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 Click for Intro Movie MechWarrior’s Campaign Journal, Update 1 August 12, 3044 This looks like the end for Team Venom. Saunders and Yoshitaro bought it keeping the Snakes off my back, and now even “Colonel” Harris is dead. I could’ve signed on with Hansen’s Roughriders, but I gave those Lyran lapdogs the finger back when Holly first told me her plan. I thought I’d backed a real winner: spend a few years operating as an independent lance, showing off what we can do on the smaller, low-risk jobs. Then sign on with one of the big bad A-List groups like the Dragoons or Black Omen once we’d earned a name for ourselves. This contract with the FedCom was supposed to be a simple smash-and-grab against a poorly-equipped planetary militia. Easy. That’s what “Colonel” Harris said.    When I shut my eyes, I can still see her through her Zeus’s canopy. Reaching out as the doors close. Holly, you may’ve been the stupidest person I’ve ever met, but you were there when I needed you. I just wish you’d looked out for yourself half as well. I guess it just goes to show: in the end, it’s every Merc for himself. Holly, I’ll miss drinking with you at the Boar’s Head, but there’s no sense crying over dead comrades. In spite of everything going wrong, I successfully completed the mission. The Federated Commonwealth may not like deadbeat Mercs like me but they pay as well as anyone. Maybe even a little better. That means all the money’s mine. Even after travel expenses, fixing my ride, and paying off those Lyran vultures Holly pissed off I should still have a tidy sum left over. I could probably sell my `Mech and retire home to Regulus if I wanted—if I weren’t Persona Non Grata for skipping out on my family’s mandatory “patriotic” service in the Marik Militia. Sorry Grandpa, but it never pays to back the wrong side in a Civil War. We land in ten hours. First thing I’m going to do is check out the news, and then? Well, we’ll see. Maybe the Roughriders will take me on; but honestly I think I’m done putting with other people. Holly was afraid to take on missions solo, but I’m not. I want to get back in action again. Landing on Outreach  August 13, 3044 A warehouse at the edge of the Starport ain’t much, but it’s home. At least, as close to as I’ve had since I left House Marik. I’m not sure who Holly had to bribe (or how) to get a ComStar terminal and a direct line to the computers in the Hiring Hall installed, but the thing’s a lifesaver. Even if it only really works for “mercenary commanders” it means I won’t have to stop by the hall for anyone. That place gives me the heebie-jeebies, all those people just milling around looking for work. It’s like being at an unemployment office, or a recruiting station. I just need to enter some temporary credentials since Team Venom got itself annihilated. Placeholder name, placeholder team. As if ComStar would fall for that—  Huh. Alright then. I suppose I can always fix that later. How do I have a message waiting for me already—?  Holly’s Goodbye I don’t know who killed you, Holly. And frankly? I don’t really care. But thanks. You were a good commander, even though we all knew you were never a real Colonel.  Looking out over the Mechbay never fails to impress, although I guess I’ve gotta flag down the Chief Tech and let him know we’ll only need the one bay for now. That’s him, working on that old Atlas corpse up front: the Techs all treat it like a mascot, but I’m not sure why he keeps it around. The damned thing’s a pile of junk, it’s never going to fight again. There aren’t even enough spare parts in the thing to maintain an already-functional Atlas for more than a month, and that engine’s never going to run again. Still, it is an Atlas. If nothing else, it’s impressive. Unlike my little Hangar Queen.  The COM-7X Commando, the “finest” in experimental Lyran hole-digging and-slash-or Mechwarrior-killing technology. It’s a little better than the standard model, but it still reminds me of a giant metal baby. For such a small machine, the Commando’s a bit sluggish and it’s got just enough armor to run up a hefty repair bill if I manage to run it into a building the next time I take it out. I’ve never been much for SRMs, either. I mean yeah, they’re good, but ammunition is expensive. Well, I’ve got a Mechbay, a bored Tech crew, and a million C-Bills burning a hole in my pocket so I guess I finally have an opportunity to do something about that.    Yeah, that’s a little better. I dumped the launcher and my unused ammo on the black market and got an immediate return, so I picked up a couple extra heat sinks while I was there. That should help stop me from baking myself like a potato whenever I fire my lasers and give anyone expecting slow, inaccurate SRMs a nasty shock. Even after buying and installing the heat sinks I came out slightly ahead. I even slapped a finishing touch on the Commando, so the Lyrans can’t claim this was their grand idea all along. It’s now the COM-7X5. Suck it, LCAF!  That should keep me in repairs for a while, at least. I hope. poo poo. I should probably head back to the office and update my expenses. I have no idea how much it actually costs to keep this operation going.     Oh, good. That’s only more c-bills than most League households see in two years. Worst comes to worse, I can dump my Commando on the free market and live—not comfortably, but at least reasonably—for the rest of my life. Honestly, why the hell should I settle for a meager subsistence when I have the skills, the will, and the firepower to live like a king and maybe even buy a planet of my own someday? I should check out the hiring hall while I’m at it. I wonder if it’s as bleak and depressing as I remember?  Yup. Ah, well. I can’t expect anyone to sign on with a no-name just for the asking. I bet that Chris Fulton guy just sends applications to every Merc group on outreach. He’s probably a scammer. Or a wanted ex-pirate. Or worse, Dispossessed. Well. Let’s see who’s hiring, and for what.  Ok, either the computer’s glitching out or the Roughriders really want to impress me. Venaria’s a Lyran world. A deeply Lyran world. It’s closer to Marik space and close enough to the periphery that I can honestly believe there’s a pirate threat, so unless I’ve entered some bizarro-dimension where the Lyran Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine joined forces to be the biggest, richest failures in the Inner Sphere, the Roughriders slapped a Drac meatball on this because they know I’m not a fan of working with the AFFC. I guess they really want me. Or maybe they wanted all of us? Still, pass for now. We’ll see what else is up.  Yeah. This is a genuine DCMS contract. Riot duty. The Combine’s been going to hell since 3039. Someone’s probably up in arms about Teddy the K’s reforms again. I hate riot duty, but look at that payout—the Snakes are desperate to buy a little plausible deniability. Hell. Next?  Double-hell. Those one-month contracts are never worth it. When a contract that short says “poor” salvage rights, they really mean no salvage rights at all. poo poo, I guess that leaves me with a joke-job for the Roughriders for almost no pay, or riot duty. Well, I probably won’t mind the smell of burning children that much. Leaving Outreach Mission Briefing:    Mission Track: Track 2 - Scalpel   LP Vote 1: What should be our Callsign? What should we name our Mercenary Unit? Up to 22 characters for both, you decide! PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Sep 26, 2014 |
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Sep 25, 2014 04:04
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Table of Contents The Career of Niko "Neckbeard" Snow of the Hired Goons                                       The     
PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 23:03 on May 7, 2015 |
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Sep 25, 2014 04:04
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Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries Original Soundtrack Track 22 - Intro (this is as close as the game has to a real Track 1 (the game itself was Track 1)) Track 2 - Scalpel Track 3 - Snake City Track 4 - Dawn Watch Track 5 - Final Strike Track 6 - Phoenix Dawn Track 7 - Homestead NEWEST! Track 8 - Freedom Fight Track 9 - Glittering Gold Track 10 - Back Door Track 11 - Exodus Track 12 - Trojan Horse Track 13 - Tick Tock Track 14 - Crystal Storm Track 15 - Night Wolf Track 16 - Leg-Breaker Track 17 - Dust River Track 18 - Dragon’s Teeth Track 19 - Berserker Track 20 - Götterdämmerung Track 21 - Starlight Hunt Mechwarrior 2 Original Soundtrack Track 8 - Arkham Bridge How to get Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries Working with DosBox (special thanks to tuluk for walking me through this!) First, you'll need DosBOX and a DOS-capable copy of Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries (look for Version 1.05, if it says 'Includes MercNet' it's probably the right one). There're other methods for the Titanium Version and other versions of the game, but I personally prefer 1.05 since all the music is intact. Once you have a copy of the game, you'll need to image the CD. Tuluk suggests IsoBuster, and I can confirm it works great. You'll need a [game].bin and a [game].cue for this method to work, and IsoBuster will get you both at once. For reference, the .bin is the game's files itself, while the .cue is the game's music. The music is integral to MW2 Mercenaries, the game just plain won't run without it. Then, you'll want to make a folder in one of your base directories. You can name it anything, but I went with DosBoxGames. Make another folder (I just went with MercsImage) in the first, and stick your .bin and .cue files there. Then, we're going to make a config file for DosBOX. For convenience, I put up an example of the installation configuration file. If you want to be lazy, just use the same filenames I did and copy this example into notepad. Find the area labeled [autoexec], and we're going to add a line that reads mount C C:\[name of directory] So, in my example, it would read: mount C C:\DosBoxGames Then we're going to add a line that loads the music. C:\[name of directory]\[location of .cue file]\[name of file].cue -t iso -fs iso So again, my example looks like this: C:\DosBoxGames\MercsImage\CD.cue -t iso -fs iso Save this to the folder containing your copy of DosBOX as [filename of your choice].conf I named mine: dosboxmech2mercs.conf Now we're going to need a .bat file. Good news is, it's simple. Open notepad, and add this line: dosbox.exe -conf [name of .conf file].conf So mine reads: dosbox.exe -conf dosboxmech2mercs.conf Save this to the folder containing your copy of DosBOX as [filename of your choice.bat] Mine is: mw2mercs.bat I also made a shortcut to my desktop for future use, but you can do that later if you want. Double click on the .bat file, and once DosBOX loads type: d: cd dos INSTALL And the installer should run. Install the full version of the game (150 whole megabytes!) and then, if you let it do its thing the game should install to: C:\DosBoxGames\MERCS (if you're using my example filenames) When it asks for sound card, you can use anything but the config file we made is set up for SoundBlaster 16 (SB16), so I'd go with that. You can skip the registration and all that, and bootdisk can be skipped (do you even have a floppy drive? Didn't think so). To test it, you can type mercs and then hit enter to see if the game runs, but we're not quite done yet. We don't want to install the game every time we try to play it, so we're going to change our config file to run it instead. Here's an example if you're lazy like me and just used the same filenames I did. Now that the game is installed, we're going back down to [autoexec] and we're going to change the first line to mount C C:\DosBoxGames\MERCS Which tells DosBOX what we want to run. The second line remains unchanged--remember, that's our music files. The game won't run if you don't load them. Then we're going to add some new lines at the end: C: MERCS.exe exit Now, whenever you double-click mw2mercs.bat (or the shortcut to it I suggest you to put on your desktop), the game should launch. When you quit the game, it'll quit out of DosBOX too. Easy! Some other tips: If you need to close DosBOX in a hurry hit CTRL + F9 to force-quit If you need to get your mouse back without closing hit CTRL + F10 If the game's running sluggishly, try allocating a little more processing power with CTRL + F12 Likewise, if it's running too fast CTRL + F11 should help Other Stuff [I probably won't need this, but I'm reserving it anyway!] PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Apr 2, 2015 |
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Sep 25, 2014 04:06
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I am overflowing with giddiness for this thread! Probably the Best Mechwarrior game. I will let others with more immediate bursts of creativity come up with good ideas for the vote and then throw my weight behind one.
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Sep 25, 2014 04:13
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I loved this game to death, yet sucked so hard at it. Also I slavishly adhered to the advice given for the game in PC Gamer, which advised you to hire an aerotech pilot even though they didn't actually work.
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Sep 25, 2014 04:18
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Question: you said your recording software does not play nice with DOSBox. Does the emulator's video recording function not work with MechWarrior 2? The callsign and unit names should alliterate in my opinion, so something like Ronnie's Roughriders, Matt's Marauders, or Colin's Crusaders.
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Sep 25, 2014 04:31
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DosBOX does even worse. Fraps just has a couple of hitches when you first start recording (it always does, it's usually not noticeable but sometimes there's a crackle or two) and then it's fine. The built-in DosBOX recorder has actually crashed the game after missions, so I avoid it.
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Sep 25, 2014 04:34
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How limited are the Callsigns and Merc Unit again? Because depending, Dick's Butts
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Sep 25, 2014 04:42
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Also, I vote Holly's Hellions for the unit name.
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Sep 25, 2014 04:45
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PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 09:11 on Sep 25, 2014 |
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Sep 25, 2014 04:46
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Clearly we should be Niko Snow of PGI Community Outreach. Any time we encounter a bridge we should burn it.
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Sep 25, 2014 04:56
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Ahh, quite possibly my favorite game of all time. Really looking forward to this thread. As for the name, I actually think the Five Aces mercenary group is pretty good as is.
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Sep 25, 2014 05:17
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Jim Bob Thatcher of JBTs Country Mercin'
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Sep 25, 2014 05:19
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Seyser Koze posted:Also, I vote Holly's Hellions for the unit name. I'm a sucker for tribute acts, so I also vote for Holly's Hellions. Edit: Callsign, callsign... how about something classic? Cardassian? Dolash fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Sep 25, 2014 |
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Sep 25, 2014 05:39
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:Clearly we should be Niko Snow of PGI Community Outreach. Throwing my vote behind this, the most perfect gimmick.
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Sep 25, 2014 05:56
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Callsign: Cardie Company: Deck of Goons
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Sep 25, 2014 06:11
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I don't care what you name us, but I'm really pleased to see more PTN battlemech goodness.
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Sep 25, 2014 06:19
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I loved this game so much, the graphics were pretty simple for the time, but all the flavor text for every mission and campaign, not to mention the journal entries and such made everything to immersive. This game really needs a remake, only Mechwarrior 3 ever caught my imagination like this game did.
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Sep 25, 2014 06:32
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The frame rate of that video is horrendous. Is that the game or the recording?
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Sep 25, 2014 07:02
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:Clearly we should be Niko Snow of PGI Community Outreach. We call know what to do. I'm pretty hyped for this. Go get 'em kid.
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Sep 25, 2014 07:15
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PoptartsNinja posted:LP Vote 1: 2. Paid Enough To Die 3. Get the Crab ASAP, Screw This Commando  PTN this is gonna be awesome. Will you be willing to intentionally fail a few missions here or there to show off alternate paths?DivineCoffeeBinge posted:Clearly we should be Niko Snow of PGI Community Outreach. Oh wait, this.
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Sep 25, 2014 07:20
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Name the company Hot Bondsmen Inc. and make your callsign Brave Office Chair. I really don't remember much of this game, I know I played it through a few times back when it was new, but now the most I can remember is screwing up on that very mission by shooting the second floor first.
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Sep 25, 2014 07:21
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Keru posted:Name the company Hot Bondsmen Inc. and make your callsign Brave Office Chair. This. Please this. Now I want to try and get my Titanium Pack running under Windows 7 to play along.
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Sep 25, 2014 07:26
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If we're going straight for the joke names, might I suggest we call our unit the Post-Dated Check Loan?
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Sep 25, 2014 07:28
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Can you make it so I don't have to hunt for the links to the videos and maybe timg the pictures?
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Sep 25, 2014 07:35
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I say we call the unit the Spiders From Mars Our callsign, is of course: Stardust.
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Sep 25, 2014 07:49
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Bip Roberts posted:The frame rate of that video is horrendous. Is that the game or the recording? It's the game. They did as much as they could, but it's running off of 150 MB. I can gain 8-10 more FPS by shutting off the 3D cockpit, unfortunately I didn't realize that in the first video (I'll probably re-film when I rerecord when I start over to get a new name / merc unit name), and it'll be done for all future videos. wargames posted:Can you make it so I don't have to hunt for the links to the videos and maybe timg the pictures? Other updates won't have as many pictures. The first one is kinda setting the mood. There's not a lot of call to show off the UI elements every time I update, but they're worth seeing once (the `Mechs in the `Mechbay never change, but it's a neat shot the one time you'll have to tolerate seeing it). I did bold the mission video. It comes right after the mission briefing. Edit: I also added it to the table of contents, if you don't care about anything but the videos. But the flavor text for the mission briefings is really well done, and helps to establish the game's mood. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 08:01 on Sep 25, 2014 |
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Sep 25, 2014 07:52
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My second experience with the BattleTech universe (My first was a bunch of VR simulators in London) and one I remember with great fondness. Unit name: Secret Clan Recon Unit, Callsign Bethany Cochrane
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Sep 25, 2014 08:09
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PoptartsNinja posted:Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries Original Soundtrack This right here is one of my favorite things about this game. The music just has a great feel and intonation for stomping about in a multi-ton death machine. Cool thing was that you could pop the game CD into a player and it would load up the tracks like a normal music CD. They made a couple unique controllers for these type games back in the day with quick torso twist buttons n' such that made playing so much easier than the standard keyboard, which is kind of a good example of how big Mechwarrior used to be in it's heyday. I think Nintendo Power even showed a few pictures of a full cockpit arcade console you sat inside for that 'real mech feel'. thiswayliesmadness fucked around with this message at 08:29 on Sep 25, 2014 |
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Sep 25, 2014 08:27
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AJ_Impy posted:My second experience with the BattleTech universe (My first was a bunch of VR simulators in London) and one I remember with great fondness. I'll agree with Bethany Cochrane but we need a better team name. Nope, next guy had the right idea. Hired Goons it is! jng2058 fucked around with this message at 09:27 on Sep 25, 2014 |
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Sep 25, 2014 08:44
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My introduction to Mechwarrior was Mechwarrior 3 so I'll be watching this with great interest to see what I missed. Unit Name: Hired Goons Callsign: Neckbeard
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Sep 25, 2014 08:47
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:Clearly we should be Niko Snow of PGI Community Outreach. It looks like this is about half a character too long (the game's "O"s, "G"s, and "C"s are fatter than normal characters, so more than a few and it cuts off as soon as you hit the end of the box. If you use nothing but the letter O, you can only fit 16 characters.  So I guess a safer total is probably 18-20 characters VVV Not the PGI Mod Squad? PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 09:32 on Sep 25, 2014 |
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Sep 25, 2014 09:14
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PoptartsNinja posted:It looks like this is about half a character too long (the game's "O"s, "G"s, and "C"s are fatter than normal characters, so more than a few and it cuts off as soon as you hit the end of the box. If you use nothing but the letter O, you can only fit 16 characters. Somehow I will find a way to blame PGI for this. How about we replace Community Outreach with PGI PR Team.
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Sep 25, 2014 09:30
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I love how they still kept the outline of the
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Sep 25, 2014 10:31
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:Clearly we should be Niko Snow of PGI Community Outreach. This has my vote.
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Sep 25, 2014 11:16
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jng2058 posted:I'll agree with Bethany Cochrane but we need a better team name. What about NOT Clan Intelligence for the team name to go with Bethany Cochrane?
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Sep 25, 2014 13:58
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apostateCourier posted:What about NOT Clan Intelligence for the team name to go with Bethany Cochrane? I like it. Works for me.
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Sep 25, 2014 14:08
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apostateCourier posted:What about NOT Clan Intelligence for the team name to go with Bethany Cochrane? I'll jump on this  .
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Sep 25, 2014 15:32
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That wasn't an input glitch, it was a Wizard victory spin. The commando knows it's true configuration..
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Sep 25, 2014 15:42
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apostateCourier posted:What about NOT Clan Intelligence for the team name to go with Bethany Cochrane? I like this.
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Sep 25, 2014 15:59
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