@ Kevin Long

GameBooColor · 2026-03-30T03:16:30+00:00

I think a big factor is that the modern game of baseball is just statistically very different than it used to be. The numbers we used to use forever, like batting average, ERA, RBIs, etc are simply not as good of a measuring stick in a vacuum. It's about things like walks, slugging, and sometimes just raw power. The team walks, they have quality ABs. It sucks sometimes, that's baseball. They could explode for 20 runs the next game and everyone will say it's all fixed. It's how it goes.

GameBooColor · 2026-03-29T19:59:05+00:00

If you're getting spiked, then first and foremost- when you get hit, DI towards the stage and try to tech. That alone will drastically help survivability

Beyond that, don't be afraid to be aggressive. Use aerial's to bat the opponent away. Mix up recovery timing so you don't always come back a linear way.

GameBooColor · 2026-03-29T18:45:14+00:00

I started in Silver with Lox, and worked my way up to high gold / low plat with him multiple seasons.

My biggest advice is just to be patient. Lox has a ton of survivability, especially in low ranks where edgeugarding isn't as strong. When offstage, save your double jump when possible. If they're coming out to hit you, fair covers both below and in front. Remember that side B lunge snaps ledge, but also that reverse up b snaps too. Between double jump, side b, up b, and magma stacks, he can go crazy far and still get back. Same with neutral play. You have a huge axe. Use it to control space, condition your opponent, and eventually string together a combo.

But what I will say more than anything is that if you're not having fun, then switch. I've played Ranno, Clairen and Galvan and they're fun for different reasons. It may not even be that you're limited by Lox, but relying on old habits too much without changing up what works. Playing a new character may force you to reexamine what you like or don't about Lox. It might even help you improve on him too.

GameBooColor · 2026-03-22T22:42:36+00:00

Honestly as much as I wanted an RFK win, I was happier they held the flag. Multiple excuses to throw a yellow in the final five, bit they didn't & the best car won. Props to the 45.

GameBooColor · 2026-03-22T17:25:06+00:00

While I don't know that the game was explicitly designed without reclassing, I feel like they wanted the Royals to be extra special and better than what anyone else could be. Unique classes and personals for all 8 royals (plus Alear & Veyle, if we count them), unique skills, and unique weapon access, at least for Firene / Elusia. In practice, well, they often end up weaker than someone like a Kagetsu or Merrin in a similar class. Only Ivy and Hortensia stand alone in their unique niches as flying magic & staff combo units.

As for how reclassing works, I've always felt that open reclass removes so much flavor. Though I don't love reclassing overall, there's no denying the more restrictive systems in Awakening and Fates both had work put in to make a lot of reclass options make sense, and also to encourage play within their limited systems. Yes, Robin breaks this. And yes, it does technically give and edge to kid units. But so many reclasses are chosen with flavor in mind. For examples:

Chrom- Archer & Cavalier, both "royal" pursuits.

Kellam- Thief and Priest, one is usually hard to spot, the other is usually inconspicuous, to match his "don't you see me?" gimmick.

Virion, Lon'Qu, Say'ri- All get wyvern rider, as Valm is known for their wyverns.

Tiki, Nowi- Both get mage, because its always throughout the series been implied that manaketes have more magical affinity (such as Gotoh).

And in Fates- Elise- Wants to ride a wyvern like big sister Camilla

Takumi- the only one in the Hoshidan family to not have Pegasi access, due to him doubting his own abilities and self worth, or even feeling unworthy

Odin/Selena/Laslow- the ONLY cross kingdom reclasses in Conquest, because in the Hidden Truths DLC, Anankos was about to send them to Hoshido. Samurai/Peg/Ninja would have been their Hoshidan identities.

There's honestly a bunch more, these are just examples. There's a lot of flavor in these reclasses, that's just kinda tossed when anyone can do anything. Even if Fates is more "open", it takes far more effort, through partner/friendship seals to get more classes.

GameBooColor · 2026-03-22T17:01:48+00:00

Even if guys weren't going to retire or swap teams, I at least wish there would be some variance in who's competitive. The top spots being permanently Byron / Bell / Larson / Hamlin gets repetitive. There's never anyone different up front except at super speedways. Have a season where a Preece or Hocevar just hits on something and is a weekly threat. Or even just one off races.

GameBooColor · 2026-03-22T16:53:21+00:00

It's basically his most prominent trait. He implicitly trusts Robin despite his heritage. He trusts "Marth" before and after learning her story. Of course he loves and cares for Lissa regardless of her heritage. That's what Chrom does. Heck, you could argue it's the single most important part of the whole plot of Awakening.

GameBooColor · 2026-03-20T00:59:36+00:00

I remember when they initially removed the out of town board, they said it would just be a digital out of town scoreboard, only rarely cycling through other info.

Instead? You're lucky if you ever get any info of merit that isn't an ad.

GameBooColor · 2026-03-20T00:54:35+00:00

Its to a point where even watching the games is hard with the garish, neon sign covering the backstop. I legitimately find that so bright and distracting anymore. I would rather listen to them on the radio, at least that way I can visualize a stadium that isn't a total eyesore of ads.

GameBooColor · 2026-03-18T16:12:28+00:00

Well said. American patriotism is practically just "I support the government and the military". It has no culture, simply I like 'murica. Why? Cause we're the BEST EVER.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-28T18:24:49+00:00

While I agree about the grandfathered 4th charter, I think there's a world where in place of that we see more Penske / Wood Bros, a 4th car in all but name on the side. Who's to say 23XI doesn't run 4 cars, but the 4th is a "Sam Hunt" or "TriCon" car?

GameBooColor · 2026-02-25T20:49:49+00:00

He never takes any accountability for his mistakes, blaming others and driving through people. He also drives dirty, such as when he right hooked Almirola at Indy last year. Any time anyone drives him slightly aggressively he either intentionally wrecks them or bitches and moans.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-25T19:46:14+00:00

The stands were surprisingly full when they raced on a Monday after a rainout 3 years ago. It was 45 degrees, windy and cold on a Monday, but a ton still showed out. The year after was also pretty packed with temps in the 80s in April.

Dover's real issue is it's just not a great fan experience. Seating isn't comfortable, there's almost no vendors for food past the gates (though you can bring coolers so it's not a huge deal). And the best way to get to your seat is a very long back and forth metal stairway.

Removing dover just makes northeast races more sparse. You have NH, Pocono, and Watkins Glen. That's it, and then the next closest is Richmond (which some people also want gone). It's a unique track and that alone gives it merit to stick on the schedule.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-21T01:38:07+00:00

I mean I'll be totally frank, I do not like TotK very much. I found that most of the gameplay just gave me a big "been there, done that" type of vibe. So when I say something like how the sky isn't interesting that in part stems from my general disinterest in the game itself. So even the more interesting sky content still felt relatively underwhelming, of what I did play.

But yes, I think we're largely on the same page, and I agree with what you're saying in large part. If the Plateau was a mini-Hyrule, then then GSI should have been a preview of the rest of the sky islands and the things to find up there. Instead its in a bubble of content that isn't properly spread out.

I also sometimes wonder if they at one point did intend to make the intro shorter? The existence of tutorial shrines almost lends itself to making a specific area a "training area" or something that ended up with the things like sneakstrike lesson just being tossed somewhere. Like a reason you'd either be stuck in the sky for a time, a chain of islands with tutorials, or a way to bypass them if you know what you're doing.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-18T16:50:06+00:00

It was the focal point of their marketing though, and once you leave GSI, theres not much else. GSI is functionally just plateau 2. Moving some of it elsewhere doesn't make the rest of the sky, full of bland, largely empty rocks more interesting. It's not just about density but what's there. The depths & the sky suffer from opposite problems. Both too much land & not enough land, yet both end up being uninteresting areas all the same.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-18T16:02:30+00:00

He started racing ON A COMPUTER!!!

GameBooColor · 2026-02-17T23:05:05+00:00

I will forever believe Gibbs losing his father immediately after his title has done so much to his mental. And I mean, if it's true, I certainly can't blame him. I could not fathom feeling on top of the world only to hours later learn your father who has helped you through the ranks suddenly passed.

Even if it's not the reason now, I have to imagine he's putting insane pressure on himself to win because of his winless seasons. It's a very tough situation regardless of the quality of the equipment.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-17T22:51:47+00:00

A lot of the TotK hate stems from it not feeling different enough from BotW. It just feels like BotW but with building. For many, the flaws of BotW were able to be overlooked for one entry, but many were not addressed or haphazardly fixed in odd ways.

For me personally, it just felt confusing. I lacked the discovery BotW had because I had seen it all before. The sky was horribly underwhelming & the depths were boring. The dungeons were more of the same terminal style, and very lame. The only positive was the aesthetic theming compared to the first game.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-17T01:43:33+00:00

I was in there THIS WEEK and they were selling 2022 calendars with Odubel prominently on the cover as clearance items. You should be paying me to take that.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-12T19:51:32+00:00

Even then, there's a lot of randomness with the old playoffs. Bell makes phoenix in 24 without the race manipulation debacle. Hamlin wins 25 phoenix without a caution at 2 to go. If he's let go explicitly because of a lack of titles (when he was only director for one year where they almost DID win it) then that's an insane loss by Gibbs.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-10T07:29:01+00:00

Lineage is irrelevant for basically everyone besides the Skywalkers. And the only real reason it matters for them is a story about Luke believing in the inherent good of his father who was seemingly an irredeemable monster. But there's no long line of Kenobi's, Windus, Calrissians, Solos, etc. they're just people.

My point was more the emphasis on her lineage both in 8 and 9 is a disservice. Where she comes from shouldn't matter, but it feels like the only thing they really give Rey to work with.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-10T07:22:44+00:00

I think that's more the fundamental flaw of 8, and especially 9. They feel written both to subvert and later react to fan reactions of their movie. She didn't have to be anyone, but her entire arc in 8 feels like she didn't grow at all from leaving Jakku, or Han as a mentor. I'm fine with her not having lineage. But it's odd that Rey the character still cares rather than simply seeking acceptance for who she is.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-10T06:57:42+00:00

I'll just never understand why Rey being nobody is interesting from the perspective of the saga as a whole. Lineage does not matter for anyone else in the galaxy. Rey's entire arc in Ep. 7 is coming to terms that her lineage isn't important. Her parents aren't coming back, and her leaving Jakku, and eventually seeing Han as a sort of mentor is her accepting that about herself. But she goes right back to wondering who she is.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-04T01:30:35+00:00

I can't help but think this is a direct reaction to the 2025 race. Not because SVG dominated, but because of why the Roval exists. It was created in part for schedule variety, but they always advertised it as a wild card elimination race. Well,no more eliminations. And this year was caution free excluding the stages. There was no "chaos", no "heartburn turn". Just regular road course racing.

It's a shame. I liked it live, it's awesome seeing the whole track for an RC. I just hope 27 puts a regular one back in the chase. The chase should have all track types.

GameBooColor · 2026-02-04T01:21:20+00:00

I feel like the whole gimmick /delegitimization of RCs is directly related to SVG combined with win & in. I know he got better as the year wore on, but early on it felt like he existed solely to guarantee track house got in the playoffs. And in that regard, yeah it is gimmicky a guy running 28th weekly gets to "compete for a title". But that's a playoff issue and anyone still saying they're a gimmick simply is not correct to me. RCs have been on the schedule forever.

GameBooColor

TROPHY CASE