vulpish_one

Here's some copy-paste from something I wrote...about two years ago today, as I recall. How do your characters spend the holidays?

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Snow fell quietly there, soft white flakes soundlessly impacting asphalt and metal in one of the world’s busiest cities. The sky was gray. It was early in the day. Yet, in a city that never truly stopped moving, there was an air of peace everywhere. Traffic was lighter than usual. It was a holy day for many, and a holiday for many more. A day set aside for serenity and contemplation.

Every bit as softly as the snow, a figure lit atop a post. First feet touched down, and then hands: soon the unusual figure was crouched with four points atop the traffic-light post. Even the few cars already on the road barely stopped. What would have been strange or unusual in other places--a powerfully-built bare-chested man with long black hair and spotted skin, a beast-like face peering all about—was fairly common here. The form was different, but the spirit was always the same: one of the city’s chosen protectors, keeping silent vigil.

The task fell to him that day, moreso than most. Everyone enjoyed time off, and his beleaguered fellow warriors were no exception. Still, their holidays were not his own. There would be no feasts to honor his rites in this place, even as others invited family and friends close by. For them, he would work as hard as necessary to allow the luxury of a day spent idle. It was a cold vigil, and it was a lonely vigil, but it was his choice, a choice made to honor his fellow warriors.

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In another part of the same city, a girl was just stirring on that morning. Her ritual for the day was one that would be repeated in many, many apartments and condominiums throughout the city that day. First, she would wake up. Then, she would need to take the dog for a walk. After that would be the exchange of gifts between the girl and her parents, and later that day would be a meeting with extended family for food.

But then, many things were different for her, as well. She no longer required “sleep” in the traditional sense: she would instead rouse herself from time spent dormant to replenish energy by drawing from any that was available in her environment. As she walked her dog, people would no doubt stop and stare, and some of them would point. Some might ask for advice or help, and she would gladly stop to assist them. When exchanging gifts with her parents, she would be dressed in a tasteful violet sweater and heavy denim. This would starkly contrast her distinctive white-pale skin and ice blonde hair. More than once throughout the day, she would have to remind herself how, exactly, she should know her family. More than once, she would be frustrated by her own inability to recall exactly how she once knew them all. And on every occasion that occurred, she would remind herself that she was loved by them, and that was what was most important. That made them her family, not her memories…or lack thereof.

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In the mid-afternoon, an actor would find himself upon an unlikely stage. Dressed in rags well below his worth, with makeup to make him look ten years older than he was, he would wait huddled in line with the infirm and the less fortunate: those who had no home. Well beyond their means he may have been, but he was like them in that regard: there was no place left for him to return to, either. That actor would play the part of a broken man with a broken mind taking a holiday meal from a charity kitchen. He would eat quickly and quietly, speaking to no one but the voices in his mind. When he was done, he would return his tray to the kitchen staff. An envelope would be taped to the bottom of the tray, and within the envelope would be enough money to, perhaps, keep the kitchen running for another three months.

Then, he would be done with the act, though he would continue to occasionally whisper to voices no one else could hear. He would take an evening service at a local cathedral, and the voices would—for the only time that year—grow quiet. Freed by his focus on others over himself and the influence of holy ground, holy words, and the faith of those around him, his mind would be calm. Peaceful. He would sleep soundly that night, one night out of many sleepless nightmares.

And he would look forward to repeating the ceremony the next year.

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As evening gave way to night, a woman in her late thirties with shaggy red hair would sit in her parlor, staring at a fireplace. Everything she had in that city, she had earned herself with her own work. Her own skills. She protected the innocent just as boldly as anyone else, but she had nothing more than her bravery, brains, and equipment to rely on. It was hard, hard work, and she would find herself wondering why she did it as her body continued to age.

She would turn that question over and over in her mind, pondering on the deaths of her parents. Both had died of natural causes: her mother of a stroke, and her father of a heart attack. Both had died in the past two years. The holiday season was always the worst, and it always made her wonder exactly what she fought for. She wasn’t young anymore, and when she was young, she never once imagined she’d live as long as she had. But for whatever reason, she hadn’t just laid down and died.

She drank a lot in her younger days, too. More than was healthy.

All that would rattle through her head as she stared into a snifter of brandy. She would consider drinking it, stare into the fire, and look at it a bit longer. It was a challenge. She loved the challenge. She loved pushing herself, testing herself. But she knew her limits now. Maybe it was time to focus on what her legacy would be when she finally shuffled off her mortal coil. At length, she would make a phone call.

“Hey, big guy. How was Hanukkah?”

“Yeah. Same here. Hey, you busy?”

“Yeah, I could eat. Thanks. And big guy? Merry Christmas.”

Then, she’d gather her worn leather hat and jacket and leave the brandy on her side-table.

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As night finally came into full effect, a broad-shouldered figure would sit in the middle of a mostly empty concrete and metal room. He would sit on a bedroll, staring at the two gifts he’d been given that year: a small artificial fireproof tree festooned with lights and a worked stone sculpture of a horse. An extension cord running to a wall would power the tree, and he would stare at it wistfully as he turned the figurine over in his tan and calloused hands. He had found it: honest work, work that he could actually perform both in spite of and because of his unique condition. The same condition that now kept him locked in the basement of a building slated for destruction, in a disused freezer: a room that could not burn.

He wanted to curse. His life had been…well, it had been simple before. It was far more complicated now, and that made him uneasy. When he thought about the tree and the statuette, he realized that his life was now tied to others. ‘Nette had said his place needed some decoration, and Jimmy had shaped the small granite horse down to the finest of fine detail. They actually cared, he realized, and there was a very good chance he wouldn’t ever accidentally hurt them. For the first time in a long time, he would smile. He would turn and face away from the lit tree, eyes focusing on the flashing blues and greens across from his bedroll. It wasn’t in his nature to be overcome with emotion. That never did any good, anyway. For just a moment, though, he’d realize that he was happy enough to cry.

On the bright side, it's easier to /tell and /invite someone if they're only using "standard" characters, especially to us ethnocentric Americans. I'd hate to have to, say, learn the quick codes for accented characters just to be able to type in an invite. (I don't use the mouse much for anything, honestly, including gaming.)

I recently capped my own damage with the "Gift of Damage" Inspiration, per Combat Attributes; it seemed I received one copy of the buff for everyone in range. I'm pretty sure the intention is for the Inspiration to buff all allies nearby, as hogging all the boosts for yourself is very un-gifty.

In short, I'm pretty sure it's bugged.

I'm afraid your solution will cost US$9.99:

Super Booster III: Superscience! (now with added Science!) will allow you to change your character's height, body scales, and frame type (i.e., from male to female or huge) at special "cosmetic surgeons." But it costs about ten bucks.

Find it here!

<coughs> I'm usually the one leading the in-character charge on my teams. It happens, but I mostly solo, so it doesn't happen often. Have to admit, I was unaware than an in-character supergroup even existed...

But anyway, if you stumble into me, I'll probably be in-character. Can't speak for anyone else.

I don't see anything glaringly obvious telling me I have transfer tokens. Where would I look to check?

Still, congratulations! Sounds cool.

Well, here's a good overview on CoX PvP. The PvP zones are closed to anyone under level 15, and since Trial Accounts are locked below that, you probably couldn't experience much of that content without at least a month's subscription.

But you can access an Arena terminal (from Port Oakes, Galaxy City, or Pocket D if you're a lowbie) and see if you can find some Arena PvP. I hear PvP's pretty quiet these days, though: the game wasn't designed with PvP in mind, and it never caught on after it was added on later.

And in the time it took me to type this, I'm sure someone beat me to the answer.

Edit: Can't believe I was first to answer! <does the cabbage patch>

Is this one of those threads everyone posts in, but not many people actually read? Sure, I'm game. I won't list character names, but I'm usually not hard to find if you know where to look--I tend to stick out like a sore thumb for a few reasons.

My first level 50 is a Claws/Dark Armor Scrapper, actually a Winter Lord baby from way back in the day. Good thing, too: those first 20 levels were pretty boring for me by that time, what with the altitis and all. He's also my "main," a character intended to be a Warrior Poet, and my most recognizable character on Protector. Wave hi!

My second level 50 is a Warshade on Virtue. I love "Swiss Army characters," and the tri-form Warshade was a blast for me. Unfortunately, I've pretty much stopped playing the character since I hit 50. No matter how much I like the character's backstory--and how much thinking about it helped me grow as a person--I couldn't escape the feeling that there wasn't much for a level 50 to do.

My third level 50 is my only Villainous 50, a Brute, Protector native, and my "signature Villain." Dark Melee/Electric Armor felt more impressive than anything I'd played to that point, but I haven't gone through the trouble of respeccing him and throwing in IOs to really make him fire on all cylinders. In all honesty, if I can take my main Hero to the Rogue Isles and get the badges there, I'll be disincentived to do so.

My fourth level 50 is an Ice/Storm Controller, again on Virtue. This character suffers from the same problem my Warshade does: I like the character, but it feels a little like the game is over. Besides, the character's concept and story ended in a logical place: not quite "happily ever after," but close enough. Still, I never stop giggling at whiting out an entire room with Ice Patch, Freezing Rain, Snow Storm, Ice Storm, and sometimes even Tornado and Hurricane. Life just sucks for any enemies in there at that point.

I'm afraid Lord Winter might be a touch too hard on lower-level groups, or groups that can't find enough warm bodies. We finished with two teams just fine...but two of us were spamming Shivans, and I saw a few Warburg nukes in there, too. I, at least, was level 50 on my run, and a "heavy" level 50 at that (lots of IOs, some of them purple). I'd lobby for a minor increase to the timer in Lord Winter's realm.

And Lord Winter's combat text is almost too ham-fisted, with lines like (and I'm paraphrasing here) "This is the last time I'll be able to summon my Guardian," or something like that. While I appreciate that newbies are going to have to catch on to the particulars of the event under fire--and on a short time frame--I think a less jarring phrasing, such as "I fear I'm nearing the end of my strength. Once more, my Guardian! To me!" might still convey the point without breaking the mood of the event. In particular, the "you can not harm me!" taunt was kind of stupid, for a being of eternal winter: why don't you just pick us up and throw us at the Guardian? It'd be almost as subtle a clue.

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I am surprized Arcana hasn't seen this thread yet and said something. Then again if she doesnt respond and give a picture then I would think that she isnt very atractive. Just a guess.

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You know, if I was her, I'd keep the mystery. I might lurk this thread, but I wouldn't say anything. Why collapse the waveform? Right now, we've all got our own (apparently fairly high) opinions of her, and mystique can be a powerful force.

I do refer to her as "Arcanaville, Our Lady of Math" when I refer to her research, myself (with apologies to any of our Catholic friends out there).

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Either way, smarts are pretty.

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/signed

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ok so my question is about electric fences:

will a range buff increse both the range of casting range and area of effect, or just casting range?

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I don't believe anything in the game engine, short of hard-coding, can increase the size of an AoE. Can someone corroborate that?

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on a related note, for a ranged cone, buckshot for example, would a range increse increse the range at the cone degree, or would the cone go straight when it fans out as wide as it normally would?

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On the other hand, slotting range in cone Powers does increase the "range at the cone degree," so to speak. I understand this makes slotting range in cones very popular.

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and how do you pronounce Mu, moo or mew?

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I pronounce it "mew", but there's one NPC, Mu'Kao, that implies the devs do not (and, gag name and all, he shows up in a very serious Arc).

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how do those guys eat in their straight jackets of awesome pop culture fassion and poor combat functionality?

how do they go to the bathroom, use their magic powers to unzip their fly while hovering in front of the john?

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Ask Scirocco.

&lt;Quick Reply&gt;

If we're measuring habits, not ideology, I might call this "Dominant Play Habit," or something equally clinical.

Personally? I'm an explorer, RPer, and soloer. In every MMO I've ever played.

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I had to google this to even know WTH you guys are talking about. When was this even announced?

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It's foreshadowed in hidden glowies in the Ouroboros Story Arcs. Go 'round and introduce yourself to the Menders, if you haven't yet (but be warned: most of these tasks don't grant XP to high-level characters).

If GoRo has something to do with "The Coming Storm," I wonder if Tyrant might not be the author of these letters...

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Oh, the arc has a reason for getting around the link. I just want to know if I'd be justified in actually using it without getting into "well, isn't that convenient" territory. Looks like I can't.

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A good bit of Scotch Tape shouldn't be underestimated. How much of a push it is on suspension of disbelief is more a function of the writing itself than of narrative structure.

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Why yes, as a matter of fact, I am asking for an AE arc. I don't want to mess around with canon too much if I can avoid it.

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I can't blame you in the slightest for that. Not only is the "link activated haphazardly/at will" explanation the easiest for a writer to work with (in that any telepathic communication you want to have captured can be captured, and any that you don't want captured isn't), it seems to be the one the devs use. Come to think of it, those two statements are probably linked, what with some of the devs being writers and all.

That's the explanation that lets Kalinda know enough (but not too much), lets Seer Marino weave her webs, and lets the Rogue Fortunatas defect without being stopped 100% of the time.

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(Happen to be working on a bane story arc dealing with some of this - and some that 'turning' wasn't successful on.)

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I've got a character like that already. One of the few I've written a backstory to, and even though it's only a few pages long...I'm pleased with it. &lt;/shameless plug&gt;

Anyway, to respond to the OP...I don't think the Fortunatas are constantly "networked" the way Banes are supposed to be. Otherwise, Seer Marino would've had a lot more trouble than she did in her Arc.

Then again, canon itself invokes a great deal of author's caveat when it comes to Banes and free will, too. Some of it's unavoidable--I don't think the engine could parse the type of randomly-spawned Arachnos you get in a scanner mission and adjust dialogue accordingly--but then there are those pesky player character Banes.

In other words, if you're asking for an AE Arc or a character backstory, I'd just run with whatever you think fits your character or storyline the best. That seems to be what the devs do.

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Eh. The game already has too many existing NPCs that are seen far too rarely, if at all. Bringing board/community personalities like mods and community reps into the game as prolific NPCs would cheapen the experience. I'm still trying to get over having Castle in-game.

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I agree. Part of me protests when I see Ravenstorm or Castle; with no real in-game backstory, those NPCs feel like J. Random Playercharacter, and I kind of resent them for it. (No disrespect is meant to either redname, by the by. I like them both on the message boards.)

On the other hand, WISDOM is incredibly cool and underutilized. Part of me still hopes that Maelstrom turns out to be some incarnation of Spark Blade.

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Gold is for the mistress -- silver for the maid --
Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.
"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall,
"But Iron -- Cold Iron -- is master of them all."

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I raise you some Dickens.

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Red-hot iron, white-hot iron, cold-black iron; an iron taste, an iron smell, and a Babel of iron sounds.

Bleak House, Chapter 63, "Steel and Iron"


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Of course, the actual story is about industry, or something. Iono. But that line sounds really cool.

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CoX is, essentially, my only computer game. But I'm one of those silly kids that actually really enjoys the more decadent (read: self-indulgent ) style of console games. Games I read or watch as much as I play? Sign me up! Yes, I know how silly that sounds. I don't go out of my way to watch movies, but I pre-ordered Metal Gear Solid 4. I don't know why I like the color blue, either.

Console games are also more fun to play with my gamer droogs, even when we're playing single-player games. Heck, I enjoy watching one of my friends play Street Fighter IV more than I enjoy playing it myself (especially since he's more practiced, and brings teh pwnage). I enjoy watching him play SFIV more than I enjoy watching most TV shows, even.

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And if any NPC should be the mascot for Going Rogue, you'd think they'd hit up Foreshadow first.

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Second. &lt;/scruffy&gt;

Assuming Praetorian Earth is a "true" Mirror Universe (which has yet to be proven), who better to showcase its vagaries than the man who is his own mirror image every generation? If it's not a pure Mirror Universe, I'd imagine he'd have a unique perspective on necessary goods and necessary evils. In my mind, he embodied a sort of celestial balance.

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Well, we have good Statesmen and bad Statesmen, but... Is it just me or is Lord Nemesis evil in absolutely every dimension?

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I think (like someone else in this thread) that Nemesis genuinely believes he'd be the best at ruling the world, and therefore should be allowed to do so. Much like how the CoHGoRo--say that aloud for fun--trailer depicts Tyrant.

You know, up 'til now, we've only seen Praetorian Earth from the viewpoint of characters attached to Primal Earth (or, to a much lesser degree, Battle Earth). From the outside looking it, it's pretty bleak. But how do the natives feel about their home? Would they look at Paragon City and think "You still haven't solved your Council problem? Cavemen!"

And we need to take Mender Silos into account, too...

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Correct me if I'm wrong--and I apologize if this is too tangentially related to be touched upon here--but would this make CoX the first MMO to implement a "karma meter" mechanic?