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Techwright

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Everything posted by Techwright

  1. Are you sure Terry Brooks didn't write the script? It has a vibe like his "Magic Kingdom For Sale" series of books.
  2. Probably the two that I want to like and don't are the Skyway Troll Rave and the Ghost Ship. The Ghost Ship offers no real challenge. The ghosts stand in bunches and wait for you to sidle up to them. They'll not attack you once you out-level them The ship itself causes no real damage. I kind of feel like there's not a threat unless you're well below their rank and stupidly attack. I'm not quite sure what would be the fix, but I feel it needs to be more dynamic and less static-y. Perhaps switching them from a level 20ish to a situation where they're always within 5 levels of your character might be a start, though not an end to it. The Troll Rave...ugh. I really want to like this but there's so many negatives: The standard trolls stand around The move to enter the doors to "juice" is very sluggish. Even if you're the only hero working the area, it's unlikely you'll take out all the Super Trolls needed for a badge. Super Trolls run slow and in clear, linear pathing, making picking them off easy and boring. Rarely does one enter the event alone, and this causes major headaches. It's highly likely that the other player(s) will not team with you and will start blasting all the standard trolls, the source of Super Trolls, whereas you've been patiently waiting for those rare trolls to make for the door and "juice". Wiping out all the standard trolls repeatedly, they end the scenario early leaving you holding next to nothing in your goals. You return later to see this happen again, and again, and again, and none of these impatient types will listen when you try to explain it. As a result, the event becomes an unlikeable slog to get all the badges, and should you finally succeed, you'll never play it again, at least on that character. These guys are juiced. Standing around in nice circles waiting to be hit is very tame for the level of drugs in them. They should be doing crazy stuff within a wider range, and not all bunched together (to my thinking). Super Trolls should be happening more often, and they should be speedy and unpredictable in their pathing, including vertical. It would be interesting if unexpectedly some of the super trolls did a Hulk leap at flying heroes in an attempt to bring them down. They do need to focus on the threats to them in the area rather than just wander off to throw a boulder or two. Maybe the police nearby might be threatened, and you need to extend protection to them, with the event ending prematurely if all the police get sent to the hospital. The event somehow needs to address the number of solo players moving through it. Perhaps giving credit to all within the range of the event, so long as they are fighting, might be a starting point of discussion for redesigning it. I would like to see this event remodeled in such a way that it is still interesting after completing the badges. Again, if the Super Trolls remained closer in level to the player's character, regardless of the level, it makes it a tad more interesting, and if there's a chance drop for rare items useful for a 50, that might keep interest as well. Improve zone events overall...hmm...might need to give that a good deal of thought. One thing that does come to mind is to add a special teleport. Since these are on a timer, time and opportunity are lost if you're far away. Maybe make it a purchaseable, limited use effect from the P2W vendor, same as jetpacks, and such. Or make it a machine as option in a super base. If you're supergroup has one set up, you'll be connected and will see a site-to-site port button on your control panel. If multiple events are active, it will give you the option of which one to go to. Designing a new event: I'd have to give that one some thought as well, however...a long time back a few of us discussed the possibility of a zone event of bleeding time, where time portals popped up sporatically and randomly on land across a zone and opponents poured forth. You could have 5th column from the I.P. attack that killed Atlas, to Family from the gangster 1920s, Nemesis from Brass Monday, etc. All random. Seal enough portals and the zone event stops. Actually, as the discussion comes back to me, we'd talked about the possibility of entering the portals, taking us to an instance we'd have to clear, then exit to seal one portal. Using this, might it be possible to actually end up on the IP bridge for a time with an NPC Atlas towering over you (or perhaps having just fallen) as you cleared one wave of 5th column pushing towards the portal? Same with Brass Monday, or any other special historical event. It gives you a chance to experience them without having to set up a full task force.
  3. Wise words. I'm glad I knew nothing about this episode going in.
  4. Three sprang to mind immediately: News of the World (2020) with Tom Hanks. I saw this for the first time a month ago. I'd been on a multi-month tear through classic westerns (and some not so classic) that I'd never seen, and Amazon popped this one into my list. I'd never heard of it (possibly due to the chaos of the Covid year in which it was released), and the title didn't really sound western-ery enough. I was about to pass on it, then thought: "it's Tom Hanks. Give it a try." So very glad I did. It felt like the Hanks role could have been played by Jimmy Stewart or possibly Gary Cooper, but Tom filled it wonderfully. I was astonished at the subtlety of acting the two stars brought to the screen. The director apparently has a gift for making a scene speak without words, and he uses that often here. The Rookie (2002) with Dennis Quaid. I was alone on a rainy Friday night when I showed up at the theater. Nothing playing appealed to me, but I wanted movie popcorn (extra butter), so I grabbed a ticket for this film. I didn't expect much with a "G" rating for a "based on a true story", but was stunned by how good it was, and I left the theater very happy. Undercover Blues (1993) with Dennis Quaid (again), Kathleen Turner, Stanley Tucci, and a few other recognizables. This is nowhere near Academy Award territory, but it proved to be a lot funnier than I expected. Quaid has great chemistry with both Turner and Tucci, and Tucci absolutely steals every scene he's in and the scenes before and after them, too. The man's a riot of slapstick comedy as Muerte, a clueless New Orleans street thug whose vanity is bigger than his switchblade. It almost make me wonder if Tucci got slapstick lessons from Stan Laurel's ghost. This is strictly a popcorn flick but I can honestly say that everyone I've shown it to were howling with laughter.
  5. I'm actually looking forward to this. I'm getting Captain America: The Winter Soldier vibes from this, though I see the Russo brothers do not appear to be tied to this. I don't know the director. Has anyone here viewed one of his projects before? I wonder how many surprise cameos we might get. I'd personally think it would be interesting to see a Skrull pull a Steve Rogers or Natasha Rominoff cameo to rattle a few confidences, but the nature of Skrulls can give opportunity for several real world figures to make cameo appearances. Will this be the moment they reveal that... Samuel L. is 75. I'm not sure how many more 3 year gaps in filming he can handle. If this is Fury's swan song in the MCU, just don't toss him out the window.
  6. They say that Ted Kord will be acknowledged in the film. That's good! I'm getting the vibe of a cross between Shazam and Ant-Man, the latter due to an apparent wacky entourage for the hero. While I'm not entirely sold on it yet, I did like the Jaime Reyes portrayal in Young Justice, so I do think this is worth giving a solid chance. I'm puzzled why they gave a weapon of mass destruction a relatively soft, feminine voice. I'm not opposed to the female part of that formula, it probably balances the cast a bit better, but I would have figured on a drill sergeant delivery, or at least a more bloodthirsty one. Alex Kingston comes to mind as possibly able to deliver a more savage voice. Cate Blanchette, too. By the way, Blue Beetle is supposed to be the first of the relaunched DC films, so it dodged the axe. It's a one-shot, but with the understanding that if it does well, the characters will probably show up in the other DC films at some point.
  7. And the Box-Seat Boys will answer the call.
  8. I've seen a rumor, perhaps just a fan theory (and forgive me, I've only seen about 2/3rds of Phase 4, so I may have missed something), that Stark Tower, aka Avengers Tower, will be sold and turned into Fantastic Four's headquarters. With the introduction of a single version of Reed Richards to the MCU whetting the interest, perhaps the tactic they might take is for the tower to be sold (background news story) then gradually converted throughout Phase 5 and or 6. The tactic might build anticipation while Phase 6 plays out. Of course, this means we'd only get an origin story as a flashback, but I'm fine with that, in fact, I'd be fine if they handled it in similar fashion to the Tom Holland Spiderman, and just discussed the origin, rather than show it.
  9. Would you be so kind as to share the macro for that? Gorilla Tape, H_B, Gorilla Tape. Much tougher hold for tougher fights. 😉
  10. Agreed, although with Phase Five scheduling stated, it's going to be a long wait, and that's assuming they're in Phase Six.
  11. How long until we get the Atgeirr as a rifle option? 😁
  12. They're still largely unrecovered from the COVID years. A couple of friends and I used to hold Disney jobs back a little after Walt started drawing Oswald the Rabbit (okay maybe a bit closer in time than that) and together watched the hits that just kept rolling in from the closures to entertainment venues and store, and the increased expenses to keep movies and TV shows on schedule. I do think they're under-utilizing some well-known properties they own. The Muppets, with the exception of some free YouTube videos they posted a few years back, have largely had lackluster showings for years. (Just to clarify, Disney since 2004 owns the rights to the Muppets, permits those that overlap to work with Sesame Street, but the rest of Henson's creations remain with the Jim Henson Company. At least, that's how it was explained to me.) What activity I've seen from Muppet talent is in support of other Disney properties, such as The Mandalorian. Those who know me best, know that I have a huge soft spot in my heart for the Muppets, so I don't make the critique lightly. Until the film appearing this year, the Indiana Jones franchise has been largely silent as well. Both of these properties could benefit from some really solid expansion materials, such as games. Indiana Jones in particular. I'm very surprised they've never come out with a string of well-written, great games in the Tomb Raider or Uncharted style. I'd go for a reboot, this time fully canon not soft canon, of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles to show up on Disney+. Find a great young actor, and grow him into the next Professor Jones. . Or perhaps do it in an animation style reminiscent of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (season 7). Also, last I knew (which admittedly is a long time back) Disney owned the movie rights to all the Oz stories of L. Frank Baum with the exception of The Wizard of Oz. It's how the remarkable Return to Oz was made back in the 1980s, which is a fusion of books 3 and 4 (with new material as well). I've always wondered why they didn't make the series on the heels of the Harry Potter movies. If you read the Oz books, they're actually quite dark and scary at times, not the oft-sunny look of the musical movie, which should fit the Harry Potter fans. The point is, there's a lot of untapped potential, so I agree on taking more risks.
  13. I stumbled across this while websurfing last night. Kenobi: Trials of the Master is a fan edit in the works. It hopes to improve the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, especially in the areas of visuals and in some cases, sound. (I particularly like the work on the Grand Inquisitor. Visually, they've brought his appearance in line with canon Pau'an appearances, and they've somehow replaced the Grand Inquisitor's voice with that of Jason Isaacs, the original actor for the role, probably with Respeecher.) Currently, there are a pair of trailers and several behind-the-scenes videos out on two YouTube channels: PixelJoker95 and AD_edits. Trailer #1: Trailer #2: Behind-the-scenes reel: Trailer #2 change comparisons:
  14. I suggest the ghost of the angry school librarian. 😱 On second thought, that may be TOO scary.
  15. Just from the 50+ characters I play, I think probably the energy/energy blaster and the fire/ice blaster would clean up best. Their primaries are good damage. Granted bosses would be a tad more challenging, but those secondary power sets do a pretty good job at containment. I suppose as an alternative, the illusion/storm controller would do well, but only at higher levels where he can summon more pets and for longer durations. I've never played one, but I have to believe a spines/dark scrapper or possibly spines/fire would do a good job as well.
  16. The day I hung up the spandex to help beta play the late, could-have-been-great Firefall game was an eye-opener for me. Combat in motion was not overly difficult and it was fun. I do think CoH handled rooted attacks better than I encountered in most games of its generation, but would love to get back to a more run-and-gun style like Firefall for any CoH-like game. As a side note, Firefall blew away trinity-style gameplay by allowing you a single character (later 2) but that character could don any battleframe he/she had earned up to that point. So we were not stuck trying to level up a medical frame solo, and even if we were using a medical frame, it had a strong weapon as well. Regarding comments made throughout this thread about the negatives of the Incarnate system, would it be better to scrap the concept of a Well altogether? The presence of it seems to herald some sort of Incarnate path at some point.
  17. The same could, and has been said about The Guardians of the Galaxy. And yet, they came from seemingly nowhere (pun intended) to rise to extreme popularity. Before the MCU, many didn't know who Iron Man was. Captain America was more well-known, probably due to his WWII ties, Thor was well-known but due to the Scandanavian stories more than anything within Marvel works. Hulk was probably the best known of the bunch, due to the pre-MCU Ang Lee movie and the success of the 1980s TV show. (I'm focused on the first Avengers movie. Obviously Spider-Man tops them all in recognition.) Also, Loki, Spider-Man, and Black Panther aren't money makers? They're all Phase 4. I will agree that Phase 4 had an overall weaker lineup, and Phase 5 is even riskier, though it has the the next chapter of Loki, plus the trilogy finale of GotG in the mix as well as the reboots of Blade and Daredevil, both of which appear to be highly anticipated. Incidentally, Blade is considered Marvel's first movie success, though modestly so by today's standards. (International gross, scaled for 2023: a bit more than US$ 242 million.)
  18. I really do love how they're not staying stagnant with their special effects technology, but are pushing to new limits each season. End of season 2's special cameo had the world raving despite some obvious limitations in the appearance. By the time of the appearance of the same in The Book of Boba Fett, it had incredibly improved, to the point that more fluid movement was possible. The comparative to Cad Bane is a good one in context. Really hoping to see much more of this in Ahsoka.
  19. Adding a thought regarding the last moments of Episode 21 "The Pirate"...
  20. I'm guessing that CotW have strong punative rules against sneak attack helmet removals by their own members. Any others, though...that's why the Armorer asks if any one else has removed a member's helmet. Can there be another head covering? I suspect there has to be, though I'm puzzled why we've not seen nor heard of it. For example: who cuts their hair? If they're given some sort of cloth covering for the face while the hair is trimmed, that would make a certain sense. I was about to say a cloth covering for the head while the armorer repairs damage to the helmets, but this latest episode may have an answer for that. More on that farther down. What of head injuries? I'm afraid this probably falls under the possibility of "let them die" based on Din's experience of season 1. That's not really good tactics, as we see from Din's healing to fight several other days. Perhaps in the right location and the right circumstances, again a head cloth covering could be used, but I have my doubts based on what was already shown. The question of CotW reproduction comes up repeatedly here and elsewhere. I don't recall which episode it was, but I seem to recall hearing that a CotW member is allowed to remove their helmet in front of their spouse (and their family?) when in private. I guess I'll need to dig for that reference. Maybe it was the one with the spotchka farmers? I'm actually surprised protein shakes with straws aren't a standard with them. Was that actually... I agree with Mr. Vee, that was a good episode
  21. I'd find it ridiculously hard to live anywhere in the game without powers, or at least substantial tech. Yes, I tend to think of myself in terms of a powered individual living in Paragon. Probably Sentinel: part ranged, part melee. Maybe not the strongest at any one thing, but adaptable and with reasonable defenses. Alternatively, controller. Sentinel-wise: That one I'd have to think about, though I will say the foundation would be survivability. No sense in having a powerful attack if I can be one-shotted. Possibly ice, therefore. Controller: this is easy: storm/illusion. Good survivability, and a downright vicious attack on opponents. I've got some great character origin stories but the one that has always struck a chord with me, the one I'd want if I lived in this world, is the guy who has wealth enough (not Bruce Wayne-levels of wealth, but enough) that he could relocate out of the city, but instead spends his wealth freely to improve himself (in the scenario paying the right people to design him a powered under-suit to his costume), then spends the rest of his fortune to acquire the rights to an old movie hero franchise so that he can inhabit and personify the role for real. Sure his life is a real terror, but if he's going to go out, he's going to do it on his terms: helping people and having fun while doing it. There's actually a real-world influence in this idea: Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels (The Lone Ranger and Tonto) knew the impact they had with young people and more or less set a standard for themself to continue being a quality influence in people's lives long after their roles ended. Classic goodie-two-shoes hero, because that aligns with the old movie hero whom my in-world self has chosen to personify. I'd also see it as the means to bring out the best in people. I think I'd start with a mystery private life. Once I'd built a name, I'd have enough time to decide whether I could do a Tony Stark-like reveal. As close to an ICON tailor store as possible. Think about it: where will there always be spare heroes nearby if you're attacked when resting? There's also the advantage that the buildings around ICON are usually one or two story structures. Living in a skyscraper gives a good view and a good balcony launchpad if you're a flyer, but just look at what happened to Baumtown. Probably not a good structure to live in around these parts. Incorporating my movie-fiction persona into my "real" person. I'd probably travel outside the city periodically doing uplifting work visiting children's hospitals and the like while in costumed persona. I'd enjoy getting people to associate my role with goodness and inspiration, even if a little daft for the old style I'd deliberately incorporate with it. I can laugh at myself with them. I'd have a deep satisfaction bringing out the best in people, regardless of what face I wore in public. Yes, though unconventional. Part of the reason I'd have acquired the movie franchise was so that I could reboot the character and story. As my reputation grows, I'd be growing my fanbase with online chats, sites, and more. I'd strike licensing deals for new designs in clothing and gifts related to the rebooted franchise and character that I "inhabit". I'd probably work it into new story material as well, whether movie, book, or internet series. It's a little like DC's Booster Gold, but without the narcissistic and financially exploitive tendencies. I'd just be recouping my expenses, keeping my gear up to date, and providing for travel and charity options.
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