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thatblackboianarchist · 3 years

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Giftedness is a Spook

I personally think giftedness is a stupid concept. Basically, it’s the idea that certain children, so folks under the age of 18, are “smarter” in some general or abstract sense than others, or more competent, more talented, more skilled, “better thinkers”, whatever. This concept originated pretty much in the 19th and 20th centuries, where we began consolidating under the “intelligence” label and categorizing people based on “how smart” and “how dumb” they are. There is a lot of baggage associated with the term giftedness, a lot of it historical and bigoted, so let’s investigate and such.

The most used definition of giftedness is having an IQ score above 130, or two standard deviations above the mean of 100. Though this historical definition has faced lots of criticism, since it is clearly possible to have superior ability in some domain without having a conventionally high IQ score, such as in the arts, or debating and public speaking, or sports, or chess, or really anything really.

Due to the fact that the “IQ above 130” definition of giftedness falls short of actually capturing all high-achieving children, most modern gifted education programmes no longer use this as the sole indicator of giftedness, and rather adopt a more multidisciplinary approach. Now, most simply look for superior skill or talent in one or more key areas, which can be art, or sports, or leadership, and attempt to cultivate that, as well as looking for people with a generally higher IQ than the average in their age group.

The issue with this approach is that it views giftedness as some sort of intrinsic, fully general, conserved property that is only found in certain sects of the population, and thus categorizes people into “gifted” and “non-gifted”. This categorization falls short in part due to the existence of “twice-exceptional” students, who are gifted in one area, but require unique accommodations in other areas. So it appears that it is possible to be “gifted” and “non-gifted” at the same time, so just how useful is this concept?

What’s more, giftedness often focuses on general cognitive traits, such as gifted children have greater white matter density, or faster information processing speed, or hear sounds faster, or think more critically, but from my perspective, these just seem to be variations in human characteristics, in the same way that some children are taller than others or start puberty earlier than others. Everyone develops at their own pace and there are plenty of people who develop out of the norm, especially since concepts of child development almost always exclude neurodivergent children and their different cognitive and psychosocial milestones.

And they are not necessarily NATURAL or inevitable variations in human characteristics either. All the traits associated with intelligence - information processing speed, critical thinking, white and grey matter density, working memory capacity, creativity, executive functions, enhanced senses - are heavily influenced by societal factors.

For instance, a child that has been well-fed since birth is obviously going to have a more developed brain with a higher capacity for all those things than a child that has suffered chronic hunger. A child that receives nurturing and good parents is going to have a more developed brain a child that receives abusive and neglectful parents. A child that grows up in a war zone is going to be different cognitively and intellectually than a child that grows up in a relatively peaceful location.

And those developmental consequences aren’t always natural in the sense that they are innate, they are artificial, engineered by politicians, corporations, and a society that absolutely refuses to take the suffering of children seriously. Yet the children who have been disadvantaged by this abusive society are unlikely to be categorized as gifted. These children show lower scores on IQ tests and the school system thinks they’re dumb, or worse “average”. These children don’t show superior performance in any particular area, there must be something wrong with them, they’re not “special” like these gifted kids other here. They don’t need special help, they just have to follow the curriculum for the regular or the *gasp* dumb kids, geta 9-to-5 job, and wait 50 years to retire, they won’t be these gifted kids that change the world.

LAME. This is lame. This is the wrong way to think about the differences that exist between children. And what’s worse, it’s so definite and unchanging, as if the traits associated with intelligence cannot be changed. As if we can’t help children with their working memory capacity, or their creativity, or their critical thinking, or their executive functions. As if we can’t help children find something they enjoy and let them cultivate that activity. These are all skills that can be taught, but they aren’t taught at all. We just let the bell curve “form naturally” and then take the kids on the right-half of it and label them “gifted” and then discard the rest, even though we are capable of teaching them those skills.

Giftedness promotes two unhealthy narratives: (1) being average isn’t good enough and (2) being below average is bad. With regards to (1) and (2), it completely ignores all of the facets of a good life, or what can be a good life. In my view, a good life is one that you enjoy and are proud of. Where you have strong relationships with others, actual freedom and control over your life, where you have things that you’re good at or enjoy doing, where you are proud of what you’ve accomplished. It has nothing to do with “having a higher working memory capacity” what the fuck?

There is value in being “average” or “mediocre” or “below average” or “stupid”. You can still produce art that people enjoy. You can still be a good athlete. You can still get really good at a specific area of academia. You can still be a competent engineer. You can still connect with others and mean something to them. You can still travel the world, drink wine condescendingly, and have a good time meeting people and seeing things. You can still contribute to society, and you can even make innovations that change it, but you don’t have to make a “significant contribution” to a worthy member of society. You can still care about others. You already change society, just by being part of it, and that is enough.

Focus on the experiences you want to have, the relationships you want to build, and the skills you want to learn, not on “I want to be smarter” or “I want to have better memory” or “I want to be the best”. It’s okay to want to be smarter, or to have better memory, or even to be the best at something (since it’s not possible to be the best at EVERYTHING), but those things are relative.

When you become “smarter” at something, or the “best” or just better, at some specific domain, you will find that all the traits associated with intelligence tend to increase with regard to that specific domain. For example, when you get better at chess, you develop better problem-solving skills associated with chess, or more critical thinking in regards to games, or better memory for recalling chess piece arrangements or movement formation or techniques, or faster information processing speed in regards to processing your opponent’s and your own moves, or better “chess logic” or “chess reasoning skills”, or the ability to understand and reason about chess on it’s own.

Intelligence is relative and domain-specific, the superior memory you would develop in chess won’t cross over to, say, memorizing decks of cards, or generalize into just having a superior memory for all things. That’s not how human brains work, they are highly specific and skill-oriented. So when you focus on becoming “smarter in general”, you are essentially setting an impossible goal, because it’s not specific enough for you brain to be able to systemically learn and apply it. You have to be specific if you want to make any progress, after all, and this applies to our constructs of giftedness.

We have to be specific! We have to let children choose their interests and hobbies and help them develop natural talents, as well as explore their interests and help them reach a suitable level of competence, where suitability is determined by THEM, the child. When you let them develop interests and hobbies of their own choosing, they naturally will get “smarter” in that area, you know, better working memory and stuff in that regard.

And even if they don’t reach expert levels of performance, or perform averagely or even below average, it doesn’t really matter, since it’s not something they need to be an expert in. For knowledge that is universally relevant, like comprehensive sexual education, you should work on ensuring that your average is a high standard. But if the piece of knowledge or skill doesn’t meet “nigh-universally relevant” or “necessary to function in this society”, then who cares how will people learn it? Especially since they can always come back in the future and re-learn it, or improve on it.

We also have to address child suffering and ensure that all children have good and strong support networks, are well-fed, have medical care, are free from abuse, etc. This makes it easier for them to actually have the time, energy, and cognitive capacity to choose their own interests and hobbies, AND work at them. It also helps them make relationships, explore, learn, and make a good life for themselves.

Also, a quick note. Interests are just things that you like to do or have a feeling for; hobbies are recreational pursuits that you actively engage in. So, an interest can be looking at pictures of castles online, a hobby can be actively seeing castles in person. It’s more or less an arbitrary distinction, but I like to use them in tandem to cover all the bases.

#giftedness #gifted #neurodivergent #school #school system #education system #unschooling #whatever #intelligence #intelligence is fake #reality is complicated #live your life #etc

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sage-nebula · 3 years

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Game Review — Neo: The World Ends With You

In 2008 I played a JRPG unlike any other I had played before, or have played since. It was a self-contained story and for the most part I was okay for it to stay that way, though I was always curious what more could be done in the world, and hated how Square-Enix kept teasing us with the promise of a sequel that it seemed would never come. But now, 13 years later, that sequel has finally arrived.

Overall Score: 9/10

My personal feelings on the story and characters aside, overall Neo: The World Ends With You lives up to its predecessor in terms of gameplay, writing, music, and presentation. Unlike other sequels which fall woefully short of their predecessors, Neo does a fantastic job of staying true to the spirit of the original so that older fans can enjoy it just as much as new fans do. For more detailed thoughts, head under the cut (and onto my blog for formatting purposes).

The Pros:

The writing, for the most part, is excellent. Again, I have more personal takes on the story and character beats that I’ll delve into on a different post, but in terms of how the dialogue and flavor text are written throughout the game, Neo has shown that the writing staff hasn’t forgotten what makes The World Ends With You spectacular despite it being 13 years. The humor is on point, the character of the fictionalized version of Shibuya that was created is on point. Even just playing the demo I could tell that the charm was still there despite this being written over a decade later and I couldn’t be happier with that fact.

The music is, of course, phenomenal. There are remixes of tracks from the original game that are great, because I’ll never say no to a version of “Transformation” or “The One Star” or “Someday”. But there are also original tracks that are just absolutely beyond fantastic, such as “Kill the Itch” or “Last Call” or “Bird in the Hand”. One of the things that sets The World Ends With You apart from other JRPGs is its music, and how it’s composed to be music comparable with what you could hear on a radio versus being very identifiable as video game music, and Neo delivered on that front yet again with both the remixes and the original tracks.

The gameplay is another area in which Neo shines. It would be impossible to replicate the battle system of the original game, something Square-Enix showed time and time again with their numerous ports and remasters of it. The original game was meant to be played on the Nintendo DS, and specifically the Nintendo DS, in that it was created with the dual screens in mind. As a result, the two partner system just didn’t work on the numerous ports and re-releases, and it wouldn’t be able to work in Neo either due to the fact that none of the platforms it’s releasing on have dual screens. As a result, Neo’s battle system is very different, but also very, very good. The battles are still real time, and you still control all of the characters at once (I don’t think there’s a way to let the AI take over like with the partner in the original game, but I could be wrong on that), but this time they’re all in the same plane of existence and you juggle up to six of them at a time. Instead of passing a light puck to power up a sync fusion, you’re instead bouncing combos in order to work up a Groove, which in turn lets you Beat Drop in what is essentially a version of the sync fusions, albeit not nearly as specific to the characters as the sync fusions were. There were times while playing that having to balance so many characters at once got a bit much, especially when trying out new pins with different reboot times, but overall the battle experience is incredibly smooth and is a perfect rendition of what TWEWY battling should be like on a single screen. Battles aside, there are numerous other areas in which the gameplay shined as well. Starting in Week 2 you gain the ability to move around the map more quickly in a way which integrates the BGM as well (which is important given how much thematic importance is given to music in these games), and in Week 3 you get an even faster method of travel via telewarping around the map. Pins are back, and with a story explanation given for why the characters can use any pins they please, you get different pins to use and elemental affinities to consider when picking out your decks. A new Social Network feature not only gives you additional information on various characters, but also grants you new abilities and can help you keep track of who is who, as well as who has a relation to whom. Little features like this definitely add to the experience of the game and make playing it feel fun, which is always of paramount importance when it comes to video games.

There is a ton of content, which again, is pretty important when you consider that this is a $60 game. Like the original game, there are three weeks of seven days apiece for the main story. In a way, this can make it seem like the game goes by too fast (especially if you binge play it like I did), but also like the original game, there is plenty of post-game content to do as well. For one, we once again get a light-hearted parody bonus chapter in the form of “Another Day”. For another, there are Secret Reports unlocked by completing special missions in each chapter that provide extra background information, as well as an unlockable secret ending as well. So although the main story can go by fast (especially if, again, you just can’t put it down), there is still plenty to do once the main campaign is completed and that’s always the mark of a brilliant game as well.

Speaking of, the game really is difficult to put down. Five hours passed by in a blink for me while I was playing, not only because the gameplay was fun, but because I just had to know what was going to happen next. There were times when I figured I would just start the next day and then put it down, but the next day began with something crazy happening and I had to follow up on it. For a heavily story-based game, this is yet another necessary strength and the developers pulled it off fabulously.

For the most part, the characters were all fantastic as well, newcomers and returning vets alike. The original game shined in how unique it made its characters, and Neo does this as well. The returning cast is (again for the most part) IC but with notable growth in their personalities and demeanors, and the new cast is equally as lovable (or detestable for those that are meant to be detested). Again, since this is a story-based game, having strong characters is a necessary requirement and Neo pulls that off just as splendidly as the original did, with few exceptions.

The game is also beautiful to look at, much like (at risk of sounding like a broken record) the original. The comic book art style has always been incredibly unique and charming, and they integrated the 3D graphics seamlessly with the art style to create a truly beautiful marvel to look at while playing. The character design is also worthy of a chef’s kiss, especially when wise decisions were made behind the scenes to swap the designs of certain characters (namely, Ayano and Kanon originally had each other’s appearance, before a smart decision was made to swap how they looked). All in all, this is a game you never get tired of looking at.

The Neutrals:

Despite there being a wide variety of pins to use (especially since any character can use any pin), there actually isn’t that much of a variety in terms of what the pins actually do. This is partially due to hardware restrictions; in the original game they could have sound based pins because the DS had a microphone, and the touch screen also allowed for different types of inputs as well. But current consoles don’t offer as much in terms of gameplay ingenuity, and as a result you get a lot of pins that are basically just clones of each other, which is a little bit disappointing when you compare it to the original (especially since I haven’t discovered many iconic sets yet, a la Darklit Planets or Brainy Cat etc).

While there are a ton of characters in this game, there is much, much less emphasis put on the citizens of Shibuya who aren’t involved in the Game, which in turn makes it feel like there are less memorable side characters than the last game. For the most part, the citizens of Shibuya are basically relegated to just being possessed by Noise, and that’s it. Whereas we saw their lives carry out over three weeks in the last game (such as Makoto’s evolution in both his social and professional life), here we don’t really get to see that, which is a bit disappointing as well.

The battle gameplay, while very fun and smooth, does feel a little less deep at times than it did in the original game. While in the original you had to learn to balance Neku’s pins with his partner’s psychs, here you’re basically button mashing in a rhythm in order to get the gauge up, which can get a bit tiring if you do a bunch of battles in a row. The fact that the Beat Drops aren’t unique to the characters like the Fusions were is another thing that, while not a huge detriment, still feels a little less special than the Fusions did in the original game.

Neo is a lot more plot-focused than the original, which was more character-driven. Don’t get me wrong, the original definitely had a plot as well, and Neo does care about its characters. But while the deeper aspects of the plot were discovered post-game through the Secret Reports in the original, here the plot intricacies are front and center. And while the first game spent way more time developing its characters and focusing on their inner struggles, here the character issues are mostly pushed to late game in order to focus on the plot. It’s not bad, but it is noticeably different.

You still don’t get to actually see the characters in the clothes you dress them in. While this makes sense (it would be way too much to program in), it’s still a bit of a letdown.

The fashion brands don’t really feature into the plot or world at all, with the exception of Gatto Nero because of who created it. Again, it’s not a huge deal, but I enjoyed how you could see which brands were most popular in different areas of Shibuya in the original, and how you sometimes had to boost the popularity of the brands via doing battle with those pins or clothes equipped in the original in order to clear missions. It made the brands you were wearing actually matter, versus just being fun flavor text.

The Cons:

The time travel mechanic, Replay, is probably the biggest con this game has to offer. While it does have consequences that I won’t spoil here in the very final act of the game, for the most part it completely negated the stakes for the vast majority of the game, because you knew that even if something terrible happened, Rindo would be able to go back in time and fix it. I was never worried about what the characters would encounter as a result of this, except for in a few instances where something bad happened after Rindo had already used his power for the day. This is a noticeable downgrade from the original game, where there were no Do Overs and Neku and the others had to live with whatever consequences the Game had in store for them, which made everything feel that much more dire. In addition to lowering the stakes, though, Replay also loses points for the fact that having to do the same events with slight changes over and over felt like padding. In particular, in the endgame there is a segment you have to go through about six different times, and it felt maddening. While I do feel like Replay was a homage to the Zero Escape games in that it works remarkably similar to Sigma and Phi’s SHIFTing ability (and Fret even calls the Game “the escape room from hell” which again calls to Zero Escape), for some reason it felt far more like a chore here than it did there, possibly because you couldn’t Jump at will here like you can in Virtue’s Last Reward.

I’m personally not wild about the adult/teen romances that were implied in the game, even though thankfully neither of them seemed reciprocated. Namely, Kanon viewed Fret as a kid given that she’s an adult and he’s a teenager, and Shoka never really thought about her relationship with Ayano that deeply even though Ayano seemed pretty in love with Shoka. But even though these relationships weren’t reciprocated, the fact that they were present at all is still something that I’m really just not wild about, and made me feel a bit uncomfortable while playing. (And yes, I know that Ayano and Shoka are said to be sisters in “Another Day”, but the subtext surrounding Ayano’s feelings in specific in the main story is so blatant it’s essentially overt text. I don’t want to get into it here since that delves more into spoiler territory, but I really just was not wild about it at all, especially since that’s the most blatant lesbian rep this series has given us thus far, which is disappointing to me, a lesbian.)

I don’t want to dive too much into this here because of spoilers, but: Neku. From his English voice acting to his writing, he was disrespected up and down in this game. Truly a massive disappointment in every sense of the word, and so he deserves a Con point all to himself.

There is a noticeable lack of minigames in Neo, as well as a lack of variety in the wall missions. We only had one instance of Reaper Review (that I encountered at least). There was no Reaper Creeper, nor was there Tin Pin Slammer, though both were mentioned. As someone who loved Tin Pin Slammer, I was so sad to see it not present at all in this game, and there wasn’t even a suitable replacement for it that we could play on the side, either. As mentioned above, the battles can get a bit boring after a while, so the fact that there weren’t minigames to help break them up truly feels like a detriment to what is otherwise a very fun game to play.

Fret’s Remind ability was a chore every time I had to use it. You had to hold the joysticks at certain positions and if you couldn’t solve it fast enough, you had to reposition them all over again. Maybe it’s just the Switch version that was having the issue, I don’t know, but I found it incredibly finicky and hard to control, which made me dislike every time I had to do it despite loving the little drawings that Fret conjured up when he used his ability.

In cases where Noise could interrupt your entire party at once, I found that I was unable to use pins a second or two before the interruption came. This was most notable with the elephant noise (fuck those elephants, me and all my homies hate those elephants, there were TOO MANY ELEPHANTS in this game) and the final final boss. Again, this could be a bug exclusive to the Switch version, I’m not sure, but it was annoying as heck regardless.

All in all, whatever complaints I may have, this game is extraordinarily fun and a wonderful sequel to an even more wonderful game. I’m incredibly happy with it and I’m glad that it lived up to expectations, particularly considering how long it took to arrive. Now we just need to wait 13 years for a third game. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready.

#neo: the world ends with you #neo twewy #neo the world ends with you #2021 game reviews #minor spoilers contained within though I tried to keep it as spoiler-free as possible

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technicallydelightfulsandwich · 4 years

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Isle of Nowhere PSA

MAJOR TWS FOR:

RAPE, NECROPHILIA, VERY NSFW CONTENT, RACISM, HOMOPHOBIA, TRANSPHOBIA, CHILD ABUSE, MANIPULATION, AND PEDOPHILIA.

While the mods of the blog theisleofnowherethatneverwas (the Tumblr url for their main blog, henceforth abbreviated to IoN) are all minors, their actions and the way they've written serious topics with no care or thought into their AU are downright despicable. We are not denying the fact they can change, but they have done far too much for their actions to be simply swept under the rug with a private apology. Again, we emphasize that the mods are completely able to change, and it would be greatly appreciated if they cleaned up their act and apologized for the grievous harm they have caused. With that being said, we’ve made this post to show some of the key issues with this AU, so others may avoid interacting if they don’t wish to, and some awareness can be made as to the harmful nature of this AU…

The two most noteworthy characters designed by the IoN would be their Nikei, and their Tsurugi. Their Nikei was a obsessive yandere who fits the stereotype of creepy, predatory gay preying on a uwu soft boy, and he was a highly manipulative, abusive person. His actions were made light of in the server, and one person who has since left the server recounts being @ed by Mod Lulu 7 times to continue on with a rape roleplay involving IoN Nikei. Tsurugi was a rapist, implied pedophile, and sexual harasser who used nepotism to get himself in power, and was described as “wanting to corrupt pure people” sexually. He is a victim of CSA and perpetuates the cycle of abuse stereotype, while being another predatory gay. Fic was written of both characters raping someone, and in his DRA intro, Tsurugi sexually harasses Utsuro, then goes on to rape Teruya shortly afterwards. Victims of CSA who tried to speak up about this/further develop Tsurugi were ignored in favor of keeping him as he was. His fate gave him no growth or redemption, he was just another rapist and abuser who couldn’t change what was “in their nature as he was taught it” like a majority of the IoN characters. Nikei was given no explanation for his issues, but that doesn’t mean what he did was written properly. While it was scrapped, at one point there was plans for him to eat and fuck Mikados corpse, as Mikado was the object of his affections. Tsurugi was hypersexual due to his trauma, and was written as a rapist freak due to it. Nikei was portrayed as evil for breaking the heart of a girl crushing on him (who, in some of their in-universe AUs/alternate endings, then “became a lesbian”) and there was a scene written, possibly scrapped, in which he had sex with her as a way of manipulating her and gaining information. Mod Strawb has justified this due to her believing she has hypersexuality, and the argument “canon isn’t morally perfect” has also been used.

Many of the other characters in their AU are either equally disgusting, or lack any real substance outside of one trait. A good example of this would be their AU’s Yuri. The Yuri Kagarin of this universe is a stereotypical “trap”. Him having tricked Shinji into spending time with him so that he could manipulate and use him for his own cause, via dressing as a girl, and encouraging Shinji to see him as such. This feeds into both a predatory gay man trope, alongside a few transphobic ones. Another character with questionable writing would be their Emma, who, as said by one of the mods themself, is “afraid of black people”. Furthermore, another good example of this poor character writing would be Kinji, who is written as a victim of cult abuse, but infantilized to the point that being child-like is the only real trait he has. Plenty of other gross misrepresentations of abuse and it’s after-effects were written by the IoN mods, such as giving Iroha anorexia, which was only shown through her having visible ribs, and was not consistently written into her character.

Onto the mods themselves, they were informed several times that the way these topics were being handled was less than satisfactory, to say the least, but refused to make any real changes. Additionally, outside of the main story, a few of the mods produced problematic bonus content, such as headcanons stating that Hibiki was performing sexual acts on her sister, that Kanade either didn’t understand, or was asleep during. Mod Lulu also pinged unwilling members of the server multiple times to coerce them into rape roleplays on several occasions. Mod Strawb drew rape porn, on top of defending pedophiles. Though these other mods will not be specified, many encouraged the doxxing of an individual who wanted to express her problems with the server. As a whole, several of the main mods also knowingly partook in plagiarism, stealing designs, and even a blog format from others, without consent or credit.

When Mod Strawb was reached out to about some former contributors to the AU making a post detailing their experience, the person who reached out to her misspoke and called it an attack. A different person involved in that post was added to the DM and explained that it was not an attack, merely an “educational PSA” involving nothing but quotes from the IoN blog/server and people involved in it’s creation. Mod Strawb said she understood that the first person had misspoke, left the DM, and proceeded to tell the server about how an attack was being planned on them. The second person added to the DM was in the IoN server, and attempted to ask Strawb publicly why she had lied, either in the DM or the server, as she had said she understood that wasn’t the nature of the post, and tried to explain. That person was spoken over and ignored, began to have a panic attack, and asked Lulu and Strawb, the two others active in the conversation to stop until the second person wasn’t having a panic attack, or to move it to DMs. Despite Lulu and Strawb both agreeing, in less than a minute, they continued the conversation in that channel, directly asking that person (referring to them by name) questions, causing them to leave the server. When pointed out to her that this was the reason that user left the server, by said user, Lulu had no comment.

The mods of this AU may not have meant to cause harm, but their actions have caused quite a lot of damage to the mental health of people they've worked with, along with promoting stereotypes that have contributed to the pain of many real life gay and trans people, sexual assault victims, and child abuse victims and regularly stealing content with no credit or consent from the original creator. We do not want these people to be attacked. We just want them to be held accountable so they apologize for their actions, can grow from this, and stop harming others. Attempts by others which involved reaching out to those involved in the IoN beforehand resulted in one individual narrowly avoiding being doxxed, and the IoN simply viewing those others as “dramawhores.” As such, this has been made and evidence has been compiled in hopes that no others will get involved in the IoN while being unaware of others accounts and the material it goes over, and so they may no longer run from their actions.

Regarding the aforementioned plagiarism: A different tumblr blog, also calling itself a beta au, was started on August 23rd, 2019, 8 days before the IoN came up with their beta au. At least one IoN mod, Lulu, was aware of the existence of the account, and even asked it’s sole mod for a promo before later asking for his help with the creation of the IoN. Comparing the two blogs intro posts, they read as very similar, and Lulu has admitted to their post being inspired by that shown on the other AU (another-dr-another, henceforth abbreviated to ADA.) The mod of ADA, after assisting the IoN by completely writing the IoNs DRA, fixing numerous lore and consistency issues, and beginning to work on designing their version of the canon games, left the server after mods Lulu and Strawb continued a conversation he had requested they stop due to it making him have a panic attack. They would go on to accuse him of plagiarism, stealing the name and concept of the beta AU. While in the server, he requested they not use the same post formatting as what he used, they ignored that, and credited him for it in one post. No other credit was given despite him citing himself as (and others involved in the IoN verifying this) the main person designing the DRA characters, sole person making that killing game (order, murder, execution) and was working on all three canon DR games at once upon leaving. When questioned about how the DRA characters were handled, he told us how he planned them out, the development and growth he tried to give them, and how the IoN ignored that for only the very base of the characters. Additionally, he said he felt pressured to make/engage in content he didn’t agree with morally, a sentiment echoed by numerous others involved in that AU.

#sdra2

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henlp · 3 years

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Most anime is bad.

It's fair to say anime's success in the West, starting in the 80s-90s but gaining mass recognition and appeal in the 2000s, mostly comes from a wide range of premises for stories told, and how emotional payoffs are (for the most part) earned by the writing, be it hype moments, shocking scenes, or the often-expected bittersweet finale.

However, in spite of these positives, it's very frequent that the story for an anime/manga/novel/game/etc. ends up being bad; and for the longest time, I couldn't figure out exactly why. Even a decade ago, when I was far more lenient and forgiving to the content I consumed (because I had yet to achieve the jaded, joyless state I find myself in <current year>), I could tell something was amiss.

Think I first took notice of this when the era of the Big Three was coming to an end, with One Piece carrying on as Fairy Tail instead took the shovel to the head. Alongside Bleach and Naruto, these three manga series all suffered major issues in their final arcs, so blatant that it became too difficult to accept. Something stank in Denmark Japan, and it made no sense why these (supposedly) good series where floundering as they neared the finish line.

A few years later, with more media under my belt, out came Black Clover. Both my weeb cousin and a good friend had spoken highly of the series, alongside many of the places I used to check for animus, so I watched the OVA... and hated it. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with the pilot for the story, mind you, at that point it was only the screeching from the protagonist that bothered me. When the series proper began, I made the conscious effort to try and power through in spite of the awful first impression, to see what the hype had been about... and I still wasn't seeing it. In fact, the story's erratic and hyperactive pacing, alongside its cheap animation, made it almost impossible for me to watch. Only by virtue of the previously aforementioned hype moments on occasion and the catchy OPs did I stick around long enough for the story to get interesting and for me to have any investment in the characters. It didn't get good, but it had at least become tolerable. Lucky for me AND it, I was still at a point where I wouldn't drop shows as easily.

It wasn't looking good for my outlook in regards to japanese entertainment. Even if I would end up consuming more anime than any western shows (at least animes don't fucking despise their audiences), my eye kept getting more critical, and I kept getting less adventurous, due to several shows disappointing. But I still couldn't figure out why this was. If anime and manga were appealing to me still, why was I less inclined to give 'em a pass, why was I more and more dissatisfied. And then I got my answer in 2021, thanks to two shows: Jujutsu Kaisen and the second anime adaptation of Shaman King.

A story's quality can generally be quantified based on three things: characters, world, and plot. Each informs the other two, and a good story never has one of these working against the others. But it can also happen that all three work in their own right, but not in tandem. A fourth, rarely-considered factor for evaluating story is EXECUTION. So when it comes to anime, manga, novels, games, etc, the problem usually is in execution. You could argue that there are different cultural sensibilities for storytelling in Japan, or corporate factors interjecting themselves in the process; but that would be an explanation, not an excuse. And nowadays, enough japanese creators quote some of their influences as not just being other japanese creators, but also creators from around the globe (past and present). There's not this magical bubble keeping the Land of the Rising Sun ignorant of other types of storytelling and development processes.

So how did I arrive at this conclusion thanks to Jujutsu Kaisen and Shaman King 2021? Both shows suffer terribly when it comes to execution of their stories, although in different ways:

-With Jujutsu Kaisen (at least the anime, I've not read the whole manga), there were several instances where I found myself asking "Did I miss an episode or something?", because you frequently had characters reacting and conducting themselves with one another as if there was a deluge of development between them off-screen. No better example than EmoBangs McGee, who becomes BFFs with the protagonist in less than 5min, later having a fight that was probably meant to be very heart-wrenching, except there was no development for their relation (and powers), so it made no sense for them to act in that fashion (if this is different in the manga, by all means let me know);

-With Shaman King 2021, meanwhile, I was well-familiarized with the characters, the world, and the plot. I knew the main elements of the story, I had in fact rewatched the show in the past decade, and in spite of filler content and Black Sabbath cameos, still remembered it strongly. But as I am watching the new show, the word that comes to mind is "cheap": cheap animation and rushed pacing. Maybe this is due to certain events, or the studio trying to rush past the initial stages of the story, but still. All it had to do was clear the filler, give each scene and character the love and care they needed to make their moments the best they could, and let it go from there. It's been twelve years since FMA Brotherhood, if you're going to be a greedy bitch and redo an anime adaptation, there's no excuse for it to be of such low quality.

As you can see, both failed in execution, with the latter in its new adaptation and the former (possibly) in its original format. When I realized this, suddenly the fog dissipated, and I could see why all those stories had failed: Bleach failed because its power creep and character conflicts were executed horribly; Naruto's atrocious pacing (in both manga and anime) was done solely to extend the story needlessly; Fairy Tail's final arcs (although not only that) dropped the ball because Hiro Mashima was actively trying to ensure there were no sad elements to the story or the end of his characters' arcs; Black Clover‘s poor execution came in how its first few arcs play out, trying to speed up through the world-building, which left most characters too anemic and underdeveloped until far later into the story.

But of course, this is an issue that exists in far more IPs than just the ones I’ve mentioned so far and others of the same caliber. It happens with the cream of the crop as well: Boku no Hero Academia's more recent decisions have been executed very poorly, when they were just a single step away from being done very well; post-timeskip One Piece has relied too heavily on characters having skills and forms that we aren't familiarized with, and fights that don't resolve in a smart fashion, but due to nakama power fueling Luffy; season fucking 2 of One-Punch Man is the poster child for terrible execution of anime adaptations, considering the original webcomic, the manga, and season 1. This issue is (almost) everywhere, and yeah, I get it: anime and manga are produced through such a hellish process, that a lot of times the authors or production staff don't have the time to go through their stories to make sure everything's on the up-and-up. Yusuke Murata is not exactly a common example, of someone that's allowed to go back to both redraw and rewrite entire chapters; and I am somewhat glad that, at least when it comes to JUMP, they seem to be getting slightly more lenient with the talent and their teams if it means better results in the long run.

However, the issue persists. I neither know nor think that anything can be resolved even if the extremely demanding workload of manga/anime production were to be alleviated (we've had plenty of examples in the West, of media that has all the time and money in the world, still imploding and salting the earth around it), but at the very least, it can be something that creators who are not under those retraints to take into account, so as not to make those same mistakes.

Do not try to subvert conversations that SHOULD be happening, just because in anime there's a stereotype of scenes where everything stops in its tracks just so characters can have a conversation, be it executed well or poorly (an aspect I'd wager stems from when the source material is manga or a novel). Don't think that because a character's power level let's them blow up the moon from orbit, that immersion can't be broken if you don't justify how they might struggle against another on the same tier. Be wary of the very common issue with 'Wanime' (Western animation using the anime style), where creators completely put aside depth for spectacle, to the point that it becomes indistinguishable from a parody show such as Megas XLR.

Always remember, execution is the be-all and end-all to every character development, emotional payoff, hype moment, world building, and plot progression. Think about every scene, and if it actually informs the audience of what should be happening. If it doesn't, then you'll have to try and fix it before, not after. And if you can't do it (which is fine, most of us are fucking dumbasses), now you understand why even a lot of shonen action series have a bunch of slice-of-life, semi-filler scenes interjected in-between big events, so that you can have context and weight to what will transpire.

#anime

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jackdawyt · 4 years

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I am beyond privileged to share my very Early Access impressions of The Waylanders, thanks to the developers at Gato Studio who gave me an early key.

The Waylanders is a party-based RPG set in the Celtic and Medieval eras, inspired by classics like Dragon Age: Origins, Neverwinter Nights 2, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I’ve only played the first 10 hours of this game, and I’ve fallen for it. It’s very apparent that the developers of The Waylanders love Dragon Age. And so, to anyone who loves Dragon Age, will love The Waylanders.

I’ve played prologue and the very few early hours of the game which are in early access, meaning there’s plenty of work that needs to be done and nothing in the game is final. However, I was able to get an amazing feel for what the finished game will look like, and believe me when I say, this is the Dragon Age successor we’re all looking for.

Character

Upon starting the game, you’re taken to a very recognizable character creator, clearly inspired by Dragon Age: Origins. You can choose between a male/female body, four races, six classes, and then an origin story based on each of those choices.

The races in Waylanders are rather distinct, as opposed to traditional DND races like elves, humans and dwarves. Here we have the choice between human, werewolf, mourian and semi-fomorian.

The classes are rather straight forward, each of them have unique weapons, abilities and features. As an example, Rangers have the Pets feature which allows them to have animal companions, and Sorcerers can teleport using their specific magic feature.

You can customise your character with a few hairstyles, facial types, different skin tones, eye, hair and facial hair colours.

You can then apply more points into your statistics based on your race and class. And the final aspect of customisation is your identity, where you choose your name, pronouns and voice.

The voice is just for grunting noises in combat, I believe the game follows a silent protagonist so you can make up your own voice.

After making those final decisions, you’re given a cute lore character summary, backing up each choose you’ve made for your PC. Now your adventure can begin.

Story

The story is told through a plentiful of cutscenes and long dialogue interactions, of course, just what Dragon Age fans love. I found each of them engaging and I was hooked from the start really.

I’ve played the prologue twice, and a few blocked out side quests that are still in very early alpha. The story starts with the Spanish Celtic tribes arriving at Ireland to meet and convey a union with their gods. However, things don’t go according to plan, as you can imagine.

What’s fascinating about The Waylanders compared to Dragon Age for example, is that the lore is steeped in Irish and Spanish folk lore. We discover many legends like ‘The Tuatha Dé Danann’. Which means ‘the tribe of the gods’ in Old Gaelic. It’s exciting lore that actually exists in some of the real world’s sub-cultures today.

The setting of the game is based in medieval Galicia, which is in Spain. The developers are actually from Spain, the stories they’re telling throughout The Waylanders are tales each of them has grown up with.

I won’t say much more on the main story, other than the protagonist has a mystery that reminds me of Kingdoms Of Amular Reckoning. Of course, another stellar RPG that takes pinches from Dragon Age: Origins.

The plot seems to surround a lot of time travel themes, going forward and back in time, with many choices and consequences taking effect from your decisions.

As a whole, the writing is excellent. And that’s expected due to the fact that Chris Avellone, best known for writing Fallout: New Vegas, took the helm. Alongside with him, Ex-Telltale's Emily Grace Book who’s the fabulous Narrative Lead.

Not to mention Mike Laidlaw aided to team with his creative vison to “create a high-level narrative and to structure the game and the story.”

And if that’s not enough, Dragon Age veteran Inon Zur composed the soundtrack of The Waylanders too, which is just beautiful.

I want to share more about the main characters. So far, they’re compelling, even in just the first hour, I found myself latching onto each of them, with their many different personalities.

In my opinion, the dialogue holds the game up, I found myself engaging in every single conversation I could, interacting with every character. I’d say my favourite character so far is Nazhedja. Naz for short.

She’s very intriguing! Being a mourian, she’s immortal, though she composes herself as a charming and relatable individual.

The voice cast is amazing and familiar with the likes of Simon Templeman, known for playing Loghain in Dragon Age taking the role of the Celtic Druid Amergin. Personally, as a Brit, I fell in love with hearing so many of my countries’ varying accents.

And apparently there will absolutely be romance in the game, however, it’s not in the alpha stages. But we can all look forward to that!

Gameplay

The Waylanders gameplay centres on building up the narrative, there’s an emphasis on interactive conversations. You’ll spend a fair amount of time asking questions and getting to know each of the characters in this world, building bonds and shaping the story.

The game has a linear feel to it, however, once the prologue is done, you can explore many of the hub areas. Very much like Dragon Age: Origins. The world is lush to explore, and the art style is fantastic. It has a cartoony feel to it.

While exploring the stunning areas, you can switch the camera’s placement for a more isometric feel, or stick to a more third person feel, whatever suits your playstyle. This is an amazing quality of life feature, that I think other games like this need to adopt.

There’s a huge codex, which updates frequently after conversations. It’s a wonderful touch, I spent plenty of time reading each of the characters and their backstories.

Combat

The combat is rough around the edges and it can be hard to properly aim and target your opponents. Too often I’d cast a spell at an offensive enemy, and I’d accidently click and switch to my warrior companion who’s bashing the same enemy in the face.

You can have up to five party companions at a time. And there are these grouped up attacks you can do as a squad called formations. You band together and attack. It works like a charm.

The combat does feel very identical to Dragon Age: Origins, even down to the animations of fighting and how long it takes to fire a spell, or shoot an arrow from a bow.

One of the developers gave me a few console commands for my stream, and I was able to see what animal pets we could have, I was very surprised with the amount of animal companions you can have. There’s even a dragon!

Each of the classes prove to be very unique, in my two playthroughs, I played as a Sourcer and a Rogue. I loved the individual features each class provides whether it’s a passive or an actual ability, each class have dynamic ways to stand out. And of course, if you’re undecided which class to play, Waylanders is a party-based RPG, you’ll always have a companion with a different class you can switch to and play as.

Summary

In summary, judging the early hours of The Waylanders, the game has very reminiscent systems and gameplay that anyone who’s played Dragon Age will find themselves familiar with. However, the game has proven itself to be original with its engaging story, intriguing characters and unique lore.

Of course, the game is in its early access alpha stages, and there are plenty of bugs and things that need further improvement. But I can see the heart and passion that has gone behind this game, and that’s what I’ve grown to like about this game.

I’d say to anyone who’s a huge fan of Dragon Age: Origins, why not go and give The Waylanders a shot. The game launches on Steam’s Early Access store on June 16th, support this game as it grows throughout development, and releases as an epic Dragon Age successor.

#The Waylanders #The Waylanders Early Access #The Waylanders Gameplay #Studio Gato #Dragon Age #Dragon Age: Origins #RPG #New RPG #lore #early access

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crusherthedoctor · 4 years

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Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 14: SCOURGE

............

......Huh?

Oh, hello there! My name's Lutrudis, pleased to meet you. Judging from that look of surprise on your face however, it's evident that you weren't looking for ME per say... What's that? You want to know what this is? Right, of course, my apologies.

Well, this is a mini-series belonging to... ahem, my creator, in which he goes into slightly more detail about his thoughts on the villains in Sonic's history, and why he thinks they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). Usually he gives his stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. He also stresses that these are just his own personal thoughts, and that whether you agree or disagree, you're free to share your own thoughts and opinions.

Unfortunately, as you may have gathered, it seems he's a bit occupied for today, and is thus unable to do a review... is what I WOULD be saying if he didn't let me cover for him! That's right boys and girls, I'll be filling in for him today, by doing a little review of my own! Please forgive me if I prattle on for extended periods, but I sincerely hope my efforts in assessing the Wrong'un of the Week are of the utmost quality. Truth be told, it's kind of nerve-wracking, but I'm happy to give it my all for you guys. ❤️

So then, let's carry on with the show, shall we? Welcome to a new edition of Sweet or... Sour. Welcome to Sweet or Sour. Yes indeed, heh heh... (Is the creator's language normally this gratuitous? I hope Cream hasn't seen his posts...)

Anyhow, for today's review... well, this is quite interesting. Normally the creator prefers to keep his reviews focused on game-centric villains, but I guess he made an exception with this one. Today, we'll be directing our attention to a notorious copycat of our blue hero in the Archie continuity, and legendary connoisseur of 70's fashion: Scourge the Hedgehog.

The Gist: Once upon a time, in the land of comics, there was a world known by all as Mobius. But there was also a parallel dimension called Anti-Mobius, or as it would later become known as, Moebius... one E makes all the difference, apparently. Anyway, in this dimension, everyone and everything that existed in Mobius had an identical equivalent in Anti-Mobius, but things operated a bit differently, in the sense that they were largely the opposite of what we were familiar with.

Putting aside the rather disturbing implication that this world might not have had any real will or independence if it existed purely to do the opposite of what Mobius did, this meant that it had a Sonic the Hedgehog of its very own, as well as a father to that Sonic. Sadly though, this Sonic's father was not that kind to him. In fact, he was said to be a rather poor excuse for a father, as evidenced by how he didn't give his son enough attention, and... oh, that's it.

How awful.

I'd say his choice of attire is the real crime presented here.

Anti-Mobius in its original form experienced a period of Great Peace, but alas, it was not to last. It soon became a shadow of its former glory, which seemed prophetic in hindsight, as it was by this time that this world's Sonic the Hedgehog - Evil Sonic - murdered his own father in cold blood, and then threw his world's incarnation of King Maximilian Acorn into the Zone of Silence. He quickly became a dictator to the people of Anti-Mobius, with his only immediate opposition coming in the form of the kindhearted counterpart to Dr. Ivo Robotnik... or should that be Dr. Julian Robotnik, in this continuity...? Hmm, I suppose it doesn't matter anymore...

Naturally, the laws of the universe saw fit to correct this wrong. Just as water is wet, and fire is hot, Sonic gives evildoers a right kicking. And lo and behold, our magnificent hero did eventually meet his evil duplicate. The two were evenly matched in speed, but the good-natured Sonic triumphed regardless, possibly because he had more wittiness on his person.

Pictured: Quality banter.

Evil Sonic later brought along the rest of his gang to aid him, who predictably mirrored Sonic's own band of Freedom Fighters. They were just as much of a match for our heroes, which is a polite way of saying they weren't. You really shouldn't expect anything exquisite when they looked like this.

Maybe you should call your group something else then...

These parlor games went on for a while, with the status quo never truly changing. But then, after one final showdown with Sonic, the evil Robotnik of Mobius kicked the bucket, which among other things, inspired ANOTHER Robotnik to fill the void. This Robo-Robotnik took Evil Sonic along with him to commit many acts of dastardly intent, an act of generosity that proved to be tragically undermined by Evil Sonic getting caught and trapped by different people time and time again, to the point where even his old gang had long replaced him with a new leader. He did go on to escape the grasp of one Zonic the Zone Cop... only to later get arrested again by the same guy. So far, so adorably incompetent, right?

Still, he did bust out once more, and he proceeded to turn the overall universe into a glorified soap drama by pulling the moves on numerous ladies in Mobius, which in true Evil Sonic style, achieved precisely nothing of merit. Even after he briefly teamed up with Rouge the Bat, his luck persisted in not manifesting. But things were about to get even worse... for us. On a meta level, if you know what I mean.

After one final botched attempt at pointless thievery, with the Master Emerald being the prime target in this particular case, Evil Sonic's attempt to gain himself a super form was halted midway with great force by none other than Locke, the notorious father and attempted microwave murderer of Knuckles the Echidna. Rather than kill him however, all this did was change his fur to green, and leave him with some hardcore scars.

He promptly renamed himself Scourge. Because he's a real SCOURGE to good ideas, har har.

New kid in town, do not steal.

With his first act of villainy as a new man tattering to pieces due to foolishly invoking the wrath of Shadow the Hedgehog, he soon crossed paths with Dr. Finitevus, an albino echidna who otherwise looked exactly like Knuckles (good heavens, how many of these can one muster?), and spent some time on his side by aiding a new gang of lovely gentlemen called the Destructix. Together, these functioning psychopaths committed more mindless evil.

He also managed to swoon over Fiona Fox to his side, a miraculous modicum of success considering you need some sort of charm to be able to do that, of which Scourge has shown nil. I'm hardly an expert on dishing out romantic advice, but I'm willing to bet there's plenty of superior fish in the sea, Fiona...

How about “Oh my god, did I seriously die to THESE losers?”

Eventually, Scourge and Fiona broke away from Finitevus' allegiance after the deadly and boring Enerjak was unleashed on Mobius. He returned to Anti-Mobius, and it turned out that any repairs made since the last time he was king didn't amount to anything substantial, because he went and conquered the entire land all over again. Rechristening his old gang as the Suppression Squad, he continued Being Evil™ some more, until the aforementioned Suppression Squad betrayed him for constantly being abhorrent to them, which led to him being stuck with Rosy the Rascal for a while, yet another shameful derivative of a close friend.

In his last days, at long last, he finally achieved a super form with the power of an Anarchy Beryl... only to get soundly thrashed once again, get thrown in prison, and then just when it seemed he'd be back in business, he got wiped out by the Genesis Wave. Tch, Mondays, am I right?

As you can tell from my words alone, let alone in an extremely abridged format, he did a fair amount over the years... and yet at the same time, when you really think about it, he ultimately did so very little.

Oh, and there was also a Metal Scourge at one point. I'm aware that the man who made him has never been all there in the head, but I still find myself questioning why he saw fit to go through with this nonsense.

I shouldn't need to say this, but that's a disgrace to the hostile Eggman robot that I know and detest.

The Design: Well, he started off as a Sonic, so it's to be expected that he'd look exactly like the lovable goof. Since this was ~Evil~ Sonic though, he was determined to remind us at all times that Grease was in fact the word.

~You're the one I don't want, you're not the one for, no-ho-ho, honey~

Then he turned green, and... yeah, he turned green. All I can say, really.

Please excuse me, I'm utterly beside myself with amazement.

It doesn't quite strike the imaginative chords, needless to say. And neither does his super state, which... I'm sorry, it's not normally my cup of tea to chide others for their appearance, but just look at this tripe for a moment.

No, I don't think I will.

When you combine his already ridiculous self with black eyes and a tiara... what exactly is the intent here? Am I supposed to be intimidated by this display?

Keep this between us if you can, but personally, I'm more intimidated by staircases than I am by this fiend.

The Personality: You would think that since a Sonic is a Sonic, Scourge would share a lot of his personality with our Sonic. And that is true... in the most superficial sense possible.

Sure, he's jovial, cocky, and prone to moments of overconfidence, which is enough to sound very familiar to us on paper. Beyond that however, that's all they really have in common beside their appearance. In every other category, you could argue that Scourge is the exact opposite of Sonic.

For instance, whereas Sonic is supremely loyal to his friends (trust me, I’m grateful to know!), Scourge treats his gang like fetid garbage, and that's when he's not outright abandoning them, neglecting them, and putting them in danger. Likewise, whereas Sonic is a blue bundle of bravery no matter the odds, Scourge is a poor little chicken when the going gets tough, despite all his ramblings about being Sonic's full potential.

This means that for all the acclaim he receives as Sonic's evil doppelganger... he shares very few similarities with who he's replicating. He's barely any different from all the other ruffians that Sonic faces, so what point is there to him being a Sonic at all? If he had a different name and design entirely, what would honestly be lost in translation?

But then, maybe he would just become Mephiles the Dark instead.

Or Mimic the Octopus instead.

Or Eggman Nega instead.

Or Ken Penders instead.

Or... sheesh, they all kind of blend together after a while, don’t they?

The Execution: If my general tone has thus far not been enough of an obvious indication, I do not rank Scourge with any particular favouritism when it comes to Sonic's rogue gallery.

Mind you, ANYONE who threatens our world and tries to kill my friends is nothing but rancid at their core, and as long as they remain unrepentant, I would never support any of them. Asking me which dangerous maniac is “the best” is like asking me which sewage stinks the least, after all. But even I can understand that there's a right way to do bad, and a wrong way to do bad. Scourge, Evil Sonic, whatever you wish to call him, falls squarely into the latter category.

How I'd love to shove an arrow up His Majesty's rear end.

First of all, his motivations were poorly structured, and that's putting it tactfully. Most of the time, we're led to assume that he does evil for no other reason than because it's evil, so we're already not looking at masterpiece material. But as it turns out, as I mentioned way earlier on, he grew resentful of his father for not giving him as much attention as he felt he deserved.

So when he killed his dear old dad, and went on to do everything else to bitterly stick it to his dad's memory, we're supposed to... sympathise...? Understand his point of view, perhaps...?

Well, I dare say I'll be sticking my nose up to THAT presumption, because there is no pathos to be had here. None at all. It's just a selfish brat becoming a violent and murderous selfish brat, and nothing more. By doing everything for evil's sake, intertwined with this sorry excuse of a tragic backstory, it's as if he's trying to have the best of both villainous worlds, without understanding what makes either of them work.

Secondly, for what little success that Scourge actually had to his name, few of them were by his own hand so to speak. As much as it pains me to give Dr. Eggman even a veneer of kudos, it does require mentioning that for all of the doctor's contemptible attributes, he truly is single-handedly responsible for a great majority of his own... achievements, if you wish to call them such. By contrast, this stinker rarely worked for his moments, instead often relying solely on others to get anything done efficiently, whether it be Fiona, Finitevus, his gangs, or the Anarchy Beryl. Without them, Scourge was always nothing.

Thirdly, as mentioned, he failed to fulfill even the basic concept of what Sonic would be like if he became evil, since he has virtually nothing in common with the hero he's trying so desperately to present himself as the corrupted counterpart to. While I'd obviously prefer not to entertain the mere notion of an evil Sonic anyways, since I know deep in my heart that he would never go down that path, I know him well enough to reasonably assume that even if he did lose his way, he would still be recognisable in some capacity, since there are countless aspects to his personality that remain so... inherent to how his mind operates.

I guess what I'm saying is that if an evil Sonic came to be, he would exist as a darker mirror of how Sonic actually is, and not... something that is not at all like Sonic beyond the physical.

What's the matter? Not used to a horse seeing you for what you really are?

Finally, remember when I said he was considerably more cowardly than Sonic? I wasn't simply referring to life or death battles and similar heat of the moment situations. Even when the scenario is of lower intensity, when the odds are completely in his favor at that, Scourge proves himself to be what Sonic isn't. Remember when he broke into the house of Sonic's father, with the intent to intimidate and kill said father... only to be scolded into submission by him? We're expected to believe this guy is a big baddie who ranks high in threat level, yet getting a telling off is sufficient enough to shoo him away?

If only Eggman was this easy to deal with...

Now granted, it's to my understanding that all of Scourge's failings are occasionally explained as him being a parody character. But, and correct me if I'm wrong here... aren't parodies supposed to be, you know, parodic, even if done subtly? As opposed to being played completely straight with no trace of irony, which is exactly how Scourge was portrayed throughout the entire duration of the comic's run, with no exceptions whatsoever?

Despite how often the comic insisted otherwise, and despite how often he received it, Scourge was not a villain who warranted importance. He was not a master planner, or a legendary conquerer, or a malevolent force of nature. He was bottom of the barrel, a wannabe at best, who thought he was made for bigger stripes, but remained little more than a walking pile of fresh manure, with nothing to show for it till the very end. His credibility was often alluded to, and handed to him, but never in any stretch was it properly earned. A punk who occasionally got lucky is hardly worth the rank of arch-fiend, in my humble opinion. He was a disgrace who simply had the luxury of wearing Sonic's skin to mask his shortcomings, and I can’t say I’m crestfallen to see him go.

And quite frankly, anyone who impersonates Sonic in the first place reeks to high heaven anyway. To think this trash heap thought he could ever compare in the slightest to my darling... Oh goodness, did I say that out loud?

Lutrudis Gives Scourge a: Thumbs Down!

#Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite?#Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog #Lutrudis Hadeer #Scourge the Hedgehog #Archie Sonic

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savage-rhi · 4 years

Text

Sky of Atoms: Death Stranding Fanfic-Ch. 1

GENE 1.0

“Welcome Gene Chromos Dawkins to Bridges Safe House no. 312.” The monotone mechanic voice drawled overhead in the facility as Gene sighed and departed down the elevator of the safe house. Security reasons be damned, it got old hearing her name dragged out by whatever new greeting system tech had installed. Gene chalked her annoyance up to the long journey she had trekked to deliver a cargo of vaccines to a small tribe outside the United Cities of America, a small token of peace to get the tiny colony to consider joining the nation and the Chiral Network. She didn’t see it happening anytime soon. Though the people were thankful for her services, they remained skeptical of the UCA regardless of their successes during the last three years since the BT’s and Timefall flew the coup.

As Gene arrived into her private room for the night, she briefly wondered what happened to the BTs. The Death Stranding had been catastrophic, and as quickly as it came and decimated humanity, it upped and left. Rumor was that Sam Bridges, a legend in the porter industry, had a hand in it going away given his connections to the top tiers in the UCA, but Gene somewhat doubted it. She never met Sam, but he was human. Human beings for the most part were weak. The Death Stranding proved that point, not to mention after the UCA became a united nation, Sam Bridges disappeared. Most said he died due to his long journey to the West and East, and Gene realistically believed it. No one had heard from him since, and no one in any porter industry had been able to carry the torch of being exceptional couriers.

Gene was well above average given her unique position being a Brisk HARPY employee, going to small communities outside the Chiral Network. She was tactful, went above and beyond, but she was no Sam Bridges. It was something she desperately wished her employer and other couriers would quit comparing themselves to. No one would be able to take the mantel, but one could give the world the next best thing. The UCA was expanding after all; within twenty years, being a porter was estimated to become obsolete once the UCA could reclaim all of the previous United States territory and expand their technology back to what it was power wise before the Death Stranding occurred. Gene smirked at the thought of being able to retire within her lifetime from this delivery gig and move on to greener pastures, whatever that may be. Then again, she wasn’t sure what kind of direction to take after the fact. Gene was no scientist like her parents were, never got into it nor did they have the time to educate properly. Gene made up for it in her wit and her talent to get people to open up. For some reason she ended up playing therapist to a lot of folks. Something about her, be it spirit or what have you, compelled people to dump their problems onto Gene. She accepted it with a grain of salt, despite how much it could get overwhelming. After all, that perk of hers is what landed her a job with Brisk HARPY and their quest to help small colonies that would otherwise lack contact with the outside world.

“Shower, mail, then bed. Shower, mail, then bed.” Gene repeated to herself happily as she threw down some of her cargo and began ripping off her clothes as if she had been trapped in a straight jacket. The grime and debris from the last week of traveling was enough to make an elephant leave the room. Gene’s nose scrunched up upon lifting her arm and catching a whiff of the musk that emitted from her right armpit.

“Holy fuck,” Gene exclaimed and tilted her head away from herself. She was no clean freak, even as a child, she loved getting her hands dirty, but even she felt repulsed by how far she let herself go to escape some MULE’s who tried hijacking her cargo on this delivery run. Her hands rummaged through her short hair to pick out mud and other debris before she hopped in the shower.

A good hour and a half later, Gene was sitting up on the bed, towel wrapped around her waist as she opened up the computer log on her cuff link to check out the UCA database along with her emails from clients and Brisk HARPY. Nothing really new besides reviews, likes, and a couple thank you notes. That was good enough for her. She didn’t want to go on another run anytime soon, very much yearning to get back to her home in the West. Having real food, and not some 3D printed knockoff or instant rations was what she looked forward to the most going back.

Before turning in for the night, Gene saw an exclamation icon pop up in the lower right corner of the UCA database. Furrowing her brows, she clicked on the icon. Thanks to the Chiral Network of the UCA, new alert systems went off often to all the cities and safe houses whenever danger or what have you occurred that could be detrimental to the UCA and existing colonies. There was an image attached of a man and a small article detailing the issue.

Warning to those within the UCA and surrounding areas, this is a message from the UCA defense to be on the lookout for an associate of the terrorist group Homo Demens. His name is Deeter Baltimore, and is said to be armed and dangerous. Homo Demens and those under his command have been charged with committing yet another act of terrorism in Outer Knot Haven by slaughtering seven evolutionary biologists. If seen, keep your distance and contact the local Inquisitors at the nearest city you come across. The UCA defense team will keep you updated on the status of Homo Demens and others who threaten the UCA and our allies. Please be sure to consistently check for updates if you are a porter. Best wishes and god speed.

Gene made a face, shaking her head when she got done with the message. Tomorrow was going to be a rough one. Outer Knot Haven was the closest city to where she lived, and as much as she didn’t really believe in anything deity wise, she prayed to whatever the powers that be that she wouldn’t have to deal with bullshit from terrorists. MULE’s were already going to be plentiful in her last trek home, and adding terrorists into the mix was like pouring gasoline on a bonfire in her eyes. She had to hand it to the group, they were stepping their game up.

“Seven more kills. Jesus, how long are these fucks gonna keep it up?” She said aloud, talking to herself to collect her thoughts. Regardless of the BTs and the Timefall leaving the earth, folks still had to contend with people who were not at all thrilled about the UCA’s mission among other things.

Homo Demens lost power since their leader had died, and they disbanded for about two years until something rekindled whatever motivation they had to continue with their cause. Gene tried to remember what the groups original intents were for getting the band back together, but drew up a blank only recalling that now in the present, they were going to attempt to disband the Chiral Network and UCA by systematically killing off key people in the united cities and colonies. That was the alleged news anyway from what other porters and passerby's had told her. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was due to retaliation because of Edge Knot City being reclaimed by the UCA three years ago.

Yawning, Gene stretched her arms and lazily fell back into the bed, the computer system on her cuff link turning off as she thonked it against the metal railing on the side of the bed. The towel around her waist cascaded off her body as she allowed sleep to take over. She was going to need the Z’s for whatever danger lay ahead on the trip home, worrying about putting on pajamas be damned. She earned this.

“Have a safe trip, Gene Chromos Dawkins.” The system chimed as Gene grumbled, adjusting her gear and shirt as she made her way up the elevator of the safe house and began her venture out to the world. It was roughly 6 in the morning. Knowing how the MULE’s in this area worked, they didn’t like getting up at the crack of dawn to screw with porters. It was at Gene’s expense though, she was more of a night owl.

Gene’s nostrils flared when she caught a whiff of fresh petrichor, allowing the earthy scent to invade her nose and relaxed her shoulders. She loved the smell of the ground after it rained. Even when the BTs and Timefall were around, nothing could beat the aroma. Since the Timefall left, Gene was able to enjoy it more often instead of hiding out. She glanced up, seeing the sun was barely beginning to rise over the mountain range to the East. The morning was filled with a dense fog that snaked its way through the terrain. She had to be careful, needed to watch out for rocks and terrain that could screw up her shoes. She let out a sigh, beating herself mentally for not stocking up on an extra pair before the rush delivery to the colony. Her shoes were beginning to wear out. A couple rough tumbles, and the soles would be withered down to nothing. She had to be cautious.

The sound of life surrounding Gene as she began the journey home was pleasant. Since the BTs were gone, birds came back to areas in drones once they realized the Timefall couldn’t hurt them no longer. Their soft caws and cooing preens echoed throughout the rocky terrain. Plants and even some small trees looked down upon Gene as she gazed up at the elongated branches and avian flocks that made the new woodlands their home. She wished her mother and father could see this, being plant biologists they would have had a field day seeing the earth was recovering at an impeccable rate. Gene recalled hearing at the colonies that even with the technology to speed up plant production, it would take another ten years before forests and such could make a full return, but seeing the small patches of it taking root made her hopeful along with others. Ecosystems could be established again, giving the world people once knew a second chance at life.

Upon exiting the small forest area, Gene saw the various rock formations ahead. She swallowed, sizing up the terrain as if it were a person ready to combat her. She looked back down at her shoes, lifting her feet to check the soles before breathing out, putting a game face on, and moving forward. For the most part she was doing great to avoid hitting sharp points, and whenever there was flat ground, Gene took advantage of it to spare her shoes from getting ripped apart. It went on for hours, the rough rocks barely smoothed out by the rain and the dense mud began to take a toll. Gene stopped for a moment, looking ahead and seeing the valley floor below. She was close to home now, five hours left of walking. She was thankful the colonies didn’t have her take any cargo back to Brisk HARPY otherwise she was looking at another day or two of sleeping in a safe house. Gene had great endurance, but stack on a couple extra pounds of packages or what have you, and she felt akin to a snail moving at slow pace unfathomable to humans. She reminded herself again, Brisk HARPY hired her for her ability to connect with people, not that she was on time. She made a face recalling her employer Stark getting on her case for not being on the clock, but Stark did give praise at the fact that her cargo took less than five percent damage every delivery. That was no easy task since she was one of the few couriers that had to go through not only rough terrain, but hot spots for MULE’s. Gene was now one out of five people that were left on the expansion team to the West. The other original twenty on the team had upped and quit when the MULE’s began to converge more with others of their brethren once they had been kicked out of the Eastern areas of the UCA permanently.

As Gene began making her way downhill, her eyes squinted as she could see people ahead and then through the fog, could see the orange uniforms of some MULE’s along with their bikes and big rigs. Eyes widening, she lunged for the nearest boulder to hide behind, but ended up losing her balance and slipped down, causing her left foot to meet the end of a jagged rock that pierced the sole of her shoe and went into the soft flesh of her foot. Gene let out a hiss, biting on her tongue to avoid letting a scream out. Her leg throbbed as the pain traveled upwards, as if the nerves in the entirety of her leg were being electrocuted. She could feel the warmth of tears falling down her eyes as she looked ahead, seeing the MULE’s were getting closer, and jerked her foot upwards in a painful tug, allowing her to escape and climb back to the large boulder she intended on hiding behind.

Gene’s body slouched against the side of the boulder as she panted, feeling the pain began to subside a little until she flexed her left foot, causing an electric shock wave of hurt at the point of entry. She covered her mouth with her right hand, letting out a soft yell into it before taking a deep breath to lift her foot to assess the damage. The wound was deep, the rock had nearly gotten to the bone. Gene could feel as much. She quickly took her pack off and began to rummage through, searching for something to patch her up to at least give her enough time to make it through the MULE’s.

“Fuck me,” She exclaimed quietly, seeing that she neglected to pick up any necessaries at the safe house she was last at. Supplies were running low, and since Gene had done this route hundreds of times now, she figured she had it in a bag and didn’t need to take anything from the safe house. Her cockiness got the better of her, and now she felt backed into a corner. Swallowing her pride, Gene took out some bandages and some rubbing alcohol to at least tide her over temporarily. The stinging from the alcohol dare say hurt more than the actual rock piercing her flesh, but she tensed up and went through with it, making sure blood wasn’t pouring out of the wound every few seconds by applying pressure before wrapping it up with the bandages she had on her person.

Gene allowed herself to take in a few deep breaths before she peered around the corner edge of the boulder, seeing the MULE’s were still heavily present. She couldn’t see well in the fog, but figured there had to be a good twelve at least, probably twenty elsewhere. It was always best to guesstimate a higher amount than a lower when it came to how MULE’s traveled these days. Sweat trickling down her forehead, Gene squinted yet again seeing another group coming into the picture. There were five of them, with guns and wearing all black save for the signature glimmers of gold on their gear and get up. They approached the MULE’s, and it became obvious who the pack of men in black belonged to.

“Homo Demens, shit.” Gene muttered as she turned back around, now fiddling with the radar mechanism on her cuff link. This was a risky move given her position, but Gene felt she didn’t have much choice. They were gonna catch her anyway regardless with her own tech or whatever they had at their disposal. The radar would give Gene a better look position wise where she was at compared to them and at least give her a chance of a running start, regardless of the fog being in the way. She managed to send a small shock wave blast through the area, seeing the blue outline of bodies show up on the screen of her cuff link. It would only be a matter of time before the MULE’s tech and Homo Demens picked up on it, so she had to be fast.

Before Gene could look further, a hand came slamming down on her cuff link, turning the system off. Gene quickly raised her head, seeing before her cloaked figure with a finger to where his mouth should have been.

“Sh, sh, sh,” The hooded man whispered in a hushed tone before he too peered around the same edge as Gene had moments ago before turning their position back to her. Gene swallowed, but kept her gaze firm in a glare as the hooded figure lowered more. If she was going to be taken down, she wasn’t going to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her scared before the end. Gene could see his face now, the small creases of his form was caked with mud, an ink like substance, and she could make out the patches of scruff that littered the sides of his face and chin. Her eyes darted up towards the man’s blue eyes, taking in the strange equation tattoos over his forehead and eyebrows along with a small tuft of his brown hair. He smiled wearily at her before his features took on a more intense stance.

“Honey, keep that thing off or you’re gonna get us both killed.” He said in a smooth drawl, then peered over the boulder real quick before gesturing. “If you want to live to see another day, you’re gonna have to follow me darlin’.”

#death stranding #higgs monaghan #higgs x oc #its got higgs in it you thirsty bitches!#come and get it #deathstranding #fanfic #fanfiction #if you want me to tag you in these fics please hit me up

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docochocart · 5 years

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For the people who weren’t there for docoronpa 1

After the original danganronpa stories (other than V3 lol) hopes peak was re opened by makoto naegi and began readmitting ultimates.

This went by smoothly for years until the original cast was long gone and the tragedy and the chaos that followed became a historical event, as well as Junko becoming a historical figure. She was described to students as an evil genius only taken down by her own weakness for despair. The way that many spoke about the villain was odd, as the world saw her as a force for evil but always spoke of her in high regard and seemed to have a hidden admiration for how intelligent she truly was.

Through this system of education came the future super high school level DJ, who had been raised from birth to be the perfect celebrity. Her parents wanted to use her talent, smarts and beauty to market her to the world as the next big pop sensation, and with this fame came money, power, and ego.

This young girl grew resentful towards the world, and her parents, for using her as a tool for marketing and the narcissism she developed at a young age made her believe she was destined for much more. This is where she learned about the infamous junko enoshima and the despair she ravaged. Jealousy grew deep inside of the DJ for the way that junko was nearly idolized.

This jealousy set the DJ on a path to try and ravage the world worse than junko enoshima ever had, in her narcissistic goal to dethrone her as the next queen of despair. This was only fueled further upon getting admitted to hopes peak academy, something she took as a sign that she was destined to take Enoshimas mantel.

After joining the academy she spent her days trying to find the weaknesses in her peers that she would later be able to exploit. Her main target for this manipulation became the SHSL thief, mostly due to her incredibly useful talent. The Dj spent her time infatuating the thief and building herself up in her targets mind as both a lover and some kind of a god. Then, when the time was right, she let the brainwashed girl in on her plan.

During her time at hopes peak, the Dj used the thief to use her talent to spy on the administration, as there was word of shady business being done behind closed doors. And what they discovered would take a huge role in their plans to spread despair.

Human cloning was the academy’s secret goal, with the hope that they’d be able to clone the ultimates to utilize their skills around the world. And after reporting her findings to the DJ she ordered her to use her talent to steal the technology used for it in hopes of using it in the future.

They completed their years at hopes peak, keeping tabs on her classmates and making sure to never lose track of where they were post-graduation. And soon she finally set their plan into action.

They kidnapped 48 alumni total to take part in their recreation of Juniors deathgame, which they would use to reignite despair across the globe.

After using the DJs immense wealth to transport them to a remote part of the globe, they used their stolen tech to clone the students, and to put these clones into a coma like state for future use. Then, after every student had been remade, including themselves, they proceeded to execute the rest in the style of the original killing games punishments, all while filming the deaths. The only originals weren’t killed were the DJ and the thief, who killed their clones instead.

The students bodies were left in a place for the media to find them, and pronounce the entire class as dead, therefore a search wouldn’t be conducted and it would be impossible for the thief or the Dj to be suspects as their clones’ bodies were on display for the world to see.

The murders were blamed on a new and viral form of terrorism that originated from an unknown source, in which celebrities were being brutally murdered to send some sort of message. All of this left the DJ and the thief plenty of room to hold a killing game while the rest of the world was searching for a murderer that didn’t exist.

They had 3 remote, underground locations built for these games to be held before all of the bloodshed of the hopes peak alumni, using the DJs funds. They also used her money as hush money for the builders so that the locations were truly discreet and would never be found by the public.

They proceeded to hold a killing game in the classic danganronpa format, in which those involved would kill one another and the class would hold trials to find the blackened. But instead of live executions they utilized the videos of their originals being executed to show to the class, while the blackened were pulled backstage to be put back into a coma for the final trial.

Once five trials had been completed, the 5 remaining students were called to the trial room, where there mastermind was revealed. After the shock of that, the Dj brought out the comatose bodies of the blackened, whom the survivors presumed as dead, and offered them all the option to give up their own lives in exchange for the murderers. If they didn’t give up their lies for the murderers however, the comatose students would be injected with a lethal poison, and the survivors would feel as if the blood were on their hands.

Only one student gave up their life for a comatose student, and it was the SHSL author who decided to die for the SHSL lawyer, as the author believed the lawyer deserved a second chance to do good and not be corrupted by the killing game. After this decision, the DJ, who seemed content with the results of the game, took her own life in front of the survivors, only after promising that there were no other clones of her body to come back.

This left the game with 5 total surviving students, the mathlete, mascot, pilot, cultist and lawyer. Who left the grounds of the deathgame and began to venture out into a world that did not know that they were alive.

That’s where the first chapter of this story ends, but it’s only the beginning for them and the rest of the students, still being held captive and in comas in an unknown location.

#danganronpa #dangan ronpa #fangan ronpa #dangansona

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akhil123-things · 4 years

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How Google Panda Affected Website Creation

Aside from penguin, panda is one of the most common terms in search engine optimization.But if you’re looking for an in-depth look at the algorithm update, its attributes, how it affects websites, and how you can use the update to your advantage – well, if you hadn’t stumbled upon this page, you’d be searching for quite a while.

This is your complete guide to understanding Google Panda and how it affects the stages of website creation. If you plan on receiving organic search traffic from Google (or you already are), make sure to read all of the way through so you’re not penalized – as you’ll see below, most of the time, a Panda penalty is permanent.(If you have been hit with a penalty for Panda, contact an SEO professional today for a no-obligation on-site SEO audit.)

Origin Panda Updates & Refreshes

The original Panda

Google originally rolled out Panda in early 2011 for US-based sites. More than 12% of queries were affected – almost double from the last major update prior to Panda. Google had made a brief announcement in January of 2010 describing their plans to address low-quality content, but few thought the impact would be so widespread.

Originally, the update targeted only sites with low-quality content. If you have ever stumbled upon an article, started reading, and found that the information was completely generic and utterly useless… that’s what we call low-quality content.

These types of sites pump out content that can rank for a keyword with minimal SEO effort due to lack of competition. When search engine traffic lands on their useless content, the hope the users will click through to the ads on the page – sometimes directly from Adsense.

But that’s pretty much the only goal. There is no focus on user value or retention what-so-ever. To the lazy, profit-driven webmaster, these sites are easy to build, easy to populate, and easy to monetize. To users, they’re terrible – and annoying to stumble upon in the search results.

As such, Google made a huge leap to eradicate them. After the initial 12% surge, the madness didn’t stop, though – not even close.

Scraper Update

Just a week later, Matt Cutts (who has since retired) confirmed suspicions that another update to Panda had rolled out, called the scraper update.Scraping has many different connotations in the SEO world – in this case, the reference was aimed at those annoying, poorly-designed websites that literally do nothing but copy other websites word-for-word. https://www.login4ites.com/ We still see them sometimes in 2015 (especially in niches like lyrics), but it was a lot more prevalent way back in 2009 and 2010. You would search for a keyword, only for the first five results to be completely the same from one another – it was infuriating.So, the scraper update eliminated most of these problems – nowadays, even if you’re pulling from a RSS feed by legitimate means, displaying that content on your website without the proper SEO formatting can result in a penalty.

Farmer Update

Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land had discovered a reference to the next update being referred to as the farmer update– but Google said that the update didn’t explicitly affect content farms. The reasoning behind this was the potential to offend partners of Google – if a website was penalized during this update, it would be dubbed a “content farm”, regardless of quality. (You’ll see a little further on that some legitimate sites were penalized, making this a very smart precaution for Google to take.)

But by and large, most of the sites to get hit by the farmer update did deserve it.One such example is eHow – though eHow had plenty of in-depth guides, some of them were completely useless and composed entirely of garbage filler content. There would be “guides” for topics that made no sense, and the “advice” was a bunch of feel-good nonsense.Sites like eHow were hit by the farmer update to Panda. Many more were, too, as this problem of content existing but providing no value was very widespread. We’ll go over six big-name examples in just a second.But first, here’s how Panda continues to plague webmasters to this day…

Panda Refreshes from 2011 – 2015

There hasn’t been another update since the farmer update, but there have been plenty of refreshes, which is the Panda algorithmic update being rolled out to a larger percentage of keyword queries. In essence, this means that even if a content farm does exist, it can be hit by the new refresh. And if a new content farm pops up in between refreshes, it will be hit, too.To date, there have been over twenty refreshes, usually occurring a few months in between each other and sometimes emphasizing certain types of sites, such as gaming or lyrics sites.

The impact of Panda

Throughout the years, Panda has solidified its reputation as the most fatal algorithm update because of the enormous and permanent effect it had on a variety of web-based businesses.Let’s go through six interesting examples of Panda in action, explaining what these sites were doing, why they got penalized, what they tried to do to fix it – and of course, if they finally succeeded. (Most didn’t.)

#seo #pandaupdate #blogger #itknowledge #techinical

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coolbluesgames-blog · 5 years

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Post Mortem

Road to Esports was a game developed according to a brief: Develop a game which will generate interest in esports. There are many ways to interpret this. First, we decided to select a demographic so we’d have a direction to conceptualise in. We chose to target casual gamers. People who don’t particularly have lengthy play sessions, but enjoy social games, or games to play while commuting. We set out to make a brief, but memorable gaming experience. One which would leave a lasting impression on the user.

We had thirteen weeks to plan and develop the game, roughly eight weeks of that was developing. We started with three members, but we fluctuated in numbers. In the end, we had two of the original members, plus a new one.

With all that said, the following is a brief reflection on the process.

Communication and Conversation

Two areas which could’ve been improved during development were our communication and conversation. To clarify, communication refers to project information being relayed to one another, meeting as an entire group, ie. how we interact. Conversation more refers to the topics and detail of our meetings, the feedback we give each other, ie. the content of our interactions.

Communication is the beating heart of a project. It is the component of development which simultaneously rouses interest, shares knowledge and ideas, helps maintain project standards, not to mention abates development anxiety. It is the most human thing about developing a video game.

Our lack of communication was the root cause of many of the teams' problems. Often, the slack channels would be empty. On the occasions where someone would post, they were typically met with soft replies. Or no replies at all. Since slack was our most common method of communication, including our allotted class time, this was worrying as it became more common. It wasn’t so much the case at the beginning of the project, but it was a swift decline into such a state. The problems that arose from this were: Lull in interest, the groups vague understanding of base game features, inability to refine concepts or ideas. Because without constant, or at least meaningful communication, the group falls away into individuals committed to individual tasks which will be stitched together at some point. Rather, the projects components should be felt as though they’ve been created with each other in mind.

Then there’s conversation. The content of our conversations was inhibited. It was felt that team members were unable to offer constructive feedback when prompted. Even if it was in the projects best interest that this be the case. This seems to come from an unfamiliarity between team members, but it was also due to the lack of communication. A team in constant communication could build the trust within each other to put the project ahead of their feelings. Because there would be an understanding that it isn’t a sleight against the person, it’s just a natural discussion.

One way to improve communication and conversation is to hold weekly meetings, if not bi-weekly. A personal, face to face meeting ensures that all members are present in some way, and have an allotted time to discuss anything project oriented they desire. Members have the opportunity to have meaningful discourse here. They’re able to understand their colleagues' position in the team as well.

Documentation

Employing a library of living documentation is an appropriate and sound way to organise project information. Be that information prospective or current features, audio and visual concepts, technical parameters, or project planning. It’s a resource useful to the team in order to maintain the vision of the lead developers, and for new members to gauge the elements necessary to the project’s success.

We created a number of living documents. A Technical Design Document (TDD), a Game Design Document (GDD), and an art proposal document. They were not as comprehensive as they should have been. However, at the document’s inception, there was enough information for any person undertaking or approaching the development to have a good understanding of the project. Unfortunately, our documentation fell short in a number of ways.

We did not reference or update the documents as often as we should’ve. There were numerous inconsistencies amongst the work of different teammates. Things like naming conventions, coding styles, and file formats were at times completely different. On a project as small as ours, this wasn’t truly a problem, only an annoyance. However, on a larger team with more moving parts, this is possibly a major concern. There were also inconsistencies on basic features within the game. Something that shouldn’t happen if all team members are reading, updating, and sharing documentation.

Documentation - Project Planning

A major problem as that we did not have documentation for project planning and maintenance. We had appointed a Project Manager, but due to external circumstances they stopped communicating with the group and left shortly after week five. They neglected to share any resources they were working from, or any documentation they’d already made regarding project management. This was not as much of a detriment to us as it could’ve been since we were not making proper use of project management techniques, as mentioned previously (C). However, two issues did arise from this teammate’s departure: The first, remaining team members felt they had nowhere to turn when confronted with imminent project goals and tasks. Second, when a new member joined the team, they were not immediately assigned to a position or task.

In regards to the first issue, this affected our productive engagement with the project. We often had no frame of reference with our work. Larger components of work were not fragmented into smaller tasks, so there was no bank of tasks ready to be issued. Tasks we’d created for each other weren’t easily approachable, as they did not feel to be part of considered, solid plan. Effectively, our project did not feel grounded or whole, even if the concept was more so. Without a plan which dissects the concept, and forms from it manageable workloads, the project felt somewhat nebulous. This is where the dense gravity of the utter distinction between an idea and a project was felt.

The second issue. On the two occasions where new members joined our team, we had no work ready for them. The advent of the second member is what signaled the problem. We had zero tasks to give them. From our concept we knew the major portions of the game, and that those portions were crucial, but no way to translate them to a form easier to complete. Without direction, the new member was left feeling less a part of the body of the project team and more of an appendage. They were left to chase tasks to complete and eventually left the group.

Going forward, the solution is to be resolute about how game documentation is handled. The policy should be that no member is without simplistic access to these documents. They should not be made to track them down. They should be within constant reach. This way, when an issue arises with workflow, consistency, or something similar, the team member has a source of information to draw from. Ways this could be achieved are by having all people on the project have google drive on their devices. Google Drive could hold all the game design documentation, and be updated regularly as well. The updated documents should have comments where information has been added or altered. Weekly in-person meetings should also include documentation updates so that all members are made aware in a face-to-face setting.

The way the documents are to be updated must also be strictly adhered to. If new content is created, or existing content is altered, and this change necessitates an update to documentation, then it should be done so by the end of the working week. This way, there will be a steady stream of updates to the documentation, and no chance for a backlog to build up. Creating a document which logs changes to be made to documentation is a good way to ensure they don’t get lost by the end of the week.

Finally, if a member of the team who holds a vital role is no longer available, be sure not to neglect to assign someone else their duties. Anyone of us could have replaced the project planner, but we were too entrenched in our own responsibilities. This kind of thinking is not ideal in scenarios where adaptation is the crucial element to succeed.

The Project’s Conclusion

There are plenty more topics to cover what we could’ve done better, and I didn’t even touch on what we did right. We should’ve followed a development strategy. Sure. In the end, though, we learned a lot about working as a team. And perhaps the game doesn’t bear any relevance to esports, but I had fun. Thanks, pals!

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bil-li-oh-blog · 5 years

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Power creep in Yugioh is a problem

It’s also inevitable. It’s the natural structure of most trading card games

Power creep is when newer content in a game is far superior in comparison to older content, effectively making the older content useless. Games like Pokemon tackle this issue by banning the use of old cards in tournament play, but that still means your older cards are useless and you have to buy new ones, so it hasn't even dealt with the issue at hand, just kind of ignored it. The Yugioh trading card game competitive scene started in 2002 here in North America, and there's a good chance that your cards from then are nowhere near as good as cards that are released now in 2018. Since 2002, we’ve gotten 4 new game changing mechanics in addition to the 3 that were originally released with the game. With every new set of cards released, they get more and more powerful, and cards from a few years before become more and more useless.

Take luster dragon for example.

Luster dragon is a card first released in 2004’s tournament pack and due to it’s high attack value being a level 4 monster (immediately playable), made it see a lot of competitive play. It was also readily accessible to players, being printed in 6 different random pack sets, 3 structure decks, and 3 starter decks since its original creation. Luster dragon only has one other related card to it officially in the game known as luster dragon 2, but the two cards have no way of synergizing with each other, preventing them from ever seeing modern competitive play. Luster dragon will serve as an example today for how I think Konami can fix power creep within the game.

The big focus here would be legacy support. Now legacy support is certainly relevant to an extent, but it’s never the focus. Every so often we get new support for cards used by characters in the TV shows or perhaps relevant at one point in the competitive scene. If Konami shifted their focus to expanding upon legacy support to cards that were common in older decks and built support for them, not only does that bring life back to those old cards that otherwise would have no relevance, it still releases new support for Yugioh players to buy into. Being over one year into our current format, there’s a pretty good standard for the performance a modern day deck should have. So if we analyze what most modern day decks are able to achieve in a turn for example, we’re able to give support to older cards to reach that level, careful that we’re not pushing past it, or falling under the standard.

And this is where luster dragon comes in. I made new support for luster dragon using yugiohcardmaker.net , printed them out and glued them onto a bunch of commons I had laying around.

Before, luster dragon and luster dragon 2 had very little going for them without any specific support for them, but with the addition of 6 new luster monsters with effects inspired by or directly taken from other existing Yugioh cards and a new field spell that boosts the viability of luster dragon and luster dragon 2 specifically, the deck now has the capability to bring them back into play. With this new support, Luster dragon is able to take part in making a big board of monsters and have access to spell and trap removal. Pairing that with previously existing generic support cards that we see in lots of players decks, and we have a deck that can compete with modern day decks while using old cards.

To test this theory, I have my personal deck here with me to test the first turn boards we can open up with in comparison to the luster cards I made. Both decks were shuffled randomly before testing.(Left, luster - right, my own deck)

On my first turn with my deck, my board ended with one big monster on the field and the ability to make more plays the next turn.

With the new and improved luster deck, my turn ended with my field having 3 level 4 luster dragons, allowing me to make a wide variety of powerful monsters, alongside the ability to potentially stop an opponents monster from being summoned and a way to destroy up to two spell and trap cards they control.

Both of these fields go head to head with each other as far as going on the first turn goes and in my real world testing, has even gone head to head with my friends who also play competitive decks.

This is just one example of a card Konami could make a fully fledged deck for, and with over 8000 cards in the TCG, there is plenty of opportunity available for Konami to put an effort into fixing power creep.

Thanks for listening! If you have any comments or you can think of other ways that Konami could fix the power creep, feel free to let me know in the comment section below.

- Billy

#yugioh #yugioh tcg #school assignment

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askkrenko · 6 years

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Goblin Reviews 40: Time Spiral

You’ve created a time paradox!

Time Spiral was a completely absurd block full of throwback cards, callbacks to old ideas, and remixes of various cards from the past. Some of these are just cute and goofy, others have gone on to be staples of decks in older formats.

Empty the Warrens returns the Storm mechanic from Scourge (a goblin heavy bock) and is a direct callback to the card Goblin Warrens, an enchantment that creates goblin tokens on activation. Empty the Warrens is a modern and legacy powerhouse, part of the deck archetype known as “Storm” and often winning by creating a lethal amount of goblins and turning them sideways. Storm is its own deck, and Empty the Warrens really only belongs in a deck built entirely around the mechanic. Most notably, it pumps out more goblins than most actual “Goblin” decks do. In an actual goblin deck, though, a generally lower curve and lack of acceleration means it’s going to be difficult to get more than four goblin tokens out of this, making it ‘fine’ but not great.

Goblin Skycutter’s flavor text mentions a fear of heights, and indeed his ability is that of the spell “Vertigo.” A piker’s body with a decent ability makes him useful in limited, but not strong enough for any constructed format.

Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician is mentioned in the flavor text of many cards in Ice Age block, including Coldsnap, and his activated ability allows for the spell “Mogg Alarm” at will. Ib Halfheart is a viable curve-topper in a goblin deck due to his ability to turn excess mountains into goblins and makes blocking goblins less favorable. If it wasn’t for Krenko, Mob Boss being a card that exists, I’d even suggest he’d be a good goblin Commander. Run him in Krenko and in Purphoros to get more goblins in a pinch.

Mogg War Marshal, a direct callback to Goblin Marshal, is an important component of 8-whack. Getting two goblins for two mana, and eventually a third when the original dies, makes this an incredibly efficient use of mana that combines well with any go-wide strategy. The only difficult question of this card is when to pay the echo cost or not, and that is often an agonizing decision. Mogg War Marshal is as efficient as you can get for making multiple goblins, and is something that should be on the radar of any goblin deck.

Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII, costs 3 to play and 3 to activate to get a 1/1 creature token. It has the option to make tokens of any color, but Goblin is the only one of those types that’s strong (and Saproling’s the only other that’s even relevant.) Spending 3 for a 1/1 once per turn isn’t a good deal, even ignoring the fact that the first one costs six. In a slower Commander deck, it’s not entirely unreasonable, but there’s just far, far better cards for spitting out goblin tokens. The card itself is a callback to dozens of cards featuring quotes from earlier volumes of Sarpadian Empires.

Thick-Skinned Goblin is a call back to Keeper of Kookus, who’s flavor text refers to him as such. A standard piker body is always a comfortable baseline, and the ability to gain protection from red could be useful in a lot of games, though there’s better cards for fighting red with red. His real special ability is allowing his controller to pay 0 instead of echo costs, and the potential for this is actually rather high. There are plenty of solid cards with echo, including five goblins, and it wouldn’t be entirely unreasonable to run Thick-Skinned Goblin. Sadly, he has a problem in a lack of redundancy. Only being able to run four Thick-Skinned Goblins means an echo deck would be seriously swingy depending on if you could keep your goblin alive, and with only 1 toughness, keeping him alive is going to be a tall order even with his protection from red.

#Time Spiral #mtg #goblins #GoblinReviews #Sarpadian Empires

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tourwithus89 · 3 years

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Discover Pilanesberg National Park

Among Southern Africa’s fascinating game reserves, Pilanesberg National Park is possibly the most accessible. Situated in the ecologically rich transition zone between the Kalahari and the Lowveld, this vast area promises thrilling big game viewing in a malaria free environment. A wide variety of accommodation is available to suit your needs.

Find accommodation in Pilanesberg

Accommodation in Pilanesberg National Park is as varied as the park itself. Pilanesberg offers a host of accommodation options, ranging from resorts, safari tents and bush lodges to chalets and self-catering. Discerning travellers will especially enjoy the exclusive lodges in the private Black Rhino Reserve, which was recently added to Pilanesberg National Park. Families and budget travellers will find a variety of accommodation choices to suit every budget, including self catering, bed and breakfast and chalet options. Pilanesberg Game Reserve offers a good option for travellers who would like to visit the internationally acclaimed Sun City, with some lodges located only ten minutes’ drive from the resort.

Whether you choose a rustic safari tent, a self catering escape, or luxurious five star lodge, the abundant wildlife of the malaria-free Pilanesberg remains the main attraction of this popular park.

Safaris in Pilanesberg

The Pilanesberg National Park is home to a brimming diversity of wildlife. Almost all of Southern Africa’s big game featured around the unique geological formation called the Pilanesberg Alkaline Ring Complex.

Pilanesberg safaris are unique as they explore the transition zone of the Kalahari with the Lowveld creating unique overlaps in animal species and vegetation. Pilanesberg safari packages range from game drives to exclusive experiences such as balloon safaris over the unique geology in the pristine wilderness of Pilanesberg National Park.

Winter Special! This is a per unit per night rate.(Book and travel within 30 days)

Valid until: 30 September 2021

Rate is valid for Mid-week stays

A maximum of 8 adults sharing in 4 chalets, kids 9 years & younger will share chalets with adults

A minimum stay of 2 nights is required for all stays

Weekend Rates available on request (minimal surcharge applies)

Exclusive use of the entire lodge

Book and travel within the required period

See the Big 5

Some of the most beautiful scenery within the entire park can be viewed in the Mankwe Dam region. The dam is the largest body of water in the game reserve. This makes it the perfect place to spot a wide variety of animals. water-buck, wildebeest, zebra and impala are among the animals that make a stopover on the grassland bordering the dam.

For bird lovers, there is a bird hide very close to the water’s edge. Make sure you take note of the fish eagles, kingfishers and cormorants circling the dam. All of these places provide many a fantastic opportunity to photograph the plentiful array of fauna and flora.

Pilanesberg National Park, or Pilanesberg Game Reserve as it is often called, is located in the Bojanala Region, within the North West Province and relatively near Johannesburg. With an area of 550km², it is the fourth largest park in South Africa. The volcano crater in which the park is situated erupted 1300 million years ago. Pilanesberg was originally owned by 3 of the local tribes. Many of the Stone Age and Iron Age sites around the reserve show proof of the presence of man.

Over 7 000 Animals

In 1979, Operation Genesis was launched. Operation Genesis was designed to reinforce the homegrown game population in the area. As part of the initiative, 110 kilometres of game fence was put up, as well as the 188 kilometres of roads that were established. Another plan of action put into place involved 6000 animals being introduced to the area. In the years that followed, Operation Genesis has been expanded on. Today, there are over 7 000 animals, 360 bird species, and more than 200 kilometres of roads.

Featured Lodges

Top Reasons to Visit

You may be wondering what sets Pilanesberg Game Reserve apart from other National Parks. What makes it so unique? Here are some of the best reasons to visit Pilanesberg:

Accessible

Only three hours’ drive away from South Africa’s largest city (Johannesburg), Pilanesberg National Park offers the perfect opportunity to leave the city lights behind, and discover another world. Celebrate the public holidays, or enjoy a romantic getaway in the unspoiled wilderness.

Variety of Accommodation

The diversity of Pilanesberg’s accommodation options means that there is an offering to suit every taste. Whether you enjoy “roughing it” in a Safari tent in the bush, or a savouring a glass of fine wine in a big bubble-bath as you gaze out the window of your luxury lodge, Pilanesberg has something just for you.

Ecological Richness

Pilanesberg National Park exists in a transition zone between the dryness of the Kalahari and the wet Lowveld vegetation. This rich transitional zone attracts an incredible variety of game animals, flora and fauna that are not often found living side by side. Virtually all of the animal species native to southern Africa can be found here, including the Big 5, wild dog, Roan, Tsessebe, Sable antelope and more than 360 species of bird.

Bursting with Wildlife

The relatively small size of the park, and its unusual ecological richness, dramatically increase your chance of encountering the Big 5 in their natural environment. Enjoy a leisurely Safari experience, or a surprise weekend escape: Pilanesberg allows you to choose your own adventure.

Ancient History

Pilanesberg National Park is set within the crater of an ancient volcano, formed 1.2 billion years ago by overflowing magma. The landscape and rock formations we see today are the enduring reminders of this magnificent occurrence.

Photographic Hides

Immerse yourself in the natural world, in one of Pilanesberg’s concealed photographic hides. Hidden within the park, these well-built hides provide a comfortable place to wait for that perfect shot. A rare opportunity to view the wildlife and birds in their natural habitat, safely out of sight.

Pilanesberg Day Tour

If you are short on time or perhaps you would like a quick insight into what Pilanesberg National Park can offer, the 1 day tour is a great option. Due to the limited time you will have to explore this Big 5 reserve, your day will be busy, but not rushed! Pilanesberg National Park is only a quick 2 hour drive from Johannesburg, which makes it the perfect destination for a 1 day safari tour.

You will have the opportunity to see fantastic wildlife and soak in the incredible scenery in this Big 5 Game Reserve.

View this Day Tour

Pilanesberg Info

Interesting Facts

Park Area: 550km²

Currency: South African Rand

Seasons: Dry season in the winter months (April to September), and wet season in the summer months (October to March)

Popular attractions: Big 5, hot air-ballooning, day trips, Lost City at Sun City

Nearby airports: O.R. Tambo International (220km)/Pilanesberg International Airport (inside the park)

Nearest cities: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Rustenburg

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jaketheaudiophile · 4 years

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Best Albums of 2019

Well hello there! Long time, no see.

In keeping up with my lazy past tactics, I really only use this blog for end-of-the-year recaps anymore, which I’m completely fine with. I still listen to music as much as I always have, but have lost the desire to constantly write about it. I guess this is adulthood, or having a “real job” or something.

Either way, here are my top 15 albums of 2019. What were yours?

HONORABLE MENTION

DELTA SLEEP: “Younger Years” EP

released September 27 via Big Scary Monsters

Delta Sleep completely surprised everyone this year by releasing this EP without any prior announcement or notice. No teaser tracks, no hints at studio time, just completely out of the blue. Props to these British math-rock legends for their secrecy; it was certainly a fun thing to wake up and see all over social media on a random Saturday in September. These guys definitely have a formula or format they stick to on their releases, so this is more of the same for longtime fans, and that’s largely a good thing. I still think they tend to rely on filler tracks or noise too frequently, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. This was easily my favorite EP of 2019 and is definitely worth mentioning for this list.

#15

UNWED SAILOR: “Heavy Age”

released May 3 via Current Taste / Johnathan Ford

Man, was I really looking forward to this one. My favorite band releasing their first full-length album in 11 years? And their first new music in 6 years in general? What could go wrong? Not much, to be honest, but I felt overall underwhelmed with “Heavy Age”. Most of the songs run together or could use editing instead of just repeating passes ad naseum. Also, the 13-minute-plus album closer “When You Want Me There” is largely meandering and pointless. Still, I love Johnathan Ford and his merry band of musicians for a reason, and there are definitely quality songs and moments on this record. I worry that I might be including them here out of obligation, but it still was better than other records I left off my list this year. The band has also already announced another new record in 2020, and I’ll go into that with the same reckless abandon of excitement as I did this album.

#14

SOMOS: “Prison On A Hill”

released August 30 via Tiny Engines

I really, really, really wanted to love this record. Boston’s Somos had been teasing this album’s progress for over a year, and their previous releases have been some of my favorite pop and punk from the decade. I’m not always the biggest proponent of politically charged art, but Somos always did it in a way that was sensible and understated. Unfortunately, this album’s release came prematurely due to tragic passing of guitarist Phil Haggerty. The band was able to put out the album earlier than anticipated with all funding going to Haggerty’s funeral expenses and family, which was a wonderful move by record label Tiny Engines. The album doesn’t feel rushed or unfinished, but is a bit too muddled and all-over-the-place for my liking. Longtime drummer Evan Deges left the band prior to the recording of “Prison”, and Somos decided to go the route of programmed drums instead of a session musician or new band member. The result is sadly a bit soulless, although it does compliment some of the more electronic leans in the band’s sound as well. The truly sad thing is that this will most likely be the last release by this band per their social media and interviews post-release, and I wish that tragedy would not have struck them during a time of a seemingly musical lack of focus.

#13

COUNTERPARTS: “Nothing Left to Love”

released November 1 via Pure Noise Records

I’ve been a huge fan of these Canadian melodic hardcore mainstays for ages, but I wasn’t crazy about their last release, 2017′s “You’re Not You Anymore”. Two of my favorite members (drummer Kelly Bilal and guitarist Jesse Doreen) quit the band right before it came out, and the resulting record felt unpolished and rushed. Thankfully, a bit more seasoning for the new members on the road and in the studio seems to have worked wonders, as “Nothing Left to Love” is back on the quality path for these bruisers. I’ve always adored vocalist Brendan Murphy’s delivery, and it’s legit stunning that he still has a throat after years of brutal barking, let alone how good it sounds on this release. Additionally, the band has a clever skill of interweaving cool triplets or other rhythms and complex structures underneath otherwise traditional breakdowns or song structures, which puts them in rarified air in a traditionally by-the-numbers genre. All this said, the title track / album closer sort of ruins the album for me. It’s essentially an unnecessary clean, polished filler track and feels tacked on to extend the length of the record, and I almost always skip it. Still, it was excellent to hear these guys back on their game, and I’m excited to see where they go from here.

#12

STATE FAULTS: “Clairvoyant”

released June 21 via No Sleep Records

I can’t say that this is the most original record I’ve ever heard. Anyone who is a fan of Deafheaven or any similar noisy / thrashy metal outfits will certainly find this sound familiar. However, it’s done with an unabashed energy and brutality alongside a sincerity that is truly refreshing. There’s a fascinating rawness to both Johnny Andrew’s shrieking vocals and the utter cacophony his bandmates whip up throughout their songs. The dedication to melody throughout everything also makes the songs memorable. This album caught me completely out of nowhere via an Anthony Fantano shoutout and resonated in all its ugly glory.

#11

KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD: “Fishing For Fishies”

released April 26 via Flightless Records / ATO Records

Speaking of the Internet’s Busiest Music Nerd, I first heard of these Australian weirdos thru the Needle Drop’s channel, but didn’t really fully deep dive into their prolific catalogue until this year. The fact that they released 2 full-length albums in 2019 is impressive enough (let alone releasing FIVE in 2017), but it’s jaw-dropping that the two most recent efforts are on complete opposite ends in terms of sound and genre. I personally prefer the blues-rock goodness of “Fishies” to the thrash-metal leanings of “Infest The Rat’s Nest”, but unending respect to these dudes for managing to pull both off convincingly. . The album closer “Cyboogie” is a bit too overlong and bizarre for me, but it works as a nice transition to the concepts the band bring out for “Infest The Rat’s Nest”, so I get where they are coming from. This album has some of the most infectious grooves and blues guitar riffs I’ve heard while passing along a necessary message on environmental concerns and conservationalism. The serious bits aren’t require, though, and it’s certainly plenty of fun to kick out the jams and enjoy the ride.

#10

INFANT ANNIHILATOR: “The Battle of Yaldabaoth”

Self-released by the band on September 11

Ok, ok...I get it. Most people will dismiss these grindcore hooligans as an internet joke band. That’s really what I went into this record expecting: Absurd lyrics, hilarious-yet-impressive vocals, blistering blastbeats, etc. I was instead greeted by one of the impressive and intricate technical death metal albums I’ve experienced. Vocalist Dickie Allen truly outdoes himself with his quite frankly ridiculous vocal range, but Eddie Pickard truly deserves credit for the album’s newfound ventures. His guitar and bass work is over-the-top but mesmerizing, and the riffs and structures he crafts here are all sorts of brilliant. As funny as it feels to type out, this band really needs to be taken seriously, or at the very least should be commended for leaning into the joke and delivering something complex, disgusting and awe-inspiring.

JIMMY EAT WORLD: “Surviving”

released October 18 via Exotic Location and RCA Records

Speaking of things I didn’t see coming this year...I adore Jimmy Eat World. “Clarity” is one of my favorite albums of all time, but I’ve largely fallen off keeping up with the band’s recent releases. Some good friends (+realfriends) talked up their latest and 10th release, “Surviving”, so I picked it up out of curiosity and was stunned at how competent and compelling it is. I even love the song with no obvious guitars or drums that I would have probably normally panned as a grab at radio airplay (”555″), and generally find the album to be completely badass. Kudos to JEW for proving they still belong in the upper echelon of emo and rock.

THE GET UP KIDS: “Problems”

released May 10 via Polyvinyl Record Co.

...speaking of comeback records...well, maybe that’s not quite accurate, but this was another surprise from a band I grew up loving that had largely lapses in my regular rotation. I guess 2019 had a theme of revisiting bands of my youth due to them reforming, doing anniversary tours, or releasing new music for the first time in ages. The Get Up Kids fly back to the heights of old with a manic punk barrage of joy. It’s probably my fault for not keeping tabs on these guys, but this record is gutsy and charming and lovely. It’s not really reinventing the wheel, but GUK basically constructed the wheel to begin with, so we really owe them more credit all around.

BARS OF GOLD: “Shelters”

released April 12 via Equal Vision Records

Bars of Gold have been an enigma of sorts throughout their existence. Largely well-known due to rising from the ashes of indie / screamo miasma BEARVSSHARK, the band is content to rest on their laurels and release music and play shows whenever they feel like it, largely due to family and other commitments. This leaves fans like me tripping over their own feet whenever something does come out. The Michiganders truly feel like a group of dads finding the one day a month when they all have a free evening to plug in their guitars and whip up some chaos, and it’s always fun to see the results. Marc Paffi has also always been one of my favorite vocalists, so the opportunity to hear his wacky lyrics and throat is always cherished. Here’s hoping we don’t need to wait 5 or so years for another album, but patience has been rewarded with these guys.

ORIGAMI ANGEL: “Somewhere City”

released November 15th via Chatterbot Records

Props to my buddy Steve Lee for turning me on to this band (as well as 2 others in my top 5). Origami Angel are one of those bands that defies logic: “How can two dudes make so much noise?”, “How can he play guitar like that while singing?”, “How did these guys put out one of the best indie rock records of the year seemingly out of nowhere?”, etc. Regardless of any questions, I was floored by this album and it was definitely the band I listened to the most for the last part of the year. It’s catchy, diverse, well-rounded and doesn’t overstay its welcome by being just under 30 minutes long with all the fat trimmed off. What more could you want?

PEDRO THE LION: “Phoenix”

released January 18 via Polyvinyl Record Co.

I had a strange moment at some point this year where I found a YouTube video of David Bazan performing a song from Pedro The Lion’s first release (2001′s It’s Hard To Find a Friend”). I was struck by how different his voice sounded nearly 2 decades later thanks to touring and life in general. It certainly was not a bad change, but just one that struck me as a sign of the passage of time. That sort of nostalgia and reflection is all over “Phoenix”, which is largely Bazan dusting off his childhood diary and describing memories of his hometown, tales of school, church, regret, family, plans and tragedies. It’s a celebration of memories, lessons learned and where one comes from, and Bazan’s direct delivery and brilliant-yet-understated lyrics paint perfect pictures. Hopefully it doesn’t take us over a decade for another Pedro release, but Bazan and company cement their status as songwriters and storytellers with this release.

PUP: “Morbid Stuff”

released April 5 via Rise Records and Little Dipper

PUP was a new phenomenon for me this year. These Canadian rockers are full of piss and vinegar, supercharging a sound that is simultaneously infectious and off-putting in the best possible way. They take a genre that can be same-y and repetitive and inject a lesser band’s whole back-catalogues’ worth of creativity and energy, leaving the listener enthralled and endlessly guessing what will happen next. Vocalist Stefan Babcock takes some getting used to, but his permanent-sneer delivery and slam poetry has a charm that compliments his playful and honest lyrics. However, it’s the moments where he busts out of his speak-singing or general hollering to delivery a super catchy hook or chorus that truly put him at another level and proves PUP to be one of the most exciting things to happen in the punk and rock genre.

MASKED INTRUDER: “III”

released March 1 via Pure Noise Records

With the exception of Unwed Sailor, this was my most anticipated record of 2019. Masked Intruder is one of those bands I listen to constantly. I usually default to putting my iTunes or Spotify on shuffle, and find it always makes me happier. For “III” the band hotwired their usual fun, tongue-in-cheek poperpop and craft a pretty perfect record in the process. Previous MI albums had a skippable track here and there, but this one is all killer, no filler. I’ve always adored the underlying Motown or doo-wop foundations in their songwriting and vocal harmonies, which add a timeless throwback quality to their song structures. The heart-on-sleeve lonely lyrics and constant references to petty crimes and best-laid plans are the icing on the top of this sugary musical sundae. It might be irreverent and occasionally basic, but sometimes that is all I wanted in music, and these guys delivered it in spades with this record.

FREE THROW: “What’s Past is Prologue”

released March 29 via Triple Crown Records

From the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, Nashville’s Free Throw released a quality emo record that doesn’t focus on pining for lost loves or revisiting relationship heartbreak and instead dives into one’s personal mental health and well-being. Props to vocalist Cory Castro and the rest of the band for completely baring all and channeling their honesty into this powerhouse album. However, there’s also plenty of diversity in the band’s sound and delivery. No song really sounds like the next, largely thanks to the band employing 3 guitar players who rarely play the same thing as each other. Some emo staples are here, though, such as frenetic drumming, clever tapping riffs, and stripped down moments with just a guitar and Castro’s vocals. All in all, this record makes you feel better about yourself and truly feels like the band came to the same conclusion while making it, which is gargantuan. When Castro belts out “TODAY I FINALLY LEARNED TO SAY I LOVE MYSELF” towards the end of the album-closing title track, you can’t help but root for him in his own journey towards mental health, but to not feel inspiring to do the same for yourself. It will encourage and inspire you, and feels deeply personal and universal all at the same time.

SNOOZE: “Familiaris”

Self-released by the band on May 3

There were so many times during this past year where I’d be driving, doing chores, at the gym or doing some sort of menial task where I’d decide to put on music and stop myself short of putting on this record again. I’d say “OK, you have to listen to something else besides the Snooze album. You’re doing to get sick of it if you keep listening to it this much. We don’t want that to happen.” Despite these odd concerns, I can say that this truly never happened. This album is effortlessly relistenable to me and has become my anti-depressant. I can’t help but feel charged up on happiness and charm while this is playing. It’s so chock full of killer vocal harmonies, clever yet crazy guitar riffs, well-restrained double-bass fills and brilliant song arrangements. It’s also a cyclical record, meaning one song runs right into the next and the end of the album theoretically plays right into the start, which makes turning it off quite difficult indeed. Add to all this the fact that it’s a concept album about how amazing dogs are, and you’re left with a spellbinding listening experience. This is one of the best records I’ve heard this decade, let alone this year, and essentially locked its place as my album of the year during my first playthru. Well done, Snooze. Who’s a good boy?

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