tjh_papers

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I'd like to see "the betrayal of the Lost."

I mean, c'mon - the Rikti that initially invaded split, sure, but those coming in with this group? Why would they give one whit about the Lost?

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Actually...

***SPOILER WARNING****



...since the mutated-slowly-to-Rikti Lost are in and of themselves part of the work of the Traditionalists Rikti faction (those who wish to rebuild on Earth) are doing, and are at odds with the Lineage of War (the recently empowered and current Rikti government) who are made up of the militaristic Restructurists (who desire military/force as power)?

The Lost may indeed become the allies of heroes in this war. This is underscored by the fact that the militaristic 'Restructurists', through Ambassador Kuhr'Rekt, are already working with Arachnos to a very limited degree.

Even then, not even ALL of the Lost ARE Traditionalists. They're the melting pot for new recruits from BOTH factions. Trust is going to be a BIG issue here.

Keep in mind? Both the Lost and the Traditionalist are a VERY small minority of the Rikti forces on Earth at this time. (As Ambassador Kuhr'Rekt explains.) Most of them are Restructurists, and theres no doubt in my mind that this new invasion is lead by them as well.

That said? While the Lost/Traditionalists may be our only hope for in-legion allies in this war, they're very small and have a very singular goal. Their goal? To envelop humanity into what it believes is the ultimate utopia: The great Rikti Culture.

Talk about strange bedfellows. But i10 seems to be all about 'the enemy of my enemy'.

Wonder what'll happen to the Ambassador when Grandville gets attacked?

***SPOILERS END****




Mmm-mm. All those layers of deception and betrayal, eh? I'd love to write up some of the devious little fun thats gonna come from Issue 10. Heres hoping for some good storylines and great fun.

Bah! Cryptic needs to hire me to proofread and grammar check their stuff. (Hint: Callback, please? ) There were some tiny things on this page that made me want to bring it up, and one BIG headache. Oddly, most of them seem to focus on just the END of the article, as I didn't see anything major standing out in the main body of the work.

[u]Tiny Suggestion #1[u]

Original: Once the United Nation Security Council’s elite super-powered hero force, Vanguard was struggled to rebuild after the war.

Suggested: Vanguard, once the United Nation Security Council’s elite super-powered hero force, struggled to rebuild after the war.

Why?: Your main subject of this sentence is Vanguard, so lead with it. This also makes the use of 'struggled' vs 'struggling' more appropriate.

[u]Tiny Suggestion #2[u]

Original: The survivors made up a skeleton force and their dire warnings were ignored in the joyful days after the war, written off as fear-mongering and paranoia.

Suggested: The dire warnings of this skeleton force were ignored in the joyful days following the war, written off as mere fear-mongering and paranoia.

Why?: Again, this is about focusing the sentence upon the subject (the dire warnings ignored), and trying to be as eloquent and to the point as possible about the other 'secondary' aspects (reinforcing how Vanguard is weakened). Those three extra words do add up.

[u]The BIG Headache[u]

Small ships dart through the heavy weather … and there are so very many of them.

I've done this in my own writing, and been nagged to hell over it! An ellipsis should only be used if there is a contextual ommision, rather than just a pause like we have here. Nothing is left out or implied, and the thought has not trailed off since we are given the entire statement. Using a comma would be better, but since I believe the ellipsis was used as a stylistic choice? Then the correct use of the ellipsis would have been something like this:

Small ships dart through the heavy weather…

...and there are so very many of them.

The Rikti have returned.

This may not seem like much, but from a technical standpoint we now have an actual ommision in our presentation of information. A significant break, one that allows the use of the ellipsis.

And that is being rather LIBERAL with the rules of said ellipsis, by the way. If you find evidence to the contrary of my suggestion there, PLEASE inform me. I know several loveable old coots I'd love to annoy with it.

Alright, I'm done. Back to talk about sweet world-wide events and fun hero/villian teamups.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm diggin' all of this art exposure, between the great single panels and covers, to the full on interviews. Glad to see the comic book side of our lil' CoX world is still getting its due!

But what about the WRITERS, eh?

Wow, you guys are just terrible to each other sometimes on here.

Linking to publicly available information isn't an act of pseudointellectualism, it's an attempt to educate and inform others. Kinda like linking to Wikipedia. So lets watch the harsh, sweeping judgements of others intellectual capacities? No need for ego, just share share the wealth.

I'm just glad people are pushing for multiplatform exposure online, regardless of the muddled number of costs and payments. (I don't think Cryptic Studios has its accountant on the forums? Or an investor page, even? That'd be an interesting bit of info.) I'm just hoping these other social networks get jumped on pretty quickly, to escape the 'Just MySpace' fears I'm reading in a lot of these posts.

The fact that these pages are more used as "gateways and "signposts" to the core website and Cryptic-owned social networks rather than being their own singular source of information? That just makes me breathe a bit easier.

Plug away if you have a personal webring of choice, I say, if you've got one. It'd just be a matter of making sure the Cryptic webmonkies can match their unique formats A-OK.

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Advertising 101.
...
If you really want people to hear about your product. Shell out the dough for a Television Commercial.
...
Aim small, miss small.

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Actually, thats a bit contrary to what one would learn in Advertising 101, but I can see what you meant. The reality is, however, that telivision advertising is a VERY harsh, expensive, and rather elitist sector. What channel do you use? What timeslot? How do you know if you're reaching your target demographic?

Here's a few primers on this complex subject, if you're interested: Economics of TV ads, Advertising philosophy, and a breakdown of costs.

Given this, I can see why a smaller company would choose to embrace the Internet socialization network. While it doesn't embody the mainstream, I agree, it still affects enough people who DO influence the mainstream.

Good note on the need to link to a more informed site, btw. Didn't notice that myself.

Owch. I wouldn't be so quick to spread the "Mehs" just because its a vocal minority. Just because an opinion is held by a small number of people doesn't mean they don't have valid or useful input, folks.

I'll be straight up with my bias: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp bothers the crud out of me. And since Myspaces' 'new' connection to it, they've done some pretty shady and nasty things to pretty much attempt to ensure they're the big boss. (See my above links about Revver and other bans, though thankfully public outcry has slowly reversed most of this.)

Does this really affect CoX? No, I suppose not, in the short-term. Is it still worth mulling over before a company makes a move that affects their image and product? I hope so.

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This is to gather together and build community on an already networked site. Could we do this with other sites, yes, will we, maybe.


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I hope you do spread around. I can understand the benifit of just needing to design site-specific materials, and then getting 'free' hosting with another service to help gather community members. It's just I see 'Myspace' and then my brain goes 'Uh Oh'. I'd strongly encourage a multiplatform community outreach, as it'd not only spread your influence, but promote mutli-site use.

Thats all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a tinfoil hat to make.

Well. I guess if Jack in the Box can do it without having any legal recourse or having any of their creative materials stolen, it'd work for CoX, too.

But. Why, really? Why not just create your own unique server-side journal with blog updates from the devs, and a portal-style area where people could link their own various journal formats (be it Myspace, Livejournal, or their own website) instead?

Myspace just has a pretty...ugly motif that tends to follow it. Political fundraising, cyberbullying, search warrant issues, copyright issues, and corperate-driven censorship...

...Do you guys REALLY want to get involved in all of this? I think you'd be better making some sort of 'central hub' that connects to a VAST network of services, rather than just the one.

But hey. It's your company.

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Has anyone had good experiences with Poison Trap? It just sounded really, really useful.

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I've got a Robotics/Traps MM that uses Poison Trap, which I believe is identical to /Poison's own version of this. It is quite useful for when your minons or fellow brutes have drawn aggro and gathered a large mob.

While they're pounding away, fly/sneak into the middle, drop the mine...and ka-boom. Watch those cookies get tossed. I don't so much slot it for the debuffs as much as I do for the massive hold and recharge/end.

Note: If ANY creature walks through the cloud, they're affected by the gas and will randomly choke...they don't have to stay in the same area where the mine went off. Depending on how you use your personal tactics, poison trap can be a godsend. Though it might drive up your shoe-shine bill with the amount of vomit.

What about people who have just CoV? Can they do the same?