this one.
Drake: (expletive)
Hudson: Oh, man...
Lt Gorman is an AE noob.
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LOL!
Yeah, that look on Vasquez's face when she hears his answer is about the same "Are you f-ing kidding me?" look that I had when the tank said he didn't have anything slotted in his powers...
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I remarked that I should be sidekicked up to level 24 so that my heal would hit.
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While that's helpful, the real reason a dark miasmist likes to be sidekicked is to more easily reduce his enemies to quivering, tohit floored, barely-mobile sacks of jello. A -1 dark miasmist plus a sonic buffer is more than enough to carry a heal-less SPTF, so Twilight Grasp is just gravy.
It's not surprising that the toxic assumption that you need healing to do anything in this game is getting in the way of the team figuring out what defenders actually do. It there's one battle a defender missionary needs to choose, that's it.
So, there I was... chillin in Atlas on my Rad/Sonic, when I see this player broadcasting "Level ** boss team lf healer". At first I ignored it, thinking that maybe, just maybe, there were no defenders or trollers on the team, and he actually wanted an empath to make the group feel warm and fuzzy about taking on bosses. I ignored it at first, but after he spammed a few dozen more times, I sent a tell: "50 rad def".
The guy tosses me an invite, and immediately asks, "Can you heal?" I look at his level... 40+ (can't remember exactly what it was)... then I decide to ignore the obvious character purchase or constant AE farming that he had to have gone through, and I answer "I can mitigate damage, yes."
He left the conversation at that, but he went right back to spamming for a healer for the last spot on the team. I looked through the group list... there is a Dark def, as well as a FF def on the team!
I couldn't help but think...Such gross misunderstanding of an AT's powers at this level CANNOT POSSIBLY exist?!
In the end, I convinced him that we were good with the three defenders that we had, and we proceeded to mop up an AE mission. I think that I heard one of the bosses hit someone on the team like once or twice... but that could've just been my imagination... 
Crazy world out there in Paragon...
I realized today that many posters here are very informed about defender powers or genuinely come seeking player-based experience in defender powers. There is a lot, even in people who have played 10 levels with a powers, of disinformation that somehow infects the play and playstyles of inexperienced or uninformed players.
Case in point, today in a team that was forming for the Sister Psyche taskforce. I remarked that I should be sidekicked up to level 24 so that my heal would hit. Not five minutes later another teammate remarks we have two defenders neither of which heal, and that my character was a pure dark with no heal. (So I pulled using twilight grasp a level 25 Council lieutenant and proceeded to AoE heal the team.)
The next thing I suggested that if the squishies played close to the sonic defender and dark defender, they would have plenty of support with the twilight grasp heal and the mez protection in sonic dispersion, which the sonic was running already. The sonic then informs me he doesn't have his mez power yet, which I assumed he meant clarity. So I copied the attributes of sonic dispersion from red tomax website. It then occurred to me the information was in the sonic dispersion icon information, too.
Defenders, I don't suggest we question every tactic difference or strategy, but we as defender players should could consider ourselves on a mission to inform teammates in game of the fallacies in our beloved defender powers. Pure dark? No mez protection in sonic dispersion? From where do such ideas spring?
I also had one blaster complain I wasn't healing him when he was hightailing it back to the mission door. I am sure he could see where the green numbers were flying, but its hard to convince folks to hug their defenders sometimes.
Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.