shiningdialga

Holy crap, I did not know that! I figured it was probably linked to Almyra because the three marked as "Fodlan" just happened to be the three main Golden Deer characters. Go figure this group in particular have repeating names.

I have a strong feeling they were planning Almyran versions of Claude, Hilda, and Lorenz, as their current cards are specifically masked as "Fodlan" versions. Was really hoping to see what those looked like; maybe we'll luck out and at least get a couple in the final set.

I opened my box of series 6 and ended up pulling the secret rare Seliph (BO8-052R+X). I was wondering if the pull rates for these were the same as other R+ cards, or is it a harder pull?

I decided to work a bit on my Excel skills, so I decided to make a eugenics calculator! This document contains a sheet for each child and shows their stat caps, growth rates, and inherited class for all potential parents. You can also import your Avatar's own stats by simply going to the first sheet (avatar calculator) and picking their boon and bane from a drop down menu. The stats will be calculated automatically and transferred to the rest of the document. Hopefully, this will let people do an easy comparison for each child without having to span multiple webpages. Enjoy! Click here for the document.

I know this kind of thing has been around for a while, but I still get a kick out of these. Basically, what the title says: Write a short, terrible description for any form of media (game, book, movie, TV, etc.) And obviously, SPOILERS GALORE Here's a (probably awful) starter: Fire Emblem Awakening: Amnesiac woman befriends prince, bangs him, kills her father, then herself.

I've got a few points to make. As far as what you're describing with your students, I'm not sure if this is so much connected to "handholding" as it is "lack of interest". There's a huge emphasis on doing extra-curricular activities to make yourself look good on a college resume even if you don't really like it, so that may be the case. I remember when I was in high school, as part of the math team (yes, I was that kid), there were several students who didn't really want to be there, but did so to have an extra line on their college application. The difference between those who really like it and those who didn't was obvious. I can't say for sure this is a new phenomenon either, but I can't say it isn't; I just don't have any evidence either way. As for common core math, it's not "easier", it's more flexible. Teaching children to approach problems in different ways, even simple problems, encourages flexible thinking and reinforces the importance of being able to tackle problems from multiple angles. I'll never forget in fourth grade when we were doing division with remainders, and I had figured out that you could place the remainder over the divisor to get the remaining fraction. Instead of acknowledging that this was correct, my teacher instead rebuffed me for not doing it "the proper way". This method of teaching forces kids to use algorithms to solve problems instead of understanding, which hurts down the road when they learn more advanced concepts. I sometimes wonder if this rigid style is also why there is more coddling that you speak of, since people cannot handle the fact that there is not one right answer for things, like when reacting to common core. When it comes to video games becoming "easier", I think it is more that they are (usually) better designed and the difference in audience. The higher difficulty of the games of yore seems to come from either poor design, or intentional efforts to pad out a game. Silver Surfer and Battletoads are considered some of the hardest games of all time, but this is only because the former requires insanely precise pattern memorization and the latter is just poorly put together in many aspects. Old RPGs are perfect examples of using padding, requiring repetitive grinding that is not real difficulty but busywork to make the title longer. As games got more memory, this padding wasn't as necessary, so many games became "easier" since they didn't require the same amount of padding to give the consumer enough playtime for their money. I also think the change in game audience has influenced the difficulty of games to a degree. Over time, the main consumer of games has shifted from primarily children to children, teens, and adults. Adults do not have nearly as much time to play video games as children do, with jobs, family, and life in general. I know as 25 year old with a full time job and other responsibilities, I certainly do not want to spend my limited gaming hours grinding my 10,000th wererabbit just to have a high enough level to challenge the next boss. I'd much rather work through the game at a steady pace, taking on bosses multiple times and eventually defeating them after learning their weaknesses. It's also true that yes, some people do not want to have a stiff challenge with every game, and only want to play for fun, many of these being the adults in question (guilty as charged). Developers are catering to these audiences, and there's nothing wrong with that, they are running a business. However, very difficult games are still alive and well. The Souls series is the most obvious example, but one good example I have played is Lightning Returns, specifically the combat. The combat in that game is ridiculously difficult, but if you master the mechanics (which are amazing) and go in with the right setup, almost any enemy can be mastered at any point. You have to perfect your guard, know the best positioning, equip the best commands, and understand how the enemy is staggered. It tests your mastery of the mechanics and never feels unfair. Shame the time limit really hurts the rest of the game...

I got stupidly lucky with the three boxes I bought, since I batted 100% for SR+ cards (F!Corrin and Ryoma from B2, and Chrom from B1). I managed to grab an SR+ Xander online just to have it. I've also got a Takumi, Leo, and Lucina I pulled from among those boxes. Those cards are probably my favorites among my collection.

It's definitely not "dreadful" like people seem to harp on about. That said, I did find Awakening's voice acting superior overall. There really weren't any voices I found bad in that game; in fact, I thought they were all very good. With fates, there were definitely a couple I found hard to swallow or mismatched. The ones that come to mind are F!Corrin's "screamy" 3rd voice, M!Kana (I miss you Morgan), Jakob (passable, but dat accent), Siegbert (not bad, but seemed too soft), and Orochi (also not bad, but seemed to young for her age). I'm honestly being quite picky here, since no voices were absolutely terrible bar screamy Corrin and Kana. Additionally, there were bound to be more missed here than Awakening, since there's about double the roster of fully voiced characters in Fates. All and all, I think both games came out incredibly well in the voice acting department.

I honestly don't think the hate for these games is as widespread as it might appear. Most of the stuff I see negative about these games seems to come from a relatively small group of vocal people. Everyone I have talked to and know love both Awakening and Fates despite it's flaws. Sure, Awakening had a meh story and breakable mechanics, but it's the most fun I've had with a video game in ages. Fates is taking a bit longer to grow on me, but it's still been a huge blast and I find it superior to Awakening. I think the key to remember is that this hatred is something that occurs across all fandoms of long-running game series (over 10 years, I'd say). Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Sonic, etc. It's often split into people who want the good ol' days of nostalgia, and the newcomers who refuse to acknowledge the older games exist. Those of us in the middle get caught in-between. At this point, I've just learned to ignore the rage and just enjoy it for what it is: a game. Those who take it up to the extreme levels need to rethink why they are playing games, anyway.

Personally, I think the original skinship will still be there. The Kotaku quote is REALLY vague, and I don't trust them at all. In the event that it does get replaced, I think they would still use the 2D assets for something. It's one of the more well-known features in the game, so I'd doubt they'd let that go to waste. I'm thinking that we'll get some kind of conversation game, or maybe a conversation "cutscene" in which the character talks without any sort of input (though that would be really boring). Additionally, if we're seeing the "!" this late in the localization process, it tells me that some sort of social function is being implemented. I severely doubt they'd invest in translating the feature and then just drop it completely.

Has anyone else had this problem? On and off I'll get the message "You aren't allowed to view this community" with error #2000. It doesn't matter if I am logged in or not, and it happens on all different machines. Is this just a problem I'm having, or is anyone else experiencing it?

I always intended on buying those maps since I'm such a fiend for the post-game grind. A huge chunk of my gaming hours come during the hours before I go to bed, so some mindless grinding while I watch TV is a perfect way for me to relax. It's probably why I'm such a fan of the post game stuff, since I can do it passively during the night and I find it relaxing.

Excellent, thanks! That makes me happy, now I can send out super-destructive team to my friends. Gives some post-game grinding options too.

So I just read that reclassing units in this game does not reset their level. The main cap is 20, with something called an Eternal Seal raising the cap by 5 up to a maximum of 40. Ddoes that mean there's no way to infinitely re-level to maximize stats, even when the game is completed? Also, does that mean once you hit level 40, you are stuck in that class forever? I know there are boosting items (though these are apparently limited in Nohr), but that's more of a pain than just leveling since they're ridiculously expensive. I love creating ridiculously powerful StreetPass teams, so I'd be disappointed if max stats weren't possible at all. Being class locked would also make planning a unit's promotion so much more important.

Like: Gameplay changes - I liked the Dual System, but it was easily breakable. Splitting it and allowing enemies to use it seems so much more balanced. Characters - Most of them seem pretty likeable, and most of their designs are cool Multiple Storylines - Any way to get more Fire Emblem into my system My Castle - I'm a HUGE sucker for little hubs you can build and interact with, like Join Avenue in Pokemon B/W2, so I can already see myself sinking hours into that alone Unisex Classes - Finally male Pegasus Knights! Unlimited Weapon Uses - It'll be nice to not need to give my units multiple weapons just to make sure they don't end up unarmed mid-map Better Knight/General Design - Still not perfect, but we're looking a lot less... encumbered in this game Neutral/Unsure New Weapon Triangle - I'm not sure how I feel about Tomes and Bows being added to the triangle, I feel like it may unbalance certain classes. I won't really know until I try it though. Personal Skills - Some of them look really good (like Nohr-Hater and Explosive Flame), but a lot of them seem extremely limited (any of the ones that work only with Corrin) or even potentially negative (Unlucky Soul and Beautiful King). The fact they can't be removed isn't great either. Awakening Transplants - I like Inigo and Owain, and am meh about Severa, so I don't mind seeing them back, but I think the "alternate dimension" explanation is extremely lazy. Something like having them traveled far from Ylisse would have been better. Only other downside is that it takes up 3 new character spots on Nohr side... Children characters - I really like the children characters from Awakening since they gave everyone's army a little bit of personal identity. Everyone had slightly different pairings, and I liked seeing how they built their characers. Their presence in this game is much more forced and they don't seem as likeable as Awakening's second generation. Maybe they will be a bit different in the translations. DLC - I don't usually mind DLC, even the maps in Awakening. Having a full storyline as DLC though seems a bit excessive, and I cross my fingers that we won't see some sort of microtransaction system shoe-horned in... "Incest" marriage options - I just don't really give a shit about it, it's not like they're related anyway. I'm sure the translation will tone down the vibes anyway. Dislikes: Ridiculous Fan Service - Normally a bit of fanservice doesn't both me and I've even been known to enjoy it a bit, but Fates goes WAY over the top with it. I'm surprisingly meh about the touching minigame (though I'd be all for it if it implemented cupcakes and headbutting yarn balls), but the spa and option to make them fight almost nude is over the line. I'm not going to let it ruin the game for me at all, since it is all entirely optional and I will ignore it, but even its presence alters the tone of the game quite a bit... Camilla's Design - Definitely the worst of the crew with how ridiculously over-sexualized she is. I'm not offended by scantily clad women, but her design is so over the top compared to everyone else, and makes no sense for her class. Wasted opportunity to make a more dignified royal sister. Weapon Drawbacks - I'm all game for unlimited weapon uses, but the sheer number of drawbacks is ridiculous! There are just so many different ones with each weapon, it's outrageously hard to remember them all. Also, certain weapons inherently lower stats, and they can affect Critical Dodge, can't double attack, no skills, etc... Now equipping characters will take an hour of planning to figure out... Poor Story- I know the story of Awakening was far from perfect, with a throwaway second act and some plot holes, but I'm not a huge story gamer anyway and it was enough to get me by. This game seems particularly problematic though. Hoshido looks passable, but the final Nohr revelation undermines the whole plot and Revelation just seems kind of confusing. And what is with all the alternate dimensions? The Awakening transplants, My Castle, the children... The alternate dimension trope is probably the laziest way to explain something in a story, and it's really disappointing to see them resorting to it. Again, hoping the translation will at least give us some decent dialogue to make it more palatable. Awakening Expies - If I count correctly, I think we have 6 Awakening expies in total (Lazward, Luna, Odin, Syalla, Gurei, Matoi), and I'd even be willing to slip Tsukiyomi in there for number 7. Do they really think that they need to rehash this many characters to draw Awakening fans back? We're not so dependent on Awakening that we need to have half the cast back just to play the next one. It takes up spots that could be filled by new characters with different personalities. At the very least the first 3 are the exact same characters, but it feels bizarre that the other 3 are different characters but identical in looks and personality. So that's my long-winded take on it. Take it for what you will.

I'm sure we've all been there in this game series. You're playing a map, thinking you've got everything under control, when all of a sudden, the 2% enemy critical hit happens and its all over. Or you make a bone-headed move without thinking and chaos ensues. So, I'm wondering what everyone's biggest Fire Emblem blunder is? Mine was recently in Awakening Chapter 20, Hard Classic. The final fight against Walhart in his fortress. Reinforcements appear during Turn 7, and I wasn't strong enough to plow straight through and end the battle before they arrived, so I decided to hold position at the back and take them out before forging ahead. They enter through three different pathways, left right and center, so I set up two little barricades on either side. For the center, I decided to block the entrance off with a row of three units, since I figured it worked like fortresses and blocking the hallway would stop them from entering. Turn 7 arrives, and to my horror, the units I had intended to block instead just poofed in around my cute little barricade. The ensuing bloodbath will forever be etched in Ylisse's history books.

I grabbed a couple boxes of Series 2 in the last month, and managed to snag an SR+ from each one (CorrinF and Ryoma, my two top wants ironically). I'm wondering if anyone has a definite pull rate for SR+ vs R+ cards overall? I've heard the number of 1 of 4 boxes come up for Series 1, but I can't find any other hard and fast number. Any youtube openings I've seen don't seem to tell much either. Anyone have a ballpark number?