Dr_MechanoEU
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Posts
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Yeah...the problem is you basically rushed through a frankly broken set in Beast Mastery onto live which COULD have done with the delay that staff is getting in order to be fixed and released the already fully tested Staff fighting in its place with the explanation of
"Beast Mastery was due to be the next powerset but due to the buggy nature of the set, we're releasing Staff Melee in it's place, we know this makes the third melee set we've released in a row but we'd rather have a fully functioning power set than one which both underpreforms and suffers some major bugs at the moment." -
The main problem here is that they've been sitting on the powerset for months.
If they hadn't released it to Beta so early then there wouldn't be as much complaining as there is now, Beast Mastery actually came along after staff fighting and got released earlier.
However if they hadn't released it to test then people would be complaining the sounds aren't right when it was released, catch 22 really. -
Erm....no you can't, the Beta server is shutdown until Issue 23 gets released on there.
So you can't just go on test to play it.
Also Staff has been on test for 4 months now and atleast 2 months of that it's been pretty much ready with the exception of the sounds. -
Quote:Yeah...I'd say they should just ditch the 'new face mapping' altogether. The male faces look just fine the way they are.Originally Posted by Reppu
Please. Please. PLEASE don't use the 'new' face resolutions EVER again. The Steampunk and Halloween and Imperial Dynasty faces have been some of the most hideous things the art team has come up with. But NOTHING tops the wrapped heels from the Pocket D pack.
Please go back to the old technology for this. Not only are these just ugly, they're such a blindingly obvious contrast to the rest of the game. Don't be ashamed of the old style of faces. We love them! At least, I do.
The new faces since Steampunk? Ugh. -
Ok having been reading the thread for sometime and mulling it over I can see that while it may look like spite, it's more than likely poor planning on the behalf of Paragon Studios (and the writer) that gives the appearance of spite rather than actual spite.
There were two stories going on in the SSA. That of Statesman and Wade and that of Manticore and Psyche. While one bleeds into the other (obviously) I think it's just a misfortunate thing that all the characters happened to be Jacks.
Manticore is having his 'One more day' in effect (it does kind of come across as killing off the wife to get Manticore back into the brooding superhero archetype), Sister Psyche was killed off to promote new blood into the Phalanx (Ms Yin) and Statesman...well he will be the least missed out of all them.
I think it was the intial reaction to Positron being made the lead of the Phalanx that probably started me down this path and it STILL irks me somewhat. They could have used someone else and I think I'd have less of a problem. It's the fact that he happens to be one of the few author insert characters remaining that made me go 'hmm' and be a little suspiscious about it.
Though to be fair, they could kill off most of the Phalanx (as long as it was written in a good way...which with a multi-death pileup would take a damn good writer to achieve it being anything more than a 'kill-em-all' move) and the world would still function if normal people gave out their taskforces.
Why? Because we have already surpassed all of the signature heroes, My invuln/SS tanker can solo all of them at their supposed full power level and the world would still be in trouble. As mentioned the Phalanx usually do bupkiss to help anyway, being taken out by Reichsman, unable to approach Recluse with the Web active, off sipping coffee during the Lady Grey taskforce or even just not bothering to team up and help with Hamidon. -
i love that "there's always one" has now transcended into a catchphrase among iTrails.
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Quote:The thought process behind it...well in my mind...was that you were clearing dust from the connectors on the cartridge and cartidge slot (that was the second method of trying if just blowing on the cartridge didn't work).Originally Posted by Lord_Nightblade
Complete with street view. I'm not generally one for April Fools shenanigans, but this is pretty cool.
Side note: what is the origin of blowing on the cartridge to make it work? It seems like something everyone just knew.
That's how I remember thinking it through in my young brain.
Of course I didn't experience that until later in life, instead I had to endure the Commadore +4 (the fancy business model of the Commadore 16) taking about 20 minutes to load a game from tape only to come back and find it had crashed midload while we were having dinner. -
Quote:The main reason is that 4 months ago, we didn't know what was going to happen.Originally Posted by TheDeepBlue
Again?
We're having this discussion again?
What is this 'spite' that people think Matt Miller has for Jack Emmert, anyway? Where does this idea even come from? Or do you personally dislike the character deaths so much that the only way you can accept that they were allowed to happen is to blame it on some petty backroom conspiracy? Do you print out these quotes by the developers, pin them to a corkboard, and connect them with strings of yarn, too?
At the time, there was a lot of speculation over who would replace Statesman, infact quite a few people picked a reformed and rehumanized (we have the lost curing wand after all) Hero 1 to takes Statesmans place. Hell as mentioned earlier I would prefered Back Alley Brawler as the no nonsense, doesn't take guff from anyone kind of leader.
So 4 months ago (which would be SSA part 3 being released, 2 parts away from Statesman being offed and 3 parts away from Sister Psyche being offed) we didn't really know too much.
Instead with the release of the final part of the SSA we got Positron, one of the few remaining Dev avatars and a creators pet (Positron was Mat Millers character from the same tabletop campaign that created Statesman) left in the game and the offing of Sister Psyche just felt completely unneeded and somewhat spiteful.
I know it's a stupid idea but there is just this horrible feeling of doubt in my mind that there is some spite behind it.
Was there any real need to kill of Statesman, well yes, as mentioned even with the Incarnate content being released you were still under the shadow of the big S so he kind of needed to be offed for any real sense of progression (even if tankers with full teir 4 in all slots can solo him as a Hero ranked foe).
Sister Psyche...don't see the need for her to be killed off at all. -
Only one spirit on the team?
I think ye be confusing Numina for Sister Psyche.
Though to be fair if War Witch did announce 'the Death of Positron' as the next SSA, I would give a chuckle. -
Quote:That's the thing...part of me, the horrible cynical part, is more than willing to believe that Positron WOULD push for it hence where the niggling doubt that it was driven by spite springs from especially since it is HIS character that is now the guy incharge.Originally Posted by Aggelakis
None of the current writers were around under Cryptic, let alone Jack's Vision. The only way it'd be spite is if Positron or War Witch pushed it, really. And I don't see either one of them doing that.
The quote that was posted while I was typing, the "growing up and leaving the nest from which it was born." doesn't do much to dissuade that niggling feeling of spite either since that can be taken as "removing the last vestiges of the games old creator now I'm incharge".
However as mentioned it is doubt that the horrible cynic in me is voicing. -
So...I've been thinking recently.
With the SSA1 now finished and done does anyone else kind of feel that the killing off of Sister Psyche was kind of...I don't know...spiteful?
I mean, I can understand killing off Statesman, he's the big cheese superhero, he the CoH Superman and his death along with things we've seen in the Dark Astoria arcs will hopefully lead to interesting places.
Now, as more than a few people know Statesman and Sister Psyche were both Jack Emmerts characters and the death of Sister Psyche seemed somewhat needless. It happened right after we dealt with the death of another superhero so 'teh drama' factor doesn't work because piling on the death a second time is simply going to raise eyebrows instead of a 'shock horror gasp' reaction.
With news that Positron is being promoted to the lead of the Freedom Phalanx I can't help but feel that there is a somewhat spiteful mean to kill of Jack's characters to remove 'his last remaining ingame influence'.
I mean yeah the term 'Creator's pet' does get thrown around but lets be honest, I'd actually rather have Back Alley Brawler take the lead than Positron since the fact that Positron is now bumped up to Superhero numero uno while killing off the previous guys characters just doesn't sit well with me. I just think there is an ulterior motive behind all this.
I know, I know people have probably heard this a hundred times already but I just can't get over the fact that Sister Psyche really didn't need to die, her death seemed completely pointless and considering that she is now 'Dead dead' accoring to Dr Aeon rather than 'mind riding' like some of us hoped just...eh...can't shake that feeling of spite. -
Quote:My group of friends have a variation on this but it's very much like the above suggestion (Pitchmen online).Originally Posted by Arnabas
My friends and I made a game out of this, trying to see if we could remake shows we used to watch.
you have two tables of 12 words, roll a D12 twice and that will be your movie. Roll a D6 to consult the 'tagline' table, roll another D6 to get the 'critic snapshot on the box'.
From there you need to describe to the other players what the film is about, give a general plot summary and then the other players give their 'critical opinion' in a rating of 1-5 stars.
The best we came up with was a movie called Fast Arnold about a man (the titular Arnold) who was trying to become the first man run at the speed of sound, all the while his nemesis Speedy Steve plotted to sabotage his attempt so he could become the first.
His first test run ends in disaster as, while approaching the speed of sound, he trips on a rock and breaks almost every bone in his body. The Doctors tell him he'll never run again but he proves them wrong and eventually beats his rival in a one on one race to break the Sound barrier.
The Tagline was "The unbelieveable finally achieved!" and the critic on the box snippet was "better than a box full of spiders." -
Quote:Wow..that's really kind of touching.Originally Posted by Rylas
Here's a more detailed and personal story involving the Route 29 Batman. This guy deserves a medal.
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Yes...we've got the four legged rig...so how about putting a travel power in the store that lets you turn into a Kitten, has inherent 55 feet stealth as the bonus.
You're cute, fluffy and a tabby!
Taste the power of kittens. -
So the return of a benevolent giant winged serpent God in 2012.
Actually, you know what, that'd be kind of awesome if it was true.
Just like I hoped when they fired up the Large Hadron Collider it would rend portals to the dimension of Kittens with hats...sadly such a thing was not true but hey a man can dream. -
As mentioned above, UG, MoM and even DD are usually a 'bring what you want at whatever level of incarnate you want' most DD attempts are restricted to atleast +2 for a Master Of run or just for ease sake but I've seen people bring on a fresh level 50 to the various trials that you limit to +3 only.
Mind you, the entire LEAGUE isn't made up of freshly incarnated peoples, usually it's about 5 or 6.
Basically every trial is doable as long as people be quiet and listen to what the leader is telling them, which on certain servers (i.e. the more populated ones) is going to be a bit harder. -
Eh even on MoM it's a 'bring what you want'.
The only reason a minimum of +2 is enforced (most of the time) on DD is because of the level buffs the enemies have. -
Quote:Whereas Union has a staple of trial leaders (Damz is one of them) and they have a 'bring what you want' to the iTrials.Originally Posted by Zyphoid
It is because of the server culture in general. Snow is a part of my global network that started on Tri. I no longer play there (during the day it is pretty dead), but a large number of my friends still do.
Snow has no trouble because when he states what he is forming, the reply is "What do you need?" or "What should I bring."
Union was the first to achieve the MOBAF badge and weirdly what is considered a MOBAF run on most other servers is considered a normal run on Union and a normal run (where you don't keep the AVs at their locations etc.) is considered a speed run.
However that is because it is pretty much a consistent core of people who run the iTrials and, as mentioned above, a consist group of leaders.
So different servers have different standards, hell on my +0 ill/Rad I managed a Keyes, a BAF and a Lambda one after the other which no problems because we were all following instructions. -
Still going to be interesting if and when I take my 'power pools only from level 6' energy/elec brute Iron man build onto iTrials.
that is a big if though. -
Quote:Yeah I never did like that.Originally Posted by Johnny_Butane
One thing I have to say about the Trapdoor encounter. It marked an unwelcome (by me at least) change in the way it seems encounters were designed.
Players using the lava to their advantage? Pulling him from the duplicates? That's smart. That's using the environment and all the tools available to you to overcome a threat you otherwise couldn't. That is Superhero 101; Spider-Man webbing up his fists to punch Electro.
But to the devs? "Oh noes! They're taking it off the rails! Can't have that!"
Which of course has lead to the trials being a routine jumping through the right hoops on cue and doing exactly what the designer wants you to, even if it's nonsensical and asinine.
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I could picture my Invul/SS Tanker Wrestle spearing Trapdoor off of the platform and into the lava, surfacing with, "yeah I can bathe in this stuff...can you?" while fighting him.
The weird sideaffect of that is now that Lava does not cause damage anywhere in the game, they didn't just remove it from the Trapdoor encounter they removed the damage component entirely for fear of the playerbase basically doing the same in any future encounters with it. -
Quote:I will agree here, the current 5 slots of the Incarnate system have kind of been dragging on for what, almost two years now?Originally Posted by Johnny_Butane
I got all my tier 4s on all existing slots running the BAF and Lambda. We didn't need four more trials that all cover the same range. Three good, polished well written and executed trials is what we needed.
The problem with CoH is they can't just bring out another set of trials due to the distinct lack of 'gear progression' in the game. They can't simple knock together some armor and weapon models with better stats and throw them in for people to grind for because that just doesn't work in CoH.
However two years is quite a long time to have a cap on the endgame, especially when the other 5 slots are visible in the Incarnate interface. You now run into the problem where simple changing currency is an incredibly unpopular choice because the game already has far too many (Reward Merits, Alignment Merits, Astral/Empyrean Merits, Incarnate Shards, Incarnate threads, the old Alpha only useable salvage from level 50 taskforces and trials, the Notes of the well only useable with alpha slot and then the newer Incarnate salvage for everything else) but people have been stuck at a plateau for long enough that they've horded all the things they need or simple stopped bothering with the iTrials.
Throwing in unlockable costumes and emotes really doesn't bring people back, the people who want them resent having to force being made to run the iTrials to get them (I just couldn't be bothered) and the people hording stuff don't went to spend the merits on unlocking it. I will always stand by the belief that putting in the Ascenscion costume sets and the emotes was a stupid idea by the devs.
Now I can see the design philosphy is that you should have more than one power for each Incarnate slot, you should have Barrier and...the other one which gives you Status Resistance (if only for the Underground trial...), you should have lots of Lore pets. That is fine in theory but most people are a 'one and done' kind of thing, they get their chose abilities and then never bother with it again. -
I've always wondered if anyone could adapt anything from Steve Jackson's Ogre universe into film.
Considering that the main characters are usually sentient tanks that fire off nuclear warheads like they were throwing out candy to children...probably not... -
Yeah it is far from an original idea, heck as just shown there are a large number of 'pit people against each other for entertaining the masses' plotline type films and books that...yeah it's hard to say who is ripping off who.
That if we go into the 'ultraviolent sports' entries either like Death Race 2000 or Rollerball then there is god knows how many books, films and TV series based around the idea... -
Just linking this video since they do bring up the Hunger Games/Battle Royale discussion close to the start of it.
Team NChick on Hunger Games
They pretty much agree with ChaosAngel above. -
Ah I missed out on you saying you hadn't even seen the first one, forgive me if I can across snarky wasn't intended.
Just that Battle Royale 2 is pretty much forgotten about these days.