Eva Destruction

The problem is a lot of farmers have taken to "hiding" their farms behind legitimate-sounding descriptions ("Alien invasions" seem to be popular) and sticking "This is not a farm mission" or some such in there. So if you've got something the GMs might find suspicious, for any reason, altering the description isn't really going to help.

Use clues! I love clues! I always read them. They really help immersion in the story. If you have a multi-mission arc with no clues at all, it feels like something's missing. There is such a thing as too many, but I think crucial story elements should have clues. You get 100 characters for objective completed text, which isn't much to work with. A clue can make "You found an old journal" far more interesting. Your bosses and captives can actually give me some real information in clues.

This goes doubly so on teams, as only the person grabbing the blinky gets to read the text, and NPC dialogue gets pushed up pretty fast with rewards and "you have defeated" messages that show up by default in the same window. Not everybody makes a separate tab for NPC dialogue.

Just keep in mind that you can't control the order in which players receive them, unless you're using triggered objectives, so the clue I get from the boss at the back of the mission should still make sense if I missed the one from the blinky at the front. I've run a few arcs where clues referred back to other clues I hadn't gotten yet.

On the subject of clues: What determines the order in which they appear in the player's clue list? Is it the order in which you place your objectives in the MA editor?

Or they would dress up their farm with a description about saving the city from alien invaders or some such, and hope they don't get caught. I hate those more than the blatant farms, since I'm wasting two minutes of my life clicking stuff and loading up a mission just to find out it's a farm. Instant quit, instant 1-star.

Just out of curiosity, how do you tell if your arc has had a complaint against it? Well, aside from it being banned. I've flagged a few arcs for blatant copyright infringement, and they weren't immediately yanked, so I'm guessing someone actually reviews the complaint to see if it's legitimate, before banning it.

And for the love of all that's holy, vary up your custom mobs. I know file space is limited. But even set on Standard, a lot of powersets become problematic when every minion has it. I play on Unyielding; when I go into a mission and every minion is the same I immediately cringe, and prepare to hit "Go to Hospital" and then immediately afterward the "quit arc" button.

Maybe because a lot of 5-star arcs are only sitting at 5 stars because their friends all rated them, or because they are farms? I generally don't bother with 5-starred arcs, I usually find better arcs in the 4-star "basement."

How much do you wanna bet your arc was reported by some vindictive jerks who were upset that their actual farm missions kept getting pulled? With all the childishness going on with the ratings, it wouldn't surprise me at all.

I've played through this arc twice, the first time (before the last patch) all the bosses belonged to <All Custom Characters>, and after the patch, at least one boss belonged to <Hippies>, but the EB still belonged to <All Custom Characters>.

Yes, I was one of the people pestering you with that piece of feedback, sorry about that, I didn't realize it was a bug and thought it might have been a mistake. On the bright side, nobody else on my team even noticed.

Or if they made certain weak powersets available for custom critters, but critters who use those powersets would cap out at a certain level. This would make it easier to create a custom group balanced for a low-level arc.

Glad to see I'm not the only one. Without all the resistance, he could be a good challenge. With it, he just takes forever, and I'd imagine he'd be impossible for any AT without mez protection.

Anyone else think this guy needs his resistance seriously toned down? I'm referring to the level 45-50 Archvillain version of Akarist...even scaled down to an EB he took forever to kill. Longer than that Ballista EB in Gaussian's arc. He wasn't a challenge, he was just tedious.

He's the only high-level CoT mage AV model, and including him automatically cranks up the arc's difficulty, limiting people who are trying to create story-driven CoT arcs. He isn't soloable by most builds and as an AV is a pain for casual teams. Using one of the boss options is fine for soloers, but teams run them over without even noticing them.

Anybody else think this guy needs some tweaking?

Ok so I want to make some of those glass tubes that people are always putting prisoners in in comics.

Prisoner Tube
It needs work, so if anyone has any suggestions on how to make it look cooler I'm all ears.

[ QUOTE ]
I added a Missile Silo to my base for those times when the villains just won't give up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yoink.

Today on Discovery Channel: The mysterious and elusive Rusted Vent Fish.

Hmmm, could it be that villains are more likely to ghost missions? An entire AT eminently suited to the "stealth to the end" playstyle, combined with enemies that players often find difficult or annoying to defeat, is encouraging more players to quickly complete missions, and skews the datamined times?

The villain TF rewards are fairly appropriate to the time required for completion (except for the LRSF), but some of the story arc rewards seem rather small, based on the 12 min/merit formula given.

Welcome Sunstorm.

My question:

The developers are obviously aware that some players dislike the market. Merit rewards are being introduced to allow players to opt out of using the market.

Why then, are base editors now being forced to use the market when they were not required to do so before? The two changes seem somewhat contradictory. Is using the market to buy salvage considered trivial, since there is always a supply available (unlike some recipes)? Is the development team aware of the reasons people cite for their dislike of the market?

The invention system, and by extension the market, were advertised as "completely optional." It is no longer optional for bases, a completely unrelated feature that people have been enjoying for over a year before inventions were introduced.

Base Repricing
1) How will the repricing of bases affect you personally?

I will be able to expand all of my current bases. They are already "done," as in fully functional for what my SG uses them for, but I will have way more design options with bigger plots and bigger rooms.

2) Will you dismantle your base to gain the additional prestige from the repricing?

I will not dismantle. I will take the refund where it is easy to do so (buying a new plot on top of the old one, replacing my Supercomputer) but I will not replace rooms that have had hours of work poured into them. I will also not recraft base items using Invention Salvage.

3) How long would this process take you if you were to engage in this practice?

If I were to completely dismantle everything and rebuild from the ground up? A very long time. Even with easier stacking it would still take weeks to rebuild. What I am actually planning on doing will take minutes.

4) What are the positive and negative concerns regarding repricing?

I am concerned that a bigger base will take more time to decorate and make awesome. Of course I like building bases, so it's not really a concern. Negatives: I wish we could have the costs refunded automatically to eliminate the need for rebuilding, but I understand if that is not practical. I do foresee having to fend off the "Why aren't you replacing this stuff for the prestige refund?" questions from SG-mates who don't understand how much time and work goes into building a base.

The rent change, while it will be great for our bigger bases, will not be good for our small bases we set up for our static teams. Currently we don't pay rent on those bases. The trifling amount we will have to pay in i13 will be an inconvenience and a pointless time-sink.

5) How will this feature affect you long term and short term?

Short term, not much, since as I said our bases are as functional as we need them, and I have other things I want to play with when i13 goes live. Long term it will mean more options for me as a base designer, and probably more time spent in the base editor.

Base Salvage Exchange to Invention Salvage
1) What is the negative effect on your base for this feature implementation?

It will make construction more of a hassle. Under the current system I ask my SG members to drop off their base salvage in the storage bins, and when I need to craft something I simply take what I need and craft the item. It is simple and takes almost no time to do. Under the i13 system I will have to plan what salvage I need, and either beg my SG mates for donations or pay the cost out of my own pocket. This will be expensive and a hassle.

2) What is the positive effect on your base for this feature implementation?

There is none.

3) How long will it take you to adjust to learning this new system?

Not long, from what I've seen on test. It didn't take me long to learn the old one either though.

4) What side effects to this system do you currently see from transitioning the old to new system?

Salvage storage racks will become useless as people fill them up with worthless commons in an attempt to "help." A salvage rack with less capacity than a level 30 character with a badge is pretty useless anyway.

Invention salvage will be in high demand as people who don't read the forums or participate in open beta find out they can have more stuff. New issues always cause some market instability though, and it'll eventually level off. This change also widens the imbalance between tech and arcane bases.

5) What security concerns do you have regarding this change?

None really. I will still have to figure out what to do with the base salvage we have accumulated, but most of my SG tends to dump it off and forget it exists. We are a small group though, we don't recruit often, and everybody knows everybody else. Larger groups might have more concerns.

Additional Notes:

I am not interested in using my base for raiding. My SG is not sufficiently interested in raiding to make it an actual possibility. Most of them avoid PvP like the plague. Removing the need to make bases raid-compatible is the best thing about the i13 base changes IMO. (NOT removing base raids. Raids should be available to those who enjoy them. I am simply happy that I don't have to be limited by a system I will never use, and I hope for the sake of those who do raid that the devs find a solution to allow them their raids without affecting those who will never raid).

Some of these are really cool, here are some of mine:
Lucretia of Borg
Steel Rose action shot
I have the power!!!
My favorite bug of all time
My first Eden trial
I can't help but be awed by the Megamech

I'm finally done the Twilight's Chosen base on Freedom. *pant, pant*. This was my first base design using magic desks...those things are addictive. It's like "hmm, what else would look good on top of stuff?" But it's finally complete.

Overhead view
gallery

Entry
Please check in at the reception desk
Transporter room 1
Transporter room 2
Raid teleporter
Power
The lab
Control
The conference room
Entering the medical room
The trauma center
Quarantine
And a library for relaxing after a particularly humiliating defeat.
The vault now with gratuitous flashing lights and weapons
Entering workshop 1
Invention lab
Storage area. Can you believe it, somebody threw away a perfectly good couch.
Workshop 2
Another view
We are the Borg. Resistance is futile.
The arcane stuff in the back

Also I think I should mention that the people in this forum are awesome. You guys are an endless source of helpful tips and information for base builders. *Cheers*

DING!
It was a 50 too.
Watched my xp bar like a hawk to get that one.

And this is EXACTLY what I noticed when I did some Power Thrust testing a few weeks ago. There was an excessively long "Power Thrust will not work" window after an enemy was knocked back. The thing was, powers from my Energy primary could do knockback within that window. The problem seems to only be with Power Thrust.

And this is definitely NOT how it used to work, I still remember, way back in the day, the same Energy/Energy blaster taking on Tommy One Eye as a +2 boss and bouncing him around so he never got off a single attack.

First off, AR does not need a damage increase. I have one at 50. The problem isn't lack of damage, it's the high incidence of S/L resist. Simply increasing the damage would make it overpowered against enemies that don't have resistance. (Although Full Auto does need to be un-nerfed. ) Which is why I strongly support carrying over the 30% unresistable damage.

I don't believe we need to "copy and paste" attributes of powers that work to make sets that underperform more attractive. Instead, I think we need to look at the strengths of each set, and make sure they excel at that aspect of damage mitigation. Not everyone wants to play a blapper, and your proposed changes lean heavily toward that playstyle.

For instance /Ice manipulation is "supposed" to be all about soft control, and yet Energy Punch and Bonesmasher provide better control than the /Ice melee attacks. I'd say rather than increasing the damage, increase the slow component of Frozen Fists and Ice Sword. To something like Infirgidate levels, but with a shorter duration. Also replace the Frozen Fists animation with the (shorter) Energy Punch/Charged Brawl animation. Blaster melees shouldn't have long animations unless the effect is truly spectacular (Total Focus, Thunder Strike)

Add -damage to Chilling Embrace, like the tank version. (As far as I know the blaster version doesn't have -damage)

As a control set, /Ice should keep a control as the 9-th tier power. Just a better one than it has now.

Fire Manipulation is supposed to be all damage, so it should do more damage to compensate for the complete and utter lack of damage mitigation. I want my Greater Fire Sword. Make Combustion frontloaded damage like Fireball. Or ditch it. Burn takes too long to activate to use as an "emergency keep away." Unfortunately since most of these powers are shared with tankers, shortening the activation times is not going to happen. In order for /Fire to be fixed, it needs to completely LOSE some of the powers that are direct copies of tanker power. Possibly replace them with similar powers but with effects and animation time appropriate to a blaster. Although a ranged Burn combined with a ranged Hot Feet would probably be considered overpowered. Especially when you combine them with Bonfires from the Fire EPP....then throw in a Firebreath/Fireball....yikes.

/rant on
Blazing Aura flat out does not belong on a blaster. Even if it is marginally useful in a very few cases in PvP, this is still predominantly a PvE game, all this power does is lead to "Looking for respec" spam in Broadcast. All the proposed changes (adding a fear component, etc) just seem painfully contrived. Stop trying to fix a broken bone with a bandaid, and gimme my Greater Fire Sword.
/rant off

I'm in full agreement of making some of the secondary powers ranged. Blaster melees should have an INSTANT noticeable impact. Anything that requires more than three seconds to be effective shouldn't require a blaster to be in melee.

(For the record, my 38+ blasters are /Fire, /Ice and /Energy. The /Fire has a LOT of pool powers.)

1) This has been mentioned before, but carrying over the 30% unresistable damage to PvE is brilliant in its simplicity. I have a 50 AR blaster, it would solve sooo many problems. Furthermore, it would give blasters something unique that the other damage dealing AT doesn't have, without taking anything away from scrappers. Hell, make that our inherent, I'd trade in Debtfiance for "Armor piercing" in a second.

2) A slight increase to the damage in the slower-activating single-target sets (Energy, Elec, and Sonic) to compensate for the longer activations would bring these sets more in-balance with Ice and Fire. A sizable increase would be unbalancing, especially since they're shared with Defenders and Corruptors, but I'd be happy with 10%.

3) Standardize range for the low-level blasts. What logical reason is there for Charged Bolts having shorter range than Lighting Bolt? Or the stupidly short range on Flares?

4) Chain-mezzing in this game is out of control and NOT fun, and not just for Blasters. If it was just bosses we could compensate by carrying a breakfree or three, but chain-mezzing by Lieutenants and MINIONS (Sappers, anyone?) needs to be seriously looked at. It's worse than getting one-shotted IMO.

Some or all of these may have been covered before, but I'll post them anyway.

AR

AR forces a redraw when using any power that isn't in the primary. It would be nice if you could at least not put the gun away to use self-buffs such as Build Up and Hasten. That doesn't seem too hard to code, although I'll admit I'm not a programmer.

Ignite's short range, small area and fear effect make this power very difficult to use, highly situational and almost useless on teams. A larger area would make it more useful as a crowd control power. Faster DoT would cause enemies to take more damage before they run out of it. A longer range would make it easier to use as a targeted drop.

M30 grenade does the same damage as buckshot, for a higher end cost, longer recharge, and a scattering knockback that annoys teams and doesn't synergize with the cone AoEs in the set. The longer range does NOT balance this power.

UNNERF FULL AUTO!!! (had to say it)

Electric Blast

The primary lacks a decent attack chain. Even with attacks slotted for recharge, and using Zapp in the chain, you get gaps.

The shorter range on charged Bolts is just annoying.

Ice Blast

The end cost of Bitter Freeze Ray is a little high for what it does. The hold+(ice bolt) damage is balanced by the long recharge and long activation times. IMO.

Sonic Blast

Dreadful Wail lacks any real visual. It's a great nuke, powerwise. But when a Nova or Inferno goes off, it's a big flashy explosion, you're prepared for everything to die. Dreadful Wail it's like "Huh??? Did you just nuke or something?" A small issue admittedly, but still....

Fire Manipulation

The set as a whole is lacking in that it doesn't provide any way of making enemies SORRY they got into melee with you. All the other secondaries have a power to deal with an enemy who wanders into melee. /Energy and /Elec have powerful single-target attacks with status effects attached. /Ice and /Elec have single-target holds. /Dev has Taser and Caltrops. /Fire gets a bunch of PbAOEs that make that guy in melee laugh maniacally as he kills you. Fire needs something, fast activating, to deal with a melee enemy. I vote for Greater Fire Sword.

Blazing Aura, Burn, Combustion....huh? A lot of players, especially new players, choose Fire/Fire for thematic reasons. Do you REALLY need a secondary that does what your primary already does BETTER, and at range? Tanks, you can keep these powers. I can't count the times that people I know, experienced players in many cases, took Combustion because it sounded good....They used it twice before the word "respec" started kicking around.

Hot Feet: So an /energy or /elec blaster is coming up on level 38....yay, cool new power. A /fire blaster coming up on 38....Aid Other or Recall Friend?

I would also like to second (or third) the suggestion made by several people here that Build Up be moved to the third-tier power in all the secondaries. They moved powers around in the tank secondaries, so there is now precedent. Having Build Up available early would encourage new blasters to take it and learn to use it.

The Leaping pool can save your life. You can't run away if you're immobilized. You can't do anything when you're getting knocked on your butt.

If you are on a bad team, quit. No apologies, no excuses, no "sorry guys my SG needs me". No matter who screws up on a team, it's the blaster that bites it. Just leave.

And quit WHINING. We do high damage at range. We are made of glass. If you don't like it, play something else.