Soldiers of Valhalla - nominations and discussion

[dok]

Originally Posted by Tornado

On the subject of glyph testing perhaps you should give IamBatman a shout out. C3G has some experience in custom glyphs. Personally I cannot remember one coming up that was not directly linked to figure design

Well, there are definitely plenty that don't link to a design. Boom Tube, Cosmic Shielding, E-Ray, Experimental Medicine, The Infinity Gems/Gauntlet, etc. There's quite a bit of discussion in some of those, but it's all about making it play the way it should.

Originally Posted by Tornado

during my tenor.

I'll see your tenor and raise you two:

Spoiler Alert!

[Dysole]

Originally Posted by Scytale

Kon-Tar-Na and Executioner 616 have passed United Fanscape review and move forward in the process.

Awesome. Glad to hear it. Thanks for the belated birthday present.

~Dysole, totally certain that's what it was intended as ~_^

[Just_a_Bill]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

I don't remember seeing any blue Marro before.

to review Kon-Tar-Na.

Kind of late to the party, but I also don't see how this sculpt can be a Marro. Neon blue and purple, a clear theme of muscle rather than bone, the flow lines are all wrong. The only thing that really might look Marro to me is the tail.

It would be a shame to have a unit with great gameplay that doesn't pass the visual test for part of the audience; that feels "shoehorned in." I understand that nothing is going to be perfect, but there are degrees of compromise, and there's the opportunity cost as well. Too much compromise can harm the perceived canonicity of VC. I'd hate to see that happen.

[ZBeeblebrox]

Originally Posted by Just_a_Bill

Kind of late to the party, but I also don't see how this sculpt can be a Marro. Neon blue and purple, a clear theme of muscle rather than bone, the flow lines are all wrong. The only thing that really might look Marro to me is the tail.

It would be a shame to have a unit with great gameplay that doesn't pass the visual test for part of the audience; that feels "shoehorned in." I understand that nothing is going to be perfect, but there are degrees of compromise, and there's the opportunity cost as well. Too much compromise can harm the perceived canonicity of VC. I'd hate to see that happen.

Actual figure is less blue that it looks:

Spoiler Alert!

And is same pink color of Marro Gnids:

Spoiler Alert!

[johnny139]

To me they look sort of like... postmodern Marro. Somewhere between the pure organic, bio-engineered Marro from Classic and the ultimately cybernetic Havech.

[Just_a_Bill]

Originally Posted by ZBeeblebrox

Actual figure is less blue that it looks

Still the wrong colors, though; needs a major repainting effort. (And the other aspects are still wrong as well.)

Originally Posted by johnny139

To me they look sort of like... postmodern Marro. Somewhere between the pure organic, bio-engineered Marro from Classic and the ultimately cybernetic Havech.

Now that you've mentioned the Havech, maybe that helps put words to my unease. The Havech don't feel Marro either, and maybe what's bothersome is the potential for a stream of these things over time that ultimate dilute the beauty and uniqueness of what the Marro are. Remember how Star Trek: Enterprise completely upgraded the Gorn, and instead of expanding a cool bit of Trek history really just ended up creating something inconsistent and mostly forgettable? Certain quintessential classic things seem like they shouldn't be messed with, and the Marro feels like one of those things. The Gnids push on the walls but don't break them, whereas the Havech and this pink, fang-faced muscle-monster are punching through the drywall.

Having said that, I'll let this go. Probably the "who cares, close enough" votes will win/have already won and I'm just wasting precious electrons here.

[Taeblewalker]

I disagree about the Havechs. They seem pretty Marro to me. And if you want a Marro figure that really departs from what they're "supposed" to look like, just look at Tul-Bak-Ra.

[superfrog]

Or Wo-Sa-Ga. She was the first Marro that wasn't humanoid. Even Tor-Kul-Na was just a giant Marro. The Marro race is all about genetic modification.

[betawolf36]

While I don't like this figure in general as a marro, I would concede the point that he could easily pass as one. The blue is very similar to that of the groks to me and because we don't have any idea what a grok really is (grok,marro, marrden). I will support this figure's review.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

You know, come to think of it, he actually has a far bit in common with the Groks Sculpturally too (far more than he does with the proper Marro at least). He could certainly work as a Marro that's been engineered to replicate the Groks as Wo-Sa-Ga is engineered to replicate the Vipers.

[Just_a_Bill]

Originally Posted by Taeblewalker

I disagree about the Havechs. They seem pretty Marro to me. And if you want a Marro figure that really departs from what they're "supposed" to look like, just look at Tul-Bak-Ra.

Originally Posted by superfrog

Or Wo-Sa-Ga. She was the first Marro that wasn't humanoid. Even Tor-Kul-Na was just a giant Marro. The Marro race is all about genetic modification.

I think we must be talking about different dimensions of what makes a Marro "look Marro." Nobody said they have to have a particular body shape. Their genetic database probably has a wide diversity of forms and templates, but there is a visual and textural design that they all clearly share. I accepted Wo-Sa-Ga as a perfectly reasonable instance of a vermiform Marro, based on its texture, coloring, flow, and attitude ... none of which are right on the sculpt that's the subject of this debate.

I will agree that Tul-Bak-Ra was a big departure; that sculpt is an abomination against humanity. The jet engines on its back were not too big of a problem (Marro in general seem "born" with metal body parts), but his dainty little underwear-model pose is pretty goofy and man oh man, that lead milkmaid's bonnet — or is it the burlap headsack from the Scarecrow of Oz? — that's a serious contender for the title of biggest What-The-Hell in all of Heroscape. His gameplay's quite nice, though; it's just a shame his sculpt is so face-palmingly ridiculous.

EDIT to catch up with other posts that ninjad me...

Originally Posted by betawolf36

The blue is very similar to that of the groks to me

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

he actually has a far bit in common with the Groks Sculpturally too (far more than he does with the proper Marro at least). He could certainly work as a Marro that's been engineered to replicate the Groks as Wo-Sa-Ga is engineered to replicate the Vipers.

Hmm, good observations there, guys. Can his story be crafted along these lines? If so, that gives me a way to accept the figure.

And some Grok Rider synergy on this guy would be very welcome, for story as well as for gameplay.

[TheAverageFan]

I don't think he looks like a Marro, but luckily nobody cares what I think. I could live with the Wo-Sa-Ga/Grok explanation.

~TAF