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finniestoncrane · 7 months ago

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I'll let my date decide I'm 22 years old. Pan. Genderfluid. Short and fat. I'm canonically autistic and canonically have ADHD (I'm sorry I like referring to it w=as canon). You already know that though. You already are SO FUCKING AWARE of my obsession with old monster movies. I mean... I didn't go on an hour long tangent about movie titles ibn a game, and are therefore copywrite friendly, and what films they could be meant to be for no reason. And you are so incredibly aware of the research I did for Gen-1 and Gen-2 synths, and me picking apart Nick Valentine's voice lines to determine anatomy of gen-2 prototype synths. I believe I've also told you that I'm still considering being an auto-mechanic.

What you probably don't know though is that I took an engineering class in high school and I kicked ass in competitions. Like there was this hydraulic robot arm made of wood, syringes, and plastic tubes. Despite the fact that the tubes kept falling off the syringes, my team got like... 2nd place in my class and 4th place schoolwide. There was also a competition for making a boat out of just cardboard and duct tape. Not to brag but our boat could hold 3 people (when it was only required that 2 people go in the boat) and we got the second fasted time schoolwide. We didn't even have paddles technically, unlike some groups who made carboard paddles. We had just a thick pieces of cardboard covered entirely in duct tape. Literally was my favorite class. This wasn't my decision cuz it was a group project but still.

In video games I am a sort of item hoarder because I'm terrified I'll need something later and then I never need it later. Not me having an inventory full of Junk in Fallout 4.

You are also probably aware of my insistence that ghoul cum is radioactive and how the terminal on the Prydwen proves this. Which is good for me and my item hoarding tendencies because I have so much RadAway. Cuz we all know that I'm a ghoulfucker. Also a robotfucker but that's a different story that started with Transformers and got me into cars because I wanted a way to fuck Transformers in vehicle mode because I'm just horny like that (affectionate). A weird hobby I also have is miniatures. I wouldn't call it miniature painting just yet because I have done a whole lot of not painting. I have paint for sure. I seem to be refusing to pick a color scheme and sticking with it. I have not bought primer yet. I have so many miniatures. I am preparing to get more because there's one of Cooper Howard and John Hancock and Nick Valentine and Sturges. But Sturges is in a different box from Hancock and Nick, and then Cooper is in a different one from everyone else. And the box Sturges is in is REALLY hard to find. And the box Cooper is in isn't technically out yet. Like... I already have Toad and Magento from Marvel Crisis Protocol that are unpainted. And then I have a whole bunch of Seraphons in a box that I cannot for the life of me pick a paint scheme for. And I don't even know why I bought Necrons. I don't know how to even play Wasteland Warfare. Or Marvel Crisis Protocol. Or Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. Or Warhammer 40k. I just like the models. Hell, I don't even know how to play D&D and have no one who will play with me as of right now. But I have 2 D&D books (one is official, the other one isn't) and a Fallout TTRPG pdf file with rules for how to play. It's not technically official but I think the guy got permission to make it. It was free. I was considering making a campaign for that based on where I live but then I realized I'd have to build creatures from the ground up, and find a way to play test them when I literally don't personally know enough people who even really care about Fallout in general. Also the terrain makes it hard to slap a vault anywhere.

zim my tiny beloved, i already knew who i would pair you with, but if i'd had any doubts this message would have sealed your fate because you know who else would have infodumped before explaining anything about themselves...? 💚🩷 🔞minors dni🔞 send a request • masterlist • kofi link • tag: finnie2k (to follow or to block)

Kent Connolly is literally the autistic mascot. He's the cutest, silliest, sweetest little guy, so that already tells me you'd be perfect for one another.

I think one of the best things about Kent, and you, is your ability to retain soooooo many details. You're both so passionate about learning everything you can about specific subjects, and you're both determined enough to learn everything you can.

I can picture you both either braving it to go out to the library or saving up your caps to pay for a mostly intact book that will answer a niche question you both had about Grognak the Barbarian.

You're both so brave too, willing to go through a lot for the things you love and for your happiness.

If there's one ghoul who will understand the need, and the joy, of infodumping, it is Kent. He'd be such a sweet listener, he'd ask informed questions, he'd participate respectfully in whatever lecture you were giving, and he'd do it all with the sweetest smile. And when you were ready to listen to him, he'd have a very well-written little speech all prepared.

I can't think of a happier way to spend your time in the wasteland than by sharing your interests, learning about each other and their favourite things, or just engaging in some paralell play, the autistic national sport.

And I know he'd write extra episode of the Silver Shroud for you if you just desperately needed more of that particular hyperfixation.

I just think Kent would be the kind of guy who would be appropriately impressed and appreciative of how much you know about Captain Boomerang and his entire family history, and the only person who could maybe try and know more than you on that subject.

#finnie2k

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paragonrobits · 4 years ago

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a friend asked me to give a shot at doing an entry in this tier list they linked me to, of the video games inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame since 2015, and I opted to give it a shot!

My rankings are generally biased towards games I personally enjoy playing, though I will give some commentary on their historic relevance:

S-Rank

Super Mario Bros: The game that repopularized video games in the US, that arguably began the entire platforming video game genre and all its imitators and spin-offs, that spawned a new generation of video games after the Atari Crash in the US, and still a DAMN FUN game in its own right! I simply had to put this at the top ranking. After the disillusionment caused by Atari’s failures, this game brought home consoles back in a big way to the US.

World of Warcraft: Now, I’m not much for MMORPGs. Nevertheless, I’ve followed the lore and general information in the Warcraft setting for years now, and a couple years back, my brother asked me to play it with him. I had a ton of fun, honestly! Playing a goblin mage, I believe. WoW is notable for being THE MMORPG, and still going strong. Admittedly, nowadays many games do what it does better, and the time when it was dominant as THE single game to play is past, but it was still an enjoyable experience and I really have to like how sincere the game is about its aesthetics and campy vibe. Given that the entire setting is reputedly a reskin of a Warhammer Fantasy Battle video game that went south, it’s cheery and colorful, morally gray tone is... an interesting complication in its history. (Also, HORDE. I STAN THE HORDE VERY HARD.)

The Sims: A bit of history; I did not play this game as enthusiastically as a kid as my sister and mom did. We ALL spammed the hell out of the Rosebud cheat, though; not until recent times did I actually wind up playing the game properly, when the most recent iteration of the series was free for a while. My mom didn’t care to play the game, she just liked building houses. In any case, while my attention drifted from the game now and then, I always am fascinated by the actual gameplay of caring for your simulated humans, and the way you don’t actually control them directly. This sort of hands off experience is actually a bit similar to the ‘dungeon simulator’ genre, and while the game is notorious for enabling cruelty (something I never saw the appeal of!), it’s a surprisingly wholesome experience, and it can’t be understated how unique this gameplay was at the time.

Legend of Zelda: It’s actually rather interesting how different OG Zelda is from modern games. Not just the top down perspective (which DOES pop up, now and then); the game is non-linear and allows you to go to any dungeon at any point, completing the game at your leisure, and the story is extremely barebones compared to what we may be used to. It’s quite a far cry from the linear gameplay of gradually collecting tools and working through plots that the games are known for. Breath of the Wild is, in fact, a return to form rather than an upheaval of the formula. I’ll also admit that I have a lot of affection for the gameplay of this one, as well as Link To The Past.

Donkey Kong: When you’re talking old school, as far as what you might call the modern generation of games goes (which is to say, the games that resurged after the Atari Crash), it’s hard to go wrong with Donkey Kong. It’s certainly notable for being a weird stage in Mario’s character and something that is generally ignored; it’s just strange thinking that at one point he was supposed to be abusive towards a pet ape that went in an innocent, well-meaning rampage! Personally this one kind of breaks a mold for my S-class rankings because while I like this one fine, I don’t like it THAT much; i mostly played it in the DK 64 game, and found it very difficult and that’s stuck with me. Still, I place it here for its momentous position in placing Nintendo on the map, with the influence and revolutionary technologies and gaming mechanics they would introduce, to this very day.

Pokemon Red/Blue: Hoo boy. HOO BOY it is honestly something of an oversight that I didn't immediately shove this beauty straight to the front of the S-line because good god I love this game. It's been years and years, long since I was but a whee Johnny playing a strange new game for the first time just because there was a cool turtle creature on the cover (because I was super into turtles back then), and I still love this game. Even with the improvements made to the formula since then (getting rid of HMs, the fixes and new types introduced since) there's still something lovable about this game, even as something as basic as the official artwork that just tugs my heartstrings. This game is highly notable for being an RPG that popularized the monster collecting/befriending gameplay (so far as I know), and as an autistic person, i really appreciate knowing the whole thing grew out of an autistic man's bug collection hobby from when he was a child. Pokemon is an absolute juggernaut of a media influence, and THIS is where it all began. It's first stage evolution, you might say. And not like a Magikarp or anything. This one's more like one of the starters... appropriately enough. Final Fantasy 7: This is probably a bit of a controversial take, but FF7 was not actually one of my favorite Final Fantasy entries back in the day. I never played much more of it than the beginning missions, as my cousin owned the machine in question, and I moved out before i could play it much. Final Fantasy 3 (in the US; it's more generally referred to as 6 now) was my favorite for a long, long time, and that game pioneered many of the traits that would be associated with 7: the epic story, the complex ensemble cast, though 7 really expanded on that basic idea, and previous games were hardly shabby in that regard. 9 is my favorite of the pre-10 era, with its extreme shake ups to the mechanics of the game. No; what makes 7 stand out is that it was a shift towards making Final Fantasy a constantly shifting, unique franchise where every entry was its own thing; it introduced 3D graphics with a fun and cartoony style mixed with a story that wouldn't be out of place in a cyberpunk story, and heralds Squaresoft (as it was called at the time) splitting off from Nintendo, with its censorship policies, and doing its own thing with Sony, with a great deal more freedom to write as they pleased. The party design also stands out, which each character having their own unique function in the party while the Materia concept allows a degree of modular skills to be installed, customizing them in ways that, in my opinion, the best entries in the franchise (on a gameplay level) would revisit. Colossal Cave Adventure: I'll be honest; I never played this game, and I don't believe it's particularly familiar to me at all. However, I chose it for this vaunted spot in S-rank because games of this nature, of text-based prompt and responses, are some of the most interesting things imaginable! Games like AI Dungeon are similar in some respects, and its impressive to think just how dang old this game is, and yet it managed to pull off basically being it's own DM. It has an interesting history; created by a man who worked on the precursor to the Internet, the game was made to connect with his daughter and was inspired by recent entries into Dungeons And Dragons, and later expanded upon by other programmers. It's notable that while Zork is the sort of game that would probably involve more immediate recognition (I actually mistook it for Zork at first, from the screenshot), this game was the first of its kind, and that always deserve some recognition. Minecraft: I absolutely LOVE Minecraft, and it's rightfully one of the most popular games, if not THE most popular game, of the last couple of decades, and it's interesting to think just how unconventional it is; the game is, effectively, a LEGO simulator, and as someone who honestly always wanted tons of LEGO sets as a kid but could never afford them consistently, there's something genuinely very appealing about Minecraft's basic set up. It's open approach and lack of a goal, just gameplay mechanics that encourage you to build and do as you please, makes for a very relaxing and unusual mentality not often seen in games until this point; it doesn't even have a storyline, it simply gives you a world to play around in. Of note, Minecraft's entry seems to have relevance towards video games becoming a cultural touchstone; Minecraft's visual aesthetic leans towards both blocky LEGOs and retro graphics, and certainly proves that games don't need to strive for hyper realistic graphics to be appealing. ----- A RANK Doom: I genuinely like Doom, a lot! I still have memories of replaying this game frequently, long before Doom 2016 and Eternal were glimmers; it's just genuinely very fun to play. That said, I feel that there's other games that are a bit more historically notable and while i like this game, not quite as much as other entries. But it cant be understated that this was THE first person shooter, and more to the point, was fundamental towards game design as we know it. Of note, it pioneered the idea of a game engine, which has had tremendous impact down the road in terms of making a flexible baseline system that latergames were programmed around. Additionally, the first three episodes being free, with the additional ones being purchased as part of the full game, this was, I think, the first demonstration of a demo. Back then, we called this shareware; a game which was free but had full features locked off, but otherwise you could play it however much you wanted. There's a REASON Doom winds up on more systems than Skyrim! Ultimately, while it's not one of my favorite games, it's impact on the business of gaming and the functions of game design cannot be overstated. Pac-Man: This game, is THE game that made video games a phenomenon and its worth thinking about that and how video games as a modern institituion can be drawn, however broadly, from Pac-Man's commercial success. I should note that while I've played this game extensively, it's not something I'm particularly good at; there's a LOT going on here and its a bit much for me to handle. That's probably a strength; there's a reason people had to fake their accomplishments and falsified high scores. It's worth noting that Pac-Man is a unique thing in that it has been rereleased many times over, and every generation has found it enjoyable and fun, unlike other games that set trends only to be lost out in the end. (Goldeneye, for instance!) The Oregon Trail: Like many other people I assume, I first played this game as something available on school computers. Purportedly made as an educational game to teach students about history, this game may be notable for, among other things, being an entry point towards the idea of resource management in video games (as well as being hellishly difficult, by the standards then, but that DOES illustrate a point, does it not?). It's also the oldest, most continuously available game ever made, even now being ported to smartphones, or so I hear! It seems to be a very early example of edutainment games, and a genuinely great one at that. It probably helps that a selling point is that it doesn't really mince around with its subject matter; anyone who's played this game knows that total party kill is the default assumption, as it was in life. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat: I place these two together as I feel that they form a duo of sorts, and defined fighting games of my childhood and modern gaming experience; name a fighting game, from Injustice to something as deliberately different as Smash Bros, and it has SOME relation to these games, even if its in terms of doing something completely different. These games set a mold for fighting games! Among other things, both games feature iconic characters as a selling point, and to this day fighting games make their mark based on how signature their characters are. Mortal Kombat is of course an incredibly violent game (though very tame, by modern standards), and its fatalities and depicitons of violence sparked thought and arguments on what video games ought to be allowed to depict, for better or for worse. It's not implausible to suggest that the overly strict restrictions on what video games could depict go back to Mortal Kombat's fatalities, specifically (since there's far worse games predating it, though too graphically primitive to be obvious). Street Fighter, conversely, strikes me as having more characterization and depth, especially as far as fighting systems go; I find it hard to be interested in many fighting games now, if they don't offer as much depth as the likes of Street Fighter 2. Street Fighter stands out for innovating multiplayer play, initially in the arcade, and its not implausible to say that the likes of Smash Bros is a descendant of sorts of the specific mentality Street Fighter brought to the table. Consider also that it is STILL a mainstay in the remaining arcades and cabinets in service today! Tomb Raider: This is a game i legit liked back in the day, and there's some part of me that's sad that the platforming, puzzle solving and focus on exploration has not really made it back into the modern Tomb Raider series, last I checked. There's probably something interesting in that Lara Croft represents a bit of an intermediate period between platforming mascots and modern Edgy Protagonists; you know the ones. Balding white dudes with vague dad vibes, but this is not a slight on Lara; she definitely has a ton of personality, even just at a cover glance. This game had a strong focus on exploration, and that's honestly something I really like. Super Mario Kart: I'm going to be controversial here; complaints about the Blue Shell are kinda overrated. It's not that different from, say, a red shell hitting you from behind when you're close to the finish line. But, jokes and old 90s memes aside, this game has some interesting status in that it started the idea of making spin-off games in dramatically different contexts; Crash Team Racing and Sonic Drift, for example, are listened as similar games. On a franchise level, this began the trend of Mario becoming a truly flexible character who could do pretty much whatever was required of him, not just the original platforming games, and its possible his imitators never quite learned the same lesson. Though one wonders what Miyamoto might have thought if he'd known how many thinkpieces he would spawn with 'why does mario go-karting with Bowser when they're enemies?'. For my part, I favor the idea that the other games are in-universe fictions they're actors on and this is their actual dynamic, or that Mario is a relaxed dude who doesn't mind playing kart games with his foe. (I mean, he's not Ridley. Bowser's easy enough to get along with.) Animal Crossing: Again, I have to emphasize that I've never actually played this game, at least on a consistent basis (and by that, I mean I MIGHT have played it on the Gamecube, once, in the early 2000s), and have to speak from what I've seen of what it sparked. And I really do like the way it really codified the sub-genre of relaxed, open-ended games where the player is free to do as they like, without much stress or fear, which is something I think more games could stand to do. On my personal list of features that my ideal video game would have, Animal Crossing would definitely offer a few ideas. I am reminded of farming simulators, such as Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley; while they are different beasts entirely, there's a familiar sense of non-combat relaxation that's pleasant to see. Spacewar!: This machine is GODDAMN old, and like an old fogey predating modern humans, it deserves our respect. It's so old, it predates Pong. Supposedly created as part of predictative Cold War models, with an emphasis on emulating sci fi dogfights, producing a game that soon proved popular, for over a decade remainign the most popular game on computer systems, and a clumsy foray into arcade gaming (that didn't pan out, unfortunately) led to the creation of Pong by its creator, which is another story all its own! And Pong is directly responsible for the idea of the video game itself; this game launched the entire video game industry as we understand it! No small feat, indeed. ----

B RANKED Sonic The Hedgehog: I must state that I DO like this game, though not as much as later entires like Sonic 3 and Knuckles, or the Sonic Adventure series; the fast paced action seems a bit hobbled by the traps and need to be careful of surroundings, which would seem to run counter towards the whole idea of GOTTA GO FAST, y'know? But the game presents an interesting viewpoint on the nature of mascot gaming; created specifically, so it is said, as a rival to Mario, Sonic was designed as a mascot with attitude, and inspired a host of imitators; he's probably the only one to escape the 90s more or less intact, and this may have something to say about his flexibility, star power, and also the fact that he's a pretty mild character, all things considered. This game certainly has its place in gaming history, giving an important place in the console wars of yesteryear. Believe me, I was a kid in the 90s, Sonic was a HUGE deal. Space Invaders: This game is noted to have catapulted games into prominence by making them household, something outside of arcades, and it shows! An interesting detail of note is that supposedly, the Space Invaders were meant to all move at high speed, but this was either too hard to play against, or too costly on the processor; it was found that by making them speed up as they were defeated, it created an interesting set of challenge. You have to appreciate game history like that. In general, its success prompted Japanese companies to join the market, which would eventually produce what I imagine was a thriving, competitive market that would eventually get us Nintendo and it's own gamechangers down the road. Grant Theft Auto 3: I'm going to be honest with you. I don't much care for this sort of game. The Saints Row series, with its fundamental wackiness, is the kind of game I really DO like if I'm going for something like this, and GTA sort of leaning towards the 'cruel for fun and profit' gameplay is really unappealing for me. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't address this game, and what seems to come up is two things: the game's sheer freedom in its open world (which certainly pushed the bar for games of that nature, and has made it a byword for gamers screwing around in a game just to see what ridiculous things they could or couldn't do) and the infamous reputation from the mature aspects of the game. Personally, I'm not much for this game's take on maturity (if I wanted to discuss a game of that nature, I'd suggest, say, Spec Ops: The Line) but I really do appreciate what this game and its series did for the open world genre, and the sheer possibilities presented for letting you do what you wanted. King's Quest: I've never played this game, but I am a HUGE fan of the point and click genre (also known generally as the adventure game genre) that it spawned; without this game, there's no Monkey Island, no Sam and Max, no The Dig or Full Throttle, or Gabriel Knight. This game was similar to previous text-based games, with a text parser to input commands, but with the distinction of a graphical interface to move their character around, which would be the seed of later games such as the SCUMM engine of Monkey Island and other Lucasarts games (which, to me, ARE Adventure Gaming). The puzzles, comedic sensibilities, and interface innovations originated with this game, and codified those later adventure games i love so much. Starcraft: This is another one those list of 'games I should have already played by now'. I'm not much of an RTS person, barring forays with games such as Impossible Creatures, Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War, and more strange entries such as Brutal Legend, and I contend that the combat aspects of 4X games like Civilization DO count on some level; the specifics of troop movement and unit strengths/weaknesses are a bit beyond me, when you get to more complex stuff. Starcraft, reading between the lines, really introduced the idea of multiplayer culture especially for RTS, pioneered the Battle(dot)net system (which I mostly recall from Diablo, if I'm being honest!) as well as the idea of relative strengths and powers for individual factions so that they became characters in their own right. It's still a very popular online game, and that says SOMETHING. Also, I tend to use zerg rushes, so I would probably play Zerg. Probably. (There is much speculation on whether or not, like Warcraft being a failed Warhammer Fantasy game, if the same holds true for Starcraft and Warhammer 40k. I lean on the side of 'probably not'; the differences are too notable. The Zerg and Tyranids have some similarties, but that's probably because they're based on the same broad hive mind evil insect aggressor trope, and they have enough differences from there to be very distinct from one another. It's not like how OG Warcraft's orcs were very obviously warhammer orcs with less football hooliganism.) Bejeweled: This is a firm case of a game that I don't play, but I really have to respect its influence on gaming as a whole. Apparently it started as a match three-type game with a simplistic formula that proved wildly popular (perhaps making a point that simpler can be more effective, in game mechanics), with a truly explosive record of downloads; over 500 million, it seems. Thus its fair to say that this game set the precedent for casual games, which have become THE market. Regardless of your feelings on that genre, this one was a real game changer. (Pun intended, absolutely.) ----

C RANK Pong: "By most measures of popular impact, Pong launched the video game industry." This line alone saws it all, I think. It wasn't the first video game, but it was one of the more early ones, and its the one that really made video games and consoles successful, gaining widespread attention from the mainstream audience, as well as getting Atari recognition (for better or for worse, but perhaps that was just a development of being on top, so to speak; maye the console wars at least kept the big three honest). It also started the arcade revolution of games, and this humble game is essentially responsible for the entire state of video games as a concept, as we know it today. Halo: No disrespect to Halo, but it's just a game series I've never quite been able to get into. Those games are very hit and miss for me; games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Gears of War and everything like that are just... hard for me to get into. It takes something specific like Borderlands or the Besthesda Fallout series, or something else, for me to get hooked, and Halo just doesn't do it for me! Nevertheless, I would be QUITE remiss if I simply dismissed it, and there's reasons for it to be inducted into the hall of fame barely three years into the hall of fame making inductees. Firstly, it was Microsoft's big entry into the console wars, and it must be said this was a MASSIVE upset and a completely unprecedented shift in the assumptions of the console wars back then; NO ONE expected microsoft to actually do this, let alone redefine gaming out of Sony and Nintendo's favor like that. At the time, PCs dominated FPS games, and Halo showed that consoles could do it just fine. It must also be said that it has a very intricate and complex system of lore, backstory and material that was quite distinctive for a new setting back in the day, and while I've seen people object to it's gameplay, I suspect that its with the benefit of hindsight; Halo offered an extremely unusual degree of freedom in achieving the goals set out for you. (Cortana also didn't deserve getting her name slapped onto that search assistant that eats up all your RAM.) Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego: Surprisignly enough, based on the article, this game was NOT an adaptation, but the source material of this character. This is where the fancy, mystery lady in the red coat started! Evidently this game was originally an edutainment game with a cops and robbers theme, and inspired by Colossal Cave Adventure from higher up on the list, and one must appreciate the effort that went into it. This one is ranked low, mostly because it didn't seem TOO notable to me. Honestly I'm surprised this is where Carmen Sandiego started. (And that she doesn't get enough credit as an iconic theatrical villain who won't go a step too far, but that's another rant.) -

D LIST

Here we are. The D LIST. The bottom of the sorting pile; the lowest of them all, the... well, the ones that I honestly don't necessarily dislike, but couldn't place higher for reasons of notability, personal interest, or perceived impact on the history of gaming. John Madden Football: Sports games, as a whole, really do NOT do it for me. I don't like real like sports at ALL (with, as a kid, a brief interest in boxing and that was just because they had gloves like Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog) so its hard for me to say that I find the history of this one all that compelling. Even so, there's some interesting elements in how this game was a sequel to a previous failed attempt, with a bold new attempt at a more arcade-style action game with a more dramatic take on the players, who would in turn be rated in different skill sets. The Madden series is STILL going so... it worked out pretty well, I'd say. (FUCKIN EA WAS BEHIND THIS ONE??? wow, EA is older than I thought.) Microsoft Flight Simulator: It's honestly a bit painful sorting this one so low, since I had many happy times as a wee Johnny playing this game back in the old days. I mean the OLD, old days. This was like, the days when Usenet was the preferred way for people to talk online. (Not me, though. I didn't talk to people, then. I was even less social than I am now, which is saying something!) All the same, I suppose that it was important to not crowd too many entries in a specific folder, and statistically, something had to keep getting knocked down, and in the end, I couldn't honestly say I still enjoyed this one enough to place it higher. Still, credit must be given where it is due; this game stands out for being an early foray into simulator gaming, showing a realistic depiction of actual flight. It has apparently been updated and rereleased many times since, which is impressive! Tetris: I like puzzles. So it might be surprising to hear this seminal game ranked so low; firstly, I like different KINDS of puzzles (like weird ones where you have to fling your sense of logic to the moon and back, or make use of gaming mechanics) and honestly this game is kind of stressful for me. You gotta keep an eye on a lot of different things flying around all at once, and constantly move things around, and that kind of attention and quick thinking does NOT come easily to me. All the same, I really have to admire how it was born from it's creator's pleasure in solving mathematical puzzles about sorting shapes into boxes, in a manner strangely remniscient of Satoshi's bug collecting that became Pokemon. Certainly the game's simplicity has proven a universally appealing thing, and may say something about the value of keeping it simple. Microsoft Solitaire: This game apparently became pay-to-get some time ago in recent computer generations, and let me tell, you, it was genuinely depressing to find that out. I remember younger decades, from the 90s and on, when this game was a regular and free feature in Windows computers fir MANY years. You got a computer, this game was on here. I was a kid, and i remember watching my mom play this game and makign the cards go WHOOP WHOPP all over the place and marveling, because I couldn't ever do the same thing. (A related note: I am terrible at this game. Go figure!) Of note, this game was massively widespread, and just EVERYWHERE, and I think everyone who ever played a computer back in those days instantly remembers it in some way. It was just... ubiquitous. Centipede: Oh, ol' Centipede. I don't mean to be mean to you. But between the likes of Pokemon and Super Mario Bros, even the arcade Donkey Kong, someone had to keep dropping down the leaderboard that is this tierlist, and unfortunately, there were other games that felt higher up than you. All the same, you're a very good game, and honestly, I like you more than some other games ranked higher for reasons of relevance to gaming history. Certainly more than anything else in D-listing. The colorful and appealing palette is noteworthy. That trackball controller! Amazing! (More games should use trackballs. They're fun and easy to use.) At the very least, Order of the Stick did a joke with you once, and that's better than anything I can do for you. All the same, you're a cool game.

#tier lists #video games

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burgerpocalypse · 3 years ago

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Back 4 Blood Beta

It's not good. I don't recommend buying or playing this game. Avoid it. If you like it, you're actually wrong.

I'll be directly comparing Back 4 Blood to Left 4 Dead because it's the same development team (supposedly). I'm also in an especially unforgiving mood, so this will be an outwardly hostile discussion of this terrible product. If you think I'm just being overly negative and want the game to fail because I'm an asshole, well, yeah, I am, but this shoddy product deserves considerable ire and I won't be convinced otherwise.

Some publications and individuals are calling it good, a worthy successor to L4D. They're wrong. L4D was a charming, polished, streamlined game. B4B is passionless, janky, and complicated. It makes mistakes that L4D solved or cleverly avoided, and introduces critical issues that ruin the experience.

Game Feel

Shooting feels weak and unresponsive, slows your movement speed, and requires aim-down-sights to have any accuracy.

Basic movement is slow and plodding. Sprinting drains stamina almost instantly, and is barely faster

Melee attacks rapidly drains stamina and has dubious reach; shoving enemies provides almost no benefit unless you have a specific perk card.

Zombies (or Ridden, a terrible, thoughtless name for zombies) shumble at you like they're competing for the Jank Olympics. One zombie can drain your health bar in seconds through sheer jankitude.

Players will regularly be yeeted, and it will seem like you just experienced an unintended bug or glitch rather than a deliberate force.

You're constantly taking damage from random, unidentifiable sources.

In summary, the game feel of this particular game is woeful.

Characters and Monsters

I hate the player characters. Well, that's a lie. HG, the prepper guy, or whatever his name is, is the only one I don't hate. He doesn't say cringeworthy lines, and he has a definable personality beyond broad emotional traits or bog-standard tropes. Player animations are also jank

The Ridden, which I will reiterate are named terribly, are indistinguishable from each other, players, and the environment. The common zombies are of the same color and height as players, so you're gonna probably be shooting teammates a lot, especially when everyone's covered in blood effects. Special zombies are awfully designed, to the point that I have to complain about them for the rest of this section. They:

are unpredictable, in a bad way

have entirely too much health with easily missed weak points

do far too much damage from unreasonable distances

move faster than the player's default speed, and can charge for extended distances

often appear in multiples and crowd chokepoints

The Hocker operates like the Smoker from L4D, but can lock down multiple players at once, chunk your health from great distances, and repeatedly jump from vantage point to vantage point at random. Its name is also stupid.

The Snitcher calls more zombies if you shoot it, which isn't obvious at all until you end up shooting it and call more zombies. It's also a key mistake that the developers of L4D avoided through rigorous playtesting, which allowed them to see that a similarly designed enemy was completely unfair, resulting in it being cut from the final release. Its name is also stupid.

The big fat guy can douse you in health-draining bile from 50 meters away, is difficult to kill, and has a variant that charge you and explode. This like they took the Boomer and made it worse in uniquely awful ways, just to see if they could. I don't remember the name, but its probably stupid.

The big arm guy can thwack you for 50% of your health bar, pin you in place, is also difficult to kill, and has a variant that is even more difficult to kill. I don't remember his name either, bu its definitely stupid.

The final one I can remember is the one that sits in a flesh pod and ambushes a player that gets too close, pinning them exactly like the Hunter would. The flesh pod blends into the environment in an especially egregious way, and the enemy itself looks stupid. Its names is also probably stupid.

Difficulty

I've cut my teeth on L4D and other coop shooters. I've beaten all the official campaigns on Expert. This game is stupid hard and unforgiving to such a degree that I fully believe that the developers do not understand at all what made L4D fun.

As players lose health, they also accrue trauma, which reduces maximum HP, potentially down to 40 HP. This cannot be recovered, even after respawning at a safe room or midround, unless you find a special medicine locker, which costs copper to use.

Levels are far too long, and there is never, ever any room to breathe. Players are constantly assaulted by zombies from all angles with no sense of rhythm or dramatic tension.

Levels also have no flow. Players will feel as though they are randomly wandering with no sense that they are being led in a particular direction. In L4D, the player characters would constantly be making observations about the environment (i.e. "Up that ladder!" or "We can use X to get across"). While L4D used tooltips to point out important objects, B4B relies entirely upon them.

Players have an elaborate inventory and currency system that is confusing and unreliable. Instead of providing healing and ammo at the start of each level, players have to buy it with copper. Like, literal in-game microtransactions. Each player has a unique wallet, though any copper picked up is given to all players equally. The copper system is an unnecessary addition that serves to slow down the start of a round.

Players can hold one offensive, healing, and support item. Medkits are not given a specific item slot, but instead compete with bandages and pills for inventory space. Guns and melee weapons also have tiers and ranks that are ill-defined. I have an extensive list of gripes I could go on about with this system, but I'll list some key issues:

There are too many items of each type, and they are too plentiful in the environment to be worth spending copper on

Ammo is broken into 4 types, which can leave you with lots of ammo for a weapon type you aren't using and no ammo for the gun you're actually using

Weapon attachments and ammo upgrades do nothing but provide confusion and force you to stop and stare at a stat screen to understand what it is you're adding to your gun. You also can't transfer them between guns, so you'll eventually have to swap a lower-tier gun with great attachments for a higher-tier gun with no attachments

Some offensive items do not behave in the way you expect them to, or provide so little value that they aren't worth using

Bandages and medkits operate identically, offering no interesting decision-making opportunities

The efficacy of healing items in general is needlessly reduced by players being able to heal by killing enemies, as well as trauma reducing max HP to the point that they don't provide any value

The Legacy of Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead provided a tightly packaged experience that nearly anyone could pick up on, and has a satisfying core loop that kept me coming back for years in spite of its many obvious glaring flaws. It was not bogged down by unnecessary progression systems or overly complex mechanics.

Since Valve allowed the series to shrivel and die, there has been no refinement of the mechanics that give L4D its magic, only inferior imitations that do not understand why things were they way they were.

Warhammer: Vermintide fails by being too complex, with vast differences between player characters, and an awful gear system that locks players out of higher difficulties with an arbitrary power system and random lootboxes

PAYDAY has zero polish, an unfathomably dull progression system, uninspired characters, awful artificial difficulty, and generally wastes the player's time with crushing amounts of busy work and waiting around

Back 4 Blood could have been great, but it completely misses the point. I'm going to try and play more of it while the beta is open, since I'm a miserable masochist, but also because some small part of me still wants to like it.

I'm sorry that this was so long and uncoordinated. I also apologize if you do enjoy the game. I just hope that I was able to provide a unique perspective of some small value to someone.

Thanks for reading. Sorry there's no interesting art to look at. I only put that comically small cover image there because it made me feel slightly better.

#back 4 blood #turtle rock studios #left 4 dead #video games #review #sorry for the rant

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hellyeahheroes · 5 years ago

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Building Natasha Irons in D&D 5e

Hello everyone. As I am seeking more job opportunities, including writing ones, I may have to not do these D&D Builds (which I have a number of at this point) as frequently but it may lead to me being able to go back to reviewing comics more. So in the meantime I want to use one last opportunity and give you late Holiday gift and make one more, for a very underappreciated heroine

Goals: Let’s list what we need for this build. We need to be good at making machines and gadgets. Second, we need to be a powerhouse in the strongest armor we can find. Third, we need to swing a hammer with great power.

Ability Scores: Just like the youtuber who inspired these builds, Tulok the Barbarian, I will be using standard points array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8). If you or your DM would rather roll or use different point buy, use those as guidelines, but remember we need high Intelligence, Wisdom and Strength.

Strength: 14, you go to combat in a full suit of armor and swing a big hammer around, that takes strength. No seriously, heavy armor has minimum Strength requirements in this game

Dexterity: 8, armor doesn’t make you exactly agile.

Constitution: 13, wish it was higher, but we need other stats for this.

Intelligence: 15, you’re an inventor and an engineer after all

Wisdom: 12, you are sensible enough to wear full body armor to what most men and women choose skintight spandex.

Charisma: 10. If you find your Traci 13 you will have to rely on roleplaying to hook up with her but then again I believe this is how romancing NPCs should be handled anyway.

Race, which in D&D mean species and I’m too tired of it: Last time I checked Natasha is a human. Sometimes a metahuman but still a human. But we won’t go with Variant Human. I will spoil a bit and reveal we are picking up a class from Eberron and also the one that this build is most likely to end up being used in Eberron as a setting. So we’ll pick something else from Eberron - a Dragonmarked Human. How it works is that you’re tied with one of the Dragonmarked houses and manifest a symbol related to their bloodline. Seeing how Natasha is a niece of another engineer, John Henry, it would be not that far of a stretch to assume on Eberron they’d be from House Cannith and have Mark of Making. This mark grants you +2 to Intelligence and +1 to one Ability Score, pick up Wisdom. You gain proficiency with one type of artisan tools of your choice and gain Artisan’s Intuition, allowing you to roll a d4 and add it to any roll you make for Arcana check or one involving artisan’s tools. Dragonmark will also add extra spells to your spell list as you progress in levels and for the starters gives you following spells at the start:

Mending is an instantaneous cantrip allowing you to fix a single break or tear in an object as long as it’s no longer than 1 foot in any dimension and it cannot restore magical properties of damaged magic items.

You can also cast Magic Weapon once per long rest, granting any single weapon you touch a +1 magic bonus to attack and damage rolls for an hour. Usually, this spell requires concentration but not for this single instance.

ALTERNATIVES: If you do not play in Eberron then I guess Variant Human will do, pick up a feat boosting your Intelligence. If you do not want to be a non-human then Hill Dwarf or Deep Gnome can work as well.

Background: being a member of House Cannith or, as we will call it, continuing family business grants you access to normally dwarf-only background, Clan Crafter. You get proficiency in one more type of artisan tools, one language of your choice and History and Insight skills as well as Respect of the Makers, which means other members of the House Cannith respect you and will always provide you with a free room in any place where you can find them.

Now for the Class progression.

Level 1: We kick-off as a new official class from Eberron, Artificer. The first level of Artificer gives us proficiency in Simple weapons, light, and medium armor, shields, thieve’s tools, artisan tools of your choice, and two skills. Choose Arcana and History. If the campaign setting has firearms, Artificer is also proficient with them.

Artificer gains spellcasting, which works in that you simply know spells and each day can prepare a number of them equal your Intelligence modifier + half your artificer level, minimum of 1, and you spend spell slots available to you to cast these, meaning you cannot cast spells higher than the highest level of spell slots you have. If a spell requires you to make spell attack you roll with a bonus equal to your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus. If a spell asks to make a saving throw the difficulty for that save is those two bonuses +8. Finally, Artificer uses their tools to cast these spells and you’re expected to roleplay how you do it, basically asking you to use gadgets or your inventions to create effects of the spell.

Speaking of spells, we start with two Cantrips known, two 1st level spell slots and 3 spells prepared per day. They will be serving as our gadgets so we will try to go for utility that can showcase Natasha’s creativity as an inventor.

Shocking grasp makes you make a melee spell attack against the target, with an advantage if it's wearing a metal armor - on a hit it takes 1d8 lightning damage (increasing by 1d8 on 5th, 11th and 17th levels) and cannot take reactions until the start of its next turn.

Fire Bolts makes you make a ranged spell attack against the target, on a hit it takes 1d10 fire damage (scales with levels like the above spell).

Feather Fall is cast as a reaction on up to five falling creatures, you included, in 60 feet radius, slowing their fall to 60 feet for one minute. If they reach the ground in that time, they take no damage.

Absorb Elements is cast as a reaction when you take damage of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder type and gives you resistance to that type until the next turn and first time you hit with a melee attack on your turn you deal extra 1d6 damage of that type.

Cure Wounds lets you heal you or another creature you touch for 1d8+ your Intelligence modifier.

Artificer also learns Magical Thinking, which lets you imbue limited magical properties on a number of mundane objects equal your intelligence modifier that lasts until you exceed that number (then the oldest one ends) or dismiss any. You can make an object shine a bright light in a 5-foot radius and dim light in next 5 foot, emit a recorded message in length of 6 seconds when touched, constantly emit a smell or nonverbal sound you choose noticeable from 10 feet away or cover one of its surfaces with a visual effect of your choice or up to 25 words of text.

Level 2: As good as Artificer is, it lacks heavy armor proficiency. We will fix that with first level of Cleric, or more specific, Forge Cleric. It gives you proficiency with heavy armor and smith tools and a Blessing of the Forge, allowing you to once per long rest and until another give a single suit of armor magical enchantment granting +1 to AC or a weapon +1 to attack and damage rolls. Combined with your once per day magical weapon spell it lets you either have both effects at once or use this on your friend’s weapon while having a spell for your own in need.

Cleric learns to cast spells as well. basically, repeat here what I’ve said about Artificer except you use a holy symbol instead of tools and a Wisdom in place of Intelligence. You get three cantrips and two spells and two bonus spells are added from Forge Domain - you always know and have them prepared in addition to your usual number of prepared spells. Since we’re mixing casters, remember to consult the table on the SRD to see how many spell slots you have available per day. You add your Cleric levels and half of your Artificer levels, rounded up (an important distinction since other half-casters round them down)

Light is a cantrip that allows you to make one object not larger than 10 feet in any dimension shine with bright light in 20-feet radius and dim light in next 20 feet, and if it was held by a hostile creature when you activated it, they need to make a Dexterity saving throw to not drop that item.

Guidance and Resistance grant you or another target a bonus 1d4 on respectively an ability check or a saving throw.

Shield of Faith is a concentration spell lasting up to 10 minutes that grants you or another creature you choose within 60 feet +2 to AC

Protection from Evil and Good also has a concentration requirement and lasts up to 10 minutes, giving aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead.disadvantage on attack rolls against the target and making then unable to frighten, charm or possess that target. If the target already is under one of those conditions caused by a creature of this type, it gains an advantage on future saving throws to break free.

Identify lets you learn properties of magic or magic-imbued object, what spell created it, how to use and attune to it.

Searing Smite is a concentration spell up to 1 minute, when you hit next opponent, they’re dealt 1d6 fire damage and catch fire, getting more 1d6 damage at the start of each of their turn until they make a Constitution saving throw or another creature helps them put off the fire.

Level 3: Back to Artificer, on the second level you get to learn Infusions, which allow you to at the end of a long rest touch a nonmagical item and give it one of the properties from your known Infusions, that will last until you dismiss it, unlearn an Infusion used on it for another (which you can do whenever you get an Artificer level) or sometime after you die. You start being able to infuse two items and get to know 4 Infusions.

Enhanced Defense grants a suit of armor +1 bonus to AC

Returning Weapon makes a weapon with a thrown property return to your hand and adds +1 to its attack and damage rolls - light hammer can be thrown so it can serve you for this, while warhammer can be your primary melee weapon.

Replicate magic item can let you make a copy of a magic item either listed on a list in Eberron Rising from the Last War handbook or any common item from Xanathat’s Guide to Everything, but remember if its an item that requires attunement you need to be of race, class and level this item is designed for. Take it twice and make yourself Bag of Holding and Goggles of Night

You also gain Steel Defender - an automaton companion whose form you can choose and describe (but it has no effect on game statistics). It moves right after your turn in combat and you can use a bonus action to command him to help, search, hide, dash, disengage, attack or repair itself (2d8-2 hit points) or another mechanism. If not all it does is dodge. If it dies you can rebuild it by expending a 1st level spell slot, if you are within 5 feet and no less than an hour has passed. When bending is cast on it mending cantrip heals it for 2d6 hit points.

Level 4: Third level Artificer gains a Right Tool for the Job, which allows you to in an hour conjure up any set of artisan tools you need that will exist until you use this feature again. And what’s more important, you get to choose a specialization. Battle Smith gives you proficiency with smith’s tools or, if you already are proficient with them, which we are, any other set of artisan tools, as well as martial weapons. You also can use your Intelligence modifier in place of your Strength or Dexterity modifier whenever you attack with a magic weapon. And you gain bonus spells that you always have prepared and do not count to your total number of spells prepared. Also on this level, you get one more spell.

Grease covers an area of a 10-foot square centered on any point in 60 feet in radius in slick grease for one minute, forcing all creatures who enter it, end its turn standing on it or was standing in the area when it appeared must succeed a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.

Shield lets you as a reaction to being hit by an attack or a Magic Missile spell add +5 to your AC until the start of your next turn and negate damage from said Magic Missile

Heroism lasts 1 minute on Concentration and makes you or another creature you choose immune to being frightened and at the start of each of its turns gains temporary hit points equal your Intelligence modifier.

Level 5: 4th Level Artificer gets you an ability score improvement but how about we instead take a feat. Heavy Armor Master increases your Strength by one, allowing you to wear heaviest armors and when you do wear a heavy armor you all bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage dealt to you from nonmagical sources is reduced by 3. You can now wear full-plate armor, which gives you AC of 18, likely boosted with one of your abilities.

Level 6: 5th Level Battle Smit gets an extra attack, allowing you to attack twice as a part of the same attack action. Artificer also gains 1 more 1st level spell slot and two 2nd level ones

Faerie Fire lets you choose an area within 60 feet and form a 20-foot cube around it in which everything is outlined in dim light for the duration of 1 minute on concentration, including creatures if they fail Dexterity saving throw. Affected creatures cannot benefit from being invisible and all attacks against them are made with an advantage.

See invisibility lets you see invisible creatures for up to 1 hour

Enhance Ability allows you 1 hour on concentration to gain an advantage on checks for one of your Abilities. If you take Strength your carrying capacity doubles for the duration, if you take Dexterity you do not suffer damage from a 20-foot fall and Constitution gives you extra 2d6 temporary hit points.

Level 7: 6th Level Artificer gets to add one more item to have infused, learn two more infusions and gain access to a set of new ones previously unavailable:

Boots of the Winding Path allows you to teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 15 feet as a bonus action.

Resistant Armor grants you resistance to one of the following types of damage: acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, poison, psychic, radiant or thunder.

Level 8: Back to Cleric. 2nd Level Cleric learns to Channel Divinity It has 3 applications:

Harness Divine Power lets you regain a 1st level Spell-Slot once per day.

Turn Undead forces all undead within 30 feet to make a Wisdom saving throw and if they fail then for one minute or until they take damage they cannot take reactions and all their actions must be a dash action to get as far away from you as possible, except for actions done to prevent whatever is blocking their path. This is Natasha's new plan if Necron ever comes back, I guess.

Forge Cleric’s Artisan’s Blessing lets you create any nonmagical item worth no more than 100 gp that includes some metal in it. This includes perfect copies of items you have like keys. You need to provide the metal for this.

You also get one more spell - Wrathful Smite was added to Cleric’s spell list in Unearthed Arcana and it works like Soaring Smite except it deals psychic damage on a hit and instead of setting the target on fire makes it frightened of you until it succeeds a Wisdom saving throw.

Level 9: 3rd level Cleric learns two 2nd level spells and gains two more from Forge domain

Warding Bond lets you select one target, like for example your fragile sorcerous girlfriend, and ensure that for 1 hour she gets +1 to AC and saving throws and resistance to all types of damage as long as you two stay within 60 feet of one another or you drop to 0 hit points. But if she takes damage, so do you.

Find Traps reveals the presence and general nature, but not the location, of any trap within line of sight in 120 feet radius.

Magic Weapon you know already, now you have always prepared a version that works on Concentration

Heat Metal is....oh just watch this and see how wicked this baby is, I cannot explain it better than this video anyway.

Level 10: 4th Level Cleric gets an Ability Score Improvement, use two +1 to round up your Constitution and Intelligence. Remember that you gain extra hit points from Constitution increase retroactively as well, meaning 10 extra hit points.

You also get one more spell and one more Cantrip

Sacred Flame forces a saving throw or deals 1d8 radiant damage and scales like all cantrips, so its now 2d8 and next level it will be 3d8.

Silence is a concentration spell lasting for up to 10 minutes and in that time erases all sound within any 20-foot radius from any point within 120 feet you select. Creatures within it are immune to thunder damage and completely deafened and casting a spell with a verbal component within it is impossible.

Level 11: 5th level Cleric gains Destroy Undead, meaning that from now on all undead of Challenge Rating 1/2 or less who fail their saving throw against your Turn Undead ability will be destroyed.

You also get two 3rd level spells and two from Forge Domain

Spirit Guardians lets you summon spirits to guard you for the duration of up to 10 minutes on Concentration, when you cast it you choose which creatures are unaffected and all others in 15-foot radius area from you have their speed halved and if they enter it for the first time or start a turn in it they take 3d8 radiant or necrotic damage, depending on your alignment, or half on a succesful Wisdom saving throw.

Remove Curse lets you remove a curse from a creature or break its attunement to a cursed object.

Elemental Weapon lets you turn one nonmagical weapon into a magical weapon with +1 to attack rolls and dealing +1d4 of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage on a hit, for up to 1 hour on concentration.

Protection from Energy meanwhile grants you or one creature you touched resistance to one of those 4 types for the same duration.

On next level you will get one more spell, so let’s get it out of the way now - Glyph of Warding. This lets you inscribe a nearly invisible Glyph that needs creatures to pass Investigation check against your save DC to detect it. You decide what triggers its activation and you can either make it activate a spell you stored inside it beforehand, of the level of the spell slot you used to cast Glyph, or you can make it explode in a 20-foot radius, dealing to creatures within 5d8 acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage, half on a successful Dexterity saving throw.

12th level: Our final level of Cleric. 6th level Cleric can use their Channel Divinity feature and Forge Domain grants you Soul of the Forge, granting you permanent resistance to fire damage and +1 to AC when you wear heavy armor.

13th Level: 7th Level Artificer gains Flash of Genius - a number per long rest equal to your Intelligence modifier you can use your reaction to add said intelligence modifier to a skill check or a saving throw.

You also get one more spell of 2nd level. Enlarge/Reduce is another concentration up to 1 minute spell, it lets you either decrease or increase something in size, respectively granting advantage or disadvantage on Strength saving throws and respectively add or subtract 1d4 from damage dealt by the target. This is Natasha’s version of getting into her mecha form

14th Level: 8th Level Artificer gets an Ability Score Improvement, round up your Intelligence for a better attack, damage, spell attack and spell saving throw difficulty.

15th Level: 9th Level Battle Smith gets Arcane Jolt, which lets you a number of time equal to your Intelligence modifier per long rest either add 2d6 force damage to a hit you or your Steel Defender score with a melee weapon attack or chose one creature within 30 feet you can see and heal it for 2d6 hit points.

You also get access to 3rd level spells and two bonus spells from Battle Smith

Fly lasts up to 10 minutes on Concentration and grants a target flying speed of 60 feet

Dispel magic lets you negate an effect of any spell of 3rd level or lower and of higher-level spells if you succeed an Intelligence check equal 10+ Spell’s level

Aura of Vitality is a concentration spell up for 1 minute that makes you radiate healing energy, allowing you to use your bonus action to heal yourself or an ally within the area for 2d6 hit points.

Conjure Barrage lets you make it rain a type of ammunition in a 60-foot cone, dealing 3d8 damage of a type dealt by that ammunition, half on successful Dexterity saving throw.

16th Level: 10th Level Artificer learns to attune 1 more magic item, can know two more infusions and when you craft a magic item of common or uncommon type, it costs you half the normal time and money.

You also learn two more Infusions and I also say it’s a good idea to replace Enchanted Defense with something else since it doesn’t stack with Soul of the Forge (DISCLAIMER: This is apparently debatable, if I’m wrong here keep this and have them stack and pick only two first of options below). Unless you, of course, use it on someone else’s armor instead. Let us pick 3 new Replicated Magic Items then:

Winged Boots allow you to fly for 4 hours per long rest with a speed of 30 feet.

Ring of Mind Shielding makes it impossible for your mind to be read, determine if you’re lying, know your alignment or your creature type.

Lantern fo Revealing works like a regular lantern but reveals all invisible creatures in 30 feet from it.

You also get a Cantrip - Poison Spray forces a Constitution saving throw or a creature will take 1d12 poison damage. It scales like other cantrips so on this level it deals 3d12 and on the next one it will deal 4d12.

17th Level: 11th Level Artificer can, after the end of a long rest, turn one spellcasting focus tool or a simple or martial weapon into a Spell-Storing Item, make it store one of 1st or 2-nd level Artificer spells you know and able to be activated and used a number of times equal your Intelligence modifier, using said modifier for Spell Save Difficulty or Spell Attack but forces whoever uses it, which doesn’t need to be you, to concentrate if it requires concentration. A lot of your spells do require it, come to think about it, o maybe it’s a good idea to give this to fighter or barbarian of the group.

You also get a new 3rd level spell - Haste has an on concentration duration up to 1 minute, during which you or another target has their speed doubled, gets +2 to AC, has an advantage on Dexterity saving throws and can take an extra action spent on Dash, Disengage, Hide, Use an Object or making a single attack. However, when it end target cannot take any actions or move for the next turn so try to not drop that Concentration.

18th Level: Speaking of which, time to boost up that Constitution with 12th level Artificer’s Ability Score Improvement.

19th Level: 13th Level Artificer gets to lear a 4th level spell. Freedom of Movement lasts for an hour with no concentration and in that time target cannot have their movement impeded or reduced by difficult terrain, spells or other magical effects, and can spend 5 feet of its movement to escape nonmagical effects trying to immobilize or slow it down.

20th Level: Our Capstone is 14th level of Artificer, which akes us Magic Item Savant, granting us two more Infusions and an ability to infuse a total of five items at once and ignore all class, race or level requirements for using or attuning magic items.

Speaking of which, let us pick our last Infusions:

Amulet of Health just sets up your Constitution at 19 and it is the last item we can pick that requires attunement.

Horn of Blasting allow you to blow it to make a blast that deals 5d6 thunder damage to all creatures in a 30-foot cone and deafens them, DC 15 Constitution saving throw halves the damage and saves from deafening. Glass and crystal creatures roll with disadvantage and if the damage they take is 10d6.

Overview: Natasha Irons is a Battle Smith Artificer 14/Forge Domain Cleric 6, let us see how good this build is

Pros: For one, you are heavily armored with AC in 19-20 (and if you picked a shield instead of a warhammer it may even exceed that) and a ton of ways to reduce your damage. Second, you use Intelligence to attack and have multiple ways to deal various kinds of damage, meaning you can find a workaround many types of damage reduction. Third, you are a strong utility caster with gadgets to be useful in various situations, not only in combat and your Cleric levels actually grant you access to higher level spell slots than pure Artificer. Fourth, you have a strong amount of hit points, around 160 without any magic item bonuses. Finally, your infusions and spells are ways to enhance not just yourself, but the party, making you a great support.

Cons: We had to invest in Strength and we don’t really use it. As a result, your Wisdom is not as good as it could be, which is why I was trying to suggest mostly spells not requiring save or attack for your Cleric spells. Your constitution also suffered, as a result, meaning your concentration won’t be the best and we won’t be able to do much about it for quite a long time. And yet a lot of your spells do require concentration meaning you will not only worry about breaking it but be limited in what you can cast at any given time. Finally, your Cleric and Artificer and even Dragonmark spells overlap strongly, meaning you didn’t get as much versatility as other multiclassing combinations and you didn’t get higher level spells either, meaning your power is pretty limited.

Ironically what is a curse for Natasha in comics, being stuck in a supporting role, can be your blessing in a game. You are a tank/support character, get in the front line, soak hits, hit back and keep your friends alive and strengthened. The strongest hammer you can drop is the hammer of teamwork

Tbh this team kinda looks like it walked out of a D&D game.

ALTERNATIVES:

1. Play as Variant human with 13 in Strength, 14 in Constitution and 15 in Intelligence, spend two +1s on Intelligence and Constitution, pick up Heavy Armor Proficiency feat and go with pure Artificer - you will lose on spells and versatility but will get higher level artificer features and still be able to wear the heaviest armor.

2. Drop two levels of Cleric for School of Lore Mastery or School of War Magic Wizard - you will lose some defense in exchange for Intelligence to your Initiative and either a way to vary up types of damage you do or a situational defensive ability.

3. Drop said two levels of Cleric for Fighter to gain action surge, second wind and a fighting style.

4. Drop as many levels of Cleric you feel like but keep at least 1 for heavy armor and still focus on being an artificer

5. Other way around - sacrifice your best infusions to get two more levels of Cleric, 8th level Forge Cleric can add 1d8 fire damage once per turn to attack.

- Admin

#Steel #natasha Irons #DC

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xenosgirlvents · 6 years ago

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I don't bother making my own lore for a similar kinda reason. Anything I make'll just end up getting 'purge the xenos' the 'unclean must not live' and 'heresy' thrown at it and treated like shit because it isn't primarchs or space marines, basically the only thing this fandom is okay with letting be cool. I rather just stick to Age of Sigmar, at least ther ethe frewaking authors don't literally post their hate for all the factions but space marines on tumblr for us to see.

I make attempts from time to time, the Anhrathe, a Drukhari Assassin, some discussions on things I wanted to see etc.

I’ll admit there are more ambitious projects I’ve wanted to do, particularly a reformulation of Fracture of Biel-Tan to maintain the core points but ameliorate all that I dislike about it, but…yes my motivation to do so is sapped by the simply lack of any positive presence for Xenos in the canon, makes it hard to work up the will to care when the official lore seems not to care for Xenos as anything more than Jobbers.

AoS is better, it is true, I must make a harder effort to disengage my interest in 40k and fully move over to AoS. I think once there is an official Tyrion faction I’ll find that easier, perhaps, since though I love Ironjawz and do play them, they don’t have exactly a complex plotline, something I do like (hence my desire for Aeldari to have more content in 40k). Perhaps that will help me, I don’t know, I hope it will, because ever single development in 40k seems to make me lose what little hope I have remanining.

*Sighs* I just don’t know. I’m just tired of spending money I feel I never recieve any kind of return on. A significant quantity of the books and Audio Dramas I buy often end up horrible anyway, I bought Onyx, Last Guardian, Voice of Mars and such all to read about Xenos and ended up depressed by just the constant curb stomping of Xenos, even Devastation was just another ‘The Swarmlord is incapable of ever winning any important fight’ scenario.

AoS had some nice novels in the start for me, Fury of Gork, Big Red etc. all featured important Ironjawz doing cool stuff and not just getting Worfed, in fact in both they were never defeated, but it does seem like Destruction’s presence has lately dried up. I don’t know.

I just…I can’t believe even these Novellas don’t have a single even marginal Xenos role. Just one book in ten. Even Chaos didn’t get one though, the entire 40k range of Novellas is just Imperium, Imperium, Imperium. It really just makes me feel like Black Library’s message is clear to me; “We don’t care about you as a customer, this isn’t for you,” and that’s their right, fine, but in that case I need to stop being an idiot and wasting money on what I waste money on.

I mean that is the brutal truth, no-one is to blame but me, my idiocy, my stubborness. I should just stop buying novels and codices and such. I do nothing but accumulate a pile of books, some of which I enjoy, the vast majority of which make me upset.

It’d be one thing if there was just a dearth of Xenos-related literature, but almost the bigger problem is that 90% of the time when Black Library or Games Workshop do deign to show them its only to make clear how much they completely suck compared to Space Marines. At this stage I just do feel like there is no place in this setting anymore for someone who isn’t primarily interested in Space Marines. If you like Space Marines and some other faction, sure cool, but if the thing is you came into 40k because you liked T’au, or Aeldari or Orks or Tyranid, and just don’t have an interest in Space Marines…well then, sorry, but this is not for you, at all.

Like I said I just feel very alienated. Any of these big events and the teases they have…90% of the time I just am left sitting with nothing to invest in. Black Library Weekender had literally 0 Xenos novels, short stories, audio dramas or anything. Even Warhammer Quest Black Fortress is, again, a Chaos/Imperium story, with the blurb describing it as a battle to see between the Imperium and Chaos who controls it, the role of the Ranger and Kroot no doubt completely tangential to anything in the story, in the novelization they’ll probably be completely irrelevant or just show up to look bad.

Sorry I’v gone to long, stopping, just in very low spirits. I’m sorry you feel that way anon, I wish I could offer any help but I cannot as I cannot even help myself.

#warhammer #warhammer 40k #warhammer 40000 #xenos #me #bitter

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lrgcarter · 6 years ago

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Reconsidering the Eldar

This post continues my desire to publish writings I am preparing for a website looking at the second edition of Warhammer 40,000. This page comes from a series that describes the early incarnation of the setting, and examines what was then known about the Eldar. There are references to pages I haven’t published yet, but I’m sure you can cope with that.

***

The Eldar are often summarily described as Space Elves. They have slender limbs, pointy ears, and an irredeemable racial-superiority-complex. As Games Workshop purposefully created the 41st millennium as a parallel to their Warhammer Fantasy setting, the appearance of Space Elves was almost a contractually required certainty. Throw in Tolkien’s use of Eldar as a name for his own elves and the comparison between these two races stands on solid ground.

Closer inspection, however, reveals how superficial these similarities are.

We have seen that everything in the 40K setting allows you to play out your favourite scenes from other media. It would be a mistake, however, to view the game as nothing more than a patchwork of plagiarism. Into every aspect of the game, the authors poured their pride and professionalism. They strove to make their world their own, working each ingredient into something recognisable yet simultaneously fresh. While each army can be described in terms of easily accessible tropes, these entry points always lead to deeper ideas and more complex world-building.

The amount of work put in by the authors is most obvious in their development of the Eldar due to the complete emptiness of the elven concept. Beyond pointing to an art-nouveau aesthetic, how can we describe the modern elf? They are personifications of the idea that things were better in the past, that modern techniques do not compare to those of yesteryear. Elves warn that the young should unquestionably obey their elders, that the rich should not dally with the poor, that people should not mix with those of other races. Elves justify all by claiming descent from mythical faerie; fictional ancestry which would be completely irrelevant even if it were true.

Our authors were tasked with turning this empty and hateful concept into something that appealed to people under the age of retirement. They did this by turning the clichéd story of the Eldar upside down.

The standard twentieth century elf story was as follows; the elves lived in elite paradise, something happened to remove them from their privileged state, then those that remained grew embittered with life. These elements exist in the Eldar story, but have been reordered with greater social awareness. The Eldar believed they existed in paradise, their hate and elitism led to their destruction, and those who remained acted as a despisable warning not to repeat their mistakes. This rearrangement removed the illusion that elves are sympathetic victims worthy of emulation, and instead shone light on all that made them reprehensible.

The following extract from the original Codex Eldar (page 14) gives brief but concise insight into their fall:

“In those times… all Eldar pursued their inclinations according to their own will, indulging every whim and investigating every curiosity…

Slowly but surely the worm of pride began to eat away at the Eldar race. They thought all secrets theirs to uncover, all pleasures theirs to partake. Heedlessly they plundered the precious resources of their marvellous minds… Exotic cults sprang up all over the Eldar domains, each dedicated to a different aspect of esoteric knowledge or sensual excess… society became increasingly divided… corruption turned quickly to wanton abandon… blood flowed through the streets amidst the bestial roar of the crowd.”

While every aspect of humanity’s fictional history has been explored, the Eldar’s story has always remained evocatively vague. It is often claimed that this is to keep parents happy, that the fall of the Eldar involved sexual and violent excesses unsuitable for the eyes of children.

We believe, however, that this is itself a somewhat childish interpretation of the text. The idea that ‘esoteric knowledge or sensual excess’ refers exclusively to sex cannot be taken seriously without defining sex so broadly as to encompass all human activity.

We prefer to interpret Eldar pride as touching upon all aspects of their lives. Any thought perceived by an Eldar would have been held as exceptional. If the thought was exceptional, then why not act upon it? Any who objected to an Eldar thought would be preventing society from being all it could be. No matter what the cost to others, an Eldar would always be justified in doing whatever they want, saying whatever they want, and taking whatever they want. Far from being confined to the acts of gangs and sex-cults, it is easy to see that such ideology would poison recreation, education, politics, law, industry, military, religion, and every other element of culture. Without any sense of social responsibility, all would pull in opposite directions and tear the world apart. For the Eldar, this metaphor would become far too literal.

As Eldar culture destroyed itself, their exceptionalism and intolerance was mirrored in the Warp. Every toxic word added to rising storms in that other-world, the same storms that would sever all links between the human worlds and plunge them into a true dark-age. The anguish and entitlement of the Eldar became so real in the Warp that it coalesced into a single being; a new demonic god named Slaanesh. The birth of Slaanesh ripped a hole in the fabric of reality, destroying the Eldar’s planets and wiping out almost all the Eldar.

We contend that the common consensus remains correct. The fall of the Eldar did involve sexual and violent excesses unsuitable for the eyes of children. Unfortunately, these are the same sexual and violent excesses that the leaders of our real world seem determined to force upon them.

Reading the original Codex Eldar today, it is hard to ignore that the Eldar are less Space-Elves, and more Space-Americans. Current affairs in the United States have unpleasant parallels with the final days of the Eldar. This, in turn, casts Slaanesh in quite a different light. Usually depicted as a seductive god of pleasure, it is easy to mistake Slaanesh as being unfairly vilified by the chaste and puritanical Imperium. Understanding the full context of Slaanesh’s creation reveals the true shape of this vile and sociopathic creature.

The armies available to Eldar players are those who foresaw the oncoming calamity and took steps to avoid it. Here we see American analogies also. Some ran to the furthest edges of the galaxy, forsaking modernities that they believed would cause the fall and in doing so becoming a faction of space-Amish known as Exodites. Other Eldar became extreme survivalists, building space-bunkers known as Craftworlds that house planetary populations of preppers. Eldar civilians are trained to join their military at a moment’s notice, much like the Minutemen, Eldar scouts owe as much to American Rangers as they do to Tolkein’s, and the Eldar’s harlequin clowns are parodies of the much maligned MTV video jockeys.

In creating this Space-America, the authors might have realised they were being somewhat on the nose. The subtle pill being easier to swallow, they hid their social commentary behind a healthy dose of Celtic imagery. While the authors probably referred to original Celtic sources, there is no doubt that the rising star of Slaine in 2000ad would have influenced this decision.

Regardless of how you interpret the fall of the Eldar, the in-game consequences cannot be denied. The birth of Slaanesh destroyed the Eldar, and as a result ended the warp-storm that had engulfed the galaxy. Warp-space settled enough for the Emperor to sally forth and reunite humanity. The Eldar were all but extinct, and the age of the Imperium had begun…

#eldar #W40k #second edition

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flowing-paint · 7 years ago

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Nerding day

Paints ✔

Brushes ✔

Models ✔

Where’s my damn primer! I can’t go without the primer! Oh, here it is! Here we go: I’m ready to leave for a nerding day! It’s been a while since last time.

Just a quick post here because I want to get painting as soon as I can. You know, being a family man means you get a lot of satisfaction from being with your beloved ones but you also inevitably end up with less free time for yourself. However, yesterday my wife being the lovely person she is, let me go out for a nerding day. What is it? Easy! It’s one of those days where you get back to your 18s and you basically get to do whatever you want. I’m talking about hobby related stuff of course. I didn’t get to paint much but it was still a lot of fun.

I left home in the early afternoon with my painting gear and headed to Osaka Warhammer store. The plan was to go there with a colleague of mine that wants to dive into the hobby but he canceled on Friday so I just decided to go to the shop and have some good time. You never know… I may end up learning something new or even teaching something to someone or taking somebody in the hobby. As I said, you never know what may happen. I’m a firm believer in the fact that small actions can have a huge influence on people around you so getting a lot of different people in the same room is always something interesting to do. That’s why I packed my death guard, the base colors I use on them and went to my FLGS.

Painting

I was able to only spend a couple hours painting in the shop while waiting for my friend Matt. I base coated my shiny new Typhus model while picking up the last details on a plague marine. So now I have two fully painted marines! Forty more to go! And it only took me 2 weeks! If I keep this pace it will take me roughly one year to paint all of them. BTW, If you follow me on twitter you may already know this guy but here’s my first ever plague marine painted, based and ready to be fielded. I think the result is good enough.

Well, with just two hours I was only able to prime and base-coat my Typhus but while I was doing that I got to talk to a newcomer that just happened to buy a Tau starting box. He was already painting them so I gave him some advice. Should have given him this blog link to share my tutorials for beginners. Speaking of which, I think I will break up the full painting scheme of my pre-heresy death guard and do a step-by-step, as these colors seem to be really appreciated by everybody who sees them.

Shopping

When my friend Matt came to the store I packed my stuff, bought a couple of GW washes I needed and we headed for the local hobby store. I didn’t get to buy anything but my friend needed to buy a bottle of Vallejo Flow Improver. I say “needed” cause I was forcing him to buy one: everybody needs to have one in the painting rack even if you only use brushes. I will probably explain how it is used in a tutorial as this represent the secret weapon for perfect washes or glazes.

On the way back we just stopped for a quick Kebab which is not a super-common food here in Japan and I always try to get one when I go there. Oooh... was it delicious! With a lot of meat and the spicy sauce.

Playing!

After getting the food we took the train from Namba to Kyobashi and spent the rest of the night playing our first Warhammer 40k game. We were hosts to these two guys here, who, believe it or not, are the authors of the video unboxing that took me and my friend into 40k. Go and check the video out because they get pretty deep into the details.

As you can easily imagine, the game was a big brawl between Space marines and Death guard models but our hosts also had some additional units for the death guard (namely, the Hellbrute and the Blightlord terminators) and some Eldar. Don’t ask me their names ‘cause they all looked alike with their characteristic pointy hats. It was a pretty fun game, actually but I’m not going to write a report like I did for Mercs because it was a big mess. Checking back the rules the day after I can tell you that we missed a lot of key rules, especially those specific to each unit. Well, it was our first game so we actually got to perform quite well. I cannot say who won because we had to stop mid-game and both sides lost roughly the same amount of models/power so it was a draw even though the Death guard was in a better position and was about to strike with a lot of hard-hitting units in the subsequent turn. It was fun. A lot of crazy fun... but we still need to read the rules some more times before we can get to dive in this size of games.

Impressions

After the first game, I have some impression. I’ll write them down with no special order. Except the first one... that’s definitely the first one, indeed.

I hate Eldar: they’re greatly, greatly, immensely overpowered. They shoot salves of God knows what and they almost always hit. They’re not powerful, of course, but they get to damage you a lot and that sucks if you are a “less than shooty” army like the Death Guard. The Poxwalkers were not even able to get into close combat: only one dude was left after two Eldar shooting phases. And they don’t even get to do morale so it could be even worse.

The rules feel like AoS: this was my first 40k 8th edition but I know AoS pretty well and I can tell you that there’s a lot of AoS in this new ruleset. As a matter of fact, even if in the beginning I was the one that didn’t do his homework studying the rules in advance, I was able to get ahead with some key mechanics that are just exact copies of AoS rules. I also kept calling Armor Piercing “rending”...

Know your opponents: This is true for all wargames: if you are serious, get a book for all the opposing factions. If you don’t, it gets super-hard to follow what the opponent does if he doesn’t show you the rules and just keeps rolling. Getting to know them in advance is an advantage do you know who you should hit first.

Study your units: You need to remember each trait, each special rule and maybe even the stats of each unit you filed. If you fail to do so, the game turns into a book club where you just keep reading from the codex/rulebook. This felt like the old WHFB I used to play during college.

Death Guard sucks: The units you get in the starter box, at least. The Lord of Contagion didn’t get to do any damage (even though we didn’t use his special deployment rule so, it’s the previous point over and over again!). The Poxwalkers may act as a tar pit or a meat shield but you need to get them there and they will probably all be dead when you manage to. I have to buy an Hellbrute and the Blightlord terminators because they were the only viable units in the game.

Game sessions are long: I read a lot of comments where the average gaming session is described as “short” but yesterday, after 3 hours we only managed to nail down two full turns. Let’s see how it gets when we get used to the rules.

Never play unpainted: the Eldar were all unpainted and that takes away half of the fun in my opinion. But I’m a paintbrush aficionado and my opinion doesn’t probably count too much.

That’s it for today. I want to get some paint on my Typhus before my son wakes up from his nap. But before I go, just a small update: I am (admittedly slowly) setting up a Facebook page to try to reach a wider audience. If everything works well, this post will also appear on the said page automatically.

Until next week, keep hobbying and having fun!

Game on!

#warhammer 40k #painting #Death guard

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undertheeagles · 7 years ago

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So I have been reading these books for a while now and I decided to maybe try my hand at some short… ish reviews on them. I will try to keep spoilers out of the reviews and will focus on how important it is to read the various books in the Horus Heresy series and what I like/dislike about the books. As, in my opinion, they are not all necessary reads.

As a short background Warhammer 40k is a science fiction universe set 40,000 years in the future. Long story short, it’s crazy. As a major foundational event in the Warhammer 40k universe, the Horus Heresy makes for a good place to start getting into the universe if you have been daunted by the 30ish years of lore in the past.

The name of the focal event, The Horus Heresy, kind of spoils the big surprise and that is actually where this series really gets in flair. As it allows authors and GW/BL (Games Workshop/Black Library) to be creative with how the story unfolds. And believe me there is some crazy stuff in store for you.

Author: Dan Abnett (I plan on doing short reviews of the authors as I come across them as this is important) Now, I will admit, I am a Dan Abnett die hard fan. But for very good reasons as he writes amazingly well. A lot of people think “oh Warhammer 40k, just death and destruction everywhere and if someone does not die every 2 pages the book is lame”. No, no, and no. The most important part of Dan’s writing is his character development, the man can make good characters and make them have depth and uniqueness. He can also write a very good story and good Lord can he blow stuff up when the story calls for it with out overwhelming the reader with words. He also knows how to write a well defined story, nothing in any of his books is useless. So basically any 40k or fantasy novel that has Dan Abnett’s name on the cover is a “go read now” kind of book. Book 1: Horus Rising Obviously this being the first book in the series makes it a must for reading, but that is only the half of it. For people new to the universe this is a good place to start as it is fairly good at drip feeding you lore and not trying to drown you in the universe. It will also be new to long time fans of the 40k universe as these books are set in a very different time than the current state of the universe in the current 40k timeline.

The story as a whole is straight forward, but hints at greater things in the works. It also lays the ground work for the important things to come. The characters get fleshed out well and while it may seem like this book is only a first step in a long series, it is a really good first step. You get to learn about Horus and how his relationship with the Emperor played out. You also get to meet some of the other primarchs and very important people in the books to come. The good thing is that their personalities are so well defined you will remember them from book to book. On the off chance you do not, each book has a major character list at the start for your reference, which is good considering the number of books written and the amount of characters in the series.

Major characters to remeber besides the primarchs would be the likes of Loken and Abbaddon from the Luna Wolves legion. As well as Lucius and Saul of the Emperor’s Children. But don’t worry as the first 5 or so books focus on events surrounding these characters so you will get to know them well. Oh and I cannot forget Erebus…

The Good Where to begin? Amazing characters, good story, and an all around fun read. I love the clean and hopeful feeling that permeates the book. This is a concept that is very critical to the start of the series. Because before this event, humanity was on the rise with only a bright future in store. It makes the coming fall into darkness that much more tragic. I also get a sense of this book and the rest like it, having a the feel of an epic tragedy. Of which this books does an excellent job setting up. Quick side note, if you really like this series look up the mythogical and religious people some of the characters are named after. Very useful and enlightening. Take Erebus for example… The Bad The only big problem I have with this book is somewhere in the middle, when reading about the events surrounding the world of Murder. Parts of it seem disjointed as the author skipped around to different parts of that story arc with flash backs of a sort, so if it seems confusing do not worry. It will clear itself up. Otherwise I loved the book

#horus heresy #horus rising #black library #games workshop #book review

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sparda3g · 6 years ago

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Attack on Titan Chapter 117 Review

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What a time to be a fan. You have the anime covering an intense arc; you have the manga covering an intense arc so far. What’s even crazier is how those two parallel each other all too well. Hell, even my reaction towards the fight is similar; the only difference is I’m rooting for Reiner. If you thought the anime was the only adrenaline rush to receive for your fandom need, then this chapter will grant you another. What a rush.

When it comes to a full-fledged battle, Isayama puts his A-game on and delivers some of his finest work. Case in point, this chapter; the entertainment, the investment, and the suspense are top notch. Before things go straight to hell, we get to see Armin and other Survey Corps to react to a sudden invasion, and they have no part of it. They can lay back and play cards, while The Yeagerists are up there getting rightfully deserved slaughtered. I know I’m a sadist for saying that, but they had it too good for too long. I believe Armin and his friends will join somehow, but for now, let Eren and others have their fun.

Marley Army is dropping their men and weaponry, one in which is a cannon that will come in play. After so many intense moments with titans, let alone shifters, the view of human and titans in the same platform is still chilling. It has that kaiju sensation that takes it serious. I wonder how the live-action failed to deliver that atmosphere. Pieck asks Porco to break the chain, and so, he cuts her hand off. Well, that’s one way to break free. If the shifter didn’t have regeneration, this would have been B-horror movie stupidity level. Time is essence I suppose but damn, that got to suck.

Pieck does shift to Cart Titan and saves Gabi. Best girl and best sister; I can’t wait for her in the anime. It’s interesting to note Eren didn’t think Marley would spring into action so soon, which is why he doesn’t understand their move. Granted, everyone else probably feel the same way, but whatever Eren has in plan, this slows him down significantly. I think I can prove that in the end. Yelena begs her savior to come back inside, but he rejects it. So much for your God. On one hand, did she really think he was going to ignore this? On the other hand, there’s a sign of “distance” in planning. He could just run away, maybe, but he chose to fight in a possible disadvantage state. Why? Yelena could only speculate but she goes ahead and order everyone to protect him.

Eren could only think it was Reiner that pushed Marley to engage war with Paradis Island. Nailed it. Here we go. In this corner, we have Reiner, no longer suicidal. In the other corner, we have Eren, now have Warhammer ability to boot. The stare down got me so damn hyped. You know it when those panels focus those two greatly. My legs shake, Eren roars, charges forward, and the battle is on! Well, after the words from Gabi and others, but they are interesting and somewhat charming.

It’s a good thing Gabi knows Reiner came back for her; now I hope he lives to see her joy, whatever what’s left in her. What I truly like about this conflict is how Marley Army doesn’t act like true evil people, rather normal human beings. With the exception of the Yeagerists to an extent, all factions have their ups and downs. Case in point, Magath holds Gabi, relief to see her alive. This was a nice moment that subtracts his character from being a total hard-ass. He may be a general, but he’s a person first and foremost. This is why I’m very invested with these characters and plot.

It’s a shame Falco is still in prison and bonus, he is enslaved to Zeke due to spinal fluid consumption. I am reminded that Marley doesn’t know Zeke’s heritage and why Founding Titan has yet to trigger anything. It’s only when Gabi realized what Zeke meant about having the royal blood and the Founding Titan together. She may be traumatized, but she can still put two-and-two together. Now that they know, they can’t afford Eren and Zeke to unite. They made it sound like they will perform fusion. But seriously, I can imagine the pressure when Zeke does show up. I like the closing line with the world depends on this very battle. No more war; the Founding Titan will be eaten today. Now, let the battle begin!

As expected, it’s intense and exciting with Reiner and Eren brawling in a death match. Amazing how we have seen them fight many times before, yet it continues to be thrilling as always. Eren breaks the hell of Reiner’s face, but he’s not going out like that. He slams Eren like an MMA fighter, only to receive a kick. The raw display of combat sequence is tensed. Jaw Titan joins in to redeem himself as a nutcracker. No joke, he even notes it and takes it on Eren. That’s funny in its own right, but he’s not wrong though. He and Reiner tag team against Eren, but surprise, surprise, Warhammer’s ability unleash. This is the real King of the Monsters brawl; save your ticket money!

The Yeagerists gained confidence after the two titans were stabbed, finishing the job. The last thing I need is them feeling smug. That’s all ruined when the best girl takes aim and snipes Eren right through the head. No wonder she has fans. You got to love her for owing up for her words about brain splatter. That shot stopped the momentum quickly and the faction gets gunned down by Marley Army. This is what they deserved. If only Floch was there; then, it would have been incredibly satisfying. Two things to note. One is Yelena is losing her hope when Eren looks close to be defeated. I can imagine her mentality will go completely insane if he were to die, but she is getting there. On a more important note, I believe Onyankopon left to do something. Maybe releasing Survey Corps? That’s worth considering.

The battle resume for more intensity. Pieck snipes another round at Eren’s head and this time, it’s brutal with one eyeball out of socket hanging. Damn. Magath’s line really makes Marley as the good guy; needing a hero to save the world and Eren cannot be the one. Throw this chapter at someone, they will think Reiner is the protagonist. Speaking of him, his line to Eren is strikingly heartfelt. Despite Eren’s intention isn’t similar to his, they can relate in many grounds. People have suffered from their action; both have suffered to themselves. They have done a lot of burning bridges and what not, so he wants to put an end to Eren’s struggles. The emotional connection is deep, even on different paths; may consider him as a foil character. It’s why this battle has been intense; it’s personal and kind of emotional.

Eren is somewhat a wild card since lately, his intention is questionable. Because of it, it doesn’t really matter who you root for; everyone there has a reason to fight. Sure, his faction is full of crazy people, but he himself must have his own agenda. His struggle is tensed, outnumbered across the field, but that face of fierce determination when Reiner was close to devouring is striking. That face defines “a man with a mission” perfectly. I got chills just by that panel.

He shoves his hand through Reiner’s inner mouth so hard, it breaks off his jaw. The brutality in this chapter is crazy, but that’s the way fans like it. The roar from Eren is chilling; that roar screams his last stand. If Reiner doesn’t stop, Eren is done; at least, that’s the feeling I had. That page is so intense, I have no idea what was leading to. That sensation is unnerving. A random crater hit Reiner’s face hard, knocking him away from Eren. It’s reunion time!

It’s clear who threw that at Reiner, but the momentum build to the culprit is hype. The greatest fear for Marley is for the brothers to reunite, and that time is here. Zeke returns to save Eren like a good older brother. The next chapter is already hype, but I wonder how much disadvantage Marley is in with Ape Titan around. They don’t have a Levi, so this is going to be difficult as hell. Before closing, I want to comment on Eren’s reaction towards Zeke’s arrival. I don’t know if it’s a look of shock in relief or concern way. It’s been a while since Eren looks “vulnerable” to something. Did he not want Zeke to appear or something? Perhaps I’m looking into things too deep, but you never know with a series that leaves subtle hints. We’ll see.

I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter for its intense action, thrilling sequences, and a really good hype boost to end with. While I did cheer for Reiner, there are moments where I cheered for Eren as well. It’s a battle that no one is really a villain, unless you count the cult followers, seeing how they treated others awful in the past chapters. Regardless, every character has a reason to fight. It was captivating from start to finish. The sequences are tensed and gripping. The ending left me wanting the next chapter right now. I can’t say this is the endgame, but it’s certainly the turning tide that will eventually lead to one.

#shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #chapter 117 #review #spoilers

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flowing-paint · 7 years ago

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Gamers or hoarders?

First and foremost: I apologize for the long blog post but I've been thinking through it a lot so... bear with me on this. The second point I want to clarify in advance: this topic is heavily affected by your surrounding environmental conditions, so, your mileage may vary.

Tabletop wargaming is really a niche type of hobby and therefore the numbers involved, whether sales based or people based are usually pretty small. I mean, there is no possible comparison with video games or even, let's say, board games which are closer to us in size but still have a couple more zeroes added to their figures. Lately, I caught myself thinking about this more and more for a couple reasons: 1) I started this blog to share my thoughts with other people and 2) I am actively trying to advocate tabletop wargaming in my local area. I usually end up asking myself: What's the reason for this difference??

I believe the main difference is the cost of the hobby as a whole: do you really want me to calculate how much a complete Warhammer 40k army is and compare it to the most expensive board game/video game around? The comparison is trivial. We are roughly comparing thousands of dollars vs. maybe a hundred bucks. And we are not even taking in consideration the humongous amount of "pro-tools" that companies sell us (paints, brushes, and all that jazz.).

Differences, however, are not economic only. Let's assume you bought all the units you need to play your favorite tabletop war game, you head to the store and you want to start playing: how do you plan to do that without (at least) assembling the miniatures?? I have never seen people playing with minis on the sprues but that may be the best idea if you want to play immediately. Board games and let alone video games are instant gratification machines and this is a killer feat in this busy new world.

So, putting it differently, having few models to build/paint should lower the entering barriers to the hobbyist-to-be and, in theory, we should see tons of small games with few models and people flooding the stores playing wherever they can. But this is clearly not the case.

Again, in theory, there are games that help to scratch these itches and they're called “Skirmish games”. You have probably heard of them. Some examples:

Mercs

Malifaux

Infinity

Song of blades and heroes

Warlord

... and many others. The problem with these games, despite the buzz they generate, is that they always struggle to gain traction. They may sell good but there seems to be a sort of upper limit they cannot move beyond. I mean, hardcore gamers tend to buy them as soon as they hit the (web)stores or even Kickstarter them but I feel the sensation that it’s hard to get them in your friendly local game store. The obvious consequence is that new casual players almost never jump on board. So, what’s going on?

Here we are, finally to the point of this long rumbling: I think that in the tabletop wargaming world the 80% of the “casual gamers” are not gamers at all... they are just hoarders that get over-excited by the big companies and keep buying the new shiny models just to paint them immediately and never field them. There is somebody that call this “the shiny syndrome” and it seems to be a hardcoded feat of the human brain: we always tend to go after the newest, shiniest, super-hyped trinket, no matter the real need. Humans are also known to be a herding type of animal, so, when you see your friends buying a crapload of new models, you simply feel the urge to jump on board. The problem is that, by doing so, you do not get to play at all ‘cause you’re always painting the new stuff and leave all your old projects unfinished.

When I used to play Warhammer Fantasy Battles back in the nineties (in Italy) I admittedly played very few battles because all the friends in my company were nuts about the new big miniature hero or the new book or whatever and we ended up having little to no time to play. Things are not different in the Kobe area where I live now: in the official WH store you see people buying tons of models and spending ages painting them and after 3/4 months down the hobby barrel, they still have to read the rules. It goes without saying that they haven’t played even once. I saw a crazy customer that was able to buy 5000$ of models and now keeps complaining that he does not have time to play/paint/etc. But when new stuff comes out he is the first on the buyers list.

The obvious consequence of having to deal with this kind of audience is that it’s overly complicated for small or indy firms to keep these people constantly satisfied: you cannot compete with the bigger companies that keep unloading crates of new models or faction every year and you end up being ignored and eventually become obsolete. Maybe some die-hard fan will still be interested in your system but he/she will eventually lose interest because no new models will ever be available again and that can put down even the most motivated gamer. So, are all skirmish games doomed to be fade out on the long run? Maybe yes. And maybe no. Infinity seems to be a pretty popular game (keep in mind the scale) as the company keeps producing new miniatures on a regular basis but, on the contrary, Mercs seems almost dead after only a few years of popularity. I find this comparison to be a clear example of the above concepts: while Mercs 2.0 was known as one of the most streamlined, action-packed and realistic rulesets on the market, Infinity is widely recognized as sightly farraginous and unbalanced, even by the people that play it regularly. Still, the latter is still selling well while the former is fading out (to the point that factions are not in stock even on the game’s homepage).

What do you think? Are the hobbyists in this niche world really “true” gamers? Or are they just collectors (aka hoarders) aiming for the newest and coolest mini on the market? I would really like to clarify this kind of behavior as I feel this heavily impacts the chances you have to find more players in your area and, consequently, the fun you can get from your gaming hobby.

I know it’s getting harder and harder but...

.... game on!

#miniatures #wargaming #warhammer #mercs 2.0 #malifaux #warlord #infinity

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