Best posts made by Coin

@ThugHeaven said in Good TV:

Anybody watching American Gods on Starz? Its super weird, but in a good way. I'm enjoying the ride so far.

I digging it hardcore, yeah.

@HelloProject On the other hand, what you see as giving them too much weight can also be taken as having enough prescience to recognize something as what it could become, and acting like it.

Circa 1970s CE.

@HelloProject said in RL things I love:

@Coin I shower all the time, but I got hyper focused on a project.

Once I started biking to and from work every day I started showering twice a day, even in winter. SUPAHKLEEN.

@HelloProject said in RL Anger:

I have no idea where else to put this.

LIFEHACK: Don't open the lid of a trashcan during a heatwave in your tiny room if you're 99% sure a mouse died in it.

Or maybe just immediately throw away bags you suspect contain corpses of dead rodents. Just saying.

@Thenomain said in Date Thenomain:

@VulgarKitten said in Date Thenomain:

@Thenomain
There's too much bromance there for me to get in between.

My life is over. I regret everything.

So does your mom.

All this also reminds me of how alien it can feel to be interested in a particular subset of a culture (kwhich only get more and more specific, for example: Geek Culture > Roleplaying Games > Tabletop Roleplay > Online Roleplay > MUing). If you're two steps further in than the person you're talking with, it can be a completely incongruous conversation. Applying MU concepts with my friends who only ever got as "deep" down the proverbial Rabbit Hole as Tabletop Roleplay can be an exercise in misunderstandings; long, drawn out explanations; and awkward, anticlimactic ends to conversations because... you're just not on the same page. You're not even on the same book, even if it's maybe the same series.

Super great analogy, mine. Yup.

@WTFE said in RL Anger:

@Arkandel said in RL Anger:

@WTFE Not many people are assholes all the time, but even more importantly, almost everyone is an asshole sometimes.

Absolutely agreed.

Personally when someone acknowledges it I look at it as an admission of fault; it's not an apology - maybe that'll never come - but maybe more of a request - hey, I know I can be a jerk but I've got upsides too... is that okay?

That isn't the kind of usage I'm talking about though. I'm talking more about the people who say things like "well, I'm an asshole, but at least I admit it" or "well, I'm an asshole, but at least I know I'm one". As if knowingly being an asshole mitigates.

If I waited to hang out either here or iRL only with perfect human beings I'd be one lonely son of a bitch.

Hmm... I'm a lonely son of a bitch. Perhaps a strategy change is in order...

@Arkandel said in RL Anger:

@WTFE said in RL Anger:

That isn't the kind of usage I'm talking about though. I'm talking more about the people who say things like "well, I'm an asshole, but at least I admit it" or "well, I'm an asshole, but at least I know I'm one". As if knowingly being an asshole mitigates.

I guess that's better than being a hypocrite about it? "I'm not an asshole, I just tell it like it is".

These are equally damning statements.

My saving grace is that when I'm being an asshole I just think I'm being funny and then I cry at night after the realization dawns on me.

But I do it in private. Where I'm not bugging anyone with it.

You whiny bastards.

<.<

@Meg said in RL Anger:

I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night, and I have a quarterly (actually, like it's been half a year?) review today. I am dreading it, because I haven't been doing all that great in the last month at my job. Can I hide somewhere?

Man, I feel you on this.

@ortallus said in General Video Game Thread:

@ganymede said in General Video Game Thread:

@ortallus said in General Video Game Thread:

The games made him out to be WAY more of a lech than he was in the books.

Maybe. It's more the players, though.

Probably true. I mean, he definitely wasn't hung up about sex, but he WAS very devoted to Yennefer, in his way. Their relationship was just... complicated.

Yennefer is de hottest name. >.>

I just came here to say that.

@HelloRaptor said:

We need a better acronym for Onyx Path so it doesn't read like Original Post(er). >_>

OPP. Onyx Path Publishing.

@Glitch said in Transfer of MSB tonight: 8:00 EST:

So @Arkandel has finished setup on his machine for the transfer of MSB. To make sure everything is current, we have to bring MSB down to transfer the database. In all, I don't expect the process to take more than 30 minutes, but unforeseen circumstances being what they are, it may be longer.

How it will work:

• I bring down MSB, get a final, recent copy of the database and send it to @Arkandel.
• He loads it into his instance, we check that the data seems sound.
• I change where musoapbox.net is pointed, which usually only takes a few minutes to resolve (but can technically take up to 48 hours).
• MSB comes back up and you should all be back to posting with no noticeable difference by late this evening/tomorrow.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop them here or ping me or @Arkandel directly.

I have a question for @Arkandel:

Why are you such a boob?

@HelloRaptor
I think you're fucking with us, because I can't find it.

@Testament said in General Video Game Thread:

Goddamn that's a lot to unpack. I really did just want to come home, eat my sandwich and fall asleep. And now I have to sit here and defend my point of view.

You absolute assholes. All of you.

The problem with DA:I I find is it's story. In particular, its villain. Or lack of one(again, until Trespasser). Corypheus is little more than a cipher for the plot. That's it. The villain of DA:I is so one-dimensional that I just couldn't care. There was no investment for me. To be perfectly honest, I didn't give a shit about the ending of DA:I until that final scene between Flemeth and the Actual Villain who actually has real motivations and real reasons for being a bad guy. And the best part was if you look from a certain light, his reason are somewhat justifiable, if from an extremist standpoint. And that's compelling. That's interesting.

That's what Mass Effect 1 does so well. Goddamn did I hate Saren. The first fight with him on Virmire, he gets away before the bomb detonates, I remember being so goddamn livid. He beats me to relay gate on Illus. But it all pays off, and you have the mother of all goddamn set pieces in gaming with that charge up the Council Tower on gravity boots, with Sovereign just lurking in front of you, shooting your way past Geth and Krogan. That's memorable. That leaves an impact.

The same with Dragon Age 2. Two points really. Challenging the Arishok and when Anders blows up the Chantry. They're memorable, they have impact. I think back to DA:I and there's nothing that really comes to mind. There's no one 'Oh shit' moment. At least, not until the very very very, last two minutes. To me, it wasn't worth that. Especially when I had so little build up.

And it's insulting that I had to slog through what could be between 30 to 100+ hour(depending on how much you did or didn't do)game to get to that point. Once I came down from the "OH SHIT" moment, I realized that, "Hey, fuck this game." for doing that. Never mind the handful of plot holes that DA:I just kind of leaves wide open, even questions asked in DA2 were never actually fully answered. Just kind of, which only left me with more questions.

The Descent DLC did not do DA:I any favors by opening up a whole can of 'WTFuckery' when one really unpacks the ramifications.

The whole graphics bit I can handwave. Partially because I don't care. But if @Thenomain is gonna sit here and say that DA:O had better visuals than DA2, you're off your rocker. I mean, I really hope you're not gonna suggest that DA:O had better facial animations than DA2. Because...well, it didn't. DA:O was about one step above TES Oblivion in ranks of facial expressions. DA2 had a lot more color. Everything seemed to 'pop' out more. There was a vibrancy to the look of things that I appreciated. In DA:O things looked drag and dull. DA2 kind of almost looked cartoony to a certain degree, and well, I kind of liked that.

But when we talk about story, and I've already talked at length about my issues with DA:I, let's go ahead and look at DA2. The reality is that there was two stories. There was everything before the Arishok was killed and everything after. That point is where one story ends and the other starts, with various strands connecting side stories together. You could say that it's one long line of cause and effect, suggested by the fact that Hawke is the real villain of DA:I. Without Hawke, none of DA2 or DA:I even passes. I wonder how s/he sleeps at night, being responsible for an entire war. But that's pretty tangential right now.

DA2 was something different in storytelling according to video games. Or at least, BioWare games. Because really, most BioWare games up to that point had a particular set formula. I'm not going to list that formula, but if you've played KOTOR, ME, DA, and Jade Empire you know exactly the formula I'm talking about. Hell, I could Google image search if I really wanted to.

You know what, screw it, I will

What DA2 wanted to do, or at least tried to do, what throw this whole method into the grinder. There was middling success. Instead of travelling to those three different locations/planets/cities/whatever, with that one bonus one after the third, it kept things in one location and expanded from there. I could see an attempt at making things more scaled down and intimate. In some respects, I saw a certain amount of Fable in DA2. The idea of playing across one character's life, or at least, a large chunk of their life. This was different. Did it succeed? I think so, at least partially. It almost felt like it was trying to be a tv series instead of one long movie.

I look back at the number of various stories in DA2 and I name at least seven impactful side stories. I can't remember a one with DA:I. No, I can't remember two. Cassandra's knights getting wiped out and the fact that Varric's bow is actually named after someone named Bianca. But those are more companion stories so of course you'll remember those better.

I think there was a better message being sent with DA2 that just got lost in translation when people bring up enemy spawns with no tactics, the button mashy combat, the recycled dungeon environments, the list goes on. What I love DA2 is that it tried to do something different. It may be remembered for all it's faults, but people are far too quick to ignore the fact that it had a lot of good going for it. What it had better than other DA to date was character development. We saw characters age. Some mature, some not. We saw their lives move in their own directions while staying somewhat near your character. They weren't just tired to your hip, following behind you wherever you went. They had their own stories, and often times, you were just there to help. Most times when it came to your companions, you took a backseat. And that was cool. It's not all about you, Hawke. There are other people in this world, and life goes on, despite what you're doing. Some what to start a family, some want revenge, others want a prize, some just want to survive. Characters in DA2 felt honest, and I haven't seen that in many games.

And while I bashed on DA:I handily, I don't hate it(despite having the weakest cast, Iron Bull notwithstanding). It was perfectly suitable for what it was trying to do. I did like the weapon crafting, I will say that. It just wasn't memorable. And that's where DA2 shines.

And that's the problem with saying that DA2 is a good game. Because you can't really review something that's 'memorable' or 'intimate'. These are intangible descriptors. Does saying that I think DA2 was more emotive and provacative make DA:I less so? I don't know. I'm sure it's different for someone else.

The point here isn't going to sit here and try to change opinions. Good fuck, I stopped trying to change opinions years ago. I suppose explaining why I like something more than another thing doesn't invaldiate the other thing. I like them both perfectly, just one I happen to enjoy more.

EDIT: Also, Merril is a fucking idiot. Don't get me wrong, I like her, but goddamn is she an idiot. Yeah, let's consort with demons. Nothing ever went wrong there.

Some one has an opinion.

@Arkandel would never make me a mod because putting up a united front is too much like agreeing with me and he experiences physical pain when that happens.

@Faceless said:

All you'll be able to see is roughly the upper half of the head. Search for that.

Yeah, this one is less 'ninja' and more 'hiding behind a rock'. The other one @HelloRaptor posted was more wowza.

@Thenomain said in General Video Game Thread:

@Sparks said in General Video Game Thread:

@Sparks said in General Video Game Thread:

I enjoy the DA games greatly, but there's little question which BioWare franchise truly owns my heart.

...as attested to by the fact that my housemate is now listening to the Mass Effect soundtrack while she writes, and hearing that distinctive music is giving me a little dopamine hit of happiness that very other video game soundtracks—as much as I might love them—can inspire in quite the same way.

Inon Zur absolutely can write a goddamn moody piece and I still love DA2’s soundtrack because of it, but damn if the Mass Effect trilogy doesn’t nail loneliness, exploration, and struggle throughout. And The Citadel is fun throughout but still undeniably Mass Effect.

tl;dr: I Agree

—

@Coin : Fuck you for quoting the entire thing. Just saying.

—

@Testament :

Because you can't really review something that's 'memorable' or 'intimate'.

Like hell you can’t. There’s a reason I watch Movie Bob; he does this all the time.

And I talk about it with Sparks and Gany. You’re right that these are not objective (back when you said that DA2 was “objectively good”, incidentally), but a good reviewer will explain how these elements affect their review. Many do.

Also, Merril is a fucking idiot.

She is also quite brilliant. She is young. She is trying to change things. She is desperate. You can watch her pain and her change. She is a realistic character in an actual story.

DA2 has very few of these.

• Varric and his brother (really the story).
• Merrill and the mirror and her place with the elves as someone expected to lead them one day.
• Hawke’s mom. (Short but powerful.)
• Hawke’s uncle, if you’re lucky.
• Avelline coming to terms with herself.

Everything else you see little bits of. Pedo noble. Hawke’s surviving sibling. Er, the dreamshaper kid. Even Anders, who is meant to be a major npc.

I admit I don’t have time right now to read the rest of your post because you know I have mentioned at least one of your criticisms toward people who think DA:I is better than DA2, so I’m not that worried.

—

@Ganymede :

I just think that DA2’s stories were not good enough to make the game good. I can continue, but this particular thread of discussion is pretty much worn out now. I’m not trying to convince anyone DA2 is garbage, tho it’s good to see where people find love and fun in it.

—

Also: I fully feel that Citadel was the real end of the story, they just needed to finish up the plot.

Hrm?

This is awesome. You should get with @Thenomain so you can see the chargen he's written for Eldritch, among other things he's done. Especially since he's already mostly (mostly) finished Werewolf and Vampire 2E and is doing Demon.

I love this. More small games, less big fishes.

@mietze said in Tyche Banned:

@Kestrel I am aware that your discord exists, as you know, and I'm glad that it's continued from when you started it.

However, I personally prefer a forum format like this (I have tried to be part of discord communities before and even when they were nice, it my brain doesnt adapt well to keeping up.). It may very well be that more constructive conversations will happen on discord rather than boards because that's just kind of what everyone is migrating to.

The conversations may very well be more constructive but they are unlikely to be as accesible (and thus inclusive of participants) since not everyone is around at the same time. At least on a forum, you can just drop your opinion in at the end like a boss.