GSP's Halloween 2020 Brainstorming Thread (AO)

Once again, I’m collecting ideas at GridStream parties for Halloween brainstorming. After two weeks, I’ll curate them into a somewhat ordered list, we’ll put them in some semblance of order, and I’ll put a little more detail into our favorites, with reference images where appropriate. Then I’ll send those off to FC roughly two months before the event, hopefully about the time they’re looking for ideas of new stuff to add. So yeah, it has to start pretty early. I’ve just started that thread again for this Halloween. It probably should have been last week, but hopefully it’s close enough.

Posting the official list on the GSP forums and linking to it from the AO and SWL forums worked well so far, so let’s go with that again. On the GSP forums, I don’t have to worry about dividing the list between AO and SWL, and the post length and editing restrictions are much looser, so I can manage the list better as ideas come in.

If you have an idea you’d like to add to our list, the thread is at http://forums.gridstream.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=29877

If you’re too lazy to make a GSP forum account to post it, go ahead and tack it on here. I should see it and I can just copy it over.

Once I’ve finalized the list, I’ll post the whole thing here too, but separated into AO and SWL posts.

And yes, you can always just post your own suggestion any time you want, but I find that these threads, especially the discussions of them at parties, bring up a lot more ideas and more of them actually get posted in a big pile FC can more easily find. So let’s hear it. What do you want The Pumpkinman’s infinite Uncle-clones to bring you this year?

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For those who don’t follow the GSP forums and aren’t interested in the SWL side of the ideas, here’s just the AO-related ideas. If you want the whole list, they’re at that same link above.


To Michizure and Whomsoever Else may be interested in ideas for Halloween goodies for Anarchy Online,

Here’s GSP’s annual brainstorming contribution of Halloween ideas. They were collected over the course of two weeks of GSP parties, plus whatever was set aside since last year. Not a peep from Facebook, Twitter, or Forums, but we got a pretty good list anyway. GSP DJs, Dancers, and staff helped put them in order so I could fill in extra details on our favorites, but the whole list is here.

  1. [AO] remove gender restrictions from the holiday bikinis and boxers
    This isn’t anything new, just something that’s always bugged us. It’s only the holiday bikinis and boxers that are gender-locked, so we don’t really see a reason for it. I mean, obviously there are those who would prefer that Atroxes didn’t /want/ to rock a thong, but the consensus, at GSP at least, is that girls should be able to wear boxers and fair is fair. Besides, gender-locking is so 20th century.

  2. [AO] dress up the ICC statue
    I think this was originally a joke, but it turned out to be a popular one. There were several different ideas of what kind of Halloween costume would look good on that statue.

  • skinless Titan (that’s where it started, referring to Attack on Titan, obviously copyrighted, but it kept going…)
  • lion tamer
  • mankini
  • lion tamer in a mankini holding a giant ball of yarn
  • Captain Anarchy holding a broken pumpkin
  • mummy
  • pimp suit and coat and feather hat
  • ghost sheet
  • white tux with angel wings and halo
  1. [AO] Use the in-game billboards for spooky ads for other FC games
    Some of us remember the time when contextually disruptive ads played loudly, and very repetitively, on various in-game billboards. Games like Hide and Shriek or The Park or Secret World Legends, maybe even the Conan games, would all lend well to spooky ads that could be made thematically appropriate. Maybe Omni-Tek released a new VR adapter for historical 3rd millennium games from the dawn of computing. And that adapter will be available for Christmas, so pre-order your Halloween games now!

  2. [both] bouquet of black roses covered with spiderwebs
    Holdable, placeable, or both. Pretty self-explanatory. I’m undecided whether the roses should be withered, which is immediately creepier, or fresh, which would be really suspicious to have that much cobweb on it.

  3. [both] leet mascot costume
    Not a leet morph, but a big, bulky costume with a long tail and no arms, like a sports mascot. Could work like tank armor in AO, maybe? And if it has to have arms, maybe they just clip out from it and look like T-Rex arms? The tail wouldn’t necessarily have to wag, but if it just swung back and forth while running, that would be good. Or it could just be a static “hologram” of a leet that anchors to your back and if your arms and legs clip out of it, that’s probably still good enough to fool a reet.
    It would probably be easier to do the body and head in SWL, but I suppose the lack of arms and inability to animate without clipping all over would be an issue.

  4. [both] spiderweb teddy
    We’ve been asking for this one, or something like it, almost every year for a while now. Teddy, minidress, and bikini have all been suggested, but the basic idea is a skimpy little number made of black or silver strategically interwoven threads, patterned like a spider web. And it has to be skimpy. Like the Korean MMO endgame version of an evil sorceress who feels that naked just isn’t naughty enough. The kind of thing that would never stay within the games’ ratings if it wasn’t all glued in place.
    I couldn’t find adequate reference images, so I drew some myself and posted them on the GridStream forums.

  1. [AO] orange, pink, and green laser swords / lightsticks
    Like the Dusk/Dawn of the Xan swords or the Kyr’Ozch Energy Rapier, but in different colors. Or, if you don’t feel like adding more actual weapons, just shrink them down and make them 1 damage light sticks. Still fine for dancing with. Or directing landing shuttles.

  2. [AO] raven (black reet) pet
    That one’s pretty self-explanatory. Most of them would probably get named, “Quoth”. They probably say, “Not again,” when summoned, and “no more,” when they depart.

  3. [both] A raspberry beret and matching “not much more”
    We know hats aren’t really something AO is good at, but even if there are clipping issues, it’s worth a try. Just please don’t make it as big as a sombrero to get around the clipping and scaling.
    As for the “not much more”, the video from the song doesn’t show it. We only have his sly smirk and sultry tone to judge by. And the insinuation of a blue sky and clouds tuxedo. There was a suggestion for a bikini that matches the Mysterious Cloak elsewhere on this list. That would work. Or Miiir straps. Or a low-cut backless negligee.
    Or maybe a bodysuit that’s a little bit of purple and a whole lot of sheer, something like
    https://wickedweasel.com/en-us/product/empress-183-bodysuit?colour=41033
    I’m sure you can imagine something Prince would sing about but just barely fits the ratings.

  4. [AO] Hopefully Not the Bikini of Neleb
    A red eye for each cup, like the Secret World “Sight for Sore Eyes” top, but more black and purple nightmare styled. The description could have “Hey, my eyes are up… oh wait.” Or “The cleavage also gazes.”

  • Chest Implant of Perception not included.
  1. [both] X-ray swimsuit
    A skimpy version of the skeleton costume. One-piece would probably work better. A bikini would only have room for a couple inches of rib and a bit of pelvic bone.

  2. [AO] pet hovershark
    No lasers, just a shark that follows you around, hovering above the ground. Great for running screaming naked down the beach.

  3. [AO] Eldritch Minor Fright shoulder lantern
    It’s just a little eldritch horror, just a minor fright, like the “Not Really The Eye of Neleb” backpack, with tentacles, hovering over your shoulder and helping you see in the dark.
    Or it could be a “hovering” pet, like the balloons. It could even use Metaphysicist pet meshes and animations, with the front texture changed to Neleb’s eye.

  4. [both] Dreamcatcher bikini
    The first image that came to mind was mostly just string with a couple circular frames and a feather or two. On the bottom, a matching beaded leather thong belt with a few feathers hanging from it and a tiny breechcloth.
    But maybe that’s a little too culturally insensitive. There was some backlash about cultural appropriation along those same lines not long ago. I’m not an expert on those cultures or where the politically correct line is. Crocheted string bikinis with a vaguely dreamcatcher-shaped pattern on the chest are still plentiful on Etsy, though. I suppose something vaguely reminiscent must be safer than stealing stylistic elements.
    How about crocheted halter bikini top with diamond spiral cups, like a dreamcatcher, in earth tones, with an opaque sunburst in each center, and a tan thong with beads and tassels in matching colors on the side ties? No feathers. Feathers are no good for swimwear anyway. That ought to vaguely convey the style without actually mimicing any traditional dress that I know of.
    I can’t find any reference images of exactly what I’m describing, and I don’t really have time to draw it and send this in in time, but hopefully one of your artist types has an idea what I mean or has their own suitable ideas.
    [edit] I found one a week and a half later, of course. Not the coloring I had in mind, but this pattern / shape. https://www.instagram.com/p/CEMabsYnnP4 [/edit]

  5. [AO] respirator face masks
    Cybergoth style, with glowing/blinking neon green, pink, and yellow lights. Perhaps it actually counts as a helmet, but the AC is terrible except for Disease and Chemical. Just Googling “cybergoth respirator” comes up with too many images to pick one.

  6. [both] bikini that matches the inside of the Mysterious Cloak
    There’s a surprising lack of purple bikini in both AO and SWL. AO has a purple thong, but it’s a rare paid item from the shop and there’s no matching top.
    Just giving AO a bikini the same style as the other holiday bikinis, in the same color as the Mysterious Cloak, would be great. Or make it a few pixels skimpier, for the raspberry beret’s “not much more.” I’ve been suggesting an animated version of this, with a phantom grin that fades in and out, for years, but a plain purple bikini would definitely be better than none. And boxers. No gender restrictions, please.

  7. [both] haunted rags bikini
    Like a cross between the tentacle bikini and Uncle Pumpkinhead’s rags. Ragged black cloth cups with a couple holes, held up by dark brown straps that go silver at the shoulders, so it looks like crossed scythes from certain angles. Tattered cheeky bottoms, since they’d need to have a little more fabric than the other Halloween thongs to be tattered, with tiny undead teddy bears hanging (by the neck) from side ties.

  8. [AO] hovering shark shoulder lantern
    Like the shoulder angel and devil lanterns, but it’s a tiny shark.

  9. [both] Whompah Technician and Spaceship Janitor uniforms from NotAtAllSuspicious, Co.
    There was a whompah technician back in the old ICC Shuttleport, a.k.a. “Newbie Island,” but he didn’t have much of a uniform. Funny costumes should be more identifiable than that without having to read the label. I’m thinking this is more a reference to some unnamed series of old adventure games than anything canonical, anyway. Some local equivalent of such a parody. Kind of like the Captain Anarchy uniform, but for someone who’s totally not a hero, nor a villain, nor an anti-hero, not even a street urchin. A zero. Absolutely necessary for the world to work, but never even noticed by anyone in the story.

  10. [both] Cowbell of Antidote
    1HB weapon with a chance to proc a DoT removal on your team.

  11. [both] frozen trout cold-damage blunt melee weapon

  12. [AO] a wizard’s tower
    Some ancient mad nanomage died in his hidden tower a hundred years ago (time travel is dangerous and lonely) and left behind monsters, traps, spiders, rotting tomes, spider webs, crazy experiments, spiders, and high tech gear designed to look wizardy, like that stave of inferno, and then the nanos that kept it undetected all these years finally expired. And the spiders have taken over since he’s been gone.

  13. [AO] Halloween colored versions of the Christmas holiday holograms

  14. [both] Eldritch Zoidberg mask

  15. [both] Upside-down mask and/or backwards head

  16. [AO] pumpkin chalice
    like a small pumpkin held by the stem, with the bottom cut off so you can drink pumpkin wine out of it

  17. [AO] QL1-200 pirate pistol
    comparable to an decent froob pistol, but uses multi-melee so you can duel-wield it with a sword
    (like the updated Solar-Powered Pistol did by accident after the aborted attempt to make it use ammo when Arete was introduced)

  18. [both] blue moons bikini

  19. [AO] witchy cauldron

  20. [both] serrated herring for cutting down large trees to make a nice path between the shrubberies

  21. [AO] hunt escaped rollerpumpkins or something, maybe someone sabotaged the pet crystal factory and let them all loose, just to have somewhere else to spread out the loot tables

  22. [AO] prototype candy corn popper
    randomly either throws white popcorn-looking sparks or spawns an orange, white, and yellow marshmallow

  23. [AO] masquerade ball / Venetian carnival / domino / lorgnette masks

  24. [AO] Social recall beacon adjustable via screwdriver to teleport to the different social destinations city whompahs used to go to

  25. [AO] placeable jack-o-lanterns (preferably with flames inside)

  26. [AO] new candy item that randomly morphs you into one of the Halloween social pets

  27. [both] crime scene tape / police evidence bikinis

  28. [AO] devileet in a cage

  29. [AO] tombstone backpacks

  30. [both] werewolf paw mittens, head mask

  1. [both] crime scene tape / police evidence bikinis
  1. [both] flamenco dresses

  2. [AO] pie crust recipe to make pumpkinhead pies

  3. [both] spice pumpkins
    (that spice has to come from somewhere, right?)

  4. [AO] closet skeleton nanospray
    or placeable closet with skeleton in it

  5. [AO] surgical masks in different colors, like TSW has

  6. [both] TAFKAP costume
    purple assless chaps, wetlook thong, platform shoes and ruffle shirt open down to the belt

  7. [both] pumpkin spice latte
    (should be available starting at the anniversary, then maybe back it up to Valentine’s day, then Christmas…)

  8. [both] dusty demon chair vehicle

  9. [both] pumpkin, apple, and pumpkin with apple cookies

  10. [both] holdable hourglass item that matches the Scythe of the Harvester
    usable, like a Time/Space Enhanced Notum Crystal or Elemental Focus weapon

  11. [both] an even bigger coffee mug
    like the size of the New Year’s Crunk Goblet, with “DON’T SLEEP” on the side, in big, jittery letters

  12. [AO] spooky spider-y bookcase

  1. [AO] hand-held TP rolls
  1. [AO] Cerubin mask

  2. [AO] body pillows with a variety of different character pictures

  3. [AO] Ill-tempered laser bass decoration
    deep voiced dancing mounted fish with laser eyes

  4. [AO] even more fish-shaped ranged energy pistol
    or just re-skin one that already looks kinda fishy

Thanks again for reading and letting us participate in the making of festivities, and thanks for continuing to bring more festivites to our favorite worlds. I hope you found something useful, interesting, or at least amusing here and we’re all looking forward to seeing whatever our old pumpkin friend brings!

-Jezebelle

Wow, where the hell did that year go? But anyway:

COVID mask(s)-- one of the disposable kind maybe so it’s hanging off one ear & one N95 type that’s bloody.

Female Wonder Woman 1984 style armor

New backpack (I’m out of ideas but a new BP is ALWAYS a good thing)

Whoa, great stuff there, Jezebelle!

That link to Wicked Weasel is OMG. A girl definitely gotta shave for that one, eh?

Respirators and surgical masks were suggested separately. I’m not sure there’s enough difference between surgical masks and N95 masks to include both.

As for Wonder Woman, while I’d love to rock some shiny form fitting plate mail when I have to venture into a dungeon, that’s a little too copyrighted. And that’s not even her iconic costume. And AO doesn’t really do so well at shiny, anyway. We could ask for some lightweight metallic armor that’s not too skimpy to be useful, but still shaped enough to be a little sexy, but we can’t call it Wonder Woman’s armor. It would have to be something specifically vague, like “nano-woven honey polymer non-Newtonian ballistic cloth armor”. Which would also work for SWL, I suppose, although it wouldn’t actually have any armor stats there.

Oh yes. Almost everything on that site keeps waxing services and suppliers in business. It’s one of my favorite sites for examples of RL fashion that makes MMOs look prude. And that takes some effort for Korean games. Also one of my go-to links for when someone claims my in-game suggestions are unreasonably lascivious and real women would never buy or wear anything that scandalous. Well, someone is, and if it was /just/ the Sport Illustrated swimsuit models, their business wouldn’t be expanding like this.

It’s also just a lot of fun to virtually window shop there. And for the record, we do shave in SWL. In AO, no one really knows. Maybe that’s what one of the three seashells are for. Or maybe, since all our DNA is customized on arrival and nano-mechanically assembled, no one has to shave who doesn’t want to.

I rather like the old 1980’s Landing Strip…

A skeleton sitting on an electric chair at the end of the subway side branch (that noone ever goes to), doing energy dmg when approached (like a mini tower) and spawning a coffin when killed (like Loren) and black gift boxes (with a % chance to explode upon opening). On 1 hour respawn timer :slight_smile:

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Okay, I can make a note of these for next year, but see that big list a couple posts up? That was the finalized list I sent in last week. It’s possible that they still haven’t started yet and they might come here to see late additions, but it is a bit late. I’m on to collecting Christmas ideas tomorrow.

On that note, I just found an example of the “crocheted halter bikini top with diamond spiral and sunburst” I was trying to describe for the dreamcatcher bikini. Not this color, but this pattern / shape.


In case anyone’s still reading this for the Halloween ideas, or to find it again the next time this idea comes up.