Anouleth

No magic triangle but there is a Magic Square instead

Except they are organically incorporated into Riev, because they affect what he says, how he acts, how he speaks. Why? Because all his traits are evil? All of Eliwood's traits are good. Clearly, some people do not agree with you about Eliwood. And quite frankly, if that meager handful of character traits is all Eliwood has to show for having about 50 times as much dialogue as Riev, I'm not convinced that all that dialogue was necessary. It is notable. Using metaphors and more flowery speech reflects higher intelligence and better education. Language is more than just a simple message. The arrangement of words, the use of passive tense or active tense, the use of exclamation marks, can all reveal aspects of a character in a way more subtle than simply telling the player. And being reflective and kind and loyal and devoted to his parents isn't part of the "noble Hero" trope that Eliwood has going on? Eliwood has 50 times as many lines. Riev does not have that many lines: but he is a major character, so we should take pains to extract as much meaning from his dialogue as possible. Calculating: -Nope. Can't find any places where he calculates. Manipulative: -Who does he ever manipulate? Ever? If you don't remember, he was the one being manipulated by Bern. Holds Grudges: -Given what a huge bitch Hellene is, I'd say that Desmond disliking her is as much her fault as his. And I wouldn't call hating your wife a "grudge". Inferiority Complex regarding Son: -It's more likely that he dislikes him by association with Hellene. Intimately Aware of Unpopularity: -He mentions it once, offhand. He's aware, sure, but you make it sound like he's obsessed with it: which he clearly isn't. Cruel: -Nope. Never does anything really cruel. Craves chaos as a means to power. Chaos is a source of quintessence. I already said that he looks down on the weak. Not really sure where you got this from. I might as well say that the excommunication from Rausten makes Riev view friendship as a sign of weakness. Nergal might have been that way, but Nergal as he appears in FE7 is none of those things. Would you say that Riev is as deep as Nergal if we had gotten a single flashback scene showing the man he used to be in Rausten? The only thing he's missing vs Nergal is backstory: as to be expected from a secondary/tertiary antagonist as opposed to a primary antagonist. I don't recall Sonia or Darin getting any flashback sequences. There is a convincing way to argue that FE8's plot is inferior to FE7's; and FE4's, too. The point is not that all of the qualities you listed for Eliwood were the same, only that some of them were. Let me trim your list: Eliwood is much more complicated than this. He's compassionate and deeply concerned about how his war games will impact the people; he's a family man, with deep reverence for his mother and father; he's incredibly mature for his age, and this often sticks out amongst the rest of the group; he's deeply loyal and selfless; I could probably go on, but hopefully you're starting to get the picture. You cannot give this kind of description for Riev. "peaceful" is covered by his concern for how war affects others. I can hardly imagine a individual who loves war yet is tormented by it and hates it. At the same time, I can't imagine someone being tormented by war, without reflecting on it or having high ideals (since a pragmatist would gladly accept casualties as the price of victory). He engages in competition with Hector. And... nobody else. So clearly this isn't something that he's "about". And, I dunno, I could probably stretch Riev out to ~2 lines, which is impressive for a dude with so little screentime in comparison. Not sure where the mature part comes from, but I'll leave it in. He's evil and takes pleasure in the destruction he causes; he's vengeful, with a grudge against his home country; he's creepy, and takes pleasure in manipulating and controlling other people; he's deeply loyal to the Demon King. Eh, close enough.

How am I ignorant? I am not ignorant of anything. Maybe I'm rude by pointing out that Wales is not, in fact, an independent nation, and is not really major and people in other countries have little reason to notice it, but I am not ignorant. So perhaps you should stop throwing around that word, because the only one that comes off as stupid is you. Then Basque is also a nation: as is Brittany (since it's considered one of the six Celtic Nations and has it's own language); as is 21 Republics in Russia (with their own presidents, parliaments and constitutions). And quite frankly, it makes me wonder what all the fuss about independence in Scotland is, since according to you they already are an independent nation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_the_United_Nations ctrl + f "Wales" not found sry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_state_of_the_European_Union ctrl + f "Wales" not found sry No, Wales is not a nation. Good, so you agree with me. I never said it was useless, or good for nothing. I'm saying that it's minor. I'm saying that knowledge of it's existence is not useful unless you live in the UK. Good to see you agree with me. Do you remember Basque? Or Brittany? Or Kurdistan? Because I'm guessing you probably don't, and the majority of people don't; assuming they don't live in Spain or France or one of the Middle East nations with sizeable Kurdish communities. I never called you useless, but yes, I agree that it's exactly like religion. I don't think Wales is useless. Wales is an important part of the UK, and accordingly, everyone in the UK should at least understand the distinction between Wales, Scotland, and England. If you are not in the UK? Then no. No, it is called England, along with many other phrases that might not be literally accurate: like referring to the UK as Great Britain, or Britain, or the British Isles, or the British Islands, which are all inaccurate in some way or another but not worth getting upset over. When people refer to the EU (or the Eurozone) as "Europe", they are tacitly ignoring the presence of several European countries that are not in the EU. "ooh, you're only winding me up because I'm letting you, just on a silly whim". You mean my masterful debating skillz are penetrating your thick skull. I hope you've learned not to take your country so seriously. Wales is not special. Unless you want to crack open Wikipedia and memorise the names of every country and major ethnic group on Earth, you should not expect people to remember yours. I don't consider that a good thing. Neither of us know how that feels, since I never used the word "useless". And just because it's not useful to know about something doesn't mean that it's not useful. I can't say I know how the advanced electronics inside my computer work, nor do I need to, but they are extremely useful. Don't worry: I'll just assume that immediately after you read my post you had an epiphany and realised I was right about everything. My posts tend to have that effect on people.

By that token, is it reasonable to assume that Riev was once a good man, since he was a clergyman of Rausten? (also, I somehow doubt that literally everyone in the old Black Fang had a strong will. In their own words, there were many wastrels and misfits.)

But it DOES add something to his character. How do character traits not add to character? Of course it fleshes out his personality. And Nergal is just the "crazed with power due to personal tragedy" type. Yes, Riev fits into a trope, and yes, it's something that's been seen before, just as Eliwood is the "noble, caring lord" type It's facetious to just assume that all of his conversations don't actually mean anything in terms of his personality. Riev could have sent a messenger: but he didn't, because he wanted to mess with Caellach. Simple. The game does not because Riev does not get that many lines in the first place. So you're saying that the way that people talk doesn't show anything about them? So if Gonzales talked the same way as Bastian, that wouldn't actually affect anything? lmao As opposed to all that conjecture with Uhai, like "he once had a strong will" and "he's world weary". I mean, what on earth gave you the impression that Uhai is bored with life? Riev: Unlike two other layabouts I know, I do not have such time to waste. I have much to do for our master. A mountain of tasks awaits me. My time is far too precious to waste on the likes of that royal whelp. Trifles such at these are best left in the hands of servants...such as you. Riev thinks he's hot shit. And he loves it. Tell me what I missed: Desmond cares for his daughter and her mother, despises his son and wife. Anything else is conjecture. Or Nergal: He seeks power and will do anything to get it, because of the trauma of his wife dying, and he looks down on those without power. So: Being honourable and having a code of ethics and being chivalrous and enjoying serving others are all the same thing: but being reflective, and worrying about the effects of your actions, and being idealistic, and being selfless; these are all very different things? lmao

Yes, not every person pays attention to international politics and takes interest in other countries. That was precisely my point: thanks for agreeing with me. Fine: "Italy is actually a nation". Like, it's in the EU, and the UN, and has it's own army and central bank and legal system. Wales does not have any of those things. Country was the wrong word. Yes, size and population and history DO mean something. I would not expect people to know much about countries like Bahrain, or Sri Lanka, or Trinidad because they are small, minor nations that do not have big effects on other countries. The same applies to Wales: moreso, in fact, because it is not even an independent nation and is rather uneventful in any case (unlike Bahrain and Sri Lanka which have actually seen political unrest recently). You are being arrogant by expecting that everyone has to pay attention to your country. Being right is it's own reward. I'm not trying to "bully" anyone. I'm merely saying that it is far, FAR from "necessary" and not even useful for people outside of the United Kingdom to know anything at all about Wales (when Esau said it was). When is it necessary, or useful for people in this country to know about Brittany? Or Basque? Or Quebec? Or even Iraqi Kurdistan? You are clearly the person who is "offended". You have done nothing but overreact and get mad, by me pointing out that your country is minor.

No, I'm pretty sure that outside of the UK nobody really cares. America only really pays attention to us when there's, like, a royal wedding or whatever. Riiiight... except that Italy is actually a country, that is constantly in the news because of it's economic position, is a major factor in European and even world politics, and has about 20 times as many people as Wales does and is 15 times bigger, not counting the significant community of Italian immigrants in the US and the impact Italy has had on world history. It's also where the Vatican is located. You know, the head of the single biggest religion on earth with a billion people in it? By that standard, Canada is as important as the US. I'd say that unless you actually live in the United Kingdom, knowing about Wales is just not useful, pretty much ever. Wales is about as important as Basque, or Brittany, or Quebec. Or less, since it's smaller and less populous. The fact that it's easy to learn doesn't make it more useful.

oh japan never change actually wait please change Well, of course. This is an anime.

I don't think that basic geography is necessary at all. What good does it serve someone in America to know about the distinction between Scotland and Wales and England? After all, foreign policy issues are not devolved. In terms of foreign and macroeconomic policy, the UK might as well be one homogenuous mass. I have a pretty good handle on how American domestic politics functions and understand the distinction between states and federal government and can probably name most states, because I'm personally interested in such things (and because they are well-documented), but knowledge like that isn't useful to me. And I'm certainly never inconvenienced by my lack of understanding about the domestic politics of Russia or China or Brazil or some other great economic power. I have a vague awareness that there are seperatist movements in Quebec in Canada, and in Basque in Spain, but that's about as far as my awareness goes, and I can't say that it's ever proven necessary.

Obviously, to correct people's lack of education. England is not "just" England, it's not some homogenuous mass.

:o yes please don't bugger anyone

He is obsessed for revenge on Rausten. If Caellach or Valter had been chosen to lead the army, they would have had different dialogue and said different things. He is meddlesome and self-important. He shows up in Chapter 11 to meddle with Caellach. For this reason, he has a poor relationship with the other generals. He speaks in a rather poetic manner and likes metaphors. He takes pleasure in manipulating others, as he shows when he speaks to Orson. His pleasure from subordinating tasks derives from his desire to feel important and powerful. We can see this with Novala. His loyalty to the Demon King is strong (being the last man to continue to serve Lyon). Except all of this is just "being a really really good guy".

I dunno, I think it's useful. Maybe not optimal, but being able to blick Dracodudes is useful. And the 1/2 a stat booster we miss out on (by which I mean that we have to wait a chapter to get it) is not exactly super OMG clutch either.

That's dumb. Nobody is arguing for a +5 Steel. Dark Sage says he meant +4. Who is saying +5. Except you, obviously. Strawman the Strawman Strawman. I don't really care about your stat booster crusade, but I think the extra ~1000 cost of buying a +4 Steel Bow forge is pretty decent given that it's useful basically forever, we're getting a Silver Bow 7 chapters early, and a Silver Bow that can actually be used by non-Jeorge people. It's certainly not "ridiculous" like you claim. It's well within the bounds of consideration. Oh, maybe it's not super dondon optimal or whatever, but it's applicable to the list. And yet we haven't had any Midia versus Sheema epic showdowns, so it seems like this is a solution in search of a problem. Free Silvers is already explicitly unordered, so why would anyone even into argue that?

Pssh, way to show off your ignorance of the histories. England is Wessex, Mercia, Essex, Sussex, Kent, and East Anglia. And also part of Italy? And depending on what era of history, Wales can mean different things. If the Welsh ever try for independence, will they claim West Wales too?

You can also see it in the Base menu for Chapter 4-4. It's Bootiful

Well, it's not very common, but I've heard arguments like this before. I understand that Interceptor is fond of giving Muarim Wrath and Resolve and using him as a combat unit in Chapter 4-4, and basically every enemy in the world has crit on him so he has a reasonable chance of dying, but neither Muarim or those skills are really needed for anything afterwards.

Fort healing is hells slow, and Hand Axes have 30 uses too... so I can see it happening.

All the bosses are ~kinda a crapshoot even with Jagen because he can always get crit and die. Jagen probably has an overall 10% chance of death on any given earlygame chapter just because of that. It's not so bad, because you can map save before you start working on the boss, but still annoying. and also his ~60 hit rate with silver lance seriously jagen y couldn't you be SM

Well, you get a Steel Bow for free (several, in fact) quite early on, and the cost of +4mt is 500%, which is 4235. At worst, if we end up selling two Silver Bows to pay for it, which is the absolute stupidest way to evaluate it's cost, it's costing us 2135 gold, still less than the cost of a stat booster. You cannot arm three people with silver bows because even if they grew on trees, lots of people lack bow rank. In fact, the only person who's anywhere on the tier list who has enough initial bow rank to use those Silvers is Jeorge. Except that Free Silvers is not the same as "we're not recruiting them". And I think this list has enough bullshit tiers without adding another one.

Except that's not the whole of his personality. Conceivably, you could have a character with those qualities who did not act the same way Riev does. Quite easily, in fact. Eliwood: he's honourable, kind, and fights for his friends. I'm sure I missed nothing more than you did.

No, I'm pretty sure that every character in Mass Effect 1 and 2 have fixed sexual preferences except the Asari. Which is a good thing, I think. I mean, out of the two potential human partners in Mass Effect 1, what are the chances that one of them would be gay? Pretty damn low.

This is dumb. A Steel Bow forge with +4mt does not cost anything. It has the same mt as a Silver Bow, about twice the cost, but 15 more uses than 20. The difference in cost between 35 Silver Bow uses and 35 Steel Bow forges is actually about a thousand gold. AKA, less than half a stat booster. Because it preempts retarded "we won't even recruit character X" arguments. And I think it's reasonable enough to require side objectives to be completed. I also think it's reasonable to consider multiple types of MU.

Laguz stones and Olivi Grass are cheaper than weapons. And you get given so much for free!

You took the words right out of my mouth. Rausten was also intended to be a night map, so unless you lit up the entire thing a lot of it would be in shadow.