'Not A Villain' Webcomic - Kleya beats six more fights. Hears about Bloody Mary.

‘Not A Villain’ Webcomic – Page 119

Since Kleya was winning so easily, Mina and most of her fans started to Watch other fights. Thankfully, she's now about to hit some more challenging opponents!

Random Info: Of the five fights, only two had Specials. The -59 blob succeeded in getting a direct hit and lost shortly afterwards. The -21 blob had the other Special but botched up his attempt and ended up getting a lame hit. He still lost just as quickly.

And the blobs are back! Alas, my brain must be fried because I can't think of anything funny. If I do, I'll edit this post to let you know of the new incentive.

45 Comments

Heh, Wobuffet STRIKES AGAIN!

Can’t move, a sense of paralysis? Dexterity damage maybe?

I was just talking about the blobs to someone in TOR the other day! They have a new breed of sub-NPC that are just kind of there. No names, you can’t click on them, they don’t speak or make noise… It seems so very sad to be /so trivial/ you can’t even manage to be clickable in an online game.

I spent a while fantasizing about them rising up against the devs demanding full equality with at least the NPCs!

I mean, they get nothing. In a world where people are pasted in with the name ‘Republic Citizen’, these guys don’t even rate generic.

at least now we know the pink number is something else, probably strength damaging or something

Denied!

Nice and powerful that Special.

Wonder if it would attack her if she attacked someone. There has to be a negative side to something that powerful.

Looks like Kleya has more than 50hp, despite speculation to the contrary. I sure hope Bloody Mary puts up a good fight.

This is an interesting turn. I was under the impression Kleya was actually Bloody Mary, and that’s why she was in hiding. Maybe I’m right, or maybe things are about to get a lot trickier…

Almost definitely not. Bloody Mary seems to have been a legitimate player – she had a group, and it was a huge surprise when she turned on them.

Also, Kleya’s been in hiding for longer than Bloody Mary has been out of the Game.

Right, now we can move on to the people who are actually smart enough to listen to the ‘Huge Smily in the Sky’, and can find ways around it.

Also, I like the ‘superior’ look on Kleyas face, and she gets bonus points for the little wave-hand.

I think at this point, the fans Kleya has are of a very particular breed. Her fights aren’t very impressive to watch, but they are very one-sided. Anyone who’s still with her probably appreciates her “I’m here to win and I don’t care about you” attitude.

…Except her sponsor, of course. Her sponsor is probably really irritated that her special is is anticlimactic.

If the sponsor is mad about her rampaging through the brackets, then this universe is REALLY screwed up beyond all reason.

yea its most likely that “nice” sends all dmg done too a player is given to the other player + dmg to an stat, which i believe is agility, since it seems like the opponent can move afterwards and she has been making an agility based special for Danni and you tend to be inspired by things your doing.

and i think even – 21 to a stat would hurt a lot because it seemed like having 20 in sight was crazy much for bandit.

Also, it might not just be inspiration by coincidence. Remember what Kleya told Danni back when Danni first asked for that Special after Danni gave the only requirement – Kleya cannot make a special for Danni that she herself can’t beat, because then she’ll know what the Special is, how it works, and by extension, how to beat or bypass it. Then, when she enters the tournament, she says explicitly that she needs Nice to win. She’s not talking about the Bandit or any other tourney participants there, especially since the only opponent she really knew going in (as far as we know) is Danni. Danni is almost certainly using the Special Kleya made that was tailored to her strengths, and Nice is not only just a counter-Special, but the counter-Special for Danni’s new trick. It might not knock Danni out in a single blow (we know only that Danni’s Special is based off ballet, and will be dumping a lot of bonuses into one stat, the opposite of Nice’s assumed stat damage), but it will probably at least bring her down to the same level as default Kleya.

Surprising that 42 damage was enough to defeat the one guy, but 59 damage wasn’t enough to defeat Kleya, especially since she was so worried about the knight guy killing her in two hits, and one hit did 28 damage (not counting the 4 being shoulder checked). Seems to me she actually toed a very fine line with both of those fights, nearly dying in the high damage one, and nearly not doing enough counter damage in the low damage one.

I know different people have different stats and thus likely different HP, but that’s still impressive.

Also, I’m sure that Bloody Mary will be fighting bandit in the semi-finals, and that she won’t be a good opponent that produces an awesome fight. Oh wait… 😀

It’s not 42 damage. The second number (in pink rather than red) is stat drain. Likely to Speed, if her victims are unable to move afterwards.

So it’s 21 damage (to health) and 21 stat drain. Since stats operate on a different scale than hit points do (20 sight was a lot, but 120 health is not much), this seems like Kleya’s found a loophole in the rules that will probably get patched away if TENka cares about game balance.

Uh,oh… Could it be someone has discovered the counter special to ‘Be Nice’?

Just getting my head around this a little. Kleya is in the quarter-finals of the loser’s bracket, that means there’s still 3 sets of matches to go (quarter-, semi-, and final).

Up on the winner’s bracket, this means there’s 8 people left, so does that mean there’s only 4 people left in the loser’s bracket? for 12 remaining players total? Since someone who loses in the winner’s bracket drops down to the loser’s bracket, so like, Kleya is about to fight someone who lost a winner’s bracket quarter-final?

Or does the final match refer to the winner of the winner’s bracket fighting the winner of the loser’s bracket, which would make this the semi-final of the loser’s bracket itself, which would mean there’s only 6 people left? (4 people in the winner’s bracket semifinals, the losers there drop to semifinal matches against the 2 left in the loser’s bracket).

For those in the Losers Grid (assuming they make it all the way to the top) there are 4 sets of matches to go: this Losers quarter Finals, Losers semi-Finals, Losers Final, and then the Final between the winners of the two grids.

Currently, the Winners grid just finished their quarter Finals and those that lost are dropping down to fight in the Losers quarter Finals.

That help?

Yes, so let me try to sum it up again.

In the winner’s bracket quarter-finals, 8 people participate. The 4 losers drop the the loser’s quarter-finals to fight the 4 people still in the loser’s grid, so there are 12 people left at the moment (4 in the winner’s semi-finals, 8 in the loser’s quarter-finals).

No wait…then there’d be 4 people left in the loser’s bracket again, with only 2 semi-final losers on the winner’s bracket dropping down, so I’m confused again @.@

Alright, I took a moment to take a look at an example of a double elimination bracket ( http://ipsedixit.net/croquet/articles/formats/diagrams/diagram2.gif ) and I think I understand where everything is now, but I think it’s a misnomer to say it’s the loser’s quarter-finals.

If the winner’s quarter-finals match just happened, there are 4 new losers, and 4 existing losers, for a total of 4 matches that leave 4 losers.

Next round, 2 of those losers fight each other, and the remaining 2 fight the losers from the winner’s semi-final match, for a total of 3 matches leaving 3 losers.

Next round, 2 of those losers fight each other, and the remaining loser fights the loser of the winner’s final match, for a total of 2 matches leaving 2 losers.

Next round, the remaining 2 losers fight each other to determine a winner for the loser’s bracket, who goes on to fight the winner of the winner’s bracket.

That means there’s a total of 5 potential matches left for someone who’s currently in the loser’s bracket, unless there’s some other double-elimination format that you’re using for reference.

Hmm…you’re probably right that it’s a misnomer. I always thought quarter-finals meant the 3rd to the last match, but now that I looked it up, it seems you need to have 4 matches in order to call it that. But then again, it sounds silly to call this a semi-finals match, and then have the two winners go into a final match, and then that winner going into another ‘Finals’ match with the loser of the Winners Grid, and then have yet again, another ‘Finals’ match with the winner of the Winners grid. That’s 3 “Finals” the poor winner of the Losers grid is going to fight through.

Basically, right now, 4 people just fought in the Winners Grid (which I was calling the Winners’ Quarter-Finals), 2 won and will now fight each other (in what I was calling the Winners’ Semi-Final), while the 2 losers are dropping to fight the 2 waiting in the Losers Grid (which I was calling the Losers Quarter-Final). In total, there are currently 6 contestants still in the Game Trials.

Anyone know any better or proper terms to describe all of this?

Also, this is more like the format I’m using for reference than the one Dusk found.

Guys, I think the second negative number is a secondary hit, as in, the damage done to Katv8 gets returned doubled. Why it kills sometimes with minimal damage I don’t know. Possibly because of low stats on their part?

I don’t think the low damage hits are lethal. Its more likely Kleya figured out how much HP her opponents had in relation to their attack power and softened them up a bit in anticipation for the counter or something.

No, the second number is almost definitely a stat drain. Her opponents are being rendered immobile (speed = 0?) – not knocked out.

Kleya doesn’t need to soften them up, because she’s not targeting their HP.

congrats you in second place on the 100 right behind goblins!

i really love this comic it dies remind me of dl from the time i used to play it till i got this super crappy computer that cant even run it now, and i discovered this comic a year ago.

i like how the dragon is entity of its own for the most part

Deserves first, IMO. 😉

Goblins hasn’t been worth reading in a long time (and this coming from a D&D nerd). After about the fifth update in a row of combat scenes that was neither interesting nor advanced the story at all, I stopped bothering to check it.

All serious player (Bloody Mary, Bandit) have surely been informed of Keyla’s special and ill at least know what not to do (direct attack)

Yep, Aneeka is definitely getting better with the art; it keeps showing bit by bit in the comic.

Nice comic! I’ve enjoyed reading for quite a while now, and usually try to not get too commenty on sites and such (but usually do in the end). I really like the setting and especially the characters so far, and the art is nice too (re:art, I’m just happy to see you go with the comic now instead of being like me over-critical of your own developing art skills and instead never using them).

I have some critical feedback, though I guess I should first mention where I “come from”: I don’t know much about manga (which, judging from some memes and some comments, this comic pretty much uses as a visual style) or oriental culture and such. So I disagree with, for example, that the last panel on page 111 is unclear (quite effective for the emotion IMO, though not perfect). I’m into software engineering, and to me the hacking is [visually] portrayed a bit… plain.

Yeah, it’s all relative, but one of the essential aspects of hacking I miss is: hacking (ie. cracking) requires observation and the ability to see patterns in and interpret (lots of) symbols/information in order to spot and exploit weaknesses or side effects. By symbols I don’t mean weird squigly characters, I mean anything that indicates some meaning. That symbol could be a window on your screen displaying a slight anomaly revealing an old software version with a certain workaround in it; or it could mean a hex-dump of a section of program memory splattered all over a display revealing a dangling pointer to unused memory; it could be a port scan’s results; or it could be a change in sound timbre of a certain virtual object indicative of a small change inside the simulation engine. These symbols are usually arcane to others, I guess in LIFE’s case because of sheer mass and complexity, but the trained mind knows how to observe, sift, understand and exploit the symbols it sees.

Don’t get me wrong: You don’t seem dumb (at all) when it comes to basic computer theory in the comic. And I think the idea of hacking with your mind / subconscious / nonphysical-connection to the VR like Kleya does is a very cool concept and quite “realistic” for the setting, I just don’t think hacking is being portrayed or regarded nearly as well as it could be, yet it is an important part of the story.

Ooh wait! Now I understand! The smiley thing says “Let’s all be NICE” and then serves headbonk+paralysis+scary-pink-damage onto anyone who violates its command of “be nice” (and attacking isn’t very nice!). That’s why Kleya goes all pacifist right after activating it.

I am concerned though that Kleya might be specializing way too much here; she needs to build up other combat skills to complement her main weapon.

PS: sorry for long post followed by double post!

Kleya acted a bit worried when she learned she could only equip one Special. Presumably she had another Special that either made a good combo with Nice or covered its weakness.

Of course, just because she’s been 100% relying on the Special so far doesn’t mean she doesn’t have some “normal” combat ability as well.

@plaintextman:
sure hacking isn’t really portrayed. The point is Kleya sees things normal people (all other characters and also readers) don’t. It makes Kleya something like a “mystic”.
Kleya does not show others how her specials etc. works. She keeps it a secret. We don’t need to know.
One other thing: If this comic was a “introduction to hacking” style-thingy it would be pretty boring. It’s more about the story. (just for the record: i study computing science)

@Zarylo
Ah yes, you make some good points, especially in hackers being as “mystics” to others. But heck, I’m practically a mystic to some people if I can notice the problem with their PC is that it’s not plugged in :P. I just wouldn’t like to see the comic perhaps go shallow with regards to hacking and computing (not that I strongly expect that) in the way that I’ve seen a few other stories do (Die Hard 4, for example, though mildly entertaining IMO, was rife with ridiculous “hacking” scenes, and the film’s authors would have done well to put a little effort into checking such things, even if not extensively).

So yeah, mainly that, and I thought that the hacking could be represented with something a little more interesting visually and such (though right now the yellow electricky stuff is nice and recognizable). AFAIK there is quite a difference between hacking and specials, the latter which I see as appropriately obscured program fragments. Hacking however, sounds like tearing open the guts of the VR (however subtly).

And of course, the story and characters is what I’ve read this for so far, and for which I will most likely keep reading!

Meh, I apologize for over-posting once again ^_^

Thanks for the compliments! I’m glad the characters and story are to your liking 😀

As for your critical feedback, I’m not quite sure I get what you’re trying to suggest. Would you mind giving examples as to what you hope to NOT see as well as what you’d find more visually interesting for the portrayal of hacking?

I most likely won’t change my current representation (I chose it for several reasons and it works with my -currently limited- art skills) but I am curious to see where you’re coming from.

Thanks so much for reading and commenting, though!

My pleasure! And nice to meet you (heh sort of). I see your point in that the current way you draw hacking is straightforward and not encumbering. As for what I’d like to see, maybe I should be ambitious and draw a fan-art! (kidding; I’m way out of practice) Thinking of it again (my opinion fluctuates depending on lack of sleep :P), the way you portray Kleya hacking isn’t bad, it just seems a little dull and without interaction. Like Kleya is using some passive ability, instead of actively hacking her way into the VR’s guts. Of course I understand that may be intentional too; that you aren’t introducing us to that part of Kleya’s world (yet / at all).

What I would not like to see… well, stuff that harm or shatter the suspension of disbelief, basically. It seems that even (hah! especially!) hollywood writers regularly have bad lapses in judgement as to what hacking is and can be. Example: in almost every mainstream movie that involves ‘hacking’ (Hackers, The Italian Job, Die Hard 4, National Treasure 2, Transformers 3D, the series Numbers) hackers find it /exceedingly/ easy to “access those security cameras” or stop the trafic or such. It’s just “bam!” and they have full control. Even command “every cubic inch of gas to that power station”, despite that the pipelines IRL, and very logically, have mechanical failsafes that prevent exactly that from being done.

My point condensed: It’s like hacking has this stigma of being all-conquering magic whenever, and only when, it suits the writers. They don’t try to make it ‘real’ or convincing, just use it as a quick slap-on solution to apply to the plot here and there.

NAV comic is bound to attract some attention and criticisms from software engineers and such; seems it happens to be me in this case, so I’m glad you appreciate my feedback 🙂 I’m definitely hanging around in the background reading, and I think I might be commenting on the hacking now and then.

As a fellow programmer, (though not an educated one, I’ll admit), I spent some time thinking about this in the story’s context. I usually try not to post my convoluted thought processess, but your idea’s and Aneeka’s response have made me want to pipe up.

Here’s the conclusion I came to based on what I’ve seen: Kleya’s not hacking directly. She (her account, her identity or possibly her mind itself) is laced with hacker subprograms of her own devising, which respond to subconsious commands. That’s why it seems rediculously easy for her to hack: because she’s already done all the hard work prior to this. Presumably she can’t uninstall them, or she wants an escape route in case she get’s found out, or maybe it’s just a security blanket she’s not strong enough to do without.

It also explains why her hack-vision keeps prompting/tempting her: “Add? +2, +5, +10”

I have no idea if Aneeka planned any of this out, if it’s a happy co-incidence, or if it’s an overly convoluted fanon explanation for a relatively simple plot-device, but what the hey, right?

…

As an addendum, I don’t think the hacking in Not A Villian will ever become the all-spark of plot simply because the plot itself revolves around it *not* being used. It doesn’t matter if hacking can seemingly do anything, because a lot of the tension in the story comes from her determination to not give in and use that power. So far we haven’t even seen her hack: she’s only tried it twice and both times was immediately curtailed by Hero Smiley.

Cheers!
Qu

I can offer another “in real life” bit here.

TL;DR version – I just assume all the “real” hacking takes place offscreen, because it takes too long and would be boring to watch.

Hacking is never a single command to take root access. A hacker takes control of one small component of a system, and then manipulates that system in such a way that it gives them more information, then leverages that information to get access to another system.

At no point does the hacker ever really see the information represented to them.

Most of the time, the first thing a hacker tries will not work. Nor will the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and so on. My friends (who are more hackers than I am) once joked that if Hollywood were to accurately portray an attack on Microsoft, it would just be a group of people sitting at computers in a dark basement drinking Mtn Dew and ordering pizza, telling bad jokes and laughing until one of them cheers, “I got the printers!” …followed by another montage of hours of bad jokes and Mtn Dew until someone finesses the printers to give them access to some unscrupulous employee’s machine, and from there to a sysadmin, then whatever their target was.

In the end, if works out, though. Since hacking takes so long and is so dull, no one would actually be “hacking” in the middle of a fight. On the other hand, a hacker might well have spent the past months combing for vulnerabilities, and have written scripts to exploit them to be deployed during the fight. All the “real” hacking takes place offscreen where it belongs. 😛

There is a lot of back-and-forth, though, and nearly always requires the hacker writing new code to run on the target machine. Coding is a lot like writing an essay (or drawing) in that it’s not a repetitive task that can be grilled to routine… so there’s some suspension of disbelief in Kleya’s being able to hack without meaning to, but it’s not as bad as some comments make it sound.

Bloody Mary being back in the Game could definitely spell bad news for Kleya. If she has to fight her, I’m not sure who would win. It sounds like Bloody Mary is a more powerful player, and therefore would likely have higher stats and possibly a Special as well, and she would likely figure out Kleya’s Special pretty quickly and find a way to avoid it. That would definitely be bad for Kleya. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Kleya won’t have to fight her, though we all know she probably will.

Oooh things are gonna get bloody! 😛

Wow what a special! I wish we could use it on the SOPA and PIPA Bill!

hm, the last 5 go to the ‘game’, semi finals are the last 4, so how is it decided who will be the 5th person?

The very next page shall answer this 🙂

@plaintextman
@Tim C
@Quasar
@anyone else interested

While I can’t say much for fear of spoilers, I do want to say that I get hacking and that I understand the fear of turning hacking into a ‘magic’ like Hollywood tends to do. This story won’t be doing that. Yes, currently, Kleya’s hacking looks very much like ‘magic’ but I’ve been dropping hints and once the story delves further into her background, you’ll see why. Actually, Quasar is on the right track and I’m glad to see my hints are being picked up on. Yay 😀

I should probably add that, though I intend to make Kleya’s hacking mostly realistic, I will be taking some artistic license 😛 Makes a better story that way.

Squee! I was on the right track about something! 😀

The amount of depth you’re imbuing this story with is astonishing. As always, can’t wait to see how it develops from here.

PS: I admit to feeling kind of sorry for Morgana Elite. She seemed like a nice person.

Interesting.

That josses the “superbrain capable of hacking anything in seconds” hypothesis, at least partially. Rather, if she is such a character, it’s because of genetic engineering or cybernetic enhancements… the latter of which seem totally plausible with the technology that exists in the world.

Kudos for keeping us guessing, Aneeka!

PS. I don’t feel sorry for Morgana Elite at all… maybe because I read all her lines in the voice of someone I hated back in high school.

Sounds great. And artistic license FTW!

Not A Villain Webcomic

Webcomic of a semi- reformed hacker trying to redeem herself in a post- apocalyptic world she may have created.

‘Not A Villain’ Webcomic – Page 119