Topics

1

Off Topic / Songs you wish you could play

« on: March 22, 2013, 08:09:19 AM »

Post songs that you wish you could play the entirety of or parts of.

Pretty much every cover/song Evan Duffy does makes me want to learn how to play piano, but mostly his cover of Vienna, originally by Billy Joel

A Tale of Six Trillion Years and a Night makes me want to learn how to not suck at drums.  (Originally done by a vocaloid but some'a you ain't cool with that stuff so have a cover.)

Gogogo.

2

Games / New donation pool for Skullgirls

« on: February 25, 2013, 03:22:39 PM »

This needs its own topic.  Just sayin'.

For those of you who don't know about Skullgirls, lemme 'splain to ya.

Skullgirls is an arcade fighter that's been released for PS3 and Xbox360, and will be on Steam soon.  It's a bit much to put into one post, so here, have the TVtropes page.

In short, the skull heart is a mysterious artifact that grants a wish.  If that wish is corrupt, the wisher becomes the new skullgirl, a being that relentlessly tries to destroy the world. The main 8 have their own "what if" stories in-game in which each of them end up either using or destroying the skull heart.

Here's the old thread for Skullgirls, too, just in case.

The donations go to work on the first DLC character, Squigly.

For those of you who enjoy Skullgirls, her parasite, Leviathan, is basically Samson's arch-nemesis.

The page to donate can be found here.

Wasn't sure if this should be off-topic or games but whatever.  :v

For those of you too lazy to click the link, here's the rundown:
Five bucks gets you a pre-order of the character and wallpapers.

Ten bucks gets you the above plus a digital OST.

Thirty bucks gets you the above plus a code for the steam release, a TF2 hat (Leviathan himself), PC Beta access, DLC forum access, and the "backer" title in the credits.

Fifty bucks gets you the above plus a mystery character poster, digital sketch book, a steam code for Half-Minute Hero, and the "Contributor" title in the credits.

There are higher tiers, and everything above $200 has limits on how many people can donate that much, so hurry the forget up people.

I really wanted to donate the $1000 but sadly I am jobless and every slot has been taken (10 out of 8, apparently).

Discuss this stuff I guess.

3

Off Topic / The Pangolin

« on: February 20, 2013, 02:48:54 PM »

What the forget is a Pangolin?
This little critter.

Found in Southeast Asia, the Pangolin is the only mammal with actual scales, and the only carnivore without any form of teeth.  And it's cute.

Just look at that little face and legs aawww

Sadly, these little guys are poached and hunted because eating them supposedly helps with menstruation and their scales supposedly help various physical illnesses (spoiler: they don't.  The scales are made of the same stuff as your nails and hair are).

And, yes, these guys have an international holiday, declared just this year.  February 16th is international Pangolin day.

Discuss these cute little forgeters.

4

Creativity / Story: A Tale of Spiders and the Optimistic -- gimme your feedback!

« on: December 04, 2012, 02:24:35 AM »

Story can be found here.  (Pastebin because it's late and I can't find a good site to upload text files.  Sorry about the cramped text.)

In short, this is something I've been poking at for a while, and I'm definitely hoping to get a finished product published at some point, probably years from now and under a different title and NOT SHORT.

So, tell me how I did, Blocklanders!
Yes, there was another topic I made, but it was too old to bump and I've made changes since then.

5

Off Topic / Vocaloid Would-Be-A-Megathread-But-Not-Enough-On-Topic (Update, 9/4)

« on: September 03, 2012, 10:35:31 PM »

What the forget is Vocaloid?

Vocaloid is a series of programs designed to create songs while sounding as realistic as possible.  These aren't synthesizers per se, because the programs are created by using a real person's voice rather than pure manipulation of sound.  For each voice used, they have an anime-esque style character to represent that voice.  Most Vocaloids use Japanese voice banks, though a handful use other languages such as English and Spanish.

Is it any good?

Much like anything else, 90% of it all is stuff unless you're a die-hard fan that will defend anything that is Vocaloid.  However, each of the more popular characters have at least ten or more songs that they sing absolutely beautifully.  All the 'loids that are kind of in the woodwork are lucky to have that many good songs.  Remember, the quality of a Vocaloid's songs is dependent on how the creator of a song uses them, not the character itself.  Any Vocaloid that doesn't catch a good composer's attention will likely be doomed to be mediocre.

Who are the popular ones?

First off, there have been three generations of Vocaloids so far, each generation marked with a huge change to the Vocaloid engine.

Vocaloid 1

Sakine Meiko/MEIKO
MEIKO was the first attempt at a "lovey" character for vocaloid, and the voice shows.  Sakine Meiko was later made to appeal to a younger audience, reducing the age of the character from around 20 to 15.  MEIKO has a low, mature voice, while Sakine Meiko has a higher, brighter voice.  The fanbase has decided MEIKO is a happy drunk who constantly beats up KAITO, while Sakine Meiko is constantly happy.

Notable Songs:
-Change Me - A love song that shows off just how amazing MEIKO can sound.
-Honey - A love song that shows off how adorable Sakine Meiko can sound.  (A version with other 'loids performing can be found here.)

KAITO
The first (popular) attempt at a male Vocaloid.  KAITO has an awkward voice, though when used properly, he sounds pretty freakin' smoking.  The fanbase gave him an awkward personality, a love for ice cream, and patience with MEIKO's constant beatings.

Notable Songs:
-Lord of Darkness - It doesn't get much different than this.

Vocaloid 2

Hatsune Miku:
The most popular Vocaloid by far.  A handful of people who have seen her around don't realize what she's from, however, so now you know.  She has the highest voice out of the V2 'loids, and sounds her best while singing higher-pitched songs.  She isn't the first 'loid out of V2, though she was the first developed by Crypton, thus the 01 on her shoulder.  (Crypton dominated the popularity contest for V2.)  The fanbase has dubbed her as an optimistic dreamer who aspires to become a diva.

Notable Songs:
-Rolling Girl - Miku flaunts her mastery of higher notes in this one.
-Melody Line - Miku + Autotune = Rather lovey.
-Romeo and Cinderella - A love song.  Miku shows that she can rock those lower notes in this song.

The Kagamine Twins, Rin and Len:
Rin and Len Kagamine were both voiced by the same woman, Rin being a young girl's voice and Len being a young boy's voice.  It's up to debate whether or not they're different versions of each other from different dimensions, actual twins, or if one person had a love change (This is a plot point in one of their songs, in which Rin falls in love with Miku, and then turns into Len to win her over).  The fanbase has decided Rin is somewhat haughty, while Len is the shy and quiet, yet kind, shota.

Notable Songs:
-Meltdown - Rin shows off solo.
-Dream-Eating Monochrome Baku - Len shows off solo with some jazzy Japanese mythology.
-Butterfly on your Right Shoulder - One of many duets between the twins.  Rin and Len shine while side-by-side.

Megurine Luka:
Luka boasts both a Japanese and English voice bank, coming on stage as the first bilingual Vocaloid.  She has the softest voice out of V2, and the fanbase agrees she is the most beautiful-sounding 'loid from V2 when used to her full potential.  There have been discussions about her personality for the longest time, though she's either portrayed as shy and sensitive or tsundere.

Notable Songs:
-Double Lariat - An absolutely beautiful song that shows Luka can have just as powerful of a voice as anyone else.  The dance is fantastic, as well (I would have linked one with the dance, but the sound quality is lower in those).
-Just Be Friends - A break-up song with lyrics that come from the guy's point of view.
-Answer - A sequel to Just Be Friends, from Luka's POV.

Vocaloid 3

Gumi Megpoid:
Originally from V2, Gumi has recently gotten a revamp with the release of V3.  Even during V2, the fanbase concluded she sounds more realistic than any other Vocaloid when used to her full potential.  Her voice is mostly absolutely adorable, though she's managed to break that view of her in a handful of her songs.  She's the genki girl of the franchise.

Notable Songs:
-Candy Candy - Gumi shows her adorableness.
-Killer Lady - She's adorable, but that doesn't mean she can't be lovey.
-Eye Examination - Gumi shows she can sound amazing even when she's not trying to be adorable.

IA:
Another Vocaloid that rocks the high notes.  She has a piercing voice, much like Miku, but is slightly more versatile.  She sounds her best in frantic, energetic songs where her voice compliments synthesizers.  The fanbase decided that she's an idealistic dreamer who just wants to make everyone happy.

Notable Songs:
-A Tale of Six Trillion Years and a Night - IA's voice works well with the synth- and drum-heavy frantic instrumentals.
-A Realistic Logical Ideologist - Once again, the energetic instrumentation really compliments IA's voice.

Yuzuki Yukari:
A 'loid with a very soft, gentle voice much like Luka's.  Out of V3, she is by far the most beautiful- and INCREDIBLY realistic-sounding when used at her best (Not quite as realistic as Gumi).  It's been speculated that she might have been designed as Luka's and Gakupo's (an unlisted V2) daughter, given the hair color and qualities of her voice.  The fanbase still hasn't decided on a personality for her, but there's a good chance she will be shy and quiet, much like one of Luka's possible personalities.

Notable Songs:
-Torinoko City - A cover of an existing song.  Yukari really flaunts her mature-sounding voice here.
-Setsu-Getsu-Ka (Skip to 0:40 for the actual song) - The finished version of one of Yukari's demo songs.  Yukari + Techno = Mind-blowing.

There's a stuff LOAD of others that I haven't listed, such as Gakupo, CUL, Lapis, and various others, but I don't want to make OP too long.  And before you ask, I didn't list World is Mine under Miku's songs because that song gets old VERY fast.

Other notable songs and stuff

Here, have some duets:
-Furan Furan Zombie by Gumi and CUL
-World is Mine by Miku and KAITO (They actually work well together)
-Magnet by IA and Aoki Lapis (Originally performed by Miku and Luka, but these two do an AMAZING job.  Really, this video deserves more views -- the poster made it themselves)
-Tsukema Tsukeru by IA and Oliver (Oliver sounds a small bit off because he's only programmed with and English voicebank)

Allow me to introduce you all to Circus Monster, a song from the POV of a Vocaloid that's being exploited for money.  Just about every 'loid has sung this so far, but only a handful are actually good.  It was originally sung in English by Luka, and every 'loid without an English voicebank sings it in Japanese.  It's still hauntingly beautiful between languages.

The better versions of this song include Gumi's, Oliver's (English), Aoki Lapis's, and, by far the best version, CUL's.

Discussion, GO!

6

Off Topic / Great Reaction or Greatest Reaction?

« on: September 02, 2012, 10:07:53 PM »

So, we all know what Gangnam Style is, right?

Somehow, someone was crazy enough to post a comment like this.


In response to all of the negative comments he got regarding to it, he made this video.

It is by far the funniest, hardest-to-take-seriously reaction video I have ever seen.  Enjoy.

7

Games / Your Heartwarming Moments -- Update 9/1

« on: August 31, 2012, 12:16:43 AM »

Because sometimes, we just feel like giving a game a little more love.

The Rundown

Every now and then, as the player, we'll commit an unnatural act of kindness within a game.  Not because the action will get us the infinity+1 sword, but for some reason that doesn't necessarily give us an upper-hand (and in some cases, these actions will hinder us, though we commit them anyway).  Whether they are plot-driven or otherwise, we sometimes prefer helping characters rather than destroying everyone that stands in our way while we walk the virtual path to greatness.

General Guidelines

A heartwarming moment does not necessarily mean it makes you d'aww or have a heart attack from how sweet it is.  Moments like these can be tragic, but viewed as incredibly kind or heroic when you look back on it.  Note that not every tear-jerker moment is a heartwarmer.  A man shooting your dog is a LOT less satisfying than a mercy kill.

There are plenty of these moments caused by other characters, but let's keep it down to what we as the players do, shall we?  What you did, however, may or may not have any effect on a character in-game.

A heartwarming moment may be completely accidental!  Sometimes we're just that good at being...good.

Please include which game it was you had these moments in, and give a little background if you think most people won't understand the scenario.

Notable Examples

Most D'aww-Worthy

My first moments playing old blockland 0002 mods, back when I found out about BL in '07

On a lazy summer afternoon, a random player showed up in a server I created. We chatted a little, and worked together on building a base that extended from underwater to sky level. By the time we were going to leave, we agreed to meet up in-game again. I joined up with the group of players he was in, and the things we did together resulted in some of the most fun I've ever had in any multiplayer game. Even after we moved on from 0002, we continued to chat and join each other's games. Even though we've pretty much stopped talking to each other by now, I still consider him to be a good friend and I'll definitely never forget about him.

Most Tear-Jerking

I was flying a new plane design that I had seen, and I had to crash land it. The Kerbals inside were stranded 14km from the Space Center, unable to get back in no reasonable amount of time, so I drive a rover all the way over there (takes longer than you think) and pick them up. Unfortunately one disappeared (RIP Edmund Kerman) and I drove them back, then ended the flight.

Most Awesome

The AI in ArmA 2 is amazing. I spawned with another ally as a sniper, both of us with that bigass anti-materiel sniper planning on shooting down a helicopter coming our way. We fired at the helicopter but it managed to land safely and the enemies inside got out. We fired shots at them and ran away as our magazines emptied. I take out another guy and see a guy run off into the forest. I pursue after him and am stumbling through the forest not knowing where he went. Suddenly I think "hey, where's my teammate?". I looked around for him but to no avail, I couldn't find him so I assumed he was dead. I also figured the enemy I was chasing ran off and got away. Then, I exited the forest and went prone at the bottom of a hill and reloaded my gun. But then just as I began to reload the enemy I was chasing stood up from the top of the hill and raised his weapon. Time slowed down to nearly a halt. "Damn, he's got me..." I thought. I closed my eyes. I heard the shot. "Am I dead?" I opened my eyes and saw the enemy dead on the ground and then my teammate emerged atop the hill. Best moment ever.

Let's keep this topic alive; if you have more heartwarmers or you would like to vote for categories or which moments should be in OP, post it here!

8

Drama / Ephialtes vs. Kalphiter (AKA, Let's Rip on Autism)

« on: August 29, 2012, 06:01:31 PM »

Just look for yourself.

Both of them have stuff arguments, and I won't give any reason why, because I'll start being called autistic for having opposing opinions, too.  But here, have some examples as to how dumb this entire fight is.  Non-separated quotes are responses.
In all seriousness, it's getting old.

ITT:
Lub and Ephialtes are BBies and think that it's necessary to bash on Kalphiter.

Kalphiter defends himself by bashing them in return but then figures out that it's pointless arguing with two people that are ignorant.

You guys need to drop it, it's loving pointless.  If it continues, it will be a never-ending argument and if it does end, it will be either Kalphiter getting banned (dunno how lol) or the thread getting locked.  But then there would be another argument in another thread.

Ephialtes, some of your replies to his posts are just childish, I didn't expect this from you.
Kalphiter, bashing them won't help anything, as I could say the same to them.

Who are you lol, get outta here

The fact that you didn't understand my post that you had to reply "who are you" and "get outta here" just because I was stating something is true and should end is pathetic.

Kalphiter's a joke and so are you - I'm not even going to put in the effort to respond to your bullstuff because there's nothing to gain from doing so. You'll continue to be stupid and uninformed regardless of what I say, sorry.

It's really not easy pulling something from 18 months ago and also something very minor. I really don't know what you're getting at.

yeah, taking down an entire dedicated server is minor, i'd love to see you tell your manager that if you ever got a job lol (you won't)

My point is that an argument shouldn't last forever or for a long amounts of time, not saying it has to.
Calm down.

your point
is
wrong.

Why shouldn't it?

Stop being a bunch of antagonists just so you can feel like you have a bigger ego than you really do.  Get some legitimate arguments before throwing this stuff around.

Ephialtes, stop using autism, the blockland cloud, and this as your only arguments.  You look stupid.

Kalphiter, stop arguing with idiots and rushing your points.  You look even stupider than Ephialtes.

Rub, stop being such a loving antagonist.  We get it, you like screwing with Kalphiter as much as Ephialtes does.  Calm down.

Tkepahama...stuff, I don't even know what to say.  Everyone tends to ignore reason when they're waggling their roosters in each others' faces for stuffs and giggles.

TL;DR, your average internet fight.  Good to see the forums haven't changed since I left.

9

Creativity / A story written by a lazy turd that is OP -- Apparently good!

« on: August 17, 2012, 02:57:59 AM »

Hello Blocklanders, long time no see.

Alright, so OP is friend a lazy turd and ended up going to summer school for English. By the end of the course, we needed a story done, with a rough draft here and there every now and then in the weeks prior.

Here is what I managed to make.  It was the only story to get 100% credit in the class, and is roughly based on my experiences in Mabinogi.  (A rather lovey game by Devcat.  They make some good stuff.)

So far, I've only gotten positive feedback from it, and I'm glad I managed to do something well.  However, it's not good until the Blocklanders have decided so (you unpleasable richards <3).

So, did it deserve the 100%?

Link for those who tl;dr'd on a short post is here.

10

Off Topic / Eleventy is a real number in the German language

« on: September 29, 2010, 07:20:48 PM »

According to google translator, of course.

Going on the google translator, going from English --> German, typing in "eleventy" give you the result "elfzig".  "Elf" is 11, and 20 is "zwanzig".  I'm pretty sure google put this in here as a joke.

Also, the most animal-like number there is: zwölf. (12).

Discuss how wacky google translator/German is.

11

Off Topic / This is among the best videos I've ever seen

« on: August 22, 2010, 09:46:51 PM »

It's old, but I swear I almost cried.

It's just perfect.  Watch it.  Words can't describe how I felt after watching it.

12

Off Topic / Cheeseburger smoothie from Jamba Juice?

« on: August 07, 2010, 11:59:04 AM »

I may or may not be late about this, but I just now found out.
Yup.  This is what we get for making soap-flavored jelly beans.

Discuss.

13

Games / Game display stretches off of monitor

« on: June 27, 2010, 02:11:57 AM »

This happens with multiple games I play.  The game screen stretches off of the right and left sides of my monitor and blocks off necessary buttons or info such as the menu button or my health bar.  I've tried tweaking the resolution on my monitor itself, but that doesn't seem to work.  Going in the display menu with the button on the monitor itself can't shrink the display, only move it.

How2fix?

14

Games / Who is the most adorable game character?

« on: May 30, 2010, 12:57:05 AM »

Discuss characters that you think are adorable.  Whether it's because nobody could possibly hate their personality or they're just fun to poke, post 'em here.
I personally think Mia from Fire Emblem 9 is pretty loving adorable.

"What now, Mr. Bossman?"

15

Off Topic / My monitor is tarding out. Help?

« on: May 29, 2010, 10:37:37 PM »

My screen thinks it's bigger than it actually is. (In other words, what should be on the monitor is stretching out of sight.)  Restarting caused it, and restarting again didn't do anything.  Suggestions on how to get it fixed?