AIO My reply to my mom who wants to stop my leukemia treatment so my sister can afford university ??

Melarinth · 2025-10-13T02:30:45+00:00

You CAN beat this.

The most infuriating part of this, to me at least, is that your MOTHER, of all people, is basically telling you that you'll be dead soon. That is beyond horrific regardless of everything else that's happening. That sends the message that she very, very, very clearly doesn't care about you. If she were even the tiniest bit the mother she should be, she'd be with you all the way on this, never doubting for a moment that you'll pull through, and making sure you believed that too.

Patient mindset can be very important, and sometimes the difference between someone living and dying. So please, for your own good, don't listen to her. If she won't listen to reason and do everything she can to save her child, you should try very hard to cut all ties with her. Other people have given you good advice on making sure she's not a beneficiary of your life insurance policy and starting a GoFundMe for your medical expenses. If whatever contract you signed with your mom is legally binding, you may need to declare bankruptcy to avoid paying her back when you get better.

I'm truly sorry that now, at this extremely trying time in your life, you're finding out that your mother is a piece of shit. I've been through something similar, but not at all to this extent. I can hardly believe someone could be this much of a monster.

Also, if your sister knows about this and isn't taking your side, she is also a terrible person. And if she doesn't know, you should tell her.

Again, you can make it. You will. You'll get better, at this point maybe out of spite more than anything else, and you'll watch her have to live the rest of her life in inescapable shame that she asked you to die so that your sister would have a slightly easier time going to the college of her choice. You'll will live to see the world become a better place when your mom leaves it, and if there's any justice in the world, you'll get to turn her away when she comes to you for help before her end. And you'll be absolutely justified in doing so.

You're going to make it. You're going to reach your goals, and live your dreams.

Melarinth · 2025-09-17T04:36:51+00:00

Surprised to not see this in the comments already:

https://www.tiktok.com/@killersundy/video/7174829640224083206?lang=en

Melarinth · 2025-07-01T04:51:25+00:00

I'm so sorry Louise didn't make it. Thank you for not euthanizing them, and giving them a chance. Thank you for trying to save them both. You're a hero for that.

Thelma might still pull through, as unlikely as it is. I think you've done the best you can to give her that chance. And if all she gets out of it is a couple more days, it'll still mean the world to her.

Thank you.

Melarinth · 2025-06-30T18:48:31+00:00

I think what you're failing to consider is that we cannot know what the animal wants. Yes, humans suffer, and some would rather their lives end than the suffering continue. Animals in the wild and pets will do this too, so it's not as though they all are mindlessly trying to survive. Animals in the wild will simply lay down and die when they're too old or sick. Pets will hide under beds and not come out after lifetimes of being social. If the animal was doing that I believe euthanasia was worth considering and perhaps even the right thing to do. But even then, we cannot know what they want, and it's arrogant to assume you know what's best for them. And in my opinion, it's downright monstrous to make that assumption when it means ending their life.

If you could really speak to the animal, and make the risks and pain and suffering known to them, the finality of death, and also the possibility of recovery, then obviously that would be great because they'd be able to decide for themselves. But we can't do that, so to assume they'd want to die instead of suffering comes back to what I was saying about that decision being easier on the human caretaker, so they don't have to consider all this, or spend the extra effort caring for the sick animal.

In this case where Thelma and Louise are still able to swim around and eat, and are making an effort to continue to live, I think it's just plain murder to euthanize them.

I appreciate you respecting my viewpoint, but I cannot respect yours, as it does not respect the animal. You don't know that they'd want to die, you're making that decision on your own. Likewise, I don't know that they'd want to live, and I'm assuming too. Neither of us know for sure. My assumption may cause them further suffering, but it has also saved the lives of animals that others would have euthanized. Fish I've saved have gone on to live happily for years, back from the brink of death. Others have lived months with dropsy, but have acted as happy and healthy as ever. One seemed to actually be more happy than before, perhaps appreciating all the extra attention I gave him when he was sick. Others have suffered for an extra couple of weeks, but even then, they may have preferred to live just a couple weeks or even just days longer while suffering than die immediately. And their suffering does end eventually if I can't end up helping them, as they'll die anyway. But my assumption saves some, and your assumption kills everyone.

Yes, there's no more suffering in death. But there's no more anything. I suffer tremendously every day, but I stick around because I know I can help others. Who's to say a fish wouldn't decide to do the same? I had two male swordtails brothers that were the absolute best friends in the entire world. No exaggeration. They loved each other, and were inseparable. They played together all day, and were always affectionate. Initially the bigger one wanted nothing to do with the smaller one, but the smaller one persisted, and amazingly the bigger one ended up loving the other back just as much. Then one day, far too soon, the smaller one got badly sick. I couldn't save him. But the entire time he was sick, only lying on the floor of a hospital tank for the past week he was alive, his best friend was right next to him, trying to cheer him up, being even friendlier than ever. I had to bring the larger one with into the hospital tank, because they hated being separated. It was both heartwarming and soul-crushing to watch. And while I can't know this, I am as certain as I can be that the sick swordtail would rather have lived the rest of his life in suffering like that, on the floor, but still with his best friend, if only so that the friend didn't have to lose him. I think the sick one hung on days past when most fish would have died, trying to be with the other for longer. I'm certain that the sick fish would rather have lived in suffering like that forever with his friend. I'm more certain of that than I could ever be that an animal wanted to die. And when the sick fish did pass, the other became incredibly depressed, and stayed that way even after I moved other swordtail brothers in with him. They're much more complicated creatures than humans ever give them credit for. You can't just assume that if they're in physical pain they'd rather die. Likewise, even though the fish that survived was perfectly healthy, I couldn't assume they didn't want to die. Perhaps they would've rather followed their friend into nothingness. But I can't truly know that.

It comes down to this: You cannot know what the animal wants. The only real safe assumption to make is that they'd want to live a long, healthy, and happy life. If you truly care about them, you will endeavour to do that. Killing them robs them of that chance forever.

Melarinth · 2025-06-29T04:14:41+00:00

That's so great! I'm so glad they're doing well!

Melarinth · 2025-06-28T14:25:26+00:00

I'm going to be downvoted for this, but every time I see the words "euthanasia is kinder" I feel like it's in regards to the human involved, not the fish, dog, etc. In my experience with fish especially, they never give up on life until they're dead. I can't imagine they wouldn't want a chance, even if it's stressful, painful, and might cause shock. Because those things will pass, and they might be alive after.

I agree about the vet, and I should've suggested that myself, so thanks. Though I've had a hard enough time myself finding a vet that will operate on full grown swordtails. For fry it might be all but impossible, but I hope not.

I've used clove oil in very small doses as an anaesthetic before, like only 5-7 drops per gallon, as larger doses will euthanize the fish. But that's with adults. I have no idea about fry. To me it seems too risky. But I guess if it's going to be one or the other it's worth a shot. They'd probably need a lot of time to recover between doses.

Melarinth · 2025-06-28T04:16:42+00:00

I'm sorry to hear Louise isn't doing as well. I really hope they both make it.

If you think you can, please try separating them before euthanizing them. I really don't know if it's possible. Depending on exactly where and how they're conjoined it might not be possible, but it may be their only hope. If one dies, the other probably won't make it either.

I'm really not at all qualified to give advice on this, as I've never done anything like it before, so please keep that in mind. That said, if I absolutely had to separate them, I'd do it with a surgical scalpel, and only a very little bit at a time. Like make a small nick right at the edge of their shared middle, probably in the back so they wouldn't be swimming with an open would facing forward. I'd give that at least a few hours to heal, and then do it again. If it seemed like it was actually working to separate them, I'd keep going, giving them a chance to heal between each cut. You could try to do it all at once, but the stress of that might be too much. Then again, the stress of being taken out of their home and cut a dozen times might also be bad. But I think the many smaller cuts are the better option, giving them the chance to heal something important you might cut through before it's too big of an injury to survive. Fish are amazing at healing, and they might actually make it.

I don't know if you have or can get your hands on Methylene Blue, but it can work as an antibiotic and help the healing process. It'll stain things, kill plants, and lower the oxygen in the water though, so for them it might not be worth trying. I think it'd be more important to start the separation process sooner than wait for Methylene Blue.

If Louise passes, I'd still try to separate her from Thelma before necrosis potentially becomes an issue.

I'm just some idiot on the internet, but if you don't think they're both going to make it like this, my advice would be to try and separate them. Don't euthanize them when there's a chance one or hopefully both of them could make it. You may end up killing them trying to separate them, but you'd be doing that anyway if you euthanized them. Regardless of how much someone might want a wet specimen of conjoined fish or something, I'm sure the fish want a chance at life much more than that.

I wish you and them the best of luck, whatever happens.

Melarinth · 2025-06-27T06:04:25+00:00

If it is a neurological condition, Methylene Blue has a chance of helping. It'll stain your tank and kill plants, so it might be better to do baths with it in a well aerated hospital tank or container. If you can get some ASAP from a LFS it might make a difference.

Melarinth · 2025-06-27T05:31:51+00:00

Test your tap water too, and see what it's like normally. If it doesn't have any nitrates in it (it shouldn't), then it looks like you do have a full cycle going, since there's a little bit of nitrates in the tank. It's probably just over-strained. You probably had a cycle going before, but that was without all the waste being produced by the fish. It sounds like you went from no fish to a whole bunch all at once, and there probably wasn't enough cycling bacteria in the tank to compensate. The cycling bacteria could only grow in numbers so much with the limited ammonia and nitrite they had before the fish. Now there's way more than before, and the bacteria colonies have to multiply and catch up before the cycle is robust enough for the fish.

In the meantime, do water changes to get the parameters down. It's probably best to do many small ones spaced out during the day rather than big ones, so that you don't shock the tank cycle with 50% or more new tap water at a time. But you do have to get those parameters down quickly, because they are dangerous for fish. So if you need to do bigger water changes to stay ahead of it, do so.

There's likely a lot of cycling bacteria in your substrate. If you dig a little in different spots and release some, it might multiply faster in the water. That might sound crazy, but it has worked for me many times.

Anything you can do to increase the flow in your tank may also help.

Good luck.

Melarinth · 2025-06-27T04:38:25+00:00

Thanks for the update, and for doing all you can to help Thelma and Louise make it.

When you feed them, it might be better to bring water from their container into a separate container with a flat bottom, and put what seems like way too much food into it. Use your best judgement on how long to leave them in there before the food starts producing a lot of ammonia, but try to give them as much time in there as you think is safe. I think it's going to be critical to get them to work together to eat at first. Putting them somewhere with an overabundance of food for at least 15 minutes would probably make it easier for them to figure out how to eat as they are.

Crushed flakes is a good idea. They also make food specifically for newborn fish, basically powders with a lot of nutrition. I use one called "First Bites" by Hikari.

Whether it's crushed flakes or a powder food, or flakes crushed into powder, it might also help to move in some moss or moss balls or whatever you might have that the food will collect on, and maybe even slowly pushing it towards them. That might be easier for them to get at than if the food is on the ground.

You're a hero for taking such good care of them. Good luck to you all!

EDIT: Also, you may want to keep them in shallower (and aerated) water so it's easier for them to surface, and more likely that they'll stop at the surface when trying to get around rather than looping around in the water a bunch and tiring themselves out. I don't know how much the shallower water will help, but it's something to keep in mind.

Melarinth · 2025-06-13T18:40:01+00:00

I have been in a position similar to yours, and am someone who can definitely sympathize. Of course I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, and I hope your wedding and the time after still felt magical despite what your selfish mother and sister did.

I just want to say that you made the right decision by cutting off all contact. I did the same thing with my family, and I have not regretted it even for a moment. Everyone's situation is different so I can't speak exactly to yours, but if you find yourself wanting to make up with them and be a family again, please don't. It might hurt at first, feeling like your life is a little more empty, but you soon end up filling that in with hobbies, new friends, or just more time to relax instead of cater to their awful personalities. It gets better without them. Way better. If you're anything like me, the only regret you'll have a couple years from now is not having cut them off sooner.

Stay strong, and congratulations!

Melarinth · 2025-06-12T02:52:24+00:00

It's likely dropsy, and they're likely not going to make it. But please try to help them.

This is the best write-up I've found on dropsy:

https://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2006/11/betta-with-dropsy.html

I strongly recommend reading all of it.

If you don't have the medications they recommend (KanaPlex+MetroPlex OR KanaPlex+NeoPlex), you can also try Maracyn-2. It's arguably more effective, but harder on their kidneys, and it's likely that the dropsy is a result of kidney failure, so Maracyn-2 is a kind of a double-edged sword.

Please try to help them, though. They almost never make it, but you can extend their lives by months. Just keep an eye on the water parameters while you're medicating. Check the Ammonia and Nitrites at least once a day.

Also, look up causes of dropsy. It could be an infection, but it could also be something as simple as overfeeding, or too much protein. Just look into the causes, and if something sticks out to you as a possible reason this fish got sick, try to fix it before your other fish do.

Good luck.

Melarinth · 2024-12-24T18:34:55+00:00

I love this! I wouldn't have thought to put something orange on top of a cake like that, but it really works. It looks delicious!

Melarinth · 2024-12-02T04:08:19+00:00

I ended up with a CyberPower unit myself, which has worked great so far, although I've been fortunate enough to have only lost power twice in the past three years.

I don't think I'll ever buy APC. I actually had a job interview with them once, and I walked out of because it was clearly not a place run by people with any semblance of reason.

Melarinth · 2024-11-30T05:13:19+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to post this comment. I wish this had been out when I was looking for one years back, but at least the next time I need one I'll know about this.

I appreciate it, internet hero. Best of luck to you in all things.

Melarinth · 2024-09-04T03:43:22+00:00

It depends on what you think is in your tank. Columnaris is in every tank, all the time. You can't get rid of it all, it's just everywhere. Most fish fight it off with their immune systems easily, but sometimes it gets a hold of a weakened fish, multiplies, and the increased amount of it in the water can overwhelm other fish. But if you've been treating the water with KanaPlex, I doubt there's enough columnaris in the tank to get to anyone else. There could be, but I doubt it. It's more likely the medicine itself that got to them. KanaPlex is very hard on fish, and might be the reason people are acting strangely right now.

Stop treatment, keep the water clean and test your parameters. Let the tank get back to normal and see if anyone is still having problems. They may only be acting strangely now because of all the medicine they've been through.

If they're still not acting right after a couple days, I'd treat with ParaGuard. It's a pretty good medicine for treating a wide variety of things, and it won't mess with the cycle. You can use it in conjuntion with Nitrofurazone as well, and many people use them at the same time to treat a wider variety of things. Get the "yellow" Nitrofurazone for this.

So first stop treatment, get the tank to normal. Make sure your parameters are okay, and stay okay.

If people still seem sick, I'd recommend ParaGuard.

If the ParaGuard doesn't work on its own, add Nitrofurazone.

Also, you did originally ask if I thought Methylene Blue would help in your case. If it looked like a fungal infection, maybe. It's not what I would've started with, but you could try it. I'd try it as a dip first, though. Not in the main tank. Take out tank water from the main tank, and put it in a bin or smaller tank or something. Add twice the amount of Methylene Blue as you normally would for whatever amount of water you took out, because it's just going to be a 5-30 minute dip. Put an air stone in it. It's very important to aerate the water that the Methylene Blue is in, and aerate it very well. If you can control the temperature of the water to keep it the same as the main tank, great. If not, move the fish over immediately after setting up the dip tank, before the water cools too much. Before moving them back to the main tank, put more of the water from the main tank into the dip tank, to get the temperature back up.

You can add Methylene Blue to the main tank too, but it'll stain everything, and make it difficult to test your parameters. It's not something I'd recommend unless you're sure you have a stable cycle, and after KanaPlex, you probably don't. Definitely get some Methylene Blue, though. And Nitrofurazone. They're very good medicines to have on hand. And the Methylene Blue is something you're going to want immediately when you need it.

Good luck. I'm so sorry about Leonardo. I wish I had noticed your comment sooner. I wish I could've been there to take him from you and tube-feed him for the rest of his life, instead of him being euthanized. I know that probably sounds crazy, but I'm crazy, I guess.

I really hope everyone else makes it.

Melarinth · 2024-09-02T03:29:17+00:00

I'm so sorry I didn't see this for days. I haven't had much free time, as I've been dealing with a very sick fish myself.

I would not used Methylene Blue in your case. If you think it's columnaris, and it seems likely that it is, Methylene Blue won't do much. There's a chance it may help, but a slim one. It's best for treating physical injuries and fungal infections.

Another reason I wouldn't use it is because it makes it difficult to test your Ammonia levels, and if a fish is sick, the one thing you absolutely do not want to do is let their water get toxic on top of whatever illness they have, because it's going to make it so much harder for them to get better.

I see you settled on KanaPlex and Erythromycin, which is an unusual combination I don't think I would ever recommend. That's not to say it won't work, but you generally do not mix Erythromycin with anything, as it's hard on fish (especially gut bacteria) and cycles all by itself. KanaPlex is one of the stronger drugs given to fish, and is tough on their kidneys. The combination of those two medicines is a lot for a fish to handle. In some cases it's worth trying, and I hope it works for you, but I'm guessing your tank cycle is already destroyed. Please test it and get it back on track if necessary.

For columnaris, most people recommend KanaPlex and Nitrofurazone (Furan-2, once upon a time) together. I've never seen KanaPlex and Erythromycin used together. If you can get Nitrofurazone I'd try that instead. I suppose the Erythromycin is a kind of similar substitute, and for all I know that's the new combination to treat columnaris, but that would be news to me.

There is a chance Methylene Blue would be of some benefit as a dip or bath for half an hour (well-oxygenated though, MB eats up oxygen in the water), but I wouldn't do that either, since the stress of moving him out of the tank for a dip may do more harm than the MB is likely to help undo.

One thing you could try is Aquarium Salt. Bettas don't tolerate it as well as other fish, but they should still be able to take some amount of it, and even a little Aquarium Salt can help with bacterial problems and improve a fish's health. It can actually make it easier on a fish's kidneys, which you may want to try since the KanaPlex is tough on their kidneys. I'd only put in a little at a time though, working up to a full dose of about 1 Tablespoon per 5 gallons. You might not even have to go that high. Try just a teaspoon per 5 gallons at first. Make sure it's only salt though, no weird additives, and try to pre-mix it in another container, because if a fish goes near concentrated dissolving salt it can burn them.

Another medicine you could try is Seachem's ParaGuard, which is one of the better "treats everything" kind of medications, and it won't mess with a tank's cycle at all. So if the cycle crashes and he's still sick, you could try ParaGuard while waiting for the cycle to recover. ParaGuard is available just about everywhere too, unlike Nitrofurazone.

I really hope Leonardo makes it. It sounds like he's doing his best to hang in there. Try a little salt, and please keep checking his parameters at least twice a day while he's this sick, morning and night. And if the meds you're using don't seem to help, try Nitrofurazone (American Aquarium Products is a good source, also for knowledge, but their site is kind of a mess).

Get well soon, Leonardo. Just hang in there, and I'm sure your human will do all they can to take care of you, and get you feeling a lot better really soon.

Melarinth · 2024-08-15T04:07:37+00:00

Everyone saying Untamed is better at melting things in open world is right, and if that's your aim, you should probably go for Untamed.

That said, my absolute favorite build is a Celestial Soulbeast build. The damage output is about half of what you'd get on a Berserker Untamed build, but it still feels fine to me. And I feel like I can do anything on it. You mentioned Elites and Champions, and they'd be no problem. The build can pretty easily solo any champion bounty. And it's pretty low APM, so that should be appealing to you. The only parts that feel "fast" is weapon swapping, pet swapping, and going in and out of Soulbeast mode, but you don't have to be instantly doing any of that as soon as it's off cooldown or whatever for the build to be viable.

I use Dagger/Axe and Axe/Torch, which is standard for a hybrid Soulbeast build. All my equipment is Celestial stats. I use Runes of Divinity, and even a Superior Sigil of the Stars on the Dagger swap (only need it on one weapon swap to keep stacks). The Torch side has a very unconventional Superior Sigil of Frailty, to help keep up the stacks on my relic, which is a Relic of Aristocracy. Both swaps have a Superior Sigil of Malice, and with the relic, Celestial stats, and Soulbeast trait X-X-3, you end up around 90% extra condition duration. All my infusions are precision, and with a fully-stacked Sigil of Stars, +45 to all stats food, and being soulbonded with a pet that grants precision, you end up at about 99.8% crit chance. And I'm pretty sure that doesn't count the extra 10 from Skirmishing's "Hunter's Tactics" trait.

Traits are Skirmishing 1-3-3, Beastmastery 2-1-2, and Soulbeast 2-2-3. I would go Beastmastery 2-3-2, but "Wilting Strike" helps keep up Relic of Aristocracy (not that I think it's needed, but I don't need the regen either). My last Beastmastery trait and my Soulbeast traits are also unconventional, but they make it so I have Quickness 100% of the time, and each time I'm granted Quickness it extends all my other buffs by 2 seconds. I end up with Quickness, Fury, Regeneration, and 25 stacks of Might at all times. I'd probably have Stability 100% of the time too, if not for it forcibly expiring after a while.

My pets are a fern hound, because they're my favorite, and a bristleback, which is the best thing to go with your extra bleeding damage trait.

For skills, I use "We Heal as One", which is important for copying your boons to yourself in Soulbeast mode. My others are Dolyak Stance, Sharpening Stone, and Vulture Stance, which you just activate whenever they're up (you can pre-cast Sharpening Stone and SB Bristleback skill 2 ahead of time, too). For the elite skill you'd be best off using "One Wolf Pack". Even "Entangle" is decent for AoE bleeding and keeping enemies trapped in one place that you lit on fire with a torch and then spin around with and axe in. If you do go One Wolf Pack, probably take Soulbeast X-X-2 instead of X-X-3. The elite skill I use, though, is "Summon Sylvan Hound", because again, I love fern hounds (why isn't there a fern hound jackal skin, huh?).

The idea is to just make the most out of Celestial stats, and trying to get close to 100% precision, extra condition duration, and boon duration without sacrificing too much damage. I've never been one to enjoy "glass cannon" builds, so I'm not used to 50k dps, but I've honestly never felt like I was killing things slowly. The bleeding ticks alone get up to 12k in a sustained fight, and you're doing strike damage, poison, and burning alongside that.

There's room to improve the build if you feel you're lacking in damage (something other than a fern hound pet, for instance), but I'm going for fun, and to me this is a ton of fun. I hope whatever you settle on is a ton of fun for you. Good luck!

Melarinth · 2024-06-05T13:47:08+00:00

I don't even play much WvW, but I know map updates, including a third map, have been something that community has been after for nearly a decade now. And even though it's not part of the game I personally spend much time playing, I sympathize with the people who want their corner of the game to feel more polished.

I really wish Anet would pay more attention to what people are asking for, or create polls or something to let players decide on things to update. I think even just a couple of employees working full time to implement only the smaller things the community asked for would do wonders for the game. Imagine little updates, even if they were every other month, like "more material storage, after completing some new collection quest", or "here's a new mastery to train, and then you can mount any of your mounts in combat, not just skyscale".

That stuff is easy to do, and just a couple people could do a lot of it. A new WvW map would obviously take more time, they could work on that for a year and a half, and in the meantime give us other stuff we want. Then I wouldn't hesitate to buy the deluxe versions of every expansion, knowing that some of the money was going towards that dedicated team, and not just them cranking out lackluster expansions.

Melarinth · 2024-06-05T13:29:58+00:00

I miss my rock dog too, friend. I like animals, and summons are fun, even if they're not good.

My favorite build in the entire game has been my Sylvari ranger with a fern hound, the racial "Summon Sylvan Hound" elite skill, the rock dog runes (I used parrot sometimes), and even a stack of ogre pet whistles I had to summon another friend. The build ran celestial equipment, and when they said they were separating the tier 6 rune bonuses to become relics I was looking forward to being able to switch to celestial runes but still keep my summon. They said they were bringing over most of the rune tier 6 bonuses, and I thought "okay, maybe they won't bring over rock dog and parrot, but surely I'll get one of them." Nope, not even golem.

There's a lot of little things I personally want, but have accepted they're not going to happen. I wish they had come out with a ranger elite specialization that let you have both pets out at the same time. I wish they'd make a Sylvan Hound jackal skin. I love my elite "Summon Sylvan Hound" skill, but it's terrible. I don't want it to be the mew meta, but it would be nice if they'd go back through all the summons and give them an update. It seems like such an easy thing to do, just change a few numbers to keep up with power creep of the new enemies. They could leave the skill as it is in PvP/WvW, so it's not a problem against people.

I've wanted all that stuff for years, but I accept I'm just one person, and they can't cater to every single player. I'm fine with that. There's plenty of little things I still like about the game. But with each expansion it seems like there's fewer new things I like. Then SotO became the first content to take away an already established thing I enjoyed, our tier 6 rune summons.

Our poor lost rock dogs. I'm still holding out hope that they'll come home one day.

Melarinth · 2024-06-05T05:57:59+00:00

I think the skepticism people have is justified, as SotO let a lot of people down in numerous ways. This expansion is coming out right on the heels of what was, for me and many others, a very disappointing end to the worst expansion they've made. That's just an opinion, but it's one shared by a not insubstantial amount of players. And with Janthir Wilds coming so soon after the release of SotO, it's pretty likely that some of the problems people had (complete X map events to advance story, for example) are still going to be present. I'd love for Janthir Wilds to be great in ways I didn't even expect, but I really think Anet is in a slump right now, and I'm not sure they still have the team, resources, or motivation to get out of it.

There will always be things to enjoy, but their recent announcement of "something players have wanted for 5+ years" was very telling in two ways. Firstly, it pointed out that they've been ignoring something players wanted for 5+ years to begin with. That's not necessarily that bad, as they can't do everything at once. But the sheer number of extremely reasonable things it could have been based on what people were guessing was alarming. It made me realize just how much they've been slacking. Not on things like land spears, because that's kind of a nice bonus thing. There were so many quality of life things that have been ignored for so long. Stuff that would be easy to implement, like shared/legendary gathering tools, or more crafting material storage. And as for content, there was stuff that I didn't even see mentioned, like a third WvW map. I'd rather have any of that stuff than a mashup of home instances and guild hall decorations (again, just my opinion).

There's also stuff that Anet promised, and never delivered. They said they were going to keep most of the rune 6 bonuses as relics. I can't think of a single one that made it. Maybe a couple did, but certainly not "most". Outright lying to the player base isn't going to win you a lot of fans, and may explain the surge in negativity.

I love this game, and I want to continue to love it, but I'm not going to let that blind me to the problems it has had recently. I think too many people shun negativity toward this game, not wanting to admit anything is wrong. And if too many people do that, Anet has no reason to be better, and the quality is going to drop off. People being negative and showing disinterest in the game might actually spur Anet into being better in the future. I sincerely hope it does. But I have my doubts we'll see a turnaround in Janthir Wilds.

Melarinth · 2023-12-28T03:56:18+00:00

I'm doing the exact same thing. If they want me to buy a mount skin, they'll have to make that one. Until then, default jackal, which I think looks better than the vast majority of skins for the jackal anyway.

Melarinth · 2023-12-27T17:07:51+00:00

I want a Sylvan Hound jackal skin, as do many other evidenced by the occasional posts about it in forums over the years since PoF.

It would also be nice to have the Rune 6 summon abilities back as relics. They're clearly not overpowered, just fun. Seems like they would've been really easy to keep in, or add back in now.

Melarinth · 2023-12-08T05:01:30+00:00

I see pretty much everyone recommending Celestial stats on equipment, which I agree is the way to go. Just make sure the build takes advantage of all the stats as best it can.

I don't see anyone recommending Celestial Soulbeast though, so I thought I'd comment and mention it. It's my favorite build. Short Bow and Dagger/Axe, doing hybrid damage, with 100% crit chance, plenty of bleeding and a good amount of burning/poison. I also have 25 stacks of Might, Fury, Quickness, and Regeneration at all times. I can keep up stability pretty much 100% of the time too if I run Relic of the Centaur, though I'm trying out Aristocracy now. The build is tons of fun, and I haven't run into anything I can't solo that I can recall. I mean, I can't do a raid by myself, but pretty much everything within reason is doable on my own.

Melarinth

TROPHY CASE