#and setting up raid mons is really easy after a point

[sl33py-g4m3r]

pkmn home and might restart violet~~

finally resubscribed to pokemon home subscription after having it a long time ago and then canceling it~~

I have half of the boxes full~~

mainly just a question aimed at myself but idk~~

thought about rifling through all of them to save the shinies and legendaries and getting rid of everything else to start over with scarlet and violet~~

(also wanted to restart violet to replay it again but almost the entirety of the pokedex is done :( screw the pokedex and start over cause I want to? or don't start over at all? I can probably do it all again~~ just save the shinies and what legendaries I have I guess~~)

boxes are mainly filled with random stuff, almost an entire box of shinies from my shiny hunting in sun, moon, ultra sun, ultra moon and pokemon x, and those hunts were a while ago.... no lets go ones I don't think. lots of oshawott and eevee so bet I can guess what younger me was hunting when I actually was shiny hunting.

hadn't shiny hunted for a while~~~~

wonder if I do start my game over again, what's my first shiny gonna be?

also idk what kind of run I'm gonna be doing~~ just casually play through it? or make it a monotype only?

If I do the latter, then what? thinking either monotype psychic or fairy~~ but idk...

idk what type I'm best with... might realistically irl be a normal type trainer if pokemon existed irl.... I'm pretty average, lol

how do you choose a type to monotype?

tho I did (when I used to pokegen and hack gen 4 games) crush cynthia's team in platinum with lucian's team~~ but I just copied and used his team~~ doesn't mean I'm good with the psychic type, lol

idk what type I'm good at playing with~~ rip

what are the rules for terastralization anyway? if I do a monotype can I use the pokemon if it's tera type is the type I'm soloing the game with? gym leaders do that...

also found an app to help with shiny hunting but you need an account for it? why??? I'll just use a random counter app I downloaded a while ago just for this purpose, lol. cause the other one that I was using for shiny hunting stopped working a long time ago...

but usually I don't count my hunts, I just go until something shines~~

[norman891]

...

@sleightlyoffhand @sleightlyoffhand

Mr. Smee stared first and Joe Haigh, then and Edward, back and forth, befuddled. “Cap’n said what?” he stammered. He’d been bringing Hook his meals and tea for as long as he could remember.

Edward looked as confused as Mr. Smee and Victor did. Joe Haigh had done his job of delivering Hook’s orders and left the galley to attend his duties and prepare for his mission this evening. Edward shrugged and washed the flour from his hands. He took the tea tray from Mr. Smee.

“I di’ nae understand myself, Mr. Smee,” Edward said apologetically. “I’ll be right back, Victor.” He hustled up to Hook’s cabin, knocking as always.

“Enter,” Hook said pleasantly.

Edward set the tray down on one side of Hook’s desk and poured the first cup of tea, careful to pour it through the small sieve so no tea leaves ended up in the captain’s cup. He set the cup within easy reach of Hook’s left hand, along with the honey, a small plate of scones and a ramekin of goat’s butter.

“Anything else, sir?” Edward asked.

“A few moments of your time,” Hook purred, stirring the honey into his tea.

“Aye, sir,” Edward sat down across from the captain. “I can always spare a few moments for you, sir.”

Hook took a sip of his tea and smiled approvingly. “Mr. Haigh was quite excited at the prospect of returning to the island.”

“Oh?” Edward said. “I’m sure he’s happy about that.”

“Assuming I do not change my mind between now and sunset,” Hook noted. “I’ve tasked him with locating the source of the Natives flour and cornmeal and collecting information on how many of the warriors are left, including how many are healthy versus wounded.”

“I’d rather he just figures out how to steal the flour and cornmeal they have,” Edward said. “I have nae much experience in milling either flour or corn.”

“I see,” Hook said thoughtfully, taking a bite of his scone.  “I say, are there raisins in the scones today?”

“Aye. Victor, er, that is, Mr.Koslov, set some of the grapes we harvested out in the sun tae dry after we were back aboard ship. We thought you might enjoy a little something extra in you scones.”

“Quite tasty.”  Hook complimented. “But back to the business at hand.  Depending on how many fighting men are left in the tribe, I was considering sailing to the other side of the island and suggest they turn over a goodly portion of their flour and other stores that we need or threaten to blow the village right off Mr. Haigh’s map. What say you to that?”

Edward smiled darkly. “I say fire in the hole, sir. Actually, it sounds like a good idea tae me, regardless of what information Haigh brings back.”

“Really?” Hook said feigning surprise “And pray tell, why is that?”

“Because if you give them any warning, they might just bug out during the night to the North, and that would interfere greatly with our ability to hunt fresh meat and other supplies.”

“True,” Hook acknowledged. “That is a possibility. Then we would have less resources to exploit when we go ashore again. I’m positive that it was the savages that planted the corn and other vegetables we raided last time.”

“Good point, sir.” Edward mused. “I had nae considered that part of it. Maybe Mr. Haigh can find out what method they use to grind their wheat and corn into flour and meal instead?”

“Yes,” Hook said thoughtfully. “I shall take that under consideration.”

“Is that all, sir?” Edward asked. “Not that I di’ nae love your company, but I do need to get back to the galley and help Mr. Koslov.”

“Of course,” Hook nodded. He crooked a finger at Edward as the man rose to leave. Edward, used to Hook’s subtle hints, walked around the desk to kiss Hook, for he knew that was what Hook desired. Having satiated Hook’s needs, Edward hustled back to help Victor get the crew’s midday meal ready.

Mr. Smee took the captain his lunch and four o’clock tea, as well as his dinner, making him feel secure that he’d not been relived of that part of his duties, though he doubted Hook would require his to help dressing now that Edward had moved into his cabin. But that remained to be seen on the morrow.

Shortly before evening meal was to be served, Hook sent for Joe Haigh and was waiting behind his desk when the man arrived at his open door.

“Do close the door behind yourself,” Hook said casually. “We don’t want the whole ship to know your mission now, do we?”

“No sir,” Haigh replied. “So, mon capitaine. You have decided to let me go ashore, oui?”

“Yes,” Hook propped his boots up on his desk. “Your goals have changed slightly, but yes.”

[witharsenicsauce]

Chosen Stories From The War #43: A Secret Place to Pray

The ice on the ground created a blanket of glass that broke and splintered as they stepped over it. Parysatis led the way, sure-footed after years of hiking these treacherous trails. Gur-Rai followed, almost as confident but with the dexterity of a child taking their first steps. He watched the girl in front of him with silent curiosity as she raised her arm and let Tyche land.

“How much hunting do you get done with her?” Gur-Rai finally broke the silence. “Tyche’s a sweet old girl, but it seems like a bow or a rifle would be faster.”

“I catch as much as Aisha can in a day.” Parysatis said without looking back at him. “And that is what got me my seat at the left hand of the Khatun. She saw that I have many skills, not just good aim.”

“What exactly is your job for her?” Gur-Rai’s arms shot out as he slid backward on icy ground, and he barely managed to steady himself.

“I am her eyes across the steppe.” Parysatis said softly. “The Khatun cannot be in all places at once. But with Tyche’s wings, I can see the edges of our kingdom and the crevices under rocks.”

“She’s got good eyes.” Gur-Rai noted.

“As she should. I see through those eyes” Parysatis stopped and turned to him. “We shall start simply. You need to learn how to call your eagle.”

“Can I text instead?” Gur-Rai chuckled at his own joke. 

Parysatis did not laugh with him. “Your eagle is not a machine, you can’t just plug a code into it and make it obey. You need to learn to speak to it in ways it understands the way it respects.” She pointed down into the ravine beside them. “Go down there about 200 yards, and face me.”

Gur-Rai silently complied, looking back at Parysatis only once. She was watching him closely, and he saw the purple glow of her eyes in the low morning light. She was beautiful, but in a reserved kind of way. The type of girl to admire from afar, to wonder about briefly, and then to never to see again.

He finally stopped where she told him and turned to face her. She held out her other arm, and he mimicked her with his. From far away, he saw her stroke her eagle’s head softly, and then the glow of her eyes disappeared as she closed them.

Tyche leapt off Parysatis’ arm and came swooping down the ravine, her caw echoing in the high hills only once. Gur-Rai flinched a bit as she came close, but forced his arm to stay steady enough for her to land. 

And land she did, digging her claws into his sleeve, and he was happy he’d worn his armor for this. She ruffled her feathers and adjusted herself, and he saw the eagle’s eyes were glowing purple, like Parysatis’ had been.

Gur-Rai blinked, then reached out and gently patted the eagle on the head. “Good girl.” He said softly.

The glow faded from Tyche’s eyes, and he looked back up the hill to where Parysatis stood, her white hair blowing in the brisk wind. She held out her arm and made a noise like the coo of a pigeon and the screech of a fox all at once, and Tyche leapt from Gur-Rai’s arm and soared back up to her mistress.

He lowered his arm slightly, and saw that she had not closed her eyes this time. Tyche’s dark eyes remained so as Parysatis looked out towards where Gur-Rai stood, as though she were waiting for him.

He took a deep breath, thankful his siblings weren’t watching this, and pursed his lips, replicating the coo-screech he heard Parysatis make. For a moment, the eagle did nothing, so he tried again, and again, and again.

Tyche leapt from Parysatis’ arm again, and this time Gur-Rai knew to brace himself. He caught Tyche, letting her stabilize herself in his grasp, and when she finally did, he patted her head.

“There’s a good girl.” He said as he looked back up to Parysatis. She nodded to him slowly, gesturing for him to come back up the hill.

.

.

Senuna shifted her weight onto her left foot and crossed her arms, looking up at Drakaina as the Khatun stared into her glass of vodka.

“Have you been pleased with what you see?” Drakaina asked. “My ancestor built this city, and his son, Ögedei Khan, fortified its walls. It has stood against all odds, even those from off-world

Senuna bobbed her head. “It’s impressive what you’ve done here, I’ll admit that.”

That made Drakaina look up, curiosity in her eyes. “Impressive…is that all?”

“I haven’t seen more than the city.” Senuna said. “And you told me you have much more territory than that.”

“The rest of it lies in villages and Elerium mines.” Drakaina added quickly. “They are relatively scattered, due to their natural geographic location.”

“Fair enough.” Senuna still refused to sit, instead shifting back onto her right foot and putting a hand on her hip. “But I assume this means they get your protection, such as it were?”

“Of course.” Drakaina stood up, tipping her glass back and draining the remainder of it. “Until their children can be trained to fight for us, we send our own to protect them. They repay us by sending their warriors when they are grown, who then fight to defend us.”

Senuna bit her lip. “Do those kids get a choice?”

“They all choose to serve us.” Drakaina said curtly. “I give them food, shelter and protection. In return, they give me their sword arms.”

“And I thought I was a shitty boss~” Senuna chuckled.

Drakaina glared at Senuna. “I care for each of my warriors as a mother cares for her children. Do not accuse me of being callous.”

“I’m a mother too…” Senuna hesitated before she uttered the last word. “...Well in any case, far be it from me to tell you how to do your job. But all my soldiers go onto the field having chosen to carry a gun.” 

“Is that why you sought help?” Drakaina retorted.

“You called me here, remember?” Senuna giggled. “I sought their help because, the Reapers, Skirmishers, Templars, and us? We have a common goal.” 

Drakaina moved back up to where her throne stood, but didn’t lower herself, instead opting to just stand in front of it. “I am not here to debate ideologies with you. The last raid was very successful, but the rewards were minuscule compared to what we require.”

“Okay.” Senuna raised a brow. “And that is what, exactly?”

“There is a small outpost just south of Bürd, where we believe ADVENT is looking to build yet another city center. The people there have set up a small village and are receiving supplies. They are guarded by hybrids in armor.”

“Oh how scary!” Senuna chuckled. “This almost sounds like one of our havens, and ADVENT attacks those all the time. This should be easy.”

“Should be.” Drakaina said. “It never is. I would like to borrow two of your Chosen this time.”

“I knew you’d take a liking to them.” Senuna giggled. “Konnie, again?”

“Her and her brother, the sniper. He can set up with my archers and offer range support.” Drakaina hesitated. “Commander, how much do you know about her?”

“Who? Kon-Mai?” She sighed. “I didn’t have access to her files when I was plugged in, if that’s what you’re asking. ADVENT had me thinking I was still back home, fighting aliens and taking numbers.”

Drakaina sat down and leaned against the armrest of her throne. One of the skulls shifted under the pressure. “I thought you were used to manage all of ADVENT’s network.”

“I was.” Senuna bobbed her head. “But it’s…like a dream. Someone could call a file up from my brain, and in my sleep I could interpret that information as something completely different.”

“So you knew nothing about the Chosen?” 

“I didn’t say that.” Senuna stopped, then looked away. “I heard her speak to me a couple times, but I interpreted her voice as something else. Someone else. They were always connected to someone I knew once. Dhar-Mon…well. His voice is pretty distinct. But Konnie, not entirely sure what I saw for her.” Senuna admitted. “The first time I really saw her was when she carried away Mox to one of ADVENT’s torture facilities.”

“So they do still participate in abductions.” Drakaina nodded. “That is valuable information.”

“Have you lost many to that method?” Senuna asked.

“No.” Drakaina picked up her empty glass and held it up, the light refracting through broken crystals. “…Only one.” 

.

.

“Mai!”

At first, Kon-Mai didn’t even realize someone was calling her, until she heard footsteps directly behind her. She turned, and then slowed her brisk trek, allowing Aisha to catch up to her.

“Mai?” She raised a hairless brow.

“Yes, sorry. It…slipped out.” Aisha bowed. “Kon-Mai. I wanted to check on you; are you doing alright after that lesson?”

“I am fine.” Kon-Mai said curtly, turning away.

“You seemed really distracted after that first demonstration.” Aisha continued.

“Perhaps I was. But it should not concern you.” Kon-Mai scoffed. “I simply need a place to rest. Clear my head.”

“Oh. Why didn’t you say so?” Aisha chuckled. “I know a place actually. Come on.”

Kon-Mai watched Aisha take up a long stride in front of her, leading her westward toward where the sun was setting. She hesitated, but then the woman turned back and waved her to follow. In the low light, the gentle embroidery along her hijab glowed a soft blue.

Kon-Mai followed her silently, the smaller woman keeping up a fast pace that Kon-Mai kept time with easily. Once outside of the city, she looked back once toward the blue glow, and the barren land around it.

“Do you not farm here?” Kon-Mai asked. “The only vegetation I see is the animal feed…” 

Aisha shook her head. “As much as I would like to--I much prefer vegetables to meat, if I’m honest with you--it seems edible plants don’t take well to this soil anymore.”

“Anymore?”

“I heard they used to.” Aisha elaborated. “When my parents were fleeing ADVENT they briefly settled down around here, near Khorgo, and there was some arable land there.” She hummed a bit. “Sometimes I think about going back there and seeing if anything is left but…I have my new family here. As much as I want to look back.”

Kon-Mai remained silent, musing on this for a moment. “If you did go back…” She finally said. “What would you hope to find?”

Aisha didn’t answer her, and Kon-Mai abandoned the question when she looked around at the line of trees they suddenly stepped into. Larch trees with thick, needled branches reached out, covering the pale sky in a curtain of green.

“What is this place?”

“I come here to pray.” Aisha said. “The other warriors, they don’t mean to be rude, but they don’t really understand why I still practice. I come here so they won’t hound me for answers when all I want is a spiritual connection.”

“I can appreciate that.” Kon-Mai chuckled. “I often find my brothers in particular like to bother me when I am trying to meditate.”

Aisha chuckled. “I’m curious, your eldest brother seemed like he was at least interested in religion, but what exactly does ADVENT practice?”

“Practice…is a strong word. I suppose the religion of ADVENT centered around the Elders, and thus any customs were woven into their government.”    

“But what else?” Aisha kept prying. “What do they teach you about how the universe works? Where do you think people go when they die?”

Kon-Mai thought for a moment, trying to recall old teachings from almost a decade ago. “They never told us.”

“Never told you?”

“No. They never taught us of an afterlife. They only said there was the void, and if we failed them, they would throw us into nonexistence.”

Aisha stopped walking briefly at that, faltering in her steps as she looked up in surprise. “Oh…like Buddhism? Was there rebirth?”

Kon-Mai shook her head. “If there was, it was not attainable for us.”

“So you…would just die?” Aisha blinked. “That’s…terrifying. I’m sorry.”

“The idea of nonexistence never troubled me until I was staring it in the face.” Kon-Mai retorted. “And even then I would have chosen that over what my parents would do to me for failure.”

“And what would they do?” Aisha kept prying.

Kon-Mai’s silence served as an answer, and the two came to a silent stop in a small clearing, where the trees formed a small circle. 

Aisha settled down on her knees, facing Southwest, and Kon-Mai settled into her meditation pose beside her. Instead of closing her eyes, though, she watched Aisha instead, observing as she bowed, touching her head to the ground. Something tugged at the strings of her heart as she witnessed it, and soon she too closed her eyes.

They held that silent vigil until the sunlight fully faded, and the dim glow of orange clouds was the only light remaining. Surprisingly, it was Kon-Mai who broke the silence. As she heard Aisha get back to her feet, she asked “How does the Khatun feel about you practicing still?”

“The Khatun doesn’t mind.” Aisha shrugged. “Generally all her warriors are allowed to practice any religion they want. Many adopt Shamanic beliefs because, well, that’s the majority and it’s just easier.”

Kon-Mai followed her demonstration and stood. “And you did not adopt them as well?”

“That’s a long story, but no, I kept my own faith.” Aisha chuckled. “When I first came to Karakorum, I had a really rough time assimilating. It may sound counterintuitive but keeping to the traditions I was raised with helped me during that time.”

“This was after your parents…” Kon-Mai trailed off.

“Yes. I don’t remember the event really well. My clearest memory is after it was all over, and I was on a black horse, and Monkh…” Aisha broke off again, her voice shaking as she said “M-Monkh was carrying me.”

“Monkh?” Kon-Mai asked, suddenly blinking as though something was in her eye. Her temple stung for just a moment, and a shiver went up her back, all in such quick succession she herself hardly noticed it. “Who is Monkh?”

Aisha took a few steps, and then leaned back against one of the trees so she faced Kon-Mai. “She was the Jinong before me.” She said. “I might have mentioned we were close but…it was more than that.”

“More in what way?”

“She was almost grown up when they found me, and I was really young, extremely young. I had such a hard time adjusting to Karakorum, new people and language and food and it was all so overwhelming, I threw fits, I lashed out, and nobody would take me in, not even those who knew me.” She crossed her arms over herself. “Nobody but Monkh.”

“She adopted you?”

“She was more like a big sister than a mom.” Aisha admitted. “But…yes. She took care of me. She encouraged me to keep praying because praying helped calm me. She never forced me to, she wasn’t Muslim herself but…she always said it was important to remember the roots, especially those that gave me nourishment. She arranged for my meals to be caught, she sewed all my clothes and beaded my jewelry with her own two hands, and she taught me riding and archery and sword fighting. Nobody else believed in me. Monkh…Monkh believed in me.”

Kon-Mai swallowed, and realized she was holding back tears. “Her loss must have been very hard.”

Aisha nodded. “I regret so much from my childhood, but I most regret how much I took her for granted. I didn’t realize how precious life was until…” Aisha bit her lip, and when she spoke again, her voice cracked. “I’m sorry.”

Kon-Mai took a step toward the young woman, holding out a hand but hesitating to touch her. “I…I know how it feels to lose someone you loved, without ever being able to tell them goodbye, or how much they meant to you. It is a pain that sent me spiraling, I cannot imagine experiencing it as a child.”

Aisha stepped forward and grasped Kon-Mai’s hand, squeezing it. “Thank you…” Tears were streaming down her face now. “I just wish I could have thanked her.”

“Perhaps you still can.” Kon-Mai said. “If I have earned another chance, perhaps you will too.”

Aisha shook her head. “It’s a silly thing to hope for. And yet, I still do.”        

.

.

The inside of the mine was not dark, but lit up in a rainbow of soft, glowing light. Dhar-Mon closed his eyes and felt the familiar hum of Elerium crystal radiating off his skin. Like a babe being swaddled, he felt comfort in this early memory.

Then he opened his eyes and composed himself, looking around at the miners around him. Most only payed him a few glances before squaring up their shoulders and returning to their work, running wheelbarrows full of sediment out and in and dumping them onto an assembly line, where more workers, smudged in dirt, sifted through the sediment and broke open geodes to get at the crystals inside.

He approached one of the miners, and they turned and gasped, startling backward and scrambling away, yelling something in Mongolian or…maybe Kazakh? He could not tell. Dhar-Mon only raised his hands in response, trying to demonstrate he was not there to hurt them. 

Luckily, one of the others, an old man who looked as though he had seen years in the mine, seemed to understand, and stepped forward. Dhar-Mon slowly lowered his hands, and bowed low to the person who was by all means his elder.

The old man smiled a toothless grin. “Sain uu, khüü mini!” The man chuckled, and upon realizing that Dhar-Mon didn’t understand him, broke into a sympathetic laugh. Dhar-Mon smiled awkwardly, looking around at the other miners that were still watching his hesitantly.

The old man beckoned Dhar-Mon over to the assembly line, where the others continued to sift through the silt and dirt, removing the Elerium from its earthen shell. He watched in curiosity as it was then sent down the line to be washed and sprayed, the dirt splashing over a young woman’s face as she cleaned the glass-like rock.

“This is difficult work.” Dhar-Mon said. “I sincerely hope the Khatun rewards you well.”

The man either didn’t hear him or didn’t understand him as he led Dhar-Mon farther along down the line, where the clean Elerium was taken into mortars and pestles and ground into shining, powdery dust. Each time the pestle struck the glowing rock, sparks would bounce away, and Dhar-Mon would flinch.

The glowing dust, pulsating with irradiated energy, traveled along the conveyor line to the end, where two others began re-mixing it with a soft, white powder, almost resembling dry clay. Their careful hands mixed the sparkling Elerium with this clay, before it was shoved off the table into a vat of liquid that began to boil. Dhar-Mon was at first nervous about this unknown reaction, until he saw the fire burning under the vat.

“They are stabilizing the Elerium. To keep it from degrading.” He rubbed his chin. “Fascinating. It seems to dampen the raw energy available but…” It made sense, if they were using it in things like jewelry, they didn’t really need the Elerium to pack that much of a punch.

The old man patted Dhar-Mon on the arm, chuckling as he returned to his post, leaving Dhar-Mon to either stay or go. The Hieromonk wandered around the vat for a few moments, watching as the water boiled away, leaving a paste of glowing blue rock that settled heavily in the bottom of the cauldron. The mix was not perfect, but he figured it would be further distilled and refined and sure enough, a thin looking lad came over, dragging a wheelbarrow and stopping only to reach in and scoop the rock-paste into the wheelbarrow.

Dhar-Mon raised a brow as he saw that the boy, who looked no older than a teenager, was not wearing cloves around this hot metal. And with that exhausted look in his eyes, that was absolutely asking for trouble. Dhar-Mon reached out, and the boy startled a bit, but looked up at Dhar-Mon almost like he was in a trance. Dhar-Mon did not have to pull hard to get the spade away from him, and he rolled up his sleeves and began doing the boy’s assigned work for him.

“I have many more scars than you.” Dhar-Mon said. “And I would like that to remain the truth.”

He wasn’t sure that the boy understood him, but he did begin tearing up. Once the wheelbarrow was full, Dhar-Mon took hold of it himself and pushed it along, the boy leading him to where it needed to go.

They approached the yawning mouth of the mine, and inside he heard pickaxes ringing against stone, and felt the pulsing radiation from the barely exposed rock. He stopped for a moment, gazing down into the black mouth that continued on seemingly forever…

A scream echoed from down the tunnel, and for a moment all the miners stopped, but when Dhar-Mon dropped the wheelbarrow and began to run toward the noise, the boy stopped him, crying out in Mongolian and shaking his head quickly.

“Someone could be hurt!” Dhar-Mon insisted. “I must help them!”

“No!” Was all the boy said, looking up at him with pleading eyes. “No. No. No.” 

.

.

Pratal Mox stared out at the sun setting over the icy mountains and yellow grass, where the horses stood and picked out what little bits of vegetation they could pull from the ground, and he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“You aren’t going to be able to sleep until you face this.” His wife said, moving her hand from his shoulder down around his waist.

“I am naively hoping it will not need facing.” He said. “Vox Prima…I mean. Kon-Mai has not shown much interest in her past, and I am hoping we can leave this place before it shows interest in her.”

“Even so. She has a right to know. And you have the power to tell her.” Elena moved to stand beside him. “Look at how much good it’s done Gur-Rai to have old friends and new friends again.”

“Gur-Rai is…” Mox twiddled his thumbs. “He is different. His memories were not completely overwritten by Camazotz, he remembers things the others don’t.”

“And maybe Kon-Mai remembers too.” Elena crossed her arms. “Or at the very least, I think someone in this camp does.”

Mox sighed. “That is what I fear. What if they tell her?”

“Tell her yourself.” She took his hand. “You’ve taken hold of your own fate time and time again, my love.”

“I know, and I’m tired.” Mox sighed. “It is not just my fate anymore. How do I tell Kon-Mai that I was the ferryman who led her to hell?” 

.

.

.

.

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Summary: The chapter begins with Gur-Rai and Parysatis going out to open field so Gur-Rai can train to become an eagle hunter. As it’s his first lesson, Parysatis starts him off by just teaching him how to land the eagle on his arm, which he does with some difficulty. Back at Karakorum, Drakaina is meeting with Senuna to talk about the next mission, and Senuna briefly chastises Drakaina on her leadership methods.

After the training, Aisha catches up with Kon-Mai and invites her to a secluded spot, where she likes to pray. She tells Kon-Mai that her devotion stems from her parental figure, Monkh, encouraging her to maintain that which connected her to her happiness. Aisha also clarifies that Monkh was the previous Jinong before her, and that one of her earliest memories is waking up in her arms.

Down in the Elerium mines, Dhar-Mon meets several of the miners, who are all diligently working on mining Elerium to be used recreationally and in warfare. One old man shows Dhar-Mon around, and he sees the process by which Elerium is stabilized. While helping a young boy bring the processed sludge in for refining, Dhar-Mon hears a scream from deeper in the mine.

In Karakorum, Pratal Mox reflects on how much he knows about Kon-Mai’s past. Elena encourages him to tell her, but he hesitates.

(Hello everyone, I know it’s been over a month and I’m so sorry I kept you all waiting. February just completely kicked my ass, starting with my cat passing away and ending with a slew of health problems that have left me pretty much out of commission until now. I’m not 100% better yet, but I am recovering and recovered enough to get this to you. I have NOT given up on the shark babies, and I’m still in this for the long haul!

Thanks to my buddies in the discord for helping me get my motivation!)

[hyrule-in-a-pokeball]

After having played the game, here are my thoughts on Sword and Shield. (SPOILERS)

RIVALS You’re stuck with yet another annoyingly happy friendly rival, though he does experience some character growth and becomes the most challenging of your three rivals. Bede and Marnie, while both better rivals characteristically, one a jerk who pulls a Vegeta and literally refers to himself as a “Super Elite” at one point, and the other how a friendly rival should be done, “I don’t hate you, but we’re rivals, not friends, and I’m gonna keep coming at you till I win” kind of deal, are sadly both are made easy by the fact that they’re mono-type users. Bede Psychic and Marnie Dark. VILLAIN TEAM Team Yell amounts to nothing. They are exactly as advertised. A bunch of hardcore Marnie fans from Marnie’s home town. Its Team Skull without the conspiracy. Chairman Rose’s, (The actual villain) plan makes no sense. He wants to awaken Eternatus, which causes Pokemon across the region to spontaneously dynamax, causing untold damage to the region and its people. He wants to do this because it will somehow solve an energy crisis Galar is not currently facing and won’t face for another 1000 years. How this works is never explained. His battle theme was awesome tho, it straight up sounded like something out of Final Fantasy. At times it felt like they were trying to comment on global warming. “Taking action today to solve a problem tomorrow”, but it framed it as a bad thing.

DIFFICULTY These games are more difficult than X/Y, but slightly less difficult than US/UM The gym leaders are finally free of their “3 Pokemon with only 3 moves” thing that plagued Kalos, but they’re not exactly “wall” difficult. There is no Whitney. They’re not rocking type-coverage moves or anything.

Hop is the only trainer to present you with any real challenge throughout the game, mainly because he changes his team up every now n then, even adding a surprise Snorlax out of nowhere.

I personally didn’t have any trouble taking down Leon, but I’ve seen him nearly wipe some people so idk. Regardless, his battle was really hype because he’s built up throughout the game as being unbeatable. He’s not a total pushover, but he’s probably the weakest champion to date.

MISSING MOVES You’re not going to miss any of the removed moves  and not as many have been removed as that list that was floating around was claiming.  GameFreak trimmed the fat.

QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE META GAME As far as breeding, raising Pokemon, etc for competitive goes? this is hands down the best Pokemon game to date. If you’re playing Pokemon solely for the meta game and you’re not hung up on some Pokemon being gone, then this is going to be the best Pokemon game in your eyes.

Mints let you change a Pokemon’s nature.

Ability capsule is only 50 BP now.

Egg moves don’t require breeding to be learned

Dittos with good IVs can be easily obtained in a specific raid den (I have two 4 IV dittos just chilling)

Move reminder/deleter is one NPC located in every Pokemon center and his services are free. (He’s also the name rater)

IV checker is a feature of the PC after you complete 6 battles in the battle tower in post game. thanks to the remote PC item thing, the PC is accessible from anywhere so you can check IVs where ever and when ever you want

Eggs seem to take less time to hatch now. That, or the wild area is just weird, because thats where I do all my egg hatching.

Hyper training is still a thing, with bottle caps you can boost a level 100 Pokemon’s IVs Getting your Pokemon to level 100 is easy because the game throws rare candies and EXP candies at you. Very easy to amass a bunch. You can also choose to feed as many as possible to the Pokemon at once, so no more one at a time crap.

Speaking of “No more one at a time crap”, you can now max out a Pokemon’s EVs with vitamins, where as in the past you could only use 10 of a vitamin max. It takes 26 to max out an EV. Expensive, but fast. Vitamins can be purchased for their usual price, or bought at battle tower for 2 BP each

PRESENTATION While the story wasn’t great, the presentation was. When they did a cutscene, they DID a cutscene. However this made the fact that there’s no voice acting very jarring. There are points in this game that legitimately feel like they were supposed to have voice acting. Maybe in the next one.

THE MISSING POKEMON I’ll be 100% real here. I didn’t miss them (and some of the Pokemon I use frequently didn’t make it in) And honestly, it shakes up the meta game. Meta game was getting stale for a while now. I just used different Pokemon and honestly found some new favorites because of it. 

MUSIC The music in this game is great. Not every song is a banger, but a lot of them are. All the major battle themes are absolutely fantastic. Sadly you’ll have to wait until post-game to hear the battle theme Toby Fox contributed. Or you can just go to youtube.

THE WILD AREA The wild area is a pretty good chunk of land, but at the same time I hoped it would be bigger. After you beat the Pokemon league, the Pokemon in the wild area all scale up to a minimum level of 60, with some of the raid dens having level 70 Pokemon

MAX RAID BATTLES Surprisingly fun, though the game will give you the absolute most brain dead NPC teammates if you play offline. You have 10 turns to take down the kaiju mon, BUT if it KO’s pokemon on your team 4 times, the raid ends. The “Playing raid battles with NPCs” experience can be summed up like this. “Oh the Pokemon’s barrier only needs 1 more hit to break and that hit will also result in us winning? And the Pokemon only needs to get one more KO to make us fail the raid? And everyone is on low HP and will surely get KO’d in the next attack? Lemme just... Rock polish real quick...” The game doesn’t take type advantage into account when setting you up with NPCs for raids so sometimes you’ll go into a raid against a fire type and the NPCs will all have things that are weak to fire, or just not good against fire. So for the love of god, play raids online with real people if its a high level raid

The game is a solid 7/10 9/10 if you’re in it just for the meta game

[promptsforthestrugglingauthor]

Thank you so much for this wonderful prompt <3

<prompt fill in>

He woke up to the scent of baked goods and bacon floating through the apartment. For a moment, he was comforted. But then he realised, it was 3 AM. He sighed, covering his eyes with an arm. She was it again, wasn’t she?

Levi plopped the covers to one side of the bed and tried to rub the sleep of his eyes. Christ. How long did he have to do this? He was exhausted, and this was clearly not the part of the duty he was getting paid for.

He was supposed to see that Claire doesn’t run away from the city, and do whatever rebel stuff these fragile princesses were into nowadays. He wasn’t there to fucking babysit her.

He made his way into the kitchen and saw Claire by the stove tapping her fingers in the marble-clad slab. The kitchen was faintly illuminated by the orange shower and for a second he was startled. The lights were off, and outside the barred windows, the darkness seemed to engulf their broken city into a longing filled hug. He looked up, and there it was. A shimmering blob of fire stranded in the air like it was not the most bizarre thing in the world. A gust of cold night wing would come and it would float, just below the ceiling. But never touching, never burning.

Magic.

He brought his eyes downwards, only to see Claire was leaning against the slab, her arms crossed, watching him with her hawk-like eyes. Sometimes, he wondered if she really was some sort of princess? Weren’t princesses supposed to be pretty, and good-natured, and stuff like that? All soft edges, and easy smiles? If there was a crash course on the ‘Don’ts’ of being a princess, Claire would nail it. She was everything, a princess wasn’t supposed to be. But then, she came from a land of barbarians. That they understood human language, was a miracle in itself.

“You know, you are not supposed to do magic in here, don’t you?” Levi tried to mask the irritation in his voice. If she knew waking up at 3 AM to keep an eye on his nemesis pissed him off, Claire would do that every goddamn day, he was alive on the face of the earth.

“I know. I also have absolute disregard for your rules.” There was a slight smirk in her voice. He recognised it well. In the battlefields, before the blood spills, it is the cutting remarks that taint the air.

Levi scowled: he couldn’t help himself. He ran his hand through his dishevelled hair, trying to push the wayward locks back. “C’ mon Claire. Get back into the bed, and don’t make me report your impromptu night witchcraft.”

“Why? Are you afraid of a little magic, soldier?” She taunted.

Levi crossed her arms and waited for her tantrums to subside. He was groggy, and he had a long day. He was not dealing with her luxury accustomed ass. He was not one of the servants in her giant castle, who would play into her hands, just to satisfy her whims.

“No. Dear princess, I am not. I am not afraid of you.” He set his jaw and quashed his hesitance. “I am disgusted by you.”

Claire’s smirk faded. “Look who is talking about disgust.” She leaned forward slightly and sneered. Actually sneered. “The valiant, bloodhound, whose father kills innocent people, and raids there home, and sells them into slavery.”

Levi bristled. “He is not my father. He is my commander.”

Claire laughed. A short mocking laugh that hung in the air. “No need to be ashamed of your daddy issues, soldier. It is, after all, not the worst of you.”

Levi sighed. He wanted to say something that would scratch all her soft parts too. But he didn’t. You have to lose battles, to win the war. Their commander had said.

He waited for her to budge and follow him, but she didn’t. Instead, if anything, her chin grew more defiant, and she seemed to dig her toes in the ground.

Make me go, I dare you. She seemed to say.

Something ugly roared his head, inside Levi’s chest. He curled his fist to stop himself from lashing out. This is not the battle of strength, solider. This is the battle of wits. This is the battle of manipulation, and emotional torture.

He took a step forward, and then another until they were almost touching. He could feel her disgust, this close. Her desire to recoil away from him. Good. Above them, the orange blob of fire burned brighter, and air stilled. They were both in their elements, and the earth stopped and waited. He locked his eyes, with her brown ones. He needed to make this point across. He needed her to hear this, and hear it well.

“You might be a princess, doamna mea, but you are still a princess of a losing nation.” He sneered, and Claire’s eyes flashed. The orange blob burned even brighter. “You, your people—they are fighting for a lost cause. You think your pretty witchcraft is going to save you?” He could hear the ground of her teeth. Shame and giddiness tumbled inside him in a heady mixture, and he was drunk on it. Isn’t this how a soldier supposed to be. Mercy is supposed to be for those who deserve it. “No Claire, your orange blobs of light are not going to save you. They are buying you time. Time that is running out, as we speak. Our forces are going to march into your homes and destroy every one of you. They are going to kill your people, your friends, and massacre your children. Because you—and your people, are an abomination.”

He took a step back. The room was starting to smell like smoke on the wind. Claire was still rooted in her spot, watching him. Her jaw was impossibly tight, and her cheeks were flushed. She was holding her sides of her jacket as if her life depended on it. Levi felt a pang of guilt, and he crushed it as soon as it reared its head. He turned around expecting her to follow him. But she didn’t.

In one swift motion, she had him pushed against the wall, her long fingers curling against the hem of his shirt, pulling them so tight, he was afraid, she was going to tear them apart. Or light him up. She was fire, through and through. Every part of hers was burning. She was like a matchstick, always waiting to be ignited. Only more deadly.

Claire was looking at him. And for a second he believed, that she was going to kill him. Her brother had died in this war. Died because of his troops. Died at the hands of his commander.

Instead, she uncoiled her hands and took a step back. Then another, and another until she was perched on the slab.

Then she took the freshly cooked beacon.

She locked her eyes, with his, and slowly put the piece of bacon into her mouth. You have no power over me.

Levi didn’t move. He didn’t breathe. He just looked at her. And then he titled his body, just slightly towards the door. Go to bed. Sleep. Don’t make me report it.

Claire didn’t stop, but she didn’t look away. Another piece of bacon. The slow movement of her teeth crushing it. You won’t.

Levi looked at her then. Really looked at her then. At her dark, jet black hair, at her brown skin– a testament to all the fire inside her, and her jaw that remained perpetually tense. I know. But you will never hear me say it.

Claire looked away and continued eating. The room grew darker, and long shadows from walls begin to merge. She was a princess, and nature itself seemed to do her bidding. The room grew colder, and he knew she didn’t want him there anymore. He could have her killed, one call, just a hint of dissent, and she would be dead. And yet he had never felt so powerless.

She continued eating as if he was hollow, insignificant. Maybe, he was. It hurt more than he had expected to. He looked at her once more before leaving.

Apathy has more venom than disdain.

[glassandmetalwings]

You all thought I was done talking about Jurassic World Alive, didn’t you? While I’m not, but I’ve been a little less active with it as of late. Mostly because my feelings towards it have grown a but tepid. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

First up, I want to show you two lovely babies I made today. I should have made Deinocheirus like, four days after getting the game. We ran into one at the museum that specific day, and I got enough DNA from one attempt, but the game suddenly had connection problems and didn’t get to save that information. Therefore I didn’t have the DNA to make it. I was pretty salty.

Purussaurus Gen 2 (or any at all) was something I wanted since I first saw it in battle. It’s a big friend. Except none ever spawned anywhere near me; I didn’t even get it registered as seen until this Monday, and then it was too far away to get to. And then today I found three. Two spawned right on top of me.

So I have those lovely babies.

Now I want to talk about a feature that I’ve mentioned in the past: the daily dino (also called featured dino). Those green squares that you see in the third and four pictures are what these special supply drops look like. The first of those two images is actually the first thing you (supposedly) see when you log on after the drops have changed for the day. For the past two or three days, however, I actually haven’t gotten that image. And it’s kind of frustrating since I’m a very visual person.

Depending on the rarity of the dino, a few things change: the number of attempts you get and the time it takes for the dino to respawn at that spot:

Common (50 pts to create): 12 attempts, respawns after 1 hour Rare (100 pts to create): 5 attempts*, respawns after 3 hours Epic (150 pts to create): 3 attempts, respawns after 6 hours Legendary (200 pts to create): 1 attempt, respawns after 12 hours Unique (250 pts to create): 1 attempt, basically doesn’t respawn (24 hrs)

*This has recently been upped to 5 (from 3), likely with the addition of Legendary and Unique dinos being added to the featured dino list)

You may notice something here: you get fewer attempts to go after dinos that need more DNA, and if there’s only one green stop, you have to wait longer to try again. Which is in part a balance mechanic, but honestly could also use some tinkering.

However, as of today, I discovered something strange. At some point Ludia changed the mechanic. You may notice that, in the middle picture, there are two different dinos shown under the green stop: pyroraptor and t-rex. The notification today said the featured dino was pyroraptor. So why the rex, and why (when you click on the dino, as seen in the sixth pic) does it have a timer and a counter for attempts?

Well, look at the timer. Look at the number of attempts.

At some point, Ludia basically paired up featured dinos. Pyroraptor is today’s, but t-rex is tomorrow’s. I’m guessing this has to do with adding Unique dinos to the list; Mon/Tues is one pair of featured dinos, Wed/Thurs is a second pair, Fri/Sat is a third pair, and Sunday is the Unique. The number of possible attempts is the combined total (pyro and rex are both Epic, so they contribute three attempts each).

Due to an interesting mini-event last week (discussed later), it must have been added this week.

I actually really like this. You can prioritize and divide your attempts accordingly. For example, if they pair a Common and a Rare, you get 17 attempts. Over those two days, if you really wanted, you could use all 17 on the Rare. Or if they’re the same rarity, but one will benefit you more (either in battle or for a hybrid), you can focus on that.

It gives me more incentive to go looking if, say, euoplocephalus is the daily, but I know we’re supposed to have velociraptor the next day. I’m not particualrly in need of euoplocephalus (it has a hybrid but rarity-wise it’s the equilvalent of a Pidgey in Kanto), but raptor is great both for battle and towards making i. rex and indoraptor.

By the way, if you’re good enough at recognizing the photo cards, it’s easy enough to know the dinos for the week; all week they offer a special incubator with DNA of the week’s featured dinos, with the cards showing them next to the ad (see the last image). Which...actually brings me to my final point: why I’ve lost some interest in the game.

(As a quick aside, the three raptors shown in that last image are Charlie, Delta, and Echo, of Owen’s original raptor pack. Indoraptor debuted as the first Unique featured dino on the 23rd, followed by Blue as an Epic that Sunday, and then the other three in order the following three days (as Rares). They all have different stats and attacks-Blue even has plot armor-but other their specific days and the special incubator that week, I’m not sure if we’ll see them again.)

There are a couple things that are making me lose my interest. A major one is honestly the lack of communication and information. JWA doesn’t keep its news archived on the app-I can’t even double check what the daily dino is without seeing one at a stop. However, they’re more than happy to remind you about the special spots every few days, like the Walmart ones and the one-time AMC (even if you already got the AMC one).

In fact, when they revealed the daily dinos, the app took you to Ludia’s site to show the info regarding respawn rates and attempts by rarity. And the new blub vanished from the app after you read it, so it still isn’t easy to find again. Like I mentioned, they didn’t reveal this whole thing about paired dailies, nor when they added Legendary and Unique dinos to that list. At the very least, they could put a countdown at the greed spot telling you how long before it respawns.

But even more significantly...it feels so pay to play now. Like, even early on it was clear the fastest way to get rare and hybrid dinos was through the more expensive incubators. But I didn’t mind too much.

At this point, however, it’s starting to require so much DNA just to level up a dino. My raptor is at level 12, and has been for awhile, even with me going after every raptor I see. The coin cost to bring it to the next level is absurd. She’s gotta be level 15 to even start to make i. rex (which, as a Legendary, will cost as least 200 of its own DNA to make, and we’ve talked about how much raptor and rex DNA that can be).

And guess what? To make indoraptor, do you know what you need? A level 20 i. rex and a level 20 raptor. That’s so much DNA, even if you get lucky and make 90 points of hybrid DNA every time. So much t-rex and raptor DNA, and so many coins.

The best, if not only, way to make this an achievable goal (both in terms of DNA and coins) is to buy the more expensive incubators. The in-game cash you get from battle incubators isn’t nearly enough for anything.

Look at the second to last pic-the one on the left. If you’re a reasonable person who can only buy premium currency in small amounts, $5=about 500 cash. Every week there are at least three limited edition incubators. One will always be that week’s featured dinos (bottom row), and the other two will be things like ‘powerful carnivores’, ‘dinos with stun attacks’, or even ‘pure, 100% hybrid DNA’.

They’ll range from approximately $20-$50. Sometimes they won’t even be for sale in cash; it will be in real UDS, like you see on the middle-right incubator. Likely at the expense of the people who do drop $100 to buy cash in massive bulk, which gets them extra.

Leveling is agonizingly slow.

Long story short, if you want to get even moderate entertainment out of this game, or make any progress at all, you have to put money in it. A lot of money. Like, at least $100 per week, and then some.

Yeah, there is stuff to buy in GO, but coins are relatively easy to earn (even as a member of Instinct), and it doesn’t cost you a kidney if you want to use real USD to buy more coins. The most expensive event box, which I’d say gives you more than enough stuff, will set you back about $12. And minus bag and storage expansions (and perhaps the occasional incubator or raid pass), it’s nothing you can’t ultimately do without.

I’m starting to really accept that this game exists almost exclusively as a money sink, to ride the hype of Fallen Kingdom and milk as much out of the fans as it can. As far as I can tell, there’s no intention for longevity, unlike GO. When the hype putters out so will the game; they’ll stop fixing bugs or doing updates.

And yeah, the combination of those things bugs me a lot. Like...just let me collect dinos so I can take cool pictures. That’s all I want in life.

[felidae-charr]

Why GW2 Just Can’t Keep Me

A mechanics post - holy cow, we haven’t done one of these in a while!

I haven’t fallen out of love with Guild Wars 2, but once again I find myself in a pit of complete disinterest with the game. Ironic considering that there’s an expansion coming out and there’s all this jazz with the Living World stuff, right? And yet here I am, logging into Final Fantasy XIV every single day, being far more excited about Stormblood than I am about the prospective GW2 expansion.

Why is it that GW2 just isn’t able to ever keep my interest? What does this game do that makes me look at it, and say “Eh. Whatever.” and leaves me playing it like a tide - coming and going and never able to just stay playing it? And I know I’m not the only one that has this problem, too. 

Today, we’ll be looking at the endgame content of GW2 and why it, for me personally at least, dramatically fails to actually make me care to keep playing.

MMORPGs, in general, follow a very similar formula for their end-game. They all tend to apply a very standard “content drip” that is designed to keep loyal veteran players logging in, while also potentially capturing new players all at once. Many also make use of the infamous Gear Treadmill™ - easily one of the most controversial aspects to MMO games in general that employ the use of them.

Guild Wars 2 follows a similar set up, and yet for some reason of every game I’ve ever played, it is the least capable at holding my genuine interest. Why is this? Why is a game I love so much just so bad at keeping me playing? When I have 58 characters, when I’ve invested so much time and so much money, why then do I still reach these points where I just don’t care?

Well, part of that is because Guild Wars 2 might have a similar set up in the form of a content drip, ArenaNet have never been consistent until very recently (if we’re honest.) Veteran players will remember that, at one point, the game was suffering from a massive content drought with practically no real updates at all aside from the usual gem store nonsense. And if I’m being honest, I still think Guild Wars 2 suffers from content drought really badly, even after every update. Because, if we’re honest... they just don’t add a lot of content in the first place.

The ultimate reality of Guild Wars 2 is that their content drip, though now semi-regular and designed to consistently update the story of their game, still isn’t enough to prevent players from winding up starved of things to do. Dungeon rewards have been gutted to the point of them not worth the time to run any more, and ArenaNet have failed almost majestically at fixing the core problems as to why nobody ran the likes of Arah often or why Twilight Arbor’s Aetherpath went so criminally under-run. They have always been trash at making their dungeons - which are fundamentally fun and well crafted - worth running. And that’s sort of the problem, isn’t it? The Western gaming culture, and especially in MMORPGs, likes to be efficient.

They like to DPS as fast as possible to skip mechanics just because they can and because it makes it go faster. In the same way, we also like to know that if we’re going to spend half an hour in a dungeon, it’s going to be worth our time. If we could spend that half an hour doing something else and making double or triple the reward (with potentially less effort, too) then we would never run the dungeon. It’s a waste. And thusly, the GW2 dungeon team was scrapped, and we haven’t seen a real dungeon in actual, literal years. Content updates don’t give us new ways to play with other players in party-specific dungeon content.

Of course we have the infamous raids, but to be honest, I don’t like the raids in this game. I find that the classes and builds I enjoy playing don’t fit into the raids, which are slowly but surely trying to shoehorn the Holy Trinity of classes back into a game that’s original design was built around scrapping the Holy Trinity completely. I also find that while raids can be fun with friends, raids in GW2 can also bring out the literal worst in players - with people being kicked for not putting up enough numbers on the parser or being kicked because their class just isn’t optimal. Raids, for me, are not endgame content because frankly I don’t care for them. 

The new story sections that our content drip in the form of Living World gives us are completed in, at most, four hours. And that’s if you’re playing kind of slowly and exploring. If you’re burning through the story alone, you’re often done in two hours or less. These solo instances are often fun to run once or twice, too, but they quickly become not-worth-running or outright boring because there’s never any change to them and it isn’t like a dungeon where you’re running with new people every time. Eventually these little story pieces just sort of sit there and the only time you play through them again is if you happen to be, I don’t know, farming experience points for masteries on a level 80 character.

And the new maps that we’ve been getting, while also fun for the first few hours, can just as quickly become boring content. The latest map released, Draconis Mons, I actually hated on pretty much every conceivable level. There was too much going on in that map, the mini-map was atrocious and I couldn’t make my way around it without getting lost somewhere, there was so much bloom and bright burning fire and particle effects that my eyes got about as sick shit of the map as my brain did, and none of the events were actually engaging. Kill this, kill that, oh a group event to kill something else. I out and out thought Draconis Mons was the biggest flop of a map ArenaNet have ever released, and I still do.

So what is there for me to actually do? The reality is: nothing.

The content drip that ArenaNet offers is simply not enough, because the reality is that it doesn’t give us anything new that keeps us playing. Raiders will continue to raid, certainly, but I find raiding to have been implemented very oddly and in a direction that seems to be very opposite from the core of the game itself. Similarly, World versus World is still criminally ignored by most of ArenaNet and I haven’t had fun in that basic zergfest for a long time, and PvP is just as neglected to the point that those funny little “tournaments” ArenaNet tried to hold when they wanted to break into the e-sports scene have been cancelled and most of the veteran PvPers basically abandoned the game to find pastures new, with developers that actually cared.

I could log in to do my dailies, but why would I? Dailies do nothing but give me gold, which I in turn don’t spend on anything, because there is nothing I want or need to spend it on. Most of the achievements are either easy to get or a boring grind and there’s rarely a nice middle. Aside from the couple of new ones in the last few Living Story updates, I’ve done every fun jumping puzzle. I have 20 characters at level 80 and I’ve done the Personal Story too many times to be willing to count.

Guild Wars 2 just doesn’t cater to me. And that’s fine, it is under no obligation to - but it also means that I am constantly going through phases where literally any other game is more fun than GW2 is. Final Fantasy XIV Online, for example, has taken me by absolute storm once again. The expansion looks promising, and while there are often several months between content being released in that game’s content drip, they always come with new dungeons, new boss fights, new story elaboration and quests. I still have plenty of side quests to do if I want to, other classes to level, I’m eagerly awaiting the next set of joking silly Hildibrand quests, I get new little emotes to play with, new furniture for housing, and so on and so on. FFXIV also does a fantastic job - in my eyes at least - at making the gear treadmill fairly fun. I always know the minimum rewards I’m going to get from doing all of my dungeon runs in a day, I can plan what to buy when to buy it, I never feel like the game pressures me into needing that gear as soon as possible, and I always have the option to do raids to see if I can get lucky and have gear drop for me instead. Honestly, while I initially fell in love with GW2 because of it’s no-gear-treadmill policy and the abandonment of the Holy Trinity that had always bothered me as a lover of DPS classes, I’m ironically finding that FFXIV is just flat out a better crafted MMORPG that takes a lot more care and puts a lot more effort into making sure end game players don’t just sit around waiting for poor excuses for content. 

And that’s why I’m sitting here, staring at the GW2 icon on my desktop relabelled “Fashion Wars” trying to find the will to even log into the game at all for the sake of something silly like screenshots. Which I can also do better in FFXIV, for the record.

I love Guild Wars 2. I love Guild Wars 2 very, very much and it has an extremely special place in my heart, and it will always be one of my favourite games. But once again I’m stuck in that rut where I love the game, but the game really doesn’t love me that much, and I can’t find a reason to log in to even do something as simple as stare at my own characters. 

[entergamingxp]

Pokmon Sword and Shield: Isle of Armor review

If you’ve finished it, you’ll probably agree Pokémon Sword and Shield’s postgame was a little under par. Aside from a brief, enjoyable, but nonsensical run-in with a phallically-quiffed Jedward, your options were mostly restricted to doodling about in the Wild Area or grinding it out indefinitely in the Battle Tower, earning items for competitive play online. It could be worse: the Wild Area is a break from the usual structure, at least, providing some lightly engaging raid events and – if you know where to look – a healthy and welcoming community of friendly raiders, hosts, and competitive sparring partners online.

Pokémon Sword and Shield Isle of Armor DLC review

Developer: Game Freak

Publisher: Nintendo

Platform: Reviewed on Nintendo Switch

Availability: Out now on Nintendo Switch

The problem, though, remains that much of Pokémon’s better communities and projects exist in spite of the game itself, as opposed to because of it. Max Raid battles are deeply, painfully repetitive, the few desirable Gigantamax Pokémon requiring an excruciating commitment to the grind without the help of semi-illicit raid groups online (again, you’ve got to know where to look). The Wild Area itself remains conceptually flat, despite the grassy bumps and mounds, with a total lack of mystery or intrigue compared to the postgame areas of previous generations, and there’s little to no reason to visit or explore the rest of the game’s Hollywood-western-town world. Puzzles and mystery seem gone with the wind.

107 returning Pokémon. Not great, not terrible.

Enter expansion one, The Isle of Armor. It’s not the big solution to the main game’s problems – it would be wrong to expect it to be – but if the Wild Area was the first baby step towards an open world, this is another in the right direction. There’s a brief bit of cute story, a slightly more interesting topography to the environment (albeit still no puzzles, or anything close to it), and some useful, novel little systems to help with competitive play. That’s about your lot, but even the refreshingly wide and open feel to the Isle of Man-inspired landscape provides a welcome break from the oddly oppressive vibe of the original Wild Area, contrarily surrounded by giant walls.

You’ll arrive on the Isle of Armor to be greeted by a new, temporary rival, the snooty Klara or even more snooty Avery, in Sword and Shield’s version respectively. Playing Sword, I can only speak for Klara, but there’s a little more life to the animation with characters like her, it seems, as well as the Dojo chief Mustard and his partner Honey, who all carry more immediate magnetism and wit than just about any of the characters in the main games. After the curt introduction, there’s some welcome freedom: you can head just about anywhere on the island, or go straight to the nearby Dojo to start a series of missions that make up the story segment of the DLC.

Item-combining is a real boon for competitive players, granting faster access to useful or outright essential gear..

Predictably, the missions are very simple. Catch some runaway Slowpoke, pick some giant mushrooms, win a battle, beat five trainers in a tower, job done. If I’m being really harsh, they’re like the simplest fetch quests of other open world games but without the gameplay along the way, your input effectively reduced to: go to the place you are repeatedly told about, physically shown, and pointed to on your map, maybe fight a battle, and come back.

What is interesting is the tweaks made for more competitively-inclined players. There are a good number of new moves to be learned by tutors, many of which, at least at first glance, seem like they’d have decent competitive uses. There’s a person who’ll wipe the EVs of a Pokémon for the cost of some minimal grinding which, to briefly explain for those uninitiated in this side of things, means it’s easier to use Pokémon you’ve been casually using along the way for competitive purposes than before, where it would’ve often been faster to catch or breed a new one altogether. On that same note there’s a new item-combining toy, the Cram-o-matic – that lets you turn three Silver Bottle Caps into a Gold one, allowing to engineer the stats of a given Pokémon up to competitive standard a fair bit faster (normally you’d need six Silver Caps to do the equivalent). There are also, of course, a good number of returning Pokémon to be found for the first time in this generation – including the rest of the Gen 1 and Gen 7 starters, with Gigantamax forms for the former by means of a special Max Soup – which expands the options of competitive players and just generally gives you more to get out there and catch, if you enjoy the collectathon.

The landscape is more interesting in the Isle of Armor, but the ways in which you actually interact with it, compared to previous Pokémon games, remain very basic.

Away from the hardcore side of things, Isle of Armor’s experience is a breezy, easy-going one. There are new outfits and hairstyles – many of which are great, especially the Dojo one you get as part of the story, coming in a fetching yolk yellow – some typically cute character moments, like Mustard’s tendency to move you out the way of the TV when he’s kicking back some Pokémon Quest, and great touches to the wild Pokémon themselves. (Beware the hilariously terrifying Sharpedo when you head out to sea).

That, more or less, is that. There are more raid dens – many more – but no change to the agonising grind and poor UX of the raid experience, which remains too slow to enter, too hard to spot thanks to the game’s shallow draw distance, too slow to get through, and simultaneously bland and frustrating to actually play (raid battles throw most of Pokémon’s uniquely excellent battle mechanics out the window, making it an exercise in button-mashing a single move with your level 100 ‘mon of choice until it’s done). There are effectively no trainers, barring the four single-Pokémon users you have to beat as part of the story to evolve Kubfu (which is an absolute treat of a new ‘mon, in fairness to the little tyke), plus Mustard and your rival.

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Those final two are frustrating also, because they might have been somewhat interesting to face – especially Mustard – had the base game not thrown experience candy and competitive training tools at you for months beforehand, leaving you completely overlevelled for the island (there’s minimal level scaling, despite earlier suggestions from Nintendo spokespeople: it effectively works like the old Wild Area). There’s also a smattering of other smaller distractions, from escaped Diglett acting as collectibles to a new restricted battle format that tasks you with fighting with and against just a single type of Pokémon. Rewards are fairly minimal – Alolan form Pokémon or new outfits, for the most part – but as diversions they’re fun enough.

By Pokémon’s standards, there are more quests and things to do here than we’ve had in some time, which brings me to the crux of the conversation, really. Are you here off the back of a major, rival RPG – on the Switch or off – or are you just after a bit more of the same, sunny comfort food? If it’s the former, Pokémon’s former muscle might be continuing to fade, perhaps quite drastically. If it’s the latter, the Isle of Armor is an extra helping with a couple of cherries on top. Personally, I’m still a little hungry – and not just because everyone’s named after food.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/06/pokmon-sword-and-shield-isle-of-armor-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pokmon-sword-and-shield-isle-of-armor-review