What does everyone REALLY enjoy discussing?

[dpful]

I thought this would be a nice "Get to know you your fellows" poll.
There was another post on here that was about some bit of shmup-ness, and someone responded with 'that's not what the forum's for' in so many words- so the question is, what do you guys like to discuss the most? What's everyones real interest in this forum?
I know this could be answered by just looking at the posts, but I'd like to know the real underlying enjoyment and motivation of my friends here.

And also, if I picked dumb question (I've got my own biases), then write in your own.

[zinger]

I like discussing all of that to some extent. I've never understood for what good a "which cloud in a shmup looks teh greatest-poll" is though.

[jp]

Subtleties of my favorite games mostly...

[dpful]

*quote- I've never understood for what good a "which cloud in a shmup looks teh greatest-poll" is though. *


Hey man, I understand it. That fits on question #3 about the subtleties of you favorite game .
I really love flying through the clouds in Soukyugurentai, for example, and I always pay attention to how cool clouds look (I like Rayforce's too). (I also voted #3).
And to expound on that, perhaps a lot of people here appreciate shmups for some pretty different reasons?
1. Technical?
2. Cultural?
3. Aesthetic?

You know, 3 pretty unique types of nerd (with the term 'nerd' standing in for whatever term describes an esoteric love for something. What's a better term?)

[zinger]

And to expound on that, perhaps a lot of people here appreciate shmups for some pretty different reasons?
1. Technical?
2. Cultural?
3. Aesthetic?

You know, 3 pretty unique types of nerd (with the term 'nerd' standing in for whatever term describes an esoteric love for something. What's a better term?)

I seem to appreciate shooters for all of those reasons, and a whole lot of other elements. I'd love to discuss aesthetics, but rather game by game.

Anyway, I won't stop you. Just make sure you know what you're doing. Have fun

[zinger]

Yeah, I see youre point- I guess it comes down to where you draw the line between blabbing about shmups and keeping the more subtle stuff to yourself (and keeping the forum cleaner). I don't mind blabbing, and endulging in some recreational shmup talk.
You know, is the forum a hangout or a database? (I agree that the two don't mix so well, would love a database, and enjoy the hangout sometimes.) I think, ideally, that there should be more sub-forums, so there'd be less stuff to wade through? (just blabbing now I guess, sorry, but it's a good point if people are frustrated with the forums content)

Good idea, the forum could use some more subsections. There are quite many already, so it might grow confusing. On the other hand, I only browse in Shmups Chat & Hi Score sections, so I wouldn't mind really.
Hmm, things tend to get chaotic when there are so many active users.

[Ord]

I wont cast my vote simply because it's all of the choices. I can't choose.

[dpful]

Anyway, I won't stop you. Just make sure you know what you're doing. Have fun

Thanks. I've also thought that maybe if the poll turns out to be like 90% "love talking about scores" or something like that, than others could check that out and avoid a faux pas in the future (like a poll on clouds).
I really do love the idea of more sub forums. (I'd probably vote for the two last ones, which seem to be in the minority so far). Right now, I go in this order when I browse:
Trading station
hardware
shmups chat/off topic

[Rob]

Board has enough subforums, I think. Strategy is underused as it is.

[Capt. Takehiko]

I like to talk about actually playing the shmups, but I also enjoy looking to what's on the horizon to add to my collection.

[iatneH]

I love bashing all them new-fangled three-dee whatchamacallems.

[FatCobra]

I like talking about the good old days when shumps dominated the arcades and well-made 2-D gameplay was king.

It's a shame the this so-called "three-D" thing has become too darn popular and most new games are crap, and that everyone outside of this little club of ours thinks we are nuts for supporting a genre that they don't consider fun anymore.

[Rob]

If that's a self-parody then bravo. "WOE IS ME/SHMUPS"

[FatCobra]

If that's a self-parody then bravo. "WOE IS ME/SHMUPS"

Okay, I'm just an old jaded gamer who misses the good old days. If it's a crime, then guilty as charged.

There's just as much crap back then as there is now. I know everyone remembers ET for Atari 2600. So bad that all the unsold copies had to be buried in a landfill somewhere in Arizona.

What I am trying to say is that maybe I liked the good old days better because either I was a dumb little kid who didn't know any better or I've not seen everything yet.

I visited arcades alot when I was a kid, and the shmups always atractted me the most. I was playing Raiden II (badly, mind you) while everyone else was popping quarters into Mortal Kombat. Shmups is a genre that I hold dearly to my heart and it pains me to see it not being popular anymore. But, being part a niche does bring out some bragging rights (or weird looks) I guess.

[jp]

I think people like us miss the old days of gaming because back then, you actually had to have something called "reflexes" and "skills" to survive the 2D digital worlds.


These days, you just need a lot of time.

[Dylan1CC]

Tie between gameplay/scoring and subtleties.

[FatCobra]

I think people like us miss the old days of gaming because back then, you actually had to have something called "reflexes" and "skills" to survive the 2D digital worlds.

You hit the nail right on the head there. That's what I've been trying to say. I miss the old school values.

Strangely enough, whenever I hear the Ikaruga soundtrack, I can imagine several shmup legends like the Vic Viper, Raiden and the Silvergun going back in time to stop the mainstream gaming industry from becoming the way it is today.

Strangely enough, they would go assassinate John Madden so that EA could never make the Madden series, but someone told the annoucer ahead of time so he attacks the ships with a football-shaped craft, spitting out football bullets of course. The ships also destroy EA completely, stop Rockstar from making the GTA games, convince Squaresoft to make Zwienhander and stop making lame Final Fantasy games, and they save Sega from dropping out of the console race.

Oh, the stupid stuff I would write when I'm bored, but this would make a fun little shmup to play.

[professor ganson]

I like the way you've broken down the options-- these are all reasons I enjoy this site. Right now I'm especially interested in the question: what makes 2d shooters and 2d games generally better than 3d ones.

[iatneH]

I think people like us miss the old days of gaming because back then, you actually had to have something called "reflexes" and "skills" to survive the 2D digital worlds.


These days, you just need a lot of time.

Yep, EVERYTHING that you said here, 100000%

Sure, I can put a hundred hours into Ikaruga or ESP RaDe or whatever, but I can do it in little 15 minute intervals and get full enjoyment from it.
I can't do that with a RPG, 15 minutes gets me nowhere in the story and if it's all broken up like that I won't even remember what happened or where I'm supposed to go.
It probably just took me 15 minutes to read and try to remember the pages upon pages of Controls in the instruction manual for Skies of Arcadia (been sitting in my GameCube for DAYS) but I really don't want to start playing it. I mean, shooter controls shouldn't need more than three sentences to explain.

[Neon]

*checks again*

Console wars aren't on the list.

What were you thinking?

[iatneH]

Yeah... shooter fans would never be caught saying "I ONLY play 1st-party Nintendo titles, everything else is teh crappy."

[raiden]

Right now I'm especially interested in the question: what makes 2d shooters and 2d games generally better than 3d ones.

the simple answer is that a TV picture can´t do anything but show a 2d picture, even if that picture represents a view into a 3d world. 2d games don´t have camera issues, which means game designers can always be sure the player will see every relevant gameplay element at the right time, so the games can be more challenging without being unfair.

Tie between gameplay/scoring and subtleties.

same here.

Console wars aren't on the list.
What were you thinking?

n1

[sven666]

aah you missed the "clickstick VS shmups" option

i like discussing strategies and scoring myself.. but anything shmuprelated will do

[Ghegs]

Nice topic, since lately there seems to have formed a nasty gap between people who play shmups for fun and use the forums as a meeting place rather than as a database of information like those who play shmups more seriously use it for.

As for why it couldn't be both, I'll never understand...love and peace! ^_^\/

Personally, I enjoy discussing about all the options listed - new releases, old games, subtleties, tactics, scores - but I also like just shooting the breeze (pardon the pun) every now and then.

[black mariah]

I like the way you've broken down the options-- these are all reasons I enjoy this site. Right now I'm especially interested in the question: what makes 2d shooters and 2d games generally better than 3d ones.

They aren't. It is your imagination and personal bias.

[sffan]

I like discussions about what we like to discuss. Jeez this hurts my brain.

[Tar-Palantir]

Where's the option for 'Defending one's infallible opinions'?

[Zhon]

There's very little information nowadays in this forum and lots of "discussion".

One question though - for those who play shmups primarily for the testing of the reflexes, or "twitch" - wouldn't you be well served by FPS's and such? Nowadays those are even more pure tests of twitch than shmups are.

[raiden]

One question though - for those who play shmups primarily for the testing of the reflexes, or "twitch" - wouldn't you be well served by FPS's and such? Nowadays those are even more pure tests of twitch than shmups are.

sorry, but the 2 genres can´t really be compared imo. If you want a "pure" twitch game, you need something like the mole coming randomly through one of 9 holes. While in an oldschool shmup you learn the level design to know where the enemies will attack from, improving your reactions to their bullets, in an FPS you learn the map, but from there it branches off. You are playing mindgames in an FPS, once you see your enemy doing certain things repeatedly, you can try to sabotage him, to which he will react by choosing a fitting answer again and so on. The dodging, on the other hand, is rather poor in FPS games, compared to 2d shooters. Theoretically, you have more dimensions to dodge, but this is counterbalanced by weapons that are faster than you can run, the analog aiming and the possibilty to create projectile barriers, area damage and other things (Counterstrike´s flash bangs come to mind). Generally, in an FPS, who sees the enemy first, wins, and the key to winning is finding out how to see the enemy first. Of course, there are also movement tricks like the special moves in UT, the strafejumping in Q3, but this is obviously an entirely different category of skill than what you do in a shmup.

[Randorama]

*checks again*

Console wars aren't on the list.

What were you thinking?

You da man

but seriously, strategy and scores, but i also enjoy the drama