Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

Wow... N7 day was a little disappointing this year, but it just belatedly got a lot better. I entered their giveaway and I just got a mail telling me I won the grand prize:

So this year's N7 day suddenly ranks among the best

@FuriousMachine Noice! I do have a jumper like that, sans the N7 logo. I always refer to it as my Mass Effect jumper, but no one I know has played the games, so look at me a bit wierd.

@JohnnyShoulder I have no less than three hoodies with the N7 logo and I used to have a baseball cap that disappeared somewhere in Scotland last summer. I've gotten a lot of questions about what on earth that logo is for But the funniest thing, I also have a hoodie with duplicate prints that you can turn inside out, one side with the blue paragon symbol and the text "Paragon" on the back and one with the red renegade symbol and "Renegade" on the back. About five or six years ago I wore it when I was called out to a customer to upgrade their software and as I was refilling my coffee at the coffee machine, two guys were chatting behind me. As good Norwegians, they didn't acknowledge me, nor I them, but as I left the room, I heard one of the guys say to his friend "So, I really think I should replay the Mass Effect games again". That made me smile

@FuriousMachine Congratulations on the win! Way to make me jealous. A really sweet anecdote on the hoodie as well. Anything that inspires our fellow humans to play Mass Effect, whether for the first or second time, is a win to me! Do you remember if you were wearing it as a paragon or a renegade at the time?

@Tjuz Thanks! I can't remember, but odds are it was on the renegade side

@Th3solution I just wanted to get your thoughts on something. Hope you're well. With the rise of Wuxia and similar games inspired by Chinese mythology/culture and/or created by Chinese devs such as Where Winds Meet, Phantom Blade Zero, Swords of Legends, and the game in the link below which I recently discovered (and added to my backlog) today, would you say that the Chinese gaming scene is on the rise today? Coming up against more tried-and-true Japanese companies such as FromSoftware and Capcom? Do you think could potentially lead the future of the medium in a new direction? What are your thoughts?

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN I hadn’t heard of that Longevity Yin & Yang before. It looks good so far.

But yes, the thought occurred to me that the Chinese dev scene is really showing up and has been producing some quality content. Not sure any output can rival FromSoft or Capcom yet, but for relatively new teams I think they are doing well. Is it really going to lead the future of the medium into new a direction? I don’t think so. At least not based on what I’ve seen so far. Granted l haven’t played any of these games yet (although Phantom Blade 0 definitely has my attention and I might try Where Winds Meet since it’s free), but I think we’ve yet to really see something push the boundaries. A lot of the big games come across rather ‘samey’. The next step in the Chinese game development evolution should be to pull away and start to show a variety of games with diversity of culture, themes, art, and gameplay. No doubt they have the talent, but is the studio management going to really foster innovation?
What do you think?

@Th3solution I don't know if the studio management is really going to foster innovation either, as you, yourself, appear to wonder, but, as you say, a diversity of culture, themes ,art and gameplay could potentially pave the way towards a step forward. I think they would have to do something different from a generic or samey, as you put it, Soulslike or Action RPG, but, yeah, a lot has been done in gaming in recent years to the extent that, without implementing things like a more thorough use of AI, which has been discussed elsewhere, particularly in regard to Where Winds Meet, through the use of constantly evolving (apparently, afaik) NPC Dialogue and perhaps an evolution of NPC behaviour and quest-lines that could follow on from that, I don't know what more could be said or done, with regard to the Soulslike/Action RPGs in general within the medium. I think there is a lot of unexplored ground with regard to the Visual Novel/Walking Simulator subgenre type of thing in games, though, perhaps, such games could be spiced and peppered with incidental combat sections to mix things up a bit, or the way VR works with those type of games could be updated as well. Idk?

Some additional thoughts.
Moving back to Japanese games for a second, especially FromSoft. Miyazaki has said that he doesn't intend to direct future Souls/Soulslike games, a foreshadowing of which has already been seen by there being a different director Nightreign. I know he is directing Duskbloods, but that appears to be an experimental PvPvE title, rather than a single-player Souls game, that he and the company are traditionally known for. So my point is, with a lack of Miyazaki-helmed Souls games forthcoming, perhaps the new directors will build on that content and take it in another direction, like with the aforementioned Nightreign, for example, but ,for me, personally ,if it continues in that vein, I won't be buying furture non-Miyazaki directed Souls titles. Miyazaki has also stated that he wishes to return to the combat mechanics of Sekiro in a future game, but that obvs won't be until 2027 or 2028 at the earliest, so in the meantime these Chinese Action RPGs should sate the appetite for the time being, if they continue in the direction of evolution and innovation, as we have previously discussed.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Yeah, I look at the games like Black Myth, Lost Soul Aside, Phantom Blade 0, this Longevity, and even Where Winds Meet and I see a lot of similarities and inspiration coming from existing games. Lots of sword combat action RPG and Souls inspiration. Of course the blatant example is Light of Motiram. However there’s a real possibility that we’re not seeing some of the more diverse projects because they are taking the safest route to appeal to a Western and Japanese audience. The more experimental stuff is likely not being prepped for distribution in established markets. But it is possible that they will experiment along the edges, as you mention with the use of AI, etc.

@Vermines Well, for someone who's bad at posting on forums, posting an introduction is already more than most would do to begin with! Off to a solid start. Hope to see you around.

@Vermines I was also going to welcome you here, but your post seems to have disappeared.
Even so, you are still most welcome, though, and don't worry too much about your posts, most of us on here are also bad at posting at forums, so we're not too judgemental What I think most on here are very good at is being welcoming, civil and kind, though, so I hope you'll stick around and hang out with us!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! My family will be having a Thanksgiving dinner at grandma's house this afternoon.

🦃🍞🥔🥧

@Vermines I hope you don't find this too forward of me, but I noticed some e-mails with responses you seem to have deleted. I just wanted to say I totally understand you're overthinking everything you post right now, as presumably you're trying to make a good first impression as we all tend to do! I won't give you any spiel like "try not to be self-conscious" since I'm just a stranger on the internet who's hardly gonna change how you feel so far, but I hope that we've already been able to show you we're the open sorts around here. I speak for myself, and I think ultimately for all of us, when I say we'd happily get to know you through your takes and posts. Just be yourself and you'll fit right in no matter what. There's most likely weirder ones already among us than you could ever be (as I've learned by being around these folks for a while... though I will remit from naming names.😉)

I'd also love to hear your thoughts on The Outer Worlds 2! I saw you posted earlier today that you had finished it. I'm only just after the Paradise Island and Golden Ridge storylines myself, so I'm assuming I'm somewhat over halfway through the game. How did you get along with it overall, and do you think the best is yet to come for me?

@Vermines hey, at the end of the day, you do you… but, we’re a pretty open and accepting community and I reckon we’d all (for the most part) like to know your thoughts about things… regardless of the tldr-ness of it all. We had a real cool ‘new’ member a year or so back that was basically just one big stream-of-consciousness. We all really appreciated it and embraced it and I reckon we’d probably feel the same about your various theses if you gave us the chance 😉

@Vermines Barry Norman was the man!

@Vermines we still have Kermode at least 🙏

@Vermines Welcome to forum!

I wouldn't worry about not posting essays on the forum, I'm much the same and struggle to a cohesive sentence together most times. Each to thier own and all that jazz.

And Kim Newman, I seem to remember reading thier cult film articles in Empire mag.

@Vermines I probably have too much to say to keep it on track and make it easy to read or understand, but i'll give it a go. I have seen some of your posts with @girlversusgame and I had wrote a comment welcoming you, but deleted it as it referenced an explosive time on the website that I can't be bothered to drag up again as it brought out the worst of people's tribal instincts.

But I just want you to know that here, on the actual forum, if anyone attacks you we will defend you. I know it is only a forum, it won't change your life in any meaningful way, and I agree our country has gone to sh** in so many different ways as people are too consumed with their tribal nonsense to actually question what really, actually matters to them and their own lives as actual individuals, the things that actually affect their lives outside of their tribes and hive minds. But it is at least something, perhaps. And it is all I can really offer, other than long nonsensical comments about movies and games (and basketball), sarcasm, parody, self depricating humour, and general weird goofiness to distract from our impending dooms 😁 I may be hard to digest, for some (or all 👀) but know that if or when it gets serious (I f***ing hate when it gets serious) my core beliefs will always be to defend those who mean no harm from those that do. And this applies to all here, too.

Maybe this should have been my own introduction as I don't think I ever made one here. Some may know this or sense this about me, and despite wrapping myself up in an illusion of utter nonsense and mystery I genuinely care. People may or may not like or understand me, but that is their problem, not mine. And honestly, half the time i'd agree 😂

Also, welcome. We're all mad here so don't fear being yourself.

@Ravix I've only seen this tab once and it moved so fast to keep up. I definitely echo what you said but tend to think it can change your life in that it can sway how you think people in general might view you or your situation. Some of it can be a 'what if' in your head but some people (present company excluded) are idiots for the sake of it and their words might linger a little too long. If you can't develop a way to unburden all of that it builds up in layers and you never get out from under it. I think the nuances of language play a part in it too, things might get taken out of context or even confused but what I've seen here is that the majority of people are just people trying to get through the day in one capacity or another.

@Vermines I did leave the site for a couple of months but came to the realization that the forums and the comments section are miles apart. That realization didn't happen overnight either, it took a lot of trial and error. Which is fine if you don't let it affect you but some things naturally will, especially if you have a particular passion for something or complicated vested interest. Which you most certainly do have a passion for. Like I said earlier I stayed awake for hours last night trying to digest it all and to form some kind reference point for something most of us will never experience. I could be wrong too, there might be people who are going through the same thing and unlike you aren't brave enough to admit it. I didn't want to go off topic but I didn't know any other way to express that kind acceptance, you also gave me a lot of food for thought and a kind of respect for your situation that no book or article ever could.

@Vermines Welcome!