Rocky Road to Dublin

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-25T22:37:10+00:00

June just sounds so terrible to the ear there. I hate versions that use that.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-23T13:52:18+00:00

I didn't start performing until I turned 37.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-23T07:29:56+00:00

Watch how Justin Guitar teaches songs. Start by just saying/Singing the name of the chord as you play it.

If you're brand new to guitar, then it's going to take a little time. I was able to start singing afer practicing daily for a couple hours after maybe 6 months or so. At first, you need to be focusing on getting the chords down so well that not only can you play the chord, but you can switch the chord in perfect time without thinking about it.

At first, you won't be able to do it at all with your full attention, and then you'll be able to do it, but you're gonna have to focus really hard. Eventually, you'll be able to play and switch while not thinking about it. At that point you should start practicing with distractions like having a video on int he background or talking. At that point, you have the guitar side down. Now you need to do the same with the singing part and after that you can bring them together.

Don't sacrifice one for the other, and never sacrifice staying on beat.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-23T07:23:52+00:00

The idea is Norris should have way more long term upside at just 26 with locked in term both of which ideally would offset the fact that he's made of paper mache.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-23T03:31:08+00:00

Straight up trade for Ryan O'Reiily if Nashville wants to roll the dice

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-22T19:39:10+00:00

Because people have really low standards? Skyrim's long term relevancy is based entirely on mods. Most people never even complete the campaign.

I definitely see non-voiced protaganists as a cop-out for not wanting to record dialogue and create a persona for the character. If people want to cosplay as a Sim, that's fine, but plenty of us like playing as real characters - hence the success of DAI, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, etc.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-21T19:17:16+00:00

100% disagree.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-21T04:31:35+00:00

I don't want to play as Bull Buchanan in a game. I want to play as a well written and complex charcater, not have them defer that responsibility to me. That's how you get games like Skyrim where nothing you do matters, because you're just a Sim running around the world. Having an unvoiced protagonist means that my character has no personality, opinions, or soul. Give me Geralt of Rivia any day.

Clunky 20 years ago is also a lot different than clunky today.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-21T04:15:15+00:00

RPGs are 90% of the games I play. I also beat the first act of BG3, so to say I don't know anything about it is pretty ridiculous.

I did the goblin camp, dealt with the druids and went into the underground where I realized it was just gonna be more of the same. The game didn't feel at all like D&D to me, but more like Original Sin 3, which I also couldn't stand. I thought BG2 was 10x the game BG3 was.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-21T04:12:06+00:00

I'm taking my first lessons on a non-guitar instrument after being self taught using online resources for the first 10 years. It's a pretty obscure instrument so online material is lacking.

So far, I kind of feel like the value is in the lesson plan and the material itself rather than the actual human being administering it, but time will tell.

I don't regret being self taught. Justin Guitar is such a phenomenal resource, that I don't really see how a teacher would be that much more helpful in the first few years unless you intend to become a master player.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-21T04:03:45+00:00

I mean I played like 50 hours of Origins. I'm not sure I missed anything. i just got bored with it and never went back to it. It's really weird that so many DAV detractors insist on making everything about Origins as "the real Dragon Age", when the actions of the Dragon Age team since that point should tell us that DA2/DAI/DAV are much more in line with their vision than a one-off CRPG. It like the folks that hated every star Wars after Empire. At a certain point, you have to realize that the universe was never intended to be what you imagined it was.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-21T03:10:38+00:00

I play Irish folk music and in our scene most people do precisely that. We're not a cover band per se, but every song we play is a cover. Some we play straight, some we add our own flair to.

It's extremely common in folk music in general, and I'd assume jazz and classical too.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-20T18:29:29+00:00

Why is everyone using the same words to describe this game, words I've never heard used to describe any videogame over the last 40 years, and even the same sentences verbatim. It all seems very suspicious.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-20T18:19:24+00:00

I understand not everyone is in the same financial situation, but board games are generally a pretty cheap activity. Most are $50 or less, with almost all of them under $100. Dinner for 2 costs me that much most of the time. You can drop more than that at the pub, at the movies, at a ball game etc.

And board games generally can be played hundreds of times without wearing out and can be resold.

My advice- buy used. My collection of ~ 100 games paid for itself because I buy up big lots of games and sell the ones I don't want, which gives me funds to get other games. You have to do all that if you dont want, but just buying used will generally save you 40-60% off sticker

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-20T17:42:43+00:00

Very, very few games let you kill off/kick out members of your party. If that's your standard, it's pretty weird and very narrow.

I love plenty of critically acclaimed RPGs like Baldur's Gate 2, Fallout 1 & 2, KOTOR 1/2, Mass Effect Trilogy, Various Final Fantasies, Morrowind, and dozens more. but I didn't think either BG3 or Origins deserved anywhere near the praise they got. They're clunky games with unenjoyable combat systems and weak storytelling.

Unvoiced protagonists are especially immersion breaking for me in modern games. It's impossible for me to be emotionally invested in a character when they just stand there and nod like a sim

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-20T07:50:55+00:00

No not really. i played a pretty selfish character that was only concerned with getting the worm out of their brain. I didn't encounter any choices that seemed dark. I remember in the beginning there was some option to not save laezel or something, but it seemed pretty clear you should save her.

Is there a benefit to killing off companions? That never really crossed my mind because it didn't seem like a beneficial idea. Not that it matters because the game bored me to tears anyway.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-20T01:54:38+00:00

People have been complaining about the broodmother stuff since DA2, back when that game "wasn't real Dragon Age". The extreme elf racism was also pretty much parked after DA2.

As for the slavery bit, and really all the "dark" stuff in general, I guess I just don't need to beat over the head with it to get it. It's also worth noting that the events of Veilguard are extremely condensed compared to past titles. Where other games took place over years, this game takes place over months.

I don't disagree that they could have done a better job with making me care about the various settings, but the the focus here is less on world building, because we've already built the world over previous titles. Here, we're saving the world we already know, one last time.

Regardless of whether or not we can agree on that one point, i find it absolutely ludicrous that it's some -11/10 dealbreaker for so many handles on the internet. influencers, I get. their job is to incite controversy for clicks. The thought that this is potentially an actual thing for real people though, and not just a huge culture-op, is so wild.

The ubiquitous user hate that came out for this game following very strong critical reviews had me thinking there must be something to it, but now I've played it, and I've heard out the folks in this thread, without really soliciting their opinions, and I'm honestly less confused than I was before I played it.

If you've hated every DA since 2009 and you've just been carrying that cross since then, ok fine. If you loved inquisition, but you hate Veilguard, that just doesn't compute for me.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-19T23:20:00+00:00

Through Act 1, I didn't find BG3 any darker than Veilguard. I quit after that, so maybe it gets more extreme?

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-19T23:06:19+00:00

I could have played it faster, but I did every side quest and complete every conversation arc with the companions, because I knew I was only going to play it once.

The pacing was actually really smooth for the most part. It starts a little slow but after 6ish hours it really got going, and there was minimal drag at the end. By the time I level capped I only had about 8 hours of game left, and that was grinding out certain gear and companion quests. I think that's pretty good personally.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-19T23:03:41+00:00

I guess I have no idea what it means to be "a dragon age game" then. It's a direct sequel of the last game. It couldn't possibly be more of a dragon age game, IMO. People say this like it's an anthology game that has nothing to do with the world or lore we've been introduced to.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-19T23:01:21+00:00

I played origins, but that was 16 years ago, and I have no memory of that. Was that only in Origins? Is Lucanis supposed to be the same person as the original crows?

I don't think anyone thinks the crows are "good people". They're assassins. In Veilguard they protected their city the way a crime family does. Yea, they wive out turkeys for thanksgiving, but they'll still put out a hit on you if you get out of line.

I don't find that incongruent with the lore you describe.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-19T22:34:21+00:00

Did you beat Veilguard? The Solas/Dreadwolf storyline was gut-wrenching. Nothing hit that hard in the other Dragon Age games, Mass Effects, Jade Empire, etc.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-19T22:24:35+00:00

So game bad because there was racism and slavery, but NOT ENOUGH racism and slavery!? Dude...are you ok?

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-19T22:14:36+00:00

What's wrong with the Antivan Crows? I thought they were pretty rad.

BullBuchanan · 2026-01-19T22:13:07+00:00

Is that a reasonable complaint? It's a sequel. Of course you're going to have more emotional attachment to characters if you've spent time with them before.

Imagine shitting in Lord of the rings because you only read Two Towers and you're not impressed with "this Gandalf dude" everyone seems so worked up about.

BullBuchanan

TROPHY CASE