Jojoj13 is nowhere to be found. After a week's notice, he has been replaced. Welcome, cataclysmic-Moira! Loading new character. Please wait... (Translation: The game is on hold until our new player is ready to go. Shouldn't be long now, though! In the meantime, feel free to get introductions out of the way and begin practice-chatting with each other.)
Hayabusa. c: "Trace knows where you've been."
Why didn't the thread end here?
Yo, I was a complete dickhead when I joined, real talk. I only know this because Nostalgia Rep Weekend was full of me looking at old posts and going "Damn I'm a dickhead." ...Granted the fact that those posts got repped makes me wonder if people like me better as an asshat.
Spoiler: My thought process in this thread
Wow, and comments like that are doing the speech so much more justice.
>Beware the Forest's Mushrooms >Big Blue >Donkey Kong Country >Banjo-Kazooie >MOTHERFUCKIN' CAVE STORY >METROID PRIME >FLASHMAAAAAAAAN CONFIRMED FOR SUPERB TASTE. Nice song spread. Glad to see they didn't mindlessly throw in the most iconic songs they could think of.
How do I see them? I could answer this a few ways, depending on what assumptions we make, so I'll refrain for now. I don't play solely for entertainment, but I do expect to be entertained when I play. They can, and they must. I don't believe this notion is seriously questioned except by the ignorant and the ill-informed. If the purest form of art is to deliberately elicit a reaction, then video games are as much art as literature or film. Their strong point, and one that is regretfully overlooked by many developers, is immersion: building a vivid world, then dropping the player into it, making them an intrinsic part of it. Players develop strong emotional ties to their favorite games if the immersion element is paid plenty of attention. Ties that greatly resemble ones fostered by other entertainment media, all of which are unquestioned as art forms. Like the martial arts, games can be played ceremonially or as a competitive sport, to demonstrate one's skill. Like film, they can accurately convey complex emotions using only body language and dialogue. Like just about any art form, dedicated communities build around discussing just a single property. If there's any question left in people's minds as to whether games are art, they probably haven't played any. As often as I find one that deserves such attention. I tend to focus on one thing at a time for as much as a week, so I can get pretty immersed if a game lasts that long for me. Not particularly. Most of the games I play have a fair mix of both. And they're both part of the atmosphere, so lacking one tends to make the other suffer. The only thing I could think of is Final Fantasy VII, but I don't know if it's entirely agreed upon that the graphics are bad. The walk-around polygons are cute, imo. Because it's enjoyable. That's how anything gets to be a large part of people's lives, I'd say. It's enjoyable, and it can be enjoyed in so many different ways; flying solo, playing with friends, testing your skills, goofing off. Many different lifestyles can now find a game that suits them. So it's enjoyable for a wide range of people, let's go with that. A lot of things make our kids violent. Kids are impressionable. Is this news? But to be able to ban or restrict something requires the utmost discretion, especially on the national level. It would be absurd to ban games, any games, on account of something like that. Such bans tend to fail, or to receive backlash that's far worse than if we'd left it alone. On the one hand, the fact that violent games sell so well may be a sign of something problematic, but it's a symptom if it's anything. The real illness lies elsewhere; games are just the latest scapegoat. As a whole? Hard to say. Recession itself makes money tight for everyone, but does that mean people will stop buying games? I doubt it. The industry still rakes in millions. The only real suffering the industry has done is from two sources: (1) Rapidly improving technology, and (2) piracy. The stronger the technology becomes, the more expensive each game becomes. The more people pirate, the less small start-ups and indie developers make. Both of these lead to the industry as a whole taking less risks, making the games more bland and tasteless every year. There are outlets yet for the most dedicated developers, but the climate has changed. This relates heavily to the above. I don't think it was ever a question of which games were being made, or for what. Many of the best games from the old days were produced as tie-ins for famous fictional characters, products, etc. The old Scrooge McDuck and Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers games for the NES are both cult classics. If anything has changed, it's the fact that developing is more like to take place in-house these days; that is, the companies will make their own tie-in games. And the tendency in this case is for them to half-ass it, because they know people will buy it anyway. The same sorts of people who made the classics of old still exist, but now they have to build their own brand from scratch, and very rarely do they get a chance to flex their muscles with someone else's property. It's a rougher climb, and it does lead to less good games... but they're far from gone. There are two kinds of trilogies. There's kind that is planned well in advance, telling a single, cohesive narrative in three neat segments; and there's the kind that is thrown together after what would have been a one-off sells incredibly well. It used to be you could tell the difference between these two, but now there's almost always a sequel hook at the end of a game, just in case. It's obnoxious. But it's not as bad as people make it. A pre-planned trilogy can be a disaster from day one, and something organized on the fly can be fulfilling from start to finish. Any game made with love is worth playing, no matter if there's a number tacked on the end. Like any art form: If it knows what it's trying to do and does it well, it's good. Some games are meant to be short and sweet; they have Portal to look up to. Some games want to be hard, and make you work for the goal; Devil May Cry 3 could show 'em a thing or two. My favorite games share one thing in common: They all build a world so convincing that you lose yourself in it. They craft an experience so captivating that you forget about the "real" world when you're playing them. Plenty. Jet Set Radio Future made me realize what kind of person I want to be: someone who's happy, but not nauseatingly so. Someone who inspires others to be happy and live free. Brawl helped me come to terms with my sense of self, and taught me that single-mindedly pursuing individuality, even to your own detriment, turns you into a generic zombie regardless. The World Ends with You reinforced the benefits of broadening one's horizons. Demon's Souls taught me that the thing we love most about games, what we all blame on the "story," is probably better referred to as "atmosphere." I could go on. Jet Set Radio Future. There's never been a game like it, not before and not since. Something to lighten people's moods, something fresh, something stylish, that you never get tired of hearing, seeing, or playing. Being angry and depressed seems so popular these days, but why? Because it's more realistic? I doubt it. People truck with "realism" because they think it's healthy, but I think too much reality does a body harm. Keeping an eye to the sky, whistling a jaunty tune, and above all else, fighting for what you think is right, however you can; that's what JSRF is all about. Definitely Sumotori. You control block people with poor motor skills who are trying to wrestle each other to the ground. The only fun to be derived from the game is finding new and more absurd ways to fail; doing a leaping faceplant, tumbling down a flight of stairs, knocking over the hapless polygon people with block projectiles... It's mad fun.
Just hit up the MSN crowd some time if you wanna play. Now's probably not a good time; everybody's asleep. Including me, soon.
Not a game thread, bro. But thanks for showing interest! Doesn't have to be actual ships, either. (Psssst, you should read the tips.)
Paranoid about my posture when it matters, sloppy during leisure time. Although every now and then I realize how stupid I must look (and how uncomfortable I am, doip) and fix myself.
HEY. Before we co-sign DW, we better co-sign Homestuck. WE ARE WAY MORE OBNOXIOUS. [/temporarily, inexplicably proud of this.]
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A GAME THREAD. This is just a break-down of a game we came up with. If you want to play, you'll have to organize a game yourselves! And please don't do it here; if you really must play it on the forums, then take it to the Playground! Anyway, we just started experimenting with this tonight, and I was the last to undertake the task of hosting, so I thought people would be interested to see my notes and guidelines. Host your own game! No longer must you rely on a cranky asshole who's always afk. Grab life by the balls! Click the spoiler below for rules. Spoiler: Da Wools BASICS If you're familiar with The Newlyweds Game, you should know this bit. Players are gathered into teams of two: one husband, and one wife. (Being a progressive community, we're no strangers to male wives or female husbands, or same-sex couples! Have fun with it!) The husbands are asked a question, either about the wives or about themselves; and the wives must guess the husbands' answers. Then, it's the wives' turn to answer a question, and the husbands' to guess! For each correct guess, the pair scores a point. Games can go to any number of points, but once a team reaches the cap, that team wins! HOSTING Here's the part you need to know about. You should be able to explain the game to any new players after reading through this stuff. Here are your bullet points: - Before the game starts, you have to know who's on what team, and more importantly who's the husband and who's the wife of each pair. You need a quick, efficient way to do both. My recommendation: Ask each team's husband to send you a one-on-one MSN message with their team name. For example: Jayn and Sumi want to play as a team. Jayn has decided to be the husband. So she would send you a message saying, "Jumi." Have all the teams do this, then confirm that everyone who wants to play has spoken up, and you're ready for the next step! - The game will require two group chats: One for wives, and one for husbands. You, the host, should be present in both. SET ASIDE SEPARATE CHATS FOR EACH GROUP. Do not use group chats for casual discussion or ones with non-players; it will be nigh-impossible to get them to shut up, coordinating questions and answers will be a nightmare, and everyone will leave with a big headache. It is guaranteed to be more of a hassle if you try to use one conversation. - You have to come up with questions for the teams to mull over. A quick Google search of "Newlyweds questions" will turn up good stuff, but none of it will be quite suited to this particular variant. You'll have to get creative! Twist the questions you find to suit your needs, or make some of your own. Don't be afraid of questions that are too hard or too easy; the whole group gets the same question, and you can change your approach as needed. - Some questions will ask what one group thinks another one would say to/think about something. For example: "What would your spouse say is their favorite type of music?" The second group then has to guess what the first group guessed they'd say! Whew. Complicated. And it'll get your husbands and wives confused in a hurry if you don't address it. I find that using keywords in my questions works wonders: Tell the group beforehand if a question asks for THEIR opinion or their SPOUSE'S. <- Use all caps or other text markers for important words; it helps them stand out! Make sure the second group knows this distinction, too. - Pose a question to one group in their chat. When you've written down their answers, send the question to the other group's chat, and write down their guesses. Then match the two, figure out who got it right, and then post the answers and each team's current score in both chats. Simple! TIPS - You don't actually have to be partners to form a team, but make sure you're comfortable with mushy or personal questions! You will be treated like newlyweds--or rather "newlyshipped," as the name goes. - The hosting method above is easy to process and makes the game much more fun. But it does take quite a while! Even a simple game to 5 points can take a few hours. Make sure all the players (and you, of course) are in it for the long haul. - No matter how well you plan and coordinate schedules, sometimes someone just has to leave early. In this case, just ask for a replacement, if possible. If two players from different groups have to quit, try combining the remaining players! In this case, I recommend that the new team assume the score of the highest-scoring team before the fusion. Seems fair to me, but if you have another idea, make sure your players know about it! - Personally, I am adamant about games ending once a player reaches the point cap. Competing for second, third, and fourth appears a dangerous idea for a game like this, especially if teams are known for being competitive or emotional. We don't want things getting out of hand. - To players and hosts alike: Keep it friendly! Don't take offense if a question is answered or guessed wrong, and be fair and sporting towards other teams. This is supposed to be a fun and eye-opening experience. Host, if you're getting frustrated, try not to take it out on the players; just ask if anyone else would like to host, and if not, call a break. I'm sure your players will understand. With that, I hope the hosts benefit and the players enjoy this exciting new game! Let's all learn a bit about each other! Note that none of the above, tips included, is criticizing or calling out any previous hosts/players. It's just stuff I observed; usually more than once. Try to take it in good spirits. Let me know if there's anything I neglected to cover. If you guys would like to be super ultra helpful, post suggestions for questions to ask! Keep the hosting tips in mind, though. And finally, note that this was NOT MY IDEA. I merely streamlined the process after several attempts ended in frustration. Please come forward or message me personally if you took part in its creation; I wasn't there for the whole thing, so I don't know who all was involved, but I'm all for giving credit where credit is due.
Air is a hell of a drug. inb4#whatisair
...Huh. Interest in this absurd stunt seems to have dwindled.
Oh yeah, of course. Did seem kinda slow in there. Although I haven't had a job yet and any money is good money right now, so.
Try that with me and you'd probably get socked. That's not a threat. I'm prone to full-bodied twitching when startled.
Turd Cannon so strong.
That is when you catch his fist and shout HOOOOH
People act like it's gone. I'm about to be interviewed for a job at one! I guess it's just not nearly as widespread anymore.
