by Phoenix | Aug 30, 2021 | Lore, Praedia
I love it when weird concepts come together in a setting just right. At some point I really want to write a short story exploring the idea from various peoples’ perspectives rather than just leaving it as something seldom mentioned in lore. What I’m talking about are wealthy families or large organizations taking their privately owned ships and going out on naval safaris to hunt sea monsters. This idea applies more to Calig than any other nation in the Praedia setting at the moment. Their perspective is the one this naval safari concept has been developing from, but I’m sure the concept is going to blossom into something more historically relevant and regionally distinct. Praedia already has hundreds of groups, organizations, tribes, and specialists dispatching monsters on land for a variety of reasons. The same is bound to apply to the oceans.
The sky too for that matter, but that’s a wacky brainstorm for another day.
Originally the idea centered more around some of Calig’s biggest noble houses, Tenebrae and Krieger. They’re the ones that held onto a lot of old warships and modernized them for their own personal use. Since militaries in Praedia are just as likely to have to fight enormous creatures from the depths as each other, things like dreadnought style ships aren’t quite as obsolete as they look, at least in this setting. If it can shoot straight, is affordable, and can be upgraded enough to push 30 knots, you can bet there’s religious obligations that can be met and money to be made.
A Krieger example:
At the time of this writing, House Krieger has at least one battleship that’s been preserved from before one of the bigger wars Calig took part in. It’s theirs, no strings attached, just straight up theirs to do with as they please. (Calig is one of those countries where the nobility have a worrying amount of self sanctioned firepower). Now Calig’s state religion is Lethelism. The shortest possible description of this religion is ‘Destroy Evil Things.’ Being a religion, it’s much more nuanced than that, but in the modern era, this does lend itself to the wholesale slaughter of various monsters in the wild. The naval safari helps the less capable in House Krieger fulfill their spiritual obligations by being part of a crew. A warship’s crew acts as one to control the ship. An engineer or a navigator are no less combatants than the men loading the guns or operating the rangefinders. Not to mention the captain, the ship’s ‘mind.’
With that in mind, houses that do this, like Krieger, plan excursions well in advance, I’d say six to twelve months depending on the target and the waters they’re searching in. They even help fund the monster hunts by allowing citizens to come with them, acting as crew. They have to pay, and if they’ve got no experience they also have to take some major courses before the ‘crimson cruise’ starts. The numbers are also limited to prevent the ratio of dedicated crew members to temporary ones from becoming dangerously unbalanced. As for the targets, those would be scouted out and tracked by the military. That’s another reason this was so specific to Calig starting out. The nobility and the military are more or less joined at the hip. In peacetime, scout flotillas will keep eyes on any monsters that aren’t threatening trade or civilian traffic and even run escort for the naval safaris when they start … just to make sure no one important gets hurt. A naval safari might be fun, but it is by no means safe.
So house Krieger prepares their ship or ships and sets sail at the appointed time, then spends a few days chasing down the monster(s) they want, along with their escorts. People are happy, taking pictures, drinking, socializing, chatting naval and monster hunting history, etc. Eventually the big one appears and the scout flotilla gets into a defensive formation, making sure the monster can’t get close enough to threaten the nobles, their crews, or their paying guests. Krieger’s safari ship then proceeds to blow its target out of the water. There might also be some ceremonial ship honking, I don’t know. The customs on this are less than a day old. When all is dead and done, the Krieger battleship is escorted back into Calig waters and then released to return to its home port. Everyone except the dead monster are better for the experience.
Just a rough example, and it’s not necessarily going to be a thing done only on battleships or old dreadnoughts. I can easily see smaller noble houses, or big companies who have a similar business sense, using smaller ships and more of them. The state religion is Destruction, so giving people even more direct or communal ways of doing that is good business sense. The Lethelist Priesthood approves.
I want to touch more on the monsters involved before closing. As far as optics go, there are definitely some similarities here to whaling, which I view as criminally overdone. Some things nations and states do in Praedia are good for the world, and others aren’t. I need to state unambiguously in this specific case of monster hunting that the pros of these naval safaris do outweigh the cons. The very term ‘monster’ actually applies to flora and fauna that aren’t a natural part of the Praedian environment. They are not just invasive species from another part of the world, they are essentially hyper-antagonistic biological terraformers. The more of them there are in a region over a long period of time, the more the environment is warped to suit their needs. Calig in particular may have made a sport of culling them, but it truly is a do or die war for the entire world in the long term.
And I’m afraid it’s not a war they’re currently winning ….
by Phoenix | Aug 29, 2021 | Editing, LGT
Alright! Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
This first line’s perfectly serviceable, but I still aim to improve the story whenever, wherever, and however I can.
Enya watched Irving and Todd until they had jogged all the way out of view. The Golden Treasury was a colossal place. There was no telling just how big it was, or where Item 3-A-340 was. It was probably close enough for Irving and Todd to intervene if they hurried, but Enya couldn’t be sure beyond that.
Let’s try changing things up a bit. A lot.
Enya stayed behind, watching until they were both out of sight. A small part of her wondered if she would ever see them again. There was no telling where Item ‘3-A-340’ was, and the sheer scale of the Golden Treasury made the possibility hard to ignore. The only thing Enya could be sure of was that waiting was going to make her very, very anxious.
I like this better. It hits the key points and it does them in the right order without increasing the length too much.
“You want me to wait here?” Enya glanced back and forth between the two men. She supposed she could do that. If dangerous machines or magic were involved, she wouldn’t be able to help them anyway. At least she could keep an eye on the armor. This was probably the best opportunity she was going to get to prove to Irving that, while she wasn’t as knowledgeable as Todd, she was at least dependable. “Okay. I’ll keep the armor safe.”
I want to touch this one up a bit and experiment with the speech tag at the end.
“You want me to wait here?” Enya glanced back and forth between Irving and Todd. She supposed she ought to. If dangerous machines or magic were involved, she might only get in the way. This was probably the best opportunity she was going to get to prove to Irving that she was dependable, and guarding the armor was a fairly easy way of doing that. She couldn’t possibly mess this up. “Okay,” she decided on her own, “I’ll keep the armor safe.”
I can’t say it’s an objective improvement, but I definitely prefer it to the prior version. I also like the bit of foreshadowing toward the end. Enya can definitely mess this up. And she does!
This portion of the line seems like it needs a bit of work.
Before Irving could finish glaring at him, he quickly added,
>>>
Before Irving could even stare him down, Todd quickly said,
There might be a better way to do this one so I’ll make a mental note of it for later.
“Perhaps, but …” Irving glanced at the armor’s case, concern in his eyes. The timing could have been better. “I don’t like leaving the armor out here like this.”
Clean up operation.
“Perhaps, but …” Irving paused and glanced at the armor and its large, exposed case. The concern in his eyes said it all: their timing with the armor could have been better. “We shouldn’t leave it out here like this.”
So basically I touched up Irving’s dialogue on the latter end and tried to link the rest of the line together in an interesting way. It borders on being repetitive but I think it works.
Next up is a line that just needs a little work.
“I haven’t seen it myself,” Irving said, “but I know it’s of Sulan origin. Some kind of old machine. Mistress Lydia found it recently and decided to keep it rather than hand it over to the Sulans.”
>>>
“I haven’t seen it myself,” Irving said. He turned slightly, toward what Enya thought might be the direction Item 3-A-340 was in. “If I recall, it’s an old Sulan machine. Some kind of automata. Mistress Lydia discovered it during one of her ‘adventures’ and opted to keep it for the treasury.”
This fits Irving’s slightly posh style and amiable personality.
As soon as she did, the alarm thankfully stopped.
I wrote this part in this way to put the emphasis on ‘thankfully’ but I’m not sure if it warrants another comma (or an adjusted one) or not. On second thought, I’ll leave this alone for now, but have it noted here for future reference.
“Not often this happens. Let’s see what the problem is.”
>>>
“Not often this happens. Let’s hear what the problem is.”
Minute, but in character.
An alarm sounded. It was just loud enough to get Enya reaching to cover her ears. She only stopped so she could hear Irving.
This line is why the one I left a note about is there in the first place. Anyway, clean up operation.
An alarm suddenly blared, forcing Enya to cup her hands over her ears. She had to bear with the noise to some extent to catch what Irving said next.
Plain descriptions can be boring, so you have to get creative where you can.
Now this next one warranted a major change, but I’ve been swaying back and forth on just how to do that.
“Stabilize the mana flow.” Enya was a little embarrassed to hear it explained in those terms. She didn’t even know what he meant by that. Todd really was more qualified to be here than she was. No amount of politeness on her part could make up for the sheer difference in expertise and usefulness.
Here’s the version I came up with.
“Stabilize the mana flow.” Enya tried the phrase on for size and it just didn’t fit her. It sounded like something an engineer might say. Todd really was more qualified to be here than she was. Enya could never say ‘Master’ or ‘Mistress’ enough times to close the gap between them or give herself any real advantage. His overall knowledgeableness and usefulness made her little more than an extra pair of hands by comparison. She didn’t know how anyone could fit Todd’s skill and knowhow into … well … Todd.
Frivolous but I have fun reading it. Enya’s always bewildered by Todd and I’m glad I can make that come across even if it edges on being a bit too comical at points.
“Before we put items back, we have to stabilize the mana flow and sync it back up with the system here. After that, we put it onto its slot and it’s officially back where it belongs. That’s the whole procedure in a nutshell.”
Speaking of Todd. This needs more Toddification.
“Before we put it back, we have to stabilize the mana flow and sync it up with the system here. After that we just find the right slot, shove it in and we’re done. That’s the procedure in a nutshell.”
There we go. Todd’s excessively casual and his explanations need to come across that way consistently. Just needed to change some of the wording.
Next up:
“I haven’t the foggiest,” Irving shrugged in amusement, “Or at least that’s what I would say if Todd hadn’t translated it for me. That is the full account of the Armor of the Unburdened from its original bearer to King Mnemos. It’s written in one of the acer dialects.”
Clean up operation.
“I haven’t the foggiest,” Irving shrugged in amusement, “Or at least that’s what I would say, had Todd not translated it for me. That there is the abbreviated history of the Armor of the Unburdened, from its original bearer to King Mnemos. It’s written in one of the acer dialects.”
A little better, I think.
I’ve been in the habit of tagging dialogue this with actions. It’s not always a good fit, so I’ve been trying to dial it back outside of certain situations in scenes. Case in point.
“What’s it say?” she turned to Irving.
>>>
“What’s it say?” she asked, turning to Irving.
A pretty inoffensive edit, though admittedly this line would have stayed like it was if it had come after the alarm sounded. In that situation, I think action tags help preserve the tension and the pacing.
“Look at this,” he said as he held an open hand out in front of the face of the case.
>>>
“Look at this,” he said, holding an open hand out in front of the case.
I had a reason for writing it the other way originally, but this more concise edit doesn’t lose anything. I may have just been overthinking it back then.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Enya looked away from them both. She didn’t need to hear whatever it was that made Todd better qualified for this job than her. It was enough to know that his obnoxious behavior was completely overshadowed by it.
I want to make this slightly less pouty but still more precise in terms of Enya’s perspective. Also a tag touch up.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Enya said, turning her head away from them. She didn’t want to hear whatever it was that made Todd so special. It was enough to know that his poor manners, lackadaisical attitude, and complete disinterest in his own appearance were all somehow overshadowed by it.
Yes, her issues with Todd include a direct comparison between the two of them, but in this moment in the scene, she’s more focused on the fact that his cons don’t seem to matter much to Irving, and by implication, Lydia.
Continuing backwards, we have the lead up. I’m also thinking of making one more edit to the previous line, but I need to do this one first.
Enya wasn’t sure she wanted to know why he worked here anymore. She was almost afraid to hear a justification she might actually agree with. Either way, it was becoming increasingly obvious that Irving had no intention of replacing Todd with her. Whatever was happening in the office earlier wasn’t what she thought it was.
The edit to this one is going to be
Enya wasn’t sure she really wanted to know anymore. There was a chance she might here a justification for Todd that actually made sense, maybe even something she agreed with. That was a scary thought. Regardless, it was becoming increasingly obvious that Todd’s employment here was in no danger, and Enya definitely hadn’t been brought on board to replace him. She must have missed something important back at the office.
Now for that other edit. I’m going to slap these paragraphs together. They’re not really covering different topics, and they wouldn’t be too long if I slapped them together.
So I’m going to slap them together, like so:
Enya wasn’t sure she really wanted to know anymore. There was a chance she’d hear a justification for Todd that actually made sense, maybe even something she agreed with. That was a scary thought. Regardless, it was becoming abundantly clear that Todd’s employment here was in no danger, and Enya definitely hadn’t been brought on board to replace him. She must have missed something important back at the office. “You don’t have to tell me,” Enya said, turning her head away from them. She didn’t want to hear whatever it was that made Todd so special. It was enough to know that his poor manners, lackadaisical attitude, and complete disinterest in his own appearance were all somehow overshadowed by it.
I almost always break up paragraphs when a speaker starts talking, no matter who it is, but there should be some exceptions. If I change it later, I’ll probably do a partial rewrite to put the dialogue right at the start.
These next few lines are just clean up operations.
“Yes, and as part of the agreement to loan out items from Lydia’s inventory, we need to decouple them from the security system. Otherwise, bad things can happen. Well, that about sums it up. Now, Enya, you’ve been wondering about Todd here, haven’t you?”
>>>
“Yes, and in order to loan items from Lydia’s inventory, we need to first disconnect them from the system as a whole. Otherwise awful things can happen. Well, that about sums it up. Now, Enya, you’ve been wondering about Todd here, haven’t you?”
“That’s part of it,” Irving smiled, glad she was quick on the uptake, “Most of the staff aren’t mages to begin with and those that are can’t be expected to bear such a tremendous burden.”
The smile is implied or close enough as makes no difference, and the second bit of dialogue can definitely be trimmed and still fit Irving.
“That’s part of it,” Irving said, glad she was quick on the uptake, “Most of the staff aren’t mages and even they can’t be expected to bear such a tremendous burden.”
Something began to click for Enya.
>>>
Something suddenly clicked for Enya.
“Welcome to Deep Storage,” Irving said, making sure Todd and Enya stopped, “The Golden Treasury is made up of several layers, somewhat mimicking the Agian hierarchy of spells. The first layer is the ‘Retrieval’ layer. The second is the ‘Inspectory’ layer, and the third is for deep storage. While they’re somewhat self-explanatory, I’ll have you know that Mistress Lydia can summon any item from the Golden Treasury at any time. The staff is limited to the retrieval layer, however.”
It’s going to wind up longer than necessary, but I want to leave a lore nugget here for later in the series and this is probably the best place to do it.
“Welcome to Deep Storage,” Irving said, giving Enya a brief introduction, “The Golden Treasury is made up of several sections, or ‘layers.’ Mistress Lydia is an Agian and so it’s only natural she would arrange it this way. The first layer is the ‘Retrieval’ layer. The second is the ‘Inspectory’ layer, and the third is for deep storage. Quite similar to the Agian heirarchy of spells, I must say. Please note that staff members such as ourselves are only able to summon items from the Retrieval Layer. Mistress Lydia on the other hand can summon anything from the inventory at any time.”
Irving continued to lead them through the vast inventory until they reached the place where the Armor of the Unburdened was kept, inside the deep storage area. Irving stopped them just short of a gallery where numerous item cases were positioned away from the walls. Some of the cases were missing, exposing strange insets on the floor. Enya figured their case belonged on one of them. There was little in the way of markings or other identifiers that could help her guess which one.
Only minor changes for this one for now, though I was tempted to pull another fusing operation and slam these two paragraphs together. I’ll hold off, though.
Irving continued to lead them through the vast inventory until they reached the place where the Armor of the Unburdened was kept, inside the deep storage area. Irving stopped them just short of a gallery where numerous item cases, most identical to the one the armor was in, were positioned away from the walls. Some of the cases were missing, exposing strange insets on the floor. Enya figured their case belonged on one of them. There was little in the way of markings or other identifiers that could help her guess which one.
I’ll hold off for a grand total of five seconds. I’m not fusing that paragraph with the one that comes after it, but instead the one that comes before it. This one:
More ramps and stairways led down into the deep archives of the Golden Treasury. The walls were plain, plated with metal, and lined with countless compartments. The rows stretched on in both directions just like the service tunnel, with only occasional gaps that formed aisles. There was no telling how far it all went, but Enya suspected the Golden Treasury was much larger than the mansion above it.
First, some important chances to the description.
More concrete ramps and stairways led down into the deep archives of the Golden Treasury. The walls were plain, metal plated, and lined with countless compartments. Partitions stretching up to the ceiling went on and on in both directions with each gap opening up into another aisle. Even the partitions had compartments for special items. There must have been thousands, maybe tens of thousands of historical artifacts in here. Enya suspected the Golden Treasury was much larger than the mansion above.
Now to fuse them together.
More concrete ramps and stairways led down into the deep archives of the Golden Treasury. The walls were plain, metal plated, and lined with countless compartments. Partitions stretching up to the ceiling went on and on in both directions with each gap opening up into another aisle. Even the partitions had compartments for special items. There must have been thousands, maybe tens of thousands of historical artifacts in here. Enya suspected the Golden Treasury was much larger than the mansion above. Irving continued to lead them through the vast inventory until they reached the place where the Armor of the Unburdened was kept, inside the deep storage area. Irving stopped them just short of a gallery where numerous item cases, most identical to the one the armor was in, were positioned away from the walls. Some of the cases were missing, exposing strange insets on the floor. Enya figured their case belonged on one of them. There was little in the way of markings or other identifiers that could help her guess which one.
That’s not too bloated, right? Well it works for me, at least for now.
With that, LGT Editing #4 is done. I hope this was helpful to anyone who’s stuck in a rut trying to clean up their writing, or just write something in general. This is by no means professional, but by … oh let’s say, LGT Editing #27, it very well could be, so stick around if you’re interested.
Session #3 – Session #5
by Phoenix | Aug 27, 2021 | WoWs
I was pleasantly surprised when this dev blog post showed up in my clan’s Discord server.
VIII AUGUST VON PARSEVAL, X MANFRED VON RICHTHOFEN, VIII GRAF ZEPPELIN and VIII GRAF ZEPPELIN B
- Changed parameters of bombers:
- Increased the chance of hitting two bombs at once in the internal dispersion ellipse.
X FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
- Changed parameters of torpedo bombers:
- Torpedo Arming Distance increased from 517 to 545 m;
- Torpedo spread width increased by 5%;
- Changed parameters of bombers:
- Maximum Bomb Damage decreased from 11,200 to 10,600;
- HE Bomb Armor Penetration Capacity decreased from 67 to 64 mm;
- Chances of HE Bombs Causing a Fire on Target decreased from 64% to 60%.
X ALEXANDER NEVSKY
- Changed the “Repair party” consumable:
- Restoration of hit points after receiving damage to the citadel increased from 10% to 33%.
Graf Zeppelin is one of my favorite CVs in the game, but her dive bombers are mind-shatteringly inaccurate. Her bombs can disperse from each other at 40 degree angles on release. I’ve never seen such pacifistic ordnance before; it’s insane. Even so, my clanmates have known me to bash MVR’s AP bombers and constantly pointing out how I have an easier time getting citadels with Graf Zeppelin’s bombers than with MVR’s. I think that comes down to the way the planes attack. GZ’s bombers don’t climb first, so overall they have the superior approach for hit and runs. They just swoop down and that gives you better lead and timing on the drop. The dispersion ruins everything, but it’s easier to score both hits once you get used to it. Exploiting the large superstructures of some ships can sometimes net you citadels. I’ve even smacked DDs with both bombs on occasion. MVR’s bombers take way too long to drop, so unless you have enough buffer planes to buy time, you’re going to have to drop a little too early. That’s when you get multiple misses and overpens. It’s frustrating at the best of times, so I’m looking forward to testing out the German CVs with the updated dispersion when this update goes live.
As for FDR, she needs the nerfs to account for those tanky planes, but I’m not really sure where you’d draw the line. The most expensive ship in the game should still be the most coveted, if not the most effective at whatever her particular niche is. Otherwise, what’s the point? FDR should be better than most CVs, but I’m not sure how much better. A little off topic, but I think Shikishima should also be more effective than most BBs, though that particular ship set sail quite a while ago. The Yamato hull is a little too easy to exploit, so it’s a good thing the secondary niche isn’t quite dead on her yet.
I don’t really care about the Nevsky to be honest. I don’t dislike the ship or anything, I just don’t play Russian cruisers as a whole. Bug fixes are always a good thing (I heard this was a bug and not just a balance change), so let’s just move on.
I really wish I could see what’s going on inside the Wargaming company itself right about now. It definitely doesn’t feel like they’re a centralized whole all moving in the same direction. That’s almost never the case inside a large company. There are a lot of changes being lined up for the game that are great, even if they take about eight times as long to implement as you’d expect. Let’s not forget WG’s MVPs, the Art Department, or whichever heretics in the gameplay sector that suggested buffing secondaries and stuck to their guns. Even so, the company is driving older players away and just focusing on milking the newer ones. That’s why so many people now, myself included, are either hesitant or straight up unwilling to spend anymore money on the game. (They have enough already; let’s be honest)
Voting with your wallet is actually pretty ineffective when new players that don’t know any better–or equally as likely don’t care–can just about make up the difference over time. That’s why WG just keeps putting out ads and campaigns like nothing’s wrong and only addresses community concerns on the forums or in other places that are nice and tucked away out of sight. It’s irritating but that’s exactly what they should be doing while trying to fix their own mess. The issue is giving players bits and pieces of what they’ve been requesting for ages while avoiding the lootbox issue and the horrific PR management. Shonai said they weren’t going to just talk, but actually take action on the issues, but I’m worried that by the time they decide on what to do, we’ll have moved onto the next big problem. Anything they do about the lootboxes will be too little too late. There’s a vicious cycle forming here.
About Black Friday and Collaborations
I want to talk about Black Friday and WoWs collaborations since we’re in the middle of Wargaming’s biggest mud bath that I’ve seen, at least. I’ve only been playing for a year, so I wouldn’t dare call myself an old player; the game’s six years old. In a previous post I said I’m not spending anymore on the game until the situation improves. That’s not concrete enough of a statement so I’m going to clarify my position as well as outline some exceptions I’m making. My average amount spent on WoWs since I started playing was about $50 a month. It spiked during certain collabs or events like Black Friday and plummeted when nothing interesting was going on. It all still averages out to about $50 monthly. That stops … last month.
I’ll explain that in detail but first, the reason I’m drawing a line between not spending anything at all and spending freely like I used to is because part of what got me into this game was the ship collection aspect of it. I’m directly taking away half of my own enjoyment of the game to join in a community-wide statement to Wargaming. I think it’s the right thing to do, but it’s also going to come back to bite me later if I become an absolutist about it. There’s a difference between WG ruining WoWs for me and me ruining it for myself. I’m making two exceptions to my ‘don’t spend anything on WG’ stance right here for the record, both so I can do what I feel is right but also not throw away opportunities I’ve been waiting on for as long as I’ve been playing the game.
Do you think exceptions are a bad thing? Well just keep in mind that Wargaming isn’t factoring the spending habits of specific players into their decisions, they’re adding up totals over time and carefully watching trends. Revenue going up during events is what inclines game companies to do more events more often, so that’s another form of feedback you can give them if it doesn’t go against your principles. Now for those exceptions.
Black Friday
This is entirely about the Enterprise and the potential Enterprise B. Both the Enterprise and the Jean Bart were removed from the premium shop before I had the chance to get either of them. The Jean Bart B is a Black Friday version of the Jean Bart that I bought last year during the event. She’s one of my favorite ships, so I’m glad I had that alternative. There is no Enterprise B at the time of this writing, however, if, and only if Wargaming puts up an Enteprise B for this upcoming Black Friday will I buy anything from them at all.
The last Black Friday event bundled the whole collection of ships for that year and the previous for people who want them all and/or the flags and patches for each ship, but whether I get a bundle or something is still up in the air. It’s unlikely since I don’t get bundles unless there are at least two ships I want in them (and I have an embarrassing number of B variants already). Since I can’t think of any other ships besides Enterprise B I’d really want that could be bundled with her, I won’t hold my breath. They’ve only done Tier 7s up to Tier 9s from what I can tell, so the list of premiums (and more importantly the list of premiums I care to get) is getting very small. Mainz B? Eh. Wake me when Loewenhardt B is a thing. Black Stukas would be hard to pass up.
So to summarize, if there is no Enterprise B during this upcoming Black Friday event, I’m not spending one cent. If there is, I will buy it, and most likely separately.
Collaborations
There have been a few collaborations that have gotten me some ships and commanders I really wanted, and when they do reruns I like to pick up characters I missed or buy the odd bundle here and there. It just depends on the collab, but I actually skip most of them. The WH40k and Transformer events didn’t interest me at all for example. The current Legend of Galactic Heroes does somewhat, but it’s not a collab I’d make an exception for. Something like an Arpeggio of Blue Steel collaboration is a better fit for me. Since submarines are in the latter half of their testing and will be released relatively soon, I’m hoping I-401 among others will show up in the next ARP collab after they’re released. It’s just a vague hope, but some of the data for one of the subs is already in the game. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if that happens.
So to summarize here, if there’s an Arpeggio event or something else over the target, I will buy what I want from it.
I’m making these two exceptions so that I don’t wind up chasing myself from the game over regrets that are entirely my own fault. It’s not my fault I couldn’t get Enterprise or Jean Bart. It’s 100% my fault if I don’t get a hypothetical Enterprise B. You could argue that WG’s mismanagement is a perfectly good reason to jump ship right now, and you’d be right, but I actually like this game. My enjoyment of it is only hindered by a couple of things. What it’s really lacking are more game modes and missions to get higher tier ships without having to pay money for them. Even so, there’s nothing else quite like it. I’d like to see it improve and I want to be there to experience that upward trend if it happens. The game balance is improving in some areas and falling apart in others, but one thing that’s remained constant is my ability to pick up certain ships I want and learn how best to play them. I’ve wanted Enterprise from the very beginning, but it’s never been possible. So, to avoid shoot myself in the foot just to spite WG, I will buy the ship if an opportunity presents itself, be that Black Friday, or some other avenue. No matter what else is going on, that ship in particular is an exception worth making.
… I’m just praying they don’t change up the Black Friday event to make the lootboxes some kind of requirement, otherwise I’m rioting with everyone else ….
