Power Respec Token - A false economy

Ok, just an observation.

Based on Summer of Wonder I have recently created a few new toons. I usually go with DCUO bloguide as my starting point for power tree selection/loadout. Power imbalance is real!

I have just run the Aquaman mission as a mental toon, & in doing so totally bypassed any adds involved in the final bossfight. Contrast this with the elec toon I recently run through this with. With mental, no barrel/cola feat easy, with elec not so much. Same with Brother Blood fight. With mental, the audio in BB fight was that of a T8 toon running through a T3 mission, it was out of whack because everything burned so quick.

This isn't a nerf mental thread. My main has been gadgets since his inception so I'm doing ok right now. I have established I like the game hence being subbed for 18 months. However, for a new player who chose elec (I know elec is paid for so whatever the gratis equivalent is), having to use square & triangle (PS) to punch through, instead of the visually brilliant electrocute in what is supposedly a superhero game could be seriously offputting.

If, as the 'cynical' would say there is power imbalance due to the desire to sell Respec Tokens, then the devs should seriously rethink this. For a $10 Respec they could be losing a lot of regular, potential income.

I actually think Respec's should be something achieved over a period of time in game but that's a different thread.

Electricity has been bad for over a year but "they are listening" . At first glance you would think electricity is a strong power due to its mythos and comic book relevancy. That's until you hit electrocute and next you know you're on a loading screen.

lmao, I see what you did there

Yeah, I know, elec & nature are most horrid. This isn't really a thread geared at particular powers, it's more that generally if powers are imbalanced due to a desire to sell Respec Power Tokens, then they should reconsider, because for ever $10 they make they could be losing a lot.

Amongst others I've made elec (Photodiode), quantum (Timespace Cowboy), ice (Absolute Zorro), munitions (the BaldKnobber) toons lately so they're more concept as opposed to 'let's be beast' but I'm thinking more new player perspective.

I threw my toon names in cos they're awesome but I'm EU so most of y'all can steal them

thats your problem trusting what a site says , instead of you testing different loadouts , what works the best for you ,

If you truly believe powers aren't balanced because of Respec tokens ... lol

This

A quick scan of the census shows that at CR151 or higher, only 3,100 of the 92,000 characters are Electricity. Why would the developers intentional "screw" players using Electricity when Sorcery has over 13,500 users? Ice has 11,200 users, too.

If this player-driven fallacy were even remotely true, then from a business standpoint, there would be far more opportunities to make money by ninja nerfing the top 3 powers, whilst buffing the bottom 3 least used powers.

Exactly.

Powers haven't been changed in a long time. Currently, they are what they are. Players aren't buying Respec tokens to be top DPS, because those that would, already have.

While there's always a certain amount of worry when it comes to monitised things like this, I don't think Daybreak would go as far as destroy a part of the game to force-sell respec tokens. The amount of negativity, and presumably people quitting, doesn't benefit the game in any way. Sure, more respec tokens are sold, but what's the point in selling them if people are leaving over it? Surely one would cancel out the other?

Being condescending is a wonderful trait

In City of Heroes, you could run 8 man missions that would reward a free respec upon completion. You were given three of these per character. Anything after that, eventually became a paid option. Also, any major change in the game that affected powers, granted a free respec. The Devs in that game understood how badly a nerf or a buff affected players, so they compensated by granted free respecs. And if I recall, a free respec was also granted once per year at or around the holidays.

But this was all back before MMO companies became greedy as hell, before MMO companies started trying to implement psychological methods to drain their customers dry for every little thing they could....for things that used to come with a regular sub no less.

Not everyone gets my humour.

I'm okay with that.

Tori, you are a brilliant contributer to these forums, way more than me. However to call something a player driven fallacy (when a buff can be done in a hotfix) I believe is wrong. I'm not saying the devs have made powers weaker than others to sell Respec Tokens, I'm saying I hope they haven't & never do. I don't know the reasoning behind them letting elec & nature languish for so long but they have.

Money my friend... money first, then people fun...

Tybee, same as for what I said about Tori, very valuable contributer, etc. I have probably learned things from reading your posts.

I get humour perfectly well but what you said was condescending, it wasn't funny. But I'm glad you're ok with that

Power respec token sales are more driven by community expectations, and the "need" to be at the top of the scoreboard, rather than a deliberate and malicious intent to purposely have unbalanced powers.

I've had elec characters since DLC3 first came out. I will stick by powers I like regardless of what people think in game or on this soapbox of opinion forum. Heck I've been playing as earth since back when no one would touch it with a ten foot pole too.

Thanks for understanding the plight that DoT powers are experiencing first hand, rather than just following what the herd are saying. Hopefully the time will come soon when DoT dps isn't shunned and kicked from groups just for being what it is.

Also thanks for not calling them "respect tokens"

Haha, I was very conscious of that Plus I built the toon knowing elec was terrible, it's visually a million miles ahead of gadgets which is my main. It's a huge waste. It's been interesting running through lower level missions. I'd never disclude anyways regardless of power but the discrepancy is a bit of an eye opener

See, that was kinda funny