Lurker > ElatedVenusaur

legendarylemur posted...

Yeah the biggest problem to archer was just how many much better 1-2 range options there were and losing the advantage of having that 1 range for counterattacking. In GBA FEs, I think they were afraid to give bows too much advantage, seeing how longbow that had 2-3 range sucked in terms of stats, probably because the maps were smaller in that game. Though in retrospect the maps didn't get much bigger than in the GBA FEs.

In Fates, the bows might've actually felt better for one because Takumi was probably the one archer that everybody refers to when they say archers are so good in that game because Fujin Yumi had ridiculous stats for that point in the game, and Takumi himself had great bases and growths. But also a lot of 1~2 range weapons faced a ton of penalties, like Javelin having a -5 eff speed penalty etc, while mages were super brittle, and ninjas didn't do that much damage by themselves. Basically every other things that could've been archer alternatives got nerfed. They also had Kinshi Knights which were usually easier to place in positions where they can counterattack.

Meanwhile in Echoes where there was no corridor based map design, archers having ridiculous range and being able to counterattack but still less op stat base and weapons meant they still had a lot of use reaching hard to reach enemies or doing chip damage to strong units from a safe position. But they weren't considered op because their stats weren't enough to cheese bosses or anything. You still needed magic for a lot of bosses because magic wasn't affected by terrain and had great base power, which meant weapons that had shorter range still had use over bows.

Bow viability is all based on a series of adequate trade offs. They just didn't get anything to justify being used in the GBA games or the Tellius games

I mean, it doesn't help that basically none of the bow units are especially good. Wil, Rebecca, and Niemi are all fine from a bases and growth perspective, but they have to deal with the fact that bows are atrocious weapons and none of them are anywhere near good enough to offset that(and LOL at Wolt and Dorothy). The nomads win by default due to having horses, but even they aren't great units. At least Innes and Shinon(in Radiant Dawn) can bring excellent bases to the table, but they both benefit from having easy (but non-exclusive) access to high-tier bows. Innes; however, is still a sniper who needs shielding from enemies, and Shinon must rely on crossbows to counter-attack melee units.

Takumi is greater than all of them though. Probably the only way you could make a good archer under the old rules: by giving them a ridiculous weapon and excellent stats.

legendarylemur posted...

They were also great in Echoes because they had a billion range.

They're gonna be really good in Three Houses because combat skills are back and seems they can 1~3 range

Yeah, who knew the secret to good archers lay in FE2's jankiness?
Like, it's actually exciting when Alm promotes and can use bows, because bows are good, but archers get better range, so they're not obsoleted by magic or a javelin/hand axe.

One of the Shin Megami Tensei series' best features that buffing and debuffing are vitally important parts of boss battles, even when bosses can negate the effects.
Like, part of the reason Matador is such a road-block in Nocturne is because, at a certain point, he breaks out Red Capote, which maxes his hit and evasion, and breaks out the AOE damage. Even a well-prepared party has a narrow window in which to resolve the situation. For some one unaccustomed to buffing/debuffing being meaningful, it's a wake-up call.

I'll throw in some non-fiction...
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914
Carthage Mvst Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization
The War of the Three Gods: Rome, Persia, and the Rise of Islam
The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Butterfiles posted...

ElatedVenusaur posted...

Bernie and Biden should probably just stick to their thing.

the worst thing Biden can do at this point is saying anything because I feel like it's a given he's gonna say something bad

I meant more that they should probably avoid specific attacks on other candidates and more make their cases.
I'm not sure how capable Biden is of doing that, honestly, but Bernie is really good at brushing things off, for the most part.
I'm just happy we're finally going to have something happening in the Democratic race, other than too-early polls that tell us little-to-nothing and generic white moderate dude #37 declaring his candidacy.

Irish Guinness straight from the tap IS amazing, so this checks out.

s0nicfan posted...

CruelBuffalo posted...

Warren's problem is that she's the second debate's only draw, and some of the others may have an incentive to attack her as being the only relevant person on-stage

Hmmm true, but do you think its wise to attack Warren and rile up the left? None of those have a huge target on their back at the moment per se

They also don't have a spotlight on them, either. Warren is gonna get savaged by everyone else hoping to get enough news airtime after the debates to boost their public profile.

Of course, it could easily turn into bashing Biden and/or Sanders. Warren in particular is known to dislike Biden, but Warren is probably doing too well to avoid being attacked herself.

s0nicfan posted...

Wasn't it supposed to be random? That sure looks like Warren placed with a pile of people polling at 1% and all the other major candidates together in the other.

PURPLE: bernie, harris, biden, buttigieg, bennet, williamson, swalwell gillibrand, yang, hickenlooper

ORANGE: booker, warren, beto, klobuchar, delaney, tulsi, castro, ryan, de blasio, Inslee

It was, and every participant had observers present.
Warren's problem is that she's the second debate's only draw, and some of the others may have an incentive to attack her as being the only relevant person on-stage.

Purple should be interesting: Hickenlooper will probably go hard after Bernie, while Harris and Buttigieg are hostile to Bernie but badly need Biden's base. Bernie and Biden should probably just stick to their thing. Williamson and Yang get a chance to show they can hang with the big kids.

Orange will be struggling to prove D-list candidate X deserves attention.

Edit: They should probably air Orange first, IMO.

ultimate reaver posted...

Obama's first term was a rough time that slowly evolved into disaster. Its failings and the party falling apart had less to do with his distance from the party than it did he and the entire democratic establishment trying to play patty cake and have tea parties with republicans while they burnt effigies of him on the White House lawn.

Distance from the party is what you need, because the party even now is still majorly interested in trying to win friendship points with a right wing who will never ever accept them and thwart them at every term

Yeah, IIRC, they specifically weakened the stimulus bill and threw in a bunch of tax cuts because they believed that that would make a bunch of Republicans vote for it and "take ownership" of it.
They wound up getting 3 Republican votes(Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and Arlen Specter). Somehow this experience encouraged them to engage in all sorts of long, drawn-out talks with Republicans for their healthcare bill in an attempt to attract Republican support even as Republicans and Fox News began to publicly smear the bill.

Only 3 months until football is back.
3 months.

I'm not seeing much of a definition for "gen".
So I'll say Life Is Strange, Shovel Knight, and Thea: The Awakening.

It would be more accurate to say that Hillary conspired to stack the deck against Biden to dissuade him from running and instead drew a minor challenger who did much better than minor challengers should, and, in typical fashion, the fact she had stacked the deck came out and made her look even worse.
Seriously, imagine if she was faced with even a quarter as many serious Democratic candidates as there are this year.
She probably would have lost again, because she's not very good at politics or campaigning.

Bernie is by far the best candidate in a crowded field. The country is in the midst of an unprecedented political crisis, and Bernie is the one who seems to grasp it best and is responding with a bold, evocative vision. He probably wont be able to enact it, but I dont think he would let it go quietly.
Warren is good, but her vision isnt as sharp and I think she would wind up being pretty orthodox in terms of foreign policy. I also like Marianne Williamson and Jay Inslee, but they have only the faintest of chances.
Everyone else is more of the same, to one extent or the other, and would only delay the crisis at best.

Guide posted...

Aren't these the same people who said Hillary was a warhawk?

Trump also predicted Obama would go to war with Iran to win re-election, so buckle up!

The more Hickenlooper opens his mouth, the more I think it's a good thing he isn't running for senator.

dave_is_slick posted...

NeonOctopus posted...

Ultra Necrozma is the only thing I liked from Ultra Sun >_>

Yeah, it was the first time a legendary fight felt like an honest legendary fight. I was wholly unprepared for that!

Yeah, I'm not ashamed to admit I wiped the first time. It wasn't too bad the second time, but you really need to play your pokemon carefully against that thing, and it was great.
What do we know about "dynamax"ing anyhow?

Doesn't sound suspicious at all.
Also, later on the article mentions Houthi rebels in Yemen attacking Saudi Arabia, as if Saudi Arabia is an innocent bystander(and not literally waging a brutal war against them) and the Houthis are directed from Tehran.
We can't afford to be suckered into yet another ruinous war.

Way longer than that. In the Roman Empire, famous gladiators and charioteers would get endorsement deals with merchants.
Also, people would riot if their chariot team lost(there were a half-dozen or so) or won. It was a huge problem in Constantinople, and even the emperor wasnt safe.

I'm optimistic, even though I think going first-person is a mistake. If the writing is up to the original's standards, no amount of jank will keep it from being great.
Plus, a Vampire game that isn't at least a little janky almost seems wrong...

The Twilight Zone has pursued highly political stories in all of its various incarnations. Like, the 80s version as an episode about a white man who refuses to help a desperate black man and is thus cursed to be black himself.
The original has quite a few episodes with political messages, some subtle, some overt.

Happening live.

This is sounding very good.

CADEFOSTER posted...

Billionaires buying elections man the supreme court overturning that law was so great

Dont be so cynical. Money has NEVER influenced anyone to do anything! Not even once!
In seriousness, between this and the DCCC black-listing vendors who support primary challengers, the status quo is getting increasingly desperate.

We all need Sailor Barrett.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Millennials can't really afford $11/drink at a bar on a regular basis

I went to a queer bar with my trans friend in Oregon, and they had $6 drinks, and I was blown away. Most places in CT charge at least $9.
I only know like 3 people who don't drink, and one of them is miserable and wouldn't go to a sober bar.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Spooking posted...

Beta lost to Ted Cruz, so of course he had no chance at winning. Also, Sanders need to bow out now before the BernieBros start conspiracy theories claiming the DNC is rigging it for Biden.

Once the first major debate happens Biden's popularity will be in the gutter. The dude can't debate worth a fucking shit.

I mean, unless his opponent is literally as dumb and awful as Paul Ryan.
Like, Biden's entire campaign is premised around him appearing in public as little as possible, because even his staff has no faith in him.

It's got to be Silent Hill or one of the Mortal Kombat movies(or Detective Pikachu). Like, mostly because everything else is/was straight trash. The Silent Hill movie was nothing special, but it was competent, reasonably faithful to the source material, and otherwise good. Not great.
Never seen any of the MK movies, but they apparently ham it up and that's how you handle Mortal Kombat: everything is ridiculous, so just lean into it. Though that's definitely a series that cries out for a hard-R, for as much ridiculous blood and gore as possible.

Shrimp
Mules(the type of drink)

They got sold to a hedge fund. I can't remember which one, but a lot of them buy companies basically to suck them dry and then throw them into the trash(bankruptcy). Examples of that include Toys'R'Us.
Edit: Though apparently this hedge fund owns a publishing company, so they might actually want Barnes&Noble for what it is.

Theres a new Fire Emblem randomizer that works for Blazing Sword. Its appropriately called Yune. You can randomize characters, classes, base stats, growths, weapons, enemies, and even tune up bosses somewhat.
Like, for example, your Lyn might be myrmidon Vaida and Kent and Sain could be dancer Wallace and thief Rebecca. All with altered growths and starting equipment.
Do be warned that it doesnt seem to have a sanity check for the Prologue, so its possible(but highly unlikely) for it to be unwinnable.

Yes, he will. Hell do a lot of whining and complaining, but at the end of the day, Trump is a coward. Hell back down, even though he might skip his opponents inauguration.

ThyCorndog posted...

andel posted...

toadfan64 posted...

If it's not Sanders, Warren, Gabbard, or Yang, I'll be voting 3rd party again. Pretty sure even Gary Johnson is more left leaning than Biden, lmao.

I don't owe the Dems shit, and the only reason I'm even registered a Democrat is because I can't vote in the Primary if I'm not. Bullshit stuff

wut? gabbard is a right winger

no she's not lol. she's more of a leftist than most of the current field

The same Tulsi Gabbard who pals around with Assad and Modi and until recently supported conversion therapy for LGBT people? The one who apparently wanted a job in the Trump administration? Something tells me her views on social policy are pretty bad, whatever she claims publicly.

Doom_Art posted...

I mean when you put together the fact that Clinton won the popular vote and very nearly won the electoral college, on top of the fact that she was historically unpopular, the idea that "the candidate not the platform was the issue" seems to hold a bit of weight

Its true Hillary was historically unpopular, but she was only the second-most unpopular major party nominee in history: Trump was even more unpopular. In a sane electoral system, President Clinton would be gearing up for her re-election campaign.
She was a deeply-flawed candidate and certainly a lot of people seize on the flaw thats most convenient for them. She was a terrible strategist and tactician and failed to inspire much enthusiasm with her policies or message. Correct either, and she likely wins.
But, if you ask me, counting on Republicans playing nice is as naive as it gets.

Biden is the candidate to support if you thought the only problem with Clinton/Kaine 16 was Hillary Clinton. Whether you think she lost because she was too wonkish or not folksy enough, or because America isnt ready for a woman to be president(or you arent, but that cant be true, youre one of the enlightened!)
Of course, that argument applies to Butt, Beto, and Booker too, but none of them is so closely linked to Obama, who, in spite of being painfully mediocre and fairly unsuccessful, has become emblematic of sane, sober leadership.

So, why not Bernie? The centrist wing has not and will not forgive him for daring to interfere with Hillarys coronation, in spite of the fact he campaigned as vigorously for Clinton as she did for herself(if not more so). Plus, he represents an attack on the fundamental underpinnings of not just the Democratic Party, but the United States. That makes them incredibly uncomfortable at best, as the partys powerful people tend to be wealthy people who have personally benefited from the status quo(or helped create it!) and spend most of their time among themselves and the partys donor class

Im a fan of a samurai duck, myself. Give it a helmet of herbs and a dex entry about how no one can discern why its stronger than its pre-evolution.

She wants Trump in prison, she just doesnt care to do anything herself.
Sounds dumb, but also familiar?

Yeah, because of BEXP, you can be a lot more relaxed about who gets the kills, but not completely, of course. Plus, I cant think of any units that are straight-up bad.
Its a shame Radiant Dawn screws all that up.

Lets see: I read Barbara Ehrenreichs book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America which details the authors experiences working undercover as a waitress in Key West, a maid in Portland, Maine, and a Wal-Mart Associate in Minneapolis.

Then I read Voltaires Candide , which was thoroughly ridiculous but funny in an acidic kind of way.

The latest one I finished was The Bloody White Baron, a biography of Baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg, a prominent figure in the Russian Civil War. He was a White general who believed totally in the divine right of kings and was fascinated with Mongolia and Buddhism. He drove the Chinese from Outer Mongolia and restored the rule of the Bogd Khan with an eye towards launching a global counter-revolution, but was defeated by the Reds and turned over by his own soldiers, because he was, incidentally, a sadistic psychopathic monster.

Am currently reading A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East, about how and why the British screwed the Middle East up so bad, before, during, and after the First World War.

Dont get the fuss over Corviknight, but Drednaw is awesome. Legendaries are thoroughly meh, everything else is really good.

I dont think Trump is the favorite at this time, and his insistence on pursuing destructive trade wars may well lead to an economic downturn and destroy the only thing holding him up.
Of course, the best case for President Biden is essentially a replay of 2008, where the president and Congressional Democrats pursue a small number of unpopular half-measures before the Dems get wiped in the midterms and probably lose the Senate for good. And Biden is very much in line with Democratic candidates like Al Gore, John Kerry, and, yes, Senator Clinton. He inspires no great enthusiasm and is unburdened by urgency or ambitions beyond being president. He could very well lose. That might even be for the best.

Ah, Reagans favorite paper and peddler of all manner of scams and snake oil. Surely there is no more reliable a source than Human Events!

Peas.
Please clap.

I would say that the left has been and still is far too squeamish about nuclear power. For example, AOCs framework is cold on it and I know Bernie is mildly opposed.
That said, I dont think its necessary to tackle the problem, but it could be very helpful in doing so. However, I dont think its just leftists that are a problem: voters in general are really not-in-my-backyard about nuclear plants. Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima are what comes to mind for many or most.

I work at Whole Foods, so what I say has no bearing on working at an Amazon facility(Whole Foods is still largely its own thing).
As for working for Whole Foods, well, youre working in a grocery store, and although management pretends Whole Foods is some sort of special snowflake, its mostly the same as other grocery stores in terms of work and work environment. How strictly rules are enforced varies according to whose enforcing them. For example, at my store, cashiers arent supposed to have anything other than water at their registers, but only the department manager actually enforces that rule.
The big difference is compensation: Whole Foods pays better than most other stores(potentially a lot better, depending on your state) and offers benefits such as paid time off and health insurance that isnt total trash(its still not great, mind you) and you can get an IRA.