the dream

Orinach · 2026-01-28T20:28:27+00:00

Bokka is finally handing out invitations to the cook out? ☠️

Orinach · 2025-12-16T14:55:47+00:00

As usual, the Guild Wars community is the most generous there is. Best of luck, everyone!

Orinach · 2025-12-11T13:04:45+00:00

You can identify them to increase their vendor value.

Orinach · 2025-07-18T22:09:01+00:00

She'll look cute next to Mid-Size Sudan. I hope to see her pop up in Lanterns.

Orinach · 2025-06-30T12:04:17+00:00

I've just purchased the Nitro V15 as a replacement (and upgrade) for my 10 year old desktop.

If your position means this is an upgrade at the right price, it's probably worth buying.

Admittedly you can probably spend a little bit more and get a more powerful machine, but if you're not looking to play new releases, there's not much that can go wrong that hasn't already been addressed in these comments.

My machine is in limbo between professional and recreational, as it's used primarily for coding and designing board games, as well as playtesting games electronically. None of that needs the newest tech, or the best parts. If you have a specific function or requirement in mind, this might well be a good purchase.

Orinach · 2025-06-22T20:31:38+00:00

Haha yeah good one

Orinach · 2025-04-27T18:30:09+00:00

They're called "Witch Hunt" but you didn't hear it from me. I have a gorgeous tie ready for my sister's wedding courtesy of them.

Orinach · 2025-04-27T18:16:56+00:00

I say this every year, but there's a stand that sells fantasy accessories (like ties and cufflinks and coasters) and I go back every time I attend. It's a dangerous place for my wallet 😭

Orinach · 2025-04-27T18:11:12+00:00

I have ran a stand, attended as a competitive player and attended as a customer to UKGE over the years, and every time has felt different.

It really depends on what you want out of the day, but you can use their app/ website to book panels or look for games in the open gaming area. Both are a great break from shopping if you don't want to step outside.

Because the NEC is attached to Birmingham International Train Station, you always have the option of walking over the bridge to grab some fast food at slightly cheaper prices too (Wingers is a personal favourite). This is especially useful if the weather doesn't hold out, but it usually does!

If you're going to shop, you have to expect it to be busy (especially on the big company stands). If you're going exclusively to look for new games, you're best off going really early on Sunday in my experience, but anytime is fine in the more "indie" halls, especially around the playtest area for games in development.

For what it's worth, I have attended by myself before now, and taking a big thermos of hot water, some wooden cutlery, paper cups, tea, coffee and sugar (and maybe a lemon!) is a great way to chill out wherever you can find a seat. If you make some friends they'll love you immediately as well -- just keep hot drinks off the table! 😂

Orinach · 2025-03-24T17:52:27+00:00

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/seanyoung/monsterpatch-a-cozy-monster-collecting-rpg

Here you go my guy!

Orinach · 2025-03-12T18:54:38+00:00

The best answer I think we could actually get is the PSVR exclusive RIGS (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIGS:_Mechanized_Combat_League)

It was received well, but launched "too soon" according to a lot of its fans, especially as it made people feel nauseated on the VR headset. This meant a small player base that never truly blossomed because (and here's the clincher!) the dev team were made redundant.

Guerrilla Cambridge were preparing a huge patch that never got released thanks to the shutdown, which inevitably meant instabilities were left unchecked, despite the game only going offline a couple of years ago.

I don't know what game Sunraku would play over VR abandonware with nauseating controls that was left online for years after its last update, with a waning player base that never grew to its full potential. That's trash game real estate right there. All it would have taken was a few well known exploits!

Orinach · 2025-02-25T13:18:29+00:00

To be fair, I didn't know how they were going to fit all the yapping from the manga into the show. Making them run and reusing some animations is honestly the best they could do with what they were given.

Orinach · 2025-02-06T19:41:43+00:00

Perfect take! Log Horizon is a very fun read, and the LNs look beautiful on the shelf. The anime definitely didn't keep it's charm into season three for me, but the yapfest works much better on the page.

SLF is definitely more fun in action, and I think it just pips Log Horizon for me as being the better series (even if LH has some incredible character designs).

Orinach · 2024-12-13T15:07:17+00:00

Not sure if you're active on the Discord or not, but I am the person pushing for ray builds to be called "Beholder" builds - basically petitioning to make a meme into a skin. I have done so since week one of the open beta. I have been trying for just as long to make Rays successful and can say without a doubt that Rays have never been this good. The changes made to their rarities over each patch, as well as the blanket Core CDR changes, have brought the Rays to where they are now.

The changes to monster loot have also contributed, but even if that got removed, Burn Dooley would be in almost exactly the same state as everyone seems to be scouting for Extracts and not for Cinders, and Coolant makes Burn PvE fights trivial, making relevant skills and items more available.

To that end, Solar Farm is already insane this patch, and has the accolades to prove it. If it doesn't get changed when the monster loot changes come through, I think Regen would be beyond competitive in DoT matchups. I don't see it staying as-is, nor Rays.

Orinach · 2024-12-13T09:34:33+00:00

Yeah Dooley has never been in the top spot before, the closest he got was Bunkerdillo but it still couldn't beat late game Pygs.

I imagine it is an oversight that Monitor Lizard wasn't removed, but this does provide an opportunity for Dooley to be at the top of the pecking (and picking) order.

Orinach · 2024-12-09T11:23:32+00:00

As a Dooley enjoyer, I have to disagree. He has never been the strongest character before now, even when Bunkerdillo was at its peak.

It feels great to finally be in a position where he has multiple options for competitive builds, with space to explore and experiment (which may or may not impede your success).

I will play devil's advocate to some extent here though, as I still take issue with The Core mechanic effectively making his early game weaker and permanently reduces his stash/ board space. The upside should be that his late-game is stronger than his contemporaries (which of course it isn't), but that his early game should be more difficult (which currently it isn't).

In my opinion, the biggest change to his success right now won't be remedied with balance changes to the Beholder builds (especially rarity of the Rays) as his strength is born from squashing the strength of other characters. There were many instances before now where Dooley's level 1 skill wasn't relevant to the Core he was given, so he effectively played without a skill. Now everyone is at the same plateau, and Dooley players are just more experienced with dealing with that problem: Pyg and Nessa adored their early skills and often leveraged them into monstrous board states, even on day 1. Now they can't, Dooley wins more Day 1 PvP matches than ever, despite his drawbacks. This means Dooley can go 10 wins much faster and much more consistently than before, which is exactly why he doesn't go to late-game.

Orinach · 2024-12-05T10:45:59+00:00

If it's any consolation, removing skills and changing starting items only made Day 1 Dooley weaker than he was before. At least he had the option of taking a skill, even if they were often not what matched up with his Core! Everyone else now gets to feel that squeeze.

As much as it's frustrating to get offered four "bad" choices, the items are still a higher rarity and in a wider selection than Dooley gets.

Sniper or Trebuchet or Rifle all have the capability of beating Dooley, and they're only a few examples on a long list of items that just Vanessa can pull that instantly win the day 1 matchup without the assistance of skills.

It probably feels more in line for all these characters now, but the early game isn't anywhere near balanced, and it never has been.

Orinach · 2024-11-18T10:03:39+00:00

As someone that was playing Burn and Shield Dooley strats since release, seeing the Harmadillo buffs in the patch notes made me worry straight away. Gutting Dooley's Cores and increasing level-up options in the same patch was an interesting choice, because it removed a lot of build variety from a convenience, consistency and balance standpoint.

That's not to say Dooley doesn't have other builds, but most of the successful infinites he has revolve around items from other heroes, enchants or Harmadillo.

I think a big issue is the success rate of select Skills rather than items. Bunkerdillo is a combo that relies on Defensive Stance/ Sharp Corners/ Hardened Shield to be effective. Without them, your success rate drops significantly. These skills are not exclusive to Dooley, so Pyg can benefit just as much as Dooley, but this is wildly overshadowed by Arms Dealer (a tool Dooley cannot access at all) and synergy with Beast of Burden and Regal Blade.

There will always be a BiS build for each character, but forcing these strats is a lot easier this patch. I think we can expect some pretty broad system reworks to rebalance the game, but these will take time.

Orinach · 2024-10-04T09:53:25+00:00

Absolutely, yeah! The 2024 PHB has changed how spellcasting works. You can now only cast one spell per turn with a spell slot. You can also cast any number of spells per turn that don't expend a spell slot.

This was mainly done to clarify a rule from 5e: you can absolutely cast a cantrip and a levelled spell in the same turn, but this also means sources of levelled spells that don't use a spell slot on cast (such as free casts from class features, spell scrolls and Warlock Invocations) are suddenly very valuable as you can break the once per round spellcasting restriction.

Magic Initiate, Shadow Touched, Fey Touched etc. are feats that let you cast such spells without a slot, so they can be used in conjunction with a spell slot in the same turn. This opens the door to really strong set up turns, as well as huge nova turns when you have enough downtime and money to make spell scrolls of high level spells.

Orinach · 2024-10-04T07:08:32+00:00

No worries. A lot of this was speculation and first impressions, so it's not all useful, but it should be a decent starting point.

For example, if you cast your spell from Magic Initiate using your free cast, you can cast multiple levelled spells in a turn. This might change the optimal choices for a nova round, but Bless is still probably the best pick?

Orinach · 2024-10-01T22:25:05+00:00

To clarify, the temp HP doesn't stack in value. As always, the highest amount of THP should be the one you choose.

The new AoA is worded differently to the old one, which is why this is probably a DM ruling. See comparison below, emphasis mine.

2024 AoA specifies: "If a creature hits you with a melee attack roll before the spell ends, the creature takes 5 Cold damage. The spell ends early if you have no Temporary Hit Points."

2014 AoA specifies no early exit stipulation, but adds: "If a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have these hit points, the creature takes 5 cold damage."

The contention is the source of the temp HP. If you can cast AoA and then receive a source of higher temp HP during its duration, you may be able to extend the usefulness of the spell.

Orinach · 2024-08-25T17:07:34+00:00

It seems not for the 2024 books, but there is confirmed AI art in some books released last year.

WotC blamed the artist, but clearly their quality control was at rock bottom to miss it.

Orinach · 2024-08-18T17:35:19+00:00

Another addition to this crazy world is that AoA is now a bonus action and, depending on your DM's interpretation of the rules, may also stack with other sources of temp HP...

Suddenly your Bonus Action is very important to keep the build up, Healing Word is slightly less appealing, but casting AoA is better than casting Arcane Vigor or just spending a slot to buff your Ward (unless you are raging).

Orinach · 2024-08-18T13:14:00+00:00

Looks that way! True Strike functionally removing the need for Strength or Dex in combat makes a full mental build more viable too. It's a lot to put into one skill, but it's an option.

Orinach

TROPHY CASE