macskull

This is somewhat true, but adding color customization in the first place is likely (from a marketing/business standpoint) an effort to keep existing customers rather than an effort to attract new ones - I can't see it being more likely that Random MMO Player #1 sees that CoH is adding power customization and subbing then Random CoH Player #1 sees that they're adding power customization and deciding to resub for another month or three. After all, it's the existing playerbase that's been asking for power customization for years, not non-players. Unfortunately, power customization adds zero replayability factor - really, it's only there for show - and it's more like giving the house a new coat of paint than it is remodeling or building an addition. I'm not trying to downplay power customization, but in the grand scheme of things it's really not that big a deal.

I'm also not sure why you felt the need to single out farmers as the ones who pass off power customization as "just another stupid feature" - some people like that ability, some couldn't care less. I'm a farmer, and I'm in the latter camp regarding power customization (I haven't changed a single existing alt and only one of my new characters has had their power colors changed), but the two aren't related. I simply care more about what my powers do than how they look.

The people that complained about the MA farming had a point - to an extent. "Oh, all anyone wants to do is run MA farms!" some might say. However, there seemed to be enough anti-farm sentiments around the forums that I'm honestly shocked no one though of teaming up with other non-MA users and running normal missions. I never had problems forming task forces when the MA farming was in full swing, so I'm not really sure what the big deal was. Nevertheless, the changes have been made, the nerfbat swung too far once again and the honest-to-goodness story writers have been complaining more than the farmers, and now we're settling back into a supposed normalcy (at least until the next set of changes comes along, whatever they might be). You might be seeing more new faces on your teams or task forces but that's simply people trickling out of the MA. Once the first week of I16 launch passed and people saw all the shinies, they seem to have wandered off, and I've seen less people even on Freedom than I saw at any time since I14 launched.

You should send me your build, but with the prices of purples the way they are today I'm not sure if I'm wanting to change my existing build... I'd love to close that gap to the last 15% to the softcap though. >.>

I like the idea of damage being related to animation time, but not the idea of animation time being the only factor. In the current case you have issues where pool powers are sometimes superior to in-set powers and you have issues were tier 3 attacks (hello, Blaze, and Bitter Ice Blast) are actually worse in practice than the tier 1 and 2 attacks.

Needless to say I think that's a mistake that goes back to the beginning of the game, when the original developers didn't realize just how much an impact animation time would have on usage of powers. If it'd been done from the beginning for both PvE and PvP we might have a damage system that makes sense, but since it wasn't, we have what we've got now.

This.

They're also lethal to a squishy without an escape power or some form of support - a good spike will have you dead by the time the mez wears off.

It didn't under the old PvP rules either, which I always thought was strange. When I15 rolled around I remembered that after tinkering in Mids, and I sent a bug report to Sunstorm and voila, fixed.

Yeah that'd work.

Depends if "nature" is Earth or Plant. Earth is above-average, Plant is bad. The I13 changes to mez and toggles (and then the I14 changes to pet recharge) hit Storm pretty hard - these days you're probably best pairing Mind, Fire, or Earth with Cold, Therm, or Rad.

^^ This one didn't actually read the thread, did he?

Despite the recharge change in I14 which was supposed to fix pet AI issues such as the Bruiser's tendency to hang back at range and huck rocks, he's still kind of stupid and you often need to coax him into getting into melee. I'm still not happy about that change because now I've got a wasted slot with the Force Feedback proc, and my Soulbound Allegiance set is nothing more than really expensive set bonuses.

Good to see... can anyone check to see if Mind Link and Fiery Embrace still cause suppression or will I have to actually fix my copy of test? >.>

EDIT: They do.

And you're still bad, how do you explain that?

Thank god, I was worried for a minute.