#and i can never remember the shortcuts well enough to actually git gud at using them so i spend the whole time im on there vaguely annoyed

[wabblebees]

okay im probably very behind but. what the actual fuck did tunglr dot hell do to the image+video function on mobile (rant ahead)

i used to be able to tap an image to bring it up to fullscreen, and from there i was able to zoom in+out (whether with a pinch in/out OR a doubletap), swipe left/right (to slideshow thru every image in the entire thread, whether in the original post or the subsequent reblogs), and ALSO swipe up/down to leave and go back to my dash and the full post. going fullscreen brought up the lil like/rb/share icons in the corner, but if you didnt need them, tapping once on the image made them disappear so you could Focus On The Image You Were Looking At.

with videos, i could click to bring it fullscreen, tap the centre of the screen to pause, and swipe left or right to skip however far forward or back. tapping elsewhere onscreen made the time bar on the bottom pop up, along with the mute/unmute icon and the like/rb/share icons. tapping again made these things disappear. swiping up or down would slide you out of the fullscreen viewer and back to your dash.

this was perfect! it worked wonderfully! no complaints!

but NOW when i click an image, it gives me all this extraneous information i Didn't Fucking Need Or Want (whoever's blog it came from, plus who THEY reblogged it from, plus a tiny snippet of a random caption ((not alt text!! not image ids!! just Other Words!!)) that MAY OR MAY NOT even be from the specific version of the thread im looking at, PLUS the number of images youre swiping thru, P L U S the like/rb/share icons.)

Nothing Makes This Bullshit Go Away. and having all that extra bullshit in the way fucks up the image quality all to hell anyway, but ALSO?? no longer can i even ZOOM IN ON THE IMAGES. it doesnt allow you to swipe through every image in the thread anymore, just the images in *that particular section* of the chain!! on top of all THAT, you cannot swipe out to exit this view anymore! you have to press your back button! bc APPARENTLY by SWIPING UP ((ON AN IMAGE, MIND YOU, NOT EVEN A VIDEO)), it tries to take you to something called """"tumblr tv"""" which im assuming is their version of endless fucking tiktok scrolling/instagram reels. which... fuck that noise, all the way to hell.

on trying to watch a regular-ass video, it gave me a similar amount of extraneous annoying information that i couldnt tap away from. like how fucking tiktok has it so you cant escape the side icons+captions+user handles and shit. i dont WANT that shit. if i clicked to make the video fullscreen, i want the video to be taking up the full screen!! i dont WANT none of this weird other shit you cant get rid of,, i have no use for it!! thats what playing the video OUT OF FULLSCREEN IS FOR, Hellsite You Idiot Bastard.

so uhh. anyway. if anyone has any ideas for how i can Get Rid Of/Turn Off this goddamn fucking """feature,""" i would really appreciate it. i did a once-over of settings earlier but didnt see any new obviously stupid buttons, so im not sure where else to start

#i havent updated the app #so i dont even know when/how/why this shit got implimented #but i fucking hate it #it immediately made the app WAY fucking worse than it was #i really liked using this site to look at art and shit:( but my eyes are shit and now i cant even fucking ZOOM IN #i hope theres a way out of this. ik people arent fans of mobile but i seriously cant stand desktop for long #the landscape/short×wide layout is annoying as hell for my brain for some reason #and i can never remember the shortcuts well enough to actually git gud at using them so i spend the whole time im on there vaguely annoyed #long post #i was fine with the itty-bittied .gifs & images after polls updated bc that was funny at least #this is just ridiculous and obnoxious #bee speaks

[uncleasriel]

FromSoft Starter Guide For Everything Except Sekiro

FromSoft is a company known for their challenging (but manageable games. A lot of folks want to try them, but hit some rough parts getting started. Since almost FromSoft game (with the exception of Sekiro, which is just Built Different[1]) has a lot of the same gameplay loops and mechanics, I figured I'd list few common common techniques that can help you get started for pretty much every one (Except Sekiro. See my footnote below[1]). My advice here is not necessarily the be-all, end-all, but it enough to get you started and feeling comfortable enough to carry you through to the end-game. In SHort, they are:

Prepare To Die

Prioritize Permanent Investments Over Consumables

Level Up Your HP Stat

Explore The Environment

Upgrade Your Weapon

Co-Op Frequently, And In Other Folks' Worlds, And Often

Read Item Descriptions

Have Fun

1. Prepare to die.

I know, I know. This sounds like shitty advice, among the same level of usefulness as "git gud." But when I say you should prepare to die, I mean that dying from an encounter is not only normal, it's to be expected. The developers made death a core part of not only their gameplay loops, but also their lore. Dying repeatedly (and coming back again and again and again) is the exact intended experience. You are Undead, or Unkindled Ash, or The Good Hunter, or The Tarnished you dying, and for Plot Reasons you are incapable of staying dead. You'll just pop back at the spawn, ready try again.

Treat this as a learning experience. Something got you, and now that it has, you know its deadly tricks. As Frank Herbert taught us, "Knowing there's a trap is the first step in evading it" and now you know that This Area Has Poison, or That Shadowy Area Has Things That Grapple And Eat Your Face you will prepare you for the next run. Plus, if you drop a large payload of Souls/Blood Echoes/Runes you can always run back, grab said Souls/Blood Echoes/Runes then race to the spawn point. Even if you lose them, don't worry. Trust me when I say there will always be more where that came from.

2. Prioritize Permanent Investments Over Consumables

Consumables can be bought at merchants, and the longer you play, the more of them you can find or farm. Early game you'll be tempted to buy them, but the thing about consumables is that when they're gone, they're gone! Buying something permanent (like a new weapon, or armor, or upgrade material) will go a long way. This isn't to say that you should never buy consumables (Hell, Bloodborne's healing system requires it!) but you should always remember that when they're gone, they're gone - and so are the souls/echoes/runes you spent on them.

3. Level Up Your HP Stat

Even with taking the approach that Each Death Is A Teachable Moment, you're still gonna want to avoid having too many deaths, if only because loading screens are less interesting to watch than actual gameplay. Thus, you'll want to see fewer of them.

Leveling HP literally increased the number of hits you can take before a loading screen, giving you more time to pop off a healing item and keep fighting that good fight. Eventually you'll want to stop leveling this (Somewhere between forty and sixty, depending on which specific game and/or build you're playing) but until you each those caps, it's never a bad idea to spend your Level Up XP on hitpoints.

4. Explore The Level

There are plenty of secrets hiding, even in the early levels! Go diving into nooks, crannies and weird corners, seeing what can be seen! Oftentimes, among clusters of tough enemies, are are glowing Items that can be picked up and retrieved by rushing in - you keep the items you gain when you die - you only lose your Souls/Echoes/Runes between loading screens, and even tehn they require retrieval. Doing a suicide run to That Special Glowy Thing can pay off unexpected dividends.

As well, exploration can revealing hidden shortcuts that speed up traversal around levels. You can also meet helpful NPCs who can be merchants, teachers, and have fun questlines which break your heart are delightful and silly and give you cool items! Remember: try not to harm the NPCs - you can tell whether they're enemies by whether or not you can lock onto them. A friendly NPC can go a long way in teasing out the game's lore and setting, though don't be surprised if you don't finish their questline on your first play-through - FromSoft designs their quests to be deliberately obscure.

5. Upgrade Your Weapon

In most of the games, the starting weapons that come with your class range between okay to solid. decent. While some individual choices are less than ideal (*glares at the Bandit class*) the rest either are solid melee weapons or else have respectable starting spells.

Exploring the levels can reveal lots of helpful upgrade materials, and even getting them from +0 to +1 which makes them do a lot more damage with each hit. Taking the weapon or magic catalyst to blacksmiths or workbenches (usually located near a hub or bonfire) will bring out more in your weapon. Just remember that while you'll eventually get infinite upgrade materials to take you weapons to about halfway of their upgrade tree (usually +3 to +6 in most FromSoft games), this comes later. Usually, it's wise to commit to a solid early weapon wealy on - I recommend shortswords and longswords for beginners, but if you find yourself falling in love with a rapier or katana or Something Fancy, feel free to switch to that.

6. Co-Op Frequently, And In Other Folks' Worlds, And Often

On my first playthrough, I was so scared of playing online and looking bad in front of other players. "What if I die like a chump in front of someone? What will they think of me? Will I be paired with folks who are so much better, and outclass me? " I played offline, hollowed, and barely reached out to others..

This is, in retrospect, silly. These games are designed with co-op elements for a reason. By playing online, you get the notes (which alternate between incredibly helpful and absolutely hilarious in tone), bloodstains (which show you how others died, turning their teachable moments into yours as well) and, most importantly, synchonous multiplayer. Whether it's putting down Summon Signs, ringing your Small Resonant Bell, or using the Fingers in a Summon Pool, offering to help others is one of the most delightful and rewarding parts of the experiences.

By the time you've gotten the Multiplayer Items, you've probably noticed that, when you die and don't collect your Souls/Echoes/Runes, they're Gone For Good. This is entirely how the gameplay works - in your world. But when you visit another players's world? Everything you earn from killed foes returns with you when you return to your world.

This means you can earn oodles of Souls/Echoes/Runes by just camping in front of the same Boss Walk, and doing it over and over again. You can afford to take risks, because (so long as your host doesn't die) they can resummon you again and again using the same Humanity/Insight/Furlcalling Finger Remedy from the same starting point. On a good run, even a newer player and a weaker Host can make a lot of progress by summoning the same guy over and over to clear through all the monsters, get all the loot, and turn even a slog into a delightful day out. What's better - you get to learn the layout of the place, get more comfortable with the enemies there, and gain aboatload of experience in the process.

Eventually you'll start to carry weaker players and show them the way through - it's one of the most delightful feelings ever. Sure, there are Invaders here and there - but you always be summoned again, to fight another day.

7. Read Item Descriptions

These will give fantastic advice on how to use them, and tease out bits of lore. It's surprising how easily folks miss this, and how often reading an item description can reveal a clue that can make a boss much easier or help reveal a Shocking Secret about the history of the setting.

8. Have Fun

It's corny as hell, but it's true. These games are meant to be played so they can be beaten. When you've spent all your Souls/Echoes/Runes at the end of levelling up, splurge a little on some weird item. Try following one of those notes that says "Treasure ahead" at the edge of a cliff, or experiment with that weird item you found. it might be awesome! It might be useless! It might be hilarious! Regardless - these games are meant to be played, and to delight, so leap into it!

FromSoft games are hard, but I sincerely believe the reputation that "FromSOft Is SOOO Hardcore "reputation is grossly overrated. They can be frustrating, at the end of the day they were design to give you an enjoyable challenge. For all the jokes about "lol, you died" the design teams and even the other players want you to succeed.

While these games pose daunting challenges, they are also made with loving care that generously grants you the tools to overcome the challenges they set. I firmly believe that their difficulty is based more on obscurity of handing out How To Play information than raw Skill Challenge, and the means of overcoming this obscurity is through trial and error. Not everyone has the time for that. But that's why I wrote this guide. It's enough to help you to get started

I hope you found this guide helpful. It's probably not going to be the be-all, end-all for FromSfot advice, but it should be enough to help you get started. Please, let me know if there's anything I left out, or anything you wish I'd mentioned. I want to help folks get into these games as much as possible, so any feedback is welcome!

PRAISE THE SUN!

Footnotes

[1] Sekiro does have quite a few Souls-like elements, like the use of Idols checkpoints, doors you can later unlock to create shortcuts, replaying levels over and over until you have mastery of their geography and monster layouts, and so on. But the game's lack of a conventional leveling or weapons upgrade system puts it in a different methodology of play - in a Souls game, using some of the tricks I mention by farming enemies for items or XP is a fine strategy to power through tougher moments. In Sekiro, you have to learn the specific set of inputs and specific mechanic needed to overcome the boss ahead of you. It's much tighter, but at the cost of demanding it be played in a highly specific specific way. It's a great game, but my advice is less useful here.

#fromsoft games #fromsoftware #soulsborne #dark souls #FromSoft #demons souls #Elden Ring #Bloodborne