Poll of the Day > A Geektivus For The Rest Of Us

(+) Yeah! (+)

Also, speaking of Pathfinder 2e is apparently coming out, which I will call D&D 3.0 Edition 4 Edition.

I will also only think of the mechanics of the game as LARP mechanics, rock paper scissors for all!
---

shadowsword87 posted...

Pathfinder is an incredibly powerful tool that can be used to create intricate mechanics to match with a story, if that's what you are looking for. I'm not looking for that for 95% of my games, I only used PF once, and that was because I did want to have a more detail orientated game (it was for my IRL group who were playing a merchant group in a post-apocalyptic heavily magic world), it didn't go through because I was moving, but still the point stands. I honestly don't need it for most of everything because I actually agree with you on some parts about mechanics, if they don't add to the story then they shouldn't be there.

I remembered during nudo's game someone was pushing for Pathfinder over 4e or even 3e. My withered old person brain was telling me it was you, but it might have been Knives.



shadowsword87 posted...

I have a sort of revulsion towards the "you like scifi, so that means you like X"

Well, to be fair, that wasn't the case here. It was more like, "you like sci-fi, as such, do you like X?" The first makes assumptions, but the latter is merely asking questions.



shadowsword87 posted...

when I actually really like is the stories that scifi can tell (man changing technology vs technology changing man, what does it mean to be human/sentient, solving a physical problem non-violently, what does it feel like being a cog in a machine, and those things) but that doesn't mean I like all scifi stories.

Yes, that is all literally sci-fi. Moreso than what most modern people seem to believe the term actually means.

But I also don't think most people would make the assertion "you like X, therefore you must love all of X" (which is yet a third different premise than the previous two). I think most people understand you can enjoy a specific genre to some degree without loving every single possible entry within said genre.

Hell, I'd say fantasy probably rates as my primary fiction genre, yet I probably spend more time ranting about the fantasy I hate than I do praising fantasy I love.

And, I mean, even on the topic of D&D and Pathfinder as the narrowest of focuses, I've mentioned before that I kind of like Faerun, Mystara, and the Nentir Vale as fantasy settings while being somewhat colder on Greyhawk, and actively disliking Eberron and Pathfinder's settings.

If anything, that's part of why I asked how you felt about Starfinder rather than just assuming you loved it.


---

shadowsword87 posted...

Show me some action scene of spaceships shooting lasers at each other, and show me a seafaring ship shooting cannons at each other, and I would honestly prefer the seafaring ship.

Or you could split the difference and play Spelljammer.

Or play Mage: the Ascension as a Son of Ether and do all of the above.

Realistically, though, I don't think fantasy and sci-fi are mutually exclusive. I do think it's nearly impossible to write a story that balances both elements in perfect harmony because the entire purpose of each genre is sort of diametrically opposed to the other (which is why Star Wars isn't sci-fi, damn it), but at the same time, I think it's perfectly possible for a PERSON to enjoy both genres non-exclusively. I definitely lean more towards the fantasy side, but I also enjoy a nice thoughtful sci-fi excursion (especially the more cynical futurist takes), and I've read and enjoyed a LOT of Asimov over the years. And there are plenty of films that are blatant sci-fi (as opposed to "fantasy in space" or "action in space" or "adventure via time travel" and so on) that I quite enjoy.

Going back to Spelljammer, though, that might actually touch on that idea as a pretty good example - Spelljammer feels like outer space hijinks for players who love fantasy, while Planescape is pretty much the exact same mechanical functionality except for people who like more sci-fi chocolate in their fantasy peanut butter.

Which might also play a role in why I really kind of like the idea of Spelljammer as a whole while I'm personally kind of ambivalent towards Planescape as a setting. Or it might just be growing up playing Final Fantasy games with massive flying airship galleons.



shadowsword87 posted...

Starfinder is fine. I would never touch it because any stories that I would want to tell would use a different system.

To be fair, a good GM can tell pretty much any story using any system - it may just require slightly more effort on their part.

I won't follow that up by saying that a truly great GM can tell fantastic stories without using any system at all, but we both know I'm thinking it.


---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Or you could split the difference and play Spelljammer.

Probably my fave p&p that I never even tried playing. I think I still some of the books or whatever somewhere.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

(which is why Star Wars isn't sci-fi, damn it),

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Or it might just be growing up playing Final Fantasy games with massive flying airship galleons.

Flying boats and space whales are generally awesome. (Space jellyfish, however, are pretty scary... and space starfish.)

(Also completely unrelated but you can never go wrong with sharks in space.)


---

+1 for Spelljammer. Underrated, and I wish more had been done with it as a setting. One of my favorite boxed sets, though it is looking a little beat up nowadays.

shadowsword87 posted...

Also, speaking of Pathfinder 2e is apparently coming out, which I will call D&D 3.0 Edition 4 Edition.

... that sound you hear is my stomach going into my shoes as I look at the stack of standard Pathfinder books next to me ...

Why you do this, Paizo?! *facepalm* I need to find details.
---

I_Abibde posted...

Why you do this, Paizo?! *facepalm* I need to find details.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?5024-Paizo-Announced-Pathfinder-2nd-Edition!
http://paizo.com/pathfinderplaytest/faq#v5748eaic9wf4
---

Started watching The Defenders last night, which has been a major letdown on every front. The first episode and a half so far have been jumping between five separate story threads (one for each Defender, plus another for Sigourney Weaver's character) at a pace that might give me whiplash. Even more annoyingly, it glossed over some of the big semi-cliffhangers from the ends of the individual seasons (such as Karen's reaction to Matt revealing that he's DD and, less significantly, Luke Cage just leaving prison -- I'm going to be all kinds of pissed if DD s3 doesn't either pick up or flashback to the reveal since that's not the kind of shit you just gloss over).

A large part of that is likely due to the sheer stupidity of not building the set-up to some extent *directly* into any of the four shows so instead of pairing at least two characters right off the bat we have all four acting separately. Plus there's a LOT of build for a 8-episode season. The first episode is mostly shadowy conspiracy/intrigue leading up to the "earthquake"

That said, I really should have waited to start it until *this* weekend so I could have just binged the episodes straight. On the plus side, seeing Jess and Trisha together again has got me a little hyped for JJ s2 which, assuming I finish the Defenders by the weekend, I'll likely binge then.
---

Thank you for the links, Shadow. *reads* If Paizo makes a real effort towards backwards compatibility with all of the supplements it has released for original Pathfinder, I will be happy, but I still do not think this reboot is necessary. The whole appeal of PF is being the "perfect" 3rd Edition (i.e. 3.5, 3.75, etc.) for players not turned on by 4th Edition. This new version looks like PF-meets-5E in terms of design philosophy.
---

I_Abibde posted...

Thank you for the links, Shadow. *reads* If Paizo makes a real effort towards backwards compatibility with all of the supplements it has released for original Pathfinder, I will be happy, but I still do not think this reboot is necessary. The whole appeal of PF is being the "perfect" 3rd Edition (i.e. 3.5, 3.75, etc.) for players not turned on by 4th Edition. This new version looks like PF-meets-5E in terms of design philosophy.

We also know literally nothing about PF 2, the mechanics could be anything. Every time a new edition comes out for every game it's a constant "we're making character generation easier with more options available!" so I'm going to honestly ignore all of that.

Also, you can only do so much with an RPG before you just run out of stuff to do, at least creatively if not mechanically. So new editions just makes sense.
---

Wound up finishing the Defenders. It was choppy and disjointed at the beginning and the end, although the middle was pretty good for a while. I don't get the praise for Sigourney's character, as she seemed like a mess of bad cliches and her performance of those cliches was nothing special. She also had that hilariously bad fight scene with Elektra, which looked like it was in slo-mo. The fights at the end were also a mess.

Didn't much care for Daredevil's portrayal in it, but everybody else seemed alright. I enjoyed the contrast between fighting styles at times, including Jess complaining that she must be the only person in NY who doesn't know martial arts (or she might have said kung fu?).

And again, for an 8-episode series/season, there was *way* too much junk. On the plus side, the fact it was super short means I *can* binge Jess Jones this weekend.
---

@Entity13

It wound up being a mobile port after all. JP exclusive too. Shocker.

Good luck doing that pixel perfect platforming with touch controls.

More of my RPG musings that are probably mostly for Shadow:

What would you call armor that is mostly either padded cloth or leather with plates of metal riveted into it as an outer layer? Not studded leather (that's mainly leather with smaller metal studs, hence the name), and not really splint mail (those tend to be metal strips rather than molded plates), and definitely not plate mail (which is generally overlapping metal plates entirely).

I'm thinking along the lines of the Stalhrim armor in Skyrim, except instead of ice plates, think some kind of metal (either actual metallic in appearance or painted/lacquered to have a color a la historical armors):

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Stalhrim#Stalhrim_Light_Armor
http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Stalhrim#Stalhrim_Heavy_Armor


---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

More of my RPG musings that are probably mostly for Shadow:

What would you call armor that is mostly either padded cloth or leather with plates of metal riveted into it as an outer layer? Not studded leather (that's mainly leather with smaller metal studs, hence the name), and not really splint mail (those tend to be metal strips rather than molded plates), and definitely not plate mail (which is generally overlapping metal plates entirely).

I'm thinking along the lines of the Stalhrim armor in Skyrim, except instead of ice plates, think some kind of metal (either actual metallic in appearance or painted/lacquered to have a color a la historical armors):

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Stalhrim#Stalhrim_Light_Armor
http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Stalhrim#Stalhrim_Heavy_Armor

I guess you have the "real" answer, which is breastplate plus stuff.
Then you have the "just roll with whatever armor and reflavor it" which is what 99% of people do if they want special armor.
---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

More of my RPG musings that are probably mostly for Shadow:

What would you call armor that is mostly either padded cloth or leather with plates of metal riveted into it as an outer layer? Not studded leather (that's mainly leather with smaller metal studs, hence the name), and not really splint mail (those tend to be metal strips rather than molded plates), and definitely not plate mail (which is generally overlapping metal plates entirely).

I'm thinking along the lines of the Stalhrim armor in Skyrim, except instead of ice plates, think some kind of metal (either actual metallic in appearance or painted/lacquered to have a color a la historical armors):

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Stalhrim#Stalhrim_Light_Armor
http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Stalhrim#Stalhrim_Heavy_Armor

That's a little overbuilt to be a gambeson, maybe it's something more like a cuir bouilli?



(Sorry to cut in shadow...)
---

Raganork posted...

@Entity13

It wound up being a mobile port after all. JP exclusive too. Shocker.

Good luck doing that pixel perfect platforming with touch controls.

Well that's a load of crap, and not entirely unexpected. "Hey, let's do a practically effortless cashgrab in the form of porting one of our classic titles to mobile. Wait, why isn't it selling well, and why are people complaining about it I don't understand their reasoning?" - Squeenix, every damn time. They had an opportunity to do right with this one, but nope.
---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

What would you call armor that is mostly either padded cloth or leather with plates of metal riveted into it as an outer layer?

Impractical? >_> The distribution of weight would be a little weird and having the rivets on the inside would likely be a bit uncomfortable unless you had a few extra layers of padding (although I guess a really thick gambeson underneath would probably work as well)

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Not studded leather (that's mainly leather with smaller metal studs, hence the name), and not really splint mail (those tend to be metal strips rather than molded plates), and definitely not plate mail (which is generally overlapping metal plates entirely).

iirc, some variations on the brigandine used exterior molded plates instead of either layered or interior.

WhiskeyDisk posted...

ParanoidObsessive posted...

More of my RPG musings that are probably mostly for Shadow:

What would you call armor that is mostly either padded cloth or leather with plates of metal riveted into it as an outer layer? Not studded leather (that's mainly leather with smaller metal studs, hence the name), and not really splint mail (those tend to be metal strips rather than molded plates), and definitely not plate mail (which is generally overlapping metal plates entirely).

I'm thinking along the lines of the Stalhrim armor in Skyrim, except instead of ice plates, think some kind of metal (either actual metallic in appearance or painted/lacquered to have a color a la historical armors):

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Stalhrim#Stalhrim_Light_Armor
http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Stalhrim#Stalhrim_Heavy_Armor

That's a little overbuilt to be a gambeson, maybe it's something more like a cuir bouilli?



(Sorry to cut in shadow...)

Not sure how functional it is, but that's some fucking beautiful armor.
---

shadowsword87 posted...

I guess you have the "real" answer, which is breastplate plus stuff.

Well, the "real" answer is that no one ever really made armor like that historically. Other options were always better for a myriad of reasons, so no one would waste the time or resources to make armor that way.

Essentially, it mostly just boils down to LOOKING cooler than historical analogues, which is why it tends to show up in RPGs, where actual practicality is a moot point. In the same sense that female warriors wear chainmail bikinis and yet have armor classes comparable to men wearing full plate armor.



shadowsword87 posted...

Then you have the "just roll with whatever armor and reflavor it" which is what 99% of people do if they want special armor.

I was mostly just wondering if there was an existing fictional term for that sort of armor, since the fantasy genre has invented fictional armor types with little to no real world providence before (like "banded mail").



WhiskeyDisk posted...

That's a little overbuilt to be a gambeson, maybe it's something more like a cuir bouilli?

Design-wise that's pretty similar, but boiled leather sort of lacks the bolt-on plate effect I was talking about. That's actually closer to a "coat of plate"/"jack of plate", where the plating is deliberately under the cloth/leather/etc as opposed to being the outer layer.

A gambeson is usually referred to as padded or quilted armor in a lot of modern fantasy contexts, and isn't that far off what I had in mind either (at least some of the thinner, more flexible designs), but only in the sense that you could theoretically bolt/strap/etc metal plates to the outside of it.

Basically sort of how a brigandine works. Except that's usually limited to just the chest plate, with the limbs and head being covered by mail. I'm sort of thinking more along the lines of a somewhat segmented brigandine (to allow for greater torso flexibility) combined with similarly constructed bracers and greaves, and with the leg and arm areas mostly covered by quilted or leather armor.

Mainly, I'm trying to think of a way to make heavier armor for a more Dex-based character like a Ranger or Rogue (though ironically, this has absolutely nothing to do with the previous Dex-based character I was brain-storming - something entirely different set me off on this track).


---

Zeus posted...

Not sure how functional it is, but that's some fucking beautiful armor.

On it's own against a Minotaur with a Greatsword...probably not ideal.

Kitted out with the right gear:



I can see potential there.
---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Mainly, I'm trying to think of a way to make heavier armor for a more Dex-based character like a Ranger or Rogue (though ironically, this has absolutely nothing to do with the previous Dex-based character I was brain-storming - something entirely different set me off on this track).

FWIW the reason the Cuir Bouilli armor came to mind is back when I was the #1 ranked Sniper in the world on PandoraSaga's NA server that was my go to chest piece...now granted my build was high Dex but Dex worked...oddly in that game so I was 2:1 str/Dex in absurdly plussed up armor.



Terrible screenshot, but it's about the best one I can find.
---

Finished Jessica Jones s2, which was pretty good although it loses any semblance of a focus at several junctures. Starting with e10 or 11, the thing just takes a weird, sloppy direction.

My favorite MCU NFI seasons so far
DD s1 > JJ s2 & IF > DD s2 > JJ s1 > Defenders & LC
---

Well... if anyone was ever worried about PF2 being too freeform, check the latest blog post.
http://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lklr?Leveling-Up

That's right, feats for specific classes that you can get. And then there is also there are extra feats for just skills.
---

Random RPG observation of the day:

D&D has a fuckton of elf subraces.

I've been thinking a lot about elves lately (at least partly because they did a video about their official 5e metaplot origins recently on D&D official YouTube channel, and because Perkins has been showing off the Shadar-Kai on Dice Camera Action over the last couple weeks), and I sort of got set off on this particular line of thinking while looking into the Terrinoth setting (ie, the setting for Runewars and Dragonholt) and how they handle races there.

It occurred to me that Tolkien theoretically has about seven "subraces" - Vanyar, Noldor, Teleri, Sindar (who are also technically Teleri), Nandor/Silvan (who are also technically Teleri), (who are technically Nandor and thus also technically Teleri - basically, nearly every elf in the entire world outside of Aman who isn't Noldor is Teleri or Avari), and the Avari (or "dark" elves" who never set out for Aman and mostly just hid in the woods near their place of "birth") - he really only sort of divides them in to two separate groupings in the context of the stories (basically, the Noldor as the "high elves" and the "lesser elves" make up 99% of named elf characters who actually interact with the world in any notable way - the Vanyar and Teleri who remain behind in Aman are pretty much uninvolved while the Avari are pretty much unimportant and utterly unnoticed, if not long dead or lost). So if you were running a Middle Earth campaign (like in Iron Crown's MERP system - Jesus, I am old), you'd basically default all PC elves to either Noldor, Sindar, or Silvan (and, in fact, I think that system did indeed boil PC elf choice down to those three). And about the only real scaling difference between them is whether or not you're one of the really ultra-sophisticated wise scholar-type high elves or one of the tree-hugging hippies.

Meanwhile The Elder Scrolls games, where something like half (if not more) the races you see in the world are elf-derived (sorry, Aldmer-derived), have about seven known subraces of elf - the Altmer (High Elves), the Bosmer (Wood Elves), the Chimer (who later become the Dunmer, or Dark Elves), the Dwemer (confusingly referred to as dwarves, but also as Deep Elves), the Falmer (Snow Elves), Maomer (Sea Elves), and the Orsimer (the Orcs, who are corrupted elves, which makes them one of the few interpretations of Orcs in fantasy that is actually pretty close to what Tolkien intended their origins to be). You can also throw in the Sinistral or "Left-Handed" Elves (though we know absolutely nothing about them, and they're supposedly all dead) and the Ayleids (who are also supposedly all dead, but who we know slightly more about, mostly because they fucked the humans who led to the Bretons and because they built most of the magical ruins in the Imperial province).

D&D, by contrast, has at least a dozen that I can actually think of, and probably more besides. There's blatantly ubiquitous Sun and Moon Elves (aka the "High Elves"), the obligatory Drow/Dark Elves, the "lesser" Wood and Wild Elves, the more obscure winged elves, merpeople elves, and lycanthrope elves of Faerun, the more esoteric Dusk and Shadow Elves who have been getting used a lot in official books lately, or the downright forgotten about Sidereal Elves (Star Elves), Deep Elves (Rockseer Elves), or Elves from Dark Sun (who are basically "Sand Elves"). And that's without bringing the Eladrin into the equation.

Meanwhile, I think D&D has maybe three dwarf subraces, tops. And halflings usually get either two or three depending on the setting. Elves VASTLY outnumber the other races when it comes to diversity (which actually works pretty well with their new origin story).


---

Also, on a related note to the above - if you were ever planning to run a setting that had "Sand Elves" in it, but didn't necessarily want to call them "Sand Elves" because you felt like that might have negative connotations due to real world racism, what might you call them?

"Desert Elves" seems like the obvious go-to, but that might feel a bit too boring. Can anyone else think of a potentially more interesting common term for them without resorting to the usual made-up word stew (like D&D referring to an elf subrace in Faerun as the Ly'tel'Quessir, because everyone loves words with extra apostrophes! Especially ones that vaguely sound Tolkien-esque without breaking copyright!). Sirocco Elves? Burning Elves? Something way cooler?

Also also, if you wanted a setting to have Snow Elves, but thought Snow Elves was too bland, could you come up with a more interesting term for them? Frost Elves? Glacial Elves? Really Freaking Cold Elves?

Also also also, if you're throwing elves into deserts and tundras and forests and down mountain caves (fuck the dwarves!) because you're out of control and no one can stop you, what other sort of biomes would you think might be cool to spawn some other elven subrace to fill them? Jungles seems like the only other obvious choice I can think of, though I could easily be missing tons of others.


---

Alas, sad days for us Dwarf enthusiasts!

As for what to call different kinds of Elves, there is something to be said for "boring", IMO.

I really don't know why there are so many, though, considering that Elves are long-lived with low birth rates and all that.
---

I_Abibde posted...

As for what to call different kinds of Elves, there is something to be said for "boring", IMO.

I really don't know why there are so many, though, considering that Elves are long-lived with low birth rates and all that.

Boring? Never!

Fruity glittersparkle Mary Sues? Possibly.



I_Abibde posted...

I really don't know why there are so many, though, considering that Elves are long-lived with low birth rates and all that.

The current explanation involves magic. The original elves as Corellon created them were apparently magical chaotic shape-shifters with no fixed form, until Lolth basically tricked them into rebelling in favor of gaining some sense of order and permanence. Then Corellon basically cursed them ALL (not just the Drow), so they were all doomed to assume a single form, losing their ability to freely adapt and change at will.

Each little elf clique basically just adapted to wherever they spent most of their time. Eladrin are the elves who stayed in the Feywild, Wood Elves are the ones who hung out in forests, etc etc etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXJ5nae4RnY" data-time="


---

Today I learned that, in spite of not having listened to "U Can't Touch This" for something like 20 years or so (give or take a couple), I apparently still remember all the lyrics to it when singing along.





And while typing this post, I was reminded of the time about 10 years ago when I won a drunken bet with some friends of mine by singing the entirety of We Didn't Start the Fire after they swore no one could do it.


---

Three things:

#1

I've never mentioned it before but I've thought about it quite a lot back when he was still on NXT (and honestly not sure if it's true now), but Baron Corbin epitomizes everything I thought was cool when I was 13 and -- perhaps as a consequence -- I find him utterly ridiculous today.

His name is utterly absurd. I'm not sure who came up with it or thought it a good idea. However, I was big on titles as a kid and unusual-sounding names. He rocks a kinda goofy goatee and longer hair, both of which I used to think were kinda cool. He has that whole "lone wolf" thing going -- including the clothing -- and the wolf was one of my favorite animals growing up and I liked the phrase but, again, it just seems kinda cringe-y. And then there's the biker look... Granted, maybe all of this things could be pulled off by somebody else whereas he always seemed to come out to the ring looking kinda scared.

#1.5 - A tangential

I only thought of Baron Corbin because I randomly recalled Enzo Amore who is by far my favorite no-talent wrestler. And I was always amused by the pairing -- they put together a tag team featuring a midget who couldn't wrestle and a giant who can't talk. (In the old days, a guy like Enzo would have stayed where he belonged -- outside the ring, as a manager -- but they don't do managers any more, which is fucking stupid.) And from when thinking about the charisma-less Big Cass, my thoughts automatically turned to Baron Corbin who traditionally has had many of the same issues.

#2

I finally watched Megamind, which was pretty good. Unfortunately I spoiled much of the film for myself by watching YT clips beforehand (as I often do); in fact, it seems like most of the clips from *any* film just cover events happening in the proverbial third-act.

Of course, the biggest surprise was that the VA for Megamind was Will Ferrell, whose voice I didn't recognize at all and whose performances are generally... well, kinda shit. I guess when you don't actually see him he's better.

It's also disappointing that Despicable Me has had 3 films and a spinoff yet Megamind is destined to never even get a sequel. (And I don't necessarily intend that as a knock on Despicable Me -- which I haven't seen -- but more a resentment that it's had a lot more popularity, probably largely based on Minions merchandising.)

#3

I started Punisher. While the first episode mostly sucks (other than the kickass takedowns at the end) and the second episode is pretty bad as well, it eventually picks up. I love the interactions between Micro and Punisher, especially I'm not that big on either by themselves.

My one major criticism is just the choppy camerawork during fights (and in general) which makes a lot of the action look non sequitur. Some of it can be a little goofy or over the top, but it looks better than some of the other MCU shows I've watched lately.

Also kinda digging Agent Orange so far, with his kinda cool creepy eye -- which I'm guessing resulted from Frank's punch in Kandahar

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Random RPG observation of the day:

D&D has a fuckton of elf subraces.

As you've observed, that seems to be a standard fantasy trope. Rather than have something be its own thing, a race is usually a derivation of human or elf. I hadn't really given it much thought *until* getting a little into the Elder Scrolls lore.
---

I am alive. Just been busy. Physical therapy and dialysis take up a lot of my time.

I did get a new kitty cat. His name is Lord Beerus, yes after the Dragonball character. O had a long debate with my wife over that name.

My older brother is still on his th death bed, and my mother has full blown dementia, so I ha e a full plate.

How are all of you doing?
---

Zeus posted...

but Baron Corbin epitomizes everything I thought was cool when I was 13 and -- perhaps as a consequence -- I find him utterly ridiculous today.

I can't say that I ever found anything about Baron Corbin cool except in the most generalized of ways, but part of what makes him especially terrible is that he kind of looks like a balding pedophile trying to look like a badass.

Like, when I think of the worst sort of stereotypes of 4channers, bronies, anime otakus, and the other sexless creeps of the Internet, the person I see in my head doesn't look entirely unlike Corbin. Then they put him in shitty-looking pants that make him look like he's wet himself, and that terrible faux-tactical biker top, and it looks like someone who should be arrested for being too close to a school, and who has to tell everyone when he moves into a new neighborhood.


---

Ultimate Deletion tonight. Will people be watching live, or catching it later on the Interwebs? Or not at all?


---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Ultimate Deletion tonight. Will people be watching live, or catching it later on the Interwebs? Or not at all?

I already missed it (I think?) and, in general, I forgot it was going to be a thing. Thanks for the heads-up, will probably catch on Hulu. My expectations are pretty low because WWE doesn't give the kind of freedom that TNA did when it comes to those gimmicks.
---

This is why I hate Pinterest
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/515521488590787366/

It's a goddamn fucking rabbit hole. Countless really neat recommendations, all of which just take a few seconds to look at and lead to countless more recommendations. Dragons, fantasy landscapes, monsters, art tutorials... blargh. I've barely ever considered drawing and it makes me want to pick up a pencil.

Oh, and literally none of it is why I went on Pinterest in the first place. It's like YT in that regard.
---

Daniel Bryan is cleared to wrestle again.

I'm excited for this because of the fantasy booking in my head.

Hopefully this has a happy ending for all of us, his family, him, and us.
---

The Wave Master posted...

Daniel Bryan is cleared to wrestle again.

I'm excited for this because of the fantasy booking in my head.

Hopefully this has a happy ending for all of us, his family, him, and us.

Meh, was never a big fan because I wasn't there at the beginning of the hype, I've never liked his look, he can't cut a great promo, etc. The one thing I did like was that he could deliver a pretty great-looking running dropkick and he could be pretty high-energy at times.
---

Zeus posted...

Meh, was never a big fan because I wasn't there at the beginning of the hype, I've never liked his look, he can't cut a great promo, etc.

This for me, more or less. It also doesn't help that I've never really been a work-rate mark as much as I was always a child of the WWF so I tend to get more out of the cartoonish/soap opera aspects of the narrative than I do the actual wrestling.

Of course, the narrative has been shit for years now, so I don't get all that much out of that these days, either.


---

The thread is slowing down again. And with SoBe MIA we can't generate a huge spike in activity just by rehashing the whole Empire vs Jedi debate or bringing up how FFVIII sucks for the umpteenth time.

And I can't think of any other odd RPG-related musings to lure Shadow out of hiding in an indignant rage, either.


---

FFXII is a terrible, terrible game, aside from Balthier (and most Vierra, not Fran).
---

I DO NOT DISAGREE WITH YOU.





Though that brings me back to my age-old eternal debate - is FFXII the worse game because it was so soul-numbingly boring that it became the first FF game I couldn't actually bring myself to finish (and which essentially guaranteed I would never buy another FF game again after 16 years of considering it my favorite franchise ever), or was FFVIII the worst game because of how it not only made me loathe the main character so much I wished I could somehow reach into the TV and repeatedly punch him in the face, but also spurred the occasional daydream about flying to Japan to beat the holy hell out of every single game developer and designer involved with creating it?

Which is the worse reaction, apathy or raw seething hatred?


---

Apathy, because it is after the hatred and comes only when shit hasn't been fixed to prevent it.
---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

The thread is slowing down again.

Kinda noticed.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

SoBe

Not sure what's that's short for?
---

My Pathfinder group met today to convert our characters to 5th Edition D&D, so there that goes. Liking 5th Edition more than I expected after all these years.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Which is the worse reaction, apathy or raw seething hatred?

Apathy, IMO. At least hatred means a game made you feel something, right?
---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

And I can't think of any other odd RPG-related musings to lure Shadow out of hiding in an indignant rage, either.

I've found a dumb space game that I can roleplay in which has been eating away a lot of my PotD time.

The last game I played my boss put a soul into my body which I could activate to spawn ghosts that attacked everything. We did it in cargo's backroom with getto surgery tools because nobody checks back there. Then we died when cybermen activated the self destruct function on the space station.
Oh yeah, and there was a virus that was going around turning people into furries.
---

Also I have 0 interest in wrestling or FFXIV.
---

What about wrassling?
---

This about wrassling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ieCjpmliSg" data-time="
---

shadowsword87 posted...

I've found a dumb space game that I can roleplay in which has been eating away a lot of my PotD time.

Starfinder, perhaps? Or White Star? Neither of the above?
---

I_Abibde posted...

shadowsword87 posted...

I've found a dumb space game that I can roleplay in which has been eating away a lot of my PotD time.

Starfinder, perhaps? Or White Star? Neither of the above?

Nah, it's a videogame called Space Station 13.

But it's one of the few games where you are actually supposed to roleplay stuff, and you can get banned for not.
---

Zeus posted...

ParanoidObsessive posted...

SoBe

Not sure what's that's short for?

The username of someone who used to post here.



I_Abibde posted...

Apathy, IMO. At least hatred means a game made you feel something, right?

Well, sure, that's the argument people always apply to art - it's supposed to make you feel something but "something" doesn't always mean "good". Art that disgusts you, or makes you uncomfortable, or angry, or whatever is still accomplishing the purpose of art.

But realistically, games aren't art (fuck all y'all, Ebert was right). Games are entertainment. And a game you loathe every second of is basically anti-entertainment - it's failed so hard at being what it's supposed to be, it's come out the opposite side into negative values.

Apathy just means the game isn't very interesting or engaging. It's a bland tapioca pudding, as opposed to a goulash made out of feces that someone has also set on fire.

Entertainment that is boring has failed to accomplish its purpose, but entertainment that is actively frustrating, annoying, and which makes you hate the people who made it has actively achieved the opposite of its purpose.



shadowsword87 posted...

Nah, it's a videogame called Space Station 13.

But it's one of the few games where you are actually supposed to roleplay stuff, and you can get banned for not.

To be fair, there are quite a few games like that online. The problem is that most people still don't RP anyway.

Though on the subject of RP-ish space sim-type games, I'm now reminded of AstroEmpires, OGame, and Lunar Wars. And by proxy, CyberNations, CyberCitizens, and all the other games in that particular online sphere that I used to play.

They were pretty fun. A shame most of the people playing them all sort of burned out and the games hemorrhaged their user-bases due to that and administrative incompetence.

It seems like only yesterday that people were recruiting like every other month or so on PotD/RI/CE/etc for new members for CyberNations.


---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Entertainment that is boring has failed to accomplish its purpose, but entertainment that is actively frustrating, annoying, and which makes you hate the people who made it has actively achieved the opposite of its purpose.

People really do have a love-or-hate relationship with Final Fantasy VIII, even almost twenty years later, it seems. I'm on the love side; it's still one of my favorite games in the series. Then again, the other two in my top three are FF2 and FF4, with FF6 sort of transcending the list, so make of my taste what you will.
---

I am doing physical therapy 3 times a week to learn to walk with my robot leg.

I'm just so busy, but I will try to post more stuff.

I did convince Oreon to download and play Fortnite. I'm a horrible brother.
---