stop buying purples?

All my purple bids have also filled... I was very surprised.

Well, there are classes in WoW that can be a pure damage dealer in one spec, and a healer in another spec. Healer gear isn't optimal for dps and vice versa, but it can make do.

Gear difference between specs is going to be even smaller in cataclysm.

Main difference in gear between WoW+ CoH is WoW's gear affects all your powers no matter what slot it's in. CoH's gear mostly only affects a single power (with some global bonuses from sets).

I think the main difficulty with sharing IOs between spec is they'd have to make sure there wouldn't be any kind of IO duplication exploit resulting from it.

Are you familiar with the character Sithandra in 'Aeon Flux'?

haha, too true

There are other things they could do, and it's true that they all amount to increasing the supply at some level. But some versions have different effects than just bumping the supply across the board. Merits are kind of an example. For example, if they sold purples somehow in exchange for something (not merits) that was, by some other measure, worth less inf than current purple prices, presumably the market price of purples would fall to around that worth. (Plus, of course, some premium the very wealthy would be willing to pay because they can get money more easily than that hypothetical other thing - see crafted LotGs.)

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showp...8&postcount=33 and further in that thread
We've got official confirmation of the following:

* There's a new currency (or two, depending on your point of view); Hero Alignment Merits (HAM) and Villain Alignment Merits (VAM) that is planned for GR
* You will need to have purchased GR to take part
* You will need to have access to Fort Trident (Hero) or the Crucible (Villain) to spend HAM / VAM for purples; access is contingent on being a "true" Hero or Villain (ie, not a Vigilante or Rogue, and having "reaffirmed" your loyalty)
* You will be able to choose the recipe you want; not a random roll
* If you side-switch, any unspent HAM / VAM are lost
* Even if you side-switch, you will eventually be able to get locked into the new side enough to participate in the HAM / VAM system

Not yet fully confirmed with a dev post to my knowledge, but strongly implied based on reports of statements at the SDCC panels:
* You will be able to get at least some purple recipes through the HAM / VAM system
* HAM and VAM are not tradeable, mailable, etc.; they are locked to an individual character like Reward Merits, Vanguard Merits, etc.

Less strongly implied by official statements, but likely given what has been said:
* The previously mentioned series involving "tip" missions leading to a "morality" mission is likely connected to at least the "reaffirm your loyalty" part, and possibly how the "must have GR" test works, as it's been said that characters on accounts without GR will be able to get "tip" missions, but not the "morality" ones.
* At one point it was stated that there was an intended limit on how quickly characters could switch sides; if still true and depending on how it is implemented, it is likely it would affect how quickly one could qualify for HAM / VAM once GR launches, and how long it will take to "prove yourself" if you switch sides.

Usual disclaimers apply; there's already been one major feature dropped from GR (Incarnate slot), and the above could certainly change.

It gives us a base for discussion, however; IF the HAM / VAM (xAM?) system goes live as described, there will be a way for individual characters to choose to defeat enemies in such a way that they get currency that can be spent on buying purple recipes of their choice. Implications?

Some that come to mind:
* People may rearrange their methods of generating original wealth / drops to focus on HAMs / VAMs allowing them to purchase desired purples directly. This MAY result in a reduction of supply of less-desirable purples currently randomly generated, and a RELATIVE increase in their price (effectively reducing the price spread of purples); other effects may swamp this
* More people playing new alts and new players, somewhat less farming overall
* One fascinating unanswered question is whether all purples will cost the same amount of xAMs. Interesting implications either way; how quickly will those effects push out to the market?
* Will there immediately or eventually be other things you can buy with xAMs? Presumably the value of "slice of a purple" will be high enough you'd not want to spend it on trivial things even if available, but with the new Incarnate stuff looming, we may have other stuff to worry about. (Are the devs making purples more available because there will be new rarer stuff to worry about? This certainly wouldn't be the first MMO to have "Green is the new Purple" situations; and there's precedent even in CoH (when was the last time you tried for a Crystal-O?))

I really hope purchasing purples doesn't make it live. And fortunata hypnosis the same merit cost as Armegeddon or Hecatomb? That would be literally ridiculous. As in deserving of ridicule, shame, and mockery. I hope they're not that stupid. I really do.

Again, I really hope not. Wouldn't be the first, but I can hope it doesn't happen.

Think before you call people names. Doing it any other way would be stupid of them, because then they would be setting prices. I would expect it to work just like the existing merit purchase system where a 'rare' recipe costs a certain amount whether it's perceived as junk or it's the Luck of the Gambler +recharge. You buy the good one with merits and buy the junk at the consignment house.