New_Dark_Age
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:Originally Posted by Durakken
I'm writing a story where military ranks and such may be important to know... Not so much current ones, but one created in reaction to events...
Basically there is an alien invasion which leaves technology behind. This technology is then used to create a new US military branch that then eventually moves to a global military eventually...
At first the technology is used terrestrially, but is presumed that it will expand to space.
The branch is initially formed by a General and a Lt. Colonel who petition for it and are put in charge largely because they are highly regarded and they were at the center of the invasion and because of that have experience with using some of the recovered technology. Likewise a civilian is recruited as he has the most experience with the tech by chance.
I want the story to revolve largely around a 5 man team, largely using the excuse that there is only currently enough time to get 5 prototype/working model up and running of hybrid/new equipment. Eventually 5 man teams turn into 11 man squads, and etc up the groupings...
Now here are the ranks I'm thinking...
General
Captain (captains ship)
Commander (2nd in command on ship)
Lieutenant Colonel (division head) or LtCommander
Major (shift head) or LtColonel
Lieutenant (2nd in command on a shift)
Ensign (commissioned officer)
Cadet (in training to be an officer)
Staff Sergeant (Squad leader, NCO)
Sergeant (team leader, NCO)
Corporal (NCO)
Specialist (graduated enlisted with 4y degrees/civilian-aquired skills, non-command position)
Private First Class (graduated enlisted)
Private (Recruit in boot camp)
Now this follows more or less the 8 tiers of Officers and several tiers of enlisted, with most NCOs left out.
The reason NCOs are mainly left out is that everything above Staff Sergeant seems like it'd be worthless or wouldn't fit as larger groups would be organized by the Officers and the Officers would get mentored by higher ups when they'd get to that level. Perhaps I'm wrong and if so please let me know what you think...
I'm thinking of having the LtC from the beginning take on the leadership of the initial 5 man team. Would that happen? Would they perhaps take on a different rank because of this or switching branches of the military?
I'm thinking of saying that people are taken from other branches for high marks. Would this be acceptable?
What rank would the civilian hold? He'd be an active member of the team and has "civilian-acquired" skills due to experience with alien technology, but i'm not exactly sure what that means. He's between High school and College so he doesn't have a degree... It seems like he'd be a PFC or Specialist, but I'm not sure.
The parentheses after the rank is a small note of what their role is on a ship and/or to my understanding their position within the military. I've used Army and Navy ranks... and because it's a pretty nice basis to start from how StarFleet more or less works their officers. Like I said earlier the idea is that it is Army started to a degree and has Army elements to it, but with the outlook of it might start taking to space it has Naval terms in there too... Do the rank look about right for what would happen in that case? Also I like Major as a rank title, but it seems out of place... is there a better solution than the "or" solution around that rank... I've thought that maybe Major might be used specifically for the shift heads that relate directly to the Army-esque sections and also by doing that it would be a bit confusing with LtColonel and Major = same rank and both are military rank titles.
Also... considering the 5 team members would be a LtCol, and a Civilian? what would the other 3 members of the team ranks be? I would assume 1 of each rank about PFC?
Hard to address everything so if you have any questions just ask me.
Well firstly about your mixture of Army and Navy ranks. If this is like Star Voyage space flight technology then Naval Ranks might be more appropriate. If its more of a ground force then Army ranks might be more appropriate. Its its a mixture then certain Marine ranks may be appropriate. If this technology is used for long range air attacks then consider it a branch of the Air Force
The Navy equivalent of an Army General is an Admiral.
The Army equivialent of an Navy Captain is a Colonel.
A Captain in the Army is a much lower officer than a Captain in the Navy.
Drop the rank Specialist.... its bull****. The Marines do not have it. Unless this story has hundreds of soldiers I would not even use it. Just use Private then Corporal. Or Seaman then Petty Officer (Navy). Only use Specialist when refering to the civilian maybe..even then it should not be a rank.
Lieutenant Colonels in the army command a Battalion which consists of 300-1200 men and as such usually conduct missions with Company or Platoon sized elements. I am sure you can have a Lieutenant Colonel working with a 5 man team or 11 man squad but it just seems weird to me so you may consider making your main character a lower rank like a Lieutenant or Captain or Navy Lieutenant.
The civilian would not be a rank but contracted by the military but still would have to answer to the commander or his subordinates.
Also if the Space Flight is one ship a CAPTAIN would be in charge of it most likely with the Admirals watching from a safe diatance.Or an Air Force Colonel would be in charge of it while the Air Force Generals watch from a safe distance. If the ship is small, the Commander of the vessel can go down in rank maybe, Navy Commander or Air Force Lieutenant Colonel.
If it expanded to many ships then it might be feasible that an Admiral or Air Force General would accompany them. -
Quote:Same hair style of that girl from the 5th element only not red.Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
Some of us like that.
WarWitch wins for me.
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Quote:Churchhill also said:Originally Posted by Rangle M. Down
"...A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject..."
W. S. Churchill
"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
Johnny Butane also said something along the lines of this:
"If someone in real life had superpowers the US government would not tolerate any individual that powerful that they could not directly control.
Really, it has to come down to you or them. Like you said, either you seize control, or those in control will destroy you."
and I believe he also said:
"This is why Democracy(Majority Rule) does not work"
Now thats what I'm taking about. More of my kind of language. Anyone who talks like this has imagination and has potential to get **** done. You talk to any American dunce on the street and this moron could not even fathom any alternative form of government other than the impotent system we have in place although he spends his nights drinking while criticizing that system and the corrupt politicians. Yet dispite his resentment to the system this guy is too stupid to accept or offer an alternative.
The game has changed with IOs and all. Tankers have not improved as much with it in my view. IOs make it more logical to roll something else. Hulk would not be caught dead being a Tanker. -
Johnny:
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." ~Jonathan Swift
Keep up the good work.
PS: Hulk would be a SS/WP Brute since WP has a resistance and regeneration with psionic protection. It just would not be called Will Power though. Invulneration .... Regenability ..lol I dont know. -
As I said before, let's be really stupid and have Blaster damage increased 3 fold and call them fixed lol
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Quote:This movie is just going to suck like the last one. Star Trek is not an action franchise. They are making it more a mindless action franchise while ignoring the deeper philosopical meanings to cater to the moronic dregs of society. Expect no plot. no character development , contrived behavior, mindless action, no spirit...all while making the intelligent watcher feel a sense of inadequacy.Originally Posted by LegionAlpha
I have had some lame posts, this is where is get my rep back.
http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-...222928738.html -
Quote:Originally Posted by Steelclaw
* Her robots are anatomically correct.
* Her constant insistance that I call her "mommy"...
* Getting "The Silent Treatment" means she turns off your brain's ability to process sound.
* Some people have skeletons in their closet... others have cemetaries.
* "Seers" is just another word for "Snitchers"...
* Pelvic perforations from tight hugs and that lethal belt buckle of hers.
* When it comes to adoption she makes Angelina Jolie look like a child hater.
* There is NO correct answer to "Who's been a bad boy?"
* When you disagree, "Maybe I'll change my mind" is a useless argument... she's already changed it for you.
* She makes Joker look well-adjusted.
* When dating a psychotic psychic the term "getting h**d" can take on sinister meaning.
* (blank expression... monotone voice) There is nothing wrong with dating Mother Mayhem... I love Mother Mayhem... I love her more than my next breath...
* They're all female.... They're all psychics.... You don't think their cycles are all going to synch up at the same time?
* She's like Fatal Attraction... and you're the rabbit.
* She said "No"...
Edit: As an aside... I dare... I DARE... the Devs to change the cut scene to BAF for April Fool's Day... When she sort of crunches in on herself during her monologue I want that spiked belt buckle of hers to perforate one of her implants... I want that sucker to pop out and fly around the room like a punctured balloon... complete with sound effects and Nightstar/Siege watching it whiz around with their heads turning in perfect unison.
I like MoM. I go see her whenever I'm in the mood for some erotic lactation. -
Quote:True but its impractical since no one plays red side.Originally Posted by DrGamma
Or you can use the Frenzy alignment power... It's why all my doms are real villains.
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Quote:Originally Posted by JayboH
They're called Permadoms.
This goes for the OP too - try a dominator and stick with it. They are far less of a pain to level up than controller and can get quite ridiculous. I have no problems fighting x8 groups solo.
Just don't use Ice Control.
Permadom isnt really good enough for mez protection being that you have to build it up in the first place. You log into the game and have to fight mobs before you can do a mish to build up permadom;.. you die...have to do it again to build up permadom; you forget to hit hasten...gotta do it again. You get ambushed before building up Dom..you're screwed for mez protection.
Only acceptable mez protection for dominators outside of incarnates is Indomitable Will if you can perma it with a crap ton of recharge since you dont need to build it up. -
Energy Aura is awesome but understand Darej that Energy Aura is a late blooming set. You will get your *** kicked at early lvls but once you get Energize you have good mitigation to damage and you can get unlimited endurance with Energy Drain.
If you go EA and are more of a brawler than a Tanker I would go Scrapper Stj/EA . Energize comes earlier for Scrappers at level 28 whereas Brutes have to wait until 35. A Brute will have more durability, AOE and Tanking ability though so choose what sounds good to you. -
Quote:I like this guy. Pity he probably does not play anymore lolOriginally Posted by joshx
i desire power, OP, nerf demanding power,
when i find such class's in games, i tend to have the must fun i found,
am a exploiter at heart
I grin ear to ear when i found near godlike power and use it perfectly to own in a game -
Quote:Originally Posted by QuarriosSoul
If I wasn't before, I am now.
I'm aware of the unspoken rule that costume contests are as subjective as those who run them, but I don't think that making the "do X if you want to win next time" comment on a forum was the best idea.
Do X ?
Was joking with Panda...I just thought it was funny cause I recognize him still. Probably held that CC two or three weeks ago or something. Just remember there was a very large turn out. -
Quote:Dont know how. Know how to take pics in game but its not like posting pictures in this forum is as easy as attaching a pic to an email.. Guess I have to put pics on photo bucket or something then link it. Its kinda sounds like a lot of work. Might help me show winners of my CCs though.Originally Posted by Canine
. However, I'm willing to be proven wrong, so feel free to post your brute, with bio attached.
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Quote:You talking to me??Originally Posted by QuarriosSoul
Really?
The bio is fine as it is.
It was a Costume COntest probably.. because I got the bling bling people always come to my CCs. I dont have time to read like 60 peoples character descriptions. So Panda's bio didnt factor in..just his costume.
If people wrote like I said.. we could have Bio CCs now could we : )
Not sure if you were talking to me
Duke of Dis-Orient.....now thats clever I would admit. -
Quote:Panda !!! You were in one of my Costume/Concept Contests on Freedom in City Hall. Not sure if I was on D a r k A g e though. You would know cause D a r k A g e is the badass Brute with the boneyard/skull look.Originally Posted by Ironik
Yes. Get out, you freak.
If you want your costume to win next time I suggest you get on my level son. I will be having another CC this weekend probably so you can look at D a r k A g e and take notes
lol as I wrote this
some of your other costumes are cool. I'm a judge that likes simplicity and logic so fantasy armored characters dont always win like the other Freedom CCs -
Quote:Character description is not a story... its a summary.Originally Posted by Scarlet Shocker
Nothing you have done here is original
But then again, Stan Lee wasn't exactly breaking new ground, he simply re-imagined old stories for new environments.
Original is very difficult, as the Bard has observed. To me, the trick is not writing a new story, it's telling an interesting story.
Overall you are right. Doesnt matter if a concept is original as long as its interesting. -
Quote:Whos complaining about that?Originally Posted by SilverPharaoh
complaining that someone used the character limit on their character bio is as useless as complaining that someone used all the slots on their costume
I use almost all space usually. I just go from general to complex rather than assbackwards like some people. -
Rule # 1
Never take a shower in the men's locker room on Virtue without a chastity belt on. -
Quote:lol VirtueOriginally Posted by Demetrios Vasilikos
Rule #1:
Never use RP as an excuse to be a perv or a rude curse spewing social deviant. -
Quote:lol dont be mad cause you do not know how to start a character summary.Originally Posted by Ironik
Here's a short story for you: YOUR OPINION IS NOT FACT.
Also, those examples you gave as "good" are genuine crap. If I saw those in the game, I'd roll my eyes and think, "Amateur."
Why don't you show us screenshots of your character bios and we'll tell you all the ways they are fundamentally broken. Trust me, if the examples you've given there as "Good" are really what you consider to be exemplary storytelling, all of your bios are junk.
My examples were the mere first sentence or two of the bio. The dots (......) represent that more content will come after.
No one reads your bios Mr. professional. No one cares about your creative writing abilities. They may care about what superhero you made though..pity they will never know cause they fell asleep after the first line. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Hopeling
If you can convey the same thing in less words, it is usually better to do so (especially if you want other players to read it). However, your examples haven't just trimmed out extraneous details, they've trimmed out everything until what's left can't even really be called a story. Impervious Hard Man's bio tells you absolutely nothing about the character other than his Invulnerability powerset and that he's a villain, which you can already see if you're /info-ing him without needing to read the bio.
I do agree that the "sweet spot" for a bio, at least in the sense of the ones that I find both interesting and memorable, usually are one paragraph or less.
The first sentence of the bio is most important. That is why it is a general description. So..if someone reads the first sentence then stops reading they know who they are dealing with.
The other sweet stuff comes after the general description.
You really dont have the space to write an extensive story by the way. And even if you did no one would read it. So.. direct is the logical way to go. -
Quote:Disagree how? You cant argue that a more direct to the point bio gets you concept across better.Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I'm sorry, but I couldn't disagree with you more. There's a reason people say that greatness is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. A good story is good almost entirely based on how it is told. Ideas are cheap. Any even moderately-savvy movie-goer can give you good idea after good idea all day and never run out, but a good idea told in a sentence is nothing more than an empty, unrealised concept.
Imagine, if you will, trying to retell Luke Skywalker's story at the end of A New Hope. "He's a young boy who got drafted in a war and blew up the Death Star." Exciting! Maybe you see it differently, but I see nothing about this character that I care to explore, because that one sentence tells me nothing about him that's interesting. It's a statement of fact, and unless that idea you're talking about is pure divine providence, that fact is not interesting.
It is my experience that some of storytelling's best stories are also the simplest, most basic ones, made great not because they are such novel and unheard-of ideas, but rather because the people who put them together were very, very skilled.
This, really, is a large reason why contemporary writing in City of Heroes is in such a sorry state - because it does what you suggest. It boils every story down to its bare bones essentials that even a distracted 8-year-old could stick out to the end, and as such simply excludes everything that makes a good story good. It gives me no reason to care about any of the characters therein and thus I lack any investment. It fails to give me any any real emotion because that takes pacing, build up, structure and payoff. It fails to give me anything more than a plot synopsis would.
The soul of a story is in the telling, and a character's biography is that character's story. Granted, it's a very SHORT story and there certainly is a science to making one, but it is a story nonetheless.
Hate to break it to you but you arent going to affect emotion with your character story. I'm sorry. Best you can hope for is to describe the character and let people feel what they want for themselves.
Once again no one is going to read a novel so they can feel the way you want them to feel. -
Quote:Thank you, thank you.Originally Posted by Venture
The problem is what's in the info box isn't your story. It's the blurb on the inside of the dust jacket that's supposed to get people interested in the story.
And in City, it doesn't need to be any bigger than the current space allows.
This is why direct is almost always better. -
Holding a Costume Contest on Freedom at 9 pm central (North America time) Will be in one of the Atlas Parks. Will announce on Help channel. Will be on my character D a r k A g e
Top 10 get influence
1st: 200 million
2nd 120 million
3rd 100 million
4th 75 million
5th 50 million
6th -10th between 30 million -10 million -
Quote:It is the way you write that makes your character sound good by explaining the concept you have. Having a direct to the point story/description increases the probability of other players seeing that concept. So you would probably have twice as many people congratulating you on your story if you just wrote more directly and wrote to capture attention and put spaces in your bio.Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
So? People don't want to read, I've grown to accept this, but I fail to see how compromising my story is going to solve that. None of what you suggested as good strikes me as something I'd remember after having read it.
This is the old "brevity is the heart of wit" argument all over again, and it's one that's never going to be settled. YOU aren't going to read longer bios. That's fine. I've had plenty of people call me up specifically to congratulate me on my extremely long ones.
There's no one "right" way to write a story because there isn't one single type of audience in this game.
Any maybe if more people do what I recommend there actually could be a sensible way to have a Biography costume contest because currently its impractical cause of the time it takes to read the novels of 50 people.
Seriously no one cares about little Henry.