cranebump

We have a VERY small group dedicated to slow play on Torch. As far as I can tell, there's maybe 3 people who are semi-active, all soloing since we never seem to be on at the same time. I happen to be on a lot during the day, since it's summer. In any case, the OP is welcome to join up to use the base (which has a lot of room for sprucing up, if you're into that). Here's the original premise and such: After going on a power trip for a few weeks - and AE scripting and reviews - I've been running a new mission-oriented character called Nayles. I'll run story mishes, if anyone's ever looking for some company.

Beat him with a Archery/WP Sentinel, which was not easy. Had to use Insps, though.

Live and learn. Or maybe…die and learn?

I think the common mode of play -- on Excel, at least -- can be summed up by this exchange on the Yin TF I was on this morning: Player A: Is this a speed run? Player B (Me): I was wondering the same. Player C (not the team lead, who has leapt past the first Council Raid Leader Objective in the Alderman mish): Sry. I always default to speed mode. (continues speeding, albeit slightly less fast). You really do have to be ready to runrunrun on an Excel TF.* I've come to expect it (though I really don't like objective skipping/soloing, leaving everyone else to actually do the work of completing the mission). *(as opposed to my experiences on an Everlast TFs, where you have to be ready to runrunrun away, because, at any moment, someone's going to perform the equivalent of throwing a rock at the Rabbit of Caerbannog,):-)

What I got was that the OP was just wondering whether anyone played the way they do. Not that everyone should. A question rather than an assertion. It didn't seem to me there was any disparagement associated with it. (or am I way off here?)

Sheesh. I am running Noble Mettle 2 right now. Typos and some issues with spawns in later mishes. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow morning...:-/ or not…keeps crashing due to file size.

An excellent thing to do after that 3rd TPK in Pos1! (and no, not speaking from experience…ahem…):-)

Enigineria's tea comments...priceless...:-)

Teen Phalanx Forever! [ID: 1326] by @PW In this L15-20-25 arc, we're offered a chance for the "teen version" of our hero to join the young 'uns. Seeing as I have no conception of the actual age of my latest troller project, I take the bait. Starts with a neat little nugget in the first mish subtitle that "introduces" the sidekick version of your toon (clever!). Your contact, the one and only Coyote, sends you straight into the danger, helping out the TP (that's Teen Phalanx, not the stuff those of us without bidets so indelicately use for fun and profit [or necessity...let's add that]). the Phalanx, of course, are sidekick versions of the big team: Manticora, Citadel XP, Kid Valkyrie, etc. I'm glad they're here! 'Cuz soloing with a troller is...slow. Now, I DO have concerns about someone called "Back Alley Boy," but that's just mistrust and a dirty mind. Bit of lather, rinse and repeat (gather team, beat a boss and such), but it's a good shower, since you get to take on some of those pesky low-level bosses who are just footnotes these days in the speedy TF romps. Obvious care and detail shown in fleshing out the Teens (which esp shines during M3, when you rifle through their personal lockers. Villain-wise, it's mostly stock footage, but there are some customs mixed in that relate to each mish's plotline. NOTE: The ally rescues are mandatory. You could probably run off, kill the boss and come back for them, but having them around is helpful if you want the boss fights to be quick. Otherwise, be ready to tote a team around with you, some of whom are set to passive (which, for some reason, can make them not as one the ball when tagging along -- Manticora likes to lag back, for example). Mish 3 is a highlight, with clever use of a very small map, with excellent "clues" and a surprise boss (well...I thought she was). An angsty Seal of Approval. PLAY IF: You want a light-hearted romp with the teen team, tied up in various villainous schemes, including one involving mail order brides (not kidding...in mission 1...straight off play it, you'll see).

That’ll do it.:-)

I have to ask, due to my unhinged rant about this some week or so ago:: did the team click the glowies before dealing with the ambushes? Because this seems to be much more common on Everlast, ime. Not sure why, but it does. That said, I was on a team on Excel where the same thing occurred. A couple of us intercepted the entire incoming throng in the room outside the reactor. I did a rabid lockdown debuff with my troller (augmented by scarfing most of my insps). Thankfully, we handled everything pretty well. I think we had some pretty stacked toons on that team, though.

Homage Amalgama [SFMA] A random portal sends you to an unknown universe that is decidedly familiar. With the means of your return a major part of a villainous scheme, you must aid the local heroes there to secure your return. Before time runs out! Part 1: Through the Looking Glass [ID: 62573] Part 2: A Stitch in Time [ID: 62574] Each Arc has 3 missions (for a total of 6) A love letter to superheroes, Homage Amalgama is a lighthearted mashup story featuring amalgamated characters from three different sources: the “Big Two” publishers and this game It’s fast-paced, high adventure, with lots of easter eggs and a silver age feel. I hope you have as much fun playing it as I had creating it. Enjoy! Crane Design Notes, Easter Eggs and possible spoilers:

‘Nuff said

Echo the RWZ choices, above. I liked 'em enough to do a tie-in story in AE that's wedged between them. You could also do Pandora's Box, beginning with L30. Gordon Stacy's Revenant Hero Project isn't too bad Maxwell Christopher's, The Eternal Nemesis takes forever, but gives you 29 merits and you get to beat up Nemesis (or did you?):-) Indigo/Crimson arcs are worth doing at least once. I like taking my vigilante Natural/Tech guys with devices/conventional weapons in on that. Like I'm some sort of super secret agent.:-) Run 'em both, you get 65 merits. And, of course, if you just want something you haven't seen before, there are plenty of long form SFMA's over at AE.

I don’t think it’s difficult to understand, and if you want to do that, go ahead. But let’s admit this: a farm mish is as much a hamster wheel as anything else (maybe more so). Since the goal is only to try other power combinations, then one wheel is admittedly as good as another, because content doesn’t matter.* Which means all the work put into the city itself doesn’t matter. I find this just tragic, and would like new players to at least give the actual, whole game a chance, at least once, out of respect for what’s been built here. But you can’t enforce that. People gonna do what they gonna do. Including arguing incessantly over what the game’s end goal is, when we all know that the end goal is what each person thinks it is. It’s entirely subjective. That said, I think there’s more than enough advocates for the two major camps to present a new player with whatever information they might want in order to allow them to play their way. There’s a possibility they might try everything, as, I imagine, a lot of us do, and have. *If it really is just about character building, can’t a person instantly create and test such things using the beta tester? (Genuinely curious)

Whoops. Double post.

While I find this an apt description of the situation, I'd like to point out that the youngest Boomers would be around 62 years old. So I don't think all of the "lazy kids" comments come from a swath of sextagenerians (and older) playing this game, mainly because I'm thinking the average age here has got to be lower than that. Surely we can spread some of this "get off my lawn!" love around (you out there, Gen X)?:-) In all seriousness, though, I guess my question is whether "where it all leads" is only about reaching Incarnate status. If there are multiple modes and approaches to play, then wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that there are also multiple "end points?" Mainly, though, there's this: skipping straight to 50 feels a like fast forwarding to the end of Citizen Kane. You know what Rosebud is, but you have no idea what that means. Not the best analogy, I suppose, but, in keeping with it, you'd then find yourself with a gillion questions, some of which people who've watched the movie all the way through may or may not answer. You'll also find yourself being rudely told to go back and watch the damned thing. I think you've just caused yourself more frustration doing it that way. But, hey--you saved yourself 1 hour and 56 minutes, so...grats.

The mention of DOs/SOs got me to thinking: Feels like it's so easy to get cash these days that staying in DOs for early levels (if you wanted to do that) would be fairly easy, even starting out from scratch. Explore Merits=converters=cash. Sell your first orange drop. If one wanted to go that route, of course. If you follow the exploration tips, you can get 5 Merits a zone. You can get the first one by hitting the wiki and copy-pasting the Nav point. I spend an hour with a toon who had fly picking up Hollows, KR, Steel and Sky. After getting AP and Echo:Galaxy, I had 30 merits. I KEPT them, mind you, but, if I were starting fresh, I could easily turn that around for some $$. New folks would also do well to run the invention tutorial, learn the ins and outs, then craft and sell the more common IOs, once they get them. They don't net a lot, but you can turn over a mil here and there. Tagent: I'm a big fan of the new explore system, not just for the merits, but because you see the city. Speaking of: Booms. Booms really needs to be fleshed out, a la Faultline and new AP. Push back the Council. Put a stop to all those Clocks. But that's a different can of worm food...

You can edit your channels to feature whatever text you want to see (right click in the window; choose "Edit Tab;" delete what you don't want; you can also custom name the window). For example, my Global chat has Broadcast , Local, and LFG (I delete everything else from that window). I maintain Team chat alone, along with PMs (yellow text) in a the window underneath Global the "Chat" window). I also have a window for General messages (green text) and (usually) a sep one for Rewards. You can also create custom chat windows for such things as NPC Dialog (blue text) and Clues. I maintain NPC chatter all alone in a single window, that I keep pulled to the side during some missions (since you'll get a heads up on attacks when you see new text pops, like "Get them!"). I always have a dedicated Clues box off to the side, as well. Only issue is that is that you have to clear an arc to clear the clue (or drop the contact to clear it). I also keep a sep League chat for when I join those. For these click on an unused number next to "Tab" (above your Global window). When it opens, edit it to be whatever you want it to be by adding the channels you desire. And I see I was way late on this (read ALL the messages, Crane).

Heh, heh. "We have FAILED this city!" (I find that sentiment amusing) Not so sure about a focus group, but actual flesh-and-blood "ambassadors" might not be a bad idea. I'm talking knowledgeable and helpful player contacts new players can be directed to if they want some human contact, either live, or via the boards (and with the players' consent, of course). We have enough experts on all subjects to help players experience the game, however they want to play it. While I side with the "really, bruh...do a LITTLE bit of research" crowd, direct contact with our TF experts, Mission/Lore gods, AE designers, slow play specialists & build pros might be a nice resource we could develop as a community to support and keep new players. Outside that, the best teacher is experience. So the old pros can help new players by doing the things they advocate for. Like mission play? Form contact teams at all levels. Are you a task force pro? Do what Blapperella does, and lead regular runs of not just the common ones, but the ones people miss out on (Who Will Die?, for example - 20 merits a pop, usually 3 mishes). I have a couple toons who have access to all the bank mishes. I could form groups just to run through the banks, using the SC contact right next to the truck there (I've thought about it, but haven't done it yet).* You offer enough alternatives, you'll get some folks. As JEJ once said, "If you build it..." *my current, active contribution are creating SFMA arcs and doing reviews of same.

I tend to agree with the folks who advocate trad play in this specific instance, because I think a new player should really have other modes of play to compare to, with different skill sets that you can't necessarily develop simply through farming. (bolded, because I have no issues with farming, in general)

A trio to get the summer well underway: Kicking the Habit [ID: 38516] by @Echo13 A high level arc (L50-54), explicitly designed for an SG (Invictus, if I have it right). We’re called in by Detective Howards to deal with a situation involving the Destroyers (and their Fixidine trade) and the Scorpion Gang (who’ve got their own drug, ‘Kick’). Howards and his crew need help dealing with the trade (and gangs) expanding into Atlas Park. After beating up the lowlifes, you’re pointed upstream to bigger fish (specifically, a perp named ‘V’). A trail of “convenient” (as the Det puts it) clues leads you to a bigger picture involving some unusual bad guys, who look like statues when you confront them (but who pack a punch once they “emerge”). A few typos, but nothing serious (which I can totally relate to, and often provide in my own arcs [and review]).:-) Clean, clear missions, neatly laid out. Some good, tanky bosses. Straight and to the point. Plus the author has a slew of longer story arcs that might be worth a whirl, if you want to run your own SG through what looks like an interesting narrative. Looks like some good world building there. Kudos. A shadowy Seal of Approval (‘cause there’s more here than meets the eye, if Howards is right [and he probably us]).:-) PLAY IF: You want to whoop some drug dealers (who’re part of something much bigger). Maybe look into Echo's other stuff if you want some extended SG material. Fox on the Run - Crey Labs [ID: 55140] by @Catbird Global: @Kartanian (hope I got this right) A L50+, 2-mission Vigilante/Rogue mish designed for well-slotted Incarnates (it disclaims). The Titanium Owl has a lead on some lucrative data. It’s a straight-up smash and grab, with a lot of Power Tanks. Set it to max and fill the map up. NOTE: It’s listed as having AV’s, but it’s an AV rescue, rather than a slugfest. Direct and straightforward. It is exactly as it says. Has a contact with some definite character, and a friendly invitation to look up the designer in game (whose sig I have placed above). Extra points for using Sweet’s classic pop tune in the title (which came out about the time I started getting into “my own” music back in Junior High (yes…I am old…). A power-armored Seal of Approval for this quick hitter. PLAY IF: You want to trounce Crey (and have a couple of decent boss fights-the custom Crey bosses have some serious armor. Defenders of Talos [ID: 44578] by @Jiro Ito This L20-27 arc from an accomplished (and award-winning) designer has you seeking out an SG that disappeared in the wake of the 2002 Rikti War, working with 2nd generation contact, Black Trojan (which could double as a very lucrative brand name for a certain set of merchandise [hey...it worked for Johnny Walker...).:-) The lad wants to find out more about a purchase he made involving tech belonging to his Pa, the OG Black Trojan. So it’s off we go to a Warriors base that includes choppers we’d like to get to (but Ahnold didn’t gives us those instructions, so c'est la vie).:-) No spoilers. It's a good arc. Has nice tie-ins to: an in-game vendor; an instantly recognizable mish entry pop text (Anton’s about to have a very bad day). Excellently developed character in Young BT. Uses some unique maps to great effect. Well-written, both in terms of narrative, and mechanics (pristine, grammar, spelling and so on). A couple of nice twists thrown in at the end, leading to a sort of bittersweet finale (which I lean toward in my own stuff, so I dig that a lot). Fine storytelling! An old-school-refurbished-to-a-new-sheen Seal of Approval. PLAY IF: You appreciate a solid, very well designed tale. Worth your time!

Nerf the Toy Bat!

Melee critters will default to 40% if they don't include a ranged attack. Something like SS will give them access to "Hurl" to cover that gap. Unfortunately, something like Claws doesn't have that. For myself, I'd activate "Throwing Knives" anyway, since, if they're set to melee, they'll default to that when the players close the range gap. Either that, or you make their secondary a ranged Lethal (I'm thinking basic Arrow attacks here). Bear in mind, I'm not any sort of authority on designing farm mishes. I do know fire farm critters have some ranged built in so they'll return 100% XP, and do little harm (if any) to a Fire Farming Tank. Assuming the players are running with high S/L resistance (and why wouldn't they, right?), they should still be fine engaging with critters who have throwing knives and the like. Plus a farm Tank with dedicated Taunt can just drag them in anyway (I would think - again, not an expert on farms [but I have designed a ton of critters). Summary: I'd just give the mobs a ranged attack. S/L Farmers should be built to handle it.

Mr. Rivers [SFMA] A dead man owes an old debt to a shadowy creditor. Your task? Collect it. Without losing your soul L30-35 Mostly stock villains (with a couple of interesting cameos from RI Villains). Design Notes for the interested/curious: