You don't need combat, but you need something. If there isn't some abstract system of numbers and such that shapes the gameplay then you don't have an RPG, you have an adventure game. Which is fine, but don't call it an RPG.

And so the new season has begun.

I just watched Nobunagun, Witchcraft Works, Space Dandy, and Noragami on TV (might give up and just watch subs after this though...)
Nobunagun looks ridiculous, but possibly entertaining? I doubt it will be particularly memorable though.
Witchcraft Works ... eh, I read part of the manga and didn't like it. I think I won't like/won't watch the anime too.
Space Dandy has a cool premise and excellent animation/art direction. I'm not sure if it has any substance though or if it will actually work as a comedy.
Noragami has nice art and character design. Not sure if it will be any good, but I guess it has some potential.

i have spent triple the amount of money on anime that i have spent on my car
granted i only spent $1200 on my car......
lol
whatever

ugh i was such a weeaboo.

I don't think I could succeed to spend $3600 on anime even if I really tried, does that include trips to japan or sthg?

It'd be pretty easy if you bought the original Japanese blu-rays. With one volume containing 2 episodes being about $80, a full series could easily cost over $1000.
With prices like that the industry deserves to die, but I guess the ones paying don't seem to care that they're getting milked so neither will I.

So I'm four episodes into Ergo Proxy and wondering if I should continue.
There seems to be some interesting ideas in it, but mostly I just feel bored. Then I found out it's directed by the same person who did Witch Hunter Robin, which left me feeling the same way only I made the mistake of watching that one to the end. So, does it get better?

I want Eva, Sharkoss, and the rest of the TIGSource hardcore feminist brigade to go away. They turn every thread on these issues into shit by shouting down anyone who disagrees with them.

It's a discussion forum - if you don't want to discuss, piss off.

Girls und Panzer was pretty great, but I think it counts as last year.

I watched Noucome based on the posts in this thread. I wouldn't say I regret it, but that's largely because my time is valueless and it was short anyway. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but it was fun. Not good, or even particularly funny, but fun. Avoid the trollsubs if you do decide to watch it. That was quite a mistake. But yeah, probably don't watch it.

Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi is probably my personal show of the year. Log Horizon, Galilei Donna, Kill la Kill (... which I should catch up on, actually), Unbreakable Machine Doll, Arpeggio of Blue Steel, and Outbreak Company from this season have all been good. Kingdom and Dokidoki Precure remain good, though Dokidoki grew stale when it started the long leveling-up filler arc. Valvrave was fun, but bad. There's some other stuff that's decent but not really worth mentioning.
I can't remember much of what aired before this season, but I remember thinking that there was nothing good airing, so that's probably the reason.

Disappointment of the year would have to go to Coppelion or Kotoura-san (if that was this year?).

Welp, Kyoukai no Kanata was pretty shit.

The good news is that there's no need to pay money to learn a language.
The bad news is that there isn't any website that you should just trust to teach you a language.
And, both of those languages are quite different from both each other and English and I think learning them both at once would be very difficult. Not that I really know anything about Russian, but it seems like a huge investment of time if you actually want to make progress at a noticeable speed.

For Japanese, this guy has some basically good ideas and resources that I'd be willing to endorse. In particular, I think subs2srs with Anki is the best idea ever, and there's a video in that link showing how to set things up. Here's another thread from that forum that I think is saying sensible things (... not necessarily because I'm saying them there either...).

Are you worried about offending Japanese people? Because they're not going to care even a little bit.
Pretty sure Japanese Buddhism isn't all sparkles and butterflies anyway, historically speaking. Some of the temple iconography is pretty hardcore (I saw a painting of a Buddhist conception of Hell at a temple in Takayama about a month ago - gory stuff).

Question #2 is offensive to whatever is left of the 'indie spirit' around here. Make whatever the hell you want.

I'm having a very plodding Ludum Dare. Things are happening, but not at any great pace.
My idea might also be more ambitious than I thought it was when I came up with it in terms of assets and actually making it enjoyable too. Hopefully I can plod through the core mechanics and annoying shit tonight and can convince myself tomorrow that finishing it is a valuable use of my time.

Yeah, my first thought was 'Noctis!' followed by '... but a million times more ambitious'. Too good to be true, even.

No no, the second last chapter was a perfectly valid ending to the series that was satisfying and gave closure to everything that came before it.
The only explanation I can think of for it is that he really hates his fans and wanted to fuck with them. Or perhaps thinks that happy endings are the best thing ever but didn't know how to actually make one happen, and only had one chapter left to work with? I don't know - no, that couldn't possibly be it. He must just hate his fans. 'Uninspired' doesn't even begin to describe it. It was pretty much direct sabotage of the series by the author.

I didn't finish the anime, but the manga has the single worst ending in the history of anything.

I haven't read the manga. How does it end? PM okay to avoid thread spoilers.

I don't think any summary I can give can sum up how shockingly retarded it is - I'll, try, but you should probably just find the last chapter and read it.

So, the second last chapter ends on a bittersweet note with Yuno dead (or stuck in another timeline or something) and whatshisface god. Fastforward 10000 years and whatshisface is sitting around moping because he hasn't gotten over Yuno's death yet. Then ... Yuno breaks through the wall of spacetime with a hammer and they live happily ever after. The end.

And no, there's no foreshadowing or justification given for that.

Hey, they're almost as good as the current Australian team...

Um, not been keeping up to date with ashes news then huh?

Heh - guess not. But hey, it was true a couple of weeks ago anyway, according to all the news outlets.
I haven't actually followed cricket in years though.

You're putting far too much thought into Mirai Nikki. It's one of those things that are infinitely better the less you think about it.

I didn't finish the anime, but the manga has the single worst ending in the history of anything.

Hey, they're almost as good as the current Australian team...

We agree, yes - video games are told from a too narrow perspective (although half the games we're talking about in this thread are Japanese, so I'm not too sure about the 'white' part. Plus, y'know - Spain or where ever are countries quite capable of developing their own games if they're so inclined. That's not something we need to blame The Gaming Industry for - they're not being intentionally excluded or anything).

I'm not really happy with demanding that anyone create anything in a certain way though. People should create what they want to create. I don't think developers have a responsibility to create anything other than what it is that they want to.
If they want to create games from other perspectives than those closest to them - that's great. I just don't think I (or you or anyone) has a right to demand or expect it.

Now, I guess who we could be demanding stuff from is from publishers/investors. Demanding (or, y'know - strongly suggesting) that they fund more games with female characters or other perspectives is fine and makes sense to me.

I do not think males telling stories from a male perspective is a problem. It makes perfect sense.

That stories in the video game industry are told from the male perspective is a problem of demographics within the industry. Now, I'd love if there were more female-perspective games - but it's unreasonable to sit back and demand that other people make them.
The most you can ask is that they don't offend by putting in elements that belittle other groups (such as the miss male trope). Beyond that, it's the responsibility of other people (i.e. people with a 'female perspective') to make the games that even out the current imbalance.

Sure, but that's not the point. Having one female character in a cast of otherwise male characters isn't sufficient to write a game off as 'smurfette syndrome', as in the case of Dixie Kong, which is how this particular branch of the debate got started.

(I walked past a physical shop devoted only to otome games the other day. It's not that tiny a niche)