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aotopmha · 2 months

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There has been a bunch of talk about FF14's 'normal' difficulty content these past few days and on my part, I think I could take or leave any potential difficulty/friction increases.

As a new player of about 3ish months, I'm having a blast of just trying to perfect the dungeons despite them having a very rigid structure.

This conversation is super interesting to think about from the perspective of players with varying playtime, too, I think.

To me as someone who has been playing for just a few months (nearing the Shadowbringers base game ending MSQ-wise) and been doing roulettes almost daily because I enjoy running the dungeons, obviously they still feel fresh and fun.

I'm still also getting used to the rotations of any of the jobs I've picked up and still building muscle memory, so to me the game feels just the right kind of "easy" at this difficulty. None of the normal difficulty content has been super hard, but I feel I still have to use my brain, so I'm not feeling any of the criticisms about the gameplay becoming mindless.

But on another side to this are those who have played for a much longer time and have become really familiar with their jobs, seen the dungeon/job structure stay the same through several of the latest expansions or even just stepped into harder content like extremes, savages and ultimates, and gained a different perspective on the game as a result.

No matter how good something is, if it is the same for a long time, people will get tired of it and if the fail states of a game are at some point too easily bypassed, a game can become a mindless hallway.

As I said, I'm not at this point with this game, but I can see how people would get there.

But I'm also not struggling to the point where I would find a little tougher dungeons off-putting or too much.

Same for having tougher rotations with stronger fail states.

As long as it feels good, I'll play it.

What I am worried about is the game going too far in the other direction, where the difficulty would be too much, specifically a possible situation where something feels unfair and frustrating to complete, rather than satisfying to complete because I think a bunch of the difficulty of the older dungeons comes from poor telegraphing, rather than fair and satisfying challenge.

An example here to me would also be the Ivalice alliance raids: they have really cool encounters for sure, but also a bunch of mechanics that have really unintuitive telegraphing.

I didn't fail the math boss because it is basic math, I failed it because I had no idea where to even look to solve the mechanic.

Why should I face the sniper with the hole in the shield and not the shield itself?

Stuff like that isn't a challenge you can figure out, it's an artificial obstacle you have to push yourself through until you find the solution.

I think Dzamael Darkhold is a really neat idea for boss management/positioning for tanks, but the "challenge" of sitting in the magitek circles is more annoying than any kind of challenge.

Copperbell Mines (Hard) also has some maybe neat ideas of using stuff within the environment, but also end up just being annoying, like the golem boss.

But if they mean stuff like the second boss of Bardam's Mettle, which is a neat pure mechanic fight or the beginning section of Hell's Kier and how that uses the fodder enemies, I'm all for it!

I welcome keeping things unique and fresh: mixing up the structure of dungeons, doing something more unique with regular mobs, punishing failing mechanics harder and making failing your rotation cost more.

In fact, if there is one element of criticism in terms of the game's difficulty I absolutely agree with, it's the idea that there is no ladder between the easy and hard content. If you want to try the hard content you either consult sources outside of the game or jump in without zero preparation by the game. That's why I've been hesitant to try: I like easing in to harder content via a possible ladder and work through that step by step.

My current plan, for example, is to reach endgame (lvl 90) and from there start with the easier extremes and work up to the tougher content if I enjoy the process.

But the game doesn't really prepare you for the tougher content in any form on its own as far as I've looked up. It just exists.

A version of the Hall of the Novice, like Hall of the Expert for extreme and savage content would be really cool I think and I think the current Hall of the Novice should not only be made mandatory, but be updated with a couple more concepts as you run through the MSQ, too, to just give you just a sense of how the more difficult content feels, which then would eventually lead to the harder 'expert' version to be unlocked.

(This also doesn't mean they should give everything away, only create a sort of mini extreme/savage level difficulty test before you let people do the content.)

I feel the easier mandatory tutorial would help a bunch with learning the game, especially help with reducing the amount of players who don't understand the basics of their jobs, while the presence of an expert hall would serve as at least some indication of what you're in for in harder content.

But to loop back to the start, my tl; dr is that I'm having fun with what we have now, but it's easy enough where I feel I wouldn't struggle too much if they raised the base difficulty, but more importantly, increased the friction or made the struggle itself more substantial, provided they did this is in a satisfying, rather than frustrating manner.

It's a balance that strikes me as fairly difficult to achieve, but if they do, I think they'll make something truly amazing out of it for players who enjoy easy and hard content alike.

In general, they are promising a lot of content with Dawntrail, but to me the most important element here is that all of that content would be actually good.

Quantity =/= quality, so, from the MSQ to the new exploratory zone to the new deep dungeon and even the graphics update, I'm just hoping everything they give us in the new expansion is good.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Final Fantasy 14 #FFXIV #FF14 #FF #Endwalker #Dawntrail

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catgirlforeskin · 1 month

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I'm in a Cyberpunk Red game w/ a bunch of friends from college (after we played the videogame and loved it lol), but I was wondering what gripes you had with the system? Overall I've been frustrated by how boring the gun customization is mechanically (a pistol with a red dot and a pistol with iron sights are just role-playing with no actual stat changes, etc.) but haven't taken issue with anything else in particular. I've only seriously played 5e in the past though, so I'm interested in more perspectives lol

Gun customization and gun combat generally leaves a lot to be desired, yeah. The granular range tables and armor penetration are neat ideas but otherwise it’s very basic, which isn’t inherently bad, but after having played Twilight 2000 4e I mostly just miss the gun combat and action economy from that. I’m not a fan of cyberpunk’s 5e style action economy of one action, free movement, and free actions.

Generally so many of the items have no stated mechanical benefit and rely entirely on GM rulings, but when most of the game is very strict about exactly how things work, that “rulings not rules” approach kinda falls flat imo, and is entirely dependent on the GM rather than the system, which imo is a failing of the system. It’s again very 5e with “well, just let the GM finish the game’s rules!”

Another gripe I have after having come from Pathfinder 2e is that I hate not having an accessible wiki with all the games rules now. Especially when there’s so many splatbooks that all have important rules hidden in flavor text, I miss just being able to look up something and instantly have all the rules on it. But even beyond that Pathfinder 2e handles its rules so well by having basic universal principles and the Trait system so any time you see something new you can quickly understand how it works by seeing what traits the item or ability has.

I still like Red, but yeah a lot of the time it makes me miss either Pathfinder 2e or Twilight 2000 4e. Oh my god and don’t even get me started on netrunning and how one player is just playing their own game with turns 10 times the length of everyone else who just roll to shoot and are done in 15 seconds aaaaaaaaaaaaaa

#ttrpgs

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hexagonalhavoc · 5 months

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Hex Characters in the Real World

So basically at the end of the game it’s implied that all the characters go into the real world. This also goes hand in hand with the theory that Amanda from Inscryption is Sado meaning that when all the characters go through the hex portal they get a normal looking appearance. I wanted to make headcanons for what jobs I like they would have in the real world just for funsies

If I have the time I wanna draw them just living their casual civilian lives

Reggie:

I think he would just make the Six Pint Inn real. It would be somewhere secluded in the mountains or the woods.

A lot of travelers go there for the owner’s hospitality and really tasty root beer.

He’s known for being kind, even letting people stay at the Inn for free during really bad storms.

Yet some people feel uneasy around him.

Jeremiah:

In the game if you get all the coins for the vending machines it mentions how Jeremiah wasn’t happy being a janitor and that he wanted more of a thrill in his life.

I think initially he helps Reggie build his inn but then leaves to go pursue his own interests but they still chat from time to time.

The job I see for him is a private investigator because he already has experience with hunting people down and keeping a low profile.

Swk:

Either he gets a human form and just becomes a literal weasel.

I think if he did get a human form he would actually go to college and study engineering. He’s probably really good at math.

Ends up joining a rock band as the drummer. It’s mildly popular in his area and he’s kind of a celebrity again but this time he’s really chill about it. He keeps his band mates in line if they start letting the fame get to them.

If he had to make a name up for himself it would be “Kidd Shrewd.” It’s a strange name but perfect for a rockstar.

Chef Bryce:

I think we all know what his ideal job would be.

After everything he’s been through he just wants to live a calm life.

Would try to set up his own bakery but if that doesn’t work out he would become a high school teacher.

He would be the cool teacher that not all the teachers like but his students love him because he’s just really mellow.

Chandrelle:

She would have a job where she didn’t have to interact with many people.

Would be absolutely terrible in a customer service job because of how snarky she is.

This is a weird one but I think she would be a janitor and actually enjoy it because she gets to blast music in her headphones and ignore everything while she cleans.

If she sees someone litter in the place she’s cleaning she will smack them with her mop.

Since her name really sticks out I think she would go under the alias “Charlie Storm” or just “Shannon.”

Lazarus:

When I thought about him the first thing that came to mind was dog walker.

He’s calm and confident which means he’s able to get dogs to listen to him.

The poor man probably doesn’t really know how to relax so on top of dog walking he’s also a cashier at a gas station and going to college full time.

Ends up becoming a veterinarian or a marine biologist.

He prefers to chill with animals rather than humans and finds marine life to be really neat.

Probably doesn’t care about going under a fake name but if he did it would be “Russel” or something basic like “Jason.”

Rust:

Lives off the grid or in a very small town.

He can’t stand crowds and would feel unsafe in a big city.

He’s sad about spending his days alone but he isn’t really sure where to go or what to do with his life.

Ends up working as a mechanic that most people are intimidated by.

Has salvaged a bunch of classic cars and stuff, he likes to decorate them.

Everyone just calls him Rust, they assume it’s just a nickname and don’t really question it.

First Person Perspective:

In the real world he would end up looking like Lionel with very few differences.

Horrified by this he would do everything in his power to make himself look different from his creator. He might dye his hair, let it grow out or shave it completely, wear contacts, anything so people don’t point out the similarities.

Even though he can actually talk now he still doesn’t because he’s used to not talking and he doesn’t want to hear Lionel’s voice come from him.

Someone needs to give him a hug, he needs it.

Probably majors in philosophy and would either work at a library or as an IT.

Probably still wore a hat and trench coat at first but too many people were staring at him so he just wears a hoodie with the hood up all the time.

#the hex #the hex game #I had fun with this #daniel mullins games x reader

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inventors-fair · 3 months

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A story of returns : Winner & runner ups!

Hello everyone! I'm happy to announce @bergdg as the winner of this week's design challenge.

Minerva is a very balanced and interesting legendary creature. She fits the spirit of the challenge perfectly(pun intended) and I really liked the reference with saint traft's attack trigger and the use of finality counters. Great card overall and has all it takes for a spot on the command zone and the fair's hall of fame!

On to runner ups! The positioning is random and so we start with Incidious Conscription @reaperfromtheabyss. It reminds me of one of my favorite commander pet cards, Fool's demise, and it's actually an improvement because, even if the target isn't a particularly strong creature, you can try to stall so the upkeep trigger builds up damage for the opponent, and regardless of that, when the creature dies, you keep it! It's a win win thing.

Next up is North sea whale from @curiooftheheart. This card was a surprise for me because I'm not as up to date with the sets that come out as I used to be, and I had to look if the card mechanic actually exists! It turns out it's a new mechanic, the closest thing we have in official cards is prototype and if you stretch it a little bit, you can say monstrosity is also a distant cousin. Definitely a very solid card and good uncommon design that can end the game is sealed formats. Flavorwise, I think you can re-imagine the mechanic, like wizards turned chroma into devotion. I understand that the theme here is that the creature gets older, but it has to blink to do so, and from a player's perspective, it might feel unrewarding if in the process you lose counters and auras that you creature "earned" on the battlefield. (Sorry if I wrote too much, this card got my gears spinning 😁)

Last we have Hysteria from @horsecrash. A sweet and faithful tribute to Rancor, very neat flavor text, and it would have been a winner if instead (or in addition) to the -1 toughness to enchanted there was another red themed drawback, like must attack or can't block. Then I feel it would be 100% hysteric. It's a small detail but I really wanted that extra hysteria!

Hopefully this week I will proceed with the commentary of the rest of the cards. Thanks everyone for sending a card and giving me the opportunity to run a design challenge again.

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #announcement #winners

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hollowtones · 2 years

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have you played any good indie games lately?

I feel like most of the games I end up playing lately are under the purview of "indie games" but I know that's a term that can mean different things to different people. Also most of these are things I am streaming and/or have streamed recently, because most of my game time nowadays is when I stream, so if you keep up with those you've probably already heard me talk about these.

"APICO" is a really neat crafting / industry / management game about caring for bees & helping to conserve + restore the local bee population. Very charming so far. Most of the little devices you use to make things have little levers you need to fiddle with in the UI so it all feels very tactile, like I'm playing with toys.

"Citizen Sleeper" is a really compelling cyberpunk narrative adventure that explores what it means to be human & what it means to reach out to others in the looming shadow of corporate oppression. Less "post-capitalist" and more "in the actively rotting ruins of capitalism". Very moody and introspective and dark, but also feels like it's coming from a hopeful perspective. Mechanically things happen based on dice rolls & independent clocks, so it feels very reminiscent of a tabletop game in that regard.

"Cloud Gardens" is a cool puzzle-ish game about using a set amount of objects to decorate little ruined urban diorama scenes and grow enough plant life in 'em. You have to put some thought into what you place & how you do it but it's not super intensive in that regard, so you have enough wiggle room to play around with it. I guess "freeform terrarium puzzle" is apt enough a description.

"Dicey Dungeons" isn't new but it's real good. It got a real good update recently with six new chapters that sort of flip the rules of the game on its head in really interesting and fun ways. Maybe my favourite out of all those run-based-deck-builder type games. Killer soundtrack and art, too.

"Pictopix" is picross but it has Steam Workshop support & that's enough to be a recommendation from me.

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yournextflame · 2 years

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Sword of the Deepest Lore

Helphen’s Steeple recently caught my attention, this is the only item in the Elden Ring that suggests existance of the realm of dead, which is big, considering that all known beliefs about the afterlife in the Lands Between usually related to the rebirth: be it Erdtree’s Burial tradition, distant resurrection from Deathbirds or Ancestral Worship, in which life sprouts from death. But this sword introduces an actual world of death.

Greatsword patterned after the black steeple of the Helphen, the lampwood which guides the dead of the spirit world. The lamplight is similar to grace in appearance, only it is said that it can only be seen by those who met their death in battle.

霊界において死者の道標となる灯火の樹ヘルフェンの黒い尖塔を模した大剣

その灯火は祝福に似て英霊だけが、それを見ることができるという

What EN called “lampwood” 灯火の樹 can be also roughtly interpreted as “Tree of Lamplights”, but it’s very confusing and this convoluted wording translates through the sword’s design as it resembles both a pine tree and a tower. But what if Helphen is a lighthouse, considering that the sword in question drops from Tibia Mariner and death imagery in the Elden Ring is strongly water themed (Godwyn’s corpses, crabs, jellyfishes)? Another neat detail is red jewel decoration, red is a color of life and death in the Elden Ring, it’s a color of primordial gold of Crucible, but also is a color of Rune of Death and a blood star. I wonder if this one jewel is a red glinestone related to the thorn sorceries. Tibia Mariner doesn’t use thorn sorsery, but the color of his spells is red, the skeletons he summons are appearing the red light too.

(extra tinfoil alert: if the spirit world is a realm of the outer god of Deathbirds, could it be that all outer gods are inhabiting alternate dimensions, following Norse myth about original nine worlds of the universe? The Shattering broke the borders between dimensions, this is why we see Rot and envoys of Death along with ghost pine trees manifesting in the Lands Between)

Long story short, there is a spirit world of dead warriors with a giant tree-tower that guides ghosts of the fallen with lamplight similar to the grace of the Erdtree.

I think this is very interesting detail; Tarnished as a group are completely dependant on Marika’s grace, which is a pivotal part of her plan, it allows her to resurrect Tarnished, but also to guide them through the Lands Between. But let me speculate about possible DLC with new territories, which means that Tarnished once again will encounter the guidance of grace ... or not. Marika’s plan is fulfilled in main story, how could you incorporate the grace mechanics without hijacking the main plot? By introduction of the alternative.

Now I want to talk about ethymology of the word Helphen, it’s similar to German “helpen”, to help; assist, while the first syllaby “Hel” might be a reference for the underground world Hel from Norse mythology, likewise “it can only be seen by those who met their death in battle” is a nod to Valhalla. Does it mean potential rematch with some bosses from the base game?

Personally, I’d like to imagine spirit world as a mirror image of the Lands Between, but with less terrain; it’s a sea of a ghostflame with Helphen on the place of the Erdtree. From a development perspective I can also see that releasing DLC in the size of legacy dungeon might be a little bit awkward, considering enormous size of the base game, but cheating the system with an archipelago of islands, while covering the map in ocean, is a neat way to keep it big, yet don’t waste years of work on downloadable content. Of course, everything I wrote is a really wild speculation.

What we can learn about spirit world, knowing how heavily Elden Ring is inspired by Norse mythology and this realm is most likely based on Hel/Niflheim?

Niflheim is one of the Nine Worlds of Norse mythology and the homeland of primordial darkness, cold, mist, and ice.

Seems fitting as the ghostflame of Deathbirds is always called cold and even bitterly cold. There is also an intriguing connection between cold and death sorceries without background sigils that I’m planning to investigate properly one day.

Another typical account is the journey of Hermod to Hel to attempt to retrieve Baldur, who had been killed by Loki. Hermod is a minor figure in Norse mythology. The meaning and etymology of his name aren’t entirely clear, but it seems likely that his name is either a variant of hermaðr, “warrior”

I’d like to say that we are going to save our own “Baldur “, but we already kind of revived Godwyn in Fia’s ending.

The common elements in Snorri’s and Saxo’s accounts seem to be the following: Hel was located underground – down and to the north, the realm of cold and general lifelessness, down the trunk of Yggdrasil, the great tree that forms the central axis of the cosmos. It was reached by descending from a higher point with the help of a guide – an unnamed (dead) woman in Hadding’s case, and Sleipnir in the Prose Edda and the poem Baldrs Draumar (Baldur’s Dreams) in the Poetic Edda. After traveling through darkness and mist, the traveler would come to a river, perhaps a torrential river of water, but more commonly a river of clanging weapons.

Realistically speaking, it reminds me of Deeproot Depth, we already visited the base of the world tree, dream of a dead demigod and were guided by a deathbed companion. This my main concern about DLC predictions about Godwyn, his part of the plot is already more or less covered in the story.

And before finishing my fanfic I want to go full on CSI on the Helphen’s design.

There is a skull or a golden skeleton figure near the base of the sword, similiar to the T-posing skeleton of the Golden Epitaph, Miquella’s sword:

A sword made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, first of the demigods to die. Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death."

Cross-hatch pattern under “the entrance” reminds me of Radagon’s rune (not only his rune is the massive ??? already, considering consequences of its placements, but it’s also entangled with thorns).

The recembalance is far-fetched, for sure, but this post is from realm of pure fanfiction anyways.

P.S. I think I finally figured out something that was bothering me for a long time, I never understood how soulless demigods in mausoleums are duplicating remembrances from lore perspective. But if there is a spirit world of fallen champions with its own version of the Erdtree, which is implied by Helphen Steeple, we are probably using Helphen to create another remembrance for us with a help of soulless demigods.

P.P.S. Where is Radagon’s remembrance?

#elden ring #godwyn #elden ring lore #dlc speculation #lore theories #take it with a grain of salt #a huge grain of salt #this is what lack of news about DLC does to mfkers #helphen's steeple #longread #tinfoil alert

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disco-elysium-sideblog · 3 months

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i loved reading through all your notes on de!! especially the part about the role of addiction in the game and how it feels very real for those of us who have struggled with self harm

i wanted to add that it's also super interesting the way that drugs and alcohol make harry better at his job. it's implied that he's only been able to have this insane caseload because of his substance use, so it's clear that the work expected of rcm officers is too much. i mean, kim says that they work 12 hour shifts which is crazy since they're constantly on their feet. so this job expects harry to crank out an insane amount of work, but will shame him for using substances to try and get that work done. something something capitalism and its role in addiction

i just thought you would find that interesting and i would love to hear your thoughts

Yeah definitely!! He’s put in a situation where it’s impossible to win. He’s only seen as valuable for his ability to work an insane amount, even though it’s killing him and putting civilians in danger. He has to choose between his health and his job, except it’s not a choice because without a job he’ll die and what other jobs would take him at this point? So the thing that’s keeping him alive is also the thing that’s killing him.

Would he have substance abuse issues in a hypothetical communist utopia? Maybe. But capitalism makes it so much worse by placing his productivity over his health and wellbeing

I love how mechanically, being sober is actively harmful. Internalizing Wasteland of Reality means a useful item only does damage and getting a debuff to several skills. If you want Harry to be The Best Cop Possible, making him sober will go against that goal. It’s a neat way to get the player to see from Harry’s perspective- the drugs do make him a better detective. Losing a health point is easy to rectify, but if you don’t pass a check, who knows when you’ll next get a chance at it if you don’t do drugs? So you don’t keep Harry sober because it makes him more productive. You keep him sober because you want what’s best for Harry, even if it makes him a worse cop

#i was going to say something about how it makes sense cause in real life you’re not going to see the benefits of being sober in your first #week #but like with the amount drinking Harry’s described as doing going off it cold turkey would be life threatening #so i’ll just accept that realism was sacrificed to better get across how getting sober *feels*

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schwender-exe · 5 months

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Another Devlog (#4?)

Happy holidays all! this devlog I got something I'm pretty proud of, not gonna lie. I've been cooking up something nice in a new perspective I've never really delved into. Top-down was always something I saw as really cool, but never really thought of how to do. the perspective itself was always something I found interesting, especially because I was always a fan of the top-down zelda games, eg. minish cap, four swords, etc. So I got to work, using some placeholder assets (which I won't share, sadly because they are of a certain green-capped character), but after jumping over some hurdles, I did set up a basic player character which, you know what? I'm pretty proud of!

While story is still a W.I.P, because I want to get the setting right, the gameplay is going nicely. I avoided combat for this game because I felt like it's always an easy "want gameplay? just add combat" so, rather than adding combat I opted to have some traversal mechanics linked to items. So far I don't have much, but I'm slowly plotting out ideas for more items which you'll unlock as you progress through the game.

First one's a basic one, but I like the atmosphere it can add to areas. The lantern is a nice little item that lets you traverse dark areas. I took a lot of inspiration from the lighting system from the top-down zelda games with, what I call, their 'cut-out lighting' which I name due to how it's rendered, literally cutting holes through a dark canvas layer around light sources to achieve that look. I originally figured out how to do this effect in a previous prototype I made, however the main difference now is it's not limited to one singular light, and now it simply checks any "light_node"s within the scene and punches holes in the shadow for each light!

Next up is the "Warp Wand" as I'm calling it for now, though the sprites I drew up for it look more like a warp spell/ability you have, though the animation for teleporting is placeholder, using another item's animation instead. Either way, it's a neat item that lets you target it at special crystals you can find conveniently placed around large pits! (NOTE: the crystals are also temporary/placeholder sprites I 'borrowed' from another game.)

The final traversal item I have for the player (for now) is the peculiar mask you have on your character which lets you explore "no-oxygen" areas of the map, as I'm calling them for now. it comes with a nifty O2 bar which tells you how much oxygen you have left (right above the stamina bar).

Other than traversal items, there's also the "DataPad" as I'm calling it at the moment, a nifty pad which'll keep track of logs and collectables which'll be littered through the map. The eventual goal for this item is to let you read up on items and logs you find while exploring which might give you insight into what happened here.

Here's some misc gifs of things I've worked on or are currently working on. Stairs working properly was a small but very satisfying achievement, considering how many top-down games surprisingly don't have stairs work properly?

I've lovingly ported the Dialogue and Event system from my on-pause game 'Last Letter', allowing me to write dialogue scenes simply and effectively, though the UI for Dialogue is still W.I.P.

This one's very W.I.P, but I have the basic functionality working! This is a Terminal which you can access and type in commands, Once I have all of the functionality up and running, it'll allow you to access nearby electronics, imbedded logs, etc. and access them. Eg. opening a closed/locked door, cycling the airlock you're within, etc. etc. and maybe some hidden eastereggs/jokes if I think of any? we'll see.

Anyway, thanks for any reading and hope you all have a wonderful holidays! happy new year, etcetera. Oh! also, the desktop pet game I showed before isn't in the dumps, I'm just working on world lore and waiting on some sprites from a friend. It's just not fun to work on because it's mostly UI work.

#gamedev #godot engine #pixelart #pixel aesthetic #pixel #art #indiedev #gaming #artists on tumblr #devlog

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muninnhuginn · 7 months

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Ask game— i saw u rb odd taxi so let’s go with odakawa! I didn’t take a good look at the questions so I’m just gonna put some random ones here…2, 4, 5, 6, and 8!

Thanks for asking!

Full disclaimer that I still need to give this a full rewatch at some point, because I watched when it first came out, so my memories are somewhat faded.

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

I liked him from fairly early on tbh. His personality type of lowkey but snarky is always fun, and the show is good at letting him bounce off others in amusing ways. That said, the moment that really recontextualised his whole deal for me and gave me a much greater appreciation of his character was definitely the whole diary reveal.

[Huge spoilers below btw if anyone reading this hasn't seen the series]

I'd been keeping up with the various reddit threads after each episode etc so the fact his furryvision wasn't actually reality wasn't the bit that threw me nor the car accident stuff (given it had been hinted earlier with the cop brothers). It was the revelation that yeah, even though he had the physical brain injury, it wasn't really the "root" of his problems but more a mechanism through which he ended up expressing his psychological issues. At this point, he was using the whole viewing people as animals shtick as a way to allow him to interact with them? That it was his escapism given form. The psychological element of his denial had somehow entirely gone over my head until that point, but in retrospect it made so much sense. A lot of his "quietness" I'd taken as him just kinda chilling/deliberately ignoring annoying people was actually anxiety-driven? Like, don't get me wrong, he very much *does* get fed up with people and his natural state is very low energy. But he was only able to get to where he was because he had a coping mechanism to allow him to interact in the first place. And him seeing people as humans again at the end showed he was growing in the right direction.

It was just this whole new layer I'd somehow entirely overlooked, but was there all along.

4. How many people I ship them with

5. My favorite ship of them

Ended up merging these two together for reasons.

Okay, I won't lie. I'm pretty vanilla when it comes to ships and tend to err on the side of whatever makes most sense to me within canon. So, in this case, I probably just ship him with the one person, Shirakawa. They have a neat dynamic. One which honestly doesn't get explored particularly much (nor does Shirakawa herself, staying largely as a noir-like insert), but which would be fun to see developing further. I'm not super invested honestly, but Odokawa does clearly have a crush on her, and she is very willing to be the one to make the moves in turn (at least once they've straightened things out with each other)

It's a weirdly mature relationship for an anime, where they're both willing to see where it goes rather than leaping head first.

(If forced to pick another character, maybe Dr Goriki? They both share interests with each other and Goriki definitely cares for Odokawa more than a regular doctor would.)

6. My least favorite ship of them

See, it's not necessarily that I dislike this one, but it's probably the option that would mess him up the most so, Dobu. They would be such a fascinating trainwreck of emotional manipulation.

8. Your favorite outfit of them

I'm here wracking my brain trying to remember if he has any style whatsoever and drawing a blank. Uhhh, I appreciate his commitment to wearing caps. But otherwise, he's pretty bland, clothing-wise. Which makes sense from a character perspective, but kills me a little inside even so.

#elibean #thanks again for asking! not been able to talk about this series in ages so was nice to do so #odd taxi #ask meme #asks

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artbyblastweave · 2 years

Note

Do you have the fic names of the deep dive headcannon SU lore that you mentioned in your recent SU post?

Ahh- honestly, It's been like a year and a half since I was on the fic-binge associated with actually watching the show, but I do remember that there was an MCU mega-cross called For A Diamond Is A Marveled Thing that had a lot of interesting ideas about gem psychology and pretty good prose to boot. The White Diamond Steven AU by @thechekhov was also pretty clearly starting to poke about the mechanistic roots of the setting in a way I was really eager to see play out. There's a series of one-shots called humanoids of Beach City that gives a POV snippet to nearly every living character as part of an arthouse documentary by an unknown party, and a lot of them flesh out setting details for the townies and a few for the gems; there was a very interesting short told from the perspective of (an apparently canon) local jeweler that the government keeps on retainer to scan for inert gem monsters so that high society events won't get trojan-horsed by weaponized jewelry, which I thought was a really neat concept.

Part of why I'm having difficulty coming up with fic names, though, is that a lot of this was rooted in the fanart and OC community that I passively absorbed via endless scrolling. There was (and is) an artist (edit- just found them it's @deadwooddross) with a xenobiology/xenofiction bent who just spent a ton of time coming up with detailed, quasi-insectoid body-plans for the gems which I thought were mechanically fascinating. And SU OCs in general are often built around the role they would fill in a hypothetical homeworld society.

#steven universe #su #thoughts #meta

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inventors-fair · 1 year

Text

Named Common Contest: Range of Playables

I have yet another confession; feels like I’ve been doing a lot of those these days. Maybe it was the fact that I’ve been doing a lot of work outside the Fair, or the fact that I’ve been really Magic’d out with fatigue and whatnot, but I came up with this contest more as a cool idea for the future and less about something I was personally interested in/something I’d build myself. We get a lot more entries on average, and hoo boy, commentary’s still a lot of work for a Saturday, but with this, I felt really backed into a corner. How am I supposed to write about this?

With fun. From the perspective of fun. That’s what makes the most sense. Am I going to apply my normal sensibilities? Yes, but designing for new players and kids and weird people is something that I’m drawn to, because I’m often surrounded by new players, kids, etc. So maybe this is a root return. But y’all don’t need to hear that. You want the goods. It’s nice to see your work appreciated and talked about. That’s...why this whole thing exists, heh.

BY THE WAY: Very important to note. If your card doesn’t meet the qualifications for the contest, in the future, it may not be considered at all. Please, please read what the contest is looking for. Carefully.

Judge Picks are cards that I want to showcase for some reason or other, cards that I like personally or that have good design sensibilities. Let’s see.

@10001gecs — Paul Bunyan, Forest Feller

As many Fair veterans know, I am not a man who is beholden to shenanigans. Shenanigans include outside/non-Magic IPs in otherwise serious contests. However, I hate to admit it, but this card’s really well-made. I feel that there were a lot of well-designed green cards this week? I’m worried about bias, but I always am—thought not as much as your opponents should be worried about getting smacked in the face with Giants.

All the same, let’s get some parts out of the way. For one, a legendary name without the legendary supertype on an effect that definitely needs to be legendary? That’s a bit of an issue. While I like the Giant archetypes, too, the fact that Giant Ox is a vehicle-based card and this card has nothing mechanically to do with that is a bit of a misstep to me. I would suggest taking a step back and considering what your card actually does versus what it might be sensible in some ways to do. Yes, Giant ____ is the meme, but how can you use that in other ways?

@bergdg — Krenko and Mizzix

They’re gonna kiss! ... Anyway. What they’re actually going to do is be pretty okay. I like the overall fun factor that you’re going for. It does feel super weird that this card only has one of their colors when all the other team-ups are, well, teamed up. Still, concept is neat. Krenko’s Command is one of those cards that my kids like so I’m very familiar with the attachment, heh.

The fact that “the exiled card” can potentially refer to other cards besides Krenko’s Command is problematic in execution, considering other spells/abilities that could exile cards. Additionally... Well, I don’t feel the team-up, honestly. It’s not particularly resonant with either one of their normal abilities and it’s not particularly strong either. Honestly, I think if you wanted to commit to the team-up, this wasn’t the contest for it; a new Krenko might have been a better option overall.

EDIT: I’m actually wrong about that exiling part! Florence pointed out that 607.2A takes care of that. Who’da thunk!

@ct-mayor — Nit, Restorer of the Old Ways

I’ll admit, even though I’m kind of a fan of Hieroglyphic Illumination myself, I haven’t considered it a popular or resonant enough card for someone to be a fan of it. Still, it makes sense, and this card’s not bad! The name “Nit” isn’t, uh, quite resonant with me in the same way? Considering the English word, it’s a little odd. But overall flavor-wise, that studious aspect comes across.

“Win the game” effects are a hard balance. I think cycling into a four-of with this card and then just recasting your illuminations is pretty rough to go up against, but it’s not out of the question. The fact that it’s all centered around a single card with no other interaction if you don’t have them makes it feel a little too specific even for this contest. If you don’t have any of that specific card, what’s the point? Yes, there’s build-around-ness, but no card exists in a vacuum. Consider how your card needs to interact with the greater formats in which it would be played.

@deg99 — Invigorating Geomancer (JUDGE PICK)

This card is inviting infinite loops. How? ... Wait, gimme a second. ... Okay, well, Sakura-Tribe Scout, two Retreat to Coralhelms, Zuran Orb, and Junktroller can get you infinite life, but maybe I’m overthinking the loop. The point is: this one is actually really good. Lava Dart, IMO, isn’t too powerful for standard, and burn needs all the help that it can get at this point. I’m not quite certain what “Invigorating” is going for here? The mood’s a little odd, but the point is, this card can be crazy powerful with the right build. Frankly, I’m imagining this in Pioneer with some weird Jund decks, and it’s hecka fun.

It’s specific without being too powerful, although that loop, with land sacrificing, could mean awful things for other formats. The ability to just loop your Mountains is...crazy good. REALLY good. I think just about any mono-red deck with Armageddony effects will go nuts for this. Wow, actually, can you imagine? Old red “destroy all lands” cards are basically negated. That’s silly and ridiculous. I love it; it won’t impact the formats in which it would be played normally. Limited might mean more land sacrifice cards, or just permanent sacrifice, which is interesting to me... I wonder what other mechanics we might see!

@demimonde-semigoddess — Stillborn Demon

I’m a huge fan of visceral reactions. The term “Stillborn” to describe anything in Magic evokes a truly awful feeling for me. There are some descriptors that extend beyond the realm of natural human encounters, but the grotesquery of that concept here is...genuinely off-putting. Any other name would have been preferable. Within reason.

Card-wise, it’s certainly fine, and I suppose people are still making Shadowborn Apostle decks (although I’ve never actually played against them? Weird. They’re still kinda pricey.) here and there. The issue comes from the fact that, well, do you want to be sacrificing your Apostles, really? The Apostles are utilized to tutor demons, not to be fodder. If THIS is the demon that you’re looking for, well, you might be in limited, which is vaguely understandable, but constructed? It feels antithetical. As a card normally, it’s perfectly serviceable as an uncommon flying beater, nothing wrong with that.

@dimestoretajic — Kenji, Sokenzan Artist

I double-checked to make sure that Iron Apprentice was the card I thought, and wow, there you go! Kenji’s part of the sacrifice crew, and that archetype could be really nasty on Kamigawa. Maybe we’ll see him in another world. I like the fact that I can kind of picture this guy, an artist with all his little robots, shaping them to hone his skill. Maybe he’s a blade artisan of sorts! It would explain the first strike and the general warrior feel to him.

Sacrificing artifacts is great. The bonuses from the creatures and the huge bonuses from Iron Apprentice are even bigger. I feel that you may have boxed yourself in a little with them. Getting bigger is nice, but is there anything more? This card feels a tiny bit underwhelming without that direction. But, it’s okay to just call a card a bomb as it goes. I wish he felt a little more legendary and I wish that we could see more of his artistry. Still, someone could make the Sokenzan-Forge deck if they like him enough, right? I suppose that’s the point of this whole contest, heh.

@greensunzenith — Shadowborn Gravecaller

I feel that this card is close and that you’ve got some good things going for you. Shadowborn Apostle was NOT the right choice for this card. This isn’t going to be the last time I go over this, as y’all have seen, but Shadowborn Apostle fulfills a very specific deckbuilding archetype. Adding additional cards that aren’t apostles or demons is just going to make the deck worse and the math checks out on this. How many of this card would you want? What would you put into the deck?

Most importantly: would adding this card genuinely be any better than adding in another Shadowborn Apostle? Frankly, I don’t think so. Whatever they’re doing, the statistics are against you. Maybe in a Commander deck? In limited, that first ability is phenomenal, don’t get me wrong. But with all the other aspects, knowing what the deck wants to go for, I don’t feel that it’s the right choice for the Apostles.

@hypexion — Amp-Amp, Shock Jock (JUDGE PICK)

I hatelove this card. I have NO idea how to feel about it. A single splice card in standard isn’t out of the question if we have those other weird one-offs, the cyclings and flashbacks. But like, I know for a fact that this card’s probably not going to herald the return of a weird mechanic that I’ve still had trouble explaining to the kids. And yet, and yet! It’s just so fun and quite well-executed. Having a deck built around this card would be quite weird. What’re you gonna do? For five mana, I’m gonna Mystic Speculation/Shock every turn. What a twist.

Genuinely, I don’t think this card’s right for a standard environment, but I do want to commend it for pushing this contest to the absolute limit without going out of the bounds of realism. It’s phenomenally designed and equally silly. There’s all the radical complexity of Kamigawa with the silliness of the Akki and the thoughtfulness of how to design strange cards. I’m really happy that you submitted this.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Necroprankster

Contrary to the Shock above, there’s no way in hell that Exhume is coming back to standard. It’s one of the most powerful reanimation spells ever printed, and at common, it wouldn’t see the light of day. As a rare? Perhaps. This card could have gone with Unearth (the card) and I would have been far more receptive to it; after all, this card’s three mana, Unearth can see it, you can kinda chain them together, yadda yadda.

Aside from THAT little piece, though, I think this card’s actually really good! The concept of choices and control and potential unearthing (heh) is really neat. It’s an uncommon that cares about relevant commons in an archetype that matters, it’s small but powerful, it doesn’t overstay its welcome with its ETB, and I really like the name. There’s that modern-Grimm feel to it that was a little more popular in the 00’s but hell, I like it all the same, you know? I’ll be honest, between the name and flavor text, I almost don’t need art direction. Not bad, captain.

@just--a--penguin — Foolhardy Excavator

I kind of want to know your thought process behind bringing back a bulk common from Onslaught into a standard-legal contest. I want to say firstly: I can see how this card would be incredibly good in, like, a limited format where there’s morph/manifest and there needs to be hate for it. That much I get. And you know what, I’m gonna pause my own tirade, because in terms of creative expressions, I can see the implications of new environments with new mechanics and old cards, and that’s fine. That’s another part of this whole contest I’m learning to appreciate.

Couple important things: For one, the first ability needs to shuffle, which you might’ve just forgotten, and that’s fine. For two, “foolhardy” probably isn’t the best term here. Look at the second ability you’ve made. This excavator, whoever they are, is here to deal damage. Maybe they’re foolhardy to us, but who are they in the grand scheme of things? They’re forceful, blunt, barbaric, and there aren’t any consequences befalling them. Adjective choice matters for polish. I feel that this card could be pretty fun until you turn-four break open their 8-drop beast. Whoops.

@lich-of-the-golgari — Venser’s Last Will

Firstly, this contest specified that the card to which you were referencing was supposed to be a common. Please ensure that you read all the contest requirements carefully. In the future, submissions that don’t follow Fair criteria may be ineligible.

From a story perspective, I’m struggling to find the sense of this card. Venser didn’t have a will, nor did he know he was going to perish on Mirrodin. The “last of his legacy” was the spark he gave to Karn, arguable. Mechanically, the wording is missing the shuffle clause, and the replacement effect should be “once each turn” and also be a trigger of sorts; how is this restriction checked without a “may” clause? The bottom line is that this card does not encourage the kind of cohesive deckbuilding we were looking for with this contest.

@little-red-rabbit — Squadron Falconer

Everyone loves Squadron Hawk! Except my kids when I play against them, but that’s a whole other story. The point is, Squadron Hawk is great and I think the name you chose is awesome. There are a couple small mechanical things we’ll go for afterwards, but just to close out the good things, I think the idea of this guy being...carried? By the hawks? It makes mechanical sense, even if it is a touch silly, heh. I really like the way he forces an answer to the hawks. It does feel slightly redundant since the hawks can already search for themselves; perhaps consider a benefit to the birds as opposed to the falconer themself?

The first ability needs a shuffle clause, which is always important when you’re searching. The second ability has, er, some extra words that might have been left over? I believe it should be worded “As long as you control two or more creatures named Squadron Hawk, Squadron Falconer has flying.” There we go.

@nine-effing-hells — Igniter of Horizons

Great balls o’ fire. Can cards...DO that? “...if it was put onto” etc.? I honestly don’t know the precedent. This card seems kind of fun, actually, and I wonder what the design space for cards like that it. Like a card that has an effect if it was milled by card X or whatever, exile it from your graveyard, big buff. Maybe. Anyway, dragons though! I think that Dragon’s Approach is versatile enough to be reprinted basically everywhere. I know that I have a kid whose M.O. is dragons, and he’d love to see this card. To be fair, he’d love to see any dragon. I suppose that if you’re going to build the deck casually, this is the card you’d be going for, right? There aren’t too many other cards you’d really want if you’re that dead-set.

I’m not going to check the wording on your card there. I assume that the shift from the targets to “permanents and/or players” checks out. Trample is a fun one there. As a body by itself, the card is good, and as a Dragon’s Approach payoff, it’s also pretty fun. I’m a little curious about the name? Not sure what you’re going for there, but it’s really cool, actually. Maybe there’s an explanation I missed, maybe not. Point is, card’s decent, does what it says. Is it any better than a better dragon like, I’unno, Ancient Copper? Obviously not but we don’t talk about that. It cares about what it wants to care about. Ooh, maybe if there was one for each archetype...

@noodlegirl-googlyeyes — Counterspellatog

So we did talk in the workshop about the potential for cards that cared about your opponents’ cards instead of your own, and I was iffy about the idea because this contest was more about the deckbuilding fun than, like, pure hate/interaction. Seeing this card, I still don’t know how to feel; I WANT to feel a little more justified, because wow, Atogs are a nuisance, but maybe not. Then I think about how this card’s implying that Counterspell will be in standard and I feel a little less iffy about my position. The fact is that, until the tides change immensely, Counterspell’s just not coming back to standard, and that’s what that’s.

I think the name’s just past the edge of silly, too, but it doesn’t make it not fun to say. I also do want to note that if you just have effects that put counters on things, this card works just fine. Still, it’s...a sideboard card at most and awkward most often. Just not quite the kind of thing we were thinking about for this contest. What a throwback, though. Through this contest we really get to see the personality of players and the ways in which they express what they think is cool. This is no exception.

@railway-covidae — Persistent Farmer (JUDGE PICK)

This card technically isn’t eligible because it’s a common itself and you were supposed to be designing for uncommon and up, but that’s an easy mistake to make and/or an easy fix. Sometimes there’s grace. For this farmer, there’s none. Let’s get two small templating things out of the way first. With the mana ability, milling should be part of the cost. Maybe it was intentional that it wasn’t, but Millikin implies otherwise as to how it should be. With the return ability, I think it needs to target? There’s no reason why it shouldn’t and it’s important that it does for stack reasons and whatever.

But the rest of this card’s really, REALLY cool. This peasant is a menace. He’s a mana dork (definitely not common) where you can build around that graveyard theme... Hey, haven’t we been here before, but differently? NGL, it’s funny to me that there were two Innistradian cards based around the G/B graveyard-filling archetype that I really liked this week despite only having played that in limited once. Anyway, casual players who like filling the yard will absolutely love this card. Mulch is fun, the grossness is just creepy enough not to be directly off-putting unless you’re crazy squeamish, and I’m glad Mulch got some love. Very fun.

@real-aspen-hours — Wastes Tender

Sorry, didn’t quite have the time to mock this one up. Anyway, this card’s missing ooooone small thing. Do you remember what it is? .... Time’s up! That’s right, the Eldrazi with colored symbols in their costs need (and I say “need,” I mean that in the metaphysical sense more than rules) the ability Devoid to make ‘em colorless. Womp. That said, this card’s awesome as a ramp spell. I think that the Wastes players will like that. Wastes was a great archetype! Very strange environment, ngl, but all the same.

This card is definitely from a different era, but if Arboreal Grazer can have its day, then so can the Wastes Tender. I mean, I would have liked a slightly less Waste-y name and you could drop the “far” from the flavor text, but the mood you’re going for is actually super cool. Indeed, a “perversion of growth” comes across in both the mechanics and the card’s overall feel; from the wastes grow more nothing, more horror, the Scions of tomorrow. Not bad, not bad.

@reaperfromtheabyss — Commando Consecrator

Of all the cards to pick for this contest, I genuinely did not expect Cathar Commando to be among them. Honestly, I really like how this card plays as a rare! Even if you don’t have the other Commandos (and if you’re P1P1 going for this, you’re gonna get some), returning a small creature is just as awesome. Humans, sacrifice, and spirits alike will enjoy that ETB, and it’s an on-curve beater at the very least. Cathar Commando, though, huh.

The only question is flavor weirdness. Sort of. How do angels on Innistrad go about their tactics? The Commando is depicted as being borderline dishonorable, or at least a little gruesome when it comes to executing her prey. Why would they want to be consecrated? Or need to, either. Perhaps it’s a small blessing, that it’s a gift because the angels are returning them. No matter. The point is, I suppose, that Angels and Soldiers have that kind of relationship, and that’s okay. Gotta say, I’m a fan of Commando as a card. Flashing in a first-striker and maybe getting it back with another Consecrator later is pretty good! Pretty decent stuff. I think that whether or not someone’s going to build a deck is a little up in the air, but for limited, this card’s pretty great.

@snugz — Eager Whelp

Ey, another Dragon’s Approach card. This one is definitely a little different, but I think it’s still pretty good. The expectations of the body-to-cost ratio is fine, and having a phoenix-like body swinging in is pretty great. If you search for this card using the Approaches, you’ll have an 8/2 flying hasty dragon! That’s pretty good, if a little weak for its cost. If you don’t get any DA’s in limited, then you’re kind of out of luck, but then it raises the question of how many dragons-to-Approaches are you running for cards like this to be worth it.

If you really want to go balls to the wall in standard, then I can see this card being pretty good even if the toughness leaves a lot to be desired. You know, I should be thinking of Arena, too, even though the mere notion fills me with...shuddering. I kid, though, I kid; I guess there’s the question of whether or not that easy casual environment would be down to get these sorts of cards. Maybe it’s a little late to be thinking of that crucible, but regardless. I would feel bad if my awesome dragon ended up getting Shock’d to death by the goblins deck after all the setup I had put into it, but the feeling is certainly solid.

@squeezyboi — Spell Piercer

So...yeah, unfortunately, this card’s not eligible either. I really should have checked some of these beforehand. Again, the actual, physical, other card had to be named and referenced, not just alluded to by the name. Card’s basically fine, maybe two mana, “its” not “it’s.” But I can’t give further critique in the same vein. The workshop’s here in Discord to ensure you’re on the right path, and double-check the contest requirements.

@stareyedesper — Bloodthirsty Sadist

That’s certainty a card name. I think that there’s something to be said for the sadism of vampires on Innistrad or otherwise, and it makes sense here. Dead Weight was an awesome card and I know its got some awesome limited hype around it. This card does indeed feel like it was made for limited, or for friends to build specific decks against each other. But getting an on-color aura’s still important, yeah? Flavor’s pretty good, and from a balance perspective, it’s really specific but I still feel the mana cost could be upped or the toughness could be ticked down just by one, perhaps. It’s way strong in the right matchup.

The wording feels a little off. Let me see... “When ~ enters the battlefield, search your library or graveyard for a card named Dead Weight, reveal it, then shuffle. If an opponent controls a Human, you may attach that card to that Human. Otherwise, put it into your hand.” The term “add it to your hand” is erroneous, and “Human” needs to be capitalized at all times. There are a couple mechanical differences with targeting, but you can take it or leave it.

@wolkemesser — Vincent, Pit Gourmand (JUDGE PICK)

Every week. Every week, I’m either picking apart wording like I’m getting cat hair off a black dress with your cards, or I’m astounded by the new weirdness you’ve presented and there’s so much to talk about. Well! I’m not gonna look a gift demon in the mouth. This card is awesome. This is the PAYOFF for all those Shadowborn Apostles, the demon for which one searches, and following that, the rest of the deck is indeed full of Shadowborns ready to be eaten, which helps in deck construction. Yes! That’s the way to do it.

I’m almost positive the last replacement should only look at spells and abilities your opponents control, but that’s not too bad, all things considered, and the control deck that you can run with this is nasty if gone unanswered. Everyone sacrifice things! I’m just gonna throw an old piece of meat away. Jeez... I want to say that this card feels too weird to really be viable, and that’s what my brain says, but as a design exercise, hell, we’ve seen weirder, and who knows! Maybe I’m overreacting. I probably am. Fantastic job with a staggeringly powerful creature. This is how to do Shadowborn right.

@yd12k — Gnawbone, the Infestation

I’m not sure what to make of this second ability. The deathtouch is fine, and I like the last ability. Here’s the thing, though: cascade is absolutely useless. The reason is that every card in your deck, with Relentless Rats, is gonna want to be Relentless Rats. So what are you going to cascade into? What’s the standard format where Relentless Rats, this Kamigawa legend, and the ability cascade are all going to be together?

This card seems like it could be fun on the surface but ultimately the elements all clash with one another in a way that’s either mechanically disruptive or flavorfully not-quite-meshed. Relentless Rats (which, FWIW, was only common for one set, and for good reason in my opinion) was a brave choice and I understand the desire to make that cool stuff happen. This isn’t the card you want to go for with it, I don’t think.

Phew. Tune in next week. Bring a friend. @abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #named common contest #commentary #inventor's fair

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prophecytoad · 1 year

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The Beginning

Hi reader! Thanks for stopping by! This is the first post of my fortnightly blog. I plan for this blog to be a center for my game development journey, as well as for my perspectives on game design principles, problems, and frustrations. I hope that you will find the material in this blog to be enlightening!

Before we get into any of the good stuff, allow me to first introduce myself!

My name is Dan, but online I go by ProphecyToad. I named myself after my love for amphibians and my need to always plan ahead. As of writing this, I am a 28 year old, third year university student studying a Bachelor of Games and Interactive Environments, majoring in Game Design and minoring in Software Development.

Why do I play games?

Video games to me have always been a display of the beautiful minds of so many people, that have come together to create something that people can invest themselves into in their own unique ways.

I personally play video games for two main reasons: Emotional investment, and mechanical skill display. I love a game that is well written and has themes that can get me invested in the world and characters, but I love a game even more if it has a great deal of well-designed mechanical skill expression.

My history playing games

I’ve been playing video games since my earliest memory on the Windows 98 operating system, with classic games such as “Putt Putt saves the zoo”, “Tyrian 2000”, and “Doom”. Over the years since, I’ve played many different games, sometimes forgetting to do anything else for days at a time (oops).

I was introduced to competitive games as a teenager with the likes of Halo 3 and Guitar hero, and became absorbed by the idea of skill expression in video games. This interest carried me to other games such as Magic: The Gathering, League of Legends, and Rainbow Six Siege.

My Favourite Games

My top 3 favourite games + 1 nostalgia game as of writing this post

Monster Hunter World

This game at its core is simple: go on a mission -> kill/capture a monster -> make equipment from monster parts. The concept is extremely simple to understand, but is done VERY well; largely due to the exceptional combat and creature design. The game is built entirely around allowing the player to demonstrate their skill with incredibly well-paced combat.

Photo retrieved from https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/01/25/monster-hunter-world-review

Resident Evil: Biohazard

The only game in the last decade that I immediately replayed after finishing it, and intentionally unlocked all the achievements for; this game is a masterwork of its design. The levels, puzzles, and story of this game had me invested from start to finish. The game doesn’t try to be more complex than it needs to be, and instead makes use of the sparce systems and mechanics to add to the ambience of the game.

Photo retrieved from https://www.ign.com/games/resident-evil-7-biohazard

Halo

Now, I’m not going to get involved in the debate of which is the objective “best” Halo, but Halo has always been a highlight point for me whenever a new one released. Futuristic powersuit fantasy? Check. Shooting cool, but bad aliens? Check. Saving the universe? Check. What’s not to love?

Photo retrieved from https://www.ign.com/articles/halo-infinite-release-date-preorder

Nostalgia

Digimon World

The first game that I played that made me think, “I can’t wait to get back from school to play this!”. Digimon World combined my love for digital creatures and my love for adventuring into a neat little package with its own unique sense of style.

Retrieved from https://www.ign.com/games/digimon-world

Check out this cool frog that I did a poster for in primary school: The Turtle Frog!

Photo retrieved from https://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/frogwatch/frogs/turtle-frog

#gamedev #unity3d #design #game design #video games #games

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ghitathepanda · 2 years

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Any Digimon fan on twitter in 2022 would probably have unfortunately been made aware of the infamous Kotaku review on Digimon Survive. Aside from the "it's a VN so it's bad" and "It's just like Persona" takes, the most infamous part is the comparison to Pokémon. While the twitter QRTs have criticised the review for bothering to do the Pokémon comparisons, I think the real sin ISN'T that they bothered to compare at all. The real sin is that the comparison is biased and very negative and aimed to make another look better. That, and they couldn't even bother to compare it right when they think kids getting isekai'd is a common Pokémon thing BUT the former is the focus for this post BECAUSE it's a thing that's more common.

Thing is, you CAN make comparisons between two different things without coming off like an ignorant a-hole who wants attention. The important aspect here is the focus and purpose, which is what I want to do today. I wanna prove that you CAN make a Digimon and Pokémon comparison discussion/post that's more positive and neutral and very unbiased that's focused on something from the two franchises that has a similar common ground because the similarities make for an interesting point. The subject of the specific comparisons are Pokémon Legends Arceus and Digimon Survive.

Why specifically Legends Arceus? Anyone who has read a previous post of mine would've seen me point out how the two games have a similar premise of teen protags being isekai'd into a world where the monsters are treated much more like unknown mysterious mythical creatures and the protagonist and their newfound human friends set out to learn more about the world and its mysterious creatures, with gameplay that's very much different from what came before. There are other similarities I didn't point out initially like how the human characters being put into direct danger is emphasised compared to their previous titles but certain others are much more spoilery on the Digimon side of things.

Of course, those who pay attention to when stuff gets announced and in development would know that Digimon Survive was announced long before Pokémon Legends Arceus was announced. Heck, Sword and Shield weren't even announced yet. That's how long ago Survive was announced. So one can't even say that Digimon Survive is a ripoff of Legends Arceus even with the similarities I pointed out because we have the facts to say this statement is objectively wrong.

Here's where we get to the positives behind the comparisons, as the differences between how the two games approach their similarities TRULY showcase the differences in the core of both franchises more so than any other entry of either. Pokémon had been more focused on adventuring to new locations, meeting and collecting new monsters while Digimon is more about bonding with your one monster and raising it to become stronger. Sure, Digimon Survive lets you collect monsters too but it's not heavily emphasised since it's only a gameplay mechanic that the story ignores whereas the monster collecting aspect is part of the progression in Pokémon Legends Arceus, not to mention that you recruit other monsters in Digimon by talking to them and getting them on your good side, that or let them give you items. There are also other obvious differences between the two that are either more surface level stuff or something that's a whole different thing entirely that MIGHT step into the spoilery aspects of Survive but when it comes to one of the biggest contrasts between the two, I think it's actually pretty neat that we have the two franchises have games that approach a similar premise come out in 2022 and yet be very different in exploring them, and because we know when these got announced, we know how likely it is that these two being similar in their premise are a coincidences (or a more biased perspective would have been concluding that Pokémon has secretly ripped off Digimon this time around). And so the big core differences makes it hard to really say if a game is "better" than the other because this comparison is more about what makes one really different from the other and not "which is one objectively better?" type bs, especially when even the genre of the games are different.

I admit, the whole "Pokemon is about collecting and adventuring while Digimon is about raising and bonding" take can actually be applied with other stuff from the two franchises but Survive and Legends Arceus are not just the two most recent entries but they also differ significantly enough from past games while sharing a specific premise that bears no repeating. Thus, these two are the perfect place for me to do this whole comparison BECAUSE they retain the core of the two despite the departure.

Maybe one COULD make a deeper comparison as to how the two games handle certain similar aspects of their premise but I have forgotten plot points from Legends Arceus (most of my knowledge is from a playthrough anyway) and this post is getting long. But yeah, a fair, unbiased, positive comparison between Pokémon and Digimon in 2022 with a proper focus and purpose. Even apples and oranges can be compared if you can justify and proper purpose and focus behind the comparison. You just need to do it well.

#digimon survive #pokemon legends arceus #pokemon #digimon #legends arceus #random stuff #screw kotaku #all my homies hate kotaku #analysis

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