#and a lot of things are just up to RNG and game knowledge so it's all up to a literal coin flip at times

[love-at-first-bite]

WHO SAID THAT!?!?

#victor beeps #i don't think termina is easy per-say. i think it has a good difficulty and yeah some things are trial and error (a lot of things) #but MAAAAN compared to the first game you could say it is easy cause F&H 1 - i'll be honest - a slog #like the THIRTY MINUTE TIME LIMIT in a ROUGE-LITE. HELLO????? i can't find my ASS in that time here much less a whole MAN #and a lot of things are just up to RNG and game knowledge so it's all up to a literal coin flip at times #like my marina run was STACKED. got a good weapon early and started with necromancy and dodged so many attacks it was great #meanwhile levi's run was awful from start to finish. i got nothing good i had terrible death mask spawns it was a struggle #ANYWAY i'm excited for the update. i trust they won't just ''enemies hit harder you hit softer bye.'' like it's said #i DO think some things need nerfs...o'saa's tree is a little busted #IN CONCLUSION! DO i think termina is easy? not really! on it's own. compare it to the first game and yes. yes it is easy #at the end of the day a lot of it comes down to rng and game knowledge so while the game may feel impossible at first- #-by your second or third playthrough you should have a solid grasp on a lot of the most important things #(like Needles. the pav/marcoh/tanaka scene. how to save samarie. ect) #and there is an easy(er) mode! don't let people shame you for only playing it on that difficulty! #ANYWAY HIIII GOOD MORNING :3 this is the first thing I saw after waking up and i'm insane about termina rn sooo :] #if you read all this hiiiii i love you~ thank you for listening to my silly video game talk

[slashmagpie]

Gem’s pretty sure Tango’s dungeon hates her.

The other hermits? They get nice, easy artefacts. Lots of embers. They get keys. Gem? Gem gets nothing. Gem gets max clank looking for a key and then pulls out a stinking Pearl of Cleansing, which, she loves Pearl, she does, but she gets more than enough of her neighbour at home, and also she thinks she deserves more than fourteen embers for the pain that she has to go through. 

She’s told Tango, of course, told him to fix his game, but he just laughs and tells her it’s bad RNG. That’s the logical, reasonable explanation, and it makes sense, except it doesn’t. Gem’s seen other hermits get keys just fine. It just hates her, for some reason she can’t fathom.

…Oh, yeah, and there’s the whole… watching other hermits get keys thing.

It’s not—she’s not cheating. Tango had banned exploring the dungeon when not playing the game, through any means: astral projection and dream walking and drones and hidden cameras alike, all of them are illegal and will be met with swift punishment. Gem hasn’t been doing that. She wouldn’t break the rules! But—well, it’s hard to explain. Sometimes she blinks and she isn’t looking through her own eyes anymore. Sometimes she blinks, and she’s much, much larger than her body, and she’s somewhere deep within the dungeon, watching someone else run.

She’s surprised Tango hasn’t caught her yet. She knows he’s there somewhere too, in the dungeon, watching with eyes that aren’t his own. She doesn’t know how she knows that, exactly, but—she knows. It’s like…

Gem can’t sleep much anymore, is the thing. At least not in her own bed. Every time she tries to go home, go back to her base and get some progress done, she finds herself restless and itching to return to the Frozen Citadel. It doesn’t matter that she’s out of shards for the week, or that the queue’s ten people long, or even that there’s no one there—Gem needs to be there. She spends a lot of time in the hallway outside of the entrance, perching in divots in the walls. Sometimes she feels frozen, like her skin’s made of stone, like she’s part of the build itself, and that’s when she blinks, and then she’s somewhere deep, deep down in the belly of the dungeon.

Gem’s not the only one hooked on the game, she knows. She’s not the only one hopelessly addicted. It’s become a bit of a joke now, how Tango is their dealer, allowing them one more hit with every new shard. She’s not the only one who camps out in Decked Out’s halls, just hanging out, watching people play and living vicariously through their enjoyment of the game she won’t get to experience again until next week. But it’s not—it’s different—the other hermits get keys, is the thing. The other hermits… 

The thing is, Gem’s noticed frost creeping up her fingers, frost that doesn’t melt when she breathes on it, frost that doesn’t rinse away when she dunks them in water. She’s noticed—something. Under her skin. Writhing and craving and only briefly satisfied when someone fails to survive the dungeon. She’s noticed the hatred. She can feel it deep in her bones whenever she’s within the dungeon’s walls.

So—Gem knows that the dungeon hates her. She knows. And she knows because she can feel it, because she’s…

Well. She doesn’t know. She’s something. She’s…

She should talk to Tango. If anyone would know, it would be Tango, with his permanently frost-covered skin, and strange absent episodes, and his near-perfect knowledge of the dungeon. If anyone would know what’s happening to her, it would be…

Gem should go and ask him. She really, really should. Before whatever this is gets any worse.

She tucks herself into her corner, the divot where the wall bends in, and waits, a statue in the hall. Through eyes that aren’t her own, she watches, and quietly seethes as Cub acquires a key.

#hermitcraft #geminitay #fanfiction #this was not *quite* what i wanted to do with this but i might write more of the concept later #this was already a second draft lmao #but i love gem i wanna write more of her #magpie feather quill

[fioras-resolve]

please talk about rock paper scissors 2 and game design

okay, so Angie Nyx's Rock Paper Scissors 2 is a game i've been wanting to make since high school. functionally it's a bunch of rock paper scissors variants, but conceptually it's a lot deeper than that. see, at that point i was getting into fighting games, and i wanted to capture the dynamic of reading into your opponent without the execution or reaction barrier. i figure that since fighters already have an rps dynamic (you know, strike > throw > block > strike), i could just do a variant on rock paper scissors.

i bounced that idea around in my head for a few years, before i realized a couple weeks ago that i can just make a pdf of it. it hasn't gotten as many downloads as i'd like, and i'm realizing the unique problem of trying to make a multiplayer game as an indie dev. but it's been fun as hell playing with my friends, trying out different rulesets and seeing what works. and i'm learning a lot about game design in the process, and that's what i wanna talk about today.

Ruleset 1 -Win Condition: Win once with each throw, or three times with a single throw.

the first thing i wanna say is that rock paper scissors is kind of boring. my least favorite part of playing rps 2 is any time i have to play rps 1. what this means is that playing a completely balanced game, or even a balanced round, isn't particularly interesting gameplay. like, the start of the match, where every option is weighted equally, feels very arbitrary to play. it feels like i'm just flipping a coin and seeing what comes up. later on in the match, when there's actually some points, this ruleset becomes more interesting. it's about pursuing your own goals while preventing the opponent from pursuing theirs, and trying to catch them in that pursuit.

or, maybe not? i won this ruleset once with a random number generator. i didn't tell my opponent i was using rng, but it still calls into question whether this is really a game of skill. i think there's this common conception of competitive games as a test of who's better at the game, but what does it mean be "better" at a game like this? the conclusion i've come to is that competitive games are about outplaying your opponent, not being strictly better than them. the better player can sometimes lose, and that's often what makes a game like this exciting.

Ruleset 2 -Win Condition: Win three rounds -You can't use Rock twice in a row -You have a Gun you can use once a match, that doesn't win or lose to anything

this is an experiment in what i'll call disadvantaged state. like, if you throw rock, you can't use it again next turn. you have to use either paper or scissors, and the opponent has options for either of those. moreover, if the opponent throws scissors, there's literally nothing you can do to beat that. they actually have a completely safe choice, and safety is an important concept in this game. because if they go scissors, my only option is to throw scissors. but they can get a bit greedy and try to push an advantage, and i can try to read that option with paper, at the risk of losing to scissors. one player clearly has a leg up on the other, but both players are involved in trying to predict the other.

outside of dis/advantage, what the rock restriction does is make both players afraid to use rock. it's an innate risk, which gives people a bit more reason to use scissors. when i played with this ruleset, both of us were incentivized to use scissors, and kind of leaned on it with the knowledge that both of us would be afraid to use rock. scissors does become a safer option, and if both players are too scared it puts them in a deadlock. but, disadvantage isn't the worst thing to come out of using a throw, so eventually we did ease off.

one more thing i wanna point out here is about the gun. basically, the gun has two uses here. you can either throw it in disadvantage to get out of it free, or you can throw it in neutral to bait out a rock. i think this is just a cool game design feature, but it also does speak to the idea of safety with a kind of absolute safety. i feel distinctly vulnerable once i don't have a gun to play. it's similar to like, burst in a fighting game? it's your get-out-of-bad-situation-free card that you've gotta use sparingly. good stuff!

Ruleset 3 -Win Condition: Win three rounds -Can't use Rock twice in a row, but winning with Rock wins the match instantly -Gun puts the opponent in disadvantage

this is an interesting one, and it's a ruleset i find really compelling. rock is the ultimate risk/reward. it's both risky and safe to use scissors. now, different players will respond differently to this, but in my experience players don't tend to win the match with rock. maybe me telling you this will give you an idea if you decide to play it yourself. i'd say this is the most intellectually compelling ruleset i've made. like you'll definitely have highs and lows with this, and probably a lot of disadvantaged states that put you in a unique position.

and i will say, playing this actually gave me a bit more clarity when it comes to neutral. because pure rps is compelling at the end of the match, when it's down to the wire and both players are a single win away from victory. it stops being boring and starts being tense, because it's an explicit consequence of how both of you have played.

Ruleset 4 -Win Condition: Win 3 rounds -Winning with Scissors wins the match instantly -No Guns

i was tentative about trying this one out. i figured that it would be too arbitrary, that an rps without disadvantage wouldn't have any interesting dynamics. i was wrong, it's amazing! one match i lost immediately. one match i just kept playing playing scissors, losing to rock three times in a row, and then my opponent was like "surely she won't do it again" before picking paper and losing immediately. one match where my headmate highwind played instead of me, she realized the opponent was really relying on rock, and so decided to play paper twice in a row, which worked. she then went scissors and won. it was pure chaos, and we embraced that chaos.

what this really did for me was prove that what makes rps 2 good isn't just the dynamic created by disadvantage. the problem with rock paper scissors isn't the dynamic of three options vs. three options, it's that there's no meaning to any of these options. rock paper scissors 2 works because every throw has a distinct meaning. different throws will mean playing it safe, or going for a read, or trying to get out of a bad situation. it's this meaning that gives you the sense that you outplayed your opponent, even in a game where skill is a nebulous concept. fighting games work because they aren't just rock paper scissors, because every option has a different purpose and meaning. and when it is a 50/50, when it is just a game of rock paper scissors, it's a result of everything that happened before. i look forward to seeing what else i learn from this game, and i hope you try it to get something out of it.

#game design #gamedev #game theory #fighting games

[charaznablescanontoyota]

“marn, i missed sgdq 2022! which runs should i watch?”

hello and welcome back to another rec list curated by me and my very subjective opinions. a couple weeks ago was summer games done quick, an annual speedrunning marathon raising money for doctors without borders and also a great way to get into watching speedrunning. a lot of their content is tailored towards being both clearly explained and fun to watch for an audience outside the speedrun community, so you can jump in with basically no knowledge besides “this person is gonna play a game really fast”. here are my personal highlights that i think you should check out!

kirby and the forgotten land: it’s always great to see a game that’s just been released in the past few months hit gdq!! this was my first time watching a forgotten land run and my takeaways were that: a) this game is beautiful and b) the runner was having a GREAT time sharing it with everyone.

spyro the dragon: spyro is one of those early games that has a lot of weird cool movement tech that is still being discovered to this day, and the fact that it shows up at gdq every couple years with some completely new strats to showcase is awesome, imo.

phasmophobia: if you are staring at this link wondering “how the hell do you speedrun the co-op ghost hunting game that relies entirely on randomization and luck”, just trust me and click it. the ghosts did NOT want to cooperate with these runners at ALL.

pokemon emerald randomizer (evolution chaos co-op): i am not usually a person who has the patience to sit for all 3 hours of a pokemon run, and i figured i would just tune into this one for like half an hour while i got some other stuff done, but i was immediately enraptured. it’s a modded randomizer where your pokemon evolves into something random Every Time it levels up, with 4 runners passing the controller around on every evolution. the game was not kind to these runners. it’s one of the funniest things i’ve ever seen at gdq.

donkey kong country: tropical freeze: spikevegeta’s tropical freeze run from gdqx a few years back is still The speedrun i love showing to people, but this one is an INCREDIBLY clean run that is just a joy to watch. spike is also a GREAT runner/commentator who you’ll notice pops up on a lot of gdq commentary couches, he loves to explain not only what’s going on in the game but little anecdotes and fun facts about the community around the game/speedrun.

banjo-tooie: i love duck and hagginator’s banjo-kazooie race from 2019 and have watched it multiple times since it happened and i am happy to see duck back at gdq running banjo-tooie. :) the community around the b-k games seems really nice and if i had to pick a game to get into running myself this might be in my top 5 choices.

mi scusi: you should watch everything from this early morning silly block, i shotgunned basically all the vods for it and loved them all, but this one was the standout. a speedrunner who woke up way too early in the morning plays a spectacularly broken, floppy physics game that was a student project that is about [checks notes] a guy dealing with the mafia, stealing the world cup, and going to space. if you like this one, watch the rest of the silly block, esp turnip boy commits tax evasion and jimmie johnson’s anything with an engine.

stepmania/noitg doubles showcase: what if dance dance revolution was evil and the only way to defeat it was a 45 minute synchronized dance routine

happy’s humble burger farm: stressed runner makes burgers as fast as he can while janky jumpscare horror game tries to give him the worst rng imaginable. i watched this one kind of on a whim because i like teddyras (the runner) a lot and his commentary is like. laugh-out-loud funny. if you have an hour or less to kill and want to watch one of these vods, this is the one. if you like this, you should check out teddyras’s run of gone golfing, a similar janky horror game set at a minigolf course (sort of).

control: this is an all bosses run and something about hearing the extremely sparse 6 am crowd politely golf clap after every boss fight just took me out. also this game has SO many cool out-of-bounds skips and sequence breaks that are SO fun to watch.

mario 64: m64 is basically a staple game at gdq at this point and because it’s basically the grandfather of speedrunning they often try to dress it up with new challenges like the runner being blindfolded, or the game being randomized, or it being a race. this is not that. this is a guy playing regular vanilla mario 64 very nearly on world record pace, pulling off tricks that have never been successfully completed on the gdq stage before, and casually showing the audience completely new movement tech and clips that have been discovered while the commentators lose their fucking minds in the background. also he never died a single time in this run.

mario maker 2 relay race: two teams of 3 highly skilled mario runners go head to head in a blind relay race of 9 extremely fucking difficult mario maker levels. it’s SO cool to watch them figure out routing and strats in real time, and the level designers shoutcasting the race have some really great insight into the design of the levels themselves.

#marn's guides #speedrunning #sgdq #sgdq2022 #games done quick #FINALLY I CAN POST THIS LOL

[ambrosiafaery]

Hello again I have more book of hours beta thoughts and knowledge :)

There's been a lot of bugs so far, some I think I completely missed in the moment though I've been able to capture a good number of them on stream. It made it difficult to realize a few things until they started working in my game

- visitors actually stick around for quite a while! Lately I've been getting closer to a 15min timer

- I am NOT SURE if this was a bug, but one of my visitors refused the skill I had that matched one of the principles they wanted. I've sent this into support because I think it might be, but possibly the principles may simply be a hint towards the kind of skills and books wanted and not the only requirement

- Mr and Mrs kille can both be spoken to, but I was having a confusing time trying to speak with Mr kille for a while there. Need to double check if both his principles were working, so far only Wist has worked

- in addition to the villagers and the seasonal Sweet Bones helpers, there's an assortment of random followers you can hire for the day by putting both an element card and a pence card into sweet bones! The element of the soul is used, the money is not. I think this is to discourage rerolling too much without eating your entire funds for RNG. These followers currently are more powerful and you can see the 3 principals they'll have just like the seasonal helpers before you hire them

- Lessons do not disappear like other memories at dawn. You can hold onto them if you get too few to boost a skill

- don't be deceived like I was at first - skill cards level up the number of each principle on them based on skill level, not the level of the attributes you contribute through memories. It took me getting a skill to level four to realize this LOL

- entering the hush house is probably the most annoying check right now. You can open the gatehouse pretty quickly, but so far it's gotten into summer by the time I've done that and the second check is knock 2. The rector only has knock 1, and the only memories I've found so far with knock are memory: storm, and the weather pattern fog in fall. Memory: storm is a very low drop chance from speaking with a helper, and trying to get the nun(random helper) early is also pretty low chance, but may be the better bet

- you have to pay attention to the wisdoms on your skill cards. Save any with the wisdom you want to master, and catalog those with wisdoms you don't need right away. Each time you add a skill to a wisdom, the next one must be a higher level skill, so you want to save ones that are easier to level and use the more difficult ones at lower levels (heart moon and lantern definitely feel fairly easy currently, while knock is the hardest)

- failing a mystery check on a book still gives you a chance to succeed. You get 3 random opportunities that can repeat types to add more of the principle - so far weve found furniture, comfort, wall art, weather, memory, element of the soul, and helper checks as possible opportunities. If you use an item it's not destroyed currently, but unsure on helpers. Memories and elements of the soul are used whether you pass or fail.

#book of hours beta #book of hours game #book of hours #cultist simulator

[emperorbubblegum]

Bubblegum's Backlog, Vol 14: Kid Icarus Uprising

This game is a true testament to Sakurai's ability to make games. Fuck Smash Ultimate this is what I consider to be his magnum opus.

In all seriousness though, I do really like this game. The only thing I knew about it previously was that it had angels and characters from Greco-Roman myth, and while it doesn't go too hard on it's mythological origins, I found it very enjoyable nevertheless. It's the definition of fun. I didn't know why I was doing what I was doing but I was here for it.

The main reason I enjoyed Uprising so much was because unlike in the original Kid Icarus, the characters were actual characters, and my god were they good. Their dialogue and dynamics are so well done it made me forget there was anything else in the game sometimes. I'm a big fan of games with small but tight-knit casts. All of them feel so personnal. It's like I'm a part of this fun silly little godly friend group.

At the beginning I had clear favorites. Magnus was super cool. Dark Pit was edgy but he resonated with me a little. Hades is just an all around great villain. He's funny, and badass and just pure evil. But after beating the game I've started to love most of the cast equally. They're all just so lovable.

The game itself is fun, but the controls take some getting used to. I'm not a big fan of how the difficulty lowers whenever you die; it just feels so patronizing, especially when you die to things like the platforming or terrible rng and not because of a lack of skill. Still, I'm used to it because it's the same system Smash Bros uses for the classic modes. Speaking of, I liked noticing how much inspiration SSB4 took from Kid Icarus. I have a lot of nostalgia for that game so it made me feel happy.

Normally I really like talking about a game's story, but up until like chapter 17 or so I wasn't too enthralled by it. It didn't feel like anything more than a vehicle for the gameplay and dialogue. By the end I was very moved by what was happening to Pit and the others, but for the majority of the game it was just good. Nothing special or anything, just good.

All in all this game was super enjoyable, and if you have a 3DS I highly recomend playing it. To my knowledge it doesn't work as well on an emulator, unfortunately, but I really hope they make a remaster/port of this to the Switch so more people can enjoy this lovely game

#bubblegum's backlog #gaming #nintendo 3ds #kid icarus #kid icarus uprising

[otakween]

Digital Monster ver. S - Final Thoughts

Wow, another game that took me exactly a week to beat, how punctual of me! So that's another 10-15 hours in the bucket, not bad at all. This game is ~special~ because it's the first digimon game to ever be released (not including v-pets). It came out in 1998 for the Sega Saturn and was never translated. As such, it's really not that popular and I couldn't find a ton of guidance on how to beat it. To make matters worse, Sega Saturn games do not emulate well. If you look closely, you'll see that all of my screenshots have ugly lines on them. The sound was also hit-or-miss, sometimes cutting out or making terrible screechy noises. None of that was disruptive enough for me to give up though. I persevered and ended up having a lot of fun!

The best guide for this game (as far as I know) is in Japanese. Google translate + some Japanese knowledge are recommended to fully benefit from it.

Notes:

-This gave me some Digimon World 1 flashbacks. I ended up with Numemon as my first champion and for awhile there it felt like I would never get a good digimon. The way to the success in this game (just like in DW1) ended up being gym upgrades which made digimon rearing a LOT less painful. Unfortunately, I didn't really stick around to get the coolest digimon. My best efforts yielded me: Vademon, Birdramon, Leomon, and a Devimon at the end there.

-The main objective in this game, earning 5 medals from the different arenas, ended up being pretty easy. You can definitely get by with a champion level, which is what I did for 3 out of 5 medals. Of course I also did some save scumming, because this is another RNG-rather-than-skill based game. If you don't cheat a lil, you're just meaninglessly prolonging the game imo. Sometimes I ended up winning against big bosses without even needing save states, so yeah. Not super challenging.

-The "bonus" objective, I guess, would be to tame all possible digimon in the game (70 in total) which involves some jogress-ing too? I ain't doing that for multiple reasons. Number 1: I already did it in Digimon World and it took a million years WITH a guide. Number 2: I couldn't find a guide on how to trigger certain digivolutions for this one. I know it follows the v-pet logic, but I'm really not sure how the care mistakes/training rules work. Number 3: It doesn't seem like it would be very rewarding. There's really not much going on post-final boss in this one. Same as with Anode/Cathode, why should I care that I have these cool digimon if there's nothing I can do with them?

-The best part of this game was definitely the UI! So nostalgic, so 90s, so immersive! I especially loved the "Net" portion with email and the little Botamon mini-game. I love email replying mechanics. Very Dot Hack. Also, the Japanese was very easy to understand which is a plus.

-The digimon are so cute in this game. The little squeaky noise they make when they're happy, their different sleep animations (the plant digimon go underground or sleep in pots!), the joy when you give them their favorite food. So many great little touches. I guess the one thing that would be nice about taming them all would be seeing all the different animations. Maybe I'll just look those up lol.

-Definitely some frustration with digimon dying abruptly and digimon not digivolving as I expected. I worked hard getting my Leomon to 15 battles (the requirement for Ultimate level) and he still died! I honestly have no idea why and feel cheated out of a Megadramon.

-The final boss was legitimately a LadyDevimon named "Nice Body" and my reward for defeating her was a "sexy" wallpaper (displayed in one of the screenshots above). Lol

-The internet and shopping tracks were very nice. The internet one almost sounds like lofi

-I can see how this game would seem amazing if you're coming from the v-pet. You can raise 4 digimon at once, which feels super efficient, even compared to DW1. Between this and the Wonderswan ver. I'm feeling less motivated to buy a v-pet because it's basically the same thing but lower quality. (Although that might be kinda fun).

-I felt bad about abandoning my remaining digis (like my Neopets and my Nintendogs lol), but I left them with robots to take care of them, so at least there's that.

Honestly with the context of this game being so old and having the goal of being an enhanced v-pet, I think it achieved that mission very nicely. I'm wavering between a 6 and a 7, so I'll give this a 6.5 out of 10.

#digital monster ver. s #sega saturn #video games #gaming #digimon #yabause #Youtube

[khorren]

have 1, 4, 5, and 8 from the gw2 human asks for whoever you want! :) @kerra-and-company

Thank you for the ask. Smooch. <3

Counted my humans (excluding Nat, Cosima, and Xunlai) at 11 and did a RNG number picker based off my character page and got 6. So that's….. Ruby! Haha oh god she's lived for yaknow, 300ish years so we've got a lot to unpack here!

1) How do they feel about charr? Big Feelings (tm) to say the least. So Ruby was involved in the GW1 storyline. She grew up in the middle of nowhere off in the Tarnished Coast with her witchy mama and her sister, Kiz. When the White Mantle were poking around looking for Bloodstones Ruby and Kiz went off to Lion's Arch to look for people to come help chase off the Mantle, only to run into the Ascalonian group. Realising they're half-related (same dad) the sisters joined the cause. Knowing their step-family were chased out of their homes by Charr they took a strong dislike to the beasts. Once the events of Prophecies was over, Kiz along with one of the Ascalonian lot, Cea, went back to Ascalon to help getting more people out of Ascalon and safely into the settlements in Kryta. Except the pair of them died to charr attacks. Ruby found out and was just absolutely devestated. Years passed and she still had a lot of hatred for the charr, even when the Ebonhawke Treaty was signed (which her daughter played a part in) she will not trust them and is very uneasy around them. There's about 4 charr in the whole world that she will be near / listen to and even then she is very very suspicious of them and cagey around them. She'd much rather they be rugs on her floors.

2) do they have any strong ties with their heritage? Her mother was into the Aggression and Denial schools of magic. So magic heritage is more her thing than cultural/family. While magic isn't considered these ways anymore, that's a lot of what Ruby picked up on, so her magic isn't strictly "Necromancer". Pressure, punishment, snaring, and shutdown she learned from her mother and prefers that over things like creating minions. The Ascalonian kids have much more of a connection to their heritage, but since Ruby was sort of just this weird jungle kid during her youth she didn't know much outside of her mother. Which is amusing as she became the de facto Fae Family genealogy expert, keeping track of hundreds of blood relatives after GW1 timeline stuff.

5) describe their childhood. So Ruby, Kiz and their mama lived in the Tarnished Coast keeping very much to themselves for the most part. An annual trip to Lion's Arch for seeds, grains, other stuff to grow, then back to the jungle. Their lives were simple and it was mostly magic training, survival training that sort of thing. Mama knew she'd be sending their kids off an adventure one day so she wanted to train them well. They knew from an early age who their father was and they met him once or twice, purely by luck, when he was passing through Lion's Arch (he was a traveling merchant and would dock in every port IYKWIM wink). Kiz thinks she met Zoe once, but she may have just been lying about that. But still, it helped the Tarnished Coast kids connect to the Ascalonian kids.

8) do you have an in-game location for their “home?” Yes! Ruby has two places and they're both in Divinity's Reach. She has a big fancy house in Rurikton, where she puts on the graces of a noble. I think it was this house, though it has a much more impressive front door (this house seriously has like one side door to it. wtf lol).

People generally think she's just some fancy noble with a lot of knowledge about human history and an interest in the Flameseeker Prophecies. A lot of people claim to have ancestors who were the heroes, but Ruby was yaknow, actually there. Still, she'll humour them and smile and go "Oh me too…."

Then she has a place in the East Commons where she actually keeps all her shit from the past 300 or so years.

Quiet little place, the nearby NPC "Alleyway lurker" is one of her people who just watches over the place and reports any suspicious activity. But on the inside it's a cozy little place, if a little run down. The hidden basement is just full of stuff about the family and human history. She'll make a copy of something and give it to the Priory once in a while to keep them sweet. But there's a lot of stuff down there relating to Ascalon, Kryta, Orr, Tarnished Coast, also a lot of information about the Charr, the legions, the Khan-Ur. Know your enemy and all that jazz.

#asks #ruby #gw2 #character babbles #guild wars 2

[brownfrogs]

honestly adore how well you can articulate these things, like u get it u dooo!!!!

and the pokémon iv breeding reminds me of an irl of mine and like you are so correct he absolutely would have!!

I could imagine Hana and Hanzo doing a nuzlock soulink together which ensues immediate chaos because whilst they would both have all the gamer knowledge they would of course become victims to RNG. I’d like to think they would do it on random evolves too! So Hanzo is like super proud of the team he has and then they evolve into truly abysmal choices and Hana is just laughing at him the whole time.

They would hold little funerals on her stream, playing dramatically sad music whilst whoever killed it hangs their head in shame. Despite them having gamer knowledge I think they would make some mistakes (definitely didn’t do this myself nooooo) but one of them forgets the move memento and just uses it in a battle and is like oh. oh no. The whole chat is like :00 and it’s a great stream highlight at the end of the day.

also ur so so right about the interaction, apologises i’m rambling about Hana but she deserves all the talk in the world I have to say

Like with her and Lúcio having that celebrity status I always think about the possibilities of it all.

Them posting behind the scenes of Overwatch stuff and at first a lot of the higher ups are against it, Winston is like guys this definitely feels like a security breach if anything. However, they both argue saying how Overwatch really needs a better public image and this might just be the way to do it, to make them seem more human.

Hana, who has always been shown in the media as unbreakable even when she does suffers is a little hesitant about the whole thing at first but everyone makes an agreement that any severe injuries probably shouldn’t be put publicly.

After all the important things at out of the way we just get a bunch of selfies of random game nights, midday naps, late night snack runs. Hana has been trying to collect photos of everyone with her signature face paint but it’s proved a difficult challenge for some, though it does not deter her!

As well as this, I could see her being a prime choice for whenever Overwatch has to attend fancy galas because she is so well loved. Hanzo would obviously be a great option because he would have a great sense of decorum but at the same time I think he would sneer at the idea of spending time around a lot of people who pretend to care about those they consider less than them. Hana couldn’t agree with him more.

But aside from the company you just know they would look so so good, like the outfits, the hair and makeup they would look immaculate. Maybe Hanzo would treat us with his hair down for once and just looking immaculate. *chefs kiss* they would look intimidating but in that way when you could still stare at them in aw. and come on who doesn’t love a masquerade scene !!

- sabs

Heehee thank you, I just love overanalyzing things :)

BUT THEM DOING A SOULINK NUZLOCKE TOGETHER IS SO BIG BRAINED!!!!! (I can totally see Hanzo as Jan from PokemonChallenges and would absolutely do the extremely difficult nuzlockes) Hanzo with his bad luck and always gets pokemon with the worse abilities/ivs and Hana keeps getting legendaries. But they def both make hilarious mistakes and there is a montage of them once they’re all done. Hanzo absolutely got her Xerneas killed and she still hasn’t forgive him for it. A chaotic but super fun time.

And no apologies, Hana deserves to be rambled about!!

I absolutely agree, Hana along with Lúcio incredibly improves Overwatch’s public image. She captures all the best moments ranging from embarrassingly funny (Cole in Lucio’s skates) to heartwarmingly sweet (Mei’s birthday party). Ooo, I could see her doing little interviews with all the members, charity subathons with crazy goals, MAYBE EVEN A VARIETY GAMESHOW??? She finally gets everyone in the facepaint for that one haha. The potential is limitless!!!!

IT’S TRUE I LOVE A MASQUERADE SCENE!!! Hana and Hanzo serving looks, attitude, just everything. Hanzo has his hair down while Hana has her up in some really cute buns. Hanzo absolutely hated attending these types of events growing up, but Hana livens it up so much he doesn’t mind it anymore. While Hanzo is technically her bodyguard, she def carries her pistol in her purse. The only time he ever needs to step in is to intimidate some overzealous fans that won’t leave her alone. Which she v much appreciates so she can enjoy the night with her fellow creatives. Afterwards though, once she’s socially exhausted, make-up wiped off, heels traded in for flats, she and Hanzo get some boba tea and watch cute dog videos on the community lounge couch together.

#this was v good thank u #please imagine hana hosting the most unhinged gameshow like jerma levels of insane #also hanzo strangling creepy simps from her chat is a good concept i think #mel answers asks #sabs #hana song #hanzo shimada #overwatch

[senstless]

Splinterlands Highlights - Featuring Prophet Rosa delivering a powerful boost to a Bronze Brawl.

Featuring Bronze League Summoner and Monsters in Action!

Weekly Highlight -PROPHET ROSA

Edition:REBELLION Rarity: RARE Element: DEATH Attack: Abilities: ADD TWO RANGE TO TWO MONSTERS Abilities" OR ADD SHIELD TO ONE MONSTER

Reasons Why I like it This seminar can provide a boost in multiple ways, and sometimes you might change your strategy once you see your opponent lneup.

The Matchup - Where Rules Sets, Splinters and Mana Collide

Withdrawals this is a little more difficult as you do not get to see their lineup when you select your boosts, so you just have to make your boost given your best knowledge at the time.

You have the ability to either add a +2 range arrow attack to two monsters, or at a shield which should halve the damage from melee were arrange attacks to one monster only.

Having the ability to add two range attack to two of your monsters can really make a couple monsters and water be heavy heavy hitters. I feel like I am more likely to use this of the two, but there may be times where adding Shield to certain monsters could also be game changing, especially if magic is removed, or it's a melee only match.

The Rule Sets

Watch the Match Here

MANA: 46

Ruleset: Aimless: All Monsters have the Scattershot ability.

Ruleset: Going the Distance: Only Monsters with Ranged attack may be used in battles.

Ruleset: Taking Sides: No neutral monsters may be used.

SPLINTERS: Fire, Water, Earth, Life, Death, Dragon

Initial Rule Set and Mana Gameplay Thoughts

Rulesets There's a lot to factor in when looking at the rule sets. Having a three ruleset match complicates things and makes it a little harder to think through. The biggest and most impactful rule set is going to be going the distance which limits The monsters available to only those which have a range attack. Any other monsters unless a dual attack monster will not be available for selection. This will eliminate 2/3 or more of the monsters, and limit the positions they can attack in. The taking sides which eliminates neutral monsters will be less impactful as the three splinters available to choose should have plent of monsters to choose from. I don't think that aimless which gives everyone the random scandershot will have a big impact while selecting the teams, but it can and usually does have a significant impact to how the game plays out given the rng. If things attack One monster, or the most important monster over and over again versus spreading them out then things can really pile up and turn the tables

Mana 46 mana is plenty of mana to use any monster you want and several high cost men monsters while still developing a full team

Splinters Losing life which has both the range attack boost as well as return fire as an option is a big Miss here. Both fire and Earth can't have some really good range focused lineups, especially when boosted correctly with the right summoners they will be missed but I feel that water and death and dragon have just as much to offer.

Summoner PROPHET ROSA If we're going to all be using arrows, and I don't have to worry too much about return fire it might as well get boosted in my mind. I want to add plus two to two monsters and start dropping some heavy blows

First Position WAVE BROOD Hoping to hi mana card in first position with taunting will help absorb some of those hits

Second Position COASTAL NYMP Put this in second place just to absorb as many hits as possible when it moves to second position. I am trying to protect the monsters in the rear as well as possible

Third Position MAR TOREN SEEKER Well not high in health, it is a sniping attack card plus it has Dodge so it may miss one or two

Fourth Position SULTRY BARMAID I originally considered putting a boost in this car to given that it has ambush. It's almost guaranteed to get what feels like a double strike in round 0 and 1 but I decided against it

Fifth Position AXEMASTER I miss playing x-master since I've only play in modern unless it's a brawl, giving x-master a boost to double-striking for range attack is a ridiculous amount of damage

Sixth Position EDITH EMBERSTAR Edith had tremendous power to start even before the boost. Add it possibility of bloodlust means it could get out of control. To start the round after the boost it's already doing seven range damage.

Opponent Lineup & Match Play

Summoner HELIOS MATRIARCH Wanting to pick a card that allows you both access to dragon and 2 Gladius cards is a valid choice. The additional speed is also nice

OCTOPIDER Well I understand wanting to protect your bloodlust cards in the back, it only has seven health for first position which seems a little light. More than likely there aren't too many options that provide more but seven is not a lot to start a 46 mana match with.

GRIM REAPER. really a light health card, it's biggest advantage is going to be affliction if it gets applied, although most splinters won't be a healing anyways

FIRE SPITTER I miss playing with fire spitter, the flying and speed make it hard to hit. Not a bad choice of a card at all

RAVENHOOD WARDEN Well a non-traditional powerhouse, adding protection to everyone with some armor will help protect every card until it's removed

LIZA FOX The more powerful of the two Gladius cards hoping to get a bloodlust boost going at the end which makes it really powerful and hard to hit.

WHISTLING DAMON While not as powerful, it is an opportunity to build its stats via bloodlust while everything else is getting attacked

Round 1

As we approach on one and Ellicott the two teams I'm starting to feel rather confident just with the sheer amount of potential damage on my side. Having a monster that can delve out eight followed by a monster that can delve out seven, before the other four monsters attack with their potential nine damage means things are really pile. As round one starts I get lucky and remove their armor in the first wave of attacks. I then turn around to get slightly unlucky as X-Men is attacked and eliminated before round one is over. That is two attacks on a single card out of six, and I just lost 8 potential damage for each round.

I did manage to get a bloodlust boost to Edith before the round ended which means it's up to 8 range damage

Round 2

Is around two starts I'm feeling very confident, I have enough health of monsters that has long as I don't lose all of my heavy hitters I should be fine. The round starts off with a knockout and a boost for Edith to be nine damage. And then secure my second knockout and during the health of fire spitter to the point of where I am all but guarantee the victory.

Round 3

There is a third round but it's not really around. It's just waiting for me to take a turn so that I can win. This was much faster than I originally anticipated and I'm a bit shocked at how quickly this match ended in my favor.

Thoughts - and likelyhood to use again

Adding plus two to ax man which gave me a double four strike attack quickly followed by the seven damage from Edith is a bit unfair for bronze league. Between those two monsters alone I managed to have a potential 15 damage attack before other monsters to go over. If you're combining this with wave brood, a magic resistance and or healer then you can really start to build some ridiculous offensive teams in water with range of tax now. This won't apply to modern, but in the wild format some of your options are mind-bending for sure.

You could add plus two to neutral cards and other matches, including Cornelius. There's a lot of other potential combinations of adding plus two range in rule sets that could be massively beneficial I think I'm going to try to play around and see what else I can do in the modern format by adding plus two range attacks in the water splinter.

~~@senstless

#splinterlands #playtoearn #play2earn #nft #gaming

[slotonline-2]

Ways in which To Choose The Best Slot Machines - Slot Machine Secrets

Slot machines are one of the favorite games in casinos. Nonetheless, winning at slots is not almost mere luck, however it is likewise regarding the extra effort that a player puts in. Lucky appeals may be reliable with online poker as well as various other types of card games, but to win with slots, you need to understand the slot machine secrets.If you are a first time player, you have to recognize the rules of the video game. You can research about the video game on the internet and also ask the team in the casino about their guidelines. Some of the other things that you might need to learn consist of details on payouts, bonuses and also free gifts. Attempt to have methods prior to betting for actual cash so you can obtain the feel of the game. Free video games are supplied both in conventional land based casinos and also in online casinos. Slots are rather simple, but you require to have the approaches and understand the slot machine keys in order to boost your chances of winning.When it involves selecting the most effective slots, among the vital things that you must do is learn which slots gives high payments. Locating the best slot machines is a trouble which lots of people encounter since they have actually limited knowledge on exactly how to deal with choosing the very best slot machines. Offered listed below are some secrets that can aid you choose the most effective slot machines.Most of the casinos have their worst slots located near the entrance, near online poker and blackjack tables and also these are machines that you need to stay clear of. Casinos do not want their poker as well as blackjack players to be sidetracked by sounds originating from supporting people around these slot deposit pulsa tanpa potongan and also consequently they position the most effective slots away from these tables.If you have tried your luck with one machine as well as haven't won anything, try the following machine since casinos generally set up winning slots at the same time. 2 great paying machines are never ever set up adjacent to one another. An additional point that you need to remember is that you need to never ever adhere to one machine. It is time you go for another machine since the exact same machine may make you lose huge quantities if one machine has actually offered a high payout.

Individuals that have been playing slot machines or pokies for many years have many different concepts and also techniques that are not based on anything near truths. This short article goal to debunk several of the misconceptions of playing slot machines, so you can enter into a casino with a clear head and full understanding of what you are doing.Slot machines have a "random number generator" or RNG, which constantly produces random numbers, even when the machine is not being utilized. Pulling a manage or pushing the "spin" button just selects an arbitrary choice at that precise minute. Pushing the switch a fraction of a second later on would certainly yield a totally different result. Each push of the switch is independent as well as completely random from the previous rotates, and births no relation to any kind of rotates thereafter.What this actually indicates that if a person wins on a machine you just left, you really did not just miss out on a payment. Don't head to the bar and also begin to drink away your sorrows, or begin gambling much greater quantities than you can manage to attempt and also go after that big win you simply "missed". Actually, you wouldn't have actually won if you had remained at the machine since you wouldn't have pulled the take care of at the exact same split second that the other individual did.

This additionally means that no machine is "due" a win, nor that a machine that has just won can not win once more. Each pull is completely independent, bear in mind, so even if a machine has just paid, it might pay out on the really following spin. Certainly, if the progressive prize has simply been won as well as has reset to the minimum, then winning directly after will not obtain you as much cash, however it does not change the chance of it in fact happening on the really following spin. The machine could opt for days without a suitable payment and there is no reason why it can't suddenly pay a couple of large quantities within a short room of time.Other "approaches" people utilize are likewise nonsense. Playing quicker will certainly not increase your opportunity of winning, the variety of coins you bet will certainly not change the numbers that appear, and it makes no difference if you draw the manage or push the "spin" button.There are undoubtedly a wide variety of different machines with differing payouts. The looser machines generally set you back more, as well as can repay approximately 99%, with less expensive machines providing much reduced returns. Serious slot gamers are probably better off staying clear of modern prize machines, as these are configured to produce a high variety of reels and symbols.A land based casino likewise puts a lot of consideration into where they position each machine, as well as recognizing some of the tricks can assist you locate the great machines as well as prevent the tight ones. As loosened slots attract a great deal of activity, they are put in places where they are seen a whole lot in order to tempt people in.The tight machines are additionally put purposefully, commonly in position that are remote where individuals do not pass as consistently as well as there are couple of various other gamers. Limited machines are likewise placed near the sports-book location as the casino does not intend to attract individuals away from betting on sporting activities. The location surrounding table video games is additionally typically occupied by tight machines as table players are not usually interested in slots.

#slot online #slot gacor #Youtube

[demonfox38]

Completed - Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest 1)

No more janky TV photos. Just a janky GIF.

I don’t think it would come as a shock to any of you that I enjoy a good amount of Twitch. Like, finally sacked my cable subscription because all I watch is YouTube, Twitch, and Pluto.TV. Now, my streamers of choice are either GDQ participants, Kusogrande hosts, or people who are otherwise mellow while grinding to get milliseconds off their PBs. As a result, I was spending a fair amount of time last month watching NESCardinality plug through "Dragon Warrior" randomizer runs. (Which, if you haven’t seen his GDQ run of "Dragon Warrior", you should. Because holy shit, the level of RNG manipulation going on in that is phenomenal.)

Here's the thing, though—I hadn’t beat the game myself. At least, not until recently.

Any cursory knowledge into JRPGs will easily bring up the "Dragon Quest" series. There’s a lot of repeated anecdotes, regarding it. It’s Japan’s favorite RPG series. When one comes out, a significant amount of people take the day off. It’s got art by Akira Toriyama and music by an absolute shithead. Slimes. And…is that it?

Playing the game itself, it’s not immediately evident why "Dragon Warrior" didn’t catch as much fire in the US as a series like "Final Fantasy." (Maybe "Persona" in the modern era.) It’s not like "Hydlide", where eye-searing graphics, a single poorly-looped song, and obtuse mechanics doomed it to Funcoland reject stands. "Hydlide" may be apropos as a comparison game in one distinct way, however. Both "Dragon Warrior" and "Hydlide" were originally adapted for the Famicom in 1986, with "Hydlide" having earlier PC incarnations before that. The US adaptations of these games came out in 1989. Those titles were competing with the likes of "Mega Man 2", "Ninja Gaiden", "The Adventures of Bayou Billy", and "Faxanadu." That’s like putting Byzantian cave scribblings of Christ next to the works of Italian Renaissance artists.

Plus, let’s face it. The average Nintendo Entertainment System gamer at the time was either:

10 and under, or…

Let’s just say, not capable of playing something that required more thought than moving to the right and shooting/jumping over things.

The big saving grace for "Dragon Warrior" came from a brilliant promotional idea. With a load of extra copies of the game on hand, Nintendo decided to give them away as a bonus for subscribing to "Nintendo Power." Big dick energy. I mean, I know a lot of modern-era services give a game away a month for subscribing to them, but to have something physical back in the early 1990s? That was pretty cool. Cooler than burying the unsold extras in a desert, anyway.

With games of this age, I do like to try playing them knowing only what’s given to me in materials enclosed with the game. Ya know. Feel what the pain was for the kids at the time. So, I downloaded the game’s manual and poster, then gave it a shot. With those limitations in mind, this game does surprisingly well! The manual’s author was really doing their best to help babies through their first RPG, and the map was helpful in figuring out pathing and grind spots. (Oh, and also advertise a little for "Dragon Warrior 2." Nudge nudge, wink wink, right?) Even if I didn’t have that, the game is clear enough to make objectives known. Granted, there’s a fair amount of fetch questing to be done, so it doesn’t hurt to have a pad of paper at hand to take notes.

I highly disagree with the manual writers on one thing, though. Saving the princess does not have to happen at level 12. Frankly, with the bullshit around her and with what little she provides in gameplay value, you might as well save that task for after getting Edrick’s armor.

Who is Edrick?

Uh…guess I should start with a plot summary, huh?

So, a while back, this dude named Edrick (or Loto, or whatever the translation picks in your version) brought peace to the land of Alefgard with a shining ball of light. Some territories need four balls of light; Alefgard was good with one. But, ya know. Peace doesn’t last forever. So, when the ball of light and the kingdom’s princess are nicked by a dork calling himself the Dragonlord, monsters start pushing everyone’s shit in. Despite no proof (yet) of your heritage, you set out with the king’s blessing to collect Edrick’s treasures and stab anything that looks at you funny. Maybe keep an eye out for the princess. Standard hero stuff.

I’m not gonna lie. There was this initial wave of dread I felt after my first battle with a Slime. 1 gold, 1 EXP. You wanna know how rough that is? A stay at the first town’s inn? 6 gold. A single healing herb? 24. A copper sword? 180. Like, fuuuuuck. Granted, the economy gets a little better once you can push past the first area, at least in terms of housing. It goes from needing 6 battles minimum to rest to 2 battles. Still, the economic crunch is real. God help you if you screw up without saving for a while, too. The king needs tax money, and apparently, he’s getting that by yanking half of your cash off your corpse.

Granted, the steep economy also unconsciously gives the player a good incentive to grind. So, that’s some okay game design. I also like how the game plops you outside of town and flashes the final game’s dungeon in the corner, like "Hey, idiot. Figure out how to go here." Good stuff! Even the battle system becomes smoother, once you figure out what the monsters know and what you can do. Stopspells for magical bastards and Sleep for heavier hitters go a long way. Just don’t be surprised when the game gets rude. Critical hits and enemy dodges are calculated separately, so I saw a few dreadful "Excellent move! The enemy is dodging" messages chains. I also had a Red Dragon that decided I had gone far enough into Charlock and decided to take a pre-emptive turn, put my dude to sleep, and take him from full health to nothing in four or five swings. Just real cool. The coolest.

Speaking of messages! The translation in this game is weird, to say the least. It’s trying to lean into a "Ye Olde English" pronoun/verb set that goes very thick. Like, dragging damage numbers and rewards several lines down in the textbox area thick. I’d imagine that would be really irritating if English wasn’t your first language. Style can be helpful for world building, but brevity wit etc.

Despite the game’s age, several changes were made for the U.S. release to help it out. There’s a graphical overhaul that might not be appreciated in game, but it is pretty evident in comparisons with the original Famicom version of the game. I still prefer the "Final Fantasy" battle layout and artistic style better, but the effort did help spruce the game up. It also has an internal battery for saving instead of a password system, which is great for children in 1989 but maybe not for adults in 2022 that are struggling with a dying battery. If you were wondering what dickhead in the world likes passwords over internal saves, congratulations! You found me!

I’m just saying—if I didn’t have access to a dude that knows how to resolder shit, I’d be in trouble. Like, there are circumstances where passwords get stupid long or unwieldy, but I’m not opposed to a decent password system for simpler games. Also, I’m sorry to report that your "Pokémon Gold", "Silver", and "Crystal" saves are all gone now. GBC-era batteries just weren’t meant to keep time for over 20 years.

One thing that surprised me about my mindset during this game is how many alternate scenarios kept going through my head. Like, 2010s dark fantasy scenarios. Maybe it was a reaction to the cutesy monster art and vanilla-sweet story? Or, maybe I was thinking about the "Nanashi no Game" series and how that’s all about corrupted "Dragon Quest" styled games? Just saying. There’s a lot of potential possibilities for something to go wrong here. Like:

So, it’s nice that the king resurrects the player. But, at half his gold, no matter the cost? Imagine what it would be like to be a citizen of Alefgard, in such circumstances. Who does the king decide to bring back, and why? Could he keep an army of resurrected guards for all eternity, as long as he keeps getting their bodies back? What about the peasants? Are they destined for eternal work and poverty? How do you handle the king deciding not to bring your mom or grandma back? What’s exactly the limitation of his power, here? Somebody’s sword in his chest?

The hero is constantly being badgered to prove his worth not through his actions, but his bloodline. Doesn’t that shit get old? What happens if someone else takes that token of truth first? (Yeah, yeah, "Chrono Trigger" fans. Settle down.) He wants to colonize his own land, but what does that look like? Taking over Charlock? Going further and never coming back? Does he perpetuate the bloodline bullshit, or does he go democratic? Does he ever think of going back and getting his money/vengeance from the king, or is taking his daughter revenge enough?

You can decide to not save the princess. It’s totally doable. She only helps you find Edrick’s Token, and that’s always in the same place. What happens, then? How is she not blind and mentally disturbed from being held captive for months in a dark cave? What does she do if the Dragonlord dies, but nobody goes to find her? What does the dragon guarding her do? Does it lose heart? Does it bond to her? Does she become the next Dragonlord?

I mean, I’m not alone in thinking of these things. "Dragon Quest Builders" is basically asking that question. Well, in the more basic "What if the hero had taken the Dragonlord’s offer?" way, but still. Someone else was thinking about it. Someone was also trying to get some of that sweet, sweet "Minecraft" money too. The spirit of Taloon lives on.

If you’re interested in gaming in a historical sense, then "Dragon Warrior" can’t be passed up. The circumstances around the game are still influential for JRPGs, particularly in Japan, so it may be helpful to understand where the "Dragon Quest" series started and why it became successful (even if it was a bit by force.) It’s also a cheap game to get a hold of, both digitally and physically. At least, better than most NES RPG prices tend to be.

You do have to be patient with grinding, however. Also, I’d classify this as a podcast game. Ya know, something you play while you have the audio muted and other audio playing on another device. A weird call? Maybe. I mean, the intro theme is good, but a lot of the music is otherwise a set of short loops with mediocre scoring.

…You’ve really, really got to be careful when you make the triangle channel a lead in an NES song. I’ve only heard it work, like, once. It’s got no volume control, man. The sound’s either on or off. Very unnatural. Annoying when it goes too long.

#post game evaluation #dragon warrior

[maleyanderecafe]

Have you played DOL? I haven’t and I’m curious about your review lol

DOL or Degrees of Lewdity is a pretty fun game but I do have my own gripes about it. I'll be talking about the things I like, dislike and of Eden and Kylar since those are our two yandere candidates. I actually don't play it as much as it seems I do (I reblog it a lot, but I haven't really played it a whole ton) so a lot of the knowledge I have is either from the wiki for from watching my friends play. Degrees of Lewdity is a 18+ game, so do be warned if you decide to read this.

For those who don't know, Degrees of Lewdity is a text based porn game about an orphan (that's you) who has to pay their caretaker Bailey for living in their orphanage. How you do so is up to you, from non sexual tasks like performing tasks for people to sexual tasks like giving people underwear and screwing for money. You can also just ditch them in some cases like if you live in the forest with Eden or on the farm with Alex. Other than that, there's no real goals and the world is your oyster. You can be a slut and screw anyone for money, become a demon or other creature or just beat up people who try to rape you, whatever you want.

One thing about Degrees of Lewdity that I really like is just how much stuff is in it. The creators are constantly updating with new things (like as of writing this post, the latest update allows you to go to jail and has some more interactions with Kylar as well as the Blood Moon event and after that, there is one introducing photography as another way of earning money, along with new NPCS.) and there is so much lore and activities that you can do. The game has a ton of replayability value since you can customize the sex of not only your PC but pretty much any NPC or animal out there. There's also so much stuff you can do from increasing your skullduggery (things like lock picking) to becoming the star in a brothel to working at a cafe. In addition to that, there is a ton of hidden lore with different characters' dialogues or just different smaller events within the game as well and people are constantly finding new things. There are also quite a bit of mods for the game for different kinks and even more expanded worlds. The double-edged sword here is that because there are so many options and paths you can go, it can be hard to find specific routes you would like to go. For instance, if your PC decides to venture into the woods, they can either be hunted by the Black Wolf (indicated by pawprints on the ground) or Eden the Hunter (indicated by bullet casings), however, these cases are randomized. If you wanted to go for Eden for instance, you'd have to keep on reloading until Eden hunted you, which depending on your RNG may take a while. It’s also nice that not all Npcs are actually mean or attempt to have sex with you and some just are friendly and want to have a chat or just wave hi to you. It’s surprisingly wholesome at times and I feel like this is also true with love interests since all of them have some sort of cute moments with the PC if they so choose to romance them (even characters like Whitney have some sweet moments where they carry the PC back to the orphanage.)

There are things in Degrees of Lewdity that do annoy me, though it's more of me thing if anything. Obviously, Degrees of Lewdity is more focused on the PC being a submissive character in a world of rapists and other perverts, but I really do wish that in some cases the PC could initiate sex, both in the cases of non-consensual and consensual, since basically if you want to have sex with any love interest, a lot of times you have to seduce them into it and the PC is always the bottom, even if you are the one who forced them to do it. I guess technically if you’re high enough promiscuity and have a high skill you can sort of power bottom (this is more prominent if your PC has a dick) but this seems to mostly work with consensual encounters, though it can work with nonconsensual ones but only sometimes. I do recall the creator stating that they would add it in the future but it’s not really a top priority.

The other major thing I found to be annoying was how often npcs would attempt to force you. I’m not talking about walking around basically naked at night, I mean just attempting to walk to school and getting jumped by three different npcs you need to fight off. It’s not just me either it seems to be a pretty common complaint within the community ( I did find it funny when people who want to play a submissive pc just end up beating the hell out of any npc that jumps them, I just find it really hilarious), though I know easy mode, for instance, reduces this by a lot. I just really don’t like getting lost around town ( like I ALWAYS do because my sense of direction sucks) and then being jumped or almost jumped ten times. Again, I get that it’s kind of the point of the game since even love interest noncon the PC ( I think with the exception of Robin, the Great Hawk, and Pure Sydney if you count them.) but in terms of just me attempting to get a love interest or making money it's really annoying spending five minutes trying to not get raped by multiple strangers.

Let's talk about Eden and Kylar, starting with Eden. Eden the Hunter is a love interest that you can encounter either by going into the woods and being hunted by Eden or being sold to by Bailey if you don't pay him for the second time. The PC gets chained and forced into a pretty specific schedule of eating, sleeping, screwing until Eden trusts the PC and the PC eventually gains Stockholm syndrome status. As Eden's love interest, he does get jealous if you decide to go into town with high love he does become jealous (according to the wiki, states the PC will "sleep in someone else's bed" ) as well as comes to find you in town if the PC has high love with him. There's also the fact that he will hunt you in the forest even after you become their love interest. While he does have a lot of traits of a yandere (being protective over the PC, hunting/stalking them in the forest, becoming jealous when go back to town), I feel like there's something missing for him to be a yandere. Yes, he does have a lot of traits, but I think the problem is that at least for Eden, he doesn't really interact with anyone other than the player (with the only others being the Black Wolf, Gwylan, and Bailey) so it can be hard to see what exactly he feels about other npcs. There's a bit of jealousy but at least for me, I feel like it's not really enough to warrant him being a yandere, just someone who seems a bit possessive. I'm sure that people might still believe he is anyways, being a possessive or protective yandere, which is fine, I just personally would not say he is, at least at this time.

When it comes to Kylar, the creator states that he is directly inspired by a yandere character, which can be shown by his actions, his unique state of jealousy, dialogue, and dismissal event. There are two ways to meet Kylar, either by saving him from bullies during school or bumping into him during the hallway, but either event causes him to become infatuated with the player. He does a lot of standard yandere actions, such as stalking the player (and saving them if someone jumps them by using a blow dart), sketching portraits of them, taking objects from the player (specifical underwear), pressing a knife against the PC's neck when refusing them, interfering when the PC interacts with other love interests amongst a lot of other things. His dismissal event is also a tribute to yandere actions, with him kidnapping the player and forcing them to marry using stitched together words of the PC and threatening them with a knife. I think for me what really makes Kylar a yandere is his jealousy stat, especially if you consider his reaction to other love interests such as Sydney and Robin and how dangerous Kylar can be with higher jealousy. It's interesting that at lower love Kylar is generally meeker but at higher love and jealousy he's much more assertive and aggressive. Still, I think even compared to other love interests Kylar is pretty submissive, even with higher jealousy. Maybe it's because he stutters or maybe it's because with my PC I'm always running at them at high love and low jealousy, but honestly, I can't really imagine Kylar being all that dominant, because even in his dismissal he somehow seems somewhat submissive. It's really strange, not that I mind it. I do find it weird that when I "top" male kylar as a male pc he complains about not being able to breed the pc (like, kylar, my pc is breeding you, and you have a breeding kink, shut up and take it).

Overall, DOL is pretty fun to play. I got sucked into it again when I was trying to get a screenshot for this game, and there really is just so much to do. Amongst my favorite love interests are probably Kylar, Sydney, and the Great Hawk, though to be fair, I haven't done all love interests yet.

#male yandere #yandere #yandere boy #asks #analysis #degrees of lewdity #dol

[taketheringtolohac]

I'm a bit confused with seeing your blaseball posts. Do real people play it or is it a spectator sport that you're betting against probabilities?

well the answer to your question is very complicated. to put it simply: yes, mostly. but also no.

blaseball is a horror fantasy fantasy baseball simulator, where you are both a player of blaseball and simultaneously not playing at all. the game itself is very simple, this is QUITE LITERALLY all you know about the teams and it’s players, respectively:

And game play looks like this:

so there clearly just... isn’t very much to do on the actual site. so then what is the POINT of playing blaseball of you just watch numbers on the screen advance bases and like, not even DO anything?

Well as I said before, you, the fans, DO have a role in the game: determining what actually HAPPENS to their teams and the game at large.

voting is the primary way of engagement from fans in the sense that this is how YOU have an impact on the league. there’s several things you can vote for. The first is things that impact the WHOLE league, or decrees. these can be things like introducing enhanced party time to the league or introducing ratification or wild cards, but they always impact the entirety of the league and more often than not tend to impact the next season of blaseball (one season is one week) here’s the decrees from last season:

Then there’s things that impact the team that YOURE a fan of directly. The first thing is wills, these are things your team is GUARANTEED to get two of (three if your team is in the bottom 4 of the regular season) and they are the most direct way to change your team such as moving a player from your lineup to the shadows or exchanging a bad player for a better one from another team. Then there’s blessings, which are done via a pool of ALL voters from ALL teams in the league and a single raffle ticket is pulled. This used to be the ONLY way to improve teams but league changes have added wills, and it’s all random. Blessings can be things like increase a players cinnamon (a forbidden knowledge hidden stat) or give players random mods like Gaudy or Cluttered or even steal players from other teams (Polkadot Patterson was originally a Breath Mint). Here’s what blessings looked like last season!

So now the question is, what the hell? How do I even get money to vote? The answer is simple: snacks from the store! The traditional way (back in my day this was the ONLY way *shakes fist*) of getting money is betting on games using high roller snake oil, when you bet on a game it looks like this:

There’s also passive snacks that don’t require you to bet or change your idol every hour, like seeds and hot dogs which mean that when your idol hits the ball you get money and when they get a home run you get money, respectively. There’s lots of ways to make money to convert into votes (or peanuts to pay tribute to the dead, whichever you choose to do.), it just depends on your build.

So to answer your question, blaseball IS a spectator splort, but it is also much more than that. You are the one who makes the decisions for the league, who all you know about them is that they are players in an awful game and they can never stop playing it and they are just numbers and words on a screen that you watch advance bases and rack up strikes. But you are also helpless and at the mercy of the sim, because you can only do so much to actually help your team and at the end of the day it’s all RNG (the breath mints know this very well 😔). Players can get incinerated or have an allergic reaction or get faxed into the shadows or eaten by sharks/consumers or have their blood drained at any time and totally ruin your teams chances at playoffs that season.

It’s always changing, and the overarching Plot(tm) can ALSO mess with whatever you did to improve your team that season. Plus, the fact that all election elements are decided via raffle means there’s ALWAYS a chance that your team could “wimdy” a blessing they don’t want or even worse, a will they didn’t plan for that either causes drama or actively harms the team.

Some people do play blaseball for the actual splort of it all, but many people also don’t! They play for the communities they’re apart of or for the lore of both the game and the teams (all team lore that is, for the most part, made up entirely by fans) or for many other reasons! It’s just a neat little game and it’s been fun to be apart of.

there is better explanations in youtube video form! heres the one from people make games from season 8/9, so a lot of the information is OLD but it still holds up as a good explainer of the actual game!

#hi I’m so so sorry this got long I just get excited 😔 but also it’s a complicated question/answer because like #there is no real players. there isn’t. but teams and communities MAKE them ‘real’ if that makes sense #and then you like. actually get INVESTED in those players. and cry when they get Incinerated :/ #but yeah you don’t actually do very much and yet you also do everything. it’s neat! #i hope i answered your question if not please send another ask cuz i can try again #I am once again asking people to ask me about blaseball I love talking about it so much #blaseball #roxy talks

[telaraneas]

some character analysis musings on vriska, light and luck

i started thinking about this before i even finished homestuck, cause i was already knee deep in classpecting hypmic characters because i am incapable of having more than one hyperfixation at a time without mushing them together lol

anyways, i was struggling with pinpointing a fitting aspect for a gambler character, and someone pointed out that the obvious fit for them would be light, because you know

The Luck Thing.

but the thing is that, like.... i'm actually pretty sure that games of luck and gambles are. entirely antithetical to the aspect of light

like, first of all, obviously i'm approaching things with more context than someone in the fandom at the time whose only frame of reference for light for a long time was rose and vriska, because i can just google the "official" summaries of what each aspect represents and rules over in the hiveswap page. so, it may be cheating, but it did kind of strike me as strange that according to that page, light is all about *knowledge* first and foremost, which kind of goes completely counter to the whole conceit of games of luck- you CANNOT know what the roll of the dice will bring, that's the entire point of it being random

in fact, the entire concept of attacking via RNG mechanics seems more fitting for the description of Void than it does Light (embracing the unknown and things that don't have clear answers)- and those are opposite aspects. so, you know, what gives?

but the more i think about it, the more this discrepancy kind of illuminates many things about light aspect, thief class, and vriska herself

because on a reread: yeah, it turns out vriska herself kind of hates games of chance?? like, for someone whose primary attack method is based on RNG, she absolutely hates RNG mechanics!!

she describes her luck as being terrible, but it seems more like she's just the kind of person who calls everything other than the exact roll she WANTS "bad luck". her frustration with her luck only increading after losing access to a source of verifiable Correct Information makes her come across more like any degree of uncertainty is what she's actually against.

for someone with fuckin dice roll mechanics she seems to really, REALLY despise actually leaving her fate to the dice

and i think that has to do with her being thief class

as in: i think the defining trait of a thief, in terms of what the class says about a character's arc and themes, is that thieves are actually almost counterintuitively NOT the embodiment of their aspect by nature, and in fact seem to often be defined by the opposite OF their aspect, especially in their early life and circumstances; but that's exactly why they crave their aspect so desperately and fight tooth and nail for it

the aspect of light is often summed up as either "knowledge" or "fortune",  and i think the common thread between all the themes and concepts encapsulated by the light aspect is actually the idea of "certainty". to be bound to light is to be bound to things that are certain, knowledge of past or future or just inmutable objective knowledge. shining a light on the darkness of the unknown, as it were, leaving no corner of uncertainty in its wake- which is why light and void are opposite/complementary.

with that in mind, i think this explains a lot about why vriska has luck-based traits but hates actually leaving anything to a roll of the dice: she is a creature of void, whose upbringing and needs and tools are defined by uncertainty and darkness and the unknown, but who is CONSTANTLY striving to eliminate that unknown by shining a light upon it, to kill any possibility of failure and replace it with the absolute certainty of the outcome she desires. she is a person surrounded by the trappings of void aspect, forced to use it as her tools, but who will avoid actually embracing those values at all costs because she had such a relentless desperate need for the safety of light and its virtues

i mean, her defining introductory moment was her putting tavros in a situation that, despite being a dice-based larp, wound up with the dice roll no longer even mattering at all, because vriska had played her cards specifically to make it so that even if tavros rolled the highest possible number, he could CERTAINLY not win. at that point, it's no longer about luck; but unlike terezi's case, it's not about knowing what the other person will do in the event of every outcome, either. it's about making sure that it LITERALLY DOES NOT MATTER what the other person does or doesn't do- vriska has all the cards, and she has them all face-up where she can see them, and she can rest easy in knowing that luck, good or bad, cannot stab her in the back, because she knows with CERTAINTY what fate has in store, because she made it so by her own hand.

this is also why her god tier power is to "steal luck". like yes it's an obvious literal application of her title, but more importantly- what it means is that, after ascending and finally grasping what she so desperately wanted with her own two hands, her reward is that *vriska no longer needs to gamble ever again*. she can just CHOOSE what the dice will show her, usually just the highest roll for max damage.

like, usually the entire point of games of luck is that there is no way to predict the outcome of a roll of the dice, or the flip of a coin, or a fucken RNG mechanic. but vriska, at the culmination of her hearts' desires, has managed to bring her relentless light into the ultimate unknown, to brush away even the archetypal unpredictability of possibility and collapse it into a single certain fate. she's opened schrodinger's box, observed right through its core with her vision eightfold, and decided whether it's alive or dead. who needs luck, when you have knowledge, fate and certainty.

on a semi related note, you know what aspect WOULD probably benefit a whole lot from luck-based combat mechanics?

breath seems to be at least to some degree about just letting things happen, going with the flow, and embracing whatever may come, and as such is usually rewarded with narrative contrivance of the "right thing at the right place at the right time" kind; breath tends to BENEFIT from not really knowing things and not necessarily being super concerned about them either.

case in point: vriska probably would never in a million years have deliberately aimed for a roll that gave bec noir a silly hat, but because john literally didn't think about it and has no luck-manipulating powers or aspirations, he just so happened to roll the one thing that his enemy happens to hate the most lmao

#homestuck #vriska serket #homestuck character analysis #bud what do i even tag these as. #sushi original #usual disclaimer that if this is all stuff thats well known and widely discussed already. then uh sorry for the baby steps analysis skfnekf

[riacte]

Ngl... I feel really bad for Grian this MCC even though it’s his best performance yet. He’s the “replacement” for HBomb in a winning team (MCC9 Blue Bats) and everyone knows H was crucial to Blue Bats’ victory with his leadership and supreme hype ability. So naturally there’s already a lot of pressure, not to mention people are hoping for False’s 3rd win.

Grian is one of Hermitcraft’s best (if not THE best) flyers and absolutely popped off during Rocket Spleef (!!) but he didn’t make it to the Top 5 leaderboard because he didn’t PVP... I hope that didn’t discourage him too much as surviving for three whole rounds of Rocket Spleef is LEGENDARY.

And of course there was Parkour Warrior... oh God. This game. Everyone’s cut off from each other to focus on their own game (which is reasonable) so there’s less teamwork involved and less hyping each other up. The hermits (esp Grian and Ren) sounded so dejected... oh God. Grain said he physically couldn’t make some of the jumps and I have to agree. Parkour is a test of agility, hand-eye coordination and knowledge of how to make certain jumps. If you can’t do it, you can’t do it. This is unlike other games such as Survival Games/Battle Box since teamwork is necessary for those two, and while it’s similar to Hole in the Wall, HITW also requires teamwork (eg. team members shouting out which direction the walls are coming from). Parkour is a solo battle with no RNG/luck involved. Even for Ace Race, if you’re stuck on one part, there could be ways around. But for parkour, if you can’t do it, you can’t do it. What Grian and Ren said at the end of Parkour Warrior was right. This game just widens the division between skilled players and non-skilled players and it’s not fun to watch or play for most people. (I know people switch to watching Dream during parkour just to be more entertained.)

Lime was legitimately doing so well (in fact, I’m pretty sure they could do well in literally any game that wasn’t parkour) but not only did Parkour screw with their coins, it also screwed with their morale. AND that hurts because False and Fruit play more of the “sensei” role while Grian and Ren keep spirits high. Obviously Lime Liches love and support each other (their encouragement during TGTTOSAWAF is an excellent example), and they did do well in Sands of Time immediately after Parkour Warrior. I think Grian’s gong and False talking about buying one really stabilised the team’s emotions and kept them going.

Let’s also talk about Build Mart. Ren was so caught up on how he fell one time and it HURTS because he’s blaming himself for the team’s “demise” or whatever bs. I mean of course no one else blames him and Lime is chill but seeing him keep on rambling about it just HURTS REN SWEETIE 😭😭 I’m immensely proud of them for placing 2nd despite the obstacles they faced (let’s be real, no one can beat Blue Black Cats at this game lol).

(Another note about Ren: he said he “didn’t win anything” when he and Grian won the leaf collecting thing on Hermitcraft, but he’d actually won MCC9 with the Blue Bats like a month ago. REN SWEETHEART PLEASE DON’T LOOK DOWN ON YOURSELF. I want to give Ren a hug ;-;)

As a Lime Liches fan, of course I’m a little sad they didn’t make it to Dodgebolt but I’m more sad by Ren and Grian doubting themselves ;-; and how exhausted Grian sounded at the end of his stream ;-;; buT I’m SUPER proud of Lime!! They all did their best and absolutely killed most games :DD and while they were a competitive team, they were also extremely supportive of each other!

#mcc #mcc11 #lime liches #grian #fruitberries #falsesymmtery #rendog #why is this so long lol #mcyt #hermitcraft #i am suffering... #LIME LIME LIME LIME #they're MY winners #ria.txt