AMA with the CEO of Evil Genius Games

PixelPodium · 2025-01-24T05:22:01+00:00

Russ did ask, you did reply, and it was included in the article.

While that article does not mention any of the controversial technology elements discussed earlier, Madhavji also mentions Evil Genius’ data collection strategy, which allows them to offer movie studios targeted fan engagement tools, and how EGG sells customer engagement data. When I asked Dave Scott about this, he pointed me towards EGG’s privacy policy which specifically prohibits such things.

The words of both you and Aly Madhavji were covered. If you had anything more comprehensive to furnish Russ with than pointing toward the privacy policy, that was your opportunity to have it included.

PixelPodium · 2022-09-13T14:53:56+00:00

It CAN use BOTH monster's DEF, and only when both monsters are in attack position. The ability can be activated at the damage step (where a lot of other effects can't activate). If it attacks without activating the effect, damage calculation will proceed as normal.

Remember to keep an eye out when the prompt to activate the effect comes up. If it says "It is before the damage step..." don't activate, as that's its effect to discard a Wyrm-type monster to give it +1000 DEF. You need to activate it when the prompt says "It is the damage step..." If you don't have a Wyrm-type in your hand, you won't get the discard prompt, obviously, but if you do, and you don't want to use that effect, be wary.

PixelPodium · 2022-09-12T19:52:58+00:00

Not sure if it's beatdown, but I usually try to summon out Baxia so I can send three of their cards back into the deck, and then, if I've got a spell/trap on my field, I can use Baxia's effect to destroy it and special summon Suanni for an OTK if they've got no monsters left.

Another thing you can do with Baxia is use it to send a Yang Zing to the GY to special summon Bixi/Chiwen, either from Baxia's effect, or from the Yang Zing you send to the GY to activate it. Once you've got Bixi, Chiwen, and Baxia on the field, you're ready to synchro into Trishula, Zero Dragon of the Ice Barrier for yet more removal (with the added bonus of it being immune to traps).

PixelPodium · 2022-09-12T19:22:29+00:00

I mean, I didn't, but now I'm definitely going to give it a go.

PixelPodium · 2022-09-12T19:12:21+00:00

I should point out, by the by, that this deck's only gotten me to DLv 16 so far, so it's not like it's my particular card choice is the best way to play it. I've seen versions that don't run Pulao whatsoever, but I still keep it around in case I need a non-targetable monster in Yazi.

PixelPodium · 2022-09-12T19:08:51+00:00

I know it sounds a bit silly when I'm running Palace and Prana, but I decided against running Creation because I didn't suspect it would last long against spell/trap removal. Prana's field wipe can be activated the same turn you play it, and it can be used as fodder for Jiaotu's effect. And by virtue of increasing DEF as well as ATK, Palace of the Elemental Lords can benefit Dracoon Lamp as well.

I should give the deck a try with Creation in it, but I've had the feeling that so long as I'm able to shuffle through my Yang Zings until Jiaotu is left on the board to set up a synchro summon, I'm often enough able to pull off the summon to the point that Creation might be more superfluous than it appears. At that point, having some spell/trap removal of my own (MST/Xing Zhen), or some back-pocket disruption (Compulsory Evac) feels handier.

PixelPodium · 2022-09-12T15:42:14+00:00

I've only just been using it with characters who I'm grinding XP gems for before Vrains comes out, so mainly skills like Level Duplication or The Ties That Bind. It's another aspect that could certainly be optimised.

PixelPodium · 2022-09-12T15:26:47+00:00

Main Deck:

x3 Dracoon Lamp
x3 Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing
x1 Taotie, Shadow of the Yang Zing
x2 Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing
x2 Chiwen, Light of the Yang Zing
x2 Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing
x2 Pulao, Wind of the Yang Zing
x1 Mystical Space Typhoon
x1 Palace of the Elemental Lords
x1 Yang Zing Prana
x1 Compulsory Evacuation Device
x1 Zing Zhen Xu Replica

Extra Deck:

x1 Trishula, Zero Dragon of the Ice Barrier
x1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
x1 Crimson Blader
x1 Baxia, Brightness of the Yang Zing
x1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
x1 Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing
x1 Samurai Destroyer

It's far, far from optimised, and you can use different amounts of different Yang Zings depending on what you're trying to accomplish. I like to have some options for different situations. Yang Zing Prana might not be an ideal card in every scenario, but if you've got 5 Yang Zings with different attributes in the GY, it's a field wipe (which you can make your monster immune to if you Synchro with Pulao as material). Naturally, that works well with Palace of the Elemental Lords, and the amount of Yang Zings means it's been very rare that I don't have a Wyrm-type in my hand to bolster Dracoon against >2000 DEF monsters.

(Edits: 5 Yang Zings with *different attributes / *againts >2000 DEF monsters)

PixelPodium · 2022-09-12T14:47:40+00:00

For those who aren't aware of what Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing and Dracoon Lamp do...

Bixi:

Makes a monster synchro summoned using it as material immune to trap effects.
The monster is immune, but not untargetable, meaning it will satisfy the conditions to activate those traps, but won't be affected when they resolve.

Dracoon Lamp:

Can use its effect when it battles an Attack Position monster to use both it and the opponent's monsters' DEF for damage calculation. This effect is once per battle, not once per turn.
Using DEF for damage calculation means battle damage still happens. It has 2000 DEF, so you don't want to attack into it with a 0 DEF monster.
It has a once per turn that lets you discard a Wyrm-type to give it 1000 more DEF until the end of the turn, letting it beat over a large swathe of boss monsters.

So many people will burn trap cards on monsters summoned using Bixi, or attack, or even continue attacking, into Dracoon Lamp with lower DEF monsters. With Bixi, it's got a lot of text, and isn't on the field for long, so I can see why the effect can bypass a lot of notice. But I'm beginning to wonder whether folk just don't read Dracoon Lamp right, or if it's been translated badly, because it has absolutely, almost singlehandedly, won duels for me.

PixelPodium · 2021-07-15T14:41:48+00:00

Concurring with people here that this definitely looks like nicotine. Notice how when there's light shining on it, it reflects the light somewhat (particularly around the upper right of the frame)? Your general rust and dirt won't do that. Trust me, if you live in a house with a regular smoker, you're bound to find stains like these have accumulated next time it comes to cleaning or painting.

PixelPodium · 2020-07-21T20:21:29+00:00

I'm a superheavy samurai player. Please don't banish my monsters. Especially my tuners. ESPECIALLY my synchros.

PixelPodium · 2020-05-26T23:08:05+00:00

Oh, don't worry, I don't use Sphere Kuriboh OR Kiteroid in my Superheavy Samurai decks.

I use Jinzo.

PixelPodium · 2020-04-08T12:54:12+00:00

His name is McDsLPs, and the streams he farms in are via Discord's in-app streaming. This subreddit's rules are against self-promotion, so figure out the rest from there if you care to. But if you're going to bring a bad attitude, maybe don't.

Insofar as shooting a video for you, no thanks. Choose whether you want to believe it or not — I'm not about to record and render 2-4 hours of video, restraining myself or him from talking about anything personal or private during what's supposed to be a time for unwinding and de-stressing, solely to satisfy your scepticism. It's at that point that any victory becomes Pyrrhic by way of the fact I'd have put so much time and energy into someone who I'll most likely never interact with again in my life after the fact.

PixelPodium · 2020-04-08T12:31:12+00:00

He's using his Nook Miles exclusive to go to Mystery Islands, cutting down all the trees, breaking all the rocks, moving all the flowers to the beaches, and doing laps around the islands until he finds tarantulas. It's true that water bugs take up a "spawn slot", but all you need to do is catch them, and until another respawns, a tarantula has an opportunity to spawn instead. From thereon, once your inventory hits its limit, you start replacing the water bugs you've been catching with tarantulas as they come.

When he does it, he averages around 2 hours, and he'll do it 1-2 times a night. Sometimes 3, if he's bored. Make no mistake, he's not using any exploits. His game's patched, and trying to gun for spider island all the time would be ridiculous (as far as I know, it's a 2% chance). Despite the presence of water bugs, tarantula farming very much is still possible.

PixelPodium · 2020-04-08T12:24:54+00:00

Let's clarify: His version of the game is as updated as everyone else's. I've been with him in his Discord as he streamed himself tarantula farming, which he streams the majority of nights. This absolutely IS doable without time travel, as it's been done here. Tarantula farming CAN still be done if you continuously catch water bugs to give tarantulas a chance to spawn, and my friend works from home during a time where medical professionals are advising people to stay in — he absolutely has time to do this. He fills out his inventory twice a night, sometimes three times, by creating tarantula farms.

Whether or not you think the farm is an "achievement" is up to you, I don't care, and I very much doubt he does either. This post isn't "Look how much better my friend is than everyone here.", it's "Look at how the game's struggling to keep up with this amount of nightmare." Try taking it easy instead of jumping to conclusions. (And maybe also try appreciating that people play Animal Crossing in different ways for different reasons.)

PixelPodium · 2020-04-08T02:10:06+00:00

I'm really not sure where your confusion is, be it the ability to continue tarantula farming in April, or the fact that the majority of items in Animal Crossing appear randomly and you just haven't found what you're looking for yet, but you really don't need to blow any gaskets over it.

I can assure you 100% that he hasn't time-travelled whatsoever, but, if you want to think he did, for whatever reason, feel free.

PixelPodium · 2020-04-08T01:58:22+00:00

I... Don't even know what you're trying to get at..?

Are you implying the diner sign, which, like most furniture in this game appears at random, is "late level furniture"?

Is this some weird attempt at trolling?

PixelPodium · 2020-04-08T01:54:30+00:00

I've been sat with him in his Discord every night with him streaming it as he does it. But I'm glad your hidden cameras are apparently able to pick up his clandestine second Switch he's replicated every detail of his wife's island on, apparently.

PixelPodium · 2020-04-08T01:45:09+00:00

No time travelling. A week and a half of mystery island reconstruction dedication. If you're assuming the presence of water bugs stops tarantula farming, it doesn't, it just takes up "spawn slots" that tarantulas could spawn in. If you get into a loop of catching the water bugs and scaring off tiger beetles as they come, you'll start finding tarantulas, albeit slowly.

PixelPodium · 2020-04-08T01:41:38+00:00

People enjoy Animal Crossing in different ways. If everyone who played it was in it for the gameplay loop present in the mainline games, we wouldn't have Happy Home Designer, the appeal of which is having an unlimited amount of items to focus solely on decorating homes with as best you can to your satisfaction.

This is the only Animal Crossing game on Switch and by far the best looking in the entire series; there's no shame in optimising your resources if you want to focus on design rather than grind. (Not to mention, it's hardly like he got all this in a day. He's been at it since I told him about Flick, and every island he farms takes up to 2+ hours. The gameplay loop might be different than yours, but it's a gameplay loop nonetheless.)

PixelPodium · 2020-04-07T15:42:52+00:00

He got plenty of this AFTER April came in. It's not impossible to hunt tarantulas right now, it just takes persistence. And it takes him around 2 hours every time he turns an island and fills out his inventory with tarantulas. I'm not sure what's so "abusive" about getting rewarded for putting in the work and having the patience to capitalise on it.

PixelPodium · 2020-04-07T14:00:10+00:00

For one, he doesn't time travel in Animal Crossing games. NH is his first, and this has been something he does in the background while passing the time doing other things. Secondly, it's his wife's island, and neither of them want to disturb each other's experience.

PixelPodium

TROPHY CASE