DISCLAIMER!
This post is purely a result of personal tinkering and whatnot. Unless it's proven I have the intelligence of Thomas Edison, please think more than twice before nodding your head. Twice if, for some funny reason, it's been proven I'm a genius. Also, the foreign languages used in the post title are due to Google translate.
Weirdest November thus far?
A month later and we'll be greeting the month made famous by the Celts. In one single month, we're going to see a few things happening.
1. The final month of Ciri's journey mode story. It should have been October, but it seems that CD Projekt Red was more interested in the Tokyo Olympics instead of Oktoberfest 2020. The reason why I said that was the final unlockable featuring Ciri wearing a kimono and wielding a katana. If we're talking about the German version of October, that'd be dirndl plus a foaming tankard of Saxon brew. Every 친일 Japanophile has the devil Gaunter O'Dimm himself to thank.
2. The last day of the Olympic torch display in the Tokyo Olympic Museum is to be 1st of November. Don't ask me why not later than sooner since the Japanese decided to run March next year instead.
3. Thomas Bach decides to say hi to Reiwa-jisan and possibly Mindo-jisan as well. That'd be mid-November. Wonder if he'll take a trip to Biratori afterwards since the Ainu do see the Olympics as a way to create actual awareness. Sadly, things did happen.
4. 3rd of November is arguably the most important day in the international calendar. I don't have to tell you why unless something happens to Donald Trump. In this case, every angry progressive's dream come true would mean Mike Pence doing a Gerald Ford. Not the best way to celebrate victory if you're to ask me.
5. November is also where the tag-team bros of Nasu Kinoko and Urobutcher Gen made official the birth month of Emiya Kiritsugu (i.e. November). It really felt weird seeing my birthday associated with the Grand Faker himself. Speaking of fakers...
How to impress the Japanese without resorting to cleavage
One thing I observed in the world of secular arts and creativity is the fact that you're effectively dealing with people. Writers write because they're human beings. The most important difference between fiction and non-fiction actually boils down how the story is told. Within this context, there's no difference between the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew and C.S Lewis. And besides, one was as intelligent as the other.
Since this is about dealing with people, it means you're dealing with fallible beings via a proxy. As such, it's only right to expect certain parts going against your views, opinions, or whatever you want to call that. So how should we go about dealing with this? I'd say with an open mind. Not to compromise but understanding what it means to respect a fellow human being. Of course, there are exceptions like denying the Holocaust, university lecturers having sex with their students, and the flat Earth theory. In such cases, there's no need for insults. But you really need to be a stubborn donkey instead of a flexible human being.
Dealing with Japanese creativity is a very interesting thing. On one hand, the Japanese are capable of exceptional brilliance rivalling or even besting the stuff we're used to seeing from the West. For every Wonder Woman, there's a Ryougi Shiki. For every Captain Marvel, there's an Arcueid Brunestud. Works like Hellsing and Berserk are clearly rated NSFW (i.e. my PC way of saying they're actually rated M), but the plot and characters can be so thought-provoking, you couldn't be blamed for wondering whether the likes of Miura Kentaro, Hirano Kouta, and Isayama Hajime are actually as insane as Guts, Alucard, or Eren Yeager. Unfortunately, things happened every now and then resulting in the work left in permanent limbo. There's a reason why mangakas like Togashi Yoshihiro and Miura Kentaro are known for the title King of Hiatus. In more extreme circumstances, the author died. Trinity Blood remains a prominent tragedy in the world of Japanese art and creativity due to Yoshida Sunao's untimely death.
~Lilith Sahl
However, there's a dark side to how the Japanese get things done. The uproar caused by Rising of the Shield Hero anime had got nothing to do with whether issues like false accusations of rape, the Asian brand of slavery apologetics, or even whether a tanuki girl looked weirdly like your pastor's daughter are wrong. It's about the fact that the Japanese never cared a single heck about what they perceived as gaijin politics. In the West, the standoff between the moral majority called the conservatives and the righteous majority called the progressives have hit an all-time high for the past few years. But because Japan is culturally insular where many things go out and very little come in, socio-political tone-deafness became the reason why progressive voices savaged the respective parts. Would the Japanese care? I doubt so. This is a dual-edged sword instead of a single-edged katana. On one hand, you can be very sure no absurdity coming from the West would be entertained. On the other hand, this means plenty of oppai (NOT to be confused with oppa due to two obvious reasons) and other twisted stuff crawling out from the artistic equivalent of Izanami's home. There's a reason why Saya no Uta is proof that Urobutcher Gen has the ability to outdo Stephen King.
The dark side is what I'm addressing here. One feat which ESO managed to do that many other MMO titles can't was securing a Japanese language server deal. Now, the JP server isn't the Asian server. Even if ZeniMax decided to do an Asian server, that'd likely be called Oceania server. But what makes the American gaming version of BoA attempting to enter the U.S music industry possible? We're not talking about the typical global market because there's nothing global about insularism first made famous by the Edo era. Throughout 7 years of playing MMOs from Marvel Heroes to ESO, I don't remember seeing a system notification written in Japanese apart from... well, ESO.
Was it the gameplay? Possible, but the Japanese already got names like Sakaguchi Hironobu and Kojima Hideo. For every Dragon Age, they have The Last Story. For every Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, they got MGS (i.e. NOT Methodist Girls School).
Was it due to the aesthetics? The graphics are top-notch, but not enough cleavage. And besides, Japan already got Tifa Lockheart.
One interesting aspect of the Elder Scrolls lore lies in a strong nihilistic theme. Unlike atheism, there's nothing positive about nihilism apart from the human free will to make actual sense out of the senseless (i.e. concept of sense=concept of meaning). That'd be existentialism, a positive form of nihilism. One thing I noticed about Japanese artistic creativity is that philosophy trumps politics. And nihilism is a form of philosophy. That's how we got Friedrich Nietzsche and that's why we got Berserk.
So how nihilistic was the world of Nirn and beyond? Unlike titles like Neverwinter where the greater good is the greatest goal, adventuring in ESO means your character is in a world which doesn't make much sense. In fact, the concept of the greater good as the greatest goal was effectively debunked by Varen Aquilarios aka the Prophet when he said evil will never go away entirely, that battling it would only mean a second time, third time, fourth time, etc. So why fight a battle where kanzen-shouri is as unattainable as Emiya Kiritsugu's dream of a righteous paradise where every tear shall be wiped away? The choice is very simple: Either you fight to live another day or the world can just roll over and die. At the same time, forget about positive heroism where your deeds would be remembered. Abnur Tharn summed it up best when he said no one would remember the deeds of the Five Companions regardless of whose soul would be sacrificed to save the world from Molag Bal's tyranny. And if you think that's depressing, trust me when I say questing in Rivenspire isn't the best antidote for depression.
In the game, there would be books and scrolls scattered here and there. Those that glow purple would increase your Mages Guild mastery. Those that glow yellow belonged to the so-called rest. Each of them tells an interesting story from Dunmer bedtime stories for kids (i.e. not the type you'd like to read to your kids unless you want to torture them with kwarma dreams) to the creation of all things being nothing more than a con job thanks to a con god called Lorkhan.
It didn't take me long to acknowledge the sheer class of storytelling displayed, that this was way beyond what I can do. Ask me to choose between the lore of Mundus and Crazy Rich Asians and I'd definitely choose Tales of Nirn Lost And Known.
This comes to the question of whether the lore and story are the actual Japanese draw. Journeying through the Mundus actually felt like being in a Japanese dark fantasy world more than anything else while ZeniMax did a splendid job of not involving socio-political vitriol in the process, something which the Japanese might have noticed or not.
Five sorcerers and a wamasu
Was that months ago? When I first started on this post, it's like a week or two after the weirdest (and only) world boss fight. If there's anything I should have done, it'd be choosing the Intimidate option. But because I decided not to break character (i.e. something which I always fail to do consistently), I decided to help that Redguard Shaq. That resulted in the need to take down a mega wamasu world boss. Thankfully, I didn't have to cancel and redo the quest. The reason why being four fellow players present as well. And that's how the fight began. But there's a problem: 404 Tank Not Found. The fight wasn't really that hard, though. We got flying ground lightning, wamasu rush, and tail swiping. Interestingly, a team of five sorcerers (i.e. very likely it's a team of four plus me) never hit a wipe. Yes, respawn was a reality. But not a wipe. In fact, I remembered only one moment where the mega wamasu targeted me. Or maybe it's just the tail. That's already deadly enough. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a battle of scattered positioning where it's a player here and another there. Me? I just stabbed the boss from behind because my sorcerer is Breton, medium armoured, and dual-wielding. And no, I decided not to have a familiar due to strategic considerations involving six ability slots instead of sixty.
How to fake it like a faker
I need to point out one thing first: My decision to create a dual-wielding stamina sorcerer clad in medium armour (yes, that's actually as mouthful as a royally imperial title) was due to my natural impulse possibly exacerbated by schoolyard democracy and social Darwinism among educators. Since my future is already ruined unless divine intervention would be involved, it means I have nothing to lose by exploring the seemingly improbable. Before I continue, however, I need to up this song.
When I decided to do a total recall (i.e. my Breton sorcerer used to be the orthodox light armoured destruction staff-wielding magicka build), one thing I knew straight away was the need to balance the spell and weapon damage. The skill advisor interface happened to be the only reason why I decided to a Seigi no Mikata style was possible. To be honest, however, the skill advisor window actually suggested a two-handed weapon skill line instead of wielding two daggers like a Thorfinn. I guess there's really a Fool of Owari in myself.
The one reference I took from the skill advisor panel was Lightning Form. From there, I had to choose between Boundless Storm and Hurricane. Because my intention was to strike a balance between magicka and stamina, this means Hurricane wasn't an option since it uses stamina instead of magicka. The AoE aspect was as tempting as Nohime, though. Boundless Storm was my choice for three reasons:
1. Major Expedition gives 30% speed boost for 4 seconds. I need that to close in unless I opted for a kite-and-strike approach. Even with a kite-and-strike strategy, increased speed is always good for mobility.
2. This one deals shock damage. Together with the fact that it's a constant damage-dealing effect running for at least 20 seconds (i.e. NOT damage over time) and chances of triggering concussed status would clearly increase greatly. Having the opponent deal 12% less damage is always a nice thing.
3. Damage synergy between passives involving Energized, Amplitude, and Expert Mage. It's not Sotha Sil's clockwork science, I can assure you.
With Boundless Storm done and decided, it means I needed another spell called Surge. It's not so much about the heal-per-crit effect (although running with a full Mechanical Acuity set means you don't have to be my engineering friend Derek to understand how a constant heal-per-crit looks like). Rather, it's the 20% bonus in weapon and spell damage. That one lasts for at least 30 seconds. For some funny reason, Boundless Storm and Surge now have 3 seconds more to the duration on my character. Must be some ability mechanics tweaking from the devs.
Originally, my build was all about one weapon damage ability and five spells. Then I decided to respec just to see how the Fighters Guild's equivalent of Inner Light would work. The nice thing about Fighters Guild abilities is that the skill line XP bar levels up very easily. In fact, you should unlock that one before doing the main quest since there are clearly plenty of Daedra mobs waiting to be killed. The sole reason why I attempted the change was due to the Slayer passive giving 1% weapon damage bonus per rank with 3 ranks in total. I really need that since stamina isn't a stat my character is naturally high on. This resulted in a shakeup involving Expert Hunter and Rapid Strikes. While I didn't replace either (i.e. I need Expert Hunter for the crit and Slayer passive bonus while Rapid Strikes is the only spammable in the Dual Wield line plus my only source of weapon ability direct damage), it means one spell has to go. Between Boundless Storm, Surge, and Hardened Ward, it's the third one. Replacement skill? Silver Bolts morphed into Silver Shards. Good for kite-and-strike and also good for making the Slayer passive more efficient. One Fighters Guild ability is never good enough because it's not as if I'm doing a nightblade or dragonknight. 6% damage bonus is definitely better than half of it.
How this thing works...
There were two ways to make the damage-dealing game tick. Either one-shot damage or constant damage. The latter was the rationale behind using my current build since it actually involves maximising the magicka usage without compromising on the stamina end (i.e. I need to invest the attribute points there for the weapon damage to function properly). It's what I'd call attrition damage compared to the more orthodox bombing damage. This comes to the question of which set am I now running with?
Next up: Hunding's Rage versus Mechanical Acuity, Innate Axiom and Assassin's Guile, plus why Verandis Ravenwatch is the perfect role model for kids even though no responsible parent should ever let their children play a game rated M by ESRB.
