#counterplays

[atragicallycrispydude]

I recently hit 501 matches with Axl, and thought it would be fun to look at the distribution of characters in the tower as I got to that point.

This data comes from a 10-and-a-half-ish day period from roughly 08:45 September 13th to 23:30 September 23rd. Most of them are Floor 10 and a couple Celestial Challenges, with some Floor 8 and 9 from when I immediately started with Axl.

First, a graph of the raw numbers. Not much to say here, but it is an extremely uneven dataset.

Now, things get fucky. The distribution of the characters was so skewed that I had to split the pie chart into two pie charts, one with all characters who had more than 4% of the total matches, and one with all who had less than 4% respectively. The numbers don't perfectly line up, but whatever - this is the best I can do to make them all visible. (and nago still doesn't show up :p)

Here's the raw data, it was genuinely impossible to put in a pie graph with everything visible.

The most interesting thing about this data to me is that I-no, Jack-'O, and Johnny are so common, and that Nago and May are so uncommon. Johnny makes sense, he got crazy buffed so more people are playing him, however, as far as I know not much has changed about I-no and Jack-'O. I really didn't know anything about fighting them until these 501 matches due to how uncommon they were. I barely saw them, I-no especially. Nago and May I remember being EVERYWHERE, but they just kinda vanished I guess.

Not included here are the winrates because I fucked up when I sorted and didn't feel like putting them all back in the right place. Stand-outs are a 100% rate against May and a 0% rate against Nagoriyuki. I managed an average winrate of 55%, by some fucking miracle.

Slayer, of course, occupies the top spot for matches. I admit I have been seeking out matches with him - I know how to fight him, and his strength has attracted a lot of players who don't quite have a complete grasp of the fundamentals (or who just don't know how to fight Axl,) but this was never more than walking up to a terminal with a Slayer when first entering the Tower.

The takeaway from all of this? IT WAS HELL. ALMOST ALL OF THE TOP 9 CHARACTERS I FOUGHT ARE THOSE THAT WILL WIN AFTER TAKING NEUTRAL ONCE. FIGHT FOR A MINUTE AND LOSE BECAUSE YOU FAILED TO KEEP THEM AWAY FROM YOU ONCE. Was a lot of fun though! Don't let tierlist position keep you from playing the characters you love, and GO FUCKING PLAY AXL LOW.

All of this data was taken from RATING UPDATE. It's really cool go check it out.

[doedipus]

the season 3 gio experience is doing increasingly fake chave trovao setups and realizing literally nobody besides gio mains actually know what the real ones are

[waheelawhisperer]

Ceobe: I'm so hungry... Nearl, sweating, looking at her: H-how hungry..?

Everyone on Rhodes Island keeps a stash of honey biscuits on hand for precisely this eventuality

[moisette]

Trickster is my favorite Killer in DBD. Is he super strong? No. Is he the hardest Killer to master? No. Do I find him fun to play and play against? Yes. I find throwing knives at people extremely fun. I typically use them even when it's better to just M1. Why? Because it's fun and I like being a show-off. Why play optimally when you don't have much desire to win and you prefer to have fun instead?

I like his lore and design. I wish one of his other cosmetics were his default ones, though. I also question the designs of some of them xD; I'm not into K-Pop anymore but I used to be. I listened to music and watched shows with Bestie. That was a million years ago... I also was heavy into Visual Kei for a while so I just like stuff like that. I didn't have a favorite band but Bestie does - Dir En Grey. She LOVES the band so much. Her username is Deer in Gray because someone referred to her as that xD

I know people don't like Trickster and that's fine. What bothers me is people deciding how I'll play based on the Killer I'm playing. I'm usually pretty chill because I have the most fun just fucking around while playing him. I want to chase people, stab them a lot, hook them twice, and let them go. I don't go out of my way to ruin matches for the Survivors and I typically don't play like a dick or BM. I've had people say "Wow a Trickster with a personality!" Is that rare? If I do end up playing like a dick, it's because someone provoked me. I've caught Survivors griefing their teammates so I wasn't very nice to them. I've seen people ragequit over petty shit so I smacked them on the hook for ruining the match for everyone.

[awordbroken]

the seventh win of my all-pages round had NO business being this dramatic

[kieuecaprie]

Watching a Splatoon 1 stream at this time of writing and thinking about the early days of Splatoon where it was fun the first few days, then it just got really bad really quickly. And then the E-Liters with Damage Up came and decided you're not allowed to have fun anymore.

Not gonna lie, I will miss it a little bit, there's a bunch of stages we'll never see again unless they bring it back for any future iterations and a couple of weapons and clothes that'll never see the light of day (The Squid Girl tunic for one) ever again.

But what I won't miss is the hideous meta. Apparently it's turned into an invincibility fiesta where you spam kraken and bubbler the most and that sounds terrifying.

The only thing I do not like about Splatoon 1 going is the fact that Moray Towers is among the last four before the servers shut down. That map should die and stay in Splatoon 2 and Smash Ultimate forever please and thanks.

[queencryo]

slayer players are geniunely so stupid its amazing

theyll do 2K into their stupid stomp literally no matter why their stupid halfscreen punch didnt hit, even if they see you blocking low.

i just watched one stomp because i was too far away to hit. baby-tier behavior.

[forcedhesitation]

wifi so bad, can't even play survivor...

[nyxitycatboy]

dead by daylight's lightburn was actually a really good mechanic but because it was the last vestiage of "certain items r specially good against certain character :)" it was axed and while in the process did make wraith and hag be in better places (probably, idk how the adjustment has been affecting hag and i didn't mention artist or spirit bcuz i have no idea how their buff from that is treating them >w>) they cld've removed wraith's unneccesary vulnerability and make hag reworked hag's traps without in the process buffing nurse and removing the actually really good idea of "since this item affects killers but some are way way less affected we can give them their own interactions!"

[alertarchitect]

I'm sorry if this seems kinda out of left field for my blog here, but it's an observation a friend and I made yesterday/last night while playing the currently available Iron Banner mode in Destiny 2 and I don't have many other places to post it.

So, first is some context for those who aren't necessarily into D2, or at least the PvP side of it. Iron Banner, or IB, is a PvP mode that happens 2 times per 3 month season for 1 week each time it happens. Kind of a special event thing. For a lot of people, it's also basically the only time they play D2's PvP. This can lead to moments like me being dimly aware that PvP was in the midst of a SMG meta, and then suddenly experiencing how overpowering some of the weapons at the top of the general SMG heap can be. Especially with the new boogeyman weapon of Destiny 2 PvP: The Immortal.

This thing right here. Image is not mine, as I do not have this weapon on any character.

"But, Arti," you may ask, "why is this little thing so terrifying?" Well, it's simple. Not only is it a SMG, it has the strongest SMG archetype with the second-highest rate of fire, can get ludicrous amounts of range for a SMG (to the point where it can and does overshadow auto rifles, which are supposed to be the automatic weapon option for mid-to-long range), can drop with amazing perks, and can drop with enough points in its stability stat to make these little words right here, the ones that say "high recoil," absolutely fucking meaningless!

Not only that, but it drops from the Trials of Osiris game mode. Trials is a PvP game mode, kinda like IB, but it is the sweatiest game mode in Destiny 2. The reason for this is simple - not only does it drop incredibly good weapons such as The Immortal here, but those weapons can drop as Adept versions. See, there are some examples of end-game content in Destiny that reward you for doing well in them, especially at higher difficulties, with versions of their normal weapons that intrinsically have better stats. Not enough to make it so that having an Adept version with a bad roll is better than a regular version with a good roll, but enough to make strong guns even better than they already are.

So where all of this comes together is, to put it simply, everyone and their mother played a metric shit-ton of Trials this past weekend when The Immortal was released, as anyone that read up on the new weapons and saw what The Immortal was going to be like through the D2 API immediately knew it was going to be the strongest weapon for PvP in the current meta.

This has led to me and my friend, who don't normally play PvP much outside of IB, consistently going up against full teams of people spamming this gun, along with a shotgun (as shotguns are also doing well right now), and barely getting to do anything because of it.

And this was when we had an idea.

See, one thing that is incredibly easy to forget in the face of a meta this dominating is that even in the darkest times, the meta isn't everything. And even weapons that aren't necessarily as strong can still come out to play and fulfill one very important role - counterplay. Because The Immortal may have enough range to push out into being useful at mid-range - but at its core, it has the same weakness as every other SMG. A weakness that is magnified by most of the people running it using it in conjunction with a shotgun.

Range.

So if you, like my friend and I were, are getting frustrated by game after game of being matched against these meta-spamming people trying to get as close to you as possible so they can do optimal damage, do what we did. Pull out your scout rifles and hand cannons and take them out from a farther range than they can reach. Show them how annoying a pulse rifle player being safe about engagements can be.

Make these people that lessen variety suffer through your use of it.

[antiv3nom]

hey ok serious request. please send me asks about strive sin tech. i am actually at a point where i want to be able to explain his gameplan and the small details of how he plays to people and the best way is for me to know that i can, indeed, Explain To People. so. yaaaaay

[torterragarden]

I've been playing Lancelot for less than a week and I've already had more people one and done or rage quit against me than I have playing any other character

[meeeeeeese]

Today in the crown pavilion:

A flesh golem got a job at arenanet.

And someone pvp'd me on Sparcus Fireclash.

[lemthem]

AAAAAAAAAAAAA

[linuxgamenews]

Duelyst is the perfect gift for Linux game developers

Duelyst source code is now released for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Which is the result of the efforts from developer Counterplay. Which is also in support of the free to play game available on Steam. More on that later. At the start of 2020, with heavy hearts Dream Sloth said goodbye to Duelyst. That is why now, two years later, the developers is officially release Duelyst’s Source Code. While the desktop client releases are available HERE. While still looking back fondly at what the little game achieved thanks to the community on Reddit and Discord. As a result, there are some fine Duelyst like games and projects in the making. Through it all, people are still talking about Duelyst. Due to experiencing some major changes in our industry: new technologies and consoles. There are even some massive consolidations over the past couple of years. While only time will tell how these changes will alter the landscape. These shifts might hit indie developers the hardest. Recognizing that these are sole individuals or small teams, they are also vital for the growth and variety of the industry.

Duelyst - Open Source Announcement

One way to support aspiring developers is to release source code from older games. So that anyone can use it to build their own dream projects and games. The Sad fact is that this is a rather rare instance. As many developers don't have the chance to release their code. This is the perfect gift for those looking to forge their own turn-based strategies. They can also decorate their own game with pixel art. Maybe even just rekindle some of that Duelyst magic. There are already early projects taking form. If you want to keep up-to-date or get involved with his efforts, checkout his OpenDuelyst Discord server. Along with a shoutout to Dream Sloth Games for their efforts on launching Duelyst II on Steam. These are just some of the early examples of what possible with Duelyst’s source code being out in the open. There are no strings attached. All the source code and game assets are for you to use and for the community to leverage how they like. There’s no approval or permission. So you can grow, sustain, and monetize it however you would like. Maybe even continue support for Linux gaming in the process.