• Project Horizons Comments Thread #2

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    Filling up threads one page at a time! All comments continue below!

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    Wednesday, February 1, 2012 op
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    4,952 comments:

    1. Cali-NipponiaFebruary 17, 2012 at 4:56 AM

      The chapters just keep getting better as Somber's skill increases. Does the 10,000 hour rule apply to writing as well? I can only imagine what we can look forwards to.

      Oh, and you may be seeing this post a lot, so remember to toss a few bits Somber's way, if you haven't recently.

      I'm no virtue of generosity, but If I consider the value of the entertainment and compare it to all the silly ways I've lost money in the past, well, Project Horizons is a triple-A bond for its return in enjoyment.

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    2. Spitfire8aFebruary 17, 2012 at 5:57 AM

      O snap we already got a new thread... with a picture of Little Pip heading it. Strange

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    3. ketchup504February 17, 2012 at 8:35 AM

      Hey! Get back on the other page! We aren't done yet!

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    4. Free CoffeeFebruary 17, 2012 at 9:28 AM

      Dawww, that picture!

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    5. UnknownFebruary 17, 2012 at 1:38 PM

      is it okay to read before finishing the original?

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    6. Random BlankFebruary 17, 2012 at 2:03 PM

      Project Horizons Map WIP by ~SilentCarto
      for convenient reference near the top of the new thread.

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    7. Thomas P.February 17, 2012 at 2:37 PM

      Brony boy: Quite a few of the regulars 'round here were reading both at the same time. It's completely legit.

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    8. xeneresFebruary 17, 2012 at 4:13 PM

      two comment threads? now THIS is how you LEGEND

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    9. DerpmindFebruary 17, 2012 at 4:16 PM

      Amazing piece of fan-music: At the End of the Trail by Anon3mous.

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    10. SindriFebruary 17, 2012 at 4:18 PM

      Old thread is still going for fifty posts. Go there.

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    11. crazyredemuFebruary 17, 2012 at 7:47 PM

      I don't think I can finish this, it's just too emo for me. It's quite annoying and it doesn't seem to be nearing an end (the emoness that is) sorry

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    12. SindriFebruary 17, 2012 at 9:18 PM

      @crazyredemu
      Define emo. Because as I understand it, that's all about people with no real problems whining about how their lives aren't perfect.

      The term here is dark. Or Grim. Gritty, perhaps. You were warned about it by the [Grimdark] tag at the top. And it's not to a lot of people's taste, but it'f far from an indication of lack of quality and there's no call to be insulting the author over it.

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    13. ketchup504February 17, 2012 at 9:29 PM

      @crazyredemu
      This is definitely worth finishing. You should not give up on it if its too dark. Somber promised it "would get better", though that is open to interpretation. I probably couldn't stop reading it, IF i ever wanted to.

      Also, we still have yet to complete comment thread 1!

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    14. xeneresFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:24 AM

      @crazyredemu
      given, it's not for evryone. oh well, your loss

      ReplyDelete
    15. §torm's SalvationFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:11 AM

      //Cor%e Sy§stems Engaging◙
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      /*SYS Status = E&R*§R
      !Primary partition unresponsive to synchronization query!
      */
      Connntinue SYS star§t? Y/N?

      > Y

      //Input Pass C◘de

      >01001001 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100001 >01110011 00100000 01110101 01101110 01100100 >01100101 01110010 00100000 01000101

      //Pass Code Accep┼ed, Uplink Initializing...

      *&^▲*^↔%^É™llo everypony! It's so nice to finally be able to meet all of you! I can't wait to share my thoughts with you swicked, Sindri, Random Blank, Derpmind, WavemasterRyx, Overlong Analysis Cobalt (OAC for short), Kippershy, RoboRed, WaffleSmart, Jacky2734, and everypony else I have failed to mention.

      Oh this is so exiting! We're going have so much fun together, it's gonna be a S̵̼̬̤̘̤̦̱̣̮̥̬̙̼͢͠C̵̜͕͉̗̞̞̭͚̥̖̦̠̀͡͝ͅR̸̷̨͔̫͓̰̥̱̰̘̖̯͚̜̥̙̯̯̟ͅE̶̯̰̳̼̪̕͜À̢͙͚̩̻͖͙̩̥̯̖̭̩̝̯͚̠̘M̸̷̧̥̯̬̟̳͕̮̻̼̟̩̝ .

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    16. SomberFebruary 18, 2012 at 7:51 AM

      @crazyredemu

      I'm sorry. I try to make the story as good as I can. Can you maybe give some specific examples? I can't do anything about the last 1000 pages, but I can try to make the rest better.

      Oh, yeah... we really should finish filling the other pages too...

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    17. DerpmindFebruary 18, 2012 at 8:49 AM

      @Glitched System
      *Raises eyebrow*

      ReplyDelete
    18. Spitfire8aFebruary 18, 2012 at 8:54 AM

      Lol crazyredemu; it's to emo? when this is a really hardcore grimdark story. thats what makes this story badass. The gore and guts also loses its shock and awe after awhile. Tbh I really wasent fazed by the rape scene in this story.

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    19. Jack DorkingsFebruary 18, 2012 at 11:36 AM

      This isn't an Emo story, its Grimdark. Properly Grimdark like 40k too with the exception that there's light at the end of the tunnel.
      It is pretty heavy though so its certainly not going to appeal to everyone.

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    20. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:31 PM

      Random stuff:
      My comments lag, and aren't as comprehensive as they used to be. I was forced to skim over 1300 comments. It is just not feasible for me to keep up with the rest of You at this point. It may also be advisable for me to stop commenting for a while. I'm sure I found some valid problems, but there is also much bile in my comment. After chapter 36, and especially fight in the Chapel I think I have more spite, than useful things to say. I know, I won't be missed. My comments are [smirk] rather unique, but You have enough chapter by chapter posters as it is. Tough sometimes I complain about something, and it gets explained in a new chapter.

      Recent episode pretty much confirmed, that The Ministry of Awesome would train spies.

      This is very loosely related to FoE, but worth seeing due to sheer awesomeness: Rarity found an Abrams

      Black Jack would like this weapon: AA-12 Fully Automatic Shotgun and Dragon's Breath shells That stuff is scary.

      It would be funny if Black Jack looted a mailbox, and found 200 year old horn enlargement spam. "Grow your horn in just two weeks. Satisfaction guaranteed. Write now!" I'm not good at marketing speak, but you get the point, and it would even work for one of Mech's comics.

      What happens to Crusaders when they grow up? IIRC their organisation was set up by priest some time ago, and existed for a while. Yet there are no adult crusaders around. Does anyone know what happens to children of the street when they grow up IRL? Like those in Russia or Brazil?

      Keeper said, the berries would be spoiled in a few days. In Littlepip chapter, the Wild Pegasus bottles were enchanted to preserve their content. Looks like The Society should seriously invest in null entropy bins, refrigeration and other means of preserving food.

      On second thought Unity Alicorn power level is on par with Super Mutants in Fallout. Certainly tougher than a normie, and can easily handle heavy weapons, but not the scariest things out there. They are powerful, but not much tougher (without the shield) than a big earth pony. It also seems that Unity holds them back, and they got stronger when she died. Therefore I retract my statement about them being underpowered. They are only slightly underpowered, and mismanaged. They are pretty tough, reasonably good at magic (tough a trained unicorn with a wide selection of spells is better), and can fly, but nowhere near as good as trained pegasai.

      Does Glory have a battle saddle? Gatling weapons are heavy, and she is small, yet she seems to handle her new weapon without trouble.

      Fridge Horror: Black Jack is quite lucky, that none of these megaspell shells for Celesita's guns detonated, when she shot the ship. Some might even still be salvageable. BTW, I complained how "mobile missile launchers" trump battleships. I retract that statement. Celestia was big enough to have shield generators able to withstand a megaspell. Now THAT, combined with its ability to fire megaspell artillery made for one scary ship.

      In other news: Looks like "Pony Mod: My Little Fortress" mod for Dwarf Fortress is going to have Stonesense sprites. It looks pretty :)

      Lancer is pretty awesome.

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    21. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:32 PM

      Looks, like no one made a joke about Tepony Tower tunnels.
      BJ: Shoots a zombie. "I can't believe, how nice and hospitable this place is. The only nuisance are those ferals, otherwise I could come here for a vacation." Shoots a zombie.
      LP: Impales a zombie on some rubble. "You’re kidding, right." Shoots a zombie.
      BJ: Shoots a zombie. "What? Of course not. This place is tame. Hoofington tunnels are the real death-trap. We have giant robodogs, defence turrets, zombie unicorns that kill you with magic, and don't even get me started on the monsters and enervation fields strong enough to liquefy a pony in minutes. This here feels like a walk on a beach compared to that." Shoots a zombie.
      LP: “...”

      I guess I should write a simple program to partition text into <= 4096 character posts.

      About sorting out bad apples: It all depends on how many apples you have, and how many you need. If you have too few, you can't be too picky, and salvaging good parts is the way to go. If you are starving, and have only a few rotten apples, it is probably a good idea to just eat them. If you have much more than you need, just pick the best ones. In Warhammer 40k they have humans galore, and can afford to kill them on even a slight suspicion of heresy. In the Wasteland there aren't that many ponies, and pretty much all of them (maybe except for stable dwellers, like Velvet Remedy) sometimes do something bad.

      The way I see it, heroism is about killing socially acceptable targets, and repossessing their stuff.

      @ Sindri
      "The reason people commit evil acts is lack of empathy." There is truth in that, but there is also "negative empathy" - feeling good from hurting others and having power over them. Feeling calm from killing others, and knowing you are still alive. This is serious sociopathy territory, but it exists. If a person like that is denied causing suffering to others, it can be like a withdrawal from a drug. They often also know on some level that what they do is bad, and despise themselves, and are sometimes even relieved when cops get them. It is scary-fascinating to even understand this kind of thinking.

      @ Kipperhy ; @ OAC ; @ suicide discussion
      Oh. Wow. So a depressing story or art can help a depressed person, rather than just make people who read it feel bad. This is surprising, I didn't think about PH as a sort of therapy. It often makes me angry (unusual reaction, I know), then exhausted, then calm, but it is for me a suboptimal method for feeling better, and takes too much time. As to the methods of suicide I advise against fire. It kills too slowly, and leaves painful scars on failure. Even explosives and high voltage can make a person a cripple rather than kill. Wow, most regular posters are miserable. So many of You feeling worse than I do is a rather depressing thought. And how does show about colourful ponies and friendship and tolerance leads to such an emotional swamp is beyond me. Except if it is a way of corrupting the show, just like Trolestia and Molestia. Mane 6 just isn't the same after FoE. However this discussion indicates, that it may be an attempt to reach those, who are too far gone to be cheered up by the show itself.

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    22. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:33 PM

      Oh, if You want polite discussion on a forum, Dwarf Fortress forum is a pretty good place. Discussions on weather children should be kept in the dark with frenzied animals to toughen them up, dropped from bridges to break their legs and used for practising medicine (there is no other way of learning doctor skills than by using them), used to explore underground caverns lurked by dangerous beasts, kept as vampire fodder, or simply killed off to improve FPS are always amusing. There are also a lot of thoroughly done and entertaining !SCIENCE! projects, such as inventing over-engineered and needlessly complex traps for hunting sentient mermaids for their expensive bones. (that was supposed to be funny) If You find this more funny than offensive, go ahead and read Boatmurdered - a story of elephant war, violent deaths, cheese and flooding the world with magma.

      Slavery discussion:
      I agree, that on general principles slavery is wrong. However, judging from Rose's tales there are much worse fates in the Wasteland, and she even saved a few ponies' lives by becoming a slaver. I was never a slave, but I worked and had people telling me what to do from a position of power. They generally treated me fairly, but I still hated some of them. Still, I'd sooner choose that, than say, starve to death.

      Places like Tepony Tower, New Applelosa, Friendship City, or Vault City and NCR in Fallout 2 for that matter, denied entry to troublemakers. Being denied entry to a town is not an excuse to go in anyway, and murder everypony who tries to defend his home. Citizens of Fallen Arch were right about trying to keep BJ's group out, as it turned out soon enough. Yet some of you think that these self-appointed 'wasteland heroes' have the moral right to murder enypony disagreeing with their principles.

      Prison labour is slavery, no matter how you spin it. Weather the prisoners deserve it or not is a matter of perception. The same government that sentences them benefits from their work, and law is arbitrary, and made to protect the interests of those in charge. One example is that in Vault City the guards raided a bar, and fined the owner, even tough his concession on selling alcohol was still valid. One of his friends tried to stop them, and got captured and sentenced to slave labour for a few years. If you want another example, most Powder Gangers were imprisoned for petty crimes, but not all of them. You call this justice? Because government or cops have the 'god's given right' to do whatever they want to people?

      Slavery is not necessarily lifetime (tough Wasteland version often is). Sometimes slaves were allowed to collect tips, and buy themselves out after a few years. Sometimes they escaped. Some more civilized states with slavery, like Athens, had laws against killing or mistreating slaves.

      This line of thought would indicate ethics on SLAVERY as ONLY_IF_SANCTIONED. Black Jack's view seems to be PUNISH_CAPITAL, while in the wasteland it is on average between JUSTIFIED_IF_GOOD_REASON and PERSONAL_MATTER.

      The reason why some people oppose government-sanctioned death penalty is its potential for abuse. While serial killers and such should be stopped in some way, law is generally abused to punish whatever those with power feel like. An example of this is criminalizing growing plants (some companies patented life and seeds), downloading files, and now they want to pass laws forbidding production of compatible, cheaper parts for stuff, cheaper medicine, and such. The fact that something is allowed or forbidden by laws doesn't automatically make it right or wrong. It is just that lawyers and law enforcement care about laws, not justice. Some people are even imprisoned just for speaking their opinions.

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    23. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:35 PM

      There are many examples of power being used to punish a group of people, and benefit from it in some ways. Inquisition and religious wars, Technomancy stomping Reality Deviants, Russian Gulags for political opponents (and whomever was slightly inconvenient, or anonymously accused of treason), USA using anti-marijuana laws to stomp Mexicans in conquered Texas, or concentration camps for Japanese people, for that matter. Also, mass murdering and general oppression of Palestinians by jews.

      As to the example of a guy who stole something, and got gunned down by cops, while trying to protect his new property: I think it was his choice to die rather than give it away. It is also the cop's choice to not use non-lethal weapons, so they deserve the media fallout for killing him. His morality is reminiscent of Wildlings from "A song of Fire and Ice". They think that a strong man can take what he wants, and loosing property (or a daughter) is the fault of the man who failed to protect it. They also believe that land belongs to no one and everyone, but owners took it for themselves, and unjustly deny it to others. They will also rather die like heroes, than bend their knees before authority. The Wildlings also believe in helping themselves. A man can own a knife or an unwilling wife, but not both. This 'nomad' ethics is however, vastly incompatible with our dominant 'settler' ethics.

      Someone wrote something along the lines 'So imagine the mares at Fallen Arch made the law to kill their captors, and Security executed it'. Firstly mares never asked her to be freed, and certainly didn't ask for death. Secondly, they were in no position to make laws, as only those who can enforce laws can make them.

      This 'government has the right to order people around' subject is also reminiscent of the situation in FNV between NCR and Great Khans. NCR annexes everything they can, while Khans want no one to boss them around. This resulted in a war. NCR propaganda says that Khans are evil raiders (sure they attacked NCR citizens within Khan territory, after all why not?), while Khans are just normal, but proud people, who want to be left alone.

      Ethics is not a simple matter. You can read about it here. Basically it works like this: people pick their stance on a variety of issues, cluster with people with similar views, and argue or fight with people with different views.

      Chapter 35:
      Ah, after getting fixed Black Jack got drunk and trashed again. Typical.

      Lol @ "Are you hangover? DO YOU NEED ME TO TALK LOUDER?" How "sweet" of Velvet Remedy and Glory to prank BJ by misinforming Scotch Tape about effects of alcohol and hangover. :D

      She needs food, OK. Need for power is really bad news, she was fully recharged less than a day ago. In Hoofington or Tepony tower this won't be much of a problem, but in the Wasteland she would discharge and die quickly. Unless "power" means gemstones. Need for metal is not critical, as there is plenty of it lying around, but it is weird. She was fully fixed yesterday, and ate some metal, and wasn't even damaged in any way (except organics damaged by alcohol, but that's irrelevant).

      That crown of bottles and duct tape can't be comfortable, especially on a horse.

      Hey, Tepony Security finally contained Rampage. I'm a bit surprised they didn't try that with Lacunae too. This place must have some teleportation wards after all.

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    24. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:37 PM

      Ah, BJ is not not Twilight's descendant then. Good. Well, there is always the possibility that she was a Twilight's descendant, but is now too far removed from ponykind to count as such. Actually why didn't the Twilight society drill through the door or something? Whatever countermeasures there are (like repair talismans) could be suppressed or worked around with sufficient time and resources. Lol @ "Drama Queen" because she is. Mm... It she actually managed to open that door, there would have to be some ripples in FoE from Twilight Socielty obtaining a cache of stuff, or even having a change in leadership. Well played. P21 and Scotch Tape should get to try to open the door too, tough.

      "Littlepip is so boneheadedly determined to do everything on her own" This, I was surprised she accepted BJ's help so readily in chapter 34.

      Black Jack has an accurate assessment of herself, yet these "friends" try to rob her of it. This is somewhat reminiscent of my situation 10 years ago, when some people insisted I'm a genius, or that I can do some things. It backfired. I don't like dishonest "friends" who think uplifting lies are better than truth. This belief is quite a big turn-off to women, as it turns out.

      Blah, I hate social conventions and stupid excuses to do something, like "I'll go fetch a book none of us needs at the moment, so the two of you can talk alone."

      I fail to see BJ's problem with Glory and Homage kissing.

      Lol @ "Fingers... on. Thumbs... function? Freaky digit powers activate!" not working.

      This scroll looks like something that should be in Canterlot in Celestia's chamber, or at the very least in Twilight's study, and not in Life Bloom's study. Oh wow, that Luna one is intense, and a classified document. That book was a gift, and judging from the dedication should be either in BJ's stable or under some rubble somewhere in Hoofington. At the very least it should be either in a safe, or some dusty storeroom, nopony goes into any more. Why is all this stuff here? Maybe it was recovered from somewhere else, and is being kept here, because Twilight Society wants to learn as much as they can about Twilight.

      Most meaningful discussion with the dealer in recent chapters. Interesting view on the ministries, and ministry mares not quitting.

      Interesting conversation. Wait, assault in a public place? Tepony security will intervene, it would be much more prudent to do the interrogation quietly, except well... she's Black Jack. Shadowing that mare, while sending an ally to exert pressure on Twilight Society and Tepony security to detain and interrogate her would actually make sense. Or letting Lacunae interrogate her with magic. Hey, 'die before you reveal a secret' was pretty well done. Knowing how to do this to ponies would be very useful. Causing pain on even small disobedience, and death on big one would be even better. Remotely operated detonator with microphone wouldn't have the range. Very intriguing. Oh, and it's not assault, but murder now. For all security ponies know, that mare exploded because of beating from Black Jack.

      The list of charges gets longer with 'disturbance', 'destruction of Tepony property' and 'criminally insane'. Lol @ "Saw a Radroach".

      Oh horse apples. Sanguine was working on pesticide talismans after Chimera was discontinued. Looks like he made some damn good ones, based on enervation. The only problem with that theory is that funobtanium had much better uses during the war than mere pesticide talismans for houses (and affordable ones at that). For this to be even feasible, it would have to be OIA's plan to harvest souls. Golden Blood despised Sanguine. How? Why? When would these things be produced and installed?

      Actually I think it is pretty easy to miss P21 when he wants to be missed.

      Oh, and just throw more kinds of insanity into that growing list of BJ's criminal charges.

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    25. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:37 PM

      She destroyed both the frame of her bed and the mattress beyond usability? I'm quite surprised she can't salvage enough of it to not sit on the concrete.

      I can't imagine what Lacunae and Rover would be doing together except talking or minding their own business each.

      Huh? Trading ship is charged with "raiding activities"? Why? I mean Steel Rangers would cook up something like that to confiscate her engine, but Tepony seemed content to trade with scavengers and such.

      She is eating a LOT of gemstones. That means her upkeep is expensive on something difficult to obtain. Unless Somber goes with the rules of the show, where ponies own large stashes of gems, and can get more without much trouble.

      Golden Blood was right about Luna, and not telling her about GoE.

      Hey, nice idea. GoE is essentially a Gigaspell matrix, and could possibly be tweaked for another purpose. Such as a weapon powerful enough to once and for all destroy Zebra land, or make the Wasteland more hospitable to Unity alicorns. The problems with that are locating it, taking it over, tweaking it, and working around the lack of elements of harmony. In fact any Crusader maneframe with several dozen linked megaspell chambers and much !SCIENCE! could do the job. Hoofington probably has something like that. Still, alicorns can survive and thrive without radiation. Oh, and they need food (or don't they?), so their biological program should include crops growing in highly irradiated environments. Still, that could work. Except souls are not supposed to work that way. Talismans emitting radiation would be good too.

      I'm rather surprised she didn't tear the secret of GoE out of Black Jack. Lacuane is better at perception than Black Jack is at lying.

      Wait, but BJ's companions do know about enervation rings after The Crop. She showed them one. During the fighting there was no time to salvage the second one, true. How does she even know BJ didn't tell Tepony about these rings being an effective weapon against alicorns? She wasn't there during the conversation. Well, it is good that BJ didn't. Weaponizing enervation only feeds the EoS.

      Ah, so... Lacunae was screwing up with BJ the whole time. Lol at that. Well yes, if more of her sisters behaved like her, they would be much more welcome in the Wasteland.

      Ugh, Psalm with Golden blood? She was a sniper, and a member of Macintosh Marauders, and was frighting in the front lines. She couldn't be with GB at the same time. I guess the war escalated after Littlehorn, but I expected personal escort of Golden Blood to become an OIA guard, not a normal soldier.

      "A picture of Princess Luna drawing moustache on sleeping Goldenblood." Wut? How would even such a picture be made, let alone approved for publication?

      Wait, wasn't Sundancer Twilight's age? But that would make Goldenblood much younger. Something is not right with chronology here.

      Well, I guess Twilight was influential enough to protect at least some books from Rarity.

      So Goldenblood wasn't a professor of anything fun, like magic, or engineering, but of history, culture, psychology, literature, anthropology and other such things. Well, I guess that partly explains why he was so good at manipulating ponies, but is still disappointing.

      Scotch Tape actually poured Rad-Away on that bird? I was going to ask why all of them got invited to Homage's party, but Homage does believe in heroes. Makes sense, I guess. And this is an opportunity to use some of those jokes about these groups meeting from PH thread. No Twilight Society ponies invited is a slight to them, tough. And an alicorn was invited too ?!

      I'm a bit surprised Lacunae wasn't trying to get closer to Pyrelight. Perched on her horn would be just about right. Lacunae likes radiation, and that's a balefire phoenix. They were meant to be together (as companions, and not in a weird sexual way).

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    26. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:39 PM

      This party was a wasted opportunity for some more music, but without Octavia's instrument this time.

      Bad things happening in Hoofington. OK, they always were, and accelerated lately. But a blackout? Does that mean blocking communication or no electricity? I don't think the damage to power grid was more than automatic rerouteing and repair systems could handle. Unless the dams or a very important transformer station was destroyed. A communication blackout is implausible. At the very least there is Thunderhead, and Enclave scouts, and independent transmissions from broadcasters. Each major faction should have a radio, and BJ's broadcaster found plenty of active network nodes. This is as unnerving as it is weird.

      Hey, what do you know. Lacunae is an actual word that means "something missing".

      Interesting. Convincing or mental assaults won't work against Unity, she'll just put all that into an orphaned child. It is even POSSIBLE for one of her children to object to her? Wow.

      Oh, they addressed the fact that taint is everywhere, and not just in Maripony. No conclusions tough, other than taint is some ingredient of IMP that existed before it was created. Possibly stardust or something.

      Well, more bad news for Professor Zodiac. Heads in a jar and brain bots go crazy fast. But then again sanity is overrated anyway, especially in a place like the Wasteland.

      Ah, so the blackout was just about the MASEBS and jamming radio transmissions. This probably means Thunderhead Enclave preparing for an attack from Neighvaro.

      Um... Home means her stable, right? I don't think that is where she was going to go next. Oh, and Lacunae said the effort to teleport depends on the square of distance, and even irradiated she could do maybe 10 km or so. Hoofington is hundreds of kilometres away, maybe thousands. This would mean hundreds or thousands times the Lacunae's peak output of magic power outside of Full Goddess mode. Purples normally have some trouble teleporting even a few hundred meters to unseen target. Seeing a target could be possible with another alicorn in target position, except not in Hoofington. If such a long range teleportation was possible, the Goddess wouldn't have to fly alicorns from place to place, just teleport them. Something is very amiss with this method of travelling working at all. Maybe if they had jars of radioactive goo with them, and made a series of 20 km jumps it would be more plausible, but otherwise this shouldn't work at that range. Even Little Pip's team had to travel to Canterlot on their own.

      Overall a breather chapter with some things explained, but not much happening, and kinda bland compared to the rest of PH, but a lot of exposition, and some scenes were memorable, like "fetch a book" and Lacunae talking and crying. I think those jokes from comment thread would work better as a standalone collection linked to main PH thread as 'chapter 34.5'. There were very few things that went into "author gave a wrong number" territory, aside from long range teleportation.

      BTW, a good way to include a "drastic, skip this" scene in a google document would be to simply write another document with that scene, and link it with a warning inside the main chapter.

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    27. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:40 PM

      Chapter 36:
      Title: Victims. Sounds like bad things happened in Hoofington during their absence.

      Teleportation right outside Hoofington makes sense. It alicorns can even teleport that far at all. The group are whining like if they had to walk back the whole way.

      Lol @ "'What we need is a transport, like Littlepips.' Glory lowered her eyes." Lacunae can fly too, you know. More Lol @ BJ pulling them on a railcar. It may even work, Hoofington has a lot of rail tracks. The biggest problem is energy. Black Jack needed more after a few hour walk in Tepony tunnels, and running and pulling a wagon is more exhausting. Yet more lol @ "'I's making whining noises.' Rover: 'Because it's pony engine'". Reins is just too much, BJ should snap at them. I was confused by "find a wagon with intact wheels and tires" because they are already riding, but I think they meant something that goes on roads, not rails.

      That's one big pony. Black Jack wanted to beat up a caravanner to get some answers and not just ask nicely about 'any news from Hoofington?' Bribery works too, I guess. I don't quite get her notion of 'lack of subtlety' in bribing. It was clearly stated, and it worked. Lol @ "One winged idjit." They want to blow up the train why, because the cargo is Red Eye's? Well, blowing up enemy transports is a viable tactics, but rather not their style.

      Gems confirmed as energy source.

      I was wondering what happened to that gem mine after 'liberation', and why Security didn't get her cut of gems for so long. (Well, she didn't ask, but really, what's the point of liberating something, if not for profit?) Beating a scared and rather pathetic ghoul prisoner, while asking questions, even when he isn’t trying to resist or lie - looks like Black Jack is developing a case of cyberpsychosis. She is still a far cry from "blowing up ponies so they fly and fall around like confetti for fun", but
      getting there slowly. Lol @ "'What cock?' 'Oh shit, did it fall off again?'" Oh, just catch some ghouls and have Lacunae interrogate them with magic.

      High-end mercenaries killing settlements and emissaries luring ponies into the city mean more souls for EoS. Hoofington rises indeed. Wait, what? How the heck is cybernetics supposed to make her resistant to enervation? If anything, she should have LESS lifeforce now. This makes no sense. Only harmony seems to provide some degree of protection.

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    28. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:41 PM

      That recording was left there on purpose, and makes perfect sense. Sanguine has interesting things to say, tough rather inconsistent. Yes, Security did cause quite a stir, but waking up the core wasn't her doing as far as I can tell. Plus sacrificing ponies to enervation rather than simply reclaiming the mine makes things worse (but he doesn't know that of course). I am conflicted here. On one hoof killing a lot of ponies in one place seems to make enervation worse (likely by EoS moving a spiritual tentacle there). On the other, Chapel has high death rates from pilgrims and low enervation. Even Psychoshy is against putting ponies through a rock grinder. facehoof @ BJ running into a gulf like an idiot. This place was abandoned hours ago. There is nothing 10 minutes more or less will change. If anything, she should be cautious of traps. Swim UP you idiot. Come to think of it, the rock crusher chamber was rather big. Too big to be filled even by hundreds of ground up ponies, and it had to have some shafts going down, a way to dispose of useless rocks (but maybe that was a conveyor belt going up). Assuming a pony is ~100 kg (and they are smaller) it would take 10 of them to fill a cubic meter with red pastes. More, it it was mostly liquid. And even if the output conveyor belt was disposed off, there would be a pile of meat close to the grinder, and a puddle of blood around, that would drain away. Besides this blood has been here for some time, and is should coagulate. I just can't picture drowning in this stuff.

      P21 has came out of nowhere? What? How? Why? they were told to stay outside. There was a friendly bar on BJ's compass, but she didn't investigate. Was that him? The confusion grows. Ah, so they plucked the outflows, flooded the area (or rather disabled the pumps that were drying it, and it got filled with rainwater), and ground ponies into that pool of horrors. OK, that would work. But still, drowning in water chest high would be very weird. Putting Dusty Trails in the machine like that is commendable. That is exactly the way to get Security's attention. Tough taking over the gem mine rather than killing it out of spite would still be a sensible thing to do. Red Eye can use gems for sure.

      Beam rifles and stun grenades is a good tactics, tough beams are rather visible, and normal sniper rifles / AMRs on all sides of the mine to get a cross fire would be better. The only problem I see with this is why haven't some of the guards run inside buildings, when many of their colleagues got ashed. Then get weapons from fallen comrades with telekinesis. Snipers and Griffins would have much more trouble fighting inside tunnels. Come to think of it, some miners probably tried to hide, but Griffins with high perception and EFS was all it took to find them.

      Oh, and I guess the machine was stopped when its piston was crushing down, and re-enabling it will kill Dusty for good. There might be a possible workaround to free her, but she is too far gone, and they have no time. Mercy shot it is. How did she survive anyway? There is only so much, even such a great medical researcher as Sanguine can do, and this place is supposed to have very high enervation. Yet none of them seems to suffer from it. Was there strong enervation at the entrance, but it gets less severe deeper on? HEY, ASK HER ABOUT HER SECRET STASH OF WEAPONS AND GEMS BEFORE KILLING HER, YOU IDIOT!

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    29. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:42 PM

      facehoof @ BJ not fighting back against P21. It has been too long since the stable, and obviously he needs to be shown, who's boss here. At the very least loot the place quickly, detonate the mine, and go fighting outside, where there is less enervation. I really like the idea of big red button labelled 'do not push' that kills anypony stupid enough to push it :) A foolproof (that was a pun) way to kill Security for good. Another facehoof. 15 minutes is too hard for her, even with a built in clock. Collapsing the mine may cause cave-ins and earthquakes on the surface. This can kill some of her friends, if they are inside a building. This is just too damn stupid for words. Still, Sanguine will be in Chapel soon. This is the best way to piss off Security. Of course the mine had working wagons, they used them to haul all those gems, but I think Security just blew them all up. I don't remember them burning supplies, but it was a while since they've been here.

      She is getting her magic back, good. I thought they attach carts to a thick ring around her neck, not something she holds in her mouth. Oh, and reins on an intelligent pony is a weird idea, and I know they sometimes do this in the show. Rampage is pretty strong, she should relieve Black Jack sometime.

      Apparently they have pretty good roads in Hoofington, despite all the rubble. I just don't get the 'too busy running to look ahead, or think' state of mind. She says, she can't even notice things bigger than her, that are close. I do not understand. Her mechanical legs do most of the job anyway, and her mind should be free to wander in dark places. Besides, full gallop is only sustainable for a short while, and she is going to run for hours. A prudent thing to do, would be to let Lacunae fly ahead and scout and report with telepaty.

      Hoofington Rises, and EoS is waking. Of course enervation is increasing. Oh, and it was recently unintentionally fed by Sanguine. Lacunae should just leave Hoofington, I guess. My personal theory about Unity alicorn vulnerability is that once a soul has been displaced from a body, it is easier to move around, and its link with body is weaker, and EoS has easier time ripping it out. IT STILL MAKES NO SENSE, THAT CYBERNETICS WOULD GET RESISTANCE TO ENERVATION, tough.

      Huh, I thought they were going to the Chapel. Hey, ponies on celerity and buffout. These are always a lot of !FUN!. But why would one need to run up to melee range to fire a gun, I do not understand. facehoof @ stupid companions still not using armoured barding, despite fighting monsters every day. They were trying to take a drugged frenzied pony alive for questioning, and not surprisingly it didn't work. It makes sense that Flank would have defences based on using drugs. This place has a stable filled to the brim with supplies for making drugs after all. Um, actually why aren't the two surviving cannons shooting at Security, or somepony? Why isn't Lacunae flying out of range of frenzied mares, and frying them with magic? Oh, I think I get it. They are trying not to kill these defenders of the Flank, because they loose reputation for killing them. It worked, Flank Security recalled the charge. A needle gun with tranquillizer. This would make a great weapon, especially for the more stealthy among them, like P21. Let me guess: It was Black Jack's idea to sell all their stash of Moon Dust to buy overpriced food at Tepony.

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    30. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:43 PM

      Citrine is right, except bad things would still happen, if Sanguine got Chimera earlier. A key to Equestria is easily worth tens of thousands of ponies. Yeah, since Sanguine already moved to the next place, there is no point is staying in Flank. Actually the best thing to do at this point would be to hole up Black Jack somewhere, and sent companions to screw with Sanguine long enough for Griffins to kill him. On second thought, why isn't Sanguine simply tracking Black Jack's pipbuck tag? That would be so much simpler than his current plan. Caps? Discount? Black Jack should have demanded a cut of profits from this place the first time she was here, dammit. Tough seeing as she wasn't here when Flank got hit, and Flank has much better defences now, such a protection racket wouldn't work. What did they buy anyway? Followers of the prophet sound like a crazy cult, that feeds EoS. Oh, and BJ is going to 'talk' with them. Lol @ all her companions knowing how that usually ends. Ah, so Rampage is going with her as her backup, and openly admits to killing ponies just to calm down. Why is she allowed to stay with them again? Lol. 'Did you like it' is a foolproof berserk button on a raped woman (especially if she has). She went to talk with some ponies, and beat Rampage into bloody pulp. This must look 'interesting' from the perspective of her companions. Yeah, she has cyberpsychosis for sure.

      Hey, chapter title 'Victims' was explained. Oh, and BJ understands more things about heroism now. Actually, I just had a small epiphany from that. Bad stuff happens to people (mostly from actions of other people, but that's irrelevant for this train of thought). They have different mechanisms of dealing with it. There is repression, and avoiding the subject, talking about it to a friend and crying, talking about it in a vicious way, revenge, transferring revenge on random people or animals, screaming in a desolate place, praying, crying alone, joking. All of them work to some degree, and are dysfunctional to some degree. However, when two people with incompatible methods meet (like repression, and talking about it in a vicious way or crying alone and crying into somepony's arm) their pains tend to resonate and explode.

      Heroism IS an excuse to feel superior. Also morally superior and justified in lawful stupid actions. However denouncing heroes is also a way to feel superior. They are also right about inability to understand some things without living through them. For example I'm unable to comprehend alcoholism (but I still find it funny in Dwarf Fortress). Well, Citrine WAS right with her limited knowledge. I have a great quote from DUNE: "In absolutely relativistic universe, it is impossible to compare opinions of two experts by forcing them to agree. Each can be right within his own frame of reference." I probably mangled it a bit, but it is a great quote, and has been quite enlightening to me over the years. I used to think that my truth is THE TRUTH. The quote teaches, that there is my truth, but also other people's truths as well.

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    31. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:44 PM

      I'm very surprised, the attack on Flank didn't take this sect down. OK, they are definitely bad news. Singing makes them unaware tough, and maybe our heroes can kill them quietly and take their stuff. They need to restock before Sanguine, and this stuff looks good. Talking first is a good idea. they don't have a necromancer, and can't interrogate the dead. Core is waking up, and it has factories. I understand new weapons and barding, but how can it possibly produce food? Cities import food, and I doubt there were hydroponic farms under the core. Healing potions undamaged by Enervation in Hoofington? Enervation is at its strongest at the core, how is this even feasible? Machines at the stable needed energy AND organic matter input. This would have to be much better equipment than what the stable had. It would also need a lot of energy, and I don't think the core has any source of organic matter. Hmm... Did ponies complete Universal Synthesis? Mechasprites were pretty damn close to what it would take. Auger looks too damn brainwashed for questioning. Sending a mole, like P21 into their organisation would be too slow. I guess just kill them all, loot them, and check for any messages they might be having. Eh, they didn't. On second thought Security is right: get to Chapel first, exterminate cultists later. Plus killing them here would be just more souls for EoS. What did they buy from Caprice ?!

      Ah, an ambush. I was surprised they got to Chapel before Sanguine who had a head start, and didn't meet him on the way, but an ambush makes sense. Just fire rockets at them while they are in the open. Why is Lacunae not flying ahead scouting? Is she sick from enervation still? This is close to Chapel, she should be OK. She should at least make a shield to slow down Psychoshy. Black Jack is firing her shotgun in the general direction of her friends (Psychoshy was fighting Glory). Ah, OK. Lacunae is doing her best. I never could understand melee in Fallout (except for Deathclaws), but Psychoshy's style makes sense, actually, if she is so damn fast. I don't think they have anti-pegasus missiles with them. Everypony take Flash and Dash and Steady and try to shoot her, I guess. That, or grab some spears or spikes, and hope she rams into them, and impales herself. No Rampage, Psychoshy is fist. You should attack her immediately, and talk later. Otherwise she would fly away before you say 'your turn'. And don't hit her, grab her to slow her down. Preferably immobilize a wing. Managing companions sucked in all Fallout games, except for Tactics, where it was frustratingly tedious, especially exchanging fire with low hit probability. Hopefully Lacunae survived this. Luckily Psychoshy aggroes by threat level, and doesn't prioritize finishing up unconscious foes.

      Uhm, why stop Rampage from having some fun? I don't get it. At least tell her to cut a wing off with a ripper to ground her before talking to her. They could even promise reattach the wing later. Or maybe find a way to graft it to Glory. Oh, Psychoshy is just so pathetic now. Hurry up with the interrogation already, than rampage her, and go to the post office to send Sanguine her head. So she is not Sanguine's pet sex kitten, more like his pet daughter, he raised and enhanced her. She is crying? Aww, they are letting her go. Even wonderglue fails to sweeten the disappointment. Still, maybe she'll be more !FUN! next time. Psychotherapy with Psychochy is unusually more !FUN! than with Rampage, and for that alone she might be allowed to live. But still, she was so unlike her when caught, so pathetic and vulnerable and crying :/ Psychoshy promised to kill Security. This is a very clear message to kill her NOW. I'd much prefer it if Psychoshy didn't act so OOC, and even defeated talked to them with fierceness and insults.

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    32. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:45 PM

      At least they looted four power hooves. Rampage should get them, I think. Huh, and looks like this time P21 actually followed the chain of command. By now BJ's companions should learn to ignore stupid orders. I mean, if Rampage killed Psychoshy anyway, what would BJ do? For that matter they should interrogate her. "Where is Sanguine?" and "How many Griffins are with him?" come to mind. Oh, and why didn't Psychoshy take a few Griffins with her to snipe this group from afar, while she outmanoeuvres them?

      Chapel looks peaceful. Shouldn't they just run in, and wake everypony up? Unless they suspect a trap by Sanguine, that is. That stealthbuck lasted quite long. What do you know, it IS a trap. I am sceptical about Glory fighting multiple Manticores. Oh sweet, they looted a pipbuck. Too bad they didn't get more from BJ's stable or Steel Rangers or Collegiate or some place. A problem I see with this plan is that as soon as they are detected (and they will be, Griffins have Power Armour with EFS), Sanguine will start killing the hostages. They are also splitting the party, so if one of them fails, there will be nopony close to help her. At least one rescue mission was really difficult because of enemies killing hostages in Fallout Tactics. I assume "most important mission of all" means either the Dragon Pony, or talking to children hostages. Taking care of the Dragon Pony then. Tough only temporarily, because she will still fight for Sanguine when things get ugly. I'm rather amazed by Black Jack's perception, but that must be those eyes of her picking infrared or something.

      WHAT? WHY? HOW? They cannot simply sneak like that. Even assuming the monsters are half deaf and blind, the Griffins still have power armour and EFS. They also expect company, and are on guard It COULDN'T have worked like that. It is very difficult to sneak on enemies with reasonably high perception, and not all of their group have decent stealth.

      I don't get the part with putting a bottle next to a door.

      Manticores, and Brass especially, are fast. They should just fly and zerg rush, and try to use Psychoshy's tactics. There isn't much space to manoeuvre here, but I still just can't picture Glory winning this.

      They got a dart gun. Good, but they should get a poison rather than tranquillizer. Tranquillizer works fast, tough. Phoenix didn't even get to cleanse by fire.

      I'm rather surprised they have time to DRINK healing potions in combat, and Black Jack doesn't have an automatic injector. Oh, and what is a healing potion supposed to do with a broken MECHANICAL leg?

      The Gatling energy gun not doing anything was a disappointment. These were supposed to be high-end mercenaries. And they still didn't kill the hostages :/

      Stun grenades WOULD be effective against this lot, even Rampage. Did the Griffins run out, or something? This victory was too easy. I hate plot armour.

      Where is the Dragon Pony? She should be done with Scotch by now, and fighting them. Unless Scotch Tape poisoned her or something.

      Sanguine is saying "time to finish this", and BJ has time to eat tin cans ?!

      Ah finally something that makes sense in this farce. Sanguine takes control, and kills (wounds?) a hostage. Good, that's what I wanted to see. Too bad, Sanguine and griffins took such heavy losses. Actually the most viable tactics in this whole fight was Lacunae teleporting ponies and griffins into range of core cannons to be ashed. Too bad it leaves no loot behind.

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    33. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:46 PM

      SO THIS IS WHERE YOU ALL ARE?
      >=|

      I AM NOT IMPRESSED.

      though that does mean some of my spoilers are safe(r) then otherwise.
      STILL.
      THE KIPPER IS NOT IMPRESSED.

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    34. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:46 PM

      Charity bleeding... with any luck she'll die and Security won't have to pay for that stupid invoice. 'audacity' ?! How is caring for his own adopted daughter 'audacity' ?! That is a good thing, right? Even if Sanguine interpreted it as 'her death was swift', that is still nice of him. I just... oh forget it. Vermilion sounds awesome, but let's face it, after this farce of a fight, plot armour is going to protect everypony important. Maybe Sonata or some kid will die, but I'm pretty sure none of the 'good' important NPCs are. Hey, Charity is even willing to forsake Security's debt if she dies. Of course after a statement like that she is going to live.

      Huh? But this was rather simple to solve. [SPEECH]: Shoot Charity in the head. "Your negotiation technique is flawed." Kill Sanguine, and walk out. Without Sanguine the Griffin has no business fighting Security, and will want to report to Red Eye mission failure and squad dead, rather than fight. Problem solved. Maybe not the best way to put it, but Security has intimidation perks and speech.

      Sanguine doesn't really need EC-1101 itself, just to use it to unlock his project, and Security can keep it. By his description of it, Lacunae should be actively helping Sanguine. So why isn't she? They want males, right ?!

      Miramare and Megaspell? Ah, Trotenheimer's Folly! This set some alarms, and woke the Core. Yes, Sanguine accusing BJ ow waking up the core makes sense now. The EoS rising and recent massacres of ponies are all Black Jack's fault. Lacunae appeared just in time. This means she was listening. She can get males for her kind, a few dead ponies is nothing compared to that. Why isn't she helping Sanguine ?! YES, at least Sanguine took one of them with him. I like it a lot, tough he should have fired that gun, and Priest overwhelmed him too easily. You go Sanguine, fry them with some magic! Kill those kids with that grenade!

      Where are Black Jack's friends anyway? Why is she alone? She gave up her pipbuck? She got so many killed to keep it, and gave it up for a chance to save one?! I guess I should be used to it by now. Good thinking Sanguine, buy some time. Maybe Brass or griffin will save you. If not, Security runs faster, even with mechanical leg. Come to think of it, all her legs are mechanical now, so why was she feeling pain, when a part of it was cut out? Why didn't Sanguine just cut out her whole lower leg, to slow her down for a while? And why weren't more ponies on the way freaking out over seeing a cyberpony? That is not a frequent sight in the Hoof. Once again, Lacunae should be helping him now. What, they aren't chasing Sanguine? He got a few minutes head start, and can't teleport. He can't be far. He is alone, weakened, and didn't get Chimera to work yet. There won't be a better chance to kill him than now. Unless he met with his buddies already. Security's team is exhausted too. Black Jack has some strokes of tactical genius, but I still think pursuit would be better at this point.

      They didn't even properly interrogate Sanguine. These guys suck at interrogations.

      I liked the resolution to hostage situation in Mass Effect 2. Just kill the hostage, and smack talk the opponent into surrendering.

      I'm too pissed after this fight to regret Priest's death, even tough he was the cornerstone of Chapel, and left a void behind. Tough Charity is important too, and things would look much worse for the Chapel without both of them.

      Ah, Charity looted Vanity's room after all! Where else would that figurine come from? But why was that figurine masqueraded as a bottle? To deter theft? And Unwavering? She gave up the file, she was trying to protect. A final slap to the face from this chapter.

      A frustrating chapter overall, and that fight in Chapel was infuriating on par with BJ cheating death.

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    35. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:46 PM

      Side note: When I was playing Vampire: Masquerade I just couldn't wrap my head around the concepts in Path of Enlightenment: Humanity. Needless to say, the humanity of my character plummeted rather fast, much to my frustration and lack of understanding. Guide dang it!

      @ Random Blank
      I just don't get all the Psychoshy hate. She even didn't want Sanguine to put so many ponies through a rock grinder. I wanted her to be awesome and defiant and faithful even facing certain death, and not crying and pathetic, but to actually hate her? My hate is mostly reserved for Black Jack. I hope Psychoshy gets to shine again. She used to be so much !FUN!. Well, at least she is still loyal despite her doubts. Yeah, they should have kept her as a hostage, and interrogate her. As to her deserving ponies hating her, it just works like that. People are generally against me, so I hate them, so they are even more against me. It is a viscous circle. If Psychoshy was nice for a day to somepony, what do you think would happen? That pony would freak out, and was convinced, she wants something, and everypony else would be phased, and Psychoshy's reputation would suffer. Maintaining the image of a monster, much like Rampage, was the only thing to do for Psychoshy. Ah, Psychoshy pretending to be pathetic to soften Security up to be allowed to live and fight another day more then redeems her moment of weakness in my eyes. Using cute appearance with deadly precision is part of her skill set.

      Hey, Lacunae secretly working to help Sangune makes perfect sense. Alicorns want males, and he may be able to provide them.

      Final note on being heroes. It is easy for some of You to praise heroism, and judge those who are just trying to survive, while You are sitting in cosy rooms. But are You heroes Yourselves? Were you ever in a situation, when somebody was intimidated by thugs, and You could intervene? It is a much more tame situation than anything in the Wasteland (aside from no healing potions). I was, and I just walked away. Now at least I know, I'm craven. I'm not a fighter, I couldn't take them, and even if I could, I might get stabbed with a knife, or something. Even assuming I lucked out, I would be targeted by cops, because in my country (Poland) they let bandits go, but anyone defending against them gets a trial. It is just safer not to get involved. I can't justify myself asking others for heroism after something like that, can You? It is easy for You to talk about shooting the raiders, but I know better. Raiders are professional killers, like Red Bandanas IRL. Shooting them is a death wish. Just try to retreat if you see them, and if caught, do whatever they say.

      Security could simply let Sanguine kill the hostage, and walk away empty-hoofed. He would be finished after that anyway.

      @ Random Blank's 'Selling Glory to fallen Arch':
      That is so funny. Imagine the look of hurt and betrayal in her eyes. Selling Rampage would be even funnier. It is like selling a cat, that keeps escaping from it's new owners and coming back. "But look at her stripes. Society is going to pay great caps for such exotics. And she had a foal before, she's fertile." In less then an hour she detonates her collar, regrows head, kills everypony, and comes back. Hilarious.

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    36. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:47 PM

      @ OAC
      Yes, that is what I was trying to say about morality. Sanguine is really just a more reasonable variation of the "Wasteland Hero" theme. As far as I'm concerned the ends justify the means to a degree. Depends on means and ends, and if there were other means. There is good, but there is also greater good. Basically this is utilitarian ethics. You are wrong about Red Eye. WRONG! His work lead to more acceptable future, than the Wasteland. He was ruthless only because he needed to do things fast and efficiently. Even Slavery in Philydelphia was just to quickly kick start industry, and would be abolished in time. Some of his schools and hospitals were even salvaged by Velvet Raemedy, so don't tell me nothing good came out of Red Eye's actions. The biggest problem with Red Eye's legacy is that once he was gone, his subordinates started fighting over his place, or to carve a piece of his empire for themselves. Red Eye didn't know about GoE, and in his mind what he did was the right thing. His plan would have worked for the best, probably. Red Eye is the most awesome pony in FoE "expanded universe". He gets things done, and is only as ruthless as he needs to be.

      @ Sindri
      > "If he'd honestly wanted to create an ideal society, he should have started with a peaceful, equitable settlement and grown slowly from there." NCR in Fallout did exactly this, and in the end still turned into just another variation of Enclave theme. Red Eye just didn't have the time. The greatest weakness in his plan is not the atrocities, but lack of contingency in case of his death. Virtually all of his empire revolved around him, and not around some set of principles. There was no robust system for choosing another leader. Oh, and the revolution probably wouldn't be one time event, but slowly introducing new policies, civil rights, systematic screening of leaders, and sending more troublesome element to high risk missions. Give it half a century and two generations of consistency, and it would work.

      I liked how they diversified armour in Fallout Tactics. Light armour is shitty, and heavier armours give negative bonuses. Power Armour has -75 sneak among other things, but provides great protection.

      @ Unarmed / Melee / Small Guns / Big Guns / Energy weapons distinction.
      Yeah, lack of synergies is a problem in pretty much any game with skill system. I suppose martial artist doesn't necessarily need to handle a sword as well as a swordsman, and vice versa, but there should be some synergies. Is someone can operate a pistol, a shotgun, and a rifle, he should be able to figure out a minigun. Energy weapons are exotics, and there may be some calibration involved, and energy capacitors may have some quirks, and it may require specialised skill to maintain, but basic "aim and shoot" is the same as for guns. You can't have just one "attack" skill, because everyone would just tag it, and max it ASAP, and you want characters committed to a specific kinds of weapons. It is just too hard to do a realistic skill system, so game designers sort of give up, and do what works. I liked it how in Gothic 2 there was a synergy between 1 and 2 handed weapons, and bows and crossbows. With Pen and Paper games this is entirely justified, but a computer game could have rules so convoluted, that learning effective character development would be equivalent to a college course, and I forgot where I was going with this train of thought.

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    37. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:47 PM

      @Glitched System

      >was mentioned without having posted in this comment thread yet

      I love you so much <3

      ReplyDelete
    38. MaklakFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:48 PM

      One thing they definitely should have done in those FPS Fallouts, on introducing weapon decay is to tie it to skill in repair and skill with that kind of gun. And seriously, a good revolver can last you several lifetimes of shooting.

      Gauss Rifle is a Small Gun specifically introduced in Fallout 2 to give players who tagged Small Guns, but not Energy Weapons, something to play with. Personally I'd rather have energy weapons be overpowered, and only out-damaged by heavy miniguns and rocket launchers, like in Fallout 1.

      @ Random Blank
      > "Don't just assume if some thing seems pointless, and out of place, it was meant to be pointless. Assume it was there for a specific reason, and you should try to find that reason."
      Yeah, I jump to "this makes no sense" conclusion too much.

      @ Sindri
      I think Red Eye is aware of all the atrocities, but unable to do much about them, while still achieving his goals. In the end he has to act through his minions, such as they are. He is amazingly flexible, but chooses lesser evils, and simply cannot micromanage everything within his empire.

      Wow, I once walked about 22 km in four hours, and had enough for days. And that was back when I was more fit.

      I had a sublime thought, that would work for a high level Wasteland Hero. Argue with a buddy in a public place, then have her post a bounty on your head, and profit from killing and taking stuff from a steady supply of bounty hunters. Once it dries, have your pal withdraw the bounty and make everypony think the two of you settled the dispute, and are cool again.

      Yes, Snaguine did piss off everypony who cooperated with Flank or Mega Mart. When You put it like that, his way of getting Security's attention is less grand, and more desperate spiced with "loose anyway, but not do down alone". Still, Red Eye can protect Sanguine if he can do what he is supposed to (male alicorns), so Sangune's actions aren't entirely stupid.

      It is mentioned in PH, that Sanguine activated additional monsters, so Brass, Precious and Fury may not have had time to become Reapers. Rampage knows Fury, but she was outside the group for a few days, and had time to catch up on who's who.

      @ Kim
      I addressed the relation between Sanguine and his creations thousands of posts ago, and commented on how ingenious is it. Every monster needs something from Sanguine, and in case of disobedience is cut off, and suffers pain, and begs to be forgiven and given the medicine. If Sanguine dies, the monsters are screwed.

      @ Kippershy
      > "How do you feel about the idea of a unicorn with a sniper rifle riding on the back of a bear into battle?"
      I don't like it. A sniper rifle needs to be steady. A machine-gun would be better, and is frequently mounted on Jeeps.

      School Daze has occasional links to songs on youtube, and people like it in general.

      [Done]

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    39. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:57 PM

      @Maklak

      Just seen this.
      and - I have to correct you.
      I'm only miserable when the bi-polar depression wins and beats me down.

      but as of late, I've been able to kick its ass and continue kicking it while its down.

      god, you should've seen me last night. I was happier then you are.
      though that's because I was spending some very, very special time with a certain somepony who I love past the point of simple love [my best friend] and was having her comfort me in such amazing ways.


      but off that, because otherwise I'll just gush even further >.>


      yeah. PH has helped me a lot and will continue to, no doubt. it gave me something to keep me strong when I was at my weakest and had nothing I could hold onto.

      ReplyDelete
    40. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:04 PM

      facehoof.

      ReplyDelete
    41. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:04 PM

      @Maklak

      Yeah. like I said after initial feedback on that idea:

      "other then that, [spoiler] should realistically be carrying more then a single gun anyway - a sniper rifle isn't going to be practical for every situation, and my group is going to be smaller then BJ's."



      She's going to have more then one gun.
      that's 100% for sure.

      a sniper rifle is only good long range, and with the planned size of my party, everypony is going to be essential and everypony is going to need more then one gun skillset.


      [well, apart from Sergei, because I can imagine him replying with:

      "yeah? well, FUCK YOU."]

      ReplyDelete
    42. swickedFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:09 PM

      @cybernetic resistance to enervation
      1. Somber created enervation, so she decides how it works
      2. they probably don't, seeing as she's wearing mostly just the parts the professor once wore, and the professor still turned into a puddle in a strong enough enervation field

      I'm thinking there's more to it than Blackjack's assumptions. She's often wrong, don'tcha know.

      @Glitched System

      *cough*
      I ̴̢̧c̕a̧͜ǹ t̷͡el͘͟l͘͜͟ ̢͟͞I͢'͞m̡͡ ͏g̡͞oi̢n̢̧g҉ t̨҉o̸ Ä™͘͠n̶̡͝j̨̡͘o͝y̶͟͝ ͟you҉͡r̵̛͘ ́͟f̛͜r͜i̷͘͘END̡̡s̴̶͠hį̵͜p.

      ReplyDelete
    43. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:14 PM

      Oh, here's to another 5,000 comments!
      May we break into 15,001 comments in the future!

      ReplyDelete
    44. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:15 PM

      Most snipers, and generally soldiers on "deeper" missions carry some sort of sidearm. If you travel light, it will be some moderate-sized pistol. If you prefer firepower, SMG or some Magnum. Also, explosives. Be it thrown grenades, sachel charges, an underbarrel grenade launcher, a few rifle grenades, or maybe some RPG launcher.

      I guess SMG (preferably with 3-bullet and single fire switch) would be preferable for wastelands - 1-bullet against common pests, 3-bullet against pony enemies, full auto against tough monsters. And of course sniper rifle for when you have the initiative.

      ReplyDelete
    45. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:17 PM

      btw, I doubt it's cyber that gave Blackjack resistance to enervation. It was the little chat with the stars near-death experience, and being appointed their champion.

      ReplyDelete
    46. ketchup504February 18, 2012 at 2:20 PM

      Maklak, i think you just put up the largest wall of text in the history of ever. Also, What Blackjack really needs is an 8 Gauge, belt-fed, automatic, battle saddle mounted shotgun.

      One can dream...

      ReplyDelete
    47. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:21 PM

      @Random Blank

      You just earned yourself another thank you at the bottom of my chapters. hell, if you keep this up, you'll make it onto every chapter for your suggestions. haha.

      but yeah, you've just had your post grabbed, shoved into my "important information" document

      [where I keep SPECIALs, plotline events, character bio's once they get a little deeper and become necessary to be written down rather then just in my head and some really sensitive information]



      Thank you. Thank you very much.

      ReplyDelete
    48. RoboRedFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:22 PM

      A new comment page. So it begins...

      @Glitched System
      Fascinating...a rampant AI, housing itself within the network of Equestria Daily...

      This will require further investigation...


      @Maklak
      HOLY MEGAPOST, BATMAN.

      That Dwarf Fortress mod interests me. I'll have to take a closer look.


      @Kippershy
      C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!!!


      @Maklak

      "Even assuming I lucked out, I would be targeted by cops, because in my country (Poland) they let bandits go, but anyone defending against them gets a trial."

      Remind me to never, ever, live in Poland. That's just fucking bullshit, and don't you dare try to convince me otherwise.

      ReplyDelete
    49. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:24 PM

      @Random Blank

      -is stealing my comment-

      :O

      "Kippershy said... [Reply To This Comment]

      @Scygnus
      I'm glad someone else thought that the lack of enervation was the stars doing, too.


      personally for me, I see it as she's been chosen, chosen specifically by the stars as their champion.


      They noted her down and gave her the bullet spell long ago, but now she's died and been sent back by them, I believe she really, truly is their champion and not their apprentice like she was once before.


      they've moulded her. they've protected her. they've trained her.
      and now, its her time to repay her debt to the stars -

      but she's not been sent down without help. she's been reshaped physically, made stronger and tougher, and given a special gift that none other can give:


      immunity from enervation.
      the capability to fight the eater of souls.
      the possibility to save ponies.
      February 13, 2012 7:56 AM "

      ReplyDelete
    50. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:26 PM

      @RoboRed

      Oh, I keep forgetting to tell you that I love you for introducing me to Samantha James.
      Honestly.
      fucking... don't know how I didn't know about her.

      You are an amazing person for showing me.

      ReplyDelete
    51. ketchup504February 18, 2012 at 2:30 PM

      @Kippershy
      I have a suggestion as well.
      Does it have to be a firearm, or could it be a plasma or laser weapon? Perhaps ion? Because sniper rifles are sorta loud, and energy weapons can be fairly quiet, and powerful. Although, a medium caliber pistol with a sound and flash suppressor would also fill that niche. Just giving my two bits.

      ReplyDelete
    52. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:33 PM

      @Maklak

      about the thugs & heroes comment;


      yes, yes I have been in that situation and yes, I did kick the shit out of three guys.
      it was 3v1 with someone I knew being attacked, I hadn't spoke to them in a year or two but the sheer fact that it was 3v1 enraged me.

      and I fought that fight damn near by myself even. LOL.


      but when you're this size; its easy.
      http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s245/Nuttyrebbel/8427_1243830100505_1371946466_30724737_6683372_n-2.jpg?t=1318114644

      http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s245/Nuttyrebbel/304161_10150444528402317_713122316_10650835_2823055_n.jpg

      ReplyDelete
    53. RoboRedFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:35 PM

      @Kippershy

      You're very welcome. ^_^

      Heck, I didn't even know about her until I listened to "Rise", which was included among several free songs when I bought my smartphone.

      Glad to hear you're doing a bit better, too.

      ReplyDelete
    54. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:37 PM

      @ketchup504

      At the moment, no, no it doesn't.
      the part I'm speaking of is fairly late in my story, where the party has had time to gather every permanent party member and get their gear to decent standards.

      So right now, I'm just using the term sniper rifle as a general note; it could be an energy sniper rifle or a common guns type.

      or something else altogether.

      not sure at all yet.



      I just have certain sniplets and scenes already in my head, with how they'll play in a general motion noted down, with the finer details to add later on.

      ReplyDelete
    55. RoboRedFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:38 PM

      @Kippershy

      Ah, crikey. You are indeed a tall fellow.

      ReplyDelete
    56. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:42 PM

      @RoboRed

      -smirks-

      It uh... is one of my traits, indeed.
      I'm also exceptionally strong, despite not being toned or honed [don't go down gym, though I do plan to start doing swimming in time].


      Intimidation is my primary weapon. [which is why sombers comment hurt so damn much. damn you somber -shakefist-] but come the time, I am capable of literally throwing people.

      hence why 3 v me with the occasional punch from my mate whose only 5'2" really wasn't any trouble for me at all.



      /ego/

      ReplyDelete
    57. ketchup504February 18, 2012 at 2:46 PM

      @Kippershy
      I was thinking about the secondary weapon, not the primary, but an energy-based sniping weapon is also plausible. Or mix em together and essentially have a railgun. Or as you said, something else altogether... like a crossbow...

      Again, just ideas. And my ideas aren't exactly great, either. An example was the 8 gauge shotgun, you can't find ammunition for them.

      ReplyDelete
    58. swickedFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:48 PM

      @RoboRed
      Heh, it's not all that unreasonable. Violence is seen as a disease, and someone with a record of problems and reasons (poverty, ignorance, brain damage, etc.) for inducing it will obviously be given leniency.
      If you're the one changing what could be a straightforward threat of assault and theft into an actual aggravated assault, you have willfully escalated the crime, instituting a heavier penalty on those involved than the original initiator(s) intended. They can't be expected to know better, or to expect that someone will fight back.

      It reminds me of middle school. Bullies can harass you all day, but if you try and fight back, whether with words or fists, you've initiated an incident against someone who doesn't know any better and get out of school suspension.

      In the "civilized world", the "uncivilized" will always profit first, with those willing to sit back and take it occasionally getting some form of partial recompense.

      ReplyDelete
    59. theBSDudeFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:51 PM

      @swicked

      "They can't be expected to know better, or to expect that someone will fight back."

      That right there. That's the part that's bullshit.

      I live in America, though. We're allowed to kill trespassers.

      ReplyDelete
    60. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:52 PM

      @ketchup504

      ohnonononono.
      I can't use a crossbow.

      you my good sir, have just got YOURSELF as well as Random, a one way trip into the important pieces of info doc.
      what for?

      try one suggestion prior to crossbow.


      -grins wide-

      and this is why I love you all.
      its so much easier to write when you have people pushing you forward, giving you ideas, inspiring you.

      and yes, you will get a special mention when the chapter comes. and I'm pretty sure I know exactly which chapter that'll be, too.


      and that's a brilliant idea. I hadn't realised you meant secondary.
      a silenced/energy secondary goes perfect with the character, since she is mainly about stealth.

      and then a third gun like a magnum or such as a last resort backup/close range.

      ReplyDelete
    61. swickedFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:54 PM

      @theBSDude
      For the record I don't agree with the logic. I just understand it.

      And no, you're really not. Not unless you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were going to kill you otherwise, and not just maim you a little.

      ReplyDelete
    62. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:56 PM

      @Glitched System
      Welcome! I suppose you don't need to be warned about the Enervation... If you ever come across something labelled as EC-1101 though, shut off your input stream for a while, just to be on the safe side.


      @Maklak
      A bright shiny story about utopia is nice for when you're feeling down, but tends to be meaningless to someone whose life is really in the gutter. A dark, realistic story like this one can provide a touch of hope and the strength to endure because you can connect with the characters on a deeper level and actually use the lessons contained within.

      ...wow. Now that's a wall of text. I'll read it all, when I have enough spare time, but skipping to the next section for now.

      On heroes? Yes, I have intervened. And I have the scars to show for my foolishness. But the original target doesn't and that's what matters. Maybe I'm suicidal but want go go out like a hero, maybe I'm actually deluded enough to think I can convince people to do better, maybe I'm just a fool who's read too many stories about heroes. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. If they'd had a gun instead of a knife, if they'd been prepared to kill instead of scare and hurt, if I'd just been the slightest bit less lucky, I wouldn't be here. But you know what? I'd do it again. I'm stupid like that. I keep trying to be objective and amoral, but when I see something that needs to stop is just doesn't stick.

      Also? One more thing making me glad I don't live in Poland. Here the cops are just inattentive and racist.

      As for raiders in FoE? Getting away is the best choice. But if you can't do that, you've got two options: die fighting, or die after weeks of torture and rape. I know which I'd pick.

      Okay, apparently I'm just some sort of freak with the walking rate thing. Is a 3mph pace for eight hours of every 24 more reaonable? 24 miles a day?

      Heh. You reminded me of a famous fictional old west duo; don't remember the names but one of them had a massive bounty on their head, the other was respectable looking and an incredible shot. They'd go to a town, the respectable one would turn his partner in for the bounty, wait for them to put him on the back of a horse with a noose around his neck, shoot the rope, then they'd ride away with the bounty and the horse to the next town to sell the horse and repeat the process.


      Re: Blackjack and Enervation
      Her new chrome isn't what's protecting her. The regen talisman and the fact that a significant fraction of her isn't organic anymore would help, but she'd still feel it and probably set off another set of warning messages in her eyes. The stars make more sense; they need to keep the Eater from rising, so they need somepony who can fight on its terms. She's already risen from the grave through the harmony of half the living ponies in the Hoof, and now she's shielded against the field filling its domain so she can combat the fallen... thing directly. Or maybe she's officially classified as undead now and this immune to life-draining effects.


      @Kippershy
      [buy some apples!] you're big. Just remember, weapons are the great equalizer. And combat experience counts for a lot; the first time I got stupid and decided to be a hero, the guy broke three fingers against my head because he'd seen too many movies and still thought it would be a good idea to compare the strength of those little twig-bones in your hand to that of the case protecting the brain.


      @swicked
      In most of America you'd be right. BSSude, do you happen to live in Texas?

      ReplyDelete
    63. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 2:58 PM

      @swicked

      Actually, he's right depending on which state you're speaking of.

      Mississippi has a rule where if you've told them to get off your land and they refuse, you're legally allowed to shoot them.

      If you shoot them once and they charge at you, you can shoot again - to kill.

      If however, they turn tail and face away from you when you shoot, they're in the right because it then makes it look like you shot them despite their attempts to get off your land.


      but even then there's further restrictions, I'm sure.
      I'm just reciting what I've heard from a friend who lives there with this.

      ReplyDelete
    64. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:03 PM

      @Kippershy
      Yeah, good practice is to keep your gun loaded with rock salt instead of lead. It'll hurt like hell, but isn't capable of killing someone so you can have a very powerful deterrent to intrusion without risking killing someone, even in self defense.

      ReplyDelete
    65. swickedFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:03 PM

      @Kippershy
      "I didn't hear him tell me to leave his land. He just shot me unprovoked."

      I really couldn't care less what laws say. What matters is how trials go. Lawyers almost never quote law, they quote precedence.

      ReplyDelete
    66. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:09 PM

      @Sindri

      Weapons may be an equaliser, but with me if they aren't sharp they aren't good enough.

      I've had a baseball bat hit me in the stomach, I simply grabbed it and broke the guys leg below the knee with it.
      sure, it gave a bit of a punch, but between endurance, strength, willpower and adrenaline, something like a baseball bat isn't going to stop me.


      I've come across a knife wielder before and simply intimidated him out of the idea of it.


      but I do reckon it'd take something like a knife to seriously hurt me.
      I mean, hell, I've had a pallet weighing over a ton [literally] dropped on my foot and I was in no pain, walking the same day and had no broken or even fractured bones.

      my foot was literally crushed to nothing almost, and I didn't feel any pain. I laughed.
      for three minutes I was trapped, and all I could do after was laugh.


      and yeah, I know how that feels with the whole hero thing.
      being as big as I am, its a primal urge to fill my role as the defender, the protector.
      I am large, I am strong, I am enduring. I can take the beating for those who can't, and I can come out of it smiling because I know:

      1. I can deal with it a lot better then someone who is smaller/weaker/more fragile

      2. I've prevented that other person, or in one case, people, from getting seriously hurt or worse. even if I was to get a scar from it [none yet] it's worth it for me.
      the needs of the many must always outweigh the needs of the few

      3. in general, again, I know that its a fuckin' lot harder to actually beat me down then it is someone else. If I don't step in, the fight I used as an example (three average sized guys v 1 small guy) had no chance. with me, the small guy got away and two of the three were unable to move without help, with the third realising his mates needed him more




      plus. it's just too much fun.

      ReplyDelete
    67. Free CoffeeFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:10 PM

      Posts by Maklak,
      Posts by Maklak everywhere

      ReplyDelete
    68. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:29 PM

      @Kippershy
      Yeah, I figure that the only reason that makes sense for me to do what I do is knowledge that I can probably take it better than the original target. My pain tolerance is a lot higher than most because of a combination of terrible migraines and immunity to painkillers (thank you so much, genetic lottery), my bones seem to be denser than the average, and my mental state is far from fragile, so I'm in a lot better position than most who get chosen as victims.

      But size is far from everything; it gives you a lot less resistance to blades than it does blunts, doesn't matter at all to a gun (in fact making you an easier target), and to an experienced fighter it won't change anything. I'm nowhere near a martial artist but I've taken down people 3-4 times my mass with a little leverage and a bit of experience with human anatomy.

      And of course if you run into someone who's actually ready to kill? Armed or not, trained or not, there's a good chance they'll mess you up. And if they have a weapon or a martial art, there's a good chance you're not walking away. If they were just trying to rob or scare, and you escalate to combat, you're probably gotten yourself killed and maybe the person you tried to protect; they're a witness now. Trying to be a hero is stupid, even if you're good at it.

      ReplyDelete
    69. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:31 PM

      @Sindri
      Hypocrisy ahoy! Still good advice, even if I need to convince myself to follow it more than anypony else...

      ReplyDelete
    70. Anon3mousFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:42 PM

      @ketchup504
      Energy weapons may be quiet, but they glow like flares. Worse than tracers in terms of giving away your position, especially at night.

      For stealth I'd stick to a .303 rifle with a suppressor and sub-sonic ammunition. Sure it cuts down on lethality and range, but, you could fire it without hearing protection, and your targets wouldn't hear the shots coming.

      ReplyDelete
    71. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:44 PM

      Don't treat everything Maklak says seriously.

      I live in Poland too. I cross one of the reputedly most dangerous districts in the country (Nowa Huta) after dusk, daily. I've never had the opportunity to "be a hero", worst that happened was calling an ambulance to a guy who had a seizure. Another time a run-in with an aggressive guy almost ended in friendshp... that's about the extent of it. Maybe I'm just lucky.

      The thing with "letting bandits go" is surely a problem if you are a victim who called cops on a bandit after taking them down. But if you take the bandit down, kick his ass to within sliver of life, then leave the scene... you'd need a good deal of bad luck to ever suffer consequences. The cops are plain inefficient. You call them - they caught you in the act of "exceeding necessary self-defense", with giving them full self-incriminating testimony, an easy way to improve stats (the thug will deny everything and find friends to testify for him, and so proving his guilt may be difficult). You don't call them - "the attacker fled the scene, and we were unable to find them", just the same as if you were attacked and the thug ran away.

      ReplyDelete
    72. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:50 PM

      @Anon3mous
      As a general rule when you're sniping the sound the gun itself makes isn't very relevant; you want a decent suppressor as much to cut muzzle flash as reduce noise, but the bullet itself is louder when it gets there. Going subsonic makes you almost undetectable, but you lose way too much power, range, and accuracy that way. I'd just use normal rounds and hope for the best.
      But yeah, the advantage of a laser in sniping is instantaneous travel time and no gravity to worry about. An incandescent line straight back to your position is suicide if you were trying to avoid notice. Not to mention the big zap/crack in the air.

      ReplyDelete
    73. O. HindsFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:53 PM

      Notification:
      We're working on 37, and we've had to make a small change retcon to Blackjack's vision system: the augs now have no built in overlay function, relying on the PipBuck E.F.S. (Silver Stripe used a leg-worn and then -mounted screen/instrument panel, E.F.S. tech being proprietary and a direct overlay being, for one reason or another, not her preference (The reason is not entirely certain, but it is thought that perhaps she did not have time for the surgery, had gotten used to the old version and didn't care to upgrade yet, or was still working on direct overlays when Steelpony was closed.).). Due to this, minor alterations have been made to chapters 34 and 36; the change to 34 is just an elimination of a now no-longer-accurate statement that there was a built in E.F.S. (which, actually, was technically inaccurate anyway, but Silver Stripe realized that, since it functioned pretty much exactly like an E.F.S., there was no point in confusing Blackjack with the details), and the change to 36 has her overlays properly vanishing when her PipBuck was removed. We apologize for any inconvenience that these changes may have caused and assure the reader that great deliberation and discussion took place before it was decided that this was the best available course of action.

      ReplyDelete
    74. RainbowYoshiFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:55 PM

      Commenting to subscribe to the new thread.

      ReplyDelete
    75. swickedFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:56 PM

      @heroes
      What fights I've gotten into were long ago and hardly matter.
      I've never saved anyone, and I don't know if I ever will.
      I've selfishly wished I could have the chance to see what I would do, but it's not likely to happen. I wouldn't walk by or run away, but I'm definitely no hero.

      @Hinds
      That makes a lot of sense. No inconvenience noted here.

      ReplyDelete
    76. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:57 PM

      @ketchup504
      Sniper weapons can be loud.
      Energy weapons are very visible.
      What is worse, to hear a shot from a general direction or see a glowing bright line between the attacker and the victim?

      As for sidearm... the primary profit of energy weapons in Fallout was the punch, at cost of weight, size and speed. You need the punch from your primary weapon. Sidearm is when it's too late for the primary and it's speed that matters most.

      Though... a railgun as primary... might be worth it.

      ReplyDelete
    77. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 3:59 PM

      @Sindri

      And then we have the railgun.
      I'm going to guess its loud and heavy, but the range, accuracy and lethality would be enough to wipe the floor with conventional firearms, I reckon.


      which begs the question;

      would it be long range enough to make the noise not matter? in that you're so far away, they aren't going to find you if you do it right.

      ReplyDelete
    78. swickedFebruary 18, 2012 at 4:00 PM

      @Random Blank
      I, for one, always adored gauss rifles as sniping weapons. They had a tendency to knockback my targets with enough crit chance, which made it that much easier to suppress a group of enemies.

      ReplyDelete
    79. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 4:12 PM

      @Kippershy
      Personal railguns have never been developed and barely covered in realistic fiction, so I'm not sure of their precise characteristics. IRL, protype railguns are large ship-mounted weapons that fire a projectile so fast that it ionizes the air around it (what would colloquially be referred to as igniting the air around it; think of the air around a spacecraft on reentry). Electromagnetic weapons make very little noise on firing, but the projectile tends to be moving much faster than that of a chemically propelled weapon. At the very least you'd have the same hypersonic *crack* as the slug passes as you get from a conventional firearm. At the high end, at speeds that mere explosives cannot reach? You'll have a detonation on the impact from the sheer energy in the projectile and you'll see a glowing streak in the air where the needle you're firing made it glow from pressure differences and high friction.

      As a genera rule in any sniping situation, the sound of the gun itself is so far away that it can't be noticed. If someone spots your muzzle flash or your projectile/energy bolt leaves a line back to you, you're spotted. If not they'll need to extrapolate from where the bullet holes point, which takes time and isn't accurate enough if you can move or are well hidden. A silent, subsonic round makes it harder to notice the shot in the first place, but is so inaccurate and low-powered that it has no real place outside of a pistol at short range. A supersonic round will always make noise, but that indicates the position of the bullet, not the gun.

      ReplyDelete
    80. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 4:29 PM

      @Sindri
      right, in that case, I'm going to break your post down into:

      >barely covered in realistic fiction

      good. that means that I'm at liberty to make it a lightweight enough weapon when designed for a personal use, correct?


      >makes very little noise

      well, that's even better then, what that means is it would make the perfect sniper rifle in that sense, and again, I'm going to call on it being accurate as fuck due to the speed it moves at and such


      >noise would follow the projectile, but not so much the gun

      again, perfect. yes it might give away the general location to someone who has a very high perception and is alert to it, but if you aren't alert and you don't have high per, you wont have a clue at all.


      >explodes on impact

      perfect.
      that'll definitely make it a high end weapon which suits perfectly to a late story character who is going to need the firepower to match their skill.


      >leaves a trail of glow behind it from the pure speed/friction and such

      well, if there wasn't SOMETHING about the gun that could be seen as a negative, it'd be over-powered, right?
      the last thing I want is to have my fanbase saying that my characters are OP and shouldn't be as strong or capable as they are.

      and anyway. Sniper pony is a unicorn with stealth magic. maybe not as strong as a full on stealthbuck, but still, she's got the capability to go both standard camo and a weak active camouflage

      ReplyDelete
    81. swickedFebruary 18, 2012 at 4:32 PM

      Potentially, a drawback could be its wicked kickback, unless you're using some inertia-dampening magics :P

      ReplyDelete
    82. theBSDudeFebruary 18, 2012 at 4:35 PM

      I was exaggerating for humor.

      @Sindri

      I live in the Pacific Northwest.

      ReplyDelete
    83. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 4:48 PM

      @Kippershy
      You know what's really fun about a railgun? Variable power settings ought to give you variable speeds on the projectile. You could use it like a normal rifle by setting it to just about the velocity that a normal DSAP slug goes. Or you can go for the full streak of fire across the sky ending in a little splatter where the opponent used to be. Subsonic settings would probably work even worse than with a normal gun because a normal projectile for the gun would be a little needle, and that just doesn't have the force to do anything at low speeds, but with a variety of ammo you could use it for a lot of things.

      In terms of drawbacks, power requirements would be the big one. Constantly swapping out power cells is one option; if I were writing it I'd put the gun on one side of a battle saddle and a spark generator on the other. More powerful shots would take longer to charge the capacitors for, and if you use it too rapidly you'll exceed the generator's capacity and the whole thing shuts down. And of course the generator itself is really heavy and needs fuel.
      Also, the rounds would probably be expensive; normal lead wouldn't work, and steel/brass and such are iffy. Ideally you'd want depleted uranium rounds or something for your high powered shots, and lesser metals or specialty rounds (high explosive, incendiary, etc) couldn't be used at the higher velocities without just smearing across the inside of the barrel or going off early.

      And you can't use a lot of the traditional recoil compensation methods, because they rely on redirecting the blast of the explosive. So you'd either need magic or to manually brace the thing every time you fire, 'cause the gun is moving back with the same force that the bullet is moving forward. Giving a needle enough energy that it'll blast holes in a hard target would give the gun enough kick to knock you over and spin you around.

      I figure under ordinary circumstances he'd use it a lot like a normal rifle but a little quieter, a little smoother, and a lot cleaner, personally making projectiles out of normal bullet materials. For important shots he'd use a limited supply of good ammo made from rarer, harder, denser stuff, he'd need several seconds at least to charge the capacitors first, and he'd need to brace properly for the big forces involved.

      ReplyDelete
    84. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 4:49 PM

      @swicked

      Just another drawback to make it so its not overpowered.


      if this thing can crack through a hellhound in one shot for example [which it sounds like, and will be able to when I write it in] its going to need to have a slower fire rate to make up for the sheer power it packs.

      probably hard to get proper ammo for it too... maybe.

      ReplyDelete
    85. Jacky2734February 18, 2012 at 4:49 PM

      @Sniper discussion

      Any sniper worth his salt would be at a far enough range that their target would either be unable to hear the rifle's report or distinguish which direction it came from. If they did have to get closer to their target, then they would mount a suppressor onto their rifle, making the report indistinguishable from the background noise. Trust me on this, half of the guys I went to college with are former or active military, and half of them were former snipers. Ah, the advantages of going to a gunsmithing school.

      ReplyDelete
    86. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 4:53 PM

      The essential construction of a railgun is totally trivial. You have two rails/wires/bars, and the slug which can move along them while shorting the circuit between them. Apply current, the slug shots out.

      There are two primary problems with Railgun.

      - totally ridiculously excessive power requirements. Attach it directly to grid power with drain nearing the wire burnout and it will barely spit the slug. This is overcame with enormous batteries of capacitors that store a lot of energy and expend it all the moment you shot. Though I guess things like spark batteries could have no limit on output power, so we're home here.

      - the rails erode from shooting. The slug must retain good electric contact, and that means good surface of touch and quite snug fit. And that means friction. At these speeds friction means a layer of plasma that burns into the rails. Normally, since these are huge devices, and essentially simple, the rails can be replaced every few shots. In your case I guess a repair talisman would be an essential part... or the weapon would degrade at ridiculous pace, I mean 10 shots till total breakage is a viable estimate.

      Of course its inherent operation is quite quiet but the slug WILL create a strong sonic boom, giving the source away quite efficiently. Unless you go in a different, quite viable direction: replace the small slug with a long bar. This is completely viable as option, the electric contact is far better, the speed may not exceed sound of speed, but you're shooting a heavy metal spear, something to pierce through any armor and pin the enemy to a concrete wall behind them. Ouch. Of course, due to slower speed, balistic properties are poor, but still, a three-pound iron spear at nearly speed of sound? Neat.

      ReplyDelete
    87. swickedFebruary 18, 2012 at 4:54 PM

      @Sindri

      I dunno a lot about this subject, but at the size we're working at with the energy it's expending, how much heat do you think it'd radiate?
      If a sniper couldn't be spotted by normal methods, but gives off enough thermal to make multiple shots very uncomfortable for the shooter if he/she is under some sort of thermal cover, and otherwise very easy to spot using thermals... I dunno. One more drawback.

      ReplyDelete
    88. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:01 PM

      @Swicked: Lots of heat, although it does not impair operation until it reaches point of melting. That is, the railgun can operate while very, very hot just fine.

      Recoil compensation: It could use a very similar piece as itself giving out recoil in reverse direction, for just enough time to stabilize flight of the outgoing slug. But the recoil while delayed would hit just as bad.

      Also, length of rails matters. Not a pocket sidearm.
      And at melee distance you don't need ammo. Touch the rails and you're toast.

      ReplyDelete
    89. Jacky2734February 18, 2012 at 5:06 PM

      @Railgun discussion
      I would like to point out that I'd choose a Barett .50 cal over a railgun any day. Mainly because a railgun system that matched the .50 cal would probably be twice as bulky. There's also the fact that, with a railgun, there's no practical way to put a twist to the bullet like rifling does, so if you power it down to the same velocity as a normal rifle, you wouldn't get near the accuracy of a conventional rifle. The railgun needs that hyper sonic velocity to keep it accurate, which means every accurate shot is going to cause collateral damage.

      ReplyDelete
    90. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:07 PM

      All this is just such wonderful feedback and ideas <3


      I may as well add the fact that the railgun is going to be picked up from a top secret military research institute in the heart of Coltchester [because you don't want all your eggs in one basket, Hoofington] which means that the gun could quite possibly have its own spell talisman type things - didn't Calamity have one on his rifle?


      one to turn a spark battery into a much more capable/lasting ammo source (because just three to five shots per battery is too little. say...10 - 20 shots per battery?)

      one to maintain the gun in general - of course it'll need repairs from time to time, but this will make it so it doesn't degrade stupidly so.



      the ammo thing is a wonderful point, making this rifle the perfect gun for endgame;

      high power, but high cost. not something a newbie can handle, but for someone experienced who has the cash and knows when to and when not to use it? yeah. reasonable drawbacks.


      I'm going to copypaste all of this conversation into my document. thank you one and all.
      definitely a collective thank you to you all once I get to that chapter.

      ReplyDelete
    91. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:15 PM

      @Random Blank
      No, a spear like that wouldn't be practical at any sort of range. I think that a needle, probably about 2mm diameter and maybe 3-4cm long would be most practical for sniping purposes, both aerodynamically and for impact characteristics.

      And the slug itself doesn't need to be making the electrical contact and in fact probably shouldn't; you can have a low-friction high-conductivity sabot around the actual projectile to complete the circuit, and then the slug itself can be optimized to whatever shot you're making instead of worrying about it's characteristics in the barrel. With a variety of sabots and power settings you could fire anything from the aforementioned dense needle to something like a normal bullet for low velocities to subsonic tranq needles to high explosives, and the projectile itself wouldn't matter until it was in the air.

      And the sonic boom from a projectile tells you where the bullet is, not where it was fired from. The noise would be loudest from the nearest point in its path to the listener, not the point of origin, and until they tracked the path of the bullet back to you they wouldn't get any hints as to your location.

      For erosion... you could include a repair talisman for the rails; everything from powered armor to civilian prosthetics is self-repairing if it's high enough grade, and a prototype personal railgun fits the bill. But the rate at which it repairs itself is another limit on how frequently you can use the thing, and if you overdo it the rails will break.


      @swicked
      Yeah, there'd be a lot of heat. Even if they've got superconducting rails and transfer cables (unlikely), you've got the friction from firing, the ionization in the air from high velocity shots, and the generator itself as a big warm spot. Someone using this rig would glow to IR sensors unless the whole thing is powered down, and if it was they'd need minutes at least to start up before they could shoot.


      @Jacky
      Actually it shouldn't be hard to give the round a spin... twisting the rails is a bad idea for a variety of reasons but you can tweak the aerodynamics of the sabot or even the round itself to start it spinning as soon as it hits the air.

      Yeah, for the next few decades at least a railgun system will be hugely impractical compared to traditional chemically propelled weapons. But the fact remains that there's a limit to the muzzle velocity you can get from explosives, and we're already hitting diminishing returns hard on that point. Electromagnetic weapons will peak a lot higher once we get them working. Basically, your Barett .50 cal is close to the pinnacle of firearm development... and today's railguns are the black powder cannons of EM guns.

      ReplyDelete
    92. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:16 PM

      "There's also the fact that, with a railgun, there's no practical way to put a twist to the bullet like rifling does,"

      Fins. The slug can be shaped like a fletchette with grooves for contact, exit the railgun straight and gain spin mid-flight thanks to shaped fins on its end.

      And it can be tipped with pretty much anything that will not be fried by strong electric field. HE, Incendiary, Armor-piercing, Shaped Charge, Shrapnel, whatever. The acceleration curve is more gentle than in case of a gun, so more fragile payloads will survive the shot, and mass is really not an issue, it will just fly slower. Also, the slugs should be quite easy to make, a pretty common metalworking technique, but the batteries... okay, you know. Although it's been rumored that unicorns can charge spark batteries...

      ReplyDelete
    93. swickedFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:20 PM

      @Random Blank

      Hah.
      Littlepip's spell: Celestia-level telekinesis
      Blackjack's: Mind Bullets
      Kipper's character's: energy weapon channeling

      ReplyDelete
    94. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:24 PM

      @Sindri

      The slug can't be too narrow unless you give it an extra metal sabot. The gap between the rails is the limit on voltage you can use, you want them relatively far.

      OTOH there is no real limit on the length of the slug. It can be as short or as long as you like, as long as it doesn't jam by turning sideways. Yeah, using sabots makes sense but using sabots significantly bigger than the bullets does not.

      @Jacky:
      We don't have:
      - spark batteries
      - repair talismans
      so for now railguns surely are worse than chemical propellant guns. Not so in the Magical Land of Equestria.

      ReplyDelete
    95. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:30 PM

      @Random Blank
      Why wouldn't sabots wider than the slug make sense? The best shape for long range, high velocity shots is a needle; you have massively better accuracy and less interference from the air, and when you hit you get all the energy of a larger round in a tiny space so you can punch through anything. But as you said, wider set rails work better. So why not have a huge sabot that makes it perform better in the barrel and doesn't interfere with the flight? And then the barrel is wide enough to accommodate a variety of other ammo types for when you aren't going for range or armor penetration; all you need is to put a different sabot on them.

      ReplyDelete
    96. Nuhvok01February 18, 2012 at 5:34 PM

      @Maklak Battle sattle with dual AA-12 and alternating Flechete and Dragons Breath rounds is the ultimate anti-raider set up.

      ReplyDelete
    97. §torm's SalvationFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:36 PM

      (0101001101110101011000100111010001101100011001010010000001111001011001010111010000100000010001010110011001100110011001010110001101110100011010010111011001100101)

      //Uplink established
      Perhaps a weapon utilizing a small concentrated burst of air to propel an aerodynamic projectile (needle /w fins for stability) tipped with your choice of payload (toxin, electric pin, explosive charge etc.) would be an effective yet low profile weapon, factoring in technological advances could yield improvements such as micro-rockets attached to the projectile to curve the trajectory around cover or perhaps a simple onboard AI able to track and propel towards a designated target, allowing the projectile to be shot straight upwards and then seek out the mark, allowing you to attack targets without firing directly at them, i.e. from behind cover, it would also disallow targets from tracing the projectile's trajectory back to the weapon.
      //close-submit

      ReplyDelete
    98. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:46 PM

      @Sindri
      wider - yes. Longer - rather not. Bulkier - utter nonsense. Railgun sabot that extends to the sides makes sense. One that extends far ahead or behind the bullet - not really, especially if its weight were to be comparable with the payload.

      ReplyDelete
    99. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:50 PM

      @glitched system: Imagine yourself between two rails inch apart, each powered up to some 15KV and about to discharge a few megajoules through short-circuit created by a shaft you're built into.

      This is where you try to put some other AI.
      You monster.

      ReplyDelete
    100. Nuhvok01February 18, 2012 at 5:55 PM

      Was chapter one rewritten? The link color changed from light blue to dark blue, indicating that it was an unclicked link. I started rereading the first chapter and I don't recall most of Blackjacks interactions with the other mares or Duct Tape`s death.

      ReplyDelete
    101. swickedFebruary 18, 2012 at 5:57 PM

      @Nuhvok01
      Do you mean just now, or ever?
      Because it was rewritten entirely a few weeks ago.

      ReplyDelete
    102. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 6:08 PM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      ReplyDelete
    103. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 6:09 PM

      @Glitched System
      Compressed air weapons with a chemical payload are great for subtlety at short range, and would make a good sidearm/stealth weapon for the sniper, but don't have anywhere near the power required for long range or heavy armor.

      Self guided projectiles are a possibility; rockets that fire upward and home in on targets independently are already in use and it would just be a matter of scaling them down to personal scale. But those are nowhere near a subtle weapon.

      For just making a bullet curve in the air fins are more practical than microrockets; it might not be able to turn all the way around but it can certainly correct for errors introduced by air currents and it can make a shallow curve around obstacles. In fact, prototypes of such weapons have been made in our world; someone linked to an article on them last week IIRC...
      The problem with those is that they're only viable so far in chemical-propellant weapons, because the EM field would fry their control computer otherwise.

      You should be able to make it EM shielded, in theory, but I think it's beyond our current tech. Maybe with magic, since computers run on spell matrices instead of circuitry anyway?


      @Random Blank
      Length of the sabot doesn't matter much; it gives the projectile more stability in the barrel is all. A sabot is always less dense than the projectile that it's pushing; that's the whole point in DSAP chemcal weapons, and I see no point in making the weight of the filler comparable to that of the slug in a railgun either because it's a waste of energy. The sabot can be mostly empty space for that matter; it just needs to hold the round steady in the center of the barrel and make contact with the rails.


      @Nuhvok01
      The first chapter was entirely rewritten a month or two ago, and several other early chapters were edited.

      ReplyDelete
    104. ketchup504February 18, 2012 at 6:31 PM

      @kipper
      Glad i could contribute to something for once!

      @flash and stuff of energy weapons
      The reason I mentioned ion weaponry is that they would theoretically be invisible. And since they have not been implemented in Fallout or FOE, they could have their own "rules". Plasma and laser ARE both fairly easy to spot, however.

      @dragon's breath shells
      You guys should know that dragon's breath shells are not meant to be used as weapons, they are for special effects and shows, and you could only light things on fire with them. They fire no projectile.

      @railguns
      Perhaps coilguns would be more practical, but without established rules regarding the extent of magical influence, the power and dynamics of the weapon would be subject to Kipper's ideas.

      @heroics
      I doubt I'd ever have a chance to help somebody in a fight, and I probably wouldn't anyway because I'm weak and cowardly.

      I started a conversation, I feel special. C:

      ReplyDelete
    105. Jacky2734February 18, 2012 at 6:48 PM

      @Ketchup
      On coilgun:

      You do realize that a Gauss rifle IS a coilgun, don't you? And I believe that at least one or two writers have already introduced the Gauss into the FO:E universe.

      ReplyDelete
    106. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 6:48 PM

      @ketchup504

      you're just making it all the better for me. thank you ever so much.

      yes. this is perfect.
      she can get a coligun SMG and a railgun sniper rifle.

      perhaps even a coligun mortar for one of the team members...
      [saw something about that on wiki]


      so much brilliant information.
      I'm just going to use the "save page" function and leave it until tomorrow before I decide how to really use this information thoroughly.

      though I am already getting ideas.



      ooft. can't wait until I manage to get the first chapter out there. just waiting on either Minty or Wave to get a picture drawn and then I'll be submitting it for review.

      currently in the process of both writing chapter two and figuring out these finer details right now.

      ReplyDelete
    107. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 7:05 PM

      @Kippershy
      ...coilgun SMG? So, just like a gauss weapon but with a shorter barrel and a higher rate of fire than any in the established Fallout or FoE canon? I've built a coilgun before (not weapons grade or anything, just a hobby), and because of the way the magnetic fields work out, the only practical projectile is a ferrous needle. In order for the needle to deal any damage, it need to be going very fast and that requires several coils along a long barrel. Basically until we get several centuries of technological improvements, a gauss pistol isn't going to be a practical weapon. And autofire runs into a lot of problems with power supply and cooling. The weapons is going to end up almost as bulky and specialized as her primary, but with a fraction of the combat capability.

      What's the problem with a standard high end submachinegun for a sidearm? Or a compressed air weapon for stealth purposes? And if you're using a mortar, why not one with a classic explosive propellant? You don't get any real advantages by shifting that to EM, and I'm pretty sure nopony will consider a gun like Steel Rain's cannons to be underpowered.

      ReplyDelete
    108. ketchup504February 18, 2012 at 7:11 PM

      @Jacky
      Coilguns and railguns are different, one using looped coils and the other uses straight rails.

      @Kippershy
      That is A LOT of magnetic-propelled weapons, but that really cannot be a bad thing. A coilgun mortar is brilliant. I love that idea. Again, I am very happy to help.

      ReplyDelete
    109. CureboresFebruary 18, 2012 at 7:17 PM

      My 2 cents on railguns and accuracy:

      You can't easily put a spin on the slug but you can more easily use specialist ammunition.

      The solution? APFSDS rounds. (Armour piercing fin stabilised discarding sabot)

      Having a steel sabot around the round means you can launch pretty much anything, magnetic or not. Fin stabilisation will maintain accuracy over long distances without the need for rifling.

      ReplyDelete
    110. ketchup504February 18, 2012 at 7:24 PM

      Indeed, Curebores. American M1A1 tanks, as well as German Leopard 2 tanks, have smooth-bore main cannons utilizing APFSDS projectiles for anti-armor applications due to their increased velocity and range compared to rifled guns.

      ReplyDelete
    111. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 7:28 PM

      @Sindri

      In the railgun the sabot needs to conduct lots and lots of electricity. Meaning it can't be too empty or too thin or made of material that is a poor conductor (most good conductors are quite heavy). Its role in a railgun is not about stabilizing the bullet, it's about closing the circuit between the rails, allowing them to remain far apart enough. They must be quite far apart, and the circuit part not closed by the bullet must be closed by the sabot.

      Take a hybrid of our examples: 15KV, 2mm diameter needle. Spark gap distance for 15KV is 98.7mm, so say the rails are 1cm apart. That leaves us with 1cm wide sabot made of preferably copper (for conductivity), to carry a 2mm wide needle, and preferably the sabot should conduct at least a few hundred amperes for the fraction of second needed to leave the barrel without melting, and have structural integrity necessary not to shatter due to acceleration. Make it too thin and its resistance will block too much current. Make it too thick and the bulk of weight will swallow energy that will not be transferred to the bullet. Make it too short, it will turn and jam, plus the resistance will be high. Make it long - all right, good contact area, lower resistance, but it needs to be still wide enough to connect along most of its length and strong enough to withstand the forces - which means heavy. Carrying a bullet lighter than the sabot simply makes no sense.

      ReplyDelete
    112. KippershyFebruary 18, 2012 at 7:29 PM

      @Sindri

      Actually, yeah, you're right.
      because I'm exhausted I'm not quite thinking it all though, it just sounded cool.
      but explaining why it wouldn't work and running it through my head, and you're right.
      no need to complicate such a thing if it doesn't need to be so.

      A high end SMG will do her fine.


      As for switching it... it'd be something cool. the trouble with real life mortars is you load ammo and propulsion explosive separately.

      with EM, there is no trouble with that.


      though as for why Sniper lass can't have true explosives.. well.. that little one goes between Sergei and another.

      and that's only spread across two because Sergei has trouble with the uh... smaller pieces.

      ReplyDelete
    113. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 7:42 PM

      umm...98.7mm is 10cm, nah, me bad.
      I think we need to scale down with the voltage a little.

      ReplyDelete
    114. Free CoffeeFebruary 18, 2012 at 8:02 PM

      @Jacky2734
      I don't know how heavy a rail gun is, but a Barret .50 cal is REALLY heavy (more than 30 pounds!). It might work for a sniper in the military, but for a nomadic waste-lander, who also has to worry about carrying food and supplies, it wouldn't be as practical

      ReplyDelete
    115. Overlong Analysis CobaltFebruary 18, 2012 at 8:02 PM

      Gyah, now I know what it's like to drop in and find a whole lovely mess of new comments to read! Yikes! Well, looks like most stuff that I could address has already been addressed. Um, let's see... if I ever get around to writing a FOE-fic, I think my characters are not going to be shooting uncommon weaponry. Nothing wrong with one of those common ol' bolt action hunting rifles when the only stuff you intend to shoot at is unarmored, and being able to rearm and repair in the field with very limited know-how is a bonus. Plus, the author doesn't have to deal with advanced physics every time someone shoots, which allows him to concentrate on being lazy. =P

      Ooh, 37's being polished, that's exciting!

      @Glitched System
      Hallo and welcome! Nice to see new faces, even if they're not precisely faces and more artificial cognition constructs. :)

      ReplyDelete
    116. Jacky2734February 18, 2012 at 8:09 PM

      @ketchup504

      I know that. I was saying that a Gauss Rifle IS a coil gun not a rail gun and thus, coil guns have already been introduce into the FO:E universe.

      Apropriate wiki link:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauss_Rifle
      First paragraph, second sentence.

      on another note: can somebody post the appropriate internet code for a named link?

      ReplyDelete
    117. swickedFebruary 18, 2012 at 8:14 PM

      If I wrote one, at least one character would have that railway rifle. Because how can you possibly have Fallout without a little steampunk?
      XD

      ReplyDelete
    118. Jacky2734February 18, 2012 at 8:16 PM

      @WaffleSmart

      What do you think the anti-machine rifle is?

      Also,Battle saddles. A Barrett .50 cal is light compared to some of the setups I've seen described in FO:E.

      ReplyDelete
    119. Random BlankFebruary 18, 2012 at 8:28 PM

      @Jacky2734:
      [a href="url"]name[/a] with <,> replacing [,]
      url must be full, with http://...

      ReplyDelete
    120. DerpmindFebruary 18, 2012 at 8:31 PM

      About bullets with guiding AIs? You don't need something so complicated. Specialty bullets with targeting and other spells integrated into them would work quite well with S.A.T.S. Alternatively a weapon that enchants bullets that it fires with targeting, though that's something we've only seen the Zebra-rifle do. Possibly vulnerable to anything that messes with targeting-spells like E.F.S.

      ReplyDelete
    121. Jacky2734February 18, 2012 at 8:54 PM

      @Random Blank

      Thanks.

      ReplyDelete
    122. UnknownFebruary 18, 2012 at 9:01 PM

      Oh wow three pages!? Crazy.

      ReplyDelete
    123. ketchup504February 18, 2012 at 9:23 PM

      I was still talking about railguns, not coilguns, Jack. I was not very clear, sorry bout that.

      ReplyDelete
    124. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 9:25 PM

      @Random Blank
      Let's see. Depleted uranium has a density of 19.1g/cm^3. Copper has a density of 8.94g/cm^3. In order for a copper sabot to have as much mass as the projectile, it would need to have more than double the volume.

      For the 2mm by 3cm needle I proposed earlier, that would be a 1.8 gram projectile; if we used a sabot consisting of two beams crossing between the rails near the front and rear of the needle, with incidental struts between the two for support purposes, that would give each of the centimeter long (assuming your original barrel size estimate) struts a .1cm^2 cross sectional area (3mm diameter if they were cylindrical, but something more streamlined would make more sense). I'm pretty sure that's way more than enough. The specifics of the math change as you scale things up or down, but it still works.


      @Kippershy
      Yeah, an EM mortar would probably be a good idea on second thought. If nothing else, you only have to carry the launcher and projectile instead of adding propellant, which is probably half the weight for a mortar user.


      @Random Blank
      Yeah, that would be the voltage you use for a ship mounted weapon. We're working with a bit lower scale here...


      @Jacky
      [a href="the_link"]the text you want to show up[/a]
      but with < instead of [

      And remember, a pony's carrying capacity is less like a human's and more like, well, a Fallout character. The anit-materiel rifle is heavy, yes, but that won't stop them from carrying it, a pair of SMGs, a spare suit of armor, twenty pounds of scrap metal, and a chainsaw for good measure.

      ReplyDelete
    125. O. HindsFebruary 18, 2012 at 10:10 PM

      Well, I'm afraid that we've been making especially slow progress today; we're only up to the end of page 19 so far, and Somber's left to get some sleep and more writing done. Assuming that we can get done this weekend, which I really hope we can, the chapter ought to be out late Sunday. I'm really sorry.

      ReplyDelete
    126. TakonFebruary 18, 2012 at 10:22 PM

      Maybe we should have less banter and more story related sicussion in these then we wouldnt max them out.


      I'm just sayin.

      ReplyDelete
    127. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 10:24 PM

      @O. Hinds
      Wait, so it might take slightly more than seven days for us to receive the next lengthy installment of this free, absurdly high quality, piece of fiction? I am shocked and appalled! My childlike innocence has been shattered! I may never be able to trust again! I demand my money back!
      you never paid any money; it's a free story
      Well somebody better give me some goddam money!

      [/sarcasm]

      ReplyDelete
    128. SindriFebruary 18, 2012 at 10:25 PM

      @Takon
      You say that like it's a good thing. We don't exactly have limited space here.
      Besides, we have plenty of story related discussions.

      ReplyDelete
    129. Admiral Stoic "Crusader" RumFebruary 18, 2012 at 11:07 PM

      In Texas you can shoot first after dark...if hey are breaking into your car or in your house... called castle law...wait that one means you don't have to back down when in defense of your home or property. Then again, when it comes to people and defending yourself from them, its best that only one side of the story is heard, so if you have to shoot someone, save yourself the trouble and shoot to kill. Otherwise there is another side to the story and the possibility of lies...

      ReplyDelete
    130. Admiral Stoic "Crusader" RumFebruary 18, 2012 at 11:08 PM

      The most awesome intro to a pony song ever!

      ReplyDelete
    131. KatarnFebruary 18, 2012 at 11:42 PM

      @Kippershy
      Gauss/Coil mortar? Equestria is DOOOOOOOMED!
      For the energy and stuff. In Stalker - where used 'concentrate' lightning anomaly. So if there would be any overpowered-undepliting-magical energy source (which we have), I think it's OK.
      Coil SMG, at first I was like ---> o_O but then I saw this:

      http://www.instructables.com/image/FL8M4CFFNZAEMIB/Coilgun-Handgun.jpg

      About recoil, I think there would be little or no recoil, since projectile fired by getting this projectile to high speed by electro-magnets. It's not like with powder-based ammo.

      About Ion would be invisible - Red Alert/ C&C Generals - huge beam of white light...pretty invisible, yeah (and I know it was fired from satellite).

      Return to Coil SMG *sigh* better use SMG with bullets and, if you want, with silencers. This way your character wouldn't use really rare ammo for both weapons, unless he/she could create this ammo.

      About heroics.
      I always think - what I would do, but we have a quiet area, this happens very rarely. I'm not sure that I will run to defend someone, though always a tune to it. We all want to be heroes.

      ReplyDelete
    132. sonic55514February 18, 2012 at 11:45 PM

      I scroll threw the new comment page i take that we have a new ai we're learning physics and about rail guns and we may not have the story this week... oh and the story is emo thats what i got just by scrolling by ad stopign about 7 times lol

      ReplyDelete
    133. theBSDudeFebruary 18, 2012 at 11:57 PM

      @Katarn

      Newton's 3rd Law still applies: how ever much force is behind the projectile is also going the opposite direction.

      ReplyDelete
    134. RoboRedFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:01 AM

      @Admiral Stoic "El Cazador" Rum

      @Self defense
      God I love Texas.

      @Video
      HA! Brilliant.

      Speaking of Pinkie Pie, I slapped THIS together this morning.

      Lag can do amazing things. It had to be done.

      ReplyDelete
    135. KatarnFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:10 AM

      @theBSDude
      Yes but...does laser/plasma weapon have recoil?
      I mean projectile is up to high speed by two magnets...like monorail train (except there are magnets in 4+ directions around projectile).
      Yeah...and last part - why our 'rail gun' couldn't have recoil....magic *snort* *snort*

      ReplyDelete
    136. WavemasterRyxFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:13 AM

      Sweet Lunar Butter! I almost didn't get a post in on the first page! And after being personally greeted by a rogue AI!

      But I wanted my first post to be a picture to start things off right, and I'd been having trouble drawing *sighs*
      Anyways I managed to struggle past it, so have some cosplaying P-21 and Scotch, marginally related to a joke that's probably buried on the prior comment thread.

      http://wavemasterryx.tumblr.com/post/17872084845


      @Glitched System
      Welcome, sir, I hope you enjoy your stay and the various discussion.

      @Somber
      You are always best pony <3

      ReplyDelete
    137. SindriFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:15 AM

      @Katarn
      Not everypony is doomed, just who you point it at!

      You know that's not a real weapon, right? We're quite a ways from a viable gauss rifle in the real world, let alone a compact, high fire rate weapon.

      Recoil doesn't depend on propulsion source much, it's just the 'equal and opposite reaction' from pushing a projectile forward. You might have slightly less recoil than from an entirely uncompensated chemically propelled weapon because you aren't projecting hot gas out the front of the gun, but then it's a lot harder to reduce the kick because you can't just redirect those gasses backward.

      IRL ion beams may or may not be visible depending on a lot of factors. Lasers shouldn't be visible in open air until they hit something, but they're a big glowing beam in game.

      Personally I'd go with a pair or light SMGs as close range dakka sources. Standard AP or hollow point rounds, depending on target.

      Actually, a plasma gun would have recoil, though not much of it. A laser doesn't propel anything.

      ReplyDelete
    138. Nuhvok01February 19, 2012 at 12:46 AM

      @O. Hinds How come you guys try and force a weekend deadline? Why not let a chapter get released at a more comfortable pace like every nine or ten days?

      I'm just really concerned about Somber is all. We are only at the halfway mark of PH, and if we try to push Somber like this non-stop, he may not have the motivation to write the remain 500,000 or so words left in the story. I figure at a chapter per week, the story will be done in 5-7 months. Can Somber handle that kind of forced workload on something that is supposed to be fun?

      ReplyDelete
    139. swickedFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:50 AM

      Bwahaha, the thread of Glory is over, let the thread of P-21 COMMENCE!!!

      ReplyDelete
    140. RyaxFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:50 AM

      i was working on a battle saddle sniper system for i fic i was going to write but gave up on so feel free to cannibalize my idea (im pretty sure its op but hey)

      X211 "Judgement" Battle Saddle Sniper System

      Gauss Rifle

      Range: up to 1.5 miles

      rounds leave a near invisable trail (requires high perseption to notice)

      made from "luna's meterorite metal" Ultra light, ultra durible

      targiting links up to EFS

      requirs sats to operate (much like folly)

      has a side pack canister for scrap metal ammo conversion (much like the steel ranger armor but for ammo)

      can create AP rounds however changeing ammo types takes time

      burns through spark batterys in 3 shots

      flushes heat after every shot (shoots steam out the back)

      Takes full SATS per shot

      has an echoing crack sound apon firing (simmiler to thunder) (hard to trace but not to notice)

      ReplyDelete
    141. swickedFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:54 AM

      @Nuhvok01
      If history is any indicator? Yes. This is what he does.
      We've asked him to take it easy often enough and this is the pace he has set for himself. I figure, at this point, he gets that we don't require this of him in the least. Short of tracking him down and tying him up I dunno what can be done about it :P

      ReplyDelete
    142. O. HindsFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:55 AM

      @Nuhvok01
      Well, due to Real Life, we can only have brushing sessions on weekends, meaning that chapter releases are more or less quantized on the week level. We'd be happy to take a break if Somber asked us, though.

      ReplyDelete
    143. Nuhvok01February 19, 2012 at 1:00 AM

      @O. Hinds
      @swicked
      Whoah. Somber is one hardcore MoFo then.

      ReplyDelete
    144. swickedFebruary 19, 2012 at 1:08 AM

      @Nuhvok01
      To the best of my knowledge (anyone, feel free to correct me) he treats it like a job, albeit one he greatly enjoys, as this is what he does all day.

      @Takon
      Party pooper :P

      What's wrong with burning through threads like it's no tomorrow? In my experience at least two thirds of the discussion is directly related to discussing what has happened in the fic and what we expect will happen next. New chapters seem to fill up at least a page nowadays with all the multiple-post reviewers. Over half the remainder is conversation directly spawned by the topics the story brings up, like slavery and self defense (in reference to that village BJ ended up killing everyone in that refused to give up slave trade). What remains after that is generally still pony related, discussing aspects of the characters, of fallout equestria in general, leaving only a tiny portion to general nonsense.

      The people here are just really, really talkative.

      ReplyDelete
    145. SindriFebruary 19, 2012 at 1:23 AM

      @Ryax
      Seems well balanced from a gameplay perspective. Could definitely be more realistic.

      I never like hard range limits; accuracy drops as range increases, to a degree that depends on the weapon, but it's not like the bullet just stops. In theory the range for a good railgun is pretty much line of sight, but a person's unlikely to hit from more than a kilometer or two away and the higher velocity you put on the round the more power it takes, the more kick there'll be, the more visible the shot will be, and the more specialized ammunition will be required.

      That said, a 1.5 mile effective range? That's 2640 yards, 2410 meters. Only three kills, by two people, have ever been confirmed at past that distance, and only six people have broken two kilometers. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_recorded_sniper_kills] A bullet can go further than that easy, but it'll have been in the air for several seconds, lost the vast majority of its energy, and be guided more by wind patterns than by where the attacker was aiming. We don't know the exact differences that electromagnetic weapons will make yet, and it's probable that we'll have at least triple the muzzle velocity of chemically propelled weapons once we get the kinks worked out, but it's not reasonable to assume that a normal wielder will routinely make shots that are pretty much impossible with current tech.

      The trail from the bullet would either be invisible or a blazing streak across the sky, depending on whether the velocity was sufficient to ionize the air around it. Bullet trails are added in video games so people won't complain about how snipers are overpowered, not because they're realistic.

      Scrap metal would contain a lot of steel and maybe lead, but you're unlikely to find anything dense or hard enough to operate at speeds that make the air glow. Either reduce the velocity or make ammo harder to get.

      That standard ammunition for a railgun would be better at armor penetration than anything that a chemical weapon can put out; there's no point in having specific AP rounds for it unless you've defaulted to something very unoptimal.

      That steam flush is going to require a large water reservoir, and I think under most circumstances it would be easier to just use the water as a heatsink and let it cool slowly if you've got it instead of spraying it everywhere and needing to refill all the time.

      ReplyDelete
    146. SindriFebruary 19, 2012 at 1:32 AM

      @Nuhvok01
      Somber is indeed one hardcore [buy some apples!]. I'm pretty sure he's not entirely human; no mortal author could write at that quality and pace.


      @Aww, I love you too.

      ReplyDelete
    147. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 1:57 AM

      @Takon

      difference between random banter and what was going on is that this "random banter" is actually highly influencing -MY- story.

      so yeah. its still relevant in a weird, weird way.

      ReplyDelete
    148. Random BlankFebruary 19, 2012 at 3:01 AM

      @Sindri

      0.8g of copper at 8.94 g/cm^3 gives us 0.2cm^3 of copper. Stretch that 1cm wide, gives us 0.2cm^2

      2.3cm^2/1cm*1.68×10e−8ohm/m = 3.36e-11 ohm

      Let's give it a decent speed so that is actually significantly better than a plain rifle: 10 mach. That's 20KJ to be pumped into the bullet, plus second that much into the sabot. 40KJ.
      Assume 1.5m barrel, that still makes sense on a pony as a battle saddle.
      For such acceleration, taking wide simplifications, it gives about 1ms of travel time in the barrel.

      40KJ @ 1ms = 40 megawatts, ~8000 amperes at 5KV

      Now what kind of heat will be expended in the sabot?

      (8KA)^2 * 3.36e-11 ohm = 0.0021504 watts, over 1ms, which is... puny.

      Huh, bet you're right!

      ReplyDelete
    149. Random BlankFebruary 19, 2012 at 3:17 AM

      @Ryax

      I wonder, with 2x Action Mare, improved Agility and so on... when will Blackjack reach a threshold when she can shoot the Folly twice without depleting all AP?

      @Sindri:
      > That's 2640 yards, 2410 meters. Only three kills, by two people, have ever been confirmed at past that distance

      We Don't Have SATS.

      I guess the problem with the trail might be some kind of catalyst surface that creates as bright a trail as you like, but outside of visible spectrum.

      inhuman Somber:
      Somber's head is full of pony. If my head was as full of pony I would spend all my time with them as well, and could write down their stories just as well.

      ReplyDelete
    150. SindriFebruary 19, 2012 at 5:32 AM

      @Random Blank
      Yay, math!

      SATS is actually really bad for sniping. It's great for moving targets or using guns in melee because it basically pauses for your shot, but accuracy drops off rapidly with range.

      The glowing trail in the air isn't from a chemical reaction with the bullet, it's from extreme compression in front of a hypersonic projectile ionizing the air. it emits all across the spectrum (or at least far enough to make radio communication impossible; it's probably not putting out gamma or anything), but to visilight it looks like fire. You couldn't change it without altering the atmosphere or lowering the velocity.

      Unfortunately I can't find the math for when this happens yet; plasmasonic is defined in aviation as above mach ten so that would be a good baseline for normal objects (I think the needle would be able to go faster). I'll continue looking and get back to you if I find something.

      ReplyDelete
    151. nallarFebruary 19, 2012 at 7:40 AM

      @Sindri
      Oh, almost missed this comment thread somehow.

      ReplyDelete
    152. nallarFebruary 19, 2012 at 7:40 AM

      And I wasn't logged in until after clicking so that didn't sub me to this one. Take 2

      ReplyDelete
    153. kirbuuFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:34 AM

      @Kippershyyou know this whole discussion is just leaving me thinking of a pegasus character that just carries around some clouds and a gun frame shape clouds as lining of frame charge the clouds with pegasi wheather magic and one quick buck to send lightning down the whole thing to accelerate the slugs

      ReplyDelete
    154. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:47 AM

      @kirbuu


      Nawh, my sniper is a unicorn.
      my the pegasus is my main character.
      and Sergei... is Sergei.

      ReplyDelete
    155. KatarnFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:52 AM

      @Kippershy
      @Sergei[cliche]he is big, red and add "comrade" at each sentence? [/cliche]
      btw. I'm curious when it's late Sunday in GMT it's how many hours?
      I'm just thinking go to sleep in 5 hours or don't sleep all night and wait for new awesome chapter? :D

      ReplyDelete
    156. Free CoffeeFebruary 19, 2012 at 10:36 AM

      I stayed up till 3 on Photoshop last night, have some Blackjack/Little-pip meme crossover

      http://cheezburger.com/wafflesmarts/lolz/View/5861723136

      ReplyDelete
    157. KatarnFebruary 19, 2012 at 10:42 AM

      @WaffleSmart
      Nice, really nice.

      But I have one question: why Little-pip look angry? :)

      ReplyDelete
    158. ketchup504February 19, 2012 at 10:56 AM

      @Hinds
      *only* at 19? That's not bad. And since the chapters are usually released on Sunday, don't be sorry. We are *usually* a patient bunch.

      @Random
      Those are some pretty complicated equations. I only understood ohms and a few symbols. Although, I am only halfway through ninth grade. In what education level do you learn this in Poland?

      ReplyDelete
    159. ketchup504February 19, 2012 at 10:58 AM

      @waffle Where are their horns?

      ReplyDelete
    160. Free CoffeeFebruary 19, 2012 at 11:10 AM

      @ketchup504
      Well, Blackjacks horn is "compact" so I thought I could get away with not showing it.

      As for Little-Pips... I'm just lazy XD

      @Katarn

      Lol, perhaps she's mad that she can't stop reading?

      ReplyDelete
    161. MeganerdbombFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:17 PM

      That last chapter has me kinda pissed right now. I know Blackjack isn't a smart pony, but I think even she'd be smart enough to realize tht if somebody is close enough to you to cut off your pipbuck, he's also close enough for you to smash his face in, so why the hell does she just sit there and let him run off with EC-1101 like that was her only option?

      ReplyDelete
    162. SindriFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:37 PM

      @Meganerdbomb
      At that particular moment, he still had a gun to Charity's head. But yeah, she had dozens of better options over the course of that encounter.

      ReplyDelete
    163. TheLastDefenderFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:39 PM

      @Meganerdbomb
      Your forgetting sanguine is a unicorn. So he likely wasn't close enough.

      ReplyDelete
    164. Random BlankFebruary 19, 2012 at 12:46 PM

      @ketchup504
      Theoretically newtonian mechanics and ohm's law is around 7th year of education (basics), repeated around 10th-11th (enough to get this all), but realistically you need to get past studies to get enough of skill at shuffling variables and transforming equations as you desire to be able to do this kind of stuff for fun and not as a tedious homework. Also, Google Calculator is a great help for checking if you keep the units right although it's not infailable. And I took some far-going liberties (time to pass given distance in uniformly accelerated movement is *roughly* the distance divided by half the exit speed... actually the calculation is far more complexa.)

      ReplyDelete
    165. ketchup504February 19, 2012 at 1:04 PM

      @Random
      You lucky Pole. In New Brunswick, we have one of the most dumbed-down education systems in Canada, as i just learned what an ohm is this school year. Its way better in BC, as I have heard. Perhaps because many students go through French Core, learning all subjects in French. This would likely make everything harder in mathematics and sciences, as the universally accepted scientific language is English. And since they don't want English students ahead of French ones, we get the same, dumbed-down education. It only gets reinforced by the excess of human garbage who ditch half their classes to smoke cigarettes, sometimes containing cannabis. Despicable.

      ReplyDelete
    166. SindriFebruary 19, 2012 at 1:25 PM

      @Random Blank
      Nothing wrong with google calculator, but I prefer Wolfram Alpha for these kinds of calculations; it recognizes most technical terms and gives you a lot of convenient shortcuts and stuff once you get used to it. Integrated statistical analysis programs, all those formulas that you never actually remember for everything from optics to nuclear physics, chemistry database... it saves a lot of time searching for info and reduces the number of calculations that you actually have to do.

      And yeah, here in the US this stuff'll be first mentioned somewhere between the sixth and eighth year, then you'll learn enough to actually do it in high school if you're paying attention, and then first year of college is when most people actually get around to figuring it out. But my dad's an engineer and I build robots as a hobby, so I got it a bit earlier than the norm...

      ReplyDelete
    167. SnipehamsterFebruary 19, 2012 at 1:28 PM

      @Meganerdbomb

      Sanguine is a unicorn, meaning that he's able to cut out the Delta from a distance. In addition, he's carrying Charity by her mane in his mouth. Not only is she rapidly bleeding out, but he could kill her, messily, with nothing but a sharp exhalation. By that point, BJ has decided to make the trade and hope for the best.

      ReplyDelete
    168. Random BlankFebruary 19, 2012 at 2:02 PM

      @ketchup504
      Don't be silly with excuses about language. I learned all of my maths and physics in Polish and now spend time seeking english names. Also, while polish teaching programme is quite good and very extensive, the actual teaching is not really so. Due to the sheer size of the material there is no time to drill any single piece into the students, so if they want to slack off, they can quite easily get by with only minimum learning. I really didn't really remember any of that on my high school level, only during studies when advanced maths forced me to learn reshaping algebraic equations smoothly, I took the liking to such calculations and re-learned the essential equations by heart.

      ReplyDelete
    169. SindriFebruary 19, 2012 at 2:10 PM

      @ketchup504
      Pretty much everything in science defaults to Latin, Greek, proper names, or jargon that's further from english than it is from the romance languages. It sounds like the problem is a refusal to teach at different rates for people with different levels of skill or interest, not linguistic problems. You can teach the material in any language with no problems, but if you insist on the top of the class not passing those who prefer cannabis to lectures, nobody is going to accomplish anything.

      ReplyDelete
    170. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 2:41 PM

      @Katarn

      He does have a bit of Russian influence, so I'm tempted to make him say the word comrade occasionally.

      but unfortunately he's not red. he's closer to dark brown then anything.

      ReplyDelete
    171. Admiral Stoic "Crusader" RumFebruary 19, 2012 at 3:30 PM

      So when they finish their brushing and post their submission, who is with me on slamming Seth with Impatient demands for the update to be posted?

      Always we do!

      See we can wait for however long it takes for the story to be written, but heaven help the EqD staff if they don't post the update when we find out it has been submitted...

      ReplyDelete
    172. ketchup504February 19, 2012 at 3:43 PM

      It wasn't meant as an excuse, and it was fairly stupid to say those things. I am English, and i learn everything in English. That was just a little speculation that was ill-founded. I meant no offense if any was felt, Random. Sindri is more right than I was about the subject. Different rates for different students makes sense.
      Sorry I feel really stupid right now. :S

      ReplyDelete
    173. Jack DorkingsFebruary 19, 2012 at 4:22 PM

      @ Maklak: I disagree with you on the Fallen Arch comments. What they were doing in there was wrong and Security had to do something about it. She never wanted to go in and kill everyone who disagreed with her- in fact it was quite the opposite. You can't just say its their town its their rules because in the same token you could make everyone you live with your slaves and horrendously abuse them and noone would be able to do anything about it. Here the police would stop you but in the wasteland there is no higher authority, so its up to Security to Save Ponies.

      @ sniper discussion: Laser snipers could be pretty effective- the fallout energy beams aren't very realistic- its very hard to get a bright solid laser beam appear in the air. Depending on the power of laser you'd get atmospheric blooming, which on a sunny day would probably be missed entirely. However, this brings me neatly to their biggest drawback- the atmosphere.
      The laser will be refracted by the air so you'll need some crazy optics and a higher power output to maintain a cohesive beam over several kilometers. Also aiming would be horrendous. Different air pressures affect light in different ways, so you would have to compensate for each one before firing. Best way would be to use a lower output version of the main laser to determine where the final shot will land- either infra red or ultra violet (prefereably the same wavelength you're going to be using for the main beam. You wouldn't be using a visible one). If such weapons are commonplace there will probably be people looking out for those guide lasers so you'll potentially be like a lighthouse. There also will be a crack of the air ionising as you fire.
      Lasers are a really good weapon in space though.

      Railguns would be essentially a much higher velocity version of a traditional sniper. Obviously both weapon systems are surrently unfeasable, requiring far superior power suppliers for their size and barrels that aren't destroyed by the pressure changes in the barrel when the railgun discharges(the round shouldn't ideally be in contact with the weapon as its accelerated).

      ReplyDelete
    174. Random BlankFebruary 19, 2012 at 4:29 PM

      I'm not offended, just... don't count on the ed system to teach you all you need. It never will. Find a good DIY "cookbook" that goes beyond schematics - electronics, chemistry, whatever you like. They are much nicer for learning than school textbooks.

      ReplyDelete
    175. Random BlankFebruary 19, 2012 at 4:43 PM

      @Hawkeye92

      Maklak conveniently chooses to ignore opinion of those who are slaves. You're enslaved, you have no right to set rules. Whoever enslaved you dictates the rights of the house and it's the ultimate law.

      So, the stallions deny Security access. The mares are slaves, so they are not allowed to beg Security to save them. Security can't set them free because the rule of the house is "mares have no voice" and she'd be violating this rule if she did anything on their behalf.

      And P-21, who was quite welcomed by the mares when trying to set them free, was still trespassing, even though he was exactly in the mares' quarters and welcomed by the inhabitants...

      Convenient.

      ReplyDelete
    176. RainbowYoshiFebruary 19, 2012 at 4:53 PM

      Test

      ReplyDelete
    177. ketchup504February 19, 2012 at 5:00 PM

      Thanks for that advice, Random.

      ReplyDelete
    178. KimFebruary 19, 2012 at 5:45 PM

      (Just totally unrelated to anything: But wow... I just realized how easy it is to be an evil mastermind. I had two free hours without my computer, no way of stress reliving activity, so I began scheming and plotting (I'm chaotic natural, it's in my alignment... or well, I hope that is still my alignment, I might have earned a alignment shift for some of my recent actions this year...) and within these 2 hours, I had figured out how I could easily drive 5 people I know towards suicide, how to assassinate a baby without leaving evidence or raising suspicion, and how to ruin years of some peoples (one parent, their child and one close friend to said parent) lives with a mostly foolproof plan that would just get themselves in trouble if they tried to struggle against it... even if I can sympathise with Magneto, I'm still very unsure where I stand in all of this... sorta starting to slip gradually. Eugh... I don't want to slip down that path again. I mean, look where it left me last time! Anyhow, I'm going to go read some overly sappy, romantic femslashes and try to calm down, with a very soft gecko on my shoulder. I mean heck, my latest RP char was "Derrek Drowbane", grey draw geurilla, hatred enemy: drow. (not favoured, hatred) basically Batman, but with even less restrictions to law and order. Poison, cheap shots, treachery. After all, in the end: What does it matter how I get the job done? There's no witnesses, and dead people don't write history... and all of a sudden I really do feel like a nutcase heh. But as said: I do not suffer from insanity, I quite enjoy it... anyhow, sorry for the ramble, I'm done with it. Will make a new post to reply on. Also, in case no-one noticed, I am on a tired rambling again.)

      ReplyDelete
    179. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 5:57 PM

      Hey Somber. I just want to say something;

      I completely understand what you meant a while back [a few chapters before black, with the whole fallen arch or whatever] about your story just... developing and changing on its own.

      Today I was writing further into chapter two, and out of nowhere, what was meant to be a completely uneventful moment turned into a split second horror, swiftly brought back to safe grounds, but god.
      I had -no- intention nor idea of writing something like this in, I wasn't against the idea, I just had no clue of it at all. I had my plan, and yet the ponies actually decided to do something by themselves almost.


      so I totally understand what you mean now. it is crazy, it is scary, but god. is it wonderful.
      its made for some epic wicked bonding and such other things - but I simply never envisioned it in the least, it just wrote itself in out of nowhere.
      and I'm getting that a lot with the humour/interaction between a certain two, who in my very original first notes... eugh.


      so many changes in such a little time.


      and when I simply look back through chapter one, I find myself editing it, adding more and taking certain small bits out to make more sense.


      god. is this how you do it? every week, do you honestly just have a general idea and it writes stuff in all by itself?

      ReplyDelete
    180. ketchup504February 19, 2012 at 5:59 PM

      You are quite the character, Kim...

      ReplyDelete
    181. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 6:04 PM

      @Kim


      nah nah nah.
      that's coming closer to chaotic evil then chaotic neutral.


      I'm chaotic neutral in the truest sense.
      I'll help you, I'll hurt you. its not about the rewards, its about what I feel like doing.
      admittedly, I don't often feel like hurting people, but nor do I really feel like joining some greater cause simply to do good.


      I'll rip you apart with jokes, make you cry if you're weak, make you feel shit if you let it get to you in such a way, and then not feel strongly either way because to me, it was a gentle joke without malice.

      I'll also be there for any of my friends in almost any way possible. the closer you are to me, the more of my soul I'll give to make you happy.

      that's not for the greater good, not because anything else then its what -I- desire.
      I want my closest friends to be happier then the happiest they've ever been, because it makes me happy to see them as such.

      but sometimes, some people...

      like I say, I don't go out of my way to hurt people, nor do I go out of my way to help people.
      I just do as I do, and do as I want in that sense.


      chaotic neutral all the way.



      I don't plan to do shit unless it makes me feel good, and even then it's probably not a true plan but rather a make up as I go style thing.




      ...maybe you could be lawful evil?

      ReplyDelete
    182. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 6:08 PM

      @Kim


      http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s245/Nuttyrebbel/chaoticnetural.jpg

      ReplyDelete
    183. KimFebruary 19, 2012 at 6:48 PM

      @Random: (regarding Red Eye example) ... tbh, I got allot more "appealed/interested" in the thought of having my hair braided then the *cough, cough*... then again, I have a huge things for grooming xD

      @Mech: "I gave them my best shooty look" xP

      @Maklak: (about San & C:O) Well, that was a thousand posts ago xD And possibly, he could likely just use very effective lies. Since that could work just as well.

      On a side note: Seeing how little I had to reply on, making a new post might've been stupid to do. ^^' I'm still proud that I've managed to keep shut about that one thing thou. Even if I have to bring it up to avoid talking about it, which sorta loops in it's own logic...

      @Kipper: Hm, perhaps. Seeing how lawful can be following a philosophy, but I am not evil per say. I just do bad things in the name of good.

      And gah, I just spent an hour to find this quote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=j1ca9zU4Oeo#t=289s (and I am far to brave to make a link, and I totally forgot how xP)

      ReplyDelete
    184. SomberFebruary 19, 2012 at 7:57 PM

      Sigh... okay. 37 is in queue. Dunno when it'll be up. terribly middling and boring chapter though. Sorry. Hope you enjoy it.

      ReplyDelete
    185. SindriFebruary 19, 2012 at 7:58 PM

      @Somber
      WOOT!

      ReplyDelete
    186. AnonymousFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:01 PM

      @Kippershy
      "How do you feel about the idea of a unicorn with a sniper rifle riding on the back of a bear into battle?"
      I think it sounds a bit familiar.

      @Random Blank
      Traditionally, snipers work with spotters who carry a more traditional assault rifle and any "toys" they need (grenade launchers, etc.) Granted, it's not unheard-of for the spotter to be another sniper using his own scope.

      @O. Hinds
      Does that mean that without the PipBuck she doesn't know when she needs gems or sleep?
      Uh oh...

      @WavemasterRyx
      Oh Gawd. Call me when Scotch transforms into a superpowered hottie. XD

      @Somber
      WOOHOO! Since when was Sunday night the best part of the week?! :D

      ReplyDelete
    187. OverthepacificFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:11 PM

      @Somber

      Quick! Everyone to Seths Email!

      ReplyDelete
    188. SindriFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:13 PM

      @Overthepacific
      No, spamming the blogponies isn't an appropriate response until it's been in the queue for at least 24 hours. For now you just pound F5 until your keyboard breaks.

      ReplyDelete
    189. swickedFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:15 PM

      @Kim
      @Kippershy

      Inwardly I have massive chaotic evil impulses, but in practice I am true neutral.

      It's fun to reduce one's entire personality to such a simple concept :P

      ReplyDelete
    190. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:18 PM

      @Somber

      Somber, you hero.
      I was just stuck in a world destroying decision;


      its 3:15am, I'm feeling tired, but I'm also feeling hungry. if I eat, I'll stay awake. if I stay awake, I'll likely make it through the whole day tomorrow, and use this time awake to further go into my story

      (chapter one is 5,044 words. chapter two which is far from finished is 2,000 exact) so yeah. thank you for making the choice clear.

      ReplyDelete
    191. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:22 PM

      @Kim

      if you're confused how to make a link, hit the reply button.

      it's got a link completely done for you in a weird way; just break it down


      @ (not linked)
      < a href = "-----" > is the post number link, which is where you want YOUR url.

      the text after is what the link text will be. important to add SOMETHING here as it'll feed the link

      < /a > ends the link



      also, like I say; lawful evil.
      you don't do it because you want to be evil, you do it because you know someone will have to make the hard choices at the end of the day, and that you're going to be the one.


      My character is going to have an influence of lawful evil in him.. I think.


      not full on, but where Security wont play executioner... Crimson hands no mercy to the guilty.

      ReplyDelete
    192. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:25 PM

      @silentcarto

      Good lord. I just came.

      I'd never seen that before. but that is EXACTLY the kind of proportions and how intimidating Sergei is going to be.

      too awesome.

      ReplyDelete
    193. OverthepacificFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:26 PM

      @Sindri

      But ive got class in the morning and no way to read it until around 7 tomorrow, plus, i really really really want it now

      ReplyDelete
    194. SindriFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:26 PM

      @Kippershy
      ...

      ReplyDelete
    195. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:27 PM

      @Sindri

      what?

      ReplyDelete
    196. SindriFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:29 PM

      @Overthepacific
      Eh, how much do you really need sleep? Just stay up talking with us until the story comes up, read it, and depending on what time that leaves you either take a quick nap or run on ludicrous quantities of sugar/caffeine (your preference) tomorrow.

      I can't count the times that I've had to choose between sleep and Project Horizons...

      ReplyDelete
    197. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:31 PM

      @Sindri

      the answer is: you don't need sleep.
      I once went for 9 days straight without any sleep, and uh... okay yes, I was zombified and near deathly levels at that point, but still, I managed it.

      one day of sleep wont kill no-one!

      ReplyDelete
    198. TheLastDefenderFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:33 PM

      @Kippershy If you operate heavy machinery it might.

      ReplyDelete
    199. KippershyFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:34 PM

      @TheLastDefender

      Point taken.

      ReplyDelete
    200. TheLastDefenderFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:39 PM

      Do Rock crushers and wood chippers count as heavy machinery?

      ReplyDelete

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