Custom mobs are overpowered because people don't know how to design them properly. They do not have to be overpowered, they haven't had to be overpowered for a long time, and now it's possible to make reasonably difficult mobs that still give full or near-full XP.
They are still more powerful than standard mobs at lower levels, but after you get SOs, well-designed custom mobs balanced for your level are by no means a death sentence.
Here's a tip: If an arc with custom mobs is set to level 1-54, you probably don't want to play it; since custom-picked powers no longer unlock based on your level, it's now even more impossible to balance a group for the whole 1-54 range.
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
The flipside, though, is that standard mobs are often underpowered, while AE enemies can (and in many cases, are required to) have access to the full range of powers that players get - some of which, like Build Up, can be devastating. This is especially true when three minions and two lieutenants all fire it off at once; you'll be face down on the carpet by the time the alpha strike finishes animating. Very very few stock mobs can do that.
My characters at Virtueverse
Faces of the City
@Eva: You made my point for me. AE custom mobs are more powerful than standard mobs and often in a way that can make them dangerously OP
I'm arguing that custom mobs shouldn't be more difficult than standard ones by default. If players need to know specific work arounds to make mobs they can face in groups of more than 1 or 2 at a time there's something wrong here.
By making custom mobs significantly more difficult players find themselves faced with a problem when making AE arcs. They can choose standard mobs and risk affecting the quality of their story (as I have chosen to do in one of my arcs) or they can make custom mobs and risk unplayability.
Quote:
Did you miss the "at lower levels part?"|
Originally Posted by leChuck12
@Eva: You made my point for me. AE custom mobs are more powerful than standard mobs and often in a way that can make them dangerously OP
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Quote:
| I'm arguing that custom mobs shouldn't be more difficult than standard ones by default. If players need to know specific work arounds to make mobs they can face in groups of more than 1 or 2 at a time there's something wrong here. |
And the "default" setting for custom mobs is "Standard," on that setting many custom mobs are EASIER than standard mobs, especially at higher levels. They also give less XP because they are easier. That is why custom settings were put in.
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
Quote:
It is not about workarounds; it is about designing the game so that people who legitimately want to make good arcs can do so while at the same time trying to avoid opening up for exploitation of the system.|
Originally Posted by leChuck12
I'm arguing that custom mobs shouldn't be more difficult than standard ones by default. If players need to know specific work arounds to make mobs they can face in groups of more than 1 or 2 at a time there's something wrong here.
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The default setting for powers is "standard" and that is somewhat close to normal mobs in terms of how powerful they are - the XP is worse though. This varies though with levels, as Eva said. Lower levels can still be tough.
In order to make custom mobs vastly overpowered to regular mobs the arc designer has made a decision to make them harder and/or not limit the possible level range that is set for the arc. And harder is both the powers selected for each mob as well as the combination of powers from multiple mobs.
He/she can also decide to make a balanced and suitable power usage for the level range the arc is aiming at. Also, custom groups can be made with a new combination of standard characters, or a mix of standard characters and custom characters - there are lots of options.
But it will require testing for sure to get a good mix, preferably with different team/character/difficulty combinations.
Many arcs, especially in the beginning of MA, were created with the author just playing around with the system and perhaps creating as powerful mobs as he/she could. Many of these arcs are still around, cluttering the system.
I avoid certain arcs with custom mobs myself, but I do not avoid all of them. A few rules of thumb I use:
* Avoid arcs with custom mobs which have a level range of 1-54 or similar (I tend to avoid 5-50 etc also)
* Avoid arcs with custom mobs if there are warnings for extreme mobs (bosses, elite bosses, arch-villains)
* Only look at arcs that have status "Looking for feedback" or "Final".
* If the description of the arc is just a short sentence like "can u beat the mighty Konrad" or something like that I also tend to avoid it.
[url="http://adingworld.wordpress.com/mission-architect-story-arcs/"][b]My Story arcs[/b][/url]: [i]The Siren Supremes[/i] ([b]1143[/b]), [i]The Missing Geneticist[/i] ([b]2542[/b]), [i]Elemental Jones[/i] ([b]263512[/b]), [i]The Soul Hunter[/i] ([b]294431[/b]), [i]Heart of Steel[/i] ([b]407104[/b]), [i]Project Serpens[/i] ([b]434082[/b])
Why are custom AE mobs so over powered?
I recently played an arc with custom AE arcs and a team consisting of a grav/storm troller, an invulterability tanker, and an electric devices blaster wiped continously. It's gotten to the point where I can tell I don't want to play arcs if I know that they have custom mobs because I know they will be overpowered.
As I understand it this is to prevent farming but there is a limit to how far this justification can go especially considering that people still farm. In fact the changes brought to AE have devasted the arcs made by players but done very little to really reduce farming.
The problem with overpowered custom mobs is that in doing so one nerfs player creativity. There are all kinds of stories that need to be told using custom mobs but because they are OP people are forced to choose between creativity and playability.
This isn't about farming or the social ills associated with the practice. The problem with custom AE mobs is that in making them OP farming is not nerfed but player creativity is.