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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

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

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 9h

(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 · 9h

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 · 16h

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 · 9h

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

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 18h

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 · 21h

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 · 22h

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

'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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

(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?

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1d

Having those numbers when your car broke down, or you were lost, or whatever was vital basic survival. 'Did people memorize phone numbers'? They memorize them now! Of course, then they were 7 digits, not a basically universal 10 like they are now, and that is a legitimate difference.

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1d

However! When you were not at home, you might have to fill out paperwork with your phone number or use another phone (paid or otherwise). Not everyone could, or wanted to, carry around an address book, and you could always lose it. So your OWN PHONE NUMBER was extremely useful to memorize!

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1d

For one, boiling down a system to the brass tacks of the systems' requirements is illustrative. eg: before cell phones, everyone had a physical phone or two in specific locations in their house or office. Fixed locations would mean that there would be plenty of tools to keep track of phone numbers.

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1d

There's a post going around about 'did people memorize phone numbers before cell phones' and... like, okay. This is a teachable moment, but it's about teaching you how to think about a system. Take a walk with me here.

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 1d

Post you from a different era.

Back in 2003, I was just growing my hair out for the first time, and it was amusing to me that I was able to pull off the classic 'Shermie' from KoF, with my bangs covering my eyes. Picture from a terrible webcam because that's also how it worked in 2003.

An image of me when I had hair long enough to cover my eyes, timestamped from Sunday November 16, 2003 at 3:20:03 AM

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

in the original it didn't always feel like he pointed Ramza at a threat he fully understood to make sure it didn't beat out his plan, or that he was thinking ahead in the ovelia plot vs just opportunistic. the new translation makes it clear those were both very planned

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

Hmm. Actually, I came up with a good question that may help me this weekend: I have 5-6 hours of driving to deal with, what would be the best podcast or whatever to listen to to get me thinking the right things about playing cube?

Mechalink @mechalink.bsky.social · 2d

I kinda wish I had a plan for Cubecon in terms of prep, either social or magical. Lowkey I'm just hoping I can be happy about how it goes.

The fact that I generally don't feel rewarded on either side of that is kinda a bind. Maybe the whole experience will be different with the new meds. Maybe!