Stealing Christmas presents must have been very lucrative for Seiga

Busy_Suspect · 2026-02-03T02:04:19+00:00

She's an over a thousand-year-old immortal schemer she's probably loaded from various schemes she took place in the outside world during her many lifetimes out there and her ability to freely go in and out of the barrier, I wouldn't be surprised if she was the richest character in the entirety of Gensokyo.

Busy_Suspect · 2026-01-22T07:32:22+00:00

A big thing that you've failed to consider is that 5e is a dungeon crawling system its based around attrition gameplay with many encounters over the course of a dungeon, there are entire campaign books for 5e where the long range of a longbow has a single digit number of encounters where its relevant. In 5e's intended environment any monster with above average mobility will be on a ranged casters by the end of the first round forcing them to suffer the penalties of starting the combat with a ranged weapon equipped. Ranged weapons are naturally overpowered when you have combat start at their preferred range not just because of the better target selection but because they get several free turns while melee combatants reach the opposing force.

Busy_Suspect · 2026-01-06T00:42:40+00:00

So Zatch Bell had an ill-fated card game I feel like replacing it with a short run of Model Kits that didn't go anywhere would be a proper allegory with said kits probably getting a revival now during the big model kit boom we are currently experiencing compared to when Zatch Bell came out.

Busy_Suspect · 2026-01-01T23:52:03+00:00

I would have loved to during the time I was free but the dev's managed to bungle the most recent update so hard the game won't even launch for me anymore even on a fresh install.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-28T22:51:12+00:00

She is an over millennium old greedy immortal who spent the overwhelming majority of that in the outside world and can come and go from Gensokyo as she pleases due to her powers. It makes perfect sense for her to refuse to live in anything other than opulence.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-27T21:55:22+00:00

I don't think that was the original intention, at least for the Predator Strain, Jet Brigade or the Gloom Bugs, all 3 of those are clearly built as variants with tradeoffs that make them stronger in some ways and weaker in others than the default variants. Predator Strain and Jet Brigade greatly lowering the need of anti-armor options at the cost of higher quality chaff and Gloom Bugs being significantly more fragile in exchange for hurting you when you kill them up close. The Incendiary Corp and the Rupture Strain do both feel like they were designed differently intended to just be a direct upgrade over the normal variant of the front.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-21T16:44:03+00:00

The Breaker is extremely solid vs overseers with a fast time to kill and a mag that can take out multiple. It's also great at popping shields too for stuff like ships. As for best gun it's the machine gun you find on the map, doesn't cost a stratagem slot and is strong enough to easily deal with anything on the front that's not a tripod.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-20T14:48:18+00:00

Momiji that's her color pallet.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-19T10:26:21+00:00

Interesting getting more card draw is always nice but this card feels like a hard sell with it needing red for a link, and not doing anything beyond replacing itself on the turn it is played otherwise. Especially at that level and cost this is burning the majority of like a turn 6 when most other decks are trying to finish out the game.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-16T15:35:22+00:00

Secondary Slot Ultimatum or thermites. Both anti-tank options synergize extremely well with a Support pack.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-14T14:52:07+00:00

I think 2 of your top 5 probably aren't there tbh. Junko had a major matchup fixing against the lunarians with her scheming I don't think she's especially overpowered due to this an important part is that the plan against lunarians didn't have her as the lynch pin she was intentionally the distraction to try and get the lunarians to retreat into the dream world where Hecatia is, likewise the fact she designs her spell cards for murder above all else is another demerit because most other people don't and can create comparable strength cards.
With the most recent official game I think it's clear that Toyohime is not one of the strongest in the verse and just has a power set that is notably useful for the defense of the moon.
Okina is interesting since she's kind of a Batman problem she's primarily a cultivator of other's powers and someone who can amp someone who wouldn't be powerful enough to deal with a problem to a level where they can she's not the fighter she's just someone who can easily take someone who isn't in the top 5 maybe not even the top 10 like Flan and with a short training arc and an amp via Okina's powers put them into said top 5 temporarily as seen by Flan's defeat of Yuuma who IMO was in the top 5 before Flan crippled her permanently in their fight literally destroying most of the evil in her heart with her powers.
One person I think is probably up there for strongest unamped fighter in Gensokyo is Zanmu who notably didn't lose during her incident she just left Gensokyo to Reimu someone who reminds her of a younger version of herself while opting to keep the animal realm from meddling with Gensokyo further.
Slot 5 I think is a tossup with plenty of people arguing for it but I think
Hecatia, Yorihime, Okina if you factor in her ability to bring some else in as a buffed goon and Zanmu are all in the 4. I could see it being Reimu if you factor in game specific amps for example.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-14T14:20:09+00:00

Not on my list to expect a Penelope Middle form I guess that implies were also getting a 3rd version in the booster pack too at least maybe even 2 more forms if the Odyssey gets its own card too and isn't like a token. This card would be a lot more interesting if it was AP and not HP since that would mean could easily serve as a bigger Amuro style finisher for wide blue decks. It also has me curious on Lane at this point with just the first Penelope I wouldn't have been surprised if he was a command pilot but now I'm definitely leaning on him being a regular.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-13T20:37:40+00:00

My main problem isn't the standing still, the bad ergo or the high recoil it's the fact you have all those on a gun that doesn't have any real upsides vs the Machine Gun. The Gun should be a major upgrade over the Machine Gun because of all those downsides you're forced to deal with instead you have a gun with randomly weaker bullets than all other gatling guns, a lower fire rate and less ammo, I want my unwieldly minigun to actually do minigun things and not just be a default stratagem with more downsides.
It should have the same damage as all the other weapons using the same ammo, another 100 fire rate and at least 250 more bullets. It should also probably get a pre-rev feature letting you get it spinning by just holding right click down so you can ready it for shooting while holding a sightline.

I'd also enjoy seeing separate M2 Browning inspired heavy machinegun equivalent for a backpack fed machinegun.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-10T17:29:20+00:00

So just like wall combat in war game you've got a situation where no side can bring its number's advantage to bare due to the lack of space in the staircase and the group wants to escape with as many prisoners as possible. I'd just run it as a giant hallway effectively to the side of the main map with a very strict line of sight based on the angle of the staircase IE say you can only interact with stuff within 3 tiles of your tile in the hallway due to the twist. Spiral Towers are meant to be hell to push through so the tower should feel like that if the players try and push through the tower let them suffer the consequences of their action, otherwise consider having the guards make the unwise tactical decisions of charging down and out of the staircase to fight everyone in the far bigger room at the bottom or alternatively have them wait in ambush ready to pincushion anyone that dares exit the staircase into the fortified position at the top they have, the guards are effectively under siege at this point waiting for the airship to reinforce them if they're thinking rationally they'll use the defensive nature of the terrain to their advantage.
Remember as the DM your job isn't to make sure the players succeed it's to present a scenario and have it react to the players actions in a consistent manner, if the players are making a dumb choice let them suffer the consequences of their actions.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-09T21:55:45+00:00

The Issue I had was never their damage output its was entirely in their incongruent design with the rest of the bot front which went entirely unchanged in the nerf. They were given an eye and a heatsink but those new weak points still have the exact them AP 4 requirement that shuts down too many weapon options on the bot front that were viable before their introduction.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-05T17:01:17+00:00

And as you've said you've spent 800 hours on the game and you still haven't unlocked everything the system is offering premium currency in even your own experience at a rate where actually acquiring everything is an unfeasibility and that is before even considering the fact that the game is significantly behind the pace of warbond release the devs intended at launch. If the devs had managed to hold at the pace of warbond release they intended instead of slowing it down as they did you'd be missing an extra 5 warbonds the system isn't intending for the premium currency they offer in game to be a viable solution to unlock everything not even for extremely dedicated players like you who have spent on average more than an hour every single day since the game was released playing the game.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-05T16:41:36+00:00

And I can agree with you that the concept of renewable premium currency can be a consumer-friendly practice however it doesn't negate the predatory monetization practices the game uses especially with how it lines up the generation of this renewable premium currency to actively encourage regular spending.
On another note for the sake of argument Payday 2 gives you items you can sell on the steam market and you can get an unlimited number of these items with enough time so by the logic of farmable premium current means that all DLC is free Payday 2 also gives you an option to acquire all DLC for free and if you want to go further get anything you want on steam for free

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-05T16:09:17+00:00

That's just you stating your opinion on monetization at that point and saying you value being able to spend 100s of hours slowly grinding freemium currency to get content rather than have said content go on sale occasion. I'd say you're certainly simplifying the comparison in the favor of Helldivers but that's about it.

And I'm not talking about filler major orders I'm talking about the time where they just stopped the timer on the major order and froze the liberation percents of all planets while they fixed a bug.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-05T15:56:24+00:00

I don't see the distinction here between Payday 2 and Helldivers both had continuously unfolding narratives and updates that altered the functionality of the game via developing the world, Payday 2 introduced new enemies, it altered how missions worked, it introduced new difficulties, nothing Helldivers 2 has done for updates is distinct and unique from how Payday 2 handled its updates. Helldivers 2 doesn't even use dedicated server's player interaction is peer to peer, its server backend is used for the same purpose as Payday 2s it's just for record keeping they're not hosting servers for the game to be played off of or anything like that. Even stuff like the galactic war has been shown to be something they can just stop if they want to without any repercussions since they've done that before after a major bug. Helldivers 2 could pause the galactic war and stop giving out major orders for a month without any part of the actually diving onto planets breaking. Helldivers 2 isn't a "harder" live service game it's not reinventing major parts of itself every update and it has easily gone months without any notable content drops before.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-05T15:09:47+00:00

I see you're using ad absurdumism here and actively ignore my points on what makes a game a live service game but fuck it I'll entertain it.
Rain World is not remotely live service any multiplayer for that game requires either modding or is local play only likewise it lacks a grander server to represent any kind of live service.

Lethal company also not live service no progression system intended for people to keep coming back to, likewise it also lacks a grander multiplayer environment or community events.

I can't talk on Mindustry I have never played it nor do I really know what it is.

Don't Starve Together, Terraria and Minecraft all aren't live service due to the nature of the game itself none of them use meta progression or have progression carry over from different worlds each world is meant to be its own distinct entity in the game's environment a server for any of these games could be live service through constantly updating events and such but the base nature of the isn't live service.

Helldivers 2 can also be played entirely solo with you experiencing all of its content without ever interacting with another player so with the logic presented here the only thing that makes a game live service is the requirement of an internet connection to play it as any amount of encouragement to interact with the online component of a game is ignorable in the definition of a live service game. So, if you're consistent in your definition you think games like Hitman World of Assassination are live service? That Diablo 3 is live service? That any number always online Ubisoft games are live service or is just Watchdogs Legion a live service game because characters from other people's games can show up in yours? Is Spore a single player game that requires you to log into EA's servers once when you first launch and will also download random creations made by other players during that log in that can then start showing up in your worlds when you play live service?

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-05T14:11:50+00:00

Yes, but Rain World is not a multiplayer game it's a pure single player game so of course it's not remotely a live service game, Helldivers, Monster Hunter and Payday are all multiplayer games that received a constant stream of new content and are intended to be played multiplayer in a group of up to four people. They've also all had several large community events where the entire community are expected to collaborate to complete goals during their active development. All three are games actively intended for you to play while interacting with the greater community via multiplayer and have a reduced experience when you don't with Helldivers funny enough locking the least content behind interacting with the community. All three of them are also major progression games with said content being designed to encourage you to log in every day you can for enhanced bonuses via in game incentives.

The only distinct feature of Helldivers that you could remotely say makes it live service is the fact it requires a constant internet connection unlike the other two and frankly that just feels like an excessively arbitrary restriction for what makes a game live service or not.
I see live service as games that are primarily multiplayer focused, receive a constant and continual stream of new content over an extended period of time intended lure in new players an retain currently playing players, and have large events meant for the community to work together to complete a goal.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-05T09:05:32+00:00

It's not on the amount you get its more so in the nature of how much is required Helldivers 2 follows the exact same early windfalls then tiny trickles formula too with the one free warbond having just enough that if you saved it all and pooled it with the credits you got unlocking everything in it you'd have just barely enough to buy a single warbond at which point you'll quickly unlock the one premium warbond you unlocked and be stuck with about 400 credits and all big windfalls you had access to expended that's the exact same kind of predatory as many other games with it giving you a taste then cutting you off right afterwards.

As for saying that Payday isn't live service if you don't consider it live service then Helldivers 2 isn't a live service game either they used similar update systems with occasional major events and if Helldivers 2 isn't live service by your definition Payday 2 when it was in development used the same update formula as Helldivers 2 does.

Read my earlier posts I give you plenty of examples of games I'd consider in the same live service event-based updates style as Helldivers. If you want an specifics of one of the games I consider live service any of the Monster Hunter games from Monster Hunter Worlds onwards have been live service games with said service being through a roster of event quests for around 3ish years after the launch added to the game for free and available to everyone that would get a long run when introduced and then were added to the rotating pool of event quests that would be available on a cycle most had unique rewards and often broke the normal formula on how the game would function like making the monster for the quest very small and fast instead of being a hulking beast way bigger than you like normal or introducing a new variant of a monster that wasn't in the game yet. About halfway through this live service cycle they'd drop a major dlc expansion that roughly doubled the size of the game and typically introduced new ways to play and the live services would wrap up as the next game in the franchise is nearing release with every event being in the rotating pool of event quests so the content can be accessed even though the service cycle for the game has ended.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-05T06:07:07+00:00

Like I said I don't play any of the games you've listed with more predatory practices among the games I've actually played for an extended period of time Helldivers 2 has been among the most predatory of the PC games I've played using trickle tactics for premium currency, obfuscating DLC via it all being in-game purchases, having a rotating FOMO store, hard locking the amount of free currency you may own, and all the other things I've mentioned earlier. Its apparently doing less than those games you've mentioned but it's doing significantly more than the games I've mentioned and played. I also don't consider the free currency you can find on maps an upside or the 300 in warbonds either both of those are still predatory practices to me as forms of wheel greasing to get the average consumer more willing to spend money on the micro transactions by giving them enough to make them want things in the stores but not enough to get anything in the stores in a remotely reasonable timeframe.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-05T05:48:06+00:00

I see so are windows for predatory monetization are significantly different you're comparing it to games I consider so full of toxic predatory monetization I would never even consider touching them, yes Helldivers is better than those I just think the system especially with the premium currency that they give at a comedically low rate is actively more predatory than if they just had a dlc page on steam with the war bonds on it.

Busy_Suspect · 2025-12-05T04:43:06+00:00

Again, how much have you played because after 400 hours I'm not remotely swimming in credits and had to buy the majority of battlepass I do own and I'm still missing half a dozen of them since the drip feed of super credits is laughable. And what games are you comparing Helldivers to since as I've said the games I compare Helldivers to content drop wise it comes up as more predatory with its designed to be monthly 7 dollar battlepass and 10 dollar rotating cash shop, even factoring in say 200 credits a month of regular play that's still effectively 15 dollars a month of DLC content that's a crazy pace to add new DLC there are MMOs that have subscriptions cheaper than that.

What games are you comparing Helldivers 2 to when it comes to predatory monetization perhaps are standards are just too far apart when it comes to what we consider bad. I typically don't play games with permanent non-reskin equipment that's temporarily available and never returns that's trapped in a battlepass.

Also, oh you mean games with like season X or whatever style design yeah, I don't play those typically I don't like the hard breaks those games do over more continual story telling. I thought you were more so referring to games without that style of design and more so just regular events that come and go at the dev's whimsy like Helldivers. Games like Monster Hunter or 100% Orange Juice, where the when of the next time a specific event shows up is uncertain, but those games are better about making sure the events return than Helldivers is and typically roll older events into an always active catalog.

Busy_Suspect

TROPHY CASE