#there's this morale system where if you do impressive stuff during combat

[foxstens]

proof that ive gotten better at the game: guards now consistently run away from me

[protagonistheavy]

Cactus got me to play Fable 3 over the past week and earlier today we beat it. Really interesting game! It’s got a lot of fun qualities to it that I think got overlooked in its time; as far as I understand, this game was received pretty poorly, especially by earlier Fable fans. I’ve never played a Fable game before though, so I can’t speak of how true it is to the series, but on its own, it was a really cozy experience.

I say cozy because it was never at any point too stressful or anything. Even something like the pause menu is a sanctuary where your character can run around to change their equipment and clothes and also manage save data and such. Combat is really simple which also means it’s a bit repetitive, but it only ever feels bad when the story launches you into one combat after another where you’re just pretty mindlessly farming kills until they stop. To combat’s defense, it isn’t intended to be complex, but flashy, where your character gets flashy and unique kill animations depending on the weapon you used and the exact enemy, which makes for these satisfying encounters. Everything about the game hypes you up as a Herculean hero of sorts, so I don’t think this is a particularly offensive quality of the game, not when paced properly.

I will say that the pacing of the game is a bit rough after the first half. It feels like they ran out of budget and had to rush the ending, which is unfortunate because the first half really hypes up this last leg of the game. It feels like as soon as I was able to “branch out” and really explore the world, it pretty quickly resolves itself. I was disappointed that the game wasn’t strict about its one year time limit at this point, forgoing any time limit at all and instead just making it an illusion. I think an actual in-game year to raise enough money for a war would have been a thrilling and totally achievable challenge, but instead it gives you infinite time that only ticks down when you go through story events.

The morality system is also very 2010, haha. Your options are like ALWAYS “feed the poor and stop treating them like dirt” or “turn the unworking poor into ground meat to feed to cattle.” Like it’s so extreme that I highly doubt any conventional player will choose a mix of options in a playthrough, it would be horribly inconsistent to go from one good decision to an evil decision. None of these decisions really make you weigh much of anything, it’s just that doing the good things will cost you more but people like you better, versus the bad things save you or earn you money but people hate you. You pretty much set yourself up for one of two extremes depending entirely on which ending you want to get from the outset.

It also wasn’t a challenge for me to be both a good ruler and also save all my people from destruction. You can make money in this game crazy easy if you just buy up properties, play the lute for awhile, and let the passive income rain in. Legit Cactus and I just let the game run over night and we woke up to having millions of gold, there’s no punishment or anything other than having to repair properties when they get old. So I will say I didn’t feel like I achieved much for supposedly getting the best ending, which does downplay a lot of its narrative aspects. For example, keeping the promises you make in the first half of the story isn’t complicated at all, and is basically just accruing additional costs for the upcoming war. I think it would have been really entertaining if some of the promises conflicted, like to fulfill one promise for a faction, you’d have to break or risk the promise of another faction, and that would mean having to do some other quests or arranging things so that all your promises are kept. Your promises are again hyped as having all this weight, but when push comes to “shove” all it asks of you is to hold A and not decide to completely backstab the people that trusted you.

All that being said the story was cute, the characters were fun, and the world was very charming. Honestly I’m impressed with how much life this game manages to get out of some simple tricks. There’s also so much in this game that I won’t really have the time to explore, like all the costumes, all the collectibles, decorating houses, raising a family... And to think, too, that there was online play with coop and stuff. I have to give credit that they tried to put a lot into this game, a lot of qualities that I think would have been better in a slice of life type game instead of this action adventure. Combat really is kind of the weakest point of the game; significantly little enemy variety, almost no bosses, combat hardly develops, and it’s especially bad when it gets in the way of the story. Like, there was one part where you’re supposed to sneak into a masquerade, but the moment you get inside, it’s like, immediate combat. A gauntlet of battles in fact. It feels like a ton of ideas just got dropped during development, which is really unfortunate. One big leftover I have to mention is the “weapon switches” or whatever; they’re introduced in the tutorial as this switch hitting mechanic that requires one of your weapons, but then it never appears again except, from what I’ve found, ONE weird little optional puzzle. It NEVER comes back! It’s really weird.

So all in all I had a good time, I might even still sink my teeth into more side quests since those have a lot of meat in them. I’m glad I was able to give this game a go, lots of very fun ideas here that I think other fantasy games could learn from.

[ladyrevanhalin]

TWISTED MORALITY (PART III of ONLY LIGHT CAN CAST SHADOW) CHAPTER THREE: SEEKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM (PREVIEW SECTION 8 OF 16)

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is a preview section from an incomplete Chapter. You can read everything up to this point on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16538378/chapters/52449547 )

><><><><><

CARTH ONASI

The Taris Upper City Cantina was a rather large and bustling place, yet with a certain amount of sophistication to it when compared to your average, every-day cantina. There were members clearly of the Tarisian noble class hanging about, and a private lounge just for patrons of this status. There was a high stakes pazaak table near the entrance that Carth and Gwen passed on their way to the central bar. The two took a seat and ordered.

It had been a bit unnerving coming there. After all, they’d passed several Sith Troopers patrolling the streets, and one had even been standing guard posted at the front entrance of the cantina. It would be impossible for them to avoid the Sith entirely on this planet. They would just have to try to do what they could to keep their low profile until they could find Bastila and secure passage off of this Sith-controlled planet.

Carth took a sip of the Tarisian ale he’d ordered when the bartender brought it to him. A wave of expressions streamed over his face upon the initial entry on the palate, and he finished his first sip gritting his teeth. It was far stronger than he’d expected. He’d not had time to try the stuff last time he was on Taris. After all, it was during the previous war, and the Republic forces had only just recaptured the planet from Mandalorian control. As he was fleet, he wasn’t ever groundside for very long. Most of that work had been led by the Jedi.

He shook his head and took another sip at that thought. It was ironic, really. Once upon a time, the Jedi Revan’s forces had taken back Taris from the Mandalorians and saved the planet. And now, the very Jedi who had aided them before had conquered the planet once more. Only this time, it was in the name of the Sith. And they hadn’t really ‘conquered,’ no…. The Tarisian upper class had never forgotten Revan’s aid in the Mandalorian Wars, and when Revan and Malak had returned to conquer the Republic, the nobles of Taris had submitted willingly. Now, it was quite clear from what he’d seen so far that the majority of Taris’ citizens didn’t agree with the decision, but the class system of Taris had created a society in which the few voices of the rich outweigh the voices of the masses.

He glanced over at Gwen, who was seated on the stool beside him at the bar with her head propped on her up by her hand with an elbow on the counter, while the fingers of her opposite hand tapped impatiently in sequence as she waited on her food. There was a glass of some sort of nectar in front of her. Carth had discouraged his companion from stronger beverages, given the fact that she was still recovering, and had eventually succeeded in having her agree despite her initial reluctance.

He was enjoying his ale and trying to block out the tapping when he suddenly heard Gwen’s voice. “So is now a better time to get to know a little more about you, Carth?”

He set his drink down and turned more directly toward her this time. Her finger tapping had stopped and her brows raised as she looked him dead in the eye with some degree of expectancy which told Carth she wasn’t going to let him ignore her request. He sighed a little before responding to her. 

“Well, I've been a star-pilot for the Republic for years. I've seen more than my share of wars… I fought in the Mandalorian Wars before all this started. But with all that, I've never experienced anything like the slaughter these Sith animals can unleash. Not even the Mandalorians were that senseless.” Carth swallowed. He’d seen far too many images that haunted his mind still from his experiences in the war. Avoiding discussion let him push them back but that wasn’t really an option in the current situation. He couldn’t fault Gwen for wanting to know a little about him. After all, it was just the two of them stuck there until they could locate Bastila. This meant, however, that he’d need to tread his own memories with a degree of caution. He continued. “My home world was one of the first planets to fall to Malak's fleet. The Sith bombed it into submission, and there wasn't a damned thing our Republic forces could do to stop them!”

“Calm down. I was just asking. Geesh…”

He blinked a moment, then realized his hand was clenched into a fist so tightly that his knuckles had begun to go white. He relaxed his hand, flexing his fingers a little in retraction. “You're the one who wanted to know more about me,” he said, attempting to keep a cool air about him. “Well this is it, this is what I am. I'm just a soldier; I go where the fleet Admirals tell me to. I follow my orders and I do my duty.”

“Yeah, well you're talking like it's your fault about the war and your planet. Like you failed somehow….”

“It shouldn't be my fault. I did everything I could… I followed my orders and did my duty. That shouldn't mean I failed them! I didn't!” His voice was betraying him. It had grown more seeped with emotions. He could still see the glow of embers that charred the surface of Telos after the Sith attack. The dead and dying were all around, friends and loved ones among them. Innocents dying there in the streets. He could still hear their voices, their screams, their cries for help…

‘Someone get a medic over here now! Please! She’s still alive! A medic! It’s not too late to save her. It’s not too late…’

“Hey, why are you getting so mad at me? It's not like this was my fault!”

Gwen’s voice brought him back away from Telos’ surface and to that posh little Tarisian cantina where they were seated. Her good seemed to have arrived while he had been talking, but she’d not started eating yet. Instead, she was looking at him with what appeared to be concern.

“I know that,” I know that he said, hoping to dissuade any impressions he might have given of blaming her for what was, but shouldn’t have been, his own failure. “I'm not angry at you… don't think that. I…. I just…” He let out a frustrated sigh. “ I'm sorry. I'm not making much sense, am I?” He shook his head. “ Look, you probably mean well with your questions. I'm just not accustomed to talking about my past very much. At all, actually. I'm more used to taking action… keeping my mind focused on the business at hand. So let's just do that. If you have more questions, ask them later.”

“Right,” Gwen said, turning her attention instead to her meal. Carth picked up his mug again and took another sip of ale, desperately trying to push aside the memories that threatened to spring forth through his own emotional blocks. Now wasn’t the time to think of Telos. He had to focus on their mission to find Bastila so that the Sith could be stopped and an end could be brought to this war. Failure wasn’t an option this time. He had to go through with this, if it was the last thing he did….

“I'm sorry, Carth…”

He paused, but he did not look at his companion as she spoke. He was in no mood for such.

“....It must have been a very painful experience for you,” Gwen finished saying.

“Yeah, well, I’ve just made it a point to not let that sort of thing happen again,” Carth said. He debated, for a brief moment, chugging the rest of his ale, but decided against such. After all, if he finished too soon, he’d have nothing to do while his companion ate, and might get lassoed back into another conversation. Additionally, with how strong Tarisian ale was, he wasn’t certain it would be the smartest move for him to be able to remain at optimum functionality during their first outing on Taris. They needed information on those crashed escape pods still, and the cantina, even with the number of patrons it had seemed blissfully free of Sith presence inside of its doors. Here, it would likely be relatively safe for them to conduct their questioning of the locals on the matter.

Carth paced himself with the ale until he saw Gwen was close to finishing her meal, and then signaled the waiter to bring them their checks. Once they had paid, Carth rose from the barstool where he had been seated and stretched a little. “Well, I guess it’s back to business,” he said. “Feeling better now?” he asked.

Gwen nodded, rising also. “Much,” she replied. “Sorry if I came off a bit… ungrateful.”

Carth had to hold back a snort, but apparently his thoughts had still manifested themselves at least partially in his facial expressions, because his companion shot him a leer all the same. He coughed in an attempt to excuse himself, which only caused her to roll her eyes. “N-no,” Carth insisted with a chuckle, putting his hands up to indicate he meant no offense. “Not ungrateful… I suppose I’d be a bit grumpy first waking up out of a three-day near coma too…”

He looked at her, plastering on an uneasy smile, but her expression remained hard and relatively unchanging. She held his eyes, staring at him for a moment before her lips twisted into a suppressed smile and she snorted back a laugh of her own. While it did male Carth feel much more at ease, he couldn’t help but to wonder what was going on in that head of hers. He still wasn’t fully convinced of the physician Zelka’s assessment of her.

He contemplated commenting on her odd behavior before a commotion caught both of their attentions as a large number of patrons began flocking toward the viewscreens lining the walls of the cantina.

“Hurry!” they heard someone say. “The match is about to start.”

“What’s the point?” came another patron’s voice. “It’s only Gerlon and Duncan again. 

Curiosity about the commotion for the upcoming ‘match’ drew both Carth and Gwen to join the other patrons watching the viewscreen in the cantina.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” came an announcer’s voice. “I draw your attention to the dueling ring. Here, two combatants will battle for your viewing and gambling enjoyment. Now, I hope all your bets are down, because we're ready to roll! In this corner, I give you... Gerlon Two-Fingers! And over here, looking to climb the ranks yet again is the ever persistent Deadeye Duncan!”

On the view screen, there were two men standing on opposite ends of a large circular arena. When the camera zoomed in on the combatants, the younger of the two appeared to be missing fingers on his right hand (Carth could only assume that this was ‘Gerlon Two-Fingers’) and the other a bit older, as his hair was greying. Reason would venture to assume that the older man was the one whom the announcer had referred to as ‘Deadeye Duncan.’ Both men were armed with blasters, hands at rest, waiting for the signal for the dual to begin.

A sound flared, signaling for the duel to begin. However, it came so suddenly that it seemed to startle ‘Deadeye’ enough that he dropped his blaster. As he reached down to pick it up, ‘Two-Fingers’ was already firing and hit him, causing Deadeye to fall. And just like that, as suddenly as the match had started, it was all over.

The announcer’s voice sounded again. “And, to nobody's great surprise, Deadeye is down again. Don't worry, folks – he's just unconscious. As usual. Our medics will have him up and about in a bit. Well, that was quick, wasn't it? So I give you the winner... Gerlon Two-Fingers!”

People had already begun clearing from the viewscreen area before the announcer had even begun his concluding statements. It seemed from the crowd’s reactions that the outcome was already expected to turn out the way it had.

Carth reached to touch Gwen’s arm to indicate they should start their rounds of questioning, but stopped short. He recalled her reaction to when he’d done similar during their visit to the clinic, and thought perhaps he’d better not. Instead, he called her name. “Gwen? Gwen, we should get going. We have a lot to do still.”

Gwen, who had seemed to be wrapped up in watching the medics as they removed Deadeye Duncan from the arena, turned to look at him. “Hmm? Oh…. I guess you’re right. Where do you think we should start? Won’t it sound suspicious if we just go around asking anyone about the escape pods?”

She did make an excellent point. Sith presence or not, they would need to be cautious. After all, it would be foolish to assume that all Tarisian’s loyalies lied with the Republic. He’s learned that the hard way….

“We keep it casual,” Carth said decisively. “If anyone asks, we’re spacers who got stuck by the planetary quarantine after we stopped for supplies.”

Gwen nodded in affirmation and stepped away from the viewscreen, headed toward the music lounge. There were several people sitting and standing, listening to the Bith band play and watching the Twi’lek dancers. They were some of the few positions in the upper city where alien species were readily accepted. In this particular case, it was because of their species’ reputations in the performing arts. While they were acceptable as entertainers to the upper city citizens, it was understood by all parties that the respect for them ended there, sad as it was.

"Well, hello there!” the pair heard upon stepping through the entry to the music room. “I see from your exotic appearance that you are not from Taris originally. All me to introduce myself – my name is Jergan.” The man--Jergan--was seemingly directing his introduction toward Gwen. 

The woman flashed a smile, moving forward, which admittedly confused Carth. He’d not known her for very long, but it seemed a bit out of character compared to what he had come to know of her. “Pleased to meet you. My name's Gwen.” Was she flirting with him? It hardly seemed like the time… though they did need information. Perhaps this was just the woman’s way of being ‘subtle’ with her questioning.

“What do you think of our local music?” Jergen asked. “The band is quite good, wouldn't you agree? They're on the verge of intergalactic stardom, you know.”

“It's different, but I like it,” Gwen said.

“Obviously you have an ear for music,” he continued in an approving tone. “Mark my words, they'll be famous soon enough. They were about to go on tour before this Sith quarantine stranded them here. Would you like to meet the band after the show? Maybe have a brief brush with fame before they become intergalactic superstars? I can arrange it, you know.”

Gwen raised her eyebrows as her expression shifted to one of mild surprise. “Oh really? And just how will you arrange that?”

“I have a sort of standing arrangement with one of the Rodian bodyguards backstage. For the small sum of twenty credits he'll let me set up a meeting with you and the band.”

Gwen snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. “I think I’ll pass, thanks.”

“Are you certain? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity – meet the legends before they were famous. All it will cost you is a small handful of credits.”

The woman folded her arms. “Sounds like you're running a scam to me.”

“You sting me with your words!” Jergen said, feigning hurt. “I merely thought I could offer you the rare opportunity to meet a celebrity before they were famous. But I see you're not interested. That's too bad. They really are charming fellows. Very well, then – I hope you enjoy the music. If you change your mind come speak with me again.”

Gwen rolled her eyes and began to walk away, at which point, Carth thought it might be better to try to continue the conversation himself. After all, they’d not really gotten any useful information from him as of yet, and this man might still know something useful to them.

“Excuse me,” Carth said attempting to address Jergen himself, but he didn’t get very far before the other man waved in a dismissive gesture.

“Look, no hard feelings, my good man, but I can't really talk with you right now,” Jergen said, lowering his voice, presumably so no one else in the music room would overhear. “It's difficult enough to draw the interest of the ladies in this establishment as it is. Surely you understand what I'm talking about. I'd guess you've experienced many lonely evenings... something I'm hoping to avoid tonight.” He gestured a bit with his head toward Gwen. “Good luck.”

Before Carth had the chance to protest the insinuation, Jergen had started moving. It seemed he had spotted his next prospect across the room. The pilot shook his head at the comments and went to go find Gwen again, who was already mid-conversation with another male patron.

“Someone sure makes fast friends,” he muttered under his breath as he moved to stand behind her.

“It's good to talk about this stuff – It gets pretty lonely up at the military base,” Carth overheard the man she was talking to say. “I have to get going soon – I've got a shift at the base... but some of us junior Sith officers are having a party tonight to blow off some steam. I'd really like to see you again. Why don't you drop by the party? It’s at the apartment complex next door to the base, apartment A-06.”

“Oh, I dunno,” Gwen said coyly. “Not sure I have anything suited to wear back on the ship. I wasn’t exactly planning on going to any parties during our supplies stop…”

“You know, just because I'm with the Sith doesn't mean I don't know how to have a good time. You'll enjoy yourself. I promise. Don't be late. We're starting right after our shifts end. And don’t worry. Most of us won't even be going back to the base to lock up our uniforms, so I’m sure you’ll look fine. I look forward to seeing you there.”

Carth cleared his throat once the man had left. “An off-duty Sith, Gwen? Really?”

“What? He seemed nice enough…” she replied dismissively.

“You can’t be serious. We’re trying to keep a low profile here. You start asking the Sith about the crashed escape pods and somebody is gonna start getting suspicious.”

“Well, I didn’t ask him about the escape pods once I knew he was Sith. I’m stupid, Carth…”

“Well then what’s this with a party now? We’re not on vacation…”

“I may have just found us a way into the Under City… or did you forget that the planet is under quarantine and the only people allowed to travel to the lower levels are the Sith? Just trust me on this.”

Carth scoffed at the notion.Trust coercing with an enemy junior officer on an enemy-controlled planet? ‘Brilliant,’ he thought sarcastically. “Well forgive me if I’m sceptical at believing that you partying with the enemy is going to help our situation any.”

“Then you’re welcome to stay back at the apartment,” she said flatly as she rolled her eyes. “Me? I’ve got plans for tonight…”

><><><><><

[thistlepath]

some worldbuilding

This world was once home to nine sentient races, the Hawks, Owls, Butterflies, Moths, Robins, Bats, Frogs, Snakes and lizards, but about two thousand years ago the Hawks, Butterflies and Robins unified to exterminate the others. By the time the story starts the lizards and snakes are gone, the frogs are scattered in tiny groups across the world, and the bats, owls and moths are all forced into a tiny forest where they’ve lived in constant fear and war for centuries.

The Bats, Moths and Owls were once separated into numerous kingdoms and empires, all of them very different culture-wise. When the Hawks, Butterflies and Robins started their genocidal war they destroyed many of these cultures, using any methods they could think of to kill their victims without any consideration for morality. The survivors were all eventually driven into one place, a dense forest with very little useful resources. They were able to hide there, and eventually build defenses, but there were very few of them left and none of them had made it out without physical or mental scars.

Almost nothing remained of their former cultures and religions, it was hard to keep any of it going when every hour was spent desperately trying to survive and so many people with different ideas and languages were forced into finding ways to compromise and communicate. Their languages mixed and changed, borrowing words and concepts from others until eventually there was one incredibly complicated amalgamation. Listening to them speak is like hearing someone switch languages every other word or so, it isn’t pretty, and it’s very hard to understand, but it’s also pretty impressive. Their cultures were mostly erased, they had so little left and many people didn’t want to be reminded of the life that was stolen from them. A new culture developed, highly valuing privacy, personal wellbeing/gain, honor and strength (whether physical or mental.)

Religion was also pretty messed up after the war, there were so few members of each left. They ended up gathering in little bunches, just teaching the stuff they all agreed on, and eventually these little groups grew and mixed again, over and over, until they were pretty much just left with the very basic foundations. “You’re supposed to do good. You’re rewarded for doing good when you die.” Everything else was supposed to be personal. If your idea of “good” is doing a bunch of service for the people around you and avoiding addictive substances, and your idea of a reward is being eternally pampered by attractive people then go ahead and interpret it that way, buddy, You do you. Eventually, as things continued to get worse and worse for them, a lot of people’s idea of a reward became “rest. Just rest. Never needing to even /think/ again.” And the non-religious people were quick to tell them that that’s basically what they believe will happen, you’ll just stop existing. So, the idea of permanent, dreamless sleep in an empty void began to spread as a reward for doing your best to do good. In modern times, with all the suffering they’re going through, everyone has latched into this idea for comfort. Even if they don’t really believe it, sometimes you just have to lie to yourself to keep going. It’s still incredibly personalized, whatever you think is ‘good’ is what you should do, whether that’s saving lives and protecting the innocent, slaughtering your enemies on the battlefield, or just keeping yourself alive.

The forest they were forced into has very few resources, and the trees are far too big to cut down, so rather than building homes around the trees or in the branches they hollowed out sections of the trees to make little apartments and dug underground to make bunkers and such. They continue to do this to this day, building up into the trees and down under ground rather than out where they’d be more at risk of attack. Since they have so many people who are more comfortable climbing or hanging from the ceiling than walking or standing, they built a system of ladders and bars on the walls and ceilings of every building.

the Owls, the strongest of the three, practically took over, putting one of their own in charge and filling up most other leadership positions. The Moths are the weakest and most timid, so they were all forced into the worst jobs, worst homes, and just all the worst garbage in general. That left the Bats somewhere in the middle, able to get fairly decent stuff, but not anywhere near as good as the Owls. This has also continued to the modern day, though it’s been slowly getting better in recent years.

Most of the recent improvements in the kingdom are at least partially due to a specific event that took place 50-40 years ago. Back then a little movement started up where people decided they’d had enough of all this misery and suffering, and decided that the good they wanted to do was to bring a bit of cheer to everyone’s lives. They would dress in bright, silly clothes and stand in public areas, singing, telling jokes, reading poetry, giving speeches, and anything else they could think of to entertain the other citizens. These people were called ‘Jesters’ and were absolutely adored by the vast majority of the kingdom. They worked together to spread better morals, methods of coping with stress, and anything else they thought could help. After about a decade of things getting steadily better, several groups decided to get rid of the jesters. They were systematically hunted down and either murdered or tortured and broken beyond repair. After that the kingdom descended into chaos for another decade and a half, before going back to about the way things were before the jesters. Now, however, people have started to rise back up, not exactly as jesters but trying to spread the same messages in their own ways.

The kingdom is currently ruled by a king, and if all goes well for him one of his children or younger siblings will become king after he dies. Things rarely ever go well for kings, however. As I mentioned earlier, the kingdom greatly relies on and respects strength, if someone can prove that they’re stronger and/or smarter than the current king then they will replace him on the throne. Kings typically only last a decade or so, with the shortest-reign being two days and the longest being 14 years. The current king has ruled for 11 years, and is generally disliked by the people. His children were murdered as hatchlings by a rival, and his wife left him soon after. He has few options, but refuses to allow any of his rivals to take his throne. He plans to order either his trusted general or his personal scientist and best friend to stage a challenge and take his place before that happens.

The military is made up of about 60% of the population. Children are trained for combat from the second they can stand, by the time they’re 12 they’re sent to watch and help during actual battles, and no one above 15 hasn’t killed at least one person. Most guard the borders, keeping enemies out, the rest either guard places or people of importance, like the king, schools and hospital, or work as raiders. Raiders are elite soldiers who are sent to attack enemy settlements, caravans and anything else that might get them cool loot, then bring it back to the kingdom. Raiding parties tend to be mostly made up of the soldiers that were so violent and scary that their own people didn’t want them around.

When their children are young, all of them are taught the basics of biology, physics, engineering, and many other scientific fields. Any children that show proficiency in these classes, and especially those who show little skill in combat, are sent to a different school. This school is entirely focused on the sciences, and the child is allowed to slowly narrow down their classes until they’re a jack of most trades and a master of one. This program is incredibly competitive, many of the children who start don’t finish, but those who make it to the end are incredibly respected members of the community. Like the nobility, this field is dominated by owls, it’s very difficult for a bat to get to a high rank, and nearly impossible for a moth to be anything more than a helper to a ‘real scientist.’ This is one of the things that’s slowly getting better, mostly due to the influence of the King’s scientist, Noir.

The technology in the kingdom is the most advanced in the world, though only in terms of security and medicine. They have guns, bombs, delicate surgeries and antibiotics where the rest of the world has bows, trebuchets, amputations and leeches. Necessity is the mother of invention, and what they need most is to be able to kill without being killed themselves. They also have computers, cameras and some communication technology, but it’s all pretty faulty and uncommon.

They’ve only recently realized that they should be recording their history, so many things from their past have been lost. They would never forget the war, but many events that came after have been forgotten and nothing from before it remains. They’ve idealized their past, deciding that everything was perfect before the war and that literally all of the Hawks, Robins and Butterflies were pure evil.

[yassakool]

Back in the day, I ran a tabletop/LARP Star Wars game using the WotC d20 system, the one from before AotC came out. A clunky system, but I adored it, because Star Wars and it was my first game. I tried to run it pretty classic with some moments of deeper moral questions for my Jedi players. Overall, I got some pretty positive feedback and I have players still remind me how much they enjoyed it over 15 years later.

Except for one player.

He was playing what he called an Obi-Wan clone character called Renn, which is a fine tool for new players, but this guy was a lot more experienced than me. Later, I'd go on to actively discourageb experienced players from just playing thinly-veiled clone characters because of a few... incidents like what followed.

The game ran long enough that we all went and saw AotC in theaters and decided it was time to advance our game into that timeline. Now, I didn't want my group to go through unit combat stuff, so I kept their adventures more independent from the armed forces and did more in the sidelines of the war. Thus, we came to a point of the story where they're hunting down a contact in a den of thieves.

Renn doesn't bother trying to be undercover during this arc, unlike the other Jedi or players in the group, staying in his Jedi robes and openly displaying his lightsaber. We had a new player in the group who I set up as the contact so he could weave into the group. Due to a botch in a few rolls (not the least of which was due to the obvious Jedi), the group ends up in an opposing fire fight with the contact and some unfriendlies.

Now, to the new player's credit, he recognizes an opportunity and sabotages the unfriendlies without giving himself away and surrenders, putting down his blasters. I was THOROUGHLY impressed and glad for the turn around. So, Renn proceeds to cuff the survivors, because he thinks he can act like a cop on a planet not in the Republic? Anyway, once he's done, the player informs me that Renn then activates his lightsaber and begins severing the tendons in all their legs, including the new player, so they can't run away.

You know that jubilation that usually follows a combat encounter? Yeah, that all stopped immediately and I'm standing there aghast. I'm in enough shock that I can't even speak for several seconds before I finally tell the player to mark down a level of Corruption on his character.

To say the player disagreed with my decision would be an understatement. The session effectively ended right there as we go through an hour of having to explain to this grown man that mutilating defenseless prisoners is a Dark Side action. Like, we can't even argue basic morality to this action, we have to frame it in the universe's morality. Even in a setting of super-science and magic healing, this was not okay. This was the major point of the player divesting from cooperative play and becoming actively hostile and disruptive. Again, the first game I ever ran, so I didn't know how to handle a player like this.

Fast-forward some years and guess what this man's stance is on BLM and police misconduct. Go on, go ahead and fucking guess.

People who want to keep politics out of games always seem to be the ones who miss the big moral lessons the games bake into their setting and mechanics. Star Wars has one of the most basic black & white morality systems out there, and even then, someone will say brutalizing unarmed people is morally gray or totally justified, and will fight you if you say otherwise. These are not innocuous acts and gives you an idea how they morally frame their world, not just their fiction.

Every hobby will have some toxic people. I accept that, but we have to address it as a community before it can get better. Simply asking people to keep politics out of the hobby ignores the problem, it gives a shelter for this toxicity to grow. Don't give these people a haven and don't let them warp/steal it away from the rest of us.

We can and should do better.

[eliaspsuedo]

Fire Emblem Warriors thoughts

12-16 hours, DONE! At least with story mode, I still have history mode and all the unlockable characters to get through.

I’m sure the main Dynasty Warriors games are good. They should be if companies keep making spin-offs based on them, but my general thoughts on these Dynasty Warriors spin-offs is that they’re fun diversions but they get repetitive without any decent hook, either in the story or gameplay. I played Dynasty Warriors Gundam 1 back when I was young and Dragon Quest Heroes in preparation for this game. From what I remember of DW Gundam, it’s that I liked it for the first few hours till it got stale, but I’ll always remember the original mode. The interactions (always loved seeing the Zechs, Puru, and Domon), the scenarios, and it was the first time I saw stuff like G Gundam and most early-UC shows. Dragon Quest Heroes is one I really enjoyed for the gameplay and bits and pieces of character interaction. It felt a tower defense game, where you get medals to summon monsters as your sentry, it really livened up the combat. Lastly, because I was more familiar with DQ, I got to understand all the fanservice, references, and the joy seeing my favorite DQ characters interact with each other. So, now that is the context of where I’m coming from in terms of DW games is clear, what did I think of FE Warriors?

First up is the negatives of the game.

Story mode was pretty bare-bones, which I expected but I was hoping for a little more flavoring in what little meat I got. The plot was pretty average: Young Lords, Chaos Dragon, obvious betrayal, etc. all that stuff you’d see in a FE game, but what really made the whole story come out as “meager” for me, was the lack of cross-game interaction and involvement in the main plot. There are brief bits of cross-game interaction, like Lissa talking to Oboro or Camilla praising Robin, but they’re brief and there’s little impact on the plot. This is important because this is a chance to either flesh out the characters out of their element or give us a pair that we’d never thought about, but now we want to see more. I go back to the Zechs, Puru, and Domon group from DW Gundam. They were all from different series, had different alignments, and completely different personalities, but seeing them work together, and even get out of their comfort zone by acting out of character really made them stand-out.

But what about the Supports? That’s a problem, cause by relegating the fun and interesting interactions there the player will miss out and the story will suffer. You have to work to get them, which is harder since maps last longer, rates feels slower, and for all that hard work you get 3 minutes of character portraits talking to each other. It’s ok in regular FE because there’s more opportunities to raise levels, you get more talk, and it mostly helps side characters. Let me put it this way, would you rather see Frederick fix Leo’s collar in a text box and read about it, or fully animated while you’re in the game?

The characters in Warriors are should be an ensemble, meaning their skills, personalities, and talents are equally spread out and given a proper time to shine. This is not helped by what keeps the characters we want to see together, the main characters. My friend who only plays FE Heroes, likes Dynasty Warriors, and doesn’t like Rowan character design, helped me put it into words: “They feel like discount Sharena and Alfonse.” I agree with that, cause there’s not much to Rowan and Lianna. Aside from what they are (twins, royals of the kingdom, etc.), who they are is lost on me. Rowan gets off better, cause he has aspirations and liking to knights, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are pretty much there. Since a large chunk of the plot is about them, we got less time to get a feel out of the Heroes.

Going to DQ Heroes, I got more fun out of Luceus and Aurora, the male and female characters of that game. Now, Luceus thing was he prattled on complicated battle strategies (something I wish Robin did in the game) and took an analytical look, and Aurora was his foil that summed up his plan and just attacked and did what she felt was needed. What made them so fun to watch was how we saw those interactions during a supposedly tense moment, and it lightens up the mood and brings up the energy for hack and slash.

Another thing, voices are repetitive, especially in menus.

I saw a piece of trivia on how Rowan and Lianna were made sword users to help with the tutorials. I can see why they did it, but I have a better idea: how about making them wield all the different weapons? It lessens the oversaturation of sword users, it really make them feel like our avatar, and allows some variety in the animations. Though rigging up 5 different weapon animations seems like a hassle…

The last big negative is how many characters have little to do. This is most apparent with Marth’s group as, aside from some scenes including one with Darios, they really don’t do much in terms of the plot. In fact, now that I think about it, even the other groups don’t much to do either. The most I remember is moral support and speeches, but for active and direct actions? Not much. Takumi disarming Darios, the Shepherds teaching the group, Sakura finding a cure for Rowan, snapping Corrin out, and the Gleamstones, those all are out of the top of my head. I’m glad Celica and Lyn aren’t in Story mode cause they’d have even less to do! I doubt adding more character from the other FE games would help. With a plot this thin, I doubt we’d see more of, say, Ike that we’d see of any other character. I guess if you want to see the older cast, that’s what FE Heroes is for.

There definitely could’ve been more to the story. At best, it’s ok. I think the problem was the story was too serious. In the above DW spinoffs, while it had dramatic moments, there was a lighter or fun tone in all of them. Cause you’re reveling in all the carnage, fanservice, and characters. The story of Warriors didn’t feel like that, it just felt like another cut-out FE story, and that’s sad. If it joked around for more scenes (one or two scenes of Owain and Niles don’t count), maybe the bland story would’ve been more forgivable.

So that means I hated FE Warriors, right? NOPE

It actually surpassed my expectations!

A big part of that is the gameplay. With the added FE elements, it manages to turn the rather repetitive combat into a tactical action RPG. First, the weapon triangle means you have to think who engages what. You defeat enemies faster and easier when you have the advantage, and vice-versa. This means team composition is crucial, giving you some thought in who you pick. Do you add archers cause there are fliers? Do you add mages cause there are dragons? Can I deal with being at a disadvantage? Combine this with the second: Commanding units, and you got something just like a FE game. During gameplay you can command your units to attack certain enemies or defend forts. You cannot ignore this and power through, you have to manage your units to efficiently win. This means you have to constantly go to the map and give orders, lest you have the AI dilly-dally, and pay attention who’s attacking what. For example, Takumi is guarding that fort, so I’ll order Corrin to kill him but not let Camilla go anywhere near him since he’ll shoot her down (Fun Fact: I did defeat Takumi with Camilla). Add to the fact the AI, which can handle themselves competently (though you do have to wrestle with it a lot), takes a while to defeat enemies, then you really have to do a lot of the work with your 4 playable characters to get the job done. This leads to a very engaging and frantic juggling act, and makes the core gameplay really solid.

Next, the pair up system was a really useful feature. You pair up two units and that unit will be your sword and shield. It adds another layer of strategy to your fight since now you can swap between a sword and a lance user to easily adapt to the situation. It comes at a cost though, as it cuts your commandable units. So that’s another thing to consider, losing a possible defender. Plus, the dual guard makes attacks not hit you and it is a life saver when you’re completing Anna missions that require you to not get hit.

The maps were also impressive. Taking advantage of fliers ability to, well, fly as well as using Dragonveins to improve the map for you units. It’s a really nice touch. There weren’t too many spaces without enemies, so there’s always something to do.

Let’s talk technical, because on the Switch it’s amazing. A steady framerate while docked (you can pick between 30 or 60 FPS), and undocked it works just as well. Especially with local co-op. I was impressed on how it ran undocked with two players. A little choppier, but it remains consistent and having a buddy around enhances the tactical edge, since you have to coordinate your actions.

History Mode was another thing I like. I haven’t completed it since I’m underleveled, but I am enjoying it more than Story Mode. On a FE map (complete with sprites), you select enemies like they’re missions and defeating certain enemies expands your area. The challenge here is to get S-Ranks to get Master Seals and other good stuff. It’s missions like defeat 500 enemies, or only use magic users, is varied enough to keep me interested, and there’s some story bits in it that seems interesting. Female Robin makes an appearance in the Awakening map, with Male Robin and Chrom watching in astonishment, it’s an interesting angle to say the least.

Finally, it’s the polish. The stunning animation, how it runs, how good the cutscenes look, and just how it feels like Fire Emblem. I had the same feeling with FE Heroes. Different format, same series, wonderful feel.

So in the end, I wasn’t expecting much, but I got more than what I asked and I definitely recommend it. Now I’ll just wait for my beautiful wife, and hope the next FE game on the Switch comes soon!

Now, let’s do the odyssey~

[antivantulip]

ME:A Countdown Ryder Meme

Days 30-18

ORIGINAL POST

So I'm late to this meme but I really wanted to do it to help me flesh out my Ryder!! :3c Under the cut because I'm behind a few days oops~

30 Days: Will you play SisRyder or BroRyder first? Why? How does your Ryder define their gender?

SisRyder! Just because I have more ideas for her background & personality. Also I'm just coming out of playing the Witcher 3 and to be honest, I'm quite tired of playing a guy for over 150 hours so there's that. However I'll most likely end up doing a Bro!Ryder playthrough as well after. I usually start out with a female OC because they’re easier for me to identify with and roleplay as. For those reasons her pronouns will be she/her (unless I change my mind later haha).

29 Days: What is your Ryder’s name? Why did you pick this name - is there a meaning or origin story behind it? Do they go by any nicknames? What would you name their sibling, father and mother if you were able to choose?

My Ryder goes by her nickname 'Midnight' in-game but her real name is 'Medina'. It's a codename she received during her sniper training for the Pathfinder program. Her combat style very much incorporates stealth tactics and her teammates claimed that she 'could perfectly hit a target in pitch darkness from miles away'. One day her brother started calling her that too, and it just sort of stuck. Their father is the only one who calls her by her real name. If I could name her bro, I'd probably go with Kalem. I'm fine with their dad's name.

28 Days: Are you going to use the default appearance or create a custom Ryder? If custom, describe your Ryder’s physical appearance (hair color, eye color, skin color, height, weight, facial features, any scars or tattoos, racial origin, etc). If you have art and/or a face-claim, feel free to add them here

A custom Ryder for sure!!! Midnight naturally has shoulder- length black hair that she dyes dark blue (haven't decided if she dyes all of it or just the tips yet BUT YKNOW). She only originally did it because her bro always teased her that she never did anything fun/unique with her appearance (she doesn't have tattoos, piercings, wears little make-up, no jewelry) but ended up liking it in the end and decided to keep that look. Since I love projecting onto my OCs, she and her brother will be mixed - half white, half central-asian. Don't have a face/body claim yet but she's quite short (5'3) and not overly muscular (seeing as she was mostly preparing to be a scientist, not a marine). Her brother is the one who has a lot of tattoos, an ear piercing, and is quite stocky since he did a lot of physical training to be a soldier.

27 Days: Are you going to use the default appearance for Ryder’s sibling or customize them? Describe your ideas for their sibling’s and father’s physical appearance. 

Already answered that in the previous question oops. I'd like to customize Bro!Ryder to look as much as his sis, if that option is available. I actually don't mind default Dad's appearance tbh? The only thing is, I figure he'd have a lot more scars thanks to his long and colourful military career. I figure Kalem would try to match him in that too.

26 Days: Do you have a specific class profile or mix of class profiles in mind for Ryder?

Stealth, long-range, and tech skills are the way to go for Midnight. I don't know if the classes will be the same in Andromeda or not but based on the previous three games, she'd either be Adept or Engineer. She will definitely have that Tactical Cloak, Overload, and Hacking abilities ready. Kalem, on the other hand would definitely be a Soldier or Vanguard class.

25 Days: Describe Ryder’s favorite combat style. Bioware call Peebee a “gunslinger” and describe Liam as a “close-range fighter” - how would you describe Ryder’s combat role/strengths? What are some of their favorite biotic/tech/other abilities?

Midnight is stealth and tech expert. She doesn't act rashly but considers carefully her every move. She's also resourceful and will use her environment to her advantage if she can. Since she isn't super strong she will probably have to rely a lot on her learned knowledge of her enemies' weaknesses. She prefers long-range guns and only resorting to close-quarter combat if she knows she can use her Tactical cloak and one-shot the enemy. She doesn't take unnecessary risks and she isn't reckless like her brother (or at least at the start of the game, we'll see how/if that will change as she grows into her role as the leader). She won her local science fair by building a robot when she was little and her love of robotics persists to this day. You will usually see her hack other machines or set up a turret to help her out.

24 Days: Which squadmates do you think will best compliment Ryder’s combat style? Alternatively, who do you plan to take out most in the field?

Hmm, since we haven't had a chance to get to know the companions yet, I really can't say for sure! I do kinda feel that she and Vetra would get along really well on the battlefield. Cora too probably? But I'll most likely rotate who she takes with her on missions so I can get to know them all better.

23 Days: Which weapons or category of weapons will Ryder prefer? Describe their favorite loadout.

Midnight's first love is a sniper rifle but she will most likely try to switch to another weapon so she can be on the front lines with her squad. She hates the idea of just sitting back in relative safety while her teammates put themselves in danger (it's a matter of honour, I guess) so she will train real hard to get good with other weapons (plus a sniper rifle is heavy af). I can see her choosing light pistols, also energy weapons (I think they showed in the trailer? cant remember their name) and maybe assault rifles. No for shotguns tho.

22 Days: Will Ryder craft? What are you most excited about crafting? Do you have any names in mind already for weapons?

I'm not too excited about crafting but my Ryder would definitely be :'D I can honestly see her crafting weapons and developing armour plans in her spare time, or when she has a lot on her mind. She likes to keep her hands busy. She'd be the kind who evaluates her team's combat skills and would develop weapons for them to boost their efficiency or accuracy. Also, she...often has insomnia and can't sleep so I can see her staying up all night and getting carried away crafting stuff for her team or herself. She'd need help naming her weapons tho - she gives them standard, boring names like 2K-501 but her bro would be the one to name them something ridiculous like 'Demolisher'.

21 Days: What are Ryder’s personality traits? Describe 5 strengths and 5 flaws.

Midnight is very hard-working and once she sets her mind on something, she gets it done. It can be a bad thing, however, since she tends to overwork herself a lot. She's a great planner and prefers to use her mind and diplomacy to solve problems and only resorts to violence if there's no other way. Because of this, however, she's a very inexperienced soldier who's not used to being a leader. She joined the Andromeda Initiative mainly to keep an eye on her brother, to keep him safe. Kalem's really the one who wanted to be the hero and lead the team but instead his sister was chosen, and as much as he loves his sister it was a bit of a blow to his ego. Whereas her brother is a rule-breaker, Midnight likes sticking to a routine or a strict set of rules. She isn't above questioning orders from her superiors, however. It's kind of her nature to question everything...she's very inquisitive and curious about everything. She was studying to be a scientist so learning about history or other species is absolutely fascinating to her. But because she is an inexperienced leader & soldier, she can get emotional during battle and do stupid, reckless things. Her brother teases her that he's rubbing off of her.

20 Days: What first impressions does Ryder tend to give people? Do they have any ‘odd’ or specific mannerisms, habits or other quirks? How do they present and carry themselves?

Midnight can seem serious and strict at first. Once she's given a mission, she becomes very focused, almost fixated on it. To really get to know her, you need to catch her off-guard, probably off the battlefield when her tactical mind isn't whirring and trying to plan 3 steps ahead. She handles diplomatic/political issues with ease but can be really awkward in personal social situations and is still struggling to be the charismatic leader she is expected to be. Despite all her knowledge and training she can be really naïve and as a result, ends up being a very easy victim to teasing (which her brother does all the time). Despite everything, she cares deeply for her teammates and her family and would go to any lengths to protect them. She's very good at controlling her emotions and can stay calm under pressure but gets completely overwhelmed when matters of the heart come into play :')

19 Days: Where would Ryder fall in the classic Paragon/Renegade morality system? What would their D&D alignment be? If you know their personality type in any personality typing systems (such as MBTI and Enneagram - you can find various type descriptions and tests using Google), feel free to add and discuss them here.

HOO BOY Midnight is definitely Paragon. At the beginning of the game, she starts out as a Lawful good which changes as the game progresses. I'd say her true self is somewhere on the neutral spectrum. Again, she starts out as INTJ (The Architect) and as she warms up to her team and grows into her role, becomes ISFJ (The Defender). Her Enneagram is Type 1: The Reformer.

18 Days: What qualities does Ryder like and dislike in other people? Are there any things they particularly appreciate or can’t stand?

Midnight hates disorder/chaos and she isn't really fond of surprises, since she likes to plan and be prepared for anything. Reckless, headstrong, aggressive or overly close-minded people who refuse to listen she'd have a hard time dealing with as well. She doesn't like insubordination either as it makes her feel incompetent as a leader. She admires idealistic, just people, those who are willing to do anything - even sacrifice themselves - to save others or do the right thing. She also admires humour and charisma, since she kinda sees herself as lacking those at the moment. Loyalty means everything to her, as well.

[exilesofembermark]

Game Dev Update | 3.8.17

There are seven-- SEVEN-- delivery ends for this battleaxe. Sadly, there aren’t seven different ways for this axe to connect with your opponent in Exiles, but that biggest big blade there will connect for sure. It was designed to destroy the FACE of your enemy when they dare to oppose you. This axe has been a regular entrant to many previous screenshots which heavily featured the Warrior Class. 

So it’s fitting to use a Warrior weapon to say goodbye to the Warrior for a little bit-- this Dev Update will be so much moar about MAGES. Last time, we dug into the visual telegraph system for gear, the state of PVE, our upcoming presence at GDC and a couple Ability Deep Dives. 

This update, we are focused on running. Cuz now we run. The game version that we brought to GDC was the first time Exiles was running entirely from the backend-- with PVP battles, PVE Quests, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure choices and even hidden treasure pushed to your device from a magickal computer in the sky. 

Why care? 

Cuz now we run-- all of the static screenshots and concept art and whatnot we’ve shown throughout development will now make their way INTO the game, and it will happen like Chain Lightning.

EXILES GOT TO GDC!

The GDC booth for Epic’s Unreal Engine was gigantic, and Exiles was honored to play a role within it as a showcase mobile title. All week last week, the Gunslinger team demoed to showgoers, players and press. We got a ton of great feedback and some new ideas from the show, and swung by the Touch Arcade GDC homebase to do a video demo you can see here:

If you want to see what TA had to say, the full article is here. As always when I demo, I hid some stuff-- I hid a series of numbers in this discussion-- they’re throughout the video. 2...15...20...5...10...13. If you can tell me where they “show up” in the demo, PM TheWizard in the forums with the answer, and you’ll receive a free Chest of loot in the game when it launches. 

SO. MANY. MAGES.

At long last, wizarding is at hand. There are always a few times during the development of a game when you go “yes finally! WOOT” and this is one of them. The three starting Classes in Exiles are Warrior, Mage and Rogue (each with three specialties) along with three others designed, but we’ve been working through development with the Warrior as the template. Now that the game is getting ready for testing, Exiles systems support the input of any number of Classes (<-- foreshadowing), and the remaining few are going in.

We have a huge number of Rogue fans in the community, so a word of caution: don’t expect the Rogue in next week-- we need to fill out the Mage’s gear. And fill we will! 

Robes, boots, shoulders, staves, books (yes, books), orbs, gloves etc are all rumbling through the art pipeline. A Legendary or two will make an appearance and then we’ll get Mr/Ms Thief McPocketses into the game. 

Mage Talent Trees are up as well! Here’s a look at the Elementalist Tree, one of the three specialties within the Mage Class (the other two being Blood Mage and Warcaster). Characters can pick and choose from each tree as they like. 

THE NEW WILDEWOODS

The Zones (regions) of Embermark have been evolving since day one and the starting Zone, Wildewoods, has been a particular favorite for the team. We’ve been working on Lore behind every town, landmark, ruin and port in Embermark and there will be plenty to find (and fight) once the game is live (remember, the world map in Exiles functions like a Google Map, with various activities, Quests and events appearing in different places and at different levels of zoom).

To see how the map art is evolving, take a look at what Wildewoods used to look like and where it is now:    

The new icons there in the screen represent where a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure type choice would be made (affecting your Motivations and Standings) and the other one is... TRAYSURE. These can be visible or hidden depending upon your character’s development, the current Season’s plot and what events are live.

(And if you want to know where that old Bog Hag lives and what she’s up to, look no further. Is she evil or good or purely pragmatic? You decide...)

PVE IS LEGIT

Huzzah! I’ve said it often, but one of the ambitions of Exiles is to have a living, breathing world, with ebbs and flows of faction, politics and motivations (even morality, if Lord British can dig it), so having our PvE system online is a big milestone for the team. 

Questing, events, making choices and finding caches of valuables are all driven by your actions (and achievements) in the game and that system saw its debut in this last build. The screenshot below is a big deal for us, not because the Ogre is trying to squash a bug, but because his actions are driven by the backend of this game and that means we can push any NPC at any time with any abilities and any loot into the game in real-time. With no update. You’ll just get the goodness in your game.

STAVES

What’s an RPG without them? And this one is looking at you...

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MAGE IN ACTION

Here’s a bunch of GIFs that illustrate how the Mage is coming along. Ol’ “MadeOfMagicks” here starts off with a classic-- the Fireball, which does decent damage (affected by stats and gear of course) along with a chance to Burn the enemy. (he rocks a Crit too, so Addrighar is in trouble)

Blizzard doesn’t do a ton of damage, but its Chill effect slows down the other player for a few rounds, offering some first-shot chances and decreasing the enemy’s defense.

Poor Addriggar. Poor, poor Addrighar...

Huzzah!

(please note that these GIFs made the Warrior look like a knucklehead. He is not a knucklehead and will soon have his revenge)

TRAYSURE

Last update, we showed what you might find in the placed (and random) treasure caches found around Embermark. Oftentimes, you’ll get a drop (random-ish), but sometimes you’ll get something specific. Something that matters to someone that might not be you...

ABILITY & TALENT BREAKDOWNS

Each Update, we’re featuring a couple of Abilities (active) and/or Talents (passive) to preview what kinds of effects the choices you make in developing your character have. This time, we’ve got one of each, both from the Warrior Class:

Devastating Swing

So the “devastating” part of this swing isn’t when it connects. It’s what comes after. This Warrior Ability does a decent amount of damage (affected by stats and what weapon you wield, of course), and then leads to an effect-over-time. It increases Crushing damage for 2 rounds after the move is played. So if you follow with Bash, Shoulder Rush or the armor-increased Skull Crush, your enemy is in for it. 

Blood Madness

“No, my friend. You’re crazy.” This one isn’t an active Ability. This one’s passive, despite its name and disconcerting icon. Bleeding (an effect that can sit on either combatant) causes the Warrior to flip his/her lid, increasing the weapon damage they can do, and it’s increased if you spend more Talent Points on the Talent (max of 5). The interesting part is this-- either combatant bleeding trigger this effect, and both means PUNISH.

THE 3D LOOT INSPECTOR

Want to check out that new piece of loot that just dropped on your character without having to equip it (or upgrade it... or salvage it)? Booyah:

See that triple-dot on the bottom-right part of the armor’s description box? Click that to get all the details you could ever want about a Pounding Mage Chest.

REMEMBER

We’ll keep sharing details as we head into testing (remember to PM TheWizard on the Exiles forums if you want in on closed testing & beta later), and you can count on early impressions from the testers throughout our various channels.

If you haven’t already, follow along with the Exiles development on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And if you haven’t, I’ll find you. And SMITE you.

DISCORD, IF YOU WANT TO KNOW...

If you want to hear about the game, ask questions or connect with others who are helping the development team think about features, design and narrative, hop into the Discord Channel for live chat and say hi-- it’s a friendly lot and there are daily shenanigans (there’s even a Shenaniganizer).

BONUS: A VERY BAD GUY

Very. ‘Cross the Breaches came many a monster. Not all of them were rampaging. Some were measured, thoughtful, insightful...

(back-only is shown to you on purpose for dramatic effect)

BONUS BONUS: SCREENSHOT

Oh boy-- Armadillo is coming in with Destruction’s Wake, and Nezuja’s not super-happy about it, given his 74 remaining HP...

Ha! You thought after the Bonus Bonus, we were done! 

WRONG. 

Remember how I’ve been showing the evolution of Embermark’s awful, awful wolves from concept to in-the-game? Well, here’s the next step-- what kind of RPG wolf would she be without a blood-curdling howl?

Now we’re done (till next month)!

[lornafreytag-blog1]

Enlightening Cinema

gallop McKennaEnlightening CinemaMetaphysical Articles | February 6, 2005... Cinema By dash ... me tell you why you're here. You're here being you appreciate ... What you know, you can't explain. But you aura it. You felt it your integrated life. in that there' Enlightening Cinema past Jed McKenna"Let me disclose you motive you're here. You're attending because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You sense it your entire life. That there something inaccurate with the world. You don't appreciate what it is, but it's there. Like a splinter in your mind driving you mad." -Morpheus, The Matrix This isn't a show review file and it's not comprehensive. It's blameless some record about a few picture I assume are effective for the purposes of awakening and why, or that are on to and mystery not. With tools of understanding, poor is much better then good. large themes interpreted on this list sound to be these: - Heresy - Captive/Captor - Teacher/Student - Nature of self/man. - Death/rebirth. Cataclysm/epiphany. - Untrustworthiness of mind/memories. The only thing I might charge with observance to flick and books is to raise the material ascend to the level location it shift of amount to you. Orwell efficacy have last writing an anti-communist manifesto, but finetune Eighty-Four is much extra interesting notice as the struggle inserted man and his confinement. Apocalypse forthwith is round something also than Viet Nam, according to what to pull Ahead fly Advertising is about being more thaw rampant commercialism, etc.::: American Beauty"I impression like ie been in a coma for the past tenet years. furthermore I'm just now waking up." give included American Beauty chiefly for whites wrong with it. Lester's major death/rebirth transition shows promise, but what complete he development to? rearward to teenage crap, not forward in any sense. A fear-based regression. ludicrous car, simple drugs, simple vanity, stupid skirt chasing. Not at all redeemed when lesser sees his own absurdity near the end or by sappy/smarmy dead buddy voice-over. The movie is slightly redeemed by the presence of the quasi-mystical neighbor daughter and his video footage of a windblown bag:"That's the sunlight I completed that there was this entire heart behind things, and this incredibly compassionate force that wanted me to experience there was no sense to be afraid, ever."::: Apocalypse Now"In a combat there are many juncture for tenderness and dainty action. efficient are countless moments for ruthless life what is often christened ruthless what may in many sphere be exclusive clarity, seeing clearly what there is to be done and doing it, directly, quickly, awake, study at it." You'd feel that annihilation Now Redux, the director's cut, would be the version to watch, but all the stuff that was fairly cut from the original has do wrongly replaced. (Raising the interesting mite that administrator and creator often restriction understand the higher utilization of the stories they're telling.) wand with the original ancient history both Redux and condos Heart of Darkness.Apocalypse Now is all about the Horror. ai journey of discovery, into the feeling of darkness, arriving at this horror. What's the horror? by means of do you get there? Why would anyone produce such a journey? experience you prepare such a journey? Why or how not?Note the powerful epiphanies that trip the film. The prime assassin's cap home, ("Sell the house, sell the car, move the kids..."), Dennis Hopper's youthful exuberance, Kurtz's lozenge bullet, paillards "...I wasn't even in their artillery any more." ::: life There"Spring, summer, autumn, winter... then buck again."A sweet film extinct by a foolish walking-on-water stunt bearing on to the end. Without that nonsense the viewer would be free to think, to decide, to wonder. Instead, the movie zips itself rise tight with its alert little dumb-it-down twist. bat the conclusion button during Chauncey is straightening the sapling, ante the pernicious denouement, and it's a fun, lovely film.::: brand Runner"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. violation ships on fire slight the carry of Orion. I've minded c-beams luster in the dark immediate the man-house Gate. outright those point will be lost in time cognate tears in rain. past to die." Were you born quinate minutes ago? Of system not, and you have the remembrance to turn out it. yard know if they were artificial implants, because, uh...::: Cast Away"I couldn't square kill the author the style I needed to. I had power over nothing."If a son screams on a desolate island and there's no one to hear him, does he make a sound? Is it ample that he hears it himself? What if not? What's south when you take away everything?Self bare bare.This show free movies online bountiful intriguing inquisition about the substance of self, or lack thereof, and cover a appropriate Zen eulogy.::: Dead dramatist SocietyHeresy.::: hailed and Maude"Vice, virtue. It's best not to be too moral... Aim superior morality."American Zen, master and disciple. ::: Harvey"For years I was smart... I recommend pleasant."Elwood P. Dowd, wisefool. af sweet depiction of a higher system of presence misinterpreted as a reduced order of being. intend we notice the exceptional Man although we saw him? ::: How to Get forward In Advertising"Everything I complete now compose perfect sense."A thwarted advance for freedom. A flop attempt to overthrow Maya. Enjoy the insanity of the epiphany.::: Joe vs the Volcano"Nobody knows anything, Joe. wheal take this leap, and we'll see. We'll jump, and wall see. hates life, right?"Death and Rebirth. Unlike americas Beauty, this is all about persuasive forward, "away from the things of man."::: brother Facing Southeast (Hombre Mirando Al Sudeste)Watch especially for the optical poem of a father crumbling a human sage into a sink although looking for the soul.::: The Matrix"Like everyone else, you were born toward bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A lockup for your mind." plutos Cave for the people. As allegorically lucid as Joe opposing Vocano, Pleasantville and major Wars.::: Monty Python's activity of Brian"No, no! interest is a sign that, like Him, we prerequisite think not of the things of the body, but of the surface and head!"Sacred Cow-tipping at its best."Meaning of Life" also permeate on this list.::: canteen Eighty-Four"If you want a vision of the future, Winston, envision a boot stamping on a animal faceforever."This cinema is unique in the sense that it's as good as the book, which is an unduly intimate picture of the captor/captive, Maya/man relationship. Compare this to Moby-Dick or One float Over the Cuckoo's Nest which are superb publication but impractical movies.::: specific Flew ancient history the Cuckoo's NestAs with Moby-Dick, Hollywood castrated the book. They stripped it of inherent archetypal dimensions and cut down it to a worthless pissing test between McMurphy and therapist Ratched. big entertainment, but for meaningful insight, see the book.::: Pleasantville"There are some community where the road doesn't go in a circle. There are some places where it keeps on going."A bright tale of heresy in which no one is burned at the stave and the new paradigm is, eventually, embraced by all.::: The Razor's Edge"The dead look so terribly dead."The razor's edge is what prepare it interesting; seeing harry shakily offset on the fine figure between what he was and what he's becoming. He is walking the edge halfway two lives. The Bill Murray interpretation is a bit unfocused... stick with Tyrone talent or gather the book. Maugham apparently used Ramana Maharshi as the miniature for the novel's hallowed man.::: major Wars"The enforcement will be with you, always."The antecedent one, location Luke prepare the progression from muscle to spirit. The Hero's Journey.::: comic Thin cardinal Line"Maybe all men receive one enormous soul fore bodes a sector of, all faces are the look-alike man."A gorgeous inquiry into the metaphysical nature of man. other a sad/sweet song thin a sequential film.::: The Thirteenth Floor"So what're you saying? You're saying that there's addition world on top of this one?"Layer after layer. Turtles on top of turtles. ::: Vanilla Sky/Abre Los Ojos"Open your eyes."If you related Vanilla Sky, check out the original, the Continental film Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes). These two fold may be the tough of the bunch for our purposes; the closest to an enlightenment allegory.Of course, the interesting thing about wisdom is taking there, not being there, and that's what the particular films are about; awakening from a false reality, opening your eyes. They're not so much round what's actual as whites not. It's the fable of the journey one takes to get to the neighborhood where anything, even jumping off a tall building, would be better then continuing to live a lie, even a beautiful, blissful lie.Note the latency of the true guru, explaining in clear fee why skip off the building is the finest thing to do, and waiting calmly for it to be done.::: rising Life"They respond that imagination are alone real as long as they last. Couldn't you say the same piece about life?"Wide-ranging philosophical inquiry. Provocative. Amusing. Potentially disruptive.::: Wings of Desire"When the child was a child, it was the time of these questions: Why am I me, and why not you? Why am I here, and why not there? albeit did point begin and where execute space end?"A lovely, intelligent, thought-provoking film. Can the awakened living return to the dreamstate? Would he want to?::: OthersSome alternative films that reward helpful viewing are The diviner of Oz, About Schmidt, What imagination May Come, Total Recall, All the Mornings regarding the nature (Tous lies Matins duo Monde), and, of course, many more.-Jed McKenna ::: About the Author"Jed McKenna is an American original." -Lama surely DasJed McKenna is the author of "Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing" and "Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment", issued by Wisefool Press. Coming in 2005: "Spirituality X" and "Jed McKenna's Notebook". Visit WisefoolPress.com to read more.

[theotternerd]

Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition Review

Before I get started on this review, I just want to put a few things in the open.

1. I started playing Warhammer 40K in 2005 at a buddy’s house. This was still the transition time of going from 3rd Edition to 4th Edition and I believe that only the Space Marines and Tyranids had gotten their Codices (yes, that is the correct pluralization of “codex”) updated at that point for the new rules.

2. I love the 40K lore. Like, a lot. It’s part of the reason why I still love the series, despite having not played it for close to six years. The lore and fluff draw me in, and I love reading all about it from not only the Index Astartes articles, the Codices, or any other article previously posted on the mid-2000s GW website, but also the novels, some of which have been written by some of the best sci-fi/fantasy authors.

3. I am not a fan of Games Workshop as a company. This is a company that over the past seven or so years has tried to do everything it can to destroy any remaining customer goodwill it had. This is a company that was vehemently anti-consumer and anti-competition (seriously, up until VERY recently you couldn’t buy GW products from third parties that had an online shopping cart system). But, I recently saw this...

The game YOU asked for (my emphasis, obviously). Maybe something at GW has changed in the last year or so, because this is a sign of things moving in a better direction.

As with any new 40K system release, I get curious. I want to love the game, but over the years the game has been an arms race to the bottom (GW’s bottom line), and I really can’t afford to buy and maintain a decent-sized army anymore. However, I do buy the box sets that usually release with each edition, and that’s what I did, but we’re not going to start with that. Nope, let’s look at the rules of this new edition first.

The core rules to the game have been simplified.

A LOT.

I’m talking about slimmed down to the point where it fits on a 5″ x 7″, front and back, four-panel pull-out. These eight pages of rules comprise of everything you need to know in order to play a game, pretty much the six phases of a turn:

Movement

Psychic

Shooting

Charge

Fight

Morale

The descriptions of each phase is easy to read, easy to understand, and there’s almost no weird lexicon that you have to decipher. This is exactly what new payers need, not twenty pages describing every phase in minute detail.

That being said, there are no distinctions anymore between any type of unit in the game, infantry or cavalry, beast or vehicle. There aren’t full pages describing what a close combat weapon does versus a power weapon, or detailed descriptions of what every single weapon keyword means. Everything is boiled down to its essential elements and I feel that this is the sort of basic rules that the game has always needed.

The bulk of the rules section of the new rulebook is actually about how you set up different types of battles, whether it be a pick-up game, a tournament, or even a narrative campaign. They even brought back the idea of detachments from 6th/7th Edition with no emphasis on any particular detachment composition. This is a serious departure for me as I learned the force organization chart and drilled it into my head. Sure, it’s pretty much still there, but enough small changes have been made that it fits way better. Also, it allows Codices to have their own unique detachments that fit the lore of that particular force better. It’s an overall win-win in my book.

Going back to the book, 42% of the rulebook are the actual rules. This is another departure from previous editions (except for maybe 7th, but that was a three book set and one of them was just the rules) as the rules usually made up about one-third of the book. The other two-thirds were the lore and a hobby section. Also, previous editions put a small primer section before the rules, usually to help you get in the mindset, and then the lore was after the rules, with the hobby stuff in the very back. The lore section is now in the front of the book, before the rules, and consists of 58% of the book’s contents, while the hobby section was completely omitted for 8th Edition. Again, this seems like a good move on GW’s part because they have entire books you can buy about how to make terrain, paint models, etc.

With the removal of the hobby section, which was honestly just porn for wargamers, the book has been slimmed down to 288 pages, which is impressive considering the 4th Edition rulebook was also 288 pages (5th Edition was 320, 6th Edition was 440) and included hobby information.

Datasheets seem to be the thing GW is doing now, and the rulebook addresses this at the very beginning of the rules section. Datasheets were first introduced in the Apocalypse expansion, late in 4th Edition’s life cycle. Datasheets were typically used for superheavy vehicles and unique, high-power characters, like Primarchs. But sometime during the life cycle of 6th or 7th Edition, GW decided to package datasheets in all of the model boxes, which I think was a brilliant move. Want to buy some models but don’t have the Codex? No big deal, here’s how the unit works!

One of the newer aspects of these datasheets is the Power Rating. For more casual games, the power rating can generally indicate how powerful a unit is, and both players can compare overall army strength by the overall Power Ratings.

Also available right now as a bundle are the army indices, which lets you get started right away with the new edition. Each one focuses on a particular area, with the Imperium getting two books, Chaos getting one, and Xenos getting lumped together into two indices. Each one is pretty big and provides datasheets for every unit in the game at this point, except for Forge World models. The lack of Titans is upsetting, but understood.

Final Thoughts I was startled a bit by 40K’s 8th Edition. I was seriously thinking that GW was going to screw the pooch on this and just keep going on with making a new edition every 4-5 years, alienate certain players by not updating factions they play, and simply make the rules even more complicated, but...

GW did a great job listening to the fans. It really seems like they’ve decided to regain all that goodwill they lost years ago. Hell, they regained some of it when I saw The War Store newsletter saying that you could now order GW products through their website, not having to call or send an email for orders (seriously, that’s how we had to do it back in the day...up until a month or two ago).

The rules are super streamlined, which is great for teaching new players. The datasheets make starting an army incredibly easy and they are great references during play. Right now, I’m just waiting to see what the first Codex looks like, because that will be the real telling point for the life cycle of 8th Edition. But, until then, this is looking real good.

Website: https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Warhammer-40-000 Price: $60 ($40 for eBook), $125 for the Index set or $25 for each Index ($20 for eBook), $104 for eBook bundle of Rulebook and Indices Players: 2+ All images © Games Workshop.