#Skill Balancing

[nicholasandriani]

The Art of Game Balance and Narrative Design: Crafting the Ideal Player Experience

Short post today:, Folx, hope everyone is well. Update: Grad school is wild. NSF GRF is coming along smoothly. Hunkering down towards that’s October deadline. I might be allergic to garlic? News to me, as a garlickoholic. But I’ll live? Baldur’s Gate 3 is AS dynamic and rowdy and intoxicatingly delicious as the tabloids and reporters claim. content Now, onto the Main Content: balancing the…

[rynli]

crowded

[rocketbirdie]

putting kunsel in the og ffvii because it's what he deserves

[fraternum-momentum]

some aimee outfits

[mochiobonio]

' sidlink dancing '

i played around with the colors and really trynna get that romantic dancing vibe goin on, i know i could do better but i am happy with what i got right now! WOOO SIDLINK! SIDLINK! SIDLINK!

[bees-pees]

this is all snufmin related i am so sorry

[cool-frog-hours]

This bad boy is doing numbers on tik tok, so I figured I’d post him here too

Audio: [“Welcome…babies…to The Fruity Pebbles Castle of Torment, a scary castle with one hundred rats.” *laugher*]

[catebees]

I've been wanting to draw something in the Inquisition tarot style since I booted up the game for the first time

first card-second card-third card-fourth card

[yardsards]

do people who have listened to taz balance but not graduation Know that it was HEAVILY IMPLIED that lup and barry eventually adopted a lil sorcerer child who got disowned by his family for his natural necromancy magic, and they taught him how to use his powers for good and were overall great parents that he looks back on fondly

(and said child grew up to be a dimension-hopping lich, caretaker of the dead, and very sweet adoptive father of a major npc)

[starscream-is-my-wife]

Ok so your 'Megatron as the 2nd in command to Starscream' idea has brainblasted me /pos.

Does Starscream allow anyone else to wield Megatron or is that his privilege alone?

Does Megatron know that Starscream is only helping the lower castes as a side thing but believes that, no matter his motivations, Starscream is ultimately doing good or does Megatron genuinely think that Starscream is invested in this conflict as a way of creating equity?

Are the other members of Decepticon high command actually loyal to Starscream?

Thanks for giving me the chance to yap about this!

I think that in the beginning Starscream wouldn't care too much about who's shooting him as long as they are victorious but Megatron only trusts Starscream to be the one pulling the trigger.

As time goes on, Megatron got more comfortable letting Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Soundwave shoot him but Starscream had realized how powerful of a weapon Megatron is and how much he enjoyed being the only one that Megatron allowed to wield him. He got more possessive but Megatron enjoys how much Starscream cherishes(?) him

I think the second question depends on the backstory a bit, Megatron didn't know much about the world before Starscream other then he's just a thing to be used by the elites, and his altmode being a gun really limited his mobility. I did think about some possibilities of what he did beforehand:

1. He was a miner or worker (I don't think he would be so easily pacified if he was a gladiator and could fight himself) whose altform was pretty useless because always held back to not be used to hurt anyone, he mostly kept his head down and worked until Starscream came around and took over. Megatron was so awed that someone had thought about bots like him and took the first chance he got to present himself to Starscream and show him his real strength as a weapon

("new ruler the workers are demanding for rights! We must send forces to squash this before it gets out of hand!" "Why would I do that lol" "new ruler please! If those low caste get what they want then our economy will crash!" "Listen I'm leaving in 3 days, so I order that you give them what they want now and YOU can deal with the political and economic ramifications! If you succeed I'll send someone later when you did all of the work to take credit, if not, well, you're to blame for everything.")

Or

2. Gunformers are quite rare, and no one wanted to reformat to be one especially if they weren't a triple changer. He ended up being sold to be the weapon of the police to keep the lower caste in check, no matter how much he tried to hold back he was still a powerful gun and was forced to execute innocent mechs. The chief had him trapped in his alt mode due to his... disobedience and dunked him in energon every once in a while to keep him alive. But they would forget that he was a cybertronian so he would just lay there in a locker, unmoving, starving, until someone used him and noticed that his shots were weaker, then they would dunk him in energon to use more. Megatron was starting to grow numb to it all, his hatred for the elites bleed into everything else, why did the mechs rebel? If they didn't then maybe he wouldn't be used against them.

It wasn't until Starscream came along and none of the police could hit him, his trine, or any of the seekers, they were too fast. The police chief who wielded him managed to get a lucky shot on one of Starscreams null rays. Annoyed, Starscream turned his target to the chief and landed a shot on him. The chief dropped Megatron at the feet of a Starscream who landed in his root mode, Starscream decided to shoot the pest with his own weapon, as payback for destroying one of his expensive null rays.

Megatron, realizing that he was being pointed towards the mech that has caused him so much pain, stopped holding back for the first time ever when Starscream pulled the trigger. The blast that fired turned everyone's vision white and caused an explosion that left a big crater where the chief was, body instantly vaporized. Starscream (and Megatron) didn't expect the blast to be so strong and the pair got flung back from the force. Starscream stunned, hit the ground with the gun still in his hand. He looked at it before strapping it in his cockpit seat and transforming to join the fight again.

Megatron felt every swoop and roll Starscream did, like watching an elegent dancer preform before they come to sweep you off your feet, he was still trapped in his alt mode but flying through the air as Starscream won the battle, he finally felt something, freedom.

After Starscream took the territory over, got the resources he wanted, allowed the lower caste to move up or whatever, he then looked more into this strange gun he picked up. It was different then all of the other guns that the police used? There's a machine in the basement that traps bots in their alt mode? Ohhhh.

In both of those options Megatrons self worth is pretty low and being with Starscream is better then anything he ever had in his life (at least at the start), but in the first one he's probably going to be alot more pushy about helping the lower caste and bicker more in general, and is probably more in line of the first option you said

I dont think either Megatron would fully believe the second one unless Starscream actually does want to make his equality his main goal, but the second Megatron can definitely dilude himself into thinking it! If he does accept that equality is only a secondary thing for Starscream, I want him to be like "might as well dedicate my entire being to Starscream because thats the only part of my identity that I feel is real".

There's just so many possibilities like how hard Starscream pushes to keep Megatron dependent on him, if they have a fallout how big would it be, if they ever have a healthy mutual respect, if Megatrons infatuation ever dies down, or if they just reflect themselves in the cartoon where they just bicker with each other but don't do anything to permanently change their positions. Although Megatron wouldn't declare himself leader he just. Does. The autobots are confused on who's actually the leader they don't question it anymore. (At the end of the day it's always Starscream)

As for everyone else in the high command, his trine are loyal, the rumors why Thundercracker and Skywarp aren't co leader, SIC, or TIC are blown out of proportion, they aren't secretly against Starscream, they like to enjoy all of the benefits of high command with no paperwork, probably the only bots other then Megatron that are strongly loyal to Starscream. Soundwave is still TIC, and competent at it, he doesn't mind that Starscream is leader but he wouldn't fight Megatron if he ever does want to take over, he still reports on any other traitors though. Would actually push for Megatron to take over if Starscream seriously hurts his cassettes. Shockwave and Starscream are on good terms but he does recognize that Megatron would also be a pretty good leader if he were to take over, I dunno about any other high command cause they change alot but if they liked Megatron normally then they *really* want him to take over, otherwise they're pretty indifferent, the lower rank you go the more popular Megatron is, hes even growing on some of the seekers who are still pretty loyal to Starscream.

Ngl I'm still pondering on what version I like the most, feel free to take any ideas!

[dadvans]

bucktommy + eddie friendship snowboarding vacation episode for season 8 where they survive an avalanche. tim, are you listening. tim, can you hear me. bucktommy + eddie friendship snowboarding vacation episode for season 8 where they survive an avalanche, ok???

[csuitebitches]

Interviews with Incredible Women

Here are some interviews that I think are absolutely brilliant, and I’ll explain why.

These women are trailblazers in what they do and I think, have really nailed the interview process down and you can tell because the more natural a person appears to be on camera, the more effort has gone into looking that way. Uneasiness, discomfort, shyness are easily spotted, especially with body language - and you can see the confidence just radiating from them.

Now, you may not like some of these women for whatever reason. I don’t really care about that - I’m simply looking at their oratorship, their presence in front of everyone and how they carry themselves. There’s obviously lots of powerful female orators, leaders and figures out there but I can’t possibly list them all so excuse me if I’ve missed out on your favourites - I’ll add them next time.

There’s a few things these women have in common:

1. They don’t always jump to answer. They think for a second or two before answering.

2. There are no filler sounds. They speak at a measured rate, which allows them to think ahead about their sentences.

3. They have a vast vocabulary.

4. They are not shy in disagreeing with the person in front of them. None of that diplomatic nonsense. There is clearly a strong sense of self identity and personality, unapologetically.

5. They show their vulnerabilities, weaknesses and hard times as thing of the past and accept them without a fuss- they don’t oppress themselves with it, and come across as strong survivors rather than wallowing in self pity. It’s what makes people admire them.

6. They don’t answer what they dont want to. And they beat around the bush with it, clearly stating that they will not answer those questions.

7. One thing I loved about Rekha’s interview - when questioned about an ex lover, she asks: “hey, is this interview about me or Mr Bacchan?” And it didnt come across as haughty or egoistical.

8. There’s feminineness in their strength. Them being strong in their stances is not masculine, overly aggressive or yelling - its firm, to the point, yet graceful.

This is what you should be looking at, carefully:

- body language

- Vocabulary

- Talking speed

- Gestures

- Facial expressions

- Voice modulation

- Expressing emotions

Video Links

1. Rekha

2. Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel

3. Meryl Streep

4. Indira Gandhi

5. Princess Diana

6. President Sirleaf

7. Lady Gaga

8. Naomi Campbell and Vivienne Westwood

9. Anna Karina

10. Michelle Yeoh

11. Mika Brzezinksi

[pianokantzart]

Thought: Mario had to be told repeatedly as a child (and as an adult...) not to parkour on things for no reason. The Mushroom Kingdom is the perfect place for him because that society requires parkour lmao

Resident Parkour Man when he finally enters a society where he's not only allowed, but demanded to parkour.

[justaz]

i love merlin being so enamored by life and nature and all the beauty of the world around him, but as magic incarnate (a force that is neither good nor evil, it just is) i would love to see morally grey merlin. like ik we kinda get that with him killing people in arthur’s name and forsaking his people for the man he loves, but i mean like sorta dark and unnerving merlin who finds beauty in death and destruction and is fascinated by it. merlin who was conditioned on right and wrong but who still feels a pull to what others would consider wrong. finding wolves gorging on a carcass in the woods and feeling this pull to join them, to revert to a wild thing, to be animalistic and uninhibited. just forest nymph merlin where he’s so natural he’s unnatural.

[borealing]

sorry to keep talking about squid game but gihun getting through the first game because of sangwoo and ali, the second game by his own merit (because he is a sweaty sweaty man), the third game by forcing his team to listen to each other, the fourth game because ilnam didnt want to let him die, the fifth game because he lucked into someone else taking a metaphorical bullet for him (and saebyeok reminded him which side to step) and the sixth game because he was fighting, but he only won because sangwoo made him win .... the show does an incredible job of showing us that this isnt the usual way that someone wins, that deoksu or however u spell his name got far successfully by bullying his way through, and then in season two showing that when they work together, barely anyone dies, and those who think like deoksu (thanos) still succeed. its just so interesting to me cause like 1. id be obsessed with the guy who got through my murder games by being so wet and pathetic that everyone he meets wants him to succeed anyway and 2. other winners would have gone through the same thing to a lesser extent, even inho knows what hes feeling but believes its worth it for the greater good, and 3. everyone is equal in these games, but he has preferential treatment from the literal host who just happens to be in the games, would someone like inho think that he succeeded by exploiting every path available to him, including manipulating other people, or think that he was "unfair" in the way he won?

[thecaterpainter]

Its been 6 years since ive drawn anything for TAZ Balance (oops) but looked through old art and i saw my old stolen century designs and had to draw them again, starting with the twins

Ill post the rest all at once whenever i finish them, I just wanted to show off these two