Bay 12 Games Forum

So people were talking about how terrible a lot of wuxia/cultivation writings are. Apparently there's a lot of garbage in the genre with unlikable protagonists and so on.

What are some good examples? Are there any? I keep wanting to get into ACS but almost every concept is completely alien and/or poorly explained. I understand the basic gameplay loop (train warrior monks, ascend to higher power levels, keep training and growing stronger) but that's about it. If there's a decent crash course on the genre I wouldn't mind reading it.

I had a dream last night that combined two things I've been thinking about: samurai novels and FTL (that's the computer game FTL: Faster Than Light by the way - I've been playing it quite a bit lately).

I was a member of a clan or a corporation or a crime syndicate or something. We worked in this big futuristic complex that was dug in underground, and we had some sort of secret. I don't remember what it was, probably some sort of advanced technology.

A rival group wanted our secret, but thanks to politics of some kind were unwilling to just attack us for it. So every day they would send us a representative to make us an offer. And every day my group's leader, a woman who I thought of as my mother, would go meet with the representative and decline the offer. She never just said "no", she always had a good (or at least logical) explanation for why the deal was unfavorable. She did it this way so that the other group couldn't accuse us of simply refusing honorable negotiation. And so every day the representative would leave.

Then one day the other group decided that they were done playing nice. They infiltrated a spy into my group, and while the spy was caught thanks to some alert security guards it was all the distraction the other group needed. They came to us with one final offer: give them the secret, or die. We refused, swords were drawn, and suddenly the compound was rocked with explosions. The enemy had brought in their warship, and it was firing on the compound from above while sending in squads of soldiers to take the place by force. We fired back, but the warship had the advantage and took out most of the defenses. The ship stopped firing once the compound was nearly destroyed, not wanting to risk losing the secret.

Our soldiers were more than a match for theirs but the enemy seemed limitless. Our leader figured out that the enemy warship had a cloning bay that was reviving them as they died, and thus if we wanted to prevail we had to take the fight to them. Several of us piled into our own warship, safely hidden in an underground hangar, and we launched into the sky. Our ship was smaller but much more maneuverable, and the enemy only had a slight advantage in firepower. They teleported a squad onto the ship to try and take it, but fortunately we had expected this and had defenses ready. Eventually the enemy warship exploded and plummeted to the ground.

Things weren't quite over yet. Although the warship was destroyed, there were still enemy soldiers in the compound and some of them had even managed to get underground, still seeking our secret. We were landing and preparing to enter the final phase of the battle when I woke up.

FTL: Faster Than Light did have a thread, but it's been dead for years now and I'm not going to revive it.

Instead I'll just plug the Multiverse Mod. It's a massive project, still under development, which can basically be summarized as "FTL 2". More ships, more events, more species and species variants, more gear, more sectors, more factions, more bosses. There are improved QoL features and an overhauled upgrade system that allows one to really supercharge one's ship.

Basically, if you have fond memories of FTL and want to scratch the old itch again, I highly recommend giving Multiverse a try. It's a little janky here and there and balance can be off at times, but overall it's a fantastic mod/unofficial sequel.

Kenji pokes through the bags, not expecting much, but he pauses as he spies something that he is familiar with. Smiling, the class president pulls out a training tonfa. It was padded, designed for use in sparring and to practice various grips, but the padding wasn't all that thick and it had a metal core. Swung with sufficient force it would certainly inflict some hurt.

: "Haven't used one of these in years. Domo arigato." Kenji took a few experimental swipes at the air with the weapon, testing the feel of it in his hands. Yes, this would do until he could pick up a proper tonfa or two.

Kenji picks up a Padded Tonfa (Steel Rapier) and promotes to Cavalier.

I imagine that they're planes that dump water and/or fire retardant chemicals on fires from above. We have quite a few of them here in California for our fires, and they work pretty well.

: "What she said!"

Before Gawen moves, Amberly goes to J-19 and ZAPS the Templar!

You have to understand that big time cryptominers aren't just leaving a single PC to idle all day. They buy up large numbers of components (leaving short supply for people who just want a computer for everyday use) and work them hard 24/7. This sucks up tremendous amounts of power, generates dangerous amounts of heat (which requires more power to try and cool lest your farm literally burn to the ground), and produces a staggering amount of e-waste from burned out components. All for some "currency" which most will not accept and could easily crash and vanish without a trace.

Kenji's smile widened a little as he shrugged.

: "I was just curious, that's all. When a guy gets invited by one of the most popular girls in school to go eat yakisoba - on his own wallet, no less - he has to wonder a little. Especially when she's the one who brings up the topic of dating." A flicker of movement outside the noodle shop caught Kenji's eye, and he looked up in time to see a flash of green ducking out of sight. Odd.

: "Well, it's not a big deal. Date or no date, I've had fun today. You?"