The Intergalactic Highway

at WorpeX. Well put.

Honestly, I love all of the OC's you guys have created. All of them are unique, both physically and in personality. It really makes the game fun! I have to say, awesome jobs on all of them.

una wrote:I like your character, Alak.

Thanks!

Heh, well Alak plays alot of Military games

Yep! That, and one of my friends won the 2009 national championship at clay pigeon shooting. I learned a lot about guns and their origins through gaming. I learned about their realistic effects through him lol. The military mindset definitely came from games, though. A couple of my buddies are in the military and they sort of influence Orcariner's behavior during downtime... sort of. I admit, I kind of regret making my OC a melee-primary fighter since my knowledge of sword play pales in comparison to my knowledge on firearms. Video game-wise, there's nothing to go off of since fighting games require a bunch of hits to score a KO while shooters generally require 1 hit to score a kill. That's one of many reasons why I rarely make Orcariner an offensive character. Back to the whole gaming inspiration, I know my RPGs and strategy. Take Pokemon Online for example: a single stall fighter can withstand the full force of the entire enemy team (6 fighters) given the proper moveset and commands by the user. The retaliation damage won't be all that high, but unless if the opponent forfeits the match, his fighters will eventually faint due to lack of endurance compared to the stall.

That's what I've been aiming for since "OC Episode 2" (although it was a gradual process). Orcariner has limitations since he doesn't use his gun often and he's one of the slowest characters in the game. He literally can't touch flyers or snipers and anyone else with a higher base speed of 3 can just create a safe gap and pepper him with gunfire. However, they're not going to bring him down. In "Blitzkrieg", he took a sniper round to the side of his knee and kept walking. In "OC Episode 2", he endured simultaneous attacks from Starshadow, Frilla, and Terrosaur... in beast mode, and he still got out in one piece. In "Double Jeopardy", he sustained the combined damage from Glowstick, Starshadow, and Steelclaw's attacks and still succeeded in continuing the fight on land. He's come to realize his durability and has now accepted his tank role with open arms. Notice he complains less about it now

Of course, tanks/stalls/paladins/walls have their obvious weaknesses. We are playing a game and I'm a balance-Nazi so everything good thing about Orcariner has to have a bad thing to keep things fair. These types have high defenses but most don't have healing abilities. Status moves like poison, burn, paralysis, sleep, radiation, and freeze are the fastest ways to put Orcariner out of a fight. They reverse the roles in which the tank is immobilized while the attacker just chips away at the defender's health while assisted by the negative status effects. Few characters like Megatron or Clear Convoy would manage to overpower him through sheer force but that has to be done at range or else the counter hits would leave the victor pretty regretful. Some games have moves that use the tank's size, weight, and/or defense stats against them through manipulation of the field. In team battles, it's easy to force these exploits on defensive-types due to their obligation to protect teammates and endure whatever comes their way. Orcariner's incredibly lucky that his primary battle buddy turned out to be a medic lol. In Battlefield: Bad Company 2, a common strategy is to send forth a tank to lead the way but there's an engineer running behind it. No matter how many rockets or grenades are thrown its way, the tank will always be healed by the engineer. That's how I envision Orcariner and Icebreaker.


Oh my, I've typed quite a bit and it seemed I broke down Orcariner for everyone to see. That's going to make things interesting now that everyone knows how to bring down my OC heheh. Well, since I've gone that far, I might as well name out the whale's counter-picks:

Predacons

Megatron (stats are self-explanatory)
Rampage (stats are self-explanatory)
Dinobot 2 (he brought down an autobot-sized Optimus Primal with one shot... )

Maximals

Optimus Primal (stats are self-explanatory)
Depth Charge (stats are self-explanatory)
TM Rattrap (probably the best counter-pick out of the entire roster since he'd literally kill Orcariner in less than a minute)

Icebreaker is almost like a paladin really, though he probably does take too much damage for a medic since he goes front line so often.. or too much damage from himself. *L*

So.. out of the Predacons then.. Cyber venom off Tarantulus, Blackarachnia, or Cecaelia would slow him down, since Glowstick's cyber venom requires being bitten or certain disturbing exposure and is generally weaker then any of those three since he will sometimes administer it as a painkiller.

Burn would fit Inferno but he doesn't carry Napalm..Megatron Radiation and none of the Predacons carry sleep or freezing.

And yes, Orcariner is lucky. I'm not sure any of the other Maximals would of thought to hack him to transform and drag his body.

So.. your ultimate aquatic rival.. is Cecaelia, the tiny blue ring Octopus. *LOL* Well.. no, that fight would be kinda one sided.. she has 8 lasers, cyber venom gun,and stun knife. Oh wait.. Cecaelia wouldn't do that since she'd probably try to date Orcariner.*LOL*

Steelclaw stepped out of a fan fiction (which I'm still working on. I am having trouble here) when I figured we needed more Predacons for the role play. Looking back on it now, I'm really glad I used him. Firstly, I didn't have a thorough conception of the character I was originally going to borrow (Blazemane- a lion). I don't think he would have come off very interestingly, but I guess I'll never know. Secondly, playing with Steelclaw has given me a chance to improve whatever conception I had of him. And thirdly, he's just... really fun to write for.

Anyways, the original inspirations for him were the tragic figures of various stories, who start out good- or who start out having a chance to be good- and end up bad. I'm not really talking about anyone all that incredibly inspirational. Anakin Skywalker, Gollum (as portrayed in the movies, specifically), Veil Sixclaw, etc. I hate watching characters deteriorate, unless they have a chance to come back around. Even in the examples mentioned above, the characters who do come around don't seem to be able to stick around.

So, even though it's kinda' cliche, I wanted to write something where a character could go bad, and then become good again, permanently.

Around the time we started the role play, I was coming out of a lot of debates over what it is to be good, and what it is to be evil. So my idea for Steelclaw changed into an example of an antagonistic character who hovers really close to good. I've been trying to show that someone who fights for a bad cause and/or in a bad way is in the wrong, no matter how well intentioned they might be, and how hard their past might have been.

Other influences on Steelclaw in the role play have included:

Columbo. I figured I wanted to write Steelclaw with an amiable personality that still masked a dangerous potential, so some of Columbo's mannerisms started creeping in. For example, I let Steelclaw look unintelligent in specific areas (i.e. "What's a mammal?"), and often use those times to have him pry for information. I also like to have him phrase things overly-politely from time to time around both friends and enemies. He also tends to take both victory and defeat with calmness or feigned indifference, but that's not so much an influence as a shared trait.

To a certain extent, another influence is the character I mentioned above- Blazemane. I wanted to take his obsession with firearms and give it to Steelclaw. Steelclaw has always been a weapons expert, but I hadn't been writing him with quite the same love for his guns. Of course, the only examples of this in the role play have been the times I've written him taking care of his weapons at base. And I don't think he's flipped on anyone who's tried to take the weapons yet, even though more than one character has ripped something right out of his arms. So I guess this was more of a plan than anything else.

So Blazemane is actually an OC? *mind is blown*. Maybe if things get unbalanced, you can introduce him into the RPG. As for Steelclaw's portrayal, I like the direction you're going with him. Not everyone has to be black and white in war. I remember one story in World War I where the Germans and Englishmen set down their arms and joined together for Christmas, only to return to the grit of war and fight each other the very next day. It just comes to show that opposing factions may be more similar than they realize, similar enough to enjoy each other's company.

THAAATT'SSSSSSS RIGHT!!!

As for Starshadow, I got inspired for my love for Catwoman(50% of Michelle, 50% of Halle Berry), the awesomeness of Selene from Underworld and the badassery of the Naruga Kuruga from Monster Hunter (tail idea). I wanted her personality to be like Catwoman's but somehow it became like Huntress from the Justice League Unlimited.

I'm still trying to develop her TM and TM2 bios and might consider to add my old ideas. Yes, it has been done in the character lounge 2 years ago? , Starshadow talking to "herself" (Ahem...her master, Zira). This time, I'm going to add the ORIGINAL Starshadow to be her second talking partner so it'll be funnier if those two(or three) argue if possible.

For Cecaelia, she's mostly based on Scylla from BW II, with a lil elements of my happy random personality.

Starshade....hmmm...you can say she's a robotic Harley Quinn without a rubber chicken. (If there's going to be a Beast Machines RP, she'll be there. )

Averna 2: This non cybertronian girly, is a scary bitch and is a clone of the Original Averna. You wouldn't want to go near her...(that's the one I was talking about adding her in Season 2, but I'm still considerrrriiinnnngggg....)

Fireye: From a funny, happy decepticon (was a Hell Fang before) to a evil predacon. Inspired by ehh...nothing...

Now for the talking partners, >:3

Zira: Starshadow's Grandma and mentor. She's a happy after she had a faithful student like Star. Inspired from Lion King 2's Zira. I couldn't think of a name which suits a serious-on-every-job leader so I used the name Zira.

ORIGINAL Starshadow: Another evil decepticon who's much worse than the cat. Inspired by......demons and vampires.

So Blazemane is actually an OC? *mind is blown*.

I'm a person, and my name is... oh, wait.

I've got a character named Blazemane, yeah. In coming up with a screen name for bwint when I first came onto the site, I tried to think of what you'd call a lion transformer. Shortly after, I started writing the story I've been talking about. It demanded a lion. I figured I'd reuse the name.

Maybe if things get unbalanced, you can introduce him into the RPG.

I've been considering what kind of Maximal O.C. I would want to use (if any), and Blazemane could be an option. But I've started working on a new character entirely.

As for Steelclaw's portrayal, I like the direction you're going with him.

Thanks!

I remember one story in World War I where the Germans and Englishmen set down their arms and joined together for Christmas, only to return to the grit of war and fight each other the very next day. It just comes to show that opposing factions may be more similar than they realize, similar enough to enjoy each other's company.

I remember that from World History. It's one of the things that really stuck with me.

World War I in general confuses me. There seemed to be a ton of different motivational forces at work, and for me, they kinda' blurred the line of good and bad. And yeah, it definitely showed just how alike- in imperfections and heroism- we are.

I understand that human nature lends to itself to an incredible amount of complexity. With that in mind, I never consider the villains of stories to be beyond redemption. Just... if they're villains, so long as they're villains, they're villains. And I know a lot of stories render good and bad simplistically. But even then...

Zira: Starshadow's Grandma and mentor. She's a happy after she had a faithful student like Star. Inspired from Lion King 2's Zira. I couldn't think of a name which suits a serious-on-every-job leader so I used the name Zira.

Zira, believe it or not, is one of those villains I've gotten into a debate about- though it was actually more of a debate about whether or not Simba was a just character or not.

I love the Huntress' character!

Blazemane, I'm still hoping for Whitegrazer and Steelclaw debate. Steelclaw is a very interesting character. XDDD

I had heard about that in World War 1 and that fascinated me when I first read about that in school. To see enemies come together and for that day, forget about their war, to celebrate a holiday of giving, it really makes you think, you know?

Lots of interesting character inspirations here.

Let's see now.. Although I've had a few characters back in the days, my main one is definitely Nemesis. This is a character I first created back in 1998, but she has obviously gone through some adjustments over the years. The character started out completely different from the unpredictable and downright dangerous character she is today. The personality was tweaked and altered as I built on her background history, creating the vicious and somewhat tragic person she is today.

My main inspiration for this character the way she is today would have to be Demona from the Gargoyles show. Oddly enough I was already bringing Nemesis in the same direction long before I ever saw the Gargoyles show, but I'm sure I used parts of Demona's tragic past and present as inspiration for my own lone femme fatale.



For those who haven't seen the Gargoyles show, I highly recommend it. The show takes place both in Scottland (in the past) and in New York City (present time) and focuses on the lives of a gargoyles clan. The Demona character starts out as part of said clan, but due to her decisions she ends up losing the love of her life and the family she so desperately wanted to protect. Through chance she is given the gift/curse of immortality, and she spends her years looking for vengeance against those who betrayed her. Through her quest she ends up losing all she holds dear, so she is doomed to spend eternity in a vicious cycle of being hunted and extracting vengeance, consumed by her own hatred.

I remember that show! XD Used to get me nightmares but still, I watched it. XD

Man, so many good inspirations here.

Gargoyles was awesome! I used to watch it all the time. Lexington was my favorite. And Xonatos (sp?) was cool just because Jonathan Frakes voiced him. And, of course, Keith David was Goliath, so awesome sauce there as well. Although, I was never crazy with the whole Goliath and Elisa (did I remember her name correctly?) romance thing; constantly back and forth. And Goliath was a whimp sometimes. The Sega Genesis video game was fun, though.

Sorry! Got off topic with that one. Thanks a lot, Phoenix. Kidding!

Man, so many good inspirations here.

I agree, una!

Might as well show you guys who inspired my SwiftBlade character.

Thane Krios from Mass Effect 2. SwiftBlade would have his cold, professional demeanor.


Naomi Hunter from the MGS series. Her scientific expertise...in a way of course. XD




*Another tidbit that I forgot for Whitegrazer: Those two inspirations are both the mother figures of their established series. So it makes sense that she would be one too. What is it within me in motherly roles?

Una, I love ME 1 and 2!!! Except my ME games don't work anymore so I didn't get to finish the second one. *sobs uncontrollably*

As for my inspiration for Arachnitron, this is literally how it went down: My brother and I used to play beast wars when we were kids using ourselves as the characters and rough housing, fake fighting, and wrestling in the basement. We drove our mother nuts rolling around and kicking each other and stuff. Anyway, one day I just blurted out the name "Arachnitron" while we were playing (I think I was pretending to be Blackarachnia at the time though) and I've used it ever since. There ya go. I was really into black widows growing up (thanks to the character Blackarachnia and Alice Cooper as well had a lot of influence on that since he was my favorite singer and "The Black Widow" was probably one of my favorite songs) so that's how she ended up being a black widow. I knew a lot about them and they're just plain awesome.

She never really had a history until years later when I wrote the fanfic and then I couldn't really use the original history in the RP since someone had already done something similar before. So I altered it slightly and maybe it's for the better because the fanfic really needs some work anyway. So instead of her being BORN a hybrid between Pred and Maximals, I made it so that she was a Pred originally and then a hybrid thanks to genetic tampering. An idea that raises lots of interesting questions about what that would do to a bot's psyche.

Her personality is fun to work with. It's kind of neat to think about how a predacon's personality and demeanor would change once introduced to strange, foreign emotions and experiences through the maximal personality that was artificially introduced. I mean, think about it, as a Predacon she would probably have been raised believing that maximals were weak and that not only showing stereotypically Maximal traits (like kindness, friendship, etc.) made you weak, but feeling them made you weak too. So now thanks to other Predacons, she feels them and can't help but show them. And all the things she thought about Maximals, she now thinks of herself because she was given some of these same qualities. And then she always thought of herself as a Predacon, but now that identity has been changed. It's not that she doesn't want to still be a Predacon; it's just that she doesn't feel like one anymore since the manipulations changed her personality so much. I imagine that puts her into some serious emotional and psychological crisis not knowing what to feel, how to show it, what to think of herself and how to align herself.

I also base her personality loosely on Blackarachnia. I always identified with Blackarachnia since being a fencer and archer it's almost always me hanging out with a bunch of guys. lol. I base her personality on me mostly though. I'm not a predacon whose genetic code was tampered with making me a "predimal" or a "maxicon," (or am I?? ), but some of the things Arachnitron does and says are things I think I would do or say if I were ever in similar situations.

As for my inspiration for Arachnitron, this is literally how it went down: My brother and I used to play beast wars when we were kids using ourselves as the characters and rough housing, fake fighting, and wrestling in the basement.

My younger sister and I used to do the same thing!! Mostly we did it outside, but I remember once or twice inside the house. We didn't really use physical contact with each other, but we played a lot of the characters and ran around on all fours (depending on the beast mode), and tried impersonating the voices. I miss those days. It was fun. So that's awesome, Blackrosefencer.

Her personality is fun to work with. It's kind of neat to think about how a predacon's personality and demeanor would change once introduced to strange, foreign emotions and experiences through the maximal personality that was artificially introduced.

I have to say, I'm really enjoying her "split personality." It makes her so complicated and unpredictable. Nicely done.

I'm not a predacon whose genetic code was tampered with making me a "predimal" or a "maxicon," (or am I?? )

Love those combos.

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote: I have to say, I'm really enjoying her "split personality." It makes her so complicated and unpredictable. Nicely done.

Well thank you! That makes the writer in me very happy to hear that I'm pulling it off successfully!

I'm not a predacon whose genetic code was tampered with making me a "predimal" or a "maxicon," (or am I?? )

Love those combos.

Thanks! They just came to me all of a sudden! lol