#Blizzard Is Giving Instant Refunds

[aion-rsa]

World of Warcraft 9.0.5 Patch Notes Pave the Way for the 9.1 Chains of Domination Update

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

As revealed at BlizzCon a few weeks ago, there are quite a few new things coming to World of Warcraft this year. Not only is The Burning Crusade getting the Classic treatment, which brings the classic game’s first expansion back to its roots (with a few modern tweaks), but Shadowlands is set to get its first major update in the coming months.

While Blizzard hasn’t announced a release date for Update 9.1: Chains of Domination just yet, the latest 9.0.5 patch, which is set to release on March 9 in North America and March 10 in Europe, does begin to pave away for the much bigger update. Quality of life changes, tweaks to Covenants and Legendary items, bug fixes, and some cosmetic flourishes are the focus of 9.0.5, a bit of of housekeeping before Blizzard drops Chains of Domination later this year.

Chains of Domination will introduce a new subzone called Korthia, City of Secrets, located in The Maw. A new raid, the Sanctum of Domination, is also coming to the MMO, featuring a gauntlet of 10 bosses, including Sylvanas Windrunner. Then there’s Tazavesh, the Veiled Market, a new dungeon that revolves around the Brokers, a merchant faction that operates in the Shadowlands.

You can check out the trailer below for an introduction to the story of Chains of Domination:

Below, you can find some of the most important updates included in the 9.0.5 update:

ADVENTURES

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Kyrian Covenant Companions

Kyrian Phalanx health increased by 16%.

Developers’ note: Phalanxes still feel underpowered relative to Halberdiers, so giving them some additional durability to allow them to fill the tank role before players have maxed out their roster.

Necrolord Covenant Companions

Fixed an issue where Bonesmith Heirmir Serrated Shoulder Blades weren’t inflicting damage back to the enemy.

Maldraxxus Plaguesinger’s Plague Song has been redesigned – Plague Song now deals damage to ranged enemies every round.

Rencissa the Dynamo spell effectiveness increased by 40%.

Assembler Xertora spell effectiveness increased by 10%.

Rattlebag spell effectiveness increased by 20%.

Developers’ note: We fixed a few issues where some Necrolord Covenant Companions weren’t dealing damage reliably. Additionally, a few companions have received an improvement that fits with their purpose.

Night Fae Covenant Companions

Qadarin spell effectiveness increased by 24%.

Blisswing’s damage reduction now correctly applies to enemies.

Yira’liya health increased by 16% and spell effectiveness increased by 50%.

Duskleaf health increased by 20% and spell effectiveness increased by 25%.

Lloth’wellyn health increased by 33% and ability damage increased by 25%.

Developers’ note: A few Night Fae Covenant Companions were not as well established in their different roles as we hoped, to address this we’ve improved many abilities and decreased some Companions’ overall fragility.

Venthyr Covenant Companions

Venthyr Nightblade attack increased by 25%.

Developers’ note: We’re generally happy with how the changes to Venthyr in the 9.0.2 landed, but wanted to offer some additional help for players using Nightblades to fill out their compositions.

CHARACTERS

Undead cloaks will now be as tattered as the forsaken wearing them. Your character customization settings will now inform the appearance of your cloak for Undead characters.

COVENANTS

Necrolord

Covenant Ability

Fleshcraft has been redesigned – Form a shield of flesh and bone over 3 seconds (was 4 seconds) that absorbs damage equal to 40% of your maximum health for 2 minutes. While channeling, your damage taken is reduced by 20%. Passive effect – Moving near an enemy’s corpse consumes their essence to reduce Fleshcraft’s cooldown by 1 second.

The slime creatures within the Plaguefall dungeon will now grant their buffs when their corpses are consumed by Fleshcraft’s passive effect (was when Fleshcraft was used on their corpses).

Soulbinds

Volatile Solvent (Plague Deviser Marileth) now triggers when Fleshcraft’s passive effect consumes a corpse’s essence (was when Fleshcraft is cast).

Resourceful Fleshcrafting (Bonesmith Heirmir) has been redesigned – When Fleshcraft’s passive effect consumes a corpse, the cooldown of Fleshcraft is reduced by an additional 1 second.

Anima Conductor: Flowing Power – House of Rituals

Skeleton Command now summons a skeleton when Fleshcraft’s passive effect consumes a corpse. This effect has a 5 second cooldown between summoning skeletons.

Night Fae

Spirits within The Queen’s Conservatory are eager to return to life and will now automatically provide players with their reward without having to speak to them first.

Soulbinds

Fixed an issue that sometimes caused players to die through Podtender (Dreamweaver) if the lethal blow had a large overkill.

Venthyr

The Ember Court

Permanent RSVPs

Guests who you have reached Best Friend status with now give you a permanent RSVP.

The Permanent RSVP will allow all characters on your account to invite that guest to future Ember Courts without completing their RSVP quest again.

Temel in Sinfall now sells a Bind on Account book at Exalted with the Ember Court. The book will teach your Dredger Butler how to handle the Cleanup and Restocking quests that follow the Ember Courts.

One-time reputation items from Temel and Lady Ilinca will no longer appear once learned.

Droman Aliothe’s RSVP no longer requires players to venture to Bastion and Maldraxxus for items.

Soulbinds

Fixed an issue that allowed Service in Stone (General Draven) to be parried.

RUNECARVING LEGENDARY ITEMS

DEATH KNIGHT

Blood

Phearomones now grants 10% Haste while inside your Death and Decay (was 8%).

Crimson Rune Weapon now causes Dancing Rune Weapon to generate 5 Bone Shield charges and reduces the cooldown of Dancing Rune Weapon by 5 seconds (was 3 seconds).

Vampiric Aura now increases the duration of Vampiric Blood by 3 seconds and grants 5% Leech for the duration.

Gorefiend’s Domination now also grants 45 Runic Power when Vampiric Blood is used.

Unholy

Reanimated Shambler explosion damage increased by 5% and now procs approximately every 1.75 minutes (was 1.5).

DEMON HUNTER

Fel Bombardment’s buff duration has been increased to 40 seconds (was 30 seconds) and the chance to trigger increased by 5%.

Darkglare Medallion’s chance to trigger increased to 40% (was 20%) and now also refunds the Fury of the casted Eye Beam or Fel Devastation.

Havoc

Burning Wound damage over time damage increased 100% and Immolation Aura damage increased by 65% (was 50%).

Vengeance

The casted Eye Beam from Collective Anguish’s summoned ally now always deals critical strikes.

Spirit of the Darkness Flame’s Fiery Brand instant damage increased by 20% (was 15%).

DRUID

Feral

Cat-Eye Curio now restores 30% Energy (was 25%).

Frenzyband now reduces the cooldown of Berserk by .3 seconds per combo point-generating ability (was .2 seconds). During Berserk, combo point-generating abilities cause the target to bleed for 150% of their damage (was 100%).

Guardian

Legacy of the Sleeper’s Berserk description now notes that the Druid is immune to crowd-control while active.

Restoration

Verdant Infusion extends the duration of your heal over time effects on the Swiftmend target by 10 seconds (was 8 seconds).

HUNTER

Beast Mastery

Dire Command now has a 30% chance to trigger (was 20%).

Rylakstalker’s Piercing Fangs critical damage increased to 35% (was 20%).

Flamewaker’s Cobra Sting now has a 50% chance to trigger (was 25%).

Qa’pla, Eredun War Order now resets the cooldown of Kill Command (was reduces the cooldown by 5 seconds) and has an additional passive effect – Barbed Shot deals 10% increased damage.

Marksmanship

Surging Shots now causes Rapid Fire to deal 35% additional damage (was 25%).

Eagletalon’s True Focus now also increases the duration of Trueshot by 3 seconds and reduces all Focus costs by 25% (was 50%).

Serpentstalker’s Trickery no longer triggers Wild Spirits (Night Fae Ability) twice.

Survival

Latent Poison Injectors damage increased by 15%.

MAGE

Disciplinary Command increases Critical Strike damage by 20% (was 15%).

Expanded Potential procs per minute increased to 2 (was 1.66).

Arcane

Arcane Harmony damage per stack increased to 8% (was 7%) and the effect stacks up to 18 times (was 15).

Fire

Molten Skyfall now calls down a Meteor after casting 18 Fireballs or Pyroblasts (was 25).

Sun King’s Blessing now requires consuming 8 Hot Streaks (was 12) and grants Combustion for 6 seconds (was 5 seconds)

Frost

Cold Front now calls down a Frozen Orb after casting 30 Frostbolts or Flurries (was 60).

Freezing Winds now triggers Fingers of Frost every 2 seconds (was 3 seconds).

MONK

Shaohao’s Might now causes Tiger Palm to have a 40% chance (was 10%) to deal 300% of normal damage (was 250%) and reduce the remaining cooldown of your Brews by 2 additional seconds (was 1 second).

Brewmaster

Mighty Pour now causes Celestial Brew to increase your Armor by 50% (was 25%) for 8 seconds (was 7 seconds), and causes Purifying Brew to have a 35% chance to not consume a charge (was 25%).

Mistweaver

Clouded Focus healing increased by 20% (was 15%) and mana cost reduced by 20% (was 15%).

Windwalker

Xuen’s Battlegear critical strike chance increased by 50% (was 30%) and Fists of Fury cooldown reduced by 5 seconds (was 2.5 seconds).

PALADIN

Vanguard’s Momentum increases Holy damage done by 4% (was 3%) for 10 seconds (was 8 seconds).

Of Dusk and Dawn buff duration increased to 12 seconds (was 8 seconds) and Blessing of Dusk damage reduction increased to 4% (was 3%).

Holy

Inflorescence of the Sunwell increases Infusion of Light effects by 30% (was 20%).

Shadowbreaker, Dawn of the Sun buff duration increased to 8 seconds (was 6 seconds).

Maraad’s Dying Breath’s healing bonus to Light of the Martyr no longer increases self-damage taken. Additionally, Maraad’s Dying Breath now causes all Light of the Martyr self-damage to be dealt over 5 seconds

Protection

The Ardent Protector’s Sanctum has been redesigned – When Ardent Defender saves you from death, it restores 40% additional health. When Ardent Defender expires without saving you from death, its remaining cooldown is reduced by 40%.

Fixed an issue with The Ardent Protector’s Sanctum that caused Ardent Defender casts to put nearby Protection Paladin’s Ardent Defender on cooldown.

Fixed an issue that caused The Magistrate’s Judgment to be consumed when casting a free Word of Glory through Shining Light.

Retribution

Final Verdict damage has been increased by 15%.

The Magistrate’s Judgment now grants the proper amount of Crusade stacks when Holy Power is spent while under its effect.

PRIEST

Cauterizing Shadows’ healing increased by 36% and can now critically strike.

Discipline

Cauterizing Shadows now functions with Mastery: Grace.

Kiss of Death reduces the cooldown of Shadow Word: Death by 12 seconds (was 8 seconds).

Holy

Divine Image now casts Searing Light when Shadow Word: Pain or Mindgames (Venthyr Ability) are used, and casts Holy Nova when Unholy Nova (Necrolord Ability) is used. Additionally, if the Priest is crowd controlled while Divine Image is active, the image will cast single target healing spells on nearby low-hp allies.

Divine Image spell-mirroring cooldown removed (e.g. queueing a Shadow Word: Death after a Holy Fire will now trigger 2 Searing Lights).

Flash Concentration buff duration increased to 20 seconds (was 15 seconds).

Measured Contemplation is now cleared upon starting an Arena match.

Shadow

Painbreaker Psalm generates up to 30 Insanity (was 20) and now functions with Death and Madness (Talent).

Painbreaker Psalm will now grant Insanity if Shadow Word: Death kills the target.

Shadowflame Rift’s damage has been increased by 40%.

ROGUE

Mark of the Master Assassin now only affects auto-attack and Rogue abilities’ critical strike chance.

Tiny Toxic Blade now causes Shiv to deal 500% increased damage (was 350%).

Essence of Bloodfang damage increased by 30%.

Assassination

Doomblade now deals an additional 45% Bleed damage (was 30%).

Fixed an issue that was causing Doomblade’s bleed effect to incorrectly be affected by Armor.

Duskwalker’s Patch reduces Vendetta’s cooldown for every 30 Energy you expend (was 50 Energy).

Outlaw

Guile Charm increases your damage dealt by up to 15% (was 10%) and lasts up to 12 seconds (was 10 seconds).

Greenskin’s Wickers increases the damage of your next Pistol Shot by 300% (was 200%).

Concealed Blunderbuss now has a chance to fire your next Pistol Shot 3 additional times (was 2).

Subtlety

The Rotten now causes Backstab to deal 50% increased damage (was 30%).

Deathly Shadows increases all damage dealt by 20% (was 15%) for 15 seconds (was 12 seconds).

SHAMAN

Elemental

Echoes of Great Sundering now causes Earthquake to deal 120% additional damage (was 175%).

Enhancement

Legacy of the Frost Witch now causes Stormstrike to deal 30% increased damage (was 15%).

The debuff from Doom Winds now persists through death.

Restoration

Jonat’s Natural Focus now increases the next Chain Heal by 20% (was 10%).

Spiritwalker’s Tidal Totem now reduces mana cost of Healing Wave and Chain Heal by 40% (was 25%).

WARLOCK

Affliction

Malefic Wrath duration increased to 10 seconds (was 8 seconds) and damage per stack increased to 35% (was 25%).

Wrath of Consumption duration increased to 30 seconds (was 20 seconds) and periodic damage increased to 6% (was 5%).

Wrath of Consumption now properly increases the damage of Scouring Tithe’s (Kyrian) periodic effects.

Demonology

Implosive Potential’s Haste buff duration increased to 12 seconds (was 8 seconds).

Balespider’s Burning Core increases the damage of Demonbolt by 15% per stack (was 8% per stack).

Grim Inquisitor’s Dread Calling increased to 4% per stack (was 3% per stack).

Destruction

Madness of the Azj’aqir duration increased to 4 seconds (was 3 seconds).

Embers of the Diabolic Raiment now properly generate 6 Soul Shard Fragments when dealing a critical strike with Incinerate.

WARRIOR

Arms

Enduring Blow’s chance to apply the Colossus Smash effect increased to 25% (was 15%) and duration increased to 6 seconds (was 5 seconds).

Battlelord now triggers from Overpower (was Slam) and reduces the Rage cost of your next Mortal Strike by 15 Rage (was 12).

Exploiter’s Mortal Strike damage bonus increased to 50% (was 25%) and the damage bonus for Venthyr Warriors increased to 36% (was 18%).

Fury

Cadence of Fujieda duration increased to 12 seconds (was 8 seconds).

Will of the Berserker duration increased to 12 seconds (was 8 seconds).

Reckless Defense now triggers from all Rampage hits (was Rampage critical strikes) and reduces the remaining cooldown of Recklessness and Enraged Regeneration by 1 second (was 3 seconds).

Protection

Reprisal has been redesigned – Charge and Intervene grant you Shield Block for 4 seconds, Revenge!, and generates 20 Rage.

Unbreakable Will now also grants an additional charge of Shield Wall.

Seismic Reverberation damage increased to 75% (was 40%).

You can find the full patch notes here.

The post World of Warcraft 9.0.5 Patch Notes Pave the Way for the 9.1 Chains of Domination Update appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3emYJko

[componentplanet]

Warcraft 3: Reforged Is So Unpopular, Blizzard Is Giving Instant Refunds

Warcraft 3: Reforged hasn’t gotten any more popular in the days since its release. The clamor has gotten bad enough that Blizzard has reportedly begun giving instant refunds to players who want them.

That’s the word from Reddit user krOnicLTD, who received a refund within a minute after applying for one and posted the information (and a handy link) to the Blizzard site. If you’ve been unhappy with the game, you can ask for your money back, no questions asked. Frustration with the title has been high for a number of reasons, ranging from Blizzard’s aggressive copyright position on fan mods to the fact that the version of Warcraft 3: Reforged that the company ultimately shipped bears little resemblance to the game it promised it was making. Because both Reforged and Warcraft 3 Classic now share a mandatory front-end client, you can’t play WC3:C with its original set of capabilities as a separate title at all.

Blizzard has posted an update to its forums, giving fans an idea where the game is headed. There’s a bug currently causing colors and shading to look different than intended, which will be fixed in the coming days. Portrait animations and UI fixes will also be implemented. The lack of leaderboards and clans will be fixed in a future update. Features like the Reign of Chaos ruleset and tournaments will not be returning after having been removed in mid-2019.

Regarding the content changes that it once telegraphed and then retreated from, Blizzard writes:

[T]he main takeaway is that the campaigns tell one of the classic stories in Warcraft history, and we want to preserve the true spirit of Warcraft III and allow players to relive these unforgettable moments as they were (albeit rebuilt with new animations and the higher fidelity art).

The problem I have with Warcraft 3: Reforged is that we’re stuck with a title halfway between a remaster (Starcraft) and an actual remake (say, Final Fantasy VII). What Blizzard ultimately did satisfies no one — and I can’t think of a better way to illustrate that then with the Illidan versus Arthas fight.

The original Illidan versus Arthas fight at the end of Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne was a giant case of Blizzard running out of time and dropping the ball. The company couldn’t build one of the cinematics it was known for in the time it had left, so it went with in-engine rendered cutscenes, instead. The result wasn’t all that great. It failed to communicate that Illidan had even survived his conflict with Arthas in the first place.

Here’s the original video:

Here’s the Warcraft 3: Reforged new video:

At first glance, the second video looks like the perfect antidote to the first. It’s detailed. It’s graphically modern. It shows an updated version of what Illidan and Arthas would have looked like. It’s also entirely unscored, nearly twice as long as the original (to little overall purpose), and changes a critical ending camera angle without fixing the miscommunication said camera angle created.

I’m referring, specifically, to the fact that Illidan didn’t appear to survive this encounter with Arthas, and it wasn’t clear he had until Blizzard confirmed his presence in World of Warcraft. You might think that if Blizzard was going to change how the encounter ends, they’d include some kind of shift to make it clear that Illidan wasn’t dead. A hand motion. A weak attempt to rise. Something.

They don’t. In the original, Illidan at least has a few jerky motions on the ground, as blood pools beneath him. In Reforged, he’s absolutely still and shot from the back. Between the two, I’d say he looks more implicitly dead in the reshoot than the old footage.

Furthermore, it makes no sense to extend this particular scene with a lot of power scaling — blue ice creeping up Frostmourne for Arthas, and a shot of Illidan drawing more heavily on his fel-empowered demonic half. These sorts of shots are a staple of live-action and animated films and TV shows, but you typically don’t show you two lengthy power-ups followed by one character instantly defeating the other.

The original scene is about a minute long, start to finish. The new scene runs 2:21. Of the ~1:21 of new footage, nearly 30 seconds of it is just Arthas and Illidan powering up. Then Arthas swings once, there’s a bright line of light, and Illidan collapses into a heap. The entire video clip feels off-balance. If you told me this was a student project, I’d stand up and applaud, but compared with Blizzard’s other cinematic work, it’s… not entirely what I would have expected. The best take on the fight that I’ve seen actually is a fan-made remaster that sticks closer to the original but seems to have done a better job maintaining a sense of action.

I feel like this set of videos collectively summarizes what seems so off about Reforged. The new Blizzard version is aesthetically, superficially, everything we’ve wanted as an ending for the game, but it doesn’t feel like it received the same amount of attention Blizzard has put into other projects. Instead of being sub-par graphically, it’s sub-par audibly. It feels as if Blizzard went into the cinematic knowing that they wanted to make it better, but without wanting to make meaningful changes. In attempting to have it both ways, it created a product that’s neither #NoChanges in relation to WC3, nor expands the lore and universe in a way that appeals to gamers who wanted to see the older title brought in line with more recent releases.

For better or worse, this is the Warcraft 3 we got, and it appears to be the only Warcraft 3 we’re getting.

Feature image by Blizzard Entertainment

Now Read:

Warcraft 3: Reforged Is Generating More Anger Than Acclaim

World of Warcraft Classic vs. Retail, Part 1: Which Early Game Plays Better?

Video Game Addiction in the World of Warcraft

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/305805-warcraft-3-reforged-is-so-unpopular-blizzard-is-giving-instant-refunds from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/02/warcraft-3-reforged-is-so-unpopular.html

[petskisswer]

^^ Price [!] Buy Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable and 3M Reflective Dog Jacket - Red - S Order Today http://petskanwert.blogspot.com/2021/07/price-buy-touchdog-quantum-ice-full.html

Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Description

The Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable and 3M Reflective Dog Jacket is Inner-lined with exclusively developed Blackshark Technology, this innovative fabric is Lightweight, Waterproof, Windproof, Snow proof, Breathable, Cold-Repellent, Impermeable and Tear Resistant and engineered and tested to withstand the harshest weather conditions possible, whether you're caught in a Blizzard, Typhoon, Hurricane or Rainstorm this is the premiere premium protective Dog Jacket of it's kind. This Outer shell is Double-Waterproofed, Windproof, Breathable, Tear proof and in addition features surrounded 3M Reflective lining for emergency visibility. The interior features a thick layer of thick protective Anti-Static Polar Fleece which is extremely breathable and offers a fantastic ventilation, warmth and comfortability. Perfect for the Outdoor dog. Features adjustable straps by every leg and features auto-adjustable built-in inner tubed lining for an out-growing fit. Additionally, this Dog Coat features above-top zippers for dog placement and hook-and-loop fastener enclosures that completely prevents any wind from entering while preventing any pulling of the dog's hair. Features a leash slit above the neck area. This Dog Coat Features accented Embroidery and a print on the Outer shell. Touchdog, the leading Premium Pet Brand of Tomorrow. Available in Multiple Colors and Sizes. Sizing Guide: From Back of Neck to Tail area ("In" Inches) 8" : EXTRA SMALL 10-12": SMALL 14-16": MEDIUM 18-20": LARGE 22-24": EXTRA LARGE Color: ice/red.

Check price

Act Now Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable Today

Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable We have should to state if you're looking for good Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable and 3M Reflective Dog Jacket - Red - S , this is what you need .This spot is selling this product for such an desirable prize, its astounding! We can assure that the here are the lowest. If you realise any place selling the product under our supplying price, we will offer you 100% refund. Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Don’t believe on us and soon you ever try the Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable and 3M Reflective Dog Jacket - Red - S by yourself. We suggest you to find the chance to try the item directly by yourself instead of to listen from other practical experience. We are sure that you get the most wonderful experience from Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable and 3M Reflective Dog Jacket - Red - S which you have never found before from other items. It’s not the magic nevertheless it’s the result of our good quality product that comes from our own innovative idea via experts and the output which combined good quality materials neatly. Which gives this Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable and 3M Reflective Dog Jacket - Red - S to the industry that we are willing to provide it to you. Not simply our offer that one could find before making choice t o use it, but also the feedback by real users that given on internet by way of many reviews from your real users which is easily for you to try to find and read. We be sure you for our quality more by offering the call heart for after sale service and internet site which provides the depth of all our Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable and 3M Reflective Dog Jacket - Red - S to enable you to search for and fully grasp more for rapidly throughout the day and nights. Let’s try it before you haven't any chance because our Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable and 3M Reflective Dog Jacket - Red - S is so popular since makes it’s empty with shelf some days.

Check Price Now Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Today

More detail

Tag Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable : Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable and 3M Reflective Dog Jacket - Red - S ,Best , Shop For ,Order , Compare ,Shop For , More Info ,Best Reviews Of , This Instant , Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable and 3M Reflective Dog Jacket - Red - S ,Price , Compare Price ,Where Can I Buy , Now Is The Time ,Buy , Top Quality ,Price Compare , Don'T Miss , Touchdog Quantum-Ice Full-Bodied Adjustable and 3M Reflective Dog Jacket - Red - S ,Where Can I Buy , Online ,Buying , Undisputed ,Price Comparisons , Don'T Wait ,Where Can You Buy , Opinion

[thelastpitchbender]

The Bone Merchant

Summary: When Beedle isn't busy selling quality arrows and insects to the good citizens of Hyrule, he dreams of founding a glorious business empire and publishing a bestselling book. It just so happens that an angry, shirtless kid with a bag full of monster parts might be able to help him out with that.

Notes: A goofy BotW oneshot, written because I love Beedle and because I’m a sucker for fics from NPC POVs that feature Link acting like a total nutjob. Did I mention that I love Beedle? Because I love Beedle.

Read on: FanFiction | AO3

The Bone Merchant

It was a pleasant walk from the edge of the Great Plateau to Riverside Stable, so long as you ignored the monsters.

This was something Beedle was very good at doing. You couldn’t just casuallywander Hyrule for several years without getting good at avoiding them, or sneaking past them, or running away from them. That was no small feat with the amount of goods he was carrying.

Beedle suddenly gasped. How had he not thought of that one before? Coming to an awkward halt, he fumbled around in a front pocket of his pack for his notebook and pencil, then flipped it open to the last page he had written on. He scribbled down a sentence while grinning like a maniac.

Rule #57: Get good at running. Especially with a really big backpack.

Beedle snapped the notebook shut in satisfaction. Beedle’s Guide to Modern Hyrulean Commercewas bound to be a bestseller, once he had the capital to print more than seven copies.

And once he had the book finished. That would also be helpful.

But really, the universal and pragmatic advice contained in the finished product would be invaluable to any traveling salesman –

A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he flipped the notebook back open.

Addendum: Also get good at running with a dumb horse or donkey or whatever.

Yes, that was important. Beedle was somewhat unique in that he didn’t have an animal with him, but many other traveling salesmen did. He thought some more.

Note to self, he scribbled. Find someone who knows about horses and/or donkeys.

Satisfied with his progress, he put away the notebook and pencil.

He wandered down the road with his massive pack, humming an indistinct melody under his breath. It was a little after noon and the sun was beating down on him, but a pleasantly bracing breeze was coming off the Hylia River and cutting across the road. Not to mention that he wasn’t facing that eyesore of a Malice-infested castle, which did a lot to make his day better.

It was a beautiful day, really. There were a lot of people out on the roads, taking advantage of a day without rain. He recognized many of them as traveling salespeople and waved a greeting at them as they trotted by on their horses.

Beedle liked his pack better than horses. It made him look more distinctive and gave him a sort of brand, if you will. He liked to think that one could recognize his beetle-shaped pack even in a Hebra blizzard –

A sudden cacophony of noise sounded behind him. The ground shook under his feet.

Beedle turned around and peered at the ashen cloud cresting the hill he had just passed. Birds flew from the trees, the fluttering of wings fading as they left the area far behind.

Explosions. Probably coming from the East Post Ruins, he mused. Exactly what did those monsters think was going to happen if they kept explosive barrels lying around their camps? He rolled his eyes and kept on walking.

It wasn’t long until he reached the stable. Ember, the owner, called out a greeting from behind his counter. “Good to see you again, Beedle! Hylia knows I need some arrows to fight off the monsters.”

Beedle automatically smiled and waved at him, setting his pack down with a thunk, but beneath his mind was whirring. This stable was never threatened by monsters. Unless… He glanced over at the East Post Ruins a little nervously. He’d heard the rumors about monsters getting more aggressive in the past few weeks.

But regardless of his feelings on the matter, Beedle did what Beedle did best: sell lots of shit.

It was nice to finally sit down in front of his pack, shaded by the eaves of the stable. He folded down his colorful makeshift table, and soon enough the denizens of the stable lined up in front of him to stock up.

The pragmatically-minded bought bundles of arrows (at quite a bargain!) and the adventurous selected from a wide variety of quality insects (very cheap!) to cook elixirs. Well-worn rupees changed hands with one of his trademark excited hoots for every transaction, and Beedle soon found himself in possession of a very small fortune. He grinned delightedly, sifting his hands through the pile of rupees when he thought no one was looking.

Unfortunately, someone had been looking.

“There you are, you greedy-guts!” the Annoying Traveler yelled, stomping his way over from where he’d been in the stable. Beedle suppressed a scowl. That snake.That stupid weedy man with his dumb greasy black hair. Beedle didn’t even know his name, and he was sure the stable dwellers didn’t know it either. All he knew was that the traveler was, to put it nicely, the worst.

The traveler shook a bundle of arrows right in Beedle’s face. One end of an arrow that had snapped off but was now dangling by a thin strip of wood whacked him in the face. To Beedle’s infinite credit, he did not flinch.

Definitely not because the traveler was intimidating. It was his iron willpower. Definitely. It was one of his rules, even.

Rule #15: The modern Hyrulean economy is cutthroat, sometimes literally. Get good at standing your ground.

“I don’t see anything wrong with the arrows,” Beedle lied.

The traveler scowled, which made his stupid face even uglier. “Can. You. Not. See. What’s. In front of. YOUR FACE?” He punctuated this last shout by throwing the bundle of arrows dangerously close to Beedle’s feet. Upon hitting the ground, the bundle rudely broke apart, broken arrows rolling everywhere. Beedle grimaced at the mess.

Thisjerkfaceprobably broke the arrows on purpose, just to demand a full refund.

“I tested them all myself,” Beedle lied again. Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie – he’d once watched his Rito supplier test them. He was very…thorough about it.

“Well, I demand a refund,” the traveler said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Beedle pointed to a small sign at the corner of his table. ALL TRANSACTIONS FINAL.

“They’re broken! They’re defective!” the traveler spluttered indignantly, his face going darker red by the second.

Beedle just sighed. It was too bad he had to follow his own cursed rules.

Rule #2: The customer is always right. Always be a paragon of excellent customer service.

Instead of arguing with the traveler, he rummaged through one of the front pockets of his pack, pulled out an inkwell and a quill, and then grabbed the sign. When he was finished writing, he put the sign back with a delicate yet deliberate motion.

THAT MEANS YOU, DEAR TRAVELER, it now read. Beedle gave him a guileless grin.

Rule #3: If customer service is not enough, strictly enforce store policy. (If you know what I mean.)

Ah, yes, Beedle reflected as the traveler stomped away, leaving the arrows at Beedle’s feet. His book would be quite the bestseller.

The traveler was now sitting by the cooking pot, able to shoot the occasional venomous glare over at Beedle. Ha! If he thought that was going to faze Beedle, Hyrule’s greatest traveling salesman…

Then Parcy walked out of the stable, and Beedle hastily scooped up as many of the broken arrows as possible and dumped them behind the pack before she noticed him. She looked rather severe, but she was much, much nicer than the Annoying Traveler, thank the Goddess.

She finally noticed him and strolled over, and Beedle laid on the charm. “Hello, hello! How’s my favorite treasure hunter doing? Find any good royal guard gear?”

Parcy smiled. “Not yet. Actually though, I wanted to talk to you about these arrows.” She pulled a bundle of broken arrows from behind her back.

Noooooooo, Beedle whined internally. They were actually bad?

“Did you shoot these at something?” he asked.

Parcy shrugged. “I broke a lot of them by shooting at hay targets. I don’t think they’re supposed to be that brittle.”

Beedle grimaced. He would have to have some strong words with his Rito supplier. “Ah. Well. I know I’m not supposed to do this,” he said, voice dropping conspiratorially low, “but I’ll give you a refund. I feel bad about selling things of poor quality, you know?”

Parcy’s gaze darted to the traveler for a brief instant, and Beedle knew that she’d heard the entire exchange earlier.

“I’ll do it because I like you so much,” he said, sending a wink at her.

Beedle was gratified to see a slight blush dust her cheeks. “Oh,” she said. “Well, I don’t need the refund. Can I just get a new bundle of arrows instead?”

“Sure can,” he said, gleefully noting the piercing glare he was getting from the traveler.

Things were going just the way they should be. Beautiful, sunny weather, flirting with Parcy, sticking it to the Annoying Traveler, getting filthy stinking rich –

“Hey, why don’t you put some clothes on before you start shoving people around, you little creep?” Parcy snapped.

Beedle blinked. “What?” he asked, startled by her sudden outburst.

But Parcy hadn’t been facing him. While Beedle had been totally zoned out, a kid had run up and tried to squeeze past Parcy. The kid shot her an irritated look.

That took a lot of guts, considering that he was wearing absolutely nothing but a pair of shorts.

What in the name of the good Goddess Hylia…?

The kid was now bent over and gasping, hands on his knees. He had dropped a suspiciously large burlap sack and a boko bow in front of him. He was covered in scrapes, cuts and bruises. His hair might have been blond, but it was hard to tell, messy and streaked with dirt and soot as it was.

“Mister – “ Beedle tried, determined to seem unfazed. He couldn’t deny service to anyone, suspicious or shirtless as they might have been!

The kid held one finger up while still catching his breath. Beedle waited patiently.

Rule #24: There will always be a customer weirder than you. (Beedle always debated whether or not to put that one in the book, because he couldn’t have potential customers thinking he was weird, after all.)

He finally straightened up and looked at Beedle, who immediately had to choke back a laugh and then feel terrible for having that impulse in the first place. His gaze was sharp, intense, and forbiddingly angry, but the effect was ruined by the fact that one of his eyebrows had been singed off and that he was shorter than Parcy. And also by the fact that he wasn’t wearing any clothes.

The kid seemed to realize that he wasn’t getting the reaction he wanted because his expression shifted into something almost indignant. He planted his dirty, burned hands on his hips and continued to glare at Beedle.

Parcy was backing away slowly, reaching a hand behind her in an attempt to feel out where the stable wall was. Her brows were still furrowed, but she was rightfully being cautious about someone who looked insane. Ember was nowhere to be seen, and the traveler seemed frozen in alarm by the whole situation.

Ah, well. It seemed it was all up to Beedle now.

“I don’t believe we’ve met before,” he said, letting a smile plaster itself onto his face.

“I’m Link,” the kid replied. For a brief moment, Beedle caught a strange look of uncertainty in his eyes, but it was gone so quickly he brushed it off as his imagination.

“Link,” Beedle echoed. “Pleasure to meet you. The name’s Beedle, but you can call me – “ He chuckled a bit awkwardly. “Actually, let’s just stick with Beedle.”

Beedle desperately wanted to give his whole explanation about traveling around Hyrule, even in these very dangerous times, and offering a high price for gemstones, the quality insects, etc. etc., but now really did not seem like the time. The kid – Link – was puffing himself up, like he was holding in a torrential outpouring of words, or maybe just a really, really big breath.

Either way, the stiff, wide-eyed look on his face was funny, and Beedle’s smile grew more genuine again.

“Sell me arrows,” Link finally blurted.

Now this was something he could deal with. “How many?” Beedle asked, leaning forward in anticipation.

Link thought for a second, then answered decisively. “All of them.”

Beedle raised an eyebrow. He kept a list of people who liked to buy up his whole stock of arrows, and he wasn’t sure that Link would want to be on it. “I’ve got…three bundles of five arrows left. Then twenty more arrows,” he said, rummaging around in his pack for the arrows and doing some quick math in his head. “That’ll be…210 rupees.”

Link frowned. “Rupees,” he muttered, looking down at the ground.

“Yes. Rupees,” Beedle said, feeling his smile freeze on his face. He considered himself to be a pretty easygoing guy, but if this kid was trying to buy up his entire stock without actually having any money…

After what looked like some careful deliberation, Link scooped up the burlap sack and dumped its contents out in front of Beedle, who immediately did a double take. In the corner of his eye, he saw Parcy clap a hand over her mouth.

There was a massive pile of monster parts sitting in front of Beedle now. The blocky shapes of bokoblin fangs, razor-sharp lizalfos talons, and the spirals of moblin horns, all gleaming bone-white in the midday sun.

“Um,” Link said, bringing a hand up to his mouth in thought. “How many…?”

Arrows? Rupees? Fangs? Monsters murdered in cold blood? Aghast, Beedle glanced from the pile of bones to the scrawny, short kid behind them, then back to the bones.

Then an idea wormed its way into his mind. A wonderful idea. A glorious, insanely profitable idea.

“Let me sort these out so I can get you your rupees,” Beedle said while reaching out for the monster parts. He ignored Parcy’s alarmed glance in his direction.

Beedle also ignored his vague nausea at the idea of touching fangs and horns from dead monsters, overcome by visions of the fortune he could make. Piles of shimmering gold and silver rupees glimmered beneath his eyelids when he blinked.

Thiswas what he had been missing this whole time, he thought. As much as he loved his insects, the elixir market was in desperate need of sellers. So many missed opportunities to harvest the requisite raw materials just because traveling salespeople weren’t usually handy in a fight, especially not Beedle –

He abruptly realized that Link was now bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet, eyebrows drawn together again. “How long is this going to take?” he asked, aggrieved. Link glanced over his shoulder quickly. Toward the East Post Ruins, Beedle realized, suspicion dawning in his mind.

“I’m sure you realize that all these different parts have different market values,” Beedle said with a frown. “I have to sort them out and then do the math.”

Link hesitated, then nodded, but it was clear by the brief surprise on his face that he hadn’t known that before. By Hylia, this kid was a bad liar. What kind of rock had he been living under?

After a couple of seconds, Link glanced up, staring out into the middle distance, tense as a bowstring. Beedle felt a sudden uneasiness sweep over him at Link’s change in demeanor. He couldn’t hear anything. Why –

He couldn’t hear anything. No birds were singing at all, as if something had scared them all off. Had Link…pissed some monsters off? Who were now coming for him? To this very stable?

“Can I just take the arrows now and do the whole other thing later?” Link pleaded, reaching for the boko bow at his feet.

Nope. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.

“If you’re going to bring monsters right to this lovely stable’s doorstep, I feel compelled to warn its owner,” Beedle said while lifting up the table in front of him and crawling out from under it.

Link’s eyes widened in alarm. “I never said – “

“You’re a bad liar, kid,” Beedle cut in, not unkindly. “I’ll get you the arrows when I come back out.”

No guarantees on how long it would take him to inform Ember, he thought, twisting his hands nervously.

A quick glance at the counter inside the stable revealed it to be empty. The traveler had fled, too. “Ohhhhh,” Beedle said to himself, quietly, more a groan than his usual declaration of excitement.

How? Why? Just – how? Why did Link have a bow but no arrows? How did he amass such a large collection of monster parts without any functional weapons? Where did all those burns and cuts come from? And why was he running around in his underwear?

Beedle’s private moment of panic was interrupted by a high-pitched shriek of “IT SET ME ON FIRE HELP – “

Beedle froze for a second, somehow thinking nothing but how can Link be on fire? He’s barely wearing any clothes!

Shortly after, Parcy yelled, “Beedle!” She sounded like she was calling for help while staring down an angry lynel. At her shout, Beedle ran back outside and gaped at the scene.

Well, it wasn’t a lynel, but it wasn’t pretty either.

Link was rolling around on the ground, swatting furiously at his shorts. A red bokoblin was looming above him, stamping its feet and shrieking in anger, looking for all the world like a child having a tantrum. It was hefting a heavy moblin club, which was currently on fire, just like Link’s shorts were.

The situation was so stupid that Beedle was immediately irritated rather than scared. For one, it was now clear to him that Link had been responsible for the explosions at the East Post Ruins and that these monsters were angry enough to chase him.

“Is this some new teenager thing?” he asked Parcy, who was pressed up against the wall of the stable and staring at the bokoblin with very wide eyes. “Sneaking into monster camps and throwing around explosive barrels? I bet it’s a stupid teenager thing.”

Parcy ignored him, which was uncharacteristic of her. While still flat against the wall, she slid down a bit and dragged Link’s boko bow toward her with her foot until she could scoop it up without having to get any closer to the monster. “Link!” she called out.

Link finally stopped rolling and scrambled to his feet. Parcy tossed him the bow, and he fumbled at it a bit before it was secure in his hands.

“That’s nice of you,” said Link while ducking under a mighty swipe from the bokoblin, “but I kind of need arrows!”

Parcy glanced at Beedle, imploring, and he groaned in frustration. Math. How was he supposed to do mathwhen a bokoblin was in the middle of attacking his customer?

This wasn’t in any of his rules. Any of them. They all stressed the utmost importance of not being around monsters at any time!

Well, when life gave you spicy peppers. Time to throw the rulebook out, Beedle thought with a huff.

“I’ll make you a deal, Link,” Beedle yelled at him. “I’ll trade you one monster part for one arrow.”

It was brilliant. Most of those monster parts were worth more than a single arrow. Now he just had to hope Link wouldn’t catch on –

“I’ve been asleep for the last hundred years, so I might be wrong–“ The bokoblin smacked Link in the back with its club, and he sprawled face-first into the dirt. “–But aren’t they each worth more than a single arrow?” he finished while rolling away from another strike.

Goddess curse him. He was insane and knowledgeable about the elixir trade.

“The bokoblin horns are only worth 3 rupees each,” said Beedle, no longer feeling bad about watching him get smacked around. “So essentially you would be getting two arrows for the price of one. Can’t beat that deal!” If Link played his cards right, anyway. Beedle eyed the pile of monster parts greedily.

The bokoblin was now straying a little too close to the very flammable walls of the stable, and Link said, “Fine, fine! Give me one!” He snapped his fingers at Beedle and held out his hand, the expression on his face suggesting a mix of irritation and determination.

Beedle deliberately picked a lizalfos talon out of the pile and deposited it near his pack. Ha. That was two and a half arrows right there. That would show him to be rude to Parcy.

No sooner had Beedle pulled an arrow out of his pack and placed it in Link’s hand did Link nock it, draw the string back, and let the arrow fly right between the bokoblin’s eyes. The monster spun around and staggered back while screaming.

Parcy and Beedle both gaped at Link. He moved with a warrior’s grace and brutal efficiency, the likes of which Beedle very rarely saw. He wordlessly held his hand out for another arrow, and Beedle complied, pulling a bokoblin horn out of the pile. Half price for an arrow.

Boy, had he made a mistake in assuming Link was just a short, scrawny kid.

The second arrow hit in almost exactly the same spot as the first and felled the monster. As it vanished in a sickly purple cloud of smoke, Link picked up the fang and horn that was left behind and dropped it into the pile. “There’s more,” he said quietly.

“What, more monsters?” Parcy’s disembodied voice sniped. Beedle looked around wildly before realizing that she had hid behind a crate after seeing what Link could do. “What did you do to them?”

Beedle was about to point out that his comment didn’t necessarily mean there were more monsters coming, but he shut his mouth at the gloomy look on Link’s face.

“For starters, I blew up their camp. But they started it!” he amended hastily, eyes wide and innocent.

Normally that would have been true, but Beedle somehow doubted that Link hadn’t provoked them in any way. “So where’s all your clothes?” Beedle asked, as nonchalantly as possible.

Link had the grace to look embarrassed. “They stole them. While I was swimming.”

“Right. And where did that bow come from?”

Beedle half expected Link to say something like, Oh, I just clubbed a bokoblin to death with his dead buddy’s weapon, then I took the bow, but he chimed in with, “Oh, I had it with me.”

“With you. While you were swimming,” said Parcy from behind the crate.

“For target practice,” said Link evasively.

“In the middle of a river – “ Parcy shouted.

Beedle cut her off before she could strangle Link. “With no arrows?” he finished.

Link’s brows furrowed in faint indignation. “Well, I realized that, but by the time I got back to shore they were running off with all my stuff!”

“I still don’t understand how you thought you were going to be able to shoot a bow in the middle of the Hylia River, but okay,” groused Parcy.

Link ignored her comment, turning to Beedle. “Give me…” He frowned. “How many can I fit in my mouth…?”

It took Beedle a second to realize what had been said. “What?”

“Five arrows,” Link decided.

Beedle decided that it was nothis business to know what sort of weird things his customers were into. He shrugged and counted out five random monster parts (with an aggregate value of…36 rupees, so worth six arrows, his mind automatically calculated).

He handed the five arrows to Link, who promptly tried holding them between his teeth.

“Ohhh,” Beedle said, feeling a bit stupid. What else was he going to do, stick them down his shorts?

He noticed that Parcy was snooping around the crates for something. She was looking for weapons, he realized. He paled.

Parcy hefted a double-headed axe and said, “Hey, Link – “

“I think you should keep that one, Parcy,” Beedle interrupted. “Two people fighting is better than one.”

Parcy glared at him and opened her mouth, but Link cut in. “He’s right. I’ll be fine with just a bow.”

Beedle’s knees weakened with relief and he let out a breath. There was still time to get more monster parts…

“If you’d let me talk, you’d know that never have I ever been in an actual fight,” Parcy grumbled, but she grudgingly held onto the axe. It wasn’t particularly surprising that Beedle had managed to convince her, what with her constantly going on about the royal guards’ weapons.

“There’s more of them coming up the road,” Link suddenly said, exasperation edging his voice. He put the arrows in his mouth again, then took one and nocked it. Parcy shuffled over to where he was, hefting the axe in an awkward ready stance.

Beedle backed up to his pack. Someone had to keep an eye on the arrows and bones, after all.

A sudden faint screeching sounded in the distance, accompanied by dust clouds rising from the road ahead. Beedle shrank back. This went against everyinstinct he had. Don’t get close! Don’t fight them! Don’t die!

Fat lot of good his instincts were doing now, Beedle thought wearily. He absently sorted arrows and monster parts into piles, ready for the inevitable trades. He ignored the way sweat slicked his palms and the things he was touching.

Curse that Link. Stupid kid.

There were now a group of bokoblins running at full tilt toward them. Some were twirling their clubs above their heads, and some were sending very poorly aimed arrows at the Hylians clustered by the stable. There would be a lot of screaming involved in the fight, Beedle thought with ill humor. At least he could brew himself an elixir to cure his inevitable headache with all his own monster parts.

Oh, but his rules. Rule #9: Never get high on your own supply. (He really did have to change the wording there. He wasn’t a Goddess cursed drug dealer, after all.)

“Damn you to hell, Link,” he hissed under his breath in extreme irritation. “If we don’t get out of this, I’m having some strong words with some of my friends. You won’t even know what’s coming.”

The threat hung in the air for a brief second before the first bokoblin reached Link’s firing distance.

Link’s infallible aim got the bokoblin stumbling back, clutching its face, and Beedle had instant second thoughts. Again.

Parcy’s arms were shaking. She shrieked and took a wild swing with her axe as a monster lunged for her. Beedle cringed as she missed and the momentum of her swing spun her around. The bokoblin screamed and hefted its club. Parcy could do nothing but stare in terror. Even Beedle shot to his feet, pulse racing.

The bokoblin suddenly fell to the ground, an arrow sprouting from its eye. Link was giving its corpse a ferocious stare. The first bokoblin he had shot ran at him, and he immediately pivoted and felled the monster.

Parcy was poking at the fallen bokoblins with her axe to make sure they were dead, Beedle noticed with no small amount of amusement.

Then a shadow fell over her, and before he could stop himself Beedle yelled, “Behind you!”

Parcy whipped around with a shriek, and the force her spin gave her axe swing was enough to send the bokoblin flying to the side. Beedle whooped, feeling secondhand euphoria at her victory.

Link, who had also turned around at Beedle’s shout, scowled at him. “Hey, where’s my warning?”

“You don’t need it, pal,” Beedle said, not unkindly, while Link finished off the monster Parcy hit with a well-aimed arrow.

“Sure I do!” Link still managed to sound indignant while ducking under a boko club and edging his way over to Beedle. “I’m fighting with a bow that’s basically a twig with delusions of grandeur!”

Beedle cast a critical eye at the boko bow, which was starting to show the strain of its use. Some bark was peeling off it, and the bowstring was starting to fray. It really was just a glorified stick, wasn’t it? So it would take more arrows to kill all the bokoblins. Oh no.

Link was holding his hand out for arrows. With the practiced ease of a merchant, Beedle scooped up a bundle of five arrows in one hand and five assorted monster parts in the other.

Fireproof elixirs, hasty elixirs, elixirs that renew your very soul and grant you a new lease on life…

Beedle suddenly had to flinch out of the way of a bokoblin’s club. Parcy chased after it, screaming like a banshee with her axe held over her head.

“You go, Parcy!” Beedle yelled giddily. Link frowned at the lack of attention he was getting, but it couldn’t be helped. This was a special occasion for Parcy! It was obvious Link had been in many fights before.

Before long, there was only one blue bokoblin left. It was the one that had set Link on fire earlier, and its club was somehow still on fire. It stamped its feet and screeched at Link, who hopped on top of a crate and yelled back, “I’ll set your houseon fire!”

Eh. Beedle didn’t need any more proof that Link was certifiably insane, but there was some more anyway.

“Do you have any fire arrows, Beedle?” Link shouted. Beedle resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Not because of the question, which was perfectly legitimate. He wished he could carry them, but he was always nervous about putting that sort of stuff in his pack.

No, he choked back a snort because Link was being absolutely melodramatic. If that Kass guy were around, he doubtlessly would have said something about how Link’s shout rumbled with the thunder of vengeance. But really, Link was doing the thing where he was puffing himself up again, and it looked just as stupid the second time. At least he was standing on a crate now.

Beedle sprinted over to another crate on the other side of the stable, ripping a blanket off of it and clumsily tearing a strip as he ran back to his pack. He tied the strip just above the arrowhead, then stuck the end under the still-lit cooking pot for just a brief second.

Ugh, I hope this works.

The strip of cloth was aflame, but there was no telling how long it would take for the flame to spread to the shaft of the arrow. He knew it was treated with some sort of lacquer, but he had no idea exactly how much fire protection that afforded.

Oh, wait. This next part was even worse.

Link had seen what Beedle was doing, and beckoned him forward impatiently. But how was he supposed to get around that big flaming moblin club?

His brief giddiness faded when he realized that now it was histurn to get involved in the fight.

“Parcy,” he hissed.

Parcy seemed to know what he needed without saying a word. She nodded and ran to the bokoblin’s other side, hollering and waving her axe around.

For an instant, Beedle was frozen. The heat of the burning arrow scorched his hand and forearm. Sweat ran down his forehead.

Move.

The bokoblin was distracted. Link was shouting something at him that he wasn’t quite comprehending. The path he needed to run was clear.

Just move, dammit.

He heard Parcy’s scream, and a ball of terror formed in his gut. She had fallen backward and the bokoblin was raising its burning club above its head.

The moment broke, and Beedle ran.

He passed the burning arrow into Link’s outstretched hand and immediately ran back to his pack, gasping for breath and shaking his hand out.

Link nocked the arrow, drew back, and fired. The bokoblin fell forward, and Parcy narrowly scrambled out of its way. She stood up and landed the killing blow on its skull before it could get up.

They all stood there for a moment. Beedle was nursing his hand by his new large pile of monster parts. Link was rolling his shoulders, apparently still comfortable with being nearly naked and filthy, besides. Parcy was staring down at the blue bokoblin’s body in faint wonder. Sweat stuck her dark hair to her face, which was almost prettily flushed. She looked up at Beedle, and he grinned at her.

Link ruined the moment by hopping down from the crate and loudly declaring, “I am going to go find my stuff.”

Beedle could only find the strength to nod before he plopped down by the fire. Hylia, sprinting a little bit and trading for arrows during a fight was exhausting. Parcy clearly had the same thought. She joined him by the fire, letting the bloodied axe thud to the ground.

They sat in companionable silence, watching the sun slowly slip over the horizon and paint Hyrule with brilliant orange, pink, and red. Beedle loved a lot of things about Hyrule, but one of the things he loved most was how the Hylia River became a ribbon of fire at the end of the day. The temperature was rapidly dropping, but it felt strangely welcoming after the fight.

Like most peaceful moments of this particular day, it was interrupted by Link. He was coming back up the road, genially calling out, “Hey, anyone want some food?”

Beedle wanted badly to say yes, but he was momentarily startled by Link’s appearance. He had clearly taken a bath in the river at some point, as Beedle could now definitely tell that yes, Link was blond. He no longer looked so small when he was armed to the teeth, either. He had amassed quite the collection of wooden clubs, along with a broadsword and a knight’s bow, all of which were strapped to his back. He carried the weight like it was nothing.

But Beedle was most interested in his clothes. Not his trousers or boots, which were torn and muddied garden-variety clothes that one could buy at any town in Hyrule. It was his tunic. It was as blue as the sky, and although it looked to be in fantastic shape, the tunic had clearly been meticulously, even lovingly mended many, many times. Maybe by Link himself, Beedle suspected, noting how clean it was compared to everything else he was wearing.

He really did not mean to dwell on the tunic, but it was some of the finest tailoring he had ever seen in his journeys around Hyrule. Rito craftsmanship, perhaps? With a visit to Kochi Dye Shop? Wherever it came from, it had to have been exorbitantly expensive. Beedle leaned forward and eyed the pattern of white embroidery around the neckline with great interest.

Then an elbow caught him in the side and he cringed.

“Stop being rude,” Parcy snapped. “Of course we want food.”

Food. “Yes, definitely,” Beedle said hastily. “Thank you.”

Link merely looked amused. It was amazing what a proper bath and some actual clothes had done to make him look like not a lunatic.

He pulled some foraged ingredients out of his bag – Beedle saw some prime meat, what looked like wheat, and a bottle of milk – and dumped it in the pot, humming cheerily as the ingredients sizzled. Beedle watched the pot closely, suspicious that just dumping it all in would do anything.

But once Parcy emerged from the stable with bowls and spoons in hand, Link’s creamy meat soup was finished. By Hylia, was it better than anything Beedle could ever manage to cook up. Link looked far too pleased, almost smug, about how much Beedle and Parcy were enjoying their meals.

When they were all finished, the sun had almost set entirely. Parcy went around and lit all the exterior lamps of the stable, which cast a warm, golden glow on the cooking pot.

“Sorry I was rude to both of you earlier,” Link said, not quite making eye contact. “I was really hungry.”

“Just hungry?” Parcy deadpanned.

Unexpectedly, Link laughed, and the other two cracked a smile as well.

“So do you travel around Hyrule?” Beedle asked, his curiosity about the tunic still not satisfied. “I wonder why I haven’t met you before.”

“Hyrule is a big place,” Link said, sounding curiously unsure of himself.

Beedle shrugged. “You seem like an avid traveler. Where else would you have gotten all those weapons and that really nice tunic?”

Something in Link’s expression shuttered. The temperature seemed to drop just a touch. Beedle immediately shut his mouth, feeling acutely aware that he had made a grave misstep in some way.

“A friend made it for me,” Link eventually said, staring off into the distance. The look in his eyes wasn’t cold, exactly, but it was stony, intent, and suddenly very, very old.

Beedle swallowed, suddenly understanding. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

Link shook his head. “It’s alright. I can still save her.”

Beedle and Parcy exchanged worried glances as Link stood up and began collecting his things. “Wait, you’re leaving now?” Parcy asked with a frown. “We have plenty of beds.”

“I’ve slept enough for a lifetime,” Link said, and his smile was too full of melancholy for Beedle to make fun of him for that statement.

“I’m sure I’ll run into you again on the road,” Beedle said. “And bring me more monster parts next time!”

Link grinned and nodded. Then he waved goodbye and started walking north, along the river. Beedle watched until he vanished into the twilight.

“Goddess, he was weird,” Parcy muttered.

“Maybe, but I get the sense he’ll be a regular customer,” Beedle absently replied. Glancing at his pack, he realized that Link had left him all of the monster parts. He shook his head in exasperation. He somehow didn’t think Link would make a good business partner, but at least these monster parts would get him somewhere.

Suddenly, the Annoying Traveler burst out of the trees, out of breath. “Is he gone?”

“Who, nutjob shirtless kid?” Parcy sniped. “Where were you all this time?”

The traveler gave her a condescending look. “Well, when the kid mentioned that he was leading a whole cohort of monsters to the stable, I did what any saneperson would have done and got the hell out of here,” he said loftily.

“No need to be such a jerk about it,” Parcy was muttering, but Beedle was again concerned with the rise in monster activity. In the day’s excitement, he had forgotten just how unusual it was for monsters to have chased Link all the way from the East Post Ruins to Riverside Stable. There was that rumor he’d heard. Yeah, that the monsters were more aggressive, but there was a reason for it. What was it? Something about…uh…

“Apparently, our lives were in danger because the Champion of Hyrule has ‘awakened,’” the traveler said, with exaggerated air quotes and a copious amount of eyerolling. Oh, yeah, that was the rumor.

“It’s just a dumb story,” said Parcy. She was clearly losing her patience with the traveler.

Beedle agreed. It was a dumb story. The Calamity was dangerous, but only if you got too close to the castle. It showed no signs of budging. If it hadn’t destroyed Hyrule yet, was it reallyever going to?

And the stories everyone told their kids about how Hyrule’s valiant princess awakened her sealing power with her love for her appointed knight was clearly romanticized drivel. No one really believed that the princess was still alive, or her knight for that matter.

But maybe…

Link’s fighting skills were unparalleled, and his tunic certainly befit a Champion of Hyrule.

“What if…” Beedle began, but Parcy cut him off.

“Yeah, I really don’t think so,” she scoffed, but he saw the trace of doubt in her eyes.

The traveler scowled. “Oh, no. No way.”

“That’s what I said– “

The traveler kicked Beedle’s pile of monster parts, scattering them about. “There’s no way that kid could be the Champion,” he furiously hissed. “Master Kohga is going to kill me.”

“Hey, take it easy,” Beedle said indignantly, scooping his fangs and horns up while shooting a glare at the traveler.

The traveler completely ignored him. He walked back into the trees from which he came, muttering darkly under his breath.

“Well, good riddance.” Parcy stuck her tongue out in the direction he went, and busied herself cleaning out the cooking pot.

Beedle just sighed and started stowing all of his new supplies in his pack. His fingers brushed against his notebook, and he hesitated for a moment. Throughout the day, he’d totally forgotten about his rules. Certainly none of them had really applied to Link’s insanity.

Was his guide to commerce just a pipe dream? Was his elixir empire just a far-off fantasy? Everything felt like such a long way off. He felt like he would never be able to write a good book if people just kept showing up and throwing his rules out the window.

And he loved his insects. He hated fighting monsters. Today had certainly proven that. How would he ever feasibly be able to make and sell elixirs? Link was clearly a warrior, not a salesman. He doubtlessly had better things to do than be Beedle’s errand boy and bring him monster parts.

In that moment, Beedle felt strangely lonely. He sat down and pulled the notebook and quill out, hesitating over a blank page. What did I learn today?After a moment, he decided.

Rule #58: Don’t be afraid to adapt to new, bizarre circumstances or realizations.

And like that, Beedle had a new business idea.

Totally unrelated to the notebook, but no less brilliant. If he couldn’t bring himself to grind up his insects, why not have other people do it? Make-your-own-elixir gift packs. People would eat that up.

Beedle grinned and was about to pitch the idea to Parcy when suddenly he spotted Ember almost at the stable, leading a horse loaded with saddlebags.

Ember blinked at the absolute mess the fight had left his stable in, nonplussed. “Um. What did I miss?”

[componentplanet]

Diablo II Remaster Coming in Q4 2020: Rumor

There are persistent rumors that both Diablo II and Diablo IV could drop before the end of the year, alongside the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Shadowlands. Blizzard has reportedly come under pressure to show more return on investment on an ongoing basis over the past few years, and this push towards multiple simultaneous launches at the back half of the year could be the company’s way of moving in that direction.

The rumor comes from French site ActuGaming, which has previously broken accurate rumors about upcoming Blizzard projects. Supposedly Vicarious Visions is supporting Blizzard on the remakes, which would make some sense; that company has been involved in a number of remastering efforts over the past few years. A launch date before the end of the year would put Diablo II: Resurrected in danger of colliding with Diablo IV, which might not be something Blizzard wants to tee up.

Will This Be Starcraft: Remastered or Warcraft: Reforged?

The problem with hearing that Blizzard is returning to Diablo II is that, as great a game as Diablo II was — and I loved it enough to launch my own modding efforts around it 20 years ago — it, like Warcraft III, could use more than just a coat of paint. There were some significant design limitations in the original Diablo II that limited the ability of early-game skills to scale, thereby locking endgame play into a smaller set of talents and capabilities than looked as if would be the case, starting out.

ActuGaming points out that Blizzard is aware of the communications disaster around WC3 Reforged and considers to have been a mistake of communication. The problem with WC3 Reforged, apparently, was that Blizzard miscommunicated that it would be a remake while it was actually just a remaster.

That’s true… to a point. But only to a point. What people hated about WC3 Reforged was partly the fact that the new game forced all previous owners into a new front-end, stripped out previous support for game modes, and generally harmed the experience of people who had deliberately chosen not to buy Warcraft III: Reforged. It’s true that Blizzard set expectations higher for a better version of the game, but there was nothing wrong in doing so. Both Warcraft III and Diablo II could use more than just a fresh coat of graphical paint.

I’m not suggesting that these titles should be fundamentally overhauled, by any means, but Diablo II would scarcely suffer from a slightly more fleshed-out plot, a bit of new lore, or some fleshed-out side quests. Partly that’s because Diablo II has always felt thinner compared with other Blizzard worlds, as far as on-the-ground interactions with the major players. Deckard Cain and Tyrael were really the only fleshed-out NPCs in the entire game — everyone else was a character you exchanged a few optional bits of dialog with, in-between missions. Starcraft, which dates to approximately the same era, put a much larger emphasis on NPC and plot development. While Diablo II had a multiplayer component and was heavily played online, it never evolved into the competitive esport that Starcraft did, and it did not be locked to a slavish interpretation of every single original rule with no room for experimentation.

I agree with Blizzard that it miscommunicated badly around Warcraft III: Reforged, but I don’t think the problem was that the company mis-set expectations. I think the problem is that the company committed to one vision of the product and delivered a vastly inferior one, which came with penalties that hit people who weren’t even interested in the game while offering no one what had actually been promised. If Blizzard had delivered the game it had promised, rather than the half-baked version it launched, some people might have still been unhappy with the changes, but the majority would have recognized the strength and improvements to the product.

Warcraft III: Reforged feels like it was built by people who were slavishly devoted to duplicating the wrong aspects of the game, which is how we got lavish recreations of badly built cinematics that should have either been left in their original forms or redesigned as fundamentally different encounters. It’s bad enough that I’d argue the fan-made remaster of the original Arthas v. Illidan fight is better than the one we actually got from Blizzard.

If Blizzard wants Diablo II to be well-received, it needs to demonstrate it understands what people liked about the series and want to return to in the first place. After Reforged, that’s not as certain as it used to be.

Now Read:

How an Article on Game Difficulty Explained My Own Modding, 18 Years Later

Warcraft 3: Reforged Is So Unpopular, Blizzard Is Giving Instant Refunds

Warcraft 3: Reforged Is Generating More Anger Than Acclaim

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/310384-diablo-ii-remaster-coming-in-q4-2020-rumor from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/05/diablo-ii-remaster-coming-in-q4-2020.html

[componentplanet]

Capcom Reportedly Gearing Up to Remake Resident Evil 4

The first Resident Evil game I ever played was Resident Evil 4 on the GameCube. While I’ve never been much of a console gamer, one of my exes owned the diminutive console. I found the conceit of “you can’t move while shooting” fantastically annoying, given that “moves while shooting” had been a feature of literally every FPS game I’d ever played. But the gameplay and atmosphere of RE4 hooked me immediately — so much so, that I recently replayed it using upscaled textures and updated assets on the PC.

Capcom hasn’t formally announced anything yet, but given the success of RE2 and RE3, it’s inevitable that the company would look back to one of its seminal titles in the entire franchise. Reportedly, the game will release in 2022, with development led by Osaka-based MTwo. Original game director Shinji Mikami isn’t leading development, but has blessed the effort and provided unofficial support. This effort has attracted a larger team than the remakes of RE2 or RE3 and has received more internal support from inside Capcom as well.

RE4 is considered to be the highest-rated game in the Resident Evil franchise and is the top-selling title overall, with more than 7.5M copies sold. RE4 was the first Resident Evil game in which weapons could be shot out of an enemy’s hands, or where shooting at their feet could cause them to stagger. Controls are often context-sensitive (you’ll hop through a window but start climbing a ladder with the same button, depending on what you’re near), and it relies on plenty of the game tropes you’ve come to know and love, like quick time events.

Pssst. Hey, Capcom. Feel free to leave those out.

Fans released their own remaster of the game fairly recently and a trailer for the fan-made project is embedded below. This is the version of the game I recently played.

Playing RE4 on a modern system is a split experience. On the one hand, the updated textures genuinely look great. On the other, it’s painfully obvious that you’re looking at higher-detail textures paired with a lighting model straight out of 2005.

Hopefully, the remaster will do a bit to spruce up the voice acting and overall plot. It would be easier to make a list of the lines in RE4 that aren’t delivered in cheesy, sneering villainspeak than those that are. Also curious to see if the remake will clear up whether Ramon Salazar is an exceptionally evil little person or a demented adult in a child-size body that never grew to adulthood on account of being infested with an ancient parasite while still a child. It didn’t help that in the original game, he appeared to have a physical age somewhere in between 10 and 70 (the GameCube wasn’t exactly a great machine for fine facial detail, even by 2005 standards, especially compared with demos like Nvidia’s Dawn). Canonically he’s only 20. He’s a very strange-looking 20.

It’s at least a little surprising.

I’ll be curious to see how much they change in RE4. Certain aspects of the game’s design, like the use of a contextual “Do” button, are still modern. Others, like not being able to shoot while moving, felt archaic even in 2005. Problem is, they were also part and parcel of what made the game play as it did. Not being able to move and fire meant that positioning Leon prior to shooting from stealth was critical, as was timing your run-and-gun moments. As much as I disliked the limitation at first, I can’t deny that it also created a unique challenge and ultimately contributed to the fun I had playing the game.

Based on Capcom’s previous practices, we’d expect the game to release on Sony, Microsoft, and PC platforms. Switch support is unknown, but neither RE2 or RE3 have a Switch version.

Feature image by Capcom, from previously released RE4 HD (Official). 

Now Read:

Final Fantasy VII Remake Demo Released on PS4 as Early Game Impressions Roll in

Warcraft 3: Reforged Is So Unpopular, Blizzard Is Giving Instant Refunds

BioWare Announces it Will Radically Redesign, Fix Anthem

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/309232-capcom-reportedly-gearing-up-to-remake-resident-evil-4 from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/04/capcom-reportedly-gearing-up-to-remake.html

[componentplanet]

Blizzard Confirms WoW Subscriber Base Doubled After Classic Launched

I’m still working on my WoW leveling comparison between Retail and Classic (I know, I know, I KNOW), but there’s now hard evidence that a substantial group of people are logging into WoW to play a version of the game they enjoyed 15 years ago. One of the most common arguments I saw people making before Classic launched — an argument I had a lot of fun discussing with friends, though I didn’t necessarily put a lot of stock in it — was the idea that people would roll Classic characters, immediately encounter the difficulty and pace of the game, and promptly quit again.

Turns out, nobody should’ve worried. Classic is popular enough to have doubled the number of people paying for an active WoW subscription. That’s according to data in Blizzard’s Q4 2019 report, which stated that the number of players paying for a month or more of service has doubled since Classic launched in mid-2019. Hat tip to Overclock3D, which initially broke the story.

The funny thing about the Classic / Retail debate was the players on the Retail side of the community who were certain Classic would be filled with people doing nothing but complaining about how difficult the game was. I’d lie if I said I hadn’t seen complaints. I’ve done some of the complaining, in point of fact. The game is sometimes infuriating. It can be difficult to find enough quests to level easily. Some of the shortcomings of Blizzard’s original design are apparent above Lvl 30 in ways they weren’t in the original game.

With that said, I’m still playing, even if a lot of CPU and GPU review coverage from November – February basically sidetracked my testing. There’s a lot of good game in WoW Classic, which really isn’t surprising, considering it’s the game that got millions of people to play World of Warcraft. At the same time, though, I probably shouldn’t lean too hard on the strength of that argument. Just because a game has strong elements doesn’t mean it aged particularly well, or even that people are hungry to return once again to its content. The slideshow from our WoW leveling comparison (1-20) is embedded below:

The real question for WoW Classic, to me, is how the project can evolve from here. Blizzard will continue to roll out content updates for WoW Classic, but eventually all good things come to an end. Naxxramas is the last endgame raid, and while that’ll challenge mid-tier players who advanced into endgame content at a slower pace cough, it won’t keep everybody happy.

I can see a few different ways for Blizzard to handle this. One is not to handle it, and to offer Classic as exactly what it is — Classic WoW, no more, no less, with all of the content and limitations that implies. Another option is to develop “classic” implementations of previous WoW expansions and offer Classic players the option to clone an existing hero on a BC server, move a hero from one to the other (with no option to transfer back), or roll fresh and face leveling from 1-70 under TBC rules. I suspect we’d get the first or second option, not the third, but they’re all possible.

But there’s another path that Blizz might take: Further content development for vanilla WoW.

Remember — original WoW had a lot of content visible on the map that was never used. The entire zone of Mount Hyjal is one example. We knew Gilneas existed behind the Graymane Wall, even if we didn’t get to visit the land. We’d been to Tol Barad and Grim Batol in Warcraft 2. Karazhan may not be an instance in Classic, but it exists in Classic. Even if Blizzard confined itself to the lore of Warcraft as it existed in 2004, there are a great many locations we never explored or visited. There’s no reason why new 5-man or raid content couldn’t be added to the existing game.

There’s a specific reason why I can imagine Blizzard going this route — it would allow the company to revisit “What if” scenarios in a timeline where the Dark Portal never re-opened, and the world of Azeroth went on much as it had before. Even if the Draenei never crashed on Azeroth, Arthas would still have eventually reappeared. The Twilight’s Hammer cult was very much present in the later events of vanilla WoW. There are ways and places where Blizzard could expand the lore of Classic with new 5-man dungeons and content adapted to a universe in which things happened very differently (and, presumably, we remain locked at Lvl 60 and with whatever patch version Blizzard stops with).

I’m a lot more interested in Classic’s evolution than one can typically say about a 15 year-old title, even if my playtime has been a bit lacking.

Now Read:

World of Warcraft Classic vs. Retail, Part 1: Which Early Game Plays Better?

Warcraft 3: Reforged Is So Unpopular, Blizzard Is Giving Instant Refunds

Blizzard Lowers Penalty on Hong Kong Streamer, Says China Uninvolved in Censorship

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/306104-blizzard-confirms-wow-subscriber-base-doubled-after-classic-launched from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/02/blizzard-confirms-wow-subscriber-base.html