Shadow Shard TF New Year's Weekend Extravaganza!
By
Capt_Power,
Posted on: 2009-12-26 10:41 in Freedom
I'll be around for all of these except Dr. Q on Dr. Hollywood (L50 Emp/Psi Defender). I've already signed up for other TFs that night.
@Paragon
Call it a brainfart on my end, but I needed to push back Faathim to 2pm EST on Sunday, which means I also had to push Statesman back an hour (which means there's a shorter cooldown time between the TFs). You'll notice the changed times in red in the original post, and PMs/tells are being sent to those already signed up notifying them of the change.
Due to the push back, it's possible that Statesman may not happen, but come out anyway, because if it doesn't, I'll replace it with a Kahn run.
MA Arc #315097: Reflections of Your Desire (custom characters, canon related, drama, story-driven arc): The Reflections are starting to do things... odd things. This takes place entirely in the Shadow Shard, ending in the bizarre Garden of Memories.
Hey, I will be around, possibly for all of these except the Dr. Q....sorry. But as far as signing up I had better limit it to the Statesman TF for now, since things have ahd a tendancy to change suddenly in my life ove the last year and I don't know if a New Year is going to change that very much.... ;P
Freedom Horde! Join the Ranks!
I'd like to come on these as well--my character of choice is my scrapper, morna the brave but i can switch to another toon if the team makeup is too melee intensive.
Sounds like a fun time...see everyone then!
destiny morna lvl 50 emp /psi defender
mysteria morna lvl 50 ice/kin corruptor
If I'm around, I'll fill in as needed.
*shuffles feet*
Will stock up on caffeine. I SWEAR.
J-Man- Lieran, if you were Paris Hilton, I'd be the chihuahua in your purse.
not doing them all in a row this time? lol j.k
Pending my availability, I can attend a few of them. You know where I'm at. 
Eeeks, missed the noon one today due to technical issues.
Will be there tonight with some character... prolly the Bunni since that's my signature tf.
J-Man- Lieran, if you were Paris Hilton, I'd be the chihuahua in your purse.
Now that was fun!
J-Man- Lieran, if you were Paris Hilton, I'd be the chihuahua in your purse.
Taking place over the course of two years! Anyhow, on December 31st + January 1st, 2nd, & 3rd, New Year's Day weekend , I am going to be leading all four Shadow Shard Task Forces (plus a few other special things) on the Freedom server. I'll most likely be playing as Terra Mater, an earth controller (onward to 50...
). Dates and times are up first (and PLEASE, read the stuff in red; I won't invite you if you can't follow simple instructions):
- Thursday, December 31st 2009, 9:00 pm EST: Dr. Quaterfield Task Force. I won't lie; Explorers and Exploiters is one [insert female dog reference here] of a task force. It auto-exemps to 44, almost none of it can be stealthed, there's plenty of killall missions, later on there's those annoying simultaneous glowie-clicks, and the second half of the task force takes place all over the game map. The good news is there's no AVs, but rest assured, it's a looonnnggg task force. Those of you who tough it out will be awarded the Portal Smasher badge. This is one of two TFs I'm running that will allow level 40-43 characters. Merits awarded: 122.
- Friday, January 1st, 2010, Noon (12:00 pm) EST: Sara Moore Task Force. Weighing in at 15 missions, The Legend of Ruladak takes place mostly in Cascade Archipelago, with a couple trips to Paragon. At the end is a rather large AV named Ruladak the Strong. Upon completion, the Destroyer of Strength badge will be awarded. This is the other TF I'm running that will allow level 40-43 characters. Merits awarded: 64.
- Friday, January 1st, 2010, 8:00 pm EST: Imperious Task Force. Shooting back to provincial Rome, Time's Arrow lands in Cimerora, where the Path of the Dark is fighting a war over time. The Incarnates originated from this time, as well as the precursors to the modern psychics. You'll be helping them in retaking Imperious's throne from the "inexplicably evil" Romulus Augustus and his "patron". By the end, you'll have both the Temporal Strife and Centurion badges, plus a neat looking set of Roman Armor (with the appropriate weapons, if you're a weapon-toting super). We'll be meeting around the really big table inside the Midnight Club before we start (and I am more than willing to start with fewer than 8 players). Anybody levels 35-50 may participate, however, you also need the Midnight Squad badge. Merits awarded: 26.
- Saturday, January 2nd, 2010, Noon (12:00 pm) EST: Justin Augustine Task Force. People say The Saga of Faathim is a very long TF, but what they usually don't know is that the majority of it is defeat X and visit location missions (it has the largest mission count of any TF in the game, yet is one of the shortest time wise). All but the penultimate mission are in the Shadow Shard, and there are no AVs that you have to fight. This one is my favorite for socializing, and you'll get the Protector of Kindness badge for finishing. Merits awarded: 42.
- Saturday, January 2nd, 2010, 8:00 pm EST: The Lady Grey Task Force. The Rikti War Zone arcs end with A Book of Revelations. It's all Rikti, all the time (okay, plus a cameo by the Clockwork). By the end of this Task Force, you'll have fought The Seer (a fully powered Clockwork King), The Horsemen: Four (The Riders: War, Famine, Pestilence, & Death), The Dragon (Dra'Gon), The Beast of the Sea (a weakened Hamidon), and The Apocalypse (Hro'Dtohz and some guy named The Honoree, spoilery anagrams FTW). The badge for finishing is called Apocalyptic. We'll be meeting in the Research & Development department of the Vanguard Compound in the Rikti War Zone before we start. You'll also need to be level 45 or higher to participate (and the reds are certainly welcome). Merits awarded: 37.
- Sunday, January 3rd, 2010, 2:00 pm EST: Faathim the Kind Task Force. The last of the Shadow Shard TFs (and the original endgame TF before Statesman came in and took its thunder...), The Saga of Lanaru is pleasantly challenging without being too hard. This one is a bit on the longish side, but that's due to a lot of kill all missions and 5 AVs. The first 2/3 of the TF is in the Shadow Shard, then there's three missions and two deliveries back in Paragon, then the visit locations in the Storm Palace, and then the finale. You'll also come face to face with Malaise, Mother Mayhem, Nemesis?, Baphomet, and Lanaru the Mad. Upon completion, you'll be awarded the Slayer of Madness badge, and they'll even toss in the Demon Slayer badge (complete with Behemoth Overlord gladiator) for defeating Baphomet. Merits awarded: 73.
- Sunday, January 3rd, 2010, 9:00 pm EST: Statesman Task Force. Our grand finale has us running through A Gauntlet of Evil. This is supposed to be the ultimate, end-game task force, and it acts like it. There are 16 AVs total, plus the Arachnos Flier. It won't be easy, but once it's over, you'll all get the Diplomat, Heat Seeker, Peerless, and Saved the World badges. You'll also get a shiny Synthetic Hamidon Enhancement if you so choose. We'll be meeting at the green line station in Skyway City for this. You'll also need to be level 45 or higher to participate. Merits awarded in lieu of the Hamidon Enhancement: 37
Those are the basics. But here's a brief FAQ with more specifics:- What do I have to do to join your Shard TFs?
)
- What is this "Shadow Shard" that you speak of?
- So why are you doing this?
Actually, it's because I love the Shadow Shard, and the Shard TFs are the toughest to do simply because it's difficult to get 8 people together for them (also, I have a secret agenda of getting more people interested in the Shard and therefore getting the Shard some Dev attention 
).
- But don't you already have all the Shard TF badges?
- Like what?
- But I've heard that these TFs are looonnnggg... Is it true they can take upwards of 12 hours?
- What level do I have to be?
- What's with Imperious?
- And The Lady Grey?
- And Statesman?
And who can say no to an enhancement that shiny?
- And Dr. Quaterfield?
- What about Flagg/Kahn/Silos?
Okay, so it's not as insane as last year's back-to-back-to-back-to-back Shardathon, but close enough. If you have any questions or comments, please reply. If I forgot anything or made any errors, I'll edit this post. I look forward to running these with you.If you are interested in joining, either post here with your global name plus the TF(s) you intend to join, or send me a global tell (@Electric Eddie) with said information. Those people who do so will be put on a list (special note for the Statesman TF: I'll only put on the list those that have signed up/participated in the weekend's Shard TFs). A half hour before each TF's start time, I'll be in Firebase Zulu by the portals to the other shard zones (except for the non-Shard TFs, as previously noted). If you're on the list, just send me a tell at that time, and I'll simply send the invite. About five minutes later, for about fifteen minutes, I'll send tells/invites to the people on the list in order of signup (in case of overbooking, it's first come, first served). After those fifteen minutes, I'll put up an announcement on the regular Freedom global channels. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AT LEAST SIX HOURS SET ASIDE FOR THE TASK FORCE YOU'RE SIGNING UP FOR (or in the case of Dr. Quaterfield, make sure you have at least ten hours set aside)! That's my standard disclaimer; they never actually take that long, but it never hurts to have the time set aside. If you sign up for a TF and don't show up or at least send me a tell/unsign, I'm putting you at the bottom of my list for the rest of the weekend (nothing personal, but I've had a couple issues before which I'd like to avoid). My only other rule is that every two hours, we'll take a 10-minute break. The breaks help alleviate stress and I feel makes for a more refreshing experience. (apologies for having to spell things out like this, but unfortunately, I've had to deal with idiots before; on the upside, if you've read this far, you're probably not an idiot
Go to Peregrine Island and open up your map. You'll find the entrance to the Shard at the north end of the island. The Shadow Shard is a pocket dimension created by the Midnight Squad to contain a really powerful entity. It's now a broken world, with the land now bunches of floating islands. Not much is known beyond that, but there are some excellent threads with theories, some good information at Paragon Wiki, and the clues in the Sara, Justin, and Faathim TFs are good reads. Plus, there's some further clues in the Issue 12 content. Hopefully, the Devs will give the Shard the same treatment as the old RCS, while still maintaining its current missions, TFs (except possibly a shortened Dr. Quaterfield), and unique geography.
If you guys haven't figured it out yet, I'm crazy!
Yes, I do. In fact, I've led all four of the Shard TFs numerous times, so I actually know what I'm doing for once. But there are things other than the TF badges to work on.
The most obvious one is XP if you're under 50. The second most obvious are the Merit Rewards. Also, there are lots of Fake Nemeses and Overseerers for the Unveiler and Visionary badges, respectively (plus the Circle, Crey, and Rikti are all a predominant faction in one TF each; plenty of mages, protectors, and monkeys). Two of the Dimensional Warder AVs make an appearance (though I swear Mother Mayhem isn't required, but that's another debate), as well as Baphomet (who does give out both the Demon Slayer badge and the accompanying Behemoth Overlord gladiator). Plenty of Vanguard Merits can be earned (assuming you've done Levantera's first mission and received the associated badge) during the Flagg Trial, Lady Grey TF and the Faathim TF. You can also work on Influence and Debt badges (yay, Trendsetter; next up: I'm going to be Popular!). You'll be able to nab some rare salvage and recipes. Influence and Prestige rates are pretty darn good during the TFs. A new feature is the unlockable Rularuu weapons. Finally, they're just plain fun to do.
I suppose, if you have a completely incompetent pickup group, then yeah, it can take that long. But the point of this thread is to avoid the PuG crowd. In the Shard TFs I've led, none of them have taken longer than 4 1/2 hours (excluding the evil Quaterfield TF, and even then, it's only taken about 6 hours for me in my past Extravaganzas). And making sure people have set aside plenty of time beforehand all but ensures that it'll be done in good time and that we'll have fun in the process.
Anybody level 44 and above can join, and in the case of the Dr. Quaterfield TF and the Sara Moore TF, anybody level 40 and above can join. The Lady Grey and Statesman TFs are limited to 45+. For the Dr. Quaterfield TF, anybody above level 44 will be auto-exemplared to level 44, but for the others, there is no auto-exemplar, so level 50s will stay level 50.
Magic salvage, good story, and it's fun.
If you've done the RWZ arcs, you'll see that there's a loose connection to the Shard via Nemesis. Good enough for me. Also, Vanguard Merits! Yay, Vanguard Merits!
Uh... magic salvage?
I need something long so we can hit multiple time zones' new years.
Flagg's out as I don't need something quick and easy for after Quarterfield this time. Silos is still a "something special" thing. And there's just no room for Kahn.
Keep flying,
-Eddie
MA Arc #315097: Reflections of Your Desire (custom characters, canon related, drama, story-driven arc): The Reflections are starting to do things... odd things. This takes place entirely in the Shadow Shard, ending in the bizarre Garden of Memories.