cranebump

What I like about controllers is having them lock everything down while I blast it with impunity. (another thing I like is when you have a ton of trollers running together and slowly, surely destroying everything-Team Anaconda FTW!)

A recent run of Gravity by @Valeyard (Mollymauk76 on twitch) revealed that my Mission 1 bosses are, shall we say, not beloved. Since they were running at +4 (and +1 I think), the team of 3-4 spawned multiple bosses who summoned singularities. Vale's tank got bounced around the map quite a bit. Couple the fact that, as one of my earlier arcs, I put them on a timer (ain't changing it now - it's got that gold star thing). The negative (but constructive) comments I received were about that - too many singularities, due to having one boss type. I'll have to see if they're right about that, but I suspect they might. I did get a kick out of watching the party tank bounce around between singularities, though. Anyhoo, on the whole. I'd say that's a legit critique and suggestion. In my (weak) defense, I can only offer that (1) Gravity is an older mission for me (which a decent story, I'd say), and I may well have skimped on the M1 customs, since I hadn't learned some shortcuts/faster ways to do things, and so may have stopped at 1 a single boss type); and (2) I script for soloists running at default settings. Of the two, the second determines pretty much everything -- how I approach clues, dialogue, NPCs, and story development. I figure a soloist is there for that - story. They're going to pay attention to text, much more so than a team (simply because it's more of a hassle for everyone not leading the team to follow the story). I know that when I'm running one, I keep tabs for Clues and NPC dialogue permanently tucked off to the side where I can see them immediately. That said, I haven't done a good job of testing at higher settings. I have been more adept at filling out custom mobs through bosses, making sure I've got more or a variety. But I think it may behoove me to run on +X settings to check synergy. In any case, I truly appreciate feedback from teams. It's interesting to see how things change with additional toons. So, if there is a question in all this, I guess it would be Do you script for soloists, teams, or both?

Oh yeah? I’ll harm whoever I WANT! (punches own face) So there!…ow…

Pretty sure you can team with them. You can definitely team the flashback TFs.

No kidding. But didn't it seem inevitable?

While I would agree that the extreme right wing seems to present themselves this way a great deal, there's plenty of "thought policing" to go around on the other side, too. Orthodoxy is a few people believing their way is the way, for everybody. It's not relegated to the side that has the highest TV ratings. I just wish they'd stop trying to get me to despise pretty much everybody by playing into fear.* That said, I'm in full agreement that our entertainment shouldn't be polluted by the sound of grinding axes. As already mentioned, however, we can turn channels off, and use the local control methods for incessant offenders. That would seem to be enough for this insular space. *I just want to lock them all in a room until they either figure it out, or eat each other (or...they could come out of the rat drum Silva talked about in Skyfall).

Chiming on Same here. That's generally a good solution.:-)

Our problem, I think (at least here in the U.S.), is that, for way too many people, their political view is so intertwined with their sense of identity that criticizing their views - and, sometimes, the politicians who embody those views - is tantamount to attacking them personally. That sense of identity, supported by targeted (sometimes self-selected) messaging, has expanded to foment rabid ideological fringe groups, each of which is convinced that the fringe on the other side is the harbinger of destruction. Because they're always yelling about everything, and because our media rewards noise over substance, they squeaky-wheel their way into prominence. As someone in the middle of all this, I get really tired of that. You're not the solution. They're not the problem. Your scorched-earth, zero-sum approach is. Because of that, when it comes to solving real problems in this system predicated on compromise, we're just spinning on the mouse wheel.

It’d be easier to list where I do post. General Discussion, Mission Architect, and Torchbearer discussion.

Eye of the Storm. You miss with your weapon, hands, feet, body, face…

I think it'd need to be 4 fathoms deep for me to reach @Darmian status.:-)

Thanks for the run. I'm lf to it too!

I prefer Blasters over every other AT, and really enjoy throwing together a good blapper (or even a bad one, as my faceplanting intimates). Recently ran a DP/Martial Assault, which turned out to be a ton of fun. And anything blasty with arrows is a fav (archery or tac arrow). Now (and as mentioned once before somewhere), if we can get rid of that big ass rock that covers the screen on Seismic Blast, that would be awesome. Keeps me from playing the set, tbh. New Sets: what I really would like is a single weapon pistol set. Either that, or single pistol animations for the DP powers that are essentially using one gun. OR: a "pistol" pool power: Quick Draw, Aimed Shot, Fan the Hammer, and Pistol Whip. Thanks much, hombre.:-) And maybe we add a buttstock attack to the AR set? Like Arachnos soldiers get?

I got nuthin' here. I've never fiddled with GMs, mainly because I write for soloists, and I assume not every soloist is ready to fight a Giant Monster. Haven't even used them as an optional threat. That said, I've never seen a map with more than 1 selectable GM objective. Since you're dealing with large, outdoor maps, I would think this is something @Ankylosaur would know about.

Dang them. Dang them all to heck.

Know what? After loving my goofy AR/TA blaster, I tried playing a TA/Archery Def solo, and it. Just. Sucked. Why? Because, compared to Tac Arrow, which has one location-based AoE, Trick arrow has 3, including one I find essential when soloing - Glue. Just having to lay down the damned glue patch was enough to drive me off the thing. (I imagine you can probably make macros and all that, but, man, just let me click and shoot [like Tac Arrow, pse]). It's plenty soloable, but I just don't have the patience for it. I hate the fiddly bits (which is why my wife challenged me to play the antithesis of my playstyle, thus saddling me with a gd mastermind...which I now have to get to 50...solo...). [sigh]

That was my assumption, as well. Because what the OP describes really is just...I dunno, pointless? Unless after, having ran everything to death, you're developing a stable of characters to hop on any TF or Mish at a moment's notice. I wouldn't know. I get them to 50, and most of them tend to sit there after that. Though I did pull a tank off the shelf the other day to run through some AE content that I assumed would be a challenge, and I just didn't want to multiple faceplant. (turned out to be correct on the challenge, so it was good to have the character there).

It really does seem rather silly to doorsit your way to 50 multiple times, just to stash the character away, but, as it has zero effect on what I do, I couldn’t care less. Of course, if you want to avoid sitters don’t take them on, or stop farming.

I have enjoyed most melee sets I’ve played (with Street Justice probably being the fav). Only ones I’m not a big fan of are psi melee and kinetic melee (“and herrrrrre’s the windup….” [obnoxious sound effect]).

Well done (again). I ended up running the whole thing on +0/x4 by accident, and lordy, lordy.

Design Notes: Focuses on Tarixus, and unlockable content with a pair of missions. The undead archmage hovers near Potter's Field. He is an NPC in the Henri Dumont Arc. Guiding question was, What happened after things went south for Dumont? Level range is 25-30, to mirror location (Shark). Particularly interested in how this one works for teams. It solo'ed at about medium diff for my exemplared MA/SR scrapper. There are parts I definitely did not waltz through, though my namesake hero isn't all that powerful (he mainly exists to I could slap the gold Storyteller title on him.:-) Some gnarly customs. Be Wary. And strongly suggest you have insps/temp powers/maybe some allies/pets for the finale. Trivia: References to Shakespeare (mish titles); the musical group The Godfathers (Birth, School, Work, Death). Incidental callback to Mobius's Autumn Wards (incl. cameos). Other stuff:

Yes. Using the base builder. Create an SG in Atlas, inside City Hall. Then enter shining column outside, and you'll be in your base. Open up the editor and start working.

Aaron Sorkin screenplay. Most of what he writes is very good. The Lucy documentary (not Sorkin) was decent, as well. Ball was one of the greatest physical comedians of all time. A genius. Never thought the Honeymooners was funny, at all, but I thought Gleason was great in the Smokey and the Bandit Films. He did a decent dramatic turn in Nothing in Common. His impact on entertainment is huge, however. This cannot be denied. On the greater subject: It's hard to rate humor, as what's considered funny (or appropriate) changes over time. I still find Cheers to (usually) be funny, though actually mean-spirited, at times. Modern comedy? There's just not many I bother with. They all seem of similar bent, and whatever they think is funny, I (mostly) don't. And man, oh, man - I'm really, really, really, really just so tired of workplace comedies. I never found The Office funny (I guess I'm the only one), so anything that resembles it tends to be a turn off (though Abbott Elementary seems okay). I do find Ghosts (American version) to be pretty funny. Haven't seen the Brit version.

After taking care of my latest Devil Bat issue (actually, he has MANY issues), and doing a final publish of an new AE arc. I'll be back on the horse this Fridayin the early AM, around 7ish, EST. I know most people don't have the luxury of Fridays off, but if you do, and you waste your mornings like me, hit me up. I'll either be running the evil MM (Will Fade), or the sterling hero (Jim Steele). Ride on!

Any AT I play.:-)