Cassylvania's Miserable Little Pile of Platinums

Toogie53 · February 23, 2018

17 minutes ago, Br1ste said:

@Avalynch Wow, thank you for that information. My plan was to play in offline mode since I wasn't sure if I would screw myself in Demon's Souls by playing online. I haven't really done too much research on the trophies. I've been following the guide on here as far as the order to go places so I don't miss anything, but I've been trying to play blind otherwise. I had seen you couldn't kindling a bonfire unless human, but I had read in the guide not to waste your humanity since you will need them towards the end. I have used one so far to kindling the bonfire next to the blacksmith, but that's it so far. Am I missing out by not playing online?

I don't think you are missing out by playing offline. I've played through Bloodborne and not Dark Souls. However, I think they are very similar in mechanics. In Bloodborne, when playing online the experience was mostly the same as offline. Online, I could see notes on the ground with little hints left by other players. They might say "Trap ahead" or "Fire is effective" so you have some vague idea of what's coming or what a boss is weak to etc. Also, I could ring a "Beckoning Bell" and summon people into my game to help if I was truly stuck. There was a risk in ringing the bell though because you could be invaded instead of assisted. At one point of the game, there is an enemy that rings a bell for you that only summons invaders. So you have to try and track her down quick and silence her bell before you get someone else into your game that wants to kill you. If you go offline in that section, it's safer and no big deal if they are ringing the bell. That's about the only difference in the online and offline modes.

Edited February 23, 2018 by Toogie53

Cassylvania · February 23, 2018

9 hours ago, donut_plz said:

@Cassylvania Looks like you caught up to where I am in the game. I’ll be the first to agree with you too that they are completely unnecessary and game could be beat just fine without them. I just can’t seem to wrap my head around these fluxes anyways. If you've figured them out I’d sure like to know though. ?

They're stupid. The basic idea, I think, is that you can increase the usefulness of your skills. Like, you could make your heals more powerful, increase the chances for a critical hit, etc. That sounds cool, but the problem is that it's too confusing to figure out and completely unnecessary to beat the game. I only got about 10-15 fluxes through normal gameplay, and one of the trophies requires TWO HUNDRED of them. I'm just about down grinding them out, but I have no idea how I get support fluxes. I need 10 of those for another trophy, and only got one through normal gameplay.

7 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I'm not sure if I like this one better so far. I think the graphics are 'better' than Demon's Souls, but it seems more grainy and I don't know if I like them as much. The screen is a little busier and I find myself spending a lot of time looking around to make sure I didn't miss anything. I had the same experience with God of War 3 after playing the first few games in that series. The graphics changed and I had a harder time seeing things on the screen. I also don't really like the change to magic (so far) where you have a limit on the number of times you can cast something instead of an MP pool. Storing inventory is pretty clunky as well. I haven't discovered a way to sort things yet and it's a little confusing to move items around. I do really like the bonfire idea, however I don't really understand the 'Humanity' thing or why it matters if I'm hollow or not yet. I'm only about an hour and a half in so I'm sure I'll figure this stuff out and really like the game, but my first impressions are that I'm not a huge fan of some of the changes made. I'm hoping to ring the first bell tonight but we'll see if I get sidetracked farming souls or exploring again.

Yeah, you still got a long way to go. Honestly, my first time playing Dark Souls, I couldn't even figure out how to leave Firelink Shrine. I quit playing after like an hour and didn't even get back to it until months later. Today, I think it's the best game in the series, so give it some time.

Ava hit on all of the major points. I can't exactly remember how the game plays because each game in the series (Bloodborne included) is slightly different in terms of the mechanics -- especially when it comes to death. In general, I'd play through Dark Souls in hollowed form because it's "safer" (no invasions and no penalty for dying...whereas in Dark Souls 2, your health bar gradually gets smaller each time you die). Once you're more familiar with an area, though -- like when you're ready to face to the boss -- feel free to go back into human form so that you can summon helpers (and get a better looking character for a trophy screenshot).

7 hours ago, Br1ste said:

That's the biggest downside to Trophy Hunting the JRPG's...the inevitable pointless grindy trophies. Sometimes they are fine when they are in the context of the story, but many times it is just unnecessary and really takes the enjoyment out of playing them. I mean, I guess no one has a gun to our heads making us get these trophies...but I don't understand why they put those trophies in there sometimes. I hope you got some good rest because I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Breaking Bad.

I'm actually in the process of watching Breaking Bad for the third time. The first time I watched it, I was sick in bed for a week. I knew at the time that I was watching something special, but I wasn't really able to process any of it until I got better and watched it a second time. I think it's a masterpiece and probably the best show on television, and what you pointed out before is true: almost every character becomes unlikable by the end. I think most people have a certain character that they favor (for example, I've always been on Team Hank), but I think Walt is the most interesting character. I always like to ask people who have watched the entire series, "At what point did you stop cheering for Walt?" I don't want to give away any spoilers, but there are certain parts -- especially in seasons 2 and 4 -- where I'm sure he lost a lot of fans, but there are also people who claim to be on Team Walt all the way until the final episode. I think it's really interesting that you can have a character with so many different opinions out there. Generally, I think it says a lot about a person, about how long they can tolerate and justify Walt's actions. (Which is interesting in itself, because that's what Walt spends most of the show trying to do.)

But overall, I love the show. It has such a great blend of comedy and drama. What I especially like about the comedy is that it's almost always dark, though. Like, even when something is intended to be funny, there's this ominous overtone to it, because you realize there's serious implications or consequences to what is happening on screen. It's hard to explain, but I guess a good example of it is when Walt buys the car wash. The way he treats his old boss is humorous, but, at the same time, it's not presented in a comical way, because you're seeing a darker side to Walt's character. It's actually kinda tragic. That was ESPECIALLY true for me when I was sick because I couldn't really laugh at anything, so all of the comedy in the show just bounced off me like that.

Because of that, I actually really liked The Fly episode that you hated. But I know it's the most polarizing episode and a lot of people hated it.

2 hours ago, Br1ste said:

@Avalynch Wow, thank you for that information. My plan was to play in offline mode since I wasn't sure if I would screw myself in Demon's Souls by playing online. I haven't really done too much research on the trophies. I've been following the guide on here as far as the order to go places so I don't miss anything, but I've been trying to play blind otherwise. I had seen you couldn't kindling a bonfire unless human, but I had read in the guide not to waste your humanity since you will need them towards the end. I have used one so far to kindling the bonfire next to the blacksmith, but that's it so far. Am I missing out by not playing online?

Honestly, I think you're missing out by playing online. Dark Souls is at its best when you feel you're alone. Invasions ruin that for me, I think. Plus, you can see messages and bloodstains that give you clues of where to look and traps to watch out for. That's no fun.

For your first playthrough, I recommend playing Dark Souls offline and without a guide. You can switch to online in NG+ if you want.

Briste · February 24, 2018

3 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Yeah, you still got a long way to go. Honestly, my first time playing Dark Souls, I couldn't even figure out how to leave Firelink Shrine. I quit playing after like an hour and didn't even get back to it until months later. Today, I think it's the best game in the series, so give it some time.

lol this happened to me a little bit too. I wasn't going to quit, but I couldn't find the stairs leading to the aqueduct at all. They were partially hidden by tall grass so I spent like 45 minutes roaming around getting thrashed by the skeletons. I will definitely be giving it time for me to get used to the differences. My first impressions just weren't quite as 'this is pretty cool' as they were for Demon's Souls. I have never talked to anyone that hasn't loved this series, so I'm sure I'll end up loving it.

3 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I'm actually in the process of watching Breaking Bad for the third time. The first time I watched it, I was sick in bed for a week. I knew at the time that I was watching something special, but I wasn't really able to process any of it until I got better and watched it a second time.

I've only seen it once so far and it was another show that I binged watched in like two weeks so a lot of the seasons blend together. I really want to watch it again, but my wife hates violence and anger in her TV Shows so refuses to watch it. We have a mini TV club where he best friend comes over every couple of Fridays and we watch three or four episodes of the TV show we're on. We started with Parks and Recreation, then watched Catastrophe (really funny show), watched about a season and a half of 30 Rock before they decided they didn't like it that much, about two season of Veep, which they also got bored of and now The Office. They are all pretty similar in genre and I am dying to have them watch something more edgy like a Dexter or Breaking Bad. I'll have to watch it again on my own at some point most likely.

3 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I think it's a masterpiece and probably the best show on television, and what you pointed out before is true: almost every character becomes unlikable by the end. I think most people have a certain character that they favor (for example, I've always been on Team Hank), but I think Walt is the most interesting character. I always like to ask people who have watched the entire series, "At what point did you stop cheering for Walt?" I don't want to give away any spoilers, but there are certain parts -- especially in seasons 2 and 4 -- where I'm sure he lost a lot of fans, but there are also people who claim to be on Team Walt all the way until the final episode. I think it's really interesting that you can have a character with so many different opinions out there. Generally, I think it says a lot about a person, about how long they can tolerate and justify Walt's actions. (Which is interesting in itself, because that's what Walt spends most of the show trying to do.)

Without spoilers...I think I stopped cheering for Walt when he had the opportunity to help someone in trouble, who was not in a position to help them self, and he did nothing because the result would benefit him. That's a pretty vague description, but I think you know what I'm talking about and I believe it was in season 2. I slowly started to root against him as the seasons progress because I didn't like how he was treating Jesse and I started to hate him after the incident with the plant/seed and the kid. I thought the acting and writing was superb that I could be so involved in a person who I really started to loathe. For a while, Jesse became the character I was cheering for...but he routinely couldn't get out of his own way and would do something to make me change my mind on him. Hank was a great character and I actually think that Mike may have been one of my favorite characters as well.

4 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

But overall, I love the show. It has such a great blend of comedy and drama. What I especially like about the comedy is that it's almost always dark, though. Like, even when something is intended to be funny, there's this ominous overtone to it, because you realize there's serious implications or consequences to what is happening on screen. It's hard to explain, but I guess a good example of it is when Walt buys the car wash. The way he treats his old boss is humorous, but, at the same time, it's not presented in a comical way, because you're seeing a darker side to Walt's character. It's actually kinda tragic. That was ESPECIALLY true for me when I was sick because I couldn't really laugh at anything, so all of the comedy in the show just bounced off me like that.

I agree. There definitely is not a lot of "Ha Ha" comedy but a lot of clever, dark humor that adds depth to the characters. I don't really remember any wasted lines on shtick or slapstick humor.

4 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Because of that, I actually really liked The Fly episode that you hated. But I know it's the most polarizing episode and a lot of people hated it.

I don't think I really hated that episode...I just thought it was a little boring and didn't do much to advance the narrative. Literally every episode had something interesting or crazy happen and that episode seemed to just pause the series for 45 minutes. It's probable I missed something in this episode...I mean the only point I remember being focused on was Walt's OCD when it came to his product, but like I said before, I felt that could have been shown in a 5-10 minute scene and not an entire episode. Since I watched so many episodes back to back to back, I'm sure I'm forgetting something else important from that episode that maybe I could pick up on the next watch.

Well, I'm off to Souls it for a bit before bed time...here's hoping I can beat the first boss!

Cassylvania · February 24, 2018

Platinum #101 - I Am Setsuna

Despite what I said before -- or what I made it sound like during the annoying grinding portion of the game -- I really liked this title. The music and atmosphere were great. I'm not sure how I feel about the ending, since I literally just finished the game (and I wouldn't want to reveal any spoilers anyway), but I didn't hate it. It reminds me a bit of Gone Girl, which was a fantastic movie that was held back by an ending that didn't quite feel right...and yet was necessary for the story.

I just wish the trophies were in English, because the platinum has a rather nice name.

Cassylvania · February 24, 2018

11 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Without spoilers...I think I stopped cheering for Walt when he had the opportunity to help someone in trouble, who was not in a position to help them self, and he did nothing because the result would benefit him. That's a pretty vague description, but I think you know what I'm talking about and I believe it was in season 2. I slowly started to root against him as the seasons progress because I didn't like how he was treating Jesse and I started to hate him after the incident with the plant/seed and the kid. I thought the acting and writing was superb that I could be so involved in a person who I really started to loathe. For a while, Jesse became the character I was cheering for...but he routinely couldn't get out of his own way and would do something to make me change my mind on him. Hank was a great character and I actually think that Mike may have been one of my favorite characters as well.

Yeah, those scenes are why I specifically mentioned seasons 2 and 4 as times when I suspect a lot of people got off the Walt train. I could never get on board Team Jesse because he would routinely go against all common sense. I mean, I get that he's easier to identify with than Walt, but how many times in the show did he seem to get his act together before he did something stupid? That's why I liked Hank. You always knew what you were getting with him.

Mike too. I was really liking him in Better Call Saul. I'm not sure where I left off in that show, but I really need to get back to that...

11 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I don't think I really hated that episode...I just thought it was a little boring and didn't do much to advance the narrative. Literally every episode had something interesting or crazy happen and that episode seemed to just pause the series for 45 minutes. It's probable I missed something in this episode...I mean the only point I remember being focused on was Walt's OCD when it came to his product, but like I said before, I felt that could have been shown in a 5-10 minute scene and not an entire episode. Since I watched so many episodes back to back to back, I'm sure I'm forgetting something else important from that episode that maybe I could pick up on the next watch.

I don't think anything important happened in that episode. I get what you're saying, but I like to look at the series as a whole, and I see that episode as the one that captures the essence of the entire show. It was an extremely brave thing to do (and necessary for budget reasons too, as I recall), putting together a whole episode that does nothing to advance the story, but it's what pushed Breaking Bad to the next level to me. The entire series is dripping with symbolism and metaphors, and I love that they were able to make an entire episode revolve around one of the most ridiculous things imaginable. Compare that to, say, the episode where they rob a train, which was not only ridiculous, but almost reached jumping-the-shark status. Sure, one is more exciting than the other, but the other is special, and I think that's commendable.

Speaking of commendable, I am moving the line in the sand down to FIVE ACTIVE GAMES. I know you probably still think that's a lot, but remember what I mean by "active" is simply "not at 100%." It doesn't mean I'm juggling five games at the same time. I mean, I haven't even touched three of my four "active" games this year.

What's next, you ask? Well, I definitely want to avoid any lengthy RPGs for a while. I might try to finish up Shantae's DLC. I didn't mention it before, but it's actually pretty difficult. In the DLC, you swap between Shantae's three friends (each who have their own special abilities), and essentially play through the whole game again. Bolo seems the most useful because he can dish out a lot of damage, but his grappling hook (which you need to cross big gaps) is hard to control. Rottytops is awesome, as always, but her ability to throw her head and "teleport" to wherever it lands is...gross. And Sky is the most useless of the bunch because her bird never does what I want it to. It's like, when I'm trying to construct a sentence and it keeps ending in a preposition. That's what her bird is like. A sentence preposition ending asshole.

Also, I died on Giga Mermaid like ~~ten~~ ~~fourteen~~ twenty-three times.

Edited February 24, 2018 by Cassylvania

Briste · February 24, 2018

11 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Platinum #101 - I Am Setsuna

Congrats! Another feather in your cap.

10 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Yeah, those scenes are why I specifically mentioned seasons 2 and 4 as times when I suspect a lot of people got off the Walt train. I could never get on board Team Jesse because he would routinely go against all common sense. I mean, I get that he's easier to identify with than Walt, but how many times in the show did he seem to get his act together before he did something stupid? That's why I liked Hank. You always knew what you were getting with him.

Up until that point in season 2, I felt like Walt was still a good person, doing bad things out of desperation to make sure his family was taken care of when he died. He was a good guy pretending to be Heisenberg. I think that scene was when he changed from pretending to being Heisenberg to actually being Heisenberg and really lost who he was as a person. That scene was so amazing because you could feel his inner turmoil and could actually see all of the emotions he must have been feeling. Once he made the choice to let what happened happen, it made all of his morally bankrupt decisions after that easier. By season 4, he was downright evil at times...but that's why I really liked the last season in this series. He attempts to reconcile and right some of the wrongs he was responsible for, but by that point he had done too much to completely forgive.

Team Jesse was super frustrating. I felt like Al Pacino in Godfather III where he says "Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in." (Only redeemable thing from that movie is that quote) He seemed like a genuinely good person who just made some of the dumbest decisions. Whenever I felt like, this is the time he gets it together, he would screw it up even worse than before. I wanted to cheer for him, but he made it impossible. By the end, I couldn't stand all the crying (not that he didn't have reason to) and was off team Jesse.

I liked Hank and felt like he was the only really good guy throughout...my only issue with him was that sometimes he was too much the stereotypical "mans man" for me to be completely behind him. I did think his story arc was the most tragic though...

10 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I don't think anything important happened in that episode. I get what you're saying, but I like to look at the series as a whole, and I see that episode as the one that captures the essence of the entire show. It was an extremely brave thing to do (and necessary for budget reasons too, as I recall), putting together a whole episode that does nothing to advance the story, but it's what pushed Breaking Bad to the next level to me. The entire series is dripping with symbolism and metaphors, and I love that they were able to make an entire episode revolve around one of the most ridiculous things imaginable. Compare that to, say, the episode where they rob a train, which was not only ridiculous, but almost reached jumping-the-shark status. Sure, one is more exciting than the other, but the other is special, and I think that's commendable.

That is a very interesting perspective on the episode and not something that I would have been able to really see on my own. I just remember thinking the whole episode, 'oh man, something huge is going to happen because this build up is insane.' When the episode ended I remember just wondering why I needed to see what they just showed me. I didn't really look at it in the context of the whole series, but next time I watch the series I will have to keep that in mind.

I completely agree with the train episode. I remember thinking that it was a ridiculous idea, however they were able to pull it off without it being too unbelievable so I let it slide.

10 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Speaking of commendable, I am moving the line in the sand down to FIVE ACTIVE GAMES. I know you probably still think that's a lot, but remember what I mean by "active" is simply "not at 100%." It doesn't mean I'm juggling five games at the same time. I mean, I haven't even touched three of my four "active" games this year.

lol that is very commendable if only because you are keeping your New Years resolution through the end of February. I had given up drinking soda and only made it through January before I folded (I have cut way back though to only one or two small bottles per week.) I wish I had more of a knowledge base on the games you are playing so I could partake in some discussions on those, but I have no idea about them. I'm happy we've been able to have some good participation about the Souls games so far though. For me, I only was able to play about 30 minutes last night before I had to go soothe my son who was having a nightmare. Maybe today will be the day I beat that first boss! I did get to kill a lightning demon though. It was slaughtering me when I would go in for melee attacks (it had a very long reach), however it didn't move at all if I shot it with arrows. I ended up cheesing through him with my bow by getting two shots and and dodging his lightning bolt...rinse, repeat, victory. Good luck with Shantae's DLC!

Edited February 24, 2018 by Br1ste

Cassylvania · February 24, 2018

2 hours ago, Br1ste said:

lol that is very commendable if only because you are keeping your New Years resolution through the end of February. I had given up drinking soda and only made it through January before I folded (I have cut way back though to only one or two small bottles per week.) I wish I had more of a knowledge base on the games you are playing so I could partake in some discussions on those, but I have no idea about them. I'm happy we've been able to have some good participation about the Souls games so far though. For me, I only was able to play about 30 minutes last night before I had to go soothe my son who was having a nightmare. Maybe today will be the day I beat that first boss! I did get to kill a lightning demon though. It was slaughtering me when I would go in for melee attacks (it had a very long reach), however it didn't move at all if I shot it with arrows. I ended up cheesing through him with my bow by getting two shots and and dodging his lightning bolt...rinse, repeat, victory. Good luck with Shantae's DLC!

Oh yeah, those mini-bosses are the worst. That one was fairly easy to kill because of the open area, but they get harder later in the game. Fortunately, they don't respawn when you kill them. (Demon's Souls had something similar with that ogre in 4-2.)

Well, I managed to beat Shantae's second DLC. It actually gets REALLY tough near the end, where you have to make frame-perfect jumps...or go back to the beginning of the area. But I really enjoyed it. As with all Shantae games, though, now I have to do a 100% speedrun. I think the time limit is 1 hour and 30 minutes, based on what I've been reading. I tried to find a guide for it on our sister website and then realized...I wrote the guide for HGH on PSTrophies. Guess I won't be much help.

It's okay. The DLC is about as linear as it gets, and the collectibles are (usually) right out in the open. I think I'll just do it a little at a time... Beat a level, save the game, take a break, and repeat. That's the next best thing to a game that plays itself -- a game that allows you to rest!

DARKB1KE · February 25, 2018

On 2/23/2018 at 8:18 PM, Br1ste said:

I think I stopped cheering for Walt when he had the opportunity to help someone in trouble, who was not in a position to help them self, and he did nothing because the result would benefit him.

That's interesting that you get that perspective from the scene. It's just my opinion but he did Jesse a favour, she was trash that was bringing him down. You're right that it benefited him to do so, but Jesse's better off without her. Just my opinion on it, you're allowed to have yours as well.

Edited February 25, 2018 by DARKB1KE

Briste · February 25, 2018

2 hours ago, DARKB1KE said:

That's interesting that you get that perspective from the scene. It's just my opinion but he did Jesse a favour, she was trash that was bringing him down. You're right that it benefited him to do so, but Jesse's better off without her. Just my opinion on it, you're allowed to have yours as well.

I agree that he did Jesse a favor but that wasn't the motivation for him letting that happen. I think most decent people get help in that situation no matter how much the outcome may benefit him. I think teacher Walt calls an ambulance, Heisenberg Walt let's a threat go away.

Cassylvania · February 25, 2018

3 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I agree that he did Jesse a favor but that wasn't the motivation for him letting that happen. I think most decent people get help in that situation no matter how much the outcome may benefit him. I think teacher Walt calls an ambulance, Heisenberg Walt let's a threat go away.

And that's what I was getting at before when I said that some people are able to justify Walt's actions, while others begin to see him more as a villain. And not just in that scene. Every decision Walt makes has ramifications that can make him seem good or evil, depending on your perspective. Is he a good person doing bad things, or a bad person trying to defend his actions? I think you could make an argument either way.

Myself, I personally think Walt was always a villain. I've heard the argument that if you binge watch the show, as I did, that Walt becomes "evil" too quickly. Those people say that it's better to watch one episode per week (or however it originally aired) so that it makes the change seem more gradual. I can see their point, but I don't see Walt as somebody who goes from a mild-mannered chemistry teacher to a drug lord kingpin. In my eyes, "Walt" was always the mask, while Heisenberg was the real man behind the mask. Deep down, I think we're all Heisenbergs, and we only play the role of Mr. and Mrs. Good Citizen because of society and the things we have to live for. When Walt knew he was dying, he was able to push all that aside and unleash his inner demon, and he began to embrace that role. That's why (I assume this isn't a spoiler at this point), when he finds out he's not dying, he acts the complete opposite of how any sane person should. Instead of being grateful, he's miserable, and he takes it out on the people around him. That's because the Heisenberg inside of him refuses to go away.

So maybe it's just the cynic inside of me, but I don't usually like to look at Walt as someone who slips further and further from his human side before ultimately redeeming himself, a la Darth Vader. I see him as an ultimately broken character, one who just needed an excuse to do bad, and that he spent the better part of the series trying harder and harder to justify his actions before realizing that he was full of shit.

Wow, that was dark. ANYYYWAY...

Shantae is saved! I was worried for a second there because they saved the hardest part for last. Collecting all of the squids and clearing the game in under 1:30 wasn't too bad, but there was very little room for error. The final squid was EXTREMELY annoying to get. You have to get through a very tricky platforming section as Sky, then backtrack and make a very difficult jump while ALSO landing on a moving platform, before getting back to where you were. And, of course, it's at the very end of Sky's section, so falling puts you back to the beginning of the area, while dying puts you back to the start of the level. It took me about an hour just to collect that one squid.

I couldn't find a good screenshot of that part, so here's Rotty throwing her head. And, with that, we're down to only three active games!

Oh, and having Sky dodge her bird for a full minute SUCKED.

Briste · February 26, 2018

11 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

And that's what I was getting at before when I said that some people are able to justify Walt's actions, while others begin to see him more as a villain. And not just in that scene. Every decision Walt makes has ramifications that can make him seem good or evil, depending on your perspective. Is he a good person doing bad things, or a bad person trying to defend his actions? I think you could make an argument either way.

Myself, I personally think Walt was always a villain. I've heard the argument that if you binge watch the show, as I did, that Walt becomes "evil" too quickly. Those people say that it's better to watch one episode per week (or however it originally aired) so that it makes the change seem more gradual. I can see their point, but I don't see Walt as somebody who goes from a mild-mannered chemistry teacher to a drug lord kingpin. In my eyes, "Walt" was always the mask, while Heisenberg was the real man behind the mask. Deep down, I think we're all Heisenbergs, and we only play the role of Mr. and Mrs. Good Citizen because of society and the things we have to live for. When Walt knew he was dying, he was able to push all that aside and unleash his inner demon, and he began to embrace that role. That's why (I assume this isn't a spoiler at this point), when he finds out he's not dying, he acts the complete opposite of how any sane person should. Instead of being grateful, he's miserable, and he takes it out on the people around him. That's because the Heisenberg inside of him refuses to go away.

So maybe it's just the cynic inside of me, but I don't usually like to look at Walt as someone who slips further and further from his human side before ultimately redeeming himself, a la Darth Vader. I see him as an ultimately broken character, one who just needed an excuse to do bad, and that he spent the better part of the series trying harder and harder to justify his actions before realizing that he was full of shit.

Wow, that was dark. ANYYYWAY...

I agree and disagree with you at the same time. I think that people are inherently good but that we all have the potential for evil. Each person has a different threshold that will get them to that level. I like to think that, in general, I'm a pretty good person, probably incapable of harming another individual under normal circumstances. However, if my kid was the victim of something like what that gymnastics doctor is guilty of...well I'm pretty sure I would see red and I would be willing/able to do things I wouldn't under normal circumstances. I truly think that Walt was a good person who wanted to do the right thing. There is evidence of that in how timid he was in the beginning with the hostage in the basement. He was looking for any reason to trust that guy and let him go. His motivation for everything was also making sure that his family was provided for. There is also evidence that he was a good person in the way he chooses to leave the world. He could have left Jesse for dead...after the way things ended with his family he could have burned all that money...but he was trying to make amends and fix some of the terrible he caused.

You are dead on that he was disappointed and angry when he found out he wasn't dying. I think it was because now there was no turning back. He had become Heisenberg to be strong enough to get the money to care for his family after he died and now that he was no longer dying...all the bad things he had done never needed to happen. He had ruined everything he had worked for up to that point in his life and now that there was no turning back, he embraced further the Heisenberg inside.

It's amazing all the unintended consequences that occurred because of some of the choices he made. His choice not to save the girl caused her father to reach his Heisenberg threshold and cause a plane crash, which led to even more problems for Walt. Hank's injury was an unintended consequence of the worry that Walt was causing at home.

I guess the thing that makes this show so great, is I could see how both of us are right or wrong without much effort. There is so much room for interpretation and discussion. I'm starting to get the itch to watch it again, but I want to be able to pay attention so it can't be while I'm playing Dark Souls. I am definitely going to try watching it through the lens that you did and try to see Walt as a villain throughout. It'll be interesting to see it in perhaps a whole new way.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Br1ste

Cassylvania · February 26, 2018

@Br1ste Interesting take. I can see it either way. There's a lot of room for interpretation in this show -- not just with Walt's character, but other characters, as well as all of the symbolism and foreshadowing. That's why I consider Breaking Bad a masterpiece, and Dexter...as a show that fell very far. It's a shame too, because the writers had something magical working for them through those first four seasons.

So, you're probably wondering what's next for me in the gaming world. Well, if you look at my trophy card, you'll see Aloy and I are back to our old tricks. (I also just got the reference. Aloy, alloy... like the metal. Get it?) I've been working my way through the DLC, but I'm also trying to knock out the main game trophies as well. How's that going, you ask? Well, pretty good. I got ~~eighteen~~ nineteen trophies in HZD this weekend. That leaves 12 11 DLC trophies and 7 main game trophies before the platinum! (For now, we're going to pretend that NG+ Ultra Hard trophy doesn't exist.)

It shouldn't take me long to wrap this game up. I know I said that about Setsuna last weekend, and it took me the better part of the week to get through it, but this is different. This time we aren't trying to guide a redheaded girl through a land of snow and monsters, and...oh.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Cassylvania

Dessane · February 26, 2018

1 hour ago, Cassylvania said:

So, you're probably wondering what's next for me in the gaming world. Well, if you look at my trophy card, you'll see Aloy and I are back to our old tricks. (I also just got the reference. Aloy, alloy... like the metal. Get it?) I've been working my way through the DLC, but I'm also trying to knock out the main game trophies as well. How's that going, you ask? Well, pretty good. I got ~~eighteen~~ nineteen trophies in HZD this weekend. That leaves 12 11 DLC trophies and 7 main game trophies before the platinum! (For now, we're going to pretend that NG+ Ultra Hard trophy doesn't exist.)

On the brightside from what I've read, with DLC weapons and the shieldweaver armour the NG+ on Ultra hard is super easy. I really need to get into the DLC how is it?

AJ_Radio · February 26, 2018

For someone who was once a television nut, hour long dramas have almost completely overtaken the landscape when it comes to good content. I think I have to credit The Sopranos because that was the show that really took the drama genre to the forefront with it's excellent direction, acting, storytelling and camera setup. Everything from Breaking Bad to Mr Robot should give The Sopranos a bit of respect.

Unfortunately, no matter how many of you love The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mr Robot, Game of Thrones and the dozens upon dozens of drama shows that are popular on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime among other places, I just cannot really get into the new stuff.

My favorite television isn't hour long dramas like what you guys watch, but good comedy and shows that don't take themselves all too seriously. When it comes to comedy I don't think we're anywhere near as good as we used to be when it comes to breaking ground and setting a good example for others to follow.

When George Carlin passed away and Robin Williams years later, I felt very depressed and overly emotional because I looked up to them. They were hilariously funny and yet didn't resort to toilet humor or be overly vulgar like so many comedians I see on television now. Sam Kinison, Chris Tucker (yes he did some stand up), Chris Rock, Seinfeld and Adam Sandler were all very funny.

In December 2016 I went to see a comedy show in Las Vegas. The primary guy was very hilarious and he was definitely talented at telling racist jokes. I appreciated that he wasn't afraid to be offensive and loud. Even the guys who weren't really comedians but were there to do the warmups were funnier than most of what I've seen on television in the past year.

Even the Superbowl commercials stopped being funny, and those are frankly some of the best commercials America sees all year.

Sitcoms are nothing like they used to be. We had a lot of good sitcoms in the 1990s. Married with Children, Seinfeld, Frazier, Kenan & Kel, Family Matters, Home Improvement, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Nanny, Friends, the list goes on. Every one of them was different in their own way, these days most of the sitcoms I see are all carbon copies of one another. While I don't consider Saturday Night Live and the Simpsons sitcoms, they were some of the best comedy we had during the 90s. Nobody gives a shit about those shows anymore, and it's sad. Hour long dramas have completely overtaken television as what is actually considered good.

There's good material out there especially if you're big into dramas, but as far as comedy goes I haven't found anything in the past year that has really impressed me. The sitcoms these days are more comparable to Hannah Montana, which was targeted towards children and young teenagers.

Is there anybody now who stands out as much as Steve Urkel from Family Matters? Kelsey Grammer in Frazier? Kramer from Seinfeld? Hell Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air used to give me belly laughs.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Spaz

Briste · February 26, 2018

9 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

So, you're probably wondering what's next for me in the gaming world. Well, if you look at my trophy card, you'll see Aloy and I are back to our old tricks. (I also just got the reference. Aloy, alloy... like the metal. Get it?) I've been working my way through the DLC, but I'm also trying to knock out the main game trophies as well. How's that going, you ask? Well, pretty good. I got ~~eighteen~~ nineteen trophies in HZD this weekend. That leaves 12 11 DLC trophies and 7 main game trophies before the platinum! (For now, we're going to pretend that NG+ Ultra Hard trophy doesn't exist.)

It shouldn't take me long to wrap this game up. I know I said that about Setsuna last weekend, and it took me the better part of the week to get through it, but this is different. This time we aren't trying to guide a redheaded girl through a land of snow and monsters, and...oh.

Nice job! Getting those grindy games done seems to have rejuvenated you a little bit! That backlog doesn't stand a chance at this rate Embarrassingly, I didn't get the Aloy/Alloy reference until you just pointed it out...seems kind of obvious after the fact but I still missed it. The trophies really aren't too bad to get. I can't remember anything being really frustrating. Has the story taken off for you yet? Based on your story line trophies, it seems like you are getting to the major discovery portion of the game. It was here that I really started to get into it. Do you plan to do the speed run on the Ultra Hard difficulty right away or are you going to take a break from it? If you skip all of the optional stuff I feel like you can get through it in 15-20 hours. After HZD are you tackling Dragon's Dogma or Batman or going with something brand new?

I killed the the first boss finally the other night. It really wasn't that hard, but I had to redo it a couple of times because my summon was killing off the first Gargoyle before I could cut its tail off. It really wasn't that hard. The next optional boss was annoying, if only because the area to fight him was so narrow. Once I was able to kill of the dogs though, he wasn't too hard either. I killed this enormous dragon with 9 billion teeth last night. He was a real pain for me. He killed of both of my summon's pretty quickly and then if I tried to attack him head on I'd get one-shot and when I would try to run around behind him I could only get one or to hits in before he'd move. I wasn't doing much damage, so it took like 15-20 minutes for me to beat him. I think I'm going to farm souls for a little while to beef myself up before going on.

@Spaz I agree with you that shows aren't the same anymore. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not so much. I feel like it's a quantity over quality thing now with all the channels and all the shows, there is just bound to be more crap on TV but I also feel like shows can go further than they used to. I admittedly do not watch many TV shows these days so I'm not the most knowledgeable person to speak about sitcoms today. I know that I enjoy The Middle and Modern Family, but that's about it whereas in the 80's and 90's, there were multiple shows each night that felt like "can't miss TV." I think part of the problem has been reality TV and the other part is that there are so many different mediums to get your entertainment from, that the creativity in old fashioned TV sitcoms has lagged behind. I also think that things get too preachy and political these days.

My favorite comedian right now is Anthony Jeselnik. I love his delivery and the darkness to his humor. My wife thinks he is too much, but his personality mirrors mine pretty closely (at least the personality he portrays does) and I think he's hilarious. I recently saw Mike Birbiglia do a show and he was great. I also saw Ron White a few months ago and I was really disappointed. His jokes weren't very funny or clever and he seemed to resort to the toilet humor for cheap laughs. I probably wouldn't go see him again. I'm going to see Russell Peters in a few months for the second time and he is fantastic live. His interactions with the audience let you know that he is actually funny and clever on his feet and not just a good writer.

I think there is still good stuff out there, it just takes a little more effort to find them since it's not on your basic cable channels anymore.

AJ_Radio · February 26, 2018

6 hours ago, Br1ste said:

@Spaz I agree with you that shows aren't the same anymore. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not so much. I feel like it's a quantity over quality thing now with all the channels and all the shows, there is just bound to be more crap on TV but I also feel like shows can go further than they used to. I admittedly do not watch many TV shows these days so I'm not the most knowledgeable person to speak about sitcoms today. I know that I enjoy The Middle and Modern Family, but that's about it whereas in the 80's and 90's, there were multiple shows each night that felt like "can't miss TV." I think part of the problem has been reality TV and the other part is that there are so many different mediums to get your entertainment from, that the creativity in old fashioned TV sitcoms has lagged behind. I also think that things get too preachy and political these days.

My favorite comedian right now is Anthony Jeselnik. I love his delivery and the darkness to his humor. My wife thinks he is too much, but his personality mirrors mine pretty closely (at least the personality he portrays does) and I think he's hilarious. I recently saw Mike Birbiglia do a show and he was great. I also saw Ron White a few months ago and I was really disappointed. His jokes weren't very funny or clever and he seemed to resort to the toilet humor for cheap laughs. I probably wouldn't go see him again. I'm going to see Russell Peters in a few months for the second time and he is fantastic live. His interactions with the audience let you know that he is actually funny and clever on his feet and not just a good writer.

I think there is still good stuff out there, it just takes a little more effort to find them since it's not on your basic cable channels anymore.

You should know I'm heavily biased and opinionated, so someone older than me or younger could think most of the shows I listed were just boring.

Family friendly entertainment is especially bad these days. Sitcoms are part of that category, and like you said things are just too preachy and political.

Me and my family used to watch Seinfeld and Frazier during prime time. Those early seasons were a laugh riot. Kramer is easily one of my favorite sitcom characters of all time. Steve Urkel and Carlton were up there as well. Hell, I fucking used to enjoy watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Looking back at that show, it was a lot more innocent and less preachy.

I get turned off when comedy has to resort to being as vulgar as humanly possible. Sam Kinison and Chris Rock were overly vulgar, sure, but at least they carried a unique style to their act.

Maybe it was just me growing up with a plethora of 1980s/1990s pop culture and television, but no matter how much I try to get into the new shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime, they just don't give me much satisfaction. Most Hollywood movies aimed towards children and young adults are complete crap and don't do much to satisfy the older people who may be watching. Home Alone and The Sandlot were two of my favorite childhood movies of the 1990s, and frankly in my opinion, they're far better than most of what I see coming out of Hollywood these days. They were movies that the whole family could enjoy. The John Hughes films were comedy classics of the 1980s.

I don't know. I'm just out of touch with modern television and movies.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Spaz

Cassylvania · February 26, 2018

16 hours ago, Dessane said:

On the brightside from what I've read, with DLC weapons and the shieldweaver armour the NG+ on Ultra hard is super easy. I really need to get into the DLC how is it?

It's not bad. I can't really compare it to the main game since (a) I'm playing both at the same time, and (b) it's been a few months since I last played HZD. But I heard the same thing about the DLC. In the past, I might be willing to try NG+ Ultra Hard without the advanced gear (saving those trophies for last to prove that I did it), but I don't think it's worth the challenge. I'd probably spend most of the game trying to cheese every enemy anyway. At that point, why even bother playing on the hardest difficulty?

7 hours ago, Br1ste said:

Nice job! Getting those grindy games done seems to have rejuvenated you a little bit! That backlog doesn't stand a chance at this rate Embarrassingly, I didn't get the Aloy/Alloy reference until you just pointed it out...seems kind of obvious after the fact but I still missed it. The trophies really aren't too bad to get. I can't remember anything being really frustrating. Has the story taken off for you yet? Based on your story line trophies, it seems like you are getting to the major discovery portion of the game. It was here that I really started to get into it. Do you plan to do the speed run on the Ultra Hard difficulty right away or are you going to take a break from it? If you skip all of the optional stuff I feel like you can get through it in 15-20 hours. After HZD are you tackling Dragon's Dogma or Batman or going with something brand new?

Yeah, it's a pretty good story. I'll be honest, though -- I haven't been paying much attention to the side quest stuff. Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather just enjoy the main storyline and the gameplay. This is probably a game I should've played by itself, without all the other distractions in the world (e.g. other games and real world stuff). In the future, I'm going to try to do that with all AAA titles. They deserve all of my attention.

There's no way I'm tackling Dragon's Dogface next. Maybe Batman, but I need a break from RPGs. We still have to get to Nioh, and I need to begin to plan out my Dark Souls remastered playthrough. More on that in the next paragraph.

7 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I killed the the first boss finally the other night. It really wasn't that hard, but I had to redo it a couple of times because my summon was killing off the first Gargoyle before I could cut its tail off. It really wasn't that hard. The next optional boss was annoying, if only because the area to fight him was so narrow. Once I was able to kill of the dogs though, he wasn't too hard either. I killed this enormous dragon with 9 billion teeth last night. He was a real pain for me. He killed of both of my summon's pretty quickly and then if I tried to attack him head on I'd get one-shot and when I would try to run around behind him I could only get one or to hits in before he'd move. I wasn't doing much damage, so it took like 15-20 minutes for me to beat him. I think I'm going to farm souls for a little while to beef myself up before going on.

Okay, so you killed the Bell Gargoyles (they're actually a staple in the series... you know them as the Maneater in Demon's Souls), that asshole with the dogs (pretty sure that's his real name), and the Gaping Dragon (grossest monster in the game). Are you only doing NPC summons? They do make some bosses easier. Be careful, though, because some bosses have no summons, unless you invite another player.

I'll be interested to hear where you go next. You really only have two options, and both lead to some of my favorite bosses in the game. (Also, if you didn't choose the Master Key as your starting gift, you're going to have a fun time trying to get to one of those places...)

I see you guys are back to talking about the good ol' days. I don't have much to add, but I would like to continue the conversation on a bit of a side note. I feel like most of us are around the same age, so how do you guys feel about being classified as a "millennial"? The way I understand it, the term is supposed to mean anybody born between 1984 and 2000, give or take a few years. Personally, I hate that definition (and the term -- but that's another thing). I don't know about you guys, but I was born in the mid-1980's, and my entire childhood was the 90's. I may have mentioned this previously in the chat, but I have an exact date in mind of when I reached adulthood, and that was September 11, 2001. That was a hugely important year for me for a number of reasons, but mostly because I had just started high school, I was beginning to date, and the terrorist attacks that happened on US soil just completely shattered what I now call the "bubble" of the 90's. Kids today don't understand what it was like to grow up in a pre-9/11 world. Back in the 90's, we weren't subjected to fear all the time. We knew there were problems in the world, but we never felt it. That's why, in a lot of ways, I feel completely disconnected from anybody who was born after 1996. An American child born in 1996 did NOT experience the same childhood as one born in 1986. I'm not saying that to be all, "My childhood was better than yours," just because I was born before the age of technology, but it's just not comparable. I feel a much closer connection to my brother, say, who was born in the late 70s, because the difference between 1976 and 1986 is not as big. Similarly, there's not a huge difference between being born in 1996 or 2006. That, to me anyway, is the age of technology and social media. If you were born in 1996, you had the internet, you had technology, and you were too young to be truly impacted by 9/11.

If I were drawing the lines, I'd say anybody born in the mid-70's to the early 90's is one generation (say, 1975-1995), and anybody born after 1996 is the next generation (they can be millennials, since they actually cross into the new millennium). I just struggle to think what a kid born in 1985 has in common with someone born in 1999. Those are worlds apart to me.

What do you guys think?

Edited February 26, 2018 by Cassylvania

AJ_Radio · February 27, 2018

1 hour ago, Cassylvania said:

I see you guys are back to talking about the good ol' days. I don't have much to add, but I would like to continue the conversation on a bit of a side note. I feel like most of us are around the same age, so how do you guys feel about being classified as a "millennial"? The way I understand it, the term is supposed to mean anybody born between 1984 and 2000, give or take a few years. Personally, I hate that definition (and the term -- but that's another thing). I don't know about you guys, but I was born in the mid-1980's, and my entire childhood was the 90's. I may have mentioned this previously in the chat, but I have an exact date in mind of when I reached adulthood, and that was September 11, 2001. That was a hugely important year for me for a number of reasons, but mostly because I had just started high school, I was beginning to date, and the terrorist attacks that happened on US soil just completely shattered what I now call the "bubble" of the 90's. Kids today don't understand what it was like to grow up in a pre-9/11 world. Back in the 90's, we weren't subjected to fear all the time. We knew there were problems in the world, but we never felt it. That's why, in a lot of ways, I feel completely disconnected from anybody who was born after 1996. An American child born in 1996 did NOT experience the same childhood as one born in 1986. I'm not saying that to be all, "My childhood was better than yours," just because I was born before the age of technology, but it's just not comparable. I feel a much closer connection to my brother, say, who was born in the late 70s, because the difference between 1976 and 1986 is not as big. Similarly, there's not a huge difference between being born in 1996 or 2006. That, to me anyway, is the age of technology and social media. If you were born in 1996, you had the internet, you had technology, and you were too young to be truly impacted by 9/11.

If I were drawing the lines, I'd say anybody born in the mid-70's to the early 90's is one generation (say, 1975-1995), and anybody born after 1996 is the next generation (they can be millennials, since they actually cross into the new millennium). I just struggle to think what a kid born in 1985 has in common with someone born in 1999. Those are worlds apart to me.

What do you guys think?

I was at the cutoff point. I think based on what you’ve said Cassy that you are 31 - 32 years old. I don’t know, I don’t like to ask women their ages.

Br1ste is about my sisters age (1981) and since I grew up with and love my sister I can completely relate to what he says.

I’m the youngest, but I think I’m old enough now to see where both of you are coming from.

I cling to the good good old days because I am saddened with where America has gotten to. Every day I go to work I have to hear what Donald Trump said on the news. I have to hear what the Russians are up to. I have to hear what Putin did. I have to hear the crumbling relationship between America and much of Western Europe. I have to hear all the bullshit going on at the White House and at Congress. I’m fucking sick of it.

I don’t watch the news, I don’t like it, but I have coworkers who do. These days all I see out is MSNBC, CNN and Fox News is people overreacting, crying that our government isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do, and being triggered whenever somebody offers an opinion that is against someone else’s.

Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly were the two men who ignited the whole trigger sensitivity on politics in television. Since then news for the most part is heavily opinionated. There is barely any neutral news source anymore that isn’t indie or on the internet.

National and World News aside, I have to contend with personal friends who take to Twitter and Facebook to post their personal feelings. Those websites are so bad now that I am sick and tired of them. I love my friends, but they are now in a world where the slightest difference in opinion is enough to trigger their enotions. I don’t need that bullshit. If you’re going to be that affected by what strangers say to you on the internet, then you don’t need to be on there.

Most people use social media of a means of spreading negativity. The good old days as you call them didn’t have that. The worst you got was Yahoo Chat in the 1990s when people discussed politics. Those discussions, compared to what you see today, were relatively tame.

And even when bad shit did happen, it rarely left the classroom or the house. Today? I can post a video or an image of a little kid getting abused and that’s enough to make everyone pissed off. I’ve seen plenty of this from Facebook and WorldStarHipHop, and it’s quite honestly very traumatizing.

I have an Instagram account. This girl I know on there who was born in 1996 is one of the most trigger sensitive people I’ve seen. It’s pathetic when girls like her have to openly post what a guy said to her in iPhone Messages. I understand there are guys out there who are only interested in sex, but do you have to go and make a goddamn post about it? It’s sad and wrong.

Since I’m a trophy hunter I like to follow people on YouTube who post videos on trophy hunting. I follow Rustic, KingSuperOne, TrophyHuntersGaming, Corndog698, Cornshaq Gaming, JackmoveJohnny, Stay Pationt, and Pumf Gaming, among others. Obviously I’m subscribed to Brian (PS4Trophies) and Powerpyx because who isn’t?

But unfortunately some of these people I’m subscribed to are just as trigger sensitive as my idiot friends who post their personal feelings on social media. Getting triggered by the most trivial of things and just being fucking offensive. I have had my account reviewed by three people and two of them got all triggered when I didn’t finish a certain “game”. Oh yeah, am I supposed to lose sleep because of what you think of my account? Get off your fucking high horse.

We’re both millennials technically, but I consider people born in 1993 - 1996 to be the current crop of millennials. I do my very best not to bash on one generation, but it’s disheartening to see so many young people in this day and age get triggered. It doesn’t matter if it’s politics, video games, television, movies, music, whatever. They have the belief that you should have no opinion at all unless it is in 100 percent compliance.

It’s like the PewDiePie fanboys who feel you shouldn’t have an opposing opinion. I’ve watched enough of his videos to know that his fanbase is one of the most cancerous ones out there.

It’s harsh for me to say this. But I don’t love this generation at all.

So one of the very reasons why I go back to older shows and movies is because they didn’t seem as overly offensive.

Can you truly say The Sandlot could be made in today’s culture? I don’t really think so.

A Christmas Story? Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?

The Internet is one of the most ground breaking pieces of technology which, along with computers, have helped propel society to think of exponential numbers of ways to reach out and express itself. But it is also one of the most earth shattering instances that ever happened to society and we are being torn by it.

More than ever we have kids who have trouble speaking and autism disorders are reaching new levels. People as old as their mid - late 20s have these disorders. To me, they live in fear. And it’s probably a good reason why suicides have skyrocketed in the past decade.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Spaz

Darling Baphomet · February 27, 2018

9 minutes ago, Spaz said:

I have to contend with personal friends who take to Twitter and Facebook to post their personal feelings. Those websites are so bad now that I am sick and tired of them. I love my friends, but they are now in a world where the slightest difference in opinion is enough to trigger their enotions. I don’t need that bullshit. If you’re going to be that affected by what strangers say to you on the internet, then you don’t need to be on there.

On the other hand, you're clearly extremely opinionated on this subject, and, if anything, you seem about as triggered as the people you're complaining about. Sure, whatever, posting a video of a little kid being abused will cause outrage (why is this a bad thing?) but you're similarly over reacting to a girl posting screencaps of supposed sexual harassment (again, why is this a bad thing?). Are you not "posting your feelings on social media" right now?

If you're going to complain about people being upset, you could put a *lot* more effort into not making it obvious how upset you are.

In your own words, "If you’re going to be that affected by what strangers say to you on the internet, then you don’t need to be on there."

AJ_Radio · February 27, 2018

Frankly you don’t have to respect me or like me at all, I’m just expressing how I’ve felt for a very long time.

Darling Baphomet · February 27, 2018

16 minutes ago, Spaz said:

Frankly you don’t have to respect me or like me at all, I’m just expressing how I’ve felt for a very long time.

And I'm sure that's how all the people who you're complaining about feel. The only real difference is that instead of complaining about a certain political opinion or piece of media, you're complaining about people complaining. You're clearly using this thread as a 'safe space' in which you can vent your feelings, the same way, I'm sure, most of the people you're complaining about use social media.

I made no personal comments as to how I view you. I'm simply suggesting that perhaps you evaluate how hypocritical your post comes off as.

Edited February 27, 2018 by regularegg

AJ_Radio · February 27, 2018

That’s what this thread is, and I like it for it.

Am I not supposed to talk about the going ons with sports, mass media, video games?

People complaining about people complaining happens all the time. It’s nothing new, and since I can relate to most of everyone here I follow it.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Spaz

Cassylvania · February 27, 2018

OK, let's try to keep it civil, guys. You both have valid points.

I didn't mean to imply that there's anything wrong with the ~~Tide Pod eating~~ new generation. I just don't think kids born in the late 90's have much in common with kids born in the early or mid 80's. When I was starting college and we began talking about the "younger" generation, I distinctly remember us referring to ourselves as "90s kids." That was the phrase we used, and it's the phrase I will continue to use. The word "millennial" is not something I associate with because it suggests I grew up in the age of technology, which I consider a part of my adulthood life. That's not to say anything is wrong with growing up in that time period. In fact, in many ways, I envy kids today. Having access to things like Netflix, YouTube, and Facebook would've blown my mind back in the 90's. I didn't even start hearing about Limewire until I was getting my driver's license, and I remember how amazed I was that I could listen to any song I wanted without having to buy a CD or waiting for it to air on the radio.

I'm not sure I'd want to forfeit my childhood to be a kid in modern times, but it's certainly an interesting thought.

I do think people are too sensitive in general today, but I take that with a grain of salt because I had a very different childhood than most people. I don't think most people were homeschooled or grew up with a father in the military. My childhood was extremely structured and disciplined. It was very much like, "You have one hour to yourself and then you have chores to do." And I don't mean like today, when I'm like, "OK, it's almost bedtime, so I'll just play HZD for an hour," and suddenly it's 6 am. That clock was my life. I knew where I had to be, what I had to do, and I wasn't allowed to deviate from that in the slightest. When I got out of line, I was punished. I hated every minute of it, but it helped me to grow, and my life vastly changed when 9/11 happened and that perfect bubble of the 90's finally popped.

I'll always consider myself to be a 90's kid. The music, the cartoons, the shows, the lifestyle -- it was perfect. We are the last generation to grow up before technology took over and everybody lost their freakin' minds.

So, maybe it's just me, but I consider myself, my brother (who is a few years older), and my sister (who is a few years younger) as a single generation. We all had similar childhoods, and I don't see much of a difference between us because of that. But for someone born in the late 90's? I just don't see the connection. Even my sister doesn't really get Twitter, and I don't even remember hearing about Facebook until college. We had Myspace, I guess, but I can't even remember if I had an account. Most of high school is a blur.

Oh, and I'm killing it on HZD tonight. 13 trophies to go!

AJ_Radio · February 27, 2018

46 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

OK, let's try to keep it civil, guys. You both have valid points.

I didn't mean to imply that there's anything wrong with the ~~Tide Pod eating~~ new generation. I just don't think kids born in the late 90's have much in common with kids born in the early or mid 80's. When I was starting college and we began talking about the "younger" generation, I distinctly remember us referring to ourselves as "90s kids." That was the phrase we used, and it's the phrase I will continue to use. The word "millennial" is not something I associate with because it suggests I grew up in the age of technology, which I consider a part of my adulthood life. That's not to say anything is wrong with growing up in that time period. In fact, in many ways, I envy kids today. Having access to things like Netflix, YouTube, and Facebook would've blown my mind back in the 90's. I didn't even start hearing about Limewire until I was getting my driver's license, and I remember how amazed I was that I could listen to any song I wanted without having to buy a CD or waiting for it to air on the radio.

I'm not sure I'd want to forfeit my childhood to be a kid in modern times, but it's certainly an interesting thought.

I do think people are too sensitive in general today, but I take that with a grain of salt because I had a very different childhood than most people. I don't think most people were homeschooled or grew up with a father in the military. My childhood was extremely structured and disciplined. It was very much like, "You have one hour to yourself and then you have chores to do." And I don't mean like today, when I'm like, "OK, it's almost bedtime, so I'll just play HZD for an hour," and suddenly it's 6 am. That clock was my life. I knew where I had to be, what I had to do, and I wasn't allowed to deviate from that in the slightest. When I got out of line, I was punished. I hated every minute of it, but it helped me to grow, and my life vastly changed when 9/11 happened and that perfect bubble of the 90's finally popped.

I'll always consider myself to be a 90's kid. The music, the cartoons, the shows, the lifestyle -- it was perfect. We are the last generation to grow up before technology took over and everybody lost their freakin' minds.

So, maybe it's just me, but I consider myself, my brother (who is a few years older), and my sister (who is a few years younger) as a single generation. We all had similar childhoods, and I don't see much of a difference between us because of that. But for someone born in the late 90's? I just don't see the connection. Even my sister doesn't really get Twitter, and I don't even remember hearing about Facebook until college. We had Myspace, I guess, but I can't even remember if I had an account. Most of high school is a blur.

Oh, and I'm killing it on HZD tonight. 13 trophies to go!

I understand this but talking about society and politics does trigger a lot of emotions. So yes, things got a little out of hand mostly by my own doing, but I'm merely speaking from experience. Everything I said regarding my personal friends at work and from high school is true.

The cutoff point is 1993 - 1994. Everyone born after that is a 2000s kid. Even saying those born in 1982 or 1983 to be '80s kids is a bit of a stretch because you were very young and probably don't remember much from that time. But I will say that people who are now in their 40s got the full experience of the '90s. Someone who was 12 or 13 when 1990 hit got the full experience. High School is meant for kids to grow up into adults, but that is also a time when they fondly remember the ins and outs of pop culture.

I'm surprised you didn't mention Napster. My sister was all over that and she was able to take advantage of all the songs that were supposedly "free". It hurt sales, enough to give Metallica a reason to sue Napster which led to it's demise.

I personally think far too many people overreacted over 9/11. Sure, it was terrible, thousands of people died, nobody deserved to go through that tragedy. But it was the first instance I remember where America started getting triggered over such events. Then there was the whole situation with George W. Bush making the 'War on Terrorism' headline which dominated the news feeds. We invade Iraq in 2003, Saddam Hussein is captured and later executed, and we start to take over resources. Instead of fighting for a good cause we were fighting for domination, to grab resources that we didn't deserve to get. A lot of veterans can probably tell you the entire war was pointless. I don't know if the Iraq War has anything to do with the sharp increase of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) reports, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was somehow linked to it all.

Technology is what our generation and future generations will be known for. I just feel that society is far too technology dependent. I grew up around computers so I was pretty good at navigating around Windows at a time when most kids my age didn't have a computer at all. I was technically a geek, but a significant amount of children are very reliant on technology. My four year old niece knows everything on how to use an iPhone and iPad. She can pull up her favorite kids shows with just a few clicks with the finger. That is more than what I was able to accomplish at four years old.

You had the advantage of having siblings who are only a year to two years older or younger. My sister is seven years older than me, which was quite a gap. She was a freshman in high school when I was only in the second grade. I looked up to her in many ways, one of which because she introduced me to Nintendo. When it came to what we were interested in as far as music there was a big gap. She remembers Nirvana and Soundgarden. I wasn't able to fully listen to them until much later in life, long after Kurt Cobain's death.

46 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

I'll always consider myself to be a 90's kid. The music, the cartoons, the shows, the lifestyle -- it was perfect. We are the last generation to grow up before technology took over and everybody lost their freakin' minds.

This is what I was trying to get at. Nothing is ever going to bring us back to that '90s lifestyle. That is why I went on a tirade.

Gaming is the one hobby I have never lost interest in. I've been playing games since 1992 so that's already a pretty big window of experience.

No matter how many times I've watched Home Alone, A Christmas Story, The Sandlot and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory I will always cherish these movies. I honestly don't know if film producers can make anything near those movies today, because of how technology dependent we've become.

It's more superhero movies, movies made by Michael Bay (Transformers), Zombies and Ghosts, and melodramas than anything else.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Spaz

Briste · February 27, 2018

5 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Okay, so you killed the Bell Gargoyles (they're actually a staple in the series... you know them as the Maneater in Demon's Souls), that asshole with the dogs (pretty sure that's his real name), and the Gaping Dragon (grossest monster in the game). Are you only doing NPC summons? They do make some bosses easier. Be careful, though, because some bosses have no summons, unless you invite another player.

I'll be interested to hear where you go next. You really only have two options, and both lead to some of my favorite bosses in the game. (Also, if you didn't choose the Master Key as your starting gift, you're going to have a fun time trying to get to one of those places...)

I've been following the guide on here as far as the order of places to go. Similarly to how I played Demon's Souls, I'm using the trophy guide so that I don't miss much as far as trophies when I'm going through, but I'm trying to play it blind as far as strategies etc. It seems like next up is Blighttown and the underground bell trophy. I may not get there for a couple of days though since I think I need to do a little soul grinding first. I am going to be playing offline so the only summons I will be using is the NPC ones. They definitely helped with the dragon since they kept him faced away from me until I got him down to about 50%, but then he slaughtered them both at the same time and the last 50% I was kiting him around the area until he got smashed his face on the floor. He was one ugly mother for sure. I'm starting to get into this game a little more now that I've gotten better with the melee controls and having fun with it.

5 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I see you guys are back to talking about the good ol' days. I don't have much to add, but I would like to continue the conversation on a bit of a side note.

lol fair enough! I think we have cycled back to this topic several times so far. I think continuing on is a good idea.

5 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

I feel like most of us are around the same age, so how do you guys feel about being classified as a "millennial"? The way I understand it, the term is supposed to mean anybody born between 1984 and 2000, give or take a few years. Personally, I hate that definition (and the term -- but that's another thing). I don't know about you guys, but I was born in the mid-1980's, and my entire childhood was the 90's. I may have mentioned this previously in the chat, but I have an exact date in mind of when I reached adulthood, and that was September 11, 2001. That was a hugely important year for me for a number of reasons, but mostly because I had just started high school, I was beginning to date, and the terrorist attacks that happened on US soil just completely shattered what I now call the "bubble" of the 90's. Kids today don't understand what it was like to grow up in a pre-9/11 world. Back in the 90's, we weren't subjected to fear all the time. We knew there were problems in the world, but we never felt it. That's why, in a lot of ways, I feel completely disconnected from anybody who was born after 1996. An American child born in 1996 did NOT experience the same childhood as one born in 1986. I'm not saying that to be all, "My childhood was better than yours," just because I was born before the age of technology, but it's just not comparable. I feel a much closer connection to my brother, say, who was born in the late 70s, because the difference between 1976 and 1986 is not as big. Similarly, there's not a huge difference between being born in 1996 or 2006. That, to me anyway, is the age of technology and social media. If you were born in 1996, you had the internet, you had technology, and you were too young to be truly impacted by 9/11.

I never understand how they figure out the cutoffs for this stuff. They have the 'Baby Boomers' as being from early to mid 1940's to early mid 1960's. I would think the Baby Boomers are early to mid 1940's to maybe 1955. The 'boom' was from all the returning soldiers for WWII getting busy...that phenomena was probably not in effect still in the 60's...but what do I know.

I completely agree that these generational titles should be every 10 years or so and not every 20. According to Wikipedia...I just sneak in as generation X in 1981. For me, the cutoff is probably around 1994-1996 and coincides more with the 'participation trophy' birth. I think it is too bad that people aren't allowed to feel or experience failure anymore. All of my best lesson's in life came from a time I failed or when someone told me I couldn't do something. I felt motivated to work harder and prove them wrong. These days, people aren't allowed to experience that same failure. Everyone gets a trophy and everyone is special. I think we are setting kids up for failure by not letting them experience that sometimes in life, things do not go your way and you have to bounce back. By failure, I'm referring to thinks like being cut from a sports team or not making the cast in the school play. By letting everyone do everything, I think we are going to end up killing ambition and we're truly going to be headed for a Wall-E future.

2 hours ago, Spaz said:

I personally think far too many people overreacted over 9/11. Sure, it was terrible, thousands of people died, nobody deserved to go through that tragedy. But it was the first instance I remember where America started getting triggered over such events.

I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say here. I think there are certain things that happen in life where it is ok to be 'triggered'. I was a junior in college on 9/11 and the world stopped for at least a week in the US. For many people, it was the first attack against the US on US soil since Pearl Harbor. As Cassy pointed out, we were pretty insulated from that kind of thing in the 90's. There was the Gulf War, but that had a very different feel back home than Vietnam. There was no draft. The people fighting had volunteered and I think even though there was a war going on in Iraq, nobody in the states really felt like they were in any real danger. 9/11 proved that we were emphatically not safe. My best friend was going to school at Montclair State in New Jersey on 9/11 and could see the smoke rising from his campus. I don't think any of us ever thought we would see something like that in our lifetime. I almost went to Annapolis for college. I was semi-recruited to play baseball there and my father had graduated from Annapolis. I really wanted to go there since I felt like I could use some more structure and discipline in my life and my mother pretty much forbade me from going. She didn't want me to end up in a war. I told her "Ma, it's peace time...don't worry I'm sure it'd be fine." Never in my wildest dreams did I think something like 9/11 would happen.

I think the whole 'triggered' thing is more because literally everyone in the world has a voice that can be heard through social media. People who feel a certain way about something can now more easily find one another and assemble for a cause. Unfortunately this spread in access hasn't led to more, productive discussions between people and their differences. Instead it has led to really stubborn and destructive groups that simply refuse to acknowledge anything the other side has to say. I don't know how it gets fixed to be honest.

2 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Oh, and I'm killing it on HZD tonight. 13 trophies to go!

Well done

Edited February 27, 2018 by Br1ste

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