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Post by Kaylen Aldanae on Feb 12, 2014 6:11:21 GMT
I see people logging in every day, but nothing new has been posted. So in order to get at least something out there, I started this thread for just general talky-ness.
Lately, I've been stuck with an awful cold including chest congestion and head congestion. School's been okay since I'm taking online classes this semester, and it's great because of all the Illinois snow we've been getting up here.
How's everyone else?
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Post by exicice on Feb 12, 2014 8:18:09 GMT
ha, i was just coming on here to post something new, too! glad you were thinking the same thing, and thanks for doing it! so, like, an hour after you logged off, luckyshirt logged on (of-freggin-course)... i dig the idea of a general chat thread, since obviously we have exhausted (and beaten to death (multiple times)) our puzzle/poem ideas. sucks to hear about your cold, kaylen. i really hope it clears up soon! and man, i agree - i would NOT want to be stuck driving in that weather! good intuitive call with your online classes the classes i'm taking are going well - just fun stuff. more ceramics, which i'm now really into. dirty, messy, frustrating fun. can't complain. and dance, which i love. we're on jitterbug now, then on to waltz and cha cha, i think. i'm enough semesters in that the instructor is having me lead instead of follow, which is a challenge. i like following better (way easier), but it always helps to learn all the different parts/sides/dynamics of stuff. besides that, i've been busy not solving this damn line and not finding any holes EDIT: what she said down there (insert down arrow here)
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Post by Kaylen Aldanae on Feb 12, 2014 8:30:07 GMT
Haha! Give it a few hours and the rest of the chat will pop on. Luckyshirt came on a second time after he went to go eat and him and I discussed cruise ship colds and holes and what is considered a hole and what isn't.
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Post by subjectoftowels on Feb 12, 2014 18:52:56 GMT
I'm still lurking here on the message boards but I don't have anything to contribute to the puzzle solving, so I've been staying out of the chat. XD But I miss talking with you all, so thanks for starting this thread, Kaylen!
I am not taking any kind of classes about anything! I am just working my job and trying to write some stories and having INTENSE FEELINGS about BioShock Infinite, which my girlfriend just finished playing (I'm terrible at video games, so I just watch her play them instead). My exciting life, let me show you it.
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Post by jedpeter on Feb 12, 2014 19:59:32 GMT
I am just ... having INTENSE FEELINGS about BioShock Infinite, which my girlfriend just finished playing (I'm terrible at video games, so I just watch her play them instead). My exciting life, let me show you it. I'd imagine as a watcher, you'd feel even stronger the desire I had for a simple "press A to skip to the part of this BS rote action scene where Booker has graphically, methodically and unabashedly slaughtered everyone (despite his anti-violence rhetoric) and you can then see some real story again" mechanic to be made available for us who are not Mountain-Dew-fueled-twitch gamers. Not that there's anything wrong with enjoying Mt. Dew. But I skip the Dew and just play on easy for anything where the story is sure to be more compelling than any game mechanic so as to not mess up the narrative flow with respawns and a focus on checkpoints, etc. In the end, all the fighting will pay off though. And make sure she's somewhat of a completionist for your sake if not her own so you have the benefit of fleshing out even more of the story with all (or at least most) of the voxaphones.
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Post by subjectoftowels on Feb 12, 2014 21:58:44 GMT
I am just ... having INTENSE FEELINGS about BioShock Infinite, which my girlfriend just finished playing (I'm terrible at video games, so I just watch her play them instead). My exciting life, let me show you it. I'd imagine as a watcher, you'd feel even stronger the desire I had for a simple "press A to skip to the part of this BS rote action scene where Booker has graphically, methodically and unabashedly slaughtered everyone (despite his anti-violence rhetoric) and you can then see some real story again" mechanic to be made available for us who are not Mountain-Dew-fueled-twitch gamers. Not that there's anything wrong with enjoying Mt. Dew. But I skip the Dew and just play on easy for anything where the story is sure to be more compelling than any game mechanic so as to not mess up the narrative flow with respawns and a focus on checkpoints, etc. In the end, all the fighting will pay off though. And make sure she's somewhat of a completionist for your sake if not her own so you have the benefit of fleshing out even more of the story with all (or at least most) of the voxaphones. She IS a completionist, which always works out well for me as a watcher. XD She did get most of the voxophones (missing about three or four, and two of them she found in the very beginning when she started replaying). I didn't mind Booker's violence vs. his rhetoric because what he was saying came across to me as a wish that there wasn't a need for violence, but that he would still BE violent if needed. (And in the context of Elizabeth's presence, a sort of "do as I say not as I do" thing.) But the story definitely outshone the gameplay in Infinite, no questions. And I think by the time my girlfriend got to the end I didn't care about all the gameplay and violence as the final bits of the story unfolded. But I won't say anything more so I don't spoil anyone. She's playing Burial At Sea, the DLC, now. (Although the second episode of that won't be available until March, ugh.)
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Post by exicice on Feb 12, 2014 23:09:46 GMT
NERD ALERT!!! i love it. even if i don't understand it. please, carry on!
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Post by subjectoftowels on Feb 13, 2014 2:10:24 GMT
I am a HUGE NERD; it is not even a secret. XD I just never wanted to derail the chat with my nerd talk.
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Post by exicice on Feb 13, 2014 6:52:57 GMT
oh it's derailed, my friend. and jed is loving it. and i'm sure you're not the only two. it's great! EDIT: to clarify, i suck at video games also, but like subjectoftowels, i do love watching! since pre-myst days. i have to convice people that, yes, i really am entertaining watching other people play, but i love you can understand that!
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Post by jedpeter on Feb 13, 2014 9:18:39 GMT
This thread began off the rails on purpose. I like Ben Kuchera's (formerly of Ars Technica, then Penny Arcade Report, now at Polygon - www.polygon.com/2014/2/3/5373708/forcing-players-to-wait-is-one-of-the-best-weapons-of-the-wolf-among) take on episodic content. Though this thread was supposed to be about all things non-FTS, I think the thought process the article refers to also applies to FTS. Think about how someone who joins in the future [5 years from now, a year, maybe even (can we dream?) a week from now] will be able to digest the poem and its "simple" solution in less than a minute. The 4 (and counting) month gap between going north and finding a corner (and all the associated talk resulting in laughter, camaraderie, drama, etc) will be non-existent for them. Or what if they only read missives by M, the main section of the story, and have no concept of say, the very existence of Luckyshirt and all the ancillary data we pay attention to on him from various sources. A lull, intended or not, in the progression of the story they're interested in will be impossible to factor into their enjoyment. They may enjoy the story sure, but they will never, they simply cannot, experience it the way that we have, "warts" and all. So, I'm going to try to play the first part of Burial at Sea soon so I have some time to think and mull over and wish for the next episode. However, it's been about 5-6 years since playing the original, so I'm sure much of the nuance, shout-outs and ties to it will be lost on me. I'll have to depend on the recordings of the FTSer-analogues elsewhere on the net to help me connect the dots and make those connections. But I'm looking forward to it. Infinite was one of my favorite games last year.
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Post by exicice on Feb 13, 2014 9:47:06 GMT
i love your thinking, joe. what interesting stuff to ponder! and even if i never actually directly help solve any of these puzzles, ever, i can now say that i contributed to giving 'find the starlight' some warts! that makes me so excited. thanks, joe! (key: first two sentences = genuine. third = mostly smartass. key for the key = man, maybe i am being too sensitive about the warts.) EDIT: gamer nerds, did you guys ever watch college humor's "bleep bloop?" holy cow, those videos are HILARIOUS. i never played any of those games, and i'd laugh throughout every episode. i'd imagine it would be even funnier had i played any. i think they changed the name, but the old or new ones are worth checking out, in my opinion. www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL854D38A9BDD30F1F
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Post by elizabethplaid on Feb 15, 2014 0:56:24 GMT
Good idea to have a "general chat" thread. I visit the board to see progress, but I have nothing to add. I've been burnt out on this puzzle for ages now, as I'm sure many of us are.
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Post by Madejyalook on Feb 15, 2014 16:40:24 GMT
I made an OkCupid profile, and most of the messages I've been getting have been guys wanting to hook up for a night, which if they even glanced at my profile they'd see I'm not interested in that. There's one guy though who apparently actually read my profile and interests, because he sent me a message this morning asking me about FTS.
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Post by Kaylen Aldanae on Feb 15, 2014 18:14:55 GMT
Awww. I think I like the sound of that guy.
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Post by subjectoftowels on Feb 15, 2014 21:45:59 GMT
This thread began off the rails on purpose. I like Ben Kuchera's (formerly of Ars Technica, then Penny Arcade Report, now at Polygon - www.polygon.com/2014/2/3/5373708/forcing-players-to-wait-is-one-of-the-best-weapons-of-the-wolf-among) take on episodic content. Though this thread was supposed to be about all things non-FTS, I think the thought process the article refers to also applies to FTS. Think about how someone who joins in the future [5 years from now, a year, maybe even (can we dream?) a week from now] will be able to digest the poem and its "simple" solution in less than a minute. The 4 (and counting) month gap between going north and finding a corner (and all the associated talk resulting in laughter, camaraderie, drama, etc) will be non-existent for them. Or what if they only read missives by M, the main section of the story, and have no concept of say, the very existence of Luckyshirt and all the ancillary data we pay attention to on him from various sources. A lull, intended or not, in the progression of the story they're interested in will be impossible to factor into their enjoyment. They may enjoy the story sure, but they will never, they simply cannot, experience it the way that we have, "warts" and all. So, I'm going to try to play the first part of Burial at Sea soon so I have some time to think and mull over and wish for the next episode. However, it's been about 5-6 years since playing the original, so I'm sure much of the nuance, shout-outs and ties to it will be lost on me. I'll have to depend on the recordings of the FTSer-analogues elsewhere on the net to help me connect the dots and make those connections. But I'm looking forward to it. Infinite was one of my favorite games last year. I like your philosophical take on FTS, and I agree about episodic playing both in video games and in other areas (FTS and also with book series; there is something about having to wait between books in a series that can't be duplicated if the books are started once all of them are available. I know this from Animorphs, Harry Potter and Hunger Games XD). Also, man, is BioShock Infinite ever stuck in my head like a thorn, and it's not even a game where the choices you make (In the few instances you can make choices at all) even change anything! But my girlfriend just finished episode one of Burial at Sea and the ending was INCREDIBLE, so now I'm chewing on that in the context of the larger story, and we have a month to go before episode 2 is available. I don't think you'll miss as many shout-outs to the first game as you think; it's also been a long while since we've played the first BioShock, and yet things came back to me once I saw Rapture again. But let me know what you think when you finish the first episode! I'm glad I have someone to talk to about this.
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