My Meta Rules

Play on the beta server is too easy, unless you set some personal meta-rules.

If you've been following my blog, you know that I've been playing on the beta server for my farewell tour of City of Heroes Freedom. The problem with the beta server is everything is free, so it's possible to buy a bunch of buffs and enhancements for your characters to make them absurdly powerful. To my mind, that defeats the purpose of the game by removing all challenge. So, I've set myself some meta-rules to keep things interesting.

I'm limiting myself to Single Origin Enhancements, no IOs allowed. If I got something as a vet reward, I get to use it. I can use travel powers purchased from the beta store, as well as XP Boosters. Recipes that drop in-game that give temporary buffs or temporary powers (such as the new Survival and Defense recipes) can be used, but all salvage must come as drops or from non-farming AE ticket purchases. Wentworth's/Black Market cannot be used, and no store bought buffs can be used.

This results in fast, efficient play (XP boosts, travel powers) to make the most of the time that's left, but leaves the challenge intact (no IOs, no store bought buffs).