Twoflower

For those who attended The Three Missing Panels(tm)...

1. Will the Dark Astoria Incarnate Zone offer Threads, Astrals, and Empyreans? Or just Shards? or just Threads, for that matter?

2. Does it have repeatable content or just story arcs and a new trial? "Street sweeping" was mentioned but presumably there's more.

3. What details were given about Darkness Control? Only fact we got was "no tentacles, more oily."

4. Did they say if Stalkers get Staff Fighting? (I'd assume yes, but TW didn't, so...)

5. Someone vaguely mentioned changes to Stalkers in I22. Anything specific?

Basically, we need specific details from those panels, since nobody posted anything. We have the UStreamed panels written up quite a bit, in comparison.

ONE SOLID FACT: Team Up Teleporter (LFG queue) will work inside door missions, and has other unspecified improvements to encourage using it. Courtesy of twitter.

We're between panels -- if anybody's reading this and planning to attend the Incarnate panel PLEASE, please take and post some notes... we've got next to nothing from the powers panel and I'm concerned that we'll get a repeat non-performance.

So... did nobody liveblog or tweet from the powers panel? The ONLY info I've spotted so far is "no tentacles." Was there nothing interesting to say beyond that?

A lot of this wouldn't be an issue if there weren't EXCLUSIVE items.

If you have to decide between "Cheap but random" and "Solidly priced but you get what you want" then a lot of the issues go away. Folks who enjoy blowing the mortgage in Vegas can enjoy their SuperPacks, the rest of us can grab the pieces we want.

I'm all for "Don't like it, ignore it and don't buy it." I think it's a good live and let live policy. But exclusivity is dangerous territory... you cut people off from content that normally goes through other channels when you do that.

The good 'ol Beeps, laughingstock of the world with their wooden panties, actually could be a serious problem if the Pantheon is no longer quite as Banished as it once was. I'm hoping for a bit more Lovecraftian style visuals as the old gods assert themselves and a bit less Tiki, though... there's only so much you can do to make a hawaiian novelty shop inventory look dangerous.

The Tsoo would be excellent for epic level mayhem. God-tier ninjas who blend with shadow and carve you up with ancient mystic weapons? All-power sorcerers unleashing the Hell of the Upside Down Scissors on your ***? Ohh yeah. Sign me up.

Now, what remains to be seen is the MECHANICS of how this will be "soloable," and if it'll reward well enough to actually be feasible compared to grinding WSTs for threads or doing shard converts. I see a lotta doomsaying here, how the devs will "obviously" make it completely horrible, but I'll wait and see.

I keep track of all the Dev and Community digest posts and I've seen nothing along those lines. Call it rumor mongering until there's an official statement.

It does say my current costumes are invalid. Ugh. Redoing them all would kinda suck, but I sent a /petition anyway...

My Bots/Time is mace, yes, but my Beam/Energy isn't anything yet (still level 20). Neither can edit their costumes. And I don't use any mace powers, just Scorp Shield and Power Boost.

This is getting frustrating. Multiple patches, even the 21.5 patch, and no fix for this bug.

None of my weapon based characters are able to edit their costumes. My Bots/Time, my Beam/Energy, etc. Is there a workaround for this? I haven't been able to use any of the costume slots I've unlocked for over a month now.

I don't particularly mind rare enhancements on the market. These three in particular are not that hard to get at auction, so it's strictly a convenience buy to get them from the marketplace, or great for Premium players who don't want to get IO and Auction licenses but still want to mix up their builds.

But "these three aren't bad" is the crux of that. If you'd offered a fantastically powerful and expensive set like Basilisk's Gaze or Kinetic Combat... well, personally I'd be cheering since I hate having to track down this unobtainium at Wentworth's, but I suspect some marketeers would be fuming. So take it one step at a time, definitely.

Scan done. Good news, no infection. Guess I had enough protection to keep me clear.

Thanks for keeping us informed about all this. I'll keep tuned in.

I want to avoid rumor/scaremongering, but what does this mean for someone who just visited the site during the compromised period? Should I be worrying about viruses?

I run ZoneAlarm, AVG Free, and am using Firefox, if that helps. I'm gonna start a full computer scan right now, to be sure.

Simple question. Guessing no, but...

If Disintegration spreads to other targets, do they also get a chance to be smacked by whatever Interface power I have as an Incarnate?

I'm not sure which one to take, given I'm ST-focused, but if I can AOE splatter the Interface around with more than just Cutting Beam, bravo.

Thanks for the playthroughs! I've revised both arcs according to the excellent feedback I got from the storyteam. Hope you enjoy my future arcs; I have three more waiting in the wings...

I've published version 2 of this arc! It's better than ever before, hopefully!

Changes:

* Fixed various typos, animation faults, and leftover text from a prior draft of the arc.

* Mission #2 revamped. Clarified the involvement of the enemy faction in question, changed the boss fight and means of finding Sven Dali, added more optional objectives.

* Removed Rikti drones ("Abstract Art"). They added some visual variety, but eh, I won't argue with a half dozen complaints.

* Changed the souvenier to something more appropriate.

Thanks for the feedback, PW! I'm editing the arc tonight and will take these suggestions and fixes into account.

The puppets are supposed to still blatantly be Nemesis Automatons -- she stole them and reprogrammed them, which is why they go "For Lord Nemesis!" when they ambush. That's the joke.

I can add a redundant end-of-mission clue for Lady-in-Scarlet. I still want Sabine to explain it, since some folks completely miss clues, but redundancy can't hurt.

I'm going to add Johan Richter to M2, the president of the company, to further explain the connection with Sven and to ensure no confusion with Lord Recluse. He'll be a new goal (arrest owner). I already had Oberst Kafka explain why they're doing this (subverting an American icon to destroy their enemies... they are nazis, after all) but Johan will clarify even further. I'll also add way more stolen paintings and art supplies and other things, to add atmosphere, as you suggest.

Astronaut Sculpture's description is a Portal 2 joke. It's a but obscure, but hey, descriptions are a good place for obscure jokes since many folks miss them.

As for beefing up Sven... Control sets on bosses are either ridiculously tough or too easy, depending on who you're playing. I wanted something basic to avoid one-stars and "guy at the end was too hard". Earth assault gives him a good mix of attacks.

As for a female hipster groupie.... hmmmmm. I like that idea. Also the idea for the souvenier.

THANKS! Great feedback!

Okay, version 2 of the arc is now up.

Changes:

* Typo fixes.
* Unnamed goals given names.
* Renamed the bigbadboss of the arc to something simpler (joke was too obsure).
* Added optional clues to hint at what's going on in M1/M2.
* Added lots of optional opportunities for villainy in M3!

Fixes coming to my Artcrime arc next, and then, a new arc published!

For your consideration, the first two arcs of my big 'ol wave of new stories!

For Best Lowbie Arc: Grunty McFisterson's Two Step Guide to Winning Respect (#519044)

A good, simple fight against classic enemy groups, with a few twists to it. Along the way your new villain establishes a name in the isles as someone not to be messed with.

For Best Comedy Arc: Crime is Art and Art is Crime (#517859)

Ironic hipster artist criminals are running wild with all manner of magically devious tricks and traps... including a mad sculptor with an eye towards bringing one very dangerous statue to life. Can you stop him?

I wouldn't mind farming if AE wasn't unfortunately designed to treat all arcs equally, thus shoving story-based content out of the limelight. Discussing it is valid in my book, although it's a damned shame that it's being given higher priority by the system than stories.

I still think it's incredibly lame and cheaty, but as long as it's not harming me, IE getting my arcs shoved to the bottom of the list and onestarred by farmers, whatever, you know?

Sooo... I guess the raw, binary answer to the question is "yes." But don't expect much sympathy.