08-22-2010, 08:41 PM | #11 |
OMG! WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?
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>_> I would be iffy about anyone whose first choice for pokebrid is to merge with a pokemon that is effectively a slab of stone with 108 souls, (all of them malevolent) for the biggest Dissociative Identity Disorder crisis of the century!
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08-22-2010, 08:44 PM | #12 |
Feelin' Super!
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 4,191
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The whole concept behind him was that he would choose to be merged with Pokemon types that would have the most random or dangerous effects on a human.
Actually, 'choose' is a subjective term. The point is that he has some really odd combinations in the name of Science. |
08-22-2010, 08:49 PM | #13 |
OMG! WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?
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In other word, he's someone unwilling science experiment.
Hehe, How about Missingno? =P |
08-22-2010, 08:54 PM | #14 |
Feelin' Super!
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 4,191
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If it existed in Umbral, then that would probably be one of them.
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08-22-2010, 09:10 PM | #15 |
OMG! WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?
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Hehe. That or the stronger H Glitch.
Anyhow, we REALLY gotten sidetracked. ^^; Ok, let's assume I go along with Defog duties... AB: You didn't answer Drac's previous question. "Hey AB, how exactly would Psyshade Renny's Phantom Blessing work? I mean, would it activate before our attacks this turn, so we wouldn't know who's protected until it's too late, or would it work next turn, so the enemies will be protected then?" I think that was the reason why none of us decided to talk about battle tactics. ^^: |
08-22-2010, 11:44 PM | #16 | |||||
SOM3WH3R3
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 4,606
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Quote:
Quote:
First, that could just as easily be accomplished by going pokebrid, as I assumed you would. Instead, you're going Slayer. So I really don't think that's much of a justification. And secondly, there's one hell of a difference between "Developing Independence" (which would warrant a few levels, even of Slayer) and "Becoming, Primarily, A Soldier". And seriously, to make that happen plausibly, you'd have to turn Renny's character development around quite a bit. And by "turn" I mean "gratingly wrench" and by "quite a bit" I mean "by a complete 180 degrees". There's just such a major difference between what he's like now, and what a level 3 Overblade should be like. Mind you, if you can pull it off, sure. Great! If you have plans how to engineer Renny's disillusionment with pokemon, build up his cynicism, make him so much more Brutal that he can go from Purest Form Of Trainer to Heavy Front Line Soldier, excellent! It'll be refreshing to see him develop that strongly, let go of his pokemon, his Perfect Idealism. It'll be hard, of course, because it'd represent a pretty drastic shift, but if that's your intention, sure. Go ahead. You have my support, I'll do what I can to help. But see, I don't think that's your intention. I think your intention is to have his development continue going the way it's always been going, with a few changes towards independence and Growing-Up. Changes that wouldn't be utterly insignificant, and that, like I said, would certainly warrant a few levels of pokebrid or even Slayer. But I'm pretty sure that there will be a very significant discrepancy between the amount of development you're gonna bring, and what'd be necessary to justify the fact that, once again, the majority of his levels will be in the class that was originally introduced as the one whose job it is to kill pokemon. I can't tell you what to do here. But if your intention is to play a believable, fun character, you should probably reallocate some of those levels. Because I think what you're planning to do is less "good role-playing" and more "min-maxing your character and giving character development the finger". And that's bullshit. Quote:
Demonhood pretty much stands for pure and utter customization, here. If Drac decides to go full frontal assaulter with his demon levels then there's a good chance that he'd be as strong as Renny, if not stronger in one-on-one combat (since those demon levels he takes would effectively be "fighting levels"). Impact, on the other hand, would be much more of a tactical supporter, cause that's what I'm doing with my levels. Demonhood levels aren't disproportionately stronger than standard levels, of course. It's just a bit easier to specialize with them. At this point I'm also gonna recommend that the bonuses for getting Slayer 8 (Overblade 3) get reevaluated. Two attacks per turn does seem a bit wonky. I still maintain that, compared to Trainers, Slayers are just a bit underpowered. But getting two attacks per turn would do more than just overcompensate for that. And since none of the other classes get anything comparable... Maybe try to find another way to finally even the odds? Quote:
What, seriously? I'd be fine with it taking 4 ranks in both classes. But I think that 4 should be the minimum for either class. And is the support system even still on the table? Cause maybe we could combine some of this. Quote:
And besides, 5 rage per turn is, I feel, stronger than this is supposed to be. The way I see it, this is supposed to be the ability to get a minor advantage, in exchange for some minor rage. Not give you rage for free. The ability to transfer 5 or even 10 rage to an ally? Sure. Get 5 rage yourself? Eeeeeh. It's what trainer attacks have apparently been doing all along, and which I don't think they should do. In regards to the Slayer weapons, that might be feasible. Which weapons were you thinking of replacing with which attacks? Cause I think that even if you forsake weapons for attacks, you should be limited to one Slayer-strength attack per element, for a total of... 17 attacks? And of course only have an inventory of 3/6 at any time. |
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08-23-2010, 12:30 AM | #17 |
OMG! WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?
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Regarding Renny's Motivation for Slayer: Being a slayer doesn't mean hating pokemon and it doesn't REQUIRE slaying! Look at all the Battle Masters! Rayleen, Irene, Bretton, Hariette, the Kimonos! And that's not counting the slayers who don't have pokemons but respect them like Kurika or Misha. They all wield pokemons, and most of them moderately if not happily so! Hell, you can see it from how I/Renny intended to forgo slayer weapons that he's adopting a different manner of fighting as a Slayer. A slayer has the tools and the training that ENABLES a person to fight on par with pokemons. It doesn't mean that the mindset is set down into killing and bloodshed. A character class is NOT a restrictive straitjacket in how a character behaves. Keeps that in mind.
And I keep telling you that Renny's idealism is NOT perfect, as I keep pointing back over and over. It's just more forgiving and more optimistic compared to all the other character's philosophies. It already has small shades of jadedness, but it is still easily the most pure of everyone else. Regarding Demon upgrades: Yes, customization does mean that Drac can go out out offensive if he wanted to and thus be stronger potentially then Renny. But then that would be all that he is for the most part. Plus, Slayer is supposed to be one of the highest single character offense class of the RP normally. If demons take that away by having all the advantages of slayers and little to none of the drawbacks of them, (since you claim that slayers are underpowered) then what purpose do they have? Which ties in with my next comment... Regarding Slayer's Double Attack: I think you need to clarify why you think slayers are underpowered compared to other classes (or why you think the other classes are overpowered) or why you think Double Attack is too useful. Cause I think it's powerful but not overly so. I think it should stay exactly how it is since it gives a good reason why someone would choose Slayer/Overblade as opposed to going Half/Full Demon like Impact or Drac and choosing a powerful custom offense build as mentioned above. (And make it so Demons can't get that particular upgrade) Regarding Cheerful Back-Up and Trainer Actions: Well, keep in mind Trainer attacks weren't supposed to give rage in the first place. And they did so as an additional bonus of doing damage to the foe. The proposed technique getting Renny rage would only occur if neither pokemon gives rage to someone else. I mean, they are his pokemon, naturally they are more spirited with him. If they don't support someone else, they'll support him! It wouldn't come with anything else like damage like apparently it was before... Regarding Pokebrid/Slayer Blending: I think limiting number of attacks is kinda defeating the entire point of pokebrid which includes diversity. I'd be willing to put a further limit that it only works on physical attack based attacks (the attack stat), since Slayer training can't train humans who won't use weapons how to use energy based attacks. Also, you're forgetting that most pokemons DON'T have the ability to attack with all 17 elements (18 with Ruin type which Slayers normally have access to). So there would actually be elements that Renny wouldn't be able to cover without the RDPA armor, another drawback. Last edited by Menarker; 08-23-2010 at 01:08 AM. |
08-23-2010, 01:58 AM | #18 | ||
SOM3WH3R3
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 4,606
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Slayer motivations: Oh, I'm not saying that Slaying requires pokemon hating. Nor am I saying that it has to be a straightjacket. But there's a certain Slayer Mindset that pretty much every Slayer so far has shown, a sort of combination between confidence, arrogance and a constant sort of fight-or-flight reflex. Plus the willingness to kill at a moment's notice. Renny? Really not showing any of that. Mind you, I'm not saying that he's not gonna be able to develop that sort of mindset. But it's not going to become central to his character, as it should.
Demon upgrades: When did we ever say that Slayer should be the strongest offensive class? I don't think it is at the moment, and I certainly don't think that anyone's claimed that it has a future monopoly on offensive strength. Besides, what would demons be taking away? And how would they have "little to no drawbacks"? What the fuck are you talking about? Back-Up: Again, I'm not sure what your point is. Maybe you can justify it in-character that they should gain rage, but I still think that trainer actions shouldn't be quite that strong. Or Pokebrids and Slayers should get something similar, I'd be on board with that. Double attack: I'm gonna quote this one, more fun that way. Quote:
Quote:
What are you even trying to say? Why does there need to be a "good reason to choose Slayer/Overblade"? There is, already! It's called "personal preference". All the classes are of equal strength (or should be, double attack isn't, which is why it should be eliminated!). Which one you choose depends on the kind of specialization and character development you want. Saying that double attack motivates people to go Slayer is a) stupid (since they should not be motivated to do so by class power!) and b) actually an admission that it's more powerful than it should be, since why else would it be a motivation? And did you want to actually blend the classes? I thought you just wanted to replace Slayer attacks with Pokemon attacks. I'm not letting you have a full repertoire of Pokebrid attacks at Slayer attack power! Or at least I wouldn't if I could. Decision's not up to me, of course. But honestly... Drac is getting at least 5 demon (i.e. custom) levels, I'm getting 10 custom levels, apparently you're intent on getting a custom mish-mash of Slayer and pokebrid levels... I might hate myself for saying this, but... I have a suggestion to make. This is what could happen: 1: We finalize all the Balance Regulations (BR) and balance all the classes up to level 5 2: We write up the basic ruleset for the battle system (I'm talking about stuff like actions here. Not entirely necessary, but I want it down on paper. I'll do it if no-one else wants to) 3: We reach level 5 4: Our level progression from 5 onwards... is self-customized. We'll write something up for ourselves. It'll probably take us a while, especially considering that ultimately, the players' power has to be equal, but we'll manage. The stuff that AB wrote up could definitely be used as a template, a source for ideas. And I'm thinking that even while we're customizing, we should assign each level-up a class. So even if Pierce is getting something that's not usually in the Slayer repertoire, if it's Slayer-ish it counts as a Slayer level. Basically, we use the stuff that AB's already posted as a sort of template, we each write up our own upgrade "schedule", which then gets balanced by everyone else until we're equal (though one the BR are finalized, there shouldn't be too much balancing necessary, since you'll be self-balancing. Hopefully). Sooo... What do you think? If you accept that suggestion, that really makes most of the above points moot... Though please reply to the Double Attack one. I'd really like to know what the fuck you were thinking. |
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08-23-2010, 11:57 AM | #19 | |
OMG! WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?
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Regarding motivation: Well, what you said above is better now, but some characters still "lack" some of what you said or substitute it with other traits. Kurika doesn't seem to have that arrogance and she applied justice and comradeship with it. (She's pretty much the role model of what Renny would be imitating). The willingness to kill so far has less to do with Slayers and more to do with the fact that they are working in PATCA in a situation that has escalated beyond the possibility of feasibly arresting dissident. And Renny doesn't have confidence or fight-flight response as a slayer because he doesn't have levels in one yet! Plus, if he's fighting alongside his pokemons like most Battle Masters, fight-flight response becomes less of a biggie because he has someone he can count on to watch his back.
Regarding Cheerful Backup: Well, if I REALLY have to, I can remove the rage generation. But I thought it would be a suitable way to ensure that it is never useless. As it is, it has utility in the ability to pass on rage that would have been gained through attacking to someone else, especially someone who normally doesn't gain rage fast like a medic. However, in the off-chance that... A: The situation is desperate enough that Renny can't spare to give away his rage because he needs to power up his support skills. B: The situation is such that giving away his rage wouldn't help anything. (Everyone's rage is too low to benefit from getting a mere 5 or 10 rage or their technique is wrong for the situation) In either of those two cases, Renny could opt for a minor gain since it helps out both of those and he isn't doing anything special aside from his pokemons being particularly trained/motivated to help him out. Regarding Demon Upgrades and their effects on Slayers: I said Slayers is at base one of the strongest "single character" classes. (Solo. Not Pokemon or Snagger). At the very level of design (empowering the one character), it only competes with Demon and possibly Pokebrid for single character strength. The thing that bugs me about Demon-hood is the possibility that with that customization, they could pick and choose upgrades that effectively belong to Overblades that makes them special while ignoring the ones that the player doesn't want or think is weak. Let's say that someone wanted to build an offense build. They take the Overblade's double attack, the increased rage generation, an immunity to a pokemon type or status, OH and let's say they invented a technique to mimic that of the RDPA's Overdrive among loads of other things. Because of that customization, they effectively min-maxed as their ideal "slayer" (Because they took upgrades which were all mostly Overblade exclusive) without becoming Slayer of that level. The "little to no drawback" is that demonhood allows the player to "min-max" by choosing all the abilities they want to a drastically large extent while ignoring everything they didn't want. Players wanting Double Attack or type immunity pretty much have no choice normally but to accept the other rewards that come with it even if it is not particularly valued by the player. Demon-class seems to promise a shortcut that offers those powers and more. This issue doesn't apply with Pokemon Trainer or Snagger because Demonhood doesn't grant you new pokemons or help train them. It also doesn't apply with Pokebrid because Demonhood doesn't grant a pokemon's biology and their related skills. It also doesn't seem to apply to low level slayers because just about everything about Slayers comes from equipment like armor, accessories and RDPA. However, the higher level rewards for Overblade are the stuff that CAN be imitated and taken by Demons... and perhaps at a lower level too! Yes, some of the stuff like RDPA and accessories can't be imitated, but that's all the low level stuff. The real reasons to go Overblade can possibly be taken by Demon upgrades, with less investment while at the same time getting other stuff the player wants. From a perspective of balance, what unique reason does Overblade offer to reward a player from spending levels in that class as opposed to taking Demon? So, if the Demon class can get all the higher level upgrades of Overblade without having to spend 5+ levels of slayer to do so AND get other stuff they'd rather want instead of RDPA or accessories or Sweep, then why does Overblade exist aside from a roleplaying perspective? Funny how the person who is effectively the biggest min-maxer in the group is not taking a single level of the class that would enable min-maxing to a larger degree? Regarding "Blending": That's a misnomer. I said blending because of the notion of taking Slayer-ish power and blending it to apply to pokebrid attacks. That said, I kinda wanna keep to the diversity and uniqueness of pokebrids somewhat. How about this? 1: Unlimited Slayer empowered moves belonging to the respective pokemon's type/s. 2: Unlimited Slayer empowered moves to moves learned by level-up. (Doesn't apply to moves that can only be gained by breeding, tutoring or so) 3: Extra moves for 3 other types (Let's say 3 moves of each). All other element types only get 1 attack. 4: All the moves that fit the above count as Slayer attacks and thus qualify for any upgrades or factors that influence them such as slayer armor STAB bonus and rage generation and anything else Slayer Related. 5: All the above only applies to moves with Attack subtype, not Special Attack. (Status moves don't need buffing anyhow) Keep in mind that Renny wouldn't have access to some elements until much later, and even then only with the RDPA. Regarding Double Attack: Quote:
Anyhow... Let's see what Double Attack offers when compared to a trainer/snagger. Because basically, it seems to me like it's mainly getting unlimited use of an ability an accessory already offers you. 1: Ability to attack a second target. That second target need not be right beside the first like Sweep. Thus an upgrade to Sweep in a way. 2: Ability to attack the same target twice. More focus power. 3: Boost rage generation due to having an extra attack. 4: Extra utility due to Slayer Weapons having more chances of triggering status on more targets. Very potent ability that comes very late in the upgrade tree and rightly an end-game ability (For those who didn't start as Slayer, they won't get it until 12th level at the earliest and that's assuming the character goes Slayer as soon as they are able, which is not true in Renny's case who might not get Double Attack until level 14.) If we compare this to other classes... Pokemon Trainers/Snaggers have all these already due to Pokemon classes practically being designed to deal with multiple foes. They can attack a second target regardless of where. (1) They can attack the same target twice. (2) Their status moves can inflict status (4). Rage generation is not quite as potent offensively, but because of their numbers, they can gather more rage when being attacked because there are more slots to recieve the damage from. Basically, Pokemon trainers and Snaggers is what you get when you have Double Attack, but not the power of a Slayer. They are Slayers in reverse order! When a trainer gains levels, their pokemons grow more powerful getting closer to that of a Slayer. Slayers gain double attack as they level which makes them closer to a Trainer's ability to fend off multiple foes. But the pokemon trainers also have numbers on their side which helps with defense. Slayers play by themselves for the most part. Although their higher stats help out, statuses still causes problems (until later) where pokemons can usually be switched out. Now, let's check out the other upgrades alongside it! Listed in order in which you get them. Slayers/Overblade: 6 Items slots. (Start) Always have normal type armor and attack. (Start) 3 armors and weapons types. (Start) Increased Power (2) Accessories (2) Ruin type armor and weapon (3) Sweep Ability (3) Three more weapons (4) Increased STAB on armors. (4) RDPA. (5) Overdrive *Part of RDPA* (5) Improved Rage Generation (6) Overpower *Status Cure* (6) Stat gain (7) Immunity to a physical Status affliction (7) Stat gain (8) Double Attack (8) Immunity to one of nine offered pokemon types (8) Increased RDPA time (9) Immunity to a mental Status affliction (9) Stat gain (10) Improved Rage Generation (10) Immunity to one of any pokemon element type (10) Pokemon Trainer/Breeder/: 3 Items belt (Start) 4 Pokemons (Start) One of the pokemons Leader tagged (Start) Legendary Pokemons can use Testament Drive (Start) Fifth Pokemon (2) Focus Skill (2) Leader Tag on another pokemon (3) Trainer Action (3) Divide (3) Sixth Pokemon (4) 2 Custom Items (4) One pokemon becomes Veteran/Xth stage tagged. (5) Custom Move on a pokemon (5) Improved Rage Generation (6) 1 Custom Item (6) 1st Ability Shift (6) Defend Ability (7) 2nd pokemon becomes Veteran/Xth stage tagged. (7) Another Custom item (8) 2nd Ability Shift (8) 3rd pokemon becomes Veteran/Xth stage tagged. (9) An additional action granted for the purpose of using items only (9) Improved Rage Generation (10) 3rd Ability Shift (10) ALRIGHT, now let's see how much they got in common and if anything stands out... 1: They both have diversity in attacking and defensive elements as well as immunities to some pokemon types or statuses. Overblade are more diverse/custom with immunities and more resistances. Breeders get advantage of numbers which can be revived during combat. Slayers are reliant on others to revive them if they get knocked out. ^^; 2: Overdrives and Breeders both get improved Rage generation at level 6 and 10. 3: They both get an extra action of sort. Slayers get Double Attack, while Breeders get "Quicken Item". (I'd propose moving this down to upgrade 8 or lower so it's at the same level or lower as Double Attack. Maybe increase Item storage by 3 items too to make it more worthwhile.) 4: Breeders get more strength faster than Overblades do. (Level 5 and 7 for Veteran/Xth Staged pokemon as opposed to Overblades at level 8 for Double Attack and stat gains at 7, 8 and 10.) Pokemon Custom Items or Ability Shifts will likely contribute to their strength boost too. 5: Both have "rage sinks". Slayers have Sweep, Overpower and the accessories. Trainers have Divide, Focus, Defend and Testament Drive. As far as I see it, I think that things are more or less balanced as they are, minor changes I suggested aside. Slayers I didn't include Demons or Devas because... A: Demons are fully custom and it's feasiable they might try to get Double Attack too if they reach the respective level for it. B: I find it hard to compare it with Devas, because Devas not only specialize in single class diversity as opposed to power, but they are also incredibly rage hungry and I feel Devas could use lots of buffing up in the first place. Devas can spam Sync Techs when under a paradigm shift which COULD be godly, but the circumstances under which they can do so is very limited. Also didn't list Snaggers because it doesn't combine well with Trainer which almost everyone is, and the ones who don't have it probably don't want it. Similar to trainer anyhow. Now that I think about it, I should talk a bit more about Devas... Dante could use some boosting! 1: They don't have the number advantage of trainers. 2: They don't have all the armors of Slayers. Heck, they got weaknesses unless they pay rage. 3: Their special techs cost rage which can only be activated once they are in a special stage which... *SHOCK* also costs rage too. 4: They only attack once normally since they don't have numbers, they don't have double attack, and their only means of spamming techniques require so much rage and attention, it's not practical. 5: Yes, they got diversity but only when they can shift forms which brings a new set of weaknesses and strengths. That diversity needs to come with power and it should come much easier than it currently does (probably should be easier than for other classes too). This class is sadly the red-headed stepchild, right next to Snagger... which might have been good if it didn't start off by having less pokemons than trainers first and then working up so they had more later on, giving false impressions. AB: One question that seemed odd to me. The PCs are all humans. Doesn't that mean that technically Slayers have a weakpoint to fire and poison too like the other humans we fought so far? Or does being trained in slayer mean that they worked out that particular weakpoint and made it neutral through endurance? Also, forgive me for forgetting, but what sort of damage does Ruin type attacks do on Ruin type pokemons. Like if the Ruin element was selected as an attack type with the RDPA and said slayer attacked a Ruin type. Is it not effective like with fire against fire? Super effective like Dragon against Dragon? No damage? Quad Damage? Neutral like Fighting against Fighting? Also, can you provide a sample Overdrive technique so we can see what the power level of that should be like? Because the implication of a name like "Overdrive" sounds incredibly potent, especially since it can only be used one time per battle. ANYHOW, I'm finally done! God, that took so long. Anyhow, I apologize if I said something odd here. I'm tired. Anyhow, looking forward to what you guys think. Overall though, it looks promising, since we got a nice mix of classes. Demons (Half and Full), an Overblade, and Breeders (Especially if Charlotte wants to focus on that). I think Devas could use some buffing up though. But overall, we got a nice mix. Last edited by Menarker; 08-23-2010 at 01:07 PM. |
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08-23-2010, 03:11 PM | #20 |
Birdy Bard
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Japanland
Posts: 501
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Really when it comes to devas I can see where it might be underpowered. However I think it largely depends on the way its built. As a pokebrid, pre-deva Slayers tend to kind of one us up with raw damage and stats and trainers easily have us in durability. I honestly find (and part of the reason 2 of Matthias's forms aren't the strongest) that the purpose of a pokebrid/deva in a team is as you said versatility. Really right now two of his three forms can change their element for the battle at hand. Their stronger at shutting down particular enemy combos and always having an answer for a situation as opposed to the other classes. Snagger kinda overlaps them in that manner.
However! I honestly see our biggest weakness in our versatility. Yes I have an inhumanly huge move pool. A very large number of those attacks are nigh on useless. Seriously. I have very little purpose to use psybeam when I have psychic. Or tackle. or probably 60% of my moves because they become invalidated by the moves that the pokemon gets later in levels. |
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