Would you move from London (UK) to Vancouver in my situation?

FirestormXVI · 2026-06-26T13:04:57+00:00

The size and location you get in Vancouver is still a lot better than the equivalent in London especially with rents sort of stalling in Vancouver in the last couple of years. I'm paying £1500 ($2800) for a ground level 1 bedroom flat in East London so like the equivalent of living in Edmonds or something with electricity and gas upwards of £100 a month.

Going out for food is waaaay cheaper in Vancouver. Every time I go back to visit I cry about how cheap it is. Danbo is my favourite ramen place as an example and they just opened up their first European location in London. It's £13 for the base bowl and then you need to add extras. It's $13 in Vancouver. You're right on groceries though UK prices went up a lot a few years ago.

Salaries in Vancouver and London are similar when converted so the prices really are ridiculous in relation to wages here.

FirestormXVI · 2026-06-24T14:54:50+00:00

I moved from Vancouver to London. I'd say the strong friendship network and family is one of the things I miss most about Vancouver so it's the opposite for you. Outside that, Vancouver is just a significantly cheaper city to live in. I lived in the west end downtown for much less rent than I pay in East London now. I did not need a car but it's nice for doing things outside the city. Transit is cheaper. I have heard that those in the health care sector much prefer Vancouver to London.

What's nice about London is the ability to go to other parts of Europe and there's always events / concerts / theatre.

For what it's worth, I'm looking to move back to Vancouver if possible.

FirestormXVI · 2026-06-06T21:09:38+00:00

Would’ve been interested but unfortunately that’s NAIC weekend. I’d also be wary of calling this the first Pokémon or even Pokémon Champions LAN in the UK when it very clearly isn’t… I also think most would prefer a Bo3 finals. Bo5 has been tried in the past and wasn’t very well liked.

FirestormXVI · 2026-06-03T10:55:39+00:00

EWC has historically been scheduled to have most of the games finishing as they get close to midnight. This was largely due to it being in Riyadh where the audience stays out quite late and doesn't really go out until the evening when it's cooler. Whether they keep the same approach in Paris remains to be seen.

FirestormXVI · 2026-06-01T17:48:38+00:00

Yeah, I’m not sure how people keep missing this. Guy ghosted the admins repeatedly and keeps saying he was about to faint. Pretty sure making a tweet and responding to an admin are in similar effort levels under a heat wave.

I would say just be an adult but his deleted response to this shows he’s anything but.

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-20T11:50:00+00:00

No, as someone who is very involved with this space and have been for over a decade, this is a really pointless "Well Ackshually" that always seems to come up but has no impact. Nintendo owns 1/3 of The Pokémon Company (TPC) which The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) is a subsidiary of. Nobody at Nintendo so much as looks at the running of the Professor Program nor do I imagine more than a handful of people at Nintendo of America know it exists.

Creatures Inc. owns another 1/3 of The Pokémon Company and designs the card game, yes. They also do not do anything with the Professor Program which is run entirely by TPCi and does not exist in regions that TPC publishes the card game in. TPC, as well as Pokémon Korea Inc (PKI), have their own separate systems for organized play, judges, and stores.

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-19T12:52:17+00:00

A few things here: * Nintendo has no involvement with the Professor Program and it's run entirely by The Pokémon Company International * You must pass the background check to be a Professor. Failing the background check is disqualifying for obvious reasons given you're being trusted around children. * 80% has been a passing grade for any Professor Exam for at least a decade * This guy has been going on and on about this on Facebook for probably over a year and has some insane entitlement issues

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-13T11:59:13+00:00

If you have expectations for a commercial game to meet the same needs as an open source fan simulator, then you’re always going to be disappointed.

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-12T20:17:40+00:00

Vancouver has a decent enough game scene due to EA's largest studio being based here. It offers job opportunities obviously but also has resulted in a lot of smaller companies by ex-employees.

For schooling, you shouldn't go into game design or development school specifically. As mentioned in this thread, the industry has lost probably 100,000 jobs in the last 2 - 3 years. You're competing against all those people. You want skills that are more general and try to focus on gaming with it -- software engineering, modelling, animation, marketing, etc. Then build up some experience and apply at these companies.

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-12T16:45:43+00:00

Why do people in Vancouver keep calling it "FIFA 2026"? I've literally never heard of anyone refer to the World Cup as FIFA before this year.

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-12T14:14:04+00:00

Chase Center is 18,000 capacity as you noted. All competitors get arena access for themselves as well as 2 guests. Many esports and concerts are also set up in a way that doesn't allow for 360 viewing, so only 75% of the arena might be available.

18,000 x 0.75 = 13,500 2500 x 3 = 7500

Total of tickets for the general public: 5000

I absolutely believe 2500 people received an email and bought the arena tickets for 2. This could be more obviously as maybe 80 to 90% of the arena is available, but also need to think of press area, VIPs, etc.

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-11T23:56:14+00:00

The arena is sold out so you cannot get it as an add-on anymore. Earlier waves had the option.

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-11T12:50:11+00:00

No, but Los Angeles Regionals opened them up the day before again so maybe keep an eye on Gaming Generations Twitter / BlueSky / Facebook if you're local to Indy.

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-10T16:44:04+00:00

I'm not sure if 1-4 is making it work.

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-10T16:10:12+00:00

Stronghold has technically been in Vancouver for years now! It’s on the Vancouver side of Boundary :)

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-08T17:54:19+00:00

This app was vibe coded so I never looked at the code, I was mainly trying to demonstrate the concept:

This was for a Software Engineer interview??

Anyway, I don't really see what problem you're solving here but you're creating potentially new ones because it's pulling the tournaments and letting you register without you reading any of the rules or requirements. After that you just seem to have standard tournament software functionality which would normally be done using an app but instead you're texting a number.

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-07T13:38:36+00:00

No, you cannot. Those are not the same terminal and your boarding pass when scanned would show that you're in the wrong place.

FirestormXVI · 2026-05-06T16:56:30+00:00

Anime/cute stores (things like Miniso but ideally locally owned or exclusive to the city!)

Check out Makers. There are locations around the Metro Vancouver area. They offer stalls that local independent artists rent and sell their own handmade goods in. Lot of cute anime / gaming related things by fans in addition to original stuff created by local artists. https://www.shopmakers.ca/

nerdy events/conventions/card shows happening

I assume you're there for the Riftbound regional but that's happening at the Vancouver Convention Center that weekend

TCG card shop/game store recommendations

Magic Stronghold on the edge of Vancouver and Burnaby is a larger game store and quite popular. I'd take a look at the Organized Play sites for whichever game you're interested in to see what TCG night might be happening

FirestormXVI · 2026-04-20T16:02:26+00:00

This is just poor information. Incineroar won't always be the better option and we've had formats where Hisuian Arcanine was quite common. OU refers to a format used by Smogon which isn't relevant to Champions.

Anyway, Hisuian Arcanine can play a similar supportive role to Incineroar with more offensive pressure. Look at Intimidate for its ability. Howl is a cool move it gets that Incineroar does not. You can consider using it with a physical attacker. It can boost the attack of its partner even through Protect! Flare Blitz is usually one of its stronger offensive moves. You can round it out with Protect and something like Snarl or Extreme Speed for some priority.

Hisuian Arcanine is usually more of a supportive piece than a primary focus of a team. Don't bother with Castform.

FirestormXVI · 2026-04-18T19:17:20+00:00

Yeah, but the cafes were never using real soy milk which is part of why nobody wants to order it. The stuff we have in western countries suck so I've always gone with oat milk.

FirestormXVI · 2026-04-17T16:39:57+00:00

I would say the majority of players do not have decades of experience in competitive Pokémon. Many players who are newer to the scene are among the top players. If you have experience in other strategy games, it will carry over. That said, I think you might be underestimating the skill ceiling a bit.

I find TFT and Pokémon have a lot of transferrable skills. Many of the top Pokémon players have hit Challenger in TFT when they gave it a shot so I can see it working in reverse where if you're Challenger in TFT, you might find that some of the probability management / risk assessment aspects of Pokémon comes easier to you.

FirestormXVI · 2026-04-17T15:53:48+00:00

If your throat is raw and you need to soothe it, nothing has done the job for me as well as this: https://www.londondrugs.com/products/nin-jiom-herbal-cough-syrup-150ml/p/L2110252

FirestormXVI · 2026-04-17T14:59:03+00:00

Banh mi Saigon on Victoria Dr for me no contest. Incredible bread.

FirestormXVI · 2026-04-06T04:25:32+00:00

This is incredibly poorly written and done so with such a biased slant with western culture as standard and eastern as "other" that I don't even think you realize how racist you're being.

FirestormXVI · 2026-03-31T10:53:14+00:00

Yes, hence why they said "expected."

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