Rikmach

I have pirate characters that would kill for a shoulder parrot.

I can tell you with certainty that it did not appear, at least for me.

Hrm, the fact that lower-level quests vanish before her max level is bit of an incongruity to how other contacts work.

Recently made a new character, and found myself locked out of Twinshot's arc at level 10, despite the wiki stating her level range is 5-19, and me recalling getting missions from her at those levels both on live and earlier versions of homecoming.

I know one of them is gotten by persistently asking a reporter about something they don't want to discuss, but not sure on the other one.

Ok, so you only did it back in live? Fair enough, I can see the memories fading after that long. But yeah, the Council is one of the major enemy groups in Sharkshead- the only contacts that *don't* send you to fight them are Crash Cage, Vince Dubrowski and Henri Dumot (Since they're focused on Cage Consortium stuff), Diviner Maros, Vincent Ross, and Archmage Tarixus (Since they're concerned with the mystic going-ons in the island) and Dean Macarthur and Leonard (Since they're part of the newer Protean story arc that was added issue 17), And Darrin Wade (Since he's a Signature Story Arc contact)- and four of those were added after the zone's initial release. Captain Petrovich, Lt. Chalmers, Lorenz Ansaldo, Operative Vargas, Operative Kirkland, and Doc Buzzsaw all send you after the Council there, and both the Operatives are Arachnos representatives, and discuss the conflict between Arachnos and the Council there. To be fair, most of these are one-off misions, and not full story arcs about the conflict itself, so I can grasp it slipping the mind easily. As for the base itself, if you want to check it out, it's in the southern part of the "The Pit" area- They built it in the open-pit mine in the area. There's actually an exploration badge "Unwelcome Guest" at the entrance, referencing the fact that Arachnos (and others) don't want them there. Like, to be fair, the entire "Destined One" scheme did turn out to be a scam on Recluse's part, but it does provide benefits for those that go along with it, so most of my villains see it as exploiting Arachnos to their own benefit- but I entirely grasp the idea of villains being suspicious or disdainful of Arachnos' seeming generosity and reject it- the devs did intentionally make it so it's possible to level 1-50 Redside without ever working for Arachnos. Also, in regards to the Industry/civilian operations on the Isle? They're "Independent" depending on what you mean by that word- Yes, most of them are privately owned and operated, or corporate entities- but remember, Arachnos is the de facto government on the isles- they're under arachnos' rule, and pay them taxes.

Have... have you not played redside in a while? Because- well, not to be rude, you're completely wrong here- it's stated- multiple times- that the Council and Arachnos are actively at odds with each other, and Arachnos sends to you attack the Council multiple times. and the Council is absolutely messing with Arachnos, they've forcefully created a base on Sharkshead, and it's open knowledge that Arachnos does not consider them welcome, and has attempted to evict them multiple times, and only still exist there because of their dogged persistence and the fact that Arachnos has higher priorities at the moment. Heck, go look at the Council page on the wiki! The first paragraph states that Arachnos and the Council are in conflict! Ok, at the level Striga takes place at, the villains are still ostensibly Chosen Ones, meaning that even if they aren't actively working for Arachnos, they still have Arachnos' backing, and access to their information networks, meaning they'd be aware of the situation there, and have access to transportation to and contacts there. and I'm not sure why you think that villains and rogues wouldn't be interested in plundering the secrets, resources and equipment of a fascist paramilitary organization. That doesn't seem like "no profit" to me. Bad guy's money steals just as good as everyone else's, after all. You're... missing the point I was making. I was saying, "Isn't that the in-universe reasoning behind it?", not the mechanical/gameplay reason. I thought that was obvious from context, since we were discussing in-universe logic of why Rogues are tolerated in Paragon.

Honestly, I find Longbow's existence hilarious. They're technically all criminals because they're an extralegal organization operating in blatant defiance of international law, but everyone overlooks it because the person running them is the granddaughter of the most famous superhero in the world, and no one likes the person they're targeting.

Well, I'm not exactly asking for a mechanical system that dynamically changes viable targets based on your character's individual knowledge (though if that could be implemented mechanically, that's a pretty cool idea and have some neat potential!), I'm more asking for a more clear lore justification of what's currently possible.

My understanding was always that Rogues are willing to do good if you pay them, so they're tolerated in Paragon City because while they have the potential to commit crime, their reputation is enough for the city to tolerate them on the belief they'll on the balance, do more good than harm. I mean, that's the point of the reputation system, isn't it? You building up your rep over time so people know what you're about? Heck, the Rogue arc in the zone is all about you being paid to be a representative of a heroic force! Yes, it's all a lie, but that's besides the point. (also, while Rogues are *hypothetically* capable of committing crime in Paragon City, there's very few ways for them to actually commit crimes there, mechanically speaking.) That said, I look forward to the Lore expansion in the future, because right now it's rather lacking and confusing- Like, the two story arcs there for the villainously-inclined are story arc helping the Freakalok, and becoming a PR shill for Crey. While the later makes some sense, since, as noted, Rogues are tolerated in Paragon, but the former is explicitly helping a criminal organization, so it currently doesn't make much sense for villains to be allowed there. The implication that BWI might be a front for another organization isn't made clear, especially since all the history, explorations, and missions paint them as being largely beloved. (And by extension, it makes it a bit weird that heroes can attack them and their giant monster, since they're not depicted currently as secret villains)

It's not a *mechanical* game term, no, but several times, various contacts have refereed to places as a "Free-Fire Zone", so it's an in-universe term, and it's not too hard to grasp what is meant by it. Striga is run by the Council, an organization that is openly hostile to Arachnos, and a direct competitor to it's agenda, and the isle itself is not guarded or otherwise blockaded by Paragon city or other heroic forces (like, why would they?), so to me, it makes complete sense for villains to want to go there and fuck the Council's shit up and/or steal their stuff.

Do Tsoo Anscestor Spirits spawn? If so, there's a Gladiator Badge for defeating them. Swift Steel, I think.

Not sure if this is a bug, but I'm on the bonus unlockable mission, where we're supposed to negotiate with someone (spoilers), but I can't find the person I'm supposed to talk to. I've scoured the map, killed all enemies I can find, but I can't find any new areas to enter, nor any NPCs to talk to. Edit: Found it, but it's very difficult to notice. Maybe do something to make it more obvious?

So it's possible to lock yourself permanently out of getting the badge? Or just lock yourself out of getting it *that run*?

It's kinda funny that a new trial was released since I posted this that is Cimerora themed, meaning that now every still-existent Trial Zone has a roughly corresponding trial, now.

It's kind of funny that the power that has heavy synergy with the tech-themed control set is from the magic-themed power pool.

I've noticed this, as well as similar issue when targeting other objects.

Exactly how does that work? Hover's faster than I remember it being on live, but not *that* fast. What am I missing?

Max is a contact in the Incarnate Dark Astoria storyline, His story arc is structured in an unusual manner, there's several missions you can complete that make the final mission easier- but they're all optional, and you can choose to complete the final mission without ever doing them. However, this causes a problem: If you do this, Max stays on your list as an active contact, even though he no longer offers missions, and should be put on the inactive contact list.

When I was doing the Flashback mission "Hunt Down Colonel Duray", Blood Widow Dahlia has a masculine bodytype. In all other missions she appeared in the arc she had the female body type.

That's kind of funny- Like, I don't *like* Bobcat, by any measure, but I find her antics amusing in that "Watching a train wreck" sort of way. She's pathetic and scheming, and ultimately, all she really wants is attention, and is willing to casually resort to murder to get it. She's like a cat if it were a person, appropriately. If you talk to her about what happened to her villainside, after the Tin Mage Task Force, she *almost* comes across as sympathetic when she goes over Neuron attempting to sacrifice her to Hamidon to save himself. She murdered him for it, of course.

Generally, the limited-use ones you get from missions I hoard, because I'm a collector at heart. I just like having a long-ass list of temporary powers.

No, there isn't, really. Yellowside was designed with the idea that you'd have already played the game as a hero or villain already and thus know you way around the game. As such, the content is significantly harder.

To answer “How are Trial Zones different from Hazard Zones?” It was originally fairly simple: 1. More Dangerous than Hazard Zones (Larger and more dangerous spawns). 2. Intended to contain a Trial. However, due to technical and Developmental difficulties and changes in philosophy, this became a confusing mess. I’ll go over it in chronological order, with the caveat that information about the Beta is based on my memories. If anyone has corrections, please share. Back in Beta, there were five Hazard Zones: The Sewer Network Eden The Hive Terra Volta Faultline However, something interesting happened during the Beta: The Sewer Network became a popular option to travel between the Low-level zones it connected to (The trams originally only brought you to the next stop in line, and you could only board them when the tram arrived, meaning if you knew the way, the sewer network could be much faster with fewer loading screens), However, since it was restricted to level 36, it wasn't usable at the levels it would be most useful at. So the devs created a duplicate zone- the Abandoned Sewer Network- to hold the planned Trial, and lowered the level of the Sewer Network to level 1. As for the Trials themselves, two of them were tested: Faultline and Terra Volta. Terra Volta’s tests were successful, however the respecification system itself was not completed, so there was no reward, therefore it was decided to not include it in the initial release. As for the Faultline trial, apparently it was incredibly buggy and testing was discontinued during the beta, and the trial was shelved, planned to be released later like the other trials. For the curious, it was supposed to function similar to the Terra Volta Trial: Heroes were tasked with defending the southern part of the Reservoir (The area that was off-limits before the Faultline revamp) from waves of Clockwork, Vahzilok and Circle of Thorns. Plot-wise, it was the culmination of the Positron Task Force, the actual assault upon the Dam that was discussed in that Task Force. That said, there *was* one functional trial in Beta… technically, depending on what you consider a trial: Hamidon was present in the Hive since day one. Most people call it a Raid, but it was a big Climatic battle that is situated in a Trial Zone, so it might technically count. As for Eden and the Abandoned Sewer Network, No Trials were present in Beta, nor was there any testing on them that I am aware of. The first actual Trial came out in issue 1. The Abandoned Sewer Trial was released, bringing the number of functional trials to two. Issue 2 was eventful: The Eden Trial, Terra Volta Trial, and The Cavern of Transcendence trials were all released. Also, two new Trial Zones were added: The Rikti Crash Site and The Storm Palace. Both lacked Trials, but presumably it was planned for ones to be added in the future. This also led to one of the first inconsistencies (besides the Trial Zones lacking trials): The Hollows was a new Hazard Zone- But it contained a Trial. Issue 6 was City of Villains. It added Nerva Archipelago, which contained a Trial: The Tree of Thorns. It was the first City Zone containing a trial, once again introducing an inconsistency in the meaning of Trial zones. This is presumably because City of Villains did not initially have the "Hazard" or "Trial" zone distinctions initially, only having City and PvP zones. (Though a Trial and Hazard Zone was added later) The PvP Zone, Bloody Bay was added, which will be relevant later. Issue 8 resulted in something interesting: Faultline was revamped, changing it from a trial zone to a city zone, and presumably the plans for the Faultline Trial were shelved forever. I spoke with the people who have access to the code, and they say there’s no sign of the Faultline Trial in the code anymore. Likely it was removed at or around this point. There was also a Trial added in this issue: The Cathedral of Pain. This is the first instance of something interesting: Trials that are disconnected from their Trial Zones. Story-wise, this Trial takes place inside the Storm Palace, but it’s Accessed through the Supergroup bases. That said, there was a Game-Breaking bug found in the raid, and it was quickly removed. Issue 9 Added a new Trial Zone to the Rogue Isles, the Abyss, which contained a Duplicate of the Hamidon Raid. Issue 10 contains the second Revamp: The Rikti Crash Site is replaced by the Rikti War Zone, and the Rikti Mothership Raid is added to it. Issue 12 is interesting. Cimerora is added, and is listed as a Trial Zone, but no trial is ever created for it. Presumably, it was planned to have a Trial, but those plans never came to fruition. Issue 18 sees the return of the Cathedral of Pain, with the game breaking bug gone- but due to the associated superbase raid system being scrapped, the Items of Power are no longer rewarded. Issue 21 adds “Death from Below”, a Trial set in The Sewer Network, but accessed through the new Looking For Group system. Finally, Issue 22 adds “Drowning in Blood”, a Trial set in Bloody Bay, also accessed through the LFG system. In summary: Trial Zones that contain trials directly: Eden Terra Volta The Abandoned Sewer Network Trials Zones that contain Trials indirectly: The Sewer Network The Storm Palace Trial Zones that were revamped before ever containing trials: Faultline Rikti Crash Site Trial Zones that contain Raids: The Hive The Abyss Rikti War Zone Hazard Zones that contain Trials: The Hollows City Zones that contain Trials: Nerva Archipelago PvP Zones that contain Trials Indirectly: Bloody Bay Trial Zones that do not contain Trials: Cimerora

Why not call it stealth, and call the new power invisibility? Or vice versa? Infiltration isn't exactly descriptive, since it's not tricking people into thinking you're on their side.