Necro

What? This is what everyone is talking about, right?

I wouldn't say cutthroat, more of passive aggressive. I was paraphrasing, the actual messages, at least to me, seem much more defensive and sound much more like they're looking for an argument.

I guess maybe I'm just overreacting because it seems like things have become much more abrasive here over the past year or two, and there always feels like there's an "us vs. them" attitude in these discussions, not an attempt at mutual dialog. The tone can kind of give the impression of a fight sometimes too, like Avohkah said.

^Edit: Maybe I'm just reading them weird, the tone seems much more angry and defensive than that to me. Except with the vast majority of entries on the subject that I've seen where people defend "improper" grammar, it's not "This is how I was taught to speak, this is what I understand", it's "I do this because it's convenient and easier". Which is completely fine, but it's not something this big.

Grammar. Seriously? That's the new topic? Look, I am a grammar snob. I look a word up to make sure I have its spelling right even if I can spell it phonetically close enough to get the meaning across, because I value proper spelling. I go back and edit posts if I forgot an apostrophe or a comma or something. I had perfect 100's in every single english course I took from 7th grade onward, including college. The lowest I've had a paper graded was 93%. I was cheering in my head for every single line of "Word Crimes". I am far more dedicated to this stuff than someone not majoring in english should be. I don't correct other people, and I don't look down on people for grammatical errors, but i do get very annoyed when people write like this without any capitalization and dont use apostrophes and all that and it just reads like an incoherent rambling run on sentence and i have less respect for people that use literal for emphasis or say other stupid things of similar fashion. I have my position in this debate, I am firm in it, and you will never catch me writing like that, even on twitter; I'd rather break it into multiple tweets than post something saying "had 2 rn 2 get fud" to fit it into one tweet. I am as firm about this as it can get for myself. But here's the kicker: This is not some great crusade or some vital topic. It's grammar. On an internet forum. Centered around a children's toy. It is not worth long diatribes that even an english professor would consider obsessively defending proper writing. For that matter, why are people defending "improper", for lack of a better term, writing, like they've been dealt a personal insult? Is it really so hard to just go "This person thinks X about Z. I think Y about Z. Ultimately, Z is a pretty insignificant thing." and just ignore it instead of turning around and defending your use of "your" instead of "you're"? If people have an opinion on the subject that you disagree with, why do you care so much? Nobody's going to report you for saying 10,000 spoons is ironic, and they're certainly not going to report you for using an oxford comma. Are you all really wound so tight that this sets you off? Maybe I'm missing some context that happened in one of the forums or something similar, but it just reeks of a community where everyone is at each other's throats if people are so ready to get mad about something this insignificant. Chill the heck out. This is not something worth fussing so much over. All that said though, i dO MakE An ExCEptiON WiTh PeopLE ThAT tYPe lIKe tHiS. That sort of typing genuinely gives me a very unpleasant headache, and as such I disregard anything you have to say if you type like that, because if you're addressing me specifically yet are typing in a fashion that causes me physical pain - and one that has to be done intentionally - then I really don't think I should concern myself with what you have to say.

http://33.media.tumblr.com/0b9ad174efe34cc506693fb71264ceb6/tumblr_n99hzmI4Ok1tec4njo1_500.gif I feel obligated to post this whenever someone mentions the word "honor". Edit: Careful - please link to images over 750 kB. GIFs are especially tricky. -Wind-

The good: The bad: The ugly: Tonight starts Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday which involves, amongst other things, fasting, so not only will I be without Smash Bros. until Sunday, I will also be without food or drink until tomorrow evening. But on the bright side, the Orioles stole a win from the Tigers and are a win from the ALCS.

They were the coolest little balls of fun.

Never actually had either one. The errors I always get are Leopard and Beaver. Which system are you on?

I have yet to have that happen to me a single time? I get a lot of disconnect errors, but after doing some research, that's more likely because my campus wi-fi uses a strict NAT filter than anything on Bungie's side of things(Which also makes sense because if I get a disconnect on, say, mars, I'm able to go to the moon or venus without a problem).

The overworld on most planets is actually fairly painless to navigate, thanks in large part to the aforementioned speeder bikes. Occasionally it can be a bit longer than enjoyable, but the longest it'll take if you know where you're going is two or three minutes to get from one place to another. I actually reached the current max level of 20 before I finished the plot without doing any grinding beyond taking on the side missions instead of doing purely story missions, and playing PvP in the Crucible a little bit. The respawning is also pretty forgiving too, unless you're on a strike mission(Higher difficulty PvE missions with mandatory co-op) in one of the respawn restricted zones. Otherwise you typically respawn within a 20 second sprint of your previous location, and can do so about five seconds after dying.

So I've been kinda inactive the past few weeks, and to be perfectly honest a big part of that is that I really struggle to think of many compelling, enjoyable parts of BZP's community anymore, and plenty of things that rub me very much the wrong way, so I might just end up becoming less active in-general on here. But I digress, because I've seen a lot of people posting here about that new video game with Tyrion in it, and I was already planning to post my thoughts on another website's blog, so I figured why not here as well? So, without further ado, my thoughts on Destiny: GRAPHICS So, the first thing that most people notice are the visuals. How sexy is the game? It's worth noting that A. I really don't play any of the high-demand "stress test" type games, so I probably don't have the best feel for the capabilities of modern graphics(Personally I don't think the whole graphical arms race is worth much anyway, but that's another post for another day), and B. I'm playing on a PS3, so what I think about it visually is probably not applicable to the Xbone and PS4. With that said, Destiny looks good. It's certainly not photorealistic, and it's not the pinnacle of modern game visuals. The one real complaint I have with the visuals is the use of glares, lens flares, and other similar effects. It's not to JJ Abrams levels, but it can be excessive at times just how shiny things are. It's especially distracting if the arm armor you're wearing or the gun you're holding is white or or something else that reflects a lot of light. A patch to remove, or at least significantly decrease, what reflects off your gun and arms/hands would be very nice. Again, it's certainly not the pinnacle of gorgeous graphics, but Destiny still looks very good. Which is important, because it's a game that relies on atmosphere heavily. More on that later. GAMEPLAY Okay, now we know that this game looks sexy(Or, as the case might be, ugly). So now that we know how it looks, what are we doing? This is really where Destiny shines. Bungie's pedigree is obvious with their work on the first few Halo games, and the action is just as fun and entertaining as you'd expect of them in a first person shooter. Unlike some console FPS games where the aiming is clunky and certain guns just don't work, everything about Destiny's shooter mechanics feels polished. The aim assist is enough to really help without throwing you off once you get used to it, and every single gun, from the shotguns to the hand cannons to the assault rifles and everything in between, feels natural and, with the right playstyle, effective, both with and without using sights(With the obvious exception of sniper rifles since they're designed around scoping in). There are certain imbalances, which Bungie has already addressed and started patching, but by and large, they all feel very pleasant to use, and I'm sure I'm far from alone in being torn between different weapons. The classes also feel very well-balanced; at no point does it feel like a skilled Warlock can't kill a skilled Hunter or a skilled Titan kill a skilled Warlock. The armor follows suit, with the passive benefits of certain armor items contending against the higher armor ratings of others. The enemies are also better than a lot of FPS games. Sadly that's not saying much, but unless you're well overleveled, you're going to generally find that just running in headfirst is a good way to get killed, and that's a nice change of pace from the number of modern shooter games where you can just charge in with a BFG and mow down enemies who have the aim of stormtroopers and guns weaker than slingshots like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando. How it's still a step down from Republic Commando's AI almost ten years after its release, I don't know, but it's no different than any other modern FPS in that regard. The quests are simple, but entertaining enough that they're fun, mainly because they almost all involve shooting things, which again, Destiny has down better than almost any other FPS I've played recently. They're also helped by daily challenge events, where out of the blue a much harder quest will fall from the sky, almost always literally. Good as the gunfights are, what really makes Destiny more than another speesh mereene FPS is the interaction element with other players. Though it can be played solo, it's at its best when you're fighting other Guardians in the Crucible, or going on strike missions with a fireteam of friends, or running around the overworld looking for loot chests with random folks. The online aspect was heavily touted, and while it could be better - which I expect it will be soon since there's every indication Bungie and Activision want Destiny to last a long time - it certainly makes the game feel that much more expansive, and I imagine it'll get even better as Bungie adds content and learns what its community likes doing. I imagine it feels much bigger and much more alive on the Xbone and PS4's larger networks than it does on my PS3 universe, too. The vehicles aren't as good as the shooting, sadly. The speeder bikes are fun enough, but nothing spectacular. The Interceptors are just clunky, and annoying to drive. Hopefully they add more variety to the vehicles too, because there's a ton of potential in there that's just sitting untapped. Speaking of untapped possibilities with vehicles, you know what'd be a cool addition? Speeder bike races. Add more stats than speed and durability to them, let players customize and race them against each other. I don't think I'm the only one who'd love something like that. There's also exploring the environments, which I'll get to in story actually. Overall though, the gameplay is a blast, and the gunfights, more than the quests, the story, the graphics, anything else, really shine. Which is good, because we're about to get into the story. STORY So, we've talked about the looks and the gameplay. For those that play for the plot, how is it? The plot in Destiny is...disappointing, to put it mildly. It could certainly be worse; there's actually an effort to make something interesting, and there are some nuggets of an interesting story here and there. Too much of it is cluttered though with unexplained information, and a lack of much coherent plot beyond "The Traveler is dying, these guys are killing it, go kill them to save it." "Oh wait it turns out these more evil things are trying to kill the Traveler. Forget about the other guys and worry about these guys now." "Wait no these are the real bad guys. Now you're on target." "Congrats you killed the real bad guys. Those other guys are somehow not important anymore." Nothing is really ever explained, the connections are loose at best. You're just tossed headfirst into the pool that is Destiny's universe, and you're expected to figure out how it works and everything that's there for you without any help. Credit to Penny Arcade for the joke I completely and utterly stole. The ironic thing is that it's just as confounding, but for the exact opposite reason. I was honestly very disappointed by this by the time I finished the story mode. Mass Effect is incredibly plot-heavy, and it's one of my favorite franchises. The Walking Dead is nothing but story in what's a glorified Choose Your Own Adventure story, and it's probably one of my top five. I consider myself a man that likes a good plot, and the lack of one with Destiny on first glance is disappointing. The more I play though, the more optimistic I get; as expounded on in-detail here, Destiny actually does do a lot of world-building, just not in the ways we're used to. It builds its universe through the burned out academy on Venus, the decrepit moon colony overrun by Wizards that came from the moon. The big, open environments you can explore, from the post-apocalyptic Russian wasteland to the Cabal's militaristic bunkers on mars, are where you get the sense of Destiny's universe. The environment is what tells you what you're in for, not the language of the characters. The atmosphere comes from the light and shadows, the actual setting you're in, not from exposition and storytelling. And the more I think about it, the more okay I am with that. Destiny is meant to be the first of a decade of titles published by Bungie, and I imagine it's far from the last entry into this IP. Something makes me think that Bungie intentionally left the backstory of Destiny's universe very loosely defined so it can be defined in future games. A game that details the collapse, a game that details the war that the Exo originated from, a game that goes into the Queen of the Reef's rise to prominence, and a lot of them I imagine are going to be additional content added onto Destiny itself. This is meant to be the groundwork, not the definitive statement; if they had defined everything in this initial burst, then they would've already set the limits of how far they can go. All that said, this doesn't change how lax Destiny's story is. As great as the atmosphere is, and as much hope as I have for the future of the franchise, the initial venture still has a very anemic plot. I don't think it's as bad as a lot of people act like it is, but it's not good. SOUNDTRACK Music is a very underrated part of any game. How is it? Let's put it this way to keep it nice and short: I'm looking forward to the soundtrack being released because I want to own a copy. It's great, and funnily enough the entire reason I got interested. When I heard Paul McCartney was getting involved, I wanted to see what the hubbub was about. The music is great, and another thing that really contributes to the atmosphere of the game. FINAL VERDICT Since you're still here, you clearly care what I think. For some reason. Anyway, what do I think? Do I like it? Do I think it's worth the time? I like Destiny. A lot. I wouldn't call it perfect, but it's a blast to play. The story isn't anywhere near as good as I hoped, and as such I wouldn't call it a perfect, game-of-the-year type(It's a definite candidate, but also definitely not winning), but very definitely worth the price of admission, and considering the vision that Bungie and Activision seem to have for it, I can't see it going anywhere but up, and more likely than not it'll be worth jumping onto the train early instead of trying to catch up. As always though, these are just my personal opinions. What you think is your call!

Takuma was too fast for me.

If it's the exact same text and you already have it, why buy the new one?

That you just suplex a train?

And by god did I make myself look like an jerk and an idiot doing so all those years. I did look like a pretty cool dude though. Kid me is less excited than he thought he'd be, but adult me is surprised how happy he is about the word filter on a website about a lego toyline being changed.

And considering I am spending some of my free time writing a Dragonball-inspired story about Kanye West battling his way across a weastward travel to save the universe from his evil twin by reaching the temple of swagger, its return is probably a very good thing.

I have not. Is it a comedy show or an educational thing or a serious LP or something else?

When my brother plays Kerbal Space Program, he uses the knowledge he has gained from studying aerospace engineering and actually working for NASA to meticulously create properly-functioning, realistic spacecraft that apply real-world concepts of interplanetary flight. I just toss a dude onto a bunch of fuel tanks, stick the biggest engine I have on the bottom, and hope it doesn't explode. I made my first orbital satellite before he did. Score one for doing science the Soviet way! Also Kerbal Space Program is an awesome game that you should totally get because it's awesome. Just be ready to learn about rocket staging, and god help you if you don't. Also, a bit about propulsion and the point of diminishing returns in spacecraft design.

I didn't realize you guys were playing TF2 at Brickfair.

And I'm just sitting here thinking about next year because I decided I'd rather wait a year with any conventions I go to so I can A. make plans to go with friends and whatnot, and B. save money so I actually can afford more than just a ticket(Hopefully no sudden expenditures of hundreds of dollars to save my laptop next year to cause problems!). On the bright side, I got some recording work done this weekend while everyone was at the conventions. ...Or would've, but I forgot to set the latency compensation in Logic back to where it should be after experimenting with it last month, so I had to redo all of the parts to get them in-time. Also there are apparently a boatload of mice living in the attic. The only door for the exterminators to get to the attic through is in my closet. It has not been the best weekend for me.

This one might actually be a yes. Robots make very frequent appearances in my dreams. And sporadically so. Sometimes I'm on a ton, sometimes I check once a month.

When I was a little kid building my first kaita, I accidentally broke the two-stud rod that holds the neck piece in place and cried my eyes out. My parents bought me a new Tahu because we could afford to do things like that then. I never built another kaita.

What would weirdos be doing near the gas station?

I had a very weird, disturbing dream last night, but I can't say I've dreamt about farm animals, no. Unless dogs count, in which case they appear fairly frequently because they're adorable and I love them.