Hmmmmm.... Why do I have to do it?!

[Scotch]

Okay, so Forum City has two INVINCIBLE moderators who could do anything they want, including marching up to WC and shooting Scara in the face, and instead choose to risk countless accounts by not getting their hands dirty. Why should Trestkon risk his life if Kashue could just accomplish the same tasks without any resistance?! It honestly made me kind of not like PDX; the mods were kind of like the greek gods in that they use other people to fight battles that they are too big of pussies to fight, even though they have a 100 percent chance of winning BECAUSE THEY ARE FUCKING INVULNERABLE.

I guess one could argue that they had to watch over the city, but given that the entirety of Forum City was endanger by Scara, you think they would grow a pair and raise a two-man war against WC without risking the accounts of vulnerable PDX citizens.


This brings to mind WC Trestkon's line: "Sending someone to do your dirty work... you're a real leader Kashue".

[Transyt]

Well, it's just a game, if you don't like PDX, choose WC. But for full game experience, what will you do if those two moderators can do all the jobs? And it's been explained in the game. Remember how you solove the noobs problem? Phas doesn't like violence. So they just want you to ban Scara, not kill him.

[Scotch]

but isn't banning the same as killing? This IS an internet forum, so I thought they were one and the same, just banning was the way mods did it.

[Transyt]

Maybe banning Scara makes more missions, and it's more internet forum style than killing him.

[santherus]

Mods are not actually _invincible_. They're unkillable, which is different.

Were I scara (under attack by both KK and Phas simultaneously), I'd simply send enough troops/bots to occupy them and (for example) lure them into a room with an inf/inf lock and no key. Then simply leave them there, or fill the room with concrete etc. The blunt instrument of unkillability is simply not enough for the bigger threats - but it does help in dealing with the small fish.

[justanotherfan]

Partly they seem to be very busy with administrative tasks. That's the Despot line, so we'll disregard that. Since they are not administrators, and are only moderators (the game makes a big distinction), they can't ban anyone, and instead try to keep the peace. I don't understand the difference between Ban and Kill in the game, so kill may not mean ban, eliminating the account but allowing re-registration as a different person/role. Diablo seemed to be able to ban in the intro, so maybe he's an administrator, but I thought he was a moderator. The gamespy laser can kill the moderators while they are on the planet while not banning them, so they may not be invincible. Perhaps b invincible is not true on all maps, who knows.

I do agree though. The Trestkon character is able to do things the moderators can't, and is risking "death" where they wouldn't. I noticed that in the playthrough too; if the moderator doesn't like casualties, he should do it without killing people. It is a game, and if the premise doesn't work then it doesn't invalidate a really fun game. Still, I agree. The Trestkon character in the PDX arch is an unnecessary pawn, at least until the last level where a moderator can die.

[JC_Helios]

Politics.... Scara is worth a lot of money, and despite all the rumors people still buy Scara's products and some probably even like the guy. If they just walk up to WC HQ, demand to see Scara and then kill everyone that gets in their way, finally reaching Scara and putting an end to him.... Well that's just bad press if they don't have a 100% legitimate reason with evidence backing it up. If moderators just start killing anybody they want without concrete proof you'd start fearing for your life causing the populace to revolt or move away in droves.

Banning: They say why they can't ban him in the game, because Despot is a paranoid type who requires all 3 admins to agree, and killing isn't the same as banning... a bit of a plot hole with TNM since you never have to deal with people you've killed coming back. It's been theorized as a time limited respawn, or a complete rebirth having to start over as a board guest or noob. Regardless killing Scara would just cause what I mentioned above as well as him not really being completely gone.

As for why they don't kill him on day 2 when he's out right attacked the city, that's probably because his thugs are all over slaughtering innocents and causing basic havok. If they try to go after Scara he'll just run away as PDX HQ and everywhere else get's overrun in their absence.

EDIT: @justanotherfan: Regarding DD's "banning" in the intro, I'm not sure that's banning, it could just be his moderator super power kill(like how Phas' super power is stripping you).... there's also the fact that during the intro all three mods are accounted for, so maybe DD can ban with impunity so long as the other two don't actively dispute his bans.( again, politics.)

[heliosentity101]

The Super Power Kill Could Have Been Another good extra to unlock if you'd completed the pdx storyline because after all , trestkon does become a moderator himself and , should have gained this ability , maybe it's just me , but I think this would have been cool . Is There ANY Way at all you can do this in the game through console codes ?! just being curious , but i doubt it really is something you can do is it not ?

[Bulzeeb]

Politics.... Scara is worth a lot of money, and despite all the rumors people still buy Scara's products and some probably even like the guy. If they just walk up to WC HQ, demand to see Scara and then kill everyone that gets in their way, finally reaching Scara and putting an end to him.... Well that's just bad press if they don't have a 100% legitimate reason with evidence backing it up. If moderators just start killing anybody they want without concrete proof you'd start fearing for your life causing the populace to revolt or move away in droves.

Banning: They say why they can't ban him in the game, because Despot is a paranoid type who requires all 3 admins to agree, and killing isn't the same as banning... a bit of a plot hole with TNM since you never have to deal with people you've killed coming back. It's been theorized as a time limited respawn, or a complete rebirth having to start over as a board guest or noob. Regardless killing Scara would just cause what I mentioned above as well as him not really being completely gone.

As for why they don't kill him on day 2 when he's out right attacked the city, that's probably because his thugs are all over slaughtering innocents and causing basic havok. If they try to go after Scara he'll just run away as PDX HQ and everywhere else get's overrun in their absence.

EDIT: @justanotherfan: Regarding DD's "banning" in the intro, I'm not sure that's banning, it could just be his moderator super power kill(like how Phas' super power is stripping you).... there's also the fact that during the intro all three mods are accounted for, so maybe DD can ban with impunity so long as the other two don't actively dispute his bans.( again, politics.)

Agreed with the politics bit. The whole point of Trestkon, a neutral third party, being brought in by Phas was that he could interfere directly in situations where the highly public moderators might be restricted by bureacracy. After all, who completes not only dangerous but somewhat "dark-minded" secret missions in the U.S. - Obama or nameless members of the C.I.A.? Don't forget that Scara has "an army of lawyers" at his disposal.

And then there's the whole part about having to control the Firewalls, without which the entire city would probably collapse into utter anarchy. I think people seem to miss that part. Still, I would have preferred that they just hired someone else to do the administrative jobs, and fight as invincible people but I suppose there wasn't enough time nor anyone competent enough who could also be trusted with such a position.

The Super Power Kill Could Have Been Another good extra to unlock if you'd completed the pdx storyline because after all , trestkon does become a moderator himself and , should have gained this ability , maybe it's just me , but I think this would have been cool . Is There ANY Way at all you can do this in the game through console codes ?! just being curious , but i doubt it really is something you can do is it not ?

Yeah, it's called typing in "god" into the console. Makes the game boring anyway.

P.S. The moderators (except DD I guess) aren't really that good at fighting anyway. Maybe because they've relied on their ability to ban, or maybe because their primary roles are as administrators rather than fighters, but KK and Phas aren't really that powerful. I set KK (binvincible false) against Slicer and Slicer eventually killed him, since he has regeneration and KK doesn't.

[DDL]

...well technically (lucky gep-hits aside) pretty much anyone without regen will lose to someone with regen.

So it's not really fighting as much as one-sided glorified attrition.

(Plus why would you install regen if you had perma-godmode?)

[heliosentity101]

bulzeeb , that code u gave me just activates god mode , not the superpower kill [-X

[Jonas]

Bind "tantalus" to your right mouse button. Voila.

[heliosentity101]

I Meant The Ban thing that dd Does In The intro , i was wondering if you could do that ?

[Skilgannon]

No, because Trestkon isn't a moderator, and as he mentions in the game, doesn't know much about hacking, so he couldn't hack into the ACP of ForumCity to do it.

[Bulzeeb]

...well technically (lucky gep-hits aside) pretty much anyone without regen will lose to someone with regen.

So it's not really fighting as much as one-sided glorified attrition.

(Plus why would you install regen if you had perma-godmode?)

Well the point of mentioning my little KK vs. Slicer matchup was to point out that the moderators didn't have the offensive potential of even killing someone with Regeneration. I didn't mention this, but KK had an advantage until a point after which Slicer's HP pretty much stuck around 30, and KK couldn't do any more damage. If he doesn't have the fighting ability to even kill a single fairly unimportant agent given indefinite time, that indicates he doesn't know how to fight - and there isn't really anything to suggest that KK was ever given the kind of training that Trestkon has.

bulzeeb , that code u gave me just activates god mode , not the superpower kill [-X

Sorry, I didn't read your post very carefully. Yeah, as Jonas mentioned use "tantalus" pointing at someone. Alternatives are "massban" (don't use on any map with people you don't want dead!) and "killall <pawn name>", no greater than/lesser than signs. As for the specific "red glowy ban" action, there isn't a cheat for that, but the effects are basically the same.

No, because Trestkon isn't a moderator, and as he mentions in the game, doesn't know much about hacking, so he couldn't hack into the ACP of ForumCity to do it.

He only knows little about hacking if you yourself choose that dialogue choice, and in any case Hacking in TNM is done on the virtual computers, rather than the "real world" Matrix-esque style. Otherwise Evil Invasion and That Guy could pretty much do anything they wished.