The Testing Chat III: The Time of Great Chatting

[F.J. Prefect, Esq]

I've heard the real reason is they developed so many art assets for the game they just want to reuse them again. Like parts that were supposed to be in XIII ended up in XIII-2.

While that probably made the decision financially palatable, I find it hard to believe that they have so many art assets that they could make two whole sequels, or even that it makes much sense to put out two whole sequels just because they have the assets. Like when I was in Japan FFXIII-2 was getting advertised all over the place and the great majority of that marketing was just 'hey guys remember this chick'.

[Darksi4190]

Question Ford, Square Enix still designs and markets the Final Fantasy series according to the tastes of Japanese gamers right, I.E. basing spin-offs on what characters are most popular there?

[F.J. Prefect, Esq]

That is why Vaan is in Dissidia, sure.

[Straha]

[quote="phongn"

I'm convinced DH is either an epic level troll or a High School nerd looking for a place to hang out. They're the sort of person who would have thrived on TEO in 2003-2005 and just happen to be be incredibly late to the party. Kind of a shame, really.

My guess is the latter.[/quote]

His latest posts in the Joel Brinkely thread has convinced me that he must be at least a little self-aware of the chum he's throwing. There may be an honest middle-ground between both those realms which he's occupying quite handily.

This could just be nostalgia talking but I consider 2003-2005 to be my personal "golden age" on SDN. The main SW/ST debate hadn't been completely done to death yet, so there was still some decent activity in the Vs. forum, The N&P and G&C forums opened up new avenues of discussion and weren't yet completely polarized, the old-style STGODs were in full swing without the point scores and numbers to bog them down, and there was still a decent amount of excitement over the Star Wars franchise with Episode III on the horizon.

I think a lot of it is nostalgia. One of the things that was different back then was that there were a ton more people on there, and while they might all want to think that each thread was a shining gem of unvarnished genius, remember the two longest threads TEO had for YEARS were the 'change a letter' and 'word association' games. There was also a huge culture of misogyny, coupled with threads in AMP and BOTM which were about the female members showing some skin, and tons of stupid in-jokes that harkened back to a yesteryear.

What made it fun was that you could get out of it what you put into it, if you wanted to find intelligent discussions there were enough of those happening to be able to be regularly entertained. If you wanted dumb shit there was tremendous amounts of it too (I remember one of DW's absolute favorite threads was about how far the different male members of the board could ejaculate), and there were all sorts of side-interests too (like those old, and tremendously fun, STGODs).

I think what's killed that place is that most of the people there grew up and either tried to cling to the platonic ideal of what they used to have (Alyrium seems to be most emblematic of this trend) or became self-aware and mellowed out a lot. The latter part seem to have mostly migrated here, for better or for worse.

[phongn]

His latest posts in the Joel Brinkely thread has convinced me that he must be at least a little self-aware of the chum he's throwing. There may be an honest middle-ground between both those realms which he's occupying quite handily.

I just looked through that thread: he does read like a toxic mix of nonsense, ignorance and troll.

I think what's killed that place is that most of the people there grew up and either tried to cling to the platonic ideal of what they used to have (Alyrium seems to be most emblematic of this trend) or became self-aware and mellowed out a lot. The latter part seem to have mostly migrated here, for better or for worse.

Or they grew up and just left in general. Hell, Mike himself all but left (and so would Dalton if he could find a suitable replacement).

[Darksi4190]

*Snip*

I think a lot of the nostalgia I have for SDN during those years goes back to how my favorite Sci-Fi and fantasy franchises hadn't gone stale yet, so there was still room for a lot of fun discussion that hadn't been done yet.

Star Wars was still going strong, with the NJO series having some of the last books in the EU that I consider to be "good," and Episode III on the horizon promising an epic end to the Saga.

Star Trek was pretty deep in the shitter by then, but there was still the occasional good episode from the franchise

Stargate was at it's height, with seasons seven and eight producing the best episodes from the entire franchise, and Atlantis offering promise of new adventures, though sadly that promise was never truly fulfilled.

I look back on those years fondly because i've always predominantly used SDN as a means to interact with other fans of Sci-fi and fantasy, to discuss the events and characters of the franchises that I enjoy. I rarely frequent N&P, and i've never made a single post in the ARSE forum. For me SDN was always just a way to spend some time talking about stuff that I liked with other people who also thought it was cool, and that sort of discussion has really died down since most of the franchises that were popular there haven't made a solid offering in years.

[timmy]

(and so would Dalton if he could find a suitable replacement).

Which speak volumes of the man's integrity. Props.

[Aaron]

No shit. Kudos to Rob.

[Darksi4190]

Does anyone remember back when, during any VS. between two or more female characters, it was practically required to post a one or two sentence blurb about them having graphic lesbian sex before getting to the actual debate?

[Veef]

(I remember one of DW's absolute favorite threads was about how far the different male members of the board could ejaculate),

In the quiet words of the virgin Mary...come again?

[Darksi4190]

It's there, buried deep in the forgotten recesses of the Hall of Shame, right next to the thread where board members posted the size of their penises and totally didn't exaggerate or anything.

[Oxymoron]

A Prostatic Crucible.

[Straha]

(I remember one of DW's absolute favorite threads was about how far the different male members of the board could ejaculate),

In the quiet words of the virgin Mary...come again?

Behold:

http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic. ... =Ejaculate

[Veef]

C'mon J you gotta be one of the guys.

[Straha]

Page 3:

Come on Zaia, you must produce at least some fluid downstairs.

You know you wanna tell us.

[Veef]

"Speaking of that, do you measuere the ejaculation distances and breast diameters in porno flicks using scaling?"

better have calcs

[Manus Dei]

assume a spherical penis

[Stofsk]

Mang

I dread to review my first posts on TEO. I have the feeling I'd end up massively embarassed.

[Darksi4190]

Mine don't even have correct spelling and grammar.

Actually, a lot of people's don't have correct spelling and grammar. I mean we were all pretty much in high school at least right? Some of that shit looks like it was typed by twelve year olds.

[Stofsk]

Maybe you were, but I wasn't

I actually think the median age back then for most posters would be late-teens to early-twenties. I know I joined up around my 20th b'day.

[Aaron]

I probably look like a massive idiot, but I'm not that guy anymore.

I think I was 26ish?

[Darksi4190]

When I first joined SDN, it was late 2002, so I would've been fifteen at the time, just going into High School.

I think that might've been another reason I liked the years of 2003-2005 on SDN so much. Back when I was in High School, I could still "get into" stuff. I was watching, playing, and reading various things in SF franchises that I enjoyed so much I was genuinely excited to see whatever came out next within that franchise. I can remember watching episodes of SG-1 or Star Trek: Enterprise (the final two seasons of which I actually rather enjoyed) and then rushing to jump on the computer and chat about it in OSF or PST. Sure, there was still stuff I was interested in being discussed after 2005 and even 'til today, but that was the time period when it feels like there was the most going on. Between the discussion threads for eps of shows I was following, the speculation over Episode III, and the STGODs i participated in, I think I had an average of like fifteen posts a day.

[Stofsk]

I think there's a bit of truth in what Straha says in how the place has changed. I know I've mellowed quite a bit, and that most of the people who still post on TEO haven't. Case in point, try and get involved in any Star Wars discussion now and see if guys like Havok or Elfdart jump on your back. Or hell, guy's like Batman act like vampires as soon as they enter a thread. All the life gets sucked straight out.

[Losonti Tokash]

I need to just ban myself because I get upset by stupid bullshit every time I read it.

[RogueIce]

So this is the trailer for what may be the final story arc of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

They've pretty much confirmed season 6 is happening. They're already working on it.

Even if they keep the same staff, i'm not sure it'll be the same show under Disney's rule. I know they haven't enforced too much control over other stuff in the past, but this will be airing on a Disney channel, probably XD, and I can't see them allowing something like say, the Umbara arc, to air on their channel given their "family" reputation.

Time will tell I suppose.

I think there's a decent chance that it'll stay strong enough. Star Wars is a different beast than a Disney Channel Original Series.

Although if they try to brand it as one I'll be annoyed. Regardless of whether such branding causes a shift in tone or not. I find that shit annoying.