I'm really interested in this game. Love xenoblade. Love factorio. Visuals are great.
I hear the narrative isn't anything of note. But how are the character dynamics?
To stay invested I sort of need to be invested in the personalities. Do they bounce off one another or is it like most gacha where it's just character of the week + silent protag?
Tossing a dart haha.
I got the new halo campaign evolve game and wanted to go through the campaign with someone(s) sometime this week.
I'm a mid 30s guy in Colorado. Maybe there are other nerds wanting to make some friends in this dry little state :D
Howdy, I've been a long time player but never really jumped into the FC scene.
With evercold coming out, I really wanted to join an FC and make some friends who enjoy chit chatting both in and out of the game.
I've never ran hardcore content, but I'm not against learning the ropes. I mostly play Sage.
I may not be active every single day, but I'd love to be active in a social discord and jump into the game whenever fun events are going on.
I know there's been a lot of discussion on if you can get anything off these cars. I'll admit it's tough, but it is possible.
My dealer had an XSE, fully loaded, on the lot--no markup or dealer add-ons. It wasn't the color I wanted, but just recently in stock (I think they traded with another dealer the day before).
What I did was I did "everything" over email. They tried repeatedly to get me in the store throughout the entire process, but I was pretty firm (in a kind way. Kindness goes a long way).
I know it's not groundbreaking, but the secret is two things: make the process just long enough for them to be invested before putting up walls, but also being perfectly willing to walk away and mean it.
I had a deposit on another Rav4.
But for this one, I kept asking for less, and I got them down to 1500. But I still wanted more. I told them I only wanted to bring 2k out of pocket, and with 1500 discount, it wasn't enough. So I wanted them to pay for the first month lease payment, but naturally no.
So I kindly told them thank you, but the price is outside of my range, so I'm going to start looking at my backups (and I actually meant it), so could you please start refunding the deposit. Then suddenly they were willing to do it.
---
I'm pleasantly surprised by the car. My biggest worry about the car was the plastic. I'm coming from Kia and Nissan. Which while not reliable, they do put some money into interior. But XSE at lease is very nice. The plastic doesn't look for feel like a plastic toy the way it comes across in pictures.
In fact, if you look at some of the close ups, they put these sparkles into the plastic, which is easier to see in person. It helps breakup the monotone color of the plastic.
It drives very well. We've put over 250 miles on it, and we're not yet halfway on our tank.
the sunglasses holder does sometimes randomly open if you slap the sun visor back, and it is kind of hard to close it, I think it has weak magnets. But you get used to it.
The door closing does sound hollow, but it's only on the passenger seat.
One thing I'll say, this came with the upgraded screen, and if I could've chosen, I wouldn't have gotten it. Bigger isn't always better. Don't get me wrong, it's cool, but I'm someone who buys smaller phones, not bigger ones, so it may just be a me thing.
The steering wheel isn't "bad," but it definitely feels... I'm not sure. Less than other ones I've used. Less thick or smooth. Again, something you don't notice after your hands get used to the tactile after a few drives, just noting it.
People say the center console is uncomfortable for your knee. Maybe we're just short (5'9 and 5'11) but our knees don't go anywhere near the center console to hit that lip.
This version came with the rear view mirror camera. It's hard to get used to. It creates this weird spatial displacement feeling when looking at real life then then glancing at the camera. It's hard to explain until you use it. Perhaps I'll get used to it, but as of today, it's not an upgrade I'd chase.
The auto-park is fantastic! I'm a driver who hates inconveniencing other people, so i tend to park further, or if going to packed places, I'll just pull straight in because I worry I won't be able to nail it while people are waiting. But the auto-park feature perfectly does it. Not everyone will care because most are probably better drivers than me, but it's a cool feature.
Black was our least desired color, but alas, it was what was available.
Something I'll say (last picture), it's not pure black. They have these cool sparkles throughout the paint that, again, is hard to see in photos.
If you're looking for a luxurious experience, I think most would already look away, and I'd agree. My 23 Nissan, which was cheaper, "felt" more luxurious than this.
That said, if your first goal is a forever car and second goal is feels good, then I think this car is fantastic. We've very excited to finally land on Toyota after Kia and Nissan (our Nissan was already acting up at the end of our lease).
Edit:
Thanks everyone for your replies. It does help to get various different outside opinions (especially since I tend to be very risk adverse person).
We decided to instead do a little hybrid. Instead of just cold stopping we're going to stop thinking of our move as a forever home and instead as just a good house upgrade. So we're likely going to drop our budget from 550 to something more reasonable and see what's out there so we can get the ball moving but with a more conservative price.
So my partner and I (32/34) were in the middle of selling our home and buying a new one with the dream of starting family in the future.
After looking we just decided to hold off and spend another 2-3 years saving. Which of course means pushing the idea of a family back more years (we plan to foster like a 4-5 year old).
Salary: 220k.
Townhome 2b: 294k left in mortgage at 375k value.
Emergency fund: 45k.
10% 401k and maxing ira Roth which we don't want to stop.
We put 2k into brokerage accounts a month.
150k in combined student loans.
43k car.
No other debt.
New house around 550k.
The only downpayment we have is equity, which is like 50k after agent fees. We really don't want to touch our emergency fund.
A new house would be like 1k extra a month. Which leaves us little for investing, and during months of issues, we'd be tapping pretty close to the end of the paycheck which for my personality scares me.
I suggested we wait 2-3 years. Cut our savings in half. 1k to investments and 1k to high yield for a house.
After 2 years that's 24k to help cushion closing costs and down payments. 3 years for 36k. Plus a bit more equity in house.
We're just not sure if we're being overly cautious by waiting and pushing life back more. Or waiting seems more reasonable given our current situation.
Shoutout to the @yuffieisathief for the meme suggestion!