Okay, I'm more than a little bit nervous. I'm very, very nervous.
I started playing the games over 6 months ago, and I'm a slow player so I've just reached this point now. I always hated the horror levels in the first game. Cragscleft was creepy. Bonehoard was a fucking nightmare. And I rage quit the game while playing the Cathedral because it was too damn scary.
I had always heard that the Shalebridge Cradle is the scariest level in the series, perhaps one of the scariest levels of all time. I had already decided that I wasn't going to play this level. I was going to skip it. If the first game with those visuals could scare the shit out of me, then I didn't even want to fathom what this level would do.
But now, at 4:30 AM, as I stand here, well as Garrett stands here, staring at the gate, I have made a decision. I am going to play it. I am not going to pussy out anymore. I will finish this level even if I need a change of underwear.
So wish me luck, taffers!
UPDATE: I've explored about half the area and finished just one objective. It's been very effective atmospheric horror and the path ahead looks scary and exciting. Will finish it tomorrow probably. Thanks for all the advice, taffers!
Colorado.
(My 8 year old just made it up)
Edit: Thank you for the gilding, she's super happy about this all. You folks are too kind.
Robbins was on the latest Bill Simmons Podcast. Around the 1:43 mark, Robbins talks about "Cradle will Rock" and how of all his movies it is the one that he wishes more people would watch.
The story behind it is that Robbins made this movie with Disney, but the company switched leadership before the film was set to be released. The new guy hated the movie and wanted to dump it. So, they released for one day in 100 theatres with no ad campaign and then pulled it. The movie ended up making less than 3 million dollars on a 36 million dollar budget.
The description of the movie on Wikipedia: "The story fictionalizes the true events that surrounded the development of the 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein; it adapts history to create an account of the original production, bringing in other stories of the time to produce a social commentary on the role of art and power in the 1930s, particularly amidst the struggles of the labor movement at the time and the corresponding appeal of socialism and communism among many intellectuals, artists and working-class people in the same period."
I love Eithan. He steals the spotlight in just about every scene he's in, not by poor writing or other characters being uninteresting, but by nature of his own character. But I've seen a bunch of posts and comments on this sub that in my opinion seem to deify the guy. "Eithan would crush Sophara!" "Eithan is secretly the worlds greatest chessmaster!" "Eithan secretly planned Northstrider's hobo outfit to look even better by contrast!" etc.
Sanderson's Second Law states that a character's limitations are more important than their power. So this thread is to discuss limitations.
Eithan's biggest limitations as I understand them:
He tends to forget that he doesn't know everything. Jai Daishou managed to outsmart Eithan and take him completely by suprise. This happens because Eithan simply didn't consider the fact that Daishou might be able to hide something from him.
His gambling tendencies. Eithan has referenced having made a very bad gamble some time in the past, that lead to the destruction of his homeland and presumably the death of Tiberian Arelius. He also gambled away Lindon's arm in an effort to incriminate Jai Daishou.
Defense against physical attacks. Eithan has noted that his path leaves him Practically Defenseless (Before people start arguing this, these are literally his own words from Blackflame!) However we have seen considerable defenses against madra techniques. His madra armor, his redirecting technique, etc. All seem quite effective. What we haven't seen him defend properly against is physical attacks. He is incredibly fast, per his iron body, and he is excellent at close combat. These are traits that allow him to avoid being hit. However we have yet to see any evidence that he could actually endure a physical hit, were he to sustain one.
Thoughts?
Before I got into Cradle I was into LitRPGs. In fact the reason I got into Cradle was to try and scratch that LitRPG itch of having a fleshed out structure/mechanics system as part of a story. However the more LitRPGs and other books I read the less their hard magic systems compare to Cradle’s system.
LitRPGs are supposed to maintain a 100% hard magic system by design. The reader is supposed to know what abilities the MC has and predict MC’s ability to overcome different challenges and understand how they work and synergize together. The issue is that in majority of LitRPGs you cant predict anything. This is in part because many MCs have such a long and cumbersome arsenal of forgettable abilities that its impossible to see clear and meaningful synergies in all that mess. Alternatively the MC could have understandable abilities but the story pits them against impossible odds that are resolved not by using those synergies but through Deus Ex Machina style interventions that save them at the last second. At this point many books would be better served running a soft system.
The moment Lindon learned empty palm we knew that his only chance to win that village competition was to empty palm the shit out of every child in there. Blackflame was billed as the most destructive stuff possible from the get go so it’s not system breaking when Lindon cuts off Gokren’s hand. When Lindon goes up against Sopharanatoth its clear as day that his only chance is to either nuke her with a Void Dance or a hail marry empty palm play. The system is so good and so well defined that we’ve spent all summer bickering about uncrowned tournament match ups that in any other series out there we would have 0% chance of predicting. Lets take a moment to appreciate that
Tonight at the Monday Night Game (hats off to those of you who play using stuff like roll20. It's something of a hurdle to get used to for me), one of my younger players brought up one of the things he found sort of illogical about Cyberpunk:
"Why are people supposed to be that loyal to their corporations, especially Arasaka when the corps are always screwing you over?"
It occurred to me that a lot of the "Synthwave Generation" of Cyberpunk players (player under the age of 25) aren't aware of the idea of "cradle-to-grave" employment that is one of the underpinnings of 80s Cyberpunk. While I originally intended this as a document for my players, I thought others might find it interesting so I'm going to post it here instead.
Cradle-to-Grave employment, usually applied to Japanese companies, but I think it could apply to some European and American ones (especially Militech) as well, is an idea that once you're truly "in" with a company (a megacorp) the company takes care of you for life. In fact, it not only takes care of you, it takes care of your spouse and your children. In return, the company expects your loyalty and sacrifice.
Under this system, say a man joins Arasaka from out of high school as a security guard. While single, he is allowed to live in a company apartment complex (with other Arasaka employees of a similar status) with Arasaka paying for his lodging and basic meals for the first few years of being a security guard. If he hasn't found a wife after a point, the company will actually assign him to mixers and so on (preferably of other Arasaka employees or the daughters of employees) to make it easier to meet women his age. Once he's married, Arasaka will suggest an Arasaka-employee suburub to buy a brand-new house in, with the cost very heavily subsidized by Arasaka where his children will go to public schools ... except all the students are the children of employees. His wife will shop in national chains but if she shops in the stores in the Arasaka community, she'll get discounts. He'll play golf at Arasaka-run golf courses, vacation destinations will always have options for resorts (even in foreign countries) which are Arasaka-owned where he'll get heavy discounts. If ill or injured he and his family will recieve care in an Arasaka-owned hospital network. If even the guy's parents encounter hard times, Arasaka will likely help with their medical bills either paying them outright or through loans with no interest cha
... keep reading on reddit ➡
Because sometimes they have to draw blood.
So many times I'll be in the shower and think about all the things I need to do, wishing I could write a list. Shower crayons are awesome for that! Maybe I think of a question I want to Google, but I have a tendency to forget once I've stepped out. Right now I'm using them to help me study Italian by writing out definite articles and other grammar rules and vocabulary.
ABBREVIATIONS
| Abbrev | Definition |
|---|---|
| BFE | Blackflame Empire |
| 8ME or EME | Eight Man Empire |
| HEPW | Heaven & Earth Purification Wheel |
| HG | Heaven's Glory, a school in Sacred Valley |
| SV | Sacred Valley |
| LG, HG, TG | (rarely used, most often spelled out) Lowgold, Highgold, Truegold |
| UL | Underlord |
| WoW | Word of Will, something Will Wight has said in the Fan Discord (see sidebar), his website, or this subreddit that is treated as authoritative. |
CHARACTER NICKNAMES
| Nickname | Character |
|---|---|
| Blerin or Big Red or Clifford | Yerin's blood shadow (now blood clone) |
| BloodBirb | The Bleeding Phoenix, a Dreadgod |
| Dick | (rarely used) Daji, the Seishen #2 prince |
| Jai Douche | (rarely used) Jai Daishou, head of the Jai clan |
| NS | Northstrider, a Monarch |
| Tim or SS | The Sword Sage, Sage of the Endless Sword |
Decoding Lindon's Name
Lindon's full name is Wei Shi Lindon Arelius.
In his part of the world they use Asian-style naming in which your personal name comes last. Wei is his clan's name, Shi is his family's name. He was later adopted by Eithan into the Arelius family which follows Western-style naming so that surname goes on the end.
The Question That Shall Not Be Answered (yet)
Yes, we know the circumstances of The Sword Sage's death are mysterious and problematic. We don't yet know the truth about it. If you ask about it, prepare for some good-natured ribbing because it's a very frequently asked question here.
Common Misspellings
Autocorrect causes some frequent misspellings:
Lindon, not London.
Eithan Arelius, not Aurelius.
Cassias, not Cassius.
Fisher Gesha, not Geisha.
Madra, not mandra.
Sha Miara, not Sha Maria.
Hey, Cradle of Sins has hit Alpha testing, Join our discord to get the Steam key.
VR E-Sports is missing competitive MOBA games and Cradle of Sins is aspiring to be one. From the early days of developing, we have been working with competing VR gamers who have helped us shape the game.
We wish to bring Something that is polished and has a proven track record – a good game that people want to play and will keep playing after weeks of release. We have approached the game with a community first mentality. This has proven successful as we continuously receive constructive feedback from our closed Discord group. They truly have helped us shape the game into what it is today. Join the group if you want to participate.
We're about to release the Official Gameplay trailer in a couple of days. Made by David Williams (ddubb) and soundtrack composed by an award winning film composer Simone Cilio.
Any questions about the game I will answer them here.
Previous trailer and website:
I recently bought books 1-7 on an audible sale and I blazed through them in like 9 days. I loved the characters and the anime feel. The power system reminds me of Hunter x Hunter which brings back great memories. The writing wasn’t thought provoking but it still was a hell of a ride.
I’ve just finished this book. I don’t usually read novels, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was darkly humoured and somewhat mocking of humans and their fallibility. Irresponsible actions lead to the end of the world, but I also felt he commented on morality and religion. I thought some verses were beautiful, such as the prose about how God made man from mud in order to think about the purpose of life.
What questions should I ponder on to think further about the book? And, what should I read next by Vonnegut? 😁
I stumbled upon cradle a week before and finished all the books in one sitting.Are there books similar where the protagonist slowly evolves to grow more powerful?
