Is it just me who has done 30+ trades with the rainbow dude, for 60 rainbow gold, but keeps getting the blue hat (like 80% of the time. I'm not even kidding!)?
It's getting very frustrating, since I really want to complete the set. Last ~8 times I've handed in the gold, I got that same hat again.
I'm missing so many items! I don't yet have the saddle, the bridle, the saddlepad, the shirt, the gloves, and the boots :(... And all that after spending half my day finding rainbows since the event started.
So does anyone else have this 'bug' or is it just my bad luck?

SAs someone who has:

1. Completed all quests
2. Completed Badum quests
3. Unlocked Everything (Factions all 20)
4. Have 285/285 with gear and guns
5. Have around 8m - 10m Kmarks
6. Am at best average at straight up PvP, most of my success is from playing smart and cautious (making moves at the right time, rotating and repositioning in fights, coordinating with my team, counting shots, etc)

These are the following things that I have observed about the game, but more specifically after patch 3.4:

1. Most of my time playing the game is spent PvPing in duo and trio squads, helping out some of my friends do their quests, or just going around solo gathering cables for letium drills, doing data drives for dungeons, or farming pistons and aluminum for oil, or just doing jobs for scrips
2. Having 10m sometimes but nowhere to spend it on since my stash is perpetually full means that I have to sell perfectly fine guns such as Flechettes and Advocates to buy Kors and Brutes just to keep my money down so I can pick more stuff up to sell and not waste K-Mark rewards from jobs.
3. There has been a significant rise in cheaters after the patch. Before the patch, there were at best 1 cheater every 4 or 5 raids. Now it seems that there are cheaters almost every other raid, and raids without cheaters are either empty or full of white gear guys doing what white gear guys do.
4. Dungeons somehow outclass Lab Keycard rewards. I understand that they are not the same thing, but I have over 800 hours this season, not once have I found a Lab Keycard. Good thing I opened the Lab keyroom just before it got nerfed.
5. Due to all the end-game content being around the north-western part of Crescent Falls, the south-eastern part of the map is empty. The only people I ever find there are either white gear guys questing, or cheaters who ape for my brute that ran from Starport Warehouse.
6. Matchmaking is still not fixed. I still get trios in my Crescent Falls/Tharis raids despite being a solo. (I literally see their drops, no they are not teaming)
7. Before the patch, I had to forge around ~125x before completing the 10 Slags I need for Badum. After the patch, I have managed to get 5 slags in less than 20 forges, and got 2 slags back to back just a few raids ago. The drop rate may be slightly higher than intended, but the sample size of my personal experience may not reflect the actual statistics.
8. Tharis is dead. As someone who actually enjoys Tharis Island, it's frustrating to have my favorite map nerfed to the ground that no one ever comes there anymore except for some white gear warriors looking for a comeup or just mining Tharis Iron, or those who are there to farm slags. It's a shame, because currently, Tharis is the only map that is actually almost free of any cheaters because of the level requirement to unlock the map in the first place(Most cheaters get banned before unlocking it, and the cheaters that actually play on Tharis are most likely retail cheaters meaning they are legit players but decided they needed an edge to play the game)
9. I've been randomly getting disconnected from the raid, with my gear just vanishing, then immediately dropping back into the same raid naked. Sometimes, this happens over and over again, until I can find respite from a stranger who mercy kills me or until I exit to station which I usually do.

Now what exactly can be done about the game? I will enumerate suggestions that directly mirror the points that I have made above.
​

1. The end game loop is absolutely terrible (wow, 103,127th time this has been said on the sub, i know). The game is absolutely in need of some content especially for end game players. PvPing is absolutely the only real thing that can be done, and while that is fun, why not just play other shooters that go straight to the point like Apex? Jobs are mostly tedious and annoying to do, and it does need either an update or a rework. A global leaderboard would also be cool, as we saw several people actually playing the game just to get on the howlerbuster boards.
2. The money cap seems like a band-aid solution to a bigger problem. With the current economy of increased ammo and repair costs, more items added into the item pool, and no more permanent insurance, below average players are having a hard time keeping a steady economy in the station whereas successful players still are successful. I personally never really had a hard time hitting the money cap over and over again, the harder thing to do is actually keep my stash from overflowing. I thought the approach to season 3 was to make it easier for newer players to get into but the current system hard gatekeeps casuals while barely doing anything to sweats. Something they could do is just to add a high-roller lobby where you cannot insure gear, and the lobbies cost Kmarks to drop into or even aurum, and is locked with gear requirement so you know you will be fighting people in gear. This also means that if you die, you do not get anything back, and that what you paid for to get into the raid is also gone. (An immediate effect of this implementation might be that we would get almost empty lobbies in regular and high roller instances due to the players being further split into separate buckets but this change alone would bring back so many of the sweats who stopped playing the game back, and the casuals could actually just finish their quests)
3. Nothing to say about cheaters really, but a few hours into the patch, guys were flying everywhere once again despite " 3.4.0 containing various backend improvements and tweaks to the anti-cheat formula and Yager adding new systems to the game to help detect and prevent the kinds of cheats we have found to be the most common ". I understand that 10 devs vs 1000 cheat makers is a tough battle, but certain measures to make reporting and banning cheaters can be done. Adding a death cam that can only be played after either the whole squad is dead, or the enemy squad is dead is one thing that can be doable, many other games have this feature. And before anyone starts going, "well, you can't do this because you can drop in the same lobby if you drop back down again and now you know where the enemy is", just make it so that players have a 15-minute cooldown per instance of the map which aligns with the time it takes for gear to despawn. That way, even the information you receive from the death cam is irrelevant 15 minutes later, and is only really useful for reviewing deaths and as evidence for cheating. Sure, you can get a lucky 5-headshot beam with a Kor on someone but 12x in a row in the same raid? That's an easy ban if anything.
4. Key rooms are massively underwhelming right now. Community Room? Here's a green creature mod for your smg. What's that purple keycard you got there? - Oh, it's an Overgrown Keycard. That's 3 Circuit Boards, 21 Basic Light Ammo, and a white backpack. I've gotten 5,000 Overseers Office Keycards, but 1 Basecamp Armory Key, please explain how this is possible? Back in Season 1, key rooms were heavily utilized(as they should). Base Camp Luggage Room was always open, so was Armory in Jungle. Garage in Greens? Good luck. Hell, even Community Room was worth the trek because Loose House was there as well. I've since sold all my keycards early into the season as I have found it utterly useless and I have better luck picking up high tier weapons and armor just running around Tharis Island. Something clearly should be done here, the Lab Keycard during the start of Season 3 was perfect - it was hard to get up there, it's an extremely rare card, and it can be only used once. The loot was god tier, but that's assuming you can evac with it. And almost everyone only really got one shot at opening it, but I suppose that was too good because now all you ever really get is 3 PKR Maelstroms and a blue set. Sidenote: Puzzle Rooms are also really bad. They really are only for the reactors, and the weapon crate is a bonus, but the process of completing the puzzle, especially solo, is way too much of an ask for so little of a reward. The only puzzle really worth doing is the one by greens prospect since it can be done solo in 15 seconds, but even then you get shot as soon as you start doing it.
5. South-eastern side of the map of Crescent should get some love. Add something there that would actually make players want to go there, or at least make them decide which side of the map they should go to. As of now, all the high-gear players go Warehouse/Pinnacle due to the large open areas which make it ideal for fights, versus the thick jungles of Favela that has dense foliage and full of cliffs where you die if you slip off of. Sure missions take you there, but everyone eventually completes their missions and its off to Pinnacle most of the time from hereon out. Buffing Community Key will not pull players there since keys are single use, and I understand the dungeon is there but let's face it, not many people enjoy doing the dungeon in the first place, be it easy as it was back then or how it is now.
6. Fix matchmaking. That is all. Please.
7. Whatever this is, keep it the way it is. Don't find out oh, the drop rate was increased to 30% instead of increasing it by 3% and reverting it back.
8. Add gear lock to Tharis. That's it, plain and simple. There should be some risk to Tharis, and on the opposite side of the stick, there should also be reward. What is the point of ammo being more expensive, repairs being more expensive, money being harder to keep, if I can just keep dropping back in to Tharis with just a white backpack, mine for 5 minutes and evac with 30-50k worth of Kmarks in Tharis Iron? Imagine doing that for an hour, that's an easy 300k right there. Just about the same amount you get from completing a letium drill, but with no investment, no risk, just sacrificing your sanity for the sake of money. As it stands, in order to add 5% less fauna damage and 5% less damage from storm strikes to my shield and stamina regen during storm on my backpack, I have to fight 6 free loadouts ratting in and around Tharis without gaining anything yet risking everything.
9. I understand ping limit, server issues, yada yada yada. Just make it so if you go poof, let our teammates pick our shit up. PLEASE GODDAMNIT. This is so dumb. I've lost countless loadouts to this dumb mechanic of being booted out of the raid, and now just to add insult to injury I get dropped back in but naked over and over again. What spaghetti code is this where you fix one thing and 12 other things become broken. Just please drop our shit, let some rando pick it up and have a nice feeling picking up a kor and purple set. I don't care. JUST DROP OUR SHIT PLEASE and thank you.

Hi everyone.
To Kill a Predator is a work of fan fiction set in the Nature of Predators universe originally created by SpacePaladin15 whose Patreon you should subscribe to.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Depiction does not equal endorsement.
Hope you enjoy it!
[First] [Previous]
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Memory transcription subject: Martin Russo, Human Refugee
Date [standardized human time]: January 10th, 2137
​
Without the girls, life settles into a boring rut. I talk to them as much as I can on the pad, but they’re busy on Earth, hitting the ground running.
There’s been a lot of ground to cover before they’re caught up to where everyone else will be, particularly for Vilek. She’s often had to pull double-claws of studying, working her fluffy ass off to gain a baseline understanding of psychology in record time. Thiva’s classes on VP by contrast have prepared her well for humanity’s relatively simple technology.
That, and they’ve had to get used to Earth. Earth food, Earth culture, and a planet full of omnivores with forward-facing eyes. I’ve been doing what little I can to help coach and encourage them.
For my own part I’ve been restless. Given that I’m not able to look for a job yet, that physical therapy kicks my ass every other paw, and that I’ve got nothing to do other than look forward to a half-hour of chatting with my friends… I’ve started up on software again. It’s something I can do even while laying prone. Particularly since I have a way to write without using my hands.
What do I do with that, anyway? I can read minds. I can even use the raw data from a full brain scan to extract memories. There’s got to be something useful to do with this. It’s practically the only part of this entire debacle I haven’t bothered telling the UN about.
Honestly after what I’ve been through, I can’t imagine trusting them, or the Venlil government, with this. Bastards would be prosecuting thought-crime by the end of the week.
​
Jarkim’s opened his business a couple of weeks back. Without an actual office, since he plans to simply operate out of Slavik’s farm. As I understand they tolerate it as long as he also helps out in return for food and board. I hope the arrangement works out for the both of them.
I gave Jarkim some help with his online presence. He wasn’t initially sure about the black and white picture of him in a fedora and a tie, or about the business name “Jarkim Krakotl, Private Eye”. But as soon as humans heard about Venlil Prime’s only Krakotl detective they’ve ended up coming to him with their problems.
He sent me a picture of his first solved case, some runaway kid who got lost and reunited with her mother. He was still wearing the hat. No tie, though.
​
Today is my paw off from Chasa’s torments, and it coincides with the launch of another exciting new business venture. So I take the time to visit Mosun.
“Hey Martin! Hold on a minute!” I see the Yotul wrangling a bunch of foam mats around the large, empty room. And its wall-length mirror. Fittingly the place look like the midway point between a dance studio and a martial arts dojo, except for the soft and spongy floor. It’s meant to safeguard against falls.
I glance around the room while he huffs and plops the last few ones down. There’s perhaps thirty-five or forty foam mats scattered on the floor. “So are you being optimistic, or did you get a good reception?”
He looks at me, bouncing with excitement. Though his ears signal a bit of nervousness. “Five Yotul have signed up so far! That’s almost half the Yotul in the entire town! And almost twenty humans! Hanya’s bringing a couple of Gojid friends too, and we’ve got a few Venlil coming along with their humans… Oh, and an Iftali, that was a surprise. Honestly I may be a little in over my head here; I’ve never taught crowds before! I’m not even sure how much will translate across species!”
“So you’ll be learning on the job. I have complete faith in you. Are the Exterminators going to give you any trouble?”
He barks a laugh. “Hah! No, Jarkim had a talk with the magister. I got permission from Vaska’s office to teach the classes in the name of cultural preservation, so those motherfuckers can’t touch me!”
I laugh as well. “You might need to censor your language a bit as a teacher.”
“Combat Dancing is about honesty and expression, Martin. If I can’t live it, how am I supposed to teach it?”
Well, he got me there. “Anything I can do to help?”
He glances at me, his voice gets a little uncomfortable. “Um, I don’t know. Can you carry heavy stuff right now?”
I shrug. “Probably not, no.”
“Then I’ll be fine. You’re not interested in taking the class?”
​
“I think my dancing days are over, for the foreseeable future.” I wryly lift my cane and wave it as a small reminder. It’s wood, and I’m quite fond of it. Chasa found a Venlil craftsman who wanted to be the first to make one for a human, and he made it out of the wood of some kind of tree called Lampan. The color reminds me of mahogany.
His ears droop a bit. “Ah yeah. How permanent is that looking?”
I shrug. “Finger dexterity on the right hand’s likely never going to be the same, but I’ll be able to play video games. Left arm should recover enough for daily use. Leg should get a full range of motion, but I won’t be going jogging. Thankfully I look dignified with a cane.”
He wags his tail teasingly and cocks his head as he regards me. “Do you? …Must be a human thing.”
“Piss off. Mind if I sit in on the class?”
“Of course not!”
Turns out first class of Yotul Combat Dancing is a quick demonstration, and then Mosun talking to the quite large and varied crowd. He talks about the history and cultural significance of Combat Dances to the Yotul, the philosophical underpinnings of the artform, and the mentality to be cultivated in practitioners.
Everyone is listening with rapt attention, and a few of the humans are even taking notes. When he opens the floor for questions, a Venlil asks “Isn’t this an expression of Predator Disease?”
To which Mosun answers “No. Next question?”
Which is honestly as much of a response as that warrants.
I talk with Hanya briefly after the class. She says that she’s been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and that human therapy is helping her out. She even talks excitedly about piloting shuttles again, someday soon. I’m glad for her.
​
Once I get back to the house, there’s a man in a suit waiting for me. He’s tall, bald, and has very dark skin. I don’t recognize him. He extends his hand toward me, and I shake it. He speaks English with an African accent, instead of letting the translator handle it. I’d guess western Africa, but I’m hardly an expert. “Bamidele Adeyemi.”
“Martin Russo. Can I help you?”
He indicates the door. “May I come in?”
“Sure. My Venlil hosts aren’t home right now.”
“Of course.”
Once he’s been let in, and I’ve given him something to drink, I wait patiently for him to explain his presence.
“I am the UN liason to the district magister’s office.”
I keep my tone neutral and politely curious. “What happened to Robert McGinley?”
He keeps his tone neutral too, but friendly. He smiles at me. “It was decided that he should be replaced.”
Oh no. Anyway. “Alright. But… No offense mister Adeyemi, but why are you here?”
​
He takes out a pad. “I have some documents that the UN and the District Magister would like you to sign.”
I sigh inwardly and make a quite heroic effort to not sigh outwardly. I look at the pad briefly anyway. As I expected, it’s about making myself legally liable should I speak up about what I’ve gone through. “I’m afraid you are wasting your time. McGinley told me to sign papers like this too, and I told him ‘no’.”
He nods, entirely unsurprised. “I understand you signed similar documents over a smaller… altercation with the Exterminators. Why the difference of response, if I may ask?”
“Because the first time he threatened to have me thrown out of the refugee center if I didn’t.”
Bamidele’s eyes widen briefly. “I see. That does explain why you told him to ‘fuck off’.”
“Yes.” I pause briefly. “…You’ve been polite enough that I don’t want to use the same language. But.”
He laughs briefly. “Haha, yes, I understand. Different circumstances, yes? My predecessor tried the stick. I am here to try the carrot. So tell me, mister Russo, what will it take for you to sign?”
“There’s nothing that…” I pause.
I sit down. I’m briefly quiet. I miss my friends so goddamn much. I swallow, mouth feeling dry as I tentatively reach for the proffered lifeline. “I… hear Sweden’s lovely this time of year.”
He flashes his teeth at me in a broad smile and chuckles pleasantly. “Hehe, I thought you might say that. But… You do realize it is January?”
​
​
Date [standardized human time]: January 12th, 2137
​
The thought of leaving this wretched planet and its wretched food and its wretched government and its wretched ever-present sun makes me feel like I’m already back in Earth’s lighter gravity.
I ended up paying Chasa back for all the pain and suffering she inflicted on me: The largest gift basket I could find online, filled with fruits, candies, and preserves of both Zurulian and human origin.
When I wake up at the start of the paw, my arch-nemesis has sent me two pictures. The first one is a schedule to keep for the next couple of months. In the second picture she’s put pillows and blankets in the basket and is using it as a bed, a paw raised in goodbye.
If the medi-teddies ever learn to weaponize their cuteness, humanity is in real trouble.
Packing is easy. I don’t have a lot. A band shirt from when I went to see ‘Where Angels Fear’, a few bad sketches of fruit, my dad's chess set, my pad, and a neural scanner.
​
Date [standardized human time]: January 13th, 2137
​
The space flight actually lands directly in Sweden, somewhere north of the polar circle at a place called Esrange. I immediately realize that winter’s back on the menu, as the cold makes my left leg and arm ache like hell. It’s the dead of night, too… But I’ve missed night. So has everyone else, as despite the cold people are walking straight out into the snow to just stare up into the starry sky and stare in open awe at the sky, where the stars form a backdrop for the northern lights. I join them.
A poetic whimsy falls over me, making me grin at the cheesiness. It’s like the sky itself is welcoming us back home.
From Esrange we take cars to Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost city. From there it’s a long train ride south. I’ve gotten a sleeper cabin. With the generous stipend from the UN, I have no need to scrimp.
Even so, it takes significantly longer to travel 1400 kilometers across Sweden than it did to travel 16 light-years from Gliese 832. I’ve got almost twenty hours to appreciate the irony.
​
Date [standardized human time]: January 14th, 2137
​
I’m met at the train station in Lund by a man holding a sign with my name on it. His car takes me directly to the university. Everything feels very… ordinary, except I’m a bit dazed at having so many humans around me again.
We arrive a little before 8 in the morning. Excited students scurry to and fro, eager and hopeful for the first day of spring term. The driver is named Markus, and very kindly helps me find my way to my meeting. I’m left outside a door, standing around awkwardly.
The man I’m meeting with is Jonas Falck, and he’s the head of the department of computer science. While the UN has ‘encouraged’ the university to take me in despite it being so close to the term start, the decision remains with him.
I really wanted to see the girls first, but the meeting time was set for me. I desperately wish I had thought to shave beforehand. I’ve been using my beard to hide my weak chin, but it probably looks more unprofessional than-
“Hey, are you Martin Russo?”
Ah, I see.
Mister Falck is holding two cups of coffee and offers one of them to me with a smile. He’s got a full beard, a full belly, hair past his shoulders, and a pink hawaiian shirt to go with his khaki shorts and flip-flops. This man is clearly one of the most talented professionals working in the field today.
​
“So, do you mind if I ask…” He motions to my cane while I take a seat.
“How that happened?”
“Yes.”
“That’s classified. I’m not even joking.”
He nods once, like that was more or less what he expected to hear. He leans back in his chair, which creaks a bit, and takes a slow drink from his coffee while reading on his computer. “So you studied at Columbia University before the Bombing?”
“Yes.”
“And your family lived in New York?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He doesn’t say it unkindly, but he does say it as rote. ‘Oh you’re from one of the places that doesn’t exist anymore? Sorry to hear that.’
I nod awkwardly. “Yes.”
“And you were focusing on studying brain-computer interfacing?”
I feel like a recording. “Yes.”
“It’s very uncommon to add a student this late. The term begins today.”
“Yes.”
“We can’t provide housing for you on such a short notice, for one.”
“I have that handled, sir.”
He scrunches his face up. “Jonas, please. Americans are so formal.”
“Alright, er, Jonas.”
“So, Martin, what I’m asking for is a reason. To take you in right now, I mean, instead of next year.”
I nod. This is thankfully something I had planned for. My hand slips into my pocket, fingering the box holding the scanner electrodes. “Well, Jonas… I think there’s something you should take a look at.”
​
Handling paperwork and basic orientation takes most of the morning. I manage to get morning-and-evening classes to share my time off with the lambchops. That only works because most people don’t want evening classes. Evenings are for partying if you’re a student, so late classes are mostly for adults with jobs.
I end up standing around nervously by the entrance to the university building, counting down the time. I watch people passing by as calmly as I can, still checking my pad every minute or so for any messages and jerking my head around like a bird at anything that’s even a bit of a shade of gray.
I can tell the alien girls are coming even before I see them, since everyone is glancing curiously their way. I straighten my back and shift my weight from foot to foot. I feel like a dog at an airport, waiting for the return of its owner.
They’re looking around as I see them, and Thiva’s the first to spot me. Her ears perk up and Vilek immediately looks to me as well. As they speed up into a sprint, I’m a bit surprised to see them both wearing clothes. Both girls are wearing custom boots made to fit their digitigrade legs.
They’re both wearing coveralls, Vilek’s in a hospital teal and Thiva’s in a bright red. It’s been explained to me that many at the university have a student culture of wearing colorful coveralls that they decorate with patches, called ‘Ovve’, and that Thiva’s red marks her as a mechanical engineering student. Vileks’s teal, presumably, mark her as studying healthcare. Or specifically therapy, perhaps. I need to look it up.
Seeing as computer science students are apparently expected to wear pink ones, I’m thinking I might sit out this grand and colorful tradition. On the other hand according to the Internet it’s an informal rule to cut a bit from the ‘Ovve’ of anyone you’ve exchanged body fluids with and patch it onto your own. So I suppose I could be convinced.
The girls collide with me, thankfully gently. Their tails are wagging like crazy out of the back of their outfits, and they’re clinging to me. I inhale deeply, take in the distinct and pleasant scent of my cute Venlil friends, and cling to them as well. My fingers stroke through their thick fur, and I hear their happy wordless bleating and whistling.
I close my eyes and enjoy the moment, not giving one whit for the passersby watching the scene.
“Oh, girls, I-” Vilek punches me in the arm unexpectedly. The right one, thankfully.
“Ow!”
Even though her ears signal joy and her tail is wagging, her voice is still stern. “We learned what ‘lambchops’ means!”
Ah.
​
The student flat isn’t very expansive, but it’s larger than the one we shared on Venlil Prime. Probably because humans are just plain larger.
It’s currently sparsely furnished. There’s a couple of desks, a couch, a table, a beanbag chair, and a bunk bed. I take my shoes off in the hallway, as the girls do. When in Lund.
They help me unpack. There’s not a lot, but they had already set aside a little corner for me. I’ve got the beanbag chair instead of a desk, which I’m perfectly fine with.
I sigh and lean against a wall briefly. “I’m… so glad to be home.”
Thiva turns her head a little, flicking an ear in question. “You missed being on Earth?”
I chuckle, and pinch her ear-tip lightly. I lean over to give Vilek one too, for fairness. It earns me a pair of bleeps from them, and I go on the offensive to rub their heads and scratch their ears and do everything I can to make the lambchops squeal happily. They thankfully oblige. “I missed being with my herd.”
My friends are safe, they’re here with me, and we all have paths forward. I’ve fought and bled for this opportunity. I’m allowed to enjoy it.
I sit down on the couch with a quiet groan of satisfaction, finally getting to put my cane aside. “So, girls… how are you feeling about Earth so far?”
They grumble immediately. “It is so freaking cold!” “Snow! We do not like the snow!”
“It’s only for another couple of… Months.” They’re undressing right in front of me. I am left briefly stunned.
Oh right they don’t normally wear clothes.
Reminding myself of that doesn’t help. The context is what it is. They’re my best friends and my two favorite girls and they’re stripping naked before me.
My brain fails me. “…Okay, so, uhh. Um. Hmmh. Huh.”
Mother of God there’s nothing different! They’re naked. They’re always naked! It hasn’t been a problem on VP, it won’t be a problem here! Man up!
I take a deep and steadying breath and resolutely refuse to think of patches of white and red on a set of pink coveralls, with pink patches on their matching ones.
“I guess we should… buy some food? And some clothes for me to use? And…”
And they turn their heads toward me, staring at me with one eye each. Side by side. Making me feel like I'm being stared down by a single creature. One with forward-facing eyes. And an orange blush.
They take slow steps closer. Thiva speaks first with an amused lilt to her voice. “Or maybe this is a good time to talk. You know, about the house rules.”
Vilek speaks as well, moving her tail sinuously in a teasing motion. “Relationship statuses.”
Thiva comes in with the finisher, practically purring. “Sleeping arrangements.”
Ah.
​
---
And that's the end! Thank you all so much for reading, and check the comments for a small request from yours truly!
[First] [Previous]

Hi, I just got a prebuilt with

• N7 B550
• Ryzen 7 5800x
• Gigabyte RTX 3080
• WD Blue SN570 1TB m.2
• Team T Force Vulcan Z 32GB (2x16GB) 3200mhz

I tried turning it on and all the components colours light up but theres no display whatsoever. The motherboard has the BOOT debug LED lit up.
I tried - CMOS reset - HDMI and DP cables - reseating the SSD - using a different slot for the SSD
to no available.
Booting up without the SSD has the same output. So i’m not sure. I tried booting up without my GPU but the motherboard auto shuts down or something? Usually it stays lit up, with the power and reset button lit up and the BOOT debug. But when I start without a GPU all the motherboards switch off (even the power and reset).
I’ve never built a PC before and expected this to work out of the box, but not sure what to do. Support barely helped me yesterday and they’re off on weekends. I’d appreciate any help.

Hey there, fellow reddutointerested club seeker!
So...you're looking for a club? Well fear not, coz the best choice (clearly no bias) is Void Fortune!
But why you may ask?
Well;
• We are a LEGENDARY III club very likely promoting to MASTERS this club league week.
• We have members from all around the WORLD, from every major continent. We make sure that you will get a team that suits your Timezone and your Server Region.
• We are very active with a good amount of CORE TEAMs of 3 who put in the work for club league. Every. Single. Time. Actually we really love teams of 3 but more info on that in the requirements section.
• we have a sizeable DISCORD server (150+ members) where we coordinate club league and just chat about life ya know? We also have some server events every now and then.
These are our perks, but we are looking for a SPECIAL kind of player. One who:
• is preferably 30k or more
• non toxic and friendly
• club league focused
AND if possible, if you can bring in 2 other friends (ie. Join together as a team who already plays cl together) it will be even better and we can look below the given trophy requirement,
We are club league focused but we also know people have lives ( I wouldn't know ) so we are very flexible with allowing day offs, etc. Just let us know or ya getting the boot! Ofc you can't do this all the time so every once in a while.
And we'll that's that! Here's our discord server: https://discord.gg/rCqcZEHpvM
If you have any questions or interested in joining let us know in the comment threads.
And REMINDER that those who join in TEAMS OF 3 are MOST preferable and can therefore be under the trophy limit of 30K.
Do yourself a favour and join Void Fortune! Have a good day!

I’d probably drop that from the sub description ASAP.
Not that I disagree that this is the place to keep up with Ben and Emil, the new project etc., but I assume TMG owns the Trillionaire Mindset brand and the TMG staff have just been booted from the moderation team.
I don’t know how Reddit’s rules work but I would assume that there would be some recourse for TMG staff to gain access to the sub given as it’s labelled as an official source of their IP.
Just don’t want Ben and Emil to get fucked over and lose their direct channel to 5k+ Emillionaires and Bencels

I have absolutely had it with the absurd amount of smurfs and scripters in this game. It is ridiculous. Almost every other game I have had to fight or be teamed with a smurf or scripter. Mind you, it isn't fun to be on a team WITH them either because you just steamroll the enemy team and it's a <=20 minute match that's a waste of time because you learned nothing and didn't get to do anything anyways
7194439647 The axe is scripting; he has multiple bans on his account. The Clinkz is also scripting, and also has at least 1 VAC ban on his account.
7190542253 In this match as well the Clinkz is a smurf. 70% winrate, <500 games, private profile, offline as of the moment I'm posting this, and his friends are much higher mmr, you know the drill.
7194498438 In this match the Storm Spirit is either scripting (he dodges my waveform before it even comes out) or smurfing/using an alternate account. 78 games and yet his match history is private and he has one friend.
It is ridiculous that I have even 2 games in the past 3 days in which I'm forced to play with people who shouldn't even have access to steam. I'm going to keep playing because I enjoy the game, but Valve has done next to nothing about the sheer number of alt. account users and scripters. I don't have enough reports so I will be posting them here from now on. I'm not excusing my own plays in these games, mind you. I'm bad, tilt easily, etc. etc.
Over the last few days I got a little bit better but racked up 5 reports somehow (the day after I went 2-1 and solocarried a game) even though I'm in anonymous mode and only communicate with the chatwheel. I won't lie and tell you I'm "10k supermax good boy behavior score" either, because I'm not.
However, using alternate accounts, scripting, smurfing... these are not "bad behavior", these are cheating and should result in bans.

SERVER IP: PLAY.SPONGECRAFT.NET

What is SpongeCraft? * Towny & Resource World - One with Towny claims and another where you can destroy to your hearts desire with custom generated terrain and villages * Toggleable keep inventory with a small death tax if on * Slimefun plugin with many addons that adds machines and automation, magical items, spaceexploration, cooking, more provided by custom additions. * Custom enchantments and relics to upgrade your items * Shop at player shops, auction houses, or the server shop to acquire any goods you need * Fun things to do when you're bored such as events, parkour, and other minigames * EliteMobs dungeons, bosses, and custom items * Unique ranking system with personalized perks * Many fun cosmetics that can be acquired without purchasing * Jobs with awesome, custom level-up perks * Survival and vote crates (Every crate can be acquired without paying!) * A friendly, inclusive community and staff team that will help you with any of your needs
ABOUT US: With a community rooted from over 6 years back, SpongeCraft is a close knit and active group of people that offers an experience like no other! We welcomes people of all ages, backgrounds, and interests, so you're sure to meet many new friends. SpongeCraft is a friendly, mature SMP type server with many unique perks and plugins you'll love and enjoy with a large focus on the community!
Our server has a big focus on the building, community, and on working on projects together. Players can quickly teleport between builds, towns, shops, and worlds. This means, that we have an active discord with people always willing to chat and keep inventory that can be toggled on or off with a death tax if kept on. We always try to keep the community updated on any changes, and ask for the community's opinions on potential changes.
We host events fairly often, with everyone participating winning in-game prizes, and the winners even winning gift cards sometimes. Some of our players have hosted events themselves in-game such as a Secret Santa and an Easter egg hunt.
Rules * No griefing, trolling or ruining gameplay for others. * No hacking or abusing unfair advantages. * We try to be a server that's for everyone, so please keep it PG-13!
Important Links:
IP: PLAY.SPONGECRAFT.NET
DISCORD: https://discord.gg/wSKTsdwhsK
DYNMAP: map.spongecraft.net

I can't believe it.
So a No Somniel run pretty much means that during the run, all activities that are done in the Somniel are banned. There are several combat-related implications of this - no refining weapons (no early strong weapons like a Levin Sword until Ch. 11 for example and can only use base weapons), no engravings, no Bond Rings, no cooking, no activities, no Well, and no Arena. The early Steel weapons that you get upon going to the Somniel from an update are banned as well as the Heroes rewards (the Bond Rings and the weapons, Folkvangr, Fensalir, and Noatun). No Arena means that leveling up the bond rank of Emblems on each character will have to be done in the maps themselves and skill inherits are impossible. Reclassing is still possible, but more difficult now that you have to level up bond ranks in maps and because weapon proficiencies past bond rank 5 will need at least two maps with the Emblem Ring. No DLC either, but that doesn't impact me since I don't have it anyway. And while it's not a Somniel activity, I didn't have Network Connection enabled for the weapon drops, EXP, and other small benefits scattered on a map. I had finished a normal Ironman run with no big issues (one death, RIP Louis), but I went into this run fully expecting to lose it. An Ironman means no using the Draconic Time Crystal, so no rewinding my mistakes and every input I make is final. If a character dies because of my poor decisions or they get crit by the enemy, they remain dead.
Run casualties:

• Chloe: Died in Ch. 6. Fog of war claimed another life. Chloe got hit by an axe fighter and a thief that I didn't have vision of. It was entirely my mistake to overextend with her when I could've just played it safe. I was going to use Chloe this run as an early carry before likely transitioning her to a more support based role if her combat couldn't keep up.
  
• Yunaka: Died in Ch. 8. Overall, I think Chloe's death kinda snowballed the deaths in Ch. 8. Going into this chapter, I lost a character that was going to be one of my early carries. Lapis was Chloe's replacement, but I needed to get staff proficiency on her just in case I was going to pivot her to a support later (especially since I can't get staff proficiency for a long time after Ch. 10). Lapis therefore had to have Micaiah for several maps and I tried to continue using Marth on Alear on Ch. 8 instead as a carry. However, because of my poor timing of Engage attacks and just being badly positioned because I was unprepared for when Kagetsu and Zelkov started moving, I got myself in a situation that required me to hit a 65% to defeat Kagetsu. Missed the 65% and Yunaka died to him.
  
• Framme: Died in Ch. 8. I didn't have Lodestar Rush or enough power in general to take down Ivy in one turn. But I had to start taking down her health bars eventually otherwise I would have game over'ed since enemies would've reached the target point. As such, almost all of my units were in range of Ivy at that point and she had free reign to choose whoever she wanted to kill. In the end, she chose to Killer Axe crit Framme to death (Framme would've died even without the crit).
  
• Celine: Died in Ch. 10. I'm really mad at myself for this death because Celine died on turn one. I calculated how much damage she would take from the armor and pegasus knight on the left if they both hit her and concluded if Celine was next to Alear, she would live at 1 HP. Well, she didn't live at 1 HP because I didn't account for the Resonance damage from having Celica on her. And of course both the armor and pegasus knight hit their 50% attacks. Celine was my only early game carry because Chloe had died. And now she was dead on turn one of a difficult 2-part map.
  
• Diamant: Died in Ch. 10. Got frozen by Hortensia and I couldn't get in range to Restore him without risking Alear's death to Hortensia's Dragon effective Luin. However, I did forget to have him equip a lighter weapon and because he had the armorslayer equipped, he got doubled by Hortensia and died. I don't fully remember if he could've lived if he wasn't doubled by Hortensia (because there were other enemies around him), but I'm still frustrated at myself for letting that happen. I don't know if it's just me, but I always have trouble with taking down Hortensia in this chapter; on my normal Ironman run, I had to resort to freezing her due to a lucky early Freeze staff from the Well, but alas, no such resources like that exist in a No Somniel run.
  

RIP Chloe, Yunaka, Framme, Celine, and Diamant.
The Final Team:
Some quick notes - the screenshot on the top has HP tonics already applied to everyone so subtract 5 if you want to see their true HP. That was the first thing I did when I went into the final map and then thought maybe I should screenshot everyone. The screenshot on the bottom has everyone with their Emblem Rings and full tonics applied to them.

• Martial Master Alear (Lucina): I really like support Alear and having them as the Bonded Shielder has worked wonders in my previous playthroughs. I figured that I would need Alear's +3 flat damage for my carries and since they support everyone in the cast, they provide +10 hit for free as well. I chose to go with Martial Master Alear because my combat carries were going to be in several different class types and I wanted the flexibility to have 100% activation rate on Bonded Shield for all of them if the need arises. I also really like Chain Guard. As such, in early game, I fed Alear experience through Mercurius farming and then gave them Micaiah to get staff proficiency and to farm via Great Sacrifice. By Ch. 11, Alear was a Griffin Knight because I believe having Alear in a flying class in Ch. 11 is invaluable so you can quickly reach the point on the map to trigger Ivy, Zelkov, and Kagetsu to join you before you get overwhelmed by Corrupted with Emblems. After staying a few more chapters in Griffin (until I could give Alear Lucina after getting sword proficiency off of her on another character), Alear became a Martial Master and mainly Bonded Shielded or Chain Guarded. Not being able to Micaiah Engrave a Shielding Art to drive enemy hit rates close to 0% meant that I had to be more cognizant of where I used Bonded Shield. The enemy AI mostly decides which character to attack based on expected damage (combination of actual damage they'll do in a round of combat, how likely it is they'll hit, and their crit chance on you is also factored in). So when Bonded Shielding, I had to make sure that Alear was not going to get targeted and if they were, that they were not going to get killed from it. As such, it wasn't as simple as plop two units down and go to town deleting enemies, but it was still really strong nonetheless.

Stat Boosters: One Boots, one Seraph Robe, one Speedwing, three Dracoshields, three Talismans, two Goddess Icons

• Wyvern Knight Amber (Lyn): For Amber, I was particularly cognizant of the fact that in my previous normal Ironman run, he sometimes had 90% hit rates in the endgame despite having a +hit rate engraving on his lances. That's why I decided to go with sword/lance Wyvern instead of axe/lance Wyvern even though it would've been easier to get axe proficiency on him (axe proficiency is at bond rank 2 on Leif while any sword proficiency requires at least bond rank 6, which means at least two maps worth of using a specific Emblem vs. just one). That decision really paid off. Amber was mostly using swords throughout the midgame of this playthrough because he wasn't getting 90%+ hit on lances even while I was activating his personal for +20 hit. I can only imagine his hit rates while using axes... it just spells disaster if a crucial attack misses in an Ironman (Yunaka's death...). If I saw Amber's hit rate really going into the gutter by the endgame, I was prepared to have him switch to Sniper and just kill fliers, but that never ended up happening especially after I used all my Secret Books on him (none of my other combat characters could use them since many of them capped dex and for those that didn't, they were accurate anyway). Amber remained good throughout even though by endgame, he rarely one-rounded enemies.

Stat Boosters: One Energy Drop, three Secret Books, one Speedwing

• Warrior Kagetsu (Roy): I had my sights set on getting Kagetsu into Warrior despite Wyvern being easier to reclass into and still a strong class for him because I felt I needed the absolute best out of my units to get through this run (and I believe Warrior is Kagetsu's best class). Getting him into Warrior was a bit of an endeavor, but having to delegate an Emblem to Kagetsu wasn't going to make the game harder; on the contrary, it likely made things easier because Kagetsu is such a strong unit to start with. Kagetsu immediately got Lyn for Ch. 12 and 13 to get bow proficiency. This worked out for me in a lot of ways because Ch. 12 is an easy chapter so Emblem allocation isn't that important to get through the map. Plus, Lyn on Kagetsu for Ch. 12 doubles the Wolf Knights once you get two Speedtaker stacks so I found it quite nice having Lyn on him. And my strategy for Ch. 13 always involved Lyn on Kagetsu (see my chapter thoughts in the comments) anyway. Now, he's got bow proficiency just in time for Ch. 14, where Ike immediately goes on Kagetsu to get axe proficiency. And soon after, he's a Warrior and just snowballed from there. I was initially a bit worried about using axes at all in this playthrough considering their low base hit rates (I was prepared to pivot Kagetsu into Wyvern and have him use swords if I needed to), but Kagetsu had 100% hit rate with a Silver Axe often. His Longbow was accurate too (same base hit rate as Silver Axe). Overall, Kagetsu snowballed hard. And when I got Roy on him, and eventually the Binding Blade unlocked, he could clear entire groups of enemies by himself (cleared the entire top lane of Ch. 24 himself with just a healer nearby). After this run, I wholeheartedly believe Roy is Kagetsu's best Emblem and it reaffirms my belief that Warrior is Kagetsu's best class. He just hits so hard with axes and doesn't take much damage either. Wyvern's great for Kagetsu, but really, try him in Warrior if you get the chance. He won't need crits to one-round, only a Silver Axe. If he can cleanly one-round a ton of endgame enemies with just a base Silver Axe and no inherits on this kind of challenge run, actually forging a Silver Axe up a bit and maybe giving it an engrave should achieve similar or better results than what I got as I'm pretty sure my Kagetsu is about average strength-wise (+1 strength than average if I calculated correctly, he got two Energy Drops and is overleveled which is why his strength looks astronomical). My Kagetsu was speed screwed (speed and build were lower than average in the midgame) for nearly the entire run because he should've capped speed way before looping and he didn't cap until after looping in Warrior. That actually mattered a few times and it made me really miss having Speed+X on him, but it wasn't something I couldn't work around and he was a powerhouse regardless.

Stat Boosters: One Boots, one Seraph Robe, two Energy Drops

• Mage Knight Pandreo (Marth): After I got Pandreo, I immediately gave him Lucina to get sword proficiency to switch into Mage Knight. He did pretty well in Mage Knight, but it wasn't until after getting partway through Ch. 17 (gave him Eirika so he got bond rank 3 for Bravery at that moment and got the Bolganone that Griss drops), where he really started to snowball. After that, he could consistently one-round a lot of enemies without help until Ch. 20. Unfortunately, that's when his speed cap in Mage Knight caught up and in the endgame, 31 base speed that is not quite enough without a bit of speed boosting from an Emblem considering I cannot inherit Speed+X. In the last couple of chapters, I mostly used Marth (sometimes switched to Eirika) on Pandreo. Marth has some +speed stat boosts innately and can boost damage as well if Engaged via Divine Speed providing an additional attack at 50% damage. Using Marth on a magic unit was something I did before when I played around and used Mage Knight Kagetsu lol It worked well then and it worked well now. This Mage Knight Pandreo's stats besides magic have actually been the least impressive I've had so far. I think his magic is maybe around +2 to +3 above average though (I forget what level I class changed him from High Priest to Mage Knight), which more than makes up for his other stat deficiencies. I'm just surprised he didn't cap dex or resistance by the end of the game when he usually does. Nonetheless, Pandreo was a powerhouse and carried the run like Kagetsu even though I couldn't just send him into a group of enemies without being covered by Bonded Shield and know he'll live whilst taking them all down (unless it's a group of enemies with Great weapons he can double, those are fodder to Pandreo).

Stat Boosters: Three Spirit Dusts

• Warrior Merrin (Eirika): Unlike with Kagetsu, I didn't go through four whole maps of raising bond ranks up for Merrin to change classes. That's because she'll probably end up being able to change into Warrior by Ch. 18 if I did that. Meanwhile, if I just waited until Ch. 17 to get Leif back, I would have Warrior Merrin in time for Ch. 19. It's a one chapter lag for a huge team power difference from Ch. 14 through 17 as one of my stronger units wouldn't be able to use Lyn or Ike. Merrin mostly chipped as a Wolf Knight and even when I got her into Warrior, she still was chipping (occasionally, she would one-shot fliers with the Radiant Bow) because her damage wasn't good enough and she was under the level curve. Plus, her hit rates were shaky for a good amount of time. However, I wanted her to be more so I kept feeding her kills whenever I could and I gave her Eirika after I got Marth back. With Eirika, she could sometimes do some great damage with a Brave Axe (and Eirika's damage boost helped her hit some one-round thresholds with a bow on magical enemies, that's how low her damage output was). But once she got access to Sieglinde, she could finally one-round some endgame enemies due to effective damage.

Stat Boosters: One Speedwing

• Thief Zelkov (Byleth): Bought a Short Knife just for him because I didn't want this unlucky guy to get randomly crit if he faced any combat, but in hindsight with all the luck that Byleth provides, maybe that wasn't necessary. Byleth on a covert gives +5 speed when Instructing and after a Goddess Dance and considering that I cannot inherit Speed+X on my characters, I knew I was going to need the speed buff since the speed thresholds get really high on Maddening. In the end, that speed buff wasn't needed for my primary carries (Kagetsu and Pandreo) until Ch. 20, but after that, it really was needed. Pandreo caps speed in Mage Knight at 31 (so with a speed tonic, Special Dance from Seadall, and Chaos Style activated, Pandreo can only naturally double enemies that are at 34 speed or below) and Kagetsu caps speed in Warrior at 35 (so with a speed tonic, Special Dance from Seadall, and while Engaged with Roy, Kagetsu can only naturally double enemies that are at 38 speed or below). From what I saw, enemy speed can reach up to 44 so that Instruct was absolutely needed so that they could double enemies up to 39 or 43 speed respectively.
  
• Dancer Seadall (Sigurd): I don't think there's much to say about Seadall except that I put Sigurd on him because I only have one Canter to give out and having it on a dancer felt like the most useful. I can't use Override, but that's a small price to pay for the flexibility in positioning for Goddess Dances.
  
• Sage Citrinne (Corrin): Citrinne replaced Celine's role as an early game carry after Celine's death. While she only really had one map to shine (Ch. 11), she really did shine in that map. I luckily had the foresight to get a melee weapon proficiency on Citrinne in case I needed to make her a Mage Knight. I could've promoted her to Sage, but I compared the stats and saw that Mage Knight Citrinne would double a lot of enemies on Ch. 11's map and that's what I needed at the time. Citrinne put in a lot of work that map, immediately one-rounding the first axe fighter (if not for Roy's Hold Out). I had Citrinne stay in Mage Knight for several chapters as she was my best option for a magical carry for some time (Pandreo was stuck in High Priest for several chapters while having Lucina equipped before he can reclass) and her performance was pretty good. If I kept using her for combat and gave her resources like Lyn, I feel she would've turned out great. But in the end, Citrinne reclassed to Sage once I got Corrin because she was one of my few units that could be in a Mystical class (no tome proficiency to work towards either for a long time) and pivoted into a support role after that (which was my intention with Celine once I reached that point). She was great nonetheless. Corrin on a Mystical unit is a tried and true combo that I really like because it means being able to debuff and freeze enemies in place from three range (especially important now that I don't have Canter), and the Fire Dragon Vein is the most useful one imo. In all honesty, I didn't use the Fire Dragon Vein much to ward enemies off. My combat carries were strong enough that I rarely needed it. As such, it was mostly spammed to raise Corrin's bond rank. But it was still great to have that option in my back pocket in case I needed it.
  
• Griffin Knight Lapis: Lapis replaced Chloe, but not as well as Citrinne replaced Celine. I couldn't really use Lapis much in combat because she had to have Micaiah equipped to get staff proficiency in the early game. I think I messed up and didn't focus enough on leveling Lapis's bond rank with Micaiah because she had to keep Micaiah all the way until Ch. 11 to get the proficiency. But tbf to myself, I nearly lost the run on Ch. 8 so leveling up bond rank wasn't on the forefront of my mind. By Ch. 11, there was no real justification I could make to try to make her combat work. As like any other staff user, she did her job.
  
• Cupido Fogado: I was unable to get Fogado off the ground in this playthrough. He was alright up to around when I did Roy's Paralogue as he could still one-shot the Wyverns there with a Radiant Bow even if his hit rates were in the 70s (had to just make sure to have a backup plan if he did miss, which he did a few times); but soon after that, I couldn't consistently find ways to have him contribute and he was left in the dust. I still brought him into the final chapter because maybe some of the chip damage he could do to fliers would help and I felt like I had enough staff users (he actually was helpful in two occasions on the final map!).
  
• Lindwurm Ivy (Ike): I probably would've used Ivy as a carry if not for the fact that she faces crit from nearly every enemy. Her inaccuracy with tomes is a problem as well, but I didn't need her to chip too often. Essentially, no engravings to fix these issues meant she was relegated to staff duty. She did her job and I think throughout this playthrough she had higher offensive staff hit rate (Freeze, Fracture) than Hortensia most of the time, though it wasn't by a significant amount. After midgame, Ike eventually went on Ivy mainly because I have just one source of Reposition (I really missed not being able to put this skill on most of my support units) and I wanted it on a flier.
  
• Slepnir Rider Hortensia (Micaiah): Nothing to really say about this as it's as standard and straightforward as can be. She and Citrinne had held a Surge tome just in case I needed someone with 100% accuracy to finish off an enemy (this did happen a couple of times this playthrough).
  
• Griffin Knight Mauvier (Leif): He's a staff user that can luckily take a few hits because he did need to survive a few in my playthrough. I put Leif on him because Leif wasn't doing much on anyone else after the midgame. But then again, it didn't much on Mauvier either besides being used to Quadruple Strike the Dark Bishop on the final map.
  
• Sage Veyle (Celica): I kinda messed up because I didn't realize Veyle had access to S tomes in her Fell Child class and the main thing I wanted to do was use her with Nova. I could've saved myself the trouble of reclassing, but in the end, it was okay because reclassing to Sage does increase Veyle's offensive stats. I do miss out on the Fell Child class skill (which is quite nice), but getting Celica Engage back is low priority anyway so the trade-off was fine. Since my team lacked a second source of magic damage, Veyle was helpful as someone who can do a lot of damage with magic. She didn't one-round a lot of enemies, but her performance was satisfactory.
  

Stat Boosters: One Seraph Robe, one Speedwing
In comments below, I detail my thoughts on the individual chapters if anyone's interested (starting from Ch. 6 since that's the first chapter where something actually happened and where I also had a clear goal in mind for the map). I never thought I would successfully complete this run so I don't have any screenshots to chronicle events from before Ch. 24-ish (also, I forgot to screenshot too many things). I unfortunately don't remember the exact details of the early/midgame chapters that well anymore, but I tried my best to recall whatever information I could. This is listed by the order I tackled the maps. A full turn count, playtime, and MVP list is here.

My rain barrels are at the corner of my house, my garden beds are about 50' away. For years we have been tag teaming it with two water cans as we sink them in the barrels and trudge back and forth.
We had major problems with slugs until I switched to mulching and using soaker hoses off of the municipal water supply. Overhead watering for whatever reason seems to be something that brings slugs out according to some reading online but I'm not sure how valid that is.
I went to Canadian Tire and bought a 1/2 HP submersible pump, zip tied a pool noodle around the top of a 5gal bucket drilled with holes, and slipped a pair of pantyhose over it as a filter. The submersible pump sits in the bucket which floats on top of the barrel (where the water is clearest), and it feeds from that. I haven't tested it yet because we havent had any rain in ages.
My question is, does anyone with some technical knowledge know if a submersible pump can feed soaker hoses? They seem to rely on quite a bit of pressure to force the water through the pores and I feel like this would burn the pump out. For now I plan to just overhead water with a wand.
Does anyone have any suggestions/ideas/experiences?

⚠️All sincere offers are welcome and encouraged!

Hello! It seems that, possibly for the last time, I have some things I'd like to try and sell.

Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/Ly81zYb

Additional pictures are available on request. Let me know if you see something I missed. I can only ship within the continental US.

Switch

• Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Edition OLED Switch CIB + screen protector - $350 shipped. PriceCharting link for price comparison: https://www.pricecharting.com/game/nintendo-switch/nintendo-switch-oled-pokemon-scarlet-&-violet-edition
  
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Steelbook - $70 shipped
  

& # (Game Boy & Game Boy Color)

Pictures for the GBC Pokemon games: https://imgur.com/a/q2Whj8V
Additional pictures are available upon request. Offers welcome and encouraged.
I've tested each of these games and had them successfully boot multiple times, but they need new save batteries.

• Pokemon Crystal version (top copy) (boots, label is worn, board looks great, needs a new battery) - $105 shipped
  
• Pokemon Crystal version (bottom copy) (boots, label is quite worn, board looks good, needs a new battery) - $90 shipped
  
• Pokemon Gold Version (top copy) (boots, label is worn, board is in pretty decent condition, needs new battery) - $50 shipped
  
• Pokemon Gold Version (bottom copy) (boots, label is worn, board is in decent condition, needs new battery) - $40 shipped
  
• Pokemon Silver version (top) (boots, label is worn, board has some corrosion on it and battery needs replacing) - $30 shipped
  
• Pokemon Silver version (bottom copy) (boots, label is worn, board is okay but battery is corroding and needs replacing) - $35 shipped
  

(Nintendo DS)

• Pokéwalker - $65 shipped

(3DS)

• Pokemon Sun "For Display Only" store display case sealed - $35 shipped
  
• Pokemon Sun "For Display Only" store display case open - $25 shipped
  

PS4

• Catherine Full Body Premium Edition (NIB) - $70 shipped

(PSP)

• Persona 3 Portable with Junpei Iori's pre-order bonus hat - $380 shipped or $100 for the game and $300 for the hat

Observation based on recent IG stories that Home in Heartbeat will not be seeing a second season on HGTV. The network seems to have pulled the final episode of the season and will only be available on the streaming platform MAX. Not surprised based on the decline in viewership from the first episode. Some takeaways: Galey Alix has one design style that seemingly repeats through every episode. Grass cloth wallpaper, Faux Fireplaces and wood planked ceilings, etc. No variation. Most of her designs lack function and have no awareness of how homes with kids function. Glass hallway cabinet storage? $20k lite brights? Faux fireplaces and intruding cabinets that completely shrink the room size. She will have a successful career with her design business but not on television nor on “Wall Street” as her “day job” is no longer. Seems like her ego got ahead of her and departed the finance company before her ratings came in. The begging for views was a massive turnoff and blaming other problems without taking accountability is classic narcissistic personality traits. Clearly she doesn’t take rejection well considering all she does is constantly brings up her ex fiancé from over 5 years ago. Something about that whole story seems major sus. She had mental health struggles for being burned out and doing too much, but has returned to overworking, trying to conquer 2 careers, repeating the exact behavior that caused her to downward spiral before??? The math ain’t mathin’. As a client, I would have major hesitations hiring her “team” for a weekend. The craftsmanship of installation from non-professionals who are volunteering (not paid) their weekends as a hobby. Can someone please get this girl a stylist? The awful jumpsuits that cost $350+ combined with the hat b/c she feels her looks will distract from her designs >insert eye roll< proves she’s out of touch with reality. Wait til fame hungry boyfriend, former bachelorette contestant, Dale Moss, moves on to someone else who will bring in the followers.

I didnt want to screenshot everything in my inventory + edit it and my screen-recorder is ofc not working when I need it so here we are. I'm sorry to everyone who hates reading.
Sorry I dont have that much good stuff
READ!:
I don't offer
Choose what you want and choose what you want to offer <3
And before any of you ask, I don't have any IA's for diamonds or items. NYP :)
Not taking AMC
Im mostly looking for neons, maybe neon legendaries if possible or just good legendaries (Not super high tier ones tho like shadow dragons. Just legendaries like Dragons and unicorns) Also looking for pigs and cows :)
​
Diamonds - 233k
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Wings-
Up in heaven's clouds
Bewitched Choker
Pumpkin Spice Scented Candle
Platinum Skybound
Undertakers Hand
Winter Wings 2020
Snow Pops
Cotton Candy Clouds
Guardian Of The Light
Twas The Night Before Christmas
​
​
Skirts-
Ballroom Entrance
Royal Stroll In The Garden
Sleigh It Skirt
Cottage Princess
Real Life Mermaid
Peppermint Princess Skirt
DV skirt
WG skirt
Dragging Train Rose Dress
Gothicutie Skirt
Sparkly Party Tutu
Summer fantasy skirt
Princess Starfrost Skirt
Moonlight Goddess Ultimate Floof
Cherry Blossom Kimono Skirt
North Pole Present Skirt (x2)
BBD dress
EH cage skirt
GL skirt
DCD skirt
Pleated skirt (x3)
Miniskirt (x2)
​
​
Heels-
Glittering Jelly Platforms
Kingly Kicks
Princess Starfrost Skates
CB sandals
RR laced boots
Adorable lace-up doll boots
DV lollipop heels
Snuggly reindeer slippers (x2)
DCD shoes (x2)
OP boots
​
​
Bodice-
Peppermint princess
DV
GC
PSF
WG
EH
Worm bodice
WW
DCD
​
​
Accessories-
(Warning! A lot)
Bow headband
My teddy bear
ocean ears
ice queen crown
winter snowglobe
baby chick backpack
vampire crown
magical witch
2021 party hat
sailor hat with bow
2021 lunar new year ox
Chamber chains
My dollie
punk bracelets
fluttery frozen fan
springtide flower crown
falling spring blossom
fuzzy bracelet
2020 party hat
droopy elf ears
personal snow flurry
beautiful rose in hand
reindeer ride
princess starfrost bonnet
frozen luggage
festive hair bow
skull crown
ruffle collar
icey snowflake earrings
fancy monocule eye piece
kawaii sickness
princely dulling crown
Sewer Rat
Nine tails
Boys gold lining varsity jacket
Giant teddy bear
Swift Archery Set
Pagent diamond earrings
DotD flower crown
sweet bunny ears
easter egg top hat
RR veil
RR sleeves
GC earrings
PSF cape
CB fan
CB bow
PSF Spector
Magical fairy lights
my present box
Oof head
over the rainbow sleeves (x3)
Vampires Heir
Rainbow Armlets (x2)
Rainbow pot o gold (x2)
Hip bag of coins (x2)
leprechaun belt (x2)
Chocolate Lucky coin (x2)
DV puppy ears (x8)
Versallies snow powder coat
christmas window shopping hat
ice prince shawl cape
sparkly heart hoop earrings
elf ears
cheerleader pom poms
Merry sparkly dress
shy scarf
father Christmas present bag (x2)
Spring bucket hat (x2)
Snowman top hat (x2)
Hood disguise
Lollipop candy (x6)
Jewelled Choker Necklace (x4)
DCD coat (x2)
Translucent Heart sunglasses
Stars and moon pendant (x5)
Pumpkin costume (x2)
EH sleeves (x2)
DV cuffs
DD laced back bow
EH sleeves
Summer fantasy sleeves
DCD hat (x2)

So I've been re-reading the Outback Era of the X-Men it's not my favourite part of Claremont's run, especially not the team constellation but...I what I never noticed before. It ended up being shockingly brief. Judging from the over dates it only lasted about a year (1988-89) with the team already starting to break up several issues before it's final end (#250). It seems a bit longer than that because during parts of this period Uncanny X-Men was released twice a month, but event hat still makes it a rather brief episode. Storm being without powers lasted longer than this!
When you look at the early issues of the Outback era everything seems like the X-Men are gonna be there for the long-haul; they have a interesting new headquarters with technology that can replace the traditional danger room, they have a new, mysterious ally in Gateway, Maddelyne designs a new logo for them and they even have a "Knights of the Round Table" type meeting room where every member has their assigned seat. It all points to a new, fresh status quo. And then this all thrown out a year later.
Does this seems weird to anybody else? Does anybody know/think this was planned from the start? Did Claremont get bored with the idea of having the X-Men sit around in the desert? Was its end mandated by editorial who wanted to bring the team back to more traditional X-Men stories?

All I ever wanted was for my wife and I to live comfortably. But the longer we stayed together, the higher our bills increased. We’d already fought off debts from college, barely scraping by. Even after we paid them off, we were only able to afford a tiny apartment on the outskirts of New York City.
Sidewalks laid cracked everywhere while condemned buildings sat sadly against their crooked foundations. Crooked lampposts would hang only by electrical wires. Graffiti marked every street corner in bland art that existed without rhyme or reason. Homeless people could be found on every street corner, a constant reminder of what would happen if my wife and I failed to keep up with our payments.
However, I managed to make somewhat decent money as a plumber. But even then, it sometimes wasn’t enough to deal with loan sharks, the hefty utility bills, food prices, and gas money. I was willing to do anything to get us out.
And that is where I encountered gambling. I was willing to take the risks. I’d take any chance to obtain a reward, even just a small one. It started out with just a handful of poker games. Then I moved on to scratch tickets and slot machines. All I needed was enough to get by. Unfortunately, obtaining a payday from the casinos was impossible. I started growing desperate, which only led to more debt. The whole cycle sucked me down like Odysseus’ ship in Charybdis’ maw. And just like that, my relationship with my wife began to tear us apart.
My wife and I were once so close together. Before we married, there would be days where we’d work together at wood shops, creating 3D prints of various sci-fi characters and video games. Other times we’d study the components of circuits and use them to create elaborate lighting displays whenever Christmas arrived. Our wedding day was supposed to be the greatest day of our lives. Instead of relying on the help of others back like we did in college, we relied on ourselves.
But my actions tore all that apart. I didn’t know what else to do, either.
—
A few nights ago, I arrived at my shitty apartment, having completed a ten hour shift fixing the drains of several upper class folks. I rested my hand on the knob, expecting the worst from my wife. Sighing, I pushed the door. The moment I did, she was already in the front hall. Her eyes were scrunched and she was holding a bank statement, smacking it for emphasis.
“Care for an explanation?” She demanded.
I rubbed my temples, removing my scum covered overalls and plopping them right into the nearest laundry hamper. We locked eyes. Breaking eye contact with her would only ignite her anger further. She was holding another piece of evidence of my failures. My failure to strike it rich. All I could do was stand there sheepishly, tail tucked behind me, and wait to get ripped a new one. No words could come out of my mouth.
She marched up to me, holding it in my face. “Frank, you wasted three-thousand dollars at the casino AGAIN?!” my wife bellowed.
I set my tool box down and washed the pipe gunk from my hands, looking down just for a bit.
“Turn around and look me in the eyes.”
Resting a hand on my eyes, I glanced over at her petite frame. Then, I began to speak. “We can live comfortably if you just give-“
“Enough of the excuses! We nearly lost our apartment twice by you betting on slots, you wasted our heating money on roulette, and now this!”
I held up my hands reassuringly. “Look, just let me figure this out! I’ll think of some way to get the money!”
“You’d better. Otherwise we’re getting a divorce. Got it?”
Without another word, I put on a casual outfit, exiting for some fresh air. Shutting the door behind me, I gazed back at the unpolished apartment number on the frame. Wincing, I clenched a fist and descended the rickety stairs. Eventually, my boots hit the cracked pavement, and I headed off.
---
I had only made it a few blocks from my apartment, when I noticed shadows lurking in one of the alleyways. Picking up my stride, I try to evade the figures. They drew closer and closer. My stride changed into a sprint. Another alleyway comes into my sights. I make a break for it, hoping for an opportunity to escape. Only a dead end greets me. Before long, the figures cornered me. The light from a street lamp illuminated two shady faces. Loan sharks. Before I could react, the duo held me up by my throat.
“What the hell are you guys doing?!” I strained, feebly kicking back one of the thugs. He jammed a fist right under my rib cage. My lips pursed as I lost my breath. The other grabbed me by the chin, grinning like a maniac and revealing his tobacco rotted jaw. I gulped.
“Frank, calm down. Take it easy,” every word he said ground my inner ears. Brown saliva sprayed on my cheeks. “We just want to have a little talk…” I didn’t have the courage to speak up. All I could do was let them tell me everything.
“Your landlord is getting rather impatient with your payments. We just came to send a little message. He has some demands.” The other guy snarled.
I tugged on my collar. “What…demands?”
“The landlord wants you to cough up $18,000 for your next payment!”
My hands grew clammy. Were they out of their minds? I was a plumber, not a heart surgeon! I didn’t have that kind of money! Besides, the rent was only $500 a month.
“You have until the end of the month,” one of the goons croaked.
That was only two weeks! I couldn’t have made that kind of money with such constraints! I’d barely be able to afford food and electricity! Negotiating was out of the question. God knows what would have happened to me if I dared speak up.
“The landlord has given you chance after chance to pay up. But you’ve never followed through. He’s let it slide for three months. You haven’t paid shit in that time frame. Do you realize how much he has to pay for his own apartment? If you fail to pay at that time, there will be consequences…” He makes a capiche gesture.
I nodded. The moment I complied, they released me, disappearing into the smog.
—
I stood outside a graffiti covered subway station, pacing around, hands in my pockets. My fists constricted as I pounded a nearby wall. There’s no way I would have been able to make that kind of money! Craps were too unpredictable, arcade machines were always rigged, and roulette was too high in stakes. Seeing red, I screamed and kicked a wall as hard as I could. My foot throbbed and once I was done with my fit, I broke down sobbing. The sidewalk darkened with my tears. I pressed my head against it, clawing at it until my fingernails turned crimson.
Then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Wiping the tears away, I glanced over my shoulder. A card was lying on the floor. Its borders were covered in green dollar symbols. The rest of the card was a silver color shiny enough to reflect my face in it. Written in gold letters were the following:
ACES HIGH CASINO
WIN ONE ROUND OF BLACKJACK
AND EARN FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS!
NO MONETARY WAGER NEEDED
TABLE 777
My eyes lit up. All I had to do was win one game of blackjack, and I’d be rich? Dimples formed on my cheeks and I pumped my fist. I nearly clicked my heels in joy, but decided against it. I’d already caused enough of a scene already, and I wanted to make sure nobody knew my secret. When I flipped it around, it had an address also written in golden letters.
---
Despite the address being in an unknown area, I still managed to pull it up on my phone’s map and arrived without any struggle. The casino itself was a pigsty, to say the least. Smokers polluted the air in the prison gray interior. Slot machines with broken lights clicked and whirred while cheap dice clattered against tables with peeling felt. Meanwhile, the concrete floor was covered in colonies of roaches while neglected beer bottles sat against the rungs of several tables. The only thing that was kept well was the bar and a room draped with navy blue curtains with golden sashes. Emblazoned above the doorway was the number 777.
This was the first time I had entered a casino smiling. For once, I thought that this was my lucky night.
When I pushed the curtains away, they revealed a room with ornate black wallpaper, an assortment of oak desks and other furniture. The walls were covered in fine Baroque paintings. On the floor was a single blue carpet covered in opulent tapestry. I followed the back wall to a single dealer table coated in green felt. Two seats were present with one patron taking the seat on the left. He was shaking with what I assumed was excitement.
Behind him was the dealer, a trim man with long blond hair and a top hat over his nose and eyes. He wore a dapper tuxedo free of blemishes that shimmered in the light of a single hanging glass lamp. His skin was pure and free of moles, glistening with slight amounts of glitter.
“Why, hello there…” The man spoke in a voice slicker than the gel in his hair. “Are you here to win big?” Unlike the loan sharks, his teeth were cleaner than a freshly washed plate.
“Yup. Deal me in.” I said, straightening my back, shuffling into the last seat. The other player had his jaw locked together. His eyes were drooping and bloodshot. Sweat pooled around his brow like glass beads. Just like him, I always felt nervous about losing, so their reaction was understandable.
“You know the rules of blackjack. I deal out cards. You can say ‘hit me’ if you want more cards. Get closest to twenty one without going over. Dealer only draws two cards. And you can also surrender your cards for half your bet. When you don’t want any more cards, say the word ‘stand.’” The dealer said, shuffling the cards through his hands and manipulating them like a sculptor with a ceramic pot.
I double blinked. Wager? “What do I bet with?”
The mysterious man just focused on passing out his cards. First, he brought out two cards for himself and dealt two more to each player. Instantly, he flipped over his cards. A jack and a king. Twenty.
I clutched the velvet backed cards, seeing what I was dealt.
A ten and a seven of hearts. I forced my face into a neutral smile. My stomach twisted. There was no way I could get twenty one that easily. “Surrender,” I said, pushing my cards to the dealer. All he did was reshuffle the cards and toss me two more. They didn’t even bother looking back up at me during the process.
The other player started clutching his stomach. My smile vanished. I carefully looked over the left guy’s cards. A seven and a two of clubs.
“Hit me…” the guy on the left choked out. An ace of spades. A total of ten. Sweat trickled down his head like a shower in April. His eyes welled up with tears while foam developed around his mouth. I raised a brow, wondering what his deal was.
I knew the stakes of gambling, but my sixth sense kept telling me something was just not right. No. That couldn’t be true. Even if there was some kind of string attached or fine print I didn’t read, I couldn’t risk giving up that money. Besides, this might have been my only chance to obtain such a vast award without much risk.
“Hit me…” The man wheezed. A five of hearts. His teeth chattered.
While I waited for my turn, I stood up and walked around the room, getting a closer look at all the ornate gadgets and such. My eyes focused on a painting on the leftmost wall. It resembled a man in rich military regalia. But something made my hair stand on end. Their upturned white mustache looked damp, and their face sagged like they were crying. Linear, stick-like shadows were cast on the sleeves. Edging forward, they came into focus.
Hands. I followed their forms outward, which extended into oily, dripping arms.
“Husssssssssh…” A faint noise echoed from somewhere in the room.
“What?” I mouthed, turning an ear to the source.
“Husssssssssh…” It came from the painting. I backed away, hands out at my sides. Was someone dragged in that painting?
“Where are you going? You forgot to pay up!” The dealer yelled back, hands slamming on the table and pulling out a sack of navy blue poker chips.
I double took. “I thought the card said there was no monetary wager needed?”
“There isn’t.”
Then, I looked at the ground. There was a second rug on the ground. The tapestry matched, but its patterns didn’t match with the other rug. It was off center from the rest of the decorations, like someone didn’t even bother setting it up properly. Taking a closer look, I could hear faint whispers coming from it, too. When I looked back up, the guy on the left was gone. I rushed over, checking his cards. A total of twenty five.
Swallowing saliva, I stood in confusion, wondering what to do next. I scraped my fingernails against my palms. I needed that money. If I didn’t get it, I’d lose my wife and my apartment. And what about the loan sharks? Only God knew what would happen to me if I didn’t pay up. What was I going to do? What would happen if I lost? Would I turn into another object just like the other guy? Or would I be in for a worse fate?
“That’s because there isn’t a MONETARY wager. I’m still taking half of what you owe.”
A sharp pain punched my left side. My left side felt heavier than before, like my veins were replaced with tungsten. I grabbed my fingers around my chest. The area around the pain almost felt solid like a tumor. Brushing around the area, I could make out a cylindrical mass. I tried to inspect it some more, but the pain overwhelmed me, and I crumpled to the ground.
I crouched down on all fours, trying to get back to my seat, but the pain froze me in place. Reaching out a hand, I called out for help. Nothing.
Slithering away, I pulled back the curtains to the entrance of the casino. I spat on the ground from the bludgeoning pain.
“Don’t feel out of luck. You can still surrender once more and you still have two chances left!” The dealer smiled, adjusting his hat. It was only a glimpse, but I caught a look at his upper face. His eyes were on his hat and his forehead was blank. The dealer looked like they were plucked straight out of an Alice in Wonderland book. What or who was this dealer?
“Think long and hard about this. I saw you arguing with your wife. And those ruffians nearly killed you.”
I clambered back to my seat. I still didn’t know what that dealer did to me. Something in me forced me to get back up and keep playing. More questions ate at me the longer I played. How did he know that information?
Then, I remembered feeling a tap back at Grand Central Station. And the card that brought me here. He couldn’t have been human. Was he some kind of demon? I didn’t bother asking. There wasn’t any way he would spill the beans about his nature.
After what seemed like hours, I managed to writhe back into my seat, slumping over the table like I’d just had the worst hangover.
“Ready to try again?” The charming man said, resting his chin on his interlocked hands.
Reluctantly, I gave him a thumbs up. He took back the cards and began manipulating the split deck once more. I analyzed every move he made. None of the cards were tricked. He wasn’t second dealing and didn’t have any aces up his sleeve. Never revealed anything under the table, either. The only thing that brought me reassurance was that he was honest. Still, keeping an eye out was critical.
The dealer revealed his cards. Two tens again. One of spades, one of hearts. His face was harder than diamond and glowed like one, too. Not a pleasing glow, but one that would hex anyone that dared gaze at it for too long.
I looked at my cards. An ace and a seven. Eighteen. Gripping my lower abdomen, I stayed crumpled in agony. The odds of getting a blackjack were slim and the stabbing pain skewed my thoughts.
“Surrender…” I wheezed. The words slipped out of my mouth like the dying breath of a wounded soldier. The dealer smiled, holding a pile of blue poker chips around him. He waved his hand over the mound and made an inaudible chant. Then, they vanished.
I held my hands over my face, bracing myself. Suddenly, the pain doubled, shifting to my right like a mudslide down a hill. Now I knew everything the previous player was going through.
I vomited out something hard and blue. A poker chip. Suddenly, my guts turned and another seven spilled out. My esophagus wound itself into knots more contorted than cobwebs. “I…forfeit!”
The man started to smile. “Without these?” With a thud, the hat faced dealer pulled out a jar filled with a kidney and a piece of liver. They still were oozing with blood that plumed and fit their containers. I remembered how the dealer said that there was no monetary wager. He never said there wasn’t a wager at all. My wager…was my organs.
“You want them back? Win them.” He set them back on the ground.
Now there was no choice. My fate was sealed if I tried to leave. I started to shed tears. If I didn’t get these organs back and fast, I was done for. Even if someone saw me passed out on the floor, finding donors for organs wasn’t guaranteed. And even then, I’d be put further in debt. Nothing would be solved. Then again, was trying to beat this guy even worth it? No. The reward was too great. Taking a few deep breaths, I sat back down. Reluctantly, I asked that he proceed.
The dealer drew out cards just like before. He took the cards and gave them a good shuffle. Plucking two cards out of the stack, he revealed them. A king and a nine. Another poker chip tumbled out my throat. I spat it out in a red and blue plastic heap. Not paying attention to the mess I made, he handed me two cards. A jack and a two. Twelve.
“Hit…me.” An ace. Aces could count as one or eleven depending on what other cards were drawn. I still had a fighting chance.
“Hit me.” A five.
His dead stare tore at my soul. I scratched against the felt, the wounds in my fingers reopening. From the corner of my eyes, I could see him frowning. “Are you going to play, or do you want all that money to go to waste?”
I gritted my teeth. “Shut up…Hit me…” Swallowing saliva, I watched the dealer play out my last card. A queen.
“You lose.” The dealer said coldly, grabbing a pile of poker chips and holding them close. He waved his hand over the mound and made another incantation. Then, they vanished once more. Everywhere at once, burning pain sears my skin, making me blackout.
---
When I wake up and feel my arms, they are covered in something hard, blue and plastic. My clothes were gone. I examined my extremities and my torso.
My skin was missing and replaced with poker chips. They were shaped to fit every part of my body. Cracks filled with blood gushed out with each slight movement I made. Horrified, I spilled my guts. More poker chips slid out my throat. Piles of skin laid clumped on the side of the table in hideous pink and blood red sheets.
“I think you know what’s at stake now. One try left. Better make it count. You want to end up in an object for an eternity?” He taunted.
The rigidity of my plastic coated skin made each movement expose more of the cracks, searing my muscles. I groaned as I raised myself up. Crimson liquid dampened the table. I pounded at the table. This was it. I either walked out with my money and saved my marriage and tied up all those knots. Or I lost and suffered a fate worse than death. Giving up was not an option. I gave the mysterious man a death glare, not even bothered by his resistance.
He plucks out two cards. A nine and a ten. This was my chance.
Then, my cards were revealed. A ten and a two. Fingers rattling, I took a deep breath and let calmness seep into me.
“Hit…Me…” I sputtered. Another two.
Huffing, I opened my mouth to speak again. The dealer just stared into me, tilting his head like a vulture waiting for roadkill. The poker chips rattled again, grinding against each other.
“Hit…” I paused for a moment, recollecting my thoughts. At a value of fourteen, I needed at least a six to beat the dealer. But an eight or higher would result in disaster. Gulping down another chaser of saliva, I spoke. “Hit…me.”
To my chagrin, a five slipped out of the hand. I was now tied. Staring at the pile of skin and my other organs, I closed my eyes and shook in horror. An ace or a two were the only cards I could draw in order to win. I looked down at my cards, sweat dripping on the table. With a quick glance, I gazed at the eyes on the man’s silk hat.
“Don’t keep me waiting.” The man demanded.
I’d begun hyperventilating. His stare grew more intense the longer I waited. His confident smile turned into a frown of irritation. Eyebrows and mouth twisted into a hideous snarl. He rattled his fingers against the dealing table. The cacophony made my ears go numb.
Then, I whispered my answer.
“Hit…me…”
The man darted up, smiling back in anticipation. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
I closed my eyes, expecting the worst.
“HIT ME!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Then, the last card was revealed:
A two.
I’d won!
My mouth dropped. The sheets of skin unfurled themselves and flattened over me. Two organ jars spilled over, their contents rising in a beam of white and torpedoing back into my body. Immediately, I yelped at the top of my lungs, skipping my heels and doing a jig. I regained my strength, instantly looking around for traces of my prize. For several minutes, I wasn’t able to uncover anything. Staring directly at the dealer’s face, I asked him to reveal my prize.
“I don’t have it with me.” He said, blankly.
Not listening, I scrutinized every inch of the room, looking behind his station, checking under the table, everything.
I searched everywhere for my prize, my happiness dissipating. With each step I took, my smile faded even further, twisting into a frown. My nose crinkled. “Where is the fifty million?” I demanded, overturning the table, ripping off the ornate paintings and yanking the tasseled rugs off the floor. “You promised me fifty million dollars if I beat you! Do you realize what’s gonna happen to me if I don’t get that money, you charlatan?!”
The strange man just stood there, not even acknowledging my pleas.
“YOU PROMISED ME MONEY! You’re a thief!” I roared, pointing an accusing finger at him. “I only did this for my wife, to save my marriage! I almost gave up my life trying to help my family out! How can you take that away from me?!”
The demon stuck his hands behind his back and shook his head. He rolled his eyes back in thought. Something was up with him. “You aren’t like the other gamblers.” He said.
“Other gamblers?” I said, stepping back.
“They all wanted the money for worthless things. A mansion with fountains and a view, hookers, a trip to Tahiti…” He paced around me. His face was rather relaxed and calm. Never once did he lose eye contact with me. “But you had so much determination to help your wife out that you would risk it all. I admire that. It took me a while to figure out that you were actually a kind hearted person.”
I saw red and tried to punch him. He grabbed my fist, shoving it back.
“Listen to me. I understand your rage. There never was a prize in the first place. It was nothing but a lure to capture those that wasted their lives away. But there is one thing that you don’t understand.”
I saw red and I thrusted my hands back. “You nearly killed me all for nothing?!”
“Yes, but that was before I saw you the way you really were. Listen to my words.”
Slowly, I relaxed my posture, but still remained firm. “Why should I listen to you?”
“I can help you out of your situation.” The man said.
My nostrils flared. “You owe me money you snake!”
“You never needed the money in the first place.”
Taken aback, I retreated. “What do you mean?” My arms relaxed once more.
“You are a plumber, aren’t you? I saw you come home from work, just barely catching a glimpse of your schedule. Forty hours a week for thirty-eight dollars an hour for five days a week. That’s $15200 a week for two weeks. You already have everything you need.”
“But you don’t understand. They need $18000!” I pleaded.
He wouldn’t budge. “Trying to earn this money via dumb risks and chances will not get you anywhere. Look at all the things that you’ve done wrong.”
Tears began to well up. “And I want to change that.” I wiped my eyes. “But what am I supposed to do now?”
“The only way you can earn that money is through grit and spit,” He said, walking around me. “You aren’t going to find solace through good luck alone. You have to work for it. And you already have the tools that some people don’t have. If you give up now, you might as well have lost. Think about it.” With those last words, he raised his hand and snapped it, disappearing without a trace. Slowly, I gathered my things and walked out of the casino, head hanging low.
---
The following day, I sat outside an old woman’s faucet, inspecting how to fix a leak. I wondered what the demon’s words meant to me. Before I stuck the wrench up to a U trap, I remembered my pay. If I worked the same amount of hours as before, I’d only make $15200. But if I pulled off some overtime and worked several extra hours, I might just be able to pay off my debts.
I started staying up much later than before. Not long after, my wife started to become suspicious. Eventually, she confronted me.
“Frank, you’ve been staying up late. Are you going back to the casinos again?” she asked, hands on her hips.
I closed my eyes. Instead of fear, calmness filled my veins and my blood stilled. “Not this time. I’ve been working overtime.”
Her face loosened up for just a moment before hardening back up. I held my hands up and motioned my palms downward. “Listen, I have been horrible lately. All my gambling did was drown us in deeper debt.”
Her expression began to soften up again, her frown vanishing.
“I want to change things. We used to work so well together, doing everything to help each other. Instead of fighting against each other, it’s time we made peace. And we bring us out of our debt, together.” I held out my hand for her to shake it. She kept her arm pulled back and folded like the pincer of a mantis. Inch by inch, she extended it and took it.
The following day, my wife convinced me to go to therapy to get out of my addiction, which I gladly obliged. Simultaneously, she decided to start up another job working as an electrician. Day by day passed and we pooled all our resources as one. Before our eyes, bills were paid and debt disappeared faster than eye floaters. Our financial status wasn’t the only thing that changed. Her once crusty mood lightened up and she began to smile more. She began to believe my words and began to respect the changes I made.
And then, we paid off our rent. We got a letter from our landlord, saying that we now were even. The moment that letter came in, we embraced each other. The only question now was, what were we going to do with this extra money?
Not too long ago, we ended up earning enough money to create another 3d project, this time of a Companion Cube. Day after day, we created more projects. Although we weren’t as happy as our days back in college, we still could make the best with what we had. In retrospect, the hat-faced man put up a good fight, but I managed to come out of a casino with more than I came in with. It wasn’t exactly money, but it wasn’t worthless, either.

Needed 1 win for 11 in champs, was winning 4-2 in the 89th and then I got an error messaged and booted out of ultimate team???? Just firm the L it’s literally June why do people have to take the fun out of the game

I am a new school cheer coach with a team of girls who are new to cheerleading (6th-12th grade) and they are really excited for stunts. However, that makes me really nervous. We have nailed the thigh stand and I would like to eventually get them to a prep, but I would like to know what types of drills/exercises/…etc. I can have the girls do that would train them to get to that point. I’m looking to break down the stunting process as much as possible. We are certainly not a competitive team, just here to have a good time, but we want to have a good time with minimal injuries. Any advice it appreciated!

Intro

After base Rise which released on March 2021 on Switch and early 2022 on PC, Sunbreak was released in late June 2022 with new direction. The director is different, with inclusion of Frontier stuffs added in the game. This adds more variety of content with new features. Sunbreak is the game with most modern platforms present, ranging from PC (or Gamepass), portable consoles (Switch), and home consoles (Xbox Series, PS4/5).
Retrospective: are you satisfied with MHRise?
At last, the final version has come on 8 June 2023 which is the version 16. That means it marks almost a year of title updates (TUs) which has 5 TUs + 1 bonus update. With that, various additions and improvements are added until the latest version. Several monsters -- new and returning -- are added, menu improvements, extensive post-game content, and more.
Of course, any game has their own pluses and minuses which is up to you to interpret. With that, I want to make evaluation and verdict about Sunbreak for you to have some thoughts and opinions for this expansion.
For categories, I divide the category into:

1. Gameplay: weapon/buddy/follower combat design, equipment and skill design, quest design, level design, monster combat design
2. Presentation: visual design, animation, audio design, soundtrack, story, and cutscenes
3. Experience: user experience, controls, accessibility, performance, multiplayer
4. Support: title updates, improvements
5. Endgame: post-game content, grinding

As a caution, spoilers are open. Now, let's get started

1. Gameplay

Self explanatory. You play the game, right?...right?
1a. Weapon combat design
Sunbreak introduced new switch skills and new feature: switch skill swap. The swap changes switch skills in two loadouts: red scroll and blue scroll. With this, players can switch their playstyle around switch skills. Moreover, new switch skills introduced make the combat flashier and more customizable than before. Other than that, these weapons get balance updates even prior title updates. Some playstyles get more balance changes so that the gameplay feels balanced than before.

1. Which weapon do you main? Are you having fun with these new features?
2. Which weapon gets the most/least benefits for these new skills?
3. Which weapon is the most/least improved, balance wise?
4. Which weapon convinces you to try more after getting these new features?
5. What do you want to see more about these skills? Do you think these added skills will be implemented for the future games? (example: moves from switch skills will replace the some of the core movesets permanently for next game)

1b. Buddy, follower, and endemic life
Buddies, such as Palico and Palamute, got new equipment and skills. This means they can now contribute more than before. More tools and gadgets added for expanding the game.

1. What do you think about their new tools and abilities? Are they significant enough towards combat gameplay which makes you depend on them?
2. Do you think those buddy skills will be implemented for the future?
3. Should this buddy system be implemented for the future?

Besides buddies, there are followers. Same as buddies, they can support for players during combat. Buddy amount wise, you can have four buddies: two pets and two followers. As a note, followers are only available at single player.

1. Who's your favorite follower?
2. Do you think followers should contribute more?
3. Do you think followers should be implemented for next game?

Don't forget about endemic life too. Sunbreak also added new endemic life to expand further to gameplay, ranging from various wirebugs (ruby, gold) and more creatures (marionette spider, etc.).

1. Which new endemic life do you think has the most/least benefit?
2. Should this endemic life system be implemented for next game?

1c. Equipment and skill design
This is where it goes spicy. Equipment is the most crucial, meta-defining feature in the game.
For weapons, the stats are varied than before with additional trees. The ramp-up skills for weapons in Rise are changed into a decoration, called rampage decorations. This allows weapons to use rampage and one-off skills.

1. Stat wise, do you think the weapons are balanced enough? What are the best/worst weapon trees?
2. What do you think about the change from ramp-up skills into rampage decoration? Does it ease the customization more?
3. Most/least favorite rampage skill to use?

For armors, the skills are getting varied more than before with returning skills from previous games but with modernized mechanics. Some skills are more radical and thematic with representing monsters. For example, you have to reach certain damage to buff your stats on time, otherwise you got debuff (bloodlust); or let's say you can change buffs according to your scroll color but some has tradeoffs (furious, mail of hellfire); or another one: changing your health mechanics but benefits into damage (berserk, dereliction).

1. Do you think these lineup of armor skills are good or better than before?
2. Most/least favorite armor skill to use?
3. Most/least impactful armor skill so far?

How about the initial balance? To balance these skills, usually the decorations are determined by decoration level, from Lv1-Lv4. To accommodate the feature, some armors, weapons, and talismans get a slot for those

1. How is the balance of armor skills, whether it's for the stats or decoration level? Is is balanced enough?

For post game features like Qurious Crafting (armoweapon) and talismans, I'll elaborate in Endgame section
1d. Quest and level design
For quests, the design remains the same, except now we got follower quests. These quests are specifically designed to delve more into certain followers. Other than that The quest design is improved for story purposes, meaning that we can understand more the story.

1. What do you think about quest design that integrates more to a story?
2. Some quests are presented once (example: afflicted Lunagaron story), meaning the set piece cannot be replayed again. What do you think about this decision?
3. What do you think about follower quests and its progression? Does the reward worth the content?

For level design, we got two major areas: Jungle and Citadel. Jungle is a recreation from MHFU Jungle. The map features rich and vibrant design with added verticality (it has rain at night!). Citadel is a new and larger map designed with three themes of environment: forests, snow, and castle. While they are at most large, it's dimension is still approachable

1. What do you think about those maps so far?
2. Should they recreate more old maps?
3. What should be the ideal size for a map? Horizontal vs vertical design?

What about rampage quests? Rampage has finished its story so there are no rampages in Sunbreak. However, some levels use heavy artillery from rampage implemented there.

1. What do you think about heavy artillery in Sunbreak, since they are shown a bit limited? Should they implement them more?
2. On heavy artillery, how would you design a level/quest/area with focus on that?

Lastly, arena stages like Gaismagorm arena and Forlorn arena. While they are straight to the point, the helpers are there with various endemic life placed for the arena

1. Are the arenas good enough to play?

1e. Monster combat design
With introduction of Master Rank, monsters are getting harder with some movesets added and/or changed. New moves are trending at chip damage, multiple hits, or big hits. Some are faster to counter player counterattacks, aerials, blocking, and more. With this, it creates more challenge to hunt with these pace

1. What do you think about the trends of monster combat design?
2. Do you think these trends should exist in future game?
3. Which monster is most/least improved from High Rank to Master Rank?
4. Which Sunbreak monster is good enough for a combat? Is that also your favorite monster to fight against?
5. Which monster feels the most faiunfair, even for the new ones?

Talking about monsters, don't forget about wyvern riding. Prior Sunbreak release, we have been given a feature not to force ride if hitting the monster. However, wyvern riding for new monsters has more moves and combos. Sometimes, single strong movement is not enough.

1. What do you think about wyvern riding moveset for new monsters?
2. Which new monster is the most fun for wyvern riding?
3. With endemic buffs like ruby/gold wirebug, which one do you prefer?

2. Presentation

Presentation is where players can experience the art direction of the game, including the visual and audio identity of the game
2a. Visual design
After the eastern or let's say Japanese centric visual direction on base Rise, Sunbreak goes into rather "European" direction (at least east Europe centric?). We can see medieval style with some of the equipment, character design, and even monster designs. However, this feels different compared to western style used in old school MH (talk about MH1 and MH2). Those gens were truly darker in theming, but now it's vibrant, which can be a balance to old approach blended with fantasy feel

1. What do you think about the shift of visual direction from Rise to Sunbreak?
2. What do you think about the character, NPC, and equipment designs?
3. What do you think about environmental designs especially the village and the areas?
4. What do you think about monster designs in general?

A bonus about returning contents remade, such as returning areas and monsters. Polygons and texture resolution are getting upgrades. Environmental lighting retouches the materials of areas and monsters. Skyboxes rich in color makes vibrant feel for the game.

1. What do you think about these graphical update for returning contents such as monsters and areas? Does it still have the same charm as source material?

2b. Animation design
The animation is something MH doesn't miss for this kind of content. We can see the facial expressions during cutscenes (later discussed in 2e), new moves, better implemented animations on equipment design, monsters' animation, NPCs, and more. Moreover, some of these animations are motion captured, meaning that it can match realistic movement with creative freedom. While in final product feels faster, it's still realistic due to the capture

1. What do you think about general animation design here?
2. What would you like to see the animations forward?

2c. Audio design
Another thing about these cool arts are audios. Playing with sounds with choice of output options such as speakers/headphones/soundbars makes varying experiences. Besides that, audio designs for the game are getting more oomph, such as explosion sounds with enhanced bass and middles.

1. First of all, what kind of audio output you usually play on? What do you hear, feel, and think about audio design on the game? Which audio preference do you choose in the options settings?
2. What do you think about audio design in Sunbreak? What makes it different than Rise?
3. Are there standouts for great audio design in Sunbreak (not limited to sound effects)?

2d. Soundtrack
Audios are something to hear, including the soundtrack (OST if you like abbreviations). OST direction in Rise were inspired with Japanese instruments, something that was mostly presented in MHP3rd. It added vocal choirs for each areas and monsters. In Sunbreak, the direction is different. There are more emphasis on classic instruments with fewer choir segments. As a tradeoff, the horns section is more frequent than before. That's no exception with returning OSTs such as Jungle music and monsters like Astalos, Seregios, Magalas, and more. They even invited the original composer to rearrange said monsters to give a faithful feel.
To give reference, Sunbreak OST directory is here. Also, I created the MH composer list

1. What do you hear, feel, and think about the Sunbreak OSTs in general? What do you like from them? What are your favorite track(s)?
2. What do you think about original composer rearranging some returning OSTs? Do you feel something different? Is it necessary to do?
3. What kind of soundtrack direction do you want forward?

2e. Story and cutscene design
Story in MH is arguably not the kind of priority, mostly for the lores and stuffs. However, for Rise series, they are more emphasized, direct, and personal. This direction continues in Sunbreak, enhancing what's missing from Rise (minus Rampages). Characters are more expressive, including side characters who gives somewhat more important backstory. And of course, there are more character content. First, the follower quests which makes more character story. That also supported by their social media team who gives more further information about character story. Moreover, if you see the characters, their names are more personal and given rather than by title. For example: the name's Galleus vs Admiral
Cutscene design is no exception. While they are basically have focused direction as Rise, The experience is still good. You can feel the overall tension of the story.

1. What do you think about the story so far? Does is more direct and "in your face" compared to older games?
2. What story aspect that stands out for you, and what aspect that can be improved?
3. How's the cutscene so far?
4. What do you think about names which is now personal than being a title in previous games?
5. Do you think they should emphasize more into the story in the future?

3. Experience

Experience is how players experience the game, such as how to access the game, how does it control and perform, and the multiplayer experience
3a. Overall user interface and user experience
With UI and UX improvements, such as loadouts, equipment & talisman navigation, quest navigation, etc., the overall experience is improved from what's inside Rise. That applies in Rise version especially UX updates.

1. What is the most improved aspect of the UI and UX in this game?
2. How was the experience when you entered Sunbreak the first time? Did it overwhelm you?
3. Is the tutorial popup helpful or at least improved, judging from the timing and how it's described in the game?
4. What kind of UI and UX you want to see in the future?

3b. Menu information (visual)
Menu is the most vital part of MH, giving people information about what's up. In hunter's notes, unlike previous games, they've shown actual numbers and meters to inform the values. This is huge in meta aspect, making the fight easier to analyze such as hitzone values, weakness thresholds, and more. Another thing is the armor skill descriptions. There are some consistencies need to be desired such as when to show the numbers in description or not. For example: damage +10 vs (further) increases damage.

1. What do you think about these menu information? Does it inform you enough, or do you want it more?
2. Do you think they need to make descriptions more concise or verbose, or should they release more numbers in description?

3c. Controls (motoric)
In combat section, with introduction of switch skill swap, the controls become more complex. At least they have shown the UI for indicator, which is still a good thing. For PC, there are control improvements, even though there are some unfamiliarities transitioning from controller to keyboard and vice versa

1. What do you play with? Does it play responsively?
2. Optional: do you make the transition from one control to another? (example: controller to KbM)
3. Switch users: do you feel different controlling in portable/docked mode?
4. Does this game need full button remaps or at least button presets?

3d. Audio experience (audio)
This has slightly different question than audio design in section 2. There are extensive audio controls in this game, including 3D audio. With this option, players can listen the direction of the sound

1. How's the audio engineering? Is it well mixed?
2. How's the 3D audio so far? Any differences compared to basic version?

3e. Performance and graphics (tech)
Title, so I straight up ask

1. For PC, optional: specify the main PC specs such as CPU, GPU, storage, RAM, VRAM. How does it perform in your PC? What are the most intensive performance so far? How's the driver update treat the performance? Is there a bottleneck so far?
   1. frame rate: 30, 60, 120, or unlimited fps?
   2. How's the booting time? Does it concern you?
2. For home console: specify the console used. How's the performance so far?
3. For switch: how's the performance on portable and docked mode? Are there changes on optimizations?
4. In terms of graphics, where are the most beautiful scenes? (excluding cutscenes)

3f. Multiplayer (online)
Multiplayer is one of the key features to experience in MH. Because of it, this time I put them in experience section. Although the experience is basically the same in Rise, there can be improvements, maybe a bit subtle, so I'll ask again

1. How's the general experience of multiplayer in Sunbreak? Are there improvements compared to Rise?

I forgot to mention in Rise, the quest design flow is a bit different. If we compare to World, Rise is offline first. This affects how quests are designed. For the host, quest can be toggled for online but only in the hub whereas World can toggle while hunting due to online first design (SOS Flare +++ quests). Now for the finder, you can search while in "offline" mode (should I say asynchronous mode since searching lobby is basically online?). You can select specific quest. But there is one caveat, you don't know the players playing the quest or not, so for the finder it can be frustrating if there are no specific quests posted.

1. Do you think this is a good multiplayer quest design so far? Is there something that needs to be improved?
2. What should be the better multiplayer system for MH? (doesn't need to be retrospective)

4. Support

4a. Title updates
Title Update (TU) is the most vital part of the game given how to make the game long lasting until now. TUs come with bunch of stuffs, including but not limited to monsters, gimmick weapons, additional weapon balances, followers able to participate anomaly quests, new craftable decos, and more. In fact, besides updates, we get more QoL features and improvements based on the feedback to make more convenience.

1. What's your opinion about the overall TU lineup for Sunbreak?
2. Which TU feels significant content wise? Also, which TU is your favorite?
3. What do you think about how they treated weapon balance prior updates?
4. Is the QoL across the updates enough, mainly for UI and UX aspects, or is there something that needs to be addressed more?
5. Does the performance stable enough to handle TUs?
6. Does the TU make grinding easier over time?

4b. Event quests
Event quests are operated independent against TUs. As the name suggests, let's jump straight to questions:

1. Do you like that the updates are independent against TUs?
2. Downloadable quests vs scheduled event quests?
3. Are you satisfied about the rewards after completing even quests??

5. Endgame

5a. Anomaly quests, monsters, and grinding
After the final boss, there are anomaly quests that elevates the difficulty from the base version. Majority of monsters get afflicted with qurio parts to break with indications if some parts are broken, the player(s) passes the damage check which topples monster. Otherwise, monster unleashes large and stunning AoE damage which is kind of dangerous. Some may say it's akin to MHGen hyper monsters which has hyper parts needed to hit to increase hunter arts gauge. The rewards? You get afflicted materials.
However, anomaly quests and the rewards are not enough. They introduce anomaly investigations. This may be similar to MH4U endgame quest (disclaimer: I don't play MH4U). Anomaly investigation has the level system that needs to be increased to get better rewards with a increased difficulty. These rewards

1. What do you think about anomaly quest design, and what about the rewards?
2. What do you think about anomaly investigation design, and what about the rewards? Does the rewards worth the time to grind?
3. In case of investigation. What is your usual time to beat the quest? How exhausting is the progress by grinding more? What do you think about its increased difficulty and the damage?
4. What do you think about afflicted monsters gameplay? Is it well designed for its stats, mechanics and moveset?
5. Favorite afflicted monster to fight?
6. Which monster is the best/worst for anomaly quests?

As the anomaly endgame goes further, we are introduced with Risen elder dragons, who got in control with qurio to make them afflicted. Risen elder dragons difficulty is increased with exclusive moves that explodes anywhere near (or a bit further) with fearful damage. What makes them different than afflicted monster is they don't inflict bloodblight as the afflicted ones.

1. What do you think about risen elder dragon so far, whether for its difficulty, moveset, time to complete, etc?
2. What's your usual completion time for risen quests? Does the reward worth the grind?
3. By completing these anomaly quests with some level requirement, you can unlock a new decoration and craft it from those quest rewards. Therefore, there are variety of decorations as opposed to Rise. Is this system good enough to be implemented

5b. Qurious crafting: armor
As the reward for completing anomaly quests, you get items for augmenting equipment a bit further, particularly afflicted essences. Qurious armor takes the augmenting further, adding or trading skills so that the augmentations can be mixed.

1. Whats your opinion about qurious crafting in general?
2. How grindy is this in comparison to previous games' grindy sections (like MHW deco grind and others)?
3. In terms of augmentation, do you like the fact you can have a tradeoff involving defense, slots, and skills?
4. Do you think this augmentation is better implemented for next game? Or are there other suggestions for armor augments?
5. Bonus: do you play without qurious armors this whole time? ^{Because I do}

5c. Qurious crafting: weapons
Back in Rise, you can ramp up the weapons with rampage skills. Since Sunbreak, these upgrades are replaced by qurious weapon crafting. This features stat increases such as raw/elemental attack, sharpness and slot upgrade, and other upgrades like shell types. What makes them different compared to qurious armor crafting is this one's requirement is fixed and can minmax freely after you unlock what's desired. This system doesn't reward randomly like in armor. However, with this characteristics, the grind is real that you need to reach some of highest level of anomaly investigation

1. What's your opinion on qurious weapon crafting in general?
2. Do you think this kind of augmentation can be implemented for later games?

5c. Hazard quests
Hazard quests was introduced in late title updates. Currently, these quest is implemented for all monsters after accomplishing anomaly investigation level 300, event quests, or even hub quests. These quests introduces modified movesets for monsters and also increase their health. In practice, the rewards are title badges and more.

1. What do you think about hazard quests so far? How's the difficulty of it?
2. Does it worth the accomplishment?

Closing

This is a closing part of the post. MH Rise series has come into the end with Sunbreak final update. We don't know what will happen how for the mainline series goes, but this marks for 2 years of service including planned last event quests at 27 July 2023. I believe there are many community contribution through this series, ranging from fanarts to in depth meta guides.
Last but not least, after these evaluations, it's time for the verdict.

The verdict: are you satisfied with Sunbreak?

Thank you
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Resources by OP:

• Sunbreak moveset flowchart diagram
• Sunbreak combo analyzer