Firefall adds pets, ability to 'despawn' enemy companions

Red 5 founder and CEO Mark Kern reveals to Shacknews that Firefall will feature pets, but the feature comes with a special twist.

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Red 5 founder and CEO Mark Kern visited the Shacknews office last week, bringing with him a handful of reveals for the upcoming free-to-play shooter Firefall. Today's revelation is that Firefall will feature pets, a familiar addition for MMOs but something rare in the shooter genre.

"One new feature that we're really excited about is introducing the new 'Pet' system into Firefall." Kern revealed to Shacknews. "I mean, when's the last time you heard about a shooter with pets?" Red 5's idea for the feature doesn't end there, however. "We had to had to do little things to actually make it interesting," he admitted.

"Not only can you get a pet, but we're thinking that there's actually an item you can buy in the store to load your gun with special ammunition so you actually shoot the other guy's pet," Kern said, noting that executing this action would actually "despawn" your adversary's companion for a time.

Kern clarifies that players will "for sure" be able to kill pets, but they haven't figured out the best way to do it as of yet. "The item is one way," he said.

"The first one we're announcing is going to be on a Wednesday promotion called 'Crystite Challenge.' It's a way that players can do things like invite friends into the beta to earn Crystite and unlock a special pet," Kern detailed. The first special pet is part of a partnership with Penny Arcade that will feature the character "The Merch."

"The Merch is awesome because he's all about merchandising and he fits with our item-based theme." Firefall's Crystite Challenge begins on Wednesday, giving players a chance to earn The Merch pet. The pet itself will be usable when the game launches.

Though I tried to pry away details on Firefall's fifth Battleframe, Kern wouldn't budge. Firefall is expected to launch in December; however, users can register for an ongoing beta on the game's official website.

Stay tuned for a lengthy video interview with Kern where he details more on Firefall, including the game's army system and business model.

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    September 19, 2011 11:45 AM

    Xav de Matos posted a new article, Firefall adds pets, ability to 'despawn' enemy companions.

    Red 5 founder and CEO Mark Kern reveals to Shacknews that Firefall will feature pets, but the feature comes with a special twist.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 11:53 AM

      All i can say is, yay pets. I look foward to the varity of pets you guys add. Although, will you be taking community ideas for Future Pets?

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        September 19, 2011 11:53 AM

        This is "King" on the Firefall Forums by the way! =D

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        September 19, 2011 12:04 PM

        i believe they would do as they seam to be very involved with the community, as well as requesting that we give them ideas as to things we would like in game.

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          September 19, 2011 12:07 PM

          Absolutely! With our uservoice software, we can see which pet ideas are the most popular.

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          September 19, 2011 12:07 PM

          Actually... I think the Pet thing was a community Idea. Been lots of talks about it in thier forums the last few weeks. Hard to avoid.

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            September 19, 2011 12:09 PM

            I wonder if it is only from that, because if so they got it ''implemented'' quite fast.

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              September 19, 2011 12:20 PM

              Pets are not hard to implement. All a pet it, is a model that doesnt cause collision, doesn't have any effect on the game, and doesn't have anything important to it. It's like making a monster without stats. Plus, Im not even sure if it's implemented yet, just an idea that the Red5 guys decided was a good idea.

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                September 19, 2011 12:56 PM

                I wasn't referring to the final implementation in game but to the decision to have them and the shown preparations.

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      September 19, 2011 11:53 AM

      I wonder if there will be feline pets.

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        September 19, 2011 12:12 PM

        I do love cats...cats wouldn't need jetpacks, they would just leap after you. :P

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          September 19, 2011 12:14 PM

          But killing them with that special item doesn't seem so nice. I would have to rain down hell upon those who killed my pet cat :(

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        September 19, 2011 12:15 PM

        anything cute and small i want ^^ like a baby melding cloud monster thing.

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        September 19, 2011 2:12 PM

        I give it like a 98% chance.

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      September 19, 2011 11:53 AM

      Nice didn't expect they would have pets at release :D

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      September 19, 2011 11:54 AM

      i look forward to seeing how pets are implemented while still keeping it balanced. i love the idea of pets so long as the for looks and helping pick up fallen goodies.

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        September 19, 2011 12:00 PM

        We could do a lot with pets. Would you buy "pet emotes" from our store to train your pets to do tricks?

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          September 19, 2011 12:02 PM

          Don't forget tiny clothes for them :D

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          September 19, 2011 12:02 PM

          yeah trick would be pretty cool as unlockables or through the store. Possibly achievements for having pets/having them know the right tricks. Any chance of our pets being able to do a little dps?

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          September 19, 2011 12:03 PM

          Honestly, i think each pet should come with a unique factor. like a neat animation or a special emote, or stuff. Having us buy that seems unessicary. Its like "ok you have to buy the pet, then you have to buy thigns for it to do" people dont usually like that you know?

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            September 19, 2011 12:04 PM

            The Merch comes with unique behavior, so will others we make in the future. I'm talking about additional tricks over time to keep your pet fresh.

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              September 19, 2011 12:13 PM

              Well.... maybe. Maybe like "Emote packs" for them or something. not just like a 1 item purchase thing.

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              September 19, 2011 12:14 PM

              Sure, just maybe make it a pack of new animations... or if it's the individual animation make it fair pricing. No way I'd spend $5 just to be able to high five my pet, however $1 or less sounds reasonable enough.

              Also, please for the cash shop make it easy to tell how much your store currency equates to real money amount and how much you've spent so far. Hate having 5,000 points equating to some random money amount like $13.25, makes it a pain to keep track for budgeting.

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                September 19, 2011 3:06 PM

                Total +1 on the ease of converting currency. I hate change to tally up my xbox live points to real dollars. It doesn't take long its more of a "why am I having to do this????"

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 12:04 PM

          Eh... I can't imagine some of that selling too well. Maybe size modifiers, so they can look bigger.

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          September 19, 2011 1:08 PM

          I would like this if the pet system works as follow: the pet is an extra blank avatar that can be customized with shop items (and perhaps epic drops/rewards for certain events). If the pets themselves have different looks which needs to be purchased on top of emotes that need to be purchased, it would feel a bit like I'm paying twice for the same content, if you know what I mean. ^^

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          September 19, 2011 1:28 PM

          Can we get them to run back to base and sell or trash loot for us?
          That would be very useful without interfering with combat.

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        September 19, 2011 12:07 PM

        that would be so good if the pets collect your loot. saves you worrying about it wile fighting for your life :P.

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      September 19, 2011 11:55 AM

      I really want to see what these pets will do in actual battle, will they just jump around help collect items, provide passive boosts? There are so many possibilities

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        September 19, 2011 11:56 AM

        A dev said they will be non-combat.

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        September 19, 2011 12:10 PM

        i hope they wont be around in the e-sport aspect of it, but i assume they wouldn't.

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      September 19, 2011 11:55 AM

      im going to have fun shooting other peoples pets

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        September 19, 2011 12:10 PM

        o we all are ^^

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        September 19, 2011 1:32 PM

        Yeah, I only love my owe pets! Shooting others pets would be thrilling ! I mean in FireFall.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 11:58 AM

      I hope some pets will fight each other like in wow.

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        September 19, 2011 12:02 PM

        A pet arena? Sounds like Pokemon. :)

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          September 19, 2011 12:03 PM

          You should do it. Pokemon sells.

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          September 19, 2011 12:04 PM

          Lol, no meant like the space marine pet vs the zergling pet. Attacking each other by themselves when they are close and the winner dying/de-spawning.

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            September 19, 2011 12:19 PM

            Having pets able to fight would be awesome actually... Imagine two players pitting each other pets together and all the owners do is something like like Rock-Paper-Scissors. Whoever gets the winning hand gets to see his pet attack the opponents for damage, if they get the same hand you get to see them both attack each other, and if you get the wrong hand you see your pet get hurt. Give the round something short like enough to take 3 hits before losing. Could be a pretty fun little mini game to do with other players.

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              September 19, 2011 12:22 PM

              I could name my character Michael Vick!

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                September 19, 2011 12:23 PM

                Ouch!!!

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                  September 19, 2011 12:34 PM

                  Potential interest is different fighting animations to give a pet for this in the cash shop too. =P

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          September 19, 2011 12:08 PM

          NO to pokemons in FF!

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          September 19, 2011 1:30 PM

          How about some clothes/paint/whatever that matches your pet? Like furry ears if you have a female cat, etc

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      September 19, 2011 11:59 AM

      While I'd question the addition of vanity pets in a shooter, I look forward to hearing more about the "twist" involved with these. Could lead to some interesting gameplay mechanics.

      I do have two questions:
      1) What are the different ways we can collect these pets?
      2) Will ground pets will end up with some of their own jet boots to follow me around as I scale the countryside. :)

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:00 PM

      I love the interaction with pets, other games with pets only allow them to be vanity pets. It would be awesome if there was a special pet that could should for 1/2 damage or something small.

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      September 19, 2011 12:01 PM

      I'm more interested in the thought that, in the interview he said that the Army emblem launcher would be created next year. I do not know if that means he will create it in a year, or if in the early part of 2012 the Emblem Creator will happen.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:02 PM

      Oh god I hope I can get an FF2000 to follow me around some day.

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      September 19, 2011 12:02 PM

      sweet pets, cant w8t

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      September 19, 2011 12:02 PM

      Can you explain me in simple words what happens when I shoot someones pet?

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        September 19, 2011 12:03 PM

        It will die a fiery death. Respawn after awhile.

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          September 19, 2011 12:04 PM

          Fiery death? Not bloody? Not squishy? Not Dramatic?

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            September 19, 2011 12:16 PM

            Maybe it depends on the Pet Ammo you buy in the store. ;)

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          September 19, 2011 12:07 PM

          OK, thanks! now I understand title of this topic

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      September 19, 2011 12:03 PM

      It's very nice that Red 5 seems to be corroborating in creating this pet. It means there could be some good cross-promotional pets for Firefall after launch. If you read this Mark Kern, I AM asking for a pet version of Pu from Yu Yu Hakusho.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:04 PM

      Awesome! FireFall looks better and better by the day!

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      September 19, 2011 12:06 PM

      Awesome :D I hope the pets are turned off by default in PvP. Wouldn't be nice if you were hiding with low health when your pet pops out of the cover and reveals you. We need a flying moustache pet. Maybe it would fly by flapping the moustache like wings :D

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        September 19, 2011 12:10 PM

        We are not sure if pets will be in PvP instances. Of course, you can always put them away...

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:12 PM

        I agree on both your points.

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      September 19, 2011 12:09 PM

      Wasn't sure if they would implement pets into this game as it is supposed to be a shooter, but in my opinion even if it a shooter, pets will make an interesting addition. Especially with open world, still interested how it will be in PVP. None the less, good news. Yay!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:09 PM

      This game surpasses all expectations of what is known as a f2p game. It will hopefully be the first of its kind.

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        September 19, 2011 2:10 PM

        Agree. Red 5 is good at tickle our fancy :) and certainly has been shown the first of its kind!!!

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          September 19, 2011 2:17 PM

          We want to set all games free.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:10 PM

      Wahhhhhhh awesome news guys!!!! :D
      It gonna be soooo awesome! :p

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      September 19, 2011 12:10 PM

      Nice, I'd like to shoot some other people's pets for fun in PVP :p. Pets are a good idea, I hope there won't be to much of them though, we don't want a pet infested world do we? :p

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:11 PM

      Grummz, will pets be available in PvP or only in PvE?

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:12 PM

        Read a couple of lines above your post and you will find your answer.

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        September 19, 2011 12:13 PM

        Probably PvE only.

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          September 19, 2011 12:14 PM

          Let me clarify...some pets might be fun in PvP. We will have to see how it goes and haven't play tested it yet.

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            September 19, 2011 12:17 PM

            great, I konw Red 5 will do the best with our help!

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            September 19, 2011 12:18 PM

            Pets dying from stray bullets would be fun :D

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            September 19, 2011 12:28 PM

            That's actually an interesting idea. If your pet is getting shot, provide the option to duel the attacker. If attacker loses, your pet is granted temporary immunity from them or something.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:24 PM

          If that's the case, I have no problems with pets! I could see them being distracting in PvP, though, so good choice to keep them separate.

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          September 19, 2011 2:01 PM

          Ye thats probably the best thing to still be balanced in pvp

        • reply
          September 20, 2011 6:23 AM

          it pleases but then besides the character will have to run for him pets ))

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:13 PM

      Hopefully they don't have the pets in PVP, dying because the other person saw your pet would be quite idiotic. As long as the pets aren't just cash shop items I would like this feature, I mean event pets, achievement pets and ingame currency bought pets in addition to cash shop would make them more acceptable.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:13 PM

      Oh, and does that collaboration with Penny Arcade mean that you'll have a Fruit F**cker pet? ;D

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:14 PM

      Wonder if pets will have other uses for example being able to directly store items in town inventory so if the bags get full one can just store them there or just if the pet could destroy items one does not need into crystite.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:29 PM

        Or even something like sending it off to sell the item for you... at a reduced money amount of course. Still, pack-mule pet and delivery pet mechanics would be nice to have... for a price. =P

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:15 PM

      I liked the dog in Eden Eternal. Sometimes I just get lazy, and that dog cured that by picking everything up for me :D.

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      September 19, 2011 12:16 PM

      I would rather like some of these pets to give stat boosts, like extra HP because they are a Shield Generator, or Extra Jetpack time because they are a fuel tank or something like that. Almost like the modules they have for jetpacks, this could just be something extra that we could grab to help customize our character. Maybe even one with a gun that fires a low damage round. The Tau have them in Warhammer, and I think it's a good idea.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:21 PM

        We are careful about this...we don't want to make people feel like they HAVE to have a pet because of bonuses.

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          September 19, 2011 12:24 PM

          Well, are the pets only purchasable? I imagine you would be able to find them out in the wilderness too. Maybe the shield generator guys are only able to be found off of the Chosen Dreadnaughts, (which i why they're so tough) but since you attacked them, they have a reduced effect on you for being damaged.

          Besides, they don't have to be huge boosts.

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          September 19, 2011 12:57 PM

          If they deal damage then that would flip the game around to Petfall. Please let them be aesthetic only!

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:16 PM

          That's excellent that pets aren't going to be something one needs to use. Does that mean they're going to be aesthetic?

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:23 PM

        I agree, but if pets will be available in store, then they can't have any "pay to win" advantages. But if they will be available through PvE missions (drop, award) or buying them with crystite then they can have those abilities

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 12:31 PM

          What i mean is...we don't want everyone in the world always having a pet out since they give bonuses...would feel wrong.

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            September 19, 2011 12:37 PM

            I take back my other idea... You should have the Engineer class be the only ones that can gain benefits from mechanical pets, or be able to have an ability that is a mechanical pet like device. Basically they would be mobile shield generators or turrets, that are much much weaker.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:17 PM

      I like the idea of being able to destroy an enemy's pet. It seems to make it fair play, especially in PVP.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:17 PM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:23 PM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 12:25 PM

          I've had a grudge against Shacknews for a while because they ruined Urban Dead for me. I've avoided coming to this site until Firefall. That's my answer.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 12:37 PM

          To be honest i found out about this site from firefall forums. At the moment firefall seems to be the only game im intrested in but i have kept checking the site daily ever since.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 12:40 PM

          All real gamers, just excited about Firefall, and now growing the Shack audience. It's pretty much my favorite game news site, so it was cool to introduce it to others.

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 12:43 PM

            [deleted]

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 12:45 PM

              Thanks! Please try the game when it comes out...its free and we aren't selling power items.

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 12:48 PM

                [deleted]

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 12:50 PM

                Do you have a release/open beta date yet?

                Also, will streamers be allowed to livestream the beta? We love to do this to show off new and upcoming games, but almost all beta NDAs block streaming.

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 12:53 PM

                  We will allow streaming when we are past the NDA stage. In fact, we really love streaming and are building in support with shout casters for eSports and replays.

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 12:55 PM

                    Oh my, that is really great news.

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 1:03 PM

                    Lovely to hear!

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 1:32 PM

                    Now this part I like! I plan on talking to own3d.tv to start up a section for firefall :)

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 12:53 PM

                  I dont think they are going to have an Open Beta. The Beta has started, and the release is December.

                  I also hear that they are going to lift the NDA early in the beta so that people can stream or make videos.

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 12:54 PM

                    Yep, no open beta. We just roll right into things.

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 2:35 PM

                    open beta will not.
                    will * Soft start *

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 6:31 PM

            If you really gave a shit you wouldn't ruin it with your spam. Your game can do well without being pushed on people in an obnoxious way. Just you in this thread answering questions and letting others know you post here will get people to notice the thread, and that is what you would do if you cared about shack and the community. Instead you have target post counts you want to hit and give Firefall forum users prizes for spamming shack's comments.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 8:56 PM

          Nah, I've posted a few times about and am excited to see it go gold, despite the obvious shilling.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 10:18 PM

          Completely and totally wrong. I've posted one single post in one single thread, which completely invalidates your argument.
          Nice try though. Maybe next time...

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:35 PM

        Definitely looks like we are on our way there...

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:17 PM

          Soon, all will know the glory that is Firefall! :D

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:20 PM

      I really hope that the pets available aren't all a bunch of cutesy fluffy crap. Nothing takes you out of the moment like watching a pink baby unicorn prance by you in the middle of an epic battle.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:20 PM

      Pets are nice addition as long as they stay outside of pvp :)

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:22 PM

      Excited to see the revenge kills yelling "Fuuu you killed my kittie!!!!"

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:24 PM

        We'd probably have to add a duel feature in the future because of this. :)

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:12 PM

          That is awesome! Will pets be able to use small minor special abilities in PvE (no PvP please?)

          Will pets be able to pick up items?

          How many pets can each player/account have?

          What do you feel will be the best thing about pets?

          Will you have a robotic dog, and will you have a walking auto turret like Bietols avatar?

          Soooo excited ha ha!

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 2:15 PM

          For the people or the pets?

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:23 PM

      Exclusive pets unlockable for beta players only? Really?

      So I won't ever get to unlock it, just because I'm unlucky? Not cool.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:24 PM

        No no no....the promo for the Merch is permanent. Pet will release in December any people can always do the challenge to get it.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 12:27 PM

          But grummz...

          It's a way that players can do things like invite friends into the beta

          those this mean more invites?

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 12:29 PM

            More details later, but the Crystite Challenge will be something that will likely run well past release.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 12:31 PM

              So there will be more ways then just beta invites like getting to a certain number by different ways in order to achieve the pet?

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 12:33 PM

              The Merch pet should give us a 3% discount at stores while it's out. Just sayin...

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 12:30 PM

          Awesome. Thanks for the clarification, the article is not very clear on this point.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:34 PM

      Interesting idea, although i can not figure it out how fun it is.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:35 PM

      I don't quite get the promo thing with Penny Arcade. can somebody explain in detail? who's going to be collecting crystite and where?

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:35 PM

      I cant say that I am for or against pets. Would someone care to enlighten me on what is "cool" about them?

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:49 PM

        Reason they appeal to me is because I often like the way they look and having a little minion that follows you around is awesome. Plus it opens the door for various convenient minion mechanics like pack-muling, traveling to sell items for you, minion fighting that doesn't hurt the player if their minion loses, ect. It's just some extra good fun.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:22 PM

          Ah yes the pack muling! Now that appeals to me. The pet in torchlight was awesome because you could make it take your stuff back to town and sell it off.
          Thanks Jirue

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:35 PM

      I prefer Drone before Pet, pet sounds like house pet - cat, hamster, pony ... could You call them Drones, not pets! it's more suitable to SF shooter

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:39 PM

      Any idea when w willw the second wave beta after a few days testing?

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:40 PM

        No way to tell. We have to load up the servers and see what breaks first.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:11 PM

          How come u know FF can be launched in December then :) ?

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 1:13 PM

            i imagine because December doesn't have to be the end of beta; they have simply said the last time they'll charecter wipe will be December, and the ingame store will be opened in December.

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              September 19, 2011 1:26 PM

              Sounds like open beta. Can not wait

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 1:30 PM

                yeah, think like Minecraft. Its still in beta but there are millions of people who have bought it and are playing it, and the developer continues to add tons of new features.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 1:32 PM

              Exactly. It's F2P so there's no time when we'll go pick it up at the store, hence no "launch", just open registration/download. But by then most people who are really into the game will have been invited anyway.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:40 PM

      I'm fine with pets as long as they don't give bonuses and fit well into the universe.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:43 PM

      Will we be able to buy Voice Packs for our pets? I want a lil' pet that yells "BAM BAM" like the kid from the Flintstones. Can I can I can I? =)

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:45 PM

        That's a pretty cool idea. See the "selling pet emotes" thread above.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 12:51 PM

          Have you played Bastion grummz? If yes, then you should make Voice Pack with that narrator's voice :P => Awesomeness

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 12:53 PM

            How about the minstrel from Monty Python's Holy Grail? :)

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 12:57 PM

              Or the bridge questioning guy!

              "What... is your favorite color!?"

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 12:57 PM

              Don Vito Corleone? :)

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 1:18 PM

              I would spend money on that!

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 1:33 PM

              The black knight would be an awesome pet. The pet bullets would just chop off random body parts untill there is only a head left!

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 1:35 PM

              The killer rabbit as a pet? :o

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:49 PM

      I enjoyed the aesthetics of pets in WoW and I'll enjoy it in a shooter but on those days where pets anoy the hell out of me its good to know I can now shoot them(assuming thats the method they use) to despawn them! Its gonna add hours of entertainment for me :)

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 12:56 PM

        Yep..."resonating pet bolt chambered"

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:05 PM

          Speaking of... Would be we be able to craft some pet killing ammo in game too? Would be nice to have the option to have to go through the effort of collecting the resources to make a couple of these. Could still make them appealing in the cash shop by making them easier to get and in much larger quantities.
          Like the difference of processing to get 4 bullets in game or just buying a 20 round clip in the cash shop for a dollar or two.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 12:49 PM

      Perhaps, if pets do not engage in combat, could they boost some abilities?

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:02 PM

      This should be an interesting feature. I'm always excited to learn more about Firefall!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:03 PM

      New- Improved Idea for bets.

      XP Modifier (A small amount of XP earned is spread across all classes)
      Drop Modifier Pets (They reduce the drops of all item types, except the type of drops that they boost)
      Selling/Buying Boosts/Reductions.
      Army XP boost
      Movement Boost (Only out of combat for world travel stuff)

      Stuff like that would be cool and wouldnt effect the actual game combat almost at all.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:04 PM

        Pets... not bets.

      • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        September 19, 2011 1:06 PM

        As much as I would like to see Pokemon the MMOFPS, I think pets should just be pets.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:10 PM

        What about a flying Pet that can buy from the auction house and then returns giving you what you bought? It would also be interesting if the per could be "destroyed" and looted by another player.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:10 PM

      when the pet "despawns" is there a corpse? can we like shoot the leg off of a pet?

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:11 PM

      i get that pets probably will not do anything in combat, but can you still have your pet up in an instanced pvp fight?

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:16 PM

        If they were in PvP, Firefall would lose all credit as an eSport, I predict. You just can't take pets seriously like that.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:17 PM

          well, if pets don't do anything, can they really mess with the PvP?

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 1:28 PM

            I think if they are going to be offering some type of ammunition or weapon for sale in the item shop then the pets should probably do something, otherwise why would you want to despawn them? They could feasibly offer some type of small buff to the player in the way of extra shields or hit points. As long as it's not a huge advantage and there are easy ways for everyone to get pets other than just the item shop.

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              September 19, 2011 1:32 PM

              ummm, to troll people. People like having their cute pets out and you get to prevent them from having a pet out for a period of time...

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 1:35 PM

                would be even better though if you could dismember their beloved pet right infront of them...

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 1:36 PM

                  You never had many pets as a child, did you?

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 1:48 PM

                    you mean at the same time? no

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:18 PM

          Unless it's something like competitive Pokemon. XD

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          September 19, 2011 1:18 PM

          Yes you can. I said it before, and I will say it again. There a shield, and weapon drones for Tau in the Warhammer games that are effectively pets. http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2010/3/2/87060_md-Tau%20Fireknife%20Crisis%20Suit%20with%20Shield%20Drones.jpg

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            September 19, 2011 1:26 PM

            I see, that makes sense. I trust Red5 will balance them properly.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:20 PM

          You're being over the top. It's just a drone, essentially.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:13 PM

      First thing I thought of when I heard "Firefall pets" was the mags from Phantasy Star Online. Little dude I would be feeding crysite to and he sparkles and spins around in a circle. And in return I would get healing boost for my healing frame and larger, deep red flames for my jetpack graphic. But then again, being a healer is probably going to get me enough attention without massive red flames shooting out of my bottom side.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:13 PM

      So these pets aren't anything besides eye candy? Can they be a meat shield for me? Can a dress my pets up in silly outfits like a clown? Can a have a full grown brontodon as a pet ? How about an ewok?

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:13 PM

      I feel like a kid in a candy store.... if you know the store was filled with crazy things and maybe something that had laser beam eyes.

      *is happy*

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:18 PM

        Kinda gives new meaning to common candy selections. "Jolly Rancher". "Atomic Fireballs." "Tear Jerkers." Et cetera.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:19 PM

          ...This gives me some awesome ideas for new ability names... =O

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:31 PM

        :o you mean your candy store didnt have pets with laser eyes!!! you missed out sir you missed out

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 3:28 PM

          I guess I've been going to the boring candy stores.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:14 PM

      I'm not excited by pets at all. Forget the distractions, it should be guns vs aliens.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:16 PM

      Will these pets do anything in combat? I hope not. What will despawning someones pet do?

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        September 19, 2011 1:41 PM

        It has been stated as of right now they are non-combat pets but that may change if they can find a fun balance. Its all up to us in the community to tell them what we want and how fun the said wanting is enough

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          September 19, 2011 1:48 PM

          I'd say small buffs would be fine ala Age of Conan pets. Of course in AoC the pets can be as much of a hindrance as they are a help though as they make hiding from other players who are hunting you extremely difficult.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:20 PM

      I don't mind pets in the game as long (as usual with most of my opinions) as it's done right.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:25 PM

        Curious, what in your opinion is doing it right?

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:21 PM

      something I would spend my money on.

      Any news on how long pets last? Do you buy one for 10 bucks wich lasts forever? or one for 3 bucks that expires after 3 months so you have to use real life money to revive it?

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        September 19, 2011 1:23 PM

        Oh god, I hope it's pay to keep. Absolutely hate when companies try to squeeze money out of people by making the aesthetics only temporary. Even worse when they try doing it for weaponry (looking at you BF:H and other crappy "free" shooters).

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:25 PM

          I don't think that is Red5's style. Im pretty sure they play for keepsies.

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            September 19, 2011 1:26 PM

            *nods* I think so too. Just stating my absolute disdain of when companies do that.

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              September 19, 2011 1:28 PM

              I dont think i've ever seen a game that does that honestly. I mean, there are XP boosts and IP boosts in League, but you pretty much pay for everything else to keep, and the boosts is pretty much laid out for you.

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                September 19, 2011 1:30 PM

                Lucky you. I suggest never playing Battle Field: Heroes/F2P or Combat Arms. They do exactly what I'm talking about, put both weapons and aesthetic looks on renting unless you fork over something like $10-$15 just to keep it. It's completely ridiculous.

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                  September 19, 2011 1:40 PM

                  $10-$15 for permanent weapons is chump change compared to some of the permanent weapons in APB: Reloaded. At one point I know they wanted $50.00 for one of their permanent weapons.

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                    September 19, 2011 1:42 PM

                    *shudders* That's really freaking stupid...

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 1:43 PM

                    Eve wanted 80 dollars for a monacle that you put on your avatar, and does nothing in game other than occupy that picture.

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                      September 19, 2011 1:45 PM

                      That's even more stupid!

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                        September 19, 2011 1:45 PM

                        Oh yeah. They caught a ton of backlash for that one. And they deserved it.

                        • reply
                          September 19, 2011 1:50 PM

                          There's nothing wrong with that idea in theory, though. Nobody's "squeezing" money out of you if you don't have to buy it! But if you do feel like giving the company $80 for a monocle, what's the problem? Jealousy?

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 1:55 PM

                            I have to say the monocle's are pretty fucking badass. Also, a 80$ vanity item is mostly one put up as a joke/very exclusive one. Not to be taken very seriously.

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 1:56 PM

                            Of course jealousy... No really though... I dont mind supporting a company for little stuff, but 80$ is insane. I believe in Supply and Demand, and the sad part about it... some people will buy that because they can. There is no demand... just "eh, I got 80 bucks burning a hole in my pocket"

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                          September 19, 2011 2:12 PM

                          The way a friend who used to play Eve described it, a lot of it had to do with the fact that the update that introduced the paid-for content didn't change anything else in game.
                          Most notably, he suggested, was a rather disliked change to how people could hold space. The previous change had apparently broken it, and it was hoped that the monocle update was going to fix major issues and add some new gameplay, as all the previous updates had.

                          I guess the moral of the story is: make sure you give the free people something to do along with the paid stuff. It'll keep everyone happy.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:22 PM

      Really lookin foreward to playing this game!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:26 PM

      Make sure to read and watch the full interview: http://www.shacknews.com/article/70238/firefall-interview-with-red-5-boss-mark-kern

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      September 19, 2011 1:28 PM

      I need these pets to auto-taunt people for me when I am too busy killing their buddies to stop and do so myself. If I drop someone and my pet walks over to them and gives them a Unreal Tournament 2004-esque "My House!" or "Pwnage!" or "Anyone else want some!?" or something equally trash-talking, you got yourself a sale.

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        September 19, 2011 1:30 PM

        If the pet ran over to whoever you just took out to lift a leg that would be hilarious!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:30 PM

      Hmm a cool feature to add to the pets would be voice recognition so you just say "stay" and the pet stops or "attack" and it humps the leg/headbutts/randomness (since it cannot attack with bullets) of what ever your pointing at with your cursor.

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      September 19, 2011 1:30 PM

      well.. as long, as the pets dont give combat-critical buffs i can agree to the shoot-the-crap-out-of-those-irritating-critters - part ^^.
      one question: in this short recruitment-video at 0:14, hovering next to the gliding player
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqqGaq4jX9Y
      is that one of the pets ?

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:38 PM

        Hmm that could be one of the pet place holders because they wouldnt tell us what it is or could be! When we tried to grill them about it before

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:35 PM

      Seeing as Red5 is always looking for input from the community:
      What kind of pet would you like to see most? Be as vague or specific as you like :)
      I'd love to see either a League of Legends reference and/or Minecraft related pets :D I can just see that little creeper-ish-looking-thing following me around now, going TSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS... BOOM! when it gets shot xD

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:39 PM

        Well since we are getting a merch pet from penny arcade I think they are gonna be a couple of cross over pets or atleast hope they do

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:40 PM

        Considering the setting and genre, I would personally like to see mechanical pets that compliment the various battleframes in appearance, since the battleframes are such a large part of character progression in Firefall. Like I said before the first thing that came to mind was the "mags" from Phantasy Star Online... would love to see little robotic companions floating a little bit behind my character(s). Even bigger draw-to-buy if they are interactive or responsive to extrenal events "Fist pumping mini-frames ftw?)

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        September 19, 2011 1:41 PM

        Definitely want a mini-Aranha.
        Small flying saucer with huge eyes on top of it.
        Loudmouthed drones and mini-bots.
        Tiny horde of robots and follow around bumping into each other.
        Robot teddy bear.
        Mecha-turtle with titanium shell.
        ...Maybe will-o-wisp type things?

        That's all I got right now.

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          September 19, 2011 1:44 PM

          I'd like them to add some stuff from other games too, if they can get some liscencing. I'd like to see some Tyranids, or Necron Scarabs from Warhammer 40k. I'd love to see a weapon drone that actually fired at other players/pets, and even if it did no damage, that would be really cool.

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            September 19, 2011 1:47 PM

            I would love to see a hamburgler pet who steals all the items from the ground.

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      September 19, 2011 1:43 PM

      for those that want the slight bonuses for having pets...maybe shooting a pet will steal the bonus?

      but i think the majority want it to be purely aesthetic...anyhow, if pets are likely to be PvE only, and there's currently no open world PvP, there'd be no real retaliation if someone walked up and shot my pet, right?

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:47 PM

      Personally I'm hoping for some type of wolf even if its a mechanical one. Pets in a FPS is going to be something previously unseen and will be something to see. After all you may not see the Recon hiding in wait but if you see his pet... Whoops :D

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:48 PM

        ... I just envisioned the robo-wolves from the Strider games. Awesome.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:47 PM

      Interesting idea...as far as a cosmetic appeal I prolly would bother, but if it had a use (scouting, i.e. could use it's vision) then my ears would perk up a bit more...

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:49 PM

      o.O'
      A...hamster with a pet?
      o.o'
      Le gasp the contradiction!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:49 PM

      I'm sorry, pet-likers. I don't like the idea. In my book there's something... off in little creatures following futuristic super-soldiers, or super-soldiers keeping pets. And robots are kind of engineer's specialty. But as long as they give no advantages and are therefore truly optional, I guess I don't have any right to complain. Don't hate me, people. :(

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:51 PM

        Its a valid point but I think there is enough humour in the game to allow for some silly things here and there. As some of the death cries yell Mommy and stuff

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:57 PM

        I agree with you, actually. Even though the game is very stylized, I was expecting a little less whimsy. I hope they won't be too distracting.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:51 PM

      Everyone who has issues w/ pets needs to

      A. Get off the internet
      B. Play Phantasy Star Online

      every character had a pet
      Get over it

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:52 PM

        Why all the rage its a valid point as some people worry its going to get really kiddie up in here

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          September 19, 2011 1:55 PM

          I sincerely doubt that is going to happen. The game is eSport. The setting is gritty, post-tragedy. The community is ready to blow the nads off of their opponent's faces. And Phobos is too terrifying to let Firefall get "kiddie'd up". (Im mean seriously, have you seen his avatar?)

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 1:58 PM

            He does have one epic beard and the hat of the accord but still. People do have concerns I dont because I personally love pets

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 2:00 PM

            I agree, this game is less fluffy pink ponies and more rabid melding wolves. That's probably not an issue. You get all of the violence you want but they still cut it with humor.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 2:17 PM

              yes i agre that they disinde the game to be rabid melding wolves but did u have a look of the firefall commuety about hafe of them are fluffy pink ponies lovers. with will turn out they there will probly be a ponie pet with is where i will be very happy that we can kill pets XD

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 2:35 PM

                Rofl hahaha its true omg i'm so gonna shoot a ponny if its in the game xD

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 2:00 PM

        To be fair, Mags in PSO aren't pets. They never run around independent of your character, nor do they affect gameplay in any way besides looks and stats.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 2:02 PM

          What mag you had an how you raised it dictated what photon blasts that your character had. They did affect gameplay in a very serious manner to PSO powergamers.

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 2:03 PM

            I miss that game... Lesigh.

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 2:03 PM

            Yes, but in the context of comparing it to the pets described in this article, they are very very different.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 2:05 PM

              Yes, pets are not like mags at all.

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              September 19, 2011 2:08 PM

              Also in context, Mark has said they are very excited about their pet system and excited about what they could do in the future with their pets. And seeing as he is going to be reading this thread, this sort of feedback and argument is valuable input for him. Someone saying "PSO mags" could be a spark of inspiration that leads to something in the future.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 2:31 PM

        If Firefall would have pets like Phantasy Star Online and they work the same i would hand over all my money to Red5 :D

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:52 PM

      Xav, safeguard your website! Because Pets are in Firefall - no kidding. Awesome!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:52 PM

      viral explosion!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:54 PM

      well i am not sure i like the idea of pet. i am wondering how it will fit the lore and how exaculy will u get them (ingame cash shop or events/promosions)
      also what will the pets do?

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 1:57 PM

        It could fit the lore by having aranhas fighting pits and stuff the people use for fun when the power goes out. Plus forcing the animals which are destroying your land to fight for your amusement. Aka bear fighting rings and such like that

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 1:59 PM

          Could even be that we genetically created these small versions of the Arhanas to be our friends. We added dog genes to them to make them loyal too, heh.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:54 PM

      I humbly request a mini keg that rolls behind me called "Homebrew".

      Make it happens Mark :p

      I really loved the concept of being able to kill someone else's pet, because some pets can be really annoying after a while, or if you want to get rid of your friends pet that he flaunts because it is rare :p.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 2:01 PM

        They could also make a little martini servring robot, and call him Wiki Whacker-bot.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 2:01 PM

        This would be an awesome idea for a pet especially if the keg explodes when it despawns

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 2:02 PM

        Oh, they should also make a Stellar Pony Pet, and a Brood Pet.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 2:35 PM

        me too me too!! i want a mini keg! so i can have a drink while i am in the field

      • reply
        September 20, 2011 12:39 AM

        Beer is a theme that will make it into Firefall somehow...we already have Tiki bars in the game.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 1:55 PM

      Please give no benefit to having pets, just asthetic and funny purposes. The reason being I think it would be kinda unimmerssive to have a bunch of soldiers running around with little pets right by them. Much like the swtor pet system is kinda bleh to me. I just dont like the idea of pets being a must be on at all times thing.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 2:03 PM

      Is it wrong to add the cinematic drones AkA pets into PVP when they only will let us say have 600hp and die in 2 shots while dealing like 40 damage per second?

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 2:10 PM

      I'm looking forward to seeing interesting uses for pets. The (only announced) Merch pet appears to be strictly vanity and it was unclear if this is the extent of the pet system or if there are plans to make them really "battle" pets. If they are I think it opens up interesting new customization ideas, and for some classes will make for some new strategies to mix things up. At first I was a little worried it would cut into the "skill-based" nature of the game, but I'm warming up to it. Totally willing to be proved wrong here :)
      ... Plus: come on, nuking pets of jerkbags? Every time they respawn? Until they cry and log off? Yesplz.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 2:26 PM

        the way i see it it's a double edged sword. yes u can kill a jerkbages pet but there's going to probably be more jerkbages killing people pet for absolutely no resion and make people stop playing firefall

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 2:50 PM

          I don't think noone is going to leave the game because someone just disabled his pet for a while...maybe there will even be some kind of protection so your pet can't be disabled more than X times in Y hours.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 2:19 PM

      Pretty cool. It's nice to hear you guys decided to add in some pets. And being able to shoot at another players pet sounds like a lot of fun. I always enjoyed having small pets in many of the MMO games I have played, It gives people something to talk about when they just hang around.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 2:26 PM

      One idea I always liked is letting pets have their own separate inventory. This lets you stash away some extra items while out in the field and makes trading between characters a lot less bothersome(though with firefall you only really need one character).

      I would prefer if pets were PVE to keep the PVP as balanced and simple as possible. It would certainly be neat if pets had their own little arena though (heck you could probably make it so the player controls the pet while it's in the arena, essentially adding another layer of PVP, while not as competitive or serious of course)

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 2:28 PM

        Pack mules are always awesome to have just incase

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 2:31 PM

      The good news) I like it

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      September 19, 2011 2:33 PM

      A pet system in a shooter? Wow! This looks very nice.
      I have a few questions though:
      1. Will we be able to pick different pets to suit our playstyle? (E.G A fast pet that's weak or a powerful pet that acts more like a shield, etc)
      2. Mark mentioned purchasing an item to despawn pets. Is that a premium item, or will we be able to buy it using hard earned in-game cash?
      3. Pets could cause an issue in regards to the game's balance, should they be an actual unit capable of attacking/defending in battle. When will we be able to test out pets and tell red 5 our opinions about them?

      Keep it up R5!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 2:46 PM

      I hope those pets are just for customisation and for dealing damage. =/

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      September 19, 2011 2:54 PM

      Firefall is now appearing on the right rail in the news section as one of the Shack Community's "Top Games."

      http://chattypics.com/files/firefallPNG_rlc5s42oa7.png

      Congrats, Red 5 Studios.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:06 PM

      Damn, hope I get that pet, hope all my classes on Wednesday among.... other things.... wont interfere with anything.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:14 PM

      Cannot WAIT FOR PETS! and for my new computer to come in so I can actually use my beta key xD

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:15 PM

      Wow this is an amazing idea! Pets FTW!

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 3:17 PM

        Its pretty cool that you can also kill the pet of the enemy

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:17 PM

      I don't really like pets. I want to focus more on the actual combat.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:19 PM

      wait. What? Now we have pets?! We can de-spawn others pets?! OMG. How much more awesomer can Firefall get? Red 5 rocks!!!!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:20 PM

      woooo pets!!!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:22 PM

      Here is a question I didnt think about before... If lets say... I have that Pet shooting ammo equipped. Would the Pet actually be able to block an shot that would have normally hit the player?

      I know they will likely be positioned in a way so that it would be completely minimal, but I think it might be dangerous to have this sort of shield up, particularly if it was capable of blocking sniper rounds.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 3:29 PM

        Well, I think they said that they don't plan to have them in pvp matches, but if people like the idea they might try it out. That being said, pets can be paper for all intents and purposes so bullets go right through them. And if you can load special ammo types with gun modifiers, I doubt that's the one you want loaded in a pvp map. In general I see this as being a non issue.

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          September 19, 2011 3:31 PM

          They have also said that... PvP world fighting isnt out... yet. Also, I dont think i'd want to load an ammo that ONLY did shooting pets, when I could have them bouncing around walls, or off of floors and such.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:30 PM

      This Pet system is something i havent seen in a FPS title.

      • reply
        September 20, 2011 6:14 AM

        Actually, that's what I have not seen in the FPS )

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:32 PM

      More invites out wednesday?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!! Woohooo!

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 3:35 PM

        Thats not what was said. The idea is to allow players to in the future invite players to the game, not the beta. The website Crystitechallenge.com I think it is, will be out for some time after the release of the game.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 8:50 PM

          Oh, okay that makes more sense. I got excited when I heard invites and wednesday

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:44 PM

      So, they're going to make annoying pets like KC from WoW and then give players the option to execute them with special store bought ammunition?

      Sounds like a nag banner on a website... we all love those!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:46 PM

      This sounds like it will be a lot of fun! Although I know some jerk with a fat wallet will buy a lot of pet despawning ammo and run around shooting every pet in sight.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:47 PM

      Can we name our pets? that would be awesome!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:48 PM

      Holy fucking shills and viral ad campaign batman! Check out how many posts most of these users have.

      Most have two posts, their first post was made on 9/11-12 and then posted again here today on 9/19. Seriously.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 3:50 PM

        If they have more then two posts, they're posting on each other in the Firefall articles exclusively.

        Wow I just lost all respect for this game.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 3:50 PM

        I'd be more interested in other games, if they weren't Sequals, or Rehashed nonesense. Plus, I have a sorta thing against Shacknews so I have always avoided coming here. They attacked Urban dead en masse and took down Caiger... = (

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 3:52 PM

          You're one of them and I don't even know WTF that means. Are these guys bots?

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 4:06 PM

            No bots that I know of. I've had conversations with a lot of these guys in the forums. Im just here because it's the newest thing that has picked up and some of the more lively conversation about the new information recieved.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 4:03 PM

          you're SO full of shit man.

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 4:06 PM

            If you say so bro.

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 4:09 PM

            I agree.... they didn't even look to see what sort of traffic Shacknews gets before bombing their frontpage with comments.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 4:14 PM

              I will be honest with you. The CEO made a post that directed the community here, and the community is responding. Just the people who are eager for any information they can get about this game.

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 4:23 PM

                No, the forums on the Firefall website have less then 100 posts per thread... with only a couple reaching above that. There was 1200 posts on the Firefall preview.

                This is a viral ad campaign by hired shills.

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 4:27 PM

                  Look closer. There are a LOT of topics that have the same ideas, and they are spread out throughout various forums. Some of them may even be in forums you don't have access too actually.

                  Though to be fair, I wish I worked for them. I did actulaly apply but I dont think that I could get in given my backround.

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                    September 19, 2011 4:40 PM

                    lol look at all those answers. funnay.

                    • reply
                      September 19, 2011 4:45 PM

                      Look at all these responses that add more comments... which make me respond, adding even MORE comments.

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 6:47 PM

                  Funny you should say that, the thread on the Firefall forums that TheJayde is referring to just got its 1014th post about five hours ago.

                  Also, if I was hired to post about Firefall, I did not know about it. It would be pretty damn cool if they just started sending me checks though.

                • reply
                  September 20, 2011 4:56 AM

                  Wow, you're superstitious. It's just called the power of the community. We want to help get the game publicity and commenting these kind of articles is a great way to do it.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 4:31 PM

          the Shacknews horde in Urban Dead was awesome, though - as a fan of MMO gaming that's the sort of thing you should dig, right?

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 4:45 PM

            I was on the other side. And while I guess it was cool-ish... It was just a Zerg Tactic. it was kind of exploiting the games weaknesses. Caiger would have stood FOREVER!!!!!.... okay probablly not, but still I think we could have even taken you Shacknews players if you all didn't hit the doors all at the same time and swarm in. We couldn't even re-cade the doors because they were all down in less than three seconds. Also lag.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 4:53 PM

              the only claim you can really make is that zombies can't organize, but in that game, they clearly could. that's sort of like complaining if one faction in an MMO is overpowered because they have a well run guild - that's life. you guys could have formed up and made an IRC channel or something and devoted copious amounts of time to figuring out a counter strategy and made it into the proverbial Urban Dead hall of fame, but you didn't!

              and lag is the lamest excuse ever. >:(

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 4:58 PM

                Actually, Caiger mall did make it into the hall of fame there for several tactics against the normal hordes. The tactics had nothing to do with Shacknews' Victory. Humans could not defend against 700 Zombies all moving at the same time and using the Zerg Tactic. Humans didnt have the luxury of just being around when the zombies attacked. They had to watch 24/7, and you can't do that.

                Actually the thing about lag was... with 900 players all on the server at the same time, You couldn't actually respond well enough. By the time you noticed the cades were falling, you would try to recade, and by the time the server was done processing yours and the other 900 players, there was 400 zombies in the room, gnawing on your arm.

                I think the Caiger Mall Survivors held out pretty damn well against Shacknews given the tactics they were using.

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 5:01 PM

                  you aren't getting what i'm saying: if a force as large and as organized as Shacknews had decided to become human and be at the caiger mall, they could have "zerg rushed" zombies and turned them human/killed them/etc. - you guys just didn't do that.

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 5:05 PM

                    But the problem with that, you only lose 5 or 10 AP on standing up, which doesn't actually hurt Zombies. If a zombie killed a human, we would have to spend like 30 AP to get them up. Assaulting the Zombies only droped thier AP by 20%, but cost the humans 50% of thier AP points. We had to be much more careful about how we used our AP.

                    Just to combat revive you guys, we would have to spend 1 point getting out, 4 points to walk back into the mall, but not before 1 point to make sure you didn't have brain rot with the Extractor, and then 10 points to rez you. That was the most efficient way to put a Zombie down outside the mall, and it took us way more points than it does for you guys to just stand back up and go at it.

                    • reply
                      September 19, 2011 5:08 PM

                      ah, so you should be complaining to the developers, not us.

                      it's really not that classy to come here and essentially say we "won" through cheap tactics when those were the tactics in place from the game's makers. that's like when some guy in LoL tells me i'm winning because i am playing an easy character and he's not.

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 5:13 PM

                        I bet you play Ashe.

                        • reply
                          September 19, 2011 5:14 PM

                          she's awesome but i don't play her.

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 5:24 PM

                            Miss Fortune or Janna then... although that's from purely a overpowered perspective...

                            Character wise you seem more like the assassin type...

                            • reply
                              September 19, 2011 5:27 PM

                              Wut? MF and Janna OP? That's ... that's... hilarious.

                            • reply
                              September 19, 2011 5:29 PM

                              actually i play Cho, and then Tristana. i'm currently learning Annie and have once played Miss Fortune and am going to purchase her.

                              the instance i was talking about was against Gangplank, though. but again: everyone has a different opinion of characters.

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 5:16 PM

                        Well I did originally say that it was taking advantage of the games mechanics. People do that. In LoL people are playing Skarner right now because of the stupid Flash/Cleanse Bug, or when they exploted the bug where Annie would multiple cast her spells.

                        Exploiting the flaws of a game... is a little underhanded. It is not only at the fault of the people who programmed the game, but on those who are exploiting as well.

                        • reply
                          September 19, 2011 5:18 PM

                          you said "exploiting the games weaknesses" which strongly implies that we are not good gamers/cheating/something negative. doing research and working together and figuring out the best way to use game mechanics to favor yourself *is* part of gaming. we didn't exploit: we just planned and gamed well.

                          circling back to your point about the human disadvantages, again, if we flipped roles and shacknews decided to go human, you can be damned sure our strategies would work with those weaknesses and strengths. it seems you just didn't want to do that.

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 5:22 PM

                            Well, you probably would have defended Caiger no problem. The Zombie to Human Ratio was pretty even before you guys showed up, and under the same circumstances, tipping the scales in any direction would have been succesful.

                            The Mall Tours that were going around were already destroying every other Mall but Caiger. Zombies already had the upper hand (slightly).

                            • reply
                              September 19, 2011 5:31 PM

                              this keeps boiling down to you just being upset that we were organized whereas you never were. i still don't get your point. and i also don't understand how you think you are doing the game Firefall any favors by coming in here and then saying we win by exploits. great, now i've negatively associated that game with you.

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 5:35 PM

                                Im not saying that Shack ALWAYS wins by exploits, but the one example that I have that references to Shack doing it once, and yes... I'm still a little butthurt about it. *sniffle*
                                As for doing Firefall favors... Psh... Im not overly concerned. I'm sure it will do fine with or without me.

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 5:38 PM

                                  i'm just saying that if you came here based on the CEO's chatter, you are not doing him a favor.

                                  also, my main point was that it wasn't an exploit, and that you are being one of "those gamers" that claims "lag" or "exploit" just because you are sad you lost.

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 5:38 PM

                                also - If you go look back, Caiger was actually incredibly organized given the games type. It's why they were able to hold of two previous sieges.

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 5:39 PM

                                  true - they were. it was a fun challenge. but we beat you!

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 5:41 PM

                                    Yes... yes you did.

                                    Maybe Shacknews should come back en mass to DEFEND Caiger now. They added a rule to the game that makes survivors just... have a hard time to survive. If there are more than two zeds in a room, barricading is much much harder. The survivors are on the run these days.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 4:55 PM

              also as a side note, if you don't like our tactics the last thing you want to do is come here and get us all excited about the game you are looking forward to. if we all start playing firefall, we will do this again, and you will hate us.

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 5:00 PM

                Eh, the stakes are different with Firefall. Id love for Shacknews to come in and pwn my face in the 5v5 matches. Then I could respect the individual skill. Though I will admit your guys skill at getting people together is pretty legendary. I've seen better in Warrior Nation, and they were douches. At least The Shacknews team was cool about thier victory at Caiger.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 10:13 PM

              [deleted]

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 11:15 PM

            There I was, outside the mall...

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 5:43 PM

          are you serious, you're mad at a website because they beat you on a fucking web game?

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 5:45 PM

            No, I'm not mad at them. I hold no grudge... It just never made me want to come here. I actually almost did get into the community here because of the conversations I had after the Siege at Caiger mall with people. I was on my way to joining this community but then I had to be out of state for three months, and stopped all gaming. Didnt have interenet access and kinda stopped playing urbandead.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 3:52 PM

        Resistance is futile.

        Mustaches will reign supreme!

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 3:54 PM

          No, the only articles around here that get 300 posts are ones concerning WoW and CoD. Firefall has been getting about 20 posts per article up till this started. Now they're generating 300 of users who solely have posted on two articles?

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 4:04 PM

        Jealous?

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 4:08 PM

          No, Shacknews doesn't even generate this much hype on well known games on a good day, let alone a random one that was featured at PAX.

          This looks like a very poorly executed viral ad campaign that's using bots from the looks of it.

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 4:10 PM

            Poorly done? Or awesomely done?

            Also... no bots.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 4:55 PM

              I think Bensam123 is implying he's a bot, not all the fans discussing the game here.
              I mean, calling other people a bot is exactly the thing a bot would say, right? Wait, does that mean I'm a bot too?
              *explodes*

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 5:08 PM

                You're one of them.

                Replying with something non-sensical is a good sign of a bot. Like what smookyolo replied with or a couple of the comments that started off this tangent.

                A lot of the comments in the thread itself are stereotypical praise for the idea itself. Hell WoW threads don't even get this much comments or praise. This reeks heavily of paid shills.

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 5:16 PM

                  in all honesty, from what i know of the studio, they are smarter than to pay such shitty shills if that's what they were aiming for. in this day and age, even an idiot knows that paying for shills is a great way to make sure the hardcore community hates you and this studio knows they need the hardcore. it's very likely that these are all legit fans, particularly since the quality is quite varied. that's the one thing a studio can't control when they ask people to flood a place: quality.

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 5:22 PM

                    Viral ad campaigns work because they get attention they wouldn't otherwise have gotten, even if it alienates some people.

                    Look at other articles on here and compare the amount of responses they get, then compare it to this article and the preview for Firefall. Most of the users in here have only posted in these two specific posts. Articles and news posts before 9/11 did not get any sort of commenting and only have about 40 posts a piece.

                    This could most definitely correlate to a contract start date.

                    This sort of rabid 'fandom' is only seen in extremely large communities, such as wow, Firefall does not have that many fans backing it. BF3, which is purportedly going to be a much bigger game the Firefall and has quite a bit more fans and spotlight, only averages about 50-60 posts per news release.

                    I never expected this from this studio either, but look at the comments, posters, and trends... this is not normal.

                    • reply
                      September 19, 2011 5:24 PM

                      The official Firefall forums has multiple threads created by the CEO asking people to come here and post. That's not the same as paid shills.

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 5:29 PM

                        I should mention I'm not saying that makes it A-OK necessarily, just that it's not the same thing

                        • reply
                          September 19, 2011 5:39 PM

                          This is true, they would no longer be paid, but still would be shills.

                          This could still qualify as viral marketing, although using fans...

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 5:43 PM

                            Doesn't that make it better though? People who are excited about the game, and they want the game to succeed because they dont want to be playing in a desolate wasteland?

                            With all the other games ou there right now... GW2, Diablo2, SC:HotS, Swotor, etc etc etc coming out right now... I want this game to do well so that when I devote time to it, It wont be the same thing that happened to Warhammer Online, which isn't a bad game, but just couldnt compete with everything else out there.

                            • reply
                              September 19, 2011 5:48 PM

                              Better, but forum raids are generally considered frowned-upon behavior.

                              If the CEO had made posts on the forums asking people to go over to reddit and upvote the story about the interview, Reddit would discover the attempt to game the system and would remove the link and (I believe) ban all links to their website in the future, because it's something that's not allowed over there.

                              This thing is absolutely no different: He has asked you all to come here to game Shacknews's "TOP GAMES" feature on the front page. It's worked of course, but the question remains if that should be considered ethical behavior. On a lot of sites it would not be.

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 5:55 PM

                                Fair points. Though, what is considered ethical varies wildly. Which is why America has such a hard time getting our stuff together when it comes to politics. If the system is able to be manipulated (exploited if you will) then doing something like this may both be the right move, and ethically questionable. If it's not outright ethically wrong, then I can't see it being a reason you wouldnt go look at the game itself. (Note: I learned these lessons partially from Shacknews itself)

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 5:57 PM

                                  oh, i see. you are okay with exploits when they suit you.

                                  my opinion of you is falling rapidly.

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 5:36 PM

                        Considering most of the threads on the FF forums have less then 100 posts that's quite hard to believe.

                        The one asking for comments on the interview has 50 replies on the FF website and here it has 1200...

                        • reply
                          September 19, 2011 5:42 PM

                          Most parent-level posts to articles here end up spawning subthreads with a couple posts in them. It's one of the huge reasons we all like the Shack commenting system so much: It makes it very easy to have quick little conversations. So the total number of replies is not indicative of how many unique users are in the thread.

                          Also, is the one you're talking about the one where he offered free shit for posting? That would explain why lots of lurkers would come out of the woodworks. There's no benefit for them posting in the thread on the official forums so it makes sense that they wouldn't also post over there.

                          Of course, the ironic thing is that offering a free poster or whatever to a random guy for posting here does start to cross the line in to "paying" them to post here.

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 5:44 PM

                            All I'm really saying is that I don't think there's enough evidence to actually believe anyone is a paid shill or a bot or whatever. If you disagree with the Firefall forums doing a forum raid of Shacknews though, that's a different matter and something I'm still on the fence about.

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 5:48 PM

                            Compare this thread and the preview thread to this one from aug 2:

                            http://www.shacknews.com/article/69549/firefall-launches-this-december

                            Half of the comments on the bottom were posted after sept 11. That news post has 58 total comments including those posted after sept 11, with only one big tangent.

                            • reply
                              September 19, 2011 5:49 PM

                              That is really strange; I didn't know about that article

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 5:51 PM

                                Ah ha, you can see why that happened here:
                                http://www.firefallthegame.com/community/threads/shacknews-needs-firefall-comments-help-promote-firefall.9448/page-9#post-322543

                                It's one of the links he posted (on Sep 11) asking people to come comment on.

                                Also, that thread on the official forums has over 1000 posts so the numbers do make sense.

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 5:54 PM

                                  i find it really unfortunate and shameful that they are bribing people to spam comments :(

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 5:57 PM

                                    Bribing? Rewarding? I find it sad that your company has to PAY you for you to do the work that they want you to do. Did I say Pay? I meant bribe... because clearly giving anything for something else, is bribery.

                                    • reply
                                      September 19, 2011 6:00 PM

                                      paying is actually a worse word for you to use - paying fans to accomplish a company's goal isn't even a grey area in the no-no zone: the FTC has explicit rules against it. so if that is indeed what the company is doing with you guys and the FTC found this, they would be in a world of hurt and you would have severely damaged the company you say you love.

                                      • reply
                                        September 19, 2011 6:09 PM

                                        because i have to leave soon, here's an overview of what i'm talking about concerning the FTC: http://www.pcworld.com/article/173169/ftcs_new_rules_for_bloggers_a_quick_guide.html

                                        Chat Rooms, Message Boards and Commenting

                                        Let's say you work at the Apple Store, and, under your own initiative, you start posting messages under online Zune reviews about how much more awesome the iPod Touch is than the Zune HD. If you haven't disclosed that you work for Apple, you've broken the FTC's rules.

                                        Bottom Line: Don't post comments that undercut your company's competitors unless you make it clear who you are. This one is especially important to follow, since the FTC has dealt with this before.

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 5:56 PM

                                  Yeah... which still makes this viral marketing.

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 5:58 PM

                                    yes, it is. and viral marketing isn't inherently bad. the best viral marketing is a positive experience that enriches the company, the people sharing, and the people consuming. this doesn't check all those boxes.

                    • reply
                      September 19, 2011 5:33 PM

                      i make things that can be called viral ad campaigns for a living - in this instance, this would be a campaign to raise awareness for Firefall on Shacknews (which makes sense - we're hardcore and great evangelists). however it seems that this tactic is making people negatively associate the game and the CEO with these actions, which means it was poorly thought out.

                      they could have done this better and invited the shacknews community in instead of bringing people to us - they could have controlled the message to ensure it being received positively.

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 5:42 PM

                        I morer do things in life that make me more qualified to define what a viral ad campaign can be and I disprove of your response.

                        From the looks of it on their forums this was done to push their place ahead of other games in the most anticipated list... which is definitely viral marketing.

                        • reply
                          September 19, 2011 6:17 PM

                          i'm not sure what you mean by "i morer do things in life" - perhaps a typo? regardless, i do this for a living, and perhaps that makes me evil in your eyes - but that's because you are only looking at viral marketing as evil. your definition of what viral marketing is only pertains to BAD viral marketing. there is plenty of GOOD viral marketing out there. for example: the old spice campaign.

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 6:21 PM

                            It was meant to sound retarded, as in anyone can say they have three Ph.Ds in all the relevant topics online.

                            • reply
                              September 19, 2011 6:24 PM

                              oh - so you were trying to insult me? that's a shame, because i wasn't trying to be mean. i run the community and interactive marketing department for a game publishing company, so i actually really do this for a living and i was honestly trying to explain to you good and bad viral marketing - i really hate it that bad marketing and bad social/viral stuff is out there fucking up all the work i do to make good stuff. in my opinion, good campaigns happen and no one says "look at that viral marketing" - they say "look at this badass thing" - and that's how it should be. you are benefiting, as am i.

                  • reply
                    September 20, 2011 1:02 AM

                    You work in the industry...I've always been curious. Do you know if studios actually do thisoften, or even at all? It always struck me as ''okay, this person is an idiot'' the minute someone mentions viral or shills. It just seems so far fetched that a company would actually pay money to send people to obscure gaming sites just to trick maybe 50 or so people into liking game based on someone else's comments.

                    • reply
                      September 20, 2011 1:07 AM

                      Oh, you've pretty much answered my question here several times already..I should read more..

                      So...er..do you like..stuff?

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 5:26 PM

                  Uh... there is a LOT of Hate on the internet for Wow...

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 5:37 PM

                    There is and there is also a rabid following that will raid or die. There are tons of people who bought SC2 simply because the only game they play is WoW and they heard about it there... that worked out pretty well too.

                    • reply
                      September 19, 2011 5:39 PM

                      Fair enough...

                      Still, I think you are underestimating the tight knit community that Firefall is. We are actually a pretty cool community, that I think if you spent some time there, you would have a better understanding of what is happening in these threads.

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 5:42 PM

                        if we wanted to spend time there, we would go there. don't ask us to leave our community to understand you - you guys are the one who came here.

                        you are welcome here, of course, but now you are in a new community.

                        • reply
                          September 19, 2011 5:47 PM

                          I remember somebody just asking the opposite of this. Saying that Firefall should have asked the community of Shacknews over there. This is the perfect counter-point example as to why that sort of thing don't work.

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 5:50 PM

                            i'm confused - if the CEO of Firefall had invited us to join Firefall's beta and your community, that would have been FUCKING AWESOME. that way, i would get to play the game and be part of the game rather than have to talk to you about how you think we exploited another game - all the while not being able to play Firefall, which i was rather looking forward to.

                            • reply
                              September 19, 2011 5:54 PM

                              Stop making sense. All they want is our mouths to say how awesome their game is without any real benefit to us.

                              I agree... they could've done something like hosted a beta key giveaway here on Shacknews... you know like PR stuff...

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 5:56 PM

                                i'm actually very disappointed in the Shacknews crew (sorry Xav, i promise i really do like a lot of what you do) for letting this happen. Xav even posted in two different threads with the same exact comment congratulating the studio for making it to slot #3 of TOP GAMES - which leads me to believe they told them how to get there and perhaps had some sort of agreement.

                                i think that kind of stinks, because rather than making that agreement they could have utilized their own community in conjunction with the Firefall community to make something awesome and positive. instead, we got regular articles (not a bad thing) and a bunch of people flooding in to get posters. why would the studio not want to reward us or evangelize us?

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 5:58 PM

                                  They might not have known too... but it's obvious in the threads on their forums they're attempting to jack the comments to inflate their position on the most anticipated list.

                                  Rewarding someone isn't free.

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 6:29 PM

                                  There was no agreement about anything. The founder of Red 5 is a fan of Shacknews and when we did some coverage awhile back of the game, he encouraged his community to check it out. That turned into a 1000+ comments on Xav's preview. Xav was encouraged by the response and decided to pursue more coverage because obviously people are interested in the game. There's really nothing more to it than that.

                                  Also there's no secret formula to getting in our Top Games list. It's just calculated by page views over the last seven days on a game page or game-related page like an article or video.

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 7:12 PM

                                    thanks for clearing that up - also, i'm excited about the coverage as i was very excited about the game and happy about what i saw at PAX.

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 5:58 PM

                                I dont care if you love or hate the game, but you're making assumptions on what has happened without the full picture, or understanding. You're on one side of the fence without looking over it, instead of just peeking through the knotholes that you can.

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 6:04 PM

                                  i like to do my research so i went to your forum, of which i am a member (i have never posted but i've been there a couple weeks) and read the threads in question to make sure i was informed on the topic.

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 6:09 PM

                                    I actually meant Bensam123. You havent made any comments that I felt were wildly inaccurate, or based on speculation.

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 6:15 PM

                                    Ur a cutie. ;)

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 6:07 PM

                                  [deleted]

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 6:12 PM

                                    I agree... this hurts. I was actually really looking forward to this game (I'm very critical of games mind you), but I don't agree with this sort of action.

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 6:10 PM

                                  If that was the case I wouldn't have went over to the FF forums and looked up the threads you're talking about. Stop trying to put this in a positive light.

                                  There are a lot of other, more positive things, they could've done PR wise to make Shacknewsers interested in their game then artificially inflate a game ranking and explode a frontpage news comments section.

                                  What brought this all to my attention was there was absolutely no meaty comments on this page. While the usual list of comments are sparse, they usually have a couple that spark a nice conversation or debate. These pages are just full of marketing trash: 'omg this game is awesome', 'omg pets', 'omg I want a pony', 'omg where are my sharks with laser eyes', 'awesome game', 'legendary game', 'ur mums gay... oh yeah this is a great game'...

                                  Seriously stuff like that adds nothing positive to a discussion. Anyone can sing praise about a game they have NEVER played simply because they were asked to.

                                  Games now days are marketed so heavily that you can't actually see what the game looks like, so you have to look at the critical points. 'Great game' says absolutely nothing about the actual game... there are advertisements all over TV that tell you that.

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 6:14 PM

                                    Viral marketing digs into one of the last niches to try and get you to buy a product that may have absolutely nothing positive about it... it attempts to undermine the very social interaction between humans.

                                    • reply
                                      September 19, 2011 6:18 PM

                                      i definitely disagree with this. BAD viral marketing does this - not all viral marketing.

                                      are you the kind of person who believes all marketing is inherently evil? because it's not - just the bad stuff.

                                      • reply
                                        September 19, 2011 6:23 PM

                                        No, I don't... but I believe undermining human bonds in order to suck money out of someones pocket book isn't good.

                                        Viral marketing done correctly just sounds like viral marketing that's successful, what it does and changes is still the same.

                                        • reply
                                          September 19, 2011 6:24 PM

                                          It's a free game... they arent sucking money out of anything. They want to show you thier game and hope that you enjoy it enough to give them a bit of money in exchange for something that doesnt actually change gameplay.

                                          • reply
                                            September 19, 2011 6:27 PM

                                            f2p games aren't free.

                                            • reply
                                              September 19, 2011 6:30 PM

                                              not all of them. There are some that pay to play or compete... HOWEVER... this game is free to play. There is nothing you can buy that will make you do things better, maybe more quickly like XP boosts, but not any better at fighting.

                                        • reply
                                          September 19, 2011 6:25 PM

                                          i really don't know where you are coming from in terms of "undermining human bonds" - i think you have had a bad experience or are being hyperbolic because you are being far too dramatic and this is not actually what this kind of marketing is.

                                          if you want to have a rational conversation about it i'm happy to talk to you about it. i really love what i do and try very hard to make valuable content, so if you want to engage in a conversation i'll totally explain anything you have misgivings about. and trust me, i am not a fan of bad marketing whatsoever.

                                          • reply
                                            September 19, 2011 6:34 PM

                                            No, I'm not... I've taken a few classes on marketing, as well, including a consumer psychology course.

                                            What I meant about undermining human bonds is viral marketing attempts to invade your social life in a effort to flood it with a product that may have absolutely nothing to do with you. They attempt to pose as your friend so you credit them as such and think that it's actual human interaction instead of someone trying to sell you a product. They aren't trying to make your life better, be your friend or make your friends happier, they're attempting to get your money. It's advertising.

                                            How many of the people in this comment section do you think will actually stick around if they stop asking them to post on here? How many do you think actually added anything to the conversation Shacknews besides the tangent I started by labeling this as a viral marketing campaign? Do you think this is a beneficial experience for Shacknews or the people here?

                                            How would a 'good' viral marketing campaign be different from this besides people wouldn't notice it's viral marketing at all? I think you're mixing up good and bad with successful and unsuccessful.


                                            Adding to this two people from this thread tracked me back to TR and posted on a thread I made there.

                                            • reply
                                              September 19, 2011 7:07 PM

                                              again, i think you are only talking about bad (and we can also say unsuccessful) marketing campaigns. also, i'd like to say i'm not advocating what the studio did by enticing people to come over here - i don't like that at all.

                                              i gave an example earlier of viral marketing that is awesome: the old spice twitter campaign. that is pretty much the best example you can see in revent years and it did not in any way undermine human bonds or invade someone's social life who did not want to partake in the event.

                                              • reply
                                                September 19, 2011 7:13 PM

                                                How can you both support the urbandead attacks on caiger, and not support this?

                                                • reply
                                                  September 19, 2011 7:16 PM

                                                  i'm not sure how to answer this question because i think you know it already and are just trying to be antagonistic. we've actually gone over these topics.

                                                  urban dead is a video game that we all played.

                                                  viral marketing is a thing that companies do.

                                                  you are a member of a community who has come into this community and appears not to like this community.

                                                  • reply
                                                    September 19, 2011 8:18 PM

                                                    Avoiding a community doesn't mean I hate the community.

                                                    Honestly, I think it's a legitimate argument, and Im not trying to be antagonistic. If you would like, we could talk about it in the Firefall Forums in a private conversation. As to not keep posting here, on this already over expanded thread thingy.

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 6:16 PM

                                    OverloadUT, one of your members actually pointed out that there was a varying degree of postings on this website. Of course it doesnt matter to you, because you're so angry about it that you're determinted to just rip on this as much as possible, whether the information backs you or not. And Im not even saying that the information doesnt back you, but you've made several posts that have an extremely weak premise.

                                    I also do not enjoy the standard with no description that you're talking about. However, in the previous thread that Grummz posted, he was only giving rewards for people who posted decent threads that would get comments. It's in the main part. The one that pointed us here, mirrors the same sentiment, but without a reward. You can't blame him for people who can't think beyond the premise 'great game'. If everyone COULD get beyond that, then everybody would be a game developer and nobody would play games.

                                    • reply
                                      September 19, 2011 6:26 PM

                                      Saying I've made posts with a 'extremely weak premise' simply to state you have a more advantageous position, does not make it so. You actually have to start quoting and pointing out the logical flaws. I'm not just going to take your word for it because you said it first.

                                      The standard with no description? I posted it in a different part of this tangent already.

                                      "Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses or computer viruses. It can be delivered by word of mouth or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet."

                                    • reply
                                      September 19, 2011 6:46 PM

                                      Just stop bombing the site. Thanks.

                            • reply
                              September 23, 2011 9:09 PM

                              [deleted]

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 5:44 PM

                        I was looking forward to Firefall and I know all about tight-knit communities; I was part of Tribes.

                        That doesn't change what just happened here.

                        • reply
                          September 19, 2011 5:49 PM

                          What happened here being; We community invading another community with outpouring of love? Yeah... I guess I can see hating that too...

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 5:51 PM

                            Viral marketing: Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses or computer viruses. It can be delivered by word of mouth or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet.

                            Or so says Wikipedia.

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 5:53 PM

                            as discussed by OverloadUT above, forum/community invasions are often bannable and are frowned upon.

                            • reply
                              September 19, 2011 6:36 PM

                              Sorry you feel that way., Bensam, dahanese. Its not easy for me to be here an answer questions all day on these threads, especially on multiple articles. I think that adds a lot of value to an interview and is a key reason why these threads get long. Because the developer is here answering questions, you are getting a lot more information on the game than any other thread. It's sort of like an interactive article. Most news sites would have to arrange something special for that to happen, but this is just happening on its own and because Red 5 values interfacing directly with customers. If you don't feel that's valuable, you are of course entitled to your opinion, but attacking others on this thread and calling them bots or worse is not really a great way to make your point.

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 6:47 PM

                                [deleted]

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 6:49 PM

                                It's one thing to say "Hey I'll be over at Shacknews answering questions in the article today." THAT is valuable, and good! I really appreciated you doing that today and I thought it was pretty cool. That's something that I'm sure most of our community appreciates.

                                It's 100% different to say "We want to reach the top of the TOP GAMES list on Shacknews, so go comment on these current and old articles to game the system." Even worse is you offering them stuff to help you game the system. As I said above, if you had done that on Reddit, or Digg, you would be banned forever as it's strictly against policy. Shacknews has never had to deal with anything like this before (to my knowledge) so it makes sense that there's no policy in place.

                                It's insulting that in this post you are trying to say that we're getting a lot of traffic "because the developer is here answering questions" when you and I know it is in fact largely due to the fact that you're giving away Firefall posters to everyone who comments here.

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 6:53 PM

                                  Actually, we aren't. We did that the first time. All of these posts here are done without incentive other than support of the game and answering questions. This thread size is now largely due to two or three individuals trolling.

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 6:57 PM

                                    Trolling does not equal having an interest in ones community. Many of us have been reading this site longer then your company was even an idea.

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 7:03 PM

                                    I'm genuinely curious who you are considering to be trolling. You're saying it's the cause of the thread size so you must be referring to the four major contributors to this subthread: me, dahanese, Bensam123, and TheJayde. Which two or three of them have been trolling?

                                    I'm not entirely sure you're using "trolling" correctly at all, because I wouldn't call any one of them trolling. You should be sure of what an insult like that means before using it, especially when referring to potential fans.

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 6:53 PM

                                  I mean, I like your game I really do. As I said before, I was working the PAX booth adjacent to yours and so I got to see your gameplay and trailer a billion times and I even signed up for the beta when I got home.

                                  But this whole "we'll give you stuff if you take part in a forum raid" thing has put a really sour taste in my mouth. :(

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 6:56 PM

                                    Again, we're not doing that now, but I'm sorry you are offended.

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 6:56 PM

                                I understand the idea of instant feedback and liking the idea of figuring out what your fans want... but how does moving fans from your website over here help? All they did was post how awesome the game is and didn't really add anything to the discussion.

                                Most fans don't even offer good feedback either as they're completely enamored with the game and the idea, so no matter what you throw at them they'll eat it up... as can be seen in the comments on here.

                                This is completely putting aside that posts on the FF website basically states that they're trying to raise post levels here to drive up the place on the anticipated game list...

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 7:01 PM

                                hey grummz -

                                i totally understand where you are coming from in terms of interacting with the community and i'm a huge advocate of it. actually, i run a gaming community for a living so you and i see eye-to-eye on that. what i am disappointed by is not the interactivity, but the requests to post comments to make numbers bigger - this doesn't inherently support quality conversation and i posit that asking someone to post anything in order to receive a physical good only opens you up to having inferior quality comments made.

                                i'm a big supporter of firefall and i'm excited for the game, but i think sending community members into another community to post hundreds of comments for the purpose of raising your game on a top 5 list to be a risky endeavor: you could make the community you are entering feel upset, alienated, spammed - a whole number of things. you also risk people posting inferior quality things just for the purpose of making the number bigger and/or getting a physical good like a poster.

                                i completely support you coming back in the future and making an interactive "ask me anything" thread and invite both firefall and shacknews posters - heck, even bring those g4tv.com posters from that video thread you were talking about on the firefall forums. that would be awesome - i would love to see three communities brought together.

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 7:05 PM

                                  Sure. I've done one AMA thread on Reddit awhile ago. I also said I would do it again by request. Feel free to post one on reedit and I'll be happy to answer questions there too.

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 7:08 PM

                                    i don't post frequently on reddit - i thought you were talking about engaging us here, which is what i would love to see. i thought that's what you meant by interactivity, but i understand if you meant only within the already completed confines of your interactions here.

                                    • reply
                                      September 19, 2011 7:12 PM

                                      Do they do interactive stuff on Shack? I'm pretty accessible on a lot of places, including our forums (warning, blatant plug here: www.firefallthegame.com), reedit, twitter, etc.

                                      I try to engage the Shack community by being responsive in the Firefall main chatty thread.

                                      • reply
                                        September 19, 2011 7:18 PM

                                        i'm not an employee here, so that's something you'd have to arrange with them (or do yourself by hanging out, i suppose). but just to be clear, my qualms were with the initial posts where people were coming in just to make the post count bigger, which you urged, and my thought that you could have engaged shacknews in a better way by bringing shacknews posters into the conversation rather than having new people register. if that makes sense - i think i'm reiterating things you appear to already have read, so i don't want to rehash old comments.

                                      • reply
                                        September 19, 2011 7:20 PM

                                        Game question! Will Firefall have a slime ball mob?

                                        • reply
                                          September 19, 2011 7:25 PM

                                          So...interesting story. WoW was never going to have slimes. The team was against it because "slimes can never be cool."

                                          Challenge accepted.

                                          I secretly had Samwise, Blizzard's top art director, draw me a slime concept. I asked him to help me make slimes cool. He came up with that brilliant concept of a slime with the skull embedded it in and all the bits and pieces of loot suspended inside it.

                                          The team took one look and said "Damn...that *is* cool" and then put slimes in the game.

                                          That's why they are there now. True story.

                                          Oh wait...that wasn't your question, was it? :)

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 7:21 PM

                                  I know reading through this giant mass of a thread has left me a little burned. It's cool to have devs come in and talk about their game answer questions and participate in the general community. It's not cool to have a giant mass of spamming to get a game into the top 5. Best way to get the shack interested in a game is what was mentioned earlier inviting a ton of Shackers into the beta and having us play around and participate.

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 7:54 PM

                  Haters gonna hate.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 5:24 PM

              This is what they are talking about. It's pretty obvious, but pretty easy to close the thread as well.

              http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=26729247#item_26729247

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 5:50 PM

                I don't read morning discussion, so I missed that... Interesting though.

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 8:03 PM

                  I love that they are thinking they are going to crash the site with a 500 post topic. It reminds me of when I was a kid.

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 8:10 PM

                    It happened last time with like 400 posts.

                    • reply
                      September 19, 2011 8:14 PM

                      It was most definitely not caused by those 400 posts. The Shack staff does weekly giveaways that generate many more posts than that in a shorter amount of time and the site is just fine, and there are posts frequently that generate that many comments. If the site went down when you were posting before, it was just a coincidence.

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 8:20 PM

                        Not according to your compatriot Bensam123.

                        However, I think i'd rather talk to you about it since you seem more rational about the whole thing. Anyways, yes it was probably not solely us. When we were on here, the whole site went down, and there were more people posting. It was the one that ended up going 1200. The site went down, and we attributed it to us. People do that.

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 8:40 PM

                        [deleted]

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 9:10 PM

                        There was also the day not that long ago where the chatty went nuts and had a multiple post explosion.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 4:20 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 4:27 PM

        Very strange indeed

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 7:56 PM

        I can see why people that look for conspiracies would think something is up, but I'll just tell you what happened in point form, so we can stop arguing and talking about games.

        1) I wrote an article
        2) Red 5 CEO saw article
        3) Red 5 CEO asked his community to support the game by posting here about it
        4) This happened
        5) We were all having fun.
        6) A few people parked their wahhhhhhmbulance on our front lawn

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 8:05 PM

          You have this uncanny knack at being an asshole to your own community.

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 8:13 PM

            Considering how you and a few other posters have been acting, I can easily see why.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 8:16 PM

              This is a serious request: Could you please point to some specific posts by me in this thread that back up your claim? Even this massive subthread has been almost entirely civil debate between a few different users. A couple short exchanges between Bensam123 and TheJayde are probably the worst of the bunch but even those were pretty tame.

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 8:22 PM

                I thought I remained fairly civil = (

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 8:31 PM

                  You have. You are definitely asserting things I disagree with, sometimes greatly, but you haven't really been uncivil and certainly haven't been trolling.

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 8:36 PM

                    Oh, well thank you good sir. I was worried there for a minute.

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 8:35 PM

                When I hear words like 'Asshole' being thrown around and someone accusing other posters of being bots and paid shills, I do not consider that 'civil debate'.

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 8:41 PM

                  Actually... he was defending the Firefall people to those who were accusing us of being bots.

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 8:47 PM

                  My asshole comment was out of line for sure and I apologize.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 8:21 PM

              Actually... I have found Overload to be among the more rational and outspoken members of Shack. I would exclude him from the two or three other members that have a bad opinion of the situation.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 8:47 PM

              I started posting to defend our play in Urban Dead. That's all I wanted to comment on!

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 8:24 PM

            I wasn't even being rude or point that at you. For someone in community development, you have a really short fuse.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 8:29 PM

              The waaambulance comment just seemed a little jerkish. Anyway as I said in the other thread I guess I'm mostly just mad at red5 and it's spilling over.

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 8:32 PM

                Yeah. I meant that as a dig at the people coming in asking what the big deal about Shacknews was... not about anything else.

                Kick back and relax. You're always jumping down my throat, dude! WHERE IS THE FUCKIN' LOVE?! WHERE IS IT??????!!

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 8:36 PM

                  I have some extra in my pants... Interested?

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 8:41 PM

                    See, that's the kind of shit that we expect at Shack. Welcome.

          • reply
            September 20, 2011 1:05 AM

            When your community is Shacknews, what else are you going to be?

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 3:57 PM

      This is one of the few games that i am more excited about the devs than the game. You can tell they are 100% as stoked for firefall as we are and its great to see so much interaction before the game is even out. GO RED 5!!!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 4:15 PM

      Awesome! I hope they have some cool pets like dragons or tigers. But I guess it would make more sense if they were sort of more advanced earth animals.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 4:17 PM

        They could be mechanicle dragons or Tigers. They even have the Engineer Class that could build them.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 4:25 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 4:29 PM

      I miss shack profiles.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 5:19 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 7:20 PM

        they were removed for this thread

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 8:43 PM

        I'll use the opportunity to call the ECO out again. I've seen fairly recent development on the Gamefly rental app for iPhone with expanded functionality for profiles. It seems disingenuous at best to be actively developing and improving them for one portal while saying they're not needed for another.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 6:13 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 6:16 PM

      I feel like I'm the Twisted Pixel booth at PAX inside the Firefall booth...

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 6:16 PM

      I will definitely be trying this. THANK YOU XAV!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 6:20 PM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        September 20, 2011 1:37 AM

        PC only at release, but they have said that they would like to have support for other operating systems at some point in the (possibly distant) future.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 6:43 PM

      this is incredible and it seems like a well executed zerg rush

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 6:50 PM

      Ah, pets. I don't quite understand it, but I can't wait to see it in action! I think the best part about this is that it shows that you're all willing to think outside the box, and try different ideas. This is something that's currently lacking in mmos.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 7:01 PM

        Thanks, we really do like to try out new things.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 6:51 PM

      Soon my pretties so very soon, we shall explode the enemy with gunfire and crystite!

      Good by crappy CoD franchise and your endless looping gameplay at $60 a pop!

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 6:53 PM

      Got to say, after reading Shacknews since the Shugashack days and watching all the changes over the years, this is one of the most depressing things I've seen yet. This blatant shilling which is seemingly supported by the Shacknews "reporters" is just plain sad. I don't care if you change the color scheme, I don't care if the search function doesn't work, but I do care when the integrity of the community is compromised for some unrealized free to play crap.

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 7:04 PM

      Well, it's nice to see the interview and the news on pets, but these zerg rushes are kind of odd. (Yes, I know I am part of it, and its fun to try and decimate the site.) However, I don't really understand the bloody point of it, unless Shacknews happens to be The Source of gaming news, or some sort of other awesome hype measuring mechanic. I didn't even know this site existed until the devs at Red 5 pointed it out, and quite frankly it really doesn't stand out. (Yep, fighting words.)

      I wonder how Red 5 is going about on collecting information on game expectations and the like. Us rabid fanboys are never the most reliable or innovative source of ideas, and I am worried that this pet idea is one of those concepts pulled from a shallow and biased population of said rabid fanboys.

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 7:20 PM

        Dude, you guys are no where near decimating this site.

        This site survived repostpocalypse. It'll survive this.

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 7:26 PM

          [deleted]

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 7:34 PM

            I sincerely hope you're not taking me or anyone else seriously on that. What about the other stuff I wrote?

            Why is Shacknews so great? What makes it so different from other sites that it deserves this weird ass attention?

            This should be getting you angry, or offended at least, if you get what I am implying. >

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 7:36 PM

              Me.

              I post here.

              That's what makes it awesome.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 7:40 PM

              [deleted]

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 7:45 PM

              To be fair, I see that Red 5 asks the same of its community on all sites that write about it.

              To answer your question, this site has been around since 1996 and Grummz (Mark Kern) has been a Shacker for a long time. He likes it here. You don't see what's "special," that's cool. Sometimes people lack the potential to be awesome, but you'll do fine in your life.... I'm sure of it.

              Also, I'm joking. So, please... please place all angry replies directly in the garbage (literally print them and throw them away).

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 7:50 PM

                Heh, still a pretty good jab. That does explain a bit though.

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 7:59 PM

                Hmm, looked around a bit more. If I understand correctly, this used to be the original website for Quake or something around those lines? So is there a long time following of avid team shooters in Shacknews?

              • reply
                September 20, 2011 1:41 AM

                Got to page 396 of my angry replies and my printer broke down. Called HP and they said the model was no longer supported. Thanks a lot.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 9:05 PM


              Its universal love of the cock.

            • reply
              September 20, 2011 12:04 AM

              [deleted]

        • reply
          September 20, 2011 12:37 AM

          But will it have pets?

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 7:34 PM

        Decimating this site? Yeah... I think we'll be okay.

        lulz

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 7:16 PM

      hahahaha no fucking way

    • reply
      September 19, 2011 7:20 PM

      what the shit

      • reply
        September 19, 2011 7:24 PM

        PRE-ORDER CANCELLED!

        • reply
          September 19, 2011 7:27 PM

          Second or third time I've seen something like this... Is pre-ordering free games some kind of Shacknews inside joke or something?

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 7:29 PM

            No. We don't joke around here. He seriously just canceled his preorder.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 7:29 PM

              I pre-ordered it again just so I could cancel it twice, that's how pissed off I am

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 7:30 PM

                Fuck you. I just canceled my preorder cancelation.

          • reply
            September 19, 2011 7:29 PM

            No, acting outraged and cancelling your pre-order over something inconsequential is a Shacknews inside joke.

            • reply
              September 19, 2011 7:33 PM

              Ahh I see, thanks. :)

              I'm pretty new to Shacknews. Originally came here for Firefall stuff, but I like the threading system and I kinda want to stick around and look at other game info if I can find the time.

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 7:35 PM

                What is your opinion on hoverboards?

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 10:22 PM

                  It took way too fucking long for hoverboards to come up. I guess we've been slacking! :)

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 7:37 PM

                It's an awesome site, best community on the net IMO

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 7:57 PM

                How many cocks can you fit in your mouth?

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 8:37 PM

                Do you like slumber parties?

              • reply
                September 19, 2011 8:43 PM

                I... maybe the same...

                Except a like two people... ive found the community to be okay so far. My only concern is that I tend not to follow communities very far unless they are very much into the one game I'm focusing on at any given time. I tend to go head first into games, and my last game was League, and my next game is Firefall.

                Sad to say, the majority of my gaming news comes from Penny Arcade, and other similar websites.

                • reply
                  September 19, 2011 8:47 PM

                  I get all my gaming news from this site, Penny Arcade, and Giant Bomb. You're coming in from a tough spot having to defending the poor posting of those you arrived with. There is an active shack group here for any game that is actively being played. There are regular threads for LoL and HoN. Firefall looks like it could have a good run on the shack, only time will tell.

                  • reply
                    September 19, 2011 8:56 PM

                    Maybe I will look into it a bit more. The forum structure which I think is the "chatty" seems a bit hard to follow. I may be looking at the wrong place, but I find a more traditional forum to be helpful. Maybe there is one that I am yet unaware of, and you could direct me to the right link?

                    • reply
                      September 19, 2011 8:59 PM

                      You're in it now and don't know it! Look for the chatty link at the top.

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 9:00 PM

                        Haha, time for bed.

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 9:04 PM

                        Hrm... maybe I'm just getting a bad impression based on this one thread thing. Because 500 posts seems to really make it difficult for the conversation to be maintained, or followed well.

                    • reply
                      September 19, 2011 9:06 PM

                      [deleted]

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 9:08 PM

                        Question, I've been hitting this thread... a bit... often... so will new posts that I have not seen still come up with the highlighted text? Or is that just a thing that decays over time into the normal colored text?

                        • reply
                          September 19, 2011 9:11 PM

                          No, the whitened posts are only for the last (4?) posts to the thread.

                          The feature you're talking about is one I like very much, which is why I personally wrote a script years ago that adds that functionality (a highlight on posts that are new since your last refresh) to the site. It broke in the redesign but someone else re-implemented it in Chrome Shack:
                          http://adam.hughes.cc/shack/chromeshack/

                          That's only if you're using Chrome. A lot of people access the Shack via entire third party programs like Lamp:
                          http://shackwiki.com/wiki/Lamp
                          or Winchatty:
                          http://winchatty.com/

                          Both of those also have the same "new since last refresh" feature.

                        • reply
                          September 19, 2011 9:16 PM

                          [deleted]

                          • reply
                            September 19, 2011 9:29 PM

                            What does the lightningbolt (or wrench) mean next to your name?

                            • reply
                              September 19, 2011 9:31 PM

                              That means they pay for a premium service that gets some advantages on certain shack network sites. Like being able to download on fileshack without having to wait in line. I think there are a bunch of other partnerships Shacknews has that you benefit from too.

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 9:36 PM

                                ah, thanks.

                              • reply
                                September 19, 2011 9:38 PM

                                I guess I will try looking through the forum now. Get used to it and see if I can't get accustomed.

                                I have put shacknews on my favorates bar so that I might look at it more readily.

                                • reply
                                  September 19, 2011 9:43 PM

                                  Don't forget to change the filters in settings otherwise most of the good stuff doesn't show up.

                                  • reply
                                    September 19, 2011 10:05 PM

                                    Okay... now tell me how... heh. I looked around for those filters, but couldn't fine them. Or are you talking about the filters in the other thread's programs you were talking about? The one for Chrome, or winchatty I believe it was?

                    • reply
                      September 19, 2011 9:07 PM

                      Well, imagine a forum thread on a traditional forum with as many replies as this article has. It would be nearly impossible to read and follow the same number of side discussions and one-on-one back-and-forths. The really cool thing about the chatty engine is the freedom for small comments to exist without disrupting the readability of the overall thread.

                      Someone can post a joke in respnonse to a longer conversation, and 100 people can respond to that specific post with "lol" and "haha" and it won't make the rest of the discussion or other discussions in the thread harder to follow. In a traditional forum those 100 "haha" replies would make it nearly impossible for the thread to recover and get on track.

                      • reply
                        September 19, 2011 9:09 PM

                        Good point actually. In the Firefall forums, if you click a link you've read before, it will just take you back to the same spot you started on. Honestly, I feel a little spoiled with the structure they use. Hell, the LoL forums still don't let you use avatars, and they've been out for... a long time now.

                        • reply
                          September 19, 2011 9:14 PM

                          Yeah, it'll go back to where you were, but if you wanted to quickly review an earlier part of the thread where Bob and Shirley were debating the merits of adding a murloc pet to Firefall, it would be very hard to find. You'd have to pour through a bunch of pages to find it, and when you finally do, each post in the exchange would likely be spliced with other people saying other unrelated things. It's a matter of preference in the end, but I like threaded systems a lot better.

                          Lack of avatars and signatures is a good thing in my book. I hate extra clutter that people just use to put gigantic quotes, images, or their computer specs :P

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                            September 19, 2011 9:29 PM

                            Well, I dont like sigs because they just make posts long, but I like Avatars because you kind of get a feel for who people are, and something visual to assign them to. I know that there are a few pictures in the FF forums that I will just go to because I know them and want to know what they have to say. Then... there are some that I know to avoid because the picture is there. Though, I'm sure that is just a preferential thing. This system seems like it could work out based on the threads branching system, and it keeps things compact without the avatars so...

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            September 19, 2011 7:30 PM

            [deleted]

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            September 19, 2011 7:31 PM

            I dunno wtf these other guys are talking about. I personally just pre-ordered 107 copies.

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      September 19, 2011 7:30 PM

      pets, but show them to me?

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        September 19, 2011 7:33 PM

        On Wednesday you'll see the pet we did with Penny Arcade at www.crystitechallenge.com

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          September 19, 2011 9:31 PM

          I'd like to say thanks to you grummz for making challenges and what not that those of us who work 8-12 hour days can actually participate in (it's hard to get involved in a give-away that only last 3-4 hours if it's during your surgery shift!). Even though it makes me stay up much later than I should I always do my best to catch but up on all the forums I'm watching and at least glance at anything in the DevTracker!

          Love the game (and I haven't even played it yet!) and can't wait to get my next paycheck and build a ballin' PC to run it on max everything! Keep up the good work!

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            September 19, 2011 9:32 PM

            catch back up* ...see I'm up to late :P

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            September 19, 2011 9:50 PM

            Awesome! a 460 card will work great, so will a 560ti if you can go the extra. This is for max settings.

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              September 20, 2011 5:43 AM

              Yup I'm getting a 560 Ti with an i7 2600k, a Sabertooth P67-R3, a small SSD for OS and current games, as well as 12 gigs of RAM and a really comfortable gaming chair! :D

              Do you think I should go with a good cooling card like a Frozr II and manually overclock it, go with a factory overclocked, or just get a normal 560 Ti and not mess with it??

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            September 20, 2011 6:46 AM

            Word. It's nice to see a smart and inclusive form of community participation. Certainly adds to the appeal of this game :)

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          September 20, 2011 9:13 AM

          At moment, it just bounces to your http://www.firefallthegame.com/home website.

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      September 19, 2011 7:34 PM

      Wouldn't play this crap if you payed me, sounds lamed up now, looking forward to borderlands 2 though.

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      September 19, 2011 9:00 PM

      Im not sure if pets are ment for a shooter.. But it is in beta, so I'm cool with implementing it to see how it goes.

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        September 19, 2011 9:03 PM

        Could also be a good way for Red5 to make some money. I don't want this game to turn into like beauty and the beast with all the animated walking candles, brooms, clocks, closets, etc.... It would just become to hecktic for me i guess, so i want them to be a bit realistic.
        I don't think the devs would do that though, just wanted to get that point out. I'm sure lots of people would agree with me. Also, I want to see pets that look cool in this game, because this game is going to be cool. I don't want to see it falling towards the more ridiculous side.

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      September 19, 2011 10:06 PM

      [deleted]

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        September 20, 2011 6:07 AM

        so nothing special)
        and what should happen? ))
        Quiet, peaceful talk))

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      September 19, 2011 11:01 PM

      will pets be just eye candy or have a function as well??

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        September 20, 2011 1:09 AM

        Generally the feeling so far appears to be "keep them out of the e-sports viable areas", even though pets in pvp might be 'interesting'.

        So for starters, I expect these pets which are purely cosmetic not to be allowed in PVP areas.

        In the future, open world PVP is on the plans to be looked at, which might start mixing things up a bit.

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      September 19, 2011 11:11 PM

      Pets, not bad. Let's see some cool ones. Hope to have my own bug pet.

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      September 19, 2011 11:12 PM

      Yay for pets! Firefall is so close, it's so exciting! :D

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      September 19, 2011 11:20 PM

      Pets should be interesting. Cant wait!

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      September 19, 2011 11:41 PM

      Not sure if I want to prance around showing off my pet in the manner of a jerk... or if I want to shoot other people's pets in the manner of a jerk.... Hmmmmm.

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      September 19, 2011 11:56 PM

      can you spawn your pets in the esport pvp matches as well?

      i hope not. or they should at least despawn when you exit your team's spawn area.

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        September 20, 2011 1:11 AM

        Like I replied to imthatguy1234 above, currently pets are planned to not be allowed in 'e-sports' type areas.

        Source: in response to question about pets in combat: "Can you confirm if you were referring to combat or non combat pets in this specific instance?"
        Grummz: "Non-combat. Probably not in eSports maps either....but you never know...we need to play test it and some kinds of pets would be funny in PvP "

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      September 20, 2011 12:06 AM

      [deleted]

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        September 20, 2011 5:06 AM

        Especially the StarCraftish logo and bare-bellied-yet-otherwise-massively-armoured-suit on that lady.

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        September 20, 2011 6:44 AM

        I agree, it's really well done and everything works together to create a look that works. Also, it's a nice change of pace from the typical photo-realistic graphics in shooters these days.

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      September 20, 2011 1:11 AM

      Just posting so I can be a part of history. This stuff is ridiculous.

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      September 20, 2011 1:19 AM

      FIREFALL FIREFALL FIREFALL (am i doing this right?)

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      September 20, 2011 2:31 AM

      I want a bad ass carnivorous mini brontodon !

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      September 20, 2011 7:06 AM

      After reading every single post here, I feel as though my IQ went up and down through the incoherent babble and the well-structured arguments.

      I'm.... going to go lie down. For a couple of days.

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        September 20, 2011 9:11 AM

        You should try drinking Red Bull mixed with Alcohol. It's like the same effect, but the hangover is less detrimental to your sanity.

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      September 20, 2011 7:14 AM

      all i got to say is let the pets COME!!!!!!!!! >:O!!!!!

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      September 20, 2011 11:16 AM

      Hmm pets , Sounds intresting!

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      September 20, 2011 2:45 PM

      As long as pets dont do anything in the Esports area its cool :) I like the idea of pets just not pets for actual combat.

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      October 2, 2011 8:44 AM

      No shoot the hamstur.
      DX

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