Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@Fragile I had no idea that was a thing. How long till we get that over in the UK I wonder 😂

@Fragile What is it exactly? Apart from the obvious, that is.

I've been watching a British Youtuber called "bald and bankrupt" for years now and he's known for travelling and vlogging across Eastern Europe. Recently he uploaded a video of him travelling across Ukraine just days before the invasion. Very worth watching if you want some insight in what it was like during those days for Ukrainians:

I don’t care too much for politics, but this is a watershed moment. It was telling that everyone in the House of Parliament was in support of the sanctions proposed against Russia.

I just don’t see how Putin thinks this will end. There’s no way he comes out on top here. The Champions League final has been been moved, both Poland & Sweden refuse to play Russia in the WC qualifiers, they will likely be cut out of Swift & so on. There’s no gain here- just mindless bloodshed.

I have to say as a German National the UK really has done well.
My country on the other hand has been sitting on its hands & send a few helmets. The latest news suggests that Scholz is about to step up.
My heart goes out to all those brave Ukrainian’s defending their homeland.

@lolwhatno it’s a weird bot created website, harvesting other sites to generate content. That’s the impression I get anyway lol

@lolwhatno you can look up AI generated content, I think it’s becoming more common and sophisticated. Not saying that really is what this is tbh but I have seen lots of sites like that before. Guess it’s just a way to make content for hits.

@lolwhatno @kyleforrester87 Clearly the site has excellent taste and has been scouting my well crafted prose to develop extraordinary content for their site. 😜

The ironic thing is that there are some actual professional level reviews posted here on the forums by several other users which would not look out of place on an authentic website. And for some reason the bot decided to post one of my ramblings on the chit-chat thread 😂. Really, really weird.

@Kairu that's actually scary bro. You getting on Gran Turismo this weekend?

@Jimmer-jammer Hey long time no speak, still waiting for that Bitches' Brew review in The Music Thread haha , I take it you were probably too distracted by Elden Ring? Saw you'd been playing that in the Hype Thread for that game. How is it so far? Harder than previous FromSoft titles? How is everything going outside of gaming?

@Jimmer-jammer Yeah good thanks, been focusing on guitar but might get Elden Ring soon. Apparently it's much harder than other Souls games though? so I'm wary of buying it yet for now.

@TheBrandedSwordsman hey man, although you weren’t speaking to me I just thought I’d chip in with the fact that I’ve actually heard that although it’s still a challenge, Elden Ring is supposedly the easiest of the From soft ‘souls’ games. I’m starting it on Wednesday and can’t wait!

@lolwhatno well… and punishment for the organisation that caused death(s) through what I’d assume would be negligence. If organisations weren’t made to pay money for negligent deaths at their hands… there would simply be far more deaths as a result of their negligence moving forwards.

@lolwhatno For whatever reason, devs from Guerrilla and Ubisoft have decided to have a pile on about how Elden Ring is actually badly designed and their games are better. Hence the image going about of what would happen if Ubisoft designed Elden Ring. It all just smacks of pettiness to be honest. Devs should be happy for each others’ success, not taking pot shots at each other.

@lolwhatno That’s fair enough for them to speak out about these things if they believe that they been unfairly knocked down for them. They are only defending their respective products and things like UX / quests and even performance can be very subjective.

@lolwhatno Tbf I’ve not played BF2042 so that could very well be awful. It’s probably hard not to be defensive about your work though, especially as in some cases there have been direct comparisons drawn. All these works are based on different requirements though so ubi and guerrilla will have tried to make their games as accessible as possible, where as From will not really have had that pressure.

What ever happened to @AlexStinton?

@lolwhatno Yeah, interesting article there. Although I completely agree that other developers taking potshots at Elden Ring smacks of jealousy and comes off as childish and whiney, and I really don’t agree with it. But I would also point out that with Elden Ring, now more than ever, FromSoft is ‘playing with the big boys’. When they had niche games that sold modestly, they could get that ‘small developer’ pass and be largely ignored by the giants. Now when you get a 97 Metacritic and are No. 1 in the charts, people start to take notice and you’re measured by a different yardstick. I’m not saying that’s justified, just saying it’s the way it is. When a cute little indie game gets tons of praise, people just smile, shower compliments, and look past any weaknesses of the title. But if you’re now the critical and commercial darling of the industry then people will start to judge you with a magnifying glass and point out all your flaws.

You see it with other forms of media — movies, music, etc. Small projects are treated differently than larger ones. It’s the price of fame. It’s kinda why I see some logic when celebrities are unfortunately harassed by reporters, critics, and the paparazzi. When you’re a big star, you kinda signed up for this, ya know. Lots of people would trade places with them in a second. Doesn’t excuse idiots being idiots, or death threats and horrible behavior like that, but if you’re a politician, people will pick apart your voting history; if you’re a supermodel, people will take note if you get wrinkles; if you’re a star football player, people will freak out when you make bad game time decisions, etc, etc.

Edit: And I thought of another aspect of the rise in popularity of FromSoft games — I wonder if they will become a victim of their own success in the sense that players who liked being part of a non-mainstream side community will now go elsewhere to be ‘different’ and ‘edgy.’ Some people simply are deterred by playing the popular games. I must admit I find myself to look past games like COD because I think “It’s so popular, it must not be good.” 😅

@lolwhatno Yeah that’s a good point — coming from a consumer and coming from a developer are different things.
But it’s like the Academy Awards - you’re hardly ever going to see a blockbuster movie win Best Picture. And rarely do they get much recognition at all from within their own industry. I get the feeling that the Academy (which I think is made up of peers in the industry) is prone to dismiss popular titles as shallow and plebeian. The masses love things like Marvel, Star Wars, and all the Disney output, but I don’t think the filmmakers care for them. I see them as holding a grudge because their own hard work and artistic vision aren’t making near the profit that Disney makes. At least that’s the way it looks from the outside.

But you’re right, another developer should know better than to openly criticize. And Ubisoft and Guerrilla Games both have had plenty of success in their own right.

@Th3solution I worry that these devs are openly attacking the very principle of ‘more than one good game can exist at the one time’. Which the people behind Horizon of all games should absolutely understand.

@lolwhatno I think its a fair comment from other Devs. When they have their games reviewed, the 'performance' is often talked about and perhaps feel that they lost 'points' because their game didn't 'lock' to 30/60fps and yet see FromSoftware games, renown for 'poor' performance, get away with it time and time again.

When they are constantly being criticised for not delivering a consistent frame delivery and feel that is the reason the critics didn't give them the score they felt they deserved and then see games like Elden Ring get away with it, I think they are well within their rights to question things.

Its a bit like seeing your peers get promoted for doing the 'same' things that has been used against you to keep you from progressing. Its that 'Our game technically runs better, but we lost points because it wasn't 'perfect', but FromSoftware could get Game of the Year yet is 'technically' in much worse state. As far as I am concerned, any game that cannot hold a consistent frame rate on console, whether a locked 30 or 60fps, doesn't deserve 'full' marks!!