AC2 funny moments

[Art Blade]

hehe :) Pity I can't beat those pesky bards with their own lute  ;D

[PZ]

hehe :) Pity I can't beat those pesky bards with their own lute  ;D

LOL!  I nearly spit out my dinner when reading this one - I typically pick-pocket those pests so that they run off, but occasionally slit their throats because they have the uncanny ability to annoy you just when you need to be focused elsewhere.

[Art Blade]

That nearly made me choke on my smoked salmon, LOL! Yes, I either punch them in the face so they run away or I jump at them and stab them through the eyes with my hidden blades, and then  I loot their corpses  ;D

[PZ]

 ;D

[PZ]

I finished another play through the main missions just now.

Spoiler

When I was at the point where I was to try to assassinate Rodrigo Borgia with my clones, I used fists instead.  I grabbed and held Rodrigo to deliver the three punches after which he falls down.  I then pick him up and begin pummeling him again - repeated cycles until his health meter indicated that he was almost gone.  The funny part is that while being beaten to a pulp, he said things like "How long do you think you can keep this up?"  [as long as it takes, I thought while laughing] and "You are right to fear me" funny - it wasn't me being beaten like a dog - that man certainly has
chutzpah.

[Art Blade]

 ^+-+ :-X

[mandru]

Minstrels!   :D

I've read all 130 posts on this thread for a second time (the first time for the fun of it) to make sure I'm not repeating something one of you guys has already covered on dealing with them.  Art has mentioned carrying a big double bladed axe when confronted by them but I'll add to that concept in a bit.

The opening post of this subject thread touched on annoying minstrels and there have been a few other good tips for scraping these barnacles off your hull along the way.

My first method I picked up for dealing with these mosquitoes was a quick burst of speed straight into them. Being bumped hard causes them to drop their lutes with a stunned expression and then they flee (the fleas) crying things like "But I love you" or "But I wrote that song just for you, if you don't like it I'll write another".  I like it when I have three of them blocking my path all croaking different tunes and can score all three of them with the same bump.

The second method I discovered quite accidentally was a situation where again they were doing what minstrels do.

Typically I will switch to fists when I'm wandering around inside a town so that I don't accidentally slash down some poor fish monger or his wife but I'd just walked away from a discussion I'd had with a few guards over a chest they were protecting and hadn't switched back yet.  Because I'd sprinted for a bit my scimitar had been returned it's sheath by touching the space bar.

At this point I was blocked by three of the crooners.

I'd intended to just punch one of them in the face but because my sword slot was equipped when I tapped the button instead of delivering a knuckle antipasti I drew my sword and stood there glaring at them.  This was the moment where the trio discovered religion, dropped their noise boxes and ran screaming.

One of them actually displayed a remarkable latent talent for free running by going straight up the side of a building, leaping across the narrow street and eliciting warning shouts from an archer as he fled over the roof tops.

This would have been funny enough on it's own but the whole thing happened just a few paces away from a group of thugs for hire who were highly impressed. They cheered and pumped fists in the air and shouted accolades after me as I walked on up the street unmolested.

[PZ]

One of them actually displayed a remarkable latent talent for free running by going straight up the side of a building, leaping across the narrow street and eliciting warning shouts from an archer as he fled over the roof tops.

This would have been funny enough on it's own but the whole thing happened just a few paces away from a group of thugs for hire who were highly impressed. They cheered and pumped fists in the air and shouted accolades after me as I walked on up the street unmolested.

lol, that was a good one - I've not seen that action by the minstrels  :-X

[spaceboy]

I can totally picture it mandru - great story.  I too have never witnessed that. 

For some reason that part about the rooftop guards made me think of chasing theives, especially in Brotherhood.  I'll start after him to get my money back, but the guards are ruthless towards my foe.  and you know, an enemy of my enemy...  Since my beef with the theif is over a trifling 500f while my beef with the guards is a longstanding hatred of all they stand for, I often find myself taking on the theives' attackers and cheering him on as he flees to freedom.

[mandru]

Even though I'm at the point of stepping on the boat to Venice I'm still trying to figure out who I can kill and who I can't without risking desynchronization.  I've killed a thief two steps away from a squad of three patrolling guards and they didn't even blink but because I've not repeated that I don't know if that was the exception or the rule.   :-\\

It is possible to kill the town's folk before you talk to Ezio's father.  The first time I received the "Ezio did not kill citizens" slap it was because I'd grabbed a scholar (I think, they're the ones in the red robes, right?) turned him towards a low rail fronting the rived in Florence and dumped him in the drink.

If you cause the normal citizens to witness something really outrageous many of them can display prodigious free running skills.  I had one woman dash up the front of a doctor's cart and scramble up to a balcony.  ;D

Dead archer bodies falling from the rooftops can also liven things up for a while.   :-X

[Art Blade]

:)

Nice playgrounds for you, mandru  ;D  :-X

[mandru]

Yeah, I'm having some fun with it.   :)

There where you catch the boat into Venice I did see another funny thing.  As I was looting those treasure bearing gondolas one of the fishermen stepped off the pier proving they are at least as buoyant as the courtesans.  ;)

[mandru]

I'm enjoying the interaction with horses but they have some funny quirks.

First off they are so damn needy!   ????

I had been sent out on a stealth assassination mission in Forli an operative was being held and if her captors spotted me she's be killed.

Sizing up the situation I could see that there were a few obstacles outside of the mission parameters to clear out of the way namely 2 guard patrols and 2 rooftop archers that while all of them were not part of the task I was in a red zone and I didn't want them butting in at an awkward moment either.

I'd left my horse in what passes for the nearby Park and Ride lot with a couple of his other horsey friends to keep him company and then dashed between patrols to hang on the roof edge awaiting that archer to step within the kill zone.  As I was hanging there I heard my mount's plaintive cry behind me.  It was a flat roof top that I was hanging off of so I was able to quickly swivel the camera view behind me just in time to see my horse plow right over the top of the passing patrol knocking them a$$ over tea kettle.

It seems that when a patrol is marching their field of focus is mainly ahead of them but because this patrol had been interrupted in their route (and it was a low roof being just a single hop to grab the edge) I was suddenly in their field of awareness.  Because of their shouts the archer I was laying in wait for was also alerted and came dashing to my position shouting "You will not get away!"

This was the point where I discovered that the guards in this town had undergone more intensive training.  There was no chance for a clean hidden blade hit on the archer as he's switched to a mace so as I pulled up onto the roof I'd changed over to "Fists" so I could make a quick kill through a disarm and counter kill move.  Then with time allowing, reequipping hidden blades and hopefully catch a couple guards still on the ground flat footed with a double air attack.  At least that had been the plan.   :-X

When I keyed the disarm move the bugger blocked me and gave me a chop in the kisser for my efforts.    :-[

Another disarm attempt received another counter (I'd used a right dodge to avoid the return blow) but I could see gloves grasping the roof edge and the cries of alert from the 2nd patrol group rounding the corner they'd become aware that there was a clam bake party going on which was all compounded by the fact that an arrow from the 2nd archer had just whizzed past and I knew that things were about to get hairy.    :o

  The frantic sound of my horse dashing back and forth below calling for me was the icing on the cake.   :D

I was grateful for the fact that I was equipped in full steel kit and packing the scimitar as I backed myself into a roof corner out of sight of the 2nd archer and to limit the guards options for approach me.  It was a Gala event, I was the belle of the ball and all the boys wanted to make sure they were on my dance card (or ballspende as Art may know it).

***(In retrospect I have to remember that a well timed smoke bomb is perfect for that kind of mob scene to use the confusion to shift things back into my favor but it's my first play through and I'm still figuring things out as I go.  Hmm... maybe a smoke bomb will make horses forget how much they love me or at least cover up which direction I'd gone and get it to stop following me while I'm attempting to be stealthy.  There's still so much to explore.)***


Another note on horses when approaching one of those arched cobble bridges in Forli.  Drop out of gallop before attempting a crossing.   :o

During a race event I hit one of those bridges at full tilt, the horse's feet flew out from under him and it was suddenly rodeo clown time.  It must have been rush hour as the bridge and approach roads were packed with a lot of foot traffic when it happened.  In a culture where horse traffic is so prevalent the pedestrians show an alarming lack of a sense of self preservation where equine traffic is involved and they kept trying to pack onto the bridge.

The now furious horse turned sideways at the very apex of the bridge set about bucking and kicking every nearby target (real and imaginary) to vent it's frustration.  It wouldn't allow me to remount for about 30 seconds (costing me that round of the race).


*** Maybe this part should be split to another thread.  It's not funny I put it here as it was still on the subject of horses. ***

I've not seen mention of this elsewhere here on OWG though I did do a forum search for "Mountain" and screened for the AC2 results but after the mission to drive Leonardo over the pass you can go back to Florence and return to the mountain way stop where you met up with Leonardo.  There is fantastically scenic pass crossing that you really don't get a chance to enjoy on your first dash through.

I think the programmers spent a fantastic amount of design effort and wanted to make sure the players had a chance to actually see it at a less frantic pace.  It's really beautiful and I would suggest the tourist's crossing taking time to get off your horse and look over some of the roadside vistas.

I went through at sunset, and was inspired to make a return trip with a full moon rising.  It was glorious.  :-X

There are quite a few chests to loot with 3 or 4 k pay off (possibly more as I lost count because cash isn't a concern for me) and a roadside ruin to explore but for me it's all about the views along the way.  Wow! 

I plan on keying that sequence up and letting my wife take that enjoyable meander into Forli because there is no possible conflict along the route, I know that she will be impressed with the views as well as the feel of the feed back from the horse (the easy controls for riding are a big game plus) and it may get her on board towards a copy of AC Brotherhood on the PC.   ;)  >:D

[Art Blade]

nice impressions there, mandru :) Funny actually, I never had those issues with my ride. Hehe  ^-^

And regarding "ballspende" -- no idea what that is, mate... Looks like comprised of "Ball" and "Spende" -- Ball meaning a prom or a ball, in this case (combined with Spende) more likely a prom, and Spende meaning a donation.. so a donation for a prom  ????

[mandru]

Sorry mate, Wiki gives the German word ballspende as another name for a dance card, the little booklet with an attached pencil that the ladies kept containing a list of the song titles, what type of dance it was (i.e. two step, waltz and so on) that would be played during the program and the partners she had promised to dance with throughout that evening at a sponsored ball.

Popular young women at dances were always well booked which I think is the source of the idiom "Booked solid".

It also gave them something to have as a souvenir afterwords as a keepsake of the event.

[Art Blade]

That gave me the idea to go for the English wiki first, then check the left hand link to the German counterpart, where I learned that it is actually originating from Austria (they do speak German with a few different expressions and pronunciation) hence the word is unfamiliar here in Germany. Now in that article was another link which uses an alternative word (Damenspende) and it explains that indeed it is a donation (Spende) or a gift, a present, from the promoter/ host of the ball for ladies invited to/attending the prom -- specifically the Vienna Opera Ball (which is/was a VIP /high class people's event). The first link shows some of those gifts, the second/third are about the V.O.B. (English/German, different pics)

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damenspende

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Opera_Ball

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Opernball

:)

[PZ]

...There are quite a few chests to loot with 3 or 4 k pay off (possibly more as I lost count because cash isn't a concern for me) and a roadside ruin to explore but for me it's all about the views along the way.  Wow! 

I think that the developers encourage you to explore for these chests just so that you can experience the beautiful landscape (or other features they would like you to see)

I plan on keying that sequence up and letting my wife take that enjoyable meander into Forli because there is no possible conflict along the route, I know that she will be impressed with the views as well as the feel of the feed back from the horse (the easy controls for riding are a big game plus) and it may get her on board towards a copy of AC Brotherhood on the PC.   ;)  >:D

I know that you'll be successful with the "educational" approach, mandru  :-X

[mandru]

The saddle trip over the Apennines was a big hit.   ^-^

I'm pretty sure I've hooked her for another go sometime soon with the line "You know the view is completely different when you hit it from the other direction.  Ain't I a stinker?   >:D

Also a quick note for clarification.  The total florins that can be collected going over the pass is 3 or 4K not several chests that pay off 3 or 4K each.  I realized that was unclear when you quoted me PZ.   :-X

[PZ]

I'm pretty sure I've hooked her for another go sometime soon with the line "You know the view is completely different when you hit it from the other direction.  Ain't I a stinker?   >:D

^+-+

[mandru]

Ok, I searched for "Lucy" and for "finger" to see if anyone else had caught this and posted on it with no hits in the results so I'll toss it out here.

I encountered a continuity error in the very game start of AC2.  When Lucy comes in to break Desmond out of his cell she shows him her hand with a missing ring finger which I think Desmond recognizes from digging into the past about Altair that she is an assassin so he decides to go along with her.

However, once they are back at the assassin's lair to the point where he is being instructed to climb into the animus machine "Baby" if you look at Lucy's hands as she is at her desk typing on the computer she has all of her fingers!

Oops!

[Art Blade]

I reckon they did create that scene with the Animus previous to the scene with Desmond..

"Sorry, baby, you've got to do this. It's only one finger. See, you're an assassin and Desmond needs to know that. And stop crying, for heaven's sake, you'll get some sweets later!"

[mandru]

 ;D

[PZ]

Good catch mandru - I'd noticed the missing finger, but not the one that had regrown.  :-()

[mandru]

Trying to check this out further online I Googled Lucy's missing finger and there seems to be some argument going on that Lucy isn't really missing a finger.  Some sites are suggesting that she bent the finger in the assassin's sign to identify herself to Desmond.

So I may have jumped the gun on this one but still if it had been the intent of the developers for her to just give the recognition sign to Desmond then they should have shown the complete gesture removing all doubt of a continuity error.

[PZ]

Well, I have no idea if this is true, but offhand, I'd think that she was just faking it for Desmond's sake.  If she really had a finger missing, then she'd likely want to keep wearing the hidden blade because of the pain she had to endure to get it on in the first place.  :-()