NetMinder

This problem is part of MA as well. All custom critter descriptions must be contigious as well. If you place a return, it barks for invalid characters in the description.

Issues with Critters:
EB/AV Dark Melee:
The AI loves to run away and almost never uses its tier 1/2 attack. And against players hovering at ground level, it will run away eventhough the player is well within melee range.

Masterminds:
Something is erratic in thier behavior on patrols, because sometimes they all will summon, and sometimes no summons... but very rarely some summon and some dont. Not sure on the trigger to summon in a Patrol, but its very erratic. (Using Mercs/Pain)

Subjective:
Critter spawn rates. I would like to see a slider or just raw weighting given to custom critters in custom groups over stock critters in custom groups. Stock critters are nice filler material for a group because of arc size limits, but I would like to see a 60/40 or 66/33 wieghting for my custom creations in my group..... ya know since I went through the trouble of creating them.
And sometimes you want to have a rare spawn thats just a real pain.

Use a better password.
Scan better for trojon's and keyloggers.
Dont use public machines.

Those 3 alone go a long way.


And the VPN FOBs work rather nice (i use one for my work). The combination of name, password, VPN+PIN do make it excessivly hard to hack ones account, but again it would have an associated cost. I dont see why CoX wouldn't do it, but would enough people utilize it to make up the setup costs?



And don't use your forum name as your account name!
Giving someone 1/2 the infomation needed to get access to your account is well..... unwise.

No.

The L50 Lt drops the same as a L52 Lt.
Same for minions.
I dont have enough boss data, but I cant imagine it would be different.

From experience tho, (mainly with LTs because there are enough of them to measure, but only 1-2 per group as to not get spammed):
You can get 6-10-14 tickets from a Lt of any level.
You get more 10-14s from higher level Lts, and more 6-10s from even level Lts.
The actual drop rate is the statistically the same, tho.

So you will get more tickets over time, but the number is really quite small because of the longer time/kill.

Net

Snarky as expected. PLay an Empathy Defender and tell me how much fun EBs are.

Anyways just some rules of thumb for MA building:

1) Never place an EB/AV without an EB/AV ally. Wont always help, but it at least shows you are thikning about the non-l33t builds.

2) Never give a Minion or LT mezzer armor. I though Mind Control/Dark Armor was a really cool concept, until he ate through my mez toons. Did I mention he was a minion, so 2 of them were bafflingly strong. Boss class mezzers with armor are ok.. I mean they are bosses.

3) Non-Mission objectives are cool, but please use sparingly. Ive seen more than one arc were really important clues were tagged to non-mission glowies. Gah. Those should really be additional information, but not required for the story to make sence.

4) Forest maps have no concept of Front/Middle/Back. Its in the tips, and really not said anywhere else. When using Forest maps, plan well because your objectives could end up anywhere (even out of order).

5) Play test. Play test. Play test. Its a real pain to get a group to test an arc, but even after you publish, run it through with larger groups just to check the scaling. Some arcs play great solo, but then go to either end of the spectrum at 8 players.

6) Ranged and Melee please. This is a system level gripe, but you really need one of each in each class of custom group. Not only does this make the group well rounded, it breaks up the monotony of facing the same 2-3 enemies over and over. Fill with stock if you have to, but please, 6 type minimum on custom groups.

Net

Im going to have miss tomorrow's event. I've recently taken up the mantle of softball coach for my step-daughter's team and have several requests for "extra practice" time for pitching, which will be immediately after practice tomorrow night. And to think I specifically made practice from 5-630pm on Tuesday to no conflict with TT. Sigh.


Net

..... hitting the ground of any of the trenches in Terra Volta teleported you randomly in the zone (geometry glitch).

.....herding the entire room of Eden Trial... because you could!

.....the first Winter Lord PL debacle led to turbo L20 noobs.

.....there was no Hallows for people to whine about. It was KR and PP for 5-10 content.

.....Burn = I win.

.....you would have spend hours/days/months hoping to catch the Paladin Construction happening for the badge.

[ QUOTE ]
OK, then, my next arc will be all about the ninja zombie pirate lesbian catgirls. From Mars.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd ***** that.

(yes thats really just 5 *'s) =P

I had to remove a 1/2 dozen customs to shoehorn my 3 mission arc into the file limit. (99.99% file size). It got down to stripping out words from clues and descriptions to make it work with the bare minimum. I filled some of the gaps with stock villians inplace of customs, but I made it fit. Its a bit of a pain sometimes, but there is a saying in engineering:
The product is complete not when there is nothing left to add, but rather when there is nothing left that can be removed.

Too much hassle, too little reward.

Example:
The other night I was in the middle of an AE arc and my ISP went stupid and I lost connection. After about 15 mins, I gave up because the cable line was still dead so I went off and modded a few nerf guns and went to bed.
In the morning I logged in, and it said I was still logged in from last night, eventhough I really wasnt, but somehow the servers didnt recognize I wasnt on the other end. So thats 10-12 hours I wasnt really logged in, but the game said I was.

Also: consider the monitoring database that would need to be set up and coordinated and managed. Ugh.

Arc Name: Canine War!
Arc ID: 74097
Length: 3 Missions
Morality: Heroic
Enemy Groups: Canidae Lupus (custom), Blood Fur (custom)Canidae Vulpes (custom), Mercenaries (custom), Banished Pantheon, Circle of Thorns
Difficulty: While featuring lots of canines, dont expect too much smash and lethal. Tactics have been upgraded and the wolves get very strong in large packs. Challenge level 1 is a good workout, but damage resiliant heroes and villians can push it quite far. In large groups, higher challenge settings are not recommended.
Estimated Time: Anywhere from 15mins to about an hour depending on your abilities.
Description: The wolves have long since held the top spot on the food chain but a recent discovery has planted the seeds of rebellion in thier cousins' mind. Can you help the foxes throw off the oppressive rule or will the wolf always be top dog?

(Author's Note: 99.99% file size. I had to remove about a half dozen customs and some added events to shoe horn all the required elements into the arc. Some of the clues may seem a little light on text, but I had to strip everything down to bare minimums.)


Arc Name: Terror on the Sea
Arc ID: 31214
Length: 5 missions
Morality: Heroic
Enemy Groups: Circle of Thorns, Arachnos, Sky Raiders, Sea Raiders (custom)
Difficulty: Medium to low. The level range is upper 30s so higher levels weill be ex'ed down. And be prepared, the new Raiders pose new threats and can catch the unsuspecting off guard.
Description: Some odd activity in the city and new but somehow familar group points to a hit on someone big.

(Authors note: This was my first arc, and was originally scripted as 10 missions, but I didn't want to take up 2 slots for it. Because the concept of the Sea Raiders, I delibratly made the level range where it was as to not break continuity with where the Raiders are in the game.)

@Netminder

#1
But still, in Talos, its .71 miles to the Hero Corp rep. And .71 miles back. Thats a nice long hop.
Skyway is similar.
PI is a little better.
Atlas is pretty close.

So just having one, say up by the ticket vendor would be nice.

#2
I like this one. Alot. As I've discovered the hard way, a group thats challenging spawned for 2-3 can be just devistating at 6-8 (Arch/Dark Miasma = group wipe when you get 4-5 in a group and they all splash Tar Patch,).

#3 Dual Build. Just focus your secondary build on Stealth and Phase. Its easy enough to do.

#4 - Publish then unpublish. It sucks to lose stars, but its already there.

Do you have to get rep for a drop chance or just any PvP kill?

I would advocate a different Tuesday.

Two reasons:
1) Player Dilution. Lots of regulars like being regulars at the event. Spreading us out across 2 servers lessens the tankage at each.

2) Organizational Problems. Sometimes I try to organize a cool event (like the Mothership raid). Im sure events will be planned on other server TTs as well. If these were to conflict, players would have to choose between them, and I dont think the point is to conflict with each other.

Lastly, I would recommend taking the last months upto the 5th Anniv to do this.

By my calander Oct 6th is the 60th.
So in reverse week order:
Sept 29th: Freedom
Sept 22nd: Justice
Sept 15th: Pinnacle
Sept 8th: Virtue
Sept 1st: Champion (59)
Aug 25th: Liberty
Aug 18th:Guardian
Aug 11th: Infinity
Aug 4th: Champion (58)
July 28th:Protector
July 21st: Victory
July 14th:Triumph
July 7th: Champion (57)

After the 60th, we can then use the 2nd Tuesday as the roadshow time.

Just my $0.02

The plaque isnt a recognition to the organizers, its recognition to the people behind the players that show up on the wall each month. Without them, TT is little more than 4-5 of us.

The plaque gives them the tip o' the hat of thanks for coming out each month. Thanks for making TT what it is. Thanks for being part of something that is certainly much bigger than any of us every thought it would be.

Perhaps Im biased, but Im all for it.

I started as just one of the tanks on the wall, but I learned alot about tanking and leading from it. And am darn proud to be a part of it each month. Very very few things keep me away (like my sons 1st grade music concert tomorrow night) each month.

I do know that I need to get on the ball and start thinking about TT #60. The all Tanker States TF was a blast. And the Tanker Mothership raid (4+ teams of all tanks!) was ownage at its best. Hmmm...... what to do... what to do.... muahahahahahaha

I can get 44.78% def to Ranged and 42.14% def to AoE with Bots/Dark/Mu. When I get bubbled by my bots I'm +50% def on those 2 and my melee def goes to about 30%.
And when you factor in all the /Dark goodness of debuffs (like -Dmg -Regen and -toHit), Bots/Dark/Mu is a GM slayer. Ive taken a few down solo.

Tier 3s are really powerful, and even Tier 2s can really make a big difference. I dont think we want to make them an unlimited easy to obtain resource. Im happy enough with the 3 into 1 different.

/unsigned

[ QUOTE ]
That's why baseball is a better sport. Everything is either washable or made of plastic.

[/ QUOTE ]

Aside from goalie leg armor, everything is washable for hockey.... you just need a really big machine. Personally we use the hot tub in the master basthroom. The jets work like a washing machine for pushing water/soap around. And the water is pretty dark afterwards. Then comes the 12-24 hour drying period because, again, while they are machine safe, you need a good sized machine that you dont like to have all that armor bouncing around in it.

And unlike baseball, hockey helmets are personal gear. Think about that your kid puts on one of the communal helmets in the average baseball league. *ewwww* There have been more that 1 head lice outbreak from batting helmets in recent memory.

Ya never realize how much hockey gear you have until you have to get all packed up.
Not including old/emergency spare gear (which comprises 2-3 full sets):
Goalie Gear - full set (2 sets of skates, one for me, one for wife)
Wife's gear
My gear
Son's gear
Step daughters gear.

Ugh. 5 full sets of gear, and it all got used this weekend. (and my basement really stinks right now. Not enough Fabreeze in the world)
Between 7pm Friday and 9pm Sunday-
Me - 3 games + 1 practice (1 goal, 3 assists, 1 game in net)
Wife - 2 games + 1 practice (0 points, 1 game in net)
Son - 4 games + 1 practice (2 goals)
Daughter - 1 game (0 points)

On the upside, my son got his first goal in a tournament. 2 actually, and his team got first place. Extra woot! Watching mini-mites (ages 4-6) is just hysterical. Everyone had a blast all weekend long. Bodies everywhere on the ice, the swarm of kids following the puck, and one really bored ref. And one really proud father *grin*.

Cons are a blast, big, small, in-between... all the same. Youll get out what you put in. If you stay to yourself and shuffle around, expect to be lonely. Go to panels, speak up, play games youve never even heard before, or some that you have, and youll meet loads of people. Dress up, pose for pictures, let the inner geek shine with pride. Afterwards, disavow all knowledge about throwing produce off the roof, putting vasaline on the handles of the bathroom, and spending $100 to have your friends locked in the Klingon jail.

Not that I have done any of that... and the pictures are fuzzy, that could be anyone. =P


Interesting Fun Fact:
I appear in the 2005 GenCon book. Last day of the con in 2004 I got my picture taken with the WizKids crew (I was working as an Envoy) and I didnt make it 20ft into the con before a friend ran up showing me the pic.

605 blueside.
523 redside.

Welcome to club.

Slight footnote here: Im not taking her to an Anime Convention, her biological father is. Thats not to say I wouldnt take her to GenCon, but I have my standards. I certainly never attended any convention as a kid because my parents were poor. (First Con I went to was GenCon and that was because I won a spot in a Nationals tourney and was paid $250 stipend to go. I came out ahead actually because of some really wierd luck @ the hotel).

Anyways, I appreciate the input. The con in question isnt for several months, so I have some time to decide what to do.

Oddly enough, AnimeIowa allows metal props, tho they are required to be "peace-bonded" except in photo-op areas.
Making something like this isnt new for me as Ive done commissions for cosplay before, but I tend to be very realistic in my creations. Pretty much, if I wouldn't be proud to show it off, it doesnt leave the shop. So the cardboard and metallic paint just doesnt cut it for me. Granted with commissions, its the end users' issue with conventions as I haven't suited up for a convention in....... 8 years now. So with my step-daughter this is new ground, and im not quite sure where to tread.

Speaking of Anime and teenagers.....

My step-daughter gave me a request. She wants to dress up as Temari (from Naturo) for AnimeIowa this year. Her biological father is fairly inept at engineering/construction where I have my own 300+sqft workshop in the basement. The "iron fan" she wants isnt really tough to make, tho id use aluminum for weight purposes, its a question of should I hand a 3 to 4 ft metal fan to a 13yr old. Rounding the edges/removing corners aside, this just has bad idea written all over it...... or am I just being overly paranoid?