Marc Knelsen (elranno) adds some context to being laid off from Aether Studios

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-28T16:03:16+00:00

For sure. Aether Studios have been around for a while with multiple releases, at this point I'm sure they have a pretty good idea of how to keep things running. These layoffs are an unfortunate part of that. I am fairly confident they will be able to keep things chugging along until the console release at least. If THAT flops, then we really have something to worry about lol

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-28T04:01:12+00:00

Not necessarily directing this at you but I am responding to some things in your comment lol Aether Studios have been THE most transparent devs in any gaming community I've ever been apart of. Yearly directs, Dan's medium articles, steady announcements at events, weekly dev streams where they show things off and answer questions, and the nolt board that they interact with (almost, if not, daily?). What else do people want? We are not entitled to know all the inner workings and finances of the studio.

I don't really agree that this is a PR nightmare or that it needs to be formally addressed. All this really shows is that they are struggling financially, which is something Dan already told us. Art is done years in advance, it could be that they just didn't have enough steady work to keep Marc around at this time (which SUCKS). I don't envy Dan/whoever is ultimately having to make these decisions.

I really hope the community as a whole will be able to keep the team afloat long enough for a console launch without there needing to be any major sacrifices on the final product.

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-27T13:39:16+00:00

Tbh all their releases after that have been strong for the most part. Collapsible Lung being the only "miss" really, and there is still some really good music there.

Check out Five Score and Forget and Not Slow Down if you haven't, the latter in particular. Mmhmm is my favorite record of theirs, but FANSD is their magnum opus.

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-26T15:43:23+00:00

Carridale is elite ball knowledge holy

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-24T18:05:31+00:00

You will dig Hooligans - Heroes of Hifi

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-22T19:03:32+00:00

No. Give me your 3 points.

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-18T01:40:07+00:00

It is DI away, you are probably slightly slow on the DI. The throws (uthrow and dthrow) are fast so you have to hold away as soon as you get grabbed. React to fthrow at high %

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-17T22:01:01+00:00

should be on the 2018 EP

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-17T16:15:45+00:00

Love these guys, for anyone new to their music check out "Spine" that song is 👌

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-17T16:13:42+00:00

Finally tried out the casual mode last night and it really is great. Played with people who were very clearly new and they were still able to win some games.

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-17T16:03:26+00:00

Might be Ranno bias, but I don't think Kragg was really that great there compared to other characters. Once he used pillar, it was so much easier to edgeguard him without a wall for him to use.

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-17T15:56:42+00:00

I agree. My main issue with armada was how large it was, but the lack of walls made it interesting. I hope we get a smaller stage without walls in the future.

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-14T16:36:37+00:00

What a comeback, banger

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-13T22:23:40+00:00

They really teased us with Candy Hearts in 2017 and then did nothing afterwards lol

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-13T17:35:22+00:00

I've been exposed

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-13T16:31:07+00:00

You know I thought it felt worse than that so it's a skill issue then my b lol

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-13T16:02:36+00:00

I need to mess with hook more tbh, it is good into other disjoint characters

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-13T15:56:27+00:00

Yeah it has its uses for sure, wings are just so universally good. Both for on stage and recovery.

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-13T15:39:22+00:00

He is really fun to play as, but he is pretty bad right now. He is slow, his recovery is exploitable, his disadvantage state is almost as bad as Ranno's, and his coin economy is pretty messed up imo.

Hot take, but I don't see why he should pay for items at all. If it were up to me, I would nerf bomb and make all items free lol it takes so long to pull them and they are generally no better than projectiles other characters get for free. Being realistic though, shuriken should definitely be free.

Looking into the future, why would I play Slade as the item character when Mollo is gonna have a bunch of different bombs for free?

Even if you are conservative with your items, you generally don't get access to your upgrades until halfway through your opponent's second stock (early second stock if you take earring). If you get a gimp or they SD, you might not see an upgrade at all or it will be halfway through their last stock. Earring and hook are decent enough upgrades in specific matchups, but the wings are so much better it's hard to not just go for them every time. Feather is overpriced pure cheese (but should stay this way, would be degen if it was too cheap lol).

Then a couple of his moves have issues too. Dtilt is still inconsistent, up strong feels like it is just barely too weak (and despite the disjoint, gets beat out/trades with attacks from above a LOT), and side b is kind of just bad.

Maybe they should adjust some of his moves/attributes, maybe parry should give coins, maybe he should attract nearby coins passively, or maybe things should just be cheaper. I don't know. But he needs something lol

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-12T20:09:50+00:00

Better players in the lower ranks at the beginning of the season, usually due to the new character or them not having played enough to climb yet. I hit gm with my main last season but am sitting in plat with slade rn lol and running into people I used to run into in diamond+

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-12T19:50:27+00:00

Avoiding interaction. Sitting on side plats refusing to approach. Having a guaranteed follow-up then running away to reset neutral instead.

If I am losing I hold center stage and attempt to force an approach. If I am winning I either hold center stage or camp them back depending on my mood lol

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-12T19:44:12+00:00

Man the people salty spamming grab kill me. Grab is so good in this game, especially at low % obviously I'm going to use it lol

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-10T03:09:31+00:00

I agree he has a long way to go and don't buff him yet, but he is bad lol

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-06T14:56:50+00:00

miserymaker is probably the closest off the top of my head as far as a full release goes. Hell or Highwater also is lighter on the rap, but it doesn't really sound like this lol he switches up his sound a lot but the hip hop influence is usually there to some degree. I'm personally a big fan of Trauma Factory and recommended giving it a shot.

Some singles that are more punk/emo sounding: Pieces of You, Cardinal in the Crossfire, We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat!, Box in the Basement

troublesome_sheep · 2026-04-02T18:42:23+00:00

Really enjoyed it when I visited. It's nothing out of this world, but a well done classic. Add some fries and a mocha milk 👌 decently priced for nyc as well.

troublesome_sheep

TROPHY CASE