HGS Convergence Discussion Thread

Did the ZDR team split up after the two doors were opened? I think yes because the FBW went to the teleporter(?) room while Alex and Tokage found the Poke-Canines, but since the Equestrians will ambush the team later, I assumed that everyone will have regrouped by then instead of split apart. I'm not gonna sic 'em on the team(s) right away because I didn't expect the Poke-Canines to be found immediately and I need more time to plan their entrance. If the battle will be split into separate rooms, I think it'll be easier for me to track who's fighting who, unlike with the clone/mutant fight, which took place in one area.

Also, Lapis is about to open a third door, but I don't think that was addressed. Was it scanned first? And if so, is there anything past that door? I'll see if I can try improvising something if KB didn't plan anything for that and if he and the others are okay with it.

Additionally, I'll be going on vacation on the weekend for my birthday, so if the fight happens by then, expect delays.

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Mar 13th 2024 at 4:34:08 PM

From what I understood, the team isn't exactly split up. There's just Arthur who checked the jet room while Tokage, Alex and co. are in the Loony one. Then, there's the rest of the characters who are in the hallway leading to the two rooms.

I can't speak about Lapis, or how you plan to have the Mane 6 and Discord's fights going on (if we're doing this in separate rooms, or if we have to fight them at the same time). I think you could either see that with KB or decide which is best for the equestrians.

I thought the team did split up because CAC's team followed Alex and Tokage into the Looniversity classroom while Arthur followed Miss Ball into the jet room.

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Mar 13th 2024 at 4:37:02 PM

I guess they are, but everyone is still relatively close if I can make myself clearer. It's not like with Peridot and the Atomozoids who are far away from the others.

So, I suppose the content of the doors is up to interpretation from each of the tropers that post right? As long as it doesn't disrupt anyone else

Good question. But I think that's up to KB to decide that since he's in control of the lair.

Oops, I totally forgot about the third door. Should I just show what was in there in my next post or edit it into my previous post?

Or just allow y’all to decide what’s there?

Edited by kablammin45 on Mar 13th 2024 at 2:36:04 AM

Up to you, but if you can't think of anything, I'll try to come up with something. And what about the Equestrian battle? Should the team fight them in separate rooms or all in the same room like in the previous fight?

Alright, I’ll let you know if I don’t have any ideas.

Separate rooms could be interesting. I figure setting them in different rooms could make things a bit more organized than the fight in the front hall was.

Alright, let's see what the others think about splitting the fight. If that's what we're going through, Twilight must be in the same room as CAC for her confrontation.

I'm fine with either options.

Breaking up the fight into smaller groups could be good, yeah. Since there are so many characters present, having them take on separate enemies would help make things more orderly and keep them from stepping on each other's toes. Plus, it'd help give more of the wide-scale battle feel I'd been expecting from this arc.

On another note related to the fight, I'm thinking about Kaidan's Overload power (basically a targeted EMP to damage shields, weapons, and synthetic enemies) and its potential use against the bracers. I'd like it to be relevant, but not too much of a game-winner, so I've got two ideas in mind:

• It can't shut down the bracers entirely, but it can interfere with their function temporarily, causing brainwashed enemies it targets to be stunned, weakened, or otherwise impaired for a bit. This would put Kaidan into a support role throughout the fight, helping soften up tougher enemies so other heroes can bring them down.
• It can fully disable the bracers, but Kaidan only gets to do it once before he gets taken out of the fight (critically injured, teleported away, put under a stasis effect, or whatever). This could be used to deal with one enemy that otherwise would be hard to reasonably handle, such as Discord.

Thoughts? Either of those work, or do you have alternatives in mind?

All that KB said about the bracers is that Dark Stanford rushed himself in making them, so they're not indestructible like the previous bracers he used on his former minions, and again, they should be easier to remove. I think they can be pulled out physically (but with much force), since the old bracers either needed Metroids to suck out their energy to disable them, or the wearer had to temporarily melt into a puddle (Oscar, with Phoebe's help) or become intangible (Twilight, with Light Stanford's help) to make it slip off, as otherwise DS was the only one who could remove them manually. But I might be wrong, though, but for the new bracers, either option for Kaidan's Overload ability works for me.

But speaking of Discord, I already warned that he'll be the hardest to take down because of his chaos magic and unpredictability. Adding to that, he's capable of altering the environment and making Area of Effect attacks, and he might do the former as his first move for his Establishing Character Moment in this arc and change the battlefield more than once later. Is that alright? I'll try not to overdo it, but I think that can spice things up and provide both sides with various things they can take advantage of.

I can see either option working, yeah. The new bracers, as stated, are MUCH less durable and more suspect to interference anyway (due to OT!Stanford creating them in a rush while in the middle of an ongoing Villainous Breakdown).

Edited by kablammin45 on Mar 13th 2024 at 8:33:10 AM

Hmm... It might be fun to make Discord more of a background presence, having him influence the battlefield rather than attack anyone directly (especially if the chaos effects can be turned to the heroes' advantage and/or cause friendly fire). In that case, I think I'll go with Overload being limited-effectiveness support throughout - the alternative would best be saved for Twilight or Discord, and it looks like taking either of them out early is off the table.

Actually, I can roll with Twilight being taken down somewhat earlier, as long as she gets to confront CAC.

EDIT: After giving it some thought, I think I should start the Equestrian fight after my birthday, give or take since I might be able to at least have them start moving towards the teams (assuming that the fight will be split between the three groups since there has been some agreement to it). I meant that the battle proper can begin on the 18th in my timezone and when everything has been set. There are still some kinks to be fixed and I think the outside party should head back in soon because they have the 'Zoids to take down Twilight and Discord (and Rarity to a lesser extent since she's also a magic user).

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Mar 15th 2024 at 2:19:47 AM

Alright, I'm back, but since ~Nine Tailed Cat is busy hosting, do I start the approach (not the battle yet) of the brainwashed Equestrians during or after the season? Also, I want more confirmation (from the other players in general, not just NTC) on whether or not the battle will be split, and if it'll be across three groups given that the team entered three rooms. And one more thing about the Equestrians, Flash Magnus (the Captain of the Guard) might be concerning because he has an indestructible shield, but defeating him should be straightforward since the shield gets significantly weakened when it gets dirty, or one can simply knock it out of his hooves. Besides him and the arrangements for Twilight and Discord, everything else should be fair game, but feel free to ask for more clarification or provide more critique.

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Mar 17th 2024 at 9:56:57 PM

While I'd like to get a post in before we proceed (EDIT: And done!), I don't want to force you to delay any more than necessary. Might be harder to keep up a full-on fight while working on season updates, but if we're not getting to that part yet, I should be fine.

As for Flash Magnus, thanks for the heads-up. The indestructible shield sounds like a challenge, but a fair one - it's something that any group could theoretically work around rather than needing very specific countermeasures.

Edited by NineTailedCat on Mar 17th 2024 at 12:22:02 PM

I think splitting the battle would be better, given the group is currently split into three.

Yeah, the Equestrians will just start making their way to where the groups are, but unless you have any objections, questions, or clarifications, the latest the battle proper can start will be after the season.

Fair enough. And I'm fine with the split too

Alright, for the sake of trying to save time with the boss fight, Les and Reba will be fighting alongside the Equestrians instead of after them. Feel free to ask KB for details about them.

Yes, IK said that the battle proper will start at the season finale, but I underestimated how fast-paced the season was. So hope you don't mind if I move the goalposts a bit and take a bit more time in the Equestrians' approach towards the heroes.

EDIT: To clarify my latest post, the prisoners still aren't there yet, but they can be detected now, just that at best the heroes would see a faint outline of them or get the feeling that they've got company. But I can roll with them being outright discovered with more sophisticated powers/tech, although depending on the pacing, I'll do at least one more approach post before they get in for real.

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Mar 18th 2024 at 8:58:20 PM

If anyone is wondering what the holdup for the Equestrian battle is, it's partly because I'm not sure if there should be escape routes from the Looniversity Classroom (and perhaps the other two rooms). I assumed that they'll be used as battlefields, any possible escape routes can be used in a chase sequence to Dark Stanford's lab (if that's the next part after this)... which might become a rehash of the controversial Blood Moon fight. On the other hand, trapping everyone inside those rooms might be considered Railroading, so I'm willing to roll with the possibility of Oscar, Lucian, and anyone who can't fight (or are too injured/emotionally distressed to continue) escaping through those routes while the others finish the fight for them.

And since it's been a while since I last discussed Discord's weakness (on the server), I'll say it again: it's order. In "Discordant Harmony", he weakens and starts fading when he forces himself to stop being chaotic "for Fluttershy's sake", and this was shown in ASAS when Discord's energy was absorbed by the VL Metroid and was captured by Raven Beak's forces during the Canterlot invasion. Kaf suggested to me two months ago that Discord being brainwashed into using his chaos magic to harm those who are trying to save him counts as order being used against him; it makes sense because this is not like in "The Return of Harmony", where he, as a villain at the time, succeeded into making Ponyville his chaos utopia because he willingly used his magic on it as he pleased.

I'm thinking that during the battle proper, Discord is slowly being weakened by the bracer's influence the longer he fights. While the repurposed Atomozoids can aid in weakening him faster, whoever will be fighting against him can try physically restraining him or browbeating him to stop using his magic. Depending on where I deploy Discord, Kaidan's Overload ability can help here, as previously discussed.

In other news, I'm still waiting for ~Vengeful Bale to make his catch-up post since he said on the server that he'll try to do so, but if not, I'll see if I can proceed with the battle if there aren't any questions, concerns, or clarifications of the points I've brought up here.

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Mar 24th 2024 at 7:26:17 PM

I mean, right now, there's not a lot to do except escape the Looniversity room for that group - they've already found everything of importance in there, and their only opponent is one they have no way of engaging directly. As such, either they should be given something more interesting to do in there or they should move on. It doesn't matter too much to me whether they get out or not, as long as they have something to work towards. As I've done my best to express before, it's more fun to progress the plot yourself than to stall until outside factors let it move forward.