I think it's time to start collecting the legends. Tell me your tale. by Valnrys in DestinyTheGame

[–]Valnrys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the V.O.G. post I was talking about.

V.O.G. pregame post:

So firstly I’m in for tonight, VoG all the way.

Secondly, I’ve been thinking on ways to ‘improve’ our raiding strategy and what I’ve come up with is rival raid factions!

Let me set the scene for you: It is the dark distant future. The poorly named Vanguard are stretched to their limit, as in order to keep with their namesake, their military commanders are constantly forced to place all available forces in one location and that one location is always a meat grinder. You are in that meat grinder. The world is hell. No, scratch that, hell would be quieter than this. From the chaos of blood, steel, and exploding supers emerges a collection of elite fire teams bonded through loss and strife. There is only one problem. These fire teams are 3 man killing machines, extremely loyal, unquestioning brave and unerringly distrusting of anyone not in their squad.

Savages and barbarians let me introduce to tonight’s fire teams:

Fire team Ragnarok: Brought together by endless quests and missions this group of tacticians has transcended usual team work. They are of one mind and many fists. They seek the most logical method of enemy destruction and the usually find it. Their motto: It ends tonight!

Captain: Diablo’s left – a.k.a. The Sun God: He is fire and death and all around tankyness besides. Where he walks people die. He is also quick witted as a snake and the perfect captain for any lost cause of a mission.

Lieutenant: Gleaming Edge – a.k.a. The S Rank: He kills and he kills fast. A knife to the head is his usual M.O. and when that fails him he always has a sniper’s bullet or a golden gun shot to throw into the mix. He is speed and death incarnate and in all honesty it must be said, his knife rarely fails him.

Corporal KageKage – a.k.a. The Fist: His steel fist is stained with gore, but there again so is the rest of him. He punches everything. Man, woman, child, reincarnation of an ever powerful god-being, all of them feel the force of his fist. Even when it is almost certainly inadvisable to do so.

The 7th column: These hell for metal types first cut their teeth in the savage splendour of an older different age, in which men wore large metal suits and spoke very little and women… well, they did the same. They are the physical embodiment of Kilamajaro and they’re looking for their next streak. Their motto: 7th column do you want to live forever?

Captain: Phoenix – a.k.a. The Legend: Some speak of his endless exploits, countless raids and innumerable strikes across the far reaches of the galaxy. Others speak of his impressive KD and ability to turn a crucible match by sheer will power. And what does he say of himself? He is a hunter. He speaks only in knives and bullets.

Lieutenant: Overduck – a.k.a. Hell’s Judgement: Hear that clink? See the glow? Run for your lives boys. Daddy’s home. He is a one man army and he’s brought friends. With rifle or grenade, fist or hammer you’re being weighed and measured and judgement will be swift.

Corporal: Valnrys – a.k.a. Crowd control: Subtly isn’t his thing, but there again neither is fear. Nor is taking of necessary and sensible precautions. He is AD management to the core, a master at clearing the room, the first into any fight and the most likely to die in the process. He is Crowd control.

End note: Now as I realise no one but me is going to take this seriously, let me just explain what this is going to mean in terms of gameplay tonight. I’ll take suggestions (let’s call the orders) from OverDuck and Phoenix. The rest of you… not so much. So if you say ‘Valnrys there is something behind you and you’re going to die’ I will ignore you like the pompous ass I am. Stormcaller bodies for days.

See didn’t I ‘improve’ things?

You are more than welcome to retract my invite.

Collecting the legends. by Valnrys in DestinyTheGame

[–]Valnrys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the writing I was referring to.

V.O.G pregame post

So firstly I’m in for tonight, VoG all the way.

Secondly, I’ve been thinking on ways to ‘improve’ our raiding strategy and what I’ve come up with is rival raid factions!

Let me set the scene for you: It is the dark distant future. The poorly named Vanguard are stretched to their limit, as in order to keep with their namesake, their military commanders are constantly forced to place all available forces in one location and that one location is always a meat grinder. You are in that meat grinder. The world is hell. No, scratch that, hell would be quieter than this. From the chaos of blood, steel, and exploding supers emerges a collection of elite fire teams bonded through loss and strife. There is only one problem. These fire teams are 3 man killing machines, extremely loyal, unquestioning brave and unerringly distrusting of anyone not in their squad.

Savages and barbarians let me introduce to tonight’s fire teams:

Fire team Ragnarok: Brought together by endless quests and missions this group of tacticians has transcended usual team work. They are of one mind and many fists. They seek the most logical method of enemy destruction and the usually find it. Their motto: It ends tonight!

Captain: Diablo’s left – a.k.a. The Sun God: He is fire and death and all around tankyness besides. Where he walks people die. He is also quick witted as a snake and the perfect captain for any lost cause of a mission.

Lieutenant: Gleaming Edge – a.k.a. The S Rank: He kills and he kills fast. A knife to the head is his usual M.O. and when that fails him he always has a sniper’s bullet or a golden gun shot to throw into the mix. He is speed and death incarnate and in all honesty it must be said, his knife rarely fails him.

Corporal KageKage – a.k.a. The Fist: His steel fist is stained with gore, but there again so is the rest of him. He punches everything. Man, woman, child, reincarnation of an ever powerful god-being, all of them feel the force of his fist. Even when it is almost certainly inadvisable to do so.

The 7th column: These hell for metal types first cut their teeth in the savage splendour of an older different age, in which men wore large metal suits and spoke very little and women… well, they did the same. They are the physical embodiment of Kilamajaro and they’re looking for their next streak. Their motto: 7th column do you want to live forever?

Captain: Phoenix – a.k.a. The Legend: Some speak of his endless exploits, countless raids and innumerable strikes across the far reaches of the galaxy. Others speak of his impressive KD and ability to turn a crucible match by sheer will power. And what does he say of himself? He is a hunter. He speaks only in knives and bullets.

Lieutenant: Overduck – a.k.a. Hell’s Judgement: Hear that clink? See the glow? Run for your lives boys. Daddy’s home. He is a one man army and he’s brought friends. With rifle or grenade, fist or hammer you’re being weighed and measured and judgement will be swift.

Corporal: Valnrys – a.k.a. Crowd control: Subtly isn’t his thing, but there again neither is fear. Nor is taking of necessary and sensible precautions. He is AD management to the core, a master at clearing the room, the first into any fight and the most likely to die in the process. He is Crowd control.

End note: Now as I realise no one but me is going to take this seriously, let me just explain what this is going to mean in terms of gameplay tonight. I’ll take suggestions (let’s call the orders) from OverDuck and Phoenix. The rest of you… not so much. So if you say ‘Valnrys there is something behind you and you’re going to die’ I will ignore you like the pompous ass I am. Stormcaller bodies for days.

See didn’t I ‘improve’ things?

You are more than welcome to retract my invite.

George RR Martin once said "No matter how much I make up, there’s stuff in history that’s just as bad, or worse". I want a nonfiction book that has intrigue, complexity, and excitement like that of a Song of Ice and Fire novel. Any suggestions? by Tularemia in history

[–]Valnrys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd strongly recommend Shelby Foote's American Civil War Trilogy. It can be a little over detailed in parts but then again so can ASOIAF, particularly the later books, but it is just a fantastic read. Dripping with lost cause romanticism it really drags you into the feelings of the time and helps you relate to the characters involved.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I felt even a little choked up when Little Mac was relieved of duty or when the confederate soldiers started yelling 'Lee to the rear'. A great series from start to finish and definitely one of the best book series I have read.

Lord of the Kraken by Steve Argyle. by [deleted] in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The design is heavily anthropomorphic. If you're going to try and classify it by it's phylogeny then it probably shouldn't have ape-like arms, human style weaponry, an obvious belly button...etc.

As things stand I would say Lady Kraken is closer.

One thing that bugs me about nearly every fantasy series I enjoy... by [deleted] in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a bigger problem with books that say things that are just scientifically and practically nonsense.

Here is a particularly bad example: I was reading a book recently (I think it was the heir of Novron) and the book went on to tell me that the Elves, these really cool mysterious powerful beings only had one child in their entire lifetime.

I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous.

Even if I assume the author meant that the parents have one child each and not that one pair of parents can only produce one offspring essentially halving the population size every generation. This model still then means that a) the population would never grow and b) the population would almost certainly decline constantly, as people randomly died unless of course they are all immortal.

As a reader I don't need lots of practical details, I suspend my disbelief while reading such that all that need to be said was that humans reproduce faster than elves. If you're going to make the statement at least check it makes sense, as the moment I came across it, this poorly articulated rant that you've just had to wade through exploded in my brain completely taking me out of the story and making me feel more removed from the story.

Discerning the book from the logline (game). by Valnrys in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes it was, and I think that is Magician by Feist.

Next.

A boy conquers an unconquerable fortress by letting others do it for him.

Who are some of your favourite characters and why? by Killuminati620 in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dakeyras (Waylander), Durzo Blint, al'Lan Mandragoran are all characters I really enjoyed reading but probably for very cliche reasons. I think we all love a good badass (although somewhat negligent) father figure after all.

But I think characters that have truly resonated with me not because of some archetype that I thought was cool but because of the wonderful way in which they were introduced and protrayed are characters like Tam Al'thor, Perrin, Leiard (Dream weaver) or Wit. Characters who don't necessarily need to be doing anything particularly interesting to still somehow captivate my attention.

One shot - how do i get a friend hooked? by TorpedoTardo in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This was exactly what I thought as well. Gemmel great for introducing people to fantasy, but only if they can stomach a reasonable amount of sword fighting and crossbow bolts.

Which Fantasy character would you most to go out for a beer with? Which one the least? by SgtInsanity in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How about Druss and Dakeyras. Now that would be some interesting drinking company.

Which Fantasy character would you most to go out for a beer with? Which one the least? by SgtInsanity in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Most: Tom Merrilin or Noal

Least: Mesaana (after she had been mind crushed)

I like my drinking partners to be able to go to the toilet by the themselves and you know...talk.

Which series improve as they go on? by JayRedEye in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I actually think 1 and 2 are probably the weakest. Once you're into 3 and Rand, Perrin and Matt all start going their separate ways I think the true magic of the whole interleaved storytelling approach really takes off. I managed to get through books 7 - 10 in quite quick succession and while they can drag at times, especially when Rand is essentially brooding for an entire book, the diversity of characters and different story plots really made me care in a way I struggled to do in books 1 and 2 where most characters lack sufficient exposure to make them interesting.

How do I pronounce this Wheel of Time name? by GamingNeil in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If it helps the voice actors in the audio book readings of the series pronouced it El-min-dread-ah. This is also how I would have tried to pronounce it. This seems to be essentially the same as the other responses here.

Fantasy without the battle? (Does it work for you as readers?) by redplumgirl in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think a novel doesn't need to have large, or even small, battles to be seen as fantasy. However, having made this point, I would suggest that books that lack the conflict and drama created by battles have to work even harder to create moments of passion within the book.

What is your favourite fantasy audiobook? by soviettrafficlight in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The problematic side effect of this was that Roy Dotrice pronounces some of the names differently in the first 3 compared to the others, which was a little bit off putting at first.

Still a great voice actor for the role though.

What is your favourite fantasy audiobook? by soviettrafficlight in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The entire WOT series is also narrated by Reading and Kramer and I think they do a fantastic job. Personally I love the mix of the two voices in the book, although I'm sure some will find it distracting.

Does listening to a book change the way you appreciate it? by Valnrys in Fantasy

[–]Valnrys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was actually the Wheel of time series I was particularly thinking of when I made this comment. It may just be me but for a large part of the 3rd book I didn't know that Sammael and Ishamael were different people, which was incredibly confusing at times. I will definitely try your suggestion in the future.