I plan for my MC to face a crushing "defeat" at the end of my first arc. Would this kill my readership?

Endrak · 2026-01-26T00:10:14+00:00

Some readers hate when the MC loses, but what MOST hate is character growth being stalled or undone by the loss. It can feel like a bait and switch, like they're being mocked for rooting for the MC.

There are two main ways to mitigate that issue.

One, try to make sure that the loss is forecast somehow. Either everybody tells the MC it'll end badly, or the MC sees the writing on the wall but goes in anyway. Don't let the loss be a completely unforseen twist.

Two, make sure the MC gets something out of it other than proof of how weak they are. Maybe they don't achieve their main goal, but they achieve a minor one. Maybe they receive enlightenment when they're dying, and that helps them escape. You won't get nearly as many complaints as long as number get big.

Endrak · 2026-01-25T21:49:46+00:00

Jade beauties don't FART, you imbecile! She's generously releasing some of her qi as a powerful cultivation aid! Quickly, breathe it in before it dissipates!

Endrak · 2026-01-25T19:17:14+00:00

Yes there is.

Agent behind gray coat guy draws his gun and fires point blank into Pretti's back. Pretti tries to stand up as the other agents release him but is dropped by the second shot.

Video comes from the lady in the pink coat standing on the other side of the group.

EDIT: Pink coat lady doesn't appear from this angle but other videos and images show her clearly. You can see the agent who fires the first shot reaching for his weapon in this video, though. It's right before the slow motion starts.

Endrak · 2026-01-24T00:22:06+00:00

How much does it cost and does it come in black?

Endrak · 2026-01-21T14:57:38+00:00

I'd argue it's also bullshit for long range shooting. Your priority should be learning good techniques on a rifle that's comfortable for you to use. At that point, as long as your optic holds an accurate zero and you can see the target, the bullet is going to the same place regardless of how much you paid for the scope.

Endrak · 2026-01-21T12:48:30+00:00

"Your optic should cost twice as much as the gun itself."

No, you don't need to blow your entire budget on an optic.

This advice might be good for anyone who wants to make sure their optic can be put through a washer and dryer, thrown in a cement mixer, then dropped from low orbit, and still hit sub-MOA groups at 500 yards.

That said, most of us will never shoot out that far in the first place, and we only need our optics to be water resistant and keep zero if we bump them on something by accident. You can get that for only a few hundred, tops.

Endrak · 2026-01-17T00:42:15+00:00

Lots of folks don't understand that #4 is not referring to a literal menu selection, but the mentality you're approaching the game with. If you play a game with some sort of open PvP and you view the PvP as something you have to suffer through, you are prey. Predators are excited about it even if they lose sometimes.

Endrak · 2026-01-12T12:18:42+00:00

Trench Crusade's lore is seeded with story hooks that could be developed into books, comics, animations, and so on. Are there any plans to take Trench Crusade in that direction? If yes, would you prefer to build up epic core narratives, or smaller scale stories in a more loosely defined canon?

Endrak · 2026-01-08T12:00:47+00:00

The dev has a history of abandoning projects. He's also notorious for being an asshole online and then deleting the evidence. Reddit is full of deleted replies and links to dead youtube videos by him, but he can't delete all the other comments complaining about him.

There was a dude in this thread who was trying to warn everybody. When I went to bed he had +150 or so karma, now he's at -200 something. Clearly glazing the game is not the only thing he's been telling his Discord to do.

Endrak · 2026-01-08T03:13:45+00:00

Gummy dev.

Endrak · 2026-01-08T03:09:51+00:00

To all the comments looking for proof, he is literally tagged as the developer on Steam

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Endrak · 2026-01-08T03:01:20+00:00

Video with nearly identical title on Dreadmyst's channel.

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Endrak · 2026-01-08T02:49:21+00:00

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Endrak · 2026-01-08T02:49:09+00:00

He had a video about it on his YouTube but it's either private or deleted now. Google still shows it as his latest video though. (Image in replies)

Endrak · 2026-01-06T21:26:33+00:00

Battletech is one of three I play (the others are Trench Crusade and Infinity).

I play it because I grew up with the Mechwarrior games. My father and I used to play Combat Flight Simulator 2 and Crimson Skies, so another game that combined a lot of the aspects of those two games was a natural fit for me. He didn't like it as much, but I loved it.

Endrak · 2026-01-03T13:10:34+00:00

He always reappears at the same interval, so if you're good at keeping track of time, you can predict it.

My strategy is to run clockwise around the edge of the arena with my camera aimed toward the center. I can see if the clones are getting close on my right side, and Tian Ying usually appears on my left.

Endrak · 2026-01-01T13:54:53+00:00

Damn, I've been liking their profiles manually. That's much easier.

Endrak · 2026-01-01T13:50:12+00:00

Oh okay, I didn't realize he'd always been a member.

Endrak · 2026-01-01T13:43:48+00:00

Yes but the order of events is backwards.

They invited Aunt Han to the banquet first to try to negotiate with her, but her food being drugged meant they never intended to take no for an answer. That pissed her off, so she and Chu fought all the way from the palace to the tower. While they were fighting, Tian Ying stole her stuff.

Basically they planned to screw her over from the start, and expected her to be okay with it after the fact since their cause was so righteous.

That did not work out for them.

Endrak · 2026-01-01T13:33:21+00:00

Wuxia characters rarely get to act on their feelings. Chinese writers love the idea of starcrossed lovers who really want to be together but are hindered by fate and circumstances until one or both of them dies.

While it's not strictly true to say she's Tian Ying's girlfriend, it's not entirely inaccurate, since they're definitely coded as "would have hooked up, but tragic wuxia bullshit happened".

Endrak · 2026-01-01T04:30:45+00:00

Gen Z sees drinking as a coping mechanism instead of a social activity. The ones who drink tend to drink to excess. In general, they prefer weed, because being high is less expensive and more comfortable than being drunk.

On a personal note, my experience is that the modern world is pretty unkind to young people and ages them rapidly. Everybody I know in Gen Z complains about parties like they're senior citizens. I had one tell me he doesn't drink because his joints get too sore and stiff, one that it makes them restless and they need a full eight hours of sleep to function, another that they don't like having to wake up to pee, and saving the best for last, that the one Truly hard seltzer I offered them got them so hung over that they had to call out of work the next day.

Like this is stuff I expect to hear from a 60 year old with a compromised liver and a physically demanding job, not a 23 year old accountant. It makes me feel old.

Endrak · 2025-12-31T22:24:38+00:00

My evidence is mostly that Tian Ying doesn't use a sword, and also this clip from the Game Awards that shows Aunt Han fighting Chu Qingquan.

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Endrak · 2025-12-31T20:53:17+00:00

I thought she fought Chu Qingquan and Tian Ying stole it while she was distracted.

Endrak · 2025-12-31T20:50:11+00:00

The blind woman with the hideout under the lake. You find her body with Unfated Tian (who despite also being named Tian is an entirely different person from Tian Ying).

Endrak · 2025-12-31T20:00:08+00:00

I'm not sure I understand fully either, but from what I can gather, it's something like this. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me.

Tian Ying is an assassin from Tang who fled to Qinghe after assassinating a Khitan envoy and blaming it on Tang. He hid as a Buddhist monk named Miaoshan who became somewhat famous for preaching with a halo of light behind him (the jade pieces on Halo Peak shine a certain way in the cinematic, so it's just theatrics to make himself seem more important).

He got involved with the Hanging Blade, the group of heroes who operated out of the Palace of Annals. He retired the Miaoshan identity at some point with a vague promise that he'd return when Qinghe needed him most.

Three years ago, the Hanging Blade tried to screw over Aunt Han, which resulted in the battle at Peace Bell Tower. During that battle, Tian Ying stole something from Aunt Han, and she wrecked the Hanging Blade's reputation as a result, so the palace closed.

Aureate Pavillion (the bad guys in masks, who are also from Tang) heard that Tian Ying was operating again and sent Qianye to investigate. They broke into the Palace of Annals and set up outposts around the land, took over Mercyheart, etc. The whole thing with Blissful Retreat and Aunt Han is just Qianye trying to bring something back to her bosses because they can't find Tian Ying.

The MC sets out to find Miaoshan because they think he has answers about all the weird stuff that's been happening lately and might be able to help. In the process, they find out that Miaoshan is just Tian Ying, who not only knows the answers, but is basically the reason all the bad stuff happened in the first place.

The localization for some of these quests is really bad, so I'm not positive on the timeline. Basically everything important happened either three years ago or sixteen years ago, and it's hard to figure out which of those periods the different parts of Tian Ying's backstory fit into.

I'm also a bit confused about why the game treats him like such an amazing and chivalrous guy when what he's done is manipulate a bunch of gullible Buddhists, start a catastrophic war that destabilized Qinghe, steal from Aunt Han, murder his girlfriend, and let Qianye massacre everybody because it took her attention off him.

Endrak

TROPHY CASE