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Mechalink

@mechalink.bsky.social

180 followers 200 following 2K posts

I code for work, I get varianced for fun. Also, I enjoy waffles. Genderfluid, he/any. 両刀使い

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Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1h

trying not to overindex on current feelings

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1h

the day 0 draft, 2-1 with this in the ravnica/time spiral cube cubecobra.com/cube/overvie...

bonus lunch at 4 pic

a rabite looking at a blue and brown ice cream waffle cone

magic deck made from drafted pool

45 cards in a 5 x 9 config drafted from the ravnica/time spiral cube

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 7h

at cubecon. I look just like my profile pic!

rightside human (me) head in a M3 mask with pink filters next to rabite plush (icon) left side

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 8h

its real fun, lots of little dopamine hits

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 8h

oh im so in

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1d

the more product they put out, somewhat ironically, the more any badly performing product is gonna do worse, because there's always a new thing.

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1d

it's very much worth noting that the Hasbro CEO was the Wizards CEO (Chris Cocks), and he started the more aggressive monetization, including Arena, at WotC before moving up to Hasbro. Which makes sense: if WotC is such a big part of your revenue, try to apply their expertise at a higher level!

Reposted by Mechalink

Tool-Assisted Speedrun clips @tasnocontext.bsky.social · 2d

Game: Mega Man 7 (1995, SNES)
TAS Author: McBobX
Source: tasvideos.org/6092M

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1d

yeah, WA 3 is great, 2 is somehow really bad, although the last boss music whips

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1d

(This set of answers spans my childhood to my recent history, and there's plenty of other things that could be considered reasonably competitive. Parasite Eve 2? Wild Arms 2?

It's not easy to beat NES Hydlide for terribleness, but in their own ways, everything I've listed has enormous flaws.)

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1d

Bart vs The World (and got the 100% ending besides)? The Running Man (Amiga)? Hydlide? Virtual Hydlide? Dark Souls 1 non-remaster? The Great Gatsby (NES)? Home Alone (NES)? Home Alone (Gameboy)? Plok? N64 Monopoly? Master System Monopoly?

I can keep going if we're still trying to farm content.

lex luddy (ichiban appreciator) @lexluddy.xyz · 1d

What's the worst game you finished/rolled credits on?

(games media folks, it can't be something you were assigned to review; this has to be something you subjected yourself to of your own free will)

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1d

i definitely fell away from SD3 a couple times trying to play it in the old days

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

sidenote, re: paying bills, due to Magic, I've read a number of books about competitive gambling in general, and a line about poker sticks with me, where a guy says roughly 'don't play with enough money to ruin your life, but play with enough money to make it hurt'

gambling so you feel something

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

Gambling against the house is always, always, ALWAYS, in the house's favor. Someone downthread mentions it and it's right: treat it like entertainment. You're going to the movies. You're going on a road trip. You're going to a casino. Do what you enjoy, but budget it.

Brossentia/Digby @ BLFC @brossentia.bsky.social · 2d

Slot odds are terrible, and with how much they lavish winners with services, the chance of profitability is even worse.

If you do slots, budget! And if you win, stop! Don't be Russ and be down five hundred bucks!

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

so yeah. let your enemies do some of the work of helping players explore what is possible in a system! it's pretty great

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

'wow, i sure wish I could use that boss's weapon' -> 'oh, it's fucking terrible because <it requires rebuilding my character/it requires massive FP for the skill/any new weapon requires levelling it up very high/it was only good because the game was cheating> is so common in elden ring

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

The I also think that games that break this expectation to some degree also suffer. Elden Ring is a good example of a game where, ostensibly, the enemies are using the same 'tools' as you, but your spear charge with somehow infinite poise is way worse than the enemy's because they aren't fair.

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

I think this is an amazingly underappreciated, and under-talked-about, component of how FFT clicked in practice, and something that not all build-oriented games do that more of them should be thinking about.

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

get in a random battle, get run over by a summoner or ninja and go 'hrm, i would like that job', or get run over by a monk or archer and go 'huh, that early job's got hands'

Compare that to an FF5, where you have to invest a lot to see if a job gets good.

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

That is a HUGE system exposure tool, and in a game where it's about squad building, having to earn, and field, and level, every type of unit to figure out if they're good or not is kinda, well, a shitty experience.

But if the enemies can put up a fight with different builds, you see the potential!

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

Had a Final Fantasy Tactics thought this morning that is really sharp, I think, and indicates to me why FFT hits in a way that FF5 has never hit, for me.

In FFT, the majority of your opponents are doing things you can also do. This means that you can be inspired by the enemy builds.

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

Additionally, it is rarely a good idea to be surprised by things people do normally. People memorize things all the time. Sometimes with effort, sometimes without. Often with heavy usage. Things like 'your friends' phone numbers' or 'your parents' office numbers' fall squarely in that bucket.

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

So to circle back around: when thinking about a system, you sometimes need to step back and consider the bare necessities. Otherwise, you might find yourself surprised by the way the system works in practice.

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

Address books are only really useful if you need to regularly be able to look people up while you were on the move. Maybe a realtor or repairman or somesuch would have an address book.

Cellphones make it easy, but they weren't a requirement in the first place!

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 3d

(look into 'working memory' and the 7 +- 2 rubric that was used to pick phone number length)

Anyway. The post started with the person considering 'did everyone carry around address books or did they memorize numbers' and that itself is a false dichotomy. Why would you carry around an address book?