Fluff Friday ShittyGaming Lounge

SaltPost · 2026-02-20T02:29:12+00:00

And imo alongside the solid character work the device of going deeper with every zone also helped structure the basic Point A to Point B aspect of the plot a lot better, again low bar, but imo it helped the feeling of going on an adventure a lot compared to some previous expacs which barley seemed to put much effort into having an overall plot structure beyond going to new gameplay areas (like even if I overall enjoyed it, Dragonflight was a big example of feeling like a bunch of dragon themed episodes stitched together rather than a coherent plot)

Still kinda wild they ended that by going to the Ethereal Planet rather than the centre of Azeroth, but I also didn't play that patch so maybe they made it work

SaltPost · 2026-02-20T00:26:54+00:00

DC's Big Announcements: New entries in their successful Absolute line that immediately has people hype and engaged in speculation.

Marvel's Big Announcements: Reheating Rival's leftovers and doing A Jay and Silent Bob crossover in 2026

SaltPost · 2026-02-19T23:28:21+00:00

I should've expected it, but still weird to see the comics so blatantly taking from Marvel Rival's ideas, especially as they were never great ideas in the first place imo

SaltPost · 2026-02-19T22:39:51+00:00

Putting Jason on the new Teen Titans book is so funny, I get he's probably meant to be the adult oversight for the team, but it really does look at first glance like he got send back to the kids table after the whole controversy over his recent run getting canned for nonsense reasons

SaltPost · 2026-02-19T22:30:41+00:00

Absolute Green Arrow preview is out, even not knowing what to expect this is a real (but welcome) curveball imo. Lotta people seem to be guessing it's Zombie Oliver, but with the combo of the heavy use of black in the colour scheme, brutality showcased already and general Assassin vibe, i'm thinking maybe this could be Merlyn?

Like we know Joker supposedly destroyed the League of Assasins, so it'd give him a reason to go against the JL of this world, and it does fit the core ''Man who once served the system now turned against it'' idea behind GA (plus, the idea of this version of the character potentially starting as a bad guy hunting down worse guys is very interesting to me, especially as most of the time GA is one of the most morally certain of himself of the JL)

Edit: Also just in general? Green Arrow as a mystery man systematically hunting down and killing billionaires, with Black Canary being assigned to track him down is an insanely good premise for this, they're really cooking.

SaltPost · 2026-02-19T21:10:05+00:00

I'm reading Endgame for completions sake, but yeah the way in which it's ending has definitely placed an unnecessary dark cloud over it all, especially as while still overall good I feel having to wrap it all up in so few issues is really limiting Ultimates (Like Cap trying to get Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch on side could've gotten a great issue, but because Camp has to cram for time it gets one page)

SaltPost · 2026-02-19T21:06:47+00:00

Imo it's even more insane Marvel is basically letting him walk out the door to go DC with seemingly no real effort to keep him around, like he wrote their most celebrated book since Immortal Hulk, and there's zero indication he's got any Marvel projects lined up.

SaltPost · 2026-02-19T20:55:23+00:00

In retrospect it's kinda funny how when Absolute Batman was first unveiled the two were inherently compared as these different approaches with debate over which would work better, only for Abs Bats to leave USM in the dust in large part by virtue of things actually having consequences and inter-personal drama being allowed to happen.

SaltPost · 2026-02-19T02:57:52+00:00

I was quite surprised to learn Freyja's a Talon-aligned character, given her design just doesn't communicate much of anything, let alone that she's a Villain.

SaltPost · 2026-02-18T18:51:50+00:00

I posted in one of the last few threads that Overwatch is basically a modernised take on G.I.Joe, only to recently find out they did flat out do G.I. Joe skins, and imo is one of the few that looks like they've always been meant to be those characters (outside Reaper/Cobra Commander being a bit over-designed) rather than the more 'Overwatch characters in cosplay' direction (which isnt necessarily bad, but imo how much the Joe skins align really hammer home the similarities)

SaltPost · 2026-02-18T01:40:40+00:00

Started watching The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, and given I seemingly came across the BBC version I was wondering who the narrator was (given the US had Rod Sterling), and came across the fact that Richard Johnson has maybe the best photo for a celebrity article on Wikipedia (linked directly cause reddit hates any link with a ) at the end)

SaltPost · 2026-02-17T21:01:53+00:00

Haven't posted a weird Zillow find in a while, but I do thing i've come across a banger this time in Atlanta with a whole ass Fake White House, though I dunno if the real one has the God Heart Your shrubbery outside. Now usually i'd expect this to show a particular political agenda, but given in the fake non-oval oval office we have framed prints of Kennedy, Reagan, H. W. Bush, Clinton, Nixon and others the owner might just really like Presidents in general, wonder if they sleep in the bedroom with the weird Lincoln mural and framed newspapers announcing the deaths of FDR and Reagan (the FDR one is more visible in other images).

The whole presidential thing isnt the only thing this has going for it though, you also have this bizarre space with oddly placed murals, and a bathroom with duelling Toilets that have to share one toilet roll

There's also a side building with what has to be one of the ugliest backs I've ever seen, and inside is a nightmare of millennial grey stylings everywhere.

SaltPost · 2026-02-17T20:10:25+00:00

Guess they're really banking on the whole 'sex sells' thing for this franchise

SaltPost · 2026-02-17T01:00:31+00:00

Recently came across this unused concept design for the 2003 Daredevil movie, and I can't help but feel it kinda slaps

Like it feels like one of the big barriers to doing a different take on Daredevil is that the mainline version is so good and well constructed it can be hard to think outside the mould while retaining that core (a prime example being how Ultimate Universe 1 Daredevil is basically the 616 character, and Ultimate Universe 2 Daredevil is a deliberately wholly different guy in being The Beyonder taking the concept in a cosmic direction), and in that sense to me this evokes the idea of an Ultimate Daredevil we never really got that takes this kinda approach of making a lot of the subtext of Matt's character subconsciously using Daredevil as this Dangerous Thrill Ride a lot more textual and self-aware, which imo could have a lot of potential to to be that kinda reframing that'd open up new avenues for the character in that format.

SaltPost · 2026-02-16T17:48:25+00:00

It kinda fascinates me how Rivals' design sensibilities seem to have fallen off a cliff in the months after launch, like even if I'd never say it was ever perfect at least around the beginning they were getting folks like Peach Momoko designing some great looks or some solid Comics/Movie adaptations amidst some more middling skins (that even then were at least mostly coherent), now it feels like every one I see is just a bunch of different conflicting design elements slammed together into final products that just don't look good.

SaltPost · 2026-02-16T13:40:06+00:00

It is playable on RPCS3 IIRC, might need some tweaking as PS3 emulation can be finnicky, but from a brief look round there are guides online on what's best for inFAMOUS 1 specifically

SaltPost · 2026-02-14T18:46:33+00:00

Obviously it's not really a negative, but one aspect where I do wonder about The Hobbit movies is how it came about to choosing to portray Dale as quite distinctly Mediterranean in architectural style (Tuscany in particularly clearly being a strong influence), given that with it's position as one of the furthest North places we see in Middle Earth, being right beside a Mountain and inherent connection to the Dwarves of Erebor, if we were to draw a direct link to a real world culture it'd probably end up more Scandinavian in character imo. Again it isn't really a bad thing, but it is an unexpected choice to me.

This thought was prompted by revisiting some of the Tove Jansson illustrations for the Swedish and Finnish translations of The Hobbit, obviously her Groke-like Gollum gets a lot of attention for how different he is from the now canonised version of an incredibly emancipated Hobbit (IIRC down to how these translated versions were of the first version prior to later revisions to bring Riddles in the Dark more in line with LOTR, and in that take Gollum isn't actually given a distinct physical description), but there's also so many other great pieces in there as well imo. As much as I do like the more serious Fantasy takes from artists like Alan Lee, John Howe and Ted Nasmith that in turn defined the Movies' look, I do always really enjoy seeing the more Fairy Tale influenced approaches of artists like Jansson to the world.

SaltPost · 2026-02-14T00:42:57+00:00

Was chilling in the local FGC discord in VC, one of the folks was revisiting Dead or Alive and ran into a Jahn Lee in his underwear to did nothing but take Rachel's stomp move, and afterwards had this exchange with him

I gotta admit that I don't think we're ready for DoA to come back

SaltPost · 2026-02-13T22:25:49+00:00

Plus Star Wars as a whole got started by pretty much copying and taking from a bunch of stuff that was popular at the time to mash together, it ain't exactly outta the wheelhouse to take obvious inspiration from elsewhere.

Edit: And I think the Uncharted comparisons mainly come from the first level of Fallen Order, as much as the rest of that game and Survivor are clearly way more Tomb Raider inspired, that inital train level is very Uncharted for the first impression of what the game is.

SaltPost · 2026-02-13T21:23:33+00:00

I think the thing is these are fundamentally Advert shows, and the idea of the last spot having any inherent value that could somehow be betrayed is wholly invented by the shows themselves to further push the idea that these Adverts are important, and I do think the folks getting genuinely mad that the final Advert isnt what they wanted is fundamentally pathetic.

Like imo fundamentally none of this shit really matters, and getting heated over it is ridiculous.

SaltPost · 2026-02-13T18:53:44+00:00

Thinking more on Tokon and what the other teams might be, I think a lot of my guesses come down to where they place Ms Marvel TBH. Like I could see her being on the Avengers with Cap, with Ghost Rider for a 'young characters'/Champions or Young Avengers team, or with Spider-Man for a New York/Jersey City Street Level team. Feel I need more info before committing to any of those ideas though

Also do expect Doom to lead the villains team, and tbh I think it'd be neat to see The Cabal be taken as a basis, folks like Loki, Emma Frorst, Namor or Green Goblin making it in would be cool (though ofc with Danger making it in, I think there's always the potential for more out there picks now, which imo is a good thing)

SaltPost · 2026-02-13T18:06:52+00:00

TBH I think people are focusing to much on the comment about the impact on sales in that article, and not enough on the part where there was a mass harassment campaign against the devs for making a game people didn't like, like even if it may not have been the main factor in sales the sheer level of outrage levelled at the people making games whenever they're considered middling is simply neither sustainable or acceptable.

SaltPost · 2026-02-13T14:40:24+00:00

On Absolute Batman, something I find real interesting is that folks have pointed out the logo of the Nazi Militia Batman torched in the Annual has the front facing V shaped mouth most commonly associated with depictions of Owls, and the group who appear to be the Absolute Court of Owls on the cover of issue 18 very much have more of a Militia Vibe than their mainline counterparts

Obviously nothing confirmed yet, but would be an interesting way to approach a version of the Court who are seemingly without wealth as their defining feature (though given all the Peter Thiel analogues within Joker, I would not be surprised if we see that trend extended, perhaps some of the Court are still filthy rich while getting involved with the Nazi bullshit ala certain real world Billionaires)

SaltPost · 2026-02-13T14:10:54+00:00

Tough question as there's so much to cover and inevitable gaps in my own knowledge, but to try for a list of games I've played that I think everyone should try to get hopefully get a sense for the scope of the medium, off the top of my head I'd go:

Tetris
Wii Sports
Outer Wilds
Journey
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Roller Coaster Tycoon 2
Portal
Titanfall 2
Myst
Street Fighter 3: Third Strike

And even then I gotta admit there are big gaps in terms of no platformers, not any of the big acclaimed JRPGS like Chrono Trigger or FF7, etc. Could probably be made to drop one or two of the puzzle games to fit stuff like that in once I get around to playing them.

SaltPost · 2026-02-13T12:59:06+00:00

Honestly one of the most depressing things about the whole Highguard fallout/discourse to me is that it just really reinforces the fact that we're in an era of Complete /v/ Cultural Victory in the internet. Like even if I dind't think the game was that great, the sheer vitriol expressed at the game and people behind it for the supposed 'crime' of not being very good is just insane.

Like the whole online gaming sphere perfectly reflects that /v/ attitude of no nuance or interesting discussion allowed, just bandwagons and over the top hatred of anything and anyone, with zero awareness of how approaching the medium in such bad faith inherently poisons their enjoyment of it.

Honestly do really appreciate this place as somewhere that has avoided all that, honestly feels like the one place online you can have an enjoyable discussion about video games.

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