Chase_Arcanum
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Posts
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I finally dug through the snow and made my way to the comic shop to pick up my copy, and... well... I have to take issue with... well, this issue.
More accurately... I have to take issue with how it was promoted. There's been a great deal of mistruth spread about this work-- false advertising so egregious that it should not go unchallenged.
This comic is not a miracle cure. It is not a suitable alternative to traditional cancer treatments. It isn't even a good alternative for homeopathic remedies. It will not and can not remove warts, clear blemishes, remove wrinkles, or bring back your lost youthful glow. There was one promising study where readers of Twilight Guardian reported substantially less pain than readers of the control group, but this study has since been discredited after it was found that the control group was given issues of "Brand New Day."
It will not end world hunger. Much to the dismay of starving children worldwide, this comic will not resolve their plight. There is absolutely no veracity in the suggestion that Twilight Guardian will cover the deserts in mana or even bring swarms of edible locusts to be dried, fried, or chomped on live. About the best that can be said is that, when properly prepared and accompanied with toast, juice, and milk, it offers more balanced nutrition than your typical cheeseburger value meal.
It does not in any way facilitate world peace. Quite the contrary. I have to admit that I was quite duped by this claim... going so far as to offer to lend the comic to a co-worker that I normally don't get along with as a peace offering. He was so enthralled by it that he refused to return it and tried to sneak it home in his laptop case. The HR director was able to mediate before the shouting match escalated to full physical violence, but that deep-set hostility and sense of betrayal lingered well into the evening... in the parking lot... where Mr. Tire Iron proved to be much better at conflict resolution.
It will not make you wealthier than your wildest dreams... especially after the lawyers get done with the abovementioned "world peace" issues.
It does not revolutionize comics. No, we've all seen enough promotions over the years to know that comic book revolutions take the form of character deaths, rebirths, redeaths, heroes going bad, villains going good, travels through time, demonic pacts that rectcon decades of content without actually retconning, younger versions of time-tested charcters (with boobs), and foil-embossed covers.
This comic has none of that. In its place, Twilight Guardian offers so many things that any veteran comic book reader will recognize as irrelevant to a comic book's greatness. Things like: solid narrative; wit; a complex character psyche that isn't just a reflection of two dozen different authors' rewrites; solid coordination of word and art; and an alternative perspective into the superhero genre reminiscent of Troy's other work, Common Grounds. It is a breath of fresh air-- but anyone who's ever been on the floor of a comic convention on the final day knows that there is no such thing as fresh air in this industry.
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I know some will say that all this criticism is too much... that this is only one issue... that maybe by the third issue, he'll have a chance at bringing order (and food) to Somalia... That maybe prolonged exposure to new issues will still prove beneficial to those suffering rickets... or maybe that greatness will be grasped when our intrepid Guardian adopts a costume that's more prone to wardrobe malfunctions in combat...
I know those responses will come, and... I'm sorry... but I know time will prove me right. Twilight Guardian will always be just a smart, insightful, somewhat-irreverant and always-enjoyable aberration in the comic world, much as I've come to expect from Troy. You can believe otherwise, but I'll stand by my guns-- and I'll have the complete Twilight Guardian collection at hand to prove it. -
Quote:That's what clever with each of those sets. Tankmages at their worse were stand-alone monstrosities in battle, making all other archetypes irrelevant. Everyone would want to be that one uberclass.Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
And the Devs know well enough to avoid actual Tankmages (even if they forget when making AVs at times ¬¬ )
Niether VEATs nor HEATs are anything approaching the horrible 'tankmage' level, especially not Kheldians with thier lack of mez shields outside of the clunky Dwarf form (I hate the transformation time it takes and I dont care who knows it)
Here, HEATs are powerful, but fully dependent on their non-HEAT teammates to BE powerful, as their buffs are reflections of the team's composition.
VEATs, on the other hand, stack buffs nicely with each other, but these buffs also stack on non-VEAT teammates... so while a team of 4 widows makes all 4 widows rather nicely buffed, it doesn't marginalize the brute that wants to join-- it makes the brute a GOD-- all his powers PLUS 4 sets of widow team buffs.
Both were great ways to make something with the feel of a tankmage that made the other classes more valuable, rather than more marginal. -
Quote:Ditto.Originally Posted by Safeguard
Oh please please please have a bare foot pattern thats beastial without having to use those ugly monstrous feet.
Some characters look great with those legs, but so many times the look just didn't mesh... or I've wanted to use a skirt or a kilt or shorts for the beast-character and couldn't...
Give the hairy patterns on the regular legs and one set of "normal" monstrous feet, please. -
Quote:They need to make that for convention swag.Originally Posted by bAss_ackwards
The best t-shirt evar:
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Quote:Seven more and you earn the "Black Pebble Task Force" BadgeOriginally Posted by Marcian Tobay
Sweet! I already got one more person to take a free trial of this game after seeing the Animal Pack trailer.
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Quote:Alas, some of the "Minions of the Nekonomnomicon" supergroup will have to wait just a little bit longer, it seems.Originally Posted by Goliath Bird Eater
They're saving those parts for the "Horrible Eldritch Abominations From Beyond the Stars" booster pack.
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Quote:60 costume pieces and patterns... cheetah pattern, tiger pattern, etc. Might be some different feather coloration for the eagle head... or the bull's ring in the nose might be a costume detail option. You can also make out some ear variants... who knows, the lion's mane might be a separate "hair" piece to take or not take...Originally Posted by Chyll
Right, I got that...
but 5 heads, feet, couple tails,... 60 still sounds like a lot in a single pack (do we know the totals from previous packs?). a lot and cool -
Ok, I HAVE found something to grouse about in the new pack-- THE OFFICIAL NAME.
They call it a "pack" - like the "Party Pack", the "Complete Collection Item Pack" the "Origins Pack." "Pack" is used mostly for assemblies of common items (animations, capes) or items that were part of other promotional packages (Complete collection, etc). This pack has content more aligned to "Super Booster" status-- we have costume parts, animations, costume change emotes, and even a travel power.
If they'd gone that route, they could have added some comic-book-styled alliteration and called it the Beast Booster!
And yes, if that is all I can find wrong with this pack, I'm a very happy camper. -
Quote:An area in Praetoria's Hamidon-dominated zone- where the cities are being 'reclaimed' by nature. Some mad scientist (Praetoria's Aeon perhaps) struggles to "save" humanity by morphing any survivors he rescues (captures) into these man-beasts that the Devouring Earth don't recognize as humans needing extermination.Originally Posted by gameboy1234
It actually would be cool to get some new enemies. A gang of anthropomorphs a la The Island of Doctor Moreau would be fine.
I'd like to see two groups: one an "enslaved" group that only does their evil creator's bidding, and a "freed" group that's more self interested and maybe works like the more enlightened members of the Praetorian resistance.
Some willingly serve the 'scientist' that gave them a chance at survival... some despise him and long for the way they were... and some... well... their minds went a little too... feral... in the process.
EDITED FOR MORE DETAIL:
The zone's story theme is that the ruins contain a military/super research complex that rumor says was working on something that could be a Hamidon-killer. Emporer Cole wants it for obvious reasons, as does the resistance. If the resistance has it, then they can keep Hamidon in check if Cole is taken out. -
Quote:Dunno about the alleycat biker gang, but the supergroup "Minions of the Nekonomnomicon" are all getting a fresh look. (Yes, that's right... catcritters with a lovecraftian flair that do everything in lolspeak. TREMBUL IN FEER! )Originally Posted by Premonitions
This game needs a real alleycat biker gang like what.
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Quote:Whoever is responsible for this owes me a new keyboard.Originally Posted by Casual_Player
OK, I LoL'd!
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Quote:you forgot "pantsless"... or is that just understood anywhere Troy's involved?Originally Posted by Dark One
I have to wonder what the trigger is going to be that causes the signed copies to skyrocket in value.
I predict Troy on the news and the story involves a rubber chicken, jumper cables, and clown makeup.
But that's just a wild hypothesis...
It could be fake robot makeup.
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Quote:Ok, where does "Bugs Bunny dressed in drag" fit in to the whole furry taxonomy?Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
Funnily enough, we were having this exact same discussion on one of our channels in-game.
Technically, 'Catigirls' as in the oft scantily clad women from anime and manga aren't, technically, anthromorphs. That is, a non-human object or entity given human characteristics, I.E. a wolf walking on it's hind legs, having hair and expressions like a human and being able to speak.
Catgirls, on the other hand, are already human. They look human with cat parts stuck on already. Technically, that'd make them zoomorphic characters, an entirely different subsect.
So...if you lump catgirls in with furrys, you'd also need to include werewolves (lycan/therianthropes), because they are two entirely seperate things from anthromophs.
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Quote:Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
Thanks! (And I'm still learning what makes a 'good video' when it's not a flat-out-fast-paced trailer...)
Really? Thank you very much!
Thank you, as always.
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_RespiteI've cheated on mine in the past.Quote:Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
*grins* Thank you.
The title font is SonyannaScriptSSI Regular (a TrueType font).
As far as the circle tracking shots, that's courtesy of Zloth's Demo Editor. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the math so that I can do uber-spiffy swooping shots like Aralcox does, but no luck yet. *sigh*
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
Do one demo of the character where I want her.
Do another one of the path I want the camera to fly.
Merge..
but I can do that since I usually only needed a few stills, not a seamless shot. -
Quote:soon(tm)?Originally Posted by starrball
ok so has anyone heard a potential date for release? Been looking around on here, facebook, and any other site i can think of (including some underground unofficial coh fansites) and cannot find anything. Absolutely cannot wait for the booster. Even my wife is excited about it and she hardly plays anymore.
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Quote:I wouldn't worry about the orbits too much.Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
Thanks! (And I'm still learning what makes a 'good video' when it's not a flat-out-fast-paced trailer...)
I know that when I did the comics, I found myself changing camera angles much more than what good illustrative design suggests-- but I did it to make up for the lack of change in the face or posture between shots. When your models lack the activity or variation to keep the scene dynamic, you resort to using what you *can* control (the camera) to keep it from going flat.
Of course, there are many more ways to do that than the orbit, but things like a slow close up on the character would eventually draw attention to the unchanging face too. Granted, in some shots, stressing the unwavering gaze would be useful.
Overall, though, as I said before, great work and looking forward to what you attempt next.
(And no, this Course of a Superhero Romance reference doesn't get you off the hook... we'll still be expecting the full machinema version sometime in the next decade. Get cracking.) -
Exceptional!
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Quote:It isn't just censoring yourself. Censoring yourself assumes that you do work then deprive yourself of that work to prevent something bad from happening.Originally Posted by Heavensrun
I get so frustratingly sick of this attitude.
No female pets because Posi thinks mysogynists will abuse the concept. No children because disturbed players might act inappropriately around them. None of this because someone -might-, -MIGHT- misuse it.
You know what? There is a mechanism for punishing people who misuse the system, and it's worked perfectly well for seven years. This game has developed a relatively mature, stable user base, because our community watches itself and we have responsible, well trained moderators that settle disputes.
I refuse to believe that issues like this are a disaster waiting to happen. Putting children NPCs in game wouldn't hurt anything, because last I checked, you couldn't really -do- much to NPCs aside from train villians into their general vicinity and watch them run away, invulnerable. And if anybody found a way to do something inapporpriate, well report them to the mods. That's what those people are -there- for.
Attitudes like this are depressing and needlessly harmful, and a lot of times they keep the game from growing. I don't particularly -care- if children NPCs show up in game or not, but I object to the principle of censoring yourself to guard against the behavior of a very small outlying group of miscreants. If you abridge your own free speech in fear of what someone else might do with it, then what is the point of having it in the first place?
Creating kids for the game... with real kid actions, real kid dialogue, and real kid purpose... so they're not just adult NPC's that are randomly swapped out.... that takes design time and effort. Creating alternative MM pets does too. Female MM pets would also require tech to allow selectable pets.
When you're deciding where to put your development resources, you ask "what are the benefits and drawbacks for doing X" and you focus your energies on the stuff that gives you the best overall benefit. When Positron mentioned the misogynists, he was just hilighting a drawback that tipped the scales in favor of developing something else other than that. It wasn't a hardline "we'll never do this because x" but one of "if we can do x or y, and x has this drawback while y doesn't... y wins." Once y is out of the way, they might look at comparing X and Z, decide that now X has more merit than z for other reasons and then go forward with it. -
Quote:Precisely, and they've been setting it up like this for some time. All other origins of power are branches from a parent source. Magic is but one aspect of this. Technology another. You don't give up your own nature by getting closer to the true source.Originally Posted by Tenzhi
So, after you get your Alpha slot you can now only use Magic origin enhancements even if your origin was something other than Magic prior to that? Because otherwise your statement is tangibly incorrect by the laws of the virtual universe you are arguing about.
It seems pretty clear from the in-game descriptions and effects described that the source of Incarnate power is a sort of cosmic power that encompasses all origins. -
Quote:so, what you're telling us is your car looks something like this?Originally Posted by Scooby_Dont
They seem to think that I like ice because the ice put ice on my ice, for the ice that is already icy. Then we got freezing rain. Which I think is a sneaky way of saying ice.
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Quote:As far as fitting into the story, most of my characters' concepts would never get past Talos Island in the game. I don't include time travel or dimension hopping in my character stories (though Praetoria makes this hard) and don't see them as unimaginably superhuman. Heck, I'd have to say that while I enjoy reading the stories the devs present, I can't think of one that I actually incorporate into my characters lore, beyond general backstory.Originally Posted by The_Alt_oholic
Anyone less out there consider that all or most of their characters aren't "gods"?
And/or that they shouldn't become "gods" due to character conception?
I've always been here to play "super" beings of one type or another, but Incarnate seems to jump right over demi-god into full "god-mode". I know there are plenty that think it is great that their charater is becoming a "god" ...er... I mean Incarnate, but was it/is it in any of your character conceptions that your characters weren't intended to become "gods"?
I guess the real question is "anyone out there that is willing to stick by their character conception and not have a character become an Incarnate based on that character conception (... unless it was part of their orginal character conception to be a "god" or become a "god" when the character was created)?"
I stuck in that last part as there have been player character conceptions since near the get-go (which I read) that stated the character was a "god" of some sort or another.
I'm not really counting the ones that said they were "immortal" as that is pretty slang for "someone that hasn't died yet that expects to live a really long time". Immortals are, definately, not by default "gods"/Incarnates.
I find ultra-powered "godlike" powers absolutely dull from a storytelling perspective- I'd much rather keep it more down to earth. Doesn't keep me from experiencing the content... though at 6+ years playing and only 6-ish level 50's, you can tell I alt a lot. -
Quote:Well, I have several suspicions on this, but they're purely speculation.Originally Posted by Beastyle
I'm a bit wary of this quote:
It makes it sound as if Wilykit and Wilykat are going to look different than the rest of the Thunderians--if they even are Thunderians.
I'm also eager to see how Studio 4c does MUMM-RA, THE EVERRRRRRRRRR LIVIIIIIIIIING.
- If they do at least keep the 'last survivors of a doomed world' theme... and the main four are all that's together at the start, then it'll be that the ship broke apart and Wileykit and Wileykat's capsules landed elsewhere... where they've struggled to survive on wits and agility. Thus, while the main four will have a blend of tech and magic, kit and kat will have something of a more 'feral' style.
This will also introduce a good pattern for keeping fresh merchandise on the store shelves. First half of the season brings first few characters for the toy line. Half a season later, introduce 3-4 more.... next season... hey! we found more! (Bengali, Pumyra, Lynx-O) and half a season later, all new thundercats...etc etc. -
Quote:Cheap.Originally Posted by Scythus
You say cheap, I say lazy.
1) "Lazy" would be if these guys were putting in a 2-4 hour workday, phoning this much in, then going off to play xbox the rest of the day. Look at the production histories of these guys and how tight together many of these projects are. They're not dawdling around doing nothing-- their schedules are rather packed. Heck, Tartakovsky's work was prolific enough that he one two emmies for two different shows in the same year!
2) If they DID do an art style that required more robust 'tweening' work, they wouldn't be the ones doing it. Cheap animation shops in Korea and China do that for most non-computer animated work nowadays.... so they really didn't cause themselves much personal labor savings while taking this route. They just saved money. -
Quote:I've heard that its based off wolverine's first stand-alone miniseries. That would make some sense... the story's relatively self-contained and doesn't require a lot of Marvel Universe lore to follow (or edit around).Originally Posted by Beastyle
Man, and I thought I had it rough on calorie-counting to get in shape.
With regards to the movie itself, I'm actually intrigued about the plot. Wolverine's had a long history with Japan, and this is something that (as far as I'm aware) hasn't been touched on in the movies. I'm curious who the love interest is going to be. Could be Mariko. Or Itsu. Or Atsuko. -
Quote:My back hurts just from watching that.Originally Posted by Test_Rat
It is scientific fact that the human body is not meant to move like that.
How you can even argue that is insane.
But, my lower lumbar aside, she does show that its scientifically POSSIBLE for a human body to move like that. It just doesn't gain any benefit from doing so.