#this was the most fun trial I've had as a player

[emoangel44]

The thing I've always loved most about aa4 is how much darker the tone is than the rest of the series in a way that isn't just edgy for the sake of it, but subverts your expectations from the original 3 games in a really interesting way. The trilogy was built upon the trust Phoenix had in others, and it was something we as players could almost always feel certain in. AA4 flips this on its head and makes it so Apollo effectively can't trust anyone but himself.

Your mentor, who the in the trilogy was a paragon of wisdom you could always turn to no matter what, gets revealed to be the culprit and sent to jail in the first trial and by the end of the game his list of crimes has stacked high but you still have so few answers on why he did any of it.

Your boss, the goofy protagonist of the trilogy, is now inexplicably a washed-up, disgraced, cheating poker player with an implied drinking problem who seemingly found a new hobby in evidence forgery and jury rigging.

He has a codependent relationship with his daughter, your assistant, who usually is a completely innocent and hapless victim of circumstance. She sees herself as the provider for the house and will help her father cheat at poker, or forge evidence, or guilt trip the poor attorney they knowingly screwed of out of a job into working for them for dirt cheap.

The detective, the only other returning main character, a previous assistant, is completely changed since we last saw her. In the trilogy she was chipper and bright despite the hardships she faced, and now she's unfriendly and burned out, turned bitter by the world. The scene we're first properly introduced to her in Apollo genuinely spends several minutes thinking his boss is making him bribe her with cocaine.

Every single defendant is a criminal guilty of something other than what they're charged for. Each case centers around an underground black-market poker ring, a mafia family and medical malpractice, a smuggling ring, and a family of forgers and an incredibly shady troupe of magicians. The one thing all of these people have in common is that none of them will tell you literally anything about what's happening, half of them clearly reveling in being as big of cryptic assholes as possible.

The only person who doesn't fit this description is, for once, the prosecutor. Usually your biggest obstacle and the most morally corrupt of the main cast, he's the only person who's both 100% on the side of truth and on the same page as you for the entire game. He's just as clueless as you, being used nothing more than a chess piece just like you are.

But the truly masterful thing about AA4 is how morally grey it is. These characters aren't just one note villains. They're not even villains at all. Most of them aren't even malicious.

Your boss, for all the low levels he stoops to, is underneath it all the same guy he's always been, doing everything he can to bring a criminal to justice and protect his family. Your assistant is a sweet girl who truly cares about you, she's just prioritizing herself and her fathers safety before anything else. The detective is the same passionate and kind woman under everything else. The rest of the defendants are genuinely well-meaning young people who got involved in shady stuff they didn't fully understand.

The game is filled with good people trying to make the best of bad circumstances. The game has just as many fun moments as the original trilogy. For all it's rough appearance, the game has a similar heart. For every unanswered question or unrighted wrong, there's a smile or a hope for a better future. For every bad action, there's usually someone trying their best behind it. The game is melancholic and dark, but isn't afraid to let good shine through. It knows there's no shadows without the light.

#ace attorney #ace attorney apollo justice #aa4 #ajaa #post rescued from my drafts

[keplercryptids]

no d&d is better than bad d&d.

meaning: it's better not to play ttrpgs at all than to sit through a game, regularly, for hours on end, that you're not having fun playing! as a companion to my post about kicking out players who don't vibe with the rest of the group, i think it's equally important for players to recognize when a group isn't a good fit for them, and to bow out.

in some ways, this can actually be harder than kicking out a problematic player. 1) you don't want to be rude to your GM, who is probably a friend of yours, by sending the message that their game isn't fun. 2) if you're only in one ttrpg group, it can be extra hard to give up on that whole experience. if your only shot at playing a ttrpg ends up being a poor fit, you may find yourself suffering through it JUST so that you get to play a ttrpg.

i don't know that there's a perfect solution, but here are some tips.

be honest with your group.

honesty is often the best way to go. if it's applicable and you're friends with your GM, you could tell them, "hey, i don't think my play style meshes well with this group. it's nothing you're doing wrong, and i appreciate you including me! thank you for the games and have a great campaign!" or if there's a specific reason you need to leave, like a change of circumstance or availability, obviously just be honest about that too.

bow out another way.

if, for whatever reason, you can't be honest (maybe the group and GM are actually toxic, for example, or you don't really know each other), just politely bow out whatever way you can. "hey, i'm swamped with work and family stuff right now, and it turns out i don't have as much time for gaming as i thought, so i'm gonna have to quit the campaign. thanks for including me!"

don't ghost the group.

just in general, ghosting isn't the best or most mature way to handle ongoing social expectations, okay? let the group know you're leaving however you want, but let them know.

find another group.

there are a million different ways to play ttrpgs and there's probably a great group out there for you. this tip is necessarily vague, as there's many ways to find a new group (LFG postings, in-person game shops, through friends-of-friends, etc) and it'll require some work AND some trial and error! don't be afraid to try out a group for a bit before you decide to commit.

consider GMing yourself!

listen, this is coming from a Forever GM, but you should consider GMing and assembling your own ttrpg group. GMing is by far the most rewarding and fun hobby i've ever had. it's not for everyone, but you might not know until you try! and one of the best parts about GMing is the control it gives you to select players, set a schedule, and maintain the game as long as you want.

anyway! the takeaway here is that you should absolutely quit ttrpgs that you're not having fun playing. this is a hobby. this is something you do for FUN in your free time. it should feel fun, and not like an obligation or something you're merely tolerating/suffering through out of some sense of guilt. have! fun! with! your! hobbies!

#ttrpg talk

[minuy600]

A Near-Full Tier List Of 70s Atari 2600 Games

With only a couple games left to go and me needing to 'git gud' in one of them, it's only logical that it's time to wrap things up with a good old fashioned tier list!

Note: Some of my opinions have changed over time, so if some of the ordering doesn't make sense to you if you've read earlier reviews, that's why.

Football, Slot Racers and Superman will be added to the list if I can either find a second player (first 2) or a cartridge of the game (last one).

We got 28 games to go over here. F tier to A tier in that order. No S cuz there's zero games that really fit that bill. Let's rock.

F Tier

#28 Space War (11/40)

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Who thought porting a game from 1962 was a good idea on a console that already had surperior alternatives of the genre? The singleplayer was the worst gaming experience i've ever had. It's not even in space, dangit! Disastrous release.

#27 Slot Machine (11/40)

The title doesn't lie, this sure is a slot machine. And that is all it is. How does one manage to have less value than Basic Math, I wonder? Should've given more memory to Casino, Atari...

#26 Hunt & Score (10/40)

Awful controls, lacking visuals, horrendous noises and it's much, much, much cheaper to buy a copy of a real memory match game anyway. The (second) worst of the worst, even amongst several weak 1978 releases that held no value as soon as better games came out.

#25 Miniature Golf (11/40)

What am I even looking at? You move a square and that determines the angle of another square bouncing around, which is as tedious as it sounds. Squares squares square. Ourgh, I hate it. If only it had more holes so I could hate it even more.

D Tier

#24 Basic Math (12/40)

Woof, okay. As a random math problem generator with funny sound effects, it... functions. That's all I can say about it. It's a blank screen if you remove the numbers. This is my lowest of the low bars for what is somewhat passable in some regards and what isn't.

#23 Hangman (14/40)

Impressive selection of words due to being the first game with expanded memory. Now why you would spend your bucks on this when a piece of paper is something almost everyone has, I wouldn't know. Nobody wants to play Hangman alone.

#22 Street Racer (18/40)

Even more boring than Indy 500. Every mode plays the same as each other with very mild changes. Number Munchers is as good as it gets, and that's only because it's over sooner.

#21 Code Breaker (14/40)

Graphically almost as bad as flippin' Basic Math, made worse by how confusingly it plays it's cards and the fact that half the screen estate ain't being used while playing Nim. Below all the rubbish, Nim managed to curve out a tiny place in my heart due to it's alright AI.

#20 Flag Capture (16/40)

Better than Code Breaker due to being a more justified release. Otherwise, forgettable. So much so, that i'm out of things to say.

#19 Home Run (16/40)

A kinda ass way to play baseball, however props must be given for hardly having a point of reference at this point. It completely trumps the RCA Studio II version and it seems to be fairly close to the version by Epoch in Japan. Major positive is that it's a lot faster than it's contemperaries.

C Tier

#18 Outlaw (20/40)

Based on a revolutionary arcade title with a proper microprocessor. I find this one very dull. At least it has some minor things going for it like being able to deconstruct the obstacles in your way. Well done Outlaw, you did the bare minimum.

#17 Indy 500 (21/40)

Extremely mid racing. Single players are gonna be done with it in 3 seconds flat as the time trialing is not fun at all. Multiplayer is oooooookay. Decent engine noises for the time.

#16 Brain Games (18/20)

Errrrhhh, I may have been slightly too harsh earlier. Visually it's kinda gross, however you could argue that the collection of brain teasers here ain't too awful. I had a modicrum of fun with some of 'em.

#15 Star Ship (22/40)

The most striking game of the launch lineup for attempting first person well before a game could do it for realsies. I can appreciate it as an art form, as a game though? I'm good.

#14 Sky Diver (21/40)

At least it doesn't fuckin' squeal at ya at all times like in the arcade. However, unlike that version, it's pretty much multiplayer-only and the thrill of seeking a high score got almost completely butchered as a result. Satisfactory port, nothing more.

#13 Human Cannonball (20/40)

Has some personality in the form of the guy you shoot out of the cannon, and I found myself somewhat immersed by the smart way the game's visuals came to be. Otherwise, dull as dishwater.

#12 Basketball (21/40)

The first proper attempt at a realistic ball sports title. It tries a 3D perspective and for competitive play, I can see a decent time being had here. The repetition and lack of modes very much hurt it unfortunately.

#11 Blackjack (23/40)

An entirely functional and sorta addicting take on the card game of old. Gets completely trounced by Casino which is essentially an enhanced version of this.

#10 Bowling (24/40)

Falls under the same kinda umbrella as Basketball. Don't mind this one. It has good visuals (a multicolor sprite!) and a goofy dance when you clear all the pins. Kinda wears thin once you know where to stand however.

#9 Video Chess (23/40)

The best AI of the console put into a cart that could barely handle it. Sluggish movement, long loading times and hard-to-discern visuals make it a hard sell now. However, back THEN, this fuckin' kicked ass for the common man. It gets a formal handshake from me.

B Tier

#8 Air Sea Battle (28/40)

A fine introduction to the Atari 2600's library. I think it's sorta boring and the AI is hardly a contest, but the multiplayer is still enjoyable enough and it's audiovisually one of the better launch games.

#7 Casino (22/40)

How I gave this a lower score than Blackjack, I have no idea. You can play the same exact game again here with improved visuals, or dive into a couple variaties of poker, of which I actually really like Poker Solitaire. Good package!

#6 Backgammon (27/40)

Graphically one of the most impressive games on 2600 so far. Gameplay-wise, yeah it's Backgammon and Acey Deucy alright. This game thought me the ropes and i'm thankful for it. I would almost call this a worthy substitute for buying the real thing. Almost.

#5 Canyon Bomber (26/40)

Very solid ports of two middling arcade games, Canyon Bomber and Destroyer. It only made sense as they were essentially two peas in a pod from the getgo. Tired of Air-Sea Battle and in the need of something you can also play competently alone? This one's for you.

#4 Breakout (25/40)

I WILL get back to this one. I promise. The Atari 2600+ is coming in in 2 weeks and will allow me to play it with an actual paddle controller for the first time. Playing with a controller does not do it justice. It's Pong for the score hunters. 8 modes with 4 variations each is only rivalled by those coming up ahead on the list.

A Tier

#3 Surround (27/40)

Doesn't have the quirky ASMRy noises from arcade Dominos, otherwise this is an extremely solid competitive pre-Snake Snakelike. Very replayable because it allows you to doodle around freely, too.

#2 Combat (31/40)

The quintessential pack-in for the 2600 in it's early years. I don't like that it lacks a singleplayer mode completely- the multiplayer is still a hoot on occasion though. Even contains some funny glitches if you're into that sorta thing.

#1 Video Olympics (33/40)

Pong remains a classic that's still good for the occasional bout. This is that, but with a TON of other modes to invite a pal over for. The single player is destined to play one mode, however the AI is competent enough to keep that fresh for a little bit too. Easily the definitive way to play gaming's granddaddy.

Soon, Video Olympics shall be rivalled or even dethroned. The 2600's hayday is about to kick into high gear. And with that, I mean a couple weeks as I wait for my new old console to arrive in the mail. See ya then, you goofy video game crash instigator.

#minuy600 #retro gaming #review #sona #atari 2600 #atari #1977 #1978 #1979 #minuy's big game catalog

[jammatown919]

Mistakes Were Made (Chapter One)

A Lightcannon fic I've been chipping away at for a while now.

Fic Description: Jinx unintentionally forces Lux to out herself as a mage.

Lux never would have thought so much good could come out of being kidnapped.

Sure, most people would be terrified to have a blue-haired stranger appear in a flash of light and whisk them away to some sort of pocket dimension for a death match with eight more strangers, but honestly... it had been really, really fun.

Once she'd gotten over the initial shock of it all, Lux didn't have as much of a problem playing along as one might think. The stranger, Jinx, had been more than happy to demonstrate to her that no one could really die in this place she called the Rift, via a swift gunshot to her own head. Lux had maybe screamed a little, but it was definitely comforting to have confirmation that a fallen player would simply reappear at one of two ends of the map, no worse for wear.

Really, it was a lot easier than it should have been to get Lux to play, and from there, everything just sort of spiraled.

Free of all consequences and a good amount of her usual inhibitions, Lux was able to really let loose with her magic for the first time. Jinx seemed to appreciate her raw power and how ever so slightly nuts she'd gone at possibly her only opportunity to do literally whatever she wanted with it. The two of them didn't even need their teammates to completely dominate the game, which they did with reckless abandon.

When it was over, Jinx returned Lux safely home as she'd promised, but not without a promise whispered in the seconds before she vanished again: "I am definitely keeping you, Blondie."

For about a month after that, Lux managed to convince herself it had been some crazy, fantastical dream brought on by her repressive environment. In a country like Demacia, with a family like the Crownguards, it was only natural her subconscious mind would invent a reality it preferred. One where she could use her magic freely, go off on an adventure, and buddy up to someone who represented all of her temptations in life, both physical and otherwise.

But then Jinx made good on her promise, and Lux instead convinced herself she'd simply received a gift from some god somewhere out there. The escape she longed for was real, and her new friend had come back for her.

They continued their games whenever they could, typically at one-to-two-month intervals because of how difficult it could be to get ten people from all over the world together. Lux noticed as time went on that there would often be changes to roster of other players, until at one point she and Jinx were the only two left from their first game.

"Ah, sometimes you just gotta swap 'em out for people who are more fun," Jinx said when Lux asked about it. "Not you, though, Blondie. You were always the most fun."

Eventually, after quite a few swaps and trial runs, Jinx managed to put a solid long-term team together. Her and Lux, of course, with the addition of a surprisingly friendly creature made entirely out of green slime, a pink-haired songbird type on an elaborate hoverboard, and a man in a mask with a very different hoverboard who absolutely refused to play until Jinx pulled him aside for a long private conversation.

Zac, Seraphine, and Ekko. All people Jinx claimed were from home. Or almost, in Sera's case. It was these three, particularly Ekko, who gave Lux some much needed insight into Jinx as a person.

Another area in which Lux differed from most people was that most people would probably feel betrayed or disgusted or afraid upon hearing that their friend had blown up a city-state's entire government. But Lux had heard a thing or two about Piltover's old Council, largely from some of the previous players Jinx had brought around, and to be honest, she considered blowing them up to be an act of community service. A little brutal, yes, but a genuine favor to the people suffering under their rule.

What got to her a little more were the personal blows Ekko had taken. The betrayal of his oldest friend, and her subsequent murders of several of his newer friends. Only the fact that she hadn't gone near him in years made it possible for him to look at her now. Only an old, barely surviving desire to see her be better compelled him to play her game. She needed it, he claimed, to get the crazy out somewhere it wouldn't really hurt anyone.

Jinx didn't seem to love being presented with this information later that day, but she engaged with it nonetheless. Admitted to everything. Agreed with Ekko's assessment. The game was fun, yes, but it was primarily an outlet. A form of therapy, almost. Lux had to respect her for that; for recognizing what she needed to keep herself in check and following through with it.

They played on for another year, mostly sticking with Jinx's favorite assortment of allies but consistently switching up the members of the enemy team to keep things interesting. Lux got more and more used to this recreational violence, but she still found it exciting every time.

Strangely, though, the most exciting part to her was always that Jinx had never lost her initial awe of Lux's performance in the games. She was consistently impressed, often staring, and always laying the praise on thick. This all came to a head after a particularly exciting match, in which Lux had stuck with Jinx in the bottom section of the map and completely destroyed their lane with her. That, according to Jinx, had been "super hot", and one thing led to another led to Lux pinned against a tree in the jungle area with Jinx's lips and hands roaming her body.

This quickly became a standard post-game ritual of theirs, and over the course of the next six months, they grew steadily more emotionally invested each other. Neither of them could say exactly when their relationship became "official", but it did at one point or another, and thinking about it got Lux through the time spent between matches with her mental health more or less intact.

Even at times like this, when she was cooped up in the Crowngaurd Estate, awaiting tomorrow's arrival of a suitor she'd been expected to entertain for at least a weekend, she could sit by her window and draw little pictures of her girlfriend. And once the man was gone, rejected at the end of his opportunity to court her like the three that had come before him, she could look forward to the next game.

She did wonder how many more suitors her parents would allow her to cycle through before they really began to insist that she settle down, but she felt safe for the moment. At least for now, her family seemed to perceive her rejection of each and every suitor as pickiness, and that was fine by them. No noble would want their daughter to settle for just anyone, after all. She could turn up her nose at prospective mates all she wanted, and they'd simply keep bringing in more for her consideration.

It would likely get worse as she aged and cut into more of her "childbearing years", as her mother liked to put it, but for now, she was twenty-three and tolerated in her role as the stuck-up young noblewoman who would settle for no less than the perfect husband.

Yeah, right, she chuckled to herself as she outlined the shape of Jinx's shoulders on her page. Like there's such a thing.

For her, at least, there would never be such a man. One day, when it all got to be too much, she would leave this place behind. Jinx would come for her and whisk her away, not for the day but forever. For all the love she held for her family and the better aspects of her country, Lux knew her future did not lie here. She would leave it all behind eventually, when she was ready to say goodbye.

Until then, she would draw and play pretend and dream and be satisfied with her brief escapes.

She smiled at Jinx's sketched face looking up at her, longing to see the real thing again. They were about due for another game, but Jinx tended to show up with absolutely no warning, so Lux could only give her best guess as to when they'd see each other.

Right now, apparently.

The window by Lux's desk flew open despite having definitely been locked a second before, and in climbed the very woman who occupied the majority of Lux's thoughts these days.

"Mornin', Sunshine," Jinx crowed, dropping from the window to her feet.

"It's nighttime," Lux corrected her gently. Jinx squinted out the open window, like she'd only just realized.

"Huh," she said under her breath. "Guess so."

"It's good to see you, but what's with the entrance tonight?" Lux inquired, recapturing Jinx's attention. "You usually just zap right into my room. And... how did you even get up to my window?"

"Ah, y'know, climbed, dodged some guards," Jinx said rather flippantly. "Had a pretty good time, I guess, but that's not the important part. It's game time, Blondie! Got everything all ready to go!"

"Tonight?" Lux asked.

"Yeah, for tonight." Jinx held out her hand, as she often did, to invite Lux into her teleporter's range.

"I'm sorry, Jinx, but I can't tonight." Honestly, it was kind of a miracle they'd gotten this far without ever having some kind of scheduling conflict. "I have to be up at dawn to greet a suitor."

"A what?" Jinx's brow furrow slightly.

"A suitor," Lux echoed. "A man my parents invited here to get to know me. He's going to spend the weekend trying to court me."

"Huh?" In an adorably canine fashion, Jinx tilted her head to the side.

"Trying to impress me so I might want to marry him," Lux explained. "And I won't, of course! I send all my suitors away. But I still have to entertain them for the time they're given."

"Ohhhh." Jinx let out a small chuckle, which was a better reaction than Lux had expected. Knowing her and her past, threatening to simply murder all of Lux's suitors had been a very real possibility. Instead, she said, "just skip it."

"What?" Like it would ever be that easy. It wasn't even an option, really.

"Skip it," Jinx persisted. "You don't wanna do it, right? And it's stopping you from doing something you do wanna do. So just don't do it. Come with me instead."

Lux would be lying if she said the idea wasn't tempting, but she knew better than to think she could accept. It was too easy to lose track of time on the Rift; too easy to have it interfere with the plans that had been made for her. She would never be able to come up with an acceptable excuse if someone came looking for her and she was nowhere to be found on such an important day.

"I'd like to, Jinx, but I really can't," Lux said as gently as she could. "I have to wait until after this weekend."

"Aw, c'mon, Blondie," Jinx pleaded. "Everyone else is ready to go. We need ya."

"Maybe you can find a substitute this time?" The suggestion almost physically pained her, but not as much as it seemed to offend Jinx.

"No way," she said stubbornly. "You're the best part. It won't be any fun without you."

"I'm flattered, but-" Lux stopped dead as someone knocked twice at her bedroom door. Her entire body stiffened, and she stood to grab Jinx as if she were going to shove her back out the window. "Shit. You have to go."

"Why?" There was a distinct whine to Jinx's voice that was entirely too loud for the situation.

"Luxanna? Are you talking to someone?" Garen called from the other side of the door. Lux supposed it was better than her parents, but still not good by any means.

"I can't let anyone see you," Lux hissed. "I can't explain this to my family."

"I ain't scared of 'em," Jinx protested, "and you shouldn't be either. They're just a bunch'a fancy dickheads with sticks up their asses. I don't get why you think you have to listen to them."

"Lux, are you alright?" The knocking grew louder and more insistent. "Who's in there?"

"Jinx, please." But it was too late.

The door wasn't locked. Lux never locked it, because why would she in a place like this, where she was always safe and disturbing her privacy was a punishable offense for anyone but the parents who rarely cared to visit her quarters? Except Garen had probable cause, hearing an unfamiliar voice in Lux's room.

He threw the door right open and walked on in. For a second, nothing happened. They were just three people staring at each other. Then, all Hell broke loose.

Garen quickly took notice of Jinx's weapons and reached for his sword. Why he had it on him right now, Lux didn't know and didn't have time to ask. Jinx, in response, removed the gun she called Zapper from its holster and pressed it to the side of Lux's head.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Lux glanced back at her, bewildered but not afraid. Crazy as she was, Jinx would never pull the trigger. Not on her.

"Lux!' Garen quickly drew his blade, but the gun to her head stayed his hand. Guns weren't common weapons in Demacia, but Garen knew enough to know he would never cross the room fast enough. If Jinx actually wanted to kill Lux, she could do it in an instant. "Unhand her!"

Jinx took Lux by the arm and dragged her up from her seat. "New game, Blondie."

"What?" Oh, Lux did not like the sound of that.

"If we can't play fight, we'll play keep-away instead." Jinx secured her free arm around Lux's middle and began to back them both up toward the window.

"Jinx, wait-"

Lux didn't have time to finish her objection before Jinx, dragging her along, leaped through the open window. She didn't know which was louder; Garen's horrified cry or Jinx's shriek of delight as they plummeted toward a well-kept garden three stories below.

"Do your thing, Blondie!" she called.

Her thing? What the hell was "her thing" in a situation like this?

"Break our fall!" Jinx clarified when Lux just stared at her incredulously.

Oh! She wanted a hard light barrier, like the ones Lux often used to shield herself and her allies on the Rift. It probably wouldn't work to break a fall in the traditional sense, but Lux was no stranger to getting creative with her magic. She just had to pray nobody saw.

They both collided hard with a barely visible structure that had appeared directly beneath them, then began to slide forward at a sharp decline that gradually eased up. Lux kept her eyes closed, concentrating on the next few feet, then the next, then the next, trying to keep them at a pace that would get them to the ground quickly but not injure them on impact.

It was harder than one might think to keep up with it, even with all the magic practice she got on the Rift, and Jinx hollering excitedly in her ear didn't help.

They landed in a rosebush and seemed to take every single thorn with them as they rolled out in a tangled heap. Jinx ended up on top of Lux, staring down at her with bright eyes and a joyful grin.

"You gotta do that more often!"

"Shhh!" Lux sat up, nearly smacking her forehead against Jinx's with the speed of it, spitting out leaves as she harshly shushed her. "Someone probably heard us land. You have to get out of here."

"Aww, don't worry, Blondie," Jinx replied lightly. "I'm great at keep-away!"

"No," Lux groaned, but she didn't have time to air her frustrations. She could already hear voices and footsteps swiftly approaching.

"And that's our cue." Once more, Jinx grabbed Lux by the arm and hoisted her up, then she took off running. Lux was left with no choice but to stumble after her, mind searching desperately for a way to defuse this situation.

"Jinx, there's nowhere to go!" Lux insisted.

"That's what they think." Jinx casually raised Zapper to remind Lux she still had it, even though by all logic she really should've dropped it in the fall.

"No!" Lux pushed Jinx's arm down. She didn't know what the hell she would do if Jinx shot her guards.

"What's the matter?" Finally, Jinx seemed to realize Lux wasn't having fun.

Unfortunately, it was that exact moment that the guards started to catch up with them. Everywhere Lux looked, a different pair of patrolling guards ran toward them, swords drawn. One of them recognized her in the dark and called out to her by name, spurring the others on. 

"You have to leave!" Lux insisted, yanking her arm out of Jinx's grasp. "Zap away. I-I'll do my best to clean up this mess."

"Lux..." Jinx licked her lips, her brow furrowing as she tried to put the pieces together. She had finally clocked that Lux was upset, but not why. "It's just a game, babe. You love games."

"They're not playing!" Lux gestured with one hand at the swiftly approaching guards and used the other to lightly shove at her girlfriend. 

"The Pilties were never playing either," Jinx said. "That never stopped me. C'mon, lighten up. It'll be fun."

She raised her gun again. The guards were definitely in range, and almost close enough to reach Jinx with their swords. They were out of time. 

"STOP IT!" The scream escaped Lux before she had a chance to think about it, and so did the burst of arcane energy. 

Instantly, everyone but her and Jinx froze in their tracks, caught up in a shimmering wall of mana that she frequently used to immobilize people on the Rift. It was one of her favorite things to do; laughing while her enemies raged about being rendered defenseless. Now, though, it gave her a strong urge to throw up. 

The guards were frozen physically, but they were still aware. They would still know what Lux had done to them. That she was a mage.

She'd just outed herself in probably the worst way possible. 

Part of her expected Jinx to hoot and holler and try to drag her away again, but it seemed the scream had stunned her. Lux had never screamed at her before. 

"What's wrong?" she asked, equal parts gentle and anxiety. "We're just playin', right?"

"No!" Lux snapped, tears burning her eyes. "No one else is playing, Jinx! I'm not playing!"

Jinx shrank back with something of a kicked-puppy expression and said, "ohh, fuck... shit, Blondie, I'm sorry. I'll take ya back upstairs, I-"

"No." Lux stepped away from Jinx's outstretched hand. Upstairs wouldn't help her now. Honestly, at this point, the safest option for her would probably be to just go with Jinx after all. Now that all these people had seen her magic, suitors would be the least of her concerns. The oppressive laws of her homeland would be turned on her in full force. 

And yet... she still wasn't ready to leave. 

"Go home, Jinx," she murmured. 

"B-but you're cryin'." Jinx continued to reach for her, but Lux wouldn't have it. 

"Please." Lux met Jinx's horrified eyes and held her gaze. "Please, go."

"Okay..." Jinx replied, small and sad. "I'll see ya later, yeah?"

"Yeah." Despite the emotional turmoil, the fear and uncertainty for her immediate future, Lux managed a smile. "Yeah. Love you."

"Love you too." In a flash of electric blue light, Jinx was gone, and not a moment too soon. Lux's spell probably wouldn't have lasted much longer. 

Seeing no use in stalling, she released the guards, but refused to look at any of them. She hung her head, tears of fear and grief for the life she'd certainly just lost streaming down her face, and sank to her knees to await judgement. 

------

If you enjoy my work, please consider taking a moment to reblog it! Likes do not help posts circulate on Tumblr, so the best way to share things you like is to reblog.

Alternatively, I have a Kofi functioning as a tip jar. My fics will never be paywalled, but I do put a lot of time and effort into making content for free, so here's another option to support me.

#lightcannon #luxanna crownguard #jinx league of legends #jinx arcane #my writing #mistakes were made #tagging fic titles now for easy searching if anyone ever wants to go back to them

[snapscube]

i was super bad at final fantasy online but how much u love it makes me wanna try to play it again. do u have tips for someone chronically bad at mmos?

Sure, yeah! A few!

Make sure you read your tooltips (the descriptions of your ability icons) for abilities, and do not hesitate to look up what any particular thing means. This is gonna be a big help early on.

Combat might feel slow and not particularly powerful early on. That's okay, that's entirely intended. The combat later in the game gets SO flashy with all kinds of crazy particle effects and animation, but it starts off very slow and simple to make sure you understand the most important aspects of this game's combat, which are: 1. Positioning and avoiding area-of-effect attacks and 2. Chaining abilities properly, utilizing combos effectively, and making the most of your cooldown time.

There are SO MANY resources online, YouTube especially, that can help you with any single individual issue you might be happening, as well as just general guides to certain jobs or even just starting the game in general. Watch that starter guide I linked in my previous post and that'll get you going for at least the first few levels! And then past that, literally don't hesitate to look up anything and everything you might need help on (but be wary of story related stuff if you care abt spoilers! most people are pretty good about disclaimers for that though, since a large portion of the fanbase really values the story experience!)

Being "bad" at the game actually has so little to do with how well you'll be able to enjoy a majority of what it has to offer, believe it or not. It's actually SUCH a low stakes game for like 90% of it as long as you can push past the initial anxiety of "oh god am i doing (such-and-such) right??". The skill floor is extremely low, and you'll only ever get better the more you play as long as you, again, pay attention to what's going on, and also, feeding into my next point....

Are open to getting advice in-game! Like, from other players! The community is generally good about recognizing when new players might need some extra patience and/or guidance through a piece of content. ESPECIALLY if you open up a dungeon or a trial or what-have-you with a simple "hey guys! i'm new to the game/this content so let me know if there's anything i can be doing better"! I've actually met some very nice people and had plenty of extremely positive, fun, and genuinely helpful interactions by opening up dungeon runs this way in chat! Just be nice and sociable and generally people will be happy to help you :)

If you'd like, another option might be to look up a playthrough of the opening parts of the game to see if another player was able to intuit or discover some important stuff you may have missed, and that you can use in your own time with the game!

Also, you can pick up every single job (basically your classes, for those unfamiliar) in the game on a single character, so if you're finding that a particular job is confusing to start with or just isn't hitting right, once you hit level 10 (which you can EASILY do in a single sitting) you can pick up another one right away and see if it suits you better! You'll have to do a little bit of extra catch-up in order to get to level 10 again on that job (character levels are tied to individual jobs/classes) and be able to continue with the MSQ and such, but it shouldn't take too long. And hey, plenty of quick leveling tips for early game are out there too!

#ffxiv

[thefirstknife]

I feel like the abandonment of gambit (and to a lesser extent the slowness of updating the other two core activites/vendor armor) is the end result of those activities being free. All of the dev time that used to go in to making new strikes, maps, weapons, armor is in the paid content (seasons and expansions) and the "core playlists" are relegated to being a demo. Strikes are a demo for seasonal activities and raids, crucible is a demo for trials, but gambit never had any paid counterpart, and consequently gets even less attention than the other two. Not even sure if there's an answer here that isn't just "make the base game paid again" but that has its own problems.

That's possibly one of the explanations yeah. I can't even imagine what's going on in Bungie's marketing department and how they view spending resources into free activities. Genuinely something we will probably never know anything about conclusively. I can see how axing one of these would be preferable to them.

Not to mention that Gambit is so far down at this point that they would not only need extra resources, they would need SO MANY resources that it's genuinely just not worth it. Like, nobody would approve financing that. It's still on them because they should've gradually worked on it step by step over the years instead of letting it fall so low, but hindsight is a bitch.

I mean, Gambit enjoyers could've told them a long time ago about the issues, but I'm genuinely convinced that the negative community attitude towards Gambit that has been cultivating for years contributed to this. Gambit doesn't really have big advocates or content creators or people who will make 2700000 tweets a day about the lack of new maps or bad modes. It's a fully accepted "joke" in the community to hate Gambit and it's been around since before I got into Gambit. I also distinctly remember thinking about getting Reckoner back in Worthy/Arrivals and everyone's reaction to it was always "you have to be insane to do that." And like, I did it and had a lot of fun. I 100% enjoyed getting Reckoner. But if you look online, you will only hear about The Horrors. The amount of jokes that I've seen about titles and for Reckoner it's always "If you see someone with Reckoner, know that they're the most insane bitch on Earth to go through that." Unrelatable: I loved it. So even back when Gambit was still good (imo) and Gambit Prime was still in the game, people hated it already. Years of that attitude certainly contributed to where we're at now.

A few more asks under for length, using today to have a group therapy session:

Yep, pretty much. I feel like the moment it became widespread to hate Gambit, something should've been done right away. If the whole community is acting this way, it should be concerning. Bungie should've wondered why the community's stance on Gambit was that it's a horrible thing to play. Not only just to fix Gambit, but also to like. Wonder why they're pushing people into an activity that's almost universally hated. And not only was it hated, but it consistently dropped player population. Like, crucibros hate on the Crucible, but still clock a fulltime job working hours into playing it.

As soon as this became widespread, paired with the fact that no one is doing Gambit content online, it should've sounded the alarms. If resources were put into Gambit over time, something could've been done. Send out surveys to players, to content creators even. What would make you want to play more Gambit? What would make you want to create content for Gambit? What do you expect and want from this playlist activity?

There's so many ways to make changes and so many directions to go to with this game mode. But now it's simply too late. To make any significant fixes, you would have to invest too much and you don't have a guarantee that it will work. Therefore, bye.

Honestly, this. I think this would've been fair. Not to screw over Crucible players or anything, as much as I don't like the crucibros (thanks other anon for this word), I still don't want players to experience what happened to us gambitbros.

But splitting the work between seasons/expansions and giving every playlist the proper focus would've probably helped much more in the long run. Take two seasons and focus on Crucible only. Then take another two season and focus on Strikes only. Then another two for Gambit. Anything like that, as much as needed. And if we need another cycle like it, do it again. I am completely fine waiting when I know that eventually we will get the proper attention and resources.

I can't even gauge how many people are even outraged over Gambit for genuine love of Gambit and how many don't care but they're going to be pretending to be outraged just to join the shitfest. Because if there's a lot of people being outraged for real, then where were all those people when we needed to let Bungie know we want meaningful updates?

But yeah. We'll still be able to play and we'll still be able to do Gambit for our weekly stuff, but I fear that the population of the mode will be really low and imbalanced. We'll have to wait and see. Would definitely have loved if Bungie cycled time and resources between the core playlists over the past few years, and especially if Gambit received at least a little bit of extra love.

#destiny 2 #gambit #ask

[house-of-mirrors]

Writing a critique of mask as if it was something I was critiquing for grad school lol. Some plot spoilers under the cut

Strengths

Always start with the positives. What did I like? I think the setting and music were immersive. Since I've been playing skies lately I was so excited any time something from it was mentioned. In games I love to make auditory connections, and I was excited that the audio for the sunlight in the parliament ending matches the intro of The Forge Timespace track on the skies OST! And on the topic of audio, of course the curator cries from skies. Hello Veils

There were a few parts, especially in a certain ending, where the writing really shone through. There are genuinely funny and compelling moments which has always been a strength of the devs, that dark comedy tone. My most recent playthrough, I basically just hooked up with monsters and that was the most fun I've had in the game.

Buckle your seat belt. Now onto:

Weaknesses

We've already discussed pacing to hell and back so I'm gonna skip that. Besides pacing, the biggest flaw in MOTR is that the game has identity issues. It doesn't know what it is or what it's trying to be. Mask fails as a dating sim, as a mystery game, and as a visual novel because it's trying to be everything at once and thus failing to be anything. If I played it like a dating sim, well. Pressing flirt repeatedly and seeing some of the same scenes play out every time you seduce a character with little new text doesn't immerse the player. If I played it like a mystery game, the pacing is prohibitive when it comes to solving it. I haven't actually played other visual novels so don't have a reference for that but I don't think they are as rushed as this

Either you can go into a little bit of detail about a lot of things, you can go into a lot of detail about a few things, or you widen the parameters so you can go into more detail about more things. Within the framework mask exists in (and I don't thing slowing the pacing will fix this beyond making it easier to finish some quests), the scope is too small to do justice to the scale of content they're trying to convey. I'd tell the author they had too much going on at once and to narrow their focus. Decide which characters should be focused on and which aren't so necessary. Some of them definitely were included in a way that felt last minute just to get a reaction from fans, and not because they had something to offer the narrative. Those characters either needed a plot with more depth or weren't necessary.

Mechanics

Mechanically speaking, I... didn't see a point to most of the new features. I was never in a situation where I needed certain clothes to progress, which made collecting them kinda pointless. You can complete any number of different playthroughs without touching story crafting at all. I got the feeling from marketing that story crafting would be used to help matchmake with other characters, but it very much does not do that unless I'm completely missing a big chunk of the game, which is possible given how nigh impossible it is to progress.

The engine is innovative and stunning from the perspective of someone with experience in code. But then you can't DO anything in it. Sure it may be super responsive to different paths, but if the variables change, the dialogue/written consequences don't.

Diversity and Inclusion

Finally, these notes. It's seldom comfortable to bring it up but it's important. I almost called this nitpicking compared to everything else but no, it's not! These issues are just as important and deserve to take up space. I see fellow players sort of expressing "yeah I didn't expect them to improve these areas" but that still doesn't minimize the issue.

I'm just puzzled. They took effort to research writing Jewish and Sikh NPCs but then go and keep assuming the player is Anglican. (In an ending after failing in the trial, I got a random bit mentioning how they used to hang Catholic dissenters and I was like... was that really necessary.) Idk like, especially with all the research they did you figure something would have changed, that someone somewhere would have pointed it out

The line saying the player spoke the Queen's English REALLY bugged me. First of all I have a working class accent, and I'm American not British, but accent is still a touchy topic and was even more significant in the 1860s than it is now. Same point as above, there are a lot of characters that do not have high British accents. Phoebe, Archie, Ferret, Ivy. Why assume with the player? The thing is they already have a mechanic in place with the backstories! Sure, a society player would speak Queens English but a dockworker would not! Go by that!

And body diversity. Can we please get more characters that aren't the same thin body type. It being the Age of Malnutrition isn't an excuse. (To get specific. You Know Who was from Mesopotamia where the culture had beards. The one option in late railway uses the silhouette from the cheery man which has a beard so I had misplaced hope but alas)

Summary

While the game posed tidbits of interesting horror lore, the classic dark comedy tone, and spicy monsters (before the encounters became repetitive, that is), Mask fell flat in so many ways. I had an ending after seducing Milton where he remarked that the player rarely talks about themself and I laughed because yeah, that's how the game was designed. The player has no opportunity to gain a personality through flashbacks or dialogue choices. The NPCs are stiff and very rarely have unique reactions to your character. Conversation changes topic with no clear thread or motivation.

I'm honestly flummoxed how this got through development with these glaring problems. Everyone in the playerbase noticed them right away. Ugh. Little is more frustrating than things that had so much potential that isn't realized.

It felt like a long ES, with all the pros and cons of an ES lol. Certain paths blow your mind and you might walk into hot moments with ur favs. But then no time to realize why you should care about characters, story that abruptly ends, new mechanic that is shiny and interesting but can only carry it so far, yada yada yada

#motr response #motr critical #motr spoilers #i love typing stuff like this. just like the nemesis rant and smen rant #I wrote the better part of this in the bathtub and I did not have my glasses on

[who-is-page]

I'm ✨~ pranking my partner ~ ✨ and YOU can help!

Disclaimer / TL;DR: This is, fundamentally, an extremely silly prank where I want to buy my partner a MtG deck he'll love, swap out his normal deck for his dream deck, challenge him to a match, and then watch his face light up in delight when he realizes.

(And then I want to watch his face fall into despair as I kick his ass in card games, revealing that I've also swapped out my normal deck for my dream deck! Surprise, motherfucker! Multi-part PRANK! ...but this Ko-Fi is specifically for raising money for his deck, not mine.)

My spouse's current hyperfixation is Magic the Gathering and, naturally, he's in the process of roping our whole polycule into all kinds of delighted card game mishaps and mayhem. His enthusiasm for the game is downright infectious, and I'm not saying that just because most of us are in love with him, either.

My partner and I lost our first Magic decks back when we were crossing the Florida peninsula to get away from Irma in 2017. He lost his Liliana deck; I lost my werewolf deck. We didn't end up buying any new physical cards for around five years, because... well, as corny as it sounds, it's really, really upsetting to lose a deck of cards you've bonded to and have had some really great times with! Hell, it still kind of makes my heart ache to think about, wondering where those cards could be. It's like the emotional equivalency of getting all your data on a game erased after hundreds of hours of playtime. Like, sure, you could replay it (or in this case, purchase new versions of the decks), but it really wouldn't be the same and might just feel like salt in the wound. We were also broke college kids at the time, so we couldn't afford to spend that much money frivolously-- the decks had skyrocketed in price, since it had been just long enough for them to be out of print, so the only people selling them had them at a huge mark-up. (And even now, I think his old Liliana deck is selling for like...$250+. Ouch. I think we splurged and spent like $20 on it when we first got it, for comparisons.)

We'd finally gotten some new decks in the last year, and we started playing on the Magic the Gathering Arena app. The new physical decks are honestly lovely, don't get me wrong, but none of them jive quite the same as our old decks did. My partner, recognizing this, drafted us both up our 🌟ideal decks 🌟 on the app, so we could have fun playing the physical game with the cards we've got AND could still have decks handmade for us that we've bonded to through trial and tribulation. It was super sweet and thoughtful of him to do, especially since none of the decks we physically own are any of my color combinations, and I sometimes get really frustrated playing them.

(For those of you familiar with Magic's color combos, I'm a red/green player who usually prefers werewolves, dinosaurs, and dragons. We have a blue/black fairy deck that I usually wind up with, and a white/blue spirit deck that I'll sometimes use. They're not bad decks by any means, but holy shit is it not my preferred play style.)

BUT THEN I HAD AN EPIPHANY.

I am no longer a homeless college student, having to manage every penny with sniper-like precision and having to make sure that I'm always able to carry my home on my back! I'm a settled adult, in a house with my polycule, with reliable income! If I really want to, I can purchase all the individual cards in our decks!

But here's the thing. My spouse is the king of pranks. We were best friends all throughout high school and when we first started dating and then living together, the jokes and shenanigans only intensified. (Living together with your partner is great because it's like an infinite sleep-over. I am so serious.) So I thought, wouldn't it be funny as hell if I buy his dream deck, swap it out with his normal deck without him noticing, challenge him to a card game, and then watch his face TOTALLY LIGHT UP when he realizes what I've done?

And wouldn't it be fucking hilarious if I also get my own dream deck--which normally kicks his ass in the app when we play together--sneak it into that match, and the totally demolish him??? CAN YOU IMAGINE HIS FACE????

(For background information, I lose a good 80% or more of our physical matches, because I am not a good blue player and he is an excellent vampire player. So this is also some minor catharsis for me.)

So, yeah: the Ko-Fi goal is what I'm hoping to raise to financially soften the blow of purchasing my partner's deck! I have no idea what the cost is going to look like for his, since I still need to sneak my way onto his app and download his decklist, but I'm hoping that $200 will be enough to cover his 100-card deck, since it looks like that's how much I'll need to squirrel away for my own.

#personal #ko-fi #MtG

[fiomeras]

I saw your posts about sky and that post about hacking sky. I know multiple friends who are sky hackers hehe. One of them hacks all the IAP items as “spells” (unlimited) and therefore doesn’t have to give TGC a cent lol.

You’d be surprised at how much else you could hack.

Very fun hanging out with them because they can do “magic” tricks to make cr easier (6 realms + trials, 20 candles in 1hr) or do the massive sparkle thing. They could also teleport you to cool OOB that TGC has patched out and made unavailable to the average player (ever since they took out memory candle teleporation). Somehow, if they’re in the same server as you, they can also make unskippable cutscenes faster. In the concert, they can teleport you to Aurora’s stage.

It’s really sad that players have to hack the game to get enjoyment out of it. What has TGC come to…

same here!!!! I've had a few interactions with some hackers and honestly, they've all been pretty pleasant from what I've experienced. we got to a tomb-shaped island where the isle elder was, we hung out and they did some cool party tricks, it was very nice :) I know most hackers are very just much just old tired veterans and foreign folks who have their own reasons to hate tgc. and especially in this day and age can anyone blame them?

#asks #tgc critical #like. ive been around even before the sudden rise of the multitude of conflicts #most of these players. if i ever had to talk to them are really just people who lost their respect for tgc and their now ever diluted game #ohhhhhhh enchantment to sanc era was the last time i felt the game was at its peak #not because of like game mechanics people genuinely used to like hanging out with eachother and didnt mind going off rails on crs #cr groups were so huge back then. we often also took alot of pictures and it was a very fun time #nowadays theres just like. an added obligation now with socializing that makes everything just. unnatural and shallow #big rant. would kill to go back to enchant and sanc era

[fan-tav-stic]

Kairius and 4 for Shadowheart and Karlach for the Tav questions?

Hell yes! Kairius time baybeeeeee!

Shadowheart:

4. What did your character think about Shadowheart’s devotion to Shar, including her memory sacrificing?

Honestly, Kairius isn't spiritual and doesn't know a lot of gods/goddesses to begin with so when she "confessed" that she was a Shar worshipper his first reaction was "Sorry who?" and then "Oh... Is that all? Why would I care who you worship, worship whoever you want."

When she confided in him about her memory sacrifice he was a little perturbed and it raised a few concerned red flags but he trusted her enough that if this is what made her happy then he'd support her.

When it came down to the gauntlet though that's where most of the concerns REALLY came to light. Her determination to do the trials on her own (He literally had to force her to cheat and let Astarion to Soft Step and for her to use fly for Leap of Faith), the blood sacrificing, and reading all of the books in the library, he had an incredibly bad feeling about the whole thing and he couldn't be more right.

He felt a little regretful and stupid that he didn't see it all before they were in front of the Night Song. He was able to talk her down from killing Aylin but he can't help but feel responsible and guilty for killing her one dream and making her betray her goddess even though he knows deep down that it was for her own good.

Shar didn't love her as much as she thought and for SURE didn't have Shadowheart's best interest in mind.

Karlach:

4. How did your character feel about Karlach using soul coins? Did they give her any?

Okay going to be real, I as the player straight-up forgot soul coins even EXISTED lmao. Like I don't think I've used a single one in his entire playthrough. I think I used ONE in Silas' save?????? but that's it really whoopsie

To actually answer the question:

Again, he's not spiritual in any sense so he doesn't really feel bad about using them. He's not even sure he truly believes a soul can become trapped in a coin like that.

Had he remembered to he would have absolutely given them to Karlach. He loves seeing her absolutely BODY people in battle, she's their heaviest hitter and to make her even more powerful is always the fun and correct choice in his eyes.

Thank you so much for asking btw! <3 :3

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 tav #baldur's gate tav #bg3 shadowheart #bg3 karlach #HeartBeat! #kairius #ask game #corvigae

[crystal-lillies]

I'm a DM and I have a new player in my game, so this is an ask about your experience as a relatively new DnD player.

What do think is the most confusing thing about DnD?

Hello!

This is an excellent question, and probably different for everyone I would imagine.

One of the most confusing things in practice personally so far has been figuring out the mechanics of combat. It's also paradoxically one of the most fun things too.

Our campaign so far hasn't seen a lot of combat, but we've been getting more of it lately, and figuring out action economy and what all you can do on your turn, and keeping track of class and race features that both help and hinder you can be a lot to handle.

Fun fact, I completely forgot during fights with flaming skeletons that, as a Tiefling, Thistle has resistance to fire damage, and I forgot to remind my DM during the first half of our encounters with them, and I had given her the full damage. Fire hadn't been something we faced before, so I overlooked it on the character sheet in favor of focusing on her spells.

But I've been really enjoying the trial and error, in large part because my DM has been helpful and understanding when I make mistakes or need clarification, and we've been able to come up with some incredible workarounds to combat obstacles so far.

(As far as things outside my campaign though, oh my God does all the published worlds' lore confuse me 🤣. I'm very thankful to be playing in a homebrew sandbox where I'm learning just as much as my character is)

Thank you so much for the ask, and I hope your new player enjoys themself as much as I have been!

#ask a flower nerd #answered ask #mmeveronica #dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #dungeons & dragons #dnd5e #d&d5e #crystal plays dnd

[warriorofthesky]

starting this with the disclaimer that im a newish player (started in march) and am mostly here for the story. and i'm not a destiny doomer and am in fact counting down the days for the showcase, pretty happy with the seasons ive played so far and deeply in love with the game's world and characters. i'm having a lot of fun, i'm usually pretty annoyed at how negative this community is and ignoring destiny players on reddit and twitter was probably the best decision i've made since i downloaded the game.

HOWEVER

(tldr: destiny is a great game but a frankly terrible product. also i will compare it to ffxiv bc it is my frame of reference, sorry in advance).

(also very, veeeeeeeery long. see this as less of a "this is what i think about the state of the game article" post and more of a "i've played this game for 4 months, here is what i think about it" one.)

i dont even know what to think about the state of the game article bc i feel like im here only by happenstance, i dont care about what 95% of the player base does (that being, you know, the looter shooter part of the game) so for me the only bad thing is gambit's funeral

the whole more rewards thing simply doesnt work with me, it does not tickle my brain, im usually excited about stuff i get only bc it was hard and/or fun to get them. you will never catch me dead farming anything. you will, however, catch me dying 123123 times trying to solo spire of the watcher bc im too socially awkward to find a fireteam and overall allergic to using a mic🫠so, you know, i just dont care about 70% of that post. i acknowledge that.

but it DOES feel bad to see them go "oops, we couldnt make a new set of armor this time. btw, we arent making any of them anymore" like bruh, read the room💀is now really the time to not deliver on promises. esp when you go out of your way to shove micro transactions on our faces

it is fortunate that im also mostly immune to microtransactions bc they are all too expensive for me but they are just EVERYWHERE. i come from ffxiv and i dont even remember the store exists while im playing there. sure, ffxiv is subscription based while destiny is free to play but i'm sorry. ffxiv's free trial has more content than destiny's free to try ever will (i'd even go ahead and say ffxiv's free trial has more content than destiny ever will since destiny is fond of cannibalizing itself). especially now that they extended it to stormblood/lvl 70. depending on how much you play daily, you can spend months in ffxiv without spending a single cent.

i began playing destiny in march and immediately had to pay for shadowkeep bc what the hell was i even going to play after the first week otherwise? i keep trying to get my brother into destiny, but it is hella expensive, not to say anything of ridiculously confusing story-wise. the other day we had a big oof moment bc im trying to use dungeons to lure him in and didnt realize we had to pay for shattered throne or grasp of avarice. he didnt have the forsaken pack or the anniversary pack. i was out of money, he was only vaguely interested, and we only learned later that prophecy is the one free dungeon in the game. destiny is not free to play as far as real content is involved.

so it feels shitty to have the store shoved in your face SO much ALL the time. you have season passes and then events with their own season passes (so to speak) and then most of the cool stuff is also paid and like, ok, this is already bad, but you gotta remind me of them all the time, game? really?

it creates this massive dissonance between that the game is showing me and what i see from the many devs i follow on twitter. they are passionate people, they love what they do, i 100% believe they are doing great work within the structure they are in. but the game feels like a cash grab. its absolutely bonkers to me that the game goes out of its way to tell you that you can now buy stuff in its store. aren't you proud that now you can spend who knows how many dollars in this product of ours?? arent you??

????? okay?

and it's not just the microtransactions, it's the timegating too. my first weeks of destiny were spent with me having the thought of "god, imagine if it was like this in ffxiv. people would be SO mad squeenix would be apologizing until 2030" every other day. out of cores? too bad, you have a daily limit at rahool. out of prisms? same thing. like sir. i'm a new player. i want to at least have one set of armor masterworked. you are not convincing me to play more, you are convincing me not to give a shit. im broke af in game and out of game now lol congrats to me!

and there is more! want to do this weapon quest thingy for witch queen? too bad, not today. want to not be fool with stasis in pvp or pve? too bad, come back next week for more aspects. this chafes, yall. especially as a new player who barely has any idea of how any of these 1231231 systems work. you are not convincing me to play stasis next week. you are convincing me not to touch stasis for the next 3 months.

i will keep sighing and complaining about ffxiv's weekly capped tomestones but by god i've seen hell and it is not in ffxiv.

this state of the game that is basically telling pvpers and all four of us who enjoy gambit that they can't and won't do more feels like shit even to someone like me who actually likes gambit right now (i couldn't care less about maps lol) and who barely plays any pvp. where is all the money going? why are you shoving eververse on my face all the time then? why are you timegating me to hell in an attempt to get me to play more and spend more? why?

i do not agree with the idea that this money is going to marathon only and that is why there isn't much pvp development to speak of. that would be really stupid because destiny is bungie's main source of income and it will only be okay for them to not give a shit about it anymore when and if marathon becomes a hit and a not a moment before. however, i'm also a league player and even though i play much less now i've kept up with it and it's pretty obvious that after 10 years of being riot's only game league isn't the priority for the company nowadays. valorant is.

poor one out for legends of runeterra while we are here.

this does not mean league is abandoned. it just isn't the focus anymore. it has a consolidated player base. people are used to how it works and how content (champions) is released. there is very little financial incentive to do more than necessary. whatever is going on with bungie is... honestly normal, even if it isn't fine by our definitions. and again, i don't think it's even marathon. i think it's the executives' pockets honestly lol because what does "we don't have the resources" even mean? i know hiring more people and throwing them at the game is not the answer for quick solutions. i'm not a gamedev, but i'm a webdev working in a startup. last year we had a small influx of trainee devs and it was HELL for a few months. i'm a junior myself and i was about lose my mind if i got interrupted one more time to answer a question from the trainees again. new hires mean everyone's work will be slower for some time. but the thing is that it usually goes back to normal. i havent had a trainee interrupt my work in months now. it feels pretty incredible.

so why doesn't bungie hire more people? it will slow things down for months and months but it will pay off eventually, right? except i don't know if that's true. are more pvp maps going to bring in more money? is not shooting gambit dead going to bring in more money? probably not. again, the executives' pockets are the issue here. what i think is happening is that it isn't worth it to hire and train more people to make content for something that doesn't bring in money. and we could argue about how pvp and gambit being healthy is good for the game, how that would bring in more people or make people play and pay more, yadda yadda, but i don't believe the decision makers at bungie believe this and they might have good reasons, so what can be done? nothing, i guess. it's not like i know better than them.

so, on one side, i understand why people might be a bit miffed at the game. it feels like a cash grab. it feels like is trapping you into playing. however, i believe you are still responsible for your actions and perfectly capable of not playing if you are not enjoying it. i wish the destiny subreddit would take a chill pill and touch grass bc those people are not okay right now. but i think it's disingenuous to act as if the game isn't ridiculously greedy. because it is. this game is greedier than league and league is super greedy already (and league actually is free to play, unlike destiny).

raging at the devs will not change this. harassing the devs won't change this. they are not the ones making these decisions, especially the devs you find on social media going about their day and taking care of their lives, which are none of our business.

in the end, you kinda have to make peace with destiny-the-product or you will have a miserable time playing destiny-the-game.

i've made my peace with it. i engage with the content that brings me joy and ignore everything else. and look, the state of the game wasn't all bad. it was actually fine overall. i still find it weird that it doesn't address the real issues people had with the season (deep dives doing triple duty as simple deep dives, exotic quest and catalyst hunting was the big oof of the season for me, honestly. sometimes i just want to do a deep dive and not get roped into whatever else is going on - or the opposite, i guess. i still havent gotten the catalyst) but i gotta believe they will take the feedback when making the next seasons/expansions.

and they are finally getting rid of the ridiculous nonsense that is acquiring stasis. right after i managed to drag all my characters through all of that, sure, but at least now i can finally delete my awoken titan and make an exo one because i won't have to go through it all again. and they teased changes to the seasonal model or at least how seasons work. i'm pretty okay with what we have now, honestly. if anything i just wish the story stuff wasn't so... short. there was also something about making sure new players are caught up and that made me perk up because, please, bungie. i'm trying so hard to get my brother into this game. help me out. please.

and, the most important thing for me, final shape will conclude the saga, no seasons necessary!

just that made the whole state of the game post worth it for me. once again, my condolences to pvp players and i will mourn you, gambit, but i'm here for vibes and the lore and story, and 10 years of league of legends made me immune to shiny things on the store and 2 years of ffxiv made me too lazy to be tempted by timegated stuff. you can not kill my joy in any way that matters @ bungie's executives

the one thing i wish bungie would change (since i believe the game is too deep into microtransactions to ever be free of it) is how they communicate with players. it's not even the frequency (we have twids, as the name says, every week after all) it's just... the tone. i don't want them to give a piece of their mind to the insane people frothing at the mouth on reddit and twitter and youtube, but it's like they are speaking to an imaginary player and the (normal, well-adjusted) players are speaking to an imaginary bungie. we are not in the same wavelength at all. riot and rioters speak more to league players. of all companies out there, out of all communities out there, and riot does it better.

i understand keeping the devs safe, especially after the clusterfuck that happened recently. but it's still weird that bad actors are the deciding factor when engaging with the community. i don't know what the solution is but it does feel pretty bad overall. and its hard to take bungie seriously when most stuff they spit out is riddled with corporate speak. very little of it feels genuine.

again, i love the game. i love the characters. i love the universe and i love how queer friendly it is. ive spent the last weeks soloing dungeons and having an absolute blast, even if spire is kicking my ass really hard right now. getting the new exotic felt magical. and i've spent an ungodly amount of time theorizing about final shape and reading, watching and writing about this game. getting new veil containment stuff every week and theorizing with the community is really fun. i got the first book of the destiny anthology and i love it so much. hell, the game got me to write fanfic and only two pieces of media actually managed that (pretty easy to guess the other one at this point). i love my time here. i'm not leaving unless the story takes a nosedive of epic proportions and no, i don't think lightfall is as bad as people say. in fact, it's the second best expansion and i will fight you on that.

but destiny is not a good product, not by a long shot.

#destiny 2 #really really long #ren.txt

[ac-liveblogs]

Misc. 4.2 Archon Quest Predictions

I'm vaguely aware of how Furina and Neuvillette's little... power struggle? Is going to be resolved thanks to leaks, but until then -

I think the Gnosis is in the Oratrice. It's the reason why Fontaine's Justice system functions Like That, as well as why they can convert Belief into Power. After Sumeru's Akasha system, that makes the most sense to me.

That doesn't account for why Furina doesn't seem like an Archon, since not having her Gnosis didn't really bother Ei, so I assume she also put part of herself (?) or her authority as Archon (?) in the Oratrice as well. I don't know what exactly she did to herself, but it should be related to the Oratrice. Or depending on when the Oratrice was made, the previous Hydro Archon Did Something and Furina is saddled with it.

The Oratrice being wrapped up with the Gnosis and the Hydro Archon this way is why Neuvillette honours its judgments - even when Childe has been found guilty.

I don't expect Navia, Clorinde, Wriothesely, Lyney/Lynette or Freminet to do much more than help the people of Fontaine evacuate when the waters rise. Navia has her weird boat-shaped base, Wrio is building his own Ark, the twins+Freminet have the Magic Pockets. I'd be shocked if we got anything else from them.

I'd be shocked if Charlotte even shows up in 4.2 outside of maybe writing a news article on what happened at the end.

I really have no idea what Childe will do. Leaks from ages ago said he had no speaking lines in 4.1 and 4.2, and while he definitely didn't in 4.1 he was still present and... said things, I guess. He's definitely present in the 4.3 trailer, so maybe he'll just appear in cutscenes to fight whatever the new boss is, help hold it off for a little while or whatever, get knocked out, and then we have to step in to finish the job.

No idea what will happen with the Vision. Maybe he'll fuck off into the Abyss with Skirk and we'll keep holding onto it (lmao). It's such a weird point that we got it. I wonder if it's just to justify the Childe dream-sharing. That feels like a plot element they might want to keep around?

Who knows about Skirk. She might just be a cameo or she might dump some lore and bounce. I don't think she'll stick around after this.

We won't fight Arlecchino. I assume we would have heard something about her boss battle by now if we did. We might just end up teaming up with her entirely in this patch to fight the Abyss.

Despite the hype for the trial in the trailer, I don't think they're going to make us do another one. I hope they don't. I seriously really fucking hope they do not. Please.

So far, I've been really unimpressed with Fontaine. Unlike Sumeru, there are a lot of plot elements present in this region that could have really worked for me but so far they've flubbed every single one.

Ch1 was tedious right up until the trial, and the trial was terribly written; ch2 and ch3 were extremely poorly thought out filler that failed to use the playable cast members in meaningful ways; ch4 was... passable, if an extremely boring way to make use of all the players in Meropide. Though at that point I also just wanted to be out of Meropide.

Fuck Meropide.

I don't really expect ch5 to be a meaningful improvement, but if they can do some fun stuff with Childe I'll at least enjoy that much.

#replies #ac plays genshin impact

[mrslittletall]

Now that I played FF14 for almost a year, let's see what I like better in it and what I liked better in WoW: Things I miss from WoW: The open worldness of the areas. You could just mount and fly from one area to the other without having to go through loading zones and you could even see things in the distance if your graphic card was good enough. Also, I will forever remember the massive flight from Stranglehold to the Eastern Plaguelands. In FF14 every zone is more of a self contained level. I miss the open worldness of WoW in it. Second thing that I miss are the little things and easter eggs you could find EVERYWHERe in WoW. FF14 is a bit missing of them. At least I haven't found too much outside of story or optional quests. In WoW I found an underwater bar that had no purpose but just to be... there. FF14 needs stuff like that too. Just stuff for you to discover to be "Woah". Underwater combat as well as just being able to dive anywhere. It is clear as day that FF14 only started underwater content in Stormblood and that means underwater there is lacking. I think there is a little underwater combat, but very often you are forded in caves and on land to do your underwater quests and you can only go underwater at designated places. Alright, now the things I like better in FF14. The story. Hands down, that is the best part of FF14. It is really good, even the stories of the less good content like ARR or Stormblood are still fantastic. Endwalker is sadly a bit rushed, but I still had so many feelings during it. MUSIC! Sorry WoW, FF14 just blows you out of the park there. Every zone has a day and a night theme (starting in Heavensward), there is music for the different mounts, EVERY dungeon has its unique theme and they even remix the hard modes, there are battle themes for the dungeons and different one for mid-boss and final boss, every trial has its unique theme, the raids have their own themes, the raid bosses have their own themes, there are dozens of music pieces for the cutscenes which also CHANGE in the different add-ons. The OST is one of the best OSTs I've ever heard in a Final Fantasy and those OSTs are already very high quality. The trials. It is just genius to put dedicated story boss battles into a group activity without having to do a dungeon beforehand. And those are good boss battles! The trials are so much fun! I like them so much that I even sometimes queue up for random trials even though I already got the payment for the day. The hard mode versions of the dungeons. They are completely remixed! That is amazing! Sadly, they kinda vanished after Stormblood, apparently being replaced with something else that I haven't tried yet, but I am very satisfied with the ones we got. How you unlock flying. You play through the story of a zone, do some optional quests, find some aether currents and once the story is done, flying is unlocked. There is no reason to gatekeep flying like WoW does and I am happy for it. The community has been a lot nicer than in WoW, though I have to admit, WoW was pretty nice during the parts where a lot of players first left. Of course I met some bad apples, but most of the time, if there is a wipe, we just try again. When I once failed a boss mechanic badly, the other DPS took the lead to show me where to stand and what to do. That is really nice ^^ I sadly heard the fandom is a toxic cesspool which is a shame. Where are the people who are not frothing at their mouth when I don't agree with their headcanons or like to see darkfic of Zenos/WoL? If you exist, I want to be part of it! That is all I can think of so far. I had my fun with WoW, I played it 15 years after all, but it is over. Sorry WoW, but... when there is one thing that can commit me to a game, it is a good OST and FF14 delivers.

#world of warcraft #final fantasy 14 #I miss some things in WoW #and I still care much for my OCs #it just was time to move on

[aeondeug]

Finally started on a second run of Mask of the Rose. Playing as an aromantic lesbian undertaker this time around. Decided to try and woo Rachel. Given that she is described in my journal as my regrettable sweetheart and given that our last romantic moment together involved her telling me she's got it down bad for Milton still I am guessing this is not going well. But damn if it isn't compelling.

Also it not going well does remind me of something I do genuinely love about this game. And it's that the game is actually a dating sim. A lot of the romance focused visual novels I've played produced by western developers have been just that. Romance focused visual novels. They're not the same kind of game that something like Tokimeki Memorial is. Many aren't even asking me to do the bare basics of time management that something like Morenatsu asks of the player, let alone the more mechanics focused approach Tokimemo games take. And while Mask of the Rose doesn't really play anywhere near the same as the standard stat raising based dating sims, it does still have a time limited mechanical focus.

I saw reviews lamenting that they weren't able to romance anyone their first time through or solve the mystery. And while I do understand that frustration, especially with the release version of the game, I do think expecting to get the answers and the results you want on a first run is counter to the play experience with dating sims as I've known them. Dating sims are games that you are encouraged to replay repeatedly to ferret out not just all the juicy details and secrets, but also an understanding of the mechanics and how best to make use of them. So many first runs of dating sims end in failure. Not even cases of not ending up with the character you wanted but just outright you didn't end up with anyone at all. But your time wasn't wasted. You presumably had fun getting to meet people and you also learned things about how the game plays and what it expects of you.

And that's the very experience I've been getting with Mask of the Rose. My first playthrough I did successfully woo Archie because he was honestly horribly easy, at least in the release version of the game. I managed to get him out his predicament in court via an extremely fortune set of choices I made a day before the trial. But I didn't learn who killed David. I didn't learn anything about how David was killed actually. My understanding of the storymaking system was questionable at best and I didn't even find the one market until near the end of the game. My time management was absolute dogshit. I upset some of the cast by accident (though by the end I was embracing this and outright trying to be antagonistic towards Griz for roleplay reasons). My first run wasn't as bad as some others that I've seen, but it's not exactly what I'd call successful.

My second playthrough meanwhile I have gotten a much better grasp of the storymaking system and I am making better use of it. But my grasp is still flawed and needs work. I'm doing better at managing my time now that I've gotten a better idea of how the game is structured but I'm still wasting time in places. I'm still pissing people off by accident at times. And, most importantly of all, I have no damned idea who actually did the crime and I have no clue how to get to The Best Ending. If there is one. I have things to learn about the game. Not just about the characters, but also about how to play the game. I'm having to think, learn, plan. I love that. It's a big part of why I like dating sims. Being able to kiss cute girls is a very big part of the appeal, yes, but it is not the sole appeal. Part of the appeal is having to learn how to plan your dates to avoid a girl bombing the ever living shit out of you and ruining any chance you have at wooing Shiori Fujisaki. It helps make the kissing of cute girls feel all the more meaningful. Because it was a fucking struggle to get there.

#mask of the rose #failbetter games #this is also part of the appeal of farming games tbh? #my first experience with one was losing at a wonderful life because i was too shit at the game #the first year ended and the game was mercy killed for me #with each playthrough i learned more and more about the game #and this helped create a love and appreciation for that world

[sbrn10]

More post-e80 thoughts:

Two general things I just want to throw out there in the wake of having the shard/feywild arc largely wrapped up (although I hope there is more to come next episode in terms of the characters processing what happened).

(And of course I started writing this down as "two minor points" and it got stupidly long so I had to change the first sentence and now I guess I'll cut for sanity. The curse of being a verbose mfer.)

1.

I think "but they didn't trust each other at all???" re: the trust trial is kind of a weird take.

Given the setup, the central question or task in this trial isn't really "can you trust each other and thereby achieve your goal," it's "can you correctly identify the imposter(s), if any (and by implication, do you know each other well enough to do so) in order to achieve your goal." To phrase slightly differently, knowing each other and/or trusting that you know each other enough to identify each other is the point, because when you don't know whether the person in front of you is actually your friend, whether you do or do not trust your friend is irrelevant. But, if you can interact with someone who may or may not be your friend and come away confident in your judgment of whether it is them, that is at least by proxy evidence of a reasonably solid relationship. And, although opinions may differ on how solid the process was (most notably, whether attempting to use Detect Thoughts means there is a lack of trust, which I disagree with but this is long enough already), they did end up correctly identifying that nobody was an imposter, which means they did succeed at the challenge given to them.

Also, given that this game was really half in character and half out (as in, it was as much the players observing each other out of character as it was about the characters observing each other in character, which, you can be happy or unhappy about, I guess, but it would be weird to ignore it), I found it to be both fun to watch and about as good an outcome as could be expected.

2.

One thing I've pondered before is that BH, while made up of various flavors of ticking time bomb characters, are actually very different. Chetney's werewolf, FCG's circuitry, Laudna's relationship with Delilah, Imogen's mind-reading and Ruidus-adjacent powers, Fearne's relationship with the shard and/or Dark!Fearne, and *waves vaguely* Ashton's... all of that are all really different kinds of problems. (Orym's grief/trauma is not included, because that's just bog-ass normal human emotions, not supernatural/magical/fantastical bullshit.)

There are parallels that can be drawn between these problems, of course, and the ways in which they try to look to each other for guidance is fascinating to me (like, I think Chetney's constant advice to embrace their problems the way he embraces the wolf is incredibly inapplicable to some of the characters but it's also so understandable why he would say so, and that's delicious), but as outside readers, some care should be taken to understand all of them individually.

Further, there are obviously ways to examine each of these issues as metaphors for real human issues -- like chronic pain, anxiety/other kinds of mental illness, abusive relationships, substance abuse/addiction, etc. (side note: I mean, I thought the addiction metaphor for Delilah was way off, but Matt threw it out there, so??) -- but to be too focused on that kind of metaphorical reading is, I think, limiting, because this is... you know. D&D.

For instance, to argue that Imogen taking off the circlet is "going off her meds" or that Imogen considering giving into the Ruidus connection is self-harm is a valid reading, but Imogen's powers are NOT actually mental illness. They come with defined mechanical benefits and potential story that I assume Laura as a player trusts Matt to have devised and which presumably can be used (or at least explored) as a real weapon and strength in the overall narrative. Whether leaning into her powers will ultimately be something that hurts her or empowers her is yet to be written.

On the other hand, while obviously there are mechanical/narrative benefits to, e.g., Fearne accepting the shard, it's also perfectly valid for Fearne as a character to either a) not want that power, because she's happy with who she is today and doesn't want to become something different or b) be afraid of that power, because she hasn't grappled with how or why she would go down the path to becoming Dark!Fearne, and that's also all stuff that can be explored and written further. But that story would obviously be very different from Imogen's, since the shard is not innate to Fearne.

And I think smushing all of these nuances into "yaaaassss taking ownership of what others think is a flaw/disability and turning it into strength!" OR "wow they're all making each other worse / egging each other into more self-destructive behaviors" is just kind of... flat on both ends of the spectrum. It can be all of those things! There are different layers and lenses! I think it's a lot of fun that we get the room to make these connections and interpretations and the interplay between them!

I mean, I guess the conclusion to this weird mini essay is 1) I am having so much fun, and 2) I don't think think any of them are in an incredibly dire place as of the end of e80. I mean, Laudna's not doing great, so I'd like to see them deal with that! but also, it could be so much worse! I'm cautiously optimistic! And Fearne should probably talk about her feelings on the shard, but she seems pretty excited about it, you know?

#musings: cr #critical role #cr3