SolarMonkey

I have 4 and haven’t even played it yet!

That’s actually true.. I had it for 360 and forgot about it so bought it again for ps3 and promptly forgot about it, then got a copy for ps4 from a friend.. Played a bit, but it’s not the same as playing on PC, which is how I played morrowind and oblivion so never got into it, then I bought the ps4 vr version because it seemed like it was the perfect type of game for VR, being first person and all… nope that was a mistake, the texture in vr version makes me seriously motion sick.. can’t get past the intro scene.

I’ll probably pirate a pc version at some point.. I’ve paid for it enough to not feel at all bad doing that (not that I would anyway). It’s just not great on console.

We got one of those out of place tornadoes this year! My town had one set down basically in the middle. We lost so many huge old (50-150+ year old) trees because that just doesn’t happen here. And because it doesn’t happen here, and some of the trees were planted well before the roads were built (meaning a lot of the trees that came down were basically in the road, curbs built around them sort of thing), it really did a number on the infrastructure (to say nothing of the damage to homes and stuff).

But in addition to a random tornado, we’ve just had a ton more super strong wind/rain events that cause damage in the last few years. I honestly don’t blame my neighbors for taking down their big old trees rather than deal with the weather damage. (I disagree with it, but I understand it)

I’m in the same boat. So much that I just paid a bunch to replace the transmission of my 2012.. I could probably have not done that and invested in something newer, but I don’t… want that…

I’ll stick with just getting more of this exact car when this one isn’t repairable anymore (it has telemetry, but it can’t be accessed without plugging in directly, which isn’t typically a huge concern I have) Or when they can be flashed, as you say. Like I’d love to have an EV because I rarely drive far, but I absolutely won’t buy a spymobile to get one.

The Amish around where I live (Midwest) run a bunch of great little stores (which is most of the contact I have with them personally, but my partners mom has friends in their community who come to visit now and then.) The stores all take credit cards and have refrigerators for the cheeses/dairy, and many of them do use machinery for farm work. Some even use cell phones.

I haven’t noticed any jewelry (haven’t paid attention), but they really do seem to pick and choose which portions to adhere strongly to.

Pro tip: don’t hang stuff by the clasp. The weight can stretch them out if they are made of junk metal (most are).

Instead, hang them by the ring/chain the clasp clasps onto. You can use upside down earring hooks to string them up if you have a pack of spare, otherwise small head finish nails can usually accommodate the chains.

Less crazy is valid payment.

I am also the obsessive hoarder… now. Like as a direct result of that experience I never go below some arbitrary threshold of items (based entirely on the early portion of the game where you have no money but enemies are easy, and the max stack), even if I have to buy them. I used to never spend currency as a matter of pride. I still won’t buy gear if it drops, but I will stock consumables.

I guess I’m not really that familiar with it being different, I went from 8 to 10/10-2, to 13/spins, so it seemed pretty in-tune overall with the vibes and stuff of what I played. Each game was pretty standalone and tried different unique things to see what worked. I’d be interested to hear more of what was different tho!

I’ve heard… things about the remake… my partner played the first and couldn’t be bothered to buy the second when PS+ made the first a free game for cheap subscriptions a couple months after getting it for Xmas.. but that seems.. like a lot. I mean final fantasy games are looooooong and the mechanics are usually complicated af. I honestly haven’t been able to get into a ff game in a long time, they are just really involved.. I can’t imagine needing to play through.. what is it supposed to be 3 of them to get the full story? At least 10 and 13, it was the same story just differently applied and expanded.. you didn’t -have to- play the next ones, they were still final fantasies (I know that’s not where the name came from, but it’s appropriate)

I’d be into a remaster of 8 (the graphical-only update doesn’t count, and isn’t that updated - I tried to play it and it was still grindy af), but not a fully redone game like 7… I’d like them to cut out most of the random encounters, scale the XP so it’s much less grindy, upgrade the graphics, and do literally nothing else, leave it alone. I’d totally play it again even tho turn based games aren’t my jam anymore. And it probably wouldn’t cost much for them to do that.

I have 7 on switch but I can’t get through it. I’m bored very early on every time I try. Too many random encounters and they take too long with the intro, combat, and victory animations. It’s the whole reason I gave up on most turn based games; they used to totally be my thing. You can’t explore because you get turned around with the constant combat. I want to play it, but I can’t. I’d like that to also get a straight remaster treatment like I want for 8. No real change, just quality of life improvements.

I wonder why they opted not to do that.. and -then- the remake..

I guess I got lucky that I never played 7..? Everyone hypes the hell out of 7, and you almost never hear about 8..

For me, though, 8 was more than the story, it was more than the game. It was the absolute most frustrating experience of my entire gaming life, thus far.

See, I fucked up. I fucked up and saved my game when I came across a save spot. I fucked up and saved my game right before the end boss. I fucked up and saved my game right before the end boss with a very nearly empty inventory.

Because it’s not a short game, I wasn’t willing to re-play it. That would have been faster, but less fulfilling. Nope, instead I spent about 72 hours over the span of two weeks, replaying the final boss with 2 heal items, one resurrection, and that’s about it. I did no other gaming in that time. That boss was the only thing I did for days and days.

I beat that bitch. I whooped her after hours upon hours of trial and failure. Different starting lineups, different item use, different summon use pattern.. the works.

The day I beat it I learned that I could, if thoroughly motivated, do whatever I set out for, even if it took a while. (No, this definitely has not translated to real life but that’s because I have no motivation left to put forth in actual life.. made a big difference in gaming tho!!) I also learned to never run low on items even if I never use them, and to create a backup save file and alternate which one I save to.

SNES and ps1 were really pushing the limits of what could be done. A lot of games from that era are super hard to play now, though, because the controls are just sloppy. I’m not even concerned with the graphics, but the controls… ungh and that was also the time of non-remappable inverted camera controls and shit..

I’m familiar with thither from the phrase “hither and thither”, which is a stupid-sounding phrase I read as a kid, and why I remember it. (Similar to knowing what “yon” means from “hither and yon(der)”)

I wouldn’t ever use either word, because I don’t see a need for pretentious pomposity, but perhaps he does. :)

I did used to have a friend who would use words correctly, but obscurely, and while he was smart and just enjoyed flexing his vocab, it was obnoxious af for everyone around him because even someone on the same intellectual level is going to go “what..??” Like, a lot.. (basically, it is literally impossible for two people to know all the same things, so it’s just a “look I’m smart!” Flex). It’s just a bad way to communicate. Good way to be a poet, though.

That genuinely sounds like a good middle point, unfortunately it isn’t actionable for me as I haven’t any friends with whom to play. My humans have drastically different genre interests than I do, assuming they even game.

This is a fact.

When I was late teens I played vanilla wow, but after adapting to adulthood, the idea of playing with or even talking to people decades younger than I am (with maturity to match age) has absolutely no appeal. I really want to play a lot of the multiplayer games out there, but don’t want to play with a bunch of asshole kids with nothing better to do than be assholes.

Face to face, maybe, because there’s a lot more context and social boundaries and stuff, but honestly I don’t even understand a lot of what they are trying to communicate at this point, and I honestly usually don’t care, so it’s not an appealing proposition at this point. That’s the full whole reason I don’t play ttrpgs anymore; can’t find an adult group and can’t stand to be around a group of 14yo boys.

I delete the vast majority of what I type out. Mostly stuff that’s personal experience based that, while adding to the conversation, doesn’t really matter to anyone and isn’t that interesting.

I start writing it because I care enough, and stop when I realize nobody else will.

Sometimes I let myself finish fleshing out the thought, then delete it, but often I just get the bulk of my thoughts out and give up when editing it. I’m pretty verbose, and don’t really have much of an outlet in real life, and I’m an anxious mess about interactions, so.. it’s just a way to relieve some of the pressure without it impacting anything.