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What is the Arc Client?
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FC.31.20201009.18 - Bloodmoon Week 2
kaiserin
Posts: 3,210 Cryptic Developer
Bloodmoon
Vibora
Emotes
- New mission: Complete the Turakian Termination mission 5 times. Rewards the Ghost Hunter Backpack costume. This mission will be available for 1 week.
- New mission: Complete the Hunter Attack mission 5 times. Rewards the Werewolf loyal sidekick. This mission will be available until the end of the event.
- New mission: Complete the Wolf Hunt mission 5 times. Rewards the Hunter loyal sidekick. This mission will be available until the end of the event.
- Fixed an issue where the pumpkins could not be seen on low settings.
- Fixed an issue with the Zombie Idle unlocks.
- Added Wizard hat, Femur Bone, Plague Mask, Vacuum Cleaner and Ghost Hunter Boots costumes to the event store.
- Added Head Spikes and Headcage costumes as potential drops from Trick or Treat bags.
- Added Bone Armor costume items as possible drops from Undead Heroes.
- Added Broomstick travel skin to the Heavy Scythe costume.
Vibora
- Added social instance version of the dog pound bar.
Emotes
- Fixed an issue where Sleep, TalkHeadsetkneel and Pushups emotes were not working properly.
Post edited by kaiserin#0958 on
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Comments
RIP Dog Pound farming. Also, Black Fang is not in the RP version of the Dog Pound if you're hoping for that.
Bug
I cannot exit or socrate'd out of the RP version of the Dog Pound.
Why does David Antares need to be gay? He doesn't need to be gay. Or straight for that matter. The way it's worded: "As a gay man, David rejects everything Rembrant stood for," intimates that David objects to Rembrant's deeds because he's gay, when Rembrant's terrible and perhaps murderous behavior has no relevance to where David or anyone else for that matter likes to stick their wee-wee... unless somebody's trying to draw a parallel between gayness/homosexuality and witchcraft? Which seems kind of, mmmm, intolerant if you ask me. Though realistically speaking, given that Rembrant's witch-hunting had absolutely nothing to do with whether his victims were straight or gay, there's no logical reason to cite gayness as the reason David objects to Rembrant's evil deeds. It'd make much more sense to say something along the lines of "as a good and honest man" or "as an aspiring hero" or something more relevant to this sidekick's character. Really, this comes off as, if you'll all pardon my choice of words, appropriating gay culture, and that just doesn't sit well with me you know.
In turn, I would raise the exact same question if David Antares was described as straight. "As a straight man, David rejects everything Rembrant stood for," is just as utterly pointless as the man's orientation wouldn't have any impact on whether he was a hero or a villain. Except that, since pandering to and appropriating """straight culture""" is unheard of as opposed to pandering to and appropriating gays and their culture which is commonly accepted despite its utter insincerity and disrespect towards the very people it claims to represent, it comes off as even more strange and unnatural and forced.
Of course, given the nature of Cryptic and the behavior of the people working on Champions Online, this is pretty blatantly just pandering and appropriation for social credit score, which is honestly entirely pointless given that realistically, aside from trying to stir up thought and ticking off thin-skinned people that can't handle a slight ounce of discourse, I actually don't care at all whether David is straight or gay (it has absolutely no relevance to him as a character after all,) and everyone but all of five or ten vocal political screamers on this game will just use David as the "I want extra DPS" button anyways.
Oh, and isn't Cryptic/PWE Chinese beholden to China? Last I heard, they hate gay people, so... seriously. Good luck with this. If somebody raises the subject to the higher-up Chinese corporate management, things could get screwy. I really hope they don't, because I don't want to see this game shut down, but I'm in no position to help or change that.
Edits for grammar fixes!
This is my cry for help
You clearly do, or you could have saved yourself several paragraphs of rambling nonsense.
I particularly like the mafia-style "Nice little game you got there, would be a shame if something happened to it" threat at the end. So subtle and clever of you.
You are probably smugly thinking about what an elegant and intellectual argument you have made. But ironically you just prove how much we still need represention of gay people like this in gaming. So thanks for that.
And big thanks to whoever at Cryptic wrote that original Antares text. It's greatlly appreciated by many of us.
Typos/incorrect descriptions in item unlocks
Vacuum Cleaner only unlocks a costume for Broomstick Flight. It does not unlock anything for Heavy Weapons or Back as stated.
Head Spikes unlocks a costume named Head Spikes. Item description incorrectly calls it Skull.
Bone Armor Arm Accessories unlocks a costume for Arm Accessories. Item description incorrectly says Eye Accessory.
You're assuming I do, which is all on you. And it's strange, it's almost like someone can criticize something without obsessing over it.
You're assuming I'm threatening the game, when if you knew anything about the game you'd know PWE is Chinese owned and China doesn't like gay people or any media with gay people in it, but you'd rather lash out at and attack me for criticizing the corporate degradation of a culture for the sake of tokenism, and completely ignore the fact I care about this game and would rather see gays represented fairly than disrespected for the sake of tokenism.
You're assuming I'm being smug, and then saying that because I got bored and criticized the fact that this implementation of a gay character clearly has no respect for gay people, that we should clearly double down and disrespect gay people even more.
You're assuming and also posturing when you say you're speaking for a majority with that "many of us" bit, and encouraging the appropriation of gay culture with no regard for how actual gay people feel about it. That's... honestly kinda sick and manipulative.
That's also lot of assuming and aggressive antagonism for someone who's touting inclusivity and respect; not responding to any of the points I raised at all but instead insulting me and hurling a veiled accusation of bigotry my way. I did add that trigger warning at the beginning, didn't I? You need to relax, dude, it's not like wanting better for gay people is a crime, is it? Or wanting CO to not get yeeted across the cosmos by an angry CCP? Seriously, it's okay to disagree but don't try and give me that manipulative garbage in an effort to shame me into going back on myself. This is Champions Online, entitled 500-DPS RP builds show up to Teleiosaurus all the time, shamelessness is nature here.
Now, on a different note, what I'm actually salty about, aside from that collection of inane insults, is the Dog Pound nerf. Seriously. The Vibora Bay vampire graveyard, the irradiates worshiping the nuke up top-left in the desert, now this... how long is it until the Prison Break open mission in Westside gets removed because people use it to farm event tokens or to level up characters a little faster with some builds?
That, and the fact that these new sidekicks and their 5-day quests are only being introduced now that we have the Undead Heroes and Doomlords to fight is actually kind-of painful. Why couldn't these have been introduced week 1 when people were actually farming werewolf-vs-hunter PvP? Now folks have to slog through more of that un-fun garbage and wait on all the fun stuff (the aforementioned Heroes and Doomlords) if they want one of these sidekicks.
This is my cry for help
Also at least The sidekicks has a back story. I'm sensing a cool witcher vibe. They could add that a wolf killed his parterner years ago so he dedicated to hunting werewolves.
Except thisiscraftaaa is clearly right - it makes no sense to mention his sexual orientation at that point. It's not a coherent preamble to the sentiment that follows. Would non-gay people not be opposed to the ethical mores of a professional witchhunter from 400 years ago, solely on the basis that they're not gay? It's a non-sequitur.
I seem to recall that Kinetic is gay. I'm not sure the game mentions it at all, because it's never relevant. Outside of Defender and Witchcraft (who are or were dating, which only comes up because it gets played for laughs in a UNITY mission, and even that doesn't mean they're exclusively straight), none of the characters' sexual orientations ever come up, because its not relevant to a superhero game. This isn't a dating sim or a romance game - you're free to imagine as many of them as LGBTQ as you like, and there's no reason for the game to bother to mention it one way or another.
Can you imagine how stilted it would be for all straight characters to come out and say so in their bio, in a paragraph that otherwise has nothing to do with sex - orientation or otherwise?
Cryptic devs have their own creative license with their characters and can do what they want with them as long as they aren't hurting anyone. If you don't like it, don't get the sidekick.
Here's hoping the wizard hat works with female hairstyles... cause the current witch hat we have clips even with the ol' helmet/hat hairstyles.
Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
This made me laugh. The fact that it seems such a big deal to ANYONE to the point where they believe it could get the entire game shut down for a bio on a sidekick character that barely anyone will ever see shows just how much it needs to be there.
I agree with the first point to an extent. It is pretty sloppy writing and in its current form seems nonsensical. My interpretation, however, is that his great grandfather was a religious zealot and as a gay man it would make sense for him to be particularly against that given historical AND modern context.
I don't, however, think a game/film/comic book/tv show or media of any other kind needs to be specifically about dating or romance for a character's orientation to be relevant. A lot of straight people don't seem to realise just how often their sexuality permeates all kinds of media. Heterosexual romances are side-plots in all kinds of different genres but it isn't until recent years with more homosexual/bisexual representation that there seems to be this pushback calling it irrelevant in any given context. I'm sure these sorts of people might even truly believe they would be up in arms and saying the same thing about an 'irrelevant' straight relationship but I would be willing to bet a good chunk of money there are at least double digits worth of media content they've FORGOTTEN that had straight romantic subtext or plotlines that they never took the time to comment on or even register as having them.
Ultimately David just needs a small rewrite of his bio and he's good to go.
Edit:
Also this isn't an example of appropriating gay culture. It isn't gay culture to just be gay. You can be gay and not engage in gay culture. With difficulty but it's possible!
Edit 2: While I'm here why is there an RP version of the Dog Pound in Vibora before there is an RP version of Leo's Bar in Westside?
The incubus dance club would also be a great opportunity to create a new social instance in the city center if the devs have the time, inclination and/or ability to make a new one since the Minefield.
And yet, why is it there exactly? You say "this is why it needs to be there" and yet provide no explanation for how randomly labeling a character as gay in a non-sequitur that holds no relevance to the character whatsoever is so necessary or revolutionary, as there's no function or purpose for his being gay, as his boyfriend (assuming he has one) has no relevance to his character whatsoever, with there being no mention of how being a hunter or having a cursed sword possessed by the spirit of an evil hunter affects him at all. Does it put a strain on their relationship? What commentary does the evil sword have on said relationship? We have nothing about that. He's just arbitrarily gay because "that's why he doesn't agree with the bad guy, it makes him a good person."
And I'll highlight this: you said that "this proves how much it needs to be there" immediately after saying "it's hilarious that anyone would think it's a big enough deal for the CCP to shut it down." Make up your mind, either it's making a statement and taking an important stand or it's just some throwaway text that nobody's bothered by; it physically cannot be both. The other guy did the exact same thing: "But ironically you just prove how much we still need represention of gay people like this in gaming. So thanks for that." Simply because I question WHY it must be this way, and point out how regardless of whether the character is straight or gay or anything else there's physically no reason to make mention regardless of which direction he swings within the context of his suspiciously devoid-of-even-an-unimportant-love-interest story, this is apparently "hatred" and "bigotry" and "proof we need to be noisier, need to force it into more places with no tact nor respect for the people we claim to be representing!" Which, just as I said to the other guy, shows no care for the actual people, just using them for social credit and appearances.
Ahh, see, while still somewhat random, if his great grandfather had a thing out against gay people (likely as a religious zealot since it'd be strange, alien, and forced to have him just be "anti-gay" for no apparent reason) then it might make sense to mention it there... but it's still completely random and pointless as it is in this current iteration. We don't know if he has a boyfriend or not, or if he had one and broke up with him because the evil sword did something, or if his boyfriend was the teen werewolf all along (expect an entire Adventure Pack about this riveting plot to drop in 2022!) or anything. In essence, the character exists in an empty void and is gay without any reason to be gay. That's like packing a suitcase full of swim trunks and beach clothes up in your car as you go on a road trip through North Dakota, or Maine, or somewhere absolutely frigid: there's physically no necessity for it, it's empty text with no purpose. or meaning.
As for a character's orientation being relevant by sheer nature of being what holes they like to stick it or take it in (unless they're straight, in which case it's inherently boring and overused,) maybe you're just obsessed with romance plots? When I play a video game or watch a TV show (rare as that second one is,) I have absolutely no interest in any romantic plot unless it's earned, regardless of if it's a dude and a chick, or two dudes, or two chicks, or a shapeshifting alien from Theta Serpentis and some native american woman. The fact that boring, uninteresting, lame, poorly-written romantic subplots meant to sate the tastes of those with abysmal tastes in writing just happen to have all been straight is no excuse whatsoever to cry "bigotry and oppression and unfairness!" when someone happens to object to one that isn't straight for once. But this. This. This isn't even a poorly-written romantic subplot. You're comparing apples to moldy carrots. This is arbitrary and forced, coming out of nowhere for no better reason than "because being gay makes him a good person." Because that sells well with people who blindly accept tokenism with no care for actual, real people who are gay, or anything else for that matter. This is as much of a romance subplot as Harry Potter wearing glasses is a mystery or intrigue plot. And seriously, my dude, don't set up this sort of pseudo-moral "well if they weren't so bigoted maybe they'd object to all these straight romances too" high-ground thing when on a logical, conceptual and creative level trashy B-movie romance subplots that nobody in their right mind enjoys are entirely separate from the topic at hand.
Cor blimey, the same people who keep telling me that it's hate-speech to question why someone's sexuality matters any more than what clothes they wear or what their favorite food is also told me that by being gay you're inherently part of gay culture. Whoopsie on my part for not staying up with the constantly-changing standards then, pardon! Ah well...
Sadly, that would require that our code jockeys put some elbow grease into making it happen, most likely with a different layout than our existing social instances. Which is probably not going to happen for a long time, since the focus right now seems to be "events first, the last third of that lemurian mission chain second, more power rebalances after, maybe buff some more old bosses and nerf their rewards at the same time, everything else comes after." As much as I and probably a whole lot of other people would love something fresh, we're likely to be kept waiting. Honestly, I don't even like costume contests, but maybe even a new place to have CCs that isn't just "PHT or Dojo, take it or leave it" would be nice.
EDIT BELOW!
Yes. Thank you. That's all I ask. A reason for it to matter and for it to be worth mentioning. For there to be actual /character/ there, and not just arbitrary "gay because straight is bad and if you say the word straight too much I'm going to come nibble on your toes." As it is right now, it's a lose-lose (or, as minor and insignificant as it is, more of a meh-meh) for everybody. Give it some purpose and make it unique and delightful and interesting and real and it becomes a win-win for everybody.
This is my cry for help
-The flaws in other media (and randomly inserted romance subplots are generally flaws) don't require CO to 'make up for' it somehow.
-If you absolutely must announce you have gay characters, don't do it in a contrived way. Make it relevant by having a romance subplot! Would it bother me if they played a Defender - Kinetic relationship for laughs instead of Defender/Witchcraft? No!
-Champions already has gay characters. Just because the game doesn't go out of the way to announce them isn't a problem - it doesn't go out of the way to announce its straight characters either.
-I'd bet you can't tell me what the sexual orientation of most CO npc characters are. It barely has any romance subplots (there's just the defender/witchcraft one that I recall, and while that one doesn't have a *good* reason to exist, it least it has *a* reason to exist).
-This whole idea of sexual orientation being some key piece of information about a person's character is a really disturbing essentialism that elevates who you're attracted to as some kind of major character-forming thing. It's really not. There's no necessary spillover to other beliefs. It's *only* relevant to a romance subplot, something David *doesn't have*).
-The only legitimate way to bring up a character's sexual orientation is a romance subplot. And you don't come out and say they're gay, just like no straight romance ever came out and say the characters are straight. Show, don't tell. If David is dating John, everyone knows he's gay, there's no reason to announce it. The very need to tell the audience in an irrelevant context prove its just tokenism.
-Most modern people reject the mores of religious zealots. Heck, even modern religious zealots largely reject the mores of renaissance era religious zealots. While being gay makes it unlikely he falls into the tiny tiny minority who would actually agree with everything a 16th century religious zealot believed, just being alive in 2020 already made that unlikely, and being gay doesn't really push the needle.