Dessa

Somepoony FINALLY gave Becoming Popular its due. THIS SONG IS UP FOR A DAYTIME EMMY, PEOPLE.

I know Tempestrime had a lot of fun with the elementalist, too. Sounds like all of the classes have the potential to be fun!

So, we've had a beta weekend event and a stress test (that mostly went smoothly). Who's given it a whirll?

I tried it for the first time during yesterday's stress test, and found it a lot of fun. It rarely dragged. They've done a good job eliminating most of the stupid time sinks built into MMOs. And the way loot and exp sharing works really encourages pick-up-grouping. I'd find myself facing a really difficult event and HOPING some other players would show up to help out. And other players get EXP for reviving you (not to mention the utility of having one more person there to help beat the bad guys), so it's pretty much a positive when other people are around.

Graphics wise, it really taxed my PC. I've heard that currently, in its unoptimised state, that GW2 goesnt use your GPU, and instead puts everything on the CPU, which seems about right for me. I've got a great video card and a mediocre CPU and I'd estimate I'd played most of the game at somewhere between 15-25 FPS, with the craziest activity probably dipping to 5. Crossing my hooves over here and hoping that they coax some improvements out of the engine here -- This is a beta after all.

I played my time as a Norn Engineer, and I'd say I like the Norn and engineers. Engis are funny. In addition to the usual weapon skills, their utilities seem to inclue a lot of powers that place things, like turrets (like the Team Fortress 2 Engineer!), or replace your weapon skills with specialized subsets of skills. I unlocked a healing set that let me drop healing and buff potions on the ground for anyone to use, and a grenade set that gave me 5 different AoE explosives -- pretty useful against hordes of enemies. From what I'm told, every class can cover any role (some better than others), but engineer seems truly MADE to be ajack of all trades.

For the next beta event (and subsequent character wipe), I'm thinking I might try out Necromancer or Mesmer, or whatever members TempestRime and his friend aren't picking.

Since I don't think it's been posed in poll form yet.

I work the night shift. To me, sleep pattern is an oxymoron.

Twilight hasn't been declared an heir. True, she has royal relations now (although no royal blood since her family married in), but the declaration of an heir is often complicated. I'm guessing if Celestia fell, Luna would take over.

<< Keep it Rolling, Blaze. I'll jump in after a round or two so it's not all front-loaded >>

You gonna drill some holes in that Chrysalis? XD

Chaos shares a lot with entropy. Entropy is hard to describe (and I'm still not sure I'm getting this right), but it's more or less energy that can't be put to use. Whenever a reaction occurs, entropy either stays the same, or it increases. Eventually, ALL the reactions will occur, and there won't be anything at all but entropy. It's like a slow slide into chaos, and there's nothing we can do to stop it because it's a fundamental law of physics.

Discord, in a way, represents the irreversible force, and might well accelerate it. I call that a jerk move.

Edit: Those of you more educated in physics than I, please feel free to correct my misconceptions here.

I'm have to disagree with you, Dessa. Discord has enough magic to unflip any switch.

How much magic? Can he make a rock so heavy even he can't lift it? And if not, why not? Should be a simple magic trick.

All it would take is for discord to make a switch unflippable to himself. He has the power to do this. And he just might, just to see what happens.

Bah. The Yankees are a blight upon the world of sports, and you all ought to be ashamed of yourselves for supporting them.

/bitter

We were only lucky that Discord didn't destroy the world the first time around. After all, if he's truly about the random, it's only a matter of time before he flips a switch that can't be unflipped.

Don't break my heart man....

I mean they're star-crossed lovers, brought together by destiny!

I see them as more... lady-bros. And none of the other ships with Dash really appeal to me, either.

I see Dash and AJ as LBFFs... Lesbian best friends forever. They're both lesbian, but they're not into each other.

Nightmare moon threatens eternal night. Will ruin ecosystem. She's EVIL.

Discord makes days, nights random. Will ruin ecosystem. He's not such a bad guy.

EXPLAIN THIS, DISCORD DEFENDERS.

Lookin at YOU Stars Wirl!

Yay! A show relevant recipe!

Let us drop the subject of incest. It's not really a topic for this board outside of 18+.

Why the 'ell do people skip these and assume "OMG LOL LOVE BLARGH MOST INDEED LOVE LOVE <3". It's not realistic that all seemingly close friend are automatically in love. Even though it's thrugh fiction and fanon, some form of realism should be applied.

Best example? Lyra/Bon Bon.

"Oh look! Two ponies who spend a lot of time togethor and are always next to each other. Definately lesbian lovers. Not friends at all. That's not even remotely possible, lol."

Because lesbians.

Now I don't necessarily have anything against Flutter-Dash or Rarity-Dash, if the stories are good, but I have always envisioned Dash as straight, partly to break that stereotype that because she is such a tomboy, into sports, and with the rainbow mane she must be a lesbian.

"Because all available evidence points to the contrary, I conclude that Dash is straight!"

idgi

WHy Flutterdash is indeed a good ship: Because they each bring out the best in one another, and each fill the holes that the other has in their lives.

Both of these ponies are handfuls, huh? Fluttershy is so withdrawn and inassertive, and Rainbow Dash is often tactless and self centered. Each seems perfectly built to deal with the others' shortcomings.

Lets look at Fluttershy's relation to Dash first. It seems as though Fluttershy knows what's good for Rainbow Dash before Dash does.

In FInd a Pet, Dash seemed so certain she knew what qualities were important to her, but Fluttershy knew from the getgo that Tank was the perfect match. She never got impatient or frustrated about it. She just quietly asserted it, knowing it was the right call, until Rainbow Dash came around. Another pony might have pushed TOO hard and made Dash dig in. Fluttershy's gentle approach turned out to be the best way not to threaten Dash's ego.

Likewise, in Sonic Rainboom, even though Dash was frustrated by Fluttershy throughout much of the episode, Flut was a constant encouraging presence, and she never got upset with dash for Dash's displacement of her frustration at her own failures onto Fluttershy. It takes a special sort of pony to be like this.

Dash can sometimes get petulant (like Angel) and refuse to listen to anybody. While patience is sometimes the way to handle this, other times, stepping in is the right thing to do. Fluttershy has limits, and when she reaches those limits, she is intimidating indeed. The Stare would be a useful tool for a Dash who is acting too rashly.

Now the flipside: Dash -> Fluttershy. Fluttershy is shy, retiring, and inassertive. On many occasions Dash has drawn fluttershy out of her shell, using the best means to do so: Persistence. While it is true that Dash is often frustrated by Fluttershy's hesitance, she's shown a lot of patience for fluttershy when it has been right to do so.

In Hurricane Fluttershy, Flut was being her usual self, and as important as the event was to Dash, she knew when to press and when to be gentle. A remarkable display of sensitivity to her friends needs and ways. And in the end, Fluttershy was the better for it.

In Cutie Mark Chronicles, poor Fluttershy was beseiged by the taunts of her peers, and loyal, forthright Dash swooped right in to defend her maiden's honor. Yes, her actions in part put Fluttershy at risk, when Flut plummeted towards the earth, but Dash was also young and immature. Children are infamously distractible. Later on, as an adult Dash proves her conscientousness well enough.

It's the classic Butch-Femme relationship.

These two always come out of hard times better off. And it never infringes ontheir love for one another. What is a relationship if not these two things?

The Allurian shipscale is as follows.

Dash/Mare Do Well

Twi/Trixie

Pinkie/Gilda

Luna/Celestia

Chyrsalis/Cadence

AJ/Cherry Jubilee

Allura has spoken. :3

Your ships suck, respectfully.

Although this AJ/Cherry Jubilee intrigues me...

Split the flutterdash shipping tangent to here:

You mean forever? D:

I mean the foreseeable future.

Yep, the chatbar will be down for the foreseeable future. Sorry, guys.

"Do you like Bananas?" I believe is the traditional and appropriate response to this.

I hated that cartoon, and refuse to reference it.