Wading into #IntPiPoMo #1: Old but Gold

If you're a regular around the bloggosphere, you've probably come across the International Picture Posting Month. If you haven't come across the term before, it means that each November bloggers are 'challenged' to post 50 pictures on the blog across the entire month in a response to a Writing Month where one has to write 50,000 words, because a picture is worth 1,000 words of course.

I didn't wade into this last year, mainly because I was on a stubborn "hiatus" of sorts for some reason. Because I'm taking blogging more seriously than ever currently, I have decided that it's time that, heck, maybe I should participate in some of these events more frequently.

So, to kick off my picture-posting craze (I've always wanted to feature more screenshots given that I write far too much anyway), I decided that it's best to start retroactively. All of my SWtOR screenshots prior to November 2015 have been scrutinised, with the aim of posting the best and funniest of my old screenshots in this thread.

Let's get started!

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I remember this time fondly. This screenshot was taken during the open version of the 2.0 PTS where all that was available were the new HM FPs, a boost to Level 55, and the Arkanian and Underworld gear. Somebody decided to test things out on the Target Dummy and, because most of these things tend to lead to another, decided to invite the entire Fleet to come along and kill it since back in those days the Dummy's health would not auto-restore itself immediately. I was only there for the last fifteen minutes, and I don't want to think how long it took the guy to start getting people helping out...

I've only seen this glitch occur a couple of times, and I still have no idea what caused it, even though it was apparently quite a well-known glitch. I haven't even seen several of these icons be used in the actual game, and of course there's the "CHOOSE YOUR ALLEGIANCE" text splashed out in three different languages and mirrored.

Another common and thankfully-fixed bug. The Weequay Mandalorians in the Mandalorian Camp in the Hunter's second Chapter's first mission only had their eyes showing. It's still absolutely one of the creepiest things I have ever seen in the game.

If there's one thing that should be against common sense in any universe, it's the ability to revive whilst being dead in a lake of lava. For those who may be wondering, yes, reviving in lava does in fact kill you again.

I think this has to be the record for most-damaged-yet-still-functionally-guarding Ship in the entirety of GSF. I want to say that I only had one hit-point left on my hull when this screenshot was taken. Yay for my nigh-immortal Pike!

I hope you like Commandos in space, because they're going to feature quite a bit in this post. In Kuat Drive Yards, there used to be certain sections where if you faced your camera in the right direction the entirety of the station would vanish and your character would be left hovering in space.

The ship's Target Dummy is useful for getting screenshots of your character looking aggressive with their weapons pointed at something instead of just holding them aloft lazily. It also just so happens that the most annoying Companion in the game has decided to park her box right by Calph's own Target Dummy. That doesn't seem like it can backfire at all, right?

No wonder the Dread Masters use these Chains for structural integrity!

Don't ask me how, but for a short amount of time during 2.0, Pippera the Sniper became temporarily immune to becoming PvP-flagged. I promptly decided to use this for a bit of exploration, going to Castle Organa for a fling with the Jedi Guardians, running around Outlaw's Den taunting the flagged people who were there, and notably running straight into the Strike Team Oricon Camp as pictured here, with the primary aim of getting Treek killed.

The Republic always was shoddy with its guard duties.

A "money shot" for any person who appreciates the Agent storyline involves taking a picture of their character while in their Droid disguise. Because Pip (who by this point was already Level 55) used HK-51 as her primary Companion until his unfortunate 'castration' in 4.0, this amusing comparison of Assassin Droids presented itself fairly quickly. One is a model of pure efficiency, the other is a clunky, loud, and completely unthreatening box of a droid. Still, at least Pip's Droid is better at infiltration...

The thing I miss most about not having Level-scaling is the opportunity to witness chaos by running through an entire instance, pulling as much trash as you can, and watching your Companion cope with the havoc you have unleashed upon them. This particular instance is the last mission of the Republic Hoth Bonus Series, and Treek is trying to show that actually she's worthy of survival.

She sadly proved herself correct.

"Fetch..! The Comfy Chair!"

This is so far the only form of random discrimination any of my characters has ever encountered around Fleet. His grammar and spelling says as much about him as his comment, I feel.

Occasionally, when jumping down from the starting area of the Rakghoul Tunnels, your Companions (and any summoned pets) will remain up top until you progress slightly further (or resummon them, of course). I like to think that Treek and Argyll - that's the Reek's name, by the way - were wary of the Rakghouls and so were afraid to jump down.

Either that or Treek is turning the tables on me and trying to get me killed instead. It didn't work.

Oh how it burns.

This is additionally another one of the creepiest screenshots I've ever taken. For some reason the bright light 'aura' around the character (and particularly concentrated on the face) just makes it seem far worse than it actually is...

Another "money shot", this time from Kuat Drive Yards. If you're lucky, you'll get away with only one or two Twi'leks in your group of prisoners to free. If you're unfortunate, you'll get at least six or seven, and maybe even a complete group of ten. In case it isn't obvious, being surrounded by a large group of large Twi'leks in orange spandex makes for an incredibly uncomfortable situation.

Speaking of uncomfortable situations.

My second (yet first 'main') Sage Eirahnos came across a group of Republic Soldiers on Hoth who decided not to unholster their rifles when taking point. Because Eirahnos was Body-Type-1, I quickly discovered that the soldiers' pose is in exactly the right 'position' compared to his height to make it look like they're very eager fans of the Barsen'thor who want a photograph with him.

He's having none of it, really.

These last two form part of a story.

If ever you see "Return to Space" in your Stronghold options, do not click it. Doing so will propel your character into a never-ending Loading Screen since the game is trying to recreate a GSF match which was the character's last recorded position, and of course because the match no longer exists and the character can't exist in space without the ship, the game is unable to figure out how to load the character.

So it was that I went to the Support Team for help, and above all I absolutely adore the fact that the CS Rep made reference to the "Carrick Station Emergency Vacuum Expulsion Squad" which I had just made up on the fly. The "something" which was sent to Ziodus was a Striated Wriggler Pet, which was promptly given to Calph since Zio already had one. 

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So, there we have it. My first venture into International Picture Posting Month. I enjoyed trawling through all of my old screenshots (even if some did make me cringe: I still can't look at the UI I had all those years ago without feeling dead inside), and I hope that they make some people laugh.

If they don't, well, I just hope that they're as bizarre as I think they are. 

Image Count: 19