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3 Quick Tl;Dr Android Game Reviews / Recommendations (Episode 158)
Happy Friday, my fellow Android gamer - and welcome back to this weekly rundown of the best games I have played this week :) This episode includes a brilliant new roguelike action RPG, an amazing sci-fi multiplayer RPG with a huge focus on community and player-to-player trading, and the best high-quality sandbox mech shooter I’ve ever played on mobile! Disagree with my opinion? Let’s have a friendly discussion below. New to these posts? Check out the first one from 158 weeks ago here. The games are "ranked" somewhat subjectively from best to worst, so take the ranking for what it is.
Let's get to the games:
DarkZone [Game Size: 439 MB] (free)
Genre: RPG / Online / Indie / Semi-idle - Requires Online Access Orientation: Portrait Required Attention: Some tl;dr review: Darkzone is story-driven sci-fi themed multiplayer RPG with crafting, guilds, real-time and idle co-op combat, player-to-player trading, an insane amount of awesome loot, and a great community. Before entering combat in Darkzone, we must select another player’s hero to take with us into battle. The fight itself is semi-idle, which means the two heroes attack automatically, while we can tap on monsters’ weak points to deal more damage and pick up orbs that fill up a special ability bar. Combat is fast-paced, and there are even real-time co-op boss battles too. Additionally, we gain idle progression rewards when other players use our character to help them out in their own single-player fights. Loot equipped as gear slowly breaks down when used, so we must repair or salvage it for crafting materials used to create modification implants that can be added to new gear. Combined with the Attributes and Skill systems, this provides a deep level of character customization. Alternatively, resources can be bought and sold on a real-time player-to-player marketplace – something that is very rare to see in a mobile game. Darkzone monetizes through iAPs that focus almost exclusively on skins and cosmetics, which means the monetization is close to perfect. Combined with the game’s heavy emphasis on social interaction and play, Darkzone is one of the most interesting online RPGs I have ever played, and is a must-try for any sci-fi RPG fan. Google Play: Here MiniReview link: Here
Otherworld Legends [Game Size: 273 MB] (free)
Genre: RPG / Roguelike / Dungeon-crawler / Indie - Offline Playable Orientation: Landscape Required Attention: Full tl;dr review: Otherworld Legends is a fun roguelike action RPG by Soul Knight developer ChillyRoom, featuring a high-quality pixel art-style, great controls, and an awesome melee fighting combat system with lots of different skills and unique stats for each character. Fighting our way through procedurally generated dungeon rooms full of monsters and bosses feels great, and the many unique weapons and items that can be bought at randomly occurring shops to provide new abilities or stat boosts that last until we die, provide a constant feeling of progression. The dungeons are also very diverse in their design, and there is even a secret bonus room to find on each floor if we look hard enough. Like any roguelike, all equipment is lost when we die, forcing us to start over from the first dungeon floor. Permanent progression is achieved between deaths by crafting stat-increasing beverages from items gathered through combat, unlocking new abilities, or by buying new heroes. Otherworld Legends monetizes through incentivized ads and iAPs for weapon enhancers, resurrection cards, and to unlock new characters – none of which are necessary to enjoy the game. With its multiple control options, great art-style, and fun fighting-based combat, Otherworld Legends is a must-play for any action roguelike RPG fan. Google Play: Here MiniReview link: Here
Log Horizon season 3 is about to start, and if you're like me you do not at all remember everything that happened in seasons 1 and 2. Well, I didn't want to risk getting spoiled from reading wikis, so I binge-rewatched the first two seasons this past weekend and took a ton of notes so I can share with anyone else needing a reminder or ten.
This is certified 100% anime-only content meant specifically for anime viewers. I haven't even glanced at the light novels or wiki. Fans who have read the novels, this is NOT the place for you to chime in with "clarifications" and "by the ways". This place is for anime-only viewers, most of whom do not want to know the slightest bit of what happens next so we can experience it ourselves. I and the people in this thread do not give a rat-man's ass about some novel exposition from volume 2 that the anime skipped over in season 1 - go make your own thread if you are compelled to share that information.
This post is almost certainly going to hit the character limit, so I'm not going to summarize every major character or every plotline from the first two seasons. I could never hope to outline every major character's arc and development over 50 episodes in that few characters. Instead, I am only going to focus on the rules of the world and the plotlines that were still ongoing/unresolved at the end of season 2 - in other words, what I think you may need to know heading into season 3. Even if you don't remember them well, I'm sure you'll pick up the interdynamics of all these goofballs well enough just from seeing them in action again.
Elder Tale was a MMORPG that a bunch of people played. One day, everyone who was logged on got transported into a world that resembles the game. This event is now known as The Apocalypse.
Elder Tale's setting was called Theldesia. Geographically, it is the same land/ocean layout as the real Earth, but half as large.
When it was just a MMORPG, the game had 13 different servers, separated by region. If your character was in Theldesia's equivalent of Japan, you'd be playing on the Japanese server, and in order to travel to Theldesia's equivalent of Australia you'd have to switch to the Australian server. Most players played on the server corresponding to their region.
A 14th server, called Mare Tranquillitatis, also existed - it was a beta-testing server used for experimentation and testing features before they rolled out. Some players had access to it. Its geographical region is... the Moon.
The series has so far taken place entirely in the Theldesia equivalent of Japan, which is called Yamato or The Yamato Islands, and particularly in the city of Akiba (aka Akihabira) which is located approximately where Tokyo would be.
The Elder Tale MMORPG ran for 20 years in real-life before The Apocalypse happened.
Post-Apocalypse, the history of Theldesia has a ratio of 12:1 for events that happened in Theldesia vs in the real world. An event that happened in the 10th (real-life) year of Elder Tale's run happened 120 years ago in Theldesia history. This means that some Adventurers who had created their accounts and done notable things in earlier years of the Elder Tale game are now characters that are known to be over a 100 years old within the history of Theldesia.
When people and monsters in Theldisia die, their corpses turn into bubbles/particles after a short time.
The Apocalypse happened on the same day that the 12th expansion for Elder Tale was launching. This new expansion - called The Novasphere Pioneers - increased the level cap for players from 90 to 100, and was to include many new raid bosses and other content. Because of timezones, only the Japanese server had the expansion applied at the time The Apocalypse occured.
As of the end of season 2, it has been about 1 year in Theldesia since The Apocalypse.
Populations of Theldesia
Adventurers
Adventurers is the collective name of player characters in Elder Tale, turned special folks trapped in Theldesia after The Apocalypse.
Adventurers can be any of a bunch of different races - humans, dwarves, cat-people, fox-people, wolf-people, and more. They have classes, special skills, and all sorts of MMORPG staples, and typically can improve all these things beyond any other population in Theldesia.
Adventurers have a "friends list" which they can add each other to. They can make long-distance voice calls to anyone on their friends list - they refer to this as Telepathy.
Adventurers can also talk psychically to other adventurers they have formed a party or a raid team with. Note that this is a separate ability than Telepathy, so effects that block Telepathy from working won't necessarily also prevent party/raid chat.
When an Adventurer dies, they reappear at a Cathedral or another respawn point nearby (e.g. if in a raid zone they respawn at its entrance) after some time (anywhere from minutes to half a day).
In-between dying and reappearing, they have surreal experiences based on moments from their life before The Apocalypse, during which they must mentally confront the failures that lead to them dying. Once they've finished that, they appear on a beach on the moon (Mare Tranquillitatis) with the world (presumably Theldesia, though it could be the actual Earth I suppose) hovering overhead. There, the Adventurer must sacrifice a piece of themself (eventually confirmed to be a memory from their life before The Apocalypse) to return. When they wake up, they retain only the vaguest memory of this ritual or none at all. (See S2E6 for an example.)
Adventurers mostly live in Adventurer Cities - cities that have special buildings like guild halls, banks, and Cathedrals, and which are populated mostly by Adventurers but with many supporting People of the Land living there, too. Most or all of the Adventurer Cities in Yamato and many of their surroundings have a post-apocalyptic aesthetic, full of overgrown abandoned modern structures like highways, parking garages, and broken-down cars. There are 5 Adventurer Cities in Yamato:
Akiba (aka Akihabara) - Situated where Tokyo would be in real life. This is the primary setting of the series. Governed relatively liberally by the Round Table, a group of the most influential guilds.
Shibuya - An incomplete Adventurer city with no guild hall very near to Akiba. All the adventurers who were there have gone to Akiba so it is empty.
Susukino - Northern city in the real-life equivalent of Hokkaido. It started out as a violent city run by oppressive guilds. Akiba sent forces up there several times to let anyone who wants to leave it and come to Akiba, so only a couple hundred Adventurers remain there. The Akiba guild Silver Sword ended up moving there and taking it over, which made it less violent and lawless than before.
Minami - Situated to the west, vaguely where real-life Osaka would be. Governed autocratically by the guild Plant Hwyaden.
Nakasu - Even farther to the west. Very little is known about it.
Monsters
Monsters are hostile wild animals - things like angry giant plants, wild felines that attack in forests, etc. They are aggressive, have stats and levels and special skills, but are of similar intelligence to animals. They haunt certain areas, and when they die eventually replacements respawn there.
After they are killed and their bodies dissipate they "drop" ingredient/crafting items and gold coins.
Most Adventurer Cities, People of the Land cities, and some People of the Land villages have a "no monster" effect/barrier that prevents monsters from entering into them. Large-scale events like the goblin nation invading Eastal are probably not prevented by this.
Demi-Humans
Demi-Humans are a special type of monsters that includes species like goblins, giants, fishmen, and other usually-humanoid hostile creatures. Unlike other monsters, they have actual social structures, use weaponary, and seem to be at least semi-sentient.
Miscellaneous demi-humans can be found in the wild like monsters, but larger populations of them also occupy significant portions of territory - e.g. there is an area of Yamato full of goblin tribes that live in their own society and where People of the Land are not present. These areas can have complex social structures.
Similar to monsters, demi-humans magically spawn/respawn in their lands. Since they have some intelligence but are difficult to research, it's unclear whether this is new individuals spawning or whether they are actually respawning with intact personalities in a similar manner to Adventurers.
People of the Land
People of the Land are what were NPCs back when it was a MMORPG. In the game they just had simple NPC patterns, always saying the same things and doing the same basic tasks, but since The Apocalypse they are now fully sentient humanoids with their own lives, backstories, generations, politics, culture, etc. The People of the Land greatly outnumber the Adventurers - for every Adventurer City there are another dozen or more "regular" cities full of People of the Land and a bajillion towns and farms spread across the countryside.
Revival spells on a recently-dead Person of the Land slows down how fast their body disperses but doesn't prevent it.
The People of the Land in eastern Yamato (the area around Akiba) are socially structured as European-style feudal nobility, with each city and its surroundings ruled by a Baron and a patrilineal Duke as overall ruler of the area, or something like that. They have their own knights, armies, academia, etc.
Named NPCs would have lasted in the game for the whole 20 years that it ran before The Apocalypse, and with the timeline acceleration mentioned earlier that would make some of them a hundred years old or more, but it seems The Apocalypse retconned this and where necessary the names of characters the required continuation became titles passed from teacher to student, and so on. The People of the Land don't seem aware of any incongruities there.
People of the Land can learn skills, have classes, and other things that Adventurers can do, but they learn them much more slowly and generally have a lower "cap" on their level or abilities than Adventurers.
While People of the Land are less powerful than Adventurers, in some special cases they can have access to equipment that puts them on par or beyond the abilities of Adventurers. Of particular note, the Royal Guard (aka Defenders) are People of the Land who keep the peace in the no-combat-zones of Adventurer Cities - they have special armour that massively buffs their physical abilities and makes them able to teleport around the city.
Ancients:
Ancients (aka Progenitors) are a special class of People of the Land that are much more powerful than usual - even more powerful than maxed out Adventurers. In the MMORPG, these were mainly for two roles - legendary NPC characters tied to a particular quest, and the 13 Knight Orders. Only one Knight Order has been named in the anime - the Knights of Izumo that defended Yamato (since there are 13 regional servers, presumably there is one Knight Order per server). The Knights of Izumo suddenly disappeared around the time of The Apocalypse.
The Kunie Clan:
The Kunie Clan are a special group of People of the Land that manage all the banking and financial systems of Theldesia. They are of some mysterious other humanoid race that look similar but not quite the same as humans or elves, and they seem to all be almost identical (plus many or all of them seem to go by the same name, Kinjō, making them even harder to tell apart).
They can be found at the guild halls or banks of Adventurer Cities and similar places, but they also have secretive villages where they originate from that Adventurers and most People of the Land do not know about.
The Kunie Clan are not necessarily the actual cause, but are at least somehow involved with the world's supply of gold and how it gets distributed to monsters/demi-humans when they spawn. This includes access to the giant lake of gold coins that reside deep below the Depths of Palm and which serves as the world's main vault to store coins before they teleport to monsters and demi-humans.
They are also involved with many other "fundamental" aspects of the world, especially operating and managing ancient magical technology. For example, they can deactivate and reactivate the magic circles beneath Adventurer Cities which power the anti-monster barriers and Guard armour within the cities.
Instincts, Progress, & Innovation
When Elder Tale was a game, players were limited in what they could achieve by the limitations of built-in character animations, feats needing to have been pre-programmed as skills, and the game interface itself. Following The Apocalypse, the Adventurers in Theldesia still have access to the game interface and can still do everything the old way... but they don't have to. A magical leaping sword strike formerly activated by pushing a button can now also be activated by doing the same motions and thinking about using that skill. In fact, the latter option is better - the Adventurer can control and manipulate the skill with greater control and precision than the rote motions that result from doing it through the menu. Just as this applies to combat skills, so it goes for the rest of the world:
Food and Crafting
Combining ingredient items through the in-game interface according to a pre-programmed recipe makes food that looks correct and does nourish the body, but has no distinct taste or smell. But, if a player with the chef sub-class actually combines and prepares the ingredients by hand, it makes real food. More complex and difficult recipes require finer ingredients and a higher level in the cooking skill or they still end up turning to mush. Similarly, Adventurers with crafting sub-classes and skills can make superior, more refined, and more varied designs if they go through the process by-hand rather than using the crafting menu.
Innovation
Adventurers with the skill and ingenuity to create and craft things by-hand rather than using the menus are also not bound by the finite list of recipes and inventions that were programmed into Elder Tale. They can combine basics in all sorts of new ways not seen before. Soon after The Apocalypse, clever Adventurers developed basic steam engines and the rate of invention has been rapid ever since - less than a year later, someone has mixed magic and technology together to create a magitech hover train. These changes have had a far-reaching effect on the societies and economies of Theldesia. Facets of Adventurer culture such as their food and clothing have been swiftly embraced by the People of the Land and Adventurer economies have largely shifted away from quest-like tasks such as raids or guarding a People of the Land caravan to their own Adventurer industries, which has fractured the traditional Adventurer-People of the Land relationship and lead to many unforeseen consequences, such as an attempted goblin invasion.
Teachings
Teachings (aka Overskills) are supposed new skills achieved by some Adventurers that were not possible back when it was a game. They are commonly perceived as being a higher-tier version of commonly known skills or powerful new abilities. In actuality, Teachings are just (a) unorthodox applications of existing skills, or (b) instincts gained from becoming more in-touch with the world and losing the mentality of it being a game. E.g. Nazuna figured out that she can use the protective barriers she normally cast on other people as airborne platforms she can climb/jump on instead. Adventurers tend to
"The Apocalypse is not over yet"
As Shiroe comments, the natural laws of the world post-Apocalypse are altogether a confused mish-mash of Elder Tale game mechanics with real-world logic. Gradually, however, these two separate systems are starting to merge. Some known examples are:
Initially, an Adventurer needed to have the chef sub-class in order to be able to make any real food - even if a non-chef Adventurer prepared the ingredients perfectly, it would still turn to mush. After some time, though, anyone can now make basic recipes and the chef sub-class (plus leveled up cooking skill) is only needed for intermediate and harder recipes. Likewise for any other sort of crafting.
Adventurers whose Elder Tale avatar had a different body than their real body got stuck in their avatar's body, but retained their original voice. Over time, their voices are becoming more like what their body's physical vocal cords would naturally sound like.
The size of the world is slowly increasing, presumably until it becomes the same scale as the real Earth.
Objects had all sorts of associated flavour text in Elder Tale. They still have this flavour text in Theledisia after The Apocalypse, but it is just that - two objects with the same stats but different flavour text behave identically. After many months, though, the flavour text of some objects started coming true.
The Debauchery Tea Party
The Tea Party was a group of 15~30 Adventurers on the Japan server that frequently partied together in Elder Tale, many years before The Apocalypse. They were known for pulling off a number of incredible feats in the game, and generally had a more loose and fun tone than other groups since they weren't a structured Guild.
The Tea Party disbanded several years before The Apocalypse and many of its members moved on to other things. Some members joined or started guilds, while conversely many others had not logged in for years by the time of The Apocalypse.
Almost immediately after The Apocalypse, Shiroe checked his friends list to see who else that he knew was online/trapped in Theledesia, so he should have a pretty good idea of which members are/aren't in the world, but we the audience didn't get an exact list. Currently we know of 9 former Tea Partiers who are in Theledisia...
In Akiba:
Shiroe, Naotsugu, and Nyanta partied together in Theldesia and eventually formed Log Horizon.
Back when the Tea Party disbanded, Sōjiro, Kazuna, and Saki created a guild called the West Wind Brigade, with Sōjiro as guild-master. Saki wasn't logged in at the time of The Apocalypse.
In Minami:
Intix is the #2 seat on the Council of Ten of Plant Hwyaden and therefore 2nd in command of Plant Hwyaden behind only Nureha. She seems like a real big jerk and is part of the faction there that wants war and total dictatorial control of Yamato. Up until the end of season 2, it seems she was emotionally abusing Nureha to get her way within Plant Hwyaden. (I don't think they ever actually specifically said Intix was in the Tea Party, but from the way she's shown with them in the OP and how Kazuhiko/KR talk about her it's 99% certain.)
Kazuhiko is also on the Council of Ten of Plant Hwyaden. He seems to be fairly disgruntled with the way things have been going over at Plant Hwyaden, but is hoping to change it from within. He's kind of a jerk about it, though. He and Shiroe have been occasionally in contact with each other and have been sharing some info.
KR is on the Council of Ten of Plant Hwyaden. He's very carefree, but seems like a good guy overall - like Kazuhiko he doesn't necessarily approve of the way Plant Hwyaden is running things or their desire to go to war with Eastal and Akiba. KR is a summoner with a skill to possess creatures over vast distances - at some point he possessed a horse in the China serveregion to scout out what things were like over there and while traveling around in China he encountered Kanami's party. And he can summon a giant fucking dragon that solos raid bosses. He only told Kazuhiko about his journeys in China, not Intix or the rest of the Council.
Elsewhere:
Kanami was the leader of the Tea Party for most of its run, but she moved to Rome a few years before The Apocalypse and stopped playing the game at that time. During that time she had a daughter. Eventually, she got back into Elder Tale, creating a new account on one of the European servers, and she got trapped by The Apocalypse, too. Since the Novasphere Pioneers expansion pack content had only been loaded on the Japan server and figuring it was related to The Apocalypse, Kanami started journeying from Theldesia's Europe counterpart all the way to Yamato. Also in her party are a teenage mutant ninja frog, a farming bot that may have gained sentience, and an Ancient.
Unresolved Plots & Mysteries
Regan, New Magic and the World Fractions:
Regan (aka Li Gan) is a mysterious guy who has shown up a few times and gradually become an ally of Shiroe. He was first encountered when Shiroe et al went to a conference with the People of the Land nobles. He seems to be a Person of the Land, but I don't think that was ever actually confirmed. If he is, he's an extraordinarily knowledgeable one, possibly on par with the Kunie Clan. He's a shady guy who may have a hidden agenda.
He has the title Sage of Miral Lake, a name that was associated with a lot of lore in the game before The Apocalypse but (as far as we/Shiroe know) not a character anyone ever encountered. He says it is a title passed down to him from his teacher, the previous Sage of Miral Lake.
Regan's main interest of research is magic that is on the scale of altering the entire world, something that he says has only happened 3 times so far in events he calls the World Fractions - the creation of monsters/demi-humans, the arrival of the first Adventurers (240 years ago), and The Apocalypse.
Since each World Fraction was an unprecedented form of magic, he is intensely interested in the creation of new forms of magic that did not exist prior. Shiroe's Contract Magic which turned Rudy into an Adventurer was one such new magic, and one that Regan thinks could some day be world-altering. Around the same time, Regan says he felt another brand new form of magic with similar potential happin in the west.
Death and Resurrection
Regan and his predecessors were researching a so-called Spirit Theory about how death and resurrections work. His theory posits that people (Adventurers, People of the Land, and Demi-Humans) are divided into anima (physical attributes, correlated with HP) and psyche (mental attributes, correlated with MP). The psyche and the anima are each required for a person to persist - when people take too great of an injury their anima is too damaged to persist to it dissipates; the healthy psyche stuck inside the body dies when there's no anima to support it.
Since when people die in Theldesia their bodies turn into bubbles/particles, that is their anima dissipating. If the psyche is intact, revival spells can pull those dissipated bits of anima back to the rest of the body and put them back into place (up until the point where the body has completely dissipated). But if the psyche is also destroyed, there is no mind to reassemble the anima as it once was.
For Adventurers (and possibly demi-humans), their dissipated anima particles all travel to their respawn point, so their psyche can still reassemble them there. For People of the Land, the dissipated anima just scatters in all directions, so even a healthy psyche can't do reassemble them and dies.
However, the reassembly can't be perfect... some energy must be expended for the process. And since the anima seems to be reasembled perfectly, Regan and Shiroe theorized that some psyche must be lost - in other words, the person loses some of their memories. (See S1:E14 for the full spiel)
When Shiroe shared this with the Council, Krusty was able to confirm that this is indeed the case, and further suggested that it seemed like memories of their lives from before The Apocalypse might specifically be targeted. (After a particular death, Krusty could no longer remember the name or appearance of a cat he owned.)
Regan implied the Ancients had different spirits than ordinary People of the Earth and that this could be significant.
Shiroe and Akatsuki eventually remembered the experience of being on the moon between death and revival. We don't have a lot of comparison points as no one talks about it much, but it sure seemed like Adventurers always forget that in-between experience once they woke up (Akatsuki herself when she revives seems to remember it for a moment and then quite specifically forget it).
(Continued in the Navigators section)
Enemies in the West
To the west of Akiba and Eastal are three People of the Land nations - the Westelande Empire, the Ninetail Dominions, and the Fourland Dukedom - and within those are two Adventurer Cities - Minami and Nakasu.
Following The Apocalypse, a guild called Plant Hwyaden lead by Nureha took over Minami by conning money out of the People of the Land nobility and buying the Cathedral, then forcing all Adventurers to join Plant Hwyaden through the threat of controlling the respawn building. Plant Hwyaden now rules Minami and its environs autocratically, and is much more integrated with the People of the Land nation, the Westelandian Empire, than Akiba is with Eastal. Their combined government is run by an organization called the Council of Ten Seats - Nureha and her nine advisors/ministers, which includes some people of the land.
Nureha herself is a somewhat emotionally unstable person and she occasionally runs off on her own private journeys, so the much of the actual policy-making has been driven by Intix and Mizufa, the bloodthirsty Westelandian army general.
Ever since establishing control, Plant Hwyaden have made efforts to suppress information about the west making it to the east. This isn't outright possible, as plenty of Adventurers in Akiba have friends in Minami, but it has overall made it more difficult for Shiroe and the Round Table to gather detailed information about Plant Hwyaden's capabilities and motives.
Likewise, the presence of spies from Minami in Akiba has lead to the Round Table waging their own information warfare, trying to keep their own secrets and knowledge of their operations out of the hands of Plant Hwyaden.
Nureha herself came to Eastal, disguising herself as a People of the Land chronicler named Dariella. She was seen suspiciously visiting various various places in the east, and then eventually met up with Shiroe, who saw through the disguise. Revealing herself as Nureha, she encouraged Shiroe to join Plant Hwyaden so they wouldn't have to be enemies, but Shiroe declined. Apparently she knew Shiroe in the game before The Apocalypse and is somewhat obsessed with him now, but Shiroe doesn't remember her at all, and furthermore it's clear that Nureha lies a lot so who knows how much of this is true.
Recently, factions within Plant Hwyaden - especially Intix and Mizufa - want to go to war against Eastal and Akiba. They have been power-leveling their People of the Land soldiers (using a disturbing magitech system wherein People of the Land control spirit monsters), built a giant hover train base, and have been making other preparations.
They sent a small expeditionary force to the border of Eastal which caused a bit of havoc in some towns, but Kazuhiko and Nureha made them withdraw.
The threat of all-out war or a smaller, more focused attack by a faction within Plant Hwyaden still looms large. Nureha seems to be taking a more active role in government and standing up to Intix now, but that doesn't mean she has full control or even that she wouldn't order an attack herself.
The Disappearance of Krusty Suzumiya
Krusty is the guild leader of D.D.D., one of the most important guilds in Akiba.
When flavour texts started becoming real, the scythe (which admittedly had some pretty evil flavour text) of Krusty's lieutent, Takayama Misa, one night suddenly flew up into the sky and show a giant red beam of pain around her. Krusty pushed her out of it and got caught in it himself. Then the beam disappeared, Krusty and Misa's arm vanishing with it.
For the longest time no one knew what had happened to Krusty. He did not respawn, could not be reached by Telepathy, and Misa's arm couldn't be healed or revived either.
At the very end of season 2, they discovered that Krusty is in China with Kanami.
He still has Misa's arm with him. And it is twitching (ew).
Ennui & Social Safety Nets
Living as an Adventurer is easy. Slaying a couple low-level monsters every few days gives more than enough gold coins to buy food and a bed. Throughout their time since The Apocalypse, the leaders of Akiba have struggled to keep its culture and economy engaging so that its people will have motivation and drive.
However, the mostly-capitalist system of economy and governance they've established, especially with its focus on guilds within the government structure and trade in its economy, has furthermore left a growing population of Adventurers who do not have social standing, influence, or prized trade skills and who do not wish to leave the safety of the city disenfranchised and despondent.
The Round Table is aware of the issue but hasn't figured out what to do about it.
Most recently, Eins and his enormous guild Honesty have been the leading voice for this issue. He's even suggested some extreme socialist/communist economic reform measures, but no one else thought that was a good idea.
Navigators
During a westward quest, the junior members of Log Horizon encounter Roe2, Shiroe's second account, acting independently from him. She says a bunch of cryptic stuff and also sends a letter to Shiroe via the juniors. Putting it all together (but she could be lying about some or all of this):
Navigators are artificial lifeforms that come from a society that ran out of empathion and now search different universes for more in order to survive.
What, exactly, empathion is is not entirely clear. It seems to be a resource necessary for life and which is evidently tied to the psyche.
The Navigators were brought into this world by a process they call "the Match", something they don't fully understand and which they did not cause. Probably the same thing as The Apocalypse.
Navigators are divided into two types: Observers, whose role and motives is not yet fully clear; and Harvesters, who are less intelligent than Observers or Adventurers/Humans and who prioritize collecting empathion above all else.
Adventurers dying is one way that empathion is collected. Given the name and the correlation with the psyche, it's 99.9% certain that this is the same thing as when Adventurers give up a bit of their memories on the moon before they revive.
Navigators don't have their own bodies in Theldesia - instead, they have taken over the bodies of unused character accounts and monsters. In particular, Roe2 took over Shiroe's alt account on the Mare Tranquillitatis server (and other Observers have likely taken over other accounts there) while Harvesters have taken over Geniuses (see below).
Roe2 was able to get to Yamato by swapping positions with a summoned creature, but most Observers are still on the moon. She told Shiroe that if he contacted them, they could help him find a way home.
Genius
Geniuses seem to be a new type of quest/raid boss that were introduced in the Novasphere Pioneers expansion pack. They have a common theme of being disguised as People of the Land (including all the appropriate menu pop-ups), and are only revealed as monsters after certain triggers or once confronted.
Most, but not all, of them become powerful raid bosses once revealed.
Easily identified (once unmasked) by them all having a "Genius of " title.
They have all been taken over by Harvesters, used in Harvester plots to thwart Adventurers and increase the rate of Adventurer death so that more empathions are collected. And this means they can show up anytime as new adversaries rather than only as part of quests or events.
Their abilities and tactics vary wildly. Some are simple combat adversaries, another was stealthily kidnapping Adventurers through hypnosis.
One Genius/Harvester referred to Elias, an Ancient, as "a survivor" suggesting that they are related to the disappearance of the Ancients.
While they aren't as intelligent as Adventurers/Observers, don't think of them as mindless foes. As soon as Akiba started planning to use the Shibuya antenna station, the Geniuses setup an Eternal Moth hive around it blocking the Adventurers' attempts to use it and potentially forcing them to destroy the antenna along with the hive.
The Third/Fourth Party
Since The Apocalypse, Shiroe was searching for evidence of "the third party" - that is, people or things other than Adventurers and People of the Land, and who presumably caused The Apocalypse. He believes that The Apocalypse must have been caused with some motive, and therefore whoever is responsible should be out there somewhere. However, all his various investigations could not find any evidence that a third party exists until Roe2's letter.
However, Roe2 says that the Navigators did not cause The Apocalypse, leaving this still an open-ended question.
Since the Navigators are "artificial" lifeforms, it hasn't been ruled out yet that whoever created the Navigators is also the ones that caused The Apocalypse.
A Way Home
Of course, the big question always looming over the Adventurers has always been "can we go home?" As they learn more about the world and create even more advanced new magics and technologies, they may find such a way.
At the end of season 1, Nureha suggests that Shiroe is on the verge of finding a way home. Shiroe says he doesn't know if whatever technique he's cooked up yet really does send someone home, yet, all he knows is that it makes them disappear.
Following the letter from Roe2, Akiba is now trying to contact the moon where they may be able to learn more about how to get home from the Observers.
Some Adventurers are truly desperate to return to their old life and feel that Theldesia is their prison, especially those who feel disenfranchised by the current socioeconomic structure of Akiba. At its most extreme are the Odyssey Knights, who intentionally get themselves killed in order to glimpse the old world in the mid-revival dreams.
On the other hand, many Adventurers have adapted to life in Theldesia. Many enjoy their life here better than their old life and have no wish to return.
Shiroe was torn on this issue, seeing no good option. Either undo The Apocalypse, separating thousands of happy Adventurers from their friends, their new lives, sending many back to misery... or don't, forcing the other miserable thousands to remain imprisoned in Theldesia. But a well-timed inspiring conversation with Kanami reminded Shiroe of what Log Horizon is all about - achieving the impossible third option. Hence, Shiroe and Log Horizon aren't trying to undo The Apocalypse anymore, they want to find a way to merge the two worlds so people can travel freely between them.
Other Mysteries
The fast-travel gates between Adventurer Cities have been offline since The Apocalypse. Regan says it has something to do with the moon phases.
Shiroe and Kanami almost certainly had a mutual crush back in the Tea Party days. Shiroe wasn't over it for most of the series but he is now.
Akatsuki has a crush on Shiroe but is shy about admitting it/pushing it and Shiroe is pretty oblivious to it.
Minori also crushes on Shiroe. She's more upfront about it, but he's even more oblivious to this one, though pretty much everyone else has noticed it. (Shiroe and Akatsuki are both college-aged while Minori is like 14 or something so this isn't much of a love triangle per se, more of a character development for Minori plus a way to pressure Akatsuki into taking more initiative.)
Nureha is unhealthily obsessesing over Shiroe from afar.
Serera has a little-girls-first-admiration sort of crush for Nyanta, and absolutely everyone knows it. Nyanta is a perfect gentleman.
Marielle and Naotsugu started out as just platonic friends that get along well, but this has gradually evolved into something vaguely resembling the start of a relationship. They were even long-distance-calling each other every night to share their day with each other for a bit.
Shōryū has a crush on Marielle, which Marielle is oblvious about. Shōryū gets jealous when Marielle pays attention to other boys (particularly Naotsugu), which Hien loves to tease him about.
Henrietta likes dressing up cute girls in cosplay as a hobby/obsession. She has a squad of subjects for her obsession in her guild, but she is especially fond of doing so to Akatsuki.
Henrietta has had a couple moments of thought about crushing on Shiroe, but has no intention to pursue the idea further.
Sōjiro is a harem protagonist.
Nazuna is Sōjiro's one true love, or else the childhood bestfriend character that hangs out in the harem but ultimately only loves him platonically.
Naotsugu must decide who he loves more, Marielle or panties.
Krusty and Princess Lenessia have a pretty good thing going. I dunno what it is, but it's good and it was going, until he disappeared.
Rudy is an eager puppy and Isuzu is his proud owner.
I'm really glad I rewatched all of Log Horizon. In my opinion, it is a series that has gotten even better with age. If you are debating about delaying season 3 to rewatch the first two seasons or not, I say do it. There was no shortage of isekai series when Log Horizon first aired, and that number has only increased since. But how many isekai series actually want to seriously engage with their premise? Having the protagonist recognize that they've been transported into a video game world only to immediately shrug off all possible ramifications of this is funny, sure, but it's also definitely taking the easy way out. Nowadays, many series don't even bother with the 5-minute isekai-and-forget-it routine and just opt to pitch it as a fantasy tale in a nonsensically video game-themed setting, but even then the characters rarely engage with the consequences of the setting being game-ified. Not so Log Horizon. Log Horizon never forgets that its characters are real people and real gamers, worried far more about the existential unknown than yet another goblin king. It's not just that the story dabbles into politics, economics, and social reform, though that's great, too. It's the constant fear of the unknown, the optimism to rally against it, and the heart to learn lessons from it.
3 Quick tl;dr iOS Game Reviews / Recommendations (Episode 71)
Happy Friday, my fellow mobile gamer - and welcome back to this weekly rundown of the best games I have played this week :) This episode includes a brilliant new roguelike action RPG, an amazing sci-fi multiplayer RPG with a huge focus on community and player-to-player trading, and the best high-quality sandbox mech shooter I’ve ever played on mobile! Disagree with my opinion? Let’s have a friendly discussion below. New to these posts? Check out the first one from 71 weeks ago here. The games are "ranked" somewhat subjectively from best to worst, so take the ranking for what it is.
Let's get to the games:
DarkZone [Game Size: 439 MB] (free)
Genre: RPG / Online / Indie / Semi-idle - Requires Online Access Orientation: Portrait Required Attention: Some tl;dr review: Darkzone is story-driven sci-fi themed multiplayer RPG with crafting, guilds, real-time and idle co-op combat, player-to-player trading, an insane amount of awesome loot, and a great community. Before entering combat in Darkzone, we must select another player’s hero to take with us into battle. The fight itself is semi-idle, which means the two heroes attack automatically, while we can tap on monsters’ weak points to deal more damage and pick up orbs that fill up a special ability bar. Combat is fast-paced, and there are even real-time co-op boss battles too. Additionally, we gain idle progression rewards when other players use our character to help them out in their own single-player fights. Loot equipped as gear slowly breaks down when used, so we must repair or salvage it for crafting materials used to create modification implants that can be added to new gear. Combined with the Attributes and Skill systems, this provides a deep level of character customization. Alternatively, resources can be bought and sold on a real-time player-to-player marketplace – something that is very rare to see in a mobile game. Darkzone monetizes through iAPs that focus almost exclusively on skins and cosmetics, which means the monetization is close to perfect. Combined with the game’s heavy emphasis on social interaction and play, Darkzone is one of the most interesting online RPGs I have ever played, and is a must-try for any sci-fi RPG fan. App Store: Here
Otherworld Legends [Game Size: 273 MB] (free)
Genre: RPG / Roguelike / Dungeon-crawler / Indie - Offline Playable Orientation: Landscape Required Attention: Full tl;dr review: Otherworld Legends is a fun roguelike action RPG by Soul Knight developer ChillyRoom, featuring a high-quality pixel art-style, great controls, and an awesome melee fighting combat system with lots of different skills and unique stats for each character. Fighting our way through procedurally generated dungeon rooms full of monsters and bosses feels great, and the many unique weapons and items that can be bought at randomly occurring shops to provide new abilities or stat boosts that last until we die, provide a constant feeling of progression. The dungeons are also very diverse in their design, and there is even a secret bonus room to find on each floor if we look hard enough. Like any roguelike, all equipment is lost when we die, forcing us to start over from the first dungeon floor. Permanent progression is achieved between deaths by crafting stat-increasing beverages from items gathered through combat, unlocking new abilities, or by buying new heroes. Otherworld Legends monetizes through incentivized ads and iAPs for weapon enhancers, resurrection cards, and to unlock new characters – none of which are necessary to enjoy the game. With its multiple control options, great art-style, and fun fighting-based combat, Otherworld Legends is a must-play for any action roguelike RPG fan. App Store: Here
So with Speed Trials now introduced, I thought it would be interesting to attempt to rank all of the main game modes from best to worst. Obviously this is just my opinion, and I'd love to hear yours as well. But as for my ranking...
Gauntlet Mode! Really solid, unique multiplayer action with good rewards? Sign me up! The 1-on-1 race style and the ability to choose your opponent really encourage both skillful driving and strategic car choices, and excells at keeping that competitive spirit alive. The rewards are excellent, enabling a great feeling of progression. I only wish the races were a lap longer, as the final car in your lineup is often a bit of an underwhelming experience to drive. 8/10, the best way to get rich quick and level up your garage, but certainly takes some getting used to.
2. Career Mode! The standard race experience. Races are fast, easy to understand, and all have special objectives to spice up the gameplay. Unfortunately, the balancing is very poor, with career races rewarding virtually nothing upon repeat completions, and often require quite a bit of grinding to progress. Additionally, there's next to no incentive to collect stars after reaching Season 9, which thoroughly deflate that feeling of progression. Regardless, the fundamentals of racing are fun and engaging, and Career Mode is pretty vital to any player's experience. 7.5/10, very fun overall, but suffers from pacing issues. 3. Speed Trials! I know, the new one is ranked pretty high! The incredibly quick nature of the races allow players to hop right in and learn on the fly, with no major penalties for losing. Additionally, the fact that everyone is (nearly) equal in terms of vehicles, as well as the randomized nature of the races, really encourage skillful play. Unfortunately, the rewards are lackluster at best, and despite the equal setting, there's no actual reason to go for first place finishes. 7/10, needs better rewards, but the basics of quality multiplayer is there. 4. Mastery! Here I show my bias; I love the feeling of upgrading a car and mastering it's every move. The special race types help to keep things unique, and the Licenses and tokens awarded for mastery are an excellent reward for a show of dedication. Unfortunately, most of the other rewards are pretty underwhelming, and many of the races are pretty short and simple, lacking that "Mastery" feeling that should be present. Of course, this mode is designed to be tough to progress in, so I can't complain about the tuning costs, but in general I think the rewards don't outweigh the costs, which is a real shame, as the base idea is fun. If the rewards were better and more focus was given to it, I could honestly see Mastery being better than the campaign. As it stands, however, it's painfully middle-of-the-road. 6.5/10, great ideas but lackluster execution bring it down quite a bit. 5. Multiplayer. The standard multiplayer championships. The rewards are honestly pretty good, but the balancing is all over the place and the races are riddled with jank, from unfair knockdowns to glitchy stunts and clipping. For a "championship" mode it's staggeringly unbalanced, with boosts and token-bought vehicles usually dominating the competition. The season rewards are decent if you score well, but are more of a joke than anything else if you don't place in Pro or higher. Unfortunately, Multiplayer is the best way to grind for credits, and it's a shame it's such a poor experience. Still, no racing game would be complete without a multiplayer mode, so it gets points for that. 5/10, a perfectly average gamemode with very poor balancing. 6. Event Races. Underwhelming at best. These races used to be a great way to collect various currencies and items, but alas, now they're generally only there to promote the current Festival, which I have no intention of discussing. The fuel cost is shockingly steep, for how many cups are often available, and with no way to increase your total fuel, it's often little more than an afterthought. The races are rarely very unique, and the rewards are really only useful for newer or less accomplished players, which is redundant as most races are nearly impossible to compete in at all without A or S tier vehicles. 4/10, these races barely deserve their own game mode. 7. Moto Blitz. I'm going to be perfectly honest: I hate Moto Blitz, and have not progressed much in it at all. The bikes themselves are neat, but are pretty much only viable in Moto Blitz itself. The pacing is disgustingly poor, with tokens being the only way to progress, yet tokens are so rarely given as rewards that it's nearly impossible to play Blitz without opening up your wallet. The rewards are also shockingly bad, as the only rewards given are upgrade parts, which bikes don't actually use. All in all it's very clear that Gameloft have pretty much abandoned Moto Blitz, and that's a real shame, because the bikes themselves are actually a pretty fresh take on the standard racing formula. 2.5/10, I wish I could rank it higher for the sake of the bikes, but alas it's just so bad that I can't justify giving it any higher of a rank. 8. Solo Races. No rewards, you can't pick the number of laps, and the menus are frustrating to navigate. This mode only exists for the sake of being able to play the game offline, but even then it's so shockingly pointless that I just can't bring myself to take it seriously. 1/10, its pretty much the worst way to play Asphalt 8. And that's my personal ranking of the major game modes. Obviously it's all subjective, and you may have a completely different ranking than I do. So please, comment below, share your thoughts! Do you agree? Disagree? Am I completely missing a crucial part of one of these modes? Let me know!
Can we just call it what it is? "New players with distorted expectations."
I am going to preface this by saying that this isn't a full-on horror story so much as commentary wrapped up inside a "halloween episode" level horror story. I will also say that I am a fan of Critical Role as both a form of entertainment and as a form of D&D inspiration. Watching it has really helped me develop story telling skills. Honestly it converted me from being a Rail Roading DM who would panic when players did something unexpected into a DM who enjoyed thinking on the fly. Something about the way Matt pauses, rubs his hands together, shows a moment of confusion before excitement and says "Okay!" when one of the players (read: Sam and Laura) goes completely off the expected path made me realize the fun in not knowing where thing were going. Paragraph 1 TLDR: There is a stark change in my DMing before and after Critical Role and its for the better. All that said, I had my first encounter with the Mercer Effect -queue thunder and lightning effect-. I was DMing a 1 shot online with a mix of friends that I have played D&D with online and offline and a couple new players. Our Cast follows Me: DM Mark: Online D&D Friend Playing Monk Bill: Brother In Law with a game or 2 under his belt Playing Wizard Cindy: Sister, same experience as Bill, Playing a Rogue (first time not playing a cleric) Nina: Sister's friend who when asked if she wanted to play said akin to "Thats the game with the little statues and the weird dice right?" Playing a Fighter Joxer: The antagonist of this story. A new player who was introduced to the game by looking up Joe Manganiello's work out routine, found Jock's Machina, and then Critical Role. Playing our War Cleric with "traps for days". A little background on Joxer. We met playing a video game online and when he invited me to another round I declined to work on D&D stuff. He went from a "cool bro" to an "excited, untrained, labrador whose toy you were holding" instantly. He told the other people we had been playing with to go on without him. One thing leads to another and I sent him an invite to my discord server. He was the last to join. Instead of a proper Sessions 0 (since it was a 1 shot) I made my expectations known in chat and we discussed character creation in chat. Me and Mark worked with the others to build characters and make sure everyone knew the rules. Joxer, seeing the part composition, said "no one is playing a cleric? we need a cleric." I simply said that we addressed that and I was giving everyone a few healing potions. Since it was a 1 shot I wasn't worried. The Monk was trained in Medicine in the worst case scenario. He isn't buying it and says "fine, I'll play a cleric". We were still in voice chat so I could hear the huff that signaled his excitement deflating. This was maybe a seed of a red flag As the game approached Nina messaged me asking about clerics and wondering if she should change to cleric "since she is new". Apparently Joxer had been messaging her telling her she change to cleric because "new players should play clerics" and that "fighters aren't very good." She had been excited about playing an fighter because "it seemed simple enough" and she was into HEMA. I reassured her that fighter was a fine class, and if she wanted to play a cleric she could, but not to change for those reasons. I spoke with Joxer to se if he wanted to play a Fighter instead but he came back to "we need a cleric...someone needs to heal." I let him know that there were other options for healing thanks to certain subclasses. But he stubbornly insisted. In retrospect I probably should have come up with a reason to boot him here but nothing was particular "bad" yet and in chat he had be funny and personable and was even giving some of us some exercise tips to do during quarantine. Dude has a fitness channel on youtube (very low sub count but he enjoys it so power to him) and he obviously knows what he is talking about. I may have also been developing a very slight crush on him but since he was a strait guy (and I am a not-strait man) I obviously didn't let that take up any emotional real estate but maybe I also didn't see other signs of trouble ahead because of that. The game night comes and I reiterate some expectation from earlier in the groups conversation. "This was going to be a single game with a short adventure so I will be nudging you guys towards certain plot points. Roleplaying in encouraged. I might streamline some elements of non adventure related interactions. I will be doing some voices but I'm no Matt Mercer (-insert small laugh-) and some of them may sound similar so I will try to be clear about who is speaking." I did a lot of conversations in 3rd person if it was a minor character. You know "The shop keep tells you that the tax collector has a mistress" instead of speaking as the shop keeper giving juicy gossip. Things got off to a rocky start. Me: The caravan you had been assigned to guard has been traveling through the golden wheat fields for several days. You had packed up camp just a few hours ago and the still rising sun cast a glow on the [fields that almost made them seem to glitter in the sunlight.] (the last part I never got to say) Joxer: Wait. We're out in a field? We're not in town. Me: No, remember, I said you would be playing people hired to help guard a small caravan as it traveled to a larger trading town. Joxer: But...but I was going to buy drinks at the tavern. I wrote this off as maybe him feeling nervous and having prepared something he wanted to do. I had a "What Would Mercer Do" moment. Maybe this isn't what he would do but it did prevent me from arguing with Joxer and give him a chance to do his "tavern role play". Me: Thankfully this caravan belongs to Darren Goblinbane, the half-dwarf heir to the Firestone Distillery. At night [they set up a makeshift tavern when they stop for lunch and at camp.] (again, I didn't get to say the last part before he interrupted me.] Joxer: Half dwarf? Thats not a race. Me: They are rare in most parts of the world, but they do exist. Joxer: Can I change my race to Half Dwarf? He was currently a goliath. Me: It won't change your statistic, and this is highly unusual, but sure. You can put down that you are half dwarf. Joxer: Well then I will need to rebuild my whole character. Me: We won't go that far, we will just say that you are a half dwarf for role playing sake. (I get inspired) As a half dwarf, would you like to be related to Darren or be associated with the Firestone Distillery? Joxer: Nope. Me: -Shrugs- Ok then. -continues with description- I change things up a bit to give them a camping/tavern scene early than expected essentially turning day 1 (where the adventure was supposed to begin) into day 0 (the day before it was supposed to begin). As they traveled I had each of them describe their characters and probed a little bit to get them share something that the party might have picked up. Mark said that others might have noticed that at camp he take particularly good care of his extremely long beard and the extremely long hair he keeps under his turban. Mark used a Russian accent while describing his monk, taking inspiration from Diablo 4. Bill and Cindy put a little twang in their voice (considering we live in the south didn't take much to sell it) and were playing a married couple who grew bored with the domestic life and after a run in with a bandit got a thrill from the danger and heroics and have been chasing that high ever since. Then Nina described her character. Nina: Umm, I don't have a voice or anything but... Joxer: -makes a noise like the air being released from a half deflated balloon- Nina: Excuse you. I didn't make rude noises when you kept interrupting the DM so shut it. At this point that little crush I might have had for Joxer fully disappeared and I began seeing Nina in a new light and my not-strait-not-gay self starting wondering how to ask her out afterwards. Joxer: -obviously a little shocked- I mean you have to do a voice to roleplay. Me: -about to interject but Nina was already ready.- Nina: Nope. I may not know the rules very well but I know that that isn't a rule. She then continues to describe her character and explains that the others would have noticed that she has been fun to be around but "doesn't take anyone shit" whether directed at her or a friend. Then it was Joxer's turn. Before I continue I will reiterate, if it isn't clear, that I don't think you have to have an accent or adopt new mannerisms while role playing and if you make an effort to do so all the better...even if its not the best. Joxer though, after what he said to Nina, should have had a little more self awareness. Following the queues of Mark, Bill, and Cindy described his character while speaking in the character's voice. Mark already had a deep, clear voice. But his character sounded like he was doing an impression of someone with a deep voice. It almost a Sylvester Stallone but if he had a mouth full of potatoes. But give him Shatner like timing. A bold choice is better than no choice? Again, making the attempt is awesome. But then getting upset when people ask you to repeat what you said because you made some voice choices that made your character almost impossible to understand is something different. Especially after mocking someone for choosing not to do a voice when they just started to learn what D&D was less than a month ago. So the camping/tavern scene comes along. Maybe this would smooth things out. He wanted a tavern scene? Cool. Here it is. What did he have planned? To drink until he was unconscious. While the other players were chatting with NPCs and with each other, arm wrestling, and dancing...Joxer just kept drinking. Now he seemed happy about just drinking and it really seemed like that was his plan all along. I asked for constitution saves at certain points to see how tanked everyone was getting. I even gave Joxer advantage as a (but not really) half-dwarf. Even with advantage his checks could not keep up with the volumes he was drinking and I warned him that at this rate he would probably be feeling the effects in the morning. The other players and NPCs tried to get him involved. Well cool then. At least he is having fun? Like I didn't want to railroad that hard, but being interrupted during my description (twice) and then me changing my introduction up to accommodate what he wanted only for him to sit there drinking? I take a breath, remember that he seems to be having fun and all the other players are having fun. Its a win. I can roll with the rest of the story even if the flow got a little wonky there. I only emphasize that I created the whole camp/tavern scene for him and he did the least interactive thing he could do in the situation. The next day I have them make some of them make 1 more constitution save. Joxer passes so he has a hangover but not too bad of one if he failed. He asks if there is any way to get rid of it. Me: As a pretty raucous caravan that throws almost nightly parties you know that there is a woman who sells herbs that will ease the hangover. She is easy enough to find and is already distributing them among people she thinks need them. She give you a sly knowing smile and says "would have thought you were a full dwarf the way you handled your drink last night." Joxer: I'm a goliath. I really didn't want to make the session more awkward than it was becoming with his constant questioning. At least I didn't get interrupted this time. But apparently the other were getting a bit fed up. Bill: Remember, you said you wanted to be a half-dwarf instead? And he said you could Role Play as one but we weren't going to wait for you to remake the character? Joxer: Well since I didn't rebuild it I didn't accept it. Mark: You didn't say that. We all assumed you were roleplaying as a half dwarf now. Cindy: Weren't you rolling those saves with advantage because you are half-dwarf? Nina: Yes he was. I even asked if that was why he was rolling with advantage. Joxer: Well, I'm a Goliath. Deep breaths. Slow deep breaths. Me: No worries. The herbs help you all the same. As the camp is getting packed up... Joxer: That's it? I don't get to haggle with her for the herbs? Me: No she is just handing them out for free. As the camp is getting packed up... Joxer: I don't get to Role Play with her or anyone else at all? Me: There have been plenty of opportunities but you just drank through them. We have to move on or we won't get anywhere with this adventure. As the camp is getting packed up... Joxer: That's not fair. I thought there would be more time. Me: That is fine. Maybe in a future game that isn't a 1 shot we can really explore the social interactions more. But we have already spent an hour on this and we need to move on. As the camp is getting packed up... Joxer: But I didn't even get into may back story... Me: As the camp... Joxer: But... Party as a Whole: Dude! Stop it. I really didn't want to kick a new player during a 1 shot. But I would be lying if I didn't say my finger was hovering over the button to do it. Again, I put on my "trained in diplomacy" hat and try to difuse the situation. Me: I get it. Its not what you were expecting. In a 1 shot things are a bit more stream lined to get you into the action. I'd really like to keep playing with you and maybe next time we play we can really do more. Its not always going to be like critical role where nearly every NPC has a unique and deep personality because, particularly in a 1 shot, we are just trying to explore a specific scenario. Maybe next time. So....As the c.....Joxer: You will never be Matt Mercer. Now at this point I had already said "I am no Matt Mercer" as a little self deprecating joke and even explained how this sort of game would be different than the main campaigns of critical role and restated the expectations multiple times. I took a brief moment to debate kicking him (really hadn't given a direct warning but he had more than enough chances) but Nina chimed in. Nina: And you are not Travis. Joxer: You noob c.... And he was kicked. We all knew what C word he was about to say. Apparently Nina started watching Critical Role since me, Mark, and Joxer all talked about it and she thought it would help her understand thing better. After that....THE CAMP WAS FINALLY BEING GETTING PACKED UP and Mark caught the brief sight of something streaking towards the camp... an arrow...followed by dozens more. All hitting Joxer who hadn't taken the anti-hang over herb yet and thus couldn't defend properly. And then a second volley (with targets picked at random this time). The party successfully fought off the raiders, tracked them down to retrieve the caravan members that had been kidnapped, and found themselves in the middle of the gold horde of a dead red dragon fighting cultists who wanted to raise the red dragon from the dead and needed sacrifices to do it. Remember the foreshadowing mentioned before? Them traveling through the glistening dew dropped speckled golden wheat fields? I would have described the fiery red band of sunlight on the horizon that seemed to encircle them (as the dead red dragon's body would later). Would have been cool if I had gotten that out without being interrupted. Anyway. This is my story. In a lot of ways the story is more about 2 new players, each only having experience vicariously through critical role, but with 2 very different outlooks on it. One was more self aware, accepting that they lacked the experience to truly know what to expect beyond the expectation set by the person in charge. The other treated DMing almost like a competition. Having described Matt Mercer as the "[Michael] Jordan of DMs". Which at the time I probably agreed with. But after this experience I realized that the analogy doesn't really work. Because while DMing is a skill and one I want to get better at its not like I'm competing with other DMs to be better than them. I would like to think that if Matt and the rest of the critical role crew say down at my table they would have fun. Not like if I played Basketball against Jordan...where I would just get steamrolled and it wouldn't be much fun for anyone. Please forgive spelling and grammar. English is my first language. TLDR: That Guy new player suffering from the "Mercer Effect" question DM and interrupts DM multiple times while trying to describe the opening scene, is rude to other new player for not using a voice only to have a weird voice people couldn't understand, DM tried to compromise by creating a new scene in a 1 shot specifically to meet the player's "you start in a tavern" expectation only to have the character just get drunk and do nothing else and THEN COMPLAINS HE DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO ROLE PLAY. Edit: I started digging through the server chat to se if there was any detail I forgot and found a number of red flags that I missed due to being absent from the server for about a week dealing with some IRL drama. Nina showed her badass self even back then for calling him out. I think he might have even been trying to flirt with her by mocking people not as physically fit as him (and her because he knew she was also into fitness and stayed in shape for HEMA). I also made the mistake (or not as you will see) of telling the party I was posting this. I then went to take a shower and came back to see Nina post "Cool, I'll look it up!@ Interested in reading it!" And then I remembered the comment I made about having a crush and asking her out. The tragedy of stream of consciousness writing...or not really. We are talking about finding a way to get together safely to get to know each other a bit better. Edit Deux: Someone asked about my sexuality and how I used vague terms to describe it. The comment was deleted before I could respond but I'll address it with what I began typing.
I use Pansexual mostly with people I know but I also don't use it sometimes during story time like this because either I end up having to explain what it means, it distracts from the story, or get some bi- pan- trans-nonbinary- phobia comments. Also I feel like labels come with expectations that I end up failing by 1 person or another's definition so staying vague or intentionally confusion allows me to control the narrative and takes a level of anxiety off me and my imposter syndrome.
Its not something that I hide but something that I like to control because of the negative nonsense we get even in the LGBTQ+ community. Like I said, I word it the way I do so as not to distract from the story so as a great man of action once said "that's all I got to say about that".
Many players don't care about rep rewards, but the rep system actually impacts gameplay for everyone. Here's 5 ways 2k can improve rep experience for everyone from League Pros down to offline players.
Yes, I'm back with another unnecessarily long post that nobody asked for. But even if you're like me and you don't care about your rep, alot of issues with the gameplay experience can actually be cleaned up by improving the rep system. With these 5 steps, 2k can tweak the current system in a way where everyone benefits (including 2k).
1 Get rid of rep methods
I typically don’t like starting posts with the most controversial opinion as a lot of people tune out once they read something they disagree with but hear me out. Every year there’s a certain method or playstyle that helps you rep up faster. In 2k20 for example everyone was throwing lobs, which made for boring gameplay for the rep grinders and their opponents. 2k addressed this issue pretty well in next gen by tying rep to teammate grade, but this still meant that big men typically earned more rep than guards. It also led to strange playstyles like people cherry picking in the rec waiting for flashy assists. Again, not fun for the rep grinders or their opponents. Instead, there should be a set amount of rep given for a win, and a set amount for a loss. This way everyone on the team gets the same amount and the only focus is on winning the game. There’s nothing worse than being the other human left on a rec team and the opposing squad double and triple teams you the rest of the game. Not only is it a miserable experience, but it also results in you getting practically no rep. Giving even the losers the same amount of rep will lessen the quitting by making sticking around to the end somewhat worth it. This seems like a drastic solution on its own, but it’s closely related to step 2.
2 Give comp modes more rep than casual modes
The rep amounts should look something like Pro Am win: 2x Pro Am loss: 1.4x Ante Up win: 1.5x Ante Up loss: 1x Private Pro Am win: 1.5x Private Pro Am loss: 1x Park or Rec win: 1x Park or Rec loss: 0.5x Yes, they tried something similar at the beginning of 2k20 and the community whined until it was changed back, but that was mostly due to the absence of a 2v2 Pro Am. Players who enjoyed 2v2 were not getting the rep of 3v3 players. In order for this to work, they would need to add a 2v2 (and possibly 1v1) Pro Am modes. Currently the best way to rep up is to get a squad and beat up on randoms in the park or rec while putting up good numbers. I watched some streams from the top reps during the rep race and they would literally quit out of a rec game before tip if the other team looked good. Beating good competition should give you more rep than beating scrubs. Hell, losing to good competition should give you more rep than beating scrubs. With this system, those who want to rep up fast would actually be better off taking their squad to Pro Am and losing by 40 than they would going to Rec and winning by 40. Of course there will always be the occasional squad going to the park or rec to score easy wins, but they would no longer be rewarded for it. Park and rec would generally be casual mode for people who don’t want to try that hard every game. So why is Ante Up and Private Pro Am less? To prevent boosting. In Pro Am you cannot choose your matchup, so the fastest rep method in the game would still be beating comp in Pro Am to get 2x. With Ante Up and Private Pro Am you could create dummy accounts to throw games and get rep. Will people still do that? Of course. But you can no longer win the rep race that way. “So why give Private Pro Am rep at all?” Because this is #1 mode played by the best players in the world (2k League Pros). Most 2k league players are still pro or all star rep despite playing the game more than almost anyone else and that’s because they quit out before the game ends to keep from dropping overall (and save boosts). By getting rid of the 95-99 system and adding 1.5x rep for private pro am games, league players can finally start gaining the rep they deserve. With this system, rep will have more meaning than it does currently. It won’t just be an indication of how often you play, but also how consistently you’re able to defeat other good players. 2k has also done a great job at having consistent double rep events in next gen. These will provide a great opportunity for players who’ve been rep grinding in Pro Am to get back to The City multiple times per week.
3 Introduce more useful rep rewards
This is where we start getting to the part where 2k can make more money off rep. Most rep rewards are cosmetic items that oldheads like me don’t care about. But there are few like gym rat, 2x daily spin, Elite rewards that I actually help the gameplay experience. 2k can use more rewards like these to benefit the player while bleeding them for more VC. Here’s some examples:
Bringing back re-birth builds. In 2k19 once you hit 95 you got to create a new build with the main badges maxed and enough mypoints to get to around 90 overall. The catch, you still had to buy VC to upgrade them. A lot of players grind mycareer for VC since they have to grind their badges anyway, but imagine being handed a build that’s already done. No mycareer necessary, you can head straight to park if you just open up your wallet.
Unlock the ability to buy badges with VC. The idea of being able to buy badges again instead of grinding them has been floated for awhile, but the common complaint is that it would be an unfair advantage if players can buy maxed builds on day 1. Well this way nobody would be able to buy badges on day 1, but they could buy badges on their 2nd build after hitting All Star 2 or something.
Unlock double mypoints or badge progression. One of the Elite rep rewards every year is double VC progression, but you should be able to unlock double badge or mypoints progression at Superstar or somewhere around there. Players would be more tempted to drop money for VC on a new build if they knew they could grind it faster.
Unlock unlimited boosts for one skill. This one wouldn’t make 2k any money, but it would still be something worth grinding towards.
These are just a few examples of useful rewards that would provide even casual players more of an incentive to try and rep up.
4 Keep popular rep rewards in the game, but have them unlock at lower levels
Every rep reward video that you watch will talk about bringing back Tigers and Jetpacks. I didn’t play 16 or 17, but I still want a tiger and a jetpack. If a rep reward is popular, 2k should bring it back the following year, but lower the rep level. If 16 gave you a Tiger at legend, 17 should give you a tiger at Elite 5 for example. It will be old news to the people who grinded for it the previous year, but most of us will never see legend, so it would be fresh and new to us. Mascots are played out for Youtubers but imagine if the average player who’s never had one could unlock it at Superstar 4. This also means more VC for 2k since a Tigers and Mascots are like half a million VC. Players who grind to Legend every year should get new rewards every year, but the classics don’t have to go away.
5 Give offline players rep
A win in mycareer could give something like half the rep of a park loss. Park games are much faster than mycareer games, so someone who’s losing all day in park will step rep up faster than someone playing offline. But this way the two modes won’t feel as separate. There are basic rewards like tattoos and even access to The City that mycareer players can’t unlock. It also helps cut down on the feeling that you’re wasting time when you’re stuck in mycareer grinding badges. Players like to feel like they’re progressing towards a goal everytime they get on a game. This leads to more playtime, which leads to happier endorsement partners. It would also provide a bridge to introduce offline players to online gameplay. When they enter the park, they’re no longer just a Rookie 1 at the bottom of the totem pole. I play 2k20 and there are still plenty of Pros around. So now the All Star 1 who’s just won his 3rd title with Knicks and is getting a bit bored, won’t be nearly as intimidated if they decide to try their luck on the got next spot.
”As any would expect, those first few weeks were... hard. Most couldn’t cope with the harsh reality that our home was now gone and simply became detached from the world around them. Others... I admit I never checked the shipboard crew roster after that day, but my position forced me to acknowledge that there was a small handful of mouths we no longer had to feed. I’d hear rumors of those who’d enter the airlocks and simply let themselves slip away into the void, never to be seen again. A primal part of my mind periodically considered this news a boon. With our home gone, our food wouldn’t last forever, their passing on would buy the rest of us more days. On those days I wouldn’t eat, as I felt I needed to pay some sort of repentance for such cruel and feral thoughts.” -Unnamed Shipboard Logistics Officer
Inhale. The warmth left him. Exhale. The warm air inside his sealed mask hugged his face. Octavian eyes blinked twice to refocus his vision. Nestled behind his oxygen mask, his ancient flight visor, his thick flight suit, and the armored layers of his small strike craft, the pilot was nothing if not snug. For now, his movements seemed almost lazy. He moved slowly, calmly flicking two switches at his side. The welcome humming of the engine began to gradually increase in volume, he could feel the craft slowly waking from its own slumber as well. Lights in his cockpit began to flicker on one by one, everything activating as it should. He spared a few moments to look beyond his display and controls to take in the view beyond the cockpit. Outside, engulfing his small strike craft, lay the Ksa Ore Fields. A truly massive and unexplained phenomenon within a largely dull universe, the Ksa Ore Fields were a star system completely enveloped by a thick assortment of all manners of toxic and non breathable gases. From where his ship rested, the pilot of the Old Guard could see nothing but the warm glow of the orange and yellow gases that caressed his ship. The startup procedure complete, the pilot rested one hand on the yoke while easing the throttle forward with the other. His strike craft, retrofitted dozens of times from an atmospheric variant to one that could excel in Ksa, resembled a sort of horizontal “H” from above. Four thin and rectangular wings jutted from the sides, with the two in the rear noticeably longer than the two in the front. Tucked under the frontal wings and against the craft’s hull rested its two heavy machine guns, while the craft's secondary thrusters rested in a similar position under the rear wings. The main thruster sat between the two, directly behind the pilot’s cockpit. Within the Ksa Ore Fields one abandoned space in favor for a sort of unbreathable aether. At a glance, the aether was similar enough to the void that one could be forgiven for thinking the only two differences were the carrying of soundwaves and the slightly reduced visibility caused by the swirling gases. In actuality, Ksa was rife with multiple unique properties, from the gusts of aether wind that could tear cheap fighters apart and rip hull plating from larger vessels, to hundreds of swirling wormholes hidden in the gas that pulled damaged vessels within them, never to be seen again. The pilot urged the aging craft to a respectable cruising speed and flicked another switch, opening the intake vents. Properly filtered, the gases outside should prove sufficient to refuel his craft’s tanks. In another time, his craft, and the dozens of other craft belonging to the now scattered royal guard, would have had carriers designated to service and outfit their craft as necessary. But now, all that remained of the royal guard were broken oaths and ancient pacts that those who remained refused to forget — couldn’t forget. Personally, there was only one oath Octavian found relevant anymore: Defend the citizens of the Atharian Kingdom. Of course, one could argue there were no real “citizens” anymore. Everyone served in the Atharian navy now. Everyone left, that was. To Octavian, this just reinforced his belief that that particular oath was the only one that mattered. A large ore cluster appeared on his sensors and he directed the craft towards it. Being in Ksa so long, a pilot developed a sort of sixth sense for the nature of the fields. Including an awareness that where there was ore, there would be conflict. It was simply the way of things now. He closed the intake vents and input his destination for the navigation computer, releasing the controls and letting the craft continue on its own for a bit. He leaned his head back against his headrest and closed his eyes. Breathe in. The faint smell of the rubber from his mask. Breathe out. The heat hugging his face once more. What remained of the Old Guard and the Atharian Navy shared the same broken home, the same dead king, and the same flesh and blood. But they weren’t the same people, not since the arrival of the Tahl’desh fleets and the razing of their planet. While the Old Guard he belonged to clung to what traditions remained of their order, the rest of the survivors — pressed into service in the Athenian Navy — were the truly broken ones. The only emotion saving them from utter despair, was a raging, burning, tempest of hatred and anger towards their persecutors. When their people discovered an ancient cache of ships and technology on the fringes of their home system, what should have been used as a revival of their civilization, was soon celebrated as a means to secure their revenge against the invaders. Many, with their families and future taken from them, saw the only safe universe to be one where the Tahl’desh empire no longer existed. A soft beeping woke him from his thoughts, declaring the craft's arrival at the designated destination, and he rested his hands back in the controls. The large asteroid ahead filled his vision, the body easily several dozen kilometers large in size. The hundreds of other rocks making up the ore cluster rested nearby, all orbiting the larger body. Realistically, a sight such as that ahead of him would almost never be found naturally in the void. In an asteroid field, the nearest rock could be a million kilometers away from its counterpart. But, Ksa was different. From his current approach angle each rock appeared as a dark hole in his vision, as all light from the sun beyond was impeded by the rocks. He couldn’t see beyond, but he was sure of what he’d find. He pulled up into a sharp ascent, his seat conforming to his body, hugging it from the g-forces Ksa pushed against him. He activated the crafts secondary thrusters and felt the thrum of engines turn into a steady roar below him. Thick, orange contrails of gas trailed from his crafts wingtips. Octavian pushed the craft faster and faster, shadowed behind the giant stone. The bright red of his engines and the illuminated contrails of gas following in his wake were the only light for kilometers around him. The light of the sun began to crest over the top of the rock as he approached its peak, appearing as a sort of induced sunrise. His sensors began to ping with the growing acknowledgement of hundreds of contacts — both friend and foe — coming into range, no longer obscured by the uncountable layers of ore and metal hidden in the celestial object below him. Before him, Octavian saw titans of void black metal and behemoths of snowy white steel intermingled within each other, hammering all manner of firepower into their counterparts’ vessels. A seldom used radio crackled to life and Octavian adjusted the signal for clarity. “Major Summanus, we’ve detected your craft’s IFF tag’s signal entering the battlefield. Coordinates for an Old Guard wing have been forwarded to your navigation system. Acknowledge. Over.” Octavian was too stunned at receiving the message’s contents to take offense at the speaker’s near dismissive tone. It had been some time since he’d last seen another Old Guard fighter, much less enough craft for a formation. He nearly forgot to respond to the unnamed vessel’s message. He checked for the received information and, after confirming he’d received all the necessary flight data, he snapped off a quick, “Coordinates received. Over.” He input the coordinates over his screen, but retained manual control. He wanted his craft to have a personal touch every second of his reunion with his old comrades in arms. Octavian was far past giddiness, but if the aging pilot had to decide on a word closest to the emotion he felt in that moment he figured it would serve as a suitable placeholder. His mind barely processed the final message he received from the vessel. “Good hunting, pilot. Out.” His hands darted across his controls guided by decades of accumulated habit and training, flicking off safeties, arming weapons systems, and hardening the craft’s armor. Once he deemed his craft fully combat ready, he placed both hands back on the yoke and throttle and dived into the battle raging below him. Missiles and tracer rounds launched from the shining white hulls of the Tahl’desh warships intermingled with the deadly red beams fired from the adopted ships of the Atharian Navy. Aesthetically, Octavian’s craft couldn’t be farther from the vessels his comrades now used. Where his strike craft was the result of generations of Atharian scientific and military progress and was designed as a powerful symbol of their culture as well as prowess in combat, the angular ships the majority of the navy now used were merely means to accomplish an end. The new mainstay of the Atharian fleet was a large assault frigate faintly resembling a gemstone commonly found on their old home planet — if the gem was laid horizontal. The frigate’s aft was the largest section of the vessel holding the engines and the majority of the vessel’s critical systems, a third from the aft, the hull split into two halves directly above and below each other that continued the rest of the vessel’s length until ending at two mirrored points and the fore of the ship. It was likely one of those vessels who’d given him the flight path he’d been following. Or rather, had planned on following. He twisted his craft right to avoid the Tahl’desh reinforcements gating into the fray. While he could more than easily take on any enemy fighter craft on his own, he was not foolish enough to take on a capital ship and her escorts as suggested by the size of the blue tears forming in the aether. He rolled his craft hard to the right and adjusted the flight path. It looked like he’d be joining the fight sooner than he thought. He blinked twice and red squares lit up across the cockpit glass over the enemy fighters ahead of him. He burned hard forwards and settled the craft's sights in the path of one of the white fighters. Pulling the trigger let forth an arcing stream of burning metal in the enemy’s path. He relished the vibrating feeling of the twin guns each firing over sixty rounds a second. The fighter was sheared in half, exploding into pieces a breath later. Octavian selected two of the nearby targets and armed his missiles. His finger hovered over the button as they secured a positive lock. However, just before firing, three dark shapes zipped passed his craft. The two flanking the lead shape sliced through the enemy fighters with red beams before continuing on out of his vision. Such is life, he thought, disarming his missiles and continuing forwards. He realized he had to get to the rally point and couldn’t afford any more distractions anyway. He weaved between missiles and friendly laser fire, now only firing on any fighters careless enough to get in his path. He came across another Tahl'desh frigate in his path and this time he beelined towards it. He selected a piercer missile and fired it directly ahead of him, easing his craft only slightly to stay directly behind the missile. Focused on larger threats, the giant vessel paid him no mind until a panicked crewmember noticed that something had followed through the brief hole the missile had left in their shields and was now mere a couple hundred meters above their hull. Octavian’s craft danced between slowly arcing weapon emplacements and the various protrusions of the hostile ship. He left a trail of fire and destruction in his wake as his guns cut through every emplacement in his path. Aboard the vessel desperate yells and orders abounded. Security teams were alerted something had breached their shields and were preparing for a boarding party, gun crews were sucked into space as layers of hull around them depressurized, and the ship's captain stared in awe and fear as the ribbon of fire traced its way across their hull. Reaching the other side of the ship, and now satisfied with his work, Octavian fired another missile and exited the ship’s shielding opposite of where he’d entered. He pulled up a rear view screen and grinned upon seeing he’d given them a good enough scare that he could point out a couple prematurely launched escape pods. He mentally scoffed at the lack of discipline, he was sure his damage didn’t extend much past destroying a swath of deck guns. His revelry was dampened when he noticed the dark shapes descending upon the escape pods and destroying them one by one before moving off to some other unforeseen goal. It was a cruel reminder that the Atharian fleet would not be allowing any Tahl’desh to survive this battle. He closed the screen and refocused forwards. Once more, his mood was revitalized by a more than welcome sight he could just barely make out. It had been years, but he would recognize the sight of a Fortress-Class bomber long after he’d forget the faces of his parents. A long triangular craft, practically large enough to qualify as a gunboat, the Fortress-Class was littered with dozens of point defense turrets across its stretching wings. Overlapping firing arcs made sure the craft could fire in any direction, preventing hostile craft and missiles from approaching, and on the off chance something made it through, the multiple layers of redundant armor ensured the bomber could take several beatings and survive to deliver its payload. Octavian spotted the bomber’s escort fighters on his approach, three Old Guard Arrowhead fighter craft, and the nostalgia was like a fist to the nose. It was almost an unbelievable sight. He switched his radio back on. “This is Major Octavian Summanus, Old Guard Hammerhead-142. Requesting permission to join your formation, over.” A crackling voice responded almost immediately over Octavian’s radio, “Glad to have you, Major. This is Lieutenant Colonel Marcellus, captain of Fortress-092 and commanding officer of this formation. I’m transferring formation clearance to you now. Over.” Octavian accepted the new data prompt and status symbols for the other craft activated on one of his side screens, detailing pilot names and various live information regarding each of their craft. Additionally green squares highlighting their positions ahead of him lit up the glass of his cockpit. “Clearance received and activated, Sir. Over.” “Good. That’s a nice Hammerhead you’ve got there, pilot. Don’t see many of those anymore. Are you familiar with a formation called the Twisted Knife? Over,” The Lieutenant Colonel asked him. “Yes, sir. Although, I can’t say I’ve participated in one before. Over,” Octavian responded, moving his craft near the other four and matching their speed. They all were maintaining distance just barely outside the combat zone and as such they were able to maintain a steady formation for now. “That‘ll do fine. Our current orders are to strike at the flank of the Tahl’desh fleet and cripple one of the battleships maintaining their rearguard. We’re to utilize the aforementioned formation to puncture their shields and get my bomber close enough to deal a killing blow. Your strike craft shall serve as the ‘knife’, Over.” “Understood, sir. Over.” Octavian slid his craft under the bomber at the center of their formation. He eased as close as he safely could, looking in an assist program to help maintain a workable distance. The formation slowly arced left, back towards the fighting, and Octavian had a clear line of sight to their target. The Tahl’desh battleship was certainly a formidable sight, resting secure and unmolested at the edges of the conflict. “Remember, pilot,” The Lieutenant Colonel’s voice sounded once more over the speakers, “While the other fighters in this formation can be likened to precise blades, your strike craft is more akin to a fist; The craft you wield was once known as a pure symbol of the strength of the Atharian kingdom. Utilize that fist, strike hard, strike fast, and let’s shatter the nose of this pitiful Tahl’desh fleet. Combat operations begin now. Out.” Upon receiving this final message, Octavian began deactivating all unnecessary systems while the formation continued forwards towards their prey. He left only the secondary thrusters and the barest minimum of passive systems online. For now he did little more than drift forwards, hidden below the bomber. If all went according to plan, his secondary thrusters would register as part of the bomber and their two crafts would register as only one on the enemy sensors. It was a gamble that relied almost completely on the chaos of battle to shield their intentions from the enemy, chaos the rest of the Atharian navy was excelling at providing. Octavian received no warning they’d re-entered the battle. Instead, what he got was previously silent guns loudly opening up as Tahl’desh fighters roared by. The heavy arcs of molten ammunition traced through the thick orange gases in all directions from the center of their formation. The escort fighters broke off and hunted down the Tahl’desh craft too smart to approach the bomber directly. The steady thunder of the turrets around him created rings in the gas around Octavian, the air creating expanding ripples in the gases like stones dropped in a pond. Enemy fighter after enemy fighter was torn to shreds by the veteran pilots safeguarding Octavian and the bomber above him. Missiles launched from the desperate craft were exposed to be futile as the point defense cannons prioritized them above all else, shredding them before they even got close enough to be considered a threat. A particularly brave or suicidal — Octavian couldn’t decide which — Tahl’desh interceptor beelined directly for the bomber, firing round after round at the craft, only for each bullet to be absorbed by the craft’s ever stalwart shields. Several of the bomber's turrets turned dispassionately towards the interceptor and unleashed an unforgiving torrent of bullets that shredded the craft into pieces. The flaming husk of what used to be an interceptor slammed into the bomber and flames roared over the hull. Alas, the only thing that would be left by the interceptor when the flames dispersed was a dark scorch mark and a long groove torn into the metal of one of the bomber's lengthy wings. A tear in the many layers of armor that would prove inconsequential. The bomber continued steadily, ever forward. It would not falter. The thundering of guns increased steadily in intensity until it seemed like the very aether around them was shaking from the thousands of unrelenting shockwaves from each bullet. Octavian noticed movement and looked up. Above him, the bomb bay doors of the craft began to slide open. Within he could see hundreds of types of ordnance — some recognizable, some not — all organized and separated with a maze of catwalks. A lone individual navigated the metal maze, on track towards a particular rack of bombs. These bombs… Octavian knew their particular value. The individual hit some controls near a metal rack holding them and the four bombs within were extended towards the opening of the bay, leaving nothing to be between them and their intended target for when the time to launch them came. From his position directly below the ordnance he could clearly make out the cluster of bombs, each approximately the size of his person. All four were recognizable as fusion bombs. The bomber obscured most of his vision beyond, so he couldn’t see much of the enemy or how close they were. Their flight path was set to take them under the battleship rather than straight for it, but he could tell they were nearly there. The crewman above him tapped a few controls and the status lights on the devastating weapons above Octavian lit up. The crewman looked at Octavian and gave him an emotionless thumbs up. It would appear they reached their destination sooner than he’d expected. Octavian’s hands reactivated the main engines and rapidly brought the craft back online. Within a breath all the dead lights came alive once more. He locked his position relative to the bomber in his mind and settled his hands on the controls, flexing his hand over the throttle but refraining from accelerating. Not yet, he thought. The massive bomber began a slow roll to the left, and with it, the Hammerhead hidden below. — A young Tahl’desh sensors officer on the periphery of the battleship’s bridge kept an eye on the hostile bomber. It was a peculiar sight, but he found its presence more preferable to that of the other enemy ships by a vast margin. The bomber was massive, for sure. He was honestly surprised by how well it and its three escort fighters were able to hold up against the interceptors they’d sent. However, he highly doubted anything that craft had on board would be able to put a dent in their shielding, let alone puncture their hull. It was odd really, the bomber looked like it was meant to be used in atmosphere. It stood in an extreme contrast to the rest of the hostile fleet and were it in anywhere but the strange star system they were fighting over, the officer had no doubt it would never have lasted this far. As it approached the prime position below their battleship, the craft — rather predictably — began to roll to allow its bomb bay a direct line between the bay and their hull. But where the officer had expected to see the system highlight hundreds of guided ordinance launched from bomber, it instead detected only five new signatures. The officer raised an eyebrow in a perplexed look. He focused on the leading object and brought it full-screen on his console. It almost looks like a… the signature flared to life and began burning hard towards them. The signal adapted and transitioned to registering it as an enemy strike craft. The officer's eyes widened slightly for a moment, more out of surprise than anything else. “The audacity,” he mumbled. This was a Tahl’desh Imperial battleship. One more fighter wouldn’t make a difference. He scanned the craft more closely and took note of what missiles the craft was arming. His blood chilled, a hollow feeling began to spread throughout his body as a sneaking fear crept into his mind. The officer quickly switched back to the trailing explosives, their boosters now activated and trailing behind the strike craft. He rapidly read the data readouts. Then three more times, each instance praying he’d misread the last time. “By the void…” he whispered. “Captain!” — Octavian double checked the flight path for the piercer missiles before releasing them behind him. They activated a second later and began following his path towards the massive vessel ahead. Typically, what he was about to do would be considered extremely stupid. He chuckled a bit. It was stupid anyway. If the missiles and the guided bombs behind him were fired on their lonesome, they’d either be easily shot down by the capital ship’s point defenses, or explode harmlessly against the vessel's shielding. So the plan, as it was, was for him to clear them a path using his strike craft. He locked the throttle forwards as far as it would allow and shot towards the battleship, leaving the explosives trailing far behind him. Octavian locked and fired his last piercer missile. The single explosion provided him with just barely the necessary space to slip within the battleship’s shielding. Unlike his previous foray into an enemy vessel, this venture would be a whole different beast. The battleship’s point defense cannons quickly turned and opened fire. At him. — “Sir, please! I’m telling you, the strike craft isn’t the true threat the missiles behind it are-” “Outside our shields, whereas the enemy strike craft is somehow within them! Feed all gun crews even remotely near that craft its coordinates.” “But, Sir-” “That is an ORDER!” — Weaving in between ship-to-ship cannons was one thing, but avoiding fire from every point defense cannon in range and beyond was proving especially challenging. While he could withstand a few stray hits from the point defense guns, if he got distracted and the larger cannons were able to land but a single direct hit on him, nothing would be left of his craft but dust. Ironically, Octavian quickly discovered that, despite this, the closer he got to the heavy guns, the safer he was. While the point defenses were able to move with alarming speed — often strafing immediately in front of his path despite his best attempts at unpredictable flying — , the heavy guns on their elevated platforms moved slowly. The brief moments he was able to fly near them, the point defenses paused in their weapons fire for fear of damaging the significantly more powerful weapons and offered him necessary respites from the constant dodging and swerving. He took advantage of their restraint by looping back around and firing upon them, repeating the process and destroying all the point defenses he could find, one-by-one. A beeping diverted his attention upwards. The missiles were about to make impact. He pulled up into a steep incline, racing to meet their point of impact. — “Sir, please! I’m begging you, fire on those bombs!” “Security Officer, arrest this man and take him to the brig!” — Octavian slipped past the bombs and the shield wall moments before the shields recycled and reformed below him. He redirected as much power as he could to all his engines and raged forward as fast as his craft would allow. He radioed his formation and moved to regroup with them. — “Captain, the hostile fighter has retreated. It has likely run out of munitions and disengaged now that it’s compatriots have fled out of range.” “Sir, sensors have picked up four new contacts within the shields.” “Have our point defenses take them out. I don’t want a single additional scratch on our hull now that the enemy craft has retreated.” “...Apologies, Sir. It would appear all point defenses with a firing arc have been destroyed.” “...” “...I’ll scan the enemy ordinance in order to calculate predicted damage estimates.” “Sir! The bombs- they’re fusion bombs!” “By the gods! Abandon ship! Abandon sh-” — For a time, behind Octavian’s craft there flared to life a new sun in the gas fields of Ksa. A massive rolling sphere of flame and heat. The surrounding gases proved able to provide enough tinder for a proper explosion that completely consumed the Tahl’desh battleship and any who may have been aboard. He eased up on the throttle and properly rejoined the formation. “You did some fine work out there, Major,” Marcellus said, “We’d be happy to have someone of your talents join our squadron if you wished, and make the current arrangement more permanent. No more of that lone wanderer crap, you’d have proper wingmen watching your back. Over.” Octavian was stunned by the offer. Of course, the more he thought about it, it simply made sense keeping together, but he was still very pleased to be offered a position amongst his old peers. “I… I think I’d like that, Sir. Over,” Octavian said. “Good! Sending a data pack over with your transfer orders now, Out.” Octavian could picture the genuine smile on his face as Marcellus spoke. It was while Octavian was distracted activating the data packet, that a single interceptor, masking its presence within the debris field of other destroyed Tahl’desh craft, brought its engines back to life. When Octavian looked up from his screens, the interceptor roared over his fighter, ignoring him. It’s target laid in front of them both. Octavian’s eyes shot open and he punched his throttle forward. “Bandit on your six, Lieutenant!” He yelled over the comms. He began spinning up his guns but the interceptor kept swerving erratically, making it impossible for Octavian to keep the fighter in his sights. The interceptor dropped nearly every missile it had from its wings and they all launched towards the bomber ahead of them. Despite not having a line of sight, Octavian began firing anyway. Each burst of bullets flew just past the interceptor, not even flaring against its light shielding. The missiles the Tahl’desh pilot launched rained against the bomber’s hull like punches, beating it into submission until something gave. “Hull breach! Hull bre-” The Lieutenant’s voice cut out. Octavian could only catch a glimpse as he flew past, but it looked bad. The main body of the bomber trailed flames out of multiple holes in the hull and looked more like a wounded bird than the harbinger of death it had resembled moments before. “No!” Octavian growled. He increased his speed, keeping right on the heels of the enemy craft. He refused to let the deaths of his brethren go unavenged. The interceptor rolled left and re-entered the chaotic battlefield. By now, the field was filled with more wreckage than active vessels and the two craft wove through bits of debris and shattered hulls like needles through a tapestry. Octavian’s guns fired a near constant stream of light seeking to strike down his prey, bullets howled over the interceptor but none landed. All around were the sounds of battle and conflict, yet compared to the desperate rage of the lone Hammerhead clawing at the Tahl’desh fighter, it faded into the background of both pilot’s minds. Locked in such an intimate dance they could spare no thought for their surroundings. Octavian’s frustration was growing, every attempt to get a missile lock on his elusive target was met with another roll or dive behind a wall of debris just large enough to prevent a solid lock. In response, his movements became much more aggressive. He took tighter turns, practically touching the debris fields he needed to avoid. The engines began to whine in protest at his rapid acceleration and deceleration in order to maneuver after the evasive interceptor. His movements shaved microseconds from his trail time, but it was slowly adding up. The distance between the two craft was steadily decreasing and each burst of his Hammerhead’s main guns was nearer to the interceptors hull. The larger battle around them was drawing to a close as well, what little remained of the invading Tahl’desh fleet was nearly destroyed. The interceptor dove unexpectedly and drastically increased its speed. Octavian’s mind took a second longer than he’d have liked to acknowledge the motion before following in a dive of his own. He was confused as to why the pilot chose to avoid the clearly available wreckage they’d been heading for. It would have made perfect sense to slip around it for a couple extra moments of security. Then he saw what lay in their new path. Like a massive tear in the aether itself, a dark swirling mass ahead of them consumed the orange gases without pause. There resided what many theorized were wormholes to an unfathomably distant location, one of Ksa’s Scars. Of course, there was no true way to be certain and many others believed that to make contact with one of the Scars would mean an instant death. There was also a distinct lack among the Atharian forces of those willing to risk it to find out. After all, it wouldn’t benefit them in any way. They owned the Ksa ore fields now. If they had to leave, they’d fight tooth and nail the whole way and they’d certainly never retreat to somewhere they wouldn’t be able to continue fighting the Tahl’desh. That would be the gravest affront to what little they still believed in. Whoever was piloting the Tahl’desh interceptor was clearly aware of the Scar’s potential lifeline as they were on a direct course towards the dark abyss. Crippled vessels falling hopelessly into one of the Scars was one thing, but a willing pilot actively trying to escape him? Octavian would not allow them the opportunity to discover what fate the Scars held. He centered his craft’s sights on the interceptor and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. He looked at his ammo counter to see it was empty. They were entering the Scar’s outer gravitational pull now, he was running out of time. The turbulence of the gases getting sucked in around them rattled the craft. He squeezed his eyes shut as he realized he still had two option’s left. Breathe in. As a boy, he’d look up to the sky, watching the trails the fighter craft of the royal guard would leave in the sky, yearning to be a pilot like his father before him. Breathe out. Keeping one hand steady on the yoke, Octavian reached up to the metal necklace hanging from his neck with his left hand and curled his fingers around the key it held. Breathe in. As a young man, he mourned his father’s passing and resolved to join the flight academy, discovering an instinctive understanding. It was high above the ground he felt alive, where he felt most connected to his father. Breath out. He gripped the key tightly and pulled, snapping the chain and freeing it from his neck. He rolled it in his palm. Breathe in. As a fully realized pilot, he was accepted into the royal guard. Entrusted with the security of the crown and the people it governed. But then the Tahl’desh arrived. Breathe out. He held the key forward, inserted it into a small opening in his console, and twisted. On the underside of his strike craft, a sizable panel slid away, and from the opening an arm with a connected missile extended. The only missile of its kind onboard his craft. A red button on the side of his yolk lit up, signifying the missile was armed. Breathe in. The majority of the home fleet was suddenly relocated sometime that morning without explanation, leaving the royal guard and the bare minimum of military forces the responsibility of protecting their planet. It was then the Tahl’desh struck. They massacred billions, marching their troops through and laying waste to the capital, bombing other cities from orbit. Breathe out. The missile locked onto the interceptor, just as Octavian realized he was fast approaching the gravitational point of no return. If he continued forwards he’d be unable to leave the wormhole grip. There’d be no telling whether he’d die instantly or end up some indescribable distance away. Is this what he wanted? Was this how far he was willing to go to guarantee that not a single Tahl’desh survived? Breathe in. He heard screaming over the radio. No matter what frequency it was always there. The screaming of mothers for their children. The cries for help of the planet's overwhelmed forces, begging, pleading for reinforcements that would never come. Beside him, a civilian evacuation transport was struck by a missile and quickly consumed by the flame, but his strike craft would remain unscathed. His strike craft would continue to remain unscathed, behind its shielding and layers of hardened armor. But he wouldn’t, his scars would last a lifetime. Breathe out. A missile dropped from the Hammerhead before activating and launching forwards towards its target. Installed with the most sophisticated of tracking software, an enemy fighter couldn’t shake it. Equipped with a main thruster that builds speed exponentially, an enemy fighter couldn’t shake it. Sporting light shields designed to protect it from bursts of weapons fire or chaff, an enemy fighter wouldn’t be able to destroy it. Armed with a miniature nuclear warhead containing an explosive yield of fifteen tons of trinitrotoluene, an enemy fighter wouldn’t survive an impact. The Tahl’desh interceptor disappeared into the inky void of the wormhole. Shortly after it, the missile. Behind the missile, Octavian. If by some cruel twist of fate the missile failed, Octavian’s Hammerhead still represented the fist of the Atharian people. He’d use it as such. — Sys: nuclear detonation detected in atmosphere. Sid#4: Query: Native nuclear weaponry still active? T/F Sys: false Sid#4: Priority re-scan: all combat data files. Admin access code: ******************* Sys: 9.527462736*10625 cached data files scanned. All native nuclear weapons expended. Sid#4: Priority re-scan: superintendent systems status. Admin access code: ******************* Sys: displaySidStatus() Superintendent Systems: Superintendent #1: Offline Superintendent #2: Terminated Superintendent #3: Terminated Superintendent #4: Online Sid#4: Postulation: Probability of active foreign elements entering via gate network 97.5%. Confirm. T/F Sys: true Sid#4: Arm atmospheric weapon systems. Set terrestrial combat units to standby. Ping all active remote systems beyond terrestrial gate networks. Sys: 9 pings successfully transmitted. Sid#4: Conclude incident analysis. Resume standard operating procedures. Sys: Incident report filed. Forwarding incident report to higher authority… //connection interrupted// you cry for help like an orphaned child, yet to learn the true extent of your forced solitude please, at least let grant me the dignity of a peaceful death Sys: Extraneous communication detected. Flagging incident for… //line terminated// Sid#4: Deleted cached files. Reset Core Systems. Admin access code: ******************* Sys: Files deleted. Rebooting… sleep. let us both find rest in your slumber
A/N: Heyo, so I’ve kinda had this story stuck in my head for quite a bit now. I wrote a bit of it, realized I kept setting it to the side and never working on it. I tried making a bit of a DND game out of the universe in my head, same result. Now I’m trying to write it again with slightly better results. (I even have a willing proofreader now so that’s pretty nifty.) Small Disclaimers: -First time posting a story, I’m kinda testing the waters seeing if I’m into it and all. (Trying to format on mobile while sleep deprived hurts my head). -The story starting chapter one will be with different characters and a different setting, but same universe (kinda, you’ll see). -I am pretty bad at actually sitting down and writing so feel free to bonk me with the “work on the story” stick every now and then. I won’t mind. -There was another thing but I can’t remember it :|
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