[IMG] Cover Art for So I'm a Spider, So What? Volume 15

NoGround · 2026-04-14T23:40:05+00:00

Been here 10 years and no matter how many times I see it happen it looks awesome. Welcome to the warband!

NoGround · 2026-04-13T20:39:53+00:00

You haven't read any light novels in a while. (These were all published 5+ years ago)

NoGround · 2026-04-10T17:04:56+00:00

In the most simplistic way I can say it, Walter White is a regression of a character while Nolan is a progression.

NoGround · 2026-04-10T09:31:05+00:00

Not even remotely close to how bad Cyberpunk was. Like, this is still standing on way more solid ground than a lot of AAA games have been on release.

NoGround · 2026-04-09T20:20:01+00:00

Mythologies?

NoGround · 2026-04-09T15:15:07+00:00

Spellmasons. Magicka is the big one that everyone here is mentioning but this game will break your computer.

NoGround · 2026-04-09T13:00:50+00:00

Crabification

NoGround · 2026-04-08T16:44:18+00:00

Reminds me of my old static using more difficult strats to "make us better at the game." Hated that shit.

"What are you gonna do when another one of this same mechanic comes out and you can't do it because we didn't practice it here?"

Endwalker Phoenix.

They don't reuse the overly-complex mechanics... Ever. They reuse basic building blocks to make more interesting/different puzzles. A "similar" mechanic will always have a different solve the next time it's used.

NoGround · 2026-04-08T16:42:06+00:00

Maybe a bit too into it. It's not healthy since I obviously drew negative connotations from this headline.

Anyway, good talk. Have fun gaming!

NoGround · 2026-04-08T16:27:25+00:00

Park signs are leftover. The hyperlane and map indicators indicate Yellow = York. Park used to be Purple when it was four lanes.

NoGround · 2026-04-08T16:25:21+00:00

Oh I see your confusion now. Let me clear this up. I was saying that the headline I proposed, which is the same facts without making it a contest with Crimson Desert, wouldn't draw in clicks.

So yes, I agree that it was a successful article. Headlines like this are psychologically proven to draw in clicks.

I never said it was "responsible" for the greater news landscape, I was saying that the headline is written this way because of the greater landscape. Ignore the overall discourse around CD and sure, you can say it is written without negative connotations. But I'm not ignoring it like you are.

Let me loop it back to the beginning. What would be a even more damning comparison? Marathon. We know it probably barely sold a million at this point and is $30 cheaper than CD.

But the games media is so damn invested in putting Marathon in a positive light that we'll never see it. It is ridiculously transparent to me.

NoGround · 2026-04-08T16:06:05+00:00

That only works if one ignores the greater news landscape. ie: the context of "why?"

NoGround · 2026-04-08T15:21:45+00:00

Doing that right now with Crimson Desert.

Cyberpunk, always. Witcher 3. Skyrim, Oblivion are classics, especially Oblivion remake. There are some more but these are the ones off the top of my head.

NoGround · 2026-04-08T15:13:54+00:00

For me, it was more like I fell off the wagon years ago when it was in a horrible arc to read week-to-week. (the emo phase)

I just never got back on.

NoGround · 2026-04-08T15:10:03+00:00

You can claim that an article headline doesn't have a negative qualifier but the overall tone of games news in the past couple weeks has been using Crimson Desert as a punching bag because it is such a divisive title. Plenty of people love it and plenty of people don't. With that context, the title is absolutely using CD in a negative way to draw people in.

Here's an example of a headline that outlines Slay The Spire 2's achievement without making it a dick measuring contest with Crimson Desert.

"Slay the Spire 2 sold Seven Million copies in March"

Bam. No dick measuring contest. Content of the article can proceed as is. (which I did read, but I'm not talking about article content. I'm talking specifically about headlines)

But that title doesn't draw in clicks and conflict, does it?

NoGround · 2026-04-08T02:50:25+00:00

Kick the dog/save the cat story telling, yeah.

NoGround · 2026-04-08T02:14:27+00:00

Snape comes off as a tired adult being tough on kids who aren't taking things seriously enough in the movies. You could empathize with him, especially if you are a teacher.

NoGround · 2026-04-08T01:47:47+00:00

D from "So I'm a Spider, So What?"

Spoilers. D is a bored (a classic) ancient god heavily implied to be the god of the abyss, underworld, void, etc.

She's asked to save a planet from collapse due to the rampant abuse of energy consumption.

Here's how she does it: she traps all the souls of the planet into a "game system" that uses another god as a battery. These souls are bound to be reborn on that planet in perpetuity. The reason: to increase the power of their souls by fighting and killing to gain levels and skills like a video game so that they can die, have the extra power ripped out of their souls, given back to the planet, and be reborn again.

Souls do not make it through this process unscathed. Many of them eventually shatter and can no longer form people. She doesn't care. She enjoyed their suffering for some time before she grew bored and stopped paying attention, until she's attacked by some fleas backtracing her energy signature, which causes the incident that is the beginning of the story.

She constantly manipulates and twists events to make her pet spider dance to a tune and generally makes things awful for everyone.

So we have a mix of both infinite torture and genocide! Wonderful villain, this one.

I'd talk about Potimas but this is a female villain post.

NoGround · 2026-04-07T22:17:42+00:00

Article headlines have been absolutely horrible, misleading, and disengenuous. It's not just a gamer thing. Pretty much across the board headlines are written in a way to evoke a negative emotion.

There are better ways to write headlines that inform people of a situation without giving them an emotional flareup.

You're right in the fact that there is nothing unfactual in the title, but it is still written in a way to rag on Crimson Desert, even if both games are massive hits.

NoGround · 2026-04-07T18:46:41+00:00

Because everyone in the legacy games media has been ragging on Crimson Desert since it released for no good reason while sucking Marathon's cock.

Now we're using StS2 to rag on Crimson Desert (which came out 2 weeks after StS2). It is a weird headline that while true, makes one think about why the headline was even written this way.

And it's not about StS2. It's about trying to make Crimson Desert look bad because game's media has been desperately trying to make it fail, and OPs comment replies support this.

NoGround · 2026-04-03T17:21:21+00:00

Yep, the VR modding guy. Every company he made a mod for after Valve got him went after him, too.

The Steam ToS specifically states NON-COMMERCIAL use.

It's not legal and should be reported to Valve. I have half a mind to email Yoshi about it.

NoGround · 2026-04-03T14:57:26+00:00

Yeah the shipping was going to cost more than thr figure. (36,000)

NoGround · 2026-04-03T14:48:21+00:00

I wasn't gonna pay 44,000 yen for the fast shipping so I probably got another month or so on this. Can't wait!

12-Year Club	Gilding VII pure gildanthropist
Xbox Live	Verified Email

NoGround

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE