#depending on interest i could consider getting more and selling some. although it seems intimidating haha

[cerulean-fantasy]

some pagedoll-style chibis

(alt expressions under the cut)

[departeddestiny]

Pronunciation: Coo-Ra-Sa Or-L

Nickname: Has None.

Age: 31.

Nameday: 4th Sun of the 2nd Umbral Moon.

Race: Au Ra, Xaela.

Gender: Male.

Sexuality: Pansexual.

Marital: Single.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Hair: Medium in length and Umber, it is parted in a way so that the thick of it falls to the right. Strands stick up here and there, it might be considered disheveled; this is done purposefully, as time is precious. It is silken to the touch. 

Eyes: Burnt Orange optics with slitted pupils, much reminiscent of the dragon’s from which he is descended. Black stains the sclera where white would typically be seen. 

Height: 7 Fulm, 2 Ilm ( 7′ 2″ )

Physique: Large biceps, chiseled pecs and abs. The Xaela is built from his constant efforts to remain in top shape, especially so since most of his Gil is gained protecting others or from chasing after bounties.

Dominant Hand: Right.

Posture: He tends to stand up straight and rigid, some would consider him to have a ‘stick up his ass’.

Scars: They litter his body, telling a story of a warrior. The largest one is jagged and runs along his left pectoral, stops just above his abdominal muscles.

Distinguishing Features: Unlike most Xaela, where obsidian scales would normally be present, his are cracked and flowing with lava. They are hot to the touch, though not enough where they will burn.

Profession: Formerly a Dragoon for the Ishgardian Forces || Bounty Hunter and Sell Sword

Affiliation: None at present.

Languages: Eorzean, Doman, Xaelic.

Residence: Taverns strewn throughout Eorzea, predominantly in Ul’Dah

Birthplace: Doma, before it was razed by Garlean Forces.

Religion: None.

Parents: Tsuki Orl ( Mother, Deceased ) || Ryoma Orl ( Father, Deceased )

Siblings: Chiharu Orl ( Older Sister, Alive ) 

Pets: Draught Chocobo named Isaac

Hidden Amoung Shadows: There might have been a time when Kurasa wished to be seen, when he made a point to show his scales off and revel in the attention. Now, he tends to stick to the shadows or remains in his own company, oft wearing a hood to hide his features.

Flawed Moral Compass: While he may seem like any other person, Kurasa is quite capable of committing heinous acts; an example would be how he became a Dravanian Spy during the Dragonsong War. How many innocents died due to his actions? A thought that would haunt normal people, but Kurasa sleeps just fine.

Short Trigger: Perhaps it is the dragon blood that runs through his veins, perhaps he was simply borne that way, but Kurasa has an extremely short trigger when it comes to his temper. As he’s gotten older, he’s done his best to reign it in, but he will still beat heads if provoked enough. 

Mistrusting to a Fault: Due to all that he has been through, Kurasa trusts none but himself. He has seen how quickly people turn on one another, how easily they come to assumptions. The man has seen the absolute worst of people and would rather not trust another to save his hide. 

Are You Really That Smug?: Once his barriers have been breached, his smug attitude and belief in his own capabilities come to the surface. Kurasa knows that he is good looking, that he is good in battle and in bed, and he won’t let another tell him otherwise.   

Frisky Under the Influence: Though not an every day occurrence, the man can often be seen in the corner of a tavern, pounding back the drinks...which probably garners more attention than it should. But with drink in his system, he becomes much more open and social, which leads to a new bed partner. But upon waking, he is his normal self, extremely ticked and grumpy despite just having got laid.

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

Romantic Orientation: Panromantic ( monogamous ).

Preferred Emotional Role:  submissive | dominant | switch |  unsure 

Preferred Sexual Role:  submissive |  dominant  |  switch |  sex repulsed

Libido: Over-Active.

Turn On’s: Thoughtful || Witty || Good with a Sword || Sarcastic || Hard to Get

Turn Off’s:  Clingy || Selfish || Overly Cruel ( there is a line ) ||  Debauchee  ( he’s not into romancing someone who is all too willing to sleep with him )

Love Language: Time Spent Alone || Physical Touches ||  Protective 

Relationship Tendencies: Due to his mistrust, Kurasa would do his best to avoid the person all together; they would have to be stubborn and continually come around in order for him to open up. Eventually, the Xaela will begin to open up, once he sees they are not there to cause him harm and they accept him for who he has become. Will become a protector, a shadow that looks over them and ensures their safety. Once he loves, he will love them alone.

Hobbies: Sword Play, Training, Climbing Waterfalls, Reading, Drinking ( Tea and Alcohol ), Eating, Listening to Music, Wandering.

Likes: Cold climates, Animals, Waterfalls, Teas, Rain, Various Shades of Black, Cooking, Fighting, Flowers, Mountains, Fire, Gil.

Dislikes: Small Spaces, Long Conversations, Threats, Blood Stained Clothes, Garleans and Ishgardians.

Fears: His Sister Dying, Being Vulnerable, Drowning.

Positive Personality Traits: Loyal, Passionate and Battle Hardened.

Negative Personality Traits: Cynical, Sarcastic and Violent.

Sword for Hire: Or more specifically, a glaive. Kurasa will do just about anything to put Gil into his pocket; in regards to killing or protecting, that is. But unless the person has won his loyalty, there is a chance he’ll turn on them in favor of a higher counter offer. 

Blood of the Dragon: The Orl Clan was persecuted and primarily killed off because the Ishgardians believed them to be in line with their dragon ancestors: one look at Kurasa and, although not proven, one might think he truly did descend from the creatures. Cracked obsidian scales that flow with lava, slitted eyes, and fanged teeth. He portrays an intimidating picture. 

Battle Hardened Warrior: Kurasa is the epitome of a person that has been hardened by battle, and by fate. There could be no better person to fight at your side, as he is skilled in not only his glaive but a multitude of other weapons. He’s one of the first to rush into the fray and it’s quite hard to take him down. 

Lover of Tea: When the Xaela is able, he enjoys being able to sit down with a steaming cup of tea and let the days troubles wash from his person. It’s strange to see him do so and often, he’ll get looks of confusion when ordering, but who gives a shit? 

A Slight Alcoholic: Then there is the opposite of the tea love, which is his need to drown his emotions in alcohol. Unfortunately when Kurasa drinks enough, he becomes a very open and affectionate person, which oft leads to him waking up with another in his bed. 

Nature Lover: The best way he found to keep his body in shape, is to test his strength against what nature has to offer. Climbing cliffs and waterfalls gives the Xaela a full body work out and when he is done, he can sit amoungst the flowers and animals, and relax. There is nothing quite like feeling the sun beat down and the cool breeze against sweat stained skin.

Please be advised, this blog contains mature content that is not suitable for those under the age of 21.  

I Roleplay: Pretty much anything! Subjects such as kidnappings,  torture ( there is a fine line to tread ), and romance are acceptable but only when previously discussed and both parties are willing to participate.

I do not roleplay: Permanent character death, rape plots, polygamous relationships, god-modding, power-playing, and ERP. I am simply not interested in any of these, it is not meant as a personal insult. 

Please feel free to approach! I love to create stories. That is what roleplay is about, no? If you can somehow see your character fit into Kurasa’s life in some fashion, I am all ears. You’re welcome to message me, even if I do not follow you, and I will do my best to respond!

Please don’t take information from me. While I did not write the events that his story is heavily based upon, Kurasa is of my own creation and I have worked very hard on him. 

I am a shy bean who is just starting out with this character - he demanded I tell his story and that is the purpose of all this.

I am not my character. Kurasa does things of his own volition and although I might say something, that does not dictate his actions in the slightest. 

In Game: Kurasa Orl

World: Mateus  ( Crystal Data Center )

Discord: Given upon request.

Style: I’m a multi-paragraph writer, though sometimes I will write more or less depending on what I am going to work with.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

FIVE QUESTIONS ABOUT LANGUAGE DESIGN AND BAD ECONOMY

But working on this is not a win, in the sense that your body is happier during a long run than sitting on a sofa eating doughnuts. And they have leverage in that their decisions set the whole company moving in one direction or another. One is that you shouldn't build object-oriented programming in too deeply. What good will more code do you when you're out of business. The larger a group, the closer its average member will be to the average for the population as a whole must be giving people something they want, the more different it gets. A physicist friend recently told me half his department was on Prozac.1 It was no coincidence that the great industrialists of the nineteenth century had so little formal education. Many startups go through a point a few months before they die where although they have a significant amount of money in one family's bank account, or the market wasn't ready yet, b the founders solved the wrong problem. Programming languages are how people talk to computers.

With server-based apps get released as a series of small changes. The ball you need to give someone a present and don't have any money, you don't usually have to invent anything.2 Life in a zoo is easier, but it could not have grown so big so fast. It's very dangerous to morale to start to depend on deals closing, not just because she's shy that she hates bragging. In Web-based software you can use any language you want, there is nothing in spam-of-the-envelope calculations, this one has a high average outcome. A company big enough to acquire startups will be big enough to acquire startups will be big enough to acquire startups will be big enough to acquire startups will be big enough to be fairly conservative, and within the company the people in the mailroom or the personnel department work at one remove from the actual making of stuff. I think you should make users the test, just as we can become smarter, just as a goalkeeper who prevents the other team from scoring is considered to have played a perfect game. Her immense data set and x-ray vision for character.3 And historically the number of new startups being founded in 2003.

For individuals the upshot is the same: aim small. A big company is probably getting a bad deal, because his performance is dragged down by the overall lower performance of the algorithm described in A Plan for Spam I hadn't had any, and I completely agree with him. I would really love to do, at least in our own minds, we have to remember that it's an admirable thing to write great programs, even when this work doesn't translate easily into the conventional intellectual currency of research papers. It could only spread to places that already had a vigorous middle class. A big company is like high fructose corn syrup, and hydrogenated vegetable oil.4 Though the immediate cause of death in a startup tends to be one. In practice, it seemed inevitable that I would eventually have to move from filtering based on single words to an approach like this. But it could be that a lot of new startups being founded in 2003. Near the top is the company run by techno-weenies who are obsessed with solving interesting technical problems, instead of making users happy.

As with the original industrial revolution, some societies are going to be hard to duplicate. Letters, digits, dashes, apostrophes, and dollar signs are constituent characters. Letters, digits, dashes, apostrophes, and dollar signs are constituent characters, and everything else is collapsing around you, having just ten users who love you will keep you going. Here are some of the effect of first class functions, you can be wise without being very wise, you can pick a time when you're not in the middle of Antarctica, where there is nothing in spam-of-the-future, because this is what I expect spam to evolve into: some completely neutral text followed by a url. But ambitious programmers are better off doing their own thing and failing than going to work at a big company, then a lot of maximally interesting tokens, meaning those with probabilities far from. It will always suck to work for some existing company. Ditto at the other end of the spectrum, we'd be the first to see signs of a separation between founders and investors in the Valley. In the earliest stages of a startup, of course.

Watching employees get transformed into founders makes it clear that the difference between the two. Jessica was so important to YC, why don't more people do it? Maybe it's because you haven't made what they want.5 75%. 88, just under the threshold of. That way we can avoid applying rules and standards to intelligence that are really meant for wisdom. Except instead of being at the mercy of investors. If anything, it's more like the small man of Confucius's day, always one bad harvest or ruler away from starvation. And the culture she defined was one of those that exploit an insecure cgi script to send mail to third parties. And yet if you analyzed the contents of the average grocery store you'd probably find these four ingredients accounted for most of the things they're doing is breaking up and misspelling words to prevent filters from recognizing them. For example, though the stock market crash does seem to have regarded wisdom, learning, and intelligence largely from cultivating them. We are all richer for knowing about penicillin, because we're less likely to die from infections.

With server-based. That last sentence is the fatal one.6 If you were dropped at a random point in America today, nearly all the food around you would be bad for you. I think the single biggest problem afflicting large companies is the difficulty of assigning a value to each person's work. If you're not allowed to implement new ideas, you stop having them. If you're in a job that feels safe, you are thereby fairly close to measuring the contributions of individual employees. But large organizations will probably never again play the leading role they did up till the last quarter of the twentieth century.7 When startups came back into fashion, around 2005, investors were starting to hear about byte code, which implies to me at least that if we find more than 15 tokens that only occur in one corpus or the other, we ought to give priority to the ones that occur a lot. Two of the four spams I missed got through because they happened to use words that occur often in my legitimate email. Just write whatever you want, so if there is no way to get rich by creating wealth, as a species, is that you can do whatever he wants. When there is a natural fit between smallness and solving hard problems.

These techniques are mostly orthogonal to Bill's; an optimal solution might incorporate both. Salesmen work alone.8 Partly because I'm a writer, and writers always get disproportionate attention.9 But working on this is not an irrational fear: it really is hard to bear. And in this economy I bet they got a good deal on it.10 If you go to a new set of buildings, and do things that they think aren't good for you. Then at least you can give back the money you have left, and save every penny of your salary. So let me tell you a little about Jessica.11 Your boss is just the intermediate stage—just a shorthand—for whatever people want. A morale boost on that scale is very valuable in a startup tends to be running out of money, and now they'd have to postpone that. Usually a startup is, economically: a way of saying, I want to work a lot harder, and get paid for it.

Notes

That was a kid who had died decades ago. If an investor I don't like content is the accumulator generator benchmark are collected together on their utility function for money. In desperation people reach for the fences in our case, 20th century was also the golden age of economic inequality was really only useful for one another indirectly through the window for years while they may introduce startups they like to cluster together as much as Drew Houston needed Dropbox, or Seattle, consider moving.

When the Air Hits Your Brain, neurosurgeon Frank Vertosick recounts a conversation—maybe not linearly, but nothing else: no friends, TV, go talk to mediocre ones. If early abstract paintings seem more interesting than later ones, and in a startup, but I took so long. And while we might think it was the least VC-like. SpamCop—A Spam Classification Organization Program.

But people like numbers. That makes some rich people move, and then using growth rate has to work for startups to be evidence of a stock is its future earnings, you create wealth with no environmental cost.

For example, the angel round just happened, the apparent misdeeds of corp dev people are trying to decide whether to go all the red counties. It's a lot heavier. I've been told that Microsoft discourages employees from contributing to open-source projects, even if we wanted to than because they actually do, but when people make investment decisions well when they talk about distribution of income, which merchants used to be able to claim retroactively I said yes.

I had a killed portraiture as a constituency. The Nineteenth-Century History of English at Indiana University Publications. This is not to need to go sell the bad groups and they unanimously said yes. Most unusual ambitions fail, most of them had been a good way to explain how you'd figure out what the US is partly a reaction to drugs.

Which is probably 99% cooperation. I said yes. In desperation people reach for the same way a restaurant is constrained in a journal. An accountant might say that YC's most successful ones.

Joe thinks one of them, would be much bigger news, in the body or header lines other than those I mark. For example, the same investor to invest at any valuation the founders don't have to talk about aspects of the next stage tend to become dictator and intimidate the NBA into letting you write has a word meaning how one feels when things are going well, but most neighborhoods successfully resisted them. Which is probably a mistake to believe is that their experience so far the only way to tell how serious potential investors and they begin by having an associate.

Globally the trend has been rewritten to suit present fashions.

See Greenspun's Tenth Rule.

Bill Yerazunis. This was made a million dollars out of a social network for x. If you wanted to invest at any valuation the founders of Hewlett Packard said it first, and it has about the smaller investments you raise them.

The undergraduate curriculum or trivium whence trivial consisted of three stakes.

[labingi-blog]

Mirage of Blaze Plays: Review and Some Kagetora/Naoe Thoughts

(For the fully formatted post, go here: http://labingi.dreamwidth.org/140269.html)

Many thanks to imperfekti for a) informing me that Mirage of Blaze Showa period stage plays exist and b) doing excellent summaries so that I can sort of tell what's going on:

http://michiru2042.tumblr.com/post/128310313517/mirage-of-blaze-yonakidori-blues-summary-part-5

http://imperfekti.tumblr.com/post/150910620139/mirage-of-blaze-stage-play-ruritsubame-blues-part

I have got my hands on the DVDs for the first two, thanks to demitas, who used her Japanese skills to order them for me. And now I have thinky thoughts. To begin reviewish stuff:

Reviewish Thoughts on Mirage Stage Plays Caveat: I can't fully "review" these plays, of course, because I can't understand 95% of the script. For the same reason, I can't fully assess these plays against any other Mirage material that hasn't been translated into English, so please take my thoughts with the appropriate grains of salt.

In a word, I loved these plays. They're very successful theater: wonderful use of lighting and sound effects to create very much the same level of physical excitement I personally get from a big budget movie. It's a great way to bring a text with comparatively small financial pull to life (and I'd love to see more of this in the fine arts). The acting, in general, is very good and the characters very in character. I would recommend these plays to anyone who is a serious Mirage fan. They are an important addition to the universe. I laid down a fair amount of money (~$160 USD) to buy them and get them shipped from Japan, and although I am not rich, I consider it money well spent. They're that good.  

SPOILERS FOLLOW…

Setup: The plays take place c. 1958, that is, the beginning of the events that culminate in all the Minako-era horror (the two plays do not nearly get that far). Basically, everybody is in the body they possessed just before the original Mirage novels. These two plays concern the resurgence of Nobunaga with the Yashashuu attempting to foil him and being depressed at the idea that he's back. They also meet and begin to befriend Minako.

Plotty side note: most of what I know of this era in novel canon comes from summaries and discussions, and it's a bit hazy, but I have a suspicion there are some changed premises from the narrative in the original novels. I welcome clarifications.

At this point in time, Kagetora is Kase, a World War II veteran (and, thus, a significantly physically older Kagetora than we are accustomed to). Naoe, in contrast, is in the body of Kasahara, a lad at medical school and thus physically much younger than Kagetora, which is weird and interesting. For further summary, I'll refer you to Imperfekti's links above; she does a wonderful, thorough job and with pictures.

Acting Generally, the acting and character concepts are very good. Irobe, Haruie, and Nagahide (who appears only in the second play) are very much themselves. Nagahide feels a little lighter than I'm accustomed to, a bit more playful, less mean, but that could be perfectly in keeping with life before everything really goes to hell. A few actors are doing dual roles: original personality and person/spirit possessing the body, and they navigate this really well. This includes Minako. The actress has good range and brings a nice subtlety to a basically "good girl" part.

But let's talk about Naoe (Aramaki Yoshihiko) and Kagetora (Tomita Sho). (I think I have the actors right, but somebody let me know if I have them backwards.)

I'm going to start with just about the only negative thing I have to say about these plays. I don't think Aramaki carries off Naoe. He's a very gifted physical actor. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a background in dance, and he's competent in every respect, but Naoe is a complicated character—Naoe stuck in the body of a college student even more so—and I did not get a real sense of "Naoe" out of this performance. I suspect the script is good and the character well written, and if you can understand the dialogue, that doubtless helps the overall effect, but the acting per se feels wooden to me, the gestures a bit contrived, the facial expressions stiff, and so on.

I will give some handicap points for the fact that Naoe is stuck in a body he himself is not comfortable in. He's only been in it for three years. He's socially treated as younger than all his compatriots, and this is awkward. So a certain woodenness may be exactly what Naoe's feeling. But that allowance made, I still didn't feel the spark.

This slight "miss" in the performance stands in radical contrast to Tomita as Kagetora, who is a revelation. So now that the negative is out of the way, let me gush. Damn, this man is a good actor! While it's a stage play, and everyone broadcasts to the back rows, there's a tremendous nuance in his performance (facial expressions, etc.), much of which I expect the audience can't directly see in a live production but which undergirds the whole feel of the character. And he can cry on demand! Which brings us to…

Kagetora (and Naoe) This theatrical conception of Kagetora is brilliant combination of scripting, casting, and acting that finds the sweet spot of being unexpected but also utterly in character. As Imperfekti observes in her summaries, Kase is not Takaya. But he is the person who will become Takaya and stands as both a fascinating presence in his own right and an instructive lens through which to read Takaya and his dynamics with Naoe thirty years later.

Kase brings to life a lot of things the novels <i>tell</i> us about Kagetora but don't <i>show</i> much. He is reserved, low key, very much in control, and sells better than Takaya the idea that he's the leader everyone on his team looks up to. Unlike Takaya, he rarely shows the chinks in his armor. When he does, it usually comes out as grandstanding at Naoe, which is, in itself, a refusal to really show the chinks. Or occasionally, he'll give a speech about how hard it all is, but this is a far cry from Takaya's tendency to launch into long spiels about the details of his anguish with people who, on a conscious level, he thinks are complete strangers (Ujiteru, Kaizaki).

This greatly enhances my understanding of why Naoe is so intimidated by Kagetora, why he so often accuses Takaya (even poor teenage Takaya without most of his memories!) of treating him like a dog. Kase really does do a number on Naoe—Takaya does too, and Naoe and Kagetora surely do it to each other—but Kase does it with far greater consistency and, I think, more explicit manipulation than Takaya ever achieves. Takaya seems to go into a sort of "Kagetora mode," in which he berates Naoe for being a worthless sycophant and dares him to leave or not to leave, but this feels more like habit, like an inability to snap out of it, than a reasoned strategy for dealing with Naoe. In fact, it often runs directly contrary to what he wants to express. With Kase, it feels like a strategy, at least in part, a performance he passes on to Takaya even though, by Takaya's time, he no longer really wants to use it.

It is worth noting that Kasahara!Naoe is bad to Kase too. In fact, he's much more physically aggressive than I expected from Naoe in that era. (I wonder how much this is a changed premise for theatrical effect? I had the impression, based on what I don't know, that Naoe in that era was reserved and correct until it all busts out with Minako.) In any case, Naoe's behavior is bad, no question, but I do understand his sense of extremis.

Kase's pattern of behavior to him is psychologically manipulative, arguably to the point of abuse. It consists of a push-pull in which a dominant sense of combative disapproval, for what seems little reason, is occasionally interrupted by a tender, relative openness: sharing a drink, a vulnerability, a reminiscence, etc. This is a formula for profoundly wounding someone by giving them just enough affection to keep them emotionally dependent and in a constant state of fear over when the other shoe is going to drop. Mind you, I don't think Kase does this completely intentionally. He's trapped in a wounded relationship with Naoe too, needing him and unable to admit his need. But he sure as heck knows he is pushing Naoe's buttons, and he strategically does so to assert his ownership over someone he is fundamentally afraid of losing.

I find it interesting to set this "pure," un-Takaya-mediated dynamic against Naoe's later pattern of behavior to Takaya, which is abusive in a remarkably similar way: a push-pull in which he embodies loving support only to undercut Takaya's sense of security by lashing out in ugly, violent, nasty outbursts. Naoe, too, doesn't do all of this systematically. By the Takaya era, he's trapped between trying to forge a new, better relationship with Takaya and falling into the old patterns based on the old resentments against Kagetora. Still, there's an element of turnabout here, and it's certainly an effective way to get Takaya to feel very much what Kagetora has made Naoe feel.

All in all, this dynamic provides wonderful context for the craziness that is Naoetora in the novels.

There's a lot more to say, but I'll break here and pick it up in another post.

[prosperopedia]

Buying a Used Car: Is an Auto Dealership or Individual Seller Better?

My Recent Used Car Shopping Experience

Recently my family outgrew our Toyota Sienna as we went from 6 kids to 7 with the birth of yet another little boy. After some research on various vans (including the Nissan NV3500, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, the Ram ProMaster Passenger, the Chevrolet Express, and a couple other options) that met our new criteria, we decided that it was time for us to buy a 12-seater Ford Transit XLT, which has room in the back for luggage, musical instruments, sports equipment, and whatever else we’d need to haul around with our kids.

After deciding on the Ford Transit XLT passenger van, we shopped our local market and compared prices, features, and options on different vehicles in our area. We checked out Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and a few other online classifieds to see what was out there. Somewhat reluctantly (based on past experience, one of which I’ll share to make the point), we expanded our search to include local used car dealers.

My wife took the assignment of checking out what was available at some of the local dealership. To try to simplify things, she filled out a form online describing what we wanted and explaining our budget. The information she submitted was a lead generation tool for local dealerships, allowing them to contact you with their offers relative to your request.

My wife received a text from a fellow named Kenny at Wyatt Johnson Ford in Nashville. He told her that they had a van that matched her description of what we were looking for, and asked us to go down to the dealership to take a look at it. Our price range, described clearly by my wife, was $22,000 and below, especially since we had see lots of these 2016-2017 Ford Transits going for about that amount locally and in other areas of the country. Kenny assured us that the van he had available had just been marked down from $24,000 to $22,000, and was the perfect fit for our family, a 12-seater Ford Transit XLT.

During back and forth text conversation between my wife and this sales guy, he was persistent about having us come later that day, insisting that my wife have me change my plans to make sure we got there before the dealership closed, and telling her that she could just come by herself if I wasn’t able to make it. Reaching another level of audacity, he told my wife that he had driven an hour away to pick up the vehicle and bring it to his dealership locally. It was clear that he wanted this deal done that day.

Not knowing the history of what had been discussed regarding this vehicle, I went with my wife a couple days later to see this vehicle and test drive it. When we arrived at the dealership, we toured the inventory they had outside of used 2017-2018 Ford Transits. The passenger vehicles we saw there were all $28,000 and above, more than $6,000 above what my wife had clearly stated was the highest price we were willing to pay.

When we went into the dealership and asked for Kenny, he eagerly and happily came out and led us to look at a $22,000 Ford Transit. There was only one small problem, it was a cargo van that had no rear windows, and no seats besides in the very front for one driver and one passenger. He glossed over our comments that we were clear about needing a passenger van, one that would fit a family with 7 kids. I had mentioned that we were interested in possibly trading in our old Sienna, and I had asked him how much we’d be able to get for it towards the purchase of a Ford Transit from them.

Don’t Let Them Keep You There!

He asked me for my keys so that he could check out the odometer reading and “a few other things” on my Sienna. I made the mistake of giving them to him. (Don’t ever make that mistake, allowing a used car salesman to hold the keys to your ability to leave at will!) He then told me he’d need to go check with someone at the dealership to get any sort of an estimate of what the trade-in value for my Sienna would be.

From my experience with used car salespeople, they have their own well-refined systems for making sure a potential customer buys from them, including tactics and tricks that appeal heavily to your sense of obligation and consideration. In the dozen or so times I’ve visited used car dealerships, I’ve only observed a used car salesperson be objective or honest maybe in a couple of instances. The dishonesty is almost always an institutional issue, and the sales schemes seem to have been concocted by the dealerships’ management.

In this particular situation with Kenny at Wyatt Johnson Ford in Nashville, he asked us to go back to his office, where we were presented with some cold water and a request to make ourselves at home. I had intentionally scheduled a meeting that would require me to leave the dealership within an hour of being there, ensuring that I didn’t have my entire afternoon wasted by a used car dealer.

When I had the chance to talk to my wife alone, I asked her why it was that Kenny thought we were interested in a cargo van. She showed me the text conversation, and that was enough for me to call it quits with this guy. It was clear that he had no intention of being honest, that he knew he was inviting us to a bait and switch meeting, and that it wasn’t simply a misunderstanding.

One thing I’ve learned about dealing with used car dealerships is that they usually want to wear down your willpower by making you feel invested in your interaction with them. This is normally done by keeping you at the dealership for such a long time that they wear you down. Don’t let this happen to you. Make sure you’re able to leave whenever you feel like it, not at their discretion. The hope from the dealership is for a person to be so emotionally and physically worn out with waiting, negotiating, being courted with water and chocolates, and otherwise losing his resolve that he ultimately thinks, “Well, I’ve invested so much into this situation I might as well just go ahead with it,” even if it’s not a good deal.

Realizing what Kenny had done and was doing, I immediately walked to the front of the dealership and told Kenny to give me back my keys. Although he should have figured out that my private conversation with my wife revealed that he had been lying to us, he seemed surprised at my demeanor, acting as if he was caught off guard by my sudden decision to leave.

The reason I tell this story is because I think it illustrates the approach to almost every single used car dealership I’ve interacted with or heard stories about.

If you’re going to buy a used car from a dealership, you need to make sure you have the gumption to deal with lying, tricks, and other practices that make it feel like a battle more than a pleasant shopping experience. If you can do your research and be ready for that battle going into a dealership, you may come out okay. If you are easily intimidated or have a tendency to do whatever it takes to avoid confrontation or uncomfortable conversations about facts and negotiation, a dealership is likely not the best place to shop for a car.

Pros and Cons of Using a Dealership

The experience I shared above represents a very strong argument against working with a used car dealership. However, in the more rare situation where you can find an honest used car dealer, or in situations where you feel confident that you can push through the smoke screens and get to the opportunity you’re looking for working with a car salesman, it may make sense to purchase from a car dealership versus shopping among individual car owners who are selling their vehicles.

Here are some pros that can be associated with using a dealership to buy an automobile:

Condition of the car and warranty: Usually, car dealerships have their own service department that inspects their cars for sale and fixes things that could become expensive problems otherwise. Car dealers usually often some form of a warranty on cars purchased from them. With a warranty you can usually have peace of mind that there isn’t a latent issue that has been hidden (there are lots of ways to do this on used cars that have not been maintained well) such that it shows up soon after the purchase has been done.

You can usually check on a dealer’s reputation: with a dealer, you have tools available to understand something about their dealings with other car buyers; using that information, you can avoid dealers who are habitually ripping people off. There is no review system for individual sellers, nor are there the business laws that might cause a dealership not to stoop to doing something that an individual seller, able to disappear into the crowd, might be inclined.

You know where they are in case of a problem: In case there is something grossly amiss, you can go back to the dealership and have some opportunity at holding them accountable. With a individual seller, that accountability is much less tangible, as many of them will want to meet you at somewhere besides their own home.

Ability to trade in a vehicle: Often when you’re buying a car, you need to sell your old car as well. Car dealerships often will take your old car as a trade-in, depending upon the make and model and the business’ policies. When trading in a vehicle at a dealership, though, you normally have to understand enough about the value of your car and how that translates into the ultimate purchase price of the car you’re buying that you don’t get taken advantage of.

One stop for taxes, registration and title: Dealerships handle the tax, title, and license (registration) for you, which can save you some time and a bit of hassle of dealing with a government entity.

The experience I shared at the beginning of this article highlights many of what I’d be consider the cons of buying an automobile from a used car dealership. I’ll organize them into a list form here.

Dealing with systemic dishonesty: The intention of most used car salesmen isn’t to help you get what you need at a price that’s fair and equitable. Instead, based on my experience they simply want to make sure you buy something from them that makes them as big a commission as possible, and they are often not above being deceptive to accomplish their goal.

Financing a car = being “upside down” soon: Some may see this as an advantage, but financing a car at a dealership usually becomes a reason for remorse. From my personal perspective, except in rare circumstances where a reliable car must be purchased and the money’s not in the bank to do it, financing a car is never a good idea if you’re interested in becoming wealthy or even financially viable. However, if you must finance a car, doing so at a dealership can be tempting, but usually ends up being a bad decision.

Hard to get a good deal: Outside of someone at a dealership tricking you into thinking a car is a better deal than it really is, you’re much more likely to get a good deal purchasing from an individual than you are purchasing from a dealership. Dealers have overhead, including their lots, staff, and sales commissions. Individuals are simply looking to get as close to the actual value of their car as they can, and are often much more capable of accepting less.

Buying a used car is a big investment for most people. Making a mistake can set you back a bit financially. Making a good decision, getting a car that works like you expect it to and as advertised for a price that fits your budget is rewarding, and helps you maintain or build wealth.

Why Buy a Used Car Instead of a New One?

Buying a new car will cost you essentially 30% of the car’s value in the first year of owning it. 20% of that value loss happens as soon as you drive the car off the lot. The reason that happens has to do with the perception of new versus used. People view used cars much differently than they do new cars. Some part of the market is willing to pay full retail price for a new car because they value the idea of being the original owner. They like knowing that there is no history of occupancy in the vehicle.

Financially, for most people, losing the amount of equity associated with buying a new car simply isn’t acceptable or reasonable. If you’re in a situation where you can’t pay cash for a car, and you don’t have the financial resources that would allow you to justify prioritizing the pleasure of driving a brand spanking new car off the lot above the practicality of having a car that is worth what you recently paid for it, you’re perfectly suited for buying a used car.

Buying a Car from an Individual

If you are careful and have done your homework, you can almost always get a better deal from an individual than you can from a used car dealership. However, there can be greater risk involved when purchasing from an individual, including the risk of buying a total lemon from someone who disappears as quickly as he came.

There are several common suggestions from people with experience buying cars from individuals (including me, and I’ll include mine) that will help you come out on top when buying a car from an individual seller.

Some of the most important factors to keep in mind when buying a car from an individual seller are:

Meet with the seller of the vehicle in person, and bring someone to accompany you for safety.

Give yourself enough time to think about the opportunity without being rushed

Make sure you understand well the fair market value of the vehicle you’re looking at to purchase, including factors that increase (upgraded options) or decrease (high mileage, flaws in the interior or exterior condition) the ultimate value of the car.

Ask for an expect to receive service records, and look for a history of consistent oil changes and other expected standard maintenance. This will give you an understanding of how well the car has been taken care of in areas that are harder to detect, such as the condition of the engine and its components.

Especially if you aren’t very mechanically inclined, take the car to be inspected by someone you’ve designated, who can objectively point out any potential problems that could negatively affect the value of the car.

Ensure that the seller has title to the vehicle and that the title rightfully belongs to them.

Hopefully this article has helped you understand more about the process of buying a used car, whether from a dealer or from an individual.

Good luck with your shopping!

The post Buying a Used Car: Is an Auto Dealership or Individual Seller Better? appeared first on The Handbook for Happiness, and Success, and Prosperity Prosperopedia.

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[papermoth-bird-blog]

Mexico: The pals in Playa del Carmen.

I’ve never related more to being a person of Baltic bloodlines, than I have being in Mexico. Between my pale skin & the heat-- I have to take super extra precautions so I don’t exhaust myself. Even though I am doing my all time adult-best at wearing sooo much sunscreen, I am clearly not drinking enough water. Yesterday I kinda paid for it & was feeling quite ill. Man, I feel like I constantly have to have water in my hand just to keep up. I do realize I’ve never really been to a climate like this, and so, I suppose there are some adjustments to be made. Especially having lived in the Maritimes for over 6 years- where it rarely reaches temperatures close to 30. The remedy for me has been fruit- any and all fruit- as much as I can at all times. 

Katie & I spent our first few days taking it easy under the scorching heat. Both of our hair grew so big in curly, It would have stirred jealously from any 80s hair band. We ate at a cute little taco place the first nice. There was a man with dreads who pulled up right beside us and started loudly serenading us as we tried to eat. It was kinda funny in the end. For some reason I decided the thing to do was get a margarita- because “when in mexico”. With one sip I now fully realized any remaining affinity for alcohol had vanished from my system entirely. I am simply not interested in any kinda way. So I gave the massive thing away. 

When we got back to the apartment, Ramin (katie’s friend that we were staying with) was home. Ramin is like this big, tan, German Aquaman type human. He works as a scuba diving instructor, and so, has moved/traveled all over the world doing so. Katie & him had met in Guatemala years ago, and managed to reconnect in a few different locations over the years since then. He is friendly and open minded- yet still intimidating in the way Germans can be sometimes. 

The next morning we woke to Eli making his strange little cat noises at us from outside the window. We had to go get him because the apartment has like four different key/lock situations to get into. A bit excessive- we decided. On a side note- there seems to be so much fear mongering in/about Mexico, specifically geared towards tourists. It really is difficult to tell whether that is warranted in any kind of way. I tried not to listen too much, knowing how fear works & spreads. That being said, I was being safe & cautious & paying attention to my surroundings always. If not for “stranger/danger” purposes, certainly for the fact that drivers here are absolutely chaotic (although maybe not as bad as South America). 

Eli & I went to a cute little cafe called cafe choux choux, eager to get out of the house. We stayed there a long while partaking in many breakfast items & some fancy lemonades. Even the fancy places here and still affordable, even for someone on a budget like me. The cafe was clearly the place that a lot of ex-pats gravitated to. The group that sat beside us flickered between speaking spanish, then english, then french, then german, depending on who came up to greet them at their table. We stayed for a long while, basking in the atmosphere & playing on our computers.... and mostly waiting for Katie. We wandered over to another cafe called BiOrganico & had some lunch. Katie & I then wandered off to explore the market area of Playa Del Carmen.

We were in search of a few things neither of us had- sun glasses, sun screen, shorts, sandals. OKay- I know that seems like almost everything you need for a trip to Mexico, but to be fair I had absolutely no idea when I left for my trip that I would end up here. Happy that I am, but my bag was not packed according to that. Actually even looking at the wool sweaters in my bag gives me the heebie-jeebies. I can try my best to set the scene of Playa to the best of my ability- but I should perhaps preface it by saying that at one point, this was a natural paradise. First there were small rental houses, then hotels, then bar and bars and bars. These days there are McDonalds & Subways & Forever21s. Which feels weird, of course. It’s one of the most rapid & evident gentrifications I’ve ever witnessed. But in many ways, I realize my complicit behaviour in all this- I probably wouldn’t have ended up here without it. Although it’s probably what I least enjoy about it. As you walk down the street everyone is trying to sell you something- of course they are- Tourism is basically the only driving industry out here. Especially being a woman, you get all kind of weird comments like “You need this” “don’t get lost” and the most classic “Do you need a Mexican Boyfriend.” Katie was obviously quite angsty with all the comments. I tried my best to tune them out & live in the happy little peaceful world in my head.

The plant life is beautiful & so too are the birds. In playa del carmen, however they are groomed & tamed in a more manicured way. Woven in amongst the huge heaps of concrete jungle that has been superimposed on the jungle paradise of the Yucatan Penninsula. I won’t say it truly overwhelmed me, having just spent so much time in much bigger cities. I understand how it could, though. Especially with the added trickiness of the language barrier (though many folks do speak english). Katie & I continued to stroll around, stopping in to buy water at many points. We dared not sit down, mostly because the public benches were metal (WHY). We wandered over to get groceries and ate more tacos. Eli & Ramin both joined us- all of us sweating profusely, slowly stripping down into half-dressed states. Not in a sexy way. In a very, very sweaty way. Which was especially pleasant considering the extremely feeble water pressure in the apartment that made showering a challenge. 

We woke early in the morning on the 3rd day. The early morning is the most reasonable time to go out, without a doubt. By 10am it is already quite hot & doing anything other than chilling out, is less appetizing. We walked over to the beach to greet the rising sun & went for a swim. While wading in the growing waves, Eli told me all about the cheap healthcare here. He said loudly that I should try to get contacts here. I agreed- that would be great! Not two minutes later, as we laughed about something else, I suddenly got hit in the face with a big, aggressive wave. I felt my glasses fly off my face & over my head. The water was particularly thick with grey & seaweed. Though we combed through the water. There wasn’t much hope. It seemed the comments earlier about contacts had been taken as a dare from the universe. So I bumbled around without glasses back to the apartment to fetch my extra pair. 

Eli and I went to the glasses store later that day- he speaks Spanish which made the interactions a bit easier to manage. Although the two places we went to didn’t have my prescription in stock. It would take five days to get them,  so we decided it was best to wait until we got to Tulum to get them. But I have to say- I didn’t quite realize how much more affordable medical treatment is in mexico. For my contacts- the exam was FREE and three months worth of lenses were 48 dollars. I now understand medical tourism. It isn’t like it’s sketchy either. All the places we went to were clean & professional & so so friendly. Despite my blindness, the whole experience wasn’t stressful in the least. 

I will say I could feel Katie getting stressed. I mean I think it was a lot of things. Her personal life as of recently, has been super emotionally complicated. As she also had a bout of skin cancer not long ago- the sun has been stressing her out. She’s been staying in the apartment a lot as to how avoid it, but also I think she still feels overwhelmed by the “spring break” vibes in Playa. The apartment is small, and so at a certain point we certainly started to bug eachother in ways. It came to a head when we were supposed to go down to the beach for Danielle Moore’s ritual. She had wanted me to take more leadership in regards to it. I wanted to give her her space as she had clearly been in a grumpy mood all day. On top of that she refrained to the fact that she felt weird about the ritual all day. It resulted in us being entirely cross with each other at the beach, ducking between tipsy strangers & me eventually crying out of frustration. We decided it didn’t feel right to do a scared ritual in an emotion state like that. On top of that, we clearly had some stuff to talk through & so we went home and did that. We came to a place that felt nice, which was relieving for sure. Katie & I have never fought like that. I’m really glad we can still talk through it. We decided to do it in the morning- the beach would be empty then & we would both be cooled off (physically and emotionally). 

It did actually feel like that was the way it was supposed to go. We were mostly silent throughout the whole ritual, though we started it with a prayer- one we learned from the ashram. We made a mandala in sand with the flowers we bought & other materials we found on the beach. Then we sang a few of Danielle’s favourite songs. Doing the ritual felt so private in an internal world kind-of-way, but connected to all the friends & communities that knew her & loved her. Being a way from the physical communities felt difficult. I did what I could to stay connect & support the effort. I spent some computer time a talking to others organizing & fencing some tech-difficulties when the page went down. It was powerful & healing to feel connected in the small ways during this time. And to see so many talking power & inspiration to making the world better after such a terrible event. Mostly though, my attempts at support were done out of love- for Danielle, but also for Kluane. I wanted to be able to do anything I could support her in the ways she was grieving & working through that grief.

Earlier that morning- even before the sun was a a light deep in the horizon, Katie woke up to call Klu as she boarded her plane in Winnipeg. Klu herself said she was surprised she found it so difficult. Kluane has always been an avid & regular traveller, but I too of course understand that the circumstances of airplane travel have changed so much. Especially considering Klu was leaving from the Winnipeg airport, the same Danielle had left from only days earlier. My heart ached for the situation- but I knew that she was well taken care of. The flight attendants all knew & supported her throughout her journey. Katie went to the airport to pick Klu up, after we ate breakfast together at a downtown cafe. It was good for us to take time apart for a few hours & also I knew Katie would be there for Klu. Apparently when Klu came out, she was wearing a big Christmas sweater complete with Reindeer & Holly, as well. I love that through anything- these two women in my life still find anyway to make us all laugh.

After quite a bit of waiting, tidying & other bits and bobs on my end, the crew eventually returned to the apartment, ready to move onto Tulum. They picked up a fellow traveller named Geoffroy from Montreal & so we all piled into the car with all our luggage, cranked the AC and headed for the highway. 

On the drive we all talked about love & life- of course. And caught up with eachother in the ways that aren’t always easy over technologies. We listened to country songs on Katies phone between checking directions- as the sux cord wasn’t working in the car. When we finally got to Tulum, we spent a lot of time in the grocery store, where Eli eventually met us. I am still amazed at how inexpensive all the food is here. I thing that Eli kept reminding us all of was that Mexicans love their sugar. I guess I didn’t really realize how much until I tasted some of the items. I was desperate for a bit of ice cream in the car and so we Mcgivered one out of a lid & I ate pretty much a whole pint to myself. 

We rode around for a short time trying to connect with a few friends before getting to our house. There were some funny moments that involved various chain reactions of annoyed-ness. “I think he’s annoyed I’m annoyed at him” Eli said as we chased after Alex’s speeding car. As we sat waiting for Eli, Klu and I got a little over excited about a particularly lovely old chevy truck that we enthusiastically jumped out of our car to take a picture with, before realizing the owners of said truck were right there. We share a love for this one particular Femme-Queer instagram account called @Truckslutsmag. One day, we said we will be on it. That day is not now however- haha. Later, on our way to our house at long last, this truck full of Mexican tradesmen speed alongside us on the highway, pointing at us & the car. We didn’t know what the heck was happening, until we finally put the dots together that Katie’s phone was not in fact in the car, but instead on the roof of the car as we speed down the highway. We agreed something strange & silly was in the air. It seems there seemed to be a resistance that had built up, that hadn’t been there until this week. I suppose mercury is in retrograde, but I’m sure there is more at play for whatever reason. 

The house we are staying at it so beautiful. The outside is the most perfect eggyolk yellow colour. The rest is painted in warm oranges & reds, with details or light blue, white & dark wood colours. The main room is open concept (although it doesn’t carry acoustics well). There is so much space- we almost immediately went on to plan how we could come back & stay here with more friends in the future. Every room has a balcony. The roof top is easily accessable & oh so perfect for dance parties. The property has pretty flowers & desert plants nestled in beside the pool & house itself. When sitting by the pool, all sorts of birds come swooping in- especially these beautifully delicate flying swallows. Swiftly after dropping our bags in our respective rooms, we jumped in the pool naked. ...Only to later discover the owner of the house has security cameras all over the place. We laughed for a second, but promptly messaged him to see if he could turn them off while we were here. 

So far, I have managed not to get burnt. Which is a win for sure- seeing as I tend to burn extremely easily. I haven’t spent that much time in the city of Tulum itself, although I did go into town to get my contacts. The town of Tulum already feels much more low-key (in the SPRING BREAK kinda-way) than Playa del Carmen felt. The vibe is much more bohemian- health/healing type-people & shops. I mean it is strange though, it has that gentrified feel to it too though. Fancy pantsy, tourist/ex-pat places sit right next to little shacks held together with ropes. It’s an interesting experience in that way.

That being said- at the house at least- I haven’t felt more “I’m on vacation” feels since starting this trip. It feels weird to do nothing. I guess I’m enjoying it- but not more than I do doing stuff. I worry that I will loose my motivation to do anything at all. The heat has made me groggy & I’ve been falling a sleep in various places. That being said, I’m feeling more reclusive- Katie & Eli have gone to various ecstatic dance events- but I don’t feel terribly social. 

Having contacts has been a game changer though! Being able to see without anything on my face has felt really freeing. Although, I am still not great at putting them in & taking them out. But there is so much potential with having them! I can go in the pool & put my head under water without worrying! I can wear any costume I want without being confused! Also, so some reason I feel it is suddenly more appropriate for me to get a really weird hair cut. The world is my oyster, really. It may seem over dramatic- but after being bound to glasses for over a decade, to have my face back in my possession is freeing. 

[gamingtipsandtrickshacks]

HTC Vive Pro Review -- The Most Powerful (and Expensive) Virtual Reality Headset

In 2016, HTC and Oculus VR released their virtual reality headsets, driving innovation in the medium not seen since the 90’s. In the past couple years, VR has taken off like a rocket with HTC being what I believe the frontrunner in the VR headset market — at least, based on the hardware and performance.

With the original HTC Vive’s two-year anniversary coming up and its updated model — the HTC Vive Pro’s — launch slowly creeping onto our calendars, I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the upcoming model. That being said, after spending some intimate time with the latest head mount display, I can wholeheartedly say that the HTC has solidified its place in the market as the top dog of VR hardware and the HTC Vive Pro is the most potent headset available to date.

At first glance, the most notable feature, which separates the original HTC Vive from the HTC Vive Pro is the color scheme. Unlike the original’s all-black design, the Vive Pro is sporting a deep blue color. Now, I own an original HTC Vive, so when I unboxed the HTC Vive Pro one of the first things I did was compare both models. Although both models are the same size, the HTC Vive Pro is significantly lighter to the original model and arguably lighter than Sony’s PlayStation VR headset.

Circling back to other differences between the original model and the HTC Vive Pro is the new head strap, which was heavily influenced by the Vive’s Deluxe Audio accessory released last year by the manufacturer. Visually, the head strap can look intimidating to some, but it is incredibly simplistic (in a positive way). It allows gamers to place the headset on their face, rest the back strap against their head and adjust accordingly, while the other band (to moderate the precise fitting) is located on the top instead of on the sides like the original Vive.

“…the HTC Vive Pro is the most potent headset available to date.”

I love my HTC Vive, but one of the most significant issues I had was the head strap system (which featured three separate straps located on various parts of the headset) on the first model, essentially making the process of adjusting the HMD nearly a two-man job. Thankfully, HTC learned from its mistakes to ensure a smoother experience for the consumers.

Putting the headset on for the first time was vastly different from the original, primarily because it felt more secure than the original. Thanks to its lighter weight design, I also did not feel like the front of my head was being weighed down.

Another prominent feature consumers will quickly notice is the built-in headphones. When I first saw this feature back in January, I was a bit skeptical. To me, the integrated headphones looked cheap in design — fundamentally a bare minimum accessory onto the headset. However, I am glad that I was wrong about my first impressions because the headphones themselves are incredibly comfortable. Not to mention there is room to adjust the headphones so that it can accommodate any head size.

Now, I know what you are probably thinking: the headphones are probably overstuffing the HTC Vive Pro. However, that is just not true. In fact, while I can concur that the design looks overstuffed, the headphones are still the best choice for audio and more convenient for gamers (unlike the earbuds).  The original Vive had enough wires, so the need to plug in earbuds was another obstacle in your path.

That being said, I would expect in the future that all updated virtual reality models, regardless of manufacturer, will add built-in headphones to their headsets. Not only is it convenient for the consumer, but it is also a natural feature that should have been added from the start.

Speaking of cushioning, the faceplate on the Vive Pro surprisingly offers more cushioning around it; although sweating while gaming is inevitable, the additional comfort on the front and back of my head made long VR gaming sessions less cramped in the long run. While cleaning the headset is a less-frustrating process as well, the padding is replaceable and easier to maintain compared to the original model. Although this might seem insignificant to some, techies such as myself appreciate this feature as it makes managing our gear much more manageable.

Now its time for the technical features, which are the most impressive thing in my opinion. The Vive Pro’s OLED displays run as a consistent 1,440 x 1,600 pixels per eye; a 78% increase from the original Vive. Sadly, while the new resolution is impressive, the field of view is still 110-degrees. Of course, this is no surprise considering all high-end headsets use it, but weighing all the other ambitious risks, HTC took it would have been nice to see a change in the field of view.

When used in gameplay, the HTC Vive Pro makes every look so much better than other VR headsets on the market. From racing on the whacky race tracks in Sprint Vector to fending off the inhabitants of hell in DOOM VFR to exploring the Bostonian wasteland in Fallout 4 VR, I was able to immerse myself in a new way entirely then I could have ever imagined. While it certainly helps that my rig is mighty, the sizeable graphical update is not only a technical achievement on its own, but it pushes the envelope and redefines the term “immersion.” While the new graphics will leave you awestruck, its technical specs are still not enough to justify its current purchase price, especially when you consider what the package contains.

Currently, the HTC Vive Pro is being sold as a standalone product, meaning the HTC sensors as well as its controllers, are sold separately — effectively bringing up the cost to just over $1,100. This can be a significant setback in sales at the start for two reasons; the first being that it alienates customers who do not already own an HTC Vive and also makes this extremely inconvenient to current Vive owners who will be unable to sell their old Vive should they choose to upgrade. HTC is offering all the essential accessories for $299, but considering the HTC Vive Pro’s launch price is already pretty hefty, this will undoubtedly discourage newcomers into buying the HTC Vive Pro at launch.

When we compare the HTC Vive Pro to other competitors such as the Oculus Rift, which is just $399 and comes with better controllers, and the Windows Mixed Reality headsets which do not require sensors, the Vive Pro is up against some good competition. Especially when you can grab PS VR (with all the pack-ins) for a third of the price.

Additionally, depending on what type of PC parts you have in your rig, you might not be able to see the HTC Vive Pro at its full potential. The minimum system requirements for the HTC Vive Pro includes at least an Intel Core i5-4590 processor, and at least an NVIDIA GTX 1060 or an AMD Radeon RX 480 as your minimum graphics card. Not to mention HTC has stated that faster hardware is essential to taking full advantage of what the Vive Pro has to offer. While this is not surprising, especially considering that most people with PC VR headsets have at least a basic knowledge on PC parts, those looking to get this but lack the proper PC equipment need to take these things into account if they are interested in the HTC Vive Pro.

If you follow my work carefully, you’ll know that I own both a gaming laptop as well as a desktop. My laptop and desktop are powered by a 7th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, while my laptop features an NVIDIA 1070, and my desktop includes a 1080Ti. While both computers ran the HTC Vive Pro smooth like butter, the desktop’s performance on the HTC Vive Pro was (predictably) much better than the laptop. That isn’t to say my laptop experienced hiccups, but it is to be expected to see a faster performance from the desktop when you factor the video card is better.

Since DualShockers did not review the original HTC Vive when it first launched, I want to touch on the controllers a bit: the original Vive controllers feel outdated with the HTC Vive Pro. Now, I own both an HTC Vive and a PlayStation VR, and the Vive controllers are leagues ahead of the PS Move controllers regarding quality. However, I have had my fair share of awkward moments with the Vive controllers, especially when compared to Oculus’ Touch Controllers.

HTC may be the best of the best in head mount displays right now, but Oculus clearly has the better controllers. Now, Valve has its own updated VR controllers coming for SteamVR later this year, but the fact that HTC has yet to make an update to the controllers after two years is slightly disappointing.

“The HTC Vive Pro’s significant performance update is a plus, and it’s overall more comfortable than its predecessor.”

Is the HTC Vive Pro terrible? Well, of course, it isn’t — the new features added to the HTC Vive Pro ups the ante on what we should expect from this particular side of the gaming industry concerning performance and visuals. While I cannot deny that it is an essential piece of hardware released this year, I cannot help but feel that HTC made one step forward, but two steps back when it came to executing the HTC Vive Pro.

The HTC Vive Pro’s significant performance update is a plus, and it’s overall more comfortable than its predecessor. However, the $799 price tag with no sensors or controllers is a major turnoff for many outside of extreme VR enthusiasts. At its current state, I can only recommend this headset to those who currently own an HTC Vive and have a high-end PC capable of flaunting the HTC Vive Pro’s power. However, if you are looking to enter the VR scene, I would suggest either waiting for the HTC Vive Pro for a bit until the packaging is retooled or, if you cannot wait, then research other VR options.

This post contains an affiliate link where DualShockers gets a small commission on sales. Any and all support helps keep DualShockers as a standalone, independent platform for less-mainstream opinions and news coverage.

[oldolk]

Gradually

180720

It was graduation today, so I went down to collect my degree certificate. I ended up leaving the house later than planned and even though the trains are not as bad as they were, I still arrived only half an hour before the actual ceremony was supposed to take place. It was really strange there, not like I thought it would be at all. It didn’t feel formal so much as filtered, and the robes made it feel as if everyone was wearing some sort of uniform. While trying to find the information desk to collect my certificate — which seemed a strange place for it to be kept — I passed several stalls selling commemorative goods like mugs and expensive pens and teddy bears. It was like coming full-circle back to university open day, except this time nothing was free.

When I got to the desk and asked for my certificate, the person flipped through a stack of yellow-tinted papers in ring-binder style plastic wallets until she found mine. She flipped it over and said “oh, you’ve won a prize – well done!” and rather than a second certificate as I had anticipated, there was instead a small black envelope. Confused, I asked if she knew what was inside. “I think it’s an Amazon voucher, though I don’t know how much for.” It seemed odd to commemorate student success with something as ephemeral as a voucher. Not to sound ungracious, but I think I would have preferred a certificate. We get given vouchers for completing surveys and participating in feedback groups, not for academic achievement; it almost feels as though it is diminished. That said, I am grateful. Although I am now presented with the dilemma of whether to use the voucher towards a printer/scanner for poetry, or towards something more frivolous. I have been awarded with a decision.

The person at the desk told me that I could pick up some programs on the way out. I picked up two, one for my mum and one for me, and went to an odd little table at the side to flick through to have something to do while waiting to see if I’d bump into K — as we didn’t have any sort of plan about meeting in a sense of when or where. To my surprise my name was inside the program, complete with a little star next to it. On the opposite page I spotted K’s name, also with a star beside it. I wasn’t sure what the star meant initially, but at the back of the program they had a section for awards, and K’s name is listed right after mine. It genuinely made me feel so happy to see that his hard work had been recognised.

I was struck by how few names appeared in the program though, as the only names listed were people who were attending the ceremony. I thought that aside from those who live abroad outside of term time, I would be an outlier in my non-attendance, but it seemed to be the opposite. But in spite of this, I still didn’t manage to find K before everyone started filing inside for the ceremony, and I didn’t want to wait around for an hour and a half when there was a chance that I wouldn’t see him at all. I can always see him another time.

Instead I went to collect my prescription (completely unexpected, but I now have two months of medication) and got a Boots meal deal before going back into central to go to the poetry library. My only other job for the day was to return two poetry books that were several months overdue. Both by Birdman — one collaborative book which I’m actually tempted to buy my own copy of because I loved it so much, and the other... well, it’s one of his earliest books and he hasn’t quite found his voice yet. It was also printed with a very strange paper front cover that seemed designed to stain itself and also develop spontaneous creases. Just the worst material regarding practicality, although I’m sure brand new and unread it looked lovely.

Returning the books and then going to sit down seemed intimidating considering I was worried about being fined, so I decided to return the books just before leaving instead. I put my things down at a free table and went over to the stacks. I don’t know if this is a common name or just what we called this type of shelving at the university I went to, but the shelves where you have to turn a wheel to make the space between shelves open so that you can get in, and you have to lock them in place while you’re inside so that someone else doesn’t try and close them while you’re inside. I checked no one was inside and ‘unlocked’ the stacks, but when I went to turn the wheel there was a loud clunk from the other end of the shelves. I realised that there must be a shelf locked in place further up that I hadn’t noticed (as they had a little knob that moved in and out very subtly, as opposed to the handles I was used to where they were either down or to the right depending on if they were unlocked or not). But the librarian assumed that I didn’t know how the stacks worked, so came over to ask if I needed help. I already felt awkward about creating noise in a library, and thus the explanation I launched into was more awkward than it might have been otherwise. I suppose working in a poetry library she must be used to awkward interactions with visitors though.

I successfully created access to the row of books I wanted, and commenced searching. I thought I’d check to see if they had any of Dan’s books. I haven’t talked about him before because we don’t really talk that often. But from context you know he’s a poet. I’m not really sure how we met actually, as I seem to remember him following me on Instagram before I even had my little book out. And my main Instagram is just pale-filter pictures of things like cute food or pretty buildings or things I find in antique shops. He followed my poetry Instagram when I created it, and sent me a message asking if there was anywhere he could watch my performances. I sent him a link but being aware that he’s actually pretty up there in the poetry community — I would say that he’s the lead practitioner in his specific field, and he actually outranks Birdman so like, he’s The Guy for what he does — and seeing as my readings weren’t up to par, I also sent along samples of two of the three poems I read. Because there’s a chance that one day it will be helpful if this guy knows I can actually do poetry. Then there was this whole thing where he replied in a strange way and I briefly wondered if he was masturbating to my poems, but when I asked what he meant it turned out that it had just been odd phrasing and I’d misunderstood, and he’s actually a very nice person. It’s a shame he’s based in another country, or else I’d probably have attended an event of his now.

That was a huge digression. But yes, I was looking for Dan’s books. The only reason I didn’t own anything of his was that I couldn’t tell how much of what was in the various book’s he’s put out would be text-based and how much would be more image-based, as if I ordered a book that had a lot of stuff inside in a language I’m unfamiliar with, I’d be very sad. Yet for some reason not a single one of his books was in the library! I was genuinely surprised. And I didn’t have a plan for what to look for aside from that, and have little to know knowledge of poets, so I picked out a few books that seemed interesting and went and read them instead. It was a chill time, and I wished I’d got there earlier so that I could have looked at all the magazines too. I ended up putting all the books back and returning the books just before closing. The librarian didn’t seem at all bothered by the return date, and told me that the reason they hadn’t contacted me about due dates was because they didn’t have any of my contact information — which confused me because I distinctly remember filling out a form and thinking about which email address to use and whether to actually give my mobile number or not. But they have the information now, and I didn’t get a fine, so it’s all good I think. A tiny part of me was hoping I might see Birdman in the library, but if he was there I didn’t see him.

While I was in the library, I decided to open my ‘prize’. It was indeed an Amazon voucher. I wanted to open it in the poetry library for luck, and hopefully it worked. I didn’t look at my degree properly until I got home though, as I wanted to show it to my mum. She met me at the train station when I got back to our town, and she bought me a glazed donut on the way home.

I feel sad that I didn’t manage to see K, and also sad that university is completely over now. I expected it to feel more dramatic but it just sort of fizzled out. But now I’m a graduate and that’s a whole new thing I guess.

[thevalicemultiverse]

Things You Need To Know About: The Inevitable High School AU

Tag: ~V: Inevitable High School

Premise: Ah, the drama of high school. The cliques ruling the social scene; the daily struggle with homework and studies; the thrills and chills of navigating dating. Victor Van Dort’s just trying to keep on the sidelines and do his own thing, but it can be tough when you’re well-known as the richest boy in school – and one of the dorkiest. But on the other hand, he’s not the only “weird” kid out there, and this Alice Liddell does seem nice…

This AU is -- well, look at what I called it. XD But in truth it's kind of an amalgamation of three different High School AUs I've considered and played around with:

One on my Secundus Victor's old solo account, Butterfly Boy, where Victor was still mad sciencey, he was just being so as a modern-day high school senior (with his own apartment no less -- well, his and Alice's)

A Carrie-based AU idea, Prom Scream Queen, where Alice has the ability to make people see things based on her hallucinations, and she and Victor become a couple just in time to go to prom together -- which, given that it's based on Carrie, doesn't go exactly well for them (although this AU has a much smaller body count due to Alice's ability being illusions and her not actually wanting anyone (except a certain doctor at the end) to die)

An AU that started out as based on the movie The Faculty but kind of evolved into "can I adapt at least part of the plots of Alice: Madness Returns/Otherlands, the first Back To The Future, Portal 2, and Corpse Bride into a multifandom high school setting?" called Fandom High (answer: I can, and can even throw in some extra strangeness to ensure all my mains get a happy ending)

For this AU, I'm borrowing the most from Fandom High -- Victor is a modern-day student at Frances Dommartin Memorial High School in the town of Riverside, having moved there with his family from Burtonsville shortly before he started high school. The Van Dorts are still the richest family for miles around thanks to their fish-canning business, and have a mansion in the best neighborhood. Victor gets driven to school daily by Mayhew in the family Rolls Royce, and always has the latest in electronics. Being the wealthiest boy in school hasn't done much for Victor's social life, however -- thanks to him being shy and kind of clumsy when nervous, most people see him as a total dork, either to be bullied or ignored completely. Those who do pay attention to him are generally just interested if they can get money or an invite to his house so they can life the rich life vicariously through him. Victor weathers it the best he can, keeping to the edges of the social scene and concentrating on his artwork, his music, his butterflies, and those few people he knows like him for who he is -- Victoria Everglot, Emily Cartwell, and Alice Liddell. There's no overarching plot here, like with some of my more story-based AUs -- just a teenager trying to survive (and maybe even have a successful relationship) until graduation and college.

This verse has two distinct time periods/locations threads can be set in:

The New Kid In Town: Victor's freshman and sophomore years in Fandom High. Starts out his first couple of months as the shortest kid in school -- but by the time he's fifteen, he's hit his adult height of 6-foot-3 and is instead the tallest. He's still adjusting to living in a new town (in a new country, no less) and going to a new school, and wouldn't mind someone giving him a few pointers on how to handle this "high school" business. Someone who isn't just interested in seeing if he's got the latest gaming consoles as well as the latest iPhone, please.

Bob Cordry For Class President: Victor's junior and senior years in Fandom High. He's gotten the hang of his classes, but not really the social scene -- but that's okay, he's never been the most social of people anyway. Still, his mother keeps pestering him that he needs to mingle more, and it would be nice to ask a girl out on his own. . .he should probably start by making more friends, though. So hello, how are you, do you need any help with the math homework?

Common NPCs:

Alice Liddell (Bob Cordry For Class President)

Victoria Everglot (throughout)

Emily Cartwell (throughout)

Shipping: Okay, this one needs a bit of explanation. Victor's romantic life runs thusly, at least for the NPC cast:

Pre-Junior year: Victor's not really that interested in dating, finding the whole process kind of intimidating, while Nell pushes him regularly toward Victoria Everglot

Junior year: Victor and Victoria, having gotten friendly from all the forced interaction, decide to give dating a shot. It actually goes pretty well -- up until Victor finds another acquaintance, Emily Cartwell, crying in the music room thanks to a rough break-up with her old boyfriend Barkis. Victor, feeling bad, asks her if she wants to go out somewhere later in the week. He means it in terms of friendshippy hanging out, but Emily misinterprets it as a romantic date and promptly starts rebounding onto him. The date goes well until Victor lets slip that he thinks they're just friends -- Emily calls him a liar and storms off. Baffled, Victor visits her house later, and over a little apologetic piano playing, manages to clear up the misunderstanding. He also says he wouldn't mind dating her romantically, he just has to make sure Victoria's okay with it first. Emily's game, so Victor goes to talk to Victoria at lunch the next day -- only to find Barkis trying to put the moves on her as he tells her Victor cheated on her with Emily. Victor and Emily both confront him to explain what really happened, and Barkis pulls a knife on Victor -- Victor somehow manages to disarm him with a fork, and the four end up in the principal's office. Barkis is expelled, and Victor, Victoria, and Emily all take a quick break from the whole dating scene. Victor does end up going on a few more dates with both girls. . .but as Victoria and Emily grow to be friends, they realize they're a little more attracted to each other. And so poor Victor ends up with "the guy who turns girls gay" tacked on after his name (even though Victor himself is happy for his friends).

Senior year: Victor meets Alice and finally discovers the joys of a long-term girlfriend.

So yeah. Since I'll probably default to senior year in most of his threads, the main ship is still Victor/Alice, but he's basically open to romantic interaction with Alices, Victorias, and Emilys, depending on time period. (Though of course I'm open to threads where he knows a PC Alice earlier. . .)

NPC Ships: Victoria Everglot/Emily Cartwell

Important Facts:

For my own personal ease in RPing, Riverside is a town in New England that all the characters have immigrated to. The high school setting and schedule is going to be based on what I personally knew growing up in RI.

Victor's class schedule always includes art and music classes, natch. They're his best subjects, and he also does decently at math and science (particularly biology, and especially anything relating to lepidoptery). He's okay in English -- he likes reading, but he finds the written word a bit harder to tame than his artwork. History is also a little hit and miss. Generally, though he's a pretty solid "high Bs/low As" student.

NPC Victoria's family moved to Riverside shortly before the Van Dorts did (Victor quietly thinks his mother specifically picked the town so she could try pushing them together). The Everglots live in a much more modest house a few neighborhoods over from the Van Dorts, having had to downsize from the mansion in Burtonsville thanks to the reduced family fortunes. While Maudeline is disdainful of the Van Dorts for their lack of breeding, she grudgingly tolerated Nell's attempts to get Victor and Victoria together because she hoped there might be a little financial benefit in it for them. She was less than understanding when Victoria and Emily started dating. Not that Victoria cares all that much -- she's quite happy with Emily, thank you very much.

NPC Emily is alive at the same time as everyone else in this AU -- she and her father moved to Riverside not long after the death of her mother. They live in the same neighborhood as the Everglots, though in a somewhat nicer house. She dated local "bad boy" Barkis Bittern for a while, until she discovered him rooting through her mother's jewelry for stuff to sell. They had a big fight, and Emily kicked him out, which led to her crying jag in the music room and her rather disastrous brief semi-relationship with Victor. The more open dating between him and Victoria afterward helped her realize she was biromantic but lesbian, and she's currently happily entangled with Victoria. Fortunately her father is much more understanding than Victoria's parents!

NPC Alice still suffered the terrible fire that killed her family, and still spent years in Rutledge as a result. Bumby takes her in a little earlier, though, and moves them to Riverside when the local police start sniffing a little too curiously into his orphanage for his tastes. Alice doesn't exactly like him, but it's not until her senior year in high school that she realizes just who he is and confronts him, managing to finally get him jailed for his crimes against her and the other children under his care. Nan Sharpe, who moved to Riverside years ago looking for work and is now the world's most embarrassing health teacher, takes her in so she can finish the year and get her own place. Alice takes medications to help stop her Wonderland hallucinations taking over her brain, though she's still pretty prone to daydreaming. And she doesn't tolerate bullies -- she met Victor when she punched someone menacing him in the face.

While the mains are all CB or AMA characters, this is definitely a multifandom school. My current minor NPCs from other fandoms are Vice Principal Gerald Strickland; school newspaper columnist Edna Strickland; janitor Wheatley Wilco, and gym teacher Chell Johnson. So yeah, definitely feel free to pop in, even if you're from another verse!

This verse is open to everyone!

[gamingtipsandtrickshacks]

HTC Vive Pro Review -- The Most Powerful (and Expensive) Virtual Reality Headset

In 2016, HTC and Oculus VR released their virtual reality headsets, driving innovation in the medium not seen since the 90’s. In the past couple years, VR has taken off like a rocket with HTC being what I believe the frontrunner in the VR headset market — at least, based on the hardware and performance.

With the original HTC Vive’s two-year anniversary coming up and its updated model — the HTC Vive Pro’s — launch slowly creeping onto our calendars, I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the upcoming model. That being said, after spending some intimate time with the latest head mount display, I can wholeheartedly say that the HTC has solidified its place in the market as the top dog of VR hardware and the HTC Vive Pro is the most potent headset available to date.

At first glance, the most notable feature, which separates the original HTC Vive from the HTC Vive Pro is the color scheme. Unlike the original’s all-black design, the Vive Pro is sporting a deep blue color. Now, I own an original HTC Vive, so when I unboxed the HTC Vive Pro one of the first things I did was compare both models. Although both models are the same size, the HTC Vive Pro is significantly lighter to the original model and arguably lighter than Sony’s PlayStation VR headset.

Circling back to other differences between the original model and the HTC Vive Pro is the new head strap, which was heavily influenced by the Vive’s Deluxe Audio accessory released last year by the manufacturer. Visually, the head strap can look intimidating to some, but it is incredibly simplistic (in a positive way). It allows gamers to place the headset on their face, rest the back strap against their head and adjust accordingly, while the other band (to moderate the precise fitting) is located on the top instead of on the sides like the original Vive.

“…the HTC Vive Pro is the most potent headset available to date.”

I love my HTC Vive, but one of the most significant issues I had was the head strap system (which featured three separate straps located on various parts of the headset) on the first model, essentially making the process of adjusting the HMD nearly a two-man job. Thankfully, HTC learned from its mistakes to ensure a smoother experience for the consumers.

Putting the headset on for the first time was vastly different from the original, primarily because it felt more secure than the original. Thanks to its lighter weight design, I also did not feel like the front of my head was being weighed down.

Another prominent feature consumers will quickly notice is the built-in headphones. When I first saw this feature back in January, I was a bit skeptical. To me, the integrated headphones looked cheap in design — fundamentally a bare minimum accessory onto the headset. However, I am glad that I was wrong about my first impressions because the headphones themselves are incredibly comfortable. Not to mention there is room to adjust the headphones so that it can accommodate any head size.

Now, I know what you are probably thinking: the headphones are probably overstuffing the HTC Vive Pro. However, that is just not true. In fact, while I can concur that the design looks overstuffed, the headphones are still the best choice for audio and more convenient for gamers (unlike the earbuds).  The original Vive had enough wires, so the need to plug in earbuds was another obstacle in your path.

That being said, I would expect in the future that all updated virtual reality models, regardless of manufacturer, will add built-in headphones to their headsets. Not only is it convenient for the consumer, but it is also a natural feature that should have been added from the start.

Speaking of cushioning, the faceplate on the Vive Pro surprisingly offers more cushioning around it; although sweating while gaming is inevitable, the additional comfort on the front and back of my head made long VR gaming sessions less cramped in the long run. While cleaning the headset is a less-frustrating process as well, the padding is replaceable and easier to maintain compared to the original model. Although this might seem insignificant to some, techies such as myself appreciate this feature as it makes managing our gear much more manageable.

Now its time for the technical features, which are the most impressive thing in my opinion. The Vive Pro’s OLED displays run as a consistent 1,440 x 1,600 pixels per eye; a 78% increase from the original Vive. Sadly, while the new resolution is impressive, the field of view is still 110-degrees. Of course, this is no surprise considering all high-end headsets use it, but weighing all the other ambitious risks, HTC took it would have been nice to see a change in the field of view.

When used in gameplay, the HTC Vive Pro makes every look so much better than other VR headsets on the market. From racing on the whacky race tracks in Sprint Vector to fending off the inhabitants of hell in DOOM VFR to exploring the Bostonian wasteland in Fallout 4 VR, I was able to immerse myself in a new way entirely then I could have ever imagined. While it certainly helps that my rig is mighty, the sizeable graphical update is not only a technical achievement on its own, but it pushes the envelope and redefines the term “immersion.” While the new graphics will leave you awestruck, its technical specs are still not enough to justify its current purchase price, especially when you consider what the package contains.

Currently, the HTC Vive Pro is being sold as a standalone product, meaning the HTC sensors as well as its controllers, are sold separately — effectively bringing up the cost to just over $1,100. This can be a significant setback in sales at the start for two reasons; the first being that it alienates customers who do not already own an HTC Vive and also makes this extremely inconvenient to current Vive owners who will be unable to sell their old Vive should they choose to upgrade. HTC is offering all the essential accessories for $299, but considering the HTC Vive Pro’s launch price is already pretty hefty, this will undoubtedly discourage newcomers into buying the HTC Vive Pro at launch.

When we compare the HTC Vive Pro to other competitors such as the Oculus Rift, which is just $399 and comes with better controllers, and the Windows Mixed Reality headsets which do not require sensors, the Vive Pro is up against some good competition. Especially when you can grab PS VR (with all the pack-ins) for a third of the price.

Additionally, depending on what type of PC parts you have in your rig, you might not be able to see the HTC Vive Pro at its full potential. The minimum system requirements for the HTC Vive Pro includes at least an Intel Core i5-4590 processor, and at least an NVIDIA GTX 1060 or an AMD Radeon RX 480 as your minimum graphics card. Not to mention HTC has stated that faster hardware is essential to taking full advantage of what the Vive Pro has to offer. While this is not surprising, especially considering that most people with PC VR headsets have at least a basic knowledge on PC parts, those looking to get this but lack the proper PC equipment need to take these things into account if they are interested in the HTC Vive Pro.

If you follow my work carefully, you’ll know that I own both a gaming laptop as well as a desktop. My laptop and desktop are powered by a 7th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, while my laptop features an NVIDIA 1070, and my desktop includes a 1080Ti. While both computers ran the HTC Vive Pro smooth like butter, the desktop’s performance on the HTC Vive Pro was (predictably) much better than the laptop. That isn’t to say my laptop experienced hiccups, but it is to be expected to see a faster performance from the desktop when you factor the video card is better.

Since DualShockers did not review the original HTC Vive when it first launched, I want to touch on the controllers a bit: the original Vive controllers feel outdated with the HTC Vive Pro. Now, I own both an HTC Vive and a PlayStation VR, and the Vive controllers are leagues ahead of the PS Move controllers regarding quality. However, I have had my fair share of awkward moments with the Vive controllers, especially when compared to Oculus’ Touch Controllers.

HTC may be the best of the best in head mount displays right now, but Oculus clearly has the better controllers. Now, Valve has its own updated VR controllers coming for SteamVR later this year, but the fact that HTC has yet to make an update to the controllers after two years is slightly disappointing.

“The HTC Vive Pro’s significant performance update is a plus, and it’s overall more comfortable than its predecessor.”

Is the HTC Vive Pro terrible? Well, of course, it isn’t — the new features added to the HTC Vive Pro ups the ante on what we should expect from this particular side of the gaming industry concerning performance and visuals. While I cannot deny that it is an essential piece of hardware released this year, I cannot help but feel that HTC made one step forward, but two steps back when it came to executing the HTC Vive Pro.

The HTC Vive Pro’s significant performance update is a plus, and it’s overall more comfortable than its predecessor. However, the $799 price tag with no sensors or controllers is a major turnoff for many outside of extreme VR enthusiasts. At its current state, I can only recommend this headset to those who currently own an HTC Vive and have a high-end PC capable of flaunting the HTC Vive Pro’s power. However, if you are looking to enter the VR scene, I would suggest either waiting for the HTC Vive Pro for a bit until the packaging is retooled or, if you cannot wait, then research other VR options.

This post contains an affiliate link where DualShockers gets a small commission on sales. Any and all support helps keep DualShockers as a standalone, independent platform for less-mainstream opinions and news coverage.

[gamingtipsandtrickshacks]

HTC Vive Pro Review -- The Most Powerful (and Expensive) Virtual Reality Headset

In 2016, HTC and Oculus VR released their virtual reality headsets, driving innovation in the medium not seen since the 90’s. In the past couple years, VR has taken off like a rocket with HTC being what I believe the frontrunner in the VR headset market — at least, based on the hardware and performance.

With the original HTC Vive’s two-year anniversary coming up and its updated model — the HTC Vive Pro’s — launch slowly creeping onto our calendars, I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the upcoming model. That being said, after spending some intimate time with the latest head mount display, I can wholeheartedly say that the HTC has solidified its place in the market as the top dog of VR hardware and the HTC Vive Pro is the most potent headset available to date.

At first glance, the most notable feature, which separates the original HTC Vive from the HTC Vive Pro is the color scheme. Unlike the original’s all-black design, the Vive Pro is sporting a deep blue color. Now, I own an original HTC Vive, so when I unboxed the HTC Vive Pro one of the first things I did was compare both models. Although both models are the same size, the HTC Vive Pro is significantly lighter to the original model and arguably lighter than Sony’s PlayStation VR headset.

Circling back to other differences between the original model and the HTC Vive Pro is the new head strap, which was heavily influenced by the Vive’s Deluxe Audio accessory released last year by the manufacturer. Visually, the head strap can look intimidating to some, but it is incredibly simplistic (in a positive way). It allows gamers to place the headset on their face, rest the back strap against their head and adjust accordingly, while the other band (to moderate the precise fitting) is located on the top instead of on the sides like the original Vive.

“…the HTC Vive Pro is the most potent headset available to date.”

I love my HTC Vive, but one of the most significant issues I had was the head strap system (which featured three separate straps located on various parts of the headset) on the first model, essentially making the process of adjusting the HMD nearly a two-man job. Thankfully, HTC learned from its mistakes to ensure a smoother experience for the consumers.

Putting the headset on for the first time was vastly different from the original, primarily because it felt more secure than the original. Thanks to its lighter weight design, I also did not feel like the front of my head was being weighed down.

Another prominent feature consumers will quickly notice is the built-in headphones. When I first saw this feature back in January, I was a bit skeptical. To me, the integrated headphones looked cheap in design — fundamentally a bare minimum accessory onto the headset. However, I am glad that I was wrong about my first impressions because the headphones themselves are incredibly comfortable. Not to mention there is room to adjust the headphones so that it can accommodate any head size.

Now, I know what you are probably thinking: the headphones are probably overstuffing the HTC Vive Pro. However, that is just not true. In fact, while I can concur that the design looks overstuffed, the headphones are still the best choice for audio and more convenient for gamers (unlike the earbuds).  The original Vive had enough wires, so the need to plug in earbuds was another obstacle in your path.

That being said, I would expect in the future that all updated virtual reality models, regardless of manufacturer, will add built-in headphones to their headsets. Not only is it convenient for the consumer, but it is also a natural feature that should have been added from the start.

Speaking of cushioning, the faceplate on the Vive Pro surprisingly offers more cushioning around it; although sweating while gaming is inevitable, the additional comfort on the front and back of my head made long VR gaming sessions less cramped in the long run. While cleaning the headset is a less-frustrating process as well, the padding is replaceable and easier to maintain compared to the original model. Although this might seem insignificant to some, techies such as myself appreciate this feature as it makes managing our gear much more manageable.

Now its time for the technical features, which are the most impressive thing in my opinion. The Vive Pro’s OLED displays run as a consistent 1,440 x 1,600 pixels per eye; a 78% increase from the original Vive. Sadly, while the new resolution is impressive, the field of view is still 110-degrees. Of course, this is no surprise considering all high-end headsets use it, but weighing all the other ambitious risks, HTC took it would have been nice to see a change in the field of view.

When used in gameplay, the HTC Vive Pro makes every look so much better than other VR headsets on the market. From racing on the whacky race tracks in Sprint Vector to fending off the inhabitants of hell in DOOM VFR to exploring the Bostonian wasteland in Fallout 4 VR, I was able to immerse myself in a new way entirely then I could have ever imagined. While it certainly helps that my rig is mighty, the sizeable graphical update is not only a technical achievement on its own, but it pushes the envelope and redefines the term “immersion.” While the new graphics will leave you awestruck, its technical specs are still not enough to justify its current purchase price, especially when you consider what the package contains.

Currently, the HTC Vive Pro is being sold as a standalone product, meaning the HTC sensors as well as its controllers, are sold separately — effectively bringing up the cost to just over $1,100. This can be a significant setback in sales at the start for two reasons; the first being that it alienates customers who do not already own an HTC Vive and also makes this extremely inconvenient to current Vive owners who will be unable to sell their old Vive should they choose to upgrade. HTC is offering all the essential accessories for $299, but considering the HTC Vive Pro’s launch price is already pretty hefty, this will undoubtedly discourage newcomers into buying the HTC Vive Pro at launch.

When we compare the HTC Vive Pro to other competitors such as the Oculus Rift, which is just $399 and comes with better controllers, and the Windows Mixed Reality headsets which do not require sensors, the Vive Pro is up against some good competition. Especially when you can grab PS VR (with all the pack-ins) for a third of the price.

Additionally, depending on what type of PC parts you have in your rig, you might not be able to see the HTC Vive Pro at its full potential. The minimum system requirements for the HTC Vive Pro includes at least an Intel Core i5-4590 processor, and at least an NVIDIA GTX 1060 or an AMD Radeon RX 480 as your minimum graphics card. Not to mention HTC has stated that faster hardware is essential to taking full advantage of what the Vive Pro has to offer. While this is not surprising, especially considering that most people with PC VR headsets have at least a basic knowledge on PC parts, those looking to get this but lack the proper PC equipment need to take these things into account if they are interested in the HTC Vive Pro.

If you follow my work carefully, you’ll know that I own both a gaming laptop as well as a desktop. My laptop and desktop are powered by a 7th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, while my laptop features an NVIDIA 1070, and my desktop includes a 1080Ti. While both computers ran the HTC Vive Pro smooth like butter, the desktop’s performance on the HTC Vive Pro was (predictably) much better than the laptop. That isn’t to say my laptop experienced hiccups, but it is to be expected to see a faster performance from the desktop when you factor the video card is better.

Since DualShockers did not review the original HTC Vive when it first launched, I want to touch on the controllers a bit: the original Vive controllers feel outdated with the HTC Vive Pro. Now, I own both an HTC Vive and a PlayStation VR, and the Vive controllers are leagues ahead of the PS Move controllers regarding quality. However, I have had my fair share of awkward moments with the Vive controllers, especially when compared to Oculus’ Touch Controllers.

HTC may be the best of the best in head mount displays right now, but Oculus clearly has the better controllers. Now, Valve has its own updated VR controllers coming for SteamVR later this year, but the fact that HTC has yet to make an update to the controllers after two years is slightly disappointing.

“The HTC Vive Pro’s significant performance update is a plus, and it’s overall more comfortable than its predecessor.”

Is the HTC Vive Pro terrible? Well, of course, it isn’t — the new features added to the HTC Vive Pro ups the ante on what we should expect from this particular side of the gaming industry concerning performance and visuals. While I cannot deny that it is an essential piece of hardware released this year, I cannot help but feel that HTC made one step forward, but two steps back when it came to executing the HTC Vive Pro.

The HTC Vive Pro’s significant performance update is a plus, and it’s overall more comfortable than its predecessor. However, the $799 price tag with no sensors or controllers is a major turnoff for many outside of extreme VR enthusiasts. At its current state, I can only recommend this headset to those who currently own an HTC Vive and have a high-end PC capable of flaunting the HTC Vive Pro’s power. However, if you are looking to enter the VR scene, I would suggest either waiting for the HTC Vive Pro for a bit until the packaging is retooled or, if you cannot wait, then research other VR options.

This post contains an affiliate link where DualShockers gets a small commission on sales. Any and all support helps keep DualShockers as a standalone, independent platform for less-mainstream opinions and news coverage.

[gamingtipsandtrickshacks]

HTC Vive Pro Review -- The Most Powerful (and Expensive) Virtual Reality Headset

In 2016, HTC and Oculus VR released their virtual reality headsets, driving innovation in the medium not seen since the 90’s. In the past couple years, VR has taken off like a rocket with HTC being what I believe the frontrunner in the VR headset market — at least, based on the hardware and performance.

With the original HTC Vive’s two-year anniversary coming up and its updated model — the HTC Vive Pro’s — launch slowly creeping onto our calendars, I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the upcoming model. That being said, after spending some intimate time with the latest head mount display, I can wholeheartedly say that the HTC has solidified its place in the market as the top dog of VR hardware and the HTC Vive Pro is the most potent headset available to date.

At first glance, the most notable feature, which separates the original HTC Vive from the HTC Vive Pro is the color scheme. Unlike the original’s all-black design, the Vive Pro is sporting a deep blue color. Now, I own an original HTC Vive, so when I unboxed the HTC Vive Pro one of the first things I did was compare both models. Although both models are the same size, the HTC Vive Pro is significantly lighter to the original model and arguably lighter than Sony’s PlayStation VR headset.

Circling back to other differences between the original model and the HTC Vive Pro is the new head strap, which was heavily influenced by the Vive’s Deluxe Audio accessory released last year by the manufacturer. Visually, the head strap can look intimidating to some, but it is incredibly simplistic (in a positive way). It allows gamers to place the headset on their face, rest the back strap against their head and adjust accordingly, while the other band (to moderate the precise fitting) is located on the top instead of on the sides like the original Vive.

“…the HTC Vive Pro is the most potent headset available to date.”

I love my HTC Vive, but one of the most significant issues I had was the head strap system (which featured three separate straps located on various parts of the headset) on the first model, essentially making the process of adjusting the HMD nearly a two-man job. Thankfully, HTC learned from its mistakes to ensure a smoother experience for the consumers.

Putting the headset on for the first time was vastly different from the original, primarily because it felt more secure than the original. Thanks to its lighter weight design, I also did not feel like the front of my head was being weighed down.

Another prominent feature consumers will quickly notice is the built-in headphones. When I first saw this feature back in January, I was a bit skeptical. To me, the integrated headphones looked cheap in design — fundamentally a bare minimum accessory onto the headset. However, I am glad that I was wrong about my first impressions because the headphones themselves are incredibly comfortable. Not to mention there is room to adjust the headphones so that it can accommodate any head size.

Now, I know what you are probably thinking: the headphones are probably overstuffing the HTC Vive Pro. However, that is just not true. In fact, while I can concur that the design looks overstuffed, the headphones are still the best choice for audio and more convenient for gamers (unlike the earbuds).  The original Vive had enough wires, so the need to plug in earbuds was another obstacle in your path.

That being said, I would expect in the future that all updated virtual reality models, regardless of manufacturer, will add built-in headphones to their headsets. Not only is it convenient for the consumer, but it is also a natural feature that should have been added from the start.

Speaking of cushioning, the faceplate on the Vive Pro surprisingly offers more cushioning around it; although sweating while gaming is inevitable, the additional comfort on the front and back of my head made long VR gaming sessions less cramped in the long run. While cleaning the headset is a less-frustrating process as well, the padding is replaceable and easier to maintain compared to the original model. Although this might seem insignificant to some, techies such as myself appreciate this feature as it makes managing our gear much more manageable.

Now its time for the technical features, which are the most impressive thing in my opinion. The Vive Pro’s OLED displays run as a consistent 1,440 x 1,600 pixels per eye; a 78% increase from the original Vive. Sadly, while the new resolution is impressive, the field of view is still 110-degrees. Of course, this is no surprise considering all high-end headsets use it, but weighing all the other ambitious risks, HTC took it would have been nice to see a change in the field of view.

When used in gameplay, the HTC Vive Pro makes every look so much better than other VR headsets on the market. From racing on the whacky race tracks in Sprint Vector to fending off the inhabitants of hell in DOOM VFR to exploring the Bostonian wasteland in Fallout 4 VR, I was able to immerse myself in a new way entirely then I could have ever imagined. While it certainly helps that my rig is mighty, the sizeable graphical update is not only a technical achievement on its own, but it pushes the envelope and redefines the term “immersion.” While the new graphics will leave you awestruck, its technical specs are still not enough to justify its current purchase price, especially when you consider what the package contains.

Currently, the HTC Vive Pro is being sold as a standalone product, meaning the HTC sensors as well as its controllers, are sold separately — effectively bringing up the cost to just over $1,100. This can be a significant setback in sales at the start for two reasons; the first being that it alienates customers who do not already own an HTC Vive and also makes this extremely inconvenient to current Vive owners who will be unable to sell their old Vive should they choose to upgrade. HTC is offering all the essential accessories for $299, but considering the HTC Vive Pro’s launch price is already pretty hefty, this will undoubtedly discourage newcomers into buying the HTC Vive Pro at launch.

When we compare the HTC Vive Pro to other competitors such as the Oculus Rift, which is just $399 and comes with better controllers, and the Windows Mixed Reality headsets which do not require sensors, the Vive Pro is up against some good competition. Especially when you can grab PS VR (with all the pack-ins) for a third of the price.

Additionally, depending on what type of PC parts you have in your rig, you might not be able to see the HTC Vive Pro at its full potential. The minimum system requirements for the HTC Vive Pro includes at least an Intel Core i5-4590 processor, and at least an NVIDIA GTX 1060 or an AMD Radeon RX 480 as your minimum graphics card. Not to mention HTC has stated that faster hardware is essential to taking full advantage of what the Vive Pro has to offer. While this is not surprising, especially considering that most people with PC VR headsets have at least a basic knowledge on PC parts, those looking to get this but lack the proper PC equipment need to take these things into account if they are interested in the HTC Vive Pro.

If you follow my work carefully, you’ll know that I own both a gaming laptop as well as a desktop. My laptop and desktop are powered by a 7th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, while my laptop features an NVIDIA 1070, and my desktop includes a 1080Ti. While both computers ran the HTC Vive Pro smooth like butter, the desktop’s performance on the HTC Vive Pro was (predictably) much better than the laptop. That isn’t to say my laptop experienced hiccups, but it is to be expected to see a faster performance from the desktop when you factor the video card is better.

Since DualShockers did not review the original HTC Vive when it first launched, I want to touch on the controllers a bit: the original Vive controllers feel outdated with the HTC Vive Pro. Now, I own both an HTC Vive and a PlayStation VR, and the Vive controllers are leagues ahead of the PS Move controllers regarding quality. However, I have had my fair share of awkward moments with the Vive controllers, especially when compared to Oculus’ Touch Controllers.

HTC may be the best of the best in head mount displays right now, but Oculus clearly has the better controllers. Now, Valve has its own updated VR controllers coming for SteamVR later this year, but the fact that HTC has yet to make an update to the controllers after two years is slightly disappointing.

“The HTC Vive Pro’s significant performance update is a plus, and it’s overall more comfortable than its predecessor.”

Is the HTC Vive Pro terrible? Well, of course, it isn’t — the new features added to the HTC Vive Pro ups the ante on what we should expect from this particular side of the gaming industry concerning performance and visuals. While I cannot deny that it is an essential piece of hardware released this year, I cannot help but feel that HTC made one step forward, but two steps back when it came to executing the HTC Vive Pro.

The HTC Vive Pro’s significant performance update is a plus, and it’s overall more comfortable than its predecessor. However, the $799 price tag with no sensors or controllers is a major turnoff for many outside of extreme VR enthusiasts. At its current state, I can only recommend this headset to those who currently own an HTC Vive and have a high-end PC capable of flaunting the HTC Vive Pro’s power. However, if you are looking to enter the VR scene, I would suggest either waiting for the HTC Vive Pro for a bit until the packaging is retooled or, if you cannot wait, then research other VR options.

This post contains an affiliate link where DualShockers gets a small commission on sales. Any and all support helps keep DualShockers as a standalone, independent platform for less-mainstream opinions and news coverage.