What's up at HeroscapeHQ???

[Guest]

Dragonslayer here, Uranus, do you know how much longer the HQ won't be up?
Allready suffering from withdrawal

[Dragonslayer]

OK, up again

[Kepler]

Is anyone else having problems going to HeroscapeHQ.com today? What's going on?

[Malechi]

I did not have any problems with heroscapehq.com at all yesterday. I was on and off many times throughout the day reading threads (especially interested in news regarding the TRU HeroScape Event today, as I am way over 18!) and checking out the new homebrew Homestar Runner Army cards.

What effect was your problem producing; or has the problem vanished?

[outtakontroll]

is hs hq down again?

[Malechi]

Not for me it isn't, been watching the new Master Set Exclusive thread with interest hoping that the stats for the Elite Onyx Vipers show up.

[reapersaurus]

are you joking about the Elite Master Set?
If not, this would be HILARIOUS, since I hardly ever come over here (this is reapersaurus), and I only check this place out to see if any old timers are over here and didn't find HSHQ (Malechi, I sure hope you "moved" over to HSHQ - the place isn't the same without you, and I'm serious. It'd be great to see more of you over there.

I can't believe that of ALL times to check here first, it's on the day (perhaps) that some Elite MS is announced?
Too funny, if so.

I'm thinking it's some elaborate Photoshop tweak of Malechi's until I confirm...

[sinferno]

Malechi

I know you and I have went round and round about this, but there is another prime example of my argument that all heroscape stuff has been lifted from history books and or popular sci-fi. I have always thought that the Venocs looked Alienesque, but now that I have seen them cast in slimeblack I can even see H.R. Giger spinning in his grave and Ridley Scott calling his attorney.

I love the way they make you rebuy the whole thing complete and resplite with the new crummy second edition dice and murky water tiles just to get a booster set that just went out of print. I wonder how one could improve on the crack assault force that was the Venoc Vipers aside from the new night camoflogue color scheme?

Whatever it is, I am thinking it would have to be giving them a bigger defense die than "none". I always thought that was a bunch of crap, making kittens more resistant to a sharp kick than scary snake men in the heroscape universe.

[Malechi]

Reaper, I take it you missed the whole "NEW" Master Set thread yesterday? People were running wild when this showed up on eBay, simply to be removed a couple hours later. Being a bit of a PhotoShop expert, I know those are images not faked in that way. The person could have mocked up the box, but it would have been a helluva lot of work (and an eBay submission fee) for a hoax. I do agree that the thought process that went into packaging "exclusives" with a Master Set was just wrong, way wrong. But on the other hand for those who only own a single Master Set (I was like that with only one Master Set - for about 2 days!) it is a good excuse to buy another.

Back to the units resembling other characters in popular media. It is what makes the game interestingly fun. They take a generic look at a licensed image and tweak it enough that it is now a "new" character. Take this latest example Vipers = Alien. Note that there are no legs so it could not be the adult Alien, it is way too big to be the "bellybuster" alien and looks nothing like the "facehugger" Alien. So the designers have come up with a new character that fits with popular psyche with an archetypical monster!

[sinferno]

Malechi> Finally we agree. I was just trying to get you to agree there are similarities in the characters, all of them. A small point to admit to, because there are no original ideas anymore, not in the world of science fiction, never have been in our lifetime. The Matrix was a rip off of the entire genre of anime films such as Akira, and even Star Wars was inspired by countless Greco-Roman legends and fables. By catering to the already established mythos of a popular well known movie franchise, they can have instant appeal to a wider audience.

As for the Wal mart with their hyper diaper "exclusive content", by and large they suck at least where video games are concerned. For example if you bought Mechwarrior you might get another mech or if you bought Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 1 you might get a Corvette with the walmart logo (Ohgodohgod how cool). But in either case what you are getting is a shitty repaint of an existing machine with no new features to speak of that took a designer an hour to come up with on his coffee break.

Most likely the new Venoc Characters will not be an "elite squad" with a higher point value, just another equal but different figure reminiscent of that $45 dollar costing bastard Nerak who is no better than the $2.50 swog rider figure that comes bundled with the second wave.

This being said. I'll prolly buy it. In duplicate nonethless. Why? Because egotism aside I am a master tabletop tactitian and once they stop making this stuff, the onyx vipers might be the necessary ingredient in the perfect stack. Who knows what the finished game of heroscape will play like when the last pieces are made? Personally, heroscape is too dice orientated for my tastes making most of the strategy luck of the draw, but the more figure packs they release the more complicated varibles you, (The knowledgeable house player) have to screw over your opponent before he even throws dice one.

These are my thoughts, playtested over time.