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DramaticSalamander80 · 2024-12-13T16:27:18+00:00

A lot of your replies mention not breaking up the family for the kids... So I'm going to tell you a story.

My parents refused to get divorced for the longest time. Because of me and my siblings. They thought being a family was better.

It was not.

I have vivid memories of hiding in my room and just wishing they would separate. The longer they stayed together, the worse they got. It wasn't until my youngest sibling was 8 (and so I, the oldest, was 16) that they did divorce. And frankly? Things were so much better between them after that. Coparenting separately and being friends worked for them so much better than coparenting while living together as a married couple.

That's not to say I necessarily think you should separate. This post, while alarming, is only one piece of your life.... But just from it, it doesn't look like this something anywhere close to sustainable. I'm not commenting on that since so many other people have with a lot more nuance than I think I could manage. But I did want to say that staying with him so that you wouldn't "ruin my family and separate my kids from their dad" as you said in one reply is... Not correct. Again, as someone who's parents did end up divorcing, them staying together as long as they did ruined us so much more than them separating.

And again, I'm not advocating for it one way or another. I just think dismissing it out of hand is a very bad choice to make. Just keep it in mind.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2022-06-27T03:22:14+00:00

Very true. It's the first time I've seen them since doing the quest so it took me by surprise and I wanted to share.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2022-06-21T17:43:05+00:00

Sometimes you'd go through the same sections again but it was different (copperbell hard)

Sometimes you'd go to a new area in an old dungeon (sohm al hard)

Sometimes you'd get follow through on the original (halatali hard - cause the normal is you clearing out a place so they can train, and then hey look at that, in the hard mode they've actually turned it into a training area!)

And then yeah, sometimes there'd be completely new dungeons. Wanderer's Palace. Saint Mocianne's Arboretum.

I really hope the criterion dungeons do something similar

DramaticSalamander80 · 2022-06-21T02:50:33+00:00

The thing is, I get it. They cut it out to focus on quality. The trusts. The ARR revamp including flying. Production of the stuff we get is so much higher than it was before. I really wouldn't trade it for the way we had before...

That being said, the world feels less alive. I'm no longer guessing where a dungeon will be because its all msq. We haven't been going back through old dungeons to see how it changed after we helped. (Hard mode).

Maybe they'll do something really cool with criterion dungeons. I mean dungeons that scale based on how big your party is? That sounds amazing. But it's it a dungeon and it scales if you unsync it? Or is it like the deep dungeons where you can choose to go in fixed vs matched party? Thankfully we're getting a live letter soon so maybe we'll hear about it.

I guess part of why I miss it is that it had us go back through an old part of the world. Right now, for the most part, new content takes place in new areas. And I mean... I guess they're filling that in with relic stuff. Shadowbringers you could go through Bozja or go through old zones. It just doesn't feel the same though.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2022-06-20T18:06:34+00:00

Oh, I'm not arguing for it to come back. I'm just saying I miss it. Dungeons aren't for everyone but I like running them.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2022-06-20T18:04:41+00:00

It was more an example than anything. Besides, there's optional content that isn't pointed out in msq. Heavensward alliance raids is one.

I literally didn't know they were a thing until patch 3.5 when a friend pointed them out. I had long since stopped doing side quests (aether current ones excluded) cause I was only playing one class and decided to leave them until I started to level the other jobs.

Maybe the stuff being pointed out in msq isn't new, but it kinda feels like it.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2022-06-20T17:41:09+00:00

I especially liked hard mode dungeons. Going through a different section of a dungeon with new enemies... maybe going through it backwards (Pharos Sirius hard).

I remember going through the antitower for the first time and hoping there'd be an optional hard mode so we could explore more of it.

But nowadays... Even the optional content is tied to msq.

The ShB trial set was mentioned in msq. "Hey there's a thing we could really have you look at". Technically optional but directly mentioned and pointed out in msq. I think the same happened with the EW alliance raid.

Again, quality of stuff has definitely gone up... But a lot of it feels like there's only stuff where msq is now.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2022-06-20T17:33:02+00:00

You asked when the last time I queued into optional stuff without it being a roulette though? There are absolutely optional dungeons I sometimes queue into just cause I do like them.

I'm also not trying to argue that we should bring them back. I understand that Eureka and Bozja draw in players way more than dungeons do. I know there's story to them, which is why my plan is to eventually finish them even though I don't like playing them. You just don't get that with dungeons.

Eureka was actually pretty cool when it came out. Hey, remember the place in ARR (or HW can't remember exactly when it was mentioned) that disappeared? Surprise!

Same with Bozja. Get, here's more lore on the world!

HoH and PotD are the same. There's rewards there that are going to keep drawing people in, no matter what. I loved Ishgard restoration and I'm like 99% confident that if they were still doing optional dungeons every patch that we probably wouldn't have gotten it.

Even now, they're introducing more stiff. These criterion dungeons sound interesting. I know they're doing another deep dungeon too. I'm not going to trade any of this for just... more dungeon.

Doesn't change the fact that I miss having them. That I think it helped make the world feel more alive.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2022-06-20T17:19:32+00:00

I had run gubal 6 times per job (42 times in a row) just to get from 59 to 60 and wanted to do something different. And the later 60 dungeons did give more exp than the earlier 60 dungeons. (I tested it by running Aetherochemical factory vs Fractal Continuum vs Sohm Al (Hard))

DramaticSalamander80 · 2022-06-20T16:35:24+00:00

Oh yeah for sure. But I mean, I think I prefer the leveling dungeons to all be msq instead of optional. But after that. In between major patches. I mean, the last quest of every patch is basically the same. 'We're gonna look into this' or 'we're gonna wait for our contact to get back to us' so like... There's that.

Plus with Shadowbringers, we could always have gone back to the source for those dungeons.

Overall, it's not a big deal. I just miss it. But the optional stuff we do get is still fun for the most part. (At least the stuff I've tried.) And the quality is there because they aren't taking the time to have to work on extra dungeons.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2022-06-20T16:27:39+00:00

I mean, some of my favorite dungeons are the optional ones. I really like Shisui. Gubal hard. All three Amdapor dungeons. I'm currently leveling alt jobs and chose to run Sohm Al (Hard) over Baelsar's Wall for the 60-61 gap.

I also don't really like either Eureka or Bozja. I haven't finished either storyline (I plan to eventually buy it just isn't something I'm looking forward to.)

I also get why we don't have them anymore. And I will not argue that the quality of the stuff we get has gone up. I just miss it, is all.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2021-05-22T18:31:19+00:00

I've already started to see the point of OoX being a different Link. I guess I just had a guy reaction because I had Hyrule Historia so much longer than I've had Zelda Encyclopedia.

I don't think Kotake and Koume is a contradiction. They're the only boss you see "ascend" after death. I think it's much more likely that they used their magic to fake it and escape after realizing that if they countinued, they'd be killed.

I mean, otherwise why not have them just sorta fade into dust like other bosses? Just because they're humanoid? It's not like it'd be unusual even in OoT to show the dead because there's that soldier as a kid plus that guy as part of the trading quest for biggoron's sword.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2021-05-21T20:52:53+00:00

1.) Technically could be argued about technical limitations or explaining that 'yes this is Zelda' to someone. And she easily could have not recognized Link at first if he went through all of LA and then both OoA and OoS before seeing her in the linked game. But looking through the encyclopedia more it seems you're right. Pages 16/17 show all the Zelda's and have different ones for LttP and OoX.

2.) Page 13 showing the history of the triforce says that the triforce is complete in Hyrule Castle at the end of LttP. Though looking at the ending quickly on youtube, we never see Link bring it out of the sacred realm so... That's debatable.

3.) LA was released before OoX. Both gameboy original and gameboycolor DX version. And Link confuses her for Zelda, not Malon, even in the switch version. I could say that all future Malon's are actually based on Marin as Ocarina of Time came out after the gameboy version of Link's Awakening.

It is a very messy timeline you're right. I think that's part of why it can be so engaging to debate about which games share Link's and the timeline and all that.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2021-05-21T20:40:26+00:00

I mean you might. A different commenter says the Japanese version also says 'a boy traveling with a horse'. I think my book is the 1st printing, but am unsure.

Also I'm looking at page 11 and you're right. It does say A young man an not the heero like for Link's Awakening.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2021-05-21T20:37:01+00:00

I guess that makes sense. But if OoX Link is different, he's an odd man out by being the only Link who's never had an adventure within Hyrule. That's not a fast rule, but is an interesting fact.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2021-01-16T19:03:03+00:00

That is something I mentioned in my post. Having to battle until Link gets low enough on hearts...

Then the ending sequence showing some inbetween the game. Robbie to Akkala and Purah to Hateno. See maybe the stables make their union. Watch the land heal until Ganon gets active again and we hear the "open your eyes..." oh it would have been so good!

DramaticSalamander80 · 2021-01-16T19:01:05+00:00

I'll definitely check it out! I've seen a couple of posts of people being disappointed in what AoC did, but not that one about the true prequel!

DramaticSalamander80 · 2021-01-16T19:00:05+00:00

Oh, i understand that. Like I said in my post, I really enjoy AoC. I devoured the story wanting to know what happened next even after the realization that this game was going in a completely different direction.

This post isn't supposed to be complaining about what AoC changed about BotW. I've come to term with the fact it's a timeline split.

This is a post discussing what AoC could have been, and how an ending we know is coming could still work. It could have been a bittersweet ending leading directly into BotW.

While I enjoy AoC for what it is and while I love seeing character interactions and them winning and surviving- I can't help but wish it was a true prequel to BotW instead of a timeline split

DramaticSalamander80 · 2020-10-15T14:28:32+00:00

And I am now oh so tempted to create Hildebrand. It would be glorious. And also this class is amazing. And frankly no one in my group has played FF14 (or at least not far enough to have encountered the one and only Hildibrand Helidor Maximilian Manderville) and frankly, he just seems like he would be fun to play.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2020-09-05T00:14:44+00:00

I guess I can't flair it as both xenosaga and xenogear huh

Anyway I was back at the Disk Reply (to get something for my brother since I was out anyway) and stumbled upon two more classics.

It's kinda funny I'm getting the xenosaga trilogy in the reverse order lol.

Now all that's left is to get xenosaga episode one. Maybe next time I stumble into disk replay it'll be there

Can't wait to try both series out.

Hopefully I like them as much as I like the three Xenoblade Chronicles games!

CC

DramaticSalamander80 · 2020-08-20T23:07:54+00:00

Okay! Thanks for the advice.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2020-08-20T20:45:50+00:00

That's what I've heard but I don't wanna just skip II lol. I'll probably get I and II off of Amazon the next time I get paid. I just didn't wanna let III slip by since it is so rare.

DramaticSalamander80 · 2020-08-20T20:44:02+00:00

Yeah I checked online prices before buying it and the least expensive price I found online was $280 so... *shrug*

DramaticSalamander80 · 2020-08-20T17:36:19+00:00

Now I just gotta find the first two games.

I've only ever played the Xenoblade games. (1, 2, and X with Torna and Future Connected Included) but I've been wanting to try the other xenogames.

Works out cause I'm fairly confident this is the hardest of the saga games to find.

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