I did watch Rings of Power, and it had some highlights for sure. Elven cities! Hobbit songs!
My spouse made the unilateral decision that we would watch it (he got at least one "you un-cancelled our Prime subscription for ~THIS~?!?!??" out of me) but by the halfway point I was on board.
The timeline is jolting and jarring, though, and there are definitely some bits that feel like they exist to meet a fight scene quota.
Your concern about an unfinished series is a very reasonable one. While season 1 does not end on a cliffhanger, it's very much setting up the next chapter. Which will arrive first: Rings of Power season 2 or GRRM's The Winds of Winter?
Oh, anchorm4n, I can totally relate to the childhood monster fears, but it was Jaws for me. I can't even enjoy a Shark Week thanks to seeing that movie when I was too young.
Do I recall that you are a Tolkien fan? What did you think about the new Amazon series?
And to get myself back on the books topic, I finished The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, and it is every bit as good as all the book club ladies in your life say that it is.
Same. I doubt they'll be announcing a new class this expansion.
Dean told us multiple times in his Q&As that they're not working on a new class, and I believe him.
Teasing a "bigger than usual" expansion is not the same as hinting at a whole new class, even if there is a location template in some data mine somewhere.
I'm happy to be wrong (and not willing to bet a shoe breakfast), but the timing of all this seems unlikely.
You inspired me to scroll through the Mercs leaderboard (the UI could use some loving attention).
I spotted quite a few names that I think I recognize from OOC, so that's fun. Pezman, you are pages ahead of ChahDresh, who is pages ahead of GoliathDwarf, who is pages ahead of me. If the battletags line up with the OOC accounts.
CrazyCat is 15+ pages ahead of me, but I often beat her, so who knows what it all means?
I have zero ideas right now on how to take advantage of the bot opponents, beyond "don't worry too much about it" and "see if there are any Merc Achievements that'd be easier in a bot pit." Perhaps some of our esteemed colleagues will have more interesting ideas.
I can say that winning one PvP game per day takes me to 5000+ (and sometimes 6k+) over the season, so the rewards chests feel fairly worthwhile for the amount of effort.
And it's fun. Probably more fun at the mid-levels where we all are than on the first page of the leaderboards.
Feels like the Old Gods are dominant at the moment.
And whatever updates to the MMR happened around the time of miniset launch have me confused.
I win one game of PvP per day, and for weeks I've only played against one other player: CrazyCat. Do she and I have the exact same schedule and skill level? Or is this the new name for Your Opponent?
It does feel wrong as written, and it bit me today: I got a Ragnaros portrait even though there are legendaries (Ysera, for example) that are not in my collection.
I managed it on the first game, but only because of this helpful article. And maybe a bit of luck!
Celeston's puzzles are interesting, they show not only the community's willingness to try ridiculous stuff, but also some of the limits of Hearthstone.
Last patch I noticed a visual failure to upgrade when trying to upgrade from the travel point. But it was visual only, the upgrade did happen. And I never had that problem when upgrading from the wagon point.
Tbqh, when Shadow Waltz was revealed, my first thought was that Blizzard was queerbaiting me again.
When I look charitably at the overall level of gender parity and LGBTQ representation in Hearthstone, I recognize how challenging it is to create art that is intended to appeal to a massive global audience. Balancing the desires of the customers who want to see themselves reflected in their games vs the pearl-clutchers and the Chinese censors is no easy task, and one that corporations have struggled with for a long time.
When I'm feeling less charitable, I grumble about baby steps and the amount of patience required to move past a point of token representation.
And I do appreciate the OOC regulars and staff who are quick to push back on the occasional piece of negativity that does crop up.
I'm reading it as:
Step 1) you pick one of your maxed Mercs and push a button that exchanges that Merc's excess coins into Renown.
Step 2) you decide if one of Blizz's two trade offers is appealing enough to click on. If so, you get those coins and now have less Renown.
Sounds good to me.
I did watch Rings of Power, and it had some highlights for sure. Elven cities! Hobbit songs!
My spouse made the unilateral decision that we would watch it (he got at least one "you un-cancelled our Prime subscription for ~THIS~?!?!??" out of me) but by the halfway point I was on board.
The timeline is jolting and jarring, though, and there are definitely some bits that feel like they exist to meet a fight scene quota.
Your concern about an unfinished series is a very reasonable one. While season 1 does not end on a cliffhanger, it's very much setting up the next chapter. Which will arrive first: Rings of Power season 2 or GRRM's The Winds of Winter?
Oh, anchorm4n, I can totally relate to the childhood monster fears, but it was Jaws for me. I can't even enjoy a Shark Week thanks to seeing that movie when I was too young.
Do I recall that you are a Tolkien fan? What did you think about the new Amazon series?
And to get myself back on the books topic, I finished The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, and it is every bit as good as all the book club ladies in your life say that it is.
Same. I doubt they'll be announcing a new class this expansion.
Dean told us multiple times in his Q&As that they're not working on a new class, and I believe him.
Teasing a "bigger than usual" expansion is not the same as hinting at a whole new class, even if there is a location template in some data mine somewhere.
I'm happy to be wrong (and not willing to bet a shoe breakfast), but the timing of all this seems unlikely.
The next couple weeks should make it all clear!
Are we thinking we have until early December to complete these?
Discard is a struggle for me - I really don't enjoy watching key cards float out of my hand.
Maybe I should take this deck for a spin and work on getting over that.
Secret Hunter did fine, especially with Tracking into Motion Denied into Collateral Damage.
Not quite as consistent as these, I'm sure.
You inspired me to scroll through the Mercs leaderboard (the UI could use some loving attention).
I spotted quite a few names that I think I recognize from OOC, so that's fun. Pezman, you are pages ahead of ChahDresh, who is pages ahead of GoliathDwarf, who is pages ahead of me. If the battletags line up with the OOC accounts.
CrazyCat is 15+ pages ahead of me, but I often beat her, so who knows what it all means?
I have zero ideas right now on how to take advantage of the bot opponents, beyond "don't worry too much about it" and "see if there are any Merc Achievements that'd be easier in a bot pit." Perhaps some of our esteemed colleagues will have more interesting ideas.
I can say that winning one PvP game per day takes me to 5000+ (and sometimes 6k+) over the season, so the rewards chests feel fairly worthwhile for the amount of effort.
And it's fun. Probably more fun at the mid-levels where we all are than on the first page of the leaderboards.
How about:
Her early career was shadowed by a theft accusation that, while never substantiated, eroded the public's trust.
Feels like the Old Gods are dominant at the moment.
And whatever updates to the MMR happened around the time of miniset launch have me confused.
I win one game of PvP per day, and for weeks I've only played against one other player: CrazyCat. Do she and I have the exact same schedule and skill level? Or is this the new name for Your Opponent?
What have you been seeing in the pit?
It does feel wrong as written, and it bit me today: I got a Ragnaros portrait even though there are legendaries (Ysera, for example) that are not in my collection.
I managed it on the first game, but only because of this helpful article. And maybe a bit of luck!
Celeston's puzzles are interesting, they show not only the community's willingness to try ridiculous stuff, but also some of the limits of Hearthstone.
Last patch I noticed a visual failure to upgrade when trying to upgrade from the travel point. But it was visual only, the upgrade did happen. And I never had that problem when upgrading from the wagon point.
Are you seeing this in both places?
I am cackling.
Sule, you are a treasure.
Solidarity, friend.
I will absolutely join you in all the eye rolling that poor writing deserves.
Yes, that was an attempt to be light-hearted.
Tbqh, when Shadow Waltz was revealed, my first thought was that Blizzard was queerbaiting me again.
When I look charitably at the overall level of gender parity and LGBTQ representation in Hearthstone, I recognize how challenging it is to create art that is intended to appeal to a massive global audience. Balancing the desires of the customers who want to see themselves reflected in their games vs the pearl-clutchers and the Chinese censors is no easy task, and one that corporations have struggled with for a long time.
When I'm feeling less charitable, I grumble about baby steps and the amount of patience required to move past a point of token representation.
And I do appreciate the OOC regulars and staff who are quick to push back on the occasional piece of negativity that does crop up.
I like Nemsy's summon-it-or-buff-it design, but I'm not sure another Nature Caster is gonna fit on my comps.
Looking forward to figuring it out!
No romance in Hearthstone art? Oh come on, the Shadow Waltz-ers are ~clearly~ in love.
True! But Shaman has Auctionhouse Gavel, and that might be....wait for it...overload, ha!
Maybe there are too many fun courtroom words to jam into one miniset.
"Maw-sworn" is an unpleasant-looking word.
I am enjoying how the courtroom theme is playing out. I expected a Warrior weapon called [Adjective] Gavel, though.