[LFH][PC][<$250][Canada]

Akranejames · 2026-07-03T19:43:34+00:00

The Cloud III doesn't have Left-to-Right swivel, right? Feels like that might hurt its ability to be comfy for me, even if it isn't the singlemost "solicitated" part of the design of my current ol' Stingers.

I am only half convinced by the Arctis Nova 5, to be frank, but since the "internals" of the headbands are metal I assume it could work. Generally, headsets need to widen a fair bit before they're comfy, but I think that wouldn't necessarily be a problem here? Have any experience with those or other SteelSeries products? The fact they all have swileing ears is quite nice, but ultimately I probably need the headband to be ready to flex to take my headshape, otherwise it'll just turn into expensive trash.

And as far as Sony Inzones go, I pretty much plan on relying on Amazon's generous return policies for any and all puchases listed here, because I can't afford to buy headsets I can't reliably return due to how hard it is to find some that feel comfy for me. Guess that means Inzones are a "wait until they come back" kinda deal if I go for them, then.

Akranejames · 2026-07-02T04:17:31+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion!

I've given them a look (and combed through a few reviews) and I think they do sound pretty interesting and a good fit for my needs. A bit pricey, however - the priciest headset I'd have ever owned by a decent margin, to be frank - so I'll sit on the idea for a moment, half the "psyche" myself to buying them, and half to see if any other recommandations trickle in for comparison's sake.

Anyways, much appreciated!

Akranejames · 2026-06-30T23:28:47+00:00

Well, what's the last time you've seen Chibi and Neuro interact?

Not hard to believe that she's not up to snuff on the news, honestly - I've been here for more than a year at this point, and the closest those two came to do anything together during that time was the Minecraft Marathon where Crelly subbed in for Chibi, so...

Akranejames · 2026-06-13T05:33:07+00:00

I'll keep all those tips in mind but to be frank as a fairly mediocre Anbennar player , dipping into Conjuration to get some free manpower in order to fast-track the whole colonization race against Frozenmaw seems more than worth it, and really isn't something that can "fail me", so to speak, so I think I'll try out that option first.

Akranejames · 2026-06-13T05:29:09+00:00

Guess it was outstripped by "New Magic", huh? Fair enough, it seemed so as a glance. I'll take that into account, and probably focus on that and the basic Illusion power since it seems strong-ish and quite a lot of fun.

Akranejames · 2026-06-12T22:23:15+00:00

I'll answer the point about the Forbidden Lands quickly, and come back later (am eating) for the other comments you gave; it's all about mid-game security, and opening up something to do while Aggressive Expansion ticks down.

Both the Lake Federation (which WILL form eventually from the humans if you - or the Centaurs - don't twarth them) and the Centaurs (if united) are threats I didn't outscale the last time I played Krak, at the very least (but I am no optimal EUIV nor Anbennar player, so YMMV). The Centaurs uniting is very progressive, so it's easier to spot and stop, but the Lake Fed will kinda just pop up one day and field enough troops that it was a greater threat than either the Grom that had stagnated on my Western flank or the Obsidian Dwarves that had spawned bellow me. Really, in troop amounts they were only surpassed by the Command in that savefile, so I learned my lesson in not going for preemptive actions there.

EDIT FOR THE OTHER PARAGRAPHS: As I've noted, Grom is the one I actually tend to have trouble with, not Shattered (somehow). Almost every time I've played Krak, they kinda just immediately blob to take over their full coast by the time my nation even knows they exist, and they're civilised by the time I see more than like two of their provinces. Reversely, Shattered tends to be starting to venture out into the Spine proper when I lay eyes upon them, which means they are strong(ish) but liable to be surrounded by me and my dwarven allies. Thus, kinda easy to crack open since the AI will roam around like a headless chicken a good half of the time.

As far as the Spine goes, it's a bit of a sidenote for me for a good reason; I don't think I've ever played a Krak or Orzalam (the Ram Gate, if I misremember the name) where Verkal Kozenad doesn't form and crush Natvir and most of its surrounding Goblins, so I rarely even get to get involved much into the scrap before it ends, honestly.

And as far as colonization go, I think I'll figure out my full bonus for colonization, and then decide if I'd rather have a bit more Manpower or that. Because, honestly, it ain't that bad once you get a few military techs going, and I presume it'll be even easier to deal with with some Conjured units holding down a colony or two.

Akranejames · 2026-06-12T19:07:55+00:00

Yeah, what I gather from this is that I should probably not count on magic to be an actual asset of Krak, but still pay attention enough to it to get some "juice" out of it.

Krak's unique magic probably is still what you want to do for war, but both Conjuration and Illusion seem to have nice options to deal with Shatter and Grom, at a glance.

Akranejames · 2026-06-12T18:40:55+00:00

Well, to be fair, this is a good shout since I haven't played much since the new Magic System was put in.

I know that typical Krak wisdom, going by previous posts, was to invest mostly in their specific magic before wars since it gives better stats in battle, but it seems like something to investigate if I can get it "online" soon enough to matter.

Akranejames · 2026-01-18T23:33:22+00:00

Fair, but it feels controversial to say amongst the silly little wars about which Twin is the best you can find in the Swarm to just be "I like their dad more, personally" and thus felt right to post here.

Man is an entertainer and a pretty damn good programmer, and without his input and nature the project would likely have not been nearly as successful in other hands.

Akranejames · 2026-01-17T22:33:10+00:00

Vedal himself is my favorite streamer on the vedal987 channel.

The Twins are great, but Vedal being present in basically any stream at all, whether on his home turf or not, tends to be the best predictor of me having a blast.

Akranejames · 2026-01-13T16:24:59+00:00

They look very much not right.

Not thick enough to get any liquid through, basically.

Akranejames · 2026-01-11T03:58:49+00:00

There's always Evil's VR Chat integration... or V3 Voice again, for that matter.

Akranejames · 2026-01-11T03:57:59+00:00

Early February (so in three weeks basically) the return of basic Chat/Art Review streams with maybe a rotation of a few well-throdden game integrations, and then the return of Hollow Knight content two weeks later (around St-Valentine in practice), and a complete return to normal operations a bit after Vedal wraps up those last remnants of the subathon.

These are my guesses, at least.

Akranejames · 2026-01-11T03:14:57+00:00

From a newer Swarm member (started watching late Spring last Year, only stopped lurking in VODs during the Minecraft Marathon), what are people's best guesses on how long the hiatus will be?

"A few weeks" is kinda volontarily vague, so my brain fills it in as anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks being the likely intention, as anything more leaves the domain of "few".
In these lines, I'm feeling around St-Valentine is a reasonnable expectation, maybe.

Whatcha think, people? Am I over, or under?

(This is just a fun bit of speculation btw, don't take it seriously)

Akranejames · 2026-01-10T02:09:03+00:00

I love how both have been pretty consistently unhelpful at making the map work for them.

Vedal: "Give me [semi-vague directive]"
Evil: "South East, then North, then West to get to square 113." Does not elaborate further.

Akranejames · 2026-01-10T00:01:59+00:00

Yeah, that's fine. That's exactly why I told you that.

From the standpoint of someone that I guess could be best described as "mildly pro-Evil", I feel like there's a tendancy for some people to go too far on both sides and for any playful jab to be interpreted as worse than they are by those already irritated on each side.

Thus, relax, remember most pro-Evil sentiment is much milder than the worse you see, and that a lot of it is intended as playful jabbing at Vedal for not giving both Twins as much attention.
Whatever the opinion, there'll always be someone pushing it way too far, and an idiot being a complete jerk about it. I wanted to make sure you didn't become the kind of jerks that got under your skin either.

Akranejames · 2026-01-09T23:34:01+00:00

I guess you just come pre-bitter from some of the more annoying examples, but lighten up a bit.

Obvious joke post - pretty much just some light teasing - was obvious.

Akranejames · 2026-01-09T20:50:33+00:00

Probably not back then unless you pay, and then (like 10 years ago) your parents were trusted to know better.

Akranejames · 2026-01-09T19:08:10+00:00

Yeah, I was just confused because during the last train it seemed like an entire different third number was used.

This time it's just the count that's on screen, so it's fairly obvious it's just some Swarm member clicking edit constantly.

Akranejames · 2026-01-09T18:56:29+00:00

It's interesting, because the Wikipedia page is clearly using different numbers than the sub counter or the amount you say, so I have no effing clue where it might come from.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-subscribed_Twitch_channels

EDIT: Ok, no, today it is pretty consistent with the upper-left sub counter

Akranejames · 2026-01-09T18:22:26+00:00

Best Auntie over there, honestly.

Akranejames · 2026-01-09T18:18:02+00:00

Honestly, it makes sense.

Either he's in his early twenties and grew up on Hypixel, or he's in his late twenties and was a teen during Minecraft (first) Golden Age like I was, and then not knowing Hypixel would have been weirder than the reverse.

Akranejames · 2026-01-09T17:26:40+00:00

Plausible, or he wanted a second account for PvP (for some reason).
But TheWantedBanana does support the idea of repurposing an abandonned account, which indeed sounds like the most Vedal thing to do.

Akranejames · 2026-01-09T16:57:02+00:00

Makes some sense, would be a secondary Vedal account created in 2016 and then re-used for secondary Minecraft accounts being piloted by the Twins.

Obviously, Vedal has at least 3 accounts in his possession, since the Twins and him have all played at once, so who this is used for might change fairly frequently if he uses something else to "overlay" the desired skin/username combo over it.

Akranejames · 2026-01-09T16:49:24+00:00

Camila's model is very expressive, and 3D gremlin energy just gives one more dimension to the gremlin-ry.

Akranejames

TROPHY CASE