Join NecroWatch... NOW!

Interested in becoming a full-time NecroTechnician? Of course you are! Who wouldn't want the fame and glory commonly associated with publically posting NecroNet scans, fame and glory lost on those survivors who scan and fail to report their scans. What's up with that? Just be sure to read the FAQ first so you know exactly what you're signing up for. Anywho, if you still want to join then just sign on the dotted line and provide the following information:

User Name - Who you are on the UD Wiki. Sure you could just sign your post and I would know, but this is more formal. What? I'm ALL about formality.
Profile(s) - Provide links to the characters you wish to dedicate to the job of providing NecroNet scans for NecroWatch. You are not limited to just one character, obviously, so long as your alts are not working together or within close proximity. But that just goes without saying.
Group Affiliation - Feel free to plug the group(s) associated with your character(s). I fully support shameless advertising.
Suburb(s) - List the suburbs you plan to cover. If your character(s) is mobile/nomadic then you can simply state "Malton". It's not necessary to report which characters will be reporting scans from which suburbs... after all it's healthy to be paranoid.

Please add your entry to the bottom of the signup list and that's it. Simple right? After that your name will be added to the Members List in the appropriate rank/alphabetical order and then you're official. Of course you don't need to become a NecroTechnician to report scans. In those instances please refer to the appropriate section (below) where you can post links to your NT scans.

User Name - Dr Mycroft Chris

Profile - Dr Mycroft Chris

Group Affiliation - MEMS

Suburb(s) - Currently at The Mighty Haslock.

--Dr Mycroft Chris 06:26, 31 March 2009 (BST)

User Name - Red Hawk One

Profile - Red Hawk One

Group Affiliation - KRFR DJ
Suburb(s) - Rhodenbank.

--Red Hawk One 09:07, 31 March 2009 (BST)

User Name - Cpl Adrian Shephard

Profile - Cpl Adrian Shephard

Group Affiliation - Freelance
Suburb(s) - Malton.

--Cpl Adrian Shephard 01:58, 6 April 2009 (BST)

User Name - Lorddragonfang

Profile - LordDragonfang

Group Affiliation - Randoms
Suburb(s) - Buttonville, Williamsville.

-- Lorddragonfang  ^Talk 02:49, 28 April 2009 (BST)

User Name - Dom0

Profile - Malcom Tucker Arthur Wolf

Group Affiliation - MCM and freelance respectivly
Suburb(s) - [[]], Greentownarea and Judgewood area for MT, Malton for AW.

--Dom0 17:31, 17 May 2009 (BST)

User Name - Uberursa

Profile - Uberursa

Group Affiliation - Independent
Suburb(s) - Malton
--Uberursa 04:10, 31 May 2009 (BST)

User Name - hermitek

Profile - hermitek

Group Affiliation - Independent
Suburb(s) - Malton
--Hermitek 08:28, 11 June 2009 (BST)

User Name - Tarkad

Profile - Tarkad

Group Affiliation - Division H
Suburb(s) - Malton
--Tarkad 16:10, 13 June 2009 (BST)

User Name - Jorin Sparhawk

Profile - Jorin Sparhawk

Group Affiliation - Independent 

Suburb(s) - Malton 

--Jorin Sparhawk 22:56, 23 August 2009 (BST)

User Name - Ungha

Profile - Ungha

Group Affiliation - Independent 

Suburb(s) - Pashenton, Santlerville, Raines Hill 

--Ungha 22:10 4 September 2009 (BST)

User Name - CrazyKraut

Profile - CrazyKraut

Group Affiliation - Soldiers of Crossman

Suburb(s) - Whole NW.

--CrazyKraut 15:43, 25 September 2009 (CEST)

User Name - Itsacon

Profile - Itsacon

Group Affiliation - independent

Suburb(s) - Malton

--Itsacon 15:40, 11 May 2009 (BST)

User Name - Catherine Athay

Profile - Catherine Athay

Group Affiliation - independent

Suburb(s) - Barrville

--Catherine Athay 15:02, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

General Topics

Do you want to chat with the people running Project: NecroWatch? Looking for an outlet through which you can express random thoughts and ideas? Well then this is the place for you, unless of course your post is of a more technical nature, in which case check the next section. But if your comments are generic, then just post them here being sure to keep the newest posts at the top.

Scan Image Issue

Is there a tool somewhere (e.g. a GreaseMonkey script) to create those map images? I noticed that the images linked from the NecroWatch page are all in the same style but if I take a snapshot of my browser window it looks slightly different (narrower and in a different font.)

And in the iWitness report it looks even worse:

--Catherine Athay 15:17, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

There are no GreaseMonkey scripts for NecroTech. The map images are just cropped screenshots. The image, however corrupt, still contains the number counts of scanable zeds. I'd say post it anyway, eventually you will figure out why it is happening.

What type of browser are you using?
Are you on Mac or PC?
Screen resolution may be a determinative factor

--Dr Mycroft Chris 16:59, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Necrotech perspective?

I recently checked the Community portal to see if I could do anything. That's when I came across the prior link. "Necrotech perspective?" That has Necrowatch written all over it. DOWN WITH DISORGANIZATION! Any ideas for directive 42-A? I just feel it should be a group effort (we may want to claim it with one of the awesome templates at our disposial like "this page detailing directive 42-A is under construction by the NecroWatch team").--Uberursa 22:12, 23 August 2009 (BST)

Give me some time, I'll get back to you in this; just saw your note. Thanks--Dr Mycroft Chris 14:59, 27 September 2009 (BST)

Ooops! too late, I am...there is no reference to Dir 42-A anymore at your link but if you could write up a monograph of sorts, work could commence.Thanks--Dr Mycroft Chris 01:17, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Announcing the creation of the NecroWatch Research Group

Hello again everyone. I want to invite you all to join me in attempting to unravel the remaining mysteries about the NecroTech machinery left around Malton. Silly discussion header notwithstanding, I'd like to take this opportunity to have a serious look at, particularly, the DNA Extractor device. There is appallingly little information about this device on the wiki, and there are a few glaring holes in our body of knowledge regarding the thing.--Citizen VI 01:55, 3 June 2009 (BST)

MOVED: here--Dr Mycroft Chris 01:20, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Scouting Reports for suburbs without NTs

As the leader for the Order of the Black Rose, I want to sincerely thank NecroWatch for the Scouting Reports posted in Crooketon, Mornington, and Reganbank. Since we are constantly moving through all of these areas, as well as Grigg Heights and Lerwill Heights, I cannot begin to say how valuable these are for these areas that lack NT buildings. Please continue this service! --Maverick ^{Talk - OBR 404} 13:16, 3 May 2009 (BST)

Thanks!--Dr Mycroft Chris 23:01, 3 May 2009 (BST)

Gone Fishing

Well I'm going fishing, for a while... maybe forever. I like fishing, what can I say? But seriously I can't say if I will be gone forever, as I returned once before, but for the time being I will be away and as a responsible adult I felt I was obligated to let everyone know. In the meantime, feel free to continue having fun with NecroWatch and try not to burn down the house while I'm gone. I expect the dishes done when I come back and I'll bring cake. Just joking. There will be no cake.

For those of you wondering why I'm departing UD (again), well UD takes up a lot of my free time, which by definition is "free" and thus available, however my friends have interested me in an old/new game that requires a lot of effort on my part to run. So as I have to choose one, I went with the ones my friends favoured... as none of them play UD (anymore). Anywho, I'm sure you'll all do nicely without me regardless. So good luck everyone and keep up the great work! --Mobius 13:16, 20 April 2009 (BST)

Free time is our only valuable asset. A game, or metagaming, by definition should be fun. If it becomes work, it's time to take a break and try something else. I hope your old/new game is not really about fishing, though ;) -- -Alka Selzer- ^{[ Talk - Map - Stuff ]} 18:35, 20 April 2009 (BST)

It was fine having you here and it shall not be the same; it's true you know...one man can make a difference, that's why we will never forgive you for it! ha ha ha !! Seriously, you set a high bar and we'll carry on, stiff upper lip and all that.--Dr Mycroft Chris 18:36, 20 April 2009 (BST)

Blackmore Watchkeeper

Well, I performed my scan of the Blackmore building today. The ribbon text says: `In addition, a silver skull is awarded for a scan reported on the 5th of November.', but I see no silver skull. How do I get one?

BTW, I gave our regards to the RRF. --Itsacon 06:13, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

Very correct observation! we will have to correct that. I just checked out your message to the RRF, liked it, cool--Dr Mycroft Chris 00:34, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

RIBBON DESIGN

INSTALLED--Dr Mycroft Chris 19:54, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Great work! I updated the code a bit so that the skull-ribbon replaces the normal ribbon. Normal tag is also no longer needed if skull-tag is included. --Itsacon 10:36, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the assist on the code, much appreciated--Dr Mycroft Chris 17:39, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Medal/Trophy Ribbon Suggestions

Everyone wants a pat on the back for a job well done. As some of you may have been around the proverbial block a few times and collected most or all the medal ribbons offered to date, you might be thinking it's time for NecroWatch to add some new medal ribbons. This is the place to discuss these suggestions. As always post the more current topics at the top of this section.

Suggested Ribbon Summary

NOTE: The following is a summary of existing ribbon suggestions after the debate over them has ended. These suggestions may have already been moved to the Archive, but in order to track them a summary is listed below. This post is not to be archived (obviously). If you have further comments on a suggested ribbon please start a new thread in this section titled after the ribbon.

Endurance Ribbon

Name: Ironclad Scanner
Category: Medal Ribbon
Description: A medal ribbon awarded to the NecroTechnician who reports 7 scans, 1 per day, from the same NT building (selected by the NecroTechnician) in a "red" (Very Dangerous) suburb. The suburb (i.e. Eastonwood) and/or NT building (i.e. The Blackmore Building) may, or may not, be predefined requirements for the ribbon.
Concerns/Alternates?: If famous locations are selected, this may cause ribbons to overlap, such as the Blackmore Watchkeeper or Eastonwood Tour of Duty. Perhaps it would be better to target suburbs based only on their danger status.

Marathon Ribbon

Name: Four Corners
Category: Medal/Trophy Ribbon
Description: A medal, or maybe trophy, ribbon which requires NecroTechnicians to report scans from the NTs within specific suburbs scattered across Malton. The NT reports may also be required in a specific order, similar to points in a race course. The first such ribbon would be awarded to any NecroTechnician who reported scans from the NTs located in each of the four corner suburbs (Dakerstown, Dulston, Miltown, New Arkham).
Concerns/Alternates?: Any NecroTechnician who has already reported from these 4 suburbs will automatically earn this as a medal ribbon.

There should be a time limit on this run, this way it has to be done anew regardless of previous scans;Flinley in Milltown, Trood in Dulston, Pask in Dakerstown,Mitchner in New Arkham for the circle but you could also criss-cross them too to make it intresting...14 days? I think previous scans don't count, you HAVE to make the run!--Dr Mycroft Chris 20:38, 4 May 2009 (BST)

Yah, you have to announce it here somewhere with a timestamp and then... run! That way, it may be a challenge. -- -Alka Selzer- ^{[ Talk - Map - Stuff ]} 22:10, 4 May 2009 (BST)

Ribbon Design:

Most Crowded Scan

Name: Mob Chaser
Category: Trophy Ribbon
Description: A trophy ribbon awarded to the NecroTechnician who reports a scan with the most zombies (total). This is a competition that runs through the entire year (January 1st to December 31st) with a winner declared on the first day of the new year. All reported scans must be made/linked via iWitness as proof. This trophy ribbon will be awarded on an annual basis and a list compiled of past winners.
Concerns/Alternates?: A year? Will people be interested in it for that long? How about running it for a month, annually, and the NecroTechnician who reports the largest total at the end of the month wins for that year.

Whoever has the highest number gets the ribbon, regardless of contest or time limits. Current winner has a the standard ribbon, past winners are allowed to keep the same ribbon but it is muted in brightness or somehow different but still recognizable as that ribbon. OR have a basic design that can be augmented like our NT scan # ribbon for the total number of zeds scanned. Over 100? 1 gold bar, over 200? 2 gold bars, etc...and of course, a magical over 1000 zed scan just so that we got something to reach for LOL--Dr Mycroft Chris 04:18, 4 April 2009 (BST)

Twin NTs Ribbon

Here's a thought, how about ribbons to celebrate scanning from Malton's "twin NTs", namely the Cheeke Building and the Haslock Building? As any NecroTechnician worth his salt knows these are the only NT buildings that share the same names in all of Malton, with their locations being in: Eastonwood, Ruddlebank, Chancelwood and Quarlesbank. The only overlap we would be looking at is with the NT in Eastonwood, as currently we have the Eastonwood Tour of Duty ribbon, which requires this NT to complete. As there are only 4 NTs, and 3 of them are relatively close together, I figure it's best to create one ribbon for all 4 of them. --Mobius 16:03, 6 April 2009 (BST)

Got my vote--Dr Mycroft Chris 03:46, 7 April 2009 (BST)

Ribbon Design:

INSTALLED--Dr Mycroft Chris 19:53, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

South Malton NT Ribbons

I am going to re-post this here as I think it deserves another chance to be discussed. It was pointed out a while back that most of the popular NT buildings which had their own ribbon (for when you report a scan from it) are all in north Malton. As such, I wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on what NTs in south Malton deserved credit for being famous in some way, and thus, deserved their own medal ribbon awarded to whomever posts a scan from that location. --Mobius 13:53, 1 April 2009 (BST)

I would love to nominate my home 'burb, Penny Heights, but for the life of me, all I got is that it is the only 'burb with 2 malls and always ends up being very attractive to both zombies and the PK crowd. Whittenside has a better reason as it is the home of the Feral Undead and Fort Perryn; getting scans there can be regularly difficult--Dr Mycroft Chris 22:47, 5 April 2009 (BST)

Hmmm, you may have a point with Whittenside. What we want are NT buildings that have historic value to them. Of the three NT buildings in Whittenside, which one do you believe should be the one most likely deserving of the ribbon medal? The Malcolm Building is the closest to the fort, but the Colglough Building is next to a hospital. I'm not familiar with the suburb myself, so I can hardly say which is the more famous location. --Mobius 14:03, 6 April 2009 (BST)

For South Malton, I am definitely picking Malcolm then. It was a constant struggle to get that scan which took me over a week for just one NT. The area is forever in an uproar between survivors & zeds. Must admit, I don't know if there is a dedicated NT crew there but if there was, they would have their work cut out for them. It's not as deadly as Blackmoore in Ridleybank...but its close--Dr Mycroft Chris 15:08, 6 April 2009 (BST)

Without having much history in UD - give the NT Buildings closest to both Forts a ribbon (maybe another for getting both Scans); and give the NT buildings in all 4 corners (farthest from center of map) a ribbon (maybe another for all 4). Seriously, it is not THAT hard to travel around in Malton. And it is fun, i must say. Remember, people tend to collect all they can get - they will still try to get "northern" ribbons as long as they exist. -- -Alka Selzer- ^{[ Talk - Map - Stuff ]} 23:11, 5 April 2009 (BST)

I take it then you are recommending ribbons for the Malcolm Building (Fort Perryn) and the Farmer Building (Fort Creedy). Then again there is already a ribbon medal for [the Morrish Building]], so I think Farmer NT wouldn't make the cut. There is the Maine Building... I suppose, but is that grasping at straws? For now maybe we should just consider the Malcolm Building in terms of Fort NTs. On the matter of 4-Corners, well, we have one already for the Pask Building in Dakerstown (mission accomplished). I cannot speak for the two south corners, but I do know a lot about the northeast corner. If there was a medal ribbon for Dulston it would most defeinitely be for the Whitlock Building, aka "The Fortress of Science". The key factor is that we want the ribbons to be associated with historic NT locations. --Mobius 14:03, 6 April 2009 (BST)

Hey Buddy! This is the SOUTH Malton thread, let's keep it straight...LOL:D, Anyway, joining in as well, I would recommend The Mighty Haslock in Chancelwood, I know, I know...it's way up North. But the scene of ever present zombie sieges because of THEM. Talk about an organized group of survivors, damn! They put a lot to shame--Dr Mycroft Chris 15:08, 6 April 2009 (BST)

Wait. You admonish me for talking about Dulston, and then you bring up Chancelwood? Not cool dude. ;P

I agree, Haslock has come up before primarily because of THEM running the show from Haslock NT. Huh. I just had a thought... Haslock is famous for something else too, it's one of two sets of NT buildings that share the same name. Now that may be worth considering for a different kind of ribbon medal... but on the matter at hand, yes, we should find out which NT building "south of the border" are worthy of praise. --Mobius 15:52, 6 April 2009 (BST)

THEM Tour of Duty

I think we ought to have a ribbon for completing a TOD with THEM at The Mighty Haslock. At least a month so that the tech has experience.--Dr Mycroft Chris 17:30, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

And how does THEM feel about that? :-) --Itsacon 06:02, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm sure they wouldn't have any problems with it; having motivated, involved NecroTechs at the ready is always welcome. I will contact THEM to get their blessing. Who knows, we might even get a few new NecroTechs out of it...--Dr Mycroft Chris 17:14, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Fair enough. How do you propose the requirements for the ribbon? A fixed number of scans over a certain period of time? --Itsacon ^{(Talk | Grungni | Ikhnaton)} 17:47, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

I wasn't even thinking of scans but at least 4 (1 per week) would do it. Haslock is a unique place. As far as I know, it is the only NT that is so ferociously manned and as such could be a good training ground for our members.--Dr Mycroft Chris 05:37, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Ribbon Design:

More Tours of Duty

We could possibly combine East and West Becktown, a total of 7 Necrotech facilities, and North and South Blythville, for a total of 5 Necrotech facilities.--ChuckWade87 14:12, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

That's certainly possible. --Mobius

Updating Old Scans Ribbon

Maybe also Assignments or "Missions". If a suburb or two are really, really outdated, NecroWatch offers an assignment to "go to suburb XYZ and update all scans, report back if done". Whoever volunteers first has 7(14?) days to complete this assignment and report back. Completing Assignments may also earn special ribbons. -- -Alka Selzer- ^{[ Talk - Map - Stuff ]} 19:41, 31 March 2009 (BST)

I think that this is a fine idea and an easy to one to accomplish. For example, when I was away from the game and returned in Feb '09, no one had updated the scans in Penny Heights' Rothwell NT since August...that's right, August of '08. This ribbon would be one of the easiest to get. Call it the "NT Reviver" kind of like the Ghost Ribbon but...oh! I got it..."The Flying Dutchman!" Always chasing the ghost NT buildings that never appear operational--Dr Mycroft Chris 10:23, 6 April 2009 (BST)

Now how did we move from more tour of duty ribbons (via combined suburbs) to chasing down NT buildings with old scans? This gets its own section. ;)

In my opinion there are usually two types of ribbon medals, the kind that was set in stone (i.e. the Blackmore Watchkeeper) and those "situational" ribbons that require proof the task was accomplished (i.e. Ghost Recon). Both require set rules, but especially in the case of situational ribbons, otherwise you may find out the ribbon's requirements were interpreted incorrectly. In this case it would make sense to possibly have a ribbon where you need to locate one or more NTs which have not had their scan image(s) updated within an extended period of time. As we already have Ghost Recon, which has a similar requirement, I would suggest the one for this ribbon have a much larger period... 6 months perhaps? An NT that hasn't been reported to in such a long period needs an update, and a ribbon would be the reward. Possibly the ribbon could have ranks, as suggested by Dr Mycroft for the "Most Crowded Scan". For example, 1 new scan (to replace a 6-month old scan) would give you the base-level bronze ribbon, >10 scans earns the silver ribbon, >20 scans earns the gold ribbon. That, or bars to signify ranks. --Mobius 16:17, 6 April 2009 (BST)

Just out of curiosity, when is an old scan replaced by the "missing" scan gif picture? -- -Alka Selzer- ^{[ Talk - Map - Stuff ]} 18:00, 6 April 2009 (BST)

Officially? We originally set it to 6 months. That was due to the fact that we had fewer hands on deck at the time and didn't want to be constantly viewing static. ;)

However that deadline could be shortened if we decide that we are providing scan more often. However, will that mess with your scan recon map? Since when a static scan is placed the signature often is updated, which might fool your template into thinking the scan was updated. Of course I have not examined your template closely, but I'm assuming that's how it works. If that's the case it might be better to leave it at 6 months and aim to have NecroTechnicians update the scan before then... still, it's debatable. --Mobius 15:14, 7 April 2009 (BST)

My script only cares about the Signature of the last scan to determine age. As static has no Signature with a timestamp, it assumes 90 days age for calculation and reports "90 days or older", but this can be changed. -- -Alka Selzer- ^{[ Talk - Map - Stuff ]} 07:02, 8 April 2009 (BST)

So what you're saying is if we blank the signature when a static scan is placed then it will default to 90 days? That works. We would only need to express upon everyone to not sign the template if they place the static, but rather either leave the old signature or delete it altogether (i.e. leave it blank). --Mobius 13:11, 8 April 2009 (BST)

Discussions: Improvements & Issues

If you're interested in NecroWatch, are full of new ideas or perhaps want to discuss existing ones, this is the place to do it. Here users can also post about any issues they've encountered, in the hopes of working out fixes. As always post the more current topics at the top of this section.

Scout reports overhaul

I've been working on giving the scout reports a bit of a facelift, as these are one of the few NecroWatch items that don't look slick and professional yet. Alka already made a good start with a template, I've expanded a bit on that so that it can convey both building status, survivor and zed count in the scouted area.

In addition to that, it is my intention to move the scout reports to individual pages, similar to the current User:NTScan/The_Building_Building pages. That way, a technician only has to update one page, and the scan can be shown on several pages, such as the scouting pages in the NecroWatch namespace, and maybe on the suburb or building page (I prefer the latter, similar to the NT scans).

I have an example of my suggestion for the new template in my Sandbox. What do you guys think? --Itsacon ^{(Talk | Grungni | Ikhnaton)} 13:36, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Impressive! I guess this also shows the building statuses? To further "advertise" this, is it possible to have a notifier on the 'burb page (for when the scout report is updated) and then just have the template automatically update everywhere else? We would definitely need a small tutorial on how to update. I must admit I like the sheer simplicity of just taking a screenshot of the 'burb and plugging the numbers in.--Dr Mycroft Chris 17:54, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Report NecroNet Scans

Do you have a NecroNet scan you're dying to share with NecroWatch? Too lazy/evil to update the it yourself? We understand, and in some cases, our sub-goal is to discourage people from thinking this job is easy so all our NecroTechnicians are treated almost like gods for performing actions that, without all the smoke and mirrors, are fairly straightforward. But rather than lose precious scan information we're stepping up to do the job for you. Just post a link to the iWitness report or image/screenshot with the scan. Be sure to date it, or else your timestamp will be considered the date/time the scan was taken. In the case of iWitness reports we use the provided MT (Malton Time). You will of course be given credit for any and all scans you post here. How awesome is that? No, don't think about it! Just believe us. Excellent.

All scans have been removed to their own page to reduce excess clutter here on the talk page. To see or post any scans go HERE--Dr Mycroft Chris 01:04, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Talk:NecroWatch

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