That One NPC

Trust me onesie, everyone loves our mighty bunny overload. Or at least I do! *gives kaz a big 'o snuggle* She's so cute!

Your wall is not for me? If you're saying I'm not welcome here then why don't you build an actual wall to keep me out?

And just to "Rustle Your Jimmies" even further, I'm following you now

I kinda wonder if that meant I was welcome here... I was never told to go away like that. I have been interacting with onesie for a while though so I guess he was used to my shenanigans. Anyway if you are still paying attention enough to read this onesie, I really do hope if you are leaving you find a fun new place and make lotsa friends and I am gonna miss you!

Like I said, the way Cloud acted in Advent Children did make a degree of sense given how he was in a kind of depressive funk over everything. I just don't think Advent Children really fleshed out Cloud's character that much. What disappoints me is that Cloud is never depicted as anything but a socially awkward quiet badboy. Yeah, he is a bit of an edgelord, but that's not all there is to him is all I am saying.

Though thinking about it, I admit that a lot of the more fleshed out characterization Cloud gets is actually stuff that happened before he was messed up. Not that he ever wasn't socially awkward and quiet, but he was much more expressive and emotional. I mean, Cloud in Crisis Core is almost an entirely different person from what he became. He really seemed to be a cute kid who's whole world came crashing down on him. So yeah, it does makes sense he became a kind of 'edgelord'. He hides himself under a false badboy persona.

I do think there are times where that cute kid pokes his head out in after he assumes his badboy persona though, especially some of the more wacky scenes where his badboy persona kinda breaks down. Like when Cloud crossdresses. You may think it was all just a silly joke, but I think it's actually an important aspect of Cloud's characterization. The whole wall market section really shows Cloud out of his element and as much as he tries to put on his badboy face, he has no idea how to deal with what is going on. It almost makes him seem kinda adorable if you ask me. A similar thing happens during the big date sequence. When he is forced to actually deal with interpersonal relationships he kinda has no idea what he is doing.

I guess that's really the problem as I see it. Advent Children and most of the other cameos and expanded universe stuff take Cloud very seriously, but I think Cloud is actually the most true to himself during the awkward moments where he can't fall back on his badboy persona. When he is doing nothing but fighting and trying to accomplish a mission, he really isn't too interesting.

TL;DR: Yes, I guess he is an edgelord, but he is a well written and interesting edgelord.

"TL;DR: Yes, I guess he is an edgelord, but he is a well written and interesting edgelord."

I have to completely disagree. Zack Fair is interesting. Cloud is just there. He's not a bad character, he's not a good character. He's just there, right in the middle. The story line he was placed at the center of was fascinating, one of the best in all of gaming history for so many reasons, and even the characters that surrounded him were mildly interesting (nothing like FF6's cast). Cloud has nothing going for him to find interesting other than the Zack parts.

Well I already said why I find Cloud interesting, so I guess there is nothing left to say.

...Except that you're wrong! :P

Sigh... Have you... actually been paying attention at all to what I have been saying? Am I just that bad at getting my actual point across? Okay, fine, you win! This one planet being the only planet with life is astronomically unlikely! I am a dumb dumb who doesn't know what she is talking about! Your entire worldview is completely 100% justified beyond even a tiny  shred of doubt! No possible future discovery can possibly invalidate your beliefs! No alternative explanation could possibly have any validity to it!

I'm tired.

I stopped reading your novels days ago, honey.

All you want to do is argue with the odds. I checked out on Wednesday.

Ugh... That not what I... *flails around* Oh whatever, I tried.

@Animebryan

Warren admires First Nations peoples so much, she tried to become one.

Trump hates Mexicans so much (like the ones who work for him) that he called them dirty rapists and criminals who steal jobs. He wants to build a wall to keep them out, and keeps children in cages.

Who would you trust more to be in power?

Put aside her past mistakes, and actually listen to her plans for the economy, the environment, education, etc.

The issue is Americans no longer care what happens to immigrants, or people two States over, or to America as a whole. If it doesn't directly impact me, I can't afford to care. This is 100% by design. The one thing goverments fear more than anything is a unified, pissed off population looking to them for answers.

There was a time when civil war was a real concept. America will never see another civil war. They've been proverbially castrated and don't even realize it because the entire system is an illusion.

The only two presidents who even remotely gave a damn about people and ethics, were shot in the head.

I think the thing the government should really fear is not a unified pissed off population looking to the government for answers, but a apathetic slightly annoyed population that already has it's own answers and is just sick of paying for a government that doesn't offer them anything and just wants them out of the way. Because eventually that's what is going to happen at this rate.

Heck I would say the biggest problem is people care too much about what happens to immigrants, or people two States over, or America as a whole. Everyone is trying to tell everyone else what to do. Here's an idea: Maybe, just maybe, people have different wants and needs and expecting everyone in an area the size of the USA to just go along with everyone else is really really dumb? Maybe, you know, it's okay that for example some people don't want immigrants around them while others are more then willing to offer them sanctuary?

And regarding another civil war: Yeah, you are right. America will never see another civil war. Because the first one never ended. People are fighting about the same old shit as they were back then. The scar that opened then never really healed. Now there is just slightly less actual violence involved. Slightly.

@Animebryan Yeah, strongly agreed. The problem is that nearly every potential candidate (and honestly every one that has even a slight chance at winning) is just one who will screw up more and who is ultimately selfish in their goals. Voting is one of the most overrated things anyway and the way the USA is set up - individuals votes rarely matter in the scheme of things, making voting a moot point for anyone going "against the grain".

It's still very much a work in progress, but the plot I'm cooking up is heavily inspired by (but not aiming to directly emulate) FF7's life stream and living planet concepts. I also want to tie political themes in that are somewhat current. The scope of the protests in Hong Kong, and the immigration war in the States have inspired me as well.

I'm thinking of a world much like our own. Many countries which are closed off from one another. Many species facing extinction due to human activity. Pollution ravaging the air, soil, and oceans. Humanity has disconnected from spirituality, burning their dead like household garbage instead of returning them to the planet. (I have a real world issue with burning dead. It's violent and unnatural. The process of decay exists for a reason imo.)

One nation in particular will the native land of several main characters, and it will be in turmoil, under the leadership of a charismatic, racist politician. One character among them will have an uncanny understanding of the lost spirituality I spoke of. More or less the local doomsayer, and looked upon by many as little more than a lunatic.

The selfish, materialistic lifestyle of humanity abroad is destroying society and nature. One thing I've been thinking about and trying to reconcile conceptually is making monsters able to go exinct if the player kills too many of them. Some monsters will be evil and malicious by nature that won't go exinct. The idea I'm playing with is that tje disconnect from spirituality has either angered their Goddess, or attracted a nefarious sort of energy that is amplifying all the bad aspects of life and humanity. This results in the malicious monsters showing up.

For the exinct monsters, I've been thinking about a monster behavior/mood system for normal monsters. So sometimes a creature might be just roaming peacefully, other times you might find one that's hungry or hunting, and therefor on the attack. The player's actions in battle ccould change the creatures mood.

I also want to put in a system that allows the player to help protect or restore populations. Maybe taking eggs to a conservation facility or something. Maybe it could be as easy as not killing them for awhile.

It's all a work in progess as I said. The main focus starting out is the premise.

For me it's all about how you set things up and guide the player through the narrative. If you throw things in their face, they might shut down on you. I think you've got to lead the player there over time.

That kinda reminds me of some games, that take place in the future. The future is quite often shown as a world destroyed by humanity, whether due to a war or just human activity like you mentioned. Speaking of these things, I think I wouldn't be surprised if our future would end up like this. It's a shame how destructive humanity is.

This does sound legit and interesting to be honest.

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For me it's all about how you set things up and guide the player through the narrative. If you throw things in their face, they might shut down on you. I think you've got to lead the player there over time.

Yeah, that's what I had in mind from some point of view earlier. Sounds like you know what you're doing.

Well then, so it's pretty much now a matter of inspiration and motivation, that you have to do your best to not lose in the process. Good luck!

I've always been more of an idea guy than a developer. That's been my challenge. My games usually outgrow my ability to develop them. I would rather put them on ice than butcher them. ^_^

I was mostly joking you know. :3 Yeah, he isn't that bad once you get to know him. I mean, he's still a prick but it's understandable why. Though depending on how you interoperate the story,  it could be argued that he is purposefully trying to make Pearl dependent on him so he can continue being her knight. Kind of an assholish thing to do if he is. But even so, ya gotta pity the guy at least a little. He does so much for Pearl as a knight... and then when Lady Blackpearl joins up and completely upstages him and makes him redundant. I mean Lady Blackpearl kinda does that to every other party member (she's definitely the 'Thunder God Cid' of the game), but with Elazul it's personal.

Though like I said, that's kinda up for interpretation. If I remember correctly I don't think they ever really sat down and explained some of the details about what's going on with those three.

I am pretty sure I have actually, and I can sorta see where you are coming from for sure. I just think whale it's design is pretty neat, it's implementation is very sloppy. Which is how I feel about the rest of the game so... I guess you are right! XD

You probably have, but I mean at length, to where you study and master each weapon style, skill and tech as it relates to fighting another human being rather than clearing npcs. The entire dynamic changes. Skills like counter strike now become extremely useful, whereas others like crouch become worthless. And Tech timing becomes even more paramount, because a human will evade 9 times out of 10 unless the timing is perfect.

Charge techs and magic balanced out being able to dominate with your weapon, which made it easier for the general audience to play long enough to really get into the game.

SoM was tragically basic, even for its era. LoM tried very hard to improve on that. We have to remember it's not a monster sim game, or a crafting game, they were just wonderful additions to the rpg, particularly for its era.

I don't get the feeling that it was released in a rush at all. I get the feeling it was made to be much harder, with much better enemy behavior, but fear over actual player reception in the west led to certain things being changed to make it easier for the average american kid to mash their way through areas and play long enough to learn the ins and outs of the game, getting it right in new game plus.

Yeah, I am pretty sure I know exactly what you are talking about. Even outside of two player matches, LoM had so many really deep interesting ideas that were fun to play around with. I just don't think very many of those ideas were really fully realized. And yeah, I get the point of the timing and all, but it just seemed too clunky. I have been playing a lot of Dark Souls lately, and it's gameplay definitely is sort of like you are describing. You have rather slow animations and have to rely on timing a lot in Dark Souls too, but it feels vastly more playable. LoM's long animations just feel like they are there more to be dramatic then anything else, especially the animation that plays before you use a tech.

Funny you talked about new game plus, cause to me that just proves my point. The extra difficulty modes even at their hardest don't really make the game any harder, because all they do is buff enemy stats. The combat still has the same problems, and enemies are still a joke, they just take longer to kill. If the combat was made to be harder and nerfed I would think the harder modes would fix a lot of the problems, but they don't. The game isn't bad because it was too easy, it was too easy because it was bad. Anyway, I doubt square at that time cared one bit about the reception in the west, and I don't think the Japanese version was any different.