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Hello folks,
Today folks who are part of the technical alpha for Diablo Immortal had the opportunity to ask questions in an AMA style format for Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer) and Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer). Below is the full text of the AMA. Enjoy!
sVr: Will there be seasonal buffs or events ? (RedDragonFlayer)
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): So we are definitely looking to have a variety of cool events. There's actually one event in the game right now which is the Challenge Rift Event. You can see this on the left side of the main menu. The backend that drives that event can and will be used to run new events in the future. Maybe we'll make Halloween a special thing?
sVr: Will PvP have a reward system? (RedDragonFlayer)
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): We have more plans for PVP that we can't talk about just yet. But I hope you guys have been able to check out the Bilefen Zone Trial. One thing I can say now is that none of our PVP plans are going to move the game towards an eSport. What we want is a fun place that players of all types can gather and have a good time killing each other.
sVr: We have runes, however, they are just materials currently. What about Runewords and what made you "not include" them? (Swootcandy)
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): No current plans for Runewords. Runewords are super cool, but their functionality overlaps a bit with Legendary items. We wanted to include runes as a consistent thematic element so using them as a reagent in the crafting recipe seemed cool.
Leviathan: Can you speak towards Hardcore and if it will be in? If not, philosophies on why?
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): Hey Levi. Not only does Diablo Immortal extend character progression, but it is also an inherently social experience, in that we want to encourage players to join guilds and build in-game friendships. Having your buddy permanently disappear from your guild because their character died in an unfortunate and gruesome way could be a fun idea for some, but it's not the experience we're looking for, so we do not currently have plans for Hardcore mode.
MuggleMama: Is there a reason some legendary gear needs to be identified but some does not?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): Sometimes we identify the gear when you get it from somewhere like the free track on the Battle Pass, but the legendary drops from the rest of the game should be unidentified. Right now there's actually a bug in the game that makes this inconsistent, and we'll be fixing that in the future.
Leviathan: Some of the people on my stream notice (and love) that many of the sounds are from old Diablo games. Are they placeholders or there to stay? Great nostalgia.
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): All the sounds you hear are intended to stay unless we have a reason to change it. Personally I love the nostalgic sound of gold falling on the ground.
Leviathan: Will there be a transmog system or ways to customize characters so that people can differentiate themselves from one another?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): We are not currently looking at a transmog system but we do have a couple things which are similar. The first is that we are looking at a way for your to manage your legendary powers more easily. No details to share about this right now but stay tuned.
The second is that we are planning to have full body cosmetic outfits. These will be available as a real money purchases in addition to being on the paid track of the Battle Pass.
sVr: What are your plans to "circumvent"/"restrict" the continuous powercreep inherent to ARPGs (with each major content patch)? (Demonic Eevee)
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): Hey sVr. I'll answer in two parts. We plan to cap Paragon progression and gradually raise that cap with each new content update. Legendary powers are designed to scale and will carry forward to higher level versions after content updates as well. Gems and Legendary Gems can also be unsocketed and carried into a new sweet item in the future. The second part would be with regards to the numerical tuning. Without diving too deep into the math right now, one of the reasons we have both "Attack" and "Offense Rating" as well as "Life" as well as "Defense Rating" is so that these attributes can scale linearly over time, while still making you feel more powerful. Normally you need exponential numerical growth to really feel the power difference, but the dual-attribute system should allow us to avoid crazy large damage numbers over time.
Leviathan: Will the Bestiary have statistical details on enemies (like if they have Armor and such - could help with gearing/more info) or be more flavorful/lore based?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): The Bestiary entries are going to show more about the lore of the creatures than gameplay related details. We want to reveal more of the world every time you get a new page.
Leviathan: How is the Power stat on items calculated? What does it take into consideration?
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): Power is calculated from all the stats on your item. The attributes on your item (strength, int, fort, spirit, willpower) are all 15 points each. Your particular build might value one attribute over another, but we didn't want to try and guess which ones you are looking for so they are all weighted equally. Then there are extra points added for magic and legendary properties. Again, we try not to make judgement calls on which property you might want for your character, the points added varies with the level of the item but not with the property itself. Finally, sockets are given a base score (I believe it's 48? Don't quote me on that) to make the socket appealing. Ultimately the "Power" of an item is supposed to give a rough gauge of which item might be better for somebody who doesn't want to do a lot of math but the actual best item might differ for somebody who wants to do a lot of min/maxing.
Dredscythe: Reforge seems to be unlocked at 45 (current level cap). Is that the plan when 60 is the new level cap, or can we get access at lower level 30, 45, etc.?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): Reforging is available when you get a Legendary item to Rank 6, not when you reach a certain level. It might not be common to get to that point before max level due to the amount of crafting materials needed to rank up your items.
Dredscythe: The XP to level ramps up after 30 quite a bit, what’s the plan going forward looking at 60. Aimed for play time in hours range?
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): I can't give any specific time amounts because we'll be analyzing data and feedback from the Tech alpha to possibly go back and make adjustments to the 1-45 experience as well. However, a few high level goals: (1): The amount of XP and time required to level post 45 continues to increase in the same way that things increased after 30. (2): We like the way level 1-20 feels in that it's very fast which is great for getting people into the game. (3): As a singular data point the last level from 59 to 60 should be about 2.5 hours for most players.
Neinball: Is it possible to use the phasing tech when interacting with quest givers/story points so that we don’t get swarmed with mobs while unable to control our characters?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): In Technical Alpha we have an issue where sometimes you are attacked by mobs while you are in a dialog sequence with an NPC. We definitely will be fixing this in the future.
echohack: Upgrading individual items and gems is a major shift for Diablo Immortal from previous games. We currently know about several upgrade systems: Gems, Legendary Gems, Charms, Reforging, and Salvage. What limits are being put into place to prevent Pay2Win from dominating these upgrade systems? Are there some upgrade systems that will be driven by gameplay only, and never influenced by monetization (such as the current Blacksmith / Salvage system)? (Chaosteil)
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): Echohack, great question! When we set out to make Diablo Immortal one of the first "tentpoles" we laid down is that the gear should be earned strictly through gameplay. I think the question understates just how important gear is (and by extension salvage/rank up) and how it affects gameplay... it's the majority of your power. I think it's worth noting that I don't think the "hunt" part of the item hunt feels strong enough yet and we hope to tune it more after the Tech Alpha. sVr alluded a bit to this in feedback he gave relating to the stats on items (still waiting for you to send over your details sVr!!!) The "magic" attributes that roll on items such as "+3% damage for your primary attack" don't feel impactful enough yet, and the attributes that initially appear on an item might be a bit light compared to the attributes gained from rank-up. Beyond items, Paragon is another example of a system you use to upgrade your character solely by playing the game. We don't have XP boosts and that was a conscious decision. At its core everything you do in Immortal is tied to gameplay: how you progress, acquire gear, earn various items, etc. all have to be done by actually playing the game, there's no way to bypass that.
echohack: Will bluetooth controllers, or other mobile phone controllers such as the PS4 / PS5 / Xbox / Nintendo Switch Pro / Razer Kishi be supported?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): We get this question a lot! During Technical Alpha we're focused on making the best mobile experience for our players. However, because it's been such a common request from the community we hope that we can test controller support in the future.
Lord Fluffy: It seems pretty clear that a lot of assets were reused from Diablo III? I assume work wasn’t done to actually recreate these assets exactly as they were in D3. So, assuming you’re somehow importing them... why not import everything to give us a a way bigger pool of Elder Rift maps?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): We are still in active development on the game, so the assets in Technical Alpha now will not necessarily be the versions we ship with. I'll talk about environments for a second because you brought up Elder Rift maps. The game engine for Immortal is in many ways capable of higher quality in art than we were able to achieve in Diablo 3. On top of that, we have a large talented art team that have their own creative ideas on how Sanctuary should look in Immortal. So between the tech and the team we have invested a lot in making new zones that have never been seen before, but also recreating zones you have seen so they are fresh and reflect our commitment to quality.
echohack: Can you talk in more detail about rewarding players for exploration? Specifically, can you talk in more detail about Lairs and "Legendary Monsters" (name?) -- these seem very interesting!
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): The Lairs are intended as fun side dungeons that are rewarding to explore when you come across them but not quite common enough to explicitly farm. Ideally when you're out in the world for other reasons, like main questline, a Zone Trial, or doing bounties you see a Lair and think "ooooh! Shiny!" and jump in, but we don't necessarily want you to wander the world aimlessly looking for them as your top priority. With regard to Legendary Monsters, they're a bit similar to Lairs in this regard, but with the possiblity that you may or may not ask some guild mates to come and join you if they're online. I'd love to know if you all think we're close on these goals.
echohack: Is the current hub-and-spoke model for towns similar to what we will see at release? (ie: Westmarch the main hub with minor towns in other zones)
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): Yes - the way the minor towns are set up with Westmarch as the capital city is the plan for release.
Lord Fluffy: Would Blizzard ever consider a pay to play server of Diablo Immortal where you couldn’t pay to win?
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): Hey Fluffy! We really want to introduce Diablo to as many players as we can around the world, and we believe the best way to do that is with a free to play game. It's also important for us to make one shared experience and not split up the community. I was watching your stream when you were pushing Challenge Rifts and I know some concern was brought up that this wouldn't be as enjoyable for you when the Crests are ultimately purchasable in the future. In that regard, I think an important note is that Challenge Rifts are not going to be the ultimate end game that Greater Rifts are in D3. I don't want to spoil anything right now, but I will say it includes both PvE content and activities for larger groups of players. Grats on getting #1. BTW, in Australia there's a Barbarian who cleared 40. :wink:
sVr: For the remaining 15 levels to 60, is each class going to see new skills? (or are the current skills stretched over to 60)?
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): The tech alpha does not include all the skills characters will be able to learn when the final version of the game is released. There are 2 additional skills per class and we are hoping to add more skills to each class post-launch as free expansion content.
Mugglemama: Will phasing be used to reduce the number of people you see in places like Westmarch? Or will it become overloaded with players?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): There are a few things we're doing to help combat having too many players on screen. First, when many players are in the same zone at once we do spin up a second copy of that zone and divide the players between the different areas. Secondly when a large number of players are on the screen at once we do some dynamic culling of players who may be farther away from you to help performance. Even right now we are hanging out in Westmarch and you can see how characters fade in and out depending on their proximity to you. We will continue to tweak and improve this system so that points of interest in Westmarch are not overcrowded.
ECHO Gaming: How will the battle pass work across multiple character accounts. If you purchase the pass will it only work for one character per account or across all characters on that account.
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): Hey Echo. The current plan is that you purchase the Battle Pass once and it unlocks the benefits and paid reward track on all of your characters. Pretty sweet right? While we're on the subject I want to clarify that we are currently thinking of a monthly battlepass that starts at the beginning of each month and ends at the end of the month. During tech alpha the duration is set to 2 months only because we didn't want the battlepass to reset partway through the tech alpha in the event it goes past Dec 31 (duration of tech alpha still TBD. We are getting lots of good data and fixing bugs on the backend as it relates to server stability and other behind-the-scenes stuff).
Orelus: Will there be additional zones with upcoming patches once released or any plans for another classes joining the roster?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): Yes! We are planning for more of everything. New Zones, new Dungeons, more legendary items, quest lines and bounties. We will even be working on new Classes to add. All of this will become a part of the game for everyone to enjoy for free without purchase.
Raxxanterax: How will the sharing of resources (if at all) be implemented into the released version of immortal? Currently our paragon levels seem to carry over to other characters, will anything else? Shared stash? Any other shared resources?
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): Hey Raxx, I lurked in your stream on Saturday, it was nice to see you enjoying the game. Right now most of the progression is done on a per-character basis. Before I dive in I want to caveat that this is definitely an area of design that might change (or might not). We would love for more things to be shared between characters but the problem we ran into is that we also have bonuses (such as bounties, first kill of the day, battlepass) that reward you for activities on a daily/one-time basis. We don't want the best way of progressing your main to be rolling up a stable of alts and then funneling all the resources into your main.
Neinball: So after starting up a new character: is it meant to be a whole new experience (no shared currency, completely reset battle pass, etc) per character or a limitation of the alpha? And do paragon levels on those new character only unlock at max level?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): Paragon is shared across characters but only unlocked when those characters reach max level. We did this to have a more meaningful leveling experience similar to World of Warcraft when your main character is the primary focus. We wanted to to make sure that a level 33 Demon Hunter and a level 34 Wizard had reasons to group and tackle hard challenges and create a social environment that is beneficial to the game. If that level 33 Demon Hunter had 300 paragon points to spent they would not need to engage in leveling the same way.
Leviathan: Has there been anything from the reports, videos, streams, that has surprised you in the alpha whether pleasantly or unpleasantly?What do you think of the alpha thus far, community reaction, etc.
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): I'm really overwhelmed by the positive reception. It's definitely been a busy two years and it's very rewarding to be able to "show don't tell". I think one moment that gave me a chuckle on Sunday was opening two streams at once (I think it was Gregg and Raxx?). The two of them were partied up. I was on my anonymous-smurf account and joined them in the party. But then Gregg booted me from the party! LOL. Fortunately I could hear Gregg talk in stream about how I think he was poking around the UI.
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): We've been saying that "playing is believing" mantra for a long time. It's great to finally see you all play the game and hear their reaction. I've been watching multiple streams constantly for days and it's only made me more excited about making this game! Also I really thought I was good at CR pushing until a few days ago :frowning:
Lord Fluffy: Will there be end-game currency conversion? hitting that arcane dust blocker on the alpha right now and the progression slow down feels pretty bad. Just playing for rare drops and having thousands of reusable parts.
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): Tuning the materials is one of the areas we're looking at for technical alpha. Things are constantly in flux during development, and the ratios of crafting materials is an area we wanted to learn more from this test. I don't know if running out of Arcane Dust feels any better than running out of Scrap Materials (you're always going to be blocked by /something/). One solution is to provide a conversion mechanism, but another solution is to provide different activities for different resource types. Maybe activity X is good for parts, activity Y is good for gold, and Z is good for Arcane Dust. All that said, it's awesome to see people getting to this part of the game, and this will definitely help inform decisions for the next phase of development.
Raxxanterax: How important are clans going to be? In Diablo 3 theyre mostly just another looking for group channel. Are clans in Diablo Immortal going to have more importance?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): Guilds in Diablo Immortal are a great way to group up with like-minded players and we have achievements to help guide some of the activities. But I have to say that we have larger plans for social groups beyond what Guilds are in Technical Alpha. Can't say more than that today but we are excited to share more in the future.
Megax: What information do you intend to add to the bestiary? I couldn't find a way to decipher what power each rare and elite monster brings with it. The icons help but it is still not the complete information
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): The Bestiary will contain lore information on the many enemies to defeat in Immortal, but will not contain gameplay details. The Elite monster powers are dynamic every time they are spawned in the world. I think it's a good point of feedback that we should make sure that these powers are easily understood by our players.
Wudijo: Do they plan on trying to do a low config version for like 2-3 years old phones?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): During Technical Alpha we intentionally have a pretty narrow list of supported devices that help us test compatibility, performance and stability. At ship our game will support as many devices as possible. And even after installing the game, you can customize the graphics quality to suite your preferences.
Wudijo: Items being the root of Diablo, will they add primal kinds of items in DI?
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): There are no current plans to have Primals (or Ancients) in the game. That said, we do want to add more content after launch and Primals and Ancients are certainly on the table. However, I think systems like that are more interesting when they are also tied to new content (new ways to interact with the game).
Wudijo: At BlizzCon they said a fully fledged mobile game with no PC version, is it still the case or will this change?
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): We are focused on creating the best mobile Diablo experience. We are excited to bring the epic action rpg elements to Diablo veterans and newcomers alike on their mobile devices.
Wudijo: If there are no primals, what would be the other version, like uniques kinda replacing legendaries in D4, but for DI?
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): For launch I feel the item system we have with game-changing legendaries and the rank up system is fairly robust. We do need to examine and tune the numerical values on attributes but no major changes planned right now. (but this is tech alpha, so things are always subject to change)
Wudijo: Considerations for another skill slot for movement or utility skill only?
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): We have explored that but no current plans. We're pretty happy with the control scheme right now and want to avoid adding too much more complexity.
NotPatrick: What is the design intent, pacing and soft limits for your gameplay and paid systems? For example, gear upgrading and the amount of crafting material, paragon, and how to engage with the market?
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): The short answer is we want the game experience to be enjoyable for both players who want to remain free and those who choose to spend money. How all of these systems interact with the player experience is something we're paying close attention to, and tuning them will be important to get the balance right.
Caleb Arseneaux (Lead Producer): Hey everyone I'm going to sign off for now. It was great hanging out and getting to answer all of your questions. I just want to say that this Technical Alpha is just a part of the game we are making and have much more to reveal in the future.
Wyatt Cheng (Lead Designer): Thanks for all the great questions. A few extra tidbits of information that I picked up from watching videos and streams over the past few days.
Auto-navigation is unlocked for a zone when you complete the main questline for that zone. That's why it's not obvious at first, but then available later (most often when a bounty sends you back to a previous zone). We could do a better job communicating this.
I don't know how many of your found Guild Achievements, but I've already made a note that we need to iterate on the UI here. If you open up your guild page and hit the arrow to expand to full screen, there's a UI for guild achievements.
Thanks again for all the great questions and I'll see you around!

All Our Hearts (part one)

The sound of the waves brought it all back. At least, that’s what she told me.
We were watching the rising tide together, the taste of salt on the breeze and sun sinking on the horizon. A family day at the coast, drawing to a close .
I had seen my grandmother taking a seat on a bench behind us and moved over to join her. She looked, all of a sudden, completely exhausted.
“Everything ok, Nana?”
“Oh, yes. Fine. Just ... a memory.” she gave me a faint smile, “A very old memory.”
We shared a quiet moment, lit by the colours before the sunset. My parents and brother were occupied, no sounds but the waves washing over the sand and birds overhead. Our shadows stretched out long and dark behind us.
She took my hand in hers and met my eyes. It was so unusual for her to be serious that I began to smile, expecting a joke.
“David.” she said, “If I tell you a story, will you write it down for me?”
So, that’s how this all began. What follows are transcripts of 4 conversations between myself and my grandmother in the remainder of that year.
Before we go any further, I’m sure some of you are thinking, why did she ask me to do this? And why did I agree? I don’t intend to include much detail about myself here, this is her story not mine, but I would like to take a moment to answer those questions.
I agreed for a variety of reasons. First, if I’m honest, I had a great deal of free time after losing my job. The Covid pandemic has not been kind to the hospitality industry. Second, I was a keen writer when I was young and had recently returned to it, publishing several short stories which my grandmother had read. She didn’t like them much, but she read them nonetheless. Finally and most importantly, I simply loved to listen to her speak. Everyone did. She could tell a tale like no-one else I’ve ever met. Her voice, her smile, her turn of phrase and occasionally colorful language. She made you feel like child again, caught up and carried along in whatever adventure she retold. Sadly, I’m not sure how well her talent carries across in the written word, if at all. You will just have to take my word for it.
Taking these points into account, it made sense I would be my grandmothers choice to document her experience. As to why she wanted to tell this story? Those reasons will always be her own. I do know her health had been failing, especially her mental acuity. Perhaps she felt those memories slipping away and didn’t want them to be lost forever. I try not to think about it too much. It was painful work at times. To see someone who had been so fiercely independent her entire life, so sharp, begin to struggle. To see someone who had always been so capable, so competent, become confused and frustrated with simple tasks. I would catch her growing angry with herself and trying to hide it from us. Or laughing it off. If you haven’t experienced it I pray you never have to, grieving for someone still with you. Watching, helpless, as this person you loved your entire life is stolen away, a piece at a time. But she never gave up. Never. She got on with her life, fighting for every second until the end. So the least I can do is get on with this, like she asked.
Our first recording session was in late October of last year. I asked as few questions and interrupted as little as possible. My apologies if certain sections feel a little disjointed, she was often very tired and couldn’t talk for long, and when she did there was a great deal of forgetfulness or long unrelated digressions. I have kept every relevant detail she mentioned and didn’t later correct by herself. I have altered names and placenames to protect the privacy of those concerned. My grandmothers name was Annabelle Mackay, so in the transcripts of our conversations she is “A” and I’m “D”. I’ve also included a series of notes from myself, the reasons for which will become apparent.
A : Ready?
D : Yes, ready when you are.
A : You just tell me if I’m talking too fast for you, in case you can’t keep up, okay? (laughs) Alright then.
It was 1955 and wintertime. November I think. I was 8 years old and I’d been in the system, or in care, or whatever they call it now, for about 3 years.
Cliff Park was the fourth childrens home I stayed at. An orphanage, run by the Sisters of Mercy, who were part of the catholic church. Oh, I know what you’re thinking, but they were all very kind to me in my time there. Some good people. This isn’t going to be that type of story. I saw it at other homes that’s true, more than once. The things you’ve read about in the papers. But never at Cliff Park. They had ... a different problem.
You know, just saying the name, thinking about that time again, brings those feelings back. Wish I had a photograph somewhere to show you. It was a beautiful old building in miles and miles of grounds. Four floors, white stone, dozens of tall windows and dark oak doors. Wonderful woodland on three sides, rolling hills and sand dunes on the other. Maybe a quarter mile from the coast. Family who owned it, the Whytes, were rich as Creosote. Old money.
I remember the first time I saw the place. I was in the back seat of the Sisters Alices car, listening to her chatter away as she drove. She had a lovely singsong highland accent that would have lulled me to sleep if I wasn’t so nervous. I had only one bag with me I recall, and I was holding it tight beside me like someone would take it away. The road to the home wound through the woods, then came out at last, right at the coast. And there it was, Cliff Park.
There was music playing on the car radio, Jimmy Young “Unchained Melody”. Strange that I can remember that, isn’t it? I’m getting so bad I can’t hardly remember why I left the house half the time. But I remember that. Those lyrics, “lonely rivers flow to the sea”. Maybe that’s why it stuck in my head. Silly I suppose. I like that version of the song best you know, I used to have it around here somewhere. On an old vinyl. You wouldn’t remember them, would you? Before your time. Anyway. Oh. Where was I?
D : First arriving at Cliff Park, in the back of the car.
A : Ah that’s right, that’s right. You’ll be thinking, how did a place like that become an orphanage? Well, it wasn’t planned that way.
The sisters originally ran a childrens home in the nearest town, until it had burnt down a few years earlier. Everyone made it out alive, which was a bit of a miracle really. A better miracle would probably have been no fire in the first place, but there you go. So, overnight, 60 children had nowhere to go.
The way I heard it told, they had all been gathered up in the church, trying to figure out what to do, when their prayers were answered. In walked Mr and Mrs Whyte, the sole remaining members of the Whyte clan, owners of Cliff Park and all the grounds. They offered up their home, just like that, and to purchase 60 new beds and everything that would be needed. Said they wanted to do something for the community. Something for the church.
Apparently they had been away travelling, all over the world, and wanted to give back to their home country. Altruism always makes me a little suspicious, don’t know about you, but they were taken at their word. And so Cliff Park Orphanage was born.
D : What were they like, Mr and Mrs Whyte?
A : Oh, a handsome couple. Like something out of a Hollywood movie, the pair of them. They were both tall, dark haired, always immaculately dressed. But ... distant. Or sad. (shakes her head) I don’t know. There was a melancholy about them. As mysterious and exotic as they were to a penniless orphan like me, you could still see it in them.
I heard a rumour that they had lost their own child. A boy. He had died when they had been travelling through India and that was why they had come home.
D : And what about you? How did you come to be there?
A : Me? I wasn’t very interesting! Not compared to them, not at all. Just another girl without a home. No shortage of them sadly, not then or now.
My mother, your great grandmother, had passed away when I was 4. Pneumonia it said on her death certificate. I tracked it down when I was older. Not sure why, I just ... just wanted to know. I only had the one memory of her. Sitting next to my bed, stroking my hair and whispering to me as I fell asleep. Maybe I just imagined it, made it up when I was so young that it got mixed in with the real memories. Just make believe, so I had something of her. Something more than nothing. Who knows?
My father, well, I’m not sure what to say about him. A year or so after my mother died he gave up on me. Decided he couldn’t do it anymore, looking after a wee lassie. Blackhill House is where he took me. Running at his heels, a skinny little thing with nothing but the dirty clothes on her back. He told them he would come back for me but he never did. I don’t remember much about it, not really. I know I cried for him, to come for me, something that was never going to happen. I know he never looked back. I found his death certificate too, you know, same time I found my mothers. He was dead before I even made it to Cliff Park. Drank himself to death in a Glasgow slum, so I guess I was better where I was, eh?
Funny how things work out. You can’t see it when you’re in the middle, but a little distance and things can look very different. I wouldn’t have listened to anyone saying that at the time though, not a chance!
I was a feisty wee terror, forever getting the belt or a slap and it was well bloody deserved (laughs). I just wouldn’t take a telling. Ha! I was a bad one for stealing anything I could get my hands on, which got me into the deepest bother. I used to be ashamed of that, looking back on it. But I learned it’s more common than you might think. Among orphans. When you’re always moving, you take what you can get I suppose. So that’s how I ended up at Cliff Park. No-one else would have me.
D : And what about the orphanage itself? Did you notice anything out of the ordinary when you first arrived?
A : No. No, not really. I thought it would be just another childrens home. I didn’t know how much it would change me. Change my life. I didn’t think I would see people die.
Note 1 – After our initial conversation, I decided to do some research into the things my grandmother had told me.
It was partly out of my own curiosity. I had known she was an orphan but she had never spoken to me about it and I was genuinely intrigued.
Mainly though, I hoped to find information that could aid her memory. I’m no private investigator and I’m sure my efforts would have been comically amateurish to any expert.
That said, I found a great deal more than I had anticipated. Starting simple with Google, progressing to city libraries and chambers of records, then phone calls and emails to dozens upon dozens of people and organisations. Anyone I thought might provide a scrap of information.
As you may have guessed, I have a tendency to be somewhat obsessive about things which interest me, and with so much free time on my hands this project took over my days.
Quite quickly, I discovered that Mr and Mrs Whyte were real, and did indeed have a child. A boy called Alistair, who died in Nepal of “respiratory failure”, age 7. Cliff Park Orphanage had also certainly existed, operated by the Sisters Of Mercy, registered from 1953 to 1956.
There were photographs. My grandmothers description had been impressively accurate, given the years that had passed. In everything from the high windows to the surrounding land she had been correct in every detail. With a bit of searching I even found the place on a map.
On a whim, I tried Google Earth. And there it was. Cliff Park House, still standing.
A : There was a huge set of stone stairs when you first went in, winding up all 4 floors to the roof. I remember struggling to keep up with Sister Alice as we climbed them.
We stopped at the third floor. There was a single long corridor running the length of the building with many doors on either side. I saw ladders, sheets, tins of paint and brushes about halfway down to the left. We headed that way, then turned at the first open door and entered.
Inside were four beds, a chest of drawers and 2 nervous looking children.
“Hello girls, “ said Sister Alice, “this is Annabelle McKay.”
I muttered “it’s Mackay” under my breath but she carried on regardless.
“Annabelle, this is Maisie Gallagher and Isobel Cross. The three of you will be accomodated, temporarily, in this room until space becomes available in the main hall downstairs.”
“Hello.” said Isobel in that tiny little voice of hers I could hardly hear.
Before anyone else could speak a loud male voice cried out “Hello hello” accompanied by approaching footsteps. And that was the first time I met him, Mr Cameron Whyte.
He was a tall slim man, dark hair and complexion, handsome devil. In his 30s I would guess. He was wearing overalls covered in paint and smiling at us all. For what it’s worth, he seemed tired but genuine. I remember his words very well. Or the jist of it all, anyways.
“Are these our new arrivals? Wonderful, wonderful. Here you are Alice.” he said, handing her a set of keys, “I’m very pleased to meet you, ladies. I can only apologise for the state of the facilities. I can assure you I’m doing my very best to remedy that, as you can see.” he gestured to his overalls. “I always like to greet new arrivals, it’s very important to myself and my wife that you all feel welcome here. Now, a few points you must know in case the Sisters haven’t already raised them. The fourth floor and attics and in a quite shameful state of disrepair. They are not safe at all, hence they are all locked off along with large portions of this floor. Please do not try to access these areas, it is for your own safety. We’ve been renovating a floor at a time and this one is still in progress. I just finished making this room habitable and a toilet operational, just in time for your arrival, as we are 3 over capacity for the next month. Unfortunately there is still a lot of work to do so the windows are...ah... a touch breezy. And the paint a little flakier than we would like. But it is of course only temporary. We pride ourselves here on the standards we provide, something I sadly suspect you may not have experienced in previous homes. My wife and I care very much about the children in our care. Sister Alice will wait here until you are all unpacked” he glanced at our meagre belongings, “and bring you all down to dinner.”
He departed with a nod.
“Well come on girls,” said Sister Alice, shooing us into action, “lets get a move on.”
So there we were, in a room for just the three of us. Isobel Cross, a quiet dark haired wee soul who wouldn’t say boo to a mouse. Maisie Gallagher, bright red curls and a definite air of superiority. And me.
D : How would you have described yourself?
A : Very tall. Very cynical. Very Glaswegian (laughs). I was a city girl. Always was always will be.
Another thing about that room though, before I leave it. How bloody cold it was! The Sister mentioned it in fact, if I recall correctly, when she gave us each an extra blanket for that night. The whole building got drastically colder the higher you went, no matter the weather. Particularly that side of the building. An odd thing it was, you could actually feel the difference as you walked along the halls.
Now I don’t recall much of the rest of the day, just bedtime. Whispering in the dark till we fell asleep. I remember that Maisie said to us, “I won’t be here long, you know. My mother is still alive she’s just sick but she will get better. My grandparents are coming back from Australia to look after me. I’ve still got people who love me so not like the other kids here.” You little bitch, I thought. Ha! I could have slapped her for a second. Then the feeling came over me that she didn’t really mean it.
Children can be quite capable of spotting real malice, you know. And I didn’t sense any. She was just a spoiled little girl who had lost her old life. Now she had nothing and was no different to the rest of us. Easy to forget what others have been through when they anger you. If you can believe it, we actually became friends, or as close as I ever got to it.
That was terribly unusual for me I’ll have you know. I never made friends! I don’t know if that was the right decision or not, it’s just how I was. Loneliness made me bitter but people made me angry. Bit of a conundrum for me, that one.
I don’t think much else really happened the first few weeks, not that I can recall. My damn memory isn’t what it was though, you know that. Not even close. Bits and pieces are still crystal clear to me. Others are ... just jumbled. Out of reach. I’m sure there wasn’t anything worth mentioning though. I’m sure.
I do remember my favourite pastime of thievery raised its ugly head again (laughs). Couldn’t help myself. I scoured that place for every nook and cranny where valuables were kept. Treats, purses, anything. I managed every little theft like a military operation. Smart about it too, never taking too much or too often that people began to suspect me. Loose pennies, pencils, anything I could get. It was fun. Not something to be proud of but I was bloody good at it.
I settled into a nice routine. It wasn’t the worst place, to be truthful. Clean, safe and plenty of space. There were 60 children plus us three new girls outside sometimes, so on occasion Mrs Whyte would help watch us, making sure there wasn’t any mischief. She always seemed to watch the boys more, I noticed, with that sad look on her face. Maybe she just thought they were more likely to cause trouble. I ... oh, I don’t know. I’ve lost the thread here, David. Where was I?
D : Not much had happened the first few weeks. You had been stealing small items.
A : Yes. Yes, that’s right.
D : What happened next? What changed?
A : Changed? Oh, yes. Something changed alright. Maisie left. We were getting ready for bed one night when Mr and Mrs Whyte came to the door, dressed for heading out. Told Maisie her grandparents had arrived in the country and they were going to take her to see them. But they had to leave now, so she was to get ready immediately and they would drive her into the city. We said our goodbyes. She was awful excited, I remember that. And just like that she was gone.
Isobel and myself tried to go to sleep, lying silent in the dark, without much success. After a while I crept to the window, thinking I could maybe see the car drive away. It was odd, I thought, that I hadn’t heard it starting up yet. What could be taking them so long?
Then I did hear something, but from upstairs. That was strange, I thought, wasn’t the fourth floor out of bounds? I heard it again. Footsteps and voices, followed by the dull clatter of what sounded like metal moving. More voices and a lock being turned. I held my breath, eyes closed, trying to catch every sound. There was a muffled cry. Maisies voice, I would have bet my life on it. Then the lock again and the thud of metal. My heart was racing. A few minutes passed and I heard footsteps again. I leapt back into bed and lay there, pretending to sleep until the sun came up. Never slept a wink.
You know, I tried to contact her family. Many years later. To see if her mother was still alive, or even her grandparents. Hell of a time I had at it. Found out the mother had been in a coma for years, passed away in 59.
Finally got someone who had known the grandfather to take a phonecall, best I could do even after weeks of trying. The Gallaghers, they told me, had both passed away in 1960. They had still been living in Australia. As far as anyone knew, they never left Canberra or had any intention to.
Note 2 - The revelation that the building itself was still standing had spurred me on, fuel on the fire of my new found obsession.
I managed to track down several of my grandmothers records. All the homes she attended, more old photographs, even interviews with others who had passed through the same establishments.
The first home she mentioned in particular, Blackhill, had been the subject of several lengthy criminal investigations. As I read through the list of charges I tried not to imagine her there, a tiny girl, alone and afraid. What had she seen?
All my childhood memories of her were smiles and laughter. It felt wrong somehow, to think of what horrors she may have carried in silence all those years. Child abuse, neglect and the related cover ups made for harrowing reading.
It was quite the internet rabbit hole to go down. Mass graves of children in Scotland? In living memory? It filled me with dread as to where my grandmothers reminiscences were taking us, but I regularly reminded myself that she has clearly stated “this isn’t that type of story”.
As our meetings continued I began to make use of my discoveries. A piece at a time I passed her the information I had found. I was careful to watch her reactions each time, wary of overwhelming and upsetting her. I shouldn’t have worried. She was delighted with every morsel of it and the accompanying sparks of remembrance. She even began to carry a notebook, writing down the details she recalled so they wouldn’t be lost before our next meeting.
A : I was an adventurous wee terror, and got it into my head that I had to see the top floor. To find out what happened to Maisie, is what I told myself.
I remember looking at the outside of the building on a break, standing in that bloody freezing sea wind.
From my bedroom window to next floor wasn’t really a hard climb, even for someone my size. A ledge, a drainpipe and onto a small balcony. I could take my time getting those doors open once I got there.
I stared for so long one of the Sisters shouted on me.
“You girl. Macky, isn’t it? What are you staring at?”
“It’s Mackay.” I muttered, but she was already after someone else.
When I wasn’t plotting my ascent I was investigating my destination. I fancied myself a little Sherlock Holmes, probing the other children as subtly as I could for what they knew.
I didn’t get much, if I’m honest. Usual silly kids stories. There was a monster up there that ate people, they told me. An escaped Nazi doctor cutting up bodies. I dismissed them all as nonsense, of course. I was taking my work very seriously. (laughs)
Anyway, getting to the top floor was doable. Yes, it was 40 feet up but I didn’t let that deter me. I was driven by a fierce curiosity. So many of us have that as children then we grow up and lose it.
Curiosity, joy, wonder. I can see it in you, you know. It’s one of the reasons why I’m telling you this story. You don’t wake up and see adventure anymore, just the same old routine. If you lose your sense of wonder at the world, you’re the problem not the world! I... I...where was I...
D : Planning to climb the wall. And berating me.
A : Ha! Well maybe you deserve it, did you ever think that? The wall the wall. Give me a moment. Damn this.
D : You wanted to go from the ledge to the drainpipe to the balcony above.
A : Yes! That’s right. I was certain I could get that window in our room open. I had no chance with those locks in the hall but the one in our room was possible. Sliding along a ledge, easy. 10 feet up a drainpipe? Done it when I was 5. Then onto a balcony? Anyone could do it.
D : Weren’t you scared?
A : Scared? No, I was stupid! A stupid wee lassie, who thought she was invincible.
But hell, here I am, so maybe I was right? (laughs) Nothing wrong with being afraid you know, it’ll keep you alive. But be brave and conquer it. Be smart and see it for what it is. Be ... Iike ... oh, dammit. I’m sorry. Scared about the room? What were we talking about?
D : You were certain you could get the window in your room open, then the door of the balcony above.
A : Yes, I’m sorry. I decided I had to try. I couldn’t let it be or it would eat at me forever.
So I swiped a knife at dinner from another kids plate. They got in trouble for not putting it back! I forget the girls name. Still owe her an apology for that.
Come bedtime I waited until the Sisters had been past with their first check of the night, then I got to work on that old window lock. I knew Isobel would be awake but too scared to say anything so I just got on with it. Couldn’t have been more than ten minutes gone when the whole lock, screws and all popped out.
I couldn’t believe my luck. The wood around it had been in terrible shape though, so maybe it wasn’t too surprising. When I was done I could simply slide it back into place. To the eye it wouldn’t look any different.
I hid the lock under my pillow and put the knife in my pocket, took a deep breath and heaved the window upward. It gave a brief, tortured creak, but that was all. The sea breeze rushed in, warmer than our bloody room. Well, I thought, this is it. May as well keep going.
I looked out around the grounds on the off chance someone could see me, but there was never anyone out there in the middle of the night. I put one leg over the pane when a thought made me pause. “Isobel,” I said, “I know you’re awake. I like you. But you tell anyone about this and I’ll make you pay for it. You understand?” I sounded like a right little villain! I suppose I was, compared to most of the girls there. A "rank bajin", they used to say (laughs).
The ledge was the hardest part. I had to get to a standing position holding onto the window, then flatten my self to the wall and edge along. In that cold and wind, trying not to look down? Crazy! (laughs)
Still, I made it. Got a grip on that drainpipe next, checked it could take my weight, then clambered my way up there. A frozen little spidergirl. From the pipe onto the balcony was as easy as anything. Couldn’t have taken more than 2 minutes in total from when I opened the window.
The balcony was maybe 4 feet by 10 feet, in front of glass double doors with two panes in each. I gave the glass a wipe with my sleeve and looked inside. Just an empty room with a single door. Time to get to work, I thought.
I got my knife back out and started on the wood around the first glass panel. The doors weren’t in as poor condition as our bedroom window, but the wood still flaked apart with a little work. After 10 minutes or so I began to realise this wouldn’t be a one night job. Plus, I was shaking like a leaf from the cold. I would have to try again the next night, and wrap up better. Sharpen my knife somehow during the day.
I had a horrible moment figuring out how to get from the balcony back onto the drainpipe, but eventually I made it and was back in my bed trying to get warmed up. The Sisters came by to check on us an hour or so later. Isobel never said a word. So far, so good.
In the end, it took me three more nights. I couldn’t be out there for too long or I risked being caught, so I played it as safe as I could.
I hardly slept a wink those nights, my mind racing over every scenario I could imagine. Why would they possibly have locked her up there? Had they killed her? Surely not. Then why hadn’t I heard any more noise from upstairs? If I was a prisoner up there I would have been screaming my lungs out day and night. Maybe she was drugged, unconscious? If they were going up there during the day I wouldn’t be around to hear it. Maybe she had been moved and I would find nothing?
Of all the possibilities I considered, my own fate if I was caught was very low on the list of concerns. It might sound strange, but I never really worried about it. Deep down, I felt like I could survive anything. The arrogance of youth, I suppose.
On my fourth night of trying I finally managed to prise the glass out and lay it to the side. I knelt down and looked in. Nothing but a dusty floor. It didn’t look like anyone had been in there in months. I crawled through, trying to be as quiet as possible.
It was like stepping into an icebox. Much much colder than outside, my teeth chattered until I clenched them shut. I could see the sparkle of frost around the corners of the doors and coating the walls. There was no light other than the moon and stars through the window. No sounds but my own breathing and the ever present whisper of the sea.
Why the hell was it so cold? The thought had popped into my head a dozen times that week, never with a good answer.
I remember I stepped toward the door and my shoes made what seemed like an awful racket on the wooden floor. I froze, then slipped them off and left them behind, stepping as softly as I could. I listened at the door for a few minutes, trying to be as certain as I could that there was no-one waiting on the other side. Nothing. I took a breath and tried the handle. The metal was icy cold to touch, but it turned easily enough. I pulled the door open a few inches and peered through the gap.
The hallway on the other side was faintly lit, with deep red carpet and faded, peeling white wallpaper. I leaned out enough to see down the corridor. It extended maybe 50 feet to my left and ended at a heavily padlocked door. The light came from three dull electric bulbs, the nearest of which gave the odd flicker. Well, I thought, now or never.
I stepped into the hall and closed the door behind me. Immediately the temperature seemed to have dropped another few degrees, making my breath cloud in the air. I could make out three other doors, the furthest with what looked like a small table and chair alongside. It didn’t look dangerous, I thought. Strange, certainly, but not dangerous. Mr Whyte had lied.
I tiptoed forward. There was a thin white film of ice on every surface, with thicker crusts in the corners.
I realised I had been away from my bedroom much longer than usual, but I couldn’t turn back now.
I reached the first door. It was made of dark wood with a small red symbol in the centre, like a circle around a tongue of flame. There was a metal bar across it and a heavy steel padlock. I pressed my ear against the wood. It was warm against my cheek, warmer than the rest of the hall anyway. I couldn’t hear anything. I moved onto the next door, listening out for the sound of anyone approaching from downstairs. I knew someone could come up at any minute. I just had to hope I would hear them in time and make it back to the balcony.
The second door was the same as the first only with a different symbol. It looked most like a Catholic cross, but with a thickening around the intersection. I couldn’t hear anything at that one either, so I went to the last door.
This one had the table and chair beside it against the wall. Dark wood again and a metal bar, although this door had a small metal flap at the base, around 2 inches high and 10 wide. It looked, I thought, like the kind of slot you would feed a prisoner through. The symbol in the centre of this door was different again, a circle with an arrow pointing downward. I saw the chair had a thick folded blanket on it, with a hat and pair of ladies gloves. The table had several childrens books on it and, now that I was closer, I noticed there was also a small oil heater below. The cold had become more intense, like a pulse against my skin. I pressed my ear to the wood and listened. I was sure I heard something. Movement? I took another risk.
“Maisie, is that you?”
The sound stopped, but there was no reply.
“Maisie, it’s Annabelle. Are you there?”
“Hello?”
My heart hammered in my chest. The voice that replied wasn’t Maisie. It wasn’t even a girl, it sounded like a young boy.
“I’m looking for my friend, Maisie Gallagher. Is she in there?”
There was a pause. I heard someone moving again, much closer to the door now. The boy must have been right on the other side.
“I don’t know her name. There was a girl brought up here a few nights ago. She hasn’t woken up yet.”
A wave of mixed emotion flooded through me. Relief, fear, confusion. I didn’t really know what to feel.
“Is she ... is she hurt?” I asked.
“I don’t think so.” the boys voice was was quiet and calm, with an unfamiliar accent, “She’s been sleeping. Like the others.”
The others?
“Wait, what others? Who are you?”
“They bring a new boy or girl up every month. I was the first but I’m the only one who isn’t sleeping. None of the others have ever woken up. I try to wake them.”
“How many of you are in there? Why are you in there?” I couldn’t get the questions out fast enough.
“There are 9 of them and me. I don’t know why. I used to ask every day but the lady would never answer me. If I keep asking she starts to cry. Can you let me out?”
“I .. no, I don’t think so. I could maybe lift the bar off, but there’s a padlock and I don’t have the key. I need to be careful, I can’t let them find out I was here. Why is it so cold up here?”
“Oh. Oh, yes. It is cold, isn’t it? I must just be used to it I think.” As he spoke I could feel myself beginning to panic. This wasn’t a game any more. The realisation was creeping over me that I could be in genuine danger. My hands were shaking and it wasn’t the cold.
“I would do anything to get out of here.” he said, “I’ve been here for so long, I can’t even remember how long. My name is Ali. Did you say your name was Annabelle?”
“Yes, Annabelle Mackay. I need to go Ali, before anyone finds me here. Or notices I’m not in my room.”
“Don’t worry they never come up at night. Can’t you stay and talk to me?”
“Look, I’m sorry, I really need to go. But I’ll come back.” I was so nervous now there was a tremble in my voice.
“No,” he said, “please don’t leave. Please ...”
“I’m sorry but I need to get back,” I had started to run as I spoke, “I’ll come back I promise.”
His voice faded away as I stumbled down the corridor.
On the way out I noticed the door I had entered by had a symbol too. It was a black and white butterfly.
Note 3 – Like every addict, the more I got the more I wanted.
I obtained transfer records of children in and out of Cliff Park. Newspaper clippings of the sudden opening (and just as sudden closure) of the orphanage. But it wasn’t enough.
Faded old records and monochrome photos couldn’t scratch the itch. The thought of hiring a private investigator crossed my mind on more than one occasion, but it was financially a non-starter.
I had reached the stage where there were more dead ends than new roads. I berated myself daily that I should do more. I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something there, beneath this paper skin of names and numbers.
There was something wanting to be found.
Only one answer kept coming to me. I had to see Cliff Park for myself.

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LAS VEGAS STYLE CASINOS

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K-pop, K-drama, K-lit (or "K-literature" if you want to be decent), K-beauty... things that start with K are pretty popular these days[.]() But can any of them really compare with K League?
Contents:

Why watch
2020 season recap
The off-season
- AFC Champions League
- Club World Cup
- Transfers
Matchday 1
How to follow

Why watch

Here comes the marketing spiel. If you follow K League, you'll get throw-ins like THIS, headers like THIS, and epic knee-slides like THIS. Are you not entertained?
The best practical reason for following it is that you can get live football at a time of day when there's not much other football on - afternoons in East Asia, mornings in UK and Europe, and evenings or nights in the Americas. It's also a summer league, so you'll never have to go without club football from ~June-August again.
The highly scientific and not-at-all-questionable IFFHS rankings also has K League as the best league in Asia by quite some bit, and the 20th best league in the world. If the 20th best league sounds like something you might be interested in, carry on reading. If not, also carry on reading.

2020 season recap

I started writing a separate 2020 season recap, but I didn't get past a gif of Jesse Pinkman shouting "He can't keep getting away with it!", where in this case "he" is Jeonbuk and "it" is winning the league. However, I've now some time to compose myself, so here goes my mini summary.
First some "best of" videos

[Best backheel]()
[Best volley]()
Best hug https://www.instagram.com/p/CASZ4EmBbbV/?igshid=16dfhmn1ubvdv
Best assault https://www.instagram.com/p/CASYdCGBX0y/?igshid=11omtuzrsli8a

The reason I wanted to scream like Jesse is that Jeonbuk just weren't that good - they regularly dropped points to teams in the lower half of the table, scraped wins, and played most of the season without a competent striker. This feeling that Jeonbuk were a bit pants was verified when Jeonbuk were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage for the first time in ages. So why couldn't anyone take advantage of that?
The answer lies in Ulsan. Ulsan lost out on the 2019 league title on the tiebreaker of a single goal scored, and there was real determination to get it done in 2020. In 2020 Ulsan were great. They spent the majority of the season at the top of the table, were crowned champions of Asia in an unbeaten run, and only lost to two teams all year. Unfortunately, one of those teams was Jeonbuk, and they lost to them three times in the league. If Ulsan could have just drawn ONCE, they would have won their first league title since 2005. But they didn't. They came runner-up, trailing Jeonbuk by 3 points. To rub salt into the wound, they also lost to Jeonbuk in the FA Cup final the week after the league finished.
As for everyone else, in order of finishing:

Pohang were good but not good enough. They did score the most goals out of everyone though.
Sangju Sangmu got their highest finish ever, and could have got Champions League football for 2021 if it weren't for them technically disbanding at the end of 2020 and reforming anew as Gimcheon Sangmu.
Daegu sneaked into a Champions League spot, in what will be their second appearance following their 2019 debut.
Gwangju exceeded all expectations
Gangwon didn't meet expectations, but they did the double over Jeonbuk which makes them absolute heroes in my book.
Suwon Bluewings were terrible until they sacked their moron of a manager, and when the replacement was finally hired they looked quite good.
FC Seoul went through one manager and two or three caretakers and looked rubbish under all of them.
Seongnam almost threw it away in the final run of games but held on and deservedly stayed up for another year.
Incheon were considered relegated by most halfway through the season - because they hadn't even won a single game by then - so the fact that they weren't come the end of the season is a miracle.
Busan were kind of meh all season, and when relegation looked possible their manager simply gave up and resigned instead of sticking around to fight it out. They got relegated.

From K League 2 Jeju bounce back after just one year, possibly thanks to promotion specialist Nam Ki-il, and Suwon FC won promotion with literally the last kick of the season to ensure we'll see a Suwon Derby again in 2021.
Also since it was the "big thing" in 2020, I'll give a small mention to coronavirus. Due to an abundance of caution, crowds were absent for most of the season, but not a single positive case among K League 1 clubs occured, which is just incredible.

The off-season

AFC Champions League

After the domestic season was finished, there was the small matter of almost an entire Champions League campaign to play in Qatar. There were 4 teams representing K League.
FC Seoul arrived at the competition with yet another caretaker manager, this time it was a scout from their backroom staff because they couldn't find anyone else with the correct coaching license that the AFC requires. They continued their domestic form and went home early, finishing 3rd in their group.
Jeonbuk also finished 3rd in their group. In their defence they did have a lot of their usual starting XI missing, but the Jeonbuk of yesteryear would have still managed. They just weren't very good in 2020.
Suwon Bluewings were perhaps the darkest horse at the tournament, and despite turning up with an all-Korean squad and without their captain, showed a will to scrap for every single ball and a self-confidence that was quite terrifying. They played in what was my personal favourite game of the tournament, a win over the then-reigning J.League champions Yokohama FM which included a lob from the halfway line. Unfortunately they had to play the majority of their next game with 10 men. They still pushed it to penalties, but didn't get lucky. If you count a loss on penalties as a draw, they still left Qatar unbeaten.
Ulsan... well they won it. Well done them. Their manager headed into the competition knowing he wouldn't have a job afterwards regardless of outcome, but they still bossed it. They lifted the trophy undefeated for only the second time in the competition's history. The first team that did it was themselves, in 2012.

Club World Cup

During Ulsan's rebuild, they had to jet off to Qatar again to fight for the title of champions of the universe. Literally half of the players who played in the Champions League final in December did not make the return trip to Qatar, either due to injury or having left the club, and the manager and 5 players were making their debut for the club. Expectations were not high, and they met those expectations by losing to Tigres and Al-Duhail. However, the trip wasn't totally pointless, as they managed to score this ^offside [goal that some said was Puskas-worthy]().

Transfers

The transfer window followed the familiar pattern of the previous season's best talent leaving for richer (but not necessarily better) leagues abroad, and an influx of Eastern Europeans with exotic names.
One notable pair of transfers is Seongnam's signing of forwards Park Yong-ji and Sergiu Bus. Will they be any good? Who knows. But the prospect of Park and Bus playing up front is the reddit comedian's wet dream.
Considering they came within touching distance of the league 2 seasons in a row and were just crowned champions of Asia, Ulsan are undergoing a massive rebuild. The new coach has minimal club coaching experience, and hasn't managed for over three years, but is apparently getting rid of anyone over the age of 30. Among the departures, captain Shin Jin-ho went to their East Coast Derby rivals Pohang, but the biggest shock is their striker Junior, who just had the most prolific season in K League history, being let go on a free to China.
I won't go over the other couple of hundred transfers that happened, but here's a list of all the foreigners in K League this season so that you can see if you recognise any journeymen:

Club				AFC slot
Daegu	🇧🇷Cesinha	🇧🇷Edgar		🇯🇵Tsubasa
Gangwon	🇷🇸Siladi	🇯🇵Ishida		🇺🇿Ashurmatov
Gwangju	🇧🇷Felipe
Incheon	🇧🇷Negueba	🇲🇪Mugosa	🇨🇷Aguilar	🇦🇺Delbridge
Jeju				🇺🇿Kenzhaboev
Jeonbuk	🇧🇷Gustavo	🇬🇲Barrow	🇷🇺/🇩🇪Iljutcenko	🇯🇵Kunimoto
Pohang	🇨🇴Palacios			🇦🇺Grant
Seongnam	🇦🇹Windbichler	🇷🇸Mulic	🇷🇴Bus	🇺🇿Iskanderov
FC Seoul	🇷🇸Palocevic	🇪🇦Osmar		🇺🇿Alibaev
Suwon FC	🇧🇷Murilo	🇿🇦Veldwijk
Suwon Bluewings	🇮🇹Dumitru	🇷🇸Deric	🇨🇦Henry	🇦🇺Antonis
Ulsan	🇦🇹Hinterseer	🇳🇱Bulthuis		🇦🇺Davidson

Matchday 1

The season kicks off on Saturday, with reigning champions Jeonbuk hosting FC Seoul. The fixture is known as "the legendary match" (it's purely a Korean word play, it's not really that legendary), and FC Seoul haven't won this tie since 2017. FC Seoul have however had probably the most promising transfer window of anyone this winter, so putting an end to this record wouldn't be that shocking.
The times are admittedly not that convenient for UK viewers, but after the clocks change and the kick-off times shift to later in the day to avoid the daytime heat, you can still have a long lie-in and catch the whole match.
The K League 1 matchday 1 kick-off times are as follows:
Saturday 27th Feb

14:00 local time (05:00 GMT)
- Jeonbuk vs FC Seoul
16:30 local time (07:30 GMT)
- Daegu vs Suwon FC

Sunday 28th Feb

14:00 local time (05:00 GMT)
- Pohang vs Incheon
16:30 local time (07:30 GMT)
- Suwon Bluewings vs Gwangju

Monday 1st Mar

14:00 local time (05:00 GMT)
- Ulsan vs Gangwon
16:30 local time (07:30 GMT)
- Seongnam vs Jeju

How to follow

There is only one place ^on ^reddit to follow all the K League happenings - KLeague. Over the past year, we've grown by ~~about 350 subscribers~~ over 45% (wow!) and now have image flairs that work across old, new, and mobile reddit. It's your go-to place to ask "stupid" questions and seek terrible advice on who to "root for". If you check the subreddit wiki you'll find plenty of info on how to get into it and how to watch the action live or highlights.
There is no Supercup/Community Shield in Korea, but the first match of the season is arranged to be the previous season's League champions vs the FA Cup winners. This means it's Jeonbuk vs Suwon on Friday. The smart money will be on a Jeonbuk win, but the dollarydoos will be on Suwon. Given that nobody's played a league match since 1st December last year though, everything's a bit unpredictable.

The off-season

The main transfers that I can remember include

Korean NT goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu returning to Japan after playing for Ulsan for just 6 months and taking a throw-in
Korea's other main goalkeeper Cho Hyeon-woo transferring to Ulsan from Daegu
Lee Chung-yong returning to the K League after a long spell in Europe, joining Ulsan
MLS champion with Seattle Sounders Kim Kee-hee joining Ulsan. Ulsan really going for it here
The transfer with the highest publicly-disclosed transfer fee was last season's highest-paid player Ricardo Lopes going to Shanghai SIPG in China for about £5 million
Jeonbuk got their main transfer business done early, signing last year's MVP at Ulsan, Kim Bo-kyung

Ki Sung-yueng almost returned to the K League but talks broke down due to some weird contract clause that FC Seoul still had over him, leading Ki to write this very mature message on his instagram and head off to Spain:

Hurt me with a lie and I can hurt you with the truth...stop playing with me u ain't gonna like when I play back

There were of course many many more transfers in the winter window, but none that would interest most people reading this.
What everyone should be interested in is the K League mascot "class president election", a popular vote for the K League's favourite mascot. It was a two horse race between Daegu's adorable Rica the hedgehog, and the prince of darkness, Suwon Bluewing's Aguileon. Actually I'm not sure which one the prince of darkness is. To my dismay, Aguileon managed to take 1st place, leading Rica by over 1,000 votes. Although he only came 7th, I also want to give special mention to Jeju United's orange.
There were big changes in the lower leagues, as three divisions were merged into two, sorting out the confusing naming schemes, and removing barriers to promotion and relegation throughout the pyramid. The two new divisions are semi-pro, called K3 League and K4 League, sitting below the professional K League 2, and above the amateur K5 league. The long-standing target of having pro/rel with K League 2 "within 5 years" now actually looks possible.

How do I watch it?

Watching live
Watching K League outside of Korea used to be tricky and in Western markets the rights were typically hoovered up by sites like Bet365.
Interest abroad for K League rights are heightened now, so this year there are at least some countries that have been confirmed to broadcast K League, mainly in Asia and Eastern Europe. There are rumours of France, Germany, Italy, Australia, and USA (ESPN?) being interested in the rights, but nothing confirmed yet.
If you don't live in a country that has broadcasting rights, there is still a way to watch online from a proper source. If you can get yourself a Korean IP address, i.e. using a VPN, it's very easy to watch many of the matches in a (mostly?) legal way. If you're using a browser simply head to the Korean web portal Naver (https://sports.naver.com/kfootball/index.nhn), and when there's a match on, it will appear at the top of the webpage, usually with some indication that live video is available. Click on it and start watching. (Note that I haven't checked if it's this straightforward on desktop; I don't own a computer. There's a chance you might be asked to install a browser add-on or something - you can ask in the comments here or on kleague if you need help). An alternative if you're on mobile is to install the "Naver TV" app and find a match in the Live tab. You can also watch back full matches that were shown on Naver if you miss it live.
I won't share less-legal ways to watch here, but if you head over to kleague and look at recent posts you ~~might find something~~ won't find anything so don't even think about it buddy.
One thing to consider about live matches is the time difference - in the winter months, matches kick off around 5am or 7am GMT. In the summer months, kick off is ~10am or 11am GMT. However, for the first couple of weekends the kick-off times are spread throughout the day, so you should be able to catch a game wherever you are.
Watching highlights
If an inconvenient time difference is putting you off, you can still enjoy K League even if you don't watch live. Every single match gets a high quality ~10 minute highlight video produced that is region-free on YouTube. Just imagine you're watching MOTD but without the bad punditry. The official K League channel, should be hosting these videos again this year, but I should include the disclaimer that there's a possibility that the rights to show highlights might have been sold this year, in which case you'd have to find out who has those rights in your country. Highlights are usually uploaded 30 mins – 2 hours after the end of a match, although I did read that AI in their new media centre will be producing highlights within a few minutes of the match ending...

Choosing a team

If any of you want to pick a team to support, if you give some criteria in the comments I can help by suggesting a team, but I'll leave some info here based on what I think could be some common ways to pick a team.
If looking good is your primary concern, here's an imgur album of all home and away K League kits. This album has the kits from both K League 1 & K League 2, so of you're only interested in the top flight you'll have to ignore a few. If looking good is really important to you, there's one particular corner of the internet that has already given their seal of approval to Daegu FC.
This short hype video also serves to show all club crests if you want to base a decision on that.

Travel Diary - I am 35 years old, live in the UK and this week am on holiday in Scotland driving the North Coast 500 with my dog

I am 35 years old make £50,000 live in NW UK and work as an accountant. This week i’m on holiday with just my dog, driving round the North Coast 500, Scotland’s answer to Route 66.
Day 1 - Saturday
6.30am -Eeek it’s here... I wake up and bring coffee upstairs to bed with the dog M for a last cuddle. I’m going to really miss my husband D but I do understand him not wanting to close his business again so soon after being closed for 3 months due to Covid. It might seem odd me holidaying on my own but we are very happily married - honest.
8am - I start getting my stuff together. I’m not a big fan of breakfast early on after waking up, but I have a long way to go today so I grab a muffin.I get myself ready, then get D to walk with me to the park, so that M can be thoroughly emptied and he gets a good run around. He’s not over pleased with his new car harness (he usually travels in D’s car with a dog guard) but I strap him in and off we set. 334 miles to go...
9am - I blast some tunes and M goes straight to sleep, and I push through until Gretna Green which takes just under 2 hours. I’ve often driven past here, but never stopped, but I need a wee and think it’s time to let M out too. We have a quick walk through around the visitor centre complex.
11.30am - I then hop back in the car, and my next stop is the Starbucks at the services. I had made myself a packed lunch but I annoyingly left it in the fridge and so I pick up a tuna melt and an iced coffee from some credit on my app. I’m breezing along at this point, the scenery looks stunning and I can’t understand why the sat nav is saying it’s going to take so long to arrive. I make a quick stop at a lay-by just to see if M wants a wee or a drink. Then I hit the outskirts of Perth... What should be the last hour takes 2, in fact it takes 30 minutes to drive a mile. I’m absolutely exhausted by this point and M is telling me he’s understandably fed up. We start moving again and I’m so tired it’s getting dangerous, and I notice that some of the lay-bys have access to a lovely riverside path, so I stop. I put M on his lead and we just do a 10 minute walk, which makes both of us feel better. Then the last 30 minutes through the most stunning scenery, and we’re here. Kingussie in the Cairngorms. I check in, this was one of the cheapest hotels and it’s great, they upgraded me to en-suite which was super kind, and the room is great albeit very hot.
4.30pm - I dump my bags and head straight out with M. I find a couple of places to let him off, then a lovely river for him to cool off as he’s super warm. Then to the hotel bar for a well deserved cold pint £4. The staff and (fairly well lubricated for 5pm) locals are so unbelievably friendly, couldn’t have picked a better place to stay. I shower as I’m dripping, get changed into something cooler, which I sweat in immediately as the room is boiling, then we walk out to where I have booked for dinner - the tipsy laird. The staff again are super friendly, and I order a cider, and the Tipsy burger with cheese. Everyone loved M and he was brought water straight away, but the only problem was that the table I was given was on the through flow to the toilets/kitchen so he was up and down like a yo yo saying hi to everyone, and I didn’t get the most relaxed meal. The burger comes though and it’s massive! Big feed for £12. I decide to leave after this, we’re parked in the middle of the through flow really, and it’s not super restful for either of us, so I pay the bill £15.65 and walk back the same way as earlier Max can have a run around and I phone D for a quick chat.
8.00pm - I head back to my hotel and buy a bottle of wine. £15.50 that I drink a glass of in the bar, a glass in bed, and pack the rest for another night. I watch a bit of tv on my iPad, and have an early night as we have an adventure tomorrow...
Miles travelled - 334 Hotel - £55 Amount spent - £55.64 including a half tank of petrol the night before
Day 2 - Sunday
7.00am- I had set an alarm this morning, as I have a bit to do, and I want to pre-empt any wee needs as we are 2 floors up in the hotel. He’s also had loads of water as it’s boiling. I didn’t get the best night sleep unfortunately which is a shame as the bed is amazingly comfortable. The room was unfortunately just super hot, nothing they could do as it’s been a heat wave. I’ve also never stayed away with M before except with family and he was hot and unsettled. So I had the window open, but all the young lads from Kingussie unfortunately decided to congregate under our window, playing their music from the car speakers making him quite understandably stressed. So I throw on last nights clothes and we go for a quick walk, then I come back up and shower, make coffee and pack the million things I seem to have brought up to the room. Not easy to travel light with a dog. I would have liked to have had breakfast here, but the hotel and both coffee shops in the village don’t open until 9, and I need to be on the road. So I just eat a muesli bar from the car and we head off towards Aviemore. Unfortunately my car sat nav gets me hugely lost, and keeps trying to send me down down gravel tracks to get on the A9 which surprise surprise don’t lead me onto a massive dual carriageway... I end up back tracking all the way I came as I had no phone signal to double check. Turns out I should have just carried on a few more miles. Puts me a bit behind schedule.
9.30am - I park the car at the air bnb that I booked, quickly pack a day rucksack and we frog-march down to the train station, as today, we’re going on a steam train. M’s first time on a train. I collect the tickets (£16.25 + £1 for M) and find our table. They have sold only half of the tables for social distancing and it’s really well organised. We choo choo off. It’s very picturesque, but mostly fields etc but still a worthwhile little outing. M isn’t quite as interested and goes to sleep. We get out at the first stop as I want to split my ticket, so I get a reservation for the later train back. They sort this for me (again everyone is super friendly) so I jump back on again. At the terminus I get out again for some photos and a leg stretch.
12.00pm - Back at the Boat Of Garten stop we gather our things and get off, as we have a reservation at the Boat inn for lunch. I order a pint of cider, and a sandwich and chips. We just hang out here for a while, well ages really as our train back isn’t until 3.30pm, unfortunately the middle train of the day got cancelled with Covid. About half way through I get a bit peckish again and order a sticky toffee pud and a glass of rose. I pay the bill which comes to £36.25. It’s coming up for our return train time so we wander back to the station, and not long after the train arrives.
3.30pm - We board and chug our noisy way back to Aviemore station, where I have a quick wee and then we walk the 30 mins back up to our air bnb to check in. I booked a tiny house just outside of Aviemore, and it’s ideal.. The lady who owns and runs it (it’s in her garden) has broken her elbow, but her Mum is there looking after her and they both show me around and make a fuss of M. I have a quick shower, and we both just chill out for a bit as we are exhausted. I decide not to go out tonight. It’s been a long couple of days, so I think fish and chips, a glass of wine and Netflix is on the cards. As I’m just about to head out the owner lets her dog in the garden and they have a fab 20 min play whilst I chat to Karen who is truly lovely.
7pm - I nip to the Co-op where I pick up a bottle of wine, and a pack of hot cross buns and some utterly butterly for the next 2 mornings breakfasts which costs £9.30, and then I order Haddock and chips for me, and a sausage for Max, £11.05. I head back to the cabin, get in my PJ’s, and just have a lovely chill. The cabin is amazing as night time wee’s can be achieved by just opening the door into the garden, shame I’m only here 2 nights. Write my trippie, and sleep like the dead.
Miles travelled in a car - should have been 15 but was actually more like 30 Miles travelled on a train - 20 Accommodation - £75 Amount spent - £73.95
Day 3 - Monday
6.00am - I wake up early so I nip to the toilet and then am just able to open the cabin door to the garden, and M can sort himself out which is just so easy. I take my medication then we both get back into (our separate) beds for a bit and fall back asleep. I wake up at about 8.30am to a snoring dog. I pop the kettle on, make myself a coffee then toast 2 hot cross buns for breakfast, setting off the smoke alarm in the process. Both fully breakfasted I pack a bag, load the car and we’re off to Loch Morlich.
10am - I find the right car park after a couple of bodged attempts, and scrape together the £1.50 car parking charge. I get a leaflet with a map (just worth pointing out I’m fair terrible with maps) and set off towards the beach. Well Mr water baby practically drags me in when he sees the loch. After a couple of false starts, me going the wrong way, then me following the wrong colour signs, and a brief occasion where M may have decided to join some kayakers, we get on the right trail, we are going to walk all the way round the Loch, about 6km. It’s quite warm, and very midgey but stunningly beautiful and we don’t see anyone for the first half until we start to come across people who are doing shorter walks from the other way. Towards the end we cross a bridge and I lose my path altogether, I know I’m not right but I am right next to the loch and can see where I need to go, so I just clip him on the lead and we follow the road. Later on I see where I need to be; the path is elevated on the other side of the road, but I decide scrambling up verges next to busy roads isn’t overly sensible. We make it back to the beach, let the boy have one last swim, then head back to the car where much towelling is done, as well as a bit of pre lunch damage control with wet wipes and a clean t-shirt for me.
12.30pm -Our lunch stop is the Old Bridge Inn, and so I park up and we wander in. It’s a beautiful old pub, and it’s Monday today and the UK govt eat out to help out scheme and so it’s 50% off. I order a cheese board which comes and is absolutely fab (but why do they never give you enough crackers) and a pint of cider. I have a little nose popping up to see if there is any cheese going spare. I eventually catch someone’s eye and ordered a piece of cheesecake. This comes with sorbet which makes me really happy as I love sorbet (and can’t eat ice cream). I get the bill which comes to a mere £11.90. This Eat out to help out is really going to help me stay within budget.
2.00pm - Back in the car, we drive back up the road to the home of the Cairngorm reindeer herd. The hill walk is one of the things I would have loved to do (I did it in 2008 though) but obviously no dogs are allowed, and due to Covid the little paddocks with a few to pat and snap are closed. I drive up regardless though just to see if I can spot one from a distance. Unfortunately no luck, so I head all the way back through Aviemore where I stop at the Cairngorm Brewery to choose some beers for DH as a gift. I debate dropping the car and going out for a drink, but M can barely keep his eyes open, and so I nip to the Co-op for a cold bottle of Prosecco. I still do have a couple of half bottles of wine, but neither are cold, so I’ll drink them later in the trip when I get a fridge or a bar with ice I can pinch.
4.00pm I just have a shower, get in bed for a bit, have a glass of Prosecco, message D and write my notes.
6.00pm - After a bit of a chill out, I get dressed, sort a few bits out then we wander out and into the village. On the way past we stop at a stone circle I spotted on google maps, pretty funky and right in the middle of a residential area. We get to our dinner reservation half an hour early, but they kindly seat me anyway, but just say I can’t order food until my reservation time which is no problem. It is super busy and it takes a while to get a drink, but I just read my book. I decide on a smokey chilli chicken pizza and skin on fries, and it comes and it’s massive! Also very spicy but really tasty, can’t complain at all. Total including 2 glasses of wine was £20.75, an absolute bargain. I love this eat out to help out business!
8.00pm - We wander back to our little cabin. Pj’s and a chill out in bed, we’re moving on tomorrow and it’s an early start so to sleep for both of us.. a lovely day and I’m so glad to have seen Aviemore again, but I’m excited to move on and see some more new places.
Miles travelled in a car - 15 Accommodation - £75 Amount spent - £51.35
Day 4 - Tuesday
7.00am - When the alarm goes off I snooze a couple of times, then start the process of showering and getting dressed whilst trying to make coffee and breakfast, pack and sort Mout all at once. I wash the dishes, then load the car, and off we go. Our first stop today is Dochgarroch lock, as we are going on a Loch Ness cruise.
9.00am - We make cracking time which is good as it did take me a little longer than expected to get everything in the car. We pass road signs highlighting a yellow weather warning for heavy rain (hello Britain) so I pack both our rain coats just in case. The boat is ready for us, so we wander on and sit outside at the back so I don’t have to wear a mask for 2 hours.
9.30am - We set off, chugging slowly down the canal, past the smallest lighthouse in Britain, and then when we enter Loch Ness we really pick up speed, charging right down the centre. No rain yet, in actual fact it’s very sunny so I keep swapping seats to try and get shade for us both, as stupid Mummy remembered his water bottle, but not his bowl to drink from. Yesterday when I went to the brewery, I completely forgot to pick up a beer or two for my best friends birthday, so when I see the Loch Ness lagers on the bar onboard, I buy 2. £9.20 which serves me right for not being smarter yesterday as they are double the cost. We pootle past Urquhart castle which I have visited myself back in the day, and I get some photos as they turn the boat round for us all to see. A lady is on board who is a single Mum with 2 kids (at least one special needs) and 3 chocolate Labradors. She managed to remember a water bowl though (what a human being) and she sends her little girl over to offer M water. I feel like my dog is quite rightly judging my parenting skills at this point as he pointedly drinks up like he’s not been offered water in days. We start to head back up the canal, and I must say I’ve really enjoyed it. Well worth it.
11.00am - Get back to the car and the first stop is filling the car up with Diesel. This comes to £45.47 but I buy a meal deal for £4.95 too as I’m getting hungry. Quick wee stop then I’m on the road,this is my first actual section of the NC500. First stop is Dornoch Beach. I park up for free and give M a real treat, a swim in the sea. I’m a bit nervous as it’s busier than expected but he’s completely excellent and charges around like a loon, but comes back to me with no issue at all. Much towelling and cold drinks for both of us, then back in the car. I’m looking for the stone remembering the last witch execution in 1727, it’s now in someone’s garden, but I find it.
1pm - On the road again we go, this time just to the outside of Dunrobin castle. I would definitely have paid to enter here and see the falconry display, but it’s not dog friendly. So I just take a photo and have a nosy, then it’s north again. This time it’s a quick stop at Cairn Liath, an old stone Broch. This is fabulous, we have to cross the A9 on foot which is a little hairy, but so worth it. I can let M off and we both have a good nosy around.
3.00pm - My last stop is a museum called the Timespan museum which I have read you can take dogs into. Unfortunately it’s closed though, so we decide just to push onto Wick where we are staying tonight. The roads get incredibly hilly, and I see my first Highland coo... you just wouldn’t imagine here you are anywhere near a big town, but then all of a sudden, a lidl, a retail park, and a town, with a wetherspoons
4.30pm -Find the hotel and check in, super friendly again. And I have a massive room on the ground floor near an exit to the car park, so incredibly thoughtful. The bed is huge too. I decide to go for a walk through town, I snap a photo of the world’s shortest street. And then I hunt down the Wetherspoons. I sit outside with M and order a pint of strongbow on the app. Absolutely ideal because I don’t even need to go inside to order and therefore leave him. I then realise I can order bar snacks from the app too, I even get 50% off my peanuts. If I’m honest, if i had known i could eat outside, and that it would be dry I would have eaten here tonight, but it is undoubtedly better to give the money to the independents after all. I stay here rather longer than expected, mostly because I realise my watch has not quite stopped but gone very slow. I spend under a tenner here including buying a bag of crisps for the car tomorrow. 7pm - Back to the room and I shower and get changed, feed M then wander to the hotel dining room. I’m eating in the residents lounge so I can keep M with me. To be honest with you, I think he’d prefer to be in the room in bed, but the hotel is packed with people coming past, and I’m worried he’ll bark if he gets startled so I keep him with me and he goes to sleep on the carpet. Then starts flirting with the Scottish ladies visiting. I order a wine, mozzarella sticks and chicken jalfrezi which are quite nice. This costs £20.50. I ring D, write my notes, then head to bed. It’s been a busy day, but a really good one..
Mikes travelled in a car - 149 Accommodation - £86.95 Amount spent -£91.48 but I have plenty of budget left from prior days to chip into the petrol
Day 5 - Wednesday
8am- Waking up I take the boss out for a quick wee, then head back to the room. Breakfast for him and shower for me. This hotel has been absolutely ideal, the only negative for me is that the walls and ceilings were paper thin, and I think the other guests of the hotel found the Wetherspoons too. This made M a bit unsettled as it was pitch black by this time and quite noisy, so I had to sleep the first part of the night with my foot in his bed to keep him calm. But then all went quiet and we had a lovely night sleep. The bed was amazing. We have breakfast in the residents lounge, which was great, and they even bring M a sausage.
9.30am - Then it’s time to check out, we’ve been very leisurely this morning because a couple of the first suggested stops are here in Wick, but don’t open until 10. I first head in the car to the Old Pulteney whisky distillery to look at souvenirs for D. The weather this morning is overcast to say the least, and I drive through some very industrial type areas. The town has a very different look and feel to it than yesterday strangely. I arrive and the smell of the whisky greets me, but unfortunately also does a sign saying they were closed. I snap a photo then off we go. Next is the Wick Heritage museum. I arrive at 10.04am to a big closed sign on the door. I decide to sit it out for a minute, and a lady does arrive and go through the door about 10.10am, but despite sitting it out for a while, the door remains shut with the big closed sign on the door. I know these places are small, but I wish they had updated their website/social media as I had got the impression they would be open. I won’t be deterred at my next stop though, Tesco petrol station, I only need just over a tenner, but it’s really cheap so decide to top the tank up and it’s on to John O’Groats. I’m glad we didn’t stay here the night, but it was a great little stop. Thankfully most things are open, so I head into the little Brewery and get D 3 local beers from the brewery in the village £10.50, then grab myself a coffee for the car, £2.90.
11.30am - It’s then onto Duncansby head lighthouse. And a bit of a walk over the field to the sea stacks. I really enjoyed it here too. The Castle of Mey is my next stop, this once used to be owned by the Queen mother and apparently has lovely gardens. I was hoping to be able to nip in like Dunrobin yesterday for a quick mooch and a photo, but they are only letting people in with pre-booked gardens tickets. They are super friendly though and point out where on the road I can get a quick photo. Then it’s onwards and upwards again. I follow the signs then for Dunnet Head. This is the most furtherly north place in the UK (not actually John O’Groats). This was a longish single track road to get there, and again there is a lighthouse, and viewpoints over to the Orkney islands. Again very worth the trip up and Max enjoys the walk around. Good practice for the single track roads too.
1.30pm -Back down the long winding track and it’s the Dunnet Bay gin distillery next. I don’t drink gin either, but my husband and best friend do, so I nip in and buy them some souvenirs £19.50. I’m desperate for a wee at this point, and the lady from the gin shop points me next door to hotel where they have outdoor toilets they don’t mind people using. I notice a really busy eating area, and a quick google later and they are doing eat out to help out. It’s nearly 2pm by this point, and I’m hungry, so I grab Max and sit outside. I order a lime and soda and some mac and cheese. This turns out to be a great idea, as I don’t really see anywhere else to stop on the way, it’s also delicious and costs me a whole £6.48. I spy a sign for a beach, and the boy has been so good, we go for a walk on Dunnet Bay Beach. This is absolutely stunning, and we both absolutely love it. Well I do until he brings me a present of half a dead fish.
3.30pm - Onto our destination for the evening, the village of Tongue. It doesn’t look that far, but the roads quickly become single track, very hilly and winding, and this time there are HGV’s rumbling past. I have to be honest I find it fairly traumatic, and don’t really get to take in the very stunning scenery for trying to avoid sheep who are napping in the passing places! I really wish I had stopped to photograph the roads. Truly beautiful but I didn’t half wish D was here. But I make it in one piece, with a rather big sigh of relief. I unclench my hands, and check into my room, it’s a single which is no problem, in fact the bathroom is bigger than the bedroom strangely. They have left me a complementary bottle of wine though which is a nice touch (I pack this for another night) I have a cool shower and just chill out for an hour or so with my book. It’s very warm, and incredibly midgey, I must have about 50 bites on me, but the bed is comfy. We go down and I order dinner, onion bhaji’s followed by lamb shank. The food is a little expensive, but absolutely lovely. I’m quite tired, so I take M out for a very quick walk round the village, then we head back upstairs. I think I have a lot of single track driving to do in the morning, so I have an early night watching MAFS Australia in bed. I think the older I get the earlier my bedtimes do 😂 It’s been a really good day despite a couple of closure early on.
Miles travelled in a car - 95 Accommodation - £60 Amount spent £79.50
Day 6 - Thursday
7.30am - I wake up to my alarm. Both of us slept really well. Think M is getting used to hotels now. It’s fairly wet, wild and windy this morning, but my weather app tells me it should be fairly short lived. For today anyway. Usual dog wee, shower, and packing up of our worldly possessions.
8.30am - I go down for breakfast, having packed the dog bed in the car, to find that I can’t have him with me for breakfast. I decide as it’s cool the car is the safer option, but I rush through breakfast as quickly as I can. I sneak a couple of bits out in a napkin to the car for him, then I pack up and check out.
9am - We drive for the first hour on single track roads, stunningly beautiful again but thankfully quieter so I build confidence a bit. I soon figure out the best way for me to slot in behind someone at a safe distance and almost take a tow. That way they make the call to go or stop, and I just follow. It takes me an hour to do 28 miles, but I’m happy enough pootling along. In fact my first tow is a campervan doing 30, but then I progress later to a VW Sirvocco doing 40, go me...
10am - Our first stop today was Smoo Cave, well what a fab stop, and I’m even able to let the little monster have a swim. It’s stunningly beautiful, and well worth the 10 minute walk back up and down. It has got very very warm, completely different to how it looked this morning when I got up.
11am - Only a few miles away was the Balnakeil craft village. I make a pit stop first at the famous Cocoa Mountain, where I get a coffee which comes with 4 chocolates for £5.95. I was going to buy D some chocolates to take home from here, but they are £1 a chocolate, and I’m worried they’ll end up in a soggy mess by the time I get home as it’s warmer than expected. So I just sit in the sun with my coffee for a bit have a quick nosy in one of the shops, but I’m no good in a mask, so I head back to the car and get on my way.
12pm- I snap some photos of the famous Kylesku bridge, then carry on, I miss the sign for the Rock shop which is recommended, this is possibly because it may be closed, and decide to do the optional detour to Lochinver. This wasn’t the best call. It’s 11 miles which does take about 20 minutes each way, and I head to the pottery shop. Well it’s all stunning, but at over £35 for a mug, it isn’t the souvenir shop for me. I haven’t had any lunch, so I stop at the Lochinver larder, a famous pie shop. Well all I want to do is buy a takeaway pie for lunch, but after 10 minutes in the queue which is just to pay, and seeing that no one who has ordered since I’ve arrived has got their lunch, I give up, I don’t want to leave M in the car for any longer. Luckily I have a spare pack of crisps and some haribo in the car.
2pm - Continuing on towards Ullapool which is my stop for the night, I spy the sign for the ruins of Ardvreck castle. Well this is a great stop and cheers us both up. He gets to swim, and I walk and clear my head. It is so beautiful, and we both really enjoy it. Not long after another sign for the Knockan Crag geological reserve. We enjoyed this too and walk the loop above the car park reading the signs and looking at the exhibits.
4pm - Not far from here to Ullapool, so we bundle back in the car and check in. It’s motel style, and can park straight outside the door, much easier for lugging our stuff in and out. Accommodation options in Ullapool weren’t cheap, this cost £95 for the room, and is 20 mins walk from the village, but it serves food and they are very nice, if a little Covid stressed.
4.30pm - We decide to follow their route to the village to give M a good walk. Ullapool is smaller than expected, but it’s very rugged and picturesque. We have a quick drink in the Seaforth inn £7, but then the bad weather is clearly coming in, and it starts raining, I’ve come out in flip flops, and a t-shirt, so not the most sensible, but it was sunny when I left half an hour ago. We nip into the Ferry Boat inn who kindly offer us a 30 min rain respite before their table bookings, and that’s all it takes. It’s sunny again. £5.50 for a glass of wine.
7pm - We wander back up the hill and order some food, goats cheese to start which is really tasty, and pepperoni pizza which is lovely but could do with 5 more mins in the oven. The owners are lovely, and we have a good chat; then it’s time for bed. Chat to D, tv, book and bed.
Miles travelled in a car - 104 Accommodation - £95 Amount spent - £61
Day 7 - Friday
7.30am - I wake up just before my alarm. Didn’t hear a peep out of the hound last night. He’s definitely now a hotel kinda dog. Pack everything up which is so much easier with the car parked right outside. Then I drive round for breakfast. I’m not really hungry but I do my best.
9.00am - I nip to Tesco to get some car snacks and a birthday card for my niece, £8.80, then join the queue for the petrol station on the way out of the village. I decide to fill up just in case which comes to £21.23. We set off, and our first stop is the Corrieshalloch gorge which has an incredible suspension bridge. We have a wander about and snap some photos, then back to the car for us.
11am - It’s then a detour to Mellon Udringle beach, this is up a single track road, I start to wonder if I have gone wrong, but I get there and it’s beautiful. M charges around and swims for ages. I had noticed a field of sheep when we arrived, but what I stupidly hadn’t noticed was the field had no fences. I turned round and M was nose to nose with a rather large ram with horns bigger than me. They were just looking at each other. I screeched and grabbed him quick and we toddle back off to the car and back on the road. There are some famous gardens at Inverewe which sound fab, but we can’t take dogs in so we didn’t stop.
1pm - About a mile or two before the village of Gairloch I hear some funny noises (followed by a funny smell) from the back seat. I quickly turn round and see a sea of vomit. Now anyone who knows me knows that I can deal with all the poo in the world, but I’m terrible with vomit. I think it’s a belly full of sea water as normally he has a gut of iron. I quickly find a petrol station and pull in, finding somewhere to tie poor M up I try to deal with the back seat. I throw the towel straight in the bin which caught most of it, but it’s everywhere and he clearly is feeling really poorly and I can’t set off yet. Leaving him tied up in the shade with some water I take the opportunity to jet wash the car as it’s covered in bird poo and he eats his body weight in grass, then throws it all back up again. Feeling safe enough to set off, we literally make it to the next parking stop, and we limp on like this for some time. We get to the Victoria falls car park, and a short walk seems to do him a bit of good. The falls are lovely, but it’s very very midgey.
3pm - A little further on we reach the shores of Loch Maree. It’s a lot less midgey here, so I sit on a rock next to the car, and he just potters about eating grass and paddling his feet in the water, and he seems to be a bit better. So we set off properly again. We reach Torridon and decide not to stop for a drink, but plod on. The roads get very narrow but it’s incredibly beautiful.
4.30pm -Arriving at our destination for the night, Lochcarron, I have a drive through the village, then head off to a tartan shop called Lochcarron weavers. I was looking for cushions or maybe a rug, but I end up buying DH a lovely woollen jumper that’s on sale at £40, guessed the sizes so fingers crossed. I decide to leave the ruins of Strome castle for the morning, so we drive back to the Loch, and I spot a fish and chip van. I’ve had no lunch with vomit gate, so I just get a portion of chips, and I eat them on a bench looking out over the Loch, but then the rain starts so we go check in. Now I must say the reviews of this place were terrible. But it was cheap, dog friendly and right where we needed to be, so I decided to take it with a pinch of salt. I’m glad I did, the room does look a little dated, but it’s clean, very friendly and I’m on the ground floor. My room in Ullapool last night was dated too but cost £95, today was £55. I give him some water and a nap (but no tea as yet which causes some consternation) then we wander next door to the barestaurant when he has had a good rest.
6pm - The food looks fab. An older lady with her son orders the special of ribs, and I’m sold. I order a leek and goats cheese tart followed by the ribs, the food is a little dear, the starter alone is £9, but we are very remote and it is very tasty. I would normally have had a helper with the ribs, but I didn’t dare, so I got a lot of incredulous puppy stares. Instead a tiny portion of dry dog biscuits for him, and a glass of wine for me from the car, and an early night again.
Miles travelled in a car - 130 Accommodation - £55 Amount spent - £73.93
Day 8 - Saturday
5am - I wake up in the pitch black to the unmistakeable sound of retching. Jump up, put the lights on and there are 3 piles to deal with.. thankfully just undigested grass really, and I have my handy wet wipes so we have it cleaned up in no time, and I decide to take him out to see if he needs a wee or anything whilst I’m awake. We just have a quick walk along the water front, being careful not to get locked out of the hotel, then back in and it’s back to bed for both of us.
8am - Getting up again and the monster seems to be feeling much better. We go next door for breakfast, but I just have a yoghurt and a croissant. It was lovely though. I really enjoyed this hotel, it was friendly, laid back and right on the route. I pack up the room, and give M a third of his normal breakfast (which he wolfs down) and we get in the car.
9.30am - We head just up the road for now to the ruins of Strome castle. I can’t let him off the lead here because there are lots of sheep, but it’s a great little stop for a walk around. It starts to rain but only quite lightly at this stage.
10am - He seems ok so we get on the road towards Inverness and eventually home (tomorrow). I must admit I had very serious thoughts of trying to just head home, both yesterday and at 5am, but I’m very far from home, nearly a 9 hour drive, and as such I think it would be better to stop regularly to offer him water and fresh air, rather than trying to push through. I have a quick call with D who reminds me that dogs eat things they shouldn’t all the time and to stop worrying, he’s eating, drinking and toileting normally and so to carry on but just not over feed him and offer him regular breaks. So our next stop is the Glen Dougherty look out, which is apparently stunning on a clear day but it wasn’t a clear day. So just a quick look about and off we go again. Nice for a photo and a leg stretch though.
11am - Last stop for us on the NC500 route is Rogie Falls. This is a great stop and walk down to the waterfalls. Apparently at the right time of year you can see salmon jumping up the falls, but it wasn’t to be today, this stop was incredibly busy, the car park was completely full and I had to wait a while to get parked, but it was a lovely walk and we both really enjoyed it.
12pm -Not long after this we reach Inverness and leave the NC500 route, we’re a little early to head to Pitlochry which is our stop for the night, so I do a couple of things, firstly grab a quick drive through McDonald’s for lunch £8.80, then fill up the car at the Tesco petrol station which comes to £19.87.
1.30pm - It’s only 90 mins to Pitlochry from here. And so I think I’ll be a little early really, so I head to Culloden battlefield for a walk around. Well unfortunately the heavens just open, and we are both completely drowned. Rather rudely I felt M wasn’t over interested in the Jacobites. But we have a very quick walk round, and then a towel off and on the road. I tell him I’ll put Outlander on for him when we get home. I’m actually very interested in history but I have been to the visitor centre before (and read and the watched the Outlander series which I’m sure is super accurate ).
4pm - We hit Pitlochry. I can’t get into the hotel car park, but I find street parking and check in nearby. This place is quite fancy, it’s in the same chain as the lunch I had on the steam train right at the beginning. Here it’s sort of a fancy gastro pub with rooms upstairs. This was the costliest of my accommodation at £99 but also the nicest. My heart does sink a bit though when I see where my room is. Sort of up two flights of stairs and round a lot of corridors and through several fire doors. I really hope we don’t need 5am dashes tonight. It’s nice to have a bit of luxury though too, most of my accommodation has been fairly basic, not even offering toiletries or tea/coffee in all cases. So this room with it’s very fancy toiletries and biscuits is very welcome.
5pm - We chill out for a bit, and I even nod off for 15 mins which is incredibly unlike me. Then we have a quick walk through the town, which looks lovely, and then head into our hotel/pub for dinner. I order the spaghetti carbonara with garlic bread. It’s lovely but very big, and I only manage half, but I did have lunch today.
8pm -We go for a last walk through the town, I contemplate an outdoor drink at a different pub, but I can’t find a table, so I have a glass of car wine, call DH, and watch Indian Matchmaking on Netflix.
Miles travelled in a car - 147 Accommodation - £99 Amount spent - £78
Day 9 - Sunday
8am - I wake up, and the boy has slept like a log. It really was a lovely room. I get up and he seems in no rush to leave his bed, so I quickly shower and pack and we head down the maze together. I take him for a wee and load the car. And then we pop in through the front door for breakfast. They kindly serve me brekkie in the bar so I can keep M with me. I order a couple of hot items, and they bring Lorne sausage which I’m not sure about so I risk sneaking a bit to M who thankfully seems back to normal.
9am - We jump in the car, and get on the road. We are going home today, but stopping at Glasgow to see my little brother. I stop at a Starbucks just outside Perth for a coffee (£10 loaded on my app), then arrive just before 11 to Pollok country park. Unfortunately it’s really very rainy, but I find my brother (A) who is 21 and just finishing up his time at uni, loan him my brolly, and put rain coats on both M and myself. We walk for over 2 hours, just chatting and getting lost. Most of the walk is spent trying to find the Highland Cows I drove past on the way in, and we do finally succeed. M absolutely loves it, and doesn’t stop running around and sniffing everything in sight. Eventually we decide to call it a day as I’m a way away from home. I drop A off at the Asda, pick up a quick Maccy’s for the car £8.40 and we head home. We end up doing it in one go (about 3.5 hours) as M was completely zonked out on the back seat. DH phones and we chat for ages, then with about 45 mins to go, we hang up and he says he’ll see me at home. I get in, to no DH. I unpack his gifts and finally give him a ring. Turns out there has been a terrible shock as his Dad had a heart attack whilst out shopping. Thankfully all is ok, but DH gets home a bit ashen, and we go round to his Mum’s to await seeing how his surgery goes, which thankfully is all fine. D picks up an Indian takeaway on the way back from his Mum’s, he opens a beer from his gift pile, and we breathe a big sigh of relief. It’s super lovely to see him.
Miles driven - 300 Amount spent - £18.40

Most interesting Q&A and preview info [Megathread 1.3]

Hey Choombas,I know that I said there won't be any more threads but there has been a lot of new info
Contains really big spoilers

The hacking minigame in no longer necessary
V can only be slim or musular
There will be sexually explicit weaponry
With crafting perks you can also add mods to your clothing
You can see a 3D map of Night City in the menu
You will be able to drive vehicles in 1st and 3rd person
You can swim
You will be able to break into any car , but you will need the proper strength perks to rip open the doors and the proper hacking perks for hotwiring it
There is a pc in your apartment that is usable
You can pet cats !(and also other animals like Iguana)
The car physics will be pretty realistic
You can injure/dismember enemies and then leave them alive and (presumably) disarmed instead of killing them (a pacifist playtrough will be possible)
The game has a sort of "hidden" morality system , the game will secretly keep track of how many "good" and "bad" choices you have made (unconfirmed)
Any weapon and cyberware will be color customisable
There are 12 skill trees, with Body having 3 branches, reflex having 3, tech hacking two as well as intelligence and cool having two.
One of the quests has 7 different outcomes
Companions are really useful , and not only in fights
Your UI is determined by what enhancements you have equipped and by your Life Path
Due to the changing allegiances of characters; you feel suspicious about every single character you meet
XBD's or illegal Braindances (torture ones)are found on the Black Market, or at certain Night Markets sold by seedy individuals (not confirmed if you are going to have access to them)
There are children in the game ,you cannot kill them
When the tutorial ends, it's 6 month later and it starts where the E3 2018 gameplay demo began; with the "No Future" elevator
Trauma Team and police will tase/shock you if you do not comply with their orders
There are animals - but very few of them. It is implied that most of them are artificial
Yorinobu Arasaka has the Johnny Silverhand chip
Gun Shops can offer you missions
There are a roaming CyberPsychos NPC rampaging as side-mini-bosses
The world feels alive - living and breathing. This is due to the atmosphere, NPC animations/ chatter and the lighting & textures
There are upwards of a dozen radio stations [12+]
There is a Rock music station
You can hear live police reports through the radio
It was reiterated that all of the music on the radio is comprised of all original, new songs performed by famous artists and CD Projekt Red's own sound team
Side-quests are extremely varied
The map is obscenely packed with things to see and do
You can enter a lot of buildings (contradicting reports on that)
Huge variety of weapons. Even similar weapons have entirely different stats and abilities
Vehicles all have unique interiors
There are "Bounty" missions in the game. One of which has you tracking down an infamous and extremely dangerous gang of CyberPsychos
Sometimes when you gain a level you'll get an attribute point. No word on how often this happens, as you don't get one everytime you gain a level
Your perk skill levels can not be higher than the corresponding attribute level; so for example if your governing skill for Stealth is 6, you're Stealth skill perks cannot go above 6 - unless you increase that governing attribute's number to 7 or higher
Every skill in the game has between 20 and 30 perk options
Street Cred is not a morality system - it can only go up
There are some items in stores and from vendors that you can only buy if you are well renowned in Night City
There are tons of Witcher Easter Eggs in the game
You can add Cybernetic enhancements to your circulatory system
There is a "Metriod-esque" trope at the start, where after the tutorial if flashes 6 month later and all your Cyberware and abilities are stripped away; forcing you to start from scratch
You can watch TV
Every building you enter is insanely detailed
Your jaw will drop when you see the Skill Perk Tree - it is like a humongous spider web - far larger than the Attribute Tree shown last year
Auto-Aim can be toggled on and off.
You can shoot while driving whenever you like
You can take enemy weapons and use them
1 real time hour=8 hours in game (3rt hours= 24 hours ig)
If you have no experience with a weapon you are going to have trouble aiming and reloading it
You can skip time with no loading times
Number of npcs will be connected with the time and area
Npcs can pee (realisticly!)
If you stare at someone long enough they will respond
No pointless choices
No repeated lines from npcs , they speak with you in real time
Only 4-5 real cut scenes in the game (where you have no control of what is happening)
There are stuff that can only be kept in a certain tempreture (a nano chip for example)
There is fall damage (and mods that can reduce it)
Each attribute can be leveled to lvl 20
At least 20 cyberware mod slots
At least 85 side quests
At least 70 street stories (unconfirmed)
There is a stamina bar for melee attacks , blocking , counter attacking , comboing , etc.
Your animations will reflect your weapon skill, and they will improve as your skill does (The only footage we've seen of melee/sword combat was from a low level V)
You can be a bounty hunter by hacking into the NCPD police database to hunt for wanted citizens and collect the bounty money
Nudity can be turned on and off at the start of the game and possibly whenever you like (The journalist who played in the recent demos said full nudity is possible. You can enable it or disable it In the character creation you have a choice for the nudity to be censored/underwear or have the character be fully nude )

NETRUNNER DAEMONS:

Short circuit - Overloads the opponent's cyberware and causes damage through the short circuit
Overheating - This more powerful attack not only overloads the enemy cyberware, but sets it on fire, causing damage over time
SOS signal - Fakes a distant squad member's emergency call, causing the victim to move and search the area
Suicide - Puts the target in cyberpsychosis, killing them with their own weapon.
Optics Restart - Resets the target's eye implants so that restarting the cyberware triggers temporary blindness
Weapon Malfunction - Impairs the functioning of the opposing weapon or even causes the weapon to need to be replaced

CYBERWARE :
1.Slots:
Brain (3 slots)
eyes
Cardiovascular system (3)
Immune system (2)
peripheral nervous system (2)
Skin (3)
Operating system (1)
Skeletal system - hands, arms and legs (on both sides)

your cyberwares have the same 6 levels of quality as any other items and depending on their quality they may take more than 1 slot to install

2. Some of the cyberware you can install are:

Mantis Blades - Probably the most famous cyberware in the game. The mighty blades protrude from V's forearm and several fragments are available
Blood pump - Installed in the cardiovascular system slot. It activates at a certain point in time and improves healing
Micro-rotors - Passive cyberware in the nervous system that improves movement speed and precision
Reflex tuners - are triggered cyberware that activates slow motion as soon as your health falls below a critical value
Gorilla Hands - Logically installed in the hands and vastly improves your strength and melee strength. There are also several fragments here
Monowire - The cyberware that houses a fiber optic lasso in your arm that you can use to easily slice opponents in slices. The quickhack function via the Monowire is probably one of the fragments
Krenzikov - We first encountered this cyberware in Cyberpunk 2077 as a booster spray, but it also exists as an implant for your nervous system. The trigger activates a slow motion effect as soon as you have successfully avoided an enemy attack
Synlungs - Artificial lungs that are installed in the cardiovascular system and improve the regeneration of your endurance

ITEMS:

Items have 6 quality levels: ordinary, unusual, rare, epic, legendary and iconic
Iconic Items are one of a kind for example "chaos" pistol you can get after defeating Royce

STORY:
There will be roadblocks around Watson for the duration of prologue
Yorinobu Arasaka is in possession of the immortality chip (apparently he stole it from his dad)
The scene with Adam Smasher is from a brain dance in Yorinobu's hotel room (so he's probablyhis bodyguard of something)

LIST OF ICONS SEEN ON THE MAP:

Convoy
Fixer
client
Scanner hustles
Unauthorized access
Smuggling activity
Junk shop
Suspected organized crime
Unauthorized access
Traveling dealer
V's apartment
Main job
Side job
Gun For Hire
Search And Recovery
Thievery
Agent Saboteur
SOS
Merc Needed
Special Delivery
Assault in Progress
CyberPsycho Sighting
Clothing Stores
Ripperdocs
Techies
Weapons/Gun Shops
Trainers
Food/Restaurants
Bars
And other side quests

LIFE PATHS:

When selecting Corpo as your Life Path, you begin the game at Arasaka Tower
When selecting Nomad as your Life Path, you begin in the Badlands
When selecting Street Kid as your Life Path, you begin in a bar in Night City
Corpo Life Path begins with your boss asking you to break the law
Blessing Adeoye Jr. theorized that all 3 Life Paths may lead to 3 mostly different game experiences for the entirety of the game
Lifepaths impact how the story begin and how NPCs interract with you later on
In corpo life path you can find out a lot about Arasaka history and also Saburo Arasaka (the founderof the company) who is still alive at 158 years

CUSTOMISATION :

You can custimize everything (even teeth)
For those who want to see every option, there's a lot :

Hair (35)
Skin tone (6)
Skin type (5)
Eyebrows (8) or OFF
Eyebrow colour (8)
Cybermark (8) or OFF
Nose (17)
Mouth (17)
Jaw (17)
Ears (17)
Facial scars (9)
Facial tattoos (6)
Piercings (1 1)
Piercings colour (6)
Teeth (4) (pink,gold,etc.)
Eye makeup (8)
Eye makeup colour (9)
Lip makeup (6)
Lip makeup colour (9)
Cheek makeup (5)
Cheek makeup colour (3)
Blemish (3)
Blemish colour (6)
Nails (long / short)
Nails colour (lO)
Nipples (3)
Body tattoos (5)
Body scars (2)
Dicks(2)
Vagina(1)
No genitalia

Heart/skull/cross/target shaped iris (and tons more eye customistation)
There will be multiple body sliders (including for your dick)
You can trim your pubes
There will most likely be more options

PERKS :
1.Most expensive perks:

STREET BRAWLER: "Guerilla"- Kiling foes increases crit hit by 60% for 1 0 secs
ATHLETICS: "Hard motherfucker"- Armour and resistances increase by 20% for 1 0 secs
ANNIHILATION: "Redacted" - Dismembering foes reduces recoil by 50% for 6 secs
REFLEX : HANDGUNS: "Redacted" - Land a critical hit and get an armour boost for 20 secs
RIFLES: "Punisher" - Kill an enemy to nullify weapon sway and spread for 1 0 secs
BLADES: "Dragon Strike" - Strong attacks consume stacked bleeding effects and deal 15% damage
TECH ABILITY * CRAFT: "Revamp"- Increase sale price of crafted items by 25% * ENGINEERING: "Crazy Science" - Increase tech weapon damage by 25%
COOL * STEALTH: "Toxicology" - Poison duration increased by 5 secs * COLD BLooD: "Merciless" - if Cold Blood active, crit chance +1 0% and crit damage +2%
INTELLIGENCE * DEVICE HACKING: "Transmigration" - Increase Breach time protocol by 25% * TARGET HACKING: "Master Memory" - Increase memory regen speed by 25%

2. Some athletic perks:

Gladiator - reduces damage taken while blocking by 20%.
Regeneration - slowly regenerates health in combat.
Pack Mule - doubles carrying capacity.
Invincible -increases maximum health by 10%.
Super Hero Landing - reduces fall damage by 5%.
Multitasker - lets you shoot while sprinting, sliding and jumping at the same time.
Transporter - lets you shoot and sprint while carrying a body.
Hard motherfucker - at the start of a fight, armor and resistance are increased by 20% for 10 seconds.

3. Some crafting perks:

Master Gunsmith - 5% chance of getting an additional prototype component as crafting material for every item made.
R&D - the said skill that enables you to upgrade items to the legendary quality level.
Crazy Science is a trait, a kind of master skill at the bottom of the talent tree, which increases the sales prices of your items by 25%.

4. Some engineering perks:

Mech Looter - you can loot scrap from drones, robots and mechs and have a 30% chance of finding weapon parts.
Blast Shielding - reduces your explosion damage taken by 10%.
Shrapnel - adds 20 additional damage to all previous garnet effects.
Grenadier - make the explosion radius of grenades visible to you.
Reverse engineering - lets you take off weapon mods.
You can't touch this - make yourself immune to the effects of your own grenades

SCRAPPED/REMOVED FEATURES:

Subway
Car customisation
Apartment customisation
Being able to have more than 1 apartment
closets in your apartment
Wall running
Flathead (we won't be able to use it)
Techie class (it is now merged with the netrunner class)

ROMANCES:

You can have no genitalia , still unknown how this will work
Romanceable NPCs have genitalia preferance
Romances happen "organically". You probably won't have a dialog option with a heart symbol. Some romance options will be impacted by your previous choices (example used was the butterfly effect of Witcher 3 quests)
There are deep romance option as well as one night stands
The only known romance options yet are Meredith Stout and Judy Alvarez

BUGS:

Let's not kid ourselves: Cyberpunk 2077 has bugs right now - noticeable.
There were no serious bugs or crashes , only General bugs (Category C) - Does not prevent game progress, but still worsens gameplay , Minor errors (category D) - Minor inconsistencies and deviations from the planned process, which however does not have a high priority and Cosmetic mistakes (category E) - minor optical blemishes

SOURCES:
NightCityLife
Alanah Pearce 3
Alanah Pearce 2
Alanah Pearce 1
Parris
PC gamer
Arekkz Gaming
What's Good Games
Laymen Gaming
Skill Up
GrizGaming
outsidexbox
IGN
Kotaku Australia

People who helped me with the thread: u/sinistersinner
People who helped me with the info: u/Elspyth , u/Avorius , u/Hermanjnr , u/SMHFHA
Tell me if i have missed anything interesting or you think that something isn't correct
The info has been checked by many people and it is correct
Videos about the megathread :

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Outdated threads:

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