Re: Scrab discussion from Ask the Staff

[Seeker]

I agree their description could use a serious make-over.


Seeker

[IAmJacksOpinion]

Yeah. Scrabs are a huge part of Arm. They're early victims of newbs, they're relentlessly used as training tools for Wyverns, Militia, Bynners, and nearly every other military unit in the South. I think they deserve a better description and by gum I'm gonna write up what I think would be a good one.

Most seem to agree that a scrab would look like a Scarab (personally, this is how I viewed them too)




The game describes them as being big black bugs who move around on four hind legs while using the front pair to pick along at the ground and manipulate stuff.  

So, I'm pretty sure this is what a scrab looks like (albeit a different color). So, having had too much coffee this evening, I'm gonna write up a description right now and submit it on the double! I encourage others to do the same as I am a terrible writer.

[bloodfromstone]

They are supposed to look similar to a mantis, though. I think they're more slender and gangly than a beetle.

[Hymwen]

I've never seen a scrab, but I imagined the meat tasting sort of like crab meat.

Imagine all the scrabple... livin life in peace... ooohh oooohh wooo-oooo, ooooo-ooooo-ooooo.

You might say I'm a dreamer... but I'm not the only one.

Funny pun on a typo, but that's not a Beatles song. John Lennon wrote it after they disbanded.

[amoeba]

none of you answered my question. i demand an answer now. *little kid*

http://www.armageddon.org/general/beasts.html#scrab

Scrab : Occasionally confused for a mantis at a distance

[InsertCleverNameHere]

I know I've read the description of scrabs more than once, but 3 seconds later I always forget that they resemble mantis at all, and picture them more like scarabs. Not sure why, though perhaps it's just the word scarab and scrab are so similar, it has to do with association *shrug* Personally, I'd like them to be more like scrabs. I'd write up a desc, but we want them to look good too.

Oh and on a side note, did anyone else look at that Dark Sun page, Monsters of Athas? Clearly Arm is very similar... Templars are at the top of the list of monsters!! HA!

[Aldiel]

Anyone an artist, we need to get more picks up on the web.  Descriptions are so subjective.  I suppose I kind of like that aspect, but I really think we should have some consistancy here.  This thread somewhat proves that.

[amoeba]

Anyone an artist, we need to get more picks up on the web.  Descriptions are so subjective.  I suppose I kind of like that aspect, but I really think we should have some consistancy here.  This thread somewhat proves that.

I agree with that. Often we get, aometimes snarkily, directed to a dark sun site, but as this discussion shows, there are differences there.  Nothing like an image to build a strong mental picture of what you are killing/fleeing from/being eaten by.

[Dakkon Black]

I've done several pics for arm, they should all be up on the website.

I think I'll do a bunch more

[Cale_Knight]

Will you link to a few of yours?

[IAmJacksOpinion]

Code Select Expand

Scrab : Occasionally confused for a mantis at a distance, these large insectoids of the southern deserts lack the pack mentality and the intelligence of their far more successful cousins. While strong and dangerous, these scavenging predators are often taken down by organized hunters for their thick chitin, which is commonly used in a variety of armors. The upper-class of the south have been known to consider scrab-head as a nutritional delicacy.

Daaamn! I've read through that page a thousand times, but I've always overlooked that part. I always said to myself "Scrab, why bother to read? It's just a black beetle. Bahamet? Isn't that a Babylonian thing? Oooh. I'm gonna read that..." Now I feel retarded for not having read it.

*sob* And all these years, *sob* I went along thinking they were bugs. Well, this'll change my outlook on scrab hunting in the future.

Now I really, really wish I could draw. If I could draw like my buddies Andy or Ethan, I would totally put in my rendition of every single critter my PC came across. Actually, maybe I can coax one of those guys into doing a drawing of one...
:twisted: