AmaraKaiba

Ok, I have to say that I have just about had it with Overwatch's competitive mode. I love Overwatch, and have been pretty obsessed with it since it came out, but as a Mercy mainer (is that even a word?), I'm starting to get very frustrated with it. Anyone who favors Mercy knows that we have to deal with our fair share of aggravation, from constantly being targeted by enemy fire to trying to support a team that spreads apart to all corners of the map, not to mention never being appreciated for our contributions to the team, but, hey, we deal. However, I recently discovered something that kinda struck a nerve. Over the last couple days, I took the time to complete my placement matches for season 3 of competitive, and (really not trying to brag here) I kicked ass. During one match in particular, I managed to heal 67% percent of team damage taken. To put that into perspective, that means that, over the course of the match, I personally and single-handedly healed my team for two thirds of the total damage inflicted by the entire enemy team (a feat for which I wasnt even upvoted, btw, and yes I was on the board). Now, it's important to note that for the first two seasons I tried to vary my play-style, attempting to play my characters from every category to suit the situation, but for this season I stuck almost exclusively to Mercy, who is by far my best. So you can imagine my surprise when, after having performed better than ever, I achieved my lowest ranking to date. Needless to say I wasnt very happy with this, so I did some research. Turns out that the algorithms used by the ranking system are not only biased against support characters, but actually enable other classes of heroes to leech off of support characters, allowing them to achieve higher ranks thanks to their support teammates keeping them alive longer. Of course this isn't the first time that I've felt underappreciated in this game. I remember a match where one member of my team was on mic and wouldn't stop bit...sorry, "complaining"...that I wasnt healing him or using my ultimate (nevermind the fact that he was a mile away from the group and the only one dying the entire time). I also remember a fit of hysterical laughter when Blizzard updated their play of the game system because people complained about mercy getting play of the game for quad-revives too many times. As a Mercy player, I've had matches before the update where I've gotten quad-revives and kill streaks (and sometimes both at once), and I still didn't get play of the game. Also, do you know how hard it is to actually get a quad-revive? It means you have to outlive 4 of your teammates in close proximity while your ultimate is charged. It may not sound like much, but if you're on a skilled team, 4 of your teammates dying at once with you there and still alive just doesn't happen. Mercy players know the struggle.

Long story short (and WOW, did I rant, sorry), if anyone reading this plays on a team with an even halfway decent Mercy, please take the time to thank them for their hard work in the match, because if we keep getting ignored and pushed aside for camping Bastions, we just might stop healing your asses

Today, a serious blow has been struck, and it has been struck against ALL of us who are different. Rights and privileges that we have spent centuries fighting for are about to be set back in a serious way. Many of us have to deal with persecution on a daily basis, even here in the United States where we supposedly have protection against that persecution. The frightening thing is that we are about to lose that protection. A long, difficult battle just got longer and harder, and many of us now feel like giving up.

So now I say to all of my brothers and sisters: DO NOT GIVE UP! There are more of us who are different than there are those who are the same, AND THAT MAKES US THE SAME, MAKES US MORE POWERFUL. Take this for exactly what it is: a set-back. It may be a bad one, but it is NOT THE END. So I urge you, if you are man, woman, black, white, latino, christian, muslim, pagan, straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or whatever else might describe you, UNITE AND TAKE A STAND! Let the world know exactly who and what you are, and OWN IT! Show everyone that, no matter how different we are, we can all come together in peace and harmony! Show them that we are ALL ONE PEOPLE!

I also urge all of my fellow vampires, werewolves, witches, and otherkin to, please, come out of the shadows and stand with our brothers and sisters in the light! Many of you may believe that it is not our time yet, and you may be right, but if we don't help now, our time may never come. Right now, we are safe, because the majority of the human race does not believe we even exist, but those who are not safe, who are in the public eye, NEED OUR HELP! So please, stand with me. STAND WITH US!

The time for change is now. For those who do not yet know, my name is Amara, and I am a bisexual vampire! Anyone reading this, please, share it, spread the message, follow the example, and show those of us who feel like giving up that the fight is not over!

NEVER GIVE UP!

So, I recently discovered that someone shared one of my deviations on Facebook. This wouldn't normally be a problem except for one small detail: I WAS NEITHER CREDITED NOR ASKED FOR PERMISSION! If anyone happens to see any of my work on any media sites and I am not credited, please take appropriate actions. I will of course do the same for any of you. Everyone on this site is an artist in their own right, and I'm sure you'll all agree with me that there is no worse offense against an artist than someone taking credit for their work. I certainly don't need everyone on Facebook trying to take credit for mine.

Ok, I just can't take it anymore.  Can someone please explain to me why Tales of Symphonia was so damn popular?  I first played Symphonia more than 10 years ago when I was a kid, and I hated it so much that I never touched another tales game until about a year ago when I was convinced (rather adamantly) to play Tales of Graces.  I absolutely loved Graces, so much that it convinced my to give the rest of the series another shot.  I played Vesperia, Abyss, and the Xillias.  I thought they were all great (though Graces is by far the best), so I went back to Symphonia, thinking that maybe I was too young to appreciate it.  I was wrong.  I played all the way through the game, and you know what?  IT STILL SUCKS.  I honestly don't get it.  I mean, Dawn of the New World was better.  The story was trite, repetitive, and completely predictable, the combat system was rigid and glitchy, the characters were all the same and completely bland, and the writing was atrocious.  Seriously, the party would be told something 3 times and still not know it, then they would turn around and know something that they couldn't possibly be aware of yet.  And I'm sorry, but "Angel Toxicosis"?  WTF?  And let's not forget the puzzles.  They were so easy, but they were ridiculously long.  A monkey could solve these puzzles, but it would need a 5 hour energy to do it.  And just how many times was this game supposed to end anyway?  The only thing, the ONLY thing that got me through this game was one character:  Zelos.  Zelos was the one well-written thing about this game.  He was funny and original, and it was worth playing through this terrible game just to see what he would do next.  So that's it.  That's my summary of the so-called "best tales game ever".  With Zestiria coming out and Berseria announced, all I hear is people wondering how they'll stack up to Symphonia, and I just need an explanation.  Someone please give me a logical explanation as to why this game was so popular.  And please make it something besides "it's just my opinion" and "I'm wrong, symphonia's the best, and I suck", cause I've heard those already.