Torn City

[oustropique]

There was a thread about this a while ago, but I can't find it just to read and wouldn't want to necro anyway.

I started this about a month ago. It's a marathon, not a sprint, etc. But it's a long-running idle RPG that seems to have the 'freedom to play as you want' thing down. The whole set-up strikes me as like Stick RPG, but persistent.

I'm in a great faction for new players but struggling to find a worthwhile company to work for that has decent job specials and stat training but doesn't have a stick up it about minimum stats.

Do you play? Have you played? Any advice for me while I cane guides on the forums?

[Mister Six]

Is this the thing @Barry Admin was massively into?

Inspired by this thread, I just logged into it for the first time in (apparently) three years, having signed up but not really used it before. Dug a load of stuff out of the trash, joined the army, started getting an education in combat and bought a cat plushie for my shack and a Glock to defend myself (?) - not really sure what I'm doing, but my intrigue is piqed. 

[Barry Admin]

Is this the thing @Barry Admin was massively into?

Inspired by this thread, I just logged into it for the first time in (apparently) three years, having signed up but not really used it before. Dug a load of stuff out of the trash, joined the army, started getting an education in combat and bought a cat plushie for my shack and a Glock to defend myself (?) - not really sure what I'm doing, but my intrigue is piqed. 

Yeah I'm still completely in love with it, think it's one of the greatest games of all time, and that Ched is the most original and brilliant British game developer since David Braben and Jeff Minter.

I just hit 4.



I became a HOF leader, led almost all of PT-Calculated's ranked wars - starting back when I was still a helper - took them to Diamond and defended there for months. 

Then I got shafted.  I was involved in the second island war - the biggest war in the history of the game - from the planning stages onwards.  But the other leads in Calculated hated me and wanted me out as they thought I'd get rid of them if I took full control; HOF leadership is full of inactive cunts who don't like new blood and feel threatened by them, and shitty toxic helpers who jealously want you out so they can take your spot.  So they set me up and I decided to take the bait and get out of the group. I worked like fuck and wasn't appreciated.

Anyway, then a friend convinced me to take a chance and buy my own fac, and try cache farming. 

So I did.  And I love it. I have a little community of noobs now who I have 99.9% cultivated from green leaf status.  People who have played for one or two days.  And we've managed to stay in Platinum rank for over 6 months, making deals, and even winning two legitimate wars.  (Which was one of the best and most exhausting things I've ever done.  We're talking days and days of planning, no sleep, night raids, obsessive strategising and prep etc, all to beat two facs who very, very heavily outstatted us.)

I LOVE TORN.

[Barry Admin]

My custom artwork. I got a bot coded too lol. I keep a max of 40 players as I HATE to recruit and have been carrying the fac a lot.  Trying to sort that at the minute cause health/IRL stuff.

I shouldn't be on the map really, but WestWorld are letting me sit on their terts, so I'm doing so. It's pretty funny seeing as I was a CRyPTo lead during right up until PT kicked me out/I left.

[Mister Six]

And we've managed to stay in Platinum rank for over 6 months, making deals, and even winning two legitimate wars.  (Which was one of the best and most exhausting things I've ever done.  We're talking days and days of planning, no sleep, night raids, obsessive strategising and prep etc, all to beat two facs who very, very heavily outstatted us.)

See, this is the stuff that makes me think I probably shouldn't get into this. I've already been addicted to two shitty mobile phone games before (Marvel Strike Force and some other thing, I forget the name now) and getting addicted to an actually good one seems like a bad idea. I definitely can't let something like this intrude into my actual real life too much. So is it worth it if I just want to root around in garbage piles for gold chains and stuffed toys, and maybe do some one-player stuff?

[Barry Admin]

See, this is the stuff that makes me think I probably shouldn't get into this. I've already been addicted to two shitty mobile phone games before (Marvel Strike Force and some other thing, I forget the name now) and getting addicted to an actually good one seems like a bad idea. I definitely can't let something like this intrude into my actual real life too much. So is it worth it if I just want to root around in garbage piles for gold chains and stuffed toys, and maybe do some one-player stuff?

Yeah, it's worth it, it's a sandbox game, you don't have to be as mad as me :-D

One of the brilliant things about it is the moment when you realise how much of a sandbox it actually is.  You can play it however you want, and can take a creative approach to what you choose to do in the game.  I'd been involved in leadership from within my first few months of playing and just naturally gravitate towards organising things and looking after communities. 

The launch of Crimes 2.0 has meant the crimes side of the game has been massively expanded, so you can just grind crimes and enjoy the brilliant writing.  While hoking around in the dump.

It's a bit frustrating at the minute as the new chat system is SHITE and taking months to fix, but the real genius of the game is how much of a social experience it is.  And again, it's up to you how involved you want to get with that side of it. 

[oustropique]

Ooh, the plotting and intrigue gives me the same thrill I get from reading about EvE online.

I'm still getting to grips with things, and some of what Barry has said is still a bit alien to me at this point, but  -

it's up to you how involved you want to get with that side of it

- and I'm really into it as just a sandbox. I was scooped up very quickly into a faction otherwise I would have made this thread sooner.

Currently in salary negotiations with various company executives, and I got married to someone in my faction yesterday and it's a whole thing with rings and vows - a bit laughable but given how much the game focuses on depth throughout, fair enough.

I'm just gym training rather than racing to level 15 for international travel by mugging people and ending up underpowered.

The launch of Crimes 2.0

Should I be switching to this as a new user?

I definitely can't let something like this intrude into my actual real life too much

I treat it like an idle game, which I suppose is what it is. I log in every morning to do my daily (buy plushies from Bits n' Bobs and give them to a faction leader to sell for profit, netting some decent money), and every few hours to train and do crimes. Like Barry says, doesn't have to be a whole thing.

[Barry Admin]

@oustropique yes mate, Crimes 2.0 is the business, get swapped over.  The original system was just spamming buttons, but the depth and the writing in 2.0 is superb, you can see why it took 10 years or whatever. 

I'll try and think of some tips later when I'm not so tired.

Broadly, read baldr's guide, fill your bank to 2b.  The most powerful stat is NW - don't hoard shit, don't drink cans, sell almost everything and invest.  Again, fill that bank, then buy SYM stock block and sell the drug packs, don't open them - don't gamble at all, stay away from Russian Roulette, the casino ruins people's game.

For jobs, army isn't too bad early on.  Once you get some stats then a 3* or above Music Store should be easy to get into for gym progression.

Don't go mad happy jumping too soon, get some good gyms unlocked first.

Start taking 3 Xanax a day if you want to get serious and can afford it. Or at least 1 Xanax a day, you can manage that without needing to rehab.

Edit: For edu you want to do intro to biology > intravenous therapy so you get bloodbags unlocked.

Then do sports science, all of it.  The gains compound so it's important to get it done early.

[Goldentony]

Yeah I play every day still after the original thread Barry posted. Hadn't actually realised it was four years til I got the merit the other day!

I cannot say I even come close to thinking about coming close to anything our Baz has achieved but it's been cool seeing it happen. I've been playing v casually since signing up and think i'm about to get three years with the same faction (which has undergone a bit of a Trigger's Broom TBH) but thats one of the as mentioned benefits - there's a million ways to play this and they're all a lot of fun.

Christmas Town just ended which is probably my favourite yearly thing behind Halloween. Wish the Christmas Town map was available more of the year because its loads of fun just wandering round looking for presents and chests. Crimes 2.0 has been great too.

[Barry Admin]

@Goldentony I'm so happy you're still enjoying it! I meant to mail you the other day to see how you were getting on.

If I didn't have CaB to run, I'd throw myself fully into building a faction. I started sort of doing that with the cache farm, but again, I need to strip back a bit and stop trying to do everything myself. So for now I just run my little cache farm and see what happens next.  Leading a 100 player HOF fac was a thrill and an honour though, regardless of how it ended. They asked me back since, but I said no thank you.  I amazed myself there regarding what I was able to accomplish, though. Torn has had benefits I've translated to real life.

I'm not a big social guy IRL, but have made many great friends through this game.  Met some amazing people I love and chat to all the time. 

There's a quirky charm to Torn that you just don't get anywhere else.  And it has the best (comedy) writing out of any game I can think of, besides the GTA franchise.

[oustropique]

Just got buymugged for the princely sum of $1,800 or so. Some petty people on here.

[Barry Admin]

I don't mug much now as I don't have access to a good bot, and doing it manually is boring AF, but mugging and buymugging was a real thrill for a couple of years. Nailing an onliner with a buymug before he can bank is wildly exhilarating.

Merc work was the business, I loved that so much, 4m per hit, got to meet loads of interesting people and be involved in so many small and interesting wars. Generated a lot of salt too lol, people hate mercs.

Then I designed a major upgrade for the bot and someone went and coded it for me. Not many games where you can end up doing stuff like that, but the highest level of Torn gameplay revolves around scripts and bots and the API.

[Goldentony]

Just got buymugged for the princely sum of $1,800 or so. Some petty people on here.

im a big fan of the occasions where you finally get stronger than someone who fucks you over like this and then get to take great joy in fucking their head in non stop

[oustropique]

Nailing an onliner with a buymug before he can bank is wildly exhilarating.

I can totally appreciate that - I got got and that's the game, and what you're describing does sound pretty fun - just for two grand off the back of some morphine from a new player, you'd think the other person would have bigger fish to fry than to hospitalise me.

Hey ho. I've been sending all my gains to my spouse from hospital, so no harm done, really.

im a big fan of the occasions where you finally get stronger than someone who fucks you over like this and then get to take great joy in fucking their head in non stop

Absolutely - I've noted down their name and bookmarked their page. lmao

[Barry Admin]

Was just showing Goldentony what a maxed out 2b bank investment looks like, but I can afford to buy and sell the stock block for 10% also. But this is 3 months investment with 10/10 banking merits anyway:

You currently have an active investment account.
When the time is up, you may withdraw the $2,393,600,000 and start again

Because I'm dyscalculic I struggle like fuck with all the maths and financial stuff in the game, but I finally got to understand ROI and shit like that lol. So yeah, don't be sentimental and hoard crap, sell it all and fill your bank and roll over shorter term investments until you get it full.

[oustropique]

Because I'm dyscalculic I struggle like fuck with all the maths and financial stuff in the game

I think this is my issue as well. Even the 'selling a certain amount of stocks to get X money out of my 'bank account' is a crapshoot and I'm relying on what the game tells me.

Thanks, also, for the Crimes 2.0 tip, I was a bit wary because it's technically unfinished but I got about five extra merits out of it and I appreciate that that part of the game now has some structure and guidance to it. I'm making slightly more money off of it, too.

[Barry Admin]

I think this is my issue as well. Even the 'selling a certain amount of stocks to get X money out of my 'bank account' is a crapshoot and I'm relying on what the game tells me.

Yeah, all that stuff is painful for me.  But again, it's something I've worked at and have used to try to improve myself. 

I fucking HATED spreadsheets too, but am getting more comfortable with them now as I have to do payout sheets and appraisals etc.

Thanks, also, for the Crimes 2.0 tip, I was a bit wary because it's technically unfinished but I got about extra merits out of it and I appreciate that that part of the game now has some structure and guidance to it. I'm making slightly more money off of it, too.

No probs!  Cracking seems pretty decent money, once you get the rig edu done.

I haven't really kept up on the new meta with crimes, I'm just slowly enjoying them instead of bingeing on guides and trying to speedrun them all.

Top tip: When you see cameras or guards down in Big Al's, shoplift and you can get a chance at special ammo.  Special ammo is OP.  (Although HP rounds are generally shit and only good for farming damage from the mostly unarmoured NPC's.  Try and save special ammo for when you really need it.  TR rounds will greatly increase ACC; PI and INC will greatly increase damage.)

[oustropique]

Am I right in thinking that I can technically do any crime I'd like to now, rather than having to start at searching and work my way up some invisible ranking system to become effective in the other ones?

[Barry Admin]

I think so, but again, not really followed the meta much as I've been so busy.

Pretty sure that's right though, given they each have an individual crime skill rating. 

[oustropique]

Junked my 100k-a-day job with poor efficiency and working stat gains for a 50k one with something like 60% efficiency right now run by someone with a good head on their shoulders. The 1 million sign up bonus / incremental bonuses every star (with the second star coming tomorrow) and mentions of pay rises when the company starts making bank may have swung it too.

Getting it all into university stock for now as a makeshift bank / working towards what seems like the most useful dividend for me right now minus the interest rates one, and then when it amounts to something I'll get it invested in the bank properly.

[Barry Admin]

What's the job?

Yeah Edu is very good early on, I only have shite left to do. I progressively took my merits out of edu over the last two years. I'm all about warring and combat.

Spent all day working on plans for my fac. Have to bite the bullet and start recruiting. Having 99% very new, weak noobs is partly strategy on my part - they give bad rep in wars, so I say "let's make a deal, you let us win and we split the loot, and we'll make more cause we get the underdog bonus."

And yeah, 6 months in plat with eleven deal wins and two legitimate ones. It prints money.

Cache prices are really shitting the bed, but my top hitters are still making between 200m and 300m per war. And they mostly just speed chain me to bonuses.

[oustropique]

I'm at a hair salon now, which in many ways is not the adult novelty or law firm I wanted to be at, and the working stat gains I'm getting aren't intelligence oriented, but the job perks include experience and education time reduction are helpful, and it'll all build me up.

I'm raking in the merits, up to 14% education time reduction. Having to talk myself out of donating to throw money into the relevant stock for that, and keep remembering that going with hoarding wealth and letting it all fall into place naturally is the way to go.

[Mister Six]

How do I thank someone for busting me out of jail?

[Barry Admin]

How do I thank someone for busting me out of jail?

They're just working merits so you don't really have to, but if you wanna tip them anyway then I send them 12 beers with a "thanks mate" or something like that.

The very young players who send you like $5000 as a tip are very cute and usually get more sent back in return :-)

[Hobo]

I too logged in again after dumping my go to mobile timesink (the walking dead: survivors)

My age is 1408 but I'm level 7 and haven't a clue. I've taken the same paths as Mister Six, by joining the Army and taking a course, seemed my intelligence is my lowest stat so I've gone for that.

[Mister Six]

I'm 1413, so I'm guessing you were also inspired by Barry's thread a few years back @Hobo.

[Barry Admin]

I love that you guys are trying it again and having fun, Crimes 2.0 is epic innit.

I make a point of not doing achievement threads over there and I keep my head down a lot so people underestimate me or whatever, but I should post some stuff here as it's cool to show you guys.



(For non players, chains are where your team makes hits and if you go 5 minutes without one, the chain drops and resets. You are trying to get to certain points to slow down and take bonus hits.  So people were watching this round the clock for the entire 11 days, and if it had dropped, that was it, fucked, over, we wouldn't get the huge boost of respect at the end, or the new merit, or the feeling of achievement.)

That was fucking insane, I'm glad I didn't have to do another last year. 100k chains were finally released so the race was on. Our main fac took a load of our best guys to set a speed record but we still managed to take 2nd place.

So much planning for aaages. We had a nice budget for that chain too, but I spent the whole thing practicing rolling needles (aka the steroids you get from biology edu) so didn't make much if any cash.

Caused loads of drama as the fac members and even leaders were swapped about. Huge drama surrounded me, loads of abuse. Awful time.

But I'm a masochist so love to have achievements like this ticked off.

This is what happened to main...

https://www.torn.com/newspaper.php#!/articles/2378

Edit: You have to read the forum post and see the pic too: https://www.torn.com/forums.php#/p=threads&f=2&t=16303007&b=0&a=0

[Barry Admin]

Really pushing myself and stretching lately, going out of my comfort zone and taking more and more risks again.

Was exhausted as usual last night so was just frustrated enough to go, fuck it, let's try this recruiting shit then.

Managed to get a 82m player last night.  My recruiting style was: advanced search > beg > plead > cry

That was huge though, someone else to make war hits with me.  I'm over 3b so just need someone to handle the smaller guys and share the load.  Then today, 20 minutes before matchmaking, a 1b guy hit me up, and ended up jumping in for a war or two!

Then I matched with the guys who started me out in leadership nearly 4 years ago, and who I'm still friendly with, so we cut a deal. 

Eeeh, heard so much gossip today.  Game is amazing.  Love it so, so much.

[oustropique]

Quieter couple of days for me. Idly levelling, training, and going through Crimes 2.0, literally just got the metal detector for the beach, feel like I'm making good progress.

Already pining for the day where I can, to borrow a phrase from Goldentony, fuck my in-game spouse's head in over and over and provide for myself instead. I'm currently in faction-owned accommodation, wearing faction-owned armour and weapons, and it all feels very precarious.

About 13 days until I finish studying Intravenous (as I understand it that lets me both sell my blood for decent money and use it as a first-aid kit), and three days before I can do another bank investment.

Job going well, no second star yet but our efficiency is strong, so I'm actually earning working stats.

[Barry Admin]

Am I right in thinking that I can technically do any crime I'd like to now, rather than having to start at searching and work my way up some invisible ranking system to become effective in the other ones?

Returning to this, your latest post reminds me that their is perhaps some kind of natural progression through the crimes. But again, I don't think it's strictly necessary to follow it.

So you are gonna start finding enhancers and items that can be used in other crimes.

Like you can find bog roll through burglary I believe, and then can use it for setting cars on fire in disposal.

I don't think it's all strictly in order though.

Burglary gives you a lot of items. It's a really cool crime, I love it.

I'm still resisting reading the guides as I don't want to speedrun ten years of content.

I have realised though I should just leave some of the disposal crimes. Even though they're limited each day, some of them are just shite nerve and crime skill gain, so it's better to do something else instead.