NPrince

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HollowKing: Team or Solo?

I usually run with a Brute or 2, a Kin corruptor and a Rad/Dark. if I get enough to fill the bar ONCE I consider myself lucky

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Both. And I can fill Dom on both. If you sit around in the back throwing off holds and occassional attacks, you won't do it. You need to get stuck in. That's what we do. That's why we have melee powers.

And you'll notice I had two Dominators, so it's not just a matter of a single set doing it for me.

Getting Domination up isn't really a problem. Sitting on it is. Once you have it up, it's not really worthwhile to use it and then discover that the boss was right around the corner. Then you're screwed. Or in PvP, trying to build it up only to die and have it reset.

Both of these changes fix both problems (especially as many Dominators, including myself, can charge the Dom bar before Domination itself has recharged, which is why Hasten is popular among some Dominators)

Is it enough? Well, it's the test server... so we test. And we'll see. I was already pretty happy with my PvE performance (I have some issues with my survivability, but the fix to Drain Psyche, at least, will fix it for my Psychic Dom. Still a little worried about my Thorns Dom), so we'll see if the Domination changes fixes us or not.

So far, it seems the Devs are playing a conservative game. People like buffs better than nerfs. They'd rather hear that under-powered Doms are getting a buff than that over-powered Doms are gettnig a nerf. So when looking at numbers, they fudge low to stay safe. This looks like another low fudge. We'll see if it's enough, or if we need to slide up again.

*nods*

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• Dominators Domination inherent ability will charge much more quickly when fighting PvP.

• Domination recharge time reduced from 300 to 200.

• Player Pets should no longer attack the lava in the Batzul mission.

• Dominator Psionic Assault Drain Psyche now accepts Accuracy enhancements. The power was intended to accept them originally, but was unintentionally left off.

• Dominators: Domination inherent ability will charge much more quickly when fighting PvP targets. Each attack from the Assault secondary power sets adds a bonus of 8 points toward filling the Domination bar over the normal value.



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Yippe flippin skipee...now if only I could build domination fast enough to use it more than once per mission this might actually be useful.

Or maybe if I could ...oh I dunno. Kill things inside of 2 minutes.

Its pretty sad when it still takes 4 attacks with +3 SOs to kill some -12 mobs.

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Let's not call a good thing bad. Domination is useful. I easily get it off twice in a mission, and with a reduced recharge time, I'm less nervous about using it more often. Being able to get it off with more regularity in PvP is extremely useful. ONCE Domination is off, we do more damage than Blasters and have longer control than Controllers.

I still think we could use a damage buff, a few of the sets need a look-through and I think blaster-level HP would be reasonable, but that doesn't mean we should dump the Domination changes.

Can you stack the buffs?

Seems to me the high costs and low durations comes from worries that one large SG will go nuts with self-buffs and then run around dominating PvP or something.

Perhaps a better solution (one far more amenable to low-level groups and levels the playing field against high level groups) is to limit the number of buffs you can have on you at once. Say, only 1 (or 3 or 5) at a time. Then give them a 30 minute time limit and seriously reduce the costs involved.

It still should be something that you're not grabbing for every mission, but it shouldn't be something that you grab only once a month either.

I don't think I even HAVE enough salvage to get a psi resist buff... and I'm level 40 O.O

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He also didn't say "This won't change, and here's why." He just said "Huh. You know, nobody complains about that in WoW. Isn't that interesting?"

Codswallop. People do complain about it in WoW. You just can't hear them over a million b.net freaks who only care about how fast they can kill another PC that never had a chance in the first place.

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Fine, whatever. It doesn't change the fact that that's what he said. Go back and read it. He's talking about how neat it is that people want this, not justifying why it isn't in the game.

And no, I haven't once heard people say "But I picture my mage in armor." If they want armor, it's usually because they don't want to die. Furthermore, if their primary concern was customization, they would all come here in droves.

That said, many people do come here just for the customization, and Statesman thinks that's nifty. It's not a terribly useful post on his part, but there you go.

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Fundamentally, paper and pencil RPGs are different from CoH in four fundamental ways:


1. RPGs are essentially always teamed. Solo RPG? That's a little weird. No one cares if the magic user can't wear armor or not, because each class could do its own thing, and only its own thing, and that didn't matter because they were essentially designed to always work in groups. CoH's attempt to keep one foot in the solo-friendly side, and one half in the balanced-vulnerabilities side, often causes it to shoot itself in at least one of those feet (and occasionally, in the head).

2. RPGs have a human at the wheel. GMs aren't blind implementers of the rules, they interpret, and where necessary, break them, for the benefit of the players of the game. The rules are less important in PnP RPGs, because the rules are subject to human intervention. If people sometimes rage against the rules in CoH, its not because CoH is different, its because in a PnP RPG, they would have a *dialog* with the GM, which would tend to defuse arguments. The rules are really much less restrictive than they are in a computer RPG, for obvious reasons, and the comparison to "mages can't wear armor" overlooks the enormous amount of things they *could* wear that doesn't exist in CoH. So what if they couldn't wear a giant metal suit: they could go on a quest for the legendary Cloak of Schwarzenegger instead.

3. In PnP RPGs, the rules don't say what customization is allowed. Instead, in PnP RPGs, the rules essentially say what *isn't* allowed, and players are free essentially to do anything else, within the limits of what the GMs will allow. CoH might have 16 million different costume choices, or whatever, but D&D had an infinite number of them.

4. PnP RPGs are often, and D&D in particular was surprisingly light in terms of combat. I've almost certainly killed more than a million heroes and villains in CoX since release: I kinda doubt there are many D&D players who can say that even if they've been playing it continuously for 30 years. And the non-combat aspects of D&D and other PnP RPGs can be fabulously open-ended, and make up for the relatively mechanical combat. That open-ended nature is, in effect, a highly unique and custom experience: even if two separate groups with two separate GMs play the exact same module, they were very likely to have two completely different experiences. That sort of uniqueness (I did something you didn't) doesn't really exist in CoH - and usually, its pretty clear that that is something Cryptic actively tries to avoid.


People want different experiences, they want control of their destiny, the want their digital avatars to be unique. I think this is true in every MMO. But in other MMOs, if you want to be unique, there are ways to try to be: crafting, lets say, or pursuing unique loot. In CoH, we have to *ask* for ways to be unique, because we can't create any on our own. This isn't WoW, so I can't make whatever you're supposed to make with a bag of fish. This isn't Second Life, or I would have macroed my own Martial Arts animations by now. This is CoH, where we have to beg for CAK to look a little less goofy, or for a rifle that slings on our backs instead of being apparently pulled out of our butts, and the answer is usually "no."

We want to be unique, but there are always problems - usually scarcity-related problems. Why if it take four attacks to make a complete attack chain, does the Martial Arts set only have five? How unique can MA scrappers be? This isn't "unique" to MA scrappers, either.

Why do we ask for so much customization in CoH, relative perhaps to other games? Because in CoH, unlike other games, if we want to be unique, all we can do is ask.

Or try to play a MAN build.

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Hmmm, I think you miss the point.

He points out that PnP RPGs had arbitrary rules (like "Mages can't use swords or wear armor"), and that MMOs have followed suit. A mage in World of Warcraft CONTINUES to be a "Cloth wearer." Your clothing determines your stats, so WoW characters wear stupid hats for the bonus. The only customization most MMOs give you were a few changes to your face.

Most people were apparantly ok with that. If the Horde started offering Epic Powers based one which LT of Thrall you served, nobody would complain. They would just start comparing and contrasting them.

ONLY in CoV/CoH have I heard so many demands for customizability. You're playing your OWN character in CoV, and when they make you integrate with the world, suddenly you complain.

He didn't say this was a bad thing. In fact, I get the impression he's pleased. He's patting himself on the back for making a game where people feel so attached to their characters that they bristle at any percieved railroading or taking away of conceptual independence.

He also didn't say "This won't change, and here's why." He just said "Huh. You know, nobody complains about that in WoW. Isn't that interesting?"

So maybe it will change. You'll note that you now have a choice of "skipping" Arachnos by working with a Mercenary when you get out of the zig. Maybe they'll add the "Mercenary" Patron Pool which lets you forge your own path.

I just wouldn't hold my breath quite yet. From the sounds of thnigs, the Patron Pools sound like they're also story arcs. You'll need a hundred missions in addition to 5 sets of powers (one for each AT). So it'll be a while in coming If they do it.

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- Hand-Eye Coordination
- Muscle Control
- Foresight
- Extensive Imagination

These are things needed to draw WELL. Anyone can learn to draw, sure... but there ARE certain things that people are born with to a much higher degree than others. Given the same amount of time, someone with the inherent ability to draw well will always draw better than the person who couldn't draw well in the first place.

The one thing I've really noticed with people who cannot easily learn to draw well? Shaky hands and lack of refined Hand-Eye coordination.

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I once had an English professor who was BRILLIANT. He really knew his stuff. But he wasn't bright. He wasn't talented. He was merely a hard worker who put his nose to the grindstone. You could really see he was the kind of guy who spent his first half of his life working farms and factories, and dedicated himself to study for the second half of his life with the same work ethic he had learned previously.

There is an idea in the art world, particularly back in the time of the Renessaince, that some people had "Genius." They could do art. Everyone else could only appreciate it.

I don't believe that.

I DO believe that some people are innately gifted in certain fields, and that this gives them an advantage. Tall people have an easier time playing basketball. Period. But that doesn't mean a short person can't compete. A short basketballer with years of training and experience will beat a novice tall-guy every time.

Practice, dedication, hardwork. That's what it takes to become good at something. Being gifted means you can acquire your skills more easily, perhaps, or that you can reach higher levels of skill than most people (with enough dedication... a tall guy who has as much experience as a short guy plays a better game of basketball), but it doesn't mean you're the only one who can learn those things.

Sometimes, it seems society wants us to believe that "everyone is good at something." I think thats bullsh*t. But I do think anyone can be good at anything, provided they're willing to work hard for it, which may not sound different, but is.

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Sorry Taser, but being one of the biggest Dev fanboys around makes your opinion mean very little to me. Grats.

I guess it's forbidden that someone actually disagree with something that's obviously based on bad design, bad foresight, and bad decision making.

I've got some nerve.

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Because you have to hate the game before you're allowed to have an opinion about it. Taser! Your complaint quota is not high enough to post in this thread! BAD TASER!

You understand that Mayhem missions are the new bank heist, right?

These aren't super-special missions that you have to be 40+ to unlock. These are available to everyone from 5-50. Complaining that you'll fight Longbow in them is like [censored] that a level 35 bank heist has security guards... AGAIN!

Of course they're going to use a group that's around at every level. It's a mission type that's available at every level.

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It's people like you who chased Geko, Mr. Loose Lips on the Numbers, off these boards.

Keep that in mind next time you bemoan the numbers being unpublished.

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The other thing I wanted to say about that, is that I don't buy when developers claim that us mean posters hurt their feeling and make them not want to talk with us. The developers have the control. Their input has much more force than any poster. I'm sorry but suck it up. This is the only service industry where client service is thought to be optional.

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/signed

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You know, if you really feel like this, you should either make your own computer games, or run some table top games. You'll have more power then.

But I think you'll quickly learn that any good entertainer, whether he is a game designer, game master or musician, is a slave to his audience. Not just because of money, but there's no point to making delightful games if everyone hates it and won't play.

If you honestly think the Devs don't give a [censored] how their audience feels, you don't have a very realistic perspective.

You know, it struck me today, after admiring a very fashionably dressed woman, that you can do ALOT with long coats. So instead of JUST trenchcoats, maybe they can fiddle around with them a little, like they do with capes. A closed trench coat, an open one. Hell, you could include cloaks and robes with similar animation, I'm sure, and the long coat that tighens at the waist and flares out a little at its base. Put a female heroine in that with knee-high or thigh-high boots, and you have yourself a very trendy, but very modest, character ;0

I want it noted that Statesman earned 5 cool points.

Hey! The OP promised!

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On the other hand, the devs have never promised that the game would include new powersets added often, or that zones wouldn't be magic based.


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Though, to the same extent, they never promised both PvE and PvP content in every patch.

New issues bring only one new promise: new content. And it's up to the player to decide if that new content is for them or not.

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If my bank promised that I would not have to participate in ATM/internet banking to use my account, and then they kept closing branches and shortening their hours quarter after quarter, I might consider that they aren't delivering what I had reasonably expected, even though they have not expressly broken a promise.

If the devs intent is to only offer new content primarily via PVP zones and CoV from here on, I shan't call them liars or any such thing, but I think its fair of me to want to know if that is their intent, or if at some point I can expect them to redeploy some resources back to my favorite parts of the game.

However, if an express promise is required, when people were concerned about Crotoa being 25-35 instead of 30-40, the devs acknowledged that there is a content gap in the 30s in CoH and promised some content to close that gap would come "soon".

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I think it would be better to say that if a bank promised you would never have to use an ATM, and then promptly doubled the number of available ATM machines. It still doesn't affect you. They DID just spend billions of dollars on development that has nothing to do with you, and as ATM machines become sweeter and sweeter, you may feel a little neglected with your checkbook, but they're not making it HARDER for you to use your checkbook, they're just making it easier for everyone else to use their ATM card.

Cryptic hasn't REDUCED the amount of PvE in the game. They haven't even made it harder. They haven't cut back on the badges or storyarcs. They haven't removed anything that wasn't already there. In fact, since PvP came out, they cut the door-mission debt in half and will shortly be releasing a patch that will reduce AVs to EBs for soloers.

So they've made is easier and more accessible to PvE. They just haven't done AS MUCH with it as they have with PvP. Unless you count CoV, in which case they nearly doubled the PvE content.

Ok, the suggestions of music and PvE Base missions ROCKS.

Could you imagine going to a contact who turns to you in alarm "XXX villain has found the location to your hidden lair! You need to rush there to defend it..."

And the mobs set up in your mission just like they would in any random map, and you have to clear them all.

It'd be a blast. Toss that up there with Arch Nemeses.

Here's one I'm surprised nobody suggested:

Prison
Originally suggested by: Me, I think
Category: Room type
Customizable? Should be a variety of these rooms, anyway
Type: Purchased
Description: Similar to the prisons found in Council bases or CoT lairs, when a raiding hero/villain "dies" and tries to respawn in the hospital (or wherever it is they respawn in raids), they respawn here. Behind a locked door. Likely with a slew of defenses guarding them. This helps make the fight less of a "zerg" affair, and heroes with "holding cells" and villains with "dungeouns" are a staple.

While you're at it, add some manacles and devices-aiding-in-interrogation.

Limitations: Only one per base, and it should require at least some Control. I'd limit the number of defenses you can put in there so it's a challenge to escape, rather than a drag on the raid.


Oh, and adding NPCs would rock. Guards to fight at your side, cowering prisoners in your dungeoun, or people selling items/helping out.

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Glad you liked it! Be sure to let everyone on the boards know that there will be absolutely no difference between the Korean version and the US/EU version of the game .
~Awry

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If the Korean players are going to get exactly the same game as us, then isn't it somewhat misleading to create this very anime-looking promotional video?

Also, while we've come to grips with the idea that important NPCs have access to unique costume items (e.g. Numina's jacket) and signature powers (e.g. Scirocco's sword), aren't they laying that stuff on a little thick with these new characters? Some of the Korean gamers might be a little distressed that they can't make characters even close to what they're being shown in the video.

Frankly, if it's believed the Korean players would prefer a more anime-based setting to the standard superhero fare, then maybe they should get a modified version of the game. On the other hand, if they're going to be playing the same game as us set in Rhode Island, USA, then I think this advertising may backfire.

Or... [conspiracytheoristmode]... maybe "no difference between the Korean and US/EU versions" really means that we will be the ones facing major changes, as I7 launches with an event that physically transports Paragon City to an island just off the Korean peninsula... [/conspiracytheoristmode]

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Foreshadow and the blonde chick (I forget her name and can't be bothered to look it up ) have, from the looks of it, completely "normal" CoH powers. Foreshadow looks like an MA/SR, and Blondey doesn't really display any powers. And neither of them are hard to make, costume wise, with the CoH engine.

It's Spark Blade and Mirror Spirit that really break all the rules, particularly Mirror Spirit's costume and powers. All we REALLY need to see to make these "fit" are some new powersets or ATs, which is a possibility, albeit one that would (pleasantly) surprise me.

>.< Spark Blade is too cool! I must be allowed to play someone remarkably similar to him, yet not violating his copyright! *Ahem*

I'll agree with the "let down" ending.

It was Dues Ex Machina. Back Alley Brawler's actions ended up completely useless. Everything Sister Psyche did to save Manticore? Meaningless, because Numina saved him. Everything Back Alley Brawler did to protect Manticore and defeat Protean? Useless, because Manticore kills Protean (even has the magic arrow to do it with)

We're presented with a problem (Manticore's impending death and Protean's resurgance) and the author hand-waves them away at the end (Numina ressurects them and Manticore has a disruptor arrow). This probably wouldn't be as much a problem if the author wasn't a master of building drama. You expect alot, and then he extricates himself with a quick explanation, you say "Oh." and that's that.



But I liked the exploration of Back Alley Brawler and Manticore, that was cool, but this ranks third for stories thus far... though the art was quite nice. I've been very pleased with all the art from all the comics thus far

A few additional comments:

The Nazi approach to religion was... wonky. While I'm pretty sure they were ostensibly christian, they borrowed ALOT of myth from paganism, and they seemed on the verge of creating their own state mythology/religion. While they were religious, it wasn't in the sense that we usually percieve it as. Religion was almost a form of patriotism to them.

Their sexism can't be overstated. Women existed to give birth to the next generation of Aryan children. They were breeding machines. Good women accepted that and fell into line. There was even a breeding program.

Mussolini wasn't too fond of jews either. It featured less in their early stuff (and he even had a [censored] on staff who did alot of his propoganda work), but they become more vocal about it later on. This might have been because of Germany, however.

RE: Socialism vs Fascism. They are indeed two opposite poles. Fascism believes in the supremacy of the state. By everyone coming together, they could create something greater than themselves. Everyone for the nation.

Communism, really, had to do with tearing down all power structures that could possibly exploit anyone... including government. First, communists would dismantle the corporations and religions (both of which "enslave" the masses) and then dismantle itself, letting people live as they will. It's kind of a benevolent anarchy, really. "The nation for everyone."

The problem is, in practice, they look exactly the same because the Communist government just never gets around to dismantling itself (surprise of surprises) and the Fascist government needs to justify itself by helping the people with expensive, centralized programs. In other words, they loop around so far to the left and right that they kinda meet in the middle.

But, idealogically, they hate each other.

Someone I read put it well when he remarked the differences were "In communism, the government take all the industrial leaders out back and shoots them. In fascism, the government takes all the industrial leaders out for dinner... where they're told if they don't fall into line, they'll be taken out back and shot."

It's a fine line. I kinda think China crossed it when they gave up all pretenses to a communist economy and continue to maintain a strict oligarchy propped up by massive propoganda. But anyway.

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Here are some screenshots of the Team Evil base.

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Awesome! Something different! I love the asian motiff...

So far, all I'm seeing is Circle of Thorns style Arcane, and lab style Tech. Is that all that's possible? No plush mansion looks or cave lairs or abandoned apartments?

Resistance is more or less equal to defense.

Imagine for a moment that you have 1000 hit points, your opponent does 100 damage, and hits you 50% of the time (classic minion). If you simply stood there staring stupidly at him, your survivability would be roughly 20 hits (10 out 20 will hit for 1000 damage).

A 10% resistance reduces all damage he does to 90. But he still hits 50% of the time. So your survivability becomes 24 hits (12 out of 24 hit for 1080 damage)

A 10% defense reduces the chance your opponent will hit, but keeps the same damage. You still get hit for 100 damage a hit, but you only get hit 40% of the time. This gives you a survivability of 25 hits (10 attacks are needed, but only 4/10 hit, so you need 10/25 rather than 10/20)

One can argue: But if I raise the foes accuracy by 10%, that negates defense!

But it doesn't. It just makes BOTH targets easier to hit. The defense guy gets hit 50% of the time (for a survivability of 20 hits again), but the resistance guy gets hit 60% of the time (for a survivability of 10/20 again). Accuracy kills, even if you use Resistance. Unless we're talking +60% accuracy, in which case, the Defense guy's bonus literally vanishes (as both get hit 95% of the time, and the defense guy drops to a survivability of 10, where the res drops to 12)

Otherwise, about the same. Resistance will protect you better against one shot deaths (it's harder to GET that one shot hit on a high defense character, but you have no warning to get back and heal like you do with a high res character), but Defense protects you better against status effects (if you can't hit me, you can't stun me). There are plenty of threads you can read some pretty educational debates on it, and it's not a perfect set up, but it's not a situation of one "clearly superior" to the other.

The problem with most defense sets isn't that they use defense... it's that they use it EXCLUSIVELY. The best defenses are layered. A high resistance character, for example, benefits a great deal from a little bit of regen or a little bit of defense. But the sets you point to have only one type of defense: Defense. Invulnerability, the much vaunted defense set, isn't great because it has resistance... it's great because it has BOTH Resistance and Defense.

Regardless... I think this has NOTHING to do with what the poster was discussing. His point wasn't that ninjas suck, but that their secondaries seem to make less of an impact, so the difference in enhancements would be harder to see. If one guy has 10 pieces of pie and the other has 20 pieces of pie and you increase the size of all pies by 10%, the guy with 20 pieces of pie will have noticably more pie than the other guy. This has nothing to do, however, with the quality of their bakeries.

I've been trying to figure out how reputation works.

I did a Patrol in Bloody Bay and got my Forward Observer badge, bam, right off the bat. (400 rep?)

Come back later, do several missions, and get my Disruptor badge (200 rep?)... which, as I understand it, should have come before hand.

But my rep always shows as 0.0 In the Zone. Out of the Zone. Everywhere. What's up with that? How does this work?

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Wow, a post from States' that isn't condescending. Been a while since we'e seen that. Thanks.

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My point continues to be: ED and I5 haven't created a ghost town out of City of Heroes.

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And, you're right there. It started before that. Rounds about I4 is when I started to notice a significant increase in the number of people from friends lists and SG rosters that showed OFFLINE.

I5 and ED aren't the way to bring them back either. If you guys are perfectly content just doing enough to maintain your current numbers not much I can do to persuade you otherwise.

I can only hope I7 is BIG, because we sure as heck need it to be. I suspect though that PvP is going to have another round of large "tweaks" to powers and mechanincs coming our way.

Been almost two years now and no new Melee or Defense sets, no Skills, no power customization, no end game activities, no fixes for lots of stuff that has been broken since beta (damn disorient bugs), no weapon customization, only 1 Epic AT, no sprucing up of the old zones or missions or TF's, the list goes on and on.

That is the kind of stuff that is going to bring players back/keep them here. If indeed the numbers coming in are growing just imagine what your subscription numbers would be if you guys worked a bit more on keeping players rather than driving them off.

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According to MMOGchart.com (Sir Bruce's numbers), CoH's been losing people ever since release... which is normal. You always get a huge boost of people who want to play with something shiney and new, and then it fades. Of course, more recently it's been increasing in numbers... right about at the point your old buddies seemed to be going away.

While it's unfortunate you lost all your friends, your experience doesn't seem to match the overall trend... a trend I am a part of, since I picked this up around I4-I5, and I've persuaded several to join me around the same time.

As for the rest... well... you can always demand more. "CoH deserves better!"

But even if he'd fixed everyone of those things... we'd still have no arch enemies, no vehicles, no new pool sets, no "non-epic" new ATs, etc.

You can always demand more. It's a straw-man.

And no, I DON'T hope I7 is "huge." 1.6 gigs is MORE than enough for my bandwidth to choke on, thank you very much. I hope it's got some solid goodies (and I'm sure it will), but I also hope they can keep it in a sleeker, more swallowable package.

I'm with the "bring it ALL over" crowd

People argue heroes shouldn't look like villains... but what about villains who look like heroes. The craptastic super-friends version of Lex Luthor isn't all that different from the look of most heroes. Most of Iron Man's foes look the same as he does. Half the "heroic" chicks in CoH look alot like Catwoman.

Anti-heroes aside, Beast has a bestial body. ALOT of very good and righteous mutants in Marvel are very strange looking. Never mind the tormented heroes.

But the primary reason I vote for "all options" is that you can never be sure what exactly you'll be looking for. While we can argue back and forth about the merit of spikey, S&M harnessed, barb-wrapped heroes with skull heads... what about one or two of those pieces? Can you be 100% certain that no hero can make good use of spikey bits? Of scars or sown eyes? Of bestial features? You'd be surprised at what some very clever people can do.

Sure, we'll see some goofy, stupid crap when this first happens (though alot of it will be on CoV, because let's face it, those who want to unleash their darkside will do so as Brutes and Stalkers, rather than another Scrapper), but if you think someone is stupid, just ignore them. That's what I do when I see "RajinCajin14."

It's not like the sight of a zombie hero (and what's wrong with a zombie hero? Undead Boy could be an interesting concept. I'd do Dark Melee/Regen and play up his angst and search for final rest) will offend your eyes and destroy your enjoyment of the game

Ok, as usual, you people are crazy.

"What? You fixed something? Well... it.. uh... still doesn't address gaping holes that are completely destroying this game! And why did you only give us, free of charge, one horse? WE WANT TWENTY!"

*sigh*

Why Smashing and Lethal? Isn't it blatantly obvious? Because they're common. You might as well just ask "Why only ranged and melee?"

Realize that this adds, not changes, defense options. If you're being defended by a bubbler or you're an ice tanker, this will help you with you against smashing and lethal. As for the electricity blaster cunningly attacking you with something that isn't smashing or lethal (oh no!) you STILL have ranged and melee defense. The worst case scenario is that you have middling levels of electricity defense that's higher than the Pool's melee or ranged defense, and you get hit... but this means you're NO WORSE OFF THAN YOU WERE BEFORE!

The rest of these posts just seem to be complaints about how the system fundementally works. You want that changed. The last major defense change was I5, and you guys screamed about that. So what is it? The game was great, leave it alone? Or change it, change it now?

I don't get you guys. You seem to whine just to whine.

Cool. I know an Ice Tanker. He'll appreciate this, though I'll have to explain the finer points of why it was necessary...

Thanks

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I don't see it that way at all. In fact, I look to be redundant whenever possible.

On a Pentad Team + You, you had better be redundant, regardless of what AT you play.

More Damage? Nice, not needed.
More Taunting? Nice, not needed.
More Buffs? Nice, not needed.
More Control? Nice, not needed.

Noticing that my powers are redundant is the cardinal sign of a good team. I like playing with good teams.

Teams that I bring appreciable help to, and where I feel noticed, are crap teams.

More Damage? Needed, since no one else is doing any.
More Taunting? Needed, since no one is controlling their aggro.
More Buffs? Needed, since no one has sufficient defenses.
More Control? Needed, since no one is controlling their aggro.

Simply put, if a team NEEDS you, and your help? It sucks.
If a team doesn't NEED me, I don't quit, or complain, or whine. I enjoy it.

However, if this bothers you (as it seems to), since you're not being "Heroic" enough, quit and form your own team, that lacks your AT of choice. Then you sure will feel that you're helping.

This is a pathetic attempt to justify the Controller nerfs. I should be able to build the kind of Controller I want. If that means that I specialize in AoE Holds, the game isn't making me redundant. I am, by my choice.

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But I like feeling useful. I played a low level Scrapper on a TF with some serious Blasters, and at first, I felt like I wasn't helping much. Then, when I backed off once to heal up (the Defender was low on End, got me later), I noticed how much slower the kills were. I wasn't the star player of the team, but I was definitely important.

A friend who plays alot of WoW complains that certain classes aren't wanted in Instances. I've never seen that in CoH. I've seen teams forgo an archtype (like Blasters or Controllers), but I've never seen them dismiss someone. Team battles are simply amazingly breathtaking in CoH, and I've been amazed at how awesome they are. I recently played with a controller and I was astonished by how amazingly useful she is.

I see alot of complaints on this forum, particularly about I5, but I'm simply delighted by what I see. I've never played an MMORPG as fun as this. Ever.