Ruin Mage

So our base builder has been hard at work as I've shown in various little teases. Enough so that they've given me the information I need to change where we're hosting the March Recruitment Fair. That is right: We are going to be hosting it within the City of Roleplay base. The dates and the times remain the same, but the location has changed--a new flyer will come sometime soon with this updated information. We would not have been able to do this without the base builder Psi and their hard work over the past few weeks. A major thanks to the Scourge community for also helping us fund Psi for their hard work! The base is set up to have areas for supergroups to place themselves without too much issue. We won't be doing a 'reserve your spot' or banners within the base, but that may be a topic revisited for another Fair. The old rules (which I will repost) still apply within the Base--though some new ones may crop up between now and the week of the event. If your group intends on attending and is open to new members? I ask you post on our forum thread so that I can gather a list. Optionally you may include a small blurb about the group's concept. This will come in handy both for expected attendance and for a later forum post. If your group is attending just for the roleplay/to support the event and ISN'T recruiting? You do not need to post this information. We appreciate your support <3. The base code won't be released outside of the admin team just yet. We're noooot quite ready to fully show it off beyond a few screenshots. We hope people enjoy the base, the event, and all things that come from the two nights. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions please feel free to post them or send them my way in DMs.

Fun fact: That's how the arc ends!

There was one issue that people kept latching onto: That it would encourage "picky" teams / encourage shitty picky nature. Something that already happens without the Aether reward. That's it. That's all people thought was a big bad deal outside of the placement of ATs (which is w/e - its a hard balancing act to get that right and you can't please everyone)

Mirror Image is a fucking great badge title/name.

Quick correction. As of Dark Astoria (which is the last time we see him + Requiem before shutdown) he's now considerably depowered and Requiem (A Fascist who was notably a Mussolini lapdog) is back in charge. Requiem, in this cutscene, is even stronger than before I believe. This happens in Max's arc when you're retrieving members of Malta from sticky situations. I know too much about this game, help me.

Anyone trying to equate fascism with Nazis is...not worth the time. Both the 5th Column and the Council are fascist groups to reiterate. Requiem is a fascist. His group, the 5th Column, is specifically written as a group of super-powered fascists led/founded by fascists. I have linked and shown this in my previous two replies. Including in the controversy page which has the direct response from Matt Miller on why they did it. There are no parellels. Inserting them yourself does not make them exist.

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/5th_Column I urge some reading comprehension. The 5th Column are German-named enemies run by an Italian fascist who seeks to turn Earth into a Nictus homeworld. Not a single Nazi ideal or thought can, to my knowledge, be attributed to the 5th Column. Nor does their imagery invoke the typical image of a Nazi. People are associating the naming scheme to being Nazis. Which is REALLY REALLY bad to do.

I do want to make a note that the 5th Column came back a number of times.. Once with the Khan/Baracudda Task/Strike Force and again with Dark Astoria's Incarnate Arcs. I also point to the Imperious Task Force. It's not a group that needs to be disappeared anymore - especially if you understand that both the Column and Council are fascist groups and not nazi groups. Paragon Studios understood this: The excision was from Issue 3 to Issue 11. After which they were fully brought back into the game. In fact: https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/5th_Column_Controversy

I can't wait for Earthquake + Dispersion Bubble + buffed ruin mages because someone didn't lock down that one mage type. At level 54. It probably won't do much on a team that's popped their Destinies but god. The havoc possibilites...

I want to reiterate that this change cannot be so finely predicted that we can foresee what will happen. The diversity (fuck you this word is cool) bonus is unable to be gamed or min-maxxed to abuseable levels. Teams currently do the whole nitpicking thing depending on the team leader anyway - we can't say if this will make it worse or better. If the reward was better than 1 Aether per 18 hours, I'd understand half the shit being said here. This is one change that, unironically, can only be seen in full effect when it goes live. I get it, incentivizing thinking about team make up puts up the big wee-woo sirens for people but being alarmed over one aether is a Choice.

There is a good reason to change the Circle of Thorns and that is that it makes no sense for their mob make-up to dwindle down to nothing at 50. Level 50 Enemy Groups should all be dangerous or difficult in their own ways. Malta, Carnies, Arachnos, Council, Circle, Crey, and more - all of them should bring something to the table that you need to think about at +4/x8. Death Mages are a nothing-burger generally. Now is a Ruin Mage going to slow you down or halt you? Yes. That's where you either focus them down, Line of Sight pull, or change your difficulty settings. You do meet Circle of Thorns outside of paper missions at 50. Miss Liberty has a whole ass mission where you face them. I believe 2 or 3 of the Shadow Shard TFs involves them. Halloween tips too! No group should be a brainless mindless stomp by the time you hit the 46-50 range of mob levels. This is when you should, in reality, be going up against some real threats.

Think the next step has been giga-delayed due to bugs with the warning system.

Well, they could be doing a lot of planning and a lot of things for KW. I imagine they want it to be THAT update that blows people up. I mean away. Speculation all, of course. But they did lose Piecemeal and bring on a number of new devs since then. Caretaker, Headhunter, Holymittens, Viridian, and Unitas to name the ones I can recall.

They're taking the zone and what's to come with it very seriously I imagine. No half-assed or unfinished stuff or "here's part 1 of the wharf story stuff." - plus volunteer time + interests. And all the breadcrumbs being set out for the Wharf in story arcs. I mean suuuurely they'd be doing that. Plus new devs brought on for, say as an example, the content/narrative side things needs time getting acclimated to the systems before moving onto a big project.

Basically just testing the GMs. Do they feel right, are the powers being funky, etc? Finding any little weirdness with the mini-pets might also help.

This is one of those changes that need live data more than anything. We won't know what effect it has until P7 is live. We can speculate, humbug, and whatever else we're doing here - but predicting how people are going to act with forming teams based on this is not that good of an idea.

Now my name change/icon change makes sense.

The event returns this March! More details to come.

Paragon is, if I am reading it right, becoming the Closed Beta shard. More like overthinking. Victory is becoming the 6th shard. Simple as.

victory is michiyo's server and was very adjacent to HC/often got the same changes it did. paragon was the "secret" server if i remember right. it has/had what we had. not 100% confirmed, but i do not believe the new devs that i am aware of are costume devs. unless there's one i missed.

Victory didn't, as far as I know, have anything that we don't have. The closed beta shard had...stuff thats in closed beta and that's it.

ADVANCED MODE LADY GREY LETS FUCKING GOOO

Why is it a big deal that Everlasting and Torchbearer don't get as big a XP bonus? You're making a mountain out of an ant hill.