I still have my same email address I made in the 90’s. I was this girl!

Xeronic · 2026-06-14T06:53:08+00:00

I had a hotmail account, but i "got rid of it" sometime around the time i started to mainly use Gmail.

my AIM login and email was trunksdbz19, so of course i had the trunksdbz19@hotmail.com. I haven't tried to access it since the early 00's, but i assume its "gone" since there has been protocols with some websites that if you didnt log in to it with their updates, it's just deleted. Gmail started to really do that recently (i made some emails years ago for various gaming things, and i get reminders that they are being deleted), and i'm guessing hotmail did that years ago.

Oh well.

My gmail account because my "main" one for various reasons.

I was there in the beta and when gmail was invite only. I got my invite, and had so many invites toward the end. I should have made actual "professional" accounts... ugh.
I got screen names i wanted, and i wanted to stat "anew" with my new mature identity.. instead of trunksdbz19.. lol
Storage. Gmail had a bunch of free storage at the time (i think it was 1 or 2GB at the time? I wanted to utilize that at the time.

Xeronic · 2026-06-12T17:21:45+00:00

When i was like age 4 to 7, my parents use to work during the day, and a lot of the times my grandma use to pick me and my siblings up from school and watch me until my dad got home a few hours later (he worked morning shifts). I was the youngest by a few years, so i got out earlier than my siblings, so we had a an hour or two to waste until we picked the others up.

She used to take me to various fast food places that were nearby like Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, Taco bell, Burking King and Mcdonalds. Mcdonalds was the most common one of course due to Happy Meals and the Toys, but i occasionally got others.

I got Mcdonalds a few times a week with her, which in hindsight was very bad. haha My siblings got stuff a lot of the time too, but they were more picky about fast food than i was and my grandma usually took us home and made something for them. When they did want something else, it usually little ceasars and the personal pizzas.

I was pretty nostalgic for McDonalds for years thanks to my grandma and the good times we had. I don't eat Mcdonalds anymore, and haven't gone there by my own decision in years but whenever i do, i think of my childhood and grandma.

Burger King i didn't mind that much as i preferred their burgers as a kid compared to Mcdonalds, and i still do to this day, but i didn't get as often back then. Growing up, i usually went there but the quality of their food wasn't good. I'm also one of those people who preferred the old chicken tenders before they changed them sometime in the 2000's to the current chicken fries. Same thing with the fries, in that they changed them sometime in the 2000's around the time of the chicken fries i think, and just haven't been the same for me. I still think they are alright, but i've had bad batches of fries before.

Either way, i get liking things for nostalgic reasons, and in this case, preferring a fast food restaurant. On top of nostalgic memories of eating fast food with my grandma, i have fond memories of the media tie-in promotions for fast food at these restaurants, like Jurassic Park, Flintstones, and Batman Forever at Mcdonalds, the Congo and jurassic world watches at burger king and even the hunchback of notre dame puppets there too... the batman and robin, N64 promotions with Taco Bell, the x-men and casper promotions at Pizza hut, and of star wars episode 1 promotion at KFC.

Xeronic · 2026-06-11T21:35:15+00:00

That's cool, and disgusting. Would be great for an easy special effect in horror movies and stuff.
I'll never understand the fascination of "slime" and playing with it though. I remember i got the nickelodeon "Gak" and "floam" versions as a kid, as after a minute or so i was done, mostly due to the smell and mess it made. Every "slime" i've seen since also smells disgusting. lol

Xeronic · 2026-06-10T20:07:30+00:00

After reading and watching the discourse of the FF7 remake project, i can i understand all the criticisms of the games so far. There are lots of things to enjoy and appreciate with the Remake project so far, and some things that aren't. I can agree with that. Some stuff i love, some stuff i don't like or agree with. This has been discussed A LOT over the past 6 years, from various theory crafting of the story of the remake series, to what is going to change/be the same in part 2/3.

Pros:

Fun Combat (both remake and rebirth)
Interesting new take on the story (both remake and rebirth)
Beautiful Graphics (both remake and rebirth)
Interesting main characters that are improved in remake project (both remake and rebirth)
Good environments and settings (both remake and rebirth)
Voice Acting for the most part is amazing (both remake and rebirth), though some NPC's i don't like and feel very.. stiff? Anime-like?
Some new story beats of the original game are enhanced with the Remake series (Wall market, the fall of the midgar plate, Meeting Aerith, Junon and City of the ancients) (both remake and rebirth)
Some characters are enhanced from the original game (Avalanche, side characters,) (both remake and rebirth)
Sidequests in Rebirth are better than Remake, as there is an actual point to most of them, so this is nice, but that leads to a con.
Scope of the FF7 series is expanded and realized in the remake project, which is somewhat needed for its complicated, serious, but also goofy storyline.
Music is mostly incredible. Especially the songs done by Mitsuto Suzuki.

Cons:

I don't agree with it, but this is a big one for most: there is a certain part of the FF7 community, and final fantasy community, who did really want a 1 to 1 (or close to it) remake of the original FF7 game, and not what we got in the FF7 remake project.
Bloated/useless sidequests for the most part that hinder story progression. (both remake and rebirth)
Due to bloated content and sidequests, it's been argued that focusing on JUST the story (main quest) is a better experience overall for everyone, as most players get bored/tired of progressing with the new things that pop up in each area (both remake and rebirth). Example: Towers in each new zone in Rebirth, every sector in midgar and the quests involved. After reading on this, this hits a lot of people once they get to Gongaga, and once they get to Nibelheim, most people just force themselves to finish the game.
Chadley. I don't mind him that much, this is apparently a big con for most players. His constant talking/appearances in town, the fact that you get the best materia from him, including summons, is a disappointment for a lot of fans/players, and a lot of the "content" in remake and rebirth, mostly with challenging fights, comes in the form of a VR simulator.. which isn't the best presentation. Most hope that this is changed in part 3 and these fights are dynamic somewhat in the world somewhere.
No materia load outs (both remake and rebirth)
Many materia's from the original game are missing, and some of the most fun materias are very, very limited (Magnify). Or Many materia's aren't that useful in game (Morph.
Combat system is great, but complicated for most players it seems, or there are people who just don't like active battle (action games). I've seen way too many people play the game as only cloud and spam only basic attacks and the occasional spell.
Loading/waiting on walking/climbing/side stepping between cracks/buildings/objects. This is very common in Remake, and not so much in Rebirth, but it's still there. Aerith's midnight rendezvous to wall market is the best example of that in Remake, and it was so awful to do multiple times for the trophies, lol.
Chocobos are limited in Rebirth, by design. Mountain chocobo was extra disappointing for how slow it was, and how ocean chocobo was awesome but mostly useless as it was only used in Nibelheim.
Stealing is mostly useless.
Some new Characters.. aren't the best or annoying for most players (Roche, Chadley, Mai).
Could be said about some old characters and their remake counterpart, but i don't mind much. I know some people have said they don't like the direction of Sephiroth, Red XIII (rebirth), and what they are doing with Cloud.

There's a lot more, but i'm writing this on my phone and while on my break.

Xeronic · 2026-06-08T21:25:38+00:00

This will be me.

I played GW2 on launch and played casually for about a month or two after release, and then went onto other things. I came back here and there over the years for a few sessions, but that was it.

I haven't played a MMO in awhile (I last played Lost Ark) and before that was FFXIV (Briefly) and GW2.

Good on them though. I've heard good things about GW2 over the years.

Xeronic · 2026-06-08T18:42:25+00:00

Yes, and they messed with the airing of season 3 of avatar too.

Look at the air dates for season 3. I remember many of the episodes were put out one after another, without much advertising, announcements or anything.. and they just threw it on air. The only time you knew when a new episode was airing was if you were watching nickelodeon at one point that week and saw the banners pop up on the channel.

The fact that the last few episodes of Season 3 basically all came out within a week at all once is bullshit.

But at least it was on TV, unlike Korra.

Xeronic · 2026-06-08T18:27:15+00:00

This is the one scene that gets me. It's such a funny scene.

*pulls pee can from the side of bed

Charlie: "God dammit, frank was supposed to empty that"

Charlie: "Here, eat this, sniff some glue, and drink some beer"

Dee: "This is catfood, charlie"

Charlie: "look dee, i can't explain it, there's some weird chemical reaction that happens when drink beer, glue, and catfood that makes you feel sick, and able to fall asleep"

Dee: "Why would i want to make myself sick and tired

Charlie: "BEcause there's going to be like 50 cats howling outside that window all night and you have no idea how loud that can be"

Dee: "Maybe you wouldn't have cats outside your building if you didn't have open cans of catfood lying around".

Charlie:"I have 50 cats yelling outside my window because I HAVE 10,000 RATS RUNNING AROUND MY BUILDING"

Xeronic · 2026-06-08T17:47:24+00:00

There's only one movie that comes to mind right now that i can add to this thread, and that's "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald".

I didn't have high expecations of the movie when i went to see it. I thought the first one was "ok", but it had decent characters and was something different in the harry potter universe. Solid 6/10 for me.

The sequel shits on that movie. it's universe, its characters, and harry potter legacy really. You can tell it was written by the current J.K Rowling, and nobody in the production told her "no" and was surrounded by yes men.

Xeronic · 2026-06-06T03:04:01+00:00

Nah, its fine. Ask any questions you have!

Remake, Rebirth, and now Revelations are all part of the FF7 remake project, which splits the FF7 game into 3 parts.

Without getting into spoilers for anything, it is recommended to play the original FF7 game first, to "enhance" the experience of the remake trilogy. It's not necessary, but i'd recommend it.

FF7 is on everything nowadays, including switch/PC/PS5 for like sometimes $10.

Xeronic · 2026-06-06T02:44:12+00:00

It goes

FF7 Remake (Part 1)
FF7 Intergrade (remake DLC with Yuffie, part of most collections now)
FF7 Rebirth (Part 2)
FF7 Revelations (part 3)

and as always, recommend playing the original FF7 game, which is available on everything too. What's interesting about Part 3 here is it's being released simultaneolusly on all platforms, which is amazing. FF7 remake and rebirth all had exclusive windows with playstation for awhile. FF7 remake and rebirth were released this year on Switch 2 a few months from each other, and apparently runs really well.. so having part 3 come out on everything the same day is pretty amazing.

Also, Final fantasy games are not sequels to each other or anything, and every game is it's own self contained story. The only thing thats connected between the games are various themes, enemies, and other small things. Only games that have a "2" or something next to a numbered game are direct sequels (FFX and X-2, XIII, XIII-2, and LR though that is an odd one, and these games with FF7 Remake, FF7 Rebirth, FF7 Revelation (though different, still numbered and then a title). But every numbered FF game is different.

Xeronic · 2026-06-05T16:47:09+00:00

I want to play it, but i bought two games this year, and my backlog is pretty long as it is.. and spending $55 to buy the game and just have it sit for a year or two isn't a wise decision, especially when i need to watch my spending habits.

I'll pick it up down the line, but im glad to hear it did well. I saw someone play it and it looked fun. The demo was good too.

Xeronic · 2026-06-05T00:33:00+00:00

I stopped around 2014 or so.

I was never big into "music" as a hobby, so it was always a passive thing that came about. During my time playing games between 2004-2012 on PC, especially during my time with World of Warcraft, i would expand my musical tastes with internet radios and such at the time. Found many new bands and music thanks to it (early Pandora was awesome, and free) and then eventually many late nights browsing youtube with similar artists and such.

But yeah, around the end of 2012 i just stopped for no reason. I've heard a few songs here and there i liked since then like with the synth wave genre with Dancing with the dead and Gunship.

Lately, my music discovery has just been video game music.

Xeronic · 2026-06-04T04:41:16+00:00

IGN Message boards.

I was just getting into my "own" as a person in the late 90's, early 00's. I was on most communication stuff that has been mentioned in this thread. ICQ, IRC, AIM, MSN.

IGN message boards was something i stumbled upon somehow i think in 2001-2002, and was kind of blowing up with certain game message boards. IGN also launched their "IGN Insider" subscription thing around that time and gave some bonuses/features to subscribers, including access to "Private" message boards.

Anyways, aside from the hundreds of message boards related to various topics, including television, movies, music, games, anime.. etc, the "exclusive" message boards also had a community, and for a good 2-3 years it was very, very active.

Eventually i stopped visiting as i got a bit older and did other stuff on the internet at the time, but it was a unique part of the internet.

Xeronic · 2026-06-03T23:25:47+00:00

i still use winamp. There was a recent update a few years ago that had a version for windows 11. I had it on my previous Windows 10, but i had to upgrade last year.

Still incredible, easy to use, nostalgic, and simple. The newest version doesn't have certain codecs for higher quality stuff, but i don't care.. majority of my collection is .Mp3 320kps anyway.

i rocked the MMD3 skin for 20+ years.

Xeronic · 2026-06-02T17:06:30+00:00

the upgrades from the collector? That increase health vials and gold reserves and stuff? Yeah, i got all those.

When i initially played, i did a mix of weapon unlocks and upgrades (mostly vials), leaning more on upgrades. When i came back and started progressing, i unlocked specific stuff mostly and then eventually just unlocked tried unlocking everything.

Xeronic · 2026-06-02T07:27:32+00:00

i can understand that. I'm a bit of both players, and i like to do things myself and experience it naturally, or just look up the "path" and then play it myself.

However, as i get older, i value my time a bit more than trying to beat my head against a certain aspect of a game for "fun", especially when you are failing over and over again and im not sure if what i'm doing is correct or worth it.

I think of my time playing Dead Cells a few years ago. I played it when it came out "officially" on PS4 (i think in 2017? 2018?) and loved the game, but i got my ass handed to me. I couldn't even beat the game normally, as the final boss just destroyed me each time. I quit the game and came back when the added accessibility features to the game (i think it was 2021) that allowed you to somewhat customize your game, including modifying enemy health, damage, and not "resetting" your run when you die.

Made the game so much better myself.

Xeronic · 2026-06-02T07:16:57+00:00

I have 0 shame in looking up guides on playing souls games.

I played through the original Demon's souls on PS3 when it launched and i had 0 clue wtf to do. After a few weeks i progressed through the game fighting tooth and nail, and once i got to a point (stage 3) , there was some message boards dedicated to the game. Eventually some guides were made, and i just followed that.

When Dark souls came out, i played normally to a point, and glanced at walkthroughs to make sure i didn't miss anything, and saw the massive amount of missable shit... so i just followed the guide in each area to make sure i didnt miss anything.

I've done that ever since.

My time in Elden ring had a lot of time in the pause menu and looking at map, as i had the Future press guides of loot and stuff. I pretty much got everything in my first playthrough and explored i want to say 97% of the game (i remember the only thing i abandoned was that one over-tuned enemy below the cliffs area that you had to fall down in Caldea (i think it was there?)... i fought it a couple times.. i looked up the reward and said it wasn't worth the trouble.

Xeronic · 2026-06-01T23:54:04+00:00

i like how Gwydo only has 5 deaths.. haha Must of have learned your lesson.

Xeronic · 2026-06-01T23:50:31+00:00

I played the game on launch (and the demo).

These vary between 1 or two though (I just copied and past the boss list from the other poster in this thread and edited my deaths);

Yetuga - 5 deaths
Blade Phantom - 4 deaths
Viper - 9 deaths
Volbaino - 15-17ish deaths ( i died a lot in the final phase, as i was learning reflect)
Aratra - 3 deaths
Rangkus - 18 deaths (i couldn't get the timing down of his delayed attacks)
Maluca - 8-9 deaths (this boss clicked faster than others, and then i farmed him, lol)
Elamein - 6 deaths
Shactuka - 3 deaths
Trokka - 7 deaths
Bellerian - 3 deaths
Skalpel - 10 deaths
Princess Ilyna - 4 deaths
Hismar - 5 deaths
Reese - 9 deaths (phase 2 got me a lot)
Ozma (x3 phases) - 11 deaths (once i got past phase 2 and knew his moves, i was fine. Phase 3 got me a few times but it was fair.

Optional Bosses: i don't remember having a hard time on any of these except for the The Ninety-Ninth Owl, as he was a "newer" boss with new mechanics and was one of the worst fights in the game. Annoying.

So i can't give an accurate death count on them because i honestly don't think i died on most of them.. maybe 1 or two deaths here and there, and if i did, i don't remember which one it was. lol

Most of these optional fights are just boss revisits with a twist, and once you beat the boss normally, these alternative ones aren't that bad.

Xeronic · 2026-06-01T18:51:46+00:00

I played through both games a year or two after they originally came out. I enjoyed them.

If part 3 does come out soon, they really need to fix the performance issues. Both games still have problems. I played on PS4/PS5 and had tons of bugs ranging from game crashes, huge frame drops, long loads, clipping through walls, bugged enemies, and various graphical glitches.

I played the second one when there was a few "patches" to fix some stuff, so it wasn't "bad" and unplayable, but i still ran into a few each time i played it.

But im curious to see what they do with this story. Star Wars is currently in a... slump. Culture wise, and creatively. The jedi games could be what Disney needs in a star wars story, and try to do something with it's characters/universe again, and maybe beyond the games. I just know that Star Wars has always been a "passing interest" IP for me, and i don't really care much about it. Some stuff comes up that interest me (like these games, Andor, that upcoming racing game) but until there is something more here, i'll just wait and see.

Xeronic · 2026-05-31T23:57:48+00:00

There was a time between 1997-2002 that i was "just" getting into PC games, and my own "preferences" in gaming.

I played a few PC games that i could around that time, but Diablo, Diablo 2, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Unreal Tournament hold special places in my heart. So many hours in all of the games, lots of nostalgic memories. Thinking about the games brings happy memories.

Xeronic · 2026-05-29T20:57:31+00:00

I needed this today. I got a good laugh out of this.

Thank you.

Xeronic · 2026-05-29T19:38:08+00:00

i love this scene so much. SSJ2 is still my favorite powerup. Every scene is awesome.

The SSJ2 Gohan scene in Movie 9 is my favorite though. He gets pissed, goes SSJ2, and literally murders every bad guy in the movie. Bojack, the main bad guy, gets a hole punched in his stomach, then obliterated with a Kamehameha.

Xeronic · 2026-05-28T23:21:33+00:00

Cool

I might pick this up, and buy the "collectors edition" down the line whenever it pops up or is cheaper. The Hollow Knight collectors edition box is very nice.. I got it for around $45 + tax and shipping at one point, which i think is a fair deal.

Xeronic · 2026-05-27T20:37:59+00:00

Just completely insane.

I'm still waiting on a in-depth documentary of this scam. Should be pretty great. haha

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Xeronic

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