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Want to try CoH. Quitting WoW. Have some questions
NaseemhC
Member Posts: 3
Hello and thanks for reading. I have just decided a few days ago to quit World of Warcraft and to try something new.
I've had many pleasant experiences with WoW, but my complaints are the same as many:
1. General population is rude and unhelpful.
2. Lack of things to do. (This is after leveling 3 characters to 70.)
3. Minimal RP aspects.
4. Cookie-cutter character talents/specs/abilities/professions.
5. PvP (and everything for that matter) heavily dependent on gear.
So in a nutshell, I want something a little bit more than "grinding for epics". Again, these are a few complaints after years of playing WoW and loving it. I think it's time for something new. My questions are:
1. How is the CoH community attitude as a whole?
2. Aside from questing/pvp are there other entertaining/challenging things to do? (Anyone who has played WoW know the alternative to gearing-up somehow is to sit around for endless hours in IF/Ogr.)
3. Are there player built homes? I've heard there are strongholds in CoV.
4. Can a couple of noobs like my boy-friend and I get skilled enough to hang without having to upgrade gear every few weeks? And is there content for just the 2 of us to play together? I'm used to and kinda sick of 40 man raids.
5. What type of factions are there, if any. Up until an hour ago, I was under the impression that you could roll Villains and Heroes on the same server.
Any feedback from you guys would be greatly appreciated. I've tried out some free MMOs like Perfect World and Reppelz. I also played a bit of Star Wars Galaxies a few years back. I basically want something new to crack out on. Thanks in advance. 
Comments
What a nicely worded post. Happy to answer what I can. Also happy to take a WoW refugee.
I like it very much. Certainly better than WoW. There's a nice fun but mostly respectful feel to it. The devs routinely respond to questions and concerns on the forums, and the population tends to appreciate it and respond in kind. In game, I can't claim everyone is perfect but I do pick-up groups all the time and am usually quite happy with who I meet.And it's simply a more mature audience than WoW. You're far more likely to hear "afk for a minute, the baby just woke up" than you are to hear "my mom says i gtg."
Also, I should mention that having Alts is very common here. I personally have about 35 in semi-regular rotation. This means that experienced players are used to being at low levels with newbies, and as a result are generally quite welcoming.
"Quest" as you mean it is a mission here, which are just about all instanced fyi.The step up from that is a thing called a "TaskForce" where your team of up to 8 (with minimum sizes for different TFs) agrees to run a string of missions all following the same storyline. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to ... some of the longer ones can take 8 hours. It doesn't have to be run all at once either, you can do a little each night if the team agrees to that.
They come in different difficulties, and since they are all instances, you can change the difficulty yourself as well. Depending on your team and your builds, different things can be different challenges.
Almost everything is done in teams of 8 or smaller. There are 2 "raid" events in the game, and they also present their own challenge but aren't too bad with good leadership. There should be a 3rd, but it has been broken forever and may have been abandoned for good, I don't know. (It's because it had a multi-team instance special considtion with PvP implications. Don't think that means big things break regularly, because they're generally pretty solid.)
An additional thing that a lot of people do to add to the game is collecting "badges." There are hundreds of different badges, with more added each issue. You get them for visiting a certain location, completing a certain mission or taskforce, beating enough of a specific enemy, healing X damage to teammates, being stunned X minutes ... all kinds of things. Many people make it their goal to collect as many badges as possible. That will pretty much always keep you busy, will always give you more to shoot for, and will lead you to the different parts of the game and reward you for learning about them.
Not exactly. It's a little bit of a drawback, they know. But you can get close.There are "bases" for heroes, or "hideouts" for villains. They belong not to the individual player, but to their Supergroup. (Like a guild.) What some do is let you take a corner of theirs and decorate it yourself, but I don't know how satisfying that is. If you and your boyfriend want, you can form your own Supergroup and thereby decorate it however you want. That works just fine. (With my 30+ characters, I have my own on more than one server.) With the following caveats:
1) That's your Supergroup, so you can't really be in the guild-structure with others you meet. You can affiliate with them (called a "coalition") if you want, getting to enter their base and vice-versa. But it's not the same as one big SG.
2) Some of the stuff you may want can be expensive, so you'll have to earn enough to buy it with just the 2 of you. But it doesn't have to be expensive, just know that there's lots that can be bought.
3) The original purpose of bases is for PvP raids, one SG against another. That doesn't really happen much, but if it's somethign you're interested in, consider point (1) again.
That said, there are plenty of options for decorating. I haven't messed with mine in a while because I really like the way it looks, but I am in there all the time for function. I have teleporters to save me time traveling to different zones, and bins to hold the good stuff I find (and pass it between my alts).
Yes and no.Unlike WoW and a lot of other games, you're not dependent on wearing or using stuff you find around. If your powers include using an Axe, you'll have an axe from day 1 until forever. If your character shoots fire, his powers will always be to shoot fire. And if you want to change the way your costume or weapon looks, you just go to the costume shop and style up a new one.
Because you always have that weapon, you don't outgrow it. Instead, two things happen as you level up. Firstly, you will naturally hit a bit harder with each level. (Of course the enemies will be tougher as well.)
Secondly, each even level you get to learn a new power. This can be another way to use your axe. Or it can be a type of defensive power. (Armors are toggles that add to your appearance, not equipment.) Or it can be the ability to fly. Etc etc. So it's not about the axe, it's about you. And there's never any need to replace it, because you continue to grow.
Now the caveat to that revolves around odd levels. (Recall I said each even level you get a new power.) Each power has things called "enhancement slots." Each power starts with one, and gets more on the odd levels.
Enhancement slots allow you to customize or improve your powers. You can make them more accurate, or more damaging. You can make them less tiring (use less endurance, like your mana). You can make stuns last longer. Etc etc.
These enhancements are the basis for "loot". Here's the basis of how they work. (And it seems more confusing at first than it really is. I promise it's simple in practice.)
Enhancements have levels. But what's important is their relative level to you. So a level 50 with a 50 enhancement gets the same bonus as a level 10 with a 10 enhancement. You can use enhancements that are within 3 of your current level. +3 is more effective, even is average, -3 is less effective.
So (and here's finally the answer) you will use enhancements to make your powers better. And as you level up, these will get weaker and weaker because instead of being above you, they're below you now. So in effect, they need replacement every 5 levels.
However, the good news is, you don't need to grind a particular enemy to do it. While you can get these enhancements off enemy drops, you can also buy all you need in stores. So it's a regular thing. When you hit level 22, you spend a few minutes (and a lot of money) buying level 25 enhancements. At 27, you repeat with 30s.
(Now if you don't like that, there is a much newer invention system that works completely differently. I won't get into it here, but the basic benefit is there that you really don't have to replace things once they're in place.)
Absolutely. There are only a few things that you can't do with only two people, and I listed them above. Again, all missions are instanced. So they scale to team size. If the two of you play together, each spawn will be of a difficulty for 2 people. If a 3rd joins you, that same mission will scale for 3. Everything between 1 and 8.You can. The two factions are Heroes and Villains, just as you suppose. They meet in PvP in certain zones, or meet for co-op play in other zones. And the rest of the time they're separate, though on the same server. Because most people have alts, they frequently have characters on both sides. And you play what the mood hits you, or for a PvP or Co-op mission, you can switch to what's required for your team.I find CoH to be different from a lot of other MMOs. Here are some bullet points I like:
1. Characters are very different. There are millions of costume options. There are 12 different classes, and each class has different powersets (you choose 2). That makes for hundreds of different powerset combinations. And they're not just the same thing with different colors. I often say that while other games are a matter of 2%, CoH is a matter of 200%.
It makes for harder balance, but you'll quickly see that some characters have zero melee attacks, or zero ranged attacks or zero shields. Or can buff / heal others but not themselves. The differences are huge.
2. It's all about 1 vs many, not 1 vs 1. The rough estimate is that one player = 3 basic NPC enemies. So you routinely fight 3 at a time. Two of you would potentially fight 6 at a time. (Or the equivalent.) I found that in WoW, your group would hope to pull one enemy at a time, clutch tightly if two came, and be in trouble if 3 showed up. Compared to that, your group of 8 will take 16 to 32 enemies at once. The fighting is hectic.
This works well with the "game of 200" bit I mentioned. Some characters can easily do enough damage to defeat an enemy in one shot. This would be silly if you only fought one at a time. But if you focus on beating one guy and there's 2 more standing there, you can see how it's powerful but not too powerful.
3. It's fast. Like I said, a good damager can one-shot an enemy. Fortunately there are always more coming. So that keeps the game fast and interesting. Also travel powers (fly, super speed running, super jump, and teleportation) are available at level 14, not 40 like in WoW. And they make you go 4 or 5 times faster than before, not the 80%(?) improvement a WoW mount gives you?
I hope that helps. You should totally try it out. I think there's a free trial offer around here somewhere. If there isn't, shoot me a PM here and I'll send you and your BF a couple of trial codes.
Currently playing:
DC Universe
Planetside 2
Magic Online
Simunomics, the Massive Multiplayer Economic Simulation Game. Play for free.
By the way, if you like role-playing, you may want to roll on the Virtue server. Plenty of nice people there, and it's the unoffical RP home. As for what you can do with it, bear in mind the costumes cover soldier, ninja, pirate, robot, elf, troll, jester, dragon, scantily-clad female (there are an awful lot of those I admit), insect, alien, angel, monster, and everything in between.
I'm not a RPer so I do poke a little fun, I admit. But in my mind, there's a catgirl, a robot, a mercenary, and a communist in every RP team that ever forms.
Currently playing:
DC Universe
Planetside 2
Magic Online
Simunomics, the Massive Multiplayer Economic Simulation Game. Play for free.
One of the best things about CoX is that it is probably the most solo and casual play friendly game ever made. You can log on, run a couple scanner missions, newspaper missions on CoV, for a half hour or so and log off. Also there is nothing in the game, other then Taskforces, that can't be done solo once you learn the ends and outs of the game.
The thing I like most about CoX is the scaling of missions. The same mission can be done by 1 or by 8, and the mobs scale accordingly. That automatically means that most missions can be more or less within reach, whether you go in now, or go in 3 levels later, whether you go in solo or in team.
The game is most casual. You do not need to farm 10000 plat to buy a horse or a flying mount. Get the second skill of the second powerset and you get a fast travelling mode. You do not need to upgrade skills. Skill obtained from level 1 will scale as you level, and it remains you principle skill at level cap. As a healer, the first 3 healing skills stays as the principle ones. There is no gold spammers in the game, that I love most.
Unfortunately, the game has less end game content, and eventually I got bored and left. Nonetheless, CoX remains one of the most original games I ever got to enjoy, and alongside DAoC, the most memorable experience in online gaming for me.
Just one issue with the last reply. There is no healer class in CoH. Yes an EMpathy defender or controller has three heal powers, but that is only 3 out of 18 powers, not counting pool powers. The amount of buffs and blasts far outwiegh the number and usefulness of the three heals.
You start getting your travel as soon as pools powers are open and get your actual travel power, flight, teleport, super speed, 0r super jump, at 14.
Talking about the travel skills, many of them are very interesting, and very different from the standard horse ride in most MMOs, which are only +% travelling. Take superspeed, its a semi-invisible skill, which, if used indoors can allow a player to run past many mobs, unless we have stunners. Take Super Jump, its a great skill, one of the fastest, and a vital skill to scale heights, there are a lot of 3D terrain in the maps, and SJ is a good tool there. Flight is very cool, but its super slow and very vulnerable to NPC sniping. Do not use flight extensively in PVP zones, though.
Hello again. Thank you so much for all of the information.
I installed and started to play last night and everything mentioned above is 100% true. Within minutes people stopped to help us out, based purely on the fact that we stood out as newbies. We were greeted warmly which was so refreshing. The game play and character customization is amazing. The missions were great. I have zero complaints about CoH (and i can be nit-picky at times.)
Oh yah, the binoculars, boombox, clipboard, and protest sign sold me. ^^ We rolled a villain and hero on Freedom, but within 24 hours decided that we could "make cooler looking toons" than the ones we were playing. We deleted and are in the process of remaking them.
Thanks for all of the ingame tips as well. You're right. The enhancements threw me off a bit at first, but we learned within a couple levels how to manage them. We didn't know about the +3/-3 thing though, so many thanks for that bit of info.
I'm extremely happy with CoH so far and have already started actively recruiting my friends to come over with us. See you guys ingame.
-Naseem/Meesan (Freedom)
Last piece of advice for ya. Save your inf until you hit the level for Dual Origin enhancements. The training enhancements are ok, but the additions they give are just not really worth the cost. Since once you slot it you can't sell it back, you should only slot with the drops you get until you can buy better enhancements. Once you hit DO and SO levels it will be kind of tough to afford all that you need, unless you get some lucky recipe drops.
Great advice. Spending the money for the training enhancements truly is a waste, especially considering how quickly you pass those levels.
Dual origins start at lvl 15s, and can be slotted starting at 12. Single origins start at lvl 25s, and can be slotted starting at lvl 22. (You can slot an enhancement that is three levels higher than your current level).
Naseem, you are on Freedom, so I can't help you much. I am a dedicated Liberty Server player, but best of luck. There are some fine people on Freedom and I am sure you will have a lot of friends and lots of fun in no time.
One thing that needs to be mentioned is the Sidekick/Exemplar. Don't be afraid of outleveling your boyfriend or friends. If you are 3 levels or greater than your boyfriend, you can sidekick him.
What happens with sidekick/lacky is that the lower level player will become as powerful in damage resistance/damage dealing as one level below you. For example, your level 22, he's level 10. When you sidekick (hero side) or lacky (villian side) than he will become as powerful as a level 21 character.
The XP he will recieve will be relative to his level. So if you are fighting a level 23 mob, then he will get xp as if he fought a level 12 mob.
Exemplar/Malfactor is the opposite of sidekick/lakey. When you exeplar (hero) or Malfactor (villain) your level will drop down to the person who you are exemplared to. Like the prior example, your level 22, he's level 10. You will drop down to the power of a level 10 character, also lose any powers you have gained after level 10.
As Exemplared, you will pay off debt. When you have no debt, then you will gain Inf (inf is short for Influence {hero} or Infamy {villain} the coin of the realm) instead. This is a great way to burn off debt if you had a bad run, or your boyfriend just wants to run his missions and get xp for them. You will gain inf and exp debt paid off as though you are your original level. So if you and your boyfriend beat a level 12 mob, you would get inf/xp debt paid off as though you fought a level 24 mob.
your arguement is so persuasive, so filled with knowledge and insight. You back up your argument very articulately, with suggestions of improvements and raising examples to glorify your position....oh wait, you didn't
Any chance someone could send me a couple of trial codes for me and the wife?. I have been playing wow since it launched and have got very tired of it. I am looking for something a bit more casual and fun so coh sounds great.
I would like to try the trial first just to make sure it will run without any issues first before upgrading and buying it.
Thanks
Sent. The game is a lot of fun. The best part is you can highly customize your characters. From their looks, outfits to power sets, it is easy to make one that is just right for your play style.
I play on Liberty Server, if you get in game. My global is @VuDu DawL however I am normally on perma-/hide perma-/ghide... feel free to shoot me a tell - I will get it even if I am offlline. I won't be on much this week but next week is SPRING BREAK! YAY!
As for casual, CoH has SO many ways you can play. There are hardcore players, badge hunters, and folks who just like to log on to socialize. Any way you wish to play, whether it be grinding for XP, RP'ing with friends, or just simply logging on when you get a bit of spare time and soloing a mission here and there, you can enjoy the game at your own pace.
I was just playing tonight with someone who returned to CoH from WoW.
Oh, and welcome to Paragon City.
Thanks very much for those trials will give it a go this week cheers
There are catgirls everywhere. There is a reason its called City of catgirls
great thread, but i have a few questions.
is it worth the £8 a month, as trail version is on NA i ant test, so wondering if you think it's realy worth it.( i dont have a job, im 16 and might e getting a job soon so please take this into consideration)
and are there a lot of missions and do they vary (if not do they vary in style like, seem worth it instead of 2 lines of text saying that "kill these monsters coz i dont like them" or" kill these monsters because they drop something shiny and i like shiny things")
thanks
I am sorry, I am not understanding your first query. The trial version is "on NA i ant test'? I have to assume that was a typo, but I can't quite make out what you are asking. Sorry.
I think the cost of the game is well worth the game play. You don't have to missions at all if you don't want to. But the mission stories and story arcs and VERY detailed. They start out a bit dry, but the deeper you get into the stories, the more you will understand about the underlying story behind the game. Hint: Most of the details, even in the early story arcs, eventually make sense later in your hero's 'career'.
The missions vary from villain side missions to kidnap, and steal, to heroes that rescue, find things, and battle with certain foes. Some are in detailed arcs, that involve long stories that span several missions.
Hope this helps and answers your questions.
^ k ty, and sorry for the typo, i meant to say "can you get a free trail period of the game if you live in europe" coz the trail page say's its NA only.
thinking of buying 1 month coz you get 1 free, to see if i like it,
thanks
Edit: That was for L2, sorry.
What nobody has mentioned yet is badges, you can collect badges by either doing certain missions or exploring/reading plaques in different areas,etc, there are e few hundred i think to collect so if you get bored that gives you something different to do www.vidiotmaps.com is the best place for info on all badges.There is also Giant Monsters to kill in certain maps that require more than one team to kill, and you get a badge for killing it too.
Great advice. Spending the money for the training enhancements truly is a waste, especially considering how quickly you pass those levels.
Dual origins start at lvl 15s, and can be slotted starting at 12. Single origins start at lvl 25s, and can be slotted starting at lvl 22. (You can slot an enhancement that is three levels higher than your current level).
Naseem, you are on Freedom, so I can't help you much. I am a dedicated Liberty Server player, but best of luck. There are some fine people on Freedom and I am sure you will have a lot of friends and lots of fun in no time.
but don't bother with anything other than invention enhancements (IOs). whatever training enhancements, dual origins (DO) and single origins (SO) that drop -- sell them. look at the invention salvage that drops and see if you have some that sell for 20,000 - 75,000 on the market/auction. even at a low level you can get salvage that sells for crazy high prices.
you never outlevel an IO. i cannot emphasize how wonderful that is.
you can buy the common IOs for cheaper than training enhancements and start getting the 10% bonus on a level 10 IO at level 7. you can get level 12/13 set IOs that will give you +11% for two different stats (effectively having a +22% bonus on a set IO at level 12). you can even make your own IOs (common and set alike) with salvage that you will pick up as you adventure, and even recipes that will drop.
the best thing about invention enhancements is that you NEVER outlevel them.
that means, in the middle of a mission, if you level, a bunch of your powers didn't just become super weak because you outleveled the enhancements (if you are over three levels higher than your DO/SO then it becomes red and no longer gives you benefit, and the higher your level, the less bonus you receive from that DO/SO). an IO always give you the same amount of benefit.
many zones have giant monsters that randomly appear to terrorize townfolk. heroes of all levels band together to defeat these beasts. a level 1 has the same chance (and does the same % of damage) to giant monsters as a level 50. of course, a level 50 has many more power, defenses, attacks, etc.
there are also the rikti raids, which act the same as giant monsters, as far as taking damage from players.
picture what character you want -- then look thru the character types available and simply build that toon. perhaps download a character creator like mid's character designer; to give you a better idea.
king's row has hellions starting fires and you can, essentially, be a volunteer fire fighter (even if you don't have fire-dowsing powers, the fire chief will hook you up with some gear). the supa trolls also throw raves that you will have to shut down. these are random events in a couple of the zones.
with the inclusion of ouroboros, you no longer have to worry about outleveling contacts and missing "needed" badges. some badges form together to give you an accolade, the accolade being a power or bonus of some type.
also included with inventions are temporary powers, such as a sledgehammer, revolver, baseball bat and an ethereal phasing thingie (makes you immaterial like the power). hopefully the next issue or two will expand on the temp powers.
i'm rambling, i just want to emphasize that there is now (finally) a lot more to do than missions based in the same stinking 3 warehouse maps (like back in the day - ug). hero-side, there are MANY zones for every level. villain-side, not so much; but with the last couple of issues and the co-op zones, villains FINALLY were given new zones.
also, once you hit level 50 hero-side, you unlock the epic arch-types (two aliens -- warshade and peacebringer). villains still have no epic ATs.
could we please get correspondent writers and moderators, on the eve forum at mmorpg.com, who are well-versed on eve-online and aren't just passersby pushing buttons? pretty please?
I disagree with the IO advice. IOs give less enhancement then even level SOs until I believe level 35. And, even though IOs never expire they also never get any higher after you use them. For example, a level 25 IO will give you about 24% enhancement (don't quote me on that I haven't really played the game in 3 months). Even though that IO will not go red in a few levels the SO will give you 33% bonus. As for the cost of SOs you should be able to afford them if you make use of the Consignment house/Black Market for selling salvage drops. I'm not saying not to use IOs, just don't use them exsclusively.
When IO came out, I wrote this on my SG forum:
An Equal level SO is always 33% for most enhancements. It's always been a rule of thumb that the following will occure:
SO ~33% >DO ~16%>TO ~8
IO's prior to level 35 are always better then DO but not quite as good as an SO untill you reach level 35. At 35, IO's start to outperform SO.
When your character reaches level 32, I recommend a respec...sell all your slotteed Enhancements and go to the Auction House to buy crafted level 35 IO.
In the long run this is cheaper, you won't have to replace old SO with upgrades.
So, remember level 32 is the spot to respec and 35+ IO are the enhancements that will make it cheaper in the long run.
your arguement is so persuasive, so filled with knowledge and insight. You back up your argument very articulately, with suggestions of improvements and raising examples to glorify your position....oh wait, you didn't
just some random set IOs' numbers.
bonesnap (melee damage set), level 20 (means you can equip it at level 17), damage/endurance 16%/16% for a total of 32%. you can't equip SOs at level 17, correct? you would still be at the DO level (which gives you 16% bonus per enhancement i believe). you get double the enhancement normally available to you at level 17.
at level 20, i can use level 23 enhancements. using our same damage/endurance example, i am now at 18.4%/18.4% for a total of 36.4% bonus per IO. i will never outlevel this IO enhancement, at level 50, this enhancement i could equip at level 20, will still give me 36.4% bonus.
this does not include set bonuses, nor unique set IOs. you can mix and match whatever set items your power allows. if you want to have (from different sets) 2 accuracy/damage, 2 acc/endurance and 2 damage/endurances (using the above level 23 enhancement example); then, you now have a power which has a total bonus of 72.8% to accuracy, damage and endurance, which will be at 72.8% bonus until you max your level.
six standard SOs, we'll say 33% bonus each, 2 accuracy, 2 damage, 2 endurance. with those you now have 66% bonus to accuracy, damage, and endurance. these you will have to replace many times on your way to level 50. and even at this low level you are already getting less return from SOs than from set IOs. not to mention whatever set bonuses you receive. perhaps you're getting global bonuses (affecting all your powers) of +5% accuracy, +10 percent recharge rate, et cetera.
while it may be true that common IOs do not give you as much a % bonus as SOs do until a slightly higher level; the same is not true of set IOs. plus, you do not ever have to replace an IO (common or set) and they will never turn red on you in the middle of a mission.
the above is not my opinion; but it is fact.
while crafting may not be exciting, it IS something different to do, and oftentimes, if you do a little shopping, you can pay "full price" for invention salvage and recipes and spend say 20,000 to create the IO and turn around and sell that same IO for 100,000 within a few hours, if not instantly. with just a little planning, *money* will never be a problem for you.
could we please get correspondent writers and moderators, on the eve forum at mmorpg.com, who are well-versed on eve-online and aren't just passersby pushing buttons? pretty please?
One thing that the "numbers" don't show - the HOURS a person has to spend (unless they do business with the scum-of-the-earth influence peddler spammers) to either 1. collect the massive amounts of salvage, recipes, and influence to fully slot out a character with IOs, or 2. earn the influence to buy those IOs. This has to count for something.
For a casual gamer who doesn't have hours and hours each day to spend, sometimes the simple fact that they whole thing is nothing but a huge time-sink is enough of a deterrent to get them to avoids IOs, especially at lower levels. The time-sink becomes even greater if you want to later get into the set IOs.
For me? I definitely wouldn't waste the time for the lower levels at all. Yeah, great, they don't degrade, but truly, at level 35, are you really going to CARE that the level 15 Accuracy IO *still* gives you a whopping 19.2%? Or are you going to spend an incredible amount of time juggling salvage, storage salvage, recipes and influence to try to keep them up level after level? Really, if you are going to continue to change them out as you level up? Save the inf and your time, and use the DOs/SOs til 35, when you have a lot more influence to put it to use once it begins to make a more noticeable difference.
I think the difference is a choice in how to spend the time you have to play the game: whether or not you want to waste the immense amount of time it takes to stop and craft your own, or hang out in Wentworth's, or spend it actually playing. I found the whole invention thing to be something I don't really have time to bother with. The game was beginning to feel more like work than fun, and if I only have a small amount of time to play, I don't want to spend it running back and forth from my base to Wentworth's trying to buy, sell, and craft. Running from store to store to sell the drops was enough of a hassle for me.
I guess the bottom line is, yes, they do have a slight edge but considering the time you must invest, which is a real-life commodity that not all of us can afford, it will be up to each individual player as to whether or not they are really worth it.