Torn City Times

IIIlusionist [253384] — I often find myself clicking away in the city, checking on how the markets, stocks and other parts of Torn are doing. Most days go the same, I'll find a sheep plushie, browse things I can't afford...I'm living the dream! So you can imagine my surprise when I decide to click, hopefully, on the missions link in an attempt to spice up my daily Torn routine. I was greeted with something I have never seen before. Yep...stop drooling; missions have appeared on the horizon! Don't get overexcited yet though, they have just entered the testing phase. But based on what this reporter has seen so far, everything looks rather impressive. There is limited information at the moment as it is just in the testing phase and the missions available are limited, probably to ensure mission mechanics are functioning as expected. However, here are some of my initial thoughts based on the testing I have done so far. As mentioned before, there will be a number of mission...

IIIlusionist [253384] — As updates continue to roll out following the RESPO update, developers have given players many hints as to what to expect in the near, and not so near, future. This is a small coverage of the ongoing developments on potential upcoming updates. Be warned, these are not final versions and have by no means been finalized. First up, we have the introduction of specials ammunition and attachments for weapons. Special ammunition will most likely provide some benefit depending on the type of ammunition used on a weapon. Some of the ammunition that will be available is already visible in the Ammo Locker section. Attachments are also on the list of updates. There will be a variety of attachments that will add a bonus to accuracy, stealth, ammo capacity, magazines and more aspects of attacking. As demonstrated in the above image, there will be a number tiers/levels of attachments. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the benefit and harder the attachment will be to...

IIIlusionist [253384] — Memento Mori - an object kept as a reminder of the inevitability of death, such as a skull. Sounds like a nice place does it not? A gloomy place filled with rotting carcases and crushed skulls of unfortunate by-passers, or a bunch of night people holding skulls waiting for their inevitable doom to come claim them comes to mind. However, it turns out Memento Mori is just a name chosen for our next faction bio, who happen to be the complete opposite to the above description...well mostly. Memento Mori was created in 2009. It was bought by Tascon [209070] from Scampi [872103], along with UnFairlane [450963] and whiterose [365252]. The faction was initially named The Little House on the Prairie, and was to be a place of peace and tranquillity where Tascon and his close friends could relax and build on their stats. However, complaints from members that the name sounded to "wimpy" led to them changing the name to Memento Mori. Memento Mori only started t...

IIIlusionist [253384] — Over the years of Torn there have been few factions that people can say were the outright strongest faction at the time. There is normally a mix of factions fighting for top spot, which isn't a bad thing. In the past, the likes of BH, SUN, Inquest, Plague Family, Secret Service, PT-Family and 39th Street Killers have claimed, or were close to claiming, top spot for a time. However, there are even fewer factions that can say they have shown they are class above the rest for a long period of time, perhaps only two. Some would say HT dominated the faction scene in the early faction days, and now Just Fer Killin (JFK). Outkasts was where JFK stemmed from. In 2007, Outkasts were a mid-sized faction that didn't have the strongest players. Lacking the big stats and having a fair few members, made them a big target for larger factions to war and extort. So it wasn't long before Outkasts members came to the realisation that having a faction with only a few...

IIIlusionist [253384] — Obsession: the domination of ones' thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire etc. Everyone suffers from it at some point in their lives. It can be over women, men, food, work, education, thrills or games. It can be a dangerous thing, often hard to notice before you have been sucked in too far, with the claws of obsession clasped tightly around your mind. They can persist for years or vanish in an instant. Gaming is an addictive endeavour which can often turn into somewhat of an obsession - Torn is no exception. But the question is where is the line between playing a game with a passion, and becoming obsessed with a game? This is a tough question to answer, and views will differ greatly among players. Looking at Torn; there are some players that begin to twitch when they know they are on full energy and who set alarms to train. Is this obsession? Or is it just trying to progress in the game quicker - after all, training takes just ten seconds...

IIIlusionist [253384] — PT has been one of the strongest factions around since the very start of factions, and this has not changed much to this day. We will start with how PT gained independence. PT is short for Portugal and was created in 2005 by Badwolf [5736]. At the beginning of the year 2005, Badwolf joined a faction called The Family which was headed by Duke and Therah. By the time he was level 8 he co-led The Family 2, a sub faction of The Family. PT started as a Portuguese only faction, and Badwolf started recruiting whilst at The Family 2. He recruited Portuguese players from another game; the same one 201 members of HT came from (see HT article). Due to the amount of players he was able to recruit, he decided to create his own faction. Borrowing $700,000 from Duke, a hell of a lot of money in those days, he created the PT-Family which had the fifteen strongest Portuguese players. The loan to Duke was repaid and PT-Family gained Independence. So upon gaining independence, i...

IIIlusionist [253384] — For the next article we are going to be heading to the beach, so put on your speedos and bikinis. Long have players sat watching Itsi Bitsi Bikini members running around in their skimpy beach ware, and wondered what they do in their exclusive beach club, and now we shall find out. Itsi Bitsi Bikini was started by Pinky_Bikini [343323], and the number of days she has spent in the faction represents how long Itsi Bitsi Bikini has been around. The name was chosen as a bit of fun: "Imagine a faction gang wearing bikini and speedo chasing you down the street." Leaf_Bikini [351290] Itsi Bitsi Bikini were ranked around the 2000 mark when the ranking system came in to place. The faction was built on the idea that weak members could stick together and ward off stronger factions. They didn't start climbing the ranks straight away, instead practised chaining and working together to get stronger. Whilst honing their skills, they found that other stronger fa...

IIIlusionist [253384] — The Torn Easter Egg hunt marked the start of the new competition system, and was the first official competition since the RESPO update (excluding Christmas/community events). Competitions will now start on the 5th of the month and continue for 21 days. The "Scavenger Hunt", as it was first introduced, started way back in 2010, 1st April to be exact (13:15:08 to be even more exact). In 2010 you only needed to collect 6 eggs! This number was increased to 9 the following year, and some players continue to circulate rumors about an increase to 11 eggs - including a rainbow egg that will provide a special boost - yet to be officially announced. The new competition system introduces a new rewards system, building on the original idea of receiving exclusive rewards. Previously, the 9 different colored eggs were exchangeable for one golden egg collectible, points, and an honor bar. Under the new improvements, in addition to these rewards, players now gain t...

IIIlusionist [253384] — Subversive Alliance, commonly referred to as SA, are next on my hit list. Subversive Alliance is another faction that formed from a merger between two factions, Viking Legacy and CBB. Viking Legacy was a Scandinavian only faction, and sister faction to HT. In 2008, Viking Legacy and CBB merged and voted for a new name. "Subversive" to represent their new found strength, "Alliance" to represent the joining of the two factions. Daffy_D [110530] led SA and Htr [89581], SA's current leader, pays tribute to her: "SA would not be where it is today without the effort she put in to the faction." However, current leaders are just as important as old ones, and Htr [89581], 007 [370359] and Midknight [332505] have also done a great deal for the faction. The faction was built from 30 or so members to what it is today. Interestingly and unlike most factions, who opt to make use of committees and IRC to discuss faction business, SA uses the...

IIIlusionist [253384] — RESPO updates have been rolling out for the past couple of months, from the new interactive city map to the more recent Medical 2.0 update. Company 2.0 is now rolling out and seems to be going smoothly so far, with developers aiming to update 5 new companies a week. However, with more than 15,926 players (approximately 94% of players) in factions, perhaps one of the more anticipated updates is Faction/Warring 2.0. At the moment, players feelings about factions and warring are rather mixed. Some are excited for the upcoming changes to the war system and can't wait until it is implemented. On the other hand, other players hover over the "logout" button contemplating whether it will be for the last time. The current faction system seems to have been exhausted by many factions; the ranking system largely thought of as redundant or antiquated. In the current system, wars can last a mere few hours, and faction's respect keeps building up. However, ...