Controller Role Truth(To The Devs): I'm Not Sure Why This Is So Hard To Understand....

Not in Raids or Alerts...... Just so you know

please elaborate

Lol I think one of the funniest posts on this thread are those that say the Controller shouldn't Crowd Controll.

If trolls only job was really to give out power, they may as well have named it Energizer. I'm pretty sure the goal the devs had in mind for controllers was not to simply dump out power and nothing else, that would defeat the purpose of even having CC moves in general. What's the point of trolls having Dom? To my knowledge Dom doesn't add to the amount power you put out at all. Hell, they might as well remove the cc moves and replace them with more power giving moves, RIGHT? I hate that logic, and I hate more that some people are so quick to accept being nothing more than a battery.

My first time trolling AnB really made me value trolls more, especially because I usually run as a DPS. From T1-T5 all I ever did was dump power. It wasn't until I ran AnB(last room) and had to jump around, stunning benefactors, debuffing, and giving power, that I realized what a controllers real purpose was(inb4"you don't have to CC"). After I ran AnB I realized from T1-T4 all I used was two to three powers, PoT, instant, and supercharge. If I didn't have prior knowledge on how to properly troll I'd be another one of these new trolls that know nothing but how to dump power. Telling trolls all they're good for is being a battery only breeds more and more trolls that know how to do nothing BUT THAT.

I think trolls are becoming more and more of a dying breed because being nothing more than a "battery" is extremely boring, and people STILL complain if you mess up. This is one of the biggest reasons why I rarely play on my troll. In the games current state, even if you know how to play your role as a troll properly, if you aren't uber geared you're considered bad. Even if you do the exact same things as a troll with higher gear.

This being said I agree with the OP. I really think trolls need something like benediction, only it gives power to the group instead of healing, based on your weapon attacks, or have our debuffs, stuns, etc give out power(someone said this already, but im restating it) this way trolling will tie in more with CCing instead of making nothing but batteries. Adding somewhat of a NEED for CC would be nice too. I don't mind giving power since the troll is the back-bone of the group, but I want to be something more than a battery. This may be how WM is going to be but I haven't read up on it.

So far every role does what its name says except Controllers. The only thing I "control" is your power bar... :/

You probably haven't heard of this, but tank can do that too. Don't expect other people to hold your hand and tell you that it's OK to move forwards.

Obviously if someone rushes past the mobs without a good reason, then who the hell cares what happens to them, but rest of the time the rushing doesn't prevent anything. You just move faster and aggro the mobs. You're still in control of the mobs no matter how much people rush, it's your job to be in control. Try another role if that's too much for you.

That may have been the original purpose for trolls, but the gameplay evolved past it. Just because the game tells you X, doesn't mean it's like that in reality, or that it's the best way to do it. There's a lot of little things that aren't done as the game expects you to do them, and there's generally a good reason for that.

These posts opposing the evolution of the gameplay are pathetic.

wow ppl r just insane trolling and healing would be the exact same thing if nt 4 the crowd controll

umm u must be new to trolling lol

But i'm not lol

Yes, Controllers were meant to control, but nowadays giving power is basically the only viable thing they can do.
- Even disregarding our OP stats control effects are needed in very few instances
- Debuffs are useless
- Self Power Regen is really weak for any other role
- Generating Power and distributing it to the group is always useful as all of the other roles actually need their powers for their primary tasks

Now people say "a good Controller can do their controlling and debuffing all they want and still give out power" but while that may be true in reality controlling and debuffing isn't viable at all in most content. Sure you can make a less burn-oriented group setup and let Controllers control but there is almost zero content that actually requires it.
That means all you need is PoT, Recharge, SC and Shield/Detaunt for pickups. 2 free spots for powers that everyone knows will just be for your personal fooling around and not contribute to your team's success at all. No need to blame the community for that though, it's on the Devs to either make controlling and debuffing needed or retool Controllers to be blue bar healers with more than just those 4 fixed power options.

You're one of the main people in this thread that post comments that simply irk me. What you've said only proves the fact that controllers need to be fixed. They are Controllers not power batteries. You can say that all you want but that will not change the fact that the role is meant for CC primarily. Their main role is in their name!

The game evolved past CC? No. The game simply "evolved" into burn > everything else state and it's ugly. Are you really going to sit there and say that a huge chunk of a role should be removed just to supply power hungry DPS'? That is truly absurd. I can tell you're one of those people that won't run with a tank unless you absolutely have to, and if someone can solo troll why not, more DPS! Right...?

This game is role based and Controllers are meant to CC. Your idea of "evolving" is nothing more than people just wanting to burn through content without doing it the way the Devs set it up to be done.

If only there was a way to not allow people to que up for stuff in improperly formed raid/alert groups(wish). 2-2-2-2/1-2-2-3 all the way.

Anyone is a "good" troll nowadays just as long as they can throw PoT and spam enough recharges while still being sensible with their power, whether you're truly good at the role or not. At this point in the game, in the eyes of the majority of the community, there's no need for debuffs/CC in PvE. That fact alone makes trolling one of the most boring roles in the game. I made a controller to both CC and give power, not to be the groups portable f***ing Energizer Bunny.

Like I've said before CCing, debuffing, etc. needs do be made a more important part of not only T5+ content but all content.

I would've replied in a meaningful way but I see that you're jumping to assumptions so it's safe to assume I won't get a meaningful conversation out of you, baby LOL. Here comes the passive aggressive reply.

Not necessarily fixed, I believe renaming the role would do it too. It wouldn't break the game and it should make people like you happy. No matter how many times you repeat that the role is supposed to do X, doesn't change the fact that in reality there's no need for a role like that. In actual gameplay there's need for a battery, not for random CC powers.

The gameplay evolved past troll CC. The troll role is more useful as a battery. Are you really going to sit there and say that SOE needs to break the current game dynamic for you? Just because you don't like the way one role is played. Also, being a battery is not just for damage dealers, I believe rest of the roles also use power. They can convert that power to something more useful that benefits the group.

It's good that you can tell that, but you're wrong. Obviously if I'm setting up a group, which is rareish, I won't take a tank for something that doesn't require it, but I also might switch the healer with a tank. Generally speaking I really don't care what kind of setup the group has, unless it affects the run in some major way. Also, I'm all for solo trolling, I absolutely love it! Trolling's at its best when you need to work hard to supply the group with power.

You can repeat that as many times as you can, but it doesn't change the fact that there's no need for a "CC troll". My idea of the gameplay evolving past what the devs wanted/meant is logical. If more burn gets things done faster and easier, it's only logical to aim for more burn.

It's hilarious how the advocates for 2-2-2-2/whatever setups always want SOE to force that on everyone else. Are you really that ignorant? You can't see anything wrong with that? Especially if you compare it to the current freedom? You can start the instance in whatever setup you want, and that's partly what makes the game good. They could improve it by allowing us to start instance with less than the needed amount of players. For once, be like everyone else; find like-minded people and play with them. Don't try to force your preferences onto others.

Just to be safe: I'm still all in for properly used CC, but that's rarely needed.

This is the thing. As long as controlling and debuffing isn't required or even remotely useful it will always just be wasted power like a healer spamming Heat Vision to feel like Superman. Maybe the effort required to retroactively tweak past content would be too high, no idea, but
with the new SP distribution (Power crits tied to Dom) it seems to me that the devs plan on more actual Controlling down the road.
Sadly AF1 seems to be back to pew pew though...

Its like you don't realize that a Defense debuff allows DPS to do more damage than an IP ever will. A Defense debuff is particularly useful in a community that wants runs to go as fast as possible. Also a healing debuff has the same effect on the 4 bosses that get healed.

EDIT: Basically you're saying that Instant Power is a waste of power lol

So I'm the one forcing my way of playing on people? When I created my troll, CC was still somewhat important, after all(for the millionth time) it is what the role is TRULY for. It wasn't until people started running with 5 DPS' that controlling really ended up being nothing more than a battery. So I'm not forcing anything on anyone since that was the way the role is/was intended it is YOU telling me that I should give up Crowd Control as a Controller. Now you're telling me how I should and should not play. With your logic they may as well remove powers that don't do good damage(moves that trolls use),remove powers that don't give out power, or replace the CC moves that we do have with more moves to give power!

End game turned into nothing more than a DPS spam fest and people want controllers to just run behind them like an unlimited battery. I am well aware that trolls give power to the whole group, but the main people that the power goes to are the spamming DPS that have the audacity to complain if their power isn't halfway+ at all times. Is this really what controllers have been reduced to? Renaming the role won't do anything. It won't fix anything and people like myself wouldn't be happy, after all I've been saying how much I like the true purpose of the role not the way it is now.

If they were to change their names, based on what they do now, might as well name them Power Slaves. Just go ahead and remove the role completely while you're at it and make trolls nothing more than a trinket. That's pretty much all we are anyways.

Alright, I'll give you that defense debuff. For the healing one, I specifically said that it's not viable in most content, not all. My point still stands. Sadly controlling and debuffing is not required and neither will make a huge difference in most instances we have now.
A defense debuff does not penetrate boss shields.
An attack debuff does not prevent 1shots.
A healing debuff does nothing at all in almost every instance (which doesn't have to be a bad thing, I would welcome more situational use of powers especially for controllers since I always felt those powersets were meant to have some trick for any situation up their sleeve).
Tanks control, counters control, and a failsafe control effect is just killing things.

Using a defense debuff every 10 seconds on a boss and lieutenant level NPCs will allow the group to do more damage than the single IP its replacing. Lets face facts. At 2634 Vit, my base IP gives 363 power to each player it goes to with 3+ players in LoS. The power cost of the cheapest power of someone equally geared is 300*1.65 = 495 power. So the choice is either give 3 players less than enough power to use another power or increase the groups damage by 7% for 10 seconds.

When it comes down to it, the defense debuff is worth more than an IPH when a group wants to go as fast as possible so you can't say debuffs aren't required or useful.

As for CCs I look at it this way. Is it required? No. Does it help content go faster and smoother? Yes. Particularly if CCing an NPC stops someone from getting downed. If that person does get downed because the NPC doesn't get CC'ed, you loose the Damage out, Healing out and Power out of the player that is downed and the player that picks him up.

The usage of CCs and debuffs is always situational (just like everything else a Controller does). CCs and debuffs should never be used at the expense of giving power. But if a Controller is keeping power flowing while CCing and debuffing effectively it makes runs go smoother and faster whether people notice it or not. Sure, its not required but if I can make content go faster by using them in the right situations than why shouldn't I?

It's not evolution of gameplay when a class becomes nothing more then a power pot. That would be devolution. No one in their right mind is going to keep playing a class which revolves around only being a battery. Capatin Duracell is not something gamers aspire too in a DC or Marvel game.

All classes need to be fun, varied and EQUALLY needed in high end content to encourage class diversity otherwise you might as well remove them classes from the game and remove all powers that do anything beyond DPS/healing. All classes should be juggling their different skills, abilities and powers to win. Not just you DPS, you Heal, you powerpot.

The current situation in end content is DPS is king, DPS is needed, DPS for fast runs, DPS for more tokens. Tanks? Not needed, they slow us down, can be removed from the game. Controllers? Don't control, go over there and keep my power up so that I can have fun using my own powers as I please. They may as well remove controllers and just add a battery back item you can equip that gives you a power boost every few seconds.

At least one Tank should be needed for most end game content. At least one Controller should be needed for their control powers in end game content. DPS is always needed and wanted. The other classes should be brought up to that same standard.

Most DPS should be grinded into meat in end game content if there are no Tanks in the group and No controllers using their Crowd Control powers. Otherwise you get a generic DPS spam fest where people get bored/burned out and quit the game as there's no challenge, no diversity, no tactics.

Capatin Duracell that's funny.