Some Thoughts

[Cthulhu Kid]

Man, this forum is really irritating--I made another not-even-long post and the forum tells me I'm not logged in right after I log in! Anyway, I'll try to summarize again without losing too much.


After listening to the December 4th Jick and Mr. Skullhead Show, I was pleased to notice that Jick and Co. are familiar with the Lovecraftian tale of The Hounds of Tindalos. If you are unfamiliar, click here.

Tindalodoodle: This familiar is to be found in a zone that can ONLY (and perhaps randomly) be accessed by having the effect 'Teleportitis' and is an obvious mix of a Hound of Tindalos and a poodle (just like a Labradoodle is a Labrador + Poodle). The familiar itself might only function in zones near the corners of the screen and be non-fuctional elsewhere. The familiar might occasionally buff the character with the effect 'Curvacious' or harm enemies with effects like 'Cornered Prey' or 'Hounded.' Although otherwise unspectacular, perhaps the Tindalodoodle cannot be blocked by enemies such as the Naughty Sorceress or the Bonerdagon.

And if Jick is really sneaky, perhaps the Hound is only dropped if you adventure at the Cola Wars Battlefields earlier in the game so that the Hounds of Tindalos ('Teleportitis' monster encounters) can get a whiff of you. Also, there's room for geometry jokes about "an acute attack of <whatever>" or "<your familiar> finds <the enemy> too obtuse and misses", etc.


More on the Scolex Watch. I neglected to mention that the reason that the watch gives you bonus adventures is because the watch atunes you to your own Biological Clock or Circadian Rhythms. This would allow for jokes about "Isn't it time you settled down, yet?" or "Thinking about finding a good man before The Squeeze hits.' Because the watch gets you more in touch with yourself, you perform more optimally. This technically makes it symbiotic, but I hope that if there is a fifth day effect that it compensates with clever text.


Mind Frycook: Really, I just want to name a familiar 'Brain Chisel, the M-Fizzle.' And, yes, I am aware that there are already Mind Flayers in the Dungeons of Doom that are shaped like an 'h.'


Anyway, just a few more silly ideas. Heh, I can't believe people actually read my drivel. I just hope this doesn't get deleted AGAIN.

.

[ch33se]

Originally Posted by Cthulhu Kid

I Love All My Pets Equally:
Basically, in order to qualify for this trophy, all familiars must have a weight greater than <insert weight> and either all have the same weight, experience, OR number of adventures (in increasing order of difficulty). The minimum weight might be something like 4 or 5 ... more if Jick is feeling sadistic.
Love with Timesheets

Sergeant Snuggles
Player must pulverize 100 stuffed animals obtained in a single run from the Mr. Klaw.
Elmyra Duff

Dust to Dust
Discard 1000 useless dusts.
I think it's the flakes

Philthy Philanthropist
Give Jick $500 in real life. Ha, just kidding.
We call them good deed doers

No Rest for the Wicked OR Don't Rest Your Head
Ascend without Resting on/in:
(A) the Ground
(B) a NewbiesportTM Tent
(C) a Barskin Tent
(D) Cottage
(E) House
(F) Sandcastle
(G) Comfy Sofa
I'm a Insomniac, Insomniac on the Floor

Tanned to Perfection
Attainable only on the Brightest Day of the Year (when brightness is 10) after spending X adventures sleeping on the ground at the campground.
Brasso in the Grasso

Popular and Catching
Receive X Valentine's Day cards from people on Valentine's Day.
Village Bicycle


... or something

Some of these arer really good I especially like Sergeant Snuggles,
Popular and Catching, Tanned to Perfection and Dust to Dust

[ch33se]

Originally Posted by Cthulhu Kid

NEW BIG IDEA
The Wild Things, Arr OR Where the Wild Things Be:
(Here's a new idea of which I am particularly proud; even my girlfriend thought it was reasonable and she hates my ideas.)
An area in the game where you must adventure naked (no weapons, shirts, hats, pants, or accessories) and cannot access your 'civilized' skills--probably on an island discovered by adventuring on the seas with the pirates. The island itself if populated with monsters (i.e. monsters that resemble the characters from the classic childrens' book Where the Wild Things Are. This area (or possibly sidequest) will only be possible to defeat using powers obtained from completing different 100% familiar runs.

ZOMG! Awesome! I'm thinking, tie this to istari's mount idea and KABLAM! Change the title name to Where are the Wild Things Bee?
Some guy (meatsmither?) gives you a mini tenderizing hammer which you have to smash some familiar equipment and then feed to your Killer Bee who will get enough power to be able to cary you to where the wild things are. Your bee does not have enough power to cary any of your equipment and to be able to track it's way back means you can't use any of your skills because it will effect it's sensors and you'll have to wait (until roller?). The only thing you can keep is you familiar friendly skills XD. If there would be items your bee would become strong enough from flying over to be able to bring some back.

[Cthulhu Kid]

So I had (what I thought was) an interesting idea. What if the familiar found in the 'Teleportitis-Only' Zone attacked enemies in combat from different zones in the game into the zone you are currently fighting in? This mechanic could possibly calculate damage based on the number of players currently playing (i.e. logged on) who last adventured in the randomly determined zone (i.e. the zone from which the attack emanates).

Here's how it might work: Zinthos, the Tindalodoodle, attacks the Procrastination Giant from The Spooky Forest, doing X damage (possibly spooky damage, the elemental bias of that zone).

X = (0.1 damage * pound) * (current players in The Spooky Forest)

The number of players in Zone N may have to be normalized so that the familiar doesn't cause unholy damage. Also, the number may not be a straight calculation, but maybe a measurement taken from thresholds of players in certain ranges ... this would prevent players from logging on multis to just sit somewhere to increase average damage. Keep in mind that a Tindalodoodle attacking from a place where no-one is would probably result in a message indicating that the hound was "Too lonely" or "Lacking morale support" or "Too busy trying to get attention from you to mete out the killing."

I feel like this would be a fun way to know where other players in the game are at any given time. And it would be amusing (possibly) for Jick to write attack descriptions regarding the many areas of the game. Remember: if the attack-from location is randomly determined, there's no way (that I can think of) to break the damage caused and abuse the familiar.

Maybe on very rare occasions the familiar could cause a new item to semi-rarely drop if the familiar comes from a currently inactive zone like the Spectral Pickle Factory or similar place. There could also be fun referrences to KoL history, as the familiar can travel through time and space. Heh, maybe he brings you a stick that you threw to him in the future or something weird like that. That'd be sort of cool if we had a time-paradox quest built into NS-15, but I don't know if it would be cool to HAVE to get this familiar to get a quest item or the like.


--- Cthulhu Kid

P.S. Thanks to those folks posting on this thread about the ideas and whatnot. We may not be accomplishing anything, but I'm glad people are at least enthusiastic about the game and the what-ifs.