cranebump

Written for the .38 Specials "classic" SG. Have tested it solo. Some parts are tough, but then, I used a "classic" toon. Might be a cakewalk for optimized, IO sets everywhere soloists. In any case, feedback welcome!

Cit TF: “Say what you will about The Council, but their HR program is top notch.” when running Acrobattle (staff melee): “Somebody order a shiny metal stick?” Frostfire: “This is my (insert ridiculously high number) Frostfire mission!” When I ignominiously faceplant: “Hubris. The ultimate debuff.” Or sometimes just: “Hubris.”

From high atop AP AE (FYI), It’s M-E: Joshua Jones! Time for some more Architect ACTION! (nnnnn….nnnnn….nnnnnn….okay my tongue is tired from that echoing sound). Stats recap: Ol’ Josh is a high-flyin’ LEVEL 5! Running Sent (AR/WP). I now have LR TP! (Can’t wait to jump to other zones with their AE’s). Err….right…. Today’s selection: Hmmm….did you say ANNNNY LEVEL? We’ll just see about that! Mish 1: First off, kudos for being a Dick. Er, I mean, REFERRING to P.K. Dick (hmmmmm...next toon name? But hey-how about you colorize that title, bruh? Josh Sez: Cosmetics are important. So, I don’t always do this, but inquiring minds wanted to know about my contact: “Jack Andrews” my ass. He’s a FAAAAAAKE! [Josh sez: Howz about some info on this person?] FYI: LOVE the perp name: Lobotovox. Hmmm….mind/poison? Sounds like fun! (and thank God it’s not “Enemavox, the Sonic Colonic”). First thing: I rescue this person...bot...thing...Actually, they’re REALLY nice: I light your fire, don’t I, Exajoule? Or electricity. Whatever! I LIGHT IT! So, I FIRE AWAY, but what good does it do? Look out! It’s got a ROCK! (what am I, chopped liver?) So, I click on el-glowie, and I get this: What am I doing here? Hacking? Examining? (shudder) Fondling? [Josh sez: Interaction text is dreamy! Add some] Speaking of clues: Love the description. Hate the typos! They’re the devil! [Josh sez: It’s is its, bruh] Okay, so I AM fondling. I mean, it’s my choice, ain’t it? (ahhhhh….such...cool, sexy buttons…) So, we get an end clue, and I get jumped by Clockwork. Well, I woulda, but when you’re running like the wind as only JJ can, well, no one catches you. Not even Synapse! (he didn’t hear that, did he? Good) NOTE: Clean scripting. Nice sequencing. No backtracking. But needs interact text on the glowies, mate. Mish 2: So, we find out that Jack Andrews and Exajoule have worked together before. Coolio. I use my own toons in my arcs, too.:-) Presence of Clocks in Arachnos facility is concerning. Well, for Jack. Not me, because I’m me. My next task: Oh, yeah! I’m gonna get me someone’s lunch money! No Hall Pass? For shame! Take that! I DING! Lvl 6. Exajoule dings this: What perps are YOU fighting, ‘cuz I didn’t get no sammie in the face. And our boss appears: Let’s do this! Hey...where are you going? Lobo runs away. I have no holds. Out the door they go, with me spraying bullets. What does Exajoule do? Beats up the blue minions then complains I left them behind. D’oh! NOTE: Great job of patrol spawns on trek back up the map. Mish 3: So, we find out that Lobo is planning on turning itself into an army, like a bunch of OMACs, I presume. Jack has some reinforcements. He doesn’t mind that I failed, because I’m me. Wait a second… And onward to: One of my least favorite maps...sigh. [Josh Sez: This is cool. I’m just slow and weak.] So, my nav: Great! Now, I don’t remember placing the first scanner, but who knows? I did eat those special brownies before the mish started. So, the perps are typical Praeties, but with custom names and info. However, they appear to have the same powersets as a typical clock. [Josh sez: Might be more intriguing if the powersets were custom, otherwise, all perps are just one big clue]. NOTE: Once again, glowie has no interaction text. Prepare to feel my BRAWL, evil-doer! (or rather, here comes my d20!) So, I confront the “Sys Admin,” who summons bots AND “reprograms” Exajoule. Uh-oh… Gets dicey but I take down Sys, then joust some with the tanky Exajoule before getting out alive (thank you Insps). NOTE: Nice scripting and traitoring! Didn’t expect it. Mish 4: So intro text: Hey! Josh is like, a poet or something! (what did I mean by this? did I say it? Who are I?) First off: Welcome to Patrol Ville: Eenie...meenie...minee...okay I lost count… Jack is a bubbler! Booyah! We take down the mainframes, then I sprint for the exit. You’re on your own, Jack! Mish 5: So, it’s down to taking out Lobo. I get warned the fight is tough. “Call on friends.” Unfortunately, Josh has no friends (sniff). What he does have is AH, and now this: Say hello to my little (and slightly bigger) friends. And what is Lobo’s preferred haunt? Well… ...it’s actually a haunt. [Josh asks: Do androids dream of electric ghosts? {Josh answers: They do here.}] So, Exajoule is around here somewhere. Will I need her? Magic 8-call sez: Hell, yes, you idiot! And in we go: Now, now-don’t be so hard on yourself. Let ME do that. NOTE: Lobo’s death text=”Ear shattering dialup screech.” Heh. Nice. SUMMARY: Strengths: Scripting is near flawless. A variety of maps. Custom boss and allies. Custom boss might be a LOT tougher if it weren’t scaled down to my lowbie level. Easy to follow storyline. Very good use of patrols. Lobo=an interesting boss Great use of traitor mechanics (scripting and sequence). Well-balanced. I ran it at lvl 5! Tweaks: Jack Andrews needs a bio (and by that, I don’t mean to pee--who is this guy?) Interact text on glowies is universally missing. Map choices: Not sure about the graveyard at the end. Feels incongruous. Don’t really need the second “Find Mission Exit,” (Mish 4) as it does not grant any new info. However: This might run much differently with a team. Mission titles: I’d put them in color. Reworked Clocks: They’re the same Praetorian Clocks we all now, but with different names. If they’re actually different, they should have soem customization. I think you can create their skin using the costume maker, rather than copying the base and renaming. Overall: 4/5 . It’s well-crafted. Could be placed right into the game world, since it uses familiar foes. Play this if: You enjoy a standard, straight-forward arc. Don’t play if: You dislike Clocks (I find the standard foes a bit boring, tbh). 'Til next time, bruhs and other bruhs. Crane

Well, somebody beat me to the “wherefore” explanation, so...my work here is pre-done! (And it’s “Zwoooonds!” not “zownds!”):-)

Well, to be clear, I'm not saying "blame the tank" (and I never blame anyone when I faceplant [except myself, when I deserve it]). I'm saying blame the clueless, rude person who runs ahead before the job is done - which is much more often the case than anything you're mentioning here. That person is not tanking (a lot of the time, they're not even a classic tank). They're just running off, leaving pieces of their laundry everywhere. I don't feel like this should be the expectation, is all. I feel it must be, though, since this type of play does not get announced prior to the mishes where I've seen it occur.

It's not that I can't adequately follow, or don't know how to follow, or don't have stealth, yaddyaddayadda. It's the tacit expectation that I'm supposed to sweep up after someone else, which gives the impression that the spawn hopper's fun is more important than mine (I should note here, I'll stay behind and clear with my melees, unless everyone else has run off). I should probably be more clear here: I'm talking about getting on a team and this occurs without any mention of speedrunning, or any communication at all. As I see this "hit and run" style more often than I did on Live, it leads me to believe this has become more the norm, rather than the exception. PCs are generally tougher. Enemies are eternally stagnant. The natural consequence is that the typical mish in the default game is a pancake run, so no one really worries about anybody else. That's one thing that I miss when it comes to pick-up groups now, versus back then. Felt like we needed each other more, or more often, anyway. Of course, maybe that's just nostalgia talking...

Sometimes you can get a pull with Blackwand.

While I don't disagree at all with the logic of the above, speaking as one who is very often one of those ranged toons who ends up playing free safety when the tanks (and not always the tanks these days) run off to the next group while I clean up their mess, I can tell you I don't view that action as "confidence" in my ability. It looks and feels a lot more like, "I'm going to take care of me, and the hell with you." Fair enough, save when you bail out and leave multiple purps and oranges, which me and maybe 2 other people have to clean up, thus putting us behind the rest of the group while we sweep up the detritus. And while I solidly agree with the argument that I'm in charge of my own fun, and therefore don't have to play with bumrush teams if I don't dig that, it is increasingly the standard mode of play, which, for some of us, is something to be more tolerated than enjoyed. I'm not gonna begrudge anybody their steamrolling. but, honestly, teammates don't seem to need each other near as much as they used to (except, as this example attests, to clean up their scraps). We've gained a great deal, but this feels like an unfortunate byproduct of making the rare run-of-the-mill.

Isn’t a more responsiveness feel possible? Yes, but it may takes several dates...Marry them, if you have to.

I don’t mind being “inefficient” according to old school standards near as much as I mind the teams where 2-3 people rush ahead with no communication as to their intent. In typical groups, the only action that actually annoys me is when someone phase shifts a mob while I am trying to throw down ranged attacks. Everything else is tolerable.

Marchand finale vs. Calvin Scott, unless I’m running a team or a really powerful toon. I usually get my arse handed to me. Damned land mines!

Ah. So following a facet of the mission theme. Okay, that does make sense, thank you.

Just accept their offerings of spam & sardine sandwiches and move on. Tributes such as those are rare...oh, wait, not THAT kind of placate...(slowly edges out of view).

It is if you're trying to formulate a euphemism for your actual question.:-)

Recall that character from comics and the movies.:-)

Yeah I have Acrobattle there. cranebump is in the 30s. Need to run him up, as well..

"Visual Age: Early 20s. Actual Age: 26?" Um...why the differentiation when the perceived gap is so small? (this just strikes me as weird...is there something about the genre I'm missing?"

Did a Cap invasion team last week. That was interesting. Think there were only 4-5 of us. The baddies kept popping up right next to a building corner, so they were always contained. Didn't get many heavies though.

I had Alderman assassinated as a start point for my AE Leviathan arc. I mean, who better?:-)

Lord, have I been there. I’ll give a look-see, as well, next time I script. Like I said, may be hallucinating.:-)

Has the Statesman t-shirt and everything:

Hey, did we nominate the base for Best Base contest? It's a really awesome base. Deserves a call out.

Hm. I could've sworn that you can do multiples off a straight up collection. I was running a mish test this weekend that featured multiple Boss spawns after an objective completion. But that may have been a rescue. I'll have to check it again to see if I'm hallucinating this. I'm almost sure you can, though, because I've had collection objectives spawn along with red herring glowies at the same time, after a previous collection has been completed. I would think DG would have an error message if the second boss objective was actually an error (though I've run into this exact problem involving bosses not showing up--ended up having to drop a previous objective that, while not showing up as an error, simply would not spawn until I had dropped the total # of objectives of that type).

I know that you can have multiple objectives spawn off a collection (unless one is an ambush, if I remember right), and that you can spawn multiple objectives off, say a boss, if you pick different timing (boss at half health, boss completed, etc). If there was no verbiage in the editor indicating 2nd objective could not be selected (orange error message), then it should have worked. That said, I’ve had scripts that*looked* right where a certain objective just didn’t show. I ended up changing the sequencing. Bottom line: if it ain’t there, you’ll have to do it another way. The editor givth, and so on.

Okay Acrobattle reached 38. Plus got a start on the first “issue” of The 38S: Special Forces (yes I’m using .38 Special album and song names in these things—it’s actually a bit of a challenge).:-)