Mr_Grey

I'm sure the pictures also show the Jacks scratching at their eyes until they were bloody to get the images of a day-glow hero out of their minds.

No! Better yet, an escalator! That way, they just keep tumbling and falling and tumbling and falling and...

But, how else will I get my daily insanity fix?

Oh no, Stale! That's terrible. The Mean Girls must've checked his global and thought it was you

If I'd known this, I probably wouldn't have reacted so vehemently.

Instead, the general tone was "Don't expect it again." I know those weren't the words, but when asked in Jello Shooters on Sunday, Major T made it clear that he didn't see any interest in a Villain-side Hamidon Raid and wasn't expecting it anytime soon. Other words like "abandoning" and "forgetting" were used (perhaps not by T, but at that point I was already getting anxious), and my blood got to boiling.

So, again, I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. It was uncool of me, and the attitude I posted under was completely out of line.

I'm leaving what I've posted as-is, though. I'll live with the shame.

I already covered this elsewhere, Kid. The Raid leadership is fine.

I don't know what set me off so badly. It just seemed to me that the typical organizers of these events dropped it without asking if anybody else wanted to try to help. This meshed with some other problems I've been having with the server and channels (J.S. especially), and I blew my top.

I was obviously mistaken, though. So, I'm standing down.

I appreciate the sentiment, but if Hami were such a waste of time, I don't believe we'd be having this emotional back-and-forth.

I enjoy both raids, not for the grind, but for the people and the sensation that we're achieving something together. It's a lot of cats that are being herded, and my hat's off to the people that do it.

But there are enough on the server that DO find it fun and are able to kill the monster.

In fact, I don't think it's so much killing the monster that we're so keen about, it's knowing that we're able to coordinate so many disparate players to do it, utilizing resources and tactics that aren't available to the other side. It's a lot of people, who are friends, getting together to accomplish a difficult task.

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I'm being so critical of the "Getting the word out" issue because I'm in the same boat that others have mentioned, I usually don't know about a raid until just before it's going to happen (and I DO visit the forums regularly). This last one, I was barely able to prepare in time.

I'm also sore about how "We got the word out" was "spamming channels as the raid was starting." Suddenly, I'm seeing "We tried everything we could, then after some debate, we decided to forego the Redside Hamidon..."

...

I don't remember this debate, and I play fairly regularly. Heck, this thread is the FIRST we've ever started talking about it, and it's happening AFTER a decision was made to abandon it (which has inspired a new lively debate). I didn't hear anything about it until this past Sunday, where the news was passed by people who may not be exactly "in charge," but they sure as Hell are listened to very closely.

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So... We don't like Redside, apparently.

Why?

What is so wrong about Redside? It's got interesting challenges, interesting archetypes (about the only one I don't like is the Dominator, but there are players who SWEAR by them), and more than a few decent stories.

Some players complain of it being a strain on their machines. Yeah, that happened to me, too. Hard. So hard it kept me from getting a 50 villain until RWZ was installed (because RWZ uses less resources than Grandville for whatever reason).

So... My only recommendation is to rectify that situation. You have a game, you have a HUGE portion of it available to you... But you're shying away from it because you feel your machine is a toaster. Well, here's a headline, it's not going to get any better for your machine as Ultra Mode comes down the pipe and starts working at turning your video card into Swiss cheese. All the stuff after Ultra Mode? It's very likely going to be optimized for Ultra Mode.

Save your money to improve your machine. Spare change, savings fund, whatever... I got my latest video card (NVidia 9800GT) for $150 (from a store, not out of the back of somebody's car), and it's been fantastic, even handles Ultra Mode on Test. If you can't save $150 in a month, something's got to give.

Don't like the story? Learn to roleplay. Learn to write. IMAGINE! The Rogue Isles don't need to be a home for villains alone. Your character can easily be a renegade, a mercenary, a person in a bad situation, or what-have-you. Lunatics and monsters need not apply. And if you're not at all into roleplay, then what the Hell is the problem with the story, anyway? You can ignore that just as easily.

Do we have to encourage more teaming on Redside? Is that all it is? I will GLADLY start running Redside teams. I LIKE watching what those archetypes can do together. It's a really good synergy.

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Or maybe we need to work out new suggestions on how to engage in a Redside Hamidon. Maybe new times, or a different day.

How about Fridays at 9 P.M. Eastern, 6 Pacific (Edited, thanks, Ice9). It's a Friday, people often duck out early on Fridays, giving them time to get prepared. Hell, we can do it at 10 P.M. Eastern. Where the Hell do you have to be the next day, anyway?

Is that not good enough? Too bad, nobody else is suggesting anything. Suggest something good for you. Let's get some brainstorming going, let's start working this out! If we just sit here, pointing fingers at each other, we're not going to get anything done.

And now, I leave with a parting rant:

IF YOU CAN MAKE TIME FOR A BLUE SIDE RAID, YOU CAN MAKE TIME FOR A RED SIDE RAID!

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...

Oh, I can't wait to see how this comes back to bite me in the butt.

Here it is...

Here's my reality: $10,000 a year, if I'm LUCKY. Considering the fact that in this country, twice that is considered "Lower Middle Class," that's essentially a shoe-string I've got to work with. I pay all the bills in my house and get little-to-no support from my family. I have to pay for repairs for my Jeep that hasn't been the same since a drunk friend wrecked it, and I also have to buy all the food for my home. I pay the taxes on my house because the person who owns the place (my mother) can't do it and doesn't see why she should since she doesn't live here (and if she were still paying installments on it, I'm sure I'd be paying those).

As somebody who's hovering above the poverty line, somebody who's better off than me telling me that they can't save $150 is bull-crap. Find a luxury and cut it for a while. It's not like you need to see another lame MTV special on another celebrity's messed-up take on life.

There is only ONE person who I wouldn't be saying any of this to: Zekiran. She's let us in on some of the craziness in her life, and I would agree that she's just not able to catch a break. I'm probably going to find myself in her shoes someday, too. Maybe then I'd understand. But that's her, not the rest of you with your kids, your houses, and your regular jobs.

As it stands, however, I have my own struggles, and I was still able to fix my situation. The "Graphics Problem" is only going to get worse, for the entire game. Wise up and start your saving.

Actually, thinking on it, it's starting to get pretty funny.

As for the other... I don't know what to say. You didn't give me much to work with.

Thanks for that entirely OFF translation, River.

When I say "the wheat is rotting" I mean that the social experience of the Hamidon Raid is deteriorating, not the leadership of it. Hell, the game's social experience, period. The tone of recent months has been anything but lighthearted.

Kidengineer, you've got this game down to a science. You're a FANTASTIC gaming tactician, and who knows what other cool things you're doing in life. I would never think of disparaging you in this.

But our regular avenues of recruitment have hemorrhaged players. Either they're not checking their channels or they're not playing anymore for whatever reason. We don't pull players from those avenues because they're simply not there.

That doesn't mean we're DYING, though. There are still plenty of new players, and many of them are on our server looking for something to do. If they know something is about to happen, and are given the information (and possibly time) they need to prepare for it, then I would figure we stand a good chance of seeing a better turnout.

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The only sarcasm in this post is my thanking River. Everything else is honest.

As for the other... I was told to start my ******** here, so here is where I will *****.

Hm, good point. I'm not in RSF Regulars, so I can't exactly comment on them... But that doesn't change the fact that advertisement practice for the channels is "A few times the prior day and throughout the actual day of the event."

Some people are probably planning their weekend throughout the week. Come Friday, they've probably already got their entertainment needs set.

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I just got done talking with Blaze Rocker. He says that, so long as we have a set day/time, he'll get the word out on Protector TFs. Frankly, it looks to be a strong channel with a growing playerbase... There may be a training curve involved, because I wouldn't be surprised if many of them were new, but...

The wheat is starting to rot. I think it would be worth it to sift through the chaff to find a fresh crop.

Where is the sarcasm here? This is honest.
No, I don't believe I sound like a jerk. I'm stating a simple logic.
And no, I'm not insulting the raid leadership. "The wheat is starting to rot" is referring to the recruitment methods, not the leadership. I wasn't saying anything about the leadership of the raid, just one aspect of their endeavor.

I've run into players who've had multiple 50s within a month of starting. That didn't mean they knew anything about the game, but they certainly were in the range of education for such a thing as a Hamidon Raid.

So, yes, NPWN could help them, too.

I wasn't referring to the actual Hamidon Raid. I was referring to the social prelude to the Raids.

And...

Obviously this isn't working, otherwise we wouldn't be having this lively discussion.

Not by what I tend to see. There've been stretches where STF Masters and RSF Regulars have been straight BLANK. Protector TFs only JUST included information on a Redside Raid... That channel's founder didn't know about Hami Raids because he doesn't peruse the forum. Oh, and while I'm at it...

Just because they have access does not mean that they use it. That's why I used the wording I used. I wasn't implying that they CAN'T come to the forum in the first place, I was saying that they DON'T come to the forum, for whatever reason they have.