min/maxer?

What on earth does that mean exactly?

I've been asking around our chat forums on Justice and Triumph and have received several different answers and finally came the suggestion to ask here.

I should pace myself.. 3 questions in one day.

Basically, a 'min/maxed' build is an optimized one for maximum performance. A 'min/maxer' would be a person that makes (or tries to) min/maxed builds.

We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.

And just as a note, its a much broader term then just for City of Heroes, or all MMOs (multiplayer online games), as it dates back to pen and paper roleplaying games such as Dungeons and Dragons; interestingly, Dungeons and Dragons the rpg had (and may still have) a forum dedicated to min-maxing characters. One, Pun-Pun, was a way to take a 5th levelish (IIRC) character and give them infinite stats, infinite saving throws, infinite armor class, etc. as well as access to all powers in the game. Sort of a thought exercise, I doubt it ever saw play. . .

RPGs tend to have more holes that allow for truly egregious exploitation then MMOs do, since there are human GMs who can look at what you are doing and roll it back right on the spot and if they are lucky get play tested by a few dozen people. You have to be more careful what you allow with a hundred thousand creative players.

If you picture a function of a number of variables as a bell curve, then the point at which the values give you the highest point on the curve would be the best point to choose. My definition of a "min/maxer" is that he carefully studies all the mathematical interplay of the stats of the character in order to find that maximum point.

A min/maxer will typically talk about putting together precise attack chains, slotting Enhancements and IOs for the maximum overall bonus, and optimizing behavior against the largest group of different MOBs. It's a form of metagaming, engaging in activity outside of the game to increase your performance in the game. The "min" part of it comes from the fact that in order to get the best overall performance, you usually have to sacrifice maximum performance in some particular area. So you find the value within that range that gives you the best overall benefit.

To view it positively, it's a little like tuning your sports car's engine for an extra 5% horsepower. It's not really going to buy you that much over John Q. Public's family sedan, but it can be an enjoyable challenge.

As a D&D min/maxer myself, I can give you a bit of the etymology. A "min/maxer" looks to maximise their strengths and minimise their weaknesses. The first is the more obvious side - in CoH, that means good attack chains, good set bonuses, and an appropriate distribution of enhancements. It might also mean having the right team around you for something like a Hami raid.

The minimal weaknesses thing, on the other hand, is more subtle. A shorter attack chain, for instance, is good because it needs fewer power choices. That frees up options for other power selections. On a solo-oriented "squishy" character, Hover is an incredible defensive power, because with one selection and 0.25 end/sec, you've eliminated most of your problems with melee attacks. The point is to either shore up your weaknesses, or to make them irrelevant in normal play.

I've always thought the min/* part was in regards to resources used or is necessary to achieve the */max performance.

Minimize/maximize....usual minimization is of build weaknesses, costs, downsides, etc. I there's a hole, fill it. If there's a weakness, make it as small as possible. Maximize strengths, usualyl damage/recharge/defense etc. around here.

Usually it's said in reference to those who put a huge preference upon performance, even when it may not work for a character's concept.

Sometimes it's used in a derogitory way by roleplaying focused players, for the latter reason.

In the '90s when I was into warhammer we called min/maxxers "beardies" because about 9/10s of them played Dwarves (the other 1/10 played Chaos).

And in MUDs, they're usually called twinks. Which as much refers to "twinking out" or muling gear from a rich alt to a newb, as it does to builds.

Now I'm confused. I thought a min/maxer was one that is extremely good at one thing and one thing only.

For example, a Blaster created for maximum damage output without regards to anything else would be a min/maxer. A toon built as a "jack of all trades" that can pretty much do everything but doesn't specialize in any one thing is not a min/maxer...or at least I thought this was the case before now.