New efforts!

[GenericHero05]

Every time I logged into CoH, I felt the same "zing" as I did the very first time I logged in. I check this site at least 5 or 6 times a day. It breaks my heart that we seem to be at a stand still right now but I truly believe that something wonderful is going to happen. I play no other MMOs and I don't think I can. I play State of Decay where I can whack zombies but I'd drop it in a second to be able to battle a Vahzilok again. God how I miss this so much.

[Prism Almidu]

Every time I logged into CoH, I felt the same "zing" as I did the very first time I logged in. I check this site at least 5 or 6 times a day. It breaks my heart that we seem to be at a stand still right now but I truly believe that something wonderful is going to happen. I play no other MMOs and I don't think I can. I play State of Decay where I can whack zombies but I'd drop it in a second to be able to battle a Vahzilok again. God how I miss this so much.

Trust me, the villains and rogues miss it just as much. This whole thing has me feeling stretched and anxious. The best example I can think of is how the channelers in the Wheel of Time series feel after being gentled or stilled, no longer able to touch the One Power.

[Arcana]

I actually thought Paragon had some level of control over this themselves from what I experienced the couple times I applied for positions. 1: if NCSoft West or Korea had a say there would be NO ONE hired who didn't have a degree. there is a significant amount of Degree nazism in Asian gaming companies and their US branches (even and especially Nintendo of America) the fact that I know some people got hired without it tells me NCSoft didn't have to sign off on it at any level. Then again I guess it depends on the position you apply for.

Paragon Studios hired its own people.  But NCSoft had to approve the actual position first.  Once NCSoft approved the position, Paragon Studios was free to hire anyone they wanted to fill it.  They also had some latitude hiring people outside of official positions, but not much.  For example, contractors I believe could be hired based on budget availability, separate from HR-created permanent positions: these obviously didn't need NCSoft HR approval directly, but did indirectly need to be cost-justified.

[Arcana]

Every time I logged into CoH, I felt the same "zing" as I did the very first time I logged in. I check this site at least 5 or 6 times a day. It breaks my heart that we seem to be at a stand still right now but I truly believe that something wonderful is going to happen. I play no other MMOs and I don't think I can. I play State of Decay where I can whack zombies but I'd drop it in a second to be able to battle a Vahzilok again. God how I miss this so much.

You never quite feel the same as you do when the game is first new and shiny and you're totally ignorant.  But even though I had literally spent thousands of hours playing the game, more than ten thousand hours playing and testing the game (of actually sitting at the console, not just logged in time), and even though my knowledge of the game by the end might as well have been like Neo's in the Matrix (I could defeat critters by manipulating their AI), it was just as fun to play on the last day as the first day.  I think that's why I was mostly immune to "the grind."  If I started to feel like the game was becoming a grind, I'd just take a break.  For a day, for a week sometimes, and then I would feel the need to log in again and it would be just as fun.

Heck, the four hundred thirty-second Incarnate trial was just as fun to me as the first one.  The tenth Eden was just as fun as the first one.  Ok, the twelfth Dr. Quarterfield was just as boring as the first one.  Was that his name?  I keep blocking out the trauma of running that one.

[GenericHero05]

You never quite feel the same as you do when the game is first new and shiny and you're totally ignorant.  But even though I had literally spent thousands of hours playing the game, more than ten thousand hours playing and testing the game (of actually sitting at the console, not just logged in time), and even though my knowledge of the game by the end might as well have been like Neo's in the Matrix (I could defeat critters by manipulating their AI), it was just as fun to play on the last day as the first day.  I think that's why I was mostly immune to "the grind."  If I started to feel like the game was becoming a grind, I'd just take a break.  For a day, for a week sometimes, and then I would feel the need to log in again and it would be just as fun.

Heck, the four hundred thirty-second Incarnate trial was just as fun to me as the first one.  The tenth Eden was just as fun as the first one.  Ok, the twelfth Dr. Quarterfield was just as boring as the first one.  Was that his name?  I keep blocking out the trauma of running that one.

Exactly...

For me here's the rub... I never did a single Incarnate mission. Not one... I had no idea what they were. I never once (other than the school tutorial) created an IO. For some reason, I stupidly associated that with the nerfing of my pet spawns and the nerfing of "perma" hasten. I want to do this. I missed out on so much.

[Auroxis]

You can still download mids' hero builder and give it a go.

[Arcana]

Exactly...

For me here's the rub... I never did a single Incarnate mission. Not one... I had no idea what they were. I never once (other than the school tutorial) created an IO. For some reason, I stupidly associated that with the nerfing of my pet spawns and the nerfing of "perma" hasten. I want to do this. I missed out on so much.

More than you might realize.  Hasten was a +70% recharge buff.  The invention system could easily build +70% recharge without hasten, and without Hasten's endurance crash/cost.  With Hasten (which you *could* make perma with invention system buffs) you could go beyond the wildest dreams of the pre-ED game.  My blaster had over +160% recharge - more than  hypothetically stacked Hasten - *and* attacks that had additional slotted recharge.

For reference, a pre-ED build with perma-hasten might have +70% global recharge, and on top of that might slot an attack 1acc5dmg.  That would mean that attack would have effectively +33% accuracy, +166% damage, and +70% recharge.  An all HO pre-nerf slotting 6xNuc would have an incredible +300% accuracy and +300% damage, plus +70% recharge.

My I23 build's power bolt was slotted with 5 Apocalypse (all but the proc) and one Force Feedback proc.  In total, with global bonuses, that power had an effective slotting of (rounding off) +129% acc, +100% damage, +33% endurance reduce, and +252% recharge, and that doesn't count if the FF proc actually goes off (+100% recharge for five seconds).  Definitely better than the pre-ED conventional slotting, and arguably jousting with the all HO pre-nerf slotting (less damage per hit, way faster recharge).  For AoE powers like Torrent, the invention slotting actually outdoes even the HO slotting in DPS simply because the AoEs recharge so much faster (the HO slotting hits twice as hard per hit, but the invention slotting recharges a little more than twice as fast).

And we often forget perma-Hasten builds were always sucking wind.  So many players claimed they could run perma-hasten without running out of endurance, enough so that I actually tested that theory and proved this statement was mathematically impossible prior to ED, short of degenerate slotting (i.e. slotting attacks for all endred).  It was all but impossible with any slotting to both have a full attack chain and not run out of endurance while using it (because even perma-Hasten couldn't build consistent full attack chains without slotting help).  In I9, it was possible to have full attack chains that were sustainable for either very long times or indefinitely, something we could only lie about pre-ED.

There were many players that wished they could go back to pre-ED.  Given the fact that would also unwind the invention system, I was not one of them.  I would never go back to the days when we could have perma-hasten and no diminishing returns, but were always too poor to buy SOs most of the time and lost the ability to build what we could build with the invention system.  Its like wishing to go back to the days of horse drawn carriages, romanticizing the pretty horses and ignoring the unpaved streets and horse manure and the huge cost of keeping a horse alive, while forgetting the air conditioning  available in the cheapest used sedan on the market that doesn't even need to be consistently washed to propel us down the highway at four times the speed with less effort than it took to just climb into a horse drawn buggy.

[LaughingAlex]

There were many players that wished they could go back to pre-ED.  Given the fact that would also unwind the invention system, I was not one of them.  I would never go back to the days when we could have perma-hasten and no diminishing returns, but were always too poor to buy SOs most of the time and lost the ability to build what we could build with the invention system.  Its like wishing to go back to the days of horse drawn carriages, romanticizing the pretty horses and ignoring the unpaved streets and horse manure and the huge cost of keeping a horse alive, while forgetting the air conditioning  available in the cheapest used sedan on the market that doesn't even need to be consistently washed to propel us down the highway at four times the speed with less effort than it took to just climb into a horse drawn buggy.

This so many times over.  I looked at some pre-ED builds, and I wasn't impressed.  Just seemed like they'd be tiring so fast that compared to a post-ED IO'd character, they'd not do as much simply from the post-ED IO char not having to stop all the time.

Though in my case, it's more to me it seems like CoH had far less depth back then.  And issue 8(when I started) was certainly grindier.  I still met people though who hated using endurance reduction.....

[Twi]

Not an option in CoX... no vehicles.  But then I don't want to get you started on CO again.

Look, just because I drive a huge tank and every single weapon equipped to it are huge missiles doesn't mean anything.

[brothermutant]

Look, just because I drive a huge tank and every single weapon equipped to it are huge missiles doesn't mean anything.

Love that ton's look in your sig. What was she, a CoH build?

[Nyx Nought Nothing]

Love that ton's look in your sig. What was she, a CoH build?

Weird, in my view of the forums the only thing i see in their signature is "I am a defender and so can you."

[brothermutant]

referring to the pic next to her/his name.

[Vee]

Arcana, y no apocalypse proc? I always left out the pure damage for the damage proc in purple sets and would always make sure to slot the purple set in my quickest attack specifically because of the proc. Now you've got me doubting that as you always seem to have a tested out reason for everything.

[Auroxis]

Maybe she meant Power Blast instead of Power Bolt, and the proc was used in Spectral Wounds instead?

[Vee]

Ahh, could be.

[Azrael]

More than you might realize.  Hasten was a +70% recharge buff.  The invention system could easily build +70% recharge without hasten, and without Hasten's endurance crash/cost.  With Hasten (which you *could* make perma with invention system buffs) you could go beyond the wildest dreams of the pre-ED game.  My blaster had over +160% recharge - more than  hypothetically stacked Hasten - *and* attacks that had additional slotted recharge.

For reference, a pre-ED build with perma-hasten might have +70% global recharge, and on top of that might slot an attack 1acc5dmg.  That would mean that attack would have effectively +33% accuracy, +166% damage, and +70% recharge.  An all HO pre-nerf slotting 6xNuc would have an incredible +300% accuracy and +300% damage, plus +70% recharge.

My I23 build's power bolt was slotted with 5 Apocalypse (all but the proc) and one Force Feedback proc.  In total, with global bonuses, that power had an effective slotting of (rounding off) +129% acc, +100% damage, +33% endurance reduce, and +252% recharge, and that doesn't count if the FF proc actually goes off (+100% recharge for five seconds).  Definitely better than the pre-ED conventional slotting, and arguably jousting with the all HO pre-nerf slotting (less damage per hit, way faster recharge).  For AoE powers like Torrent, the invention slotting actually outdoes even the HO slotting in DPS simply because the AoEs recharge so much faster (the HO slotting hits twice as hard per hit, but the invention slotting recharges a little more than twice as fast).

And we often forget perma-Hasten builds were always sucking wind.  So many players claimed they could run perma-hasten without running out of endurance, enough so that I actually tested that theory and proved this statement was mathematically impossible prior to ED, short of degenerate slotting (i.e. slotting attacks for all endred).  It was all but impossible with any slotting to both have a full attack chain and not run out of endurance while using it (because even perma-Hasten couldn't build consistent full attack chains without slotting help).  In I9, it was possible to have full attack chains that were sustainable for either very long times or indefinitely, something we could only lie about pre-ED.

The numbers for your en/en blaster are certainly impressive.  Power bolt on 252% recharge and that's minus force feedback?!  Sounds insane.  (Force Feedback as Proc' - I didn't get chance to experiment with.)  With a 100% dam boost on the build, Power Bolt is suddenly more than an annoyance.  Hitting as hard as Energy Punch out of the box?

160% recharge (minus any 'in power' recharges) is mouthwatering.  I had Perma Hasten and Domination on my Dominator.  I'm having 'wishful' thoughts to try out your build for an En/En blaster.

My favourite all time power is Torrent.  So having it recharge so fast as to be a defacto 'single' attack as part of your chain must have been heaps of fun.  (I did note on your build you didn't have Exploding Blast but you did have Nova...  I would like to have Exploding Blast with Torrent to take the top and tails off even con mobs.)

As for the game pre-ED.  Comparing it to a horse and cart is harsh.  I'd take that now though I'm sure SCoRE are aiming for Issue 23/24.  I remember The Hollows being an unforgiving place to go and the long journey back to Atlas after getting 'face planted' on a mission entrance in the far end of the map.  And I do remember seeing Tanks herding the place from time to time.  I remember my fire/fire blaster hitting the mat in the Hollows when a fire/ss tank was showing me around the place.  Dangerous.  Far more authentic than the neutered Hollows of later years. 

As for Perma-hasten 'old school.'  Yes.  It sucked air.  The only time you could 'cut loose' was when Conserve came around (or RA from a nice healer....)  Even with Double End Reds on eg. Total Focus and Ex Blast, and others single end reds.  Energy leaked end like no tomorrow.  My Duo-partner noted that you could 'pace' yourself.  But that always felt 'stilted' to me.  Not 'impossible.'  Merely undesirable.  Not quite 'fun' for me.  And yes, you'd have to slot out even 'Perma-Hasten' to get a 'smooth finish' to your attack chain.  (I remember trying to respect out of Perma Hasten and try a 'stamina less' end reduced build.  It was a disaster and I had to respec back.)

IOs.  Yes.  I guess I could be accused of holding something of a grudge re: Ed.  The game may have been flawed before (from a certain point of view...) but I felt that was part of its charm.

It's hard to argue with the IO numbers of your builds and your knowledge of the game as a developer from a technical point of view.  The En/En IO build seems impressive on paper.  (I hope to test it out one day...)  And my stance against IOs definitely softened in the latter years as I tried out 2x Brutes, a Dominator, a tank, a defender and a scrapper (when I had no idea what I was doing...)

Doing the Volta Respec to make a few million to pay for fresh SOs was part of the fun for me.  But I do recall debt being a running sore...and there were grind speed bumps in the game.

I have fond memories pre-Ed.  But then I was 'new' to the game as were many others.

It would be hard to trade away the builds I had on my tank or to lose the ability to 'roll' a Domi' in Hero land.  And sure, salvage meant it was far easier to fund SOs at the 'right time.'  Having 'hasten' level of recharges and abundant IO's stamina builds post Ed' are attractive.

So, yes.  I could say I've softened in my stance to the game post ed.

But I still think while the idea of Statesman levels of incarnate power is sound...the design was alien to the game I casually picked up and played.  I won't be softening my stance on that.

Azrael.

[Nyx Nought Nothing]

referring to the pic next to her/his name.

Ah, okay. The reference to a signature threw me off a bit. rollthatkatamari's avatar looks more like a fighting game sprite than anything from the CoH costume creator to me so i didn't make the connection.

[Goddangit]

Ha!  I ran across some Fraps jpg and avi files.  And who should fly through my frame but Captain Mallard.  That guy always quacked me up.  :)

[Dareon Kale]

My MA/Regen had perma-hasten (and subsequently perma dull-pain) with the Force Feedback proc in Dragon's Tail. Popping IH and hopping into the middle of a crowd was one of the games great pleasures.

[Arcana]

Arcana, y no apocalypse proc? I always left out the pure damage for the damage proc in purple sets and would always make sure to slot the purple set in my quickest attack specifically because of the proc. Now you've got me doubting that as you always seem to have a tested out reason for everything.

Because I was going for a Freem build** with maximum recharge, and so I slotted a bunch of Force Feedback procs.  Given how much recharge I had in the first place, that thing was going off all the time (I had it slotted in bolt, blast, torrent, and explosive blast).  My rough guestimate is that about a third of the time I was operating under FF's +100% recharge buff.

Was it damage-optimal?  Probably not.  But it was fun and stupid fast, and with I24 stupid-fast was going to be interesting when Energize came along.  My very brief testing of Energize was that having that much recharge was going to be almost cheating.


** The day I ran the Freem mission and saw what it was like to have capped recharge and every attack almost immediately available again, I swore I would try to replicate that feeling in my next build.  Forget being damage capped, or having unresistable damage procs, or having capped mitigation.  Being able to have an attack chain that is almost bolt->blast->torrent (not quite, but almost) is a dream come true.