Candace Thomas @candacerthomas Twitter profile

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Candace Thomas

6 years

I'm gonna let you kids in on a secret: I don't design bosses to win fights against the player. I design them to lose *very convincingly.* It's like blackjack. I lose if I go way too far under, but I also lose if I go over.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

After 13 of the best years of my life, I am a little heartbroken to announce that I have left Blizzard Entertainment. I am also overwhelmingly excited to say that I have accepted a role at Amazon Game Studios in Irvine working as a Sr. Gameplay Designer on Lord of the Rings! ☺️

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

6 years

RT if you're the kind of person who actually reads the quest text in video games.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

Ding! Title change today! I am now a Senior Manager at @riotgames . I'm still a game designer - but more like a Lead Game Designer. You just wait'n see - this girl's gonna be a Game Director some day. ☺️⭐️

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

It is with a heavy but hopeful heart that I announce: today is my last day @amazongames . Soon, I will be joining the ranks of fine folks @Riotgames as a Principal Game Designer! Words cannot adequately describe how lucky I feel, and how excited I am to begin this journey.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 months

Secretly, every game dev just wants to make games that strike the perfect balance between art, entertainment, and satisfying mechanics. We want to do this while living on a farm with our 5-15 best friends and making just enough money to keep everyone safe and happy and employed.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

It's with overwhelming joy and pride that I announce that I work on @diablo 4. Come see my panel at 3:15 on Sat. I'll be at the portal pass lounge for a while after - but will also be bouncing around the Hilton and Marriott tonight and tomorrow Happy Blizzcon and Hail Lilith! ❤️

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

I just realized today why I'm still single. I've forgotten to include the most important thing about me in my dating profiles:

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

I once worked on implementing a raid boss for 2 months. I put it on the PTR for the first time, hoping for good feedback on mechanics and combat feel. Mostly people just talked about the fact that my boss didn't have nipples. You better believe I check my bosses for nipples now

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

I am known as an encounter designer and I specialize in giving you an intense and satisfying 6 minutes. Real facts.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

I made this boss in WoW who used to sweep the playspace from left to right and you'd have to dodge it in crafty ways. One night i had a nightmare that it was broken and it was sweeping from all directions. The next day I made the heroic version of that encounter do that. -fin

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

Horde blood is red Alliance bleeds blue But don't forget Varian Because he Fel for u~ Happy Valentine's Day Still #TooSoon 💔

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

7 months

I guess it was kind of obvious - but now it's official! I'm working with @Ghostcrawler @holinka @Sapmagic_ and more on a new MMO! Can't wait to talk about it next week. ❤️☺️

Fantastic Pixel Castle

@FPCStudio

7 months

Hello! 👋 We are Fantastic Pixel Castle, a new games studio making an epic AAA MMORPG codenamed Ghost. To learn more about our studio and vision for Ghost, visit our website at . 1/3

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

Thank you all for coming to say hi and sharing your love and enthusiasm with me this weekend! I'm speechless. There's nothing more rewarding to a game developer than seeing people's eyes light up when they talk about the games you pour your heart in to. So, truly. Thank you.❤️☺️

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 months

Happy to announce that I am 10 weeks pregnant! 🎉🫶🥳 due sept 1st - I am over the moon 🌙 😭

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

7 months

Damn, WoW won me back hard. I immediately pinged my old guild to see if we could get the band back together again. Well done, WoW team! I had quit after I left Blizz (after Shadowlands). Mostly bcuz I had complicated feels after pouring ~14 years of my life into making WoW.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

1 year

A lot of people are asking me if there's blood in the water at Riot. You're worried about the mmo. Why are so many people "jumping ship?" TLDR: Relax, this is normal. Enjoy the thread:

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

Ok the cutest thing by far about working at Riot is that the employees ubiquitously fist bump each other like in the logo

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

@ryguyguyry @_Luisaguas as someone who makes AI for a living, this hurts my soul

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

-promoted twice -divorced once 😉 -traveled to 10 new countries -found my own happiness -bought a condo by myself -fell in love a couple times 💔 -size 12 ➡️ size 4 clothes -shipped 6 WoW expansions -found a home on Diablo 4 -lost a gallbladder -gained a twitter and ilu all ☺️

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

Hi this is mom just checking in to tell you that you can play video games without bingeing processed snack foods. You're also an adult and can decide what you wanna eat BUT i'll pack you some grapes and carrots with a napkin that reminds you that you're my lil champion if u need

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

My hair is 100% going to fall before I get on stage 😩 See you at 3:15 for the Diablo IV World and Lore panel!

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

1. My cat put her butt in my face 2. I verbally informed her that her butt stinks 3. My mic was open during that meeting This is the content you follow me to hear, everybody.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

During the AQ war, my guild would run people through Molten Core in exchange for war effort mats. I'll never forget a gnome mage named "Sevan." On Baron Geddon, my mod whispered to her "YOU ARE THE BOMB!" She replied "Thanks! 8) " as she wiped the raid. You can't even be mad.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

1 year

@richtaur May I also offer: "describe emotions and problems in favor of offering solutions." Solutions are helpful but they aren't descriptive enough. ie: "lvl 2 was hard and I got frustrated on the 3rd wave of enemies! It made me quit" instead of "reduce the amount of enemies in lvl 2"

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

6 years

7mo. ago I asked @steak_umm if I should accept a new professional challenge or stick to what I know. They responded with this thoughtful piece of advice I love World of Warcraft and the ppl who make it, but Im happy to announce that I have moved to another Blizzard project 💖☺️

Steak-umm

@steak_umm

6 years

@candacerthomas context is everything. if you consider yourself a master of what you know then it can be incredibly beneficial to try something new. you always have your expertise to fall back on. there's risk involved, but what's life without that? plan for the worst and take a chance

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

Today I’m going to work with my natural hair for the first time ever. No filter, only slight makeup: just me. Future goal: no makeup.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

Have you ever fantasized about living on a huge farm with all your best friends? Like obv not living in the same house but close enough to have dinner at a different persons house every night and care for each other's animals/ kids and stuff? Am I a communist? I blame Stardew

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

6 years

#girlsbehindthegames Hi Twitter, I'm Candace and I have been in the game industry since 2007. I started in Quality Assurance at Blizzard, testing WoW, SC2, and Diablo 3. After about 2.5 years, I moved in to the design field. I am now a Senior Game Designer at Blizzard.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

Riot has made me a better designer, no question about it. One thing I've learned is the value of dissent. Inviting people to challenge your ideas and actually loving the process can make your designs more bulletproof and flexible. As long as respect and courtesy are observed ofc.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

Fellow Game Designers: do you ever feel like you don't deserve some of the art you get? Like yeah I had some inane, cockamamie idea and then a real professional stepped up and made something overly incredible to sell it and now I feel like I need to do it justice with the design

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

1 year

Excited to announce that yesterday was my first day at @supercell - which is all I can say for now! Leaving Riot was the hardest decision I've ever made, and I miss the team dearly, but I know they will continue to do great things without me 😭🥹❤️👊🏻 inc some cool sh*t tho

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

In England their dollar stores are called "Poundland" but I legit thought it was an adult novelty shop.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

A quick reminder that games are extremely hard to make and that any game that ships or even comes close is worthy of admiration and respect (even if you don't enjoy it). ❤️🙏🏻

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

6 years

New person joins team, has donuts on their desk. I don't want a whole donut but I'd take half, so I walk in there with a cutting utensil. "Hi, I'm Candace and I'm approaching you with a knife." 10/10 first impression nailed it

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

I wish I could go back in time and explain to younger me that it's ok to ask for help at work. I was extremely reluctant to ask leadership to explain tasks or provide more context for my work. I was ashamed of my ignorance and was low-key afraid I'd be exposed as a fraud (1/2)

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

7 months

Tweeting about the game already in such an early stage *feels* like breaking NDA. It's so wild. But this is what we want to do as a studio!! It's a new muscle I have to build - and we are going to have to figure out how to make access to info fair, but damn this is refreshing.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

Fun Fact: Working for @Ghostcrawler again on an MMO is 75% of the reason I came to Riot.

Greg Street

@Ghostcrawler

2 years

So I think in the last hour or so, I have somewhat committed to 1) Just calling our game "the unannounced Riot MMO", 2) Having crustaceans, 3) Only having cat people as a playable race. Narrator: Only number 2 turned out to be true.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

2021 was officially worse than 2020 for me. By leaps and bounds like it's not even close. I should sell the fucking movie rights.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

My niece expressed the slightest interest in game development and I instantly bought her 5 different Udemy courses to gauge her interest in various disciplines. I don't have any kids so this is a really proud moment for me 😌❤️

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 months

Not that my opinion matters, but for my own comfort - I'd like to scream into the void that this year has been a bloodbath for game devs. Many of us are not going to be our best selves, and that may be reflected in the games we love (and love to make). It's part of being human.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

People 30+: Do you remember taking math tests in middle school? And it was against the rules to use calculators? Your teachers would say snarky things like: "Well, are you just gonna walk around with a calculator in your pocket for the rest of your life?" ... ACTUALLY YES 📲

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

A lot of people are asking about my weight loss! So here's the skinny: 140➡️120lbs(I'm 5'2) I did it by counting calories/lifting weights 2x a week/a long hike on the weekends I lost most of it in 2011 and kept it off through an active lifestyle and portioning Before/afters:

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

I struggled with a decision at work this week, and my manager said something extraordinarily empathetic and empowering. It's worth repeating: "Regardless of the outcome, I'm on your side."

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

Dating is basically just a shitty gacha game with bad feedback, UX, and reward ratios. Change my mind.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

Date a Game Designer and get a Christmas Caper escape room encounter that hides your present 🎄🎁 ☺️❤️ Poor @englishguy 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

I did a thing. No MMO spoilers here though! Just my journey into games and all the way to Riot :)

Comic-Con International

@Comic_Con

3 years

Ever wonder who’s leading the charge for @LeagueofLegends , Arcane, and @RiotGames MMO? Tune into the #ComicConAtHome2021 “Changing the Face of Gaming” panel on Saturday, July 24th at 11 AM to find out!

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

I can't believe this actually happened

Poundland

@Poundland

2 years

@candacerthomas Hi there...

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

Between work and my WoW hobby I have spent over 27,000 hours in Azeroth That's like playing WoW nonstop for 3 years straight (and this is assuming I'm only playing WoW 1/2 of the time I'm working which is a generous underestimate when you consider how long implementation takes)

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

I just committed to getting up at 6AM for the next 10 weeks so I can lose 10 lbs before Blizzcon thanks i hate it

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

1 year

What if I made an MMO that was also a dating app? You go on adventures designed for 2-5 people with extreme cooperative mechanics? You face moral dilemmas together that make sure your values are aligned? You can use it to meet new people OR play with your SO(s)? Would you play?

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

Idea: Toilet Paper Raid Boss A 2-10 minute long encounter where you're actually supposed to wipe at the end. 🧻 💡 I'll see myself out.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

After doing the math, I realize I have been healing in MMOs for 19 years. H*ck.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

GameDev, the musical: (to the tune of Frère Jacques) My Test Dun-geon Has No Mon-sters What the fuck? What the fuck? Was this shit my fault or, was this just a code change? Who's to blame? Who's to blame?

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

This was just delightful and I thought I'd share

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

Shortly before I left Blizzard, I had applied to work on Overwatch 2. I didn't get the job, and as salt on the wound LinkedIn keeps emailing me about open positions on OW2. 🤯😖 💔💔💔

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

Congratulations to @Warcraft on the big reveal! It's an odd feeling for me bcuz this is the first WoW expansion I haven't worked on in 15 years. Seeing it from an outsider's perspective is exciting and bittersweet all at once. It warms my heart to see the team still thriving ❤️

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

I'm gonna celebrate Blizzcon by waiting at least 45 minutes to get my drink tonight.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

6 years

When Blizzard offered me a job, I initially said no. It was an entry level position and I had no car. I had already found a job at Geek Squad and they needed me After I hung up the phone, I immediately called Blizzard back and said "I'm an idiot, may I please have an interview?"

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

For the holidays, I urge everyone to reflect on that fact that Brand social media accounts are run by living, breathing humans with beating hearts. Even if angry, remember that kindness is contagious I’ll start: thank you @steak_umm for the years of humor, memes, and beef sheets

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

My partner spends maybe 5 minutes a week rearranging the drinking glasses under our bar according to size/shape - ensuring they're all flipped in the same direction. Every once in a while I'll flip one over at random. He just caught me doing that for the first time.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

Some people dread the "what do you want for dinner" conversation. I, on the other hand, cannot wait until that poor bastard says "whatever you want is fine" because that is a binding contract and maybe he's eating s'mores and a bottle of cocktail onions for dinner.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

I know it's super early to say this, but Riot already feels like home. Thanks to everyone who reached out to make me feel welcome when I joined, those who check in to make sure I'm still happy, and a special thanks to @Xenogenic for treating me as if I had been here all along.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

Shower Thought: When I first joined the encounter design team for World of Warcraft, I insisted that I design any boss that identified as a woman. I really liked identifying with these villains on a more human level. Puts kind of a double entendre behind "Girl Bossing."

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

Vanity tweet

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

The stranger sitting next to me at SeaTac doesn’t have a working power outlet at his seat so I unplugged and let him use mine. Few minutes later, he turns to me and asks: “Would you like a McChicken sandwich? I have an extra.” What a wholesome, sweet, bizarre exchange. 💕

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

I am an adult who still refuses to take her vitamins if they are not in some sort of chewable or gummy form.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

*eats powdered donut* *wipes sugar on posterior* I've got a pretty... sweet ass... 🍩🍑😉

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

Got prettied up today

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

6 years

~*Creative jobs*~ Me: Brain, pls, I need ideas for work. Brain: .... Me, hours later: Welp guess I better lay down to sleep. Brain: <infinite idea fountain> enjoy work tomorrow asshole, hope 3hrs of sleep is enough

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

Proof of life selfie.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

People warned me that LA traffic is bonkers, but I don't think I fully understood. I have an event to attend on Friday that is 8 miles away from me, and google is estimating 1.5-2 hours to get there...

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

6 years

Him: Do we have plans Friday? Me, exhausted: Nope, what did you have in mind? <internally screaming with dread> Him: I was thinking we open a bottle of wine and play Stardew Valley in our pajamas all night. Maybe make some snacks. @DiscipleGames = soulmate material.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

I wish I had the right words to explain to people that any game that ships is miraculous in its own way, and has a story to tell. It's like that show Cutthroat Kitchen - the judges of the dish have no idea that the chef was missing 3 ingredients and had to stand in a ballpit.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

I know I'm super late to the game, but I just finished Titanfall 2, and I have to give major props to @Respawn That game's controls are buttery smooth, the story is compelling, and the entire world reacts to your presence in almost cinematic detail. Highly recommend.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

6 years

I know I'm super biased, but that Queen Azshara Warbringers piece was thoroughly chilling and wickedly delightful. It rivals The Old Soldier in storytelling and emotional tethering. I felt like I couldn't even breathe while I watched it.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

I am 35 years old and I just learned that vinegar removes the water specks on shower glass. I hope you all already knew this, but if you didn't - I'm sharing the wealth.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

1 year

Felt cute

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

I always thought I'd have a little boy one day. I was going to name him Adrian Lucas Thomas so I could always refer to him as my alt. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

6 years

I have brown hair, so i tried a new "brown tinted" dry shampoo this morning. This was also the same day I tried charcoal toothpaste for the first time. My fingers are black, my gums are black, my tongue is black, and I sweat brown. Happy BFA day!

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

Senior Etiquette Tip: When a junior dev asks you how to do something that sounds weird, your first instinct can be to ask "why?" This undermines trust. Instead try to be transparent and give the benefit of the doubt: "That's strange, are you trying something new? I can help."

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

3 years

Should Game Developers Listen to Negative Feedback? Spicy. It's obv YES to listen, but sometimes NO to react. Esp in long-tail progression games. Like a jenga tower, sometimes reacting too quickly/taking a piece from the bottom of the tower can cause it to collapse later 1/3

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

Perfection. No crunchy bottoms. 🍪 👌🏻

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

I’m petsitting for 2 friends right now and lucky me: 1. The animals like eachother 2. They are snuggle monsters Borderlands can wait, I’ve got a fur and purr puddle goin on here ☺️🐈🐕💕🍀

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

I've never been more proud of my team 666/10

Diablo

@Diablo

4 years

@netflix By Three They Come.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

2 years

There's a boss fight in Tiny Tina Wonderlands that has a lot of the same mechanics as the Tank Artifact Challenge that we made in Legion and it absolutely wrecked me. I'm flying off the platform thinking: "This is a taste of my own medicine. I deserve this"

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

Either this lovely lady follows me on twitter OR I had a wild night that I can't remember... 🤔😩😉☺️

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

I try not to take/post random selfies because I like to keep my vanity in check BUT I'm noticing that seeing random happy selfies lifts my mood while I'm in quarantine. Here's one of me WFH. Snap me a selfie, you gorgeous human (or pet) 🤳☺️

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

I don't know who needs to hear this but - you know how you feel when you're having a cute day? And you're really feelin' yourself? Your partner thinks you always look that way.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

Life imitates art at the Irvine Great Park 🌲🔥

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

"You must be Lady Whitemane 'cause you just made my champion rise." Thanks general chat.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

5 years

Why are my favorite mounts in FFXIV all obsese animals? 💕🍰🐈🐤

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

7 years

i hate it when they blur the best part

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

10 years ago, I set a goal for myself. I chased it fearlessly, recklessly, and with whole heart. My entire life changed in pursuit of that goal. On Friday, I will fail at that goal. I wonder what life will be like on Saturday.

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Candace Thomas

@candacerthomas

4 years

So I'm searching for chairs last night and suddenly