tm_master

DEUSY!!!! You came!!! Finally, my persistence and my long list of old Deva contacts pays off! Yup, sounds like you haven't changed that much, too. Oh, my long lost but never forgotten Obsidian brother! *breaks out the champagne and pops the cork, letting some spill on Deus Ex Machina's dusty Weasel in the hangar.* Oh, the day you come back in the zone shall be grand. We shall lay waste to the enemy in our weasels. Ahh, the glory of Obsidian. VICTORY. --TM_Master OUT...

Looks like we may have another Kuja on our hands, guys. --TM_Master OUT...

... This is ironic, since I was just thinking about how the map needs to be bigger, but only to support more/bigger bases for 3+ freq flag games. Do I like the old tileset...? I'm probably showing my age here and the fact that I've been playing this game way too !@#$%^&* long, but I honestly like Deva's simpler tileset. I really do agree with SOS, sometimes a simpler approach actually works better in the case of maps/tilesets. From my past experiences I've found that most of the time, people don't want a map that's TOO big and intricate in design or takes forever to get from point A to point B in (especially when it concerns flagging zones and bases) and may actually leave a zone because of the map. This makes me think back to a time long ago when Devastation did a major map change from the center greens to the center safe. When XDOOM eventually switched it back to the center greens, I can recall at least one person (can't remember the nick) who actually left the zone completely because of that switch back, and I'm sure there were a couple more (although I personally prefer the center greens square for dogfights/center bombing). Sometimes, less is more. But you just can't please everyone when it comes to map/tileset design. To me, it's whatever works/gains population that we should stick with regardless of personal opinion. It would be nice to run a couple experiments to see if we can bring in some new people with a radically modern tileset, but it could end up doing more harm than good in the long run. Hmm.. --TM_Master OUT...

I must say I don't like this idea, it just seems like it might piss people off in the long run. First off, if people in spec can enter onto a freq right before a win, why would that stop people from doing what they do in zones like EG: spec off of the losing team and wait for a spot on the team they think will win to open or just spec and re-enter on the winning freq. Also, what if the scenarios you mentioned actually occured..? What if someone has been on a priv dogfighting and wants to join a freq to help a squaddie (whether that squaddie be on a winning or losing freq)...? The winning team could be a single person who's pinned down in a base in dire need of help and doesn't want to neut. I realize I'm contradicting myself here when I said to make it Pub-Only and autobalance teams with the bot, but with my idea there would be less of a chance of freq-hopping overall during an event, and therefore, nothing to moderate for special situations or right before the win. Plus, nobody except kick seems to agree with my idea, so I just wanted to point out the flaws as I saw them in XDOOM's post. Okay, at this point I'm !@#$%^&*uming all this continued discussion is regarding the next mega jackpot event. I didn't think we were considering doing this on an every-day basis..We have to remember that we don't have many regular players who aren't vets, so we can't limit people's freedoms too much (I consider an event an exception). Therefore, trying to moderate such a rule right now seems pointless. Also, I realized after I typed that huge argument against private freqs in my above post that more than 3 freqs makes no sense in Devastation anyway with the current map. Since there are only 3 bases on the map, any more than 3 freqs will result in annoying dogfighting at the base entrances and annoying flanks (i.e. EG) and will make it ultimately easier on the defending basing team. All the more reason to limit it to no more than 2 or 3 decent sized pub freqs during an event. --TM_Master OUT...

I love both those ideas, SOS. Nice thinking! Dunno if you'll have time to implement them before the game today, but I had to reply. Maybe consider those for games in the future, then? Either way, great ideas! --TM_Master OUT...

Well, if you want to know what I think, with my experience in big Deva flag games... Make it Pub-Only and autobalance teams with the bot (i.e. freq 0 and freq 1 or more depending on the amount of people that ac!@#$%^&*ulate, although I honestly don't think we'll get more than 20, so 10 vs. 10 would be perfect). That's the ONLY way I can see it being fair with no freq hopping. If you don't, Nrg.exe will just form a private freq and tear everyone apart (and yes, i've considered the fact that Nrg.exe only currently has 5 members and they might be facing larger numbers on opposing teams, but they're the best flaggers in the zone and 3 out of my 5 Obsidian members might not even show ). Believe me, I've seen it happen many times, as much as XDOOM, bb, and kick may disagree with me on this. Don't believe me? I hate to drag up ancient Deva history, but I deem it relevant to the topic here.. As I recall, it was XDOOM's Nrg private freq years ago that formed, and XDOOM lagged through a bunch of bursts/bullets and his team won the 97 million point jackpot (at that time, a Deva record). Not that it was the ONLY reason, but it was the last straw for most and the end of Deva's most successful period of existence. People were so pissed some left for good, and the zone The Abyss was eventually formed. How do I remember? Well, it was a HUGE jp at the time....and I was on the losing team. It stung for a long time. (EDIT: AND YES, I know you are currently on cable, XDOOM, I'm just citing an example of how one person forming a private freq can drastically effect the outcome of a big flag game in Deva where lag is almost always prevalent.) As much as I want my squadmates on my freq, I must say I am totally against allowing the formation of private freqs..especially after those same people have been on a pub freq nearly the entire duration of a flag game and just get fed up with newer players and decide to form a private. I know, I've seen it happen countless times in EG and a myriad of other flagging zones with newer players playing the entire time (like myself) only to be deserted and torn apart by teammates leaving a freq to form a private with their squadmates or close friends. Does this defeat the purpose of squads? I don't think so, since there are only 2 squads with 5 players or more (Nrg.exe and Obsidian). If you want to win top points in a mega jp game (or in the zone overall), you can live without the immediate help of your squadmates for one day. It also helps the newer players learn when they see your basing strategies and how you work as a team ...that's how I learned to be a compe!@#$%^&*ive flagger/fighter in Deva. And so yet another bible-length post from TM is complete. Do what you can to make it as fair as possible for all players, SOS. More rides on these big flag games than you may think. --TM_Master OUT...

No objections here, that might actually encourage me not to scorereset. It *was* my idea, heh. --TM_Master OUT...

Indeed, Happy New Year everyone!!!!! Here's to hoping that 2006 is a !@#$%^&* of a lot better than 2005 was: No tsunami disasters, no truly devastating hurricanes or earthquakes, and the end of the Iraq conflict for us Americans and our allies. Here's to peace everywhere. And, of course, may 2006 be a great year for Devastation!!! --TM_Master OUT...

I don't know about everyone else, but those days/times are fine for me, XDOOM. SOS, I think what XDOOM wants is to have the event so that smaller jp's can keep being won the entire time unless someone wins a 50 mil jp, which would override the timer and end the event. That shouldn't be too hard to program into the bot... This all sounds great to me. Let's do it! --TM_Master OUT...

I LOVE this idea. About time for a great event to spark people's interest in the zone. Nice jackpot multiplication reward system idea, too, doom. I'd say make it either a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday to make it easy on people's schedules. Take a poll on the day of the week or something to see which day everyone would prefer. Anyways, I post more ideas later. --TM_Master OUT...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! And may 2006 be a great year for all and usher in another successful year of Devastation existence! I would like to take the opportunity here to express my love for all the Deva faithful. Thanks for making Deva a fun place to play and such a great community. It has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of the last 5 years of my life to play and staff Deva with you guys. It got me through some tough times in my life. I want to give a special thanks to XDOOM for bringing the zone back up, Altec for all his server help and getting us back on SSC, SOS for all his development efforts, kick for all his great ideas, and T-Man for being a great new active staff member, squadmate, and friend. Let's make Deva an even greater place to play in 2006, guys! Cheers to everyone!! *breaks out the Champagne* --TM_Master OUT...

Word. Now get reading, SOS! --TM_Master OUT...

LOL. I wonder who it was that mentioned it to you. !@#$%^&*, kick, you always seem to start a thread/post before I can. Anyways...yes, I LOVE the idea of bringing back sprees. As I remember, Deva used to have it some time ago. I agree with SOS/XDOOM, though: The minimum spree should be 10-0 to prevent spamming. "Yees, sounds workable. I think it's a good option for when the Time comes" -SOS .... The time is NOW, my friend. --------------------- I also like kick's other idea concerning the credits given for sprees (even though XDOOM and SOS don't, of course. How typical. ). --------------------- "And of course that would just give points to the vets who rec." -SOS .... First of all, I think you mean credits, not points, right..? Let's get something straight: Most people in Deva right now don't rec. I define ACTUAL HARDCORE RECCING as scoreresetting EVERY TIME YOU DIE. The only person I see doing that on a regular basis is BestOfTheBest (ElementX). You all think I rec, don't you? Not really, I'm just trying harder for a better ratio this reset and not giving free kills like I did in the last one. A true reccer sets a goal like 100-0 or #:0 and scoreresets as necessary to get there. At least that's my view of it. Trust me, if you make the flagging credit rewards alot higher than the spree rewards, it won't deter people from flagging in the long run. I mean, c'mon..throw the people who get sprees a bone. Some people just suck at flagging and choose to become skilled fighters who dogfight in center. --TM_Master OUT...

Good question, XDOOM, I've been wondering about that since the reset happened. Get on it, SOS! I'm looking forward to seeing my name at number 1 in points. --TM_Master OUT...

Wow, XDOOM, what a useless/stupid topic. As well as a lame ploy to advertise your squad/banner. Making Default waste his time, tsk tsk. If you didn't want everyone to have them, then what the !@#$%^&* was your point in making it a topic in the main Deva forum. I actually wasted time reading this when I could have been playing in the zone. Sigh. --TM_Master OUT...

....After all that typing Kick and I did and all the work constructing those posts...you're telling me you haven't even read them all the way through yet?!? Quit with the excuses and the whining about long posts, people. Just read faster. I can get through the entire thread in 10-15 minutes. Kick's thread/ideas deserve a little more respect than this. ESPECIALLY since the credit system could end up being the idea that saves Devastation from obscurity and makes or breaks the zone. It's WORTH a thorough discussion. You haven't really even commented on anything specific. I understand it takes time to actually poll/discuss, consider, and implement ideas, but come on. Get with it already. --TM_Master OUT...

Ohh..Did NOT read this one clearly. The difference in GREENING it and BUYING it is that it takes TIME to green it. BUYING it is an instant. If super is team-greened, obviously, everyone is gonna get it, and there is no doubt it'll be chaotic. Easy solution: Don't make it greenable. If they want super, they will have to buy it instead. First of all, what the !@#$%^&* doom..."everybody" wanted it greened? I don't recall you or SOS taking a vote on that anywhere. Don't be so sure... You both forget that with very little pop, everyone is usually attaching instantly and in the base trying not to die off with a 3 or 4 person team. Instances of team greening in this case are VERY rare. I agree with Kick, don't make it greenable. Force people to buy it. ------------------- Now on to XDOOM's comments in his latest post: 1. "Most items will not effect flaggers [warp, tri-warp, no-energy depletion, shutdown] (this should be already implemetned)" Honestly, it's irrelevant to me whether it affects the flaggers themselves or not. Sure, leaving the flag carrier(s) out of the equation for those buyables is nice, but it's still going to negatively affect the overall team's game. Talking about it here is fine, but I just don't see people being happy with these being buyable when it actually happens to them/their team and drastically affects the outcome of the flag game. 5. "The people who did not win the flag game will recieve 10% of jackpot to credits (winning team gets 100%)" I do realize this was mentioned before, but I think that's an excellent idea. It will make the losers a LOT less peeved, and possibly be an incentive for players who are new to the zone or to flagging to come back and give it another try. 10. "* arena Messages for when major items get used." That's actually not what I meant. I meant more like what Kick me!! described in his original post. But DOOM's idea here is actually also a good one. #'s 2-4,6-9,11, and 12 in XDOOM's last post: Thank you for clearing your intent with all this stuff up, DOOM. All those things you listed cleared up major concerns I had about those points. HOWEVER, what you say means NOTHING unless those things are actually implemented the way you described. At this point, they are not. You need to get in contact with SOS immediately to clear this stuff up. It's kind of maddening that it seems as if SOS just implemented this stuff seemingly the way HE wanted it, without consulting anyone else first. I do realize it's in testing, but you need to at least poll everyone, start a topic about it, or get in touch with XDOOM first before implementation. He should have the final say on all this, anyway...HE IS STILL THE OWNER. ----------------------- --TM_Master OUT...

Yeah, I really miss the old devazone.com website...i know we can't get that domain again probably, but I wish the website that was on there could be put back up somewhere or by someone. --TM_Master OUT...

Now I know all of you former Devaboarders used to dislike my notoriously long posts, but I feel the need to express my strong feelings on this issue. Don't get me wrong: I understand the need for something unique to bring new players into the zone and SOS's/DOOM's thinking behind the credit bot and its listed buyables. However, I must tell you all right off the bat that it is my personal opinion that many of the buyables are ridiculous and should be removed, or greatly altered in their function/cost at least. I've already spoken with several people in the zone about it and Kick Me!! and I agreed it should be changed (it IS his idea..). I mean, I can speak from first-hand experience on how negatively I can see the buyables affecting flag games (especially in the future if the pop ever increases to greater levels): I've already lost all the flags due to !buy shutdown. Alright, on to the specific issues at hand: 1. If it hasn't been done already, get rid of the periodic 20 million credit grants, those are getting out of hand. I had nearly a billion credits total last reset, most from the bot. 2. scorereset- perfectly fine, although i've had people complain to me that they'd like to see ?scorereset still work. I don't see why not, as long as we agree we don't care if people don't reset their credits as well. 3. warp, tri-warp, no-energy, shutdown, and even noanti- This is where I get opinionated. I absolutely hate all of these. I am 100% for completely doing away with them, but I'm willing to work with you guys on this. So, I'd say either make them ridiculously high priced or change their function so flaggers can not be affected by the warps/no-energys/shutdowns. I simply see WAY too much abuse of these happening when the flag games get larger, especially if all members or even just one on a team uses them. With its seeming randomness, warping especially will piss many people off in the long run. It's really disorienting and maddening after you've been in the same flag game for hours. Eventually, it's not going to feel like Deva flagging anymore. 4. super/brick/rocket- I have no problem with these being buyables, but I absolutely have a problem with the prices. They should be WAY higher. Also, if possible, make them so you can only buy 1 at a time for a certain time period. For example, if you buy a brick and pay the high price in credits, you can only buy 1 at a time and then subsequently can't buy one again for let's say 10 minutes (or some similar period of time). An additional failsafe needs to be put in place to make it so that everyone on a team can't buy at once and brick up a flag room, since that's the other major abuse that could occur. As in 1 person per team/per amount of time can buy. That's the only way I can see to make it fair during flag games. The same applies to super, but rockets won't affect flag games, obviously, so just price them higher. 5. Additional ideas of mine/kick's- Burst Repel Decoy Portal It makes ABSOLUTELY no sense to me that if you're going to go through all this trouble for the stuff I listed above that's already buyable that you won't just make these buyable as well. No excess numbers needed, just the same amount a ship can normally hold. -------------------------- M!@#$%^&* Shutdown M!@#$%^&* Energy Loss M!@#$%^&* Warp Not for these at all for the same reasons I listed above, even for just screwing around and not affecting flag games. -------------------------- *arena message buyable buyable bounty These are two FANTASTIC ideas. I've actually seen *arena listed as a buyable on bots in other zones before, so it's not exactly an original idea, but I think newer players (as long as it's not abused) would absolutely love it. The same goes for buyable bounty. Just, make it like Kick's idea of like +1000 bty for each buy. A multiprize of 30-50 bty is not going to cut it, plus like kick said, that refills your items, doesn't it? ------------------------------------ Sorry for the long post, I just had to get my thoughts on all of this out there. Let's get some intelligent replies to Kick's important topic going, people. --TM_Master OUT... Edit: I removed the last portion of my bible..god awful long post. At least it shows I care.