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From now on, take a look at the ATs/power sets/etc. and buff the four least popular with every patch. Keep that up and I guarantee you'll have a level playing field.
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Haha...hahaha...HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh, that made me laugh.
Randomly buffing four things every issue (I don't think you really meant 'patch' there, since rebalancing four ATs in the time it's taken to fix a few bugs isn't possible) just means that you continue to increase the baseline performance.
Say that you have one AT that overperforms, 8 that are pretty well balanced, and 1 that underperrforms. Do you buff all of them up to the level of the one that overperforms? This would require rebalancing 9 ATs. Or, do you adjust the outliers to match the bulk? That requires 'nerfing' one AT, and buffing another.
The latter case is what the Devs tend to do. Dominators are getting a buff because they were underperforming. If an AT is too good, it will get nerfed down. That is how balance is achieved. Buffing everything doesn't create balance, it just changes what's on the bottom at any given time, which means that they then get buffed, and something else is on the bottom.
You do not achieve balance in a game by buffing everything across the board. It doesn't make things better, it takes more work buffing the ATs, and eventually creates a game where all of the content is too easy, because you haven't buffed the enemies to deal with the increase in player power.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
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it would be nice if people's reaction to getting a different powerset would be "eh, this is still doable" instead of silently mashing the team kick button.
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Unless you're in a few very specific set of circumstances, this is a problem with the players doing the kicking and not the powers.
Having Vengeance and Fallout slotted for recharge means never having to say you're sorry.
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Haha...hahaha...HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh, that made me laugh.
Randomly buffing four things every issue (I don't think you really meant 'patch' there, since rebalancing four ATs in the time it's taken to fix a few bugs isn't possible) just means that you continue to increase the baseline performance.
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Yep its the very definition of power creep. Alwasy move things in the direction of the baseline, be that up or down.
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
Speaking for myself, if I am on a team and the leader kicks someone off the team for not having the "correct" powerset, before they ever run a single mission with the team, the next thing they see in their chat window will be:
Claws and Effect has quit the team
Aett explained why nerfs are sometimes required. If one powerset within an AT is vastly outperforming the rest, but the rest of them are within acceptable levels, they will nerf whatever the problem power is. That is to avoid the situation of buffing the REST of the powersets (which is also a lot of work) and having an entire AT that is now overpowered.
It is true that no one likes being nerfed, but most rational players see the need for it to occasionally happen.
On the other hand, if one powerset in an AT is vastly underperforming compared to the rest, they will buff that one set rather than nerf the rest.
People who complain about constant nerfs(and I'm not trying to imply that you're one of them OP, so put the insult thesaurus down before you hurt someone 
) tend to forget about buffs that also happened.
I cite as an example the hordes of people that are screaming about Psionic Assault's Psychic Shockwave getting nerfed. The vast majority of these people are ignoring the fact that the entire remainder of the set is getting BUFFED. They complain that one power (that was overpowered to begin with) got nerfed, when, for years now, the same people have been complaining that Psionic Assault sucks until you hit level 38. To me that says that the rest of the set needed help.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
OK take a step back. Think about what you wrote. Realize it is solution in search of a problem. Move on enjoying life and the game forgetting about past blunders. 
The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
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You do not achieve balance in a game by buffing everything across the board. It doesn't make things better, it takes more work buffing the ATs, and eventually creates a game where all of the content is too easy, because you haven't buffed the enemies to deal with the increase in player power.
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But this is the beauty of the suggest! You also buff the enemies! You buff everything! Constant buffs to all! By the end of the year, everyone will be doing hundreds of millions of damage with every attack, and have trillions of hit points!
Seriously, though: This method will either end up with enemies that are a flat out joke (which most are pretty close to being as is), or the enemies will also get buffed, so you end up at exactly the same spot, but taking about 100x the effort, all in a futile attempt to make people 'feel good'. Buffs and Nerfs are two edges of the same sword.
Edit: Anyone remember when Indom Will was bugged for Widows on test, where for some reason it had a +Regen component that made even Instant Healing look like a joke? If that had slipped through to live some how, EVERY other set in the game would have had to be buffed instead of one power being 'nerfed'!
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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I do partially agree with the OP. Nerfing sometimes flat-out needs to happen. However, if it is necessary, I feel it should be done very, very cautiously. It seems like the devs have been getting better with this, but in the past, there have been sets nerfed into oblivion that in some cases took years to be brought back up to speed.
And Claws is right. Except in a few very rare cases, it's ludicrous to only invite people with certain powersets to the team.
I love how so many people read "we need a break from nerfs" as "there shall only be buffing from now on." And then proceeded to belittle me because of their poor reading comprehension. Bravo!
It seems you're the one with the comprehension problem. You are, after all, the one suggesting (among other things) :
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From now on, take a look at the ATs/power sets/etc. and buff the four least popular with every patch.
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You've had it explained to you why this is unrealistic and what the end result would be - not a "level playing field," by any means.
In addition, people who are "getting tired of the constant nerfs" are ignoring the constant *buffs* that are also occurring. Psychic Shockwave and Psy assault were brought up as the perfect example. Hell, the entire Dom *AT* got buffed (unless you were one of the *very* few multi-perma doms.) But if you look at individual numbers, you'll see quite a few powers that had their damage and such "nerfed" taken out of the context of the whole.
Oh, and in response to:
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And for anyone who says the powersets are already fully functional, I have two words for you on behalf of the dark miasma community: Black Hole. That's right, I went there!
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So what? Specialty power. I have the Grav version (Dimension Shift) on my Grav/Kin controller's solo build. There are times it comes in handy - not every power has to be an "every single spawn" or even "every mission" power.
Welp, I for one know that dimension shift makes a fairly useful 'oh crap!' button.
Actually now that I think about it, I wonder if it could be used to disable all those annoying nictus pets that Romulus summons at the end of the ITF. Him and the three essences would be immune cause of being AVs, but the pets shouldn't be.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
My Dominator is Gravity/Ice. I had one power that got nerfed out of my secondary. Ice Sword Circle now does slightly less damage than it did, which wasn't that big of a deal because overall damage was increased. It also got it's radius increased from 8 or 10 feet to 15 feet. I do less damage, but I can hit more targets with it. Technically a nerf, but it has a very even trade-off to make up for it.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
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I love how so many people read "we need a break from nerfs" as "there shall only be buffing from now on." And then proceeded to belittle me because of their poor reading comprehension. Bravo!
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You must have no idea what you typed them. "Why no more nerfs?" I don't know, you tell me. You did in the OP, why not re-read it and figure out what went wrong with your logic.
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I love how so many people read "we need a break from nerfs" as "there shall only be buffing from now on." And then proceeded to belittle me because of their poor reading comprehension. Bravo!
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Just to put this out there.....
You seem to be too emotionally invested in your suggestion. I just reread the thread to this point. One person laughed at the idea, and then provided a clear, rational analysis of why the idea was flawed.
Everyone else left out the laughter, and did exactly the same thing.
At no point were you "belittled." You were disagreed with, but never dissed. At least, not until you accused everyone else of having poor reading comprehension. When you made it personal, others challenged your reading comprehension and memory.
You did ask for "a break from the nerfs." Your next paragraph then proceeded to ask, "Why no more nerfs?" At the very least, this is a mixed message. If we follow the logic, and apply your solution, then what we would get is, "there shall only be buffing from now on." Our Devs have shown that they are commited to balancing the powersets and archetypes. If "nerfing" is off the table, as your question suggests, then all that remains is buffing.
Go back over the history of the game. With a few notable exceptions (GDN, ED, Purple Patch, Brawl Nerf), buffs outnumber nerfs by a wide margin. The reason the nerfs seem so much more dire is that they usually only nerf the overpowered, and as a result of being overpowered, Flavor of the Month Powersets. The vocal powergamers who flocked to the FotM then come here and complain that Energy Melee got nerfed, completely ignoring the buffs that lifted Assault Rifle, Dark Melee, Invulnerability, Archery, Sonic Blast and finally makes Regen's Tier 9 worth taking. The noise from the "don't nerf me, bro!" crowd seems even louder becuase the folks who received the buffs aren't there to dull the noise, they are playing the game and enjoying their newly buffed Powersets.
New story arcs coming soon (ARC IDs will be aded when I finish the arc):
So, you want to join the Hellions? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)
Sparks & Steel (level 5-20 Heroic arc)
and
So you want to join the Skulls? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)
Let's face it, no one likes getting nerfed. Some people like it when others get nerfed, but that always seems kind of jerky to me. Why not put all that datamining to good use instead? From now on, take a look at the ATs/power sets/etc. and buff the four least popular with every patch. Keep that up and I guarantee you'll have a level playing field.
Why no more nerfs? Well at the very least we need a break from them, and it's because to this day people are still hung up on particular power sets. Back in the old days (pre-ED, pre-defense nerf, pre-invention system), I got kicked from hundreds of groups for being a dark defender instead of empathy. In fact I deleted the character not long after he hit 50 because I got sick of constant 'r u emp?' tells. Nowadays people want kins, kins, kins! My point is that while some specialization is unavoidable, it would be nice if people's reaction to getting a different powerset would be "eh, this is still doable" instead of silently mashing the team kick button. And I don't want to ruin the game for the kins, or whoever else's powerset is popular! The solution isn't to make it less fun for them, but to make it more fun for the rest of us.
Also, I would argue that certain sets become popular because they fill holes in how characters currently work. Why do people want kins? Because of endurance issues, for one. Also because players are comfortable with faster play - quick recharge and more damage means you get through enemies faster. Think about it: if people are running a 54 AE boss mission with a kin - a powerset with NO rez and inconsistent healing - then clearly they're not afraid of dying. They're afraid of being bored. =P Perhaps we can tweak the existing power sets so that they're more popular across the board. And for anyone who says the powersets are already fully functional, I have two words for you on behalf of the dark miasma community: Black Hole. That's right, I went there!