A public service message from Toxic Primadonna

Prior to her conviction for drunk driving and being sent to the Ziggurat Penitentiary, Lindsay Kristina Britt, aka “Toxic Primadonna”, tried to arrange for a plea deal where she would make some public service messages in exchange for a lesser sentence. The following is a transcript of her attempts at warning people about the dangers of drunk driving.

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Toxic Primadonna: Hi. I’m Lindsay Britt. You may know me from my many albums and hit songs, not to mention my movies, my fashion dolls, my newsletter, my fan club, my magazine, my line of cosmetics, my body spray, my drive-thru restaurants…

Director: CUT!

Toxic: WHAT? I’m trying to tell the viewers who I am!

Director: They know who you are, Lindsay.

Toxic: Really? Well if people know who the [bleep] I am, then why the [bleep] am I doing this [bleeping] PSA?

Toxic’s Attorney: You’re doing this because you’re facing five years in the Zig if you don’t, Lindsay. Come on, work with them!

Toxic: [sighs] Oh all right!

Director: And… we’re rolling.

Toxic: Hi. I’m Lindsay Britt… pop superstar, actress, restaurant owner, teen icon…

Director: CUT! Lindsay, baby, just say your name and then say the message, okay? Can you do that?

Toxic: Look [sniff], this is getting really hard on me, okay? I need my Poochie! Where’s my Poochie?

Director: We can’t have your dog in the PSA, Lindsay. This is supposed to be about you warning people about drunk driving.

Toxic: But I really NEED Poochie! I can’t function without my baby! It’s bad enough that you didn’t have any of my comfort foods ready for me like they normally have, and I haven’t had a smoke since this morning. If I can’t smoke, then at least I need Poochie!

Director: Okay, ten minute break.

(Ten minutes later)

Director: Uh, Lindsay, can you put your shirt back on?

Toxic: Why? I still have something on! You can still film this!

Attorney: Lindsay, honey, please put your blouse back on. This is supposed to be something serious…

Toxic: This is supposed to be about ME, right? Well, this IS me! This is what I wear in nightclubs. This is what I wear in my concerts. It’s not like my fans haven’t seen me like this!

Director: Lindsay, please, this is serious.

Toxic: OOOOHHHH! Allright! But it have to get it off Poochie, because I left it with him so he could have something to sleep in.

(Two minutes later)

Attorney: Uh, Lindsay needs to get a new blouse. Her dog… well, her dog apparently…

Director: Okay guys, thirty minute break!

(An hour later)

Director: Okay, is everyone okay? Lindsay, are you okay?

Toxic: Yeah, I’m fine! Let’s do this! Whooo!

Director: Is she drunk? Was she drinking?

Toxic: What? I only had a couple of shots! I can’t work with this kind of pressure without it!

Attorney: Let’s just get this over with, okay? The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we all can go home.

Director: Okay, let’s do this. Lindsay, just say your name and then say the message here on the cue cards, okay? Nothing fancy, just read the cards.

Toxic: Okay.

Director: Aaaaand…. Action!

Toxic: Hi, I’m Lindsay Britt. Every day hundreds of lives are killed by… this [bleep] is boring!

Director: CUT!

Toxic: Why am I doing this? I’m LINDSAY [bleeping] BRITT! I’m a GODDESS! I’m a [bleeping] POP SUPERSTAR! I don’t need to read some stupid lines about people dying!

Attorney: Lindsay, listen carefully… this is the ONLY way that we can keep you out of PRISON! Do you understand? You need to do this or you will go to PRISON! That means no parties, no nightclubs, no concerts, no drinking, and NO TOY DOGS!

Toxic: [Sniff] You’re not supposed to be mean to me! You’re supposed to be on MY side! [Sniff] Everyone hates me!

Director: Lindsay… ah hell! Ten more minutes!

(Thirty minutes later)

Toxic: I’m Lindsay Britt. Every day hundreds of lives are killed by drunk drivers. Drinking and driving is not cool. It will get you killed or kill someone you love. Please don’t drink and drive. Seriously. Don’t. Or call a friend to drive you. Or something. Don’t make my mistake… or you’ll be doing a PSA like this one!

Director: CUT! Okay, that’s it! Thank you everyone.

Toxic: FINALLY! About [bleeping] time!

Attorney: Is that enough?

Director: Well she didn’t follow the script, but we can edit out the last part and work with that.

Attorney: That’s all we can ask for. We just need this to air as soon as possible so we can work out the plea deal to keep her out of prison.

Director: No promises. I’m not the one who makes the final decision. Boy is she a biatch or what? I feel sorry for you to have to work with her.

Attorney: If you think that’s bad, then you should have seen her last photo shoot!

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Unfortunately for Toxic Primadonna and her attorney, the public service group that sponsored the PSA refused to air it, citing her drunken appearance and her disingenuous tone. The behind-the-scenes video also became part of the evidence used to sentence her to five years in the Zig.

Killstealing... what a pain!

What's killstealing? That's when you're fighting a bad guy and someone else comes in and makes the killing move and takes your experience points. Sometimes it's done by accident... but other times it's done by people just passing through. To many gamers it's considered a real pain.

Check out this video to see what I mean...



(Thanks to the folks at Moon Hill Productions for the video.)

A few things about killstealing...

1. Originally the person making the kill would get all the XP, but now if you help out you just get 1XP when the opponent falls. So it's not the total loss that it used to be.

2. There are plenty of opponents to trounce in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. Don't think that you have an "exclusive" on a whole gang of thugs just because you're just a few bars away from the next level. If you're not fighting them, then they're fair game to anyone else.

3. If you really want to help another player, it's best to use the powers that can either heal or boost that player or use the powers that can hinder but not harm the opponent. Powers that confuse, dazzle, disorient, or contain the opponent help.

Remember guys, the "MM" in MMORPG means "MASSIVE MULTI-PLAYER". Don't think that this is your exclusive game.

"Superheroes" music video

Came across this nice music video through YouTube.

The music is a little 80's (the band is called Edguy), but when combined with the subject matter, it fits just right!



Now if only I had the time and patience to cobble up something using 707's "Megaforce". (Just kidding!)

Rikti War News: Rikti Incursions Decreasing!

Good news from the Rikti war front! The Rikti's new invasion attempts have been met with heavy resistance in both Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.

The following press release has been issued by the Vanguard.

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Vanguard today is reporting that their efforts in holding off the attacking Rikti forces have met with resounding success. In city zones in both Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, Vanguard rapid response teams have been instrumental in not letting the invading Rikti get a foothold in our dimension.
“This is not to say that the threat is over,” said Incandescent, the press secretary for Vanguard. “Major activity should be slowing down soon, but the Rikti still have the capability of launching massive strikes at both Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.”
In fact, citizens of both cities are being told to still be on the lookout for warnings from Vanguard about zones being targeted for invasion.
“We are simply seeing a lull in the fighting.” Incandescent reported, “Vanguard is hesitant to say that the threat is over, as there is still a large Rikti presence in the Rikti War Zone. This may be a harbinger of a larger scale invasion, so heroes and other super-powered beings are being asked not to let their guard down.”
Vanguard is still taking recruits into their ranks. Heroes with Security Level of 35 or higher, as well as citizens of the Rogue Isles with a Threat Level of 35 or better are asked to visit the nearest Vanguard recruitment station, where they can find a teleporter that will take them to the Vanguard base in Rikti War Zone.
An electronic press kit can be obtained from the Vanguard website, and questions should be forwarded to Incandescent at her normal email address.
 

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It is believed that the Rikti incursions are no longer a daily occurrence, but will still happen on a random basis.

T’Vrg: Assault on Atlas Park

The following is T’Vrg’s account of a recent Rikti incursion into Atlas Park. T’Vrg is a relatively new electrical/electrical cybernetic citizen of Paragon City. This should give you a feel of what Rikti combat is like outside of the Rikti Warzone.

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I had just upgraded my systems to security level six and was preparing to depart to regenerate when the alert was issued for Atlas Park. The sky above turned yellowish brown. There was a broadcast message about forming an invasion team. I had never participated in an invasion team before, so I acknowledged the message and became part of an eight-person team.

The bulk of our team along with several other operatives gathered around Ms. Liberty. Many of the participants began giving us additional powers. There was much discussion of other people wanting to be part of an invasion team, but unfortunately we were at our eight-person maximum.

A few minutes later, the first Rikti soldiers arrived. My powers are electrical-based, so I charged up my lightning field and targeted the first soldier in my area. It was quickly defeated, though obviously not from my own assault. Soon other soldiers appeared along with drones. It is hard to describe what was happening because there were many people in one area, each using their own powers to defeat arriving Rikti soldiers.

At some point I lost power and was defeated. I teleported to the hospital for a quick recovery and then hurried back to the battle, although my progress was slowed by the sheer volume of Rikti participants.

When I returned to the battle, other participants were using their healing powers to sustain the health levels of all participants. No doubt if this was employed during the first part of the battle I would not have been defeated. Again, I charged my lightning field and began attacking any Rikti operative in my visual range.

Soon the number of Rikti operatives began to diminish. The skies cleared and the all-clear alert was sounded that the Rikti had retreated from Atlas Park. Our team quickly dissolved and I returned to my regeneration chamber.

My observation of the battle is that although the Rikti were defeated through large numbers, it was also difficult to see any kind of progress because of the large volumes of operatives and powers in use.

The one thing to keep an eye on while engaged in combat is your endurance levels. Although nearby healers can keep your health levels high, repeated use of your powers will deplete your endurance. If those levels are down to zero, any sustaining power you may have running, such as my lightning field, will shut down. You should disengage your sprint power while in combat to help conserve endurance. Also if you are near someone selling inspirations, be sure to buy several “catch a breath” inspirations to replenish your endurance in battle.

In a group setting, do not stray too far from a healer. I suspect that my defeat in battle was either because the nearby healers did not continue to maintain our health levels or because they moved away from the area of battle. This is why team activity is important in such a situation as a healer can spend their time using their power in a support capacity and still receive the benefits of battle.

In conclusion, I strongly suggest if you are participating in repelling an invasion that you do so in a team environment. Also be sure to go into it prepared. It is a very illogical and confusing experience for all participants.

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Player-Generated i10 Primer!

The City of Heroes website reports the following...

Are you still wondering just what Issue 10 is all about? Scratched the surface, but you aren't quite sure on all the new features?

Well, never fear, one of your fellow players has you covered! Chase Arcanum from the Liberty server offers a comic book guide to the many features and aspects of Issue 10: Invasion. You may know Chase Arcanum from the Comic Book Creator Contest, where he was the winner in the “Best Story” category.

Using the same Comic Book Creator software from the contest, Chase offers a humorous review of Issue 10. Be warned there are some spoilers to the content included, so if you want to discover everything for yourself, you might want to hold off.

You can view the rest here along with the links to the comic to view online or download as a PDF.

See guys? It's more than just beating people up and finishing missions!

Some Quick Game Tip Resources

For those of you relatively new to CoX (or those who haven’t played in a while), I have a couple of website resources for you to check out.

First up is Mantid’s Animation Emote Guide. This is a GREAT place to get a complete list of all emote commands so you can make your character do really neat things while waiting around. Why just have them standing still when you can have them dance or flip a coin or sit down or play the drums? As of this blog post the page was updated to Issue 9 with some fresh emote commands. I don’t think they added any for Issue 10, especially since it’s the big Invasion upgrade. But this page not only has the commands but also visual examples what those commands do.

So what do you do with this? Well, rather than click the emote button in the chat window and scroll through the right commands, you can type it in directly, or you can use either a /bind or a /macro command to link certain emotes and actions together. This can be helpful if you want to impress other players or just cheese them off.

By the way, I’m including Mantid’s link in the CoX Links sidebar for all future reference.

Next up is GameAmp’s City of Heroes Game Tips and their City of Villains Game Tips. These two sites will give you some good hints at things that will help you finish your missions and stay alive.

Of course the real key place to visit for the latest info is Paragon Wiki. Wikipedia may have some bugs (not to mention ego-driven self-righteous editors), but the guys at Paragon Wiki do a pretty good job setting up an information resource site for CoX players. Next to the actual CoH and CoV websites, Paragon Wiki should be one of your frequently visited pages for the latest info on the CoX world, whether you’re a noob or a multi-50.

CoX - The Players

Here’s the list of current CoX characters that will be featured here in the Chronicles. They are divided by game servers and by the City of Heroes or City of Villains designation. For details on the nature of the powers and origins for each character, visit Paragon Wiki. I’m also including the affiliation of those who are in a supergroup.

Justice Server - City of Heroes

Battlerock X (Natural Tanker): invulnerable/super-strength – Tenth generation Battlerock warrior and a support member of the legendary Omega Team that was originally presumed killed during the Rikti Invasion of 2002. He spent five years roaming around as an amnesiac derelict before remembering who he really was.

J-Star (Magic Scrapper): martial arts/super-reflexes – A former glamour magazine model that used her training with the Order of Equius to stay fit and to hold her own in various extreme endurance contests. She became a crimefighter after single-handedly stopping a gang of shoplifters. (Member: Guardians of Might)

Herald Prime (Science Controller): gravity control/force field – A scientist that considers himself to be a forerunner to an even greater being (Superion Prime) that would come from the future to save the present.

Carrie Starwave (Technology Blaster): energy blasts/energy manipulation – An MIT graduate who was smart enough to create her own weapons. She likes to tell people that she’s an alien when she’s really just a human with a mind on ultra-tech. (Member: Guardians of Might)

KDave (Science Tanker): invulnerable/super-strength – He originally was a skinny kid who barely weighted 100lbs and was the subject of much harassment in high school. Obsessed with bulking himself up, he engaged in a risky experimental program that turned him into a seven-foot behemoth of muscle.

Battlerock Babe (Natural Tanker): invulnerability/super-strength – The daughter of Battlerock X who spent five years training for the day she could pick up where her father left off. She has no idea that her father is still alive. Although she has similar archetype and origin, she has started to develop different abilities from her father.

Superion Prime (Natural Tanker): invulnerable/super-strength – Born in present-day, Superion Prime was actually created 1000 years in the future and brought back in time to save the Earth from a future crisis involving the Rikti. (Member: Guardians of Might)

T’Vrg (Technology Blaster): electrical blast/electrical manipulation – A hybrid of alien and robotic origins, T’Vrg came to Earth seeking answers to her past through the remnants of Rikti technology.

FyreLife (Mutant Controller): fire control/empathy – FyreLife is a recent hero. Her latent mutant powers did not kick in until the start of the Rikti Invasion of 2007 when she and her fiancée were trying to save the life of a fallen hero. A Rikti bomb killed the hero and her fiancée, but she survived unharmed. She wears the tattered paramedic jacket in honor of her fiancée.

Justice Server – City of Villains

Jen Glamour (Mutant Dominator): mind control/psionic assault – A bitter rival of J-Star, Jen Glamour was another glamour model who became an abusive primadonna who abused special chemicals to keep her artificially-generated perfect physique intact. It was J-Star who helped expose Jen’s secrets and send her to the Zig. She has vowed revenge against her glamour rival. (Member: S.V.F.L.)

Lexie Lothora (Technology Mastermind): mercenary/traps – Lexie and her twin brother Alexander were the golden children of the Lothora business empire. When her twin brother was killed, she was determined to do anything for revenge. She uses her family’s vast and hidden wealth to strike back at the world that took her brother away. It is believed she even shaved her head to better resemble her brother and is now seen in public wearing a very expensive wig. (Member: The Greatest Evil)

Champion Server – City of Villains

Wrathstrike (Technology Brute): electrical melee/fiery aura – A child orphaned by corrupt cops, he grows up obsessed with destroying all that is good in the world.

Sad Nice Guy (Natural Stalker): ninja blade/ ninjitsu – A really pathetic and lonely guy who has no life outside of the Internet. His only girlfriend is the kind you have to pay $9.95 a month just to get noticed. He was infatuated with J-Star until she hit him with a restraining order. He was kicked out of his mom’s basement and was forced to put his pathetic skills to use in the real world.

Toxic Primadonna (Science Mastermind): robot/poison – A spoiled pop princess who wasted her life in the limelight. She partied too hard and pissed off too many people. She still believes that she has legions of fans on her side when in fact she only has robotic fans, which she has to order. She also believes that she can do whatever she want to because she is a “celebrity”. It was that very attitude that sent her to the Zig for drunk driving. (Member: The Shadow Killers)

The Reverend NeoCon (Magic Mastermind): thugs/dark miasma – F. Sean Rush was a born-and-raised silver-spoon trust fund baby; spoiled to the core and he knew it. After the Rikti Invasion of 2002, he became known as THE leading religious neo-conservative on talk radio in the United States, mostly by adopting the strong xenophobic messages being spread by the Vanguard. Unfortunately his addiction to painkillers and “certain pleasures”, along with the fact that he wields dark magic, forced him to flee to the Rogue Isles, where he is working to rebuild his movement. It should be noted that the Reverend was NEVER convicted or sent to prison (no Jailbird badge on his record). He actually went to the Rogue Isles on his own accord. (Member: Faction for a Better Tomorrow)

Spartan Warlady (Natural Mastermind): ninjas/arrows – Not much is known about her except that she prides herself of being a warrior in the same tradition as the Spartans of old.

And now this message...

Beaten into submission by the Villains for Lord Recluce for President, Mercy Island, Rogue Isles. Report this to your pitiful and useless election committee at your peril!

A Public Service Message

Feeling that "burning" sensation? Something more than just hormones? Check out this Public Service message from Department of Health and Super-Human Activities.



Sponsored by Hero O's, the crunchy chocolate breakfast of superheroes!

Welcome to the Chronicles!

This blog is dedicated to the brave men and women (and other creatures) who live everyday in the online community of Paragon City, home of the City of Heroes and City of Villains.

The main character in the Chronicles is Battlerock X, a seasoned veteran of Paragon City. For years he spent wandering the streets of Paragon City as a derelict, not knowing that he was really a superhero, much less one of the original members of the famed Omega Team that was presumed killed during the first Rikti War in 2002. It was only recently, during the start of the Rikti Invasion of 2007, that he realized who he really was, and that he has started to piece together the missing years of his life.

This blog will have thoughts, news, videos, and backstories to the various characters in Paragon City and the neighboring Rogue Isles. Some will be good guys, fighting the good fight. Others will be criminals, people whose ambitions are sometimes greater than their means.

City of Heroes/City of Villains - or CoX as some like to call it - is more than just solving missions and beating people up. It's also about community, and the CoX world has everything from online radio stations to a whole marketplace where people buy, sell, and trade online. (Note for any luddite government official: no actual currency is used in CoX markets and market activity cannot be converted to real-world use. So leave your greedy hooves alone!) Great teams are created here. This is where legends are made, and you can help make the legendary heroes of tomorrow.

For those who would like to join in, click on the banner below for more information about the game, and look for some of the characters on the various servers.