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

now there are three sets of local timekeeping standards: galactic standard, slightly fast, and reset

That would have me completely confused...just like Mmorgan

Today's the day we get one of the three days they took from us. Maybe they expect us to be grateful

Yeah probably.

Great update

 

VaderLVR64: I can relate to the calendar issues.

Myself, I wish to lodge a formal complaint somewhere that the days are not as long as they used to be. I mean, a dozen of them can whoosh by before I know it!

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[color=red][b]KELIA[/b][/color]: [i]That would have me completely confused...just like Mmorgan :p [/i]

Tell me about it. I got headaches figuring out if a standard Earth day would make a 24-hour clock run fast or slow. :D

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Thanks for reading, everyone!

- lazy

 

2008/03/09: Level 21


An oldbie I chatted with today said the Jedi character class is becoming popular again. And I said, "Hold on, this is STAR WARS. How can Jedi not be popular?"

It goes something like this:

When TRoC first came out, being a Jedi was the way to go. You had all these cool Force abilities, meaning you were pretty much level +1~2 to begin with.

Then people found out that being a Jedi means being noticed by voxyn in the Yellow zone. A lot. So if you enter an area with voxyn in it, the Unwelcoming Committee descends upon you like vultures on a dying man.

Voxyn are tough critters to kill. Not to mention they have attack stats like you wouldn't believe. And they spit poison, too. Which means going against even one of them is suicide when you're a low-level hunter. The odds improve if you're in a party, but that's like saying a million to one is better than zero.

Like most RPGs, the tables get turned once you level up. But when it finally becomes easy to kill voxyn, it's not worth hunting them because their XP is now too low. And they can still find you from the far side of the map.

The reason Jedi are popular again is because there's been a Vongbeast upgrade including several types of mutated hyper-voxyn. Hunting them is a real pain unless you can lure them into an ambush.

Want to guess what the Jedi's role in this is? Hint: it's not level-dependant at all.

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[u]66:3:9[/u]


I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but after it stopped raining moon rocks a couple of months ago, they found a dead voxyn that had horns on its head. Middle Rim Bioware plonked down a ton of credits for it, the guys who found it spread their luck around with free drinks, and another get-rich-quick legend was born.

Only it didn't end there. MRB announced last week that the voxyn had a different DNA sequence from the cloned ones in the Vong War. There are two conclusions that can be drawn from this, both of them bad.

One: there's a Shaper on Coruscant with the knowledge, skills, and resources to make a voxyn.

Two: a mutated voxyn queen is alive on Coruscant.

Either way, it means more voxyn until we can find and neutralize the cause. Which brings me to today's topic: an influx of Jedi.

Lately, it seems like each time I return to the spaceport for supplies there's a new batch of Jedi still getting used to post-Vong Coruscant. None of them are Durrons or Skywalkers - in fact, I doubt any of them are Masters. Maybe not even Knights. But they heard about the mutated voxyn and couldn't resist the calling.

One of them, a redhead that reminds me of a girl I used to date, managed to corner me today and started asking questions. Lots of them. I answered them as best I could and asked a few of my own. Such as: "How do you expect to make a difference? What makes you think you'd be anything more than a light snack for the voxyn? What can [i]you[/i] do that experienced hunters can't?"

She looked at me straight in the eye and said, "Be bait."

Now, I'll be thirty-four this year. It's less than a third of the expected life span, or at least it would be if I weren't in this job. But when she said those words with more youthful blind optimism than I can ever remember having, I felt so old it was a wonder my bones hadn't fossilized.

I resisted the urge to talk some sense into her. I know what I was like at her age. If some geezer tried to lecture me like that, I'd damn well show him he was wrong by taking all kinds of stupid risks.

Anyway, she's a hunter now. She chose to be here; she chose the dangers that go with it.

I wish I was strong enough to keep her alive when she finds the voxyn or, more likely, when the voxyn finds her. But I'm not, so I can only hope the hunters who are willing to use her like that will take good care of her.

Damn. I've only been here two months and it already seems like forever.

 

Yeah, I suppose with a bunch of Voxyn there, being a Jedi would be a liability.

Hopefully she doesn't get in too far over her head (or if she does, Mmorgan can help bail her out).

 

She looked at me straight in the eye and said, "Be bait."

Now, I'll be thirty-four this year. It's less than a third of the expected life span, or at least it would be if I weren't in this job. But when she said those words with more youthful blind optimism than I can ever remember having, I felt so old it was a wonder my bones hadn't fossilized.

Have I told you that I LOVE your OC??

 

the voxyn had a different DNA sequence from the cloned ones in the Vong War

Uh oh!



As if things weren't tough enough already.

I hope the redhead will be okay.

Great update

 

Ultima_1: Hopefully she doesn't get in too far over her head (or if she does, Mmorgan can help bail her out).

Well, he is in MedEvac now. I'm not sure I can fit the redhead in, but he'll probably be rescuing someone.

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[hl=Black][i][b][color=DodgerBlue]VaderLVR64[/color][/b][/i][/hl]: [i]Have I told you that I LOVE your OC??[/i]

Er, yes. I told him, and he told me he'd rather hear it from someone who wasn't already married. :p

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[color=red][b]KELIA[/b][/color]: [i]I hope the redhead will be okay.[/i]

The redhead may or may not make an appearance later on. I'm not sure which will be better for her health, though. :D

[hr]
Thanks for reading, folks!

- lazy

 

2008/03/31: Level 21


Sorry about going AWOL, but real life has been a killer this month. There's been a minor cold epidemic at the workplace and while I've managed to stay clear of it, a few of my co-workers haven't. So not only are we putting in extra hours each day, we've had to work Saturdays as well.

I barely have the time and energy to check my email before dropping dead for the night. I'm only able to update my blog today because almost everyone showed up on Friday, giving me a full Saturday to be dead in.

Speaking of blogs, I got a few comments asking about the redhead I - or rather, Mmorgan - mentioned in my last entry. I even got an email from the redhead herself.

At least, I think she's a she. You can never be sure on the Internet.

The email confirmed something I suspected: the noob Jedi is actually a very experienced MMORPGer taking advantage of the system. What I didn't expect was that this was her first character in TRoC. Apparently, she was surfing the Web when she found my blog and thought it was interesting.

She also invited me to team with her, but I said no. With real life the way it is, I didn't think I could log on enough to make it worth while for her.

Besides, she was already a Level 43. And at the rate she must be playing, she'd probably level up faster than me. I might have shrugged it off it she was a guy, but . . .

It all comes down to foolish male pride, I guess. Damn.

---

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[u]66:3:31[/u]


I used to think I had a real talent for what I did. I still do, in fact, but my personal estimate of myself has dropped a few notches. Or rather, I realized that my scale for measurement was severely lacking in length.

Take the redheaded Jedi I mentioned in my last entry, for example. Twenty days ago, she was greener than the fuzz growing in the back of my food locker. I saw her again today, and she was walking like she'd lived on Vongified Coruscant all her life. It's not just swagger, either. I asked around and people told me they'd prefer her guarding their backs to any half dozen bounty hunters I could name.

And it's not just her. Practically all the recent Jedi I've seen have gone from Vongbait to semi-Master in a matter of weeks.

Now, I'm aware that intense experience can make you grow faster than an artificially accelerated clone. But it seems like these new guys have a special gene that makes them soak up experience like Tatooine sand.

On the other hand, there are quite a few Jedi faces that I haven't seen much lately. Maybe what I'm seeing is just the result of natural selection.

Either way, it's a sobering thought.

 

Now, I'm aware that intense experience can make you grow faster than an artificially accelerated clone. But it seems like these new guys have a special gene that makes them soak up experience like Tatooine sand.

On the other hand, there are quite a few Jedi faces that I haven't seen much lately. Maybe what I'm seeing is just the result of natural selection.

Either way, it's a sobering thought.

Excellent.

 

I might have shrugged it off it she was a guy, but . . .

Foolish male pride, indeed. She may have been a great asset and friend.

Practically all the recent Jedi I've seen have gone from Vongbait to semi-Master in a matter of weeks.

Sounds suspicious to me....

Great update

 

2008/04/29: Level 21


Yes, I know. It's been a month since the last entry. And this time I don't have Real Life as a handy excuse. I think I've just lost interest in the game. I don't think I've logged in twice this month.

This will probably be the last update. I apologize to the few people who've been reading this, but I seriously doubt I can continue any longer.

Thanks for reading, folks. Sorry there won't be any more.

---

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[u]66:4:29[/u]


[i]What am I doing here?[/i]

That's the question I've been asking myself this month. When I came to Coruscant, I thought I could make a difference. I didn't think I could clean up the planet all by myself, of course, but I thought I would be playing a vital part in reclaiming the world from Vonglife, centimeter by centimeter if necessary.

I could have spent the last couple of months in a coma for all the good I did. My last mission, if you could call it that, was guarding a warehouse. It was a low-risk job with even lower pay - enough for food and board, but that's about it. It's a wonder I haven't taken to strong drink to forget the miserable state I've let myself sink into.

Maybe I'll stop pretending that I care and leave.

 

I'm sorry to see the journal end on such a sad note.

I really enjoyed Mmorgan's adventures and I had hoped he would accomplish something or at least end with a satisfactory feeling.

Great job on this - I'll miss it

 

The udpate was wonderful, but sad. So hopeless. I really hope you will continue this.

 

May 4, 2008


Hello, folks. This is the author - the real author, lazykbys, not my MMORPGing OC - and I'm not quite sure why I'm intruding on my own fic. Still, I'm told there are some people who skip everything in the thread except for the story, so I figured I'd make an appearance here.

I believe I owe my readers an apology and an explanation for the previous entry, in which my OC announced that this journal was over. It isn't, as you can clearly see.

I had intend to post this chapter the following day, hopefully before anyone had a chance to reply (or even read their update PM). It was going to be a "joke that backfired because nobody noticed". I hadn't expected to have my Internet connection die on me, though. Nor the trouble with my text editor. Life, it appears, has an even stranger sense of humor than my own.

I apologize for any grief my ill-advised prank may have caused. A Hunter's Journal will continue as planned. And no, I don't have plans for any more out-of-fic surprises.

Thank you for reading so far. I hope you'll stick around till the end.

---

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[u]2008/05/04: Level 21[/u]


Hi, guys. Um . . . gosh, this is embarrassing. Hardly a week since I announced I'd quit and here I am again.

A couple of days ago, I got an email from the redhead Jedi saying we needed to talk. I could guess what she wanted to discuss and frankly, I didn't think I gave a damn about TRoC any more. But I was in the middle of a week-long vacation and I had nothing better to do, so I downloaded the IM program of her choice and we talked.

Boy, did we talk.

One of the topics that came up was the three new Vong character classes that have been officially announced last month. I didn't know about it, which shows you how much interest I had in the game.

Anyway, two of the new classes are Yuuzhan Vong Warrior and Shaper. The Warrior class is stronger at Level 1 than most non-Vong characters are at Level 5. However, he (or she) needs constant maintenance to stay in fighting shape - both of his equipment and his bio-implants, which means he's pretty much dependant on a Shaper. And, of course, a continuous supply of raw resources, i.e., Vongparts.

The Shaper can't fight worth a damn until she (or he) can make uber weapons for herself. This means she can't hunt, either, which is why she needs a Warrior around to bring home the Vongbacon. To make things more complicated, a noob Shaper doesn't have enough skills to keep a Warrior in tip-top condition. There are a few high-level Shaper NPCs, but it's just a matter of time till the non-Vong characters start a planet-wide hunt for the Master Shaper responsible for spawning the mutant voxyn.

Things can go several different ways from here, and all of them look promising.

Now, you may be wondering why I'm going into such detail about a game I'm not playing any more. Those who aren't are probably smirking and saying, "I [i]knew[/i] it! There's no way he could go cold turkey from [i]Star Wars[/i]!"

My reason for sticking around a bit more lies in the [i]third[/i] new character class: the Shaped One. Basically, a Shaped One is a non-YV who's been captured and put on the Vong's operating table - something like Tahiri from the EU, I suppose.

You've probably figured out what we have planned, but I think I'll refrain from spelling it out for the time being.

In the meantime, I'll be power-leveling in the Red Zone.


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[u]66:5:4[/u]


I spent most of last month getting ready to leave Coruscant. Yet here I still am, getting ready for a trip into what we call the Dead Zone.

I'm not sure how this came about, really. I remember trying to drink myself to oblivion. I remember complaining to everyone in earshot that what we're doing is a waste of time. I remember being yelled at to shut up, shouting back insults, getting into a fistfight -

What I [i]don't[/i] remember is

 

I'm glad to see this continuing

It's probably the Jedi mind trick or something

Uh huh

The new classes of Vong are very interesting and hopefully now that Mmorgan has some help, perhaps he'll score a victory or two against them.

Great update

 

What I don't remember is getting cornered by a redhead who looked awfully familiar, having some of my drunkenness slapped out of my head, pouring my soul out, and agreeing to accompany her into the great unknown.

Maybe it's the Jedi mind trick or something.

Okay. Sure.

I was pretty sure it was a joke, but you did scare me. Naughty author!

Glad to see it was all a joke. Maybe the joke was on you too!

 

KELIA: The new classes of Vong are very interesting and hopefully now that Mmorgan has some help, perhaps he'll score a victory or two against them.

I have . . . well, let's call it a difficulty with seeing the Yuuzhan Vong as the enemy. And with RPGs, I think winning is defined by having fun. Us vs Them is kinda limiting, y'know?

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[i][b][color=DarkGreen]VaderLVR64[/color][/b][/i]: [i]Glad to see it was all a joke. Maybe the joke was on you too! [face_wink] [face_laugh][/i]

Yep, sure was! And it's getting funnier and funnier as time goes by. :p

[hr]
Thanks for reading, folks! Sorry about taking so long, but RL has been, well, real. Hopefully I'll be able to update twice more this month.

- lazy

 

2008/06/01: Level 49


You may be wondering what I've been doing the past month. I've been wondering the same thing, actually.

Basically, I've spent almost every spare minute of time playing TRoC. Although I'm not sure "playing" is the proper word - does standing around while other team members beat seven kinds of hell out of vongbeasts in the Red Zone count as playing?

It's not that I'm regretting my decision to go power-leveling, but . . . well, it's been weird. I mean, in one month I've gone up more levels than in four months combined. And all I did was stand around doing nothing. Frankly, my player level hasn't gone up that much while my character level has sky-rocketed. I keep thinking there's something not right about that.

The others tell me it's perfectly all right. It's not like I'm using the Konami command or exploiting a programming bug. TRoC isn't a game that ends when you defeat the Big Bad Boss. I'm just doing what needs to be done to play the game with my new friends.

Side Note: the others of my team consist of people Mare Celeste (a.k.a. the redhead Jedi) gathered up. Apparently she asked for PLers without telling them about this journal and they all signed up that day. The only questions they asked were about my character class and how much I wanted to level up. It's amazing, really.

On a not-quite-unrelated note, the Vong classes were added on Thursday. Mare wanted to wait until I was at Level 50 before switching, but it looks like the call of a Vongy weekend was too much for her to resist.

This is where the fun begins.

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[u]66:6:1[/u]


If you asked me a month ago what our main goal was on Coruscant, I would have said something about getting rid of all the Vonglife so we could put everything back together again. It's not that simple, of course. Nothing in life ever is.

The scientists I've been babysitting - or, to be honest with myself, being babysat with - are explaining things to me when they have time to kill. The problem is, they want to go into details when I'm still trying to see if the picture is that of a bantha or a mynock. It doesn't help that I don't recognize half the words they're using, too.

But as far as I can tell, the trouble is terraforming - which, by the way, is a word that means "to shape the world" in some pre-Basic language. And that's exactly what the Vong did to Coruscant. Because of this, the planet is absolutely [i]covered[/i] with wildlife. Or should I say, not-so-wildlife, because the Vong don't leave much to chance when it comes to biotech. I'm told they basically imported their Vongish ecology and remade Coruscant from the ground up, microbes and all.

But like I said, it's not that simple. Although you didn't see them much, we had wild fauna and flora here. And since they survived everything we threw at them for tens of thousands of years, those critters are [i]tough[/i]. They aren't going down without a fight, and it looks like they might be winning.

At least, that's what I thought. I'm still trying to understand it all, but they tell me it's not just a case of Us versus Them. The critters are only doing their best to survive long enough to pass on their genetic legacy. Sometimes it's a direct confrontation. Most of the time it isn't.

For example, there's a Vongish beetle that eats plants. They have special bacteria inside them that break down the food they eat. The thing is, the bacteria are optimized - either by evolution or genetic engineering, don't ask me which - for Vongplants. Which means they only have an advantage when the Vongplants are going strong. And to make things more complicated, there's the fact that Vonglife are more susceptible to Vongish diseases.

What it all boils down to is this: nobody has any idea what the outcome will be.

Or rather, they do - just not in any detail. All the scientists I've talked to tell me the two ecologies will merge. They will find a balance that's partly Vong and partly Coruscant

 

They will find a balance that's partly Vong and partly Coruscant.

WOW - that would be a sight to see.

Though I doubt anyone can accurately predict exactly what the future will hold.

Great update

 

What it all boils down to is this: nobody has any idea what the outcome will be.

I know the feeling.

Great update.