#This season has already been a slog and now just... woof

[littlebunnysander]

Screenshotting my original post so my addition shows up in the tags.

Two-siding a genocide in your ongoing podcast while an actual real world genocide is going on is WILD.

The humans have been confirmed to be colonizers of land originally inhabited by monsters. They have carried out multiple genocides and forced the monsters out of their homes and into cities on the fringes of the world. Then more human invaders show up to destroy those cities (also the monster cultural centers).

We have confirmation that the city they hit first has been leveled entirely now. The city that Olala was seeking because it contained so much information and history about monster kind.

We've also got political leaders refusing to get involved unless the bombing comes to them, and the monsters being treated as primitive and ineffective against the advanced tech of the off-world humans. This is a really uncomfortable if unintentionally a parallel and actually awful if it is intentional. Best case scenario, it's trying to make a connection between fictional monsters and real life people in a way that's both othering and pretty racist. Worst case, the writers actually believe this is a two side issue and that any attempt to stop Israel is "just as bad" as an ongoing genocide.

Does anyone know if anyone has made any statements? I'm not expecting every creative to do so, but when your work is hitting this close to real world situations, it might be necessary.

[motheatenscarf]

Wanted to take a couple days to parse my thoughts, but I am now ready to give my Opinions on DOS2.

The long and short of it is, I do recommend it! 

The combat was FUN, the story was engaging and compelling, the side-quests were all either heart wrenching or hilarious, and the music was beautiful and so were all of the locations and the music always SUITED the location which isn’t always easy to achieve. And the characters were all interesting, too, by which I mostly mean NPCs, and I only got to run around thoroughly with 3 companions but some of them were genuinely amazing for their development and growth. I got way more attached than I was expecting to for some of these characters.

If you’re familiar with turn-based RPGs, it’s one of the best ones I’ve ever played! If you’re not, it should be okay, but I’d recommend watching a couple tutorials or reading some tips/and tricks before going in because this game is DENSE.

I do have a few minor complaints, and if you’ve been following me shrieking about this game for the last month, none of this is new, but I will put it under a read more;

The second act all along the Reaper’s Coast really dragged imo, and that’s for two reasons; one, the rate of acquisition of new quests vs. the rate of completion on old quests is like 5 to 1 and it quickly gets overwhelming and things quickly start to blur together, and two, companions are too quiet during Act 2 and need to be chattier to break up the monotony. 

I will grant you having too many things to do in an RPG is never a problem, and it’s nice to have a lot of different quests lead to the same location, especially if that’s an important area that has a lot of Plot Shit in it, that’s just called good level design. But I always like hearing companions comment on things not only because it makes them feel more developed and the experience more immersive and impactful, but also because, fuck dude, their comments help me keep track of why we’re even here in the first place. Was this for a main quest or a side quest? I don’t fucking remember! I have The Dumb! Your fleshed out, well developed questgivers who are important stand out, or sufficiently tragic shit like “Look, the Magisters are burning down this village!” stand out, but Dwarf #12 with Dwarf Problems asking me to look into his Missing Dwarf while Magister #4 also asks me to look for Dwarf but I’ve already decided to declare open season on Magisters and now there’s no one interesting left to remind me about what I’m supposed to be doing without checking my journal is just... woof, bro, I am NOT gonna remember this shit. 

At the very least, this slog could stop blending together so much if the flag markers that automatically pop up for quests were fucking LABELED. Yeah, there are like 6 flags in this place, but what quests are they for? Fuck if I know, and there are like 40 in my journal and I don’t have time to read through them all, I guess we’ll find out when we get there.

And again, companions should just talk more in general. Not just at the end of quests, but during them. I grant you they won’t have an opinion on EVERY little thing, but given that they supposedly have special character flag dialogue for when I tell them to go talk to Magister #8 on patrol so they’re distracted and I can sneak this guy past their patrol, they clearly have unique responses to things! Let’s see that! And they should have banter and talk to each other! They can’t all just be attached to me! It’s about the FOUND FAMILY! That means they have to form bonds amongst each other! That’s why DA2 will always be the best Dragon Age game!

Anyway, other than the Act 2 slog, my biggest complaint is with the abruptness of the ending. I know the point of the game is to get TO where the Source is being kept, but the whole “And then the war with the Godking happened off-screen,” thing felt kinda... underwhelming. It’s important to stick the landing, and it wasn’t a BAD ending, but it was a little disappointing. I mean, we already killed the other gods, would it really have been such a big step to have, at the end, the Godking push through and nearly win, and THEN we got to choose what to do with the Source?

Like, if you want to be evil and side with the Godking or that demon doctor guy, you can beat him in combat first and then say “Now that you’re beaten, I’m calling the shots!” and enter into a tenuous partnership with them were betrayal is imminent. And if you want to release the Source or seal it all away by repairing the veil, maybe have us not kill the Godking outright but just defeat him so that he retreats. Then it can be to either seal him away while he’s weak, because it’s a one time opportunity even if it will mean turning into a silent monk, or to take the chance and release Source to the world and let people choose from there to fight what remains of the Voidwoken. 

Idk, maybe they’ve got more they want to do with the Godking in later games or something, but for fuck’s sake, if you’re gonna kill all the gods by the end of like, fucking Act 1, you’ve got to let me at least take my shot at the fucker who calls himself the Godking. I am a scrappy little chihuahua with a scythe, high on rage, and I’ve already killed at minimum 4 gods, just lemme aim for this fucker too.

Still a good game, and a decent enough ending, I TECHNICALLY got to do what I wanted with releasing Source to the world. I’ve said before that there are exactly two things I want to do in any RPG and that is make friends and kill god, in that order. And I got to make friends. And I technically got to kill the sickly leftovers of what was left of the gods after the Godking got to ‘em. But I really. REALLY wish I’d gotten to at least fuck up the Godking a little bit if not outright kill him. 

But I did get to make friends with my companions who survived Act 1 and shut specifically Rhalic up forever, so I guess that’s enough.

Oh, also, literally all of the armor is ugly except for late late LATE game wizard armor which looks like something out of Vampire Hunter D., throw a scythe onto that shit and you’ve got an AESTHETIC, but short of that, it’s crap, especially if you’re playing a woman, but ESPECIALLY if you’re playing an elf. This game does elves dirty with its armor. 

But other than all that, all in all. 8/10. Recommend it.

[iloveyoupittsburghpirates-blog]

We Can’t Go On Like This, Pittsburgh Pirates

My Dearest Pittsburgh Pirates,

I don’t know what there is really left to say. The last month has been a brutal slog. You’ve lost five in a row and 24 of your last 34 games. You are nine games out of first place and six games back of the final Wildcard spot. You went 1-5 this week splitting what turned out to be a two-game series with Milwaukee because of a rain out and then got swept at home in a four game series by the Diamondbacks. You showed no sign of life in that entire series. You scored eight runs in six games this week. That’s laughable. Your rotation started showing signs of life, but that hope has fizzled away. You can’t get anything resembling consistency from the rotation. Trevor Williams and Ivan Nova had been horrible for a month and then they gave you your two best starts of the week. Chad Kuhl and Joe Musgrove were riding high and then Kuhl got absolutely torched on Thursday (2 IP 8 ER) and Musgrove has been below average since his hot start. Taillon has been inconsistent all year, so you’re still left with the one guy who has arguably looked the strongest, Nick Kingham, still pitching in Triple-A. Not only do you not look like a playoff team, you look like one of the worst teams in baseball. What else is there to say? I’m annoyed I even have to write the letter this week. I can beg and plead with you to do better but the bottom line is that you aren’t good enough and I’m talking about everyone from the players to coaches to the front office. Blame being a small market team all you want but the fact remains that in the last 26 years you have had 3 winning seasons. What else is there to say?

That Gerrit Cole trade looks less and less impressive with each passing day. Cole has cooled down from his incredible start but so has most of the players you received in return. Joe Musgrove looked so good in his first couple of starts. He had four to five good pitches and laser sharp accuracy. After another poor performance on Saturday (5 IP 5 ER), his ERA has ballooned to 4.59 and his WHIP is up to 1.41. Those are the numbers of a mediocre pitcher. Michael Feliz got off to a good start in the bullpen before tail-spinning over the last month. He just went to the DL with shoulder problems but before that he had become the worst pitcher in your bullpen (5.51 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP) which is really saying something given how dreadful they have been. Colin Moran hasn’t been bad, but he’s nothing to write home about. He has 7 homers and 29 RBI’s while batting .265 with a .763 OPS. That’s slightly above average. You’re hoping for more than that when you trade your ace. Jason Martin is still lighting it up in Double-A with a .920 OPS but even his last ten games he only has a .776 OPS. You gave up a dollar and aren’t even getting four quarters back. These are still young guys so there’s always the chance they progress and improve. It’s just hard to feel optimistic right now when Cole is 9-1 with a 2.56 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and 146 strikeouts in 105 2/3 innings. Woof.

The offense is on a steep decline. Francisco Cervelli is dealing with concussions issues from cumulative effect of having four concussions over the last eight years. That’s a bad sign. He was the only player in your starting lineup with an OPS over .800 (it’s .876) other than Austin Meadows who only has 110 at bats. Corey Dickerson and Starling Marte have nose-dived since their torrid start. Over the last month, Dickerson has a .665 OPS and Marte has a .721 OPS. Josh Bell had two hits yesterday but still sports a paltry .705 OPS. For as much as the fan base and I have criticized Gregory Polanco, he’s actually been coming around. Over the last two weeks, he has a .784 OPS. It’s sad when that’s considered impressive. Even as good as Meadows has been so far, his OPS of .662 over the last two weeks has brought his number down considerably. You rank 24th in baseball in home runs in a league that driven by home runs. That’s a problem. One solution would be to not play SRod in back to back games like you did this weekend. I can understand starting him against a lefty to see if he can snap out of his ridiculous slump. He’s batting .145 with a .559 OPS. He’s made 5 errors in 53 games so his defensive versatility isn’t even a strength anymore. I like SRod but this version of him doesn’t belong on a major league roster.  This lineup was able to produce earlier this year so maybe they will get back to the point, but right now this is a below average lineup which had been the strength of the team.

Why does it seem like you are never a fundamentally sound team? You always make mental mistakes and avoidable errors. Whether it’s Elias Diaz throwing a ball away that cost you a run on Friday night or the seemingly countless defensive mistakes your pitchers make, you are constantly sloppier than your opponent. You are 24th in baseball in fielding percentage and you have made the 7th most errors in the league so the numbers prove the theory. I didn’t hear the quote myself but I was told Neal Huntington, your general manager, said that as an organization you don’t teach fundamentals in the minors because the players should already know that. Wow. That’s a striking statement and explains a whole hell of a lot. I don’t understand how that can’t be a major focus especially for an organization that likes to draft batters who don’t have true positions. Even if players should already know the fundamentals that doesn’t mean they do. If they do know them, it never hurts to go over them so they are burned into their brains. If it’s second nature, then they don’t even have to think about it. It’s all in reaction. That cuts down on the insane amount of mental mistakes you make. I have no tolerance for that kind of organizational philosophy. You can’t always control how well guys hit or pitch, but you can control the little things. Fielding bunts, situational base-running, which base to throw to, and things of that nature should be taught over and over again. Instead of spending all your time going over analytics, which has merit, maybe you should spend some of that time focusing on the basics. The good teams are always fundamentally sound and you haven’t been for quite some time.

I should be more excited about this week. I’m planning to drive to San Diego next weekend to watch you play two games against the Padres but maybe I’m wasting my time. You start the week with three games in New York against the Mets. They’re in a similar boat as you having lost six in a row. They’re 13 games under .500 and are really struggling. Maybe you can start to turn things around against them or vice versa. You get a day off on Thursday before traveling to play three games against the Padres. They are ten games under .500, so you finally get a break from playing first place teams. I’ll be there to see you on Saturday and Sunday, so if you could improve immensely between now and then, that would be super. I’ve said all I need to say. The only thing you can do is refocus and try to get back on track against some weaker competition. See you in a few days.

                                                                                             Wildly Disgusted,

                                                                                                       Brad

P.S. stands for Pretty Sick which is the start that Oneil Cruz is off to in Low A ball. He came over in the Tony Watson trade a couple years ago. He’s knocking the cover off the ball this year with 10 homers, 44 RBI’s, and a .922 OPS in 66 games. He’s a shortstop that’s 6’6” and weighs 175 pounds so there’s obviously a huge frame he can build upon to add even more power. He might have to move to third base because the one downside for him is his defense. He’s made 24 errors in 66 games. That’s not a typo. It’s 24. But they don’t need to teach fundamentals, right? No way. I’m very intrigued by his bat, so he’s definitely a guy worth keeping an eye on.