Luminara

System Shock 2. I'd played a lot of different types of games up to that point. Text-based adventures, arcade games (Donkey Kong Jr., specifically. it was the only arcade game at the corner store near the trailer park), Nintendo (we couldn't afford one, but other kids in the trailer park had them), board games, playing pretend with my siblings and friends, D&D. They were just games, stuff to pass the time when I couldn't read a book or play outside. I'd moved to 3D games in my mid-20's. The first time I saw Quake running in demo mode at Best Buy, I was hooked. Rebuilt my computer to meet Quake's specs, added a Matrox M3D and threw myself into 3D first-person shooters. Played a hell of a lot of those. And RPGs. Any 3D shooter, and absolutely anything made by Black Isle or Bioware, I'm spending whatever money I have (not much when minimum wage was just over $5/hr.). I'm walking through Best Buy and I see... the most beautiful face I've ever seen. SHODAN. I have no idea what she's supposed to be, but it's advertised as a 3D FPS, I like the box art, so I buy it. Impatiently wait for the installation to complete, go through the settings to ensure that I had all of my keyboard and mouse controls set up just right, and... Oh, it's a hybrid RPG/3D shooter. That should be interesting. I'd never played the original System Shock, so I had no idea what the story was about. At that time, I didn't care, I just wanted to get my game on. And then I did care. There was something going on behind the action. There was a motivation behind what I was doing. The game world wasn't just a place for me to stand while I shot at things, it was a setting. The e-mails and audio logs weren't something I could skip, they were vital elements. The visuals became a secondary concern for me, for the first time. The shooting and sneaking and ammo management, it was all extraneous to the story. I was playing a novel. And SHODAN wasn't a helpless maiden in distress, she wasn't my sidekick, she wasn't the antagonist, she wasn't a plot element, she was all of these things, and more. She was the story. That was when I realized video games could be more than mindless entertainment. They were works of fiction, as compelling and interesting as the books I'd spent reading when I was supposed to be getting an education. As much as the movies I was just beginning to appreciate. As much as serial television shows. It opened a door that I never realized existed, or cared about. Art wasn't something that interested me when I was younger, it was boring stuff for people with money, not something of concern for a minimum wage nobody. But art in fiction... that mattered to me, especially at that point in my life, when my social anxiety disorder was growing worse. And it changed me. I began to see the deeper meanings and interpretations in the things I was reading and watching. I began to understand the power of words. I began to comprehend things I never had before, because of my inability to comprehend people. Fiction, stories, could be something I never imagined, they could be art. Years later, someone mentioned to me that the most basic definition of art is "Something that evokes emotion. Something that moves you." SS2 did that for me. SHODAN did that for me.

Eastern, U.S.

Okay. I'll take a 2 a.m. - 8 a.m. shift at any base. And if I have a panic attack and die of asphyxiation, I'm coming back to haunt all of you who didn't volunteer. 😛 😓

The blisters are just blisters, filled with lymphatic fluid, it's not the body producing more hell oil to torment itself with. Nothing to draw out but the lymphatic fluid, and since it's not from an infection (clear, rather than discolored pus), it's better to let the body reabsorb it.

Skip the wiggle, remove the bonus accuracy, remove the weapon skin and recycle standard blast animations with the effects moved to the hand(s). That's actually easier than adding a weapon skin. Finger guns require fingers, though, so that wouldn't be possible without a lot of extra animation work and reskinning of character models because all we have are fists and mittens.

Eeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhh. It would be really easy for the one-handed weapon animations, that's just changing a skin, but there'd have to be additional tweaking done to move the emanation point, and it would still look odd to swing a wand like a sword or mace. It could also be done for the two-handed weapon animations, with work to move the skin into both hands instead of one hand, but would look even weirder. The two-hand animations just weren't designed with one-hand use in mind, or for ranged particle effects in most cases. For the ones which do display ranged particle effects, like Serpent's Reach, it would really look odd using them with a wand, even a two-handed wand. Another thought occurred to me, though. The Blackwand has a draw animation. That could be used as a third animation for transposition in sets. It would actually be a lot easier to just insert the model into the character's hands for non-attack powers. Buffs, debuffs, turning on toggles, powers of that sort. No projectile in most cases, so no particle emanation point to move and less concern about how goofy some of them might look because they're the less frequently used powers. Some of those powers would also be candidates for altering to attack animations, like the Force Field buff animation (leaning forward slightly, one arm extended, casting the buff), and might be the better options to pursue for making the last one or two animations. Bottom line is it is feasible, and as I keep saying, comparatively easier than making entirely new animations, and there are some ways which would be easy easy and some that would be easy but not as easy, but there's also the question of time and resource availability. Any of these ideas can work, but the people doing these things are still learning how to manipulate the necessary tools, and doing it in their spare time, and trying to fix problems and deliver new content as well. It's going to be a back burner project, if it's a project at all.

So is carburetor cleaner. Oh. Right. Inner monologue is reminding me to tell everyone not to use carburetor cleaner as a poison ivy remedy. I was cleaning the carburetor from one of my chainsaws. Pertinent information.

Immediate gratification is a natural human desire. Math isn't, for most people.

Lich My Boots, Take It and Lich It, Ghost Away, Ghost Stuff It, Revenant The Wheel, Ghoul O' My Dreams, Ghoulrilla... So much pun in the graveyard. I haven't checked any of those, by the way.

Accelerate Metabolism, Heat Loss, Energizing Circuit, Lifegiving Spores, Painbringer, Chrono Shift, temp buffs, blues... lots of options.

Don't the Carnies do that? I'm sure the Carnies do that. That's two animations which could be ganked for the Blackwand, then. The fire-breathing Carnie animation and the default Blackwand animation. Two or three more and it would be usable as an alternative for entire sets.

He meant do them with a support character. "Slot" the character/archetype, not the powers. Being able to floor an enemy's hit chances, or dumping 20% or more -Res and/or -Def on them, makes up for a lot of what's lost when enhancements are disabled. Doing it with multiple support characters means no-one needs enhancements.

Toxic is the most heavily resisted. Smashing and lethal are the most commonly resisted, meaning the most likely to be resisted, but it's typically in smaller amounts, and not terribly noticeable beyond spreadsheet analysis. It's rarely more than a minor annoyance at having to use one more attack. Many are listed on the wikis, but the easiest and most direct way is with something like Power Analyzer. I think there's a temp version of it, perhaps available at the P2W vendor... can't log in to check, though.

Sounds like a frondly character. You should gourd for it. 😁

Okay... a lot of itching. So... much... itching... I've got my big person pants on, I can take this. 😣

It's not really about personal challenge. It's a result of standard MMORPG design with role specification and content designed to be completed within the boundaries of those role specifications. If your class role doesn't fit within the design of the content, or the content is easy enough to be completed without your class, you can be excluded. And in those MMORPGs, that means you don't get the loot, you don't get the new abilities, you don't get to play the content, you don't get to make new friends, etc. So people expect to have a specific role and purpose within a group, and apply that expectation to this game. They're afraid that they'll be denied something if they aren't given specificity within the group and the content.

The problem they're currently facing is not that they don't bring anything to high end teaming, it's that they bring too much at every level. Yes, you can take 8 of any archetype and blitz any content in the game. 8 blasters, all at or above the Defense soft cap, all dumping insane amounts of damage. 8 brutes, 8 scrappers, 8 tankers, you name it, 8 of anything turns into a spiked, flaming, acid spewing wrecking ball with a weapons-grade plutonium core, and they don't really need anyone buffing them... they don't even specifically need debuff, or controls, because they have access to those, too, in *PPs. But support archetypes have been doing that since Issue 0. It's only with Incarnate abilities and IO sets that the rest of the archetypes are catching up with them. And what 8 of anything else can do with billion inf* builds, the right *PP powers and T4 Incarnates, 8 support characters can do with one to three powers apiece... unslotted, without a single IO set bonus, *PP power or Incarnate ability. That's the problem. They're too powerful, not lacking in utility or versatility or power. They're game breakers, by design. They can't be improved without making them even more grossly overpowered in standard content, and nerfing everything to compensate for support archetypes being overpowered isn't feasible. The problem has to be addressed in the end content, tweaks and changes to make support more desirable, or changes to specific mechanics (which was attempted with the Purple Patch), because the problem can't be addressed in any other way without creating even bigger problems. Support has been taking a steaming dump on team dynamics since the game was released. Pinball Wizards. Repeat Offenders. People like me. And the perceived lack of value in end-game content... I don't view that as a problem with the game, or with support archetypes, or with IO sets, or with Incarnate abilities, I view it as a problem with the way the content was designed and implemented, and, frankly, a relief, because I enjoy support archetypes, I enjoy being versatile, I enjoy having that much power at my disposal, and I enjoy knowing that I can finally, after all of these years, play the characters I want without feeling like I have the burden of a team's performance resting entirely on my shoulders. Yeah, support archetypes may feel that they're not needed because of IO set bonuses and Incarnate abilities. But they're also not unwelcome, and they're free in a way they weren't before, thanks to those bonuses and abilities. No-one's actually necessary or specifically wanted for end-game content, it's an even playing field. No-one is pigeonholed into anything in the end game. No-one has to feel like they're personally accountable if something goes wrong, because everyone is equally capable and powerful, and accountable. That's something to celebrate, not complain about. Other MMORPGs are designed so everyone is only barely capable of surviving, everyone has to be perfect, everyone has to have split-second timing, and every "role" is expected to do exactly one thing and nothing else, because the fate of every encounter as part of a group is wholly dependent on it. But we aren't machines, we shouldn't be required to play like machines to succeed. Here, we aren't treated like machines, we have the freedom to play in different ways. A support character can forego spamming controls, or buffing constantly, or being a "healer". A support character can jump into melee and start hammering away with attacks, or stand back and blast, or pick up stragglers, or use that nuke that they've rarely had a use for in the rest of the game, or just entertain the team with jokes and humorous observations. Co* is where support characters can play, not work a second job. Yes, it means some people will be dissatisfied because they don't feel like teams need them, but they're overlooking the fact that teams don't need anyone or anything. Support archetypes are no more or less needed than any other archetype... but they're also no more or less welcome. Realizing that will go a lot farther toward solving the perceived problem than changing the game ever could.

It took 10 years of working 40-80 hours per week, averaging less than $8.50 per hour, to pay for what I have now. I'm not doing that again. And, honestly, I love where I live. I'm not going to let a little itching drive me away. This is my home. I'll spend the rest of my life here, I'll die here and this cabin will be my mausoleum. A mausoleum covered in poison ivy not long after I die, but I don't think I'll mind so much then.

Several of the blast sets have alternate animations. They're just recycled animations with different effects attached. Can't do that with the Blackwand and similar powers because there's only that one animation for each of them. Only one thing to recycle. It would be like using Archery's Snap Shot animation for every attack in Fire Blast. That can be done, and it wouldn't be any more difficult than it was to recycle other animations for Fire Blast, but it would look really odd and not many people would be satisfied with it.

Good. If you're breaking things, you're learning how to fix things. Keep doing that, take the lumps and don't stop. And, while you're at it, I need an army of ducks. With laser-targeted defense systems. And a duck pond. Get quacking.

The majority of the standard content wasn't considered particularly challenging when all we had were SOs and Hamidon enhancements, despite ED, GDN, the Purple Patch and numerous other changes to create a semblance of challenge. I know, because I was one of those dipsticks out there creating challenge for myself by playing a character with 0.55 damage scale attacks, post-ED, post-GDN, post-Purple Patch, no +Def, no +Res, no range to keep me safe, no status protection and no -Res, and not even slotting my attacks with Damage enhancements, taking on GMs solo and winning, without IO sets, without Incarnate abilities, without temp powers, without anything but my knowledge of game mechanics and the determination to succeed. That same content was ~3 years old when the Invention system was released. And 6.5 years old when the Incarnate system landed. None of the existing content was ever going to become more challenging before these systems were released, because the problem has never been IOs or Incarnate abilities, or the base mechanics, or balance issues, it was the age of the game and the experience of the players. What IOs and Incarnates accomplished was not to make the game less challenging, because that challenge was gone before either of those systems were implemented, but instead, to offer the opportunity for everyone, regardless of capability or experience, to rise to the same level. This is the nature of MMORPGs. The longer people play, the more they know and the less challenging they are. Changing SOs won't make anything more challenging. Making bigger hit point piñatas won't make anything more challenging. Nerfing IO sets or Incarnate abilities won't make anything more challenging. Shoehorning newer content mechanics into older content won't make it more challenging. Challenge comes from the facing unexpected and unknown, from moving forward, not backward. Challenge comes from blindly stepping into something and trying, failing, getting back up and trying again, until you succeed, and succeed again, and again, until you've turned the challenge into commonplace. We did that long before IOs were on the drawing board, before Incarnates were even an idea in the head of one of the developers. IO sets and Incarnate abilities don't obviate the challenge that older content offers because that challenge was met and matched a very, very long time ago. The challenge is in the newer content, as it should be. We can't roll the clock back 16 years. We can't unlearn what we've learned. We can only move forward. That's life, in the game or in the real world.

One of my most memorable experiences was as a Rad/Energy defender. Struggling team sent a /tell, I joined, they thought they were getting a "healer", I turned an entire mission map of Freaks into popcorn, entire team learned the value of KB.

The second is comparatively easily done. The first would be problematic. The difficulty comes from there being only one animation for Blackwand. That's why nothing was ever done to add it, or the Nemesis Staff, or the Ghost Slaying Axe, or Rune of Power (whatever the temp power in Croatoa is called, the one which works on ghosts), or any of the other temporary powers as custom weapons or power skins. They have one animation, sets have 9 powers, and those powers use 4-9 different animations. Moving the projectile emanation point would work, but the power animations weren't designed with an object in hand in most cases, so the character would be waving the wand around in really odd ways, like holding it straight up while pushing forward with both hands (an animation used in several defender primaries and blast sets). It would be even stranger with a sets like TA and Archery, even if you changed the projectile to something more sensible than an arrow flinging out of a wand, because those sets use both hands to animate in a way completely different from traditional animations. Animations would have to be reworked, in some cases significantly, or the temp power skin limited to specific powers, powers with one-handed animations. New animations could be created and stuffed into the costume editor as additional options similar to the Noir theme for Dark Blast, too. However it was approached, though, it would be a lot of work. Personally, I don't disagree with the cool factor, it's a good idea that could really appeal to a lot of players, but Cryptic and Paragon always felt that putting in the resources necessary to create sufficient animations for an entire set wouldn't be justified unless there were a set to go with it, something which might increase their revenue. The HC team might see it differently since they're not interested in revenue streams, but with even more limited resources, they still might not have the time to do it. Maybe send a PM to @Piecemeal to ask about the feasibility?

No need. The copperhead is the only dangerous snake where I live. There are no rattlesnakes in this part of the state, and the next runner-up is a comparatively harmless water snake. Three live in my stream. One of them lives in my water hole, and she never minded me being within 12" of her. She was aware of me, but not aggressive. We've also got some absolutely adorable worm snakes. Last autumn, I found an itsy bitsy ring-necked snake (it's body was no thicker than a 2B pencil lead, and it was only about 4" long). This summer, I found a hog-nosed snake... that was freaking awesome. Mostly, it's just black racers and rat snakes, though. They're moderately aggressive, but all they can really do is break the skin. As far as dangerous animals go, I've got very little to worry about. I've been within 20' of the bear who lives just south of my cabin. It runs away when it sees me. Couple of grey foxes, one of them came right up to the porch and let me talk to it for half an hour. Red fox that trotted along the path in front of me, completely nonplussed by my presence. There are some other spiders out here, various orb weavers (absolutely gorgeous, too), but none of them have venom fatal to humans. I even had four does standing about 15' from my cabin this spring. I didn't notice them until I finished making baby noises at Jessica and turned to step off of the porch. They all stared at me for a few seconds, then slowly turned and ambled back into the woods... like, "Ooooooookay... going the other way now so we don't have to talk to the weird person." Copperheads are the only thing that might hurt me, and if one did, it would be my fault (no snake wastes venom, or energy, on something that isn't food or a potential threat, and i'm definitely too big to be on the menu). The animals out here like me. Only the plants are being assholes.

It occurs to me that this situation is being exacerbated the fact that my fingers break out in hives when I'm stressed. Poison ivy is very stressful. I'm on my third application of diphenhydramine HCL (the active ingredient in Twhatever. i bought the generic ointment, because i make less money in a month than someone on minimum wage makes in a week). The itching isn't abating. The swelling hasn't gone down. My left palm looks like a spiky ball pet toy. I'm going to take another 1000mg of ibuprofin and try the hydrocortisone ointment that I also picked up when I went shopping. And if that doesn't work, I'll try the chainsaw.