Tavern on the Meta

3:00 PM

just read an interesting PSA warning against opening packages from China for 2-3 months (however long it takes for the virus to die in isolation) and also to not pop the bubble wrap coz it can have infected air trapped inside bubbles

kinda wonder how real these alleged dangers are

Journeyman Geek

o0

probably not really that bad

Rob

If you eat Seafood then I wouldn't make it my first concern ...

Journeyman Geek

also

My aliexpress orders have much longer lead time than they did

Shadow9

@JourneymanGeek but this one is really bad. Really really. Infinity really:

in Let's Meet, 43 mins ago, by Yaakov Ellis

> Someone visiting the Elector website on a standard browser like Google’s Chrome could right-click their mouse on the page and select “View page source.” The revealed source code for the website contained a link to the “get־admins־users” page, which the prospective hacker simply had to visit in order to find, out in the open, the passwords of “admin” users — those with authorization to manage the database.

> Using the usernames and passwords of admins, one could log into the site with full access to the entirety of the database, including the most up-to-date information available to the C…

BlueSoul

@user1306322 Wait, you mean that other stuff was made in China? Not just evil smartphones full of spyware like someone said?

Gimby

3:06 PM

Isn't everything made in China nowadays?

Shadow9

@Gimby nowdays nothing is made in China

Gimby

really, there are these "made in China" labels that would make me think otherwise

rene

I assumed a delivery window of two hours by the Track & Trace service kind of erred on the safe side. I wasn't expecting them to be 20 minutes early. Now I missed the package again ....

Shadow9

:/

My favorite is the delivery that reach a box in location you choose, usually in some mall.

Still not popular enough for some reason.

Gimby

Those DHL boxes for example where you have to input a code? Those work great.

BlueSoul

3:15 PM

if the SE leaks are real, April will be a funny month. Must stock on pop-corn

Magisch

@BlueSoul leaks again?

BlueSoul

@Magisch yep. Tons of transcripts to read, pictures to see, music to listen to....

Magisch

are you messing with me or is there actually something on

in the latter case please take it somewhere where it doesn't endanger our chatroom

Rob

@Shadow9 That reminds me of a website we setup (decades ago) where there was hidden code: "Give Admin Access" - when people followed the link all was revealed, in an image. 😲

Shadow9

@Gimby yup

BlueSoul

3:17 PM

@Magisch maybe both :P ?

Shadow9

You get SMS with the code.

BlueSoul

SE - Square Enix.

not Stack Exchange

I know, I'm evil :P

Magisch

@BlueSoul please don't joke abou that

BlueSoul

@Magisch see below

Magisch

I have like -15 chill for leaks

Shadow9

3:20 PM

!!/leak

SmokeDetector

@Shadow9 No such command 'leak'.

Shadow9

:(

@Rob yeah, same flop.

user1306322

the Oprah browser

everyone gets it

user1306322

3:55 PM

@BlueSoul it's like when randos on reddit mean titanfall 2 or whatever by TF2 or destiny 2 by D2

BlueSoul

@user1306322 to be fair, I did mentioned multiple times in the latest days that I was looking at FF7 leaks to try to see if I should buy it or not.... But people ignored me ;_;

user1306322

you should probably watch Linus livestream its playthrough then

of the LTT fame, not Torvalds

Shadow9

@BlueSoul people ignore what they don't understand

It's better than being afraid of it. ;)

user1306322

yea final fantasy is rather obscure despite its prolific fandom

Shadow9

Or, you could get "?" messages from all of them.... :D

Journeyman Geek

4:08 PM

???

BlueSoul

@user1306322 wouldn't exactly call Final Fantasy 7 obscure.

that was the game that - for reasons I personally still don't understand - was elevated to be "the best jrpg ever"

Rob

@Shadow9 Ours wasn't a "flop", it was humorous.

BlueSoul

@user1306322 to be fair, the problem here is that the thing is split on multiple games.

If I had to guess, one should expect at least 3 games.

Giving Square release times... at least 5 years I would say.

Buy first one now, end in 2025.

user1306322

I personally have not played a single one of FF games but I've read bits of reviews and heard praise and mixed opinions

and I've not enjoyed a lot of JRPG genre games

the only ones I can remember off the top are Battle Chasers: Nightwar (probably the best one) and Child of Light (good but not great)

neither of them had too complicated stat systems like with too many distinct stats like you can see on some top JRPGs

Battle Chasers has great art

Child of Light is also pleasant to look at

recently I also played maybe 10 hours of that SE one, forgot the name

the price is insane for it on steam though

the overall plot is basically absent, there are only distinct character plotlines, none of which are interesting

they're pretty much slightly modified cliché trope character archetype stories

Shadow9

@Rob oh

@BlueSoul 2025 is a failure. See? I add context before being asked. :P

BlueSoul

4:17 PM

@user1306322 mumble... I think that you are talking about Octopact.

user1306322

ya

8 characters, 8 distinct stories, none of them intertwine in any way

BlueSoul

And if that is the case... there is a overall plot. But it is quite obscure.

user1306322

well, that's like super not good :D

BlueSoul

@user1306322 there is even a REAL final boss to be fair, but it is not like the game points that out either.

user1306322

there's gotta be something in a game that keeps you wanting to play it

great level design and visuals so that you just want to see the locations beyond

or an interesting story where you want to find out what happens next

this game has neither

BlueSoul

4:23 PM

well.... just checking.

Do you recognize this?

user1306322

the gameplay mechanic itself isn't as addicting once you get a game breaking ability like that Wild Dance that can grant you x5 XP and money per encounter, it's like cheat codes but they intentionally put it there

BlueSoul

user1306322

nope, I dropped it on meeting the 6th character clockwise starting from the bargain girl

BlueSoul

@user1306322 if you see the final dungeon you will see that the real problem there is that the difficulty calibration is broken.

Probably, initially they didn't intend to give the ability to choose the story order.

and that really messed up leveling

It comes back at you doubles when you meet the final level and discover that - on average - you will end up there severely under-powered

user1306322

people have been making games with levels and abilities for decades, surely a company as big as SE can do better

BlueSoul

4:28 PM

@user1306322 Square... remember - the same company made Chrono Trigger AND Chrono Cross.

user1306322

neither of which I've played but have heard many times about, same as FF :p

BlueSoul

and Cross is possibly one of the greatest if not the greatest Cerberus retcon in gaming history.

user1306322

although I guess :[ also works lol

BlueSoul

@user1306322 both are good games, but the second one has an huge problem.

user1306322

yea this is all metal gear lore to me

BlueSoul

4:30 PM

It was supposed to be a sequel to Trigger. It is an insult to Trigger instead.

Nonsense, retcons, characters disappeared without explanation and so on... it feels like a different game that was forcibly disguised as a sequel.

The main characters from the first game are nowhere to be seen, probably dead thru all the sequel. A pathetic buffoon from the first game allegedly defeated a nation alone , including them.

But that is nothing if you compare to the retcons about the nature of the "planet".

In the first one, the planet is a motherly benevolent entity that works to give you away to save the world but at the same time works also to allow you to live a better life.

One of the main characters mother is stuck on a wheelchair because of an incident, the entity actually opens a time gate to the specific instant the incident happened just so that you can save her.

In the second game... the "planet" plan is to eliminate humans, basically.....

Yep, you know.....

"Sequel"

If you ever want to play Chrono Cross, just pretend it is a separate game.

The reference are so few that it is quite easy to forget it was supposed to tie to Trigger.

user1306322

I'm gonna share this other educational documentary: youtube.com/watch?v=8o1ieehttdA

BlueSoul

@user1306322 VG Cats #379 - beware, some blood because of a reference to old movies but you get the idea.

Someone just enjoy to make the fans suffer:P

user1306322

there was recently a feature request on reddit to add specific NSFW reasons like what kind of NSFW we talkin

I feel like this one could have at least 2 checkboxes crossed from a list :p

Dan is Fiddling by Firelight

4:59 PM

I can see the use for that. There're NSWF/NSFL things that I'd only want a warning about to make sure no one else who might be bothered might shoulder surf my viewing and others that I'd want to avoid under almost all circumstances.