#and that the playstyle should go back to being the same as it was in hades

[ratatatastic]

SASHA LUNDY CLUTCHING ONTO EACH OTHER FOR DEAR LIFE HELLO

THE INHERENT ROMANTICISM THAT IS IN BURYING YOUR FACE INTO EACH OTHER AND CRADLING ONE ANOTHER'S HEADS

CAN YOU HEAR MY WAILS?????? CAN YOU HEAR THEM AT HOW LUNDY IS SQUEEZING SASHAS WAIST??? HELLO?????

[chthonicmoons]

damn. did that many people really not like the original resource gathering system in hades ii? reading the patch notes and seeing they changed it so that you can now access all types of resources as long as you have the tools unlocked, not just the one you decide to take out on a run and i'm honestly disappointed. i really liked that feature and i wasn't really finding it too difficult to get the resources i needed that way? but ig maybe most ppl play faster than me/want to progress the upgrades/incantations faster... idk man. downside of playing EA i guess though! gonna be stuff i like that inevitably gets phased out

[melloianv2]

Have a Good Night Sleep, Dogday AU

Alternative:

Finally, after an month and an half of month, am finally finished.

Before I start i wanted to take back both things I said in my WIP.

When I said its cartoon world, i actually meant was its mostly take place in the cartoon world. it really an Imagination world, as you'll see what I meant during this post.

What i actually meant about its not a shipping au, its not a shipping au between Dogday and CatNap specifically. well there is no couple pairing of the critters existing, just crushes. but its never important at all (besides it only 2 critters.)

Now there is some things that are related to the bigger bodies however it has nothing to do with bigger bodies dogday nor catnap at all. it just about the cartoon world. So not even worshiping prototype exists here.

and I apologize for any grammar mistake I miss.

Anyway on to the post!

About:

About Have a Good Night Sleep, Dogday or HGNSD AU

In a nutshell, it basically two children created entire storyline about Dogday trying to find a way for CatNap to turn back to normal. At least what Dogday thinks because if there was a way to strengthen Catnap (dark essence bottle), then there has to be a way to get him back to normal.

The previous storyline before the brother came was just smiling critters just doing normal activities.

Originally the au was post to be slightly similar to 2016 stuff, but I think it not really "2016" like anymore. This series is post be animated on youtube only, but i have no idea if i should since i need motivation and still have to practice my animation skills.

Just note, some characters personalities are the same, but just altered a bit or a lot. Then the other altered completely

Anyway lets start with the characters that no one will cares about first!

Welcome to the Yearwoods Family.

Family Photo Link

It was- I mean is a happy family! The family are Christians. The family consists 2 children and a sphynx cat

All names of the family are: Mr. Yearwood, Mrs. Yearwood, Amber Yearwood and Kevin Yearwood. (the parents are nameless)

the cat name is pinky. (its a girl)

Out of the 4, Amber and Kevin are the important ones.

Amber and Kevin

Whenever Amber goes to school, she's bullied. She hates it as it ruins her self esteem. But she claims that she's fine and she don't need any help.

--------

Amber and Kevin gets along. Though, Kevin likes teasing and playfully making fun of his sister a lot. Amber usually ignores him or just pretty much says its not funny. Overall, they love each other as siblings.

Every day they play with the smiling critters toys before their mom tells them to go to bed. Amber sleeps with catnap toy or sometimes craftycorn.

Amber and Kevin playstyle is different. Though at the end, they're both obviously equally immature.

Amber's Playstyle:

Amber plays a CatNap, not shocking.... She sometimes play as the other critters (most likely CraftyCorn), but she mainly plays CatNap. And i mean main, she doesn't even let her brother play CatNap for once.

Amber is good with crafting an story, but very very bad at power scaling.

usually when she plays the other critters, they act bit more mature. However when she plays a CatNap, she either being serious or being a joke. there is no in-between.

One of the running gags of the Au is CatNap's powers. He keeps gaining new ability every time. Amber is doing that deliberately so she can win, and counter her brother every time. However when her brother starts winning, she gets annoyed and slightly mad when she starting to lose. But its the entire fact she wants CatNap to win entirely. by going as far as weakening the other critters.

She also pull the "nuh uh" or miss despite the attack was obviously undodgeable.

Kevin's Playstyle:

Whatever Kevin plays the critters, its more jokes and being unserious. sometimes he be serious but then its ruined with an joke. He mainly plays Dogday but he do play other critters. He gave Dogday powers because he thinks its more fair to have everyone with powers. Despite Kevin joking a lot, his powers are usually kind of balanced (expect for the fact Dogday is kind of op not as op as Catnap.) Dogday gains powers too but only if he learns something. The brother often wins.

Kevin likes overdramatizing fights, dark scenes and using powers, mostly because he watch too much action tv shows.

Now that's done, let get to the real AU.

Welcome to Sunnyville!

(i literally had to compressed the file omfg, this stupid image lags so hard everytime i open it..)

Here's a better close up version

Sunnyville is the brightest and cheerful town around! This is the main location where the Smiling Critters resides in. The positivity and good vibes came from Smiling Critters themselves.

There's more than one groups as the known ones are Smiling critters, Nega Bratzz, The Quacking Sisters, and The Ordinarys

The town is mostly nice however there are bullies (Nega Bratzz and The Quaking Sisters), but it doesn't quite override the sheer amount of positivity. Smiling Critters has a reputation in this town, often for their upbeat attitude. Outside of the critters group, Dogday is well liked by adults, awhile children thinks KickinChicken is cool. Not all though fine with their upbeat attitude, especially Nega Bratzz.

The houses are altered but Every single Night, Catnap's house changes.

Well not the exterior, But just the interior does.

The interior becomes an nearly endless mansion with whole bunch of halllways and rooms. turning back around doesn't get no better. Once enter his house, the doors are shut tight enough for no one to escape.

The inside of Catnap's house is described as an dream world or illusion world. Once entered here and manage to end up falling asleep or become unconscious, it would be treated as if the critters was dreaming the entire time. That's because when the sunrises, the interior turns back to normal. Any injury is also gone.

example:

The "illusion house" is quite dangerous, due to it being unpredictable unknown danger. Some rooms are safe, awhile others are not. Some could be neutral awhile other could be a trap. The critters will never know.

Aside from catnap's house, DogDay's house been redesigned in this au too.

Smiling Critters Section

Enough explaining everything else but the critters!

The story mostly revolves around Dogday and CatNap. KickinChicken is an major character. The other critters are very important too, but not as much.

Once wholesome positive team, is now a distressed team. Smiling Critters has to work together to solve this mystery of Catnap and the happenings that are caused by him. Awhile they try to solve Catnap awhile balancing their routines.

At day, Smiling critters just do their normal routine, get ready, eat, play, eat... But as soon as its Night, that's the where the real kicker is. Majority of the events that happens in this AU, takes place at night. At the moment, no one but outside of Smiling Critters area knows what's going on with Catnap.

They try to gather clues and research CatNap to get understanding on what their facing.

The Critters acts like their description.......somewhat. its altered a bit.

About the Other form i mentioned on the about, what was the so called form am I talking about? Well its called Enhanced Form. Enhanced forms are magical forms that gives a smiling critter powers. In order for an Smiling Critter to be enhanced, Dogday must enhance them, as he the only one who is able to do it.

Enhanced forms are strong, at least strong enough to fight the CatNap.

In order for an Critter to transform into Enhanced form, Dogday must use his powers to enchant the pendant (on the necklace). Then, the critter can either grabs the pendant tightly or smack it, causing them to transform into enhanced form.

Dogday can change at will, but he does not have enhanced form, but rather just a stronger form. Though, Dogday don't even need to transform, he can still use half of his abilities without it.

When a critter transforms, their pendant changes too.

An Critter can de-transform by either de-transforming willingly or when they become unconscious.

I will now talk about the Smiling critters separately.

Dogday the Guardian of the Sun:

Makes sense to start with the titular character of this AU.

Dogday is the main character of HGNSD.

Other things that I didn't add due to space:

Dogday is an early bird, he tends to wake up everyone to get the day started. Excluding CatNap, He's the last critter to go to sleep.

full content (but also not) of how Dogday gained his powers: Dogday was slammed multiple times by Catnap (due to the fact he rebelled, fight back and took the risk of letting himself be the one getting the punches instead of his friends), before tossing him to a deep pit. The pit had spikes at the very bottom. Despite Dogday was clearly about to die, he still had some hope and determination left...causing gain powers and fly upwards in result.

Dogday is more powerful than any other critters. He can even sometimes surpass Catnap's powers. Dogday's powers deals with the sun aka light. Dogday's powers are 2x stronger at day but at night, its normal strength of the power.

The AU name is post to be ironic (really just an bullying title since dogday cannot even go to sleep properly because of CatNap) but at the same time, its foreshadowing something.

Dogday is traumatized, but he doesn't show it.

He was horrified at the state of Catnap tall self. But after dealing with him for so long, he's desensitized to it. doesn't means that's a good thing though.

Dogday gets insulted a lot, he gets upset a little but it doesn't really effect him completely. The only thing that effects him is the fact his best friend is even like this at all.

Other Critters

Now the main character is out of the way, let's talk about the other critters (expect for Catnap). They will be ordered from most important to the least important.

KickinChicken the Guardian of the Stars:

(i added the bottom beak on purpose)

Let's start with kickin'

Other things that I didn't add due to space:

KickinChicken is most likely the one who defends his friends from bullying.

KickinChicken powers deal with stars and light. He is almost as strong as DogDay.

He often sacrifice himself in order for his friends to escape to find safety. If Dogday is almost there to being killed, he jumps in to prevent it. Because of his sacrifices....he almost had access to change into form at will permanently.

He was able to change into his enhanced form twice without Dogday's assistance. But it happened in two different circumstances. not to mention sudden change, but it was in a necessary moment.

KickinChicken and Dogday works together sometimes.

No matter how much an critter insults KickinChicken, it doesn't bother him. In fact, he will twist the insult into a positive one.

He considers Hoppy Hopscotch his best friend. They both have an friendly rivalry when comes to any game. They get a bit too competitive....almost destructive sometimes. They always doing the "am better than you" attitude. If one of them lost, they take the lost but still cocky.

KickinChicken usually compliments himself and looks at the mirror in his bathroom.

Kickinchicken secretly can sing. He didn't tell anyone because he wanted it to be personal for him only. Until catnap exists and ruins everything. There's concept designs of kickinchicken in his singer outfit design, but i hadn't finalized it.

CRAFTYCORN the Guardian of Colors:

Other things that I didn't add due to space:

More info about her own magic: she has an specific book to learn her own abilities. She tries to learn her own magic, but it pretty much hard for her too. She struggles to use her magic, when it successful, its usually something small. In her enhanced form, she able to use her magic like she trained for years.

Sometimes Craftycorn's magic is successful either under concentration or distress. And sometimes it fails. She also the only critter who can create her own form without Dogday's help. Though it isn't an enhanced form, but rather a different form.

Craftycorn one day wants her art be display in a muesum

In her enhanced form, she has the powers of creation, unicorn magic and color. Making her quite strong. She only has on specific healing ability called Revival. she can only use this on one critter awhile focusing, and if she gets distracted, the progress will fail.

Craftycorn sometimes ends up finding out some stuff before anyone else.

Craftycorn one time was able to beat Catnap without help.

Craftycorn has a crush on Dogday, she didn't at first though. She was saved by Dogday, causing her to gain a crush on him since then (omg its almost like proto-). She been drawing a lot of pictures of him closed doors.

Sometimes she plays chess with Bubba Bubbaphant. She loses mostly.

Bubba Bubbaphant the Guardian of Intelligence:

Other things that I didn't add due to space:

Bubba Bubbaphant has the power of vision, intelligence and detection. He is able to rewind to able to see an vision from the past. Since he most likely using his powers for investigating, making clues and ideas for any sign for an cure.

When bubba bubbaphant is targeted, he sometimes gets it the worst than Dogday, simply because "he's smart". For example, everyone else will get tied up in one way, but bubba bubbaphant will have 15 different ways of being tied and caged to make sure he doesn't try to strategize to escape at all.

Bubbe Bubbaphant pacifism caused injuries. He never try to switch sides, he's still standing his ways.

When Dogday first gain his powers, He went to Bubba Bubbphant to figure things out. Though Bubba Bubbaphant obviously could not answer how to deal with his powers. So instead he tries to study both Dogday's and Catnap's powers.

Bubba Bubbphant had try to to keep up with Catnap's powers, but he clearly wants to give up at this point because its way too much. Its stressing him out

Hoppy Hopscotch the Guardian of Energy:

Other things that I didn't add due to space:

Hoppy Hopscotch powers are lighting, super speed, super jump and energy. She can charge herself by simply running.

Hoppy and KickinChicken are friendly rivals mostly competitive in games. Though Hoppy is usually the one ends up making it more destructive then it originally is. She usually try to win, by doing things faster. She also view kickinchicken as her best friend.

Extension of the trained fighter: When using her fighting skills, she usual attacks fast. Awhile Hoppy was teaching Dogday, she accidentally gives him bruises in the beginning...

She can be just as cocky as kickinchicken sometimes without using the better than you phrase.

When she is being insulted, she usually insult back.

Even when its fighting with Catnap, she still wants an challenge.

Here an example of one of her sports form

Bobby Bearhug the Guardian of Love:

Other things that I didn't add due to space:

Bobby Bearhug have the powers of healing, enchantment and love. She is able to heal multiple critters at once or strengthen them. Her attacking ability is life drain. She discover this by accident.

Due to Bobby Bearhug's pacifism, she gets injured too but not as bad as Bubba Bubbaphant.

She's has been bullied a lot, despite it all she still wants to show love. She don't really judge anyone, despite people judge her.

She does care about Dogday's situation, at the same time she just feel sympathy for Catnap.

Bobby Bearhug can cook, she mostly bakes though. Her food is delicious.

PickyPiggy the Guardian of Food:

Other things that I didn't add due to space:

PickPiggy have the power of food and mixing. That's it. She's considered the weakest critter out of all the powers. At least she can create certain foods that isn't possible.

She is not a cooker at all, despite having cooking related powers. Instead, she just be the first one at the table when the food ready. Getting large portions of foods....no wonder there's no leftovers in the fridge. (no she doesn't eat the ENTIRE cooked meal, she does let her friends get a plate too.)

■□■□■□■□■□■■□■□■□■□■□■■□■□■□■□■□■■□■□■□■□■□■

CATNAP SECTION

Now....Catnap.. well now you saw how everyone views catnap or at least treat him. Its only right to finally show him now, yes?

He needs his own separate section.

Catnap is the main antagonist of the story.

Catnap....:

Other things that I didn't add due to space?:

Truly everyone is guessing what happened to Catnap, cause no one has no clue.

Catnap powers are either the most strongest or the most weakest... I cannot pick, blame the kids. Catnap has so many powers, even god give up. His powers are the negative versions of dark, psychic, moon, and dreams. He also can send more smokes in his nightmare form, which is from his spores that's on his back. The advantage he has over everyone, his powers at night are 10x stronger....so he can take down all the critters. However the massive downgrade, at daytime, all of his powers goes bye bye, he cannot even turn forms either. He stuck back to just Catnap. Only power he can use is transporting from dark areas. So when the sunrises, he slowly turns back to normal size.

Lunar/Third Quarter Form is usually what he changes into the most, its a mix between the regular form and Nightmare's powers but not having all of its powers. This form is somewhat comic relief. This is where most the jokes be, in this form.

Nightmare form is the most strongest, as he usually do not talk in form. He either wants to put fear or he was extremely angry to change into this form.

Out of all the critters, he believes bobby bearhug is the most insane, ironic.

Catnap at first hated the boot like socks in Lunar form, but ends up being fine with it because it was comfortable.

Unlike the canon og Catnap, catnap committing evil is a complete mystery...or the fact the kids never planned one. who knows.

He has the able to put critters inside a cocoon-like substance, to make them live inside their own nightmare. The victim actually has to find the way to break out of it..somehow

He got the name Boogeyman due to teleporting underneath hoppy's bed and kidnapping her.

Catnap likes pretending to be an magician.

Past Catnap usually likes being around areas that was calm and peaceful. any interruption would startle him.

Past Catnap used go to Bobby to talk about private stuff. Not things that between Dogday and Him though.

He's the only critter in the smiling critters group to not have an enhanced form

Catnap can change his eyes at will. but nightmare form he cannot.

He owns the Lair, which the lair only appears at night. its no where to be seen at day. He got an lair later in the story because he wanted to craft his plans far away from the smiling critters sometimes.

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Now for last one its relationship between Dogday and Catnap (also my last picture i can even post i reach my limit :()

Other things that I didn't add due to space:

Catnap equally insults Dogday, calling Dogday "DogStupid" because he believes that Dogday is actually stupid. Catnap actually insulted Dogday first.

Rarely, Catnap doesn't attack Dogday on certain days, as he sometimes target someone else.

Every since Dogday gained powers, Catnap been obsessed with trying to gain his powers. Mostly because he wants to torture him so that Dogday wouldn't be able to defend himself or enhance anyone no more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

End !! now for the extras and Concepts! sorry no images.

---

Concepts/Removed:

Originally there was going be humans in the cartoon world. Because how care bears and the old MLP had humans. There was 2 humans that was along with the Smiling Critters, Oliver and Maxwell. Oilver would have blond hair pigtails and pink overalls and Maxwell had brown hair. Oliver was the confident feminine girl awhile Maxwell was a curious boy. She and Maxwell would've helped the smiling critters. Oliver would've try to fight Catnap but Catnap wouldn't even attack her, but rather put her somewhere safe.

In continuation of the humans concept, there was going be a castle way up in the sky, as the only way to access it is through a magic beanstalk. The castle had a princess named princess balloobow. She is a human with powers. She would've attempted to cure Catnap's evil but it would failed. She also would've been the one who taught Dogday on how to use his powers properly.

lastly of the human concept, in some epsiodes, The smiling critters would've travel all over the world to find the cure. having an adventure and meeting new people or critters. Catnap still would've been a villain during those adventures. They would've have got clues about the cure, the origins of Dogday's abilities, an hint about what happen to Catnap and the mystery of the current Catnap. However during those travels, Catnap would've slowly become stronger...due to collecting stuff. Dogday would've also become stronger, from looking at the ancient stuff. Sometimes in their travel, they would help people or other critters.

Catnap would've an fourth form called Disenchant form, being the opposite of enhanced form.

The original name of this au was called Nighttime with Catnap. it was also called Smiling Critters and Shenanigans.

Dogday and Current Catnap was originally considered frenemies.

~~~~~~~

Origin of this AU

This start off as an one-off joke where Dogday staying up all night playing videogames with Kickinchicken. Dogday was trying to keep himself awake until he fall asleep. As soon he woke up he was chained up on his own bed, just to find Catnap smiling at him. Catnap says he's about to punish him because he surpass his healthy sleeping schedule and decides to punish him by forcing him to watch Megamind 2. Dogday beg for mercy but Catnap turns it on, causing Dogday try to struggle to escape and scream.

----

Extras

Pickypig is the only character to even question why don't they just attack Catnap at daytime because he's basically weak. (the reason is because the smiling critters do not want to cause commotion and attract large attention from the people in the town)

Possessed Dogday exists in this au, but ill talk about it on another post. Just so you know, He did not get his body controlled in the same way the bigger bodies Dogday was.

Amber first ever toy was the poppy playtime doll. every single smiling critters came out, she abandoned her, but she still in her room.

-----------------------------

End of the actual post ! ! this took too long, and i might forget to add certain details as usual. anyway i hope you enjoy the post, see ya

[bythewillows]

I'm happy I can find a reonagi shipper that doesn't hate nagi's guts lmao. Do you think there's potential for them to end up together (in a general sense, like friends) and build a healthy relationship?

I'm tired of everyone on twitter expecting nagi to mess up again and hating him, and i know it's a possibility, but i want to see some character progression and not them making the same mistakes of the past (considering nagi DOES feel apologetic)

I don't want to think he's gonna toss reo away again like nothing, like so many people say in twitter. It's clear that they don't progress in football when they're together, but that doesn't mean their relationship has to be broken as a whole.

But anyway, i came here to let it all out, twitter is so stressful and even the reonagi shippers are sure of this happening

I completely understand my dude!!! Coming here after feeding off mostly twt for discussions was like a breath of fresh air haha, made me take a step back and realize "hey these two kids just SUCK at communicating" ☠️

First off (long rant incoming), yea it does seem to be a general consensus among reonagi/nagireo twt that Nagi's gonna "throw reo away in breakup part 3" after they lost to Isagi again, even after teaming up at their bests, n it do be a downer. As someone w a similar expressive style to Nagi (basically, bad at verbal communication and taking social cues) I can't hate him for what he did to Reo bc from his pov and with his personality it makes sense how he reacted, even if it was cruel and hurtful to someone he considers a close friend. Especially a friend who treated him like Reo did, which is why everyone's pissed off. But people forget that Nagi didn't even have friends before Reo, and that he probably wouldn't know he was being hurtful (other than the "you're a pain, idc anymore" line bc wtf bro but in hindsight he's a teenager who 1) doesn't think things through, 2) acts on instinct and 3) v rarely feels strongly on anything in the first place, so Reo telling him he didn't care abt the two things that got him into football, Reo's dream and Reo himself, probably tipped him over). Does it make all the suffering Reo went through alright? No, ofc not, and Reo should get an actual apology from his blockhead partner, but it's rlly sad to see so many people hating on Nagi for being 17 years old with no empathy skills (he says he and his parents are more like friends bc of how little they interact,,,,his best friend before Reo was a cactus,,,,give the boy a pass 😭).

((((spoilers for after the bllk manga ch202 here so if you haven't caught up or read the leaks pls be warned!!))))

Personally, I think they will end up together for sure, playing side by side once their character arcs are fully fleshed out (bc they're PARTNERS DAMMIT, THE SPINOFF CH8 LIVES RENT FREE IN MY HEAD)—but whether they stay together after the Manshine v Bastard match can go either way. We saw how well they played together and how the entire Bastard team couldn't stop their first goal against Isagi, showing how powerful their partnership can be, but it didn't last. Even if reonagi are completely in sync, Isagi could still shut them down over and over again (and even Kaiser could see what they were doing) after that first goal bc of two things: Nagi hasn't evolved his ego, and Reo devoted his extremely adaptable (therefore unpredictable) playstyle to accommodate what Nagi would want best at the moment. Because of this, Isagi and anyone with metavision who gets a read on what kind of player Nagi is has the ability to counter whatever they do—because Reo will do whatever Nagi wants to do, and will always favor Nagi. He said it himself, making Nagi the best striker is his new ego and that all other players are second to him, but this is detrimental to both of them because it makes them even worse than how they were in the first selection. Back then, Nagi could still direct plays while playing with Reo once pushed and Reo still wanted to score goals himself (the spinoff expands on this further when they play against other teams and w/ zantetsu), but now that they've both levelled up their skillsets (and bc Nagi likes succeeding + is frustrated that his game making isn't good enough yet), they've turned into an actual codependent team up in which Nagi relies entirely on Reo's creativity while Reo only focuses on Nagi scoring instead of him scoring, even when he has the opportunity to.

It's...bad. Even Ego pointed out how the We Beat Isagi Goal™️ would test Nagi's ego, bc he won't feel compelled to try harder anymore, and that that goal could never be replicated bc the conditions were too perfect both emotionally and physically, so even if Nagi was at his peak at that point, he would no longer evolve past now since his goal of "beating Isagi" was completed in such a memorable way. Nagi is basically stagnant and every other player with metavision can take advantage of that.

Reo, on the other hand, is on the other side of this and evolving extremely rapidly. During Yukimiya's final goal against Manshine, Reo had actually seen through Isagi's pass and moved to stop Yukimiya from scoring (but was tragically a step too late, my poor 99% boi, kaneshiro-sensei pls stop making him take Ls) and even Isagi was shocked he could!!! Reo's raw adaptability is growing to be a real menace and his main motive for evolving this entire time has been for Nagi, to get him back and to get Nagi to acknowledge him as the one who's best for him—so what'll happen when Reo gets to a point where his evolution is so great that when he looks back, Nagi is still at the same place he was during the Manshine v Bastard match? When he comes to a realization that the guy who's literally his own motivation to evolve isn't even trying to keep up with him bc he doesn't have any motivation himself?

I'm p sure you've read this already but @okkottsus has a rlly great analysis on reonagi n their skills + dynamic that puts it into words better than I can ☠️

If you haven't tho pls do it's amazing (and even has pictures!!):

So yea, imo, after a bunch of character development (on mostly Nagi's end bc he's stayed p much the same other than actually liking playing football after the team z vs v match) they'll get back together, but as for now I'm p sure they'll have at least one more break 😭 it's sad but it'll be good for them in the long run and above all else I just want both Reo and Nagi to be happy and healthy for each other. It's weird to hate on or blame one of them for their fallouts bc they're such a complex relationship and they both care for each other a lot in their own ways but oh well, people have opinions *shrugs*.

Anyway I hope this loosely related bunch of rambling is what you were looking for anon!! Ty for the ask, I'm also vv happy every time I see a reonagi shipper who loves both boys and it's always nice to talk abt them <3

[dandelion-wings]

Shogun Loyalists is fully built! \o/ I am keeping it for now--it's the first team I'll boot off the list if I need to get rid of one as I build others, for a few reasons (it does less damage than some other teams and that isn't entirely outweighed by not having those team's particular disadvantages, it's now one of two teams that are crippled against Electro enemies, and being entirely reliant on Kuki for healing doesn't always work out), but it's a fun enough overworld party to keep around until and unless that happens. And it means I get to run around with my girl Sara! :>

I can compare/contrast it with all my other teams, but the one it's most interesting to do so is my Hyperbloom team, because they share some of the same weaknesses (nearly useless against Electro, taking a long time--about the same time--to set up for proper damage output), and by sheer numbers it's simply less powerful, but it has an advantage in playstyle because it's consistent. I was going to say "has constant uptime" but that phrasing gets used about bursts, and while that comes close to being true here too what I mean is that everyone's skills hit cooldown pretty much exactly as I need to reapply them to keep the max-damage setup moving, while with the Hyperbloom team there's always 15-20 seconds* where everything else drops off and it's just Keqing stabbing wildly until I get the whole thing moving again. With this one, the moment Yae's foxes disappear, which is a usefully obvious cue that even I can catch, that's exactly the moment at which I both should and can rotate back through all the girls before bringing Heizou out in time to catch Sara's Crowfeather buff.

*I'm not good at keeping track of things on screen and this interval would probably be shorter if I noticed the moment Barbara and Collei's skills dropped off in the first place, so I could start some kind of count to when they're available again, but I am not and do not and cannot.

[purplekoop]

Still trying to put together my class/hero shooter concept and getting irrationally upset that each character doesn't feel perfect. y'know, in the video game that exists exclusively in my head.

Bold giving Overwatch credit for much of anything nowadays, but it does exceptionally well in having such a large lineup of characters, all of which have distinctively defined ability sets that consist of unique abilities with very minimal overlap. Even when abilities do overlap, usually the context makes them distinct. Rein and Brig have very similar shield mechanics, but the fact that one is a massive ultrawide rectangle on a massive tank character and the other is a slim shield that only covers the body of the marginally above-average-sized support character means they don't feel redundant (in addition to the additional mechanics unique to each of them).

Going back specifically to my project, still tentatively titled "War Bots", there's the benefit of having a smaller roster (15/20 characters compared to OW's 21 on initial launch and 38 as of this moment). Plus, considering it's an original cast, there's not just free room but a necessity for basic "genre standard" archetypes like "the rocket launcher guy" and "the basic healer". However, War Bots has the distinct issue of its Loadout system. To paraphrase, imagine Overwatch hero kits, but you can swap weapons/abilities to customize your playstyle. somewhere between TF2's weapon system and something like Smash 4's custom special moves. This allows for more niches to be filled with a smaller roster (for instance, instead of having Soldier 76, Widowmaker, and Ashe all be separate characters, just have one character who's just "the rifle guy"), but it also means more creativity is needed to make every single aspect of each character's kit feel distinct not just in its own context, but in all the options for all the characters.

There's also the fact that I don't think the characters feel cohesive with themselves enough. The gameplay identities don't feel strong enough, and the abilities put together don't hold to the same scrutiny as, again, something like Overwatch. Once you've played the game for even a modest amount of time, you get into the natural flow of how abilities in a hero's kit synergize with each other and can be paced out in a way that leaves you with minimal downtime if you play properly. Even as a fairly average player, it's easy to find those moments where your abilities click together and you can time them just right off of their cooldowns, hopping from the safety of one action to another just in the nick of time, in a way that feels almost effortless once you get even just a decent grasp on it. The few abilities that stick out from this are notable, like Venom Mine or Petal Platform, being too niche to really warrant using as much as possible. Not saying there's never room for those kinds of abilities, but they need to be accommodated for. Venom Mine works on Widowmaker, a character who's not exactly hurting for a secondary means of damage output, while Petal Platform is/was arguably the biggest thing holding back Lifeweaver, since its utility is so comparably specific compared to what most other Supports offer.

To summarize: I'm rambling. To summarize a little better, there's a lot to designing gameplay for characters for a game like Overwatch, and those examples like Overwatch are admirable in how well they design characters as both parts of a larger cast and self-contained cohesive experiences. Which is why it's daunting to try and design a roster like that myself, even just in the current stage of theory because my ability to commit to projects is atrocious and Unity is still spooky.

In the most sincere summary: I should probably be thinking about something else right now.

[apsupmix]

Tiny gameruining bits

There are games that are fine, good even, smooth experiences 99% of the time, but then they have just few bits that sour the whole game on me. Usually it’s difficulty thing, but not just things getting hard, but game asking for level of understanding of mechanics that nothing before prepared me for. Often it’s just me begin bad, getting hit with sudden challenge wall doesn’t feel good, though sometimes it’s on the game being bit of shit in some small way. But still it’s just few bits, insignificant amount of a game that ends up being main thing I think when I look back to that game.

One of the games I’ve thought like this for longest time is Mirror’s Edge. It was first person parkour game, all about fast smooth movement and momentum. And most of the time, that game felt so good to play, fast and fun. But when I recall the game, what I remember the most are bits where the momentum stopped, because I missed the route ahead or some other issue hindered me. Or that one bit with horizontal bars, swinging and jumping from one to another and missing time and time and time again. Rest could have been player issue, but for that I blame the game for.

This is also how I tend to think about Tales of -games. Most of the time I’m having good time, mashing out combos and moves without too much thought and it works. And then comes bit where the game seems to ask more than that, and I’m completely unprepared. Tales of Vesperia in my mind is defined by the final boss of Act 2, scrambling, running, trying to survive seemingly random party-wiping Mystic Artes. Again most of the rest of the game was good. But when I think about it, I think how I felt like an idiot, not understanding battle system I had played with for tens of hours.

And one more, but this time with some contrast. I hate Sekiro. I loathe it. Thinking about it makes me little bit angry. And that comes from tiny fraction of the game, few annoying bosses and enemies. Most of it comes from me hitting my head against the final boss for couple play sessions, trying, pleading, crying, hoping, praying, for the pain to end. And once it did I was 100% done with the game. But interestingly same doesn’t apply to Dark Souls. There are definitely Dark Souls bosses that have stopped me and made me angry and frustrated, some that I just think are bad and shit and should not be in the games. And same goes for Bloodborne and Elden Ring. The frustrations in those games never color the whole game in the way that happened with Sekiro. If I were to guess I could say there is something in the way Sekiro is very focused, asking for one thing, where rest of Fromsoftware’s catalog gives more options for player to pick their approach and playstyle. That matters, helps at least.

I do feel that my relationship with fighting games is also related to this issue, but I don’t want to go there now. I’ve done enough complaining for the day. It’s not that I just wanted to complain, I think this whole thing is fascinating. Curious how my brain can latch on small things and paint over large wholes with it. Also if I ever say that game is “good but” the ‘but’ might be loud, but small.

[unitedbydevils]

A dressing room leakier than Old Trafford's roof: why fans must ignore the nonsense

Another day of drama for Manchester United. Another day of ridiculous media coverage because guess which club has the biggest news pull.. that's right, it's the (temporarily not so) mighty reds.

Unity is needed to fix our poor form, but I think an inquisition is needed to root out the leakers because it's boring. Years of shit being passed out from Carrington like it's a paper note in a classroom. Grow up.

Does Erik Ten Hag have favourites? Perhaps. Does this mean you should down tools? Absolutely not. The attitude here forgets several things:

You are an asset in of yourself. If you give up, other teams notice. This will lessen your value for a sale.

It also reduces your personal growth as a player. 6 months of not trying might have been the period where you level up your skill set and playstyle.

Football is a game of small margins. Anything less than your best could be the difference between a salvaged point and a painful defeat.

The rumoured leakers are obvious: Sancho, Maguire, McTominay, and maybe Donny Van de Beek (I doubt this last one). Henderson was also rumoured to be leaking before, as was Eric Bailly. Disgruntled players are the obvious suspects, and normally it's correct.

Roy Keane, seen here on Sky Sports, has the right take: players are failing to take responsibility for their poor performances, and are giving up too easily. Could ETH make better subs or quicker tactical changes? Sure. But it's his second season, having finished 3rd, won the League Cup, and reached the FA Cup final, all with Weghorst up front for crying out loud. Give the man a chance, believe in his plans. We can't keep cycling through managers. United will just be a graveyard for talent and a money pit.

The latest 'leak' or drama is about David De Gea's departure. People have short memories. He was a good goalkeeper, and kept United alive for many shitty seasons, but his last few years saw his shot stopping - the star attribute - fall off in terms of stats and success. This is an issue. Onana is a solid replacement for the keeping metrics, but with great feet to help play out from the back.

Our current form isn't derived from Onana playing badly. It's derived from an injured Varane showing the gulf of skill between him and Lindelof, and how important Varane is to getting the best out of Lissandro Martinez. Hence the need for Kim Min Jae in the summer.

Beyond that, Eriksen starting games at 31 with a heart condition. What the fuck. Casemiro looks overweight and slow and needs to be eased in to the season. Last year he played more games in the season than he EVER did at Madrid. Ever. They're playing though because Mount, Amrabat, Mainoo are all injured. All three would be playing if they were fit. They might all feature tomorrow versus Burnley, and they'll make a huge difference going forward.

The media is to blame as much as the players though. The Daily Mail published an article about Onana dropping his car keys. How is that journalism? The same goes for Samuel Luckhurst, seen above. There's a lot of stirring the pot to cause drama, to generate clicks.

The reality is that people shouldn't be taking the Manchester Evening News (M.E.N) seriously because they're clickbait these days. The death of local/regional news; clamouring for clicks and views rather than offering actual substance and building loyalty and respect.

United are in a rough spot, and perhaps this poor start means we fail to make the top 4 this season, but if - in the grand scheme of things - Ten Hag gets United playing the way he wants to then so be it. I want us fixed, and I'm willing to back this manager to get it done. If everyone was pulling the same way, trying, and it just wasn't working then fair dos, Erik might not be the man, but no. He hasn't had his preferred first XI. He hasn't had players properly trying. He's had issues with leaks, player insubordination, scandals off the field, and the takeover farse.

There are better managers, but I guarantee they cannot be arsed with United and the Glazers. Lets get behind Ten Hag, back his authority, lose the dregs and crybabies, and see what we can achieve with a committed squad of battlers and ballers. Up the reds.

[chaoshaven]

Chaotic Card 3-Blazier

Diving right into this one today! Rootin, tootin, ready for...exploring? A super rare card, because this Scout is always on the move. you can even see in the background the land changing from a forest to ice. The forest could be any number of places, but the ice is solidly a Location called Glacier Plains. Art By: Kazutoko Matsumoto

Stat Spread:

Courage:25-45

Power:30-50

Wisdom:50-70

Speed:15-35

Energy:35-45

Mugic Counters:2

Elements:

Fire

Air

Earth

Water

Ability:

At the cost of one Mugic Counter (Hey look, he has 2!!!) You can mess around with one of the Location decks, looking at the top two cards, whichever one you want more, you put on top of the deck, and the other on the bottom. 

...I should explain the Location deck, shouldn’t I?

Alright so you have 6 creatures on your team. You know who is fighting. But the location of the battle is just as important!! You have 10 Location cards in your deck. No more, no less. When it’s your turn to move a creature, you turn the top card of your deck over, which then becomes the active Location. if your creature ends up in an occupied enemy spot, then the fight starts!! If not, it’s your opponent’s turn. They then do the same, turning one of their locations up, moving a creature, maybe fighting maybe not. 

Different locations can do different things, like giving a Mugic counter to each creature engaged in fighting, or the creature with the highest/lowest in a given Discipline will gain/lose some energy. Or both engaged creatures gain/lose elements, or anything else. Different Locations do different things. You should pick Locations that buff your team. High Power team? Use Forest of Life for energy boost!! Have fire damage? Lava Pond for more fire!! Look at the kind of creature’s you put together and look for locations that also play into the same strategy. 

*Ahem* so, with Locations being explained, Blazier’s ability either let’s you look at your Location deck, and decide which place you want to fight next. Or...because it says “target Location deck”, you can also sneak a peek at your opponent’s locations too, and from there choose which you want to deal with. 

Please note however it does not change the active Location. if you’re in a fight and use this ability, it will let you pick the location of the next fight. And while that does have some use, would you rather use his counters to set up the next fight, or cast Mugic in this one?

Playstyle:

Low to Mid Energy, with only one good Discipline in Wisdom, maybe two if you count Power. Unless you have him in a Wisdom based team with good healing or a Battlegear that gives good Energy buff, put him in the middle or back, as a caster or to use his ability. If you want Forest of Life Location up next to use Arias, and use his High Power for an energy boost, go for it! But he’s definitely not a fighter.

Biography:

He’s a cowboy explorer who ventures out to charter maps for the Overworlders to use. He’s not a spy, per say, but if his tribe doesn’t have a map then he’s on an expedition going out to discover it. He never takes a break, as soon as one map is complete he starts to draft another one. Also his voice is great, S1E3 of the show is fun but at 4:35 you hear his voice and it lives rent free in my head. Probably doesn’t help that’s he’s riding a weird variant of a motorcycle.

[henriiiii-1001old]

time to do a silly over here hey is it okay to ask u to pick one au u have, how would the aus cast do in among us. like who the fuck rages. i shit you not someone ran to the emergency button in a game i was in instead of reporting a body, i was very mad. werent even the imposter either. also hi other person who knows who i am. -silly

anyways i have the PERFECT THING to explain how theyd play among us :33333

introducing: tmc as the morning lobby/hafu lobby!!!!!

you dont need to know who they are to understand, just know that i am insane over them and i love among us videos sm still <333333

SO FIRST!!!! we have mark and sarah as 5up and hafu. 5up and hafu are noted as an iconic sibling duo, very much like the heathcliff siblings. they are also MASTER among us players, most notable for their incredible impostor plays (esp when together as an impostor duo). but besides that, mark and sarah play EXTREMELY well and like order to balance out the chaps of the lobbies.

next up we have jonah and adam the iconic dumb and dumber duo, dk and steve, respectively. they mostly do a lot of trolling. dk is mostly known in his older days for “throwing” a lot of the games, which i just have a feeling jonah would do a LOT. he does get a lot better overtime though!!! as for adam, he gets steve bc steve’s demeanor just 100% matches w adam man. and the lobby has claimed that steve can “roleplay as himself”, which is kind of what adam has been doing his entire life. dumb and dumber can be a powerful duo if they dont throw each other under the bus in the first round and have had some killer games!!!

next up i have thatcher as dumbdog. dumbdog is usually seen in a dark green color, which my brain just went “oh yeah thatcher lol.” however, dumbdog is a mix of a serious and silly player, going along with bits that he thinks are funny but also still being serious when he needs to be. i just think that captures thatcher SO WELL. also dumbdog’s laugh is just so good i might just make it thatcher’s laugh i love it sm.

next we have dave as junkyard. the entire thing with junk is that he’s the oldest in the group, and i think dave would play that role very well even if he’s not necessarily the oldest.

and this is where things get blurry. im not sure who would be who at this point, so i’ll just give a lil rundown of everyone else’s playstyles.

ruth is also a serious and silly player but leans more towards silly. maybe she’d be a good kara? idk

WAIT EVELIN IS MAYBE JANET. i mostly know janet for being so focused on being her role, especially snitch, and its just really entertaining imo. i just feel like evelin would be the same way, hyperfocusing on playing her role and such.

the alts are. okay at the game ig. gabe’s mostly alright but when he’s crew he’ll just get sussed for no reason and it pisses him off to hell and back. six is a VERY silly player. he’s probably a really good jester ngl. stanley i’d say is the best one! very tactical and plans out a lot of their actions. plays really good as both crew and impostor. puppet can be a REALLY good impostor if he knows how the specific role works. he does like to do a bit of fuckery here and there though bc he just likes being so silly goofy.

i didnt almost forget eden (lying) and soeaking of i feel like he’s still getting hsed to the game, likes to call too many buttons, gets caught too often, and misreads a lot of situations. but hymn’s still learning!!! he’s got a long way to go!!!!

uuhhh thats kinda all i have for now ig! also i probably should have clarified this is mostly for unholy gift.

[protagonistheavy]

Since I cant trust Gamefreak to make a full and fulfilling Pokemon game anymore, I've been looking forward to spinoffs and the potential those might have. Legends Arceus had some bumps but it was ultimately a satisfying experience, so I think there's still hope that the non-mainline games can occasionally get the love and attention they deserve.

A game I'd really like to see at this point is a Pokemon Stadium 3, with an emphasis on customizing your dream Pokemon teams and battles. Importantly, I'd want to see every possible mechanic brought into one, consolidated game -- mega evolutions, Z-moves, dynamaxing, everything. Let people tweak and adjust any pokemon to their liking, up to their legal limits; pick out the exact nature, ability, EV distribution, etc. Add every holdable item, add every variation of pokemon, let the player pick out every move from their movelist. Yeah I know that this is basically that online Pokemon game but what I'm obviously looking for here is a proper gaming experience, with full graphics, polish, and in-game reasons to grind and keep coming back.

Not everything would have to be frontloaded to the player either. In fact I think a really cool idea would be unlocking these features through a straightforward campaign. That campaign could have the player going through tournaments or facing line-ups of trainers, and with each circuit you beat, you unlock new eras of pokemon to pick from, gradually unlocking their different forms, abilities, etc. Specific customizations for pokemon could even be locked behind challenges or achievements specific to that pokemon -- so you might be able to initially pick between its two normal abilities, but after using that pokemon to get a KO or something, you unlock the choice to use its hidden ability. Sort of like a prestige system, with the endgame reward for each specific pokemon being that you unlock their shiny variant.

Campaigns and other in-game events could also encourage all sorts of different playstyles and combinations. The main campaign can see rules being added, like only allowing certain types of pokemon, prohibiting certain moves or special attacks, etc. so that players have to think about battles differently. Special events could get even wackier and bend the rules, maybe giving every pokemon a specific ability or moveset, or doubling the effectiveness of stat boots, whatever. Ultimately the fun comes from seeing these different rulesets and finding your own way to approach them, while also grinding out different goals to keep expanding your options.

The cherry on top would be making battles themselves more efficient, faster. Text boxes should be minimalized and quick; animations and pop-ups for effects should be simultaneous; buffs/debuffs should all happen at the same time rather than one stat at a time. Add the right polish to battles, give players free camera movement, have the pokemon approach each other for physical attacks, etc. etc. etc.

A game like this could ideally be made on a tighter budget too. Yeah thered be a lot of pokemon and effects to put in but there wouldn't be any elaborate overworlds, bare minimum new characters, almost no need for any human models except maybe the ability to customize your own trainer, no epic plots or involved storylines. Just encourage players to build up their dream team and then play against each other in fast, fresh matches.

[goldentemplariumcrow]

A little Gotham Knights Gameplay Opinion

I'm going to be honest here:

The people who are complaining about Gotham Knights not being all that good are just looking for another Arkham game.

Why?

Because from what I've seen so far, the problem here isn't that the game doesn't hit the expectations as much as it's a whole other type of gameplay. Gotham Knights is closer to a gameplay of Assassin's Creed/Watch Dogs (games I have experience with, reason which I'm using them as reference, but if anyone has another, please, know it's equally valid) than to that of Arkham City or Arkham Knight.

Yes, the world looks somewhat stale and lifeless, but the actions, combat and strategies are much closer to an old AC game (think Ezio trilogy, Rogue and Unity) than those of an Arkham game where you could go feet to the door in 80% of the games and be happy. The storytelling is also quite similar to an AC game, where you get the story through interactions between characters, through text and through flashbacks.

I won't deny that the combat feels slower, and that's a huge downgrade, since we have four different playable characters and they all have very different fighting styles. Personally, I noticed it the most when I put Tim's and Jason's combat side to side. They have the same speed even though it's clear that Tim should be faster, however, here's my take: I think the same-pace-ness may come from the need of keeping the players who go for coop mode on an equal baseline.

Let me explain, because I know this perspective might sound like I'm talking out of my ass.

So, I'll use Tim and Jason in this example, because they're the ones that made me take notice of this problem, but you all can use your faves. Let's start by their specialities: Jason is a brawler by definition, he's built like a fucking tank to take on the beating, our favorite red bear is literally meant to feel like a bear in game, heavy, solid, hit like a brick, but the speed is questionable; Tim on the other hand is nimble, fast, small and light, by his qualities in game, he's built to be a stealthy type (hence his cloaking skill), he comes from nowhere, attacks from the back, and disappears again just to repeat it all as soon as possible, he's meant to be faster... or his playstyle should be.

Here's the catch: playing these in storymode alone makes you adapt as needed, however, when placed on coop, if Tim's speed is higher than Jason's, we would have a typical tank+adc combo. Jason takes the damage and does little damage, Tim comes in and does the damage while Jason is the target of the attention. The problem lies on how the game, apparently, wanted to show that all playable characters have the same value regardless of their fighting style. By putting them all in the same cranked speed, they all have a chance to "shine" when in coop, there won't be one doing way much more than the others.

Now, if anyone asks me, I'll say it as it is: this sort of apparent line of thinking is a BS and one of the greatest sins of this game. A sin so big, I think it's greater than the 30fps for console shit that we're dealing with. Because when one offers to let us play as four different characters with four different fighting styles, one needs to accept and account that each person has their own preference, but they'll be willing to try a new experience by changing the pacing as much as their style.

I say this as someone who has figure out quite early when this game was announced that I'd be the worst Jason around, I'm not a tanker type of player, I'm not even a mid-tanker, I'm the glasscannon mage style or ninja that does the damage and runs for my dear character's life; but I'll be damned if I say I wasn't hype af to play as Jason! To be the tanker and see how good or bad I'd be. I was willing to change my pace and be a walking brick wall in order to have a whole new experience! Now? I feel underwhelmed by how there's no real difference in the way I feel the characters speed.

In short, I understand the reasons, but I think this was a "play safe" decision that will become the downfall of this game in the long run.

Now, let me reiterate: the game is good. But it's a whole other style from what the majority of the public is used and expected from a Batman related game and it'll make many feel uncomfortable and say it's bad.

So, my best advice is that those who are interested/curious about Gotham Knights give it a shot, but don't think of it in comparison with the other Batman games, play it as a stand alone piece. You might surprise yourself with how much enjoyment you can get out of it if you don't compare this game with those who came before it.

Have fun!

[retphienix]

Helldivers 2 ""wishlist"" ramble for fun :)

Just a load of thoughts from my time in the game, my observations on some of the "bugs", and my assumptions on what could be a positive addition/change purely for the sake of rambling about a game I really really really enjoy rather than pointlessly critique because "I know best" lmao

Address the ps5 crossplay damage thing (It's just weird and the inconsistency is causes is not fun to play around)

Remove crits because it's currently making armor as a whole meaningless- why slow yourself down if the game crits like half the time and makes the armor not matter? Probably the same for "headshots" on players because it's not something you can MEANINGFULLY play around so it doesn't positively add to the gameplay in my dumb opinion

Fire granting a CC effect- "scaring" small enemies (similar to how mechs seem to effect scavengers) and "stunning" all enemies caught in the flame (the shock of being caught on fire, for bots it would be a comical ineffective "pat down" on themselves to (fail to) put out the fire) Fire atm is kind of pointless, even the buffed flamethrower is mostly benefiting from the direct damage and not the 'fire'. Since it's "limited" in range / application (napalm strikes, incen grenades, flamethrower) it applying a hard CC on application sounds like a 10/10 adjustment/buff, having some unique interactions like Chargers / Hulks going FRENZY on fire could be nice as well!

Armor effects! I LOVE the armor passives system and am looking forward to more! Armor that lowers energy weapon drain for longer periods of fire! Heavy armor with a radio on the back (visual signifier not a gameplay mechanic in itself) that grants EITHER (as in 2 armor sets) faster orbital cooldown or +1 to each equipped eagle strike! Fire proof armor for the firebugs! Rubber armor for the electric inclined (or rather, their teammates 😬)! Heavy armor should grant an innate passive against staggers! A heavy armor that also grants a passive against slows (MAYBE EVEN EMS MEANING YOU CAN SPAM IT A LOT!)

Apparently Helldivers 1 had healing equipment, I'd love a heal/fix gun! Maybe I'm biased more towards fix though- I'd love a restock nanite gun SUPPORT WEAPON that can fix/reload sentries for that "engineer" playstyle lol

Normal Guard dog could be more lenient on its ammo- restocking from normal ammo pickups rather than just supplies, to grant it more usability to better compete against the infinite ammo laser dog

Some of the "weak" strikes should have less cooldowns + more "call ins per rearm"! Like the eagle strafe.

Some more stats for support weapons at the strategem table would be nice. I'm partial to "full transparency" on stats, I really am, but I respect the dedication to lesser info and the purpose they are aiming for with that- but- I think support weapons should AT LEAST share the same amount of info as the main loadout weapons. Things like the Stalwart being light armor at best, and the MG being medium- these should be directly shown on the strategem screen rather than "Support Weapon / Hellpod" <- this means nothing.

I have nearly no idea what they could do, but I want assist weapons to be buffed significantly so that duos do a LOT more and solo struggles a bit more (in some cases). As is, some duo weapons like the autocannon literally don't ever need to be duo'd- you reload just fine solo so who cares. But then other duo weapons like the recoilless are REALLY slow solo but don't exactly reach "good enough" when duo'd. Being stationary sucks- wasting a backpack on ammo instead of shields sucks- being tied together for the pack sucks, and then the payoff is JUST a reload buff which some (autocannon) don't need. Maybe having like a "safety feature" attached to the payloads that is enacted in solo reload (so they don't blow themselves up grabbing it and twisting their body) but DEACTIVATES on duo loading so all shots loaded by a partner do more damage or bigger aoe? SOMETHING to make duo firing these beasts impactful and worth the plethora of "costs".

Bug nests should count as targets for "aimed" strikes like the laser, just like fabricators. Fabricators should NOT count as targets for sentries/drones.

Either non-AP sentries need an ingame-upgrade/armor perk/overall game update to not target armor and waste all their ammo, or Chargers need to be "dumbed/selfished" down a bit so they ignore non-AP sentries unless the non-AP hurts them or is the only viable target. I think there's a lot to be said on properly using sentries, but there's also a lot to be said on the plethora of armored targets on higher difficulties making most sentries (almost all) unusable garbage. I'm aware a mention of "adjusting the amount of armored targets" has been said- that might fix it indirectly tbh.

Orbital Precision strike (and other call ins but I'm singling this one out) needs buffed. Just full on. It's slow to fire, takes too long to reload when better alternatives reload faster and do more, and it's the first thing players have- it should be "reasonably good" not "call it in and it misses the target and then you wait nearly 2 minutes to try again". I'm a big fan of how many early options are actually cracked if you use them well and learn their quirks, but this isn't one of them in comparison.

Buff the HMG emplacement (and future manned emplacements), why does the HMG do less work than the machine gun? It's a STATIONARY emplacement and it seems to have the same impact? I feel like as a stationary emplacement it could get away with even heavy armor pen tbh

Charger ass should be a weakspot. There's just no realistic reason it shouldn't be in my opinion- it's the one unarmored bit and the best it does is "normal damage", it should be flagged for explosive damages 100% bonus dam and it should get the normal 10% from everything else- meaningfully hurting them with normal weapons through proper gameplay makes more sense than practically needing to blow off their armor every time.

Shield generator relay could use a gameplay-centric buff. Something like tossing a screen on it that a player can do strategem combos into to reinvigorate the shield at will. This could make calling it down and having 1 person "overcharging it" a viable strategy to counter being overwhelmed by bots :)

Ballistic shield could go for blocking melee attacks tbh- it's literally "what if the energy shield took skill" but it's worse anyway- aiming at enemies should let you block em! Maybe in the future we could "plant" the shield to brace ourselves to block even chargers if properly positioned (unrealistic, that's a lot of heft, but maybe a future shield design that drills into the ground for a sturdy stance)

Super samples being difficulty tied, rather than difficulty "influenced" kinda sucks. Wish they were possible as rare spawns in points of interest elsewhere, with increased chances per difficulty. Also weird that they spawn in a specific poi so often like why not spread around like the others? Even just tossing supers on daily order reward tables would be nice- I just think I dislike the difficulty gate for them when higher difficulties are already rewarding in and of themselves.

[gamedevhardplsunderstand]

The Team Fortress 2 Competitive Dilemma

Team Fortress 2, the classic team based first person shooter released in 2007, still has a strong dedicated community to this day. Many enjoy its more casual approach to team shooter, while others prefer to push their skills to the absolute limit. TF2 being made in the Source Engine, allows for varying degrees of movement, which pushes the skill ceiling higher. With a game like that, naturally players want to play in a high skill environment. It will be surprising to some to find out that it took quite some time before the game had an official competitive/ranked mode.

No Competitive Mode?

Up until 2016, Team Fortress 2 never had an official competitive mode. The community had to step up to fill that demand, so they organized their own leagues, tournaments, scrims, and pick up games. But the  competitive version of TF2 is quite different from the regular casual version. For one, casual TF2 is 12v12, while competitive is 6v6 (dubbed 6s or Sixes), with class and weapon restrictions. This is the most common version of competitive that the community plays. There are also other versions such as Highlander, which is 9v9 and each member of a team plays 1 of the 9 classes. Valve took a note from the community to create their own “official” version of competitive, which was released in 2016 with the Meet Your Match update. Suffice to say, the mode flopped hard. 

Why Official Competitive Failed

There were a lot of issues when the mode was first released. Queue times were long, players weren't penalized when leaving, and joining a competitive game messed with your settings. Today, not many people play the mode. People who wanted to play competitively stuck to the community’s version. There is also an issue when it comes to the ruleset of the official competitive mode. It's 6v6 with no weapon or class restrictions; the reason why the community’s version has restrictions is due to years of playing and finding certain weapons or team compositions very unfun to play against. There is also an issue with the map pool, as some of the maps are not really viable in competitive. Well, why didn't valve just take the community's version of competitive and put that in the game?

Community Competitive Is Not Perfect

From a game developer perspective, you would find the class and weapon restrictions to be limiting. You’d want to show off your game to the world, and you can’t really do that if some of the things that you created don't get the spotlight. Sixes has been criticized for being stale, due to the weapon and class restrictions. A team would always consist of 2 scouts, 2 soldiers, a demo and a medic. Though at least Sixes leaves room for some off-classing to change the strategy a bit, the same can’t be said for Highlander.

9v9 is too many players for a competitive game, other Esport titles usually don’t go above 6v6. In addition to that, Highlander restrict the players to the class they chose and doesn’t leave room to change the composition. Faced with these problems, the community came up with Prolander which attempted to be a middle ground between Sixes and Highlander. The game is 7v7 with a class limit of 1 per team, and each team gets to pick and ban weapons. This was to add variety to class lineups and prevent teams from sticking to a specific playstyle. Unfortunately due to many reasons it is no longer played in any of the active leagues, and the community went back to Sixes and Highlander.

Why Is It So Hard To Just Add A Competitive Mode

The fact that the competitive and casual versions of TF2 are different, creates a whole host of issues. From weapon/class balancing, map balancing, etc. Some players suggest that the developers should make casual the same as competitive, that way balancing would only revolve around 1 version of the game.

But making such a drastic change would alienate a large portion of the player base, since most of them aren't competitive players. However, I believe it goes deeper than that, one could argue that Team Fortress 2 has always been designed as a casual game. The developers have expressed trying to solve the problem that every online team based games face, 1. Your team is bad and 2. You have to cooperate with them. They solved this by minimizing teamwork as much as possible, and instead focus on individual experiences. This was the foundation that made Team Fortress 2 the game that it is today.

In other FPS games, they would balance the game based on the highest level of play, since casual and competitive are mostly the same, this usually works out. But TF2 was designed to be a casual game, so balancing the game based on competitive play might not be best for everyone.

Conclusion

Is there really no hope for competitive players? How should the developers bridge the gap between casual and competitive? In my personal opinion, I don’t think they have to. Not every multiplayer fps game should be an Esport. TF2 has a large diverse player base, from casuals, traders, competitive players, or even friendlies who enjoy the more social aspect of the game. In trying to bridge the gap between casual and competitive you risk alienating the rest of the players. So if the players want to play competitively, they could just play community competitive. But it would be nice to have an “official” competitive mode with good incentives. If the devs wish to appeal to more competitive players, they should be more proactive in implementing changes that would satisfy both casual and competitive players. While some mechanics might be impossible to balance in both modes, I think they should try at the very least. 

Sources that helped me write this:

Sideshow - RANT: Prolander & the BEST class composition

Uncle Dane - Trickle-Down Balance

Pinguefy - the best competitive game that nobody plays

Zeno - I SURVIVED 100 matches of competitive TF2

TF2 Wiki - Prolander

Shounic - how the tf2 classes and gameplay were designed so well

[thetoxicgamer]

The Battle of Gods and Giants: 5 Best Top Laners at Worlds 2023

The 2023 League of Legends World Championship has arrived, bringing together elite players from around the world. While the top lane position is often underappreciated in terms of a team's success, this time is different, as we have an exceptionally talented group of players. This year's lineup is exceptional not only because it features some of the most iconic players returning to the competition but also because we're witnessing the emergence of promising new talents who have made a name for themselves throughout the season. Each player possesses unique qualities that contribute significantly to their team's overall performance and identity. Keeping this in mind, we've identified the top-performing players that you should definitely keep an eye on during the final tournament of the season. Here are the five most impressive top laners at Worlds 2023. The best top laners at Worlds 2023 Tang “Zika” Hua-Yu  The first player on our list is LNG Esports’ top laner, Zika. He might not be one of the big names at the tournament, but the Chinese player is a truly underrated pick and one worth paying attention to. Fans have often glossed over him due to the addition of bot laner GALA to the team. Having a super carry on the other side of the map meant most of the team’s attention and focus would go to GALA and consequently put Zika into a weak position.  Regardless, Zika showed up whenever the situation called. Aside from K’Sante and Sion, his two most-played champions in the summer were Renekton and Jax. In particular, his Jax scored an 83.3 percent win rate, according to the stats site Games of Legends.  His consistency and flexibility pushed Zika among the top three top laners in the Chinese league. He recorded the second-highest KDA during the second half of the season with an average of 1.8 deaths each game, only behind JDG’s top laner 369. Individually, he also had the fourth-highest positive gold differential. Zika might not be a super carry, but he does a wonderful job on his own, and he’ll likely maintain that level of play at Worlds as well.  Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon Even though Doran didn’t have a great showing at MSI, he bounced back with a stellar Summer Split, gapping all his rivals in the LCK and being a consistent presence in all of Gen.G’s victories.  Doran had the highest gold differential as well as the second-highest experience differential at 15 minutes. Compared to the past, where he mostly had a weak side role, Doran also evolved individually. In the summer, he started playing more damage-oriented champions like Jax and Gangplank while scoring 20 solo kills throughout the split, the highest number in his role.  It’s unclear whether he will keep up the same level against the LPL top laners but Doran is unquestionably one of the strongest players in his role at Worlds 2023.  Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok If you’ve followed League for a few years, you probably know TheShy. Remember Worlds 2018 when he was smurfing against all the top laners? That’s how dominant TheShy was when he first took the 2018 World Championship.  After four years of failing to make Worlds, TheShy is back on the big stage. It’s incredible how he’s only 23 years old, yet he’s considered one of the most experienced players across the globe. Throughout the years, we saw TheShy slowly evolve his playstyle, going from a lane-dominant carry player to willingly playing weak side for the benefit of the team. Nonetheless, he’s still the top laner with the highest damage percentage in the LPL, with nearly 600 damage per minute. TheShy’s potential is undeniable, but it ultimately comes down to how Weibo Gaming can utilize him. While the player has no issues in isolated matchups, he can be vulnerable to ganks, especially if the team doesn’t help him out. This will be the key to TheShy and WBG’s entire run at Worlds. Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin In the first half of 2023, Bin took the LPL by storm, carrying BLG in crucial moments like the series against Gen.G at MSI earlier this year, dominating over his counterpart Doran in the elimination bracket.  During the Summer Split, however, he couldn’t maintain the same level of dominance. A part of that was due to the meta not favoring his carry-oriented style, bogging him down. Most of his damage-oriented picks like Jax, Gwen, and Fiora, which he played the most in the first half of the season, went missing in the second half, as he moved over to safer picks like K’Sante and Renekton. Regardless, he was still consistent on an individual level, boasting the highest CS per minute, gold per minute, and average gold differential, according to lpl.qq. He wasn’t able to show up during the Asian Games, as China lost to South Korea in the semifinals, but now that he has gone back to BLG, we should see him return to his standards and prove to the world why he’s one of the best top laners of 2023.  Bai “369” Jia-Hao Even though Bin was considered by fans and LPL enthusiasts the most complete top laner for the majority of the season, he still had a kryptonite of his own, JDG’s 369. Whenever Bin and 369 clashed, the latter always ended up having the upper hand.  He might not be the type of carry player fans love to see, but he’s No. 1 when it comes to playing weak side and playing in isolation and low on resources. If JDG can shine and win games through their mid and bot lane, it’s also thanks to 369’s ability to handle the pressure and deny all snowballing opportunities from enemies on his side of the map. It’s not surprising that he had the lowest number of deaths at 84 among all top laners in the LPL, with Ornn and K’Sante being his most-played champions. Reliable, consistent, and unpunishable: no other player better suits these words than 369. Read the full article

[senstless]

Splinterlands Share Your Battle Weekly Challenge Franze Fuffmane plus Captain Katie combine for a huge win

nother great bronze battle featuring Captain Katie and an unlikely victory.

I decided to share this battle this week because after leveling up my new life summoner which allows gladius cards to be played in ranked play I thought it was good way to show off the new wrinkles. then watching the match up I was impressed and thankful that I happen to have a level 2 Captain Katie at my disposal for just such matches. After the match and a devastation the captain laid down before her opponents I decided to share it in all the glory. Hopefully those who are just starting the game and play in the same bronze League cap brawls that I do can enjoy the match and potentially learn a few things or revel in my luck or provide sympathy for my unlucky opponent.

Weekly Challenge - Captain Katie

Edition: GLADIUS Rarity: RARE Element: LIFE Attack: MAGIC Abilities: SNIPE Health: 7 Speed: 2 Attack: 3 Armor:

Reasons Why I like it This has to be one of my favorite gladius cards especially for the life splinter. It's basically a perfect blend for my playstyle. Having both a heavy magic damage of three with both snipe and bloodlust while having average speeds of two and above average health of 7 means it's an extremely useful card. Bloodlust can really start to add up if you can get a few knockouts where your magic attack starts to be uncommonly high and your speed and health will continue to increase.

The only drawback is at times it's seven mana can be a bit difficult to fit into some of the lower mana matches and at times I find myself forcing it when it doesn't need to be in the lineup.

The Matchup

The Rule Sets

Watch the Match Here

MANA: 23

Ruleset: Ferocity: All monsters have the Fury ability.

Ruleset: Close Range: Monsters with ranged attacks are allowed to attack in the first position. Ruleset: Healed Out: All healing abilities are removed.

SPLINTERS: Life, Dragon

Initial Rule Set and Mana Gameplay Thoughts

Well first things about the match is really the limited splinters give only two options. Life or dragon. I figured life will get countered by dragon much of the time and blues a range attack which I wanted to avoid relying to heavily on. These three rules that combination was also a bit unique of a close range, healed out, and ferocity. I think the two that will come into play the most will be close range and healed out losing healing ability and allowing ranged monsters to attack him first position we'll have the biggest impact. I don't think it's likely to have cards with taunt in a lower mana match like this.

Summoner FRANZ RUFFMANE I had to pick this summer purely for the fact that I wanted to play with Captain Katie. It was a pretty easy one plus the additional boost of having an armor was welcome.

First Position PELACOR CONJURER My favorite not attacking tank. High speed, flying, decent health means that it is more than likely pretty hard to hit and take out in the first round. These things become extremely pesky for the opponent.

Second Position VENARI MARKSRAT Again not a traditional place for the lineup but with martry it's becoming more traditional in a sense. Everyone wants to get that additional stat boost to the power card that they want to be doing all the damage so I tend to see these being played more in the front of the lineups than I do in your rear.

Third Position CAPTAIN KATIE Starting the show. I damaged, snipe, soon to get boosted by martyr it should be a real go-getter.

Fourth Position GRENADIER I picked grenadier in the off chance that they also decided to drop in PELACOR CONJURER. The off chance of doing double damage is worth the risk of playing a lower mana card towards the back of my lineup. I'll press can be a real boon to knocking out an opponent if they happen to have a non-attacking tank

Fifth Position HERBALIST Played partly for the gold foil boost, played partly for the cleansing and to soak up a rear sneak attack if they play that.

Opponent Lineup & Match Play

Summoner MOTHER KHALA honestly unexpected for me to pick this play, and pretty unhappy to see it as a level 4. Having such high level cards will be difficult to overcome

GARGOYA SCRAPPER decent little tank, well not overly powerful or high in health and devoid will help it last longer in magic heavy matches.

CELESTIAL HARPY another great card with opportunity speed to damage and flying. At a level four this is a pretty decent card that can take out some of my lower health cards pretty quickly

TIME MAGE becoming one of my least favorite cards play against. The loss of speed applied to my team is crucial, not to mention it's doing two magic and five speed at the level 4 that it is. It's just hard to overcome all those increased stats LOL level

TRUTHSPEAKER who doesn't love a nice simple card to provide some extra armor.

PELACOR ARABLEST pretty solid play, although I think it might actually be better if they used a summary that provided a boost. All it still has double strike it's only has a base attack of two instead of three which might be crucial.

STITCH LEECH very solid choice especially at level five. Three damage may lay on a sneak attack with two speed and four health is Big upgrade over my own version that only does two damage.

Round 1

Before the round starts and a little depressed about how much higher level their cards are but I don't know enough yet from how the game plays out to see what the impact is. The loss of speed is going to weigh heavily on my team and probably cost me several monsters as I try to get going.

The round starts and my decreased speed shows up right away and it isn't long before I lose Pelacor Conjurer before I even get a turn. For the rest the round goes all right, I don't lose any more monsters but I also don't gain any knockouts.

Round 2

Front two starts off right away with me losing Maskrat, and while this moves Captain Katie to first position I also get a boost from martyr in call my stats bringing her up to for damage two speed to armor and eight health. Well in first position and at higher risk for taking big damage I have hopes I can continue to stack with bloodlust. Well I did take some significant damage I was able to secure another knockout and bloodlust gave stamp boost all around again.

Round 3

Round three starts off and I am pretty low on cards, but I do have a rather robust tank dealing high damage whose speed is now moving its attack towards the front of the lineup. After taking its turn as this second attack in monster of the third round it secures another knockout and gets to go through another boost from bloodlust. It's now starting to shine a litte, its a monsters with six damage, four-speed and a little bit of armor and health left. The increased spread did get me a miss that clearly saved me from an early elimination. It was only a 10% chance to be a miss and I was lucky enough that the RNG guides were on my side.

Round 4

What would have been The knockout blow for Captain Katie in the end of the match if I did not get lucky on my 10% chance for miss, I now get my turn and I secure yet another knockout and another boost from blood lost. My stats are now ridiculously high at seven damage six speed but there are still three attacks I will need at least one mess to make it another round. I get super Lucky and get a Miss on the last attack.

Round 5

Has round five starts with my attack first, I secure another knockout. My stats are starting to get a little nuts as I am now doing eight damage with seven speed. There are still three attacks this round since close range means great arrow s can attack from the front row, but the seven speed in the RNG gods in my favor means all three attacks miss.

Round 6

Around seven starts and I get another knockout. Nine magic damage, 8 speed and another Miss means it's going to go another round but it's already over. Captain Katie will end at the round and around 7 with 10 magic damage and nine speed. The combination of luck and blood lust leads to one devastating monster.

Thoughts - and Chances to Win Again

This is probably the lowest percentage chance to repeat victory I've ever shown. I was only a 36% favorite to win, I clearly needed lots of help on the RNG side to secure key misses and key point in the game to where I could build up my stats enough to protect myself and secure my knockouts. It is wild that I was able to pull up a victory considering how many misses it required for me to do it. I'm actually a little shocked that I'm a 36% favorite to win and that it wasn't even lower than this.

Well I'm clearly happy to win, and especially against much higher level cards than I was playing which makes it even more difficult I think I will have to reconsider this as an optimal lineup and can stay this to be a very lucky lineup. Either way I love Captain Katie and I absolutely love it when blood lust starts to roll and you get crazy insane stats that leave you with one monster taking out an entire team.