RavenSoul

Was always a blast teaming with you, Dead West and UPP. Still recall your jawdropping base that you took me on a tour of after that CC (that I brought the original Blue Eyed She-Devil to). PM me here with you're contact info, Steam, Diablo III, e-mail, or whatever and I'll try to keep in touch.

In the end, I leave you with this:

May your road be long and enjoyable, your companions be good company and never leave your side*, and may you have a warm fire and a hot bath at the end of the day.

And, as it seems appropriate, the ending to Dr Strangelove:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxrWz9XVvls

~Raven

*Unless they're kender, in which case, they'll be great fun and major pains in your backside all at once, and leave you're side OFTEN to go find some big barking dragon or orc horde to bring back to you to "share". Much like my two cats. Well, minus the fantasy monsters, anyways.

I have an ex wife too, if yours was anything like mine... well, let's just say either way on that, I can still relate. lol

EDIT Yeah I know I was on earlier and said I would be back to run a few trials, and I never came back - really sorry about that. But I at least have a decent reason, I found a used computer for sale online that's better than this old fart of a paperwieght. As I was finishing dinner he got in contact with me and I now have a deal! So sometime next month I'll FINALLY be upgrading for the first time in six years!

'Bout damn time too, though I broke the bank to do it. Well guess even if I have to flip burgers starting asap, it's still worth it. I'm amazed this build has lasted so long but it's way past due for retirement, and I am really looking forward to seeing the delivery dude or dude-ette next month.

Was fun indeed. Maybe tonight (it being Saturday at this time) I could be talked into a Magi Farm league for those still wanting Hybrid. And/or some other Itrials as well to get people up for Magi to begin with.

~Raven

PS Yes, half the reason for this post is an excuse to show Ukase my new forum sig.

Oops. Ion said Saturday, I missed where you said Friday. That works too.

We didn't get "all of the event" either, as I've said, all Mako did in PD 1 was yell SHARK ATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!, followed by a Monty Python Spanish Inquisition riff.

<Warning - continuing to try to be lighthearted and humourus about the whole thing - there there be puns ahead in these waters!>

I mean, we're mostly geeks here, we swim amongst geek culture a lot already, and seeing Mako quote Monty Python? Was hard not to feel at the time like he was giving us the fin, and on porpoise. Especially since he didn't even show up. It did blowhole, but, in the end, the event was fun in it's own way, even if it did at times feel Titanic in both good and bad ways.

Anyways, enough depth charges already, so what if the invader was more Darth Maul than Mako? Even if he HAD shown, we had more than enough mussels needed to beat him until he blubbered, turned tail, and submarined back to the Isles. He would've been so out of his depth with us, we'd have needed a deep dive salvage team to get whatever drops we were owed.

As far as rewards, we got a lot of squid, and even though people are blowing seals, or can't clam up about the event's issues, it WAS good to see a Shark Week homage. It didn't cost us a single sand dollar, plus the event title is as cool as an ocean breeze.

So what if we didn't seem to need a bigger boat this time around! The event was still jawesome! I had a whale of a time bellying up to the sand bar in Peregrine, and will definately tuna in again for the next Shark Week event.

So let's hope for moray of that next year...

Yeah, as I said before, the inspiration was Discovery Channel's long running traditon of Shark Week, where, every second week of August they focus a lot of their shows on sharks and related subjects, and therefore the inclusion of sharks in this event was only implied at best, and assumed at worst.

As for the marketing, yeah, Captain Mako's / Zwill's inability to bring the title character to his own event was a real downer. I assume something went wrong somewhere, maybe he got DC'd or something, so I refuse to partake in the storied forum tradition of accusing the Devs of having slapped me in the face <rolls eyes>. I figure he did his best and it just so happened to be not good enough, and I can't fault him or anyone else for that.

Sounds cool, the only two servers I have alts on are Liberty, where I play, and Exalted, where I retire my alts to if need be. I should check the schedule again but as I recall, I missed the event on Exalted already.

Wish you luck though, kick Mako in the tail for me! <grin>

~Raven

<laughs> I'm suddenly reminded that there are professional gaming chairs available, or were at one time, that had both speakers and vibration units. Now I'm intriuged by the idea of having something like that to complete the ambiance of chainsaw weaponry...

Or, I could make one myself, and scuff it up with a chainsaw, plus oil stains and duct tape, to give it the perfect Post-Apoc finish.

Hmmmm...

~Raven

Yeah, 'cause trolling a server and not attacking even once sure will show TV that he's a cold blooded murderer! Biggest body count from an invasion EVER! Well, in golf terms anyways.

You know, lowest number wins? Well, zero is pretty low. Winner!

And no I'm not serious. At this point, I found the event amusing, fun, and while I think it can only be made better, I think this event was a decent enough starting point for next year.

Stalker in Hide = Stalker yet to attack.

Stalker yet to attack = Stalker who has yet to kill.

In short, you're making up a really, really, pointless excuse. You really think Mako would be in a zone, in a murderous rage, wanting to leave a trail of corpses to show that sharks are not the smiling cousin to dolphins, and then instead of attacking and killing people, you *honestly* think he would just...

...troll us?

Not Sure If Serious...

I realize you're not entirely serious, here, but I do agree with you, Joe. As far as Nemesis using Rikti teleporters - the whole Rikti fiasco was, in a sense, begun by Nemesis trolling Rikti Earth, with an end-game goal of simultaneously getting himself into every Rikti's pants...

...er... Heads. <innocent look>

So, to me? Nemesis with Rikti teleporter devices doesn't seem wholly far-fetched. That said, I think it would have been better had the Drills been used.

Well, as the guy you're almost quoting from bc, yeah, I did feel rather let down by the whole thing. Mako said about three lines, but effectively never showed up to his own invasion in PI 1. No one saw him anywhere on Liberty, in fact. Aside from him appearing in Pocket D, I heard afterwards.

As far as my comments, and the amount of 'fail' I do have to take that back, but only to an extent. After looking back on this, I can honestly say a few things.

1. Yes we have never had a "Shark Week" event before in eight years, despite having a pretty interesting and very prominent shark as one of the (usually but not always) villians of the game. He's also, pardon the pun, got a lot of depth to him as well. I've always felt he could be extremely effective if used more often in the story - with SSA Arc 2, his appearance is both ominous and engaging. So for him to finally have an event centered around him was, for this life long shark lover, a real treat to look forward to...


But...

2. The execution was lackluster in comparison to the anticipation brought on when this was announced. Never have I experienced anything on a live server that felt so slapdash, so non-commital, so half-way done, or had as many visible cut corners as this appeared to have. I try to live my life by a few truths one of which is this - Either do something right, or don't do it at all, halfway done is no better than not started at all.

Now, I can easily see how, given i24 on the horizon, there is very little time to spare for an event such as this - also I have no idea when this was started. Does that mean this should be the first and the last of it's kind? No, mainly because (and I don't intend offense in saying this, but, honestly?) this event has no where to go, but better. I think with some effort it could be far more impressive.

This first outing, however, was very dissapointing, and my comments in bc reflected that very deep dissapointment. As I said I do not wholely agree with them but I *do* agree in part. This event was spread simultansouly through 4 different zones, with at least one if not more of those having been multiplied by population overload. Previous events of this type that I experienced - the Praetorian Surge and the Praetorain Hamidon's so-called invasion as well - were both choreographed and fairly complex without requiring a great deal of guesswork.

Such was not the case here. We had, in effect, multiple luscas with air dropped level 54 corolax in support, all spawning in a single location only. No AVs. No real noticeable variety, and absolutely no choreography - we onyl had one beach to worry about when we were on an island that would be VERY difficult to defend if the enemy were to attack along multiple vectors. And there was no goal, either. No one was ever really in any danger on PI. In fact, Portal Corps might never have known, and Vanguard was aware only because the guards could see us. As for the lack of sharks on "shark week"? Honestly this was no surprise to me since shark week was only an implication - and while hoped for, there was only one shark that I wanted to see, and fight.

3. And despite being the title character of the event, Mako failed to attend his own... <ahem> "invasion". He said a few things, half of which was just geek-culture riff, and that was it. That was all. Three sentences - Darth Maul, anyone? And nothing even remotely resembling an in-character statement, except to hang out in Pocket D afterwards. People harmed in his murderous spree through Paragon - period, zip, zero, nada - no action to even remotely suggest he was anything to be taken seriously, and certainly NOT the way one goes about carving out a bloody rampage so as to silence any laughter.

4. Worse yet, I *specifically* prepared the character I would attend with, a spine dark scrap who's journey took him from Paragon to the Isles to fight alongside and learn from Mako, who followed a somewhat similar path himself. Unlike Mako my characters story includes his turning from that life and becoming some one who's central motivation is one of rivalry with Mako. This event would have been a perfect cap to his story...

...had Mako ever shown up. Sadly he did not, and that is the other half of my dissapointment.

Now, is all this personal, and not likely to be a common complaint? Well, yes, I can't truthfully admit otherwise.

So, things to look back on as positive? Sadly, that is a very, very, short list.

1. In the end, I have one or two good memories from this that I can look back on, but those had very little to do with this event. The main thing I take away from this is that i24 is getting a LOT of work put into it, as well as the first stages of i25 and i26.

2. I also take away from this a continued feeling that the Paragon Devs do love us as a community, and do want us to be happy and have fun. They are human and this means that some of what they do will not be up to their - also very human - customers expectations. Despite this they soldier on and continue to try, to improve what needs improving, and give us what they can give.

I have felt this way about them for almost 8 years and despite this event's lack of luster, that has not changed. If anything, it's been reinforced. I mean, hey, shark week event! Sure there weren't any sharks to fight against for us, but those of us on Liberty who did show up to fight sharks would have ended up at the end of the event with a shark in hand having used it to club his or her friends that evening, at the VERY least!

3. Lastly the community itself - Liberty is very much a tight knit and dysfunctional family of friendly, strong personalitied (raises hand), booty kickers and maybe-we'll-take-their-names-and-maybe-we-won't players, and this event was no exception. As I said above, the leagues in PI 1 were a force to be reckoned with, and in this regard were most of my memories spawned. Highest point of the entire event - one league mate gave me a Scrapper ATO global, completely out of the blue. I asked why, and her reply?

Even sharks need love.

And, let me tell you, even a hardened murderous shark's heart in a moment of high emotion CAN melt.

And on that thought, I shall bow out with what little grace I may have left. Here's hoping for a better tomorrow, and - work schedule permitting- a better shark week next year!

~Carcharias / @Raven Lord