My S.O. likes games but has anxiety around people (more since being robbed at work a couple weeks ago) that makes it hard to do tabletop games. :/
I don't do Frog God stuff since the latest news about Bill Webb broke. :/
Sure, I don't mean to dog on someone else's game. I do regret that I have Necropolis sitting on my shelf and now I will never run it because of the bad taste. :/
Dealing with some personal issues. Please DMPC as needed. I apologize for any inconvenience.
Yeah hope everything is ok dude, catch you when things settle hopefully
Been super-sick. :(
Apologies for going dark last few days.
Friday I was travelling all day with work, Saturday I was out for an engagement party and Sunday I was recovering from said party :/
So busy already? lol - I'm used to that kind of busyness waiting until nearer the end of the month =P
There have been a couple of achingly slow games I've been in where I was just waiting for them to die off. I can say today that I'm only in games that I'm enjoying, but man did it take a while to get this point =P
I've also had a recent cull.
I've got some stuff going on in my personal life which means I have to significantly reduce my games (I'm aware my pace has dropped recently but I'm working on that).
I think I've come to the same conclusion as you guys in that this is a time-consuming hobby. Yes it only takes a few minutes to update but you've got to get yourself in that mindspace and a game that updates once every few days is really not conducive to that.
JZ, I've got no issues with our pace here. Even if it's a bit slow, the posts from you - and the rest of you guys, really - still show real engagement. I think a PbP can survive a slow pace (not that this one is bad at all...) if GM and players are still demonstrably into it.
Indeed, I like the quick pacing but honestly I'm just happy to have a quality game with an attentive DM and good players, even if it slows down from time to time. I've been in too many games that just dry up and die. This is a good, solid game, perhaps the best one I'm in - you've nothing to worry about.
Honestly if a game doesn't slow down from time to time in order to take a breath, in my experience it ends up flying off the rails.
I'd be very interested in everyone's opinion on TLJ.
If you've seen any reviews online, spoiler-filled or not, you'll see that it seems to be splitting audiences almost right down the middle.
I have to admit, I didn't enjoy it and it was the first time I've finished watching a Star Wars movie pretty dissatisfied and actually a little angry about lots of decisions they've made.
I left the theater with a shrug and a "eh, yeah that was ok" kind of feeling.
The things that I didn't like about the movie were quite numerous, but the things that I did like (while fewer in number) I absolutely loved.
I liked it more than Rogue One, but not by much. Was expecting to want to see TLJ in theaters multiple times, but alas, once was enough for me.
I mentioned this on Facebook John but will reiterate here, I loved Rogue One. I thought it was superior to TLJ in every way to be honest.
But I respect your opinion and that RO wasn't for you.
I liked it more than the Force Awakens but Rogue One still stands out more in my memory.
I found both of them to be mediocre, at least to my tastes.
Sorry I've been a bit quiet lately. End of year crunch time at work, and the little one has been sick.
No worries Kaz. I'm hitting a wall in work too, this week is as busy as any.
Hope the little one is feeling better soon :)
Same for me. Last week was bonkers. Wound up having to visit nearly 2 dozen branches over the span of 3 days out of the blue. Things are looking more normal for me now, but last week was a doozy.
Seems a busy time of year for most, regardless. Hope you and your family are quick to being on the mend, Kaz!
I'll be traveling for the next few days, then I should have a couple days in the clear, then more traveling right around Xmas. Will try to check in when I can.
I thought the humor this time around felt more like the humor from the prequels than what we saw in the original triology or in Force Awakens. Which is to say it often felt out of place to me and a little jarring. I think the only part that made me actually laugh was when the little furry chicken-duck imitated Chewy's yell in the cockpit of the Falcon.
Leia pulling herself through space irked me. Apparently she was also strong enough to unconsciously maintain an atmosphere around her through the force in addition to towing herself back to the sealed bulkhead doors.
And while we're talking about space, BOMBS DON'T FALL IN SPACE. I had to inwardly argue with myself and invent the idea that the bombs weren't being dropped, but rather shot out of the bottom of those bomber-chutes like bullets out of a rail gun.
Lots of bits like that like kept jarring me throughout the film.
That being said, I absolutely loved every one of Rey and Kylo's interactions and their time on screen together. They were electric and riveting. Adam Driver in particular has really wowed me with his performances in both this and Force Awakens.
The imagery on the salt planet was absolutely stunning. The plumes of red from the speeders and the madcap chase through the crystal-choked chasms in particular just looked stunning.
I thought the purple-haired lady was needless character bloat and that they should have had Admiral Ackbar fill that role in the story. Bringing Poe into conflict with a titanic hero of the Rebellion would have had more emotional heft AAAAND Ackbar sacrificing himself to save the shuttles would have been a tremendous send off for such a celebrated character. Throw in a line about a trap just before he jumps to lightspeed and you've got theatergoers losing their minds and cheering like crazy.
Rose had the best line of the film, "That's how we're going to win. Not fighting what we hate; saving what we love." What a brilliant way to divide the two sides of the conflict and what a heroic sentiment. Rose was a fantastic new addition to the cast.
I could ramble on and on, and there's loads I would have done or written differently, but in the end the parts that were just utterly outstanding (though fewer in number) balanced out the bits I didn't care for or enjoy.
Leia pulling herself through space was an absolutely BIZARRE decision for me. As far as I know there is no precedent for that in canon and even if there were Leia has never shown any affinity for the force beyond long range empathy like when she felt Luke was on the Pylon beneath Cloud City.
More than that, it didn't do anything for the story except I suppose a metaphorical handing of the torch to Poe when at the end she said "follow him." Let's also not forget that Carrie Fisher sadly passed away and so that would have been a perfectly acceptable way for the character to exit and not leave the strange situation where of the original characters the only one still alive is the one where the actress is not.
I hated Luke thinking about killing Ben Solo in his sleep. I remember shaking my head and thinking that was completely out of character. He spent three movies trying to redeem the most evil man in the galaxy and yet this young man who, up until that point can't have done anything evil, just had the potential for Darkness. But suddenly Luke was ready to kill him? Wth?
Poor Ackbar.
SNOKE - What the actual...!!!!!***%%%^%
So this all powerful Sith(?) lord who was out there in the cosmos somewhere. We know nothing about him, where he came from, why he hated Luke so much and was built up to be a really credible villain but died in the lamest way. He tossed Rey and Kylo around, was smart enough to know his force link would work and yet didn't sense Kylo would betray him? Urgh..... Huge wasted opportunity.
Finn is a completely pointless character. In two movies he has done nothing of consequence. The whole casino planet thing took me out of it.
Actually lots more I could complain about but the girl who sits next to me in work is moaning about how much I'm typing :D
I agree with everything you wrote, JZ. Especially your frustration with Luke. You and I are brothers, truly, in this respect. <insert manly fist pound over heart here>
I was glad to learn that JJ Abrams is coming back to close out the new trilogy. I also learned that Disney gave this director a whole new trilogy to develop, so hopefully he does better with that and new characters (like he did with Rose) than he did with established characters (like Luke).
The rest of the movie was a hot mess.
I'm all for strong female characters but Holdo was extreme pandering in a movie full of pandering. I understand Poe needed to learn a valuable lesson to grow into the leader the Resistance needs but coming by her hand was obtuse and disrespectful to the characters that should have been responsible for giving that lesson. Leia would have been ideal but if they were committed to someone sacrificing themselves, Ackbar would have been a perfect fit.
Ironically, my favorite new character, Rose, was entirely wasted in the movie. Her whole subplot bloated the run time and ultimately didn't add anything to the movie other than a couple cute character moments. You could edit it all out and the movie wouldn't be any worse for it. As much as I like John Boyega (I think he's a stronger actor than Daisy), his character is pointless in this trilogy. Rey's the hero of the story and she's filling all the character archetypes on her own. She's the jedi-to-be, the talented scoundrel, and the hotshot pilot all in one. He's just there to check a box and fill as many racist tropes as possible.
I think the side-jaunt to casino-ville with Finn and Rose should have been jettisoned outright and the pair should have just infiltrated the First Order ship immediately. And as soon as they're on board, bring Finn into conflict with Phasma. Phasma has been tragically wasted in both movies now and without a nemesis to pivot against and serve as his foil, Finn falls flat.
Finn vs Phasma // Rey vs Kylo // Poe vs Hux
I think those 3 trunks of conflict should have been the axes of the movie, with everything coming to a head on salt-mine world as the three lines converged.
But yeah, I agree with every criticism that's been offered up in this discussion so far. Y'all got good taste and smarts to match! =)
Same to you, have a fantastic holiday guys
Happy new year all!
This will get going properly again tomorrow and we can look forward to another great year of gaming!
Jeeeez I had no idea how bad the whether was for huge areas of the US!
Hope you guys are all safe and managing ok.
Well, it's a balmy 0 Farenheit (-18 C) before wind chill here in Pittsburgh this morning, but we're doing fine.
:/
Careful you dont get sunburn
I'm in California. Sunny and warm.
...what?
All the world is covered in ice here. Friction has fled these lands and gravity is the cruelest and harshest of mistresses.
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"I could not help feeling that they were evil things -- mountains of madness whose farther slopes looked out over some accursed ultimate abyss."
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That's New Jersey. The accursed, ultimate abyss is New Jersey. =\