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Friend, why else get into into a REALLY bad idea even if you're a learned academic?
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Dec 22, 2020 04:06
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Friend needs you.
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Dec 24, 2020 05:23
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Oh gently caress yeah. Somehow missed this but my lockdown Xmas is now beautiful, neon and chrome. Also probably carrying a finger nanowhip
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Dec 24, 2020 16:18
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Part 03 - Escalation  We have successfully avoided dying in our first brawl like a chump and can now continue on towards the plaza where we were supposed to meet our foster father, Raymond Black. But our first meeting is with this container.  Within we find some It's also supposed to make us progressively angrier at the world trying to put us down, but there was some weirdness with that effect even after the unofficial bugfix patch. Long story short, after a bit of digging through the files it now works as advertised, providing +1 Strength for a turn for every hit taken on the prior enemy turn. And as we for better or worse get hit a lot, it's quite the potent concoction especially this early.  Much like the way in, the way out of this construction site is blocked by a locked gate. They sure don't make things easy in this town.   Looks edged with monofilament. The corporations here don’t screw around. Duncan and I have hopped plenty of fences before. It'll be fine.As long as there isn't an actual Quickness check involved, of course. [She smirks.] No, it won’t. They use this kind of concertina on prison walls back in the UCAS. Goes through bone like a propeller through sea foam. Can we just cut ourselves an opening? Even if you could, it'd snap back on you. Ever seen a high-tension wire whip through a human body? You don't want to.Maybe it'd inspire us to learn some new blade techniques or something. But alright, no pushing our way through this thing. Hmm... then I guess we'd better find another way through.[Duncan nods in agreement.]  Think you can get the gate open, Carter? [She winks.] What do you think?[She eyeballs the job.] It'll take me a few minutes, though. I thought she was a mage. What's with the lecture, Wu? [His face is impassive.] I could tell you couldn't follow everything those smugglers were shouting. You're rusty and that's dangerous. He's completely right of course, no point in us acting difficult about this one. Good thing we never dropped it completely despite our lengthy time-out from society. Old habits and all that. [In Cantonese.] I thought she was a mage. She is. Carter likes to know how things work. She used to be on the bomb squad.[He continues in Cantonese.] We speak only Cantonese from now on. Just like we did when we lived at Raymond's. Those endless drills are about to pay off. [In Cantonese.] It's coming back. Won't be a problem.[He nods once, satisfied, then turns his back and scans the horizon.] At least you can still handle yourself in a fight. Did you doubt it?[His back's still to you.] Nope. So, you're Lone Star now, huh? That's right.When you think about it, being busy fighting for your life does have its upsides too. Works pretty well for avoiding any awkward downtime, for one. [Say nothing.] [Wu says nothing back. He stands with his back to you, thumbs hooked into his belt.] Got it.Thank goodness for that.  As we leave the construction site and step into the neon-lit alleyway with an adorable dumpling stand...    [Carter keeps her voice low.] Looks like we're on a stroll through Smuggler Central. These gangers don't know we're here. We could probably just slip past. Or we could clip them. They're already looking for us - might be better to take them out now, while we've got the element of surprise on our side.Er, are they actually looking for us or are you just looking to do some "clipping"? Kind of scary, this Carter woman...  Here we are introduced to one of the new gameplay features of Hong Kong: Ambushing. This is simple enough a concept, if we spot hostiles before they spot us, we have the chance to enter combat mode pre-emptively and prepare our attack by taking good positions, casting some spells in preparation, what have you.  Ambush opportunities are very advantageous as we get a free turn to bring down the pain on exposed enemies. It also allows for shenanigans like skipping turns casting Armor on everyone, though it can't be stacked on a single target to start everyone off with full 10 or anything.  At any rate, this fight is completely optional and these three are much closer to what you'd expect from tutorial punching bags than the first smugglers we encountered, but unfortunately for them there's an item back there and we don't have the luxury to pass up anything of use right now. Still, since Duncan's the one who wasn't interested in assaulting people just standing around in an alleyway, we'll give him a chance to spare one by showing off his unique Subdue ability.  It's quite hard to stun enemies on ambush turns since they seem to count their AP twice or something like that, but a flashbang and a Body Blow crit do the job.  His two buddies refuse to wait for their turn on the zip tie ride, so we have no choice but to deal with them the traditional way.  This intentionally soft approach does gives the Mage a turn, but he kindly uses it to just demonstrate Strip Armor's new visual effect.  There's no special animation for subdued enemies which leads to some odd animation transitions, but the end result is the target being left wriggling on the ground and out of the fight for good, presumably until some kind passer-by comes along to help them free after we're long gone.  As stated the other two have no such luck, for them it's the machete treatment all the way (through).  We grab a Basic Medkit from one of the fancy motorbikes and leave the survivor to enjoy the rain and beautiful dark hues of the Hong Kong sky.  The actual way onwards is to the north, past a crate we easily move out of the way. Our progress nets us our first point of Karma, not by itself enough for anything worthwhile as we spent all 65 we had at character creation, but every little bit adds up.  We're getting close to the plaza now, but a quick detour to the east nets us a discarded credstick worth 60 nuyen. As with Karma, every single contribution to our meager stockpiles is welcomed.  The meeting point is right around the corner, and it seems we're not the first ones here either. But is that good news or bad news?    Evening, folks. You got permits for those bazookas?You can just tell how much he enjoys getting to bust out lines like this.   Nope. Guess not. I must've dropped mine in a dumpster - along with the last idiot who stepped to us.[Wu coolly surveys the scene, nods in a friendly fashion.] Is that right? Well then...  Whoa now, Duncan, brother, these are not especially great odds or positions we're looking at here. A lot more gun on that side, and these people are obviously not just smugglers.  [The thick troll's voice is casual. Amused. He shakes his gun in Wu's face.] Little late for that, isn't it? [Hold up your hands, palms out.] How about no one does anything stupid? We just want to talk.If these guys were here to take us out, they'd have already started shooting. We could draw our own weapon too, but it'd feel kind of silly brandishing a busted up machete when everyone else is pointing guns and magic at each other, so let's just take it easy and try to figure out who's here for what first. [The thick troll smile big.] Oh, I can see that! Your buddies are totally chill. Something we can do for you, officer?[Wu's jaw tightens, but his tone stays cool and controlled.] I'm looking for an old man. Raymond Black. We were supposed to meet him here. You know him? [The troll nods his enormous head.] Mmm-hmm.[Wu's voice gets an edge. You can see a vein in his temple start to pulse.] Where is he?Doesn't seem like the years have managed to cool down Duncan Wu's temperament much. [Carter sees it too. Keeps her voice neutral.] Easy, Duncan.[The troll maintains amused eye contact, but his weapon stays trained on Wu.] That's right. Easy, Duncan. Your friend Raymond never showed. We've been waiting for the better part of an hour.Yeah? If there's any chance these are Raymond's own people, someone pulling the trigger now sure would make us all look like real idiots. Think everyone can put their guns down now?[Duncan's voice is steady, but it's clear he's coiled.] I don't think so. Not till I get some answers. Like? [He mutters through gritted teeth.] Like why a group of heavily armed assholes are meeting a little old man in a construction site at midnight.  [She gets a wry look in her eye. Her answer is flippant.]  *Odd* jobs. This and that. What did he want with you?[The troll's yellow-brown tusks shift into a smile again.] He needed friends - the heavily armed kind. The old man hired us to take you all on a little excursion. [Wu's brow furrows.] Hired you?[He takes a moment. Looks them over.]  [Understanding spreads across Wu's face. His jaw tightens.] You're shadowrunners.Kinda figured as soon as we saw 'em really, shadowrunners always seem to move in groups of four for some reason. Must be part of some kinda code or something. [He nods.] Mmm-hmm.[Wu's shoulders creep up. His stance tightens.] This is bullshit. Raymond would *never* hire shadowrunners. They're criminals.  So, yeah... you were right. Your buddy Raymond *was* associating with a bunch of hardened criminals.[The troll tosses Wu a sideways smile while staring down the barrel of his gun.] Sorry to burst your bubble, Lone Star. Guess you didn't know the old man as well as you thought, huh? Just take it easy, man. Both the years and the overseas trip have been way too long for you to get shot to hell barely an hour into our reunion.  [She speaks quietly to Wu, who listens without turning, his focus squarely on the troll.] We need to find Raymond. These are the people who can help us do that.It's easy to tell that she's been the stabilizing force keeping Duncan's flames under control. It's a role we're pretty familiar with, after all. She's right. Let's focus on Raymond. [She waves a hand at the three of you.] You, too. You know the Walled City?Sure, by name at least. Not the best choice for a family vacation by the sound of it, pretty packed this time of year. Also every other time of year. Slum, right? I've heard of it.  We get it. It's a real bad place. Now why would a little old man pay you to take him there?[The dwarf standing next to her nods and jumps in.]  Wouldn't say. He mumbled a lot, too. Just kept rambling on and on about how he *had* to get in. Under ordinary circumstances, I never would've accepted the gig. The Walled City's the last place I wanna go. But the old man rolled up a truckload of nuyen, and ya gotta eat, right? [Wu risks a glance at you. His weapon remains trained on the shadowrunners, but a flicker of uncertainty plays across his face.]If this is all a ruse, it sure is a weirdly specific and elaborate one. Even if we won't be jumping right to exchanging warm hugs and friendly kisses with these guys, at the very least we can probably leave bullets out of this for the time being. Interesting story. Seems like a good time to ramp down the threat of violence, don't you think?[The troll flashes you a smile that's all tusks and no warmth.] Okay, gang. I tell you what.   Wha- NEW(-ish) MUSIC: .jpg)   Holy poo poo okay cover goddamn   And get popped like balloons in some carnival game? gently caress that, cover for life! These are cops, Duncan, aren't they supposed to be on your side or something?!   [The dwarf shakes her head at him. Her voice is flat.] Save your breath. They won't listen. Use your eyes! These bastards aren't here to make arrests.[A sniper shot hits the wall next to her head, showering her in an explosion of plaster.] Stay down! Duncan, are you hurt? Everyone pipe down! Just gimme a minute! [She snaps out of her trance.] Okay, I've got a way out! It's at the end of the street. Everyone come with me! Everyone?! We don't need the rent-a-cops, Gobbet! We're the only ones--[The little ork whips her head towards her friend.] They're extra firepower, Izz! I got us an exit, but we've gotta get past the heat, and we can't shoot our way out of this on our own. If nothing else, they can soak up a few rounds for us.  From a bit of turbulence right to an all-out nose dive in a real hurry, and once we again we find ourselves starting off by having to flee for our lives. The Hong Kong Police Force aren't here to play around either as not only are they going to make our flight towards the alley exit an uphill climb with an attack from both sides, but anyone ending their turn out of cover at any point will also take a nasty hit from a sniper bullet.  Carther has left the party early citing a splitting headache, but we do have control over Gobbet and "Shy Dwarf" (Is0bel). Not going to go deeper into what they can do right now, but Gobbet carries an SMG and is a Shaman with a side of Mage similar to Dietrich from the previous game, while Is0bel is a Decker armed with a customized pistol and a grenade launcher.  We start with casting Haste on ourselves and hell, let's use that Tokko too, no reason to take any chances here.  Gobbet likewise Hastes herself while Duncan and Is0bel take the front. This leaves us exposed to the Enforcer behind us, but he's pretty far away and armed with a shotgun so he isn't likely to land too many hits on us.   The cops between us and our exit have no such aim issues as our slow rear end can't avoid the Captain's rifle fire at all and even the Guard sinks a three-pointer with her grenade.  Taz wounded... but angry! Must go chop!   And chop we do, right after Gobbet clears us of shrapnel with her Heal Wound spell. By the time we're done the Captain is stunned and the Guard knocked out of cover.  This actually leaves the former to the perfect spot for Duncan to zip tie her up while still remaining behind cover. How's that for a role reversal?  Moving up the street reveals that there's more in store for us up ahead, another 20 HP Guard teamed up with a tough Conjurer and even a pair of drones. Not exactly great for us.  As it happens though, Is0bel spots an access point in the police bike next to the napping Captain.   While not a full-on Matrix run, this allows her to remotely deactivate the two drones ahead! A Rigger could even turn them hostile to their fleshy masters and make things considerably easier, but this will already help a great deal.  She even has a spare AP to gun down the Guard we exposed earlier with her Customized Slivergun which comes with a burst fire option much like Duncan's rifle but for just 1 AP (and also a 3-turn cooldown). A very successful turn all in all, with our melee prowess getting its first chance to really shine. As a side note there is also a summoning spot nearby where Gobbet could conjure up a spirit, but this is almost a trap as controlling a spirit also reduces the conjurer's AP by 1 which is not very conductive to trying to escape in a hurry.  The Enforcer is still behind us, but video game shotguns just aren't long-range weapons and we can simply continue ignoring his valiant but ultimately futile efforts.  On the other side the Conjurer chills for this turn, but the Guard happily keeps our streak of never avoiding a shot going, once again bringing a red tinge to our field of vision and HP bar both.  The snipers are still watching so we have to order things a bit carefully here with Is0bel first patching us up with her Advanced Medkit, followed up with us advancing for 1 AP's worth where Duncan then moves in to heal us with his own Advanced Medkit in a spot where he doesn't risk getting a long-distance piercing.  Back to full strength, we rush the Conjurer out of cover in the hopes of having Gobbet and Duncan finish the job, but our combined efforts end up falling just a bit short in the end.  As a result we suffer a minor acid attack and a movement-reducing Slow, one of the more annoying debuffs for an Adept to be afflicted by. The Guard also pumps another couple of pistol rounds in us, but her Fichetti Security 500 is a complete peashooter and mostly just serves to inject us with more Tokko-fueled anger.  Our Haste fades this turn, so we spend our 2 AP landing a crit on the pesky Guard and then moving out of the way of Is0bel's grenade launcher which finishes off both cops even with the shot going a little wide. Whoever was irresponsible enough to arm nerds with grenade launchers will probably come to regret it eventually, but for now it has worked out for us.  The way out is now visible ahead and our pursuers are pretty far behind, so we take this chance to bring everyone close to the exit.  There is one more blockade up ahead, but we're not going that way and it's too far to really be a danger to us on its own.  One by one everyone dashes for the exit with Duncan leaving last, and while we live to see another day, it seems remarkably clear that this temporary shelter is not going to be enough to deter whatever prompted the sudden and violent storm we leave behind us. And in the end we never did find Raymond either. Just what kind of a godforsaken mess has the old man's invitation landed us in this time? Kanfy fucked around with this message at 12:52 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 12:39
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RIP Gutshot. Died living up to his name.
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Dec 28, 2020 12:54
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This part always irritated me a bit, because I liked Carter. She would've been interesting to get to know, and occasionally make Duncan twitch by sharing embarrassing stories of (from me) our childhood and (from her) his adventures on the force...
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Dec 28, 2020 13:58
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kaosdrachen posted:This part always irritated me a bit, because I liked Carter. She would've been interesting to get to know, and occasionally make Duncan twitch by sharing embarrassing stories of (from me) our childhood and (from her) his adventures on the force... She was good people. They do establish Carter as likable and interesting in a short amount of time, which is to the writer's credit. It gets the player invested when she is coldly murdered like that. Shadowrun games tend to start with an effective hook, even as far back as the SNES in 93.
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Dec 28, 2020 14:22
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AceOfFlames posted:RIP Gutshot. Died living up to his name. Also, RIP Carter, we hardly knew her.
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Dec 28, 2020 14:27
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Honestly, I'd have preferred Carter over Duncan as a team mate. She's way more interesting
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Dec 28, 2020 14:50
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Yeah, Carter was great for all five minutes she was alive. The fact that I even remembered she existed when this LP started despite not having touched this game since my initial playthrough at release attests to that. Even after Dragonfall, I didn't expect her immediately getting the "Monika Special". I think the ambush as a whole was pretty well done.
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Dec 28, 2020 15:17
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GhostStalker posted:I think the big troll was Nightjar, but Gutshot might’ve been the Elf lady? No, Gutshot is the murdered elf on the shadowrunner team and a dude. The narration said "two men, two women", and both women are with us now. re: Carter, she's a backer character, her portrait has the file name backer_elffemale_ericclough.png. Must be one of the higher tiers to get a "speaking part". AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 15:51
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Huh. I'd never have guessed, considering how backer characters often stick out like a sore thumb.
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Dec 28, 2020 16:00
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Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:Huh. I'd never have guessed, considering how backer characters often stick out like a sore thumb. I will never understand why someone would pay $500+ to put themselves in a cyberpunk/magic videogame and have their character just be them in a suit and/or fedora. On the flipside, anyone willing to shell out that much (or 1k in the case of the NPC character tier) might be enough of a hardcore roleplayer to want to put in their pet character, which seems to be the case for Carter.
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Dec 28, 2020 16:04
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Gutshot is a male elf, called "Smirking Elf" in-game though I don't think you ever get a chance to see it.
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Dec 28, 2020 16:06
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What are those little wing things on the back of his shoulder blades supposed to be? There was an armor in Dragonfall that looked like that and I could never figure out what those were.
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Dec 28, 2020 16:30
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Slaan posted:Honestly, I'd have preferred Carter over Duncan as a team mate. She's way more interesting Carter is cool, but all of Duncan's rough edges make him pretty compelling.
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Dec 28, 2020 16:39
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Servetus posted:What are those little wing things on the back of his shoulder blades supposed to be? There was an armor in Dragonfall that looked like that and I could never figure out what those were. Cool.
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Dec 28, 2020 16:40
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Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:Even after Dragonfall, I didn't expect her immediately getting the "Monika Special". I think the ambush as a whole was pretty well done. First time I played I was kinda expecting someone to get offed, since they had such a hit with that in Dragonfall. Though I wasn't sure if it would be Carter or Duncan. I still had to take a moment to process what the gently caress had just happened when the game suddenly exploded three people's heads just as the tension was starting to wind down. Vagabong posted:Carter is cool, but all of Duncan's rough edges make him pretty compelling. I mean if you say so
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Dec 28, 2020 18:12
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Stroth posted:I still had to take a moment to process what the gently caress had just happened when the game suddenly exploded three people's heads just as the tension was starting to wind down. Same. Only way they could've made it more WTF was by offing your PC and having you create a new one trying to track down the killers. Make it so story-wise they're twins since 95% of people would create the exact same character.
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Dec 28, 2020 20:44
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My favorite line for defusing the situation here is immediately identifying the real issue at hand. Paraphrasing slightly Shin: "This is about money, right? Let's talk about money." Nightjar, lowering his gun slightly: "I like talking about money." You don't even need an etiquette, it's just a fun line. Edit: Though I do think it was an incredibly wasted opportunity to not include a Shadowrunner etiquette option. Honestly the HBS games really underuse the Shadowrunner etiquette in general. IIRC, aside from getting a bit more money from a couple jobs, every time it's materially useful, you can get by with a different one or just a flat stat check. girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 20:55
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AceOfFlames posted:RIP Gutshot. Died doing what he (presumably) loved
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Dec 28, 2020 21:05
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was shot in the head tho?
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Dec 28, 2020 21:17
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bob dobbs is dead posted:was shot in the head tho? The animation shows the blood coming from the mid section. Who are you going to believe, the narrator or your own eyes?  Though I guess technically Gutshot getting shot in the head is its own dramatic irony. AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 21:28
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The coolness of getting stabbed by your own armor if you take a tumble.
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Dec 28, 2020 21:33
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Being cool means more Edge; you can use that Edge to reroll your self-stab armor roll chummer.
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Dec 28, 2020 21:54
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sincx fucked around with this message at 05:47 on Mar 23, 2021 |
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Dec 28, 2020 22:07
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sincx posted:Noticeable lack of armored Unimogs, water cannons, and PLA backup from the in-game HKPF. 4/10 for accuracy. play the extended edition addon thing instead. trust me
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Dec 28, 2020 22:14
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sincx posted:Noticeable lack of armored Unimogs, water cannons, and PLA backup from the in-game HKPF. 4/10 for accuracy. Yeah, we're probably going to get into some Lore at some point in this thread, but for now lets just say that PLA backup is rather unlikely given the state of China in SR. You're more likely to see the HKPF backed by Imperial Japanese Navy Marines than the PLA. And I think we're past the water cannon stage on the escalation chart right now, what with the bad cases of sudden head explosion syndrome we've seen.
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Dec 28, 2020 22:21
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the hong kong police force: brought to you by mitsuhama corp! (actually, in this game)
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Dec 28, 2020 22:22
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Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:Same. Only way they could've made it more WTF was by offing your PC and having you create a new one trying to track down the killers. Make it so story-wise they're twins since 95% of people would create the exact same character. [creates character: "Kaede Akamatsu"]
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Dec 28, 2020 22:28
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Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:Same. Only way they could've made it more WTF was by offing your PC and having you create a new one trying to track down the killers. Make it so story-wise they're twins since 95% of people would create the exact same character. Shin Black must be avenged by her sister, Maru Chan.
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Dec 29, 2020 00:08
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bob dobbs is dead posted:the hong kong police force: brought to you by mitsuhama corp! Probably still more professional than Lone Star. Just don't set foot into one of their precincts because you're probably gonna have to face 4 turrets, 6 laser barriers and 3 basilisks named Billy before you can make it to the front desk to make your deposition.
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Dec 29, 2020 00:21
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Lmao imagine if you paid for ultra premium backer content, a playable main quest PC! BAM Dead in five minutes
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Dec 29, 2020 00:22
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Alacron posted:Shin Black must be avenged by her sister, Maru Chan. I might have missed if the name was intentional, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me why shin black sounded so familiar until I read your post.
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Dec 29, 2020 00:29
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Phil Layshow posted:I might have missed if the name was intentional, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me why shin black sounded so familiar until I read your post. For the record, Shin Black was just a random combination of words I came up with when I first suggested it, but now we're all just rolling with it so might as well lean into it I guess.
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Dec 29, 2020 00:41
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Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:Probably still more professional than Lone Star. That bar is so low its technically a wine cellar.
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Dec 29, 2020 00:59
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poisonpill posted:Lmao imagine if you paid for ultra premium backer content, a playable main quest PC! Her character isn't obnoxiously out of place, which is the highest possible praise for backer content.
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Dec 29, 2020 01:45
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I gotta say, way to show off Tokko in a great light from the start. I never got it to do that kind of power but I also didn't play with the Ultimate Hell Enemies you are
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Dec 29, 2020 04:02
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Having now seen Isobel in action, she's basically the primary reason why being a Decker feels pointless. She has custom weapons which always seemed to be strong for any point in the game, and I never encountered problems with her Decking.
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Dec 29, 2020 06:19
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Keldulas posted:Having now seen Isobel in action, she's basically the primary reason why being a Decker feels pointless. She has custom weapons which always seemed to be strong for any point in the game, and I never encountered problems with her Decking. Is0bel is very good at what she does, yes. There'll be plenty of opportunities to show off just how competent she is, RNG willing.
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Dec 29, 2020 06:44
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