I don’t, fuck them, why would i support a camp that only want me when i’m useful and already in position to get whatever i want anyway ?
And it would be pointless for both side, if i switch i am not to be trusted by them either and they aren’t to be trusted by me since they didn’t accept me until now.
I’ll fully admit it’s been a minute since I replayed CCH2, (and this is a Patreon exclusive but I don’t know how many folks on the thread are up to date on it, but I haven’t seen any CCH3 content either) so it’s possibly I’m missing or misremembering details that would color my thoughts differently, but I’ve always gotten the impression that the Savior vs Prestige allegiance measurement felt more notable than Savior vs Prestige vs Speck. Like … you’re at Speck. I’m pretty sure there are players who want to be able to get into Prestige or Savior but it can also feel like it’s a bit of a given that you like Speck?
If nothing else it’s the only school that really feels written entirely sympathetically. Prestige and Savior both feel like–setting aside that I adore Booksmart and will continue to do so in defiance of whatever various things she says and does or will say and will do–the text of CCH2 feels like it considers them on a pretty “jerk with a point” level at best, with it being up to player interpretation how much they might or might not have a point or how much they are or aren’t a jerk. Booksmart is controlling but wants to eliminate evil and pain in the world, so eh? MegaCat is a classic traditional hero but is … also super controlling and pretty militaristic, so also eh? (I mean, also everybody is secretive but so’s Tolly so I’m leaving that aside.) I mean I could sit here and rattle off points (Mendell is an ass, but so was Stunner in game 1 so it isn’t like “people who feel powerful can be jerks about it sometimes without necessarily being bad people” isn’t well established in the lore of the game; we can’t really know how honest the Smarts were but MegaCat didn’t even see the students so like, which is worse? I know what I think but that doesn’t make me correct) but it continues to mostly be a gut thing, whichever school the player thinks is more or less right. The MC feels very much at an arm’s length with all of the schools–the MC sees what the school has decided to show them, and nothing else.
Whereas in Speck, kind of all the “do I trust them” is just about Tolly in specific–and, here, I’m gonna put a pin in this and come back to it. But overall you get a way more sympathetic view of Speck. You know all of the students, you’re encouraged to bond and get close to at least a few of them. At one point the player is directly told “even the cast members you don’t know on an individual level have their own rich lives outside of what you’re made aware of,” in a humanizing scene you don’t get with characters who aren’t aligned with Speck.
Which is all a fairly long winded way of expressing that I feel like “Savior vs Prestige vs Speck” doesn’t really feel like a 3 way rivalry, either in scale or in characterization. Measuring the big schools up against Speck ends up with “who do you like better: your choices are two guys on bus yelling unsourced callout posts about each other or your mom,” or "who do you feel is better equipped to save the world from the most powerful and destructive forces that could possibly join forces: two guys who have budgets or, again, your mom, who’s a nice lady who it does seem like has more influence than you’ve been initially led to believe, but is still like, one lady working at a community college and I would like to repeat and emphasize that the other guys have budgets,"and the weighting feels so unequal as to stop me from really processing Speck as being an institution I should think about in the same terms as Savior or Prestige.
And coming back to the pin–whether or not you trust Speck is about whether or not you trust Tolly, so maybe instead of “Savior vs Prestige vs Speck” I should be thinking “Smarts vs MegaCat vs Tolly,” but that still feels pretty imbalanced. Tolly is still just a much more intimate and prominent character, so when I think about her and directions that she could go in it just feels a lot more open ended than with the Smarts or MegaCat. Revelations about Tolly are just by default going to have a much bigger impact on the MC–who knows her on a personal level, sees her regularly, and has their education and future tied up with her. If there’s a book 3 twist that Streetsmart is evil–alright, cool. We already know the MC isn’t on their level, so on some level it just matters less what they’re doing–but like, oh my gosh, book 3 reveal that Tolly is a robot alien sent from the future to murder all the birds and like, that’s gonna have some personal impact on my character. It has to, it can’t not. Like do my credits still count? Will they transfer when I inevitably find an alternate higher education than one led by the anti-bird-alien-bot? And I’m probably kind of sad about Tolly not being a person. If it turns out Booksmart isn’t a person I’ll also be sad but like, I didn’t really know her. We met like once. There’s just a level of personal investment with Speck and Tolly that’s unavoidable and that I don’t think Savior or Prestige will be able to (or care to) match by the time the “Speck vs Prestige vs Savior” match-up is going to start to have effects.
…Holy fucking shit, that’s one hell of a wall of text, biggest i’v seen on that thread XD
also i’m in on that whole killing all the birds business, let’s do what a meteor couldn’t and finish the dinosaur !
I want to add that we already went full ‘Defense of Helms’s deep’ for speck once, you can’t have an epic defense battle without getting attached.
Gotcha. Sorry for the late response, I never got any notification. I was never really intending to provoke anyone in my suggestion. I understand @MeltingPenguins that Booksmart’s personality would be altered, and I was just exploring the possibilities of why it won’t be possible.
I was never insisting on making this happen. Chill. I would write a fanfic if only I was capable of making stories up or I got more information to what Booksmart really is.
I also never wanted to throw her personality away for the RO, I mean, that’s the reason I suggested the idea in the first place, because she seemed mysteriously interesting. I just thought maybe there’s a way to make things work, and I have no clue what CCH 3 is gonna bring so I’m clueless to what’s happening on the beta and how severe the situation is in the story for a RO to even happen.
I’m looking forward for the next one.
CCH 1 and 2 were awesome and I can’t wait for 3. I bet you’re tired of hearing it, but I’m a huge fan. 
Yes honestly, I know we have friends at speck and it’s arguably the most moral but Prestige has the best training and the most experienced teachers. My mc wants to become the strongest he can be so he was always set on going there if he ever could.
Also a design question, why did you make the stat bonus mom times strictly limited to each mom archetype. Like how you only get speed and strength bonuses with cheerleader mom
I’d say saying Prestige has the best training would be false, they just have the most money and already only accept the elite, when you only take the already extraordinary, it’s not really hard to make them somewhat impressive.
While Speck pretty much take the bottom of the barrel and train them with some shoestring budget and yet the students can take on a member of the dozen by themself (one of the weakest but still) even if you send Hedonist away.
that’s like Ivan Drago’s training vs Rocky’s training, Rocky’s look freaking cheap but he is the one who end up the strongest in the end.
and their teachers aren’t really all that above the Speck teacher, i mean, Prestige does end up poaching Downfall from Speck after she get kicked out and Hedonist is more than qualified to handle an attack of the dozen too while also having to protect tons of weak inexperienced heroes or civilians.
the only real avantage prestige and savior probably have is in PR training and ‘stress resistance’ training (as Combat Wombat clearly lacked, the fight in Knowledge is power took everything out of him on that front).
See that’s the thing, if low levels are able to beat a high level with a shoestring budget training then imagine how strong students with even better training and abilities can do. (If we ignore plot armor)
Well Ivan’s training was high tech and top of the line Rocky’s was better mostly because he went 110% non stop. He pushed more then Ivan and that’s what let him win.
Now imagine how strong they would be if they went 110% with better equipment. They could outdo themselves due to having better “boost” essentially
Nothing say that Prestige or Savior have the same training as Speck but just with better equipement, for all we know, they are just throwing all their money to some ‘developped in laboratory’ training regiment that work on paper but ain’t worth shit in practice.
Well, it’s more like Rocky played with his strenght and just observed and learned from the russian land rather than the aseptized unpersonal training Ivan had gone through, Rocky’s training fitted his growth as a person and a boxer while Ivan had to fit his training rather than the other way, making him woefully unprepared to fight anyone that exceeded what his training regime considered ‘optimal’.
to get 110% with better equipement, you’d be better off with trying to get more fund for Speck rather try to jump to Savior where we have no reason to think they work as effectively on a basic level than Speck (the fact Speck is obtaining better results than Savior with less alone show that Savior just doesn’t have a ‘Speck but with budget’ training program, without forgetting how they over monitor their students, as shown when you call your friend who changed school).
Heh…
Savior is all about the prestige, prestige is all about a speck of what makes a hero, and speck’s all about saving people.
I swear I’m not high
I’ve got nothing, your right on all parts. Damn it now I need to rewatch the Rocky movies
I wish you taking down the wyern(?) had more impact on your reputation, all you get are some “Well done” 's from your teacher and a few “Wows” from your classmates, that’s all. The only non zenith dude just defeated a villain by himself while the whole school full of zeniths and speck entire police force didn’t do shit. The books are great nonetheless and I can’t wait for part 3. Keep up the good work Eric.
Late comer here 
The story is getting more intense. Too many hidden agenda. I couldn’t help but assume that the “hero” here is not truly hero, while the “villain” is… how do I say it, complicated I guess.
I don’t know who to trust anymore.
On my first playthrough when C-Wom died, it hits me really hard. He is too innocent to die like that. Thankfully his death is not scripted. But, it’s kinda disappointing that he’ll still be gone eventhough I could manage to keep him alive.
And for Tress… damn Tress, I like her just fine on CCH1. But the more I knew about her, the more I hate her.
While Stoic is the other way around, the more I knew her, the more I grow fond of her. I really hope she will be fully romanceable in CCH3. That was a sweet hug though 
And a little non game-breaking bug that I’ve found on issue 8 code:
*if (mcleader = "yes")
There simply isn't time to run after her. You have to figure out how to take down the Manipulator before she hurts Dean Tolly!
*goto distract_manip_pick
*else
*goto leader_now_8
CMIIW, but I think mcleader supposed to be teamleader. The if condition won’t trigger since mcleader value is numerical
Ah, I hope that particular scene isn’t very important. I really don’t want to request a patch this long after. Do you remember what Issue it was in?
And honestly there are lots of potential villains and heroes. I would expect some flips both ways as the climax draws nearer. Maybe Tress will win you over in Part 3!
It’s in issue 8, before Tress make a distraction to Manipulator. And it’s not a big deal though, only a little difference in text. Just feels a little weird if MC is already the leader.
Maybe I shouldn’t even bring that up in the first place.
Please surprise me 
Anyway, good luck for writing the part 3
I only want to know what will happen to Stoic since she doesn’t have her power anymore.
I want to know what happens to her as well. Hmmmmm.
Speaking of Stoic, check out Junha Kim’s Twitter page featuring fan art of Stoic and other CCH characters that even I, as a middle-aged dad and overall curmudgeon, can only describe as “adorable.”
Hey Eric_Moser, been a minute since ive been on here. Im currently reading the first book for the 9th time and i have finally understood the severity of little jacobs disease. For the love of all things, i think its inevitable that hes going to die in book three, but PLEASE dont make it to painful for us veterans. [Spoiler]Seriously, origami’s was hard enough[Spoiler]
I played the Knowledge is Power again. I really can’t seem to get over the fact that C-Wom has really left. Damn, I really wanted to see him kick Hedonist’s marble Zenith butt in a thrid rematch.
