I Deleted my MA Babies

I've been playing CoX off and on since somewhere in early I2. I have several fifties, HEATS, VEATS and have more or less done it all. When MA came out, I had fun! I made my own missions, did missions friends had created and made half a dozen new characters to run over and over and OVER through the farming maps. Yes I farmed. Yes I got PL'ed... but I had fun. I don't regret it.

About a week after MA launched, I took a hiatus from the game. I just came back for the launch of I-16 and was perplexed by the half dozen or so characters on my account that I literally did not remember making. The highest of these strangers was level 32, and the lowest was 24. How could I play approximately six characters well into their twenties and not remember creating them??

I logged into my mystery toons and quickly realized why they had been so easily forgotten. No enhancements, no real money to speak of, no second or third costumes, no capes, no auras and the only badges they had were mostly MA badges. I had fun playing these toons, I had a blast rolling up things I had always wanted to try but never had time for... but a few short months later, I didn't even remember they existed.

I thought about keeping a few of them... but it somehow disgusted me to think of running around at level 28 with nothing but MA badges and no real idea how to play the character. Yes, I'm a vet and could probably figure it out without too much trouble but there's just no pride in it.

I had fun farming MA but there's no sense of accomplishment in it. So a couple of days ago I deleted them, all of them and without any real sense of regret because I didn't know them, I didn't put anything into them. Most of them had ugly costumes and hastily thought up names. They weren't important to me.

So even though I'm a little sad that I can't level to stamina in a single play session anymore... overall, I have to say I'm glad that things are more or less back to normal.

- RW

Not much to say but... good post.

I can understand, but only a little. I've never had a toon PLed before, but I did get a brute to 50 in a month due to constantly joined big teams (this was a few years ago). I deleted it eventually as I could never bring myself to play it. It never felt as fun to play as my other characters and the name was pretty lame.

I've never PL'd in this game (levelling is so fast anyway compared to other MMOs I've never felt the need) - about the closest I get to it is abusing double xp weekends - my friend and I usually try and get a few new characters to L20/Stamina during dxp (3 new duos on the last dxp weekend - including a Tanker on my part, an AT I've always struggled to get past mid-teens playing normally).

Good post though - I can understand where you're coming from. In the original EverQuest I dual-boxed (playing two characters at same time on two separate PCs) - mainly because I found playing just 1 character a bit dull in that game (especially melee classes with just 1-2 click abilities you pressed every 6-10 seconds) - but also because some classes just couldn't solo, so when I had times I couldn't get groups (which was often, as an EU player on a US server) I could at least run a same-level duo on my own (an Ogre Shadowknight and Troll Shaman combo).

Then during my summer holiday in 2000 I decided to use my dual-box set-up to powerlevel a new character using my main character (L55 druid at that time), just from curiosity really. Back then (Kunark-era) it could take 50+ days played time (i.e. 1200+ hours) to hit level 50 on your first character through normal grouping. Using my druid's formidable buffs/heals I PL'd an Iksar Monk (Iksar had a 20% xp penalty, I think monk was 20% xp penalty too at that time) to L50 in 4 days and 8 hours played. I enjoyed it and felt a sense of achievement, but I felt no connection to the Iksar character at all and I played him very little after that (I seem to remember parking him somewhere in Velious later for corpse-dragging for raid wipe recovery - Kael Drakkel I think).

I think you know when you're cheating yourself out of fun and/or a sense of accomplishment. It's the only reason I avoid serious farming and all AE-PLing here - I don't want to make myself get too jaded with this game. I want this MMO to last me as long as possible, because tbh there are very few other MMOs around now or forthcoming that interest me in the slightest.

So I think that while your AE characters served their purpose (short term enjoyment and powerset curiosity), you did the right thing deleting them.

I play a lot of different characters and most of them have been PL'ed to some extent at some point in their 'lives'. If they're fun, I keep playing them. If they aren't fun, I delete them.

There's no moral component to efficient leveling any more than there's a moral component to how fast you read a trashy novel- if you want to skim the boring parts, who cares? You're the one reading the book. Nobody's grading your performance.

That said, if you prefer to pour over every word more power to you.

Play the game you enjoy.

I will say I used MA, in part because it was where teams were at at the time (outside of SG/friends) and partly because my rampant altitis means that a few of my older characters were languishing at just before/just after 20. I also boosted a few toons, mostly villain side, due to being sick to the back-teeth of running through Mercy. Again.

But once they hit 20 on the new ones, and a few certain powers on the old, it was back to the old school way. Which is, overall, more satisfying. The one exception is with my Invul/EM Tanker who recently came out of retirement for a much needed respec. Watching him surrounded by a mob of red conning Bosses who couldnt even dent him was a feeling I had thought I'd lost on him.

/random story

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

Re-read the OP again Nether. She admitted to being a "farmer" and ended up feeling empty after all was said and done, in her own words:

I agree that you should play the game in whatever manner brings you the most enjoyment (unless it's against the rules of course ).

However, I will say that in my personal opinion I've always found PL'ing to be a bit like scarfing down a delicious meal. It's good, but it's over too quickly, and when you're done you're usually left unsatisfied and wanting more. Wouldn't you rather savor every bite and get full enjoyment out of it?

Again, that's just my opinion

buncha liars in this thread is the only thing im gettin out of this

One of my alts got PLed one level in his late forties. The feeling was very hollowing. I felt I had been dishonest and disrespectful to him somehow.

Since I wanted him to hit fifty and be proud, I decided to have him solo the Preatorian arcs with EB level foes. Not an easy task for a SO'ed out defender who is not ofthe AV killing powerset. Many purples and greens were bought.

Still, once he hit 50 I was proud and felt he was cleansed of his/my sin.

But then again, if you like it, go for it. Me, I get an icky feeling.

I don't PL, but I do run on a static team every Tuesday. We only play those characters on that team. They level fairly fast, even faster now that we can crank up the difficulty.

I have absolutely no attachment to the two characters I got to 50 on those teams. They are just a Tanker and a Corruptor. They are not characters, they are roles on a team. They never had a chance to develop. All their weaknesses were compensated for by the team, and all their strengths were in service of the team. Level 50 in under 100 hours. I never got a chance to know them.

Now all those characters that I solo a lot, turn off XP half the time on teams, spend hours on in Mids, spend hours with at the market, take the time to write up bios, create interesting costumes, get all the accolades and the badge titles I want to wear over my head, know what they like to fight, know their strengths and weaknesses....those I know. They are characters, not just a bunch of pixels and numbers created because the team needs a tank or a buffer.

Another random story is random.

Some people: PL
Some people: Don't
Some people: Farm
Some people: Don't

Does: It: Really: Matter?!

Question: Rhetorical

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

To avoid pasting a huge quote, I'll just reply to the original poster outright.

I respect honest, introspective posts like these that may sometimes fly in the face of convention. It's the kind of personal opinion that I really enjoy reading about, vs. the veritable PR statements a lot of posters craft when they discuss controversial issues.

For myself, I also agree with the sentiment. For me, about the best source of fun in this game is familiarity. The longer I spend playing it, the more I like it, and the more used I get to a character, his looks and his quirks, the greater my attachment to it. If I were given a character at level 50, or even allowed to design and have it auto-levelled, I would wave my hand and refuse. It's not about politics or philosophy, it's about the fact that, as you said, this character is a stranger to me, no different from all the random characters I meed in the street. I have no attachment to its looks or concept, and I have no attachment to the playstyle it entails.

I don't always like the characters I make. Sometimes they're ugly, sometimes they're vulnerable, sometimes they're just odd. But I've found that, after spending a while with the character, both the good AND the bad parts start becoming endearing to me. No longer do I view the character as a collection of parts and powers, but rather I view him or her as someone I would want to watch a movie about. That, to me, is key, and only occurs with time spent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.