Huh... So now what do I do?
I want to share a little slice of life with you, in the hopes of coming up with some kind of unexpected epiphany, and I say this quite seriously.
I've been talking about not wanting to bother with the Incarnate system for some time now, and as a result have been levelling up "alts." However, I figured "Hey! I have 50s and I ought to play THEM at some point, right? Let's pick my old flagship villain and see what I can do with him?" So I dug up my old Mids build and was just about to set to respeccing a character I haven't really played much in years when I thought to check what said villain can actually do should I go ahead and give him his respec. I was disappointed to find the following in his contacts list: *Marcus Valerius - repeatable mission contact *Senator Aquila - he disappeared as soon as I called him The Architect Studio Manager - whom I apparently haven't spoken with yet Borea - repeatable mission contact *Warzone Operative Braun - repeatable mission contact IN A PVP ZONE *Sister Airlia *Mender Ramiel Of those, the only two meaningful contacts that I have are Ramiel and Airlia. Ramiel has around four missions in one arc, Airlia has around six missions split between two arcs. All together between them, they give me around a day's worth of content, especially now that I'm off work for some time over (orthodox) Easter. So, OK, let's say I run with those two. Then what? I literally have no other contacts for this Brute, because I had to run them all just to get to level 50, and I still had to run paper missions for the last level or so, back before Experience Scaling. I'm really pressed for answers here. Yes, I'm aware I could just run, err... The ITF? The Apex and Tin Mage stuff? The Lambada and BARF Trials? To a point, I suppose. But even were I not disinclined to run "Task Forces" back-to-back, that won't last me much longer, either, at least not unless I plan to grind them endlessly, which I don't. I find myself right now grasping at straws. I like my villain, and I do want to play him a bit. But I just can't bring myself to commit to all the work I'd need to do to make him playable again (he had a horrid build even before) without something to look forward to at the end of the yellow brick road. There's planning a respec, there's enacting it, there's sorting the MESS this makes of my trays, there's redoing his old binds, probably fixing some of his hideous old costumes, possibly redoing his bio since the one he's using now is six years old and my writing skills have improved considerably. There's a lot of work to put into this guy, and I just don't see the point right now. All this work, and for what? So I can run a couple of short arcs and be out of ideas once more? I've run papers with him. Run them into the ground. I've run PvE missions in PvP zones. Braun's bar is full. I've run more than enough faceless fill-in-the-blanks repeatable content to last me a life time, and I just so happen to have run almost all the non-repeatable 45-50 content. So what do I do now? Serious question here. I like the character, I want to play him, but I can't bring myself to sinking down what will end up being an entire day fixing his sorry *** if all I have to look forward is "repeatable content." Because beyond that, I'm out of ideas, and it seriously sucks. I like this character. |
Play your other alts.
Blazara Aura LVL 50 Fire/Psi Dom (with 125% recharge)
Flameboxer Aura LVL 50 SS/Fire Brute
Ice 'Em Aura LVL 50 Ice Tank
Darq Widow Fortune LVL 50 Fortunata (200% rech/Night Widow 192.5% rech)--thanks issue 19!
Hit PoliceWoman's AE contact tree, or the review threads, and look for decent arcs.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
Do you have all the unlockable contacts?
Number 204
Viridian
Television
Arbiter Rein
Serious question here. I like the character, I want to play him, but I can't bring myself to sinking down what will end up being an entire day fixing his sorry *** if all I have to look forward is "repeatable content." Because beyond that, I'm out of ideas, and it seriously sucks. I like this character.
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To everyone else... In my experience, the game is quite a bit more fun--leveling or otherwise--when I play it with other people. I don't have any problem whatsoever running generic missions on a team of all 50s.
There was a time when I'd look at offline games, even RPGs, and see how they had distinct beginnings, goals and endings. City of Heroes isn't like that. It just goes and goes until it stops going. Sure, you can roll a new character, but what's the point? That's when I realized the joys of teaming with friends (or random passersby).
So the moral of the story is: if you're trying to play this game alone, it's gonna suuuuuuuck.
Serious question here. I like the character, I want to play him, but I can't bring myself to sinking down what will end up being an entire day fixing his sorry *** if all I have to look forward is "repeatable content." Because beyond that, I'm out of ideas, and it seriously sucks. I like this character.
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1. Run repeatable content (either the stuff you mentioned or the team content)
2. Re-run content that you already did either using Ourobous or by teaming with someone who's already doing it.
3. Use the AE.
4. Play a different character.
So... yeah. Even if you're missing some of the contacts Gruumch mentioned you will reach a point where your only options are the ones above.
Not sure why you seem so against teaming, but there are a ton of things you can do with your dusty old 50:
Get ALL the badges - exploration, kills, zone events etc. etc.
Run AE missions
Go through all the unplayed arcs in Ouro
Run TFs that don't require multiple players or run TFs that require multiple payers and ask people to drop once you start
Have him switch sides a few times
Once on the hero side, run the hero content
Switch back
Play the market with him
This isn't the answer you want to hear, so just ignore this post.
To everyone else... In my experience, the game is quite a bit more fun--leveling or otherwise--when I play it with other people. I don't have any problem whatsoever running generic missions on a team of all 50s. There was a time when I'd look at offline games, even RPGs, and see how they had distinct beginnings, goals and endings. City of Heroes isn't like that. It just goes and goes until it stops going. Sure, you can roll a new character, but what's the point? That's when I realized the joys of teaming with friends (or random passersby). So the moral of the story is: if you're trying to play this game alone, it's gonna suuuuuuuck. |
I have as much fun teamed or solo.
And I don't see what the post has to do with the OP to boot.
But my response to your response isn't what you want to hear, so just ignore it.
Anyway, Sam. I'd jaunt up to Ouro and make certain that I didn't miss any arcs. I know you said you felt you had hit them all, but just in case, I'd give it a look.
Then I'd run the new I20 SF. It isn't level 50, but does reach to 40, so you'd have a fairly complete feel with your character and have something new (assuming you didn't play it already). For that matter, did you hit the two new Sharkhead contacts (drawing a blank on names here) from a couple of issues ago?
Then, is this a character you really want to keep a vill? If not, run tips to go over to Blue and hit up some level 50 contacts there for "new experiences".
Just to clarify, because you didn't mention this, but there are several 45-50 contacts available for villains, but you might need to unlock some with the newspaper/mayhem cycle. This is in addition to the unlockable contacts mentioned above. - Edit: bzzt I'm wrong you did mention this. Sorry, reading failure.
But aside from that, I agree with Adeon - I'm not sure what you were expecting but eventually you're going to run out of content you have not done before. I understand not wanting to run tips, newspapers, Borea, etc over and over - but there are a lot of great 45-50 (and even 35-50 with RWZ) arcs that are a lot of fun to play again. So my recommendations match those above:
- Double check for contacts you may have missed or have not unlocked.
- Repeat fun arcs in Ouroborous.
- Check out what the AE has to offer.
@Quasadu
"We must prepare for DOOM and hope for FREEM." - SirFrederick
Why Blasters? Empathy Sucks.
So, you want to be Mental?
What the hell? Let's buff defenders.
Tactics are for those who do not have a big enough hammer. Wisdom is knowing how big your hammer is.
Viridian |
Television |
Arbiter Rein |
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Beyond that, I've seen a couple of interesting ideas I hadn't thought of, but I don't want to do too many multi-quotes.
Architect: Not a bad idea. I keep forgetting that exists because it's so full of the dreck of society, but there are occasional arcs in there that are genuinely good. I don't think I have a good way of picking those out, especially since I hate "funny" ones, but I believe the bigger problem is that the Architect does not permit Incarnate progression, even towards the Alpha slot.
I meant to imply that, but let me state it clearly - I'm looking for things to do that will allow me to make some progress towards at least the Alpha slot, not just content to rerun for the love of the content. There's very little I haven't done multiple times now.
Side-switching: Again, not a bad idea in general, and one I'll consider undertaking with other characters, but this one is my flagship villain. He's evil. Unrepentantly so. He's unconcerned with simple wealth and certainly unconcerned with any kind of heroics, so that doesn't really work well for him. Not a bad idea, though.
Ouro old content: I keep dismissing this, but I suppose it's worth at least a consideration. It's been, ooh... Years since I last played a 45-50 villain. I think my last one was in 2008 or 2009 at some point. That might be an option, since I've just about forgotten all the arcs that took place there I don't even remember all the contacts' names.
Truth be told, though, I'll probably shelf the guy for another time. I have a few very old 50s like him, mostly villains (my old 50 heroes WERE Blasters, and are now low-level other things), and I guess I'll just have to let them sit around for the time being.
I'm kind of in-between characters right now, looking to play one that doesn't hurt me to stick with. My Dark/Dark Scrapper didn't really work out very well. I could only manage to stick with him from 38 to 44, so that's barely six levels (even if that's a lot in that level range) but he just isn't cutting it. I'm looking for something else that's good, and I was hoping this guy would be it. I guess not, but there are always other things to try.
*edit*
Just a quick note, and this is not a point I want to argue: Teaming would help, but only tangentially. I need a character to play full-time, meaning a character I play for a long period of time without swapping to others. I can't team ALL the time and I don't want to log out every time a team is not available doing what I want or every time someone pisses me off. I need a "fallback" option, at the very least, which is solo content. I'm not saying I CAN'T run TFs, more so that I want something else to do besides. Same with teams, as well. Would love to play on some, definitely, but not all the time, and I have no fallback for the rest of the time.
Back to browsing my character select screen.
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I'd love to, but someone decided to make the unlock process SUUUCK, so that's not an option. I am NOT farming Paragon Protectors in some God-forsaken mission, and I'm certainly not about to slog through the Fab looking for the things. As repetitive goes, that's probably the worst of the lot.
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Also with Super Sidekicking/Exemplaring you retain your powers of 5 levels higher then what you exemp to. So in a lvl 45 arc you will have all of your level 50 goodies.
this should expand your options quite a bit.
As for Rein, I believe Gruumch meant Leery, who's an unlockable contact in Nerva.
If you don't mind exemping for content(especially since you can still earn Shards)) there should be plenty of stuff available to do.
Also Mortimer Kal SF while it does cap off at 40 the temp power you get can be traded in for a Notice of the Well at level 50.
EDIT: Oh almost forgot Villain Tips are also an option.
You have as much fun teamed or solo. What if you almost never teamed? Do you think the soloing would still be as fun to you without the regular teaming interludes?
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[QUOTE=StratoNexus;3600060]On that same character that you mostly soloed all the way to 50? The one who has already soloed almost all (or maybe even all) the story contacts? Still having fun solo now?
Sure? Why not?
Of course, you cannot answer that question, because you enjoy teaming too.
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Look, one, can you truly judge someone else's prefered/enjoyed playstyle just because it is different than your's? It is opinion, not fact. Two, debating or deriding his chosen playstyle bears not at all on the question. He asked, as legitimately as possible, for ideas he had overlooked to help him play the way he wants with a specific character.
As for Rein, I believe Gruumch meant Leery, who's an unlockable contact in Nerva.
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If you don't mind exemping for content(especially since you can still earn Shards)) there should be plenty of stuff available to do.
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That's still an option. Not sure how I feel about it at this time. Will have to come up with an answer.
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Mostly, I think I'll give City of Heroes a rest for a short while. See if I'm not just bruning out. I have a heap of things to do on Steam. Will try to do enough so that I forget where I was and try to start fresh. Probably means I'll have to stay away from the forums for a while, too, though at this point that's probably a good thing. Probably shouldn't mention other games for no reason, but I'll stick to playing the one that just came out for a while, I suppose. Maybe the problem with not wanting to "bother" will go away on its own.
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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Reminds me, once again, that it would sure be great if they could come up with a way to allow user-made arcs to contribute to the shard dropping/earning (without making it any sort of fast track).
What was supposed to be an endless sea of content, has been hit again by no longer allowing level 50s to earn the same sort of rewards they could from other content.
Anyway...
The answer to your dilemma, for me, has always been role-playing.
I just enjoy logging on a character and being inside their head... no matter what game content may or may not be available.
While it can still be enjoyable solo... having others to engage in such things is also a great part of it.
Anyway, it's not for every body!
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
@Quasadu
"We must prepare for DOOM and hope for FREEM." - SirFrederick
What about Dev's Choice arcs? Those drop normal rewards like any other mission right? So they should drop Shards? I haven't tried, but it seems like they should...
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Now if they would actually award *new" Dev Choice arcs on any sort of regular schedule, that would be a different thing altogether. But it seems like "fat chance" on that front.
...All this work, and for what? So I can run a couple of short arcs and be out of ideas once more? I've run papers with him. Run them into the ground. I've run PvE missions in PvP zones. Braun's bar is full. I've run more than enough faceless fill-in-the-blanks repeatable content to last me a life time, and I just so happen to have run almost all the non-repeatable 45-50 content. So what do I do now?...
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i went through the same internal crisis you are describing shortly after i13 and then again every few months because my subscription was on and off alot since then. my best suggestion is take a break and come back when you miss something about the game. more than half the reason to come back is friends that still play but theres no sense in sticking around if you arent having fun, you'll just bring people down who were still enjoying the game.
Yes, choosing "standard rewards" on a Dev Choice arc will drop shards - it has been confirmed on the AE boards. The problem is there aren't enough Dev Choice arcs. And for Sam's specific situation, there's only 2 - 4 villainous arcs, and some of them might not be that great if they're some of the first ones awarded.
Now if they would actually award *new" Dev Choice arcs on any sort of regular schedule, that would be a different thing altogether. But it seems like "fat chance" on that front. |
That is indeed cool... except for the whole extraordinarily limited selection of Dev Choices and snail-paced addition of others.
Even still, being locked to Dev Choice Only options eliminates much of the fun that the AE can deliver.
Say you and your super team are based on a concept that spend their time fighting the Super Secret Ninja Syndicate, working through the ranks of the SSNS agents, all the way up to the top (through a long journey from 1 to 50) to finally fight the main boss behind it all.
The AE should be about enabling that sort of comicbook feel, completely tailor made to player creativity...
Sadly, there is no way, at all, to have every weekly AE mission become a Dev Choice, just so that the rewards can be normal (although, yeah, only post-50 really suffers from this).
Anyway...
My apologies for the hijack, Sam!
Here's your thread back!
*hands over Sam's thread, minus a few cookies and with a few bent corners and a stain on the protective plastic wrap*
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
When you've run out of things you want to do, you have two choices.
1. Try something you don't think you'll like, and hope to be proven wrong.
2. Stop.
@SPTrashcan
Avatar by Toxic_Shia
Why MA ratings should be changed from stars to "like" or "dislike"
A better algorithm for ordering MA arcs
Things to keep a 50 busy:
1) Tips & Alignment Merits
2) Play AE Arcs
3) Get every Ouro arc on the character starred
4) Hunt Giant Monsters
5) Create AE Arcs
6) Get every defeat/complete badge from Safeguards/Bank Heists
7) Run every TF or Trial at least once
8) Hunt AVs/Heroes in storyarcs
9) Join a PUG and make new friends
10) Switch sides and do the applicable above
If you can't find content to run, you're not trying.
Craft your inventions in AE!!
Play "Crafter's Cafe" - Arc #487283. A 1 mission, NON-COMBAT AE arc with workable invention tables!
I have somewhat of a weird quirk in which I view level 50 as being semi-retirement. That means I have around 12 toons eternally parked in the 45-49 range and only 3 real 50's. Since I have no desire to play without 'earning' something for them and don't care for the Incarnate options, I usually just shelve them and move on to the next project/concept.
However, I recently decided to dust off my old DM/Regen and make the push to 50, as he was the 2nd character I ever made I feel he deserved the honor. What happened in the process was quite shocking for me. I found that I really, really enjoyed playing him at high level. One of the better rounded toons I've made, I found the prospect of having to 'shelve' him in a few levels to be disheartening. So I'd avoid playing him, so he didn't get to 50 and get forgotten about. Which is a viscious cycle but I digress...
A few weeks later I was growing tired of running tips on all my alts. Though I found myself wanting to use Hero merits to buy LOTG and all the other shinies I've never been able to afford. So I decided to turn my DM/Regen into a tip farmer. Nothing fancy, I just log him in every few days and do a tip or 3. Ended up being win/win for me. I get to continue earning A-Merits for the goodies but don't have to waste time on lowbies I could be running arcs on and I also get to continue playing a 50 for the 1st time ever. True the tips get old after a while, but the toon doesn't!
He just mailed a Numina+/+ to one of my lowbie Blasters last night!
Not saying this would work for you, but it's an option.
Maestro Mavius - Infinity
Capt. Biohazrd - PCSAR
Talsor Tech - Talsorian Guard
Keep Calm & Chive On!
I want to share a little slice of life with you, in the hopes of coming up with some kind of unexpected epiphany, and I say this quite seriously.
I've been talking about not wanting to bother with the Incarnate system for some time now, and as a result have been levelling up "alts." However, I figured "Hey! I have 50s and I ought to play THEM at some point, right? Let's pick my old flagship villain and see what I can do with him?" So I dug up my old Mids build and was just about to set to respeccing a character I haven't really played much in years when I thought to check what said villain can actually do should I go ahead and give him his respec. I was disappointed to find the following in his contacts list:
*Marcus Valerius - repeatable mission contact
*Senator Aquila - he disappeared as soon as I called him
The Architect Studio Manager - whom I apparently haven't spoken with yet
Borea - repeatable mission contact
*Warzone Operative Braun - repeatable mission contact IN A PVP ZONE
*Sister Airlia
*Mender Ramiel
Of those, the only two meaningful contacts that I have are Ramiel and Airlia. Ramiel has around four missions in one arc, Airlia has around six missions split between two arcs. All together between them, they give me around a day's worth of content, especially now that I'm off work for some time over (orthodox) Easter. So, OK, let's say I run with those two. Then what? I literally have no other contacts for this Brute, because I had to run them all just to get to level 50, and I still had to run paper missions for the last level or so, back before Experience Scaling.
I'm really pressed for answers here. Yes, I'm aware I could just run, err... The ITF? The Apex and Tin Mage stuff? The Lambada and BARF Trials? To a point, I suppose. But even were I not disinclined to run "Task Forces" back-to-back, that won't last me much longer, either, at least not unless I plan to grind them endlessly, which I don't.
I find myself right now grasping at straws. I like my villain, and I do want to play him a bit. But I just can't bring myself to commit to all the work I'd need to do to make him playable again (he had a horrid build even before) without something to look forward to at the end of the yellow brick road. There's planning a respec, there's enacting it, there's sorting the MESS this makes of my trays, there's redoing his old binds, probably fixing some of his hideous old costumes, possibly redoing his bio since the one he's using now is six years old and my writing skills have improved considerably. There's a lot of work to put into this guy, and I just don't see the point right now.
All this work, and for what? So I can run a couple of short arcs and be out of ideas once more? I've run papers with him. Run them into the ground. I've run PvE missions in PvP zones. Braun's bar is full. I've run more than enough faceless fill-in-the-blanks repeatable content to last me a life time, and I just so happen to have run almost all the non-repeatable 45-50 content. So what do I do now?
Serious question here. I like the character, I want to play him, but I can't bring myself to sinking down what will end up being an entire day fixing his sorry *** if all I have to look forward is "repeatable content." Because beyond that, I'm out of ideas, and it seriously sucks. I like this character.