Games blocked at schoolames b

Really been enjoying trapper and have been getting consistently better. Not sure if I’m at high mmr and in some games you just can’t do much, but the percentage of traps I place that catch people has risen dramatically
Obviously the games are harder with SWFS calling you out and people seeing your aura, but I’ve had tons of 4k games playing like this. Not pretending I’m an expert but I’ve had excellent results doing the stuff below

• put them PAST doorways, pallets, corners, etc. basically you want them to commit to going through and either have to stop, double back or run into the trap. If you put it in the doorway they automatically know ‘that route is blocked’ which can be good sometimes, but you want them to actually have to run through the doorway or actually go around the corner before/if they see a trap. Gotten me massive value. You can actually put them in doorways and tight spaces if there is grass though. If not, put it a couple of ft into the doorway/around the corner. You can trap a strong loop, but put it in a spot they will only see it when they’ve committed to the loop if that makes sense
  
• stand at a generator and look around, anywhere you can see from here they will spot too. I had a gen right outside the shack which I usually trap in at least one doorway. I decided to put it a few ft around a corner out of line of sight of the gen so when I chased them to the shack they’d run around the wall and step in it after the corner
  
• i personally don’t use the purple/red addons, I’m sure they are great but I want to earn my kills without insta downs. I love the trap setting speed and speed after setting a trap (either a mix of both or dual of each). Being able to set traps faster and or run into a sprint after setting lets you drop them very fast. If you are in a long loop you don’t want to deal with you can drop a trap very fast in front of the pallet or vault and push them out. I’ve had success faking a trap set but this way I deny the loop and set up a trap at the pallet/vault for someone who didn’t see it
  
• when you hook someone, have a guess at what angle the rescuer will come from and place a trap in the most efficient path. 90% of survivors will wait until the last second to come save, so they’ll run the fastest route and if you put it a ft around the corner or in grass you’ll snag them. Games absolutely snowball like this for me
  
• zone, coral and herd them into your traps. I act like a sheepdog, making wide strafes behind them to try to aim them to run in one direction. You can do this too by dropping a trap in a loop. I had a survivor looping me in the RPD reception desk so I got her so her back was facing the trapped side of the building then placed my trap on the side of the loop I was on. This naturally caused her to abandon the loop and run in the opposite direction, towards my traps
  

As for perks, I don’t like gen slowdown so use what you want, I like chase/location perks so right now I’m running

• brutal strength to carry on chases faster and get that extra surprise second they don’t expect
  
• bamboozle to help herd them into my trapped areas better and it’s generally a great chase perk
  
• infectious fright, so when someone is in a trap I can smack them to check if it’s safe to pick them up and reset/take my trap. Sometimes I’ll just pick them up right out of the trap and this triggers it too. Also, I’m pretty sure screaming interrupts trap disarming but it’s hard to tell if I have value from that. It interrupts healing too so using the haemorrhage (and maybe mangled) addons for your trap (or sloppy butcher) adds extra value
  
• spies from the shadows, it’s my fave location perk in the whole game
  

About WARNO)
Background:
The first division to be introduced on the Sordish side was the 5th Infantry Division. Deployed in the Nargis region as part of the Sordland First Army, The 5th infantry division is perhaps the most typical of all Sordish infantry divisions before the war of 1958. In fact, the Sordish armed force inquiry specifically designated the division as a template division. The 5th Infantry Division saw its first combat in the Estord pincer; it has since taken part in many major campaigns throughout the war.
Logistics: The 5th infantry division is designed with strong logistical capability in mind, providing the commander with a range of different options for combat sustainment
Sunolis 32 truck: the stereotypical truck that represents the Sordish Armed Forces
M52 munition carrier: the license-produced Arcasian carrier has been used as a mechanized troop transport. On some occasions, they are used to ferry ammunition to the frontline.
Fielddepot: a hardened strongpoint for storing ammunition. The Sordish doctrine relies on a good defense just like it relies on a good offense.
Sunolis 41 jeep: a mobile ride for commanding officers, not exactly the safest option
Infantry: The backbone of the Sordish Army, the men of the 5th infantry division may not be best of the entire army, but they are well-equipped and ready for combat.
Rifleman (motorized): 10 men squads with 8 G2 combat rifles, one MG21 machine gun, a Carl Gustafsson recoilless rifle (12 penetration with 4 shots), and rifle grenades. Initially, the Lancea reform aimed to fully mechanize all infantry units with M52 carriers. However, due to resource constraints, for each infantry brigades, two infantry battalions are motorized on trucks, and the third is mounted on M52 carriers.
Riflemen (mechanized): 8 men squads with 7 G2 combat rifles, one MG21 machine gun, a Carl Gustafsson recoilless rifle and rifle grenades. The squad rides in M52 carriers to battle. The carrier can reinforce the rifle squads with ammunition and material to reflect the fact that carriers do carry ammo on them. The recoilless
Engineers: 6 men squads with 5 G2s, one MG21, and 4 AT grenades (10 penetration and 50m range). Engineers have always been a part of the Sordish army since the Markian empire. Per doctrine, the engineers should be deployed as a reserve unit in the rear to strengthen defenses, they are not expected to hold the line or storm enemy positions.
Pioneers: Pioneers are specialized combat engineers tasked with storming enemy strongpoints and engage in close combat. This role is reflected by their shock trait, which increases their damage output at close range. A pioneer squad has 9 men with 7 G2s, an FO-47 flamethrower, satchel charges (50m range, 3 HE damage), and AT grenades.
Weapon squad: For each company, four machine guns are allocated; this is reflected by the weapons squad with 4 tripod mounted MG21s. The squad has 8 men with 4 G2 and an additional Carl Gustafsson Recoilless.
Anti-tank squad (motorized): The dismounted recoilless squad operates a crew-served 106mm M51 recoilless rifle (14 penetration, 70% accuracy, 800m range). They reflect the anti-tank squad organic to each motorized company.
Anti-tank squad (mech): mechanized AT squads are attached to each mechanized infantry company from the battalion level; they consist of a 5 men team with two Carl Gustafsson. The squad rides in a M52A carrier armed with a 106mm recoilless rifle.
ATGM squad: This is a new addition to the motorized battalion's anti-tank asset, but it has yet to replace the role of the venerable M53. The BS-3 missile is operated by a three-man team with a minimum range of 400 meters. The MCLOS guidance system resulted in abysmal accuracy (35%), but the long range of the missile and its penetration level (14 penetration with 3000m range) brought a revolutionary change to anti-tank combat.
Headquarters team: the leader of the unit. A five men team with 4 G2 rifles and one recoilless rifle. The headquarters team increases the morale of units within its effect radius and increases their veteran level. Enemy units seen by the HQ team can also be targeted with artillery with reduced aiming time due to their “forward observer” trait.
Artillery: Despite being smaller than their gargantuan Rumburgian counterpart, Sordish infantry divisions have access to a wide range of artilleries.
81mm mortar team: Five-men team with an 81mm, not the best nor the worst. (2 HE damage, fast fire rate)
M502 mortar carrier: A M52 carrier configured to carry 120mm mortar (3 HE damage, fast fire rate)
HF110 howitzer: a towed piece of 110mm artillery (3 HE damage, medium fire rate but with longer range and ammunition)
HF155 howitzer: a towed piece of 155 (4 HE damage, medium fire rate)
L213 SPG: A self-propelled 155mm artillery gun, it is armored to protect itself against enemy counterbattery fire (4 HE damage, medium fire rate)
Rk228 “pipe organ”: A heavy multiple-launch rocket artillery capable of firing 16 480mm rockets in one row. The accuracy is poor, but it can absolutely devastate enemy strong points.
Tanks: The Lancea reform seeks to turn the army into a modernized force capable of inflicting devastating losses on enemy units through maneuver warfare. The division’s tank arsenal has been modernized to some degree.
B-45 tanks: first developed in 1945, the tanks were pretty outdated by 1958. They lack modern armor and cannot reliably damage newer tanks with their 88mm gun. (4 front armor, 2 side armor, 1 rear armor, the 88 gun deals 2 HE and 10 penetration with 40% accuracy over 2300m range)
B-55 tanks: the update to B-45 tanks (pretty much T-55 but better), the B-55s are equipped with smoke launchers, newer 100mm guns, and active night vision capability to counter the Rumburgian night capability. The armor is also improved (7 front armor, 3 side armor, 1 rear armor, the 100mm gun deals 3 HE and 14 penetration with 45% accuracy over 2500m range)
B-55M1, the newest generation of the B-55 series, the tanks are equipped with ballistic computers and better armor, the ammunition is also improved. (9 front armor, 5 side armor, the gun deals 16 penetration with a kinetic projectile with 60% accuracy over 2500m range)
B-55cmd, a command variant of B-55, with leader trait and forward observer trait
Recon: The ability to get information across is essential in modern warfare, hence the army has invested much in this field
FernJaeger: 10 men motorized squad with 7 G2 rifles, 2 MG21 machineguns, 1 Carl Gustaf, and grenades. They have exceptional stealth and spotting.
Belluxjaeger: 4-man team with one Carl Gustaf. They can ride in M52 Jagdhross carriers (the recon version of M52, it is equipped with one 106mm and two MG21 guns). or jeeps
Hettmotor Fuchs: A 6-wheeled armored car with a 20mm cannon and smoke launcher (3 front armor, good spotting)
Air Defense: the Sordish air force is confident in their ability to stop most enemy air attack, but infantry divisions usually retain a strong anti-air component
M42 20mm: dual 20mm anti-air gun, it is somewhat obsolete
M55 anti-air: Self-propelled quad 20mm anti-air gun with radar assisted guidance, the main defense against Rumburgian air threat.
FK-20 Magico: Lespian infrared anti-air missile, the only weapon system not made in Sordland. The missiles have a 60% hit rate against air targets.
Helicopters: Sordish infantry divisions do not have access to much helicopters, most helicopter assets are centralized to armored divisions
Antelope II: Lespian light helicopter, somewhat commonly used in the Rika continent by the Pretorian Defense Force and some Arcasian PMCs, the helicopter is mostly used for recon with only an MG21 mounted on it.
Planes: The Sordish Air Force is an independent strategic branch. Due to limited resources, they are more concerned with gaining air superiority and acting as an interdicting force. The vast majority of infantry units cannot call in close air support. A longtime joke is that a colonel in an infantry division can call in as much air support as a captain in a tank division can.
P-86 Sabre: the plane comes in two variations; A2A variant is armed with a Rattlesnake air-to-air missile (60% accuracy). The rocket variant fires 128mm rockets.
P-104 Starfighter: the Arcasian plane’s reliance on speed has made it notorious for crash incidents, it is often nicknamed as “flying coffin” by aircrews. The plane comes in a bomber variant with two 450kg bombs.
P-100 Super Sabre: the backbone of the Sordish air force, the A2A version has semi-active radar missiles in addition to Rattlesnakes, the bomb version carries four 450kg bombs and two 20mm gun pods

Hey guys,
I'm pretty average when it comes to fighting games. Always stuck in that phase of "better than anyone live, worse than anyone online". Though I DID at one point break into the top 200 in battle for the grid, which I am still proud of myself for.
Now I'm trying to also dive into GG strive, and its my first exposure to charge inputs (Leo, Axl). I'll be blunt, these seem extremely counter intuitive to me. The time it takes to charge them up seems to ensure I drop my combo, then eat a massive one right back, or best case scenario my opponent sees them coming and blocks.
Any tips for getting these down or making them more reliable?

I never considered myself to be someone who came on too strong or developed feelings quickly. Something about her was different though and I don’t know what but I think maybe I was being manipulated and used. We were never dating at any point in this but she made it feel like we were. In the summer of 2023 we had become friends in person and would spend almost all day every day playing games together online. She was kind to me, considerate, funny, affectionate, and was just so fun for me to be around. As our friendship strengthened I started to become physically and emotionally attracted to her. I thought this was how she felt but it was only physical for her which has never been the case for me in any “situationship” I’m usually the one in that position. In October of 2023 she started to become cold towards me. She started to distance herself, started to make sure I knew she was with her best guy friend any opportunity she got to show me. It was painful to know that even when I was free she wouldn’t bother to include me in anything they did together. She kept me and him separated from each other. One of my other friends started to send her sexually explicit messages but I forgave him for that as he was very drunk. He apologized to her but I never even needed him to do that as she was not offended but I was as he was my friend and knew I liked her. She got mad at me for “interfering” with her life. I told her I talked to him about it because he was my friend and knew how I felt and as soon as she deduced that I had feelings for her she slept with her best guy friend. This all took place within 24 hours. I asked her if there was anything wrong or that she needed to tell me. She lied to me and said there wasn’t. This guy lives in the same neighborhood as me and one night I was going to get some food and happened to see her car parked at his house at 2 in the morning if not later. I asked her again the next day and she admitted it. What hurt the most wasn’t that she slept with someone else, my feelings were not something I’d characterize as love, it was the fact that I couldn’t trust her anymore. I felt so betrayed, lied to, hurt, and confused. This was 10 days after the last time we slept together. I made it clear I’d like to know if she wanted to move to someone else before doing something like that. She didn’t tell me anything and I got so angry and upset I blew up on her over text. I apologized for my reaction to what she did but she never apologized for the pain and confusion she had caused me. I will forever have to live with this feeling of betrayal. I told myself “never again” and attempted to distance myself indefinitely and completely. They had a falling out and she cut him off. A few months after this happened, she started to reach out to me again. I was very hesitant, very cold, and did not let her back into my heart. Months went by, she made me feel very seen and appreciated on my birthday, which I have a bad history with and I usually just pretend it isn’t my birthday, but she didn’t know that and it made me feel so happy and seen. This was in February. She doesn’t know this.
We started sleeping together in March. She asked me if I wanted to sleep with her again and I said yes expecting that after all this time and everything I had said to her that she would never just do that to me again. I was wrong. About a month ago she started to talk to her guy friend again. He started to be around more and more. I tried to be accepting and understanding but it made me uncomfortable being around him as it reminded me of the betrayal she had done in the past. It’s unbearable. I have voiced that to her multiple times but never made her choose between us or tried to make her feel guilty about it. She was graduating and decided to celebrate with him and her other friends and I was not a part of this so I stayed home. I was anxious she was going to do the same thing as last time as we had a slightly abrasive interaction the night before at her house. The next day when she was with them, she started to ignore my messages. I told her not to ignore me as it makes me anxious that she will do something like that again and reminded her that if she wanted to she could but she had to end things with me first. Keep in mind this had been happening for weeks at various levels of intensity.
My alarm bells were ringing. She snapped at me when I said this then proceeded to ignore me. I spiraled as I saw what was about to happen and basically begged her just to talk to me and end things properly. She ignored me and slept with him again. I was described as obsessed, in love with her, crazy, delusional, etc. she said this not only to her friends but to mine as well. My entire text exchange was shown to my friends and I’m sure she showed it to hers too. I felt so betrayed, so frustrated, so angry at myself for allowing her to do this to me again. I blocked her and all her friends as she started to turn her location on and off and leaving me on opened at his house intentionally to test me. I knew what she was doing and what the right move was but I didn’t care anymore I don’t want to play games. She would talk shit about the other guy and complained that he was “stalking” her because he was looking at her location. I was scared she was going to do this to me too. I am so upset, so hurt, so angry. I want it to end but she keeps gossiping about me, keeps bringing this guy to our mutual friend group. All I asked for from her was to give me peace and leave me the fuck alone. She never apologizes for anything. I don’t know how to process this and it sucks. I was anxious sometimes but not without good reason and it’s not fair I was punished like this. It felt sadistic almost and as I expressed how she hurt me she did it even more brazenly and without remorse. I want revenge but I know what I am capable of and I don’t want to hurt anybody to that extent anymore as the guilt lingers but the satisfaction leaves. I wish I didn’t care. I will miss the good time but I feel abused and thrown away and know ending things is for the best. I miss you and I wish things had gone differently. I don’t think I can ever forgive her until I forget.

I installed linux mint edge a few weeks ago to replace windows and while I enjoy mint and it works quite well, a lot of apps keep crashing somehow.
Blender 4.1 crashes randomly, haven't been able to find the crash log (I tried looking in /tmp and other directories). Also tried removing the one from flatpak and installing from blender.org manually.
Visual Studio Code often crashes when I also run blender OR stable diffusion. When this happens, I often need to open terminal and force kill "node" if I was running a node js server.
It seems it might be a RAM issue. Maybe it's not able to use SWAP or something? Or memory leak?
What's going on here? It's really annoying. Should I go back to windows? :\
Thanks in advance, and also here's my system information:

System: Kernel: 6.5.0-35-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Cinnamon 6.0.4 Distro: Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy Machine: Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: ASUS TUF Gaming A17 FA707NV_FA707NV v: 1.0 serial:  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: FA707NV v: 1.0 serial:  UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: FA707NV.312 date: 08/11/2023 Battery: ID-1: BAT1 charge: 87.3 Wh (100.0%) condition: 87.3/90.2 Wh (96.8%) volts: 17.1 min: 15.9 model: ASUS A32-K55 status: Full CPU: Info: 6-core model: AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 rev: 1 cache: L1: 384 KiB L2: 3 MiB L3: 16 MiB Speed (MHz): avg: 1215 high: 3625 min/max: 400/4603 cores: 1: 400 2: 400 3: 3625 4: 1979 5: 400 6: 400 7: 2018 8: 400 9: 400 10: 2140 11: 2018 12: 400 bogomips: 79049 Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm Graphics: Device-1: NVIDIA vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia v: 535.171.04 bus-ID: 01:00.0 Device-2: AMD Rembrandt vendor: ASUSTeK driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus-ID: 35:00.0 Device-3: Sonix USB2.0 HD UVC WebCam type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-4:2 Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu,ati,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa gpu: amdgpu resolution: 1920x1080~144Hz OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 535.171.04 direct render: Yes Audio: Device-1: NVIDIA vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 01:00.1 Device-2: AMD driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 35:00.1 Device-3: AMD Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_pci_acp6x v: kernel bus-ID: 35:00.5 Device-4: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 35:00.6 Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k6.5.0-35-generic running: yes Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes Network: Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 IF: eno1 state: down mac:  Device-2: Realtek vendor: AzureWave driver: rtw89_8852be v: kernel port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac:  Bluetooth: Device-1: IMC Networks Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 3-3:3 Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address:  RAID: Device-1: bpool type: zfs status: ONLINE level: linear raw: size: 1.88 GiB free: 1.26 GiB zfs-fs: size: 1.75 GiB free: 1.14 GiB Components: Online: N/A Device-2: rpool type: zfs status: ONLINE level: linear raw: size: 472 GiB free: 332 GiB zfs-fs: size: 457.38 GiB free: 316.97 GiB Components: Online: N/A Drives: Local Storage: total: raw: 476.94 GiB usable: 936.06 GiB used: 141.93 GiB (15.2%) ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Micron model: 2400 MTFDKBA512QFM size: 476.94 GiB temp: 34.9 C Partition: ID-1: / size: 327.14 GiB used: 10.18 GiB (3.1%) fs: zfs logical: rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_atzx0y ID-2: /boot size: 1.75 GiB used: 626.8 MiB (35.0%) fs: zfs logical: bpool/BOOT/ubuntu_atzx0y ID-3: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 14.2 MiB (2.8%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 ID-4: /valog size: 317 GiB used: 36.1 MiB (0.0%) fs: zfs logical: rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_atzx0y/valog Swap: ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 2 GiB used: 969.7 MiB (47.3%) dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 53.0 C mobo: N/A Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2400 GPU: device: nvidia screen: :0.0 temp: 43 C device: amdgpu temp: 46.0 C Info: Processes: 552 Uptime: 11h 55m Memory: 14.86 GiB used: 12.4 GiB (83.4%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.4.0 Packages: 2543 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16 inxi: 3.3.13 

Coming from me whose first Dark Souls was Dark Souls II SOTFS and also my only souls game. I enjoyed this game a lot from the environment and music to its PvP and its many useful weapons. I looked at Dark Souls 3 and was disgusted how it looks like you mash R1 and every weapon acts the same and magic is useless. Until then I was already uninterested in Elden Ring or any Souls games because I still feel DS2 is the best souls game and will always be because B Team was better than that miyazaki shill.
even now i don't see a point in trying a new souls game because they will never have the fun pvp arena fights and invasions that SOTFS has, because of its many different playstyles... hexes, magic, pyromancy, miracles, quality builds, and many weapons to choose. I doubt that elden ring can offer that and i also doubt that the soundtrack is as good as DS2. majula, firekeepers, and some boss themes were so good in DS2. i looked at the other souls games and saw that they weren't as good.

I finally beat the Nameless Puppet on NG. It took me 3 days, at least 2 hours per session. My build was Advance, using the Acid Spear, Aegis fully upgraded, and the Perfect Guard Grindstone. I perfect blocked my way through the 1st phase. I relied on the Aegis on the 2nd phase, dodging into some attacks, and using the grindstone once its health fell below 50%. By the end of it, I had 3 Pulse cells left over, and used a total of 6 throwables to quickly end the fight.
And I hated every minute of it.
Every mechanical problems with the boss has been said many times over in other posts, but what I want to vent about is this: having anything resembling a decent ending be gated behind this travesty of a fight feels unnecessarily cruel.
See, I wouldn’t hate this fight so much if it was really, truly “optional”. If I had gotten a vanilla ending that at least acknowledged and respected all that hours I’ve poured into the game (and all the things I did to help the NPCs), I would’ve been happy to leave the Nameless Puppet to players who are more skilled (and have more time in a day) than me and put down the game with a good taste in my mouth. I would’ve been more excited to see what the devs will come up with next. Heck, I would even be encouraged to start a NG+ and try to beat this boss there, just for the challenge.
Instead, I am left with no sense of gratification at all from the few seconds of the ending cutscenes because the fight was so atrociously difficult. I didn’t even get to see what happens to the other characters (except for that one I guess).
Compare this to Bloodborne’s vanilla ending, where you don’t feel like you just threw 30 hours of your life out the window. It’s perfectly satisfying for players who don’t want to go through NG+ and who didn’t figure out the secret ending triggers. Even then, the other optional endings in that game are not necessarily “better” or “good” - they just get more and more Lovecraftian. The same is true of other FromSoft games, where you have an array of endings that are not necessarily “better” than the other, just different, and all of them are satisfying to get.
But Lies of P is set up such that the “true” ending is the only path where the stories are all wrapped up nicely in a way that makes sense. It is better than the other two in every single way, because no other parts of the game supports the other conclusions. It feels like the game was designed with that ending in mind. And because of that decision, the whole experience, for me, was almost thoroughly spoiled.
I hope in a future title they’ll listen to the other community feedbacks and not gate a satisfactory conclusion to a game behind a fight that expects you to be at least 90% on point, twice. I still respect the effort they put into the project, and I’m sure after going away from the game for a while I’ll remember the good bits. Right now I’m just sort of relieved that it was over.

Dear community,
I am close to loose my mind with my custom loop AM4 SFX built. I read so many posts, watched many videos but I can't fix the system to become stable. Over the past 12 months, since I finished the loop I tried many many things - see below - in some of them worked for at least a time (varies of hours, days, weeks and month) but in the end the issue or a variation of the issue came back.
PROBLEM:
The problem started with:
System boots normal and runs perfectly fine in Windows11, while browsing or benchmarking/stresstesting. The temps are very good - no issue at all even without undervolting of CPU and GPU. After some days/weeks the first BSOD occured while playing COD or Diablo - PC ran into a problem - critical error died. Eventviewer Kernel Error 41. Restarted, same issue directly after starting the game. My journey began and I updated/checked/tested until I found the video linked below - this helped for quite a while. As the issue came occured again I deassemplied the full build (hours of work - thanks SFX :D). I found a ARGB cable of a fan which was dimanteled - I unpluged my full RGB setup. The error wasn't showing for months - suddenly again.
The issue changed into a state where, when it happens there is a black screen instead of a BSOD. The PC turn off but the RAM sticks are still lighted up -> even by pressing the power button for more than 3 seconds which would normally restart the PC, it does not do so. Instead the PSU is turning on its fan for some seconds until it switches to silent 0 RPM mode, the RAM Sticks stay illuminated. In some cases only disconnection the power cord is helping. Also in some cases the PC won't start - it feels like a system hickup where multiple crashes don't let it boot correctly.
In the event viewer quite often the Kernel 41 comes with a 10006 Event called "DistributedCOM error".
Components:
Built: PCPARTPICKER
What's not part of the PCPartpicker:

• EKWB custom loop (Hardtube)
  • CPU (AMD AM4 5800X3D) // Quantum Velocity Block
  • GPU (EVGA 3090 XC3) // EK-Quantum Vector² XC3 RTX 3080/90 ABP Set D-RGB - Nickel + Plexi
  • Pump // EK-Quantum Kinetic TBE 120 VTX PWM D-RGB - Plexi
  • Fanhub // EK AIO Elite 360 D-RGB (came with my former AIO)Aquacomputer
• Aquacomputer
  • Flow sensor high flow NEXT
  • Aquacomputer quadro

What I already did/tested:

• All drivers/firmeware/bios are up2date
• Default settings in BIOS (no XMP or any undervolting of CPU/GPU)
• Disabled Fast boot
• Windows Power Management to Performance
• DDU for GPU and clean install
• Fresh install of Windows11
• SFCSCANNOW + Bootrec/fixmbr (YouTube Video)
• Benchmark/Stresstests
  • OCCT (all free tests - no errors - System Platinum Test is currently ongoing 12h Stress Test of all components)
  • Furemark (stress test + benchmark)
  • Cinebench
  • Memtest
  • RAM64
  • PSU tester (physical -> outstanding)
  • 3DMark (mulitple tests/bechmarks)
  • Heaven (stress test + benchmark)
• Optical check
• Cable check (fully connected)
• CMOS Reset
• 2*Disasemblies of all components

PLEASE HELP ME HERE. I would do whatever it takes but I don't know what I can do next?!
P.s.: Logs can be provided for everything - just let me know.

There’s a lot to learn when you’re new to RVing. After purchasing your RV and equipping it with the right gear, the last thing you want is to feel overwhelmed trying to select where to camp. So we asked the question: what are the best RV trips for beginners?
Of course, we have our own opinions, but we wanted to see what the RV community felt. We asked experienced RVers which destinations or campgrounds they would recommend for beginners. With over 150 replies, here are the top five answers:

1. Somewhere close to home
2. State parks
3. Good Sam Campgrounds
4. Your backyard
5. National parks

(Runner-up: Wal-Mart parking lot).

Why Stay Close to Home on Your First RV Trip as a Beginner?

The overwhelming majority of experienced RVers recommended sticking to somewhere close to home as a beginner. Their reasons were practical:

• You know where to go (home or familiar stores) if you forget supplies.
• You’re not far from your community if you need help.
• If something breaks down, towing your RV back to your house won't take long or cost too much.
• You do less driving and more time getting familiar with your RV.
• You won’t hurt your wallet on gas expenses if you overpack (which most first-timers do!)

Boondocking in your backyard is a great way to learn about your RV and its systems. Just remember: Depending on your RV, you’ll need potable water, a way to empty your holding tanks, and a proper power supply – 30 or 50 amps.

Which Locations Make For The Best RV Trips for Beginners?

We collected specific recommendations for those who want to venture out while staying close to home. These came directly from experienced RVers nationwide who were willing to share their favorite destinations for RV newbies.
Because we don’t know where home is for you, we organized this list of the best RV trips for beginners and organized them by region.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the Northeast

Bayley’s Camping Resort – Scarborough, Maine

Park Features:

• 512 full hookup sites
• 75’ pull-thru sites
• 44’ back-in sites
• Weekly entertainment schedule
• Recreation facilities
• Pools, restaurants, camp stores, and an arcade

Learn more or Book now.

Kennebec River Campground – The Forks, Maine

Park Features:

• Six secluded RV sites with electric hookups
• Full restaurant and brewery with deck seating
• Swimming pool and hot tub
• Bathhouse with hot, running water
• Easy access to the Kennebec River
• Base camp for whitewater rafting, snowmobiling, and other Maine adventures

Learn more or Book now.

Gettysburg Battlefield RV Resort – Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Park Features:

• 250 RV sites
• 60’ maximum RV length
• Battlefield reenactment grounds, Olympic swimming pool, and stocked fishing pond
• Game room, general store, and ice cream parlor
• Canoe, kayak, and paddle boat rentals
• Themed activities, nature trail, and laundry facilities

Learn more.

Quechee / Pine Valley – Hartford, Vermont

Park Features:

• Full hookup RV sites (30 and 50 amp service)
• 85’ maximum RV length
• Off-leash dog park and activity field
• Bike, canoe, and banana bike rentals
• Heating swimming pool (open 5/27 to 9/5)
• Saturday hay rides, playground adventures, and family fishing at the pond

Learn more or Book now.

Cherrystone Campground – Cape Charles, Virginia

Park Features:

• Open seasonally from 4/1 to 10/31
• 181 full hookup 30 amp sites (87 wateelectric only 30 amp sites)
• 121 full hookup 50 amp sites
• Private beach, beach entry pool, and two Olympic-sized pools
• Lazy river, mini golf course, and four fishing piers
• Daily shuttle service into Downtown Cape Charles

Learn more.

Holiday Trav-L-Park – Virginia Beach, Virginia

Why They Recommended: “The place is pretty big (but tight, please know HOW to drive). It has seven pools, a bar, a restaurant, laundry, concerts, and a little trolley that will take you to the beach for even more entertainment.”
Park Features:

• 700 RV sites (full hookup and wateelectric only)
• Wooded, partly shaded, or open site locations
• Maximum RV length varies by site type
• On-site laundromat, Safari Cafe, and eight tiled comfort stations
• Trolley from the cafe to the beach and beyond
• Dog park, bike path, and convenience store

Learn more or Book now.

Virginia Beach Holiday – Virginia Beach, Virginia

Why They Recommended: “They just put in a lazy river and a brand new pool. It’s state-of-the-art!”
Park Features:

• Full hookup sites with 50, 30, and 20 amp compatibility
• 45’ maximum RV length
• Two heated pools, a lazy river, and a splash pad
• Trolley stop for exploring the nearby Virginia Beach waterfront
• Community bonfire, dog park, and electric vehicle charging station
• Bicycle, golf cart, and pedal cart rentals

Learn more or Book now.

New River Gorge Campground – Lansing, West Virginia

Park Features:

• Full hookup RV sites (30 and 50 amp)
• Views of ponds, sunsets, and nightly firefly displays (seasonally)
• Catch-and-release fishing
• Hiking and biking trails, swimming, and kayaking nearby
• Nearby rock climbing, rafting, and horseback riding

Learn more.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the Southeast

Wind Creek State Park – Alexander City, Alabama

Park Features:

• 586 campsites with wateelectric hookups
• 157 waterfront campsites and 268 full hookup sites with sewer
• Two laundry facilities at the marina and a bathhouse
• Archery range, fishing, and mini golf course
• Boat rentals, horseback rides, and zipline canopy tours
• Sunday services, swimming area, and outdoor pavilions

Learn more or Book now.

Everglades Isle – Everglades City, Florida

Park Features:

• 59 full hookup RV sites (30 and 50 amp)
• Concrete pads (waterfront and inland) with daily trash service
• Clubhouse laundry facilities and complimentary Wi-Fi
• Luxury clubhouse with drinks, food, billiards, movies, and more
• Fitness center, office space, and veranda seating
• Lounge area, salon, and spa

Learn more or Book now.

Orlando / Kissimmee – Kissimmee, Florida

Why They Recommended: “Orlando has the best prices all year round! It’s in close proximity to Universal Studios, Disney, Disney Springs, lots of attractions, several grocery stores, and restaurants. Target even ships deliveries there.”
Park Features:

• Full hookup RV sites with 134’ maximum RV length (30 and 50 amp)
• Bike rentals, mini pocket park, and access to the public bus service
• Dog park, outdoor pavilion, and fitness center
• Heated swimming pool, hot tub, and sauna (open year-round)
• Electric vehicle charging station and taxi service
• Jump pad and playground for the kids

Learn more or Book now.

Fisheating Creek Outpost – Palmdale, Florida

Why They Recommended: “The lots have much more space than most parks. You are not three feet from your neighbor.”
Park Features:

• 18,000+ acre wildlife management area
• 48 full hookup RV sites (5 of which are ADA-accessible)
• The swimming area at Depot Lake
• Large pond with two islands near the Camp Store
• Canoe rentals and Riverside Cafe (open seasonally)
• Large screened recreation area with central bathhouse

Learn more or Book now.

Big Lagoon State Park – Pensacola, Florida

Park Features:

• ~75 campsites (some RV or tent, some tent-only, some RV-only)
• 40’ maximum RV length
• Swimming, boating, fishing, and paddling
• Biking, stargazing, and geocaching
• Access to the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail
• Boat launch, playground, and amphitheater

Learn more or Book now.

Jetty Park Campground – Port Canaveral, Florida

Park Features:

• 358 total sites (variety of water-only and wateelectric hookups)
• Bathhouses and communal fire pits.
• Views of rocket launches from Canaveral Air Force Station
• Shuffleboard courts and horseshoe pits
• Daily arrivals and departures of cruise ships and submarines
• Camp store and nearby fishing pier

Learn more or Book now.

Smith Ridge Campground – Campbellsville, Kentucky

Park Features:

• 80 campsites (62 with water and electric hookups)
• Flush toilets, showers, fire rings, and potable water
• Kid’s playground and easy access to miles of hiking trails
• Frisbee golf course, boat ramp, and swimming beach
• Fishing pier, marina, and picnic areas

Learn ore.

Mountain Stream RV Park – Marion, North Carolina

Park Features:

• 44 full hookup sites (30 and 50 amp)
• 45’ maximum RV length
• Access to Buck Creek along two edges of the campground
• Five miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway
• Dog park, kid’s playground, and outdoor pavilion
• Camp store and bathhouse with showers and toilets

Learn more or Book now.

North Myrtle Beach RV Resort – Little River, South Carolina

Park Features:

• Oversized full hookup sites and a fully-stocked camp store
• Views of the nearby Intracoastal Waterway
• Swimming pool with a slide and splash pad for the kids
• 60-slip boat dock with observation deck
• Live music every weekend during the summer
• Food and drinks on the water at the Tiki Bar and Grill

Learn more or Book now.

Myrtle Beach State Park – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Park Features:

• 140 standard water and electric campsites
• 138 full hookup sites
• All sites are located about 300 yards from the beach
• 30-40’ maximum RV length
• Beach access for pets and bikes is restricted to certain time periods (see site for more info)
• Nearby access to birding, fishing, swimming, hiking, biking, horseback riding, and more

Learn more or Book now.

PirateLand Family Camping Resort – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Park Features:

• 748 full hookup sites
• Access to free Wi-Fi and daily trash pickup at each site
• Gated entrance with 24/7 patrol crew
• Eight climate-controlled bathhouses with toilets and showers
• Fully stocked camp store, outdoor chapel, and laundry facility
• On-site water park with Olympic swimming pool, lazy river, and more

Learn more or Book now.

Ocean Lakes Family Campground – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Park Features:

• 859 full hookup sites with free Wi-Fi
• 649 concrete pad sites with 45’ maximum RV length
• 19 total beach accesses
• Three-acre family fun center with game center, mini golf, swimming pool, and more
• Volleyball, shuffleboard, and basketball courts
• Nearby Ocean Lakes Nature Center Discover Lab with more than 10,000 shells and fossils

Learn more or Book now.

Anchor Down RV Resort – Dandridge, Tennessee

Park Features:

• 170 concrete full hookup sites
• All sites at least 50’ long by 18’ wide (sites differ by type and location)
• Basketball, gaga ball, pickleball, and volleyball courts
• Boat, jet ski, and golf cart rentals
• Leash-free pet park, beach area, and campground cafe
• Saltwater kiddie pool and large pool with waterslide (open Memorial Day to Labor Day)

Learn more or Book now.

Cherokee Dam Campground – Jefferson City, Tennessee

Park Features:

• 44 total sites (39 with water and electric)
• Views of the lake and mountains from nearly every site
• Sites require a two-night minimum stay
• The use of a water pressure regulator is highly recommended
• Nearby access to swimming and birdwatching
• Large public boat ramp nearby

Learn more or Book now.

Melton Hill Dam Campground – Lenoir City, Tennessee

Park Features:

• 61 total sites (35 with water and electric)
• Sites require a two-night minimum stay
• Two bathhouses with showers and flush toilets
• Designated swimming area
• Canoe and boat ramp access
• Free dump station access

Learn more or Book now.

Camp Margaritaville RV Resort and Lodge – Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Park Features:

• Full hookup concrete campsites
• Complimentary Wi-Fi and cable TV
• Nearby Fin City Entertainment Center with arcade, bowling, billiards, and more
• Nearby pool recreation area with water slides, lazy river, and kid zone
• Pet park, camp store, and kid’s playground
• Live entertainment, breakfast buffet, and barestaurant

Learn more or Book now.

Little Arrow Outdoor Resort – Townsend, Tennessee

Park Features:

• Luxury and standard full hookup RV sites
• Luxury sites with outdoor sink and cabana
• Standard sites with paved patios and fire rings
• 24/7 coffee lounge with playroom and movie/book exchange
• Zero-entry pool with grottos, hot tub, and splash pad
• 1-2 miles of quiet, peaceful hiking trails

Learn more or Book now.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the Midwest

Sycamore Springs Park – English, Indiana

Park Features:

• 30 and 50-amp sites with a 55’ minimum site length
• Full hookup, wateelectric, and primitive camping available
• Free firewood and fire pits on all sites
• Modern restrooms and shower houses
• Family-friendly camping with no alcohol allowed on the grounds
• Fishing, hiking and picnicking available

Learn more or Book now.

Lake Rudolph Campground and RV Resort – Santa Claus, Indiana

Park Features:

• Open season 5/1 to 10/31
• 146 full hookup 50-amp sites
• 110 full hookup 30-amp sites
• Gem mining, golf cart rentals, and take-out dining
• Swimming pool, dog park, and water park
• Free shuttle service to the theme park and water park

Learn more.

Grand Haven State Park – Grand Haven, Michigan

Park Features:

• 48-acre park with Lake Michigan to the west and the Grand River to the north
• 174 paved campsites
• Steps away from the beach and the river
• Scenic views of the Grand Haven pier and two lighthouses
• Boardwalk along the Grand River for fishing or walking
• Accessible playground, picnic area, and modern restrooms

Learn more or Book now.

Otsego Lake State Park – Gaylord, Michigan

Park Features:

• 155 campsites (split between the North and South campgrounds)
• Half-mile sandy beach with designated swim area
• Kayak, paddleboard, and canoe rentals for day-use
• Nearby access to the Iron Belle Trail for hiking, biking, and snowmobiling
• Fishing pier and boat launch
• Designated beach area for metal detecting

Learn more or Book now.

Itasca State Park – Park Rapids, Minnesota

Park Features:

• 223 drive-in campsites in two campgrounds (160 electric-only)
• 60’ maximum RV length
• Seasonal dump station available in the Bear Paw Campground
• Interpretive exhibits and year-round naturalist programs
• Two-hour excursion boat tours of Lake Itasca
• Nearby restaurant and cafe (open seasonally)

Learn more or Book now.

Silver Dollar City Campground – Branson, Missouri

Park Features:

• Full hookup sites (30 and 50 amp)
• Picnic table and fire ring at each site
• Kid’s playground and swimming pool (open 5/28-9/5)
• Nearby theme park, water park, and dinner cruises
• Clubhouse with supplies and an air-conditioned lounge with Wi-Fi
• Complimentary shuttle service into Silver Dollar City

Learn more or Book now.

Lake Mcconaughy State Recreation Area – Brule, Nebraska

Park Features:

• Seven developed campgrounds
• Reservable and first-come, first-served campsites
• Reservable beach camping in 17 designated zones
• Reservations required 5/20 to 9/10
• Archery range, swimming, and playground
• Boating, fishing, and hunting

Learn more or Book now.

Mt. Gilead Holiday – Mt. Gilead, Ohio

Park Features:

• 150 acres of walking trails
• Dog park, playground, and fishing ponds
• Golf driving range
• Zero-entry swimming pool (open 5/26-9/4)
• Golf course rentals, sand volleyball, and ‘The Bonfire Bar’

Learn more or Book now.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the South

The Woodlands RV Resort – Heber Springs, Arkansas

Park Features:

• 71 full hookup sites
• Five minutes from beaches, boat ramps, restaurants, and a golf course
• Easy access to hiking and biking trails
• Swimming pool, playground, and fishing pond
• Bathhouse, laundry room, and dog run coming soon

Learn more or Book now.

Sarah’s Seaside RV Oasis – Grand Isle, Louisiana

Why They Recommended: It’s the most laid back!
Park Features:

• Full hookup sites (30 and 50 amp)
• Family and pet-friendly
• Walking distance from restaurants, shopping, and bars
• Renowned for nearby world-class fishing and birdwatching
• Seasonal events like holiday decorating contests, seafood boils, movie nights, and more

Learn more.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the Southwest

Mather Campground – Grand Canyon Village, Arizona

Park Features:

• 327 primitive campsites with fire rings, a cooking grate, and a picnic table
• Flush toilets and drinking water spigots throughout
• Free dump station at Camper Services nearby
• Generators not permitted in Pine Loop (sites 265-319)
• Easy access to a paved walking and biking trail leading to overlooks and the visitor center

Learn more.

Tucson Lazydays – Tucson, Arizona

Park Features:

• 360 full hookup sites
• 73’ maximum RV length
• Pet-friendly sites, dog park, and dog wash available
• Two swimming pools, a hot tub, and a sauna (open year-round)
• Mini golf, bike rentals, workout room, and more

Learn more or Book now.

Caballo Lake State Park – Caballo, New Mexico

Park Features:

• Seven full hookup sites
• 98 water and electric (30 amp) sites
• 10 water and electric (50 amp) sites
• Three boat docks and two boat ramps
• Playgrounds and visitor centers with interactive exhibits for the kids
• Fishing, swimming, hiking, horseback riding, and more

Learn more or Book now.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the Northwest

Coloma Resort – Coloma, California

Park Features:

• 43 full hookup sites
• 45’ maximum RV length
• Sewer hookups are available at off-river sites only
• Calendar of naturalist-led activities available (summer months only)
• Exclusive riverfront access with nearby kayaking, tubing, and rafting
• Swimming pool and children’s playgrounds
• Wireless internet throughout the campground

Pro Tip: You must cross the Mt. Murphy Bridge to reach this campground. Here are the height and weight restrictions for that bridge:

• Max Height: 13' 6
• Max Weight for 2 Axle vehicles: 12 Tons (24,000 pounds)
• Max Weight for 3 Axle vehicles: 19 Tons (38,000 pounds)

Learn more or Book now.

Arrowhead RV Park – Cascade, Idaho

Park Features:

• 116 full hookup sites
• Easy access to the Payette River for fishing or paddling
• Shuffleboard and horseshoe pit for family entertainment
• Communal firepit on the edge of the river
• Recreation room with books, board games, and movies

Learn more or Book now.

St. Mary / East Glacier – St. Mary, Montana

Why They Recommended: “Beautiful views right from the park!”
Park Features:

• 75’ maximum RV length
• 30 and 50-amp sites
• Large hot tub, pool, and sauna (seasonally)
• Kayak rentals and easy access to the Lower St. Mary Lake & River
• Dog kennels and dog walking service (for when you want to explore nearby Glacier National Park)

Learn more or Book now.

Cape Blanco State Park – Port Orford, Oregon

Park Features:

• 52 electric hookup sites with water
• Easy access to wildlife viewing, fishing, and horse trails
• Beach access and hiking trails
• Flush toilets and hot showers
• Lighthouse and Hughes House for historical tours

Learn more or Book now.

Seven Feathers RV Resort – Canyonville, Oregon

Park Features:

• 182 full hookup sites
• 60’ maximum pull-thru size
• 55’ maximum back-in size
• Hotel and casino across the street
• Indoor heated pool and hot tub
• Fitness and media centers

Learn more or Book now.
Want to add your advice to our poll? Click below to join the conversation!
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=776034604566862&id=100064809877965&mibextid=WC7FNe
Which destinations would you recommend for first-time RVers? Share your tips in the comments below.

Sega of Japan deserves all the criticisms for their idiocy of overtaking the dictatorship of the wider Sega company and running the company down because they tried to manage the global markets without understanding the cultures behind them and basing their actions upon the tastes of the Japanese market. On top of putting their eggs in one baskets and obsessively trying to make the Saturn king of Japan's console industry................
However there's a gigantic misconception on the internet by understandably P$!%ed off Western gamers that Sega of Japan's boneheaded run of the company is some unique kind of stupidity unmatched in history.........
Actually there's bad news and its that this is actually a big problem in the Japanese business world especially among companies that are domestic giants such as Konami.
And I'll start with one of my favorite franchises. Mobile Suite Gundam.
Back in the late 90s and early 2000s the most recent iteration of the franchise Mobile Suit Gundam Wing aired on the Toonami block on Cartoon Network. And to say it was a massive success. It was easily Toonami's most watched program after Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon and there would be profitable sales of Gundam Wing figures in American major retailers like K-Mart and kB Toys during the show's run. There was more demand for further Gundam content. Easy pathway to creating a juggernaut in the anime industry in America right?
Well the immediate followup to Gundam Wing was....... The original Gundam. Form the 1970s. I'm not kidding. The studios that makes Gundam Sunrise made this choice.
Massive gigantic bomb in America. Even Toonami's less popular programs like Ronin Warriors hard much higher viewerships.
The show's reason for flopping was that the original Gundam looked just so outdated with its animation being 70s flair. The original Gundam is actually superior to Wing in almost every other way especially the overall plot...... But the animation looked so old nobody wanted to watch it.
Why did Sunrise choose to follow up Wing which was their latest installment just before Turn A which was actually running in Japan during the same time Toonami was airing Wing in America?
In Japan the specific continuity the first original Gundam series follows, the UC timeline, is the handsdown most popular canon. The first two sequels Zeta (the Gundam series with the highest ratings ever in the history of the franchise within Japan) and ZZ formed a trilogy with the original Gundam of interlinking stories that culminates and concluded most the unresolved arcs in the original Gundam along with a slew of entwined movies and OVAs (think miniseries in Western terms). Basically the UC timeline is so big in Japan that we still get new stories every couple of years focused on specific characters, incidents, and so much more as well. Ask the general populace about Gundam and its the robot suits and characters of the UC timeline such as Amuro Rey and the Zaku robots and the that they immediately picture in their heads when they think Gundam similar to how the vast bulk of Star Wars fans below 16 always associates the franchise with Luke, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Obi Wan, and Anakin/Darth Vader and the iconic scenes are teh Death Star onscreen and lightsaber fights.
So in Sunrise's head, not only was the first Gundam a guaranteed success in America but that they had to follow it up with it because the UC is the heart and soul of the entire franchise. The studios sincerely believed that with the original Gundam's even better and more complicated storyline that crowds will flock to watch it every weekday on Toonami...........
Failing to realize that a prime part of what made Wing so impressionable on Western audiences was the visuals of space battles and the awareness of the mobile suits in action. The complicated story of Gundam Wing (for the standards of Western animation on TV was definitely a component that made kids stick to the end but what attracted them in the first place was awesome onscreen actions like Heero escaping capture and knocking out a bunch of men on the way with kicks and piloting the Gundam for the first time to demolish tanks and humvees and a division of soldiers within seconds.
Sunrise did not get this point. They mistakenly assumed that teens and children in the West would have understood the original Gundam's anti war storyline entwined with lots of politics and drama was something that was darn complicated for an American 12 year old to get. They failed to get that the West's TV animation scene was extremely tame hell mainstream afternoon Network Television overall even live action was pretty much PG in content and something like Gundam was definitely pushing it for timeslots for minors including teens. That issues like killing children in a mass bombardment with permanent arm crippling even decapitation was only started to be accepted on afternoon teen soap opera and Saturday morning cartoon timeslots.
That it was pretty tame (by modern standards) live action shows with lots of cool visual action that was bloodless and usually PG like Hercules The Legendary Journeys and its sister spinoff Xena and Buffy the Vampire Slayer that the teen range was watching in addition to laughably corny stuff (but still having cool colorful onscreen effects) like GI Joe making the center of children's animation.
When the original Gundam flopped Sunrise took around 2 years to realize their mistake and released G Gundam. An incarnation of the series around the premise of Robots dueling each other in a tournament of gladiatorial fights. Thats an understatement G Gundam takes the whole premise to another level by making the Gundam robots fight with the speed, fluidity, and magical abilities of Dragon Ball Z. Kung Fu with giant Robots.
But the damage was done. While G Gundam did a hell lot better than the original Gundam, interest in the franchise has waned by then and in turn merchandise sales which Sunrise makes its bulk profits from were nowhere as profitable in America as Wing was. When Sunrise attempted to bring over their newer series such as Seed (which was massively popular in Japan even far more than Gundam Wing and G Gundam which already were considered hits by the studios) it was canceled from the maintime slot shortly afterwards and the ret of the series was put on death slots. The momentum had ceased. And not helping was that by that point other mech anime such as FLCL also aired on Toonami and fellow rival franchises like Zoids were begin imported.
Basically by now Gundam had looked generic to the Western audience esp Americans. The next wave of new anime fans in the 2000s was a disadvantaged market because the novelty of Gundam Wing being the first mech anime was not there for future Gundam installments. Gundam has fallen so out of the anime Zeitgeist that whatever we got in the future aired on lesser known channels like Color TVs or came in DVD releases if not even localised at all only being available on fansubs.
The worst part? When Gundam Wing ended its run on Toonami, Turn A Gundam, their newest incarnation with even better animation and just as much awesome moments of one giant mech destroying a an army of other mechs in addition to divisions of tanks and infantry, had just finished airing in Japan. By all logic it should have been a no brainer to snatch this as the followup to Wing right?
But not to Sunrise because Turn A was one of the lesser popular incarnations at that point. Because the UC was so the face of the franchise in Japan so it must succeed in America and the rest of the world no?
Does this sound familiar? Simply to put Japanese companies have a gigantic issues of failing to realize that what succeeds in Japan is not applicable elsewhere. And that given the chance to they'll even try to micro manage even something as loose in concept as franchise licensing in other countries.
OK thats an exaggeration I just said but my point ist he horrible mishandling of the Sega Saturn outside of Japan isn't really some 1 in a billion lottery ticket level of stupidity. Sega of Japan's screwups is actually quite typical of companies that succeeded domestically but never did anything in other markets that then decide to expand to outside markets beyond Japan. The Gundam example was so already long that I don't feel like typing anymore but boy oh boy there are a gazillion examples you can find if you do your googling from Konami's early mishandling of the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG as well as their shift to focusing on Pachinko and Pachislot much to the dismay of Western gamers esp fans of MGS and Silent Hill. And so much more.
Simply Sega of Japan isn't uniquely stupid. Its a perfect symptom many issues of the business world in Japan.

Sega of Japan deserves all the criticisms for their idiocy of overtaking the dictatorship of the wider Sega company and running the company down because they tried to manage the global markets without understanding the cultures behind them and basing their actions upon the tastes of the Japanese market. On top of putting their eggs in one baskets and obsessively trying to make the Saturn king of Japan's console industry................
However there's a gigantic misconception on the internet by understandably P$!%ed off Western gamers that Sega of Japan's boneheaded run of the company is some unique kind of stupidity unmatched in history.........
Actually there's bad news and its that this is actually a big problem in the Japanese business world especially among companies that are domestic giants such as Konami.
And I'll start with one of my favorite franchises. Mobile Suite Gundam.
Back in the late 90s and early 2000s the most recent iteration of the franchise Mobile Suit Gundam Wing aired on the Toonami block on Cartoon Network. And to say it was a massive success. It was easily Toonami's most watched program after Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon and there would be profitable sales of Gundam Wing figures in American major retailers like K-Mart and kB Toys during the show's run. There was more demand for further Gundam content. Easy pathway to creating a juggernaut in the anime industry in America right?
Well the immediate followup to Gundam Wing was....... The original Gundam. Form the 1970s. I'm not kidding. The studios that makes Gundam Sunrise made this choice.
Massive gigantic bomb in America. Even Toonami's less popular programs like Ronin Warriors hard much higher viewerships.
The show's reason for flopping was that the original Gundam looked just so outdated with its animation being 70s flair. The original Gundam is actually superior to Wing in almost every other way especially the overall plot...... But the animation looked so old nobody wanted to watch it.
Why did Sunrise choose to follow up Wing which was their latest installment just before Turn A which was actually running in Japan during the same time Toonami was airing Wing in America?
In Japan the specific continuity the first original Gundam series follows, the UC timeline, is the handsdown most popular canon. The first two sequels Zeta (the Gundam series with the highest ratings ever in the history of the franchise within Japan) and ZZ formed a trilogy with the original Gundam of interlinking stories that culminates and concluded most the unresolved arcs in the original Gundam along with a slew of entwined movies and OVAs (think miniseries in Western terms). Basically the UC timeline is so big in Japan that we still get new stories every couple of years focused on specific characters, incidents, and so much more as well. Ask the general populace about Gundam and its the robot suits and characters of the UC timeline such as Amuro Rey and the Zaku robots and the that they immediately picture in their heads when they think Gundam similar to how the vast bulk of Star Wars fans below 16 always associates the franchise with Luke, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Obi Wan, and Anakin/Darth Vader and the iconic scenes are teh Death Star onscreen and lightsaber fights.
So in Sunrise's head, not only was the first Gundam a guaranteed success in America but that they had to follow it up with it because the UC is the heart and soul of the entire franchise. The studios sincerely believed that with the original Gundam's even better and more complicated storyline that crowds will flock to watch it every weekday on Toonami...........
Failing to realize that a prime part of what made Wing so impressionable on Western audiences was the visuals of space battles and the awareness of the mobile suits in action. The complicated story of Gundam Wing (for the standards of Western animation on TV was definitely a component that made kids stick to the end but what attracted them in the first place was awesome onscreen actions like Heero escaping capture and knocking out a bunch of men on the way with kicks and piloting the Gundam for the first time to demolish tanks and humvees and a division of soldiers within seconds.
Sunrise did not get this point. They mistakenly assumed that teens and children in the West would have understood the original Gundam's anti war storyline entwined with lots of politics and drama was something that was darn complicated for an American 12 year old to get. They failed to get that the West's TV animation scene was extremely tame hell mainstream afternoon Network Television overall even live action was pretty much PG in content and something like Gundam was definitely pushing it for timeslots for minors including teens. That issues like killing children in a mass bombardment with permanent arm crippling even decapitation was only started to be accepted on afternoon teen soap opera and Saturday morning cartoon timeslots.
That it was pretty tame (by modern standards) live action shows with lots of cool visual action that was bloodless and usually PG like Hercules The Legendary Journeys and its sister spinoff Xena and Buffy the Vampire Slayer that the teen range was watching in addition to laughably corny stuff (but still having cool colorful onscreen effects) like GI Joe making the center of children's animation.
When the original Gundam flopped Sunrise took around 2 years to realize their mistake and released G Gundam. An incarnation of the series around the premise of Robots dueling each other in a tournament of gladiatorial fights. Thats an understatement G Gundam takes the whole premise to another level by making the Gundam robots fight with the speed, fluidity, and magical abilities of Dragon Ball Z. Kung Fu with giant Robots.
But the damage was done. While G Gundam did a hell lot better than the original Gundam, interest in the franchise has waned by then and in turn merchandise sales which Sunrise makes its bulk profits from were nowhere as profitable in America as Wing was. When Sunrise attempted to bring over their newer series such as Seed (which was massively popular in Japan even far more than Gundam Wing and G Gundam which already were considered hits by the studios) it was canceled from the maintime slot shortly afterwards and the ret of the series was put on death slots. The momentum had ceased. And not helping was that by that point other mech anime such as FLCL also aired on Toonami and fellow rival franchises like Zoids were begin imported.
Basically by now Gundam had looked generic to the Western audience esp Americans. The next wave of new anime fans in the 2000s was a disadvantaged market because the novelty of Gundam Wing being the first mech anime was not there for future Gundam installments. Gundam has fallen so out of the anime Zeitgeist that whatever we got in the future aired on lesser known channels like Color TVs or came in DVD releases if not even localised at all only being available on fansubs.
The worst part? When Gundam Wing ended its run on Toonami, Turn A Gundam, their newest incarnation with even better animation and just as much awesome moments of one giant mech destroying a an army of other mechs in addition to divisions of tanks and infantry, had just finished airing in Japan. By all logic it should have been a no brainer to snatch this as the followup to Wing right?
But not to Sunrise because Turn A was one of the lesser popular incarnations at that point. Because the UC was so the face of the franchise in Japan so it must succeed in America and the rest of the world no?
Does this sound familiar? Simply to put Japanese companies have a gigantic issues of failing to realize that what succeeds in Japan is not applicable elsewhere. And that given the chance to they'll even try to micro manage even something as loose in concept as franchise licensing in other countries.
OK thats an exaggeration I just said but my point ist he horrible mishandling of the Sega Saturn outside of Japan isn't really some 1 in a billion lottery ticket level of stupidity. Sega of Japan's screwups is actually quite typical of companies that succeeded domestically but never did anything in other markets that then decide to expand to outside markets beyond Japan. The Gundam example was so already long that I don't feel like typing anymore but boy oh boy there are a gazillion examples you can find if you do your googling from Konami's early mishandling of the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG as well as their shift to focusing on Pachinko and Pachislot much to the dismay of Western gamers esp fans of MGS and Silent Hill. And so much more.
Simply Sega of Japan isn't uniquely stupid. Its a perfect symptom many issues of the business world in Japan.

Sega of Japan deserves all the criticisms for their idiocy of overtaking the dictatorship of the wider Sega company and running the company down because they tried to manage the global markets without understanding the cultures behind them and basing their actions upon the tastes of the Japanese market. On top of putting their eggs in one baskets and obsessively trying to make the Saturn king of Japan's console industry................
However there's a gigantic misconception on the internet by understandably P$!%ed off Western gamers that Sega of Japan's boneheaded run of the company is some unique kind of stupidity unmatched in history.........
Actually there's bad news and its that this is actually a big problem in the Japanese business world especially among companies that are domestic giants such as Konami.
And I'll start with one of my favorite franchises. Mobile Suite Gundam.
Back in the late 90s and early 2000s the most recent iteration of the franchise Mobile Suit Gundam Wing aired on the Toonami block on Cartoon Network. And to say it was a massive success. It was easily Toonami's most watched program after Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon and there would be profitable sales of Gundam Wing figures in American major retailers like K-Mart and kB Toys during the show's run. There was more demand for further Gundam content. Easy pathway to creating a juggernaut in the anime industry in America right?
Well the immediate followup to Gundam Wing was....... The original Gundam. Form the 1970s. I'm not kidding. The studios that makes Gundam Sunrise made this choice.
Massive gigantic bomb in America. Even Toonami's less popular programs like Ronin Warriors hard much higher viewerships.
The show's reason for flopping was that the original Gundam looked just so outdated with its animation being 70s flair. The original Gundam is actually superior to Wing in almost every other way especially the overall plot...... But the animation looked so old nobody wanted to watch it.
Why did Sunrise choose to follow up Wing which was their latest installment just before Turn A which was actually running in Japan during the same time Toonami was airing Wing in America?
In Japan the specific continuity the first original Gundam series follows, the UC timeline, is the handsdown most popular canon. The first two sequels Zeta (the Gundam series with the highest ratings ever in the history of the franchise within Japan) and ZZ formed a trilogy with the original Gundam of interlinking stories that culminates and concluded most the unresolved arcs in the original Gundam along with a slew of entwined movies and OVAs (think miniseries in Western terms). Basically the UC timeline is so big in Japan that we still get new stories every couple of years focused on specific characters, incidents, and so much more as well. Ask the general populace about Gundam and its the robot suits and characters of the UC timeline such as Amuro Rey and the Zaku robots and the that they immediately picture in their heads when they think Gundam similar to how the vast bulk of Star Wars fans below 16 always associates the franchise with Luke, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Obi Wan, and Anakin/Darth Vader and the iconic scenes are teh Death Star onscreen and lightsaber fights.
So in Sunrise's head, not only was the first Gundam a guaranteed success in America but that they had to follow it up with it because the UC is the heart and soul of the entire franchise. The studios sincerely believed that with the original Gundam's even better and more complicated storyline that crowds will flock to watch it every weekday on Toonami...........
Failing to realize that a prime part of what made Wing so impressionable on Western audiences was the visuals of space battles and the awareness of the mobile suits in action. The complicated story of Gundam Wing (for the standards of Western animation on TV was definitely a component that made kids stick to the end but what attracted them in the first place was awesome onscreen actions like Heero escaping capture and knocking out a bunch of men on the way with kicks and piloting the Gundam for the first time to demolish tanks and humvees and a division of soldiers within seconds.
Sunrise did not get this point. They mistakenly assumed that teens and children in the West would have understood the original Gundam's anti war storyline entwined with lots of politics and drama was something that was darn complicated for an American 12 year old to get. They failed to get that the West's TV animation scene was extremely tame hell mainstream afternoon Network Television overall even live action was pretty much PG in content and something like Gundam was definitely pushing it for timeslots for minors including teens. That issues like killing children in a mass bombardment with permanent arm crippling even decapitation was only started to be accepted on afternoon teen soap opera and Saturday morning cartoon timeslots.
That it was pretty tame (by modern standards) live action shows with lots of cool visual action that was bloodless and usually PG like Hercules The Legendary Journeys and its sister spinoff Xena and Buffy the Vampire Slayer that the teen range was watching in addition to laughably corny stuff (but still having cool colorful onscreen effects) like GI Joe making the center of children's animation.
When the original Gundam flopped Sunrise took around 2 years to realize their mistake and released G Gundam. An incarnation of the series around the premise of Robots dueling each other in a tournament of gladiatorial fights. Thats an understatement G Gundam takes the whole premise to another level by making the Gundam robots fight with the speed, fluidity, and magical abilities of Dragon Ball Z. Kung Fu with giant Robots.
But the damage was done. While G Gundam did a hell lot better than the original Gundam, interest in the franchise has waned by then and in turn merchandise sales which Sunrise makes its bulk profits from were nowhere as profitable in America as Wing was. When Sunrise attempted to bring over their newer series such as Seed (which was massively popular in Japan even far more than Gundam Wing and G Gundam which already were considered hits by the studios) it was canceled from the maintime slot shortly afterwards and the ret of the series was put on death slots. The momentum had ceased. And not helping was that by that point other mech anime such as FLCL also aired on Toonami and fellow rival franchises like Zoids were begin imported.
Basically by now Gundam had looked generic to the Western audience esp Americans. The next wave of new anime fans in the 2000s was a disadvantaged market because the novelty of Gundam Wing being the first mech anime was not there for future Gundam installments. Gundam has fallen so out of the anime Zeitgeist that whatever we got in the future aired on lesser known channels like Color TVs or came in DVD releases if not even localised at all only being available on fansubs.
The worst part? When Gundam Wing ended its run on Toonami, Turn A Gundam, their newest incarnation with even better animation and just as much awesome moments of one giant mech destroying a an army of other mechs in addition to divisions of tanks and infantry, had just finished airing in Japan. By all logic it should have been a no brainer to snatch this as the followup to Wing right?
But not to Sunrise because Turn A was one of the lesser popular incarnations at that point. Because the UC was so the face of the franchise in Japan so it must succeed in America and the rest of the world no?
Does this sound familiar? Simply to put Japanese companies have a gigantic issues of failing to realize that what succeeds in Japan is not applicable elsewhere. And that given the chance to they'll even try to micro manage even something as loose in concept as franchise licensing in other countries.
OK thats an exaggeration I just said but my point ist he horrible mishandling of the Sega Saturn outside of Japan isn't really some 1 in a billion lottery ticket level of stupidity. Sega of Japan's screwups is actually quite typical of companies that succeeded domestically but never did anything in other markets that then decide to expand to outside markets beyond Japan. The Gundam example was so already long that I don't feel like typing anymore but boy oh boy there are a gazillion examples you can find if you do your googling from Konami's early mishandling of the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG as well as their shift to focusing on Pachinko and Pachislot much to the dismay of Western gamers esp fans of MGS and Silent Hill. And so much more.
Simply Sega of Japan isn't uniquely stupid. Its a perfect symptom many issues of the business world in Japan.

'It's dangerous to look for reason in everything. There is both good and evil in the world, and no reason for any of it . '
That's a line from one of my favourite games. I know it. And yet I still look for reason. I understand that I will.... Never understand. I don't understand how you changed so quickly. In 3 hours. I don't understand. I can't even wrap my head around it. And that's why I find this so hard.
I've been reading up on avoidants a lot since you left. I want this to make sense to me. It's insane how you fit it to a T. It's almost like our breakup followed a script. I read about how avoidants come back and partners set conditions. They even predicted my conditions right. They even gave a few examples of excuses you might make. You used most of them on me. It's almost funny y'know? Everyone around you knew. But you didn't. All of this could have been avoided if you just acknowledged that you're... You. You discarded me. Just like all the books said you would. You even blocked me just so you didn't have to see my name anymore. I didn't realise how painful it was to feel erased.
You know in hindsight, it's so insane how disconnected you were with everything. I could say 'i see a lot of you in Bojack' and you could say 'Bojack is not a nice person' but you couldn't connect the two and realise that you were doing terrible things. It's insane that the sight of me in tears doesn't even faze you anymore. It's insane that you can look me in the eye and say such hurtful things. You blamed me for 'making' you socialise but I always said you could go home if you wanted. But I wanted to cook for my friends because they were there to pick up the pieces after you broke me. You said my apartment was loud and chaotic but I always asked you before putting on music. You made all these decisions and blamed me for them anyway. You came back when you were at your worst. A wreck. You stayed just long enough to get better. And then you discarded me again. I feel so used.
I made a list of things I need to remember. I can't keep fixating on the good. I don't want a partner that does coke in the bathroom. I don't want to be at home with kids wondering when, no, if, you were coming home. I don't want to live in constant fear that my partner will just walk out on me because his feelings got too big. I don't want someone who's okay with making me cry Every. Single. Day. I don't want someone who's subtly manipulative, and love bombs me, and minimises my feelings. I want someone with a college degree.
I want someone who doesn't call me a burden.
And yet I cry. I don't even know what I cry for. I know you aren't crying over me. And yet I cry every day. I have never cried over a man before. This was not my longest relationship. But it was my favourite. And yet I'm not grateful that it happened. There was no character development for me. No growth. Genuinely just heartbreak. I thought you were dead for 3 days. This was traumatising. And so I cry.
I hate thunder. I always have. It scares me. And I wish you were here to comfort me. But you're not, and on nights like this I miss you more than most.

Let me start out by saying this: I pay for Dropout and have absolutely no intention of changing that anytime soon. Or anytime later to be fair.
Hi. I'm a pirate. I've pirated so much content in the last 30+ years it's mind-boggling. I had cable back in the day, and I was on board with Tivo from jumpstreet: I owned the very first box they made and upgraded all along the way. I've given networks and cable companies and streaming companies literally tens of thousands of dollars. I'll never do the math but it would not surprise me if my total expenditure on media in all forms is 6 figures. I pirate fucking everything these days. Hell I pirate from streaming services I still pay for because my Plex server is curated to me, and I like a one-stop-shop. I'm pirating eleventy-three quadrillion terabytes from Netflix as I type these words. And fuck all your ads, streaming services. Just fuck off.
But man, Dropout though. I actually did pirate some shows when we discovered it. Then I found out they had an app for Firetv. Then I saw the subscription fee, plus all the back catalog and was like "My time is worth way more than they want to charge. The service is worth more than they want to charge!" And I subbed. Every month I look at the streaming fees for Netflix, Hulu, Disney, Max, etc. increasing and every month I make plans to free myself from what has become cable tv-level pricing if you want everything. You know what's never on the chopping block? Like, never? Dropout.
The value is incredible. In these trying times (to paraphrase Demi on Smartypants, whenever you're reading this, I mean now), Dropout makes me laugh. I forget about the fucking horror-show the world is becoming for a little while. There's a rich back catalog. There's a show for most every niche you might like. And that low, low price for all the value you get...the price is right, bitch! Dropout TV is high quality content at a price that makes it affordable for most anyone. If I ever get the feeling that like "Well I watched it all, may as well unsub for awhile" Along comes VIP. Or Smartypants. Or another Dimension 20. Or a new season of Game Changer. Um, Actually exists to tickle that nerd bone. And soon Make Some Noise is back and the lineup looks incredible.
Sam...you have my sub. And my sword. I know. Coming from a self-described pirate that may not mean much to a content creator. But Dropout is exactly the kind of service that stops pirates. It's high quality and easy on the wallet.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk or whatever 🤣

Sega of Japan deserves all the criticisms for their idiocy of overtaking the dictatorship of the wider Sega company and running the company down because they tried to manage the global markets without understanding the cultures behind them and basing their actions upon the tastes of the Japanese market. On top of putting their eggs in one baskets and obsessively trying to make the Saturn king of Japan's console industry................
However there's a gigantic misconception on the internet by understandably P$!%ed off Western gamers that Sega of Japan's boneheaded run of the company is some unique kind of stupidity unmatched in history.........
Actually there's bad news and its that this is actually a big problem in the Japanese business world especially among companies that are domestic giants such as Konami.
And I'll start with one of my favorite franchises. Mobile Suite Gundam.
Back in the late 90s and early 2000s the most recent iteration of the franchise Mobile Suit Gundam Wing aired on the Toonami block on Cartoon Network. And to say it was a massive success. It was easily Toonami's most watched program after Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon and there would be profitable sales of Gundam Wing figures in American major retailers like K-Mart and kB Toys during the show's run. There was more demand for further Gundam content. Easy pathway to creating a juggernaut in the anime industry in America right?
Well the immediate followup to Gundam Wing was....... The original Gundam. Form the 1970s. I'm not kidding. The studios that makes Gundam Sunrise made this choice.
Massive gigantic bomb in America. Even Toonami's less popular programs like Ronin Warriors hard much higher viewerships.
The show's reason for flopping was that the original Gundam looked just so outdated with its animation being 70s flair. The original Gundam is actually superior to Wing in almost every other way especially the overall plot...... But the animation looked so old nobody wanted to watch it.
Why did Sunrise choose to follow up Wing which was their latest installment just before Turn A which was actually running in Japan during the same time Toonami was airing Wing in America?
In Japan the specific continuity the first original Gundam series follows, the UC timeline, is the handsdown most popular canon. The first two sequels Zeta (the Gundam series with the highest ratings ever in the history of the franchise within Japan) and ZZ formed a trilogy with the original Gundam of interlinking stories that culminates and concluded most the unresolved arcs in the original Gundam along with a slew of entwined movies and OVAs (think miniseries in Western terms). Basically the UC timeline is so big in Japan that we still get new stories every couple of years focused on specific characters, incidents, and so much more as well. Ask the general populace about Gundam and its the robot suits and characters of the UC timeline such as Amuro Rey and the Zaku robots and the that they immediately picture in their heads when they think Gundam similar to how the vast bulk of Star Wars fans below 16 always associates the franchise with Luke, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Obi Wan, and Anakin/Darth Vader and the iconic scenes are teh Death Star onscreen and lightsaber fights.
So in Sunrise's head, not only was the first Gundam a guaranteed success in America but that they had to follow it up with it because the UC is the heart and soul of the entire franchise. The studios sincerely believed that with the original Gundam's even better and more complicated storyline that crowds will flock to watch it every weekday on Toonami...........
Failing to realize that a prime part of what made Wing so impressionable on Western audiences was the visuals of space battles and the awareness of the mobile suits in action. The complicated story of Gundam Wing (for the standards of Western animation on TV was definitely a component that made kids stick to the end but what attracted them in the first place was awesome onscreen actions like Heero escaping capture and knocking out a bunch of men on the way with kicks and piloting the Gundam for the first time to demolish tanks and humvees and a division of soldiers within seconds.
Sunrise did not get this point. They mistakenly assumed that teens and children in the West would have understood the original Gundam's anti war storyline entwined with lots of politics and drama was something that was darn complicated for an American 12 year old to get. They failed to get that the West's TV animation scene was extremely tame hell mainstream afternoon Network Television overall even live action was pretty much PG in content and something like Gundam was definitely pushing it for timeslots for minors including teens. That issues like killing children in a mass bombardment with permanent arm crippling even decapitation was only started to be accepted on afternoon teen soap opera and Saturday morning cartoon timeslots.
That it was pretty tame (by modern standards) live action shows with lots of cool visual action that was bloodless and usually PG like Hercules The Legendary Journeys and its sister spinoff Xena and Buffy the Vampire Slayer that the teen range was watching in addition to laughably corny stuff (but still having cool colorful onscreen effects) like GI Joe making the center of children's animation.
When the original Gundam flopped Sunrise took around 2 years to realize their mistake and released G Gundam. An incarnation of the series around the premise of Robots dueling each other in a tournament of gladiatorial fights. Thats an understatement G Gundam takes the whole premise to another level by making the Gundam robots fight with the speed, fluidity, and magical abilities of Dragon Ball Z. Kung Fu with giant Robots.
But the damage was done. While G Gundam did a hell lot better than the original Gundam, interest in the franchise has waned by then and in turn merchandise sales which Sunrise makes its bulk profits from were nowhere as profitable in America as Wing was. When Sunrise attempted to bring over their newer series such as Seed (which was massively popular in Japan even far more than Gundam Wing and G Gundam which already were considered hits by the studios) it was canceled from the maintime slot shortly afterwards and the ret of the series was put on death slots. The momentum had ceased. And not helping was that by that point other mech anime such as FLCL also aired on Toonami and fellow rival franchises like Zoids were begin imported.
Basically by now Gundam had looked generic to the Western audience esp Americans. The next wave of new anime fans in the 2000s was a disadvantaged market because the novelty of Gundam Wing being the first mech anime was not there for future Gundam installments. Gundam has fallen so out of the anime Zeitgeist that whatever we got in the future aired on lesser known channels like Color TVs or came in DVD releases if not even localised at all only being available on fansubs.
The worst part? When Gundam Wing ended its run on Toonami, Turn A Gundam, their newest incarnation with even better animation and just as much awesome moments of one giant mech destroying a an army of other mechs in addition to divisions of tanks and infantry, had just finished airing in Japan. By all logic it should have been a no brainer to snatch this as the followup to Wing right?
But not to Sunrise because Turn A was one of the lesser popular incarnations at that point. Because the UC was so the face of the franchise in Japan so it must succeed in America and the rest of the world no?
Does this sound familiar? Simply to put Japanese companies have a gigantic issues of failing to realize that what succeeds in Japan is not applicable elsewhere. And that given the chance to they'll even try to micro manage even something as loose in concept as franchise licensing in other countries.
OK thats an exaggeration I just said but my point ist he horrible mishandling of the Sega Saturn outside of Japan isn't really some 1 in a billion lottery ticket level of stupidity. Sega of Japan's screwups is actually quite typical of companies that succeeded domestically but never did anything in other markets that then decide to expand to outside markets beyond Japan. The Gundam example was so already long that I don't feel like typing anymore but boy oh boy there are a gazillion examples you can find if you do your googling from Konami's early mishandling of the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG as well as their shift to focusing on Pachinko and Pachislot much to the dismay of Western gamers esp fans of MGS and Silent Hill. And so much more.
Simply Sega of Japan isn't uniquely stupid. Its a perfect symptom many issues of the business world in Japan.

Sega of Japan deserves all the criticisms for their idiocy of overtaking the dictatorship of the wider Sega company and running the company down because they tried to manage the global markets without understanding the cultures behind them and basing their actions upon the tastes of the Japanese market. On top of putting their eggs in one baskets and obsessively trying to make the Saturn king of Japan's console industry................
However there's a gigantic misconception on the internet by understandably P$!%ed off Western gamers that Sega of Japan's boneheaded run of the company is some unique kind of stupidity unmatched in history.........
Actually there's bad news and its that this is actually a big problem in the Japanese business world especially among companies that are domestic giants such as Konami.
And I'll start with one of my favorite franchises. Mobile Suite Gundam.
Back in the late 90s and early 2000s the most recent iteration of the franchise Mobile Suit Gundam Wing aired on the Toonami block on Cartoon Network. And to say it was a massive success. It was easily Toonami's most watched program after Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon and there would be profitable sales of Gundam Wing figures in American major retailers like K-Mart and kB Toys during the show's run. There was more demand for further Gundam content. Easy pathway to creating a juggernaut in the anime industry in America right?
Well the immediate followup to Gundam Wing was....... The original Gundam. Form the 1970s. I'm not kidding. The studios that makes Gundam Sunrise made this choice.
Massive gigantic bomb in America. Even Toonami's less popular programs like Ronin Warriors hard much higher viewerships.
The show's reason for flopping was that the original Gundam looked just so outdated with its animation being 70s flair. The original Gundam is actually superior to Wing in almost every other way especially the overall plot...... But the animation looked so old nobody wanted to watch it.
Why did Sunrise choose to follow up Wing which was their latest installment just before Turn A which was actually running in Japan during the same time Toonami was airing Wing in America?
In Japan the specific continuity the first original Gundam series follows, the UC timeline, is the handsdown most popular canon. The first two sequels Zeta (the Gundam series with the highest ratings ever in the history of the franchise within Japan) and ZZ formed a trilogy with the original Gundam of interlinking stories that culminates and concluded most the unresolved arcs in the original Gundam along with a slew of entwined movies and OVAs (think miniseries in Western terms). Basically the UC timeline is so big in Japan that we still get new stories every couple of years focused on specific characters, incidents, and so much more as well. Ask the general populace about Gundam and its the robot suits and characters of the UC timeline such as Amuro Rey and the Zaku robots and the that they immediately picture in their heads when they think Gundam similar to how the vast bulk of Star Wars fans below 16 always associates the franchise with Luke, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Obi Wan, and Anakin/Darth Vader and the iconic scenes are teh Death Star onscreen and lightsaber fights.
So in Sunrise's head, not only was the first Gundam a guaranteed success in America but that they had to follow it up with it because the UC is the heart and soul of the entire franchise. The studios sincerely believed that with the original Gundam's even better and more complicated storyline that crowds will flock to watch it every weekday on Toonami...........
Failing to realize that a prime part of what made Wing so impressionable on Western audiences was the visuals of space battles and the awareness of the mobile suits in action. The complicated story of Gundam Wing (for the standards of Western animation on TV was definitely a component that made kids stick to the end but what attracted them in the first place was awesome onscreen actions like Heero escaping capture and knocking out a bunch of men on the way with kicks and piloting the Gundam for the first time to demolish tanks and humvees and a division of soldiers within seconds.
Sunrise did not get this point. They mistakenly assumed that teens and children in the West would have understood the original Gundam's anti war storyline entwined with lots of politics and drama was something that was darn complicated for an American 12 year old to get. They failed to get that the West's TV animation scene was extremely tame hell mainstream afternoon Network Television overall even live action was pretty much PG in content and something like Gundam was definitely pushing it for timeslots for minors including teens. That issues like killing children in a mass bombardment with permanent arm crippling even decapitation was only started to be accepted on afternoon teen soap opera and Saturday morning cartoon timeslots.
That it was pretty tame (by modern standards) live action shows with lots of cool visual action that was bloodless and usually PG like Hercules The Legendary Journeys and its sister spinoff Xena and Buffy the Vampire Slayer that the teen range was watching in addition to laughably corny stuff (but still having cool colorful onscreen effects) like GI Joe making the center of children's animation.
When the original Gundam flopped Sunrise took around 2 years to realize their mistake and released G Gundam. An incarnation of the series around the premise of Robots dueling each other in a tournament of gladiatorial fights. Thats an understatement G Gundam takes the whole premise to another level by making the Gundam robots fight with the speed, fluidity, and magical abilities of Dragon Ball Z. Kung Fu with giant Robots.
But the damage was done. While G Gundam did a hell lot better than the original Gundam, interest in the franchise has waned by then and in turn merchandise sales which Sunrise makes its bulk profits from were nowhere as profitable in America as Wing was. When Sunrise attempted to bring over their newer series such as Seed (which was massively popular in Japan even far more than Gundam Wing and G Gundam which already were considered hits by the studios) it was canceled from the maintime slot shortly afterwards and the ret of the series was put on death slots. The momentum had ceased. And not helping was that by that point other mech anime such as FLCL also aired on Toonami and fellow rival franchises like Zoids were begin imported.
Basically by now Gundam had looked generic to the Western audience esp Americans. The next wave of new anime fans in the 2000s was a disadvantaged market because the novelty of Gundam Wing being the first mech anime was not there for future Gundam installments. Gundam has fallen so out of the anime Zeitgeist that whatever we got in the future aired on lesser known channels like Color TVs or came in DVD releases if not even localised at all only being available on fansubs.
The worst part? When Gundam Wing ended its run on Toonami, Turn A Gundam, their newest incarnation with even better animation and just as much awesome moments of one giant mech destroying a an army of other mechs in addition to divisions of tanks and infantry, had just finished airing in Japan. By all logic it should have been a no brainer to snatch this as the followup to Wing right?
But not to Sunrise because Turn A was one of the lesser popular incarnations at that point. Because the UC was so the face of the franchise in Japan so it must succeed in America and the rest of the world no?
Does this sound familiar? Simply to put Japanese companies have a gigantic issues of failing to realize that what succeeds in Japan is not applicable elsewhere. And that given the chance to they'll even try to micro manage even something as loose in concept as franchise licensing in other countries.
OK thats an exaggeration I just said but my point ist he horrible mishandling of the Sega Saturn outside of Japan isn't really some 1 in a billion lottery ticket level of stupidity. Sega of Japan's screwups is actually quite typical of companies that succeeded domestically but never did anything in other markets that then decide to expand to outside markets beyond Japan. The Gundam example was so already long that I don't feel like typing anymore but boy oh boy there are a gazillion examples you can find if you do your googling from Konami's early mishandling of the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG as well as their shift to focusing on Pachinko and Pachislot much to the dismay of Western gamers esp fans of MGS and Silent Hill. And so much more.
Simply Sega of Japan isn't uniquely stupid. Its a perfect symptom many issues of the business world in Japan.