Sire

In no particular order... GBA Era: Duessel, Moulder || Leila, Fargus, Selena (FE8) Tellius: Nolan, Jill, Haar, Astrid, Shinon, Tibarn, Bastian, Volke Awakening: Cynthia, Gregor, Severa, Basilio || Walhart, Gangrel Fates: Flora Valentia: Mycen || Emma

I used to think merging units was a waste of feathers as I originally wanted to collect all the heroes and makes build for them. However, due to limited team size (aside of Rival Domains and Grand Conquest), a variety of builds depending on the game mode, and my now "casual approach to FEH," I gave up on that ambition. These days I find myself just using my favorites with their "tried and true" strategies. I'm currently working on Masked Marth and Cherche. Progress is slow as I do not play FEH regularly as I used to, so I am not getting all the available feathers per week. I just have fun with my favorites, maybe level some heroes on the side, and call it day.

Regarding the JP Friend Codes, you guys want me to make a separate list with all of them? I can easily add it alongside the NA FCs. - - - - - For summoning, I threw down 10 Tickets and 60 Quartz for Scáthach. The Tickets had nothing of value, but I got a Heaven's Feel and Nursery Rhyme out of the Quartz. I swear, all of my luck seems to go to getting CEs instead of desired Servants. Also, I did end up picking EMIYA as my free 4* Servant. I may end up draining my Quartz for Scáthach while the banner is up, otherwise I'm back to trying to save for the Summer Banners and Summer Artoria. I could use a replacement for Orion as a Single Target Archer.

I think I've settled on getting EMIYA for the free 4*. He's useful for events and I like the guy. Getting Herc or Tamacat to NP3 doesn't give that much of a gain and is more of a bonus. Siegfried will get his chance another day. As for the ongoing event, I finally managed to clear out the first story portion and am somewhat farming. I seem to have crazy luck with the CE drops, getting 3 "Three Great Heroes" CEs. So, I can skip on buying the Divine Pill and the Immortal Peach CEs and get materials instead. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Serenes FGO - Friend Code IDs (NA)

Used in Mental Omega, a mod for Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge.

A free 4* Servant, eh? I'm currently stuck deciding between Emiya, Siegfried, Heracles, and Tamamo Cat. Emiya would be new and I like Emiya, but I already have Nobu as an AoE Archer. Siegfried is also new and may be a good choice since I have a grailed Georgios to play around with due to their synergy. Heracles and Tamamo Cat would become NP3 if I were to choose them as the freebie, and I do use Tamamo Cat fairly often for her AoE NP... As for the event, most of my attention has been elsewhere besides FGO so I haven't had time to grind as much as I would like. Hopefully I'll at least be able to finish up the story sections as I do find the story to be enjoyable.

I'll probably stick straight to Nintendo for the entirety of E3, picking up scraps of the other presentations through gaming news and word of mouth. I enjoy watching the Nintendo Treehouse streams as well as reading whatever comes up on the Twitch chat. I don't keep up with the current gaming trends and things outside of Nintendo, so I don't have much stuff to be hyped about for. I guess my only wish this E3 is to see something of Fire Emblem Switch, even if it is just a cinematic trailer. The rest of my enjoyment will come from what happens when it happens.

If anyone was interested in that "Reddit Riot" that was going on (the comparisons between NA and other branches), some people went and did actual research and posted evidence to the contrary. Per usual, it seems there was some misinformation present. Long story short, no server is an utopia (not even JP) and each has their ups and downs. NA is not getting screwed over (unless one wants it to be #1 in absolutely everything which is a futile desire) If anyone is interested into reading further into the matter, further details are in the spoiler. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Finally got my Georgios to Bond 10! It is a shame I really won't be able to show him off since another event is coming soon. I'm hoping to clear out its shop because I would love more Bones, Horseshoes, Gears, Hearts, Pages, Crystals, Feathers... I guess I may be in grinding hell for the arrival West than farming banana smoothies. As for the current "bully the banana" event, I settled for merely 150M. I can't bring myself to grind out everything due to its difficulty, repetitiveness, and lack of interesting items to buy. I would have gone crazy for Mana Prisms, but I got 5k in storage for that lovely Bond CE that should be coming out later this year.

Man, listening to some of these songs reminds me there are still so many games I need to get and play. Having a huge backlog sucks...

So, I got around to finishing Fate/Apocrypha. In short, it was an enjoyable experience provided one can bleach out almost everything involving Sieg. All the other characters were interesting and I would have loved to learn more about them, both masters and servants alike. Almost everything here can be improved in some fashion, like the animation and the story, but I found it fun enough to watch until the end despite its faults. Anyways, here are some of my notes and impressions of the anime. Spoilers are present, so read at own risk!

I was initially saving up my orbs for this banner, but it doesn't have anyone that I'll go crazy for. Legendary Ryoma is cool and a part of me wants to get him because the original Ryoma helped me immensely. Also, he'll make a great replacement for Palla on my "Daily Flying Tower Farm," consisting of Michalis, Spring!Camilla, Clair, and Palla. // As for the others, the only ones I'm interested in are Fallen!Hardin, NY!Azura, Christmas!Chrom, and Female Grima. Fjorm and Gunnthra would like merges and maybe a better nature. Maybe I'll toss in some orbs to try and get a 5* and then start saving up again, or I'll try one of the other banners.

For the most part I was somewhat content with what was going on (ignorance is bliss), but after reading the post it does make me question why NA is behind in several aspects. I'm not rioting against FGO NA, but it does make me sit in me armchair and think about things. I do not play FGO JP and play FGO NA exclusively, so this will also reflect in my opinions. (I do read some of the stuff going on in JP though, Clairvoyance EX and all that) * * * * * * * * * * 1. Okay, there is the two year gap and NA is apparently sticking with it. While I am fine with this concept, I personally would like a faster pace like Taiwan's. While some dead time between events is fine (say a week, maybe two if the event is really draining), having droughts of no content is likely to turn off players of the game. The problem here is that NA does not seem to have as much resources as the other branches. NA is understaffed, translations are outsourced, and it seems like anything NA does needs to be approved by DW. If there is one thing NA has it is that we do get some QoL stuff early, but China already has all of the QoL stuff including subtitles. Granted, China has been around longer, so we may be on top of things NA reaches ~600 days (if we're lucky). There is also the worry that NA may not be able to keep up with the schedule and actually fall behind, and this is likely due to translations taking a lot of time. Some may wonder where all the money FGO NA makes goes to... 2. I was also content with the giveaways we received thus far, but when placed side-by-side against others it does look like we are definitely receiving less. While there is the issue with the NA branch's "promotional" Quartz and Apple distribution, the main problem may be the fact that "event freebies" are not added over here (like the freebies from the Fate/Zero pre-event). Personally, while I would obviously like more stuff, I'm mostly indifferent in this matter save for the "event freebies." Why does everyone else follow JP and get the freebies while NA doesn't? As for the comparisons, the greater Quartz and Apples are attributed to the faster pace of those servers. It may be possible if one compares the total amounts that they are similar, it is just that one side gets them faster due to the accelerated pace. I do not know. 3. It seems the opinion over on Reddit mostly boils down to "Why are we (NA) being treated like crap when compared to the other branches?" There is a fair amount of ranting there and people who just want free stuff, sure. However, there are also legitimate complaints with the treatment of FGO NA. Basically, it seems the Redditors desire... The Quality of Life Improvements that China has, including subtitles. (Remember, China has all of the QoL improvements of JP, but China is still behind on the main story). The pace of Taiwan, as it cuts down on the content droughts and inches them closer to JP's release schedule. The love of Taiwan, as many look at its 1 Year Anniversary live event as a sign of how much the Taiwan branch loves its community of FGO players. -- Korea is seen to be far too fast with their "Speed Run" of FGO's content. Some may like this lightning speed, but others like to have a break while still slowly catching up to JP. Other still like the slower pace of NA and it being a bit more predictable with content (although this may be remedied with monthly schedules like FGO Korea and what Fire Emblem Heroes has.) The problem I see with all of this is that NA seems to be understaffed and not capable of performing these "community wishes." I would love to see Quality of Life and subtitles implemented as soon as possible, with the accelerated pace (like Taiwan) being a bonus, but I just do not see it happening in the near future. As for how this entire thing will actually go down, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Apparently the FGO Reddit is blowing up a bit with a "State of FGO NA" post. In short it basically compares the NA servers with the other releases (China, Taiwan, Korea), and NA is getting the short end of the stick. The place is also a gold mine with Reddit Gold being tossed left and right. Reading the comparisons make me a bit sad. Personally I would like a pace like Taiwan's (they are slowly catching up to JP instead of sticking with the "2 years behind" schedule). Korea is lightning fast while China has plenty of Quality of Life improvements that NA does not have. I believe the NA branch is understaffed and everything that do needs to be greenlit while the other branches seem to be more independent. * * * * * In other news, Georgios will be bond 10 really soon. He'll be my first Bond 10 Servant! Now I just have to get enough EXP cards to get him up to 90...

No Hearts for me since I'm still 5k away and my schedule doesn't work that well for these single day rodeos. Currently I am at 121M for Damage Points. I do not think I'll be hitting 300M to clear out that side, so I'll likely be cruising 2BP for Gourds and try to get stuff from the shop. Having Berserkers on the last several days does not help my stall team of Tamamo+Orion+Support Waver, and I do not think I have enough DPS to burst down 6M HP. As for good news, I managed to ascend Jalter to her 3rd form! Once I get the EXP and one more Heart I'll be able to max out her ascensions and start being able to use her properly.

I started watching TotalBiscuit back in the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm days. He was my gateway into hardcore PC gaming and Steam as well as Youtube (introducing me to people like Jesse Cox and the Yogscast). While I no longer watch his content regularly as his attitude towards his viewerbase rubs me the wrong way, way back when I remember the fun times I had watching TB mess around with his friends while also delivering solid first impressions and other content. I always saw my opinion of him being "I dislike TotalBiscuit, but John Bain seems an all right guy." Either way, I will be missing him and what he has done for the gaming community. To think he was going to retire about 20 days ago, and then suddenly he passes away. I hope his family and friends will remain strong despite his passing.

While waiting for my BP to recharge, I decided to start watching Fate/Apocrypha. I am currently on episode 5. I was having an all right time before Sieg showed up. I guess Cardboard Guy really lives up to his name as I am already disliking him from the start. I want to see more of the Necromancer Guy and Mordred, as well as see what is going on with Fran and her master. Seeing Jeanne is okay, but I fear for her character since she is supposedly really attached to Sieg. We'll see how this goes... I'll probably end up marathoning it and finishing the series in a day or two. * * * * * Edit: Putting some notes (show impressions) for myself here for later use. May contain spoilers for Fate/Apocrypha.

Finally got around to MLB my Shana-oh CE, and I'm now wondering if I want to go and start getting Damage Points or continue farming Gourds so I can actually buy stuff from the shop. I haven't rolled and have no plans on rolling on this focus, so I'm stuck with just a Subscription CE and the Support for Gourd Farming. At the very least, I want those Dragon Fangs.... As for total damage dealt, I'm at ~65M. Haven't used any Rice Balls aside from my earlier misfire, and I'm not maximizing my natural BP regen.

JRPGS, eh? I loved playing Skies of Arcadia on Dreamcast. Sky Pirates ahoy, with a battle system I found to be a bit unique (in that I haven't found any other game that uses it). In addition to the normal ground battles, there are ship to ship battles as well! I found the story of following Vyse on his adventures to be quite enjoyable. Grandia II remains one of my favorite games of all time due to it's battle system. I just love the special abilities, magics, and canceling enemy moves. The Trails series does something similar, but it goes entirely on a bar and skips over the "wait time," which I find to be a major part of the charm of Grandia II's system. I still need to get back to Trails in the Sky at some point, but at the moment I'm engaged in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 NG+. Bravely Default was fun and I enjoyed my time with it, but it is one of those games one has to play constantly to keep track of things. I tried going back to mess around with it and I forgotten how I set up my party and the like. There is also that "major flaw" with the second half of the game which can detract enjoyment. // I do plan on picking up its sequel at some point, but I'll need to buy a new 3DS and I do not see this happening in the foreseeable future. Of course, there's Xenoblade Chronicles and its franchise, but I think I said most of my opinions in the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 thread. In short, 1 has the better story, 2 has the better characters, and X has a world to explore and the best sidequests. Dragon's Dogma leans more towards the Action RPG genre and may follow more Western RPG trends, but I think it can qualify for a JRPG. I just love this game and really wish Dragon's Dogma Online was localized to the west, or that it would receive a proper sequel. One way to describe it is Monster Hunter but in a Western Fantasy world (like D&D).