Pitch Meeting: Death from Below

[DougGraves]

Prd is a producer. Dev is a developer.

 

Prd: So, you have a task force for me?

 

Dev: Yes, sir, I do! Actually this is a trial not a task force.

 

Prd: What's the difference?

 

Dev: To be honest, I accidentally typed "trial" in my description and there's literally no way I can change it.

 

Prd: Well okay then.  What's it about?

 

Dev: You know how players are organizing their new characters in teams to go into the sewers to fight Hellions, Vahzilok, and the Lost?

 

Prd: Yes.

 

Dev: So I decided - let's do that.

 

Prd: So you're plan is to spend a bunch of developer time to create a task force...

 

Dev: Trial

 

Prd: trial that duplicates existing content that players are already doing and enjoying?

 

Dev: That's what we're going with.

 

Prd: Fair enough. Is there some sort of interesting mechanics that make this different from the existing sewer runs?

 

Dev: Yes. I've added spots of fire and exploding barrels and electric things that just randomly damage and defeat characters. In a recent poll, randomly being defeated by things that give no XP or rewards was voted as the thing the players most wanted.

 

Prd: Are you sure you're reading that poll correctly? I think it says that's what players dislike the most.

 

Dev: Whoops

 

Prd: Whoopsie

 

Dev: And the final fight is against two large mucus sacs that don't move or attack but have a lot of hit points and regeneration, because according to the same poll beating down a big bag of hit points is the second most wanted thing by the players. Or the second thing they like the least.

 

Prd: And is there any danger in beating up two large mucus sacks?

 

Dev: Yes, I put in lots of randomly exploding pus that defeats the players and the big mucus sacks spawn a lot of little mucus sacks that attack the characters.

 

Prd: It's going to be hard for characters to defeat the big mucus sacks if they are being attacked by a lot of little mucus sacks.

 

Dev: Actually, it'll be super easy, barely an inconvenience. See the little mucus sacks barely do any damage so the characters can just ignore them. And the exploding pus bubbles for a long time so players know to move out of the way.

 

Prd: Very considerate pus bubbles.

 

Dev: And of course their will be an archvillain for each of the enemy groups.

 

Prd: Tell me about the archvillains.

Dev: The archvillain of the Hellions is named Tinder, because Tinder starts fires.

 

Prd: That's a solid name for a fire Archvillain. There's no way that term will be a joke in a few years. Why are the fire wielding Hellions hanging out in sewers full of water?

 

Dev: Unclear. The archvillain for the Vahzilok is named Dr. Meinst. To get a badge for defeating her you have to defeat her before defeating the minions with her who are super easy to defeat, and I've even put exploding bombs to make them die randomly and make the whole fight more frustrating and get the players to turn on each other.

 

Prd: Wow wow wow. Wow.

 

Dev: And the archvillain for the Lost is named Prophet.

 

Prd: Oh, intriguing name. And what's his deal?

 

Dev: I just told you. And you get a badge by defeating him after you defeat all of his minions, which is basically impossible to not do.

 

Prd: That might as well happen. So how does the trial start?

 

Dev: Positron sends the heroes into the sewers.

 

Prd: Aren't these low level heroes? And isn't Positron one of the most powerful heroes in the the city? If Positron knows about this why doesn't he just clear out the sewers himself?

 

Dev: The NPC superheroes are so powerful they can easily solve any problem the players can solve, so if you want the players to have anything to do I'm going to need you to get all the way off my back about why the NPC's don't just do it.

 

Prd: Alright, let me get off that thing. You said Positron sends in the heroes. Can we make a copy of this for the villains without putting any additional thought or work into it?

 

Dev: Already done. I have Arbiter Sands send the villain characters into the sewers to fight the villains.

 

Prd: Why would Arachnos send villains to fight other villains?

 

Dev: So the trial can happen.

 

Prd: Looking over your Arbiter Sands dialog did you spell "shanty" correctly?

 

Dev: There's literally no way for me to find out.

 

Prd: Are there any bugs with the trial that might be a problem?

 

Dev: Well, sometimes enemies will get stuck in the wall and prevent you from completing the trial.

 

Prd: Getting stuck in the wall is tight.

 

Dev: So what do you think?

 

Prd: Well, you are spending a bunch of time recreating existing content that players already do but adding in random damage they don't like and a badge that will make them hate each other. Is there a way you can guarantee they do this content and ignore all of the other low level content we have put so much effort into adding over the years?

 

Dev: I'll give it an extra XP bonus and bonus powers for doing this trial over and over again.

 

Prd: Perfect

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by DougGraves

[Ulysses Dare]

Bravo. My only critique is you didn't include "hey, shut up."

[DougGraves]

9 minutes ago, Ulysses Dare said:

Bravo. My only critique is you didn't include "hey, shut up."

 

hey, shut up

[Ghost]

For the record, I love the “Pitch Meeting” videos.  Been working my way though all of them recently.

[DougGraves]

8 hours ago, Ghost said:

For the record, I love the “Pitch Meeting” videos.  Been working my way though all of them recently.

 

I was introduced to them on these forums.  In a thread about superhero movies.  

[Ghost]

47 minutes ago, DougGraves said:

 

I was introduced to them on these forums.  In a thread about superhero movies.  

Superhero Movies are TIGHT!

[brasilgringo]

On 2/27/2023 at 4:33 PM, DougGraves said:

Prd is a producer. Dev is a developer.

 

Prd: So, you have a task force for me?

 

Dev: Yes, sir, I do! Actually this is a trial not a task force.

 

Prd: What's the difference?

 

Dev: To be honest, I accidentally typed "trial" in my description and there's literally no way I can change it.

 

Prd: Well okay then.  What's it about?

 

Dev: You know how players are organizing their new characters in teams to go into the sewers to fight Hellions, Vahzilok, and the Lost?

 

Prd: Yes.

 

Dev: So I decided - let's do that.

 

Prd: So you're plan is to spend a bunch of developer time to create a task force...

 

Dev: Trial

 

Prd: trial that duplicates existing content that players are already doing and enjoying?

 

Dev: That's what we're going with.

 

Prd: Fair enough. Is there some sort of interesting mechanics that make this different from the existing sewer runs?

 

Dev: Yes. I've added spots of fire and exploding barrels and electric things that just randomly damage and defeat characters. In a recent poll, randomly being defeated by things that give no XP or rewards was voted as the thing the players most wanted.

 

Prd: Are you sure you're reading that poll correctly? I think it says that's what players dislike the most.

 

Dev: Whoops

 

Prd: Whoopsie

 

Dev: And the final fight is against two large mucus sacs that don't move or attack but have a lot of hit points and regeneration, because according to the same poll beating down a big bag of hit points is the second most wanted thing by the players. Or the second thing they like the least.

 

Prd: And is there any danger in beating up two large mucus sacks?

 

Dev: Yes, I put in lots of randomly exploding pus that defeats the players and the big mucus sacks spawn a lot of little mucus sacks that attack the characters.

 

Prd: It's going to be hard for characters to defeat the big mucus sacks if they are being attacked by a lot of little mucus sacks.

 

Dev: Actually, it'll be super easy, barely an inconvenience. See the little mucus sacks barely do any damage so the characters can just ignore them. And the exploding pus bubbles for a long time so players know to move out of the way.

 

Prd: Very considerate pus bubbles.

 

Dev: And of course their will be an archvillain for each of the enemy groups.

 

Prd: Tell me about the archvillains.

Dev: The archvillain of the Hellions is named Tinder, because Tinder starts fires.

 

Prd: That's a solid name for a fire Archvillain. There's no way that term will be a joke in a few years. Why are the fire wielding Hellions hanging out in sewers full of water?

 

Dev: Unclear. The archvillain for the Vahzilok is named Dr. Meinst. To get a badge for defeating her you have to defeat her before defeating the minions with her who are super easy to defeat, and I've even put exploding bombs to make them die randomly and make the whole fight more frustrating and get the players to turn on each other.

 

Prd: Wow wow wow. Wow.

 

Dev: And the archvillain for the Lost is named Prophet.

 

Prd: Oh, intriguing name. And what's his deal?

 

Dev: I just told you. And you get a badge by defeating him after you defeat all of his minions, which is basically impossible to not do.

 

Prd: That might as well happen. So how does the trial start?

 

Dev: Positron sends the heroes into the sewers.

 

Prd: Aren't these low level heroes? And isn't Positron one of the most powerful heroes in the the city? If Positron knows about this why doesn't he just clear out the sewers himself?

 

Dev: The NPC superheroes are so powerful they can easily solve any problem the players can solve, so if you want the players to have anything to do I'm going to need you to get all the way off my back about why the NPC's don't just do it.

 

Prd: Alright, let me get off that thing. You said Positron sends in the heroes. Can we make a copy of this for the villains without putting any additional thought or work into it?

 

Dev: Already done. I have Arbiter Sands send the villain characters into the sewers to fight the villains.

 

Prd: Why would Arachnos send villains to fight other villains?

 

Dev: So the trial can happen.

 

Prd: Looking over your Arbiter Sands dialog did you spell "shanty" correctly?

 

Dev: There's literally no way for me to find out.

 

Prd: Are there any bugs with the trial that might be a problem?

 

Dev: Well, sometimes enemies will get stuck in the wall and prevent you from completing the trial.

 

Prd: Getting stuck in the wall is tight.

 

Dev: So what do you think?

 

Prd: Well, you are spending a bunch of time recreating existing content that players already do but adding in random damage they don't like and a badge that will make them hate each other. Is there a way you can guarantee they do this content and ignore all of the other low level content we have put so much effort into adding over the years?

 

Dev: I'll give it an extra XP bonus and bonus powers for doing this trial over and over again.

 

Prd: Perfect

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I imagine writing this was super-easy, barely an inconvenience!  +2 points for the "Whoopsie!" and +2 points for something being "tight."

Edited February 28, 2023 by brasilgringo

[DougGraves]

3 hours ago, brasilgringo said:

I imagine writing this was super-easy, barely an inconvenience! 

 

It was a pain at first, but I found tvtropes had the catch phrases all listed and then it was easy.

 

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/CatchPhrase/ScreenRantPitchMeetings

Edited February 28, 2023 by DougGraves

[Ulysses Dare]

3 hours ago, DougGraves said:

 

It was a pain at first, but I found tvtropes had the catch phrases all listed and then it was easy.

 

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/CatchPhrase/ScreenRantPitchMeetings

Ohhh, never thought to check out Pitch Meeting's entry on TVTropes. Whelp, there goes my evening.

[Shred Monkey]

I predict this will be the most popular TF (sorry, Trial) in the game.

[momentarygrace]

This reminds me of a poem by Ogden Nash. Apologies for the length. To the children who don't know the author, you're welcome.

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE AMBITIOUS CADDY by Ogden Nash

 

Once upon a time there was a boy named Robin Bideawee. 

He had chronic hiccups. 

He bad bay fever, too. 

Also, be was laming to whistle through bis teeth. 

Oh yes, and his shoes squeaked. 

The scoutmaster told him he had better be a caddy. 

He said, Robin, you aren't cut out for a scout, you’re 
cut out for a caddy. 

At the end of Robin’s Erst day as a caddy the caddy- 
master asked him bow be got along. 

Robin said, I got along fine but my man lost six balls, 
am I ready yet? 

The caddymaster said No, he wasn't ready yet. 

 

At the end of the second day the caddymaster asked 
him again how he got along, 

Robin said, My man left me behind to look for a ball 
on the fourth hole and I didn't catch up to him 
till the eighteenth, am I ready yet? 

The caddymaster said No, be wasn't ready yet.

 

Next day Robin said, I only remembered twice to take 
the flag on the greens and when I did take it I 
wiggled it, am I ready yet? 

The caddymaster said No, be wasn't ready yet. 

 

Next day Robin said, My man asked me whether be 
had a seven or an eight on the water bole and I 
said an eight, am I ready yet? 

The caddymaster said No, he wasn't ready yet 

 

Next day Robin said, Every time my man's ball stopped 
on the edge of a bunker I kicked it in, am I ready yet? 

The caddymaster said No, he wasn’t ready yet 

 

Next day Robin said, I never once handed my man the 
club he asked for, am I ready yet? 

The caddymaster raid No, he wasn't ready yet. 

 

Next day Robin said, I bet a quarter my man would 
lose and told him so, am I ready yet? 

The caddymaster said. Not quite. 

 

Next day Robin said, I laughed at my man all the way 
round, am I ready yet? 

 

The caddymaster said, Have you still got hiccups, and 
have you still got hay fever, and are you still learn- 
ing how to whistle through your teeth, and do your 
shoes still squeak? 

Robin said. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. 

Then you are indeed ready, said the caddymaster. 

 

Tomorrow you shall caddy for Ogden Nash.