Any gamers around here?

[WARPED]

I have a copy of Malfoy's serpent staff. And the Elder wand and the sword of Gryffindor.

Long story.

Ooo, fancy. I just have a dog named Malfoy...lost my Universal Studio wands in the two divorces Ive had so....

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Ooo, fancy. I just have a dog named Malfoy...lost my Universal Studio wands in the two divorces Ive had so....

My second wife was going to be a children's librarian and made me read the books so she could argue with an adult about them. She didn't last long enough.

[the_antithesis]

So I finally found out how to run the old Game and Watch games on my phone. Goddamn, what a set of hoops emulation is.

So, relatively recently, the lunatics behind the MAME project managed to reverse engineer the chips and dump all the ROMs for Nintendo's old Game & Watch series and various other handhelds from the 80's. They did this by decapping the chips. If that sounds like they probably destroyed vintage electronic games to figure it out, by golly, you're right. So kudos to those guys doing that. The important thing is the original game code is now preserved.

The main problem right now is the ROMs and and artwork is all loaded but a picture of the whole unit takes up too much space, so I have to hook a keyboard up to my phone and manually change the video options in each and every one. Once it's done, it'll be great, but doing this 57 times is tedious.

Also, the version of MAME for RetroArch I had to download to run these is called "Arcade MAME (current)", but I already had a "Arcade MAME (current)" and there's nothing to differentiate the two. I just need to remove the correct one, I guess.

[Hydra009]

Just now, on my usual searches through the ruins and wastes of the internet, I have sound something truly marvelous!

A Dungeons and Dragons module based on Endless Legend.  I feel like I have gone to geek heaven.

*edit - currently making a Broken Lords character - an idealistic knight in his human years, transformed with the rest of his order during the Great Dying.  While most have reluctantly turned to harvesting from commoners (which has become normalized, even sadistically over-indulged in richer cities), his knightly oath prevents him from taking the life of an innocent and thus he has had to make do with heinous criminals or enemy combatants, both of which are very scarce in the Wastes.  Unable to bear this life-without-living another second, he struck out towards unfamiliar lands rich in Endless ruins in the faint hope of one day lifting this terrible curse...

Lawful good, likely a fighter, possibly a pally.

Seriously considering the Oath of the Crown pally specialization. whose ideals are very close to his natural bearing.  Mechanically, it forces opponents to focus fire on him (a dicey proposition for one who can't heal naturally) and can restore health to allies (a Darth Plagueis sort of irony).  Definitely the most masochistic build I've ever undertaken.

[Primal]

Final Fantasy XIV is my life. I even have a shirt with an image of my character printed on it.

Aside from that, I love other Final Fantasy games, Elder Scrolls games, and anything created by Larian studios.

[Blackleaf]

Final Fantasy XIV is my life. I even have a shirt with an image of my character printed on it.

Aside from that, I love other Final Fantasy games, Elder Scrolls games, and anything created by Larian studios.

You sound like my kind of guy.

[Primal]

You sound like my kind of guy.

Are you a Final Fantasy fan?

Just remember that Rinoa and Aerith are my wives. I took them away from Cloud and Squall after destroying them in the battlefield. Those girls are off-limits. lol

[Blackleaf]

Are you a Final Fantasy fan?

Just remember that Rinoa and Aerith are my wives. I took them away from Cloud and Squall after destroying them in the battlefield. Those girls are off-limits. lol

I like most of the Final Fantasy games I've played. I forget some of their numbers, because they're different in Japan. The one with Cecil. I liked that one. People thought it was sad when Aerith died. That game killed everyone. lol

FFVI is one I've tried, but never finished. I didn't have a legitimate copy, and the ROM would abruptly stop working at some point. Now it's on Steam, but I have too many games already.

FFVII is the one that is most special to me. I grew up with that one. My cousin let me and my brother borrow his disks to play it. Remake is really good too. I'm cautiously optimistic about the future installments, since they'll be breaking away from previous canon to do their own thing. The game really starts to drag once you get into the Shinra building, both in the main campaign and the DLC.

FFX is one of the best, in my opinion, with a unique and fascinating world, interesting characters, great music, etc. The sequel was crap, though. Apparently FFX is a prequel to FFVII? They leave their planet and get to the one in the other game, I guess? Weird, but interesting.

After that, my interest in Final Fantasy died down. I tried a couple, but didn't like them. There was the one with the bunny race of people, with the open world. Couldn't get into it. Tried the one starring Lightning, felt immediately overwhelmed with the freaking weird jargon, and it didn't hold my attention.

Haven't tried the MMORPG. Heard it's good, but I don't have the time for an MMORPG right now.

[Primal]

Haven't tried the MMORPG. Heard it's good, but I don't have the time for an MMORPG right now.

That is very very understandable. Any good MMORPG is a huge time commitment.

You think X is great huh? I loved its story and characters and setting, but I really hated the linear, zero-exploration aspect of it.

I still remember many years ago when I witnessed the trailer and announcement for FFVII Remake. Although I was more an VIII fan than VII, I immediately understood what the remake meant to people all over the world. And I also knew there would be lots of videos on YouTube that would show fan reactions. It was a very special moment. I literally got teary-eyed.

I do have to admit that a massive reason I love VII Remake (and most other modern FF games) are for the insanely beautiful ladies. Aerith, Tifa, Rinoa, Quistis, Yuna, Lulu... They just look absolutely stunning.

[Blackleaf]

The Final Fantasy VII remake was basically an urban myth. When they released that tech demo, everyone lost their minds, and declared that a remake was on its way! We got Advent Children as a movie, but no game. After years and years of waiting, with no news or anything, it seemed like it was never going to happen. And why would it? Why would they go through all this trouble to modernize a game that already exists? That would be such a herculean task. Why do that when you can just rerelease the same game, with minor improvements? It makes no sense businesswise.

But then it finally got announced. News surrounding it was confusing and concerning, but it didn't kill the hype. It would have a new combat system, which was kind of like a hybrid of the original and Kingdom Hearts. No separate battle screens, the game would just jump right into battles in the game world, and the player can even use the environment to take cover. Awesome.

But the game would be split into multiple parts, yet it wouldn't be episodic. It would be multiple, full sized games that fleshed out the story more. This is where I was really concerned. I didn't know what this meant. I didn't know if they would be able to hold the general audience's attention long enough to finish the series. I didn't know how long it would take for the games to all be released (thankfully it was confirmed that parts 2 and 3 won't be too far apart in release).

Then the game came out to critical praise. But...it's not a remake. The Remake is so named because they're remaking the story. The lore is canonically changed. The characters alrered history. That was such a troll move. I think what everyone wanted and expected was just a simple remake. But then it clicked. This was brilliant. How else would they be able to hold our attention so long? Now we don't know what's going to happen. We have to play the sequels to see what happens next.

So yeah, I have mixed feelings, but I understand it. They're both giving us what we wanted and also not. It's something familiar, but something new. As a business move, it makes so much more sense than a simple remake.

[Primal]

The Final Fantasy VII remake was basically an urban myth. When they released that tech demo, everyone lost their minds, and declared that a remake was on its way! We got Advent Children as a movie, but no game. After years and years of waiting, with no news or anything, it seemed like it was never going to happen. And why would it? Why would they go through all this trouble to modernize a game that already exists? That would be such a herculean task. Why do that when you can just rerelease the same game, with minor improvements? It makes no sense businesswise.

But then it finally got announced. News surrounding it was confusing and concerning, but it didn't kill the hype. It would have a new combat system, which was kind of like a hybrid of the original and Kingdom Hearts. No separate battle screens, the game would just jump right into battles in the game world, and the player can even use the environment to take cover. Awesome.

But the game would be split into multiple parts, yet it wouldn't be episodic. It would be multiple, full sized games that fleshed out the story more. This is where I was really concerned. I didn't know what this meant. I didn't know if they would be able to hold the general audience's attention long enough to finish the series. I didn't know how long it would take for the games to all be released (thankfully it was confirmed that parts 2 and 3 won't be too far apart in release).

Then the game came out to critical praise. But...it's not a remake. The Remake is so named because they're remaking the story. The lore is canonically changed. The characters alrered history. That was such a troll move. I think what everyone wanted and expected was just a simple remake. But then it clicked. This was brilliant. How else would they be able to hold our attention so long? Now we don't know what's going to happen. We have to play the sequels to see what happens next.

So yeah, I have mixed feelings, but I understand it. They're both giving us what we wanted and also not. It's something familiar, but something new. As a business move, it makes so much more sense than a simple remake.

MAJOR, SUPER SPOILERS!! AVOID READING BENEATH UNLESS YOU KNOW THE FFVII STORY!!

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Either way, I truly feel like I missed out. I wasn't one of the kids who witnessed Aerith get slaughtered. I wanted that tragedy to have happened to me in my youth, but it didn't. My first Final Fantasy game was VIII.

And now, playing 7-Remake for the first time... I wanna see her die. I want dainty, lovely Aerith get massacred and have the game make me hate Sephiroth as much as Anime fans hated Berserk's Griffith.

Imagine that... The most beautiful, angelic young lady to give you love and kindness that was deprived of you as a virgin high schooler... Gets stabbed to death in front of your eyes...

Deliciously tragic.

[Blackleaf]

MAJOR, SUPER SPOILERS!! AVOID READING BENEATH UNLESS YOU KNOW THE FFVII STORY!!

...

...

...

Either way, I truly feel like I missed out. I wasn't one of the kids who witnessed Aerith get slaughtered. I wanted that tragedy to have happened to me in my youth, but it didn't. My first Final Fantasy game was VIII.

And now, playing 7-Remake for the first time... I wanna see her die. I want dainty, lovely Aerith get massacred and have the game make me hate Sephiroth as much as Anime fans hated Berserk's Griffith.

Imagine that... The most beautiful, angelic young lady to give you love and kindness that was deprived of you as a virgin high schooler... Gets stabbed to death in front of your eyes...

Deliciously tragic.

I suspect Aerith will not die this time. At least not the same way. It wouldn't have as much impact. They'll kill off another character instead.

For a moment, I thought Barret would be killed off, but they immediately brought him back. I have no idea what will happen next. Both Aerith and Sephiroth seem to have some idea of what is supposed to happen.

My prediction, the characters will try to change history so no one has to die, but Zack shows up and sends Cloud into an existential crisis far too early. Maybe he even becomes a villain for a while, letting Zack take his place as a playable character. Sephiroth will get the Black Materia as before, and the heroes will fight and kill him. But they can't stop the meteor. Aerith realizes she needs to sacrifice herself for the White Materia to take effect. She dies all over again, at a time we think she is safe.

[Hydra009]

Would you like to know more?

[drunkenshoe]

Guys, has anyone played Medieval Dynasty? If there was any posting I missed it.

[Hydra009]

I've been getting back into City of Heroes.  This game is my all-time favorite MMO for a couple of reasons:

1) Fantastic and positive community.  People are genuinely nice and helpful.  I've played a lot of MMOs and this one really stands out.  I think it's because of a usually older playerbase and a generally cooperative setting.

2) Character customization.  This game came out in 2004 and it has more customization options than are commonplace even to this very day  - I'm not talking about just nose and eye sliders, I'm talking about making a character with a werewolf head, pirate hat, cybernetic arms, angel wings, a leonine leg, and a peg leg, all while wearing a tux.  You can make almost any sort of character you want, within reason.  And I haven't even touched on class/abilities customization.  I've been playing for years and only played a fraction of the classes and the many possible ability combinations.  And not because it's bad or anything, there's just a lot of stuff to choose from.

3) Travel freedom - you can fly, jump, teleport, or run basically anywhere you want almost from the beginning.  Don't worry about grinding for a mount here.  You can and will leap tall buildings in a single bound, etc.  Hell, you can even cross zones easily, often, and without cost.

4) Fair loot system.  Did you contribute?  Great, here's some loot.  Use it or trade it if you want.  And almost everything you receive is useful in some way.  Squabbling over loot is unheard of here.

5) Inspirations.  I have no idea why other MMOs didn't implement this, it's so easy and useful and adds a lot of life to the game.  Basically, as you fight enemies, they often give you little potions that you can use for temporary buffs.  These buffs help your team more quickly and efficiently blow through enemies and help you tremendously during difficult boss battles.  Essentially, you're rewarded for doing well and playing the game.  It greases the wheels, so to speak.

That said, there is some weird stuff like the mothership raids (the system can't handle around 50 characters packed into a tight murderball and so the fps drops considerably and mobs are poorly visible), tracking down certain mobs or clickables on missions isn't always easy, the mechanics aren't always super intuitive (a lot of this stuff will be confusing or unclear for newbies and making builds is still somewhat a trial-and-error experience, even for seasoned players) and the LFG system could use an overhaul.  The game is still very good, it could just use somewhat of an overhaul, which is to be expected from a game from almost 20 years ago.