Techwright

Well, in the spirit of things...

...or real small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

As always, voicing in orange.

Thanks for mentioning "nine saves now". I was not previously aware. Freighters I never got into the first time around. In fact, I had some odd element come up while playing last weekend that makes me think I must have acquired a freighter right before I quit before, though I don't remember doing so. I wonder where I left it parked? 🤔 I'll look into those freighter game upgrades when I have time. I also need to get into a PUG mindset. I've done everything solo up to this point, finding nothing interesting in teaming, but that is going to change soon...Right after I upgrade all 12 remaining bases I left behind the first time 'round. 😁

I just installed a new video card and did something I thought I'd never do: return to No Man's Sky. When I left it in Jan 2021, I felt I'd tapped it's full potential as far as I was interested. Turns out they've been busy this last year and a half, and what I saw as the extent of the game before, is more like chapter one. I'm on a learning crash course, but had enough time this weekend to wipe out a fully functional but very utilitarian box-building base and replace it with some better. Since I built next to a small trading outpost on a safe planet, I hit upon the idea of adding a small open-air bazaar. The base is still under development.

Would there be a short Hard Mode to recommend? Something that takes, say 30 minutes or less in standard play? If so, that might be a way to encourage those of us on limited time to try it out. For me, at least, if it finishes within 1.5 hours tops, I'd consider it. If shorter, even better. There's still my previously-made second point to contend with, having a mighty build, but it would be a starting point at least.

Hmm, that would have really been spectacular. It would have topped the segment that did appear, one of my favorites: Stan as a WWII vet trying some of Thor's flask contents and muttering "Excelsior" as he stumbles out of the bar. Maybe they can do something like that as an homage with one of the What If...? stories and an animated Stan Lee.

Confession: I've never really taken the time to understand what Hard Mode is all about. Sure the title implies something but my rapid conclusions drawn from it and the pitches in LFG are: 1. It takes too much time. 2. Is for those who've customized their characters to the Nth degree to solo AVs. As the first point is inconsistent for me, and I'm still gradually working toward the second, my impressions, lack of facts they may be, influence my lack of participation. This is not to say I'd never do something hard. I like a solid challenge, and rewards are icing to the cake. Completing the challenge is its own reward, and I don't require rewards (except perhaps a badge) if I've already fully tricked out my character. But if its going to be necessary to be tricked out to the Nth degree to keep from faceplanting every 5 minutes, it's not an event anywhere in my immediate future or interest.

Those that know me very well realize that although I love MMOs, I usually dread yet another title with a Tolkien/D-and-D vibe. Severe oversaturation in the market just killed nearly all interest in me. I choose to seek those rarer MMOs that are anything but high fantasy. With that in mind, understand my surprise when a coworker introduced me to this video on the development of Ashes of Creation, and I found myself actually wanting to play this fully-funded high fantasy game whenever it finally releases (in development since 2016). Most of my interest comes from realizing the game taps into a couple of the "Four Holy Grails" that governed the development of the groundbreaking Everquest Next (until Daybreak cruelly bought and crushed it). It particularly taps into the Third and Fourth Grails: emergent AI for a dynamic word (as opposed to static character placement) and player-driven environment and story changes or "rallying calls" making for a truly unique experience on each server. I'm including the presentation on the Four Holy Grails to help make my point. Ashes of Creation development discussion: Everquest Next lead discusses their "Four Holy Grails" things never attempt previous to their design work: 42:15 – first grail: change the core game 42:51 – Multi-classing (discovering and learning new classes while exploring the world. Mix and match to create your own class. Weapons and armor dynamically adapt and can also be component mixed/matched.) 46:30 – second grail: Destructability -- blow up anything, anytime, anywhere (use of voxels for both destruction and construction) 49:23 – third grail: A Life of Consequence – emergent AI 57:25 – fourth grail: permanent change (rallying calls: player-driven long-time change to the story and environment)

Imp police...huh. On the surface it doesn't sound as interesting as the idea we bandied around about a Vichy-government type of officer. It's "Syril" with an "S". That makes all the difference. This is Proper Syril, thank you very much. (He's still a Howard Johnsons bellhop in that outfit.) We'll, two pennies and a stick of gum says that his character will be at least partially based on Inspector Javert, which might not be a bad thing, so long as its more of an influence to the character than a straight ripoff. Time and showing will tell if Inspector Clouseau also was an influence. Now that I think about it, there were Republic police shown in the animated Clone Wars. At least two episodes. The inspector, Tan Divo seemed very familiar, as if he was based on someone or another character. Divo often used police androids to supplement his officers. While I don't expect Tan Divo in the Andor series, I'd not be surprised to see these as an outgrowth of the Senate/Coroscant police.

So true. It's why I've proposed in time past that upon login, we be given a recap of LFG from the previous minute or two, just so we can see if a recruiting request we could fill is going on.

Following up on my previous comment, I did some quick digging. Footnotes found online state that Andor will be set 5 years before Rogue One, so the year 5 BBY is the in-universe date. In context, this is 5 years after both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Solo: A Star Wars Story, and is the same year that the series Star Wars: Rebels begins. Kanan Jarus and Hera Sindula are already doing rebel cell work, and "Fulcrum" is coordinating Rebel cells throughout the galaxy.

I suppose a part of that answer will depend on just how far into the 19 years between Episode III and Rogue One we are. The closer to Rogue One it starts, the more likely he will approach his jaded days. As this is rumored to be a multi-seasonal series, though, we may be starting half way into that two decades, giving him time to more slowly become the man we see at the start of Rogue One.

I see Sinbad Jr. and Salty the Parrot have grown up to become members of G.I. Joe. 😉 (Boy, I'm probably really putting a date to myself with that reference.)

I've heard Manticore described as a hybrid of Batman and Green Arrow, and I can see that, though I can also see Green Arrow because wasn't Oliver Queen also an extremely wealthy individual, at least at one point?

I stumbled across this, having heard nothing previously. Based solely on the trailer, I'm liking what I see. Sylvester Stallone is an old man just getting along in a crime-ridden city. A neighborhood child begins to suspect he may be a long-thought-dead superpowered vigilante. Just a warning: the editors of this video apparently never studied minimalism in school. There will be major spoilers for those who prefer to go in to a movie with minimal info.

I apologize as I cannot say that definitively at the moment. I'd have to run through the process again with another new 50 to refresh my memory in the details. I did it for kicks about a year ago, and the character is fully outfitted now. At the time I was more curious about how far it would allow me to unlock the Incarnate slots without being forced to run the Menders Incarnate story arc (all the way, it turns out) rather than focused on other details.

Just a guess, but it may be because each is a common, single word. If CoH had a "Red Skulls" or "Atomic Skulls" gang, that might go too far, but there might be a chance a judge won't uphold a trademark on just "Skulls". Contributing a bit more: Longbow feels a bit like Marvel's SHIELD and Vanguard like SWORD.

I'm thinking at this point I may wait until Andor and Bad Batch season 2 drop on D+ and then see all three on a few months' subscription. Other than saving a few bucks, it might give me a chance to learn whether audiences approved or hated She-Hulk.

I'd argue that Incarnate starts, whether you like it or not, once you ding 50. As you continue to run content, even if you don't do the Incarnate storyline, you begin earning points in the Incarnate system. Eventually all Incarnate slots will unlock whether you use them or not, whether you run the incarnate storyline and trials or not. I've not heard of a setting in Options where you can turn this Incarnate point-earning process off, but there would be a difference if it exists.

I was re-reading the wiki regarding the Knives of Artemis when finally sunk in that this group is basically CoH's version of Marvel's Black Widows. What other CoH groups, villain or hero, do you feel draw strong parallels to groups from the big two publishers in comics? Or perhaps you feel they draw parallels to smaller publishing house works. Let's hear those, too. I can pretty much guess two others, but I'm curious to see what others think.

I've not played LOTRO for a handful of years now, though I generally liked it. The big problem for me was that "dark" seemed to be a major emphasis with them. Not so much tone (though there was that) as visuals. Not only the day/night cycle, but caves (including massive Moria) and their visual interpretation of the ever-increasing influence of Sauron. I began to realize it was pushing me towards real life Seasonal Affective Disorder, so I reluctantly parted ways. It's been years so perhaps I can go back, at least for a little while. I've no idea where the game story is in context with the Tolkien story at this point. I'd had wishful hopes for some time that we be given a chance for new content and new stories going to the east and south, either as a continuation of the mop-up efforts of Gondor after Sauron's fall (possibly dealing with warlords rising to fill the void) or some sort of reference to the past in the East and South, possibly following the resistance under the Blue Wizards.

"Wildwing" because "Totally Not Batman" probably takes up too many character spaces. 😉 They all look top-knotch. You do know how to use a minimalist approach to make us feel inferior. 😁 (j/k) Pollute looks great, but I'd almost expect a less "clean" look for such a character. I'm not really certain how you could grunge-ify the character, though, short of using auras. I guess you could say he might need to stay sterilely clean to avoid succumbing to what he's delivering to others. Your work is great, as always!

We're getting some feedback regarding Andor from some (allegedly) early viewers of the first 4 episodes. For me, the interesting bit in the writings was: ...it’s the most serious, grounded thing Star Wars has ever done. It feels more like an English-made espionage thriller than Star Wars. ... The article goes on to say, in so many words, that we're not going to see clear black hat / white hat roles here, but shades of gray. There's going to be humanity to some of the villain roles. These points are actually interesting to me, because I remember similar discussion regarding Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier around the time it came out, and it has proven to be a fan favorite, and the #1 Marvel movie on many fans lists. I also appreciate the comment that explains why they need to release the first 3 episodes together. Source discussion: https://bespinbulletin.com/2022/08/first-reaction-to-andors-first-four-episodes-appears-online-grounded-complex-expect-division/

I for one, don't "hate" group fly, per se, but I do hate that it is usually sprung on me without announcement, especially when I'm tank or brute. I hate even worse that there's not an option in my Options to negate Group Fly, like there is for group teleport. If we had such, set to off, it would be a heap of a lot easier for teaming MM's to get around without taking heat.