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and I think pie is like the worst thing you can do to fruit or meat.
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I'll grab the rope, the rest of you find a tree.
/PK
You know, I'm sorta split.
Being a five year vet, and having seen tons and tons of low level content, I appreciate the ability to gain levels quickly and move on to the story arcs I enjoy.
On the other hand, I really hate that so many new players are coming to the game, and having ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA that there is so much stuff OUTSIDE of Atlas Park and AE.
Oh, and I also enjoy pie. 
Meh. In case I'm the only cranky old-timer who remembers this, Mission Architect didn't introduce power-leveling to the game. It just moved it from Peregrine Island to Atlas Park, and from Grandville to Cap au Diable.
Yes, there's a steady trickle of broadcast spam from people looking for or recruiting members for whatever the PLer FotM mission is, to grind it over and over again until they unlock all the powers on their level 50 character, so they can quit the game. How this is any worse than people doing the same thing with TV Farms in Grandville or whatever the equivalent (I never bothered to learn it) in Peregrine Island, I have no idea. Oh, wait, I do know why it's different: thanks to auto-SK, it takes them 1/4 the broadcast spam to build their teams, so that's a net positive.
I play the game 97% solo, enjoying the content, even content I've seen before, which frequently feels new when I do it with characters with radically different powers. The rest of the time, I join teams that are, unsurprisingly, still running strike forces. I wrote a couple of mission architect story arcs that filled in what felt to me like intolerable storyline gaps in the villain content, I may write more some day. I solo other people's arcs to cover the few level ranges in the game where I actively hate the canonical story arcs. Soloing through the soloable content for the temp powers, badges, and the general story line experience, and teaming for the team-only content, feels to me like the most fun way to play the game. Such is my preference.
Any time I have business reasons to be in Cap au Diable, I'm reminded that there are people who only play the game in order to unlock the powers, so they can see what they're like. I can imagine that, even if I'm not one of them. Giving them their own clubhouse to hang out in not only doesn't hurt me, it gets them out of my hair. Yeah, a week from now, half of them will probably be gone, off to some console game or their other MMO, replaced by new people with the same playstyle. I won't bother to learn any of their names, because from where I stand, jump, fly, superspeed, or (rarely) teleport, there's no reason to: their characters are all made out of ticky-tacky, and they all look just the same.
But as long as I don't strain my eye muscles from rolling my eyes at the broadcast chat while I'm using Aeon University's Conceptual Framework(tm) tables, or while I'm shopping on the black market, they're not hurting me. And in the meantime, the same tool they're using to race through power selection as fast as possible gives me occasionally entertaining surprises, like "Why We Fight" or "Tales of the Black Market." It's all good.
Did somebody say Pie??
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I like the MA, but for reasons that have nothing to do with levelling.
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This right here.
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Actually, the premise of the OP is rather silly even if you ignore the silly numbers. Obviously Articulated Lorry1337 is just having a bit of fun with us. Using false dichotomy to start yet another thread about the Mission Architect is even more pointless than the threads that preceded it.
That sort of faulty argument is so easy even i can do it.
47% of people hate chainsaws because they're used for cutting up corpses.
79% of people love chainsaws because they're used for cutting up corpses.
11% of people dislike the word "moist".
(Yes, 26% of people both love and hate chainsaws, and possibly dislike the word "moist".)
See? i conveniently ignored the fact that chainsaws have other uses besides corpses, and that use may not even be relevant to how many feel about chainsaws. It's just a messy argument all around. 
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KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!!!
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The most disturbing KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN ever IMO. Endless columns of flesh all screaming that name.
Dr. Todt's theme.
i make stuff...
I LOVE the AE because of the cool custom storyarcs.
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I LOVE the AE because of the cool custom storyarcs.
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SHHHH we're not supposed to talk about those, only about how awful and terrible and no good it is.
=P
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
I like the AE because I can make low level arcs to help me level a new villain. Anything that separates me from Kalinda and Burke can only be good. So naturally I'm against removing the AE from Mercy. No one farms there anyway. Well, no one but sub level 10s hilariously trying to farm a 54 boss map.
"If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?"
- Abraham Lincoln
I like the AE for my low level guys because it allows me to trade all those worthless TOs for recipes that might actually be worth something. As well as playing missions that don't take themselves too seriously and don't send me across multiple zones. Playing from 1-10 actually feels fulfilling now.
Now if only we could get some Dev Choice missions filled with enemies that are required for unlockable weapons.
Branching Paragon Police Department Epic Archetype, please!
I'm divided on AE. I don't participate in it at all as the concept of it does not sit well with me, but I don't (can't) have much objection to other people living in it. I solo a lot more than I used to, but since I don't like (read as "avoid at all costs") making teams and never have, I can't object based on those grounds. I liked the game better without it, but if it increases sales and/or pleases the majority, I benefit from that.
I'd rather have a second helping of the main course, or more macaroni and cheese, and just leave the dessert off, myself.
Perhaps a 1% for Other is in order.
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I LOVE the AE because of the cool custom storyarcs.
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SHHHH we're not supposed to talk about those, only about how awful and terrible and no good it is.
=P
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Nethergoat, I am asking this in all seriousness: do you really, really, deep down where you really live, think that what's going on related to AE issues is good for the future of the game? Be honest.
I am a little surprised by my perception of your stance on all this, since of all possible people posting in these forums, you seem to be the one who would LEAST want to put up with the tsunami of idiocy engendered by inexperienced AE babies.
I don't have a problem with vets running 50,000 mito farms all the live-long day. That might in fact be a fun way to test out a toon one might not have been willing to invest 6+ months in leveling. But c'mon - you canNOT be missing the tidal-wave of n00bitude even now laying waste the waterfront of Paragon.
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49% of the players LOVE the AE cause it lets you get to 50 w/out really playing the game
and 49% of the players HATE the AE cause it lets you get to 50 w/out really playing the game
and 2% of the players like pie?
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Put me in the 49 percent who dislikes the getting to 50 without playing part. Dont hate the AE though. Also, because someone had to say it and I hope I'm the first. The pie is a fake.
It's not the AE. It's the rewards you get for running repetitive content. Fix that instead.
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson
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The pie is a fake.
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no. nononono, no. no.
*sobs*
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It's not the AE. It's the rewards you get for running repetitive content. Fix that instead.
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I've only done 1 AE mission arc, so I'm not gonna get all authoritative on the subject.
But, yeah, when I learned about AE and heard you get rewards other than playing cool player created missions I gave a big "WTF? Are the devs insane?"
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Nethergoat, I am asking this in all seriousness: do you really, really, deep down where you really live, think that what's going on related to AE issues is good for the future of the game? Be honest.
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The only long term negative I see regarding AE is the infantile dev hissy fit when players dared to use it in ways they didn't approve of. If they don't correct that 'us vs them' mentality right quick there will be real trouble down the road.
It's a transformative addition to a static franchise. A huge disruption of the status quo was inevitable, and IMHO welcome.
All this nostalgia I've been wading through the last couple of days about the "right" way to play and how newbies are being "subverted" by the evils of AE is nonsense.
They said it would let you level 1-50 then they stuck one in just about every zone there is- they wanted EVERYONE to use it, they wanted new players to find it easily, they didn't care if people walked in the door and never left except to train. AE has its own hospitals and its own vendors and most of them are within spitting distance of the market.
I do not have such a dim view of dev competence that I think that's all accidental, or that it "got away" from them like some virtual reality Frankenstein's Monster.
The 'make your own game' aspect of AE is a HUGE selling point- that's why it got a box release. They expect it to inject new life into a largely static franchise.
One more point most everyone has ignored is that AE is a tool for developers as well as players. They'll be going from writing missions in a spreadsheet to a full featured GUI environment. I think this will have a huge impact going forward on the quantity of new missions and story arcs we'll be seeing from the devs.
AE isn't a finished product. They'll keep balancing rewards until they reach a point where it isn't so much better than the 'real' game that all the power players live there. And they'll be making new content of their own using the AE tools that will make the 'real' game more appealing. Because lets face it, all of the low and most of the mid level content has been showing its age for a while now.
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I am a little surprised by my perception of your stance on all this, since of all possible people posting in these forums, you seem to be the one who would LEAST want to put up with the tsunami of idiocy engendered by inexperienced AE babies.
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I don't see it being qualitatively different than any previous wave of PL'ing that created a population of uninformed players with high level characters.
They'll be subsumed by the rest of the population sooner or later. If more stick around to check things out than leave it's a net gain for the game, however annoying they are in the short term.
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I don't have a problem with vets running 50,000 mito farms all the live-long day. That might in fact be a fun way to test out a toon one might not have been willing to invest 6+ months in leveling. But c'mon - you canNOT be missing the tidal-wave of n00bitude even now laying waste the waterfront of Paragon.
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It's the same as the Winterbabies. They'll either grow up or get lost- hopefully more of the former than the latter.
The devs will (eventually) get AE under control and start pumping out their own AE-built content and we'll have more of an equilibrium between 'virtual' Paragon and 'real' Paragon.
As long as they don't go bugnuts on their own players again, I'm content to wait out the transition.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
Where is the pie? I was told there was pie in this thread.
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You're not eating the right kind of pie.
My grandma used to tell me about her famous hare pie. She gave it to all the soldiers when they came back from the war. It made her the most popular girl in town.
Sadly she never taught us the recipe before she died. 
I think the secret is in how she prepared the bunnies.
Anyway this is the recipe we use now.
[u]Hare Pie[u]
Ingredients
2 each rabbit jack, or 4 cottontail
1 each celery stalk diced
1 large onion diced
1 x salt
1 x black pepper
1 package biscuits prepared
Gravy
1 x stock reserved
1 x chicken bouillon
1 medium onion diced
1 x celery from above stalk
1 x flour, all-purpose
1 x salt
1 x black pepper
1 x sage
1 x poultry seasoning
Directions
Soak rabbits in salt water in refrigerator overnight.
Dry, cut up and stew rabbits with celery and onions for 2-3 hours.
Add salt and pepper to taste, then strip meat from bones and put in 26-inch pie pan, add stock or gravy for moisture.
Cover with biscuits.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.
For gravy, take reserved stock, add bouillon, onions and celery.
Bring to a boil.
Strain.
Mix flour with an equal amount of water, add sauce to thickening.
Season to taste with spices.
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You forgot the most important step in hare pie:
* Throw out all that nasty rabbit-meat, take the soldier into the bedroom, and [censored] him.
"OK, first of all... Shut Up." - My 13-Year-Old Daughter
29973 "The Running of the Bulls" [SFMA] - WINNER of the Mighty Big Story Arc Contest !
- The Stellar Wind Orbital Space Platform
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I like the MA, but for reasons that have nothing to do with levelling.
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This right here.
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So pie then?