Rush_Bolt

Market merger?

This calls for a happy moment.

Kin/Son Defenders (and Son/Kin Corruptors) - While Kinetics can damage cap you, Sonic's -RES can push you past the cap.

It's been a few years since I was there, but I'll try to give any advice I can:

I assume you'll be going within the next two months? Since you're going to the Kansai region (Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, etc), you're going to want to pack appropriately. That region is very tropical: Very humid, very hot during the summer. Pack light clothes that breathe well. While practically every place and form of mass transit has blessed air conditioning, you're going to do a lot of walking outdoors.

Walking means wearing good shoes. Seriously. You're going to walk everywhere. Plan for it.

Pick up a guidebook and look it over. Even if it's out of date, it'll still give you some good pointers.

Don't feel too pressured to learn Japanese. The country is very English friendly; most of the important signs (subway stops, landmarks, etc) will be displayed in Japanese and English. Also most Japanese do have at least some knowledge of the English language, especially the younger ones. Rule of thumb: the older they are, the less likely even if it is likely that they'll know a little. They tend not to speak it immediately though.

Festivals are all over the place. The Japanese love a good party as much as the next culture. Neighborhoods will throw small ones from time to time just as entire cities will get into the swing on the big ones. Since you're going to Kyoto, look forward to their month long Gion Matsuri which runs all of July, but tends to come to a peak on July 17th.

I suggest booking a stay at one of the ryokans, or "traditional inn." Ryokans specialize in Japanese accommodations, meals and their proprietors can help you find many things you want to see/experience in the city.

Another interesting experience to try is a capsule hotel. Think beehive and you're on the right track. My stay at a capsule hotel was in Tokyo, but I'm sure Kyoto will have at least one. If you are female, or traveling with one, keep in mind that these ones are geared more toward men. They were originally designed for providing cheap and spartan sleeping arrangements for salarymen who had missed the last train home, but many are now becoming more open toward female guests.

Keep in mind that Japan is a very expensive country. The cost of living there is very high. Plan your budget accordingly.

Travel! If you can, buy a Japan Rail Pass to travel to other cities. A JRP will let you use almost any JR train (even the shinkansen "bullet trains"), bus or ferry for a set fee paid in advance. I highly recommend Osaka as I found it a bit more laid back than Tokyo. Tokyo and Yokohama are still exceptionally interesting sights. There are also shrines and temples everywhere. Be sure to pay some of them a visit.

And for one final note, if you can, stop by a bookstore and purchase a "stampbook." This will be a hardbound book, ranging in size from 12cm x 9cm to much larger. Inside, the "pages" are linked and folded accordion-style. At many of the larger shrines/temples (and some of the smaller ones), there will be a calligrapher who, for a small donation to the shrine, will mark your book with a rather exquisite inscription and stamp. Also, all Japan Rail stations will have a stamp somewhere on the premises. Many of the other rail lines have followed suit as well as some various points of interest. You can use them to mark your travels in a cheap, but unique way.


EDIT: Forgot to mention: Be aware of how long you can stay on your visa. Japan sets time limits for various countries. For example, an American can stay for 90 days on their visa. After those 90 days are up, you must spend at least 24 hours outside Japan. Many Americans will go visit Guam, or in my case, spend a few days in Thailand. You can then return to Japan for another 90 days.

The Japanese know this sort of thing happens, and they do kinda frown on it, but so long as you don't cause any trouble and don't do it for more than a couple of times, you should be okay.

I wonder what the chances are of us ever seeing the Monstrous shoulder piece that existed in CoV's beta once again...

Very cool looking tail though. Kudos David, Jay and art crew.

I always thought it kinda funny that they did stack.

I mean, it's called "Leadership." This would imply that the character who takes the powers is the "leader." So a whole team of leaders? That'd be like herding cats.

Perhaps if it was called "Teamwork" instead from the get-go. Oh well, that's ship's sailed.


Anywho, yes. Leadership powers stack and are awesome when done so.

Hmm... the costume pieces are interesting, but I think they're a bit too specific to really appeal to me. Which is a shame since I really like the idea of glowmapped costume pieces. I can only hope this sort of tech will be used in the future for creating "energy body" types and/or invisible limbs (to have things like floating armor pieces and all).

While I don't know if I'll end up buying this pack, at the least it kinda makes me wish I liked the Fire powers since I managed to mix up a kinda nifty fire elemental with 'em:




Some subjective feedback:
The skin color doesn't appear very well on the Bioluminescent pants. In fact, the only places you can see the actual skin color is on the backs of the knees. This is a little jarring especially when paired with the Bioluminescent chest. The Biolum chest shows the skin color pretty well, but it comes to a rather abrupt stop at the waist.

That's because everybody knows they nerf ACC in every patch. Tru fax!


Another true fact: Perceptions lie.

I had left this thread to circle the drain as it will. I still popped in from time to time, but since this was a direct reply to one of my posts, I figure I should at least respond.