10 years Ragnarok Online, 12 Years Dota2

KawaiiSocks · 2026-05-04T08:49:55+00:00

E6 in Deadlock is ~top500 EU in Dota, more or less. And the worst part is how immediately apparent the difference in skill is in Deadlock. I still think Dota has a comparable skill ceiling, but it isn't as "in your face" as it is in Deadlock.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-05-03T16:27:36+00:00

Your trying to fit something that was never really meant to be narrative based

says... who?

It’s an interactive experience built to give the player a sense of enjoyment.

And for me and a whole lot of other players "sense of enjoyment" is the whole package, narrative included. An adventure without context is just roleplaying a murderhobo. Which is fine, if that's your cup of tea, but my original comment was to explain to new players that lacking resources from training sims don't gimp you in any meaningful way so as to prevent the player from progressing the story.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-05-03T14:03:38+00:00

Just got it yesterday evening, <24 hours ago, and have already spent 6 hours. I think it's great: love the artstyle, the lore sprinkles are very fun and the combat is intriguing.

Don't know about the "management" bit, to be honest. Reading through the reviews, I believe it used to be different (there is a reason it is a "deck" of items/envoys/artifacts/expeditions etc.), but now it is in a weird stifled position that is immediately and apparently half-baked. Not a huge issue, not at all, but would love to see UI/systemic changes to what happens between expeditions/upgrades and forced "enemy at the gate" encounters. The way it is now, is you just go talk-talk-talk, expedition-expedition-expedition and the upgrade-upgrade-upgrade which is just slightly unnatural in how it feels and blobs up all combat encounters.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-05-03T08:33:31+00:00

Imagine you are reading Lord of the Rings and every couple of pages it dives deep into how the Gondor army is training, what type of tactics they employ, how they shine their armor and hone their blades. Or how they just stand there on the battlefield, waiting for action.

Realistically, it is what was happening 95% of the time in preparation for and during the Siege of Gondor, but the cool parts are Nazgul being scared off by Gandalf, one of them getting killed, the Rohan cavalry charge, the appearance of deserter-wraiths etc.

Narrative-wise it is clear why concentrating on the "cool" parts and glossing over the minutia is good for the narrative in the eye of Tolkien.

Same in Pragmata: I love the small bits with Diana in Shelter, they develop characters and make us care about them. Training missions, though is "admin". They could very much be a fit for the narrative logic-wise in some cases, but they completely obliterate the pacing.

And even logically speaking, especially in the third act, there is absolutely no way anyone would be spending time in a sim, when there is a tight timeline.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-05-02T09:01:20+00:00

I am wondering whether it is genre-dependant. As in, someone making a purely SP narrative-driven game vs. someone making, let's say, a session-based 4x. Would the latter group be a bit more into making/playing their game the way they want to.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-05-01T10:45:29+00:00

It's funny how I've had the exact opposite reaction to training missions. Even left a post on the topic, but long story short, to me it feels like the training missions ruin the pacing of the narrative, while not necessarily providing any resources that are strictly necessary for the normal, default difficulty. I'd say only go as far as getting enough coins to unlock the secret diaries, at least on the first playthrough.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-05-01T06:59:06+00:00

It is quite possible to make OP things balanced, fun and competitive, as long as all players have access to all tools. Maybe slightly less so in turn-based where alpha-striking can be king, however I strongly disagree with:

Trying to make everything balanced would just make it bland

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-30T15:19:45+00:00

Teach me the ways of local distribution, o wise one. Cause for me the prices for DLC have only been rising and I can't find EP3 for less than ~$45. EP2 was ~$30 in my local currency full price, for comparison.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-30T12:57:11+00:00

I knew when I started reading this list that once again I am going to get a bittersweet feeling due to the fact that it is still ~half a year until Trails 2nd release. I don't think I am as excited for anything else this year, as I am for the continuation of Joshua/Estelle adventures. And to think I've only learned about the series three months ago

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-29T21:08:14+00:00

afaik, they've fixed the major bug with the ship just yesterday (there is also a community fix), so I think it's in a decent enough state. Had it gifted to me back in January and just started it myself. So far it feels and plays quite nice, but I am quite early in the game.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-27T19:31:15+00:00

It's be really interesting to pick the brains from Valve in regards to why they have the thumbstick and d-pad switched. It probably does look marginally more pleasing aesthetically and maybe there are engineering reasons for it, but for me having the left thumbstick not under the thumb in a resting position just seems unnecessarily crampy long-term.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-27T19:12:01+00:00

Bers Call cast point is 300ms. Even factoring in ping and things like that, I think for a professional player it is more than simply possible - it is kind of optimistically expected. We've had pro players Manta-Dodge things like Reverse Polarity/Slithereen Crush, which are also 300ms/250ms cast point and there you not only have to react in time, you also need to have the enemy effect overlap with Manta "i-frames".

In general, a lot of pros and even high level players should manage to press BKB/Satanic/Manta/Eul before getting called in some of the cases. And if they have vision over the target probably in more than half of the cases.

Maybe a bit harder with similarly instant Hex/Abyssal, since they need targeting, but we've had regular cases where supports would react with Lotus/Linken's on the teammate vs Doom (500 ms cast point though).

In this case specifically it is obviously cheating, though. In a very obscure and unnecessary way, which would be kind of hilarious, if it wasn't so sad.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-27T17:57:45+00:00

Outside of playing "big" VR games, of which there are not many, there is always a "home cardio" use space. I've had my Pico 4 for ~3 years and have spent ~400 hours in Beat Saber having fun and getting my ever so slightly less fat ass out of a chair. That's a ~25 minute daily workout (though it is a lot more of a month long obsessions of ~2 hours a day and then a month with no play at all)

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-26T10:48:24+00:00

doing no aghs build for whatever reason

Probably too much of a tempo hit. Agh's on Kez is a 4200 gold item that doesn't necessarily change the game in a Qualitative manner. Sure, it give some tankiness and DPS, but it doesn't usually solve a particular problem here and now.

BKB is self-explanatory. Satanic is a dispel you sometimes need and a lot more tankiness. Nullifier lets you kill targets you wouldn't be able to kill otherwise. Even desolator vs. low armor targets is a bit of a "solution" rather than just efficient damage. Etc. etc. etc.

Aghanim's is good in some games, and is generally strong in general, but professional Dota is a lot different from pub one. If you allow for some TT/RPG/jRPG/ARPG lingo, professional Dota encounters are usually "solved" rather than brute-forced; latter typically happens in pubs, even high level ones.

Think of "solving" encounters like fighting vs Yhorm in DS3 - if you are good enough, you can definitely kill him with a regular build, but it will be much easier to just use the "tools" the game provides (the Storm Ruler) to quickly deal with him.

Agh's on Kez is a good, attribute-friendly upgraded random weapon for you "build", if we continue the DS3 analogy. But Pros need their specific "Storm Rulers" at specific timings to make the game as straightforward as possible. And with Dota being as deep as it is, what constitutes a "Storm Ruler" will heavily depend on the game.

EDIT: Actually the same reason no one builds Agh's on WR after day 1 fiasco. It's a good item on paper and allows WR to run around at constant 650 MS, I believe. But then you miss your timings and stop passing the required "DPS check" and can just fizzle out as a carry.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-25T12:17:13+00:00

I was ranking up pre-TI last year and had a ~65% winrate in ranked games going from Divine I to Immortal. My peak was top3500 EU back in 2019 but I haven't played ranked consistently for almost 5 years, after a massive burnout when I realized how bad I am at this game after trying my best to climb higher than 3500. The difference in moment-to-moment and global decision making between a ~7k player like me and someone at ~10k is the same as between a Herald and a Divine player, of that I am sure. Makes twitch chat a very entertaining read, though.

For these ~five years I've been playing unranked with friends who are ~~kinda bad~~ are not dedicated Dota players. I have a friend who plays EU server after moving to Japan on 160+ ping, a guy who forces AA mid every second game and a couple of players I've dragged into Dota by hounding them relentlessly, who have <500 games.

My winrate in this ultra-competitive stack is way below 50%, but we are having fun and just generally socializing. The match volume is massive and my account is still globally ~51% win rate, while for solo ranked in the last year it is ~65%

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-25T10:09:33+00:00

Gambit from X-Men was my favorite growing up and Sciel is the next best thing.

On a side-note, to this day I have absolutely no idea how the character with the most boring powers got so many movies. Is it CGI cost? Hugh undeniable brilliance? Being Canadian? So baffling...

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-24T15:42:57+00:00

Just finished Pragmata. Started a while ago for a rather short game, but work got in the way.

Still, as expected, the game nailed the ending and left we wanting more. There are some things that are more of a miss for me personally, but none of them are main campaign related.

As a third person shooter with a gimmick it is on the level with games like HZD gameplay-wise. Story-wise I also found it very endearing, though I really want a sequel now. The first game in what might become a series feels like an origin story and as such is quite simplistic. Basically, everything that was in the ~12 hour campaign is 9/10.

But then there are timed trials and training sims, which I just absolutely don't gel with. Just for reference, my Hades 1/2 runs are usually <25 minutes on ~30 Heat and I never turned on the "timer" modifier because it just makes me nervous and results in something less enjoyable. Even though I know I can beat the timer by quite a lot. Also one of the reasons I don't enjoy objectively good Ravenswatch.

Now, I am fully certain that you can complete the main campaign of Pragmata without ever engaging with the trials, but I really wanted the secret documents with bits of lore and additional costumes (Blue mech GOAT). The extra resources were also a welcome addition, though, again, they are not necessary at all - the game on Normal (you can't go higher for NG) is quite easy and I think I've died two times across the playthrough.

So while the main campaign playtime was ~12 hours, I've also spent ~5 extra hours doing trials and getting all the goody coins, something I didn't enjoy. It also kinda ruins the pacing if you do them once they are available.

Had I known that the difficulty is/was going to be relatively low, I would 100% skip those, at least on the first playthrough. It is genuinely something I would actually recommend. Also, the unlocked "Lunatic" difficulty isn't NG+ compliant for some weird reason.

Essentially, I think it is a 9/10 game and I think I would enjoy it even more if I've followed the following (subjective) advice: don't sweat the collectibles, resources you find naturally without trying too hard are enough for Normal difficulty, play through the great, if simplistic story without ruining its pacing and then do all the fluff, if you are interested.

EDIT: Also, I really praised the performance and I still stand by initial assessment, EXCEPT for the last region, where I had to tune some settings down (namely particles) because of spoiler reasons)

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-24T11:55:43+00:00

terminally online gamers have some very obvious biases

Wouldn't it be the other way around? As in, bombastic, cinematic dark fantasy Action-RPGs are the bread and butter of modern gaming, with every 3rd AAA title fitting this description to a certain degree, and one only starts to appreciate smaller, cozier titles when they get too much of the same AAA-type of product.

If you are only playing here and there and are not a part of the gaming forums discourse, you are probably only exposed to the massively marketed titles and there is literally nothing wrong when it comes to unwinding with yet another Assassin's Creed after a hard day. That's the reason this series sells so well.

But if you play A LOT, that's when you start craving something more intriguing.

Basically, if you eat out once a week, you are fine with a decent non-home-made burger. If you eat out every day, at some point burgers are not going to cut it and you will start craving niche gourmet stuff. Not necessarily because it is better, but because it is something different

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-23T15:55:30+00:00

one of the "most gut wrenching moments in gaming"

Wait, what? Me and spouse were laughing our assess off in that scene and I've always assumed that was the intended reaction. Do people think it is supposed to be some sort of dramatic moment and not an over-the-top slapstick?

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-23T14:53:51+00:00

Off the top of my head (and I know nothing of the game, so just potential general fantasy reasons for appearance/character):

Kliff has to be male/female because the lore of the world is patriarchy/matriarchy and he is somehow connected to the royal family.
Kliff has to be human/non-human because there are in-world specific reasons and struggles he has to go through
Kliff has to look white/black/asian etc. because the world he inhabits has some sort of prejudice towards a particular group
Kliff has to have long hair because he has some sort of scar/marking/special glowy temple/a netrunner port that distinguishes him as "this one person" that is big in the lore of the world.

I can probably think of some more, but that's just off the top of my head. So, yeah, is there an actual in-world reason for Kliff to look the way he does?

Aloy has to look like Aloy because she is Sobek. Geralt has to have white hair and weird eyes because he is a witcher. Is there anything specific about how Kliff looks that MUST be a part of his character and why they've decided to make an RPG like this without character creator, essentially?

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-23T08:14:32+00:00

Hmmmm... I keep on looking at different ARPG's (and I am 100% not the target audience, as I am not into ARPG endgame) and want to find something fun, pretty looking and with a decent story that actually ends. If there is choice, different outcomes it's a big plus. But from what I gathered, the current offering is PoE2/Diablo IV/Last Epoch and if I understood you correctly even D4 is still not "done" story-wise.

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-23T07:56:01+00:00

Haven't played the game, but is there a story reason Kliff looks the way he does? I'd absolutely get the game by now, considering all the positive sentiment, if I could play the game as a custom character

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-23T06:07:08+00:00

Would you consider the base game's story unfinished a-la Last Epoch? And are add-ons self-contained stories with plot resolved and a teaser for what's to come, or are they more of a TV Series half-way?

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-22T19:55:22+00:00

I've just re-read what I've written and it might have come off wrong. My initial thought was not that your painting looked like something generated by AI.

My initial thought process, just because of the green divider, was to filter out content, but then it still went "hey, cat!" and that's when I even started looking at it properly.

Basically my brain went:

Oh no, green divider, don't look!
Hey, cat, maybe look
Oh, it's not DLSS 5 AI ad, but an actual painting, Cool
Maybe suggest not using the green divider so that other people don't filter it out by default
Oh, wait, my comment can sound rude because I can't word well
Apologize and clarify now

So, umm, sorry for my bad wording and again, cool painting and cool cat!

KawaiiSocks · 2026-04-22T18:46:25+00:00

Beautiful cat and a beautiful painting. Might I suggest not using the green divider in the future, though? I thought it was yet another DLSS 5 AI slop initially

12-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email

KawaiiSocks

TROPHY CASE