• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

What's on your mind?

SarahsKnight

Jesus Christ is this Knight's truth.
Site Supporter
Jul 15, 2014
11,489
12,552
41
Magnolia, AR
✟1,274,185.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Well, it was a great time for chatting and all this last hour or so, folks, especially @bèlla as always, and I enjoyed our brief evening together, but, I think I shall retire for the rest of my last night off before work this time by getting back on with my runthrough of the Steam version of Final Fantasy III. Classic RPG.
^-^

(Named the main character Luneth after myself, Will, of course. =P )

View attachment 295830
View attachment 295831


Well into this game now and of course, once the "knight" job class became available in the course of the story, I immediately turned the main character Luneth, who I named after myself, into one.
Luneth-Knight.png
He'll probably stay that way for the rest of the game, even if upgrading to a higher class down the road would make fighting in the game easier in the longrun ... gotta stay true to my aspirations and convictions as a knight; can't just quit and move on to something else just because the road gets a little more difficult because of it, right? :D (I like the goofy bonnet-shaped helmet for some reason on him. ^_^ )

I do remember that coming up soon the Dark Knight will be available in the third of four groups of classes that you unlock as the story continues, and I did dabble in it the last time I played Final Fantasy III several years ago just to see what it was about.
4974566935_312fe51fb0_b.jpg
.... It certainly made the game easier for a long while because the Dark Knight was naturally stronger than the regular knight in many ways, but I find the mere insinuations of the title alone and the Dark Knight's brutal fighting style to be utterly tasteless (*Cinema Snob-style handwaves away the image of the dark knight like he would the front cover of a sleazy exploitation film*) and irreconcilable with my determination to play an RPG as true to my personal convictions as an aspiring knight as I can make it. ^_-


I think there was something like an upgraded knight in the fourth and final job class group that actually won't come until pretty much just before the final dungeon in the game (so at least fifteen to twenty hours from where I am now, and I am only seven or eight in), perhaps called a paladin, so hopefully I'm not misremembering this and can upgrade Luneth (Will ^-^ ) to that in good conscience in order to make it so that he has a fighting chance against the final boss, because a paladin denotes something of a pure spirit in battle rather than a barbaric one like the dark knight's. The final battle of the game was brutal if I recall, and no mere regular knight will stand a chance against she, the world-devouring monster who is called the Cloud of Darkness. O_O
 
  • Like
Reactions: bèlla
Upvote 0

bèlla

❤️
Site Supporter
Jan 16, 2019
22,377
18,927
USA
✟1,072,839.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
In Relationship
Well into this game now and of course, once the "knight" job class became available in the course of the story, I immediately turned the main character Luneth, who I named after myself, into one.

Wow, that's cool! I like your gaming mindset. All I play is Sims Freeplay now. I can control the story line and keep out the negative elements. I used to play another but the symbolism became too much. I didn't want it in my head and I stopped.

How long will it take you to reach the end?
 
Upvote 0

bèlla

❤️
Site Supporter
Jan 16, 2019
22,377
18,927
USA
✟1,072,839.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
In Relationship
@public hermit

I've really enjoyed your thread on self-love. We don't talk about it enough in the church. I remember an old Donahue show I saw as a child. One of the guests shared an experience that really floored me. They said they never heard I love you growing up. The emotional eruption that followed the statement was unforgettable.

Over the course of their discussion they shared the pain and ways they compensated for its absence. And how it affected them in the long run. Their self-image was damaged. If the parents didn't love them they must be unlovable.

I never forgot the episode. I've seen others along those lines: the absence of physical touch, positive reinforcement, etc. The results are the same. Self-regard is fractured.

James MacDonald did a series related to the topic a few years ago. He touched on father wounds and the long-term effect they have and how they impact our relationship with God. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. If you weren't crying for yourself you cried for your neighbor or someone you knew. It was emotionally intense.

The end goal was the same. Moving towards love and acceptance. It's powerful when you witness the light come on within someone. Right before your eyes. Love illuminates us. :)
 
Upvote 0

public hermit

social troglodyte
Site Supporter
Aug 20, 2019
12,502
13,327
East Coast
✟1,047,449.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Others
Upvote 0

bèlla

❤️
Site Supporter
Jan 16, 2019
22,377
18,927
USA
✟1,072,839.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
In Relationship
Ah, poor kid. Who doesn't tell their kid they love them? I guess it happens more than one might think. Still. Heartbreaking. :(

Yes. There are a lot of people who've never been loved or experienced healthy love. They're starving. Their plight goes ignored. There's nothing in place for those who require a little more than most.
 
  • Like
Reactions: public hermit
Upvote 0

SarahsKnight

Jesus Christ is this Knight's truth.
Site Supporter
Jul 15, 2014
11,489
12,552
41
Magnolia, AR
✟1,274,185.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Wow, that's cool! I like your gaming mindset. All I play is Sims Freeplay now. I can control the story line and keep out the negative elements. I used to play another but the symbolism became too much. I didn't want it in my head and I stopped.

How long will it take you to reach the end?

Aside from the no-doubt five to ten hours of grinding levels I will no doubt have to do in order to possibly be a match for the final boss, as is common in the earlier Final Fantasy games, it will probably be another twenty to thirty hours of gameplay.
 
Upvote 0

bèlla

❤️
Site Supporter
Jan 16, 2019
22,377
18,927
USA
✟1,072,839.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
In Relationship
Aside from the no-doubt five to ten hours of grinding levels I will no doubt have to do in order to possibly be a match for the final boss, as is common in the earlier Final Fantasy games, it will probably be another twenty to thirty hours of gameplay.

That isn't too bad. Will you start again or play something different?
 
Upvote 0

SarahsKnight

Jesus Christ is this Knight's truth.
Site Supporter
Jul 15, 2014
11,489
12,552
41
Magnolia, AR
✟1,274,185.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
That isn't too bad. Will you start again or play something different?

Oh, play something different. It's a great game, but, a few times total in the course of my life to play it is good enough. ^-^ There's always a huge backlog of other games both new and old that I always want to get to (and eventually get distracted from checking off by epic quests on absurdly replayable games like Resident Evil 4, for example, as you saw recently).
 
Upvote 0

SarahsKnight

Jesus Christ is this Knight's truth.
Site Supporter
Jul 15, 2014
11,489
12,552
41
Magnolia, AR
✟1,274,185.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Well into this game now and of course, once the "knight" job class became available in the course of the story, I immediately turned the main character Luneth, who I named after myself, into one.
View attachment 296068 He'll probably stay that way for the rest of the game, even if upgrading to a higher class down the road would make fighting in the game easier in the longrun ... gotta stay true to my aspirations and convictions as a knight; can't just quit and move on to something else just because the road gets a little more difficult because of it, right? :D (I like the goofy bonnet-shaped helmet for some reason on him. ^_^ )

I do remember that coming up soon the Dark Knight will be available in the third of four groups of classes that you unlock as the story continues, and I did dabble in it the last time I played Final Fantasy III several years ago just to see what it was about.
View attachment 296070 .... It certainly made the game easier for a long while because the Dark Knight was naturally stronger than the regular knight in many ways, but I find the mere insinuations of the title alone and the Dark Knight's brutal fighting style to be utterly tasteless (*Cinema Snob-style handwaves away the image of the dark knight like he would the front cover of a sleazy exploitation film*) and irreconcilable with my determination to play an RPG as true to my personal convictions as an aspiring knight as I can make it. ^_-


I think there was something like an upgraded knight in the fourth and final job class group that actually won't come until pretty much just before the final dungeon in the game (so at least fifteen to twenty hours from where I am now, and I am only seven or eight in), perhaps called a paladin, so hopefully I'm not misremembering this and can upgrade Luneth (Will ^-^ ) to that in good conscience in order to make it so that he has a fighting chance against the final boss, because a paladin denotes something of a pure spirit in battle rather than a barbaric one like the dark knight's. The final battle of the game was brutal if I recall, and no mere regular knight will stand a chance against she, the world-devouring monster who is called the Cloud of Darkness. O_O


Also, for your mild amusement, I hope, @bèlla . ^-^


It's a wholly inconsequential addition to Final Fantasy III, but, I think it conveys the spirit of the game well.
 
  • Friendly
Reactions: bèlla
Upvote 0

bèlla

❤️
Site Supporter
Jan 16, 2019
22,377
18,927
USA
✟1,072,839.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
In Relationship
Also, for your mild amusement, I hope, @bèlla . ^-^

It's a wholly inconsequential addition to Final Fantasy III, but, I think it conveys the spirit of the game well.

Oh that's cute! I like it a lot. It's wholesome. That's not commonplace in games anymore.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: SarahsKnight
Upvote 0

SarahsKnight

Jesus Christ is this Knight's truth.
Site Supporter
Jul 15, 2014
11,489
12,552
41
Magnolia, AR
✟1,274,185.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Oh that's cute! I like it a lot. It's wholesome. That's not commonplace in games anymore.

It was nice, but it does kind of suck that the same "dancer" random townsfolk character you met in nearly every town in the game did the same dance number, though. It would have been nice just to see a slight variation between each dancer's pattern, but seeing as this was just a nice little distraction with no real meaning, impact on the plot, or even for the sake of collecting rare items to assist in combat as is the staple of RPG's, I guess I understand why the developers didn't see reason to take the time to create enough new character movements in order to give varying dance patterns. It probably would have been a waste of time and money in their eyes.

Still, the one dance that you do see is cute.

Lantis and I did do something similar as a cute aside when we made Arc Arath, also an RPG like Final Fantasy III, where while exploring one town called Kalinka, you as the player could walk into a bar and ask the resident piano player to play a small tune (from a pre-selection of music tracks that RPGMaker 1 provided), and some bunny-girl sprites would come out onto the stage and "dance", although with the severe limitations of RPGMaker 1 their dance number wasn't nearly as intricate and entertaining as FFIII's was.

Kalinka, by the way, was also the hometown of my beloved character Sarah Nicholi Winters, mentioned here as - while starting off as an ideal - gave a physical inspiration to the "Sarah" in my name Sarah's Knight, as mentioned a short time ago here when a friend of mine from RPGMaker Magazine made a Magic the Gathering card based on her =>
What's on your mind?
I just wanted to make her the sweetest, most pure-of-heart lady imaginable.
^-^
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bèlla
Upvote 0

bèlla

❤️
Site Supporter
Jan 16, 2019
22,377
18,927
USA
✟1,072,839.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
In Relationship
Lantis and I did do something similar as a cute aside when we made Arc Arath, also an RPG like Final Fantasy III, where while exploring one town called Kalinka, you as the player could walk into a bar and ask the resident piano player to play a small tune (from a pre-selection of music tracks that RPGMaker 1 provided), and some bunny-girl sprites would come out onto the stage and "dance", although with the severe limitations of RPGMaker 1 their dance number wasn't nearly as intricate and entertaining as FFIII's was.

That's amazing. You guys had the forethought to bring it to life and that's no small feat. It takes talent and dedication to do it. That's commendable. Many never get that far. :)

Kalinka, by the way, was also the hometown of my beloved character Sarah Nicholi Winters, mentioned here as - while starting off as an ideal - gave a physical inspiration to the "Sarah" in my name Sarah's Knight, as mentioned a short time ago here when a friend of mine from RPGMaker Magazine made a Magic the Gathering card based on her =>
What's on your mind?
I just wanted to make her the sweetest, most pure-of-heart lady imaginable.
^-^

She looks innocent. I like her. That's probably why I enjoy classics so much. Especially Austen. They transport me to a different time. It's a refreshing change.

I love hearing things like this. Learning how someone channels a gift into something tangible is exciting. This is the extent of my geekiness. :D

It inspires me. I hear of things I'd never dream of doing. That adds to my knowledge bank. Can you see yourself doing it again? Or something along those lines?
 
  • Like
Reactions: SarahsKnight
Upvote 0

SarahsKnight

Jesus Christ is this Knight's truth.
Site Supporter
Jul 15, 2014
11,489
12,552
41
Magnolia, AR
✟1,274,185.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Can you see yourself doing it again?
If I ever tried to remake Arc Arath, ... it would be years upon years from now and certainly with a better engine than RPGMaker 1. ^_^
 
  • Like
Reactions: bèlla
Upvote 0

bèlla

❤️
Site Supporter
Jan 16, 2019
22,377
18,927
USA
✟1,072,839.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
In Relationship
If I ever tried to remake Arc Arath, ... it would be years upon years from now and certainly with a better engine than RPGMaker 1. ^_^

I think you should. Would you focus on the story, create a game, or both?
 
Upvote 0

SarahsKnight

Jesus Christ is this Knight's truth.
Site Supporter
Jul 15, 2014
11,489
12,552
41
Magnolia, AR
✟1,274,185.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
I think you should. Would you focus on the story, create a game, or both?

Either trying to write it as a book, or creating it as a game again.
 
  • Optimistic
Reactions: bèlla
Upvote 0

SarahsKnight

Jesus Christ is this Knight's truth.
Site Supporter
Jul 15, 2014
11,489
12,552
41
Magnolia, AR
✟1,274,185.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Would you make it for a console, computer, or app?

It will definitely be via one of the PC versions of RPGMaker, which had way more appealing graphics to work with, for one. So, for home computer. But still, it will be years from now before I have the courage to pick up the task of making an RPG - especially this time on my own - again, after the ten harrowing years spent with RPGMaker 1 making Arc Arath.

For instance, here's what RPGMaker 1 allows us to make our games look like (this is a snippet of the Let's Play that a friend from RPGMMag did once of our game) =>

And here's what one game made by the PC Maker, RPGMaker VX Ace, looks like =>
285420_screenshots_2014-12-06_00002.jpg





But it's an idea to keep in the back of my mind.
 
Upvote 0

bèlla

❤️
Site Supporter
Jan 16, 2019
22,377
18,927
USA
✟1,072,839.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
In Relationship
It will definitely be via one of the PC versions of RPGMaker, which had way more appealing graphics to work with, for one.

The PC version is more full featured. But apps are here to stay. You may want to target both markets. You'll have players who'll want to take it with them.

I know several people who've made apps. There's a distinct user base for them. I'd tap into both. If you decide to do it let me know. There's ways to go about it without stretching yourself financially or accepting investments from firms.

I'll probably have my own app by then. That's on the roadmap.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: SarahsKnight
Upvote 0

DragonFox91

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2020
6,260
3,833
33
Grand Rapids MI
✟279,587.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Republican
I've known many who met online and have solid relationships. @cara-mia met her fiance online and me too. :cool:



It may not be your ideal but you aren't making contacts in person. It would be different if you were. You may find more success branching out than limiting yourself to random meetings. Some traction is better than none.

I suggested it to you because you can afford it. I'm opposed to singles mortgaging themselves for long distance relationships. Or getting involved with people they can barely see in person.

Some couples share the expenses but my partner's don't. They pay their own way.
It'd be easier to establish repetoir in person.
 
Upvote 0

bèlla

❤️
Site Supporter
Jan 16, 2019
22,377
18,927
USA
✟1,072,839.00
Country
United States
Gender
Female
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
In Relationship
I have never considered myself as intimidating but I do believe a large personality can make those who already feel small, feel even smaller.

A thought crossed my mind over coffee. Big personalities are nothing new. They were championed in the eighties and climbing the ladder always referenced personality to some degree. So what's changed? The Internet.

We spend more time in the company of strangers than friends. Once upon a time strangers weren't privy to our thoughts, feelings, interests, or activities. These were private things we shared with friends and loved ones. But the Internet changed that. We've invited strangers into our homes.

Where does personality come in? Where we have limited control in our surroundings. Workmates, classmates, neighbors, and churchgoers. We have no jurisdiction over who comes and goes. That was the norm. Of the four, workmates are hardest to avoid. You learn to make do.

The absence of physicality in the digital space alters the environment. We rely on mental and emotional processes more than the physical. Personality can impact our experiences in this realm. In the early days that wasn't a problem. The numbers were smaller and the negative impacts hadn't occurred. Our digital lives hadn't superseded the natural. 'Real' was still reality.

But over time that changed. The Internet became more than it should have. It became a surrogate for what was lacking. The continual shift from human connection created digital citizens. They exist in one plane and reside in another.

The Internet replaced the natural plane for some. It's the only avenue for human relationships. No one calls or visits beyond family. No one invites them to grab coffee. They're alone and friendless. Their physical presence is largely ignored. The only place they matter is online.

They comprise the new generation of left behind's. The one we don't discuss. Most attribute the term to financial disparities. But multiple gaps are happening simultaneously.

You can be left behind financially. A lack of means can prohibit you from having decent food devoid of chemicals and additives. Just because you can't pay more for the non poisonous options.

You can be left behind emotionally. Starved of human interactions and friendships. While others develop meaningful connections you're left on the sidelines. Friendlessness has never been greater than it is today.

You can be left behind relationally. Deprived of romantic partnership. Unable to find someone to share your life with. It isn't a temporary pause. It's an ongoing problem which knows no root.

You can be left behind professionally. Your prospects are limited and will never move the needle. You live in an endless cycle of poverty.

This isn't small stuff. They're major things most would cite as necessary for a thriving life. Yet they're going unmet for many. The Internet is the world's gathering space. You can find others like yourself in this realm. Those who share your hardships and interests.

But you'll also find the other. The ones who aren't struggling. Those who haven't been left behind. This is where it gets dicey. You can't avoid them. Everywhere you turn there's a reminder: Websites, social media, podcasts, forums, etc. The media sells the ideal.

The person is inundated with frequent reminders of their condition on a daily basis. Each day they encounter someone doing what they can't. Having what they lack. Or enjoying what evades them. Every single day.

After awhile it takes a toll. They can't handle bubbly or big. Because it's all the same. Another brick in the wall. Another knife in the gut. And they're bleeding.

Big personalities are meaningless to the contented. You like them or love them. But when you're running on empty they present a different message. They're winning and you're not. You're on the outside looking in. And you just want the same. But you can't get over the hump.
 
Upvote 0