What's the story with the Shadow Shard, in-game?

[Chaos String]

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I mean, that's a possible interpretation and is definitely surreal and trippy.  But if that's the intent, the exploration badge text doesn't really convey it, IMO.  The overall impression I got from the badge text is "Rularuu is getting in your head and there's nothing you can do about it"  with a side order of "and this is what the inside of your head looks like."  It's lazy.  No, I am not going to drink the weird bloody water, that is a stupid thing to do.  The game mechanics don't support this godmoding either.

 

And, why does the godlike superbeing have to be psychic?  Is it just because so many defensive sets have a psi hole?  He EATS DIMENSIONS, come on, you can be a little more creative with his actual powers, no?  I realize the mechanics were somewhat limited when the Shadow Shard was first released, and the zones haven't been updated since, but still.

I think you're interpreting all this too literally.

 

There is a contrivance in LOTRO called the Halls of Memory, wherein you and Gandalf are wandering through a book, witnessing events depicted therein, and the scenes are connected via these little trippy passages that give the HoM their name.  In Fallout 4, there's a contrivance where you experience someone's memories in a similar way.  Of course there isn't really a twisty maze of little passages between past events.  It's a metaphor.

 

I have no idea whether Rularuu is meant to be psychic, and I don't think he's trying to claw his way into your mind.  Rather, the Shadow Shard IS Rularuu, and as you travel among the scattered isles, you experience various emotions and imagery as you encounter fragments of his psyche.  It isn't your mom's blueberry pie, it's Rularuu's [THING], where "mom's apple pie" is as close an approximation as your brain (neural net, or whatever) can come to making sense of [THING].

 

Again, I think the point of all this is to be vague and surreal.  Especially as the entire zone looks like something Salvador Dali might have imagined.

 

On whether the writing conveys anything of interest, we'll have to agree to disagree.

Edited November 21, 2020 by Chaos String

[Zombie Hustler]

Dream Doctor is actually Nemesis, and is lying to all of us. 

 

This is also why he and Mender Silos are working against each other.

 

(Or are they?)

[merrypessimist]

Vanden:  https://kinginyellow.fandom.com/wiki/The_Yellow_Sign_(the_symbol)  The Yellow Sign.  

[Lunchmoney]

On 11/20/2020 at 4:33 AM, Chaos String said:

have you seen the yellow sign?

Yes.

Do you read Sutter Cane?

[Chaos String]

16 minutes ago, Lunchmoney said:

Do you read Sutter Cane?

His last one was aight.  They should make a movie.

[Techwright]

I just finished reading all the previous amount of the thread.  I've a cathedral of pain-sized headache now.  I'm going to go lie down.

[Cenozoic]

This is the most motivating thread I have read.  It is an immediate dive into the thought mechanics of our game's deepest secret:  Why does a shattered deity occupy a large portion of the CoH universe with precious little explanation?  Terrific soil for growing story crops.

 

The ideas, disagreements, and interpretations are the epitome of why I love this community.

 

So, thank you.  See you in the Shard!

[Cenozoic]

[Posted in Badges section of forum - posting here for the Shadow Shard fans]

 

Shadow Shard Badge Ideas

(also posted to another Shadow Shard Lore thread in the forum ... forgive my linking skills and please support if this sounds like fun!)

 

 

DEFEATS

Wisperer - Defeat 500 points of Rularuu Wisps (same system as Brutes and Sentries)

Occam's Mirror - Defeat 100 Shadow Shard Reflections (any type)

Ionized Madness - Defeat 100 Storm Elementals (any type)

 

 

GLADIATOR (Alternative to Accolade Pet idea below)

Rularuu Overseer - The Rularuu see your destructive power and grant the services of an Overseer Sentinel.  Watch your back!

• The gladiator would be awarded upon completion of the Accolade "Rularuu's Ravager" (or alternatively, completing all 4 SS TFs)

 

 

ACCOLADE

"Rularuu's Ravager" - Granted when all Shadow Shard badges are acquired (listed what I know below).  The "Accolade Power" itself is a Shadow Shard Reflection of the character (similar to Illusion Phantom Army) with a very long cooldown timer.  Something unique and fun to honor the Shard with.

• Accomplishment
  • Pain Killer
  • Power Liberator / Master Thief
  • Portal Smasher
  • Destroyer of Strength
  • Protector of Kindness
  • Slayer of Madness
• Accolade
  • All Your Firebase... (requires all 8 Firebase Zulu exploration badges)
  • Cascade Cleansing (requires all 8 Cascade Archipelago exploration badges)
  • Can't Stop the Chant (requires all 8 The Chantry exploration badges)
  • Storming the Palace (requires all 8 The Storm Palace exploration badges)
• Achievement
  • Firebase Zulu Security Detail / Firebase Zulu Deserter
• Defeats (includes new recommendations)
  • Flying Nuisance
  • Brute Forced
  • Visionary
  • Wisperer (new - read above)
  • Occam's Mirror (new - read above)
  • Ionized Madness (new - read above)
• Day Job
  • Dimensional Explorer

 

I hope this looks like fun - it fits the "badger" idea of getting a prize for collecting badges.  Looking forward to your feedback!

[Xenosone]

The real story is, its an empty place like jack emmerts head.

Its also where they test regen. If it survives for more than a couple seconds then its time to nerf it. 

[srmalloy]

6 hours ago, Xenosone said:

The real story is, its an empty place like jack emmerts head.

That comparison is denigrating to empty wastelands.

[Turric]

In my opinion, it was poorly conceptualized and poorly written.

 

The Shadow Shard should have been attached to the Portal Corporation in Peregrine Isle, not the weird Tunnel transporters. Each island would have been connected to one or more others by small portals, like those in CoT caves, so that flying was not necessary (though doable) and each island had a purpose, however vague, to progress you on to the next. I would have treated it like a variation of some Cthulhu-esque idea.

 

Secondly, it should have been illustrated to be an Astral Plane, a Shadow Plane, the Ethereal Plane (perhaps all three) or some such as that, with the Rularuu being natives, or at least invaders of that dimension, perhaps from their own. The Shard itself should not be thought of something that came to be, but something that is integral to the fabric of the multiverse, something that always was, but shared between all dimensions, thus a crossroads of sorts. That itself provides a bundle of stories by itself. Whomever rules the Shadow Shard has unlimited access to all the other dimensions. With that idea in mind, all the further gates created by the Portal Corp should actually be placed WITHIN the Shadow Shard, making it a staging point for forays into all the other dimensions (Council World, Werewolf World, Battle Maiden World, Black Swan World etc.). Oh, and Praetorian Earth World...

 

As some kind of Astral / Ethereal Plane, it could have been a battleground for mystical / dimensional power seekers. There should have been strongholds or footholds for the Circle of Thorns, Arachnos, Nemesis, Council, Rikti, Banished Pantheon, Devoured Earth, Vanguard, Longbow and so forth. The images or replication mobs are just weird and silly. That should have been saved for some kind of Dream Dimension, which would have been separate and tied to Penelope Yin or Sister Psyche.

 

Each separate zone of the Shard should have had their separate story line that explains what is going on there and why the zone exists in the game. Like the war in the Storm Palace. That looks amazing and very interesting. What is going on there? I would like to take part.

 

 

I would have done something similar for Praetorian Earth also. It should have been tied to the Portal Corporation. I have never liked the Praetorian story and think it is clunky, but that is just my opinion. There are elements of it that pretty cool, but overall it bears too much importance upon the story of Paragon City and your heroes / villains.

[Eva Destruction]

9 hours ago, Turric said:

Secondly, it should have been illustrated to be an Astral Plane, a Shadow Plane, the Ethereal Plane (perhaps all three) or some such as that, with the Rularuu being natives, or at least invaders of that dimension, perhaps from their own. The Shard itself should not be thought of something that came to be, but something that is integral to the fabric of the multiverse, something that always was, but shared between all dimensions, thus a crossroads of sorts. That itself provides a bundle of stories by itself. Whomever rules the Shadow Shard has unlimited access to all the other dimensions. With that idea in mind, all the further gates created by the Portal Corp should actually be placed WITHIN the Shadow Shard, making it a staging point for forays into all the other dimensions (Council World, Werewolf World, Battle Maiden World, Black Swan World etc.). Oh, and Praetorian Earth World...

 

What you are describing is so completely different from what the Shadow Shard is that it's a completely different zone.

 

The Shard was originally accessed through Portal Corps, and still can be.  The Tunnel system was a later addition, for ease of travel.

[OmegaOne]

15 hours ago, Turric said:

The Shadow Shard should have been attached to the Portal Corporation in Peregrine Isle, not the weird Tunnel transporters.

It IS accessible form Portal Corp - has been since it's inception. The TUNNEL network was a late addition to the game - not too long before shutdown.

[gamingglen]

I'm going with the Shadow Shard as written and used is.. not good.  So much empty space with some of the same enemies we've fought before. The Rularu thingies are meh. Good for one zone perhaps, but let's change it up for the other samey-same zones.  zzzzz 

 

Perhaps whatever god mind it is supposed to be develops a "brain cloud" and that's how the Battalion is trying to get to us (or they made it)? 😉 

 

(plus moon base.. we must have a moon base)

[srmalloy]

17 hours ago, Turric said:

The Shadow Shard should have been attached to the Portal Corporation in Peregrine Isle, not the weird Tunnel transporters.

Go through the door behind Tina McIntyre, take an elevator down, turn right when you exit the elevator, and follow it around to the portal room on that side; it will take you to the portal in Firebase Zulu, with General Hammond, your first contact there, down the walkway in front of you.

[UpandAtom]

The zones themselves were pretty amazing looking when they came out. That was from early WoW era MMORPGs, and I thought that the Shadow Shard managed to do what EQ's Plane of Sky tried. Shame getting around was such a hassle and they really could've had more of those super secret mole-hole caves to set up a network of them for faster travel.

It was terribly utilized. All the high-level Hazard Zones were badly used, honestly; at least a lowbie heroes could be seen patrolling Perez Park or the Hollows back in the day, but like nobody would just go visit Eden or the Abandoned Sewer Network unless they had a reason to.

And the TFs have some horrible ctrl+v mission structure. QoL updates have made them much less painful, but those were 8-12 hour long and you had to hope no one lost connection, or just fell asleep!

They must've been planning to place some Incarnate Content in the Shard to put it to some use, but then shutdown shut that down.

Edited April 26, 2021 by UpandAtom

[Turric]

16 hours ago, Eva Destruction said:

 

What you are describing is so completely different from what the Shadow Shard is that it's a completely different zone.

 

The Shard was originally accessed through Portal Corps, and still can be.  The Tunnel system was a later addition, for ease of travel.

 

Yes, exactly a different zone. That is my whole point. The story behind it is really poorly conceived.

[Turric]

8 hours ago, srmalloy said:

Go through the door behind Tina McIntyre, take an elevator down, turn right when you exit the elevator, and follow it around to the portal room on that side; it will take you to the portal in Firebase Zulu, with General Hammond, your first contact there, down the walkway in front of you.

 

Yes, I am aware of that, but it is not labeled as such on the map. And it is only by accident, if you do not have a mission in that portal, that you will figure that out. Old players will know that, but newer players will not. Or players with bad memories.

 

The Portal Corp building, instead of having three separate buildings, should have had a tunnel that connected the basements of each building, or just one portal. And a range of NPC standing outside to illustrate how the technology works as well as mission contacts, blah blah. It is a pain the butt when you're running the Maria Jenkins or Tina Mac arc when you have to leave one portal, go upstairs and across the courtyard, go downstairs and in another portal, then do it all over again for the next mission.

 

The layout is not very intuitive.

 

For that matter, why is Van Gun on redside standing right in front of a portal, which you think will be how you get to missions, but oh no, you have to hike all over the Rogue Isles to find your mission doors. I always thought of him as the equivalent of Unai Kamen but apparently that is not really the case.

 

Many of my gripes in this game (which is my favorite of all time) is the mission layout. Try running the Revenant Project arc and tell me that you don't get angry going back and forth, back and forth.

[tidge]

When the Shadow Shard was first introduced, there were "Invasions" of the lower level zones, similar to how the Nemesis Invasion event happens. It would be something different if occasionally we'd get those events again.

[Cenozoic]

10 hours ago, tidge said:

When the Shadow Shard was first introduced, there were "Invasions" of the lower level zones, similar to how the Nemesis Invasion event happens. It would be something different if occasionally we'd get those events again.

 

Yes!!!  I do love the zone invasions.  A great parallel could be Rikti Raid, where Shard Ships drop Rularuu (maybe even Reflections) and you have to do certain tasks before a GM version of Ruladak or Lanaru or another Aspect of Ruluaruu spawns.  I miss the days when Lanaru was horrifying to solo - Imagine his storm powers as a GM :D:D:D:D

• Badge Note - there could be a badge for defeating all seven aspects during these Shard Raids.  

 

"The Ethereal Emperor" Incarnate Trial

• COH Homecoming can finally introduce a one-off trial to defeat the seven aspects of Rularuu (yes, even Faathim):
  • Aloore the Watcher - A sentinel-only zone ending with AV Aloore
    • Grand Inquisitor - Elite Boss Sentinels
  • Chularn the Slave Lord - A wisp-only zone ending with AV Chularn
    • Wisp Tyrant - Elite Boss Wisps
  • Faathim the Furious - A "Pain Domination" version of this AV who has been twisted by the CoT
    • Arch-Mages (CoT) - Elite Bosses with purple triangles and 95% damage resistances, like their Boss counterparts in the Saga of Faathim TF
  • Kuularth the Scavenger - A natterling AV; should be considerably weaker than the other Rularuu AVs for thematic purposes
    • Tank Natterling - Bosses with some serious poison-style debuffs
  • Lanaru the Mad - A storm elemental zone ending with AV Lanaru
    • Plasma Elemental - Elite Boss elementals (negative energy mostly)
  • Ruladak the Strong - A brute-only zone with incarnate version of same AV
    • Legendary Brute - EBs (shoutout to the 17th anniversary)
  • Uuralur the Mirror - A reflections-only zone with Uuralur AV
    • Instead of standard EBs, Uuralur will spawn EB simulacrums of whoever is in the Trial (shoutout to Comic Con fire farm and Posi 1)
    • This AV, I think, is the most important to create, as it represents an "equal and opposite force" to the intrusion by Portal Corp
• FINAL BOSS
  • Rularuu will be listed as a "Monstrosity" similar to Hamidon, with the same insane resistance and also defensive capabilities.
    • Lore:  You are fighting a prepared Rularuu IN THE SHADOW SHARD, so he is going to be a lot stronger than the Cathedral of Pain
  • Rularuu the Ravager will spawn all of the Soldiers of Rularuu, including reflections and simulacrums, during the fight
  • Rularuu will also "draw in" Shard Ships, which are chunks of nearby floating islands which explode for HUGE damage and also buff enemy spawns, like a Warburg nuke.
  • Finally, Rularuu will "fragment" into the seven AVs when defeated.  Maybe they shouldn't be able to spawn other stuff?  I am thinking this final boss should be ridiculous, like Marcus Cole / Tyrant in the Magisterium.

 

Apologies for the rant.  Anyway, I think the Shadow Shard is a beautiful, interesting place, and I hope that our collective dialogue is able to elevate its importance to enhance the CoH Homecoming experience.  Thanks for reading!