Writer's Funk

I think all of us have gone through periods wherein nothing that seems to flow onto paper or into coherent ideas worth pursuing creatively. I've been at that precipice for a while now, going on three weeks by my last guess when I felt solid about something I put together. Which brings us to today's post. My b/f said to me that if I can't get figure this out myself, ask for commentary from my friends/blog readers. How do any of you deal with that frustrating point in writing where nothing seems to make sense or feels creative?

I know too, that mood has a lot to do with the creative aspect, some people do best when angst is heavy upon them, others when they have a completely serene focus. Which brings up a second question - what mood do you see as your most creative? Do you focus yourself to get there or does it have to build up on its own? This inquiring mind would like to know. Thanks in advance.

What a pain!

I stumbled across this a while back, and thinking of how badly I go smacked tonight while finishing a story-arc mission, this came to mind. Enjoy.

The Schmidt Sting Pain Index or The Justin O. Schmidt Pain Index is a scale rating the relative pain caused by different Hymenopteran stings. It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt, an entomologist for whom the index is named. Schmidt has published a number of papers on the subject and claims to have been stung by the majority of stinging Hymenoptera.

His original paper in 1984 was an attempt to systematise and compare the hemolytic properties of insect venoms. The index contained in the paper started from 0 for stings that are completely ineffective against humans, progressed through 2, a familiar pain such as a common bee or wasp sting, and finished at 4 for the most painful stings. In the conclusion, some descriptions of the most painful examples were given, e.g.: "Paraponera clavata stings induced immediate, excruciating pain and numbness to pencil-point pressure, as well as trembling in the form of a totally uncontrollable urge to shake the affected part."

Subsequently, Schmidt has refined his scale, culminating in a paper published in 1990 which classifies the stings of 78 species and 41 genera of Hymenoptera. Notably, Schmidt described some of the experiences in vivid and colorful detail:

• 1.0 Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.
• 1.2 Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch.
• 1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek.
• 2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door.
• 2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine WC Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.
• 2.x Honey bee and European hornet: Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin.
• 3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.
• 3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of Hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.
• 4.0 Pepsis wasp: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath (if you get stung by one you might as well lie down and scream).
• 4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail in your heel.

"Customizing" City of Heroes/Villains - and Proportional villains

One of the things I like about CoX are the detailed storylines. I love writing and reading stories, and it occurred to me, and probably to a bunch of others, that a little creative activity on one's part could customize a story arc. To that end I am now wondering if a more comprehensive customization might be possible. One possibility would be if CoX villain comments in-game are set up in their own files. If so, knowing the file name and format, one would write up their own dialog and overlay or substitute it for the generic dialog in a story are. This would allow for individual customization and a more 'personal story arc. A further possibility would be if the villain group/organization was a choosable option. Have an arc containing Malta rather than Council in a mission comes to mind as an example.

Another idea that I am really enamored with is the 'propotional enemy' that we are seeing in the Rikti during the invasion sequences. With the enemy being coded as a certain level to everyone and damage proportioned similarly, Level-1 characters can now team with level-50 and not be powerleveled, or left to feel helpless as the enemies are all the same level for eveyone. I am hoping personally that this is a trend that CoH is moving towards. The security levels I would keep, as enemies could have more and varied attacks as one gets higher in levels, much like the heroes, and the challenge would not be lost in the proportioning. This would also have a effect on lower levels, which could challenge the more 'experienced' villains, but would be at a disadvantage because of the villains ability to use a greater variance of attacks against the hero, making low security heroes at a distinct disadvantage against high security level villains.