Off Topic Discussion Megathread

[LLSmoothJ]

Went to a nearby Gundam shop for a build day, figuring maybe I could actually try being social.

Social anxiety said nope.

Got a Baund Doc, at least.

Which reminds me. I still have the RG Impulse Gundam I need to get to work on. ...And the RG Hi-Nu Gundam I need to finish. ...And the MG 00 Seven Sword Kitbash...

*sighs* My backlog just keeps growing...

[Kolsykol]

I seriously can't recommend Elden Ring enough, I was skeptical at first but it has completely blown me away ( I am pretty far in now ).
The world is absolutely enormous FAR bigger than I expected and it's so varied it's hard to really put into words.
Generally I really dislike open worlds but it just puts every other open world game I've played to complete shame, the early parts I think don't do it justice it gets so much better.
I've really never experienced something on this scale it's pretty funny looking back at the old games and how puny they feel in comparison.

I can definitely see why people say it's the game of the generation if it keeps this going I might even say it's one of the best games ever created and I wouldn't argue against people who said it's the best.
Outside of performance issues and some bosses maybe that feel a bit unfair ( just how it is in Souls games tho ) the only other negative imo is the character creator being pretty meh unless you want to create a monster.
And also for my personal preference it feels like all of the gear is designed for male characters ( there's even a huge bulge armor lol ).
Even just how it looks on my female character it looks more like a guy wearing it I felt it was better in that department in the old games.

[Misplaced_Marbles]

And also for my personal preference it feels like all of the gear is designed for male characters ( there's even a huge bulge armor lol ).
Even just how it looks on my female character it looks more like a guy wearing it I felt it was better in that department in the old games.

Well, if this is true, at least they did one original thing in that they did the exact opposite of how everyone else do their games by focusing on the one of the two that sells worse, but i guess it doesn't really matter with the series staple terrible customization and no shop to sell some frilly dresses and/or bikinis.

[Kolsykol]

Well, if this is true, at least they did one original thing in that they did the exact opposite of how everyone else do their games by focusing on the one of the two that sells worse, but i guess it doesn't really matter with the series staple terrible customization and no shop to sell some frilly dresses and/or bikinis.

I didn't even mention '' frilly dresses and/ or bikinis '' tbh it's really annoying how people literally always jump to this the moment anyone talks about '' feminine gear '' or whatever.
I dunno how '' original '' this is considering that it's basically the norm in AAA games and in the West too ( terrible customization included, I dunno why it feels like it has gotten worse with time ).
If you want to sell to mainstream audiences you basically make games for dudes and focus on muscle men and design everything for male characters.
That's the safe bet.
In the end of the day what you're talking about is more of a niche audience tbh, there's a reason why '' generic derplander '' is the staple for marketing for basically every game.


All I want is some gear that doesn't look like it was fitted for a broad guy.
They actually did have it in the past games, the Dancer of Boreal Valley armor set comes to mind and in general they did fit the gear to make it look a bit more like it was fitted to your character.
In Elden Ring it feels like it's two sizes too big for my character, I did find some robes but they've got terrible clipping issues even just from moving normally.

I did finish the game today too altho I didn't kill all of the bosses and finish the whole map but I didn't find any, it was truly an incredibly experience tho and my opinion on it only went up it only got better and better.
It does affect my excitement for exploring and finding new gear tho.
I honestly didn't find any I liked.

[Vyrerus]

If you want to sell to mainstream audiences you basically make games for dudes and focus on muscle men and design everything for male characters.

This is a blindfolded denial of reality lol.

Making games for dudes always includes putting incredibly attractive women of varying sorts into the game in various states of dress and personality. They'll put in muscle men too, because that's considered attractive, but audiences always respond far more favorably to the attractive women side of things. Or just the women side of things.

If there's customization and sex selection options, lady oriented armor is almost always designed in a way that either highlights or accentuates the female form. Highlighting is stuff like the bikini armor or platemail with titties. This involves making some sort of extra graphical design choice specifically for the female body, and it usually gets far more attention than just pasting the armor over the male body lol (like really, they don't design armor for male bodies, it usually literally just replaces the body, completely layering over it).

And what do the majority of gamers do? If the option is available, they play women.

As for your "generic derplander" assertion... If it's even still true, it has more to do with the fact that it was the default marketing for so long, that it's what people expect. Also though, more than ever before, there are many women who game. A lot of them are into that sort of portrayal of dudes. It doesn't feel like pandering, it feels like the default.

Keep in mind that times have changed, and the best selling game of all time is still Minecraft. Almost all of the top 50 best selling games don't even focus on customization or men or women. They're generally sandboxes, pokemon, or real world based. That's the real safe bet.

As far as Elden Ring goes, I'm not sure how far into the mainline of it I am. It's an excruciating blast so far, and I'm a long time souls veteran. There is nothing different about it from the other Souls games, aesthetics wise. The default armor is male, and the default enemies kill en masse are also male. Most armor is identical across sex selection. I'm willing to wager that as in past entries, there's still some specifically female sets from specifically special females. Think Ciaran, Desert Pyromancers, Sable church robes, and the Doll Clothes.

I started as a buff dude Hero. The first platemail I found was literally from male enemies twice my height, and it's oversized on my guy, too. It has a cape that's so long, it trails like 2~3 feet beyond my heels. It completely covers everything I customized about the character. That just Souls.

[SturmChurro]

And what do the majority of gamers do? If the option is available, they play women.

In this game perhaps, but in reality most 'gamers' play male characters, and male characters sell better. Companies have released actual stats of it. A lot of male players like to play idealized versions of themselves, or somebody they can relate to.

[MilkieTea]

My PC finally kicked the bucket today. BSODed into her demise

I ordered a new one and it’s coming in on Monday, but I will always have a special place in my heart for my sticker covered, bulging in awkward places, horribly wired mess that was my first handbuilt PC. RIP Joanna, you will be missed.

[RobynDaBank]

My PC finally kicked the bucket today. BSODed into her demise

I ordered a new one and it’s coming in on Monday, but I will always have a special place in my heart for my sticker covered, bulging in awkward places, horribly wired mess that was my first handbuilt PC. RIP Joanna, you will be missed.

RIP! I always get almost weirdly emotional when a tech in the house decides to give up the ghost. Such clever engineering slowly over time aging, getting slower and less efficient, just like a human - until finally, it blinks its last and shuts off.

[MilkieTea]

Current events have opened my eyes to some people on these forums. Not naming names, not shading or anything just… people who I thought were upstanding folks showing their true colors. :/

[RicaRuin]

I've been powerlevelling my Black Mage with Trusts yesterday. Normally, I don't have motivation for that, but the current world state and news have me... scared and a little bit overwhelmed, so I started to use FFXIV as escapism.