I think knocks are the single most annoying thing in alerts. I think people that knock the Nem (because thats the only one that can be knocked) should be Gibbs slapped.
I don't run Nem Alerts for this very reason.
I absolutely love knocking around the enemy...but I know how much it hurts your chances during an Alert.
Perhaps if there were some way to limit the use of Alerts below a certain level - say, a one-hour cooldown on one's ability to access Alerts...
You see, my use of them seems to me the obvious one, but must be unconventional because so many others don't seem to "get it" - I use Smash Alerts when I'm running a low-level toon so I can get the XP Boost from completing it. Then I run the missions, and get 15% more XP than I would otherwise, which typically means I'm hitting 10 about the time I take down Poe. I try to find another Smash to run when the Boost ends.
I disagree with the concept of leveling entirely through Alerts - if all you want to do is fight, you can download Street Fighter Alpha on your XBox. They're supposed to be an aperitif, a palate-cleanser when the missions get a little heavy for your tastes.
However, denying anyone below 20th level the opportunity to cleanse their metaphorical palate seems a tad heavy-handed to me, especially given that with the sidekicking mechanism, that means only ten levels during which Alerts will seem all that much fun (at least, I don't enjoy having my 31+ toons gimped in Alerts - YMMV, of course).
"Science teaches us to expect -- demand -- more than just eerie mysteries. What use is a puzzle that can't be solved? Patience is fine, but I'm not going to stop asking the universe to make sense!"
Late to the thread, but to take advantage of the necro I'm going throw throw an obligatory:
"Items #2 and #3 on the OP are contradictory"
Ashen beat me to it two months ago, but I wasn't around to post in this thread at the time so I'm bringing it up (again) now. Also, on that topic, I realize that we have little control of our knocks in this game--sometimes that's what our character's concept is about, we have no way to shut them off and there's nothing we can do about it (I have a couple of toons like that), but still, those things are ANNOYING as hell and an drag on running Alerts properly.
Simply put, knocks weren't created with Alerts in mind in this game and Alerts weren't created with the game itself in mind since they were just a tacked on addition made to supplement the content the devs had no interest in making or simply couldn't create due to limited resources or what not. Discrepancies in game play where certain mechanics that have always been acceptable and sometimes desirable in the rest of the game are a side effect of that I believe. I try not to screem at knockers in Alerts, but the thought does cross my mind every time I see the clock ticking with more than 1/4 health to chip away and some [expletive] starts tossing the Nem around, dragging on a timed fight we're already about to loose.
More on the actual topic of the thread--"The People That Irk Me the Most in Smash Alerts"--and in contrast to what I just stated above:
People that are so full of their own importance that they just stand there in the middle of an Alert yelling at everyone the moment that things don't go their way: "Good job everyone. You ruined it for me. Way to aggro the entire map when you just had aggro the boss and pull it to the start area. That's just what I was hoping for; to pug with a bunch of nubs looking to waste two minutes of my precious time. Pat yourselves in the back and L2P next time, you noobs".
I particularly loved something I heard last night after an Alert I practically carried (and won) with my most recent toon and just 4 people pugged (the 5th never showed up) and one of the others kept pulling aggro away from me (my toon had Crippling Challenge plus was doing most of the damage and tanking): "Next time you make me run after the boss I let you lose"
*coughs and gets ready to lay a big one on everybody*
Did you ever think about playing the 'actual' game? NOT alerts?
Sooooo much better.
Yeah, I'm just tired of playing the same content over and over again, so I add a few Smashes once in a while for the XP buff so I can skip a couple of missions I don't feel like doing along the theme ride. But I'd rather play the actual game than play Alerts most of the time.
Extremely high DPSer's that take aggro from me are the worst.
When it happens all I think is "I just wish they would stop attacking for a bit and let me hold aggro...so I don't feel like I wasted 5 adv points on CC/CS".
Extremely high DPSer's that take aggro from me are the worst.
When it happens all I think is "I just wish they would stop attacking for a bit and let me hold aggro...so I don't feel like I wasted 5 adv points on CC/CS".
Selfish bast***s.
*tick tock tick tock* [Countdown music] Bong! OUT OF TIME! You lose.
Death is a perfectly valid threat wipe, I always say. (Unless you're doing a Recruiting Drive!)
On most of my "squishy" DPS characters, if I aggro a boss, I can manage to stay alive through the use of consumables and other powers, and if I do happen to get in a bind, I try to use Evasive Maneuvers to wipe threat. If there's a tank, then they can grab aggro again.
Failing that, though, I use the ultimate threat wipe: Death!
It's not selfish to try to do as much damage as possible, if the repercussions of that is that your DPS stops for a few seconds while you're traveling back to the boss. Blocking for 20 seconds so that you can stay alive while doing no damage and hoping the tank can pull aggro again... that's selfish. You took the aggro, now take the responsibility and faceplant yourself. Don't run around and make the boss chase you, pissing off every melee guy out there, just take it like a man.
There's only really two things that annoy me during alerts.
1) People that afk through the entire alert (I see level 40s doing this) or leave for some arbitrary reason.
2) Low level PvP builds in alerts with Crippling Challenge that use snap agro on the boss and then run all over the place because they're afraid to die.
It's not selfish to try to do as much damage as possible, if the repercussions of that is that your DPS stops for a few seconds while you're traveling back to the boss. Blocking for 20 seconds so that you can stay alive while doing no damage and hoping the tank can pull aggro again... that's selfish. You took the aggro, now take the responsibility and faceplant yourself. Don't run around and make the boss chase you, pissing off every melee guy out there, just take it like a man.
There's only really two things that annoy me during alerts.
1) People that afk through the entire alert (I see level 40s doing this) or leave for some arbitrary reason.
Keep in mind that the AFK person may be experiencing a "Server Not Responding" error, and the sudden abandonment may be due to a server disconnect. If I get the SNR error, I'll try to warn the others via chat since the chat server is a separate and generally more reliable system. Not sure if the message gets through, though.
My record ping time from one of Cogent's routers is ~5100 milliseconds during the Thanksgiving weekend. I may have been one of the people who AFK'ed or vanished back then. Or over-used the energy builder, come to think of it. Probably should have given up earlier, but just had to complete the alert daily...
Keep in mind that the AFK person may be experiencing a "Server Not Responding" error, and the sudden abandonment may be due to a server disconnect. If I get the SNR error, I'll try to warn the others via chat since the chat server is a separate and generally more reliable system. Not sure if the message gets through, though.
My record ping time from one of Cogent's routers is ~5100 milliseconds during the Thanksgiving weekend. I may have been one of the people who AFK'ed or vanished back then. Or over-used the energy builder, come to think of it. Probably should have given up earlier, but just had to complete the alert daily...
I'm pretty forgiving about sloaders. I used to have a pretty bad comp and have had friends with some pretty bad load times and/or a lot of lag. There's been a few times though when I knew that they were just not contributing. Even though alerts are tougher with lowbies, I'd rather have a level 6 that tries than a 40 that just stands there.
Comments
I don't run Nem Alerts for this very reason.
I absolutely love knocking around the enemy...but I know how much it hurts your chances during an Alert.
VARIANT
"Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-Abraham Lincoln-
You see, my use of them seems to me the obvious one, but must be unconventional because so many others don't seem to "get it" - I use Smash Alerts when I'm running a low-level toon so I can get the XP Boost from completing it. Then I run the missions, and get 15% more XP than I would otherwise, which typically means I'm hitting 10 about the time I take down Poe. I try to find another Smash to run when the Boost ends.
I disagree with the concept of leveling entirely through Alerts - if all you want to do is fight, you can download Street Fighter Alpha on your XBox. They're supposed to be an aperitif, a palate-cleanser when the missions get a little heavy for your tastes.
However, denying anyone below 20th level the opportunity to cleanse their metaphorical palate seems a tad heavy-handed to me, especially given that with the sidekicking mechanism, that means only ten levels during which Alerts will seem all that much fun (at least, I don't enjoy having my 31+ toons gimped in Alerts - YMMV, of course).
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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Did you ever think about playing the 'actual' game? NOT alerts?
Sooooo much better.
"Items #2 and #3 on the OP are contradictory"
Ashen beat me to it two months ago, but I wasn't around to post in this thread at the time so I'm bringing it up (again) now. Also, on that topic, I realize that we have little control of our knocks in this game--sometimes that's what our character's concept is about, we have no way to shut them off and there's nothing we can do about it (I have a couple of toons like that), but still, those things are ANNOYING as hell and an drag on running Alerts properly.
Simply put, knocks weren't created with Alerts in mind in this game and Alerts weren't created with the game itself in mind since they were just a tacked on addition made to supplement the content the devs had no interest in making or simply couldn't create due to limited resources or what not. Discrepancies in game play where certain mechanics that have always been acceptable and sometimes desirable in the rest of the game are a side effect of that I believe. I try not to screem at knockers in Alerts, but the thought does cross my mind every time I see the clock ticking with more than 1/4 health to chip away and some [expletive] starts tossing the Nem around, dragging on a timed fight we're already about to loose.
More on the actual topic of the thread--"The People That Irk Me the Most in Smash Alerts"--and in contrast to what I just stated above:
People that are so full of their own importance that they just stand there in the middle of an Alert yelling at everyone the moment that things don't go their way: "Good job everyone. You ruined it for me. Way to aggro the entire map when you just had aggro the boss and pull it to the start area. That's just what I was hoping for; to pug with a bunch of nubs looking to waste two minutes of my precious time. Pat yourselves in the back and L2P next time, you noobs".
I particularly loved something I heard last night after an Alert I practically carried (and won) with my most recent toon and just 4 people pugged (the 5th never showed up) and one of the others kept pulling aggro away from me (my toon had Crippling Challenge plus was doing most of the damage and tanking): "Next time you make me run after the boss I let you lose"
EDIT:
Yeah, I'm just tired of playing the same content over and over again, so I add a few Smashes once in a while for the XP buff so I can skip a couple of missions I don't feel like doing along the theme ride. But I'd rather play the actual game than play Alerts most of the time.
When it happens all I think is "I just wish they would stop attacking for a bit and let me hold aggro...so I don't feel like I wasted 5 adv points on CC/CS".
Selfish bast***s.
VARIANT
"Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-Abraham Lincoln-
*tick tock tick tock* [Countdown music] Bong! OUT OF TIME! You lose.
Go here.
Kill X amount of mobs.
Come back.
Yeah that's the hot butters noise!
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
/skarnsbane
On most of my "squishy" DPS characters, if I aggro a boss, I can manage to stay alive through the use of consumables and other powers, and if I do happen to get in a bind, I try to use Evasive Maneuvers to wipe threat. If there's a tank, then they can grab aggro again.
Failing that, though, I use the ultimate threat wipe: Death!
It's not selfish to try to do as much damage as possible, if the repercussions of that is that your DPS stops for a few seconds while you're traveling back to the boss. Blocking for 20 seconds so that you can stay alive while doing no damage and hoping the tank can pull aggro again... that's selfish. You took the aggro, now take the responsibility and faceplant yourself. Don't run around and make the boss chase you, pissing off every melee guy out there, just take it like a man.
Two Gun Mojo point blank TO THE FACE, BOSS!
1) People that afk through the entire alert (I see level 40s doing this) or leave for some arbitrary reason.
2) Low level PvP builds in alerts with Crippling Challenge that use snap agro on the boss and then run all over the place because they're afraid to die.
My post was completely made as a joke.
VARIANT
"Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-Abraham Lincoln-
Keep in mind that the AFK person may be experiencing a "Server Not Responding" error, and the sudden abandonment may be due to a server disconnect. If I get the SNR error, I'll try to warn the others via chat since the chat server is a separate and generally more reliable system. Not sure if the message gets through, though.
My record ping time from one of Cogent's routers is ~5100 milliseconds during the Thanksgiving weekend. I may have been one of the people who AFK'ed or vanished back then. Or over-used the energy builder, come to think of it. Probably should have given up earlier, but just had to complete the alert daily...
Well consider me egg-faced. :P
But yeah, my other points still stand, about running and faceplanting and all that.
I'm pretty forgiving about sloaders. I used to have a pretty bad comp and have had friends with some pretty bad load times and/or a lot of lag. There's been a few times though when I knew that they were just not contributing. Even though alerts are tougher with lowbies, I'd rather have a level 6 that tries than a 40 that just stands there.