The Death of Destiny 2

Destiny 1 player here. Thousands of hours into Destiny 2. Absolutely LOVED the Witch Queen expansion, but stopped playing about a year ago due to many reasons, the main reason being that I got so tired of complaining about various states of the game.

I only ever complained about specifics because I love the game, but my complaints came across as negative to the people I was playing with.

I considered picking up Lightfall, but I wasn’t a fan of the neon purple and green/Miami Vice/Cyberpunk aesthetic, so I held off, then I watched a few overtly negative video reviews which have truly helped to put the final nail in the coffin for me.

I still keep tabs on all things Destiny 2 even though I don’t play the game anymore. I especially enjoy watching videos of all the uproar against Bungie. It’s a bit twisted, kinda like watching a train wreck. I’m 100% with the content creators and community. I feel for them. I’m 100% sure Bungie acknowledge the screams for change, the ball is in their court.

It’s ironic to me that over the years there have been so many new games touted as potential “Destiny Killers”, yet all along it’s been Bungie themselves who are killing Destiny.

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New shoot with Dylan Harper

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Find the full uncensored set on my DeviantArt.
Follow Dylan.

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IKEA Rudsta Wide 6 month update

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Just an update!

Everything inside the cabinet is growing strong. Have yet to kill a plant and yet to have any sort of pests either. I’m still upset that I’ve lost the jungle vibe by removing plants that just got too big (they’re all doing great outside of the cabinet though despite it being winter in Sydney atm). It’s looking more like a grow out cabinet now than a true display, but hey, nothing much I can do about that!

I removed the Queen Anthurium from the cabinet though. Not because it got too big, just because it’s the one plant I’ve not ben able to grow right, and I got sick of looking at it’s imperfect leaves.

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Private shoot with a Diablo friend!

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I got to catch up with Tazzly and Lacivious again last week (both members of Australia Clan in Diablo Immortal). Before packing her bags to catch a plane to Sydney Laci asked if I’d be interested in shooting her. Of-course I said yes!

It was a private shoot, so I can’t share the images, but it was a lot of fun! She’s the oldest I’ve shot to date, and I think she looks great!

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Diablo IV = Hardcore. Diablo Immortal = Casual.


A reddit comment of mine was read out in this video.

And a recent comment I made on the Diablo Immortal subreddit:

Imagine a game where the more you grind the more you get penalised. Oh wait! That’s Diablo Immortal!

IMHO Diablo Immortal was always intended to be a casual game, but many players I’ve met since launch, both in my clan and on the server have pretty much no-lifed this game, some players putting in 10+ hours a day or even more.

It’s been clear from the very start that when you go past server paragon level your XP gains get penalised. This alone suggests that the intent is to have players fall behind the server paragon level, and each day play catch up to get to server paragon level, then log off and rinse and repeat the next day. Skip a day or 2 because of real life? No worries, your XP gets boosted so you can easily catch back up to server paragon level.

A lot of other MMO’s go from being hardcore to more casual friendly over time. No doubt the more hardcore gamers can clearly see the amazing potential Diablo Immortal has as being their main game, but the hardcore reality is that Diablo Immortal is meant to be a casual game and I doubt that will ever change.

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Diablo IV – My toons

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Rogue, my main character (currently level 73).

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Necromancer, my alt.

Been playing Diablo IV a LOT. The game has a pretty aggressive scaling system where each time you level up and get more powerful, the monsters do too (this takes away the power fantasy of gearing up to overpower your enemies). A LOT of people have been talking about it, mostly negative feedback too. I was one of the people against it earlier, but I was wrong.

I’m at level 73 now, and I’ve spent the time to find the right pieces with the right stats, then added the right affixes to upgrade them all into Legendaries (such a good system!), and I have to say, where I struggled in Tier 4 Helltides and solo dungeon runs before (had to use potions) I now melt everything and never once have to use a potion to heal.

I get that in a few more levels time I’ll have to probably get rid of my current min-maxed gear and find upgrades, but that’s the loop, right?! You sometimes feel too weak, but then you get to a stage where you feel like it’s challenging but fun, then you get to a stage where you feel like a God. Rinse and repeat.

Maybe the scaling will be an issue as I progress more levels (people at 80+ seem to think so), but the more I play the game the more I love it. Still feels very much like a solo game, but the Helltide events are awesome fun. I hate countdown mechanics in most games, but farming enough cinders to open 2 mystery chests and 2 normal chests as the timer runs down is addicting. A true hour of power. Love the world bosses too.

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Diablo Immortal: Stepping down as leader of Australia Clan

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Today I stepped down as leader of Australia Clan. I’ve been playing a lot of Diablo IV and trying to keep up with Diablo Immortal, but I’ve never been able to play more than one game at the same time. I figure I might still be able to play Diablo Immortal as a casual, especially if I step down from a leadership role.

Here’s the announcement I shared with the clan:

Hi all! Just wanted to let everyone know that I’ve decided to step down as co-lead of Australia Clan.

Initialy I was hesitant to step up to the role, but thankfully Tazzly was willing to co-lead with me. I couldn’t have done it without him. Special thanks to our officers Lunate, Sausage and DarkSader too for the hard work, support and voice of reason when I needed it.

Much thanks to all of you. Especially those who have been with us from the start, and stayed with us when there was a change in leadership. I love you guys!

It’s been a wild ride! I’m very much looking forward to enjoying Diablo Immortal as an Australia Clan member without the added responsibilities of running a clan.

Much gratitude X.

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Alex’s Nissan Figaro

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Awesome catchups with Nanami and Alex. Check out Alex’s quirky Nissan Figaro! Manual conversion and it’s turbocharged too!

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More plants from More Plants!

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Rex Begonia.

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Queen of Hearts (Homalomena ‘Maggie’).

Alex from More Plants (my local plant store) is back from her 3 week trip overseas so I thought I’d drop by yesterday to say hello, and of-course, to buy some plants!

I ended up buying 2 plants I never thought I’d ever buy, and know very little about, but hey the cabinet is full of aroids and Mia is very much leaving all the plants outside of the cabinet alone, so I figured that A) I can add more plants to the lounge room where I spend most of my time and B) I can start looking into keeping plants other than aroids!

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Diablo 4 vs Diablo Immortal

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Mummy!

Just my initial thoughts on Diablo 4 (D4), specifically in comparison to Diablo Immortal (DI).

1. Diablo Immortal feels a lot faster (both movement and combat). I’m sure my build in D4 will get faster in the end game when I unlock more movement abilities, but straight off the bat, DI is faster (both movement and combat). DI is also more ‘zoomed in’ (field of view) than D4 which also makes it feel faster.

2. DI is a lot easier than D4. DI is just so much more casual. You can literally just stand there and kill mobs. D4 involves a lot more work, placement and timing, all in all it’s just more involved. D4 unfortunatly makes it so enemies scale to your level, so even if you go back to a starting area, those enemies scale to your level. I’m not sure this is a good thing as you never quite feel radically more powerful despite getting better gear and levelling up.

3. The D4 story is dark, real dark! Great character development so far (your character speaks too and appears in all cut scenes which is awesome). I’m only at the start of Act II, but I’ve already found that the dungeons all look and feel a bit sameish (whereas DI’s dungeons all look and play so different to each other).

4. The skill tree in D4 is HUGE. The game allows for so much build diversity it’s actually insane and no 2 players would ever have the exact same build in the game. Anyone who loves build crafting and min-maxing will love this system (that’s me!).

5. DI feels like an MMO, D4 does not. In-game chat just doesn’t work or feel the same and right now the clan system is a skeleton in D4 (no benefits to joining a clan at all), and PVP is not a mode, but instead just 2 areas on the map (no leaderboards, nothing).

SO far, so good. I wouldn’t say I’m hooked just yet, but I’ll at the very least finish off the main story quest before putting it down.

PS: Cross posted this to reddit and it’s gotten pretty good upvotes and engagement: https://www.reddit.com/r/DiabloImmortal/comments/13ysmom/my_initial_thoughts_on_diablo_4_vs_diablo_immortal

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