Beyond - Legends A Hunter's Journal (MMORPG / post-NJO / OCs / Dear Diary Challenge) UPDATE 2008/06/01

After all, little Vong have to come from somewhere.

That's true!

 

they saw something Vongish

Uh oh!

Though it sounds as if an adventure is ahead for Mmorgan.

I'm trying not to think what it might mean

I don't blame you





Great update

 

VaderLVR64: That's true!

Yes, very.

Hmm, it just occurred to me that: since the average GFFA citizen probably wouldn't know a Yuuzhan Vong on sight unless s/he had, er, physical modifications . . .

Oh dear. I think I'm wandering out into dangerous territory here.

---

[hl=Blue][b][color=Yellow]KELIA[/color][/b][/hl]: [i]Though it sounds as if an adventure is ahead for Mmorgan.[/i]

Yep. The Yuuzhan Vong character classes will offer lots of opportunities for interesting player/character interactions. Player vs player combat is just the tip of the iceberg. :)

[hr]

Thanks for reading, everyone! The next update will be quite soon.

- lazy

 

2008/01/30: Level 14


Steppin' softly in a danger zone
No weapons in my hand
It's just this brain, designed by man
It's got me in trouble again

Well . . . maybe not, especially the bit about no weapons. But I'm definitely stepping softly in a danger zone. I guess I should explain.

The map of Coruscant is divided into four colors:

* Blue - the spaceport and the area around it. Vongbeasts never come here.

* Green (a.k.a. Safe Zone) - an area that's been thoroughly explored. Low-level Vongbeasts only. 100% MedEvac rate.

* Yellow (a.k.a., Danger Zone) - an area that's been partially explored. Up to middle-level Vongbeasts. 100% MedEvac, but only if you've signed up for it.

* Red (a.k.a. Unknown Regions, Dead Zone) - everywhere else. No limit to Vongbeast strength. The only MedEvac is other players.

Up until today I've kept to the Green because of my naturally cautious nature. That is to say, I'm chicken.

This is nothing new for me, as far as RPGs are concerned. It's not unusual for me to go up five or six levels before setting foot in the first cave. There are people who race against time to see the ending credits as fast as humanly possible, but I'm not one of them.

With TRoC, though, I'm going a bit faster than normal. I think it's because, every time I log on, I notice that the people I played with a week ago are already ten levels ahead of me. Even a tortoise will start wondering if he should invest in a pair of roller skates when the rabbits keep going past at supersonic speeds, y'know?

So despite making plans to wait until level 20 or so to venture out into the great unknown - well, unknown to me, anyway - I'm setting out while I'm still a 14.

Now, if only I can find a few level 50 characters to be my bodyguards . . .

---

[/blockquote]

[u]66:1:30[/u]


When the 3D holomap goes from green to yellow, that means no more free MedEvac.

Actually, it's still free in the sense that you don't have to pay credits for it. But unless you're registered as an Emergency Medical Evacuation Plan member, you have to count on the goodwill of others to bail you out when you're neck-deep in Vong.

The MedEvac membership form is, like all official contracts, too long to read in one setting. And if you can understand it without a protocol droid standing by, you're a better man than me.

But in essence, it's simple enough: if another member calls for help, you stop whatever it is you're doing to offer assistance. Usually, that means chasing away the Vongbeast before it finishes off the unlucky hunter.

Anyway, as of today I'm a card-carrying MedEvac member. I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I'm going to do my best. So long as they don't use me for bait to lure the Vongbeast away, of course.

 

Another great update! I really like this journal!

 

I certainly hope Mmorgan isn't allowing his slowness at leveling up to push him into getting into a suitation that is over his head.

I'm glad to see he is a MedEvac. I'm sure he'll be of great help to someone.

Great update

 

VaderLVR64: Another great update! I really like this journal!

Thanks! Although I have to say I have no idea what you like about it.

---

[b]KELIA[/b]: [i]I certainly hope Mmorgan isn't allowing his slowness at leveling up to push him into getting into a suitation that is over his head.[/i]

It's not mentioned in the blog/journal, but most people venture out into the Yellow around Level 12. And besides, wandering off into areas where the monsters are at least twice your level is part of the fun of RPGs, yes? :p

[i]I'm glad to see he is a MedEvac. I'm sure he'll be of great help to someone.[/i]

One thing I've found about MMORPGs is how helpful everyone is. Quite touching, really.

[hr]
Thanks for reading, everyone! The next update will probably be posted by the time you're reading this. :)

- lazy


[b]EDIT:[/b] Oops, posted a reply with this sock. Dang.

 

2008/02/06: Level 16


When I logged on today, there was a party (that's "team" to you non-RPGers) of hunters soliciting members. Their levels were close to mine so I asked if I could join and they said sure. On the way to the hunting ground, a Jedi came up and asked if she could tag along. I checked her level and she was thirty-seven.

In TRoC, the XP you get on bagging a Vongbeast depends on the VB's level divided by the number of Player Characters. Sort of. High level PCs get a bigger share than low level ones.

So anyway, here was a 37 asking to join our merry band of 14~17s. There was a slot open, sure, but there was no way we were going to let her join and take away the lion's share. When our leader told her this, she said she didn't want to join. She had an hour to kill before her usual party logged on and was offering to medkit.

It was intense, let me tell you. Thanks to her Force Heal, we didn't stop at all between battles. When the hour was up, I felt like we'd been at it forever and that only a couple of minutes had passed.

Yeah, I know how that sounds. But believe me, that's how I really felt.

We thanked her for her help, she thanked us for a fun time, and she ran off to hunt whatever it is level 37s hunt. Our party sat around chatting, trying to decide what to do next. Turned out nobody wanted to continue. We all wanted to savor the experience.

So we said good-bye and disbanded. I went solo for a while, but I realized I was just going through the motions and logged off.

Like I said, it was intense.

---

[/blockquote]

[u]66:2:6[/u]


Jedi are a weird lot.

I mean, they spent most of the War hunted by Vong and Peace Brigade scum. People like me who were supposedly neutral weren't much help either, to tell you the truth. We didn't do any harm, but that's about all you can say in our favor. If the Jedi decided to carve out a piece of the galaxy for themselves and told everyone else to stick it, I wouldn't be surprised.

And yet here they are on Coruscant, pitching in wherever they can.

There aren't that many, of course. There never were, even during the days of the Old Republic. But you can still see a few here and there, saving the skins of people who would have betrayed them to the Vong for half a credit.

Which isn't to say their motives are purely altruistic. I had a talk with one who told me he was doing it to restore the New Republic's trust in the Jedi Order. I think he was under the impression the public abandoned the Jedi because they couldn't prevent the Vong Invasion.

I haven't seen him around lately, come to think of it. I hope he didn't get himself killed trying to save someone.

 

Jedi are a weird lot.

I mean, they spent most of the War hunted by Vong and Peace Brigade scum. People like me who were supposedly neutral weren't much help either, to tell you the truth. We didn't do any harm, but that's about all you can say in our favor. If the Jedi decided to carve out a piece of the galaxy for themselves and told everyone else to stick it, I wouldn't be surprised.

And yet here they are on Coruscant, pitching in wherever they can.

Loved it!

 

Jedi are a weird lot

Indeed but it's wonderful to see a few around here and there pitching in to help whenever they can.

Glad to see Mmorgan survived his "intense" hunting trip.

Great update

 

VaderLVR64: Loved it!

Thanks!

---

[b]KELIA[/b]: [i]it's wonderful to see a few around here and there pitching in to help whenever they can. [/i]

Very true. Still, I can't help but wonder: Just what exactly is a Jedi's job?

[i]Glad to see Mmorgan survived his "intense" hunting trip. [/i]

I attribute it to beginner's luck. Next time, though . . . ]:)

[hr]
Thanks for reading, everyone! The next update will probably be posted by the time you're reading this. :)

- lazy

 

2008/02/12: Level 17


I spent the weekend writing macros for TRoC.

For you non-geeks, a macro is a program that automatically does small tasks without making you actually open windows and choose commands every single time.

Some MMORPGs come with this feature; others don't. And even if a MMORPG doesn't, there are third-party tools that will. Some even let your character hunt 24/7, although this is frowned upon by most MMOPRGs because a) it slows down the server and b) is unfair to other players.

(BTW, I did a google search for these 24/7 macros, a.k.a. "bots", and found a few that sold for $50~75. Which means there are people willing to pay actual money for this sort of thing. Astounding.)

For example, switching blaster modes during a fight requires that you a) open the weapons window, b) select the blaster you're using, and c) changing the blaster mode. Oh, and d) try not to be killed, too.

With a macro, you can a) open the macros window and b) select "change blaster mode: wide spread" or whatever you named it. You can even configure keyboard options so that Shift+F6 will do the same thing.

It takes a while to get used to the programming language, so to speak, but once you get the hang of it you find yourself wondering how you managed without them.

I hear there are archive sites for TRoC macro scripts. I should go and have a look one of these days.

'Course, with my luck they'll require payment.

---

[/blockquote]

[u]66:2:12[/u]


It's amazing how quickly people adapt to things.

When I first came here, my combat experience was mostly against ground troops and commandos. I had never shot at things that were smaller than me, that moved in ways no humanoid ever would. It was all I could do to keep my blaster pointed in the right direction. Now I can track and shoot, replace tibanna cartridges, and carry on witty banter while keeping an eye out for approaching Vongbeasts.

Well, maybe not the witty banter. They tell me I'm lousy at that.

Then there's the economy. As they say in the Outer Rim, New Republic credits are no good here. Actually, most of the shops in the spaceport area do accept credits. But since a hunter's income is based on the Vongparts he can bag and what the bioware companies are paying for them, a dynamic bartering system has emerged.

It took me a while to get used to this, too. I thought it was going to be a matter of going out into wild Coruscant with a blaster and selling what I brought back for credits. It turned out that you traded Vongparts for [i]processed[/i] Vongparts (or rather, galactic biotech enhanced with Vongtech) and other goods because it was cheaper in the long run. Which means, of course, that you're actually exchanging Vongparts you don't need for Vongparts you do so you can trade [i]those[/i] in.

There are also middlemen, people who buy Vongparts from hunters for selling in bulk. There aren't that many hunters - or ex-hunters, for that matter - in that business because it's pretty much speculative in nature, and you need a [i]lot[/i] of capital to stay afloat. Not to mention specialized storage space.

 

When I first came here, my combat experience was mostly against ground troops and commandos. I had never shot at things that were smaller than me, that moved in ways no humanoid ever would. It was all I could do to keep my blaster pointed in the right direction. Now I can track and shoot, replace tibanna cartridges, and carry on witty banter while keeping an eye out for approaching Vongbeasts.

Well, maybe not the witty banter. They tell me I'm lousy at that.

I LOVE your OC!

 

'Course, with my luck they'll require payment

Such optimism

Glad to see Mmorgan improving in all areas. Maybe he'll survive this adventure after all

Great update

 

VaderLVR64: I LOVE your OC!

I'll be sure to tell him, then.

Mmorgan is really fun to write. Basically, he's an OC written by a fanboy who is rather more enthusiastic about SW than me and has fewer concerns about continuity and staying in character.

---

[b]KELIA[/b]: [i]Glad to see Mmorgan improving in all areas. Maybe he'll survive this adventure after all[/i]

He'll be all right as long as he stays out of the Red areas. Three cheers for MedEvac, eh?

[hr]
Thanks for reading, everyone! The next update will be posted in less time than it took to write this post. Really, I'm not kidding. *sigh*

- lazy

 

2008/02/14: Level 18


Today I met someone who might have been the victim of a Player Killer. I say might because the circumstances are a bit ambiguous. You see . . .

I was hunting in the Yellow today with six other guys when we heard a map-wide shout for help. We did a quick search and found a total noob on the other side of the map. He died before we could get to him.

Now, when I say total noob, I mean total noob. He was just a Level One, for crying out loud!

There was absolutely no way in all nine Corellian hells that he could have gotten this far by himself. Which means someone must have accompanied him here, and then disappeared.

I can think of a few innocent reasons why this might happen. The oldbie might have had a server connection problem. He might have died protecting the newbie. The noob might actually have been unbelievably lucky, though I think he should have used that luck in buying a lotto ticket.

Or it might have been a PK who persuaded a noob into following him where noobs should not set foot and abandoned him, knowing full well what would happen.

I know this is just conjecture. All I know for sure is that a Level One character became incapacitated in the Yellow Zone. But if I ever come across a party with low- and high- level characters, you can bet I'm going to keep an eye on them.

Gods, this is one hell of a topic for Valentine's Day.

---

[/blockquote]

[u]66:2:14[/u]


Today I had a brief conversation with Caern, a bounty hunter. He told me he came here for a break from tracking down wanted men and didn't expect to be working in that capacity on Coruscant. But it's funny how things turn out.

In the square just outside the spaceport, there's a holoscreen for official announcements. One of the things it shows is a list of Vonghunter criminals - thieves, murderers, con men, and other assorted scum. There's a number attached to each face. That's how much Coruscant will pay for us to bring them in.

They don't have the personnel or resources for an official Security Force, you see, so they've resorted to using bounty hunters. Not that I have anything against them, of course.

It still irks me, though, that they should be necessary here on Coruscant. But I suppose I'm being unrealistic. For every man willing to work his butt off to make an honest credit, there's probably another willing to sell his soul for a dishonest one - and to hell with anyone who gets in the way.

I just wish this wasn't the case.

 

Oh the poor noob!!



How unfortunate he...ended up where he did, however he got there.

For every man willing to work his butt off to make an honest credit, there's probably another willing to sell his soul for a dishonest one - and to hell with anyone who gets in the way

That's how it is everywhere

Great update

 

Or it might have been a PK who persuaded a noob into following him where noobs should not set foot and abandoned him, knowing full well what would happen.

I know this is just conjecture. All I know for sure is that a Level One character became incapacitated in the Yellow Zone. But if I ever come across a party with low- and high- level characters, you can bet I'm going to keep an eye on them.

Gods, this is one hell of a topic for Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day is overrated!

 

KELIA: How unfortunate he...ended up where he did, however he got there.

They can't all be heroes with Solo-class luck.

Still, a Level One character doesn't have that much XP to lose. And in most games, there's no penalty for a low-level PC death.

On the other hand, I hope this didn't put him off the game or make him paranoid about other players. That would be a shame.

---

[hl=Black][i][b][color=DodgerBlue]VaderLVR64[/color][/b][/i][/hl]: [i]Valentine's Day is overrated! :p [/i]

Really? Gosh, I never would have thought. :D

[hr]
Thanks for reading, everyone! As always, this includes lurkers. :)

- lazy

 

2008/02/23: Level 19


As I mentioned earlier, the biotech companies have two types of bounties for Vongbeasts: a) body parts or b) captured alive. As you can probably guess, it's a lot harder to do the latter.

In fact, I heard doing it solo is practically impossible so I solicited members for a Bring Them Back Alive team and five people joined up. I don't know what I did wrong in my previous life, but none of them had any experience in BTBA.

So we went into a huddle and talked tactics. Because we were all noobs to this, we decided to target Vongrats in the Green using low-power weapons. One guy said we should use drugged bait instead of mechanical traps. Since none of us had experience with traps of any kind, we agreed to go with his idea.

The first step in catching a Vongbeast is, of course, finding the dang thing. This was a bit of a problem because rats are common targets for noobs, both solo and team. So if we went where we knew there were rats, well, so did everyone else. And when two teams are in competition for a Vongbeast, TRoC etiquette says the higher level party should cede to the lower.

So we did. Over and over again, until someone suggested that maybe we should aim a little higher.

So we did. And wouldn't you know it, the same thing happened. And would keep happening, it seemed, as long as we were going for low-level Vongbeasts.

We went into a huddle again. Two of our six said they wanted out. Since an hour had passed already with nothing to show for it, we couldn't blame them. We apologized, they said don't worry about it, and we parted on good terms.

The four of us who remained talked things over and decided to hunt Vongbeasts like we usually would. And if we were lucky and managed to weaken one enough to catch it alive, then we would thank Lady Luck - and later, Lord Lucre.

At least, that was the plan. It might have worked, too, if only we'd stuck to it.

But I guess we kept thinking of BTBA, because after the Vongbeast was down to a quarter of its HP, everyone switched to low power shots. There's a TRoC saying about Vongbeasts' HP: half is worse than full. In other words, an injured Vongbeast is a lot more dangerous than an uninjured one. We got to find out how true this was first-hand. I almost died twice, and that was just the first Vongbeast.

It might have been worth it if we managed to bag something alive, but several hours and a dozen dead Vongbeasts later, all we had for our pains were a bunch of Vongbeast body parts and depleted supplies. It would have been better - a lot better - if we'd been planning a hunt-to-kill session.

Next time, I'm going to find a few oldbies who know how to do this sort of thing. Until then, I'm shooting to kill.

---

[/blockquote]

[u]66:2:23[/u]


I saw on HoloNet News today that Caaq-Modo Pharmaceuticals is joining the Vonghunt. This isn't something I'd normally mention, but the story behind it intrigued me.

The reason CMP stayed out of the game was because Rym Caaq, co-founder and ex-CEO, lost his wife in the Vong War. After the war, when all the other biotech companies were jumping at the chance to get cheap Vongtech, he decided he didn't want anything to do with the scarheads.

Caaq stepped down about a week ago for health reasons and his son, Rym Jr., took over as CEO. Turns out that entering the hunt was [i]his[/i] idea. Not that he likes the Vong any more than his father. No, he thinks the Vong owe him for his mother's death, and this is his way of getting revenge.

Now, I understand where both of them are coming from. I can't say I agree with either of them, but I can sympathize. I lost a few buddies in the War myself, you know.

The thing that makes me sad is that, according to HoloNet News, Rym Sr. has officially disowned Rym Jr. and is filing a lawsuit against him.

And to think I thought the Vong War couldn't claim any more casualties . . .


One more thing: CMP is offering a [i]lot[/i] more for live Vongbeasts than the other companies to make up for their

 

Loved it!

 

Rym Sr. has officially disowned Rym Jr. and is filing a lawsuit against him

That's very sad. Haven't they lost enough already?It's unfortunate they can't just agree to disagree and be cordial to each other.

CMP is offering a lot more for live Vongbeasts than the other companies

That is bound to temp those who would be better off waiting for more experience to try and capture a live Vong



Great update

 

VaderLVR64: Loved it!

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

---

[color=red][b]KELIA[/b][/color]: [i]That's very sad. Haven't they lost enough already? It's unfortunate they can't just agree to disagree and be cordial to each other.[/i]

Very true. Mrs Caaq would probably have a few words to say were she alive, but then, they wouldn't be at odds if she were -

*sigh*

As I understand it, the NJO was an attempt to bring "gritty realism" into the GFFA. Things like this are my contribution to the effort. ]:)

[i]That is bound to tempt those who would be better off waiting for more experience to try and capture a live Vong :-s [/i]

Such as Mmorgan. :D

[hr]
To all you lurkers out there: thanks for reading!

. . . oh, and same goes to people who read & reply, too. :D

- lazy

 

2008/02/29: Level 19


For some ridiculous reason, to which, however, I've no desire to be disloyal,
Some person in authority - I don't know who, very likely the Astronomer Royal -
Has decided that, although for such a beastly month as February, twenty-eight days as a rule are plenty,
One year in every four his days shall be reckoned as nine and twenty.

. . . and today's the day! It's February 29th, which is as good an excuse to party as any other. Which is exactly what I'm going to be doing tonight. Online, that is, with my fellow TRoCers.

A bunch of guys from work are throwing together a Leap Year Party, but I told them I couldn't go because of previous engagements. I didn't tell them why, of course - no need to make them think I'm more of a geek than they already think I am.

But frankly, is there any reason a meatspace party should take precedence over a cyberspace one? I mean, we may not be able to talk face-to-face, but that doesn't change the fact that there are real people on the other end of the Internet connection. And there's no chance of anyone driving home drunk when the party's over, too.

I was going to say a few words about the GFFA Standard Calendar today, but I think I'll leave that to Mmorgan. Let me just say that TRoC's Coruscant uses the Earth calendar to avoid confusion.

---

[/blockquote]

[u]66:2:29[/u]


Today I learned yet another change the Vong War brought about that, frankly, I could have done without.

It used to be that Coruscant was [i]the[/i] standard for the galaxy. One galactic standard day was equal to one Coruscant day, one galactic year was one Coruscant year, and so on. Not any more. I don't understand the specifics, but it probably has to do with the shattered moon.

A year on Coruscant is now 365 days instead of the standard 368. To accomodate this change, they took the 12-month calendar they started around the time of the Clone Wars - the one we [i]finally[/i] got used to - and chopped off three days from Duona. Why they took them all from the second month instead of a sensible one day each from three months is a total mystery to me. I hear it's because of the fiscal year or something.

Anyway, a Coruscant year is now 365 days. Well . . . almost 365. It's actually a quarter of a day more, which means the calendar has to be adjusted every four years. And guess what? Today's the day we get one of the three days they took from us. Maybe they expect us to be grateful for this.

I don't know why they bother. I mean, it's not like we had seasons before the War. And with things so chaotic afterwards, I doubt anyone would notice a small thing like the position of the sun.

And speaking of the sun - one day is now a little less than 24 hours. I didn't notice this until they pointed this out to me. To be honest, I thought my chrono was running slow. I had it fixed, if "fix" is the right word for reprogramming the thing so it counts time a shade faster than it should. The other alternative was having it reset on midnight.

Anyway, now there are three sets of local timekeeping standards: galactic standard, slightly fast, and reset. It leads to a small amount of confusion but, on the other hand, we now have a handy excuse for being late.

It could have been worse, I guess.

 

Anyway, now there are three sets of local timekeeping standards: galactic standard, slightly fast, and reset. It leads to a small amount of confusion but, on the other hand, we now have a handy excuse for being late.

It could have been worse, I guess.


Loved this latest post! I can relate to the calendar issues.