Steelclaw
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:That's just the tip of the iceberg... I have three tabs for badges... one for heroes.. villains and Praetorians... I only have to fill one of them tho' because the system is set up to automatically propogate the appropriate badge on the other two sheets... and if I change my character's alignment all the badge titles automatically adjust to reflect that fact.Originally Posted by Foxy_Phoenix
Whoa....you can do all that with Excel????
Most of my stuff is automated that way. I hide all the coding so that the interface only shows what I want it to. I literally have over 1000 cells of code on the Invention sheet, but you only see around 100 of the data input/output ones.
Excel is my canvas... and I am Michaelangelo. -
Quote:I solo mostly... The only time I team is when I have to accomplish something that requires a team like Task Forces or when I am running a character I specifically created for teaming (defenders and corruptors mostly).Originally Posted by spice_weasel
i definitely get the need to set your own terms on what / why /how you game. sometimes you need to bring a few extra dimensions to the table to find what you're looking for.
my only question is: do you team or solo for the most part while playing?
/happy trails
This is probably for the best since I tend to be rather chatty and joke-spewing while teaming. People I play with generally find me amusing at first and respond to my quips... then after a while the "LOL"'s taper off... then I am pretty much guaranteed dead silence after each of my jokes...
I would love to know how many of my former team mates have me on global ignore. -
Quote:Well... I don't have to work.. set up financially rather well... so that's one reason I can devote so much time to it all..Originally Posted by Jack Power
If I would quit my job, leave my family and sell my house I can see myself getting into that tournament.
One question though. Do you do your calculations on a computer or, as a hardcore tournament director would, on pen and paper?
I'd love to see your desktop, either the real or computer one.
//Jack
I set up all my tournament data on spreadsheets, so all the calculations are done for me as soon as I type in the stats. One blank character sheet is over 8.6 megs in size. To tell you how obsessive... er... how detailed the sheets are... If I go to my Powers page and put Accuracy in slot 1 beside Brawl... my Invention sheet will automatically detect that I entered a power in that slot but no indication that I have an enhancement yet (basically I've reserved the slot for that enhancement) it will discover that it is an Accuracy enhancement... it will check my current level to see that I'm 10th level... it will then figure out that I need 1 boresight and 1 luck charm to make that enhancement and add those items to my "shopping list"... all without me having to do more than type in Accuracy.
All the other sheets are similarly automated.
My computer desktop is relatively bare... I usually only have one game I play at any given time... but i REALLY play that one. -
Quote:You asked for it...Originally Posted by Marcian Tobay
I must know the details of this tournament...
Current Tournament Rules (the SEVERELY Abridged version):
* Each Server shall contain within it a single "team" of competitors all geared towards either a hero or villain alignment.
* Each team shall start with only two members... a team Captain and a Traderbot. The Captain shall actually play the game while the Traderbot is there solely for the purpose of playing the market and bankrolling the team.
* A new member shall be created to join the team when the last joining member of that team reaches 40th level.
* No Training, Dual or Single Origin IOs shall ever be slotted; Invention Origin ONLY.
* No Set Enhancements are allowed to be slotted prior to the character reaching 27th level. No Set enhancement lower than level 30 shall be slotted.
* Prior to creating the character in-game a spreadsheet shall be made plotting the exact Power and Slot allocation from 1st to 50th level. This plan shall be adhered to rigidly.
* A Reputation score shall be maintained for the character. This score is based on a mathematical equation using Badges earned (each badge has a different Rep value all kept on a separate spreadsheet), Number of Successful Missions run, Influence earned (earned inf only, that made via the market or sale of loot does not count), penalties for times defeated, and how long the character has been around. Also there is a bonus to Reputation based on how high a level the character got to before they had their first ever defeat.
* A Power score shall also be maintained for the character. Power = Temp powers/accolades/set powers + badge power values (spreadsheeted) + Level + slotted enhancements in powers + reward merits earned/spent + penalty for defeats. There is a bonus applied to power according to what the character's current difficulty settings are.
* A Teamwork score is kept based on prestige earned for the SG/VG by that character, enhancements they donated to the team storage racks, team missions they have done successfully, badges also grant a teamwork score, also there is a penalty for defeats occurring while on a team. The teamwork score is a percentage bonus applied to Reputation and Power when applying those values to the Team Rep and Power for that particular server.
* These scores (and others) are recorded at every level gain. Every 5th level they are exported to a separate spreadsheet so all characters progress can be measured against one another to see who was doing better at that point in the tournament.
Like I said, this is an extremely abridged version of my rules. I also have rules governing 50th level characters, when they can go rogue and switch sides. I have rules regarding my traderbots and how they level. I have rules about whose turn it is and what "bonus rolls" they get during their turn.
This is my tournament. This is my curse.
Heh. I love it tho'... -
Dear Devs...
No, wait a second... that's not right...
ATTENTION DEVS:
I know what you're up to and I, for one, do NOT appreciate it.
I first joined the game around Issue 10: Invasion and fell in love with it almost instantaneously. I looked around at all the heroes, villains and Rikti bombs dropping from the sky and you had me hook, line and sinker. I immediately started creating spreadsheets and getting my tournament rules established. My characters were shaky and definitely reeking of that newb-car smell but it was all so much FUN!
I have to admit I missed your first attempt. Issue 11: A Stitch in Time introduced Flashback missions and Ouroboros; fantastic additions to be sure, but as I was new to the game and didn't have a 30 yet much less a 50, I was mostly unaffected. Still, I should have seen the warning signs... I should have realized THEN your nefarious intentions towards me. When Issue 12: Midnight Hour arrived with its mid-range content and the Midnighter Club I had a few suspicions.... but gave you the benefit of the doubt. How could have known? I thought.
Then came lucky Issue 13: Power and Responsibility... and this time you weren't being subtle anymore. This time you were going for blood. It wasn't the new power customization... it wasn't the new powersets... no... it was the Reward Merits. My older characters didn't have them... my newer ones would... it was unfair to the older players in the tournament... it made my scoring system unbalanced...
It made my tournament obsolete.
I deleted all my characters and started over again.
I suppose I should be glad that you people actually gave me two issues of cushion before you assaulted me, but I suspect you were just making sure the noose was firmly around my neck before pulling the first lever.
The insult came when you immediately followed up with Issue 14: Architect. Architect TIckets?! AE Missions?! New Badges?! Well... at least all my characters were pretty new from the last deletion... I wouldn't miss them TOO much... would I?
I deleted all my characters and started over again.
Issues 15, 16 and 17 went by pretty quietly and I felt a growing sense of dread... you were planning something... something big... I just knew it.
I can imagine the conversation in your offices:
Sycophant: "Sir! We just got in a disturbing report!"
Darth Dev: "What is it, peon?"
Sycophant: "Sir, one of Steelclaw's characters just reached 37th level!"
Darth Dev: "What?! Why wasn't I told of this earlier?!"
Sycophant: "I'm sorry, Dread Lord! We didn't know it had gotten that bad..."
Darth Dev (one force-choke later): "Clean this up! And call my advisors... we must force that fool to restart his tournament!"
And so you announced Going Rogue.
And that was the really, really torturous aspect of your sadism towards me. You announced Going Rogue nearly a WHOLE YEAR in advance of its release. You deliberately let me KNOW I would have to restart... let me STEW in the fact that every moment I played the game was essentially useless because at some definite but unknown point in the future I'd be deleting all my characters and starting over again...
You cruel, heartless ********.
And so... here we are... I've started over again... killed all my characters and reincarnated them in their new images. Spent countless hours re-creating and updating spreadsheets... enslaved by love to this *****ble game.
You do it on purpose. You Devs. You hold out these sparkling gifts and improvements to the game with a gentle smile that barely hides the gloating, malicious glee like fires of madness in your liar's eyes. Any normal person would rest on their laurels, let laziness prevail and allow status quo to reign supreme. Most others would let me FINISH at least ONE ****** tournament before introducing another new and wonderful addition to the game.
But no... I get stuck with a Development Team who think the game should be "upwardly mobile." I get a game whose Devs have a freaking work ethic.
So, I'll keep playing... What choice do I have? I'm an addict and an addict needs his fix. I know you'll get me again. I know you'll look at my account and see what level my characters are and rush out the next beautiful change. I just know it.
Issue 19: Incarnates.
...
....
.....
Oh, *** **** you.
With Love,
Steelclaw -
Why fight Carnies?
Wink-wink-nudge-nudge-say-no-more... -
Quote:* Opinions are like ***holes and everyone has one... on the other hand if everyone DIDN'T have one ... the explosions... while impressive... would likely be rather messy.Originally Posted by Dr_HR
GIVE ME SOME GOOD NEWS FOR ONCE...anyting will do nicely
* While playing Texas Hold 'Em recently I was dealt a Jack of Diamonds and a King of Spades... they were off-suit so after the hand played out I refered to my hand as "Jack-King off" .... I given my chips and asked to leave...
* Emperor Cole has come up with the perfect plan for keeping his rule intact... every super powered being who reaches 20th level gets shipped off-planet.
* They introduced a "Girlfriend from Hell" with Going Rogue... except she doesn't look a thing like my ex... the friends she hangs around with are dead ringers for my ex's best friends tho'...
* Hey... considering how many bugs there were in it when Closed Beta first started the fact that it's running at all is good news!
* At last I can go into Atlas Park and not hear a thousand annoying and juvenile broadcast conversations... Hmmm... Is there a way people can be locked in Nova Praetoria?
* We finally got those full servers so many people have been asking for! And the Queue waiting message will teach people how to count backwards at the same time!
* Good news? Issue 19 has been upgraded to Soon(tm). -
I think I have a KO blow winner here...
Despite the fact that I got Going Rogue pre-ordered almost as soon as it came out...
Despite the fact that I adored nearly everything about Praetoria during the closed beta...
Despite the fact that I have revamped all my spreadsheets I use to track CoH/V/U(ndecided) statistics, etc...
Despite the fact that I have just re-started my tournament... deleted ALL my characters and "re-rolled" them...
None of my starting characters will be created in Praetoria... I likely won't actually play a character in Praetoria until they either 1) allow non-Praetorian characters to visit or (2) I get two or three characters on a single server to level 40 first...
... all because of my "weird rules" I make for myself... -
Ah, many thanks... good to know.
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Is there a way for a hero and/or villain who were created on Primal Earth to get to Praetoria? Or are all those exploration, etc badges completely out of reach unless you were created there?
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Steelclaw: You got your serious discussion in my Joke Thread!
Forumites: You got your Joke Thread in our serious discussion!
Announcer: Two great tastes that taste great together! -
You remember how the original "Boosters" (before they were actually called booster packs) included a Badge? I still polish up my Pocket D VIP badge every so often.
But all the new themed boosters have been badgeless... So I am starting a petition (no, not really... so don't lock the thread... this is just a petty excuse to make another lame joke list)... for retroactive badges to be awarded to everyone who purchased a booster.
Here are my badge title suggestions:
Wedding Pack:
* I Survived the Bachelor Party badge: All I can say is hopefully Manticore was too drunk to remember anything so his blushing bride can't pick it out of his mind.
* Always the Bridesmaid badge: The most memorable part of the wedding wasn't the exchange of vows, neither was it the beautiful kiss sealing the deal... no... what you'll always remember is fighting off Arachnos troops while wearing an ugly sea-green bridesmaid dress.
* The Open Bar Reception badge: There was a wedding?
Super Booster I: Cyborg
* What Were You THINKING?! badge: Yeah, because if I ever install robot parts in MY body... I'll make sure there's a self-destruct mechanism built into them.
* Airport Security Cavity Search badge: I'm a cyborg... not a terrorist... No, I really don't think it's just a set of keys I forgot in my pocket...
* Failed Chain of Logic badge: Okay, so the hospital teleporter whisks you away just prior to actually dying... but the self-destruct blows you to tiny little bits... which shouldn't happen because you should be teleported away before you become bits... but you still explode... ow... my head...
Super Booster II: Magic
* To Buff or Not To Buff badge: You have to click yes to accept your Mystical Fortune... oh wait... no you don't... PSYCHE! yes you do!
* Modern Witch badge: Dear Lord, I don't remember the Wicked Witch of the West wearing THAT!!
* Protection from PETA badge: I may still use eye of newt and tongue of toad as spell ingredients, but I swear the fur in my new costume piece is fake! Stop throwing paint at me!
Super Booster III: Super Science
* Killer Queen badge: To avoid complications she never kept the same address... In conversation she spoke just like a Baroness...
* Secret Pervert badge: Yeah, gender bending and large rubber gloves... You scientists aren't fooling anyone.
* Darth Vader Fan Club badge: More respirators than you can shake a stick at. This was originally called the "Asthmatic Awareness" badge but some considered that not entirely P.C.
Super Booster IV: Martial Arts
* OMFG badge: Oh, man Ninja Run is SO COOL! I'll never move any other way again! I won't even waste a slot on a travel power! This is the BEST!
* Chiropractic Nightmare badge: Well, you've run bent over for so long you ignored the pinched nerve and now you've ruptured a disk... but at least you looked cool doing it.
* Ninjas For Dummies badge: The Martial Arts Booster... never have so many Ninja jumped up and down yelling "Hey look at me! Don't I look SO cool?!" at one time.
Super Booster V: Mutant
* Bait And Switch badge: Now, the Dev's never SAID they were giving you animal parts.
* Does This Look Infected To You? badge: Words you say just before activating the Rapid Boil costume change emote.
* Oh, Yeah, Forgot About That... badge: Maybe next time you'll remember there's a small chance you'll become a powerless monkey before you key Secondary Mutation during a pitched battle. -
Weird rules I make for myself? Dear lord...
1) All characters are played in order once per round for a minimum of 2 hours; although this minimum may be increased if a special "bonus spin" for time comes up indicating more.
2) All characters must record practically every little thing that happens to them, from how many missions they succeed/fail at to defeats to what powers are slotted and with what. All this information is applied to a complicated scoring system by which the characters' "performances" are compared.
3) No Training Origin enhancements, No Dual Origins, No Single Origins shall ever... EVER... touch my characters anywhere other than the inventory dump. Only Invention Origin shall grace the cherished precincts of their power slots.
4) No Invention Origin enhancement shall be created or slotted unless it was found as a recipe drop first; unless a special "Bonus Spin" at the beginning of that character's turn indicates they won a "fabulous prize!"
5) Each server will start out with only ONE character. New team mates will be introduced to the server when the preceding character has reached 40th level.
6) At no time will a newer character on a team (server) out level an older character. If they reach an equal level they stop there until the older character advances. Considering that new characters don't join until the older one is 40th level I don't see this is as a problem, but still... it's a rule.
7) ALL rules are written down on stone tablets and brought down from the mountain top... okay... well... maybe not... but they ARE written down on a spreadsheet.
8) Upon reaching 12th level Thou Shalt go thee unto the University and verily fill thine coffers with the bounty that is Invention Origin enhancements. Know thee that the Invention Tutorial must be completed ere thine reward be granted.
9) Thou shalt not bear any IO Set Enhancement until thou art at least 27th level, neither shalt thy slot any IO Set Enhancement of less than 30th level power.
10) Before thou step foot into the Character Creator, verily even before thine barest toe doth touch the sign in screen, thou shalt establish upon the Character Spreadsheet the entirety of powers and slotting chosen from first to 50th level for that character. Thou shalt also produce a list of preferred Set Enhancements for those powers so thou canst plan ahead most effectively.
Actually, I have a much... MUCH longer list of rules, requirements and standards by which I play the game... but 10 seemed like a nice, round and somewhat appropriate number to me.
Oh, as an aside... I recently deleted all my characters and revamped all my spreadsheets with new rules for the upcoming Going Rogue release. My original Character Sheet spreadsheet for the last set of rules was 4,832 KB in size.
The one I finished making yesterday is 8,668 KB.... and that's just the blank character sheet... without any actual character data loaded into it...
::Sighs::
Yeah... counselling... really need to invest in that. -
Although I have never used it before I can only imagine that I would find myself kicked from every team I ever joined if I used Vent..
As it is I fill the chat window with line after line of silly and only marginally humorous observations and quips about what's going on... usually during battle...
.... and I talk even faster than I type. -
If I had $100 that was totally free-and-clear of responsibility I would put it towards a 6 month membership to an on-line Karaoke site.
Not that I am really all that into Karaoke or a great singer... but I have been wanting to make an "album" of City of Heroes Parody songs now to post in the forums for about 3 months. Unfortunately, the web site requires membership for all the really good songs and unlimited storage while offering such "great" music as "Happy Birthday" for the cheap-a-holics among us.
$100 would get me a six month membership to record my madness and leave me with funds enough for several trips to Amato's (the greatest Sandwich shop... like.... EVAH!) -
Quote:Yeah, dude... seriously... finish your sentence... your particibles are dangling.Originally Posted by Golden Girl
Then you need to go back and serve the rest of your sentence
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Quote:You're absolutely right, Brillig... I am sorry about that.. I didn't notice the 101 on your bid and sort of assumed that Shadow out-bid you.Originally Posted by Brillig
Bah. Technically my bid won, but whatever.
Good job Ravenwolf on being a jerk and killing the fun for everyone.
Unfortunately, I have just now concluded giving him all the bases.
To be fair, I am offering you the 101,000,000 influence that you bid. You were wronged in this and I feel badly about that. Just send me a PM letting me know your global and I will email the influence to you to cover your losses. -
Quote:Well... looks like we have a winner... Ouch... May I introduce you to a book entitled "How To Make Friends and Influence People"?Originally Posted by Shadow Ravenwolf
My Updated Bids are as follows at 5:59 PM Eastern:
Champion: 6,666,777
Freedom: 2,666,777
Guardian: 6,666,777
Infinity: 2,666,777
Justice: 10,666,777
Liberty: 666,777
Protector: 35,666,777
Triumph: 10,666,777
Victory: 50,666,777
Virtue: 100,666,777
Any-who... Ravenwolf in an excellent tactical display... has walked away with it all. He even stole all the "Also Participated" ribbons I had stored up.
Congratulations!
Thanks to everyone who bid... my great appreciation for saving me from the "egg-on-the-face" issue I was afraid might happen. -
Quote:Nope... you made it... but only by 5 minutes... that's what's left in the bidding... 5 minutes people!!Originally Posted by Traegus
not because i have more then one or two toons on liberty, but i can't not bid on things like this..... i think i have an issue. 200,000 for liberty
edit: well that will teach me to look at the time stamps on the posts...... missed it buy a whole work day it looks like. oh well. and SC, you sir are nuts, certifiably nuts, we love you, but your nuckin futs in the best way. -
Down to the wire... With one hour to go until close of bidding...
Champion: Mr_Right with 6,000,000
Freedom: Mr_Right with 2,000,000
Guardian: KayJMM with 6,666,666
Infinity: Starry Night with 2,000,000
Justice: SerialBeggar with 10,000,000
Liberty: Shadow Ravenwolf with 100,000
Protector: Scooby_Dont with 35,000,000
Triumph: galadiman with 10,000,000
Victory: galadiman with 50,000,000
Virtue: Brillig with 100,000,000 -
With just under 4 hours to go...
Champion: DreadShinobi at 5,000,000
Freedom: Mr_Right at 2,000,000
Guardian: ShadowRavenwolf at 2,666,777
Infinity: Starry Night at 2,000,000
Justice: SerialBeggar at 10,000,000
Liberty: ShadowRavenwolf at 100,000
Protector: Scooby_Dont at 35,000,000
Triumph: galadiman at 10,000,000
Victory: gladiman at 50,000,000
Virtue: FunStuffofDoom at 75,000,000
Mr_Right you put down a 2 million bid on Champion but there was already a bid of 5 million from DreadShinobi on it.
While all this goes on I am setting up my Character Sheet spreadsheet for my newest version of the tournament... I would like to take this opportunity to say...
I <bleepity-censored-bleep!> HATE FREAKIN' CIRCULAR REFERENCES!!!!
That is all. -
Quote:Ah... see... what I do is sell everything they own(ed) to the point of actually respeccing each character and selling off all their IOs prior to deletion...Originally Posted by Twisted Toon
just out of curiosity, what will you do with all the Inf that you'll be getting, if you're wiping the slate clean?
All the influence I get from this is given to characters on my second account which are all named Traderbot Ver 1.00. The sole purpose of the traderbots are to play the market and keep my characters in cash. It's all part of the rules I have for my tournament.
Basically I'm bank-rolling each of my teams via the Traderbots. The influence keeps rolling over even if I'm trashing the characters and the bases. NOT including any proceeds from this auction each of the 11 Traderbots will be starting out with roughly 1.25 billion influence each.
I think a first level character can make that last for a bit.
Meanwhile... six hours left until close of bids and we have..
Champion: No bid
Freedom: Mr_Right at 2,000,000
Guardian: KayJMM at 666,666 (you li'l devil, you!)
Infinity: StarryNight at 2,000,000
Justice: SerialBeggar at 10,000,000
Liberty: No bid
Protector: Scooby_Dont at 35,000,000
Triumph: galadiman at 10,000,000
Victory: galadiman at 50,000,000
Virtue: Brillig at 60,000,000 -
The current bids with 8.25 hours to go:
Champion: Unwanted, Unloved, Unbid
Freedom: Mr_Right with 2,000,000
Guardian: The Inestimable KayJMM at 666,666
Infinity: Putting limits on Infinity is StarryNight at 2,000,000
Justice: has a price... and that price is 10,000,000 from SerialBeggar
Liberty: Ben Franklin said the price of Liberty is vigilance... apparently it's not even that.
Protector: the Protection racket is costing galadiman 25,000,000 these days
Triumph: galadiman is feeling triumphant with 10,000,000
Victory: apparently galadiman wants to corner the whole "winning feelings" market with a 50,000,000 bid here as well
Virtue: Yes, I'm willing to sell my virtue to FunStuffofDoom for 45,000,000
As far as my sanity goes... well... I'm more surprised that someone had to be convinced I was mad... normally the assumption goes in the other direction. -
Update before I turn in for the evening...
Champion: Still bidless... no surprise
Freedom: Mr_Right for 2,000,000
Guardian: No Bidder
Infinity: Starry Night for 2,000,000
Justice: SerialBeggar for 10,000,000
Liberty: No Bidder
Protector: galadiman for 10,000,000
Triumph: Caulderone for 1,000,000
Victory: galadiman for 50,000,000
Virtue: Brillig for 20,000,000
The one on Pinnacle is called Valkyrie Vanguard... it was all-female themed. -
Okay.. the bidding as it stands now:
Champion: No Bidder (can't blame you with a cruddy name like Steelclaw Syndicate)
Freedom: Street_Wolf for dibs
Guardian: No Bidder
Infinity: Starry Night for 2,000,000
Justice: SerialBeggar for 10,000,000
Liberty: No Bidder
Protector: No Bidder
Triumph: Caulderone for 1,000,000
Victory: galadiman for 50,000,000
Virtue: Starry Night for 10,000,000
As far as the equations I use to calculate my tournament scores I really can't say at the moment since I am overhauling them in preparation for Going Rogue.
I just now finished revamping the Badge scores to include all the new ones. Which means I also have to change all my Character Sheets to reflect the new information.
I may post all the spreadsheets on a web site at some point for those curious (or masochistic) enough to want to see them.