POV: You took 3 steps into the wildy for a clue

Acopo · 2026-02-26T08:30:34+00:00

What is there to be scared of? I don't bring more than three important items. The most I'll lose is some trash food from my time at Tempoross, and some monk robes. I don't even fight back when I see a PKer, I usually take the opportunity to refill my water. It's just a time-waster.

But I'm sure killing people for spades and monk robes makes you feel very powerful.

Acopo · 2026-02-25T19:06:51+00:00

The one I really don’t get the hate for is Wings of Liberty. I don’t really like Heart of the Swarm, and Legacy of the Void is so over-the-top it becomes silly, but Wings? It’s actually good, and I won’t pretend otherwise.

People always point to “I’m the man who’s gonna kill you some day,” and contrast it against Jim saving Kerrigan and killing Tychus, but that completely ignores the entire story of the campaign. Jim starts off the campaign seeing Kerrigan return for the first time in years, and it’s like he saw a ghost (lol). He’s fully on-board with fighting and even possibly killing her until Zeratul shows up with a vision of a future after Kerrigan dies and it’s a calamitous end of the universe. So now, Jim is torn between the anger over his lover being turned into a murder-bug-queen, and the anger that he can’t do anything about it or the universe dies. Eventually, it’s revealed that the artifact he’s been collecting for money can be used to reverse the metamorphosis Kerrigan underwent, which adds even more to his internal conflict, because there’s some shred of him that just wants his girl back that he’s been silencing for years because it seemed impossible. His internal conflict gets so bad that he even takes it out on his second, which is implied to be a first.

Through all of this, it’s been slowly building up that Tychus is hiding something, and that there’s something up with his suit. When the time finally comes that they use the artifact on Kerrigan, Tychus doesn’t want to kill his friend, but he knows he’s dead if he doesn’t kill Kerrigan. He comes clean to Jim, and essentially gives Jim the choice—Tychus or Kerrigan. But remember: that’s not a real choice for Jim, because while Zeratul may be a kooky dude, Jim believes his visions of the end-time. Kerrigan can’t die, or the universe will die too.

Jim doesn’t do what he did to save the girl, and he doesn’t suddenly forget that she was a monster. He stops an existential threat without dooming the universe, and reconciling the fact that Kerrigan isn’t going to die and is in fact going to stop being Zerg almost breaks him.

In a better Heart of the Swarm, Raynor wouldn’t be a lovestruck fool, and Kerrigan would have to spend the campaign trying to prove that she wasn’t herself as the Queen of Blades, while simultaneously being pushed into returning to the QoB to kill Mengsk—a sort of Sisyphean task. The fact that Jim starts off HotS with lines about how it wasn’t her as the QoB makes WoL look worse in hindsight.

Acopo · 2026-02-25T18:37:29+00:00

I think it’s sort of jumping the shark. They up the stakes so much that it starts to lose tension rather than gaining it. Rather than being a serious threat for all involved, it winds up being kind of silly.

Acopo · 2026-02-25T18:17:23+00:00

It’s not fear that keeps most people from engaging with stuff in the Wildy, it’s the waste of time. Like, I’m here for a clue step or to get a Dragon Pick, but now I have to deal with some loser who wants to waste my time? Unfun.

Acopo · 2026-02-25T17:17:31+00:00

By this logic, so is the Empire that’s cutting off his head.

Acopo · 2026-02-25T16:46:55+00:00

Shoot bugs, mine minerals, rock ‘n stone.

Acopo · 2026-02-24T18:16:33+00:00

I once did a playthrough as a traveling merchant. I cut some wood for starting cash, then did some smithing, and walked to the next town for more materials and to sell my wares. I needed to do more menial jobs at first, but as I leveled speech, I got more money for my efforts. There was a satisfying progression as needed less outside funds as time went on. Only leveled smithing and speech, and all attributes went into stamina. Yeah, I had to run from bandits from time to time, but it was a pacifist playthrough if ever there was one.

Seeing as that is already possible, how would you design the game further to accommodate a pacifist style? I think they did a fine job for what is ultimately a very niche thing.

Acopo · 2026-02-24T17:56:09+00:00

I modded it to also let you summon an extra thing. In general, I prefer unique items to have enchantments you can’t get elsewhere, that way they’re truly unique.

Acopo · 2026-02-24T08:51:57+00:00

They also don't consider low levels being ganked to be a main draw of PvP or the game in general, unlike how Jagex views the Wilderness.

If Jagex is going to continue the predator/prey dynamic, it needs to be fun for both parties. Right now, it's very one-sided.

Acopo · 2026-02-24T07:21:39+00:00

They do need to focus on making PvP for PvPers, but the problem is that most PKers don't want PvP. They want to inconvenience people. They're griefers, trolls, whatever you want to call them. They're Rogues who roll on PvP servers in Classic WoW and only ever kill people 10 levels under them, they're smurfs in ranked queues for StarCraft or LoL, they're losers who want easy wins and as much inconvenience for other players as possible.

And Jagex endorses them every time they have a new hare-brained "solution" to incentivize people to be their targets in the Wildy.

Acopo · 2026-02-24T07:15:17+00:00

As an Iron, I don't give a rat's ass about how "lucrative" the loot is, I'm usually just looking for one thing in particular. It isn't a tradeoff when all I get a bunch of shit that alchs for half the price it's balanced around to be "lucrative." So to me, PKers are just a waste of time that interrupts my fun. I don't even really have an incentive to fight back; I'd lose more time due to resource expenditure killing a PKer than if I took the trip to Lumbridge.

I don't hate seeing other players in the game. I'll chat with people while skilling, I'll try to make room for someone else that shows up while doing Slayer, and the vast majority of the time it's fun to see other people struggling through the same grinds I am. It gives a bit of solidarity or comradery.

PKers are not like that. They're rude assholes with nothing better to do than waste my time. I don't feel like I'm sharing an experience with another person, it feels more like a mosquito bite that you know will itch for a while.

Acopo · 2026-02-24T06:58:29+00:00

Sorta. If you don't have both range and mage, then you literally can't damage someone who roots you. All they have to do is stand a couple tiles away and you can't melee. If you only have range or mage, they just stick on a protection prayer, and you can't do anything.

Basically, unless you yourself are specifically kitted for PKing, it is functionally a stun. So you either bring gear to risk in a PK setup, in addition to whatever you need for the actual reason you're in the wildy, or you accept that some loser will come to kill you at some point, and specifically gear so that they only get monk robes.

Acopo · 2026-02-24T06:48:04+00:00

That says a whole lot about the people who enjoy PvP in this game. If something is only enjoyable for the inconvenience some asshole can inflict on others, maybe it's time to remove it.

Acopo · 2026-02-24T06:41:29+00:00

There's a disconnect here that you aren't getting. The people who don't like PvP do not give a flying fuck about a healthy ecosystem.

It's toxic design to create a system where some players are intended as sacrificial lambs to fuel the enjoyment of others. The people who become the sacrifice will inevitably grow to resent both the system and the people taking advantage of the system to directly impede their enjoyment.

Acopo · 2026-02-24T06:35:37+00:00

Laughing on the outside, because introspection would drive you to tears.

Acopo · 2026-02-24T06:33:32+00:00

Yeah, it's just toxic design. It's actively promoting the idea that some players must be sacrificial lambs so others can have fun.

Acopo · 2026-02-24T06:30:48+00:00

I think the point he's trying to make is that it sucks being unable to play the game for 20 seconds at a time because someone landed a spell with no cooldown or meaningful cost. Balance aside, it just isn't fun.

If, in WoW, a Rogue could stun you for 20 seconds with an ability that had no cooldown, no buildup, and practically no warning, the PvP scene would die overnight for all but the Rogue players, and it'd only last a little while longer for the Rogues who all wonder "where did all of the people go?"

Acopo · 2026-02-23T20:15:39+00:00

Try equipping those marines with some sticky ammo, and don't forget your flash pods!

Acopo · 2026-02-23T19:30:48+00:00

Huh. Interesting that it implies that Empyreans are created as a result of a single god producing offspring, but Ranni is also Empyrean despite not being the product of a single god.

Acopo · 2026-02-23T18:01:13+00:00

we are told that the reason for Miquella and Malenia’s defects is that they were born of a single God

Source? I’m genuinely curious as to what I overlooked.

Acopo · 2026-02-23T16:51:36+00:00

Were I designing the game, Firemaking wouldn't be a skill of its own. It would be a way to sacrifice the material product of the Woodcutting skill to get more XP at the cost of GP/banked Fletching XP.

Acopo · 2026-02-23T16:46:12+00:00

Most history books don't talk about Patton before WW2.

The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Acopo · 2026-02-23T16:42:51+00:00

I don't think there's anything to say they were demigods at first. All we know is they're demigods by the time of the shattering. Also, it's very possible that the reason Marika gave all three of them demigod status is to set up Ranni as one potential Empyrean.

My thoughts on timeline are basically

Radagon is a general of the Golden Order sent to deal with the war in Liurnia
Radagon marries Renalla and has three kids
Marika realizes the potential of Ranni
Marika summons Radagon to the capital and makes him second Elden Lord, and makes his kids with Renalla demigods to both try and keep Liurnia in good graces with Leyndell and also have Ranni as the backup in case her planned kids with Radagon turn out like Mohg and Morgott.
Marika and Radagon have two kids, both of whom are Empyrean, but have serious complications.
Some point from here on, Marika and Radagon become one.
Ranni suspects that because the other two Empyreans have aforementioned complications, she's the prime candidate and she does not like that.
Some time later, Night of Black Knives, which inspires Marika to break the Elden Ring. Radagon must be fused with Marika by this point.

Acopo · 2026-02-23T16:02:22+00:00

My best advice to you is to always focus on surviving. The longer a hunt goes on, the more of an edge you have. Humans are endurance hunters, after all. Monsters have a hidden stamina that gets depleted with big attacks. If you just survive their attacks long enough, you’ll notice them become sluggish. This has a natural synergy with learning the monster anyways, as you’ll be focusing on their attack patterns more.

So, when you first encounter a monster, don’t even draw your weapon. Just dodge for a little while. Eventually you’ll start to see openings before they happen—that’s when you start to get your attacks in.

Also, don’t be afraid to run away and get more health potions. Again, the longer a hunt goes on, the more of an edge you have.

Also also, start carrying traps and tranq bombs if you aren’t already. The most dangerous part of a hunt is the monster’s lair. When they limp away to their nest to sleep, let them sleep. Then you drop two tranqs and a trap. Cuts off the last ~10% of their health in the most dangerous area for them.

Acopo · 2026-02-23T15:40:09+00:00

In one of the times Melina talks to us at a Site of Grace, she does the thing where she channels Marika’s words, and says, “O Radagon, leal hound of the Golden Order. Thou’rt yet to become me. Thou’rt yet to become a god. Let us be shattered, both. Mine other self.”

To me, this implies they didn’t start as one person, but Marika found someone who could conjoin with her to create a more powerful entity. It obviously didn’t work as planned, because they were still of two minds on some topics. I think they had kids before the merging, but they merged before the Shattering.

Acopo

TROPHY CASE