Alternate Hytale Duo Teams

DISCLAIMER: This post is either based on pre-release information or how I imagine Hytale to work. It may not reflect the final game, so this post is just for fun.
Also, I am not a psychologist.

For about a year, I've been planning for Hytale with a team in mind.

I suppose that's how males naturally derive their fun: from cooperating on a shared goal. That's why sports, both the physical kind and the video game kind, are so popular among men.

Now, I admit that forming a team is largely motivated by the It's All About Me trope (I think I'm on a 1 on the sliding scale), even though I try to justify it by saying I want to cover up others' combat/roleplaying weaknesses and help them have fun while covering up my own weaknesses. I could argue it's due to my Friendless Background in childhood, while others may say I'm an Attention Whore.

Thing is, various...life events have led me to consider that my original team plan of me (leader), BoltOLightnin (brainy mage), YoSquid (improbably accurate archer), and HeadsHoKer (knight in shining armor) may not work considering that the other three members have other life priorities and their life struggles may interfere spontaneously with our playthroughs.

Right now, I'm building up courage to introduce myself to a dedicated Hytale Discord community and I hope to make at least one good friend. I see good potential within these communities, at least in the Hytale-dedicated text channels (general text channels aren't my thing ‘cause they’re usually about Internet trends)--the members have reasonably well-thought-out theories and insights.

I know I talk about my interest vastly differently (i.e. in an academic-seeming tone) compared to others' casual way of talking, but if I don't collect enough courage and preparation, LEEROY JENKINS!

But enough digressing. Let's get started because I suck at introductions.

Solo Adventurer

Certainly possible, but not ideal. While being interviewed by Codiak of Legion Gaming (formerly The Game Gurus), Noxy stated that bosses should be possible to defeat as a single player.

I'm still thinking of building an empire, though I'm exploring the option of making a temporary hideout and avoiding interactions with factions (friendly or otherwise) until I can handle hundreds of Elite Mooks by myself.

Stealth tactics work differently as a solo rogue. While there's zero risk of a Leeroy Jenkins messing up my plans, there's no one to provide a distraction for me to slip past guards or Draw Aggro when I get detected.

Practice is extra important, especially with other fighting styles like archery and magic. With no teammates to compensate for my weaknesses (I don't trust Red Shirts yet I don't want any of them to die), I have to compensate on my own.

I need to prioritize Mage Killer training since I struggle the most with mages.

Alternate LT Cleric Build

I don't play myself as a mage because I'm not religious and I see myself as more stupid compared to the average college student.

Especially not a cleric because I'm Hot-Blooded and, more often than not, a Jerkass.

But, regardless of whether I'm good or evil, Hot-Blooded or stoic, I always have Enlightened Self-Interest: a desire to be good to others for personal gain. That's why, when I roleplayed as myself in my later teens, I picked healing classes.

If my partner is not a healer and has no use for someone who's good at fighting and stealing, I'll play a cleric.

Here are my Fire Emblem growth rates as a cleric:

It's a bit of a downplayed Lightning Bruiser build considering my Str, Spd, and Def are reduced, though still workable. In-universe, I still have some of the benefits of my monastic and roguish training, though focusing on the healing arts has prevented me from exercising as much as I used to.
I don't like having others babysit me because, as a Battle Butler in real life, I know how hard it is to regularly do household chores. (And it's natural for me to want to be superior to others.) That's why I chose not to be a Squishy Wizard. Being a Lightning Bruiser is also good for trolling enemies who like to Shoot the Medic First by surprising them with my Muay Thai skills.

Duos by Character "Classes"

I'm aware that there are no actual character classes in Hytale; instead, according to Noxy in the same interview, magic users should wear magic-oriented gear, for example. The way I interpret it is that some armor types are more suited towards certain weapons or play styles than others--maybe mage robes increase mana regeneration, magic resistance, or similar magic-related stats.

Instead, these "classes" refer to players' preferred play styles. I, for example, like to play as a Lightning Bruiser rogue/monk/barbarian specializing in light armor, fists, and spears.

I'm roughly basing these classes on Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition with some modifications.

• I'm splitting the Fighter into two classes: Close-Range Combatant and Long-Range Fighter. While both are good with all armor types, the Close-Range Combatant uses non-fist melee weapons while the Long-Range Fighter uses ranged weapons. Both do not use magic.
• The Rogue specializes in picking locks, dodging attacks, sneaking around, and deceiving NPCs. They are Fragile Speedsters that wield daggers. They do not use magic.
• The Cleric heals allies with light magic. To a small extent, it can use light magic for offense.
• The Wizard uses a variety of offensive and utility magics.

Just like with Minecraft, I think a player's stats will be determined purely by their equipment. Players with the same equipment will have the same stats. (It's unknown if the player can learn more powerful moves throughout the story or exploration.)

Also, I'll only focus on duo teams for this post. Teams of three or more would make this post too long and complicated, and generally, the more members there are on a team, the harder it is to manage them. (Ideally, though, I want to form a team of 8.)

Duo with Fragile Speedster Close-Range Combatant

Not my most ideal teammate since I'm already speedy and the Fragile Speedster can have their weakness exploited and strength negated by trapping them with a net or an ice spell.

In Minecraft Annihilation which features the Scout as a Fragile Speedster class, Scouts sometimes rush the enemy bases at the start of the game and use Hit-and-Run Tactics to chip away at poorly-equipped enemies.

Since I prepare for the worst, I assume that teammates who I know little about are "victims" of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory (G.I.F.T.), i.e. they're Jerkasses on the Internet. This is worsened by the competitive nature of games like Minecraft multiplayer.

What does G.I.F.T. have to do with Scouts? Well, Scout is a favorite class of these Jerkasses, so, assuming I'm not Wrong Genre Savvy, I think Fragile Speedster Close-Range Combatants will like it when I send them on hit-and-run missions.

Duo with Glass Cannon Close-Range Combatant

Like with the Fragile Speedster, I can support a Glass Cannon by Drawing Aggro: a tactic which is extra important because not all Glass Cannons can dodge like a Fragile Speedster.

A wild guess: I imagine Glass Cannon players to be Blood Knights who hate having their kills stolen. The April 30, 2020 progress update confirmed the existence of HP bars above mobs that have taken damage, so, maybe if I drop an enemy to half HP, I leave it and let the Glass Cannon deal the final blow. Alternatively, I can use a stunning strike or similar incapacitating move.

When fighting groups of Cannon Fodder Mooks combined with Elite Stone Wall/Lightning Bruiser mooks, the Glass Cannon and I can gang up on the big mook to quickly destroy it with our insanely high damage. No point in killing the smaller mooks first if they only deal Scratch Damage.

Unlike a Fragile Speedster, a Glass Cannon can easily break out of a net or ice spell with sheer physical strength, so it's difficult to keep them restrained.

Duo with Mighty Glacier Close-Range Combatant

For strength-based tasks like breaking down a door, I can use a Mighty Glacier teammate in similar ways as a Glass Cannon.

While a Mighty Glacier can handle themself reasonably well against a group of melee attackers (assuming the Mighty Glacier has average defensive stats), they will struggle to get close to ranged attackers, which is where I come in with my overwhelming speed.

If throwing allies is a thing, I'd do that instead of rushing ranged attackers myself, assuming there are no more melee attackers.

Duo with Stone Wall Close-Range Combatant

The most ideal variant of Close-Range Combatant for me since, unlike speedy characters which can still get hit, damage reduction is more difficult to negate without special moves, weapons, or magic. As often as I use the Draw Aggro tactic, I don't enjoy it when I do it so much that it feels more like a chore than an act of friendship, so a Stone Wall will lessen that load on me while I focus on smashing the mooks like I'm playing Whac-A-Mole.

I think the Stone Wall is a very rare character build in action RPGs largely because it's Boring but Practical. Why tank everything when you can just kill everything in a flash? As such, I'd be flattered if I ever get a teammate that plays like this.

If, for some weird reason, the Stone Wall hates kill-stealing, I'd try to drop the enemy to 1/4 HP using weak attacks then order the Stone Wall to use a charge attack to end the fight in a single hit.

If giving the Stone Wall a BFS or similar powerful weapon negates their Stone Wall stats (turning them more into a Glass Cannon, for example), I'd probably give them a poisoned dagger so the Stone Wall can use it to either do Damage Over Time or to finish off a weakened enemy with an attack similar to an assassination.

Duo with Long-Range Fighter

Ideally, the Long-Range Fighter should either be a Fragile Speedster or a cavalry/flying unit so they can keep their distance from melee attackers.

On the off chance that I recruit a Long-Range Fighter who's Slower Than a Snail and lacks the power of a Glass Cannon/Mighty Glacier and the durability of a Stone Wall...well, I'm in trouble.

Similar to throwing a Mighty Glacier to compensate for their lack of speed, I want to shove the Long-Range Fighter out of the way of melee attackers without harming the Long-Range Fighter. If the melee attackers are already close to the Long-Range Fighter to begin with, I can do a Spin Attack to Draw Aggro.

However, I will not recruit players who insist on being Long-Range Fighters when they've clearly graduated from the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy...unless they're willing to go through Training From Hell.

Duo with Rogue

Feels kinda redundant since having a rogue teammate doesn’t compensate for my own weaknesses, even though my Lightning Bruiser stats compensate for the rogue’s weaknesses to a small extent.

Ideally, I want a Mage Killer rogue whose speed is greater than mine. It's difficult for me to exploit mages' general squishiness due to my humanly high (i.e. not superhero-level) speed and the fact that some magic attacks like in the Hytale announcement trailer are area-of-effect attacks which are typically more difficult to dodge than precise projectiles like arrows. A Mage Killer with Super Speed can hit mages without getting hit and without giving the mages a chance to react.

Unlike many other classes which typically take the front lines (including Squishy Wizards), rogues enjoy stealth, so they won't get bored when I tell them I'm going to sneak around. We could even assassinate two enemies at the same time in situations where killing only one would alert the entire base.

For roguish tasks that take a long time like a difficult-to-pick lock, I can leave it up to the rogue while I defend them from incoming hostile mobs with my Lightning Bruiser stats.

Duo with Cleric

Interestingly, I don't have much use for a cleric considering I'm a Lightning Bruiser. There's no point in healing me when I dodge almost everything and shrug off the attacks that do hit and eventually get negated by eating freshly-farmed meals.

I prefer getting buffs for me and my allies and inflicting debuffs on the enemy.

In many video games, the cleric is often a White Magician Girl: kind, girly, and, y'know, a healer. While I think this kind of cleric is extremely rare among players because it's a Boring but Practical character that I think makes manly men look gay, I'd be extremely thankful for having her in my team. I think she'd be the calming and sensible team member who would ensure I don't become Ax-Crazy or Drunk with Power.

(Note that the player doesn't have to be a kindhearted girl in real life. If, for example, a Manly Man who's in the middle of the "sliding scale of Jerkass vs. Nice Guy" can play a White Magician Girl effectively, I'm good.)

However, I asked a D&D community what kinds of personalities D&D cleric players often have, and their answers range from "quirky" to "depends on their deity" to "murder hobo".

I'll disregard "quirky" since it's unlikely I'd recruit people I have a hard time relating with anyway.

Assuming "depends on their deity" means the cleric will follow their deity to the letter, I'll put clerics of evil deities like Varyn on a reserve team for an evil playthrough since I plan to do a good playthrough first. Fortunately, Gaia fan art is common and some of it has been featured on the official Hytale fan art showcases, so I think it's easy to find a cleric of Gaia.

For murder hobos...see "Duo with The Least Ideal Player Archetypes".

Duo with Offensive Wizard

I'm splitting the Wizard into two categories: offense and defense/support. The offensive wizard uses spells that inflict a lot of damage, including your good 'ol fireball and lightning bolt.

In terms of D&D schools of magic, this wizard focuses heavily on evocation (damage-dealing magic) with some conjuration (summoning/teleportation) and transmutation (transforming stuff, I guess?)

Though only a minor weakness since I believe in "just punching it harder", I'm a Magically Inept Fighter. If I try to use a wand, tome, or staff, it will usually produce a very weak magic attack. I imagine enemies that have high physical defense but low magic resistance, so a wizard can complement my physical-attacking style.

Wizards have access to many more damage types than physical attackers (not counting magic weapons), so wizards can easily exploit type weaknesses.

Speaking of weaknesses, wizards are extremely effective against bases made of flammable materials like wood. Starting a battle with most (if not all) of the enemies injured makes it so much easier to kill them, which is crucial if they detect us (I assume they'll be too distracted by the fire to look for intruders unless they Attack! Attack! Attack!).

Kill-stealing is not much of a big deal since the wizard can easily clear out hordes of enemies with a single spell, so it's unlikely I'll deal the killing blow first even with a Superman Punch. I'll still save the big enemies for the wizard to kill.

Duo with Defense/Support Wizard

The kind of wizard I prefer; this one provides buffs to allies, inflicts debuffs on enemies, and does useful stuff outside of combat.

In terms of D&D schools of magic, this wizard puts less focus on evocation and more on abjuration (defensive magic), divination (spying and fortune-telling magic), enchantment (mind manipulation), and illusion. Any evocation spells this wizard may know were learned for utility purposes, such as ray of frost slowing down foes that get too close.

Abjuration wizards don't have many defensive options that affect allies at first, especially since my preference for light armor prevents me from benefiting from mage armor (which only protects unarmored creatures). However, protection from evil and good is useful when we fight void creatures, and I suspect they're common across all alterverses and Orbis zones.

What abjuration wizards do have is being good at defending themselves using spells like shield. As such, they require less babysitting compared to other Squishy Wizards, so I can focus on cracking skulls.

Divination is the best friend of any Crazy-Prepared person. Who needs mundane scouting when you can learn everything about the enemy quickly, from mundane thoughts to their signature moves to their base's layout?

Enchantment and illusion, I suspect, will be a favorite combo of the defensive wizard. There's just something amusing about school bullies manipulating their victims into doing what the bullies want, and that's the kind of amusement I expect an enchantment/illusion wizard will have.

Lure a group of Trorks to an illusory meat stack, then assassinate them? No problem. Manipulate an enemy into thinking we're friendly? Don't mind if I do.

I should, however, avoid being too bossy to the defensive wizard just because their spells have so many uses. Mana is precious and I know following orders can be boring. It's better to take advantage of those spells when the wizard voluntarily casts them.

Duos by Personality

Duo with The Least Ideal Player Archetypes

These include but are not limited to the following tropes: Ax-Crazy, Chaotic Evil, Complete Monster, Dirty Coward, For the Evulz, Griefer, Hair-Trigger Temper, It Amused Me, Jerkass (without the Heart of Gold), Kick the Dog, Knight Templar, Lawful Evil, Lending a Backhand, Lethally Stupid, The Load, Munchkin, Narcissist, Ninja Looter, Poor Communication Kills, Psychopathic Manchild, The Sociopath, Too Dumb to Live, and Troll. (Evil alignments are acceptable when roleplaying an evil character in an evil playthrough or playing a competitive survival match, but not when it involves being a jerk in real life.)

Fortunately, some of these can be fairly easy to identify within 15 minutes of multiplayer gameplay or casual conversation, especially if the player is either younger than 13 years or a Manchild. If I discover one of those traits and the player is not willing to go through Training From Hell, the player is automatically disqualified.

If somehow I end up with such a player because there's no other option (everyone else is either busy with real life, already part of an organized team, or someone who likes playing alone), then I'll be a solo adventurer instead. I'm better off doing things on my own terms where a jerk or numbskull won't interfere with my plans.

Duo with Leeroy Jenkins

May overlap with Ax-Crazy and/or Blood Knight.

Not as bad as a jerk, but still an idiot--my Boring but Practical strategic thinking makes me a direct Foil to the Leeroy Jenkins.

At least the Leeroy Jenkins is a workable idiot. A simple way is to allow the Leeroy to distract the enemy then take them out from behind or steal their treasure.

The problem lies with keeping the Leeroy in line either outside of battle or when we're in a losing situation such as being low on HP.
Starting with being outside of battle, if the little bugger won’t budge and I have no time to babysit, I might use the Leeroy as an accidental scout.
If the Leeroy is in danger of losing a battle, I would act as if I’m low on HP and use every last special attack and healing item I have. Once the battle is over, I’ll chokehold the Leeroy and drag them out of battle.
Or I can simply threaten them with “you’re fired!” I don’t know.

Duo with Challenge Gamer

This is another kind of player that treats video games as Serious Business, which, while valuable since they often have the skills and/or confidence to take their desired challenges, I can’t keep up since I rarely use Self-Imposed Challenges in my own playthroughs. (I haven’t even done a serious Nuzlocke Challenge in the Pokémon games.)

Fortunately, speedruns are accelerating in popularity, so, perhaps after a few months of Hytale’s full release, there could either be a world-record speedrun video or a speedrun guide.

For now, though, I can practice with the speedrunning tips in Minecraft’s green tome “The Survivors’ Book of Secrets” which involves starting out in a village near an exposed cave and a stronghold, allowing the player to quickly collect the necessary supplies to reach the End and weapons (including beds) to deal heavy damage to the Ender Dragon.

Ideally, I’d run a Session Zero (think of it as a mission briefing or an orientation seminar) with the Challenge Gamer where they explain to me what kind of challenge(s) they want to take and how I can contribute.

If a Session Zero is not an option, I’ll just do exactly what the challenge player does or tells me to do since they most likely know better than I do.

I will not, however, do a Pacifist Run with any player (Challenge Gamer or not) if I haven't done a single serious co-op playthrough yet. I want to start with the RPG tradition of "kill things to beat the game".

And, no, I'm not using weird game control restrictions like using my feet instead of my hands.

Duo with Leader Wannabe

As Mark Manson pointed out in his ebook "Relationships", status is one of the three fundamental emotional needs in relationships, and it's prioritized by many people in their early 20s.

Among competitive gamers, this manifests in a desire to be powerful, whether it's by having the strongest character build, the most kills, or the most tournament victories.

Being a leader means fulfilling the need for status, which is why I foresee some gamers, including my potential recruits, to be Leader Wannabes. I don't know how to explain it, but it simply feels good to be both emotionally and functionally superior to others. Subordinates act according to the leader's liking...at least that's what the Leader Wannabe expects.

Unfortunately, while I have high standards for friends, I have even higher standards for those who want to lead me in something I know for sure I'm good at. As such, I'm very unlikely to recruit a Leader Wannabe, let alone allow them to take over as leader without passing a brutal "exam" from me.

(In school work, though, don't make me the leader. I HATE school work so much.)

On the bright side, even though I often assume the leader role in Hytale, I'm willing to transfer the position to someone else who's both willing and more skilled than me (and preferably not a Drill Sergeant Nasty).

Perhaps I can give a Leader Wannabe a chance to prove themself by letting them do something they're good at, then slowly progress to less "comfortable" tasks like non-mining manual labor and diplomacy. Hopefully the Leader Wannabe is not a ditz or a slacker.

Life Updates

I'm back to school and I'm on my second week as of this post's publishing, so I'll be extra busy.

I'm pessimistic about the future of this Wuhan coronavirus pandemic considering that the Philippines hit its record-highest number of new daily cases at more than 1000 on May 29, 2020, 13 days after the declaration of a Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), a lighter version of the ECQ:

screw this i give up (intentional bad grammar)
Data from Johns Hopkins University taken on May 31, 2020

I rarely say swear words outside of quoting others, but...

Fuck you, Chinese Communist Party. Again, this could've all been prevented in the first place.

Fulfilling My Hytale Team Members' Goals

Image by geralt from Needpix.com

DISCLAIMER: This post is either based on pre-release information or how I imagine Hytale to work. It may not reflect the final game, so this post is just for fun.

Also, my team members are very busy with their personal lives so I don't have straight answers from all of them at the moment. As such, I'll be making guesses…and I might push some of my team members’ Berserk Buttons in the process.

In my thoughts on CanadianFlash’s “10 Cool experiences we could get while playing HYTALE”, I wrote that different players, including my own team members, derive our sense of accomplishment from different sources, even within the same game.

Since I first wrote about Hytale, I’ve always been the Young Conqueror who treats Hytale as Serious Business. To me, it’s no surprise since Asperger’s syndrome causes me to be hyper-interested in a select few topics (with another interest being martial arts).

BoltOLightnin is a dungeon crawler, and as such, prefers the exploration and the loot. While it overlaps somewhat with my conquest goal since dungeon crawling can help expand territory and make my nation richer, it does not necessarily cover wars that don’t involve dungeons.

YoSquid is a Hunger Games-focused player and…that’s it, as far as I know.

HeadsHoKer seems to be the most casual of the bunch because he claims to want to do things in Hytale “depending on his mood”, though the casual play style is zig-zagged because, despite video games being a secondary interest to his primary interests of history, law, philosophy, and politics, he rages when he loses in competitive video games yet keeps trying after many losses—it’ll take many minutes or hours of losing and shouting until he finally Rage Quits. (Funny thing is, I rage-quit more often than him.) And, yet again, he enjoys playing some games like Minecraft, The Sims, and Warcraft III casually--he often cheats in the latter two games, and in Minecraft, when not playing Survival, he either recreates historical castle design or flies around aimlessly with Flan's Mod aircraft.

In this post, I’m going to make guesses as to how I can fulfill all of our goals and make all of us happy without boring anyone too much, especially in pursuit of my own goal.

However, because I tend to be Crazy-Prepared because I hate to lose, I will inevitably cause varying degrees of boredom by forcing my team members to perform tasks like turtling (slow-and-steady gameplay) and manual labor to maximize our chance of survival.

BoltOLightnin: Dungeon Crawling

Naturally, I will have to do some dungeon crawling to get loot to strengthen our team and support our needs.

I just don’t want BoltOLightnin to do this excessively so we don’t run into overly powerful bosses while we’re underprepared. At the very least, we should have food, weapons, and armor to last us for two days (or a week for very distant dungeons). I suppose, if he doesn’t read any Hytale guides and relies on me for guidance, I could take advantage by telling him to start with the easiest dungeons…

Fortunately, faction warfare is not on anyone’s wishlist so we can comfortably maintain at least a “we hate you a little” reputation with most innately hostile factions (like the Trorks) and keep our chances of being invaded at a minimum. Having our base raided while we’re all dungeon-crawling is the last thing I want to experience, especially without mounts or vehicles.

If BoltOLightnin goes all-out Leeroy Jenkins…well, I’ll have to get back in single player to train myself to mitigate the risks of that infamous tactic. Being both The Leader and the tank is a…heavy duty. (Pun explanation)

YoSquid: Hunger Games

Disclaimer: I haven’t read any of The Hunger Games books or watched any of the movies. I’m using my stock knowledge of third-party summaries as well as Minecraft’s version of the game.

This is the only goal that has next to nothing related to Adventure Mode—Hunger Games is a minigame and Minigames is a separate game mode from Adventure Mode.

I suppose we could put in support for the Hunger Games minigame in our Adventure Mode playthrough—I hope it will be natively supported and won’t require complicated stuff. It would be even more ridiculously good if I could automatically scatter random chests in a large radius and fill them with random loot. There should also be a functional “Toggle Hunger Games” command or something so we can play Hunger Games without damaging our Adventure Mode progress.

Alternatively, I want to see a The Hunger Games-inspired story arc in vanilla Adventure Mode where we actually have to “volunteer as tribute”. Ideally, I want to team up with my mates, fight against AI-controlled enemies, and win if we’re the last ones standing so that we can still safely play with Fire Emblem-like permadeath. However, if we’re playing with actual Hunger Games rules where only one tribute can win (i.e. no multiple tributes winning as a team), I would like the Fire Emblem permadeath to be temporarily disabled so we can respawn, albeit eliminated from the Hunger Games.

(I was gonna make a side note talking about how we would do in a Hytale-themed Hunger Games based on the actual Hunger Games, but that’s for another blog post.)

Some unrelated stuff related to Adventure Mode: YoSquid claims to be good at parkour and has survived 3 weeks in Minecraft Hardcore mode.

Starting with parkour, I hope dungeons have some kind of trigger at the end of a parkour room that “disables” the parkour, say, by bridging the platforms so, after YoSquid does his parkour, the rest of us can walk normally.

As for Hardcore, YoSquid is perhaps the second best survivalist just behind me (who has trained with freaking no-damage runs), so it’ll be hard for mobs to kill him, let alone natural causes like hunger. He claims to be a good agriculturist and fisherman in video games--he's played Stardew Valley.

 

HeadsHoKer: “Depends on My Mood”

This is the trickiest of the bunch because HeadsHoKer’s reply is vague and his actual gameplay goals can change rapidly, even though I know he does not have a chaotic alignment in both real life and roleplay.

It can be tempting to just ignore him and stick to my own and the other two members’ goals, but as the Team Mom, I simply don’t want to do that. Not only do I want all the support I could get (which is natural for almost all human beings), but I don’t want to be the contributing factor to why someone has a bad day (even though I’ve done that many, many times, both intentionally and unintentionally). So I’m determined to ensure everyone has fun…even if I harm myself in the process. It’s The Power of Friendship with a bit of I Was Just Passing Through.

Unlike BoltOLightnin who is quiet but willing to follow orders, HeadsHoKer is quiet and mysterious, preferring to keep things to himself. He gives no firetrucks about almost anyone, both “regular” people like his classmates and authorities like his parents and teachers (just look at his blog’s rants against some of his teachers) Prodding him for his thoughts for the current gameplay session may pull his Hair-Trigger Temper, I think.

I don’t want to put too much drama in this blog post, so for simplicity, I’ll just avoid starting a conversation with him unless absolutely necessary and only for real-life situations (i.e. Mom wants me to call HeadsHoKer or HeadsHoKer has mail; “we’re under attack” doesn’t count). If I can, I’ll watch him stealthily when he’s alone and weaken, if not destroy, high-level threats before HeadsHoKer sees them—I can’t afford to have him rage over a cheating bastard computer.

On the bright side, HeadsHoKer said he will research on Hytale once the game comes out, including the weapons and their movesets. It's not guaranteed that he'll be a sword cavalry paladin since he may discover a "better" character build, but let's see how things go.
I like to strike a balance between roleplaying and metagaming, which is why I'm a spear infantry rogue.

[OUTDATED] Thoughts on CanadianFlash’s Hytale Beta Speculation

IMPORTANT EDIT, January 10, 2021: This post is outdated. Hypixel Studios is still rolling out somewhat vague postcards every week. I doubt they'll post any beta-related news in March 2021.

DISCLAIMER: The content in this post is either based on pre-release information or how I imagine Hytale to work. It may not reflect the final game, so this post is just for fun.

Note that this speculation video was recorded on March 21, 2020.

5. No Beta

I think it’s a very bad idea for business since beta sign-ups were available almost as soon as the announcement trailer was posted back in December 2018. Ruining people’s long patience can cause a lot of outrage, perhaps much more than the two-month gap between “Rising expectations” (May 4, 2019) and the Outlander reveal (July 24, 2019). and the three-month gap between “Custom content in Hytale” (August 21, 2019) and the November 27, 2019 progress update.

Fortunately, I think “no beta” is as unlikely as CanadianFlash thought. Thanks to the acquisition of Hypixel Studios by League of Legends developer Riot Games, Noxy described that now that Riot Games has provided the resources, Hypixel Studios can shift all their focus towards developing Hytale (last year, I think they were super busy discussing stuff with Riot Games).

4. Beta During Qarentine [sic]

Yes, I’m spelling it exactly like that because I think it’s funny. Don’t judge me—jk you can (intentional bad grammar)

DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional. Heck, I think even medical professionals know next to nothing about the Wuhan coronavirus—Mark Manson’s April 25 Mindf*ck Monday (formerly Motherfuckin' Monday) newsletter claims that nobody knows what’s going on. I’m seeing reports of Sweden’s economy staying stable and infections being less than countries like the UK, yet the Philippines, which has locked down, has fewer infections. Yet, again, many other countries that have locked down like Italy have loads of cases. RIP brain. If this were a fantasy world, I would shrink down to microscopic size and skewer the coronavirus with my spear.

But back to Hytale before thoughts about the Wuhan coronavirus drive me Ax-Crazy.

I wrote this after the April 30, 2020 progress update which showed a low-tier Trork being killed by a player with an iron sword. Like mobs in other gameplay clips, the Trork immediately “popped” out of existence roughly one second after its death animation, which was pointed out in a Tweet by @DudDud18029318 saying it looks “weird”, to which Noxy replied, “we have a WIP death effect”. Side note: I kind of want corpses to stay around for longer until the player gets far away from them, akin to Minecraft hostile mob despawning. Personally, I want to hide bodies after stealth-killing. Some Ax-Crazy players may want to repeatedly smack the corpses because There Is No Kill Like Overkill. Some may want to take a weird selfie with the corpses.

(I was going to argue that the Trork does too much damage for its tier since I thought many early-game enemies like in Minecraft don’t deal much damage (2-5 damage in Minecraft out of 20 max HP), but red Bokoblins in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild do about the same damage (1 heart) to a Link with three hearts as the low-tier Trork (roughly 37% of max HP when not shielding).)

TheAtlanticCraft pointed out that the Trork “didn’t react” to getting hit and the block placement animation will “get annoying fast”.

Actually, the Trork did react, albeit for a few frames. It did its attack animation before its “staggered” animation ended, though, which I think is a game-breaking glitch—most video game enemies, as well as hack-and-slash and fighting game characters, cannot attack while they’re staggered.

I’m not sure what exactly made TheAtlanticCraft think the block placement animation will get annoying, but I’m guessing it has to do with the block being raised halfway through the animation, which can make certain blocks cover up a large part of the screen, as shown by this roof block covering about 1/3 of the screen:

If a speedy or ranged enemy attacks your right side at the last split-second, you’re dead.

TL;DR: There’s still a lot of work-in-progress stuff, and I think Hypixel Studios is aiming for the beta to look as close to perfect as possible, so I doubt the beta will be released during the quarantine, or at least between the present and the summer of 2020. Speaking of which…

3. Summer of 2020

Give me a while to talk again about the firetrucking Wuhan coronavirus. CanadianFlash stated that he’s “not sure” if we’ll still be in quarantine at this time—I think it’s because the world thought there was still a chance to contain this virus. On March 21, 2020, Singapore had 432 total cases, while South Korea drastically lowered its curve after the spike of 851 cases on March 3. But then again, Singapore got a resurgence of the coronavirus on April 9, 2020 at 287 new cases. On April 20, 2020, Singapore was hit with its current highest number of cases in a day: 1.4k. Again, according to Mark Manson, we don’t know what’s going on. This coronavirus is a chaotic evil piece of bat garbage. Urrrggghhh!!!

Now, what does that rant have to do with Hytale or CanadianFlash? Well, assuming CanadianFlash didn’t specifically refer to the period between March 2020 and summer 2020, “Beta During Quarantine” may overlap with any of CanadianFlash’s other beta release date speculations. Mark Manson stated “the most optimistic guesses [for a vaccine or therapy to be created] are some time in 2021” and linked to an article by Bill Gates stating that “by the second half of 2021, facilities around the world will be manufacturing a vaccine.” Yes, I think the Wuhan coronavirus is ridiculously resilient and that…makes…me…ANGRY! *whacks punching bag with baseball bat*

Regardless, I give “summer of 2020”, or at least July 2020, a generous 10% chance. I think there will still be a lot of work-in-progress content by late May and I doubt the game will be polished enough by July, but there’s still a chance Hypixel Studios may get that unexpected burst of mental energy. I’ve been stuck in quarantine for 2 months and I’m now used to it—if Hypixel Studios is like me, they may grow accustomed to their partnership with Riot Games by June, making things way easier for them.

Coincidentally, July 10 is my birthday. If the Hytale beta opens on July, it would be the ultimate birthday gift.

CanadianFlash thinks another trailer might come out before the beta, which I think is a good decision. It’s been more than a year since the announcement trailer and I think thousands, if not millions, are super bored to the point they don’t regularly check the Hytale website or any of the staff’s Twitter profiles. When this trailer comes out, Hypixel Studios better go all-out with the advertising and make sure it goes as viral as possible, which will be extra challenging considering YouTube is extra paranoid of supposed “fake news” about the Wuhan coronavirus to the point that Pokétuber MandJTV described this as the “worst time for YouTube ad rates that [he] has ever seen”, The Game Theorists titled their video “Who Will Survive [CENSORED] Virus?” to avoid getting demonetized for saying “Voldemort”—I mean, anything to do with the coronavirus, and ThirtyVirus is getting way fewer stream viewers than usual.

2. October/December 2020

This is where I have a lot more certainty…though I can’t really explain why.

The 2021 release year is kinda vague, so, from my Crazy-Prepared cynical perspective, if Hypixel Studios delivers as promised, Hytale may be officially released on December 2021. If the beta goes live between October and December 2020, the full release will more or less be 1 year away, so, obviously, players will have more than a year to find all those freaking bugs and balance issues. Considering the speed Hypixel Studios is cranking out new content with every monthly progress update, I think a year is more than enough to address beta issues.

A beta on December 2020 would be a cathartic Christmas gift for those who are horribly bored by most of the world being on quarantine.

1. Early 2021

This has the highest probability, according to CanadianFlash.

Not much for me to say here, to be honest. I think it’s a similar case to the October/December 2020 prediction.

I think there’s a minor error: At 6:03, CanadianFlash said, “I presume the game will probably be released mid-2020.” I think he means 2021. CanadianFlash, kindly clarify. (And yes, I read the description and all the comments and replies, but no one pointed out that error.)

Speaking of mid-2021, if that is indeed the Hytale official release date, early 2021 has a very high chance—I’d say 85%—to have a beta release. In an old release date prediction video, ThirtyVirus collected data of gaps between the announcement trailers and official releases of games he likes and got 1 month minimum and 8 months maximum with an average of 4 months, so this seems like a reasonable gap for me to apply between the beta (instead of a trailer) and the official release.

LT Being Crazy-Prepared: November 2021

Because I think there should at the very least be a 1-month gap between beta and official release. At this point, I think the beta will reach a state of such near-perfection that even the harshest critics will have to exert some effort to nitpick the game with some credibility.

Behind-the-Scenes

I actually wrote a draft about this back in March 2020, but I still had firetrucking school work and I got stuck on getting ideas for “Beta During Quarantine”. I wrote this new draft on a different PC since my younger brother Ivann was busy on my usual PC, and boy am I glad I waited for the April progress update.

Thoughts on CanadianFlash’s “10 Cool experiences we could get while playing HYTALE”

Huge thanks to CanadianFlash for reading a draft of this post!

DISCLAIMER: Any Hytale-related statements in this post are either based on pre-release information or how I imagine the game to work. They may not reflect the final game, so this post is just for fun.

 

Actually, I’ve mostly been posting “just for fun” things these past weeks ‘cause I’m having trouble getting ideas. I get more ideas when I regularly go to the gym. Screw this Wuhan coronavirus for ruining our fun.

 

And yes, that’s my new disclaimer for my Hytale posts. I noticed that my posts are increasingly based on how I imagine Hytale to be rather than hard evidence. Freedom is a fun thing. Besides, there’s a chance (no matter how slim) that Hypixel Studios may get a “eureka” moment from my posts…

 

Anyway, speaking of imagining the game, I’m gonna give my thoughts on a similar video that was done by CanadianFlash, a friend of Kweebec Corner’s who’s affiliated with ThirtyVirus’s BlockShot Network.

 

I suck at introductions, so let’s do this. (Does that count as a catchphrase by TV Tropes’s definition? lololol)

 

10. [The Hytale universe’s] Natural Beauty

Aesthetics are not a huge selling point for me since I’m so focused on establishing my dominion over the Hytale universe.

Then again, I wonder just how insanely detailed the world generation and the mob AI will be in the final game. I mean, even the caves feel like truly natural wonders rather than simple “holes in the ground”.

 

9. Exploring New Planets

They’re not really “planets” to me, though the concept art of the Hytale alterverses makes them resemble planets. I’m sticking with the term “alterverse”, though.

Now that I think about it, “alterverse” is a surprisingly original choice of term. Sci-fi has space travel while medieval fantasy uses portals to other dimensions. It leaves a lot of room for speculation on traveling to other alterverses since one cannot simply use “spaceship” or “magic portal” as a conclusion.

I wonder, though: Will these alterverses be about as lively, if not livelier, than Orbis? Will they be barren like most real-life planets? Would they be more akin to the Minecraft Nether and End which are livable but are not as friendly or comfortable as the Earth equivalent (Overworld in Minecraft, Orbis in Hytale)?

Regardless, as I said in part 3 of my Hytale play style, I like to take things one alterverse at a time. I’ll focus on conquering most of Orbis first before moving to another alterverse since Varyn is not from Orbis and my team needs to establish a strong home-turf advantage.

 

8. First Boss Fight

CanadianFlash uses the Trork chieftain as an example in this part, though I think of it as more of a King Mook than a true boss. It has roughly the same body build as the other Trork archetypes (besides the bigger teeth) and can wield the same weapons. If it has unique moves, I doubt they’d be trolly enough to be boss-level; I imagine a “rally” move that boosts its allies’ stats or a ground-pound attack that hits multiple targets in a straight line.

Also, I doubt the Trork chieftain will be “beginner-level”. The December 12, 2019 progress update which introduced tiered mobs said that certain enemy types only show up in higher tiers, so it’s unlikely that newly-spawned players will fight Trork chieftains unless the players skip to the harder parts of the world. Plus, I know CanadianFlash’s video was posted before the April 30, 2020 progress update, but the low-tier Trork in that update did loads of damage to the player while they weren’t shielding. Imagine how much more damage a Trork chieftain would do—I bet its regular attack would be a One-Hit Kill on an unarmored player.

Then again, my first boss fights would be an exciting thought for me in my first few Hytale playthroughs, whether they involve a true boss or a King Mook. Beating these fools helps build my confidence and muscle memory for future difficult battles and raises my team’s morale.

Also, I would very much like to behead a Trork chieftain and hang its head in my bedroom. But I’ll leave that to HeadsHoKer the super-strong sword cavalier since he can wield a BFS.

I recently updated my “Fire Emblem Stats of Hytale Mobs” with CanadianFlash’s stats where I based him off the Mercenary class since he said in voice chat that he wields a sword and wants to play as a bounty hunter. Turns out, he mentioned the bounty hunter part in this video. I regret bothering him with my question about how he wants to play Hytale. (He did get weirded out when I mentioned I will primarily use my fists…)

(Also, I like how CanadianFlash pronounces "chieftain" as "cheef-tayn", not the correct "cheef-tuhn". Makes it sound more awesome and distinctive.)

7. Owning a Pack of Raptors/Wolves

I did not see this coming since I always assumed the zone 4 underground dinosaurs were untamable hostile mobs. Nice idea, CanadianFlash.

I always imagine battlefields with monsters, humanoid creatures, and animals as mounts, so I underestimate the power of beastmasters. They don’t need intelligent human armies to mess up their enemies; their beast mooks can do it for them.

I don’t like most animals in real life—heck, I get annoyed at our family’s pet dog—so I wouldn’t own a pack of combat animals. I’d rather stick to farming chickens, cows, and such. For a Redshirt Army, I’d use sentient races like Kweebecs.

 

6. Playing with Friends

I agree with CanadianFlash—playing with friends feels extra special compared to playing alone. Having shared goals and experiences helps build trust, camaraderie, and that general “heck yeah!” feeling. It gives each player another reason why they play: to help each other have fun.

I think most future Hytale gamers, even the skilled ones, will play with friends just for the fun of it. They just need to gather friends, set up a properly-working private server, and...that's it. It's a delightfully simple process.

I have no problem with others having a casual play style, but since Hytale is, for me, probably the greatest game of all time and a huge step-up from Minecraft, I treat single player and co-op as Serious Business. While "just for fun" players would do whatever they feel like doing at the moment, I've built up loads of detailed plans for over a year ever since I started writing about Hytale shortly after the announcement trailer launched. My main purposes for playing with friends are for me to cover up their weaknesses and make their playthrough easier for them while allowing me to execute more powerful tactics that cannot be done alone or with AI-controlled Red Shirts.

5. Discovering New Mobs, Bosses, and Prefabs

CanadianFlash must really like these exploration and discovery-based goals, huh? Actually, yeah, that’s my mage BoltOLightnin’s main goal in Hytale.

According to the Edge magazine article, there are around 7000 prefabs in Hytale. Discovering them all seems like a very interesting challenge. Reminds me of completing the Pokédex (minus the event-exclusive Pokémon like Mew and Arceus).

Problem is, since I want to be Crazy-Prepared, I want to look up every single mob in advance before I do a serious co-op playthrough. I know it ruins the experience of playing Hytale blind, but there’s more to fighting than just knowing in advance—actually experiencing the fight helps me adapt better to counter the enemy’s fighting style.

 

4. Mastering an Element

Yeah, CanadianFlash was quick to hijack the lightning element. come on, man, my mage and i like lightning (intentional bad grammar)

Then again, lightning is a popular magical element already. Sasuke from Naruto uses the Chidori, a ninjutsu technique that uses lightning chakra. Most people know who Pikachu is, and in most episodes of the Pokémon anime, Ash’s Pikachu finishes off Team Rocket with a Thunderbolt that sends Team Rocket blasting off again.

Fire is also popular because of dragons, especially Charizard. People with Hair-Trigger Tempers are associated with fire thanks to terms like “hot-headed” and “hot-tempered”. The Anger emotion in Pixar’s Inside-Out literally shoots fire out of his head when angry.

If I had to take one magical element that is not one of the above, I’d choose void magic. Whoa, whoa, calm down and let me explain. Since I imagine myself as an edgelord with some remnants of evil remaining, I think I’m suited towards void magic (which I equate to dark magic).

If I can’t choose lightning, fire, or void, I’d choose wind. For the Ferans, wind means freedom, and, being someone with a chaotic neutral alignment, I value my freedom. Wind is also associated with speed and I am fast—I can outspeed average Joes at running and cycling and I can break someone’s defenses with a blindingly fast punch to an unguarded area.

CanadianFlash wants to play in a group with one member each representing one of the five elements (void not included). Don’t mind me inserting myself again, but in my team, I represent wind, BoltOLightnin represents lightning, YoSquid represents water, and HeadsHoKer represents fire. Earth is a vacant slot—what are the chances that I recruit a Chick who specializes in earth magic?

As for “unlocking” an elemental dragon upon mastering an element, it seems OP to me. The challenge for mastery better be worth it and the dragon should be on par with some mid- or late-game enemies.

However, I doubt that mastering one element would prevent mastery of another since Hytale tries to avoid the limitations of RPG classes—all players, stat-wise, are just as good with a sword as with a bow or tome (or, at least, I imagine they start out as such but can achieve mastery of one or all of them). The only difference between players with the exact same equipment would be the real-life players’ skills. That said, I want to keep my focus on the fist and the spear.

Then again, I’m used to RPGs with class limitations (like a fighter being unable to use magic) and Noxy did a poll on including a tabletop RPG toolkit, so I’m hoping there will be support for different classes and raw stat builds (i.e. stats without equipment or buffs/debuffs) without complicated modding.

“Turning into Gaia” by mastering all of the five elements is an even bigger stretch. It’s OP, but I simply like being a Badass Normal. Sure, the thought of defeating Varyn with an Infinity +1 Sword or a Magic Missile Storm is nice, but I think it’s even more awesome for a Muggle to defeat Varyn with only his fists and pure skill.

3. Defeat

I expected this the least, though I think this is one of the most important experiences, even if it doesn’t seem “cool”. We’ve heard statements like “everyone makes mistakes”, “everyone is a sinner”, and “learn from your mistakes” over and over. In Minecraft, I was a Leeroy Jenkins and that costed the lives of me and my team, so I learned to take combat at a steady pace and avoid taking damage as much as possible.

Then again, I’m a stubborn little bugger who hates being defeated. It’s why I’m Crazy-Prepared.

 

2. Accomplishment

Not much explanation to put here. It simply feels good to be the champ. That’s part of the fun of video games.

CanadianFlash talked about the final battle in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order where he played at the hardest difficulty and died “probably 20 times” before finally defeating the boss. I want a sense of accomplishment like that (minus the dying part—maybe just take lots of unblockable damage or have lots of tactical disadvantages) when fighting the bosses or exploring the dungeons of Hytale, especially whatever the final boss battle is (could be Varyn, but Hypixel Studios could subvert everyone’s expectations by making Varyn, for example, a fake final boss).

Considering Hytale plans to support many different play styles, from the mundane like farming to the flashy like boss hunting, we all derive our sense of accomplishment from different things, even within the same game.

I derive my sense of accomplishment from conquest in general, including befriending good factions, destroying evil factions, building ambitious and comfortable bases, being super rich and heavily armed, and defeating bosses.

BoltOLightnin is a typical dungeon crawler. He's mainly out for the treasure, and as such, I expect him to be in the field the most.

YoSquid is more focused on Hunger Games than on Adventure Mode and I have yet to ask him what is his Adventure Mode goal. Then again, he survives reasonably well in Minecraft Hardcore Mode; I think he survived 3 weeks in his previous playthrough. I also thoroughly enjoy Hunger Games, though not as much as Minecraft Survival.

HeadsHoKer is just in my team…when he has nothing else to do. He’d rather read about history and philosophy than play video games. All I got from him is a vague "depends on my mood", so I think he's the least serious of the bunch. He does enjoy The Sims a LOT, so, Hypixel Studios, better take notes. (And yes, I got permission from HeadsHoKer to say that.)

1. Beating the Game and Discovering the Lore

Of course, beating the game is a big achievement in itself. (I can’t really explain why. Generally, the harder a task is, the better it feels when it is accomplished.)

Discovering the lore is also interesting since I’m a sucker for a good story. In addition to curiosity being fed, doing it in a video game usually involves challenges that give the task a sense of accomplishment that goes beyond simply reading words on a novel.

However, I don’t think beating the game involves discovering all the lore—ideally, I think it will reveal a large chunk of lore. (Unless Hytale wants to pull the same stunt as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and allow the player to fight the final boss almost immediately.)

Of course, some knowledge of the lore is necessary to fully enjoy the game (though may not necessarily be a requirement)—“Get to know Hytale’s NPCs” explained that a story about the Kweebecs is “an important part of how Kweebecs operate in the game”. Lore can be used to gain tactical advantages like exploiting a boss’s weakness—there are memes of the Pokémon move Sand Attack being used on Anakin, a Star Wars character who is famous for not liking sand.

On the other hand, some lore can be hidden in various ways, whether it’s found in secret items, accessible through strong relationships with certain factions, or only in future updates, Tweets, or blog posts.

Then again, I assumed that when CanadianFlash talked about beating the game, he didn’t talk about 100% completion. I define “beating the game” as simply defeating the final boss or completing the final mission, as opposed to 100% completion which usually involves finding all the secret items and completing all the main quests and sidequests, sometimes perfectly. In the case of discovering the lore, “beating the game” will most likely not do this but 100%-completing the game likely will (unless, again, some lore is accessible outside of the game such as through Twitter or the Hytale blog).

CanadianFlash briefly mentioned cutscenes during this part. I have no problem with an epic cutscene after beating the game (I think the End Poem which is shown after defeating the Ender Dragon in Minecraft is an example), though I have mixed reactions with other cutscenes in general. I enjoy watching the epic and unique animations of cutscenes, but they can interfere with the experiences of other gamers since I think they don’t want to have to go through the trouble of pressing the “skip cutscene” button and just get straight into the epic battle.

Part 1, A to I: Explaining My Tropes Based on TV Tropes

DISCLAIMER: Any Hytale-related statements in this post are either based on pre-release information or how I imagine the game to work. They may not reflect the final game, so this post is just for fun.

This is based on a variety of sources, including my real-life self, my Hytale team roles, and my fictional alter ego.

Contains mild swearing mainly from trope names.

This is being cleaned up due to some inappropriate or private content that I added while I was angry. I apologize.

I'm also planning to split this further into Author Avatar tropes and real-life tropes.

Individual Tropes

Accent Slip-Up

Happens frequently when I attempt to speak English or Filipino in a Filipino accent to lower the chance of the other person suspecting I’m not Filipino. My natural accent for speaking Filipino sounds more Spanish, which suggests I’m aristocratic, and for many average Filipinos, aristocratic often (but not always) means foreign. ("Aristocratic but not foreign" typically applies to native Filipino businessmen and celebrities.)

However, even if I completely avoid this trope, my bishōnen appearance still arouses suspicion.

Also happens sometimes when I speak long Japanese sentences. I still consider myself a beginner, so I sometimes sound American or Filipino when I pronounce f, r, and u.

Accents Aren't Hereditary

Our entire family was born and raised in the Philippines, with my mom being half-Chinese. Most of us have a trace of Filipino accent when speaking English...except mine which is fully American.

Action Politician

I plan to lead other Hytale faction members like Kweebecs (good)/Outlanders (evil) and soon form a multiverse-wide empire.

I'm also arguably the most powerful unarmed martial artist and assassin in the empire.

Addiction-Powered

I’m an aquaholic—I’m addicted to water. I can drink 1 liter of water in one sitting (though it’s actually hard for me to do and turns me into a Mighty Glacier for several minutes), but usually, I become more powerful after just 500 ml.

I imagine water is an alcoholic drink because real alcohol is addictive, then I imagine myself as a Drunken Master who gets stronger when he’s drunk. Interestingly, I don’t just get stronger in combat; I get better at driving and doing school work.

A Degree in Useless

Note that I don't actually have a college degree right now, though I will most likely get it this year.

On the surface, "Multimedia Studies" isn't useless. I actually had animation, audio, graphics, programming, text, video, and Web design courses, of which programming was my favorite because it's the first thing I think of when it comes to video game development and it was the most practical of the bunch rather than theoretical.

However, speaking of theoretical, the vast majority of my studies were about theories, mainly about multimedia in culture and how multimedia is useful in education and assisting developing countries. In other words, it felt like a sociology degree--we even had "Gender in Multimedia" which...I honestly give no firetrucks about. Sexism is not a big deal here in the very gender-equal Philippines.

Many of the other practical courses felt to me like straight-out submitting lots of assignments after reading some bare-bones content.

As such, the graphic ads I make for my mother are still plain and the only thing I know in Audacity that I can brag about is using noise cancellation.

To be fair, multimedia is a relatively new field of study, so most multimedia professors are actually specialists in other fields, including but not limited to education, forestry, social studies, and theater. A few actually work with many forms of multimedia regularly.

I prefer to learn multimedia in more specialized ways, mainly for making YouTube videos. For example, for graphics, I want to learn how to draw YouTube video thumbnails and cartoon characters.

Affectionate Nickname

I put "the" before my niece's name (as in "The Vaike") because I imagine her to be a Super-Strong Child and I find it cute. She can out-wrestle me, yank away my tablet, and pull my fingers.

Although, as a family of Chinese descent, we traditionally call the first older brother "Aya", I affectionately call him "Big Brother" because...he's a giant version of his daughter.

All Love Is Unrequited

My mom once told me that other girls were looking at me as if they had a crush on me, but it's hard for me to believe since, as a second-year high-schooler back then, I lacked the tactical insight ability I have now. If I did, I would approach the most appealing or virtuous-looking girl and engage in small talk with her.

I can't remember clearly, but I think, in my third year of high school, I shrugged off a female classmate who might have verbally implied romantic feelings to me--I lied, "I have a girlfriend." This is when I had the illusion that my friendly relationship with my crush at the time (who I recently nicknamed "Mareeta") would develop into a serious romantic relationship.

Amazon Chaser

A fairly recent trope that's mainly born out of me trying to be Crazy-Prepared. While I expect myself to do at least 95% of the physical work in a romantic relationship, I never know when my hypothetical romantic partner will run into a situation that I can easily handle but I'm not around to do it or at least assist. Women brave the streets alone about as much as men do, so I want someone who can defend herself from both muggers and scammers, especially given that, because I want to be a gaming YouTuber, I will stay home a lot more than a typical employee (assuming no lockdown/quarantine of any sort).

While basic self-defense is fine, a martial arts nerd is even better because she would allow me to take full advantage of my combined Sucrose and Tartaglia personalities (i.e. Badass Bookworm + Blood Knight).

Not gonna lie, I was surprised when "Mareeta" was able to punch faster than I can react despite me teaching her basic punches for only a few seconds. I guess, when you're a UN diplomat who builds robots and plays tennis regularly, you can grasp fighting concepts very quickly.

Anti-Armor

Applies to the heavy attacks of my unarmed fighting style. In boxing sparring, I use hooks to break defenses without hurting my opponent too much. In self-defense, I use my hammerfists.

Additionally, I can punch vehicles and smooth walls without hurting my fists.

Anti-Hero

I don't consider myself a "true" hero considering that I do good things mainly for personal gain rather than selflessness or because it's an "end in itself".

Apologizes a Lot

For mistakes that I sincerely did not intend.

Sometimes, I may even apologize for a mistake that I already apologized for a day, week, or even months ago.

For mistakes that I intended to commit, I am instead The Unapologetic.

Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy

I brag too much about my real-life fighting skill and physical feats. Seriously, though, I have KO'd YoSquid and almost knocked down Coach G-Force.

Ax-Crazy

Applies only to me playing video games in real life. After all, video games often reward the player for killing, usually by dropping money.

This can also be triggered if I'm angry. This shows when I mash buttons more rapidly than usual and hunt enemies even if I don't need to do so.

The battle music in Dragonspine, the snowy mountain in Genshin Impact, triggers my Ax-Craziness very easily. The heavy violins and the drums blend extremely well with sound effects like the "sword hit" sound effect (especially with Razor's and Tartaglia's fast attacks) and Klee's bomb sounds. I sometimes deliberately pause my quests and KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM! just to keep this track playing.

Neither I nor my Author Avatar is Ax-Crazy, however. I'm actually terrified of killing in real life. My Author Avatar regularly hunts monsters for fun but also feels uncomfortable killing innocent people...most of the time.

Back Stab

One of my main fighting styles as a rogue.

I regularly sneak up behind the Gold's Gym trainers and "stab" them with an imaginary dagger. They're chill with it and sometimes they "stab" back.

In Minecraft, I love killing players who have their backs turned to a wall while mining by peppering them with spammed critical hits.

Badass Bookworm, Lightning Bruiser

I don't consider myself a bookworm since I mainly read social media posts rather than “educational" content. I also prefer animation, movies, and video games over books when it comes to storytelling.

However, when I need cold, hard evidence on something, I occasionally search for academic papers.

I have read some novels, including most of the Harry Potter series (but I got lazy and stopped at the end of the book equivalent of Deathly Hallows Part 1).

Appearance-wise, I don't look physically strong to the average Joe (unless I'm shirtless lol). I have noodle arms and a thin body (I'm 174 cm and 57 kg). My face doesn't look like that of any popular strongman like The Rock; I look more like a bishōnen.

But I actually have six-pack abs (and they’re still visible even after I've eaten beyond my limit in a buffet).

I regularly carry heavy things like boxes of newly-purchased products, full pails of water, my 1 kg (gross weight) sling bag, and the occasional rice sack (where someone else helps me, though I often lift the sack slightly higher). Our family car is kinda hard to steer, but I can steer it the fastest (and pull the handbrake the hardest). Also see Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy.

I’ve taken hard hits that would otherwise moderately injure or stun a normal person, like bumping my head, being bumped by a bicycle, being punched at full force (even without blocking or parrying), being repeatedly whipped by a belt as a kid, and being back-stabbed by a pen. Heck, I’ve even shrugged off Coach G-Force’s punches on my abs…while I was sick.

Befitting my Fragile Speedster-like appearance, I’m also the fastest in the family, being capable of dodging incoming vehicles, parrying two fists with one arm, diverolling, cartwheeling, and running while carrying heavy loads. At medium range, I am difficult to hit in dodgeball (though sometimes I lazily block the dodgeballs with my fists).

See One-Man Army (to be added in a later part).

Badass Teacher

This trope typically applies to official school teachers and people who teach traditional school subjects (who are not necessarily school teachers).

My first experience with the latter is when I was in 9th grade. At the time, my high school crush, "Mareeta", asked me to tutor her in math. (She was in 8th grade.)

In my 2nd year of college, for my volunteerism course, I taught boxing to some 5th graders. That made me feel like a true school teacher for 2 days because I taught in actual classrooms.

Bare-Fisted Monk, Boxing Battler, Heroes Fight Barehanded

As I've explained before in one of my oldest posts “Fighting Addiction", the first fighting style I learned is boxing. I regularly use fists because I have a fear of seeing blood in real life and I’m not allowed to bring real weapons.

I also think beating stronger or armed enemies (especially gunmen and mages) with fists looks flashy and intimidating. Also, unlike weapons, fists cannot be "disarmed" or used against you (except, of course, through mutilation).

If I had to choose between being a Bare-Fisted Monk and using a Blade on a Stick, I'd choose to be a Bare-Fisted Monk. Because I don't need to carry anything to fistfight, I can strike extremely quickly, whether it's a Back Stab or Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs. Plus, I have two free hands to disarm Jerkasses with.

Batter Up!

My dad owns a 25-inch aluminum baseball bat which he bought for self-defense. I use it for weapon training and role-playing.

Interestingly, I had trouble wielding the bat one-handed as a younger teen, but now, as a young adult with a stronger body and a small amount of fencing knowledge, I can do so comfortably and quickly. I still mainly wield it two-handed so I can swing it harder.

Because it’s a blunt weapon with a heavy front end, I imagine the baseball bat is effective for parrying light weapons like knives, swords, and unarmed attacks and for dealing heavy damage to armor and vehicles.

Besides the spear, according to Skallagrim, the mace and shield combo require the least amount of skill. A baseball bat seems the closest to a mace and is the most effective bludgeoning street weapon.

Bear Hug

What I regularly do to my mom, brothers, and niece.

Big Eater

This is largely a hidden trait considering I'm thin (though there are many examples of thin Big Eaters) and I eat less of my favorite food so others can enjoy it.

Sometimes, though, I can't help myself. I've stolen nachos and peanuts from the fridge before.

The gloves are off though in buffet restaurants where I eat until my tummy fills up so much that it hurts, I can’t walk properly, and I become a Mighty Glacier (or an Acrofatic if I become angry).

The Big Guy, Pint-Sized Powerhouse

The Big Guy is my typical role in brains-dominant groups since I'm a Genius Bruiser. Most people I know are artists who aren’t athletic, so they get surprised when I show off my physical strength or athletic prowess. See Badass Bookworm, Bishōnen, and Genius Bruiser.

Pint-Sized Powerhouse is averted height-wise since I’m 174 cm; taller than the Filipino male average of 163.5 cm and the Chinese male’s 169.5 cm. Instead, me being a Pint-Sized Powerhouse mainly comes from my lack of weight, especially compared to all the male members of my family who are roughly the same height as me.

Big Little Brother, Little Big Brother

The height differences between me and my brothers are very small, though Big Brother is the shortest, while HeadsHoKer is the tallest.

In terms of weight, I'm the only thin boy in the family. My brothers (and dad) are FAT!

Bishōnen

Yes, I know, this is hard to believe. But let me explain.

Being a person of partial Chinese descent, I have some East Asian facial features, including big, round, distinctive eyes and a smooth face. (I suck at describing faces with words. Just see my profile picture on my “About Me".)

I've been frequently mistaken by customers for a Chinese or, less frequently, a Korean, kahit na nagsasalita ako ng diretsong Pilipino sa tamang tono (even if I speak straight Filipino in the right tone).

When I was a kid, my mom sometimes said I had anime hair, but that's it.

Putting the hair and face aside, I look thin and have a seeming lack of muscle.

Blade on a Stick

The spear is my primary Weapon of Choice aside from my fists.

I feel strangely comfortable with holding long sticks like mops, either for cleaning or for pretending to wield a spear. Billiard cues are comfortable too since they have a thin tip and a heavy handle, kinda like the weight distribution of a sword.

Even with my height and long arms, I sometimes have trouble reaching faraway objects. I sleep on the top layer of a double-deck bed where the door is further than arm's length away, so every time someone forgets to close it (or doesn't know how to because she's a crazy dog who runs like a horse), I have to “wake up" and close the door with my leg, if not get out of bed completely. A polearm would make that bore chore way easier since there's a lot less body movement involved and I get to keep most of my body laying on the bed.

Interestingly, I used to like swords because Heroes Prefer Swords, but I lost interest in them after getting utterly rekt by HeadsHoKer in swordfighting despite neither of us having any formal training.

Originally, I picked spears because of their utility and comfort, but I liked them a lot more thanks largely to Fire Emblem. Ephraim, the lance-wielding lord in The Sacred Stones, is an insanely brave prince who used his smarts to take over a heavily guarded fort with just three men (plus himself). Also, lances have a weapon triangle advantage over swords because the lance is longer than the sword.

They also beat pretty much anything that isn't a ranged weapon or another polearm. Notable street examples are knives, baseball bats, and broken bottles. Not so tough now, are ya? *poke*

Blood Knight

This is one of my key traits as a person with Asperger's syndrome who is addicted to violent video games. Fighting in games is thrilling, fighting in real life is even more so, and winning in real life is probably one of the best feelings I can have in a day.

Expect me to challenge friends and sometimes celebrities to friendly fights.

If someone insults the reader in a dating profile, I think to myself, "Fight me. Let's see how tough you really are." Fighters at my level are really rare nowadays from my experience--most people get intimidated by me bragging about my fighting skills.

It sucks that my boxing trainer had to move to Saudi Arabia to fulfill a 2-year contract, though. I wanted to beat him up some more 'cause he can actually take a punch, allowing me to push myself to my limits instead of toning myself down to avoid injuring friends.

Blunt "Yes"

What I do when I do something wrong, someone points it out, and I don't care that I was wrong.

Someone: Are you stupid?

Me: Yes, and I don't care.

Boisterous Bruiser

I say the most words and initiate conversations the most often in my Hytale team.

Brilliant, but Lazy

Downplayed. I can churn out a 10,000-word series of blog posts about Hytale but I HATE school work of almost all kinds. Except maybe what I'm experiencing in game dev class.

Broken Ace

This is kind of debatable since...well, I'm not a good judge of my own overall skill sometimes.

I consider myself smart, strong, and swift. I make it a habit to support as many of my statements with facts as possible, I assist my family in lifting heavy objects, and I'm the fastest-running and most agile member of my family. Not to mention, I'm the go-to guy for technical problems.

Perhaps much of the "broken" part comes from my sheer laziness. In short, I get angry when I get told to have more responsibilities and when I see others (including friends) do the same because it makes me feel useless and weak.

Child Prodigy

I was described as this by my pediatrician because I knew how to read at 2 years old.

Close-Range Combatant

I specialize in spears and fists. No surprise.

There's something cathartic about taking out my emotions on someone I hate (like the Trorks) by hitting them up close and personal. Plus, melee attacks look more action-packed than ranged attacks (except magical ones).

In real life, except for guns, melee attacks typically have higher DPS than ranged attacks. Plus, it's easy to dodge thrown projectiles unless they have an explosive AoE.

See Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy.

Chaotic Neutral

See “My Real-Life Dungeons & Dragons Alignment and How It Changes”. Note that sometimes, I can be neutral good, chaotic good, neutral, neutral evil, or chaotic evil.

Also see Combat Pragmatist, Jerk Jock, Manchild, and Sugar-and-Ice Personality.

Chronic Hero Syndrome, A Friend In Need

Probably a “sub-syndrome” of Asperger’s syndrome. People with Asperger’s syndrome are often overwhelmingly loyal to friends, so as soon as I see a notification from a friend asking for help, I sometimes put down the important stuff I’m doing like school work for about 5 minutes so I can show my friends I care. (I’m so used to doing this that it doesn’t sacrifice my school performance. Mwahahahaha! However, I can't do this during meetings and English tutoring.)

When I notice a ball going out-of-bounds in a sports game and I can reach it faster than the strangers playing the sport, I do so while running at my full Lightning Bruiser speed. Of course, they get shocked that I give back the ball so quickly.

Chuunibyou

Oh boy. I was a huge chuunibyou since I was in at least 2nd grade. I often rolled on the school floor and attempted cartwheels (but couldn't even go upside-down). I also thought I had the ability to control water. I guess I just really liked the color blue.

I'm still a chuunibyou now. Mom vehemently disagrees that I'm a "ninja" because I'm not stealthy, but I still like to think I'm at least a thief, even though I don't do much real-life stealth nowadays.

In casual conversations, I often act like an anime character.

Crazy-Prepared, Utility Party Member

This is a manifestation of my ISTP personality. I nicknamed myself the “Walking Toolbox” because I almost always have the right tool for the job stored in my sling bag which I carry almost every day even on days where I never leave the house. My most used items besides my gadgets include bandages, insect repellent, and three pens which have saved my life and others' lives many times.

As for Hytale, I've written way too many posts about the game describing how I'd prepare for it. In a team, I'd probably be the most likely to pick locks in-game if lockpicking is a thing. My storage rooms would most likely contain an overabundance of cheap tools, weapons, and other survival essentials.

Critical Hit Class

Even when I was a little kid who knew no martial arts at all, my crits have always been horribly deadly--I was capable of incapacitating adults with my bare fists. It's likely because I talk less when I'm angry, so I unleash all my stored negative energy in a single attack or flurry of attacks. This is also why I'm much more durable when I'm angry--I don't flinch at attacks that would normally make me do so.

Now, I'm capable of landing strong critical hits in any mood thanks to my boxing training.

I usually achieve critical hits by using feints to open up weak points, but if I'm angry, I'm more likely to use brute force to shatter strong defenses first before dealing massive crit damage.

(I've never shot real people with my bow so I don't know how good my ranged crits are, but my effective range with my 21-lb draw weight bow is 21 feet.)

I'm probably the only Critical Hit Class trainee that Coach G-Force knows because even his best fighters can't properly hit him.

Cuteness Proximity

If I see my niece in person, I will more often than not chase after her then give her Bear Hugs and beg to play with her. Aaand...I don't pay attention to most other things.

Dark and Troubled Past

Too many events to count.

Let's see… I was a chaotic evil bully in elementary and high school. I pushed my former crush's Berserk Buttons too many times. I got robbed…twice.

In my fictional universe, when I was 13, I escaped a communist state where the government controlled almost every aspect of every citizen's life, from working to studying to sleeping to even talking. I resented authority ever since and vowed to take revenge on the state for ruining the fun I had during my early childhood years when the state was still capitalist.

Dash Attack

This is one of my favorite attack types in both real life and video games. In both cases, I use the Dash Attack as part of Hit-and-Run Tactics, though sometimes I use it to quickly get the first hit in a fight where I don’t intend to hit-and-run.

In real life, similar to how the momentum of a running long jump can reach longer distances than a standing jump, I use the Dash Attack as a single powerful blow. Typically, I use the Superman Punch, a shoulder tackle, a running jump kick, or a clothesline.

In video games, I use Dash Attacks to Draw Aggro by hitting an enemy that’s about to hit an ally. This can potentially stagger the enemy and interrupt its attack.

Sometimes, I use Dash Attacks instead of dodging such as in Kirby games since, like dodging, Dash Attacks involve a quick burst of movement, except they can also deal damage. If Hytale does not have a dodge mechanic, I may use Dash Attacks the same way.

Dislikes the New Guy

The reason why I don't solicit recruits for my Hytale team from the general public.

1. I don't socially relate well with many typical competitive gamers. As someone with Asperger's syndrome and a strong interest in a few subjects, I have difficulty adapting to rapidly-changing trends in pop culture, and even if I did, I'd sound more like a professor (or, in Genshin Impact terms, Zhongli) than that random drunk guy at the bar (i.e. Venti).

2. I put a heavy emphasis on team-based strategy and etiquette, while I perceive typical competitive gamers as lazy and chaotic Blood Knight Munchkins who will risk their own and/or their team's safety just to pursue what they think is "victory" (which may or may not be the same as the rest of their team's).

3. While player skill is not a priority for me, I put a ton of emphasis on being good and virtuous (because there's such a thing as Evil Virtues).

4. Even if I get virtuous recruits, I'd still put them through Training From Hell...but not in the traditional sense of "NOW GIVE ME 1000 PUSH-UPS!" Instead, since I think the chance is high that they're already skilled solo fighters, I might overload their minds with tactical meeting after tactical meeting...

Though newly-recruited friends are technically new guys, I wouldn't consider them new guys since the chance is high that I know their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses very well thanks to casual conversations. Playing with friends allows me to more readily adapt to their traits.

Then again, I'd be flattered if you, the reader, can prove that you fit my standards. Even better if we can chat like chill bros.

Doesn’t Like Guns

I don’t remember accurately, but when I was a little kid, I heard one of my uncles firing a pistol into the air while standing in the middle of our home street. That was my first (and currently my only) time ever seeing and hearing a real gun, and I didn’t even know of toy guns and fictional guns. I was so terrified of the loud noise and the big speeding flare that I temporarily got scared to see toy guns that looked real.

I played shooting games more often as I grew older, though, which contributed to my reduced fear of guns…until, as an older teen, I watched the National Geographic show Science of Stupid where there were video clips of people either losing their grips or being smacked by their guns because they didn’t hold their guns properly. Now, I’m too scared to learn how to use a gun out of fear that I might also get smacked…though I might have to learn it anyway in case of the apocalypse.

I have no problem with using harmless gun-like equipment and toys like Nerf blasters, though.

In my fictional universe, this trope is Double Subverted. I hate guns because the communist state I used to live in was notorious for having its soldiers mooks shoot people for seemingly minor “crimes” like criticizing the government. Also, I simply like fists and medieval [fantasy] weapons better. However, I do hide a pistol in my jacket which I only use as a last resort to kill some fool quickly since my real-life fear of guns also applies. For ranged combat, I’d mainly throw rocks or my spear or use a bow.

Does Not Like Spam

I hated eating eggs on their own since childhood. When I was 14, I had two punishments where I was forced to eat scrambled eggs for lunch. Don't worry, I ate 'em all.

Strangely, I only eat egg when it's part of pancakes or pudding.

Do Not Call Me "Paul"

Interestingly, my official first name is Paul Juliann.

Perhaps being called "Juliann" a lot by my parents since childhood has made me dislike being called "Paul" on its own. As such, when I introduce myself in casual non-gaming situations, I always refer to myself as "Juliann Baloran". I only use "Paul Juliann Baloran" in formal situations.

Actually, I dislike being called by my real name even in casual situations, instead preferring to be called by my gaming username, LunaticTactician.

To me, being referred to as "Baloran" associates me with my grandma and dad, both of which are narcissists with Hair-Trigger Tempers.

For "Paul" and "Juliann", they're a disgrace to my late grandfathers (Paul on the father side and Julian with a single N on the mother side) who raised my parents well, unlike me who was chaotic evil as a child.

"LunaticTactician" is a name that accurately reflects my personality and actions. While I put a lot of thought into many of the things I do (tactician), I'm edgy and sometimes willing to act crazy in front of others (lunatic).

Then again, some people, especially non-gamers, are uncomfortable calling me "LunaticTactician", so they refer to me as Juliann.

Drives Like Crazy

I…suck at driving. I struggle to climb steep hills with a manual transmission and I don't always notice other drivers coming from the side or behind. Sometimes, I unknowingly speed across potholes, resulting in a big *CRASH!!!*

Sometimes, I drive at higher speeds than what I'm used to so I can mentally prepare myself for when I actually gotta go fast.

As for cycling, I can make sharp turns at high speed.

Ear Worm

I often listen to the same songs repeatedly for weeks, so I often experience this.

Oddly, this can play happy or adventurous songs even while I'm experiencing strong negative emotions.

Eating Lunch Alone

Played straight throughout about 95% of my school life when studying outside of home.

As much as I wanted friends back then, I never took it seriously, so naturally, someone who looked at me for a few seconds likely noticed that I paid almost exclusive attention to my food even if I technically sat next to someone else.

Even now, I avoid sitting adjacent to others in cafeteria-like places unless they're friends. I don't dare accidentally take a close glance at strangers' potentially disgusting eating habits.

Enlightened Self-Interest

The primary driving force for many of my good deeds...and the reason why I'm chaotic neutral.

Unfortunately, according to Mark Manson's "The One Rule for Life" which talked about a statement by Immanuel Kant, this is...not ideal.

Extreme Omnivore

Type 1. I’ve eaten heavily spoiled food before and I never got sick afterward…even though merely smelling it was extremely unpleasant.

Don’t tell my mom and dad, but I eat food off the floor. Don’t worry, though—as I said, I’m good at manual labor, including cleaning.

Family Business

My mom owns a biscuit-selling business and a bakery franchise. I primarily do the biscuit selling, though every night when the bakery closes, I do the bakery's sales reports.

Friendless Background

I think I had no legitimate friend until I hit 8th grade.

In preschool and the 1st and 2nd grades of elementary school, I wanted friends like pretty much anyone, but either I was too shy or I was too lazy to learn how to do it--I think it was the latter.

In 3rd and 4th grades, I was a school bully. The people I considered "friends" at the time were mostly teachers (and only one who was a female classmate) who I shoved my childish insecurities into.

Friends Are Chosen, Family Aren't

Zig-zagged.

Mom is generally unbiased and rarely holds grudges against any family member (yes, including my paternal grandma). She regularly tries to maintain a good relationship with all family members...though we often think she's a Jerkass if she gets angry with us.

At best, though, I'd say I have a neutral relationship with my mom.

I have a generally bad relationship with the other three immediate family members. I can't stand Big Brother's lawful good alignment, Dad's Captain Obvious + Department of Redundancy Department Crazy-Preparedness (which is zig-zagged when it comes to his own belongings since he forgets them occasionally), and (I Can't Believe I'm Saying This) HeadsHoKer's Hair-Trigger Temper.

To be fair, though, as a kid, I had the exact opposite alignment (chaotic evil) as Big Brother, I often lost or forgot things, and I treated HeadsHoKer like I treat my niece today.

My niece loves me a megaton since I play with her more often than any other family member plays with her when we're visiting.

While I'm often reluctant to do work for the family, I am almost always ready and willing to help friends (assuming I'm awake): an act largely driven by Enlightened Self-Interest. Friends are not subject to the same rules as families, so we can be more flexible on how we treat each other.

Frontline General

Exactly What It Says on the Tin.

I acknowledge the great importance of generals and strategists in armies and why it’s logical that these people should be protected and kept off the front lines…

…but if you’re talking about me, firetruck all that garbage! As a Frontline General, I’m in charge of every single strategy and can change tactics anytime without paying attention to anyone in higher authority (since I am the highest authority), which is extra useful in the heat of battle where quick reactions are important. Plus, I’m a Lightning Bruiser so I’m very, very difficult to overpower (unless the enemy uses magic).

Additionally, most competitive gamers don't like to think much. My co-op style revolves around helping my team play to its strengths while I cover up its weaknesses--I enjoy doing that Boring but Practical stuff.

The Gadfly

I enjoy annoying people for various reasons.

As a rule, though, I play harmless pranks on family members and friends unless I'm really angry at them. I often pretend I didn't do them a small favor when I actually did. Once I know they've fallen for it, I reveal the truth and ask, "Did I troll you?" (Spoiler: 75% of the time, the answer is no.)

In competitive multiplayer games, I'm more sadistic and willing to use dirty (but still legal) tactics. I'm having fun stacking status conditions like confusion + sleep in Pokémon, so I plan to do the same thing on real players (but haven't succeeded). In first-person shooters and Minecraft, I would hunt down a single player to get them to rage at me.

With people I hate, I anger them without remorse or conscience. At best, I send them random memes. At worst, I physically attack them using Hit-and-Run Tactics.

Gender Flip

Yes, I have a work-in-progress female version of my Author Avatar.

Appearance-wise, she has straight, armpit-length green hair and large, gentle-looking eyes. She likes wearing elegant clothes, though her signature outfit is a mint green dress. (In an adventure, she may include a blue scarf to mimic my male Author Avatar's blue tie.)

As for her chest area...it's almost nonexistent. I feel like having an obvious chest would be distracting from my intentions for the character.

She'd probably wear a T-shirt and shorts in a pool or beach like I would in real life.

Personality-wise, she lacks my male Author Avatar's Ax-Craziness, Hair-Trigger Temper, and evil dragon blood. She regularly tries to act like a serious princess--in this alternate universe, instead of watching a TV show with a male master swordsman protagonist, she watched a TV show with who is basically the ideal princess.

If my male and female Author Avatar met, obviously, both would be utterly shocked. The male's edginess is a stark contrast from the female's elegance and vice versa.

Both would be disgusted by the idea of having a romantic relationship with each other, especially the male who is insecure about himself. The female would consider the male's personality "disgraceful." The male would consider the female "impossibly sophisticated."

Genius Bruiser

I'd consider my brawn to be more dominant than my brains. I hate school work and I don't enjoy the “mature nerd” hobbies like reading (novels, history, and academic papers), playing classical music (but I actually like listening to it casually), and playing chess (I’m WAY better at Fire Emblem).

Instead, when not playing video games or digging through social media, I often go to the gym or beat up my punching bag.

If a person who's equally strong and smart were to challenge me to my choice of brains or brawn, I'd choose brawn. I'm far more confident about my physical abilities rather than my mental ones.

However, I do not look like a Genius Bruiser largely because of my bishōnen appearance and my occasionally formal speaking during casual conversations.

Gosh Dang It to Heck!

I regularly say "dang", "son of a Bisharp", and Smosh's own “firetruck" in public, even in voice chat.

Interestingly, I regularly say actual uncensored swear words in private or with my family. I almost never say them in conversations with others, especially friends and a love interest. Usually, I say them in public when quoting others, such as the title of one of Mark Manson's books, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck.

Edit, May 24, 2020: I'm promising myself to never use "cattle feces" ever again. Don't ask me why.

Edit, November 9, 2020: I've removed "cattle feces" from my system. Now, I usually say "Screw that!"

Gratuitous Japanese

I'm sorry. I can't help but flex the amount of Japanese I know now that I watch English-speaking Japanese YouTubers like Sora The Troll and take lessons from That Japanese Man Yuta. I respect them so much that I typically refer to them as Sora-san and Yuta-san, respectively.

Note that I rarely use this with non-Japanese strangers except in VRChat's Japan Shrine world which has weebs and actual Japanese people. I mainly use this with acquaintances and friends, especially those who also use Gratuitous Japanese.

With strangers, I often say 日本人じゃないです。 Nihonjin janai desu. I'm not a Japanese person. They say my Japanese is really good; after all, I have never heard a weeb/weeaboo say this. (Like, how are they not convinced by my American accent when speaking English!?)

I also use this with some of my loyal Japanese students occasionally. In terms of Sora The Troll's "5 Types of Japanese learners", I'm closest to the asking-questions-every-2-seconds man. I love how quick they are to correct me.

I use copious amounts of "ne" and "yo"; for example, 難しいですよね。 Muzukashii desu yo ne. It's really difficult, isn't it?

Hair-Trigger Temper

Not gonna lie, I get offended easily. I can't stand being negatively criticized (even if it's healthy), I rage at stupid actions that should have little effect on my everyday life like a poorly-written dating profile, and I hate being treated like a little kid with the intelligence of one.

Hates Being Touched

Downplayed. I generally dislike the friendlier forms of touch, including but not limited to the back pat and the hug. I feel that such forms of touch should be reserved for family members and boyfriends/girlfriends. However, I'm fine with, say, taps on the shoulder to get my attention.

I don't receive hugs from girls I have a crush on because I feel that I'm unworthy. Generally, I want to be the one to make the first move.

Heroic Neutral

What I am to my family members most of the time.

When it comes to gadgets, I’m The Smart Guy, so even if my family can solve their problem with a Google search or a similarly simple solution, I help anyway so my family can firetruck off. Sometimes, I willingly ask if there’s something to fix or clean so I won’t be told to do so later on.

Hot-Blooded

Let's see… I’m an Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy, I have Ax-Crazy tendencies, I'm a Blood Knight, I'm a Designated Point Man who Drives Like Crazy, and I tend to rush the front lines as often as I sneak into enemy bases.

Hunter of Monsters

One of the primary reasons why I want to conquer most of the Hytale universe: I want to purge it of all monsters and other evil stuff.

I may even devote entire days doing almost nothing except killing monsters when I’m feeling an extra urge to be an Ax-Crazy Blood Knight or when monsters get so annoying to my tasks or friends that I must go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.

Hypothetical Fight Debate

What I frequently pestered my former friends into doing: a fight with our fictional selves against each other or against Hytale mobs.

I'm arguably the weakest in the old team largely due to my weakness to magic and having graduated from the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy.

Dodging is useless when BoltOLightnin and YoSquid can negate it with area-of-effect magic and Improbable Aiming Skills, respectively.

Even if I had a ranged weapon, my bad aim prevents me from exploiting BoltOLightnin and YoSquid's Achilles' Heel: their low Defense.

HeadsHoKer is a bit easier since he's melee-focused, but get hit once by a Divine Smite and it's all over--it breaks my physical defense with his Super Strength while exploiting my magic weakness.

I also self-debated who would win in a fight between fictional versions of me and my former crush. Though her short height and scrawny body mean she has low Defense (which may justify why she's afraid of me punching her in real life), she is extremely intelligent and charismatic, making her capable of leading an army with her looks, flowery words, and diplomatic knowledge, unlike me who's a self-proclaimed highly inexperienced and sometimes tyrannical leader. She's a...very charitable person, which, combined with her intelligence, makes her light magic deadlier than both BoltOLightnin's and HeadsHoKer's combined. She is extremely fast as well and can outspeed me in boxing and tennis. TL;DR: It's a Curb-Stomp Battle where she's the one curb-stomping me.

Side note: It's out of character for me to state my former crush's qualities, especially the physical ones, since I'm paranoid she will take those negatively. Too bad I have to do it to illustrate my point.

Ignore the Fanservice

I prefer women who dress modestly, thank you very much.

In fact, I dislike Lisa and Rosaria from Genshin Impact.

Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy

I have bad aim with Nerf blasters and I always lose in Nerf wars.

Downplayed with dodgeball. I hit Big Brother and HeadsHoKer fairly easily (more so with Big Brother) at close to medium range but can’t hit them at long range.

(My aim with melee attacks and in first-person shooters is okay, though, except in Minecraft.)

Edit, November 9, 2020: Mom and Dad bought me an archery set in October and I got addicted to it. In late October, my aim was great, but now it sucks. Maybe my 2 arrows are worn out?

Edit, March 11, 2021: My aim is great again, even though my arrows are worn out and I don't shoot as often anymore due to being back to work.

Edit, August 26, 2021: Turns out my "bad aim" with Nerf blasters is because Elite Darts are just bad. AccuStrike Darts are much more accurate. I shoot better than HeadsHoKer now, even with the same blasters and darts.

Inept Mage

This is how I portray my Author Avatar to reflect my real-life laziness to study.

Though he, like many other young Craftsmanians, is fascinated by fictional magic, when he actually tried to use magic in the fantasy world, it blew up in his face more often than not. He knows only a few basic utility and combat spells (mostly dark magic due to his evil dragon blood) necessary for survival. As such, even after extensive magical study, he remains a predominantly physical fighter.

Averted with his Superpowered Evil Side. Though he has little control over whether or not he transforms into this, he is self-aware of his attacks; he can control who he targets and how hard he hits, although he gets mistaken for a mindless killer.

Insistent Terminology

I regularly use "Wuhan coronavirus" to intentionally annoy people who think calling it a "Chinese virus" is racist. It's not racist for me. Also, "Coronavirus Disease 2019" (COVID-19) is a lame name.

In the case of Genshin Impact, Elemental Skills and Elemental Bursts are often referred to as "E" and "Q" skills respectively (based on the default PC controls), but I continue to use the official terms in writing.

In spoken conversations, I use "E" and "Q" to keep the conversation speed going.

I only use "COVID-19" in professional situations like academic papers. Sorry, but I'm a chaotic neutral thief so I want that college degree.

"It" is Dehumanizing

This is why I use "it" to refer to criminals, fat girls, and my paternal grandma.

I have also used "it" to sometimes refer to humanoid enemies in video games such as the Fatui Cicin Mages in Genshin Impact until they were explicitly referred to using "her".

Yeah...I got it from Prototype. Though the protagonist Alex Mercer appears male, Gen. Randall insisted, "Mercer isn't a 'he'. It's an IT!"