ZippyWharrgarbl

IC: Mona Silphi - Hero Factory, Actually Doing Something In The RPG For Once Silphi was tending to her beetles when she received the message from Zib. She quickly finished feeding her pets before moving to her console proper to review the images. They were not from any professional forensic photographer, but they would do. She set to work with her image programs, searching for serial numbers or any identifiable design features on the chips, as well as any other information she could glean, such as the assumed skill level needed for the job. From a glance, she could tell that this was no skilled, deft-handed surgeon, but doing such a thing would require at least basic skills regarding this model of robot.

I think it's stated in canon that it is, in fact, actual teleportation. They did it with a device thought to be hooked up to a Kanohi Olmak. That's an interesting thought, though.

I think the map included in Makuta's Guide to the Universe might have some proportion issues, personally. They couldn't really use satellite imagery or anything like that, and their world's setup is a bit odd with the sea-gates and all. They might have just done their best and called it a day. Some old maps of Earth are super wonky, too. I like how Mata Nui's feet are untamed, fearsome, dangerous areas no one goes to if they can help it. As for Artakha, I think he didn't just rely on location. Illusions and such could have caused people to sail right by without seeing it or something. What I want to know is, how did the map-makers cope with Destral teleporting everywhere? Maybe Destral came as a separate piece you could pin on wherever.

Mata Nui was actually aware of there being, well, beings inside his body prior to that! In Time Trap, it mentions the Great Spirit deceiving Teridax by rearranging the stars, making him think that other Matoran were destined to be Toa, and suggesting the real destined Matoran (the Toa Metru) to him covertly for him to trick Lhikan in turn. This would have meant he'd had at least some knowledge that they were sentient creatures. Also, he compares Ackar to Onua in Mata Nui's Guide to Bara Magna, in a diary entry. Iaredios mentioned this already but I figured that I'd supply some examples. The 1st Santa already gave one of these examples but I spent time writing it before I saw it so there it stays. That's why it's Karzahni. The singing never ends. As for everything else, I think it might be safe to assume the Great Beings planned for this sort of thing. Even if they didn't plan on the inhabitants of his body becoming sentient, things like "giant voice box causes earthquakes in some areas" and "lights flick on and off, messing up the day/night cycle" would have messed up the workflow of the Matoran Universe inhabitants. Also, as Pohatutron said, the speakers might be elsewhere. I'd imagine that you'd give your giant robot the ability to speak so as to explain to any angry inhabitants of a planet why there is a giant robot watching their planet. Admittedly, when I saw the title I had hope that this question would somehow contain a Mata Nui who wore plaid shirts and listened to alternative rock. :c

IC: Rorohiko - Nerd Ship "Ah, cool," he said. "You looking for anything the rest of us should keep an eye out for? I tend to get a bit of tunnel vision when it comes to my work, but if I see whatever it is, I can pick it up for you." ~ IC: Armani - The Test Though on the lookout for any other threats as she dealt with the remaining Vorox stragglers, she was obviously not in any position to spot a near invisible orb. She caught a glimmer of something and while it was too late to dodge, she was able to shift her craft into a better position to take the hit, and was only mildly, momentarily rattled. The Vorox dealt with, she adjusted her flight path to head towards the source of the impact. She did not fly directly at it, as there was a chance it had moved, but she brought herself into an arc towards the area, quickly scanning her surroundings for any trace of the experimental craft.

I'm so sorry for misspelling your name, Timageness! I somehow never noticed, no one ever corrected me, and I have no idea how that flew under my radar- it's right there, after all. However, me accidentally misspelling your name does not discredit any of my points. All opinions do matter, whether I accidentally misspell a name or not. As for replying to posts, I kept replying because I wanted to make sure no one was confused on the subject. Since I am one of the GMs, it is my responsibility to make sure everything is clear to the players. Your posts contained a lot of misinformation and leaving it there with no comment could confuse others. I am sorry you still believe the system is broken. However, if you wish to come back and play the RPG sometime, you are more than welcome. ~ Anyway, with that over and done with, I'd like to let everyone know that from Boxing Day, for several weeks, I may have limited internet (and phone internet access at that) and I will have very limited contact with the other GMs. I'll still try and post, but please be patient if it takes a couple of days! Happy holidays, everyone!

@Nato - I think my issues with your posts were mostly wording issues that I misunderstood. Fair enough. @Timeageness: Mate. I've said that everyone's opinions have worth. I have tried to ensure that this was clear in my post. The reason I was asking everyone to stop is because your points were not offering anything constructive anymore; they had been noted, commented on, and explained why they would not work several times. You kept pushing on it. As you can probably understand, this started to get very repetitive. Now, you're getting borderline rude here. You have had these things explained to you, but you keep seemingly half-reading posts and jumping to negative conclusions based on the half you gleaned. You keep saying your way could improve the system, despite the times it has been repeatedly explained to you that it most definitely would not and in fact would be detrimental. It is not nonsensical for this to happen. It does make sense for us not to take on every single idea people suggest, especially if it does not fit in with the game's mechanics or would not work. We have read and acknowledged it, and explained to you why we are not taking it on. This isn't unreasonable. I honestly have no idea how to better explain the concept to you. You seemed upset that I was cherry picking definitions for a word when you jumped to the definition that would make the least amount of sense in the context? We're not using the mathematical average. We were never using the mathematical average. I have already given a good amount of reasons and examples as to why it wouldn't work, which you seem to have skipped over reading. It's not "serving its own misguided theme of optimism" to not use a flawed system. I asked you to read through what has been said and consider whether your points are relevant. You don't seem to have done that. Hence, while all opinions are valid, you are not helping the discussion and at this point it's going nowhere and I'd rather it ended here. Again. Your opinions are valid. But you are ignoring the points made by other people and seemingly skimming and cherrypicking words and phrases. If this is incorrect, I apologise, but this is just the impression I get because every one of your points seem to either be irrelevant, already addressed, or based on half a sentence without considering the other half or context. We are not implementing a system of mathematical averages for character profiles based on profile type. It's not a good idea. I have explained why earlier. This is the end of the discussion.

To be clear, this isn't really what I was trying to say. Villains and Civilians can come from many races, builds, makes, and walks of life. Making a generalised statement like "Villains are stronger than Heroes" or "Heroes are stronger than Villains" doesn't work. Villains were once Civilians, as there was a time in their life when they were not doing crime. Now they are, and they are Villains. You can have a weedy office clerk or a big buff robot like Rotor as a Villain. The average strength would be better suited to being measured as compared to either the average Makuhero City robot, or to the average for the being's model, make, or species. As I said, generalised comments are not really suited here. Now, I'll say it again: this is over. If anyone has questions or any points that have not already been addressed, I will happily answer them, but otherwise I think this is over and done with pretty decently by this point.

I said this last time, but we're not using the average as "average of all the Villain characters" because that would make absolutely no sense. Again, as I said last time, the difference between a Villain and a Civilian in terms of character profiles ultimately boils down to Villains are Civilians that have done something against the law, in the very simplest definition of the two. Saying "average Villain strength is all Villain strength added together divided by number of Villains" is a flawed system for several reasons: - The average would change every time a new Villain was added, so in cases like Sapphire's, she could get stronger or weaker between posts. - If you had two robots of the same build- let's say, two robots of the model that are seen in the show to man the Hero Hotline- and one was secretly blackmailing celebrities, making them a Villain, then, by this definition, despite being the exact same build and having no strength modifiers or anything of the sort, the Villain robot would be substantially stronger than the Civilian robot if noted to have "average" or even "slightly below average" strength. - Also, in the aforementioned example, if the robot is mentioned to have "slightly below average" strength, that drags down the average for everyone. Yes, one definition of average is as you've described- but, as previously stated, that is not the definition we are using. We use it as "ordinary". As in, something to compare it to. We are defining "average" as in the models of robot that you see around Makuhero City- those random people. We are not defining it by "average of all Villains", because that wouldn't work. Despite you saying you understand the concept, I think you have some incorrect preconceptions about how the game works. That's fine; I'm perfectly happy explaining anything people don't understand, because that's one of the things that I do as a GM. However, I can't help but feel like this argument has gone way too far for something that was resolved when you started it. As GM, I'm gonna pull rank and say, I've explained the concept. If you still don't understand it, I will answer questions, because I don't want to leave you still confused. But, you are insisting we are using a mechanic that I have repeatedly said we are not using. We are not judging averages as in, "average of Villains". You can have an average based on model- like in the case of Heroes, or compared to species/models seen in the show- but not by character type. Characters can be all sorts of species and makes, so we are not defining averages by a collection of different species and types and all sorts. Sapphire, thus, would not have the strength to flip a car. This argument was resolved ages ago. I am still not sure why you are still trying to argue a point countered and dealt with already. I'm sorry, but I am going to politely ask you to read through what I have said, think about whether you have any new points that will add to the conversation, and if not, let it be. We are not using your way of doing things, and to argue that we are or we should is pointless. I'd also like to say that this should not, by any means, be taken to mean people should not bring up concerns. If you have a concern or suggestion, we are very, very happy to hear them, and the GMs know we are by no means infallible! But, this particular argument has been answered already, and continuing this argument does no one any good. The issue has been sorted, I will answer questions, but I don't think another post explaining to me what the mathematical definition of an average is is needed here. I know what a mathematical average is, believe me. It is not the definition we are using here, as has been already stated.

1. I think we're waiting on a post for The Test? One of the three players there haven't posted, but he hasn't posted for a good long while, so... 2. In terms of vehicles: Scarabax can canonically fly, so my Very Important and Obvioudly Very Serious Question is how many Scarabax would you need to train and tie to a sled or sled-like contraption to get it airborne and thus give it vehicle functionality :u

Okay it looks like you have some fundamental misunderstandings on the profile types, so I'll explain those. Profile types do not have a set level of "stats". The closest you'd get to that is Heroes, but that's because they're all made in the same place by the same company and all. Even then, they can differ- we have Heroes designed for strength, like Bulk and Thumper, who would be much stronger than the average, standard model of Hero. We have Heroes that are lighter armoured and physically weaker, but have other skills. You are not limited to a certain set of skills as a Hero, so long as you can pitch those skills as having a use in the Hero field. Villains and Civilians are even less held to a standard, because they don't have the "standard" that Heroes have. By definition, Villain profiles are profiles for characters that break the law and such. Civilians don't break the law and are also not Hero model robots. Nowhere in these descriptions does it say, "this is a limit on what skills these characters can possess". I have no idea where you got that idea from, but it is absolutely not a thing. You can make a super buff Civilian profile character. You can make a Villain profile character who is the same model as the average everyday passerby in Makuhero City except they run an illegal gambling racket on the side. Neither of these have a "standard". "Standard", instead, refers to the average everyday Makuhero City resident, the same way you'd compare Superman or Wonderwoman to an average human. Sapphire having "average abilities" would be to this measure of the average, everyday Makuhero City resident because that's the closest we've got to a being with average abilities. Since Villains are, at their core, Civilians who have done a crime and not an entirely different species or make to ordinary Civilians, it makes no sense for them to all be stronger. That just confuses things. You seem very, very misled over some of these game mechanics. The Civilian/Villain/Hero set are not faulty game mechanics; they're a naming system, neatly dividing characters into three groups. My describing my poor choice of words did not regard the set, it was me explaining that I, personally, in my reply to you, had accidentally used the name of one of the three parts of the set when referring to something else altogether. Still, I'm glad I could explain this misunderstanding to you. This should resolve the issue; if you are confused about anything else, let me know.

IC: Rorohiko - Nerd Ship He nodded when he heard Xaril's words, now back to his work on his device. "Nice. Hey, that reminds me. Never thought to ask. What are you going to Cliffside for, Xaril? I get you might not be able to talk about it, I just wanna know if we'll be walking by the Capstone stalls. I take a while sometimes, looking at their scavenged goods, and I don't want to slow whatever important business you have down too much."

There's a lot in your post that seems to be from some confusion caused by my wording. My point remains unchanged: Heroes are stronger than civilians (by which I do not mean civilian profiles, I mean run of the mill, non-powered beings shown in the show in Makuhero City), these civilians cannot flip cars like Heroes can, as a Hero was required to help. This is the canon as suggested by the show, this is the canon we are going by in the HF RPG. Civilians (as in, average, run of the mill citizens of Makuhero City seen in the show) are the average, not Heroes. I honestly, truly have no idea why you are still arguing that she can flip the car, but in case you didn't realise, we've already sorted it. Onaku himself has said he hadn't really thought too hard about it and was just joking around. The issue is solved; it's remaining as is as a joke, as we have no idea how she managed it. It has no bearing on the story or other characters, and so can remain as it is. But, for future reference, civilians or similar are the average, and not Heroes. I'm not going to address the measured strength of Heroes you've mentioned because it assumes a heck of a lot besides being irrelevant to the point that Heroes are not the average, civilians are. You seemed to be confused as to what I'm referring to, which is on me entirely. Here, by the standard of "civilian", I mean the random civilian robots we see around Makuhero City in the episodes. I do not mean every single character under the "Civilian" definition in the profiles; as you said, all civilians are different. Of course they're not all weak compared to Heroes or Villains. This is referring to the average, run of the mill background character in Makuhero City. Sorry to confuse you on that point! That seems to address a good deal of your points up there since you thought I was generalising profiles rather than just trying to refer to run of the mill, unenhanced, unpowered beings from Makuhero City. Sorry if I came off as blunt, I'm trying to make this as short as possible. Anyway, with that, I believe the matter is sorted in its entirety. By 'civilians', I meant 'unpowered run of the mill people from the episodes', not as in the profile type. I apologise for the confusion, and it was seriously on me. I didn't even think about the wording, so that is seriously my fault. Sorry! In any case, it remains that Heroes are not the average, these specific Makuhero City civilians are, and Heroes are much stronger than these Makuhero City civilians. Sapphire cannot flip cars by herself. This does not need to be edited, but it is for future reference. EDIT: Also, Onaku, I was describing this to a younger sibling who came up with an elegant solution: obviously, with Sapphire's high speed and lack of raised reflexes to go along with it, she is flipping cars by accidentally running into them.

Actually, Surge does have increased strength! Most Heroes do, compared to the average civilian. I think it was even implied in some places that Surge is relatively strong, but don't quote me on that specific point because I'm not sure. And, in the Brain Attack episode, he flips the car for a civilian, implying the civilian could not have done it on their own. Sapphire is not a Hero and has average attributes outside of her speed, meaning she would have average- that is, civilian level- strength. I think you're mixing up "average level" with "Hero level" here, which is an easy mistake to make. So, my original point still stands. I get you've left, though, so this is more to point out to everyone that Heroes are not typically at civilian levels of strength, endurance, speed, etc. I also don't think it's that much of a big deal, I was just remarking on it because it was odd that she was doing that. Onaku says she was using forklifts to flip them, and I said Kat would have had plenty of time to interfere, but the fact that it implies she didn't is pretty funny in and of itself. That's absolutely fine and I wholeheartedly support this notion. Mainly I just wanted to clarify so her sudden increased strength wouldn't be an issue later on. Also I assumed the "damaging property" was her spraypainting things at high speed like a hooligan.

IC: XPlode - Office "Of course we don't want a scene," XPlode frowned, absently rattling at the locked drawer on the desk. "That's the whole point, chum. In and out, no attention drawn. Why, if we were to cause a scene, the Heroes would be on our tails in an instant!" ~ IC: Timothy Gyro - With New Friends This was big. He said quickly, "Can you describe these guys? What models were they? Names, maybe? Any mention of where they were headed?"

I appreciate the joke but would like to point out that from Kat's perspective, she would have had plenty of time to intervene well before that.

But she doesn't have increased strength, which would be required to flip the car. Which is where the conundrum comes in.

This is something Nato should probably answer since it's his mission, but until he gets back: I think he mentioned that the dock was not used exclusively for the Starwhale. Since no one started investigating until it was well on its way, it's likely that it's busy and all. Also, I'm not sure how Sapphire is flipping cars. Tripping people is another matter but you can do that standing still relatively easily. The car thing is getting me. I guess it could be the flow of air as she runs by? But if she was going that fast, she would likely be running into every obstacle on her path. Hmmm.

IC: XPlode - Office XPlode paused in his searching to take the call. "Depends on what information you mean, friend. We have found some interesting leads. I would recommend against causing a scene. We are trying to slip in and out of here without causing a commotion." ~ IC: Timothy Gyro - Uh "Uh," he said, to delay for time. He honestly had no idea if he could do that. He was no rookie, sure, but somehow this particular detail escaped him. He knew, at the very least, not just any Hero could let a potential crook off the hook. He realised that rhymed, and realised a moment later that the mental time he spent giggling at the fact ate up any time for actually making a decision. It was now or never. "Well, I know some guys higher up, and they'll be able to work something out with you," he said. "And in a case like this, really, you're helping us, right? Can't be too hard to let you off the hook if you end up finding this big lost ship and saving a bunch of people."

OOC: Rylinth, Sodden Heap Friend pushed away from Blink and GyRotor, so that's why GyRotor is no longer helping- he's not there. You don't have to edit or anything if you don't want, just wanted to clarify that he didn't just drop the poor guy. IC: Timothy Gyro - Rusty Jug "Sure you didn't," he said, stepping towards the being. "Ain't nobody accusing you here. We just wanna know what happened so we can help your buddies on the ship. They're in danger, aren't they? We just wanna help." ~ IC: The Collective - Capone Whirl's message was received, and after some deliberation a message was returned. Capture of Target_3 was only to be attempted if there were no witnesses to the capture and transport; they did not need Hero Factory hearing word of it and finding it reason to delve into their business. Utmost care would have to be taken to ensure it did not attempt to call for help or any nonsense like that.

IC: Mara Quiver and Ken Render - Mekron CIty Police Department "U-Um..." Quiver glanced in the direction everyone else had already left in. "S-S-Sir? R-R-Ruh-Render already s-said that." "Durn tootin'." Render gave Stormer a worried look. "Y'all feelin' all right, pardner? Th' others already up 'n left t' cuff villains. We're here fer th' defensive position part." ~ IC: Timothy Gyro - Antropolis "Hey, whoa there, buddy." He raised his hands in a placating manner. "We ain't accusing you, okay? I believe you. If you'd done something, you wouldn't be here, around the docks where you'd know people would be looking into it. It doesn't make sense, right? We just want to know what you know about it."

IC: Timothy Gyro - With Friends "Hey, buddy, all we want is info on the Starwhale. How about we start with this: the barkeep said you might know something. Why is that?" ~ IC: XPlode - Office XPlode mulled over the information. "Interesting. So, we will be expecting to leave with armfuls of weapons and other such things. That seems very agreeable. And a missing crew member? That just reeks of mystery. Perhaps they knew what was to happen? It sounds like a very promising lead." ~ IC: Rotor - Villain Friend Ship Having been caught up in his game, he hadn't paid much attention to Thak. The awkward silence was lingering, though, so he decided to try conversation. "Hey, buddy. Why'd you stay behind? Not like we needed an alibi; if Heroes think we were here, they're probably gonna have a solid reason for that, so's an excuse probably won't cut it with them. So, what's up with you? Stage fright?" ~ IC: Ken Render and Mara Quiver - Mekron City Police Station "Guess we're stayin'," Render shrugged to Quiver. He said to Stringer and Stormer, "I don't like th' look'a this. Seems more suspicious than a steel wolf wearin' gravity boots. We'd best be on high alert for another attack, just in case, pardner."

IC: Timothy Gyro - The Rusty Jug "There we are," he said, putting an arm around the drunkard's shoulders to assist him in walking. "We just have a few questions about the Starwhale, and then we'll be on our way. You can talk while we walk you home." ~ IC: For Whipcrack - Office Aside from a rather intense game of Solitaire onscreen, there were some files pertaining to actual work. One was an inventory of what was meant to be on the Starwhale; this list had a good deal of weapon-sounding names on it. There was an email, apparently from someone higher up on the corporate ladder, asking for updates on the situation. There was also an email about a missing crew member who was meant to be on board the Starwhale, but had disappeared right before the launch. ~ IC: For Morphos - Control Tower The Control Tower could not be left unmanned, due to its important roles in assisting vessels in landing safely. However, the shift was undergoing turnover, and so Morphos did not have to wait long for a trio of operators to leave the building, joking together about some TV show they had seen. Desk workers could have breaks, but most of them did so in the office. A pair of desk workers, however, left on their break, opting to go out for a nice lunch.

IC: Armani - The Test "Whoa!" She pulled up from the sand as it exploded in front of her. Whatever tore through the sand seemed to startle their attackers off for the most part. As she went after the few that stuck around, she considered what she had just seen. She didn't see an energy streak or anything to indicate where the blasts had come from, if anywhere at all. Was it reasonable to assume this weapon was limited to the ground, if it had only affected the sand as it had? Or had it simply had precise aim? She couldn't assume anything at the moment. It was too soon to say for sure. She would have to wait until the new craft made its appearance proper.

OOC: I don't think so? If there was, they haven't posted for a good long while, and so can be assumed to just be silently following along. IC: XPlode - Office XPlode glanced at it. "Hm? Oh, no. Seems to be an artistic piece. Purely aesthetic." ~ IC: For Morphos - Outside Control Tower As a building that not only contained flight plans but also housed the means by which to direct and signal vessels to land safely, the building most certainly did have guards. It was a very important building, after all. Morphos would be able to see two guards standing outside the doors, which seemed to be locked with a fancy device hooked up as the electronic lock. It was hard to tell from a distance what the device used for access. It most likely was some kind of keycard; it was also possible that it used encrypted codes sent from an individual wanting to enter the building, but with the amount of organic species around, it was unlikely, as they would not be able to send this code without some kind of implant or external device. ~ IC: Timothy Gyro - The Rusty Jug He glanced back at the organic now tugging at a sodden being slumped over a table. He nodded with a grin to the bartender. "Will do. Thanks a bunch." Pushing away from the bar, he considered what the bartender had said. This person was also looking for information on the Starwhale. Were they a private investigator? Did they work with the current client of the company, or were they wanting information for more nefarious reasons? They hadn't seemed alarmed by his presence and announcing he was a Hero, either, which suggested maybe they weren't a villain or anything like that. It was still a possibility, though, and he'd have to keep that in mind. For now, he decided to pursue this lead first and figure that puzzle out later. He approached the two, and spoke to the one slumped over the table. "Hey there. The barkeep says you might have some info regarding the Starwhale. How about we step outside for a minute and discuss it? It's a bit stuffy in here, anyways." He regarded the organic with a nod and a smile. If they were here for legit reasons, he didn't really want to ruin any chance he had for any additional info from them. If they were a criminal, letting them know he was on to them wouldn't help matters. Playing nice seemed the best option.