Random Thoughts.....What Are You Thinking?

Demon slayer season3 episode 8. . . Holywood should take notes.

time to level a hume male sam with long hair and put in some "mist breathing technique" macros in party chat.

The video posted last page kinda explained why FFX never need a data log though. Tidus is an outsider from a different world, so NPCs explaining things doesn't feel awkward.

It doesn't work well if MC is from the same world or didn't lose memory.

Data log is quite common in many modern games, even the ones with better stories than 13.

Personally I wouldn't judge 16's story quality based on this until the game is out. You need to read the whole thing to know tbh.

That's exactly what I said, too:
Correct, that method wouldn't work. But then you need to figure out a different or better way to tell the story. That's literally their job. That's what the $70~100 USD you're paying for this game should be covering. And that's why I'd rather take that money to a product that puts in more than the bare minimum effort.

Oh yeah. The story might be fine. It might even be great. But there's a difference between the quality of the story itself and the quality of the storytelling.

Final Fantasy XI? Great story, awful storytelling. Final Fantasy XIV? Great story, awful storytelling. Final Fantasy X? Passable story, great storytelling. Final Fantasy XIII? Passable story, abysmal storytelling.

I just find it frustrating.

Every time I hear someone buying a big AAA game, not because it's good, but because it's passable. Going out and pre-ordering the Deluxe Ultimate Premium version of the game for $200, when the experience itself has the effort of a $10 shovelware title on Steam. And all because it's got a AAA name and AAA budget attached.

But a massive budget doesn't mean massive quality. And the fact that we keep investing in these giant companies that don't reinvest in quality is absolutely trashing the entire industry. Even if XVI is above-par, it's probably not worth $70 USD. And you know for a fact Square-Enix isn't going to reinvest that money in more quality games anyway. They've said so themselves.

Same with crap like whatever Activision-Blizzard puts out. Diablo IV is going to sell like hotcakes, even if there are dozens of far better isometric dungeon-crawlers out there. And you know if you bought a game from a smaller company, they'd inject that straight back into the quality department of their next title. But A-B-K is just going to keep investing in the research and development of more psychological warfare.

But no. We're sitting here arguing that maybe FFXVI won't be that bad. Even though the director himself has said the game is going to be a hallway and the producer himself has said that the story is going to be told through data logs, the graphics look really, really cool guys!!

Could we at the very least not pre-order it and wait to see if the game is decent for more than 6 hours before funding the marketing for Symbiogenesis?

None of these make or break an arpg in my book though. I honestly care more about having tight controls, wide variety of skills and enemy types, solid progression system and if characters have depth in the writing.

Data log is in the territory of nitpicking imo. Even if there is potentially a better way to solve this problem I don't think it's on a higher priority for an arpg.

Honestly as long as the story is on par with Witcher and combat doesn't feel like cutting a pile of Tofu like witcher then it already beat a good 85% of arpg to me lol.

You're not wrong haha
Honestly I do hope it's a good game for the sake of people who are excited for it.

But there are better ways than isekai or amnesia to introduce a fictional world. The key is to make things digestible by adding characters, settings, and ideas gradually.

Anyone can come up with a cool or creative new world. The part that requires a professional writer's touch is the storytelling.

The first example that springs to my mind is Final Fantasy Tactics. It's a fictional world that the protagonist is already familiar with. Yet through careful writing, in the first few minutes they establish: his goals, his relationship with his father, brothers, sister, and best friend, the setting, the recent war, its effects on the populace and the resulting unrest, Delita's origin and ambitions, and more.

Through both dialogue and gameplay, we learn more about the world and brewing conflicts. Character relationships pivot, and that tells us a lot about stakes and motivations. We learn that Ramza's view of the world was wrong, not because a data log told us, but because interactions with other characters shifted his perspective.

Final Fantasy Tactics has an immensely layered and complex story, but the writing conveys all of it. Even if you don't necessarily grasp every layer on your first playthrough, you aren't completely lost. You know at least what's going on, why it's going on, what the stakes are, and what everyone's goals are.

All I'm saying is, if you're so desperate for a Game Of Thrones story, don't pay for a Stephenie Meyer while expecting a George R.R. Martin product.

Two weeks!

Well, we all know most people dont give twi shits for the other, but i feel like its steadly getting worse and worse by the day.

Makes me sad Wordspoken liked this... Scandinavia was always my "Ok I've had enough of this" escape-to place.

Does Finland accept US refugees? *^^*

I'm still moving to Iceland when I get the money. It has no mosquitoes, a temperate climate, and is regularly one of the happiest countries on the planet.

EDIT: Though to be fair, Canada's a pretty alright place to live too. The prairies may have extreme temperatures, but at least we're at no risk of hurricanes, earthquakes, landslides, or volcanoes. The extremely cold winters also prevent the migration of most nasty critters like venomous snakes and spiders as big as house cats.

You forgot recreational weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!

A friend immigrated there but she married a Finn to do it.

Check out inland BC. Its just north of me.

I have no mosquitos, hurricanes, earthquakes, landslides, black flies, or volcanoes. 0F (-17.7 C) happens some winters but I haven't seen -10F (-23.3 C) in my 30+ years here.

You keep your health care too.

The pros know you get your rec stuff from a dual function dispensary that also serves medical patients- trust me folks, quality is vastly better than the 1st dispo that pops up on your google search for "weed near me" ;)

No problem we play diablo IV Today, ;3

I will advise the states I've been in as they go through that transition, the mixed-purpose dispensaries often do eventually let their medical sides shrink over time, just because the profit margin for recreational is so much larger. But solely medical dispensaries, or ones philosophically dedicated to the medical side, often do just fine in keeping their focus on their patients, not their customers.

At least here in CO, the really dedicated med patients who care about organic flower and such stick to 100% medical facilities, the rec users who want quality go for the mixed dispensaries, and the tourists go to where the billboards and yelp tell them to.

(protip: Shotgun Willies is ALWAYS overpriced lmfao)

But then I'd be close enough to work that they might want me to commute. No thanks!

There are so many marijuana vendors since it was completely legalized here. Minimum one in every strip mall, more of them than McDonald's and Subway combined. You're never more than a stone's throw away from one. I honestly don't even understand how they're all still up and running with so much competition.

My Dad has his covered by veteran's affairs, so for a few months he's been experimenting with CBD oils, THC gummies, actual buds etc. Basically the doctor told him "You're allowed ____ amount per month. Take advantage. Figure out what you like, what you don't like." When he was showing me his first couple boxes of stuff he got it was like a kid on Christmas morning. Showing off all his weed stuff, made me chuckle. I was like "Where was all this when I was like 15? we could've been comparing stashes and setups!" LOL

THC sticks and gummies are alright. Doesn't match the real thing or come close but if you aren't a long term user the oils and gummies work fine. CBD is a sham though

CBD does nothing for me. Have only tried THC balms and they're sometimes... okay and other times "eh."

One time ate a gummy that was supposed to be cut into eighths or tenths, not thinking, and I was high for like two days.

We're pretty progressive, we accept refugees from pretty much anywhere.

omw brt

I’ve only lived in one of the poorer provinces in Canada and was an unofficial murder capital, but as long as one can handle the cold well, it was a good place to live.

Knowing what Terpenes are best suited for the relief you are after is a huge tool, then understanding which processes (especially for oils, concentrates, and edibles) preserve those terpenes vs burn them off also matter. Ideally, cold-pressed or water hashes preserve the most of the terpenes vs the other extreme of butane extraction which burns of almost all of them. Oh- the THC remains, which for the common recreational customer is fine- but if you're seeking real medical benefits, the answer lies in those terps.

Thankfully most of the murders are between gangs so it doesn't feel downright terrifying to live here lol

I broke off with a group of friends back in grade school that ended up assimilating into a gang afterwards. That could've been bad. My elementary school was downright pathetic.

Unofficial murder capital makes me assume you're talking about Winterpeg?

My Manitoba experience revolved around going to 2 of the teeny tiniest towns there cuz my Mom had family there. I doubt other than people that live there, anybody has heard of Dauphin or McCreary. lol

Toronto's been getting pretty bad with the crime too though

Hot take, but I'm less concerned about this kind of crime. If those idiots want to kill each other, and only each other off, go at it.

My friend, most people probably wouldn't even know what Winnipeg was if not for the several jokes from both The Simpsons and Futurama.

Everyone's heard the joke "That's it, back to Winnipeg!!", but if I tell anyone I'm from Manitoba people just stare awkwardly at me.

Peopletoba*