Any regrets?

I regret nothing. I decided long ago to devote only one character to be my badger, and I'm not at all hardcore about it in the first place, that would require me to do TFs I don't like. Every real mistake I've made was only fleetingly bothersome, or could/will be fixed in the fullness of time.

Your kitty seems to regret looking, however.

LEGION OF VALOR - Be a part of the Legend!

Okay... since several of you asked... and since you are obviously gluttons for punishment... I'll try to explain...

TRY...

I don't like simple systems... they bore me to tears... I was the kid who made up his own rules for Monopoly where you could buy the Chance and Community Chest spaces and landing directly on GO had it's own mini-game. I was also an only child (still am) so I ended up playing all these games by myself anyway... yes... even Monopoly.

So, I complicate things to give it the flavor I need to keep playing it for a long time. In the case of City of Heroes, I made a tournament. I took an even number of Servers (all of them except Pinnacle... since I don't drink) and divided them up 5/5 between heroes and villains. Each server is a "Team" of characters. I keep individual spreadsheets for each character that tracks their growth, stats, earned badges, slotting, etc.

There are three statistics that I keep which are NOT part of the game: Reputation, Power and Teamwork.

Reputation = ((rep rewards from badges) + ((successful solo missions *.75)+(successful team missions * .5) - (failed solo missions * .5) -(failed team missions * .25)) + (earned influence/25000) + (total defeats or deaths * -5) + (a really complicated equation involving earned/spent reward merits and earned/spent Vanguard merits) + (total number of hours character is actually played)) * (1+(double current level if undefeated OR level of first defeat *.01))

The rep rewards from badges is not a percentage or constant number times the number of collected badges. I actually went through EACH and EVERY badge and gave it a rating for Reputation, Power and Teamwork.

The Power and Teamwork calculation scores are similarly complex and ridiculous. This is why I rely on spreadsheets to do all the math for me.

Speaking of Spreadsheets... here's a page by page format of one of my standard character sheets.

Page 1: Cover page- Basic info such as archetype, origin, alignment, date created. This also tracks my current difficulty settings. Total number of missions divided into Team and Solo as well as Successful and Failed. Level of experience, current influence, xpoints and what's needed to advance again are here as well. Reputation, Power and Teamwork are calculated and displayed on this page. Finally I keep track of the total number of defeats divided into Solo, Team, Mission Architect and Task Force, since defeats count differently for Rep and Power calculations.

Page 2: Tracking- This is just a history page. Every level a character advances is tracked here so I can see how they are progressing in their scores. A separate spreadsheet collects the data from every character sheet on levels 5, 10, 15, 20, etc so I can compare ALL my characters to see who is doing best in each category. Also a notes section here to keep track of career highlights.

Page 3: Other Powers - This is where I list all Temp Powers, Enhancement Powers, Enhancement Set Bonuses and Accolade Powers. Each one is graded on a scale and give a bonus to the character's Power. Actually, the equation for Power is twice as long and five times as complicated as the one above for Reputation.

Page 4: Power List- This page is where I list my powers and what enhancements are currently slotted in them. Although it sounds like a simple data page there is a whole section of hidden columns that take the slotting and calculate their bonus to the character's Power score. Each enhancement slotted gives a percentage of its level based on which slot (1st is a small bonus, 6th is the highest) and what kind of enhancement (Trainings give next to nothing, Inventions give the best bonus). All this is done automatically so my brain doesn't explode from math every time I upgrade a slot.

Page 5: Invention- Of the 200 rows this spreadsheet actually uses, only 39 are visible. The hidden part is all calculations and the like... Here's what his page does; it assumes that I am going to make Invention Enhancements for every power slot that does not currently have the maximum level possible IO already slotted in it. I can also list all my currently held Invention Recipes on this page. It takes all this information and tells me exactly how many of what kinds of salvage I would need to build everything on my list. It also can tell the difference between a MUST BUILD (empty power slot or held recipe) and a COULD BUILD BUT NOT NEEDED (an Accuracy 15 slotted power when I'm level 17 and could slot a 20). It gives me the needed salvage in two different lists. Once again, all done automatically, all I need to do is enter in my recipes when I get them.

Page 6: Badges- This is just a place to record the date I got a particular badge. What I like about this page is that it draws its data from a different Spreadsheet that contains all the badge titles divided into each category. The reason that is a good thing is because when the developers add a new badge I don't have to add it to EVERY BLESSED character's spreadsheet. I just add it to my primary badge sheet and every character record automatically updates. At the top of this page is a consolidated list telling me how many total badges I have from each category as well as my percentage of badges earned and the bonus provided to the Rep, Power and Teamwork.

Page 7: Accolades- All the accolades that require you to collect badges to earn them are here. They automatically update from the badge page so I can see my progress towards any given accolade on that character, as well as which badges I still need to earn.

Page 8: Notes- A quick reference sheet. I keep notes here about what I was working on last time I played that character as well as what I want to do next. The page also keeps track of all Safeguard/Mayhem badges so I don't miss any as I level. Ouroboros is organized here so I know which badges I have there. There is also a list of every Zone in both Paragon and Rogue Isles and what percentage of exploration badges I have found there. All automatically updated from the Badge page.

Eight is DEFINITELY enough.

I have other spreadsheets that compare individual and team scores. I have a spreadsheet for each server to track base improvements and what salvage, enhancements I have there for team mates to share. I have two accounts and on the alternate account I have what I call my Traderbots. Their primary function is to stay in Wentworths or the Black Market and buy/sell items to make money for their team. I visit the Traderbots (all 10 of them) at least once a day and generate enough influence/infamy just through them to keep an entire team able to buy what they want when they want.

And yes, there is a Spreadsheet to track all the buying and selling by the Traderbots.

It may sound like there is a huge amount of data entry going on here, but I have all these Spreadsheets SO interwoven and automated that I really only need to spend about five minutes after each gaming session tapping at the keys. The invention sheet alone has saved me hundreds of hours of figuring things out so it all balances.

As far as why I delete my characters... I have tried my best to incorporate every aspect of the game into my scoring system. For example, when Mission Architect was created I found myself with a brand new set of possibilities... tickets... MA missions... badges...

I actually didn't delete my characters and start over at first... I just re-tooled all my spreadsheets and kept playing. The problem was that all the new characters were obliterating my older ones because they had access to a new toy that accelerated their scoring. Comparing my first character at 20th level with one of my newer ones was ludicrous... the newer one's Power and Rep were nearly double at the same level!

So I deleted ALL my characters and started over because...

... wait for it ....

... I wanted to be "fair" to all the players.

Ignoring the fact that I was... in reality... the ONLY player and the rest were just imaginary personalities in my mind and a list of data on a spreadsheet.

Every time I start over I also re-tool all the other rules in my tournament. I have rules for when a new team mate (alt) may be created. I have rules for how long a player's turn can be as when they can borrow cash from the team Traderbot. I have rules for just about everything... oh... and the rules are recorded on a spreadsheet too.

Like I said... I love to complicate things.

So anyway... for those of you who asked... and actually made it all the way to this point without gouging your eyes out with a spork... or contemplating doing it to ME... there's your answer... that's why I have deleted all my characters several times since I started playing this game.

Now, aren't you glad you asked?

Well beside of not beta testing this game and playing when this game came out. I have to say Drama with friends that i was close to in game, I had alot of bad RL Issue and I drang those problem out In game and kind of hurt some friends.

My one real regret is that I didn't join the game sooner.

I was aware of it for about a year before I signed up - I'd seen the double page spreads in the comics back then, but I was a bit "meh" about MMOs. I'd never played one, and I was frankly a tad mistrustful about a subscription based game.

Then I saw it on the shelf whilst browsing a game shop and figured for something like £18 I could buy it and play for a month - if it didn't work nothing ventured, nothing gained...

I get my 4 year reward in 3 weeks with only one month missed ever.

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

My one regret is testing out the medicine power pool on my main (blaster). Now I've got a healing related badge stuck on a tiny bit of progress. I either have to leave it as it is (eww) or respec my main and use Aid Other enough times to get all the badges. I wish there was a way to delete badge progress...

Cancelling my subscription for a year. I'd be a 60 month Vet by now, and all the costume changes would be half-price.

My only real regret is taking ghost-slaying axe one time, on my first MA scrapper, because it is so much lamer than sands of Mu.

I haven't taken ghost-slaying axe ever again.

I used to not care about the Market *whatsoever*... All Salvage, Recipes, etcs, were just burdens, good only for selling, and sold they were, to the nearest Vendor as soon as possible so I could fund SOs...

On my first 2 50s, I sold a few Purples recipes to some nameless Vendor for a measely 5,000 each... I do remember wondering what those different colored names on the recipes meant, and I recalled hearing people talk about the value of purples. No Matter. I sold them. Finally, one day I gave marketing a try... and I nearly cried when I saw how much Purples went for (and sold far).

I learned quickly, and put 6 Purple Sets on my PB in fairly short order, but to think of those I sold (alond with several LotGs, Miracles, etc...)... Ugh...best not remember...

if I had it to do over I'd have taken the time to attach my CoV account to my CoH account correctly. The wording wasn't clear and when I installed CoV I created a whole new account. As I wasn't planning on playing CoH again, I shrugged and went with it.

Then along came vet rewards and the blue-favoring market, and I switched back to my original account, leaving behind several chunks of vet reward time in the process.

Ah well, c'est la vie.

Do not drag and drop to trade recipes or valuable commodities. Use the "invite to trade" option, so that what is being traded is easily checked. Likewise, even if you play with them constantly, don't give said things for a transfer to a casual player that doesn't understand inventory/buying/selling well.

*Looks at time I drag n' dropped an entire Ragnarök set to a kind friend, who couldn't find them and emptied recipes at a store. Redside.*