OhGodtheRats

To be fair, the whole microbrewery explosion in the states made the marketing a little more informed. A lot of big beer companies in the states are calling their own product Lager, even if the older people are still calling it beer.

But yeah, it sounds like wherever your from is very different from my experience on the East coast. (New York, Florida)

Back on Topic:

My advice to roleplayers: Roleplay around strangers. I've pulled a lot of new players into roleplaying just by making a joke or pitch in-character. People don't know they can roleplay around you if you don't advertise it. And advertising it in-character is so much better than on the forum, because then you actually MEET them in-character...there's no out of character meta-game going on.
-jared
(Billy Horrorshow, Terra Liberation Force)

[ QUOTE ]
note: Its Sinergy btw

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What?
You don't find Gem truly outrageous? Truly, Truly, TRULY Outrageous?
-jared

Well, it happened. There ended up being five of us. With 2 level 10's and 3 less than level 3, we malefactored and went snake hunting. All I can say is that it took us a little time to get into the groove.
Problems:
1st Mob = Team Wipe. I don't know if it was the epic size of the mob, the fact that none of us had any defensive powers...but it was a bad omen when the first mob of Snakemen slaughters the entire team.
(This never happened again...I think the only other faceplanting that happened was me when I was first malefactored to level 2 and totally forgot I couldn't heal myself anymore and another when a mob of snakes ate someone while they were afk and didn't think a mob would chase them all the way to the beginning of the cave.)

1st to attack = the first to be attacked.
Actually this was pretty funny. After the wipe we were all a little nervous so when we got into positions (with some good tactical suggestions) we'd sit around saying "Ready" and wait for someone else to attack. You know, because whoever was first would be the first to be jumped.
Eventually we got over this but it kept me laughing for a while.

Jumpkick = Awesome. Both me and Lotus took "jumpkick" as a pool power to get the extra attack. What this means is that a lot of prolonged fights looked like a couple of circus acrobats going crazy. As dumb as this ability is, somehow it became cool because we knew we weren't alone with it.

Ghosting. What I always called speed-completion is apparently called "ghosting". Since we were an entire team of stalkers, running to the end of the mission and ignoring everything else was ALWAYS an option. When I wasn't a stalker I always looked at it like cheatery...but now. We ended up doing it when we could up until we all had Assassin's Strike.

By the time the entire team had Assassin's Strike, we were in Port and our numbers were only three. But you know what? Our Trio of Stalkers, while it lasted, did really well. I look forward to next week when we'll all have AS and larger numbers.

My Question: What do you guys think of Ghosting?

Also: See you next week, same time, same server?
-jared
(My stalker hit level 11 once we lackeyed a couple folks and went to Port Oakes. As long as everyone has AS next week I'll be happy. Being level 10 would be a bonus.)

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Hey, the MasterMind Challenge guy! Kaj (MM) is surviving out there?


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It's going very rough. So much so I had to take a week-long break from him so I could remember what the game was like when all fights weren't desperate uphill battles. When Kaijukore gets to level 26 I'm going to be a very happy man.

Oh and in case you didn't notice my comment in the MM thread: Thanks for the infamy. A fully enhanced mastermind has made the whole challenge that much easier. Still crazy hard, but not as much as if I was poor.
-jared

Sounds good to me.
Btw I have 2 dominators on Union. One will probably be around level 20 by the 27th...so the question is which would you prefer (assuming I can get the other one up in time):
A Plant/Thorn or a Mind/Psi?
(I'm a big fan of Confusion. So the question is what would be more useful: Group Holds/immob and Mob Confusion or a Mind character that causes sleeps/holds/confusion/fear ever 2 seconds but mostly deals with targets one at a time?
Both work for me and are fairly scary...but they play completely differently. Looking at the team. I don't know. Thoughts?
-jared

Tonight is the night. Hope to see some of you guys at Fort Darwin. : )
-jared

...let the braineating commence.

I did warn you about that, right?
-jared

Ok. Now someone tell Private Dancer the answer for Player versus enemies...
(I have a Stone/Inv Brute but you're already twice my level. I LOVE Fault but mostly because it looks so freaking bad [censored]...and I've seen you play this character, Mr. Dancer. You're a MONSTER. Already.)

-jared

So how was it guys? I want greasy details.
-jared

I totally missed out on Master Z's Easter contest. Partially because I don't play on the General Forum too much but mostly because I'm really oblivious to things sometimes. Anyway while it's super-late this isn't for the contest, but it is a comic I doodled when I got home today. And by "doodle" I mean that literally. So please, forgive the quality.

Jared presents I9: On Salvage

I don't care if it's not for the contest. That's something I want to see one day. : )
-jared

All Stalkers are welcome. Any build/powersets can join us.

Hell, my character is a /regen, so yeah: You don't have to be /ninjitsu.
-jared

Thursday is fine by me...but this Saturday would be crazy impossible. I'm pretty flexible though, so let me know what the consensus decides.
-jared

Update: Finally Reached level 17. Only 9 more levels until I get my first and only pet.

I know the game is supposed to just get harder and harder, but oh man, level 16 was murder for a Petless Mastermind. While some things were more difficult than others, one enemy group showing up meant that I was doomed to die a handful of times. Guaranteed.
Stupid Goldbricker Rocketmen. Fighting enemies with a great range than me who do a LOT of damage (and can fly) turned out to be my kryptonite. I literally had to rally some friends (and a stranger or two) to give me a hand in just finishing some missions that kept eating me alive. I think the worst moment was when I'd do a random papermission that didn't say what kind of enemies it would be and, lo and behold, nothing but Rocketeer Knock-offs. I don't get it. Circle of Thorns: no problem. Trolls: No problem. Snakemen: Like Pie. But Goldbrickers? :sigh:

Sadly my build did NOT allow me to take Aid Self as there was no way to get that, stamina, and all the necessary Trick Arrows, so there's one regret. The other regret? Poison Gas Arrow.
If you're playing a Trick Arrow character I really suggest avoiding this one. It draws aggro and, as previously stated in this thread, it doesn't have a high likelihood of putting any enemies to sleep. A few of them will cough for a few seconds but that's the most I've gotten out of this. The -damage affect sounds nice, but its hard to quantify. I really wish I'd not gotten this so I could grab Aid self.

By the by, I'm sure it's been said but I'm surprised at how well Hurdle + Combat Jumping works as a travel power. Sure, its dangerous but unlike Super Jump the range isn't so high that you can't see where you're going to land.
-jared
"Who just feels he should make random updates as he hasn't abandoned the Blastermind challenge"

PS: Special thanks got to Private Dancer and the player of Dyre Consequences for seriously helping me out with the infamy required in keeping Kaijukore updated enhancement-wise. While enhancements don't usually make or break a character (at least early in the game I'm told) they've really let my poor blastermind survive. You guys rock.

Open to all stalkers.
My own Stalker is level 10 and I know another person who's bringing a level 11. So sure. Though there may be some hot malefactor action going on. Depends on what the average level amongst those that show up. This is for fun...it might take a little while to get all to the same level range.
-jared

For what its worth, Ohgodtherats is a Ninja Blade/Regen, mostly because the green glow of Regen makes him look like one of the Pirate Ghosts from Scooby Doo.

And Man, I'm excited about this. If anyone sees me online (As Ohgodtherats) by all means drop me a line if you're playing a stalker. We'll have some pre-Ninja Storm Malefactor fun.
-jared
(global @billy horrorshow)

Awesome. I'm terrible at organization so if someone else wants to step up, feel free.

Operation Ninja Storm (or whatever)
Open to: All stalkers
Server: Defiant (unless I seriously get outvoted...I just don't know of any theme nights that go down over there)
Where: Fort Darwin. The Top of Fort Darwin.
When: 7 pm UK
(That's 8 pm if you're like me living in THE FUTURE here in Germany)
When does it start:
Next week. Not tonight.

Same contacts is cool, but if the character already exists...that's fine. I've already got a level 10 that's perfect and I know a few other folks who just got assassin strike that want in. Once we all get to Port Oakes we'll try to keep the contacts the same from then on out.

By the way Moondog, don't worry about character backgrounds. Why do I want to use Defiant? So I can finally have an excuse to play my Ninja-Pirate-Robot-Zombie. With CoV, it was far too easy:
OhGodtheRats, the character

So, hopefully that info is enough. Feel free to play the characte on your own, but we'll focus on the lowbies when we finally get together.
Anyone want to debate anything?

Oh man, if we limited it to Ninja Blade/Nin it would just be boring.

I figure if we want to keep the ninja theme we limit it to Ninja Blade-Martial Arts/Whatever you want. That is IF we're limiting it. I'm not sure we are.
Suggested Night: Wednesday or Sunday. Both those days are good for me and dont' correspond with any OTHER theme night. Thoughts?
I'd prefer to do this on the Defiant Server, only because I think Defiant needs more theme-team action. And my first character is on Defiant and is an appropriate stalker named "Ohgodtherats".
-jared
"who's bad at organizing things but would still love to do this"

I've got a 20 Plants/Thorns dominator who would love to be involved.

Alright, I've taken part in the all-traps team and the friday night all-werewolf team events that happen regularly (and have seen the horror that is the all-dominator team), but I was wondering, is there an all-stalker team night going on presently? Over the weekend I had a team consisting of three stalkers and it was a blast.

Would it be crazy to suggest we run a regular all ninja sword team on Defiant? Or an all-stalker thing at least?

Just an idea. Mostly because I had a lot of fun watching the triple assassin strike devouring every boss we met.
-jared

"Who totally wants to start Operation: Ninja Swarm as soon as possible"

It was splendid, though the Bank missions didn't go so well (while I was there). The worst moment had to be having 30 seconds on the clock and creating the perfect trap for the hero...who was apparently on a lunch break and didn't want to come down the elevator. Still, I did get to see the unholy doom that a horde of caltrops combined with Acid Mortars brings to the game.
Sorry bout the disconnect guys. It was one of those "dear God why now?" moments that always happens when I've got a great theme team going on about me.
-jared

All I can say is this (in response to an offhanded comment):

Am I the only one who doesn't have problems finding a team in CoV? Why do folks who have both CoV and CoH keep spreading this base slander?
-jared
"who doesn't have CoH so he doesn't know if CoH is insanely different from CoV"

Very cool...and welcome!

Expect a lot of people wanting to eat your brain and steal your power.
-jared
"who wants to eat your brain and steal your power"

Must. Stop. Painting. City of Villains. Characters.
Kaijukore in Ink
Seriously. Between that and playing the game I'm getting nothing done.
-jared

(Oh and the above one was a self-indulgence. You can only obsess about keeping a petless Mastermind alive for so long before you start doodling him in your notebook.)

Thanks for the advice Malo. Since I've spoken to enough folks in-game and know two that are now doing the Ironman challenge (or what-not) themselves, here's my advice:

Take as many attacks as possible. I didn't take Fistful of arrows when it first became available and dear God, now that I have it, I wish I had. Sure it uses up twice as much endurance as my normal attack and sure it can aggro an entire mob if done poorly...but you know what? A dead enemy doesn't shoot you in the head.
So while I was taking Ice Arrows and Glue Arrows and Combat Jumping, I totally could have just been lethal enough that I didnt need to those tricks to survive.

So Blastermind advice: Without pets, you're going to have to plink everything to death. More attacks = more plinking = enemies dying faster = you staying alive.
-jared
"who knows the above is common sense but, as implied, didn't get his 3rd attack power until much later down the road and feels retarded because of it"

Btw Mantodea: What's your friends name? I'd kill to run with a monkey and his gun. :P

Meet you there at 7.

By the way, when do we start doing PVP and Strike Forces together?
-jared