TV Discussion LACWAC Member Interviews (★☆★ SpecialOpsUnit & Fives_Says_No_To_Sixes ★☆★)

I gave them up. Time to get serious about my health.

 

How should I know? It's not like they send me boudior photos of themselves.

If any of the (female only, please) members of the forum would like to send me such pictures, however, they will be gratefully accepted and carefully evaluated. PM me via the forum to arrange things.

 

My guess is that we will never again hit the highs of Empire and Jedi, but also never again hit the lows of Phantom Menace and AOTC. I expect Abramswars to be a lot like Abramstrek. The Onion got that movie just about right when the first Abramstrek film appeared a few years ago:



If Episode VII is a "fun, watchable, action-packed thrill ride" and "a delightful action-adventure movie and a surefire hit", I'll be happy with it.

 

I like Ike.

 

Also, an Indiana Jones reference

 

Don't forget PrincessKenobi next time.

 

Oooh an interview with the Shadow Broker. This I cannot miss!

 

Thank you, thank you all.

I most definitely approve of the colour (yes, with a "u"!) scheme.

The username, I'm afraid, has a rather uninteresting origin story, though I'm sure some will state it reveals some things about me. Six years ago, I was thirteen years old, and the secondary school I attended had just installed a new login system for the school computers. My login was 07JonesJ. My surname being "Jones", my first name being "Jamie", hence the "J". So you can thank the local IT guy for my username!

For some reason, it stuck, and I often use it across the interwebs. Every time I sign up for something, I think to myself that I could change it, but I never do.

As for what I get called, the internet often calls me by my username for obvious reasons, though many also like to call me "Jonesy", which I always find odd, as I have never been called that in real life. I actually am referred to by my full name by many of my friends. It just seems to roll off the tongue.

As to which you should refer me to as, I really don't mind. Pick which you think suits me best, or what you enjoy using. You're the one saying it after all!

...

Oh, yes. The obligatory ego boost. Todd the Jedi

May I also say you look spiffing today?

 

Todd the Jedi

Yeah, I love Mass Effect. I actually played the original game because of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Game developer BioWare were making another sci-fi game? I'd be damned if I wasn't going to check it out.

It resulted in what I consider to be one of the most enjoyable stories in gaming, and that's purely because of the characters. You play as a character (whether that be a man or a woman) called Shepard, and you can influence how they grew up, how their career has been thus far, and you pick all of their dialogue. This makes Shepard very much a conduit for you, the player.

My avatar is of Liara T'Soni. Starting out as a shy archaeologist, through personal losses she hardens, becoming more ruthless and developing a desire for revenge. As Shepard, you're able to bring her back from degenerating further down that path, but she never returns to her shy self. She maintains a middle ground, happier and kind, but unforgiving of her enemies. Seeing that development happen over time - the games total at around 150 hours - is an amazing experience.

That's just one of the characters. There are 20 "squadmates", which are given the most focus, but there are countless more characters not on your crew that are both memorable and interesting.

It's a series that has made me laugh out loud and driven me to incredible sadness (not tears, but close). Seeing a hardened bounty hunter who never gives up get frustrated at not being able to conquer a claw machine at the arcade on downtime while an hour later you're watching an entire species being exterminated demonstrates just how much of an emotional rollercoaster it is.

It speaks of the focus on characters that the final game in the trilogy has a last celebration party you can throw before the final battle, and that party lasts 90 minutes. 90 minutes of pure dialogue and interaction between the characters. No combat, just awesome. And that party changes depending on your choices through the trilogy, how you treat characters, how your relationships develop.

There are also some great looking space battles. In a way, the reasons I love Mass Effect are very similar to the reasons I love Star Wars.

I'll try to end this wall of text here, I could, after all, talk about Mass Effect for the next 20 pages. Suffice it to say that if a story can get me invested in it's world and it's characters, it really connects with me. That's what this sort of entertainment is for me. Other worlds, other people.

 

Todd the Jedi

There's quite a few really. For TV, I love Battlestar Galactica (and Caprica), Fringe and Lost, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Doctor Who (and Torchwood). In games, Assassin's Creed, Dead Space, Dragon Age, Deus Ex, Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy (select entries) Halo, Mass Effect, Portal, Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted, The Witcher, The Walking Dead (yep, the game is great too).

All have great characters with strong development. I know this has ended up being just a big list, but to go into detail on why I like each one would be a very long post.

I watch movies too, but due to their shorter length, they tend to leave less of an impression on me than a TV show, a game or a novel. I've also read a ton of books, with the crowning jewel for me probably being A Song of Ice and Fire.

As you can probably tell, good stories are very much my taste. It'd be very difficult to pick the greatest out of that list, as each story has given me something unique.

 

Todd the Jedi

I prefer longer novels, and hardly ever read short stories or novellas. Who the publisher is doesn't effect my purchase, and neither does the cover art (though if there are more than one edition of a book, I will buy the one I think looks nicest).

If I enjoy a book, I will often search the author up on wikipedia to see what else they've written. If anything catches my eye, I'll consider reading that. Otherwise, I'm open to reading a book written by anyone as long as it's premise interests me.

Generally, I read fantasy/sci-fi, though I've been recommended mystery/horror/historical novels and read them if the first few chapters intrigue me.

In terms of the format, I actually prefer to have a real book made of paper in my hands than an e-book, though I do own a Kindle, and buy books for that from time to time. I have a feeling we're going to see actual books phased out in the coming decade, and see them become more of a collector's item, while e-books become the normal format. I figure it's a good idea to get used to using a Kindle, then.