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Comes from Lewis' Law: http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Lewis'_Law
Basically, baiting with a parody feminist position to rile up the crowd(she's not looking for harassment, duh, but she's surely looking to kick some fuckboys in the shins).
'normal' is a problematic term and you should refrain from using it.
no u
What is normal, anyway?
[user deleted]
It was a pun.
The Bell Curve is also problematic. And so are puns, because they discriminate against people who suffer from conditions which I'm too lazy to google that make them unable to get those jokes.
is it because it looks like a deformed penisNein: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/The_Bell_Curve
No issue with Kickstarters. Pre-orders are stupid, but presumably the intent to buy the game upon completion so I don't have issue with it.
Paying for Early Access is a rip-off though. QA is an actual job -- one that I happen to have a lot of respect for -- and making people pay to do it instead of paying them for it is insulting. Finish your shit before charging customers.
^ THANK YOU
i have no idea what just happened
but yeah, Anita is sort of obnoxious, but trivializing death threats is still wrong. No idea what TotalBiscuit is up to, and I don't know why people love him so much other than his "WTF is..." series, which seems decent though I haven't followed it. AFAIK he has been on the receiving end of one major bad experience with a game dev -- specifically, the DayZ (a.k.a. Infestation: Survivor Stories) dev -- and he had quite a lot to say as a person who derives income from posting videos on Youtube. That's basically the most I know about him.
As for Early Access, is that actually just QA though? Have developers used E-A (i'm using the dash to avoid confusion with a certain company name) to do things like get design ideas -- Or on the other hand is that even more wrong, if you presume that the game devs ought to have something fully formed before hitting the market?
If anything I'm sort of in favor of E-A charging people more -- or at least full price -- for the reason that it'll actually keep the discussion away from the question of how much value one gets from an E-A game. If it's at least full price, then it'll basically be an early investment in the project, much like how Kickstarter works -- or so I've seen at least, since the game Kickstarters I've looked at all give prices for a copy of the game that are around what a game would probably cost (base price) upon release.
[user deleted]
I had a thought yesterday that following GamerGate is like watching a trainwreck, if the train was carrying politicians and got derailed by a crash with a garbage truck driven by a paedophile. I'd also factor in some clowns if I knew how to do it while keeping the simile mostly intact.
I'll just leave it here, trying to argue will probably be harmful to everyone's sanity.
You could probably make the clown represent Stephen Colbert somehow.
Something I'll leave here,
This came after months of the most vicious arguing (with possibly the lowest signal-to-noise ratio) ever seen on a Wikipedia talk page.
that talk page and the arbiter request are one of the most fun to be had in here.
not really. like, well, maybe they'll talk less about early access specifically, but for any non-AAA game like 75% of the things people say about it are directly related to how much money it is worth (often to weirdly high precision), whether it's early access or not.
To be fair I haven't ever bought any Early-Access games. At least, not in the sense of "I want to play this" -- I think I preordered fault milestone one (a visual novel) and it gave me access to a Japanese version, which I promply checked out only the sound test portion of because I can't read Japanaese. (Also, ain't too many ways to screw up a visual novel -- especially one that's already been published.)
Anyway, lately, after finishing my enemy-grinding guide for Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, I just now finished up another loose end in another Castlevania game -- Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.
Okay, actually, I just happened to be listening to Chamber of Ruin, and felt like playing Order of Ecclesia again.
Anyway, I had meant to get all the items, and I even finished grinding the rare ones out of enemies. But I just hadn't finished getting all the items.
The ones I had left were:
* Star Ring, a hidden chest in Dracula's Castle (easy to get)
* Alexandrite, random reward for completing either of the bonus dungeons -- Large Cavern or Training Hall
* Royal Crown, reward for bringing Alexandrite to an NPC to complete a quest
* Master Ring, reward for completing all the quests
* Minerva Mail and Minerva Mask, two random rewards for completing Large Cavern
* Robe Decollete, random reward for completing Training Hall
* L. Eye of God and R. Eye of Devil, rewards for completing Boss Rush routes B and A respectively in under 4 minutes
* Sword Helm, Hammer Helm, Rapier Helm, etc., rewards for completing Boss Rush in over 4 minutes (eight total, four to each Boss Rush)
Large Cavern is a series of arenas with very tough monsters. You have to beat each one to advance. You get random items from several common (brown) chests as you run through it, and one rare (green) chest at the end.
Training Hall is a series of rooms where you have to go through movement challenges -- timing your moves and especially making use of Magnes, the glyph that lets you hang onto these "magnetic" nodes and fling yourself off of them. Thankfully, none of the rooms are timed challenges. Note that you can't fly in Training Hall (which makes sense). If you know how to use Redire -- a glyph that lets you throw a blade that has a mobile Magnes node which you can then use to fling yourself even further -- you can do all sorts of crazy things with it...but I'm not that good. Your reward for completing all of Training Hall is several random items in common chests and one random item in a rare chest.
Ran through Large Cavern successfully several times, along with lots of failures, basically re-learning how to use the glyphs and all since the last time I played the game (which Backloggery suggests was in July 2011 or earlier).
Strategies: Fly in every room except the first one, where you drop down and Nitesco the shit out of all those Tin Men, then proceed carefully. Nitesco is great for everything except for Globus for the second Tin Men room. For two-devil room, DON'T SPAWN BOTH TOGETHER. For Double Hammer + Weapon Master room, beat the Double Hammer first since you need more room to avoid Weapon Master's attacks. In general, when dealing with Double Hammers and Weapon Masters, learn how to bait them correctly. Use shield glyph to neutralize sparkball from Jiang Shi boss. And if you happen to smack the paper off the boss and restart the fight, you are still free to leave.
Training Hall, thankfully, I only had to do once. Nothing really special to it, other than to say that Rapidus Fio (the fast running glyph) is not always useful, and don't always pull back all the way for Magnes flinging.
But then came the Boss Rushes. Oh gosh.
First of all, conventional methods -- that is, using just one glyph set and dodging your way through the bosses' attacks -- is not going to get you a sub-4-minute performance. You will NEED special strats and preparation for the bosses -- ESPECIALLY in Boss Rush B.
Second, Death Ring is your friend. Taking the time to dodge some enemy attacks but doing like 1.5x the damage to them when you hit them (especially with multi-hitting attacks like Nitesco) is really, really useful.
Third, anything that boosts your attack power significantly is useful. This includes the elemental rings, the Death Ring, and even Dominus Agony.
Fourth, don't be afraid of micromanaging your equipment.
Fifth, Rapidus Fio can make it hard to get to the portal accurately and lose you valuable time sometimes.
Sixth, use items liberally. They are not lost.
Seventh, MASH UP WHEN YOU START.
Boss Rush A: I took Death Ring and Diamond Ring (increases light power) or Sapphire Ring (increases ice power) with me.
Arthroverta: Nitesco/Nitesco/whatever. Goes down very quickly.
Giant Skeleton: does not appear in the Boss Rush, for some reason.
Brachyura: the timesink of Boss Rush A. Globus/Globus/Magnes. Ascend to the top of each segment ASAP so the crab wastes no time waiting for you. Once you see the crab coming, spam Globus, which will multi-hit it plenty to make it SHOOOOOOO without wasting phase time. Remember to backdash to avoid its wall-punching. First wall takes 4 hits, second wall takes 2 hits, third wall takes 3 hits. Four Magnes nodes then double-jump to the ledge beneath the elevator; elevator need not be activated at its center. DON'T TAKE THE ELEVATOR BACK UP WHEN YOU'VE BEATEN BRACHYURA.
Maneater: Nitesco/Nitesco/Rapidus Fio. "Scan" it with your beams as it comes out of the ground. Use Nitesco's range to deal damage while avoiding the tentacles -- though hit them too to make them retreat. Should be short.
Rusalka: Nitesco/Nitesco/Rapidus Fio. Learn to dodge its attacks so you can avoid getting hit and get back to lasering it quickly. If it calls down a wave, switch out Death Ring for Ruby Ring (increases fire power -- remember Nitesco is both fire and light, but it's still not as good as Death Ring) and take the damage.
Goliath: Nitesco/Nitesco/Rapidus Fio. The only thing he's likely to do where you can't just constantly laser him is if he prepares a punch -- and if you really want, you can take off the Death Ring, take a hit and go behind him, then continue lasering him anyway.
Gravedorcus: Vol Grando/Vol Grando/Rapidus Fio. Sort of a messy fight, but it's weak to ice. It starts on the left. Just learn its attacks and know when to dodge. Splash it with Vol Grando whenever you can.
That should take about 3.5 minutes.
Boss Rush B:
Blackmore: Nitesco/Nitesco/Rapidus Fio/Death Ring/Diamond Ring. DON'T ACTIVATE Rapidus Fio when you start. Dodge his attacks and fight back as aggressively as you can while keeping your cool to avoid his attacks. Should take about 10-20 seconds. There's a way to quick-kill him. Remember that if he does the spaced meteors attack, there's one last meteor right about where he's standing -- yes, it's entirely possible to die after you kill him. Also remember that his second phase always starts with the triple clawswipe attack.
Eligor: the timesink of Boss Rush B. First phase, Melio Ascia/Melio Ascia/anything/Death Ring/Star Ring. Use Melio Ascia's arc to hit the front crossbow and the front kneecaps in each attack, but the priority is the kneecaps -- you will have a lot of otherwise wasted time later to break the crossbow. Before it rears, DON'T STAND TOO CLOSE TO ITS HAND, and walk beneath it so you'll be between its feet. Melio Ascia to finish off the front crossbow (if necessary) and start breaking the hind crossbow. It will take two steps forward; don't try to launch more than two attacks between steps. When it stops moving, duck to avoid the hoofkick. Then it takes two steps back. Use whatever downtime during this long sequence you have to attack the crossbow, and it should go down easily. After it steps back, go as close as you can to the shadow of the far rear foot, and duck...when it jumps, slide twice to get out from under it. Switch to Melio Macir (best hammer glyph)/Melio Macir/Volaticus/Death Ring/Blow Ring -- hover at its rear knees and wail away; try your best to hit only one kneecap (they break together but DON'T share HP pools, it seems). It will take two more steps back. Watch out for its tail when the kneecaps are broken, and immediately fly to its head. Maybe take one or two cheap shots, but GET OUT OF THE WAY QUICKLY, to the top of the center of the room. ELIGOR'S MOVEMENTS ARE HUGE, RAPID, and SUDDEN. Suddenly, Eligor's head will be in your range again, thanks to its huge movements. Wail away. It will most likely try to attack you by arcing itself back at you -- when it growls, GET OUT OF THE WAY. Otherwise, just wail on it as fast as you can while hovering. Total time after Eligor should be around 1.5 minutes.
Death: Nitesco/Nitesco/Fidelis Medusa/Death Ring/Diamond Ring. Turn on your medusa head shield, but remember that it doesn't catch all the sickles -- you still have to be a little wary of them. Otherwise, just use your instincts to try to get a hit in. Death's sickle spam is the best opportunity to hit him. The crescent attacks will present an opportunity to hit him but you can barely dodge it by sliding under them before they move -- instead, switch out Death Ring for Ruby Ring, keep lasering Death, and take the hit. The red swirly attack is similar -- again, switch out Death Ring for Ruby Ring, keep lasering him, and take the hit. Also, his cloak deals damage. Thankfully, his twirling scythe that he throws upon defeat does NOT deal damage -- unlike in Aria of Sorrow.
When you beat Death, take a moment to change your glyph sets. You need two for Dracula:
* Nitesco/Nitesco/Rapidus Fio (honestly, it's more like whatever/whatever/Rapidus Fio)/Death Ring/Diamond Ring
* Melio Secare (the best sword glyph)/Nitesco/Dominus Agony/Death Ring/Diamond Ring
Use the Rapidus Fio set first, activate it, rush to the teleporter.
Dracula: Make sure Rapidus Fio is activated. Find where he teleports. Stand a little distance in front of him. His first attack is always a bunch of fireballs. Switch to the other glyph set. Activate Dominus Agony. Up+attack to use the giant lightsaber glyph union on him repeatedly. If you run out of hearts (you shouldn't), use an item to refill it. He should stop attacking, but you shouldn't. You should be able to beat him in just one cycle. (You don't need to do the Dominus glyph union at the end.)
REMEMBER TO TURN OFF DOMINUS AGONY WHEN YOU'RE DONE. IT REALLY SUCKS WHEN YOU DIE IN THE PRIZE ROOM. (You can't access the menu in the prize room so you have to switch to a different soulset or use R to deactivate it.)
This takes about 2.5 minutes. My record is 02:14:57.
And now I'm finally officially completely done with all the items.
Yeah, not doing hard mode or
Oh, I think I remembered one thing I didn't like about Portrait of Ruin.
It is basically pretty blatantly catering to completion whore.
Now I feel like a completion whore, picking this up again, and instead of going after Brauner then Dracula, going back through the Nest of Evil with luck-boosting equipment and a totally piece of shit subweapon that I'm trying to level up for some reason. (Wrecking ball? WTF?)
Playing Dream Drop Distance. Not sure how many of my problems with this game are actual flaws and how many are just lazy balance in Critical Mode.
They introduced a cool parkour traversal system, but then nerfed your regular attacks to be so horribly weak and slow that you have to rely almost entirely on it at first even though it leaves you wide open. It picks back up again once you grab a few Spirits with attack haste and get some deck commands that aren't complete garbage (Spark Dive, Zero Gravira, Thunder Dash), but it's pretty rough for the first couple worlds.
Riku is fucking terrible. His spirit links just buff and modify his regular attacks that you shouldn't be using anyway because it's still super-weak, you get killed in 1-2 hits by stuff while doing his ridiculously long animations, and almost anything you care about isn't staggered by damage at all. Most of his bosses are kiting olympics, either by gimmicks that remove your defensive options or because they spend most of the fight running from you so much you might as well just let it be a magic duel.
Sora's bosses basically have to be fought defensively. I like fighting defensively (hell, I play Ys games on Nightmare), but some of these bosses literally force you to spam block for 10+ seconds at a time because they can leap across the entire arena faster than you can recover from one swing, hit larger areas than you're mechanically capable of moving out of, and attack continuously. The first two bosses are just absurd -- at least you have Counter Rush by the time you have to fight them again.
I'm torn on the Spirits. On the one hand it's a gimmick I don't usually like, but on the other they're much more helpful than Donald and Goofy ever were.
Also fuck pandas. They have an earthquake attack that stuns you long enough to die before you can move again, but the stun area spawns instantly and seems to precede the animation. Some of the link portals will literally kill you before you can move because they start out with like 6 pandas and any one of them can stun you before your jump animation gets you into the air.
What is it with Kingdom Hearts and really strange names?
The default scapegoat for everything KH related is Nomura. I have no idea how much is actually his responsibility, though.
Dream Drop Distance halfway makes sense in context. The story gimmick is kinda Inceptiony.
Oh, I forgot to mention the camera is up your ass all the time. KH really needs to either get its act together on zooming out a bit so you can see what's around you, or marry the camera already so the whole camera buttsex thing isn't so weird.
I just realized Unity's logo is three perpendicular arrows.
Oh wow, you're right!
And they could be described as unit vectors, too.
I have Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent on my recommendations list.
It's sort of an odd choice. On a cursory note, it doesn't seem like that interesting of a game. It's "casual", in the sense that the gameplay is not particularly deep nor skill-intensive, nor is the story particularly complex. It's not a 40-hour masterpiece, nor does it have much to say about the philosophical underpinnings of humanity.
But consider this: it's about solving puzzles. And in a way, it's not about solving puzzles.
The premise of the game is that you solve puzzles to unravel a mystery. You play a character, Nelson Tethers, who is part of the FBI's fictional "Division of Puzzle Research", sent on a mission to snow-covered Scoggins, Minnesota, to solve a puzzle-filled mystery -- one whose premise involves and is literally based on puzzles. Seems totally cheesy and silly, right?
Yet, starting at one point in the game (I will not say where, to avoid spoilers), it puts you -- the player -- in that role. At first, you feel that you're just like, you're the player, advancing the plot of the game by accomplishing tasks -- specifically, solving the puzzles the game presents to you.
But at a certain point, something happens. And you get to feel what Agent Tethers himself feels -- and that's when you're no longer just a player. You are Agent Nelson Tethers, stuck in a snowy small Minnesota town full of suspicious townsfolk who seem a little too slippery, and you feel surrounded by a creepy feeling that something's just not right and you have no idea where to even start figuring out what it is. The game uses the mechanical interface, by which you play the game, to deliver that narrative to you directly. Rather than informing you of your role, it thrusts you into that role.
That is immersion. And that's why I like Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent.
Incidentally, this is a game that I would not have discovered, had it not been for the fact that it shared a Steam bundle with Recettear, and said bundle was gifted to me by a certain JBridge. So, thank you, JBridge. And besides, this is the kind of game that I would love to discover by accident.