LB and Villains

I was looking to get some forum community opinions/feedback on Villains. Blue-side has been doing well with teams (LB channel) but I'd like to see if we could get a little more activity red-side.

Why is it that Villains doesn't get the community involvement that Heroes gets? Is it concept? Is it because it's hard to find teams? Need more content? Too laggy?

I prefer Villains over Heroes just because I think it's more difficult. It seems everyone has 10+ level 50 Heroes but what about Villains?

I play a bit more on the villain side than the hero side, and I see a few reasons why redside is less popular than blueside.

1. Lack of teaming - In the Isles, no one likes to team. Well, at least the broadcast spam for teaming is more like a tiny roar. Why? For one, the zones are a lot more linear. You are in Mercy from 1-6 or so. After that, unless you do Seer Marino's arc you don't really come back for more than the odd mission. Other than Cap, there aren't really any 'hub' zones like Atlas, Steel, or Talos. And, since villain ATs are more geared to putting out big orange numbers, the need to get three or four people together to take down someone is a little less pressing. Add in the fact that you can miss some important content by outleveling Mayhem Missions, and the desire to pick up a few brutes becomes less compelling.

2. Concept - Some people just don't like playing the 'bad guy'. I've heard this said in LB on a few occasions. Most people don't mind playing a hero that uses guns to 'arrest' people, but the equivalent in the Rogue Isles is a little more gray (bad guys don't arrest). Even people that are willing to suspend a little disbelief in the story and claim to be a spy or a double agent usually hit a wall about level 40. Why? Westin Phipps. No one can do his arcs and associated one-shot missions and ever claim to be anything other than totally, irrevocably ebil.

3. lolSFs - Yes, villains got shafted in the SF department. No 10-15 SF. The 20-25 SF requires a base with a supercomputer (not for much longer, though). There is no 30-35 SF. Ditto 40-45. And, the SFs we do have aren't merit cornucopias. Granted, you aren't likely to be on the Sharkhead Leviathan SF for 5 hours like a bad Posi, but you also aren't as rewarded to do it as Posi either. And so, no one builds toons just to farm Posi or run Synapse over and over. For the SF happy, the key is to get to the upper 30s to run endless ITFs or 45-50 for the RSF and LGTF/SF. Adding in a 30-35 SF would go a long way to bridging the content gap as well as making things a little easier in the merit department.

4. Various - Lag isn't as big a concern as it used to be. I used to be told not to shield people with ice or thermal because of the extra lag. Grandville used to be a slideshow for some people. It's a lot better now. I find the content to be fun, and in most cases a lot more contained. Except for a couple of contacts sending me running back to Mercy every once in a while, redside contacts tend to keep it in the same zone. When the devs started writing missions after i6 blueside, they tended to echo the same sentiment. Woe be to those who still get bounced back to the Hollows or Faultline after about level 25. That's just sloppy zone/door coding.

So, those are some of the issues. How do we fix it?

1. Get friendly - Spamming Cap broadcast for a team isn't likely to get you much. I can only speak for myself and a few friends, but I don't tend to pay attention to broadcast. And, if I'm in a mission with my brute charging headlong from pack to pack, the blood pumping in my ears and tunnel vision...you get the point. Long story short, use the Search feature and ask around. I usually respond to tells asking about teams. A lot of times, LB will be the best place to ask. A lot of people are starting to level villains, even if it's just to take a brute or a mastermind blueside after GR comes out. It never hurts to ask it they'd like some help. All that can happen is getting told 'no'.

2. SFs are your friend - Yes, they're aren't many of them. But people still want to do them. Your best friend is the Sharkhead SF. Although, I'm seeing Sliver Mantis becoming more popular. And I'm sure SM will be much better after i17. Also remember that ITFs are co-op. Yes, I'm sure that everyone is sick of them by now, but it's still content and it's content that people want to run. As well, the respec trials are pretty quick and while they may not yield much in the XP/Merit department, they do tend to be popular when they form.

If anyone else has any suggestions, I'd be interested to see them as well. The Isles need a few more ne'er-do-wells to make life more intesting.

When I'm done lvling up my ice/ss tank I'll roll a new villain then we'll get some teams going redside.

I did this a lot when I was lvling up my sonic/therm but even pestering LB for teams doesn't always work.

Once i17 drops there'll be a lot of stupid demon MMs running around so there'll undoubtedly be some teaming then.

I love Westin's arc. Beating up the Freaks and destroying their books, wonderful. It's Terrance's arc that is a downer for me. All those spiders.

I used to be 99% villain but people started migrating over to hero side and it was hard to find teams. I still have more villains than heroes, give a hollar out if you need a team.

I play mostly red side. Drop a team message into Sisters or LB and I can normally bring my wife and I if we aren't already doing something.

Well. I believe they should give redside more zones, or at least brighten it up so it doesn't seem so depressing . . Atlas Park has a night so how come Mercy Island can't have sunshine? No one wants to roll around the slums all day while playing on redside . . Its extremely depressing and makes me yawn. Although I do play redside . .

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@Darrius Illusio

I know you @Fan Mail. Lol