General Chat rebirth

Rocksmith has been a good tool to learn, I think mixing it up with a few non-game methods of learning is most beneficial. It mostly helps you learn the songs they have available (which is a ton, with DLC and such).

Outside of learning their songs it gets your speed up gradually, and your ability to learn where on the fret board your fingers are and not having to look all the time. If you are not already someone who knows an instrument it is lacking in things like reading music and such,but if you just want to get good enough to jam, or use guitar tabs it is great for that. I also enjoy its session mode quite a bit, because I can play some songs I am working on and it will give me various instruments to add in the background to keep things going for me.

It has several ways to learn, through lessons, arcade style games and just learning songs. THe lessons and songs are great because they gradually speed up and add more parts of it, in the songs eventually they have you playing from memory, which even as someone who did marching band for 6 years I struggled with back then, but find the gradual way of doing it here easier.

Another guy I work with started playing the same time I did, he has done majority of his learning through reading and lesson type videos and books. He is better at naming what all the chords equate to note wise, where as I am better at playing, which is why I think mixing the 2 is the best.

That sounds like a pretty solid recommendation and like it does the kinds of things I'd hope it would. I've been somewhat curious about trying it just to see how it is, but the up front investment is a bit much for me, and I have other instruments I should be playing more than I do already. It might be an interesting comparison though.

I've always kind of avoided the guitar because it feels so small/cramped to me, so I've stuck to the piano and bass instead which accommodate enormous hands quite well. I spent over a dozen years taking classical piano lessons with plenty of music theory and formal exercises, so after that it was pretty refreshing to teach myself the bass. My friend was trying to start a band and couldn't find anyone to play bass, so I said I could probably learn. We went to go buy a bass, he gave me tabs for the songs he'd written, and I just sat down and learned them with no books or videos or anything. After five years I still had to stop for a couple seconds and think about it to name the strings, much less what note I was playing.

It's a lot of fun having two instruments you're reasonably skilled with but have taken possibly the most completely different approaches to. I can sit at the piano and tell you all sorts of technical stuff about what I'm playing and work very rigorously on a Chopin polonaise or something, or I can pull out the bass and be like, "When I move my fingers like this, it makes noises like that! Isn't that awesome?" while having just as much fun. And possibly using a drumstick as a slide and/or running it through my laptop for effects, because why not?

That sounds like a pretty solid recommendation and like it does the kinds of things I'd hope it would. I've been somewhat curious about trying it just to see how it is, but the up front investment is a bit much for me, and I have other instruments I should be playing more than I do already. It might be an interesting comparison though.

I've always kind of avoided the guitar because it feels so small/cramped to me, so I've stuck to the piano and bass instead which accommodate enormous hands quite well. I spent over a dozen years taking classical piano lessons with plenty of music theory and formal exercises, so after that it was pretty refreshing to teach myself the bass. My friend was trying to start a band and couldn't find anyone to play bass, so I said I could probably learn. We went to go buy a bass, he gave me tabs for the songs he'd written, and I just sat down and learned them with no books or videos or anything. After five years I still had to stop for a couple seconds and think about it to name the strings, much less what note I was playing.

It's a lot of fun having two instruments you're reasonably skilled with but have taken possibly the most completely different approaches to. I can sit at the piano and tell you all sorts of technical stuff about what I'm playing and work very rigorously on a Chopin polonaise or something, or I can pull out the bass and be like, "When I move my fingers like this, it makes noises like that! Isn't that awesome?" while having just as much fun. And possibly using a drumstick as a slide and/or running it through my laptop for effects, because why not?

Yep, I am in a similar boat. I learned Clarinet from about 7-20ish, then just took out occasionally since then. I taught myself keyboard in high school for a similar reason you learned bass, for a band we wanted to start, of course that never really got off the ground. I picked up a Fender beginner kit for $200, came with a nice little amp (though I don't use it much mostly my PC right now) tuner, some how to stuff and of course the guitar, a Fender Squire Strat. Its not fancy, but its well made for the price and sounds pretty solid.

The most daunting part for me is the mechanical work, I am sure with time I will be comfortable, but right now whenever I do something with it mechanically (changing strings, adjusting the action etc...) I am worried I will break something.

I am really liking it though as I went in with the mentality of having fun, and I have a small goal for talent show at a conference I go to, but I will unveil that at a later date when I know I can do it :)

Yep, I am in a similar boat. I learned Clarinet from about 7-20ish, then just took out occasionally since then. I taught myself keyboard in high school for a similar reason you learned bass, for a band we wanted to start, of course that never really got off the ground. I picked up a Fender beginner kit for $200, came with a nice little amp (though I don't use it much mostly my PC right now) tuner, some how to stuff and of course the guitar, a Fender Squire Strat. Its not fancy, but its well made for the price and sounds pretty solid.

The most daunting part for me is the mechanical work, I am sure with time I will be comfortable, but right now whenever I do something with it mechanically (changing strings, adjusting the action etc...) I am worried I will break something.

I am really liking it though as I went in with the mentality of having fun, and I have a small goal for talent show at a conference I go to, but I will unveil that at a later date when I know I can do it :)

Funny coincidence: I also played the clarinet for a few years. I had to stop after I knocked out one of my front teeth though. My dentist did not approve, which put an end to that rather abruptly.

D'aw, you guys are too sweet <3

Since I feel like mass consuming media (which I rarely wanna do), I'll be watching Fate/Stay Unlimited over the next few days. I sorta already saw the Season 2 (series?) finale, but I haven't the slightest clue what was going on there, and the fight scenes looked so darn pretty that I really wanted to watch it from the beginning :D It's been a while since I sat down to watch some anime.

gaiages! We've missed you! You may now resume your rightful seat among the pantheon of HLTB's Great Ones.

I guess as long as I'm in the general chat thread, I'll give an update... I've spent a lot of the past 6 months dealing with my mental health. Some of the users from this site actually reached out to me when I was pretty low and gave me the strength I needed to find help.

When things started to pick up again I applied and got accepted to a month-long study abroad program in Ireland, which I just returned from. It was nice being able to get away from a month to visit my ancestral home and write stories among the mountains and valleys. Now I'm back refreshed and I'm ready to hopefully start kicking my backlog's ass again!

Hey all! Can I just say I have only recently stumbled across this great site (and community!) This website is really inspiring me to play through all of my games that I have been putting off for years! great work!: )

Hey all! Can I just say I have only recently stumbled across this great site (and community!) This website is really inspiring me to play through all of my games that I have been putting off for years! great work!: )

Welcome! Hope you enjoy yourself here~ <3

Hey all, I just wanted to share some good news. I've been around here for like 4 years, since I was doing my PhD on games and sociology in Singapore. I've been teaching part-time in 2015, but I just got a full-time position as an assistant professor of sociology! You all have been along with me almost this whole journey, so thanks for the long-time outlet to talk games!

Hey all, I just wanted to share some good news. I've been around here for like 4 years, since I was doing my PhD on games and sociology in Singapore. I've been teaching part-time in 2015, but I just got a full-time position as an assistant professor of sociology! You all have been along with me almost this whole journey, so thanks for the long-time outlet to talk games!

That's awesome news, congrats blindly! :D

Hey all, I just wanted to share some good news. I've been around here for like 4 years, since I was doing my PhD on games and sociology in Singapore. I've been teaching part-time in 2015, but I just got a full-time position as an assistant professor of sociology! You all have been along with me almost this whole journey, so thanks for the long-time outlet to talk games!

Congratulations and good luck Professor Pie Man!

I woke up this morning to the sound of my dog, Poochie, going absolutely crazy outside so I jumped out of bed to investigate. From the window in my door I could see my dog barking towards my gate but I can't see WHAT he's snarling at, I thought maybe a stray dog was sniffing around or somebody was trying to get into my yard to break into my shed (which happens a lot), but nope as soon as I open my door I know exactly what it is; from the smell alone. A big skunk is trying to wedge itself under my gate, but its too large, while trying to scare off my dog. I couldn't just let this continue so I begin a precarious balancing act with one leg planted as far away from the skunk as possible, the other leg used to keep Poochie at a distance, and my upper body leaning/reaching towards the gate too try and get it open so I can usher this skunk out whos hissing at me while I do this. Luckily I was successful, after a while, but I must of walked through the mist of the skunk's spray because I smelt awful afterwards, and still do! So that was my morning

Well, just making my rounds through all the threads today (slow day at work). Got the new seasons for the 4 TV shows I work on ramping up, so my summer of quiet is about to be demolished by 10 months of craziness. Luckily I've got my Vita, 3DS, a huge stack of books, a Netflix queue, and a pile of creative writing stuff to work through on my long days at the office. These are the times when I wish I was more of a PC gamer, since I sit at a desk all day every day. I'm also running Mac, which I love, but means my RPG Maker VX Ace won't work. I dabbled in that for 20 or so hours a few years back. And I've been itching to return to it. (I promise I also actually work, but part of my job is waiting for the more creative types to finish their work, so when normal people would go home at 5, I'm at the office twiddling my thumbs until whenever they finish their work, so mine begins. My job is weird).

I just watched the last episode of The Flash season 1 and wow, I don't know what to think. Messing with time line always ends up being a mind f@#k. I'll put my rambling in spoilers just in case you haven't seen it yet.
Contains major spoilers:
So Eddie kills himself to save the Flash who is about to be killed by the Reverse Flash, who by the chance came from the future and is a distant descendant of Eddie's. When Reverse Flash came from the future 15 years ago he killed Flash's mother and created a new time line, but was stuck in it, not able to get back to the future. When Eddie killed himself the Reverse Flash got erased from existence, and the question now is why wasn't that whole time line erased. Reverse Flash created it when he came back and if he was erased so would have been his actions, therefore Flash's mother would still be alive and this time line would have never existed, coming to the paradox that now Eddie has no reason to kill himself..
It would have made more sense that Reverse Flash created a parallel time line when he came back in which he exists now and the original time line (the one from which he came from) now is flowing without him. Eddie killing himself wouldn't delete this Reverse Flash but only stop a version of him being born in this time line's future and the Reverse Flash would have continued to exist because he came from another time line where Eddie didn't kill himself and therefore he still lives. Should have he succeeded to get to the future it would have been the parallel future, and not the one from which he came from.
So in my opinion they screwed up either way. If Eddie killing himself erased the Reverse Flash this whole time line should have been erased but since the time line wast erased there was no reason for the Reverse Flash to get erased since he came from another time line.

So if anyone watches the Flash here what's your take on this?