Tocharon
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:I agree with this,Originally Posted by MentalMaden
The last two weeks have been some of the most divergent of the series. I think for the most part they are taking us where we need to go and keep the overall story pointed in the right direction. Some of the changes are simply keeping things more streamlined for the television viewer and others so we can get some exposition without it involving prostitutes for a change. Here are my thoughts on a few of them.
1. Arya in Harrenhal. I think they had to simplify this storyline. To be honest on first reading it was a pretty confusing and convoluted story. For me I had to do quite a bit of wiki reading to keep up with who was who. Different sides holding it and taking it and switching allegiences would be way too confusing for the non reader/viewer and would require introducing too many characters too quickly for a 10 episode season. And watching the Arya/Tywin interaction has been worth it all. These two actors are putting out some of the best stuff this season. I think in the end we'll get to see the same outcome. Tywin will likely have to leave the castle before Arya can pull her third trigger and we'll probably end up somewhere similar to the way it happened in the books for her escapte. The only disappointing thing is not seeing her take on all the different identities which are good foreshadowing for her trip across the narrow sea.
2. Jon and Ygritte. I've seen a lot of people upset with this change, but I think it's merely a lateral change to give some exposition to who the Freemen are and Jon's family lineage being similar to make his "betrayal" more realistic to the Wildlings. I think its pretty likely that Quorin will already be captured by Rattleshirt and from there he and Jon will plot the same ending as the books.
3. Robb and Jeyne/Talisa. Probably the weakest addition, but forgivable given that they can't have him disappear for a season like the books and come back in love. I will agree with the Elio and Linda at Westeros that her "job" is a bit heavy handed and cliched. But as I said, forgivable.
4. Jaime. I think we are getting to the same place as the books, just different location and motivations for some characters involved (Karstark for instance). The acting last night was spectacular between Jaime and Cat. And his brief interaction with Brienne felt perfect.
5. Dany in Qarth. A vast improvement from the books. Necessary? Probably not, but there needed to be something more compelling than Dany getting proposed to from a vastly different Xaros. I think the only thing that will be disappointing is if the House of the Undying turns into a fight for her "children" with no prophecy involved. Not a game changer as they could give away too much if they aren't subtle enough (and I don't know if you can pull it off on TV as opposed to book), but I think it was such a strong, trippy image from the books, I'd hate to not see it. I think we'll obviously see the same fate to the House though, just better motivation though in my opinion.
Edit- Question. I know Jaime pretty much admits to Cat the truth to his and Cersei's relationship, but I don't remember Cersei and Tyrion having any kind of conversation similar to the one we saw last night. It was a great bit of acting and dialogue, but I don't remember her ever really admitting that to Tyrion as it would slide quite a bit of power his way.
while it is a departure from the books, the entire Arya & Tywin interaction has to be one of the gems of this season, both due to the actors and the writting, I do have to wonder is something that Martin looking back 7+ years and 3 books latter, wished he had written instead for that part of Arya's story( still trying to figure out how he will tie her back into the main story)
the one thing that concerns me is the absense of the Reed children from Bran's story -
Quote:agreed I think this must be a perception, there has been a lot of new content introduced lately, as well as new powersets.Originally Posted by Scarlet Shocker
Praetoria
Habashy
Twinshot
Mercy (Oh mandatory Mongoose how I miss you [not])
First Ward
Death From Below
Drowning in Blood
There's plenty of 1-30 content
Whether you like it or not is entirely subjective but it IS there and the Devs clearly have listened
Nobody needs to go into the Hollows these days unless they absolutely want to (and actually the Hollows arc is pretty good taken in isolation but it did burn a lot of players out with its constant re-runs)
And just who gets embarrassed running older content? I don't think I've ever blushed saving Atlas Park Bank. I don't think I even piddled myself when I got caught robbing it either. If you go beetroot when you run older stuff I'd suggest that's your own issue - and it's nnot a huge leap of faith to suggest there might be an outcry if the older content got removed - because, you know actually some of us still like to run it.
The good news is, if you don't like it, you don't need to do it. But I'll decide what is "good" or what is "bad" within my own frame of reference.
the complaints about pre-Strygia content I understand, its perhaps the main reason why I prefer red side.
But even this is slowly changing with some of the original TFs being updated or replaced, and them actually making use of the hazard zones
For a variety of reasons, the Hollows is mostly empty these days, even though travel there is much easier now. I would be fine with them closing down the story line there, and closing off the zone for story reasons, leaving the hollows content available on the Oro
Faultline - its still fairly new, I'm fine with the zone as is( esp given the alternative content for that level range)
Strygia - I'm fine with as is
Croatia, for some reason, I've never warmed up to this zone even when it was brand new.I will go through it while leveling up blueside, primarily for not putting up with the original blue side content -
I agree with the comments above, its great for ST damage and mitigation, its weakness is AE damage, it all depends on what you want. Honestly EM is need of more love than Stone Melee does, but then again there are some very good reasons why Kinetic Melee is EM 2.0.
Also like someone else said there are a LOT of choices out there now, and some of the newer sets have been melee sets( Staff Fighting, Street Fighting, and Titan Weapons) -
you do realize you can have mulitple builds on the same toon right?? What I have generally seen stoners do, is to have one build for Granite Armor, and a second build for non-Granite Armor, the non-Granite Armor build being used for when leveling down for a SF/TF or using Oro. Its no joke that Stoners with Granite Armor are among the toughest, if not toughest critters around( granted a price is payed for it)
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I like it in ST Holds if your taking the entire set, if your just picking up the Proc, then sure putting it in something like Midnight Grasp makes sense
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One thing that isn't clear, is how long Earth-2.3's trinity was active( Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman)
the closest we have is this, they were active 5 years ago
Helena was at least 15 at this time
assume she is still the daughter of Batman and Catwoman
That would put their Bats being active for at least 20( maybe a couple years less)
Its a little unlcear what the exact background of E-2.3 is, that is were there any heroes or villians around in WWII or not -
-Heres my thoughts, Jon will come very close to death, close enough for him to be released from his vows from the Night Watch. Melisandre will insure that he lives.
-While echoing what has been said here and elsewhere the story of Lyanna Stark is a little different from which is generally known.
Rhaegar didnt abduct her, the two of them ran off together willingly.
When Ned found her, her bed of blood wasnt her dying but giving birth( to Jon)
She made Ned make some sort of promise with regards to raising her son.
Not being all that warm and fuzzy about Robert to begin with, him killing Rhaegar didnt improve her opinion of him, and she wasnt prepared to go back and marry him. With possibly Neds help she went across the sea. And we met her in Dance of Dragons, under the name of Septa Lemore.
The old Targaryens had a gift similar but different from the Skin Changers, when its mentioned that they rode dragons, it was more in the manner of a skin changer riding a beast, than actually physically riding dragons, although their gift was a little different, and meant them bonding to a single dragon. Part of what makes Jon special he inherited both varieties. -
I kind of like this origin of Beast Boy better than the actual pre-New 52 origin, and actually hope they use it( or varation of) in the post-New 52 origin. Basically, as a child he got bettin by a green monkey( no joke) that had some rare disease, and was given a serum that saved his life, and gave him his powers and green screen.
Granted with him being green, it would make more sense if he got a blood infusion from Martian Manhunter, rather than Megan( since she is a White Martian, and not a Green), but its plausable given she was in Green Martian form at the time. -
Just to be clear here, this is Earth-2.3, that is its not the original Earth-2, nor the previous version.
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This is funny, this came up last week, when talking with a co-worker who is also a vet player. Actually kind of embarrasing
/auctionhouse
&
/cleartray
needless to say I love /auctionhouse -
On beta I have a 50 beam/ time/ mace corrupter
My thoughts,
-I like Time, to me its a pretty solid set
-Beam, is another matter,
as it is now, IMO
-redraw normally doesn't bother me, but its animations are pretty long
-Its distrinigrate mechanic IMO doesn't really balance out its weak AE damage, or for that matter, while its above average ST damage, its not that strong to explain the weak AE
If I was to do Beam again, I would do it with maybe traps maybe
If I was to do Time again, I would do maybe DP with it -
Quote:as mentioned the Chinese Dynasty and the ancient Egyptians were static for periods at least just as longOriginally Posted by Lothic
I'm sorry but even "fantasy" worlds like this usually tend to follow -some- kind of logic, or at least offer some kind of explanation for why logic should be disregarded if necessary. If the books explain -why- nothing's changed in thousands of years I might be more willing to accept the scenario in question.
The Han Dynasties of China weren't -that- static. But even if you could successfully demonstrate this point that'd only be at most 1/8 the time the people in this book supposedly managed their sociological miracle.
Instead of "dug in" I would probably use the phrase "accepted certain immutable truths about human nature". *shrugs*
I suppose I'll just conclude this line of discussion by saying I'd more readily believe that things like dragons and/or magic could actually be real on some planet in some universe than to believe a human (or at least human-like) race of people could remain -that- static for 8,000+ years. It's not going to stop me from watching this show, or maybe even eventually reading these books someday, but it will leave me with a certain bitter pill I'll just have to stomach to get past. *shrugs*
P.S. Ironically enough tonight's episode of South Park had Mr. Garrison trying to teach the class about "World History" and he starts off by saying, "What we start to see in world history is a pattern much like the Greeks and Romans. Remember that there were seven families fighting for the control of the kingdoms of Westeros..." and as he goes on it's clear that all he's talking about is Game of Thrones as if it was -actual- world history.
Another factor which while it has been mentioned, but not made clear to the extent it is in the books, is this. Seasons operate differently in the world of Game of Thrones. Due to differences in orbital mechanics, seasons last for years or decades. The good side is, you have growing seasons that last for years or decades, the bad side you have winters lasting just as long, which would be tough on a medival agrarian society like Westeros. just imagine the amount of snow that builds up as well, and the flooding once things start melting. The majority of Westeros is impacted by this, its less clear what sort of effect the long winters have on the southern lands. But that would be a huge factor in the stasis your seeing here.
And what people are expecting here, is getting the blizzard of '78 type winter, except their blizzard of '78 lasting 10-20 years -
Quote:really trying to not to get too spoilery, butOriginally Posted by Lothic
I already offered that it doesn't really matter who the "enemy" is now or was 8,000 years ago. The simple logistics of trying to defend a frontier, no matter what you're defending it from, for such a long period of time is simply improbable to say the least. Worried about the Night's Watch falling apart now? Why didn't it fall apart 2, 4 or 6,000 years ago?
The Romans didn't just man the Hadrian wall - at their height they patrolled and defended a frontier that stretched across Europe and the Middle East. Arguably this was a much more formidable task than whatever distance the Wall is supposed to stretch in this story. Just because the Romans didn't make their walls 700 feet tall or use magic doesn't make them invalid as case study for the Night's Watch, a fictional organization which clearly borrowed quite a lot from how the Roman frontier legions worked.
I'm sorry but even with the "standard fantasy" excuses I really can't see the Wall (with the Night's Watch) existing as a status quo deterrent for 8,000 years given the typical political and social fluctuations that humans are prone to. *shrugs*
Maybe if Martin had come up with a more believable timeline for his story I wouldn't be having as much trouble with it.
-the wall isn't just ice and stone, there is a magical aspect to it as well, which is why it has lasted this long, but with that said, it has decayed over the years. although less so than the Night Watch. Let me give you one hint, I don't think the show really has gone too much in history too much, the books at this point, I believe has given you the overall outline by this point. So the question is, based on that outline, who would've built the wall 8000 years ago? -
Quote:agreed,Originally Posted by Quasadu
I agree that 8000 years is a bit much to ask. But that aside, the idea that the Wall has EVER been an effective deterrent has been entirely dependent on the Night's Watch, and on the nature of the things it is protecting against. Ignoring those aspects of the story is not giving fair consideration to the concept. To recap some of the reasons why it's not such a stretch that the Wall serves a valid purpose (aside from the length of time being what it is):
Regarding Wildlings:
1 - It's not meant to keep out wildlings.
2 - Wildlings don't really care about crossing the Wall anyway.
3 - Wildlings have never ever been organized enough on a whole to get past the Wall and the Watch, except in small numbers (which they do from time to time), even if they DID care.
Regarding Snarks and Grumpkins:
1. The Wall is magical. That helps with the snarks and grumpkins.
2. The snarks and grumpkins rely on winter. The Night's Watch knows this. "Winter is Coming" isn't just a cool catch phrase. Preparation matters.
3. The Night's Watch knows other things - or they once did - which I can't expand on without getting spoilery. They also had some help in the past, which I also cannot expand on.
4. The snarks and grumpkins haven't been seen for a long, long time. That is why the Night's Watch isn't ready to fight them now.They've forgotten, and they've dwindled. In the past, they were ready, and they did know how to fight them, and they did a darn good job of it. But it was never easy, and the Wall never did it all by itself.
With those things in mind, I think it's not that hard to buy the idea that the Wall and the Night's Watch have been, in the past, an effective barrier against the snarks and grumpkins. Again, the 8000 years part might be a little hard to swallow, but the general concept works.
Edit: Your complaint that you have to take for granted that the wall works is really missing the point. What you're expected to believe isn't that the Wall works, it's that the Night's Watch works - or more accurately, that the Night's Watch ONCE worked. And the Wall helps. -
I wasn't expecting the time skip either, but overall I liked it, and I hope they do answer some of the questions they created:
-What exactly did happen between Megan and Conner, its apparant that Conner is still uncomfortable about Megan moving on?
-of the missing young justice members:
Kid Flash - is he the Flash now??
Aqualad II - For some reason I've found him a lot more interesting than Garth ever was as Aqualad. Also curious if they do bring him back, the fact that Black Manta is his biological father would be played on here.
Artimus - As a replacement Arrowette, I really liked her, diffinitely hope she is not gone
Red Arrow - based on how the old series ended, I don't think where done here.
Y'know now that I think about it, thats enough for a team, maybe Bats in this universe recruited them as this Universe's Outsiders, along with maybe Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven
Young Justice diffinitely shows promise of being as good as Justice Leage/ Justice League Invasion was -
Just a comment about Energy Melee, there is a very good reason why Kinetic Melee is sometimes referred to as Energy Melee 2.0.
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It also varies by AT somewhat, ST & AE immobilizes are largely skipable for Doms, as mentioned are snipes.
Personally as long as the set is decent overall I actually like having a couple powers I can skip, it makes the build options a lot more flexiable than otherwise. -
Just curious how does this power works with those annoying Carnie LT and Bosses who alternate phase shift? Does DS make dealing with them easier?
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I'd argue both sets are well rounded, with plant having the edge
with domination up mobs resisting confuse is much less of an issue
also in cases where domination may not be an option, you do have vines and carrion creepers
I'd argue the -to-hit secondary effect on the dark sets, is one of the better secondary effects, and you do have a choice of fear, stun, or hold mobs
Both are strong sets, -
i've just started my perma-dark/dark/soul dom in DA, he just had his apha unlocked, and seems to be fine. I'll agree, 99% of any fully incarnated 50 should be fine. Note to self, this is my first 50 on virtue( my others are on Freedom), diffinitely need to find where folks on virtue gather for incarnate trials, the incarnate rewards in DA seem to be super small.
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hey was trying to be modest ;-), my plant/thorn was my first dom back when Cov went live,and my second red 50
its actually interesting comparing Plant vs. Dark
-def vs. -to-hit secondary effects - prefer -to-hit
Cone Confuse vs. Cone Fear, - prefer Cone Confuse, but I do like the Cone Fear
PBAE Sleep vs. PBAE Stun - PBAE Stun hands down
Carrion Creepers vs. Haunt - Like creepers better, but haunt is not bad either
flytrap vs. Wolf - ignoring Fx and sound, i like the wolf better, even with the upgrades flytrap has gotten
spirit tree vs. possess - ST confuse hands down
targeted AE hold vs. location AE hold, i like the location Ae hold much better
yes while I realize dark does get a cone immobilize, to me the ST & AE immobilizes and the ST hold are about the same, I will also admit, the only reason any of Doms have an immobilize is for the set bonuses, and most of them don't have it( as mentioned, immobilizes aren't really needed 99% of the time), -
Just a note on the pet thing, both Haunt and the wolf are decent powers, but I only use Haunt when fighting EB's, AV's, or tough bosses, its not something i would go out of my way to perma on my Dark/Dark Dom. But like the above poster stated, pets for dominators are frosting on the cake.
to give you an idea here, plant control, long regarded as a decent set, Flytrap was infamous for watching you die and doing nothing at one point, it wasn't until Plant was ported to controllers, that flytrap actually became more than a semi-companion pet, but even before the Flytrap buff, Plant Doms were regarded as decent -
Quote:agreed,Originally Posted by GuyPerfect
The two really aren't all that comparable.
many people assume the comparison is like corruper vs defender, or comparing the different different melee AT's to each other
If a dom is like anything, its to a blapper -
I'd say Dark/Dark Dom, here's why,
1) w/o a doubt, a D/D Dom would solo much better than a controller
2) Dark Assault is a very solid Assault Set
3) Dark Assault does have some nice melee options, if thats what you like
4) If you've alread done Dark Miasma, DA won't bring you much new, they replaced FS and PG with two powers with super short durations and long recharges -
reviews have been discussed elsewhere, the only thing i will say about the first SSA series, is that I liked it and it is well written, but some unanswered questions left open for future content.
1 The Freedom Phalanx is still one man down, two were killed, but only one new member
2 Now that States is out of the picture, will anyone out there become more active, thinking the Freedom Phalanx is now vulnerable
3 While Recluse may not shed any tears for States, what would he do if he found out that Wade is still alive (saying in LR's view it was HIS right to kill States), and out of whatever feelings he had about the death of his niece. Likewise with Ms. Liberty, what would she do if she found out the man who killed her grandfather was still alive.
4. Aurora II, I suspect she is going to be a big feature in futute content, what will be her goals, and how will everything work out with the original Aurora and Calvin Scott( and is he now married to two women?)
5 Is Manticore falling to the dark side?