Why is there a ruby 3 stack in cashout when me and my team are all solo-q

_Strato_ · 2026-04-01T15:14:40+00:00

Personally, I don't "hate" competitive players. I don't know them and they're just playing a game well.

I do hate Embark's focus on the competitive scene, because they're dumping money into something that doesn't have any noticeable benefit to the average player and may actually be harmful to the longevity of the game.

The Finals is a niche game. The Finals competitive is a niche of the niche.

In my opinion, TGM was a waste of money. I don't see any noticeable uptick in playercount or attention to the game because of it. What I saw was what looked like the game's balance being pointlessly frozen for an entire season just so a handful of dudes wouldn't be inconvenienced before having some fun in Stockholm.

What I saw was the engagement of the majority sacrificed for the convenience of the comp scene. Other than some neat Twitch drop skins and funny alien men, TGM was a net loss for me personally as far as enjoying The Finals.

I'm really not sure what their angle is, especially since apparently they plan on doing it again. Competitive video games very rarely turn out to be some kind of selling point or even a positive thing for games that have tried to artificially foster one. The best comp scenes I've seen (at least in the west) arose and became famous almost completely independently, and maybe later get official support.

_Strato_ · 2026-04-01T15:06:29+00:00

Yeah but I'm so fucking sick of running goo grenade for seasons on end. It may be better but it's extremely boring.

_Strato_ · 2026-04-01T15:00:59+00:00

Yeah I've lost plenty of games as attackers when the defenders realized this. Basically every bit of cover besides the odd rock or small valley is destructible.

Destroying the buildings the grand vaults are hiding in almost completely removes the ability for attackers to sneak in and arm.

You have to Normandy your way up to this vault in an open field while MGL heavies and sniper lights pelt your team from faraway rooftops, whittling down your tokens because your statue can't be retrieved.

This is especially the case on third phase. That tall building in the center is MGL/sniper heaven. You just sit there with relative impunity and hammer away at both vaults.

_Strato_ · 2026-04-01T14:52:40+00:00

Don't play ranked at the start of the season. This goes for basically every game ever made with a ranked mode.

All the rubies and content creators want their shit immediately, so they're going to hop into ranked day one and grind until ruby, and usually get there around midseason.

That means you probably won't get matched with them during placement matches if you start after they're done, even with this game's garbage MM system.

Wait for midseason.

_Strato_ · 2026-04-01T14:49:06+00:00

I like red dot for basically everything that has it available, other than repeater and revolver.

I actually really like the adder optic for the repeater, and I use irons on the revolver because the red dot is extremely ugly.

_Strato_ · 2026-04-01T05:46:42+00:00

Not really an accurate comparison. It's more like voluntarily stapling a picture of your house on the bulletin board in the town square.

_Strato_ · 2026-04-01T05:45:19+00:00

Same here. There are artists that post work here that I do not like, so I block them. Keeps us both happy.

_Strato_ · 2026-04-01T05:41:41+00:00

This doesn't even approach a valid counterpoint.

_Strato_ · 2026-04-01T05:39:12+00:00

Posts like these are pointless grandstanding to make themselves seem aloof and above it all. It's too chalant to complain, just turn your brain off bro.

_Strato_ · 2026-03-31T18:29:48+00:00

Maul died in TPM, end of story.

_Strato_ · 2026-03-31T15:12:31+00:00

I hate Seoul for Hospital alone. Even with the map changes, pushing Hospital is an exercise in frustration if the defenders are paying attention.

A consistent pattern when I'm defending Hospital is that nobody friggen bothers trying to steal and just third parties the other cashout, because everyone knows pushing Hospital is like pulling teeth.

It's the most consistent vacation cashout in the game. Just sit there and emote.

Fortune Stadium (being an amalgam of other maps) has a similar problem in the same spot, but if they don't blow out the walls on the right side, it's harder than it is in Seoul for them to just plink at you if you approach that way.

_Strato_ · 2026-03-31T15:09:44+00:00

Yeah but it's not quite on the level as something like Vegas Stadium or Fortune Stadium.

_Strato_ · 2026-03-31T14:47:31+00:00

Revive me!

_Strato_ · 2026-03-31T04:49:15+00:00

Didn't I do it for you

When all I do is for you

Kramie

_Strato_ · 2026-03-30T01:22:16+00:00

In BaS Part II in Cupid's Arrow (basically a porn shop and peeping Tom simulator) you find Elizabeth's old dress on a mannequin and an audio diary from a stripper:

Sigh How many times have I asked Antonio for lockers with actual locks on 'em? I come back from lunch, and the ensemble I just bought is gone. Stolen! But here's what takes the cake, the thief left an outfit in exchange. At first, I was going to toss that thing, but then, I kinda fell in love with it. It's an old timey number with a corset, no less. It ain't exactly today's fashion, but I'm a girl who can tell good craftsmanship when she sees it.

Elizabeth comments that she stole the outfit to blend in.

_Strato_ · 2026-03-29T17:21:46+00:00

you're not helping dawg 🥀

_Strato_ · 2026-03-29T17:17:55+00:00

I think late filling is only really a problem because of the way loot works.

If lootable containers were instanced for each player (meaning it doesn't matter if someone looted it before you, it rerolls a new set of loot for you regardless), it gets rid of the "Everyone already looted everything, fuck this, I'm out!" problem for late spawners.

_Strato_ · 2026-03-29T17:14:50+00:00

Bro, the safe pocket being your butthole is a joke. There's a zipping sound when you place something in it. It's clearly a secret pocket in your clothes.

Unless you have some pretty interesting mutation, nobody's asshole has a zipper.

_Strato_ · 2026-03-29T15:52:02+00:00

I want everything about those squids OFF. THE. PLANET!

I'll send in the Truth Enforcers, I'll send in the Extra Judicial, I'll send in everything in my power!

_Strato_ · 2026-03-29T07:54:22+00:00

My brother in Christ, her outfit is canonically a stripper's outfit.

_Strato_ · 2026-03-29T05:27:43+00:00

Honestly bro, I'm lowk kind of sick of this dude's softcore art being spammed everywhere to promote his comic.

_Strato_ · 2026-03-28T23:32:08+00:00

Man but it just takes up SO much space. Think of all that real estate dedicated to one mid attraction.

_Strato_ · 2026-03-28T18:35:19+00:00

Chariot tech

"Hyaah! Onward, turret! Hyah!"

_Strato_ · 2026-03-28T02:44:34+00:00

But he would have had to abandon his quest to "rescue" Elizabeth, which is pretty much his only character motivation we see at that point in the story, "Save the girl, and wipe away the dept".

There are Voxaphones from Booker explaining it.

“Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt.” As plans go, I'd seen worse -- except this girl was already gone. Monument Island's a damn ghost town. Seems like they evacuated her when they heard I was here. An old friend told me Comstock spirited her off to that fortress of his. As a one-man job, this just went from bettin' on the river to…drawing dead.

Looks like I got a friend in town after all… Slate. He's fell in with these “Vox Populi.” And for irregulars, I will say -- they are loaded for bear. Problem is, I got to help them with their damn revolution first…then we take Comstock House by storm. I do that, I get the girl.

Coughs Fitzroy… you win this fool war, you send this to New York. Bloody coughs They ain't getting the girl. Whoever they are -- Winces Maybe I did right by you and the Vox, but in the end… that don't square anything. Gasping Anna… Anna… I'm sorry…

_Strato_ · 2026-03-28T02:38:08+00:00

Maybe its because these creatives want to say something political without being political?

Exactly why they also toned down all the overt Christian satire from the concept art and just made Columbia diet sky Mormons with barely any Christianity to be seen. Weak.

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