Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@FishyS Then I would be interested in checking the discord as long as it's like the Chit-Chat Thread here. Can you provide me a link to the discord so I can see it for myself?

@PeterTomlan86 https://discord.gg/qBDSgYQh5

@Mariotag late response.

Very biased with the Book 8 designs haha. I like a lot of the Norse character designs in general though, especially with Fjorm and the Nifl characters.

Ah, I heard the news that a lot of GameStops are closing nationwide. I know they are sparing some of them, but it’s so strange since I heard a handful of the ones closing weren’t doing awful at all, the closures somewhat came out of the blue! Some factors apparently have to do with a shift to digital downloads and games and cost-cutting. There are already people who think that some of the stores are going to shift to collectibles rather than games. Unfortunate if that is going to be the case.

@D-Star92 late response, sorry.

Yes, when you go back to art, it’s best to do drawing exercises or beginning simple. That’s what I plan on doing soon. I already have a few things in mind to make. Probably fanart for a while.

Hope you have a good birthday! Hopefully the decorating went well.

@Pastellioli Oh I adore the book 8 designs. To the point that when I finally played Marvel Rivals, I was like, why doesn't Squirrel Girl have the Kurama-esque aura?

Yeah. Idk if I saw the headline here just after making my comment. The local Gamestop, the employees had access to the numbers, top 25%. Dude's speculation was they weren't scalping enough trading cards.
Idk. I am okayish with digital, but it has problems too. Like storage space. My ps5 has like, 600 gigs left out of 4TB. As for ordering online, I only trust gamestop online as far as I can pick up their distribution center outta the ground and throw it. That is to say, not at all.

I'm playing too much SNES on Nintendo Classics lately. I said this in another thread, I'm surprised at how many fighters are on the service. I've played Fatal Fury Special, Fatal Fury 2, Tuff E Nuff, Doomsday Warrior, and Fighter's History during the past week.

Though, I've been on a classic gaming kick lately between these SNES games and X-COM UFO Defense.

@D-Star92 Think I will.

Oh ok, I don't think there's a park where I live. When I do go on my walks, there's lots of trees, a sidewalk, but awesomely I live near a small shopping center. Always go for milk to get for chocolate milk to have when I play classic PC games every Saturday. Cool, so I'm not the only one who got a Stitch manga then. I remember seeing it last year when I went shopping, since the store still had it I bought it. I just thought it was really cool.

You're welcome.

@Mariotag Really great designs. Love a lot of FEH’s original character designs a lot.

Ohhhh, so wait, someone speculated that your local GameStop is apparently closing because they didn’t have enough trading cards for people to scalp and buy in bulk? That’s awful, so I’m assuming some GameStops only really get sales and foot traffic because of scalpers and not even from their games?

I read GameStop mostly shifted to selling and stocking collectibles (such as trading cards and having an ungodly amount of those Funko pops), PC gaming, and electronics. I’d have to maybe assume they run out of stock on those three types of items faster than physical games or something, and maybe the games (what their business is all about) don’t sell enough or at all? It’s so strange just seeing them closing a bunch of their well performing stores. At least the brand isn’t entirely going away, but it’s crazy witnessing a huge shift towards digital content and physical content getting gradually phased out.

And on that thing about them possibly shifting to being a collectible store in the future, I don’t think that would make sense, because aren’t there a ton of stores out there that are dedicated to selling those sort of items exclusively, including merchandise and figurines? And those stores I found tend to have an even larger stock of collectibles compared to GameStop.

I am okay with digital. Like physical it isn’t entirely perfect. I think both mediums have their pros and cons.

Also, wow, I’m getting second-hand embarrassment and cringe reading some of my older responses on other threads and users on here…I really just blabbered and dropped a huge wall of text to almost everyone I spoke to…

@Pastellioli Don't worry too much about it, it happens to all of us. There's times I've typed up a huge wall of text too.

I probably won't be posting too much here since I've been busy with quite a few things. My birthday is coming up next weekend, and I want to prep for my party pretty soon. I will have to prep for my upcoming trip to Florida, as well... I'll be having a family trip to Disney World and Universal, which I'm very excited for! I'm thinking of bringing my Switch 2 with me while I'm in the plane, but I wonder if I should bring my dock. I hope you're all doing well.

@Pastellioli You're good, I've been busy with quite a few stuff lately. No need to apologize.

Yeah definitely. I've gotten pretty good with drawing the Mario power-ups so I'll start with those. Thank you, I haven't started decorating for my party yet, but I did bring down the decorations at least.

@Sunsy Awesome. Nice, that's cool there's a small shopping center near you. Chocolate milk is good for sure... I actually prefer it over regular milk. Yeah, I remember seeing another person who got that Stitch manga, as well. I might give the original movie a watch sometime actually... it's one of those Disney movies I've not watched, surprisingly enough.

@Pastellioli, I've got no issues with stuff like that, I actually really like reading long walls of text and like typing some long crap sometimes 😅.

@D-Star92 Indeed, just had some chocolate milk because it's Saturday and played a classic PC game. I think you would love the original Lilo & Stitch. It's a great movie about family. I'd go as far as calling it one of Disney's classics, well a bit of a modern classic. The movie did come out in 2002. I would say it's classic by this point.

BTW, enjoy your trip to Disney and Universal.

@Pastellioli Yeah, I really like the original designs.

Eh, that was speculation. Now it seems more like the CEO wanted a several billion dollar paycheck.
They have been going into the market for non-gaming stuff.

Said Gamestop employee has agreed to my idea of a community on discord for our local place. Just a matter of if it can be done.

I kinda like and dislike both digital and physical. Each has their place.

Also, is yapping overly much inherently a bad thing?

@Sunsy Nice, that's a cool tradition you have, having chocolate milk while you'd play a classic PC game. I found myself playing a Mario game or two on my birthdays... that's a tradition I've been keeping as well, lol. I remember we played Super Mario 3D World together online, and we made it through the first three worlds. This year, I'm planning on playing Mario Kart World and starting my replaythrough of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Thanks, I'll give Lilo & Stitch a watch sometime. As you probably know, I love a good Disney movie.

Thanks! I'm sure to have a magical time. ✨ Looking forward to visiting the happiest place on earth, and then some! I did hear Super Nintendo World is at Universal Orlando, and if I recall correctly, there's a Trolls area, as well.

@D-Star92 Have fun when you're out at Florida.

I think I have watched Lilo and Stitch once before. I remember watching a little of the TV show back in the day. Was there only one movie made of that franchise's universe too? I think I like some of the ideas and themes that went into the movie as well.

I have been having this thought about RPGs lately. A thought wondering what everyone's idea of a good RPG is, even for people who haven't played one before: Questions like what makes particular people want to continue progressing in them despite their busy lives and can RPGs be anything other than plot-related content to interest people? Which are not bad questions to ask since we know watching shows via streaming services, for an example, have audiences behind them.

I'll start with me as another person who has a busy life like everyone else: In order for said games to persuade me to want to play them, they would have to check my couple of boxes of interests and have themes I would love enough to want to see daily via my free time.

For starters, again, I would want themes in RPGs I would love enough to want to see daily via my free time. Even if a couple of the main cast of characters have character development they have to go through to be who they can fully become, for an example, I would want them to have good traits that you can see plenty in the game and that you want them to grow completely into after all is said and done.

Beyond plot-related content, I would want side content that's also the themes or most of themes of the game itself, not just some mini games you play. Like I think of Pokemon personally, Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver for an example, where the narrative is about bond, and what you can do in the game other than the plot is centered around that.

My preferences for an RPG, other than one that's only designed to be a walkthrough to play and like, I admit would take good creativity to accomplish, but I think it's worth game designers, writers and directors to explore to achieve what I think has great potential nevertheless. Perhaps people here feel the same way as me or have more ideas of what a genre like this can become. I would really like to know what everyone's thoughts are on these thoughts of mine, so please comment if you have time and are interested in replying to this topic. 😄 I think there could be some good posts to read if a few members have more ideas in their heads than I what already wrote about.

Someone brought up a gaming tradition here, so I will share a few of mine that I've started over the past few years:

Playing Mario Kart as Mario on every Mario Day (March 10th) and Bowser on every Bowser Day (August 4th, because of the first time you see the real Bowser being in Level 8-4, not anything that Nintendo officially celebrates, but it is fan-made)
Playing Smash Bros. Or Mario Kart (mainly Smash Bros.) with my uncle every time he comes over from the other half of the state for a birthday party or Christmas

@PeterTomlan86, it's kind of hard to say what makes an amazing JRPG, since I haven't played a ton of them yet even though they are my favorite genre of game. Some of them the party members are super interesting characters, but other times they are like Pokémon, where the series is more focused on battling with monsters on your team. And sometimes, the plot can be a bit complex, or, like... Pokémon again... the plot can be a bit simpler. I just really like JRPGs in general and want to play a lot more over the rest of my lifetime 😅.

Some of my favorite JRPGs are the following:
Pokémon Violet (my current favorite game of all time)
Pokémon Shield
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake
Dragon Quest XI S Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1+
Super Neptunia RPG

Had a snowy day today, so spent it playing Tuff E Nuff (on Nintendo Classics) and X-COM UFO Defense. Nothing like gaming while it snows outside.

@D-Star92 I always do it every Saturday. Usually it's a PC game from the 1990's to the mid 2000's. Last night it was MicroProse's 1994 strategy game, Master of Magic. That's a wonderful tradition. Yes, I remember! Even though you have a Switch 2, I still hope we could still play Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario 3D World together, even though I'm still on Switch 1 (Does Switch 2 even play with Switch 1? I can see Switch 2 online statuses even though I'm on Switch 1).

You're welcome, I think you'd really enjoy it. Lilo and Stitch is such a good movie, I'm surprised you haven't seen it given how much you love Disney. Keep in mind they did remake it, I'm talking about the original 2002 animated one. Just remember that when searching on Disney+.

Yup, there is a Trolls area, specifically DreamWorks Land, which has Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and Trolls areas. You can even meet Poppy. Super Nintendo World too, which I did get a good report about it from my friend, he went last year.

@Nep-Nep-Freak 8-4 is new to me, I love that! My tradition is every Saturday, I play classic PC games from the 1990's through the mid 2000's, while enjoying a mug of chocolate milk. I usually play PC classics like the original X-COM, Jagged Alliance, Warcraft, Unreal Tournament just to name a few.

Another tradition, I play Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare around Christmas time. It's a PC platformer that's similar to Sonic.

@D-Star92 I see!

Hoping the drawing goes well! Hopefully the decorating and party goes well.

@Sunsy @Nep-Nep-Freak Eh, I just think I sometimes go overboard with the paragraphs I made! Sometimes when I’m super passionate on a topic or game or something I find myself blabbering lol.

@Mariotag I saw that update. Kind of not surprised. apparently, he was promised $35 billion but the only way he can get it is if GameStop’s market cap reaches $100 billion and if earnings reach $10 billion? Sounds sort of hard and overly ambitious…Their market cap is already sorta high and in the billions, but it’s nowhere near $100 billion. Sucks they’re closing stores to reach that goal.

No, yapping isn’t bad, but checking some of my old comments and responses from 1-2 years ago, they tend to go on for a long time, and I also am getting tired of typing.

EDIT: read a bunch of my old responses to the movie thread out of curiosity, and oof, they are so long and some of the language and criticisms I put in there are so cringy…

@Pastellioli Y'know, fair. It can get tiring. Guess it's best to find a realm of how much typing works.

The CEO just straight up should be fired imo. They even ignored Reggie's advice straight up.
Shutting down almost 300 stores, including ones that were doing well is just...ugh.
I wanna see physical have a place.

I've yet to look at the movie thread in depth.

@PeterTomlan86 Thanks! I'll be going on April. I actually saw it on Disney+ last night and I liked it. I did see there's a sequel that's subtitled Stitch has a Glitch.

@Sunsy Nice, that's cool... I still want to try out a few classic DOS games sometime actually, though I'm mainly a Nintendo player and I have a backlog to deal with, lol. We actually can! I've played Super Mario Party Jamboree with a friend who has a Switch 2 before I got mine. Recently, I played Animal Crossing: New Horizons with a friend who just has a Switch 1, after I transferred my island to my Switch 2. So Switch 2 can indeed play with Switch 1. I'd love to come back to our 3D World save file, actually.

I have now seen Lilo & Stitch last night, the animated one, and I really liked it. A great, underrated Disney movie for sure.

Oh that's cool, thanks for filling me in. I'll think of you when I visit that Trolls area and meet Poppy. Hopefully, at Super Nintendo World, I'll have a chance to meet Mario, Luigi, and Peach, as well!

@Pastellioli Thanks, my party decorating has been going smoothly. We'll be picking up my birthday cake in a few days, too!

I need to rant a bit, so here's me in rare form. Seeing news like this genuinely makes me concerned for the future of gaming. I love this hobby, and right now it feels like my fear of being priced out is coming true. I love Nintendo's games, but man, they are greedy at times. A console shouldn't even cost $500. What's stopping me from keeping my money, and just saving it for a PC that can game and do stuff I need a computer for? A console should be affordable, it was always the affordable option. Switch and Wii U were $300, Wii was $250. Affordable, cheaper than a computer. Also, prices of them should not go up over time, they should come down. There's no excuse to why Switch 1 got a price increase, none. It's 8 year old tech at this point.

I haven't gotten a Switch 2 because my concern is my laptop (also game key cards ruined the bit of excitement I had for it), it's old, and I need to start saving for a new one. Most likely going to stick to a gaming laptop as prices of PC parts have gone up because of RAM shortages (people have been using laptop RAM with an adaptor, so I'm guessing laptops will be ok), and this whole AI fad (yes, I'm calling it a fad).

It just frustrates me as I love gaming, and I fear I'm going to be priced out of playing new games because of this. I'll always play what I have and classic games, I've bought tons of them from GOG. For new games, this whole thing has me worried.

Choosing to share my thoughts here because I know how comments can sometimes get. Sorry if this isn't my usual posts, but it has me worried.

@Pastellioli Arighty. Sometimes I feel that way too.

@D-Star92 The best way to play DOS games, would be get them from GOG. They usually bundle their DOS games with DOSBox and it runs great on modern PCs. Just install and play, no need to do the whole DOS prompt like the old DOS days. Oh cool, that's good to hear, I'm glad it works. Looking at the pricing situation, looks like I'm not getting a Switch 2 anytime soon. Upgrading my old laptop is more of a priority.

Awesome, glad you really liked it. Underrated is a bit of an understatement, that alien is one of the most popular Disney characters. Stitch still gets merch to this day.

Lilo & Stitch spoiler: When Stitch says "this is my family," I always tear up.

No problem, I just remember DreamWorks Land was big in the Trolls fandom because of the Trolls area. That would be awesome. Meetable characters are the best. I still think of the time I met Poppy at Trolls x CAMP (it was the same one from Universal too).