Villain strike forces and mission computers

Why on earth do you need a mission computer to do villain strike forces? I've never actually DONE the silver mantis strike force and I've been playing since before the time redside went live. No VG I've been in has ever had a mission computer, so I've never done them.

Does anyone else agree the requirement is stupid? It makes getting merits villainside a lot harder than it is heroside.

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Active (Freedom): Setna (Ice/Psi Dom), Arram (WP/KM Tank), Tesmiel (Elec/SS Tank), Astredax (Robot/Dark Mastermind), Operative Vidali (melee fortunata)

Retired (Virtue): Gaav (Inv/EM Tank), Baqra (Fire/SS Tank)

There is a total of 1, yes 1 SF you can do through the mission computer. Sounds like you need to join a better VG or at least one that has a coalitioned VG with a mision computer. If you've really been playing for over 3.5 years and you've yet to come across anyone willing to run this TF, you may want to think about searching out a more active VG or check your servers global channels for some assistance. I don't want to call you lazy, but it's really not that difficult to obtain a mission computer and scrounge up a few people to run it. As far as harder to get merits, the silver mantis SF isn't really an efficient way to earn merits if that's what you're after. Surely you've gotten a character to 35 in the 42+ months you have been playing. The ITF in cimerora is probably your best bet, since it offers a way to do co-op teaming and is still a "fresh" TF, and will probably increase your odds of finding a team there with some heroes since it seems like your server's red side population leaves a little to be desired.

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Leader of the NITES of DARKNESS VG

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So basically your argument is that you had no problems with it, so it's fine to insult me. Great.

I was in one of the top VGs on freedom before it more or less disbanded, but never had base editing permissions. Our base was kind of crappy even though we had ridiculous amounts of prestige. I joined it for the PvP, not for the PvE.

Why don't we move out of your closed experience and into one where not just I, but a number of people I know, have been playing for a long time and haven't done the strike force? What purpose, exactly, is served by requiring a mission computer? Cause I sure don't see one. Should we make it so that one of the hero TFs require a mission computer? Let's pick Manticore.

What exactly is the point of it? You didn't answer it, you just talked about how awesome you are and how dumb I am.

What if I finished both lady grey and ITF? What if I want to do a TF before I'm level 35? I have nothing else to do except try to get on an LRSF. Heroside I can (and have) gone to do one of the other ones pretty easily.

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Active (Freedom): Setna (Ice/Psi Dom), Arram (WP/KM Tank), Tesmiel (Elec/SS Tank), Astredax (Robot/Dark Mastermind), Operative Vidali (melee fortunata)

Retired (Virtue): Gaav (Inv/EM Tank), Baqra (Fire/SS Tank)

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Why on earth do you need a mission computer to do so many of the villain strike forces? I've never actually DONE the silver mantis strike force and I've been playing since before the time redside went live. No VG I've been in has ever had a mission computer, so I've never done them.

Does anyone else agree the requirement is stupid? It makes getting merits villainside a lot harder than it is heroside.

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Do "so many of" them? You need it for exactly one. It is, frankly, the only thing the mission computer is good for, and that only on redside.

No, I don't think the requirement is stupid. I think the fact that it's the only thing that uses it is stupid. There should, frankly, be more SG-related or SG-accessible content, including perhaps SG-only MA slots accessible through the computer.

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Oddly, my blueside SG just recently ran the SF on our villains, after the discovery that not a lot of us had actually *done* any of the Villain-side strikeforce content.

Honestly, though, Redside is somewhat starved for Strikeforces in comparison to Blueside, and I'd really just like to see them cover the level-range gaps. While the mission computer can be slightly prohibitive towards getting into the Silver Mantis TF, I'd honestly prefer to see more content given to that particular base item, as opposed to less. It has a really neat feel to it that I feel is rather missing in the rest of the game.

Still... It's the only non-CoP SF/Trial that requires the Mission Computer, and I think that you may be exaggerating the issue a bit.

EDIT: Gosh darnit, Bill, we gotta stop meeting like this.

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Every SG I've got a character in has a mission computer, or the arcane equivalent. And in fact, I'd like to see at least a hero TF available out of it, since the CoP isn't.

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http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt

you dont have to be ina vg to do it, jsut have to have the leader in it. My vg has a computer, but the times i did it, it was alwasy with another vg, join a server channel, and prosper.

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Every SG I've got a character in has a mission computer, or the arcane equivalent. And in fact, I'd like to see at least a hero TF available out of it, since the CoP isn't.

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Yeah, it's pretty well just flavor blueside.

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OK, that's fine and makes some sense, but why Silver mantis, a lower level strike force?

The only thing I can think of is that it encourages lower level players to join VGs, but again, since it was a lower level TF the VGs I was in didn't ever buy one. By the time the leaders could afford that sort of thing they were all farming themselves past Silver Mantis anyway. I'd imagine it's worse with architect now.

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Active (Freedom): Setna (Ice/Psi Dom), Arram (WP/KM Tank), Tesmiel (Elec/SS Tank), Astredax (Robot/Dark Mastermind), Operative Vidali (melee fortunata)

Retired (Virtue): Gaav (Inv/EM Tank), Baqra (Fire/SS Tank)

It exemps you down, you can't go past it. And the level range is likely *because* it'd be very accessible.

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Yes, it exemps you down, that's the point. You no longer gain XP by doing it, and until relatively recently there were no merits, so it was better to run the virgil tarikoss strike force if you were going to be doing a lower level strike force. Now, as has already been pointed out, people do the ITF and LGTF for merits and will usually switch out characters and then run them again.

What's the point of making an arc easily level accessible, then barring access to it by hiding it behind a mission computer? I still think it's a bad idea to do it for high level content, but at least it's more reasonable there since at 50 you're more likely to have associates etc. to do it with.

And to pre-empt anything about architect, I don't think we should be assuming AE farms are the standard around which we should be balancing lower level content.

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Active (Freedom): Setna (Ice/Psi Dom), Arram (WP/KM Tank), Tesmiel (Elec/SS Tank), Astredax (Robot/Dark Mastermind), Operative Vidali (melee fortunata)

Retired (Virtue): Gaav (Inv/EM Tank), Baqra (Fire/SS Tank)

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And to pre-empt anything about architect,

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By the time the leaders could afford that sort of thing they were all farming themselves past Silver Mantis anyway. I'd imagine it's worse with architect now.

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How can you pre-empt something you've already brought up?

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OK, but this is anecdotal stuff. I've never found one in my VGs, you've never been in one without it. Do you play on freedom? Maybe all the bases on Freedom suck?

I don't think it changes the argument too much either way, and don't really think the devs should be trying to restrict what limited dev created content exists to organized SG/VGs, though.

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Active (Freedom): Setna (Ice/Psi Dom), Arram (WP/KM Tank), Tesmiel (Elec/SS Tank), Astredax (Robot/Dark Mastermind), Operative Vidali (melee fortunata)

Retired (Virtue): Gaav (Inv/EM Tank), Baqra (Fire/SS Tank)

You might find it interesting to know that the Freedom TFs channel is full. My friend's been trying to get into it for a couple months now, though that is good to know.

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Active (Freedom): Setna (Ice/Psi Dom), Arram (WP/KM Tank), Tesmiel (Elec/SS Tank), Astredax (Robot/Dark Mastermind), Operative Vidali (melee fortunata)

Retired (Virtue): Gaav (Inv/EM Tank), Baqra (Fire/SS Tank)

Yes, it was a very bad decision where there aren't enough strike forces to go around anyway. Not only are there levels with no real strike forces, but the one for 20-25 is unnecessarily difficult to access. I just played Silver Mantis for the first time this week. And although I had fun on the team I was on, it really isn't worth the extra hoops you have to jump through. With the dearth of strike forces villainside, it really doesn't help to have one for an entire level range that you have to access in such a lame fashion and have unnecessary hoops that you have to jump through to do it.

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OK, but this is anecdotal stuff. I've never found one in my VGs, you've never been in one without it. Do you play on freedom?

[/ QUOTE ]Actually, yes, I do play on Freedom. You said you were in the top Freedom VG; I'm in the largest coalition.

You can make a Mission Computer available with 300,000 prestige: Oversight Center (50,000), Control Room 1 (100,000), Combo Power and Control Unit (25,000), Mainframe (50,000), and Mission Computer (75,000).

You don't even have to grind Prestige for that, since you get 20,000 prestige for each of the first 15 SG members. 20,000 * 15 = 300,000

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http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt

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And to pre-empt anything about architect, I don't think we should be assuming AE farms are the standard around which we should be balancing lower level content.

[/ QUOTE ]myself my friend and his wife(the only members of our sg and vg's until relatively recently) had full computers on both our hero and villain characters long before ae, none of us play longer than 2-4 hours a setting and we skip several days due to work and real life responsibilities, and we dont farm. you dont need to farm anything if you just play the damn game.

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So basically your argument is that you had no problems with it, so it's fine to insult me. Great.

I was in one of the top VGs on freedom before it more or less disbanded, but never had base editing permissions. Our base was kind of crappy even though we had ridiculous amounts of prestige. I joined it for the PvP, not for the PvE.

Why don't we move out of your closed experience and into one where not just I, but a number of people I know, have been playing for a long time and haven't done the strike force? What purpose, exactly, is served by requiring a mission computer? Cause I sure don't see one. Should we make it so that one of the hero TFs require a mission computer? Let's pick Manticore.

What exactly is the point of it? You didn't answer it, you just talked about how awesome you are and how dumb I am.

What if I finished both lady grey and ITF? What if I want to do a TF before I'm level 35? I have nothing else to do except try to get on an LRSF. Heroside I can (and have) gone to do one of the other ones pretty easily.

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uhh ok

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Leader of the NITES of DARKNESS VG

Join my fan club today!

Sounds like you complain too much @ OP

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Color me oblivious, but this explains why I never ran the Silver Mantis SF or saw people advertising for people to run it.

Invisible SG-only content for the fail.

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Invisible SG-only content for the fail.

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Note it's not precisely "SG only." Just that the leader's SG has to have the computer. Non SG members can participate.

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OK, but this is anecdotal stuff. I've never found one in my VGs, you've never been in one without it. Do you play on freedom? Maybe all the bases on Freedom suck?

I don't think it changes the argument too much either way, and don't really think the devs should be trying to restrict what limited dev created content exists to organized SG/VGs, though.

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I think you have it exactly backwards. The devs should be adding more DIFFERENT content. There is only one SF run through the mission computer. There should be at least one TF that works the same way - just to be DIFFERENT from every other TF.

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Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project

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OK, but this is anecdotal stuff. I've never found one in my VGs, you've never been in one without it. Do you play on freedom? Maybe all the bases on Freedom suck?

I don't think it changes the argument too much either way, and don't really think the devs should be trying to restrict what limited dev created content exists to organized SG/VGs, though.

[/ QUOTE ]Perhaps I can provide some context, although I may not change your mind. The Silver Mantis SF came out with the rest of CoV. No surprises there. If you recall, this is also the same time we got SG bases. The Devs tried to encourage checking out all the new aspects of CoV and one of the ways they did this was linking this SF and the Cathedral of Pain to the mission computer.

So that's the why as far as I can tell. Personally I like this SF and have run it multiple times, including a PUG run.

The Devs try new things all the time (for which I am thankful). Sometimes they hit it out of the park like with character creation. Other times the results are less spectacular. Them's the breaks, but I'm glad they try.

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It's not how many times you get knocked down that count. It's how many times you get up.

mmm excellent to all thinking this is a bad idea. As stated already it is next to nothing to get a Mission Computer or the Arcane equiv for it. Secondly stated already it is not SG exclusive if it was I would not be running it pretty much 3 times a week.

Third for the OP the merits you get in that are higher than all of the SF available, plus this entire SF can be run with a 40-1hr range easily.

So keep it the way it is....or add more to mission computer that is what it is designed for, to give out missions and make either SG exclusive or pug groups.

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<QR>

I personally never have had an issue getting on a Silver Mantis when I wanted, and never had issues getting a Mission Computer (or arcane equivalent). I'd also like to see more options available for having spent the prestige, given that this SF is currently the only reason to include it in your base.

With that said, it's incredibly stupid to gate already limited content (SFs) even more with these requirements. If there were as many SFs as there are TFs it'd be a nice flavor for the SMSF; as it is one of 7 total - two of which are co-op - and one of the three available before level 35 I don't think it's a good decision. And just to make it semi-useful, I'll go along with the proposal for adding one of the heroside TFs to the mission computer - after all, most everyone in the thread seems to think the OP is just whining and doesn't have a valid complaint, so I see no reason whatsoever that the Sister Psyche, Positron, Moonfire, and Citadel TFs can't be added to the mission computer and the contacts out in the zones removed. They'd still have just as many TFs available before level 30 without the computer as villains, at the same level ranges.

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