Summer Updates - 006

[derfy]

Wow. not sure what Parson's motives here are.

[KBF]

What did I say about skipping their coversation?!

It's almost like you guys aren't even listening to me!


On the other hand, this was probably a lot more interesting.

Wow. not sure what Parson's motives here are.

Why can't his motives be "man, I'm bored. What would happen if..."

[Taznak]

I'm guessing that by 'fireworks', Rob means 'Wanda ambushes Stanley'. I'm surprised Stanley didn't try to order around the decrypted units before descending, given the skull emblem they bore. Even with a flying mount and a foolamancer at his side, I doubt Stanley can get away. Will be interesting to see whether a Decrypted Stanley can still wield the Arkenhammer.

[bossamancer]

I took fireworks to mean that literally. Like the kind you would have at a big event, new years eve or some sort of parade...

good to see the summer updates coming with such regularity....but it's almost tantalizing in the sense that i'm wanting more

[Kyouhen]

Parson needs a slogan:

Hamster: Breaking Rules, Bricks and Overlords Since [insert time measurement of when he plot'd into existance here]

[Nebulious]

Due to the Chinese/British theme of the the Gobwin Knob, literal fireworks is certainly plausible.

[Pebot]

Man. I hate you guys so much right now (in good way). ... sigh i guess we'll have to wait till next update.

Also is it a problem that I imagine Parson throwing a brick at Stanley? Seriously sometimes Stanley reminds me of George Bush Junior where I just want to see a big object hit him. But theres that ... child likeness that you can't hate, but you wonder why he is in power.

[Cmdr I. Heartly Noah]

Given the cliffhangeryness of the update, my guess is that they WANT us to think "fireworks" means magic blasts & such.

Possible other uses of the word:

Argument - between Stanley and Wanda? Stanley and Ansom? Ansom and Wanda?

Literal fireworks - victory celebration/welcome home party?

Lava Lake becomes Lava Fountain?

[Mikalyaran]

Goramn it! I can see the updates will not be devianting in any way from the comic in regards to how much I anticipate the next one! I need some satisfaction on this issue. Curse your hide Balder! Curse your hide!

[Akkristor]

I think Parson is trying to get more of Erfworlds rules down.

It's a good thought, can a unit that has no ranged skill still pick up and throw a rock and hurt something?

Even though he won the Battle for Gobwin Knob, he's still new to the rules of Erfworld. BFGK took, what, 5 or 6 turns from Parson's summoning? thats less than a week, to learn the rules for a new UNIVERSE.

[shneekeythelost]

Nah, this is just Parson having seen another possible rules exploit and filing it away for future use. I can imagine Dirtmore being ordered to create a couple ton stacks of bricks and having Uncroaked/Decrypted units start chucking them at an invading force from the walls. Individually? Not much. Collectively... six or eight hundred bricks flying at you... at least one is going to hit. And yanno, with the bonus stacking going on with Wanda now having an Artifact Bonus on top of her massive bonus to Undead... that could get pretty darn ugly.

[gameboy1234]

Yeah, literal fireworks is most likely it. My first thought was "Wanda just ganked Stanley." My second thought was "no way." So my third thought was that Stanley just got told something he didn't like and lit up a few dwagons. Remember when Parson said that Stanley was the evil side and Stanley summoned the dwagons and threatened to get medieval on Parson? I was thinking something like that.

But it's probably Wanda with some fireworks magics.

[Anton Gaist]

So wait a minute... from their reactions, it's like even contemplating that possibility is hard for Sizemore and Maggie. I still would like to know the exact limitations imposed by Loyalty in Erfworld. Just how much free will do units have? I mean, Stanley betrayed Saline I.V., who was his Overlord. So what's stopping Parson from betraying Stanley?

Sure, the summoning spell makes him Loyal to Stanley. But up to what level? My guess is ... he just might have been able to throw that brick.

And we know Wanda left to set up a parade. Guys, when you make this into a movie, please make sure to include a couple hundred decrypted units parading under crimson fireworks, please? It'd sure beat the heck out of dancing Ewoks.

[Bobby Archer]

Collectively... six or eight hundred bricks flying at you... at least one is going to hit. And yanno, with the bonus stacking going on with Wanda now having an Artifact Bonus on top of her massive bonus to Undead... that could get pretty darn ugly.

At 5400:1 odds? Assuming 800 troops, about 1 brick out of every 7 volleys would hit. Once you start stacking bonuses, though, it might become worthwhile.

And when I got to "fireworks," my mind definitely first thought of actual, literal fireworks. Then it registered little things like context and sense (which may have been a mistake) and decided to go with "intense argument."

Also, I absolutely love the description of Maggie's expression.

[Toolbreaker]

I don't think they've skipped the conversation with Stanley. Stanley landed, spoke with Wanda, is continuing to the tower and meets Ansom along the way all the while taking in his changed city and trying to figure out what he's going to say to Parson. Or maybe he already knows what he's going to say but I doubt that.

Wanda is whipping up a parade to show off the new army either impress or intimidate him though I think the former.

I can't place my finger on it quite yet but I"m not so sure Parson is governed by loyalty at all. I think he follows what makes sense to him.

He has been told what he may or may not do but much of that has been common sense things given his situation and lack of knowledge of the rules of the world. Hence he has taken it at face value.

He thinks of doing things if only hypothetically and asks why he couldn't do it. Maggie and Sizemore were aghast at even the thought of it. To them it was unthinkable and I don't mean in a taboo sense either, they're loyalty score appears to be rather high. He however needed to ask. Or maybe he just wanted to know if any unit could be an archer if need be. Piling on the bonuses will probably make those to hit odds less than stellar but acceptable.

Great Update, it gives lots to think about.

[Zolon]

One thing you have to keep in consideration, is that Parson knows about the stacking of different bonuses upon eachother, and it's possible, not saying he did, but it's possible he calculated those odds when he did his calculation. Which means, at this height, throwing a brick without any warlord bonuses (Look at all the leader class people in the hex...) would be completely futile. Throwing one with a bunch of leaders around means that you might hit your target, a single target, one in 5400 times.

Now add this to it: you're not throwing at just a single target, you're throwing at a stack. Which means there are many units that it could affect. Now, is it 1 in 5400 for each unit, per projectile? Or is it x in 5400 where x is the number of units in the target stack? Or is it a combination number between the projectiles thrown and the units in the stack, combining as y in 5400 as a chance?

[Binty]

The 1:5400 chance of hitting Stanley is about the same the real world chance in a similar situation. This suggests that if the court yard was full of units he would have a greater chance of hitting a unit. In fact it would the 'unit' area density of courtyard he aimed at. Essentailly if the courtyard were packed his chance of hitting a unit would be 100%. Being hit by a brick dropped from a 200 feet is going to disable at least.

So in the previous battle, if he had had all his uncroaked troops throwing bricks/rocks down on the beseiging attackers, it would have been a bloodbath. Basically this would be seige tactics 101 in the real world. Throwing heavy things fairly randomly down on attackers was fairly popular back in the day.

What if Parson can sets his troops to building catapults, rather than ordering them popped? Similarly Crossbows were popular because you didn't need any skill to use them; relative to bows. Parson might be able to completely change Elfworld warmaking.

[teratorn]

I think Parson is planning to fill some of the weaknesses of his decrypted army by
using technology.

I take the firework thing literally, Wanda is giving Stanley a victory parade.

[valce]

The previous update did say that Wanda was preparing a parade... Literal fireworks seem most likely. [A faux cliffhanger ]

Though I'm surprised Parson didn't try to have those uncroaked units on the walls (way way back) throw anything down. Heck, they could've thrown each other

[HandofShadows]

I think Parson was getting the rules down (and how to get around them) better. But unconciousely he might be starting to think of Stanely as a potential enemy (think that faster Parson). I think it's interesting that Sizemore (and Magie) clealry took Parson's question as an inquiry about wacking Stanely. Sizemore didn't seem at ALL bothered by the concept though. We will just have to wait to see what the fireworks bring.