#Combat Tiers

[herssian]

i got into video games later in life and mmos even later than that but i've been reminiscing about WoW and how even though i don't play anymore, i'll never forget the feeling of making my first character and loading into the night elf starting zone. the colors, the music, the creatures, the wonder of adventure ahead. i played when i was in a very dark place in my life and these bunch of pixels brought exceptional warmth and joy. still one of my fondest video game memories

[avnasace]

i miss 1.0 sometimes man, people need to hype jing yuan more...

this man canonically is hugely tall, Beautiful, white hair, gold eyes, has a LION, severe trauma, (probably) also survivors guilt, also a whole general but is kind and respectful and Respected by the people of the luofu, he can definetly hold his own in a fight AND is a mastermind tactician.

did i mention hes beautiful?

[prototypelq]

Wonder if Larian's games could have been better if like, at least 20% of content from them had been cut.

Listen, listen, before you say anything - I love Larian and their mentality. This team is making incredible games, and the amount of creative energy that is poured into each of their releases is incredible. Playing their games is a joy, and hilarious and amazing.

But, but.

There can be too much of a good thing. And I don't think Larian's ever learned that...

Do you know the average percentage of players that actually finish the main story in games? 30-40% if we look at achievements across different platforms. That is 60-70% of players who never saw the end of the main story.

I've been replaying DOS2, and it's a Joy to play through, however the 'joke' that tutorial level takes about 10-15, maybe even 20 hours to complete is...not a joke. There is beauty in hiding some content, so that only the dedicated players find it, but this doesn't exactly work for RPG systems that heavily depend on level&equipment of your player characters, now does it. This basically forces players to clear out the entire map to be able to progress the story further, and while the tactical aspect of this game is big, I doubt your average player can use it to beat difficulty&enemy level curve.

I had a big DOS2 phase before, my last memories of the game are Beast's quest (BEST COMPANION WHY IS NOONE TALKING ABOUT HIM) in Arx, soo I've been somewhere very near the end of the game. I never finished it because I was frustrated with a lack of direction for the main story for a long time, and Arx was the point where I jumped games.

So yeah, I believe cutting at least 20% of content from each of the acts of that game would have helped keep the main story in focus, plus the time to complete the game might have been more affordable.

Another thing is, from the documentaries on DOS2 development, and with the Larian saying that BG3 production took the studio much closer to the edge of closing, Larian seem to have a systematic problem of forever chasing their ambitions without really caring about their costs. DOS2 development was described as 'trying to build a plane as it is taking off', a lot of features for the game have been added last minute, and BG3 release players are sort of in the same boat. So yeah, some content cutting would have helped out the studio themselves quite a lot, or let them have more time for quality testing and polish.

tldr: I believe Larians are amazing but also head over heels in their production, their games are huge and the nature of their rpg mechanics forces player to play through everything,or never finish the main story, plus the studio have a history of releasing arguably unfinished games*, so I believe they should consider cutting content for future releases both for the studio's sake and to improve the player experience

*don't @ me, DOS2 and BG3 were arguably unfinished on release. That said, Larian's 'unfinished' and Average Game Industry 'Unfinished' are very different instances, I meant that Larian clearly would have benefitted for some polish time before release

btw why the Hell are there built-in Larian-approved player modifications for the games, however Turning Them On is a crime that disables achievements??? Larian, my guys, why.

[queenlua]

i saw someone describe FF16's storytelling as everything they hated about FF14's storytelling, and

i am (1) intrigued by this description, if any FF14 enjoyers/haters can confirm? and

(2) i absolutely have a selfish fox-and-the-grapes interest in this statement being true, because i've spent years with everyone telling me FF14 Is So Great Lua You'll Love It So Much The Story Is So Good Just Try It Out Join Our Server, and i've resisted because i don't have several hundred spare hours to pour into an MMO, but. if it turns out it's NOT EVEN THAT GOOD i can rid myself of fomo forever

[n1ckelpistol]

@ilayerei madness tier list (ama la serie es su favorita)

[luckthebard]

Me, watching the combat in the back half of this episode: “Fighters!!!!”

[itsclydebitches]

Not the achievement I was expecting but can't say I'm upset 👀

[xamaxenta]

The pain and suffering never ends

POV: you’re a newly enlisted PPDC Cadet assigned to the SEA Shatterdome to further your training as an upcoming pilot, your first class is physical and combat training with the Fightmaster, LTC. Portgas, you’ve heard many things about this man, that he’s lost someone special to him, that he solo drifted his own jaeger, that he doesn’t fuck around when it comes to his duties, they say LTC Portgas barely smiles and when he does it never really reaches his eyes.

[osbob-the-existent]

Strange dream time: had a dream of a meme of a map of Metru Nui that expanded the city hugely. There was the causeway leading off the city, but it was expanded, including an extensive section that came out underwater (marked in purple as "in the middle of the possible death", while the causeway and docks were labelled "huh, sure smells like possible death here" in bronze. There was also a crab embedded in the rock, so big it actually appeared on the map, labelled "peak crab" in red) Then the city had a silvery descriptor I can't remember, minus the bottom left corner where the causeway came out

And then all the upper right just zoomed out, and was denoted "The Glimmering Sun" (apparently after the fic that fleshed it out). Essentially, the original Metru Nui was one part of the rim of a huge ringlike city surrounding some other large structure. You know how the Mata canisters had a big raised ring, then the dip in the middle before rising up at the mask? Like that- Metru Nui is just a tiny portion of the whole, an axlehole in the broader structure.

It should be noted that this map definitely has some weird stuff in it: I think Mata Nui was supposed to be underneath, and Metru Nui existed on a floating island somehow (such that Mata Nui existed "in the middle of the possible death" and was very close to Mahri Nui) with no visible way to get between them. Also the larger city had smaller sections inside it that presumably has their own memes about them, but alas I didn't zoom in enough to see.

This is very scattered, and probably quite silly, but hopefully it inspires something. Who knows, maybe in some bizarre form of divine citogenesis I'll inspire The Glimmering Sun, and will see this map in future. (Footnote before I go, the phrase "divine citogenesis" gave me such a spike of deja vu I feel like I saw making this post in a different dream years ago. Funny, isn't it?)

[fairyzibbie]

The only tier list that matters: the cuddle tier list

[epicness1000]

A Honkai: Star Rail tier list of my thoughts on the characters so far (bound to change as I am far from catching up to the current point in the story)

[boghermit]

I like WoW but WoW could never ever compare to the freedom that FFXIV offers. You can just be a crafter and sell shit in FFXIV. That can be your entire endgame. WoW could never.

[vounoura]

the maister system and the new 'find vocations out in the world' system is...ok, but I prefer the old colour system

[originalmadcom]

Hank: Pick a card. Any card.

Agent: ???? *Hesitantly picks a card*

Hank: *Stabs them* Wrong card.

[kinfraught]

kind of want to plot w someone yasuko training Arc: since she probably sees herself as weaker sorcerer given her innate technique isn’t necessarily combat orientated. shikigami use is probably her go to as a means to hide behind them initially.

i think a cool character development moment could be someone instructing her in close-combat strategy; wherein she learns how to utilize her innate technique offensively - i guess sort of like a discount version of nanami’s technique. using the precognition of lethality / death to know when to strike, when to back off, how to minimize collateral damage ect