Bickering thread

[Prussian Havoc]

Until Team HBS announces its new games, anyone else sampling/supporting Vicky3 from Paradox?

Victoria 3 - Paradox Interactive

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

www.victoria3game.com

 

[Kereminde]

I am not, I have been informed the longest single piece of literature is 3.5 million words long.

... I am debating how to break this.

 

[Spartakus]

Very much looking forward to it.

 

[Kereminde]

Very much looking forward to it.

I have "Too Many Projects" for the moment, and the little thing I'm doing with Prussian Havoc on the side is hopefully going to get my head "back into" the setting.

Adding up all the articles on the WorldAnvil site had me at 425k words across the articles. I have a third story for Priam Company and the "in process" stories for the Harbingers to go back to plugging at. So I'm pretty sure it's at least 600k total at this point.

Once I can safely polish and post some other fiction relying on the two merc outfits' accounts? That should really be interesting... (also then I can get down to polishing the Rysel group...)

 

[Spartakus]

Uhm, actually I was referring to Victoria 3. There's no way you can make me read a 3.5 million word piece of fiction. I will be impressed by it's existence however.

Speaking of long pieces of fiction, I am however currently rereading Schlock Mercenary and boy am I ever happy the Battletech Forums made me aware of that work of genius.

 

[Kereminde]

Uhm, actually I was referring to Victoria 3. There's no way you can make me read a 3.5 million word piece of fiction. I will be impressed by it's existence however.

Speaking of long pieces of fiction, I am however currently rereading Schlock Mercenary and boy am I ever happy the Battletech Forums made me aware of that work of genius.

Heh! Yes, Schlock Mercenary is honestly interesting. The art evolution is astounding, but I wind up impressed at the writing. Also the writer's ability to have a gag YEARS between set up and payoff.

(Also, the Seventy Maxims are invaluable and should be issued to Inner Sphere mercs as well.)

 

[Kereminde]

I blame @Prussian Havoc for this. While setting up for the story and realizing none of the old support staff were likely left behind who remembered certain things about some of the pilots...

Spoiler: Just Another Day

"No, that is out of the question." Olivia said lazily as she sorted through paper reports. She hated it, and she now understood why the previous commander had let them sit in a box in the corner. A box which was still there, come to think of it, and might enjoy a sibling.

"Commander, be reasonable." The medic was leaning forward on the desk, which made Olivia's senses twitch. New staff meant another round of reminding people of the boundaries to be respected. "All of the previous data on Miss Sedda is indicating the previous regimen of medications is no longer working. The psych profile suggests it is a bad idea to leave her without."

The commander leaned back in her chair, and drummed her fingers on the leather armrest. At least the chair was comfortable, she thought to herself. "Kelly Sedda has been without for two years now, we've run six missions and she's been fine."

"The reports about the mission to Star's End-"

"She was fine. You are worrying about the wrong problem." Olivia held up her hand. "I'll make a deal, if you can get Kelly to agree to the new meds, then I won't stop you. But whatever follows, I won't intervene." She lied, smoothly, knowing damn well where this was going to end up and not wanting to have to discharge another medic for their own protection.

The medic looked suitably offended as she straightened up and tugged at her white jacket. "Of course, Commander, I would never seek to do this without my patient's consent." She turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Olivia sighed, doing mental math about how long it would take this to play out, and picked up her comm earpiece to tuck in. "Otto, I need you to the infirmary in one hour. Bring no weapons." She listened for a moment. "No, I'm not going to tell you why- yes, it's Kelly again." Her brow furrowed as she rose and placed her other hand on the desk. "No, Otto, you don't get to refuse this order. You're the only one here she'll trust not to shoot on sight. YES. Yes, I'm painfully aware you still have the scar, but trust me on this?" She yanked it out of her ear and muttered to herself as she rummaged in one of the drawers to find an old dusty bottle of Tharkad Silver liquor.

"Damnit, Commander, I swear you never told me command was going to be like this when you had me take over."

 

[Kereminde]

Oh, right, bickering...

(*stands up at the mic on stage and unfolds a piece of paper*)

"LRM Clustering damage should not be broken up into pieces of 5 damage, rather it should be dependent on the cluster roll. For example, a cluster roll of 15 is fine being divided into 5s, but a cluster roll of 12 should be two 6s instead of two 5s and a 2."

Sorry, just once I started playing the game again and looking at the cluster table I really... really... was reminded why this is a house rule we roll with here. If it were in ANY way feasible, I'd run it like the HBS BT game does and roll per missile - but then LRM Carriers would suck to run even worse than SRM Carriers.

 

[Kereminde]

New bickering point...

We really should get updated information from the old sourcebooks which are no longer in print. I say "updated information" because some notes on Sarna suggest my recent choice ("Jade Falcon Sourcebook" which is going to be 'research material') might have information later superseded or otherwise changed in later publications. Since the Clan Invasion Kickstarter ended and people can now (theoretically) get the box set on retail shelves, maybe having a collated amount of generally useful information to actually running campaigns in the Clan Invasion era would be good? Maybe? Just a bit?

(I swear if I had confidence in my work I'd just find the sources and compile it myself.)

 

[Kereminde]

Me: "I want to write a BattleTech story."
Also me: "How the f- does a BattleMech cockpit actually work anyway?! Can someone six feet tall or taller work one or is that impossible? How easy is it to actually do adjustments to the seating and controls? Is it like a car where you can move the seat back and forth a little? At what point is someone too big for it? Ahhhhhh....."

Sigh. The things which block my writing flow!

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Me: "I want to write a BattleTech story."
Also me: "How the f- does a BattleMech cockpit actually work anyway?! Can someone six feet tall or taller work one or is that impossible? How easy is it to actually do adjustments to the seating and controls? Is it like a car where you can move the seat back and forth a little? At what point is someone too big for it? Ahhhhhh....."

Sigh. The things which block my writing flow!

...my first assignment as an officer was to 2-64Armor in Schweinfurt Germany in 1993. We had a German partnership Armor Unit... our German brothers-in-arms believe that the Make and Measure of an Officer is not set in school, but during his first assignment to a field unit.

Thus, even though I was a Fort Huachuca-training / Prior Service US Army Russian Linguist and Military Intelligence Soldier... at Dining In's, Out's and in the field at Hohenfels and Graffenver... I ...

I...

I was a Panzer Officer.

Think on that... Steve "Prussian Havoc," a Panzer Officer in reality and by accepted tradition of both Services.


So, I can assure you Good @Kereminde, that even a 6-foot, 6-inch MechWarrior / Clan Warrior would take an acetylene torch to any piece of overhead obstruction trying to deny him his birthright in the cockpit of his Mech, be it Battle or Omni. :bow:

 

[Kereminde]

So, I can assure you Good @Kereminde, that even a 6-foot, 6-inch MechWarrior / Clan Warrior would take an acetylene torch to any piece of overhead obstruction trying to deny him his birthright in the cockpit of his Mech, be it Battle or Omni. :bow:

I mostly was also sitting here going: "Okay, what 'Mechs have notoriously cramped cockpits, or are said to have roomy ones... aside from the Thunderbolt for the latter and the Orion for the former..."

And then there's the other thread of research.

"I want to write this story about the civilian corporations and their private little war's outcome... what the heck is the legal code like for the Lyran Commonwealth, and who has authority to take an multiplanetary corporation to task because they sorta-kinda had a sum total of couple mercenary battalions having skirmishes across Lyran territory in the midst of the Third Succession War?"

Result:

"We're winging it."

 

[Kereminde]

Me: "Okay, so I'm reading the details about how Clan battle armor is treated and I really wonder how you're supposed to deal with them."
Clanners: "That is the beautiful thing. You cannot."

Seriously, trying to review the rules for Elemental battle armor and coming to the conclusion there isn't really a counter for them.

 

[Nichino]

Just checking in! Any news after almost 2 years or still radio silence? Last I heard there was a vamp game and a secret game entering development? *bicker-bicker*

 

[Kereminde]

Just checking in! Any news after almost 2 years or still radio silence? Last I heard there was a vamp game and a secret game entering development? *bicker-bicker*

Well Paradox was doing "Bloodlines 2" but I think I heard it got put on a shelf for a bit since the devs weren't liking how it was going. Not outright canceled but a case of "we need to think on this".

HBS has a "double-secret probation project" but I can't find ANY info on that. Other than "it's not BattleTech 2".

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Well Paradox was doing "Bloodlines 2" but I think I heard it got put on a shelf for a bit since the devs weren't liking how it was going. Not outright canceled but a case of "we need to think on this".

HBS has a "double-secret probation project" but I can't find ANY info on that. Other than "it's not BattleTech 2".

As I had for a couple years under Ebba, I have been following the Paradox CEO Quarterly Twitch Reports. The last report, SEP21, included the fact that Paradox had had to cancel one of its games deep into the development cycle… #fingerscrosseditwasntTeamHBS

Fredrik’s next (he was CEO befor Ebba) report will be…

 

[KhazadDhum]

Well Paradox was doing "Bloodlines 2" but I think I heard it got put on a shelf for a bit since the devs weren't liking how it was going. Not outright canceled but a case of "we need to think on this".

HBS has a "double-secret probation project" but I can't find ANY info on that. Other than "it's not BattleTech 2".

From everything we've been told about Bloodlines2 is that it's still in development, it was getting to the end stages with HardSuit Labs, but they were pulled by Paradox and another un-named developer has taken over. They're apparently pleased with the new developer, but they won't tell us who it is as they don't want the fans to bombard the new devs with questions and suggestions. So that's all we know.

 

[Kereminde]

From everything we've been told about Bloodlines2 is that it's still in development, it was getting to the end stages with HardSuit Labs, but they were pulled by Paradox and another un-named developer has taken over. They're apparently pleased with the new developer, but they won't tell us who it is as they don't want the fans to bombard the new devs with questions and suggestions. So that's all we know.

I mean, we totally wouldn't do that... it's not like we keep asking about BattleTech 2 or something...

 

[Kereminde]

You know, reviewing the rules for Battle Armor formations and how they resolve damage it becomes clear to me exactly why the Nova Prime might be useful. Dumping shots at Battle Armor formations.

(Similarly, I regret not having a HBK-4P Hunchback around for the same reason.)

 

[Kereminde]

There's a certain perverse satisfaction at summing up BattleTech lore in two hours, only to go: "So anyway, we should stop here. That takes us to year 3052 and the current year of the lore is 3151..."