PsychoPez

((well, it was a busy month, with all the CoV stuff going on. I expect November and December to be low key as well. Still gonna run them though))

I'm planning on NaNoing as well this year, I failed last year, but it was my first attempt. Been practicing setting aside time, I should do a lot better this time around.

Good luck, PM if you need support or anything in November.

The Zodiac

Having carried out a strike against the Heroes of Paragon already to determine their skills and powers, Taurus, the leader of a band of villains he calls the Zodiac has gone into hiding to analyze and determine his next move. The band that he keeps on a short leash under his control, all who are named for one of the other 11 Western signs of the Zodiac, awaits his orders.

What will Taurus and the Zodiac unleash from within the Rogue Isles? The Januray Gemini Park attack was merely a test, nothing more than a data grabbing excerise, those injured were just icing on the cake.

Synopsis: A rotating group of 12-13 people (We can have 2 Geminis if need be), all named as one of the Western Zodiac signs, are lead by the Minotaur of legend, Taurus, who seems to be hell bent on world domination. Those who he commands have any type of background, skill, and abilities.

Leader: -Taurus
CoH Global: @Blue Volt

-bumping cause it seems this flew off the front page really fast-

Well, September is almost spent and gone. A wonderful thank you to all the people who not only wrote, but signed up for Heroic Harmonies as well. Don't forget to tune in for this show everyone.

Anyways, October is right around the corner. And beyond that is November. Some of you know that November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, or NaNo for short. When I started this way back in May, there was a bit of sneaky intention to get people warmed up, motivated, to attempt NaNo. Now, going from 1000 words in a month to 50,000 words (The NaNo goal) is a huge jump, I know, but I'm hoping that over the months, people have found the simple joy in crafting a story, seeing the characters come alive first in their mind then on paper/screen.

I'll talk more about NaNo later though, just giving everyone a little heads up! What most of you want to know, however, is what the challenge for October. Well, we have City of Villians coming out soon, as well as Halloween this month. Halloween is supposed to bring about scary things, things that go bump in the night. A city full of villains is definatly a scarty thing as well.

So this month's challenge is to write a scary situation that your hero or character has been in. Could be a sticky heroic situation, could be something common place that struck at his or her phobias. We'll aim for 750 words this month.

And I'm going to ask one thing above and beyond if you post. When you post your story, scroll up to the story above yours. (exclude any comments or praise posts, well, just for this purpose at least.) Who ever that person is, send them a pm saying at least one thing you liked and one thing you didn't like about their story. It doesn't have to be involved or a masterpiece of criticism, just a little note. I will be the last person to post (hopefully) so everyone who posts something gets at least one note of feedback. However, don't let this stop you from sending feedback to anyone you want, this is just to make sure people get to hear reactions from their writing.

One last bookkeeping note, last month the August Challenge Thread was moved to the Roleplaying Thread, where it is archived. I do not know if that will happen to this thread or not (Probably will), but if you don't want to risk loosing your story, on my forums at www.greenjournal.net, I offer people their own 'forum' to archive their writing. Feel free to use it, instructions are in the 'Writers Haven' section near the bottom.

Okay, I think that's all for now. Again, thank you for all who write, read, and share for these challenges.

Song: Simple and Clean by Utada Hikaru
From the game Kingdom Hearts

Temple of Rhian: Unknown Pacific Island
1204 A.D.
Before sunset

The breeze came off the sea like it always did at night, with a renewed vigor. As it speed up the beach over the breaking waves, it flew into Masaki and I. He sat leaning against a tree, and I was wrapped in his arms in front of him. Up on the small hill that overlooked the beach, my hair began to whip around, the small beads at the tips of many of the locks clattering against each other. Masaki chuckled, I could feel his chest raise and fall against my back as he did.

"They bothering you?" The question was directed at him, but I remained staring forward, outward into the endless sea. His hands, wrapped around my waist, squeezed tight for a moment.

"They are easily ignored, helah. Besides, " and here he leaned forward and kissed me on that sensitive spot on the back of my neck. "I get to do that." A lover's smile spread across my face as I leaned back onto his shoulder. My hand slipped up from its side and began to trace the ridges of his ear, as we just watched the waves come in. The breakers were the only sound, and soon their rhythmic cresting and retreating were matched beat for beat by Masaki and I drawing breaths in and out.

"What do you think is out there?" Who knows how many minutes have pass before I asked the question. Again, I did not look at him as I address him. He does not need to clarify, it is something we always thought about back at the Temple. There were some contact with a few other islands, but beyond that, we knew nothing of life beyond our own, small, little world.

"I intend to find out one day." At this, I finally turned up to look at him. He still looked forward, out towards the ocean, but there was a glimmer of action, of wonder and resolve in his eyes. "Not anytime soon, helah, but perhaps when I am old. I intend to spend my last breaths out there, beyond what we can see."

"Do not talk like that. That seems so far off, you and I old. What of me, you would just leave me be?" He chuckled again, and the feeling of it warmed me even more then the hardy sound that filled my ears.

"Oksah, Oksah, I am not sure I could ever leave you, or even understand how I would live without you. Besides, I need a priestess to carry my food for me out there." The hand caressing his ear batted him playfully upside the head. I knew he was joking, and his eyes, those deep blue eyes, flashed an apology. We settled back down into silence again, the sun starting its final descent into those unspoken lands Masaki dreamed to visit one day.

"I would go with you." He chuckled again, and squeezed me even closer to himself as a response. "Masaki, I am not kidding." I leaned forward, and turned so we were facing each other, breaking contact for the first time all evening. "You and me, swimming as far as we can go, getting to see what no one else has? It would be Rhian's own gift to the two of us, before we pass on." The idea was infectious, and I could assume he saw in my eyes what I saw in his. He laughed once more, and cupped both his hands around mine.

"Then, priestess, this I pledge to you. We journey out there when our time comes. And if one of us should pass on before that happens..."

"Do not be silly dear." My naivety made the request sound more innocent then normal.

"...it could happen, helah. If it does, then...


Talos Island Bay
September 14, 2005
Sunset

"...the other must go." I whisper the rest of oath to myself, and look up. The waves are not the same, the war walls make sure of that. But it is, technically, a body of water, and good enough to fulfill my end of the bargain. No one, not Celai, Adi, even Terra, understand why I come out on this day, every year, and swim as far out to sea as I can.

"I made it over, dear. I think you would love it here. Not sure we would have made it back then, but still..." I lazily float on my back, cursing the heavens above for taking Masaki from me what seems so long ago. "...there are people here you would like as well, people I want you to meet. I doubt Marie is what we would have thought as a daughter, but you would love her. I, I almost see parts of you in her, the way she tilts her head to the side just a bit...but it is false hope I know."

The sun finally sets below the war wall, shadows instantly creeping out, cast in the barrier's cool glow. "About Kyou, I hope you would understand, dear. I...I never meant to let go like that, thought you were the only one. I wanted to hang on to what we had, never let any one replace you, Masaki. I do not think he has, and still..." Tears I promised my self I would contain begin to flow. Thankfully, if anyone asks, I can hide them in the salty sea water around me. "...I still do love you Masaki. Do not be angry at me for Kyou, please."

There is so much more I want to say to the lover that is not here, to explain, to beg forgiveness for, to share, but at least, for this year, that is all. One final glance out into the waters before I begin to swim on back to shore.

Refrain -
When you walk away
You don't hear me say please
Oh baby, don't go
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight
It's hard to let it go

You're giving me too many things
Lately you're all I need
You smiled at me and said,

Don't get me wrong I love you
But does that mean I have to meet your father?
When we are older you'll understand
What I meant when I said "No,
I don't think life is quite that simple"

(Refrain)

The daily things
that keep us all busy
all confusing me thats when u came to me and said,

Wish i could prove i love you
but does that mean i have to walk on water?
When we are older you'll understand
It's enough when i say so,
And maybe somethings are that simple

(Refrain)

Hold me
Whatever lies beyond this morning
Is a little later on
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all
Nothing's like before

For the Finder badge, a trip to the sewers is a great way to 'arrest' Lost bosses, since they're generally a) lower level then in Skyway b) less crowded and c) in greater numbers.

Otherwise, nice guide!

Please check this for The Cape sponsered event called Heroic Harmonies. This and the writing challenge were independantly conceived but they seem to merge together in one striking move that must be a sign of deities above.

If you want your writing to be used in this event, please let them know, either here in this thread when you post, or over in that thread. Thank you.

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/em challenges Pez to finish writing up his report on his trip out to California

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With any luck, Sunday night. But just for that, I'm not post it unless you enter the challenge Smersh. So if I never post it, it's your fault.

((I personally do not save them. To plug my site, greenjournal.net, I set people up with mod privlages to their own section of a forum in the "Writer's Haven" section to dump all their writing into one place, and they have total control of that section. No one else can post in that section, only they can.

Also, I personally feel the author is just letting their work be borrowed here in this space, and I would feel odd about copying it down for myself. The challenge primes the pump, so to speak, and people can hoose to use greenjournal.net, or other means, to record and store their works. ))

Wow, you know, I started this thing on a lark way back in May, after a conversation with, geesh was it Ascendant and Warcabbits? I don't remember. I thought it would be just buried away into the ether.

But we're on the 5th month of these things, and we get the usual suspects writing these, but every time we see one or two more new people. People that, in my opinion, should post more of their stories, but if I can only get 1 a month out of new people, I really shouldn't complain.

Anyways, first, thanks to everyone who've writen something for these. Thanks to those of you who take the time to read them as well. Writing on the interent is like finding a pickup group. Usually it's just junk, but now and then you just get a good gem. It's always a risk to invest time into reading something someone's writen, and these threads always bring people's A-game to the front.

Also, even though the focus has gotten away from this in recent month, thanks to everyone who provides private feedback to all the authors. Even if you just send someone a "Hey, I really liked what you wrote" and nothing more, it validates those of us who bare our creative souls to everyone else. A wise man once told me that art, in any form, is not complete if it's never viewed. The play, writen but never preformed, the painting, inked but never seen, the sculpture, molded but always kept under wraps, these things are meaningless. Knowing our hard work is being seen by others, and hearing it from their mouths, it makes things always worth it.


Now, enough of my platitudes. On to the challenge! For the going back to school month we're in, we're going to use an idea given to me by LadyAndreca. I remeber always taking a walk-man on the bus to school, all my favorite songs playing as the summer offically died. So, the challenge this month is to pen a story explaining why your character's theme song fits them. Uping the ante to 750 words for this month, but if you end up less than that post anyways.

Good luck all!

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NOTHING takes 2 years in the computer world people... please.

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Unemployment officer - "So Mr. Nukem, it says here you've been out of work for some time now. How long would you estimate it has been since you last were gainfully employed?"

Duke Nukem - "Forever..."

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Also - after much pushing and shoving - we were told that there will NOT be data mining for TF badges. So if you did a TF before I5 - when I5 goes live you will not get a badge for it auto-magically.

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This is BS, Some of us SPENT HOURS 10 hours or more doing Fire Base ZUlu TFs, WE GOT NO souvenirs, no nothing, and now YOU WANT us to do it again? geez Come on...

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They don't want to make you do it again. If you wish to do gain the new reward, being a badge, then you choose to do the TF. Either the badge is worth enough to you to do the task force again, or it isn't worth it for you to get.

But either way, you are choosing your course of actions. "But Pez, I want the badge, and I did it already, so they're making me do it again. If they just datamine it when I did it already, and I spent 10 hours on it...."

Well, you've done it once. You know which missions can be passed through easier, what to expect, and so on and so forth. Make the team at 8, then drop 4 so you and 3 of your friends can do the TF faster. Smaller team size, smaller spawn size, faster mission.

But the devs are not holding a gun to your head making you run to Dr. Quarterfield. It is your own desire or want to get all the badges, nothing more. If it is that important to you, you'll go out and run it again, even if you have to multiplay a few days. But if the pain of doing the TF is greater then your desire to have the badge, you just won't run it, plain and simple. The devs just give you options, you make the choices.

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You don't need charts and forum posts to see the dwindling numbers. Look at server status, always green for all servers,
travel around the city looking for heroes, hell just use the find team utility and look at the number of players on each server.

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Server size was increased in one of the earlier Issues, so if 1000 people played on a server and set it to yellow before, now, 1000 people will only green out a server.

When everyone starts at the same time, as they level up at around the same pace, they will populate the same general areas of the game. As time goes on, say six months after the game launches and the only time everyone will have an equal starting point, people will have a wide range of alts, who level at different paces, who go to the increased number of zones then was in the game at startup.

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Sorry but until I see multiple instances of zones like I used to I won't believe the player base has increased in numbers.

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This is, assuming of course, that the rules that worked for multi spawn zones works the same now as it did before. If 300 people flood Atlas Park on opening day and make an instance there, and there's only 300 people on the server, is that better then 1000 people on a server, dispursed throughout the 20+ zones in the game?

Turn SG mode on, and set all the colors to your default costume colors. SG mode stays on, and you get to keep your normal costumes.

And I guess that's why they call it a bump
Time for this post would be high on the list
Laughing like children, living like lovers
Rolling like thunder under the covers
And I guess that's why they call it a bump.

With apollogies to Elton John.

Meteorologist

The girls quickly found out there was no merfolk word for snow. The language had three words for water, five for waves, and ten or so for rain. However, not one of those ten fit the bill at all for snow. This, they loudly found out the first October that Oksah lived in Paragon City.

She first heard the word as "Sunny" Skip Loggerstein mentioned it on his Thursday night newscast. "...and on the extended five day out look, yep Mary, it looks like snow this weekend. Time to get the parkas and the mittens out." Oksah was familiar with the latter two items. The temperature was a frosty 51 degrees outside, and she walked around the penthouse with a heavy down coat atop a grey RIT sweatshirt of Adi's over a long sleeved tee-shirt over a normal tee shirt, 2 pairs of long-johns, a heavy pair of jeans, and the thickest wool socks Celai and Adi could find. The two remembered the first day the weather dropped below 60 degrees, Oksah had come to them, shivering, thinking the world was about to end, all the warmth was being Balanced away.

Adi, once she realized what had caused her foreign friend to panic, could not contain a laugh. "You can take the merfolk out of the tropics, but you can't take the tropics out of the merfolk!"

Oksah was leaning close to the TV that night when Sunny Skip gave his forecast, she always did back then. The blue skinned priestess would lean close, a foot away from the screen, mouthing every word that was uttered on the show, commercial, or event, eyes unblinking. Celai and Adi would walk in from work every day and find her like this, an 800 year old time displaced person marveling at the technology and learning the language. She never would look up or notice her roommates until they said something.

That evening was the same as normal, only Oksah was bundled up to twice her size and the thermostat now set to 80 degrees.

"Cool enough for ya, Oksah?" Celai asked as she walked into the Steel Canyon penthouse, dropping her purse on the table before moving into the living room.

"Ah-what-iz, shno?" Oksah's accent was still strong, but not overbearing enough to impede communication.

"Oks just ask what snow is? Heh, she's gonna be in for a treat, Nor'easter this weekend."

"Nar, uh, Nor'eashter? Nor'eashter?" The merfolk parroted back, still confused on this alien concept but trying her darnest to make sure the words, at least, were mimicked correctly. Celai and Adi spent a good hour trying to explain to their aquatic friend just what snow was, failing horribly with each attempt.

That Friday night, the temperature dipped very low. Oksah commanded her roommates to get her more blankets, and with the ambient temperature in the penthouse now up to 85, they were all too willing to give theirs over. A mixture of anticipation and dread filled Oksah that night as she let herself be buried by a half dozen blankets, comforters, afghans, and bedspreads. The 'shno' was going to come in the middle of the night, but it, she had gathered, would only bring more of this horrible cold.

As storms in the northeast United States are wont to do, this particular one came in with a fury only matched by how quickly it left. It left Paragon City, among other places, covered in a new white strata. Kids woke up early that Saturday morning, lamenting that had this happened 24 hours earlier, they would have defiantly had a snow day. A certain merfolk, awaking in a Steel Canyon penthouse and looking outside her window, had an extremely different reaction.

Adi and Celai were waken by their roommate screaming in horror, shock, and wonderment. "Ah-dish scho? Ah-dish scho?" She asked without turning around, just absolutely shocked how everything was covered with a foreign white stuff, the winds at her height blowing some around. The streets far below, normally dead in the Saturday morning, was even more so; pairs of black snake-like tracks cut through the white covering in the streets, the teams of plows working on the main streets first.

"Ah-we scho, uh, not-ah touch?" She finally turned around, the single blanket wrapped around her head and torso like a hood still held there in place. Her question dawned on Adi and Celai, and playful grins filled their faces when they understood its meaning.

Fifteen minutes later, Oksah still in her tank-like armor against the cold, the other two in much less winter wear, listened to the hum of an elevator all around them as they descended to the ground floor. The doors slid open into the building's lobby, and the three women walked out, the blue skinned one falling into rank behind the other two.

"So, the lakes are not going to be good for skating yet, maybe head over to the hills, see if we can get a sled run or two?" Adi was bouncing with energy, even if she had only been awake for less then an hour.

"I think we better get her outside, focus on that. Baby steps, after all..." Celai and Adi reached the door and opened it, before realizing that Oksah was frozen in the center of the lobby, her eyes, the only visible part of her face through toques, scarves, and other winter wear, were large and awe-filled. She was transfixed on the mailbox outside, a full 5 inches of snow covered the usually blue metal box.

"Come on out, Oksah, it won't hurt you." Adi coaxed her roommate, who in her near state of shock, could only nod and began making the final jaunt into the cold Saturday morning.

A gust of wind picked up, and blew some powder into the air, into Oksah's face. She yelped in pain, something so cold yet so natural just should not exists. She ducked back inside the lobby, her large eyes now laced with fear of the freezing outdoors.

"Oh come on, you scardy cat, it's fun, watch." Oksah watched through the glass doors as Adi scooped up a handful of snow and compacted it into a ball. She chucked it at the light pole across the street, all eyes on the ascending then descending arc as it missed by a good three yards or so. "Heh, well, I'm supposed to hit, but there you go. It's not going to kill you Oks!" Celai gave a comforting smile, her breath visible as a white mist, as Oksah, more cautious this time, opened the door and tried again.

"It is, quiet" she thought, the lack of traffic, movement, anything that made this city so loud from where and when she was from. No one was on the sidewalks hawking items, or moving to the next busy event of their life, no cars were motoring their way through the streets. It was as if the snow dampened most existing sounds, but amplified those few that dared to combat the white menace. Even bundled up as she was, and with all the heat stored up from being inside, she shivered, pinpricks of gooseflesh felt along her arms.

"See, we told you, dear, it is not that bad." Celai's smile doing more to warm Oksah then any parka could. Adi grabbed Oksah's arm and began to pull her. "Come one, Oks has to make her first snow angel!"

"Scho ah-angel?" She barely got the question off before being pulled away by her smaller but more energetic roommate. Celai just laughed as she caught the priceless look on Oksah's face; acceptance, confusion, and uncertainty all wrapped into one unique facial expression.

The girls walked on the streets, the sidewalks being too covered with snow and not plowed. They had no traffic to fight with, those few brave enough to drive left a few tracks for them to walk in. "How are ya doing, Oks? Oh, we can hit Para-Grounds and get some hot chocolate, Oks has to have some hot chocolate." Oksah could only nod, she was awed by how white, how calm and still the world could look after a fresh and heavy snowfall.

The trio came upon one of the small parks that bordered the lakes of the Canyon, and they trudged their way up the sidewalk to the park. It was just another beautiful sight for Oksah. Before, there were hints to human movements in the snow, tire tracks, the sounds of plows scrapping the pavement. Here, a lone bird chirped something to the three visitors, the tables and trees and path totally covered in unbroken or unmarred snow.

"Now, don't push her, Adi. I can only imagine what it's like for her." Celai warned, but Adi just chuckled and pulled Oksah into the unbroken sanctuary. "Now, this is a snow angel, watch me, then do as I do!"

Oksah watched with a touch of horror as her friend fell backwards into what normally would have been the grass. There was an uncomfortable moment when she didn't move, then she began to wave her arms and legs back and forth. It took Oksah a few minutes to understand what she was doing, having to recall the definition, then image of what an angel was, but she understood the concept just as Adi pulled herself up from the snow. "See, snow angel. You try."

The merfolk nodded, more sitting herself down into the snow then carefully leaning back into it then flinging herself towards the ground. The white substance seemed to embrace her with cold, icy fingers, a still foreign concept to her mind. To stave of panic, she began to move her arms and legs like her roommate had, slow and unsure at first. With each swoop of a limb, she let herself go a little more, it was not going to hurt she thought, try to enjoy it for what it is, something fun, something new.

"Scho angel!" She pointed to her impression, a grinning Adi nodding. "Scho!" she laughed as she picked up a handful of snow and threw it at Adi, like she had seen earlier. Not realizing you had to compact it, it came out as a cloud of white as she let go, sprinkling the two of them. She winced as the tiny ice shards assaulted her face again, but it was not as bad as the first time.

"Okay, I think we better get inside, I'm starting to get cold, I still don't have coffee in me, and we don't want to overload Oksah's mind." Celai, the 'mother' of the three of them, chided, and the three hastily retreated back into the warmth of the penthouse.

-cough bumpbumpbumpbump cough-

Plas tells it like it is. While at times harsh, you know she doesn't deal with any bs.

And she lampshades me. You can lampshade me all night long, baby....

No matter now dour a mood you're in, no matter how pissed off you are with the world, when Little_Unicorn says anything, you just lighten up a bit.

Sparkle sparkle.

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Since the number of monkeys has been reduced on test, will there be epic defeat badges?

So, those that have the 10K for Zookeeper would have 2 badges (1K and 10K)


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There was talk of adding one... but it would be beyond reason for anyone to attain the 10,000 Monkey badge at this point. The reason the badge was lowered in the first place was to compensate for the increased difficulty in getting to 10,000.

If we made a 10,000 badge now, we'd have the same problem all over again.

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How about a badge for 12 monkies?

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5 Stars my good friend.

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[No No. What I'm sayin is those of us that have had to take out 10K of monkeys getting something is fine, but now that's it's been reduced to 1K, 9K of our effort in time was wasted. It would be nice to recognize the time and effort spent b4 nerfs.

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Why? I would, as an empath/rad defender, go to Monkey Island or Crey's Folly when I had 5 or 10 spare minutes, waiting for people, that sort of thing. I got up to 90%, then an earth/storm troller friend of mine finished up the last 10% in a big herd. But I was never, NEVER forced to herd them. They set the level, we have the choice of putting the effort in for it. I've spent hours, upon hours, getting rid of all the fog of war in all the maps. Even FBZ, or as much as is possible. Still have the other 3 shard zones to go. Should I 'demand' something that recoginzes 'all the time and effort' I've put into that task as well?


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Like with all the Hami-Os that were nerfed and all the hours people spent on getting them. The Hive is now a dead zon.

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First, there's now a raid or two a week still on Virtue. Server took him down yesterday, in fact. Not twice daily, but a lot of newer folk are getting up to 50 and enjoying the Hive for the first time. Don't know how it is on your server, but you may want to qualify your "Hive is a dead zon[sic]" blanket statement to at least reflect just your personal server.




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but it would be beyond reason for anyone to attain the 10,000 Monkey badge at this point.

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What about the "beyond reason" numbers attached to some of the other epic badges?

1 billion damage taken = 77 consecutive days (1852 hours) of taking 1500 points every 10 seconds. I'm not even sure a regen could stad up to 1500 points every 10 seconds.

1 billion points healed = Spam healing 10 targets every 5 seconds for 14 days (347 hours). This would probably only be possible from attending the mito phases of over 300 Hamidon raids.

How are either of these or even the earlier verions of them within reason? You might as well offer an epic Isolator badge: defeat 10,000 contaminated.

Oh and even without herding it would be possible to get the 10,000 monkey badge with an 8 man team in 3-4 hours. Much easier that either of the epic badges above.

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Well, let's look up the term epic, shall we? Epic adj 1: very imposing or impressive; surpassing the ordinary (especially in size or scale)

You're not hurt if you don't ever get them. But for people that, eventually, take that damage/sk someone/heal that much/are mezzed that long/get the debt, it's a small reward. Make it so everyone can get it with a small hack, or tweak, and it's like Syndome's quote from The Increadables, "If everyone is super, then no one is super."

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I understand what they're trying to do. Make the game 100 times harder. But that's not realistic at this stage in the game.

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I don't know, it sounds like, if hte defination of harder is making it more difficult to kill a group of mobs, they might be succeding at it.

Then again, I'm just a defender, so what do I know? </tongue in cheek>

So, July's challenge lost a little bit of steam. And with all the doom of I5, summer being, you know, summer, and people's creative energies going elsewhere, it's bound to happen.

But, August has come, dear friends, writers, and readers, and with it the new glorious month for creative bursts. I see you all shiver with antici...........pation.

So what, I see you asking yourself and by proxy me, is the glorious challenge that which I must surpass to claim the title of August Writing Challenge Winner?

One word: Badges.

The title of the piece must be one of the 200+ badges in game, including those that are in I5. What you do with the rest of the piece is up to you. Maybe the story will be how the character got the badge. Maybe the title will allow you to see, and thus show us, a different side of yoru character. Maybe the badge title, and the mobs you defeated to get it, will have no relation at all to your story, and you're just using it as a springboard into writing.

So break open those badge lists, people, find one that jumps out at you, and get working. Since we're started a bit late into August, we'll go 500 words min. So let's get cracking people!

Love the changes.

But teleporters vs. more mole points? Just curious as to why the mole point concept seems discarded. Personally I trust you guys have an ace up your sleeve and will pull the mole point concept back around later, but that's all I can complain about this change really.

Thanks for your ear and your hard work guys.

-Pez