thomaswinwood

[thomaswinwood]

There's definitely some stuff people suggest is intended behaviour which I suspect actually isn't—notably, people suggest throwing things over the wall at the Capra Demon but I doubt you're ever intended to beat a boss which is activated by walking through a fog gate by doing things that don't involve walking through the fog gate—but yes the change in the timbre of the playerbase from "lol giantdad one point in DEX" to "if you use spirit ashes you didn't ~really~ beat the game" and "they nerfed Radahn for the sake of casuals" really sucks. (Absolutely do not get me started on the way people glaze the fuck out of Radahn and make him out to be a "gigachad" second only to fucking Godfrey. I hate it so much.)

i kind of hate the reputation dark souls' fans have given it as this super hard pinnacle of gaming challenges. like its hard but its not even THAT hard. I'm all around pretty bad at video games and I was able to get through it without too much trouble

[thomaswinwood]

I think it's worth noting that this argument contains one falsehood: you cannot, in fact, have a conversation with the author by analysing their work. This is one of the themes of Davey Wreden's The Beginner's Guide—the narrator the reader imagines is subgradient to the author in the same way that the audience member the author imagines is subgradient to the reader.

I am on my knees begging you to learn how to interpret metaphors and symbolism

[thomaswinwood]

I think the problem is someone somewhere in the chain has misunderstood what "money can't buy happiness" actually means. Many people have a bunch of problems which can be solved by money; for them, money solving all those problems will absolutely make them happier!

Once you have sufficient money that you can solve problems which can be solved with money as they come up, though, you may find you're still unhappy. This is a problem which cannot be solved with money; if you try to anyway then you'll still be unhappy and now have less money, which could impede your ability to solve the problems that can!

"Money can't buy happiness" is a very easy thing to say when you can afford to see a doctor.

[thomaswinwood]

How many people are fans of Dragon Warrior Monsters without having been/become a fan of the rest of the Dragon Warrior brand? It seems like the people posting in the tag either were already fans as a result of the series' presence in the United States and moved towards DWM because it was More Dragon Warrior or became fans of Dragon Warrior afterwards, whereas I found out about it because of a magazine ad presenting it as for people who played and enjoyed the original Pokemon and wanted something similar to fill the gap that felt like an eternity until Gold and Silver came out in English. (I later learned it was the first Dragon Warrior game to be released in Europe at all.)

As a result, it seems like most people who like it like DWM2 more than DWM1, whereas while I appreciate some of the improvements the sequel made to the original game's systems (and the localisation is substantially improved courtesy of Nob Ogasawara) it doesn't grab me like DWM1's gameplay loop of delving into randomly-generated dungeons. Part of it is that I think I struggle to connect to a plot delivered purely in the form of two/three-line textboxes with no voiced dialogue (RPGs on constrained hardware don't do anything for me, but I love Panzer Dragoon Saga and the Xenoblade games) so I have neither any intrinsic motivation to follow the more involved plotline of DWM2 nor any preexisting connection to Coby and Tara to make me invested in the outcome.

[thomaswinwood]

As I understand it that was about Bandai Namco Studios, the developer, not Bandai Namco Enterprises, the publisher. Code Vein's developer is and always has been Shift.

I swear if the "new game" is one of the canceled games I will delete this blog

[thomaswinwood]

This is propaganda. Joshua trees aren't endangered, removing four thousand to install solar panels isn't a tragedy, and nuclear power (which credulous idiots in the notes for this post are proposing as an alternative) is a goddamn mess.

They will destroy nature and call it saving the planet.

[thomaswinwood]

Assessment from a gunsmith friend based on my gonzo photography: "not a real gun; has elements of the 1911, CZ-75, pre-export M9 and VP70".

Because the official art for the character isn't final and not really hd, I have to do search for what type of gun Louis is holding

The closest I could find similar to his design was browning, probably gonna do more search later

Idk a lot about gun, but I guess it's time for me to start looking for this kind of thing for me dream job o(-(

[thomaswinwood]

I don't have any 3D modelling abilities so I can't do the obvious thing of deleting everything that's not the handgun, but I confirmed that it's partially modelled in there by looking at it in wireframe mode and I clipped umodel's camera into the holster itself.

Because the official art for the character isn't final and not really hd, I have to do search for what type of gun Louis is holding

The closest I could find similar to his design was browning, probably gonna do more search later

Idk a lot about gun, but I guess it's time for me to start looking for this kind of thing for me dream job o(-(

[thomaswinwood]

Wireless headphones are great. I end up breaking wired headphones because I want to move around, forget they're on my head and yank on the wire. I'm not taking my keyboard and mouse anywhere, though, so why would they need to be wireless?

[thomaswinwood]

I don't think any creative decisions are ever made to encourage or discourage shipping (it's the kind of thing I don't think exists outside Tumblr, to be brutally honest) but I do think the choice for Mia's age-at-death was influenced by the fact the early promotional material positions her as equal to the player character in importance; there's scant fragments of evidence in the game's cinematography that they considered making her a romantic interest, and they wouldn't want to depict paedophilia.

Am I the only one who thinks the reason they made Mia 18 was because of the general fandom shipping works?

In other simple words "MC x All" (only for the character that's have a interesting interaction)

[thomaswinwood]

Since I dug them out for @reflectionsofacreator I might as well post them here as well for the other loreheads to ponder.

There are unused names and descriptions for the weapons wielded by the Queen's Vanguard found in the Memories...

Landini: A black blade used by the female Lost who served in the Queen's vanguard. Its slick, red edge draws great amounts of ichor from its victims, adding to the strength of the wielder. The vanguard once served as special forces in Operation Queenslayer, and their equipment still bears a hint of the beauty its designers gave it.

Black Baccarat: A black polearm used by female Lost who served in the Queen's vanguard. Its flower-petal-like blade inflicts painful wounds that drain a great amount of ichor from revenants struck. The vanguard once served as special forces in Operation Queenslayer, and their equipment still bears a hint of the beauty its designers gave it.

...the Queen's Vanguard Puppets found in the Cathedral of the Sacred Blood...

Trono: A sword used by the Queen's vanguard that has changed with time. The weapon holds the power of lightning, which is released as a Gift when swung. The knights who guard the cathedral are all veterans of the Queen's vanguard, and their transformation is a sign of willpower that rivals that of their liege.

Folgore: A polearm used by the Queen's vanguard that has changed with time. It contains lightning energy that allows the wielder to make swift, lunging thrusts. The knights who guard the cathedral are all veterans of the Queen's vanguard, and their transformation is a sign of willpower that rivals that of their liege.

...and the Queen's Vanguard Reborn found in the Provisional Government Outskirts.

Advent Blade: The sword of one of the Queen's vanguard, who was sealed away but reawakened. The blade feels withered from a long lack of blood, and it sucks hungrily when buried in the flesh of foes. One of the vanguard who avoided being turned to ash was sealed with a stake, but her thirst for blood remained.

Advent Halberd: The weapon of one of the Queen's vanguard, who was sealed away but reawakened. The head has lost some of its power over time, but its thirst for blood causes it to drain heavy amounts of ichor when it bites into flesh. One of the vanguard who avoided being turned to ash was sealed with a stake, but her thirst for blood remained.

[thomaswinwood]

while by story it's still not clear when or how they got the relic

I still don't think this is true. The protagonist is explicitly referred to as the Successor of the Blood in the description of the Carrier of the Blood cutscene, and Eva says they "carry the Relic of the Blood", which definitionally makes them the Successor of the Blood even if you don't accept the cutscene descriptions as canonical evidence.

Compatibility with relics can be rated. Better ratings are more stable, have less risk of mutation, and can use more power. That's why it's important for Jack and I to act as Watchers of the Relics. You must have high compatibility too, since you carry the Relic of the Blood.

Gregorio says explicitly that the relics are parts of the Queen's body, placed in the bodies of other revenants to keep them separate and safe. The Relic of the Blood can therefore only be... the Queen's blood, which we know the player drank when they killed her and became the Queenslayer. The game even foreshadows this event when Jack warns about what happens when someone tries it whose compatibility is too low.

Just be sure not to drink the Queen's blood. Too many of us have joined the ranks of the Lost after their bodies rejected it.

As for birthdays...

Obviously that information is nowhere ingame or in the localisation file, or I'd have found it already.

The artbook has age-at-death and height for each character, but not birthdays.

Bandai-Namco Europe have been a source of dubiously-canonical information before (like Louis' surname, which is found nowhere ingame or in the localisation file) but they don't list birthdays.

The edits to the Fandom wiki which added birthdays were all done by one user over a twenty-minute period at the end of 2022 who has made no other contributions.

YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT CODE VEIN FANDOM WIKI IS MIXED WITH HEADCANONS AND THEORIES????

[thomaswinwood]

Yes I did.

Code Vein lore player would open the game file just to find more lore that's not listed in the game

[thomaswinwood]

Louis... or Louise?

The melons has been freed

[thomaswinwood]

This can be misleading. The figure for "on foot" works for a person or a small group of people, but not an army on the march. A more typical figure for them would be 8-12 miles per day.

Here’s an invaluable writing resource for you.

[thomaswinwood]

They got better. The BOR Parasite was originally intended as a medical treatment.

if a human fuck a revenant is it count as necrophilia?

Did you hear that? That's a sounds of CIEL screaming at the corner of his room right after he read this ask

[thomaswinwood]

Talking about separating the artist from their art is bullshit if you're financially supporting them. Boycott! Pirate!

If you object to the sexist and homophobic attitudes of this game's developers, pirating the game is not an effective form of activism. Talking about the game on social media is still supporting the artist. Producing and consuming guides and other information about the game, contributing to its ranking in search engines and providing ad revenue to others making those guides and other information is still supporting the artist. Non-financially supporting the artist is still supporting the artist.

Why you shouldn’t support the upcoming game Black Myth: Wukong

Simply put, the creators behind Black Myth: Wukong are raging misogynists.

Founders and creatives of the studio have:

Joked about former female employees hypothetically doing prostitution

Used suggestive/objectifying/derogatory imagery & phrasing in their hiring flyers (under the cut), e.g. “In addition to hookup buddies, we promise to provide more thoughtful services” , “fatties fuck off”, etc.

Written entire think pieces on how video games don’t need female players or developers, how women are biologically inclined towards “softer” modes of gaming than men (there’s also a bit of homophobia mixed in through language such as “fuck sissies”), how some things should just be made for men, etc. “Fuck sissies, fuck tragic love stories, fuck moon-lit peach blossoms and flute-playing scholars! You don't need the reverse motivation of female players, you don't need to take care of those worms who just want to date chicks. Some things are just for men, their depression, their anger, their pain...”

Made numerous sexually explicit (& honestly incel-like) comments including ones about a female character in Black Myth: Wukong, e.g. “once you get used to this [character design] you can jerk off to it”, etc.

Boasted about how they’re losing followers, who must be women

To no one’s surprise, when people criticise the studio online, they’re met with vitriol about how they’re hypersensitive feminists, too politically correct, etc.

Chinese women have been YELLING non-stop on social media about how bad it is so it’s pretty depressing to see that a lot of non-Chinese gamers, even after reading an IGN article covering the situation, are apathetic. I get that a lot of people are excited about the novelty of a soulslike game based on Chinese mythology, but do you really want to support a studio that actively contributes towards and benefits from misogynistic gaming culture?

Talking about separating the artist from their art is bullshit if you're financially supporting them. Boycott! Pirate!

Here are some sources if you want to see detailed translations, learn more about the situation as well as the misogynistic gaming culture at large China: