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Skye

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Posts posted by Skye

  4. Posted

    So what do you all plan to do with your effigies? I think I'm gonna do Omniknight or Disruptor. Maybe Tinker, depending on the animations.

     

    I'm going to be split by indecision for several weeks, most likely. Enigma is My Boy™ but he has no cosmetics yet, so I might go with someone who just looks styling with the items I have, like PA (when the Arcana comes out - the Arcana and the Nimble Edge set look amazing together) or Legion Commander (Arcana and Stonehall set). Then again, Juggernaut looks great now with that mix between the Bladekeeper and the Thousand Faces set. But what about Templar Waifu's nice blend of Nightshade and Hidden Flower? Or maybe Rubick, or Techies, or aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.

  5. Posted

    http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/0/02/Orac_prophecies_017.mp3

     

    I'm not sure how to feel about this. 

     

    Well, if past experiences with the DOTA community are to be regarded, it means Oracle is immediately 0/10, everyone at Valve should be shot in the back of the head with a 12 gauge, and anyone who is not immediately sickened and outraged is less than human and is not welcome in society unless they wear a bag over their heads at all times.

     

    Or it could be a lame joke. One or the other.

  6. Posted

    I don't know what qualifies as "anime tier". Curved swords? Blue lines? More "dat hips"? I can only guess the third, and it's not even that pronounced.

     

    As for the Nemesis Assassin event, that sounds... Well, I know I just called out people being buzzkills, but man, it sounds awful. Why make it so exclusive to the Arcana? I mean, I bought it, but I know a lot of people won't and it seems like a really unnecessary pay wall. I dunno, mahn. I just dunno.

  7. Posted

     

    Day 3 will most likely detail an event called "Nemesis Assassin", which will be used in Matchmaking and Ranked Matchmaking in some way.

     

    'Weapon evolves and changes colors as Phantom Assassin fulfills contracts. Purchase this item to initiate the Nemesis Assassin Event in your matches.'

     

    Whoopie dee doo.

     

     

    I+d+believe+it+considering+it+s+a+stuffe

     

    Although yes, if this event is restricted to the Arcana somehow, people are going to be upset. Sweetly, hilariously, and wonderfully upset.

  8. Posted

    Full Day 2 here. Info for those who may need it:

    • Oracle. I'll presume you already know about him. Voice is quite alike to Bane. Effects are pretty.
    • Manifold Paradox is the PA arcana. Gives two curved swords to PA. Has the usual Arcana traits; custom particles, spell icons, hero icon, portrait, effects, animations, voice, and so on. Two unique things; PA's kills leave a sword in the ground as a memorial, and the weapon evolves and changes color as PA 'fulfills contracts.' Can be pre-ordered (yes) for 20%. In my opinion, looks amazing and the new voice is really good, plus the 20% off is appreciated.
    • DOTACinema chest. Contains the following sets: steampunk Timbersaw, death adder Venomancer, Skyrim barbarian Centaur Warrunner, Anubis Necrophos, and scrap-and-junk Clockwerk. Has an angel/demon courier as a rare reward. Most notably, you can buy the sets in the store as well (presumably, the chest is cheaper than an individual set, and is the only way to get the courier.)
    • Charm of the Defender's Vision. Works like the Prophet's Prediction from the Compendium - before an All Pick game, guess if you'll win. Three correct guesses and you get a free DOTACinema chest. Two incorrect guesses and you get a 'Charming Celebration' item (whatever that is.)
    • New creep models for Compendium owners. They wear headgear and some armor based on their respective ancient (like the radiant melee wears a white stone helmet with blue lights.) Looks great.
    • Heroic effigies for Compendium owners. Basically, you pick a hero and make a statue in their image. You can set what cosmetics they're wearing (as long as you own them) and make them pose in a certain way (such as when they're using a specific animation, like Enigma using Black Hole.) It then appears in your base. Pretty damn cool. Arcana aside, my favorite addition in the update.
    • Compendium gems finally unlock into... a gem. Presumably a spectator gem. Oh, and an emoticon. Not amazing, but eh, it's nice.
    • Manifold Paradox shirt on sale at WeLoveFine. Looks great.
    • Other little changes, fixes, etc. Most notable, Broodmother and Phoenix are now in Captain's Mode. Interesting.

    Day 3 will most likely detail an event called "Nemesis Assassin", which will be used in Matchmaking and Ranked Matchmaking in some way.

  9. Posted

    A story in which THREE PEOPLE ARE IN A PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE!

     

    HOT SHIT COMING THROOOOOOOOOOUGH chugga chugga chugga chugga

     

    Spoiler
    Mr. Bennett paced backwards and forwards outside the door, running a hand through his hair. On any other day, he might have been more worried about how it was getting thinner and seemed a bit more grey every time he checked, but right now he had bigger concerns on his mind. Each footstep was accentuated by the ticking of the clock of the wall, like a pendulum that Mr. Bennett tried to keep his heartbeat measured against, but the two tempos were out of sync - one was strict and measured, while the other was jumping from slow periods of euphoria to quick dashes of stress.

     

    Mr. Bennett stared at the 'No Cigarettes Allowed' sign on the wall of the meeting room. He had the urge to spit on it, but the CCTV camera kept his inhibitions in check.

     

    As the seconds ticked by through a minute that stretched into eternity, the door opened. Mr. Bennett turned to face the woman. The first few things he noticed about her was her sensibly short haircut, her enviable hourglass curves, and the sharp business attire that visibly stated her occupation to whoever had laid eyes upon her. The other things he noticed was the vibrant green skin color, the darker shade of green for her hair, and the peace lily firmly planted on her crown near the back of the head. It was an ordinary sight to him - the principal of Cloverton High School, Mrs. Crane.
     
    "Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Bennett," she said, pushing her glasses back to their proper place after they had wrongfully slackened off and loitered near the tip of her nose for too long. "Come in."
     
    The woman gestured and the man agreed, entering without a word. The inside of the office was a haven for those who enjoyed order and organisation - right angles, appropriate distances, and plain yet sensible furniture with little decoration. Mrs. Crane's office matched its owner in every way, and now Mr. Bennett was having a hard time picturing the woman anywhere else.
     
    However, one thing in particular was unlike the room. It was in the middle of the room, hunched and drooping, much more sullen and lifeless than the several plants by the window. Most alarmingly, it had bruises across its body, and a trickle of blood had dried around its nose. Its hair was disheveled, and as it turned to face him, a black eye was immediately visible, blotting against its pale skin.
     
    "M-Meg," Mr. Bennett began in a stammer. To him, Mrs. Crane, her room, and everything else around him ceased to exist as he swooped to his daughter and hugged her. The girl did not cry or complain, nor did she plead or beg, but she returned the hug in full force. Mr. Bennett spun around to face the principal, who had grown very interested in her completely blank wall instead of the display of affection. "You didn't tell me she was like this!"
     
    If Mrs. Crane was alarmed by Mr. Bennett's sudden raise in volume, she made no indication and kept her immovable demeanor. "My apologies, Mr. Bennett. I had assumed that my secretary told you. Now please, take a seat."
     
    Mr. Bennett paused for a moment before slowly lowering himself into the seat beside his daughter. Megan glanced over and silently regarded how white his knuckles were, before he remembered to unclench his fists and he released them back to normal. She continued to hide herself in her large hooded coat and her shaggy and unkempt brown hair. Mrs. Crane closed the door and sat in her office chair.
     
    "So," Mr. Bennett began, his voice back to its usual self. "What happened here?"
     
    Mrs. Crane cleared her throat, either as a necessity or as some sort of subtle gesture. "Well, as a matter of fact, that is why I called you over with such urgency. Your daughter refuses to tell me what happened, and-"
     
    "You know she's-"
     
    "Yes, I'm well aware, Mr. Bennett," Mrs. Crane interrupted, holding up her hand as she did. "But even so, Megan has made no effort to communicate about what caused this. She was offered a pen and paper, or whatever device she wished to use, but she has declined them on each account. Furthermore, the other aggressors in this incident have their own story of what happened, and claim that Megan did far worse to them."
     
    Mr. Bennett looked at his daughter. Megan couldn't stop herself from glancing to her side and staring back, and when their eyes met, a hundred words were already exchanged through the girl's single look.
     
    "She didn't do it," Mr. Bennett stated. He said it with the same conviction as an absolute fact, as if he had just said that the sky was blue or that two and two made four.
     
    Mrs. Crane allowed a small sigh to escape as her nostrils flared. "I'm afraid I'll need her version of the story for the record, Mr. Bennett. I can't allow your word alone to whisk away the rumors I've been hearing all afternoon because of this. So if you could... coerce?"
     
    The father and daughter continued to lock eyes with each other. Mr. Bennett nodded first. "Very well. Meg, can you tell me what happened? And please be honest. I know when you're lying, and you know that too."
     
    Meg's eyes broke away, staring at her muddied sneakers and the dried blood on her knuckles. There were still a few spots of mucus and spit on her sleeve, and the bandaging around her thumb was getting sore again. If she had the capacity to sigh like Mrs. Crane could, she would have done so, but instead she had to cope with her own capabilities. Meg looked back up again with a nod, and her arms and fingers burst into motion, painting motions in the air. To her principal, it was an incoherent flurry, but to her father, it was a simple yet complex language that the two of them could understand.
     
    [it was lunch time. I was minding my own business. Writing stuff. Someone started calling me out. Mocked me for being mute. It pissed me off. Nobody else bothered to help. That pissed me off even more. I didn't hit them until they hit me. He... said something about Mom.]
     
    Although she could not understand the conversation they were having, even Mrs. Crane could see an interesting development - Megan's motions faltered and she was visibly shaking, while Mr. Bennett's eyebrows raised in alarm and his arms were already up and on his daughter's shoulders. As a principal, she had dealt with many young people when they were emotional, and from the flexing fingers to the diluted irises, she was intrigued to see that it wasn't the predictable fear or distress, but it seemed more like... anger.
     
    Mr. Bennett signed back to his daughter. Despite being fully capable of speech, he preferred to leave the conversation private. [i understand. It's okay.]
     
    Megan bit her flaking bruised lip, all too familiar with the coppery taste of blood at this point. Her skin felt hot all over and it seemed like her heart was in a vice grip. [They knew it would make me mad. I tried not to, but I was so-] Megan's fingers fidgeted in hesitation. [i was so fucking angry.]
     
    Mr. Bennett tutted, but did little more than that. [i don't blame you.] For the first time since he had walked into the room, Mr. Bennett saw his daughter smile, as they seemed to slip into their own world for just a brief moment. Everything in the room was angular and clean and perfectly in place, but to him, nothing in the room was more amazing than the bloodied and dirtied teenager sitting before him with a tiny smile on her face. [How many were there?]
     
    Megan sniffled - not because she was crying, but because a loose dribble of blood had tried to escape. She held up three fingers, grazes still visible along their skin.
     
    Mr. Bennett nodded in acknowledgement. [Who was in charge? Who started it?]
     
    Megan paused, her teeth clenching in rage as the name popped up in her head, but she still had the challenge of getting it out of hers and into everyone else's. The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Her injured thumb stung with each button press, but as always, she typed out what was on her mind with impeccable speed - Mrs. Crane could scarcely believe how fast she was, to the point that it was almost a blur, like the sign language she had seen.
     
    Mr. Bennett looked at the phone screen, and read it aloud for the principal to hear. "Devin Layman?"
     
    Mrs. Crane leaned forward, eager to finally interject into a conversation she could actually partake in. "Ah, Devin, same year as Megan. Troublesome, but not outright violent as far as I know. What about the boy?"
     
    "Megan claims that she was bullied and attacked by him and two others," Mr. Bennett replied.
     
    Mrs. Crane flicked her eyes to her pupil, who refused to make eye contact but nodded as some sort of approval to the fact given, and so Mrs. Crane dutifully looked back to Mr. Bennett. "They claimed that Megan was the provoker."
     
    [i DIDN'T START SHIT!] Megan wanted to shout. Instead, she frantically signed it to nobody in particular, simply venting the 'words' away. With no means of speech, Megan often found it maddening to have so many things on her mind that she couldn't express to people. Thankfully, her father interjected, putting an arm in his daughter's way to block her angered gestures (in case Megan chose a particular angry gesture that even Mrs. Crane would recognize.)
     
    "Mrs. Crane, can I ask which student you find more likely to bully people and start fights with them - Megan, or Devin?"
     
    For the second time, Mrs. Crane let a tiny sigh escape her - the answer was obvious. Megan had her history of hostility against other students and even a few teachers, but nothing more than passive-aggressive behavior and an intense desire to be left alone. Devin, on the other hand, was a student who was 'conveniently' appearing in many rumors and whispers amongst the more frightened pupils, as something akin to a high school dictator. It made no logical sense for a lone wolf to pick a fight against a hunter.
     
    "I concede the point, Mr. Bennett," she admitted quietly, "I'm afraid violent behavior is not tolerated in Cloverton High under any circumstances, so Megan will still receive punishment, but I believe this is Devin Layman' 'last straw' as they say. I will gather more witness reports from anyone who saw the incident, to be safe, and involve the police if I deem it solid enough to consider Devin a threat to my students."
     
    Mr. Bennett glanced at his daughter. The green eyes were narrowed and almost alight with the anger of being punished for what she (and he) considered perfectly valid and fair, but she crossed her arms and restrained herself. Knowing her quite well, he could hazard the guess that the revenge on Devin was sufficient enough to appease her. 
     
    The Bennetts left the office with a slip, confirming that Megan was to take the rest of the week off for further medical attention and 'personal reflection on your offensive behavior.'" As soon as the two of them had exited the building into the cold afternoon sun of a winter day in Canada, Megan tore the slip into shreds and threw them away, joining the rest of the falling snow on the ground. She trod on it with her sneakers for good measure. Mr. Bennett laughed and stomped a few of the pieces as well, and Megan smirked, before looking at him and signing a question.
     
    [You're not mad at me?]
     
    Mr. Bennett laughed even harder, a rough but heartfelt chortle that he had inherited from his father in spades. "Meg, I got into far worse when I was your age, believe me. If someone punches you, you punch them back. It's what Bennetts do."
     
    Megan's smirk became wider. It was a rare sight, but it was a sight Mr. Bennett never stopped cherishing. She signed her response. [Thanks, Dad.]
     
    "No problem, sweetheart," he said, returning the smirk.
     
    Meg signed once more. [Let's go home. It's god damn freezing.]

     

    Mr. Bennett signed in agreement. [God bless Canada.]

     

    Entertaining the idea of a mute protagonist, a parent/child relationship, and the setting of Cloverton I've made (although none of that is in this, it's just musing on a situation in the past.) Don't be confused as to why the lady is like a plant. It's not important. Honest.

  16. Posted

    According to the DOTABUFF rankings, I am in the top 5% of Enigma players worldwide. That's pretty cool.

    Then again, it says I'm "Platinum Division" with at least 5 heroes, so I have doubt on the credentials of all the ones that aren't Enigma.

     

    EDIT: And coincidentally, as I posted this today of all days, we get this. (I FORESAW THIS.)

    It's a very short comic, but it's really nice just to see a comic of any kind with the DOTA characters. A very Disney-esque art style, which is a bit weird to adjust to after the much more "realistic" (at least palette and design wise) "Are We Heroes Yet?" comic. I hope they do more in the future. Plus that sword at the end is possibly the PA arcana, so I also correctly foretold that it would be a weapon. Smart move selling that Scythe while it was pricey.

  18. Posted

    Are they any Playstation 4 exclusives that really shape that console? Because, you know, Xbox One is just parading the Master Chief Collection, and Bungie have had me by the balls for over a decade so god damn it, it's working. 

     

    Also, giving Katawa Shoujo a go (with adult content disabled, since that ain't my jam.)

     

    EDIT: Accidentally pressed an option that immediately came up. THIS IS WHAT "ARE YOU SURE?" BOXES ARE FOR, GENIUSES.

  20. Posted

    You may wish to narrow your field of view down to maybe a specific genre or something similar. If you're bored and have no budget, I'd just say that you should browse the Free to Play section of Steam until something strikes a chord. The most popular choices would be TF2 and DOTA2, but you could also go for stuff like Warframe, Planetside 2, Spiral Knights or Blacklight Retribution. If you want a little indie gem to put some hours into, Iji is a personal favorite of mine.

  21. Posted

    Anyone had experience with mute characters? Considering it for my second Firefly character, supposing I'm not peer pressured out of it like I was last time (I've pulled enough weight with the first character to be considered "not useless" by my peers.) I can imagine the best way to handle them is just describing what they do, such as "he points at the fighter and then at the goblin, drawing a finger across his neck." Which is what I slip into all the time anyway. Just not sure if there's a better way to do it - writing is possible, but while I type quickly, I write phenomenally slowly.

  22. Posted

     

    EDIT: Episode 2 is about Robotnik crashing with Sonic at his house and being a bad roommate. What the fuck. I guess this one is crossed off the list. Maybe I'll go back to anime or something.

    "Get a load of this, Sonic! I used all your dishes and then left them in the sink WITHOUT WASHING THEM! HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"

     

     

    I actually can't tell if that was a joke or if you're talking about the episode, because there actually is a short scene about him and washing dishes.

     

    its utter genius

  23. Posted

     

    TL,DR: It's not very good. Nice ideas, poor execution, sticky fingerprints of dumbing down for kids all over the place.

     

    Sonic in a nutshell.

     

    :pinkiegasm:

     

     

    True enough. Sonic X was even worse for this - 4Kids and such - although the third season actually did get creative, get dramatic, and play things rather seriously. And then it got cut short and they killed the most interesting character. Whoops.

     

    Also SatAM was great. But also cut short. Jeez, it's like SEGA have this phobia of being creative.

     

    ...And why the fuck does he wear bandages on his shoes?

  24. Posted

    So, Sonic Boom. Watched the first episode of that. GENERAL THOOOOOUGHTS

     

    Spoiler
    Opening in media res with an action scene is a good move, reminiscent of the first scene in Sonic X and the best one it would have for about half a season. That said, it's not as good. It looks better, but Sonic X had a better setup (huge Robotnik base being infiltrated as opposed to Sonic and Robotnik having a little tussle in a canyon with one robot) and also had the better soundtrack. Sets up the show well enough, but it's underwhelming.

     

    The general plot is that Tails gets injured and so Sonic decides to hire a new sidekick. Let's ignore the fact that Tails is perfectly fine within a short period of time, and the fact that the two of them are the best of friends and that Sonic would never do something so drastic in such a cold fashion (he literally just says "you're fired" and walks out the door) and just look at the plot objectively. It's lame and it's been done before. The idea that Robotnik wants to take part is pretty funny, but loses the charm after a little while. And then it's just Tails and Robotnik having a race. At least Sonic X opened with a huge action sequence, an enormous anomaly in time and space, and a race that exceeds the speed of sound. Basically, in that first episode, things happened. In this, it does not feel like things happened.

     

    The writing is... haphazard. Sometimes it's alright, and does the job well - there's one joke about Robotnik being tsundere for Sonic that had me laughing pretty hard - but sometimes the thick smear of jokes clearly intended for children is spread. Thick. Some of the lines were bringing out the groans, particularly when Amy is doing her "trying too hard to impress Sonic" thing, and some didn't even make sense. The security camera joke took a while to register to me as an actual joke (there wasn't really a punchline, it was just an out-of-place fourth wall gag.) There was another joke about a parking ticket which... I don't... what?

     

    The animation is both good and bad. Good in that the visual quality is strong, the new designs are memorable (and arguably dumb, like MACHO KNUCKLES, but at least memorable and distinct in some regard) and it handles the 3D issues of shading and lighting without anything glaring or feeling out of place. It also brings some good moments when things are moving, such as the "surfboard" race where it pulls a lot of good camera shots. However, the storyboard artist needs to be fired. For any scene where things are quiet or slow, only the simplest of animations or facial expressions are used. They actually do sort of look like puppets in a few places. There's one scene on an ice lake (in the middle of a jungle...?) where every facial expression, every reaction, and every mood made by the voice acting is out of place - Sonic looks angry as he sadly says something, he looks cheerful as he says something suggesting he's frightened, and Tails looks pleased about something he should be annoyed about. It's so distracting. And while it may just be on my end (Youtube videos aren't always the genuine thing) I believe the lip syncing is a rush job and there were times when it seemed to be lagging behind. Oh, and it uses speed lines quite often, which is -10 points in animation bingo for your background artist being too lazy. And finally, there's some fire particle effects in here which are laughably bad. On the whole, looks promising, but pretty much isn't.

     

    Characterization is also hit and miss, but probably the best thing it does. Sonic and Tails are fine - it's hard to mess up "cocky teenager" and "geeky younger bro". Knuckles is simple but cool in a funny way, just how lax he is with his posture and his tone of voice. Much more fun to watch than the hyper-aggro-angsty Knuckles from Sonic X. Amy is, well, I honestly don't know. She actually does have some proper personality besides "fangirl" this time, with this snappy way of moving and this enthusiasm and energy to her, but it's also quite overbearing and annoying at times. I'm going to make a tentative thumbs up, on the basis that it's at least better than "I HOPE SONIC LOVES ME" all the time. And Robotnik is hammy and conniving and just fills up the screen whenever he appears. He's pretty fun to watch, especially when he's feeling particularly villainous and turning up the volume.

     

    The resolution is reached in about three lines of dialogue and one nice musical cue. Shallow. The moral is something about friendship or whatever. It's rushed, it's dumbed down, and you've heard it a million times before anyway.

     

    Voice acting quickfire!

    Sonic is alright. Does fine, but sounds unusually old and deep. There's one part that really sucks though - Sonic is drowning and he says "I can't swim" in the most pedestrian, average, not-fucking-drowning-to-death way possible. Flatter than Mr. Game & Watch. Probably more down to direction than the actor himself, though.

    Tails is spot on. May be irritating to some, but he's young and enthusiastic.

    Robotnik is on the ball as always. His voice always makes me grin. EVIL HAAAAAAAM.

    Knuckles and Amy are also okay. Knuckles in particular was pretty good, Amy is either great or awful depending on your tastes.

    Orbot is good. Cubot is not. There's a Grounder and Scratch thing going on there, though it's not that bad. They're not in here for long, anyway.

    One side character was voiced like Droopy, which was actually kind of funny, but then he appears too often, and it gets old fast.

     

    On the whole, it's... pretty mediocre. There's good elements, but there's some obvious parts where the team was lazy and phoned things in. The dialogue is cheesy and most of the jokes not involving Robotnik fall flat, the art style is good but not supported with strong enough animation, the voice acting is poor on the whole with only Robotnik as a standout performance, and the plot is your simple Saturday Morning Cartoon bollocks. The only real thing it brings to the table is superior characterization - Robotnik is hammy and entertaining, Knuckles is more likeable in his two lines of dialogue than he ever was in Sonic X, and Amy is annoying but actually has a personality now. That and some neat designs. But really, that's about it. Probably better than Sonic X on a technical level, but not by a wide margin (and even then, that's only counting the first season of Sonic X - its third season surpasses this.)

     

    TL,DR: It's not very good. Nice ideas, poor execution, sticky fingerprints of dumbing down for kids all over the place.

     

    EDIT: Episode 2 is about Robotnik crashing with Sonic at his house and being a bad roommate. What the fuck. I guess this one is crossed off the list. Maybe I'll go back to anime or something.

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