81 replies to this topic

[MrWhite]

They look pretty good Karzer, most of us rarely come on here and check our thread but I'm going to pass this on and see what the others think. I like the idea personally but then I'm not in charge We're kinda small but a tight knit group and tend to stick to our forums more often. I'll PM you though to I'm just giving a friendly bump to this thread

Edited by MrWhite, 02 October 2014 - 02:11 PM.

[MrWhite]

Just a friendly bump

[Zero Verniers]

stylish and kickass bumping this for the friendlies as well

[Koniving]

Alright. You know I have this topic followed so it's suppose to tell me every time someone replies to the thread...but it isn't doing it.

Btw I absolutely love the banners you've made in your Portfolio, Karzar.
I've been away (from things beyond the MWO forum) for a bit with college work, 4 AM shifts, and the occasional spout of DayZ (what a time sink!) so I haven't been up to date on some things until now.

A question was posted as to whether we're keeping our Liao bias. It's part of the lore created by Propnut so I figure we're keeping it. The genuine affiliation? I figure that would bounce back and forth -- the explanation given on the Zhizhu forums about letting having a banner made and which affiliation to use for said banner:

Quote

The Liao affiliation was originally due to Propnut, one of the originals of Zhizhu. Evidently Zhizhu had some battletech lore from a campaign or somesuch that some of the originals did.

That said I'm open. I imagine we'll be bouncing from affiliation to affiliation at some point. The lore if we go by Propnut's thing follows a "Liao-bias" rather than a strictly Liao affiliation.

For the campaign idea that I've been thinking of using, I had a thought that perhaps this bias came from being harbored in a time of need, where the unit and its members had non-Liao origins originally. Then once established and on its feet again, its bias towards Liao is shown as a gesture of gratuity; a thank you for helping it during its time of need with a relationship where the two would assist each other so long as it helps to meet similar goals.

A bias, as I mentioned, is not a genuine affiliation. As with any unit, they go where the money can be found and the competition to that money is manageable (if you rush to the money then you rush to Steiner, and if everyone is working for Steiner then everyone has to drop their prices, etc..the lowest bidder wins chump change; there's merit in supporting smaller factions with fewer people to pay).

Regardless, the name is Chinese. So the Chinese characters do fit irregardless of the affiliation.

I'm thinking, that due to it being a company (corp as in corporation as opposed to corps which would be pronounced "core" as in the US Marine Corps), a banner that is faction-neutral would be well-suited.

Much as I am infatuated with Liao, I do intend to collect all the loyalty points for all the factions at some point in time and anyone interested in content earned from said task would also want the freedom to do the same.

So far... For creative help: Zhi Zhu the word is associated with pillars, rank, and spiders. Don't ask, I used to teach English and the Chinese girl I'm frequently in contact has told me such. Our unit's colors are Feldgrau, Turmeric, and Black. I'm a little more partial to other shades but most of Zhizhu has already acquired these colors.



We don't have a set pattern, and often the colors are either green or black dominant with the yellow/gold always being a stripe or accentuating color.

We have a separate competitive element called Jade Dragons, whose colors are akin to the Monster energy drink.

[MrWhite]

Yeah cept the Jade Dragons have been DOA since we were still in Open beta... we are still looking for more players but honestly we should worry more about growing then even bringing the jade dragons up again.

[MrWhite]

bumpity bump

[Karzer]

Gotcha, good info. I'm away from home at the moment, but I'll put something together when I get back tomorrow.

[MrWhite]

no rush, we're very very laid back around here.

[Karzer]

For example:
Fits triangular Capellan theme, and sticks true to colors you mentioned.

Edited by Karzer, 14 October 2014 - 08:58 AM.

[Koniving]

There we go, I discovered why this thread hasn't been sending me notifications. It's been doing it to my email. Fixed! I should now know instantly whenever someone says something here.

That said, O_O wow! I'm already in love with it!

You know my Founder's Atlas actually has a Turmeric skull.
(Old shot, I'm actually near 140 mechs now).


Which now that I look at my skull, I think I have a devious idea.

Two vertical black lines coming down from the top of the skull to the eyes. Perhaps even be the tips of a spider's legs? I'll make sure the others come in to chime.

[Koniving]

On a side note, I began a Megamek campaign to use as fuel for a story-thread of sorts for the fluff behind Zhizhu for those who are into that sort of thing. A little time consuming to get big battles going but totally worth it.

Anyway, I went looking into the backstory, and it's true Douglas 3 doesn't show up on any map. Or any planet named Douglas. The only thing that irks me is the planet doesn't show up, ever. So after some more research, I think I have how this is gonna work for the fluff.

Between 3000 and 3050, Davions have taken over more than half of Liao territory. In 3035 they have taken over a large chunk, which is how they started to get their Cataphracts (3D, 4X) as well as their Ravens (4X). In fact before 3040 every Raven facility is destroyed, meaning that Ravens can no longer be built or acquired new (which is a funny thought; the same is true for both Black Knight and Grasshopper, who haven't had new models built since a few centuries before the year 3000; yet they still are in service and manage to get repaired).

As it happens, in 3035, there's an area around Terra where former Liao territories, then Davion-owned are intermingled with Kurita, Steiner and Marik territories. In fact, the Planet Liao in January 1st, 3035 is controlled by Steiner along with Aldebaran. It's surrounded by Davions. A Marik and Liao planet are within 5 days jumping distance of either. Though why Liao has an isolated claim on Bex (a planet with no real information) is quite mysterious.

It's my thought to put Douglas 3 in here. Of course, Douglas 3 was razed during the First succession war, so I might have to look at it a ways back.

Now looking at the map in the First Succession War, this is probably the most 'fair' ground for all the teams. A mechwarrior should really be built around this time period, the technological decline during this time meant that most mechs started out with the best technology had to offer and gradually things would get harder and harder to come by, eventually degrading tech to the point that everyone had to be on single heatsinks.

It's still feasible to 'set' Douglas as in this area, though a bit closer to Terra.

Though I'm still likely to focus on events happening much more 'recent'.

[the pole]

All the emblems looks great, I have a particular fondness for the Tikonov one, space Russia was awesome and I miss it over the space Sun Tzu we have now. The spider one is great as well but I think of our arachnophobic members and it might be too much for them to handle.

[Part Time]

the pole, on 16 October 2014 - 07:22 AM, said:

All the emblems looks great, I have a particular fondness for the Tikonov one, space Russia was awesome and I miss it over the space Sun Tzu we have now. The spider one is great as well but I think of our arachnophobic members and it might be too much for them to handle.

<3

[Karzer]

Study number 2

[Propnut]

Yeah....I vote against the spider motif also.

[Koniving]

Just from the top of the skull to the top of the eye sockets (akin to how the Atlas Skull was done).

And holy crap is that Propnut I see?

[Just wanna play]

Propnut, on 16 October 2014 - 09:29 AM, said:

Yeah....I vote against the spider motif also.

are you even in the group anymore!?!?

[Koniving]

On a side note..
支柱
Zhizhu. The first character means to prop-up, support. The second one means pillar, backbone.

蜘蛛
Also Zhizhu, means spider.
These are Pinyin.
From what I understand the difference is super subtle in the pronunciation.

The one used here in some of our older banners.... are pure gibberish.

Or more specifically "Shu" "Ga" which...means nothing together like that.

I gotta look up the ones you have Karzer. Kinda curious as to what they mean.

The spider motif kinda came with the translations. Though, there are lots of spiders, the occasional pillar, an actor, an actress, and this is a funny little thing also called Zhizhu too. >.>

Edited by Koniving, 16 October 2014 - 09:54 AM.

[Part Time]

Karzer, on 16 October 2014 - 09:19 AM, said:

Study number 2
Snip

I really like the design Karzer, but I feel the skull itself is too large and a bit flat for where it's placed. For me, it seems it's too low down on the abdomen (opisthosoma) without some sort of warping. I would like to see it a little smaller (maybe have it at 90% of the size it is now?) and move it upwards a small amount. But, again, great design!

[Koniving]

I had that thought too. The skull being a bit large.

Also, to satisfy the pillar meaning of the word (granted three points would be symbolic enough for me), perhaps have the spider itself on a pillar? The legs are already positioned as if they are holding onto something we can't see (as opposed to grounded from a top down angle), so why not give it something to grab onto?