Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Armagon]

7 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

When was the last time i no lifed a game this much

You and me same bro. Like I said, my sleep schedule has been disrupted because of this game......not that that's a good thing but sometimes, it just be like that.

[Codename Shrimp]

23 minutes ago, Armagon said:

not that that's a good thing but sometimes, it just be like that.

I mean, it's a sign of how much we've been enjoying it, so it's not all bad lmao

Also i am surprised i feel like no game fatigue and if i wasn't tired/sleep i bet i could play some hours more

Also

Best

Sidequests

ever.

If any jrpg wants to do sidequests right, look no further.

This is pretty much side quest perfection

I did not expect this after the side quest messy bloat in 1 and 2 lol. Although 1 was a special levels of bad with it's sidequests

Edited August 1, 2022 by Shrimpy

[Armagon]

22 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

Also

Best

Sidequests

ever.

If any jrpg wants to do sidequests right, look no further.

This is pretty much side quest perfection

Yeah this is like the one game that reaches the bar Xenoblade X set imo. Although Xenoblade 3's sidequests do have the advantage of the party always offering unique dialogue since it's a set party.

I do think Xenoblade X has the crazier sidequests tho, along with branching paths that actually matter. Haven't seen any mutually exclusive quests in 3 yet.

Both are peak sidequesting but they each excel in different areas.

[Lightcosmo]

11 minutes ago, Armagon said:

do think Xenoblade X has the crazier sidequests tho, along with branching paths that actually matter

Professor B!!! 

The best sidequest in X.

[Armagon]

1 minute ago, lightcosmo said:

Professor B!!! 

The best sidequest in X.

Ay, that's a good one. 

[Lightcosmo]

2 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Ay, that's a good one. 

I just love the interactions behind him and his sidekick, not to mention the crazy theories and his hilarious logic for things. 

Good laughs to be had there.

[Acacia Sgt]

Okay, finally wrapped up the Thieves' Guild. After that I went to the Throat of the World and beat Alduin and then he pulls a Hubert retreats into Sovngarde. Now, the idea after was to do just Season Unending, but I ended up doing a little of the Civil War questline after all, haha. I sided with the Imperials and did up to the Jagged Crown quest before finally do Season Unending. I went for the most neutral outcome, which was the Markarth-Riften exchange. Hopefully I can still get War Hero later on. So, with the truce signed, now I'll direct myself to the Dark Brotherhood questline. Finished Mourning Never Comes, and that's more or less it for now. Will continue next time.

As an aside, I never put much thought into it, but now, I wouldn't be surprised if this is how they'd handle speaking about Skyrim, should it ever happen, in Elder Scrolls VI. Have it happen concurrently with the events of Skyrim, and/or say that Season Unending happened. Thus, they can still prolong giving a canon end to the Civil War. And at this rate, they could might as well keep holding off until like 2050 for Elder Scrolls VII, pft.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Acacia Sgt

[Armagon]

Xenoblade 3 Ch.5 spoilers

Spoiler

I just started a Hero Quest where I recruit.....a pirate Mobius. Yeah you know, the big bad villain group, yeah imma just recruit one of their members who's simply just a man of the sea.

10/10.

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

6 hours ago, ping said:

Order is excellent for domination, honestly. You get a lot of happiness from the Lv.1 tenets, which I personally value higher than Autocracy's direct warfare bonuses.

On paper, I did hear people say Autocracy offers the most Happiness of the Ideologies. Let's compare:

• Universal Healthcare
  • All three Ideologies have this but Freedom shouldn't b/c America, so let's get it out of the way.
  • There are 11 National Wonders.
    • However: 
      • The Grand Temple requires you found a religion.
      • The National Visitor Center comes very late.
      • The National Intelligence Agency requires Police Stations, which are pretty useless.
  • The rest of the National Wonders, barring maybe the Heroic Epic, are worth building or require cheap buildings to build. So let's assume Universal Healthcare is +8 Happiness on average.
• Freedom:
  • Capitalism- +2 Happiness per city. As all cities can build Markets and Stock Exchanges.
    • Mints require Silver or Gold, so they're a conditional +1 Happiness per city.
  • Urbanization- +2 Happiness per city. As all cities can build Hospitals and Research Labs.
    • Water Mills require the city border a river (though Aztecs can opt for a lake too, so they're a conditional +1 Happiness per city as well.
  • Universal Suffrage- Halved Unhappiness from Specialists.
    • This is a little tricky, as all cities can have upwards of 12 Specialists, 4 each of: Scientist, Engineer, and Merchant. Which would equate to reducing Unhappiness by 6, which is the same as adding 6 Happiness.
      • However, due to the (stupid) shared Great Person Counter between the above trio of Great People, you probably aren't working the Merchants or Engineers, unless you need to rush a Wonder or get a rush of Gold and Influence (or are Venice). Science is very important, until you gotten to the very end of the tech tree and it suddenly becomes useless, but the game should be almost over by then.
      • Thus, working only the Scientist slots, we get -2 Unhappiness per city.
    • In addition, the Writer, Artist, and Musician Guilds equate to another -3 Unhappiness. Probably all in the same city with the National Epic and maybe a Garden for maximum Great Person generation efficiency.
    • So Universal Suffrage is effectively +3 Happiness + 2n Happiness, with n being the number of cities you have.
  • Freedom Happiness = +6 guaranteed Happiness per city. +3 more in one city, and upwards of +2 conditional Happiness per city.
• Order:
  • Socialist Realism- +2 Happiness per city. Coming from the Monument, the cheapest earliest and most essential building there is, this is good.
  • Young Pioneers- +2 Happiness per city. As all cities can build Workshops and Factories (you can always trade or ally with a city state for the Coal you need).
    • Upwards of +2 conditional happiness per city. You need river adjacency for the Hydro Plant (and Aluminum). While the Nuclear Plant comes late and demands the rarity that is Uranium and cannot be built where a Solar Plant has been, and the Solar Plant demands the city being in or next to desert.
  • Academy of Sciences- +2 Happiness per city. As all cities can build Public Schools and Research Labs. 
    • Observatories require a city be adjacent to a mountain, so they're a conditional +1 Happiness per city.
  • Order Happiness = +6 guaranteed Happiness per city, and upwards of +3 conditional Happiness per city.
• Autocracy:
  • Fortified Borders- +3 Happiness per city. As all cities can build Castles, Arsenals, and Military Bases.
  • Militarism- +6 Happiness per city. As all cities can build Barracks, Armories, and Military Academies.
  • Police State- +3 Happiness per conquered city. As you will be building a Courthouse in every city you're occupying.
  • The Prora- Autocracy's exclusive Wonder.
    • There is no guarantee you'll be able to build this if other Autocrats get to it before you do. But if you can get the Prora you'll have +2 Happiness and +X Happiness based on the number of Social Policies you have. That's Happiness, and neither of the two other Ideology Wonders offers any.
    • How many Social Policies will you have when you get the Prora? IDK.
      • But, my current Germany match got full Tradition, placed 3 in Piety (one free via the Oracle), and 3 in Rationalism. With two Early Adopter tenets, I presently have 5 in Order and once I finish the Kremlin will get another free one for 6. Altogether this is 18 Social Policies. Call me an average player and we can pretend this is the average you'll have when you finish the Prora. So +9 Happiness.
  • Autocracy Happiness = +9 guaranteed Happiness per city, +3 Happiness per conquered city, and about +11 Happiness from the Prora.

So as I read someone say, Autocracy actually offers the most Happiness of the Ideologies, even if you aren't conquering (I take it you're bullying city-states with your army then, or using Futurism for Tourism). Order and Freedom are about the same, though I would give Freedom the slight edge.

However! Look at what buildings make Autocrats happy. It's all military-related. Chances are, unless you are or intend to start warring, you probably haven't built any of this stuff (although if you have a mountain-adjacent city, the AI almost never builds the Neuschwanstein so you can take it, which makes Castles useful), because they have no uses other than city defense or military strengthening. Order and Freedom give Happiness from civilian infrastructure, which is actually useful outside of warfare, and you've definitely built at least some of it before you've gotten the tenets.

In addition, from what I've read, when you conquer a city, the three defensive buildings are guaranteed to be destroyed (not sure about military training ones), whereas civilian infrastructure might survive. You may or may not want to reconstruct this defensive stuff after conquest, I'm not sure if it'd be a priority. This leaves you reliant on the +3 Happiness from your Courthouses for a little while, which unlike Order, still need a few turns to construct. 

6 hours ago, ping said:

(Plus, I don't like playing as the nazis out of principle)

Which is a perfectly fine reason to skip Autocracy!😃 Ignoring the commies weren't any better.

I've a few times been a little too emotional when playing Civ to pick the more authoritarian-flavored options. And I generally dislike war unless someone starts it first, as in Civ it feels like the bad instinct of humanity that I shouldn't choose, even though it's just a game.

...Which is why Ideologies make me sorta happy. People will eventually hate you once the Industrial Era arrives. I was spying on autocratic Rome, and Austria picked Freedom, so they simultaneously declared war on me. I didn't start this, you did, so no mercy!😄

Rome is the distant other continent, so the worst he can do is conquer my city-states and destroy my trade routes to them. I was fortunate enough to have the spare Production to make four Artillery and a Trebuchet I then upgraded, all on Madam I-Miss-Silesia's border, so I can begin defending and shooting her invasion force down. Once my capital is done on the Kremlin in five turns, I'll get it back one or two more Artilleries, until it's time for the Landships I'm currently researching which can then soon thereafter be upgraded to Panzers. The border city she is invading will be done with the Newschwanstein in ten, and can then go over to Artilleries. I've a coastal city ready to rebuild any lost Cargo Ships, and then turn towards amassing Submarines for the eventual war with Rome once I get that after Panzers. My fourth more distant city will build some units for self-defense, not like the Celts can do much, and the Dutch went Order so I think they'll leave me alone for now. Once Austria is eradicated, the other other weaklings of the continent will be quick to fall. 

Medical Labs, Research Labs, and Broadcast Towers aside, I've all the infrastructure I could want, and can focus on cranking out units. I've about 5k I think in cash reserves, so snap unit purchases are feasible. With Iron Curtain one policy away, I could consider going into Honor if I really wanted to. The potential threat to my present plans is probably if the enemy gets aircraft, using all my Oil for Panzers means I'd need to conquer or spend on city-states for flying fuel. Or nukes, I haven't seen a nuke be used in Civ yet, but I wouldn't rule it out a "Phaeton's Folly" from Rome. Continents means it'd be practically harmless to the homeland though.

Domination might be fun!😁

6 hours ago, ping said:

Ingredients

for 12 cookies

• ½ cup granulated sugar (100 g)
• ¾ cup brown sugar (165 g), packed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter (115 g), melted
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (155 g)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 4 oz milk or semi-sweet chocolate chunks (110 g)
• 4 oz dark chocolate chunk (110 g), or your preference

  Hide contents

That's a ridiculous amount of sugar, holy shit. I'd probably use like half of that.

You're reminding me of a hyorogan -ninja cinnamon-sugar balls- recipe I encountered. Calls for 2 1/3 cups (450g) of raw sugar, and judging from the video, the recipe makes about 12 balls able to fit into the palm of your hand. The 3 tablespoons (19g) of cinnamon helps, as apparently, cinnamon has an insulin-like compound in it.

There is also a "Wine of the Gods" recipe I saw which calls for one bottle of wine mixed with two cups of powdered sugar. The amount of sugar is excessive, as some of it won't dissolve, and the recipe says not to stir.

 

5 hours ago, Armagon said:

The realization of Perfect Works Episode 6 is firing on full cylinders, Monolith Soft is absolutely outdoing themselves with this.

I suppose it would be, given Monolith's comments about Future Connected. And this is a post-climax game. The challenge with XG and its theoretical Episode VI was "how do you go beyond a very conclusive ending?", here we are after two of them.

5 hours ago, Armagon said:

Bruh Xenoblade 3 got me crying over a Tirkin.

Gonna humbly request Monolith Soft to stop putting in these guys as enemies. Not after that sidequest.

So on the list with Waddle Dees then. Your heart is destined to be crushed.

 

1 hour ago, lightcosmo said:

Professor B!!! 

The best sidequest in X.

I'm gonna be rather vanilla and say Murder Most Foul. Although The Party Line is another favorite.

 

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

I do think Xenoblade X has the crazier sidequests tho, along with branching paths that actually matter.

X2 would be interesting if they picked up where a bunch of sidequests ended. What about the human married to a Prone? Or the Orphean-Prone-Nopon-Ma-non BLADE team? Monolith better refresh itself on everything that happened and think well about how to continue the story of these little NPCs. I don't want to see the slate lazily wiped clean and replaced with all new NPCs, X2 should be a direct sequel not just for Elma, but for everyone. This isn't a common opportunity.

[Saint Rubenio]

7 hours ago, Awoken Dayni said:

I slapped the shit out of Hulk Hogan. Sorry, need to be legally distinct, It's Max Morgan. I guess.

He's totally unlike Hulk Hogan. He doesn't have a mustache! Uh, in his portrait at least. But even with the mustache, his combat sprite is also totally different. He's pixelated, for one. Hulk Hogan is not pixelated!

I still love how much they half-assed the copyright evasive maneuvers here.

6 hours ago, Awoken Dayni said:

I got called a motherfucker.

Oh you, Livealive.

Nice, ain't it. Honestly, that dude didn't seem much better than Odie.

6 hours ago, Awoken Dayni said:

Oh, some ending spoilers for Masaru's scenario:

  Hide contents

So, turns out he says lines in battle while he's using techniques he learned from the other fighters as he's beating the tar out of Odie O'Bright. Welled up a little the first time.

(sidenote, the name's hilarious and implies some Irish bollox has gone around committing these murders).

Spoiler

I found that pretty cool, myself. "I'll make you proud, Moribe!" Nice way to further the whole concept of learning from the masters.

And yeah, turns out that the incarnation of evil for 30 years ago the day we live in is just some Irish asshole killing people for no reason. Lovely.

 

6 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

Mmmm, maybe after Rev.

Dew it.

Quote

Alright, I'm calling it here. We have officially deconstructed Fates' story telling as a master-class of political commentary that shall be praised forever. The End.

I give this philosophical-political study ten t-posing Garons out of ten.

6 hours ago, Sooks said:

Who would have thought that Fates’ depictions of morality, warfare, and international conflicts were so horribly written that they circle all the way back around to peak fiction and is just a depiction of real life? Truly genius.

I've always said it. Fates is a masterpiece. Just not the kind it was probably intended to be.

[null]

 

[Codename Shrimp]

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

X2 would be interesting if they picked up where a bunch of sidequests ended.

Save data transfer time!

Remake comfirmed?

4 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I don't want to see the slate lazily wiped clean

Ü

Ignore me just remembered a certain something Ü

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

ve always said it. Fates is a masterpiece. Just not the kind it was probably intended to be.

Time to post on spe

[Dayni]

Hmm, next will be one of Akira, Sundown or Pogo.

I'll wake up first though.

7 hours ago, GuardianSing said:

My brother is a fan of political strategy games (As am I) and he's been slowly inching his way towards playing Fire Emblem, and when he plays Fates I'm gonna tell him that this is what the story is about.

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Nice, ain't it. Honestly, that dude didn't seem much better than Odie.

He's intentionally playing a luchador heel, though he probably takes it pretty far.

Not as far as someone else though.

9 minutes ago, Shrimpy said:

Time to post on spe

?

Edited August 1, 2022 by Awoken Dayni

[Codename Shrimp]

4 minutes ago, Awoken Dayni said:

?

r/shitpostemblem

[ping]

4 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

On paper, I did hear people say Autocracy offers the most Happiness of the Ideologies. Let's compare:

True, but Order's happiness comes more quickly and, as you said, with fewer otherwise useless buildings. Monument happiness is guaranteed +2 happiness in every city (if the monument in a captured city is destroyed, it's super cheap to rebuy), while Arsenals and Military Bases for Autocracy's Lv.1 happiness tenet are something that I hardly ever build. Even with the tenet, that's a lot of hammers for just +1 happiness each. Young Pioneers is also basically guaranteed +2 happiness in your core cities, and buying a Workshop in conquered cities isn't too expensive, either, so +1 there is pretty much a given, too.

This frontloadedness gives you more freedom to go for economic tenets, I find. Worker's Faculties and Five-Year Plan are both really nice. It's not as if you don't need science and hammers while you're warmongering.

[Codename Shrimp]

what the

this looks hella cool lmao

[Dayni]

It's finally in an interactive medium.

This is canon to Mario now.

[Armagon]

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

The challenge with XG and its theoretical Episode VI was "how do you go beyond a very conclusive ending?", here we are after two of them.

And they also made sure you technically didn't have to play the two prior games to jump into this one.....though honestly you'd still be doing yourself a massive disservice if you haven't played the prior two. Going through the Urayan Mountains in 3 is nowhere near as significant for the player if they haven't already played 2.

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I don't want to see the slate lazily wiped clean and replaced with all new NPCs, X2 should be a direct sequel not just for Elma, but for everyone. This isn't a common opportunity.

Agreed. So many stuff has the potential to be explored further, especially the stuff that ended with more questions than answers you have.

 

[Interdimensional Observer]

3 hours ago, ping said:

and buying a Workshop in conquered cities isn't too expensive, either, so +1 there is pretty much a given, too.

Particularly with Skyscrapers for -33% building purchase costs. If you had Big Ben that is another -15% off (I think my first soon-to-be-victim Maria built it), and Mercantilism from Commerce world be yet another -25%. For a total of 73% off. Sounds like a nice synergy if you opt for it, use gold to cheaply rebuild your captured Order cities to put them to use. 

 

38 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Agreed. So many stuff has the potential to be explored further, especially the stuff that ended with more questions than answers you have.

I'm a little paranoid about X2. So much potential means so much room for things to go wrong and fall flat.😬 Particularly since this would be a long-awaited direct sequel. I'm also a little afraid that Nintendo might flub the Switch successor despite knowing better, and just as XCX was cursed to be on the failed Wii U, the sequel will be stuck on another lemon. Although XC2 has gotten some flak, overall XC has a good rep and has been getting the loving attention, while general reception wasn't exactly hot for XCX, and it remains something of the red-headed stepchild for this (rather small) series.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Interdimensional Observer

[Armagon]

OH yeah, i don't think i posted the updated list: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Armagon/list/ranking-every-game-i-played-in-2022/

Now that Gunvolt 3 marks the 25th game i've completed this year, not counting replays.

26 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I'm a little paranoid about X2. So much potential means so much room for things to go wrong and fall flat.😬

Tbh i have it too. There's always that lingering doubt. Hell, i had it with Xenoblade 3. "What if the game is actually not good".

Suppose that's just a necessary evil that comes with keeping our expectations in check.

[Lightcosmo]

31 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

and just as XCX was cursed to be on the failed Wii U

 

31 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

while general reception wasn't exactly hot for XCX

The real reason: the Wii U wasn't exactly a popular system, so XCX kinda got overlooked sadly. In my case, it's the only reason i ever turn my Wii U on anymore, haha.

(Idk if any of that is true, i was just having fun)

[BrightBow]

3 hours ago, Shrimpy said:

what the

this looks hella cool lmao

Okay. but I'm left wondering what TJ "Henry" Yoshi does have to do with anything.

[Dayni]

I talk a lot about Pogo being a horny little shit.

Spoiler

The second he sees Beru he pops a boner and immediately tries to hide it.

This game is 12s somehow.

He also proceeds to knock out his pet friend (this will not be the first time in relation to her) and bows to her.

My first sentence stands.

[Codename Shrimp]

Tfw real life interrupts your Xenoblade 3 time

[BrightBow]

Arielle is the best, holy shit.

Good thing they didn't send her to lead the war in Miselie.