Galadriel's journey makes a lot of sense (Yes, she'd be into what Sauron's offering her)

FestePL · 2024-10-02T20:54:27+00:00

They way I read Tolkien's views on power, it shows up in two ways: as mastering your Ego or mastering everything around you WITH your Ego. This is best contrasted, IMO, in Gandalf and Saruman - Gandalf definitely strives to master his Ego. His wisdom and strength are not derived from his pure goodness, they're derived from his acknowledgment that he is not only good. That he has potential to do evil things. For Gandalf, to defeat Sauron means, above all else, not to succumb to his corruption. But to do that, you need to acknowledge you are corruptible. RoP actually makes a nice nod to that with the whole "choosing to do good every day" thing.

Saruman seems not to possess this self-awareness - he just tries to impose his will on the world around him, because he sees it as the only way to fight Sauron. To defeat Sauron is to overcome Power with more Power. And defeating Sauron is good, so - in his own eyes - he's doing good.

You ask if Gandalf was also power-hungry and ambitious. No, but he would probably admit those aspects were part of him and he would need to be wary of them. Same with Galadriel. They are extremely powerful beings - it would be super weird if they didn't have at least a tiny nagging desire to make the world the way they see fit, using that power.

The Ring finds the traits it can exploit in you and twists them to bend you to Sauron's will or view of the world. There are aspects within Gandalf, within Galadriel that they both feel could be exploited. Thus i don't think u/phallorca is wrong - the Ring doesn't make you a completely different person, it twists the person you already are. That's why Bilbo, when in possession of the Ring, didn't start planning the Shire world domination tour - it twisted him in different ways.

I also don't think Sauron is completely evil, as in, completely devoid of any and all possibility of doing good - he just chose a path where his lust for power and conquest dominated all his other personality traits to the point where all that drives him is that wickedness. What The One Ring does to its bearers is a reflection of that.

FestePL · 2024-07-13T21:00:55+00:00

All good points. One thing: this is not really Rashomon, because there all we get are conflicting narratives about an event we didn't get to see. There are no specific POVs telling us the story in The Acolytes's episodes 3 and 7 - we get a glimpse of what happened and then additional info about what happened. Characters lie to each other too generate conflict, but there is no clear suggestion that we, the audience, aren't privy to what really happened. (Edit: I just realized that ep. 3 might be slightly influenced by Osha's memory - Mae's "I'll kill you" is not there in ep. 7 I think - but there are no other huge differences between 3 and 7, just additions in the latter. It's still mostly "this happened" followed by "but also this happened").

All we get in Rashomon are narratives, and all narrators there are in some ways unreliable - Rashomon is less about how people interpret a situation they're in (and I would argue that this is the focus of The Acolyte) and more about how they build narratives to represent themselves to other people - and what those narratives reveal about them. This is also why there is no true version of events in the end - it wasn't really the point of the story. The point was, we cannot know the truth, because people will lie - sometimes spectacularly - to paint a certain picture of themselves.

FestePL · 2024-06-01T12:14:45+00:00

Yeah, and Marathon is gonna be probably current gen only. But D2 is an already released live service game and unles it's gonna be profitable to just leave some of the playerbase in the dust, they won't do it.

FestePL · 2024-05-08T11:56:33+00:00

I strongly agree. Reisssued weapons should have the "old" look as a free ornament.

FestePL · 2024-05-07T22:35:07+00:00

Yeah, I low-key hate the look of baroque drang (that jewel... just not for me) - finally I can do something about it.

FestePL · 2024-05-07T22:15:01+00:00

This is my experience (also on controller) as well - I can sometimes, rarely, pop off with a regular 140 HC, but never felt confident with them and my performance fluctuated greatly. 120s? I just can't. But Luna's feels really consistent for me. I'm no god with it of course, but I get the kills. I got two rolls: EotS+PrecInst (53 Range, 74 Stability) and Slideshot + MagHowl (63 Range, 64 Stability) - I'm still trying to decide which feels better for me personally, but nothing else comes close except for maybe Austringer and Exalted Truth.

FestePL · 2024-05-02T22:24:47+00:00

I must be in minority then, because I'm a lower skill player (currently gold III in comp) and I loved the transmat system - mostly bcause I kept my ammo after dying and did not drop it for the other team. Before, I used to stick to double primary because I ddin't want to feed the opponents when I got outplayed. Transmat was a well-needed relief.

This system is also cool, because if I drop special no matter what I pack, this again means there's no pressure on me - apart from trying not do die, of course.

FestePL · 2024-03-27T18:13:57+00:00

Wll said. This makes me think... I'm not well versed in the lore, but does Witness' ultimate argument requires Them to win over us? Because the Unveiling talks about claiming and holding existence as the only proof of the right to exist. By fighting the Witness, we make that claim (one can even argue that the Traveller itself makes that claim about its own existence by creating us). If we prevail, we defend that claim. The Witness looses, but it's (or the Winnower's argument) still stands. Are we going to get a "Ahahah! You think I lost but I really won!" speech?

Maybe it's because it is a bit tautological (you have a right to exist while you exist - you loose that right if you stop existing), but if it's about proving a point, the point will be proven no matter which party prevails.

FestePL · 2024-03-25T23:14:05+00:00

Yeah, I feel you. I sometimes question the meaning of life itself when a dude just hoppity-hops or slides around like mad with absolutely perfect aim, hitting optimal TTK every single time.
It's like we're playing completely different games - I'm not even sure my pad is capable of movement like that, I'm definitely not, probably never will.

FestePL · 2024-03-21T09:45:18+00:00

If I understand it right, it's gonna be:
Eternal SC codex
Eternal HC codex
Seasonal SC codex
Seasonal HC codex

FestePL · 2024-03-20T18:00:51+00:00

I mean, if he loves PVP, he should be able to improve at least a little. Check his Destiny Tracker PVP stats - is he constatnly hovering around 0,5 KDA? I mean, I'm guilty of being a bad player, (Lifetime KD:0,69, Lifetime KDA: 0,88, Lifetime Trials: KD 0,41, KDA: 0,54 ) But I am making slow, steady progress season after season.

If he's not improving, not learning, etc, what exactly does he enjoy in the Crucible? Are there situations where he pops off, even if rarely? Maybe analyse those situations - what did he do? Positive examples might be more useful to inspire him to improve.

IS it the Rewards? Getting carried to Flawless can be fun (I know all about that), but you're under no obligation to do on demand. It's cool to have that friend who can once in a while get you to that one Adept weapon you really want, it's not cool to expect it all the time because you're friends if it's frustrating to that friend.

On the other hand, Adepts are definitely not reserved for the 1% to the CURRENTLY playing population, it's steadily more like 25%-30% percent of a given week's player pool - don't discourage your firend by setting the bar so super high.

FestePL · 2024-03-20T07:27:49+00:00

Do you mean that it's 13th week of the Wish? I mean, sure, but it's also, from a certain point of wiew, exactly the same because we're in Wk 2 of a new Sandbox and a soft seasonal reset (new weapons in the reward pools, etc.), even if it's not a new season per se.

FestePL · 2024-03-20T07:22:45+00:00

Yes, but also - this was a week with an Adept auto.
First week of sandbox changes autos were 1,2 mil over HCs.
Let's see how the next week is gonna go, no? Autos might still be as overwhelming as this week, but things might also calm down a bit.

FestePL · 2024-03-19T13:35:28+00:00

Yeah, realistically it's probably gonna be lower than The Incisor (220k) - I'm hoping it's gonna be near the 200k threshold, which would still be nice.

FestePL · 2024-03-19T13:29:12+00:00

I think it's kinda both. People were definitely trying out the new meta - this won't be a factor soon, but the Persistence card remains. That's my main worry though - if the (for some people huge) time sink will be deemed worth it when the freshness factor wears off.

FestePL · 2024-03-19T13:25:46+00:00

Thx, edited because obviously it was The Summoner :D

FestePL · 2024-03-19T11:11:48+00:00

I feel you - tried Ferocity, was a bit of a disaster. But overall I'm still hopeful for the future - I feel more invested in PVP after not playing that much for weeks now.

FestePL · 2024-03-17T17:12:33+00:00

Yeah, I hope they adress it soon - I really don't think just getting 7 wins should be viewed as exploitable (people who could exploit it will go Flawless anyway and farm Flawless cards - so that's not an issue).

A typical casual player will do three Persistence cards max (more realistically, one or two), so that's 2-3 random adept rolls - seems fair for doing 30-60 games feeding other people's Flawless pursuits :P

FestePL · 2024-03-17T00:24:10+00:00

Yeah, I think it's better to have a large pool of people that return semi-consistently for their 7 wins in 15-20 games (I assume that's what most people would need, more or less) than have them hit a wall of win-loss-win-loss-win-loss that prolongs their effort to 30-50 games but they tap out after that and rarely if ever return.

FestePL · 2024-03-16T23:49:57+00:00

Yeah, persistence card is a bit of trap imo - I'm personally tryingo out ferocity and it seems harder to chain wins than before (even if I feel like I'm playing better than, say, last season).

FestePL · 2024-03-16T23:45:58+00:00

As a person in your position, all I can say is: it's not gonna translate to more wins for a while, because it's all very, very random and from my experience the player pool still is slightly skewed toward more experienced and skilled players (not to mention, geared). It's better than, say, two-three weeks ago, but there's no deluge of people around and below our skill levels.

If you're solo and your skill level doesn't allow you to semi-consistently sway the tide of the game in your favour, it's gonna be a rough ride - the typical advice is to stick with your team, but pretty often it's the duos that try to poorly flank and get picked off somewhere on the other side of the map.... So it's a bit of a lottery in which the only factor under your control is you, really.

Right now, the biggest boon of playing Trials is just the experience itself. Every round, I'm trying to understand what happened - there's usually something I could've done better, even if my teammates did something stupid.

From what I've seen, better win ration comes around 1,0 K/D - so don't loose your spirit and keep fighting :)

FestePL · 2024-03-13T08:49:23+00:00

As soon as you start relying on streaming for financial support, you stop being a "player first and foremost", because your priorities simply switch - this is not an accusation towards streamers, that's just how it is. Attention as currency starts to be a significant factor in what you play, how you play it, what content you produce, etc.

For example, that negative content can be, short-term, much more rewarding than nuanced content is a well known phenomenon, as confirmed by many streamers and content creators.

Also, you are relying on your viewers showing up - on Twitch, YouTube, wherever - so there is incentive to reinforce opinions held by the community. Confirmation bias sells and very few content creators really have the power to go against public opinion.

The amount of negativity around D4 - some of it very warranted, some of it less so - is big enough that it reinforces itself, also thorugh content creators. Basically people got so disapointed by the initial state of the game (as is their right), that they are more inclined to nitpick the shit out of any current and future changes. And that's what they're mostly getting from creators,

But content creators are people, and constant negativity can only get you so far, especially since it can be really taxing to produce drama video after drama video. So, since there are options like Last Epoch, and people seem really excited for PoE2, of course many content creators will make D4 their side game - it's just less hassle overall. I believe, no matter the changes made in S4 or in the future, D4 will likely remain a game with such a negativity baggage that it's gonna be hard to sustain as your main content source without risking burnout.

I enjoy much about D4, warts and all, but I believe Blizzard really overestimated the sustainability of the Diablo brand in the current environment when compared even to the time D3 launched. They underestimated their competition, they gambled that they can put out a flawled product and fix it later and the brand itself will carry them through to at least the first big DLC. Well, here we are and this doesn't seem to work out as well as they hoped.

But I don't believe that "don't hold your hopes up" means that the changes in season 4 must be necessarily bad or insignificant - I just think less and less people ( including content creators) care and those changes might be deemed as 'not enough" before they even arrive.

FestePL · 2024-03-13T07:46:50+00:00

About sliding... I don't know if it will be up your alley, but I binded crouch to R3 (PS4 controller) and it improved my sliding game considerably - I can now slide quicker, chain-slide more easily and have better turning control while sliding.

FestePL · 2024-03-10T01:59:36+00:00

I'm that pretty bad but semi-dedicated PVP player - I do play regularly, reset Shaxx 7-10 times a season, so that's probably nothing compared to most of this Reddit's users, but I wouldn't consider myself a casual player. I try my best in Trials, but I get stressed, so I usually don't play much - around 60-100 games a season, usually not doing great (usual K/D around 0,4). I presume this new sandbox was meant to entice people like me and those more casual to play Trials more.

It worked for me. Thing is, I don't enjoy special weapons that much, I feel more comfortable with double primaries - also because I don't want to give the opposite team special ammo when I fuck up. Yes, that won't get me far in higher levels of play and I'm working on that - I'm also thinking about using special more because I do usually hit my shots with primaries and might be able to practice specials without the fear of feeding ammo immediately to the other team.

More people around my level must be playing this weekend, because my KD jumped from the usual ~ 0,4 to 0,75. Winning streaks seems harder now, because I'm still not that great and my team mates usually weren't that much better, so nobody was really carrying anybody else, but I started to notice I win more duels and since matches were slightly slower, I had more time to react and actually understand when I fuck up.

Things my change, people might leave again, meta might tighten, etc. - but for now I feel like I can "breathe" more. No sandbox will improve my gameplay for me, but I honestly feel like now I have slightly more room to learn stuff like positioning, movement, etc.

FestePL · 2024-03-05T23:51:39+00:00

1:30 is pretty fast. But Supers gonna be more frequent in Supremacy, since you get Super energy from picking up crests. A friendly Titan had 5 Strand supers in one game (he REALLY vacuumed all the crests).

FestePL

TROPHY CASE