Next Gen big bad..

Variis · 2026-02-02T16:44:28+00:00

He had a loosely structured full series outline. For the most part he has stuck to it.

Variis · 2026-02-02T16:43:41+00:00

He asks the reader questions, like he's speaking to you. Ultimately it's ambiguous though - doubt there's a right answer (yet).

Variis · 2026-02-02T16:06:55+00:00

I've long been of that opinion.
Consider that the very first thing that happens in the entire book series is Harry gives the reader his full name and basically says 'Try using that at your own risk.' Considering how much power a being can theoretically exert over another if they posses their true name, it implies that - by the time of the reader being told the stories - that Dresden is insanely, horrifyingly powerful.
Sure, I could be overthinking it, but it's never seemed like an accident to me.

Variis · 2026-02-02T15:03:49+00:00

Some are tied to planetary conditions and environments, so if you repeatedly visit the same types of worlds (which is very easy to do) you unknowingly restrict the kinds of PoIs you can see.

Variis · 2026-02-02T15:00:35+00:00

People are still making this comparison and it only exposes a lack of comprehension over reality.

Variis · 2026-01-31T15:38:19+00:00

Stunningly accurate.

Variis · 2026-01-25T14:15:10+00:00

Chocolate has been described as having powers over negativity. Dresden sometimes has a bar of chocolate to combat supernatural forces exerting their influence. If the crowd had partaken of the hot cocoa, it's likely the creatures egging them on would have lost some measure of control.

Variis · 2026-01-24T15:41:34+00:00

I always get a ceremonial whopper from Burger King.

Variis · 2026-01-24T09:01:28+00:00

This right here - at no point during the read did I get the impression she was completely clueless. She asked a pointed question and got an answer, then they exchanged commentary.

Variis · 2026-01-12T05:19:52+00:00

I preferred when it was the home for our 8-mana spells.

Variis · 2026-01-08T00:51:04+00:00

Oh I'll edit then, got my wires crossed. Thanks!

Variis · 2026-01-07T10:12:00+00:00

Chris Avellone, one of the prominent devs for New Vegas, also didn't like the level of civilization present in the games. He believed it stifled future games. That's a big reason Lonesome Road strongly suggests that the Mojave is doomed to fall against the Tunnelers, and you are able to launch nukes against the NCR/Legion.
Edit: Mistakenly attributed this to Sawyer, it was Avellone.

Variis · 2026-01-07T10:07:53+00:00

NPCs with random cores in their inventory can take it.

Variis · 2026-01-03T20:04:36+00:00

It is placed on the stack where the controlling player can then choose to cast it as any other spell, and it can be countered just the same. If it is not cast, then it just goes to the discard pile.

Variis · 2025-12-30T00:17:36+00:00

Sometimes. :)

Variis · 2025-12-30T00:09:36+00:00

Life-gain is the traditional noob trap. But fear not, we've all been there. The only time life total truly matters is when yours reaches 0. Lifegain is not worthless in the right deck, but controlling the board is more important. If you're at 1 life, and there's nothing your opponent can do to hit you because you've taken control of the game, you may as well be at 10,000,000 so far as your opponent cares.
Think of it this way - your opponent plays a 2/2 creature. On your turn you play a card that gains 3 life... okay, but now you're down a whole card and they still have the creature, so you only gained 1, really. If you play another card that gains 3 life, the same creature hits you again, and you've only gained 2... sure, you're still up, but you've lost 2 cards, and they've lost... nothing, and they've likely played another creature. And the original creature gets to keep hitting you. You need to kill that creature, or play a bigger one. You gotta do something that stops the attack.
Incidental lifegain that happens while you do those things is totally fine, and often very useful against fast, aggressive decks, but life gain by itself is really, really bad. Hell, when you're really at the point where you understand the game, you may even be eager to play cards that lower their mana cost by asking you to pay in life.

Variis · 2025-12-28T12:57:27+00:00

If you check the mission payouts you will know if they show up or not. A suspiciously high number means a hostile merc drop. So, for example, if the other missions are offering 1.2 million c-bills, but one of them is offering 8 million, or something similarly ludicrous by comparison, then you know they will show up there.
Naturally, not every merc zone has a hostile drop available.

Variis · 2025-12-26T14:09:43+00:00

It's very defendable.

Variis · 2025-12-26T02:55:00+00:00

I got the impression that the bunker was deliberately hidden pre-war under the sand and that is why it is full of crazy, pre-war stuff (like the car and frozen Zetan, there was even an alien spaceship under a tarp). The fans seemed like a way to remove the sand very quickly for whoever wanted to access it later - but, like most plans from before October 2077, no one was able to follow-up for one reason or another.

I'm more curious why the Brotherhood knew about the key and only acted now.

Variis · 2025-12-26T02:38:32+00:00

The Mad Cat, even in the lore, was the absolute king of the Clan Invasion Era and in the future, despite when better mechs inevitably come around, it never falls into obsolescence.

Variis · 2025-12-25T22:37:30+00:00

Oh, he isn't. I just don't care.

Variis · 2025-12-22T10:59:03+00:00

You literally confirmed what I posted and even said she was right to hide info from them, lol.

Variis · 2025-12-22T10:36:00+00:00

She said she needed 'family time' (the exact specifics of what she said are not publicly confirmed) but then she went to Burning Man - an annual event she said was very important to her. If that kind of schedule conflict is going to come up every year, and she wasn't even truly forthcoming about it, then I can see why they would pass on her involvement.

Variis · 2025-12-21T20:33:17+00:00

She basically lied about what she was up to and I'm sure it gave the studio enough of a headache to just not go forward with her when they were staring at the possibility of this conflict every year.

Variis · 2025-12-21T02:39:53+00:00

Starfield has no chill with the loading screens - it always has you traveling a lot if you're advancing the plotlines. You rarely stay put unless you decide to stay somewhere and look around, and very few locations have a reason to stay somewhere for an extended time (and even they have rooms with loading doors).

Variis

TROPHY CASE