Carnifax

Heavies and Temps maybe. Insps are easily bought and everyone can have a stash of them. Seems to me that correctly knowing when and how to use certain Insps are part of the skill set needed in PvP.

But I'm a PvEer. What do I know?

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my Warshade would have been unplayable for me without all of the binds I wrote for it and, especially for those who can't be bothered to use binds, I can understand why so many dislike Kheldians - they're like Marmite - love 'em or hate 'em

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Ok, I'll bite. What kind of binds/macros have you written and why? Whats the inherent problem with warshades that needs fixing?

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Because forms deactivate most of your powers and activate 4-6 new ones it's rather handy to have a bind that will switch you to a new form and then switch your bottom tray of powers to another with the powers that can be used by that form.

For example I put my Novas powers into Tray 3. I then bound the C key to shift into that form and switch my bottom tray from Tray 1 (where my commonly used human form powers were) to Tray 3.

/bind c "goto_tray 3$$powexec_toggle_on dark nova"

Similarly with Dwarf Form I have it bound to b and tray 4

/bind b "goto_tray 4$$powexec_toggle_on dark dwarf"

And v is used to switch back to human form and go back to tray 1

/bind v "goto_tray 1$$powexec_toggle_off dark dwarf$$powexec_toggle_off dark nova"

Mine are actually in Keybind files rather than just simple slash commands since I've one for sequentially turning on my Human form Shields, one for switching on Shadow Cloak and Super speed by pressing it twice and one for changing shift & left-click to use either Human Teleport or Dwarf Teleport depending on the form I'm in. I can send them once I get home later (assuming I remember ). Makes it a lot easier to dance between forms in the middle of a fight.

*Edited to fix bold quotes

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You can roll a blaster with a mix of range and melee, or for extreme play you can go all melee on most builds (with the option of 2 builds per character we now have, you can take your pick

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We can have two builds now? How does that work? Sorry to sound so dumb I feel like a total noob

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Once you're over level 10 go to any trainer and talk to them. There should be an option to choose your Active build.

Note that you can only change it once every 15 minutes.

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If you're a hawker of some sort then I shall be forced to set the hounds upon you.

Everyone else gets the caltrops and the electrified fence.

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Mmmmm. Caltrops. Tastes spikey.

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HEATS (cos of the possablities of what u can do with them)

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High Explosive Anti Tank warheads?

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Basically yes. Purple floating betentacled ones

Does Brian Cox get this hassle?

Well he should! I vote we start an online petition to get him to change his name to something less offensive, that should work. Ban this filth. Won't someone please think of the children.

What's an anti-farmer?

Someone who goes ripping crops up and unploughing fields?

Are they the ones responsible for Crop Circles?

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Heroic MM would keep me happy for months!

I think the Devs said that they didn't quite fit thematicallky at some point, which I really don't get. Just call them Team Leaders or whatever. There's nothing un-heroic about leading a team.

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Team Leaders?

Aren't those the terms huge corporations use for low level managers?

Team Leader hits you with Office Politics for 100 damage. You are confused.
Office Worker hits you with Paper Cut. You are bleeding.

Oh and since you have a 50 already how about a Warshade?

Take the AOE capability of a Blaster, sprinkle with some of the Dark Melee self buffs, add a few Control powers and top off with a tough melee fighter who thanks to Castles recent changes has the Brutish ability to up his own damage as he goes. Add 1 to 2 pets ripped from corpses, the ability to self heal (with corpses) and 1-2 double built up nukes (2 if you count the one involving corpses. Warshades like corpses) and it's pure win.

Basically from about level 20 onwards it just keeps getting better and better. Most fun character I've ever had, especially on teams. Shape-shifting takes a bit of practice but once you've got it set up right (binds are very useful) it's tonnes of fun.

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Hmmm a Brute. I'd not thought about one of those. I guess its like being a Tank, only slightly more scrappy??

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As a recent convertee to Brutes (from Controllers, Defenders and MMs) I gotta agree with others saying it. They're far more interesting than Tanks or Scrappers thanks to the Fury bar. The damn little thing turns you into a frantic, smashing junkie running from spawn to spawn beating them up.

Compared to Tanks and Scrappers they're way more fun.

It's only based on damage though, so making an ally with Standard blasts and an Extreme support set lets them remain useful without totally nicking all your XP (useful for EB/AV fights for soloers).

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While we have accomplished some of those goals with the initial launch of Mission Architect, some have found ways to abuse the system we put in place. We are not blind to this happening, nor did we not expect it.

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On the subject of Chinese Whispers, may be worth re-reading the bolded line.

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Ack, double negative hurt brain.

Given that I read the original and still managed to misread it my point about miscommunication still stands. What chance do those hearing about it 3rd or 4th hand have?

So they expected it and still let it go forward? That's probably even worse.

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Playing the one map with the one enemy type over and over till you hit 50. I know that in the game it is basically go to map, hit things,get to 50. But there is a variety of enemies and maps (not as much as people want but a dam sight more than are going to be in CO at launch) with a varied story attached if you want to read it.


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Here's where I think people make a basic error. Is farming all the way to 50 fun? No, probably not (for me anyway).

Is PLing your character through a painful part of their development in order to get them to a level where you can enjoy them properly fun? Yes, it is. Skipping Sharkshead on my Brute was a Very Good Thing. I'd also be happy to skip the 1-20 run on most toons by PLing them to 22.

The action of actually farming can be fun too, if you've a good group of people together chatting, or if you're soloing by playing the "Round as many up as possible and then blitz them" method.

Could I do it for more than about an hour without getting very bored? Nope, not a hope. As an occasional diversion to get a stuck character past a drab part of their existence it's useful and occasionally fun. As something to do solely from 1-50? Zzzzzz.

(QR)

Should the devs fix the issue? Yes, it's amazing they left it run for so long. However then declaring people may have their toons culled / dropped back to their original levels without defining it properly is just silly. Plus the nature of posting about it just on the forums means Chinese Whispers are now running around the servers and the majority of people, who don't visit the forums, are now hearing second hand, distorted information about the "massive nerf" Posi is going to introduce which does them no favours and just riles up people with misinformation.

Did they reap what they sowed? Again yes. Comms Officers were changed in the past specifically to avoid farming issues. Someone, as part of the development, should have flagged critters they thought may cause issues. The fact that Comms Officers have needed adjusting in the past they should have had a red flag beside them and been one things checked as ripe for abuse. The Devs claiming they didn't expect it means they're awfully short-sighted in terms of balancing the game. It certainly doesn't instill confidence in their continued ability to maintain the game and game balance.

Incredibly badly thought out in terms of implementation and in terms of managing and containing the resulting situation.

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Problem with images like that is it's quite simple to have a level 50 in 1 hour. Level pact, never log in, let the other partner get to 50, log in.
I guess we'll never know for certain, but I'd like written claims as well as a simple image.

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True enough - I agree. The original post did say that it was MA related but then again I sometimes say that I have a 6-pack...

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Oooh, can of beer plz!

I tend to agree with Stryke, only the worst offenders are likely to be penalized. (please don't take my 6 levels away and make me go back to Sharkshead, please!! )

Overall I think Posi has been a bit lackluster dealing with the issue. He had plenty of chances to stick something into the Message of the Day saying they were aware of issues with the MA and that flagrant PLers / farmers taking advantage faced being penalized for doing so. Part of me thinks that he wanted the 5 year anniversery speeches to look good for news sites and the like that they delayed mentioning the issues with the MA which were obvious to everyone.

Hopefully he did get chewed out by his NCSoft bosses because I14 has been a nightmare in terms of the workload they've dumped upon Customer Services, with the Bases bug (I see our base has vanished again) and now this punishing and policing they'll have to do against people who use the MA for farming.

He's been so quiet about the issue up until now (other than a vague threat in the Test Server meet and greet last week) that suddenly coming out and stating their intent now makes him seem ineffective and slightly dithery as a project manager.

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Do set bonuses and global effects (LOTG 7.5, Steadfast Res/Def, etc.) work while in forms, incl. those that are from sets not slotted in the form's powers?

Effects from unique procs (like Numina) - if, I say, use humanform Heal with that proc, then shift to a form, - would the effect be active, suppressed or discarded?

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For Numina's any Regen or Recovery bonus from using a human heal sticks about for 2 mins after the heal, regardless of the form you change into. I think the same applies if you had Health and one of them slotted into it, it'll stay on for 2 mins once you switch into a form (Health will no longer be active but PROC bonus will be for 2 mins).

If you have Stamina and the Performance Shifter Chance for End then it won't work in forms since Stamina will be inactive (but you can stick this PROC into the Form powers instead which is useful if you spend a lot of time in that form).

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Wow! He wasn't kidding when he said he'd come down on farmers hard.

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Assuming they actually do this. Personally I reckon they'll make a few high profile "demotions" of characters, a lot of Arc Bans and not much else until the Ma Mechanical changes to limit Farming.

Gotta laugh at his "We didn't expect this" line though. Haven't ye been playing the same game as everyone else since i9?

Original Post here

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When we created Mission Architect, the goal was to have an outlet for players to craft cool stories, using our assets, that other players could play and participate in. Other players could rate those stories and the best-of-the best would rise to the top.

While we have accomplished some of those goals with the initial launch of Mission Architect, some have found ways to abuse the system we put in place. We are not blind to this happening, nor did we not expect it. However, it is time to take action regarding it, so please be aware that we are about to implement a zero-tolerance stance on the extreme abuse we are seeing in the system.

One thing was made clear to me when I interacted with the players on our Anniversary. It was that you guys really don't like the powerlevelling that is going on with MA. The constant spam of MA PL teams forming, requests for "Meow" missions, 5 star badge cartels, and the inability to find quality content in the Mission Architect listing are all things I heard complaints about over and over while I was logged in on Tuesday.

So here is a list of things that are going to happen:

Players that have abused the reward system egregiously may lose benefits they have gained - leading up to and perhaps including losing access to the characters power-leveled in this fashion.

Currently, some badges are being modified, and some may be removed from the game entirely. The list of changes being made to the MA badge system is not final yet, but you will be made aware when we have a concrete plan.

Players who knowingly use an exploit when creating an arc, run the risk of having access to MA suspended, or worse- depending on the severity of the action, their account banned.

Players who have a story arc banned for any reason, will have it continue to use up one of their publishing slots. Players will NOT be able to unpublish this slot without Customer Service's help. This sets up a "three strikes and you're out" policy. If an individual gets three story arcs banned, they will no longer be able to publish since their slots will all be used up with banned arcs.

This lock will not take place on the first level of "complaint banning", where an arc has received a larger number of complaints. Players will still have a chance to fix the arc.
If Customer Service looks at an arc and determines it was banned in error, they will mark it as "unbannable". At that point the arc can not be banned for any reason. The unbannable flag will reset if the player makes any changes to the arc at that point, and the arc can be banned again.

Remember, publishing slots are account wide, so players will not be able to log in another character on their account and use their slots instead.

Players are urged to avoid using common farming terms in their story title and/or descriptions. Even if it's a joke, DO NOT run the risk of having an arc banned and requiring Customer Support to grant you your publishing slot back.

Some of you have taken the stance of "how does powerlevelling hurt the game?" and "shouldn't I be able to play the game the way that I want?" What we want to make clear is in order to keep the game fair, balanced, and challenging, we have to maintain a risk:reward ratio. This is a ratio we've spent years attempting to achieve. Mission Architect is not immune to this, and we are taking swift action to see that the problems


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Let the wailing and gnashing of teeth on the US Boards begin

*Edited to fix rogue HTML codes

Game is in the middle of updating. This should be resolved once it's finished.

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Ah the Hollows can make you or break you.

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Why I so like my rad/rad. He soloed the entire Hollows, (except for CoT trial, of course) Superpeeding through Atta cave and taking on insanely sized spawns around the guards felt so cool...

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Rad has a habit of doing that to you alright. My Fire/Rad used to do the same thing, just soloed Hazard Zones instead of soloing missions. A leaky Steampunk Robot his Hero License actually had a stipulation that he was only meant to operate in Hazard Zones, not the more populated ones (waived due to the second Rikti War and the fact I got bored of Hazard Zones in the 30s).

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Am i the only one failing to see this market death that every one else is experiencing?

Over the last week I've managed to pick up 15 different IO set recipes i needed from the market (2 resist sets and 1 recharge pet) for very little inf much less inf than they would have cost me when i first priced the build the salvage again was easy to come by i got the majority of it using tickets and the exses salvage i had from doing random rolls for the few bits of common stuff i needed went on the market at 5inf each and while all of it sold it hardly sold for massive amounts but the extra inf was nice and helped pay the crafting bills for my set recipes it seemed very much a every one win situation to me

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some "bronze" level recipies whihc are now becomming as rare as some salavage.


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what recipes do you mean when you say this as i have a character with all there auction slots filled with bronze recipes priced at 5 inf and as of last night non had sold

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Gotta agree. The market for IOs seemed fine to me too last week. Lots of people seem to be rolling and posting Bronze Rolls.

Salvage is the one thing I've noticed being overpriced at the mo. I've just been filling up on Common Rolls and dumping them onto the market for 5 inf.

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Wait, you mean it gets BETTER, not worse in the 20s? I thought it would be typical 1-10 uber, 10-20, - ok, 20-30 meh, 32-40 OK, 40-50, - uber curve. (at least that's how my 2 highest alts (claws/regen and rad/rad) felt.)

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Oh yeah, I mean it starts at "meh" (or "what is all the fuss about?" might be a better phrase) at level 1. At 12 you're a good AOE Blaster but not good at anything else. At 22 it's stupidly good fun and just keeps getting better from then on (well I suppose it plateaus out in the 40s as you don't get too many super new powers but the plateau is so high up and so darn fun you barely notice).

Most of my characters I don't really like the pre-SO levels too much though.

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I don't know Carni.

I recall using my WS in the Hollows from level 5-15. It was an Uber dam dealer even at these levels. I vividly remember being in a large team doing Troll cave missions and absolutely decimating mobs very quickly.

This was years ago, when WS's weren't as common and the comments from the rest of the team were along the lines of 'holy [censored]', 'wow!!!' etc.

Good times they were

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Ah the Hollows can make you or break you. I got stuck on an Atta Car Crash team stuffed full of red and purple trolls with the usual Car Crash cast of characters : The Cowardly Tank, the Cage Happy Controller, The non-English Speaker who occasionally said something I couldn't understand. Being an AOE Monster was *not* a good thing on that team

It's probably why I ended up fleeing the Hollows and sticking to Faultline instead, eaking out an existance Street Hunting until I got to 22 and could handle most things that came my way on PuG.

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welll carni if you would have fully read my post u would understand that the "incomming" nerf to MA could turn MA into a complete Joke. as we all know that when the Devs Nerf they go ott and completely destroy the whole thing. this thread is more about getting ppl to farm in PI and LAgs (not about PL)

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Oh right. You're asking people to switch to PI farming to avoid the MA being nerfed into oblivion?

I'd say it's waaay too late for that too to be honest.

Yay. Another farming thread. The other billion on the boards were getting lonely. If I hold down O will they all merge into one giant blobby thread or am I playing too much Loco Roco 2?

On topic I'm not sure you'll need to worry about it for too much longer. Wait and see what the "harshly" means when Posi said he'd be dealing with MA Farming soon. Chances are people will be back to normal mission farming in the next few weeks if the MA changes happen like I think they will.

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I would even say: Touch of the Nictus: Heal/Rech, for an extra 1.88% hp.

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Dont think there is a ToN Heal/Recharge, just checked on mids, cant see one.

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Paragon Wiki lists one anyway. I'd bet they cost tonnes though.