So the DFB is an abomination now? (sarcasm)

So last night I logged on and while I was waiting in Atlas Park for my partner to arrive I overheard a few things in broadcast that made me laugh ... [while not direct quotes the following was basically the short conversation]

New player: So exactly what is a DFB?

Snobby Player # 1: A trip through the sewers mindlessly PLing and all sanctioned by the Devs

Snobby Player # 2: Yeah only the weak and lazy do that thing. Its supposed to teach you how to do very basic stuff.


It continues for a bit but you get the idea. These two geniuses were basically telling a newer player that the sewer trial sucked and he should avoid it at all costs. The best part was not a sole in Atlas Park, sadly myself included, stepped in the present our New Player with any other opinion.... I just didnt feel up to a heated debate with a couple idiots LOL

Okay I will admit I have actually teamed with leaders in their 40s on a DFB with a few of my new characters. I don't care who I team with but at times you do wonder "Dude wouldn't you be leveling faster on an ITF?" But for a new character the DFB is anything but a waste of time or an abomination. I bring a new character to Atlas at level 1 or 2 and join a DFB team and depending on recruiting times in an hour to say 75 minutes I can compete 4 runs. When I'm done I am around level 14 or 15, I have buffs to my damage, accuracy, recovery and defense till level 22, and I've been collecting, slotting or selling off Single Origin enhancers after all four runs.

Now for an absoluute brand new player using the in game contacts and learning the ropes is an excellent idea but .. I have 6 years here in game. I don't need a mission that requires me to find the train station on the map and go take a ride to Kings Row. I don't need a missions that requiire me to meet contacts at the Hospital, Wentworths, or The AE building so they can briefly describe what each is for and why I want to know where they are.

The DFB was designed for a player like me that has a working knowledge of the game and just wants to level quickly and get to better content. They removed ALL of the old contact's missions when they revamped the zone so... it's one of 3 things. The tutorial, the DFB or I street hunt until I hit level 5 and can head to Kings Row and start doing Radio Missions.

While not used as much these days, at least not on Virtue, the DiB extends that quick leveling to around 20 level and extends those buffs from level 22 to level 30. It also keeps handing you Single origin Enhancers which you would not normally be able to purchase until you reached level 22. Now around 12 to 17 I will start slotting IOs but even at those low levels the single origins that drop are much stronger than a 15 level IO so I will gladly slot them.

Of course by level 15 there are other options to level fast.. Posi 1 and Posi 2 along with the dreaded Synapse TF all allow players to team up, just like the DFB or DiB, and run missions together greatly increasing the rate at which they level. And while many dislike the Synapse because it takes almost 2 hours to complete those 3 TFS are required for the Task Force Commander accolade. May as well get them done early and move on from there.


So to answer "new Players" question.. Do the DFB! You'll level faster and get a lot of great bonuses. Now if your level 47 and still standing next to Ms Liberty forming them you sort of missed a lot of the rest of the game BUT the trial is not something you avoid . LOL Okay now hopefully that new guy rwads this and i feel a lot better

Rumors keep floating around on Virtue that the DFB is going to be nerfed. What's hilarious is that when I ask for proof, I either get "No, find it yourself" (and there's nothing to be found) or silence.

I run the DFB from 1-20 on every new character. Why? Because I have been playing for over 7 years and have done the 1-20 game (yes even the "new"one) far too many times. For me the game comes alive at level 20, before that it seemed like a grind. Yeah, I like the DFB and what it offers.

light on the sarcasm, was really hoping for more caustic vitriol. but i agree with your leveling logic on all fronts. i will say that grabbing a dfb is better than waiting around for an ITF or something to start sometimes, even on Virtue.

I just can't figure out why some 50s are still running it. They did not believe me when I pointed out that 50 is as high as you go with regular content. <shrug>.

**Damien**

I've run DFB on people in the 40s.

Yes, I'd be leveling faster on an ITF. But then, there are DFBs starting every 5-10 mins on the weekend and I don't need to bother with enhancements* since I'll be exemped so far that they'd be useless anyway.

I have several characters that I don't bother with IOs on at all, even commons - and yes I know common IOs are cheaper when the total cost is factored in. I simply don't care and use them anyway because I don't have common IOs laying around in storage waiting for any alt I may want to use them on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.

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Originally Posted by Brillig It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.

I find that, when I have one of those middle-level characters who is almost, but not quite ready for a new tier of Enhancements, or whose build is old and ugly, I can drop into a DFB and fill out a level or so. Even if completely 'naked' of Enhancements, or if they've gone mostly-red, I can do well in DFB and get over the hump.

Be Well!
Fireheart

The only problem I can see with the DFB is that new players - in less time than it takes to learn what their powers do - outlevel every contact from Atlas Park to Steel Canyon, and are given almost no guidance from the game about what to do next or where to go. They are missing out on vast swaths of early level content and many of them keep running dfb's because they have no idea what else to do.

Eventually, boredom sets in and you'll see them street sweeping the mid-level zones because they don't know how to get a contact.

Contacts that call you upon training up only partially help this, it seems.

But garbage? Heh. That's funny stuff.

I agree with those people! DFB is terrible, the way it encourages powerleveling! They should go back to the good old days, when the only way to level up was to farm AE--

...um, no, wait. The only way to level up was to find a level 45 willing to bridge and double-box through level 54 Family missions--

...sorry, what I meant to say was that back in the good old days, you'd know a level 50 had earned their levels honestly, through repeated Winter Lord kills--

...er, that is, back in the days where honest players played honestly, and got onto Werewolf Farms and killed the whole mission with stacked Trip Mines, then reset--

...basically, what I'm really trying to say is that at least powerleveling wasn't a problem in Beta.

...um, except for the times that the Devs would literally just hand out levels to people to test stuff. That was a bit of an issue.

I think DFB is handy, but I always felt it was a waste of time. Usually I just use it when I complete all the available arcs for my level for a quick boost up to the next set of contacts. Or just to get the badges at 50.

You just cant argue with stupid people..the arguments they make are stupid, and people with half a brain find that it is hard to SEE their point..then they just beat you from having more experience..at being stupid.

DFB is good fun. The pacing of it, that is, WHEN you lvl up, it basically spot on. Before the AV fights, before each section. Not to mention the temp powers are awesome as a lowbie.

Not counting Twinshots arc (which can be a bit hard to run with a big team..all those talkies) and those 2 new contacts in steel, the amount of pre 20 content I actually LIKE..well. I cant really like of any. The hollows, revamped or not, is still just not right, and dont get me started on the damn Atta mission! How a cave THAT back, requiring you to clear or be able to stealth, is still in game..I just dont know.

But to comment on the above question Wendy posed..'Why arent you running ITF at 40?' I would say...because personally, I dislike doing a lvl '50' tf, when I am NOT 50. Sure, the xp is great, the drops can be spendy, good salvage. But really..if I was THAT worried about leveling up quick (after X amount of 50s) why would you do anything but farm? Bring me back to a PUG team I joined on virtue a few weeks back, lvl 41. I was actually lvl 44 myself...and I ended up being kicked, for daring to suggest that the lvl FIVEs on the team..were not helping (aside from veng bait).

Sure it can be nice to get on a lvl 50 ITF, as a pre 45 toon. But realistically..almost every lowbie I have seen on ITFs, freedom and virtue, spends more time dead, or hiding at the back 'pretending' to look helpful. THAT is why I dont want to do ITFS at 40. Sorry to digress a bit from the topic..
I like DFB! (Drowning in Blood..less so. The pacing is not as good)

Ummm, ITF is not a Level 50 TF. It is a Level 35+ TF.

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Originally Posted by Zyphoid I run the DFB from 1-20 on every new character. Why? Because I have been playing for over 7 years and have done the 1-20 game (yes even the "new"one) far too many times. For me the game comes alive at level 20, before that it seemed like a grind. Yeah, I like the DFB and what it offers.

I really can't disagree with this more... which I suppose goes to show you how many different kinds of folks play this game.

Level 20 is right about where the vast majority of my new characters stall out. I play maybe 1 DFB every few months... I really can't stand it, due (in part) to how many folks seem to do nothing but that content. When I make a new character, I really like just playing through some early level content, street sweeping, etc. I think the levels come fast and furious and the gains of new powers makes it fun. As you get to 20 and beyond, that slows down a lot.

Well actually the explanation at the time of launch for the revamp of missions was that there were so many discarded mid level toons parked at doors that they were causing too much lag so they decided to change all the low level missions to street hunts and gave us one super mission to team up with. So it is actually designed for new players as well as old (and to be abused as much as possible).

DFB is cool if ya want to level up quickly, especially to 14 or so.
For me it got old pretty quick. I forgot how interesting some of the arcs I've been missing actually is, especially gold side.

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Originally Posted by mauk2 Evil_Legacy became one of my favorite posters with two words. "Kick Rocks." I laffed so hard. Never change, E_L!

I run DfB to 12-14 on all new toons. The quicker I get to SO level the better, as that is when the game starts for me. I don't mind pushing to 22 myself but the first 14 levels are such a grind to me, an altoholic that has spent 8 years in the 1-20 lvl range.