I want to start off by saying that this game has the underlying structure of a good game, but a core misunderstanding of the reward and tension mechanics of this genre will ultimately lead this game to perform way under its potential.
- The use of the variable reinforcement schedule
A core component of the roguelike genre is it's use of the variable reward schedule. The game "rewards" the player by taking specific actions that benefit the player variably throughout a run. This is what makes roguelikes addicting and it is the core mechanic used in gambling to keep players coming back.
In gordian quest theoretically they can be the following:
Stats (str, dex, int, initiative, resistance, damage increase)
max hp
hp recovery
items
runes
cards
deck reduction
buffs
The problem with the list above is that they are almost exclusively non variable in gordian quest due to the leveling grid system. You are guaranteed, every single run to get to the deck size you want, the cards you want and the upgrades you want for the cards, the stats you want to focus on and a consistent way to recover hp from multiple sources.
The complete consistency of these factors makes it so that good players are not subject to the rng at all and can consistently beat torment with only a single character. This leads people to simply quit the game as it becomes too predictable. Remember that since the game is turn based, any expression of skills can only be through decision making, if the optimal path is too obvious, people won't even bother playing.
At the current state of the game a very experienced player can probably beat torment solo (5 realms if quick, infinite realms and gives up playing if endless) 80%+ of the time, this percent is far too high and the devs should aim for closer to 50%. It is not a coincidence that close to 50% is the odds for most gambling games and the winrate for good slay the spire players on ascension 20.
The only properly variable meaningful element of the game so far is the items, which is not guaranteed like the cards. To further exacerbate the problem however, the devs have chosen to create a more consistent experience here again and make it so that even legendaries offer generally linear stat upgrades with a few exceptions that actually change game play meaningfully. They appear often, but is not rewarding even if you get them.
- Tension
The excitement of a rougelike also comes from the tension you can build through a run
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Amazing that you can get a coin in this condition under $30. Granted, he wasn't an important emperor, but being Rome's youngest (at 13) is interesting. Only my second coin and I'm already catching the bug.
https://preview.redd.it/4ofwf5jmt5a81.jpg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d5d94e53b515766ef6185afdc76d39355783fe52
So. I've Googled beyond Googled. I am at an official loss. In April my partner started fish keeping. A 5 gallon tank, healthy water parameters for our fish. 7.7pH and >.02 ammonia levels. Around June or so, he added some ghost shrimp. One must have slipped through with a worm in it(we found out a horsehair worm), somehow unnoticed even though we checked them all over. Sad to say the least, but the shrimp have died, and our fish and snails seem to be fine. We thought we had taken care of the issue by removing the affected shrimp. Now, there seems to be some.. new life everywhere.
We tried the General API Cure. It looked like it was helping a little bit then these.. red orb things appeared. We took one out, unsure if it was red algae somehow. I said it reminded me of an egg. Something about it looked like if you took a spider egg and soaked it with maybe a tinge of pink/red coloring. My partner put the powder of general cure RIGHT on it and... God it was horrific. Hundreds of worms burst out. We thought this was a sign the cure would work too. We tried to keep with treatment, remove any globdules, and kept our fingers crossed with normal maintenance + medicine maintenance it would save the tank.
Dear god... They're everywhere. We don't know what to do anymore. They're prolific and even getting a new tank with new everything doesn't seem to have helped. Other than killing our entire tank we have no idea what the absolute hell we could do anymore.
If anyone can help, provide information, anything... I'd be so grateful. Honestly this is breaking my heart to see the tank infested and my partner just feeling more and more defeated by the day. We are at a total loss.
tl;dr: fish tank has horsehair worms that are prolific and am in search of any info as to how to get rid of them entirely (general API Cure already used) because google is dust with this subject.
Edit: some are asking for photos, I've already given these same photos, but for anyone else who thinks I might be wrong or even have a better clue or anything, here is 1 worm. They like to like... spin their bodies while swimming.
https://imgur.com/GAEtpug.jpg
https://imgur.com/7oXUB1p.jpg
I can't stop thinking about how little sense this makes.
On one side you have the Utopians. A Hive composed of the best engineers and scientists on the planet, most of whom have been thinking and dreaming about technology since they were children, and learning about it. They've spent years developing advanced space technology, and they devote most of their resources to the task of exploring space. Also they are rich as fuck, because they hold most of the patents in the world.
On the other side you have the Gordians. They have spent their lives learning German and the notoriously complex and obscure Brill system (which even Mycroft fucking Canner found too time-intensive to learn). Oh, but also they have found time to develop some expertise in hacking and space technology, to the point that they can hack
- the entire car system (maintained by all Hives but Utopia),
- the Alexandria palace (maintained by the most powerful Hive with the help of the most tech-savvy Hive),
- the carriers to Mars (created and maintained by Utopia)
- the Skymaw (created and maintained by Utopia, and guarded so zealously that even most Utopians didn't know about its existence)
Which makes no sense. I get that on top of knowing the Brillist system they know a fair bit about technology because they need to build their mind-machine interfaces, but you're telling me this small Hive is able to muster up the know-how, the people and the resources required to hack a global system used by all Hives and also the headquarters of the most powerful Hive and also spacecraft made by Utopians?
Oh, but wait, there's more. Apparently, on top of that, they are better at space technology than Utopia, because they have been able to develop satellites or other kind of spacecraft that can take down other satellites and they have managed to launch them without Utopia and their thousands of space-exploring devices realizing it.
I'm sorry, I'm not buying it. Utopia had more and better engineers and resources, by a factor of 100 or more, than Gordian, it makes no sense that they got pwned by them. This is like Andorra or Malta managing to hack the entire Internet, the White House, and the ISS, all in one go, while they also manage to build a successful space program without anyone noticing while also doing cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology research.
In case all of that wasn't enough they also reverse-engineered Utopian U-beasts and learned how to fuse them with humans. Which is a
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Okay guys. Sorry if the flair isn't right. This is my original post that a few people were helpful and seemingly interested in: https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/r4nwla/hard_to_google_issue_horsehair_worm_aka_gordian/
I decided to update because this doesn't seem like an issue a lot of people know how to deal with. There is very little all over the internet. Please take everything of what I say with a grain of salt, maybe my experience is unique, maybe it is as run of the mill as can be, and maybe my info is even potentially wrong, but for the sake of future aquarists out there this is my info.
So. What we ended up doing as a solution was catch every fish we had and place them in quarantine for at least a day before putting them in a fresh tank. We wanted to make sure there were no worms and we wanted to make sure that a worm didn't pass through digestion either (our minnows have been snapping at them here and there). We THOROUGHLY checked their water. We only used water from the new tank that went through treatment and cycle, it was risky because we're stressing their systems out by not acclimating first, but... their water was so infested you can't take a scoop of it.
We were meticulous. NOTHING from the old tank is allowed near the new one. Our fish seemed good. We put them back. Our betta and minnows seemed good. Betta got a bit aggressive in the new tank and killed a minnow, but other than that, everyone made it... Even 1 worm somehow. We scooped that bitch so fast. We spent a long time just staring at the water, looking for any worms that somehow managed to get in.
We weren't going to add the snails or the shrimp. Our nerites and our amanos. But the way the water looked... it broke our hearts. We did the same isolation. Making doubly sure with the water that everything was okay.
1 more worm. Removed him again. Checked again for hours. And nothing. We waited a week and there were only the inhabitants we wanted. We added some new friends (Cory's, tetras, blue velvets, a mystery snail) because the new tank was a huge upgrade for everyone.
Its going well now. But our old tank has yet to be dealt with. Why? We weren't sure how to get rid of everything. These are parasites, we can't just flush them right? So we were going to find a "treatment" for the tank. We asked somebody at a the petstore.
The response? "Oh yeah horsehair worms are basically like fleas for tanks. If one gets in and lives you need to bomb the whole tank and there is
... keep reading on reddit ➡The 10th of December rolled around once more, and it was a momentous occasion: for it was Gaston's birthday and with it, a formal recognition of his adulthood.
Already recognised as King, Gaston was now fully empowered to rule his country - and to dismiss his former regents, transforming their roles, to that of visiting dignitaries, to be treated with all the same emissarial politeness as befitting ambassadors of their respective Monarchs.
These dignitaries however, would not need their own dedicated estates which fall back under the Royal control, to be transformed into permanent guest residence - initially for their current occupants. There was no fear of recourse for such actions, King Gaston had seen the effectiveness of a well-written letter in the recollection of the Count of Dunois. Whilst it was not as drastic as that action, the King still saw fit to inform the dignitaries as to the reasoning of this action.
> Dignitaries of the Crowns of France, and Spain.
> Rejoice, for it is our Birthday - and acquisition of Majority. No longer shall your obligations as co-Governors be needed, and the condominium regency can cease. Your presence however, is not unwanted - we respect that many of you may have found comfortable life, and personal interest invested into the Kingdom - as such we extend a formal invitation for you to stay, as representatives of your respective lieges, until otherwise terminated, or recalled.
> Whilst your professional duties may be curtailed, your advise, and counsel are as appreciated as ever.
> Gaston de Foix, King of Sicily citra Farum, King of Navarre, King of Jerusalem, Cyprus and Armenia, Peer of France, Count of Narbonne, Count of Étampes
This letter was unlike others received from the Royal Court before, for it was written in a different hand. A neat, and practised hand-writing that was the King's own - carefully scribing every letter to leave a beautifully legible message. To the French, the letter came in Gaston's own mother-tongue, to the Spanish, a more rehearsed translation - courtesy of Gaston's recent regal education.
Gaston did not have time to celebrate - for his duties as King awaited him. His first being
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Hello, hello, come in, take a seat, we’ll be a little while. Now, do you remember me? No? Good, excellent. Ah, yes, I know this appears to be your first time, but that is in fact part of the procedure. We’ve already met, but how are you? How’s the family? Good. Good. Now, I’m sure you have many questions and that’s why we have this consultation first before we begin any kind of disconnecting. Now, let me explain.
***
Welcome back. You’re awake, good. How do you feel? A little dizzy, here, have this. Yes, I know it won’t make complete sense at first, you will experience a little bit of confusion as your mind attempts to piece together the memories it’s lost, but that’s quite normal, don’t dwell on it, the key thing is that you don’t remember what you don’t remember, right? What did I remove? Now, that would defy the purpose of the procedure, wouldn’t it?
***
Ah, hello again, it’s always a pleasure to see a friendly face. That’s quite alright, my name’s Dr. Alan Saudade and… Don’t worry, I know your name, but it’s a pleasure to meet you again. So, it’s been a while, I know, but you don’t recall your last procedure? No, no, that’s a good thing, I just thought I left a little bit in. You don’t remember?
Well, ordinarily, we remove the experience of the procedure itself to avoid the question of why it took place to begin with. We find that question often leads patients to ask what memory they wanted to remove which ultimately leads them to rediscover the unwanted memory again. So, for good measure, we leave that bit out.
Then why did I…? Well. That’s a good question, I left you with some memory of the procedure, because, in your case… You see we don’t normally recommend this number of removals. How can I explain…?
Most people like to imagine the mind as a computer. They think that memories are like files that can simply be deleted. But the brain, your mind, is infinitely more complex. There’s no perfect analogy, but it’s much closer to a web and every intersection on the web isn’t an idea but represents the atom of an idea. Connect enough of those atoms together and when they’re stimulated together, you have what you would call an idea or a feeling or a memory.
Do you follow? You see, every single one of those ideas is connected to each other in ways that might never be fully realised. One neuron might be used to think a million different thoughts. And the thoughts themselves aren’t preserved perfectly in the mind. The memory only exists when
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