Actually, you have that exactly backwards. The Machine understands the Reclaimer perfectly. It's translating all of the Machine's native language back into Common that poses the problem.
So it can translate English into Forerunner, but not Forerunner into English? How does that work? Wait, are you saying this machines not Forerunner? Am I closer with the term of grave keeper?
What it means is that the Machine's native language is larger and more robust than Common. If you look at it in terms of a Venn diagram, the Machine's language is a large circle, with the Reclaimer's language being a smaller circle that fits completely inside of the larger one.
Okaaaay.. So Common (aka English?) Is entirely in The Machines vocabulary, but translating some of it's words into Common is much harder, for the Common translation doesn't always have the meaning, sorta "lost in translation" so to speak?
In a nutshell, yes. The concept of Mercyhoard can be communicated in Common, but not in a single word. It'll take a phrase or paragraph – something more extended.
As in "I watch over the dead". And by the looks of things, The Machine isn't even supposed to be here. The Calvacada weren't expecting it, so I wonder if it's gonna help or hinder RC. Have you written yourself into another corner or is this part of your plan?
The description is going to be longer than that, of course, but yes.
Well, just because the Cavalcade didn't expect the Machine to be here doesn't mean that it doesn't belong here. It just means that there are limits to their knowledge.
Heh, writing myself into another corner usually is the plan. I really have no idea how this is going to end up.
In terms of overall storyline, I know all the major steps to the story's conclusion. I take each sub-arc one at a time and write them as I go. I know how each little one needs to end up, so I just fill in the gaps along the way.
Sometimes, the right combination of words just comes together, creating a new word. From there, it's up to the writer to assign meaning to it and give it value.
I know other people who do that. My brother made up geniusality and my friend made gunnitnib. Don't ask me what that last one means I really don't know. I think geniusality is another word for intelligence, maybe…
Yeah, wrong country, I'm afraid. While I'm familiar with some British pop culture, I am by no means well-versed in nearly enough of it for that name to mean anything to me. I don't even pay that much attention to American pop culture, for that matter.
Lol, so you're waiting for it to tell you whether or not it's gonna eat RC? Cause it really looks like it will. Just another one of your impossible-to-see twists.
This is the way I do a lot of my writing – I get a mini-arc started, say two or three pages, and then let the thing complete itself. It's amazing what that can do for creativity and for generating plot twists. It's fun because I often end up just as surprised at where the story ends up as you guys do.
But he is seeking Intuitive Portant. Why is he talking to a "guarder of the dead"? And our language is crippled?! LOL, I mean who would come up with Mercy Hoard as a name? Stupid Forerunners, oh wait you did
But he is seeking Intuitive Portant. Why is he talking to a "guarder of the dead"? And our language is crippled?! LOL, I mean who would come up with Mercy Hoard as a name? Stupid Forerunners, oh wait you did
Whoh-oh, I'm getting a creepy, conglomerate-of-dead-personalities vibe off this guy (I wish I could find a word to properly describe said vibe, but my vocabulary has failed me).
I am so glad that people are getting that vibe from the Machine. It is by far the creepiest AI the Reclaimer has encountered thus far, so I'm glad that creepiness is being communicated in my writing.
Not so much creepy writing a skilled photo taking. The angle and the editing of your shots adds most of the creepiness, as in The Machine really seriously does look like it's gonna zap RC into nothingness!
Not so much creepy writing a skilled photo taking. The angle and the editing of your shots adds most of the creepiness, as in The Machine really seriously does look like it's gonna zap RC into nothingness! At least it's not insane…
I suppose, for a comic "writer" a lot of the writing is in the drawings, though in your case it's the photo's. You can "write" a comic with just pictures I guess.
Whoa whoa, don't be silly! I was wrong, no need to be sarcastic! I guess the dialogue is still a very important to the story. In hindsight it was a stupid thing to say. Maybe I should delete the comment to save myself some humiliation.
I noticed in floating around with the camera that those pods are designed to contain a body. There's a seat inside with instrument panels on both sides. I'd like to know what they were originally designed for. Of course, that's irrelevant here, since I've co-opted the thing for a mercyhoard machine.
Not so much creepy writing as skilled photo taking. The angle and the editing of your shots adds most of the creepiness, as in The Machine really seriously does look like it's gonna zap RC into nothingness! At least it's not insane…
Ugh, just the name Mercyhoard makes me shudder. Its a cool name, it has a cool ring to it, but it also has a creepy ring, if you get what I'm saying. Even the Cavalcade was unaware if its existence…then again, the Cavalcade aren't omnipotent…but the fact that they're surprised doesn't seem to be a good sign.
Why would you have to log off from XBL in order to read Reclaimer??
I would like to package these in PDF form, but I believe in releasing a quality product and so it's going to wait until I have time to produce the type of file that I'd be happy with. At the latest, I'd like to try to put something like that together this summer.
Ah, well… that makes sense. I guess I'm just used to having my house up on wireless everywhere (with four ethernet ports on the back of my modem that I never use).
Yeah, me too. Only we're using all four – one for a network drive, three for my computers. Wireless is too slow when you're talking about routine transfers of anything from 300MB to 4.7GB, as you get almost 2x the speed over Ethernet at the rate we employ
Exactly what "dead" are we talking about here? This revelation should be especially interesting. Shall the dead arise?
Wonder if it is possibly information about the forerunners and not actually dead bodies. More of an archive keeper instead of a crypt keeper?
I'd have to say this seems the most logical. If it was a crypt keeper, verbatim, don't you think the Cavalcade may've picked something up about it through Portent (if he was indeed there long enough to find out, and always assuming this machine was active prior to Portent's arrival)?
That makes sense cause the Forerunners are dead but not the information that they had. So he is a guardian of a dead peoples information thus in a way guarding the last vestiges of the dead.
This is just my thought Jim, but i'm thinking that Mercyhoard means something along the lines of this:
Mercy: you know, beg for mercy (he will eats you!)
Hoard: Infection, walking dead, zombie HOARD, the dead, deceased e.t.c.
Seeing as he is related to watching over the dead, maybe he controls them too?
It's entirely possible, my theory would require a couple more answers to be furthered, though. Of which, I'm sure we will never get a straight answer out of Jim, one way or the other.
Um, IDC has gone down and I’m looking at the old version again. So the dead are not dead. I never understood the dialogue because Portent isn’t dead, he’s stuck in slipspace. But it makes more sense if The Machine is an archive keeper. Still doesn’t explain his sheer creepiness. So it’s must have some sort of control of the slipspace communication array in one way or another.
I'm a bit of a (HUGE) Halo story fan and have read all 5 books and played all 3 (soon to be 5) games.
So I know about the "Shield World" in Ghosts of Onyx witch i where the forerunner were going to go to protect themselves from the rings when they fired them (some thing went wrong, i think…).
So assuming all of the forerunners installations exist in Jim's world, could that be what MercyHoard is watching over?
P.S. Jim i think you're losing your grip on your closely guarded secrets/plot-twists/mysterys
Thats what he wants you to think. He's just giving enough information to keep you interestesd, but not enough so you can guess the whole plot. If he tells some of his secrets, everyone will try and guess the plot, but it then requires them to read the next few comics to see if they were right. And then he gives you more.It's a never-ending, vicous but enjoyable cycle.
I would willingly say that it's mostly kids younger than say 15-16, but sadly, I know that 16+ isn't much better, as a lot of people use acronyms and all that fun stuff in common interwebz-speak.
You would probably f9ind that most younger kids are better at grammar than teenagers because they haven't had the same sort or exposure to text language. But if you can separate your phone and messenger language from everyday language, you should be fine.
You would probably find that most younger kids are better at grammar than teenagers because they haven't had the same sort or exposure to text language. But if you can separate your phone and messenger language from everyday language, you should be fine.
You would probably find that most younger kids are better at grammar than teenagers because they haven't had the same sort of exposure to text language. But if you can separate your phone and messenger language from everyday language, you should be fine.
could it possibly be a form of gravemind?
Not even close.
Meh, more like a gravekeeper. I guess you incorporated everyone's thoughts on how does an AI understand English. Well the answer is…they don't always.
Actually, you have that exactly backwards. The Machine understands the Reclaimer perfectly. It's translating all of the Machine's native language back into Common that poses the problem.
So it can translate English into Forerunner, but not Forerunner into English? How does that work? Wait, are you saying this machines not Forerunner? Am I closer with the term of grave keeper?
What it means is that the Machine's native language is larger and more robust than Common. If you look at it in terms of a Venn diagram, the Machine's language is a large circle, with the Reclaimer's language being a smaller circle that fits completely inside of the larger one.
Okaaaay.. So Common (aka English?) Is entirely in The Machines vocabulary, but translating some of it's words into Common is much harder, for the Common translation doesn't always have the meaning, sorta "lost in translation" so to speak?
In a nutshell, yes. The concept of Mercyhoard can be communicated in Common, but not in a single word. It'll take a phrase or paragraph – something more extended.
As in "I watch over the dead". And by the looks of things, The Machine isn't even supposed to be here. The Calvacada weren't expecting it, so I wonder if it's gonna help or hinder RC. Have you written yourself into another corner or is this part of your plan?
The description is going to be longer than that, of course, but yes.
Well, just because the Cavalcade didn't expect the Machine to be here doesn't mean that it doesn't belong here. It just means that there are limits to their knowledge.
Heh, writing myself into another corner usually is the plan. I really have no idea how this is going to end up.
I guess it's pretty effective. I mean look at where you are now. So that means your only one or two comics ahead of us in your mind.
In terms of overall storyline, I know all the major steps to the story's conclusion. I take each sub-arc one at a time and write them as I go. I know how each little one needs to end up, so I just fill in the gaps along the way.
Now that I didn't expect. Like the name though, Mercyhoard. I'm sure theres some underlying meaning to that…
I love coining new terms. 'Mercyhoard' came to me yesterday, and I knew I just had to find a way to use it.
Yeah, probably doesn't have any underlying meaning, just a new word Jim likes.
Sometimes, the right combination of words just comes together, creating a new word. From there, it's up to the writer to assign meaning to it and give it value.
I have such a clever muse.
I know other people who do that. My brother made up geniusality and my friend made gunnitnib. Don't ask me what that last one means I really don't know. I think geniusality is another word for intelligence, maybe…
Meh, I'm sure it'll have a meaning soon. Dear Jim, Can you fix it so that the word Mercyhoard has a meaning. From Adam, aged 17 3/4.
seventeen and three fourths?
weird
when's your birthday?
Whats so wierd about that? Everyone gets to that stage at some point.
No-one spotted the refernce to Jimmy Saville? Search for Jim'll fix it.
And yeah B-days in April
I've heard his name before, but I can't remember where.
His Wiki page doesn't jog my memory either.
Oh, and mine's in late March.
Yeah, wrong country, I'm afraid. While I'm familiar with some British pop culture, I am by no means well-versed in nearly enough of it for that name to mean anything to me. I don't even pay that much attention to American pop culture, for that matter.
I'm 17 and 3/4 as well.
And 'wierd' is used very lightly.
That is pretty weird.
Mercyhoard: (noun) (singular) – See Jim.
Hehe, all will be made clear in due time, dear Readers.
oooh, he sees dead people…
Hehehe. Oh, just you wait…
Yay, more mysteries for us to ponder!
God, that first shot looks like the Mercyoard is going to suck me in and make me one of his guarded dead. And the ones after is just as menacing.
I'm glad you think so! The Machine is nowhere near harmless.
Oh but is he hostile towards RC?
That… remains to be seen.
Pending on RC's actions? Or haven't you figured that out yet?
The Machine hasn't told me yet.
Lol, so you're waiting for it to tell you whether or not it's gonna eat RC? Cause it really looks like it will. Just another one of your impossible-to-see twists.
This is the way I do a lot of my writing – I get a mini-arc started, say two or three pages, and then let the thing complete itself. It's amazing what that can do for creativity and for generating plot twists. It's fun because I often end up just as surprised at where the story ends up as you guys do.
Like typing a story while blindfolded.
Slightly less random than that.
I'd say like typing in the comments section here. I can't even see what I've written until 30 seconds later. Good for my touch-typing skills though.
It adds a kind of larger than life feeling to the story.
as if it's bigger than Jim could imagine.
And that's kind of the way I feel about it most of the time.
It's like essence of epic!
The real question is: did he cause the deaths of those it watches over?
But, that question would tie in with many other real questions, most of which, were created by Jim.
But he is seeking Intuitive Portant. Why is he talking to a "guarder of the dead"? And our language is crippled?! LOL, I mean who would come up with Mercy Hoard as a name? Stupid Forerunners, oh wait you did
But he is seeking Intuitive Portant. Why is he talking to a "guarder of the dead"? And our language is crippled?! LOL, I mean who would come up with Mercy Hoard as a name? Stupid Forerunners, oh wait you did
Whoh-oh, I'm getting a creepy, conglomerate-of-dead-personalities vibe off this guy (I wish I could find a word to properly describe said vibe, but my vocabulary has failed me).
I am so glad that people are getting that vibe from the Machine. It is by far the creepiest AI the Reclaimer has encountered thus far, so I'm glad that creepiness is being communicated in my writing.
Not so much creepy writing a skilled photo taking. The angle and the editing of your shots adds most of the creepiness, as in The Machine really seriously does look like it's gonna zap RC into nothingness!
Not so much creepy writing a skilled photo taking. The angle and the editing of your shots adds most of the creepiness, as in The Machine really seriously does look like it's gonna zap RC into nothingness! At least it's not insane…
Who says taking shots isn't also part of the writing process?
I suppose, for a comic "writer" a lot of the writing is in the drawings, though in your case it's the photo's. You can "write" a comic with just pictures I guess.
Just for that, I'm going to have to do an entire week's worth of comics with just screenshots. No text or dialogue whatsoever.
Whoa whoa, don't be silly! I was wrong, no need to be sarcastic! I guess the dialogue is still a very important to the story. In hindsight it was a stupid thing to say. Maybe I should delete the comment to save myself some humiliation.
Naw, it actually sounds like an interesting challenge.
I must agree. Would text on screens constitute cheating?
I thought about that. I'd say not, since there's a very limited set of things you can do with screens.
That would be very interesting to read/see. Just imagine the theorizing we could do with that much leeway.
Well, it's on my list of things to do.
I thought the RC was going to climb in, personally.
I noticed in floating around with the camera that those pods are designed to contain a body. There's a seat inside with instrument panels on both sides. I'd like to know what they were originally designed for. Of course, that's irrelevant here, since I've co-opted the thing for a mercyhoard machine.
I've explored the area since myself. I think it was either a controlling cockpit-type thing for the turrets, or a kind of Covenant cryosleep capsule.
Not so much creepy writing as skilled photo taking. The angle and the editing of your shots adds most of the creepiness, as in The Machine really seriously does look like it's gonna zap RC into nothingness! At least it's not insane…
Ugh, just the name Mercyhoard makes me shudder. Its a cool name, it has a cool ring to it, but it also has a creepy ring, if you get what I'm saying. Even the Cavalcade was unaware if its existence…then again, the Cavalcade aren't omnipotent…but the fact that they're surprised doesn't seem to be a good sign.
It's always bad. Just assume that in every case. This is Jim we're talking about here.
Haha, I see that I've developed a reputation.
A reputation and an expectation for us readers;)
Wow. Hopefully RC 140 is epic.
P.S.-When will we see a PDF of this? I have to unhook from Live everytime I want to read these over.
Why would you have to log off from XBL in order to read Reclaimer??
I would like to package these in PDF form, but I believe in releasing a quality product and so it's going to wait until I have time to produce the type of file that I'd be happy with. At the latest, I'd like to try to put something like that together this summer.
Perhaps he only has one internet connection, so he has to unhook his Xbox to go online.
Ah, well… that makes sense. I guess I'm just used to having my house up on wireless everywhere (with four ethernet ports on the back of my modem that I never use).
Yeah, me too. Only we're using all four – one for a network drive, three for my computers. Wireless is too slow when you're talking about routine transfers of anything from 300MB to 4.7GB, as you get almost 2x the speed over Ethernet at the rate we employ
Get your self a bus, man! : ]
You've only just noticed this?
Heh, apparently.
Exactly what "dead" are we talking about here? This revelation should be especially interesting. Shall the dead arise?
Wonder if it is possibly information about the forerunners and not actually dead bodies. More of an archive keeper instead of a crypt keeper?
Now you're thinking like a true Reclaimer fan.
Question everything, accept nothing!
I'm thinking cybernetically dead, although frozen biological bodies aren't out of the question either.
I'd have to say this seems the most logical. If it was a crypt keeper, verbatim, don't you think the Cavalcade may've picked something up about it through Portent (if he was indeed there long enough to find out, and always assuming this machine was active prior to Portent's arrival)?
That makes sense cause the Forerunners are dead but not the information that they had. So he is a guardian of a dead peoples information thus in a way guarding the last vestiges of the dead.
This is just my thought Jim, but i'm thinking that Mercyhoard means something along the lines of this:
Mercy: you know, beg for mercy (he will eats you!)
Hoard: Infection, walking dead, zombie HOARD, the dead, deceased e.t.c.
Seeing as he is related to watching over the dead, maybe he controls them too?
Ah, but that would be far too obvious now, wouldn't it?
Is it even pronounced that way?
I imagined it as mer-cy-ord, with a silent 'H'
The 'h' is not silent.
Only in my mind i guess.
Only in my mind, i guess.
Apparently.
Erm… sorry to break your bubble, but:
Hoard: (verb) To collect, keep. Usually for items of some value.
Horde: (noun) A gathering of beings, usually angry (in context).
A buried crypt?
It's entirely possible, my theory would require a couple more answers to be furthered, though. Of which, I'm sure we will never get a straight answer out of Jim, one way or the other.
Hehehe… insert evil grin here
I am so not being helpful on this one.
So HSAR is onto something or are you just gonna be difficult for him?
nor are we.
shoehorn not-so-evil grin here
Um, IDC has gone down and I’m looking at the old version again. So the dead are not dead. I never understood the dialogue because Portent isn’t dead, he’s stuck in slipspace. But it makes more sense if The Machine is an archive keeper. Still doesn’t explain his sheer creepiness. So it’s must have some sort of control of the slipspace communication array in one way or another.
I'm a bit of a (HUGE) Halo story fan and have read all 5 books and played all 3 (soon to be 5) games.
So I know about the "Shield World" in Ghosts of Onyx witch i where the forerunner were going to go to protect themselves from the rings when they fired them (some thing went wrong, i think…).
So assuming all of the forerunners installations exist in Jim's world, could that be what MercyHoard is watching over?
P.S. Jim i think you're losing your grip on your closely guarded secrets/plot-twists/mysterys
which is where
Oh, is that what you think?
Thats what he wants you to think. He's just giving enough information to keep you interestesd, but not enough so you can guess the whole plot. If he tells some of his secrets, everyone will try and guess the plot, but it then requires them to read the next few comics to see if they were right. And then he gives you more.It's a never-ending, vicous but enjoyable cycle.
He's got a lot more secrets than he's giving out.
This statement makes me giggle like an evil overlord.
I don't think I've ever heard 'giggle' and 'evil overlord' used in the same sentence before.
It won't be the strangest thing you hear from me.
I know. Just doesn't work. Giggle is like a childish girl. Overlord just doesn't match up with that statement.
Imagine the evil overlord as also being completely over-the-edge insane. It's a lot easier to visualize that way.
Ooh! I have a feeling some of the upcoming comics will feature screenshots of Left 4 Dead! Lol.
I doubt that. This is a Halo Comic remember, and Left 4 Dead isn't so great anyway.
What chew talkin' 'bout, Willis? Left 4 Dead is great.
And with the powers of photoshop, anything is possible!
Yeah, um… I won't be crossing genres quite like that.
You will. It will just occur as a matter of course as the story unfolds.
Dead people?
U MEEN LIKE MASTUR CHEEF?
Who is Mastur Cheef? : ]
Hehe, I was kind of wondering that my own self. I weep for this generation's literacy rate.
I would willingly say that it's mostly kids younger than say 15-16, but sadly, I know that 16+ isn't much better, as a lot of people use acronyms and all that fun stuff in common interwebz-speak.
It's because they're not held accountable for their crimes to the language.
We need some grammar nazis in here.
off to prison for you bongo, fare well!
Alright, alright – everyone, be nice. We don't want to scare off all our lurkers.
Aah, don't worry. The prison has a revolving door policy; he's already out.
You would probably f9ind that most younger kids are better at grammar than teenagers because they haven't had the same sort or exposure to text language. But if you can separate your phone and messenger language from everyday language, you should be fine.
You would probably find that most younger kids are better at grammar than teenagers because they haven't had the same sort or exposure to text language. But if you can separate your phone and messenger language from everyday language, you should be fine.
You would probably find that most younger kids are better at grammar than teenagers because they haven't had the same sort of exposure to text language. But if you can separate your phone and messenger language from everyday language, you should be fine.
Wow. Amazing, and that's an understatement!! I have read EVERY episode from the beginning and I love Reclaimer! Well done Jim! You rock!
Thanks, Cap! Glad to have another fan!