luv ya :D

We did have a talk after the stream, and we will definitely be keeping an eye on the game and seeing how it grows, and we will be adding it to our rotation of games to play again :D

lol legit 30 mins in and thinking the same thing

Okay. Let's break this down. Length - Feedback received. The ability to be more concise is required. This is already going to be discussed in the project's post-mortem, internally. Jinx's Mental State - We had already discussed what Jinx has been suffering in previous acts, touching (briefly as it may have been) on the PTSD and Psychosis/Schizophrenia she clearly suffers from already. Seems we did not discuss it enough it seems. Inferred information and backfilling - Stating that we needed parts "Spelling out to us" while simultaneously providing hypotheticals and theories is exactly the problem with some of the writing that were being highlighted. Pacing is also inconsistent in places, with Jayce's Fatalism and, actually, the final council vote being a couple of examples. It could have actually done with more episodes, and that can hardly be classed as a bad thing, right? This is the key thing though, the negative responses that have been received would suggest that we have stated that the show is irredeemable, when that is far from the case. I, personally have said this is a very good show...with flaws. With a second season, these flaws can easily be rectified. Sorry, unlike Jinx, the show is not perfect. Hopefully though, constructive discussion could be a continuing thing. -R

I'm totally onboard with essays, bring on the walls of text. I would have loved to have formatted the video into a more tightly edited piece, but we lack a full time editor, and we wanted to get our thoughts out while it was good and relevant, so I think that this was the best we could have done with what we had at the time. Your complaint on that front is still valid, though. I think people really undervalue nitpicks. It's one of those things where people acknowledge that these "nits" exist, but they don't want to talk about them, or they want to underplay their significance for a variety of reasons. A handful of nits throughout a production can easily be overlooked, but when they pile up, even if they are individually of no value, their collective mass can be an indicator of an overall sloppy production. Let's take your comment as an example. I understand what you are saying, despite the fact that you made a number of spelling and grammatical errors throughout. I don't need you to edit or change them in order for me to read and understand what you said, but collectively, the small, valueless mistakes you made give me an overall picture that your comment was written quickly, and without much care or attention to detail. And I don't mean that as an insult, by the way, I'm making an observation based on the facts. I want to encourage conversation, and to get people to think critically about the positions they hold, and why they hold them. I'm willing to concede that Powder had more than "one thing" go wrong in her life prior to her going insane, the problem is that by the end of Act 1, dependency issues aside, Powder is characterized as a relatively healthy, well-adjusted person, who has seemingly handled her trauma pretty well, all things considered. We certainly don't have any inclination, prior to her breakup with Vi, that she is a psychopath or schizophrenic, which means that particular trait is something developed exclusively after the breakup. That is what I mean by "one event"; she was fine, up until that point. My big problem with Silco and Jynx's relationship really, is that I have no reason to think that Silco is capable of expressing the type of affection he has for Jynx, based on how he treats everyone else in his life. It's an entirely new character element that was introduced offscreen, and frankly, wouldn't it have been a lot more interesting to see him open up and expose himself emotionally, onscreen, to give us that necessary development? His relationship with Jynx is so important to him that it becomes his critical flaw; it's literally what gets him killed in the end. That kind of depth can't just be "left to the imagination"; you have to show us how this works. And you say the end scene cements her as being passed the point of no return, are we talking specifically about the scene where she kills Silco, or that whole rocket scene? Because if we're talking about the Silco scene, I would argue the fact that she instinctively kills Silco in Vi's defense indicates, more than anything, that there should still be room for redemption for Jynx. It proves almost definitively that Jynx still cares about Vi, on some basic level, and so the scene where she decides to blow up the council chamber just comes across as a weird non-sequitur. She saves Vi's life, and then blows up a room full of important people, including Vi's partner's mom, so that she can full cement herself as irredeemable by Vi? These two things are completely incongruent without further context.

​@@MrGeorgeFlorcus Not all nitpicks are equal imo. If a nitpick means nothing to me, there being 10 of them or 20 of them doesn't change nothing into something. There are a few that bother me slightly, the rest not at all. Vi looking down briefly before looking back up at Ekko for example? Don't care at all like you do, the scene doesn't remotely bother me. In fact I could see myself doing a similar movement in that scene. As for Silco, it is implied to me that Silco shows some level of care over the part of his crew that is loyal to him. He is never shown treating others that great, sure, but the implications are there to highlight something deeper, some human emotion being there in him. You first get this as the story of his and Vander's past is revealed, that he trusted Vander like a brother and was betrayed, showing that he could love others just as anyone else. During the scene wherein he confronts Powder after the explosion, the mixed emotions of shock, confusion, and sympathy on his face perfectly encapsulates, without words even, all that he's feeling in the scene. He even glances at Vander briefly, showing a glimpse of humanity inside this man as Powder hugs him. 6-7 years pass and you can fill that in for yourself. I think the show does an excellent job of giving you enough to fill these things in yourself at multiple points in order to instead focus on other, more important (imo), parts of the story. You are SUPPOSED to question Silco and Jinx's relationship to some degree though, whether she really is a tool for him at the end of the day. It is not until the fountain scene where Silco speaks to Vander's statue that we learn how he really feels, that he cannot give up Jinx and that he is becoming more like Vander. Unable to sacrifice Jinx the same way Vander was unable to sacrifice his kids. He realizes in that moment that he was wrong about Vander, regretful even. Beautiful writing and dialogue during that scene. My understanding of the final scene is that by sitting in the "Jinx" chair, Powder has fully crossed the line into Jinx and can no longer go back. That's what it symbolized to me anyway. And yes, her killing Silco is the nail in the coffin that leads to this. Does some part of her still care for Vi? Yes, and I believe some part always will, but it is not the same as when they were young. She is still Jinx with no return imo. Her decision to fire the rocket was an act of madness influenced by Silco's words to "show them all". My interpretation is that her firing the rocket was, in part, FOR Silco and not just herself. The council wanted Jinx to be turned in as well, and she knows this, further instigating her to do this. Either way, I did not see her firing the rocket as having to do with Vi. Lastly, I'm not insulted by anything, so you need not hold back when talking to me :)

Bring down the...Mercury Hammer....? Here for eternity everyone.

Hello, person on the right here. I felt like I was fairly consistent in the way I evaluated the show, in that I was mainly concerned with character, with the logistics of the show (how each each action and decision led to the next, and whether or not it made sense the way it was presented), and tried to refrain from "emotive" assessment, i.e. describing how I felt rather than describing what I thought. Occasionally, when I felt it was appropriate, I compared my emotional response to my critical response, to show how it affected me on two different levels. And perhaps I was unnecessarily harsh on (Is it actually Glagger? I never looked up how to spell it actually)'s weight, I guess I felt relatively safe making the joke, given that he is a fictional character. But really, the point of that remark wasn't to be an asshole, or to slag off overweight people, it was to illustrate that logistically, all 4 of those people could not possibly have scrambled up that ladder in the time they had, even if they were all skinny, athletic people. Perhaps I should have taken a different approach, and I apologize. Lastly, I really did not come into Arcane specifically to hate it. Actually, it some ways I kind of liked it more than I thought I would. I came into Arcane with the intent of being critical where being critical was warranted. I actually didn't even know people liked Arcane before making the review, I never looked up a single review or critique, I knew nothing about the scale or nature of its popularity before I said what I said, because I didn't want outside information to alter my view on the show. If you felt I was harsh on the show, one possibility you might like to consider, is that possibly, it's not as good as you thought it was, and maybe it has some issues that you had overlooked on your watch through. Or maybe not, maybe I'm completely wrong, but we'll never know, if your choice is to completely write me off with addressing any of the points I made.

How do you mean? And are you referring to one or both of us?

I'm going to respond to this based on how I personally watched this and how I (correctly or otherwise) I read the comment, and Duncan can respond separately if he wishes. I watched Act 1 twice. Once as a fan, and thought it was a great show. Then I took a second and watched it again with a more critical eye, and decided it is a great show...with flaws, and I pointed out those flaws. I intend to watch the remaining acts the same way. There is nothing wrong with improvement (heck, in my head I'm evaluating our own video), but I'll give you this from my mind for free- Nothing. Is. Perfect. Even Arcane. Perfection is something to strive for, never something to be easily obtained (let it be known I despise the industry standard of "scoring" things and the mindset of anything less than a top score not worth experiencing, and on reflection, we may have made a mistake in "scoring" it ourselves.) Regardless, I will say this. The show is still worth watching, and I will be there for the ride for Acts 2 and 3. -R

Agreed on the water front! Heck, I'm impressed we talked for 4+ hours on this topic! -R

or if jayce betrays viktor...or throws him under the bus after a failed experiment.

@@severedproxy Also interesting. I'm personally in the camp of "Jayce isn't actually a very good person based on Arcane", so I would totally be more forgiving if that turned out to be the intention behind him all along.

@@MrGeorgeFlorcus Agreed, this might be kind of a stretch but, when viktor unintentionally saved jayce from commiting suicide, he mentioned jayce signing all the pages of his book and saying jayce being "a little egotistical". This made me think, it's easy to be nice when you have nothing but when you gain wealth and power, that's when your true personality shows. kinda feel like viktor is going to be a misunderstood hero who might side with the undercity because...as hinted by the teaser for act 2, jayce might help piltover use their new hextech weapons massacre the slum dwellers. this is all just speculation on my part tho, I might be 100% correct or extremely off the mark.

Podcast Holiday! -R