SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2020-02-06 03:19:54 +0000 UTC]

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TheViditofLight In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2020-02-06 03:26:08 +0000 UTC]

Heh, no worries! I do indeed wish we could talk more on everything from games to writing (I've once again brought up the prospect to Aerodeth of the 3 of us collabing, and he remains as supportive of it as ever, as do I...we'd need to have a way to communicate 3 ways though...to say nothing of the other writing subjects, and gaming subjects, and everything, I brought up), but I am happy to hear from you when I can anyhow! I had...an interesting Christmas and New Year's season. Some bad, some good! Overall I'm happy with it, haha. 

And yeah, I was thinking of commenting on your page to mourn its failure with you, we BOTH loved that game, and yet Blizzard not only botched what should have easily been a slam-dunk for them, but, as you say, they even forced the original client to "upgrade". I guess only disc copies preserve the original now...it's very sad. How the mighty have fallen...Blizzard's tragic tailspin continues. 

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2020-03-09 19:23:04 +0000 UTC]

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TheViditofLight In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2020-03-11 04:09:55 +0000 UTC]

I think I still have the disc copies lying around here, but even then, it could be a chore to get them to work on modern systems, to say nothing of the fact that I BOUGHT the digital editions just to play the game again WITHOUT the hassle of finding the registration codes...and then, yeah, updating may be risky, though I would guess the DISC copies are safe, if they don't automatically hook into Battle.net? I don't know, come to think of it...but holy crap, Blizzard's own official tournament disconnected? ...the company's in worse shape than I thought. I'm...actually kind of saddened by it. Warcraft was my introduction to the fantasy genera, and was the first time I saw the concept of a Paladin-a concept I've been in love with ever since, so...yeah. But you're right, I suppose this is all making them easier to boycott...though that's a very bittersweet consolation, heh...

But yes, glad to see that Command and Conquer is possibly making a much more well-done comeback with lots of passion and community involvement and even DESIRE to please the fans, what with bonus footage and music never before released and a map editor (no word yet on whether or not they claim exclusive ownership to anything made in it, though hopefully after how that turned out with Warcraft 3 Reforged even EA will realize that's a bad, bad idea).

Anyhow, as for writing, and a 3-way collab, do you have any other messaging service like Discord or something? Aerodeth said, I think, that he does not, but I'm trying to think of a way to establish a three-way communication hub between us, and then what manner of story to write (both in actual content and in format, such as chapter-by-chapter, roleplay, or what) and where to place it. But establishing a place to actually speak and communicate three ways is the first step in making it happen, I think. But yes, glad to talk and hope to hear from you soon!

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2019-11-19 22:13:45 +0000 UTC]

Thank you mate! Sorry I haven't been on here very much lately - talk soon!

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TheViditofLight In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2019-11-20 06:04:36 +0000 UTC]

No worries! I understand, life gets busy! But my pleasure, and if we talk soon-well, looking forward to it! All the best!

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2019-11-21 00:36:24 +0000 UTC]

Haha yeah loads to catch up on! In the meantime though, in the EXTREMELY unlikely event you haven't seen it yet, footage of the C&C remaster's finally out in the wild! I admit, after also keeping an eye on Warcraft III Reforged, I'm a little disappointed we're not getting a true 21st century visual upgrade, though the smoother framerate's definitely appreciated and of course it looks better. I'm very curious to see how they handle the cutscenes, any thoughts?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYZHFZ…

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TheViditofLight In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2019-11-21 16:15:57 +0000 UTC]

 I suppose we do, and while I'd love to continue our note-tag, no rush! 

And I'm afraid that extremely unlikely event did indeed occur, I was unaware of that video/footage's existence! And I must admit to sharing your disappointment-sure, it does look better than the 95 version, but like yourself, I too was hoping for a total graphics update consistent with modern tech and capability...and I too have my eye on Warcraft 3 Reforged, but after the whole debacle with their Hearthstone champion and China's influence, part of me is debating if I want to give Blizzard more money right now, at least barring some sign that that's not going to be their attitude going forward...but that's nasty political crap in a gaming discussion. 

While I am indeed a tad disappointed about the lack of modern visuals...I'll still probably buy these remakes. As for the cutscenes, part of me is just HOPING that they'll give them a facelift-say, update the visual fidelity and overall pixel count in the pictures-without otherwise touching their content. 

Anyhow, thanks for pointing this out to me, and talk to you when I do!

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2019-12-04 23:45:18 +0000 UTC]

Whoops and almost forgot, hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!

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TheViditofLight In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2019-12-08 18:59:12 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, and back at you!

I suppose you make some decent, even good, points about Warcraft 3 Reforged-I may allow Blizzard my money there but just avoid Modern Warfare and other games for a bit...Warcraft 3 (and 2 for that matter, which introduced me into the high fantasy genera and the concept of Paladins, which I fell in love with, haha) was a sizable part of my childhood as well, and I loved the scenario editor! 

And yes, again, thank you for that link! As for Seth? Well, power DOES shift quickly in the brotherhood...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqwO2o…

Anyhow, looking forward to notes! Rest and heal up in the meantime!

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2019-12-04 23:44:41 +0000 UTC]

Yeah I heard about what Blizzard did to Blitzchung and even firing the two newscasters who had no idea what was about to happen, that's pretty messed up and Blizzard just sidestepped any chance they had at a sincere apology. I'm definite on not buying Diablo or Overwatch 2 over that...Warcraft 3 though, I'm torn on because it was such a big part of my childhood and the Blizzard that made that game isn't the same as what it turned into. I know not everybody at Blizzard supports how the company acted and imo it's kind of unfair to the people who made the game nearly two decades before this happened, even if it's new Blizzard that gets the money.

Oh wow, glad I tossed in the link anyway XD yeah there's no way the fanbase would go for redoing the cutscenes if they didn't feature Joe Kucan XD, he is Kane just as much as Michael Ironside is Sam Fisher! Even if they did get Kucan to replay the role, I still see "Seth, just Seth" memes!

Been stuck at home battling the flu, so sorry I haven't gotten around to a full note, but it's definitely on my list! TTYL!

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2018-12-24 01:40:40 +0000 UTC]

Hi there! Not to worry, still a C&C fan XD and yeah I'm cautiously optimistic too. They are bringing back some original talent, they promised no microtransactions and I'm especially thrilled to hear Frank Klepacki will be scoring! Fingers crossed they get up to Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2, the latter especially was my favorite (what about yours?)

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TheViditofLight In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2018-12-24 08:12:13 +0000 UTC]

Alright, great to hear it! And yeah, seeing that they have so much of the original crew on the project, including, of course, the legendary Mr. Klepacki, was a sizable boost to my confidence in the remaster. The lack of microtransactions...well, it's sad they even HAD to promise that, BUT it's good to hear, as well. I find myself thinking that while EA DOES screw up a lot of things, a simple remaster of the old C&C classics would require ZERO design choices-all they'd REALLY need to do would be just rebuild the games with modern production values. For all of EA's screwups, they HAVE proven they can pump GREAT production values into a game (Case in point: the new Battlefront 2-HORRID design choices, STELLAR graphics and sound). So...all these reasons are why I find myself optimistic, however, we agree, cautiously. 

As for me, I'm right there with you in what to hope for-my "dream pack" of remasters would have included not just Tib Dawn and Red Alert, but Tib Sun and RA2 as well. As for my favorite...I'll call it a toss-up between Red Alert 2 and Tiberium Wars. YES, I know Wars is post-Westwood, but the team EA assembled for it really knocked it out of the park in a game that still looks pretty good even over a decade later, kept true to the design of the original gameplay-wise while still building upon it, and had an intriguing story with all sorts of good lore bits. Of course, nowadays I need to pretend C&C4 doesn't exist to enjoy it (I think we agree 4 failed on pretty much every level), but I don't hold that against 3. 

 On the other hand, Red Alert 2's story, for all its campy elements, was still pretty serious at parts (scenes in the Soviet campaign where the pyschic beacons are set up and Gen. Carville's funeral come to mind) and quite intriguing, the art style was appealing and pleasing to look at, the gameplay was stellar as well, and I've got to give points to a game that promises me a chance to defend the free world from communist takeover (admittedly the Biblical elements that were present or hinted at in the Tiberian saga got points with me too, but again, C&C 4...)...

...so that's a longer way of saying that I think it's a toss-up between C&C 3 and RA2, haha. I know I've prattled on a bit, I hope you don't mind. I'm just glad to be able to talk about this!

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2018-12-27 02:41:35 +0000 UTC]

Haha no worries, glad C&C hasn't been forgotten! Not to worry, I enjoyed Tiberium Wars quite a bit too. They had an interesting idea for differentiating the factions too; GDI very much a conventional ground-and-pounder, Nod a very interesting mix of low-tech cannon fodder and high tech (the Scrin, I have PTSD memories of being swarmed by their freakin' spaceships playing as GDI before they got better anti-air units in Kane's Wrath XD at least they were weak if you hit them early enough though). The story I thought was pretty good too, it felt more grounded and I liked how they introduced the political conflict in both factions. Tiberian Sun it felt very much like "GDI = good, Nod = evil" but I like how in Tiberium Wars you really could paint GDI as spoiled first world moochers living off the other 99%, while in Nod there's a growing rift between those who follow Kane no matter what and those who are starting to see him as selfish (though just...ugh at how C&C 4 explained him with "ET start four world wars so he can phone home!") Just compare the cutscenes between C&C 3 and 4, and it's like they cut the budget for 4 by 90%. For crying out loud, you see GDI troops wearing modern day US Army and Marine uniforms two decades after C&C 3 showed them wearing armor that actually looked the time period!

Cool, so that and RA2 are your favorites...that leaves me wondering, what did you think of Red Alert 3 and Generals? IMO, RA3 fell into the "good but not great" category for me, the cutscenes were still quite good (I legit freaked when they cast JK Simmons as the US President!) and they introduced the Empire just when I was getting into my Japan-o-phile phase so I was excited for that...but I didn't really dig the co-commander setup, the factions felt kinda unbalanced after coming off Tiberium Wars, and I just didn't like some of the changes like to the economy system. And Generals and Renegade (and any other "spin-offs" I might have forgotten)...what did you think of those two games?

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TheViditofLight In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2018-12-29 09:19:33 +0000 UTC]

(Okay, this is going to be a friggin' ESSAY, sorry in advance. If you're interested in chatting more, we can do it on PMs or discord or just reply here, or whatever! Hope you enjoy the read!)

I do recall that the factions fit more or less as you described-GDI was very  conventional ground-operating military that couldn't be beat in a straight-up fight (fitting for what amounts to a union of the G8 nations and basically conventional "human civilization" at that point), Nod's "hammer and scalpel" approach was also really well done (fitting for a cult that often had to subsist on guerrilla warfare and angry disenfranchised mobs supported by evil cult organizations), and the Scrin were the least outright conventional, with their odd infantry units, being HEALED by tiberium, and having the most powerful air units (fitting for alien invaders). The design of the factions was indeed stellar from both a gameplay and lore perspective. And we agree on the story being good and doing a good job of showing the conflict WITHIN each faction (even the friggin' SCRIN). Though I would argue that in general, Tiberium Wars still held the "GDI=good, Nod=evil, and Scrin=evil" motif carried over from the start of the series, BUUUUUUT the worldbuilding we got DID showcase how there could be shades of grey between the two. I'd argue that GDI's goal of saving humanity from Tiberium, protecting the Blue Zones from the encroachment of an organization that practically worships Tiberium (Nod), and keeping human civilization together as HUMAN civilization I would argue is undoubtedly noble, BUUUUT life in the Yellow Zones isn't exactly peachy and it's even mentioned that humanitarian aid often isn't distributed without strings attached. A lot of Nod's personnel probably do actively seek to do good for those living there and can easily hate GDI for being the "haves" as opposed to their own "have-nots", a narrative that Nod certainly capitalizes on, but ultimately I'd argue that their stated goal of spreading tiberium across the Earth and exposing as much of humanity to a substance that will mutate or kill them as possible, being lead by figure who fancies himself a "close second" to God (in his own words), ultimately STILL makes Nod the bad guys. To say nothing of the Scrin who tried to use Tiberium to exterminate humanity and then harvest the crystals, and then engaged in indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations to cause confusion...

...of course, I don't think you're disagreeing with ANY of that. But as you point out, the world was written with enough shades of grey to allow arguments to be MADE that GDI's system may be causing a lot of harm to people, and conversely Nod's setup may actually be helping a lot of people, regardless of the end goal. To say nothing of Director Boyle who generally urges you to use that Tiberium bomb that results in millions dying, but says it's okay because "the winners write the history books", contrasted with by-the-book, straight-arrow Gen. Granger who urges you to avoid using it...then there's in Nod, as you say, those who trust in Kane and those who think that for one reason or another he's leading astray (and heck, I think that Kane's Wrath showed that there are those in Nod who themselves were hurt by Nod in the past and joined the organization just to get at Kane and screw up his plans)...and to wrap this all up, perhaps it simply speaks to the quality of the story and worldbuilding that we even CAN have this kind of a conversation about the shades of white, black, and grey in C&C 3...

And that brings us to, as you quite aptly put it, "ET start four world wars so he can phone home!" I've never heard it described that way, but I think I'm going to steal that phrase, haha. Kane's origins and goals were rather mysterious from the start, but yeah, they chose the least satisfying, most generic direction to take him that even stands in contrast to the rest of the series (there was a scene where he showed contempt and disapproval for humanity's "tendency for fanaticism", and I found myself thinking "Dude, YOU ENCOURAGED IT!"-he even MENTIONED that he once "had a use for it" but now that he doesn't NEED it he finds it disgusting, and he was somehow the GOOD GUY this whole time and just...ugh. Frankly, I was rooting for "Biblical figure who is attempting to wage war upon the God who cursed him and all of that God's favored children (humanity)". Heck, I could lay out the case as for why that was a very strong possibility up until C&C 4 crapped all over the series lore...as for the difference in cutscene quality, I have little to say on that except "I agree". Less creative costumes, no celebrity appearances, fewer sets overall-all of these things point to a smaller budget/amount of effort (or both). 

As for your questions concerning my opinions of the other C&C games...

Red Alert 3: I loved it. Not as much as RA2 or Tib Wars, but I still loved it. The silliness ultimately put it beneath RA2 (which balanced what silliness it had with some legit serious stuff that I talked about in my last post) and C&C3, but I still kind of reveled in it/thought it was fun and funny. The focus on naval and amphibious warfare was an interesting twist, and the colorful art style made it pleasant to look at to me, not to say I didn't like C&C3's less colorful/more realistic look. The cutscenes were all as gloriously over-the-top as the game itself, complete with fine, campy performances by all the celebrity stars. The fact that the Japanese army was a mixture of anime tropes and their WW2 era patriotism/samurai spirit was pretty awesome/funny, and I don't think the other factions had nearly the same amount of over-the-top style (that's not to say I liked the other factions less, they were also still well done, even if the game wasn't as finely balanced as C&C3. Besides, I have to favor the Allies by default, haha.) I didn't mind the changes to the economy system, buuuuuuut I would have preferred for a game with "Command and Conquer" in the title to retain classic harvesting, if I had the choice. The campaigns I thought were generally fun, with well-designed missions, though they all seemed a bit too short for my tastes (I suppose that's the downside of working with three factions rather than two, if they all get their own campaign-though C&C3 had more missions overall and still had 3 factions). I also didn't terribly mind the co-commander stuff, and even enjoyed how it made the campaign missions easily co-op. That said, it DOES make me wonder what might have been if they focused on a purely singleplayer experience. Still, I quite enjoyed the romp through a sci-fi world war as fought with shrink rays, freeze rays, armored parachuting warbears, and psionic schoolgirls.

Generals: I thought that it was a VERY fun game with well-designed factions that were all a blast to play, complete with different looks, feels, and playstyles! I loved most every moment I spent with Generals except for the bits in Zero Hour that I suspect were added to make the game legal in China (namely the "USA gets whooped by terrorists and China assumes unchallenged global leadership" bit), combined with the General's challenge allowing you to stomp all the USA generals, but sparing one of the Chinese and one of the GLA generals. Also, I find it odd that the special USA generals had no access to tanks (except for the one special laser tank), considering how the US fields some of the best armor in the modern world. Yes, I know that the US' playstyle isn't SUPPOSED to be armor-centric, not as much as China's, at least, but if your game is based on modern war, the legacy of the Abrams tank can't be discounted, I think, haha. But those are just minor/personal gripes. The factions were great, the campaigns were fun, if somewhat barebones in narrative, and apart from some weak expansion additions (the USA did NOT need the Sentry Drone, it had plenty of other ways to get recon), I thought they were really good games, if not quite as legendary as what preceded them. 

Renegade: I greatly enjoyed this, though part of me thinks that if it wasn't Command and Conquer, its singleplayer would be pretty mediocre for the time. That said, it was well-done for what it was, and I did enjoy being and ground zero of C&C battles. And the multiplayer was amazing-I rarely ever see multiplayer quite like it, where you have two teams of asymmetrical factions with different infantry and vehicle classes trying to strategically wipe out each other's bases. In fact, there's a mod that I have, a free, standalone one, called "Red Alert: A Path Beyond", that is a total conversion mod that sets the game in the original Red Alert rather than Tiberian Dawn. It's multiplayer only, and not sure how active its community is, but it's great fun and they've added a lot to it. Look it up if you're interested (and do let me know if you do, my good sir. I believe I'd enjoy gaming with you.) 

So, I think that pretty well covers it all. Thanks for reading if you got this far, if you want to chat some more, whether here, notes, discord, or whatever, do let me know! In closing, have a fun video about the series most useless units (though this was released years ago, so it's not entirely current: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv7L5E… )

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2019-01-07 03:01:23 +0000 UTC]

Hahaha I forgot all about the technician! That guy was so hilariously weak and was usually near-dead anyway when he jumped out of my blown-up tanks XD (and yeah for all the bad unit designs C&C 4 has, Tiberian Sun's flame tank is definitely up there as one of the series' worst-looking!) Hmm I remember liking Jump Jet Troopers though even if yeah they were the kind of unit that could be a total waste of money if you didn't know what you were doing, and I saw in the comments that Brutes did actually make for useful scouts since the other sides' attack dogs couldn't attack them - though yeah, the Thief and Limpet Drone made me lol!

And no sweat, sent you a longer note  

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TheViditofLight In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2019-01-10 07:18:28 +0000 UTC]

Haha, glad you enjoyed the video! Yeah, I just remember spamming orders to him to see how quick I could make the computer say "OKAY-OKAY-O-O-O-OKAY!"

And I didn't think there was much of a problem with the unit design/appearance in C&C4 (in some cases, at least), just...everything else, haha. But as he said, "Giant Flaming Shoebox of Death", haha. And yeah, I don't recall Jumpjet Troopers being THAT bad, obviously they'll look weak when attacking a unit DESIGNED to counter air units, but...it's all about the presentation-I found all of the bits in that video funny (particularly the Medic and Limpet Drone portions) even if I didn't entirely agree. 

And I got the note, and have begun watching the videos therein (which I thank you for providing). I apologize, I do mean to get to it, so please don't feel I'm ignoring it after several days of quiet, haha. 

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2019-01-10 21:25:39 +0000 UTC]

Hmmm, I think comparing units that were in C&C 3 to 4, I greatly preferred C&C 3's designs. Some of the C&C 4 ones look just plain blocky and uninspired. And yeah, maybe some of the unit choices for the "worst" video were more for presentation than them being generally bad. No worries mate, the first videos I saw (and was looking for) were tiny little snippets while those bigger-size chunks contain pretty much everything I saw, plus the C&C Generals 2/free-to-play ones are commentary-free, so hopefully you enjoy watching what might have been!

And btw, I just booted up C&C Generals on my laptop and played the first few missions. Wish I could run it on a higher resolution, but other than that it holds up well imo. Yeah I read that Generals was banned in China which kinda surprised me when I read it way back then, since China was definitely portrayed as one of the good guys (even better in the expansion, when they came to save Europe from the GLA after the US ran). But I know now that censors rarely look that deeply into things :/ interesting they would have had the EU replace the USA as one of the three factions for a sequel though the synopsis made sense, with the China-Europe alliance falling apart and Chinese troops no longer welcome on their soil. The original conclusion I read said the US would return to the world stage but as more of a villain, kinda like Tom Clancy's Endwar with the US and Europe falling out over the US putting weapons in space. Definitely might have been interesting to see how that might play out...like our C&C 3 talk hinted, I like when the sides feel more realistic, when the good guys and bad guys aren't so clear-cut. Red Alert 3, I remember the devs hinting you'd see how the Allies could be seen as the bad guy in the Soviet campaign but I definitely got the sense the other two factions were still the villains. Even RA2 imo did more with that hilarious bit where General Carville had a truck with loudspeakers driving through Vladivostok yelling things like "to all the fat and lazy! Come join in the decadent lifestyle of the West! Booze, women and guns for everyone" XD!

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TheViditofLight In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2019-01-11 10:44:22 +0000 UTC]

I suppose you've got a good point, I do seem to recall some odd-looking units in C&C4, but those were coupled with units that looked just fine, and even some units (like the Mastadon/Mammoth Mk. 2) that seemed to be returned and reimagined in modern (for the time) production values, so it wasn't the unit design that I really hit C&C 4 on, not too hard anyway. 

And I am indeed enjoying watching what might have been-I've sent more of my thoughts on that matter in the note!

And I bet that was a blast from the past, delving into Generals again. Heck, just talking about all this is making me want possibly to delve into C&C3 again or something, but I have other games to get into, and, I think, a busy couple weeks ahead, so probably not the best idea, haha. But yeah, I think that Generals was banned in China because despite the overall positive depiction of China in the game, it depicted terrorists successfully setting off a nuke in downtown Bejing, and that certainly wouldn't get by Chinese government censors, heh. As for the story of Generals 2, as I said in the note, it's hard for me to get into it because my patriotism laments the fall in-verse of our own beloved country, but otherwise...well, Generals wasn't really the most story-heavy of the C&C franchises. Even RA3 paid more attention to its lore, silly as it was, haha. Though I hadn't heard about the US returning as more of a villain, but would it be a villian, or simply more of an "antagonist"? I know that in Endwar...well, not sure it would be fair to call the US a villain, in fact, I think that only Russia really gets depicted as particularly villainous, being the ones who try to stir up the already-tense relations between the US and Europe, but even then they argue that they're just doing what realpolitik demands to keep their own country safe and rivals down. Endwar is a very morally ambigeous situation, and I think that's what you've been getting at concerning all of the narratives we've discussed-namely that the sides have shades of grey everywhere and sometimes it's hard to tell who the "good guys" are. Heck, sometimes, like in Endwar's case, I may argue that the "good guys" are BOTH the US and Europe, both are kind of acting in accordance with their own national interests and it's difficult to really fault either one for what they did, especially with the meddling they got subject to. 

Which brings us to RA2 and your point there-I think we agree that comments like that were thrown in for comedic value and not really intended as a genuine attempt to paint the Allies/US in an earnestly negative light. Though I'd forgotten about that particular comment, but now that you mention it I think I do remember it, or a snippet of it, and it's as if I can hear the voice it was in now, haha! Though was it Vladivostok? I thought it was inland Russia somewhere, but I suppose that's a minor detail either way. But yeah, RA2 was pretty black and white, though, with the Allies fighting a defensive war against a reawakened Red Menace who was using everything from indiscriminate nukes to chemical weapons (their allies, at least) to friggin MIND CONTROL! Of course, I suppose the Allied Chrono Legionnaire erasing its targets from time/space-time is pretty horrifying in concept, but then that leads into all sorts of questions about if there's something in a human being that exists/can exist outside of it (a soul, if you will) regardless of that (a conversation the game doesn't really get into because of course that's not what it's about, lol), and even then, it can't be denied that the Allies are fighting a defensive war against a communist world takeover.  

That said, in RA3, I agree, in the original RA3 at least, it was pretty obvious that the Soviets and the Japanese were the bad guys out for world domination, the Allies were just trying to defend against Soviet communism and Japanese imperial fascism-at least, in the original game. You could argue that Ackerman was a sign of how the Allies could be "bad", but considering how he was RIGHT (the Soviets were indeed planning to betray the Allies and the war with them wasn't over), it's hard to fault him TOO much, heh...besides, that game depicted the US pretty favorably overall, with us coming to the rescue when Europe was on its last legs, haha. But in Uprising, things got a lot more grey-the Soviets and Japanese appeared to be still more or less the bad guys, but darker influences in the Allies seemed to be coming to the forefront-namely with the EU's president Rupert Thornley and all the FutureTech influence/stuff...though you could argue that the dark parts in the Allies were just a part of them rather than, unlike the other two factions, the overall philosophy. But either way, it did allow for shades of grey!

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to suburbantimewaster [2017-11-05 18:56:58 +0000 UTC]

Thanks

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suburbantimewaster In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2017-11-05 18:58:16 +0000 UTC]

No prob.

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to kenlybop [2016-09-13 02:48:22 +0000 UTC]

Heya! Fireflea-San did an amazing job bringing Amethyst to life, thanks for your interest if I had an ounce of drawing talent I would've loved to do a manga or illustrations of my story but writing's more or less my thing. Amethyst is a big player in two of my stories: The Shadows Beckon (a prequel starring Rini/Chibiusa where she comes back 4 years after the anime ended) and The Shadow of Silver Millennium which continues that story. Of course, if you'd like an Amethyst primer I'd be happy to whip up a summary

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2016-07-05 23:47:51 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome! You're a terrific writer, thrilled to hear you remember my past work

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TheViditofLight In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2016-07-06 01:09:52 +0000 UTC]

Aww, shucks, you're gonna make me blush! But seriously, I appricieate the compliment, though I'm afraid laziness impairs my writing, hahaha. 

And of course I remember your writing, though I didn't know it was YOURS till Aerodeth pointed it out. I got most familiar with your work in the Amy Rose arc of JFV but you made good contributions to Dawn Star and Iris as well (though I was never much into either of their franchises)...

...heck, I noticed you apparently played C&C 3 around the same time I did, if those references I saw in Amy's arc were any indication. 

You never touched the abomination called C&C 4, did you? Please say no. IT WAS HORRIBLE

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to TheViditofLight [2016-07-08 18:31:24 +0000 UTC]

Ugh...I wish I could say no. I only bought it on sale because I wanted to see how the story ends but it was SO bad I wish I could pretend it just didn't exist. Even bringing back Joe Kucan as Kane couldn't save it

But yeah, I loved C&C - I still enjoyed C&C 3. I just recently started playing it again, in fact - before I was a GDI player but I think I'm becoming a Nod convert

Thanks for the praise, I remember Amy Rose and Iris being the two threads I contributed to the most. My mind drifts back to them a lot...the characters from the show, John's sisters, and some of the OCs Aerodeth and I came up with. For me, it's the characters who make a story memorable or forgettable to me...though action's great for carrying them along too!

Definitely plan on getting around to reading some more of your writing, I've enjoyed it so far have you added to JFV also?

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TheViditofLight In reply to SailorMoonShadow [2016-07-11 09:48:31 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, C&C 4 was so wrong in every way...they ruined the story (between swapping what looked like a literally Biblical work of sci-fi with a "LOL ANCIENT ALIENS" generic story AND making out Kane to be the GOOD GUY somehow, among other things), AND taking their award-winning formula and tossing it out the window in favor of trying to be a cheap imitation of Dawn of War 2 (which they also failed at being), it was just...what were they THINKING?! It legitly baffles me because evil megacorporation though they may accuse EA of being, they had a critically acclaimed, award-winning, money-making formula that they just tossed out. 

They did the same thing to Battlefront. Frickers. 

C&C3 was awesome, my favorite C&C may be a toss up between that and Red Alert 2. But a Nod CONVERT, you say...? 

*raises rifle* Sir, I need you to step AWAY from the Tiberium containment field controls and PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEA-sorry, automatic reflex. Hahaha. 

Yeah, you guys turned that arc into a pretty wild ride! Time travel shenanigans and all! I usually try to keep my own additions contained within the lore of the game, such as I can, but really it can all be fun. On that subject, yes I have added to JFV-in fact most of my WDC contributions are in that story. I've added a few chapters to the Adult Malon arc-I guess I've got a soft spot for the character, admittedly along with several others, heh...

...in any case, thank you again, I'm happy to hear what works I've submitted impress!  

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SailorMoonShadow In reply to FireFlea-San [2015-11-19 01:10:11 +0000 UTC]

Sure

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