ArchVileTerror

We certainly are glad to play, but that doesn't preclude the possibility of brainstorming and sharing ideas. We're passionate about this game. We certainly don't see eye-to-eye on many topics as a collective community, but as long as stuff doesn't get bitter and toxic, I think it's only ever a good thing to express our hopes and expectations. Even when those have no reasonable likelihood of implementation, they may at least spawn new ideas that lead to mutually agreeable compromises. Or at the very least help the community refine its collective identity in terms of what the Homecoming Servers mean to us. Short version: Talking about it doesn't hurt.

What would have to be done, to the best of my knowledge, would be to create additional geometry barriers MANUALLY to each and every map, so that there are "instant-death" lines drawn around. If there's an easier way to get the same effect, I can't brainstorm it right now.

Because Blasters gotta Blast. Whereas Controllers are the more thoughtful and considerate Archetype, who plan and analyze, determining an optimal course of acti- Oh. The mob is dead. And the team has moved on to the final battle. . . . Crap.

Frankly, yes, Marsh. I think a "minimum recommended level" would be helpful for new players to know what they're getting themselves in to, but beyond that, I'm all for the removal of barriers. But, also yes, good point Apparition. The discussion of level-gating should get its own thread. Thank you for the reminder of the Homecoming Team's additional optional path to Mothership Raids!

If people are doing Raids to power level, they're doing it really inefficiently. The point is accessibility. To allow friends to play together. Barriers and level gates are the opposite of that.

" everyone has to be level 35+, " I think that's the problem right there. I know -I- appreciate the Mothership Raids where the organizer specifically says "all levels welcome."

That's just called "being a Scrapper." MunkiLord won't stop going on and on about it, either. (not actually being dismissive, just irreverently invoking the Munki)

Well, for what it's worth, Jimmy trusted them enough to make them the officially unofficial Homecoming Wiki. *points to the "Wikis" drop-down at the top of the page* https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/18887-unofficial-homecoming-wiki/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-217958 Used to just be "Wiki."

I find that General REALLY depends on which Shard you're on, and what time of day it is. On Everlasting, for example, we have "regulars" at certain times of the day. Some of these regulars are just cute and fun. Others are toxic enough to have merited GM intervention on a few occasions.

um . . . While not -exactly- the same . . . those are pretty much the Trans Pride Flag colours. WELL! We /are/ planning an event for two weeks from now: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/18994-come-together-for-pride-2020-costume-and-biography-contests-june-7/ Shall we also put up a rainbow palette as well and inspire players to make characters for attendance purposes?

The weenies are the only things Nick DOESN'T hide.

So, now that General is a thing, where did you put yours? I slipped mine in to the "All" and "Server" Tabs.

The funniest bit is that you named your NPC Dialogue Tab "Quiet Time."

. . . that reminds me of an Oglaf comic. NOTE! This comic is usually Not Safe For Work due to sexual content. This particular page is okay, though.

Tis why I advocate for -all- titles to be unlocked across all Alignments. And more. https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/15184-gender-locked-badges/?tab=comments#comment-160950

I may not be remembering correctly off the top of my head, but I think those -are- the original Badges. ie: They've always been inconsistent and paint a contradictory image of the history for the zone.

As of right now, Null can only switch between the Hero, Vigilante, Rogue, and Villain alignments. Sorry that I don't have anything more helpful, though.

Aye, new to the game are actual -successful- purse-snatchers! You can even see some Skulls in Kings Row rummaging through their spoils of war . . . and complaining about the contents.

I wonder if anyone has made a compilation of every Star Trek Facepalm.

Do you remember the moment you first realized that games could be deeply impactful and emotionally resonant in the ways that literature or visual art media are? For me, it was 1994 or 1995, when I first beat Super Metroid. Here I was, playing what is easily one of the top three best SNES games, getting deeply engaged in the gameplay and the atmosphere. Such a meticulously sculpted game, Super Metroid. The visuals (particularly of Samus' armour) made excellent use of the hardware's capabilities. The controls were tight and responsive. The sound effects pulled me in to the alien world. The challenge was there, but not to the point of inaccessibility, and the skill ceiling was remarkably high for a side-scroller. The music was probably the weakest part, and considering it was amazingly cinematic and completed the themes and tone of the entire game, that's saying something! But the story, as simple as it was, is what got me. You play as Samus Aran, the best damned badass bounty hunter in the galaxy! A strong female character to boot. (This was before the disaster that is Other M . . . *shudders*) The game starts by saying: "The last Metroid is in captivity. The Galaxy is at peace." Like . . . ACTUALLY says it. Recorded audio dialogue. In a Super Nintendo game. Cue opening cinematic text crawl of exposition. . . . ok, this is kind of annoying in future playthroughs, since it's unskippable, but damned if it doesn't set the mood and give you key information in a hurry. - Samus kills things, and earns cash for doing so (well, Galactic Credit, anyway). Most notably; the much feared Space Pirates, up to and including their leader Mother Brain. - Samus commits genocide of a potentially dangerous non-sapient alien species, since it can be weaponized (the titular Metroids). - Samus discovers that her genocide isn't complete, as the last of the Metroids hatches from its egg moments after Samus fought and killed the Metroid Queen. This infant imprints on Samus. - Samus is a bounty hunter. Whatever feelings she might have? Forget 'em! Sell that baby for cold, hard Galactic Credits to government-approved scientists. Who has time for feelings anyway when there are bounties out there to collect? - What's this? A new bounty? . . . the research station where she -just- sold the baby Metroid is under attack? Sounds like an opportunity for profit and adventure! And then the game actually starts. SUCH MOODY! MUCH COMPELLING! The space station is quiet, other than distant alarms echoing through the chambers. The scientists are all dead. And the testing chamber which the baby was being kept is smashed open, and the baby gone. And at the end of the halls and corridors . . . there it is! Still in the containment pod. . . . except, what's the glowing light above it? Why, it's the eye of Samus' most hated rival: Ridley! The Space Dragon! Cue opening, unwinnable tutorial boss fight. Except, if you'd DAMNED good, it -is- winnable. Not that it changes the story, but it is SO satisfying to beat Ridley hard enough that he drops the baby, and has to swoop back down to collect it again before fleeing. And then and then the Self Destruct Sequence! FLEE! Back the way you came! Then pursue Ridley to the Space Pirate headquarters of planet Zebes. More eerie silence. The ruins of the ancient Chozo civilization have been desecrated by the ruins of the Space Pirate fortress, which Samus was responsible for ruining in the first Metroid game. Seriously . . . for a 16-bit game . . . this shit was AMAZING. Still is, frankly. Just sound and visuals come together so flawlessly. Punctuating the dread and confusion of the fact that we're several minutes in to the game, and the only enemy has been Ridley during the tutorial/intro. You almost wonder if the game is broken/glitching. Collect a power-up (one of the most iconic and important; the Morph Ball), and maybe a few Missile upgrades. Trigger a few ominous camera/light/things which illuminate and follow Samus' movement while making a shrill recording sound. And then go back the way you came . . . to have the music suddenly rocket up to a thrilling war cant and get locked in a room with more than half a dozen Space Pirate soldiers, who you must defeat to escape the room! And NOW the game TRULY begins! . . . except, not really. See . . . the genius part of Super Metroid is that the game -actually- starts the moment you power it on. The loading screen. The loading screen is the key. Why? Because it builds mood, of course. But more importantly than that . . . It plays the single most important sound effect, timed perfectly with the music to emphasize that sound effect's importance. . . . The Baby Metroid's cry. This audio cue is so powerful, since you hear it every time you boot up the game, and during the calm moment before the battle with Ridley. And then you don't hear it again . . . until the moment when the game REALLY started to get to me. . . . spoilers. Blah blah blah. Game's from 1994. If you haven't played it yet, and it sounds like something you want to experience for yourself. Go. Play it. Now. . . . Otherwise? I'mma keep going, and I'm going to tell you how the game ends. That itty bitty baby Metroid? Well, when you finally beat the four bosses (the last of which* is Ridley, and you're finally strong enough to DESTROY that monster), you end up going to the final big boss' personal chambers. And there you find clones of the Metroid. They're bigger, and they're hungry/mean! They're completely invulnerable from missiles and beam attacks, unless you freeze them first. Metroids' great weakness: Freezing cold. Makes them fragile and allows for the concussive force of missile weapons to have an effect. They're tough, but a quick player can handle them before they become a threat. THEN you face the strongest non-boss entities. The Super Side-Hoppers (or whatever it is that they're actually called). You don't need to fight them, but if you choose to do so, they take an absolute PILE of Super Missiles to destroy. And then you find the final mini-boss . . . who is already dead. Turned to a lifeless husk, which crumbles in to dust when you touch it's corpse. A corpse statuesquely stuck at the moment of death, in the terrible rictus of screaming agony. And then you enter a hall, where other enemy corpses line the walls and floor and ceiling. Touching any of them . . . dust! And then . . . another Super Side-Hopper. Tougher than the rest, since it's COMPLETELY immune to all your weapons. But that's because this is a scripted moment in the game. The biggest Metroid ever shows up! And it's hungry. It drains the life from the Hopper, turning its body to a statue of dust like all the others . . . . . . and then this Mega-Metroid notices you. It's next meal. This Metroid is so powerful that not even Freezing has any effect on it. There's nothing you can do. It latches on. And starts draining. And draining. And draining. And your Emergency Energy Reserves kick in, desperately trying to keep you alive. But the Metroid just keeps draining you! Until you reach 1 HP . . . and then it happens . . . The Baby's cry. The big, bad, unbeatable Mega-Metroid -is- the Baby. And it starts to whimper as it realizes it nearly murdered its "mother." It becomes panicked and flies erratically, crying the whole time. If you make a sudden move or shoot at it, it flies away at top speed. So remorseful for its hunger that it can't even stand to face you. Samus then limps her way to the next chamber, where mercifully there is a Power Station which she can use to restore her Power Suit's Energy Reserves (and get back up to full health). Then it's just three more halls before you come face to "face" with the final boss: Mother Brain! Rebuilt and re-cloned. But this time, Samus is stronger. Packing more armaments than the last time she faced Mother Brain. The oversized pile of wires and grey matter in a jar is absolutely no match for Samus Aran. It's the easiest boss fight in the game. THE END! . . . . . . Hmm. Why are we stuck in this room with the bloodied and broken remains of Mother Brain? Oh. The brain is grafted to a biomechanical body, and the real final boss fight begins! Things still seem to be going in Samus' favour, at first. She's got the superior arsenal, after all. But as the battle goes on, and Samus uses up her ammo . . . Mother Brain starts to unleash new and more powerful attacks. Until the big baddy starts to unleash an unavoidable Hyper Beam Blast attack which stunlocks Samus against the wall, while draining hundreds of points of Energy with each volley! Not only that, but after getting blasted by this attack, Samus falls to her knees each time. She finds it more and more difficult to stand back up as this goes on. When Samus starts to get low on Energy in this battle, Mother Brain screams with sadistic glee, drooling all over the floor as the biomechanical horror can't stop herself from salivating at the thought of getting revenge on the hero who thwarted her in the past. Using lesser attacks on the kneeling Samus, Mother Brain takes her time to savour Samus' last moments. Little by little. Chipping away at Samus' Energy until the bounty hunter is on the edge of death. And then Mother Brain charges up her final Hyper Beam Blast. . . . and just as she unleashes it . . . The Baby swoops in and starts to suck Mother Brain dry! Mother Brain thrashes about and staggers as the Metroid takes EVERYTHING she's got. Eventually the Metroid forces Mother Brain to the corner and pushes her on to her ass. And keeps on sucking! Soon, Mother Brain turns grey'ish-brown, just like all those dead enemies in the Baby's feeding chamber. The Baby then dismounts from Mother Brain's ugly face, flies in a little loop, and lands on top of Samus. FEEDING her all of the energy which the Metroid just drained from Mother Brain! It takes a little while, but the Baby manages to restore Samus' Energy Tanks back up to 100%! There's a problem, however . . . Mother Brain's not dead. A cloud of breath puffs out of Mother Brain's grotesque mouth as the colour returns to her palid form. She rises back up to her feet, stomps up to point-blank range, and starts a barrage against the Baby! But the Baby doesn't leave. It continues to protect Samus, even if Samus' health has been fully restored! Up to this point, the game has taught the player all kinds of lessons with visual and auditory cues. One such visual cue is that as an enemy cycles through its palette, and becomes desaturated, it means that enemy is getting close to death. Mother Brain's barrage on the Baby causes the Metroid to start to palette cycle. The Baby's death is imminent! It finally withdraws from Samus and flies off slowly. Mother Brain, not wanting to destroy the very thing she prizes most, allows the Metroid to flee. But the Metroid isn't done yet! It swings back at full speed, ready to take another go at Mother Brain! But Mother Brain shoots first. And that's it. Mother Brain kills the Metroid. Right over top of Samus' head. . . . Say! Did you see that new Godzilla movie? King of the Monsters? Remember this scene? Yeah. I have a feeling that the director of this film is a huge fan of Super Metroid . . . 'CAUSE THAT SCENE IS A TOTAL HOMAGE TO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! (Right down to the rainbow-coloured glitter falling on to the protagonist's body, super-charging them.) Samus Aran's Power Armour absorbs the energy of the dying baby Metroid . . . and unlocks the final weapon for the player: The Hyper Beam. Each time you fire the weapon, Samus flashes through a rainbow palette, while firing a multichromatic energy beam that is so powerful that it not only interrupts whatever action Mother Brain was attempting to do, but causes the monstrosity to stagger backward from the recoil blasting her nobbly brain-head back with each shot! And the Hyper Beam? 1/2 second cooldown between shots. It's YOUR turn to stunlock Mother Brain! . . . . . . At this point, the emotional high has reached its climax. Mother Brain isn't a match for Samus' Hyper Beam. Killing her is easy at this point, and deeply cathartic. The final few minutes of the game involve having to escape a maze of service tunnels as a planet-wide self-destruct sequence initiates. Samus makes it to her ship. Flies away in time to avoid the catastrophic world-ending explosion. You get your final score for Item Collection. AND ROLL CREDITS! And if you had played any other game in the Metroid franchise, you might have some idea of what happens next. Beat the game quickly enough, and get rewarded with some fanservice (meh. I mean, I know that as a reveal in the ORIGINAL Metroid, that was HUGE. But by 1994, it was just kind of gratuitous. Also, I hate Samus as a blonde. Purple hair forever, you mothers!) . . . SOOOOOOOO! As you may be able to tell, this game had a HUGE impact on teenage-me in 1994. I -still- get a little glassy-eyed when I think about what this game made me feel. And all that in just a SNES game cartridge. I mean, to be objective about it, I suppose the game hit me so hard because it was around the same time that my late-blooming self was getting hit with the hormonal changes that inspire a biological desire for getting all matriarchal and stuff. And having Samus Aran as a role model in that decade . . . well, I got in to the games industry BECAUSE of this game (and later on, Sacrifice, but that's a story for another time). But thing is . . . I'm not alone. This game is widely considered one of (if not) THE best games on the Super Nintendo. That skill ceiling I mentioned has also made it one of the most influential and cherished games for Speed Running. It's an annual tradition at (A)GDQ. * Remember when I said Ridley is the last boss? Guess what! Skillful players can sequence break AROUND that. Reverse Boss Order is even a category for speed running Super Metroid. But what Super Metroid meant to me . . . what it MEANS to me still . . . is the game when I realized . . . This stuff can be art. This stuff IS art! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - How about you? What was the moment when you realized that games can be art?

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/17503-facepalm-react/

Not to get -too- sassy, but . . . You want a REAL challenge? You want to prove that you're the best there ever was? . . . sort through the forums and create a comprehensive guide for every thread that is about the game's difficulty. Bonus points if you include an addendum which has a link to every post that has ever had a mere mention of game difficulty! Your time starts . . . NOW!

While that's true in a for-profit context, Doc (and even then, companies have found ways around such legalities for ages now), Homecoming provides us with the opportunity to do a -lot- of things differently due to its inherent not-for-profit structure. However, as we saw with holymittens, there's certainly no shortage of talented writers able to provide meaningful content for this game. While I know I'd be thrilled to be a part of the writing department, what little we've seen the Team tackle so far, I'm still fairly confident we don't need to dip in to AE contests yet.

Yup. I had someone make a point of pushing my character around while I was doing some Global Channel Op duties. They would run in to my character again and again, nudging them over time. Didn't recognize them or their Global Handle. Didn't bother reporting them, but it was still a vexing experience.

I want to say that there is certainly a great deal of appreciation for the community events being run by the Homecoming Team, and I certainly do not want to discourage any of you . . . but, yeah . . . it might be time for a little bit of an internal audit for the policies and judgement criteria related to costume contests. Maybe take a break from costumes for a month and explore some other community events where prizes can be shared with the community. Perhaps provide smaller prize pools, hand them over to community leaders on various Shards, and have them run events under strict, enforceable guidelines. Maybe you'll find something that's more compelling, enjoyable, accessible, and pleasing to the community this way.