My store has a reputation for being an inclusive environment.
Much to my surprise.
You see, I haven't put up signs saying we're against hate or networked with the community to be more inclusive. I haven't sought out a more diverse staff or advertised in the Pink Pages. I don't have a particular store policy on inclusivity and I don't have any rules in my Game Center, as I think rules postings are only necessary when they're really, really necessary. History has shown only crazy people post rules (or make laws) when it's not necessary.
The reason why we have a reputation for inclusivity is we try really hard, now get your notebook out so you don't miss this, we try really hard not to be a dick.
When other people show intolerance, it's not a "he said, she said" issue. The intolerant person is shown the door. Because they're being a dick, not because of some political stance, rule or policy. Most of the time I'm not even there, as this activity happens in the evening hours during events. It's ingrained in the store culture, and staff are part of that culture. There's usually one trouble maker in every group (two in Magic).
As for hiring, I've realized inclusivity provides me a great opportunity to hire excellent people overlooked in a more conservative environment. I don't care about the color of your hair, your gender, your orientation, your identity, your race or even your politics, provided you can do the job well. I do want you to be clever, knowledgeable and customer service oriented. Because other hiring managers do care about all the superficial things, I often find diamonds in the rough. Note how selfish I am. Note that I am finding a competitive advantage and not making a political statement. I am not hiring lesser people to make a greater point. I am not being a good person, I'm just being self serving. Most importantly, I'm not being a dick. As with everything in the game trade, the bar is low.
I want to mention when I was doing research for my store in 2004, I visited the local comic shop, Flying Colors, with a friend. As we were leaving I mentioned, "Do I really want a life managing young people with blue hair?" That was what I saw at Flying Colors and being in the professional world, you would never see that. I had no experience with blue hair (my son later had blue hair for years) or really anyone who didn't file down their personality to fit into a corporate culture. I assumed blue hair meant trouble and weird problems and unpredictability, when in fact, blue hair meant opportunity. I really do want a life managing young people with blue hair.
This diversity grows the store and brings in a diverse crowd like I could not have imagined five to ten years ago. It's a hiring dividend, not the core value of the hire. The hobby has become mainstream. If you would have looked at my store a decade ago, it would have been the stereotypical "sausage fest" of all males, acting male, smelling male, being their stereotypical male selves and expressing their dumb ass stereotypical male opinions. I get it. You become so blinded by testosterone that you can't even smell the sweat or notice the pee on the seat. Testosterone in the air blurs the senses. That was the community, whether you liked the smell or not. For some stores that haven't adapted, this is still the community.
There was good and bad in that group, like any group, but it was an insular community, that repelled others, especially women. That is gone for the most part, or at least lessened. The hobby has spread rapidly and the customer base has expanded to all types of people and most importantly, we have been there with open arms. We didn't change, we just provided the open environment that allowed diversity to stream in, and the understanding that there will be no hostility or intolerance allowed.
Not everyone agreed. Not everyone went quietly. One edge lord threatened violence against me. As someone who's not a squishy liberal, and more libertarian (a liberal who returns fire), this had me a bit fired up. I will go down with the ship and take you with me. I bought a couple Louisville Sluggers, in case we wanted a little spontaneous staff batting practice. But like most cowards, they made a lot of threats, trolled me on the Internet for a while, and eventually disappeared.
In any case, there was no change needed for this transition, no Sluggers wielded, just an understanding we would make hard decisions to defend people who chose us as their home. If you're not a dick, how could you not? Embrace the blue hair. Blue hair is here to stay. If you really are a dick, embrace it anyway, for your bottom line. Fake it for the money.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Monday, February 24, 2020
Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator Free Download
Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator - is a battlefield simulation game from the year 2017. Here is a sandbox like no other. Create massive battles with absolutely no limits. Want to see 10,000 chickens fight an army of Romans?
Featuring: There are simply no limits to the carnage you can achieve in Epic Battle Simulator. Mess around with a massive variety of units. Everything from, Roman Centurions, Medieval soldiers, Knights, Orcs, Trolls, and yes, chickens! The main focus in this game is giving the player no restrictions to what he can do and that is why we decided not to limit the amount of units in battle. Want to see what a battle of 100,000 units looks like? Plus we don't recommend going past 10,000 for most machines but its your CPU, do what you want.
• Play as any one of the units in the Game and getting up close plus, Personal to help change the tides of a battle.
• Unfortunately, there aren't many engines that you can chuck 10,000 characters in and Expect good performance.
• Each individual in this video game decides his own path plus, navigates or react in Massively open environments.
• Plus some multiple troops are available to choose from and more to come it is totally up to you to build your army.
• Mess around with variety of units. Everything from, Roman Centurions, Medieval soldiers, Knights, orcs and trolls.
Game is updated to latest version
Important Notes
▪ Proper crack by Codex or Reloaded + game fix by viciomnia.
2. GAMEPLAY AND SCREENSHOTS
♢ Click or choose only one button below to download this game.
♢ View detailed instructions for downloading and installing the game here.
♢ Use 7-Zip to extract RAR, ZIP and ISO files. Install PowerISO to mount ISO files.
ULTIMATE EPIC BATTLE SIMULATOR DOWNLOAD LINKS
PASSWORD FOR THE GAME
Unlock with password: pcgamesrealm
4. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS GAME
➤ Download the game by clicking on the button link provided above.
➤ Download the game on the host site and turn off your Antivirus or Windows Defender to avoid errors.
➤ When the download process is finished, locate or go to that file.
➤ Open and extract the file by using 7-Zip, and run 'setup.exe' as admin then install the game on your PC.
➤ Once the installation is complete, run the game's exe as admin and you can now play the game.
➤ Congratulations! You can now play this game for free on your PC.
➤ Note: If you like this video game, please buy it and support the developers of this game.
Turn off or temporarily disable your Antivirus or Windows Defender to avoid false positive detections.
(Your PC must at least have the equivalent or higher specs in order to run this game.)
• Operating System: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows 8, Windows 10 | requires 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i5 4590 or AMD FX 8320 or any kind of higher processor
• Memory: at least 8GB System RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 5GB free HDD Space
• Video Card: AMD Radeon HD 5770 1024MB, NVIDIA GTS 450 1024MB or higher graphics
Supported Language: English and Simplified Chinese language are available and supported for this game.• Processor: Intel Core i5 4590 or AMD FX 8320 or any kind of higher processor
• Memory: at least 8GB System RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 5GB free HDD Space
• Video Card: AMD Radeon HD 5770 1024MB, NVIDIA GTS 450 1024MB or higher graphics
If you have any questions or encountered broken links, please do not hesitate to comment below. :D
Friday, February 21, 2020
The Ultimate Megadungeon
I feel like I fought long and hard for this review...
Battled my inner demons, smoked a peace-pipe with that old serpent until we were both baked into a fever-dream cake with black rainbow frosting, risked my stack by going all-in against a lavender mo-hawked skeever who I knew was bluffing, and so forth!
Endzeitgeist's Cha'alt review!
I knew it wouldn't be easy, that he'd make me pay dearly for every bit of laziness or self-indulgence, every decision carefully considered and weighed as if standing before an exotic gold idol with a pouch full of sand, every creative choice mercilessly judged.
And yet, I came out unscathed... relatively speaking. I just re-read the damn thing and I'm exhausted. I don't have the time, energy, or even the inclination to refute his claims, except to say that I really wanted an all-caps GONZO fun-house megadungeon. If blasters and sleep spells were commonplace, then really weird stuff would have to be way over-the-top.
Also, for a 90 minute online game or 3-hour face-to-face one-shot of D&D, Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 is just about perfect. It also plays better than it reads. ;)
Those brave enough to see for themselves are welcome to play in one of my Roll20 games or on January 11th in Madison, WI.
VS
p.s. Yep, still pimping the Cha'alt: Fuchsia Malaise kickstarter - only 5 days left to go!
Night In The Tower
When I was a young boy, my parents told me there were no such thing as ghosts. Growing up I really believed that. That's pretty crazy, right? Now we know ghosts are quite real and many famous trainers specialize in training the ghost-type Pokémon. It was Professor Oak and Elite Agatha who first speculated the existence of the ghost-type and it was because of their theories and the strange happenings going on at Pokémon Tower that they sent me, and Blue before me, to investigate and uncover the truth. I don't know what Blue endured within the tower before I got to Lavender Town, but I know he realized the prototype Silph Scope was absolutely necessary to see just what was really going on inside. I didn't know what I'd find inside, but I was confident that it wasn't going to be ghosts. They weren't real.
Professor Oak had sent me some urgent messages that I picked up at the Pokémon Center in Lavender. They sounded quite desperate. Apparently some of the other field research teams that he had dispatched to the tower had met with disaster. They had all abandoned the project. The rumors around town that whatever was going on inside the tower had involved Team Rocket somehow which I'm sure prompted Blue to take action in Celadon. It also explained why the Silph Scope was found among their stolen experimental devices in their headquarters.
"The tower is closed to the public until further notice," the attendant at the front counter told me as I entered the site. "Mr. Fuji is quite adamant that no one else be allowed to enter until a thorough investigation has been conducted."
"I was sent by Professor Oak," I stammered, hoping it would give me enough credibility to proceed.
"So were most of the others," she replied. "They didn't last very long inside. Neither did those Team Rocket members who forced their way in soon after. The tower is too dangerous right now."
"How so?" I asked. I knew the tower was used as a memorial for Pokémon that had passed on, but all the chatter around town of ghosts lurking in the darkness just seemed ridiculous to me. Ghosts weren't real.
"There was a team from Saffron City that went in about a week ago. Not a single one of them has come back. I personally won't even set foot on the first step up those stairs," she said motioning to the large winding stairway that worked its way up the floors of the tower. "Just forget about it and go home. I'm sorry if you lost a Pokémon dear to you, but it's just not safe up there."
She wasn't going to budge on the issue, but as far as I knew the tower was an open building day and night. There was no front gate, no locked doors, nothing to bar entry once this attendant had gone home for the night. Professor Oak's researchers had failed. Team Rocket had fled. Blue certainly wasn't inclined to come back after whatever happened to him. Not to mention a team of investigators from Saffron City had disappeared inside not too long ago. I needed to know what was going on inside and I was the only one with a Silph Scope that Blue assured me was necessary. So I waited patiently discreetly down the street from the path winding up to the Pokémon Tower and waited for night to fall.
As I had surmised, the tower was completely unguarded at night. The troubling rumors and the fact that it was a Pokémon graveyard probably kept most of the townsfolk far from the tower at night. I was the only one dumb enough to set foot inside after dark, and as soon as I stepped off the stairs my heart was racing. Even though it was early May and summer was just around the corner, the air was chilled. Even so, I was sweating up a storm as I crossed the first floor towards the next set of stairs leading up to the third floor.
The tower was dimly lit. Small candles burned on the memorials that were left for lost Pokémon, but there was no other light source. There were windows along the edges of the tower, but for some reason the moonlight was not making its way inside. As I passed by the memorials, I wondered, who had lit these candles if no one was allowed up here? I convinced myself that it must have been the team from Saffron City that were still lingering in the tower for whatever reason. I tried not to ask myself how they had survived for a week without access to food or water. Certainly they must have brought enough supplies. Right?
As my nerves began to falter, I popped the Silph Scope down over my eyes and glanced around. I was hoping they'd allow me to see better in the darkness, but sadly they did not. Everything looked normal through the lenses of the Silph Scope. Still, I wouldn't take them off now that they were on. They brought me some small amount of comfort and that was enough to get me to take those steps up to the next floor. It made me feel safe at first, but that began to dwindle with every passing moment spent in the tower.
Every passing step up across the floors of the tower and I felt a huge weight on my stomach pressing down and making me feel ill. I began to grow more and more terrified, jumping at every shadow flickering in the candle light. Eventually I felt like I was moving at a snail's pace as I made my way up the flights of stairs and across each new floor. It was deathly silent in here. Aside from the lit candles, that I hoped were being maintained by the Saffron crew, there was no sign or sound of anyone else inside. I felt tremendously alone.
It wasn't until the third floor that I realized I wasn't alone. I tossed out Dustin's Poké Ball and he was instantly on alert. I don't know what spooked him, but it didn't reassure me much. Still, I was glad to have the company as Dustin pressed forward one step ahead of me. Thanks to knowing the useless Pokémon move "Flash" Dustin's eyes managed to illuminate the darkness just a bit better than the candles, but a gloom still clung to the place.
I was certain we were being watched and Dustin seemed to agree. His eyes darted from corner to corner, lighting them up like a flashlight. As we progressed he would often stop and jerk his head around to peer into the corners behind us, as certain as I felt that there was something there. Neither his psychic prowess or my Silph Scope revealed anything, though. Whatever was lurking out there was quick to elude us and by the fifth floor, I think Dustin was making me more nervous than comforted with his erratic scanning of every dank nook and cranny of the tower.
Stepping off the stairs to the sixth floor, I could hear faint laughter or perhaps weeping coming from the final floor above us. It froze Dustin and I in our tracks. I saw him tilt his head as he reached out to probe with his mind. I envied him a little, but he didn't seem reassured much by whatever his psychic scan revealed. The noises from above confirmed that we were not alone and that disturbed both of us. The hairs on my neck were standing on end and my entire skin was covered in goosebumps by this point. I could see my breath in front of my face in the dim candle light, even though it really shouldn't have been that cold. Every instinct in my body told me to run back down the tower and out into the safety of the moonlit night, but I'd come too far. I'd faced down Team Rocket just two days ago and I wasn't about to let some laughing or weeping creature scare me away from this tower.
I almost wish it had, though. What awaited above in the darkness haunts me still. I've never seen anything like it before or since. As Dustin and I crossed the threshold of the seventh and final floor of the tower, we found ourselves surrounded by bodies - human bodies. They were strewn about the room like rag dolls that had been tossed aside, draped up against the walls and memorials, unmoving in the flickering candle light. The laughter, and I was confident it was laughter now, seemed to be coming from all around us. I couldn't tell if it was coming from one of the bodies on strewn across the floor or not. It wasn't until I looked at Dustin, who was staring intently up at the ceiling, that my stomach dropped and I slowly followed his gaze upward.
"Have you come to play?" A young woman was clutching the ceiling like some kind of spider or lizard, crouched on all fours, but staring down at us from across the room. Her face and neck were contorted in ways that didn't look natural or comfortable and her mouth was in a wide, sneering grin. "My other dolls are broken now, and this one will soon be useless, too." The voice was seething, but held a hint of laughter.
The girl dropped from the ceiling like a rock, but managed to contort herself in midair like a cat to land soundly on her bare feet and the palms of her hands. I could see she was wearing what remained of a very tattered dress, or perhaps tattered red hakama of a shrine maiden. Her wiry black hair fell around her face like a frame, but her grin did not change from the mocking crescent moon she held when we first saw her on the ceiling. "Answer me!" She insisted.
"I'm not here to play," I shouted back. I don't know where the words came from because I was trembling with intense fear.
"You never had a choice!" she screamed and rushed forward at insane speed. Fortunately Dustin raised his right hand, a pendulum forever swinging in his left and the girl was thrown backwards across the room, slamming harshly into the wall. It was then that I saw it through the Silph Scope. It wasn't the girl that Dustin had attacked, but something inside her. A dark purple mass was attached to the girl and I could see the grin fade from her mouth as it began to coalesce behind her.
"Help me," she gasped in a strained, but normal sounding human voice.
"Dustin! Hit it again!" Dustin took a step forward with his palm extended and I could feel a shock wave of his Confusion psychic attack blast whatever creature had hold of this young woman. This time she was freed entirely and her body fell to the floor in a heap. What remained was a round, dark purple Pokémon with large eyes with red sclera surrounding little black pupils. It held that same sickly wide grin that was splashed horrifically across the girls face. I was looking at a ghost - a ghost Pokémon which until recently had only been theorized.
It looked at me and Dustin with some disbelief behind its twisted grin. It apparently didn't expect to be pushed out like that. Dustin protectively stood between me and the creature. Before my eyes, two more creatures materialized out of apparently thin air. One of them a gaseous purple and black ball with eyes and a mouth, the other a floating purple apparition with two detached purple hands floating in front of it. I was all but locked up in terror at this point, but Dustin and I both knew that I was in danger.
Dustin sized up the opponents squarely. His gaze passed from one to the other. Finally I urged him to action. He hypnotized the gaseous orb which the Pokédex would come to identify as Gastly and it slowly drifted down to the floor in sleep. I quickly tossed out a Poké Ball to capture it if I could and get it off the battlefield. I didn't have time to see if it was successful as the apparition with disembodied hands lunged forward with a gigantic tongue rolling out of its gaping maw. It looked as though it were going to lick Dustin, but he was having none of it. Confusion absolutely decimated the apparition later identified as Haunter. It left only the original creature, the leader of this mischievous trio, staring coldly at us across the room.
Dustin and the Gengar appeared to be having some kind of intense staring contest and for a moment I wondered if they were engaged in some kind of psychic battle. It was unfortunately too late that I realized this ghost Pokémon was using one of my beloved techniques against us! Dustin was sound asleep and this creature was somehow feasting on his dreams and gaining strength. How could I have been so stupid? I fumbled for Dustin's ball to withdraw him and protect him, but before I could, a faint sound came trickling in from somewhere. It was the soft sound of a flute.
I didn't have time to be puzzled by this because Dustin was instantly awake and taking action. He leaned forward to send a final blast of Confusion at the Gengar which squealed in pain and then suddenly vanished into the night. The candles flared up dramatically, enveloping the whole room in bright light before returning to a normal, healthy glow. The gloom that had been hanging around this place had been lifted. I saw the faint blinking light of my Poké Ball and knew I had captured that one gaseous orb. I took a deep breath and felt like a huge weight had been lifted. I'd forgotten completely about the faint flute music.
"Are you all right?" I asked rushing over to the young woman who had been tossed backwards by Dustin's psychic attack.
"I am now," she said in an exhausted tone. "Thank you."
I didn't really know what to say. Dustin had done most of the work. I had been practically frozen in fear. I helped the woman to her feet. She looked around at the other bodies. She frowned.
"They are alive," she said. I wasn't sure how she knew what I was asking in my head. "I can sense them breathing, dreaming. They are just weak. That Pokémon was playing with us like toys and draining our energy. We might not have made it much longer if you hadn't shown up." Her voice was raspy and quiet.
"Stay here with your friends," I said. "I'll go get help."
"No need!" came a loud voice from the stairway. Dustin, the girl and I all snapped our heads in his direction, surprised by the announcement. Standing at the stairs, we saw an old, bald man in a kimono beside an old woman in a purple and white dress leaning heavily on a cane. The man looked genuinely ecstatic while the woman had a dark grin spread across her face. "We saw you come in armed with that scope there and knew we had to follow. I'd been waiting for Agatha here for days to help me investigate the tower and it appears her predictions were correct. There were ghost-type Pokémon in here!"
"May I?" she asked, pointing at the Poké Ball that now held Spectre the Gastly. I handed it to her. I'd like to reiterate, I had no idea who I was talking to at the time. As a newcomer to Kanto, I didn't realize I was in the presence of two well known authorities on Pokémon in the region, one of them a member of the Elite Four. All I knew was I was exhausted from this ordeal and they were here to help. It had been a long night. In my exhaustion, I never even noticed the flute clutched in the old man's hands.
Current Team:
Attacks in Blue are recently learned.
Current Team:
Bill's Storage: Kiwi (Pidgeotto), Vesper (Zubat), Spectre (Gastly)
Old Man Daycare: Charlie (Pidgey)
Professor Oak had sent me some urgent messages that I picked up at the Pokémon Center in Lavender. They sounded quite desperate. Apparently some of the other field research teams that he had dispatched to the tower had met with disaster. They had all abandoned the project. The rumors around town that whatever was going on inside the tower had involved Team Rocket somehow which I'm sure prompted Blue to take action in Celadon. It also explained why the Silph Scope was found among their stolen experimental devices in their headquarters.
"The tower is closed to the public until further notice," the attendant at the front counter told me as I entered the site. "Mr. Fuji is quite adamant that no one else be allowed to enter until a thorough investigation has been conducted."
"I was sent by Professor Oak," I stammered, hoping it would give me enough credibility to proceed.
"So were most of the others," she replied. "They didn't last very long inside. Neither did those Team Rocket members who forced their way in soon after. The tower is too dangerous right now."
"How so?" I asked. I knew the tower was used as a memorial for Pokémon that had passed on, but all the chatter around town of ghosts lurking in the darkness just seemed ridiculous to me. Ghosts weren't real.
"There was a team from Saffron City that went in about a week ago. Not a single one of them has come back. I personally won't even set foot on the first step up those stairs," she said motioning to the large winding stairway that worked its way up the floors of the tower. "Just forget about it and go home. I'm sorry if you lost a Pokémon dear to you, but it's just not safe up there."
She wasn't going to budge on the issue, but as far as I knew the tower was an open building day and night. There was no front gate, no locked doors, nothing to bar entry once this attendant had gone home for the night. Professor Oak's researchers had failed. Team Rocket had fled. Blue certainly wasn't inclined to come back after whatever happened to him. Not to mention a team of investigators from Saffron City had disappeared inside not too long ago. I needed to know what was going on inside and I was the only one with a Silph Scope that Blue assured me was necessary. So I waited patiently discreetly down the street from the path winding up to the Pokémon Tower and waited for night to fall.
As I had surmised, the tower was completely unguarded at night. The troubling rumors and the fact that it was a Pokémon graveyard probably kept most of the townsfolk far from the tower at night. I was the only one dumb enough to set foot inside after dark, and as soon as I stepped off the stairs my heart was racing. Even though it was early May and summer was just around the corner, the air was chilled. Even so, I was sweating up a storm as I crossed the first floor towards the next set of stairs leading up to the third floor.
The tower was dimly lit. Small candles burned on the memorials that were left for lost Pokémon, but there was no other light source. There were windows along the edges of the tower, but for some reason the moonlight was not making its way inside. As I passed by the memorials, I wondered, who had lit these candles if no one was allowed up here? I convinced myself that it must have been the team from Saffron City that were still lingering in the tower for whatever reason. I tried not to ask myself how they had survived for a week without access to food or water. Certainly they must have brought enough supplies. Right?
As my nerves began to falter, I popped the Silph Scope down over my eyes and glanced around. I was hoping they'd allow me to see better in the darkness, but sadly they did not. Everything looked normal through the lenses of the Silph Scope. Still, I wouldn't take them off now that they were on. They brought me some small amount of comfort and that was enough to get me to take those steps up to the next floor. It made me feel safe at first, but that began to dwindle with every passing moment spent in the tower.
Every passing step up across the floors of the tower and I felt a huge weight on my stomach pressing down and making me feel ill. I began to grow more and more terrified, jumping at every shadow flickering in the candle light. Eventually I felt like I was moving at a snail's pace as I made my way up the flights of stairs and across each new floor. It was deathly silent in here. Aside from the lit candles, that I hoped were being maintained by the Saffron crew, there was no sign or sound of anyone else inside. I felt tremendously alone.
It wasn't until the third floor that I realized I wasn't alone. I tossed out Dustin's Poké Ball and he was instantly on alert. I don't know what spooked him, but it didn't reassure me much. Still, I was glad to have the company as Dustin pressed forward one step ahead of me. Thanks to knowing the useless Pokémon move "Flash" Dustin's eyes managed to illuminate the darkness just a bit better than the candles, but a gloom still clung to the place.
I was certain we were being watched and Dustin seemed to agree. His eyes darted from corner to corner, lighting them up like a flashlight. As we progressed he would often stop and jerk his head around to peer into the corners behind us, as certain as I felt that there was something there. Neither his psychic prowess or my Silph Scope revealed anything, though. Whatever was lurking out there was quick to elude us and by the fifth floor, I think Dustin was making me more nervous than comforted with his erratic scanning of every dank nook and cranny of the tower.
Stepping off the stairs to the sixth floor, I could hear faint laughter or perhaps weeping coming from the final floor above us. It froze Dustin and I in our tracks. I saw him tilt his head as he reached out to probe with his mind. I envied him a little, but he didn't seem reassured much by whatever his psychic scan revealed. The noises from above confirmed that we were not alone and that disturbed both of us. The hairs on my neck were standing on end and my entire skin was covered in goosebumps by this point. I could see my breath in front of my face in the dim candle light, even though it really shouldn't have been that cold. Every instinct in my body told me to run back down the tower and out into the safety of the moonlit night, but I'd come too far. I'd faced down Team Rocket just two days ago and I wasn't about to let some laughing or weeping creature scare me away from this tower.
I almost wish it had, though. What awaited above in the darkness haunts me still. I've never seen anything like it before or since. As Dustin and I crossed the threshold of the seventh and final floor of the tower, we found ourselves surrounded by bodies - human bodies. They were strewn about the room like rag dolls that had been tossed aside, draped up against the walls and memorials, unmoving in the flickering candle light. The laughter, and I was confident it was laughter now, seemed to be coming from all around us. I couldn't tell if it was coming from one of the bodies on strewn across the floor or not. It wasn't until I looked at Dustin, who was staring intently up at the ceiling, that my stomach dropped and I slowly followed his gaze upward.
"Have you come to play?" A young woman was clutching the ceiling like some kind of spider or lizard, crouched on all fours, but staring down at us from across the room. Her face and neck were contorted in ways that didn't look natural or comfortable and her mouth was in a wide, sneering grin. "My other dolls are broken now, and this one will soon be useless, too." The voice was seething, but held a hint of laughter.
The girl dropped from the ceiling like a rock, but managed to contort herself in midair like a cat to land soundly on her bare feet and the palms of her hands. I could see she was wearing what remained of a very tattered dress, or perhaps tattered red hakama of a shrine maiden. Her wiry black hair fell around her face like a frame, but her grin did not change from the mocking crescent moon she held when we first saw her on the ceiling. "Answer me!" She insisted.
"I'm not here to play," I shouted back. I don't know where the words came from because I was trembling with intense fear.
"You never had a choice!" she screamed and rushed forward at insane speed. Fortunately Dustin raised his right hand, a pendulum forever swinging in his left and the girl was thrown backwards across the room, slamming harshly into the wall. It was then that I saw it through the Silph Scope. It wasn't the girl that Dustin had attacked, but something inside her. A dark purple mass was attached to the girl and I could see the grin fade from her mouth as it began to coalesce behind her.
"Help me," she gasped in a strained, but normal sounding human voice.
"Dustin! Hit it again!" Dustin took a step forward with his palm extended and I could feel a shock wave of his Confusion psychic attack blast whatever creature had hold of this young woman. This time she was freed entirely and her body fell to the floor in a heap. What remained was a round, dark purple Pokémon with large eyes with red sclera surrounding little black pupils. It held that same sickly wide grin that was splashed horrifically across the girls face. I was looking at a ghost - a ghost Pokémon which until recently had only been theorized.
It looked at me and Dustin with some disbelief behind its twisted grin. It apparently didn't expect to be pushed out like that. Dustin protectively stood between me and the creature. Before my eyes, two more creatures materialized out of apparently thin air. One of them a gaseous purple and black ball with eyes and a mouth, the other a floating purple apparition with two detached purple hands floating in front of it. I was all but locked up in terror at this point, but Dustin and I both knew that I was in danger.
Dustin sized up the opponents squarely. His gaze passed from one to the other. Finally I urged him to action. He hypnotized the gaseous orb which the Pokédex would come to identify as Gastly and it slowly drifted down to the floor in sleep. I quickly tossed out a Poké Ball to capture it if I could and get it off the battlefield. I didn't have time to see if it was successful as the apparition with disembodied hands lunged forward with a gigantic tongue rolling out of its gaping maw. It looked as though it were going to lick Dustin, but he was having none of it. Confusion absolutely decimated the apparition later identified as Haunter. It left only the original creature, the leader of this mischievous trio, staring coldly at us across the room.
Dustin and the Gengar appeared to be having some kind of intense staring contest and for a moment I wondered if they were engaged in some kind of psychic battle. It was unfortunately too late that I realized this ghost Pokémon was using one of my beloved techniques against us! Dustin was sound asleep and this creature was somehow feasting on his dreams and gaining strength. How could I have been so stupid? I fumbled for Dustin's ball to withdraw him and protect him, but before I could, a faint sound came trickling in from somewhere. It was the soft sound of a flute.
I didn't have time to be puzzled by this because Dustin was instantly awake and taking action. He leaned forward to send a final blast of Confusion at the Gengar which squealed in pain and then suddenly vanished into the night. The candles flared up dramatically, enveloping the whole room in bright light before returning to a normal, healthy glow. The gloom that had been hanging around this place had been lifted. I saw the faint blinking light of my Poké Ball and knew I had captured that one gaseous orb. I took a deep breath and felt like a huge weight had been lifted. I'd forgotten completely about the faint flute music.
"Are you all right?" I asked rushing over to the young woman who had been tossed backwards by Dustin's psychic attack.
"I am now," she said in an exhausted tone. "Thank you."
I didn't really know what to say. Dustin had done most of the work. I had been practically frozen in fear. I helped the woman to her feet. She looked around at the other bodies. She frowned.
"They are alive," she said. I wasn't sure how she knew what I was asking in my head. "I can sense them breathing, dreaming. They are just weak. That Pokémon was playing with us like toys and draining our energy. We might not have made it much longer if you hadn't shown up." Her voice was raspy and quiet.
"Stay here with your friends," I said. "I'll go get help."
"No need!" came a loud voice from the stairway. Dustin, the girl and I all snapped our heads in his direction, surprised by the announcement. Standing at the stairs, we saw an old, bald man in a kimono beside an old woman in a purple and white dress leaning heavily on a cane. The man looked genuinely ecstatic while the woman had a dark grin spread across her face. "We saw you come in armed with that scope there and knew we had to follow. I'd been waiting for Agatha here for days to help me investigate the tower and it appears her predictions were correct. There were ghost-type Pokémon in here!"
"May I?" she asked, pointing at the Poké Ball that now held Spectre the Gastly. I handed it to her. I'd like to reiterate, I had no idea who I was talking to at the time. As a newcomer to Kanto, I didn't realize I was in the presence of two well known authorities on Pokémon in the region, one of them a member of the Elite Four. All I knew was I was exhausted from this ordeal and they were here to help. It had been a long night. In my exhaustion, I never even noticed the flute clutched in the old man's hands.
Current Team:
Attacks in Blue are recently learned.
Current Team:
Bill's Storage: Kiwi (Pidgeotto), Vesper (Zubat), Spectre (Gastly)
Old Man Daycare: Charlie (Pidgey)
Ep 26: Big Fun With Little Figures Is Live!
Ep 26: Big Fun with Little Figures
I talk with Howard Whitehouse about Mad Dogs With Guns, his gangster game from Osprey Games. In a separate segment, I talk with Peter Berry of Baccus 6mm to talk about the seeming monopoly of 28mm figures and games in the glossy gaming magazines.
https://soundcloud.com/user-989538417/episode-26-big-fun-with-little-figures
The Veteran Wargamer is brought to you by Kings Hobbies and Games
http://www.Kingshobbiesandgames.com
https://www.facebook.com/Special-Artizan-Service-Miniatures-1791793644366746/
Join the conversation at https://theveteranwargamer.blogspot.com, email theveteranwargamer@gmail.com, Twitter @veteranwargamer
Segment 1
Follow Howard on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Howard.Whitehouse.Writer/?ref=br_rs
https://www.facebook.com/Pulp-Action-Library-283960595046814/
Buy Mad Dogs With Guns:
Mad Dogs With Guns - Howard Whitehouse https://ospreypublishing.com/mad-dogs-with-guns
Pulp Action Library - http://www.pulpactionlibrary.com/
Other companies we mentioned:
Copplestone Castings http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/list.php?cat=7
Pulp Figures https://pulpfigures.com/products/category/11
Brigade Games http://brigadegames.3dcartstores.com/
Paddy Whacked - T.J. English https://www.amazon.com/Paddy-Whacked-Untold-American-Gangster/dp/0060590033
The Outfit - Gus Russo https://www.amazon.com/Outfit-Gus-Russo/dp/1582342792/
True Detective - Nathan Heller Series - Max Allen Collins https://www.amazon.com/True-Detective-Nathan-Heller-Novels/
Segment 2
Follow Baccus6mm on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Baccus6mm/
Joy of Six - https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyofSix/
Peter's Opinion piece - https://www.baccus6mm.com/news/20-09-2017/Historicalgaming-'Thetimestheyareachanging'/
Other companies we mentioned:
Warlord - https://us-store.warlordgames.com/
Perry Miniatures - https://www.perry-miniatures.com/
Games Workshop - https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Home
Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy - https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/wss-mag
Music courtesy bensound.com. Recorded with zencastr.com. Edited with Audacity. Make your town beautiful; get a haircut.
I talk with Howard Whitehouse about Mad Dogs With Guns, his gangster game from Osprey Games. In a separate segment, I talk with Peter Berry of Baccus 6mm to talk about the seeming monopoly of 28mm figures and games in the glossy gaming magazines.
https://soundcloud.com/user-989538417/episode-26-big-fun-with-little-figures
The Veteran Wargamer is brought to you by Kings Hobbies and Games
http://www.Kingshobbiesandgames.com
https://www.facebook.com/Special-Artizan-Service-Miniatures-1791793644366746/
Join the conversation at https://theveteranwargamer.blogspot.com, email theveteranwargamer@gmail.com, Twitter @veteranwargamer
Segment 1
Follow Howard on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Howard.Whitehouse.Writer/?ref=br_rs
https://www.facebook.com/Pulp-Action-Library-283960595046814/
Buy Mad Dogs With Guns:
Mad Dogs With Guns - Howard Whitehouse https://ospreypublishing.com/mad-dogs-with-guns
Pulp Action Library - http://www.pulpactionlibrary.com/
Other companies we mentioned:
Copplestone Castings http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/list.php?cat=7
Pulp Figures https://pulpfigures.com/products/category/11
Brigade Games http://brigadegames.3dcartstores.com/
Paddy Whacked - T.J. English https://www.amazon.com/Paddy-Whacked-Untold-American-Gangster/dp/0060590033
The Outfit - Gus Russo https://www.amazon.com/Outfit-Gus-Russo/dp/1582342792/
True Detective - Nathan Heller Series - Max Allen Collins https://www.amazon.com/True-Detective-Nathan-Heller-Novels/
Segment 2
Follow Baccus6mm on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Baccus6mm/
Joy of Six - https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyofSix/
Peter's Opinion piece - https://www.baccus6mm.com/news/20-09-2017/Historicalgaming-'Thetimestheyareachanging'/
Other companies we mentioned:
Warlord - https://us-store.warlordgames.com/
Perry Miniatures - https://www.perry-miniatures.com/
Games Workshop - https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Home
Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy - https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/wss-mag
Music courtesy bensound.com. Recorded with zencastr.com. Edited with Audacity. Make your town beautiful; get a haircut.
Thursday, February 20, 2020
PUBG VS FORTNITE! Which One Is Better?
PUBG VS FORTNITE has been a trending topic nowadays. To find out the winner click the 'Read more' option.
PUBG and FORTNITE both are online shooter games. Many arguments are arising among players choosing the better game among both. So here we created a difference between them. We hope you enjoy it :
1. WEAPONS :
In PUBG there is a high variety of weapons and items(including clothes etc.) available in PUBG crates. For each ammo type of a weapon class, you just have to cross your fingers that your gun has a decent scope.
In Fortnite, the weapons are very different and much more accessible than that of PUBG. Fortnite has a color indicated rarity system in their guns as grey, green, blue, purple, and orange standing for common, uncommon, rare, epic and legendary respectively.
Combining both we can say that if you are new to shooters then Fortnite game might be the better one to try first.
 |
| PUBG vs Fortnite guns |
2.GRAPHICS :
These two games have totally different graphical style. Fortnite is better looking and more animated while Player Unknown's Battleground looks more realistic. Also, the color in Fortnite is more vivid and clear than its counterpart. Fortnite might look more appealing but who wins out in the war of Fortnite and PUBG graphics stakes really depend on personal judgement.
 |
| Pubg vs fortnite graphics |
 |
| Pubg vs fortnite graphics |
3.MAPS :
The maps in PUBG are more in number in Fortnite. And players in PUBG need to use vehicles to move through the islands. Fortnite has also decided to expand and improve its existing map. Fortnite's developers have said that more maps will be added to the game in the future. But for now, we can arrive at the decision that maps of PUBG are better than that of Fortnite.
 |
| Pubg vs fortnite map |
4. PLATFORMS :
PUBG can be enjoyed in the following platforms-
Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Android, iOS & PlayStation
Whereas Fortnite can be played in-
Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS & Android.
 |
| Pubg vs fortnite platforms |
N.B - The above data has been taken from WIKIPEDIA.
(PUBG, Fortnite)
It is a time-wasting topic to decide which game is better. Some like PUBG whereas some like Fortnite. We should stop arguing and enjoy both games.
Well, it is my opinion. If your opinion is different or you agree with my opinion please let me know in the comments section below.
Friday, February 14, 2020
Brave Browser the Best privacy-focused Browser of 2020
Out of all the privacy-focused products and apps available on the market, Brave has been voted the best. Other winners of Product Hunt's Golden Kitty awards showed that there was a huge interest in privacy-enhancing products and apps such as chats, maps, and other collaboration tools.
An extremely productive year for Brave
Last year has been a pivotal one for the crypto industry, but few companies managed to see the kind of success Brave did. Almost every day of the year has been packed witch action, as the company managed to officially launch its browser, get its Basic Attention Token out, and onboard hundreds of thousands of verified publishers on its rewards platform.
Luckily, the effort Brave has been putting into its product hasn't gone unnoticed.
The company's revolutionary browser has been voted the best privacy-focused product of 2019, for which it received a Golden Kitty award. The awards, hosted by Product Hunt, were given to the most popular products across 23 different product categories.
Ryan Hoover, the founder of Product Hunt said:
"Our annual Golden Kitty awards celebrate all the great products that makers have launched throughout the year"
Brave's win is important for the company—with this year seeing the most user votes ever, it's a clear indicator of the browser's rapidly rising popularity.
Privacy and blockchain are the strongest forces in tech right now
If reaching 10 million monthly active users in December was Brave's crown achievement, then the Product Hunt award was the cherry on top.
The recognition Brave got from Product Hunt users shows that a market for privacy-focused apps is thriving. All of the apps and products that got a Golden Kitty award from Product Hunt users focused heavily on data protection. Everything from automatic investment apps and remote collaboration tools to smart home products emphasized their privacy.
AI and machine learning rose as another note-worthy trend, but blockchain seemed to be the most dominating force in app development. Blockchain-based messaging apps and maps were hugely popular with Product Hunt users, who seem to value innovation and security.
For those users, Brave is a perfect platform. The company's research and development team has recently debuted its privacy-preserving distributed VPN, which could potentially bring even more security to the user than its already existing Tor extension.
Brave's effort to revolutionize the advertising industry has also been recognized by some of the biggest names in publishing—major publications such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, NDTV, NPR, and Qz have all joined the platform. Some of the highest-ranking websites in the world, including Wikipedia, WikiHow, Vimeo, Internet Archive, and DuckDuckGo, are also among Brave's 390,000 verified publishers.
Earn Basic Attention Token (BAT) with Brave Web Browser
Try Brave Browser
Brave Browser the Best privacy-focused product of 2020
Out of all the privacy-focused products and apps available on the market, Brave has been voted the best. Other winners of Product Hunt's Golden Kitty awards showed that there was a huge interest in privacy-enhancing products and apps such as chats, maps, and other collaboration tools.
An extremely productive year for Brave
Last year has been a pivotal one for the crypto industry, but few companies managed to see the kind of success Brave did. Almost every day of the year has been packed witch action, as the company managed to officially launch its browser, get its Basic Attention Token out, and onboard hundreds of thousands of verified publishers on its rewards platform.
Luckily, the effort Brave has been putting into its product hasn't gone unnoticed.
The company's revolutionary browser has been voted the best privacy-focused product of 2019, for which it received a Golden Kitty award. The awards, hosted by Product Hunt, were given to the most popular products across 23 different product categories.
Ryan Hoover, the founder of Product Hunt said:
"Our annual Golden Kitty awards celebrate all the great products that makers have launched throughout the year"
Brave's win is important for the company—with this year seeing the most user votes ever, it's a clear indicator of the browser's rapidly rising popularity.
Privacy and blockchain are the strongest forces in tech right now
If reaching 10 million monthly active users in December was Brave's crown achievement, then the Product Hunt award was the cherry on top.
The recognition Brave got from Product Hunt users shows that a market for privacy-focused apps is thriving. All of the apps and products that got a Golden Kitty award from Product Hunt users focused heavily on data protection. Everything from automatic investment apps and remote collaboration tools to smart home products emphasized their privacy.
AI and machine learning rose as another note-worthy trend, but blockchain seemed to be the most dominating force in app development. Blockchain-based messaging apps and maps were hugely popular with Product Hunt users, who seem to value innovation and security.
For those users, Brave is a perfect platform. The company's research and development team has recently debuted its privacy-preserving distributed VPN, which could potentially bring even more security to the user than its already existing Tor extension.
Brave's effort to revolutionize the advertising industry has also been recognized by some of the biggest names in publishing—major publications such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, NDTV, NPR, and Qz have all joined the platform. Some of the highest-ranking websites in the world, including Wikipedia, WikiHow, Vimeo, Internet Archive, and DuckDuckGo, are also among Brave's 390,000 verified publishers.
Earn Basic Attention Token (BAT) with Brave Web Browser
Try Brave Browser
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