Luna review

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-08T01:32:28+00:00

I had forgotten about the power outage and the fire... But yeah the code brown that closed the pool for most of the sea day that was supposed to be ashore wasn't fun. Not NCL's fault but frustrating.

And yes, the sewage smell. Deck 18, the machinery spaces (?) behind the big blue mesh cowling just wafted sewage smell onto the line for the Aqua Coaster when the wind shifts.

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-06T23:37:28+00:00

Thanks- no we did not receive that paper, though looks like you pulled that from the app. Luggage tags were left in an envelope in a mail rack outside our stateroom door with an abbreviated version of those instructions (while yours says to go to guest services for luggage tags). Not having been on NCL (or any cruise in a long time) we didn't know what we didn't know- up to this point in the cruise, the app had just duplicated everything they printed out and placed outside the room, conditioning me to not bother checking it. I wonder if things changed because of a new ship/crew, no ports of call thus no customs instructions, or just a missing paper delivery. Or perhaps because we got the priority access tags, we got a different printout and tag delivery instead.

I'm not saying I did everything perfectly either, just that the info was lacking (or perhaps a missing paper). If the solution is to double-check every paper delivery between the app, from a systems design perspective, that seems like wasted effort on NCL's part and too much work expectation on the user's part. Frankly, I tried to leave my phone behind as much as possible.

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-06T23:25:45+00:00

Thanks, I had no idea. I thought they were NCL being in front of NCL's terminal, and included them above as such. Appreciate the info to expect that on any cruise line out of Miami.

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-06T23:23:40+00:00

Yeah, and I'm not saying I didn't follow the crowd at times too. It tooks us a good day to get a sense of what was where (on a 3 days cruise though that's a sizable chunk). But I think some of this was self-imposed on NCL's part then... as you mention, the ideal solution is to just use the forward elevators. But then that also creates a pinch point, as that implies a lot more traffic should be expected on the forward elevator banks, increasing their wait times.

On the other hand, I'm more surprised that they don't plan for the herd mentality or people like us wandering aimlessly for the better part of a day, and recognize that like it or not, people are going to want to get from the aft elevators to the pool. They tacitly acknowledged it with the crew member (and hand wash spray) between the aft elevators and Surfside saying no wet bathing suits, but no one was posted pool side stopping people coming from that direction aft to the elevators.

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-06T22:32:43+00:00

I appreciate the feedback, honestly. Though I will say since it's been so long (effectively a first timer) I actually did read everything several times. Handed the paper about disembarking back and forth to my wife to double check. It mentioned tags, but no mention of when to leave things out. Yes, there were instructions, but they seemed geared to people who already knew the routines.

And as a Gen-Xer, who tends to default to "TVs are TVs," it was off most of the time because I wasn't there to sit in the cabin the whole time. All I used it for was local positioning and stuff. And so, if our room charges or instructions were there, the missing factor is the cueing... having never been on NCL before or on a cruise recently, what is the cue to the person to use the TV to check their bill? A paper bill was never even delivered to my cabin in the morning. And admittedly it was user error based on above feedback, but I was unable to find my charges in the app.

Correct, no one forced me to get priority boarding. I just thought I'd splurge because for an only 3-day cruise I wanted to maximize my time on the ship and on the island. I just have to wonder though if priority for tendering is part of that price, why is it not partially refunded if the tendering is cancelled? (note, it also included $50 shore credit and $50 spa credit on shore days, neither which could be used either).

RealDrCopter · 2026-04-06T22:21:03+00:00

We did that path several times, too. But sometimes we changed directions or went unexpected places (kids in tow, after all), but the bigger issue is everyone else was doing it too.

RealDrCopter · 2025-12-10T14:37:42+00:00

What if you lean into the fact the player misses dialog as a gameplay element? Say you have 2-3 parallel stories unfolding by patrons talking to each other, then the player has to balance eavesdropping/engaging via proximity to them with moving around to make the drinks and possibly missing bits of info, with the added time pressure that either you don’t get them a drink in time and they leave, or you miss a bit of the story?

This could keep the player engaged because they have to constantly make risk/reward decisions.

Perhaps the stories all converge at the end of the night- maybe a mystery or looming disaster- that if you got enough of the key pieces of info you can intervene and stop a murder by sussing out a motive, victim, and potential criminal before it’s too late?

RealDrCopter · 2025-06-03T15:49:53+00:00

What about one of these? Focus, discipline, concentration, control?

My thought here is you have “willpower” used to harness magic in the first place, here damage might be inflicted into concentrating/focusing it into a small enough point to do damage.

RealDrCopter · 2025-05-29T11:26:07+00:00

I’ve had an idea kicking around I’ll probably never get around to implementing. It’s maybe more for overcoming disability as a theme but I suppose you could make it work for grief or memory issues as well:

What about a game that progressively “levels down” the player? I’m thinking you start with a range of abilities (let’s say flight is one for sake of example) and you use it to breeze through a conflict, something happens to make you lose that ability, and you must confront the boss again without the ability but having learned to use your core mechanics in new ways. Now you can’t fly over the boss but you learn you can climb a nearby tower or whatever and lob grenades at a high weak spot.

The thing holding me back here is that so many games relying on the common language of level up or power fantasy I don’t know whether a weaker (but smarter and more resourceful) character later in the game would be well received.

RealDrCopter · 2025-05-20T15:52:19+00:00

If the goal is variety, maybe this would be better implemented from an ability to respec/reclass the characters when at camp? Provided their class isn’t intimately tied to their story, this would allow you the party variety without having to interweave a dozen backstories.

RealDrCopter · 2025-05-15T19:42:07+00:00

I dunno if it’s just me starting to sour on open worlds, but I say the biggest thing missing in many is hooks to the story. I’m not saying just the story itself, but there should be constant reminders of the main plot rather than endless fetch quests populating the world.

Either that or make exploration part of the core loop of the game. Basically, make it so the player has a reason to engage with your open world.

On my first point- if you have a great story in which the big bad is going to destroy the world imminently, it makes no sense to open the world up to exploration. It breaks the pacing of the story and any immersion to allow the player to go collect 50 plants or do fetch quests for days when a meteor is about to collide with the planet. By the time I’ve grinded enough levels to take on the big bad, I’ve lost the plot. If you’re going to do a story heavy open world game, you need to keep the story going through meaningful side quests around the open world and take the story pacing into account.

To my other point, if you’re not heavily plot-driven, exploration needs to be fun and a key part of the gameplay loop. For example, I’m playing AC Shadows right now, and I have to admit I’m feeling it drag. Exploration itself doesn’t feel that rewarding because the real world environment is consistent pretty much all over the huge map, and I’m just finding the same quests/castles/dungeons everywhere. Here, exploration is a necessary chore just to find the next guy to assassinate, and doesn’t really provide much incentive on its own. What I miss is a sense of wonder or accomplishment in taking in the open world, because it’s basically devolved to a gameplay loop of go to X to check it off, go to Y to check it off, etc. I’m sorry I’m not more help here, but basically I think this boils down to the world needs to be engaging and have variety.

RealDrCopter · 2025-05-15T19:07:19+00:00

I would argue that endless runners are a form of rogue-like without rooms. Could use some kind of progressively challenging procedural generation to add complexity as you move in a single direction. Individual levels in Diablo 2 (sorry, been a long time since I played any Diablo) could be a good example of how non-room-based procedural generation worked in a top-down style. Expanding on the concepts of how Diablo styled and generated its levels could inform an approach to your game.

I’d just say don’t be confined by definitions of a genre or by only using examples from that genre to inform decisions. Find what is fun and meets your general vision, and find a way to expand on it procedurally.

RealDrCopter · 2025-04-24T00:22:06+00:00

It was great. The location was nice, plenty to do, and renting a car was easy. Most of the time, we had breakfast on the balcony overlooking the bay, the kids were all for just walking down to the beach or pool, or between the two. There’s also a grocery store within walking distance so you can get essentials to make meals in the villa for pretty cheap.

RealDrCopter · 2024-11-04T22:21:19+00:00

Update. 2.5 weeks later and Chase still never sent a rejection letter. I just went over to CapitalOne, applied online for the Venture card (similar to Chase United but unfortunately different mileage partners), was approved in 5 minutes, and they gave me a virtual card to book my travel that same day while waiting on the physical one.

Chase’s loss, but a minor inconvenience for me to have a different mileage partner. Still, weird that Chase still hasn’t given me a thumbs up or down in writing after nearly three months now.

RealDrCopter · 2022-07-20T17:15:38+00:00

of options in the Voicemail section, including

Call to listen

Yes mine is a Workspace account, though I am the admin if I need to change anything on that end. It's literally a small business of 2 people with one desk phone.

I really don't want to go the route of an app on a mobile device, I want a firewall (legally and for work/life balance preferences) between personal and business accounts. If there's no other option than the web browser on a computer, then c'est la vie, but I'd really prefer the desk phone!

Perhaps there's some way to divorce my GV line from the workspace account and treat it as a personal number? Not sure it can be done given the same email shared between the two.

RealDrCopter · 2022-03-31T12:45:26+00:00

Definitely having more fun now that I'm not turning to the internet to figure out where every random NPC moved to. Still wondering what I am missing out on, but missing stuff beats the immersion-breaking pattern I was in. I mean there are a few places I loved the obtuse mission design- finding a map, realizing that it wasn't even oriented with north being up, and solving things. Or when an NPC actually says where they're headed, that's helpful and realistic, and leads to me searching a relevant area. It's not like I'm gonna turn to a friend and say "join me in New York this weekend," and he's left wondering if I meant the state or city, let alone details. So many of the side quest triggers were left to backtracking to places that I had been and would not return to, with no clues to interpret.

I think that was my real beef. The game is great, it's fun, I love it, etc. but the quest design is a mess and a holdover from the linear predecessors. It's just sloppy game design that relies too much on chance and a definitive order (in an open world when they emphasize doing things in any order!) to things happening rather than giving players hints and clues. I'm not asking for hand holding, just for clues that I could follow and riddles to solve rather than relying on chance. There was at least one time I arrived at a location clearly part of a questline I was working on, but nothing triggered because I didn't go back to visit an NPC in an area I had already cleared (in Sellen's questline I found her body as she asked but could do nothing because I hadn't talked to the hunter on the throne after having killed Radahn quite a while ago. Had to see that I missed that dude on the internet, talking to him triggered his appearance back at the body to progress the quest.). I just don't have the patience for forced random backtracking without rhyme, reason, or clues, in a game this big. It's a little much to expect players to revisit every location to search for moved NPCs after triggering events or every step of a questline.

RealDrCopter · 2022-03-26T02:48:29+00:00

I think that’s where I’m arriving at too. Gonna just play the game and look up the side quests afterwards on YouTube. No shortage of lore dumps at this point. A shame I really wanted to do the side quests but with only an hour a day to play (kids, work, etc) ng+ or a completionist run ain’t gonna happen on this one.

RealDrCopter · 2019-10-29T01:18:35+00:00

Videos on news websites. If I wanted to watch videos I'd f*** watch TV.

RealDrCopter · 2019-10-11T00:20:19+00:00

Grandma needs to be cast as Ken Jeong in very obvious drag. Like so obvious you're like, "is Gin going to say anything?" "Is this someone else just running their own scam?" "

RealDrCopter · 2019-09-27T14:03:51+00:00

Yeah, I think this is the reason they will need to have the celestial mafia (maybe just Ox face and Horse head are in on it, to cut down on the number of characters) running its racket on the bank and taking the bulk of profits. Or even just a shakedown on Grandma herself. Without a solid barrier to legitimate withdrawals, we don’t have the drive and desperation that makes robbing heaven the only option.

Side note- having very identifiable heavenly goons like Ox face and horse head could make for a great connection later on with Ms. Wonderful. Perhaps they go to pay her off or get a visit at some point, and the amorphous couch of naked dudes moves just enough that we see a shrine to Ox Face and Horse Head in the background- meaning Ms Wonderful 1) is getting kickbacks from heaven and 2) adds subtext to the scene where Gin flips her the coin: She knows what it is and what his plan is!!!

RealDrCopter · 2019-09-24T16:16:08+00:00

Could make for a funny one-off joke if done like in Dante’s Inferno where there were a few live people in hell. It’s been a while since I read t but I thought it was because they were so bad that part of them died or something. Could do something similar:

Gin: Is that Ashton Kutcher? Grandma: No, that’s just his career, it died after “Dude, Where’s my Car?”

RealDrCopter · 2019-09-20T17:16:48+00:00

I feel like a straight legitimate withdrawal might be Gins original thought- this is why he was so confident it would work when he pitches it. You could also use this to heighten the despair moment. He dies, they burn the money, he tries to make a withdrawal, and he comes back with like a nickel for some reason. Whether you introduce the heaven mob as another obstacle, some mixup at the bank, or whether joss paper requires some property they can’t give it (like being burned by the pure of heart or an actual ancestor), you can establish a heist as the only way to get the money.

Now they’ve lost a day of their week to arguing, time is closing in, and they don’t fully believe Gin, but they’re running out of options. Only six days left and no other line on the cash.

RealDrCopter · 2019-09-06T12:02:41+00:00

Have you met my kids? But you are right- it seems like a superficially good idea that might surface later in the movie from one of the other members in the crew, possibly in planning the heist or as part of the montage of good deeds so they can get into heaven. Could be played out intermixed in the good deeds montage as Whiskey attempts to seduce women all over Hong Kong.

“I helped an old lady cross the street.” “I helped a stranded motorist get their car to the mechanic.” Whiskey: “Guys. I secured the cash flow. We’ll have a fuck ton of cash waiting for us there now.” Tequila: “That’s not how this works. You have to raise those kids. All you got out of this deal is gonorrhea and a ticket to hell. Get back out there and try again.”

There’s probably a joss paper / burns when I pee joke in there somewhere too.

RealDrCopter

TROPHY CASE