The Energon Pub

Absolute Zero wrote:You said you're a G1er for life, but what if the Gen 1 factions were removed tomorrow? Would you quit? Would you keep playing?

No, I definately wouldnt quit, but truth be told, I live on a farm and my wife is a Vet, this is where I escape from living in the middle of a real beast war.

AZ wrote:Getting organized requires a leader.

No, it really doesnt.

It only requires someone willing to put in a bit of time to make the game fun.
Burn and I do it for the cons all the time, but we are not the leaders, neither is Tammuz and the weapon charts, neither is Sustain and her XP games.

Be realistic AZ; its pretty clear that nothing is going to get changed in this game codewise, OS is 'busy' (whatever that means) and Mkall hasnt posted here since people starting hammering him about the new alts. The only hope you guys have is to get a torunament/game/hunt together, get it news'd and use it to attract more people, get them involved, and keep newsing it to attract more people.

You have my full support and ill help everywhere I can, but Im just not personally interested in joining the Beast Factions.

Psychout wrote:

Absolute Zero wrote:You said you're a G1er for life, but what if the Gen 1 factions were removed tomorrow? Would you quit? Would you keep playing?

No, I definately wouldnt quit, but truth be told, I live on a farm and my wife is a Vet, this is where I escape from living in the middle of a real beast war.

AZ wrote:Getting organized requires a leader.

No, it really doesnt.

It only requires someone willing to put in a bit of time to make the game fun.
Burn and I do it for the cons all the time, but we are not the leaders, neither is Tammuz and the weapon charts, neither is Sustain and her XP games.

Be realistic AZ; its pretty clear that nothing is going to get changed in this game codewise, OS is 'busy' (whatever that means) and Mkall hasnt posted here since people starting hammering him about the new alts. The only hope you guys have is to get a torunament/game/hunt together, get it news'd and use it to attract more people, get them involved, and keep newsing it to attract more people.

You have my full support and ill help everywhere I can, but Im just not personally interested in joining the Beast Factions.

Believe it or not, you guys are leaders. When you talk, people listen. Aside from Tammuz. I've always viewed him as being more of a advisor.

The tournament idea you mentioned on another thread would be awesome, but that'd only really benefit the winner, and would be simple to do. Maybe we can do something like that, get Mkall or if Caelus can him to help set up something for the winners.

I know the odds of getting anything major done in the game, or pretty much anything done in the game is pretty minor, but maybe, just maybe, if the community puts it's head together for a change and try to pull something simple together that we can all agree on, we can pitch it to them and we can get something done. If it's something as simple as moving alt modes around or adding more alt modes, hell, anyone can do that. I've done that in code before. If we can get just a few things figured out that would benefit the entire game and help bring people to the beast factions, what's the harm in trying? That's all I'm really asking.

This is kind of a tough one because I don't see a simple quick fix that wouldn't upset new players.

1. you could force their hand and only allow them to join the factions that are in need of members. This would help fill them, but players could really resent not being allowed to pick which group they wanted to join.

2. Improve the alt list, from what I've read this is something that prevents alot of people from joining the beast factions. I think adding more exotic/mythological animals along with cybertrionian alt modes (or at least something that doesn't look like it comes from modern day Earth) would help. Really can't get behind a beast wars era character turning into a modern era vehicle.

3. Provide the players with the tools to better access their faction/team. This ranges from the alt list to being able to sort the high score table by beast factions.

4. Some of the beast faction players are going to have to step up and get active. Got to get a beast faction player into the top 25 so new players know there are some heavy hitters if they join the faction. leadership has its uses, but till there is a day when every player checks the board or this leader goes out of their way to contact every player its really kind of pointless.

5. Specializing anything in order to get more people to play as beast factions isn't the way to go since it would just anger the other factions...and in my opinion if you have to put out a carrot to get people to sign up for said faction then it really shouldn't be there in the first place.

6. On the main sign up page have each faction create a mission statement that basically says what each faction is about. Glamorize it and make people want to join your group. If the Predicons/Maximals were to put together well thought out elegant recruitment letters and the Cons were to say We Cons we kill good chances are the players that didn't really have a faction already in mind would join the one appears to have spent more time.

As for what I would be if I couldn't be a Decepticon, well currently my team has 10 Cons on it, 1 Maximal that has gone rogue, and a Predicon that went Rogue then turned to the Cons.

I would probably go Predicon because they're evil, but I was Decepticon on day one and have always been Decepticon.

I appreciate the compliment AZ, and I cant speak for Burn, but I only do what I do for the fun because the cons are full of great players, a large chunk of which have quit to join the Preds and as a result you wont find a more dedicated bunch of players in such a small faction - even Merc is proving to be a talented newbie.
You have the personalites and dont need a single leader, its up to you to channel them - although you're already taking the lead just by starting this thread you know...

AZ wrote:The tournament idea you mentioned on another thread would be awesome, but that'd only really benefit the winner, and would be simple to do. Maybe we can do something like that, get Mkall or if Caelus can him to help set up something for the winners.

Seriously, you and Ratty between you could probably come up with something fantastic. Ive worked with EP to do con/bot stuff before, you both have the same goal, and Ratty knows his **** so give it a try?

Also, dont forget the news feed here goes out on google as well, so its not just this site that get's to see news stuff.

Absolute Zero wrote:what's the harm in trying? That's all I'm really asking.

None whatsoever, and I wish you the best of luck.

Silverbolt wrote:6. On the main sign up page have each faction create a mission statement that basically says what each faction is about.

This, I feel, is an absolute must. Again, id suggest putting the same way I did in the article -highlighting the beast war factions over the bots and cons.

I didn't know the news feeds go out on Google.

Sadly, yeah, Merc's actually pretty good. He's the 20th ranked Pred commander, and he's really been pulling his weight.

Last time I lead something, it was a exodus that ended up lost because I didn't want to be forceful and upset people who were breaking rules because I didn't want them mad at me. Back when I played the hero online.

If Ratty's up to it, I don't see the harm. Hopefully he's a better writer then me, or we'll have to recruit someone else. *L*

Silverbolt wrote:4. Some of the beast faction players are going to have to step up and get active. Got to get a beast faction player into the top 25 so new players know there are some heavy hitters if they join the faction. leadership has its uses, but till there is a day when every player checks the board or this leader goes out of their way to contact every player its really kind of pointless.

I laughed a little at this one. Maybe you don't realize, but there are quite a few of us beast faction that HAVE been active. I play about 14 hours a day every day except Friday (only eight hours) and Saturday (whatever small amount of play I can fit in), Starlock and Windstalker have also been playing a ton for the Maximals; while Cheshiredacat, pRedimus and Edgecrusher have all been highly active for the Preds. I'm sure there's players in both factions I've missed who have been very active. However, even with that level of activity, it's tough to earn as much as the highly active Con players when we routinely get outnumbered. That 100 XP win bonus makes a HUGE difference at low levels.

And Starlock and CheshiredaCat, and myself ARE in the top 25 overall.

Rat Convoy wrote:

Silverbolt wrote:4. Some of the beast faction players are going to have to step up and get active. Got to get a beast faction player into the top 25 so new players know there are some heavy hitters if they join the faction. leadership has its uses, but till there is a day when every player checks the board or this leader goes out of their way to contact every player its really kind of pointless.

I laughed a little at this one. Maybe you don't realize, but there are quite a few of us beast faction that HAVE been active. I play about 14 hours a day every day except Friday (only eight hours) and Saturday (whatever small amount of play I can fit in), Starlock and Windstalker have also been playing a ton for the Maximals; while Cheshiredacat, pRedimus and Edgecrusher have all been highly active for the Preds. I'm sure there's players in both factions I've missed who have been very active. However, even with that level of activity, it's tough to earn as much as the highly active Con players when we routinely get outnumbered. That 100 XP win bonus makes a HUGE difference at low levels.

And Starlock and CheshiredaCat, and myself ARE in the top 25 overall.

Yes, as Rat Convoy said, several of us are active. I'm limited during the week because I have 7 or so hours of school, though I can jump on a few times during that time. As soon as I'm home from school, I jump on the computer and start sending my team into battle. I really do wish to see more active Maximals and Predacons in the near future so we can close the ever widening gap between the beast factions and the Decepticons and Autobots.

Windstalker wrote:

Rat Convoy wrote:

Silverbolt wrote:4. Some of the beast faction players are going to have to step up and get active. Got to get a beast faction player into the top 25 so new players know there are some heavy hitters if they join the faction. leadership has its uses, but till there is a day when every player checks the board or this leader goes out of their way to contact every player its really kind of pointless.

I laughed a little at this one. Maybe you don't realize, but there are quite a few of us beast faction that HAVE been active. I play about 14 hours a day every day except Friday (only eight hours) and Saturday (whatever small amount of play I can fit in), Starlock and Windstalker have also been playing a ton for the Maximals; while Cheshiredacat, pRedimus and Edgecrusher have all been highly active for the Preds. I'm sure there's players in both factions I've missed who have been very active. However, even with that level of activity, it's tough to earn as much as the highly active Con players when we routinely get outnumbered. That 100 XP win bonus makes a HUGE difference at low levels.

And Starlock and CheshiredaCat, and myself ARE in the top 25 overall.

Yes, as Rat Convoy said, several of us are active. I'm limited during the week because I have 7 or so hours of school, though I can jump on a few times during that time. As soon as I'm home from school, I jump on the computer and start sending my team into battle. I really do wish to see more active Maximals and Predacons in the near future so we can close the ever widening gap between the beast factions and the Decepticons and Autobots.

Activity is less of a problem then numbers. We have significantly less players, which translates to less people for missions. Comparing players we have to active players, the beast factions are by far superior. We have a higher % of active players. It's just that since we have less players, we have less active players at a time.

Tammuz wrote:if i'm gonna be predacon i might as well be as GEEBLOODYWUN as possible.

So would you like a jaguar, a condor, a bat, a stegosaurus, a ceratosaurus, a stag beetle, a rhinoceros beetle, a grasshopper, a locust, a cicada, a gorilla, a dragon, a crocodile, a lion, a rhinoceros, a bull, a scorpion, a turtle, a shark, a coelecanth, a squid, a manta ray, a lobster, a crab, a wolf, a warthog, a two-headed dragon, or a two-headed dog?



Seriously though we need Max+Pred vs Con missions. I'd write them in a heart beat of the interface supported it.

Caelus wrote:

Tammuz wrote:if i'm gonna be predacon i might as well be as GEEBLOODYWUN as possible.

So would you like a jaguar, a condor, a bat, a stegosaurus, a ceratosaurus, a stag beetle, a rhinoceros beetle, a grasshopper, a locust, a cicada, a gorilla, a dragon, a crocodile, a lion, a rhinoceros, a bull, a scorpion, a turtle, a shark, a coelecanth, a squid, a manta ray, a lobster, a crab, a wolf, a warthog, a two-headed dragon, or a two-headed dog?



Seriously though we need Max+Pred vs Con missions. I'd write them in a heart beat of the interface supported it.

How come the interface doesn't support them? It worked fine in the Bot+Con vs Quint missions.

Absolute Zero wrote:

Caelus wrote:Seriously though we need Max+Pred vs Con missions. I'd write them in a heart beat of the interface supported it.

How come the interface doesn't support them? It worked fine in the Bot+Con vs Quint missions.

The mission creator panel only has slots for two factions to be entered. (Hence why I said interface, not structure.)

OS hand-made the Quintesson missions.

Additionally, the Quint missions are still quite a bit different from what we're talking about. Mission-joining was only open to two factions of players, like it is now, not three or four, since the Quintessons were automatically in the missions.

And of course, as far as I know, the Quintessons, Minicons, and Robot Abilities were wiped out by the hurricane. I know I didn't see Kremzeek in cold-storage when I was fiddling with the weapons, so I presume we were set back to before his creation. But the damage was kind of hit and miss if I understand correctly, so I don't know for sure.

Caelus wrote:

Absolute Zero wrote:

Caelus wrote:Seriously though we need Max+Pred vs Con missions. I'd write them in a heart beat of the interface supported it.

How come the interface doesn't support them? It worked fine in the Bot+Con vs Quint missions.

The mission creator panel only has slots for two factions to be entered. (Hence why I said interface, not structure.)

OS hand-made the Quintesson missions.

Additionally, the Quint missions are still quite a bit different from what we're talking about. Mission-joining was only open to two factions of players, like it is now, not three or four, since the Quintessons were automatically in the missions.

And of course, as far as I know, the Quintessons, Minicons, and Robot Abilities were wiped out by the hurricane. I know I didn't see Kremzeek in cold-storage when I was fiddling with the weapons, so I presume we were set back to before his creation. But the damage was kind of hit and miss if I understand correctly, so I don't know for sure.

That answers that. New missions can be added right pretty easily though right?

Absolute Zero wrote:That answers that. New missions can be added right pretty easily though right?

Not at the moment.

Not by me anyway.

The mission creator panel I see when I try to access it currently doesn't even have the option of choosing factions, doesn't have a place to plug in text, etc.

I assume what displays right now is an older version of the panel, and the newer one that I was talking about before, simply hasn't been restored yet (hopefully it can be eventually).

Really curious thing - I can set minimum stat requirements with this version. There's an artifact for you.

Caelus wrote:Really curious thing - I can set minimum stat requirements with this version. There's an artifact for you.

Damn that is old. To bad we can't bring it back at some point...

You used to have to have certain stats to enter a mission?

Absolute Zero wrote:If you couldn't be Gen 1, what would you want to see in the beast factions to make you like them?

I'm not quite sure really. The Predacons amused me in the Beast Wars cartoon, in particular Inferno, but I always thought beast modes were, for the most part, just plain ugly.

Maybe if they had a Mammoth Tank alt mode. Oh yes. That would be very nice. Misplaced, maybe, but nice. Sharks are good, too. 3 on 3 missions to even the odds, like before, and I'd seriously consider it, if only to help even the odds somewhat.

Of course, that's if I had to. With this Decepticon pendant on a silver chain hanging around my neck I'm not particularily keen on the idea of switching sides.

Whiner-tron wrote:You used to have to have certain stats to enter a mission?

Think back to the missions before the hurricane - do you remember some that said things like this?
"...The desert is really hot right now, so we need some fast bots to get in and get out before they overheat..."
"...the planet's gravity is very high, so only our strongest bots will be able to fight..."
"...we need some brave bots..."

Those were missions written to have stat requirements, and I think some of them might have for a while, but I don't remember for sure.

Way back when HMW first started, there were also missions that required X Strafe, X Intel, X Courage, and stuff. They got removed when people started abusing them. The Intel missions were ment for medics, so people configured strafers with the int and sent them in there to destroy a inferior opponent.

It was no where near when the game began that the stat requirements were introduced.

As for that Intel being a medic only mission, i've always thought that to be complete and utter bullshit, just like the claim that people configured strafers to pick on medics. NO where did it ever say those missions were intended for medics only.

Mind you, medics really did suck back then. Heck, those were the days when Alpha Strike posted and actually had credibility, that's how long ago it was.

That was what people said on the boards when I asked.

I assumed they were always there since I started pretty early, I lost my team to the first great whoops and made my team like a week after Ryan handed out a XP bonus to everyone just because he felt nice.

maybe 3 years ago

As it stands now, the only real reason to choose one faction over another is personal preference. Either that'll need to change, or the Bots and Cons will always outnumber their "descendants". I mean, who would play as Waspinator, when you could play as Trypticon?

I have two thoughts on how to differentiate between the factions more.

The first, give the Preds/Maxis an energon discount for the CR chamber and bot creation. This would reflect their generally smaller more efficient forms.

The Second is more controversial and potentially balance breaking. Give each Faction a non-removable +1 in a different stat. What comes to mind would be something like:
Autobots +1 Crg or Int
Decepticons +1 Rnk or Frp
Maximals +1 Skl or Str
Predacons +1 End or Spd

Yes I know it has several balance concerns across the board, but each one has a nice thematic fit of the faction overall IMO.

wow that would handicap the bots.


but still would not draw players...who cares what stats you get as a freebie before you know what stats do?

and or the record, yes i would prefer all those g1 mecha-animals over the pokemon horde. get some more bloody zoids too! if i was guaranteed some good alts i would have gone pred this time (cuase i was prety certian the g1 factions would dwarf them) but having recalled how pants the V2 alt list where...

as to medics, for the vast majority of glyph's tenure Int didn't even affect repair.

Just a question... If The Bots and Cons are all "We r geewun" then why do they have alts from non-G1 series? They want Gen 1, we want more alts. Give us the non-G1 alts, like RiD and Unicron Trilogy. I know it'll never happen, but it's a thought.

See Im not entirely sure where thise Mechanical factions = Geewun thing came from.

It's not like nearly all the serieses of transformers werent bot v con...

There's only BW, BM and bits of RiD which arnt Bot v Con.

Anyway, you could veyr much argue that myself and JP are Geewuners, and we keep coming back to the preds!