cranebump

People may not dig villains, but they do dig their ATs. Often wish they’d kept them separate and that you had to cross over through play, rather than talking to a seagull (or just, you know, choosing blue at chargen). But...that’s life, I guess.

Because his name is Acrobattle. What other reason do I need?:-)

UPCOMING EVENTS (and sundries): MAY 27th: TIPSY THURSDAY (Take #2): I'll be looking for folks this THU (27 MAY) again, 8 EST to take on some Vig tips. I'll be running Acrobattle, so be on the lookout. JUN 10th: 38S-Issue #1: Special Forces: The first team AE arc is more or less done. I'm planning on running it with the team on the evening of THU, 10 JUN, around 8:30 EST. Couple of tough bosses in there, so pack your Insps and butt creme. Will be running Discord, so the lead can read and share clues and such (and so we can socialize an' all that). If someone else wants to lead, I'm down, or I can run the star. SUNDRIES: Issue 2 in the works: Meanwhile, I am laying down the initial story outline for 38S-2: Strength in Numbers, which picks up where Special Forces leaves off (and introduces a a new threat from the current baddie). Related AE Meta-story Arcs: My "Leviathan" arcs in AE make up a sort of "prequel" to our initial team arcs. If you want to get a leg up on the lore, I suggest running Leviathan 1-5. It's not a prereq for the SG arcs, but it does connect and provide context to some things in 38S-1: Special Forces, and it is specifically set up to be soloed (though teams are fine, as well). Get a room! If you got a toon in the SG, but haven't bothered with a Dossier or grabbing "living quarters," please do so. The more we get into this concept, the better it'll be for everyone. See you around the City, kemosabes, Crane

The southern way: "Hey, y'all, these guys is hooked on that there sooper-AY-dine."

Correction: Tipsy Thursday begins at 2000 HOURS (8 pm) EST. We'll be meeting in The Row.

I'll send you an invite on THU, if you don't get one before then. FYI: I'll be running a "Tipsy Thursdays" team tomorrow evening, around 7:30 EST. Hope to see everyone there.

Obviously a mashup of Car Wars and Mouse Guard.

Ha! Yeah...Not even worth the full Boomer insult. It's just, "Okay...you...":-)

Well, let’s see if I can make up for getting my Trek trivia wrong. Baby boom generation begins after the war (1946) and ends about 1964. Someone in their 40s is Gen X. Can’t comment much on on the “hivemind,” except to say there seems to be a difference in attitude between those born in the earlier part of it, and those in the latter. I’m in the tail end, and sometimes I look at how people just 5 years older act and I think, “Old people...(sigh).” 🙂

Ah. Forgot about that! I stand corrected.

“Boomer hive-mind?”

Well, just to be clear, I believe Worf’s infield chatter is, “Desth to the opposition!” (Apologies-DS9’s my favorite Trek).:-)

Okay fair warning. It seems a bit tough. Will have to work on balance.

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.