And they all want to win the cup, god forbid.

The number of people who will get that is tiny but it made me laugh harder than any of the Archer references. Thank you.

meh

here's the thing

enough people enjoy it. Enjoyment of something is far more than worth its contribution to the thread

sounds kinda stupid to not exercise a very efficient post --> enjoyment ratio because someone's got a stick up their ass about it, especially when we have no responsibility to cater to said person's quirks

besides, I already contributed to the striker part of the thread. I believe the extra die pure sabecc provides makes him a superior duchess equivalent when using VI

Correct, no one has any responsibility to account for my 'quirks', as you put it - but by the same token, no one has any responsibility to ascribe any legitimacy to the 'joke' by accepting it was the developers intent as well, which is reaching to a ridiculous degree.

Certainly if we're at the point where users are 'trolling' others over it and posting daft meme images as if this were some ghastly internet derelict like 4Chan or Reddit, then it isn't a good sign, in my book. 'Dignified' in this case simply means behaving like human beings rather than online stupidity machines.

If it isn't 'trolling', then the arrogance of the joke is what bothers me - that those who perpetuate it insist it's correct because 'Frank Brooks said so', so they can all have a chuckle at their inside joke with him while mocking those who use a more rational approach as to what Duchess the Striker pilot is. It's childish at best.

For the record, I too opened my contributions in this thread talking about the actual game, yet sadly a weakness of mine is to be dragged into arguments. And in this case, it is the attempt to make a minor, unsubstantiated coincidence into a meme that compels me to pursue this one, as well as a general desire for lowest-common-denominator internet behaviour not to spill out of it's usual dark, unsavoury corners.

If it isn't 'trolling', then the arrogance of the joke is what bothers me - that those who perpetuate it insist it's correct because 'Frank Brooks said so', so they can all have a chuckle at their inside joke with him while mocking those who use a more rational approach as to what Duchess the Striker pilot is. It's childish at best.

Getting hung up on and defensive about the gender of the pronoun used to describe a character that exists only as a name on a card isn't childish?

The name is in quotes, which makes it a nickname rather than a title. Nicknames are generally given by other people and often done as a form of ball busting. A male pilot getting stuck with the nickname "Duchess" is just as rational as a female pilot getting it.

Btw, if you look at the sourcing on that, the only source is the TIE Striker pack for this game... in other words the author of that page pulled it out of their ass and its not based on anything canon.

You should see the TIE striker page itself: someone's created some plot information from the card art.

Getting hung up on and defensive about the gender of the pronoun used to describe a character that exists only as a name on a card isn't childish?

The name is in quotes, which makes it a nickname rather than a title. Nicknames are generally given by other people and often done as a form of ball busting. A male pilot getting stuck with the nickname "Duchess" is just as rational as a female pilot getting it.

Actually, my problem is less about gender and more about the attempt at instigating a meme. Certainly 'Duchess' could be a nickname given to a male pilot, but the fact that it is a feminine title combined with the fact that a female pilot features on the AA art (a card integral to the ability of the pilot in question) suggests that Duchess is probably female, and my personal preference is that interpretation.

If people were only saying 'no, in my headcanon Duchess is a guy', that'd be fine, and entirely up to them. It's the 'haha, this accidentally sort-of references a show I like, henceforth Striker Duchess = Archer and anyone who disagrees hates fun and besides the developer agrees so ell oh ell it must be true' attitude that is bothering me, and the emergent behaviour in pursuit of making it memetic is beneath this forum, in my opinion.

I have a Striker but have yet to fly it (mostly because regionals practicing) but I just can't get over how fast the things die to turrets of any kind. Lightweight Frame or no, they will fold quickly. Countdown can at least mitigate it when dealing with PWTs but still has nothing on TLTs. I have lots of turrets in my local meta...

I have a Striker but have yet to fly it (mostly because regionals practicing) but I just can't get over how fast the things die to turrets of any kind. Lightweight Frame or no, they will fold quickly. Countdown can at least mitigate it when dealing with PWTs but still has nothing on TLTs. I have lots of turrets in my local meta...

PWTs with Gunner will melt Countdown just the same as any other Striker.

I have a Striker but have yet to fly it (mostly because regionals practicing) but I just can't get over how fast the things die to turrets of any kind. Lightweight Frame or no, they will fold quickly. Countdown can at least mitigate it when dealing with PWTs but still has nothing on TLTs. I have lots of turrets in my local meta...

PWTs with Gunner will melt Countdown just the same as any other Striker.

Well then you need the single strongest counter to PWT pilot cards and upgrades.

I have a Striker but have yet to fly it (mostly because regionals practicing) but I just can't get over how fast the things die to turrets of any kind. Lightweight Frame or no, they will fold quickly. Countdown can at least mitigate it when dealing with PWTs but still has nothing on TLTs. I have lots of turrets in my local meta...

PWTs with Gunner will melt Countdown just the same as any other Striker.

Well then you need the single strongest counter to PWT pilot cards and upgrades.

If I could like this multiple times I would.

For the record, I too opened my contributions in this thread talking about the actual game, yet sadly a weakness of mine is to be dragged into arguments. And in this case, it is the attempt to make a minor, unsubstantiated coincidence into a meme that compels me to pursue this one, as well as a general desire for lowest-common-denominator internet behaviour not to spill out of it's usual dark, unsavoury corners.

As someone who just opened this thread today, I've felt much more robbed of my time and will to live by your objections (and continued rationalizations of them) than I did by a single Archer image.

If you actually want the Duchess/Archer thing to die, the intelligent response is no response. Archer fans -- and I confess that I'm one of them -- have an overblown fondness for inappropriate humor that annoys people, so ... the math really isn't that hard to do.

sounds kinda stupid to not exercise a very efficient post --> enjoyment ratio because someone's got a stick up their ass about it...

...if only - only! You'd apply the same logic to your opinion of green dice.

sounds kinda stupid to not exercise a very efficient post --> enjoyment ratio because someone's got a stick up their ass about it...

...if only - only! You'd apply the same logic to your opinion of green dice.

green dice would have to be enjoyable first

sounds kinda stupid to not exercise a very efficient post --> enjoyment ratio because someone's got a stick up their ass about it...

...if only - only! You'd apply the same logic to your opinion of green dice.

green dice would have to be enjoyable first

...as someone who has experienced the heady delights of finally punching through Soontir Fel's defences and one-shotting him with a naked Kihraxz, green dice are chock-full of all kinds of joy.

Tokens... now they suck.

green dice would have to be enjoyable first

Have you tried them strung together, like, say, beads?

green dice would have to be enjoyable first

Have you tried them strung together, like, say, beads?

they really don't seem to be the shape

unless you're really into that

green dice would have to be enjoyable first

Have you tried them strung together, like, say, beads?

they really don't seem to be the shape

unless you're really into that

...edgy?

Well this thread is certainly off the rails...

Considering we never actually "see" Duchess all we have to go on regarding whether it is male or female is the word of the developer. And as others have said they may be saying "Duchess" is a male as a joke.

I don't particularly care, but the name is feminine, and a female pilot is depicted on a Striker specific upgrade card (that just so happens to correspond with Duchess's ability) therefore, I am referring to Duchess as a she.

I think that's actually "Pure Sabacc" pictured on that card. Her nickname comes from a number of run-ins that she had with gambler and suspected smuggler Lando Calrissian. In an attempt to charm his way through an Imperial entaglement, he told her "Seeing you is as sweet as seeing that I'm holding Pure Sabbac". Squadmates who overheard this have never let her live down the incident and the nickname "Pure Sabacc" has stuck with her ever since.

I'm totally ok with both of them being females. We need more female pilots in this game.

I've mostly run Duchess as part of Mario Kart where she's just about as broken as it gets in that format. I also run her with Countdown and a Big O decimator and have a custom paint job coming on all three of them for a really nifty looking squad; it might even be semi-competitive at some point. The great part about Duchess is her ability to put the breaks on. It's really hard to get a handle on.

green dice would have to be enjoyable first

Have you tried them strung together, like, say, beads?

they really don't seem to be the shape

unless you're really into that

...edgy?

not the "e" word I'm thinking of

Has anyone tried 4 ps1s and a named?

I'm not sure anyone is quite mad enough to have picked up 5 to do that. I maxed at 3. I'm not making the same mistake I made with the TAP; just because you can swarm 5 of them, doesn't mean you should buy 5 at launch.

I think you haven't seen my image of my Strikers yet. Here you go:

Yeah, I did fly them all at once, once. I was facing a Braylen Stresshog though, which severely limited their ability to weave through stuff - their dial gets much worse once they're stressed, and I couldn't bring them all to bear at once and only had a couple shots each round. With just Focus to modify, that didn't hit hard enough, and thus they have all the negatives of every swarm of singular ships: Multiplying their strength also multiplies their weaknesses.

Other than that, it was a lot of fun to fly all five of them. Their speed is immense when they can use their Ailerons.

so we can all blame Haslo for any striker stock shortages you might be experiencing

I was facing a Braylen Stresshog though, which severely limited their ability to weave through stuff - their dial gets much worse once they're stressed, and I couldn't bring them all to bear at once and only had a couple shots each round. With just Focus to modify, that didn't hit hard enough, and thus they have all the negatives of every swarm of singular ships: Multiplying their strength also multiplies their weaknesses.

Other than that, it was a lot of fun to fly all five of them. Their speed is immense when they can use their Ailerons.

I don't think that their dial gets worse when they are stressed. It just gets different. I actually like getting them stressed right as they crash into range one.

I think we should all support Duchess in this difficult period of transition.

AFAIK, the only trans pilot in the game is "Red Ace". Their preferred pronouns are "they/them".

It might be that the folks having fun with the reference are trolling the people that are earnestly trying to correct the record on the appropriate pronoun to use with "Duchess".

I know that's my motivation every time I link that video and give the time stamp.

Pronouns are important. Please don't troll people for trying to use the correct ones.

I think we should all support Duchess in this difficult period of transition.

AFAIK, the only trans pilot in the game is "Red Ace". Their preferred pronouns are "they/them".

My problem with using "they/them" is that Red Ace has gender identity issues, not quantity identity issues.

I think we should all support Duchess in this difficult period of transition.

AFAIK, the only trans pilot in the game is "Red Ace". Their preferred pronouns are "they/them".

My problem with using "they/them" is that Red Ace has gender identity issues, not quantity identity issues.

Seriously, don't go there. Trans folks don't have identity "issues", and Merriam Webster lists "they/them" as a perfectly acceptable singular pronoun.