Spiral Knights - Let's Pretend Mist Energy Still Exists (ed)

Let's Pretend Mist Energy Still Exists (ed)

6 replies [Last post]

Thu, 10/09/2014 - 11:08

Paintool

When the knights first landed on Cradle, the core exuded mass amounts of energy. This energy came in two formats: solid crystal energy and gaseous mist energy . This mist energy was so abundant that we could collect 100 units per day, and then throw the rest away like nobodies business. We had mist tanks and mist wells to hold it all. These were the LSD times. But one day we all woke up from our privledges and realized the mist disappeared; the core was no longer emitting such strong energy readings and energy now can only be obtained in it's solid state of matter.

So game changing dev notes aside, what could have happened to change the core's energy expenditure?

Could it perhaps be getting... weaker?

To further stretch a point, all elevators that needed power before have become charged indefinitely as to not require energy anymore.
So maybe not the sense that all this energy leaked was getting weaker, but rather more integrated.
The core wanted people to explore more.
And buy energy...

You know.

Instead of powering mecha knights and going to danger rooms for free.
Instead of bribing krogmo...
Instead of making gear at discount prices.

Because the core needs money... lots of money.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TL;DR

What are your theories for the canonical disappearance of mist?

Thu, 10/09/2014 - 11:37

Fehzor

Honestly it feels kind of wrong to do this... like, "theories" implies that there is some explanation that was created on purpose.

Energy cannot really make sense; it transcends and breaks the plot in two by nature of the fact that it was created entirely to monetize the game. If we are to look at it, we must ask where it came from, and then what we're paying for it, and that implies that knights have real world human currency that they trade to "the strangers" for the energy they receive. While it would be interesting to have the plot encompass this, the game isn't set up to do so. Beyond that though, energy wasn't created for the plot, it was forced upon it as a means of making money for the game. There cannot be theories about how energy fits into the plot because it just doesn't.

The best canonical explanation would be that the half of the knights realized that their goals were meaningless and stopped attempting to go down in the clockworks, flying off in small personalized space ships to other realms with newer and more entertaining goals. The strangers (and Spiral HQ) panicked, and stopped taxing the elevators to make them come back, and then colluded with the gremlins + swarm to create rarities, so that they could all safely consume the rich diet of human money that the knights magically secreted with their plastic cards. When that started to fail a bit, they had one of the strangers, Ian, create a huge number of flimsy but good looking armors to sell (via "Spiral HQ") using gambling tactics. Now some of the knights are fed up with the stranger stranger's stranger decisions and are leaving once again, but since in the past the knights have been angered by the stranger's words, the strangers are too scared to talk to them. I hope I didn't forget anything in that?

Thu, 10/09/2014 - 11:44

Vohtarak-Forum

im vohtarak, call me by that name

well if mist energy went away with elevator costs at the same time

the core decided "how about I use this extra stuff to power the elevators so knights dont have to"

pretty logical

Thu, 10/09/2014 - 12:29

Shidara

Mist Energy

My in-verse theory would be that we simply found another use for Mist Energy, which has been applied into possibly three or more solutions.

Solution one: The new energy suit.
Spiral Knight equipment has been upgraded and modified to store units of Mist Energy far more efficiently to a point where the increasing cost for subsequent energy revivals is no longer a factor. However, this is partially due to the new gimmick of the modified energy suit - its dormancy function.

After an emergency revive has been initialized, the energy suit will enter a state of dormancy to recover from the energy surge. This is partially to do with the fact that Mist Energy is no longer stored in conventional containers as previously but rather fused with the armour itself. To prevent hazards from excessive use of this function the energy suit has been programmed with the aforementioned dormancy state, which currently lasts about as long as it takes to reach a new depth. After recharging has been completed the suit will be charged with another emergency revival.

However, one drawback with its new design is that Mist Energy can no longer be transferred from the Knight, meaning that energizing dormant mecha knights and unlocked energy gates require the use of its solid counterpart, Crystal Energy.

[ Something that would put a hole in this theory is that a Knigth might have fallen within close proximity to the lift whilst still emerging the next depth with a recharged suit. The only explanation that could circumvent this is that the intermission lasts about as long as your average expedition of a depth. The following solution may also potentially prove to contradict this theory. This may call for a revision. ]

Solution two: Sparks of Life
After extensive research, Spiral HQ developed a method of condensing Mist Energy into a very potent unit of pure energy, powerful enough to discharge energy equivalent to 1,000 Crystal Energy units and is observed to cause the same effect. This unit has been dubbed the Spark of Life and has been mass produced in secrecy after its discovery. Though data on the date of its discovery and the beginning of its mass production is withheld by the HQ, it is estimated to have started approximately a year after stranding on Cradle.

Solution three: Lift Power Stations
In conjunction with the development of Sparks of Life, HQ had invested resources in constructing power stations to power the lifts connecting each depth in order to conserve Crystal Energy. Constructing each unit to absorb Mist Energy in a similar manner to personnel energy suits, each station is entirely self-sufficient allowing free use of the lift service by Knights.

Power Stations are located in areas shown to have a higher condensity of Mist Energy to ensure that each station is sufficiently capable of powering the assigned lift(s) with minimal chance of downtime where the station fails to absorb enough Mist Energy.

Due to the solutions mentioned above we no longer see Mist Energy used in the same manner as we were previously familiar with in exchange with other features and services created to benefit the Order on the long term.

Thu, 10/09/2014 - 13:34

Knight-Solaire

Error 404: subject not found

My little headcannon for this has always been a pretty simple one:

The gremlins found and plugged a leak in the Core's shell to [protect/contain] what's inside it, and as a side effect closed off the source of the mist energy. Around the same time, their engineers finally got the elevators connected to a central power grid, so they no longer needed to be individually powered to be used.

Meanwhile, after the disappearance of mist energy Spiral HQ discovered that the Sparks of Life (formerly a 5* shock material) could be used to provide enough power for a 'jump start' similar to the now-absent mist energy and ordered they be repurposed immediately.

Thu, 10/09/2014 - 13:36

Ironclaw-Mender

what what

Spiral HQ turned it all into deodorant.

Thu, 10/09/2014 - 14:28

Fangel

I've thought about this.

My thoughts are that knights have replaced their mist tank storage with a smaller and lightweight emergency revive. In the process of abandoning the mist tanks, research was funneled into turning that mist energy into energy that could power the elevators of the clockworks. Many energy surges of research made this possible.

So instead of having little bits of mist energy floating around and attaching to things, we have that stuff condensed into the lifts. On the lift, we recharge our emergency revives.

I think it would be great to bring back mist energy in some way honestly, just as a plot element not as a currency. Maybe the gremlins found a way to utilize this energy?

Search

Let's Pretend Mist Energy Still Exists (ed)