I am a very cruddy knight, apparently

[disasterAverted]

I just got pulled into this game a few hours ago. It's... I hate it already. I really, really hope that thing with the meteors was just some kind of trick for stage setting.

But, uhh, anyways. Ignoring that. My sister's in here too, and apparently the game's calling her the "Seer of Time". Whatever that means. But from what her sprite-thing told her about that class, it's...

Is she really going to die? Isn't there anything I can do about it? I think it even said she's going to die more than once, somehow. I... don't think I could live with it if she died for no good reason. I mean, I'm only here in the first place to keep an eye on her.

If it helps, uhh, the game's calling me "The Knight of Rage". That's... something? I don't know, there's four of her other friends too but I haven't really talked to them. And this "sprite" won't tell me anything, I don't even know how she got hers to talk.

[ventricularPipefitter]

First of all, welcome to the forums!

We don't get many first-time players here, so you should consider yourself fortunate in that regard.

I'm curious, how did you find us? Usually, we grow through referrals from other players. M'name's Ross, but you'll see a lot of folks call me stuff like 'Pipes.' We like our nicknames around here, neh?

As one of the grizzled old veteran players around here, I take a keen interest in seeing the community grow and thrive.

Regarding time-travel...not necessarily. One of the most powerful abilities a player of time has is to, obviously, go back or forward in time and help oneself, or one's co-players, out. However, not all time travel is lethal. Only that which does not start or complete a causality loop. It's like...augh, Back to the Future?

If you go back and change the past such that the future is 'better,' then the timeline fork you originate from, which made you want to go back in time in the first place, won't exist anymore. It's doomed not to be. And soon, so will you.

Time travel that sets up and completes loops of causality is 'safe.' Like when something from the future is sent into the past, so that the present that you're familiar with happens the way it has to. Sburb, by the way, fucking loves time loops. Learning to recognize, trust, and exploit them is huge.

So...your sister doesn't have to die. If people start disagreeing with me, and trying to spam 'corpseparty' jokes and memes at you, please disregard them for now. We're known for our black humor here. What can you do about it? I'm going to say...take good notes. In a game of time travel, prophecy,and destiny, noticing the little things can save you some grief later on. You'll see this called 'keeping a plot chart' around, here and there. As not only a Hero of Time, but as a Seer, your sister will actually be pretty helpful at this as well.

Additionally, you can be there for her, emotionally. This may not be easy for either of you. And, sooner rather than later, you'll want to get to know her friends: they may no be your friends, but for the foreseeable future, you're in this together. And they'll help you keep her safe, too.

As for the sprite....they need to either be prototyped twice, or prototyped at least once with something of humanlike shape or intelligence. It's somewhat inconsistent.

Beyond that...don't be afraid to fight for what's important to you. Fight as hard as you can.

[disasterAverted]

Thanks. So you're saying that if she uses her time powers right, nothing bad happens, but if she does it wrong she dies? I'm a little confused on the distinction, time travel is time travel isn't it? In any case I'll definitely work on those notes, though I don't quite get what they're for.

I'm a little miffed at how I found this place. I tried going on the internet for information but everything except the chat client acted like it was getting no signal. That didn't look right, so I figured if I poked at it maybe something else would work. Turns out everything in the browser turns up 404 except that search bar in the corner, and when I searched for "help with sburb" it led me here.

Oh. Umm. Speaking of the outside. Umm, those meteors weren't some kind of gimmicky trick, were they? I think they kind of wrecked most of the neighborhood.

[genesisArtificer]

Best way to help your sis?

Rule 1: Don't screw up. If you do something stupid, like agressing a giclops at tenth rung of your Echeladder, either you will die, or she will.

Rule 2: if you happen to meet her and she tells you that you will die if X or will die if not Y, don't X and/or do Y. The only exception to this is when it contradicts rule # 1 above.

If you follow this, and what Pipelord told you, she will do fine, and so will you.

[tenaciousTheseus]

Tell her to not try and fix things. This is the first thing any new Time player does. They think that they have time travel and can do whatever with it willy-nilly. Heads up: You can't. There's an Alpha timeline, where everything happens as it's supposed to happen. Every chain of events follows like it's supposed to. Trying to fix something results in an offshoot timeline, also known as a doomed timeline. Everyone in it dies, and if they manage to survive, the timeline deteriorates anyways. As a Time player, she's gonna make a lot of doomed timelines, and as a result, have a lot of doomed timeselves' corpses show up. That's gonna happen; nothing you can do can change that. The best you can do is to be there for her and comfort her as she's going through this.

[disasterAverted]

^Message, uhh, passed on. That kinda deflated her even more than the "dying" thing did, I guess because it wasn't intentionally vague. She seemed to "get" that thing with the two kinds of time travel, but when she tried to explain it it was even more confusing. Ugh.

Anyways, umm, I checked the other kids' game titles. Her friend Stacey got something called "Thief of Space", the Twins got "Mage of Rain" and "Smith of Mist" (I'm gonna have to learn to tell them apart aren't I?) and Timmy got "Guard of Heart". Which is actually kinda hilarious given what I know about him, apparently he blew up at the sprite when it told him he was gonna have the power of Heart. Anything I should be worried about here?

Huh, those weird black things running around are getting a bit fiesty. Like, I don't think they're just interested in the kitchen anymore, they're in the living room too. And it looks like there's a lot more of them now. Should I be worried?

edit: No wait, I asked again and apparently the sprite got one of them wrong? There aren't two Guards, the Mist player's a Smith.

[tenaciousTheseus]

Yeah, you're going to have some trouble separating the twins from one another. Remember: The Smith is the one making stuff with spikes and lasers, and the Mage is the one who is insane. Other than that, no real problems.

As to the black creatures, grab whatever your strife specibus is and hit them with it until they explode into grist.

[disasterAverted]

What? I can't do that! Those things are clearly intelligent. Well, at least a little. I mean, ok, they're eating my food and breaking my stuff, but some of them are watching TV and trying on stuff from the closet. They're like badly behaved six-year-olds, not Koopa Troopas.

edit: Crap, there goes the lamp. Are you sure I can't just scare them off?

[musicalDecay]

tenaciousTheseus: Screw you. Mages are not insane.
disasterAverted: They try to kill you when you get near them, that gives you full killing privileges. Also think less about them as spoiled 6 year olds, and more as game constructs that are programmed to mess with you're shit to erk you.
Also, better descriptions for Mage and Smith.
The Smith player will be the one building the machines of doom to help you in you're game while helping to make the end game plan. Expect lot's of cool things from them.

The Mage is the very cryptic class that is much like the seer, but instead of telling you mainly small things directly while working with their knowledge to help their team. The Mage will send you an intricate puzzle with a subliminal message containing what you need to know, and then insult you're intelligence for not being able to figure it out in 30 seconds.

P.S. (The game wants to kill you, repeatedly. Try to remember that.)

[zephyrIce]

I'm... not entirely sure this has been properly explained, so.

In this game, death is not necessarily permanent. Time players tend to have many doomed selves as a result of doomed timelines and the like (explained above). So if your sis dies, yes it is her, but it's likely not her Alpha self- that one keeps right on living and doing stuff. Double check before engaging complete flip-out mode. ...it's no less disturbing, though. Dead-selves are the enemy.

If an alpha self dies, it can be revived via kiss so that player continues living as their dreamself, or their body can be stuck on their Quest Bed if their dreamself is still alive so they achieve god tier.

That's just the short version of Sburb, Death, and You. I really hope that's all you'll ever need to know on the topic.

[disasterAverted]

Even if I was willing to do that (which I'm NOT) I don't think it's an option. My specibus is kinda set to something useless for combat (backpackkind, I set it there when I broke my sylladex in second grade and the free carryning capacity was so useful I never turned it back) and I haven't been in a phyiscal fight in about five years (and I lost that one). So me killing all those things is not happening for several reasons.

Also they seem to be ignoring me completely even though they can obviously see me. At least until they're done with that room they are.

Also also, I note your explanation on death doesn't mention any mitigating factors for them. Probably because, going out on a limb here, you also are going to say you don't think they're "alive".

[apianAnchorite]

dA, first off? So many hugs, friend. This all sounds SO FAMILIAR, and just. It sucks, doesn't it? I mean, the little imps are really cute, aren't they? And have you actually had to knock any out yet? I hate that little sound they make. They may not be self-aware or sentient, but they're definitely alive, and they MIMIC sentience pretty well, under the circumstances. ZI probably didn't mention any mitigating factors about their deaths because, so far as anyone I've talked to goes, there aren't any. I don't think the game designers thought it would come up. Because they're assholes.

You're going to have to resolve this one for yourself; no one can do it for you. It's my understanding that it's POSSIBLE, if very difficult and leaving you in a position where you are helpless when the people you love need you, to avoid killing in this game. If it helps, the conclusion I came to, more or less was just... Am I more attached to doing the right thing, or watching the people I love die around me while I do nothing? For me, it's not even a question. It isn't a perfect solution, I won't lie: I still often get sick after I go level, and the nightmares are pretty bad. But when I wake up at night wanting to claw my own face off, at least I still have the option of talking to my little sister, or curling up with my friends.

The balance may come down differently for you. Doing nothing and letting yourself die is always an option (probably not your best one, but it IS an out, don't let anyone tell you otherwise). Doing nothing and letting your friends die is an option. I suspect, from the little I know of rage (do we have a thread for that yet? I bet you could get some good advice) that it'd be one of those aspects that lends itself quite handily towards pacifist runs. Verbal shouting is still fighting, after all, even if against the imps we're sort of talking unarmed opponents. My answer isn't the only one. But the question remains, and THAT you do have to accept because there's no getting around it.

[stanzicApparati]

[RAngoon wArning]

aA iS rIght, dA. THe uNderlings aRe aLive - bUt aS fAr aS aNyone hAs eVer bEen aBle tO dEtermine, tHey aRe nO mOre sEntient tHan a wEll-tRained aNimal.
THe pRoblem iS, tHey aRe wEll-tRained aTtack aNimals.

I hAve hEard iT sAid tHat pAcifist rUns aRe pOSsible, bUt I wOuld sTrongly aDvise aGainst tRying oNe. IT wIll mAke yOur wHole sEssion mOre dIfficult fOr eVeryone, aNd iT wIll sLow yOur oWn eCheladder pRogression dOwn tO a gLacial pAce.

WIth rEgards tO yOur sIster - hUgs aRe aLways hElpful. DO nOt bE eXcessively aLarmed iF yOu dO fInd hEr bOdy mUltiple tImes; dOomed tImelines aRe hArd tO aVoid.
YOu mAy wIsh tO dIrect hEr oVer hEre; wE hAve a gOod tOpic oN dEaling wIth TIme aS aN aSpect.

[disasterAverted]

I'M lIking tHis pLace lEss aLready. HOld oN tHough, yOu sAid sHouting aT tHem mIght aCtually wOrk? I'M gOnna gO tRy.

[disasterAverted]

OK tHat dIdn't wOrk. ONe oF tHem tHrew a bOok aT mE aNd aNother oNe gAve mE tHe fInger. SHoulDn't hAve gOtten mY hOpes uP.

HEy wHat hAppened tO mY tExt tHere? I kNow I dIdn't tYpe iT lIke tHat. SPeaking oF tExt, I dOn't mEan tO bE rUde, bUt dO yOu hAve tO tAlk lIke thAt aA? IT's kInda hArd tO rEad.