Economics and rewards or why there is no need to be stingy
Economics are fairly complex, and can require some deduction, especially in a game like the witcher, where there is very little data. So, generally, you can assume the populace is quite capable of paying for a modest lifestyle. Now, what does such a lifestyle entail? Trail rations are listed as 5 crowns, a simple meal as 10. So, for simplicities sake, I'm going to take the average of these, and come to about 50 crowns per week. You probably also need a roof over your head, some clothes on your back and so on and so forth. I guess 100 crowns per week total is fair. You could probably go cheaper if you really needed to, and if you are travelling and paying inflated prices at Inns, you probably need a little more. So if you take a village of say 300 people, they are probably spending around 30.000 crowns per week. Which they probably all earn somehow. Actually, they probably earn a little more, and can afford the occasional special purchase or save for dire times or somesuch. And they pay taxes. Historically, taxes were mostly somewhere between 25% on the low end all the way up to 75%. But for the sake of this argument, let's go with really low taxes of 25%. So our village needs enough for at least 30.000 crowns a week plus a little extra plus 25% taxes. So let's say gross earnings come to 50.000 crowns, so taxes are 12500 crowns a week, people still have a little extra and can also pay for their lifestyle. This is a gross income of about 160 crowns per capita, but not everyone has a paying job, so those that do likely have a gross income of more than 300 crowns per week. So a typical annual income might be 50x300 or 15000 crowns Now, what does this mean for witchers and adventuring types? First of, the local noble or the alderman or whoever gets the taxes usually has tens of thousands of crowns at his disposal. Much of this is needed for the community, but in a crisis, it can be diverted. Second, if you loose a working citizen with 20 productive years left, you loose (15000 x20 x0,25)= 75000 crowns in taxes. So there is economic incentive for the people in charge to safeguard their subjects, and there usually is enough money to hire a professional and pay him according to his skills. I've had GMs want witchers to do hard, hazardous work for a week's stay at the inn and maybe 100 crowns. And while yes, if there is a famine, or a war, or a pandemic, the economy might very well be collapsing, but if there is a serious monster problem, if there are people dying, being stingy towards your anti-monster professionals is not a good idea. Every dead body will loose you more money than a witcher could ever hope to get for a contract. I know there is a progression built into the system, and you shouldn't give to much money, especially early on, but you also shouldn't be stingy. Grim and gritty is all fine, but the PCs in the witcher are very competent people, even if just starting out, and a witcher that can't even afford a potion and a blade oil for the payout of the contract is just laughable. He'd be far better off becoming a highwayman or some such.
My Definitive Pandemic Games Are About Fighting for Connection and Being Okay with Solitude (light spoilers for Death Stranding and Persona 5)
I love reading this community’s year-end gaming recaps. I started a list of my own, but it morphed into this deep dive into two games that define gaming in 2020 for me. The games are: Persona 5 Royal and Death Stranding tl;dr Persona 5 Royal is an immersive marathon in which you fight against corruption and isolation in favor of connection; Death Stranding is a solitary travelogue that introduces mechanics to remind you that you are not alone. Both games led me to think about how we forge connections with others despite forces that drive us apart. I’ll avoid plot spoilers and will try to mention a few things about mechanics for those who haven’t played these. Persona 5 Royal (Played March-April, and Platinumed vanilla game in June and July) I played vanilla Persona 5 back in 2018 when I had a month off from teaching. I’m not really into JRPGs and I rolled my eyes through the first few hours of dialogue. Then I got hopelessly hooked. The moment P5R came in the mail this Spring I popped it into my PlayStation and cannonballed into it like a high-contrast, acid-soaked swimming pool for the next two months. I think I played it every day in April. The way it goes is this: half the time you live out the life of a high school misfit who has moved to Tokyo and enrolled in a “bad” school to serve out a year of probation after an unjust charge for assault. The kid deals with his displacement by getting acquainted with the locale, reading books, exercising, picking up jobs, exploring, coming to know the city. Playing darts. You connect with other misfits. First you befriend the disgraced athlete, at the bottom of his class and living in a precarious situation with a single mom. From there, you meet the unobtainable but shunned “foreign” girl, the bookish student council president (Hermione Grainger with an anime bob), an aging politician on a path to redemption, a creepy art student, and so on. When you aren’t living the life of a high school loser, you’re embarking on infiltration missions into people’s hearts. These sections switch to a party-based dungeon crawler in which you sneak past, battle, and rob the shadowlike manifestations populating the grotesque inner worlds of teachers, business leaders, and public figures—adults corrupted by authority. It’s a bit like Psychonauts or Inception—your character learns how to enter these mental palaces, to peer beneath the masks worn by those in power. The main weapons of your enemies are silence and isolation: your friends feel helpless because they think they’re alone. Your efforts reveal a common plight and your network grows. The secret battles in these inner worlds gain public notoriety: people start talking. The game is all about connection. Conversations affect social stats or combat mechanics. Social stats open up new paths in conversation. All the while, your infiltrations slowly uncover a conspiracy that connects all of Tokyo. You also fight a giant anthropomorphic penis perched on a wheelchair. This game felt like an antidote for how disconnected and isolated the early months of spring 2020 were. It emphasizes the need to feel at home, to connect with the places around is, but also to fight for the ability of others to feel connected. Did I mention that the music is also freakin’ great? Death Stranding (March to November with loooong breaks) Death Stranding trades Persona 5’s dense urban areas for an empty, impersonal wilderness. This game is all about trudging up mountains and putting yourself at hazard as you protect and deliver precious cargo necessary to the gradual reconnection of a fragmented America. To me, the game drives a distinction between isolation and solitude. You spend pretty much the whole game by yourself. You start off feeling isolated and end up learning to cope with solitude. You begin each mission by gearing up—not unlike Metal Gear Solid 5 or Counterstrike, but guns are relegated to the backburner behind ladders and ropes. The gameplay is about risk and reward, balancing the right gear, finding the right route, not falling into a river or getting caught by the weird gloopy ghosts who are often the sole occupants of this hazardous landscape. As you deliver packages from one isolated human outpost to the next, these disconnected units of humanity begin to form the “chiral network.” Once again, it's all about using technology (and gaming) as a tool for connecting people. Death Stranding is not fun, for me, in the traditional sense. Your character is an essential worker and your immersion in this world often feels hopeless. Even though you go it alone, you can leave messages for other players. It feels good to run up the ramp of an outpost and get that boost from other people who, like you, have braved the solitude and left traces of their fortitude behind. The game creates vectors for connection with other players. You tread footpaths and huddle under shelters built by other players. You can offload supplies into communal mailboxes, request assistance from other players in making a delivery. Like most of the teaching I did this year, your encounters are asynchronous but shot through with necessity and humanity. In many cases, the ladders and ropes you set up in mountain passes and steep inclines impart greater benefit to players following in your footsteps than they do to you. Your stuff will break, get misused or stolen. In the end, it’s just you and the landscape, and the only way to make it to your destination is to press on. Something about the frustration and toil—the way your character mutters to himself alternately chiding his pointless struggle and then urging himself to go on—spoke to 2020 in a way some of the other awesome games I played this year (Fallen Order, Control, NG+ on Witcher 3) didn’t. Last Words (whoo boy!) I’m thankful for the weird mirror these games held up to 2020. Did anyone have similar experiences with different games?
Quest Ghosts of the Past... Bug? [POSSIBLE SPOILER]
So, i wanted to do this quest, because i'm in my 3rd playthrough and wanted to do it again, because i did it in my first one. I've done the quest about that mansion, where you take out that wraith for that old lady, and searched that Letho is there, in the barn, full of traps, but neither the traps or him are in there. I also searched that you need Hazardous Goods completed so you can start this one, and i have it completed, but nothing is happening. I've seen people discussing about this on forums and they talked about Witcher 2, and that you have to do something in that game for this quest to appear, but as I said, i've never played it, bu in the first playthrough I did of TW3 i did the quest
My husband has a drinking problem. He's working on it. I really believe he's trying. And he's a good husband and a good father. I love him and I want to get through this. But he started drinking again recently. So last night I asked him to sleep on the couch, cause drunk snores are the worst snores. And he twitches. And mumbles. Tonight he asks to sleep in the bed and he looked so sad, and I said ok. But that if he was a twitchy snoring bear, I'd kick him back to the couch. He says ok, that's fair Well. The twitchy snoring bear won't wake the fuck up. I nudged. I poked. I kicked. I flicked. I pinched. Just snored louder. Can't eveb get him to roll over. So I'm guessing he's so drunk, that even if I woke him up he'd be a hazard to himself walking the 15 ft to the living room. So I moved to the couch and watched 3 episodes of Bridgerton, and now I'm just annoyed at fictional men in addition to real men. Also, I cannot tell the two older brothers apart in that series. Could ya give them different facial hair or something? Or... personality? Is it wrong to ask him to get inpatient treatment, just so I can get the bed to myself for a bit? Getting sober would be a nice plus, too, lol. Also. I'd like a better period drama, please. Or the new Witcher season.
Who do the Cradle characters sound like in your head?
I posted a while back about reading the Cradle series as bedtime stories to my kids. We're all the way up to Uncrowned. Now, I'm no Travis Baldree, but I do try to give each character a distinct voice, so here are some of the voices that became headcanon for me as I was trying to imitate them for each character, in no particular order:
Lindon: Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, Lord of the Rings
Soft spoken but an iron willpower.
Yerin: Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg, The Witcher (Netflix)
short, no-nonsense and absurdly powerful
Eithan Aurelius: David Bowie as The Goblin King, Labyrinth
Blond hair, arrogant tenor, struts around like he owns the place, it's a good fit.
Fisher Gesha: Shohreh Aghdashloo as Chrisjen Avasarala, The Expanse
The ultimate waspish-granny-with-a-heart-of-gold.
Naru Gwei: Patrick Warburton as ... Patrick Warburton
Does his voice ever really sound any different?
Cassias Aurelius: Matthew Mercer as Jesse McCree, Overwatch
Bai Rou: Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride
Dross: Stephen Merchant as Wheatly, Portal 2
...obviously.
Sopharanatoth/Ekiriranatoth: Anjali Bhimani as Symmetra, Overwatch
I used the same voice for the sisters. It just kind of came out that way.
Akura Malice: Genevieve O'Reilly as Moira, Overwatch
Can't you just see Malice saying, "Stupidity is not a right."
Akura Mercy: Sarah Chalke as Elliot Reid, Scrubs
Excessively perky, wears her heart on her sleeve
Akura Charity: Elise Zhang as Mei, Overwatch
Originally I was going to go for a slightly Chinese accent for all the Akura characters but I'd already voiced Mercy, so Charity is the only one that sounds like that now.
Akura Fury: Kouji Ishii as Masamichi Fujisawa, El Hazard
Akura Pride: Richard Armitage as Trevor Belmont, Castlevania (Netflix series)
Irritable, world-weary, and dry.
Akura Justice: Travis Baldree.
This particular excerpt was fantastic, and I loved Baldree's reading of it.
King Dakata: J.K. Simmons as Cave Johnson, Portal 2
Northstrider: Crispin Freeman as Winston, Overwatch
Orthos: James Earl Jones as Darth Vader, Star Wars
I miss doing Orthos's voice. I love trying to imitate James Earl Jones's rich bass.
Also, I can't help it. Anytime someone yells, "DROSS!" in my head it sounds like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg0TH4U0low Yeah, I pulled a lot of the voices from Overwatch, but to be fair it's a pretty good source for a lot of different voices and accents due to the nationalities represented. So what about you? Any fun voices that pop into your head when you read the books?
October 5th, 2020: NewToTownJam Interview (Part 1 of 2)
Due to the number of questions NewtotownJAM received from the community, the interview exceeded reddit's character limit, and will be split into two parts! The questions from the NSI team will be in this post, and the community questions will be included in the second. You can read part two here. Tell us a little about yourself. Hi, my name is OP and I need some assistance with all these gangrenous slugs. Just kidding, I’m Hannah, I’m 24 and live on the south coast of sunny England. I share a house with my partner, our lovely if not slightly evil cat and over 100 house plants. I spent most of my working career in mental health, running a charity in a nearby city. I’ve also worked in restaurant management but currently I’m back in the charity sector, providing mental health support remotely. Over 100 house plants, hmm? Do you ever worry you'll end up with a Little Shop of Horrors situation on your hands? I hope for that every day! Little shop of horrors was wonderful! Nothing’s come to life yet though, unfortunately. When did you first become interested in horror? I don’t know if there was any one pinnacle moment marking the start of my journey into horror. As a very young child I loved the goosebumps books, gravitated to the horror section in the video shop and wanted Living dead dolls instead of barbies. I lived for Halloween. Well then, you'll be excited to know that there's an island where dead dolls go to live! This looks amazing! I’m all for a bit of dark tourism. I also owe some credit to my Nan, who always normalised discussion of ghosts and told me stories about times she’d done ouija boards. Her mother read tea leaves and that whole side of my family are very open minded about death and the supernatural. I’m fairly certain my Nan is a witch. Was there a specific moment you knew you wanted to write in the horror genre, or did your enchanted Nan guide you there? I went through a phase as a young teenager where I was determined to find THE most shocking horror film I possibly could. The human centipede was at the height of its popularity and I sought out movies that had been banned in numerous countries for their shocking subject matter. I doubt my nan would’ve approved but I was disappointed with what I found. The thing that really struck me about all of them, and also a large cohort of the horror genre, was the lack of actual substance to the story and the reliance on body horror to prop up a weak plot. I actually became quite disenfranchised with the genre as a whole. Remakes and sequels flooded the market along with the found footage trend that relied on jump scares over plot. Then insidious was released. The film scared the shit out of me, but also kept me truly invested in the story. I saw it twice in the cinema and I remember thinking “I want to write something like that.” The Purge was released a couple of years later then built this terrifying dystopian universe so close to our own, it’s like horror had a resurgence and I really wanted in. Do you feel you actively try to combat that lack of substance in each of your stories? Is it ever difficult in a short story format? I would love to say yes, all the time, but that’s not realistic. I don’t think I’ve ever written something solely to shock with no plot but I’ve put out some stories I’ve read back and really disliked. I’m getting sick of all these parties. was one of them. It got a good reception and I contemplated turning it into a short series but when I read it back I just didn’t like it very much myself and I lose motivation easily when I’m not invested. I try my best to make them all quite plot heavy but I also have a penchant for writing entire stories based on puns or word plays; see I’m a fucking machine, blended families and I’m taking a week away from my husband. Where do you find inspiration? Have real life experiences ever made their way into your work? I find inspiration in all kinds of places. Sometimes I’ll come across quite fitting references, for example, Every summer my neighbour built a new scarecrow was based on a particularly horrific unsolved murder I had read about. Whereas poop bags won’t help me now was based on a real post made in my local residents facebook group by an expectant mother who’d encountered a lone woman on her late night dog walk. Sometimes the source of inspiration isn’t creepy in the slightest. My recent story about blended families was inspired by a really terrible Adam Sandler film I watched years ago about step families, in the movie he sung a little song and the day I wrote the story the song was in my head. I suppose the point I’m trying to make with that is that anything can be inspiration if you think about it hard enough. As for personal experiences certain parts of the previous tenant building were absolutely based on my eccentric house. I have a mysterious damp patch on the ceiling in the living room (it doesn’t turn blood red thankfully, just an unsightly hazard of renting) and there are so many narrow stairs I sometimes feel like I’ve walked one more than I should’ve. We've been meaning to ask you about the poop bags. Why do dogs frequently meet horrible fates in your stories? Worst title I ever came up with, haha. Hands down. It’s a shame because I really enjoyed that story but I think the title put people off clicking. As for the dogs, I feel really terrible about that! I always wanted a dog but wasn’t allowed one growing up; I even campaigned by sticking hundreds of dog photos in strange places around the house in the hope my mum would cave. She didn’t. Then when I moved in with my partner he came with an animal hating cat, who I love dearly, so the dog dream ended. With that in mind I think it might be subconscious jealousy of dog owners; both times cats have met horrible fates in stories they’ve come back mostly unscathed. I also think that although animal death is a bit of a horror trope it’s effective because of the bond we have with animals. My skin crawls writing it and I hope to ignite the same reaction in my readers - it encourages them to hug their pets and that can only be a good thing. How did you discover NoSleep in the first place? What prompted you to begin writing for it? I discovered nosleep when I was running a support group for university students with mental health issues in the evenings. There was a four hour break between my day work and that group and I was a little too far away to go home so I would have to sit in a common room for that time, just waiting. I used that break to browse and ended up on an askreddit list of the best posts ever made to reddit. Search and Rescue was there and I couldn’t put it down. I read the whole thing in the break and even after my group finished I was back on nosleep on my train ride home. I became totally obsessed. Once I got a feel for the sub it felt like natural progression to give it a try myself. You've mentioned wishing you had chosen a different username to write under, as yours was created based around a character in your first NoSleep story. If you could go back and change it, do you know what username you'd pick instead? I think about this all the time, probably unhealthy amounts and I’m still not settled. I like loiterswithintent and thepickledgnome, or maybe horrorbyhannah for a more professional image. What NoSleep stories and/or authors have had the strongest impact on you? The toughest question. Nosleep is its community and its creators and I think all of them bring something unique to the table so there’s no way to answer this without missing more than a few. With that said here is a terribly condensed list of authors and stories that have had a big impact on me. Everyone at thecrypticcompendium - there’s so much talent in that group it’s unreal and they’re awesome people too. u/theoddcatlady is one of my absolute favourites, I will drop everything I’m doing to read when she posts. The man called daffodil and the criminally underrated haven commune series were standouts for me. u/TheJesseClarkSo, Yeah... I Don’t Do Drugs Anymore is incredible. The way he captured a bad trip, the escalation and repetition was so immersive. I felt like I’d taken the drugs myself. This story has really stuck with me. u/nslewis is also incredible. I can’t think of a single story I haven’t enjoyed of his but to spotlight one my absolute favourite is My neighbour had been mowing his lawn for 12 hours straight. u/Elias_Witherow and u/iia both cater perfectly to the type of shock horror I adore, while crafting thought provoking and meaningful plots to complement the gross factor. I’ve bought all of Elias Witherow’s books and I’m a huge fan. So that I don’t go on forever, here is a list of some others I want to give a special shout out to; u/colourblindness, u/tjaylea, u/commongrackle, u/byfelsdisciple, u/neontempo, u/Lillian_Madwhip, u/gasstationjack, u/poloniumpoisoning, u/EaPAtbp, u/SamHaysom, u/SpookyChorror, u/squishycabbage, u/youshallnotpass121u/kressie1991, u/ourladyofthetree, u/M59Gar, u/verastahl, u/searchandrescuewoods. There are so many more but I’m going to stop there. What is the most terrifying thing you have personally experienced? Probably viewing the house I currently live in. It’s a tall narrow townhouse near the seafront and it’s pretty old. When viewing it I spotted a door in one of the lower rooms and it lead to a basement that wasn’t advertised and that the estate agent knew nothing about. The basement is huge, dark, creepy and stretches underneath the road, when I saw it I said I wouldn’t live here. Despite the creep factor, the house was the largest and cheapest one that we viewed so we still chose it. The whole design is freaky with doors and rooms placed halfway up stairs but we love it for its quirks. ...So, have you explored the basement yet? 14 million nosleep fans want you to tell us what's down there! I have! I think it was either an old, retired smugglers tunnel (I’m very close to the clifftop) or a coal bunker due to its size. There’s a dark bricked off section in the corner that’s like a person sized cubbyhole, in front of that were lots of assorted nails which was quite creepy. We don’t store much down there and I avoid it as much as possible. What are some of your biggest influences from media? I’m a movie and Tv fanatic so a lot of my influences come from the screen more than the page. For traditional spooks I love American Horror Story, the Haunting of Hill House, the entire Purge franchise - including the parts that were slated - and Insidious. Stories like Coraline, the corpse bride and the Witcher games also contribute to the more dark fantasy based aspect of my writing. For more literary influences I’m a huge fan of Lemony Snicket and believe every child and adult should read the entirety of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Also, highly conceptual psychological viewing like The Truman Show, most reality TV in general and the movie The Platform inspire me to look at different facets of human behaviour and our reactions to stressful environments. I find that sort of thing fascinating. All of those feature characters who are under the control of unseen entities who watch and influence them in ways that the characters don't always comprehend. Did this influence your "survival guide" series, either consciously or unconsciously? Almost definitely. For that series I wanted my character to enter a pocket of the world that no one gets to see and that she would feel like the intruder in. The main character of the series is terminally stupid and gets herself into situations because she doesn’t comprehend the magnitude of what’s around her. It’s a mixture of childlike curiosity and needing the flat because it’s just so cheap but those unseen forces are what drives her primarily. Anyone with sense would move out but Kat doesn’t, instead she looks for every entity she can find. Everyone with a creepy basement knows you don’t go exploring. Your tenant survival guide story is now the fifth-highest upvoted story in NoSleep history, with eight parts in the top 63 stories. Congrats, that's a huge feat! How did it feel to see such a positive reaction? Thank you! It was a shock and at the time I didn’t really understand just how well it was doing. I’d posted a few stories but I was relatively new to reddit - evidenced by my horrendous link formatting - and didn’t have notifications turned on or anything. I posted the story and went straight to sleep, when I got up and opened the app I was completely overwhelmed by the comments and support it was getting. I’m so grateful for how many people connected with that story and still do. I continue to get a steady trickle of messages about it and it still overwhelms me. I started on nosleep sorting by top so to know that something I wrote sits next to some of the most amazing things I’ve ever read is crazy. That tale was one of the main inspirations, if not the single most influential story, in the "list of rules" trend that continues to be extremely popular. Did you have any idea that the story would have such an impact on other writers? How do you feel about the dissent over "rules" stories? I had no idea, I’m not the first and certainly not the last to write a rules story but I do recognise the trend that followed the previous tenant. It’s really flattering to be attributed to such a popular trend but it’s also a little disheartening when I see all the complaints about it, especially when it continues to produce really great quality content. There are some amazing series that have come about as part of the rules trend that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, such as u/byfelsdisciple’s hospital series and u/poloniumpoisoning’s demon in the attic tale. One of the most unique things about your intricate and sprawling series is that various sections of it are told by multiple characters as it branches off into different directions. Did you always intend that to be the storytelling dynamic? How far in advance did you develop the plot when you began? I get bored very easily so I think I would struggle to write from a single character perspective for too long, but there are some I like to revisit so I suppose that’s why my series are told by different characters. I really enjoy playing with subtle connections that don’t affect each arc; like the twins from the block being patients of the dentist and Mr Prentice frequenting the pickled gnome. They’re fairly inconsequential connections, so readers don’t have to be fully caught up with the whole world but they’re fun if you’ve read them all. Do you have an idea of how much more in depth the story will go? Is there already a planned ending in mind? Planning wise there is a three series arc fully planned for the monster dentist but there’s some exciting things I’m working on in the background with that story, so I’m not rushing at all to complete it. My train station tale has a planned end and will probably be finished up the quickest but the gnome and the previous tenant don’t have planned endings at all. I know what would be a third season of the previous tenant if I chose to write it but I don’t think I could ever fully bury that arc. The gnome I really wanted to be a place that I could pop in and out of like a real pub, so there’s no reason to call last orders yet. I do eventually want to bring the characters together in a more meaningful way but I’m unsure how that would play out. It’s an ever developing world in progress. Other than writing, what are some of your hobbies? What other creative mediums do you enjoy? My biggest other hobby is house plants. My friends and family despair when they spot a new one as I’ve gone a little overboard. I wrote my story I’ve got 99 pot plants but a birch ain’t one. to celebrate reaching number 100. I also paint and love drawing really intricate mandalas, I find the symmetry quite soothing. Do you ever explore writing other genres besides horror? If so, what other styles of writing? Which do you prefer? I think quite a bit of my work overlaps with fantasy, which is strange as I’ve never been a typical fantasy lover. There are parts of the genre I appreciate but it certainly isn’t my favourite. Regardless, I would consider a lot of my work, especially in my extended universe, quite fantasy based. I also really enjoy writing a bit of modern sci fi. I’m a fucking machine. was definitely dancing with the sci fi genre whilst sticking to the guidelines as best I could. Along that same line I wrote Does anyone else hate those snapchat filters? and I wanted my son back but it came at a price. (posted to TheCrypticCompendium) as sci fi horror odes to the darkness in modern technology. "Snapchat filters" combined the constantly evolving role of technology in our lives with the persistent human tendency to link physical appearance with self-worth. What were you hoping readers would take from the story? This story was part of my exploration of what scares me. Although all my stories are scary personal experiences for OP they aren’t necessarily things that I find scary. I am, however, a massive technophobe in every sense of the word. Alexa and things like that are totally banned from my house, Siri is switched off, tik tok is not downloaded at all and I write in my phone notes. I see the whole world continuing to move forwards with social media and the technology that surrounds it and I’m terrified. I wrote this story after realising that a Facebook friend (barely an acquaintance in real life) exclusively used the dog filter for her pictures. I have never seen a photograph of this woman, or even her children, without it and I find that terribly sad. She’s become quite addicted to cosmetic procedures and I wonder if it’s in a quest to resemble her filtered self. I think social media is creating a whole host of mental health problems that the world isn’t equipped to identify and deal with and Snapchat Filters was an expression of that. You've previously stated that "Fucking Machine" is one of your favorite stories. What makes it stand out in your mind? Did you worry that readers would find the concept too provocative? That one stands out for me firstly because it’s very rare that I write from a male perspective so it was nice to challenge myself. I wanted men reading to roll their eyes at the stereotypical representation of the bachelor and then realise that it was very intentionally done. I also wrote it a day or so after the rule change to allow stories from AI’s so it was a concept I hadn’t played with before. I had so much fun with the story it took me 40 minutes in total to write, which is a definite record for me. This story was the direct inspiration for Snapchat filters and exploring my fear of technological progress and I think that’s produced some of my strongest writing. I wasn’t worried about the concept to be honest, with it being flagged NSFW I think that was a decent warning that the subject matter was a little provocative. It was the first time I’ve ever had to use that tag though and I have to shout out the guys at thecrypticcompendium discord chat for helping me work out how to do it because otherwise it would’ve been a worry. How much time do you spend writing in an average day or week? Do you have any rituals that help you focus? It really varies. Some days I can write two or three one shots and other days I can barely manage a sentence. My phone is filled with notes saying things like; she always held a hammer? and girl, home alone WITH GILLS. Sometimes I have no idea what the idea was supposed to be. I don’t really have a specific ritual, but I’ve written everything I’ve ever done on my phone and I do wonder if I’d struggle to actually type one. ...Is that why you brought a hammer to this interview? You guys noticed that? Oops. When crafting a piece of fiction, do you generally start with an outline or simply begin writing? I just write. Very occasionally I’ll put some planning in, usually for a series, but my plans always crumble as I start writing anyway. My planning document for the previous tenant describes almost a totally different plot line. I am a big fan of discovering the story along with the readers, if done correctly. Have any of your stories ever involved research? If so, what was involved? Acquired Savant Syndrome hands down took the most research. With my career I’d always been fascinated by the mind anyway and had a fair bit of knowledge on this subject. The research part with this story came in when doing the calendar calculations. I’m no Savant and I despise numbers so this was really tough, but every date, time or number in this story is accurate. Has your background in mental health work played a role in any of your other stories? How did it factor into the writing of Acquired Savant Syndrome? It hasn’t to a huge extent, mostly because I think the fact that representation of mental health in the media is mostly done in horror is incredibly dangerous. It’s all too often that the mentally ill person is the villain but in reality that’s such a minuscule proportion of the mental health community. I think there’s also a danger of leaning on a condition to be the characters primary trait. I would like to write an OP who has a mental health condition but manages it well and it isn’t integral to the story, I think that would be a healthier depiction. For acquired savant it came into play because of my experience with individuals who have suffered traumatic brain injury similar to the OP. I was in the not for profit sector so my services weren’t specialised to any one condition and we saw people with learning disabilities and brain injury alongside mental health to address the psychological impact of their challenges. Acquired Savant is a very rare phenomenon but the rest of OP’s recovery was based heavily on people I worked with who were injured in similar fashion. Are there any topics you feel are too controversial for you to address or that you prefer not to explore in your writing? I don’t think any subject is too controversial to approach if handled with the right care. I enjoy reading works that would be considered controversial and think there’s a lot of space for them. I do tend to stick to a perspective culturally similar to my own though. What are your feelings toward NoSleep's immersion/plausibility rule? What impact, if any, do you think the suspension of disbelief format may have when transitioning your work toward a mass audience unfamiliar with NoSleep? Of all the rules this is probably the one I have the least trouble with. I’m very character driven when I write and favour a first person perspective both in and out of nosleep, so writing as if I am my character, who truly believes what they’re experiencing doesn’t feel forced for me. Plausibility is a very open playing field and I think some of my work does walk a tightrope with it. The extended universe in particular presents monsters as if they’re cold, hard facts and it’s perfectly normal to walk among them. My characters, however, are generally always humans thrown into these situations, showing vaguely plausible human reactions. When I first read search and rescue, knowing nothing about the sub, I absolutely thought that it was real and I’ve tried to replicate the feelings I got reading that multiple times but I just can’t. I remember where I was, what time it was and every detail of the story; the immersion and belief it was real even for a short time had that big an impact. For that reason alone, if newbies occasionally get to feel that, then I’m all for this rule. Let’s just hope they don’t stumble on my work first lol. Do you feel there are particular challenges you face as a woman writing in the horror genre? Are there advantages? It’s interesting this comes up because it’s something that I’ve been thinking about a lot since a discussion with some fellow authors. I don’t know if it’s a challenge but more of an observation; readers tend to default think a lot of us writers are men, even if our OP is female. This can be advantageous when writing male characters or from any gender perspective that isn’t our own. But it can also be a little insulting. Did you presume because you liked it I was a boy? I also think the paying narrator market is quite male dominated and they aren’t always as willing to seek out and narrate a story that’s from a female voice because it just doesn’t match up with their own. There are some fantastic exceptions, of course, but I do wonder if we lose a few opportunities to this. Do you have any favorite reader reactions to your writing? I have had some fantastically thoughtful, well written and humbling responses to my work. That being said, my absolute favourite was a comment on the first part of the second season of The Previous Tenant. It said; “ITS BEEN SO LONG I THOUGHT YOUR BOYFRIEND’S DOG DEMON KILLED YOU BY NOW OR SOMETHING.” What story or project are you most proud of? Definitely the second season of the Previous Tenant. It’s the only story I’ve ever managed to write in full before posting and it was very special to me. I was very new to nosleep and got a little overwhelmed during its first run and felt like I closed a few plot points towards the end to get it finished, so it was nice to be able flesh out the bits I wanted to. Sequel series, particularly those posted long after the original, tend not to be as successful on NoSleep, but the continuations to "Survival Guide" broke this trend and have all been very popular. What do you think compels readers to keep coming back nearly a year after the original series? I really don’t know why. I’m really pleased that they do though! I’ve never been as nervous to post as I was when posting the first part of the tenant continuation. My attention span is short so I’m grateful that readers even remembered the tale that far on. I do think that if you are going to continue a series that you’ve taken a large gap with that you should explain the gap, even if only briefly. I think that’s been of some help in keeping readership when posting sequel parts, certainly with the previous tenant but also with others. I did this recently with my dentist for monsters after a 44 day gap and still managed to retain quite good numbers. That posting slot is so important too, which is something I’ve learned pretty recently. There’s still an element of luck but if the slot is good you can double your odds of reaching top. What's the most valuable lesson you've learned since you began posting to NoSleep? That you should pursue doing the things you love, even if they seem like a crazy dream that will never happen. I always enjoyed writing but dismissed it to go into what I thought were more practical careers. I didn’t have faith that my work was good enough to be read and enjoyed by any audience, let alone one as huge as nosleep. Now, I have an established readership and occasionally make some pocket money off something I love. It’s a win win and I’m so glad I took the plunge. It’s also helped me personally to deal with my difficult relationship with competition. I’m a very, very competitive person. I like to play fair and I like to win. There’s no point pretending that it doesn’t hurt when something you’ve poured hours into flops and it’s taken me a long time to be able to just have that happen and move on. I’ve learned to be able to let it go. It sounds cliche, but if you enjoyed what you wrote then the upvotes genuinely don’t matter. As a successful author on NoSleep, do you have any advice for new contributors? Try new things and write something you would want to read. Some of my older concepts, like Acquired Savant Syndrome, are my favourite because I was writing for myself and not what I thought would reach the top spot. I’ve been actively choosing the less usable, stranger ideas to run with recently to avoid this feeling. I think we can all get caught up in upvotes as authors and forget why we started in the first place. That idea you think might totally flop? Write it. Have fun. You never know who might relate to it. What are your short-term and long-term writing goals? Short term I want to finish my series, blast through my list of one shot ideas and continue to grow my sub. Long term I would like to release an anthology and a novella and perhaps even find a way to make writing a primary career. Due to the number of questions NewtotownJAM received from the community, the interview exceeded reddit's character limit, and will be split into two parts! You can read part two here.
Steam Store Page My Steam ID Region: South Africa - ZAR (South African Rand) Information about the game: Monster Hunter World is a game where you, a hunter, are tasked with the exploration of a new continent called the "New World". This new environment is host to a variety of monsters that you must research, track and locate in order to prepare for the hunting or capture of said monsters and creatures. Capturing a monster provides more research benefits, which in turn offers more upgrades to your gear, but the act of doing so can prove tricky if you cannot exploit their weaknesses. The world isn't a static place, so you'll find that monsters move around the map and it's your task to track them via dropped bodily components like scales or feathers. Apparently you can also lure monsters to a more advantageous fighting location, with this in mind, you'll be preparing your weapons by sharpening them and readying your items to suit your target. Preparation is the big factor that determines who will emerge victorious. This all plays very well into the fantasy of being a hunter of these ferocious beasts. New hunters are given 14 weapons to choose from, each with unique movesets, status effects, damage types and proficiency against certain types of monsters. Personally, I'm interested in the Sword & Shield, Lance, Switch Axe and Charge Blade. Your equipment and weapons will grow according to the monster materials you have crafted them from while changing the appearance of your crafted armor as well. So there's a pleasant degree of visual customization to your in-game avatar. Of course, you are not alone in this fight for you will have a trusty Palico at your side - think of them as your supportive cat (Cute!) that can fulfil offensive, defensive or supportive roles during a fight. You can also craft equipment for your Palico, which is like putting a hat on a real life cat -- simply adorable. The game also features a robust co-op system where you and three other hunters can team up against more formidable threats that require more co-ordination and tactics. This is done by sending an SOS signal for help on your side and waiting for help to come through. So the game can be played solo or in a drop-in/drop-out multiplayer manner. Features & Details I like: Monsters can share an environment and fight amongst one another, this is called a turf war and you can use this to capitalize on the situation when they are in a weakened state. Monsters can be dynamically weakened: Break their armour, cut off a tail, deal locational damage by climbing onto them or you can simply slow them down and act as a general hindrance while your team does the work. Monsters have a variety of weaknesses and resistances, so knowing your elemental damage types will be useful. Fire, water, thunder, ice and dragon elements can be advantageous against certain body parts that you want to weaken and destroy. Destroying body parts limits the attacks and movement of the monster. I love this mechanic - not only does exploiting weaknesses lead to smart play but it also affects the behaviour of the monster. Status effects: Poison, Sleep, Paralysis, Blast, and Stun -- different weapons will apply these effects at a faster rate or with the correct moveset. You're incentivized to play with your arsenal as opposed to picking one weapon. Variety keeps things feeling fresh. Environmental hazards and items such as the poison smoke bomb, poisoned meat, tainted meat and drugged meat can apply status effects on monsters before initiating a fight. Forethought is rewarded if you're willing to take the time to setup a trap. Weapon damage types can be divided into three categories:
1) Cut damage, slashes from swords or lance piercing can sever body parts.
2) Blunt damage, hammer smashes or shield bashes that drain monster stamina or creates a stun if struck on the head.
3) Ammo damage, these are projectiles from arrows or gun-based weapons which have unique properties depending on the weapon, typically used to apply status effects.
To top it off, you have to account for the sharpness of your weapon, otherwise your attacks will bounce off of certain body parts. Bladed weapons are sharpened with a whetstone which also determines their damage output as well. Sometimes a blade is not the always the right tool and I like that experimentation is encouraged. In addition to your weapons, you will have tools in the form of items at your disposal to figure out what makes a monster tick or to cure status ailments inflicted on you. A good example of using items is using something called a mantle, functionally a cape, that provides temporary buffs when worn or it can even aggravate monsters so you can lure them into a trap. You are susceptible to poison, stun, paralysis, sleep, blastblight, bleeding, effluvial build-up and zombification. What do you do about paralysis? You keep trying to move about as much as possible to shake the effects off. On fire? Roll in water or on the ground several times. Feeling sleepy? Use an energy drink! That's a neat little detail! In short, I am fascinated by the depth put into the monster behaviour and the way you would approach combat. There seems to be so much to do and many paths of progression to refine your weapon type and style of play. Will I put time into the game? Absolutely! With a game like Monster Hunter World, there's a lot to discover in terms of sheer content. Meanwhile you are incentivised to experiment with your weapons to find what works for your playstyle or the type of monster you are hunting. There's a great deal of build variety and equipment numbers to mess around with. It also helps that I appreciate a game that you can sink your teeth into. I like that there are customisation options so you could potentially roleplay a character with enough creativity. I'm probably going to spend awhile on the character creator. Even more so if you can match your Palico with your hair. Lets also remember that this game can be played with friends, so this is a great way of keeping things fresh by getting help with tough hunts or assisting friends at a similar level. Plus there's just the joy of playing with friends! Monster Hunter World seems like the type of game where I can have a unique experience from someone else. From weapon choices to the use of different tactics, these differences lead to the monsters feeling like puzzles when you are presented with so many methods of approach. I love experimenting and checking what works and what doesn't, it's an enjoyable task for me that this game presents in spades. Personal thoughts: Monster Hunter World's release to PC was an unexpected but welcome surprise. I have never tried the series before but I hear that this is a great place to start. I am mainly drawn to the weapon variety and how you can shape your playstyle against certain monsters or finding alternatives to suit the situation. I am absolutely fascinated with the preparation of the hunt and how you can uniquely approach encounters. There is a great deal of combat experimentation, decision-making about your build and just plain old exploration to be done. Instead of mindlessly running into a fight, you are incentivised to do your homework first and I find that quite intriguing since there is a build-up to the actual fight that gives it more weight. On a smaller scale, I am reminded of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt where you track down monsters and use certain magic, craftable bombs or weapon oils against the creature type. That extra level of preparation for the fight was highly appreciated. The game looks gorgeous and over time user reviews seem to indicate that patches have solved most of the major performance related issues. While this might seem like me fawning over game with a fair amount of grinding, I will say that I have put 1450 hours into Warframe, so I'm quite fond of grinding if there's room for skill expression. Monster Hunter World seems like a really great time and I would love the opportunity to play it. If you made it this far, thank you very much for reading and take care. :)
Hello, time for a rant that's kinda angry and not very angry at the same time. Yeehaw. MHW was my first monster hunter, my brother on the other hand, played Tri. I found monster hunter when I asked someone for music suggestions and they said try monhun soundtrack and I was like. OK, and promptly fell in love with the soundtrack (2016). So when I heard that there's an MH coming to PC I was obviously glad. OK MINI RAGE. I remember talking to some of my friends classmates when she dragged me as a friend to one of her class outings. I was talking to the assholes which were her classmates and he had a PS4 so he told me. Hah, yeah I beat all the monsters already. And I thought to myself: bro, shut up. I digress. MHW base game was a thrilling adventure. It's the exact game I wanted. Tight hitboxes relatively, cool combo based combat, very responsive mobility and environment and it looked amazing. (After playing assassin's creed black flag and la Noire, boy was I in need of some tight walking controls like Dishonored). The monsters were like fun mini bosses with some kinda gimmick and the Handler was not grating yet. Exploring slowly was amazing too, finding the fartlands in coral Highlands, finding some stupid cave in ancient forest. Also having to suffer the ugliness which is the elders recess and its entire soundtrack. On the bright side, I have dodogama. Whatever, the base experience was well balanced (except that one time I genocided my way through 20+ gold investigations each of odogarons and legianas without 1 gem drop) and the story was serviceable enough. What do you wanna say, we kill monsters for some big ass, reason? No we kill monsters because haha big weapon go brrr. Witcher quest was fantastic. Would Witcher again. Also I didn't know I needed botanist deep lore in my life and for once Handler actually acknowledged that our hunter was a badass. Finally, after 200- 250/300 hours, I got myself Iceborne and was ready to sink my teeth in. The soundtrack for Hoarfrost is a banger, Seliana is beautiful, Hoarfrost is amazing looking and the monsters are badass. But the story made me want to rip my eyes out. It had a YEAH GIRL POWER vibe I hated and I'm a girl. Like bro ok. Why is the handler hogging the spotlight in this story I literally don't care. They focused on the Handler and the other person what's her face, the Tracker and her grandfather which was SUPER SHOEHORNED IN. Like I get it, but didn't you say you came here to eat shit? STORY (idk how to format) Let's see if I can put my thoughts down without editing. First of all, I don't care about the handler although I appreciate her. After seeing the Fatalis cutscene, boy I wish she was like that more often instead. That was BADASS. But let's begin with the Beotodus quest. OH THE FISH BOY QUEST. Us: in new region Handler: I'm just gonna run first Me: why on... Get back here. And she promptly gets jumped by fish man. After that we have this whole forgettable slew of camp setting upping I don't care about. Blah blah there's this thing her grandfather gave her, Tracker knows about it as well. We get a tonne of Tracker Handler cutscenes where they bond like two bricks. Then promptly leave to investigate, leaving my character to just have to accept her wish to leave and make serious handler have more things to do. I get your grandpa's legacy nonsense, but really. REALLY? It's pointless. When we realise Velkhana is a literal pushover, it's like... Wow... This was... This was a pointless plot point, huh. They just wasted my time here. I would be way more down if the clue was to Shara, even then, it's still super annoying that my character doesn't get screentime EVEN IF HE DOESN'T HAVE A STORY. Ok disclaimer, I did enjoy the buildup to Velkhana gameplay, monster progression and area wise, just the plot part of it was painful. Just painful. Also did you know how salty I was when my hunter got destroyed by the Velkhana crystals JUST BECAUSE HANDLER WANTED IN ON IT. And there was no cutscene later on where people say, hey are you ok? Or I'm sorry. Just boom, council table, get back to work Sapphire star. Hah, you think we really treat you like some hero, no go get your ass carted out there, bye. Then we get more Tracker Handler stuff where the Tracker actually treats you like shit when you do most of the work to save her. She always treats your character with this aloof, untrusting and disrespectful way. It's infuriating. Meanwhile Handler and Tracker just being in the spotlight and having some "emotional connection"... I still haven't forgiven my Palico for hugging Handler first. Dammit Percival, you traitor. It's just so annoying, hello, I understand my main character doesn't have much to develop on, but can we not ignore that those two seem so disjointed from all the other characters. Furthermore, everyone else is tossed aside??? These characters keep getting pushed to the front. Even the base game, her cutscene with Third fleet captain was kinda... ????? I want more Third fleet captain NGL. Even at the end, these two's emotions tended to take up most of the story's breathing room and was awful, just terrible. It isn't worth the time and terribly written. Can I have SOMETHING about my character or at least have some decently written girls, by God, these games can't write a woman to save their lives. They're either dumb optimist annoyance or asshole. Why can't we have more serious handler? Her expressions when your character reacts to the food is so precious. She looks so doubtful but when your character seems happy she does the smallest celebration. And she does the job and seems to have this controlled yet slightly playful aura. I also kinda missed Excitable A Lister and Field team leader. They all seem like optimistic greenhorns that really deserve some level of development or at least the basest level of reaction. I really really felt bad when I saw the Fatalis thing where A Lister got deleted and that one time where the Huntsman got yeeted and the Field Team leader lost his cool. No? No development? Just a quick shut up from the commander and back to work I guess. Also damn, where's the Huntsman HE'S AN INTERESTING CHARACTER??? He vanished after getting smacked by Velk. Any character that's not the few that are pushed to the front are the most interesting characters because THEY JUST DO THEIR JOB. They have faith, even thought they're not really the best, and manage to overcome the odds and themselves... Quietly. So much potential in those characters and nope. Just NADA, we get two very boring characters and other people just exist I guess. I appreciated the quiet respect from the other characters and not the over the top stuff that Handler says. Commander treats you with like a tough dad level of respect. The admiral is just... a poopoohead, but hes a funny one. Egghead, never forgetting that + how much the game tries to make you aware that he looks like Rajang. All in all, as much as I'm annoyed by the Handler, she's still my handler and I do like her to some extent. She's cute and she does her job, but she needs to leave my character alone/ encourage him in a not annoying way. But Tracker, on the other hand, no. Just no. At least she eases up on you when you talk to her after Shara. I don't expect Monhun to have a groundbreaking story. But they tried some story and it fell flat for me, I'm way more interested in the other characters that got sidelined, hard. Dude I KEEP THINKING ABOUT THEIR POTENTIAL AND AS A STORY WRITER, I'M FEELING SO MUCH PAIN. GAMEPLAY The feeling was apparent from the beginning, Beotodus was a damage sponge. But I was fine with it, more difficulty is fun right? ITS FUN RIGHT? It was fine fine fine, until the damage sponge nature and bullshit sword bounce nature and absolutely cracked out attack patterns started hitting. It's not hard... It's just tedious, is what I feel about Iceborne. Skip this segment if you don't wanna read my individual monster thoughts Beotodus, eh, easy, kinda fun, I like that dive into long jump attack it has. Banbaro, get away from me, you absolute damage sponge tree grabbing pest. Viper Tobi, eh just use antidote 3. Nightshade, just as annoying as base game but damage sponge and I hate it. Stupid spammer. Coral Pukei Pukei, my baby. My absolute baby but it's meh in terms of the fight. Barioth, please stop spamming, I took 40 minutes on my first hunt. But in the end, barioth is actually pretty easy and predictable. Narga, I can't be bothered but kinda fun as I progressed further into the game. Glavenus, I WAS SO HYPED, but he's a pushover. Except that one jump bug when you bring your Palico. Tigrex, easy, but as I progressed, changed weapons and styles it got ANNOYING. What do u mean I can't roll under the monster, it's my favourite dodge tactic. Brachydios, pretty pushover when I first fought it but it slowly became one of my most hated monsters, which I'll come to later. Rathalos, I hate you, come down here coward Azure, you're the superior rathalos, fun to fight Any rathian, well, you exist. Shrieking, please come down here, coward, I'll shoot shit at your friend but pushover Fulgur, exists I guess Acidic glavenus, manly glavenus, much respect Ebony, whatever I guess, just dodge, pupper on crack Velkhana, kinda pushover??? Idk but I'll come back to her later. Seething also pushover, fun to dodge between its legs. Its supernova is also very very easy to dodge. Black veil, after 7 carts, I can say I know Blackveil very well now, and love SOSing this monster with Teo Hunting horn Nami, I love you sm, best boy Ruiner, fun bro I guess Kirin, who loved you? Shara, fun as well, very predictable but fun Yian, I love you rathian on crack Zin, whatever I guess, pretty ok fight Rajang, easy until the last phase before capture where I get eaten alive on Insect Glaive. But FUN. Gold rath and silver rath, I hate both of you, actually. Spamming damage sponges Safi, this is honestly boring at this point Alatreon, I don't like you but I also like you _------------- My problem with Iceborne is the monsters both have insane health, annoying barriers like sword bounce and head attack spam, as well as weapons being kinda... Hmm. Most monsters spam and have insane health pools, so it's just busy work, hunts take a decently long period of time, monsters are more noodley and spam a TONNE, all have some sort of bullshit move now. Also I hate Kirin. Join me in the Kirin hating fanclub. My main main anger is something I call, the floor is lava. A lot of monsters have this type of attack, but to varying degrees. Brachydios, Velkhana, Blackveil, Bazelguese, Namielle to name the more prominent ones. I categorised it into multiple levels. The floor is a constant or activatable hazard, the floor is sometimes a hazard. My classification is debatable, very debatable, but I'll explain some. Sometimes we have: Velk and Bazel Constant or activatable: Nami, Brachydios Is just an AOE hazard: Blackveil I hate brachy, but love Nami? Why? I classify them similarly. Like I said I used to kill brachy easily, but now it's just an annoyance. One reason is more psychological than anything. Brachy feels random compared to Nami and the affected area for brachy is always a randomly placeable ticking time bomb. Brachy can put like a billion slime puddles, all ticking down at different times, unintentionally (or slightly intentionally but not as much as Nami) and leave it to just blow up and sometimes you just get caught in some random situation where there's a bunch of random slime puddles everywhere, all at different stages. While brachy teleports behind you and ends your life. Meanwhile Nami feels calculated, it feels like the monster is actually trapping you. The water( aka lava) is not always dangerous when activated but brings you into vulnerable states and I think it's very cool. Not everything has to explode or damage when activated. It's refreshing, fun. And the monster feels intelligent. Not haha slime everywhere randomly exploding, don't you love difficulty through spam and random everything explodes now (TELEPORTS BEHIND YOU) I have my qualms about Velk and the random mist clouds, but whatever. Blackveil is easy once you get the rhythm too. I get difficulty, but the turning speed on the monsters is wild too, but not something I can't deal with. Finally, I'm stuck on Alatreon rn, I'm not so mad, I don't think Ala is unbeatable at all. I think its patterns are easy to read and I can dodge most of them quite well. It's just I've begun hating solo hunting. I soloed all the way to ruiner and just gave up. Soloing is no longer fun with all the damage soakers everywhere. So I do Ala with randos and boy howdy it is TOUGH to get places. I mean I'm not that good at the game so I do die a lot, but sometimes my teammates just all perish too and I'm just standing there in EJ just looking at Ala knowing I'm gonna die. Wish me luck boys, I've been at Ala for a few weeks lmao. Yeah I'm still stuck. I still love MHW and am just crying about Rise because I don't have a switch. I love the world and I love the gameplay, it's just some things really GRATE. Like seriously. I want to love this game completely, and the rabid artist in me wants to make stories about the game, but I try not to, because well, the game is the game. It's good. I can't take that away from it, not in the slightest. I'm able to rant for hours about the story and my frustrations about the game, but this is all I can type because my fingers are numb. I don't get mad at games, I just don't, my solution is to keep trying, but I'm finding it hard to do that anymore.
[Request][Steam] Monster Hunter: World (-43% off at DLGamer for $16.99)
Thank you for reading. I hope that I am able to express my excitement and sincerity in this request. This was fun to write, I liked checking out the wiki and going through the intro on Youtube all the way to the training room where each weapon got a demonstration. I didn't want to spoil myself any further, but I hope you will see my genuine enthusiasm for this game. :) General Information: Monster Hunter World is a game where you, a hunter of the Fifth Fleet, are tasked with the exploration of a new continent called the "New World". This new environment is host to a variety of monsters that you must research, track and locate in order to prepare for the hunting or capture of said monsters and creatures. Capturing a monster provides more research benefits, which in turn offers more upgrades to your gear, but the act of doing so can prove tricky if you cannot exploit their weaknesses. The world isn't a static place, so you'll find that monsters move around the map and it's your task to track them via dropped bodily components like scales or feathers. Apparently you can also lure monsters to a more advantageous fighting location, with this in mind, you'll be preparing your weapons by sharpening them and readying your items to suit your target. Preparation is the big factor that determines who will emerge victorious. This all plays very well into the fantasy of being a hunter of these ferocious beasts. New hunters are given 14 weapons to choose from, each with unique move sets, rate at which they apply status effects, damage types and proficiency against certain types of monsters. Personally, I'm interested in the Sword & Shield, Hammer, Switch Axe and Heavy Bowgun. Your armor and weapons will grow according to the monster materials you have crafted them from while also changing their appearance. So there's a pleasant degree of visual customization to your in-game avatar. Of course, you are not alone in this fight for you will have a trusty Palico at your side - think of them as your supportive cat (Cute!) that can fulfil offensive, defensive or supportive roles during a fight. You can also craft equipment for your Palico, which is like putting a hat on a real life cat -- simply adorable. The game also features a robust co-op system where you and three other hunters can team up against more formidable threats that require more co-ordination and tactics. This is done by sending an SOS signal for help on your side and waiting for help to come through. So the game can be played solo or in a drop-in/drop-out multiplayer manner. Features & Details I like: Monsters can share an environment and fight amongst one another, this is called a turf war and you can use this to capitalize on the situation when they are in a weakened state. Monsters can be dynamically weakened: Break their armour, cut off a tail, deal locational damage by climbing onto them or you can simply slow them down and act as a general hindrance while your team does the work. Monsters have a variety of weaknesses and resistances, so knowing your elemental damage types will be useful. Fire, water, thunder, ice and dragon elements can be advantageous against certain body parts that you want to weaken and destroy. Destroying body parts limits the attacks and movement of the monster. I love this mechanic - not only does exploiting weaknesses lead to smart play but it also affects the behaviour of the monster. Status effects: Poison, Sleep, Paralysis, Blast, and Stun -- different weapons will apply these effects at a faster rate. You're incentivized to play with your arsenal as opposed to picking one weapon. Variety keeps things feeling fresh. Environmental hazards and items such as the poison smoke bomb, poisoned meat, tainted meat and drugged meat can apply status effects on monsters before initiating a fight. Forethought is rewarded if you're willing to take the time to set up a trap. Weapon damage types can be divided into three categories:
1) Cut damage, slashes from swords or lance piercing can sever body parts.
2) Blunt damage, hammer smashes or shield bashes that drain monster stamina or creates a stun if struck on the head.
3) Ammo damage, these are projectiles from arrows or gun-based weapons which have unique properties depending on the weapon, typically used to apply status effects.
To top it off, you have to account for the sharpness of your weapon, otherwise your attacks will bounce off of certain body parts. Weapons are sharpened with a whetstone which also determines their damage output as well. Knowing when to manage your weapon's sharpness is a tactical decision on your part. In addition to your weapons, you will have tools in the form of items at your disposal to figure out what makes a monster tick or to cure status ailments inflicted on you. A good example of using items is using something called a mantle, functionally a cape, that provides temporary buffs when worn or it can even aggravate monsters so you can lure them into a trap. You are susceptible to poison, stun, paralysis, sleep, blastblight, bleeding, effluvial build-up and zombification. What do you do about paralysis? You keep trying to move about as much as possible to shake the effects off. On fire? Roll in water or on the ground several times. Feeling sleepy? Use an energy drink! That's a neat little detail! In short, I am fascinated by the depth put into the monster behaviour and the way you would approach combat. There seems to be so much to do and many paths of progression to refine your weapon type and style of play. Will I put time into the game? Absolutely! With a game like Monster Hunter World, there's a lot to discover in terms of sheer content. Meanwhile you are incentivised to experiment with your weapons to find what works for your playstyle or the type of monster you are hunting. There's a great deal of build variety and equipment numbers to mess around with. It also helps that I appreciate a game that you can sink your teeth into. I like that there are customisation options so you could potentially roleplay a character with enough creativity. I'm probably going to spend awhile on the character creator. Lets also remember that this game can be played with friends, so this is a great way of keeping things fresh by getting help with tough hunts or assisting friends at a similar level. Plus there's just the joy of playing with friends! Monster Hunter World seems like the type of game where I can have a unique experience from someone else. From weapon choices to the use of different tactics, these differences lead to the monsters feeling like puzzles when you are presented with so many methods of approach. I love experimenting and checking what works and what doesn't, it's an enjoyable task for me that this game presents in spades. Personal thoughts: Monster Hunter World's release to PC was an unexpected but welcome surprise. I have never tried the series before but I hear that this is a great place to start. I am mainly drawn to the weapon variety and how you can shape your playstyle against certain monsters or finding alternatives to suit the situation. I am absolutely fascinated with the preparation of the hunt and how you can uniquely approach encounters. There is a great deal of combat experimentation, decision-making about your build and just plain old exploration to be done. Instead of mindlessly running into a fight, you are incentivised to do your homework first and I find that quite intriguing since there is a build-up to the actual fight that gives it more weight. On a smaller scale, I am reminded of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt where you track down monsters and use certain magic, craftable bombs or weapon oils against the creature type. That extra level of preparation for the fight was highly appreciated. The game looks gorgeous and over time user reviews seem to indicate that patches have solved most of the major performance related issues. While this might seem like me fawning over game with a fair amount of grinding, I will say that I have put 1450 hours into Warframe, so I'm quite fond of grinding if there's room for skill expression. Steam Store Page My Steam ID Region: South Africa - ZAR (South African Rand) Deals:
Monster Hunter World seems like a really great time and I would love the opportunity to play it. If you made it this far, thank you very much for reading and take care. :)
[Request][Steam] Monster Hunter: World (-41% off at GameBillet & Fanatical)
Thank you for reading. I hope that I am able to express my excitement and sincerity in this request. Steam Store Page My Steam ID Region: South Africa - ZAR (South African Rand) Deals:
Information about the game: Monster Hunter World is a game where you, a hunter, are tasked with the exploration of a new continent called the "New World". This new environment is host to a variety of monsters that you must research, track and locate in order to prepare for the hunting or capture of said monsters and creatures. Capturing a monster provides more research benefits, which in turn offers more upgrades to your gear, but the act of doing so can prove tricky if you cannot exploit their weaknesses. The world isn't a static place, so you'll find that monsters move around the map and it's your task to track them via dropped bodily components like scales or feathers. Apparently you can also lure monsters to a more advantageous fighting location, with this in mind, you'll be preparing your weapons by sharpening them and readying your items to suit your target. Preparation is the big factor that determines who will emerge victorious. This all plays very well into the fantasy of being a hunter of these ferocious beasts. New hunters are given 14 weapons to choose from, each with unique move sets, status effects, damage types and proficiency against certain types of monsters. Personally, I'm interested in the Sword & Shield, Hammer, Switch Axe and Heavy Bowgun. Your equipment and weapons will grow according to the monster materials you have crafted them from while changing the appearance of your crafted armor as well. So there's a pleasant degree of visual customization to your in-game avatar. Of course, you are not alone in this fight for you will have a trusty Palico at your side - think of them as your supportive cat (Cute!) that can fulfil offensive, defensive or supportive roles during a fight. You can also craft equipment for your Palico, which is like putting a hat on a real life cat -- simply adorable. The game also features a robust co-op system where you and three other hunters can team up against more formidable threats that require more co-ordination and tactics. This is done by sending an SOS signal for help on your side and waiting for help to come through. So the game can be played solo or in a drop-in/drop-out multiplayer manner. Features & Details I like: Monsters can share an environment and fight amongst one another, this is called a turf war and you can use this to capitalize on the situation when they are in a weakened state. Monsters can be dynamically weakened: Break their armour, cut off a tail, deal locational damage by climbing onto them or you can simply slow them down and act as a general hindrance while your team does the work. Monsters have a variety of weaknesses and resistances, so knowing your elemental damage types will be useful. Fire, water, thunder, ice and dragon elements can be advantageous against certain body parts that you want to weaken and destroy. Destroying body parts limits the attacks and movement of the monster. I love this mechanic - not only does exploiting weaknesses lead to smart play but it also affects the behaviour of the monster. Status effects: Poison, Sleep, Paralysis, Blast, and Stun -- different weapons will apply these effects at a faster rate or with the correct move set. You're incentivized to play with your arsenal as opposed to picking one weapon. Variety keeps things feeling fresh. Environmental hazards and items such as the poison smoke bomb, poisoned meat, tainted meat and drugged meat can apply status effects on monsters before initiating a fight. Forethought is rewarded if you're willing to take the time to setup a trap. Weapon damage types can be divided into three categories:
1) Cut damage, slashes from swords or lance piercing can sever body parts.
2) Blunt damage, hammer smashes or shield bashes that drain monster stamina or creates a stun if struck on the head.
3) Ammo damage, these are projectiles from arrows or gun-based weapons which have unique properties depending on the weapon, typically used to apply status effects.
To top it off, you have to account for the sharpness of your weapon, otherwise your attacks will bounce off of certain body parts. Bladed weapons are sharpened with a whetstone which also determines their damage output as well. Sometimes a blade is not the always the right tool and I like that experimentation is encouraged. In addition to your weapons, you will have tools in the form of items at your disposal to figure out what makes a monster tick or to cure status ailments inflicted on you. A good example of using items is using something called a mantle, functionally a cape, that provides temporary buffs when worn or it can even aggravate monsters so you can lure them into a trap. You are susceptible to poison, stun, paralysis, sleep, blastblight, bleeding, effluvial build-up and zombification. What do you do about paralysis? You keep trying to move about as much as possible to shake the effects off. On fire? Roll in water or on the ground several times. Feeling sleepy? Use an energy drink! That's a neat little detail! In short, I am fascinated by the depth put into the monster behaviour and the way you would approach combat. There seems to be so much to do and many paths of progression to refine your weapon type and style of play. Will I put time into the game? Absolutely! With a game like Monster Hunter World, there's a lot to discover in terms of sheer content. Meanwhile you are incentivised to experiment with your weapons to find what works for your playstyle or the type of monster you are hunting. There's a great deal of build variety and equipment numbers to mess around with. It also helps that I appreciate a game that you can sink your teeth into. I like that there are customisation options so you could potentially roleplay a character with enough creativity. I'm probably going to spend awhile on the character creator. Even more so if you can match your Palico with your hair. Lets also remember that this game can be played with friends, so this is a great way of keeping things fresh by getting help with tough hunts or assisting friends at a similar level. Plus there's just the joy of playing with friends! Monster Hunter World seems like the type of game where I can have a unique experience from someone else. From weapon choices to the use of different tactics, these differences lead to the monsters feeling like puzzles when you are presented with so many methods of approach. I love experimenting and checking what works and what doesn't, it's an enjoyable task for me that this game presents in spades. Personal thoughts: Monster Hunter World's release to PC was an unexpected but welcome surprise. I have never tried the series before but I hear that this is a great place to start. I am mainly drawn to the weapon variety and how you can shape your playstyle against certain monsters or finding alternatives to suit the situation. I am absolutely fascinated with the preparation of the hunt and how you can uniquely approach encounters. There is a great deal of combat experimentation, decision-making about your build and just plain old exploration to be done. Instead of mindlessly running into a fight, you are incentivised to do your homework first and I find that quite intriguing since there is a build-up to the actual fight that gives it more weight. On a smaller scale, I am reminded of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt where you track down monsters and use certain magic, craftable bombs or weapon oils against the creature type. That extra level of preparation for the fight was highly appreciated. The game looks gorgeous and over time user reviews seem to indicate that patches have solved most of the major performance related issues. While this might seem like me fawning over game with a fair amount of grinding, I will say that I have put 1450 hours into Warframe, so I'm quite fond of grinding if there's room for skill expression. Monster Hunter World seems like a really great time and I would love the opportunity to play it. If you made it this far, thank you very much for reading and take care. :)
Information about the game: Monster Hunter World is a game where you, a hunter, are tasked with the exploration of a new continent called the "New World". This new environment is host to a variety of monsters that you must research, track and locate in order to prepare for the hunting or capture of said monsters and creatures. Capturing a monster provides more research benefits, which in turn offers more upgrades to your gear, but the act of doing so can prove tricky if you cannot exploit their weaknesses. The world isn't a static place, so you'll find that monsters move around the map and it's your task to track them via dropped bodily components like scales or feathers. Apparently you can also lure monsters to a more advantageous fighting location, with this in mind, you'll be preparing your weapons by sharpening them and readying your items to suit your target. Preparation is the big factor that determines who will emerge victorious. This all plays very well into the fantasy of being a hunter of these ferocious beasts. New hunters are given 14 weapons to choose from, each with unique movesets, status effects, damage types and proficiency against certain types of monsters. Personally, I'm interested in the Sword & Shield, Lance, Switch Axe and Charge Blade. Your equipment and weapons will grow according to the monster materials you have crafted them from while changing the appearance of your crafted armor as well. So there's a pleasant degree of visual customization to your in-game avatar. Of course, you are not alone in this fight for you will have a trusty Palico at your side - think of them as your supportive cat (Cute!) that can fulfil offensive, defensive or supportive roles during a fight. You can also craft equipment for your Palico, which is like putting a hat on a real life cat -- simply adorable. The game also features a robust co-op system where you and three other hunters can team up against more formidable threats that require more co-ordination and tactics. This is done by sending an SOS signal for help on your side and waiting for help to come through. So the game can be played solo or in a drop-in/drop-out multiplayer manner. Features & Details I like: Monsters can share an environment and fight amongst one another, this is called a turf war and you can use this to capitalize on the situation when they are in a weakened state. Monsters can be dynamically weakened: Break their armour, cut off a tail, deal locational damage by climbing onto them or you can simply slow them down and act as a general hindrance while your team does the work. Monsters have a variety of weaknesses and resistances, so knowing your elemental damage types will be useful. Fire, water, thunder, ice and dragon elements can be advantageous against certain body parts that you want to weaken and destroy. Destroying body parts limits the attacks and movement of the monster. I love this mechanic - not only does exploiting weaknesses lead to smart play but it also affects the behaviour of the monster. Status effects: Poison, Sleep, Paralysis, Blast, and Stun -- different weapons will apply these effects at a faster rate or with the correct moveset. You're incentivized to play with your arsenal as opposed to picking one weapon. Variety keeps things feeling fresh. Environmental hazards and items such as the poison smoke bomb, poisoned meat, tainted meat and drugged meat can apply status effects on monsters before initiating a fight. Forethought is rewarded if you're willing to take the time to setup a trap. Weapon damage types can be divided into three categories:
1) Cut damage, slashes from swords or lance piercing can sever body parts.
2) Blunt damage, hammer smashes or shield bashes that drain monster stamina or creates a stun if struck on the head.
3) Ammo damage, these are projectiles from arrows or gun-based weapons which have unique properties depending on the weapon, typically used to apply status effects.
To top it off, you have to account for the sharpness of your weapon, otherwise your attacks will bounce off of certain body parts. Bladed weapons are sharpened with a whetstone which also determines their damage output as well. Sometimes a blade is not the always the right tool and I like that experimentation is encouraged. In addition to your weapons, you will have tools in the form of items at your disposal to figure out what makes a monster tick or to cure status ailments inflicted on you. A good example of using items is using something called a mantle, functionally a cape, that provides temporary buffs when worn or it can even aggravate monsters so you can lure them into a trap. You are susceptible to poison, stun, paralysis, sleep, blastblight, bleeding, effluvial build-up and zombification. What do you do about paralysis? You keep trying to move about as much as possible to shake the effects off. On fire? Roll in water or on the ground several times. Feeling sleepy? Use an energy drink! That's a neat little detail! In short, I am fascinated by the depth put into the monster behaviour and the way you would approach combat. There seems to be so much to do and many paths of progression to refine your weapon type and style of play. Will I put time into the game? Absolutely! With a game like Monster Hunter World, there's a lot to discover in terms of sheer content. Meanwhile you are incentivised to experiment with your weapons to find what works for your playstyle or the type of monster you are hunting. There's a great deal of build variety and equipment numbers to mess around with. It also helps that I appreciate a game that you can sink your teeth into. I like that there are customisation options so you could potentially roleplay a character with enough creativity. I'm probably going to spend awhile on the character creator. Even more so if you can match your Palico with your hair. Lets also remember that this game can be played with friends, so this is a great way of keeping things fresh by getting help with tough hunts or assisting friends at a similar level. Plus there's just the joy of playing with friends! Monster Hunter World seems like the type of game where I can have a unique experience from someone else. From weapon choices to the use of different tactics, these differences lead to the monsters feeling like puzzles when you are presented with so many methods of approach. I love experimenting and checking what works and what doesn't, it's an enjoyable task for me that this game presents in spades. Personal thoughts: Monster Hunter World's release to PC was an unexpected but welcome surprise. I have never tried the series before but I hear that this is a great place to start. I am mainly drawn to the weapon variety and how you can shape your playstyle against certain monsters or finding alternatives to suit the situation. I am absolutely fascinated with the preparation of the hunt and how you can uniquely approach encounters. There is a great deal of combat experimentation, decision-making about your build and just plain old exploration to be done. Instead of mindlessly running into a fight, you are incentivised to do your homework first and I find that quite intriguing since there is a build-up to the actual fight that gives it more weight. On a smaller scale, I am reminded of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt where you track down monsters and use certain magic, craftable bombs or weapon oils against the creature type. That extra level of preparation for the fight was highly appreciated. The game looks gorgeous and over time user reviews seem to indicate that patches have solved most of the major performance related issues. While this might seem like me fawning over game with a fair amount of grinding, I will say that I have put 1450 hours into Warframe, so I'm quite fond of grinding if there's room for skill expression. Monster Hunter World seems like a really great time and I would love the opportunity to play it. If you made it this far, thank you very much for reading and take care. :)
First and foremost, Thank you Hello Games for listening to the community transforming NMS into one of my favorite games of all times! Im making this thread in the hopes that the team will read it and take it into consideration. I truly believe No mans Sky already has the foundation to become one of the biggest games of all times already set up! Even surpassing The elder scrolls, The witcher, Dark souls you name it. The have created an MMO and essentially made the universe so big, basically infinite, that you will almost never run into another player unless you want to! Ive played so many games for thousands of hours, and even more for hundreds I want to share what really draws me into a game and keeps me coming back that I think can be applied to NMS. https://preview.redd.it/avqzsp8j4cq51.jpg?width=1002&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21feda87ac75566a4f6013f02e1ccb4f144e37bc The economy in NMS until the recent origins update was basically irrelevant. You would speed through the game, make an activated indium farm and you'd be set. You'd have so much money after a few days that you wouldn't even have anything to spend it on. The nerf to the mineral extractors was a much needed one. However we still have the issue of what to spend money on after we have that sweet sweet S class capital ship. Here's how I think we could fix it; --Rebalance credit weight Right now we can still make stupid amounts of money so fast we will never be able to spend it all and after you make it to the 3 billion mark you don't feel like there's much to do to keep progressing. This can be fixed by adjusting the credit value of all the trade-able commodities in the game(items that can be put in your inventory), starship values, and scanning fee payouts. If items are worth less in credits, but relative to each other they maintain the same value there will be ALOT more room and time spent trying to max out your credit limit. Example; Activated indium = 900 credits we simply divide every purchasable commodity in the game by 10 Activated indium is now = 90 credits. Credit limit is still 3 billion. Only items worth less then 10 credits would not be able to be scaled down in value in this way but how many of those items even exist in the game anyways?? --Ways to spend money After you buy all your inventory slots, an S class capital ship, 30 frigates, and 6 starships there really just isn't anything else to spend money on. Personally this makes me unmotivated and I feel like I've beat the game. There's nothing left to do. The first thing that comes to mind is rebalancing all starship values to a min-max style of play. Anyone who has played a major MMORPG will know what I mean. People will pay exponential amounts of money for any item that is slightly better then another AS LONG as it is the best item in the game. And then that item, or starship in this case, becomes a status symbol and a goal for people to work on over extended periods of time. Example; Now-C class ship = 500k / B class ship = 1M / A class ship = 2M / S class ship = 5M After rebalance- C class ship = 500k / B class ship = 2M / A class ship =12M / S class ship = 120M Doing this will allow people to enjoy the game without struggling too much to upgrade to A class, but will make buying that S class feel special like you've really accomplished something! https://preview.redd.it/inmln9j1ecq51.jpg?width=1002&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d6c1227006b35180a55fccc2b0a08cba76089217 As far as exploration goes and discovering new things in space. Cant beat it. Hands down the best exploration system I've ever played. However once you get down on the planets things get a little boring sometimes. You can just pull out your scanner and it'll tell you exactly where those plants or minerals you need are located. --Gathering materials Its too easy right now. Pull out scanner, highlight marker and sprint a few hundred yards. Rinse and repeat. Make it harder to find materials so it feels satisfying when we find them. There's also no better feeling when you go out looking for something specific and run into something else you totally weren't expecting that's really rare or valuable. --Raiding As of right now, Derelict Freighters are the only means of going into an unknown place kicking some ass and getting loot. They're absolutely awesome and probably my favorite part of the game. However I feel like there aren't enough enemies, and the enemies they do have aren't even dangerous. Also if you go in with a stack of ion batteries and oxygen the environmental hazards don't affect you whatsoever. The loot is awesome though! wouldn't change a thing about it. I would love to see more structures to explore besides the freighters in space. And more enemies. Ones that are actually dangerous though please. --Loot Trade goods are super fun to make. And very valuable. However they're also the only source of substantial income in the game. I'd love to see some super rare or hard to get items introduced into the economy obtainable only via combat. --Multiplayer There isn't really any depth to the multiplayer. There isn't anything that a single player cannot easily do on their own. Give the people at the end-game something challenging! --Quicksilver Love it. Great idea to keep people logging in every day to do some missions. More mission variety would be great, along with all nexus missions awarding it at a fraction of the daily mission reward. This one is for the people at endgame too. Also more consumable options(that can be actively used for a purpose in-game) at the quicksilver shop would ensure people are always coming back to the nexus for more missions! https://preview.redd.it/f03dmex1icq51.jpg?width=999&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=89d9c0add620317d7e2ded8c7237abb3af65dddd The crafting system in NMS is fantastic! You have to branch out from mining, to farming, and extracting gas. Absolutely awesome. I think that if we could actually make use of what we spend all that time creating it would be even better. Right now we just make things and sell them for money that we have nothing to spend on. Make craft-able upgrades to our starships, exosuits, and multi tools that degrade to dust and require investment to maintain. Also the current blue print system is a great idea however the manufacturing facility thing isn't fun IMO. --Blue prints Right now they're way to easy to obtain. Manufacturing facilities all play the same and when you do win the lottery game you get to choose which one you want. I think it'd be much more satisfying to find a blueprint organically while raiding a freighter or abandoned structure you stumbled upon while exploring then just scanning for 20 manufacturing facilities in a row. Also they could be purchase-able...for a substantial amount of credits of course. Say 5M a piece? --Crafting tree It's amazing. love every bit of it. Maybe add some items into the mix that are only obtainable via combat though? That would make building stacks upon stacks of the most expensive items in the game more hands on then just a waiting game. --More Items! The stasis device and fusion igniter are both so much fun to make. I think creating more items of this tier would be a fantastic idea along with giving them actual in-game use. https://preview.redd.it/a89d3aa4lcq51.jpg?width=996&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7277aafbff027fef218bfc38a2ad67fabeaf6828 I feel like combat is too easy in NMS. Which only gives it the most room for improvement! Ship to ship combat is sick AF though don't touch that. --Enemies (Foot combat) Right now we've got literally a handful of enemies and i could count them on two hands. Sentinels and friends, the mutated horned guys that pop out of eggs, dangerous fauna, and green jellyfish. The only one that is even remotely difficult is the two legged sentinel walker. We need bigger and badder guys! Something that will actually require you to be in a party. OR at the endgame stage of the game with every upgrade imaginable! --Multitool Getting S class upgrades for the multitool is too easy. Also they all play the same. Make them more specialized. S class upgrades should be exclusive and difficult to get! https://preview.redd.it/tghi91o2ncq51.jpg?width=1002&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bf61f76754ae2e79742f02a8c817cfad5a383656 As of right now NMS does not have an endgame. Once you max out your ships and inventory there is nothing left to do but explore and base build. And if you don't gain anything by exploring it feels boring. --Raids Yes this again, its been in every successful MMORPG for a reason! Our brains have evolved to feels happy and satisfied when working in teams. Especially when you finally get some awesome loot! --Min-Max Another attribute of all major successful games. You make the best of the best items in the game very hard and expensive to get, and people will aspire to obtain these items as a status symbol. Plain and simple.
Post - First Experience Game Appreciation / Analysis (Spoilers)
To begin, this is the first ever metro game that I have played, and the most similar game I have played would probably be fallout 4, or Minecraft ;) All jokes aside, I was recommended this game by a friend to test out the graphics and ray tracing, which disappointingly, DX12 continuously glitch out, and crash even with a monster of a computer that I have. However, the visuals on extreme, every settings "ON" was still amazing. The beginning of the game for me was very disappointing due to the huge amount of bugs I have encountered. (Although I am titled the "glitch magnet" amongst my friends). Characters constantly overlap in dialogues, even with themselves. (Note: at this point I still have DX12 on, which may have caused these glitches, will inform when I do turn it off). The first part of the game was similar to fallout 4 to me, where it was a shooter game with survival elements. I was playing on hardcore difficulty, as I think ranger would be too far. Backtrack a little bit, I was introduced to most of the characters in the beginning cutscenes. As a not so social person, the beginning part where the squad surrounds Artyom was a little uncomfortable for me, but did sell the "Camaraderie" spirit to me. Anna was a very well done character that is badass, and... well, the wife of Artyom. Miller screamed stereotypical captain / father in law to me which was also all right. In the first area, it was more of a fetch quest to me. I didn't know there was a good ending, or bad ending to this game. I missed out on a lot of story in the beginning due to overlapping dialogue and "unappearing" subtitles. In an ironic way, this boosted my experience a little bit. Perhaps the most memorable parts of this area was retrieving the teddy and the guitar for me. Due to it being such a small side quest, yet it yields some small significance. It was an honest accident that I stumbled upon Anna which advanced the main quest. Combat was not enjoyable at that point. Enemies kept running on invisible platforms, and are hiding in covers that do not exist, or their hitbox was not where the character models appear. To conclude the first area of the game for me, was that it was a tutorial, where I learn that water is bad, weapons get dirty, weapon modifications are useful, and what types of weapons I should be relying on. I was not aware of the morality system, killed a demon worshipping cultist, and shot back at a lot of the tsar cults. It was when Duke died that made me felt a little sad. Only. a-little because I was unable to connect with the characters due to the insane amount of glitches I have encountered that prevented dialogues, or understanding of the plot. Appreciation time for this small part though. Even I had no idea what happened, the part where Artyom jumped onto the top of the train, alone, with an extra few seconds of nothing really going on really drove home the emotions. I was able to feel that something was wrong, but I just didn't know what. The next area was the Desert. Before proceeding, the opportunity to explore on the train was quite nice. I saw how the guitar paid off, interaction with Anna was memorable, having her mention about Duke's death also helped me connect with the story. (Though, at that point I replied with "who?"). It was something special for me, as the game was willing to take a step away from all the horrors, survival, and general hazard and give peace to the player. Upon arriving the desert, seeing the characters getting exhausted from the heat, and immobilised was weirdly satisfying in terms of gameplay. Where most games would portray everyone to be super human, or super strong and unaffected, they really made certain characters bed rest the entire level, while some were standing strong. It was a squad with individuality that I really liked. This part of the story was clearer to me, I have turned DX12 down to DX11, and learned to counter-act some glitches where pulling up the map will cause my character's eyes to become 3 ft tall, or weapons glitching out. So... water. Desert, need water, obvious enough. Getting the maps was kind of explained, but I wasn't sure. And I was engaged enough to not need to know. Appreciation on the stream-lined design of the map again. Without knowing anything about the map, I stumbled to Saul's area, and got his car. I did not kill him and was frankly being kind as I don't really enjoyed killing people in the first place. So when a non-lethal option presents itself, I most likely would pick it unless the character was shown to be incredibly messed up. This brings me to the bandits(?) slaves(?) Baron henchman(?). While stealthing through the ship to liberate the slaves, I was welcomed with two men fixing a lightbulb. Their conversation was friendly, they were nice to each other, almost civilised. Which pushed me further to go the "non-lethal" route. A small disappointment at this part would be how Saul's storyline never really developed for me. His squad was there when I slept a night in a safe house, and he had a plot of his own going on, remembering that I did not kill him. I also came across a "Baron" character which was delusional but had no "red crosshair" prompt so I never shot him. Sadly, this part will remain a mystery to me, which may be true to life. The spiders were a good introduction, they were REALLY annoying, and I loved it as a part of the gameplay. One part of which in a ship wreckage, where there were a lot of spiders and not a lot of room or light, as an unskilled gamer, I realised the best approach would be to give it the dark souls treatment, which is to run past the and go straight to the objective. Which again, rewards the player for studying the map layout in general. It was not a one time thing as it also happened to help me in the finale and the freeing slaves ship mission. On the ship, I was able to sneak past 2 guards, get cornered, realise i could not go further, turn back, went outside, go in from another door and was behind the guards that would have spotted me had i stayed. I must confess, I realized something was wrong with Anna around being at the desert, which I have googled and thought that she could die (I didn't want to spoil myself too much, but I thought I did something wrong and missed something in the dialogues that were overlapping). It was there when I learnt there was a good and bad ending to the game, but I never researched on how to get either endings. One thing that struck my mind was when I melee the demon worshipping cult member innocent, where I acted as judge, jury and executioner, the "spidey sense" prompt of "clementine will remember that" made me realize, oh, morality system. And meh, I've been good so far, and I remember holstering my gun and approaching a father and son in the first area ended with a peaceful conversation, I tried my very best to remain murderless in the next area. On the train, during the wedding, when Anna got sick, I actually was completely sympathetic towards a video game character, the visual design of the blood smeared across her face instead of a small line of blood was a great design, showing how much she was trying to hide her illness from the others (no matter how stupid). It was a genuine moment of worry and really had me going with the "shit i don't want her to die" mindset. The forest area was, a change of pace. From an open world exploration map of the first area, where I would describe loosely as "fallout 4", to the second desert area where is was a little more "Witcher 3", to now where I would see it as "Sniper elite 4". The sense of dread after losing the backpack was well done. I had quite a lot of equipment, including the NV goggles which I was using rather well, and the weapons that are quite powerful. Throwing the player back all the way with just a crossbow, was a nice touch, though a little unfair like. However, no harm done, I personally think it's rather okay, as at this point, the strongest asset I had was my knowledge to the game, where alternative paths can be explred, and the crossbow bolts are retrievable. Being saved by hot lady had also cemented the idea that "people are forced to be bad, but are they truly bad? I can be judge, jury, but can I really be executioner?". Therefore, I went through this entire area without killing a single person. The animals where interesting. I arrived the area, saved a bandit (which I was extremely conflicted about, I felt as though I saved a bad person and may cause trouble to the peaceful people or hot lady.). The wolves dashed across the fields, which nearly ever ytime I would turn everything off and sit in the bushes or next to a tree and (captain price voice) "let them pass". I was attacked a few times from RNG, but was only killed once as I was not that careful that time. I avoided the bears, went through he stone tunnels and I believe I have skipped some hazardous areas. Again, met a few pioneers which I would try to knockout, cutscene noise made them turn around, and I would ready my weapon. Upon them not attacking, I would holster my weapon, and have them give me dialogues such as "not all outsiders are bad". I don't even bother knocking them out, as I'm not batman. Then. Bear encounter. It was thrilling. I probably could've just cut the ladder down and ran away but I was really missing the action and decided to stand my ground and fight. As someone that had played dark souls 3, I was leaping away, timing my dodges and doing counter attacks. It was not too easy of a fight as the bears attacks were punishing. It was not a new concept to me however, the same goes for dark souls. Winning the fight was amazing, getting the steam achievement felt triumphant. And the "aw fuck" moment when it only ran away and you couldn't chase it down. I spent a lot of time after turning off the DX12 to listen to character dialogue. This included me sitting there listening to Ogla (THAT'S HER NAME) speak for around 10 minutes. and getting the boat to cross the swamp was... painful. Again, I was spotted with 0 line of sight, I even did the smart thing to run back to wait till night time at the camp fire after scouting the area. I had to abuse the quick save and load mechanic a lot here, and prayed to RNGesus that I will not be spotted. Eventually, I got a great RNG (or dynamic difficulty after dying the 15th time) and sailed the boat away getting shot only once. So... stealthed until getting on boat, and ran away on boat without killing anyone. Skippity skip cause this is VERY long haha. Final bear fight. I used... all my ammo. I shot all my rifle rounds, all my explosive bolts, and all bolts. The bear was still standing even though I was careful with my shots, most of them were headshots and the bear was stunlocked at many points. It was "Bloodborne" like, where with more light this time I was able to figure out it's attack tendencies and dodge at the right time. I figured this was the end of the area, and for the past 2 areas, I have mostly used all my resources near the end, and to resupply in the next area, so I wasn't too bothered. But maybe it should have bothered me. The Finale was epic for me, but I think I shall open another post to write about it, because it was amazing. TL;DR. Just sharing my first experience with this game. It was great, glitches and bugs took away quite a bit from me. However, the "Anna" story, Slaves Baron Story, and Child of Forest story was very engaging and kept me interested. Certain visual designs was designed to trick the psychology of the players, which is smart and great design. Will talk about Finale in next post if this post doesn't do bad!
Home » Witcher 3 » Hazardous Goods. Quest Name: Level: – Zone: Quest Type: Hazardous Goods is a short secondary quest available in Velen. Key Facts: Location: Velen: Category: Side Quest: Quest Text Starting NPC. Name: Gert. Additional Info. If you find yourself near Lanka Estate, on the trail above the southern river bank, you can chance Hazardous Goods Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Quest. Group: Secondary Quests Location: Velen. This quest will appear in your journal when travelling on one of the roads in Velen you come across Gert Borel, a man who has been pinned down by his wagon and who needs help. Suggested level: - Hazardous Goods is a Quest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. "On one of Velen's muddy roads Geralt came across an unfortunate soul trapped under his cart. The man had had an accident while hauling corpses of plague victims.The witcher decided to help him." Hazardous Goods Objectives. Hep the trapped man. Hazardous Goods is a secondary quest in The Witcher 3. On the road, Geralt will meet Gert Borel, whose cart with dead bodies is attacked by a group of Ghouls. 1 Journal entry 2 Walkthrough 3 Video 4 Note 5 Gallery On one of Velen's muddy roads Geralt came across an unfortunate soul trapped under his cart. The man had had an accident while hauling corpses of plague victims. The witcher decided Hazardous Goods dude not showing up after doing the quest. The Witcher 3. Close. 2. Posted by. Team Triss. 2 years ago. Archived. Hazardous Goods dude not showing up after doing the quest. The Witcher 3. Is that suppose to happen or I got bug? I already spend a whole month in game waiting but doesn't show up. Hazardous Goods is a secondary quest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Important: if the first part of the quest isn't completed by the time Ghosts of the Past is started, it will not be available until after Ghosts of the Past is finished. 1 Walkthrough 2 Journal Entry 3 Objectives 4 Bugs 5 Notes Just northwest of Lurtch, on the main road, you can come across a cart full of dead plague victims and The Witcher 3. Close • Posted by 1 hour ago. Question on Hazardous Goods Quest. The Witcher 3. So I fired my game back up and this was another random hidden quest I had missed along with helping Boris the Troll. I saved Gert Borel and burned his cart to complete the quest. This is a guide to the quest titled Hazardous Goods from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Read on to learn locations, rewards, best choices, best outcomes, as well as useful tips and strategies for completing this quest. For The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on the PlayStation 4, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "Hazardous Goods quest glitch". The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. All Discussions Screenshots Artwork Broadcasts Videos News Guides Reviews Hazardous Goods, A bugged out quest. So after completing this quest and going a couple meters away, "The Quest Updated" pops up and right after that i get "Quest Failed", Save files don't help and when the quest failes it states that i didn't
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Hazardous Goods - Help the ...
📣If you enjoyed the video, please leave a Click Subscribe , Like , Comment and turn on Bell! 🔔 to get new videos game!!!Thank you for watching my video#Ru... tutorial includes location On one of Velen's muddy roads Geralt came across an unfortunate soul trapped under his cart. The man had had an accident while hauling corpses of plague vict... Yet another glitch in Velen. Even the animations suck in this game... Unbelievable. Overall, the graphics in this game are nothing but pathetic. Just take a ... This is the guy we saved a while back who was trapped under the cart. Hah I guess no one in the Witcher-verse is safe. There are no happy endings! Just point... Walkthrough: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Playlist: https://goo.gl/YSybBK ..... T... Hazardous GoodsRecommended Level: N/A (not shown)Location/ Obtained From: Man trapped under/ on cart being attacked by ghouls along the main path to the West... Hope you guys enjoy my video, if you did please like and subscribe! That would be awesome!
![The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt [#115] - Velen: Hazardous Goods ...](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OPqNy6gIBfQ/default.jpg "tutorial includes location")
