Piecemeal
-
Posts
360 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
5
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Store
Articles
Patch Notes
Posts posted by Piecemeal
-
-
4 hours ago, Cobalt Arachne said:
One must appease the baconizer or it will create insufficient bacons and the map will be angry. >o>
🥓Look at this guy, bringing home the bacon.
-
1
-
-
On 9/5/2021 at 2:18 PM, Voltak said:
I believe this is the first time it's been achieved, at least verifiably or recorded - Solo Master ITF Challenge with this difficulty setting.
*tears in their eyes*
Dominators... welcome home...!
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, InvaderStych said:
I don't believe my eyes!
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, Czar said:
Since I have been back I have recreated many of my characters from Live. My experience so far has been that there are now so many useless abilities, particulary in Controllers and Defenders.. Most of these I consider useless due to the Maxie builds and incarnate system creating so much Alpha havok that everything dies so fast theres no reason to use them, but alas we take them, because there is nothing else or the option is even worse. Here are a few I just roll my eyes at.
ANYTHING Confuse & Deceive: Why bother unless you are soloing. The targets insta die becuse due to the Magnitude of the control effect you can only effect minions and Lts and they die instantly in the current combat mechanics.
Darkest NIght: Even with the changes to the ability its effects no matter how you slot it are negligible.
Dark Obliteration: Seriously if you are going to call a power something and put the word Obliteration in its name it needs to do more that lite damage.
Enflame: Has the potential to be a good ability but for it's rank cost and end cost the damge is laughable above level 30. +3 +3 +3 +3
Energy Tansfer: Hey I know..... Imma kill myself...
Devastating blow: with a 3.2 ish second animation. your target is dead by teammates befor you even finish the animation. It is completely absurd. In this case I have noticed a strange .5 second gap in the animation jsut before the power the power goes off. Useless in most cases, unless fighting an AV or GM
PB & WS: Fer crying out loud! Just switch the KB to KD on these guys and be done with it. If the player wants KB then they can enhnace it for KB and get the team ire for it.
These are just what I've run across.. I know there are more. I feel as though due to the ALPHA level of the game that consideration needs to be taken into account as to how fast things are defeated in the game and how it effects the other combat aspects of the game, like the abilities above. There is a reason why few fenders and trollers are played in the game except for the most powerful or utilitarian, IE ice with the KD Lock down for entire groups or Kinetics for the boosting. The rest are seldom used becuse they have few assets to offer a team over level 32. Now this is just my take. Im sure others will disagree and that's fine.
I can appreciate the sentiment. When the Next Big Thing comes to open testing, it is designed to specifically address these kinds of issues and add more versatility to all ATs.
It's not a widespread systems change but an experiment in re-establishing benefits to AT diversity. If the experiment goes well, it will inform our design decisions going forward.
-
4
-
5
-
1
-
-
8 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:
This interpretation conflicts with what the in game lore describes for the Hydra's origin. Tina Macintyre's Hydra Multidimensional exploration badge story arc says:
"After months of effort, some Portal Corporation techs have managed to isolate the dimension the Hydra comes from."
Dr. Steven Sheridan tells us their method of communication in the same arc after completing that mission from Tina:
"Mighty interesting, Character. Mighty interesting indeed. I'll tell you one thing: these Hydra Men aren't the simple blobs of protoplasm we thought they were. In fact, I think this green goop they were covered in is actually their method of communication. Now, mind you, this is only a theory. I think the Hydra communicate through chemical signals. One Hydra Man secretes certain chemicals into that green plasma. Then he touches another, who can instantly 'read' his message. It's quite sophisticated, I assure you. If you'll bear with me for a moment, I believe I can develop a new plasma that will let you understand their chemical signals. Communication will be only one way, but it should give you a better idea of what's going on in that world.The last mission dialog in that arc from Tina tell us that:
"the Rikti have been kidnapping Hydra Men from the dimension you visited. Then they bring the creatures back to our world, to help them fight their war against us. I always assumed the Hydra Men were hostile, but maybe they're just confused. Kidnapped, uprooted, stuck on some strange new planet far from their families. No wonder they assume we're all their enemies! It's too bad Dr. Sheridan wasn't able to engineer a way for you to make yourself understood to the Hydra Men; then we could tell them we mean them no harm. But I guess it's best if we just do what they asked of us: leave them alone."
This all aligns with my Buckets of Spoilers! Lore Galore! thread:
"The Hydra were kidnapped by the Rikti from their home dimension to guard underground bases after the first Rikti Invasion. You can learn more about this in Tina MacIntyre's missions (even through the Ouroboros options, from the mission chain that gives the Multidimensional badge, though you don't actually have to finish the chain to get the badge, so many people don't) (Credit to @Lazarillo)"
Per my thread below:
I'm talking about the lore bible, and how in the development process the alpha DE may have been turned into the Hydra.
-
On 8/23/2021 at 6:24 PM, Darmian said:
There's an assumption inherent here that it is 2021 in Paragon. Is it though? Personally I wouldn't advance the in world calendar by that many years at all. Five at the most perhaps. I think having it set "in the past" could give the current tiny Dev team a bit of breathing room on "filling in" the best part of a decade.
Watkins' arc is talking about advanced social media functions and video sharing out in the open world.
It's either government wifi or we got 5G, baby!
-
I am deeply offended that you don't count the Primal Devouring Earth as a global threat! In fact, in my interpretation of lore bible readings, the Hydra may have actually sprang out of first-round attempts to make the Devouring Earth, making them likely as old as the Rikti and Freakshow. The Hydra head eerily mirrors the descriptions of early Hamidon in his crucible, discovering the Devouring process for the first time.
-
If the enemies were not being actively affected by it (Insofar as I mean actually being rooted or damaged) then this may be a client-side issue. I've personally never seen this happen but I think it's possible the client might be making for some visual voodoo.
-
3 hours ago, Yaramos said:
No, "Get sample from the Clockwork" is what shows as the mission title.
And while the first time they started piling up was from a large pile of junk, this last time I didn't look for a pile though there may have been one there. But they kept endlessly spawning, and I can't fend off that many.
This sounds like a gear pile, honestly, because Gears would need the "spawn gear" power assigned to them, which they do not. (And they can't accidentally get it via crossed wire, dark magic, Loki antics, etc.) 😄Could you imagine, though? Like clockwork Tribbles!
-
Quote
Dr. Vahzilok does a double-take and then leers at you with wild eyes.
QuoteYes! The brilliant Dr. Demetrios Vasilikos.
Dr. Vahzilok looks you over for a moment.
I'd imagine I'd have more data on a specimen such as yourself if you were a threat. No matter, stop wasting my time, insect!
Dr. Vahzilok has a sudden change of attitude and disposition, and looks like he is suddenly aware he's in a jail cell for the first time.
I don't know who you are or what you want... but since you're here, then you must free me! You recognize the gravity of my work. Death looms around every corner! There is so much work left to be done! Get me out of here! Together we can fight to end the ultimate flaw of the human condition! We are Vahzilok! We will prevail!QuoteDoctor Vahzilok takes a deep breath and calms his demeanor significantly. It's like a switch flipped in his personality - the excitable doctor has been replaced by a stand-in brimming with calm intent and poise.
Oh, who's that? Is that Cortex? Cortex old friend, you've come to save me! Is this your doing? Did the Eidolons succeed in inflitrating this wretched zoo?
Cortex shakes his head and informs Dr. Vahzilok that he nearly lost his life during the power grab trying to restore the Vahzilok to order. He had to sell his soul to Buzzsaw, and Dr. Pierce, to get things back in order.
Hah! HAH! My genius knows no bounds. I knew allowing Buzzsaw to live outside my purview would reap untold benefits! And Pierce did exactly as she should have, keeping the operation in limbo until the right opportunity presented itself! This new Vahzilok army will be capable of such great triumphs!QuoteDoctor Vahzilok's full body shudders at those words.
What do you mean, absorbed? Where are my loyal pupils?QuoteDoctor Vahzilok is obviously agitated, waiting for an answer.
Cortex recounts the insurrection within the ranks while Dr. Vahzilok has been locked away - how Newt, Salamander, Malady and Pathogen tore each other apart while Dubstitch and Raverobber took advantage of the chaos. And then how trying to quell it nearly killed Cortex while Pierce was trying to play sides from the shadows.
I see. And then you sold your soul, and my work, to Buzzsaw, who in turn has taken my benevolent research and set it loose within a group of drug-addicted meme-spouting morons!
You've taken my ingenious plans and thoroughly putrified them with your stubborn sense of pride and preservation! You should have just died nobly, and the Freakshow wouldn't be running riot with technology of mine that should NEVER have seen the light of day! That research was for me, for us, when the time was right! Now you've saved yourself only to bring death down all around us!
You're dead to me, Cortex! This death I will not prevent! The only thing that could even help me consider forgiveness is if you kill this brigand for Hero.gender=male his|her treachery and blasphemy, and get me OUT OF HERE! You owe it to me!-
1
-
1
-
1
-
-
13 hours ago, Arcalian said:
So I just finished this arc not realizing that it was new. I'd only ever done Doc Buzzsaw once before, and only her first mission. So I did this one by dribs and drabs over the last few days. In the final mission, I couldn't get Cortex to say anything, and the person I was playing with likewise couldn't get a peep out of Dr V. I figured he might turn on me, but he did nothing but stand there. Going through the thread, I get the impression the Freaklok were supposed to help, but they didn't, either. Not really complaining about bugs, just wanna know waht all Dr V and Cortex would've said. Though I'm glad I didn't wind up fighting Manticore! Yikes!
After Bile is free, Cortex is looking at Dr. V - and only the team leader can talk to Dr. V. This is how the conversation chain runs.
Dr. V bugs out about the situation and demands Cortex kill you to redeem himself.
-
1
-
-
Duly noted.
The next set of projected content will continue the story in a more manageable set of stories, culminating in (hopefully) a trial.
-
2
-
-
7 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:
This is where I'm at. The game isn't too easy. The problem is that, due to balance issues and the introduction of various I Win buttons from the P2W vendor, *some* characters, build combos, etc, are so brokenly overpowered that they no longer fit within the game's perfectly acceptable difficulty levels. It's not the enemies or missions that are the problem.
Destiny, however, might be blowing out the curve a bit.
-
2
-
1
-
-
From everywhere and nowhere, a voice rasps out of the darkness throughout the sewers.
"Be careful... what you wish for..."
A hydra tentacle rises up from the depths and attempts to slap Newt with a partially digested corpse.
-
1 hour ago, GraspingVileTerror said:
I hear you on the Wards thing, @Piecemeal.
I was making good progress on my main villain doing all of the content at each level, freezing Experience gain to track down Contacts and earn Badges and Temp Powers.
Then I hit a particular arc in First Ward that deals with robbing the player-character of their free will. It hits a particularly raw nerve of mine, which comes in to conflict with my OCD.
I've been stuck on that arc since . . . February 2020? It's stalled me out and really sucks any enjoyment out of the content for me.
Before jumping back on to the original topic of this thread, though, I'd also like to share some suggestions for games which I think could be of value in the future development of content in City. Please consider checking out:
FTL: Faster Than Light
Darkest Dungeon
World of HorrorDisco Elysium
Hades
(and then search "procedural ludonarrative" in Google or Youtube, and just bounce around filling your brain with all the juicy research, opinion pieces, and analyses out there. I think that it will potentially spark some interesting ideas)
Anyway.
Another head-canon of mine which is supported by a couple secondary sources (the official comics and the old lore bible) is the Grand Scheme of Lughebu!
The Banished Pantheon consumed the corpses of their fellow gods and fed off the misery, sorrow, terror, dread, and anguish of mortals. This is what got them banished. Trapped in a spirit world with only micro-fissures to reach out and affect the mortal world with whispers to drive humans to madness (Banished Pantheon Cultists), these banished gods (Ullutay, Tomdala, Rambetu, M'Teru, and Leghebu) sustain themselves on what little negative emotional energy they can siphon through the fissures.
This is canon.
Mot is a different god; a Sumerian embodiment of death which . . . somehow . . . came to rest in the area which became Moth Cemetery. I haven't finished the NuDark Astoria content yet, and last I checked the wikis were still incomplete for those pages, so I don't know if any major revelations on this were discussed, but the short of it: Mot isn't Banished Pantheon. Mot was "The Sleeper" which Lughebu was compelling the Banished Pantheon's mortals Cultists to try to awaken, so that the level of misery, grief, terror, dread, et cetera would be sufficient enough for the Banished to finally break free of their astral bonds and return to the mortal world.
Mot was ridiculously powerful.
But I don't remember seeing anything about Mot having consumed other gods for their power.
Which suggests to me . . . when the player-characters defeat Mot, then it was all a part of Lughebu's contingency plan, and the now-defeated Mot has also be consumed; siphoned through those micro-fissures . . . feeding the Banished five . . .
Mot was merely a means to an end . . . and that end will be the Banished Pantheon's return to the mortal world.
Please, then, go and pore over the Dark Astoria content. Mot may have (unclear) permamently consumed Tielleku. Also, what I consider to be a non-negotiable plot point going forward is how badly Mot's gambit destroyed the ranks of the Circle of Thorns.
You'll also get your answer as to how the idol got where it's going, and for what it's worth, I thought the entire arc was phenomenal in that regard. There are some plot points I didn't like, but nothing I couldn't live with.
-
On 7/3/2021 at 6:40 PM, GraspingVileTerror said:
Not fair, @Piecemeal! Whenever I post messages like that I at least make sure that I'm only filtering my messages through four or five standard ciphers, and always try to leave a hint as to the last cipher on the pile. I don't have the computational brute force to break the encryption on yours, and I see no hints as to which key or - oh.
"Warriors||Circle of Thorns//Legacy Chain??Outcasts!!Hellions}}Longbow``Arachnos**Council@@Fifth Column&&Devouring Earth"
Looks like I found a browser-based decrypter that was mostly accurate while searching for a website to remind me of the word "mode."
*coughs nervously*
So . . .
The (True) Banished Pantheon is up for grabs, then?
*revs up the chorus of Lugbehu-chanting cultists*
I wasn't going to post amazing ciphers. Most web-based ones **seem** to end with the = so 6 hours isn't bad before someone looked. Next time, I'll pass it through an encryption key and flanglebort post random words in my posts that, at times, may or may not be the key to the cipher.
As for BP, I ultimately achieved a level of plot burnout with Night Ward on live, and when the game came back I simply forgot I hadn't paid any attention to it.
*throws their hands up in the air expecting retribution*
I hear that some other BP gods show up in there? TBH the Wards content was... an endurance test. Will have to go back soon.
-
Factions that may or may not get touched upon with a metaplot advancement in my roadmap are:
QuoteYogPCi3y1KiRl1tvY0AJFfNsK7qQurd+dac1Kkuwrw8pR7vBiWtFupHWVSzQKLdAmPEF8dNsfHeG8D+GqN1gFWyb+53Ptadfp/zx7CF3enNEcx/2MWtwuZCEapo8EUGG3PXp+OBxwO+UQaQAL87PDMyi7obDztQQoJ4nSgphmsA=
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
-
RPN. We meet again.
Anyone who wants to understand comedy gold should have been a fly on the wall when @Faultline taught me. Then retaught me. Then taught me again months later.
-
2
-
-
9 hours ago, Black Talon said:
This is the kind of stuff I find enormously engaging to read, yet at the same time find somewhat frustrating - I keep thinking, Shouldn't we, as players and factors in Paragon City's evolution - and the elements therein - have a chance to influence the outcome with such in-process or impending events? I understand that, as an MMPOG, what applies for one character/group cannot apply for all, obviously, but still, I'd like to have the opportunity for a story-arc (Task-Force or the like) to be established that permits some kind of "We did it!" outcome, not terribly different from the excellent Striga Isle Task-Force.
Perhaps something like that is already in the works (Piecemeal's rather cryptic posts seem to hint at such), and this once again indicates the enormous love the community has for this game, and the world it has engendered, and makes it worth every penny we put forward on a monthly basis to keep things running. Hoping to see more dispatches soon.
You're being told parts of the story without being told how you fit into it yet 😄
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, Luminara said:
If Dreck stopped thinking with his dongle, he wouldn't run into problems like this.
When you're an animal like Dreck, all dongles are a threat to your dongleocracy!
-
1
-
-
One leader 'leading' anarchists that are violence fetishists is questionable - as good as Dreck is, having three Dreck-level leaders helped maintain the hierarchy and keep the ambitious ones in their places. Now the body-mod-and-information-freedom enthusiasts are moving on to the Freaklok, those following Clamor are in a fugue state right now without their bannerwoman, leaving Dreck with disjoined Clamorites, his violence fetishists... and those who used to be loyal to Upstart all those years ago but have been indoctrinated into current Freakshow ideology.
The Freakshow are being siphoned off by young offshoots that are showing them up by applying order to their chaos. That is unforgivable. There's only one leader left that can act. And he has to, or will appear weak.
The Freaklok's existence is seriously jimjamming their vibe, bruh. They're going to have to display a show of force to maintain their street cred.
You've been teased 🙂
-
1
-
1
-
-
I have a planned arc for Clamor building off Buzzsaw's arc.
Let's just say that her "delicate disposition" for rational thought was totally thrown out the window when she was incarcerated, broke out, incarcerated again, turned into a chicken-legged half-monster by Pandora's Box, then used as a sleeper-bomb when she had her legs replaced during surgery. Not to mention she's actively being hunted.
In short, for the near future anyway, Clamor is feral and the Freakshow have a real problem. Dreck has no other leaders left - Bile's gone to the Freaklok, after all.
-
1
-
7
-
-
1%, and windows sets the app to 60% of THAT.
-
1
-
-
On 5/20/2021 at 4:36 PM, Cirque said:
1000,000db: The first time anyone loads the game and discovers what 100% volume is like.
-
2
-
5
-
Trollers, Fenders and the Useless Abilities Could Get A Once or Twice Over
in Suggestions & Feedback
Posted
I just wouldn't be me if I didn't give you feelings of joy and terror simultaneously.
I call it Terrilation.