Dark_Respite

Where'd you see the video/hear the song?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

That's a fairly common chord progression, unfortunately...

Can you remember even a fragment of the lyrics?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Well, for what it's worth, here are mine...

• A game that's given my creativity a desperately needed boost in so many ways, such as:
• Breaking me through a year-long writing drought to the point where I wrote a novel, started a second, and plotted out a third! (And Matt... it's your own damn fault.)
• Allowing me to try my hand at missions of my own, some of which people played, and even liked!
• Taking my video-making in directions I never dreamed of.
• Improving my character development skills (both in and out of game!).
• Then there are all the friends I've made as the result of this game, some of whom have gone on to become faithful real-life friends.
• The unexpected and welcome generosity of industry professionals at Paragon who graciously answer my questions about coding, the game, the business, etc.
• And especially the many members of the COH playerbase who've kept me going even when I didn't think I could do this anymore.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Filming's been on hold for a little while since I started my new job about six weeks ago. Hopefully though as things settle into a routine, I'll be able to pick up with my vids again. So no rush, but thank you for offering!

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

My personal recommendations:

BASILISK
Random series quote: "Deception and strategy are brothers in the art of warfare."
Japanese historical anime with a hefty dose of mysticism. Absolutely gorgeous animation, a story that will take you through all the highs and lows and everything in between, music I'd have killed for during the L5R game, and voice acting to steal your breath away. Graphic without being OTT, this one pulls no punches.

BUBBLEGUM CRISIS TOKYO 2040
Random series quote: "Do I have a tracking beacon on my butt or what?!"
Cyberpunk, mecha, and all sorts of anime goodness. My first real ADV Films exposure, and I was hooked from Vol 1. Not to mention that this is the series that I think has one of the creepiest ending cliffhangers in all of anime. The music rocks, the story is cool, and it blew its progenitor BGC out of the water without even trying.

KIDDY GRADE
Random series quote: "You have no right to do that - they're human beings! You don't own them!"
A not-quite-magical girl show that I was fully expecting to be all froof and no substance. Boy, was I wrong. The adventures of Eclair and Lumiere just suck you in, and FUNimation's voice team was totally on their A-game here. Strong all the way from start to finish, and enough intrigue to keep you guessing the whole way through. I STILL catch new stuff each time I watch it.

MADLAX
Random series quote: "How dare you interfere, Vanessa Rene... we could have danced forever..."
Action. Drama. And none of the women are stereotypes. Another show whose trailer intrigued me, and the series proved to be far deeper and more complicated than I'd imagined. Although I suspected its ending about halfway through the show, I wanted to see how they were going to explain it (and more so, what they were going to do with it). They did not disappoint.

PRINCESS TUTU
Random series quote: "I won't give up... because my feelings are my own!"
I kick myself for not having watched it sooner. I like ballet (but don't live for it), I usually hate magical girl shows, and froofiness usually doesn't do it for me. But if there was ever a series that I went into it expecting froof and came out with my heart broken, my spirit uplifted, and my entire supply of tissues in the house gone, this one is it.

SAMURAI 7
Random series quote: "In my life, I've had to step over many an ally's corpse... that is the kind of man I am."
Not only is it based on one of the greatest films of all time, but this series was as damned close to perfect as I could have hoped for in an anime. (The notable exception - the one or two places where a different animation studio did the artwork, and trust me, you can tell.) FUNimation and ADV also pooled their voice talents and got the cream of the crop here.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

And I have this sudden mental image of Positron in his armor pouting and going, "But I can do that too..."



Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Hmm, there's a minimum-wage, getting-into-the-industry, intern-job from hell.

Go through the AE and tag all the farms for removal. For each submission, there should be a checklist of "what makes this a farm?", and if it meets those criteria, out it goes.

(If I weren't already gainfully employed, I would happily apply for that job. Maybe I can submit my unemployed husband for it...)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

There are a few maps that were originally included and then removed without notice. (Unlike, say, the Floating Ziggurat, which was removed because it was broken.) Bleak Future happens to be one of the ones removed without explanation.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

I really hope we didn't scare Second Measure off.

*waves a donut and whistles*

Here, dev, dev, dev... it's okay... you can come back out...

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

For the first time, you've made me wonder if you and Steelclaw are the same person...

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

It's fixed... damn it, I really wish Twitpic would make up its mind about how you can link a picture.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

*sighs*

Someone shoot my thread now and put it out of its misery...

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Review as request for your TALOS VICE opening:

1) Turn off the HUD - I think you can assign it via keymapping, so especially during scenery or non-combat shots, turn it off so it's not in the way. (That's the number one killer for me.)
2) Zoom in a bit more - it's a natural inclination to film at the same distance you normally play at, but it makes the view much smaller. Not so much a problem when you're filming scenery, but characters you need to get a bit closer to.
3) You're good at varying the camera angles, which is great - again, zoom in to take advantage of that. Practice swinging the camera around during combat (like whaling on hellions in the Atlas Park parking lot) so it gets to be a bit more natural and smoother as you do it.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Never mind hitting the BAF or Mother Mayhem's hospital or whatnot...

I think the next Praetorian Trial should be an all-out, guns-blazing, that-sucker-is-coming-DOWN raid on Cole's Tower in Nova Praetoria. Do it like the CoP - one team comes in from the roof (here comes Wardog and a bunch of Resistance as backup), one from the sewers (with Hatchet and Marty leading ghouls for backup), one through the front door (Ricochet and some friends), like the ultimate Mayhem Mission.

Desks and cubicles and computers exploding. Doors blowing off their hinges. Fire spreading like rumors on the forums. Battling your way through Powers Division, the PPD, the Seers, the Praetors, until you're face to face with the man himself.

"IT'LL BE ANARCHY!"

And the badge: "Look On My Works, Ye Mighty".

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Damn you.

I sensibly put down my mostly full glass of ginger ale so I wouldn't inadvertently inhale it while laughing... unfortunately, I laughed so hard at your take on the CoH Launcher that my knees banged into my desk, and I promptly spilled my soda all over the place.

And now I sense "bean dip" is going to be one of those non sequitor phrases that has me laughing.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

If I spot a lowbie getting pounded, I'll throw longdistance healing on him/her (so I don't aggro-steal). I've routinely dropped excess lvl 50 IO recipes on low level characters so they have funds to get started. I also have our SG occasionally troop through the sewers randomly buffing and healing the low level teams to give them a hand as they head through. I sometimes port people to badges if they're having a really hard time finding a particular one, or I'll toss someone a piece of salvage if it's the last piece they need to get a recipe done.

They're quick and easy things for me, but for a low level character, it can mean a lot. And it's just me repaying the random kindnesses *I* was shown when I first started, and the general goodwill of the COH community.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Does anyone else all of a sudden hear "YOU ARE ALL... WEIRDOS!" in the voice of Sam the Eagle?

(Bloodspeaker: "Actually, the first thing I thought of was Brian Blessed shouting, "FLY MY HAWKMEN, FLY!")

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

So Ghost Falcon turns traitor and joins the MiB, Nate ascends to redname, Alpha slots on the way, we've got loads of spiffy stuff, I am cool with most of this (GF turning traitor, not so much).

Very much looking forward to seeing what happens next... and I hope this is a sign that the Powers That Be are loosening the muzzles on the rednames again. We can but hope.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

On the other hand, we DO have sort of 'galloping along on hands and feet' in the form of the Tuatha and now the Ghouls. Might this be enough of a breakthrough to allow PCs to do that?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite