Why aren't you buffing?


Adeon Hawkwood

 

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Originally Posted by Leo_G View Post
First of all the 1st and 2nd are exactly the same issue but you choose to split it into 2 grievances? Just seems like padding your argument to me.
No, two different reasons for people to not want buffs - medical and peformance.

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Yeah, I'm sure there are still people that have these problems but as they do now, they can find ways to get around these issues themselves.
Like "Log off and not play." Think that MIGHT be something worth avoiding?

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Same. If you have issues with buffs causing problems for your machine, you can request not to be buffed (by the way, if it's causing problems with their PC, how is asking *yourself* not to be buffed going to stop other people's buffs from showing up on your machine?) or just sign off the team if it becomes too much of an issue.
You can move around them - and, hmm, funny, for a game that relies on people *playing* (and paying a subscription,) somehow I don't think "Hey, just sign off" is what they'd want to drive for.

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Why Blasters and Stalkers seem to fall behind relative to power. Would you be in favor of asking Brutes and Scrappers to be nerfed? Bring them down to where everyone else is?
Speaking of fallacious arguments....


 

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Originally Posted by Leo_G View Post
Why Blasters and Stalkers seem to fall behind relative to power.
Uh....what?
My Claws/Ninja Stalker would like to have some very personal, very sharp words with you.

And thank frag that Clear Mind ISN't on that list. I don't want to be trying to shield the squishies that are currently bouncing all outta range, ensuring I get none of them. I already have enough grief as it is with the two Empath auras.


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Originally Posted by Zwillinger View Post
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon View Post
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

 

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Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill View Post
No, two different reasons for people to not want buffs - medical and peformance.
And if my sonic buffs are making you sick or my thermal buffs are slowing down your PC, what do you do on *live* to get around that issue? Not team with such buffs? Stay away from them? Both of those resolves those grievances at the base level on player-side.

The next step would be fixing those graphics or just having an option to disable them in PvE.

Your problem isn't with AoE buffs, but graphics, performance and medical. Why don't you try and solve those? Rather than a fruitless solution of 'choosing' to not buff certain people (even that solution has holes. I can simply buff you because I feel like it, *right now*. What can you do about it if I do? Ask me to stop? Surprise, you'd still be able to do that with the new half-issue).



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Like "Log off and not play." Think that MIGHT be something worth avoiding?



You can move around them - and, hmm, funny, for a game that relies on people *playing* (and paying a subscription,) somehow I don't think "Hey, just sign off" is what they'd want to drive for.
When I said 'sign off', I mean off the team. When 4 MMs show up on the team, I don't say "Bye, I'm quitting" because that sounds whiny. I say "Bye, I'm signing off" because it sounds less negative than quitting (cause no body likes a quitter >_>).



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Speaking of fallacious arguments....
It was a sarcastic argument to bring yours into perspective. This isn't power creeping.

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Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha View Post
Uh....what?
My Claws/Ninja Stalker would like to have some very personal, very sharp words with you.
And where were you in all the Scrap vs Brute discussions that basically stomp all over Stalkers? Nowhere? Yeah, might as well stay in the shadows then.


 

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Originally Posted by Leo_G View Post
And where were you in all the Scrap vs Brute discussions that basically stomp all over Stalkers? Nowhere? Yeah, might as well stay in the shadows then.
Fine by me. Fury and Crits are naff all use when you can't even touch me. If you bring one to Union, I'll happily prove it.


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Originally Posted by Zwillinger View Post
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon View Post
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

 

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Originally Posted by Leo_G View Post
And if my sonic buffs are making you sick or my thermal buffs are slowing down your PC, what do you do on *live* to get around that issue? Not team with such buffs? Stay away from them? Both of those resolves those grievances at the base level on player-side.
From experience - Let people know, and ask not to have them applied. In an extreme, avoid certain characters.

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The next step would be fixing those graphics or just having an option to disable them in PvE.
*points to "Issues with incarnate graphics" thread.*


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Your problem isn't with AoE buffs, but graphics, performance and medical. Why don't you try and solve those?
Situation now:
I can avoid a buff on someone that has problems while the graphic gets fixed.

Situation with AOE buff:
If I don't notice that person is a little too close, they get buffed, get sick, log off, ruining their night and mine.

I *already* fight to get graphics changed, bring issues to the devs, etc. I have people approach me with their problems *on their own.* Making them AOE *exacerbates* the situation, which is why I argue against it and am *extremely* unhappy with the change mentioned.

I don't see why you don't get that.


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Rather than a fruitless solution of 'choosing' to not buff certain people
... which I can respect and comply with, raising everyone's gameplay experience. That's not "fruitless," and I have no idea how you'd think it possibly COULD be. Interim solution? Of course, while arguing for a graphics change. But it's certainly NOT fruitless.

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(even that solution has holes. I can simply buff you because I feel like it, *right now*. What can you do about it if I do? Ask me to stop? Surprise, you'd still be able to do that with the new half-issue).
1. If you buff me *right now,* I can ask you not to and go AFK while the buff wears out.

2. If you CONTINUE to, I leave the team, letting you (and possibly the team leader) know about it, one-star you and not team with you again.

3. If you do so *maliciously* (and yes, I *did* have people do so,) I /petition you for griefing/harassment.

With the new "half issue," you can try not to buff me - but you LOSE that fine control. I might be just on the far edge of the buff (which - I tend to be a "combat buffer." I don't want everyone stopping while I buff, I go down the list as we fight.) You'll still buff me with a buff I can't deal with/don't want.

(And just to get a personal aspect out of it - since the sonic change, I'm good with pretty much any buff, personally. Sonics were the only ones giving me headaches and such. But I do know others that DO have problems with them.)


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When I said 'sign off', I mean off the team. When 4 MMs show up on the team, I don't say "Bye, I'm quitting" because that sounds whiny. I say "Bye, I'm signing off" because it sounds less negative than quitting (cause no body likes a quitter >_>).
Don't make me throw lemon merengue at you.

And it's better to let people know *why* you're quitting - even if it's just a PM to the team lead. Helps avoid situations in the future.

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And where were you in all the Scrap vs Brute discussions that basically stomp all over Stalkers? Nowhere? Yeah, might as well stay in the shadows then.
I don't play my Stalkers like a Brute or Scrapper. That would be foolish. I play my Stalker like a Stalker. If others want to argue about how it is or isn't the same, that's their business. *shrug*


 

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I am definitely not going to be happy if they take away my fine control over my buffs. They'd be best to make it an option for the power if they impliment it.


�Alas, regardless of their doom, the little victims play!� - Thomas Gray

 

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Im happy not to have to buff whole teams individually any more. Honestly, out of all the power inflation we are getting, this is really on the low end of the spectrum, since it doesnt really increase our power so much as decrease our annoyance.


Jay Doherty: Yes, there was this one night that I was ready to go home but had to drop the browns off at the super bowl before I left for home. While on the throne it hit me. I stayed for a few more hours and that why we have the pain pads in the game.

 

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Originally Posted by CommunistPenguin View Post
Im happy not to have to buff whole teams individually any more. Honestly, out of all the power inflation we are getting, this is really on the low end of the spectrum, since it doesnt really increase our power so much as decrease our annoyance.
... except, of course, the annoyance of those that (a) don't want/can't deal with specific buffs and could previously ask not to be buffed, and (b) those who would like to consistently honor those requests.


 

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Originally Posted by Leo_G View Post
*shurgs*

Putting aside the possible reason that you just don't like being wrong, I'm not seeing any downside to this...especially not the ones you specifically mentioned in past posts in this thread.

There is no recharge penalty so if you 'miss' someone with your AoE buff, you can just recast it on them like you currently would.

There is no endurance penalty so it will be *CHEAPER* than it currently is to buff people.

You don't have to make calls for 'Gather for Shields' because it's no more expensive or time consuming than current.

The only reasons to be opposed to this is Speed Boost (which is only *ONE* power from a single set of a dozen) or because you just want to be a **** and not buff some teammates. Why the last one is even on this list? I dunno, scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to come up with reasons here.
I have a Bubbler named Rainbow Sherbet I'd like to introduce to you, care to guess what colours her bubbles are?

Heck they give me headaches just playing her. Which is why I can take her only in small doses. There are physiological reason behind why many people ask to not be buffed by shields, SB and whatnot, including nausea, headaches, migraines, and even epileptic seizures.

When one of my friends played his Botz/FF MM, there are times I can't even look at the screen because he made the FF's white and I'm not even that sensitive to that kind of stuff.


 

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im very happy with the changes, and with the changes i might actually start using the buff powers again if i only have to use it twice every 4 min instead of 16 times every 2-3 minutes

while i do know that poeple have performance issues with sb, i agree that if you dont want to deal with it, dont team with them, not like that one team your on is the only team to exist in the game

the issues with the incarnate graphics is mostly related to barrier, because with certain color combinations it is fairly obtrusive (at least the lingering effect is), it doesnt really bother me a whole lot, but it is the most noticeable

also the thing about thermal shields, if you get lag from thermal shields, anyone your playing with will lag you if they have thermal shields, especially if theres 2 thermal mm on the team and EVERYTHING has a fire shield, thats gonna lag you even if you dont want the shields, so again i go with the others and say you should take leave of the team and find a different one if its bothering you that much


 

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I hate to say it, but if buffs on screen make you sick/give you medical problems, this MAY not be the game for you.

People running around, powers blasting, Masterminds all over the place, enemies... It's a lot of chaos and a lot of colors even before adding the buffs.

If you're a seizure risk or something, it's a bad idea to be playing to begin with, forget buffs on your character.

And I could be wrong, but isn't there an option in the graphics to suppress buffs anyway?


 

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Originally Posted by Warlocc View Post
I hate to say it, but if buffs on screen make you sick/give you medical problems, this MAY not be the game for you.

People running around, powers blasting, Masterminds all over the place, enemies... It's a lot of chaos and a lot of colors even before adding the buffs.

If you're a seizure risk or something, it's a bad idea to be playing to begin with, forget buffs on your character.

And I could be wrong, but isn't there an option in the graphics to suppress buffs anyway?
So there you are, playing a game you're perfectly fine with and have been fine with for years. Someone applies a power to you you haven't been hit with before.

*Bam*

Migraine. Siezure. Whatever the case may be.

It's not "powers blasting, masterminds, enemies all over the place." It's often ONE power, which - in the case of Barrier - you may not have been exposed to before, in hundreds to thousands of hours of playing.

So, no, "So maybe you should just unsub and go away" is not an answer. Getting the graphics fixed is. Being able to avoid the issue by *not* having said graphic applied to you is. "Leave" is not.

My *suggestion* for you is, before making such a statement again, you actually learn a bit about the issue instead of making assumptions and pronouncements. It's not like this is new information.


 

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Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill View Post
So there you are, playing a game you're perfectly fine with and have been fine with for years. Someone applies a power to you you haven't been hit with before.

*Bam*

Migraine. Siezure. Whatever the case may be.

It's not "powers blasting, masterminds, enemies all over the place." It's often ONE power, which - in the case of Barrier - you may not have been exposed to before, in hundreds to thousands of hours of playing.

So, no, "So maybe you should just unsub and go away" is not an answer. Getting the graphics fixed is. Being able to avoid the issue by *not* having said graphic applied to you is. "Leave" is not.

My *suggestion* for you is, before making such a statement again, you actually learn a bit about the issue instead of making assumptions and pronouncements. It's not like this is new information.
Sounds to me like what you really want is an option in the graphics setting that allows you to shut down external buff's animations and bright colors. Shouldn't you be petitioning for that instead of trying to argue a point that most people, including the devs, don't agree?


 

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Originally Posted by Warlocc View Post
I hate to say it, but if buffs on screen make you sick/give you medical problems, this MAY not be the game for you.

People running around, powers blasting, Masterminds all over the place, enemies... It's a lot of chaos and a lot of colors even before adding the buffs.

If you're a seizure risk or something, it's a bad idea to be playing to begin with, forget buffs on your character.

And I could be wrong, but isn't there an option in the graphics to suppress buffs anyway?
There are certain patterns, colour schemes, animations and sounds that cause migraines, eye strain, headaches and seizures in people (Eye strain and seizures applicable to visual effects). Sonic Resonance used to have this issue before they changed it. Barrier (and possibly Clarion IIRC) have this issue now.

If there's an option to change these animations, or hide them, then that means more people can play the game, and thus pay the company. Shrugging and saying "That's your own problem, you shouldn't be playing" is a PR disaster in the making, and generally not a good idea.

Regarding Speed Boost, there are some people who have real issues controling their characters at speed. It can be from many things, from neurological impairment to hand to eye co-ordination issues, so on and so forth. There are also players who just want their characters to move in the way they prefer and are used to, and that's fair enough for them. I can understand that.

This change means that rather than selective buff applications, meaning people who don't want speed boost don't get it, buffs are either going to have to be called, or players are going to have to stay 30 feet away from the likely players who may be the anchor for Speed Boost.

And IIRC, 3 of Kinetics top powers (Transfusion, Transference, Fulcrum Shift) require people to be in range of them.

There are people I play with who don't want speed boost. If I bring my stone tank with me, I need it to combat the -Speed/-Recharge. This adds a bunch more hassle to proceedings now in making sure I, or others, are out of the way so they can play in a way they enjoy and I can play in a way I enjoy.

If there was a Single and an AoE option, that'd be peachy. In teams where only say, 2 people want SB, that's easy enough.


 

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I preferred my original suggestion of these buffs still being single target but "renewed" by certain conditions. E.g. Force Fields renewed by touching the caster's Dispersion Bubble, Thermal's shields renewed by Warmth, etc. That may not have not have been possible for technical reasons or they may have their own motivations. However there is no denying that this change is way, way better than the previous version.

However...


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Being able to avoid the issue by *not* having said graphic applied to you is.
Surely you aren't trying to suggest these are the first AoE buff powers that apply affects to characters in an area. How are those single target versions of Accelerate Metabolism and Recovery Aura working out?


 

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Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex View Post

Surely you aren't trying to suggest these are the first AoE buff powers that apply affects to characters in an area. How are those single target versions of Accelerate Metabolism and Recovery Aura working out?


 

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Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill View Post
... except, of course, the annoyance of those that (a) don't want/can't deal with specific buffs and could previously ask not to be buffed, and (b) those who would like to consistently honor those requests.
There is a solution of sorts for players that can't stand the graphics certain buffs have. Create a bind load file and put these lines in it:

CTRL+O "suppressCloseFxDist 300"
SHIFT+O "suppressCloseFxDist 4"

Then load that file with all your characters.

When you get buffed with something you can't stand, press CTRL+O. Most of the graphics on your character will be suppressed. You can turn it back on with SHIFT+O.

This won't solve the problem of ongoing area buffs like the big sonic bubble or the big force field, or graphics on other characters, but it will prevent the display of regular bubbles on your character. I used it because at one point my Dark/Dark scrapper's graphics effects caused ridiculous lag on the graphics card I had at the time.

Personally, I would prefer that the devs increase the duration of single-target buffs dramatically (without an end cost increase), to eliminate the need for constantly buffing other characters. Changing buffs from single-target to AoE will drastically change the way you have to play. I actively dislike AoE buffs because they require you to either interrupt the play to get players to gather, or force you to go places where you have no business being (like within the radius of Marauder's deadly AoE).

Because you can buff an entire team or league with an AoE, it would be reasonable to increase the duration by 7 to 23 times. I would be happy if it was the duration of a mission or trial. Even increasing these durations by 2 to 5 times would be a drastic QoL improvement.


 

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Originally Posted by Rodion View Post
There is a solution of sorts for players that can't stand the graphics certain buffs have. Create a bind load file and put these lines in it:

CTRL+O "suppressCloseFxDist 300"
SHIFT+O "suppressCloseFxDist 4"

Then load that file with all your characters.

When you get buffed with something you can't stand, press CTRL+O. Most of the graphics on your character will be suppressed. You can turn it back on with SHIFT+O.
There. I knew there was a way to do it.
Thanks, Rodion.

Completely solves the problem for 90% of the arguments in this thread. I think?


 

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Pfft, why stop there.

Buffs, when applied to your character, become a permanent part of them. By the time you reach level 5, you're probably at the defense and resistance hard caps, with perma-ID and SB. END cost is reduced to 0.

Admittedly it leaves no real reason to play a bubbler past level 6 or so. But that's fine, there's no reason to run around with Dispersion Bubble after that, either.

Since this will likely make the "bubbler" obsolete, we should also take a page from Contagious Confusion - all buffs are passed on to anyone who doesn't have them just by getting close to someone who does. This also allows the bubbler to indirectly self-bubble. Though, again, they probably won't be played after this.

Now, to be fair to all the other ATs, other modifications will be made.

All control and damage powers are turned into PBAOEs with a 500 yard radius. Damage should be increased at least 10x what it is now on all of them. END cost will, of course, be reduced. This will be a QOL feature to reduce all that pesky "button pressing" and "target selection" people do now.

Debuffs will have their END cost reduced. However, since nobody needs to target anything and power has been ramped up, they're now solely graphical artifacts.

Balance? Why would anyone worry about that? The dev team has certainly shown they don't care. This'll be a great QOL for people complaining certain powersets or ATs aren't survivable enough or do enough damage. Plus, once the majority of the playerbase quits because there's less than zero challenge, they can go F2P, fulfilling another request that pops up! It's win/win all 'round!

(Edit: Not making (well, much) fun of Rodion, this is really pointed more at the devs at this point.)


 

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Originally Posted by Rodion View Post
There is a solution of sorts for players that can't stand the graphics certain buffs have. Create a bind load file and put these lines in it:

CTRL+O "suppressCloseFxDist 300"
SHIFT+O "suppressCloseFxDist 4"

Then load that file with all your characters.

When you get buffed with something you can't stand, press CTRL+O. Most of the graphics on your character will be suppressed. You can turn it back on with SHIFT+O.

This won't solve the problem of ongoing area buffs like the big sonic bubble or the big force field, or graphics on other characters, but it will prevent the display of regular bubbles on your character. I used it because at one point my Dark/Dark scrapper's graphics effects caused ridiculous lag on the graphics card I had at the time.
I was going to make that suggestion too. Seems like SuppressCloseFX would be a very good solution for people having medical issues with graphics. It's in the game, it's easy to implement, and it works well, especially if you make buttons like you say to make it even easier to switch on and off. But I don't know much about such medical issues, maybe there's something that makes it not work?

I run with SuppressCloseFX set to 99 pretty much all the time. I've always thought it would be interesting to experiment with the numbers to see where different buffs etc. display. I know I don't see much at 99, maybe just Leadership. I see my Auras though.


 

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Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill View Post
Balance? Why would anyone worry about that? The dev team has certainly shown they don't care. This'll be a great QOL for people complaining certain powersets or ATs aren't survivable enough or do enough damage.
I realize you're being farcical but I think this does illustrate that the core difference of opinion we have here is one of how balance is defined.

In my opinion the true "cost" of a power is not measured in recharge, endurance or activation time but in the power choices and power slots that it uses up.

For an example let's compare Fortitude and the new versions of Deflection Shield and Insulation Shield. For convenience the shields shall be treated as a single power called Inflection Shield. SO slotting is assumed since that is what the game is balanced around.

Ok, what is the "cost" of the powers.
Fortitude uses up 1 power choice and 5 power slots (assuming 3 defense and 3 recharge SOs)
Inflection Shield uses up 2 power choices and 4 power slots (assuming 3 defense SOs in each power)

So from a character creation point of view Fortitude is using one fewer power choice but one more slot. In general this means Fortitude is "cheaper" than Inflection Shield.

Of what buffs do the two powers provide:
Fortitude:
+15% enhanceable defense to all
+31.25% damage
+18.75% To Hit

Inflection Shield:
+15% enhanceable defense to all except psionic
+40% toxic resistance
+86.5% End Drain/Recovery Resistance.

Relatively similar benefits, Fortitude is a little better due to covering the Psi Hole and providing secondary buffs that are more frequently useful as opposed to the more situational secondary buffs in Inflection Shield. Overall though the key bonus from those powers is the same (+15% defense).

So we have two powers with very similar effects but one requires spending 2 power choices instead of 1. So are what balances them? The answer is uptime.

Inflection Shield can be up on all members of your team simultaneously giving it an effective uptime of 700%. Fortitude on the other hand has an effective uptime that is a bit less than 400% on SOs (roughly 365% with SOs and no other recharge buffs).

So Fortitude uses only one power choice and provides a slightly better buff but has half the uptime of Inflection Shield. Now with these changes Inflection Shield does have an advantage in End Cost and Casting Time but the casting time difference isn't that major and since Inflection Shield is mostly used outside of combat anyway I don't feel that a high endurance cost would significantly change the relative balance of the powers.


 

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Originally Posted by Red Valkyrja View Post
I have a Bubbler named Rainbow Sherbet I'd like to introduce to you, care to guess what colours her bubbles are?

Heck they give me headaches just playing her. Which is why I can take her only in small doses. There are physiological reason behind why many people ask to not be buffed by shields, SB and whatnot, including nausea, headaches, migraines, and even epileptic seizures.

When one of my friends played his Botz/FF MM, there are times I can't even look at the screen because he made the FF's white and I'm not even that sensitive to that kind of stuff.
I do feel concern for your situation, and I'm not sitting here plugging my ears and saying 'screw you'. I'm simply pointing out the obvious. This alteration to those buffs doesn't particularly topple the situation.

I ask you, when teamed with these effects that affect you, what do you do? Do you turn the camera backwards and follow 50ft behind them? How do you get around these effects being on *other* player characters? Same thing for lagging, but people's PCs/Macs are different so who knows...

That said, I'm not opposed to adding options for this change. Personally, I think a "Only apply direct buffs" option would solve any grievances that people have with this change (which I'm *still* not quite wrapping my head around...yeah I understand why but not why this change somehow flips the status quo on its head.). An option to flag yourself as 'not applicable' for the AoE effect but the direct effect could still be cast.

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Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha View Post
Fine by me. Fury and Crits are naff all use when you can't even touch me. If you bring one to Union, I'll happily prove it.
Lol don't even try to label me as some Stalker naysayer. Of my small stable of 50s, most of them are Stalkers, they're my favorite AT and I'm of the opinion that what they can do puts them on even footing with every other damage AT. But that doesn't disprove the numbers. Or the effects available to the AT either.

I love my stalkers but even I can see that parity is not there. Otherwise, I'd have Fiery Embrace, Shield Charge, strong damage contender sets like Fire Melee and epics that critical right. You can either stay ignorant to stalker's situation or pretend to be blind. It still doesn't make everything 'fair' or 'balanced'.


 

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And just found out, half the issue with the changes (mainly Speed Boost) will be fixed. So that's one argument that can't be brought up about this.

Still need to work on the graphics/sounds messing with people's heads.


 

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With the changes that Black Scorpion posted I'm content. Especially with Powerboost *drool!*


@bpphantom
The Defenders of Paragon
KGB Special Section 8

 

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Originally Posted by bpphantom View Post
With the changes that Black Scorpion posted I'm content. Especially with Powerboost *drool!*
Wow, I completely forgot about Power Boost. That's going to almost become a required power for FFers and Icers.