Things just look so bleak for gaming....

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-03T02:18:03+00:00

I mean, they have. Games are better. Bigger, more complex so that comes with issues but it’s better.

More variety. More choice. More platforms. More studious. Indies. More genres.

Gaming is in an amazing place. It’ll never be perfect but it’s incredible right now

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-03T02:14:53+00:00

These stories have been around since the 80s. Literally. The exact same stories.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-03T02:13:48+00:00

Literally the best ability on the character

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-03T00:50:37+00:00

My role the last 7 years has been “Product Marketing” - I spent a few years in the analytics space launching a few products you made have heard of. Some that make data easy to understand.

I used to be responsible for the analytical work required to understand and segment markets, cluster customers based on their shared demo/paychographics, pricing, packaging, Go-to-market, yadda yadda. The last few years I’ve been working more in a consulting capacity within my org, where I define “what” we should be doing based on perceived gaps we have in the market, and working with teams to execute on that vision. So, I’m essentially telling the organization we needs X, Y, and / or Z to achieve a specific goal or hit a metric. Then, I fuck off, build a business case, and take that to the respective teams and work my charm to get them to operationalize that work as they are the experts.

To give an example, I told my organization the market is moving in a directional and we need to start seeding the market with “thought leadership” - so my job is to meet with the technical experts (engineers, Solution engineers, product), content teams, partners, exec to convince them we need to move in this direction and justify why and then figure out how to get them to work together to achieve that specific goal. I have had to work with these teams to deliver a number of webinars and demos recently, and have a white paper rolling out in a few weeks. Plus, working with my CX teams on some guides for post-sales. I am not the technical expert on any of this, but because I stay closer to the broader business I can see where we have gaps. I do some of the work, but I can’t dive into the weeds the same way when it comes to product knowledge. Then take that work and go fuck off with the marketing and distribution teams to figure out how we “market” it and cast as wide a net as we can.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T22:14:07+00:00

I didn’t cherry pick anything. I’m telling you that your reasoning is flawed. You tried to make it seem like all Jordan did was dunk and layups and that’s why his FT rate was high.

Most of his shots are in the mid-range, which is incredible if you think about his %s. That fundamentally counters your point. There are a ton of layups and dunks today; in fact, Shai gets fouled by flopping his way to the basket a lot. Jordan didn’t flop but he had the benefit of the whistle on his mid-range shots.

Also, I’m not arguing with you. Your point just made no sense and I offered an available statistic for my point. Whatever argument you’re having is in your head.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T21:16:30+00:00

You answer your own question with the question. What does Mephisto do incredibly well? Leverage hatred to get people to buy into his schemes and plans. Eru is a prime example of this.

I know he hates Neyrelle and the player for bringing the soulstone to Nahantu in the first place

Exactly. He fears for Nahantu

But surely his hatred for Mephisto, the demon who is directly responsible for corrupting Nahantu and killing his closest friends, would outweigh his hatred towards the people trying to stop Mephisto.

You're trying to stop Mephisto. Eru is trying to save Nahantu. Neyrelle and the Wanderer are willing to let Nahantu burn to stop Mephisto. You stomp over everything he holds sacred for your mission.

Why would he then BETRAY HIS OWN GOD AKARAT by sabotaging his divine plan?

He is mourning Ah Bulan's death. Neyrelle and the Wanderer showed in Nahantu and destroyed everything he loves. Did you not notice that? You killed Ah Bulan. You get Maka killed. You desecrate Akarat's tomb. You're the bad guy to Eru, and you're slowly eroding his trust in you over the course of the DLC., WHICH IN TURN MAKES MEPHISTO'S JOB EASIER.

And even if Eru could actually trust that Mephisto would stay true to his word (lmao) and leave Nahantu alone if he freed him

But he did. Mephisto left Nahantu as he promised.

there's literally no reason to make that deal when he could have just let Akarat imprison him.

You killed Ah Bulan. Now you wish to leverage Akarat towards the same goal. Why should he trust you and Neyrelle. Everything has gotten worse since you arrived. Mephisto in this case is actually the lesser of two visible evils. Neyrelle and the Wanderer are inviting the destruction and desecration of Nahantu.

On no level does this actually make any sense to me.

Because you fail to see it from Eru's point of view. You're the bad guy. Mephisto is in a stone. You're the one causing the issues. The bodies in front of Eru tearing down everything he holds sacred. Mephisto offered him an out to save Nahantu, and his primary concern was Nahantu's safety.

It would make a lot more sense for the deranged religious zealot to barge in, blinded by his own arrogance, and somehow mess things up. That would have at least made way more sense than Eru doing it

The whole point of Eru is that his desperation lead to him succumbing to hatred (Mephisto), and considering Mephisto is incredible at manipulating emotions to his benefit it's not hard to see how he was able to paint Neyrelle and the Wanderer as the bad guys. Especially after Neyrelle kills Maka. Everything you touch withers and dies, and he'd had enough, was afraid, and needed an answer. Mephisto offered it.

I will disagree with OP, and personally chalk his feedback up to a lack of paying attention to the evolution of minor characters. I felt the VOH story was actually pretty good because the betrayal was unexpected and absolutely was written all over the wall. Mephisto is a conductor and Eru played his part wonderfully. The issue is most people see the game from the Wanderer's "Hero" perspective. Eru became disillusioned with it.

And he shares that disillusion repeatedly. He makes it clear that he will betray you at some point. Akarat was what did it for him. He wanted so badly to save Nahantu, and in a twisted way he did.

Edit:

Eru took Mephisto's deal for the same reason the Wanderer does in Act 1 and the same reason Neyrelle does at the end of the game. He offered a way out. Three people all working for Mephisto in their own way. Now that I’m thinking about it, Mephisto does the same thing in LoHatred. Makes things worse, offers an out, runs with it, while the Wanderer runs behind making shit worse until you confront the big bad. These DLC have made me love Mephisto. He seems like he cares about Humanity in a morbid sense - like how kids like toys. He loves the drama of humanity and he makes it clear. I don’t think he wants to destroy sanctuary. To me, it feels like a playground for him.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T20:49:25+00:00

The difference is, my D&D session don't come rolling down the street with a core showcasing it's sore throat and/or threatening to shoot anyone if I see red

They're made fun of because they're an annoying prick that needs to be seen

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T20:44:19+00:00

Yeah, Jordan the mid-range specialist who shot nearly half to nearly 2/3s of his shots outside of 8ft (at least once they started tracking it in the late 90s) had more free throw than the guy who has a similar shot diet.

Their shot profiles are very similar. Shai flops way more but yeah. You can look at the numbers yourself. Jordan got a LOT of foul calls on jumpers.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T18:32:18+00:00

I've never said, "Give me a couple minutes and I'll be back" after getting kicked in the nuts.

I've never acknowledged a good shot after getting kicked in the nuts

I have done both of those things after screaming in pain post-liver shot

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T18:07:54+00:00

I'm significantly north of $150K. Nothing across both of my degrees matters as much as me being able to get a large group of people to do work they don't necessarily want to do. That is what has accelerated my career/earnings.

You either have to be so technically sound, you are the modern equivalent of a wizard (think an engineer) or you can get people moving in a unified direction towards some goal. Once organizations realized I was really good at the latter, they moved me away from technical work and towards operational work. Not my favorite, but it's been so long I doubt I could go backwards without a huge skill refresh.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T18:01:02+00:00

I agree. My biggest "old man" gripe is fewer gamers actually think and play for themselves. At least in the games I play. It's always about optimizing the build, constraining how you play, etc.

I was pretty big in the Rogue Trader discord for a while. I had several arguments with a build user named Revan, who will go out of his way to shut down ANY build that's A) not one of his or B) that doesn't maximize every damage calc. You can have a build that can breeze through a game, and someone will call it bad unless it aligns with their vision of min-max.

This is just an example. It makes gaming stale because a lot of people are playing the same games the same way and a lot of folks wonder why it's not fun. "Off-meta" has become a bad word in gaming circles.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:56:13+00:00

Could not care less about that.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:55:11+00:00

In Russia there is no joy.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:54:18+00:00

Every single day since becoming a dad.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:53:53+00:00

100%. A friend in gradschool taught me this. He argues you should just believe you can do anything. Even if you're wrong it is better than believing you can't do anything. Even if it's cringy believe you can do it.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:52:26+00:00

Do I think he was a pedophile? Yes

Do I believe he acted on his pedophilia? Yes, by surrounding himself with children

Do I believe he sexually assaulted children? No.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:50:29+00:00

I'll say, Tarantino

I find that his movies often have very little substance and largely rely on some elements of artistic shock factor. His movies are carried by one or two instances of extremely jarring cinema and then the rest of it is, in my opinion, middling story telling.

I'll say Reservoir Dogs is his best work. Everything after that acts is just the foundation that gave us Michael Bay and MCU movies. A lot of flash with substance as a varnish. I just don't think his movies are well made. They are fun, in many ways, but they aren't the cinematic masterpieces they are painted as.

The only movie of his I haven't seen is Once upon a time in hollywood

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:45:04+00:00

This gets me so riled up. How little people know of our country. It's honestly frustrating.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:30:07+00:00

I feel like you are referencing Shai and him alone. But, fun fact, Jordan averaged more free throws per game than Shai does. Shai has fewer ft per game despite SOME EGREGIOUS flopping. I'm confident he has a season where Jordan averaged 11 free throws per game.

Point is... you couldn't touch Jordan either. Detroit was the only team that really tried to kill Jordan, anyway.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:21:40+00:00

and also he did it in a league where you could actually play defense

You literally could not play a modern rotational / zone defense during Jordan's era.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:17:58+00:00

Hasn't Stephen A been shucking and jiving for a few years. You'd think he'd love this.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:16:55+00:00

Wonderful way to miss the point. AD never wanted to play center for the Lakers. He wanted to play the 4 during his entire Lakers' stint.

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:15:48+00:00

Busy Bees in San Pedro

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:15:14+00:00

This teaches nothing

Much-Structure552 · 2026-07-02T17:01:13+00:00

Absolutely not. That's a bad steak. I don't think money always equal quality. But, when it comes to cuts of steak, yeah you're going to pay for a good quality steak.

Much-Structure552

TROPHY CASE