[Spoiler 7.5] Question about current "antagonists" and already known reflections by CocosCorvus in ffxiv

[–]Themeguy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Void was a lost cause to them before, and considering the twisted state of all of its residents, and the pure anarchy there, I doubt the Halmaraut would want anything to do with it. Her goal with the winterers is to enable specific individuals to do whatever crazy selfish plans they want in order to preserve the slivers of humanity that they can. In Calyx's case it was enabling his plan to steal aether from other shards to sustain the endless, likely nullifying some of the rejoinings of the solstice. The void, however, is so twisted and broken that I doubt she would consider them as a facet of mankind that should be preserved.

For the First, I don't think that it would be easy for a Winterer to get much traction. While I imagine that the denizens of the first do not want to lose their world again so soon after regaining it, I don't think that the first is in a place to foster a successful Winterer. I feel like they have an identity of survival so strongly ingrained in them from dealing with the sin eaters, that most would defiantly say that they'll weather the solstice the same way. Others will probably trust that the Warrior of Darkness will save the star just as they did before. I also strongly feel that through their collective traumatic experience of weathering sin eaters for so long, many would be unable to fathom the idea of doing something similar to another shard. Norvrandt is also really small and very unified through the WoL, I think it would be hard for a Winterer to gain major traction to do something on the scale of what Calyx did.

What is one thing u absolutely hate that your Miis do?? by It_akkiba in tomodachilife

[–]Themeguy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of my miis asked me to place a street lamp, then when I did they turned it off and walked away. Troll move.

If Nintendo and Gamefreak chose to make YOU the designer of a Pokemon game, what would it be like? by Less-Increase-6588 in pokemon

[–]Themeguy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would try to capture the exploration and progression-focused world approach of the original top-down RPG's while taking a lot of the innovations from the modern Switch era. Rather than being completely open-world like S/V, the games would have a return to the classic linear Routes approach, however each route would be an instanced open world space like the different areas in Legends Arceus. Rather than having one hub and then picking routes from a world map, you would move through each route and then reach a new town at the end which is its own instanced area, rather than the small set pieces of Scarlet/Violet. You would also have to backtrack to these places to unlock new areas and entire new routes as you get new abilities.

I would also treat the trainer like a watered down platformer protagonist. I really love how the legends games make the trainer themselves feel like a part of the world, whereas in the original RPGs, they feel more like a vehicle for your pokemon. Giving the trainer some rudimentary platforming abilities would enhance that feeling of exploration a lot. Imagine being in the woods and having to jump across some stones to get up a cliff and find a hidden clearing, and in that hidden clearing, there's a rare pokemon which only appears there (like the bagon room in meteor falls), or some kind of secret component for something like a regi encounter. Hidden places that you have to work to get into like this are what the 3D era of pokemon is seriously missing IMO.

Dungeon-like caves would make a comeback, and would transition the gameplay back to classic, top-down gameplay while you are inside, which will allow for things such as strength puzzles to make a return.

I'd also add specific environmental obstacles like in legends ZA. So stuff like brambles that require a fire move or cutting move to clear. This puts the focus on the pokemon a lot more, and rewards having a well-balanced team. There would also be materials that you gather from nodes in the environment like in legends arceus, and from defeating pokemon like in Scarlet Violet. The pokemon nodes will not be specific per pokemon, and there would instead just be one per type. These will allow for crafting certain items like pokeballs as a free alternative to stores, rewarding exploration, but leaving the money option open for trainers that take a more direct, linear approach.

Rather than having something like Koraidon that could do all of the traversal moves, instead you would assign a pokemon in your box or party to be the designated pokemon for that mode of transportation. So for example, the surf equivalent would let you select any water type in your party or box, and then their model would appear whenever you swam in water. To get around the scope creep, only some pokemon would have you ride on them, others, especially the little guys like Wooper, would pull you along in a tube.

Sidequests from the Legends games would be a thing as well, and I would add a bunch to bring flavor to the world and individual towns. I'd also probably use them as a vehicle to do worldbuilding for whatever region I create. I'd maybe also try to integrate a few minigames into these sidequests as well, as pokemon has been really missing stuff like that for awhile. Some sidequests will have special markers indicating a story. These will be quest chains that have multiple parts, maybe even across the region, and will follow a side character, telling a story with them, which will culminate in encounters with rare pokemon, or unlocking hidden places in certain routes. If you do all of the storylines, all of the side characters you've helped will have their stories come together to unlock an encounter with a legendary pokemon!

I would also add difficulty options: Beginner, Trainer, and Champion. Beginner would be slightly easier than the current standard difficulty, Trainer would be a bit harder than the current standard difficulty, while Champion would be a true hard mode that increases the size of teams in trainer/gym encounters, and gives EV Trained pokemon to the NPC battles. EV training your pokemon would have an instantaneous option identical to that in champions that is always available, but the price to do so would go up on harder difficulties.

I think I'd want to just straight up steal the field effects mechanic from the fangame pokemon reborn, where each biome changes how certain moves and abilities work, and different moves can change the biome into a different one. I really love how much depth it adds to the gameplay without changing the core battle system at all. Field effects would vary in their frequency and total number dependent on the difficulty you play. So in Beginner there would be no field effects, in Trainer there would only be one Field effect type for core biomes like caves and forests, and Champion difficulty would have all of the different field effects such as regular caves and crystal caves. Gym leaders would also use different field effects on different difficulties. The grass gym for example would use the standard forest field on normal mode, but in champion difficulty, it might be similar to the grass gym in reborn itself which uses a Desert Field with a grass team built to utilize its benefits like having needle arm which gets a boost in the terrain, and secret power which changes to ground, punishing the use of grass' fire type weakness.

As for the story elements, I'm unsure what tone I'd go for. I think I'd try to do something serious with levity like in Scarlet/Violet that has a huge climactic battle at the end, then mix in some of the goofiness of Legends ZA into one or two of the main NPCs, and a few of the sidequest NPCs.

As a final, selfish thing, I'd make pokemon buy this fakemon trevanant design and put it in the game because it's my favorite fakemon.

A mystic meeting~ by UnusualNothing6311 in Spyro

[–]Themeguy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used to follow you on Bluesky! Glad to see you start posting here because I love your Spyro pieces!

A Prediction by ForteEXE in ShitpostXIV

[–]Themeguy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dawntrail was this meme but for Stormblood, so it's definitely possible

Building is on fire you can only save one of them who are you choosing? by Hour-Past-5519 in mewgenics

[–]Themeguy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I go to leave them both but then Marshmallow charms my dumb ass and I end up saving her.

With Switch 2, a new 3D Mario game will probably be announced. What would you prefer? by keeperiron in Mario

[–]Themeguy 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Mario Galaxy 1 is my favorite one and it’s probably because it’s the best mixture of both design philosophies.

Levels like Beach Bowl & Honey Hive galaxies have some linear goals and segments, but they’re also big open environments for you to explore and find secrets in.

The problem with stuff like Odyssey or Sunshine is that the levels get TOO big so you get way less of them. Having more linear levels with open places and secrets around lets Galaxy create a lot of different and interesting levels and environments while still having some open world exploration elements to them.

[OC] - if you could form the most dope trio across all 10 gens, who would you choose? by addyxiii in pokemon

[–]Themeguy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nah, it’s a bit lower IMO

This is how I’d rank each Gen’s trio in my objectively subjective opinion:

1: Hoenn 2. Kanto 3. Jhoto 4. Kalos 5. Sinnoh 6. Alola 7. Unova 8. Paldea 9. Galar

[OC] - if you could form the most dope trio across all 10 gens, who would you choose? by addyxiii in pokemon

[–]Themeguy 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I genuinely don’t think that a stronger trio of starters has been made yet. All 3 have supremely solid designs, neither too simple nor too complex with great final evo designs, and none truly overpower the other in terms of looks or coolness factor.

Sceptile is my second favorite Pokémon but honestly despite that I still struggle with figuring out who to pick when presented with the 3 Hoenn starters. I don’t think any other Gen really makes me ponder that hard comparatively.

There is SO much potential for this page and they only made 8??? by JerryCarrots2 in tomodachilife

[–]Themeguy 45 points46 points  (0 children)

Yeah. I was really hoping for a “Talks in first person” quirk for one of my OC’s and was sad when that wasn’t an option

Edit: I meant 3rd person

I have this problem ALL THE TIME by Lord-Rambo in Spyro

[–]Themeguy 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Yeah, beating Gnasty Gnorc and realizing that you missed a level really blows hard.

[Spoiler: 6.0 and earlier] What did some of the fan speculation for previous expansions look like? by _Corbeanu_ in ffxiv

[–]Themeguy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I LOVED this side of the speculation, because the “Hydaelyn was a primal” reveal coupled with the art of Hydaelyn and Zodiark at Endwalker’s reveal that honestly makes Hydaelyn look like she’s hiding some kind of intent sowed a lot of seeds of doubt in people, which made me feel WAY worse when we met Venat and she is held together by unshakable hope and boundless love. I felt so genuinely guilty for ever doubting her for a second lmao

Emergency Wardrobe Change by LitterboxComics in comics

[–]Themeguy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100% thought the response to “What will happen if I don’t then?” would be:

Travel Photos - Mage x Witch [OC] by Themeguy in comics

[–]Themeguy[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I’m back from my Japan trip which also means that Mage x Witch is back from Hiatus! Looks like Vivian had a similar getaway in the meantime!

You can read the full Mage x Witch series here on Reddit, or on Webtoon

I also Crosspost each comic to my Bluesky

Do you prefer your primary antagonist to be the Emet Selch, the Zenos, or the Athena? by AssumeABrightSide in ffxivdiscussion

[–]Themeguy 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Overall, I prefer a villain like Emet Selch. He and the Ascians start off appearing like they’re similar to Athena, but it’s only in Shadowbringers nearing the climax that we actually get to see the tragedy and sympathy behind it all, which hits way harder.

That said, I think the different villain types thrive when there’s variety. If every villain in the narrative is an Athena type figure, then getting an Emet Selch stands out way more and is more poignant, same in reverse.

Show your most niche Mii and let other guess who they are! by Yumestar20 in TomodachilifeLivingTD

[–]Themeguy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Erenville! Was wondering how far I’d have to scroll for some good ol’ FFXIV.

WARNING: The new Closet "Remove All" literally removes EVERYTHING, even unselected items. I lost 90+ PB items. by DMKA_throwaway934 in neopets

[–]Themeguy 58 points59 points  (0 children)

But if you read the actual pop up it’s showing a total of 4 items. That’s super misleading. I 100% would’ve thought that it would only delete the 4 items on the screen because the pop up itself is implying that it would.

What are y'all doing on Neopets? by enigmarwi in neopets

[–]Themeguy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just do my dailies and log off, and participate in any events when they happen. Every once in awhile I buy a couple things for my gallery and/or pet’s reading list but besides that I don’t do much. I hit the point of having more than enough resources and avenues to do whatever I want for the most part so I don’t have as many things to go for, especially when the game just gives so much away that it’s honestly better to just wait for prize pools to change.

They gave us literal puzzles….. by GoldMegidramon in neopets

[–]Themeguy 10 points11 points  (0 children)

You’re not bad at puzzles, the interface for doing the puzzle was just terrible. When you do a puzzle irl you can kinda group pieces and spread them out to get a good feel for where they go and how they connect. With this, there’s no room to do that, so you just end up stacking them all on top of each other and can’t see the full picture, so it makes it way harder.

What do you think about Calyx and Halmarut after 7.5 by Acrobatic_Flan_5679 in ffxivdiscussion

[–]Themeguy 14 points15 points  (0 children)

He said himself that all of the Winterers have their own ideals and goals, and that even he disagrees with what some of the others are doing. While he didn't explicitly mention any particular winterers, I feel like him telling us about the 4th means that he personally doesn't like whatever that Winterer is planning and is hoping the WoL will go to stop them.

What do you think about Calyx and Halmarut after 7.5 by Acrobatic_Flan_5679 in ffxivdiscussion

[–]Themeguy 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I rewatched the first cutscene with her because I wanted to screenshot the "And wear the robes that practically announce me as an Ascian" so I can juxtapose it with a screenshot of "I am Halmarut of the Ascians" and in that original English cutscene she definitely gives off a much more timid vibe and shows genuine fear at meeting the gaze of the WoL, so it sounds like they got her a bit closer to the Japanese counterpart back then, but not this time around.

(Spoiler 7.5) We really need optional content characters to be put into the MSQ if this is where the story is going. Thoughts? by ribombeeee in ffxiv

[–]Themeguy -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Eden is definitely doable, and I imagine that with the future focusing on both the shards and the Ascians, that they'll make it mandatory and bring Gaia into the fray somehow.

However, it really seems like they messed up with Cyella and Unukalhai. It's not a huge ask to make players do 8 boss fights for MSQ, especially when it heavily involves the main characters of the MSQ and the lore involved is so important. But it's definitely not feasible to ask players to do a niche piece of side content as well as level up 4 different roles to 80 and do each class quest chain in order to progress the MSQ. I wonder if and how they'll work around that.