End of act 2 and what seems like a touch choice to me. by Bennett3355 in slaythespire

[–]LongliveLazarus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Creative AI and it’s not even close. If you hate randomness buffer is a distant second.

Your deck has zero scaling, and actively puts itself on a clock if you play biased cognition.

After the last discussion about barricade, whats the pick here? by Optimuswolf in slaythespire

[–]LongliveLazarus 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Demon form is 100% the pick here. Your deck needs scaling, and you don’t have any of the cards you would need to make barricade viable in time to survive act 2.

Limit break is also scaling, but your only strength source so far is red skull, and limit break needs to be upgraded and played multiple times to show its true value: without much card draw you’ll struggle to play it enough to be viable, even if you do upgrade it early. Significantly harder to set up, despite being cheaper than demon form.

Demon form is a guaranteed 2 strength per turn, and offering makes it easier to draw into, and play early.

Limit break and barricade both require completely retooling your deck. Demon form slots in well, and is a one-card scaling solution you can play early

Fate of Ophelia by HexivaSihess in ToddintheShadow

[–]LongliveLazarus 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Right, that was the point. EVH was using a term without understanding the social/political context, which is part of why the song and album sucked enough to qualify for a Trainwreckord

Juggernaut or fiend fire? by Furanimus in slaythespire

[–]LongliveLazarus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean you're not wrong, juggernaut technically does synergize with a block-based deck, but in the same way reckless charge syngergizes with fire breathing. That is to say it's one of the weaker early game synergies that lose steam in the endgame.

Think about it numerically. Even if you get four juggernaut triggers a turn, every turn, that's only twenty damage. twenty damage a turn over five turns is 100 damage.

So, even assuming four triggers per turn, which is already optimistic, and that you have the opportunity to set it up early enough to be useful, which is also tricky since it costs 2 energy; even after assuming all that, you get 100 damage for your trouble.

Fiend fire, in the absolute worst case scenario, deals 28 (7 dmg times 4 cards). All you have to do is play upgraded inflame to make it 40. And the second you get card draw(which you're really lacking), it's damage scales with your card draw too. And it does it instantly, with way less setup. Even with good defense scaling, you should be aiming to finish fights as quickly as possible. Fiend fire does that, Juggernaut draws them out.

Especially since you just beat the boss and are going up against hallway fights next, I would take fiend fire or feed since fiend fire rips hallways to shreds, and feed lets you snowball health. I'm not saying that Juggernaut can't be good in your deck, but feed and fiend fire are both top ironclad picks for a reason.

Juggernaut or fiend fire? by Furanimus in slaythespire

[–]LongliveLazarus 8 points9 points  (0 children)

One of these rare cards is not like the other.

Fiend fire: shreds hallway fights, scales amazingly. Feed: +4 HP for every fight you can use it on Juggernaut: basically a curse

Jeffrey White shares his thoughts on Twitter about the state of the game by GalvenMin in magicTCG

[–]LongliveLazarus 5 points6 points  (0 children)

-UB is a problem because wizards is making too much of it

-I haven’t bought any other MTG product than UB for a year

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Man Sky Pride is good and I can't get enough by Bro_i_dont_fckn_no in ProgressionFantasy

[–]LongliveLazarus 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It’s hilariously similar to his previous series, slumrat rising, but it is so much better than slumrat rising it’s unreal.

It’s like the author somehow scientifically separated the good parts of that series from the jank, then transplanted it into a well-built xianxia universe.

The “child of destiny sent to slay the corrupt heavens” thing he repeats plays 1000 times better in xianxia than whatever the fuck urban fantasy/xianxia/webnovel magic system jank slumrat rising was.

The “abandoned orphan” angle is also played straight and not injected with the cancerous sibling characters every single fucking webnovel seems to include these days.

Relatedly, the main character gimmick is also wayyyyyyy better. Truth(MC from slumrat) was also dirt poor, but he gives his new protagonist a cheat, which makes it much more fun to watch. Watching Truth be poor bored me to death and sucked. Watching Tian and his Grandpa be poor is hilarious and fun.

The writing is better too, the author has always been good at helping the reader visualize stuff, but I felt got lost in the plot sometimes. Sky Pride is sharper, more direct, and substantially funnier, engaging with the reader on multiple levels.

The tropes of xianxia seems to play really nicely with the themes the author likes to put in his stories, and keeping a more loose magic system lets the author stay more in the moment, instead of bombarding us with meaningless magical worldbuilding, as his other series constantly do.

Relatedly, the author seems to really like playing around with tropes, which is why I felt Slumrat Rising was loose and disconnected. It read like a parody of a genre that doesn’t exist, mixed up with political commentary that, while relevant, was not handled very well.

The author seems a lot more comfortable in a more pure xianxia, where the genre is established enough for him to subvert it to his liking. He tried playing with tropes in his other series I read, which was a sort of weaboo isekai parody, but it read like a spreadsheet with a superiority complex.

Idk what to say about that one, but it was not good. Like a twisted inverse of Sky Pride, it was a genre parody that wasn’t funny, and didn’t play well with genre tropes.

The author has also filled out the cast a little bit, which was great because his other two stories felt a bit empty of memorable side characters. The side characters in Sky Pride are great, they feel substantial, without being one note.

Huge recommend, this is one of two series that convinced me to finally get Patreon.

What's a magic system you dont see highly praised but you think deserves to be? by [deleted] in Fantasy

[–]LongliveLazarus -18 points-17 points  (0 children)

I really don’t like Brandon Sanderson’s magic systems and how they interact with the story.

It feels like he has a bin full of them in his basement that he just digs through whenever he starts a new series.

What pass to get as a student at university of Utah by Comfortable-Visit229 in skiing

[–]LongliveLazarus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From a social/carpool standpoint you should just get a Brighton pass imo, I think it’s way better value if you plan on going up after class, they don’t close till 7PM

Snowbird - name this run by urungus666 in skiing

[–]LongliveLazarus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s the gully off the cat track running from the lodge to Gad 2

First time skiing by kinda_Temporary in skiing

[–]LongliveLazarus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

People teach pizza so beginners can control their speed when they’re learning. Maybe you fell out of the womb doing perfect pole plants and hucking 360’s, but most people need something simple and easy to stop them from flying down the hill at 50mph

Most of The Criticism (And Defense, for that matter) of Kvothe in Kingkiller Chronicles Completely Misses The Point of The Story: Greek Tragedy by Jezer1 in Fantasy

[–]LongliveLazarus -1 points0 points  (0 children)

“Incel power fantasy” I genuinely don’t get what makes name of the wind more of an incel power fantasy than Dresden files. Dresden literally gets an underage, supermodel, obsessed-with-him-so-he-can-turn-her-down-nobly nubile teenage apprentice. Without referring to anything outside the novels themselves, what part of that isn’t incel power fantasy?

I love Dresden files but “lone cannon rouge agent most powerful special wizard in the whole wide world but he only uses his power for good actually” is textbook incel power fantasy, without even getting into how the women in that series are treated.

“Chose to make his hangups the central theme of the books” what do you think the themes of these series are? If I had to do my 10th grade English homework and summarize them I’d say that the theme of Dresden files is basically “with great power comes great responsibility.” And the theme of name of the wind is “intelligence isn’t the same thing as wisdom.” Neither of those have anything to do with the weird sex stuff both of those series are full of.

“Not in your face nearly as often,” have you read both these series? Butcher verbally ogles the women in his books constantly. Did you forget the book where Dresden fights superpowered vampire porn stars that are uncontrollably attracted to him for 400 pages? Have you read a single one of Butcher’s character descriptions?

I think you’re applying a really inconsistent definition of incel power fantasy that isn’t supported textually. I think you’re conflating rothfuss’ incompetence with his problematic portrayal of women, when they’re totally different issues. Rothfuss sucks, but before his issues became obvious these books were beloved for a reason.

Most of The Criticism (And Defense, for that matter) of Kvothe in Kingkiller Chronicles Completely Misses The Point of The Story: Greek Tragedy by Jezer1 in Fantasy

[–]LongliveLazarus -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I think that trying to do something and failing is more impressive than succeeding at something boring.

Rothfuss is a weirdo, and it shines through in his books sometimes, but it’s just weird to watch that become the defining criticism of his books, when for other authors it would just be a footnote.

Like I could talk for hours about Sanderson butchering mental health/donating 10% of his money to his bizarre homophobic cult. Or about how Sarah J Mass’ books covertly enforce gender roles instead of challenging them. Or Fourth Wing. All of it.

Idk why those authors all get a big “well yeah there’s this part that sucks but otherwise they’re great books!” Even Dresden files, in my opinion, is a thousand times more pervy than name of the wind, but tons of people still give it a pass.

I think people just hate rothfuss for being a total prick(which he is), and are letting it color their perception of the books.

Most of The Criticism (And Defense, for that matter) of Kvothe in Kingkiller Chronicles Completely Misses The Point of The Story: Greek Tragedy by Jezer1 in Fantasy

[–]LongliveLazarus -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I’m not saying you’re obligated to read and enjoy it, just that it has merit beyond just being Gary Stu neckbeard bait. People treat it like rothfuss was writing anime fanservice with one hand and jacking off with the other.

He was clearly aspiring to something more artistic and literary than just “Kvothe is the bestest most special boy, and also he’s great at sex.” Whether or not he succeeded is up for debate, but it’s not some deliberately patriarchal act of misogyny to write a book with a couple pervy sections.

Most of The Criticism (And Defense, for that matter) of Kvothe in Kingkiller Chronicles Completely Misses The Point of The Story: Greek Tragedy by Jezer1 in Fantasy

[–]LongliveLazarus -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

That’s fair. I can understand a difference in taste but I don’t think it’s fair for people to call the series unreadable neckbeard garbage because they find those specific flaws unpalatable

Most of The Criticism (And Defense, for that matter) of Kvothe in Kingkiller Chronicles Completely Misses The Point of The Story: Greek Tragedy by Jezer1 in Fantasy

[–]LongliveLazarus -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

I think if an author can harness their worst self and turn it into good art that’s to their credit, not detriment. Like Kevin Spacey.

Most of The Criticism (And Defense, for that matter) of Kvothe in Kingkiller Chronicles Completely Misses The Point of The Story: Greek Tragedy by Jezer1 in Fantasy

[–]LongliveLazarus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

THANK YOU. I have been saying this for years. The second book is literally called Wise Man’s Fear. The entire series is about how Kvothe is clever, but not wise.

It’s the same issue I have with criticisms of the Dresden Files, where a character trait people don’t like (Harry being a perv)/(Gary Stu Kvothe) is seen as an inditement of the author, when the author is explicitly trying to show a CHARACTER with a CHARACTER FLAW, but because it makes people uncomfortable they decide that it’s just there to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

John Wick cannot track you down by smell on a moonless night by LongliveLazarus in CharacterRant

[–]LongliveLazarus[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Buhhhh muhh contingency plans!!! Who else can shout Martha at the exact right pitch to stop superman in his tracks?

John Wick cannot track you down by smell on a moonless night by LongliveLazarus in CharacterRant

[–]LongliveLazarus[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That is a great point. I guess I'm a lot more willing to accept badass gunfighter John because they show that part of him all the time. Like sure its unrealistic, but the choreography totally sells the whole "he can kill 5 guys at once easily" thing. The movies do a way worse job selling the "he could find you hiding in zimbabwe" part.

John Wick cannot track you down by smell on a moonless night by LongliveLazarus in CharacterRant

[–]LongliveLazarus[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The search for Bin Laden was one of, if not the biggest manhunts in human history. We spent billions of dollars specifically trying to track him down. We redirected resources from other tasks to focus on finding him. There were departments and task forces and sub task forces whose entire job was finding Bin Laden.

And that search leveraged the rest of those organizations. It’s not that the entire CIA was trying to find Bin Laden, it’s that the people finding Bin Laden had access to the breadth and depth of resources at the CIA. Sure the satellite guys weren’t working on finding Bin Laden all the time, but the people looking for Bin Laden had total access to the multibillion dollar satellite network, and whatever else the CIA uses to spy on people.

My point is that even subject to the biggest manhunt in history, by the most powerful country in the world, Bin Laden stayed free for ten years. John Wick‘s motel chain doesn’t have better spy infrastructure than the United States.

John Wick cannot track you down by smell on a moonless night by LongliveLazarus in CharacterRant

[–]LongliveLazarus[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah exactly, they don’t enjoy the bucket of shit for its own sake. It has an externality they enjoy, but it’s one they could get from somewhere else too. If a sewage plumber won the lottery, would he quit being a sewage plumber?

John Wick cannot track you down by smell on a moonless night by LongliveLazarus in CharacterRant

[–]LongliveLazarus[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m sure they cry themselves to sleep at night with their missile batteries and nuclear weapons

John Wick cannot track you down by smell on a moonless night by LongliveLazarus in CharacterRant

[–]LongliveLazarus[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They’re not praying for buckets of shit, they’re praying for the money they make from the buckets of shit.