Escher

My wife and I registered a week apart. We're still playing, but not as a "couple".

We never did team exclusively, though we have been part of larger "themed" groups - such as the Defenders of the Apocolypse which was an all Defender group based on angels reincarnated as Super Heroes. Matter of fact, we've done a whole bunch of these - and are part of one now on the CoV side. We even did our own themed group where I had the Father and Mother characters and she and a few of our friends played the "Kids".

Our two mains do tend to hang out occasionally... but not as a couple.

((We should retitle this thread "City of ????" ))

They put Jidichlory Men on Mt. Nuerfe??? I Am SOOO going to quit if they burn all the Spice Fish before I collect enough to upgrade my seventh matrix level powers...

On a happier note, I did finally get the Crystalline Allignment Paradigm for my Soma... should make those Dissonance powers a heck of a lot more effective... Umbral Splinter Zone here I come!!!

((Me too))

Here we go again... someone had to bring up the dang Bettleknocker crap again... Look, would you guys mind to terriblly sticking to your own thread?

And while we're on it... what made you think you should be playing like a Kravitz in the the first place? Umbral Synergy? Sychronometer? You DO realize those powers are only %75 effective for this Matrix class right? RIGHT???

If I have to read one more "I'm a Kravitz with more Umbral Distortion!" from some Kravitz wannabe Bettleknocker...

"Well, I just wanted to get that off my chest. If anyone wants to team, my main is a Coherence/Plasmophage Soma on the Gurdnik server. What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment!"

You took COHERENCE??? My god man! You don't even get a good power until phase level 18 with that! I mean, sure, Metaphase Splines is nice, but it doesn't provide ANY protection against the null field zero point (NFZP) generators that are so prevelant in the early levels.

Me? I took Dissonance / Golom. I really like the early Repusion Amplifier / Dopolganger combo you get at level 10... it did require that I delay taking stochastic amplifier until level 12, but most teams don't want me to use that power anyway... something about a graphics bug when used on a team with more than 2 Spotters... (don't EVEN get me started on their problems...)

-Escher

I was given some paper and writing implements… I guess they want to see what my language looks like. It’s strange to be able to write again after these 20 years… I don’t understand what has changed. None of the people here have shown the least interest in me except Dr. Holstrom, and he only comes in to do the usual blood sample / temperature / whatever the government wants him to take a sample from me next.

I see that this is a questionnaire… ah… the direct approach. Wonderful. Why don’t you just ASK me? You KNOW I can speak your language, I’ve been watching your damn TV programs for the last twenty years! I guess they want to see if I can write in it as well. Fine, I will humor them. I do not understand why I am still kept here, they simply tell me it is for my own protection – but I mean TWENTY YEARS??? They’ve been through four of their “Presidents” since I first became a “guest” of their Government. In that time, I have seen several crew changes, but Dr. Holstrom has remained. I guess it’s nice to have some consistency. And despite the fact that he, like all of them, can’t be trusted as far as I could throw a pillow, he has at least been polite – one might even say kind. He was the only human to ask me about that night… the night my Queen died. I felt her death through the bond and it would have killed me as well had I not also felt the transfer of that bond to my daughter. I would go on because of her. Pteryx lives! I repeat it to myself every morning and every waking hour when I wonder why I don’t just do something to make them kill me and end this stupid incarceration. I didn’t tell Holstrom anything of course…

I think again about how I came to be here and I laugh in spite of myself. I’ve been over this so many times. WHAT was I thinking? WAS I thinking… I don’t know. All I know is that I crashed my ship in the Nevada Desert – quite possibly the worst place on Earth to crash due to the proximity of several “sensitive” areas nearby. But as they say hindsight is always clearer. It was a simple miscalculation – something any school child would laugh about making (or cringe depending on the sternness of their instructor) and it had landed me in this cell for close on twenty years now. I once again pick up the paper and look over the questions. I will probably answer them, I see no reason not to, but I see something very strange about one of them. It mentions an alien race “The Rikti” and asks if my race has had any contact with them. I laugh again at the follow up “If you answered NO to the above question, please explain why.” Somehow writing “because my race has traditionally been xenophobic and your unjust incarceration of a peaceful explorer who made a stupid sign error when calculating his entry velocity sure won’t change their minds about that” doesn’t seem like the kind of answer they want to hear.

I write it anyway. Dr. Holstrom will laugh at it at least. Gods I wish my wife had survived the attack. I have tried in vain to reach my daughter. But she would only be thirty at this point, still barely adolescent, far too young to receive the Queen’s Bond, yet obviously Aiyana had had no choice in the matter. I can only hope that the brief contact I felt when she died had somehow conveyed my location, and that Pteryx would do anything in her power to reunite me with my clan.

It wasn’t really that bad here, I had plenty to read and they had set me up with a nice video display device… they called it “TV”. We had nothing like this back home, but I had to admit it was pretty fascinating to watch these humans making fun of themselves for my enjoyment. Some of the programs seemed to be attempts to bring news to the people. Woefully inadequate compared to the clan bond that a fully mature Queen could provide… but – those thoughts lead again to Aiyana, and I find it difficult to control my emotions again. I finish the questionnaire – more mundane questions – and one that I have a hard time with: “What is Aiyana?” What do I tell them? Clearly they will have no sympathy for me – it took them hours to even check on me the night she died and I threw myself against their force fields trying to get to her – even if I couldn’t. Dr. Holstrom might spare a kind word, but I doubt he could truly understand the magnitude of my loss – it wasn’t just Aiyana whose death I felt – whatever killed her killed a lot of us. I write simply “Aiyana was my wife.” Let them speculate about why after 20 years away from her I would suddenly throw myself into a fit of rage and try to escape. Some things I would never share – not even with Dr. Holstrom.

I settle down a bit and watch the TV. It’s one of those things they call a “sit-com” where people who lead obviously contrived lives fall into obviously contrived situations that are supposed to make you feel like laughing. It actually works most of the time. Especially this one – it has become my favorite if you will. It’s about a bar in a town called “Boston” run by an ex-athlete who seems to be trying to always find a new mate. The sheer absurdity of that situation alone is enough to make me laugh. The character of “Norm” has entered, it is always a cue for the “audience” to laugh and everyone in the bar to shout out a greeting – I shout along with them – enjoying a ritual that would appeal to my clan mates. Something changes though. There is a strange tone on the TV and a screen that says “Emergency Alert System”. I wonder if it is part of the show? A well dressed and stern looking human appears on the screen. What he says is plainly not part of the show – in fact what he says is enough for my spikes to rise on their own: “An alert has been issued by the NSA. It would appear that Earth is under attack from an unknown force. Citizens are advised to seek immediate shelter.” I wonder how long it will be before they cut off my feed to the TV… clearly this is not something they would want me to see… in fact they probably expect that I am somehow responsible. After all, I am an alien. I’ve seen enough of their culture to know that there have been myths, and perhaps maybe one or two genuine “close encounters” over the last sixty or so years of their history. But on the inside, I have a much different perspective. There are at least two dozen human beings who KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are not alone in this universe. I have no idea what happens to those who have had contact with me – perhaps they have their memories modified by drugs or are sworn to secrecy in some other way. They may even be killed to prevent the knowledge of my existence from reaching the “outside”. I’ve seen enough of them to realize when it comes to Xenophobia, we Indirans are amatures. Their government will go to any length to conceal alien life from the rest of humanity… but whatever is happening to them now cannot be hidden.

I see images of the attacks. Whomever this invading force is, they have landed in several of the major cities. None of them appear to have landed anywhere near my present location, and I don’t feel the earth moving as it would if under orbital bombardment. The attackers are not Indirans – not that I would expect they would be. My race may be xenophobic by tradition, but we are a peaceful species. The few dealings we do have with other races have been cordial, one might even say friendly. Clearly, whatever race is attacking now does not have peace in mind. Their ships are massive! Easily the size of the largest buildings on Earth, and possibly larger than any vessel I have seen – though I’ve heard rumors of the Autlaunian Menthalk Class ships which were said to be the size of small moons.

I see a picture of one of the attackers and my heart freezes. The blade pierces my side and I feel my life spilling out with my cries… we have to get out of here! Pteryx! Where are you? K’s’tl’k… I shall miss you my Duke… I will try to get our clan to Adun… “AIYANA!” The scream comes from somewhere so deep in my soul I fear I will never breathe again. Whomever these attackers are, they are the ones who destroyed my clan. My spines are rigid. I tear at the cloth of my bed… I feel nothing… I have become pure focused force. I turn to the wall and feel a power I had thought lost to me. With it comes a sense of calm, and I sit in battle meditation.

There are attackers. They have destroyed my people. They have come here… do they seek me? Do they wish to finish exterminating my clan? Pteryx Lives! Our clan will go on. Why do they attack? The human weapons are not effective against them. I must help them. But they have held me prisoner for two decades. It is no matter. No race deserves to be wiped out. I must help them. It is settled.

The power flows into me from the very earth itself. A green glow surrounds me and I feel healthier than I have felt in twenty years. A stone hammer appears in my right hand. I turn to the wall of my cell – the one with the window. I smash the hammer into the wall. There is little effect. I turn to the TV again to see an abandoned camera, on its side, but still revealing a scene of utter devastation. The screen again switches to the stern looking human who appears to be in a state of complete shock. He has no words. But I see an image of the attackers again, and this time a red glow surrounds me as I focus all my energies on the wall. I smash it again and again with my stone hammer until finally cracks begin to appear. A new set of alarms begins to blare and I feel the tingle of the force field that has kept me prisoner for these long years. It is there, but it is nothing, as the very Earth around me becomes my armor… There is nothing but me, my weapon, and my target – and soon, there is no target. I have breached the wall. I am outside for the first time in twenty years… and the scene before me is hellish.
I know now why I did not feel orbital bombardment. These invaders prefer the up close and personal approach. They have landed troops and are using energy weapons to decimate the humans before them. Some of the more advanced technology of the base seems to be able to withstand the aliens’ attacks… but I pay this no attention as I run headlong into a group of these “Rikti”. One of them creates a swirling vortex that gives me a sense of vertigo for a moment, but my hate – my desire for revenge is too strong. I grab the “mesmerist” and tear off his helmet… I want him to see the hate in my eyes as I kill him. I want the last vision he has to be my face and the expression of pure hatred etched upon it. I kill more of them but there seems to be no sating my bloodlust… I feel weakened but I ignore it – the needs of the body can wait… my spirit, my soul, every thing that makes me a Vox’m Duke demands that I slaughter every single one of these creatures, and I revel in it.
It is only after Adun knows how many minutes… (hours?).. that I become aware of the others. Not Rikti, but somehow not human either? One of them is clearly a sentient machine – a small golden figure who pounds the enemies with bolts of pure electricity. I can feel it crackle against my skin even through my armor. Clearly this is a powerful ally – and I move to fight along side her. Then I see another… a huge figure whose power matches and perhaps exceeds my own. He effortlessly throws groups of the enemies aside as he makes his way back to the main buildings of the site. I feel an urge to tell him he’s running the wrong way – that the beings in there will only capture him and treat him as an attacker… but then I see Dr. Holmstrom come out to meet him. The little golden machine and I have fought our way close enough to the two of them to overhear their conversation.
“Citadel, thank God you’ve arrived. They came out of nowhere! Is Dr. Angstrom safe?”
“Luminary: Search for the rest of the team. They have attacked several locations on the planet simultaneously Dr. Holstrom. We are doing our best to repel the invasion. This area cannot be secured. We are ordered to take you and the remaining survivors to a secure location.” The big machine turns towards Luminary and notices me…
“Who?”
Dr. Holstrom looks more nervous than I have ever seen him. Good. I enjoy it. Then I notice that I am held in some kind of field that emanates from Citadel. Despite my rage, I cannot break this hold… I want to scream “Did you not see me fighting along side your comrade??” Hearing my own voice startles me… I guess this hold is not designed to paralyze as I thought it would – every time the humans needed to transport me, they would … but Dr. Holstrom is speaking now…
“That is a prisoner of the US Government. I do not know how he broke out of his cell, I can only imagine that these attackers must have …”
I am beyond rage… I have wrapped around to pure clam. That he would continue to insinuate that I had anything to do with these… VERMIN that killed my wife and Adun knows how many of my clan…
Suddenly, I break free of the hold. I calmly approach Dr. Holstrom. I grab him by the collar and hold him off the ground.
“For all your degrees in Psychology, Medicine, whatever the hell you people call the healing arts, you are not a very smart man are you Dr. Holstrom?” I am perfectly calm, but I am seething inside, and if looks could kill, Holstrom would be a smoking crater in the ground. “You’ve clearly not been paying attention… these Rikti look nothing LIKE me! The only time I’ve seen them before is in my NIGHTMARES… as I watch them killing EVERY LAST MEMBER OF MY FAMILY!!!”
The Machine, Citadel lays a hand on my arm and I am compelled to set Dr. Holstrom down. I spare a moment to notice that the fighting around us has stopped for the most part… many hundreds of troops are now cleaning up the ground forces of the alien ship which itself is careening towards a distant mountain. Clearly, there are more secrets to this base than my presence. I look towards the machine, but he is talking to Dr. Holstrom.
“I have observed that this being has assisted us against the invaders. I will consider him an ally until he shows himself otherwise.” Thankfully, Holstrom’s protests fall on deaf ears. Clearly, the matter is settled as far as Citadel is concerned. I move to his side as we meet up with Luminary to continue the evacuation. Even though the invasion seems to be repelled, the reinforcements seem to feel that a “tactical retreat” is still the best option. I can’t fault their logic. The Rikti that attacked my family came in waves… there are probably more of them on the way…
“What are you?”
I am so preoccupied with my thoughts over what has happened that at first I don’t hear the question…
“Sorry?”
“What are you? What species are you? You are not Human, and your profile does not match any of the descriptions to which I have access.”
“Ah… I am called… um… you would not be able to pronounce it… well, perhaps you might, but the humans cannot. My clan name is Vox. I am an Indiran, from a planet… well, I was from a world named Cominyea before these Rikti destroyed it.”
“Vox. Understood. I heard you mention your family. I am… sorry.”
Sympathy from a machine? Truly there is a lot more technology to these humans than I have been led to believe… where was it when I did my scans twenty years ago? Could they really have advanced so much in such a short time?
“It… thank you. I… lost my mate in the attack, I.. “ I cannot maintain my focus any longer… I break down, the stones of my armor falling into rubble around me as I being to shake uncontrollably. I feel a touch on my shoulder, it is the other machine, Luminary. Her eyes… she looks at me and I can almost sense a soul within her gaze…
“There are others that could use your help. Will you come with us?”
I almost laugh… the first two non-humans I have met while on Earth and they have asked me to help them… what a change from being locked in a cage like an animal… it is… it is too much… I begin to laugh… Luminary and Citadel look at me as if I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. Maybe this is some dream and I’ll wake up back in my cell. Somehow the pain in my back and limbs promises me that this was, in fact, real.
“I know I could use the help of someone with your spirit, Vox. And perhaps I may be able to point you to resources that would allow you to contact others of your race?” Citadel’s offer is kind.. I accept with little further thought…
He hands me a small silver trinket.
"You'll need a proper Hero ID once we get to Paragon City, but for now this will do."

Citadel’s Assistant

Gonna have to add my voice to the "Sounds are... not so good" camp.

When I started the game, I chose the surname "vox" for all of my characters in anticipation of sonic blasters (waaay back when... before Issue 1...)

At any rate, to me, the sounds in this set are just... urgh...
The first one is ok, but the RAGH!!! for Scream?
I didn't even TAKE howl because I heard someone use it and... just... no.
Shockwave... this is about the only sound in the set I think is OK, but I don't know... maybe a bit of tweaking
Shout's isn't too bad, but it is WAY TOO LONG! And as someone else mentioned, it sounds a little too 1950s for me.
Haven't heard any of the others yet.

Look, with a Sonic hero, the sounds of his / her powers should make the Enemy think the WORLD IS COMING TO AN END! More BASS! Less 1950s Sci Fi!

Pretty please?
-Escher

You know what I think of when I hear that name?

Jack Burton: What is that stuff Egg?
Egg Chen: Black Blood of the Earth
Jack Burton: You mean Oil?
Egg Chen: I mean Black Blood of the Earth!

-Escher

Yeah, I know how you are Matches... you're doing this just to force me to leave the door to the Walk In Humidor of Victory Cigars wide open so you can go in there and take some for yourself... (you non-smoking Cigar Stealer you...)

Well forget that! Not gonna happen... not in this... SPACKLE! GET YOUR OWN!

-Escher

20/21 Missed the first one cause I thought it was Krole...

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Me, Lord Recluse, Ravenshadow, Poz, Another programmer (no cool handle), Capt. Mako.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please, get that poor ******* a cool handle before E3. You dont want him to be embarrassed do you?



[/ QUOTE ]

Will s/he let us pick a handle for him/her?

What about "Hexadecimator"?

[/ QUOTE ]

Fan of Battlebots maybe?

Hexidecimator or Hexy D to his friends was a quarterfinalist in his first ever Robot Combat competition in 2001. He has been tearing up opponants ever since... and I've had the pleasure of annoucing many of his fights. I even transported his little brother to a competition in 2003...

Hmmm... speaking of battlebot themed names then:

Shark Byte
White Rabbit
Overkill
Biohazard
Nightmare
Rammstein
Tentamushi V2.0
Ankle Biter (yes, the spelling is correct...)
Minion
....
way too many names in head....

-Escher
www.robotcombat.com

Well, yeah, again - all I am really concerned with is that our tactics are going to be severely limited yet again.

Mind you, I don't really have an issue with most of the changes... but the current test changes to SS and SJ... I see that States has said they have been evolving problems (at least with SJ) and that SS has been chagned in the past (removed the defense buff - yeah, I agree with that, it makes it nearly impossible to be hit) I also remember that SS was made non stackable with Granite Armor which really ... made me mad is the polite way, but I adapted.

Now, PvP - the jousting thing... yeah, that's kinda explotive. PvE? Hmmm... really hard to knock flyers out of the air as it is, now they're going to make it 50% harder? Hmmmm...

At any rate I'm probably exagerating, and for the most part I'm pretty happy with the way the Devs are going. These changes however? It really reduces legitimate super heroic type tactics and I just don't see how it is broken or explotive in the PvE environment.

-Esch

Liquid, I can understand your points... you're always pretty good at stating them... and I can see where just because no one complained doesn't mean there wasn't a problem, but look: Don't you find it the least bit interesting that now that they are trying to shoehorn PvP in, they are suddenly discovering all these powers that were "already broken"?

It just seems fishy to me... I'm not usually one who complains either, I've had my share of adapting to do, and have pretty much done so without complaint becuase I do believe that there should be some challenge to the game, but I am really getting worried that once someone discovers a new tactic that is perfectly valid, that power is going to be looked at and changed so that the tactic will no longer work.

This is an evolving game, there are, as you say, always new players coming in and new tactics (some of which are explotive perhaps) but are being discovered... I just... I don't know... I really didn't see a good PvE reason for doing this to SS or SJ.

Anyway...

Well isn't it so damn convenient then that all of these changes are occuring now that PvP is in heavy testing??? I mean come on, Statesman's promise is the best example of doubletalk I've seen since I read "1984". No changes will be made based solely on PvE considerations... indeed... so all they have to do is change whatever the heck they want and CLAIM there were signifigant PvE issues too... even if that isn't the case.

Come on guys... just hurry up and finish making EVERY DAMN HERO exactly the SAME. Give everyone Brawl, Sprint, Rest, and REMOVE all other powers... it's really the only way your going to acheive "Balance" after all...

I am getting so SICK of adapting to marginally needed changes... "Gosh, we're seeing a lot of blasters jousting in the Arena, we'd better nerf SS and SJ"... oh, when we TELL them this, we'll say "Well, we discovered signifigant PvE issues with these powers too..." OH REALLY? Nearly a YEAR after release? I ain't buying that line of reasoning for one second.

Brawl, Sprint, Rest... that's it... nothing else... or we'll be out of "balance".

/rant

EDIT, ok, I was being a bit unfair in my assessment, but my concerns remain.

...AND he owns his own comic store...

Props to Pol One and Redwood for calling out some new players rather than just listing all their old time friends! THIS is one of the main reasons to have a thread like this... and GRATS on finding a really good Pick Up TF team Red! It happens every once in awhile... that's how I met Raptorean Icer who was and is a great player.

I've not played with many new folks recently as I am working on a "Regen Scrappa" a/k/a THE Solo build... but when I do, I shall dutifully list them.

-Rob

Matches... definitely a cool player.

Also, pretty much any member of the following supergroups that I have played with. Those that were not cool, I either do not remember or have left the game.

Rough Trade
Lone STAR
XoO
Hall of Justice
Jedi Knights Templar

With special mention to:

Deaconess
Slingwish
Celtika
J'rel Prestoo
Carmen Ohio
Purramedic
Theoden
The Auger
Calash
Tyrr
Chrysalis
Krole
Mademe Marble
Vulker
The Cheat... er I mean The Cheetah

and many more that I simply cannot remember while not in game..

-Vox

I know that I have heard States address this in the past... about how at some time in the future they might be remapping some of the older city zones to give them a more unique flavor... I hope this is true. I mean, they kind of do already, but, not like Striga. I mean that was just nothing like what we had seen before. \

The hollows is basically a combination of Perez Park (with less tress) and Faultline (with less... um... depths?) But, this isn't necessarily a slam on the hollows, I thought they did a great job with it - just that striga was much better.

I've often thought they could do more to make the zones a bit more distinct, but I am sure it's WAY down on the priority list...

Anyway... looking forward to more art!

-Vox

Gish - Gish is a street in San Jose, probably close to Cryptic.

Cesium Exposure - Which is a sleep duration SO... Cesium as in "cease moving" perhaps?

Gotta say I appreciate how the forums are developing tree-wise. Each change that has been made has made a great deal of sense to me and I look forward to not having to wade through so many topics to find the information I need.

Good work Cuppa / Web Devs!

-Vox

Well, a big FAT Kudo (and similarly sized Cigar if he smokes em ) to GM_Roland, who helped figure out why I couldn't start the Tina McIntyre story arc even though I was the right level and all that... He actually helped me hunt some Malta so I could get another mission from her (he spotted for me and I ran my happy little tush over to where they were).

Excellent work - and a very prompt response time (less than 30 mins) for a busy Friday night.

-Onus Vox

Nah... after Terra handed me my hammer via my SKULL I decided I wouldn't mess with anymore DE AVs without serious backup.

-Rob

oh no no no... you keep that bad boy in the missions where he belongs... don't you DARE let him out!!! PLEASE???

Sucker killed my entire team... but we got our revenge...

-Rob

Baron Leo and Ingot Head have nailed it down for me...

I've thrown out the occasional "attaboy" post myself, not to kiss butt or to suck up, but just to let the Boys and Girls in RED know that hey, not every poster on these forums - in fact not even a MAJORITY of them are whining crying nerf herding babbies.

They say that folks usually remember the bad more than the good, and when I was a trainer for Earthlink Networks we were told that for every 1 Kudo we received saying "good work" there were at least 40 "You SUXORS!". I am perfectly happy to try and tip that balance in favor of the attaboys...

And if that makes some of the folks here think less of me, so be it. The reasonable ones are the only folks whose opinions really matter.

-Rob

OH, and P.S. GOOD JOB DEVS!