The Glade 4.0

I was able to get on a couple times this weekend & did three AI matches.

I'm stuck using mouse/keyboard atm, and my first match was so terrible. I think it took me 20mins to kill my first Vanduul. After that, I got used to the controls and did much better. Joystick will be a must though!

Like Elmo, I noticed I have two 300i in my hanger for some reason. I'm pretty sure I only pledged for one, though I was confused by the old site so who knows.

They added a trainer ship to the hanger, in alignment with the ships you had pledged for. I have an extra hornet and a 300i for example. These ar ethe ships to fly in Arena Commander.

Yeah, if you look in the holotable, you'll see that some of your ships are labeled trainers. These are the ones that have been loaned to you because they're the closest ship that currently works with Arena Commander to one(s) you have that don't yet work.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Ok, that makes sense. I admit, I have not messed with the holotable since early on in the hanger-only release. I'll have to fire it up next time I'm on.

Well I got to wave 5 with guns only. The vanduul ships seem to get better the more of them I blow off.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

If you were blowing them up, shooting them down, or knocking them off, they might not be so eager to return. Good sexual favors, on the other hand, might explain your problem.

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The lower leveled Scythes aren't aggressive in using their ramming blades. As such, they're essentially dead weight. When you blow that wing off, you're making the ship smaller/harder to hit and also slightly more agile due to the reduced mass & angular inertia, while they retain their big gun on the other side.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Oh, and for anybody who didn't watch Around the Verse, at the end they show some final concept art for the Gladius light fighter, and announced that it will be on sale for $80 in the week starting tomorrow.

I'll just say I find it tempting due to the fact it's an aging but still capable ship in the UEE fleet, and as such its cockpit is glorious in its retro beauty.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Gladius stats, holoviewer, and lore bits here. $80, no LTI, add-on only, available through the next week.

It looks quite attractive, and I like where they went with the stats, though it seems a little long for its listed weight. That might change as they get it ready for flight.

Looking at the stats, it's probably likely to fly most similarly to an Aurora LX or LN -- perhaps a little faster, with stronger (but still bubble?) shields and an armament more akin to a stock 325a's.

Also, if you're interested in dogtags, it looks like they're going fast.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Looks like they updated the stats on the Gladius.

I am surprised the 300i is as good as it is. I thought the Hornet, being a Militaryesque fighter would be the cream of the crop. But it feels slow and unwieldy as compared to some of the vids I've watched of the 300i.

It feels like it needs a lot more power generation. For a ship with 6 gun hardpoints, only being able to power 3 of them reliably, and keep shields up... Yeah, that's a problem.

(Unless that's changed with the latest build. Then NM. )

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Holy shitsnacks!

Ryan: what's up
ranelaght@gmail.com: tryingto keep my hands off a Gladius
Ryan: I can't help you there
ranelaght@gmail.com: hehe
Ryan: Now I have to explain to G while I was laughing and he has to go look
Ryan: or just had to rather
ranelaght@gmail.com: hehe

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

I'll be shocked if the Hornet doesn't get more power, and the 300i less, sooner rather than later. The powerplant stats are acknowledged to still be somewhat borked.

Now, that said, I have no idea whether "you can't maintain full shield strength while firing weapons" is an intentional design paradigm or not. On the one hand, you can certainly argue that it forces a tactical tradeoff between offense and defense, and that such a decision is interesting on a strategic and tactical level. On the other hand, it stretches suspension of disbelief that a manufacturer would intentionally let such a thing roll off the line.

Perhaps, if that decision is valued and desired to be kept, the ideal solution would be to change the scale of the shields' reporting such that full power is >100%, and that 100% is the level sustainable with a balanced power setting. Then, you can still push power around meaningfully, but it doesn't look like a design flaw.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I thought it was just a case of they upgraded the AC hornet to military spec weaponry, but forgot to upgrade the power plant to match

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

That might be, actually, as the problem is far less pronounced when you remove the turret.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Over read:


Is it wrong that I laughed

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Nope. Oh, go check out the M50 WIP... Sometimes I forget to call out the cool recycled Jump Point stuff since I've seen it before. Super image heavy, of course.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

This actually happened to the HMMWV in real life. Not with weaponry, but with extra electronics.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Yet more awesome lived-in universe.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

So pretty.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Can we just make this the sequel to TOR?

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In our hearts and minds, only with less species diversity

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Bam!

M50 goes into the hangar tomorrow! And goes back on sale for a week.

Is looking quite sexy.

The news update from Around the Verse indicates that the Gladius is in (or approaching? I don't remember) a "hangar-ready" state, as well, so it'll probably be following soon.

_________________
"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Stills of the M50 paint jobs they chose between that were shown at the end of AtV:



I can't believe that I'm about to say this, because I say this about nothing, ever... but I like the charcoal grey the least. The mostly solid silver and red aren't all that exciting, either... but the white with color trim is fantastic. I can't choose which trim color I like best, they're all so gorgeous.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Sexy!