How fast did you get your Common Boost?

I figure I'll need about a week or two, based on the responses in this thread.

I did all of the missions for getting my alpha slot, then five tip missions and a couple of odd paper missions after since redside seemed to be lacking the need for a corrupter in any of the TFs I needed. No shards dropped.

On the upside, my blueside Corrupter is coming along nicely an gets teams even when I'm not specifically looking, so once that one is 50 I expect it to take a couple of days at most.

Well, due to low-end hardware, I'm limited to soloing. So far, just 1 addtional shards in 8 hours lvl 50 play. It would seem more fair that if the qualifying arc can be solo'ed, the drop rate for shards would be as comparable for the solo players and the missions they can handle as it is for those who can handily team for TF's. Right now, it seems to be imbalanced towards the TF and SF content with the 50 solo content getting barely a token nod on shard drop rate.

At my current rate of getting shards, might can make my first common alpha by, oh let's guess, New Years Day....2012?

EI got his about 2 hours after Liberty came back up...maybe 3 hours (with a good 30 mins of waiting for people to join a 'kill all (most) LGTF').

On I19 launch day, I ended up getting the Uncommon Alpha Boost (Spiritual Radial) in a little over a half a day.

Have yet to.
I only have two L50s: an Ill/TA Controller that I can't decide a build for, and a Fire/Dark Brute. Neither of them have even completed the Incarnate arc (The controller has beaten Trapdoor's mission, though).

Despite the Incarnate content, I can't seem to be able to make myself continue playing my max-level characters...

I wound up getting enough shards/Components to make a Cardiac boost without buying the gr'ai matter at RWZ after 1 "kill most" ITF which took 1:19

Got my Common in one ITF. I picked up 10 shards and the reward at the end in two hours since we did a defeat all ITF. Got my uncommon in 4 hrs from a Tin Mage TF(2hr) and a LGTF(2hr).

Two Hami raids in a row; took 1 hr and a half, and got 14 shards. Then today, another two Hami raids, and I got my Uncommon boost; 2 hrs (monster phase took longer today). So, 3 hours and a half for my Uncommon boost.

It took me about an hour and a quarter - one ITF, Grai Matter and Shards

took me roughly 3 hours to get the slot and slotted it out.
Duoed the arc, but struggled a little since i forgot i have AVs turned on.
Then did a LGTF and made my Spiritual boost, realised that it busted up my end, so i crafted a cardiac instead the next day.

The pattern I have seen here and on a couple of my chars is if you have enough vanguard merits to purchase a gra'i matter (sp?) you can run one TF that gives one of the comp's you need (ITF, LGTF, etc) and get enough shard drops for the third comp.

Even if you don't have the vanguard merits a good TF run will get you enough shards for 2 comps - my Widow got 8 shards in an ITF run (but then went ahead and did a mothership right after and got 600+ vanguard merits and 5 more shards - so one more ITF and she can probably upgrade her common to an uncommon). My tank did an ITF, got 4 shards + the TF reward and already had enough vanguard merits for a gra'i matter. My huntsman wasn't so lucky - we had to speed up his ITF run for someone who had to leave for work in an hour and he only finished with 3 shards total, but I took him on one of the repeat mothership raids we did on protector tonight and picked up 2 more shards).

After a lengthy MSR last night on Union, my main Brute, Volkanik got just 2 shards. Tried to run an LGTF, but switched to my Ill / Rad, Illuzi-One because of team composition, and got 6 shards and the Hero 1 DNA component. Will probably run RWZ arcs with her tonight to get more V-Merits.

I initially thought the drop rate was a little low, but in retrospect I think it's about right. I do TEND to solo largely because I got fairly ticked off with standing around for hours trying to make a team or look for one, and once I found one it was full of clueless cretins or chest beating l33tists, but since GR finding teams has gotten a whole lot easier. I believe CoH has always been a game that favoured teams, and it makes sense therefore that teaming up will have the appropriate benefits.

Whilst everyone pays their money to play how they like, I think people who are pathologically solo players are really shooting themselves in the foot and missing out on the "point". Certainly since I've put more effort in the "Multi" part of MMO with COH, I've gotten a whole lot more out of it.

If the Incarnate system is a means to encouraging TFs and teaming, then I think it's a Good Thing™

Got my uncommon Musculature Core Boost last night......finally!

Had hoped I would get a Kahn TF going since I needed the drop from that to upgrade then get involved in maybe 1 or 2 more TF's to get enough shards to simply make up the other components needed.

Seemed that I missed a Kahn TF just as I finally got in last night after being stuck in the snow for 30 mins coming back from work :-( .

Got involved with a LGTF that on paper would have been hard at the Hami point with the heavy melee based team make up but we actually swatted the blue mitos away with ease and had the TF completed in 1 hour 50 mins. Considering we aimed to do the TF properly and take down all mobs we saw it was a great completion time. Came out of the TF with 7 shards.

Still no interest in a Kahn TF but to be fair it was to be expected as Wednesday is always MSR might on Union. I had already got the component from Vanguard Merits as I amass them on all my toons as I do not use them for anything other than Curse Breakers :-/

Managed to get in on a ITF and figured that if I came out with 16 shards at the end of the TF I would have enough shard to make and upgrade all the items I needed for the uncommon. Another great run that again was done the proper way in order to maximise the mobs we took on yet still completed in 1 hour 15 mins. Came out 1 shard short! :-p

Spent until about 12:45pm trying to get the last shard I needed. Used the shard to make everything else so I had 3 sitting in my tray waiting for a 4th to drop. As I was only after 1 shard and it was getting late I did not want to get involved in another TF so figured I would just do +0 x8 Radio mishes.

Could not get a drop. Tried running a Ourob TF solo at the same difficulty and still got nothing. :-/

My girlfriend offered to team with me on the Mender Silos TF to see if having a team run it, even if it was just us two, would get better results. She dropped a shard in the first mission and I finally got one in the second. We called it a night after that.

So my first toon is kitted out with what is available in the Alpha Slot. Bring on the rest of it! :-)

Interested to see how the devs review shard drop rate outside of TF's based on player responses now. I get involved in enough TF's with most of my toons for it not to be much of an issue for me personally however based on runs outside TF's I did last night, I can see why other players have concerns on shard drop rates in regular Lv 50 content.

I was able to craft a Cardiac for my main after purchasing Gr'ai Matter and running a single ITF. After one LGTF and another ITF yesterday, I was able to craft a Cardiac Radial.

Got the common Cardiac last night.. Pretty easy too. Bought the G'Rai matter (I had already over 1000 Vanguard merits) and then went to do an ITF (for the Nictus Essence)... and during that tf I got enough drops to make the Hero 1 DNA sample. Presto!

Today bought my second G'Rai matter. And I still have some shards left from the ITF. So I will do a LGTF and most likely can build the uncommon directly after.

I find doing two tf's for two alpha boosts is easy... maybe too easy :S

One kill all ITF and I had my Spiritual Common for my scrapper. 8 shards - enough to craft the other two required pieces. No need to go with Vanguard merits at all.

I dunno how long it's going to take to get the uncommon.

Still slogging along being treated badly by the drop RNG.

If I get to run a TF that will help. Oh well at least I still have all my purples.

I got my Common boost the first day. I could have gotten my Uncommon boost, but I needed a 2nd component from the ITF. Rather than spend Shards to create it, knowing I need "raw" shards to craft uncommon components, I waited till the second day of the release to go on a second ITF.

(I freaking love what it's doing for me.)

Honestly? Roughly 3 hours after unlocking the Alpha Slot on my Dom. I unlocked him (thereby getting 1 Shard) and hopped on a kill all LGTF. Not only was it the smoothest LG I've been on in years (yes even the hostage mission went smooth-no auto-fail here) but I got TEN more Shard drops!!!! Picked up the Hero 1 DNA at the end, Crafted the G-Matter at the Vanguard base, burned 4 Shards to craft my Nictus Fragment and Viola! Cardiac Boost..LOVE IT!