Lurker > HanOfTheNekos

I already talked about it in the discord channel a bit, but I'll toss a little more on the Spyro fire here.

I do think the games have an absolutely bonkers level of quality for 3D movement for the time they came out. Like, I'd be hard-pressed to find a game that I think controls better. Not only that, but there's such a good tactile feeling to playing the games - given sound effects and rumble, it can be soothing for me to just bonk into things and flame everything, and I often have to cycle through the options of movement and attack in the game just because my brain gets pleasure from experiencing them all.

It's weird. Also weird is that they didn't skip the first dragon - that might be a remake only skip? I thought it was in both, but shrug.

Gonna pop this in spoilers so that Poka's topic isn't completely ruined...

Episode 7 uses existing assets, but completely wipes the slate. What happened in ROTJ is said to basically have not mattered. Episode 9 is similar - uses existing assets, but is so irreverent to the existing movies, especially Episode 8, that anything goes.

Episode 8 is RELIANT on existing lore, because it tries hard to give a message of moving on. Without the Jedi order, understanding of its fall, who Luke was and why he might be in exile... that's all nothing without understanding. The themes that Johnson fails to land are all based on knowing where Star Wars has come from. Without that, it's just a weird movie about a master that is not established at all, weird space magic, and an hour of action and plot that has zero impact on the movie's outcome. A well-made movie, that is not.

Also, it doesn't disregard Star Wars lore. Probably leans on it more than its surrounding two films.

Faraday got a lot of points early on by being the old dog who everyone could go to and be comfortable with. Waller was intimidating, and a lot of the others had some sort of wall up, or focus. Except Etta, but she was just a little too much of a sycophant, you know?

The problem with Disney-era Star Wars is how corporate it is.

Yes, Episode 7 was made in reaction to the PT hate, which is why it went hard on riding the OT's tail.
Rogue One was good - they gave that team freedom to tell a story and it went well.
Episode 8 was handed off to a second director, broke a unified vision.
Solo was good - that team already had freedom to tell a story, and it didn't go as well because people didn't want to see a recasting.
And Episode 9 was reeling everything back in from Episode 8.

The shows have been back and forth, but you can tell watching Mandalorian and Solo that they are made by Star Wars fans. Abrams was not a Star Wars fan. Johnson was maybe the opposite.

Disney isn't running away from the PT, it's running towards it and away from the ST. That's why all the new material is either immediately post-ROTJ or post-ROTS.

masterplum posted...

Also if you were to start randomly at any movie not 1 or 4 I think this is the one I would pick for no reason other than it is a well made movie that disregards star wars lore entirely so it works as a stand alone.

At the risk of opening up the floodgates to TLJ discourse, all I'll say is "Amazing, every word of what you just said was wrong".

UltimaterializerX posted...

I always assumed his name was a cross of Han Solo and these things: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Nek

Han definitely from Han Solo.
And no, neko is just Japanese for cat and I was a teenager in a weeb phase.

Anyway, watch A New Hope first so you can like the character I'm named after

Solo came out between 8 and 9.

Aqua-Mite

SirChris posted...

Good news I am dead in the other game.

that was fast

Yeah, Chao Garden might have just been lightning in a bottle for SA2. They probably could create a new one, but if they did, they'd need to go all-out and hire the Stardew Valley guy or some shit. As is, it won't be as good as the original for the game it's in.

I replayed through SA:2 recently, and while I loved the Chao so much as a kid and still like it, I used a cheat program to upgrade my Chao and design them how I like.

Maniac64 posted...

That seems like a bad idea.

Saoirse has issues with authority at time and Scar is the authority but also is standing apart from her fellow guardians and doesn't quite get emotions and stuff, so it's this reflection of Saoirse standing up when she thinks she needs to against someone who doesn't quite get it and responds to Saoirse less out of emotion and more out of strict rationality.

It's a weird set-up, but interesting

Cluemaster Cluemaster

Scar is great but i gotta fight her

B-Babsy?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/1/4/AAOJ0pAADdRK.jpg

Lopen posted...

Ah okay. That's a lot of content to generate a lot of NPCs with.

Still impressive though! And impressive you guys have kept coordinated with it so long.

Scar made a list of every DC comics character and then placed them all around the universe. While they're all his own interpretations, and some are basically completely his creations, the design and names of characters and such are all pre-existing. But yes, Scar is phenomenal at making most every NPC feel unique, to the point where it was hard to decide on a top 52.

And coordination is a lot. I'm super controlling about getting everybody to update schedule every week, and we have a document with the possible places we can go that is like 80+ at this point and people mark preferences and it really is quite absolutely insane what we're doing.

Lopen posted...

How long have you guys been running this and how often do you have sessions.

I just think having a ranking of 52 memorable NPCs is kinda impressive for a campaign and I was wondering how long this selection took to develop.

Tomorrow is session 79B.

Since there are 10 players, we have two sessions a week. There are occasionally bonus sessions on off-weeks or whatever, but it's roughly session 158.

We started in October of 2020 for this campaign. The previous campaign took about a year and a half.

Pepp-

Madame Xanadu

And yeah, I ranked Squire higher than War. That surprises me.

He's a reindeer, dummy!

2

Bring back the whole cast but they're all Skrulls

I liked SHIELD

Murphiroth posted...

Universal, not Sony.

If it were Sony that had Hulk rights they'd be pushing an Absorbing Man movie where he's a misunderstood anti-hero.

That already happened in SHIELD

SirChris posted...

Yeah since no one has spaces it is chill.

Actually usernames had a limit so I was one character short of having spaces

Saoirse also got mad that Lush took herself out of that equation. Like, stand up for your status as a bestie.

I actually guess Hassan

I got rid of the spaces in my username ages ago

UshiromiyaEva posted...

55 hours BTW

Are most Warriors games this long?? Almost as long as the Edelgard route in 3 houses (I assume there isn't a noteable difference in length between the campaigns in Hopes like there was in Houses)

Were you trying to Speedrun for Edie's route to only take a little over 55 hours?

Achromatic

Yeah I was just trying to understand because the criticism didn't make much sense to me

Inhumans confirmed for MCU movies

Not so much "don't judge a book by the cover" as "there is a deeper truth to be uncovered".

And the point isn't that a guy who likes dnd and metal is good, it's that he's persecuted for his hobbies, unfairly. It's part of the period piece.

Do you think it'd have been better if he didn't shower and bullied Dustin? What's the line between pandering and having a character who is just a kind of normal dude?

Idk it's just weird to see someone say "I don't like this character because they're likable"

colliding posted...

Eddie veers for me too close to nerd pandering. Super into metal, wears the jean/leather jacket combo, is a super cool DM, is an outsider yet charming, has a redemptive character arc. He felt tailor made to appeal to a particular person and I found the writers to be a bit heavy-handed in how they wanted us to like him.

I know the show has dealt in archetypes in the past, but this season I found them to be even more obvious than normal. I can buy that this was intentional due to how the show sets them up to be potential murder victims from the get go (hence why we have hyperbolized examples of the super obnoxious preppy jock and his cheerleader girlfriend, the nerdy newspaper kid, along with the typical stoner and mousey band geek). Munson starts out as one of these cliches and then tries to develop him into a "real character." It didn't work with me.

They literally had the cheerleader and Eddie break convention in episode 1, and the jock became the exact thing he hated Eddie for assuming he was, all playing up the theme of not judging by the cover but needing to look beyond for the truth, which is exemplified in Vecna's entire character.

Also, Eddie isn't a super cool DM - he's a fucking nerd.

I don't know, yet. The last episode made me want to rank it above Moon Knight, but the first two episodes of Moon Knight were good, so... Hmmm

I will say that I believe Ms. Marvel doesn't cut into the top 3, easily.

Armored Cores and THUG are good answers

Bump for more Traci discussion @Fastbreak

I started on hard my first playthrough. Not finding it all that difficult tbh

Not always getting s rank on missions but still

Hector needs to put Blake in his place.

Tom Curry

I mean, her and Bruce have been involved for so long that she had to find it out at some point, right?

Also Rex

Jack Knight

sisters shouldn't kiss like that

If Roz'etta really wanted to be friends with Saoirse, she would talk to Traci IMHO

Interestingly, I don't think Oa is necessarily the cause of that. Hal got a handful of convos in, but I really had such a loaded list from others that has taken priority throughout. I mean, Kim, the Kobra stuff, have had a lot of taking away from Traci time as well.

People will sign up when they see the topic

Though I'll admit FUN THEMES is usually a better way to pull people in

For getting the most guesses correct, Scarletspeed7 has earned the prize of 52 free minutes of rp time.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/1/4/AAOJ0pAADcrq.jpg

Let's talk about some other Traci interactions for a bit...

Traci took a quick shining to Jaime (which is comics canon, I believe). However, Pepper Spray had been courting him as well. Pepper wanted to be nice to Traci, a fellow young woman, and Traci was overtly friendly with Pepper too. But Traci was clearly taking advantage of Pepper being a field agent and not being around as much, while Traci knew the right angle to play. Pepper wasn't really sure how to handle having a rival, and just stuck to her own corner, but Jaime is a bit of a dope who was stuck in the middle. Then Saoirse threw a wrench in the works at one point by suggesting that maybe Traci should just move on, which she decided to do, but not without punishing Jaime a bit in the process since he was being such a dope. This resulted in an unfortunate scenario where Traci convinced Misty, channeling Star Sapphire, to snog with Jaime, putting both her and Pepper in a position of being fellow women scorned. Poor Pepper. Disagreements ensued, and Jaime soon left to go help the Convoy.

As said, Traci and Lush don't get along. Lush likes Traci. Lush is Saoirse's best friend! So Lush makes the efforts she can to be good to Traci. But Traci is always wary. She knows who Lush was in the past. She knows that Lush accidentally stabbed Jaime at one point. She has seen Lush lose her head at times. Traci does not approve of Saoirse and Lush's friendship, and does not much like that Saoirse has a crush on Lush. So while Traci will scoff in front of Saoirse about Lush, she won't be more than slyly disapproving in an attempt to make the relationship seem less appealing due to her disapproval. But when just in front of Lush, she's scared. But willing to stand up and tell Lush she's not scared, which may or may not land. Either way, it's fascinating to see two of the people Saoirse is closest to at such odds with each other.

Traci hasn't quite gotten as much time with other PC's, but she has had some encounters with Brennus. With Brennus, she put up barriers pretty quickly. These are ones that Saoirse tried to manipulate down by having them talk about shared experiences. Traci traveled over the world with her family without putting down roots, and Brennus did largely the same. There was a lot for them to bond over, and poor Saoirse has been becoming more of a softie as time goes on. On paper, Traci and Brennus should be friends... in actuality, she'll probably find an angle to play on him.

And what angle? Well, let's talk Freddy Freeman for a moment, the most serious of all the young heroes in ZZ. He has experience. He has clout. He has a history as Captain Marvel Jr. And now he's gunning for the top role himself. So you have Brennus crushing on him, Pepper who asked him to kiss at some point, Minerva who got influenced by a pink rainbowfish into swooning for him, and now Traci who decided that, while initially she thought he was too uptight, found him to be a safe person to confide in and decided she wanted him to be her first... drama. So much. And with Brennus being Freddy's best friend here, there lies an avenue of even more drama. So much drama.

And most recently, Saoirse has finally managed to get Constantine agree to train Traci. Traci needed someone to help her along, and Saoirse isn't quite experienced enough for it. And Constantine refused to train Saoirse again (he has gotten too close to her and fears he could not handle it). So Saoirse managed to put this together. Now, Traci did have a moment earlier where she said "Oh, I want to be like you Saoirse, I bet I could sleep with Constantine to get him on our side to give us all the help we need" and Saoirse had to be like hey hold up that's really unnecessary. As it is, this is still a relatively new tutelage, and will see more results upcoming.

Traci has seen a lot of airtime. And she's going to see a lot more. I mean, when she broke from canon by rejecting Jaime, that led her into a completely new avenue of development. As long as she sticks close to Saoirse, she'll get a lot of influence, and being linked to other important characters, like Freddy and Constantine, she can't help but be a central part of the campaign.

Oh! And she's a bit of a weeaboo. She is such a huge fan of the Super Young Team and Big Science Action. She was upset not to come to Tokyo with us. But she's fascinated all the same. There was a time where Saoirse got a spell that turned her eyes pink and Traci called them "kawaii-eyes" which led to a fun situation of Saoirse telling others that Traci said she had "kwai eyes" and not getting it. Also, I started running with a bit where Traci explained shipping to Saoirse and Saoirse gets it like an old person might.

I could go on all day, but I really shouldn't. I think what puts Traci into this top spot for me is that she is just so crucial to my own character. Saoirse came into this campaign suffering from guilt, thinking low of herself, and thinking she shouldn't have attachments. Traci has been blowing a lot of that out of the water. Traci got Saoirse to open up about her infertility - Traci has been able to give support to Saoirse to suggest that maybe things aren't always her fault. Traci has gotten Saoirse to accept attachments, that maybe she deserves them. Hell, Traci can drop an off-hand complement about Saoirse's appearance, which due to the trust between the two, has the power to completely take Saoirse into a new state of mind where she can maybe rise above some of her self-esteem issues.

Traci has been a foil and a tool of development, and as time goes on, there are too many characters pulling attention away from Traci and that's no good so I will endeavor to make sure she gets her screentime. After all, Traci still has a lot of (growing up to do) development yet to come, and each step is one fascinating step into the unknown for a dynamic character with tons of depth, and tons of complexity yet to mold and explore.

I'll leave off with this commission I got done of the pair of Saoirse and Traci - a sisterhood that transcends blood, forged by the kiln of a world in ruin, a symbiosis where either side might be taking advantage of the other, and where roads unpaved will lead to perhaps one of the closest friendships this campaign will have by the end... granted they don't end up in a position where a failure to influence leads to anger and conflict. But hey, as long as Leroy and Twiggy are best friends, they'd always come back together in the end, anyway.

To witch sisters~

1. Traci 13 (Traci Thirteen)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/1/3/AAOJ0pAADcrp.png
This is a campaign with a large spotlight on magic. The genesis of the Society's unity is based on magic. The Spectre was introduced in both week 1 sessions. Two of the PC's are magicians. The Oblivion Bar is a key part of the base. There are themes of next-generation heroes in this campaign - at least there have been for most of the runtime so far. There's a gathering of Eighth Age magicians, and they all are finding a place on this list - Alice, Freddy, Misty, even Jaime is sort of magic adjacent. So finding a young magician at the top of the list should be no surprise.

Traci's introduction was all second-hand. We first learned from Jaime that he was trying to ferry her across the border to Juarez. Second trip to El Paso resulted in meeting Leroy, her familiar, who was trying to link back up with her because La Dama's people raided the school Jaime was based out of and kidnapped her. La Dama wanted her for her magic, you see. There were like three or four other El Paso/Juarez/Warpath sessions in that time, all before Traci would get introduced proper.

See, we had an issue with El Paso/Juarez. It was La Dama vs La Llorona. Some of us sided with the shrewd businesswoman drug queenpin, and some sided with the ghost of vengeance in La Llorona. Both women had done the other harm. Perhaps La Dama was more of a practical choice, and La Llorona more of a moral one, but even still we could not agree. And during this all, Traci stayed captured and Leroy without his mage.

It was in a conversation Saoirse had with Leroy where he gave clear thoughts - Traci needed to be rescued. And Saoirse, who was on the first trip to El Paso and none of the others, had been hands off. But now it was about rescuing and protecting another young magician, a mission with Saoirse felt a personal compulsion to see through. I don't know if it helped, but having a vote for "La Dama or La Llorona, whichever gets Traci saved faster" at least gave me some direction in the process.

We ended up getting La Dama and La Llorona to reluctantly agree to work together, and lead all of their people south in a convoy to the tip of South America while the Society took El Paso which was already being destroyed by magic blue beetles. There was a lot of drama along the way. There is still drama. Anyway, at the conclusion of this handshake, before the convoy left, Traci was brought to the party, and with Leroy reuniting with her, she was taken back to Z'onn Z'orr.

Now, we would get a taste of vanilla Traci 13. Unsure of what to expect, a few of us would visit her over time, and receive impressions - for Saoirse at least, Traci was a girl alone, separated from her family, including a father whose role was to disprove magicians and the supernatural. Traci was someone who suffered attempts to find a place in the world, whose mother had died when she was younger and whose didn't quite get her as well. And through that all, Traci forced out a smile, and chose to be cheerful through the pain.

Through survival tactics or otherwise, Traci began attaching herself to people. Saoirse was one of those early choices. And while it could be said that Traci was taking advantage of this lonely woman she spoke to who seemed a little lost herself, and that she could attach herself to this mage who had status in Checkmate and at least some corner of the magic community... well, Saoirse was okay with that. Because Saoirse was all of those things. Especially a girl who lost her father in a divorce when she was ten, who never lived up to her mother's designs, and whose marriage collapsed into failure, whose punk band dissolved as quickly as it gained traction, and whose only friend was a green-skinned supermodel superhero who originally showed up to shut her down.

Saoirse never had a sibling, nor much of a family, and here was Traci offering to be witch sisters with her. And perhaps because Traci's family life had issues, it was a need for her as well. Saoirse began to be Traci's guide to the organization and community, and Traci began to be Saoirse's guide to, well, having family. A symbiotic relationship developed between the two, which had its fair share of rocky points so far.

Lush had a time where she was not trusting Saoirse and so brought along Traci to Shadowcrest, where Lush went a little crazy after discovering Misty. Saoirse was not happy with Lush bringing Traci into harm's way because she had not yet learned to trust Traci in the field. But perhaps that lack of trust was overshadowed by Lush being crazy, and Traci doesn't like Lush at all while she's one of Saoirse's besties, so there's some drama there.

Traci also has been trying to explore her own role as a magician and a young woman. She saw Saoirse as a role model. Saoirse is someone who uses her body to gain an edge as much as her magic and when Traci tossed out the casual "I want to do that too", at the expense of romance, it put Saoirse in a tough spot where she was influencing this girl to adopt some of the traits she had herself adopted as survival mechanisms in a world where she had failed often. But Traci was young and not in the same position, yet wanted to be more like Saoirse. Was Saoirse right as a role model? Or was it to be a "do as I say, not as I do"? And was Saoirse really in a position where she could tell Traci what to do as an older sister without having known her for more than a short while, without being flesh and blood? Should Saoirse trust Traci as a young woman to make her own decisions, even if Saoirse didn't want her to throw away life experiences she deserved to have? Complicated, complicated.

(accidentally hit back and lost some paragraphs here, have to retype, ugh)

The pair have become close. When Saoirse first came to Z'onn Z'orr, she felt it would have been easier with someone in her corner, and so she decided to be that person for Traci. And Traci might have been manipulative in this process, but in so doing, got a witch sister who was perhaps more accepting of her than even her own family. And really, Traci may be manipulative, but Saoirse can be as well. At least enough to recognize how one can use social machinations to get folk to behave in certain ways. If brought to light, shouldn't Saoirse just congratulate Traci on following her example so well? And even if Traci did play her a bit, it's worthwhile for what both girls get out of it, right?

It feels like they tried hard to incorporate both Pakistani culture and immigrant/1st gen American culture, when they really could have stuck with one. As somebody not well-versed in either, I felt like I was given a good viewpoint into Kamala and Nakia's lives, and not so much the Pakistani side other than a short history lesson. Like, go more into Kamala's school life! Don't reduce it to just a coach mispronouncing her name.

surprised they haven't made it a mobile game yet