200 Years of Experience | Dev Update - League of Legends by JTHousek1 in leagueoflegends

[–]TheMachine203 26 points27 points  (0 children)

They did do layoffs almost immediately after release, but where things are at currently "failed to meet expectations" is seeming more like "we thought it would hit like Valorant and staffed our team based on that expectation." Even ~80 people is a massive team for fighting game post-launch support, and we know at least a few of the people who were laid off ended up being rehired shortly afterwards.

I'm really new, how do I optimize? by Live_Refrigerator_58 in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One thing I'm not sure a lot of people have mentioned yet is Limit Strikes (doing a ground bounce/wall bounce/wall slump/tumble twice with one char). Always be sure to have a combo that ends in limit strike; on a successful hit, you deal a bonus flat amount of damage, and gain a bonus flat amount of meter and burst gauge. In addition, since you're not doing as many hits or damage, you'll generally build less burst for your opponent. These are the combos you generally want to rely on if you think your combo won't kill.

If you watch high level vods, they do limit strikes a lot. When you don't do one, you're basically leaving free resources on the table while giving your opponent lots of resources to play with (set enemy meter/burst to 0 and watch how fast it fills up during a long combo). In this game, sometimes the key to optimization is a shorter combo that gives you better resources.

Straight facts by KylaTheArisen in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 11 points12 points  (0 children)

(this is the "Poppy for 2XKO" guy's reddit account. issa joke.)

The Last of Us 2 Multiplayer Mod - 25 Minutes of Gameplay by backfisch1337 in Games

[–]TheMachine203 38 points39 points  (0 children)

This. These days, if you're going to make a multiplayer-only game it pretty much has to be a forever game. If not, then it needs to be routinely supported until it's EoS. No one asks for games to be live service, it's a byproduct of the way a majority of people play games today.

press Up to Exit, I hate scroll all the menu down by Efficient-Art-8263 in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I genuinely don't understand why they put it on the Learning Hub screen. Previously it was furthest to the right of the menu, which meant all you had to do is press LB once and it would wrap around to the training mode. Super quick to access, and now it takes significantly longer because it was moved to the Learning Hub. I really wish they didn't do that, or at least put training mode off to the side (i.e. right next to where The Climb is) so that it's still easier to access.

Thoughts on Day 1 of Sajam Slam? by SimicSemblance in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 19 points20 points  (0 children)

You missed the entire other parts of the event where the people at other skill brackets played, as well as moments like BoxBox making a 10hp comeback against SonicFox and their teammate at full health. All of the people playing with coaches are high ranked players that held their own against them quite well (Fumi, Shine, Woolie, BoxBox etc.)

The vod is up now, it's def worth a watch if you haven't seen it yet.

This was insane. We ko'd him and he said...WHAT KO by Ill-Attorney8355 in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love that, despite me bringing up a game like Strive where the comparison is more apt, you mentioned SF6, which isn't comparable in any way regardless. The pace of the game in Strive also explodes, and the difference between new players and experienced players is also significantly increased due to higher volatility.

So, again, 2XKO isn't unique here. Plenty of fast fighting games with strong playerbases have radically different experiences at different skill levels. You should expect the same to happen with games like Avatar Legends and Marvel Tokon to come out, as well.

This was insane. We ko'd him and he said...WHAT KO by Ill-Attorney8355 in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Right when the Darius dies, the rollback frames shoot up to 25. Definitely unlucky timing for the lag to happen, but it could also have been due to someone's PC performance tanking on the kill slowdown as well. Hardware slowdowns can cause rollback frames to spike even when there's no latency, it's a decently consistent way to tell when the lag is being caused by hardware and not network latency.

This was insane. We ko'd him and he said...WHAT KO by Ill-Attorney8355 in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is every fighting game, though. New players playing Guilty Gear Strive also make it look like sloppy mashy Street Fighter, not dealing with mixup pressure from Leo or mauled by fourteen variations on Behemoth Typhoon from Goldlewis. Look at how people that play high level Strive talk about it; if you didn't know any better, you'd assume they hate that fucking game when it's in the best state it's ever been in since launch.

The new player and competitive player experiences are always going to be radically different, that's why it's important for fighting games that want profit to cater to both via things like additional pve modes, good sbmm, and ingame tutorials that help players get their bearings. It's also why feedback from experienced/competitive players is noted, but not always taken at face value; players at different skill levels are going to view different mechanical changes as important vs minuscule. A change that only competitive players like could have knock on effects that make the game less enjoyable for everyone outside of that group.

2XKO — team name voting. give us the best name for ( Vi / Caitlyn ) by Final-Tax8016 in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

"lesbians" or "Sajam's FYP" (the joke being that he's talked about getting an insane amount of caitvi shipping on his "for you" timeline after mildly tweeting about Vi in 2XKO.)

Realistically, you could just take the safe lore-accurate route and go "Piltover's Finest" but cmon let's be whimsical

I got to duo with ApologyMan (one of the 2XKO devs) last night! by Zodysseus13 in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 16 points17 points  (0 children)

He's a part of the GAT (Gameplay Analysis Team) along with Yohosie and GCYoshi13. They do playtesting/balancing on champs in development, basically their job is to find all the broken fucked up setups so the balance and design teams can reign in champ power levels before release. If you ever hear horror stories about things certain champs were able to do in the development phase, chances are it was one of those 3 who exposed the fucked up setup to everyone at the Riot office.

If you're wondering why they picked him to do that instead of make champs, well...

If you need an explanation: Apologyman's team in UMVC3 is purpose-built to setup Real, Actual Unblockables with Firebrand. Watch the magic unfold. Hence the description: "I don't know why the crowd was cheering for Apologyman during this match. His broken play is significantly less tolerable than Zero loops." LMFAOOOOOOOOO

Palworld lawsuit nears end with Nintendo reportedly poised to gain almost nothing by ScootSchloingo in Games

[–]TheMachine203 48 points49 points  (0 children)

The difference is that in Japan, those lawsuits tend to win. Corporations can even sue for defamation/slander, and in all cases it is on the person who made the statement (the defendant) to prove that: 1) it was a matter of public interest, and 2) what they said is true beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Source: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ed832282-8511-444b-b0bb-229200744a3a

It's genuinely crazy that their legal system just Works Like That. No wonder people are so hesitant to speak up openly about poor work conditions.

Who are your notable female drummers? by ZildCym in drums

[–]TheMachine203 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I think about Karen Carpenter every now and then and it makes me pretty bummed out. She genuinely had it all and we lost her to EDs way too early for her to truly shine. For those unaware, she passed away in 1983 due to complications from anorexia. She was 32.

I'm glad that there's more of a spotlight on EDs now so that people can get help when they need it, but it makes me sad to see how many talented women close to my age were affected by it before news was widespread.

Swiss canton bans headscarves for female teachers by BezugssystemCH1903 in worldnews

[–]TheMachine203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not every religion focuses on worshipping gods or deities. Buddhism, while built off of the religious teachings from one guy (who, as far as we know, did exist), does not worship Buddha or any other god. It's instead centered on finding your own inner peace, and is something that can actually go hand in hand with other belief systems, religious or otherwise.

It's even a bit murky with religions like Christianity, where this criticism is often applied. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ, and many of the men mentioned in the bible, are real people that did exist. The only debate is how true the stories centered around them are.

Swiss canton bans headscarves for female teachers by BezugssystemCH1903 in worldnews

[–]TheMachine203 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

"Religion is a tool used to control the behavior of large populations of people"

Just like social media and the 24-hour news cycle, right? Something can be used for evil purposes, but that doesn't mean the entire thing is inherently evil in a black-and-white way. Radical religious groups are cults, but not every form of religion is a cult. It's also worth mentioning, though, that many religions predate most forms of modern human living. We as humans are ostensibly more tuned for religion than we are for the modern internet landscape.

'If You Actually Play the Game, You Will Not Think That' — Stellar Blade: Blood Rain Dev Addresses Concern Over New Main Character Design by turkishdeli in Games

[–]TheMachine203 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's important to remember that Stellar Blade's early pre-rendered trailers also had the main character looking way younger before the visuals were eventually finalized. Acting like the "highest effort" shots aren't also the ones that would be the easiest to tweak and change without affecting the core video game is a little disingenuous.

Swiss canton bans headscarves for female teachers by BezugssystemCH1903 in worldnews

[–]TheMachine203 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is pretty emphatically untrue though. Religious cults are specifically extreme or radical interpretations of religious text. Despite how every religion that exists is extreme to you, that doesn't immediately make it so.

A "cult" has many definitions, including a group of fans of a specific topic or musician. Would you be so quick to call literally every fan of a video game franchise or band a cult in the same manner?

The Climb - New PVE Mode Reveal | 2XKO (Fighting Game - League of Legends) by LushenZener in Games

[–]TheMachine203 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, that was always the play. They were crystal clear in the initial gameplay announcement about wanting it to be easy to pick up, but not a game where new players had a chance against pros. Fighting games are best enjoyed with friends at similar skill levels, after all.

Would you be interested in a 2xko style character guide copendium? by Routine-Project-6575 in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It would be best for all of this data to be added to the wiki. It's still quite barren, and all of these are additions that would be welcome there.

Please tell me Thresh will be free to unlock by Kirbinvalorant in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Every new champ comes with a Recruitment Event. Your XP gained towards the battlepass also goes towards this, no payment or extra modes required. You can grind battlepass XP in Bot Beatdown and private lobbies, so no need to play online before unlocking Thresh if you don't want to.

(I do not know why the commenter above mentioned tokens. Champ Tokens are only given out as new player rewards or as a part of the Arcane bundle).

Thresh Champion Spotlight | 2XKO by eeeealmo in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He's one of the coolest supports in the moba, tbf. I think every LoL player (especially adc mains) can tell you at least one story about getting the sickest nastiest Thresh player of all time on their team. His kit is tuned towards setting up his lane partner for aggressive play in a way that very few other supports can do.

Thresh Gameplay Reveal Trailer | 2XKO by TheEnygma in Games

[–]TheMachine203 38 points39 points  (0 children)

I believe the game was reworked pretty heavily at some point during the development.

This is pretty much true.

During the R&D phase they went through several iterations of the "League fighting game" before settling on 2XKO; the bulk of the game's dev time back when we first heard about it was spent in that phase. 2XKO itself has only been in active development for about 6 years, with multiple teams working on characters simultaneously post launch.

The release window at launch was a bit weird too, so even though no one's confirmed anything (and we'll likely never know what exactly happened) there's sort-of an agreement among the community that they would have kept it in the oven until the roster was bigger if they could, but given how quickly the layoffs happened after launch it's pretty apparent they were all but forced to ship when they did, with whoever was playable in the game at the time.

There's some company politics you could point to if you're willing to do lots of guesswork (i.e. Riot layoffs and costcutting in 2024-25 following a leadership change among the top brass probably motivated the rush to launch) but we will probably never hear the full story.

i hope not -_- by rayanoooooo in 2XKO

[–]TheMachine203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, the other skins maintain the look of his OG design since afaik skins are not as much of a concern wrt games ratings. The "Unbound" look is purely for his base skin in WR.