Venture

Renowned
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  1. "Chains of Blood" is the first arc I actually wrote ("Blowback" was published first on live) and it's a Circle of Thorns story. It does play loose and fast with canon.

    I suppose I should go see if it actually still runs. :-P
  2. I did reconsider, the Terra Fire version is much better. Truth is I was going through so many permutations of different robes and jackets that I probably misremembered the Fire version being a problem.
  3. When I was working on Stormrune I settled on the pieces I wanted to use. Five of them total came to 220 points. That's when I decided I was better off buying the whole pack.
  4. The Fire pattern seemed a bit too busy. Perhaps I will reconsider later.
  5. Not the best screenshots but I was in a hurry:



    Stormrune, Bots/Storm technomage I rolled up on Exalted.

    Edit: No sooner did I post this than I changed my mind and re-rolled him as Demon/Storm. Same costume though.
  6. Quote:
    If you can't understand the idea behind having a villain rising up through the ranks on the Rogue Isles and not being jail-broken, or someone coming to the Isles from another country to make a name for themselves rather than being jail broken, you're not as good as this as you think you are.
    I understand it perfectly. In another game it would be perfectly fine. In this one, prior to Freedom, it's just wrong.
  7. Quote:
    Can anyone name even one MMO where this "Free Willed Character" is present?
    Second Life. Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies tried but were, to swipe a phrase, "not entirely successful".

    An earlier respondent summed it up by citing the difference between "sandbox" and "theme park" designs. The game Sam wants is possible to create but City is not and never will be it.
  8. Quote:
    Lets imagine a world in which superpowers do actually exist [no jonny depp isnt a superhero, he's just a good pirate!], what kind of role would you have within that world?
    Assuming I was one of the ones with powers (which is not stated in the hypothetical), I would be a cop.
  9. Venture

    Can I cry now?

    Quote:
    The subs that feature brings to the game isn't a benefit?
    I do not believe that AE in its current form is bringing in any subscriptions, and is much more likely to have a negative effect on player retention.
  10. Quote:
    For those of us who CAN look past the basic game mechanics and stick to just the story the game tells, however, an arc which presents the actions as MY idea and MY plan and MY initiative
    But it's not my idea, my plan or my initiative and no amount of spin will make it so. Which is just part of the litany of sins committed by all four "clone" arcs.

    Quote:
    Am I the only one who thinks a world where every single player character villain has been liberated from the Zig by Arachnos makes for a rather stale game world?
    It doesn't make for a stale game world, any more than (e.g.) an RPG wherein every PC is a vampire made for one. If you can't work with simple conditions like this then you're not as good at this as you think you are.
  11. Quote:
    I'm pretty sure all clothing is just an accessory for female Carnies.
    Vanessa DeVore approves (+4).
  12. Venture

    Can I cry now?

    The game doesn't need a PL machine/loot generator. There's no benefit to anything that lets people blow the leveling curve to smithereens.
  13. Quote:
    They are capable of not assuming your motivations or loyalties beyond a few basics, involving meaningful moral options, being fun, featuring classic villain plots, not being insulting, suggesting a sense of self determination despite being simple stories, etc.
    I didn't find these arcs to be any different, in any meaningful way, from any other arcs in the game.
  14. Venture

    Can I cry now?

    Quote:
    Either undo all the boneheaded knee jerk ultranerfing that made the AE utterly useless to the dedicated writers and creators that accepted the task of doing the developers job for them and supplementing the content they refuse to update or enhance in a timely manner, or close the damned doors on the AE forever.
    Or, Take a Third Option: remove the rewards entirely, throw the moneylenders out of the temple and revisit the issue two or three months later to find a hard-capped level of rewards that's enough to get people to play while convincing the bottom feeders to look elsewhere.

    I do agree that if AE can't be made to work for storytelling -- if there really is no market amongst the playerbase for player-generated content -- it should be shut down. Better that it did not exist than to leave it as some warped Monty Haul loot generator, festering like a gangrenous wound.
  15. Quote:
    I don't understand how people can't find the thing.
    Because many people have all those Pumicites they ran past (you know, the ones that run like blazes) right on their tail and they get pounded into minestrone before they can even think of looking around the room they're in.
  16. Considering the current state of the AE system they'd have to be pretty dim bulbs to try any such thing.
  17. Quote:
    Says who? You?
    The rules.

    There's a great piece of RANDOM_BOSS agro text in the newspaper missions where the guy describes what happens when someone tells Ghost Widow to go screw herself. She just kills the guy on the spot. That's about it for your level 10 character trying to flip off Scirocco. You tell him to get bent, he sandblasts your lungs from the inside. Roll up a new character.

    Now, the other rooks in the arc, that's another matter. And no, there's no excuse for the arc setting up a pitching machine loaded with Idiot Balls. But just because there is no one to stop you from writing anything you want in that little info box does not mean you have carte blanche to contravene the conditions for new characters, not here or in any other RPG.
  18. Quote:
    Everyone might start at level 1, but that doesn't mean anything other than where they stand gameplay-wise.
    Character concept is subordinate to game rules. Characters in City start as beginners. That happens to not matter in this particular case, but (e.g.) I'd laugh in the face of anyone who tried to RP their level 10 character as anything other than a slightly-experienced rookie.
  19. Quote:
    Except that at this point you are, at most, level 10. You're a nobody.
    So are the other characters in this farce.
  20. Quote:
    Why would you fight the ambushes? They don't need to be fought. Run through and click all the glowies.
    Because they spawned right on top of me and squashed me flat in seconds?
  21. What gets me is the idea that it's somehow game-breaking to hide FX in PvP. Do they seriously think I have time in PvP to try to parse out the lightshow around any given character to figure out what he's got running? Especially now with power customization?
  22. *nerdrages the thread from orbit -- it's the only way to be sure*
  23. Quote:
    What if there was more comicbook content at the beginning of these arcs?
    Would not change my opinion in the slightest.
  24. I can't remember for sure now, but I think one or more of the "speakeasy" maps may be available. You might find those to be too small, but beggars and choosers....
  25. Quote:
    It's is my opinion, you can't tell me my opinion is wrong.
    Your opinion can be, and probably is, wrong.