Spackle

Seconding Wyrm on the importance of varied team size/level.

IMHO, one arc a day for three or four weeks is an awfully big commitment. One or two arcs a week would be more workable. Could you use a bigger slate of judges to spread out the workload, or do the critiquing in tiers with finalists instead of having all judges crit all arcs?

...Is the kind of person that doesn't want a thank you tell, going to be likely to reply to this thread? : >

Personally, I don't care if I get a mere thank-you or not. If the builder is online at the time, it's nice to get a real-time happy fuzzy. But I'd just as soon not log back in and find a passing thank-you tell (or five).

I'd MUCH rather get a reply elaborating on my feedback, such as "You mentioned this, I was trying to do this, could you clarify?" or "You mentioned this, did you notice this also and what did you think of it?" I live for those.

[ QUOTE ]

My favorite example, and I say this with love since it's from one of my SG mates, was a Stone Armor / Energy Melee LT. With Buildup. Two of them punched through my scrapper's mezprot and killed me in under three seconds. Yow! Fortunately, knocking them down a level was enough to make them challenging instead of bend-over-and-lube-up.

[/ QUOTE ]


Now I want "lube" as a searchable keyword in mission arc descriptions.

...I'd hit it.

Posted for LoopHole 'cause he says it's all my fault anyway, heh.

It's hard to track stories and get detailed critiques among all the activity on these boards. We're rooted in Virtue, and our immediate purpose will be support for NaNoWriMo, but all you wordsmiths out there are welcome now and for the long term.

[ QUOTE ]
Blame Spackle, but the NanoVirtue boards are coming back and because I'm doing it they're getting a bit of expansion.

What is NanoVirtue you ask?
Essentially it's a place for the writers of the boards (Virtue Centric, but others are equally welcome) to come and discuss their craft, present roughs and get critiques and discussions.

Why the name?
Because the primary reason it was created was to help our NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) participants with a support group and a place to shoot ideas around.

Then why not just tell us that in the first place?
Last year a lot of people expressed an interest without being involved in NaNoWriMo at all. I'm declining to participate in NaNo myself this year but I love having a writing circle to work with because it can present new angles and ideas to work with. Having review by peers is helpful to a lot of writers and not just people forging full tilt ahead for that 50K word count.

But but but... I just want to read things!
Then you're probably not going to get much out of this compared to the writers. Sorry, but this is really a writing community. That said, the new incarnation has a couple things for you. There is an area called "Afterbirth" on the boards which will be for pieces writers feel are ready for reading by the public and review by a subset of user's who label themselves "Critics".

Critcs?
You know what a critic is, I'm sure but in this case I mean user's who, - while not writers themselves - wish to give thoughtful and useful opinions on works near completion.

You suck!
That's not very nice.

No really! You suck!
*banninated!* Seriously, I'm going to say this now. This is not a democracy. I believe in a very 'hands off' approach as far as administrating and moderation go but I'm not putting up with arguments or flame wars or trolls. 2 strikes and gone. If your first post is a troll then you're gone and no questions.

I can't login after registering
This site requires a valid e-mail address and you have to activate your account from an e-mail you receive.

Lastly, I'd like a moderator (or two) for this board again this year. I actually have less time lately than last year for this sort of thing and I have contract bid coming up. Help is good. <ul type="square">[*]Experience a plus, but not required.[*]Playing for popularity is a negative.[*]This isn't a job, but you will need to at least check the board once a day.[*]Don't hack me off on purpose, but expect me to support any reasonable decision you make regardless of if I like the person whining.[/list]

NanoVirtue is located at http://nano.terminal-labs.com

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks, and I hear ya... but I'll have to upgrade first. I think by taking 758 screenies over course of the TF, I actually took more screenshots than I saw frames...

Thanks to Miss Megajoule for the caption (that I swiped. ; )

Earth: We Can Has

Me too bud, me too. ; )

Thanks guys! I got enough comments on it from deviantart, that I figured it'd be worth posting here. We ran on invincible, and we were teamwiped at the time of this shot, hence the dramatic low angle.

Best screenshot I have from the Lady Grey TF, run the night of the 24th on Virtue. No action, just intimidation. Thanks to Flamescythe, Ann, and their SG for having me along.

Advance.

Paragon Tattler November 19, 2006


City of Dollars

A hero is losing his home to the city's greed


In Paragon City, heroes fight for justice every day on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. The hero Spackle, accomplished healer and Hero of the City, recently returned from a six-month leave of absence to find that his home of over
two years is being sold out from under him, without his knowledge or consent. And he doesn't even get the money that it sold for.

Paragon City claims the right to take Spackle's home and compensate him as little as possible, according to the property
value the city itself assigns. And what does Paragon City intend to do with the building that Spackle restored with his own hands? It will be demolished in a matter of days to make way for construction of a privately owned business, the latest
expansion of Wentworth's Auction Houses.

"This just ain't fair," was Spackle's statement. "Sure the city says it's all legal and proper, all the t's crossed, but laws or not it don't seem right from where I'm standing."

Spackle holds a protest sign on his rooftop.

He is standing on a wide sun deck atop his own roof, wearing his distinctive blue-and-white battle armor and carrying a hand-painted protest sign. A half-dozen fellow heroes have joined him, most with signs of their own. There's enough firepower gathered on this rooftop to take on anything Portal Corps has to offer, and here they are sitting on patio chairs in
south Steel Canyon. The battle they're here to fight is not one that can be won by show of arms.

Faultline at present, left, and with new construction, right.

The principle of 'Eminent Domain' gives a city or state the legal right to claim private property for public purposes, even if the
owner objects, so long as just compensation is paid. The intention was to allow a city to claim derelict or destroyed property, such as that in Overbrook (now commonly known as Faultline), and begin the process of rebuilding while paying the owners for their loss. Seizure of property destroyed in the Rikti War enabled our city to reconstruct its transit system from the ruins of the Yellow and Red Lines, as well as to create the many greenspaces, statues and parks that make Paragon City famous

But Spackle's property, while far from glamorous, is neither derelict nor destroyed. His building is currently home to nine
heroes in good standing in addition to Spackle himself, ranging from long-term residents to newly-fledged warriors just out of
Hero Corps dormitories.

One such youngster, a strapping delphinoid known as Melonhead, proudly displayed to this reporter the customized saltwater pool and filtration equipment that Spackle installed in his ground-floor apartment. "It's difficult for an Aquatic-American to find comfortable housing in town, even though Paragon is on the coast," explained Stay, Spackle's brother and fellow resident. "Aquatics either have to provide their own facilities, at great personal expense, or stay in housing intended for dryland residents, which are often inadequate for their needs. Before Melonhead came to live with us, he had been living in the swimming pool of a Hero Corps training facility, which gave him a terrible case of chlorine dermatitis." It won't be easy for Melonhead to find new quarters on such short notice. He may have to relocate to the heavily trafficked, octopus-infested waters of Independence Port - the Aquatic-American equivalent of living beneath an overpass.

Artist's concept of the proposed Wentworth's Steel Canyon branch.

Paragon City intends to demolish the homes of Melonhead, Spackle, Stay and others, ostensibly for the public good. But the city's plan for this land is not to build a school or a park or even public housing. Plans on file in City Hall indicate that the city intends to sell Spackle's property to a private company, Wentworth's Auction Houses, so that Wentworth's can expand its
business. How can the city justify taking of a citizen's property for the sake of private profits, in the name of public interest?

"The deal is not yet a matter of public record, since the sale has not actually been made yet," says Dr. Susan Veil, a scientist
and researcher formerly of D.A.T.A. "But I would be very surprised if Wentworth's does not pay far more for the property than the city offered in fair compensation to Spackle." According to the letter of notice sent to Spackle last week, his home on a one-block lot in south Steel Canyon, minutes from the University and Yellow Line, with sweeping views to north and west, is worth merely $150,000. That won't even buy a studio condominium in the area's tight housing market. City Hall land use officials refused to comment, except to repeat that the city stood by its valuation. Wentworth's Auction Houses could not be
reached for comment.

Map of the location claimed by the city.

It's clear that the 'public good' in this case means profiting from the official and legal theft of a citizen's property. The sheer
pettiness of this action is difficult to comprehend. The value of one small parcel of land is less than a rounding error in
Paragon City's $30 billion annual budget, but to Spackle it represents two years of his life - two years spent risking his very life in service to this city. Every hero that owns property here should take notice of how much Paragon City values their rights when there's a quick buck to be made.

"I'm sure this Wentworth fellow's a fine upstanding guy," says Spackle. "But it seems like he could go looking for somebody
that actually wants to sell." He says the property was condemned when he bought it from the city in 2004, and he's brought it up to code and paid taxes on it ever since. "This here is my place, by any measure you care to name. And I love this city but they ain't got the right to take it from me."

Spackle has requested a hearing to challenge the seizure of his property. Until he gets a chance to speak his piece, this Hero
of the City will be cooling his heels on the roof of his home, wielding a homemade sign and waiting for the bulldozers to come.

Spackle stands guard as night falls.

Well now I feel like a damn fool for not realizing that RP was considered exclusive unless stated as open. I know nobody here knows me or my critters - I don't have enough computer time to read, much less join in, a full-on open thread - but I placed 'Eminent Domain' here anyway, in hopes folks might be interested in something different. And, frankly, because the Victory forum is so hostile to RP that putting it there was a lost cause. I tagged it with (VictoryRP) solely to indicate that's where the character is, should anyone wish to talk to him in-game, and apparently that was a big mistake on my part.

What would y'all suggest? I can't very well call it 'OpenRP' because at some point I8 is going to make all my maneuverings moot, therefore there's limited opportunity for anyone, including me, to affect the outcome. Should I repost it with a different tag?

Hey heroes!

This is Battledancer! I'm sending out this email message because there are
some citizens of Paragon City that need YOUR help. I've worked with several
of you in the last few months, and I know that you're the kind of people
that we can depend on. The difference this time is that it's also a fellow
hero that is in trouble. As we patrol our neighborhoods in P.C.
we hear people talking, so I know that some of you have heard of Spackle.
For those of you that haven't, he's a registered hero (and empath) that's
battling a grave miscarriage of justice!

His home (a building in Steel Canyon near my patrol route) is scheduled for
demolition to make way for some new Wentworth building! Now this is a hero
that has selflessly placed himself in harm's way time and again to help our
embattled city. I know you might be asking yourself "Wait, Dancer! He's not
entitled to special privileges! He's a hero, but also a citizen and must
abide by the rules." I accept that as valid, however, I'm not asking for
special privilege here. This building is in a part of the Canyon that's
seen its share of trouble. Spackle helped turn that around and make that
neighborhood safer through his presence. But now, this corporate goliath
has stepped in to force this sale without even giving the neighborhood or
its resident hero a fair chance to speak out!

This is where we come in! I'm standing here, typing this to you on my
laptop at a protest rally to bring awareness to this injustice. We need
you, the neighborhood defenders of P.C. to raise your voices. I know that
we get busy, and that what we do can often weigh heavily upon us. I know
that at the end of the day, small things seem like they can wait, but I
implore you not to let this one wait. I know you're all the kind of
spirited people we need to right this wrong.

So by now you're asking "Dancer... What exactly do you want me to DO?" Just
take a minute and write to City Hall, and to the Paragon Times. It can even
be the same letter sent to both places. But write in your own words,
however brief, and tell them that you think this is wrong. Tell them that
you're a registered hero, you feel that the rights of a neighborhood are being
threatened by corporate rush and a willingness to be silent. That's all.
We just need people to KNOW what's going on. I can't imagine that our
fellow citizens and our city government will fail to act once they realize
that this is wrong!

Help me heroes! It's a fight all of us can contribute to against a wrong
every bit as important as those we see every day on the streets!

-D

The rally on Monday night


(( Thanks to Willowisp for writing this! The start of this storyline, Spackle's phone calls, can be found here as well as on the Victory forum here . Spackle's building is directly east of the university in Steel Canyon - map to follow. -Spack))

Hello all. The maker of Badge Hounds is very proud that Hounds #1 got published in the CoH comic #13. Heartfelt thanks to all of you who voted for it! The rest of the Badge Hounds comics can be found at www.badgehounds.com - feel free to send comments and ideas for future strips to hounds@badgehounds.com .

And no, I didn't make the thing, so please don't fan at *me* personally. ; ) She can read this thread, though.

(( Pardon all... keeping this thread secure. I tried to PM CuppaJo to move it to the Roleplaying forum for safekeeping, but she is not accepting PM's at the moment. If she doesn't beat me to it, I'll try again after the weekend. ))

(( Last minute? Don't worry, mine'll be later than that. stupid jerk real life. ))

?July05


As daylight waned, Korrick rested deep within the forest of Perez Park, hidden in a pocket of

overhanging branches and dappled grass. He crouched nearly motionless, his lifeforce damped

down to conserve his energy as he readied himself for his next move. With one claw he traced in

the living earth the four symbols, lines and curves and crossings in the dirt, that were the key to the

Banished Pantheon's power over that most wonderful and dangerous of forces, human spirit. Now

he needed only to learn the ritual that would change them from scratches in the dirt to potent tools

of power, pain and fear. He could not use them himself, not directly. Such magic seemed to be the

exclusive province of those with souls. Fortunately, he had allies who met that qualification, and

one of them might be convinced to work the magics for him, once he had learned the secrets of their

use.


He considered all he could do with this power. He had observed that, like the other hunters of the

city, he could take on more difficult enemies when allies fought alongside him. If the allies were

made from the bodies of the dead, such as the Pantheon used, then the lives of thinking, feeling

heroes would not be risked. Dead soldiers would not need rest, nor would they be distracted by the

pains and needs of their fellows. Unlike his allies in the Talons, they could not be held hostage nor

tortured, and they would never need rescue. They could be as dedicated as Korrick himself was.

The concept pleased him.


Of course, the dead soldiers he had seen and hunted were still flawed. They lacked volition, and

without the constant direction of their guiding mage, they would stand stupidly and fight like the

dumb brutes they were. Even the small prey animals of the park had more grasp of tactics than the

reanimated dead. He considered, motionless as stone while the shadows of the trees lengthened

and the air assumed the cool of evening.


Perhaps among the works of magic was a spell that could put the mind of a small creature in control

of a new body. The city held many hundreds of stray cats and dogs that would do admirably as

fighters, were they given bodies that were larger and stronger and able to handle weapons. Or,

perhaps the mysteries of magic held a way to give a simulation of intelligence to dead flesh, as the

symbols drawn at his feet could simulate life. Yes, that would be best, for the intelligence could

then be instructed in combat and trusted to operate on its own, without the need of a mage to guide

it. He began to review his memories of his own training, before he had been declared a free being

and released to hunt the streets...


Korrick paused in realization. Of course the ideal hunter would be unfazed by fear or pain, concern

for its own body or the distraction of sympathy. Of course it would have tactical intelligence without

the emotional fetters of the living mind. Had he not been told as much long ago, when he had asked

his trainer why he had no soul?


He did not know how to laugh, but he allowed himself a brief smile as he savored the symmetry of

the path his mind had followed to completion. Evening had turned to night, and the time for

contemplation was past. He allowed his lifeforce to fill his body again, warming his muscles and

blood, readying for the hunt. A brush of his foot reduced the symbols of power once more to mere

dirt. Cloaked and silent to physical senses, he stalked the maze of the woods for his chosen prey.


The green lights of their magical fires shone through the trees. They were so intent on their rituals

and victims of their own that it was ridiculously easy to surprise them, hidden as he was.

Deathforce streamed from his hands, sapping the magic-users' strength, clouding their minds,

draining the life out of them until they sprawled on the soft grass like so many green and brown

fallen leaves. Their victim staggered to his feet and peered about, unsure of what had saved him, but

Korrick was already moving to the next beacon of fire.


He did not consume their souls, trap them in stone altars for the casting of spells, nor feed their pain

to the gods to purchase power. His power belonged to him alone, and with it he merely stopped

their bodies and assumed their souls would go wherever such things went in the absence of external

meddling. With every fire he extinguished, at least one soul would run away still wearing its flesh,

back to its friends and family and coworkers and all the rest of the trivia that made a society. They

would do so because the soulless one had saved them.


The irony pleased him. It was sufficient.


AVATAR

RP'ers are rare on Victory, but there's a few dozen of us now always looking for more folks. If you're interested, send me a tell, @Spackle in game, and I'll hook you up with our global channel VictoryRP. We have an open RP Day every Sunday in Gemini Park, 12PST/3EST/8GMT.

Still, Virtue's the place with the most RP'ers by far. I hang there about half the time, too ; )

No argument here. There's RP groups on Pinnacle, Champion, and Victory *inclines head modestly* but the biggest population by far is on Virtue. Come by Gemini Park in the southeast corner of Galaxy City to find the biggest concentration; or broadcast IC and we'll find you.

I've finally caught up to your thread, Joker, and I add my voice to these folks who want more. More I say! More offhandedly vicious action, more intricate plot thingies that haven't been explained *yet*, more fog-of-war dialogue. I'm getting to like how the world stops for dialogue. It's like Tarantino.

Please consider taking this thread up again. I don't want to have to hike over to NC and peek over your shoulder. ; )

I've been setting up Spackle to ding 50 later this afternoon, one year to the day after he was made, and I've been working him all weekend to get ready. I got to say, in the last 48 hours I've been in the hands of some of the greatest folks in the game.

J'rel Prestoo, who gave his services to Spackle immediately for anything he might need to do, including Shard missions filled with level 52 Ruularuu.

Armor Red, longtime member of Hall of Justice and longtime pal of mine, who called out the HoJ troops to work Spackle's missions in the Shadow Shard. Theoden, Flamewarder, Cannonfodder, and Paviotor of HoJ who answered the call. And Kid Olympus, who joined in the fun. We got handled roughly and some of them took real debt for me, but wow did we ever party hard and take names.

Hall of Justice in the house

Battleguard, for addressing my bout of cold feet by bringing himself over to the Victory server and exemping Spack all the way down to level 2. Thanks for reminding me that teaming with my friends is what this game is all about, at any level.

Battleguard

The Sunday morning roleplaying crew: J'rel Prestoo, Tsuki, Silver's Shadow, Calash, Hawkbird, and NephilimBringer, for both a fine afternoon of chatting in-character, and a fine afternoon of kicking [censored] in-character immediately following. Thanks also to Starstreaker and Star Kiwi for bringing the love. The level 50 Malta ambush in King's Row next to Blue Steel was a particular high point!

Malta in KR

As the morning crew faded out, the Euros took over: Teadaze, Night Pulse, KidZero, Morrigan, and iTank, all of Eurocore. And my Phoenix Force brother Charles Langly. We went after Siege and his thousands of energy blaster buddies, and with the new knockback we got splattered like the melon at a Gallagher show.

Bannister

Siegeleader's soul

Teadaze Arise

Then onward with Calash, Kiwi, XHS-23, and Jetblade, we tackled the Planet of the Rock Monsters!

Rockworld

My crews got Spackle from 48.1 to 48.9 in a mere six hours that day, and man did we have a lot of fun along the way.

Then I put myself into the tender care of Bobbybomb and his crew of hardcore professionals, in whose hands the numbers dance. They may not be much for roleplaying, but they are every bit as good a crew to BS with on Ventrilo as any pack I've known. Thanks to their knowledge, advice, and generosity, Spack moved from 48.9 to 49.9 with plenty of time to spare.

Level

There's so many ways to play this game, so many circles to move in. What makes a cool player is that we're all willing to help each other, to share our experience, and make this little pixel world a better place to be.

Wow, I'm glad I already made a record of this thread last week while the I4 patch was downloading! *grin* Anybody want a copy just ask. The community has an obligation to make sure quality material is preserved, so the memory of the Clockwork King snarling vengefully at the microphone will not vanish from the earth.

[ QUOTE ]
If you get Augur on your team your in good shape right from the start..its hard to screw things up with him around..

[/ QUOTE ]

Good thing he doesn't spell his name with an e... ; )

Seconded to The Augur!

Found this fellow in Talos just now. He's a knight... and a storm/dark... can you guess his name? ; )

Dark and Stormy

IMHO, you could also do combinations - one of my critters is Natural origin, even though he was scientifically modified to have the potential for superpowers, because he underwent an extensive period of training to actually develop those powers.

I could see being a Natural origin illusionist, too; just use relatively simple light and sound projection devices to start. Nonlethal-weapons type stuff.

May I assume you're new to the game? If so, how about making a throwaway character just to get a feel for some of the powersets that interest you? Maybe the sounds and animations of them will spark something. The fan movies here are good for that too.

Well Spackle answered the call of Argent Phoenix the other night. He ran their missions, and a tighter, more levelheaded bunch I've rarely seen. They had each other's backs instinctively, with hardly an order exchanged, and were calm in adversity. And they're sharp dressers too ; )

Props to the members of The Supernaturals SG that I met two nights ago:

Argent Phoenix
Venetian
Richard 47
Sword of Ra
Cold Fussion
Irish Curse
Jayso.
and Emerald Archer, member of Team Vanguard SG.

Shot of the night