#doing it for the story. not the gameplay

[darkdragon768]

I'm going to grab my copy of eow today (pre-ordered it and I don't want to receive a stupid "you haven't picked it up today" call) but... I think I'll have to force myself to play it (zero motivation) to get spared by the spoilers.

[datcravat]

It seems there's a new lawyer in town!!!

[salemoleander]

Chaos vs. Patronage: How Life Series winners grapple with skill disparity

As the Life Series has gone on and matured into more noticeable patterns, some winners have pivoted to a mentorship/support role to their chosen 'champion'/ a favored player.

Scott spent Limited Life as a duo with Martyn, and then joined a high-skill group in Secret Life that ultimately saw him sacrifice himself trying to get Gem the win. Pearl spent Secret Life with her stated goal being one of her teammates winning, pivoting to support Scar at the end when they'd died. Now in Wild Life, she has outright stated her intent to support Impulse to get the win. (Scar supporting Jimmy in Wild Life may also fit this pattern; we'll get to that.)

In contrast, winners Grian and Martyn² are not sticking to that single-minded attempt to get a player to win, whatever it takes. They will express support for teammates winning, but generally do not take actions that would worsen their own chances of winning/surviving to help a teammate. They aren't playing "meta", which here means putting all their resources into one person.

These two categories of behavior ultimately reflect the Winners' approaches to answering the question of how to balance disparate skill levels in the series cast. (Second half of writing + footnotes under cut.)

Grian has spent game after game altering mechanics & playing with randomization to try to level the playing field without directly intervening against specific players.³ Martyn is invested enough in the narrative/story that making less-than-optimal decisions isn't hard for him or atypical (this is the player who beelines for the Nether every single season).

It seems like Scott and Pearl realized they're very strong players and are interested in nerfing themselves more actively... but they still don't want to throw the match. The compromise there is to put their effort & skill towards helping another player achieve victory.

A case could be argued that Scar is moreso the former group by nature (he's similar to Martyn in his penchant for making entertainingly bad decisions that render nerfing unecessary). However, after witnessing multiple seasons of Scott & Pearl acting as mentors, seeing them compete head-to-head in the game he ultimately won, mentorship now seems like a normalized route to take once you're a winner.⁴

¹ Unsure if BigB in LimL counts? They were a duo, but Scott fomenting Martyn's win seems to be what kicked off Pearl's dedication to support another player.

² Cleo is a winner but they do not fit this analysis for a variety of reasons I don't want to get into. So I won't, bc this is a tumblr post & not an academic paper. Ignore that there are footnotes and an academic-ass title

³ Grian seeing Scott win: "Oh no I've created an unbalanced game. Ok lets randomly assign players together to try to balance things... why has RNG betrayed me?!" RNG does not stop betraying him btw. I have another post in draft about this but it's kind of nuts how dedicated Grian is to Not Rigging The Game Even A Little.

⁴ Incidentally imo this is what will force Grian in the next few games to either end the series, create dual winners/some other atypical win structure, or bust his ass trying to get a second win & break that taboo. Based on his game design so far, he can put up with a bit of interference, but ultimately will not abide "we all do schoolyard tradesies on who gets to win until everyone gets one".

[alxandergoth]

in another lifetime... | (pillowfort 18+)

MILA I OWE U MY LIFE

[thebramblewood]

Presenting... The Mourningvale Files.

Tag / Next

[crows caw overhead]

[leaves crunch underfoot]

Naomi: Are you sure this is the right place?

Micah: It has to be. I checked the map at least a dozen times.

Naomi: [shudders] Well, I'm creeped the fuck out, and I'm calling Grandma Cassie. Shit! Straight to voicemail.

Micah: You know she never leaves her phone on in the Realm. Anyway, this is it. Mystic Crossroads. Mourningvale. Just like she said.

Naomi: What is she playing at, and who the hell is this friend who owed her a favor?

-

Naomi: I don't like the looks of this at all.

Micah: I don't know. I'm kind of into it.

Naomi: You would be.

[catamaris]

It's so fucked how they suddenly removed cabanela from the remastered 2010 official art. i'm assuming they thought he might be too "spoilery" of a character (despite first showing up in the same chapter as kamila)

they took him out back and shot him

[simssong]

old memories; In emotional times like these, even the deepest feelings rise to the surface. Can Harper leave the past behind, or will it pull her back in?

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 // gen 7

[aurorangen]

Robbie was fretting over seeing his sister and Vincent again. "Everything will be okay," Jayleen said with empathy as she watched him pace up and down and refrain from ringing the doorbell, "Robbie...you're overthinking this, but you can't keep avoiding your sister forever. And you'll be meeting your nephews!" Robbie managed a small smile after hearing those words. Nephews. He couldn't believe how fast time passed; now he's an uncle!

The Reichmann siblings' relationship was still strained as Robbie's stubborn self always interfered when things were going well. "I-I just can't help what I say," Robbie sighed, "You're right, I have to face them. They're my family." When he rang the doorbell, he was greeted with the most adorable babies which eased his agitation. Robbie wanted to turn over a new leaf and he could tell Renee was trying her best. He didn't want to let himself or his sister down.

[softerhaze]

quick birthday party side quest to hook alvin up with jay's neighbor since alvin and sasha got a divorce (womp womp)

[blueskittlesart]

*sigh* thoughts on Nintendo's botw/totk timeline shenanigans and tomfoolery?

tbh. my maybe-unpopular opinion is that the timeline is only important when a game's place on the timeline seriously informs the way their narrative progresses. the problem is that before botw we almost NEVER got games where it didn't matter. it matters for skyward sword because it's the beginning, and it matters for tp/ww/alttp (and their respective sequels) because the choices the hero of time makes explicitly inform the narrative of those games in one way or another. it matters which timeline we're in for those games because these cycles we're seeing are close enough to oot's cycle that they're still feeling the effects of his choices. botw, however, takes place at minimum 10 thousand years after oot, so its place on the timeline actually functionally means nothing. botw is completely divorced from the hero of time & his story, so what he does is a nonissue in the context of botw link and zelda's story. thus, which timeline botw happens in is a nonissue. honestly I kind of liked the idea that it happened in all of them. i think there's a cool idea of inevitability that can be played with there. but the point is that the timeline exists to enhance and fill in the lore of games that need it, and botw/totk don't really need it because the devs finally realized they could make a game without the hero of time in it.

[verathena14]

yknow i'd always had a headcanon that sora was a lot more proficient with magic than riku, but playing Re:CoM really solidified that for me with the difference between their playstyles.

when you play as sora, you have this massive variety of different sleights and spells and summons you can use, which from an in-world perspective, could read as him just... modifying the spells for his own use. I think it would be super funny if he talks to like. Aqua for example and she's like "wait how did you do that. thats not supposed to happen, that's not how magic works-?" but anyway! the point is that Sora's gameplay has a lot of variety and magic woven into it

whereas with riku, not only can he not edit his deck, but almost all of his sleights are locked behind Darkness-Murder Mode™️. So a lot of Riku's gameplay is just "hit things until they die" (also i feel like there's something to be said about the difference between Holy Spiral and Inverse Spiral, which are basically the same attack except HS is when Riku's not in Dark Mode and IS is when he is, something about HS lasting much less time than IS because riku's light magic isn't as powerful perhaps?)

ANYWAYS. i just think it's neat :)

[salbertwolf]

The earth shattering realization the game you have played is the only one like it, there is no other game, there isn't a world like it and you are cursed with that knowledge and abandonment for it, you are happier to have known and experienced the joys of playing, have come out wiser for it, but you'll never get anything like it again.

[rheya28]

Study buddy

[simvanie]

7 Sins Legacy - generation 4 (pride)

Supriya's wedding dress arrived in time for the wedding and it was better than she could have ever imagined. The wedding took place in Myshuno Meadows central park that had been completely transformed to accommodate one of the biggest weddings in this legacy so far. They had invited over 30 guests (which is quite a lot in sims terms, because imagine trying to get all these guests to behave when you just want your sims to get married), and by the time everyone had arrived and was sort of seated, the sun was already setting. But this turned out the best scenario because the sunset made the sky turn all shades of pink an purple. It was dark at the end of the ceremony when the fireworks went off which just looked amazing.

[thebramblewood]

Micah can't help but wonder: could uncovering this house's secrets be the key to unlocking her first novel?

Beginning / Previous / Next

Micah: Hmm. This table seems to be missing something.

There you are! But what are you doing in here?

What happened in here?

[rapidly approaching footfalls]

Micah: Who's there?!?

Naomi: Chill, it's just me. What are you doing in here anyway? Didn't we agree not to go in the creepy nursery?

Micah: [dismissively] Oh, I just got turned around somehow. Anyway, how was it? Tell me everything!

Naomi: Strange. I was expecting bureaucracy, but they're all, like, weirdly self-serious LARPers.

Micah: Wait, what-

Naomi: Sorry, I've got to hit the hay.

[lynzishell]

Prev // Next

Transcript below the cut:

Dawn: I don’t know why I let you talk me into watching this movie tonight. Phoenix: It’s not even that scary, just sit back and relax. Dawn: Fine, but if I scream and wake up Aspen, you’re gonna be the one to get her back to sleep. Phoenix: Deal.

Dawn: [squealing] That’s so creepy.

Phoenix: [laughing] Put your foot down. Dawn: Just tell me what happens. Phoenix: No, you have to watch.

Dawn: Then I’ll watch from here. Phoenix: You’re being ridicu—

Phoenix: [jumps] Shit!

Dawn: Ahaa!!! Phoenix: Just come back over here.

Phoenix: See, isn’t this better? Dawn: Shhh.

Phoenix: Okay but why is he wandering off alone?

Dawn: You’re cute when you’re scared. Phoenix: I’m not scared, I’m annoyed. Dawn: Mhm.

[Both scream… followed by fits of laughter and shushing]

Phoenix: I can’t believe she didn’t wake up. Dawn: [giggling] I know. Phoenix: So, I was thinking, we should get away for a little while. Dawn: I like that idea. What did you have in mind?  

Phoenix: Well, Julian is staying in Chestnut Ridge through the holidays, so that frees us up for Winterfest. I was thinking we could spend it up in Mt Komorebi, maybe rent a cabin for the week.

Dawn: If we were going to do that, we probably should’ve booked one months ago. Is anything going to be available?

Phoenix: I might have something lined up already. A guy at work rented one but he can’t go and it’s too late to cancel, so it’s ours if we want it.

Dawn: Really?

Phoenix: Mhm. It’s walking distance from the ski slopes, and it has a hot tub, and there’s three bedrooms so we can invite Atlas and Asher if you want.

Dawn: You had me at hot tub.