More Base Goodies!

[The Widowed]

Last night I realized "You know, we have a steaming boatload of salvage. We should do something with it."

So I did. After assembling various salvage bits into components, I saw that we had more than enough for a supercollider. In fact, we have more than enough for a whole lot of goodies! Great work, everyone! Your salvage contributions make us strong (and give us many excuses to get out there and blow stuff up).

But, being the nondespotic nontyrant that I am, I believe in mob rule...which is more or less democracy among the lawless hordes. Everyone here gets a vote on how the salvage should be invested...yes, including the people who haven't brought in a single scrap of salvage from Day One. You know who you are, you pack of blasted lazyboned freeloaders....

The rundown on the goodies we can knock together is as follows:

Supercollider
Crafted by the Linear Accelerator we presently have to replace the Linear Accelerator we presently have. The empowerment stations can create any salvage component without the trouble of swapping worktables and forges around, they can give the defenders an edge during a base raid and--with the new hour-long buff durations--they're ideal for reclamating yourself at the base, pumping yourself up at the Supercollider, running back and kicking the snot out of that archvillain who just spanked your feeble ass.
Pro: The Linear Accelerator gives us more types of buffs and powers than the Radiation Emulator did, and the Supercollider is certain to to give us even more; Considering the already impressive offerings of the Linear Accelerator, the Supercollider promises to have a tool for every crisis imaginable. Like its siblings, the Supercollider eats no control or energy. Plus, "Supercollider" is a really cool name.
Con: The Supercollider costs a lot of components (38 Material, 25 Power, 9 Hardware, 6 Protoype); We have all of these, but it's still a big investment. Since it's simply an upgraded Linear Accelerator, we'd have no reason to keep the Accelerator, so we'd end up selling it and losing the salvage invested in it. Sucky salvage system there. We have no idea how many more buffs and temp powers the Supercollider will offer, or what the new buffs and powers will be.

Holodisplay
A staple control item for any tech-friendly base. We have one already, but we can surely find room for two.
Pro: It's more efficient than the stock Terminal, with a higher control yield for no increase in energy cost. Plus, the floating globe is nifty.
Con: It has a footprint, however small it is. Upgrading from a Mainframe to a Supercomputer down the road will practically make the Holodisplay obsolete.

Monitor Bank
The Monitor Bank is to the Holodisplay what the Corner Terminal is to the Terminal, albeit with an inverse relationship in floorspace....
Pro: It generates more control than the Holodisplay does. It also mounts to the wall, consuming no floor space.
Con: It also eats more energy than the Holodisplay does (which, admittedly, is still pretty tiny compared to our Power Crystal's energy output). Plus, the Monitor Bank is uglier than leprosy porn. Just ask Kryo. About the ugliness, I mean. Not about leprosy porn.

Mission Computer
We used to have one of these, and we did a couple of awesome Silver Mantis strike forces with it.
Pro: It's the only place where you can get a Silver Mantis strike force, which is pretty fun. Plus, once the Cathedral of Pain trial returns, we can get there with the mission computer and acquire an Item of Power at long last.
Con: Whenever you're not doing the Silver Mantis strike force or the Cathedral of Pain trial, the Mission Computer is useless and it takes up plenty of space with a footprint bigger than that of a Database, last time I checked.

There are also a number of candidates which we can't yet access, but with a little effort we can make them reality as well:

Crystal Ward
In a base raid, the Crystal Ward will protect our Power Crystal and ensure that our enemies can't destroy our power supply without a heated fight. (Of course, they may simply go gunning for our comparatively defenseless control room instead). I have yet to actually see one of these items, so I have no idea what it looks like or how it performs. I bet it's pretty nice, though. All we need is one more Scent of Brimstone to build the Crystal Ward and become pioneers; Start taking those Bloody Bay missions, people.

Defense items and defense auxies
In a base raid, these can save our butts. Outside of a base raid, they're useless (although they do look pretty intimidating and they give our base character...). We presently have no rooms that will accept defense items, but that may change in the near future.

Auto Doc (or its Arcane equivalent, whatever that is)
The Auto Doc will sell inspiration-type heal-'em-uppers in the Medical Barn. Our droogies who screw up and win a free trip to the base reclamator will also find that the Auto Doc aids their healing and recovery when they emerge at their destination. Too bad Malice in Wonderland is a bit shy on healers, or we might have earned the supergroup badge which gives us schematics to the Auto Doc already.

Another Arcane Telepad
Oh, wait...I have that in my inventory already. Now I just need a place to put it.

Flames of Hephaestus or Robotic Somethingorother
Oh, wait...I have those, too. I'll plant them with the cheapie Forge and the cheapy Worktable when it looks like we're about to get raided. They're useless outside of a raid, and an extra 5% chance (per item) of rebuilding something which just happens to get wrecked while we're defending Wonderland makes them kind of useless in a raid as well. But between you and me, the Flames of Hephaestus looks sweet. The robot looks like an unmoving Star Wars droid, but the Flames is a big, rotating black iron torch. What's not to love?

Aeon Capacitor
We can build it, but that might be a little too ambitious for our level of power. Remember the Mega Monitor?

Remember, it's an unlimited poll. You can vote for as many choices as you wish; The first item to reach five votes WINS. But anyone who votes for all five items will be summarily wedgied by a roller coaster car in public. You have been warned. >:]

Okay, go vote, amuse yourselves and sample the veal now. :)

[Bitter Babe]

I vote for the supercollider. Yes it is component heavy but it also eats no control or power which is good.

[The Widowed]

You like the name too, don't you?

SUPERCOLLIDER!

Say it loudly and proudly. :D

Plus, I bet it gets another one of those X-Ray head-on-robotic-arm doobaubles. Wouldn't that be fancy? :)

I should use the empowerment stations more often (or, rather, use them period, though still limiting myself to big, huge archvillain fights and such), with all the EChips and Armor Shards and Energy Sources that we have. "Hey, Countess Crey! Psionic Resistance! HA HA HA!" :lol:

[Green Tower]

I voted Supercollider. It sounds like a doomsday device. Plus it might be something we actually use and keep around for a while instead of replacing it when something shinier rolls off the assembly line.

[The Widowed]

...if only because there's nothing higher on the Tech empowerment station ladder than the Supercollider. ;)

I dunno about that, though...before the Mega Monitor incident, we had that ugly Monitor Bank around for months. We certainly didn't get around to replacing that thing right away.

But I actually resorted to sinking a Material and three Powers (or vice versa) to get the Linear Accelerator's Lethal Resistance buff while I was trying to solo Silver Mantis last night. It was nice to have, but it still didn't help much. :(

But maybe that's just because Silver Mantis kicks out a whole boatload of damage. :think:

[Knightward]

Do I still get to vote even though I haven't done much at all with my MiW goon yet? Though that's mostly cause 1) I'm trying to get to 50, and 2) I'm saving that Atlas mayhem for anyone that needs it.

[The Widowed]

As long as you're a resident of the Wonderland base? Sure. :)

[Cryogentic]

I voted!

how is the prestige going do we have enough to place things?

[The Widowed]

I voted!

how is the prestige going do we have enough to place things?
900,000-ish and climbing. :)

[Seraphim]

I voted.

http://wow.allakhazam.com/images/mobs/Sheep.jpg

[The Widowed]

That looks more like a sheep than a supercollider, Sera. :P

[Green Tower]

Maybe something is about to supercollide with the sheep.

[Cryogentic]

poor sheep :(

no lamb chops for dinner tonight looks like MiW will be eating steamed carrots again

[The Widowed]

Nonsense! I stole two bags of frozen fish from the underwater Longbow base we raided last night. We did have six, but our pack mule Francine Primm dropped the other four while we were running to catch our submarine. I'm pretty sure she did it on purpose, the spiteful wench....

I even got some garnish and sliced cucumber too.

http://coh.tritonius.com/friedfish.jpg

Now eat up. :D

[Seraphim]

The sheep was a reference to me going along with everyone else. However I do like the idea of a sheep based supercollider.

[The Widowed]

I thought you were trying to make a statement about your own meekness, softness or cuddliness. :)

[Knightward]

Oh don't worry about that, I'm sure once Arachnos is done with Francine there'll be plenty of leftover meat that they'll modestly return us.

[Green Tower]

The only sustenance I require is the suffering of humans.

[Knightward]

Trust me, the meat is still salty with the tears of torment and crushing defeat.

[The Widowed]

For one, I wouldn't eat Francine's flesh on a dare.
Section One, Subset A: It's yucky.
Section One, Subset B: Kuru and other prion diseases are not your friends. My brain is in bad enough shape without unsuitable proteins rotting holes through it, thank you.

For two, remember that Westin Phipps wants her alive--with her spirit broken--so that she can work at Haven House, where he can gloat over her on a daily basis. I should note that Westin Phipps' variety of wickedness invites the aggression of others and leaves oneself open to retaliation: By kicking a dog when it's ill or crippled, you only instill with the dog with a deeper, more bitter thirst for vengeance which--should the dog ever return to wellness somehow--will drive the dog to visit harm on you all the more more diligently. If Westin Phipps commences with his routine smugness and gloating one day just moments before an incredibly fed-up Francine Primm finds her long-lost inner strength--or her primal outrage, if she has succumbed to the Dark Side by then--casts caution to the winds, jumps up from the floor in a desperate all-or-nothing attack and stabs him through the gullet with a sharpened toilet brush handle, well, I won't be a bit surprised. As I've learned from a certain karate-fighting widow out there, vengeance is an inexplicably powerful motivator. And it can strike without warning.

Westin Phipps is, in that regard, like a hyena, harrying those weaker than itself long after it has established dominance. I, on the other hand, am more like a swarm of locusts: I prefer to sweep in, ruin or destroy (though I do love adding puzzles, mind games or showmanship to my efforts) and leave before the victims of my scourges can collect themselves. I see no point in gloating over the wheatfield after I have stripped it bare.

Gloating while I strip it bare, however...well, I suppose I shouldn't do that, but we all have our little vices. At least the victims usually can't complain that I kicked them while they were down...if only because I prefer to be gone before the smoke clears.

By the way, out with the old...
http://coh.tritonius.com/Out-with-the-old.jpg

...in with the new!
http://coh.tritonius.com/In-with-the-new.jpg

(I had screenshots of the complete lists of buffs for both the Linear Accelerator and the Supercollider, but yesterday's storm shut down my computer and wiped out the unsaved screenshots. I did note that the Supercollider gives Psionic Resistance, while the Linear Accelerator didn't. So there's one difference, at least....)

[Knightward]

Now now, he said he wanted her alive, not in perfect health. A little off the flank here, the calf there (replaced with a peg leg or prosthetic), etc. and you have plenty of tear-salted meat without the original owner dead. Heck if you're patient enough, you can refrigerate the meat while waiting for the owner to grow more slabs.

Maybe we should spare some for Phipps. After all, that way Haven House can have a "beef" stew one of these nights. At least, once Francine is working there. Consider it a modest feast.

[The Widowed]

For all his excessive cruelty, Phipps is a calculating and reserved sort with neither the depravity nor the sense of desperation to resort to cannibalism frivolously. And if he ever did begin to dispose of his slain victims Fried Green Tomatoes style with any regularity, I'm certain that sliding a few pamphlets about the horrors of prion disease across his desk would bring a swift end to that practice. Haven House's popularity would surely suffer from an outbreak of the so-called Laughing Death, wouldn't it? :think:

Scarecrows, as far as I know, lack brains. So they can eat human flesh until their little hay-filled bodies burst and not lose any mental function over it. But they would start to smell a bit foul after a few days of that practice, I imagine....

[Knightward]

But would Haven House's popularity drop much if most of the Gutter suffered an outbreak of prion disease? I mean, the Gutter (and Haven House by extension) recieved relief shipments of poisoned food and Phipps is still in the business. One more disease won't change that so fast.

Now, if he were to have his patrons partake in cannibalism (while politely excusing himself, after all he is the altruistic sort in public) and then hear about the tragic origins of the meal after the fact (and outbreak), that could work better into his mode of operation.

[Green Tower]

For all his excessive cruelty, Phipps is a calculating and reserved sort with neither the depravity nor the sense of desperation to resort to cannibalism frivolously. And if he ever did begin to dispose of his slain victims Fried Green Tomatoes style with any regularity, I'm certain that sliding a few pamphlets about the horrors of prion disease across his desk would bring a swift end to that practice. Haven House's popularity would surely suffer from an outbreak of the so-called Laughing Death, wouldn't it? :think:

Scarecrows, as far as I know, lack brains. So they can eat human flesh until their little hay-filled bodies burst and not lose any mental function over it. But they would start to smell a bit foul after a few days of that practice, I imagine....
Diseases are for inferior meatbags such as yourself. I do not eat humans, nor anything else for that matter. Should a foul odor emanate from my person it would be due to the blood and body parts that come into contact with me.

[Akamaz]

by the way, victor has some salvage i should get to you before i drop CoH.CoV

[The Widowed]

But would Haven House's popularity drop much if most of the Gutter suffered an outbreak of prion disease? I mean, the Gutter (and Haven House by extension) recieved relief shipments of poisoned food and Phipps is still in the business. One more disease won't change that so fast.
Were we certain that Haven House did receive the poisoned food along with the rest of the Gutter, or was Haven House exempt from the tainted deliveries? Remember the power of rumor; If people throughout the Gutter start falling ill after eating food parcels yet word of mouth suggests that the people eating at Haven House remain comparatively healthy, then more of the afflicted people in the Gutter would start shuffling towards Haven House...and into Phipps' clutches.

It's a scheme that is quite diabolical in its cunning, if you think about it. :think:

Now, if he were to have his patrons partake in cannibalism (while politely excusing himself, after all he is the altruistic sort in public) and then hear about the tragic origins of the meal after the fact (and outbreak), that could work better into his mode of operation.
But as any naturalist will tell you, you don't defecate where you eat, so to speak. If Phipps allows prion disease to run rampant through Haven House, Arachnos may take a closer look at his operation once the raving madmen start spilling into the streets. The symptoms of prion diseases include madnesses such as dementia, paranoia and disassociative disorder, all of which might alleviate the malaise which Phipps has worked so diligently to instill. It is said that madmen know no fear, and there is a degree of reasoning behind this adage. And then imagine how the victims' mental states would be aggravated if they were somehow informed of the true reason behind their degeneration.... :think:

Lunacy certainly didn't make me a broken, complacent, despondent little whipping girl, did it? Would Phipps be prepared to contend with a homeless shelter packed entirely with clones of me? How, then, should a house full of deranged unwitting cannibals be any different? And would the corrupt tyranny which Phipps and I serve come to his aid in such a crisis, or would they be content to wash their hands of him and Haven House, leaving Phipps to his fate as Arachnos erects another false saviour in his place?

And might Phipps himself already comprehend that he can be replaced if his operation becomes the slightest bit detrimental to the orchestration of Grandville's affairs?

Diseases are for inferior meatbags such as yourself. I do not eat humans, nor anything else for that matter. Should a foul odor emanate from my person it would be due to the blood and body parts that come into contact with me.
Perhaps one of these "inferior meatbags" could conceive and empower a better scarecrow than yourself. I wonder how you would perceive humankind then, hmmm?

Besides, you still have to contend with smut, beetles and vegetative rot--none of which fetter the livelihood of humans, by the way--and you'll find that scarecrows are far more flammable than human beings are. I'll hear no more of this "Scarecrows catch no maladies" nonsense, O grungy haybag. >:]

by the way, victor has some salvage i should get to you before i drop CoH.CoV
The Salvage rack is always open. In fact, I think we just depleted a good chunk of its stores. Something about a Supercollider.... :D

I hope that Victor's replacement is every bit as interesting as Victor was. :)

[Akamaz]

i hope so too, it won't be played by me tho... i'm dropping my subscription for a while

[Green Tower]

Perhaps one of these "inferior meatbags" could conceive and empower a better scarecrow than yourself. I wonder how you would perceive humankind then, hmmm?

Besides, you still have to contend with smut, beetles and vegetative rot--none of which fetter the livelihood of humans, by the way--and you'll find that scarecrows are far more flammable than human beings are. I'll hear no more of this "Scarecrows catch no maladies" nonsense, O grungy haybag. >:]

Fire may be my one and only weakness, but the frailties of humans are too innumerable to list. I was empowered by magical happenstance. Humans can't raise the dead properly let alone deliberately create a scarecrow of my magnitude. In all my time roaming the Rogue Isles, I have yet to encounter another of my kind. I have heard stories of a creature called the Harvestman, but I suspect he is just another bogeyman. Humans are a superstitous and cowardly lot.

[Green Tower]

((Why do we not have an enhancement storage dealie?))

[The Widowed]

((I've been debating on that between working on the control room and the telepads. It would probably fit right in with the Frankenstein lab.))

[Green Tower]

((I was going to mention it earlier but forgot. It sprang to mind again because the Strawman picked up a +6 SO that I didn't want to just sell.))

[Green Tower]

Here are some out of whack screens of the old base. Maybe these will help to recreate what a great base we had.

[Cryogentic]

Great, plan on having a base close to what we had, also want to get it to be raid ready.