Hey asoiaf its your neighborhood seeress Enali, about to engage in another ramble on a minor topic. The Cinnamon Wind!! The Summer Isle swan-ship that's leaving Oldtown with Marwyn and the crew that maybe doesn't get talked about enough (or gets enough fan art). Where is it going to show up in the story? What's going on with its passengers? What's Marwyn's deal? There's no povs on it yet but... I was excited to brainstorm it a bit, its got some really interesting stuff going on, more than meets the eye. Going to be self aware here and warn you its not as short of a post as I hoped, even though I get it, attention span is the death of a lot of posts and I really wanted to format the points for readability.... I hope some of you will still stay and enjoy it anyhow and let me know if you've got some other cool insights to add!

All About the Cinnamon Wind & its Route

So GRRM has mentioned that we will actually see more of the 'captain and crew of the Cinnamon Wind' in future books so that's a good sign right?
•A quick note on the name, Cinnamon Wind, it seems similar to Black Wind and Grey Wind (which have been tied together in the past) though I'm not sure if there's a unifying theme there or just happenstance?
The Cinnamon Ship is a Summer Isles swan-ship in any case, so that means its got some really awesome stuff going on in its design:
•Swan ships are said to be able to sail farther and faster than ships of other nations. Kind of makes sense because the Summer Isles are fairly isolated which would push them to innovate to connect with the world.
•They are tall and graceful ships with large billowing sails, and bird-inspired figureheads. But they are wind dependent as a result (no oarsmen really to pull it along in doldrums).
•Their hulls are said to be fitted together without nails and walled with rare native hardwoods that are rumored to be hardened with magic. So much so that slaver ships that try to ram them splinter against their hulls. Cool.
•This all means that they can sail deeper and more dangerous stretches than most ships. Its even noted that its one of the uncommon ships that can skirt around the Stepstones entirely when crossing beneath Westeros and Essos. And that's got to be an enticing option because just recently on the way to Oldtown they were attacked by pirates. Things here in the islands are getting pretty spicy, and while I'd love to talk about them more much to my dismay it seems this ship may slip right through without incident lol. Perhaps the hull design makes it one of the few ships that could potentially sail a rescue mission into even more dangerous areas like the Smoking Sea if needed too (just conjecture).
Anyways here's my rough estimate of the typical route the Cinnamon Wind takes for trade: image - red route, we mostly know this from Quhuru Mo's explanation to Dany. Basically stops in Oldtown, Dorne and Lys are confirmed, then he vaguely refers to other unnamed ports until they reach Qarth and then goes on to do the trader's circle in the Jade Sea.
So if precedent is any indicator they will take something like that on the way out, however... there's some x-factors to keep in mind in this trip (aside from the Stepstones):
•Marwyn will try to persuade the crew to not make too many trade stops... afterall the whole point of the voyage is to beat the maester he believes the 'grey sheep' are sending out by galley to catch up with Daenerys. So urgency is key.
•Quhuru Mo was offered a great reward by Dany for bringing her news about Robert Baratheon's death (although she assumed she'd next see him after she is sitting the Iron Throne in King's Landing), so he's also motivated to find her outside of whatever Marwyn offers.
•The Cinnamon Wind calls Tall Trees Town their home port. As it happens Tall Trees Town just got raided by a corsair king from the Basilisk Isles, so they might see that as a priority (see the optional purple route on the image), but actually... either path doesn't really matter too much because the overall distance to Meereen isn't that different.
But that kind of brings up another point.. will the ship even meet them in Meereen? If they were going to show up early in Winds we'd probably have already seen signs of the crew there at this point. With the siege on the horizon it'd be really difficult to land there now - The Bay has been entirely blockaded for awhile, and when the Ironborn arrive the shore becomes a dangerous litter of splintered vessels. There's also a gigantic Volantene fleet on its way too that could crush any ships in its path. So the Cinnamon Wind will either have to a) wait around at a distance until Dany's forces somehow prevail and clean up the pale mare infecting the city, or imo a more likely option, b) catch up to Dany's forces at some point as they evacuate tf out of Meeereen. Marwyn might be able to guide them to Dany's forces wherever they end up because he has peered into the glass candle and has studied other types of divining magic. But what do you think?

The Crew Manifest & Unlikely Passengers?

So currently the familiar faces we know onboard are:
Quhuru Mo - the captain of the Cinnamon Wind (doesn't speak common tongue but does speak high valyrian on top of the summer isles tongue which all the crew can speak)
Xhondo Dhoru - a mate on the Cinnamon Wind who saves Sam's life. He can speak a little common tongue and is very fond of the word 'fuck'
Kojja Mo - captains the red archers aboard the Cinnamon Wind and loves her goldenheart bow. can speak common tongue fluently and helps translate for Quhuru in farflung Westeros.
Marwyn the Mage - well that's where all the mysteries are leading to isn't it? We'll talk about him more later but its said he can talk to the Summer Islanders in their own tongue, so that's going to be a pretty fun on the trip! (and I get the feeling he can hold his spiced rum)
....
But here's where things get uhh.. interesting....
So Aemon's body and Gilly and Dalla's baby are still on the ship. And I know Sam has planned to send the body off to the maesters and Gilly to Horn Hill with his family, but the timing of the Cinnamon Wind's departure brings up some odd possibilities. I still think its entirely possible, maybe even likely, it goes to plan, but its worth considering the alternatives for a second:
•You see Sam's plan revolved around meeting with the Seneschal to inform him of Aemon's body for pickup and then afterwards he could arrange transport for Gilly and the unnamed baby (Aemon Steelsong if he can get to two years old). But Sam never gets the chance to meet them... remember the attendant delays him until he meets Alleras who introduces him to Marwyn, and he ends the night explaining his story and being introduced to his sleeping quarters and told to try to pitch the Seneschal again the next day (with a story that won't make them want to kill him). So nothing's been sent in motion.
•All the while Gilly is told to wait aboard the ship during this time with Aemon's body stuffed into a cask of blackbelly rum (Quhuru wouldn't allow a pyre aboard the ship for understandable reasons to cremate him in the typical Targaryen fashion).
•Meanwhile Marwyn is rushing off to try to hire the crew to head out to catch up to Dany, and he doesn't like to waste time we are told. Though on the other hand Quhuru Mo's original plan wasn't to rush, but to take some time, spend two to ten days unloading his wares and selling off the rare books he took from Aemon to the maesters. So will Marwyn convince him to leave sooner? Or will Quhuru push back? But how long is Marwyn willing to delay until he seeks a faster ship? (as its implied they will leave together)
•And if the ship does disembark what happenes with Gilly and the babe? Let's see things from her eyes... Oldtown is probably a very new and confusing and overwhelming place, she's going to have a lot of trouble finding Sam on her own. The Cinnamon Wind has been a second home for her, she especially trusts the women aboard including Kojja who loves the baby more than her own bow. Gilly's also been invited to stay aboard as long as she likes. And... Sam just kind of broke up with her, he has that whole talk with her before he leaves about how he needs to remain a crow and he 'said the words' and internally he's trying to find the courage to be able to leave her. Gilly does like him though, and Sam's been her constant companion, but she's going to have to ask herself which future fits her better. I really can't say what may happen. I can see both possibilities, and I've built on theories in the past assuming she's at Horn Hill, but I'm not really attached to that point either.
•Also if the ship rushes out sooner than later its hard to imagine Quhuru taking the time to coordinate a dropoff of Aemon's body with the notoriously evasive maesters. Maybe he just leaves it on the dock though if he doesn't forget.
•Jon Snow actually has two visions concerning Gilly in ADWD, the first already seems to have come to pass - where he hacks off the two baby's heads and switches them around and tells Gilly to sew them back together (unless there's additional dark foreshadowing there), the second dream he has is one where he sees Sam drowning (which probably ties to the red tide of Euron coming to Oldtown) and Gilly weeping tears of blood. So something bad is on the horizon for her either aboard the Cinnamon Wind or at Horn Hill...

Quhuru Mo's Book Sale

Another interesting thing going on is Quhuru Mo trying to offload the books the crew took from Aemon to the maesters (perhaps with Xhonda or Kojja along to translate).
Which books exactly? Rare ones... ones specifically chosen by Aemon that Castle Black had copies of that the Citadel may not. Though Sam is only capable of finding one of every four on the list.
•We know that Septon Barth wrote one of them - Sam reads passages from a book of his about dragons to Aemon onboard. This very likely refers to 'Unnatural History.'
•Sam also seems to bring Maester Thomax's 'Dragonkin' (Death of Dragons) to Aemon as requested right before his meeting with Jon where he learns of the trip (though he drops it in the dirt). I think its likely this is also on board because Aemon was in on the plan and maybe making preparations at that point.
•Sam also brings Colloquo Votar's 'Jade Compendium' to Aemon, but this is not on the ship because it is a farewell gift to Jon. It contains information on the Azor Ahai legend learned from the writer's adventures around the Jade Sea. Why do I bring this up? Because the crew of the Cinnamon Wind also just got done sailing around the Jade Sea, so they may be familiar with the Azor Ahai myth and offer some interesting information.
Of course someone who would really appreciate all of these books would be Marwyn, he may just buy them up on the spot, if not because of his interest in the higher mysteries because it expedites the voyage out. Marwyn did write The Book of Lost Books himself though which is said to have three pages from Signs and Portents detailing Daenys the Dreamer's visions of the Doom of Valyria, and he spent years looking for missing books, so he'd really be a fan of these I think.
But if Quhuru Mo tries to sell these to other maesters, well, he may unknowingly be taking a big risk.... as Marwyn tells Sam its not a good idea to give news of prophecies or dragons to the maesters, unless you fancy poison in your porridge. And the books we've seen so far kind of make those topics their centerpiece. The Citadel has even openly condemned Unnatural History in the past...

The Motives of Marwyn the Mage

Of course the main mystery aboard the ship has got to be Marwyn... all the plots really converge on him, we've been teased of his existence since the first book when it was revealed that he taught Mirri Maz Duur common tongue and she tells us he "opened a body for me and showed me all the secrets that hide beneath the skin." (associated with a dark deed or is this just a parallel to an early autopsy for medical knowledge?)
•Qyburn also name drops Marwyn. "If we leave our smells behind us when we leave a room, surely something of our souls must remain when we leave this life?" Qyburn spread his hands. "The archmaesters did not like my thinking, though. Well, Marwyn did, but he was the only one.""
•There's theories he may have come across Oberyn at some point too where he learned about poisons at the Citadel and 'perhaps even darker arts.' And its said that Marwyn studied with warlocks and shadowbinders too.
•Marwyn's also been seen in the undercity and its said that he sacrifices to queer gods at the little sailors' temples down by the wharves. And we know that one of those wharfside temples is one for the red priests (Sam hears the red priests singing to welcome the sun at first light).
So with connections like these we should probably start to feel pretty uneasy about Marwyn's role in the story, what his plans are for Daenerys given his mistrust of prophecy, and what he's capable of: Shadowbinding, fire magic, divination, medical knowledge without ethical consideration... but maybe the rumors mischaracterize him.
•And he has lit one of the glass candles too. The ceremony the maester's take where they fail to light the glass candle is supposed to remind them that knowledge can be dangerous, to temper their arrogance and to remain humble. Which is maybe a clue that Marwyn isn't. Or that the maesters' scope of vision is just limited.
•Glass candles can allow users to communicate over long distances, enter dreams, give people visions, and according to the tentative Cushing Library finds may be used to grant immotality, keeping its owner alive as long as the flame doesn't go out. Fire and blood seem to be the roots of magic in ASOIAF, and as 'dragonglass' its hinted they harness the magic of dragons (maybe its fossilized blood or something). The glass candles flame needs to be renewed from time to time with the owner's blood though, which maybe ties back to Sam's question of what feeds the fire? (or a dragon's flame) And does the connection extract other prices on their users for this gift? Marwyn habitually chews sourleaf, perhaps just recreationally, but it is also said to be able to dull pain.
•So Quaithe and Euron are also hinted to be users of the glass candles and both are connected to dark magics in their own way. Are they in communication with each other? They probably at least have the ability to spy on each other as Quaithe seems to be aware of the other candles burning.
•The Citadel is said to have one green and three black glass candles from Valyria, though in the Cushing Library finds it was originally going to be more (one for each Archmaester) so those texts can't entirely be trusted for consistency. As for the green candle that could makes sense as Sam does hear that the obsidian beneath Dragonstone can come in a variety of colors, mostly black, but green too, and occassionally even red or purple. "Under the sea, smoke rises in bubbles, and flames burn green and blue and black," Patchface sang somewhere. Perhaps that's relevant too (not sure about blue though).
So there's a lot of interesting potential for Marwyn aboard the ship for some kind of dark ritual magic or dragon knowledge to come into play with someone like... Daenerys, or Tyrion, or Victarion, the dragons and Dragonbinder, bringing Dany to where Quaithe wants, or even performing something on Aemon's body (as weird as that could be). Hopefully no babies are involved this time (Kojja's arrows will probably have something to say if he tried).

~Thanks so much for Reading~
tldr: The Cinnamon Wind is trying to catch up with Dany and due to the unique design of swan ships has the potential to take some very interesting routes on the way out to Meereen, or perhaps catch up to her forces as they evacuate to somewhere on the way back (the open ocean, Lys, the Smoking Sea, etc..). Aside from the Summer Islander crew (notably Quhuru Mo, Xhondo Dhoru, and Kojja Mo), and Marwyn there's some odd possibilities that Gilly, Dalla's babe, and Aemond's body may not be offloaded in Oldtown due to Marwyn wanting to rush out and Sam getting delayed before he can get word to the Seneschal's Court and then enact his plans. Quhuru Mo has rare books from Aemon he's trying to sell off to the maesters which Marwyn may pickup, or he may get in trouble with the Citadel over their controversial topics. And Marwyn seems to have a powerful understanding of magic but may be connected to some pretty dark forces in the series, which should give us pause to his motives.

Hey guys! Thought I would write up a tournament report for a local paper legacy event that took place in Adelaide. We haven't had a legacy or Australian Highlander event fire in a long while due to christmas season and the city being inundated with RCQ events happening nearly weekend. But now that there is a slowdown Dragon Lair's St. Mary's a popular LGS decided to hold a legacy event.
We had a turnout of 14 people with a good mix of fresh faces and seasoned veterans, but a lot of regulars were not able to make it. Adelaide may not have a scene as large as other places, but the community is dedicated and loves the format!
I ended up victorious with Naya Depths winning an expedition Misty Rainforest as the prize
The meta: We had a very diverse meta with every player piloting a unique deck. The decks in top 8 order and the rest in no particular order were:

1. Fable Painter
2. Mono U 8 Cast
3. UG Omnitell
4. Temur Rhinos
5. UR Delver
6. Mono U Paradigm Shift
7. Mardu Scam (3 elementals with ephemerate and touch the spirit realm)
8. Naya Depths
9. GB Turbo Depths
10. UB Shadow
11. Mono G Titanpost
12. Abzan Maverick
13. RG Lands
14. Yorion D&T

My Event: We played a 4 round swiss into cut to top 8. While piloting Naya Depths In swiss rounds I ended up going 3-1 into a 3rd place top 8 finish. I ended up beating GB Turbo Depths, Mono U 8-Cast and Yorion D&T but I lost to Mono U Paradigm Shift.
In the top 8 I was paired vs the Paradigm Shift player which I think was the worst matchup in the room but in games 2 and 3 I managed to draw my pyroblasts and deafening silences which paired with quick Marit Lages helped me close the games out.
In the Semi finals I played vs the Mardu Scam player and our games were quite interactive and had a lot of back and forth, in game 3 my opponent got stuck on lands and I had a nuts curve out which ended with me flinging a big Knight with a Minsc & Boo to get the W
The finals were some intense games vs the Fable Painter player who is locally known to be a master of their deck. I ended up punting game 1 by targeting their bin with my endurance in response to: Grindstone activate > Attempt to weld painter into play, with them tapping out with 1 card in hand. However, I had forgotten that they had a non-summoning sick Goblin Engineer which they activated by pitching a Spirit guide, their last card!! I realized I should have simply enduranced my bin as I had a marit lage already created!.
Game 2 was extremely back and forth but a clutch Force of vigor and Tower of the magistrate carrying me to the win.
In Game 3 I kept a very solid hand while my opponent kept a high potential hand but needed to draw a 3rd artifact to turn on their mox opal to win on turn 3 with saga fetching a grindstone, but they never got there and a marit lage ended up closing the game out.
​
This was my first time piloting the deck in an event and boy did it feel fun! The deck can attack from so many various angles, it can kill you quick with a flying 20/20 or hit you with massive Knights and elves, and just in case those aren't enough you also have Minsc & Boo to fall back on! It is something I will be looking to truly master in the future!
​
Here is my list: Naya Depths

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I ve been playing all Diablo games and enjoyed all of them for god knows how many hours. D3 was my least favourite but I still played it a lot and enjoy it.
As for Diablo 4.
The GOOD:

• GRAPHICS: The overall visuals are detailed and on point. There is a lot of small detail in cities and so on which is nice to look at. There are some hiccups like the necro skeletons (cartoony and with an odd glow which doesn t match the rest of the game) and the necromancer bodies (why we need a set of extra highlighted corpses when the ones from the mobs you just killed are on the ground...can t comprehend. was the same in d3).
  
• MUSIC: The music and ambiental sounds make for a pretty good diablo atmosphere overall. The music in D3 wasn t bad, it was just very fanfare and theatrical too often for a game about killing demons in the dark.
  
• TRANSMOG/CHARACTER APPEARANCES: These are very nice and really make your characters look cool. A small note: since it looks so great overall, It could use having more faces/hairstyles/beards etc. Kinda of a waste to have so few hairstyles and faces etc for such a good system.
  
• THE DIALOGUE/STORY: So far it seems to have a less bombastic in your face approach like in D3. The story also has a slower, mystical air to it, opposed to the D3 saviour of the universe.
  

The BAD:

• INNOVATION AND COMPLEXITY, although having a good foundation, feels like a very basic or bare-bones aRPG. It feels like an improved Diablo 3 which should ve come 5 years ago. Given that these games launch about 10 years apart, you would expect more interesting features and systems for them. Sure, you don t need to reinvent the wheel, but it s not the case here. I know it s just level 25, but we ve seen a lot of the basic systems and the community updates. As someone on this reddit said, "here s an improved d3 with a play schedule". I ll further detail individually down why I think the game is a bare-bones aRPG.
  
• SKILLS: There are less/almost equal skills (not to mention Runes) for D4 than in D3. You take the Necromancer for example. It has around 19 active skills in D4 plus one of two runes you can pick from. There are also few passives scattered around. In D3 you have 21 skills with 5 runes each. Factoring in the runes, it does seem like there are more skills in Diablo 3. We could maybe add The Book of the dead Skeleton and Golem skills and maybe we get on par. With so few skills in D4 it seems like there won t be too many different builds. Sure, endgame gear and paragons can alter these skills a lot but..it s the same few skills at the end. Maybe they started with few skills so they can add more over time.
  
• STATS/ITEM STATS: We get more or less the exact same stats/amount of different stats like in Diablo 3. They are boiled down into attack defense and regeneration. Looks like a mobile game honestly. Item Stats themselves are rather boring and insignificant except for few like +to X Skill. Items are pretty boring (I know it s lvl 25 but we ve seen many items over time). It all boils down to the most important stat, the legendary power. It was always the plan for this since they announced D4 and you could see that they tried to make item stats look more complex but kept the original idea: Legendary power is what matters most. The rest is filler for the attack/defense/regeneration display. Since these are the items, the gems fall in the same category, no interesting stats just basic dull stuff.
  
• ENEMIES: There seem to be few monster types so far, which you encounter repeatedly and very often. Most of them do not seem to have some unique feature/mechanic besides name and model or some noticeable unique feature mechanic. They seem to be just fodder for champion/elites affixes to stick to. Mob density is very low regardless of taking the giant empty world zones in account. Might be level related. Bosses/Mini Bosses seen so far aren t memorable at all and seem to have AI generated clunky names, like in wow. But wow has thousands of npcs and bosses and mobs created over 15 years..understandable. But D4? eh.
  
• UI: The Interface is hard to understand often, even considering it s been designed for consoles. Some things are really impractical, like the minimap which is irrevelant since zones are so big and you don t see much on the minimap. There is no transparent map overlay which forces you to press M to open the giant map very very often. A simple D2 overlay would fix this. After all, it can be disabled. The font used for the items on the ground is horrid, as in it is the basic font used in all pseudo-games/rpgs on mobile. Not only it doesn t look like the rest of the game, but it s ugly {personal opinion}. Probably it was chosen because it is a clearer font for consoles. This font is used in mobile games because of the small screen they are being played on. With consoles and pc's this shouldn t be the case. Also why isn t the central skill bar tied to the bottom edge of the screen? It s just wasted space.
  
• PERFORMANCE/BUGS/SERVERS I do understand this is an open beta, but this game is 2 months away from launch. You can imagine that not much can be done even by a big team in that timespace. We ll leave aside the fried cards. The game's performance is bad, with frequent stutters (as in fps drops) and freezes and crashes. This isn t hardware related I think, as I ve tested different settings, different computers with different above recommended specs. This problem also persists on the PS4 identically. This occurs more often when you cross zones. On top of these, there are the server issues which will likely persists at launch as all blizzard releases. The rubberbanding and invisible walls are also terrible additions. The fact that the game is online only even while playing alone..doesn t help.
  
• MMO FEATURES: It seems that D4 tried to be Lost Ark and failed. Badly. Having played both, D4 gives you the feeling of a primitive Lost Ark. Of course, you can t play alone and are forced to see many players around you in towns, so that you see their interesting shop bought cosmetics so you want to buy em too. This was probably planned way before development started. It s annoying to see this many players especially in towns. It s just a visual clutterfest of annoyance. Add in the performance issues and you ve got yourself an active player wish to avoid especially big towns or towns in general. They took from wow few of the most annoying mmo features: scheduled gameplay and daily quests. It s a psychological tool to force you to log in every day or set time, so that their engagement metrics are high and investors think everything is great. The world boss is a terrible system. You need to play EVERY week, or you ll miss out on the free rewards. Why are they free? Because like in WoW you can just go there, land a hit onto the boss, die, wait or die again and others will kill the boss and voila, you get the same loot as them. No effort, no skill or brain activity needed, just your pressence at that fixed time every week. Just your sole existence. The EMOTE WHEEL is an uncessary and idiotic feature I cannot comprehend. I guess it has it s advantages for consoles. But going to a statue and dancing or clapping your hands for quest rewards or buffs isn t really a gameplay which should exist in an arpg. Maybe in SIMS.
  
• OTHER SYSTEMS: Gambling, Potion Upgrade, Item Upgrade. This is your usual well known basic stuff. Nothing special. I have to admit the Potion system with craftable extra potion is a step up from D3.
  
• DUNGEONS: Dungeons are very repetitive and seem to be made from few very often repeating tiles which you can notice right away. They look nice and have lot s of details in those specific tiles though. There aren t many mobs and often you have some generic, often repeating events. Dungeons aren t unique, they are more like some pre-generated rifts which require a lot of backtracking. Monsters aren t the objective, they are just the barrier before the objective which is press this switch or that lever. Monsters aren t difficult either and there aren t specific dungeon mechanics or traps or whatever to fill up the empty void of long nothing the dungeons are. Honestly, they feel worse than D3 rifts and I did those thousands of times. Here I could barely do each one once. The game feels often pointless, as you are wandering big pretty and empty zones, barely seeing mobs, or some insignificant forgettable ones. To what good is a big open world if it is empty. Never had that feeling in D3, each zone had a specific story role, purpose, event, mob type and wasn t too big. I can remember them all by names. Here I can remember the main town and another one because it has a blacksmith. Otherwise just ai generated name zones which have nothing to do or to offer besides being just filler.
  

I didn t want to pre-order and this beta convinced me that I shouldn t even buy the game at launch. It is doubtful that the technical issues will be fixed in such a short time. Not to mention the rather repetitive and empty open world and the bare-bones arpg feature. The game skeleton is there but that s it mostly. Maybe he also has a hood. Or maybe not. Sure if the game did not cost 70$ and would ve been marketed as early access yeah. But with other competitors it s just not worth it in my opinion. PoE is free, PoE 2 will be free, Last Epoch is far cheaper and so on.
The only thing this game currently has over the others is the Diablo franchise name and some tied in nostalgia with npc and item names. Just like the initial runewords plan for D4. They were adding something which used the name but had nothing to do with the original feature. This is how Diablo 4 feels to me overall. Sure, the bigger budget shows in many aspects compared to the other listed aRPGs. But damn it, even Wolcen at its disastrous launch had more innovative elements and less game breaking bugs and technical issues. At least you could avoid the server issues playing offline.
If anyone disagress with stuff here just bring an argument for a discussion don t just call me whatever. What I say here could be wrong but it s just how I see the game currently. Maybe devs read feedback and try to do something. I do want this game to get good and to play it for a long time. Not one gazillion years like d2 or half gazillion years like D3, but something longer than few weeks. It seems to me that the art and music devs had a lot of creative freedom. I don t think the systems devs had so much creative freedom, hence we get this basic rpg with no innovative features at all. This could ve easily been D3 - remake. I am sure that the devs with more creative freedom, would ve done interesting and innovative aRPGs like the competitiors.
I ll keep checking on the game. Maybe after half a year a lot of the stuff gets fixed or corrected or re-made. Maybe it will be bundled with a game-fixing expansion, who knows.

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Hey there! I am a 20 years old guy from Romania, Europe. Lately I felt lonely and I decided to try my shot here trying to find someone truly special to share my days with. Currently I am working a full time job and I live alone in my appartment. I am looking for someone to starts things slowly, not rushing it. I would like to talk about our daily routine, work/school, share our days about what happened or how we feel or any random topic we have in our mind. I am open to a long distance relationship.
Some infos about my personality:
I am an introverted, shy and emotional. As a person I am caring, loving and protective and I give all my attention to the loved ones to make sure they feel good.
My appearance is the next:
Slim body type, 190 cm tall (6'2), 80 kg (176 lbs), blondish hair and blue eyes.
My hobbies and interests include the followings:
- Learning about new cultures and languages. Currently I speak two languages on native level which include Hungarian and Romanian and I would like to learn about other languages and cultures.
- History. My favorite topic of history would be middle age (Eastern European) and the two World Wars.
- Geography. All the mountains, seas, rivers, lakes which are surrounding us are so beautiful. Since I live in a mountain city I used to hike too on smaller mountains.
- Sports. Mostly I enjoy playing and watching football which I used to practice too before, but now only as a hobby. Other sports which I like are handball and waterpolo.
- Music. I like to listen mostly to everything related to rock music and rap music. But I am open to other music genres too and I would like to hear about your music taste too!
- Gaming. In my free time when I am off from work I play games on my PC on Steam. Maybe we could play some games too together if you are up for it!
- Movies and series. I don't watch them that much, but if it's a good movie or serie I would not turn it down. The best movie I watched is Shawnshank Redemption and serie I watched was Peaky Blinders which I still didn't finish it. I am open for any movie night if you have good suggestions.
- Youtube. I like to watch gameplays and travelling videos mostly. I like travel videos because one day I would like to travel too around the World if I have the opportunity.
If you are considering to send me a DM, make a small introduction. Mostly I used Discord to chat, if you are ok we can move there, but Reddit chat is fine too! I am open to exchange pictures too once we get to know each other better.
Have a great day or night.
Hey there! I am a 20 years old guy from Romania, Europe. Lately I felt lonely and I decided to try my shot here trying to find someone truly special to share my days with. Currently I am working a full time job and I live alone in my appartment. I am looking for someone to starts things slowly, not rushing it. I would like to talk about our daily routine, work/school, share our days about what happened or how we feel or any random topic we have in our mind. I am open to a long distance relationship.
Some infos about my personality:
I am an introverted, shy and emotional. As a person I am caring, loving and protective and I give all my attention to the loved ones to make sure they feel good.
My appearance is the next:
Slim body type, 190 cm tall (6'2), 80 kg (176 lbs), blondish hair and blue eyes.
My hobbies and interests include the followings:
- Learning about new cultures and languages. Currently I speak two languages on native level which include Hungarian and Romanian and I would like to learn about other languages and cultures.
- History. My favorite topic of history would be middle age (Eastern European) and the two World Wars.
- Geography. All the mountains, seas, rivers, lakes which are surrounding us are so beautiful. Since I live in a mountain city I used to hike too on smaller mountains.
- Sports. Mostly I enjoy playing and watching football which I used to practice too before, but now only as a hobby. Other sports which I like are handball and waterpolo.
- Music. I like to listen mostly to everything related to rock music and rap music. But I am open to other music genres too and I would like to hear about your music taste too!
- Gaming. In my free time when I am off from work I play games on my PC on Steam. Maybe we could play some games too together if you are up for it!
- Movies and series. I don't watch them that much, but if it's a good movie or serie I would not turn it down. The best movie I watched is Shawnshank Redemption and serie I watched was Peaky Blinders which I still didn't finish it. I am open for any movie night if you have good suggestions.
- Youtube. I like to watch gameplays and travelling videos mostly. I like travel videos because one day I would like to travel too around the World if I have the opportunity.
If you are considering to send me a DM, make a small introduction. Mostly I used Discord to chat, if you are ok we can move there, but Reddit chat is fine too! I am open to exchange pictures too once we get to know each other better.
Have a great day or night.

This started off as a response to a comment, but I realized I didn't want to come off as dumping on the commenter. So I decided that it was better suited to a new post. I'm gonna start on what appears to be a tangent, but it's relevant, I promise.
IRL, I watch a lot of YouTube channels discussing the problems the US faces that are caused by low-density housing, urban sprawl, and car-dependent regional-planning. (Strong Towns, CityNerd, City Beautiful, Not Just Bikes, RMTransit, and this great video by Climate Town)
It's resulted in a lot of cookie-cutter neighborhoods throughout the US that look ugly, and make their regions financially insolvent due to unbearable maintenance costs. NIMBYism campaigns by their residents lead to local governments deciding not to fix problems, and has led to a nationwide housing crisis. This is a GROSS oversimplification of a very complex and nuanced topic, and I'm not looking to start a political argument here.
While none of the political or ecological forces discussed in those videos really apply much to the channel - I'm recognizing that my fellow redditors are also planning their valleys with the mindset of desiring low-density, single-family homes that all "look good" together, with each home on a large plot of land (a.k.a. the "American Dream") This mentality, which has permeated post-WW2 US society (and is communicated globally through US pop-culture), is bleeding is over into Dreamlight Valley.
I'm bothered by the negativity that people have towards Woody's Carousel home. As someone who temporarily lived in an RV for the better part of a year while searching for permanent housing after moving across country, I'm saddened by the elitist comments against the appearance Buzz's RV "ruining" their villages. Living in a real world where desperately needed multi-family homes to address housing crises are prevented from being built in communities because it would "ruin the local aesthetic / charm" and "hurt property values", it pains me to see these attitudes reflected in negative comments by people complaining about the potential addition of high-rise housing coming with the apartment building from Wreck-It Ralph.
Diversity in housing is beautiful, and interesting. It offers opportunities for people for find unique solutions to tie multiple visually distinct structures together with landscaping, paths, and fun public areas throughout their biomes.
So many people post that they can't figure out how to decorate their valley, or that they've hit item limits. It's because we're still in Early Access, and there are not enough houses yet to fill up the space. So people make grand estates and max out their item limits filling up one biome - because there's too much empty space. So many people post and comment about how they're out of space and there's no room for upcoming houses, so they want more biomes.
I'm not against adding additional biomes to the game, but there's already an insane amount of real-estate in Dreamlight Valley, and only a few houses currently available in Dreamlight Valley to fill it up. There's an achievement/trophy/Dreamlight Task for repairing 30 villager homes, and we currently only have 12. That means there are plans for at least 18 more houses coming to our villages. Once there are 30 -40 houses in the valley it'll be a much smaller task to decorate, and the restrictions / limitations will help remove the creative paralysis that too much freedom of choice causes for many players.
I'm HUGELY in favor of great parks, walkable city centers, and fun third places, in the real world, and also in Dreamlight Valley. Parks full of fountains and shrubs, cool beach areas, bars, ski resorts with saunas and igloos all provide unique charm and character to the valley - they can and should be part of people's design toolbox.
Sorry if this is a lot, and a bit heavy for a cozy game like Dreamlight Valley. I just had to get this all off my chest. Let's keep the discussion focused on Dreamlight Valley design and steer clear of the real world politics I mentioned, as they are better suited for other areas of Reddit. I'm looking forward to the discussion on how we can build our valleys to be inclusive of the villagers we already have, and forward-thinking enough to plan for the villagers that are coming in future expansions.
Thanks for listening to my TED talk.

(part 1 https://www.reddit.com/worldbuilding/comments/10bjaph/limbo/)
From the great lands' vast sky, a power rose up, the 'Great Diamond', from an unremarkable rock of space that sat above limbo as one of its great wonders since everything else seemed to fall into its pull besides these moons. This moon would be basic, white with a fairly large size, The Great Diamond would hide on this moon as she created a race of women who would extract the life force from the earth to create gems, the name of the race who would come in all sorts of crystals. Each gem would be different from other gems unless they were of the same gem type which meant though they varied, this would be in more stylistic elements of the shaping of their bodies from their hole which would usually be fairly standard unless the job would be rushed. Using the lack of necessity on things such as air, water or food and virtually no need for base organic reproduction seeing as these gems were constructs of magically infused, condensed, light and rock. While the rest of the higher powers would be distracted from infighting or growing fat from peace and dominance, the gem empire would colonise the remaining 3 moons and other outer planetary bodies. This would all come crashing down when a glitch in the advanced systems occurred, causing the reveal of the gem empire which had amassed power far beyond the other races in the expansive world called limbo. In a panic, the empire would send its forces down and activate offensive protocols, thousands of ships would be unleashed in the first wave. Many powers would be eliminated and their races would be integrated or decimated, with the greatest odds of survival to escape to other powers. To combat the overwhelming power, the true might of the 'Will Of Man' would be shown to the entire world. In a gaping presentation of strength the 'Will Of Man' would use its power and rip apart the sky in holy light, the souls of man's greatest heroes from the 'Will Of Man' would be summoned which included unremembered or unremarkable humans who should the qualities of greatness. Bravery, righteousness, thoughtfulness and compassion were all shown within each soul as they, in their blazing forms, grew to enormous proportions and struck down the fleets that assailed Limbo.
Now with breathing room, man called together under the banner of humanity and began their counterattack. Thousands of different races would assail the new territories of the 'Great Diamond' as they would intercept communications and even achieved assaults on the gem empire's core worlds which were their outer solar civilisations. The union of races was empowering but unstable, the humans had an empty position within a matter of months as the 'Will Of Man' would be venerated while his children remained, put to slaughter. This fickle union would come undone however as man would rise up against the other races from other gods as they formed a fair and honest organisation under a unified empire. Instead of warring gods, they would assemble a pantheon as the state religion, under the rule of 'Deity Of Challenges', 'Prime Of Strength', 'Divine Ruler Of Games', 'Aquala, The God Of Waves', 'Goddess Of Friction' and 'Existence Of Hierarchy' with the 'Will Of Man' choosing to abstain. Yet he would still be present within the pantheon like a vanguard, one-man army, as the 'Will Of Man' would take vengeance against the races that wronged humans and gain notoriety throughout Limbo, assembling a justice cult in his honour. Ultimately, due to the overwhelming power of the 'Will Of Man', he would act as a double-edged sword, causing the 'Great Diamond' to join forces with the alliance of man which had been butchered from the 'Will Of Man'. But this would not stop the empire as the repentant 'Existence Of Hierarchy' would front military efforts with his followers and children. Using powerful attack legions of beast-men and organised forces of humans to confront most major challenges with more fortified positions being handled by forces like the children of the 'Prime Of Strength'. As the 'Deity Of Challenges' would send sects or nomads to wipe out encampments with the others contributing uniquely to military efforts but despite their uniqueness, all of the deities worked with great cohesion. Within a matter of years, the empire had become the major power and subjugated Limbo as the other races formed coalitions, unions and alliances. Meanwhile, the empire lived in great satisfaction as they endorsed equality and aid for all, acclimating territories from dictatorships and treating them with great care as even territories outside of the empire would be provided with aid and friendly behaviour. This would lead to a lot of deities joining the empire as territorial deities, deities who could become widespread and accepted into the pantheon but not connected to the higher echelons to keep out nefarious powers. But this admiration was not simply of deities as nations and people would commonly defect, making the empire rich with diversity as efforts to spread out populations across the empire were successful due to a desire to avoid mistreatment of other races.
The empire would run smoothly due to the deities as they would establish a grand system, the 'Deity Of Challenges' would spread the martial arts influence across the empire. Teaching cultivation techniques such as increasing strength, creating skin as hard as steel, aiding in handling various disabilities and dealing with most terminal diseases by using her children to have special adaptations to magic and QI that could be used to heal from poisons, gruesome damages and more. The 'Prime Of Strength' would create halls of proving where people would assemble to take on challenges such as defeating mountain eaters or proving great deals of endurance. As he would push the people to a better and healthier lifestyle as his land's bounty would be truly uncovered when creating the empire as the sense of power shifts caused the reproduction and power of the 'Prime Of Strengths' beasts to increase dramatically. Creating a great deal of meat and other great materials for the empire which also allowed the giants to live a more lucrative and decadent lifestyle. 'Divine Ruler Of Games' would be the most integral piece to the empire as it managed a great deal of the administration and governance along with always creating and innovating new types of games such as new park rides or game companies that aided the nation in creating extra revenue. the works of 'Divine Ruler Of Games' also included social services such as health care, mail service, firer fighters, humanitarian aid and more. This would often be seen through parks but 'Divine Ruler Of Games' would also leave his mark in amazing city designs or pedestals laced around the empire for small fun and rewards such as a pattern/memory game at a secluded waterfall, deep in the forest. But this should not degrade the work of other deities such as 'Aquala, The God Of Waves' who would handle oceanic-related disasters and sea fishing/trade like if the ocean needs to rehabilitate sea life or if the ocean needs to flow water into a chasm to allow villages access to water. 'Goddess Of Friction' was also very important as she would release high-tier and above, slime craft, into the empire instead of low-tier slime craft like when it was sold to the old human territory. This would drastically alter science and mechanisms as was known with the slimy mechanisms being used to revolutionise weapons of war, build homes and as aids in grand farming. Finally, there is the redeemer or as he is also known, 'Existence Of Hierarchy', the 'Existence Of Hierarchy' would become very useful in the empire as he would help create lush villages and cities that greatly incorporated plant and animal life. Along with boosting plant growth such as wheat crops along with using its caste system in a more productive way such as in the military or as its reformed design as a goodness meter where those who had a greater loyalty, faith and trust for the empire would be rewarded with privacy enabled. Meaning that this could not only help keep those who are loyal to the empire satisfied but also not cause potential problems with the amount of trust and faith from one person to another so as to allow a fostering of kind-ship before any disdain as those who had been granted power would also not be able to tell how high level they are. But this would all be overshadowed by the 'Will Of Man' who had gone from a vanguard of the gods to an eternal protector of life, giving up his conscious mind and body to bless the empire and its citizens with good fortune and ward off evil spirits. Creating many an event throughout the year, annually, such as the day of saints where the saints that had descended from the gem war and those made after, would come down in peaceful fashion and bestow greetings in a warm silence. Or other days such as the haunting which manifested the fears and anxieties of the empire's citizens to be confronted in their dreams with those with a more gentle mind having restraints so as to not cause psychological issues. Along with every citizen having their nightmares devour malevolent entities wishing to do harm like robbers or banshees with other holidays with a total of 13, including the haunting and the day of saints.

Imagine this; far beyond the comfort of your warm, cozy home, awaits a massive world just waiting to be explored. Lively little towns packed with all kinds of different people, vast seas that stretch on for miles and miles, ancient caves filled with the stories and secrets of the past—this world really is massive! The best part? There’s a place for just about everyone here, no matter how daring or odd. All you have to do is look.
While you travel across the land, searching far and wide, you’re sure to find a place that resonates with you. From the beautiful tropical islands of the Alolaregion, to the massive bustling cities of Unova, or even Orre’s vast, barren deserts teeming with crime and chaos—there truly is a place for all different walks of life in this strange world. Not only that, but you’ll be sure to find plenty of people like you along the way. Tenacious trainers battling their way to the top to make a name for themselves, starry-eyed explorers hungry for a thrilling adventure, and of course, the most important thing: a plethora of rare and extraordinary creatures found all throughout the regions just waiting to be discovered. Seeing all of these new creatures, big and small, is only one tiny part of your mission though. Catching them will be your real test, and to train them will be your cause. But of course, like any other adventure, your journey won’t come without its fair share of hardships. What’s an adventure without a few bumps in the road after all? Whether it’s skilled trainers and gym leaders rivaling you, fierce evil teams running amok, or even these powerful creatures you wish to catch, your opponents will come in all different shapes and sizes. But it’s up to you to teach your new friends the power that’s inside them if you want to succeed. Being able to move forward no matter what obstacle life throws at you, that’s what it’s all about! So, in a world you must defend, will you be the one who gives up in the face of danger, or will you rise up and be the very best, like no one ever was? If you think you’re really up for this challenge, then I choose you!
Hello there everyone! I hope you all are having a good day or night, wherever you are in the world. You can call me Blue. If you could guess by that little snippet up there and all those awful little jokes, I’m looking for someone to play out a long-term adventure story with. Not just any story though—one for a very particular fandom. A certain monster-catching series, if you catch my drift.
As I’m playing the role of a Game Master, I’ve created a bunch of scenarios and characters for you to interact with along the course of the story, ranging from friends and rivals to villains and even love-interests if that’s something you’re interested in. But don’t think that just because there’s a whole new cast of colorful characters to meet that you won’t bump into your favorites along the way! The brilliant Professor Oak? Of course! The renowned Sinnoh Champion Cynthia? You bet! The fierce and fiery Gym-Leader Flannery? Definitely! I’m sure some of your favorites will make a cameo somewhere in the story.
Though, if you have any ideas of your own you’d like to share or add to the story, I’d love to hear them out! I have a few ideas of my own to share, but I’d rather do that in private. I’m a big fan of OOC chat, so please don’t be shy. Even outside of RP, I’d love to get the chance to chat with you casually. About the story, the characters, even just normal conversations. I’m all ears!
If you’re interested, please don’t be shy and send me a chat. Feel free to tell me what caught your eye and if you have any ideas too. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Take care! <3

This is my fourth try still asking for a GiftCard amounting to the same sale price of the game. I know copy paste is not appreciated here for re-attempts, but last time I really worked hard on the poem for three days (I Know the poem sucks) and people seemed displeased with it. Further I really don't have anymore to say. I have seen some old posts where this game was asked by people but was never gifted once, but some other games here are gifted again and again. I really don't know why this game doesn't get any love, but I would really appreciate you for gifting this to me. And I will one day pay you in some way or another.
What is MS Flight Simulator 2020 about?
Game (40th AE is the base game): MS Flight Simulator 40th Base Edition
Microsoft has a long history with Flight Simulators. Their first Flight simulator was released in 1982. While the previous games were fun, the new MS Flight Simulator does something incredible which no other game has ever done: It simulates the topography of the entire Earth as accurate as possible to real world through satellite data of Bing/Google maps along with Cloud Computing to generate better visuals and real data for air traffic and weather. Moreover, it also takes real wind and real-world time into consideration.
The game also has an active community-driven add-ons that only makes the game even more realistic and grander. If any game has the biggest world map of all, this is it. This game has the world map almost as big as the Earth itself. You can visit many of the world-famous attractions like Eiffel Tower, The Taj Mahal and even football stadiums! But you can also explore some famous landscapes as well, and if you fly low enough, you can experience some wildlife too. The game features Geese, Seagulls, Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Elephants, Giraffes, Flamingos. You can experience the beautiful endless sea, but make sure you have enough fuel; You surely don't want to end up like Chuck Noland, and to make matters worse, you won't have your trustee, Wilson!
Microsoft Flight Simulator features 25 handcrafted airports, 4 classic commercial airports, 14 heliports and 15 glider airports. There are over 37,000 total airports in the game along with 37 airplanes, gliders, and helicopters with unique flight models, the likes of A320 Neo, Boeing 747, Cessna, DA62, and the cutest CTLS and A5, with detailed interiors of the cockpit. Isn't that the ultimate definition of simulation?
Why I want it:
I love exploring the world, something I am not financially able to do in real world. Every Time I watch something on TV, it's 90% of the time travel channels. The first time I tried Flight Simulator on my friend's PC, I fell in love with it. What I love about MSFS is the grand scale of the game. While in games like ETS 2 even a 4,000 KM journey can be completed in 3-4 hours, with MSFS, it would take real world time. For example, it takes ~1h 15m non-stop flight from Paris to London (Average), so it would also take almost the same amount of time in the game too (that is real world 1h 15m). Even staying in the cloudy sky is so much fun with sunlight shining, thunder and rain. I love playing simulation, tycoon games as they are the pinnacle of freedom in gaming world with no bounds. I remember when I played Flight simulator 2000 back in 2003 and wondered, what a shitty game. Seriously, at that time I thought who would play this game with 65% of the screen occupied by the cockpit? And here I am today.
What I love about the FS 2020 game:

1. There is nothing unlocked in the world. I don't have to pay extra or do specific tasks to unlock some part of the world. I can visit any place any time!
2. The scale is grand. This has the biggest map of any game.
3. So many different airplanes to choose from and they all act and feel different.
4. This game is very relaxing. I can just unwind and soak the beauty of the world from the comfort of my chair.
5. I love this game cause it takes up whopping over 150GB of Disk space.
6. I love pushing and flicking buttons. Especially the flick switches. They are so yumm to touch. And the clicky sound it makes is better than any orgasm. Basically, I am flicking and pushing buttons while flying around in a tube.
7. I can crash the plane without having to worry about anything.
8. Landing! Landing in this game is like going to final exam without studying anything. If you nail it, that feeling is amazing!
9. I can fly along with the birds!
10. I can land the plane anywhere I want. Even in a grassfields or your ex's backyard.
11. I am tired of playing the repeat levels of Fall Guys.
12. The full detailed cockpit is amazing!
13. Realistic ATC commands with interactions. If I am angry, I can choose to ignore the ATC.
14. I need to find more things I like after playing the game.

I am in touch with the MSFS community on Discord and YouTube videos, with always waiting for max737Ifly video to show up as his videos are so good and realistic (even my mom loves watching it). I just cannot get enough from this game.
I can play this game even when I am listening to Podcasts and it makes such an immersive experience. The tiny details the game provides, like waiting instructions from ATC before you move a muscle, dialing the knobs, flipping tiny switches in the cockpit only adds to the experience which I enjoy a lot. This game is enjoyed by both, casual gamers and professional pilots as well. The game sends me to another world and is like a therapy for me. And playing MS Flight Simulator makes me feel like a bird. The game brings me a joy I cannot express through words.
Here are some content from the game:

1. Some beautiful scenes (this is just a trailer)
2. Beautiful clouds
3. FS vs Real life
4. Montage
5. Hudson River

Here is me playing FS on my friend's PC:

1. Potash Ponds
2. Simpson Desert
3. The deep hole near Antarctica

why I can't get it:
I cannot afford it to be honest. I have taken some surveys to earn a bit here and there to collect for the game but it's such a long process and the reward is generally not worth it. My bad luck is that due to a technical mistake, the game was selling with 80% discount but due to time zone difference, I couldn't grab on the once in a lifetime opportunity. I also tried other giveaways for steam gift cards, but I never win them, and they are so rare to come by. I am really struggling with money and hence I am here.
Because I cannot afford the game, I tried to look into alternatives:

1. Xplanes really is the only contender, but it lacks the real-time aspect of weather, wind, terrain MS Flight Simulator provides. Moreover, it's more about planes and their simulation than exploration.
2. DCS World, which is a full-on military combat simulation game. Even though that game is extremely hard to play with a keyboard, I still managed to play some couple of hours in it. However, it's really not something I am interested in as It's not a game where you can explore the world and the Jet planes are very speedy and hard to control. Compared to that, Flight Simulator is more of an arcade style game and controlling it is fun and easy even with keyboard and mouse.

An explanation of why GamePass and MS Rewards ain't the way:
MS Rewards: In India, we can only get an Amazon gift voucher for Rs. 250 for 4,000 points. So only 162 points are allotted per day to farm. Given that, I get mere Rs. 250 in 25 days. So a total of something around 64,000 points required for a total of Rs 4000. This is what the game costs now post sale. So it would take me around more than a year to accumulate so many points. By then I might just lose interest in the game.
Game Pass: I don't have a card that can work with game pass. And in the long run it will cost me far more than what the game would have cost me. I also won 2 month free game pass key on reddit which I wasn't able to redeem due to card issue. It's a game that I plan to play for a really long time.
Also, I am saving to get a 500GB SSD just for this game along with some add-ons. I won't be asking here if I could have afforded all of these. I cannot get both of them. And SSD costs more than the game.
why you should gift it to me:
I will be playing this game everyday and you won't feel your money is wasted. This gift will bring such a big smile to my face that even Joker would feel ashamed. I know many people hoard games and don't play them, or they play for a few times and stop. I can guarantee you that once I get this game, I will be playing it every single day! This game is the reason I am for the first time requesting for a game here. And I promise I will do justice to the game and gifter. I am not requesting for any deluxe version or anything, just the base game will suffice for me. I can say it from my heart that the day I get this game, will be the day I will be flying in the air of joy! As this community works on the principle of making others happy with no selflessness! But I can never be happy unless I own this game. This game is the only game missing from my library of happiness.
If that's not enough, let me tell you something: you will feel on top of the world if you gift this game to me, even more than me. Don't ask me how. Be the first person to gift someone MS Flight Simulator on this sub and feel proud. If you don't feel on top the world, I will make sure to pick you up free of cost from your home in one of your choice of plane and will personally drop you on the top of Mt. Everest. I will also let you touch some buttons in the cockpit or let you control the yoke. But only you have to figure out how to get down from the Mt., as I will be flying all that time exploring the world. But if you don't like cold places, I can show you a secret place (This Secret place is a part of a DLC and there is a way to unlock this place)!
To anyone who gifts this game to me, I will forever remember you and engrave your name on my grave thanking you that I died in peace. And when I meet God, I will personally tell him that if it weren't for you, I would have gone to hell.
My steam ID
Price of base 40th Anniversary edition in India: Rs. 3,999. However, I will still ask for the discounted price of 2,999 which is $35. The rest I will try to manage from somewhere or use the MS Reward for 4 months.

Donate to his veterans support charity No Duff if you can, it will go to his daughtewhanau, to return his body and continue his enduring kaupapa, which will help other whanau in this conflict and others.

No Duff Charitable Trust Givealittle page:

https://givealittle.co.nz/org/noduff

​

Kane Te Tai remembered as man of honour committed to aiding Ukraine

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/486507/kane-te-tai-remembered-as-man-of-honour-committed-to-aiding-ukraine

Whānau and friends of slain soldier Kane Te Tai say he will return home as a warrior in life and death, and be remembered as a man who always fought for what was right.
RNZ understands the body of the slain New Zealand soldier has officially been identified as Te Tai and is now being transferred to Kyiv.
He is understood to have been killed while clearing a trench in the Vulhedar area of Ukraine.
Sources have told RNZ he had moved deeper into the trench, away from his team, when he was killed by Russian soldiers.
His team were forced to leave his body there, before Ukrainian marines went in and recovered him overnight.
Veteran support and advocacy group No Duff is now working to ensure a New Zealander can be available to escort his body through the country to the Polish border, before travelling with him for his final journey home.
Comrades and friends have said they believed it was important a Kiwi was always with him, but the process would not be simple.
Te Tai co-founded No Duff with Aaron Wood, who told Midday Report his mother had asked them to manage the journey home.
"We're pulling all the pieces together. A number of volunteers and interested people from New Zealand, all the way through to Ukraine and in between, are coming together to make this happen."
It was highly likely they would be able to bring him home, Wood said, but there were numerous jurisdiction challenges ahead.
Deeply respected during time in Ukraine
Te Tai joined the Defence Force after leaving high school and went on multiple deployments while serving in the 2/1 Royal Battalion.
He left the Army in 2010 and travelled to Ukraine in April last year, operating under the call sign 'Turtle'.
Te Tai was a prominent character in the warzone and was widely followed on social media.
His colleagues described him as well-known and deeply respected for his professionalism, skill, leadership and relentless sense of humour.
They said he never underestimated the importance of his job, or the lives he held in his hands.
His death marks the third New Zealander to be killed in the combat - after the deaths of his best friend Dominic Abelen and humanitarian Andrew Bagshaw.
Te Tai had become the unofficial expert for New Zealanders in Ukraine, often acting as the point of contact for Kiwis wanting to travel to the warzone. He would ensure people knew what they were signing up for, a way to get into the country and a unit to go to.
He admitted in an interview with RNZ his initial motivations for going there were selfish, but that changed quickly on arrival.
The soldier became an infamous figure in the war, often featuring on Russian propaganda sites - seen by RNZ - particularly the Wagner group, who put a NZ$11 million price tag on his head.
In a conversation with friends he joked about ratting himself out for the money, illustrating his sense of humour.
Te Tai always said to his friends he was not afraid to die, but he also was not afraid to live.
During nearly a full year in Ukraine, he garnered respect from people in all walks of life. He volunteered with Ukrainian families, taught civilians how to fight and eventually found a spot at the frontline as one of the team's leaders.
Te Tai said he was fiercely protective of his team and did anything to make sure they were safe.
During one mission in August 2022, his best friend, Abelen, was killed in trench warfare. In an interview after the mission, Te Tai said the team were unable to get his body back and it ended up in Russian hands, but that did not stop him from trying.
He told RNZ they only stopped because Abelen would not have wanted them killed in the process.
Just last week Te Tai posted on social media, revealing that while clearing a Russian position he had found a "long lost friend" who had wanted to visit New Zealand.
Te Tai had thought his friend was dead and was amazed to find him alive, describing it as a "Hollywood moment".
He said at first he did not recognise the man, who had been shot four times and was skinny.
"He'd been starved by Russians for two months and drinking anti-freeze because the Russians wanted a laugh."
The man did not want to be left with the Ukrainians, but Te Tai had to keep fighting. He promised he would return and walk him personally to hospital.
That was exactly what he did, he said.
'The people grow on you'
In that August interview with RNZ, Te Tai said he had fallen in love with the country and its people, and was deeply respectful of their resolve.
"I was sort of getting a bit bored of being at home... and coming into this conflict was just one of those things that selfishly I thought I could be close to the war without getting too entangled.
"But then that sort of changes... I've met so many people, I've been everywhere in this country and the place grows on you, the people grow on you, and their strength, and that's why I'm still here."
Te Tai said he was prepared to leave everything in Ukraine, but in the weeks before his death he had made moves to return home.
His mother said he always kept her up to date, ending the calls with "I love you Mum", but more recently it was like "I'll see you soon".
In a Facebook message to another friend he said he loved Ukraine, but it was time to start living a real life - "gotta put the toys away and start to build while I can", he said.
"That's enough war for me, I love this place, it's like a playground where I can do anything I want.
"But that's the problem isn't it? So before the game gets me or before I decide that life here is too easy, maybe it's time to start living my real life.
"This place is pure escapism, we are all trying to run from something, mine is from having a real life, but the time is near."
Passionate about the cause
Te Tai is being remembered by his friends and comrades as a man of honour who was passionate about his cause, always doing everything he could to protect people.
Longtime friend Aaron Wood described Te Tai as a beautiful man, who he loved to bits.
"He just wanted people to live their best lives and he wanted to help as many people as he could.
"That sounds like a cliché, but with him it's a truism. That's his whole life... Just serving people, that's what he did, that's what his message was."
That was what he died doing, Wood said.
His mum, Ngaire Te Tai, said there was never any talking him out of it.
"He never did anything by halves, my son. We tried to stop him, but he had his mind made up, that's just Kane.
"When you were around him, you just felt safe."
A gift she said she knew he spread much further than just Ukraine.
Ngaire Te Tai's final comment about her eldest boy was: "Don't let my son's death be in vain."
He leaves behind a 12-year-old daughter.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t find anything glorious about killing young mobilised Russian boys who are crying in their trenches”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300777917/the-shelling-is-so-close-it-makes-you-puke-says-kiwi-fighting-in-ukraine

The shelling is so close it makes you puke, says Kiwi fighting in Ukraine

A Kiwi soldier fighting under Ukraine’s military intelligence says he’s prepared to die.
Kane Te Tai, code name Turtle, is fighting in a secretive reconnaissance unit on Ukraine’s front line in the eastern Donetsk region.
After deaths, injuries and resignations, Te Tai now leads the Foreign Reconnaissance Team after only joining in July.
A December article in The New Yorker magazine revealed the existence of the unit and featured Turtle.
It’s the same unit that 28-year-old Kiwi Dominic Abelen was fighting in when he was killed in August, and the two were like brothers.
Te Tai’s unit has set up a PayPal to fundraise for vehicles it needs to move around its area of operation, near the town of Pavlivka.
As Te Tai was interviewed, he had to be careful his phone wasn’t too bright, so as to not give his unit away to any Russian drones flying overhead.
“We live on the line, we just occupy whatever place we can find at the time. If it gets too hot we just find somewhere else,” he told Stuff.
His unit’s job is primarily reconnaissance, a small mobile force that could reach into Russian land or no-man’s land between the trenches, and destroy a tank or hold a position, before the Ukrainian army moved in.
“Find it, locate it, observe it, report it, attack it.”
Good 4x4 vehicles are a necessity.
Donetsk is known for farming and coal production, and Te Tai described the land as similar to the Canterbury plains.
Soldiers try and use the tree lines separating the fields for cover, and trench systems are built through them.
During the winter, the roads and fields are muddy, pocked by craters from Russian artillery barrages.
The Foreign Reconnaissance Team can get the necessities of war – food, bombs, clothing, bullets - just fine.
Reliable working vehicles and parts, and enough for an emergency stockpile, are harder to come by.
The Foreign Reconnaissance Team is reliant on vehicles driven into Ukraine from throughout Europe by volunteers and paying for them with donated money.
“You can use that vehicle until it is blown up or you crash it, unfortunately both those things happen all the time,” Te Tai said.
“The last three vehicles we’ve had, in the last month, they’ve been hit with artillery. Holes in the front, s... just smashed through.”
Unlike the famous International Legion Battalion, which tens of thousands of foreigners have joined since the start of the war, the Foreign Reconnaissance Team is for some of the highly-trained foreign few.
Te Tai served a tour in Afghanistan for the New Zealand Defence Force and thinks of himself as having spent his whole life training to fight.
His team is given autonomy, building trust with local Ukrainian commanders to find out what they want and then formulating missions.
Te Tai was able to talk about one operation the Foreign Reconnaissance Team conducted during a December battle in Pavlivka, first described in the New Yorker article.
Te Tai and a small team of a half-dozen were set to cross a bridge at night and enter a tree line which ran into the centre of the town.
The mission was to see how close they could get to the Russian positions before they were fired on.
“The moment that we got onto the bridge, everything just opened up, rockets, missiles everything. We ran across this bridge and were just trying to scramble to the safest nearest spot.”
Te Tai’s team managed to get into the tree line and into a trench – all in the dark – but the Russians began to shell progressively towards them down the tree line.
“I remember just looking at everyone in the pit and we all had this look on our faces like, ‘well, the party had to end some time’. We had this feeling of acceptance.”
But, just as the next shell was set to kill the team, it flew off somewhere else and the Russians then began to bomb regressively back along the tree line.
“By divine intervention we missed getting smashed... We all knew we were supposed to die that night.”
Before joining Foreign Reconnaissance, Te Tai was working for a church training Ukrainians in basic military skills.
He was open with people back in New Zealand about what he was experiencing, including old army colleagues.
Te Tai described an environment where Kiwis in Ukraine often stayed in touch and worked together, including Dominic Abelen who contacted Te Tai before making the trip.
When Abelen said that he was set to join the International Legion Battalion, Te Tai told Abelen he was hearing bad stories.
“You go there as a foreigner, you get given a weapon, some ammunition, and sit inside a trench and you fight or die, that’s how it’s portrayed.
“People would tell us: 'Thank you for training my son, he didn’t make it back, but I felt he was better off than he was before’,” he said.
Abelen, now with the nickname Tolkien, made his way into the Ukrainian army, but managed to get taken into Ukrainian military intelligence.
Talking to Abelen about what he was doing, Te Tai had had enough of training soldiers and the 37-year-old felt like he was running out of time to fight.
“I told him [Abelen], ‘I’ll jump in with you too’.
“And he [Abelen] was like ‘thank God, cool man’,” said Te Tai.
He ended the volunteer work and a recruiter told Te Tai to get to Lviv where he entered a secretive military intelligence training camp.
Recruits weren’t allowed to use their phones and were closely evaluated for a two-week period.
“Pretty much from the second they take you into the camp, they don’t tell you what’s going on.
“They operate it like a psychological test, to see if you can be just told what to do and not know any other parameters,” he said.
Access to weapons was heavily restricted and there was heavy scrutiny as Ukrainian officials went through candidates’ records and social media, trying to weed out spies and the weak.
“When you talk to someone, it’s always a cover story, you’re never talking to who you think you’re talking to,” Te Tai said.
Then, one morning in July, officials gave Te Tai a contract and drove him to the Foreign Reconnaissance Team in Donetsk.
“As soon as we pulled up... Dom had no shirt on... he said, ‘let’s do some work’.”
“I was like ‘my man!’.”
Abelen had put in a good word for him with Ukrainian intelligence, Te Tai said.
He gave Te Tai the code name of Turtle, after he had originally named himself Talon. Talon was too cool, Abelen said.
Te Tai described new troops arriving for the unit as a big event, a celebration of strengthening the group after the fighting took its toll.
“There’s a high attrition rate either by death, injury, or guys wanting to leave.”
The Foreign Reconnaissance Team currently operates out of a house, planning their missions on a whiteboard.
“We’re normally strapped for time. If we’re not out working we are resting, or we are giving instructions.”
Te Tai said there aren’t ranks in the unit, so while he is the team’s leader, he sits on the same step as the other foreigners in the unit.
He eats Ukrainian food: soups like borscht, and two-minute noodles and toast.
At night Te Tai watches Netflix and YouTube fail compilations to decompress. Sometimes, he hears the Russians shelling, keeping him awake.
When you’re fired on by artillery, you can hear the lifespan of the shell, he said.
He described how shells left the Russian gun with a distant duh-boom, screeching through the air, before exploding somewhere on the Ukrainian side of the line.
Some shells landed far away, but some hit so close to soldiers that the concussion made them puke and made them feel sick for the next day, he said.
“That shit happens like every week.”
About six weeks after Te Tai joined the unit, Abelen was killed during a mission.
“It pissed me off more than anything, it just consolidated for me that I’m not leaving any time soon.”
Te Tai said Abelen didn’t have a death wish, but he was a soldier and fighting was what he had trained for his whole life.
“I could have told him, ‘you are going to die today’ and he would have been like ‘it’s a good day to die’, that’s just who he was.”
Killing didn’t weigh on Te Tai’s mind, he said. He described it as part of the job, and said his views hadn’t changed since Abelen’s death.
“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t find anything glorious about killing young mobilised Russian boys who are crying in their trenches,” he said.
“I’m willing to die, for sure, but I don’t want to die.”
Te Tai has no plans to leave and wants to attend a victory day parade in Kyiv.
“I know we’re going to win, I know that for sure,” he said.
“I’m staying here until I can’t take it any more, or I am dead.”

Imagine this; far beyond the comfort of your warm, cozy home, awaits a massive world just waiting to be explored. Lively little towns packed with all kinds of different people, vast seas that stretch on for miles and miles, ancient caves filled with the stories and secrets of the past—this world really is massive! The best part? There’s a place for just about everyone here, no matter how daring or odd. All you have to do is look.
While you travel across the land, searching far and wide, you’re sure to find a place that resonates with you. From the beautiful tropical islands of the Alola region, to the massive bustling cities of Unova, or even Orre’s vast, barren deserts teeming with crime and chaos—there truly is a place for all different walks of life in this strange world. Not only that, but you’ll be sure to find plenty of people like you along the way. Tenacious trainers battling their way to the top to make a name for themselves, starry-eyed explorers hungry for a thrilling adventure, and of course, the most important thing: a plethora of rare and extraordinary creatures found all throughout the regions just waiting to be discovered. Seeing all of these new creatures, big and small, is only one tiny part of your mission though. Catching them will be your real test, and to train them will be your cause. But of course, like any other adventure, your journey won’t come without its fair share of hardships. What’s an adventure without a few bumps in the road after all? Whether it’s skilled trainers and gym leaders rivaling you, fierce evil teams running amok, or even these powerful creatures you wish to catch, your opponents will come in all different shapes and sizes. But it’s up to you to teach your new friends the power that’s inside them if you want to succeed. Being able to move forward no matter what obstacle life throws at you, that’s what it’s all about! So, in a world you must defend, will you be the one who gives up in the face of danger, or will you rise up and be the very best, like no one ever was? If you think you’re really up for this challenge, then I choose you!
Hello there everyone! I hope you all are having a good day or night, wherever you are in the world. You can call me Blue. If you could guess by that little snippet up there and all those awful little jokes, I’m looking for someone to play out a long-term adventure story with. Not just any story though—one for a very particular fandom. A certain monster-catching series, if you catch my drift.
As I’m playing the role of a Game Master, I’ve created a bunch of scenarios and characters for you to interact with along the course of the story, ranging from friends and rivals to villains and even love-interests if that’s something you’re interested in. But don’t think that just because there’s a whole new cast of colorful characters to meet that you won’t bump into your favorites along the way! The brilliant Professor Oak? Of course! The renowned Sinnoh Champion Cynthia? You bet! The fierce and fiery Gym-Leader Flannery? Definitely! I’m sure some of your favorites will make a cameo somewhere in the story.
Though, if you have any ideas of your own you’d like to share or add to the story, I’d love to hear them out! I have a few ideas of my own to share, but I’d rather do that in private. I’m a big fan of OOC chat, so please don’t be shy. Even outside of RP, I’d love to get the chance to chat with you casually. About the story, the characters, even just normal conversations. I’m all ears!
If you’re interested, please don’t be shy and send me a chat. Feel free to tell me what caught your eye and if you have any ideas too. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Take care! <3