Universal Chat Thread

[Dragon Lord]

yeah I hear that. finding time is actually one of the things using all my time. ridiculous.

I'm all for a good jrpg but it'll take me weeks to months to finish one. and I'm sitting on sooo many with so many more coming out. Tales is going to be amazing

Please, you hardly finish RPGs that take 20-30 hours to finish. You're just god awful at actually finishing games to begin with. 

So due to the extreme difficulty in getting my hands on a PS5, I'm starting to lean more and more towards just splurging on a nice gaming PC, settling for a 3070 for now. I'll still be stuck to PS4 for Genshin, but I want to experience some upcoming games better than what I can on the PS4. Then eventually when I am able to get a PS5, I can double-dip on those games for the platinums. It'd also be nice to play Back 4 Blood on PC instead of console when it comes out as well.

[Monocle]

Please, you hardly finish RPGs that take 20-30 hours to finish. You're just god awful at actually finishing games to begin with. 

So due to the extreme difficulty in getting my hands on a PS5, I'm starting to lean more and more towards just splurging on a nice gaming PC, settling for a 3070 for now. I'll still be stuck to PS4 for Genshin, but I want to experience some upcoming games better than what I can on the PS4. Then eventually when I am able to get a PS5, I can double-dip on those games for the platinums. It'd also be nice to play Back 4 Blood on PC instead of console when it comes out as well.

you make it sound like 20-30 hours is a short amount of time. dude that's still a long time. 

Yes! plus, on PC, you can make it look even better than on ps5. plus mods that boost that stuff even more. not trying to sound like an elitist. I'm actually pretty bitter about the shortage too. Not like I was planning on getting a ps5 at launch but this nonsense with the retailers is getting beyond ridiculous. I would rather wait for a long time and no stock be released while we build it up than bits and bits here and there ONLINE WHERE PROGRAMS CAN DO THINGS NO HUMAN CAN DO.

[Dragon Lord]

I don't care about mods at all. I'm only interested in playing games the way they were intended, and modding just seems like a big waste of time. I see people who spent 100+ hours modding Skyrim, and then never even play it because they burned themselves out from the modding.

At the most, I'd use the mods for games like Left4Dead that change the character models to characters from like Kantai Collection, Azur Lane, Nekopara and such. Only thing better than killing zombies is killing zombies as a cute anime girl.

I still fully intend to get a PS5 at some point though, so I can play Genshin better. Unless MiHoYo works something out with Sony that let's use do cross-save between PS4/5 and PC, but I don't see that happening any time soon, if ever.

[Moonface]

I have never worked at a grocery department, but I do wonder are any of them full time? I kinda suspect most stores would rather just hire part timers than hire anyone full time.

There are certainly full time positions in grocery departments. I'm not sure how it is for other retailers but I do know Publix is quite hesitant on giving out those positions because they're hand is forced in giving out guaranteed wages every week, and that limits how many part time hours they can give out. I don't believe you can go into full-time right off a hire but you can definitely apply for it once you're in.

To add to both of these, Publix is definitely limited by how many full time positions can be given due to budget allowances. My grocery manager is trying to have one full timer on vacation every week in the summer so that he can give those 40 hours to other people, since vacation pay is separate from regular pay when it comes to the store budget.

Having managed a few stores, it always baffles me that these companies refuse to give out full time positions. It's normally more than just losing out on part timers. It's mainly the benefits. Aside from insurance, there's normally paid time off, sick time, etc etc. That's literally them paying someone their same weekly wage to not work.

AND I THINK THAT'S FANTASTIC. I worked my way up from part time seasonal worked hired in December, so basically I should've only worked that one month, in TJ Maxx and I killed myself and worked my way up in the company. They were very lenient with giving full time and promoting from within. Not anymore. they got bigger and those values got smaller. It just makes no sense to me to not provide those very simple benefits. One would assume that, if they're a full timer, they're one of your best workers. Why wouldn't you want to reward that? Getting full time and getting paid isn't a reward. It's the result of working. I've heard that do many times.

In England, you don't even have to be full time to get benefits such as vacation pay and sick pay. You just get it from day one, because even grocery stores don't do full and part time as a position that has differences. For the store I worked at, everyone even got paid the same wage with the incentive being that those who work better will get way more hours, and therefore no one can feel shorted by being paid less than someone else per hour. We also got 4 weeks vacation paid, and that pay was higher than our in-store pay to make us want to use vacation. My old job would actually force you to take vacations if you had too much left at the end of the fiscal year.

At the most, I'd use the mods for games like Left4Dead that change the character models to characters from like Kantai Collection, Azur Lane, Nekopara and such. Only thing better than killing zombies is killing zombies as a cute anime girl.

Probably doesn't count as a mod but the only stuff I ever got for L4D2 was community maps so I had more stuff to play. I did add mods to Isaac once but I can't remember what they were; I think mostly QoL stuff that eventually got added officially.

[ShiraNoMai]

Mods can be really fun. Plus, mods add things like randomizers, which I know you enjoy, to existing games, like Dark Souls, for example. I've heard the Cinders mods and Convergence mod for Dark Souls 3 in particular are really good.

[Dragon Lord]

I'm actually not a fan of the Dark Souls mods. I've watched a streamer by the name of LobosJR play them all. Dark Souls just isn't a game that changes much with randomizers. Even if the items and enemies are randomized, the way you play the game remains the exact same. It's not like the A Link to the Past rando, which can completely change the way you are required to play the game, forcing you to beat bosses in ways you never would normally have thought of. Dark Souls just isn't like that. I absolute adore the games, but no matter what weapon you're using, the general idea of the game play remains the same. Dodge and attack when you have an opening.

I've also watched all of the mods like Daughters of Ash, Cinders, Rekindled, etc., but I just don't like those kinds of mods. I hate mods that change the story/lore of the game. I want to play the game Fromsoft wanted to present, not an edited version by some random. So while they are interesting to watch someone else play, I would never have any interest in playing them myself.

When it comes to randomizers, I like to stick to ones that change the way I have to approach the game. The above mentioned A Link to the Past rando and Final Fantasy IV rando as well. Other randomizers I'd like to try some day are the Chrono Trigger randomizer, Illusion of Gaia Randomizer, Final Fantasy V randomizer, Final Fantasy Tactics randomizer (this one is probably one of the most brutally difficult randos I've seen). Honestly, it seems like older games are the ones where the randomizers require you to completely re-think how you play the game.

Although I haven't even touched ALttP or FFIV rando in almost a year now, just because playing them was taking away too much time from making progress in new games. Plus juggling Genshin Impact, Azur Lane, Arknights and Touhou: Lost Word along side the non-gacha games I'm playing already keeps me busy enough. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to playing another rando.

[Moonface]

You make a good point @Dragon Lord about the DS randomizers. The only extra challenge I guess they provide is dealing with enemies in areas that aren't well suited for them, like having a super large enemy in a very small area or something.

Just finished reading a very interesting comic about SpongeBob that was recently finished. It's probably one of the craziest fan comics I've ever read through but I have to say it was masterfully pulled off. XD

[Dragon Lord]

You make a good point @Dragon Lord about the DS randomizers. The only extra challenge I guess they provide is dealing with enemies in areas that aren't well suited for them, like having a super large enemy in a very small area or something.

True, but Dark Souls is the type of game where once you learn how to roll through or parry every attack in the game, you can beat any enemy in the game in any situation with any weapon. Which is the main reason why a randomizer doesn't really change the way you approach the Souls games. 

I think the only people who would find a Dark Souls randomizer to be difficult would be people who rely on hiding behind a shield in the games. It's a terrible way to play the games.

[Maniakkid25]

I think the only people who would find a Dark Souls randomizer to be difficult would be people who rely on hiding behind a shield in the games. It's a terrible way to play the games.

Ironically, I've heard critics say the exact opposite. Dark Souls is a game that is more difficult the less patient you are, so utilizing a shield and waiting for your moment can reap rewards. And as a naturally defensive player (my instinct when playing games like real-time strategy is to turtle up and bide my time), I tend to agree with those sentiments. IDK how I'd see a DS randomizer, mainly because I haven't played enough of the main game to begin with, but I can't imagine playing it would be much different due to the mechanics of the game. Like you said, it's not like Zelda where you have to get specific items to progress to certain locations. As long as you know how to deal with the specific enemies, you should be okay.

[Dragon Lord]

And I'd be willing to best most of those critics really struggled with Dark Souls.

Dark Souls is 100% about stamina management, and rolling through an attack and counter attacking requires less stamina. Blocking attacks - especially from bosses - drains much more stamina than rolling, and it's going to give you less time to attack and less attacks you can get in. Especially since a lot of boss attacks knock you back a little bit. There's many instances where rolling behind a boss on the first attack of their combo will cause the rest to miss by default, allowing you to unleash on the boss, while blocking will force you to take all of the hits, either breaking your guard and leaving you vulnerable or only leaving you enough stamina to attack once.

Then you have bosses that are pure DPS races, and being defensive and taking your time is just going to get you killed. Playing aggressively and playing recklessly are two very different things, and learning how to roll attacks and punish bosses is a much more reliable way to play the Souls games, especially when you get to Bloodborne, which is all about being aggressive as fuck (Sekiro too, I believe). Playing defensively can work on most of the trash mobs in the game, but even then, you're better off learning parry timing so you can take down some of the more troublesome ones easier (Black Knights in the first Dark Souls game being a good example).

[Maniakkid25]

Don't shields allow you to parry in the first place? And honestly, I'd rather be left with one attack than force myself into a potentially defenseless situation. Death of a thousand cuts is a tactic all on it's own.

You know what this whole discussion is reminding me of? XCOM 2 Turn Timers. The designers had a specific idea in mind when they made the XCOM reboot: taking risks is the "best" way to play. "Risks are what lead to loss and what lead to triumph," as Jake Solomon put it. But, in the first XCOM, not a lot of people played that way, because, well, there was no reason to do so. Taking unnecessary risks could leave you exposed and without a chance to recover, potentially leading to the loss of a team memeber. So, in XCOM 2, they tried to force the player to take risks, and the player response was...less than positive. That is to say, it was violently negative.

Honestly, this discussion is pointless, because whether or not a playstyle is "best", unless its a competitive environment, players are going to default to either the player that is the most fun for them, or the one most likely to bring them success. You might say that playing defensively is a terrible way to play, but other than a longer playtime, it's worked for me with minimal frustration, even with the (admittedly few) bosses and Black Knights I fought. Really, what would kill me the most are either unfamiliar bosses (i.e. I never fought them before) or field hazards, in my recollection. Then again, my defensive style is more "keep my distance" than "actively block every shot at me".

[ShiraNoMai]

Honestly, this discussion is pointless, because whether or not a playstyle is "best", unless its a competitive environment, players are going to default to either the playstyle that is the most fun for them, or the one most likely to bring them success. You might say that playing defensively  is a terrible way to play, but other than a longer playtime, it's worked for me with minimal frustration, even with the (admittedly few) bosses and Black Knights I fought. Really, what would kill me the most are either unfamiliar bosses (i.e. I never fought them before) or field hazards, in my recollection. Then again, my defensive style is more "keep my distance" than "actively block every shot at me".

Hard agree. One of my biggest pet peeves watching a livestream is seeing others "backseat" the streamer into playing "correctly". If the streamer is having fun doing it their way, why stop'em? 

My point about the randomizers with enemy randomizers is it has the chance to spawn a lot of wrong-area enemies into smaller corridors (like, large drakes or even Kalameet) and it can be hard to just roll past because they're so fucking large and in the way. The randomizer is good in that it makes the "checks" in finding the lord souls really interesting cuz they could be literally anywhere. Also the chance of you running into the correct boss at a boss encounter is very low and you could get something like a Humanity Soul thing and a DLC enemy instead of say, Ornstein and Smough.

[Moonface]

As long as the way someone plays a game doesn't negatively impact someone else (i.e. cheating in online games) then i don't worry about what they do. I might find a certain way to be bad but someone who likes that might not like the way I play, so what can ya do?

Anyway, about to go get my car serviced because it's long overdue, and then spend the day just keeping up with E3 stuff that's happening. What's everyone else planning to do with their day/weekend?

[Karo]

Probably play more Dead By Daylight the resident evil update coming out Tuesday so I'm probably gonna save up BP for jill and leon over the next two days.

I'll probably play Nemesis as well but I honestly probably wont level him until I finished getting my survivor finally all perks for my mains.

[Moonface]

I thought the update was out already because of our discussion about it in your Start Screen thread. XD
How much DbD do you play daily @Karo?