Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUSLY:

• Observer Rewind - 1987 by SaintRidley
  
• The Complete Wrestling Observer Rewind 1991-2001
  

1-7-2002	1-14-2002	1-21-2002	1-28-2002
2-4-2002	2-11-2002	2-18-2002	2-25-2002
3-4-2002

• Ever since the deaths of WCW and ECW, one of the big stories in the business has been watching other promotions attempt to rise up and fill the void, all with varying degrees success. The big two have been WWA and XWF. And it's always the same story. Some new company has a backer with unlimited resources and they promise, they're thiiiiiiiis close to striking a TV deal. But the money always falls through, the TV deals never materialize, and everything dries up. Then there's UFC, which is something of an alternative to pro wrestling, but it's also struggling with financial issues. However, they seem to have the best shot of it right now. The reality is, to have any chance of becoming a viable #2 behind WWF, you need television. Not just any television, you need a weekly show on a major network in a strong time slot. None of these companies have it and TV networks aren't chomping at the bit to offer it. The last network to take a chance on adding wrestling was TNN, almost 2 years ago when they signed up for ECW and later traded it in for WWF. Even in its dying days, WCW was still drawing decent ratings by TBS and TNT standards, but Time Warner dropped it anyway. Bischoff and Fusient negotiated with FOX for a year and when Turner dropped it, FOX had all the leverage and could have low-balled the hell out of them and gotten WCW if they wanted it for practically nothing. But they also passed. WWF is the #1 big dog in the industry and even their ratings are falling. In the eyes of TV execs, the wrestling boom is on the downswing and networks aren't interested in picking up a second-rate product in a declining industry. All of this makes it near impossible for anyone to become a viable competitor. Along with a TV deal, you also need tons of money to burn because networks will demand a big budget presentation (ECW went deep into debt just trying to make their shows look acceptable for TNN's standards). Because any viable startup is going to lose a lot of money at first, so you need a financial backer that is willing to absorb those losses for the faint hope that it miiiight pay off in the end. And finally, you need talent. You need a mix of hot, new stars and established names that the public already knows, And there's not a whole lot of them on the market right now. WWF has signed all the top available names and the rest are sitting out lucrative WCW contracts. And as we've seen, if you even try to build around someone (like XWF around Mr. Perfect), then there's always the final hurdle of Vince swooping in and signing them away, cutting you off at the knees before you even get off the ground.
  
• The way Dave sees it, the only viable way a new promotion is going to get off the ground anytime soon is if a major network is interested in getting behind it. And even if they do, Dave doesn't think you can launch right away. You need a network that will promise you a TV deal 3 years from now while helping to develop the product in the meantime. Then he suggests the OVW business model. Get all the best, available talent you can and run these shows as a small, local indie. Let them establish names and try to grow from that over the next 3 years in front of small crowds, sort of like what ECW did. In a few years, when you've created some stars with some buzz and grown your fan base, then you can launch nationally. You also need to take a page from Eric Bischoff's book and competitively bid for any major WWF star who's contract comes due. Without those major players, you won't be taken seriously by the general public. So you'll probably end up overpaying for a lot of WWF names (much like Bischoff did), but it's a necessity in this game if you want wrestling fans to see you as a real competitor to WWF. That's the tactic that helped WCW become competitive in the mid-90s. Of course, back then, WWF was already struggling with poor business and times were tough. They may be on the downswing now, but WWF is infinitely stronger now than it was then, plus they offer guaranteed money now, which is another difference. But anyway, you have to do all these things, with a network willing to spend the kind of money it takes to compete with Vince McMahon, and then you have to hope you're smarter than WCW and don't self-destruct in spite of it all. And even if all those things fall into place perfectly (no chance), there's still no guarantee it would be successful. TL;DR - the mountain to climb in order to become a competitor to Vince McMahon is practically insurmountable.
  
• So speaking of WWA, Dave has a ton of news on the fiasco of their recent PPV in Las Vegas. You can't advertise people who aren't under contract and you can't throw a major PPV together at the last minute, and they did both. Terry Taylor and Larry Zbyszko reportedly weren't paid. Each were promised $1,000 but since they were last minute additions to the show, they were told their checks weren't ready. Promoter Andrew McManus is saying he expected the cable companies to push the show harder, since they claim they want an alternative to WWF, but they barely advertised it at all. McManus also apparently had no idea Zbyszko was going to cut the promo he did, where he spent the entire time trashing the WWF and had no point whatsoever. They had about 2,500 people in attendance, but only 653 of those were paid, the rest freebies. PPV buys are expected to be embarrassing. And then the no-shows. As mentioned last week, Randy Savage had a verbal agreement with McManus but reportedly tried to change the terms at the last minute to something completely unreasonable so that fell apart. McManus was talking about filing a lawsuit against Savage backstage at the show, but the next day, they were in contact again and he's still trying to get Savage to work their next PPV in April. Buff Bagwell was also advertised for the show and McManus said he has no idea why because Bagwell was never booked and McManus said he doesn't want him back anyway. Road Dogg was advertised but he called McManus the day before the show and claimed he had been arrested on a probation violation in Pensacola and couldn't be there due to house arrest (he had already been paid for the show in advance). But Dave has done the research and neither the city nor county police have any record of him being arrested so...who knows? The Jeff Jarrett vs. Brian Christopher main event was a last minute change. McManus was pushing for Jarrett vs. Scott Steiner, but neither man was willing to put the other one over. Jarrett also has issues with McManus, feeling like McManus pushed him aside in favor of Randy Savage and when the Savage deal fell apart, he came crawling back to Jarrett. The week before the show, it was thought Jarrett (the WWA champion) might pull out also, but he ended up deciding to do it, but they still have some issues to work out. WWF also sent a letter threatening to sue WWA if Brian Christopher used his Grandmaster Sexay gimmick, which he has been using on the indies since he left WWF. All in all, just a complete shit-show and you can see how this company is already falling apart before they can even really get out of the blocks.
  
• So what about XWF? They've been trying to run house shows, but they've not been successful. The company taped several hours of shows to try to pitch to networks, but they have Jerry Lawler doing commentary (he's back in WWF now of course) and Curt Hennig (practically a jobber in WWF now) as the top star. So needless to say, those shows are pretty much useless for pitching to a network or building anything around. People in the company are claiming they're close to striking a TV deal with TNT, TBS, or USA but of course, as noted earlier, those things never pan out and nobody is really believing that XWF has a TV deal in the works. Jamie Kellner of Time Warner made it pretty obvious that he doesn't want wrestling anymore, so Dave can't imagine them picking up XWF and in fact, there's sources that say part of the deal with WWF buying WCW stipulated that Time Warner can't carry any wrestling program on their stations for 5 years, so not until April of 2006. Jimmy Hart did have a meeting with former Turner exec Bill Shaw who is close with Ted Turner personally. Shaw mentioned the idea to Ted, who seemed vaguely interested, but even if he was, he would have to find a different TV network to put it on. Ted Turner was also advised that it would probably cost upwards of $50 million in losses over the first 3 years to get off the ground, at which point he reportedly lost interest.
  
• There is another promotion in the works being quietly discussed. Jerry Jarrett has had negotiations with InDemand PPV, with the idea of doing weekly PPV events on Wednesday nights, at $9.95 each. Dave doesn't know if this is viable or not in the short-term, but without TV to create new stars, he can't see it lasting long-term. They'd be using most of the same talent WWA is using now. Jeremy Borash is trying to work out an agreement between WWA and Jarrett to share talent. Jerry Jarrett actually has a long track record as a promoter and company owner and made a lot of money in the 70s and 80s and then when he sold the promotion, he got into real estate and made even more money than he ever made in wrestling. He's a guy who wants to get into the business to make money, not just a money mark trying to get into the business for the fame. He knows how to make stars and book wrestling. Jarrett had a group of investors last year and made a last-ditch effort to buy WCW before Vince swooped in and got it. Dave says Vince Russo may end up involved with this promotion also, because they're interested in bringing him in as booker. But there's an issue there because Russo is still in a lawsuit with Hogan over the Bash at the Beach incident 2 years ago. As long as Russo doesn't work for another wrestling company, Time Warner's lawyers have agreed to represent him in the case, which is why he dropped out of being the booker for WWA, although not like you can tell from how that company is booked (I'm pretty sure Russo was secretly booking these guys all along actually). But the crux of Hogan's lawsuit was that the Bash incident basically destroyed his marketability as a wrestler. Him joining WWF kinda proves that to not be the case and Dave seems to think this lawsuit will probably fade away soon. Jeff Jarrett isn't involved in his dad's plans yet and is said to be against the idea, but Dave figures he'll probably end up involved in this new venture (yup). But there's also the worry of nepotism. No matter how much WCW tried to convince people otherwise, Jeff Jarrett is not a franchise guy you can build a successful company around, and Dave wonders if Jerry will recognize that with his own son, or will he fall into the same trap every promoter seems to when it comes to their own kids? Time will tell I guess. (And with that paragraph, TNA breathes it's first breath...)
  
• K-1 founder Kazuyoshi Ishii announced plans later this year to host a major event at the 101,000-seat Yokohama International Stadium, featuring K-1, PRIDE, and professional wrestling. In the event a show like that actually sells out, it would likely be the biggest money event in the history of sports entertainment. Ishii talked about doing a double main event of Rickson Gracie vs. Naoya Ogawa (a dream match people have been trying to put together for years) and Mirko Cro Cop vs. Kazushi Sakuraba. Dave says NJPW has talked about running a show in that stadium, but the reality is, they don't have anything popular enough to come close to filling it. (This show does indeed happen, but it's in a different stadium. They still end up drawing something like 90,000 people. The Gracie/Ogawa match doesn't happen, but Cro Cop vs. Sakuraba does. But we'll get there).
  
• The WWF is in trouble. Not the company. The initials. The World Wrestling Federation lost its appeal this week in the case with the World Wildlife Fund. A 3-judge panel upheld the original ruling, which gives the WWF (wrestling) until the end of March to stop using the "WWF" initials for any marketing outside the United States. The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) shortened its name to WWF in 1979, when it was still a regional promotion. Throughout the 80s, as the WWF grew into a national and eventually global organization, this came to the attention of the Wildlife folks. They're based overseas and for the most part, they were fine with Vince McMahon using the initials in the United States. In 1994, the two sides signed an agreement that the wrestling company would have limited use of the initials outside of the U.S. and would always have to refer to themselves by the full "World Wrestling Federation" name rather than "WWF." Within the U.S., they were free to use "WWF" all they wanted. Well, as the wrestling company grew during the 90s, they began blatantly ignoring the agreement, arguing that it was unenforceable and amounted to restraint of trade. The court system clearly disagreed. Dave talks about the WCW/NWA split in the late-80s and how it led to the company cutting ties with the NWA and gradually and quietly renaming everything to "WCW" and how it wasn't really a big deal. But this is different times and WWF is a much bigger entity with merchandising and licensing around the world, a major online presence at wwf.com, and more. So it's gonna be more complicated this time. WWF claimed it would cost them upwards of $50 million to change its brand name, but the appeal judges were unsympathetic, saying that the WWF had made "clear and repeated" breaches of their 1994 agreement and the cost of rebranding is entirely their fault for flagrantly violating the agreement. In other words: tough shit. You knew you were breaking the rules. Deal with the consequences. WWF is expected to appeal the decision to Britain's highest court, the House of Lords, and if they lose there, game over. As of press time, it's unclear what WWF will do. At a recent investor's meeting, Linda McMahon used the "WWFE" initials, which is the official corporate entity of the company ("World Wrestling Federation Entertainment") and on all UK television this week, all references to "WWF" were changed to "WWFE" as well. Last year, when WWF lost the original case, they were also ordered to pay the Wildlife Fund's legal bills. They were on the hook for $630,000 as of October and probably significantly more by now. The court is also expected to rule on monetary damages for the past 8 years of violating the agreement, and that could total in the millions. The Wildlife Fund's biggest complaint has been the WWF's website, which is wwf.com. The Wildlife Fund uses wwf.org and argues that it creates confusion in the marketplace.
  
• 8 years ago, the WWF toured Japan and it was a major flop. Their biggest show only put 4,500 people into a 17,000-seat arena and even that was heavily papered. It was the smallest crowd ever for wrestling in the history of that arena at the time and crowds chanted "refund!" at the end of a night full of bad matches and screwy finishes. 8 years later....complete opposite. WWF went to Japan this week and it was a monster success. Their return to that same arena sold out the same day tickets went on sale, to the tune of $1.1 million, which may be the largest non-PPV gate in WWF history. No free tickets at all. Even Funaki's parents had to pay for their nosebleed seats. The crowd was popping for everything, knew all the stars, and were hotter than most American crowds. It was especially notable because the fans clearly wanted authentic WWF. They had a Japanese translator out there translating Shane McMahon's opening promo and the crowd booed it. So Shane called an audible, kicked out the translator, and began speaking in slow, easy English and the crowd popped huge (kinda the same way American fans want authentic NJPW. But every time NJPW comes here, they always try to "Americanize" the card, when really, we just want Okada and Tanahashi to do what they do best). WWF has limited visibility in Japan. The major shows air on cable in a similar time slot as NJPW and NOAH, both of which draw bigger ratings than WWF's shows. But nonetheless, this crowd was rabid for WWF and some of them even dressed up. There were a lot of signs in the crowd too, written in English, just like they've seen American crowds do.
  
• Other notes from the Japanese show: Chris Benoit was scheduled to go on the tour (not to wrestle, just to appear) but WWF canceled him at the last minute. Dave says Benoit was looking forward to going so he was pretty bummed. Prior to the show, Naoya Ogawa came out to greet the crowd. The crowd popped huge for Lita doing a moonsault, even though other women's wrestlers in Japan do it all the time. But this crowd was just nuts for anything WWF. Funaki pinned Hurricane in one of those things where they were pandering to Japanese fans. But as mentioned, they didn't want to be pandered to, they wanted authentic WWF and they cheered Hurricane over Funaki. Ric Flair cut a promo talking about his career in Japan and got a huge reaction, and he got a big pop when he mentioned various Japanese stars he's faced, especially Keiji Muto (also worth noting Muto was there doing commentary for the show for airing on TV next week). Torrie Wilson got a huge reaction, because Japan is just as thirsty as the rest of us. Rock vs. Jericho main evented and Rock was over like crazy. The show ended with Flair, Rock, and Muto all shaking hands to send the fans home happy (far as I can tell, the only footage of this show that exists online anywhere are these highlights from Rock/Jericho).
  

WATCH: Highlights of Rock vs. Jericho in Japan - 2002

• On this same tour, they also went to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Only interesting note is that, during the Malaysia show, Billy and Chuck completely dropped the gay gimmick. It's a primarily Islamic country and, maybe you've heard, they kinda frown upon that sort of thing.
  
• Sometime over the past couple of weeks, the WWF made an offer to Bret Hart to appear at Wrestlemania, but he turned it down. The show is in Toronto and WWF Canada President Carl DeMarco made it his goal to get Hart to appear on the show. DeMarco and Hart have a business relationship that goes back years and Hart is the one who eventually helped DeMarco get his position in the WWF. Many times in the last few years, DeMarco has been the man in the uncomfortable position of playing intermediary between Hart and the WWF. DeMarco first reached out to Hart with the idea that he would be the special referee in the Triple H vs. Jericho title match, with the idea to keep it completely secret from everyone, even the other wrestlers, and sneak him into the building right before the match. This way, if no one knew he would be there, Hart's name wouldn't be used to help boost the show. It would just give Hart a huge pop and create a cool moment without Hart feeling like he was helping to pad Vince's pockets. In exchange, on top of being paid, Hart would also be given rights to his photos and videos from his career that WWF owns. That's something Bret has been pushing for for years, even before he left the company, because he wants to put out his own "Best of" video on his career as well as use the photos for his autobiography. Hart and Vince had reached an agreement for that back in 1997, but then the screwjob happened and that went out the window. Later, the day before Owen Hart's funeral, Bret and Vince met in person and talked about it and Vince agreed to give Bret the rights for that stuff. So a few days later, when Bret contacted the office to get the ball rolling, WWF lawyer Jerry McDevitt responded that Vince had no recollection of making that agreement. Anyway, Hart still wants that stuff and he agreed to meet with Vince to discuss it, but he said he didn't think he would agree to do Wrestlemania. At that point, Vince refused to meet with Bret unless he would agree to work Wrestlemania. So that never happened. DeMarco kept pushing the idea, saying that ending his career as a commissioner in WWA is no way to be remembered. Then he pitched an idea that Hart could even appear on Raw the night after Wrestlemania in Montreal and do an angle where he punches Vince. When Hart again turned him down, DeMarco laid on the guilt trip and basically implied that if he couldn't get Hart to do Wrestlemania, his own job might be in jeopardy.
  
• Hart later wrote in his Calgary Sun column about the offer and said he had considered it in order to get the rights to that stuff, but said he didn't consider it for long, saying he couldn't sell himself out so easily and was offended that WWF thought he would so easily brush aside everything they've done to him. Hart listed all the problems he's had with McMahon, starting with the screwjob, the aftermath of Owen's death and how the WWF's legal strategy turned the entire Hart family against each other, and how Vince lied to him in that in-person meeting before Owen's funeral about giving him the rights to the footage and photos. He also revealed that DeMarco attempted to put together another meeting between Bret and Vince last year when Raw was in Calgary, but Vince backed out of the meeting, then went on TV (with Stu Hart and several other Hart family members in the front row) and did a re-creation of the Screwjob with Benoit and Austin, strictly as a middle finger to Bret. Or how Vince went on Off The Record after the death of Owen and accused Bret of only caring about what happened in Montreal and implied that Bret didn't even really care that Owen had died. Things like that. Basically, Bret says why would he go back to the company after all that? In regards to working an angle with Vince after Wrestlemania, Hart said, "In that one phony punch, everything that's happened would be minimized into an angle. Maybe wrestling fans would love it. My fans would hate it. And so would I." Hart ended the column by extending an olive branch to McMahon, saying he would like to have a private conversation with him and talk about their issues and see if they could come to an agreement on everything else, but he refuses to participate in a public spectacle at the expense of his dignity (yeah, needless to say, this didn't happen. Still 8 years away from those fences being mended).
  
• NJPW's latest show at Sumo Hall was a big moment for the company. Dave talked about this show last week and now he's finally seen it. It was the first major Tokyo show since Keiji Muto, Kendo Kashin, and Satoshi Kojima left and also featured the crowning of new IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Jr. champions. It also came during the same week that AJPW held its major show, NOAH held the biggest show in its history, All Japan Women held its first PPV, PRIDE held a big show, and WWF were in town. So lots of competition that week in Japan. NJPW desperately needed a home run here and....they didn't get it. The show was sold out and the matches were fine, but the crowd was lukewarm for most of it and it didn't feel like anything special. Tadao Yasuda winning the IWGP title sucked the air out of the building because no matter what fame he has coming out of his recent MMA upset victory, NJPW fans see through it and recognize that Yasuda really isn't a very good wrestler and in fact, is far worse now than he was even a few years ago (and he wasn't great then either). Dave seems pretty confused as to why NJPW is insisting on booking themselves into the grave but they sure seem to be trying.
  
• Speaking of shows from Japan Dave has finally seen, the recent AJPW show at Budokan Hall gets a similar review. After a tough couple of years, this felt like the AJPW of old, with a packed house at Budokan. The undercard wasn't much but the top matches were incredible and despite how much the company has struggled lately, because of how its been protected, the Triple Crown title is just about the last world title in pro wrestling that still has an aura and feels like it means something when it changes hands. At age 52, Genichiro Tenryu had an excellent match with Kojima. Aside from Nick Bockwinkel, Dave can't think of anyone who's ever been as good in their 50s as Tenryu is right now. And of course, Kawada won the title from Muto in the main event in a 4.5-star match.
  
• Kenta Kobashi announced he will still appear at every show on NOAH's upcoming tour, but he won't be wrestling. He'll do autograph signings and cut promos. People bought tickets for this tour weeks ago, expecting to see Kobashi but of course, he re-injured his knee in his first match back. He still wants to appear though, since fans bought tickets expecting to see him. Dave says that if everyone in WCW had that same attitude, they might still be beating WWF today instead of, ya know, dead. Before he got hurt again, the plan was to have Kobashi challenge Jun Akiyama for the GHC title at their big show next month but that's obviously out the window now.
  
• Katsuji Nagashima, a member of NJPW's board of directors, resigned this week from the company. Nagashima has been a major player behind the scenes since 1989 and was arguably one of the key decision makers alongside Riki Choshu. In reality, Nagashima was voted out by the board of directors and was given the chance to submit a resignation rather than be outright fired. Dave says this is all part of the fallout from the AJPW/Muto situation. You see, when NJPW and AJPW were working together, the long-term plan from NJPW's side was to send Nagashima and a few other people over to help AJPW run the company, since they were on the brink of death. The idea would be for NJPW people to entrench themselves in AJPW's office and help run things and when Motoko Baba retired (rumored to be this year), they would essentially control the company. But Mrs. Baba ended up being so impressed with the way Muto handled himself that she instead gave Muto all the power NJPW was hoping their office people would get. Basically, they had a long-term plan to quietly and slowly take over AJPW, but Muto fucked it up. Others feel it was a foolhardy plan to begin with, and that Ms. Baba would never have willingly given up control of the company to NJPW directly because it would be a slap in the face to her husband, who went to his grave still hating Inoki. Regardless, Muto jumping ship and entrenching himself in power pretty much undercut NJPW's plan. But then, the double-turn! Turns out Nagashima had actually secretly planned to jump ship along with Muto. But for whatever reason, when Muto went, he didn't include Nagashima. So then NJPW found out Nagashima's plan and thus, he's been essentially fired. Dave says Nagashima is essentially the Jim Ross of NJPW, with the same level of backstage power (JR was pretty high up in WWF at this point). There's lots of rumors that Riki Choshu may be the next to go and he's already been pretty much stripped of all his power. He's still a member of the board of directors, but he has zero power in the dressing room and is really just another wrestler on the roster at this point. In fact, Dave talks about how lots of different wrestlers over the years have had decision making power in NJPW (Choshu, Fujinami, Chono, Liger, Sasaki, etc.) and it's a problem because you have all these huge stars that are also angling for backstage power. The situation is described as having Hogan, Flair, Bret, Shawn, Austin, and Rock all fighting for power in the same locker room, undercutting and backstabbing each other. This atmosphere is said to be why Keiji Muto grew to hate being in NJPW and why he decided to leave.
  
• Side note: this has been just the most tedious Rewind I've ever written. Shit's taking forever today. Feels like every story is detailed as hell and as I'm writing this, it looks like block after block of huge paragraphs. Sorry this ain't more bite-sized.
  
• Masahiro Chono is expected to face Naoya Ogawa at NJPW's big 30th anniversary Tokyo Dome show in May. Chono actually wants to face Shinya Hashimoto, but there's a lot of bitter feelings in NJPW about Hashimoto still after he left the company awhile back and people are torn on whether he should be allowed back (Hashimoto does indeed come back for this show. And it ends up being his final NJPW match ever. But it's not against Chono. He ends up working a tag match, teaming with Ogawa. Which, speaking of, Ogawa doesn't face Chono either. Ends up being Chono vs. Mitsuharu Misawa in one of those dream matches people never thought they'd see. But we'll get there).
  
• Dave saw a tape of the recent debut show from Ring of Honor and says it was a great show that lived up to the hype. The 3-way main event of American Dragon vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Low-Ki was as good as any indie match Dave has ever seen and he wanted to give his TV a standing ovation when it was done. Dave doesn't see any of these guys in WWF because they're all way too small for Vince to take them seriously, and you can't have these kind of 25-minute classics in today's WWF either. Plus, there's no way they can work matches like this, as stiff as it was, for 200 days a year either. But for this show, for this crowd, it was damn near a perfect match. Dave says it's unfortunate that these guys are around right now, when the wrestling business is crumbling and there's only one or two places you can make a decent living by doing it. 10 years ago, these guys would have been can't-miss stars in Japan. 5 years ago, they would have been can't-miss stars in WCW's undercards. But now....tough to make a name for yourself when WWF is the only game in town and you're under 6 feet. Anyway, Dave says this show was excellent. The semi-main event of Eddie Guerrero vs. Super Crazy was great too, but the 3-way was clearly the main event and focus of the show and Dave thinks that's good. Guys like Guerrero can draw a crowd but ROH was smart to put the stars they plan to build around in the main event and establish them. That way, in the future, those guys can draw on their own without relying on ex-WWF names like Guerrero.
  
• A bunch of indie promoters, including Dusty Rhodes (Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling) met in Atlanta last week, to talk about forming a partnership called Ring Warriors. Dave doesn't really elaborate, but it sounds almost like a modern day twist on the NWA, with all the promoters agreeing to work together with their promotions and trade talent and all that stuff. Obviously never goes anywhere.
  
• Gene Simmons from the band KISS is reportedly working with promoter David McLane to revive Women of Wrestling under the name "Gene Simmons' WOW." McLane is the guy who also created GLOW in the 80s. Simmons is saying they will also put out a magazine and clothing line (another thing that went nowhere).
  
• At the WWA PPV in Las Vegas, there was an altercation between Eric Bischoff (who was backstage visiting) and Juventud Guerrera. At some point, Guerrera walked up to Bischoff and sarcastically said something along the lines of, "How's it going, boss?" Bischoff responded with, "Weren't you one of the guys who signed that petition to get me fired?" (Dave says that after Bash at the Beach 2000, after the Hogan incident, Bischoff and Russo had a big blow-up argument. At that point, Konnan started a petition to get Bischoff fired and keep Russo in charge and he tried to get people in the locker room to sign it. Juvie is one of the people who signed). Bischoff told Guerrera he would never forget it and walked away. (Dave has the details on the petition a bit wrong but he corrects it in the next issue I think, we'll get there).
  
• Slick Robbie D (real name Robbie Dicks Jr.) became the 3rd recent WWF developmental wrestler in the past 3 months to pass away. The death was apparently a suicide. Dicks had recently been arrested on statutory rape charges and hung himself in his jail cell, but friends of his don't believe the story and say he never would have killed himself. He had worked in Calgary with Stu Hart and at one point, Bret Hart passed on a tape of him, which led to him being signed and sent to Memphis. When Jim Cornette took over OVW, they moved him there and he'd been there ever since. But during his time there, he rubbed people the wrong way. Apparently he was always known for having an attitude problem and wasn't well liked in Calgary either by anybody other than Stu Hart. Dave talks about another incident a couple years ago when he was arrested in Canada after getting into a fight with a woman and was charged with unlawful imprisonment and kidnapping. Nobody would bail him out of jail because nobody liked him, until finally, Mark Henry (who was also in OVW at the time on one of his weight loss punishment excursions) bailed him out. Just days before his death, he had been arrested after the father of a 17-year-old girl he was seeing reported him. At the time of his death, Dicks was no longer in OVW. He was fired after a backstage argument with Leviathan (Batista) turned into a legit fist fight. The two were alone in the room and there were no witnesses and each man claimed the other started it. Because of his bad attitude and because people like ol' Dave, Dicks got the blame and was fired because most people felt he started the original argument. He was scheduled to start with UPW in California just prior to his death.
  
• Notes from Raw: they didn't acknowledge that half the crew was overseas and instead claimed Jericho wasn't there because he was out shopping for Stephanie, leading Dave to ask, "have they ever castrated a world champion before Wrestlemania?" They did an angle where Undertaker went to developmental and attacked David Flair to try to get Ric to face him at Wrestlemania. He also threatened to hurt Flair's daughters next (run Charlotte!). Also, for a company that used to loudly criticize WCW for occasionally having blade jobs, Dave points out that Austin, David Flair, and Triple H all 3 bladed on this one single episode of Raw.
  
• Regarding the training camp WWF held last week (that was discussed in the last issue): as mentioned then, nobody really impressed all that much. And in fact, AJ Styles was said to be the biggest disappointment of the group, because everyone had heard so many rave reviews about him and maybe they were expecting too much. In the ring, he was technically good but the company felt he has no promo skills and doesn't have the look they want and the consensus is that he's not ready for the big leagues yet (he still gets an offer).
  
• Hulk Hogan's radio buddy Bubba The Love Sponge was acquitted on charges of animal cruelty in Tampa. Bubba and his producer and a hunter were on trial for a stunt they pulled 2 years ago where they castrated and killed a boar during a live radio broadcast. Bubba testified that the slaughter was done to educate listeners about where their food comes from and that the pig squeals people heard on the air were a recording, not the actual animal being killed. The prosecutors argued that they inflicted unnecessary pain to the boar and jurors were shown a video of it, but that somehow didn't convince them and he was acquitted. Bubba is claiming he's going to file a lawsuit against the prosecutors now in retaliation. In related news, Bubba The Love Sponge is a piece of shit.
  
• Hulk Hogan and Jerry Lawler are both working on WWF-produced autobiographies. Dave thinks Hogan's will certainly be an entertaining piece of fiction. He also thinks Lawler could end up having a hell of a book if it's done well because he's got a lot of history to cover.
  
• Apparently some of the guys in WWF's developmental territories have some attitude problems that are rubbing some the wrong way. During his latest column on WWF.com, Jim Ross wrote about how some of these guys "don't know how good they have it." Dave says that in particular, former WCW wrestlers Mike Sanders and Johnny The Bull have heat for complaining about how bad everything is working in developmental. Because it ain't glamorous. But they're complaining to veterans who spent years driving hundreds of miles, working 6-7 nights a week, for little to no money at all. Meanwhile, even though being in developmental is hard work, they aren't traveling much and they're still getting guaranteed weekly paychecks. So needless to say, it's rubbing the older guys the wrong way.
  
• Chris Jericho, Triple H, and referee Brian Hebner got into some kind of big shouting match backstage after Raw. Apparently Jericho was mad at something Hebner allegedly screwed up during his match with Angle on the show, and for whatever reason, Triple H got involved, defended the referee, and said Jericho is the one who screwed it up. I skimmed through the match on the network and can't really tell where anything was screwed up but who knows.
  
• WWF had talks with Ken Shamrock about returning, with the idea to put him against Kurt Angle. But Shamrock wants the kind of reduced schedule the NWO guys got and they weren't gonna go for that so it fell apart.
  

Yup, I knew this was a long issue. We've got one of those rare instances where I hit the 40,000 character limit on Reddit. See the comments below for the last little bit of this Rewind.

It’s Tuesday and, unfortunately (or fortunately?), I can’t think of anything witty to say for the opening of this SitRep. I was assured this was a cold country, and it turned out to be a lie, so the joke centre of my brain is not running at full capacity this week. My name is Konrad, and this is a brand new edition of our weekly updates.
​
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🗡 Tactical Updates 🗡

• No more free lunches...

As part of our initiative to create a fun and fair environment, we’ve been investigating a variety of different methods used by cheaters throughout the last few months. Today, we are happy to share our progress on two major forms of cheating that aren’t possible anymore as of this week.
To kick things off, you should no longer see suspiciously new accounts (that haven’t yet completed the Arena Challenge) wielding the legendary MSR Rifle. We’ve closed the lid on this particular hack, and put a stop to players acquiring the MSR without going through the intended trials and tribulations. Alongside stopping the illegitimate acquisition of the MSR, we’ve also identified a potential avenue cheaters were using to get items and/or upgrades for free. This route has now been closed, meaning that all players should now be on an equal playing field when it comes to in-game progression. All players that have previously abused this route have also been permanently restricted from online play.
As well as the above, we also have a new automatic ban system, that will immediately restrict access to the game to anyone attempting to manipulate the game to get free items (such as weapons and currrency). This has been rolled out in a way that we’re extremely confident in its accuracy, although we’ll be keeping an eye throughout the following weeks.
This is another completed step in what we intend to be a series of improvements and upgrades to the anti-cheat system that will address the cheating and hacking reports that we’ve been receiving and monitoring from our community. For all of our fair, legitimate and competitive Arena Snipers, we are continuing to pave the way to a cleaner Arena, so we thank you for your continued patience.

• ...although the sixth mod slot is now free!

For some time, we have been seeing an issue where the sixth mod slot - that is, the one unlockable via a PREMIUM subscription. In some cases, it caused mods equipped to it to disappear if you restarted the app.
This seemed to be related to the way the game would verify if a player had a subscription or not on startup, and so the slot would be locked by default until confirmation was received that the subscription existed. Of course, this meant that the mod currently equipped to that particular slot would be unusable, and ultimately disappear once the subscription was validated and the slot was unlocked.
As a temporary fix, and in preparation for more major work on the subscriptions, we’ve gone ahead and made that slot free for everybody. I hope you can all enjoy a little more freedom to experiment with your World Ops mod combinations.
​
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⚔ Flashpoints ⚔

Resolved Issues

• In rare cases, an issue with subscription validation would cause the mod located in the 6th slot to disappear before its expiry date.
• In some cases, the 6th mod slot would be temporarily locked incorrectly.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed for free weapon upgrades.
• Fixed an exploit where weapons could be acquired regardless of specific requirements.
• Resolved an issue where a placeholder image with incorrect rewards would occasionally show up during the arena challenge.

​

Current Issues

• Premium+ is still unavailable for new purchases on iOS.
• In rare cases, a mod's experience is not displayed correctly and/or takes a while to update after receiving a duplicate mod.
• Customs bought from the Daily Deal may, under certain situations, fail to be delivered.
• Under certain conditions, the squad chat may crash the app (or be unavailable) after a captain change.
• The "Find A Squad" list doesn't get updated when swiping down at the bottom in order to load additional squads.
• Arena Challenge rounds are not granting +1 energy immediately in certain cases. Restarting the app will cause this Energy to appear.
• Daily Deals timer occasionally displays abnormally high wait times.
• Squad War rewards may not arrive correctly (or prompt a notification when received) for some players.

Player Support Delays

We're still in the process of improving and expanding our player support operations. While I would still like to advise that delays will be present, this should be changing in the future and we'll be able to respond to your tickets much more efficiently. In the meantime, please remember that submitting multiple tickets may slow down our response time. I'd also like to mention that threats or abuse may only result in your ticket no longer receiving a response.
We would also like to share that we've made some significant progress on remaining tickets recently. We're still not where we want to be, although we expect operations to be closer to our regular response times within the next few weeks. I would finally like to recommend that, before submitting a ticket, you check our previous SitReps, as well as articles located in our FAQ.
​
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📣 Squad Shoutout! 📣

That's right - a new SitRep means a new Squad Shoutout! This week we're featuring Forze Speciali, and we're going to hear a little bit about them from ☆Fs☆ Hitman.
"We are a new Italian team that plays without tricks and all together we fight every war to the end!"
So, they're new, they're Italian and they're determined! But what makes Forze Speciali stand out?
"We are a united team that believes in clean play. We have a chat where members exchange tips and believe in respect between members and for the opponent."
And there you have it - a clean, united Squad with an interest in respectful play and in sharing tips between skill levels. If you're new, and looking for a friendly place to get your feet under you, why not try Forze Speciali? Of course, if you see ☆Fs☆ Hitman in the Arena, do send my regards!
That's that for this week, and as always, if you'd like to submit your own Squad, simply click here! I'm aiming to showcase a fair spread of new and old, small and large Squads - so make sure your Captain has sent in a submission!
​
https://preview.redd.it/fsm6yvqgs8c51.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=a78392643b9b9e3d1287ff0c2776f86d7f2d4d76

📖 Sniper's Story 📖

Orsis T-5000

The Orsis T-5000 is a Russian-made bolt-action sniper rifle, designed in 2011 as Orsis’ first ever production, and built in their Moscow factory. This rifle stands out as an example of dedicated manufacture, as no part of it is third-party. This means that, rather than using a German-made bolt or a British trigger guard, every single piece of this rifle is manufactured directly by Orsis.
​
https://preview.redd.it/78jyu2yjs8c51.png?width=1115&format=png&auto=webp&s=04e9ffdef4895f6552b51684372d6350ce658efc
The weapon has seen action in both the Syrian Civil War, and the Iraqi Civil War of 2014-17, and is currently in use in Belarus, Russia, China and Vietnam, as well as by Egyptian and Iraqi special forces, and variations are currently in limited use - such as the modernised T-5000M and the made-for-precision Tachnost.
This weapon is fairly rare in terms of media, with only one movie and a handful of games featuring it. That said, it seems so prominent in Escape From Tarkov that I genuinely had a little trouble with my research. I’ve always been a little curious to try that game - if you know it, tell me in the comments if I should give it a shot!
​
That about wraps up this week's news and updates. I'll get back to your tickets, and I look forward to seeing your feedback. Stay safe, and I'll see you next week.

This is the new standard of "live service" games and looter shooters.
Since maintenance booted me off and I had enough caffeine in me to prevent me from sleeping I figured I'd type out my current thoughts and impressions on the game. I haven't hit the end game but I've put in a great deal of hours and been doing tons of side missions and roaming and experienced a lot of the many aspects of the game and have been fully immersed in it.
Atm almost 30 hours.
-> In fact this game is so good I haven't spent enough time to even be AWARE of the maintenance. I was truly shocked when I saw that message earlier this morning. I like the game so much I spend almost none on reddit. Huh, that's a switch!

----1: Me 3 weeks ago: "I have no idea what this game is? Why would I ever play it? I have Anthem!"

And I mean what I said in the title after playing nearly 30 hours of this game... and I never even looked at the first division game or this one. I genuinely never planned to buy this game and for the past 8 or so months have been very active in the Anthem subreddit and discord. So much so that I am even friends with Bioware employees and have chatted with them at length on discord and some have been childhood friends.
"What does that have to do with The Division?" you will probably wonder after reading all that:
I genuinely couldn't have cared less for this game and my thoughts come as someone 100% neutral. That is until I started hearing more and more information. Checking out "build websites" was the first thing that tipped me off but I didn't delve deep enough but it primed me to be open to hear more later, these were advised for me to check out because I was working on an Anthem build website.
(ETA = ???? I might scrap the project because it's in such a poor state. I love the devs but I don't feel that they love us if I'm going to be honest. Not exactly rivveting inspiration for someone putting in their free time for 0 pay and planning to put 0 advertisements or "premium" features into a website to be treated like a QA tester. But I digress and I apologize for that. My frustration is only amplified towards Anthem after playing this game that opened my eyes to the facts.)
So I feel that I come from a very neutral standpoint on this game. I don't know the devs and I had no prior work done for any website or pet project that might have drawn me to feel "invested" in this game and hope it succeeds.
And I just flat out think it is that good.

----2: I am immersed in a story and open world I don't want to get out of.

Walking around TD2's map I am finding all sorts of wildlife from deer to various types of dogs and foxes and eagles and rats and the rest. There is nonstop clutter everywhere, and by "clutter" I mean I genuinely find the entire scenery believeable.
I have gone into what I assume are tech startups in the game and they genuinely feel like that cliche over-zealously designed startup. And even the couches in said startup that are the same type have their pillows individually placed in different locations.
TV's are in the locations I'd expect them to be, kitchens have microwaves and sinks and all the stuff one would hope to be in one. The ground is covered in papers and computer set ups are actually very believable for the most part (I've come across some where I was a littleee... skeptical....).
That's not even getting into the roaming NPCs that have so many lines of dialogue that are actually believable. Sometimes they say they are bored or that they are hot and then say it wasn't this hot last year and go on about air conditioning.
Sometimes I am joining a mission to help rescue a hostage. Sometimes I am just walking with an already patrolling group of allies who are looking for food. Sometimes I am taking over a new control point with allies, sometimes I am stopping an execution.
And the worst part is that I have already been caught in a loop of doing this just roaming the open world for hours on end already. It's absolutely captivating and as someone who has HAPPILY skipped most side-quests and side-missions in games like even my primary game FFXIV... I am alarmed.
I have no idea how you did it, but you made even me want to do the bloody side missions.
And this is terrifying to me, because I would literally have rather have Solid Snake from MGS take a massive post-tacobell dump on my face than play freeplay in Anthem. "Challenge of Valor" more like challenge of no I don't want to do 100 world quests where I need to run around like a bumbling buffoon hoping for some RNG quest trigger to say "ahhh freelancer we need your help here!".
As I said, I have no idea how you did this to me but I am completely engaged and most critically happy.
And I know it's random to say, but I lost my mind laughing when I saw 3 random patrolling friendly NPCs burst out of the sewer right in front of me earlier in the game! I was like "OMG?! Where did YOU all come from?!". Well done!

----3: I CAN HEAL!?

I am exhausted of these games coming out lately that have no form of healing because "it doesn't belong in X game". (Looking at you too, Dragon Age: Inquisition.) That's been my main archetype since I was like 4 or so playing MUDs online. Don't get me wrong, I do believe it doesn't have a place in many games. But I want to say that it's a breath of fresh air to be able to play my actual main role in this game.
In fact that gets into one of the more general things I adore about this game: It feels like it has taken the core elements out of traditional MMORPG gaming and has delicately painted these features alongside more traditional shooter mechanics in a way I find awe-inspiring.
Back to healing specifically though!
Healing feels rewarding. It also feels like it takes a lot of skill. As an analogy I feel less like Mercy and much more like Ana, and I find that very engaging. Chem Launcher is fantastic and I adore the ability already, and I do not have a full build for it yet. I also like the healing drone and it does feel very similar to Zenyatta's healing orb. This isn't even getting into the multitude of other options I can do outside of that.
It feels rewarding, engaging and not faceroll. They feel strong while having some very heavy drawbacks such as cooldowns and keeping your drone from getting wacked out of the air.
This is how I want to heal. Challenge me but if I pull off some shenanigans I like the reward. Chem launcher I've found difficult to use properly but the reward is sweet.

----4: Builds!

-Weapons
-Armor sets broken into a multitude of pieces
-Special bonuses on them like exotic traits, random bonuses and mod slots.
-Skills
-Skills also have mod slots.
-Specializations and their respective trees of options
I genuinely think this game has a fantastic base to maneuver around builds and promoting individual playstyle. Such as for me right now as of writing this post-- I am running around with the shield that lets me use my primary weapon + chem launcher. This lets me lay out heals on allies and myself while also being able to hammer down the front line. And I am NOT at endgame yet.
But I feel that I have such a strong sense of agency with my playstyle that I feel genuinely happy with where I am at. I feel tanky and like I can protect myself while acting as a support to my team. I feel like I can break the lines by putting myself forward and if someone gets too close shield bash them into oblivion.
I can see easily endgame there being a ridiculous amount of builds.

----5: Loot! Loot! And LOOT!

So much loot. Just walking around without killing anything down an alleyway and you can have like 9 boxes of loot just there.
It's incredible.
Not to mention enemies just shower you in loot and I can almost always go back to the stash and find a new upgrade to my build that I want. Meaning that I actually am finding incremental builds and feel like I am having some progression and have some semblance of agency over my builds.
Take note, Anthem. This is what I was bloody well talking to you about in my 2x plat, 4x gold 3x silver 1.1k upvoted constructive criticism post-- which for the record got no dev attention.
https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/sites/csnchicago/files/shrug.gif
Anyhow point is, the loot is solid. You will feel a sense of progression in this game unlike Anthem where I can easily say I felt starved. I haven't seen all of endgame yet but considering I am already seeing decent stuff from clan-mates... I am quite confident in this claim.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/552947077563416638/555529985490681873/Tom_Clancys_The_Division_2_Screenshot_2019.03.13_-_19.17.17.07.png
( If anyone is wondering which one I mean for the record or thinks I am bluffing I sadly am not: https://www.reddit.com/AnthemTheGame/comments/aytu0z/constructive_feedback_with_chartsgraphs/
So there is the "receipt" as people are calling it these days...)

----6: MTX? I am not even noticing them really!

In the live-service genre that I actually made a 42 minute video hammering the industry a few weeks ago... it's very predatory. Lootboxes and pay to win mechanics and the whole gambit.
I haven't felt pressured to buy anything even once.
Which yes yes YES I know people should say "but why is that a positive! that should be expected!" but that's just not the standard for looter shooters. So I am going to say this as a positive, I have taken note of this and it is appreciated.

----7: Bullet Spongey? Not really.

So I genuinely thought this game was going to be bullet sponge. There you go I said it. I expected complete bullet sponge nightmare fuel.
And I mean the HEAVIEST armored targets ARE very spongey bullet wise. But there is a trick-- aim at the right spots and after a short while you blow through them like they are a joke.
Not to mention the number of armor-aggressive skill variants we have that can melt armor and chip away weakpoints or otherwise just like them on fire.
I haven't seen endgame raiding yet but everything I've experienced thus far, I don't feel anything is bullet spongey.
And I haven't seen anything nearly as dreadfully bullet spongey as The Monitor on GM3. Absolutely screw that fight and everything it represents. You wonder why it seems like the majority of people do the first 2 chests and leave and ask "Hmmm? Why?".
I haven't felt anything like that in TD2 thus far!

---- 8: Weapons.

Oh. My. Goodness. I love it. Although I certainly am not a gaming shooter expert by any stretch, I can say I personally find this a strong positive.
These weapons all feel very unique to shoot and have a great feeling to them. I have my obvious preferences as anyone does, but they feel dramatically different from one another and feel very tight and rewarding to use. As a comparison I feel like these weapons are better feeling than Warframe, DRAMATICALLY better than Anthem (sorry but just saying it) and probably around Apex Legends.
I really feel that these are fantastic to use. They handle well, aim well and shoot well and you suffer realistic drawbacks from using particular ones such as your targeting flinging upwards aggressively after firing a shot with particular weapons.
Not to mention many of the bonuses the weapons give that I've seen thus far seem to really feed into the fantasy of various gameplay styles. I really do enjoy this aspect a lot and it's been in my humble opinion exceedingly well done.

----- 9: Story. (NO SPOILERS).

I feel captivated by the overarching story that envelops this world. I feel drawn to feel sympathetic and compassion for the civilians enduring this and I feel that this is a very powerful story about PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE. It feels very similar to me to The Walking Dead, flat out I get a lot of those vibes-- and that is again a story more about human interaction and human psychology than the actual zombies or the virus infecting people.
The virus and deaths and plagues only serve as the fuel and that fire that is lighted under the butts of people. A catalyst, if you would, that drives people to act in their most raw unchained forms.
The overarching theme is captivating and I felt drawn into it from the second I stepped out of character creation.
The story isn't just told to you either. You EXPERIENCE it.
Less talk, and more action.
LESS CODEX ENTRIES, MORE SHOWING.
You don't read about people suffering. You see an execution on the street in FREE ROAM in the open world.
The individual quests also are very compelling and you feel drawn to them, or at least I did. I felt wholly crushed by some aspects of the story and felt a bit angry at particular NPCs for others.
There also seems to be a diverse set of personalities in the characters themselves. Some are insane and quirky, some you want to throw a wrench at and knockout to get them to just stop harassing you (looking at you, shopkeepers in base of operations!). Other than the officers that you hire... I find that their conversation with you is so brief that I had nothing to relate too. I tried the shooting range and deadzone and guild/clan one and I was bewildered at how little they had to say to me. It was, I admit, very saddening at the time.

---- General "The bad" (which is tbqh not even that bad).

1: Silent protagonist:
I really do not like a silent protagonist. It feels stale and awkward to me and I hated it in D2 where we had that robot talk for us, I guess at least right now I feel slightly less insulted and like I am too stupid to talk because it's just silent and I don't need my robot friend to speak for me.
I admit I do somewhat miss Anthem's main protagonist talking. And even if this entire trailer they did about "choices will impact your game" was a load of LIES and the conversations you have are spectacularly insulting placebos... I liked that I didn't feel I was too dumb to talk.
2: Early game skill modification is inaccessible even if you get level 10 or so skill mods.
Give me a level 10 skill mod. Needs 300+ power. How exactly am I meant to use this? I can't... I really can't and that is a let down. While it's not game breaking at all, I am somewhat unhappy I couldn't play with this aspect of the game earlier.
3: Only 2 skills...
I don't have much more to say on this but I really am not a fan of so few skills in gaming and wish we could have more again. I mean it's fine, I'm not complaining. But I genuinely would love to have a loadout of 3 skills. However I guess that comes down to the pick and choose nature of this game, can't have it all. Even if I want it all :,(
4: Cooldowns.
It's probably because I am not level 30 yet but my goodness gracious these cooldowns are genuinely awful. While I have no issue praising the game, if my shield breaks and it's on a 200 second cooldown timer that's just utterly masochistic to make me not have it for that long. I understand it is a case of "git gud" but for other skills like a restorative healing hive (not the revive one) where I throw it down in a location to AOE heal allies... how can I reposition that?
I can break it and then I am still put on an insane cooldown timer where I basically don't have that ability. It makes things feel very unwieldy and I've noticed myself be very hesitant to use abilities all that often with these CDs.
...Leading to my current build of shield + chem launcher, where I can be very consistently helping allies. Because I genuinely feel the CDs are too harsh.
But again this could also be seen as an opportunity for high cooldown builds to actually shine and be represented in the game. So perhaps this is exactly as planned. Where I feel like a "spot healer" at present earlier on than 30 instead of the endgame healing beast I will be later.
5: Moving rapidly out of cover feels clunky to me.
I know it's because I am a noob to The Division but genuinely I feel that some of the times when I am moving around cover that it's a bit awkward and difficult to do.
Eg: I tried to get to cover and an enemy was approaching me, was trying to turn around cover to be behind it but my character moved so slowly I did die.
I'll try hitting double space to do that dodge roll or something.
6: I WANT TO REMOVE THE ARMOR ON THE CHEST.
Seriously please please please please let us remove that ugly armor vest. I realize we can use that soldier uniform to cover it up, but that's the only one I've seen. I just want rid of it for good.
:,( Let me see my body cosmetic choices PLEASE ;~;!!!!
7: It might just be me but I am not really connecting to the "main" story?
Without giving spoilers. It all feels very disjoint to me. I mean I really feel the narrative overall that I am in D.C. trying to help people out and the individual stories are very very very compelling. But I am missing that sense of an cohesive single narrative. It could be that I've just been lost in free roaming for hours but I lack that same sense as I have in other games in the past.
But as I have said above, I do feel compelled and drawn into the story at a high level of helping people in D.C., saving civilians, completing bounties, giving supplies to camps and taking over camps and the rest. I also think the individual main story missions are VERY compelling. The problem is that the middle feels cut out, which isn't really a problem and it might just be me. But those individual very compelling stories feel just disjoint to me?
8: If you're looking for character relationships like Dragon age origins look elsewhere.
NO I DO NOT MEAN ACTUAL "RELATIONSHIP RELATIONSHIPS".
But I mean like bonds like with Morrigan or Alistair from Dragon Age: Origins. You don't get to learn about your officers in the white house that much. You don't learn that much about other NPCs that much. I felt very disconnected from the cast of NPCs in general outside of a very select few and even then it is no where even close to the same level of NPC interaction and bonding as in DA:O. It felt very superficial and kind of "eh?".
I remember recruiting my first employee to the base of operations for crafting or whatever. It was ok.
Then I tried the shooting range and deadzone and guild/clan one and I was bewildered at how little they had to say to me. It was, I admit, very saddening at the time.
9: Character creator.
The lack of beard options in this game is depressing. I mean we have a few! WOAH THERE! Like let me reel that back in. This isn't like Destiny 2 that I have literally made fun of multiple times in the past to friends. We actually have some options. But I have come across NPCs with better beard options and I feel a little sad. Or hair.
I genuinely went into the character creator to make my character look like this: https://instagram.fyxd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/vp/11a63a89f3c36883953617233cbd1035/5D091E74/t51.2885-15/e35/38748660_2063253063727684_7828397707432558592_n.jpg?_nc_ht=instagram.fyxd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net
And honestly I failed. No 2 ways about saying that.
-No hairstyles shaved on the sides with longer hair or even viking style.
-Beard options are either very "ehhh" or massive untamed bush. I prefer thinner on the cheeks that grows longer on the chin as depicted above.
Or why can we only have one arm tattoo? I'd love the ability to just go "all-in" and have the option to cover my character with them. I think this would be a huge boost to character customization. Even following the image above I've got tattoos on each arm, not just one.
Not to mention the next point which is my final negative I can say... but I'll let myself get to that point later on (ahem).

---- Final negative: Male Butts are weak and lackluster and I want to pay for cosmetics to upgrade this.

I come from Warframe.
But anyhow the last thing I'd describe myself would be "dummy thicc" and I am far from worried that my butt will alert the guards as I sneak around.
But seriously I feel like my character doesn't even have a butt. It literally is just flat as a board and I genuinely find that lame.
Please add this as cosmetic options :)

MGS Snake Thiccness Pls :D

---- CONCLUSION.

This feels like elements out of my main game (FFXIV) and elements out of my secondary game (Warframe) as well as traditional shooter mechanics were packed in a room that had naughty times and produced this baby called TD2 that had many of the best traits out of these.
I feel that if someone likes MMORPG games that they will feel at home here with the multitude of very MMORPG elements in it.
I feel that if someone likes shooter elements they will feel happy here.
I feel that if someone is a theorycrafting math-nerd like myself they will be very happy here.
I feel that if someone enjoys immersing themselves in a world and getting lost in it they will feel happy here.
For a game I honestly made so many assumptions about and tuned out when people were talking about it-- I genuinely regret not paying attention earlier. And I am genuinely happy Anthem bombed so hard that I became an "Anthem refugee" and actually gave this game a chance. I am not going to lie when I say that 3 weeks ago I couldn't have possibly cared less if this game just didn't exist.
Yet I love it. It's been a very long time (FFXIV Heavensward release probably?) since I've been this excited over a video game where I genuinely hate that I need to go to my job and want to just play it and watch the clock tick down and then quickly rush to play this game.
The build system is rewarding and fleshed out to a degree that is absolutely maddeningly decadent and theorycrafters will want to indulge in for months to come I am quite sure. The combat is very solid and gunplay is absolutely terrific imho. The guns feel fantastic. The skills also feel very impactful and meaningful, good placement of a turret skill can absolutely wipe down droves of enemies. The cosmetic system could use some improvements but I will say that the cosmetics do look different and the system seems good.
Also this game has tons of content. Tons. It doesn't feel like a half-butted minimum viable product where every single inch of it was devoured over and over in meetings of "YOU WANT THAT MECHANIC? WILL IT MAKE MONEY?" like what I feel happened over and over with Anthem. Where the quirky oddities of the game were slowly eroded. I genuinely feel TD2 has tons of content right now and a very clear roadmap that makes me feel comfortable saying this-- especially after the more than shaky state of Anthem where I got invested into the gaming equivalent of a bear trap.

To present it as an analogy: If this game was a girl or guy (whichever you're into), she/he would be THICC AF. Thicc like Solid Snake. Dummy Thicc.

I genuinely believe this is a game that ANYONE who even looked at Anthem should seriously consider. And as someone who has stated very clearly I am neither a fanboy of this game nor loyal to it's developers (like I am Bioware, where I have actual childhood friends working there now)... this game is good. It's real real real real good.
9/10 easily so far before getting to endgame.
Now I need to just get to endgame when the servers come back up and see how that pans out... but I already feel like I've gotten my money's worth. This is completely enjoyable.
I will end my thoughts on the same note as I started them with: As someone who fundamentally couldn't have cared less if this game failed I am genuinely happy I looked at this game.
~Thank you Anthem for being just that spectacular of a painful disappointment that you drove me here, I can see myself enjoying this game for the next 2 years easily.~
This is the new standard.

Hello there! I am looking for one (1) player to join me and my group in a 5e campaign set in a homebrew setting. Due to life getting the way, one of our players had to drop out of the game, so we are looking for a replacement player.
Before getting into everything, a little about me. I have been playing D&D for almost a decade at this point, with a fair amount of DM experience in that time, and I have found that I enjoy games with more focus on RP than combat. Not to say I want no combat, but to put a number to it I would say something in the realm of 60-40 in favor of RP is what I enjoy most. I am still getting used to DMing online, however, this is my first time doing so.
General Information
We play from around 630 PM to 1030 PM EST on Tuesdays.
We are using Discord for voice and chat log, Roll20 for maps and dice rolls.
Setting Information
In the world of Thavol, things are getting out of hand. The kingdoms of Beshar and Siannodel have gone to war, Siannodel recently finished conquering another neighboring kingdom, banditry is on the rise, and pirates are raiding the western coast. Oh, also magic and magical creatures have suddenly begun to appear.
One month ago, certain people have begun exhibiting magical abilities such as lifting objects with their minds, lighting things on fire, and healing minor wounds. Far more concerning is the sudden emergence of all kinds of magical creatures: great fire breathing lizards, giant lion/eagle hybrids, ghosts, fairies, and more.
To put it simply, until one month ago this world lacked any sort of magic or magical creatures, functionally similar to Middle Earth minus any super natural things like the Rings, Wizards, etc. The closest thing to monsters prior to whatever caused magic to appear were Orcs and Goblins, with bandits and hungry wildlife providing the only other threats to travelers.
Because of this, characters and NPCs should have little to no information on how to deal with these supernatural threats initially. It should take trial and error to learn strengths and weaknesses of the monsters. To that end, I will be adding resistances and vulnerabilities to some monsters that don't normally have them as well as introducing new monsters, though the main idea is that learning a monster's weaknesses will be part of the RP/problem solving.
The above is mostly copy/pasted from when I first posted this looking for players. Below is a summary of play and a quick run down of the different kingdoms in Thavol.
Each of the five races (Human, Halfling, Wood Elf, Halfing, Dwarf, Tabaxi) have two of their own kingdoms in Thavol, with play currently taking place in western Siannodel, an Elven kingdom.
Human kingdoms: Beshar and KavirHalfling kingdoms: Thermidge and BindboleElven kingdoms: Oronie and SiannodelDwarven kingdoms: Albahra and OljabalTabaxi kingdoms: Lancha and Almeria
Naturally, the ruling race makes up the majority of any given kingdom. That said, all of the races can be found in any kingdom, though less easily in the more remote locations.
The campaign so far has seen the PCs arrive in a small mining town where numerous people have gone missing. They discovered Yuan-ti as the culprits and tracked down their base. They took out a significant amount of Yuan-ti, but their leader was preparing to destroy them with his magic when a large group of Dragonborn assaulted the camp, distracting the Yuan-ti. While freeing slaves the PCs were asked to find an important Tabaxi woman by a Tabaxi slave, who they found her underground beneath the central keep of the Yuan-ti.
The leader of the Dragonborn was impressed with their triumph over the Yuan-ti and challenged them to a duel, not to the death, saying that if they impressed him enough he would tell them what was going on. He impressed enough to tell them that there was a competition or a game being held in the world and that it had to do with a magic orb the Yuan-ti had, which he called a "star", and the sudden appearance of magic. He was not impressed enough to divulge all details, but he did see enough potential in the PCs to tell them that if they could find another "star" and find him again, he would tell them everything.
The PCs are currently escorting the escaped slaves back to town.
Character Creation Information
You will be starting at level 3
Point buy for ability scores and your choice of rolls or averages for HP.
Warlock class is not allowed
I am restricting the race options to Human, Halfling, Wood Elf, Half Elf, Dwarf, Tabaxi. The magical races such as Dragonborn, High Elf, and Tiefling are either yet to make an appearance in the world or are not yet "unlocked" for character creation.
Languages that are available to be picked currently are simply Common/Human, Halfling, Wood Elf, Dwarf, and Tabaxi.
As play goes along, befriending different races can unlock them for character creation in the event a PC dies. Similarly if a Patron can be found the Warlock class can also be unlocked (either for multiclassing or character creation).
Players are free to choose spell casting classes, but learning spells will be handled differently. PCs who can learn magic will be some of the forerunners of the magical arts and as such they are developing all of their magical abilities from nothing. In game terms this means that I will be adding a homebrew mechanic I'm calling "spell xp."
Put simply, casters earn spell xp for casting spells other than cantrips and can use that xp to purchase new spells from their class spell list. At character creation, or when multiclassing into a caster class, any spell caster begins with a number of spells equal to how many they can prepare at level 1 and must purchase more spells as they play. Higher level spells cost more xp to develop/learn, but are also worth more xp when cast. As usual you can't learn a spell you don't have slots for and the slots mechanic remains unchanged.
If you decide to play a spell caster, you will begin play with 10 points of spell xp, 14 if you choose wizard (as they have access to arcane recovery). If you pick a half casting class such as Ranger or Paladin, you will start with 4 spell xp.
That being said, as time moves on you might be able to find NPCs who can teach you spells you haven't figured out on your own yet, for a price.
I am looking to make the game at least somewhat sandboxy, including character development and backstories in the campaign. Go nuts with your backstory, but understand I might change things to make it fit more with the world.
Misc Stuff
NO MURDER HOBOS.
Now that that's out of the way, please be willing to share, no stealing from other players, loot hogging, etc. I want this campaign to continue for quite some time and those kinds of actions tend to break the group apart in my experience.
For those who are concerned about group composition, we currently have a monster slayer ranger, a circle of the shepherd druid, and a theurgy wizard.
Joining
Slot has been filled.

Hello everyone, back again looking to swap! I am happy to announce that I recently completed 50 confirmed trades! I have 5 sections of items to offer: Systems, Games, Amiibo, Collectibles, and Miscellaneous. Click on the name of an item to view pictures. If I don't have pictures, they are available on request. All items are NA region except where noted. Prefer to trade in continental US, of course.
I'm trying to land some hard to find wants from my list below, and to that end I'm bringing out some hard trades. If an items says hard trade, then I only want to trade it toward bolded wants from my list below (games like Shantae and the Pirate's Curse for Switch, Izuna series for DS or Virtual-On Marz for PS2). I'm also willing to add cash in such instances.
I am also happy to sell these items and have linked my GameSale post at the end! And if you see something here that isn't in my GameSale post, it might mean that I forgot to list it there or that it's only for trading, just ask.

HAVES

Systems

25th Anniversary Mario Red DSi XL sold on Mercari
Glacier AGS 001 GBA - Has scratches on screen, otherwise fine, still has battery cover.

Games

3DS	Condition	Notes
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse	NIB
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance	CIB	Hard trade, also have Brady Games strategy guide
Rune Factory 4	CIB
Bravely Default	CIB
Pokemon Rumble Blast	Loose
Mario Party Island Tour	Loose
Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World PAL EU Region	NIB	PAL EU region, not NA!
Animal Crossing New Leaf	Box and manual only	Back plastic has a cut, cover art not affected
Brain Age Concentration Training	Box and manual only	Cover art has a tear on back
new Nintendo 2DS XL Quick Start Insert	Insert only

DS	Condition	Notes
EMS NDS Adapter	CIB	Includes CD. Only works with 32 bit Windows (XP is best). For transferring saves to/from PC. Does not work with 3DS games.
Game and Watch Collection 2	NIB	Very hard trade, Club Nintendo exclusive item
Final Fantasy 3	CIB	Hard Trade
Korg DS10+	CIB	Hard Trade
Bejeweled 3	CIB	No slipcover
Sims 2 Pets	CIB
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky	Box only	No booklets or game
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games	Manual and inserts only	No box or game

Big lot of GBA / GBC / GB game boxes and manuals, no games - Willing to split. Please check photos for condition. All the posters included are in excellent condition. The Game Boy manual and poster in picture 8 are from a Play It Loud series original DMG box. There's also a few DS and 3DS items included.

Game Boy Advance	Condition	Notes
Pokemon Ruby	CIB
Sword of Mana	CIB
Mario Kart Super Circuit	CIB	Player's choice version
Mario Kart Super Circuit Prima Strategy Guide	n/a
Atari Anniversary Advance	CIB	Hard trade
Pac Man World 2	CIB	Hard Trade
Spyro 2: Season of Flame	Loose
Disney’s Party	CIB
Spyro 2: Season of Flame	Loose
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	CIB
Danny Phantom the Ultimate Enemy	CIB
Fairly Odd Parents Clash with the Anti World	CIB
Home on the Range	CIB
Ratatouille	CIB
Spyro 2: Season of Flame	Loose
Green Eggs and Ham	CIB
Spyro 2: Season of Flame	Loose
YuGiOh 7 Trials to Glory	Loose
YuGiOh The Sacred Cards	Loose
Monster Trucks	Loose
Backyard Football	Loose
Backyard Basketball	Loose
Chicken Little	Game and Manual
Off-brand GBA SP charger (looks like an official one, but isn't)	n/a

Game Boy Color	Condition	Notes
Vegas Games	CIB
Metal Gear Solid	Loose	Hard trade
Pokemon Puzzle Challenge	Loose	Tear on label
Looney Tunes Carrot Crazy	Loose	Torn label
Spongebob Squarepants and the Lost Spatula	Loose	Torn label

Game Boy	Condition	Notes
The Pagemaster	CIB
InfoGenius Spell Checker and Calculator	CIB	Still has partial shrink wrap
WWF Warzone	CIB
Yoshi	Loose	Slight discoloration on cart
Pac Man	Loose
Centipede	Loose
Amazing Spider Man	Loose
Amazing Spider Man 3	Loose
Jack Nicklaus Golf	Game and manual
Casino Fun Pack	Game and manual
Shanghai Manual	Manual only
Sneaky Snakes Manual	Manual only
Donkey Kong Super Game Boy insert	Insert only	First page is in bad shape but all pages are intact

Wii U	Condition	Notes
Nintendo Land	Box and manual only	No game

GameCube	Condition	Notes
Lego Star Wars II The Original Trilogy	CIB
Dead to Rights	CIB

NES	Condition	Notes
Legend of Zelda gold cart	Loose	Hard trade
Metroid	Loose	Hard trade
Blaster Master	Loose	Hard trade
Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt	Loose

PS3	Condition	Notes
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Limited Edition	CIB	Includes card with online pass code
Call of Duty Black Ops	CIB

PS2	Condition	Notes
Sly 2 Band of Thieves	CIB	Red Label
Sonic Heroes	CIB
Spy Hunter	CIB
Gran Turismo 4	CIB	Red Label
Gran Turismo 3	CIB	Red Label
Defender	CIB
Maximo Ghosts to Glory	CIB
Manhunt	Loose
Namco Museum 50th Anniversary	CIB	Red Label but there was never a black label release in North America, I kid you not
Namco Museum	CIB	Slight tear on manual
Ace Combat 04 Shattered Skies	CIB	Red label
Ace Combat 04 Shattered Skies	Loose
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb	CIB
Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith	CIB
Rygar the Legendary Adventure	CIB
Pac Man World 2	CIB	Red Label
ESPN NBA 2k5	Loose
Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2005 Adventures	CIB

PS1	Condition	Notes
Gex	CIB
Reel Fishing 2	Loose
Need for Speed 3 Hot Pursuit	Back cover art

SEGA Genesis	Condition	Notes
Road Rash 2	CIB

Amiibo

Figure	Condition	Notes
Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World PAL EU Region Big Box	NIB	Can hold a poochy amiibo and game from any region, much nicer than the NA region box, game is also available and is sealed, boxes in UK do not come sticker sealed so this is new condition and can be opened
King K Rool First Print NA	NIB
Young Link First Print NA	NIB	Hard Trade
Marth First Print EU	NIB
Pac Man First Print NA	NIB
Sonic the Hedgehog First Print NA	NIB
Mario Series Peach NA	NIB	Has a crease above plastic
Mabel NA	NIB, has some wear on cardboard
Splatoon Blue Inkling Boy NA	NIB
AC Amiibo Card: Digby 009	mint

Collectibles

Item	Notes
Wendy's Super Mario Kart vehicles sealed	Two styles available
Wendy's Super Mario Advance Board Game sealed	Looks like a miniature GBA game box, hard trade
Poster: German Amiibo Buying Guide	Released at launch of SSB wave 1
Poster: Nintendogs 28x40"
Poster: Monster Hunter 3 Tri 20x27"
Poster: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 40x14"
Poster: New Super Mario Bros Wii / Zelda Spirit Tracks 12x17"
Poster set: Bravoman and Bravoman x Wonder-Momo 11x15"
Poster: Jet Force Gemini	From Nintendo Power
Poster: Super Mario Galaxy	From Nintendo Power
Poster: Crime Killer	From EGM

Miscellaneous

Item	Notes
Shure SRH 440 Professional Studio Headphones	Great condition, gently used, comes with leather bag and 1/8" to 1/4" gold adapter. Retails for $99.99.
Large collection of Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image comics	Click the link for a full list of what is available
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 Digital Camera	Complete in original box with a bonus carrying bag and microfiber cloth, still works, battery doesn't last as long as it used to though. Does not have USB cable, so you need to use the SD card if you want to be able to transfer your photos off the camera.
Old iPod Touch	Some scratches, has a bunch of Chinese songs on it, I can include a USB charger if you like. Unlocked.
Ledger Nano S Whitepaper Edition	Sealed
Hatsune Miku Merch Mega Bundle	Cosplay tie and suspenders, socks, plush, stickers, posters, keychain, webcomic anthology, and two men's shirts (one is L other is M), can be broken up
Quao card game	Open box but some of the cards are still sealed
Trial of the Clone	A modern CYOA style book
Three Word Phrase Volume One
Little Red Book Complete Street Guide to New York City
2 1932 Olympic stamps

WANTS

Before you go through this long list, please note I am also happy to look at offers.
Firstly, I'm trying to track down some unusual specific items, help me out!

• N64 power cord
• Authentic N64 controller, any color (atomic purple or clear blue preferred), in great condition
• N64 memory card and rumble pak (can be third party)
• Burgundy DSi XL stylus (both slot-in and chunky)
• Pink DSi stylus
• This black and gold PowerA Zelda game card case for Nintendo Switch, I really need this to complete my aesthetic launch console set but I'm not looking to pay $36 to scalpers for it. I would also be open to any of the other designs in blue, red or yellow.
• Limited Run Games trading cards for Shantae and the Pirate's Curse and for Toejam and Earl
• The mini-comic insert "A Girl and her Dozer" for Drill Dozer (GBA), mine is ripped and I want a clean one
• PS2 Guncon AV Adapter
• 32 GB SD card (SDHC) that is compatible with Nintendo Wii
• This 3DS carrying case
• Cardboard outer box, tray and pokewalker back plate for Pokemon HeartGold / SoulSilver (I have the game, booklets, plastic box, and a loose pokewalker with manual already)
• Club Nintendo Super Famicom controller for Wii
• This sketchbook and mini-poster handed out at the Pokemon Art Academy event in 2014 at the Nintendo store in NYC
• Mario Party-e CIB
• This game disc holder for GameCube
• The Mario Maker 2 stylus from Europe
• CIB or NIB copy of Game Boy Advance Video: Sonic X, Vol. 1
• Various Hello Kitty 3DS carrying cases: this, this, this, this, or this

Other stuff I'm looking for

• Just about any CIB GB/GBC/GBA games - let me know what you have. Also interested in acquiring boxes and inserts for games I already have loose, especially Warioland 4, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Boktai, and Kirby's Tilt n Tumble.
• Sega Genesis Mini NIB or CIB
• Sega Genesis Mini 6-button controller in clear blue or black, can be loose
• A 2DS or 3DS XL or "new" 3DS XL or "new" 2DS XL console in good condition, does not need to come with box but hopefully comes with original stylus and charger
• Official NES Classic Mini Controllers, both NIB European version and loose
• Club Nintendo items, I have a lot but always looking for more, let me know what you have
• Strategy guides or other game books. I have a lot of Nintendo and Sony platform games so just let me know what you have to offer! Top wants: Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door, Ni No Kuni 1, Mario and Luigi Series, Pokemon series
• Carrying cases for games and consoles, I might be interested in these, though I have a lot already!
• Game protector boxes, especially for GB or NES games
• Any Game and Watch units besides Pinball or the Club Nintendo Ball replica.

All my game wants are CIB except where noted. Accessories are loose. And it should go without saying, but everything should be clean and in good condition! I have sorted them by system; bold wants are high priority! But I am also open to offers for any of the systems below, so feel free to offer stuff not listed here.

Switch

I'm interested in more games than what you see on this list, feel free to make offers

• 1 2 Switch
• Arms
• Astral Chain
• Blazblue Cross Tag Battle (newest version)
• Bomb Chicken
• Celeste (hidden gem)
• Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy
• Collection of Mana (low priority, I'm more interested in the Trials of Mana remake)
• Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled
• Crystal Crisis big box with puzzle toy (low priority)
• Daemon x Machina
• Darius Cozmic Collection
• Dragonball FighterZ
• Dragon Quest 1, 2, 3
• Dragon Quest 11 S
• Dragon Quest Builders 2
• Final Fantasy 7 / 8 Remastered (SE Asia Release)
• Fire Emblem: Three Houses
• Fitness Boxing
• Flinthook
• Freedom Planet
• Fun Fun Animal Park
• Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams
• GRID Autosport
• GRIP Combat Racing
• Hollow Knight
• LEGO Worlds
• Lumines Remastered
• Overcooked 2
• Poi Explorer Edition
• Psyvariar Delta
• Minecraft (low priority)
• Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
• Mortal Kombat 11
• Psikyo Collection Vol 1, 2, 3
• Ring Fit Adventure
• Rune Factory 4 Special
• SEGA Genesis Classics (low priority)
• Snipperclips Plus
• SNK 40th Anniversary Collection (low priority)
• Super Mario Maker 2
• Super Mario Maker 2 Stylus
• Star Wars Pinball
• Sword Art Online whatever
• Taiko no Tatsujin with drum controller
• Team Sonic Racing (low priority, I want Crash Racing more)
• Tetris 99 (with NSO code, or if NSO code is already redeemed, the insert should be intact)
• Tiny Troopers XL
• Trials of Mana (I know this is not out yet)
• Vasara Collection
• Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Torna
• Yoshi’s Crafted World
• Yoshi’s Crafted World Target exclusive bonus

PS Vita

• Official charger for 1000 model
• Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate (Eternal Wanderer edition or standard)
• Touch My Katamari

"new" 3DS

• Minecraft

3DS

• Bravely Second
• Codename STEAM
• Etrian Odyssey Nexus or other Etrian Odyssey games
• Fossil Fighters Frontier
• Louvre Guide (any language, new or used)
• Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr's Journey
• Mario Party: The Top 100
• Mario Party Island Tour case and manual (I already have the game) or CIB
• Mario Party Star Rush
• Mario Sports Superstars
• Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D
• Metroid Prime Federation Force
• Miitopia
• Moco Moco Friends
• Nikoli’s Pencil Puzzle
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Gates to Infinity
• Return to PopoloCrois A Story of Seasons Fairytale
• Sonic Generations
• Sonic Lost World cover art or CIB
• Style Savvy series
• The Oregon Trail

DSi

• Face Training (PAL)
• Hidden Photo (PAL)

DS

• Advance Wars Days of Ruin
• Amazing Adventures: The Forgotten Ruins
• Avalon Code
• Bejeweled 3 slipcover or CIB
• Boing Docomodake DS
• Bomberman Land Touch!
• Bookworm
• Brain Buster Puzzle Pack
• Chameleon: To Dye For!
• Cookie and Cream
• Cooking Mama’s Combo Pack Volume 1
• Cooking Mama World Combo Pack 1, 2, or 3 (PAL region)
• Diddy Kong Racing DS
• Disney Stitch Jam
• DK: Jungle Climber
• Dokapon Journey
• Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime NIB or CIB
• Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
• Drawn to Life Collection
• Driving Theory Training (PAL)
• Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero
• Elektroplankton
• Fast Food Panic
• Final Fantasy Fables Chocobo Tales cover art / inserts or CIB
• Final Fantasy Tactics A2
• Fossil Fighters
• Fossil Fighters: Champions
• Geometry Wars Galaxies
• GRID
• Hands on Tangrams
• Harvest Moon DS
• Henry Hatsworth
• Hi! Hamtaro Ham-Ham Challenge
• Hotel Dusk Room 215
• I Spy Game Pack (Universe / Fun House)
• Infinite Space
• Izuna Legend of the Unemployed Ninja
• Izuna 2 The Unemployed Ninja Returns
• Jewel Time Deluxe cover art and manual or CIB
• Learn Science
• Let's Draw
• Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ
• Magician’s Quest Mysterious Times
• MapleStory DS (KR or JP region)
• Mario vs Donkey Kong 2 Mini Land Mayhem
• Master of the Monster Lair
• Master of Illusion Big Box NIB or CIB
• Mechanic Master 1 and 2
• Metal Slug 7
• Meteos
• Metroid Prime: Hunters
• Midnight Play Pack
• Moto Racer DS
• My Chinese Coach
• My Spanish Coach cover art or CIB
• My Word Coach
• Mystery P.I. Portrait of a Thief
• Nanostray
• Ninja Town
• Panzer Tactics DS
• Pass Your Driving Theory Test (PAL)
• Plants vs Zombies (must have slipcover) or the big box version
• Peggle (must have slipcover)
• Personal Trainer Walking with pedometers outer box or NIB or CIB
• Pokemon Conquest
• Powerbike
• Prism Light the Way
• Puzzle de Harvest Moon
• Race Driver: Create and Race
• Rumble Pak
• Shepherd’s Crossing 2
• Space Invaders Extreme 2
• Spanish for Everyone
• Squishy Tank
• Steal Princess
• Stitch Jam
• Style Savvy
• Sudokuro
• Tamagotchi Connection Corner Shop 1, 2 or 3
• The Dark Spire (preferably with soundtrack bundle)
• To-Fu Collection
• Tokyo Beat Down
• Touch Mechanic
• Trace Memory
• Trackmania Turbo
• Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2
• Trioncube
• Wappy Dog with dog
• Wario: Master of Disguise
• Wordfish
• Worms: Open Warfare 2
• Yoshi Touch and Go cover art or CIB
• Zuma's Revenge

GBA (can be loose but CIB preferred)

• GBA link cable
• GBA to GC link cable or 3rd party version that also works as a link cable
• Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
• Bit Generations (any game from this series)
• Blender Bros
• Boktai 2
• Bomberman Tournament
• Car Battler Joe
• Denki Blocks
• Dokapon: Monster Hunter loose or CIB
• Driver 2 Advance
• Fire Emblem loose or CIB
• Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones loose or CIB
• Frogger’s Adventures: Temple of the Frog
• Frogger’s Adventures 2: The Lost Wand
• Gradius Galaxies loose or CIB
• GT Advance (loose)
• GT Advance 1/2/3/Moto GP combo cart
• Iridion 2 loose or CIB
• Jet Grind Radio
• Krazy Racers (NA or EU)
• Kuru Kuru Kururin (EU pls)
• Monster Rancher Advance
• Monster Rancher Advance 2
• Moto Racer Advance (EU PAL preferred)
• Phalanx
• Pocky and Rocky with Becky
• Racing Gears Advance
• Rugrats Castle Capers (loose)
• R-Type 3
• Soccer Kid
• Stuntman
• The Bible Game
• V-Rally 3
• Wild Thornberrys Chimp Chase (loose)
• Zapper

GBC (can be loose but CIB preferred for games)

• Atomic Purple or Clear GBC
• GBC Link Cable
• Conker's Pocket Tales (can be NA or EU region)
• Konami GB Collection (any volume, EU region)
• Marble Madness
• Mega Man Xtreme 2
• Microsoft Best of Entertainment Pack
• Microsoft Pinball Arcade
• Microsoft Puzzle Collection Entertainment Pack
• Shantae (lmao)
• Wario Land 2

GB (can be loose but CIB preferred for games)

• Clear or Ice Blue Game Boy Pocket
• Brain Drain
• Breakthru!
• Bubble Ghost
• Final Fantasy Adventure
• Heiankyo Alien
• Kirby's Dream Land 2
• Mario’s Picross NA or EU or maybe even JP
• Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land
• Tetris
• Tetris Blast
• Wildsnake
• Wordzap
• World Cup Soccer

Wii U

• Cars 3: Driven to Win
• Game and Wario
• Hello Kitty Kruisers
• Need for Speed Most Wanted
• NES Remix Pack
• Sing Party big box with mic
• Skylanders Superchargers Starter Pack / Extras
• Snoopy’s Grand Adventure
• Splatoon
• Steamworld Collection
• Tumblestone
• Wheel of Fortune
• Wii Party U

Wii

• ABBA You Can Dance
• Alien Syndrome
• Animal Kingdom: Wildlife Expedition
• Babysitting Mama with the plush baby and bassinet
• Blast Works: Build Trade Destroy
• Bomberman Land
• Cars: Mater National
• Castle of Shikigami 3
• Cooking Mama 2-Pack (World Kitchen / Cook Off)
• Data East Arcade Classics
• Dino Strike
• Disney Princess: Enchanting Storybooks
• Dragon Quest Swords
• Final Fantasy Fables Chocobo’s Dungeon
• Fishing Master World Tour
• Little King’s Story
• Mad Dog McCree Gunslinger Pack
• Madworld
• Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
• Mini Ninjas
• Minicopter: Adventure Flight
• Octomania
• Opoona
• Pirate Blast
• Pokepark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure
• Pokepark 2: Wonders Beyond
• Rayman Origins
• Red Steel
• Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love
• Sam and Max
• Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing
• Tamagotchi Party On
• The Kore Gang
• The Munchables with bonus character decal
• Top Shot Dinosaur Hunter
• Trackmania
• Trauma Team
• Ultimate Shooting Collection

GameCube

• Unusual controller colors: Indigo/Clear, Clear, Blue, Club Nintendo White, Club Nintendo White Wavebird (all loose)
• GBA to GC link cable or third party that also works as a GBA to GBA link cable
• Burnout 2
• Chaos Field
• Dakar
• Dragon’s Lair 3D
• Gauntlet Dark Legacy
• GBI Card
• Go Go Hypergrind
• Godzilla Destroy All Monsters
• Gotcha Force CIB or just manual
• PENDING Hulk
• Mario Golf Toadstool Tour Target variant with exclusive Bullseye course
• Mario Party 6
• Metal Arms Glitch in the System
• Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes
• Need for Speed Most Wanted
• NFL Street
• Pac Man Fever
• Pac Man World Rally
• Phantasy Star Online 1 and 2 Plus
• Pro Rally
• Raphnet Tech Classic Controller to GameCube Adapter
• R: Racing Evolution
• Smashing Drive
• SRS Street Racing Syndicate
• Super Smash Bros Melee
• The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
• The Legend of Zelda Four Swords
• The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker

N64

I still need a power cord for my N64 so I'm not prioritizing acquiring games yet, but here are the games I am interested in. Would love to get CIB but will probably settle for loose for now:

• Beetle Adventure Racing
• Cruis'n World
• Cruis'n Exotica
• Glover
• Hey You Pikachu with microphone and voice unit
• Lego Racers
• Mischief Makers
• Perfect Dark
• Space Station Silicon Valley
• Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth

SNES

I have not had an SNES in years. I am somewhat interested in acquiring a unit with the cables and at least one controller, and Mario Paint either CIB or loose with all the parts. I just really want to play Mario Paint with my kids.

NES (can be loose)

• 3D World Runner
• RC Pro Am 2

PS3

• Driver San Francisco
• GRID
• Metal Gear Solid The Legacy Collection (would prefer if download codes are unused but it's fine if they are used as long as the inserts are still present)
• Plants vs Zombies with Peggle and Heavy Weapon
• Ridge Racer 7
• Tekken Hybrid
• The Last of Us
• Zone of the Enders HD Collection

PS2

• Bombastic
• Burnout 3: Takedown
• Castle Shikigami 2
• Crazy Taxi with bonus mini strategy guide
• Dark Cloud
• Fantavision
• Futurama
• Gradius 3 and 4
• Graffiti Kingdom
• Lego Racers 2
• Metal Slug Anthology
• Mobile Light Force 2
• Monster Rancher 4
• MTV Music Generator 2
• MTV Music Generator 3
• Popcap Hits Vol 2
• Rez
• Shepherd’s Crossing
• Stuntman
• Super Monkey Ball Deluxe
• The Adventures of Cookie and Cream
• Tokyo Extreme Racer Zero
• PENDING Virtual-On Marz
• Wipeout Fusion case and manual or CIB

PS1

• 1 or more Konami Justifier Lightguns
• Battle Hunter
• Chocobo Racing
• Circuit Breakers
• Devil Dice
• Die Hard Trilogy
• Driver
• Galaga Destination Earth
• Klonoa
• Lego Racers
• Lethal Enforcers 1 and 2
• Marble Master
• Mega Man Legends 1 and 2
• MTV Music Generator
• Pepsiman
• Puzzle Star Sweep
• Puzznic
• Qix Neo
• R-Type Delta
• RayCrisis
• Rage Racer
• RC Revenge
• The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
• Thunder Force V: Perfect System
• Torneko: The Last Hope
• Turnabout
• Worms: Armageddon

Genesis

• Championship Pro Am
• Gunstar Heroes
• Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
• Pocahontas
• Rocket Knight Adventures
• Sonic Spinball
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Amiibo

• SSB Isabelle
• Any Monster Hunter Amiibo
• Skylanders Superchargers starter pack for Wii U (new or used)
• SMS Boo OoB
• SMS Goomba OoB
• Mega Man from Mega Man 11 OoB
• SSB Shulk
• Qbby
• AC Amiibo Cards: 107 Katie, 212 Timmy, 266 Joey, 301 Isabelle
• AC RV Cards: Maggie, Carrie, or others that are not Ketchup, Weber, or Ellie
• Any Sanrio AC cards, especially Cinnamoroll (I'm also interested in a repro set of these)
• Mega Yarn Yoshi loose or with box

Soundtracks

• SEGA AGES Outrun Music Collection
• Sonic Mania Vinyl
• Space Channel 5 CD
• The Last Story for Wii CD (came with the game)
• wipEout series CD

I'm also open to Nintendo eShop credit, GameStop gift cards or Amazon gift cards.
Prefer to buy something? Here's my GameSale post.
Any questions, just ask!

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