text:
@pomp.7314 said:
Anybody else have a problem in that Braham doesnt engage a single enemy in the Sunspear cave?
He's not supposed to, he's just supposed to light the fires, he's apparently scared of spiders so you need to keep them off him.
I very much like the story and i would like to point out a thread i posted some time ago.
i know i wont get any answer for it but i am having literal frost on my back if i hit at least a few things notice the date when i posted it please.
beside that i like the new story a lot. gj
only thing would be. Please dont give more explosions and aoes in combat it is really not fun to constantly try dodging all the exploding stufff x/
but beside that really nice LWS
Strong, emotional storytelling. Somewhat predictable, but still shocking. Well done.
I loved the Deadeye fight. It was a fight about mechanics and allowed players to be creative.
Wish more dialogue was shared between Commander and Aurene.
I am right after the open battle and tell me to run forward but then says I am out of the area and kills me on repeat did it over ten times and I can't advance on this . I am solo.
Had some issues with Storm Tracker. They were little things but in the end they cost me both of the achievements in the instance and left me heavily stressed out:
-The Branded Priest Lieutenant kept phasing backwards to the point that he was clear out of the border of the instance. I couldn't get to him without risk of being kicked out and when I finally killed him he was so far away from Blish that I couldn't get back to him in time to keep the other spawns from interrupting him.
-The fire attacks that were constantly bouncing off of Balthazar's sword forced me into combat so I couldn't mount. Ended up doing the first 1/4th of the last bit on foot before I could finally mount up.
-Lastly the lack of directional arrows makes the final race extremely unclear. I lost a large amount of time on the platform with the heavy wind blowing over it because I thought the game was telling me that wasn't the correct way to go.
"Make yourself useful, or I will find a good use for your corpse."
My only complaint so far is that in the first story part, was that it was not intuitive on how to move the scared people around. Unless I have forgotten, no other mechanic in the game works like that. It was frustrating to just stand there yelling at them wondering why they run randomly around until you figure out the controls.
If you think balancing is only driven by performance and justified by comparisons to other classes then prepare to be educated:
Best Episode so far
Story great had some strong character development and I really started to care for certain characters.
I liked the things people are criticizing like the sniper and the platform jumps, because I like challenge and those things felt also very fresh.
Nothing negative to say bugs are normal at the start im sure anet will fix them.
Does this episode mean we get 3 more episodes ? or even more since it seems our mounts getting their skill bars filled up slowly
Spoiler Alert!
I love this new map a lot. Great work btw. I love how each area has its own unique style and color scheme. There is something to do in every little corner of the map. For some reason it seems much, much bigger. Plus the Jungle Anomaly area was fun to see. A bit of HoT Maguuma maps here in the desert. Plus there is a flax farm! It is more spread out, but still a beautiful place to visit while node farming if you have the time.
Title is a bit of a spoiler for those who haven't seen this area but never the less yes it was a very welcome area in the new map.
Even though it was only a small area I got a great deal of satisfaction out of being able to use my old HoT mastery's in a new content map.
It wasn't that long ago I was playing HoT content.. but when I got to this little area I couldn't contain my excitement when I saw updrafts and bouncing mushrooms xD
@Teratus.2859 said:
Title is a bit of a spoiler for those who haven't seen this area but never the less yes it was a very welcome area in the new map.
Even though it was only a small area I got a great deal of satisfaction out of being able to use my old HoT mastery's in a new content map.
It wasn't that long ago I was playing HoT content.. but when I got to this little area I couldn't contain my excitement when I saw updrafts and bouncing mushrooms xD
i changed it, but i can't think of a better title i tried.
After the bugs (and small rant):
- Liked the episode been more ambitious and the better quality in characters, story and story instances.
- Was nice to have more collectables, the new mechanics and the new world boss.
- Take care of too soon releases, bugs kill the experience.
- I like the direction you guys are taking with the quality upgrades, but you need to test them better.
- Didn't like the room dimensions, they also did not allow to have more hearts.
- You guys need to introduce better the hearts when they are not story progression connected (is good that they are not always tied to the story progression).
- This was more notable in the plant seeds heart.
- Please make the hearts vendors perma unlocked after the first completion, the heart completion more rewarding and add bags, etc. to buy on hearts, will help replayability and not enforce people in heart completion to buy.
- Is nice to have two adventures and not all to be races.
- Liked the use of the beetle in the map.
- Please make the giant rock in the map explorable and never do that again.
- Nice new world boss, the best of all the LSs ones.
- Having two armor sets and more collectables was a plus.
- Sunspear refuge is good but you it generated hype, also could be better to not drop it out of the story after this released.
- Each story instance was solid, with a lot to do, good story and not forced, overexpanded or too small.
- Liked the new strong character: Sapphire and the expanding of Koss. They are well made, specially Sapphire.
- Eir is a super terrible mother and the mist distortion of her voice make it feel like it was unnatural and not the proper progression of the story, like: we need to make - ---Braham more mature now, insert random plot conversation.
- Should have tested more the raptor escape.
- The cinematics were good and immersive., the world boss is the best for the LSs, the emotions in the story make it better
- I don't liked some parts of the plot, like the different places rooms or Kralk becoming a universe threatening thread, but thats my test.
- Didn't like the small time skip were we aren't involved: awaken are free and not in a coma state, Aurene is good and have been chased by Kralk, Dragon Guard in the after Joko meeting and we go later without knowing anything.
- The sniper fight was very interesting and the use of destructibles was good (hope to see more of them).
- The spider breeder movement and attack was good (check war of god for more uses of that mechanics), could have made her to drop us in mid movement if we did the hits well.
- The mastery felt shallow after the beetle. Perhaps you should quality upgrade them, either in quality or quantity depending of the needs and the episode.
For the Blood Legion! - 11 charr
I honestly like how Koss showed up, too me it seemed very fitting. Along with how we got into the map at the beginning, I love the small details.
The story is getting very ominous with everything above ground going to hell and I thought that was a good way to come back to "Suns Refuge". I am absolutely in love with this episode and the emotion of it all, absolutely the best Living World Episode this season and is probably going to take the top spot out of all of them.
Zafirah....until I figured out what was going on, I was cursing all of your guts....once figured out, I actually liked it. Something completely different and didn't expect a few covers to explode in my face. Side note, using the mounts never crossed my mind due to the gas clouds.
Omg the Aurene cinematic and the realization of what her visions were.....I was crying like a baby. One of the best, if not best cinematic for living world episodes.
Blish, we have only had him a short while but this was a blow.
About the puzzle at the end of storm tracking...... I would prefer the time constraint not be so close, I understand the urgency but I wanted to look around more and with the shock of Blish..,,I fell to my death countless times and that is the only area I honestly didn't like but then again, I suck sooo bad at any jumping puzzles.
Overall, I can not praise the Dev team enough for this episode. I am in love and to me, I haven't felt this excited or having this much fun since POF launch.
My only reservation is how disjointed the cliffhanger at the end will feel, if the same team doesn't do the next episode.
Keep up the amazing work.
PS the new raptor mount skin should have been a complete package for all mounts, I would have sold a kidney to buy that package.
Enjoyable episode. A few things that were especially notable to me:
Interesting map with the different biomes and the brand cutting across. The roadways make getting around by roller beetle a breeze, and enjoyable. The water-fall is lovely.
The 'Bond of Vigor' mastery - always happy to get a new mastery, but this feels like oddly like a solution looking for a problem. This mastery is clearly aimed at one mount: the roller beetle. It's of little use on the other mounts, which all regenerate endurance quickly. It feels like the roller beetle was given poor endurance regen in the first place so this mastery would have a purpose when it came out. Unlike 'Bond of Life' which is very useful but used strategically, this one is a necessity. I spam it whenever possible. There's just no reason not to. It's a fix for a problem that didn't need to exist. As such, this mastery might as well not be a button on your mount's utility bar but just an inherent increase in the endurance regen, like a trait.
The Pet Rock bounty - I love this guy! What made it even more memorable was the hurricane that came through as we were fighting! The tension as it got closer, then we were lifted in the air, spun around and made our way back to finish the fight. Very funny!
The djinn bounty in the south-east corner who moves around, even going between the mainland and that little island - I can't decide if he's annoying or not with all that running around. It's certainly different, and kudos for that.
The hurricane - not only an interesting environmental effect but helpful too!
The repeatable hearts - I was slow to come around to repeatable hearts, since some - like the non-repeatable kind, were tedious. But the ones in this episode were alright, even pleasant.
The mushroom cave - a very interesting place, given the conversations in there and the ...gravity of the situation. So many possibilities!
Ibaru - when he had us all in his tractor-beam-rays or whatever, my chrono managed to escape with Blink and was about to deal with Ibaru when ..somebody else showed up and interfered. Was it intentional that Blink can get us out of that lock, and if so can I deal with Ibaru myself?
First impressions:
Exploration has been pleasantly gentle this time around. And Springer has actually been useful! Finally.
Map looks pretty busy, so that's good.
Water does not seem coded for Skimmer speed.
Enemies are kinda . . eh. And...
Can we please shed more than one stack of branded spikey glue thing when we dodge-roll? Sitting on perpetually 7-8 stacks because we get a dodge once every 7 seconds or so (with Vigor) ends up meaning a lot of wasted time and defensive resources in dealing with it.
Still, spirits are high so far. Curious to see where this will go.
Many alts! Handle it!
"A condescending answer might as well not be an answer at all."
-Eloc Freidon.5692
@Quasko.3491 said:
- Zafirah's fight: I feel like it was really unfair, idk, she was really OP compared to everything else we faced and then she'd just use finisher on us while we couldn't even interrupt her with 2nd rally skill. It was frustrating and I never want to do it again. Like honestly, she was way more OP than Balthazar, it was ridiculous.
Think positive, man! The next time we have to kill a dragon we just send her first... she might one shot it, or/and use the unstopable finisher xD
But yeah, that instance could really use a rework.
Love it so far, much better.
Is Anet trying something new with instanceless story? With the new map, there is no instance loading just for story at certain point, I like it.
ps... I hate spiders... why you do this to me, Anet...
Just saying, for all those of us with very thorny hearts, with strange love for thing vertical and verdant-y, it's a nice to get all that sand outta boots and get a piece of your home away from home
Agreed. Showed how much i miss the colour of Green. Especially after all the Sand and Purple.
As a player that loathed Chak in all forms during HoTs prime, it was also a nice unexpected surprise that made me enjoy fighting them a little bit more than i once did.
Its my favorite part!
I understand that Living World and the Personal Story is essentially designed as a single-player experience, but as someone who frequently plays the Story multiplayer with my flatmates, I have found the increasing trend of "instant death" and "near instant death" mechanics incredibly aggravating as group content. Because the pace of these episode instances frequently demands constant moving or instant death: e.g., fire/invisible laser jumping puzzles, sniper one-shot kills, move-move-move or die to the purple storm. There is little forgiveness, and doing these things as a group an almost nightmare. And when playing with people who are more casual than I am, then this often leaves us in situations where other players are downed and/dead, but we can do nothing about it. Note: Having to repeatedly use Revive Orbs to get across the Deadeye encounter (or other similar ones) due to how multiplaying the personal story works is NOT FUN. So we are variously stuck dead and unable to enjoy the story content unless we all die. Or we leave some dead, and they can't experience what is happening, because they are dead in one area while the story is happening in another. All of this undercuts a lot of the drama of the story. This creates an uneven experience for multiplay. It's not fun, and I hope that ArenaNet takes this into consideration when designing encounters like the Deadeye or Storm Tracking.
Secondly, my flatmates also reported that they disliked how so many trash mobs in the map (and in PoF) waste your time with mechanics clearly meant to dismount you. The result is not that that they were encouraged to fight. No, they just kept running until they were eventually out of the fight and mounted back up again. These sort of PoF trash mobs do not make for an engaging map. It just makes mobs more annoying to the point that discourages fighting.
I will also add that Braham's apology has not worked with my female flatmates. At this point, they both want Braham gone. (They also remain annoyed by Kas and Marjory as well as Rytlock Edgelord. Indifferent to Taimi and Rox.) They saw no reason to keep Zafira around, especially after she killed and injured so many members of the Pact first. Regardless of whether she was in a vision, they saw her as a liability who faced no consequences for her actions.
"Welcome to the jungle"
I love it too.
Not completed the story been too busy exploring. I am totally feeling this map. It's nice to go in a map and recognize places from the first game. Enjoyed it much more not looking at guides and working stuff out.
Still miss my dervish, bless her she knows jahai buffs well.
Some feedback about one specific event: ""Defend the Chantry's entrances against the Branded"
This event is placed awkwardly. It failed miserably every time I attempted it (4 or 5 times now) because one of the three defense locations, the one nearest the chantry WP and zone entrance, spawns large groups of level 81 and/or 82 enemies. The spawns at this location are overtuned because of the ever-present people at the WP/entrance who are not contributing (probably AFK) but counted as part of the event.
Good episode. Great map, good mechanics, interesting cinematics. But...Pristress of Balthazar is whining. Wrong. She is a deadeye. Wrong. She says be proud of the dead. Wrong. I paraphrase: "You like Balthazar? You will like Aurene. She has Balthazars magic." Wrong. Throw Balthazars sword away. Wrong. Rename Balthazar with Balthaddon.
Just a minor issue I've had with some achievement collections and this release has one such again... the 40 Jahai Coins - when designing these large, same-item type collections, please try to not just number them 1 through N and make a plain list out of it. This not only devalues the items or the fiction behind them (in this case they were meant to be coins which would be rare, lol) but gameplay-wise it becomes tedious and unfriendly... we have no hint about the location for each item so unless we play it combing the map terrain thoroughly, coming back later will mean to have to look in most places all over again.
The way I think would be fitting for this type of collection is how the Mursaat Tokens were done in S3E2 in Ember Bay, with unique hints for each that actually made exploring the intricate geometry of the map enjoyable - you could even add a bit of lore, reference and humor in the flavor text of the hints.
Great episode, bugs notwithstanding, one of the best so far. Good story instances with some crazy bits, Sun's Refuge is a fun piece of content, and the map is nice (especially the anomalous parts). And full armor sets in a LS episode too. Plus tornado riding.
Please let us reconfigure the key that's used for the new mount skill Bond of Vigor, as I'm already using my utility skill keys for my mount movement abilities.
Really well done guys, you deserved those waffles and a couple of beers too.
Best update ever.
Feel like you fit the best of GW2 into this release, and will be happy to keep playing it. Great new experiences in the story
Great level of challenge on the map. Great designs.
Except riftstalkers.
The most amazing update to the game yet, expansions included. I've been buzzing for 2 days since finishing it. It has everything. Old friends, an elder dragon, Joko, the jungle, new world boss (kind of).
I can't wait to replay the episode story soon, whereas thinking of doing episode 3's story again seems like a chore. The deadeye instance was an incredible first for the game, the nastiest spider in the game, (you know the one) and the space jumps in the mist were very trippy.
The map is quite dangerous to navigate too. The branded have a lot of range to hit mounts, and I've used like 3 revive orbs this episode like I've never done before. Mobs chip away at your health throughout the shatterer fight. Love all the options in that fight.
Always being mindful of the Claw of Kralkatorrik makes the map feel alive.
The one thing I don't like are the riftstalkers. Less interesting karka with no lore that stand in place taking little damage with a repeating pattern of aoe.
Here is my feedback:
Deadeye story can't be completed. I get DC'd when I meet up with her on last part. Also need a larger zone around borders, too easy to step out of instance just moving to cover.
Additional thoughts now that I'm all the way through:
I know it's extra work, but pleeease keep doing cutscenes instead of the panned-out talking bits. GW2's aesthetic doesn't really let us easily zoom in to capture detail, but the cutscenes were great for keeping the focus right on the dialogue and speakers.
Still. No. Retry. Button. When there are achievements for "don't mess up not even once!" maybe we don't want to have to go through 10 minutes of exposition to do them again. Fail Faster. Let story instances get some of that sweet /gg action, would ya?
Many alts! Handle it!
"A condescending answer might as well not be an answer at all."
-Eloc Freidon.5692
Praise Joko!
I really like this episode.
8 out of 10 (-1 points bc of Blish )
The Good:
1: I liked the beginning: it was fun to see the people of elona arguing about the death of joko and mistrusting aurene. Thanks for the aurene heart animation, those make me always so happy . And Koss saving us was really nice .
2: The shatterer "fight" was awesome. I really like the detail that one NPC (I believe an awakened) was completely crushed. Also the animations of the shatterer were really cool. I am happy we did not fight the shatterer, bc I often do the world boss the shatterer, and killing him easily on my own would be a bit unbelievable for me.
3: OMG The doctor who/strange plot with time and space shenanigans was completely crazy. I love it! Kralky felt this patch so unbelievebly scary !
4: Yeeh, I really liked to see eir and snaff. The talk between eir and braham was well done. I am happy that Braham finally knows how much of a KITTEN he has been in the past.
5: I really like walking in open world with Blish . The new map is really nice, mainly the ???-part
6: Glint`s return was nice .
7: I played this whole patch with a scourge support build (so my dps is a bit lower), and I was happy to see that there were often NPs I could support. So my build was still quite usefull .
8: The new home instance is nice.
9: The new map is nice. All the space/time shenanigans in the new map are really nice.
Well done. But please stop breaking my heart:
1: Why did you kill Blish ? Why?
He was such a fun, cute and nice character. It made me always so happy to see him. He was one of my favorite characters. Blish was such an adorable little robot and I really liked him . Please bring him back. It would make me so happy to see him again. Please let us put him back together, or save him from the mists .
2:The Aurene cutscene was very beautifull and nicely done. But the ending with the glass breaking animation and the sad sound Aurene made.... Poor Aurene.
3: I had to cry when I told Taimi and Gorrik about the death of Blish. It was already so painfull, and then they tell me that Taimi is dying. OMG Arenanet, are you trying to break me? Why are you doing this to me?
Please safe Blish !
The Bad:
Sorry, but I am not a fan of Zafirah. Her boss fight was really annoying me. And she has kind-of the same secretive vibe as caithe, but then less believeable and fun. I dont really like her " we are not friends" attitude.
2 out of 10. A kitten of map just like all maps since POF came out. Single-player focus only in a mmo is the worst thing to do. Forgetable story and big map with no events at all plus trash collection all over again, just logged in once did story and all map in like 2 hours of content and since then i don't need the desire to log in again and i am back to just annoy me in old content like hot maps and pvp. People like me want from an mmo to be an mmo not a trash single player look alike game ... just look at how map is empty just as kourna, 0 comms becuase there is nothing on it, since all can solo most of it.
Just little things I need to add, that I forgot before....
Plz don't kill Blish, I like him a lot, he added something to the story... if you want leave braham somewherr I don't care, even that sub-act with him have not added a drop of compassion within me.... And what about Taimi... We theoratically lost 2 brains...
+++In creative mood. New Engie Elite spec' , Housing , New asuran expansion , Designing a new lounge , New GameMode
+++NEW: AEP Asuran Expansion Project available on WIKI.
+++New: GEM GW2 Exploration Map: Discover unusual places around tyria: Here (OSM map)
I am blown away! Rarely do bother to write, since I prefer playing the game then to waste my time here, but this is one of the few situations, that make me write a review.
The whole episode is indeed the best so far ever and even better than the living world in Guild Wars Beyond. I don't know what influence that firing of these two people from your team have on this specific episode, but the narrative, the writing, the videos, mapping, accessibility, fun, etc etc etc.....It is the most immense and successful episode I've seen so far since Guild Wars 1. I wasn't fan of Guild Wars Nightfall for no reason.... BRAVO. Keep going and fire more people if that means you would do as legendary as this time! :* I love you.
The map itself is far better than the last ones. But i still miss a SW/DS kind of map. The Shatterer could've been a good opportunity for more map pressence...more pre-events. He is just parked and forgotten in a corner of the map which is sad for something that big. Even regular Shatterer in Blazeridge Steppes has more map influence.
Suns Refuge:
I expected more of it. But i get behind the idea of it being an experiment for the dev team.
Having said that, here are some things that bother me with the way they are now:
The story was ok. I have given up on Taimi and Braham to ever get me to worry about them.
Haven't opened up the collections and things yet. The map is fun. I enjoy the hunting of animals and the events and rifts are great (pretty sure I played that game though ) and lots of great achievements to do (though, I'm a bit concerned there are going to be too many story ones required of me and I won't get to complete the meta for the staff ). Of course, the big Shatterer 2: The Second One event is great. It's a neat map and a great story.
The story hit me in the feels. Just finished it. Thinking about taking a break the rest of the day and picking up tomorrow.
In the event I don't get a chance, thank you all for the company and help when I needed it from time to time.
As an addition, please could the team start to take on board our inventory management concerns. Too many things need deleting or selling once ticked off a collection. Everything should either auto clear or never end up in our inventory. We know that interactions alone is enough for a collection, so why the need for a disposable item too?
The item for Crystal attunement collection for example. Once interacted with the npc, it stays in your inventory, not making it clear that the use for it has gone, instead still indicating it needs handing in.
Proactivity and planning ahead please!!
What sleep is here? What dreams there are in the unctuous coiling of the snakes mortal shuffling. weapon in my hand. My hand the arcing deathblow at the end of all things. The horror. The horror. I embrace it. . .
How great is everything about this update!? The new map, the continually better and better story telling and cinematics, Sun's Refugue, all the minor additions, man, I could go on and on. Just finished legacy and only have explored the story sections of the new map l, but so far I'm truly impressed and love all the hard work the devs continually put into their game. Can't wait to see how the story ends this chapter and where it's heading for future updates.
The new Volatile Singularity item has the same icon as the Gleam of Sentience. Please give it its own unique item icon, because currently, it's too easy to mistake it for the Gleam of Sentience.
I love love love love the story, anet. I have played many many "story based" MMOs in my time, and nothing holds a candle to the work you guys do! Please never change!
For may, i have two Giant thumbs up and two giant thumbs down
Up 1. The fast pace of the combat. Those were good fights, racing away from a storm, rodeo with a spider, awesome.
Up 2. The cinematics, we got so many curtscenes this episode, especially the visions of Aurene caught me off guard, positively. That was AWAESOME!
Down 1. The loyalists were stupidly loyal. Like, i get it, even after his fall they're loyal. But there's a thing like stupid loyal. They'd dive in a grave if there as a rumor of Joko being there. Self sabotage hardly seems like loyalty, and more like plain stupudity.
Down 2. The sniper mercy. We saw her in a vision, and so she gets a free pass to mercy, and immediate amnesty for all her assassinations and (attempted) kills? Why was mercy even an option, let alone the only one.she should be locked down, stripped of her gun, if we are not to kill her.
(Extra down 3. Even now with Snaff, no closure on snaff's interactions with Kralky, or any closure on Zojja. When we heard snaff mentioning 'thats where that came from' i had half a thought Snaff takked to Zojja... in the mists
To defeat the dragons, see the good in them.
Zhaitan reunites lost ones, primordus creates fertile land, mordremoth spreads the green, and jormag..
..jormag? Who's that?
Well I liked the story as I mentioned but now things are moving along, I'm not sure what to do with Sun's Refuge and there is no point or indication of how or why to upgrade it. I found the runes but that's a repeatable thing for a chest so that was a bit meh. The requiem armor set was pretty cool to do. I'm not done but after the first two pieces, it does become a grind again and I'm losing interest rapidly in spending time there. Though I might run another alt through the story, which I didn't expect to want to do again.
The thing is that other than the requiem armor there is nothing really of interest to me and the mistonium farm is not a great one. It's a bit all over the place. So story is great. The map looks great (in spite of being a bit bored with the branded stuff), but I'll get the first armor set complete and then I think that'll be that. There is some strange detail work that kind of ruins the aesthetic for me so I'm not getting the full sets after the first one. And well exotic armor is easy to get so it's really just about the looks for me.
"In my experience, if you can't say what you mean, you can never mean what you say. The details are everything." ~ Minister Durano
As I already wrote in another thread, my rating for this episode is a solid 10/10:
I haven't found a single thing I can criticize at this point. It is an awesome episode, the best so far (my absolute favorite, to be precise ).
The writing, as I foresaw, is getting better and better - the increase in quality during LWS4 has been phenomenal. Every single character is on-point, and the ambiente NPCs are rich and three-dimensional as well. It feels like a living, breathing environment. I hope it stays on this high level.
The story was wonderful as well, I enjoyed every single minute of it.
I love the map (design, explorability, variety in conent, etc.), and as for Sun's Refuge, I sincerely hope that it will be expanded further through future content (as it would end up being a huge disappointment in retrospect if it wasn't).
Edit: Okay, there is one thing that still bothers me about the writing, as I am just playing through the content for the second time, on my Charr: it not always fits your character's race. My charr being so "soft" and calling Braham "family", although Charr who grew up in the Black Citadel have no understanding of the term (due to being raised in a fahrar) but only for warbands. You are already trying to put slight differences into the dialogue depending on race, but it requires even more attention IMO.
It's been a few days, hope you guys are still reading! Just found the time to finish the main story, and I'd give it a solid 9/10. Please note that I haven't had time to complete the map and all the activities yet.
The Good
- The Aurene cinematic was great. I was in the 'duh' category in the first few runs of Aurene's death, and yet by the end I was whimpering and going 'nononono please make it stop Aurene no'. If that's not an effective cinematic, I don't know what is.
- Running the Koss-Kossan subplot throughout it is really nice and makes you feel invested in him.
- Blish's character went from 'another asura' to 'awww I like that kid' this episode.
- The beginning with all the different factions of Elona. While I understand that they necessarily can't be the main focus, I'd LOVE to see more about them and how they end up.
- I actually really like the sniper segment. All those Medal of Honor trauma flooding back, lol.
The Bad
- The writing can get heavyhanded and uneven. Neither of these are new to GW2's writing, and I understand that a lot of it comes from the challenges of writing an MMO that needs to be vague enough and yet needing all players to be on the same page for the important developments. However, this one went heavyhanded in a new way that I'm not sure I like. Case example : Taimi's reveal at the end. It's made in a fashion where she's talking at us instead of talking to the Commander, and it took me out of the moment. Disappointing for a plot thread I've been looking forward to since LS1.
- Speaking of which, the Commander! They've been really reactive this episode, what with all the other things (which will list in the next section), but it took me out of the moment that...the Commander who nearly panicked when Taimi cried in LS3 had little reaction over her reveal? They didn't get a line in response except the one we manually say to her and can miss? It's all about Blish, this kid they've known for a few months?
- Braham comforting the Commander is great. About time someone does that for their trauma conga line. However, unless he's trying to comfort Taimi and referring to his Eir grief/their past griefs at the same time, calling the episode name after Blish is a little bit over the top. Blish's death is tragic to be sure, but the Commander has suffered worse tragedies. Their sky is studded with guiding stars at this point, and it's kind of.....unfair to single Blish out. Perhaps it'd have been better to make him say that as a catch-all to whoever died on their watch.
The Wonderful
- The map! Of course I haven't finished it yet so this opinion may change, but I've really loved the map with all its nooks and crannies so far! I was almost sad that I had to tear myself away from it to play through the story, lol.
- The conclusion of Braham's conflict. I feel that Braham is a little one-note this episode compared to how multifaceted he was in the last one, but I can't even complain because that was G R E A T. 10/10 will stay beside him to the end again.
- Making callbacks to Core GW2 with Trahearne and Orr and the fungi/Destiny's Edge, The Pact! It's about time the Commander says something in the main story about those things again, and I understand that mentally they just got to that point last episode maybe BUT.
- The VA did a knockout job with this one again. Kudos to whoever is involved.
- You managed to realize the concept of Elder Dragons as a force of nature. This is something that GW2's been struggling with ever since Core release, and this time I'd say that you NAILED IT.
- The writing for the vast majority of the episode. The pacing is a bit uneven at spots (the transition from the Elona plot to the Kralky plot, bringing up Trahearne's favourite poem), but I've enjoyed the vast, vast majority of it. The sniper section in particular managed to make me think about the war themes of the past episodes in a new way, which is something I'm thankful for.
TL;DR --- Loved all my time in the story except the one bit at the end with the Taimi cinematic. Looking forward to the next one!
I would say that story telling has declined significantly in this episode. The first instance was a bit odd as well with The Commander sounding panicky. On a positive note, the instance wasn't so difficult that it distracted from the story.
Mesmerizing Girl
@Obtena.7952 said:
My only complaint so far is that in the first story part, was that it was not intuitive on how to move the scared people around. Unless I have forgotten, no other mechanic in the game works like that. It was frustrating to just stand there yelling at them wondering why they run randomly around until you figure out the controls.
Raid 1, wing 3: escort.
For the Blood Legion! - 11 charr
I really liked the Convergence of Sorrow I: Elegy achievement. I did not mind the running back and forth. It told a bittersweet story along the way and I found myself very much engaged. Very nice story writing there.


text:
WWS for the shadowpriest
We're going to look at the shadowpriest stats first simply because they're easier. Now I'm going to assume you read both WWS posts I've made already and avoid a lot of lengthy general how-to — if you haven't, and you get lost here, read them first to save some time. And when you get back… be aware I'm planning to get longwinded and prepare accordingly (caffeine, comfy chair, etc.)
Back? OK, let's get started. Again, this is for the shadowpriest just because it's easier to get and use the stats that can matter.
Step one. Determine your theoretical maximum. This is surprisingly easy as there is a spreadsheet that will do the work for you – download it from the link you find HERE. (Note: I've not linked directly because the author regularly updates, and sometimes has to change the link to make it work. Thus we're going through the shadowpriest.com link). Make sure while you're filling in the grey blanks that you correctly mark the level of the mob you're fighting as well as your level and mana and, well, everything else. Once you've done this the program will tell you what your theoretical maximum DPS is, as well as how long it takes to go OOM (and how much damage you can do over that time, and…) Anyway, now you've got your theory model, and it's time to test your 'perfect world' play – aka your baseline.
Step two. Create a baseline. If you're less than level 66 or so this is NOT going to work for you, and you'll have to develop a reasonable alternative. (I'll discuss that in a bit.) Your baseline is an attempt to create your "perfect world" situation – what you can do if the mobs don't hit you, don't run, don't force you to move… I speak, of course, of a Dr Boom test. To summarize, get all the pots and such you can handle – whatever you said you'd have available when doing the spreadsheet of step one. (If you find you've said something that isn't there, make the necessary changes in the spreadsheet and recalculate. By the way, Boom is level 68 – don't forget to plug that number in for your theoretical max.) Please remember that you are attacking something with ~500,000 hit points. If you're going to stop at only about 200,000 or so, you can't mount, you can't hearth, you can't… until you get "out of combat". That means kill, or run, or die. Plan accordingly. (Oh – and if you're on a PVP server, plan further. Stationary, locked in combat with a quest objective mob for several minutes close enough to road and typical flight paths to be frequently spotted… caveat emptor.) Anyway…
Start /combatlog, and start your sequence. Attack till you're done, and then toggle combatlog off (another /combatlog). Now if you were running a damagemeter (or Recount or SWS) you can do some ingame analysis – and you're going to be able to see how these differ from one to the other. But we're looking at WWS, so you need to exit the game and go on.
Oh – I said I'd discuss baseline for lower levels. I'm not sure any option exists. See, what you need is a mob against which you can do damage for a long, long time which doesn't require you to dance about. If you can think of (and suggest here, please) a mob that meets the need for lower levels, great. If not, you may have to go to step four – 'realworld' results. First, though, we're going to step three.
Step three is our look at the baseline performance in WWS. Now believe it or not this is really, really important – even more than "am I meeting the theoretical max". See, this is 'perfect world'. So this is your chance to look at what you look like without interruptions and other players and, well, everything. When you look at 'real world' results, comparing this to that will allow you to spot weaknesses. (Well, weaknesses beyond what you're going to discover here.) Upload your log, host or save it, and start looking at what the stats tell you.
Are you getting the DPS the spreadsheet said you should? Probably not, so… why not? Did you maintain the sequence? Open YOUR line and look – is your ratio of spells in line with what the spreadsheet said you should be using given your priorities, or are you short (or heavy) some spells? (Yes, the spreadsheet has a page that will tell you that info – or at least the one I've downloaded does.) Are you getting spells off in a timely fashion? Are you clipping unnecessarily? Did you get as much damage before you went OOM as it expected – or more or less? If you tossed VE (and/or VT) in the mix, did the results approximate the spreadsheet expectation?
OK, take a breath. You will not match the spreadsheet. You want to be reasonably close – say, no worse than 5% (and in some cases better than what the sheet says – it's possible, but tricky) in DPS and total damage at OOM. But… what if you're not? Let's say your DPS is way below what the spreadsheet says it should be – what next?
Start trying to figure out why? Start with the detail sheet of damage out. The most common problem is failure to keep SW:P up all the time, so… count casts and ticks. Did you get all the ticks for the casts (divide ticks by casts, and it's either 6, 7 or 8 depending on talents)? If not, you were clipping – casting the next before the first was done. And multiply total ticks by three and compare to total time in the battle. You will be a little short – lag and human reaction make this a given – but if it's more than, say, a quarter second per cast (casts times four) then you're probably forgetting to put it on — unless that's intentional given your priority.
Another problem is hesitation in using SW:D. And then there's mindflay timing. And were you too quick to restore VE and/or VT? Speaking of which… did you get the expected health and mana from those two spells? If not… same discussion as SW:P. Detailed examination of your process, over and over, to find where you missed.
An important caveat needs entered here. One of the things that will throw off your results is the fact your real damage is a range of potential – to include chance of hit. While the sustained run on Boom should bring this closer to 'average', the reality is that it won't be TRULY average. If you're off by a lot and you think you did everything right, do another run because it may have simply been Lady Luck giving you low (or high) rolls.
Step four – combatlog every time possible. Now it's a given you're going to be way off your max possible on most fights. You have to move. A lot of bosses will interrupt you – charge, silence, stun, damage, etc. The mobs and bosses will be higher (and lower) than your perfect models. You'll have assistance (and occasional interference) from other partymembers. You still want to run a combatlog and load it into WWS every chance you get, and review the numbers against your 'perfect world' spreadsheet. If you were able to run a baseline (Boom or other), try to determine why you didn't reach that level on this combat – was it time out of combat due to the boss, boss level? Interrupts (fear and silence)? or do you get so wrapped in the engagement you forgot to keep SW:P up? Or did you have to throttle back to keep from pulling aggro from your tank? Remember, note, learn, and adjust. Note also that in instance runs you've other players with which to compare. Were you matching the high dps (who wasn't pulling aggro?) Oh – make that 'when applicable', because there are going to be times you CAN'T do that — such as a mage doing an AoE clear.
These are the basics. Get a perfect world model (spreadsheet). Get, if possible, a baseline to include stats. Get the stats for every run you make, and compare them to the baseline and the model looking to see where (and why) you didn't reach them (or where you exceeded — it is possible to do, but you need to know why so it's intentional.)
Are you doing the damage and health return and mana return you're supposed to? Probably not, but with this you'll KNOW — what it should be, what you're doing, and maybe with some examination WHY. And that will help you get just a little closer to Uber.
Have fun.
2 Responses to "WWS for the shadowpriest"
An awesome post. I'm a healing priest, but I enjoyed this a lot – very informatively written, clear and understandable, and interesting too. Now, of course there is no such thing for us holy priests – we can't heal Dr. Boom to death, after all – but I'm looking forward to your take on our stats!
[…] is a quality instead of quantity issue. Still, we can use the stats to our benefit. As with the shadowpriest version, I'm going to assume you've read the relevant prerequisite […]

subset: commoncrawl


text:
RV shipments to retailers were reported at 10,300 units in the February survey of manufacturers compiled by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), an increase of nearly 40% over last month but 63% less than this same month, one year ago.
Shipments of towables totaled 9,600 units, while motorized shipments totaled 700 units. Seasonally adjusted, February's results represent an annualized total of more than 120,000 units.
While towable RVs improved in February, moving up 45% compared to shipments of these same products one month earlier, motorhome totals were the same. Conventional travel trailers represented 60.3% of this month's total shipments as compared to 54.1% for all of last year.
In particular, February 2009 shipments, compared with February 2008 shipments were as follows:
- Travel trailer shipments totaled 6,200 units, down 58.1%.
- Fifth-wheel shipments totaled 2,400 units, down 64.7%.
- Folding camping trailer shipments totaled 900 units, down 55.0%.
- Truck camp shipments totaled 100 units, down 80%.
- Class A shipments totaled 300, down 83.3%.
- Class C shipments totaled 400 units, down 73.3%.
- Class B shipments were down 64.6%, with less than 100 units shipped.


text:
MassFloors necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 130 diseños de 37 diseñadores freelance.
MassFloors LLC is a startup from Massachusetts, USA founded by a group of young flooring contractors. We believe It's going to be a decent size statewide floor covering company. We specialize in sales and installation of Carpet, Vinyl, Ceramic and Composite tiles, laminate. We feature: modern technologies in order processing and floor installation; good-looking, young yet, highly professional, experienced and conscious staff; exceptional cleanness of jobsite. For more than modest price tag we provide flawless experience to our both commercial and residential customers.
Commercial and major: Upscale apartment complexes, Hotels and Office Buildings.
Residential sector: Everybody who is looking for rock-solid quality and good-looking floor (not so cheap, and not so crazy expensively fancy) for their homes. People who use to judge in the terms of quality to price ratio.
1.There has to be an Icon that could be used separately from logo.
2. Probably that's a good idea to visually separate "Mass" from "Floors" using different colors/fonts. (Name "MassFloors" is registered as a solid word)
3. Initially We would like those colors to be used:
Metallic silver as representation of modernity, technology and luxury.
And red (Something between Maroon and Bloody red) as representation of energy, luxury and fire in our hearts.
You're free to change that, but you know what the colors should speak of.
And finally. Energy, youthful hotheadedness, extreme consciousness, complete love to smart ways, infinite craving to learn, willing to provide something exceptional in our boring and stale industry, that's what we are, and that's the spirit we want you to be imbued with while creating the standard of another small revolution!!!
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
It was, by most accounts, a grand success.
Will Wright, Brian Fargo, David Perry, Neil Young, Rob Pardo and Warren Spector gathered together around a table talking deeply about gaming and the things they would do, could do, if only.
Pardo even mentioned that he had spoken with Microsoft about the next Xbox.
As the event wrapped up a GDC staff photographer came in to capture the momentous occasion. She had everyone stand closer together. Asked everyone to smile. Asked Wright to remove his GDC pass. Then asked Young, former EA exec, founder of Ngmoco, if he wouldn't mind tucking in his shirt. She wasn't kidding.
"I didn't know my mother was taking the pictures," Young said, after the laughter died down.


text:
Shipping to: Israel
White "base coat" volume intensifier mascara
An effective mascara base capable of giving 169%* more volume compared to regular mascara.
Its creamy formula enriched with volumizing powders, gives body and structure to your lashes, maintaining their softness and so making the application of your mascara easier.
After putting it on, your black mascara will glide onto your lashes easily, blending perfectly with the white base coat, without weighing down your look.
The triangular fiber brush, designed exclusively for KIKO, eases the drawing of the mascara and allows perfect application along the entire length of your lashes.
*Clinical-instrumental test.
Ophthalmologically tested.
+ 169 % more volume*.
*compared to mascara alone. Instrumental clinical test.
Your lashes are intensely volumized, thick, full bodied and at the same time soft and light.
Get ready for your eyes to gain a truly special intensity.
Apply on clean eyelashes, using the practical, curved triangular brush to deposit and apply the texture throughout the entire length of your eyelashes. Allow to dry for a few moments.
Afterward, put on your normal mascara, from the root to the tips, taking care to cover the white primer base well.
From KIKO's creativity and innovation comes False Lashes Concentrate, a new line of "top coat", created expressly to touch up your mascara, without creating clots, runs or smudges and without making them stiff.
Their application, to be combined with your normal mascara, allows the result to be enhanced, giving your eyes that extraordinary "false- lashes effect".
Five new formulas for five different results, immediately visible and clinically tested.
Building Base Mascara> + 169% more volume*
Lengthening Mascara> + 72% more length*
Volume Top Coat Mascara> + 75% more volume*
Curling Top Coat Mascara> + 80% more curl*
Waterproof Top Coat Mascara > + waterproof*
*compared to mascara alone. Instrumental clinical test.
The cost varies depending on the delivery service and the destination country of the order. For more details see the "Delivery information and costs" page.
More information
Shipping times may vary depending on the service chosen. In the countries served by Swiss Post (Asendia) only, delivery takes an average of 6-7 working days (up to a maximum of 10) from the order being dispatched. In countries where the Skynet service is also available, the shipping time is 2-4 days after being dispatched by courier. More information
Purchases made on KIKO are secure and guaranteed. All information relating to payments, including personal information and credit card information, is protected through an advanced encrypted data transmission system. Under no circumstances will KIKO file your credit card number, nor will it use or keep the information you provided on its own systems.
You have 14 business days from the date you receive the items in which to exercise your right to return the goods. Please let Customer Service know about any problems relating to the goods received.
To use a promotional code, select "Have you got a promotional code?" on the shopping cart page and insert the characters indicated in the appropriate field. If your code is inserted correctly, the amount and/or content of the Shopping Cart will be recalculated based on the promotion applied.
Water-resistant rich volume-enhancing effect mascara
"Top Coat" glitter mascara
Purifying face cleansing mousse
Tone-neutralizing eye base that sets and improves the hold of your eyeshadow
Volumizing mascara for fuller-looking lashes with panoramic effect. Water resistant
Bel prodotto
Formula ok, scovolino meno
Obligatorio como Prebase de Mascara de Pestañas
Base mascara
Muy bueno


text:
American International Group: What Does AIG's CEO Change Mean For The Company?
American International Group still trades at a material discount to book value: 23% to be precise.
Even though the insurance company has grown its book value fairly steadily since 2011, has deployed significant amounts of capital to buy back shares and initiated a quarterly dividend, investors still don't like to get exposure to one of the largest insurance companies in the country.
American International Group always ran healthy insurance companies in the property- and casualty and Life business and both subsidiaries were solidly profitable throughout the financial crisis.
In fact, the 2008 bailout was precipitated by AIG's Financial Products division which pretty much acted like a hedge fund and sold wheelbarrows full of credit default swaps.
CDS are hedging instruments which were largely bought by other financial institutions in order to mitigate bond default risk, but which were pumped up as AIG's cash cow without properly reserving for the underlying risks.
Long story short: AIG was on the brink of implosion because of its Financial Products division not because of its insurance subsidiaries. AIG ultimately hired Chief Executive Officer Benmosche, got recapitalized and sold off non-core assets (ALICO, its stake in Asian insurance giant AIA and airplane leasing unit ILFC).
Return to stability and book value growth-Thanks to Robert Benmosche
Truth be told, a large part of American International Group's recovery is attributable to CEO Robert H. Benmosche who aggressively moved to recapitalize the company, repaid the bailout funds with a profit and returned the company to growth.
More importantly, he gave the company a perspective.
Benmosche has been a good capital allocator, first and foremost. He pushed for share buybacks and took advantage of book value discounts in the 50% neighborhood.
Share repurchases in particular have been a savvy move, that has served American International Group's book value and its shareholders well.
From the end of 2012 to the first quarter of 2014, American International Group's book value per share has grown more than 8% to $71.77 which is not an easy thing to do for a company of AIG's size.
Coming to AIG at the height of the financial crisis and when AIG was facing insolvency, Benmosche took on what was then probably the most hated job in America. However, he kept his cool and quickly earned the respect of investors and analysts.
Even though wide-spread pessimism with respect to AIG's future persists, American International Group remains a fundamentally solid insurance franchise with much more potential to grow its valuation.
Time after Benmosche-A focus on operational improvements
After spearheading American International Group's return to profitability and book value growth, Benmosche is now set to be replaced by Peter D. Hancock, a seasoned insurance professional and current Chief Executive Officer of AIG's property and casualty division. Hancock will take over on September 1 while Benmosche will stay on as an advisor.
Transferring responsibility for AIG is the right move for shareholders at this time. Benmosche has been done everything he could and fundamentally restructured, downsized and rebranded AIG.
But now is the time to focus on the insurance company's underlying profitability and an improvement in combined ratios which requires hand-on insurance experience.
AIG's property- and casualty business, for instance, reported a first quarter combined ratio of 101.2 vs. 97.3 in the prior year. Combined ratios reflect underwriter discipline: A ratio above 100 shows, that the company is not covering expenses and claims with the premiums it is taken in. The result is an underwriting loss which stood at $97 million in the first quarter in the case of AIG.
American International Group's high combined ratios in the property and casualty business, however, are a big chance for the insurance company to create value. If AIG manages under new CEO leadership to push its property and casualty combined ratio in the 95.0-96.0 region, institutional investors would probably feel more comfortable in purchasing AIG and cause higher share prices.
The Foolish Bottom Line
Benmosche deserves credit for his restructuring success at AIG. However, the new CEO is a seasoned insurance executive and, with his background in the property and casualty business, seems to be right man to improve AIG's underlying insurance metrics.
In any case, with a 23% discount to book value, investors are hardly overpaying, but have a lot to look forward to under Hancock's stewardship.
Warren Buffett just bought nearly 9 million shares of this company
Imagine a company that rents a very specific and valuable piece of machinery for $41,000 per hour (That's almost as much as the average American makes in a year!). And Warren Buffett is so confident in this company's can't-live-without-it business model, he just loaded up on 8.8 million shares. An exclusive, brand-new Motley Fool report details this company that already has over 50% market share. Just click HERE to discover more about this industry-leading stock... and join Buffett in his quest for a veritable landslide of profits!
The article American International Group: What Does AIG's CEO Change Mean For The Company? originally appeared on Fool.com.Kingkarn Amjaroen owns shares of American International Group. The Motley Fool recommends American International Group. The Motley Fool owns shares of American International Group and has the following options: long January 2016 $30 calls on American International Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2014 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


text:
Current release wines are available by first come first serve, with allocation members getting first priority to maximize their allocation.
Turiya Wines is a small producer of ultra boutique wines from the Central Coast of California. Turiya is determined to create rare, fine wines, both blends as well as extremely small releases of single cultivars.
Total production for Turiya is set to only a few hundred cases annually and most releases are less than 100! Such small batches of wine allow for a real hands on winemaking experience; each lot personally crafted by winemaker Angela Soleno.
Due to the limited production of Turiya wines, purchasing availability is first offered to those who are on the Allocation List. Space is limited! To join the list please click here.
Scores are in from Wine Enthusiast and Turiya Wines has been graciously attributed with well-worth-the-wait ratings:
Grab these beauties before they are gone! Shop Now
805.478.7016 | 321 North D Street, Lompoc Ca 93436
All rights reserved. Website designed by ATS Consulting


text:
How the PUCO works for you
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) affects every household in Ohio. That's because the PUCO regulates providers of all kinds of utility services, including electric and natural gas companies, local and long distance telephone companies, water and wastewater companies, rail and trucking companies. The PUCO was created to assure Ohioans adequate, safe and reliable public utility services at a fair price. More recently, the PUCO gained responsibility for facilitating competitive utility choices for Ohio consumers.
5 ways the PUCO works for you
Protects you by monitoring and enforcing PUCO rules and state laws against unfair, inadequate and unsafe public utility and transportation services.
Resolves your disputes either informally between you and the company or through our formal complaint process where only the PUCO can order relief and corrective action. The PUCO resolves disputes between utilities and residential, business, and industrial customers, as well as between competing utilities.
Assures availability of adequate, safe and reliable services to all residential, business and industrial consumers.
Provides you with information about your rights and responsibilities as a utility customer and publishes the Apples to Apples cost comparisons for energy services where you have a choice at www.energychoice.ohio.gov. You can turn to the PUCO for answers to your questions and help with your utility and transportation problems.
Regulates your rates for utility services where you do not have choices. Even with competition growing in the gas and electric industries, for example, the PUCO still sets the rates for delivery of those services since that part is still controlled by one company.


text: Petition Petition to Save the Tarpon of Boca Grande Pass Read the petition First Name Last Name Email City State / Province Post Code Country Business Name/Website Save the Tarpon Fishery of Boca Grande Pass The first Tarpon ever recorded caught on hook and line was caught in 1885, just miles from Boca Grande Pass. That achievement marked the beginning of what has become a world-renown fishery that seasonally stretches all over Florida and from Virginia through Texas and the Caribbean. Biologists believe that Tarpon use Boca Grande Pass as a meeting place before and after offshore spawning migrations. The Pass also provides an abundance of food giving the tarpon a better chance of healthy survival after the rigors of spawning. The fish come to the area from throughout the region. Since we know Tarpon can migrate long distances, we also know that what happens to tarpon in one location is important to tarpon in other locations. What happens in Boca Grande has implications for the regional Tarpon fishery from the Keys to the Panhandle. The recent and alarming inception of the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series (PTTS), a high-impact, season-long for-profit tournament in Boca Grande Pass, is causing significant negative impacts to the Tarpon fishery. Tarpon have changed their movement, feeding, and spawning behaviors. The change in these patterns has altered the quality of the fishery. Additionally, by the glorification and promotion of unsafe boat operations by the PTTS contestants on television, the safety of all anglers and boaters in Boca Grande Pass and the surrounding waterways is now threatened. The actions of the PTTS, its sponsors, and participants show total disregard for the historically and culturally important tarpon fishery in Boca Grande Pass. The PTTS has purposely adopted unethical fishing practices to help facilitate higher TV ratings and profits–fishing practices that have long been known to the angling community as outdated and unsportsmanlike. I, the undersigned, support the Save the Tarpon movement and call for the immediate termination of the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series (PTTS). This must be done to preserve the fishery for anglers of today and for the future health of the fishery. [signature] Sign Now Please take a moment to share this with your friends: Share this:Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)


text:
Even just watching the 2 minute, 39-second trailer for ESPN's film "Run Ricky Run," which makes its cable debut Tuesday night, the mind boggles: how in the world did Ricky Williams bear up under the intense scrutiny, harsh criticism, and burdensome expectations that smothered most of his controversial football career?
"More marijuana" is the short answer, or at least it was for a while.
But the film doesn't just follow Williams in his search for answers outside football and into a drug-free second coming, it reveals that the Dolphins running back's life is more complicated and affected than even previousy thought -- and more than anyone's should have to be: Ricky Williams was sexually abused by his own father.
In 1983, six-year-old Ricky told his mother that Errick Williams, Sr., had been forcing him to take nude photos of his father with a Polaroid camera. Her now-former husband, to whom she hasn't spoken in decades, was arrested and charged with "sexually annoying" a child.
The elder Williams agreed to be interviewed about the subject on camera, and never actually denies that he abused his son.
"I'm not a saint, I haven't always been a saint. The past is the past and I like leaving the past behind me," Williams, Sr. says in the film, according to Fanhouse. "A picture taken? I don't recall."
Ricky's mother, however, says her son recalls -- and that anger toward his father, who she says is now a registered sex offender, has deeply affected his life.
"When [Ricky] grew up," she said, "he wanted to be a policeman so he could shoot his father and get away with it because a policeman can shoot you and not get in trouble."
Oof. Having been abused won't make Williams' choices go down easier with affronted talking heads or abandoned front office execs or concerned tut-tutters in Bible Belt sewing circles. But his struggle was always much more three-dimensional than "Ricky Williams chose marijuana over football," as diagnoses of crippling social anxiety and bipolar disorders would later show, and the film's revelations just might prove that Ricky Williams' real story is that he's been able to overcome so much.
A premier tonight at the Colony Theatre in Miami Beach benefits the Ricky Williams Foundation. Tickets are available at rickywilliamsfoundation.com.


text:
Agricultural Jobs for Teens
What you need to know about teens working in agricultural jobs
The minimum age for teens working in agricultural jobs is 14. The one exception is: 12- and 13-year-olds may work during non-school months (June 1 to Labor Day) hand-harvesting berries, bulbs, cucumbers and spinach.
Examples of agricultural jobs include work on farms and in some packing operations.
Note: The hours of work and the prohibited duties for teens (under 18 years) working in agriculture differ from those working in non-agricultural jobs.
Hiring Teens
Find out what requirements businesses, parents and schools must fulfill for teens to work in agricultural jobs.
Hours of Work
Find out what hours and days of the week teens are normally allowed to work during school and non-school weeks for agricultural jobs. Also find out how to apply for a Seasonal Variance from those requirements, if necessary.
Prohibited Duties
Learn about the work activity restrictions for all teens in agricultural jobs; those under 16 have additional restrictions.
Wages, Breaks & Meal Periods
Find out the special allowable wage for teens under age 16. Learn the break and meal period requirements for teen workers in agricultural jobs.
For more information see the L&I publication:
Young Workers in Agriculture. (565 KB PDF / 1.5 min)
For more detail, see L&I Administrative Policy:
School Week and Work Week for Minors (ES.C.4.1). (134 KB PDF)
For more detail, see Washington Administrative Code:
Agriculture Employment Rules (WAC 296-131).