PlanetSide 2 Backstory Part 1 – Jake Duffy, Terran Republic Quartermaster

[basti]

http://www.planetside2.com/news/oct12OriginCh1Pt1.html

No comic. :(

[MgFalcon]

FINALLY

[basti]

Hah, beat zach by a few secs

also, READ IT! STUFF IN THERE! WHAT THE HELL ARE DOME BLASTERS?

[NapalmEnima]

Hah, beat zach by a few secs

also, READ IT! STUFF IN THERE! WHAT THE HELL ARE DOME BLASTERS?

I'm guessing they're the reason one continent is covered in charred ruins. Probably the one with all the civvies on it... Searus?

I also caught specific mention of the MCG and Bolt Driver. Promising.

[LZachariah]

Haha, yeah Basti, you beat me :D And YES! I saw that! OOooh, I hope Dome Blasters are some form of CE!

[basti]

We knew about the MCG and bolt Driver for quite a while now.

But the real important part in this small text is right at the end:

175 years

Thats a lot of time to build stuff on a planet, if you have enough ressources. And as long as the wormhole was open, they had pretty much unlimited ressources. Guys, auraxis wont be the big place with lots of empty unbuild space anymore. Im pretty sure we will see lots of stuff done by humans.

[MgFalcon]

But the real important part in this small text is right at the end:

175 years


How the hell do you beat everyone to the freaking punch line?!

Also another let down for VS... why do we get the smallest amount of info every single time new stuff is released??

[Raymac]

That was cool.

Was this the first time Cyssor has been mentioned? Hope we get to see it with a more "lived in" look with cities and the like. Also wonder if we'll get to see the prison on Searhus, or whats left of it after my NC brothers were rescued. ;)

[Mod]

The image didn't really seem to go along with that story either :(

[NapalmEnima]

To answer my own question. Genny's family was on Cyssor, her mission was on Searhus (and the NC trying to free folks from Kane Prison... I'm guessing NC succeeded, meaning Genny just might be one of the first (if not the first) people on Auraxis ever to respawn after being killed).

Also mention of Cyclers and Repeaters, but that's not news (to me). We've seen both. Come to think of it, we've seen the Bolt Driver too. Once.

I'm curious as to why they felt the need to build fortifications along with their cities. What are they defending against? Their own population? Some Outside Force.

Duffy Prayed. Didn't say to who or what though. Probably on purpose. No need to open that particular can of worms on chapter one of some backstory that's mostly an excuse for us to blast the crap out of each other. As if we needed one.

Still, I do love a good story, and this one's looking promising.

[basti]

Gotta say, its just that little text, but i already want moar moar moar moar moar. Sci-Fi gets me hooked every time (i have quite a collection of books. ;) ), but this little thingy here gets me completly crazy, and thats quite rare.

[NapalmEnima]

but this little thingy here gets me completly crazy, and thats quite rare.

Eh. You were already mostly crazy or you wouldn't be herding twits for a game that has us all frothy in the pants.

But yeah, we've got enough information about Genny's family to miss them when the Dome Blasters start falling. We know there's VS and TR in the same family. We've got familiar names on at least two of the continents, Cyssor and Searhus.

I'm hoping for more reveals (and some new art pretty-please-sugar-on-top) in the next two chapters.

[Quovatis]

nm

[Raymac]

OK, so I guess I'll be the one to bring it up. I guess weapons aren't being created from nanites anymore?

[Graywolves]

I was dissapoint.

[basti]

OK, so I guess I'll be the one to bring it up. I guess weapons aren't being created from nanites anymore?

This part of the story plays before the VS joined the War. That the NC being kept in a prison indicates that nobody has yet a clue about the nanites and respawning technology.
That, or stuff is extremly different than before. We shall see. Twitter threat going up now. :)

[NapalmEnima]

OK, so I guess I'll be the one to bring it up. I guess weapons aren't being created from nanites anymore?

Don't count that out yet. I suspect the nanny-stuff just isn't up and running quite yet. The quartermaster worries that some of these kids won't be coming back... as in "die for realz". Not "oh gee whiz, you had to respawn back at base instead of flying back".

At some point in the near future, we'll see all that come on line, probably as VS-only at first, but the other two will pick it up or lose. Since they didn't lose, they clearly learned how to do it too.

Probably long after all the traditional manufacturing facilities have been dome-blastered to smoking ruin. Long enough that the surviving stuff gets Vigorously and Destructively Used. So the only thing left to use as a template is the beat up and chipped stuff we see in all those screen shots.

The VS might know how to introduce new objects to be copied without using a template object, which would explain why all their gear is bright and shiny (designed it that way), while the other two empires' gear are in varying degrees of "shot to hell and gone".

[Raymac]

Also, who the frack is Connery? Is he the leader of the TR? Does that mean the NC leader is going to be Trebek?

[LZachariah]

Haha, we both got props for our same-minute post, Basti!

*high five!*


w00000!

[Higby]

Lots of answers in tomorrow and Friday's updates!

This is part 1 of chapter 1 of the backstory and is more "modern" history. After this chapter we're going WAY BACK into the pre-auraxis history. I'm glad you guys are enjoying!

[Crator]

^^^ Oh ya?! That's sounds interesting. And Chapters?! Wow.

[Graywolves]

I'm interested into reading alot of the backstory and stuff.


But whenever I look into an MMO and check out the story, I just want the bottom-line upfront. When I see a wall of text, I just skip it because I'm not interested in the game yet and it's that way with an RPG too. I don't want to feel like I need to commit a chunk of my time to reading something just to have an idea of what is happening.

Hook me in before you give me short-stories that have no effect on anything.

[Raymac]

Gray, c'mon. Was it really that long? I mean for lore, I thought it was pretty brief, but still done in a way that wasn't just Basil Exposition.

EDIT: oh yeah, and if you just want bullet points, you go to the FAQ, right?

[FastAndFree]

I felt a bit disappointed because it wasn't a huge wall of text :rolleyes:

Interesting so far, but we want MOAR :D

[Crator]

Also, this sentence is incomplete:
"He saw the shock of red hair in the back. Genny Jones was talking with Billy Pelz, a recent recruit no older that eighteen unless he had lied about his age. A lot of the kids did these days. "

A lot of the kids these days what?

[Talek Krell]

Also, who the frack is Connery? Is he the leader of the TR? Does that mean the NC leader is going to be Trebek?Sounds like he's probably the TR expedition leader.

WHAT THE HELL ARE DOME BLASTERS?
Whatever it is it has to be galaxy portable, and I think it's probably an infantry weapon. He listed it last, which means it's probably something specialized and relatively uncommon. Given that the rest of the list is entirely anti-infantry weapons, I'd guess that it's some form of anti-armor equipment.

A lot of the kids these days what?
Lie about their age.

[Raymac]

Grammar Police? Really? Plus it's the narrator, so does it really need to be in the Queen's English, or just flow the way people normally think and speak?

[Graywolves]

Gray, c'mon. Was it really that long? I mean for lore, I thought it was pretty brief, but still done in a way that wasn't just Basil Exposition.

EDIT: oh yeah, and if you just want bullet points, you go to the FAQ, right?

Well no, this one wasn't long at all. But it told me nothing and it just felt poorly done for me. I mean seriously, to provide us with backstory they show us the perspective of the supply bitch? At first I was like "nice, this quartermaster is cool." then it's like "nope, just an asshole who's chewing someone out for no reason at all..." and then "Oh that's nice, this girl has a family....I thought this was about the quartermaster?"

It showed a couple things that were different between the first PS and now but it just feels like a shortly/hastily written fanfic to me and if someone who knows nothing of the first Planetside reads it they literally have 0 insight into the game.

What we got was.
1)Wormhole (although it was nearly implied it wasn't around until the end of the post)

2)VS are neutrol (I don't see how you peacefully break yourself from an "oppressive" regime or even 2 warring empires)

3)NC were businessmen and Private Contractors

4)125 years of terraforming and colonisation on Auraxis.

Right now we're not aware of the state of respawning in the game, a prison doesn't imply either but a Prison would be especially useful to contain the enemy and prevent them from spawning/having access to their matrix.

I'm also curious why the Corporal became a Private mid-conversation....

[Captain1nsaneo]

Pretty sure Duffy has been alive for those 175 years. Nanites prevent degradation thus what ever would be on the planet would be hard to kill thus the banding together and the colonists would still be alive. Could see this long life driving obsession in trying to understand it thus VS. Just one more crazy theory.

[xSlideShow]

Grammar Police? Really? Plus it's the narrator, so does it really need to be in the Queen's English, or just flow the way people normally think and speak?

No but it helps everyone involved.

[Talek Krell]

It sounds like Duffy could use some new lines, though. He sounds like a quest NPC. Think he's in the TR offline training? :p

[Graywolves]

Yeah it was hard to read that through the !@$#@$ and the grammatical errors.

[Talek Krell]

Frankly I think you lot are just bitching. That said I'm not overly impressed with the writing of the piece. Seems kind of run of the mill so far.

[Raymac]

What we got was.
1)Wormhole (although it was nearly implied it wasn't around until the end of the post)

2)VS are neutrol (I don't see how you peacefully break yourself from an "oppressive" regime or even 2 warring empires)

3)NC were businessmen and Private Contractors

4)125 years of terraforming and colonisation on Auraxis.

Right now we're not aware of the state of respawning in the game, a prison doesn't imply either but a Prison would be especially useful to contain the enemy and prevent them from spawning/having access to their matrix.

I'm also curious why the Corporal became a Private mid-conversation....

Well that sounds like quite a bit of information that we got in just a few short paragaphs of "part 1 of chapter 1". Personally I prefer this style than just a bunch of pure exposition which I find insanely boring. But that's the thing with art, everybody has a different opinion and it doesn't make 1 better than the other. It's art.

Nice catch on the mid-conversation demotion though. I totally missed that. :lol:

[Aractain]

s'okay.

I like the perspective of logistics but there wasn't enough TRness in it... It felt like national guard not Republic Guard (or Logistics Corps in this case) jaknow? Where was the escort? They built fortifications all over thier new planet presuably because the TRs doctrine is to keep a military force nearby any population center (like the Red Army) but they send un escorted supply galaxys out into contested territory? Unprofesional, this kind of activity would be reported to the Republic Investigation Service.

[xSlideShow]

s'okay.

I like the perspective of logistics but there wasn't enough TRness in it... It felt like national guard not Republic Guard (or Logistics Corps in this case) jaknow? Where was the escort? They built fortifications all over thier new planet presuably because the TRs doctrine is to keep a military force nearby any population center (like the Red Army) but they send un escorted supply galaxys out into contested territory? Unprofesional, this kind of activity would be reported to the Republic Investigation Service.

The way he made the characters out, they probably were national guard status.

They weren't ready for a war. This is routine shit they be doing in this place. Prisoners acting up? Riot police?

[Bags]

Would have been the perfect time to drop a screenie of those weapons!

[Graywolves]

The way he made the characters out, they probably were national guard status.

They weren't ready for a war. This is routine shit they be doing in this place. Prisoners acting up? Riot police?

Since they had new people and the Quartermaster apparently has no rank, we are probably looking at civilian volunteers. But I just concider it a lack of research.

[MasterChief096]

Meh, so far I'm finding the story only "ok".

Being NC, I don't like where theme of the empire is going. Greedy cred hungry bastards that separated because they couldn't get paid? I realize I may be bitching, but still.

Call me a terrorist, call me an anarchist, call me a criminal, I'll take those terms over separating from the Republic over an issue of credits. I mean, who's paying them in the NC? Surely they have a currency system set up anyways. The whole reason caves in on itself.

I do like how a third of the NC are the workforce who came to build the cities and stuff like that, it means that a lot of people on Auraxis would be normal run-of-the-mill men and women with normal lives. Mercenaries are cool too. Hell even businessmen are cool. However I think these types of people should be included in the overall composition of people who came to Auraxis, along with scientists, military, and government personnel.

I would find it much more interesting if factions were separated by ideologies rather than the social "caste" they were in on Auraxis. the NC, TR, and VS should all have scientists, a workforce, businessmen, military or ex-military, and should be united on the basis of ideology.

Separating from the Republic because you can't get paid doesn't solve the not getting paid problem, in fact it probably makes it worse.

[NapalmEnima]

Pretty sure Duffy has been alive for those 175 years.

Could be. But his age could just as easily be attributed to Superior Medical Technology Of The Future as to Auraxian-Nanotechnology.

Or we could both have gotten the wrong impression.

I also attribute the grammar error to the "speaker", not the author. OTOH, it should be easy to tweak to fit his "speech" patterns and still be grammatically correct.


And any questions we might have on Friday about the story can be asked during the twitter dev chat.

[xSlideShow]

Meh, so far I'm finding the story only "ok".

Being NC, I don't like where theme of the empire is going. Greedy cred hungry bastards that separated because they couldn't get paid? I realize I may be bitching, but still.

Call me a terrorist, call me an anarchist, call me a criminal, I'll take those terms over separating from the Republic over an issue of credits. I mean, who's paying them in the NC? Surely they have a currency system set up anyways. The whole reason caves in on itself.


That was the view of a TR loyalist it wasn't like "This is what the NC are." If you haven't noticed that's what a lot of people think of America and other democratic countries.

Could be. But his age could just as easily be attributed to Superior Medical Technology Of The Future as to Auraxian-Nanotechnology

Or that the nanites don't actually make you immortal, instead of stopping the age it's an exact replica of the old cells meaning if it updates constantly you'd just come back the way you were before. Why would they continuously reproduce the same cells. Note the people probably don't know how to manipulate the technology yet. This would be something for ask the devs?

At least it fixes the gaps in the story if they get the chance to explain it away.

[Aractain]

Since they had new people and the Quartermaster apparently has no rank, we are probably looking at civilian volunteers. But I just concider it a lack of research.

If i was building a backstory I would have a whole empire setup of what orginsations they use what military, paramilitary and or police forces they have and all the seperate arms of them and what they are for. That way you can place someone into the whole and have all that context to refernce (and keep consistent) that makes it beleivable.

Im missing that here. Thats my only issue though (apart from Mount Lavastorm ... made me think of everquest 2).

[SgtMAD]

the NC are friggin Haliburton with their BlackWater security teams,I like that idea.

makes the idea that the NC have scrounge all their gear kind of stupid,greedy executives would make sure their private security teams had the best gear possible.

[SgtMAD]

so do you think that SS in Higby's part 1 yesterday was the prison with the volcano cooking in the background?

[Aractain]

Yeah, loving the NC design; Greedy, unprofesional, dirty, tricky, gambling, corrupt jerkoffs. Also ingame.

[xSlideShow]

so do you think that SS in Higby's part 1 yesterday was the prison with the volcano cooking in the background?

Yes I do.

[SgtMAD]

yea the more I think about this corporate shit the better it sounds.

hell I lead friggin Hostile takeover,its goddamn perfect

[Raymac]

so do you think that SS in Higby's part 1 yesterday was the prison with the volcano cooking in the background?

That's an old bit of concept art that I actually thought was fake way back, long before Fan Faire. So I don't know if it was drawn for the story, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it inspired Wolfman in his writing.

[Aaron]

Remember guys, this is just a peak of some activity in the year 2845. You know how in some stories you first enter into a scene where you don't know what's going on; later to be warped back in time to see what happened before? The back-story hasn't actually started from the chronological beginning yet. You still have to witness the history, and hear the story from NC's and VS's mouth. All isn't said and done just yet. Don't jump to conclusion too fast!

[Graywolves]

Remember guys, this is just a peak of some activity in the year 2845. You know how in some stories you first enter into a scene where you don't know what's going on; later to be warped back in time to see what happened before? The back-story hasn't actually started from the chronological beginning yet. You still have to witness the history, and hear the story from NC's and VS's mouth. All isn't said and done just yet. Don't jump to conclusion too fast!

The whole scene just feels dreadfully pointless to me.

-edit- especially after hearing the next part is distant past from today's story.

[Marth Koopa]

Lots of answers in tomorrow and Friday's updates!

This is part 1 of chapter 1 of the backstory and is more "modern" history. After this chapter we're going WAY BACK into the pre-auraxis history. I'm glad you guys are enjoying!

Will there be any VS bikini parties somewhere in the story? Gotta have that fan-service, you know?

[MgFalcon]

I'm Just happy I got a RT from Higby.

Also, I'm liking the story so far, NC as corporate rock whores... makes me hate them more haha ;)

BUT I'm starving for more VS info... Like OK I get it we're technofiles and crazy cultists... what-eves, I need the grubby details about how our theoretical physicists found Vanu Tech and such!

[BorisBlade]

Its too bad the story has absolutely no effect on gameplay, none at all. They can have any character doin anything they want and we all still fight each other. There are no quest chains, or new bosses or dungeons, the story is mostly pointless. Yeah they can make up some bs when they release new areas or weapons or maybe even an event, but really its still pointless for the most part. If these characters die, or live, or turn into a giant pokemon, nothing in the game changes.

I'm all for great story, it works very well in a game like WoW where you participate in the story and it drives the game, i love reading and gettin into it. But seems like a waste of time and money to do it here. All you need is a simple back story to get it goin and thats it (which is basically the same thing from PS1), no need for all this complicated pointless stuff. I want to be interested but i cant seem to care really. Its not that interesting when it pretty much has nothin to do at all with what actually happens in the game.

I appreciate the idea but i just dont see the point in a game like this.

[NapalmEnima]

Clearly, opinions differ. I don't see it adding much to the game for me either. That doesn't mean its valueless to everyone, or even the majority.

The professionals at SOE saw enough merit in backstory to spend N dollars on a professional writer.. How much? No idea. How does that cost compare to having a bad-ass two minute video, or a replay feature? No idea.

But the folks at SOE know the answer to what the trade offs were, and decided to hire Marv Wolfman.

I suspect they have a good reason. One you and I might even agree with if it were explained to us.

[MgFalcon]

Its too bad the story has absolutely no effect on gameplay, none at all. They can have any character doin anything they want and we all still fight each other. There are no quest chains, or new bosses or dungeons, the story is mostly pointless. Yeah they can make up some bs when they release new areas or weapons or maybe even an event, but really its still pointless for the most part. If these characters die, or live, or turn into a giant pokemon, nothing in the game changes.

I'm all for great story, it works very well in a game like WoW where you participate in the story and it drives the game, i love reading and gettin into it. But seems like a waste of time and money to do it here. All you need is a simple back story to get it goin and thats it (which is basically the same thing from PS1), no need for all this complicated pointless stuff. I want to be interested but i cant seem to care really. Its not that interesting when it pretty much has nothin to do at all with what actually happens in the game.

I appreciate the idea but i just dont see the point in a game like this.

OK, usually I don't Troll but WTF DUDE!

Seriously, I can point out that YES this story does have affect on the gameplay: whole cities and such being built for civilization and family housing turned into ruins (at some point, we don;t know yet cause the story will tell us), meaning URBAN COMBAT, which we none of in PS1! Also having that HUMAN element of some random soldier being on the front lines before the major conflict between the TR and NC is at the utmost importance, it allows the reader to relate to the main character of the story (Duffy) as a similar comrade (not the communist type).

OBV. no quest chains, bosses, or dungeons or bs like that cause this is real FPS

And who to say that Duffy isn't the first casualty for the TR NC conflict?!?! THAT COULD START THE WAR! Remember Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand? His death started WWI

And WoW is at the utmost flawed in it's spectrum of "incorporate the player in the storyline!" For example: the normal players killed Arthas... when literally hundreds of guilds by now have done that. Even look at games like (forgive me but this is a good point) Battle Field and Call of Duty... the story is the UTMOST importance! you need this amazing shit to set the lines of glory!

A simple back story is what we got in PS1, and it was like "OK whateves, we be fighting for s confusing reason" Now they are trying to add depth the the story which I believe is the most important part of a game and story.

Basically I know this looks like a hate post, but dude, a huge story like they're trying to make is IMPORTANT to a successful game, and since there is really no other game like Planetside they are the pioneers to such a storyline incorporation.

<3

[Talek Krell]

greedy executives would make sure their private security teams had the best gear possible."Possible" might be the key word there. It sounds like the TR declared a permanent state of martial law at some point. Presumably they weren't selling equipment, and might have been confiscating it.

[Malorn]

I think the purpose is to give us some history as well as convey the viewpoints that the factions have against each other.

For example, the TR clearly see the VS as a cult of nut-jobs, not unlike how T-Ray described them. And the TR see the NC as a bunch of greedy self-serving disloyal wretches.

I expect the next two chapters will be from a VS and a NC so with the first backstory they tell a bit of history while giving us a glimpse of how each of the factions views each other.

I bet NC is tomorrow, VS on Friday.

I'm also betting the NC succeed in freeing the captives in the prison on Searhus, since that could be a key turning point where they started being a serious rival for the TR, which might have also encouraged the VS.

In the original PS lore it was the VS that broke away first and that encouraged the NC. Looks like it might be vice-versa this time around.

[Captain B]

I like how they're setting up NC. NC was trying to make money doing what they do, the wormhole collapses and now what?

1) NC now has to redefine their goals. Can't make money back on earth, so they have to redistribute on Auraxis. However, Auraxis appears to be a planet like Pandora, only colonized for its resources (Auraxium), although the VS would argue there's more to it (like the scientists on Pandora).

2) The TR invoke martial law to try and gain control over the situation. This could be with good intentions, that they're just trying to figure out the bigger picture with a focus on getting back home. This eventually leads to oppressing the rights of the workforce and the corporations on Auraxis, who want to capitalize their businesses instead of treating the planet like a big mine, and possibly build anew.

3) The TR make enemies of the NC through telling them that they still have to follow the old rules pre-wormhole collapse and that the government is still in charge of what is ultimately a galactic operation. The NC dissent and claim freedom and a new world order, saying that the rules and status quo have changed. Meanwhile the VS take the opportunity to rise up and push the Vanu technology as more than just something to be exploited for personal gain but as an entire ideology which isn't accepted by the government or by "the people".

The cross-overs will be awesome. You'll have soldiers who recognize things are different now, that the Auraxians are their own people and must redefine their lives on the planet, thus leaving the TR for NC or VS if they become hippies, too. You'll have workers loyal to the idea of people's liberation and being more than just miners on the planet, though some may adhere to the VS philosophy or even cling to the government as "the establishment that always knows best". VS will essentially be those who cling to their ideals, not really "defined" until the wormwhole collapses and they see an opening to push their agenda for a "better tomorrow", instead taking in those from the government or workforce who agree with their beliefs.

The mercenaries and soldiers will be offered promises from all sides, pardons or "legitimate work" from the government (TR); future gain and lateral movement through victory on behalf of the NC struggle through the trade lords (NC); and even falling for the rhetoric or simply becoming attracted to raw, untapped power of the Vanu (VS).

I find it all very exciting, though to be quite honest the literature wasn't exemplary in terms of writing.

[Brusi]

Meh, so far I'm finding the story only "ok".

Being NC, I don't like where theme of the empire is going. Greedy cred hungry bastards that separated because they couldn't get paid? I realize I may be bitching, but still.

Take a pill...

The next two will be from the other empires side. I'm sure the NC perspective will label all you smurf-ass bitches as "Angels of Liberty" or something...

[Graywolves]

Next story will be from TR side because it's pre-auraxis. Everyone was TR then.

[MgFalcon]

Next story will be from TR side because it's pre-auraxis. Everyone was TR then.

I love sarcasm! Cause clearly they are sticking to the original PS story haha!

Seriously though... if I don;t get a NC or VS oersoective tomorrow and next day I'll be mad?

[Raymac]

I love sarcasm! Cause clearly they are sticking to the original PS story haha!

Seriously though... if I don;t get a NC or VS oersoective tomorrow and next day I'll be mad?


Well, don't get too mad bro but...

Lots of answers in tomorrow and Friday's updates!

This is part 1 of chapter 1 of the backstory and is more "modern" history. After this chapter we're going WAY BACK into the pre-auraxis history. I'm glad you guys are enjoying!

If it's going "way back" then it's probably not going to tell us much about the current VS or NC. Actually, I'm pretty curious as to what it will tell us.

I can totally understand that a good number of people could give 2 craps about the story, especially in an fps. However, some people do want an answer to the question "why". Personally, I like a game that is like a symphony, with all kinds of instruments working together in harmony. It just adds depth. Sure the Ramones were great with nothing but 3 chords and the truth, but they don't have the same depth as Beethoven.

Planetside 2 is all about epic scale, so it deserves to have this kind of depth. You can take it or leave it. When launch happens, all this backstory will just be part of the decoration anyways.

[Traak]

Editing needs some polish. Not Polish, polish.

"Billy Pelz, a recent recruit no older that eighteen unless he had lied about his age."

It should read "Billy Pelz, a recent recruit no older THAN eighteen unless he lied about his age."

etc.

[Aaron]

The whole scene just feels dreadfully pointless to me.

-edit- especially after hearing the next part is distant past from today's story.

It isn't entirely pointless. Some people may want to choose their empire depending on how they like a certain empire's viewpoint.

And I imagine a lot of PS fans find the back-story entertaining. The scenario that story lays down could, in fact, make the game more entertaining.

[Captain B]

I think tomorrow and Friday will continue being the "modern" perspective, since Higby said it wouldn't be until later Chapters (this week is one chapter, it seems) that we go further back, probably learning about arriving on Auraxis, what "our ancestors" went through terraforming and colonizing the planet, and of course discovery of Vanu and their technology.

[Lonehunter]

I honestly was surprised at reading this. It seems like a high school kid wrote it, I still want more lol. But I guess my expectations where too high

[Higby]

I think tomorrow and Friday will continue being the "modern" perspective, since Higby said it wouldn't be until later Chapters (this week is one chapter, it seems) that we go further back, probably learning about arriving on Auraxis, what "our ancestors" went through terraforming and colonizing the planet, and of course discovery of Vanu and their technology.

seems like a good plan..

[Bags]

You know, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Just sayin'.

[Captain B]

You know, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Just sayin'.

CHALLENGE. Step up team!

[Graywolves]

I was actually one of the few people that were excited about the backstory and defended this week's theme upon anouncement a bit.


But I have heavy dissapointment so far. I showed this story to my friend who was also really hoping that PS2 would have a greater setting/story and he said "it looks like it was written by a high schooler.... or a very intelligent elementary school kid that just saw Starship Stroopers."

So far I don't feel like anything has been portrayed well and I'm really hoping that it picks up in the next two days.


I also hope that when/if they update their site overall; That the story section is introduced and presented differently.

[xSlideShow]

I was actually one of the few people that were excited about the backstory and defended this week's theme upon anouncement a bit.


But I have heavy dissapointment so far. I showed this story to my friend who was also really hoping that PS2 would have a greater setting/story and he said "it looks like it was written by a high schooler.... or a very intelligent elementary school kid that just saw Starship Stroopers."


I'm pretty sure that was on purpose. The Narrator is probably just a normal person. At least that what it appears to be from the interview.

[Raymac]

So Marv Wolfman, apart from having a supercool name, has a resume most people can only dream about. I can understand not liking something because everyone has different tastes especially when it comes to art. I just think some of the criticism is a bit over the top. I mean we've seen 1 page which would barely count as an essay let alone a short story. It's being released as a serial instead of a wall of text which I personally kind of dig. Some of this thread just totally reminds me of this:

The birth of first Artist and first critic by means of natural selection - YouTube

[Graywolves]

From my understanding he did mostly comic books, I actually felt like if it was in a comic book, everything he wrote would've looked alright and played out fine.

[Captain B]

Great movie. And do we have a place on the forums for user-created stories? Reading the story got my creative juices flowing.

[Graywolves]

Great movie. And do we have a place on the forums for user-created stories? Reading the story got my creative juices flowing.

Planetside sub-section Fan-Fiction

[Captain B]

/facepalm

I was looking elsewhere. Thanks a bunch.

[Talek Krell]

From my understanding he did mostly comic books, I actually felt like if it was in a comic book, everything he wrote would've looked alright and played out fine.I kind of got that feeling too. It sounded visual, if that makes any sense.

[Traak]

Suddenly, from the sky, a heavily armored, yet strangely graceful, swooping purple figure!

It's a word! It's a plan! It's (David) Letterman!

He lands lightly on his feet and says "My friends call me 'MAX.'"

This gives Clancy McDaniels (The three-quartarmastar) an idea! He builds a similarly armored suit, replete with the EXACT OPPOSITE of the ability to fly, the much dridded LOCKDOON!

"Aye, let's see the NC boggarts spoon fast enough to o'ercome these babies!" He confidently murmered as he attached two rotary machine guns to the arms, with the latest in over-engineered titanonanoauraxium zip-ties (military procurement contract, 250 credits each)

"Och!" he wormed his admittedly overnourished frame into the TR MAX. Unleashing a torrent of bullets, leaving two smoking piles of cartridges at his sides, Clancy had an idea!

He placed a box of bullets into a respawn tube (new, primitive TR invention to harness the power of the Nanites) and deconned it. Stored the matrix, then reconstructed it. And another. And another, and another!

The equipment terminal was on its way to being born!

[Draep]

Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing reading this story..Mt. Lavastorm and the dialogue etc. However I would like some more backstory. Touch upon the respawning mechanics. It must have been a pretty big ethical delima for the NC and TR to adopt technology that allows their soldiers to literally live forever--but I'm assuming they did so because the VS did this no problem and had infinite soldiers as a result.

[Punker]

Loving the mention of NC being corporations, businessmen and private contractors.

Also loving the NC haters comments in this thread -- reminded me of this;

Tim Robbins on Team America - YouTube

[Captain B]

THE LOCKDOON.

I hate respawn and resurrection as a game mechanic when storyline is in place. As a RPer I (and others) have usually considered it "unconscious" or "wounded". Getting killed and respawned, knowing there is no real means of killing the other person, means that the ultimate war is pointless and unwinnable (word? - is now). However, I was writing a story and I actually think, at least in terms of PS's universe, that the spawning mechanic could be like any other war, especially if this Auraxium resource is at the core of the spawning ability. It would basically be a war of attrition: deplete your opponents' resources so that they cannot continue to respawn indefinitely.

However, this leads to the fact that the war is only winnable after COMPLETELY DESTROYING THE PLANET, which means from the very get-go we're fighting for a draw or a Pyrrhic victory at best. That sorta' sucks. =\

[Aractain]

An infinite war is aboslutely winable. Its just about who is going to run out of resoruces first, or who is going to shut down the systems of the other.

Look at Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation Intro (brighter) - YouTube

Now look at it again. Its great.




Oh yeah and you can win that endless war! That was my point. Now watch it again.

[Captain B]

Total Annihilation is cool, I admit. Great RTS. Love it. My fiancee' and I still play it from time to time.

However, it does prove my point.

You see, the only way they could end up winning was to undergo the process from "flesh to machine" after thousands of years of incessant war. They destroyed all the worlds they could have inhabited as humans, and even in the end the Core had their contingency, so never really stopped fighting. Auraxis would have to be completely decimated in order for "all resources" (since the planet is in and of itself a living entity, as the lores from both games suggest, hence all the crazy shit the Vanu could come up with) to be extinguished. Not just "Auraxium", although it'd be pretty important I imagine.

Can't even suggest destroying spawn tubes, since the world has all these magical nanites the Vanu worked with, they can just respawn their respawn tubes. And then divide by zerooHH SHI-
http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/entries/icons/original/000/000/249/i-divided-by-zero.jpg?1242350505

[Aractain]

How does fighting for thousands of years not sound awesome to you? THINK OF THE INSANITY OF THE TROOPS who have died millions of times (each time painfully). That shit is much better than Planescape torment!

Its enough to drive you to the chaos gods!

[Captain B]

Wait, didn't they say they remake our troops based on a scan of "who they are" before they died? Wouldn't that mean that:

A) They don't remember dying; and
B) They cannot gain experience unless they live and learn, and get back to be re-scanned?

That's both cool as a lore and frustrating as a potential game mechanic.

As far as fighting for a thousand years, assuming I remembered it, I'd eventually just sit in the mess hall playing battle chess (I know it was supposed to be a digital scan of the battlefield, but it looked like a cool tabletop/video game crossover) with my boys, only fighting when we had to defend our Mountain Dew and Doritos (which we garnered XP from instead of fighting) from the space invaders.

[SgtMAD]

I figured long ago that anyone taking part in this "battle" would have to be either on so many drugs to kill the pain of dying over and over again in very painful ways or have parts of their brain "turned off" or adjusted through some sort of "engineering" because who the hell else would keep charging up the stairs only to be cut up in pieces by enemy fire.

[Captain B]

...who the hell else would keep charging up the stairs only to be cut up in pieces by enemy fire.

Last time I was on PS, not many. I had to manually shove people into the tunnels at times.

On that note, we need commissars.

[SgtMAD]

yea, get the KGB to shoot ppl that won't push inside,sounds perfect for those fascist bastard TR

[Captain B]

Throw credits to lure NC into the breach, and fire a body glitter grenade into the tunnels to encourage VS movement.

[Vash02]

I figured long ago that anyone taking part in this "battle" would have to be either on so many drugs to kill the pain of dying over and over again in very painful ways or have parts of their brain "turned off" or adjusted through some sort of "engineering" because who the hell else would keep charging up the stairs only to be cut up in pieces by enemy fire.

I read somewhere in the PS1 lore that soldiers respawned without the memory of dying. So to their point of view they would be charging up the stairs and then suddenly find themselves in the respawn tube.

[Geist]

On that note, we need commissars.
This, a thousand times this.

Story was okay, I agree it would probably have been a thousand times better in a comic. Even so, I love the way their going about the factions. No more NC are good guys, TR are bad guys, VS are Crazy.

It's all about what you consider to be right, and what others think is wrong, a authoritarian government(TR) might seem a terrible faction to some, while it may fit another's political stance perfectly. Unrestrained capitalism and paramilitary contractors(NC) might be someone's worst nightmare, while a dream come true to others. Scientists and technophiles, promoting unrestricted progress and worshipping the aliens who came before(VS), might seem pretty frightening to some, while everything they ever wanted to another.

It's an excellent way to do the factions, and really makes one think when they make their decision regarding which Empire to join.

[SgtMAD]

where is all the old story at?

its been 8 years since I bothered reading it LOL

[Geist]

where is all the old story at?

its been 8 years since I bothered reading it LOL

The descriptions of the empires when your making your character are pretty much all of the story they came up with

[Captain B]

TScientists and technophiles, promoting unrestricted progress and worshipping the aliens who came before(VS), might seem pretty frightening to some, while everything they ever wanted to another.

When the Vanu returned:
Independence Day - Destruction - YouTube

And that's why we will end up TR versus NC in the end. Suckas.

[Rabb]

Since they had new people and the Quartermaster apparently has no rank, we are probably looking at civilian volunteers. But I just concider it a lack of research.

It's not that he has no rank he's an NCO who prefer not to be called sir. Like the Drill Sargent in Full metal jacket "Don't call me Sir, I work for a living."

[SniperSteve]

To deplete their resources, just cap all of the bases. Then they no longer have a way to respawn. It gets exponentially harder to cap each successive base if reduced resources do not have an effect on them, but if reduced resources limits armaments and spawn timers, then you could win by attrition and subsequent taking their last spawn point. And in PS1, the resource in this situation was a base's nanite level and the increasing death timers. Just think VS interfarm on Dagda where they had the same death timers as you and an ever-full nanite silo - it would almost never end.

Think of capturing a continent in PS1. It is very hard if they enemy refuses to leave, but certainly possible, and if there was no sanctuary and no other continents, they would have no place to spawn, and thus would be dead forever! That = winning, and it is done without destroying the world and it's resources.

[Vash02]

The descriptions of the empires when your making your character are pretty much all of the story they came up with
There was more story than just the empire descriptions, having a hell of a time finding it again though.

[Captain B]

But it's not like you killed them and that was it; they respawned somewhere else and came back after you. If you're on a full offensive, they can just sneak around and take your spawn tubes. There's a difference between "game mechanics" and "lore"; here we're talking about lore. Sure in PS1 you can block continents where they can't get back in and all sorts of things, not to mention you can't enter empire sanctuaries. But if it was "real life" there would be that idea that if one empire went on the offensive to finish off another and take all their spawn tubes out in a massive gambit, the third empire would rofl and sweep up the attacking empire's tubes.

So they all have to be on offense and all have to be on defense. They can't afford to lose any ground in that regard and are slowly, but surely, sieging one another into oblivion.

[Raymac]

As to the reason why they keep fighting in an endless war, I think back to a scene in Crimson Tide when Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington are talking over dinner, and Hackman quotes some philosopher about the purpose of war, something like "War is politics by other means." And Denzel replies with his own interpreation that "The true nature of war is to serve itself."

You can kind of look at long term conflicts in the real world and see that sometimes the reason people are fighting is because they are fighting.

[Vash02]

Here's the original story for PS1 (http://planetside.station.sony.com/howto/manual_detail.vm?chapter=0)

[Captain B]

Nothing from Auraxis was ever allowed to come through the wormhole. That included personnel sent to Auraxis for observation. Every single one of them knew it was a one-way trip and that they'd live there forever. This wasn't just paranoia they would bring something dangerous back, it also prevented the knowledge gained there from entering society before the Republic had prepared society to receive that knowledge.

Yeah, definitely different for NC now. I like this new re-imagining.

[NivexQ]

And WoW is at the utmost flawed in it's spectrum of "incorporate the player in the storyline!" For example: the normal players killed Arthas... when literally hundreds of guilds by now have done that. Even look at games like (forgive me but this is a good point) Battle Field and Call of Duty... the story is the UTMOST importance! you need this amazing shit to set the lines of glory!

<3

I'd just like to point out that Battlefield 1942, 1943 and Battlefield: Vietnam's only story is what historically happened. Battlefield 2142 only had a little back story as the opening cut scene, and Battlefield 2 had no story whatsoever. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat (for consoles) was the first game that had somewhat of a story even though it really wasn't. Then you had the Bad Company games.


Anyway, back on topic, I liked the story a lot, can't wait for more!

[NapalmEnima]

I agree that there needs to be some sort of victory condition, however unachievable it might be, or what's the point?

Even if the goal is to simply bottle the other two empires up in their footholds For All Time, it needs to be possible on some level that it might actually happen. Otherwise, the higher-ups SUCK. Commanders need to be able to plan ahead, to see more than the shoot out in front of them.

A sergeant and his squad should know how to kick in a door and clear a room, for example.

The LT needs to know which door to kick in, and which door comes next. When the sergeant asks their LT "what next?", the answer MUST NOT BE "I don't know". That's when you're fucked.

As you work your way up the chain of command, the goals grow larger (this building vs that, this /city/ vs that, and so on) until, at the top of the heap, there's someone figuring out what to do To Win The War.

General: "Colonel, take that city."
Colonels: "Major, take that block."
Majors: "Captain: Take that building"
Captains: "Lieutenant, take that hall"
Lieutenants: "Sergeant, take that door"
Sergeants: "YOU KNOW THE DRILL! ON THE BOUNCE!"
Grunts: FRAGGAFRAGGAFRAGGA!

Grossly simplified, but you get the idea.

[Vash02]

after a 30 second wait with a big fucking line moving from right to left followed by

"you have died too fucking much, wait 15 more seconds" ... double U TEE EFF I DIED?! BAM.. rinse, repeat.

Edit: Also, if you knew how this device worked.. You should realize there is only one reason you are inside the chamber right? I dont think the spawn selection menu really was canon.

I think people would get used to it after a while, any pain would be over quickly.
Sure at first people would be like "ARGHHHHH OMG YOU KILLED ME YOU BASTARD!". But as time goes on it would be more like "aww man you made me walk all the way back here".

[TacosWLove]

Will there be any VS bikini parties somewhere in the story? Gotta have that fan-service, you know?

This!


Also, Backstory for me is just a way for me to get some snippets of what might be in the game. I typically skip all story for pure game play. Im after the rush of big fights and keel, keel, keel. Not the casual rush of sitting in my snuggy reading a nice scifi story by the fire on a cold winter night(which I do enjoy, just not my goal with Planetside)..


So just include a screen next time please! It doesnt have to show anything new, just something we havent seen.

[NapalmEnima]

nah.. speaking realistically, the trauma from a single time would be enough to make a sane person feel out of whack for hours if not days.... doing it more than once would cause some serious ptsd's and probably make you go insane.

You're thinking of a modern person. The Soldiers Of The Future might easily have cybernetics and or chemical treatments to harden their minds as well as their bodies.

It's entirely possible that at some point they developed a way to "inoculate" against post-traumatic stress disorder. Or to induce it in a controlled way such that it becomes much less likely to happen again.

Or maybe they can "edit" your brain back towards some baseline, so even with the recorded memories of your own death, you're still okay.

Lots of way to "lore that problem it away".

[Malorn]

Please remember that the NC history being portrayed is through the TR-lens. It likely has omissions or false information in it to better spin the righteousness of the TR cause. That won't be the same perspective that the NC have of themselves, and likely not the perspective the VS have of them either.

Hopefully today or tomorrow we get some NC history being presented by the NC themselves.

[NapalmEnima]

It's almost that time again.

Lets hope for some new art, rather than another concept drawing we've already seen.

[Senyu]

TR girls do it the same and comfortable

NC girls freestyle and freaky

VS girls do things you never even imagined

[RedNex]

I agree that there needs to be some sort of victory condition, however unachievable it might be, or what's the point?

Even if the goal is to simply bottle the other two empires up in their footholds For All Time, it needs to be possible on some level that it might actually happen. Otherwise, the higher-ups SUCK. Commanders need to be able to plan ahead, to see more than the shoot out in front of them.

A sergeant and his squad should know how to kick in a door and clear a room, for example.

The LT needs to know which door to kick in, and which door comes next. When the sergeant asks their LT "what next?", the answer MUST NOT BE "I don't know". That's when you're fucked.

As you work your way up the chain of command, the goals grow larger (this building vs that, this /city/ vs that, and so on) until, at the top of the heap, there's someone figuring out what to do To Win The War.

General: "Colonel, take that city."
Colonels: "Major, take that block."
Majors: "Captain: Take that building"
Captains: "Lieutenant, take that hall"
Lieutenants: "Sergeant, take that door"
Sergeants: "YOU KNOW THE DRILL! ON THE BOUNCE!"
Grunts: FRAGGAFRAGGAFRAGGA!

Grossly simplified, but you get the idea.

Kinda reminds me of a line from Blackadder Goes Forth where the point of the massive offensive that'll kill 1000's of soldiers is so that Field Marshall Haig "Can move his drinks cabinet 6 inches closer to Berlin" :)

[Oty]

honestly I think this story was good enough to recieve salary for, considering wolfmans reputation and resume... and it had some lacs in the logic, like that degradation from crp. to pvt. and also who wouldnt know after 2 weeks at the job if your boss is an officer or not, especially in the army. And it cant be that hard to pack 5 different intems from a list, dude that QM's other rookies must have been kinda retarded if they didnt nail it. And given that TR still are a strict faction why would they let a new faction excist to be neutral?
- guess that last question might be answered later.

[Vash02]

Kinda reminds me of a line from Blackadder Goes Forth where the point of the massive offensive that'll kill 1000's of soldiers is so that Field Marshall Haig "Can move his drinks cabinet 6 inches closer to Berlin" :)

http://youtu.be/Jf0Lm7XwtjE?t=1m44s

"Would that be the plan to continue with total slaughter untill everyones dead except Field Marshal Haig, Lady Haig and their tortoise Alan?"

[GTGD]

honestly I think this story was good enough to recieve salary for, considering wolfmans reputation and resume... and it had some lacs in the logic, like that degradation from crp. to pvt. and also who wouldnt know after 2 weeks at the job if your boss is an officer or not, especially in the army. And it cant be that hard to pack 5 different intems from a list, dude that QM's other rookies must have been kinda retarded if they didnt nail it. And given that TR still are a strict faction why would they let a new faction excist to be neutral?
- guess that last question might be answered later.

Why allow a new faction to be neutral? Remember when you were on Ishundar about to finish off the triangle and the NC hopped onto Marduk or the TR hopped onto Baal and you ended up losing the entire continent because you got gang banged? 33% vs 66%, that is why.

[Raymac]

$20 says they are doing 1 last proof-read of the next part of the story right now.

[xSlideShow]

$20 says they are doing 1 last proof-read of the next part of the story right now.

^^ lol

[NapalmEnima]

$20 says they are doing 1 last proof-read of the next part of the story right now.

I'll take that bet, if only because they seem to be doing 10-15 last proofreads before putting it up.

Augh!

That or they're trying to properly stage some screenshot and the frame just isn't coming out right for some reason.

Gah!

[Crazyduckling]

That or they're trying to properly stage some screenshot and the frame just isn't coming out right for some reason.


I hope its this.

[Talek Krell]

nah.. speaking realistically, the trauma from a single time would be enough to make a sane person feel out of whack for hours if not days.... doing it more than once would cause some serious ptsd's and probably make you go insane.I honestly think you'd get used to it, like so many other things people are exposed to. Now that's not to say that being used to dying repeatedly wouldn't technically be a state of insanity. . .

[MasterChief096]

Firstly, the week is dedicated to backstory, so don't beg for screenshots, this week is not about media, videos, screenshots, or game info, its about backstory, wait for your own damn week. If they want to throw in concept art/screenies to support the backstory they will.

Secondly, I never understood the whole "NC are good guys, TR are totalitarian shitbags, VS are batshit crazy scientists" mindset.

Nowhere were NC specifically called the good guys except within their own empire, either in-game or on newconglomerate.com back in the day.
I always took the NC as "freedom fighters". Freedom fighters can take the form of anarchists, terrorists, paramilitary groups that appear to be fighting for a just cause but are just as corrupt as the government they are fighting, rebels, etc. Freedom fighters can also be relatively good people fighting for a cause they believe in.

TR are totalitarian, easily understood. Some are just loyalists that were happy with the TR, see the NC/VS as instability threatening to ruin a perfectly fine society that the TR has provided, and are fighting to protect their way of life just as much as anyone else would.

VS are pursuing progress at the expense of morality, religion, or any other societal boundary to technological progress and understanding. The absence of death obviously would affect people's morals, and the VS probably can't understand why the TR/NC are bickering and why everyone can't understand that a new age of technology can be achieved.

All three factions are shitbags in their own sense, but at the same time all three factions are good guys to whoever feels most in line with their ideologies.

Want to fight oppression and an almost religious like zealousness in the pursuit of technology? Join NC.

Want to maintain some semblance of an organized society, take care of internal dissent, and maintain the status quo of the human race? Play TR.

Want to liberate humanity from the constraints of old forms of government and advance it to a new plane of existence? Play VS.

All three of these goals are justified and logical, they just have drawbacks to pursuing them.

To me the NC are willing to do anything to achieve victory. The TR can't fathom why people would want to live outside the realm of their empire. The VS view both of the other factions as archaic systems and can't understand why they don't seem to want to advance the technological prowess of the human species.

[Chaff]

Well no, this one wasn't long at all. But it told me nothing and it just felt poorly done for me. I mean seriously, to provide us with backstory they show us the perspective of the supply bitch? At first I was like "nice, this quartermaster is cool." then it's like "nope, just an asshole who's chewing someone out for no reason at all..." and then "Oh that's nice, this girl has a family....I thought this was about the quartermaster?"

It showed a couple things that were different between the first PS and now but it just feels like a shortly/hastily written fanfic to me and if someone who knows nothing of the first Planetside reads it they literally have 0 insight into the game.

What we got was.
1)Wormhole (although it was nearly implied it wasn't around until the end of the post)

2)VS are neutrol (I don't see how you peacefully break yourself from an "oppressive" regime or even 2 warring empires)

3)NC were businessmen and Private Contractors

4)125 years of terraforming and colonisation on Auraxis.

Right now we're not aware of the state of respawning in the game, a prison doesn't imply either but a Prison would be especially useful to contain the enemy and prevent them from spawning/having access to their matrix.

I'm also curious why the Corporal became a Private mid-conversation....



Call me a party pooper, but I had a reaction similar to Graywolves. :confused:


I will sum it up as,

...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......zzzz zzzzzzzz....zzzzzzzzzzzz....
:rolleyes:

NOTE: I admire and respect the enthusiam of the majority regarding the back story. I will continue to attempt multiple rereads until "I get it". First impression was not a positive one for me. I was disappointed. Struck me as amateurish.

I'll keep trying.

Based on the post prior to this one, Masterchief seems capable of writing a back story more to my liking.

[Mastachief]

So with no sign of part 2 are SOE returning to form allready?

[Talek Krell]

They meant next Thursday. Didn't you get the memo??

[Mastachief]

They meant next Thursday. Didn't you get the memo??

You mean like valve time:

So when Higby said todays and Fridays updates he meant next Thursday and then some Friday in December 2012

[Graywolves]

It's not that he has no rank he's an NCO who prefer not to be called sir. Like the Drill Sargent in Full metal jacket "Don't call me Sir, I work for a living."

If he was an NCO he would've been ape-shit crazy that he wasn't being addressed as sergeant at the position of parade rest.

[NapalmEnima]

I am disappoint.

[Raymac]

Is it ready now? How about now? Ready now? Now? How about now?

lol My poor F5 key

[Raymac]

oh hey, it is up now lol

[dm Akolyte]

Mount Lavastorm

.......

>_>

[SKYeXile]

Mount Lavastorm

.......

>_>

yea...its probably not a placholder name either...sigh.

[Bags]

Glad I'm not the only one who cringed at that.

[Captain B]

"Dude, we were flying over this mountain, and WAHPOW! There was this explosion, and we were all like, VWOOSH! And then, the lava came up and it was like PLURGSHT! And I was WHOA! And Dave was all WAAH! And the ship spun through the rock and got pitted! It was like a storm, man. Of lava. Like a lavastorm."

And that, children, is how our ancestors named this formidable mountain upon its discovery...

[dm Akolyte]

That is probably the hardest I have laughed at something in a while.

[Xyntech]

Could this hilariously bad name actually conceal a tidbit of additional game information?

Could these environmental hazards go beyond a mere spattering of lava here and there?

I'm wagering we get some fire tornadoes. Showers of molten rock raining down on us. Volcanoes erupting with tidal waves of hot lava raging down their slopes, towards the soldiers fighting below!

[Talek Krell]

"Recall to Sanc, DEAR GOD RECALL TO SANC"

[Hamma]

Glad I'm not the only one who cringed at that.

I did also - didn't sound very original. :lol:

[Captain B]

Yeah, make us respect the name "LAVASTORM".

[Xyntech]

Titanium umbrellas now being sold in the cash shop.

They aren't selling power, they are selling protection!

Speaking of protection, we need some cash shop condoms. With all of that respawning and immortality, we need to make sure not to overpopulate.

[Raymac]

Show some respect, people. Mt. Lavastorm is obviously an homage to the greatest film of our generation. It's not a laughing matter.

LAVA STORM - YouTube

;)

[Captain B]

I'm going to strap infants to my MAX armor. If the psychological defense doesn't work, it'll still soak up some bullets and surge the war effort for the NC. Hooray!

[SKYeXile]

I'm going to strap infants to my MAX armor. If the psychological defense doesn't work, it'll still soak up some bullets and surge the war effort for the NC. Hooray!

why infants? VS strap TR and NC to their tanks, its been proven very effective against small arms fire and high explosive and low caliber AP rounds. Once the corpse is then incapable of proper shielding the corspe then is recycled for use as organic fuel. We call it H70. 70% human, 30% plasma.

[dm Akolyte]

You can tell whats-his-face, the guy who writes these, comes from a comics background.

[HELLFISH88]

You can tell whats-his-face, the guy who writes these, comes from a comics background.

That's a problem because I've never much liked comics. They should have found a Seasoned Science fiction novelist. My Hunch is this is some sort of business decision as DC universe is a Sony Title. Stop cutting Corners SOE.

http://www.danabnett.com/ plz

[Goku]

Isn't this guy from Marvel comics? I would think that would be going against DC if so.

[dm Akolyte]

That's a problem because I've never much liked comics. They should have found a Seasoned Science fiction novelist. My Hunch is this is some sort of business decision as DC universe is a Sony Title. Stop cutting Corners SOE.

http://www.danabnett.com/ plz

Yeah I don't like comic book writing either

[HELLFISH88]

I'm not here to hate on anyone's fandom as there ARE good "graphic novelslol"; but it would seem to me that in a medium who's primary focus is Visual aesthetics and art, writing tends to take a back seat.

[dm Akolyte]

Egh.

I think comic writing needs to pack a good bit of information into a small area, so they have to use a rather unsubtle approach to description, exposition, and dialogue.

All in all, it gives me the 'vibe' of action fan fiction. Which I don't like.

Edit: Example:
"trapped on the volcanic island of Searhus"
If a dude was really saying that, he would just say "on Searhus," everyone would already know it's a volcanic island.
Or if they didn't, he'd give like an actual debriefing. "trapped on the island Searhus. Now, Searhus is extremely volcanically active..." etc. etc.

Totally immersion breaking.

[Raymac]

Edit: Example:
"trapped on the volcanic island of Searhus"

If a dude was really saying that, he would just say "on Searhus," everyone would already know it's a volcanic island.
Or if they didn't, he'd give like an actual debriefing. "trapped on the island Searhus. Now, Searhus is extremely volcanically active..." etc. etc.

Totally immersion breaking.

I see what you are saying, but maybe that's a bad example. Both of those alternatives are way worse than the original.

[dm Akolyte]

Not saying I could write better, I just dislike the style of exposition tremendously.