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Daily Pick'Em Thread Wednesday, 06/07/2023 Game day
2023.06.07 00:24 Ikestrman Daily Pick'Em Thread Wednesday, 06/07/2023 Game day
Welcome back to another Pick'Em thread!
This post can be used to discuss your picks for 06/07/2023. If you have any feedback or suggestions on improving the thread further, drop a comment below or message the moderators.
Don't forget: picks must be submitted during the twelve-hour window before Noon EDT on game day, you can only make one selection per day, and missed days count as losses, so choose wisely and don't delay!
Games for Wednesday, 06/07/2023:
View Poll
submitted by Ikestrman to MLB_9Innings [link] [comments]
This post can be used to discuss your picks for 06/07/2023. If you have any feedback or suggestions on improving the thread further, drop a comment below or message the moderators.
Don't forget: picks must be submitted during the twelve-hour window before Noon EDT on game day, you can only make one selection per day, and missed days count as losses, so choose wisely and don't delay!
Games for Wednesday, 06/07/2023:
| Matchup and Team Records | Probable Pitchers (Season ERA) | Estimated Win Probability |
|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics (12-50) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (32-27) | Hogan Harris (6.97) / Roansy Contreras (4.82) | 36% / 64% |
| Seattle Mariners (29-30) @ San Diego Padres (28-32) | George Kirby (3.04) / Michael Wacha (3.48) | 43% / 57% |
| Detroit Tigers (26-32) @ Philadelphia Phillies (28-32) | Reese Olson (3.60) / Zack Wheeler (4.33) | 37% / 63% |
| Kansas City Royals (18-42) @ Miami Marlins (33-28) | Jordan Lyles (6.89) / Edward Cabrera (4.50) | 38% / 62% |
| Minnesota Twins (31-29) @ Tampa Bay Rays (43-19) | Pablo Lopez (4.54) / TBD (-) | 42% / 58% |
| Arizona Diamondbacks (35-25) @ Washington Nationals (25-34) | Zach Davies (5.40) / Patrick Corbin (4.92) | 55% / 45% |
| Chicago White Sox (26-35) @ New York Yankees (36-25) | Lance Lynn (6.55) / TBD (-) | 35% / 65% |
| Houston Astros (36-24) @ Toronto Blue Jays (33-28) | Ronel Blanco (4.15) / Chris Bassitt (3.41) | 49% / 51% |
| Boston Red Sox (30-30) @ Cleveland Guardians (27-32) | TBD (-) / Tanner Bibee (3.20) | 47% / 53% |
| Los Angeles Dodgers (35-25) @ Cincinnati Reds (27-33) | Noah Syndergaard (6.54) / Brandon Williamson (4.29) | 61% / 39% |
| New York Mets (30-30) @ Atlanta Braves (35-24) | Max Scherzer (3.21) / Charlie Morton (3.62) | 43% / 57% |
| Baltimore Orioles (37-22) @ Milwaukee Brewers (32-28) | TBD (-) / Corbin Burnes (3.75) | 45% / 55% |
| St. Louis Cardinals (25-36) @ Texas Rangers (39-20) | Jack Flaherty (4.55) / Jon Gray (2.51) | 43% / 57% |
| San Francisco Giants (29-30) @ Colorado Rockies (26-35) | Logan Webb (2.85) / Connor Seabold (5.40) | 55% / 45% |
| Chicago Cubs (26-33) @ Los Angeles Angels (31-30) | Jameson Taillon (7.05) / Jaime Barria (1.59) | 43% / 57% |
- All columns are Away / Home. Records are typically current as-of the time of posting, and do not always contain the matchup results from the day of posting.
- A bolded matchup means that there is a "Probability of Precipitation" greater than 50% in a non-domed stadium at the time of this post.
- An italicized matchup means that it is Game 2 of a doubleheader, which for Pick'Em purposes will not be applicable (only Game 1 is counted, but Game 2 is still included above so that you can be aware that pitching management may be different than a non-doubleheader game day).
- Probable pitchers and stats sourced from mlb.com (via the MLB-StatsAPI); weather data soured from the OpenWeather One Call API.
- Estimated chance of winning percentages sourced from FiveThirtyEight’s 2023 MLB Game Predictions, an ELO-based, easy to understand ratings system.
View Poll
2023.06.07 00:20 Altruistic_Abies1926 AITA for being upset with my mom and friend for hanging out
i really need some input on this. my whole family thinks i’m crazy for being upset and not talking to my mom. my friend 21 M moved in with me 18 F not to long ago. he has come from a really hard place and i have been helping him get back on his feet. my mom 40 F and i have never had a great relationship due to childhood trauma . after let’s call him tom moved in i noticed a drastic change in my mom’s behavior. she was all the sudden coming to my house and hanging out. eating dinner with us as well as joining us for bon fires for a little context, my mother and I live on the same property. I live with my grandmother, and she lives in the house next to us. During her whole time living here we had only had dinner at my house seven times total. Any other time I would make the food, and she would have me come up there and refused to house, which means I had to carry all of the food up to hers. I didn’t mention this is the beginning, but my other friend was living here with us as well. They were best friends. This will be an important detail later on. Anyways. It started out with them just being friendly, talking here and there. Then a few days later, I noticed a comment on toms post and it was my mom. The comment was along the lines of “keep up the good work❤️”. I really didn’t think anything of it but I did find it weird that my mom is friends with him on Facebook because it was known to her that my friends thought that she was attractive. I texted her explaining that it was kind of embarrassing that my mom was commenting on my friends house, and she told me that I was being unreasonable and out of control. I shook it off because she said, after some arguing that she would delete him off Facebook and I was relieved. A few days later,tom posted another picture. And of course, right under it was another comment along the lines of “i’m always here if you need me❤️”. I texted her asking her why she would lie to me and say she deleted him on Facebook if she wasn’t really going to do it and that I was really not uncomfortable with them being friends on Facebook. She told me I was being overdramatic, and that she was done talking to me. I let it go and will text her about it a few times telling her I really thought it was inappropriate and then it made me uncomfortable. She would keep going saying that I was being overdramatic and that point I just stop talking to her about it. A few days past and I noticed my mom’s Facebook name on his phone and I asked him why they were texting. He shook it off as she’s just trying to be helpful but for after I came with her with these concerns, I didn’t understand why she would go as far as to text him. I confronted her telling her that I thought that she had a thing for him and then it was really weird how she was texting my 21 year old friend on a daily basis. She told me how unreasonable I was and how I was being controlling and that she was doing nothing but help him with his problems. I told her that I was his friend and that I could help him and that he did not need her help seeing how her boyfriend is an alcoholic an abusive drunk she should be more concerned about him, then one of my friends. We went on to argue, but soon it was dropped and I was done talking about it. She continued to like his posts and text him that I had given up all hope that she would respect my feelings. but after I blew up on her in front of tom and spilling my feelings about my trauma he told me he would stop hanging around her, and that he respected me enough to stop talking to her. A week went on, and he kept his word and stopped going up there and talking to her. after that week, me and tom got into a fight. Over a comment his friend made to me and they went up to my mom’s house. I told tom friend that they need to and that they were not welcome in my home anymore my mom slipped out, saying that she was going to get a restraining order on me and that if I was kicking them out I had to leave to remind her this is not her house nor her property I had already gotten permission for my grandma to get them out. At one point she even told me that I was not her daughter anymore and that she did not have a kid. I was mentally drained. She then dropped Tom and his friend off at a bar with you later tom was arrested. He called me from jail in which we had talked out some problems and he promised me he would not go around my mom again. He blocked her on Facebook and hadn’t spoke to her until we took a trip to the beach… they were flirting and talking all day to the point where I told Tom and her both I was very uncomfortable and I didn’t even wanna be there anymore. They laughed it off as a joke, and we rode home in silence. The next day we were all supposed to go to the beach again, but I was not up to listen to my friend and her flirt for the hour car ride. So I made up an excuse not to go. She told me that she would take him to a job interview and then bring him back and they wouldn’t go to the beach. I agreed that that was fine and I went back to sleep. Later on, I found out not only did they go to the beach they went swimsuit shopping so she could buy a new one together. I honestly don’t know how to feel. They went behind my back and went to the beach, knowing that I wasn’t comfortable with them being alone because of their past flirting, Tom had promised me that he wouldn’t do it anymore and that he would be done hanging around my mom. but now i don’t even know if i wanna be his friend I need all the advice I can get. Thank you for reading.❤️
submitted by Altruistic_Abies1926 to AITAH [link] [comments]
2023.06.07 00:17 TheTimePolice710 I (33m) recently broke it off with my (42f) girlfriend of 3 years, and need some perspective
Hi, I (33m) recently (~2mo) broke it off with my (42f) girlfriend of 3 years. It's been really tough to move on. I thought we would get married, have a kid (she has full custody of 2) and be happy together for the rest of our lives.
I've been doing ok mentally for the most part, but I've had maybe 7 anxiety attacks since (not just fleeting moments, but debilitating episodes). Previous to this I've had maybe 3-4 in my life.
I think the problem lies here: We had been having some issues, life is hard, circumstances put more pressure on both of us. Working, had just moved into her 'fixer-upper', fixing up the falling-apart house, new schools for the kids, new boy scouts, new band, kids reconnecting w friends, etc. We still made time for dates and each other, but we didn't have the time or energy for each other that we used to have prior to the move. She had to travel more for work, I had endless work at the house, and it was never enough for her or the kids. Id finish a big project, not get told thank you or good job, but rather 'ok so when can we get x fixed now'.
For context, they had lived in this house before. She bought the house from her grandparents before they passed. I met her when she was still living there, had dinner there, stayed there, etc for months before she moved. She found a good job, and moved for it. For that time we did long-distance and visited as much as we could. I helped her move, visited more and more until I moved in with her officially summer of last year. It had been going good. We decide to move back to our homestate to be able to see our family and friends more often, and have a little help with the kids sometimes from family. We decide to move into the house she owns and fix it up over a year or 2, then stay if we're happy with it or sell and upgrade.
I understand that her and the kids had gotten used to a more 'posh' lifestyle, but when it wasn't finished in 2 months, they just started regressing. I knew and was prepared for what it would be like until the work was finished. They knew it would be a long haul to be finished. I put up with it. It eventually it got to be too much for her, and she blew up on me, and somewhat internally.
We tried for a couple weeks to get through this but she wanted me to go stay with my parents for a 2-week break. I could tell she was breaking down so I gave her her space. We had a family vacation planned during this time, which i didn't raise a fuss about because she wanted a break. I just love her and wanted her to be ok. After the 2 weeks she contacts me, and for about 4 more weeks we meet up and try to talk through everything. There was SO MUCH that she had been holding back. I would always make it a point to check in with her on this level but it turns out she had been lying about her feelings for some time. She had just been 'trying to make it work' (life, work, kids, living situation) because she 'wanted me' but she would hide her real feelings about things and say otherwise, until she blew up.
I still hold on at this point because Im in love with her and she continues to reassure me that she loves me. We're working through it, its getting better. I think I'm about to get to move back in. She has a bad day about it, can't respond to me (in-person) and says goodbye. I ask for a hug, she denies. She then asks me to have dinner with her and the kids to which I reply "you won't even give me a hug? Do you really mean that?" She replies that she's sorry.
That night she puts an offer on a house a state over. She didn't tell me about this at all. We had been in contact most every day at this point. This was a Tuesday. Ffw to Thursday night. I call to check in on her, because I'm worried about her. We talk. Things go ok. She invites me to go to a concert that we had bought tickets to like 6months prior. I decide this might be a good way to patch things up. Its a 9hour drive to the concert. We leave Friday morning. About 1.5hrs into the drive she tells me that she closed on a house that morning. I'm stunned. I'm so emotionally drained at this point that I don't want to fight about it. I just say "ok". She asks if I want to drive 30min out of the way to go see it. I say no, it doesn't matter, she already closed, its a long drive already. She shows me pictures. I'm just trying to take the information in and not react immediately, but I'm in absolute shock that she just bought a fucking house without even mentioning it to me. Its not like we're rich and can just buy houses lol this is a big fucking deal. I just marinate on it through the weekend, try to feel things out with her and myself. We do reconnect on the trip, but I just couldn't shake this feeling of 'wtf she just bought a house'.
On the drive back I tell her as much. She tries to convince me its a good thing. I'm just like, you didn't even mention it to me. This is a big deal. How can you tell me this is for my own good? How can you not have a conversation about one of the biggest decisions you can make? She didn't really even want to talk about it, which is crazy to me. She says that she had to do it to live. I tell her I need some time to think about all this.
I take a couple more days at my folks, and it just makes me more and more irritated that she fucking bought a house a state over. Like, after all this work we'd been doing together. So, I decided that I just can't be with somebody who would make that kind of a decision without talking to me about it. Thats not what a partner does.
So, here we are. I feel like I made the right decision, but it still fucking sucks. I lost the person I'd been in love with for 3 years. She's since said she's sorry, and has tried to reconnect, but I just can't. It hurts so much that she'd kept herself from me, and then for her to make such a big decision, without even talking to me about it, after we had been working on us just broke me. I'm still a bit in shock about it I guess.
Well if you made it this far, do you think i made the right decision? Would you have stayed? I need some validation or a fresh outside perspective.
And then, what are some things I can do to work on myself? I feel like I've been neglecting myself somewhat to take care of her and the kids. I dropped my work to take care of the kids, her, and the house full-time. I've been applying for jobs now, gotten a few interviews, but nothing good yet. I start a call-center job Monday at 17/hr but am not really happy with it. I'm over-qualified but the job market here is tough and I need to make some money. Living with my parents sucks at 33 after not having lived with them since my early 20s.
I need some new hobbies. I feel like a loser just playing videogames, surfing reddit, and watching podcasts in my free time. I enjoy playing music/singing/writing and have been doing more of that, but it seems I have spurts of creativity and easily fall into self-deprecation afterwards. I just feel like such a loser right now, its hard to stay positive when I feel like I've lost the most important part of my life which was (I thought) my family.
Thanks for reading. Any and all help is appreciated. I can surely use it
submitted by TheTimePolice710 to relationship_advice [link] [comments]
I've been doing ok mentally for the most part, but I've had maybe 7 anxiety attacks since (not just fleeting moments, but debilitating episodes). Previous to this I've had maybe 3-4 in my life.
I think the problem lies here: We had been having some issues, life is hard, circumstances put more pressure on both of us. Working, had just moved into her 'fixer-upper', fixing up the falling-apart house, new schools for the kids, new boy scouts, new band, kids reconnecting w friends, etc. We still made time for dates and each other, but we didn't have the time or energy for each other that we used to have prior to the move. She had to travel more for work, I had endless work at the house, and it was never enough for her or the kids. Id finish a big project, not get told thank you or good job, but rather 'ok so when can we get x fixed now'.
For context, they had lived in this house before. She bought the house from her grandparents before they passed. I met her when she was still living there, had dinner there, stayed there, etc for months before she moved. She found a good job, and moved for it. For that time we did long-distance and visited as much as we could. I helped her move, visited more and more until I moved in with her officially summer of last year. It had been going good. We decide to move back to our homestate to be able to see our family and friends more often, and have a little help with the kids sometimes from family. We decide to move into the house she owns and fix it up over a year or 2, then stay if we're happy with it or sell and upgrade.
I understand that her and the kids had gotten used to a more 'posh' lifestyle, but when it wasn't finished in 2 months, they just started regressing. I knew and was prepared for what it would be like until the work was finished. They knew it would be a long haul to be finished. I put up with it. It eventually it got to be too much for her, and she blew up on me, and somewhat internally.
We tried for a couple weeks to get through this but she wanted me to go stay with my parents for a 2-week break. I could tell she was breaking down so I gave her her space. We had a family vacation planned during this time, which i didn't raise a fuss about because she wanted a break. I just love her and wanted her to be ok. After the 2 weeks she contacts me, and for about 4 more weeks we meet up and try to talk through everything. There was SO MUCH that she had been holding back. I would always make it a point to check in with her on this level but it turns out she had been lying about her feelings for some time. She had just been 'trying to make it work' (life, work, kids, living situation) because she 'wanted me' but she would hide her real feelings about things and say otherwise, until she blew up.
I still hold on at this point because Im in love with her and she continues to reassure me that she loves me. We're working through it, its getting better. I think I'm about to get to move back in. She has a bad day about it, can't respond to me (in-person) and says goodbye. I ask for a hug, she denies. She then asks me to have dinner with her and the kids to which I reply "you won't even give me a hug? Do you really mean that?" She replies that she's sorry.
That night she puts an offer on a house a state over. She didn't tell me about this at all. We had been in contact most every day at this point. This was a Tuesday. Ffw to Thursday night. I call to check in on her, because I'm worried about her. We talk. Things go ok. She invites me to go to a concert that we had bought tickets to like 6months prior. I decide this might be a good way to patch things up. Its a 9hour drive to the concert. We leave Friday morning. About 1.5hrs into the drive she tells me that she closed on a house that morning. I'm stunned. I'm so emotionally drained at this point that I don't want to fight about it. I just say "ok". She asks if I want to drive 30min out of the way to go see it. I say no, it doesn't matter, she already closed, its a long drive already. She shows me pictures. I'm just trying to take the information in and not react immediately, but I'm in absolute shock that she just bought a fucking house without even mentioning it to me. Its not like we're rich and can just buy houses lol this is a big fucking deal. I just marinate on it through the weekend, try to feel things out with her and myself. We do reconnect on the trip, but I just couldn't shake this feeling of 'wtf she just bought a house'.
On the drive back I tell her as much. She tries to convince me its a good thing. I'm just like, you didn't even mention it to me. This is a big deal. How can you tell me this is for my own good? How can you not have a conversation about one of the biggest decisions you can make? She didn't really even want to talk about it, which is crazy to me. She says that she had to do it to live. I tell her I need some time to think about all this.
I take a couple more days at my folks, and it just makes me more and more irritated that she fucking bought a house a state over. Like, after all this work we'd been doing together. So, I decided that I just can't be with somebody who would make that kind of a decision without talking to me about it. Thats not what a partner does.
So, here we are. I feel like I made the right decision, but it still fucking sucks. I lost the person I'd been in love with for 3 years. She's since said she's sorry, and has tried to reconnect, but I just can't. It hurts so much that she'd kept herself from me, and then for her to make such a big decision, without even talking to me about it, after we had been working on us just broke me. I'm still a bit in shock about it I guess.
Well if you made it this far, do you think i made the right decision? Would you have stayed? I need some validation or a fresh outside perspective.
And then, what are some things I can do to work on myself? I feel like I've been neglecting myself somewhat to take care of her and the kids. I dropped my work to take care of the kids, her, and the house full-time. I've been applying for jobs now, gotten a few interviews, but nothing good yet. I start a call-center job Monday at 17/hr but am not really happy with it. I'm over-qualified but the job market here is tough and I need to make some money. Living with my parents sucks at 33 after not having lived with them since my early 20s.
I need some new hobbies. I feel like a loser just playing videogames, surfing reddit, and watching podcasts in my free time. I enjoy playing music/singing/writing and have been doing more of that, but it seems I have spurts of creativity and easily fall into self-deprecation afterwards. I just feel like such a loser right now, its hard to stay positive when I feel like I've lost the most important part of my life which was (I thought) my family.
Thanks for reading. Any and all help is appreciated. I can surely use it
2023.06.07 00:17 malikona One Month In - A New Pilot's Retrospective
I'm not really looking for opinions on my progress (although I'm expecting to hear them lol!), but mainly for others who are just starting out or thinking about starting out on an EUC, I wanted to share a personal milestone and some things I've learned along the way.
After about a month of riding almost daily (a few off days here and there mainly due to schedule and weather), I finally got out on a regional bike path today and used up the whole battery on my V8 and hit the tiltback speed, around 21 mph I think, for the first time.
Could I have hit that speed sooner? Absolutely, but I have been what I think most people would consider "super cautious". I have two young kids, and I'm just not at a point in life to be a big risk taker right now (besides riding an EUC in the first place!).
My main takeaways after one month of riding are:
And then you'll be able to literally glide through time and space on the most whimsical and remarkable vehicle that mankind has ever come up with. You'll make a spectacle of yourself wherever you go, so lean into it - literally. Imagine yourself leaving a trail of rainbow dust behind you that lifts the spirits of everyone you see.
In many ways, learning to ride an EUC is a metaphor for life. You start off completely overwhelmed and thinking that you don't have control over anything. Eventually, gradually, and with a fair share of mistakes and sudden breakthroughs, you learn that you're actually a superhero and you can do anything. But you also never stop learning and improving and finding more ways to have fun.
Welcome to the ride of your life!
submitted by malikona to ElectricUnicycle [link] [comments]
After about a month of riding almost daily (a few off days here and there mainly due to schedule and weather), I finally got out on a regional bike path today and used up the whole battery on my V8 and hit the tiltback speed, around 21 mph I think, for the first time.
Could I have hit that speed sooner? Absolutely, but I have been what I think most people would consider "super cautious". I have two young kids, and I'm just not at a point in life to be a big risk taker right now (besides riding an EUC in the first place!).
My main takeaways after one month of riding are:
- You will get it faster than you think. You'll start off thinking there's just no way the EUC is going to do what you see other people doing on it. It'll just feel so foreign and weird when you start, your expectations from watching YouTube videos will not line up with what you're experiencing in real life. There will be cognitive dissonance. You'll know, logically, that it's possible, and may even have faith that you'll get there, but part of your body and mind will just think, it can't be done. It can, and it will, all it takes is practice. If I can learn it - trust me - anyone can. My only prior experience with this kind of activity is as a bicyclist and motorcyclist, and while helpful, there isn't a whole lot that translates other than the overall sense of horizontal balance and being comfortable having your body exposed at high speeds. I think if you were a skateboarder or a snowboarder, you might pick it up a little easier, but it's going to be a weird feeling no matter who you are when you first step on an EUC. Just hang in there.
- If you can, learn from someone else who already knows how to ride. If you can't (like me), watch every YouTube video. There are two main schools of thought about learning:
- One approach is to start with assisted mounting (a wall or railing) until you know how to ride at speed (i.e. 5+ mph), even if that is a week or more. This is what Monocat (Wrong Way's girlfriend) did, and she rode something like 100km before ever learning to free mount, which seemed crazy to me when I first heard it. This approach is much more feasible if you're learning with someone else who has their own EUC, because they can help you mount anywhere.
- The other - which is what I did - is to get off the wall/rail ASAP and learn to free mount in an open space (and, by necessity, to learn to maneuver at low speed) before you learn to go faster. This is the approach you will see in a lot of the "learn to ride an EUC" videos you're likely to find on YouTube.
- Both approaches are viable, but ultimately if I had it to do over again I would probably go with option 1 because of a few main reasons:
- It took me longer to gain the confidence to go faster, which slowed my overall learning curve.
- Learning to free mount before you feel comfortable on the wheel is extremely tiring, because you're stepping on and off so often, and maneuvering at low speed for a long time is also tiring. Learning these skills "up front" probably takes longer than waiting until you are forced to - i.e. when you encounter a group of pedestrians, or you have to mount somewhere without assistance. But, it's probably less stressful and embarrassing to learn these skills in your driveway than on a crowded sidewalk.
- If you lack patience, this approach is much more likely to cause you to give up altogether.
- From what I've heard, learning to free mount is easier after you've kind of worked your way "down" in speed rather than working "up" - as a result you spend less energy learning to ride overall.
- There were some pros to learning to free mount first however:
- Knowing how to free-mount dramatically expands the areas you can go on your own, because you don't need to walk your EUC to a railing or a wall every time you step off. (If you're learning with a friend, like Monocat was, this is much less of an issue.) I was able to keep my EUC in my trunk and just pull over and practice on any good looking parking lot or big grass field that I saw, which was nice.
- I gained the confidence to get on the wheel and maneuver at low speeds first, which helped me build the fine motor control needed to safely control the wheel at both low and high speeds, before ever going fast.
- Ultimately I think this approach may be a bit safer than the first approach for that very reason - going 10-20 mph on an EUC without knowing how to free mount or maneuver at <5mph, do tight turns, figure eights, etc., is inherently more dangerous and could result in a crash, at worst, or possibly ingrain poor riding habits (such as poor foot placement, riding without carving and shifting your weight, etc.), because you don't have full confidence in your ability to control the wheel.
- Get a good starter wheel. This could be different things to different people, but I personally found a $400 used V8, and like I said, I only just today (one month later) reached the limits of its potential. I expect it to be sufficient for me to help me build my skills and take me as far and as fast as I need to go for at least a few weeks more, and it'll be a great wheel to keep in my car or at work, and also to teach other people on. I do want to get a bigger, faster, longer-range wheel soon, but I am glad that I learned to ride on a smaller and lighter wheel. I have not yet ridden the 16X, but from everything I've seen, it appears to be the sweet spot in terms of a wheel that's small enough to learn to ride on and be nimble at low speed (and thus less tiring when you are developing the necessary muscle groups and muscle memory), but also has a lot more headroom in terms of speed and range. There are probably other wheels in this same category, like the V8F or the V10F (and some of the other King-Song 14-16 inch wheels), but I would recommend getting a used wheel first if you can because you're going to drop it and beat the shit out of it A LOT when you're starting out. A 16X with a case on it would probably stand up to the abuse of learning just fine, but you have to be willing to grind your new toy on the pavement. Starting with a big, heavy, top of the line wheel just seems like a bad idea to me, but I know that some people do it. I wouldn't learn to ride a motorcycle on an R1, and I wouldn't try to learn how to drive a stick shift in a Ferrari.
- The riding surface matters - a lot. Practice on grass or turf early on if you can. Not only will you be able to go faster with less risk if (and when) you fall off, but riding on a slightly irregular surface helps you build fine motor control much more quickly which translates into better riding skills both on and off-road. Also, riding around a big grass field with a few bumps is just a lot of fun, and it's a totally different experience than riding on pavement. As a new rider, this experience is great. It engages your upper body a lot more and is generally a nice departure from cruising on the road. It also helps you realize that the EUC is capable of handling a lot crazier terrain than you will initially expect, which helps you build confidence and trust in the wheel. Once you've graduated to being able to reliably keep your wheel where you want it to be on a trail/sidewalk/road - which for me was after about two weeks - find the best quality surface you can. You'll be shocked how much of a difference it makes. Poor road surfaces diminish your confidence and limit your growth potential when you're first learning. You might think your local street or bike path is good enough, but if it has a rough surface with lots of bumps, gravel, and potholes, the first time you get on a proper bike path or a freshly paved parking lot, you'll suddenly be able to go much faster with more confidence. Then you'll get back on those shittier surfaces and think, oh, this isn't so bad - mainly because you'll feel comfortable going faster. Don't avoid poor surfaces entirely, because you need to learn how to handle them eventually and you don't want to handicap yourself - just find a good place where you don't have to worry about that and put it in your rotation of places to practice early on.
- Learning is both physical and mental. There are, and are not, shortcuts. I've heard it said that the speed at which you learn EUC is directly proportional to your willingness to overcome fear. There is some truth to that. If I were completely fearless, I probably could've hopped on the wheel with some help from a wall and dashed 20 yards at full-lean until I wiped out into the grass. I'd have hurt myself and my pride a little bit, but I'd have found the limit and might have been able to shorten the overall learning curve by a couple of weeks. Some people learn this way, and more power to them. Becoming a truly competent rider, however, is something that simply requires experience, no matter who you are. This experience has both physical and mental components. Riding an EUC takes strength in muscles that you don't often use, especially your feet. Building this strength and the fine motor control to be a safe and competent rider at any speed takes time, and there is no shortcut to developing it. Mentally, learning how the wheel responds to input in all directions, learning which movements of your upper body will and will-not impact the movement of the wheel, learning how and when to bend your knees to absorb impact, learning how much distance you need to stop, learning which riding surfaces will make your wheel lose traction, learning how to take a sharp turn onto a curb ramp, learning how to ride on and off a curb confidently - and so much more - all of these things are skills that can only be developed with time and practice. There is NO SHORTCUT to becoming a truly competent EUC pilot. To truly master it, like any other skill, will probably take you 10,000 hours! If true mastery of EUC is even possible. I don't care if you're already an expert snowboarder or skateboarder, although I have no doubt that those skills would shorten your initial learning curve, as well as give you more "willingness to overcome fear" (or just less fear to begin with).
- Dress for the slide, not the ride. There are countless threads of new riders asking about gear on this subreddit. I'll share my loadout, and my opinions. Take them as you will.
- Triple Eight Hired Hands Gloves
- Wrist guards are considered essential equipment for riding EUC, since pretty much any fall is going to impact your wrists, even at low speeds. I tried these wrist guards first, but they did not fit me well (too small on the wrist, even at XL), and didn't like how they left my whole hand exposed. The Triple Eight Hired Hands Gloves are much more robust, with hard armor on the front and the back, and only slightly more difficult to take off (actually easier to put on).Some people recommend full finger gloves, like the Hillbilly Wrist Guard Gloves - Full Finger, and I'm sure these are great, although I like being able to easily use my phone and also prefer having the brace on both sides of my wrist.
- Triple Eight Bumsaver Men's Padded Shorts
- Most people probably don't wear padded shorts when riding, and I don't always either - it's actually the one piece of gear that for whatever reason (probably inconvenience) that I consider "optional". That said, the one place that I have fallen and significantly hurt myself thus far is on my tailbone, and I was wearing (a different set, Bohn body armor) padded underwear at the time. I was still in pain on my tailbone for probably two weeks. Also, most people say that when you fall at speed you almost always take some impact or at least road rash on your hip. Therefore hip padding and tailbone padding is highly recommended, especially if you're going to be traveling at speed, but I can attest to it being useful even when you're going very slow (you can always fall backwards).
- Triple Eight EP 55 Elbow Pads
- I usually don't wear these because my motorcycle jacket (see below) has integrated elbow pads. But when I'm not wearing my jacket, I wear these.
- Giro Switchblade MIPS Adult Mountain Cycling Helmet
- A full face helmet is essential equipment for EUC - that's my opinion, take it or leave it. This is what I wear for head protection most of the time, since my current wheel doesn't go any faster than 20 mph, and I ride primarily on bike trails and sidewalks and within my neighborhood. When I get a faster wheel and ride on bike lanes or larger roads, I will use my Scorpion helmet (see below).I love this helmet because it is super comfortable and lightweight, and it's also modular, so you can easily take off the chinbar to drink some water or blow your nose or whatever without having to take off the helmet. You can also use it as a bicycle helmet if you wanted to, with or without the chin bar. Airflow is great (I am yet to break a sweat in it, which is saying a lot for me), MIPS is a great feature, and the visor has an integrated camera mount. Plus the color options are good.
- SHIMA SX-2 EVO Motorcycle Shoes for Men
- I've tried a lot when it comes to shoes for the EUC. I have tried full on hard calf motorcycle boots, which I know some people use, but I don't recommend. They give you basically no feeling for the road or the pedals, and I'm convinced they led to my fall where I bruised my tailbone. I've also tried regular height sneakers, which feel good, but leave your ankles totally exposed, and I've already hit my ankle hard with the pedal when losing control of the wheel on grass. I happened to be wearing high-top sneakers at the time, which were an improvement, but still not enough to prevent ankle impact injury or to stand up to being dragged along pavement. I eventually found these casual style motorcycle shoes which look great and can be worn all day comfortably but also provide hard armoring at the ankle, toe, and heel. They are soft enough on the bottom to feel the pedals - although probably not enough for some people - and they should stand up to any threat of road rash. Any other similar style boots from Dainese or others should work equally well, but I have found these have a wide fit, which is good for my feet (unlike Dainese which is a more narrow fit). Alpinestars makes some good ones too I hear.
- O'Neal 0256-206 Unisex Pumpgun Knee Guard Carbon Look
- Knee pads are essential equipment for riding EUC. If you fall, you're going to land on your knees (and your wrists), watch any crash video. I wear these knee pads all the time, they are comfortable and flexible, but they will make your legs a little sweaty (although not obnoxiously so). I have started crossing the top two straps behind my knee at the recommendation of people who say these kind of guards will slide down in the event of a crash. I have ordered some Revit Airwave 3 Pants which can fit over your regular pants and include both knee and hip protection. If I like these, I expect to wear them in lieu of the knee guards and the Bumsaver shorts in most instances.
- Scorpion EXO-AT950 Ellwood Helmet
- Some people will say an ADV or street motorcycle helmet is overkill for an EUC. I have been a motorcyclist for many years, and I've tried and own all kinds of top of the line motorcycle helmets (Arai, Shoei, HJC etc.). All of the ones I have that are focused on sport riding I find to be too hot and too narrow field-of-view for riding EUC.I saw She Rides and EUC on YouTube recommend this Scorpion helmet, or one very similar to it. It's an ADV helmet, so it has a removable visor and a front vent in the DH MTB style, except it can be closed. It's also modular, so you can flip up the chin guard super easily. It has other great features like a flip down sun visor, and obviously a full face shield. It is extremely comfortable and has a much wider field of view than my sportbike helmets. When I ride faster and/or ride next to traffic, this will be the helmet I wear, and it is an appropriate level of protection and comfort for my purposes.
- Dainese VR46 Air-Tex Jacket
- This jacket is discontinued, but I linked a similar style of jacket from Dainese. Any textile mesh summer motorcycle jacket will do the job. Mine has CE 1 elbow and shoulder protection, and I added a CE 2 back protector (this was my summer motorcycle jacket). I might upgrade to CE 1 elbows and shoulders at some point. I have yet to find it to be too hot in any situation when I'm able to maintain a constant speed above 5 mph. In the absolute heat of summer, I might need to just use my Triple Eight elbow guards and my Boblebee backpack in lieu of the jacket, but I haven't had to do that yet. I also have a Fox Baseframe Pro D30 Chest Guard Jacket which is meant for dirt track riding and intended to be worn under a jersey, but I doubt I will use this often unless I know for sure that I won't be riding on the street at all, because it offers basically no abrasion resistance. Anyone who has crashed and slid on the road (or on gravel) knows that abrasion resistance is as or more important than impact resistance, especially on the kinds of crashes I have seen involving EUC. Only purpose-built gear like a motorcycle or Lazy Rolling Kevlar-reinforced outer layer will provide this.
- Boblbee GTX 25L Hardshell Backpack (Hi-Viz Yellow)
- First, all my gear is black/hi-viz yellow, so I had no choice but to get this. Some will say back protection is not essential gear for EUC, and as long as they never crash and impact their spine, they're right. As long as I prefer not being paraplegic to some slight inconvenience, I will wear a back protector when riding at speed. If I'm not wearing my jacket with a back protector, and/or when I want to carry gear (even if it's just water and a camera, or whatever), I'll wear the Boblbee. Yes, it makes you stick out like a sore thumb when you're riding, but A) that's the point, and B) you already stick out like a sore thumb when you're riding an EUC. Might as well take it to the next level. And it is the best back protector in the world, so it's kind of a no-brainer for me when it comes to EUC equipment.
- Triple Eight Hired Hands Gloves
- Trust the wheel (to an extent). This is probably the biggest takeaway overall. Most of your hesitation when learning will come from just not believing, or understanding, that the wheel is capable of seemingly magical things. As long as it's working as intended, and you are standing on it properly, grabbing it firmly but not aggressively with your legs, and not flailing yourself around, it will just roll on straight across things that will initially surprise you, at speeds that you will initially think are totally insane for something so small and squirrely. You'll be able to turn in an incredibly tight circle at such a low speed that you'll think to yourself, "How the HELL am I not falling over right now?" You'll be able to glide over scary gaps in the pavement and absorb them with your knees to the point that you barely notice them, even at 20 mph. You'll be able to make long gliding turns and wave your arms around like you're a bird flying through the air and little kids will laugh at you. All of these things will seem incomprehensible when you first step up on the wheel, and maybe even for a few weeks after. Some of these magical feats are thanks to the EUC technology - being able to lean or sit down at comical angles while keeping your feet balanced, for instance, thanks to the gyroscope - but mostly it's just due to the basic physics of a wheel in motion. Simply put, it's more stable than you think it is, and you have to learn to trust both the wheel itself as well as the technology that supports it. That said, and paradoxically, EUCs and unicycles generally are also inherently unstable. The main thing that will throw the EUC out of balance is not itself, nor something in the road, but YOU. Your unintended or unplanned movements of your body are the most likely culprit of something that throws you off the wheel, in whatever axis it may be. You have to learn to relax your body overall and move only in ways that don't upset the balance of the wheel, and this is something that takes time and practice.The technology of EUCs is also, ironically, both stable and fragile at the same time. As PEVs go, they are very simple, with relatively few failure points and a low-maintenance design that means they can function for a long time in adverse conditions with relatively little trouble. However, unlike 2+ wheeled vehicles, you are COMPLETELY at the mercy of the hardware and software to keep you from crashing. This is just a fact. On a bike, scooter, or car of any kind, if everything failed at once, you'd have the opportunity to just roll to a stop. On an EUC, if ONE THING FAILS, you are immediately and without any warning put directly onto your face. You don't have any mechanical means of stopping. This is something that's very important to understand, especially if you are used to riding basically any other vehicle. You're completely dependent on the motor and battery to decelerate, along with your own physical and mental skill at applying rearward pressure on the pedals, which is harder to learn than leaning forward. Even when applying full braking pressure, your stopping distance is MUCH GREATER than on any mechanically braked device. This is something that you need to be constantly aware of when you are choosing how fast to go and what situations to put yourself in. No matter how good of a rider you are, if someone cuts you off, you're much more likely to run into them on an EUC than on any other vehicle at the same speed. Your risk of this is exponentially greater when you are first learning, so just don't put yourself into those situations until you have absolute confidence in your ability to apply maximum braking power, and even then - be conservative about where and how you ride. This is a fundamental limitation of the device, and something that - like it or not - you have to accept and understand.
And then you'll be able to literally glide through time and space on the most whimsical and remarkable vehicle that mankind has ever come up with. You'll make a spectacle of yourself wherever you go, so lean into it - literally. Imagine yourself leaving a trail of rainbow dust behind you that lifts the spirits of everyone you see.
In many ways, learning to ride an EUC is a metaphor for life. You start off completely overwhelmed and thinking that you don't have control over anything. Eventually, gradually, and with a fair share of mistakes and sudden breakthroughs, you learn that you're actually a superhero and you can do anything. But you also never stop learning and improving and finding more ways to have fun.
Welcome to the ride of your life!
2023.06.07 00:00 greywolfpub The Lone Hero: Cyber Initiative (An Isekai Fantasy/Scifi LitRPG) - Chapter Three: The Fall Of Senterra
I couldn’t help but feel a tingle of relief and excitement when seeing this screen. Clothes, armor, a guide. I wasn’t going to be walking around clueless for long.
I stroked my chin at these selections. While armor looked tempting, I couldn’t afford it. Same with the 24 hour guide. A thorough immersive guide right now would leave me broke and naked.
Well, this choice was already set in stone for me, wasn’t it?
“One temporary guide, please,” I said a bit nervously. Though nothing happened. I pivoted my head to and fro, but nothing. Where the heck was my guide?
“Whoah! Full moon! Hello!” I heard a strong Italian Brooklyn accent over my head, realizing that I wasn’t alone. He was a metal orb with hummingbird wings, covered in etched lines and cybernetic crevices all over his metal plates.
I should have picked the clothes first!
I crouched over to cover my unmentionables and cried, “Simple gear, simple gear!” Immediately, I was given a wardrobe. Even had the entire Sailor Moon glowing light as I was dressed up head to toe: A dark cloak with a hood lined with fur, pants, gauntlets, a padded leather top, high leather boots, and a bag over my belt.
“Heh, kid, you don’t have to call out your selections. Not that I mind. That high pitched squeal was unpredictably hilarious.”
I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. “Heh, sorry about that. This is all very new to me.”
He zip-lined right in front of me, the sound of his wings buzzing making my eyes grow wider. He zoomed in on my face as if he was analyzing me features, then suddenly, a red dot appeared on him, and I fell on my ass.
The first thought that crossed my mind was a laser sight, and that was exactly what it looked like before a red scanning beam traced me left to right.
He chuckled. “Heh, you’re pretty skittish for a guy with those level 1 stats. Well, allow me to introduce myself, hero. My name is Devicho. That’s D-E-V-I-C-H-O. And I am your temporary guide, here to answer all of your questions!”
I got up off my ass and nodded. “My name is Silas.”
“Yeah, I got that from your stats.”
“Oh, right. Well, crap, where do I start?”
“I got ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes!?”
“Yeah, I know. But them’s the rules. It’s all the boss is allowing me.”
“The boss?”
“The dungeon core. Alzera-Kar. We call this hidden gem mother, as she is the creator of all things in the country of Thalian.”
“Wait, a dungeon core created all of this?”
“Oh boy, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Thalian is made up of five nations: Marviel, land of the fae, Dradersi, land of the dragons, Guedmar, land of the orcs, Dokumbe, land of the goblins, and finally, Senterra, the fallen land of the humans.”
“Fallen?”
His voice dipped. “Hey, listen kid, I’m not gonna sugar coat anything for you here. Senterra is gone. A barren wasteland from what I could tell. If there are any humans left, they are most likely in hiding, so the other races can’t find them. A little history lesson for ya since we are tight on time: long long ago, these five nations lived in harmony as one. That harmony was doomed to fall, as the dungeon core, our great mother, created more and more resources. Now you see, the dragons were selfish bastards. They thrived off of money, greed, and pride. They started the racial divide, and these five species segregated themselves. Walls separate some regions, while big bodies of water separated others. Now, with the way things were rolling, the dragons were on the top of the food chain, and the humans were on the very bottom of it. As expected, all the races started to take advantage of the weaker race, bullying them to no end. Wars broke and Senterra crumbled. I’m talkin’ mass genocide, kid. The savagery, the bloodshed. Oh, it was horrible. Alzera-Kar saw this and was very upset. To help these deprived and enslaved humans, she created cyber sense.”
“You mean that purple evil Kirby that I killed? That was one of them?”
“No, well, yeah, but that was a defective cyber sense. And I’ll explain how. Originally, cyber sense was a mechanism solely for humans. They are particles in the air, nano feeds that respond to humans around its perimeter. They are everywhere, essentially dominating all of Thalian. Now what they do is shape themselves into cyber gear to improve the biological functions of human beings. This gave humans the edge that they needed, but after the humans broke the shackles of the other Thalian nations, they became the bullies. More war, more bloodshed. At this point mother Alzera-Kar was stressed. Her creations were dying. Her creations were killing themselves off. She didn’t know how to contain this ceaseless war and divide. Under this intense strain and tension, her crystal structure shattered, breaking off in three pieces. Without this protection, her core is vulnerable, and open for influence. These three pieces were scattered all over Thalian, but as of late, three nations have those pieces, and kid, they are protecting them with their lives! Dradersi has one, Guedmar has the other, and Marviel has one, too. These three nations are in constant strife! When one nation has all three parts, they can locate Alzera-Kar, and make her do anything they want.”
I was speechless…
“In this vulnerability, the cyber sense that was enhancing humans through cyber gear started to create evil fleshy beings. I’m talkin’ monsters. Of all sizes! They are only detectable by humans, which is why most nations made sense out of keeping humans as detectors. Remember what I said about them practically squattin’ everywhere? Well, that didn’t change. These hideous freaks lurk around, and materialize at any given moment. They became sentient. The upside though is when you kill the stronger ones, you get a full blown cyber gear. Some lesser creatures drop some precious loot too, parts to build a full-fledged cyber gear. It is good to note that cyber gear only operates for humans.”
“I think I’m getting some of the pieces to this puzzle together, here. Was I sent here to restore Senterra?”
“You bet!”
“And find the three shards to help Alzera-Ker?”
“Boy, you caught on quick, didn’cha?”
“But I don’t understand. Why not snatch the shards herself? She is all powerful, right? She’s pretty much the god in this country.”
“Not when she’s unprotected. If mother could become defective when vulnerable, imagine how much harder it’d be for her to get those shards?”
“I guess you’re right…”
“Not only that, but those kingdoms who have her shards are keeping it on lock down. Warded I imagine. It won’t be easy.”
“Why me?” I asked honestly. “I understand her humans here are suffering, and she went out somewhere else to find a hero. I don’t know why she wouldn’t pick someone locally. So I have to ask, why a foreigner? And why me?”
“I guess she saw something special in you that she couldn’t find in her natives. But don’t feel too overwhelmed. You’re not the only hero she went out of her way to find.”
“You mean there are others?”
“Of course! This is an entire nation we are talking about, after all.”
“How can you be so sure? A girl and her titan hound hunted me down back in my home town.”
He paused and then asked me sternly. “What did this girl look like?”
“White hair, real model type bod. A few inches shorter than me. And her titan, a big brawny dude in armor, had a skull for a face.”
“That ain’t sound good.”
“You know her? Her name is Lucyna.”
He sighed. “She’s from, Dradersi, daughter of King Orelus. Usually, dragon-kins have horns on their heads, sometimes along their jaws too. And some scales on their skin. They can materialize wings for flight at will, and are physically strong by nature. Lucyna probably used a spell to disguise herself as a human to remove those features on Earth. What’s more bothersome than that though was she found a way to open a gate to your world, and managed to track you down…”
“Not only track me down, she killed me.”
“I don’t understand. How the heck are you here if she killed you?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I’d died and came back to life, isekai’d to this crazy fantasy RPG world.”
“You think this is wacky? You should hear what she thinks about people from Earth! Every race here was inspired by a planet from different galaxies. The plan was to make a cornucopia of races, but things started to get messy quick.”
“This mother seems to appreciate variety.”
“It has its goods and bads, as I’ve already mentioned. Which brings me back to Lucyna. This whole death business, it’s unsettling. And if she has access to Earth the same way mother does, you may very well be the only hero. Mother hadn’t started the recruiting process yet. She is still on the selection stage.”
“Then how did someone like Lucyna even know what she was planning?”
“Could be a precautionary step? Not sure. Lucyna is very smart. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a few steps ahead of her maker.”
“She’s on my hit list,” I said seriously. “Her and her dog.”
“Hey kid, slow down. You’re nowhere near her league! That dragon-kin is an elite, a royal one at that.”
“Then I’ll level up! Whatever it takes!”
“Kid…”
I wouldn’t expect anyone to understand. It’s not just a vendetta. All of my life I was invisible. I love my mom, but things changed when she started focusing on her career. She was hardly ever there. Dad was never around, either. He taught me to never take shit from anyone, use my fists when I have to, and never give up. That’s it. I was alone, in my own mind, in my own world. I became detached from everything, losing myself in my hobbies, finding fulfillment in playing games. That’s where I belonged. That’s where I felt like I was achieving something, where I was somebody. Still, it would have been nice to feel that out in the real world.
I wanted my life to mean something. Then she came around and snuffed my chances out. But then the dungeon core brought me back and gave me my chance.
"This is an opportunity to start over, to start fresh. I will do right by Alzera-Kar, but not because she gave me this gift. I want to help these tormented humans of Thalian because it’s the right thing to do. A voice for the voiceless, and power for the powerless. She brought me here to become a hero, and I’ll do just that. As for my own personal agenda, that’s secondary. I want that psycho to know what having everything taken away from you feels like! My life wasn’t the best life, but it was my life!”
“You sound motivated! Thadda’ boy!”
“I’m going to raise Senterra up from the grave, and I need you to tell me everything there is to know about getting stronger to do it.”
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I stroked my chin at these selections. While armor looked tempting, I couldn’t afford it. Same with the 24 hour guide. A thorough immersive guide right now would leave me broke and naked.
Well, this choice was already set in stone for me, wasn’t it?
“One temporary guide, please,” I said a bit nervously. Though nothing happened. I pivoted my head to and fro, but nothing. Where the heck was my guide?
“Whoah! Full moon! Hello!” I heard a strong Italian Brooklyn accent over my head, realizing that I wasn’t alone. He was a metal orb with hummingbird wings, covered in etched lines and cybernetic crevices all over his metal plates.
I should have picked the clothes first!
I crouched over to cover my unmentionables and cried, “Simple gear, simple gear!” Immediately, I was given a wardrobe. Even had the entire Sailor Moon glowing light as I was dressed up head to toe: A dark cloak with a hood lined with fur, pants, gauntlets, a padded leather top, high leather boots, and a bag over my belt.
“Heh, kid, you don’t have to call out your selections. Not that I mind. That high pitched squeal was unpredictably hilarious.”
I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. “Heh, sorry about that. This is all very new to me.”
He zip-lined right in front of me, the sound of his wings buzzing making my eyes grow wider. He zoomed in on my face as if he was analyzing me features, then suddenly, a red dot appeared on him, and I fell on my ass.
The first thought that crossed my mind was a laser sight, and that was exactly what it looked like before a red scanning beam traced me left to right.
He chuckled. “Heh, you’re pretty skittish for a guy with those level 1 stats. Well, allow me to introduce myself, hero. My name is Devicho. That’s D-E-V-I-C-H-O. And I am your temporary guide, here to answer all of your questions!”
I got up off my ass and nodded. “My name is Silas.”
“Yeah, I got that from your stats.”
“Oh, right. Well, crap, where do I start?”
“I got ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes!?”
“Yeah, I know. But them’s the rules. It’s all the boss is allowing me.”
“The boss?”
“The dungeon core. Alzera-Kar. We call this hidden gem mother, as she is the creator of all things in the country of Thalian.”
“Wait, a dungeon core created all of this?”
“Oh boy, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Thalian is made up of five nations: Marviel, land of the fae, Dradersi, land of the dragons, Guedmar, land of the orcs, Dokumbe, land of the goblins, and finally, Senterra, the fallen land of the humans.”
“Fallen?”
His voice dipped. “Hey, listen kid, I’m not gonna sugar coat anything for you here. Senterra is gone. A barren wasteland from what I could tell. If there are any humans left, they are most likely in hiding, so the other races can’t find them. A little history lesson for ya since we are tight on time: long long ago, these five nations lived in harmony as one. That harmony was doomed to fall, as the dungeon core, our great mother, created more and more resources. Now you see, the dragons were selfish bastards. They thrived off of money, greed, and pride. They started the racial divide, and these five species segregated themselves. Walls separate some regions, while big bodies of water separated others. Now, with the way things were rolling, the dragons were on the top of the food chain, and the humans were on the very bottom of it. As expected, all the races started to take advantage of the weaker race, bullying them to no end. Wars broke and Senterra crumbled. I’m talkin’ mass genocide, kid. The savagery, the bloodshed. Oh, it was horrible. Alzera-Kar saw this and was very upset. To help these deprived and enslaved humans, she created cyber sense.”
“You mean that purple evil Kirby that I killed? That was one of them?”
“No, well, yeah, but that was a defective cyber sense. And I’ll explain how. Originally, cyber sense was a mechanism solely for humans. They are particles in the air, nano feeds that respond to humans around its perimeter. They are everywhere, essentially dominating all of Thalian. Now what they do is shape themselves into cyber gear to improve the biological functions of human beings. This gave humans the edge that they needed, but after the humans broke the shackles of the other Thalian nations, they became the bullies. More war, more bloodshed. At this point mother Alzera-Kar was stressed. Her creations were dying. Her creations were killing themselves off. She didn’t know how to contain this ceaseless war and divide. Under this intense strain and tension, her crystal structure shattered, breaking off in three pieces. Without this protection, her core is vulnerable, and open for influence. These three pieces were scattered all over Thalian, but as of late, three nations have those pieces, and kid, they are protecting them with their lives! Dradersi has one, Guedmar has the other, and Marviel has one, too. These three nations are in constant strife! When one nation has all three parts, they can locate Alzera-Kar, and make her do anything they want.”
I was speechless…
“In this vulnerability, the cyber sense that was enhancing humans through cyber gear started to create evil fleshy beings. I’m talkin’ monsters. Of all sizes! They are only detectable by humans, which is why most nations made sense out of keeping humans as detectors. Remember what I said about them practically squattin’ everywhere? Well, that didn’t change. These hideous freaks lurk around, and materialize at any given moment. They became sentient. The upside though is when you kill the stronger ones, you get a full blown cyber gear. Some lesser creatures drop some precious loot too, parts to build a full-fledged cyber gear. It is good to note that cyber gear only operates for humans.”
“I think I’m getting some of the pieces to this puzzle together, here. Was I sent here to restore Senterra?”
“You bet!”
“And find the three shards to help Alzera-Ker?”
“Boy, you caught on quick, didn’cha?”
“But I don’t understand. Why not snatch the shards herself? She is all powerful, right? She’s pretty much the god in this country.”
“Not when she’s unprotected. If mother could become defective when vulnerable, imagine how much harder it’d be for her to get those shards?”
“I guess you’re right…”
“Not only that, but those kingdoms who have her shards are keeping it on lock down. Warded I imagine. It won’t be easy.”
“Why me?” I asked honestly. “I understand her humans here are suffering, and she went out somewhere else to find a hero. I don’t know why she wouldn’t pick someone locally. So I have to ask, why a foreigner? And why me?”
“I guess she saw something special in you that she couldn’t find in her natives. But don’t feel too overwhelmed. You’re not the only hero she went out of her way to find.”
“You mean there are others?”
“Of course! This is an entire nation we are talking about, after all.”
“How can you be so sure? A girl and her titan hound hunted me down back in my home town.”
He paused and then asked me sternly. “What did this girl look like?”
“White hair, real model type bod. A few inches shorter than me. And her titan, a big brawny dude in armor, had a skull for a face.”
“That ain’t sound good.”
“You know her? Her name is Lucyna.”
He sighed. “She’s from, Dradersi, daughter of King Orelus. Usually, dragon-kins have horns on their heads, sometimes along their jaws too. And some scales on their skin. They can materialize wings for flight at will, and are physically strong by nature. Lucyna probably used a spell to disguise herself as a human to remove those features on Earth. What’s more bothersome than that though was she found a way to open a gate to your world, and managed to track you down…”
“Not only track me down, she killed me.”
“I don’t understand. How the heck are you here if she killed you?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I’d died and came back to life, isekai’d to this crazy fantasy RPG world.”
“You think this is wacky? You should hear what she thinks about people from Earth! Every race here was inspired by a planet from different galaxies. The plan was to make a cornucopia of races, but things started to get messy quick.”
“This mother seems to appreciate variety.”
“It has its goods and bads, as I’ve already mentioned. Which brings me back to Lucyna. This whole death business, it’s unsettling. And if she has access to Earth the same way mother does, you may very well be the only hero. Mother hadn’t started the recruiting process yet. She is still on the selection stage.”
“Then how did someone like Lucyna even know what she was planning?”
“Could be a precautionary step? Not sure. Lucyna is very smart. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a few steps ahead of her maker.”
“She’s on my hit list,” I said seriously. “Her and her dog.”
“Hey kid, slow down. You’re nowhere near her league! That dragon-kin is an elite, a royal one at that.”
“Then I’ll level up! Whatever it takes!”
“Kid…”
I wouldn’t expect anyone to understand. It’s not just a vendetta. All of my life I was invisible. I love my mom, but things changed when she started focusing on her career. She was hardly ever there. Dad was never around, either. He taught me to never take shit from anyone, use my fists when I have to, and never give up. That’s it. I was alone, in my own mind, in my own world. I became detached from everything, losing myself in my hobbies, finding fulfillment in playing games. That’s where I belonged. That’s where I felt like I was achieving something, where I was somebody. Still, it would have been nice to feel that out in the real world.
I wanted my life to mean something. Then she came around and snuffed my chances out. But then the dungeon core brought me back and gave me my chance.
"This is an opportunity to start over, to start fresh. I will do right by Alzera-Kar, but not because she gave me this gift. I want to help these tormented humans of Thalian because it’s the right thing to do. A voice for the voiceless, and power for the powerless. She brought me here to become a hero, and I’ll do just that. As for my own personal agenda, that’s secondary. I want that psycho to know what having everything taken away from you feels like! My life wasn’t the best life, but it was my life!”
“You sound motivated! Thadda’ boy!”
“I’m going to raise Senterra up from the grave, and I need you to tell me everything there is to know about getting stronger to do it.”
Read up to 50k words on Royal Road for free! (Daily Chapter Drops): https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/68588/the-lone-hero-cyber-initiative-an-isekai-fantasy
2023.06.07 00:00 FappidyDat [H] TF2 Keys & PayPal [W] Humble Bundle Games (Also Games From Past Bundles)
Notes:
I pay with the following:
TF2 & PayPal
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submitted by FappidyDat to SteamGameSwap [link] [comments]
- I am EXTREMELY busy, but I check my messages and DMs at least ONCE per day. Please be patient and wait at least 24 hours for my response if I don't get back to you immediately.
- I buy only in Unrevealed Key Link Format or Plain Steam Keys. No gift links.
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- You must be willing to fill a spreadsheet with steam keys.
I pay with the following:
TF2 & PayPal
| I BUY HB Games | with TF2 | with PayPal | Currently Active Humble Bundle? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20XX | 0.4 TF2 | $0.88 PP | - |
| 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel | 2.6 TF2 | $5.13 PP | - |
| 60 Parsecs! | 1.5 TF2 | $2.91 PP | - |
| 7 Billion Humans | 1.4 TF2 | $2.86 PP | - |
| 7 Days to Die | 1.1 TF2 | $2.19 PP | - |
| A Game of Thrones: The Board Game - Digital Edition | 1.4 TF2 | $2.72 PP | - |
| A Hat in Time | 5.1 TF2 | $10.08 PP | - |
| A Juggler's Tale | 1.5 TF2 | $2.9 PP | - |
| A Plague Tale: Innocence | 1.7 TF2 | $3.44 PP | - |
| ABZU | 2.1 TF2 | $4.21 PP | - |
| AMID EVIL | 0.6 TF2 | $1.15 PP | - |
| AO Tennis 2 | 0.8 TF2 | $1.57 PP | - |
| APICO | 2.3 TF2 | $4.61 PP | - |
| Absolver | 2.0 TF2 | $3.89 PP | - |
| Aeterna Noctis | 1.5 TF2 | $2.91 PP | - |
| Age of Empires Definitive Edition | 1.2 TF2 | $2.34 PP | - |
| Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition | 1.5 TF2 | $2.98 PP | - |
| Age of Wonders III Collection | 0.9 TF2 | $1.81 PP | - |
| Age of Wonders: Planetfall - Deluxe Edition | 0.4 TF2 | $0.85 PP | - |
| Age of Wonders: Planetfall | 1.1 TF2 | $2.09 PP | - |
| Airport CEO | 3.3 TF2 | $6.58 PP | - |
| Alan Wake Collector's Edition | 0.7 TF2 | $1.37 PP | - |
| Alien: Isolation | 1.7 TF2 | $3.42 PP | - |
| Aliens: Colonial Marines Collection | 1.2 TF2 | $2.43 PP | - |
| Aliens: Fireteam Elite | 1.0 TF2 | $1.92 PP | - |
| Alina of the Arena | Luck of the Draw: Roguelike Deckbuilders Bundle | ||
| Amnesia: The Dark Descent | 1.8 TF2 | $3.53 PP | - |
| Among Us | 1.1 TF2 | $2.11 PP | - |
| Ancestors Legacy | 0.6 TF2 | $1.23 PP | - |
| Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey | 2.4 TF2 | $4.79 PP | - |
| Aragami | 0.4 TF2 | $0.89 PP | - |
| Arizona Sunshine | 2.1 TF2 | $4.19 PP | - |
| Arma 3 Apex Edition | 1.4 TF2 | $2.8 PP | - |
| Arma 3 Contact Edition | 2.5 TF2 | $4.86 PP | - |
| Arma 3 Jets | 1.1 TF2 | $2.1 PP | - |
| Arma 3 Marksmen | 0.9 TF2 | $1.73 PP | - |
| Arma 3 | 2.0 TF2 | $3.93 PP | - |
| Assetto Corsa Competizione | 3.1 TF2 | $6.21 PP | - |
| Assetto Corsa Ultimate Edition | 6.6 TF2 | $13.15 PP | - |
| Automobilista 2 | 9.4 TF2 | $18.68 PP | - |
| BATTLETECH - Mercenary Collection | 3.8 TF2 | $7.55 PP | - |
| BIOMUTANT | 1.6 TF2 | $3.16 PP | - |
| BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE | 0.9 TF2 | $1.73 PP | - |
| BROFORCE | 1.1 TF2 | $2.17 PP | - |
| Baba Is You | 1.6 TF2 | $3.07 PP | - |
| Back 4 Blood | 2.8 TF2 | $5.55 PP | - |
| Bad North: Jotunn Edition | 1.6 TF2 | $3.07 PP | - |
| Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition | 0.4 TF2 | $0.89 PP | - |
| Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition | 0.4 TF2 | $0.89 PP | - |
| Bang-On Balls: Chronicles | 3.1 TF2 | $6.12 PP | - |
| Banished | 2.2 TF2 | $4.29 PP | - |
| Barotrauma | 7.2 TF2 | $14.2 PP | - |
| Bastion | 0.5 TF2 | $0.95 PP | - |
| Batman - The Telltale Series | 1.4 TF2 | $2.81 PP | - |
| Batman: Arkham Knight | 0.5 TF2 | $1.05 PP | - |
| Batman: The Enemy Within - The Telltale Series | 1.4 TF2 | $2.73 PP | - |
| Batman™: Arkham Knight Premium Edition | 1.3 TF2 | $2.53 PP | - |
| Batman™: Arkham Origins | 0.9 TF2 | $1.75 PP | - |
| Batman™: Arkham VR | 0.7 TF2 | $1.47 PP | - |
| Battle Chasers: Nightwar | 0.6 TF2 | $1.2 PP | - |
| Battlefleet Gothic: Armada II | 1.8 TF2 | $3.5 PP | - |
| Battlefleet Gothic: Armada | 0.9 TF2 | $1.69 PP | - |
| Battlezone Gold Edition | 2.1 TF2 | $4.25 PP | - |
| Besiege | 1.5 TF2 | $2.89 PP | - |
| Beyond Blue | 1.8 TF2 | $3.56 PP | - |
| Beyond Two Souls | 1.9 TF2 | $3.68 PP | - |
| BioShock Collection | 1.1 TF2 | $2.23 PP | - |
| BioShock Infinite | 0.8 TF2 | $1.61 PP | - |
| BioShock Remastered | 0.9 TF2 | $1.76 PP | - |
| Bioshock Infinite: Season Pass | 0.7 TF2 | $1.33 PP | - |
| Blade of Darkness | 1.1 TF2 | $2.23 PP | - |
| Blair Witch | 1.1 TF2 | $2.27 PP | - |
| Blasphemous | Must-Play Metroidvanias Bundle | ||
| Blood Bowl 2 - Legendary Edition | 0.8 TF2 | $1.67 PP | - |
| Blood: Fresh Supply | 0.6 TF2 | $1.28 PP | - |
| Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | Must-Play Metroidvanias Bundle | ||
| Boomerang Fu | 0.6 TF2 | $1.19 PP | - |
| Borderlands 2 VR | 4.7 TF2 | $9.4 PP | - |
| Borderlands 2 | 0.8 TF2 | $1.53 PP | - |
| Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe Edition | May Multiplayer Bundle | ||
| Borderlands 3 | 1.4 TF2 | $2.81 PP | - |
| Borderlands 3: Director's Cut | 1.3 TF2 | $2.51 PP | - |
| Borderlands: The Handsome Collection | 3.1 TF2 | $6.23 PP | - |
| Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel | 0.6 TF2 | $1.13 PP | - |
| Brutal Legend | 1.0 TF2 | $2.04 PP | - |
| Bus Simulator 18 | 2.1 TF2 | $4.07 PP | - |
| CHUCHEL Cherry Edition | 0.5 TF2 | $0.91 PP | - |
| Call of Cthulhu | 1.1 TF2 | $2.22 PP | - |
| Call of Duty: WWII | 14.7 TF2 | $29.16 PP | - |
| Call of Juarez: Gunslinger | 0.4 TF2 | $0.79 PP | - |
| Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront | 9.6 TF2 | $18.99 PP | - |
| Car Mechanic Simulator 2018 | 0.9 TF2 | $1.75 PP | - |
| Carcassonne - Tiles & Tactics | 0.6 TF2 | $1.22 PP | - |
| Carto | 0.4 TF2 | $0.78 PP | - |
| Celeste | 1.8 TF2 | $3.56 PP | - |
| Chess Ultra | 0.6 TF2 | $1.2 PP | - |
| Children of Morta | 0.6 TF2 | $1.25 PP | - |
| Chivalry 2 | 3.5 TF2 | $6.87 PP | - |
| Chivalry: Medieval Warfare | 0.4 TF2 | $0.8 PP | - |
| Chrono Ark | Luck of the Draw: Roguelike Deckbuilders Bundle | ||
| Cities: Skylines Deluxe Edition | 4.7 TF2 | $9.3 PP | - |
| Clone Drone in the Danger Zone | 4.8 TF2 | $9.55 PP | - |
| Cloudpunk | 0.9 TF2 | $1.74 PP | - |
| Code Vein | 1.7 TF2 | $3.35 PP | - |
| Coffee Talk | 2.5 TF2 | $4.93 PP | - |
| Company of Heroes 2 - The Western Front Armies | 0.8 TF2 | $1.55 PP | - |
| Company of Heroes 2 | 0.4 TF2 | $0.85 PP | - |
| Company of Heroes | 1.8 TF2 | $3.51 PP | - |
| Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts | 0.7 TF2 | $1.46 PP | - |
| Conan Exiles | 2.0 TF2 | $3.88 PP | - |
| Construction Simulator 2015 | 1.2 TF2 | $2.44 PP | - |
| Contagion | 0.4 TF2 | $0.89 PP | - |
| Control Ultimate Edition | 1.9 TF2 | $3.85 PP | - |
| Creed: Rise to Glory™ | 2.2 TF2 | $4.38 PP | - |
| Crusader Kings II: Imperial Collection | 9.9 TF2 | $19.52 PP | - |
| Crusader Kings II: Royal Collection | 6.5 TF2 | $12.87 PP | - |
| Crusader Kings III | 6.6 TF2 | $13.08 PP | - |
| Crysis® 2 Maximum Edition | 0.8 TF2 | $1.56 PP | - |
| Cultist Simulator Anthology Edition | 1.4 TF2 | $2.75 PP | - |
| Cultist Simulator | 1.1 TF2 | $2.24 PP | - |
| DARK SOULS™ III Deluxe Edition | 19.8 TF2 | $39.19 PP | - |
| DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT | 3.0 TF2 | $5.89 PP | - |
| DEATHLOOP | 2.7 TF2 | $5.35 PP | - |
| DIRT 5 | 4.2 TF2 | $8.36 PP | - |
| DMC - Devil May Cry | 1.0 TF2 | $1.9 PP | - |
| DRAGON BALL FIGHTERZ - Ultimate Edition | 15.2 TF2 | $30.16 PP | - |
| DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 | 1.8 TF2 | $3.56 PP | - |
| DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE | 0.6 TF2 | $1.16 PP | - |
| DRAGONBALL XENOVERSE Bundle Edition | 0.9 TF2 | $1.76 PP | - |
| DRIFT21 | 0.6 TF2 | $1.11 PP | - |
| Dark Deity | 0.4 TF2 | $0.83 PP | - |
| Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin | 7.8 TF2 | $15.53 PP | - |
| Dark Souls III | 16.4 TF2 | $32.49 PP | - |
| Darkest Dungeon | 0.7 TF2 | $1.33 PP | - |
| Darksiders Genesis | 1.3 TF2 | $2.64 PP | - |
| Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition | 1.0 TF2 | $2.06 PP | - |
| Darksiders III | 0.8 TF2 | $1.53 PP | - |
| Darkwood | 0.6 TF2 | $1.09 PP | - |
| Day of the Tentacle Remastered | 0.4 TF2 | $0.88 PP | - |
| DayZ | 9.4 TF2 | $18.68 PP | - |
| Daymare: 1998 | 0.4 TF2 | $0.78 PP | - |
| Dead Estate | 1.4 TF2 | $2.85 PP | - |
| Dead Island - Definitive Edition | 0.8 TF2 | $1.61 PP | - |
| Dead Island Definitive Collection | 1.5 TF2 | $2.97 PP | - |
| Dead Island Riptide - Definitive Edition | 0.6 TF2 | $1.25 PP | - |
| Dead Rising 2: Off the Record | 1.2 TF2 | $2.44 PP | - |
| Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition | 1.7 TF2 | $3.43 PP | - |
| Dead Rising 4 Frank’s Big Package | 2.5 TF2 | $4.96 PP | - |
| Dead Rising 4 | 1.0 TF2 | $2.04 PP | - |
| Dead Rising | 1.0 TF2 | $1.92 PP | - |
| Dead Rising® 2 | 1.1 TF2 | $2.23 PP | - |
| Death's Gambit | 0.6 TF2 | $1.15 PP | - |
| Deep Rock Galactic | 3.3 TF2 | $6.59 PP | - |
| Descenders | 0.8 TF2 | $1.49 PP | - |
| Desperados III | 0.9 TF2 | $1.79 PP | - |
| Destiny 2: Beyond Light | May Multiplayer Bundle | ||
| Destroy All Humans | 1.1 TF2 | $2.08 PP | - |
| Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut | 0.9 TF2 | $1.69 PP | - |
| Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | 1.1 TF2 | $2.23 PP | - |
| Devil May Cry HD Collection | 1.7 TF2 | $3.46 PP | - |
| Devil May Cry® 4 Special Edition | 1.4 TF2 | $2.83 PP | - |
| DiRT Rally 2.0 | 5.1 TF2 | $10.0 PP | - |
| Dicey Dungeons | Luck of the Draw: Roguelike Deckbuilders Bundle | ||
| Dinosaur Fossil Hunter | 0.5 TF2 | $0.9 PP | - |
| Distance | 1.1 TF2 | $2.08 PP | - |
| Distant Worlds: Universe | 0.6 TF2 | $1.27 PP | - |
| Do Not Feed the Monkeys | 0.4 TF2 | $0.75 PP | - |
| Doom Eternal | 2.6 TF2 | $5.18 PP | - |
| Door Kickers | 1.7 TF2 | $3.33 PP | - |
| Door Kickers: Action Squad | 0.4 TF2 | $0.74 PP | - |
| Dorfromantik | 2.0 TF2 | $4.01 PP | - |
| Dragon Ball FighterZ | 2.0 TF2 | $4.04 PP | - |
| Dragons Dogma - Dark Arisen | 1.1 TF2 | $2.1 PP | - |
| Drake Hollow | 0.4 TF2 | $0.81 PP | - |
| Drone Swarm | 0.4 TF2 | $0.8 PP | - |
| Dungeon Defenders | 1.1 TF2 | $2.25 PP | - |
| Dungeon Defenders: Awakened | 2.6 TF2 | $5.21 PP | - |
| Dungreed | 0.9 TF2 | $1.78 PP | - |
| Dusk | 2.0 TF2 | $4.0 PP | - |
| EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair | 3.1 TF2 | $6.22 PP | - |
| ELEX | 1.1 TF2 | $2.15 PP | - |
| EVERSPACE™ | 1.8 TF2 | $3.57 PP | - |
| Elite: Dangerous | 1.4 TF2 | $2.75 PP | - |
| Empire of Sin | 1.3 TF2 | $2.6 PP | - |
| Endzone - A World Apart | 0.4 TF2 | $0.71 PP | - |
| Euro Truck Simulator 2 | 1.6 TF2 | $3.19 PP | - |
| Exanima | 2.6 TF2 | $5.18 PP | - |
| FTL: Faster Than Light | 1.0 TF2 | $1.9 PP | - |
| Fable Anniversary | 4.8 TF2 | $9.53 PP | - |
| Fallout 76 | 2.2 TF2 | $4.39 PP | - |
| Fantasy General II | 0.6 TF2 | $1.23 PP | - |
| Farming Simulator 17 | 0.6 TF2 | $1.11 PP | - |
| Fights in Tight Spaces | Luck of the Draw: Roguelike Deckbuilders Bundle | ||
| Firefighting Simulator - The Squad | 4.8 TF2 | $9.43 PP | - |
| First Class Trouble | 0.6 TF2 | $1.1 PP | - |
| For The King | 0.9 TF2 | $1.84 PP | - |
| Forager | 1.1 TF2 | $2.16 PP | - |
| Forts | 3.0 TF2 | $5.87 PP | - |
| Friday the 13th: The Game | 2.9 TF2 | $5.81 PP | - |
| Frostpunk | 1.0 TF2 | $2.04 PP | - |
| Full Metal Furies | 0.6 TF2 | $1.12 PP | - |
| Furi | 1.3 TF2 | $2.56 PP | - |
| GRID | 0.8 TF2 | $1.6 PP | - |
| GRIS | 0.5 TF2 | $1.08 PP | - |
| GUILTY GEAR XX ACCENT CORE PLUS R | 0.4 TF2 | $0.89 PP | - |
| Gang Beasts | 3.0 TF2 | $5.94 PP | - |
| Garden Paws | 1.0 TF2 | $2.0 PP | - |
| Gas Station Simulator | 3.1 TF2 | $6.16 PP | - |
| Gears 5 | 10.9 TF2 | $21.52 PP | - |
| Gears Tactics | 4.8 TF2 | $9.55 PP | - |
| Generation Zero® | May Multiplayer Bundle | ||
| Gloria Victis | May Multiplayer Bundle | ||
| Goat Simulator | 0.5 TF2 | $0.93 PP | - |
| Godlike Burger | 1.0 TF2 | $1.89 PP | - |
| Golf With Your Friends | 1.0 TF2 | $2.04 PP | - |
| Gordian Quest | 1.8 TF2 | $3.54 PP | - |
| Gotham Knights | 5.5 TF2 | $10.85 PP | - |
| GreedFall | 0.8 TF2 | $1.52 PP | - |
| Gremlins, Inc. | 1.4 TF2 | $2.74 PP | - |
| Grim Dawn | 4.8 TF2 | $9.54 PP | - |
| Grim Fandango Remastered | 0.6 TF2 | $1.1 PP | - |
| Guacamelee! 2 | 0.6 TF2 | $1.18 PP | - |
| HITMAN™2 Gold Edition | 3.1 TF2 | $6.1 PP | - |
| HIVESWAP: Act 2 | 1.6 TF2 | $3.23 PP | - |
| HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™ | 1.9 TF2 | $3.78 PP | - |
| HROT | 4.2 TF2 | $8.22 PP | - |
| Hard Bullet | 1.2 TF2 | $2.35 PP | - |
| Hearts of Iron IV: Battle for the Bosporus | 1.8 TF2 | $3.57 PP | - |
| Hearts of Iron IV: Cadet Edition | 6.2 TF2 | $12.21 PP | - |
| Hearts of Iron IV: Death or Dishonor | 1.0 TF2 | $1.94 PP | - |
| Hearts of Iron IV: Waking the Tiger | 2.0 TF2 | $3.88 PP | - |
| Heave Ho | 0.6 TF2 | $1.09 PP | - |
| Heavy Rain | 1.9 TF2 | $3.7 PP | - |
| Hell Let Loose | 6.3 TF2 | $12.56 PP | - |
| Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice | 1.4 TF2 | $2.87 PP | - |
| Hello, Neighbor! | 0.5 TF2 | $1.01 PP | - |
| Hellpoint | 0.4 TF2 | $0.73 PP | - |
| Heroes of Hammerwatch | 0.8 TF2 | $1.56 PP | - |
| Hitman Absolution | 0.4 TF2 | $0.77 PP | - |
| Hitman Game of the Year Edition | 1.3 TF2 | $2.58 PP | - |
| Hollow Knight | Must-Play Metroidvanias Bundle | ||
| Homefront: The Revolution | 0.8 TF2 | $1.65 PP | - |
| Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Digital Special Edition | 0.6 TF2 | $1.22 PP | - |
| Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number | 0.6 TF2 | $1.14 PP | - |
| Hotline Miami | 0.9 TF2 | $1.82 PP | - |
| House Flipper | 3.1 TF2 | $6.1 PP | - |
| Human: Fall Flat | 1.1 TF2 | $2.19 PP | - |
| HuniePop | 0.4 TF2 | $0.85 PP | - |
| Huntdown | 1.7 TF2 | $3.3 PP | - |
| Hurtworld | 2.2 TF2 | $4.4 PP | - |
| Hyper Light Drifter | 1.6 TF2 | $3.09 PP | - |
| Hypnospace Outlaw | 0.8 TF2 | $1.53 PP | - |
| I Expect You To Die | 1.3 TF2 | $2.67 PP | - |
| I-NFECTED | 6.2 TF2 | $12.36 PP | - |
| INSIDE | 1.6 TF2 | $3.15 PP | - |
| INSURGENCY | 2.3 TF2 | $4.46 PP | - |
| Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition | 0.4 TF2 | $0.73 PP | - |
| Imperator: Rome Deluxe Edition | 1.6 TF2 | $3.18 PP | - |
| Imperator: Rome | 1.1 TF2 | $2.09 PP | - |
| Injustice 2 Legendary Edition | 1.1 TF2 | $2.2 PP | - |
| Injustice 2 | 0.9 TF2 | $1.74 PP | - |
| Into the Breach | 1.5 TF2 | $2.91 PP | - |
| Into the Radius VR | 3.3 TF2 | $6.6 PP | - |
| Ion Fury | 1.9 TF2 | $3.74 PP | - |
| Iron Harvest | 0.9 TF2 | $1.83 PP | - |
| Jalopy | 0.9 TF2 | $1.81 PP | - |
| Job Simulator | 6.2 TF2 | $12.21 PP | - |
| Jurassic World Evolution 2 | 2.2 TF2 | $4.41 PP | - |
| Just Cause 2 | 0.4 TF2 | $0.87 PP | - |
| Just Cause 3 XXL Edition | 1.2 TF2 | $2.46 PP | - |
| Just Cause 4: Complete Edition | 1.9 TF2 | $3.82 PP | - |
| KartKraft | 4.2 TF2 | $8.39 PP | - |
| Katamari Damacy REROLL | 1.1 TF2 | $2.08 PP | - |
| Katana ZERO | 1.5 TF2 | $2.9 PP | - |
| Kerbal Space Program | 0.8 TF2 | $1.66 PP | - |
| Killer Instinct | 8.7 TF2 | $17.3 PP | - |
| Killing Floor 2 | 0.7 TF2 | $1.42 PP | - |
| Killing Floor | 0.9 TF2 | $1.69 PP | - |
| Kingdom Come: Deliverance | 1.5 TF2 | $3.01 PP | - |
| Kingdom: Two Crowns | 1.1 TF2 | $2.1 PP | - |
| Kitaria Fables | 0.4 TF2 | $0.75 PP | - |
| LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Premium Edition | 0.5 TF2 | $0.9 PP | - |
| LEGO Batman Trilogy | 1.4 TF2 | $2.74 PP | - |
| LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 | 0.6 TF2 | $1.2 PP | - |
| LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars | 0.5 TF2 | $1.04 PP | - |
| LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga | 0.6 TF2 | $1.16 PP | - |
| LEGO® City Undercover | 1.0 TF2 | $1.94 PP | - |
| LEGO® DC Super-Villains Deluxe Edition | 1.9 TF2 | $3.77 PP | - |
| LEGO® DC Super-Villains | 0.5 TF2 | $0.95 PP | - |
| LEGO® Jurassic World™ | 0.5 TF2 | $0.92 PP | - |
| LEGO® MARVEL's Avengers | 0.4 TF2 | $0.77 PP | - |
| LEGO® Marvel Super Heroes 2 Deluxe Edition | 1.1 TF2 | $2.15 PP | - |
| LEGO® Marvel Super Heroes 2 | 0.7 TF2 | $1.32 PP | - |
| LEGO® Star Wars™: The Force Awakens - Deluxe Edition | 1.1 TF2 | $2.23 PP | - |
| LEGO® Star Wars™: The Force Awakens | 0.5 TF2 | $0.91 PP | - |
| LEGO® Worlds | 1.0 TF2 | $1.96 PP | - |
| LIMBO | 0.4 TF2 | $0.71 PP | - |
| Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective | 0.7 TF2 | $1.45 PP | - |
| Labyrinthine | 1.8 TF2 | $3.54 PP | - |
| Lake | 0.7 TF2 | $1.41 PP | - |
| Last Oasis | 0.8 TF2 | $1.68 PP | - |
| Layers of Fear 2 | 6.2 TF2 | $12.22 PP | - |
| Layers of Fear | 0.6 TF2 | $1.11 PP | - |
| Legion TD 2 | 2.3 TF2 | $4.56 PP | - |
| Len's Island | 4.1 TF2 | $8.16 PP | - |
| Lethal League Blaze | 2.4 TF2 | $4.79 PP | - |
| Lethal League | 1.5 TF2 | $2.97 PP | - |
| Library Of Ruina | 3.2 TF2 | $6.36 PP | - |
| Life is Feudal: Your Own | 0.7 TF2 | $1.48 PP | - |
| Life is Strange 2 Complete Season | 0.7 TF2 | $1.44 PP | - |
| Life is Strange Complete Season (Episodes 1-5) | 4.5 TF2 | $8.89 PP | - |
| Little Misfortune | 2.2 TF2 | $4.43 PP | - |
| Little Nightmares Complete Edition | 1.6 TF2 | $3.09 PP | - |
| Little Nightmares | 0.9 TF2 | $1.79 PP | - |
| Lobotomy Corporation Monster Management Simulation | 5.0 TF2 | $9.88 PP | - |
| Loot River | 2.9 TF2 | $5.76 PP | - |
| Lords of the Fallen Game of the Year Edition | 0.8 TF2 | $1.61 PP | - |
| Lost Ember | 1.4 TF2 | $2.73 PP | - |
| Luck be a Landlord | Luck of the Draw: Roguelike Deckbuilders Bundle | ||
| METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN | 1.2 TF2 | $2.46 PP | - |
| METAL GEAR SOLID V: The Definitive Experience | 2.0 TF2 | $3.99 PP | - |
| MONSTER HUNTER RISE | 4.3 TF2 | $8.44 PP | - |
| MORTAL KOMBAT 11 | 1.6 TF2 | $3.26 PP | - |
| MX vs. ATV Unleashed | 0.4 TF2 | $0.73 PP | - |
| Mad Max | 1.1 TF2 | $2.22 PP | - |
| Mafia II: Definitive Edition | 3.0 TF2 | $6.03 PP | - |
| Mafia III: Definitive Edition | 2.1 TF2 | $4.23 PP | - |
| Mafia: Definitive Edition | 2.2 TF2 | $4.3 PP | - |
| Magicka 2 - Deluxe Edition | 1.0 TF2 | $1.91 PP | - |
| Magicka 2 | 0.6 TF2 | $1.17 PP | - |
| Maneater | 0.7 TF2 | $1.46 PP | - |
| Manhunt | 1.1 TF2 | $2.08 PP | - |
| Mars Horizon | 0.8 TF2 | $1.52 PP | - |
| Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite - Deluxe Edition | 2.8 TF2 | $5.56 PP | - |
| Mass Effect™ Legendary Edition | 5.8 TF2 | $11.54 PP | - |
| Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne | 0.7 TF2 | $1.48 PP | - |
| Max Payne | 1.0 TF2 | $2.02 PP | - |
| MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries | 2.5 TF2 | $4.97 PP | - |
| Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 | 0.6 TF2 | $1.25 PP | - |
| Mega Man Legacy Collection | 0.4 TF2 | $0.79 PP | - |
| Men of War: Assault Squad 2 - Deluxe Edition | 0.8 TF2 | $1.67 PP | - |
| Men of War: Assault Squad 2 War Chest Edition | 0.8 TF2 | $1.65 PP | - |
| Men of War: Assault Squad 2 | 0.8 TF2 | $1.64 PP | - |
| Messenger | 0.9 TF2 | $1.73 PP | - |
| Metro 2033 Redux | 0.7 TF2 | $1.34 PP | - |
| Metro Exodus | 1.8 TF2 | $3.53 PP | - |
| Metro Redux Bundle | 1.0 TF2 | $1.93 PP | - |
| Metro: Last Light Redux | 1.1 TF2 | $2.14 PP | - |
| Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition | 0.9 TF2 | $1.74 PP | - |
| Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ | 0.8 TF2 | $1.51 PP | - |
| Mirror's Edge | 3.8 TF2 | $7.56 PP | - |
| Miscreated | 1.5 TF2 | $2.88 PP | - |
| Monster Sanctuary | 0.6 TF2 | $1.25 PP | - |
| Monster Train | 0.5 TF2 | $0.98 PP | - |
| Moonlighter | 0.4 TF2 | $0.81 PP | - |
| Moons of Madness | 1.7 TF2 | $3.43 PP | - |
| Mordhau | 1.7 TF2 | $3.27 PP | - |
| Mortal Kombat X | 0.7 TF2 | $1.36 PP | - |
| Mortal Shell | 1.4 TF2 | $2.74 PP | - |
| Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021 | 1.1 TF2 | $2.23 PP | - |
| Motorsport Manager | 1.4 TF2 | $2.73 PP | - |
| Move or Die | 0.7 TF2 | $1.44 PP | - |
| Moving Out | 0.9 TF2 | $1.85 PP | - |
| Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - Deluxe Edition | 1.7 TF2 | $3.28 PP | - |
| Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden | 1.8 TF2 | $3.53 PP | - |
| My Friend Pedro | 0.9 TF2 | $1.76 PP | - |
| My Time At Portia | 1.1 TF2 | $2.12 PP | - |
| NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM 4 Road to Boruto | 3.8 TF2 | $7.55 PP | - |
| NASCAR Heat 5 - Ultimate Edition | 0.5 TF2 | $1.08 PP | - |
| NBA 2K13 | 4.7 TF2 | $9.4 PP | - |
| Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 | 1.5 TF2 | $2.91 PP | - |
| Naruto to Boruto Shinobi Striker - Deluxe Edition | 1.6 TF2 | $3.1 PP | - |
| Naruto to Boruto Shinobi Striker | 0.4 TF2 | $0.82 PP | - |
| Necromunda: Hired Gun | 0.9 TF2 | $1.79 PP | - |
| Neon Abyss | 0.5 TF2 | $0.94 PP | - |
| Neverwinter Nights: Complete Adventures | 3.7 TF2 | $7.26 PP | - |
| Nine Parchments | 2.1 TF2 | $4.22 PP | - |
| No Straight Roads: Encore Edition | 1.3 TF2 | $2.63 PP | - |
| No Time to Relax | 3.7 TF2 | $7.29 PP | - |
| Northgard | May Multiplayer Bundle | ||
| Not For Broadcast | 0.5 TF2 | $1.06 PP | - |
| ONE PIECE BURNING BLOOD | 0.7 TF2 | $1.44 PP | - |
| ONE PIECE PIRATE WARRIORS 3 Gold Edition | 1.1 TF2 | $2.12 PP | - |
| One Step From Eden | 1.0 TF2 | $1.99 PP | - |
| Opus Magnum | 1.1 TF2 | $2.09 PP | - |
| Orcs Must Die! 3 | 1.9 TF2 | $3.81 PP | - |
| Outlast 2 | 0.6 TF2 | $1.27 PP | - |
| Outward | 1.5 TF2 | $2.91 PP | - |
| Overcooked | 0.8 TF2 | $1.58 PP | - |
| Overcooked! 2 | 1.4 TF2 | $2.74 PP | - |
| Overgrowth | 0.8 TF2 | $1.55 PP | - |
| PAYDAY 2 | 0.5 TF2 | $0.92 PP | - |
| PC Building Simulator | 0.7 TF2 | $1.41 PP | - |
| PGA TOUR 2K21 | 0.6 TF2 | $1.2 PP | - |
| Paint the Town Red | 3.3 TF2 | $6.56 PP | - |
| Parkitect | 6.5 TF2 | $12.86 PP | - |
| Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition | 0.6 TF2 | $1.24 PP | - |
| Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous | 1.4 TF2 | $2.79 PP | - |
| Pathologic 2 | 0.5 TF2 | $1.04 PP | - |
| Pathologic Classic HD | 0.6 TF2 | $1.13 PP | - |
| Per Aspera | 0.7 TF2 | $1.37 PP | - |
| Pikuniku | 0.8 TF2 | $1.49 PP | - |
| Pillars of Eternity Definitive Edition | 1.4 TF2 | $2.87 PP | - |
| Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire | 1.0 TF2 | $2.02 PP | - |
| Pistol Whip | 6.2 TF2 | $12.21 PP | - |
| Plague Inc: Evolved | 1.6 TF2 | $3.2 PP | - |
| Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition | 0.4 TF2 | $0.76 PP | - |
| Planet Coaster | 1.8 TF2 | $3.65 PP | - |
| Planet Zoo | 2.2 TF2 | $4.27 PP | - |
| Planetary Annihilation: TITANS | 6.0 TF2 | $11.9 PP | - |
| Portal Knights | 1.5 TF2 | $2.91 PP | - |
| Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid | 2.7 TF2 | $5.42 PP | - |
| PowerBeatsVR | 1.0 TF2 | $1.97 PP | - |
| PowerSlave Exhumed | 1.4 TF2 | $2.74 PP | - |
| Praey for the Gods | 0.5 TF2 | $0.9 PP | - |
| Prehistoric Kingdom | 1.3 TF2 | $2.5 PP | - |
| Prison Architect | 0.4 TF2 | $0.88 PP | - |
| Pro Cycling Manager 2019 | 1.3 TF2 | $2.58 PP | - |
| Project Hospital | 2.4 TF2 | $4.72 PP | - |
| Project Wingman | 1.7 TF2 | $3.27 PP | - |
| Project Winter | 1.5 TF2 | $2.88 PP | - |
| Propnight | 0.7 TF2 | $1.37 PP | - |
| Pumpkin Jack | 0.4 TF2 | $0.83 PP | - |
| Quantum Break | 2.6 TF2 | $5.15 PP | - |
| RESIDENT EVIL 3 | 2.4 TF2 | $4.8 PP | - |
| RUGBY 20 | 1.3 TF2 | $2.55 PP | - |
| RWBY: Grimm Eclipse | 3.8 TF2 | $7.43 PP | - |
| Ragnaröck | 3.5 TF2 | $6.84 PP | - |
| Railway Empire | 0.4 TF2 | $0.8 PP | - |
| Raw Data | 1.1 TF2 | $2.14 PP | - |
| Re:Legend | 1.0 TF2 | $1.94 PP | - |
| Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered | 0.5 TF2 | $0.94 PP | - |
| Red Matter | 4.5 TF2 | $8.86 PP | - |
| Resident Evil / biohazard HD REMASTER | 1.1 TF2 | $2.18 PP | - |
| Resident Evil 0 / biohazard 0 HD Remaster | 1.2 TF2 | $2.31 PP | - |
| Resident Evil 5 GOLD Edition | 1.5 TF2 | $3.04 PP | - |
| Resident Evil 5 | 1.0 TF2 | $1.95 PP | - |
| Resident Evil 6 | 1.4 TF2 | $2.79 PP | - |
| Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Deluxe Edition | 2.4 TF2 | $4.84 PP | - |
| Resident Evil: Revelations | 1.0 TF2 | $1.92 PP | - |
| Retro Machina | 0.5 TF2 | $1.01 PP | - |
| Risen | 0.6 TF2 | $1.25 PP | - |
| Rising Storm 2: Vietnam | 0.6 TF2 | $1.27 PP | - |
| River City Girls | 1.4 TF2 | $2.83 PP | - |
| Roboquest | 0.5 TF2 | $1.05 PP | - |
| Rollercoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack | 1.6 TF2 | $3.17 PP | - |
| Rubber Bandits | 0.8 TF2 | $1.5 PP | - |
| Ryse: Son of Rome | 1.7 TF2 | $3.32 PP | - |
| SCP: Pandemic | 2.4 TF2 | $4.85 PP | - |
| SCUM | 3.5 TF2 | $6.86 PP | - |
| SOMA | 3.3 TF2 | $6.51 PP | - |
| SONG OF HORROR Complete Edition | 1.0 TF2 | $1.94 PP | - |
| STAR WARS® THE FORCE UNLEASHED II | 0.9 TF2 | $1.88 PP | - |
| STAR WARS™ Galactic Battlegrounds Saga | 0.6 TF2 | $1.08 PP | - |
| STAR WARS™: Squadrons | 1.6 TF2 | $3.07 PP | - |
| SUPERHOT VR | 2.3 TF2 | $4.46 PP | - |
| SUPERHOT | 0.8 TF2 | $1.57 PP | - |
| SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE | 0.5 TF2 | $0.98 PP | - |
| Saint's Row The Third Remastered | 2.4 TF2 | $4.81 PP | - |
| Saints Row 2 | 0.7 TF2 | $1.48 PP | - |
| Saints Row IV Game of the Century Edition | 1.3 TF2 | $2.53 PP | - |
| Saints Row IV | 1.1 TF2 | $2.23 PP | - |
| Saints Row the Third - The Full Package | 1.0 TF2 | $1.91 PP | - |
| Saints Row: The Third | 0.7 TF2 | $1.47 PP | - |
| Salt and Sanctuary | 1.1 TF2 | $2.1 PP | - |
| Sanctum 2 | 0.5 TF2 | $1.05 PP | - |
| Satisfactory | 6.8 TF2 | $13.5 PP | - |
| Scarlet Nexus | 2.9 TF2 | $5.75 PP | - |
| Scribblenauts Unlimited | 0.4 TF2 | $0.76 PP | - |
| Secret Neighbor | 0.9 TF2 | $1.76 PP | - |
| Serious Sam 2 | 0.8 TF2 | $1.57 PP | - |
| Serious Sam 3: BFE | 1.0 TF2 | $1.97 PP | - |
| Serious Sam 4 | 4.7 TF2 | $9.3 PP | - |
| Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem | 2.3 TF2 | $4.47 PP | - |
| Severed Steel | 1.7 TF2 | $3.46 PP | - |
| Shadow Man Remastered | 1.1 TF2 | $2.11 PP | - |
| Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun | 0.4 TF2 | $0.85 PP | - |
| Shadow Warrior 2 | 0.9 TF2 | $1.74 PP | - |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 3.1 TF2 | $6.23 PP | - |
| Shenmue 3 | 1.3 TF2 | $2.55 PP | - |
| Shenmue I & II | 1.3 TF2 | $2.55 PP | - |
| Shining Resonance Refrain | 0.4 TF2 | $0.81 PP | - |
| Sid Meier's Civilization VI : Platinum Edition | 3.0 TF2 | $5.99 PP | - |
| Sid Meier's Civilization VI | 0.7 TF2 | $1.42 PP | - |
| Sid Meier's Civilization® V: The Complete Edition | 1.9 TF2 | $3.71 PP | - |
| Sid Meiers Civilization IV: The Complete Edition | 0.8 TF2 | $1.52 PP | - |
| Siege of Centauri | 0.6 TF2 | $1.15 PP | - |
| SimCasino | 1.3 TF2 | $2.54 PP | - |
| SimplePlanes | 2.0 TF2 | $3.89 PP | - |
| Skullgirls 2nd Encore | 1.8 TF2 | $3.63 PP | - |
| Slap City | 1.1 TF2 | $2.23 PP | - |
| Slay the Spire | 3.1 TF2 | $6.22 PP | - |
| Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition | 0.9 TF2 | $1.81 PP | - |
| Slime Rancher | 1.9 TF2 | $3.8 PP | - |
| Sniper Elite 3 | 0.9 TF2 | $1.88 PP | - |
| Sniper Elite 4 | 1.3 TF2 | $2.67 PP | - |
| Sniper Elite V2 Remastered | 1.4 TF2 | $2.86 PP | - |
| Sniper Elite V2 | 1.0 TF2 | $2.01 PP | - |
| Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 | 0.8 TF2 | $1.64 PP | - |
| Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts | 0.9 TF2 | $1.86 PP | - |
| Sonic Adventure DX | 0.7 TF2 | $1.39 PP | - |
| Sonic Adventure 2 | 0.9 TF2 | $1.84 PP | - |
| Sonic Forces | 2.0 TF2 | $4.02 PP | - |
| Sonic Mania | 1.6 TF2 | $3.07 PP | - |
| Soul Calibur VI | 1.5 TF2 | $2.91 PP | - |
| Source of Madness | 0.6 TF2 | $1.12 PP | - |
| Space Engineers | 2.6 TF2 | $5.24 PP | - |
| Space Haven | 0.6 TF2 | $1.13 PP | - |
| Spec Ops: The Line | 0.9 TF2 | $1.78 PP | - |
| SpeedRunners | 0.5 TF2 | $1.02 PP | - |
| Spelunky | 1.1 TF2 | $2.22 PP | - |
| Spirit Of The Island | 1.5 TF2 | $2.88 PP | - |
| SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated | 1.0 TF2 | $1.91 PP | - |
| Spyro™ Reignited Trilogy | 4.2 TF2 | $8.22 PP | - |
| Star Renegades | 2.9 TF2 | $5.82 PP | - |
| Star Trek: Bridge Crew | 4.3 TF2 | $8.55 PP | - |
| Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (Classic, 2005) | 1.8 TF2 | $3.54 PP | - |
| Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic | 0.4 TF2 | $0.78 PP | - |
| Star Wars® Empire at War™: Gold Pack | 1.6 TF2 | $3.07 PP | - |
| Star Wars®: Jedi Knight®: Jedi Academy | 0.4 TF2 | $0.73 PP | - |
| Starbound | 1.2 TF2 | $2.42 PP | - |
| State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition | 3.1 TF2 | $6.21 PP | - |
| Staxel | 0.6 TF2 | $1.11 PP | - |
| SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech | 0.5 TF2 | $1.06 PP | - |
| Steel Division: Normandy 44 | 2.2 TF2 | $4.36 PP | - |
| Stellaris Galaxy Edition | 3.2 TF2 | $6.32 PP | - |
| Stellaris | 3.8 TF2 | $7.56 PP | - |
| Stellaris: Lithoids Species Pack | 1.0 TF2 | $1.95 PP | - |
| Stick Fight: The Game | 0.6 TF2 | $1.28 PP | - |
| Strange Brigade | 0.5 TF2 | $0.9 PP | - |
| Strategic Command WWII: World at War | 2.1 TF2 | $4.21 PP | - |
| Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection | 2.6 TF2 | $5.06 PP | - |
| Streets of Rogue | 0.9 TF2 | $1.86 PP | - |
| Stronghold 2: Steam Edition | 1.7 TF2 | $3.39 PP | - |
| Stronghold Crusader 2 | 1.0 TF2 | $1.95 PP | - |
| Stronghold Crusader HD | 0.6 TF2 | $1.16 PP | - |
| Stronghold Legends: Steam Edition | 0.9 TF2 | $1.74 PP | - |
| Styx: Shards Of Darkness | 0.9 TF2 | $1.74 PP | - |
| Subnautica | 3.4 TF2 | $6.8 PP | - |
| Summer in Mara | 0.5 TF2 | $1.04 PP | - |
| Sunless Sea | 0.9 TF2 | $1.85 PP | - |
| Sunless Skies | 0.7 TF2 | $1.32 PP | - |
| Sunset Overdrive | 1.8 TF2 | $3.57 PP | - |
| Super Meat Boy | 0.5 TF2 | $1.08 PP | - |
| Superliminal | 2.0 TF2 | $3.93 PP | - |
| Supraland Six Inches Under | 1.1 TF2 | $2.23 PP | - |
| Supreme Commander 2 | 0.8 TF2 | $1.58 PP | - |
| Surgeon Simulator: Experience Reality | 1.7 TF2 | $3.46 PP | - |
| Survive the Nights | 0.8 TF2 | $1.63 PP | - |
| Surviving Mars | 0.5 TF2 | $0.92 PP | - |
| Surviving the Aftermath | 0.7 TF2 | $1.4 PP | - |
| Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet - Complete Edition | 3.2 TF2 | $6.34 PP | - |
| Sword Art Online Hollow Realization Deluxe Edition | 1.5 TF2 | $2.97 PP | - |
| Syberia: The World Before | 1.1 TF2 | $2.25 PP | - |
| Synth Riders | 3.5 TF2 | $6.87 PP | - |
| TEKKEN 7 | 1.5 TF2 | $2.91 PP | - |
| Tales from the Borderlands | 3.8 TF2 | $7.49 PP | - |
| Tales of Berseria | 1.1 TF2 | $2.09 PP | - |
| Talisman: Digital Edition | 0.5 TF2 | $0.97 PP | - |
| Tank Mechanic Simulator | 1.1 TF2 | $2.14 PP | - |
| Telltale Batman Shadows Edition | 1.4 TF2 | $2.81 PP | - |
| Terraforming Mars | 0.6 TF2 | $1.28 PP | - |
| Terraria | 2.1 TF2 | $4.24 PP | - |
| The Ascent | 1.1 TF2 | $2.15 PP | - |
| The Battle of Polytopia | 0.5 TF2 | $0.9 PP | - |
| The Beast Inside | 0.4 TF2 | $0.76 PP | - |
| The Blackout Club | 0.6 TF2 | $1.11 PP | - |
| The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope | 2.1 TF2 | $4.21 PP | - |
| The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan | 1.9 TF2 | $3.73 PP | - |
| The Darkness II | 0.6 TF2 | $1.09 PP | - |
| The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos | 0.8 TF2 | $1.51 PP | - |
| The Escapists | 0.5 TF2 | $1.08 PP | - |
| The Henry Stickmin Collection | 0.7 TF2 | $1.43 PP | - |
| The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Final Cut | 1.3 TF2 | $2.64 PP | - |
| The Intruder | 2.1 TF2 | $4.23 PP | - |
| The Jackbox Party Pack 2 | 1.3 TF2 | $2.58 PP | - |
| The Jackbox Party Pack 3 | 2.8 TF2 | $5.63 PP | - |
| The Jackbox Party Pack 4 | 2.1 TF2 | $4.07 PP | - |
| The Jackbox Party Pack 5 | 3.1 TF2 | $6.06 PP | - |
| The Jackbox Party Pack 6 | 2.8 TF2 | $5.5 PP | - |
| The Jackbox Party Pack | 1.1 TF2 | $2.14 PP | - |
| The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame | 0.4 TF2 | $0.79 PP | - |
| The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky | 1.6 TF2 | $3.23 PP | - |
| The Long Dark | 2.4 TF2 | $4.84 PP | - |
| The Long Dark: Survival Edition | 0.5 TF2 | $0.9 PP | - |
| The Mortuary Assistant | 2.4 TF2 | $4.74 PP | - |
| The Red Solstice 2: Survivors | 0.4 TF2 | $0.78 PP | - |
| The Surge 2 | 0.9 TF2 | $1.78 PP | - |
| The Survivalists | 0.6 TF2 | $1.25 PP | - |
| The Talos Principle | 1.5 TF2 | $2.97 PP | - |
| The Walking Dead: The Final Season | 0.7 TF2 | $1.43 PP | - |
| The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series | 2.4 TF2 | $4.75 PP | - |
| The Witness | 3.4 TF2 | $6.69 PP | - |
| The Wolf Among Us | 1.2 TF2 | $2.43 PP | - |
| This Is the Police | 0.5 TF2 | $1.01 PP | - |
| This War of Mine: Complete Edition | 0.7 TF2 | $1.41 PP | - |
| Titan Quest Anniversary Edition | 0.6 TF2 | $1.17 PP | - |
| Tomb Raider | 1.5 TF2 | $2.88 PP | - |
| Torchlight II | 0.7 TF2 | $1.38 PP | - |
| Total Tank Simulator | 0.5 TF2 | $0.96 PP | - |
| Total War Shogun 2 Collection | 1.7 TF2 | $3.46 PP | - |
| Total War: ATTILA | 2.4 TF2 | $4.71 PP | - |
| Total War: Empire - Definitive Edition | 1.7 TF2 | $3.42 PP | - |
| Total War: Napoleon - Definitive Edition | 1.8 TF2 | $3.56 PP | - |
| Total War: Rome II - Emperor Edition | 2.9 TF2 | $5.83 PP | - |
| Total War™: WARHAMMER® | 2.8 TF2 | $5.56 PP | - |
| Totally Accurate Battle Simulator | 2.8 TF2 | $5.55 PP | - |
| Totally Reliable Delivery Service | 0.6 TF2 | $1.23 PP | - |
| Tour de France 2020 | 0.6 TF2 | $1.13 PP | - |
| Tower Unite | 5.1 TF2 | $10.09 PP | - |
| Townscaper | 0.6 TF2 | $1.17 PP | - |
| Trailmakers Deluxe Edition | 1.4 TF2 | $2.79 PP | - |
| Train Simulator Classic | 0.8 TF2 | $1.58 PP | - |
| Tribes of Midgard | 0.8 TF2 | $1.55 PP | - |
| Tricky Towers | 2.0 TF2 | $4.02 PP | - |
| Trine 2: Complete Story | 1.2 TF2 | $2.28 PP | - |
| Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince | 1.2 TF2 | $2.38 PP | - |
| Trine Ultimate Collection | 4.6 TF2 | $9.06 PP | - |
| Tropico 5 – Complete Collection | 0.8 TF2 | $1.62 PP | - |
| Tropico 6 El-Prez Edition | 2.3 TF2 | $4.56 PP | - |
| Tropico 6 | 2.3 TF2 | $4.47 PP | - |
| Turmoil | 0.5 TF2 | $0.96 PP | - |
| Turok | 0.4 TF2 | $0.75 PP | - |
| Two Point Hospital | 2.1 TF2 | $4.22 PP | - |
| Ultimate Chicken Horse | 1.8 TF2 | $3.56 PP | - |
| Ultimate Fishing Simulator | 0.5 TF2 | $0.91 PP | - |
| Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 | 1.8 TF2 | $3.55 PP | - |
| Ultra Street Fighter IV | 0.6 TF2 | $1.11 PP | - |
| Undertale | 2.1 TF2 | $4.2 PP | - |
| Universe Sandbox | 4.8 TF2 | $9.41 PP | - |
| Unrailed! | 1.6 TF2 | $3.07 PP | - |
| Until You Fall | 0.7 TF2 | $1.39 PP | - |
| VTOL VR | 6.4 TF2 | $12.66 PP | - |
| Vacation Simulator | 5.2 TF2 | $10.21 PP | - |
| Vagante | 0.7 TF2 | $1.34 PP | - |
| Valkyria Chronicles 4 Complete Edition | 1.9 TF2 | $3.77 PP | - |
| Valkyria Chronicles™ | 1.0 TF2 | $1.97 PP | - |
| Vampyr | 2.2 TF2 | $4.35 PP | - |
| Verdun | 0.4 TF2 | $0.72 PP | - |
| Vertigo Remastered | 0.4 TF2 | $0.8 PP | - |
| Visage | 2.9 TF2 | $5.83 PP | - |
| Viscera Cleanup Detail | 2.0 TF2 | $4.05 PP | - |
| Void Bastards | 0.7 TF2 | $1.33 PP | - |
| Volcanoids | 1.4 TF2 | $2.81 PP | - |
| Vox Machinae | 3.4 TF2 | $6.7 PP | - |
| Wargame: Red Dragon | 5.2 TF2 | $10.22 PP | - |
| Wargroove | 0.5 TF2 | $0.91 PP | - |
| Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters | Humble Choice (May 2023) | ||
| Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Master Collection | 1.5 TF2 | $2.91 PP | - |
| Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Grand Master Collection | 2.3 TF2 | $4.55 PP | - |
| Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution | 0.8 TF2 | $1.68 PP | - |
| Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War | 0.6 TF2 | $1.23 PP | - |
| Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Tyranids | 1.4 TF2 | $2.86 PP | - |
| Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Collection | 2.1 TF2 | $4.17 PP | - |
| Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine | 1.7 TF2 | $3.28 PP | - |
| Warhammer: Chaosbane - Slayer Edition | 0.9 TF2 | $1.88 PP | - |
| Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide Collector's Edition | 0.7 TF2 | $1.36 PP | - |
| Warhammer: Vermintide 2 - Collector's Edition | 1.6 TF2 | $3.15 PP | - |
| Warhammer: Vermintide 2 | 0.8 TF2 | $1.51 PP | - |
| Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn of War® II | 0.6 TF2 | $1.25 PP | - |
| Warhammer® 40,000™: Dawn of War® III | 1.8 TF2 | $3.49 PP | - |
| Warpips | 0.7 TF2 | $1.48 PP | - |
| Wasteland 3 | 1.3 TF2 | $2.6 PP | - |
| We Happy Few | 0.9 TF2 | $1.88 PP | - |
| We Need to Go Deeper | 1.4 TF2 | $2.87 PP | - |
| We Were Here Too | 1.2 TF2 | $2.38 PP | - |
| White Day : a labyrinth named school | 0.6 TF2 | $1.24 PP | - |
| Who's Your Daddy | 1.9 TF2 | $3.67 PP | - |
| Wingspan | 1.2 TF2 | $2.31 PP | - |
| Winkeltje: The Little Shop | 1.1 TF2 | $2.08 PP | - |
| Witch It | 3.3 TF2 | $6.57 PP | - |
| Wizard of Legend | 1.8 TF2 | $3.56 PP | - |
| World War Z: Aftermath | 4.6 TF2 | $9.09 PP | - |
| Worms W.M.D | 1.2 TF2 | $2.34 PP | - |
| X4: Foundations | 8.3 TF2 | $16.49 PP | - |
| X4: Split Vendetta | 1.8 TF2 | $3.56 PP | - |
| XCOM 2 Collection | 1.4 TF2 | $2.7 PP | - |
| XCOM 2 | 0.4 TF2 | $0.76 PP | - |
| XCOM 2: Reinforcement Pack | 0.4 TF2 | $0.72 PP | - |
| XCOM: Enemy Unknown Complete Pack | 0.8 TF2 | $1.6 PP | - |
| XCOM: Ultimate Collection | 1.3 TF2 | $2.56 PP | - |
| Yakuza 0 | 2.4 TF2 | $4.76 PP | - |
| Yakuza 3 Remastered | 1.0 TF2 | $2.07 PP | - |
| Yakuza Kiwami 2 | 4.5 TF2 | $8.86 PP | - |
| Yakuza Kiwami | 2.1 TF2 | $4.23 PP | - |
| Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles | 1.3 TF2 | $2.66 PP | - |
| YouTubers Life | 0.7 TF2 | $1.42 PP | - |
| ZERO Sievert | 5.1 TF2 | $10.09 PP | - |
| Zenith MMO | 2.2 TF2 | $4.32 PP | - |
| Zero Caliber VR | 4.3 TF2 | $8.48 PP | - |
| Zombie Army 4: Dead War | 1.8 TF2 | $3.64 PP | - |
| Zombie Army Trilogy | 0.5 TF2 | $0.97 PP | - |
| biped | 0.8 TF2 | $1.68 PP | - |
| rFactor 2 | 4.8 TF2 | $9.55 PP | - |
| while True: learn() Chief Technology Officer Edition | 0.8 TF2 | $1.57 PP | - |
https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/ggsaik/fappidydats_igs_rep_page/
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2023.06.06 23:57 No-Amphibian-1499 Am I officially a degenerate?
 | submitted by No-Amphibian-1499 to sportsbetting [link] [comments] |
2023.06.06 23:54 Vectorvariat The Condor “Rush”
Well i just finished an 1hr plus match off a custom server on portal. The map, Noshahr Canals. It was fun flying the Condor way past its spawn zone. Was able to get behind the enemy lines and drop some friendlys on the roof tops past the 3rd zone! Fun fact! Did ya know you can land the Condor on the runway!? Condor doesn’t respawn once the first 2 bombs go off.
submitted by Vectorvariat to battlefield2042 [link] [comments]
2023.06.06 23:42 Lonely_white_queen attack on mars
Our attack on Mars was nothing short of a suicide run, it was unsanctioned by the empire, and we had no aid, no escape route, and no rear guard, but we needed resources, and with the Terran planet Mars being the aggregate of all raw resources within their empire it was an obvious target.
We made a mad dash, pushing our engines to the limit to come out of warp over the planet, suicidal in its own right as it's supposedly impossible to warp to individual planets. And with our warp engines fried, we had no escape if we failed, but if we succeed and got out before Earth heard of this incident we would be victorious, we could rebuild our engines and leave rapidly.
But our first issue arrived the instant we left warp, our guns started firing instantly on the six rings that orbited Mars, ten thousand naval yards a third of them holding complete ships, another third under construction, and the last third purely for intake from other planets. While they interlocked at the center with a colossal space elevator going to the surface.
We couldent see it happen but soon after our shells hit the orbital rings we asumed alarms started to sound on the station as the docked ships began to fire back, even those which were under construction began to fire with the few weapons they had, some of the ships so colossal they touched hulls along their edges where they were docked
It would be suicide to stay and fight each ship, even with our entire navy of eight thousand ships the Terran vessals were almost impervious to our weapons with their shields raised as our conquering empire refused to give us the modern technology they created.
So our ships pushed through, and at almost reckless speeds we crashed through the wall of vessels and defensive stations attempting to get to the surface.
I was on one of the crews that were meant to lead the first assault, even attempting to get to our dropship with how the ship shook and the gravitation fields failed to fight against the gravity of Mars was incredibly difficult. Yet as our vessel leveled itself out in orbit I got to my designated vessel. With the bottom of the ship opening below us as the ramp closed we dropped out falling down to the surface.
The ship barely caught us as we touchdown on the surface even such important things like thruster fule were limited having to use it on a bare minimum as the ships above needed it most.
We charged out with pride in our hearts, we had broken through the greatest wall in the galaxy and landed on the most defended planet, yet as we charged into the red sandstorm we found… nothing.
Our sensors had told us there were hundreds if not thousands of people exactly here, we had hoped to run through this city and take slaves along with resources expecting there to be no defenses on the surface.
As my commander called back up to the ships asking what was going on I couldent help but feel dread, there was nothing on the surface, sure there were hundreds of thousands of warehouses and trillions of miles of tracks ad several billion drones floating around but nothing was alive.
That was till we heard the heavy iron stomping, slowly it got closer and closer shrouded in the dust. It only came into view as a colossal steel foot came down over me.
Jumping out of the way I quickly rolled over to look at the towering beast as the sandstorm finally cleared. None of my allies found the bravery to fire as a hundred towering machines were lined up ahead of us, some as short as 50m tall while the one infront of me was no less than three hundred.
I had heard of these machines, everyone had, titans. But they were myths, stories tossed around by crewmen from whisperings from the bridges of starships, machines that whipped out entire armies, they weren't lumbering monsters but agile beasts that mimicked the human form perfectly.
And that was proven true as the female-shaped machine squatted down infront of me the sound of pistons hissing almost deafening as titanium creaked.
“You invade the dwarven forge of Mars and now you face the students of the gubernator scholae (pilot school), but since you are here you will be perfect target practice, or do you surrender?”
“We do not, you humans and your machines won't scare us… men, raise arms.” our commander shouted at the machines and us. All we could do was look at him as if he was mad, fighting the Titans, even students were crazy. Hell, we were all wondering what kind o madman gives students such machines.
Yet without the commander's voice, it seemed to seal our fate as the machine stood up seemingly not interested in our personal views. We watched all shaking in fear as it drew a colossal weapon from its back holding it in its hand. We only had to wonder what the weapon was for a moment before liquid started to drip from the barrel and a flame sparked on the end of a brass pipe.
“Run for it” I called out as I started to run across the barren landscape. Only a few of my comrades followed me as many were rooted in fear as the colossal titan pointed its weapon towards up pulling the trigger and letting out a colossal ocean of fire. It was a few seconds before the fire touched me that I was able to dive into a cave. Many of my comrades and others I dident know were quickly cut down and erased from existence as the wall of steel removed us from existence. It wasn't an attack as it was so clean and quick it couldent be called that. There were no bodies remaining to take home or burry as I watched the machines step over where I was hiding calmly chasing our lines off the planet and stepping on our landing craft as if they were tin cans crushing them under foot not even shifting or flinching when their fuel and ammunition stores exploded.
I dident even care at that point about my people this attack was suicidal anyway, all I wanted to do was escape, but with nowhere to go all I did was run into the desert.
It wasn't till a few days later when the last of our ships were falling from the sky that the forces of Mars began their search and rescue efforts when I was innately discovered. Now that I sit in a pow camp I can't really say what my future is but at least I've been treated better than we would have the humans. Food for one thing.
submitted by Lonely_white_queen to HFY [link] [comments]
We made a mad dash, pushing our engines to the limit to come out of warp over the planet, suicidal in its own right as it's supposedly impossible to warp to individual planets. And with our warp engines fried, we had no escape if we failed, but if we succeed and got out before Earth heard of this incident we would be victorious, we could rebuild our engines and leave rapidly.
But our first issue arrived the instant we left warp, our guns started firing instantly on the six rings that orbited Mars, ten thousand naval yards a third of them holding complete ships, another third under construction, and the last third purely for intake from other planets. While they interlocked at the center with a colossal space elevator going to the surface.
We couldent see it happen but soon after our shells hit the orbital rings we asumed alarms started to sound on the station as the docked ships began to fire back, even those which were under construction began to fire with the few weapons they had, some of the ships so colossal they touched hulls along their edges where they were docked
It would be suicide to stay and fight each ship, even with our entire navy of eight thousand ships the Terran vessals were almost impervious to our weapons with their shields raised as our conquering empire refused to give us the modern technology they created.
So our ships pushed through, and at almost reckless speeds we crashed through the wall of vessels and defensive stations attempting to get to the surface.
I was on one of the crews that were meant to lead the first assault, even attempting to get to our dropship with how the ship shook and the gravitation fields failed to fight against the gravity of Mars was incredibly difficult. Yet as our vessel leveled itself out in orbit I got to my designated vessel. With the bottom of the ship opening below us as the ramp closed we dropped out falling down to the surface.
The ship barely caught us as we touchdown on the surface even such important things like thruster fule were limited having to use it on a bare minimum as the ships above needed it most.
We charged out with pride in our hearts, we had broken through the greatest wall in the galaxy and landed on the most defended planet, yet as we charged into the red sandstorm we found… nothing.
Our sensors had told us there were hundreds if not thousands of people exactly here, we had hoped to run through this city and take slaves along with resources expecting there to be no defenses on the surface.
As my commander called back up to the ships asking what was going on I couldent help but feel dread, there was nothing on the surface, sure there were hundreds of thousands of warehouses and trillions of miles of tracks ad several billion drones floating around but nothing was alive.
That was till we heard the heavy iron stomping, slowly it got closer and closer shrouded in the dust. It only came into view as a colossal steel foot came down over me.
Jumping out of the way I quickly rolled over to look at the towering beast as the sandstorm finally cleared. None of my allies found the bravery to fire as a hundred towering machines were lined up ahead of us, some as short as 50m tall while the one infront of me was no less than three hundred.
I had heard of these machines, everyone had, titans. But they were myths, stories tossed around by crewmen from whisperings from the bridges of starships, machines that whipped out entire armies, they weren't lumbering monsters but agile beasts that mimicked the human form perfectly.
And that was proven true as the female-shaped machine squatted down infront of me the sound of pistons hissing almost deafening as titanium creaked.
“You invade the dwarven forge of Mars and now you face the students of the gubernator scholae (pilot school), but since you are here you will be perfect target practice, or do you surrender?”
“We do not, you humans and your machines won't scare us… men, raise arms.” our commander shouted at the machines and us. All we could do was look at him as if he was mad, fighting the Titans, even students were crazy. Hell, we were all wondering what kind o madman gives students such machines.
Yet without the commander's voice, it seemed to seal our fate as the machine stood up seemingly not interested in our personal views. We watched all shaking in fear as it drew a colossal weapon from its back holding it in its hand. We only had to wonder what the weapon was for a moment before liquid started to drip from the barrel and a flame sparked on the end of a brass pipe.
“Run for it” I called out as I started to run across the barren landscape. Only a few of my comrades followed me as many were rooted in fear as the colossal titan pointed its weapon towards up pulling the trigger and letting out a colossal ocean of fire. It was a few seconds before the fire touched me that I was able to dive into a cave. Many of my comrades and others I dident know were quickly cut down and erased from existence as the wall of steel removed us from existence. It wasn't an attack as it was so clean and quick it couldent be called that. There were no bodies remaining to take home or burry as I watched the machines step over where I was hiding calmly chasing our lines off the planet and stepping on our landing craft as if they were tin cans crushing them under foot not even shifting or flinching when their fuel and ammunition stores exploded.
I dident even care at that point about my people this attack was suicidal anyway, all I wanted to do was escape, but with nowhere to go all I did was run into the desert.
It wasn't till a few days later when the last of our ships were falling from the sky that the forces of Mars began their search and rescue efforts when I was innately discovered. Now that I sit in a pow camp I can't really say what my future is but at least I've been treated better than we would have the humans. Food for one thing.
2023.06.06 23:32 meelonhusk Your peach vinaigrette dressing is so good you should bottle and sell it
You could fall into the "your peach vinaigrette dressing is so good you should bottle and sell it" trap where you give up a promising but boring career trajectory in favor of "taking a risk" and trying to become the dressing king of the tri-state area. You start by mixing larger batches in your kitchen and desperately hawking them by the case to boutique food stores within a 50 mile radius of you, turning your once solid hybrid Camry into a high-milage nightmare that constantly reeks of peaches and vinegar. Your wife is understanding even though you hardly see the kids any more because you are constantly out on sales calls or delivery runs desperately trying to generate cash flow to cover your increasing credit card debt. Then one day it happens... you get the call to the big leagues... the manager of a reasonably priced grocery store two towns over wants to carry your dressing. This is your shot! In order to guarantee your best chance at success you agree to a grueling in-store promo schedule, hand-build an elaborate peach tree display and sample stand for your dressing, and start mixing dressing batches at night so you'll have enough supply. The big day has arrived and you're standing in front of a homemade display presenting your work and are having flashbacks to your high-school science fair. You spend the next 5 days on your feet for 11 straight hours trying to convince disinterested strangers to part with $5 for a bottle of your peach vinaigrette dressing (which, to be honest, you're starting to lose the taste for) until it's time to pack up your display and head home. Your house is dark when you get home. It's still dark when you leave again the next morning. You suspect you've forgotten what your kids look like. Two weeks of solid effort later and you've convinced the store manager that your product will sell. His 6 case order is the biggest you've ever had and the adrenaline rush from that moment is the most intense thing you've experienced in ten years. You rush home and take the family to Dave and Buster's to celebrate. You can't lose focus for long, though, because you have 6 cases of dressing to make tonight. The next week, buoyed by this incredible success and motivated by your long-suffering wife's pleas to move your production line out of her kitchen, you rent a small commercial space and set up a tiny production facility. You credit cards are long overused. You are now well into 2nd mortgage securing an SBA loan territory. You focus on selling your dressing in case quantity to other grocery chains and mom-and-pop stores you're still making the occasional delivery but most of your goods are going out on delivery services. You hire two assistants to help pit and puree the peaches, combine the spices into large batches, mix them with the vinegar and oil, and bottle the final product. You're still not sleeping because you spend evenings cleaning the commercial kitchen anticipating the next health inspection. Your fingers constantly smell like salad dressing. You spend the next 6 years of your life sampling in stores, running stalls at farmer's markets on the weekends, displaying at grocery conventions, and looking for the next big hit to boost your business. In the meantime you have developed 5 new flavors of dressing including a creamy peach and cucumber that is a massive chore to make but rapidly becomes your best seller. You are packaging holiday gift packs, baskets for mother's day, and Christmas assortments. Your online store requires constant maintenance but continually sells a few dozen bottles a week. All the while you have slowly begun to lose enthusiasm for the dressing game. Your kids are in high school. They don't hug you any more and they hate salad. Your wife took a job to help make ends meet. She enjoys it but you can't help but feel she resents you a little. The dressing company is still earning more than she is, but only barely. As time goes on, tastes begin to evolve and vinaigrettes go out of fashion. Your sales drop off slightly but it's enough that the interest payments on your loans are catching up to you. You have to let several members of your production staff go and you're fulfilling all the web orders by yourself. The unsold returns from your large grocery customers start increasing in size and you can see the writing on the wall. It's time to close the dressing company. After it's all over, you've sunk ten years of your life chasing a dream that, now that you look back on it, was really driven by the excitement of other people. You're pickled, your wife is exhausted, your kids are off to college, and your credit card companies seem to care more about you than any of the people that used to be your friends. Years later, you're pushing a cart down the condiments aisle when you run into someone you graduated with. As you chat, he puts a bottle of generic dressing into his cart and remarks "hey, I remember you used to make a really good peach vinaigrette. You should try selling it."
submitted by meelonhusk to copypasta [link] [comments]
2023.06.06 23:29 EnCamp A hilarious developer diary penned by Greg Fulton, lead designer for HoMMIII, detailing NWO's final sprint to get the game published in working order at the deadline
Two weeks ago, I spoke on the phone with Tom Ono, the manual writer for Heroes of Might and Magic III. As usual, Tom asked how things were going. I said things were good... then proceeded to whine and complain for the next five minutes (much to Tom's amusement).12/05/98
When the conversation concluded, Tom said, "Don't complain too much. Some people would give their eyeteeth to be in the game industry." I responded, "Who are these people and why haven't they been beaten for their own good?"
My name is Gregory Fulton, game designer for Heroes of Might and Magic III (developed by New World Computing, published by 3DO). You may call me Greg. Like most game designers, I'm sure you'll find me a bitter and cynical man, aged beyond my years, full of sarcasm, and inexplicably drawn to the horrors of game production like a lobotomized moth to the "pretty" flame.
As I guide you through your weekly tour of my memories, I promise the recollected images will be truthful and sincere but written with a smirk and a wink.
Undoubtedly, we will interact with the following animals: artists, level builders, managers, producers, programmers, testers, and monkeys. To help ensure your safety, I request you fasten your seat belts, keep your hands to your sides at all times, and be sure to not make any quick and sudden movements. Remember... we will be passing through the game production process.
It's Saturday. I'm at work with three other members of the Heroes3 team. I'll be in again tomorrow.
Smells like "crunch time."
Everyone in the game industry knows the term "crunch time." Those not in the industry may ask, "What is crunch time?" Long hours: 10-18 each day. We're starting our fourth crunch month. We have at least one more after this.
Bad take-out food: Mexican and Chinese food are New World's favorites. Today we had Taco Bell and Domino's pizza as part of NWC's "work for food" program.
Social Life: To work in the game industry you must already have some form of social retardation. When crunch mode begins, you may only speak in code to coworkers. Immediate family and friends may be seen on brief occasions so they don't file a missing-persons report. I'm one of the lucky ones; I don't remember having any friends or family.
Hygiene: Haircuts and showers become optional in favor of more sleep time. For me, showers are a must, but my hair is sprouting wings and a tail. Pretty soon I'll look like the lead singer from Flock of Seagulls.
Stress: Anger and frustration are frequent companions. If bridges are burned, this is usually the time. Earlier this week morale was low. In a fit of anger concerning team interactions, I was heard shouting, "I feel like a kindergarten teacher. Can't everyone just keep their hands to themselves and play nice!"
Murphy's law: Any potential hazard will be encountered. I'm writing this diary from the NWC conference room. My computer refuses to function for more than five minutes without seizing up.
12/06/98
This weekend I'm taking care of my PR duties (hence this diary). Not the most exciting stuff, so I'll relate a short story from earlier this week.
David Mullich (producer), Mark Caldwell (NWC vice president and programmer), Jon Van Caneghem (NWC president, creator of all things Might and Magic, and company design visionary), and I found ourselves crowded into the sweltering office of Scott White.
Scott did all the town screens in Heroes III except the Rampart, Necropolis, and Fortress. Since he finished his 3D duties, he's turned his skills to the game's interface. Believe it or not, we were in Scott's office arguing about color: interface colors and player colors.
After much arguing about the interface colors, we decided to leave it virtually untouched. Player colors were a different subject.
Originally, we used light blue, dark blue, red, green, purple, brown, black, and white. These colors needed to change. Light blue looked like the blue used in the main menu. Brown clashed with the brown used in the general game interface. Game text disappeared against white. Black and green disappeared with the terrain colors shown on the game mini-map.
OK. We agreed some of the colors needed to change. After this, the agreements stopped. I don't know what is more ridiculous... arguing over what colors to use or the twisted logic behind the arguments. Red, blue, and dark green were safe choices. We still needed five other colors. The conversation went something like this....
"I don't want yellow. Yellow is the urine color."So it went. Fifteen minutes later everyone agreed to disagree, and Jon was made the final judge. Here are the final colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, aqua, and rose (pink).
"What about brown?"
"I don't like brown."
"Brown is the s**t color."
"What about pink?"
"Pink is a sissy color."
"We won't call it pink. We'll call it 'rose'."
"Rose?"
"The rose player?"
"I don't know. If I saw a pink hero, I'd turn and run away. You know any hero secure enough to use pink as his color is bad ass."
"What about magenta?"
"What about cobalt? What about cadmium?"
"Have we accounted for all the fecal colors?"
"What about orange?"
"Phelan (our art lead) doesn't like orange. It looks bad."
"So. I don't think it looks bad."
"Fine. You tell her you want orange."
"She'll kick your ass."
"Oh. Fine. We won't use orange."
12/07/98
Today we stopped all map production. From here until we ship, I join the mapmakers and testers in playing maps and writing bugs... or so I thought.
Today, I had dropped into my lap the assignment of converting the 144-plus pages of the game manual into a help file. Anyone who has written a help file knows how huge this task can be. I could probably finish it in a day, but it requires no one bothering me for an extended period of time. Ha!
At this late stage of the production cycle, my entire day is spent meeting with people, making sure people are doing their work, and confirming that what is being done is correct. I don't have time for work. I've made the ugly evolution from game designer to middle manager.
It wasn't like this at the beginning of the project. At the beginning of the project the game designer is the screaming prophet, lost and alone in the desert (or the design process if you prefer).
In the middle of the production process the prophet is being screamed at by all his fellow coworkers who are wondering what to do because the design doc is behind schedule.
At the end of the project, everyone's a screaming prophet, and everyone is screaming at everyone else.
Sometime in the middle of all this screaming I've got to write this help file. Maybe I could give the assignment to Christian Vanover (H3 assistant director). Isn't it the job of a middle manager to delegate?
12/08/98
Yesterday I was wondering where I would find the time to write the game help file. Today I have the answer.... I think I have the flu. This doesn't feel like any 24-hour "see-ya-bye" flu either. This feels like "kneel before Zod!" flu.
All right. I've got a story for you.
Earlier today we "officially" stopped making maps. From here on out, we play, test, and polish the game. This could mean a little, or a lot. If the maps play well the first time out, revisions will be minor. If we end up chucking whole maps, we may find ourselves back to making maps. Thus, we started playing them today. JVC (Jon Van Caneghem, New World's president) ended up playing a notorious map named "Barbarian Breakout."
Ten minutes after he starts, JVC pages me over my phone intercom: "Hey Yoda." (He's been calling me Yoda lately. I don't know why. I'm not sure if I should be honored or offended. On one hand, Yoda is wise and he trains Jedi Knights. On the other hand, he is a short ugly green dude with big ears.) "Enemy hero with six behemoths (one of the highest-level creatures) knocked on my front door on week two, day one."
"Oops. I'll be right there."
As soon as I walked into JVC's office, the razzing began.
"What's with the six behemoths? Is this one of the balanced scenarios?"
"OK, OK. Something's wrong. Turn off the fog."
Jon restarts the scenario, turns off the fog of war, ends turn four times in a row, then right-clicks the enemy hero to see the extent of his forces. Aside from his other three stacks of creatures... he has one stack of six behemoths. Oops.
"All right. Open the map in the editor."
Jon opens the map in the editor. What do we discover? First, the enemy hero starts at level three, and the mapmaker (Dave Botan) has given him four stacks of creatures. In addition, the enemy hero's starting town has three of seven creature generators already prebuilt.
No wonder the enemy was able to recruit behemoths on day four.
Remember the story about the father who comes home from a bad day at work and yells at his wife? She in turn yells at her kid. The kid in turn kicks the dog.
At this point, I'm looking for a dog to kick. So, I hunt down Dave Botan. Immediately, Dave states his defense.
"Everyone says the map's too hard. It isn't. The AI's cheating." (Recently, we discovered the artificial intelligence was exploiting an undiscovered bug allowing it to recruit more creatures than were actually available.)
"The AI doesn't need to cheat. It's already got a huge advantage."
"There's a bug."
"Doesn't matter. Set all players to normal starting conditions."
At this point everyone begins to playfully dog-pile on Dave telling all the reasons why his maps suck. In the end he relented and fixed the map.
12/09/98
I'm not writing from work today. I'm writing from home. I have seven-way-straight-from-the-bottom-of-the-Amazon-flu.
With this kind of flu the logical course of action would be to rest, drink lots of fluids, watch lots of movies, maybe see a doctor. However, I am a game designer and unfamiliar with the ways of logic. A day at home with the flu means I have the opportunity to finish the H3 help file.
Wow.
How pathetic can you get? On my day off to rest and get better, I use the uninterrupted time to convert a 144+ page manual into a help file.
I should get sick more often. I get more work done.
12/10/98
I'm back at work today. Good news... I finished the help file. Bad news... I still have the flu, and because I was so efficient in writing the game help file... I've been given the task of writing the map editor help file. Oh yeah, finish it by Monday.
Monday? There's so much pressure in my head, when I sniff, my eyes want to flee their sockets. My voice has the auditory consistency of sandpaper. Monday? Sure, I'll have it done by Monday.
12/11/98
Well, it's Friday night, and I have yet to see Star Trek: Insurrection. Doubt I'll be seeing it anytime soon.
One of the unmentioned symptoms of crunch time is cultural unawareness. In my time at a previous company I almost missed the entire O.J. trial. I haven't seen a movie since Starship Troopers. I'm not kidding.
12/14/98
I shouldn't have come in to work Thursday and Friday. It really pushed me over the edge. For the past two days I've been laid up with fever and chills. Remarkably, it was the one thing to take my mind off work. Aside from a froggy throat, it seems to have passed.
Enough about my illness. From here on, assume I'm always ill with the flu.
12/15/98
Today NWC (New World Computing) took a brief pause from game development to listen to Trip Hawkins (president of 3DO, NWC's parent company).
Twice a year, Trip makes a formal visit to talk about the company and where we're going as a company. It's a nice break from things.
However, Trip wasn't half as exciting as David Richie (our tools programmer) who sat next to me. Turns out David is coming down with the flu.
Over the course of the meeting, the air conditioning didn't turn on. With over 50 people crammed into a room, it got hot very fast. As the minutes passed, I could see David slowly whither.
I thought he was going to vomit. So basically, for most of the meeting, I sat envisioning how I was going to get out of the way when the volcano erupted.
Luckily, the volcano did not erupt. David left in the middle of the lecture and I haven't seen him since.
12/17/98
Welcome to the end of another working day at NWC. There is still no sign of David Richey. Another one of our programmers, John Krause, called in sick today. David Mullich (the Heroes III director) was ready to take bets on who would call in sick next. Of course, everyone blames me for getting them ill.
As far as your average NWC workday goes, this one was hectic and full of revelation.
Revelation?
Yes. Revelation. Only today did I look at my calendar and realize Christmas was next Friday.
Hectic?
Yes. Hectic. Every now and then I need to wipe my desk clean. This means catching up on all the hand-scrolled notes and stray post-its littered about my desk. When my desk is clean, I'm caught up.
This very act of cleaning makes for a semi-chaotic day. There is much gear shifting and subject changing to close dangling issues.
Add to this my usual parade of visitors, and my first chance to test multiplayer, and it takes great effort to avoid turning into a screaming monkey. Yes, I said screaming monkey.
Frequently, I find myself held hostage in my own office as a line of visitors (testers, programmers, artists, producers, etc.) quickly assemble outside my office in a short period of time, all wanting a piece of my brain.
Today it happened to occur while I was in the middle of a multiplayer game with Jeff Leggett (H3 multiplayer programmer). Simultaneously, I had three people show up and cram themselves into my small office. Each began jockeying for position to ask a question. Meanwhile, Jeff waited on the phone intercom, with Heroes III continually chiming in the background, letting me know it was my turn to play.
At this point you may apply the screaming monkey metaphor.
Despite the great potential for chaos, I asked Jeff to wait, gave my three suitors a number, told them to wait in line, then answered each of their questions.
On the surface, everything looked under control. Little did these poor souls know there was a screaming monkey, trapped in my mind's steel cage, wildly thrashing about in a desperate attempt to escape and turn me into a volcano of anger and lunacy.
When it was over, I took a deep breath, noted the walls weren't sprayed with the blood of innocent coworkers, and returned to my multiplayer game with Jeff.
Heroes II multiplayer wasn't friendly in the least. When it wasn't your turn, all you could do was sit at the computer and stare at the screen like a moron.
Well, thanks to our wonderful network programmer, Jeff Leggett, a moron you will no longer be.
Jeff has finished implementing multiplayer support. Now we're on a bug hunt. So, today, Jeff and I played a multiplayer game in the background while we went about our work.
I must admit, I had a blast. Moments like this make me forget my job is serious work.
12/18/98 Friday
Today I actually managed to catch up on all my notes. Next up, International Translation Kit. It can wait until Sunday. I don't get to enjoy these moments of accomplishment very often.
Being a game designer is nothing more than a life of delayed gratification. You spend the first month of the project "being creative," then spend the next 17 as a bricklayer implementing low-level details and boot-strapping the game design when unforeseen consequences arise.
Tomorrow we have our annual company Christmas party. I won't be going. I see my coworkers every day at work. I don't want to see them in a social environment. It'd be too weird. They'd have, like, spouses and dates and stuff, and wear dress clothes.
We've been told we can dress formal or casual. To me this means torn jeans and a food-stained white T-shirt. To everyone else, this means dress formal, because no one wants to underdress.
I don't want to see any of my coworkers dressed up. The thought frightens me. We're a bunch of geeks. We don't look good in casual wear. Formal wear will only amplify our geekiness.
Only one thing could entice me to go to the Christmas party - seeing the wives go off on the management for working their husbands so hard. I'd pay to see that... provided I wasn't on the receiving end.
By the way... hello to Chris Cross and Brian Reed, two friends I made when I briefly worked at Dreamworks Interactive (I didn't work on Trespasser). They called me today. They'd read the first entry in the Designer Diary and called to tell me what they thought. They then tied me up on the phone for the next 30 minutes while simultaneously sending me e-mail with bizarre and obscene attachments.
01/02/99 Saturday
Well, I'm back at work. The Christmas break was needed. I spent the first three days drinking eggnog, sleeping in 12- and 16-hour shifts, and watching Clinton get impeached.
After I was well rested, the eggnog was all gone, and Clintion was impeached, I did what any game design loser would do... worked on the game while on vacation. Ugh. I'm so pathetic.
My initial goal was to play existing maps. After playing five maps, it was obvious the AI hadn't been fully tested. It tended to sit back and never struck out until it had enough forces to guarantee a win.
This made for very extreme game experiences. Either you never saw the AI, or it came storming out of nowhere, knocked on your door, and politely introduced itself as your doom.
When our AI programmer (Gus Smedstad) gets back from vacation, I'll need to share my findings with him.
Well, seeing as I couldn't really play the game, I turned my attention to our 144-page game manual... much to my horror.
It turns out our second draft of the manual was full of errors. So, with red pen in hand, I promoted myself from game designer to fact checker. Over the next three days, I proceeded to bloody the pages of our beautiful manual.
To say it was tedious would be an understatement. When it was all over, I couldn't read anything if it wasn't written in fine print.
01/04/99 Monday
Today was another screaming monkey day. Why? One word: programmers.
I won't say who, but one of our programmers came into my office and proceeded to yell at me over a feature request he'd been given to program.
Why was he yelling at me? On the surface, it was because I hadn't given him enough details, or I hadn't thought through its impact enough. Or it could have been because it was simply a stupid feature, I didn't know what I was doing, and I was ruining the game.
The real reason? He wasn't sure how to program the task he'd been given, and the specified time frame was short. Instead of calming down, thinking it through, and telling me whether it could or could not be done in the given time frame, he panicked, and chose to vent at me.
Programmers are a unique breed. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Some of my best friends are programmers.
I must admit I am fascinated. I've watched each of our team programmers code. It's very amusing. How they code gives me a unique insight to their personality. For instance...
John Bolton (lead programmer): When John programs, it looks like he's playing chess.Now take such individuals and do the unthinkable... Make them into a team. Worse yet, force them to have meetings in which they must interact on a social level and agree to work together. Worse yet, force them to interact with right-brained artists and game designers.
David Richey (tools programmer): David doesn't code. Beforehand, he thinks about his task in depth, like contemplating philosophy, then simply writes it up. Quite often you can look through David's office window and see him bent over in his chair, chin on fist, like The Thinker.
Mark Caldwell (NWC VP): You need to know Mark to really understand, but when Mark codes, it's like he's in a boxing ring, ducking shots, trading blows, and trash talking with the program.
It's a wonder any games ever get made.
Join designer Greg Fulton as gives us his very last Designer Diary entry, which tracks the last days of Heroes of Might and Magic III. In these last few days, the team waited anxiously to approve the gold candidate. But there is no rest for Greg, as he mentions a little something about the expansion disc. Join us as we count down the final development of Heroes III.
01/07/99
Ever heard the phrase "thousand tile stare"?
It's a phrase used by our mapmakers. You get the thousand tile stare from making H3 maps all day long.
Today I got the thousand tile stare after making a map for our eventual game demo.
It's a very simple, small map, letting players experience a portion of the game. Hopefully they'll experience enough and feel compelled to buy the game. I've been calling the map "Dead and Buried."
When I finished, I gave it to Chris Vanover (H3 assistant director) to play. Chris is an expert Heroes player. He's a good gauge of the map's difficulty.
Watching Chris play was a lot of fun. It allowed me to take a break from work and finally see the game in action. However, I am the worst person to have over your shoulder when you play.
Why? I'm a backseat driver. It's a bad habit from playing console games with friends.
Thus, I watched Chris play and second-guessed him all the way. We were like two old men spitting and complaining about the best strategy as Chris clicked his way through the game. It was rather humorous.
01/08/99
Today I gave the Dead and Buried map to a few select people to see if anyone could beat it in the allotted time frame of four game weeks.
One of my candidates was Jen Bullard. Jen is the only female tester in the QA area.
Upon entering the test area, I found Jennifer burning a candle at her desk. She wasn't afraid to comment aloud how everyone else in the test area doesn't wash their clothes often enough. She thinks they stink.
No sooner did I sit down to watch Jen play than the verbal bantering between the testers began.
Ryan Den, another one of our testers, was sure he found a bug and asked aloud if anyone had encountered the same bug. No one had. Immediately everyone began shouting "user error." Ryan thought they were all high... until he realized it was user error. Everyone then proceeded to playfully tear into Ryan yet again.
I must admit, our testers are pretty cool. Their interactions are quite amusing. They banter with the voracity of a knife fight, but it's rarely cruel.
01/14/99
Last night was my last chance to revise the game manual. Thus, I decided to pull an all-nighter to finish it. This was my first time being at NWC so late. I also experienced something completely new.
I had been drinking many free Cokes when my bladder reminded me who was really in charge. Without hesitation, I raced to the bathroom. I opened the door. It was dark. This is not unusual. The lights are hooked up to a motion sensor. To save energy, they turn on and off based on the presence of a moving body. Confident the lights would turn on, I strode into the bathroom.
The lights did not illuminate.
Fumbling around in the dark, I was able to find the light switch and flip it on.
Nothing.
Fumbling around some more, I found the door handle and exited the bathroom.
Moving quickly to Mark Caldwell's office (Mark and George were also working late), I told him, "The bathroom lights won't turn on." He said, "Yeah. The bathroom lights don't turn on after midnight." I asked, "How do you go to the bathroom with the lights off?" He answered, "Usually I just feel my way to the urinal."
"I need to take a crap."
"Hey, I wouldn't know anything about that. Get the flashlight from George."
"I need a flashlight?"
"Yeah."
So, I walked to George's office.
"I need the bathroom flashlight."
Giggling to himself under his breath, George reached into his desk and gave me a pocket flashlight. With flashlight in hand I returned to the bathroom where everything went according to plan.
I know game production has its odd moments, but... this one was really odd.
01/18/99
In the last days of a game's production, the game designer makes a desperate attempt to prevent features from being cut to make the deadline. However, if I got all the features I wanted, the game would never ship. Thus, there is always a tug of war between the game designer, management, programmers, and artists, to decide what gets into the game and what gets pushed back to the expansion or sequel.
Today I was doing my best to get a new hero into the game without too much additional programming or art. I realized I could get the results I needed by simply adding a new graphic and customizing an existing game hero. Even better, I could get the graphic from existing art in the intro movie. All the artist had to do was crop a freeze-frame from the movie and give it to our asset manager to be put into the game. I could customize the hero in the editor. All the programmers had to do was recognize the character's unique identification.
Well, we did.
I wonder how much longer I can push my luck.
01/19/99
I have become the Walmart floor manager.
No. I haven't quit my job.
Let me explain.
At this stage in the making of the game, I find myself spending most of my time walking the halls with my Notepad of Oppression waiting for people to call out my name.
The notepad is a list of issues needing resolution. Most people find the notepad humorous unless their name is on it. Ironically, I end up putting my name on the notepad more than anyone else's (I'm oppressing myself).
Regardless, when I am walking the halls and someone calls out my name, I duck into their office to answer their questions. Sometimes this means getting on their phone and calling someone else to clear up an issue. If I don't have the answer, I'm the intermediary.
Thus, I feel like the Walmart floor manager, roaming the isles, taking care of arising issues. All I really need is the blue vest.
01/20/99
For a moment, consider most game manuals. Usually, a manual details the game interface and introduces you to the various game elements. Rarely do these manuals give you true game statistics.
For Heroes III , we wanted to buck this trend. Using the Heroes II strategy guide as a model, we decided to make a big manual loaded with information. This is exactly what we did - 144 pages.
Today we signed off on the manual. Well, no sooner did the ink dry than we discovered some errors. It was terrifying. I literally sat at my desk, looking at the errors I had discovered, and heard the manual mocking me with the chittering of a wild hyena.
There was nothing I could do. It was carved in stone. Now understand, most manuals ship with some errors. This is what the Readme is for. However, several people had gone over this manual time and again, and still there were errors.
I'll never make a big manual again. It's too much upkeep considering the fluidity of game design.
I'm sure I'll lose some sleep over this.
1/25/99
Today the Coke machine caught fire.
Let me repeat this.
Today the Coke machine caught fire.
Since we started crunching, around 7:00pm each night, Mark Caldwell (NWC VP) has been unlocking the Coke machine for free drinks to go with our evening meal. We don't continue pressing the selection buttons for the various drinks. Instead, we literally open up the front half of this big, red, half-ton refrigerator, made to withstand the assaults of the most juvenile of delinquents.
Now, I'm not exactly clear on the details, but one of the testers pulled open the front door to grab a soda from inside. Apparently, some of the electrical wires were sheared, followed by fire and smoke.
Upon seeing the fire and smelling the smoke, the tester grabbed Ben Bent (NWC office manager and part-time game director). He then pointed out the fire in the Coke machine.
With perfect calm, Ben simply unplugged the Coke machine. Poof. The fire went away.
I must admit, I can't help but see the fire in the Coke machine as a metaphor for Heroes III in production. A fire starts, someone panics, and someone else calmly solves the problem.
Truthfully, it's the story of the game production process.
2/07/99 Sunday
Today could be the day.
We've decided to make a "final candidate" CD-ROM for 3DO approval. A final candidate is what we consider "ready to ship." We then send the final candidate to 3DO for them to do shrink-wrap testing.
Tonight, no one leaves the building until the game is finished.
2/08/99 Monday
It's 5:00am Monday morning.
We just started burning the final candidate.
About half the team is still here.
We've been crunching too long. Everyone's burnt.
About 15 minutes ago, Mark starting broadcasting Money For Nothing over everyone's speakerphone.
Ironic.
02/13/99
I am literally weak-kneed. Except for writing this entry, all I intend to do is just sit in my office chair and do everything I possibly can to do nothing.
As of 8:30 Saturday, February 13, we're calling it good Barring last-second crash bugs, the game is done.
It's 9:30, and with the realization the game is done, already I'm beginning to crash.
After crunching for so long, the crash is the aftereffect. This is the time when you finally realize you can relax and return to a somewhat normal life. This is also the flag signaling the release of all the pent-up stress and illness you've been holding off by sheer will for the past six months. Thus... crash.
Wow.
We're done.
02/14/99
Four days after announcing Heroes has gone gold, we're already talking about the expansion pack. Already, I've assembled my map makers. They're good people. With H3 under their belts they should make even better maps for the expansion.
The downside? Chris Vanover is moving onto a different project. Technically Chris was H3's assistant director, but I adopted him as my assistant designer. He was a big help in many of the grunt areas. I was hoping to hand the expansion off to Chris so I could concentrate on the next Heroes.
No such luck.
Ultimately, this means vacation must wait.
(whimper)
Where is a monkey boy when you need one?
02/19/99
David Mullich's (Heroes III director) wife was pregnant and expecting about the same time as E3 last year (Atlanta '98). So, he couldn't go and demonstrate the game.
I was the next logical choice. I know the game better than anyone else, and when needed, I can turn on the charm.
Now don't get me wrong, when I have demoed the game, it has been a delight. Yet, as a game, Heroes III doesn't demo well. It's a turn-based game. It's not a first-person shooter or real-time strategy game. There's no real immediate reward for your attention span to latch onto.
However, Heroes does have a very large, very dedicated following. Thus, most people who want to see Heroes are already fans. This was the case at E3.
At E3 I did the vast majority of the presentations. I did so many I ended up losing my voice. Almost all the people who saw the game were fans of Heroes and liked what they saw. We were so successful, people were taking chairs from the other game stations to sit in front of ours.
Well, the downside to my work at E3 was... I became the demo guy. The downside of being the demo guy is traveling.
I hate traveling.
Once I arrive at my destination, there's no problem. I'm just impatient by nature. I'm also 6'1" and hate sitting in supercramped airline seats.
So, today I got to fly up to 3DO with Peter Ryu (MM7 producer), Keith Francart (MM7 director), and Jeff Blatner (new Heroes producer) to give presentations on MM7 and Heroes III to our Ubi Soft partners and a smattering of European journalists.
As much as I hated getting up at 5:30am and traveling to San Francisco (less than one week after going gold), the trip was amusing for a number of reasons.
Since I have been at New World, Peter Ryu has always worn shorts and sandals. For the presentation, Pete was ordered to wear pants and shoes. Throughout the day, he was wincing as the shoes rubbed his feet raw.
The other amusing part was hanging out with the French chicks from Ubi Soft and the European press.
Last time I was at 3DO I did an H3 presentation to a number of European journalists. Not a French woman among them. It was different this time, and dare I say, worth the trip.
02/22/99
David Mullich (H3 director), George Ruof (H3 programmer), and I are the only members of the team in the building today. Everyone else is on vacation.
Over the weekend I began my self-rehabilitation for returning to the real world.
When you do nothing but work 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week, and then it all comes to an abrupt halt, you suddenly find you have all this spare time on your hands.
Ultimately, you become bored. You don't know what to do with yourself because your "normal" situation meant working on the game... but the game is finished. Normal has become different and no longer normal.
A logical assumption for curing this boredom would be a vacation. Not yet. I've got to write the design for the expansion disc. I've got two weeks before it is due. After hammering out the specs, everyone will be briefed, then I can go on vacation.
I've got it all planned out. I haven't seen my parents since Christmas of 1997. So, I'm going to go back home and sit in the rocking chair in front of my dad's big-screen TV and watch nothing but cable television for at least two weeks. You heard me. Nothing but CNN Headline News for two weeks. If by then I'm not properly vegetated, I'll watch it for another week. Then I'll track down my old high school girlfriend and see if she's still single.
I've set up an e-mail address for your feedback about the game when it hits the shelves. This e-mail is merely for player feedback and suggestions. I will be the one reading the e-mails, and most likely, I won't be answering any of them. So, don't flame me if I don't respond. [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
I've enjoyed writing these diaries. I wish I had been able to dedicate more time to them.
My apologies to Elliott Chin (who made these diaries possible). Elliott wanted me to talk about the design philosophy behind H3. After practicing design philosophy 12-14 hours a day, I couldn't bring myself to write a diary about it. So, I thought I'd do "a day in the life." I hope you enjoyed my tongue-in-cheek account.
I leave you with the following words I once heard the great Jon Van Caneghem speak, "When it's all over you'll forget how hard it was and do it all over again."
He's right. We will.
2023.06.06 23:27 riversrunningdeep What are your Rated R / TV-MA media recs? Here are mine!
My Bachelor’s is in Film Studies, so this is my thing! I’d love to read all of your recommendations! I’m still catching up on my Rated R media.
My Film Recs:
submitted by riversrunningdeep to exmormon [link] [comments]
My Film Recs:
- Schindler’s List (1993) is a MUST-SEE. If you haven’t watched it, watch it ASAP. I consider it one of the most essential visual educational tools about the Holocaust. The film is based on a true story and one of the best portrayals of life during the Nazi “Final Solution.” The film won 7 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score (John Williams), Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction. I think teenagers should watch this film at around ~16 years old (depending on maturity) for educational purposes.
- 1917 (2019) is a World War I film that won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography with its strategy of presenting the film in one continuous shot. As I watched this film, I seemed to be running with the two characters as they traveled across enemy lines to deliver a timely message to save almost 2,000 British soldiers. It’s one of the more tame war films, but still intense.
- All Quiet on the Western Front (2022). HOLY FUCK. It’s based on the 1929 novel written by a World War I German veteran. However, this anti-war film is the first (out of 3) adaptations to ACTUALLY be produced by the Germans (the other two were made by Americans and then by Americans & Brits), seeing how this story follows the German characters in World War I.
- Back to All Quiet on the Western Front (2022). The film is tied for the most-awarded foreign film in Oscars’ history with Parasite (2019) and three other films I’m too lazy to list. NOT GONNA LIE: I got halfway through this film and couldn’t finish it. I was about to have a panic attack, even though while I watched it, I tried to calm myself down by admiring the special effects, production design, cinematography, etc., but it didn’t last long. I already know the film deserves all of the awards it won. If you can stomach it, I highly recommend watching it. Its extremely graphic depiction of violence is what makes it so staunchly anti-war. I’ll probably be able to watch the second half soon.
- Call Me By Your Name (2017). ANOTHER HOLY FUCK. This film changed my brain chemistry, and it’s one of the first and only films that made me feel like a changed person after seeing it. I used to sit in my film classes wondering what people meant about films being “life-changing,” I finally understood what they meant when the end credits started to roll on this film. It’s a coming-of-age romantic drama that put Timothee Chalamet on the map. He is phenomenal in the movie (as he is in everything he is in), and Chalamet is the youngest man (21 years old at the time) to be nominated for the Oscar’s Best Actor award since 1939. Don’t let the film being “coming-of-age” deter you. It has one of the most beautiful romantic love messages I have ever seen.
- The Boys on Amazon Prime. If the Marvel/DC formula of superheroes disinterests you or starts getting on your nerves, you must watch The Boys. It’s a new gritty take on what life would actually look like with a corrupt corporation of superheroes. It’s raunchy and surprises you in the craziest ways. I think my jaw was permanently dropped watching the show. They just finished filming Season 4. It’s dark, violent, and satirical, and the show wittily comments on today’s social and political climate. Not to mention the main villain scares the FUCK out of me. The humor is top-notch, and sometimes I feel it should be illegal for me to laugh at their jokes. I highly recommend the show.
- Euphoria on HBO Max (or just Max now?). I started watching it because Zendaya won her first Emmy for portraying Euphoria’s main character, Rue, making her the youngest winner for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. (She won this Emmy Award again for Euphoria’s second season, making her the youngest two-time winner). I started the show for Zendaya, and I was drawn in by the writing and (gorgeous!) cinematography. The show’s portrayal of drug use, sex, mental health, and teenage life is deeply emotional, occasionally disturbing, but draws you into the character’s experiences. When I watched it, I was like, “So THIS is what being a teenager is like for non-Mormons!” (Though, I’m sure not all teenagers’ lives are like the dramatization in Euphoria.) I plan to rewatch the show soon now that I’m officially exmo just to see how different I perceive the show vs when I watched it as a still-believing but PIMO member.
- Fleabag. HOLY FUCK. It is a beautifully written comedy-drama with hilarious fourth wall breaks. There are only 2 seasons, but MAN they are so worth watching! It's such a realistic deep dive in heartbreak, loss, and finding yourself following the woman "Fleabag" who is so chaotic and rough around the edges, but you can't help but root for her. The show was nominated for 11 Emmy awards, and won 6. It's pacing is so refreshing. I need to rewatch it now.
- Edited to add: Narcos. Love that show. It's fast-paced, and NGL I watched it because Pedro Pascal took off his Mandalorian helmet in The Mandalorian, and I thought he was cute so I watched the show. It's based on the true story of the DEA assisting the Columbian government in trying to catch Pablo Escobar. The international politics of it all was SO interesting to me. Very violent (as you'd expect), and another show I highly recommend.
2023.06.06 23:08 Individual-Bit4677 [TOMT][MOVIE][Western][pre-2004]
I’m trying to figure out the name of a western movie I watched around 2004. I think the movie was already quite old and was shot in the style of a classic spaghetti western (although I’m fuzzy on that point). The most I can remember is a scene towards the end of the film (I think near the Rio Grande) where the two protagonists face off in a duel. I think they had previously been in the army together and after several shots were fired, person 1 tells person 2 that he never did learn to count his bullets noting that person 2’s gun was now empty. At that moment person 2 drops to the ground and pulls a gun from his boot and shoots person 1. Person 2 then replies, “Inventory.”
I know this isn’t much to go on, but it is a pretty memorable end duel, and the inventory line has stuck with me.
submitted by Individual-Bit4677 to tipofmytongue [link] [comments]
I know this isn’t much to go on, but it is a pretty memorable end duel, and the inventory line has stuck with me.
2023.06.06 23:02 Crownomancer Royal Mail integration not including variation details in postage label header?
so I've recently integrated my Etsy store with Click and Drop by Royal Mail, but the postage label I print off only shows the name of the item and not any other user selected details like "colour" or "size" this is particularly annoying when eBay just gives you a single line of text with the item name and the selected options.
is this a setting I need to set up, or is the integration with RM just bad? is anyone else having this problem and do you have a workaround ? first time selling on Etsy so still figuring a lot out.
submitted by Crownomancer to EtsySellers [link] [comments]
is this a setting I need to set up, or is the integration with RM just bad? is anyone else having this problem and do you have a workaround ? first time selling on Etsy so still figuring a lot out.
2023.06.06 22:57 Embarrassed_Race9642 My brief exposure to crypto, working in it, and how it drove me suicidal (THROWAWAY ACCOUNT)
Hi everyone! I've been a lurker here for a while, and I've been reading different stories about people who worked in crypto sharing their regrets and/or spiteful feelings here, so it encouraged me to share my own. I never really post or comment on reddit except in gaming subreddits for help, so this is a first! I hope I don't bore you to death, but I imagine it might feel a little nice venting it out.
In hindsight, I didn't realise this would be such a long, long read, so please forgive the wall of text. This is really really long, but I don't care; I just wanted to get it all out to actual people. Read it if you will.
Lemme get some key points outta the way so we don't start off on the wrong foot
· at the beginning, I was never really "pro" or "anti" crypto
· I didn't lose any money lol
· throughout the whole thing, I was crypto neutral
· I managed to stop the project before it launched
· please do not refer me to suicide hotlines, I'm already going through therapy
· I was ignorant about crypto at the beginning; but now I know, so please, no lectures!
· I haven't "made money" either; in fact, I put a stop to the thing my friends were working on.
· I don't think I'm very smart, in fact, I feel stupid and useless after this whole debacle
· This doesn't really have a happy or "bad" ending, so please don't expect a happy ending. Also, again, please, please refrain from "giving advice." Just hear this out, and that's it. Make fun of this or ridicule it or empathise with it, I don't care; just don't "give advice" or "reassure" or whatever. Have the decency to just read something like this and let it be. Thank you!!
About myself: I don't really have a background in tech, and most of this is rather confusing stuff (then and now). I'm actually never on social media or the internet too often. I'm a writer, musician, and artist (mostly writer and musician), and I've done administrative work, project management, and journalism work to get by. I'm currently studying my undergraduate degree. I'll go about this chronologically.
2021 Jan - Sep: one of my friends got into crypto. He's a programmer (and a good one at that). I observed from the sidelines, and he kept talking about how much money he's made by trading. The concept of it never made any sense to me, but I'm not a programmer and I trusted my friend, so I was like "well, good for you." I never really understood any of that trading hubbub either!
I never really paid attention to any of this stuff, I was usually out with my friends, working, making music, playing games, or just writing. I never even owned a twitter account until late 2021!
2021 Sep: My friend made a whole lot of money one day, and I was pleasantly surprised! This guy always had those chart things on his screen 24/7 (never closed) whenever we went to his house, so we were all like "what the heck, that's hard work, huh?" I was genuinely happy that he's gotten his big break, because I believed he deserved it. He's one of the most talented people I know. Turns out one of his friends ran this crypto project with all these strange buzzwords that I still couldn't quite understand and gave him some "airdrops" before the "governance" token things launched. Oh, this isn't the thing I worked for, by the way!
2021 Oct: I didn't know too much about crypto, but I got it's selling point (or, well, I was dumb enough to fall for it). At least according to them, it's internet money that you can send anywhere at any time that you "own" and no central authorities own whatsoever (now I know that this concept is just incredibly stupid, but bear with me). I mean, I wasn't really an anti-government nut (and I didn't really turn into one either), but my friend's adamant on it, so I was like "well, why not?" and put $1000 in — wired it to this exchange (hint: it's not FTX, Coinbase, or Binance). Long story short, I put some money into that "Sandbox" thing and made a good few hundred bucks when it went up. There wasn't any real reasoning other than "well, Sandbox is a game, and people must use it for things, right?"
Oh, also, sandbox did these giveaway things for some "alpha pass" where you play their game and post a screenshot on twitter and win one of these alpha pass NFTs that you can sell on the market. I lucked out, got one, immediately sold it — I made like $5000 reselling that thing at "floor price." I remember thinking "woah, these guys must really want to play this game," which was naive and stupid, I guess.
2021 Nov - 2022 March: I cashed that out (the exchange wires that money back into your bank account for you) and steered clear later, because the whole thing was too much for me, staring at those dumb charts watching lines go up and down. That was all the money I ever made from crypto. I used it to buy some much needed medical devices, a guitar, and.. well, a new mattress. I donated the remainder away. Every time I asked my programmer friends to explain something or the other, it's always handwaving to "DYOR!" Every source they pointed me to confused me even more, and now I know that's deliberate with these grifters.
2022 March - May: I was still in their group chat so I could see them talk about it every now and then. Sometimes I drop in my comments about real-world news. One day, my friends were talking about starting an actual business. This was something I had experience in, and as far as I've seen, anything tangible that anyone's ever done with crypto was usually with games. I've had this idea for a type of game that I really cherished, and one of my friends had experience as a game developer. It was a relatively simple idea.
Let me tell you though, I really loved this game subcategory. I'm even in a university society for it. It's been one of my lifelong dreams to see my idea come to life. So I pitched the idea in, cause why not? The subcategory was never done in crypto, so at least we'd have the advantage of novelty, I thought. They weren't really sure how to monetise it, so I said "why not monetise the characters?" It seemed reasonable at the time: the characters could act as access points to the game and anyone could buy new characters for like, what, 5 bucks? At least that's what I had in mind. They agreed, so I found a popular NFT project to pitch the idea for (since it made more sense to work under an organisation rather than going full indie into a space we had no reputation in yet).
At the time, my friends said making these characters NFTs would give people "real ownership" and be a way to "support digital artists by cutting out the middleman." I mean, as a writer and musician, that did appeal to me. I didn't really question much of it (and I know I should have, it should have been due diligence, that was careless on my part). I thought "maybe we could make these NFTs customisable, because that's what RPGs are about, right?" and we went ahead with that.
2022 April - June: Here's a reminder: I'm a social media hermit. I never get on it unless it's checking on someone on Facebook or Instagram (or messaging). I never had twitter until 2021! So, I've never heard of people like Molly White, Tante, David Gerard, Amy Castor, yada yada until around this time. One my friends showed me Dan Olson's "Line Goes Up." And man, what a watch that was. It confirmed my gut feelings about crypto, that this is all just... hollow, insane, crazy stuff. My heart sank after watching that video.
I remember googling "responses to Line Goes Up" because I was in denial back then, not because I "believed" in crypto but I just didn't want to admit I've wasted so much time and energy. And I remember how every single "response" was just... idiotic. At that point, I sent that video to that NFT organisation's discord and said "if we're all genuine about this, maybe we should watch this and try to improve ourselves." It was the whole sunk cost fallacy thing, I wanted to believe that I didn't waste my time being a complete dork.
But after a certain point, I just couldn't run away from it anymore. I told my friends "let's just switch to making a steam game, we haven't lost or earned any money yet." It was an idea that was doable with a steam game, like... all you had to do was just change the monetisation bit to having players spend 5 bucks buying it... on steam... lol. Ah, but my friends were like "no." They won't do it. They wanted to make NFTs, and I couldn't understand for the love of god why you would do that. It was my idea, they had never played a game like that in their lives, I was the only one with any exposure in that regard.
Also, I was the one making the art as well, like... the character sprites. I'd spent so much time drawing those character sprites, their features, etc. I spent some time making some music, and even some background lore that fit in with the other NFT project we were working under. I barely checked their stupid discord things or twitter posts since I was so busy actually drawing and writing stuff. This was a passion project for me, and I was focused on making the game. You have no idea how much I love these types of role-playing games (but I'm not going into detail as to what that is because I'm not so comfortable).
Little did my stupid ass realise that these things were a pyramid scheme, and I was right at the middle or bottom. Little did my naive ass realise that none of these people liked my idea or even cared; people like me doing actual stuff gave them legitimacy, so people like me were just... pawns, I guess. Being the idiot I was, I engaged with my real name and my real identity, because that's what honest people do when they're selling a fucking game they'd be proud of, right? What a mistake. And my friends who knew what this stuff is never stopped me from doing any of it while I naively put my name and reputation at the front. After watching line goes up and then reading more and more sources (and eventually stumbling across Buttcoin on reddit!) I reached the point of no return:
Crypto and blockchain were useless in all possible ways, they never made sense as a technology, they're filled with disgusting people with disgusting anarcho-capitalist ideals, and there will never be a point where the "blockchain" will ever find a use-case beyond grifting, speculating, gambling, and money laundering because that is inherent to this technology's design. It is irredeemable. NFTs were never about empowering artists like us and it could never even do that at all because the premise and technology are flawed to begin with!
That was my realisation over time after actually reading about this from critical sources (which, at the top of the hype, I thought wasn't even really there because I had bought into my programmer friends' narrative that this is just like the internet and "everybody is in.")
I only wish I realised it sooner.
2022 June - July: I vehemently begged my friends to stop. I didn't want to make or sell NFTs anymore after realising what it was. I didn't even want the money (and god knows I could use that money since it could pay off my father's debts, but not like this. Not by hurting other people who may just be in the same position as I am by "winning" or "doing really 'smart' stuff.")
No one listened. I was about to quit, until the NFT organisation we were working under announced a grant. I saw this as an opportunity to put a stop to my own friends making their own NFTs, and I grabbed it. I begged and pleaded them to apply for that grant, which they begrudgingly did. I applied for that grant thing and it got approved, and all my friends were really excited about it. They all agreed to not make NFTs anymore and just make a free-to-play game. We worded the grant that way too.
But it still didn't sit right with me personally. I agonised over it still. Sure, it's grant money now... but how did that bigger NFT organisation get that money? Obviously, by selling NFTs and collecting resale "royalties." I guess it didn't matter to my friends, but to me, that's blood money. None of them were writers or artists, by the way. They were just... tech people. Techbros, I guess.
Anyway, the grant thing works by having people vote for it, and you get as much money as the votes you get. Our idea was good and we actually had a skillset, so we got like a little over four digits, which is big to someone like me, at least!
But it still didn't sit right with me.
I agonised over it all the time, thinking about just how I had soiled and shat on my lifelong passion idea, and how my name was out there associated with these people.
I just couldn't stand it anymore. One day, I told my friends that I was fucking quitting (this was in the middle of the grant voting process, that thing dragged on for about a couple of weeks) if they didn't turn this into a steam game instead. They chose to just let me quit, take the project for themselves, and... uh, take the grant money.
My friends got me on voice call and kinda hounded me, saying "well we understand if you want to quit but damn that sucks, it's a lot of money, man. It's been my dream too to make a game like that ever since my childhood." That last line really struck home because it was something I could empathise with, but then I recognised it as just... them trying to justify making fat stacks lol. They never really felt that way, and I'll tell you why I think that in a bit.
Either way, I quit. I got out. I didn't even take any compensation money. I mean, why would I lie about it here under an anonymous throwaway account anyway? I have nothing to gain from it, not even "karma farming" since I'm throwing this account away lol. Just... I couldn't stand it anymore, man.
2022 July - September: I spent this time distancing from these people and this crowd. I grew depressed. I hadn't lost any money, but I wasted so much time. I was left feeling disillusioned about my friends. To them, I was overreacting, I was being a cunt, I was just being so difficult! I just was standing in their way of "making bread" and "hustling!"
I stopped going out or hanging out with my friends.
I stopped going to that uni society out of shame. They don't know about it but I just can't even see the game the same way anymore. I felt so ashamed.
I never played that game with my usual other friends who I used to play it with a long time back either. They don't know about any of this either, but I was just so ashamed and disgusted. It kind of feels traumatic.
I stopped writing and barely made any music. I picked up a new tablet and learned to draw in a new style, but eventually I stopped that too. I just didn't feel like it anymore.
I got burned out. I barely was able to hand in my assignments. I had stopped going to classes because I just couldn't bother getting out of bed and going out there into actual society again. I felt like I was a disgusting, naive piece of shit that would just stain otherwise normal people.
I spent my days agonising about the day someone found out that I made art for this dumb project, that I was out there passionately talking about this idea like a stupid nerdy dumbfuck, and that I am associated with it even though I quit. One of my other friends who quit with me said he'd provide testimony of my side of things, but that's not really comforting.
I mean, it's a fringe thing anyway, we barely made anything. My friends got the grant, and I spend every single day agonising over it. I mean, it's not direct "profits" from NFTs, but where'd that grant money come from in the first place, huh?
My worst fear was that they'd pocket it and not even make the game. And they did. I guess those other NFTbros really didn't notice it since a few thousand bucks is just spare change to these grifter overlords. Again, I never took any money from it.
I can only thank god that I stopped them from making their own NFTs though, otherwise I really couldn't live with myself.
Every single day, I keep checking my old discord account and twitter like I'm obsessed, out of fear. I honestly don't care if it's just me that gets fucked by association, but I don't want my existence to become a burden to my poor siblings and parents just by being associated with me. I don't want their reputations to go to the shitter. They're hardworking, honest people who don't waste their time on stupid things like I have. They don't deserve that, at least. It should be me that should suffer.
Everyday, I agonise over it.
I couldn't really cry or anything about it, I just felt hollow, I guess. I've lost interest in most of the things I loved. Sometimes I play games, sometimes I scribble for the fucks of it, sometimes I read, sometimes I write in my notebook, but that's it. I had stopped going out, and I hadn't seen anyone for a long while.
2022 September - 2022 November: I bought a rope and a pull-up bar. I continually kept writing in my journal to prepare a good, coherent suicide note instead of, like... writing it all incoherently at the last minute and then peacing out lol. The pull-up bar is because my dorm doesn't really have any places I could hang my rope from, so if I attach the pull-up bar to the door, I could tie the rope onto it and hang.
The other way I thought of doing it was heroin, because apparently it just quietly puts you to sleep; but I'm scared of needles and I don't want to buy anything on the dark web. I've never done hard drugs like that anyway.
I kept procrastinating it. Partly because I had grown too lazy to even learn how to tie a hangman's knot, and partly because I was still afraid. The thing is, I've already been diagnosed with a mental health issue that also causes depression for nearly a decade now. This, though, was the worst I ever felt. The part that sucks the most is that the game idea was a passion project for me. It was something I've always dreamed of doing. It was the sort of games I really, really loved. It was the sort of art I loved making and seeing too. It was the kind of music I had fun composing. The story idea was something from my own long-held ideas that I wanted to bring to life, and now that's in the shitter too.
On some days, I woke up with absolute certainty of what I was going to do: learn to tie that knot, hang it up, and be done with it. I got distracted, and eventually I'd forget and doze off again. I spend most of my time chatting online with some of my friends (via text), which was something I rarely ever did a few years ago. I was more known for rarely responding to texts because I was outside so frequently lol.
I decided to see everyone for one last time before I did it, so I waited to get back to my own home country first. I wanted to just see everyone and sort of hang out with them as an unspoken farewell thing before I did it.
2022 December: I went back home, I hung out with my friends and family, and I was my usual self. I don't think anyone really caught on. We all made plans to go places and do stuff, and we did. It was a nice little time with everyone. I even kind of felt like myself again. I went swimming, went to friends' houses, met up with old friends, etc. I even put up a local art page and dropped some of my writings, music, and art on there.
2023 January: It was almost time to go back, but I went on a vacation to this country with a friend by ourselves. We ate local food at the stalls and just backpacked on a budget. We went hiking and sightseeing. We went to night markets, canoed in a river, and went camping in the woods. I actually finished one of my assignments on a train ride to this city. We did so many things, but I don't want to go off on a tangent. That experience made me forget these feelings for a while. It meant a lot to me, but I'll keep it at that for this subreddit.
2023 Late January - Now: I went back, these feelings returned. I've spiralled back into agonising now, but I'm seeing a therapist and a university counsellor now. It hasn't gotten as bad as it was in September last year, and especially now I feel reluctant to do it because one of them told me "your death doesn't happen to you, it happens to the people around you."
I'm kind of just picking myself up from here, trying to forget this ever happened, and working in other industries I used to work in back then. But I know that as soon as anyone finds out I was associated with any of this, I will get rid of myself. At the very least, my family would be spared then, and I wouldn't be such a burden, no matter what my therapist says.
I'm more or less just empty and neutral now. I haven't really done anything other than just study, go to classes, and do my assignments. My daily activities consist of eating, shitting, pissing, sleeping, and repeat. If someone from 3 years ago saw me now, they'd think I'm an entirely different person.
One day I'll move on, make peace with myself, and forget about it. That's what I hope for, at least. I'm at least thankful that I've been able to stop my friends from actually making NFTs or a crypto coin and actually hurting people. I'm just glad. I don't know or care what they're up to now. I couldn't be arsed anymore.
I saw people share their stories, and I felt like doing that myself too. It turned out longer than I expected, but I didn't want to leave anyone hanging, lol, so I wrote about everything from start to finish. Sorry if that turned out to be way too long. Thanks for taking your time getting this far if you have.
I hope no one else has agonised or will have to agonise the way I have.
submitted by Embarrassed_Race9642 to Buttcoin [link] [comments]
In hindsight, I didn't realise this would be such a long, long read, so please forgive the wall of text. This is really really long, but I don't care; I just wanted to get it all out to actual people. Read it if you will.
Lemme get some key points outta the way so we don't start off on the wrong foot
· at the beginning, I was never really "pro" or "anti" crypto
· I didn't lose any money lol
· throughout the whole thing, I was crypto neutral
· I managed to stop the project before it launched
· please do not refer me to suicide hotlines, I'm already going through therapy
· I was ignorant about crypto at the beginning; but now I know, so please, no lectures!
· I haven't "made money" either; in fact, I put a stop to the thing my friends were working on.
· I don't think I'm very smart, in fact, I feel stupid and useless after this whole debacle
· This doesn't really have a happy or "bad" ending, so please don't expect a happy ending. Also, again, please, please refrain from "giving advice." Just hear this out, and that's it. Make fun of this or ridicule it or empathise with it, I don't care; just don't "give advice" or "reassure" or whatever. Have the decency to just read something like this and let it be. Thank you!!
About myself: I don't really have a background in tech, and most of this is rather confusing stuff (then and now). I'm actually never on social media or the internet too often. I'm a writer, musician, and artist (mostly writer and musician), and I've done administrative work, project management, and journalism work to get by. I'm currently studying my undergraduate degree. I'll go about this chronologically.
2021 Jan - Sep: one of my friends got into crypto. He's a programmer (and a good one at that). I observed from the sidelines, and he kept talking about how much money he's made by trading. The concept of it never made any sense to me, but I'm not a programmer and I trusted my friend, so I was like "well, good for you." I never really understood any of that trading hubbub either!
I never really paid attention to any of this stuff, I was usually out with my friends, working, making music, playing games, or just writing. I never even owned a twitter account until late 2021!
2021 Sep: My friend made a whole lot of money one day, and I was pleasantly surprised! This guy always had those chart things on his screen 24/7 (never closed) whenever we went to his house, so we were all like "what the heck, that's hard work, huh?" I was genuinely happy that he's gotten his big break, because I believed he deserved it. He's one of the most talented people I know. Turns out one of his friends ran this crypto project with all these strange buzzwords that I still couldn't quite understand and gave him some "airdrops" before the "governance" token things launched. Oh, this isn't the thing I worked for, by the way!
2021 Oct: I didn't know too much about crypto, but I got it's selling point (or, well, I was dumb enough to fall for it). At least according to them, it's internet money that you can send anywhere at any time that you "own" and no central authorities own whatsoever (now I know that this concept is just incredibly stupid, but bear with me). I mean, I wasn't really an anti-government nut (and I didn't really turn into one either), but my friend's adamant on it, so I was like "well, why not?" and put $1000 in — wired it to this exchange (hint: it's not FTX, Coinbase, or Binance). Long story short, I put some money into that "Sandbox" thing and made a good few hundred bucks when it went up. There wasn't any real reasoning other than "well, Sandbox is a game, and people must use it for things, right?"
Oh, also, sandbox did these giveaway things for some "alpha pass" where you play their game and post a screenshot on twitter and win one of these alpha pass NFTs that you can sell on the market. I lucked out, got one, immediately sold it — I made like $5000 reselling that thing at "floor price." I remember thinking "woah, these guys must really want to play this game," which was naive and stupid, I guess.
2021 Nov - 2022 March: I cashed that out (the exchange wires that money back into your bank account for you) and steered clear later, because the whole thing was too much for me, staring at those dumb charts watching lines go up and down. That was all the money I ever made from crypto. I used it to buy some much needed medical devices, a guitar, and.. well, a new mattress. I donated the remainder away. Every time I asked my programmer friends to explain something or the other, it's always handwaving to "DYOR!" Every source they pointed me to confused me even more, and now I know that's deliberate with these grifters.
2022 March - May: I was still in their group chat so I could see them talk about it every now and then. Sometimes I drop in my comments about real-world news. One day, my friends were talking about starting an actual business. This was something I had experience in, and as far as I've seen, anything tangible that anyone's ever done with crypto was usually with games. I've had this idea for a type of game that I really cherished, and one of my friends had experience as a game developer. It was a relatively simple idea.
Let me tell you though, I really loved this game subcategory. I'm even in a university society for it. It's been one of my lifelong dreams to see my idea come to life. So I pitched the idea in, cause why not? The subcategory was never done in crypto, so at least we'd have the advantage of novelty, I thought. They weren't really sure how to monetise it, so I said "why not monetise the characters?" It seemed reasonable at the time: the characters could act as access points to the game and anyone could buy new characters for like, what, 5 bucks? At least that's what I had in mind. They agreed, so I found a popular NFT project to pitch the idea for (since it made more sense to work under an organisation rather than going full indie into a space we had no reputation in yet).
At the time, my friends said making these characters NFTs would give people "real ownership" and be a way to "support digital artists by cutting out the middleman." I mean, as a writer and musician, that did appeal to me. I didn't really question much of it (and I know I should have, it should have been due diligence, that was careless on my part). I thought "maybe we could make these NFTs customisable, because that's what RPGs are about, right?" and we went ahead with that.
2022 April - June: Here's a reminder: I'm a social media hermit. I never get on it unless it's checking on someone on Facebook or Instagram (or messaging). I never had twitter until 2021! So, I've never heard of people like Molly White, Tante, David Gerard, Amy Castor, yada yada until around this time. One my friends showed me Dan Olson's "Line Goes Up." And man, what a watch that was. It confirmed my gut feelings about crypto, that this is all just... hollow, insane, crazy stuff. My heart sank after watching that video.
I remember googling "responses to Line Goes Up" because I was in denial back then, not because I "believed" in crypto but I just didn't want to admit I've wasted so much time and energy. And I remember how every single "response" was just... idiotic. At that point, I sent that video to that NFT organisation's discord and said "if we're all genuine about this, maybe we should watch this and try to improve ourselves." It was the whole sunk cost fallacy thing, I wanted to believe that I didn't waste my time being a complete dork.
But after a certain point, I just couldn't run away from it anymore. I told my friends "let's just switch to making a steam game, we haven't lost or earned any money yet." It was an idea that was doable with a steam game, like... all you had to do was just change the monetisation bit to having players spend 5 bucks buying it... on steam... lol. Ah, but my friends were like "no." They won't do it. They wanted to make NFTs, and I couldn't understand for the love of god why you would do that. It was my idea, they had never played a game like that in their lives, I was the only one with any exposure in that regard.
Also, I was the one making the art as well, like... the character sprites. I'd spent so much time drawing those character sprites, their features, etc. I spent some time making some music, and even some background lore that fit in with the other NFT project we were working under. I barely checked their stupid discord things or twitter posts since I was so busy actually drawing and writing stuff. This was a passion project for me, and I was focused on making the game. You have no idea how much I love these types of role-playing games (but I'm not going into detail as to what that is because I'm not so comfortable).
Little did my stupid ass realise that these things were a pyramid scheme, and I was right at the middle or bottom. Little did my naive ass realise that none of these people liked my idea or even cared; people like me doing actual stuff gave them legitimacy, so people like me were just... pawns, I guess. Being the idiot I was, I engaged with my real name and my real identity, because that's what honest people do when they're selling a fucking game they'd be proud of, right? What a mistake. And my friends who knew what this stuff is never stopped me from doing any of it while I naively put my name and reputation at the front. After watching line goes up and then reading more and more sources (and eventually stumbling across Buttcoin on reddit!) I reached the point of no return:
Crypto and blockchain were useless in all possible ways, they never made sense as a technology, they're filled with disgusting people with disgusting anarcho-capitalist ideals, and there will never be a point where the "blockchain" will ever find a use-case beyond grifting, speculating, gambling, and money laundering because that is inherent to this technology's design. It is irredeemable. NFTs were never about empowering artists like us and it could never even do that at all because the premise and technology are flawed to begin with!
That was my realisation over time after actually reading about this from critical sources (which, at the top of the hype, I thought wasn't even really there because I had bought into my programmer friends' narrative that this is just like the internet and "everybody is in.")
I only wish I realised it sooner.
2022 June - July: I vehemently begged my friends to stop. I didn't want to make or sell NFTs anymore after realising what it was. I didn't even want the money (and god knows I could use that money since it could pay off my father's debts, but not like this. Not by hurting other people who may just be in the same position as I am by "winning" or "doing really 'smart' stuff.")
No one listened. I was about to quit, until the NFT organisation we were working under announced a grant. I saw this as an opportunity to put a stop to my own friends making their own NFTs, and I grabbed it. I begged and pleaded them to apply for that grant, which they begrudgingly did. I applied for that grant thing and it got approved, and all my friends were really excited about it. They all agreed to not make NFTs anymore and just make a free-to-play game. We worded the grant that way too.
But it still didn't sit right with me personally. I agonised over it still. Sure, it's grant money now... but how did that bigger NFT organisation get that money? Obviously, by selling NFTs and collecting resale "royalties." I guess it didn't matter to my friends, but to me, that's blood money. None of them were writers or artists, by the way. They were just... tech people. Techbros, I guess.
Anyway, the grant thing works by having people vote for it, and you get as much money as the votes you get. Our idea was good and we actually had a skillset, so we got like a little over four digits, which is big to someone like me, at least!
But it still didn't sit right with me.
I agonised over it all the time, thinking about just how I had soiled and shat on my lifelong passion idea, and how my name was out there associated with these people.
I just couldn't stand it anymore. One day, I told my friends that I was fucking quitting (this was in the middle of the grant voting process, that thing dragged on for about a couple of weeks) if they didn't turn this into a steam game instead. They chose to just let me quit, take the project for themselves, and... uh, take the grant money.
My friends got me on voice call and kinda hounded me, saying "well we understand if you want to quit but damn that sucks, it's a lot of money, man. It's been my dream too to make a game like that ever since my childhood." That last line really struck home because it was something I could empathise with, but then I recognised it as just... them trying to justify making fat stacks lol. They never really felt that way, and I'll tell you why I think that in a bit.
Either way, I quit. I got out. I didn't even take any compensation money. I mean, why would I lie about it here under an anonymous throwaway account anyway? I have nothing to gain from it, not even "karma farming" since I'm throwing this account away lol. Just... I couldn't stand it anymore, man.
2022 July - September: I spent this time distancing from these people and this crowd. I grew depressed. I hadn't lost any money, but I wasted so much time. I was left feeling disillusioned about my friends. To them, I was overreacting, I was being a cunt, I was just being so difficult! I just was standing in their way of "making bread" and "hustling!"
I stopped going out or hanging out with my friends.
I stopped going to that uni society out of shame. They don't know about it but I just can't even see the game the same way anymore. I felt so ashamed.
I never played that game with my usual other friends who I used to play it with a long time back either. They don't know about any of this either, but I was just so ashamed and disgusted. It kind of feels traumatic.
I stopped writing and barely made any music. I picked up a new tablet and learned to draw in a new style, but eventually I stopped that too. I just didn't feel like it anymore.
I got burned out. I barely was able to hand in my assignments. I had stopped going to classes because I just couldn't bother getting out of bed and going out there into actual society again. I felt like I was a disgusting, naive piece of shit that would just stain otherwise normal people.
I spent my days agonising about the day someone found out that I made art for this dumb project, that I was out there passionately talking about this idea like a stupid nerdy dumbfuck, and that I am associated with it even though I quit. One of my other friends who quit with me said he'd provide testimony of my side of things, but that's not really comforting.
I mean, it's a fringe thing anyway, we barely made anything. My friends got the grant, and I spend every single day agonising over it. I mean, it's not direct "profits" from NFTs, but where'd that grant money come from in the first place, huh?
My worst fear was that they'd pocket it and not even make the game. And they did. I guess those other NFTbros really didn't notice it since a few thousand bucks is just spare change to these grifter overlords. Again, I never took any money from it.
I can only thank god that I stopped them from making their own NFTs though, otherwise I really couldn't live with myself.
Every single day, I keep checking my old discord account and twitter like I'm obsessed, out of fear. I honestly don't care if it's just me that gets fucked by association, but I don't want my existence to become a burden to my poor siblings and parents just by being associated with me. I don't want their reputations to go to the shitter. They're hardworking, honest people who don't waste their time on stupid things like I have. They don't deserve that, at least. It should be me that should suffer.
Everyday, I agonise over it.
I couldn't really cry or anything about it, I just felt hollow, I guess. I've lost interest in most of the things I loved. Sometimes I play games, sometimes I scribble for the fucks of it, sometimes I read, sometimes I write in my notebook, but that's it. I had stopped going out, and I hadn't seen anyone for a long while.
2022 September - 2022 November: I bought a rope and a pull-up bar. I continually kept writing in my journal to prepare a good, coherent suicide note instead of, like... writing it all incoherently at the last minute and then peacing out lol. The pull-up bar is because my dorm doesn't really have any places I could hang my rope from, so if I attach the pull-up bar to the door, I could tie the rope onto it and hang.
The other way I thought of doing it was heroin, because apparently it just quietly puts you to sleep; but I'm scared of needles and I don't want to buy anything on the dark web. I've never done hard drugs like that anyway.
I kept procrastinating it. Partly because I had grown too lazy to even learn how to tie a hangman's knot, and partly because I was still afraid. The thing is, I've already been diagnosed with a mental health issue that also causes depression for nearly a decade now. This, though, was the worst I ever felt. The part that sucks the most is that the game idea was a passion project for me. It was something I've always dreamed of doing. It was the sort of games I really, really loved. It was the sort of art I loved making and seeing too. It was the kind of music I had fun composing. The story idea was something from my own long-held ideas that I wanted to bring to life, and now that's in the shitter too.
On some days, I woke up with absolute certainty of what I was going to do: learn to tie that knot, hang it up, and be done with it. I got distracted, and eventually I'd forget and doze off again. I spend most of my time chatting online with some of my friends (via text), which was something I rarely ever did a few years ago. I was more known for rarely responding to texts because I was outside so frequently lol.
I decided to see everyone for one last time before I did it, so I waited to get back to my own home country first. I wanted to just see everyone and sort of hang out with them as an unspoken farewell thing before I did it.
2022 December: I went back home, I hung out with my friends and family, and I was my usual self. I don't think anyone really caught on. We all made plans to go places and do stuff, and we did. It was a nice little time with everyone. I even kind of felt like myself again. I went swimming, went to friends' houses, met up with old friends, etc. I even put up a local art page and dropped some of my writings, music, and art on there.
2023 January: It was almost time to go back, but I went on a vacation to this country with a friend by ourselves. We ate local food at the stalls and just backpacked on a budget. We went hiking and sightseeing. We went to night markets, canoed in a river, and went camping in the woods. I actually finished one of my assignments on a train ride to this city. We did so many things, but I don't want to go off on a tangent. That experience made me forget these feelings for a while. It meant a lot to me, but I'll keep it at that for this subreddit.
2023 Late January - Now: I went back, these feelings returned. I've spiralled back into agonising now, but I'm seeing a therapist and a university counsellor now. It hasn't gotten as bad as it was in September last year, and especially now I feel reluctant to do it because one of them told me "your death doesn't happen to you, it happens to the people around you."
I'm kind of just picking myself up from here, trying to forget this ever happened, and working in other industries I used to work in back then. But I know that as soon as anyone finds out I was associated with any of this, I will get rid of myself. At the very least, my family would be spared then, and I wouldn't be such a burden, no matter what my therapist says.
I'm more or less just empty and neutral now. I haven't really done anything other than just study, go to classes, and do my assignments. My daily activities consist of eating, shitting, pissing, sleeping, and repeat. If someone from 3 years ago saw me now, they'd think I'm an entirely different person.
One day I'll move on, make peace with myself, and forget about it. That's what I hope for, at least. I'm at least thankful that I've been able to stop my friends from actually making NFTs or a crypto coin and actually hurting people. I'm just glad. I don't know or care what they're up to now. I couldn't be arsed anymore.
I saw people share their stories, and I felt like doing that myself too. It turned out longer than I expected, but I didn't want to leave anyone hanging, lol, so I wrote about everything from start to finish. Sorry if that turned out to be way too long. Thanks for taking your time getting this far if you have.
I hope no one else has agonised or will have to agonise the way I have.
2023.06.06 22:56 Ask_me_4_a_story Trip Report: Using my Go Wild Pass to Get to Costa Rica (Spoiler Alert I found Wild Sloths!)
Hi Go Wild Friends! In case anyone wants to know about beautiful Costa Rica I went there using my Go Wild pass so I thought I would do a story about what happened in Costa Rica. There aren’t really a lot of travel tips in here, its just the wild shit I got into in Costa Rica. I did another write up with actual tips about South Beach in Miami on a budget here if you want to read that one.
Okay, Costa Rica, so fuckin amazing! I want to fly to all the international places Frontier goes so I decided to do Costa Rica second (Cancun is an easy trip for me in Kansas City, they go nonstop there every weekend). The hardest part about Costa Rica is just getting there, I took a bit of a circuitous route.
I always take a big vacation each year after tax season, its fun for me to turn my phone off and go somewhere off the grid and not even think about work. Last year I went to Argentina and Uruguay and it was wild but honestly, this year was even better! I first wanted to stay with my brother and see my nieces and nephews in Orlando so I booked a one way flight from St. Louis to Orlando for only $19 with my Go Wild pass. I got to take a train from Kansas City to St. Louis, it was only $37 and I loved it actually, something about trains is so fun for me, probably because I took one to Chicago in college and stayed in a homeless shelter, my first real experience solo traveling, I loved it!
I spent the afternoon in St. Louis riding around downtown on those fun scooters and eating chicken wings and walking around the baseball experience place they had, it was a good afternoon. I had a late flight to Orlando but I fucked up the terminal (don't google which terminal is Frontier, its wrong). I went through security and bag check only to find out I was in the wrong terminal so that stunk but I had plenty of time for two security checks so no big deal. The flight was delayed so I didn’t get into Orlando until almost 2am and there was a long line for the rental car. I regret not doing the one you can pick up without talking to an agent so much, it was only like $5 more, do the self check car rental if possible. Orlando was fun, got to see my nieces and nephews and my brother and his wife put a little guest bedroom in the shed, easy to get into at 2am without waking anyone up.
After two days in Orlando it was time for my big flight to Costa Rica! So excited! This flight was only $51 with my Go Wild pass, an absolute steal. It stopped in Atlanta and then I was in Costa Rica in no time. On the plane a bunch of us were excitedly talking about our Go Wild passes, its kind of fun to do the spiderman meme thing and be like, you have a Go Wild pass? Me Too! The ringleader told me there were wild sloths if I went to a place called Manuel Antonio. I said what the fuck did you just say, wild sloths? Oh yes! I literally had no plans for a whole week so I mentally added sloths to the list of things I wanted to see. I have a travel buddy I met in Mexico to visit in San Jose and I wanted to see the volcano and the beaches of course but that was it.
At the airport you will want to get some cash, they have an ATM right there when you walk out. Don’t do the currency exchange, those people were giving really shitty rates. After you get cash walk around outside the airport to the backside, it’s a short walk and that’s where all the city buses come. There are buses to San Jose every 15 minutes, just jump on one of those its only like $1.50 and it goes 25 minutes to downtown. I have a huge aversion to taxis in Latin America, I’ve been ripped off a lot and airports are especially bad.
Once in San Jose you can walk most places, it’s a fun city to walk around. I stayed at the Costa Rica Backpackers hostel which I do not recommend for one big reason. Its so fuckin hot. I didn’t even think about checking for air conditioning, most places have it now. Also, I like hostels and the common areas and the hammocks and I always set up my chess board and play at night with beers. But I really like to have my own room at a hostel. This private room was I think $35 a night which is pretty good but it did not have air conditioning, just a fan recirculating hot air and it was right off the street so yeah, no recommendation for that one, I only stayed one night. That’s the fun thing about how I travel though, no reservations and no plans, if its not great I just go to a different place. I hung out with my travel buddy that night and we smoked a lot of um… cigarettes and went to this place where locals hang out. It was like some fuckin fast and furious movie but with Ticos, guys were just flying around on motorcycles on wheelies. I bought a huge meal for my friend and me, empanadas, a bunch of other Costa Rican food, it was so fuckin good and the whole meal was only $7, ha!
The next morning I set my chess board out at the hostel and I put $10 out on the money clip like I normally do when I travel. It’s a fun way to get people to play, if you beat me you get $10 if I win, nothing. My chess is kind of like a parlor trick too because I play in less than 5 seconds every move so everyone is thinking through it and Im having beers and going quick, usually at a hostel there gets to be a crowd and Im playing four dutch people on warm night in Mexico, so fuckin fun. On this morning a kid came up to play and I was teaching him chess for awhile nervously, I didn’t see his mom anywhere and secondly who brings a kid to a hostel? I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen one. He starts just taking my pieces off the board and then he takes the $10 and says welp I guess I won. I laughed and I said alright then, good job buddy. Just then his mom hobbled over, a Danish hippy with a broken foot. She thanked me for hanging out with him and told me the doctor said not to walk too much but it was hard with a six year old. I said sit down, sit down and I got her breakfast and helped her out. We talked for a bit and I told a funny Mexico story and helped them get their stuff together and she said oh you have to come to our hippy community in Puerto Viejo, you can stay in our shack by the ocean. I said oh that sounds fun today Im going to see a volcano but maybe later. She said they are the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica, one is entirely black sand. I said Im listening. She said they were poor in a little shack by the rainforest and they have monkeys and sloths in their backyard. I said um what the fuck did you just say? Wild sloths? She said yeah, tons of them. I booked a ticket right away for the 6am bus the next day. I went with my friend to the active volcano and then he dropped me off at my hotel. I booked the Radisson the second night because I really wanted Air Conditioning. Im soft like that, sorry. And it had a hot tub. I’ve never seen that many people in one hot tub, ha. At night I did a Tinder date, I found out all the cabs are pretty much $6 in San Jose so it was easy to get there and back and I went out with a fun lady who told me in Costa Rica they eat chicken wings with gloves, did you guys know that?
I got up at 4:30am and packed up for my 6am bus. At the front desk I asked them if they could call me a cab and they said its an additional $30 US. I was like nah, fuck that, $30? What a ripoff, I’ll just walk, its only 2 miles. So I walk pretty far into downtown San Jose and whoooooooosh, a bottle explodes near me! I go what the fuck and look up, theres a drunk Costa Rican man in a soccer jersey like two blocks away screaming at me in Spanish! I had so many questions, the first of course was who is balling out of control at 5am in the morning? The second was, who the fuck is that Latino Roger Clemens? I could barely see the guy from two streets away and he was (presumably) drunk getting that close to me with a full bottle of beer? The last question of course was who is drunk and throwing FULL bottles of beer? I walked away from his direction and then saw that there was a whole bar full of drunk soccer fans like him and I noped the fuck out and ran to the taxi stand and got a taxi. I said you know what, a taxi isn’t such a bad idea!
I regretted not Googling anything because my phone didn’t work at all in Costa Rica. They said I could buy a sim card but I didn’t want to, I kind of liked being off the grid. But I really wanted to find wild sloths. Maybe the person beside me will help I thought as I stood in line for the 6am bus. Damn, I hope its not someone rapid firing Spanish at me though, my Spanish is not great. Most of my Spanish I’ve learned from the music of Bad Bunny. I was relieved to see my seat in 44 was next to a Japanese man in 45. Oh that’s awesome I thought, he will struggle with Spanish too and we can find wild sloths together. Nope, turns out Im a racist asshole, he was a Japanese Argentinian who spoke perfect Spanish and no English, none. His phone worked too and he was putting all these upside down house letters in Japanese and beautiful beaches were popping up, I really needed his help. I tried to befriend him but they speak a different kind of Spanish in Argentina, cajes instead of calles and so fast, so fuckin fast! His had like a little stall in it before it winded up too, like a UUUUUU mi esposa no esta aqui! His wife was either sleeping back in San Jose or dead, I couldn’t really understand. I noticed he had a bear avatar on his phone so I knew he liked animals so half way through the ride I decided to try to tell him they had sloths there. Hay peresozos en Puerto Viejo I said but he didn’t understand what I was saying. I said peresozos again and put up three fingers mimicking a sloth and then I panicked, I was like shit, what do sloths do? Its an animal famous for not doing anything. I pretended to hang up side down and he is (loudly) guessing animals in Spanish and Im like no, peresozos! Maybe I was saying it wrong but I had no Google so I said es posible tu telefono? And I typed in sloths and all these upside down houses came up and the words Oso Peresozo. And he goes UUUUUU OSO PERESOZO! I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a bus traveling through rural Costa Rica and seen a Japanese Argentinian get excited in Spanish about wild sloths but it is… ADORABLE!
Si SI! Oso Peresozo! I yelled. People are turning around now, they are like why the fuck are the American and Japanese guys back there in 44 and 45 playing charades two hours into a 6am bus ride? I said juntos? (Together) and he said si si! He told me where we could get bikes to rent and what to eat, he was the perfect travel partner! He said Yelp dices Jerk Chicken is the best to eat here. I said thanks Juan, you are my favorite travel partner! We had an amazing day in Puerto Viejo, beautiful beaches, monkeys, wild sloths, God damn that was an amazing day. He even showed me where my hostel was and I dropped off my bag. This hostel was called 456 hostel which I also do not recommend because no AC and there are weird animals running on the roof but I didn’t care, I just wanted to throw down my bag and get back to looking for wild sloths. The lady said we can’t just take your bag you need to check in first, I said listen lady you see that God damn excited Japanese man out there? We got wild sloths to find! I had no desire to spend one second in that hostel but Juan goes “Esta bien, cerveza” and then he had a beer by the ocean while I checked in. I joined him for a beer and it turns out that is a beautiful setting for a hostel. Still don’t recommend though, so fuckin hot.
Juan and I had an amazing day in Puerto Viejo, God damn that place is beautiful. We saw wild sloths, monkeys, and had an amazing time on the beach. I was sad to see him go, what a great travel partner! He pointed to where my hostel was but I said I would ride back into town with him. To be honest, I forgot to write down the name of the bike rental and there was like a hundred in Puerto. I turned my bike in with his to his surprise because we had rented for a full day but I told him I wanted a motorcycle. He used his expert Googling skills to get me to the cheapest motorcycle place. It was only $30 a day for a motorcycle which I thought was very reasonable. And I didn’t have enough cash on me and they didn’t take cards so the rental guy just said no worries man, take de bike to the ATM. That was pretty trusting! I came back with the money and got the bike and I can’t tell you guys the drugs part because the mods said no talking about drugs.
That was such a fast motorcycle. I turned my Bluetooth speaker up all the way and floored it and zoomed down the coast in time for the sunset, so God damn beautiful! Something about that warm Costa Rican sun on your shoulders and the sound of Khalid and the smell of salt in the air riding along the beautiful ocean, it will change your life. After the sunset I went to Cat’s house and her beautiful German friend Alina was there. There were three kids too and as soon as I got there they went riffling through my bag looking for candy. I had two caramels but was one short so I gave the little kid my chips. This was her sad face for not getting candy!
Cat was hobbling around on crutches so Alina and I said sit down we will take care of dinner. I went to the store down the street and got so much stuff for that poor family- toilet paper, rice, peppers and Barbies for the kids and a soccer ball for Marcello. Gringo santa claus when I came back, both the ladies cried, Alina said her girls had never had a Barbie doll. Alina and I cranked up the music in that little hippy house by the ocean and made dinner and drank wine and laughed while the kids played with their new toys and Cat relaxed and finished her remote work. We ate the food and drank the wine and smoked…cigarettes and had an amazing night. Alina asked if I wanted to share the Tuk Tuk and I said yes. She said it in kind of a mischievous way so I thought maybe she wanted to make out. And she was very beautiful so I said yes. We got in the Tuk Tuk and rode back towards town passing my hostel, she winked and said your hostel was back there you know and then put her hand on my arm.
I thought Cat was poor but Alina was super poor. She told the tuk tuk driver to turn left by the trash dump and we pulled up to an even tinier house right next to the rainforest. She said wait out here and I’ll put the kids to bed. So I waited on the porch. The kitchen was actually outside, a little refrigerator and a little stove and a sink. I sat in the chairs and she came out and we smoke a um cigarette together and then she said wait here. I was like fuck, wait her for what? Is she going to rob me or something but she didn’t seem scary, she seemed sweet. She came back out with a big giant mattress and threw it on the porch floor. Then she took off her shirt and said in her German accent, “Un now we share our bodies.” I thought that was a pretty sexy thing to say so I took off my shirt too and joined her except I didn’t want to have unprotected sex with a hippy so we just made out.
Sometime after she slipped back inside so I was alone on the mattress on the backporch by the rainforest. I thought that was a pretty good place to spend my first night in Puerto Viejo and I looked up and saw a hundred million stars lighting up the sky and fell asleep. But not too many hours later, God damn I awoke to a caucophony of jungle sounds! So many monkeys, just fuckin howling. And there were these weird rat things running around, they weren’t small at all, if you’ve ever seen the Princess Bride fucking ROS. (Rodents of Unusual Size). I honestly thought the monkeys were coming on the porch, that’s how loud they were.
I jumped up and leaned the mattress against the house and started walking, past the trash dump and out to the ocean. The first beach I came across was the black beach, it was amazing and I sat there until the sun came up. I had no watch or anything and my phone was dead so I walked for a long ways until I found a Tuk Tuk driver who took me to Cats. I got my motorcycle and went back to the hostel but when I charged my phone I found it was only 6am so I went back to sleep. But the hostel had no AC and there were some fuckin animals on the roof right over my head so I couldn’t sleep much. I went to the beach and found more wild monkeys and then sent Cat a WhatsApp message to see if she needed my help since she had the broken foot and Marcello was home, it was some kind of Costa Rican holiday.
She said sure come over and so I drove my motorcycle back down the coast and went back to the store and got more supplies and cooked them a big lunch. I had asked before if they eat meat because some hippies don’t and she said sure but its expensive here I don’t know if you want to buy it. It was $4 ha, I got some ham and rice and peppers and made a huge lunch and drank some beers and cooked while Cat did her remote work. She took a picture and I asked if she mind taking a short video of me cooking. IT wasn’t for social media or friends or anything, that video was for me so I could remember when I could be happy. A trip to Costa Rica for only $51 with my Go Wild pass and I got to be by the ocean and I met new friends and I was actually helping someone, I realized that day that’s what made me the most happy, that’s why I wanted the video.
After lunch I cleaned up and then Marcello and I played some chess. She asked if I minded watching Marcello while she ran to town with a client and I said sure, no problem. I was wrong, it was a huge fuckin problem! She said she would be back in an hour and then we could go to the hippy get-together on the beach. She was NOT back in an hour and I fuckin panicked. I didn’t know this lady’s last name, I didn’t know Marcello really, I called Cat and she didn’t answer and I tried texting her, nothing. I thought fuck, she must have abandoned me with this kid. And I don’t know how to get ahold of the authorities and it was a holiday, this shit was basically the plot to the Adam Sandler movie Big Daddy. I started pounding beers because I was so nervous. I asked Marcello if he knew Alina’s number and this little dude said, and I quote, “Who’s Alina?” What the fuck? I said buddy, the lady that was here last night with the kids? He said he didn’t know them very much. Oh my God I thought, I’ve definitely been saddled with a kid. But then I was thinking, you know what, I could raise this kid, wouldn’t be that bad, live in this $400 a month house by the ocean, sounds good. But I have my own kids back home in Kansas City and that made me panic even more, now Im fuckin slammin beers so worried. Every car that goes down this little side road Im like oh please be Cat. Now this kid is starting to yell at me to come back out in Norwegian, I don’t know Norwegian and he wants me to read him books, which are also in Norwegian, Im full panicky at this time.
Finally Cat came back I said Cat, I wasn’t comfortable with that, I don’t even know your last name or anything. She goes, why, whats wrong? And goes running in to see Marcello, I said oh no, he’s fine, nothing happened its just that I thought you left and weren’t coming back. She said why would I leave my kid I love him more than anything in the world. I said I know, okay, its just that I was panicking. She said calm down, all good, lets go to the hippy fire circle. I was not going to go, I was going to get the fuck out but I really wanted to go to the fire circle, I was hoping they would let me spin the fire. So we went to the fire circle, Marcello and Cat with the client and me following behind on the motorcycle. We relaxed on the blanket and then up came beautiful Alina looking like a million bucks in the sun tucking her brown hair behind her ears. She got on the blanket with us close to me and I retold the story about how I thought Cat abandoned her kid with me and we all laughed and smoked again and had beers and then watched the sun go down. I didn’t know Marcello didn’t know how to swim so I showed him how to swim a bit, a little lesson in front of the beautiful sunset. After the sun went down it was time for the fire circle and the main guy said brother, thank you for helping Cat, you are in our circle now, whats ours is yours. I said oh man thank you so much can I do the fire spinning? And he said that you can not do. Damn.
So I watched the others spin it jealously and then I got us some appetizer snacks from the restaurant. After the fire circle and the singing and everything we decided to have a picnic at the black beach. They went to the store to get the food and I went to go get my motorcycle. When I got back I guess Alina had stolen something from the store because the workers were all around her and the police were coming. It was equally sad and scary. They took everything she bought away and Cat said its okay she had enough so we all walked to the black sand beach and I gave Alina a hard time for being a thief until we all were laughing. We had a great night by the ocean and then they both got Tuk Tuks and I got on my motorcycle and drove back to the hot hostel and fell asleep and I never saw those hippies again. The end.
submitted by Ask_me_4_a_story to gowildfrontier [link] [comments]
Okay, Costa Rica, so fuckin amazing! I want to fly to all the international places Frontier goes so I decided to do Costa Rica second (Cancun is an easy trip for me in Kansas City, they go nonstop there every weekend). The hardest part about Costa Rica is just getting there, I took a bit of a circuitous route.
I always take a big vacation each year after tax season, its fun for me to turn my phone off and go somewhere off the grid and not even think about work. Last year I went to Argentina and Uruguay and it was wild but honestly, this year was even better! I first wanted to stay with my brother and see my nieces and nephews in Orlando so I booked a one way flight from St. Louis to Orlando for only $19 with my Go Wild pass. I got to take a train from Kansas City to St. Louis, it was only $37 and I loved it actually, something about trains is so fun for me, probably because I took one to Chicago in college and stayed in a homeless shelter, my first real experience solo traveling, I loved it!
I spent the afternoon in St. Louis riding around downtown on those fun scooters and eating chicken wings and walking around the baseball experience place they had, it was a good afternoon. I had a late flight to Orlando but I fucked up the terminal (don't google which terminal is Frontier, its wrong). I went through security and bag check only to find out I was in the wrong terminal so that stunk but I had plenty of time for two security checks so no big deal. The flight was delayed so I didn’t get into Orlando until almost 2am and there was a long line for the rental car. I regret not doing the one you can pick up without talking to an agent so much, it was only like $5 more, do the self check car rental if possible. Orlando was fun, got to see my nieces and nephews and my brother and his wife put a little guest bedroom in the shed, easy to get into at 2am without waking anyone up.
After two days in Orlando it was time for my big flight to Costa Rica! So excited! This flight was only $51 with my Go Wild pass, an absolute steal. It stopped in Atlanta and then I was in Costa Rica in no time. On the plane a bunch of us were excitedly talking about our Go Wild passes, its kind of fun to do the spiderman meme thing and be like, you have a Go Wild pass? Me Too! The ringleader told me there were wild sloths if I went to a place called Manuel Antonio. I said what the fuck did you just say, wild sloths? Oh yes! I literally had no plans for a whole week so I mentally added sloths to the list of things I wanted to see. I have a travel buddy I met in Mexico to visit in San Jose and I wanted to see the volcano and the beaches of course but that was it.
At the airport you will want to get some cash, they have an ATM right there when you walk out. Don’t do the currency exchange, those people were giving really shitty rates. After you get cash walk around outside the airport to the backside, it’s a short walk and that’s where all the city buses come. There are buses to San Jose every 15 minutes, just jump on one of those its only like $1.50 and it goes 25 minutes to downtown. I have a huge aversion to taxis in Latin America, I’ve been ripped off a lot and airports are especially bad.
Once in San Jose you can walk most places, it’s a fun city to walk around. I stayed at the Costa Rica Backpackers hostel which I do not recommend for one big reason. Its so fuckin hot. I didn’t even think about checking for air conditioning, most places have it now. Also, I like hostels and the common areas and the hammocks and I always set up my chess board and play at night with beers. But I really like to have my own room at a hostel. This private room was I think $35 a night which is pretty good but it did not have air conditioning, just a fan recirculating hot air and it was right off the street so yeah, no recommendation for that one, I only stayed one night. That’s the fun thing about how I travel though, no reservations and no plans, if its not great I just go to a different place. I hung out with my travel buddy that night and we smoked a lot of um… cigarettes and went to this place where locals hang out. It was like some fuckin fast and furious movie but with Ticos, guys were just flying around on motorcycles on wheelies. I bought a huge meal for my friend and me, empanadas, a bunch of other Costa Rican food, it was so fuckin good and the whole meal was only $7, ha!
The next morning I set my chess board out at the hostel and I put $10 out on the money clip like I normally do when I travel. It’s a fun way to get people to play, if you beat me you get $10 if I win, nothing. My chess is kind of like a parlor trick too because I play in less than 5 seconds every move so everyone is thinking through it and Im having beers and going quick, usually at a hostel there gets to be a crowd and Im playing four dutch people on warm night in Mexico, so fuckin fun. On this morning a kid came up to play and I was teaching him chess for awhile nervously, I didn’t see his mom anywhere and secondly who brings a kid to a hostel? I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen one. He starts just taking my pieces off the board and then he takes the $10 and says welp I guess I won. I laughed and I said alright then, good job buddy. Just then his mom hobbled over, a Danish hippy with a broken foot. She thanked me for hanging out with him and told me the doctor said not to walk too much but it was hard with a six year old. I said sit down, sit down and I got her breakfast and helped her out. We talked for a bit and I told a funny Mexico story and helped them get their stuff together and she said oh you have to come to our hippy community in Puerto Viejo, you can stay in our shack by the ocean. I said oh that sounds fun today Im going to see a volcano but maybe later. She said they are the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica, one is entirely black sand. I said Im listening. She said they were poor in a little shack by the rainforest and they have monkeys and sloths in their backyard. I said um what the fuck did you just say? Wild sloths? She said yeah, tons of them. I booked a ticket right away for the 6am bus the next day. I went with my friend to the active volcano and then he dropped me off at my hotel. I booked the Radisson the second night because I really wanted Air Conditioning. Im soft like that, sorry. And it had a hot tub. I’ve never seen that many people in one hot tub, ha. At night I did a Tinder date, I found out all the cabs are pretty much $6 in San Jose so it was easy to get there and back and I went out with a fun lady who told me in Costa Rica they eat chicken wings with gloves, did you guys know that?
I got up at 4:30am and packed up for my 6am bus. At the front desk I asked them if they could call me a cab and they said its an additional $30 US. I was like nah, fuck that, $30? What a ripoff, I’ll just walk, its only 2 miles. So I walk pretty far into downtown San Jose and whoooooooosh, a bottle explodes near me! I go what the fuck and look up, theres a drunk Costa Rican man in a soccer jersey like two blocks away screaming at me in Spanish! I had so many questions, the first of course was who is balling out of control at 5am in the morning? The second was, who the fuck is that Latino Roger Clemens? I could barely see the guy from two streets away and he was (presumably) drunk getting that close to me with a full bottle of beer? The last question of course was who is drunk and throwing FULL bottles of beer? I walked away from his direction and then saw that there was a whole bar full of drunk soccer fans like him and I noped the fuck out and ran to the taxi stand and got a taxi. I said you know what, a taxi isn’t such a bad idea!
I regretted not Googling anything because my phone didn’t work at all in Costa Rica. They said I could buy a sim card but I didn’t want to, I kind of liked being off the grid. But I really wanted to find wild sloths. Maybe the person beside me will help I thought as I stood in line for the 6am bus. Damn, I hope its not someone rapid firing Spanish at me though, my Spanish is not great. Most of my Spanish I’ve learned from the music of Bad Bunny. I was relieved to see my seat in 44 was next to a Japanese man in 45. Oh that’s awesome I thought, he will struggle with Spanish too and we can find wild sloths together. Nope, turns out Im a racist asshole, he was a Japanese Argentinian who spoke perfect Spanish and no English, none. His phone worked too and he was putting all these upside down house letters in Japanese and beautiful beaches were popping up, I really needed his help. I tried to befriend him but they speak a different kind of Spanish in Argentina, cajes instead of calles and so fast, so fuckin fast! His had like a little stall in it before it winded up too, like a UUUUUU mi esposa no esta aqui! His wife was either sleeping back in San Jose or dead, I couldn’t really understand. I noticed he had a bear avatar on his phone so I knew he liked animals so half way through the ride I decided to try to tell him they had sloths there. Hay peresozos en Puerto Viejo I said but he didn’t understand what I was saying. I said peresozos again and put up three fingers mimicking a sloth and then I panicked, I was like shit, what do sloths do? Its an animal famous for not doing anything. I pretended to hang up side down and he is (loudly) guessing animals in Spanish and Im like no, peresozos! Maybe I was saying it wrong but I had no Google so I said es posible tu telefono? And I typed in sloths and all these upside down houses came up and the words Oso Peresozo. And he goes UUUUUU OSO PERESOZO! I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a bus traveling through rural Costa Rica and seen a Japanese Argentinian get excited in Spanish about wild sloths but it is… ADORABLE!
Si SI! Oso Peresozo! I yelled. People are turning around now, they are like why the fuck are the American and Japanese guys back there in 44 and 45 playing charades two hours into a 6am bus ride? I said juntos? (Together) and he said si si! He told me where we could get bikes to rent and what to eat, he was the perfect travel partner! He said Yelp dices Jerk Chicken is the best to eat here. I said thanks Juan, you are my favorite travel partner! We had an amazing day in Puerto Viejo, beautiful beaches, monkeys, wild sloths, God damn that was an amazing day. He even showed me where my hostel was and I dropped off my bag. This hostel was called 456 hostel which I also do not recommend because no AC and there are weird animals running on the roof but I didn’t care, I just wanted to throw down my bag and get back to looking for wild sloths. The lady said we can’t just take your bag you need to check in first, I said listen lady you see that God damn excited Japanese man out there? We got wild sloths to find! I had no desire to spend one second in that hostel but Juan goes “Esta bien, cerveza” and then he had a beer by the ocean while I checked in. I joined him for a beer and it turns out that is a beautiful setting for a hostel. Still don’t recommend though, so fuckin hot.
Juan and I had an amazing day in Puerto Viejo, God damn that place is beautiful. We saw wild sloths, monkeys, and had an amazing time on the beach. I was sad to see him go, what a great travel partner! He pointed to where my hostel was but I said I would ride back into town with him. To be honest, I forgot to write down the name of the bike rental and there was like a hundred in Puerto. I turned my bike in with his to his surprise because we had rented for a full day but I told him I wanted a motorcycle. He used his expert Googling skills to get me to the cheapest motorcycle place. It was only $30 a day for a motorcycle which I thought was very reasonable. And I didn’t have enough cash on me and they didn’t take cards so the rental guy just said no worries man, take de bike to the ATM. That was pretty trusting! I came back with the money and got the bike and I can’t tell you guys the drugs part because the mods said no talking about drugs.
That was such a fast motorcycle. I turned my Bluetooth speaker up all the way and floored it and zoomed down the coast in time for the sunset, so God damn beautiful! Something about that warm Costa Rican sun on your shoulders and the sound of Khalid and the smell of salt in the air riding along the beautiful ocean, it will change your life. After the sunset I went to Cat’s house and her beautiful German friend Alina was there. There were three kids too and as soon as I got there they went riffling through my bag looking for candy. I had two caramels but was one short so I gave the little kid my chips. This was her sad face for not getting candy!
Cat was hobbling around on crutches so Alina and I said sit down we will take care of dinner. I went to the store down the street and got so much stuff for that poor family- toilet paper, rice, peppers and Barbies for the kids and a soccer ball for Marcello. Gringo santa claus when I came back, both the ladies cried, Alina said her girls had never had a Barbie doll. Alina and I cranked up the music in that little hippy house by the ocean and made dinner and drank wine and laughed while the kids played with their new toys and Cat relaxed and finished her remote work. We ate the food and drank the wine and smoked…cigarettes and had an amazing night. Alina asked if I wanted to share the Tuk Tuk and I said yes. She said it in kind of a mischievous way so I thought maybe she wanted to make out. And she was very beautiful so I said yes. We got in the Tuk Tuk and rode back towards town passing my hostel, she winked and said your hostel was back there you know and then put her hand on my arm.
I thought Cat was poor but Alina was super poor. She told the tuk tuk driver to turn left by the trash dump and we pulled up to an even tinier house right next to the rainforest. She said wait out here and I’ll put the kids to bed. So I waited on the porch. The kitchen was actually outside, a little refrigerator and a little stove and a sink. I sat in the chairs and she came out and we smoke a um cigarette together and then she said wait here. I was like fuck, wait her for what? Is she going to rob me or something but she didn’t seem scary, she seemed sweet. She came back out with a big giant mattress and threw it on the porch floor. Then she took off her shirt and said in her German accent, “Un now we share our bodies.” I thought that was a pretty sexy thing to say so I took off my shirt too and joined her except I didn’t want to have unprotected sex with a hippy so we just made out.
Sometime after she slipped back inside so I was alone on the mattress on the backporch by the rainforest. I thought that was a pretty good place to spend my first night in Puerto Viejo and I looked up and saw a hundred million stars lighting up the sky and fell asleep. But not too many hours later, God damn I awoke to a caucophony of jungle sounds! So many monkeys, just fuckin howling. And there were these weird rat things running around, they weren’t small at all, if you’ve ever seen the Princess Bride fucking ROS. (Rodents of Unusual Size). I honestly thought the monkeys were coming on the porch, that’s how loud they were.
I jumped up and leaned the mattress against the house and started walking, past the trash dump and out to the ocean. The first beach I came across was the black beach, it was amazing and I sat there until the sun came up. I had no watch or anything and my phone was dead so I walked for a long ways until I found a Tuk Tuk driver who took me to Cats. I got my motorcycle and went back to the hostel but when I charged my phone I found it was only 6am so I went back to sleep. But the hostel had no AC and there were some fuckin animals on the roof right over my head so I couldn’t sleep much. I went to the beach and found more wild monkeys and then sent Cat a WhatsApp message to see if she needed my help since she had the broken foot and Marcello was home, it was some kind of Costa Rican holiday.
She said sure come over and so I drove my motorcycle back down the coast and went back to the store and got more supplies and cooked them a big lunch. I had asked before if they eat meat because some hippies don’t and she said sure but its expensive here I don’t know if you want to buy it. It was $4 ha, I got some ham and rice and peppers and made a huge lunch and drank some beers and cooked while Cat did her remote work. She took a picture and I asked if she mind taking a short video of me cooking. IT wasn’t for social media or friends or anything, that video was for me so I could remember when I could be happy. A trip to Costa Rica for only $51 with my Go Wild pass and I got to be by the ocean and I met new friends and I was actually helping someone, I realized that day that’s what made me the most happy, that’s why I wanted the video.
After lunch I cleaned up and then Marcello and I played some chess. She asked if I minded watching Marcello while she ran to town with a client and I said sure, no problem. I was wrong, it was a huge fuckin problem! She said she would be back in an hour and then we could go to the hippy get-together on the beach. She was NOT back in an hour and I fuckin panicked. I didn’t know this lady’s last name, I didn’t know Marcello really, I called Cat and she didn’t answer and I tried texting her, nothing. I thought fuck, she must have abandoned me with this kid. And I don’t know how to get ahold of the authorities and it was a holiday, this shit was basically the plot to the Adam Sandler movie Big Daddy. I started pounding beers because I was so nervous. I asked Marcello if he knew Alina’s number and this little dude said, and I quote, “Who’s Alina?” What the fuck? I said buddy, the lady that was here last night with the kids? He said he didn’t know them very much. Oh my God I thought, I’ve definitely been saddled with a kid. But then I was thinking, you know what, I could raise this kid, wouldn’t be that bad, live in this $400 a month house by the ocean, sounds good. But I have my own kids back home in Kansas City and that made me panic even more, now Im fuckin slammin beers so worried. Every car that goes down this little side road Im like oh please be Cat. Now this kid is starting to yell at me to come back out in Norwegian, I don’t know Norwegian and he wants me to read him books, which are also in Norwegian, Im full panicky at this time.
Finally Cat came back I said Cat, I wasn’t comfortable with that, I don’t even know your last name or anything. She goes, why, whats wrong? And goes running in to see Marcello, I said oh no, he’s fine, nothing happened its just that I thought you left and weren’t coming back. She said why would I leave my kid I love him more than anything in the world. I said I know, okay, its just that I was panicking. She said calm down, all good, lets go to the hippy fire circle. I was not going to go, I was going to get the fuck out but I really wanted to go to the fire circle, I was hoping they would let me spin the fire. So we went to the fire circle, Marcello and Cat with the client and me following behind on the motorcycle. We relaxed on the blanket and then up came beautiful Alina looking like a million bucks in the sun tucking her brown hair behind her ears. She got on the blanket with us close to me and I retold the story about how I thought Cat abandoned her kid with me and we all laughed and smoked again and had beers and then watched the sun go down. I didn’t know Marcello didn’t know how to swim so I showed him how to swim a bit, a little lesson in front of the beautiful sunset. After the sun went down it was time for the fire circle and the main guy said brother, thank you for helping Cat, you are in our circle now, whats ours is yours. I said oh man thank you so much can I do the fire spinning? And he said that you can not do. Damn.
So I watched the others spin it jealously and then I got us some appetizer snacks from the restaurant. After the fire circle and the singing and everything we decided to have a picnic at the black beach. They went to the store to get the food and I went to go get my motorcycle. When I got back I guess Alina had stolen something from the store because the workers were all around her and the police were coming. It was equally sad and scary. They took everything she bought away and Cat said its okay she had enough so we all walked to the black sand beach and I gave Alina a hard time for being a thief until we all were laughing. We had a great night by the ocean and then they both got Tuk Tuks and I got on my motorcycle and drove back to the hot hostel and fell asleep and I never saw those hippies again. The end.
2023.06.06 22:52 humuhumunukunuku Chill out about the ball please!
I'm trying to get my puppy (working line lab, 6 months) to chill out about her ball. My solution for a while has been to hide the balls, but now she just waits outside the laundry room unless there is food, so I'm trying a new tactic which is "balls are boring", where I leave them all out all the time. This was prompted because on our lunch fetch session, she was so focused on ball that she forgot she needed to potty, and peed on the porch before realizing what was happening and scampering off to her usual spot (without dropping ball, of course). This was the last straw for me, something has to change about her focus on balls.
Right now all of her balls are in her playpen with her in the other room, and she is barking like crazy. Is this tactic insane? This is normally her nap hour (after lunch, fetch, and training) so I'm hoping that she figures out how to settle down with them around.
Any other tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
submitted by humuhumunukunuku to puppy101 [link] [comments]
Right now all of her balls are in her playpen with her in the other room, and she is barking like crazy. Is this tactic insane? This is normally her nap hour (after lunch, fetch, and training) so I'm hoping that she figures out how to settle down with them around.
Any other tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
2023.06.06 22:38 Altruistic-Many7405 Dasher With Munchies
 | This happened in Seattle last year. Yes I tipped. Ordered a pizza and requested having it dropped at my apartment door (2 story building) since I had COVID. Driver refused and said to meet him at the front door. Hands me the box quickly and scampers off. submitted by Altruistic-Many7405 to doordash [link] [comments] Get back to the apartment to find he ate ALL of the toppings off my pizza. All DD support did was refund the pizza and didn’t seem to care about my food getting manhandled. |
2023.06.06 22:37 blurryturtle 2023 Roland Garros Men's & Women's Quarterfinals Day 2
Ty Alcaraz for letting us watch a bit of extra tennis <3
Ruud beat Jarry in straight sets, which is a tall task for anyone right now. Jarry played great, but Ruud was patient and stubborn from the baseline, and his deep return position made it tough for Jarry to score quick points. The thing that really makes me point to Ruud winning his next match is how reliable he was on the big points. When he needed to, or wasn’t expected to, come up with a big shot, he did. His forehand is getting excellent height when he goes cross-court, and despite his backhand lacking some depth it’s been getting up high on his opponents. If Jarry at 6‘6” had a bit of trouble, it’s probably going to both Rune at 6‘2” (both these listed heights seem fudged in opposite directions). While Ruud was enjoying a return to form and a solid win, Rune was struggling physically in a marathon match against Cerundolo. Their match lasted just a minute under four hours, and despite looking physically fine during points, Rune’s play looked like someone who did not want to run anymore. Late in the fifth the dialogue with his box had started, and I was impressed that he managed to keep his head in the game and make some adjustments, but I was worried at how quick he was to try for return winners and quick infusions of offense. Rune should like himself against Cerundolo in a rally unless he’s struggling, and the recovery here will be an issue if they go deep. To Rune’s credit, he came to net a bunch in the 5th set tiebreak and that was the key to him winning. He applied pressure, and Cerundolo wasn’t able to come up with passes.
With Rune having a long match and physical fatigue, and Ruud having a straight set win, oddsmakers have set this at even odds. I’m inclined to agree. Rune has shown (in his Paris run) the ability to play at a breakneck pace and appear to put out a ton of energy, but still show up to compete the next round, so I don’t think this will be one-sided. I think he’ll be fine in the early-goings, but his willingness to play patient from the baseline will be essential here, and the quick unforced errors he displayed against Cerundolo can’t appear. Ruud plays less aggressive tennis than Cerundolo, and if you force the issue against him he’ll win. He also serves a bit more aggressively than Cerundolo, and is a bit more resilient about not letting changes in the scoreline affect his approach. Since they’ve been scheduled for the night match, and the colder conditions mean the ball really plays a bit slower, so I’m expecting this to be settled with frequent and extended rallies. Rune will win most of the backhand to backhand exchanges, but I think in these slower conditions it’ll be hard to hit through Ruud and physicality will become a factor. Ruud in 4-5.
To Zverev’s credit, he did nothing. He hung behind the baseline, and just made it clear that it would take several shots to beat him. Dimitrov had two choices : play hyper aggressive and try to hit clean winners, or temper his offense and constantly hit to the open court because even though Zverev is quick, no one giving up that much space (behind the baseline) should be able to beat a professional tennis player in good form. Dimitrov chose neither. He constantly tried to come up with the next offensive shot, but swung tentatively as if he was assuming Zverev would get them. He had openings, but went safe and retreated back to the middle over and over. It was like watching someone play the role of a hitting partner for Zverev, but unfortunately they were nervous about the occasion and couldn’t keep the ball in the court. It was hard to watch, but I’m ready to get hurt again.
I expect Etcheverry will give Zverev the game that I thought Dimitrov would. Etcheverry and Nishioka was extremely close in the first set, and it felt like Nishioka would have equal chances if he could win the tiebreaker. What ensued was a really high level affair with most rallies being won with winners rather than errors. Etcheverry proved a bit more effective on serve though, and Nishioka appeared to aggravate an injury. He played out the match, which is a really nice gesture to the fans, but Etcheverry is through to his first major quarterfinals and it is well deserved. He has a great service delivery, doesn’t struggle with double faults, doesn’t back off his offense when he has control, and his backhand is very solid. This, I expect, will be Zverev’s to lose, but I think it will take some time to get there. Despite Zverev’s pre-injury passivity, he has shown some signs of life since his return. He’s hitting his forehand significantly better and seems to have (jinx) gotten rid of his deceleration issues. His backhand is still the most reliable shot for him, and he’s taking it down the line more often in this event which is causing extreme problems for his opponent. The double fault issues are there, but it’s a lot easier for me to expect his opponents to create break chances and scoreboard pressure while watching from home than it is to actually put balls in play off his powerful delivery. In short, Zverev is probably the pick to come out of the bottom draw, but this is his hardest test yet.
Etcheverry will not fold, unlike a certain someone whose texts are currently blocked (sorry Grigs but IT’S TOO SOON). His serving won’t falter as Dimitrov’s did, and he’ll be willing to ply his craft and test his offense against Zverev because unlike Dimitrov, he doesn’t have history against this opponent. Where I think he may struggle is returning serve. It can take a while to really read an opponent’s delivery, and since they’re playing in the daytime the ball should be moving a bit. Looking at some of the big servers he’s played, he beat Struff and Hanfmann, but he lost to Tiafoe twice. I am pulling for him, and I think his game will transfer well to grass and hardcourt, but this is probably the end of the road for him. Zverev really does have the next tier of ability in every department here, so only impatience and doubt are likely to send him home. Zverev in 4-5.
Haddad Maia had a marathon against Sorribes Tormo, and the win meant a lot to her as SST has had her number for years. I think her serving will have to be at the next level here, as Jabeur was able to hold fairly easily in Stuttgart and is pretty fresh for this one. Haddad played for 3 hours and 51 minutes in her last round, and that makes three 3-set marathons in a row after her wins against Shnaider and Alexandrova. Those players had powerful offenses, but they aren’t as consistent or as solid defensively as Jabeur. It’s going to be hard to overcome Jabeur in these conditions, and fatigue is not on her side. Tremendous result for Haddad Maia, but Jabeur in 2.
Gauff had a close first set with Schmiedlova, but she never really seemed in big trouble in her match. Gauff has struggled on her forehand wing in the past, but this week she’s been solid in every match and her game has gotten better as the match went on. That’s why I’m not sure how dominant of a performance Swiatek can turn in here. Similar to the Djokovic/Khachanov match, I know which player is better, but I don’t see an easy path for the victor because the deviation in level just isn’t there with Gauff. She’s going to defend well because she’s (I think) the fastest player on tour, and she’s going to hit the ball solid off both wings. Swiatek has shown that she struggles a little bit with errors when you take her time away, and Gauff’s ability to hang on the baseline and keep the ball low might represent a challenge similar to Rybakina’s. I don’t think her serve is anywhere near as reliable as Rybakina’s at creating setups though. Gauff has the potential to serve aces, but it’s more of a momentum thing it seems, or at times she mirrors Sakkari where on a huge point she can summon one, but most of the time she lands around 55% and doesn’t really get many aces.
After hyping up Gauff’s chances, my eyes drifted back over to the bad news. These two have met 6 times, and Gauff has yet to win a set. Swiatek won 3,1 at this event last year, and she’s gotten an entire day off so her arm will be fresher than Gauff’s. I’m expecting some thrilling rallies, but Swiatek’s return of serve in the last few rounds has looked really good. Swiatek in 2, one close and one bakery-esque.
submitted by blurryturtle to tennis [link] [comments]
ATP Singles :
Rune vs Ruud :
Yes we’ve had fifth Rune vs Ruud on clay but what about sixth Rune vs Ruud on clay? This is quickly becoming a rivalry despite Casper leading the set count 10-3 and having only lost once. That’s how the conversation goes though when your opponent is younger. Every win they notch feels like a changing of the guard, and even if it isn’t you can be sure Yahoo Sports and the Daily Mail will pump out an article announcing it as such. Complaints about clickbait aside, Rune’s last (and only) win in Rome did feel like he was starting to solve the puzzle. Holger having a better backhand and his service game getting to even made it feel like Ruud would really have to do a lot to win in this matchup. Add in that this season has seen a peculiar lack of form from Ruud at times, and panic mode was somewhat engaged. This is a good chance for Casper to reset the discussion, but it also feels like a must-win.Ruud beat Jarry in straight sets, which is a tall task for anyone right now. Jarry played great, but Ruud was patient and stubborn from the baseline, and his deep return position made it tough for Jarry to score quick points. The thing that really makes me point to Ruud winning his next match is how reliable he was on the big points. When he needed to, or wasn’t expected to, come up with a big shot, he did. His forehand is getting excellent height when he goes cross-court, and despite his backhand lacking some depth it’s been getting up high on his opponents. If Jarry at 6‘6” had a bit of trouble, it’s probably going to both Rune at 6‘2” (both these listed heights seem fudged in opposite directions). While Ruud was enjoying a return to form and a solid win, Rune was struggling physically in a marathon match against Cerundolo. Their match lasted just a minute under four hours, and despite looking physically fine during points, Rune’s play looked like someone who did not want to run anymore. Late in the fifth the dialogue with his box had started, and I was impressed that he managed to keep his head in the game and make some adjustments, but I was worried at how quick he was to try for return winners and quick infusions of offense. Rune should like himself against Cerundolo in a rally unless he’s struggling, and the recovery here will be an issue if they go deep. To Rune’s credit, he came to net a bunch in the 5th set tiebreak and that was the key to him winning. He applied pressure, and Cerundolo wasn’t able to come up with passes.
With Rune having a long match and physical fatigue, and Ruud having a straight set win, oddsmakers have set this at even odds. I’m inclined to agree. Rune has shown (in his Paris run) the ability to play at a breakneck pace and appear to put out a ton of energy, but still show up to compete the next round, so I don’t think this will be one-sided. I think he’ll be fine in the early-goings, but his willingness to play patient from the baseline will be essential here, and the quick unforced errors he displayed against Cerundolo can’t appear. Ruud plays less aggressive tennis than Cerundolo, and if you force the issue against him he’ll win. He also serves a bit more aggressively than Cerundolo, and is a bit more resilient about not letting changes in the scoreline affect his approach. Since they’ve been scheduled for the night match, and the colder conditions mean the ball really plays a bit slower, so I’m expecting this to be settled with frequent and extended rallies. Rune will win most of the backhand to backhand exchanges, but I think in these slower conditions it’ll be hard to hit through Ruud and physicality will become a factor. Ruud in 4-5.
Zverev vs Etcheverry :
The plot of Oceans 14 will be me getting fooled by Dimitrov one more time. Employing what is clearly the macro plan, Dimitrov has gone ahead and thrown in a few seasons of lackluster results and injury issues. Here, healthy, and playing his best tennis, he finally got me. I believed. Ouch did it hurt to watch this match. I don’t really like to drop negative things in here, but it really was a bad match. Dimitrov started off the match with two double faults, which I don’t even understand. The first few games your range might be off, but you should be firing on all cylinders after a day and a half of prep, and a thorough (these guys are preparing for hours) warm-up. He looked tentative throughout the affair, and it was pretty clear early on that he has a significant mental block against Zverev.To Zverev’s credit, he did nothing. He hung behind the baseline, and just made it clear that it would take several shots to beat him. Dimitrov had two choices : play hyper aggressive and try to hit clean winners, or temper his offense and constantly hit to the open court because even though Zverev is quick, no one giving up that much space (behind the baseline) should be able to beat a professional tennis player in good form. Dimitrov chose neither. He constantly tried to come up with the next offensive shot, but swung tentatively as if he was assuming Zverev would get them. He had openings, but went safe and retreated back to the middle over and over. It was like watching someone play the role of a hitting partner for Zverev, but unfortunately they were nervous about the occasion and couldn’t keep the ball in the court. It was hard to watch, but I’m ready to get hurt again.
I expect Etcheverry will give Zverev the game that I thought Dimitrov would. Etcheverry and Nishioka was extremely close in the first set, and it felt like Nishioka would have equal chances if he could win the tiebreaker. What ensued was a really high level affair with most rallies being won with winners rather than errors. Etcheverry proved a bit more effective on serve though, and Nishioka appeared to aggravate an injury. He played out the match, which is a really nice gesture to the fans, but Etcheverry is through to his first major quarterfinals and it is well deserved. He has a great service delivery, doesn’t struggle with double faults, doesn’t back off his offense when he has control, and his backhand is very solid. This, I expect, will be Zverev’s to lose, but I think it will take some time to get there. Despite Zverev’s pre-injury passivity, he has shown some signs of life since his return. He’s hitting his forehand significantly better and seems to have (jinx) gotten rid of his deceleration issues. His backhand is still the most reliable shot for him, and he’s taking it down the line more often in this event which is causing extreme problems for his opponent. The double fault issues are there, but it’s a lot easier for me to expect his opponents to create break chances and scoreboard pressure while watching from home than it is to actually put balls in play off his powerful delivery. In short, Zverev is probably the pick to come out of the bottom draw, but this is his hardest test yet.
Etcheverry will not fold, unlike a certain someone whose texts are currently blocked (sorry Grigs but IT’S TOO SOON). His serving won’t falter as Dimitrov’s did, and he’ll be willing to ply his craft and test his offense against Zverev because unlike Dimitrov, he doesn’t have history against this opponent. Where I think he may struggle is returning serve. It can take a while to really read an opponent’s delivery, and since they’re playing in the daytime the ball should be moving a bit. Looking at some of the big servers he’s played, he beat Struff and Hanfmann, but he lost to Tiafoe twice. I am pulling for him, and I think his game will transfer well to grass and hardcourt, but this is probably the end of the road for him. Zverev really does have the next tier of ability in every department here, so only impatience and doubt are likely to send him home. Zverev in 4-5.
WTA Singles :
Haddad Maia vs Jabeur :
At the beginning of this tournament, I really only expected one of these players to be here. Ons Jabeur has had some slight injury issues, and just hasn’t seemed terribly motivated at every event. Her play every round here has improved though, and against Pera she broke out all the tricks. I really love her backhand dropshots down the line because she looks away from them. It mirrors the cross-court slice that some players employ overhand and even in my head I can feel myself starting to step to the left when she does it. Here Ons has her toughest opponent, but it’s one she’s played recently. These two met in Stuttgart, and Jabeur won 3,0. That’s a rough thing to overcome, but it was indoor tennis so Bella may fare better in these slower conditions.Haddad Maia had a marathon against Sorribes Tormo, and the win meant a lot to her as SST has had her number for years. I think her serving will have to be at the next level here, as Jabeur was able to hold fairly easily in Stuttgart and is pretty fresh for this one. Haddad played for 3 hours and 51 minutes in her last round, and that makes three 3-set marathons in a row after her wins against Shnaider and Alexandrova. Those players had powerful offenses, but they aren’t as consistent or as solid defensively as Jabeur. It’s going to be hard to overcome Jabeur in these conditions, and fatigue is not on her side. Tremendous result for Haddad Maia, but Jabeur in 2.
Swiatek vs Gauff :
-1250 is what they’re suggesting is a fair price for Swiatek, but you will understand if I disagree. Lesia Tsurenko was unfortunately forced to retire in the first against Swiatek, but she was likely not going to put up much of a fight anyway. She’s a tricky player, but Swiatek was seeing the ball big and was applying a lot of pressure to Tsurenko’s serve. Lesia seemed to feel a bit faint, and told the physicians that she was having some trouble breathing. She’s had a fair bit of withdrawals this year (5), but with an illness removing Rybakina, and Tsurenko issuing some harsh sounding coughs during the treatment, she may have been dealing with a cold/flu of some sort which is unfortunate for the fans.Gauff had a close first set with Schmiedlova, but she never really seemed in big trouble in her match. Gauff has struggled on her forehand wing in the past, but this week she’s been solid in every match and her game has gotten better as the match went on. That’s why I’m not sure how dominant of a performance Swiatek can turn in here. Similar to the Djokovic/Khachanov match, I know which player is better, but I don’t see an easy path for the victor because the deviation in level just isn’t there with Gauff. She’s going to defend well because she’s (I think) the fastest player on tour, and she’s going to hit the ball solid off both wings. Swiatek has shown that she struggles a little bit with errors when you take her time away, and Gauff’s ability to hang on the baseline and keep the ball low might represent a challenge similar to Rybakina’s. I don’t think her serve is anywhere near as reliable as Rybakina’s at creating setups though. Gauff has the potential to serve aces, but it’s more of a momentum thing it seems, or at times she mirrors Sakkari where on a huge point she can summon one, but most of the time she lands around 55% and doesn’t really get many aces.
After hyping up Gauff’s chances, my eyes drifted back over to the bad news. These two have met 6 times, and Gauff has yet to win a set. Swiatek won 3,1 at this event last year, and she’s gotten an entire day off so her arm will be fresher than Gauff’s. I’m expecting some thrilling rallies, but Swiatek’s return of serve in the last few rounds has looked really good. Swiatek in 2, one close and one bakery-esque.
2023.06.06 22:32 jcaljr5 Constructive Conversation: What is the end game of Destiny? Why does fulfillment feel at an all time low? and what we can to do fix it.
I want to start off this post by acknowledging the incredible amount of positives Bungie has done with Destiny over the course of the last 7 years. The game has evolved into something that constantly keeps players coming back, excited for more, is fun gameplay and satisfying to PLAY. Between subclass 3.0, the new loadout/mod system, and over the last 1-2 years, some of the best weapons we've seen in the franchise.
I know why I PLAY Destiny, I love it. It's fun to shoot things with friends in cool new sci-fi worlds with cool weapons. BUT why do I no longer want to GRIND Destiny.
I feel like I am simply completing a checklist of stuff. I wait every week to do the 30 minutes of story, half of which is a repeat activity, with some dialogue to find out X. Raids, Dungeons, GMs, the alleged end game have 0 incentive once you've acquired weapon patterns/weapon rolls you want. Loot is becoming less and less important because of the removal of weapon sunsetting (something i advocated for).
The "repeatable activities" per say of each season and gilding titles etc. is the same thing over and over for a seal/title that means nothing. I was excited for seals to mean something when you saw someone wearing it out in the wild. Now they are just participation trophies for doing the minimum amount of effort in a specific category of the game.
What does Bungie consider the end game and what are players incentives to play it? GM's for ascendant shards and nightfall weapons? How many YEARS of that can I do? How many exotic pieces of armor do I need when only 1/2 are viable and only 2 have released in the last YEAR. For those that have been grinding the game from the begginning, we dont need anymore exotics or currencies or what ever. Maybe we would if armor has been changed or updated at all in the last few years. Artifice is great, but they nerfed the stats on all of the pieces while subsequently making grinding Master dungeons more tedious. (Note the word choice, not difficult, tedious) Raids are run for a few weeks and get your patterns and MAYBE craft some outlier strong weapons. After that, I don't know what the purpose of running them is. Same for dungeons.
Destiny's gameplay is great, its fun, its enjoyable, but I want more reasons to keep playing beyond the shallow, basic same old stuff.
Feedback to adress these feelings
As somebody who has started playing other games more often now, Bungie, I beg you to impliment some long term, challenging, grindy quests that reward something more than a seal or shader. Give us a quest line to chip away at that isnt BUILT for the entire community. Give players something to chase. I miss the dopamine rush (that i now get in other games) for making PROGRESS through a quest, cuz hitting that next step meant something. What quests do we have in Destiny? I feel like we have sequence of things to do that we "Call" quests, but not actual quests that give meaningful loot or items as we push through. I don't care if the rewards are entirely cosmetic or a cool ornament set, just something that i can MAKE PROGRESS towards and feel like the extra time i put into the game is worth it.
Additionally. WE NEED A WIPE. But I know we won't get a wipe. So how about a game mode thats TOTALLY different than anything we've ever seen in Destiny. Maybe make it some Tribulations of the Nine or something where we start with NOTHING, and we are blank slate and need to progress and get loot and push through the game mode, i dont know if its a new game plus style mode or what, but something where I'm back at 0 and picking up gear or abilities or anything means something. I'm not asking for a Battle Royale, but I'm just over being as powerful as we are all the time, with no challenge, and the minor challenge we have not meaning anything because there is no incentive to COMPLETE said challenge. Every piece of "challenging content" in the game has minimal incentive to play compared to the normal ones, if any incentive at all. WTF is that? Don't be afraid to make content that the entire 100% of the communit won't be able to do. Give em something to stride towards, even if its just cosmetic, but honestly make it cool weapons and gear too because it probably won't be impossibly difficult.
Raids and Dungeons are some of the coolest content in the game but they don't feel like end game. All raids need Grandmaster Difficulty with rare ornament drop chances or something that I wanna hop in and run them week to week, and not just 15 times (5 weeks total). The content wouldn't be for everyone to crush with ease on day 1, players might have to practice and fail and rinse and repeat to complete it, but at least it would feel somewhat fulfilling then.
I feel like I went on a rant a bit, and I'm sure there's things i missed. I love this game and I want it to succeed, but it just feels so blah, not innovative, and like a chore more times than not.
submitted by jcaljr5 to DestinyTheGame [link] [comments]
I know why I PLAY Destiny, I love it. It's fun to shoot things with friends in cool new sci-fi worlds with cool weapons. BUT why do I no longer want to GRIND Destiny.
- Why does the game feel so "stale" and no longer fulfillling.
- What happened to the dopamine rush of completing quests or obtaining loot?
- Why does everything feel like a chore that I can't wait to be done with?
I feel like I am simply completing a checklist of stuff. I wait every week to do the 30 minutes of story, half of which is a repeat activity, with some dialogue to find out X. Raids, Dungeons, GMs, the alleged end game have 0 incentive once you've acquired weapon patterns/weapon rolls you want. Loot is becoming less and less important because of the removal of weapon sunsetting (something i advocated for).
The "repeatable activities" per say of each season and gilding titles etc. is the same thing over and over for a seal/title that means nothing. I was excited for seals to mean something when you saw someone wearing it out in the wild. Now they are just participation trophies for doing the minimum amount of effort in a specific category of the game.
What does Bungie consider the end game and what are players incentives to play it? GM's for ascendant shards and nightfall weapons? How many YEARS of that can I do? How many exotic pieces of armor do I need when only 1/2 are viable and only 2 have released in the last YEAR. For those that have been grinding the game from the begginning, we dont need anymore exotics or currencies or what ever. Maybe we would if armor has been changed or updated at all in the last few years. Artifice is great, but they nerfed the stats on all of the pieces while subsequently making grinding Master dungeons more tedious. (Note the word choice, not difficult, tedious) Raids are run for a few weeks and get your patterns and MAYBE craft some outlier strong weapons. After that, I don't know what the purpose of running them is. Same for dungeons.
Destiny's gameplay is great, its fun, its enjoyable, but I want more reasons to keep playing beyond the shallow, basic same old stuff.
Feedback to adress these feelings
As somebody who has started playing other games more often now, Bungie, I beg you to impliment some long term, challenging, grindy quests that reward something more than a seal or shader. Give us a quest line to chip away at that isnt BUILT for the entire community. Give players something to chase. I miss the dopamine rush (that i now get in other games) for making PROGRESS through a quest, cuz hitting that next step meant something. What quests do we have in Destiny? I feel like we have sequence of things to do that we "Call" quests, but not actual quests that give meaningful loot or items as we push through. I don't care if the rewards are entirely cosmetic or a cool ornament set, just something that i can MAKE PROGRESS towards and feel like the extra time i put into the game is worth it.
Additionally. WE NEED A WIPE. But I know we won't get a wipe. So how about a game mode thats TOTALLY different than anything we've ever seen in Destiny. Maybe make it some Tribulations of the Nine or something where we start with NOTHING, and we are blank slate and need to progress and get loot and push through the game mode, i dont know if its a new game plus style mode or what, but something where I'm back at 0 and picking up gear or abilities or anything means something. I'm not asking for a Battle Royale, but I'm just over being as powerful as we are all the time, with no challenge, and the minor challenge we have not meaning anything because there is no incentive to COMPLETE said challenge. Every piece of "challenging content" in the game has minimal incentive to play compared to the normal ones, if any incentive at all. WTF is that? Don't be afraid to make content that the entire 100% of the communit won't be able to do. Give em something to stride towards, even if its just cosmetic, but honestly make it cool weapons and gear too because it probably won't be impossibly difficult.
Raids and Dungeons are some of the coolest content in the game but they don't feel like end game. All raids need Grandmaster Difficulty with rare ornament drop chances or something that I wanna hop in and run them week to week, and not just 15 times (5 weeks total). The content wouldn't be for everyone to crush with ease on day 1, players might have to practice and fail and rinse and repeat to complete it, but at least it would feel somewhat fulfilling then.
I feel like I went on a rant a bit, and I'm sure there's things i missed. I love this game and I want it to succeed, but it just feels so blah, not innovative, and like a chore more times than not.
2023.06.06 22:20 KyleKKent Out of Cruel Space, Part 705
First
Capes and Conundrums
“This is so much fun! I didn’t think that something like this was around here before!” Migalla says and her mother laughs.
“Last time we were here you were so small that chasing the family Purriz was the most excitement you’d get in a day Migalla.”
“Mom!” Migalla protests as Echosong giggles.
“Daughter!” She says back in amusement as they climb in through the window of the building that the clue they had frisked from those very fetching men had on them. If she wasn’t a married woman then she’d be looking to cure that with these men. They were clearly both dedicated and fun loving with all the shame of an exhibitionist but the self control you need from a soldier.
A pity her little Migalla is still a little too young to do more than occasionally have a wandering hand or find herself staring. The sort of thing you chide someone for or at worst give them a swat or two to get them to stop. Although... at this rate... between the sheer amount of CHEST shown by ‘Maxie Zeus’ and how tight the suit on ‘Firefly’ was... she might start developing a little early in the interest category.
“So... what IS your name ma’am? Did that... Mighty Zeus say it right when he called you Nyx?” Echosong asks and The Huntress perks up a little before letting out a bit of a laugh.
“Oh! Oh this must have been awkward! Oh no, my name is Migalla as well. It’s tradition in my family that the tenth daughter is always named Migalla. Little Migalla here is my tenth born and I am tenth born to my own mother, who was ninth born.”
“So Migalla and Migalla? How does that...”
“Call me Patience. It’s the family name after all. Huntsmistress Migalla Patience, and my adorable daughte Huntress in training Migalla Patience.”
“And granddaughter of Huntsmistress Migalla Patience right?”
“Actually mother’s a botanist. When all three of us are in a room she’s Doctor Migalla.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” Patience responds with a very amused tone. “Now if you get my great aunt in the room then Huntsmistress Migalla will get more than one answer. Much like Huntress in training Migalla will get my adorable little girl and at least three cousins.”
“Family reunions must be a lot of fun.” Echosong states as she tries to make sense of the strange acoustics of this place. There’s no echo despite the fact their should be. Furthermore there’s utter darkness and no source of light. But the light should be moving past certain areas. Something’s going on. What though? She’s not sure.
“The Migalla table at the gathering is always full of the funniest and most confusing conversations.” Migalla says and Echosong laughs. Migalla then smiles at a memory. “Mom, was it Migalla or Migalla that was telling Migalla that last time she saw Migalla she was in a fight with Migalla and it was such a relief to see her and Migalla had made up?”
“Yes, yes it was. Now back to the game at hand... we’re looking for a Ra’s Al Ghul. Some kind of immortal mad eco-terrorist that wishes to crash economies, destroy cities and leave the nature of the world pristine.” Patience notes.
“Wrong world for that. If we let that happen then Skathac gets set on fire again and again.” Echosong notes. “Also... hang on... I have the booklet here. Right! The resurrection method he uses has been slowly driving him insane.”
“Insane little creature? How very base and untoward to use such childish insults.” A refined voice with a slight accent states clearly.
“Speakers, he could be anywhere between here and Centris.” Patience warns.
“Indeed I can miss... Patience was it? Hmm... I expected the detective. I am torn between concern and relief that the rest of the sleeping masses upon this wretched and ruined world are beginning to awaken. Tell me, will you use your awareness and strength to save the world, or doom it?”
“Skathac isn’t a world that needs saving, it needs saving from.” Migalla states in an incredulous tone.
“Seriously old man! Haven’t you been outside? It’s a roasty nine hundred and eighty degrees outside the thermal shields! And it’s the cooler part of the year!” Echosong exclaims.
“I am certain that the world will cool when...”
“What craziness are you up to this time Ra’s? Are you sure you don’t need a retirement home?” Patience mocks him and there’s a silence.
“I am certain that...”
“They even have diapers your size now! So you don’t even have to figure out where the bathroom is!”
“Migalla that’s too far! Incontinence is nothing to joke about. Unless it’s funny.” Patience chides her before laughing.
“Mercenary, get in there.” Ra’s states coldly. Suddenly the darkness is pulled away revealing the warehouse they’re in to be a full of machinery and the trick they used to disguise this to be sound absorbing curtains that blended perfectly in the darkness.
They’re surrounded. Dozens of men in black outfits and only their eyes exposed glaring down. But most importantly are two. One an older looking man with a pointed hairstyle, grey streaks in his beard and a high collared green cape on. The other a very large and powerfully built man in black and grey armour with a half orange facemask. He looks like he walked right out of the Teen Titans cartoon.
“Decisions, decisions...” Deathstroke states.
“I am not paying you dither. Attack!” Ra’s Al Ghul orders and Deathstroke MOVES. His open palm slams into Patient’s stomach and sends her skidding backwards even as her footclaws dig into the concrete below. She leaves four foot long trenches and staggers back a step to regain her footing.
She deflects his left jab, blocks the right cross and then takes a brutal kick to the side of the knee and is sent sprawling. However she still has more limbs to play and her knife hand slams into the sides of his stomach in a powerful cross chop. She gets an impression of far more organs in there than most life, and she knows she hit at least one of them painfully.
His answer is a snap kick that takes her in the stomach and sends her staggering.
Meanwhile Migalla and Echosong are set upon by the ninja horde with a single wordless command from Ra’s. Echosong responds by letting out a sonic scream infused with Axiom that batters back at least three of them and send them sprawling in midair to crash into the machinery uselessly.
Migalla on the other hand jumps back at them and with Axiom infused hands coutners their swords and, after a bit of fumbling, grabs them by the shirt and tries to land on a pipe. She slips and begins to slide backwards, but she wraps her tail around it and firms her footing so they turn on the pipe instead and simply fall off. Leaving her hanging upside down with a ninja in each pair of arms.
She gives them both a few shacks before bonking them together and then dropping them before shifting and skittering to the top of the pipe instead.
She’s then met by a pair of ninjas to either side. She takes a stance that allows both of them access to her sides and uses Axiom to expand her field of vision. Fighting off two people at once will be tricky. But with her four arms and tail, they’ve got a grand total of one limb on her. Hopefully it won’t make that much difference.
Patience meanwhile is having a blast. Deathstroke... or is he Slade when he’s more Teen Titans style? Anyways, Mister Wilson is all sorts of fun. Sure, she has a few limbs on him. The tail nearly gets him as she sweeps for the legs or stabs with the blade, but he downright slithers out of the way of that, showing that he’s as flexible as he’s physically strong and... and...
“Tell me Mister Wilson... do you offer lessons?” Patience asks.
“Oh?” Slade asks. Nothing grand in his tone as he deflects two attacks and shifts to the side to try and get her with an elbow. Unfortunately there’s a distinct lack of organs in the place he hits her, and he’d have had more impact if he slammed into her thigh instead.
“Oh yes... I’m a married woman, but if I could my husband to MOVE like you do... He’s not much of a fighter your see.”
“A brawl before bed to spice up the marital life?” Slade asks in a scornful tone.
“Something like that. A poet can make a woman melt with words alone, but there’s something to be said if he can scoop her up afterwards to carry her to bed.” Patience says and there’s a scoff from under the mask.
“Okay, that needs to come off.” She insists making a grab for the mask. It’s latched on though and it’s not coming off.
She gets a flurry of body shots as she tries to grab at the helmet and then as she lunges for it again she’s instead grabbed and the flip is turned into a hammer throw that sends her hurtling through the factory. She aborts the flight by twisting in the air and grabbing the underside of a walkway and stopping her flight.
She paces along the underside of the walkway, easily keeping grip as she keeps track of Slade. Who throws down a smoke bomb and she senses movement behind her. Her tail lashes out but something binds it and she decides to go all out.
The metal of the walkway bends and cracks under her sheer strength as she bursts through the underside of it to attack Slade, only to find his solid boot slamming into the top of her head with enough force to break her grip, break the line he tied her with and break the pipe underneath them clean through.
“Oh!... Oh wow! You’re good!”
“Of course I am...” Slade begins even as the walkway he’s standing on creaks and groans. It then snaps under his feet and he falls. He falls in perfect control as he angles himself to avoid the edges of the pipe and he lands in a crouch right in front of Patience. “Deathstroke The Terminator.”
“I think this is a bit much for most contestants.”
“You’re a bit much for mere level four. We have you on record fighting Lava Serpents without protective gear and with only the most basic weapons. You can handle it big girl.” Deathstroke The Terminator states. “Now then. Shall we?”
Her response is a lightning fast charge that phases right through him. She skids to a stop and turns. Red runes are glowing over his armour with a jagged mark over his forehead.
“Really?” Patience asks.
“Really.” Deathstroke says before gesturing and half the equipment in the factory hurls itself at her. The Huntsmistress laughs in glee at the challenge.
While mother was having her fun, Migalla was having some of her own. She had managed to swipe a quartet of swords from the ninja and wasn’t so much as using them as flailing them around in their vague directions as she swung from her tail. On the walkway above a Ninja finally gets up there and dislodges her tail, causing her to start to fall, but Echosong swoops in, grabs her and helps her stick the landing even as she sweeps with her Axiom infused voice.
Between the blades, the fury and the scream the ninja fall back and one of them is dramatically killed by Ra’s Al Ghul.
“Incompetent fool.” The older man says in a dark tone as he bares the ‘bloody’ (sauce covered) falchion. “All of you. Out. I will deal with this myself.”
The ninjas scatter and Ra’s Al Ghul throws away his cloak to reveal that he has an armoured vest, pants and boots underneath. “A pity that one can only depend on a mercenary. I will need to increase my training of them.”
In the background Deathstroke’s and Patience’s fight has escalated into a two person war. Literal magic is being used on both sides as Slade reveals enormous teleportion, pyrokinesis and just kinesis in general as Patience shows that she can easily match the teleportation. Knows her way around throwing lightning and can cause the ground to quake with every move she makes.
“Now then. Let us begin.” Ra’s states before suddenly charging them both. Migalla’s swords are outright shattered against his falchion in a single swipe and the round kick to the side sends her sprawling as Echosong opens up with a sonic scream.
He DODGES the scream and lands some feet away, skidding from the sheer speed of the movement.
“All this effort and you still haven’t fully uncovered the plan. I expected more of someone taking up The Detective’s mantle. Perhaps his faith in you is misplaced?”
First Last
submitted by KyleKKent to HFY [link] [comments]
Capes and Conundrums
“This is so much fun! I didn’t think that something like this was around here before!” Migalla says and her mother laughs.
“Last time we were here you were so small that chasing the family Purriz was the most excitement you’d get in a day Migalla.”
“Mom!” Migalla protests as Echosong giggles.
“Daughter!” She says back in amusement as they climb in through the window of the building that the clue they had frisked from those very fetching men had on them. If she wasn’t a married woman then she’d be looking to cure that with these men. They were clearly both dedicated and fun loving with all the shame of an exhibitionist but the self control you need from a soldier.
A pity her little Migalla is still a little too young to do more than occasionally have a wandering hand or find herself staring. The sort of thing you chide someone for or at worst give them a swat or two to get them to stop. Although... at this rate... between the sheer amount of CHEST shown by ‘Maxie Zeus’ and how tight the suit on ‘Firefly’ was... she might start developing a little early in the interest category.
“So... what IS your name ma’am? Did that... Mighty Zeus say it right when he called you Nyx?” Echosong asks and The Huntress perks up a little before letting out a bit of a laugh.
“Oh! Oh this must have been awkward! Oh no, my name is Migalla as well. It’s tradition in my family that the tenth daughter is always named Migalla. Little Migalla here is my tenth born and I am tenth born to my own mother, who was ninth born.”
“So Migalla and Migalla? How does that...”
“Call me Patience. It’s the family name after all. Huntsmistress Migalla Patience, and my adorable daughte Huntress in training Migalla Patience.”
“And granddaughter of Huntsmistress Migalla Patience right?”
“Actually mother’s a botanist. When all three of us are in a room she’s Doctor Migalla.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” Patience responds with a very amused tone. “Now if you get my great aunt in the room then Huntsmistress Migalla will get more than one answer. Much like Huntress in training Migalla will get my adorable little girl and at least three cousins.”
“Family reunions must be a lot of fun.” Echosong states as she tries to make sense of the strange acoustics of this place. There’s no echo despite the fact their should be. Furthermore there’s utter darkness and no source of light. But the light should be moving past certain areas. Something’s going on. What though? She’s not sure.
“The Migalla table at the gathering is always full of the funniest and most confusing conversations.” Migalla says and Echosong laughs. Migalla then smiles at a memory. “Mom, was it Migalla or Migalla that was telling Migalla that last time she saw Migalla she was in a fight with Migalla and it was such a relief to see her and Migalla had made up?”
“Yes, yes it was. Now back to the game at hand... we’re looking for a Ra’s Al Ghul. Some kind of immortal mad eco-terrorist that wishes to crash economies, destroy cities and leave the nature of the world pristine.” Patience notes.
“Wrong world for that. If we let that happen then Skathac gets set on fire again and again.” Echosong notes. “Also... hang on... I have the booklet here. Right! The resurrection method he uses has been slowly driving him insane.”
“Insane little creature? How very base and untoward to use such childish insults.” A refined voice with a slight accent states clearly.
“Speakers, he could be anywhere between here and Centris.” Patience warns.
“Indeed I can miss... Patience was it? Hmm... I expected the detective. I am torn between concern and relief that the rest of the sleeping masses upon this wretched and ruined world are beginning to awaken. Tell me, will you use your awareness and strength to save the world, or doom it?”
“Skathac isn’t a world that needs saving, it needs saving from.” Migalla states in an incredulous tone.
“Seriously old man! Haven’t you been outside? It’s a roasty nine hundred and eighty degrees outside the thermal shields! And it’s the cooler part of the year!” Echosong exclaims.
“I am certain that the world will cool when...”
“What craziness are you up to this time Ra’s? Are you sure you don’t need a retirement home?” Patience mocks him and there’s a silence.
“I am certain that...”
“They even have diapers your size now! So you don’t even have to figure out where the bathroom is!”
“Migalla that’s too far! Incontinence is nothing to joke about. Unless it’s funny.” Patience chides her before laughing.
“Mercenary, get in there.” Ra’s states coldly. Suddenly the darkness is pulled away revealing the warehouse they’re in to be a full of machinery and the trick they used to disguise this to be sound absorbing curtains that blended perfectly in the darkness.
They’re surrounded. Dozens of men in black outfits and only their eyes exposed glaring down. But most importantly are two. One an older looking man with a pointed hairstyle, grey streaks in his beard and a high collared green cape on. The other a very large and powerfully built man in black and grey armour with a half orange facemask. He looks like he walked right out of the Teen Titans cartoon.
“Decisions, decisions...” Deathstroke states.
“I am not paying you dither. Attack!” Ra’s Al Ghul orders and Deathstroke MOVES. His open palm slams into Patient’s stomach and sends her skidding backwards even as her footclaws dig into the concrete below. She leaves four foot long trenches and staggers back a step to regain her footing.
She deflects his left jab, blocks the right cross and then takes a brutal kick to the side of the knee and is sent sprawling. However she still has more limbs to play and her knife hand slams into the sides of his stomach in a powerful cross chop. She gets an impression of far more organs in there than most life, and she knows she hit at least one of them painfully.
His answer is a snap kick that takes her in the stomach and sends her staggering.
Meanwhile Migalla and Echosong are set upon by the ninja horde with a single wordless command from Ra’s. Echosong responds by letting out a sonic scream infused with Axiom that batters back at least three of them and send them sprawling in midair to crash into the machinery uselessly.
Migalla on the other hand jumps back at them and with Axiom infused hands coutners their swords and, after a bit of fumbling, grabs them by the shirt and tries to land on a pipe. She slips and begins to slide backwards, but she wraps her tail around it and firms her footing so they turn on the pipe instead and simply fall off. Leaving her hanging upside down with a ninja in each pair of arms.
She gives them both a few shacks before bonking them together and then dropping them before shifting and skittering to the top of the pipe instead.
She’s then met by a pair of ninjas to either side. She takes a stance that allows both of them access to her sides and uses Axiom to expand her field of vision. Fighting off two people at once will be tricky. But with her four arms and tail, they’ve got a grand total of one limb on her. Hopefully it won’t make that much difference.
Patience meanwhile is having a blast. Deathstroke... or is he Slade when he’s more Teen Titans style? Anyways, Mister Wilson is all sorts of fun. Sure, she has a few limbs on him. The tail nearly gets him as she sweeps for the legs or stabs with the blade, but he downright slithers out of the way of that, showing that he’s as flexible as he’s physically strong and... and...
“Tell me Mister Wilson... do you offer lessons?” Patience asks.
“Oh?” Slade asks. Nothing grand in his tone as he deflects two attacks and shifts to the side to try and get her with an elbow. Unfortunately there’s a distinct lack of organs in the place he hits her, and he’d have had more impact if he slammed into her thigh instead.
“Oh yes... I’m a married woman, but if I could my husband to MOVE like you do... He’s not much of a fighter your see.”
“A brawl before bed to spice up the marital life?” Slade asks in a scornful tone.
“Something like that. A poet can make a woman melt with words alone, but there’s something to be said if he can scoop her up afterwards to carry her to bed.” Patience says and there’s a scoff from under the mask.
“Okay, that needs to come off.” She insists making a grab for the mask. It’s latched on though and it’s not coming off.
She gets a flurry of body shots as she tries to grab at the helmet and then as she lunges for it again she’s instead grabbed and the flip is turned into a hammer throw that sends her hurtling through the factory. She aborts the flight by twisting in the air and grabbing the underside of a walkway and stopping her flight.
She paces along the underside of the walkway, easily keeping grip as she keeps track of Slade. Who throws down a smoke bomb and she senses movement behind her. Her tail lashes out but something binds it and she decides to go all out.
The metal of the walkway bends and cracks under her sheer strength as she bursts through the underside of it to attack Slade, only to find his solid boot slamming into the top of her head with enough force to break her grip, break the line he tied her with and break the pipe underneath them clean through.
“Oh!... Oh wow! You’re good!”
“Of course I am...” Slade begins even as the walkway he’s standing on creaks and groans. It then snaps under his feet and he falls. He falls in perfect control as he angles himself to avoid the edges of the pipe and he lands in a crouch right in front of Patience. “Deathstroke The Terminator.”
“I think this is a bit much for most contestants.”
“You’re a bit much for mere level four. We have you on record fighting Lava Serpents without protective gear and with only the most basic weapons. You can handle it big girl.” Deathstroke The Terminator states. “Now then. Shall we?”
Her response is a lightning fast charge that phases right through him. She skids to a stop and turns. Red runes are glowing over his armour with a jagged mark over his forehead.
“Really?” Patience asks.
“Really.” Deathstroke says before gesturing and half the equipment in the factory hurls itself at her. The Huntsmistress laughs in glee at the challenge.
While mother was having her fun, Migalla was having some of her own. She had managed to swipe a quartet of swords from the ninja and wasn’t so much as using them as flailing them around in their vague directions as she swung from her tail. On the walkway above a Ninja finally gets up there and dislodges her tail, causing her to start to fall, but Echosong swoops in, grabs her and helps her stick the landing even as she sweeps with her Axiom infused voice.
Between the blades, the fury and the scream the ninja fall back and one of them is dramatically killed by Ra’s Al Ghul.
“Incompetent fool.” The older man says in a dark tone as he bares the ‘bloody’ (sauce covered) falchion. “All of you. Out. I will deal with this myself.”
The ninjas scatter and Ra’s Al Ghul throws away his cloak to reveal that he has an armoured vest, pants and boots underneath. “A pity that one can only depend on a mercenary. I will need to increase my training of them.”
In the background Deathstroke’s and Patience’s fight has escalated into a two person war. Literal magic is being used on both sides as Slade reveals enormous teleportion, pyrokinesis and just kinesis in general as Patience shows that she can easily match the teleportation. Knows her way around throwing lightning and can cause the ground to quake with every move she makes.
“Now then. Let us begin.” Ra’s states before suddenly charging them both. Migalla’s swords are outright shattered against his falchion in a single swipe and the round kick to the side sends her sprawling as Echosong opens up with a sonic scream.
He DODGES the scream and lands some feet away, skidding from the sheer speed of the movement.
“All this effort and you still haven’t fully uncovered the plan. I expected more of someone taking up The Detective’s mantle. Perhaps his faith in you is misplaced?”
First Last
2023.06.06 22:14 bef017 What if it was Akumara that sent Nagisa to the MR world.
Nagisa never actually has a well established line of connection with Madoka so we don't know why Nagisa is there. Nagisa isn't even sure if the LoC is a person. That is how little they communicate.
The only thing we know about MR Nagisa is that Nagisa was detained by the LoC and not given proper context for why after suddenly being able to be released with no idea what her mission is. Personally I thought the reason Nagisa was sent there was because Nagisa could be dropped off there and because Nagisa didn't care about the world. I've been working under the assumption that there are some restrictions Madoka has been under that prevent her from just not holding children in the LoC prison. Namely that the wraiths existence may interact in a manner to make releasing them dangerous. Maybe the new seeming set of restrictions exist because Homura simply operates with different restrictions allowing Homura to more freely let out prisoners.
For example Homura can seal the LoC at least seemingly far more effectively than Madoka. Rebellion's production notes also emphasize after taking a LoC recipient they become part of Madoka. It's mentioned that Madoka's mere existence unravels timelines. Maybe Homura just sent Nagisa to MR with memories/LoC connection sealed to test methods for liberating all Madoka's prisoners. With the most important caveat being that Madoka suffers 0 consequences for her actions. With no actual planned mission for Nagisa. In fact, in order to avoid Madoka taking the blame for forcefully detaining Nagisa (and like an infinite amount of others) Homura just sorta avoids talking to her directly to avoid the fact Madoka didn't actually release her.
She likely uses the indirect crappy communication they do have to try experiment through memory magic. Nagisa seems to think the LoC can communicate with her through memory manipulation magic. She has an event where thinks she was misled into using the magic on MR Homura. Homura also has memory manipulation magic on top of having a LoC seal.
I have thought the wraiths are an important component with why Madoka hasn't released the detainees for a couple reasons. 1. If it is directly related to changes related to changes caused by the LoC then Madoka not releasing characters back to their families makes even more sense. 2. Homura like is super wraith Genocidy at the end of Rebellion. 3. The fact Madoka can ditch at least one person in a timeline without this raising to many eyebrows highlights Madoka keeping detainees in the LoC is a choice even if it is a heavily restricted one. 4. Following a trade off of the risk of witches and the human rights abuses of mass child imprisonment Homura thinks Madoka would make given the option gives Homura a reason to simulatneously tell Sayaka that she is overblowing damage to the LoC at the end of Rebellion and also now Walpurgisnacht is back in movie 4. You know other than the writers going from a piece that is records to half the LoC.
For an example of something I think she did, I think she tried to use her memory manipulation powers to insert herself into the dream world and pressure Nagisa into giving Homura the mind wipe for a couple possible reasons 1. Homura can just change MR Homura's memories back to normal. 2. If it no longer seems out of place to see MR Homura act like MS Homura then MS Homura can just pop in with her magical girl outfit and pass herself off as MR Homura allowing her to interfere with the timeline way more directly. 3. Magia Report has been indicating Akumara possesses a Homura to enter into the world. This is also not dissimilar to the platonic abstracta Darksied who follows a theological structure based on Christianity for explaining a concept God in comparison to Madoka that is based off a Kami/ Eastern theology. 4. If Homura actually is able to manifest and use memory manipulation correctly she can blame them being forcefully detained on herself and frame Madoka as their savior. 5. This follows the idea Madoka isn't supposed to be able to have a two way existence. Like MR gives way to goddamn intermediary methods of letting Madoka influence the world.
My reason for why Nagisa is chosen now are these 1. She is a kinda lazy easily manipulable small child. 2. It is someone Homura is familiar with. 3. If there are restrictions on the amount of people or duration or such that should exist that limit how many get to go to a nonLoC world it is best to pick a fresh recruit that has no actual ideas about Madoka's actual limitations. Also this type of restraint would likely piss off detainees that aren't chosen for a release. Keeping in mind I'm assuming Homura is trying to blame every problem entirely on herself. It would also make it less notable that it is safe for at least one LoC angel to go rogue doesn't raise many questions. Basically when acting as Madoka Homura would need to appear only as capable as her and blame every shortcoming on herself. 4. She needs a candidate that doesn't want to go back to their world until after her reality rewrites are done. So she needs a person willing to live in MR not whose gonna run off to a LoC timeline. 5. An ideal person to experiment with is one that is willing to work with Madoka who abducted them but won't actually be mad at her but driven enough to work on liberating themselves and others and blame problems on Homura.
For those wandering why Homura is out there when Madokami is out there, they both exist beyond space and time. Meaning that Homura will just do stuff like lie saying since they operate on nonlinear time logic she did things like block out Madoka's influence in the Magia Record timeline, Prevented Madoka from being able to free her prisoners and more.
submitted by bef017 to magiarecord [link] [comments]
The only thing we know about MR Nagisa is that Nagisa was detained by the LoC and not given proper context for why after suddenly being able to be released with no idea what her mission is. Personally I thought the reason Nagisa was sent there was because Nagisa could be dropped off there and because Nagisa didn't care about the world. I've been working under the assumption that there are some restrictions Madoka has been under that prevent her from just not holding children in the LoC prison. Namely that the wraiths existence may interact in a manner to make releasing them dangerous. Maybe the new seeming set of restrictions exist because Homura simply operates with different restrictions allowing Homura to more freely let out prisoners.
For example Homura can seal the LoC at least seemingly far more effectively than Madoka. Rebellion's production notes also emphasize after taking a LoC recipient they become part of Madoka. It's mentioned that Madoka's mere existence unravels timelines. Maybe Homura just sent Nagisa to MR with memories/LoC connection sealed to test methods for liberating all Madoka's prisoners. With the most important caveat being that Madoka suffers 0 consequences for her actions. With no actual planned mission for Nagisa. In fact, in order to avoid Madoka taking the blame for forcefully detaining Nagisa (and like an infinite amount of others) Homura just sorta avoids talking to her directly to avoid the fact Madoka didn't actually release her.
She likely uses the indirect crappy communication they do have to try experiment through memory magic. Nagisa seems to think the LoC can communicate with her through memory manipulation magic. She has an event where thinks she was misled into using the magic on MR Homura. Homura also has memory manipulation magic on top of having a LoC seal.
I have thought the wraiths are an important component with why Madoka hasn't released the detainees for a couple reasons. 1. If it is directly related to changes related to changes caused by the LoC then Madoka not releasing characters back to their families makes even more sense. 2. Homura like is super wraith Genocidy at the end of Rebellion. 3. The fact Madoka can ditch at least one person in a timeline without this raising to many eyebrows highlights Madoka keeping detainees in the LoC is a choice even if it is a heavily restricted one. 4. Following a trade off of the risk of witches and the human rights abuses of mass child imprisonment Homura thinks Madoka would make given the option gives Homura a reason to simulatneously tell Sayaka that she is overblowing damage to the LoC at the end of Rebellion and also now Walpurgisnacht is back in movie 4. You know other than the writers going from a piece that is records to half the LoC.
For an example of something I think she did, I think she tried to use her memory manipulation powers to insert herself into the dream world and pressure Nagisa into giving Homura the mind wipe for a couple possible reasons 1. Homura can just change MR Homura's memories back to normal. 2. If it no longer seems out of place to see MR Homura act like MS Homura then MS Homura can just pop in with her magical girl outfit and pass herself off as MR Homura allowing her to interfere with the timeline way more directly. 3. Magia Report has been indicating Akumara possesses a Homura to enter into the world. This is also not dissimilar to the platonic abstracta Darksied who follows a theological structure based on Christianity for explaining a concept God in comparison to Madoka that is based off a Kami/ Eastern theology. 4. If Homura actually is able to manifest and use memory manipulation correctly she can blame them being forcefully detained on herself and frame Madoka as their savior. 5. This follows the idea Madoka isn't supposed to be able to have a two way existence. Like MR gives way to goddamn intermediary methods of letting Madoka influence the world.
My reason for why Nagisa is chosen now are these 1. She is a kinda lazy easily manipulable small child. 2. It is someone Homura is familiar with. 3. If there are restrictions on the amount of people or duration or such that should exist that limit how many get to go to a nonLoC world it is best to pick a fresh recruit that has no actual ideas about Madoka's actual limitations. Also this type of restraint would likely piss off detainees that aren't chosen for a release. Keeping in mind I'm assuming Homura is trying to blame every problem entirely on herself. It would also make it less notable that it is safe for at least one LoC angel to go rogue doesn't raise many questions. Basically when acting as Madoka Homura would need to appear only as capable as her and blame every shortcoming on herself. 4. She needs a candidate that doesn't want to go back to their world until after her reality rewrites are done. So she needs a person willing to live in MR not whose gonna run off to a LoC timeline. 5. An ideal person to experiment with is one that is willing to work with Madoka who abducted them but won't actually be mad at her but driven enough to work on liberating themselves and others and blame problems on Homura.
For those wandering why Homura is out there when Madokami is out there, they both exist beyond space and time. Meaning that Homura will just do stuff like lie saying since they operate on nonlinear time logic she did things like block out Madoka's influence in the Magia Record timeline, Prevented Madoka from being able to free her prisoners and more.