Question of the Day!

[Verando]

In this thread, every week day I or another person can ask one question for the day that everyone else will think of an answer to. It should be something that requires more than one word to answer. Also, ask why if you can. Use the first question as an example. Try to format the question so that anyone can answer, if it more specific, you can give an alternate question as to why they arent involved.
After you have asked the question you can give your own answer in the next post. You should not post a question of the day if one already exists, or I will remove it.

Question of the Day, June 15

Spoiler: QOTD

When you retire, where do you want to retire to? Why there? (or) Why do you not want to retire?

 

[Verando]

Answer:
I'd like to retire in a small town in Michigan (USA). I cannot remember the name of it, but it was next to a waterfall and far away from any major interstates. I traveled to it once on a family vacation, we only passed through, but the buildings were wonderful and it felt like the old classic small town america that you don't really see anymore. If I ever found it again, I think I might move there. The only thing I'd be worried about would be finding good internet.

 

[TrueParanormal]

When I retire, if this is a 'in a perfect world' scenario, I'd like to retire to New Zealand. Nothing ever really happens there and if you wanted you could just disappear into the woods. But to retire there, that you'd have to be quite rich. No one wants to let a freeloader into the country!

Alternatively, in a realistic sense, I'd like to retire to a place that is both secluded while still able to have half-decent internet access. Kind of like my house now, where we live down a somewhat medium-sized driveway and have trees/bushes and fences blocking the rest of the world off. I guess once I retire I would like to just be left alone.

 

[Verando]

When I retire, if this is a 'in a perfect world' scenario, I'd like to retire to New Zealand. Nothing ever really happens there and if you wanted you could just disappear into the woods. But to retire there, that you'd have to be quite rich. No one wants to let a freeloader into the country!

Alternatively, in a realistic sense, I'd like to retire to a place that is both secluded while still able to have half-decent internet access. Kind of like my house now, where we live down a somewhat medium-sized driveway and have trees/bushes and fences blocking the rest of the world off. I guess once I retire I would like to just be left alone.

Yeah, should have specified money isn't an issue. It's a good idea for a split though, one with no worries, one more realistic.

 

[Verando]

Question of the Day, June 16

Spoiler: QOTD

How did your Music tastes evolve over time and why? If you don't listen to music, why not?

 

[Verando]

Answer:

Spoiler: Spoilers, Shhh

When I was young I didn't listen to music. I was a big history nerd in high school due to my broken xbox. Long story there, but that got me into the band sabaton, a power metal band that did songs that had historical topics. Over time, I started listening to softer rock. I became a big fan of Psychedelic rock after I had a roomate of mine who listened to Pink Floyd a lot. It reminded me of the stuff my parents used to listen to, the Doors. They became one of my favorite bands afterwards. I also just dabbled into rock operas after listening to The Wall, so that got me into the Who, who are probably one of my other favorites. I've always like nontraditional music as well, more culturually focused stuff, due to my historical background.

 

[TrueParanormal]

My music tastes haven't really evolved all that much. I have always been into 90s rock and early 2000s, but I have found myself expanding my tastes. From steampunk and early 20s to medieval festival music to jazz. I enjoy most music, as long as it has aa (good/deep) meaning behind it or a really amazing beat. I also really love songs that tell entire stories. Sometimes without words.

 

[UltimateZZV]

Spoiler: Answer to Question 1

I'm not somebody who's enthused by the concept of having nothing to do, but if I had to retire somewhere, today I would probably pick my hometown in Missouri. The Ozarks are extremely beautiful, and there's a lot of social programs for elders.

Spoiler: Answer to Question 2 (oh boy did I go on for a while)

I didn't really get into listening to music before the 8th grade or so. Before that, my favorite kind of music was songs like Joker by The Steve Miller Band or Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. In middle school, one of my friends came across Monstercat. Through him, I fell in LOVE with Tristam, Pegboard Nerds, and DROELOE. After this, I got Pandora and started listening to lots of different music, spanning every genre I could get my hands on.

I spent a lot of time getting into classical music such as Canon in D and Claire de Lune. As my horizons widened, I happened to stumble across the Electro Swing playlist, the Best of Electro Swing 2016 compilation by Xefox Music. This was what introduced me to Big Band, the American Classics, and Swing! My interests moving more towards historical music, I found myself enthralled by the world of Kaiserreich, a mod for Hearts of Iron 4, which uses a lot of music prevalent in the 30's and 40's, as well as modern renditions of Civil War music, and old political songs like Every Man a King.

In my junior year of High School, I moved forward a few decades and found early rock, punk, and, of course: The Beatles.
Holy shit did I love The Beatles. The first of their work I listened to was the 50 year anniversary version of the Sgt. Pepper's album, having tapped it on my phone by accident during my summer school Accounting class. I then spent the rest of that two-week class completely ignoring the teacher, and instead, doing research on The Beatles. By the end of the class, I knew more about John, Paul, George, and Ringo, than most anyone.

Jesus Christ, I love The Beatles.

 

[Verando]

Question of the day, June 17

Spoiler: QOTD

What videogame has influenced your media tastes the most and why? If you cant think of any, why not?

 

[Verando]

If I had to say, it's tough because a few have influenced me, but civilization revolution for the Xbox 360 was the biggest. It's weird to think about how it worked, but essentially my Xbox broke down and wouldn't play disks, but could still do downloads. This was before it was giving out a bunch of games every month. I downloaded several demos, one of which was for civ rev. I played it so much I could get tanks by the year 1300. It made me curious about history and my tastes stemmed from there. I ended up buying civ v and going into advanced history courses. Nowadays I watch lots of documentaries, listen to history audiobooks and podcasts, and I still prefer my fiction to be period pieces. I bow play games like Europa Universalis and crusader kings. So yeah, little cartoon game I actually think isn't very good today changed my tastes completely. If I hadn't played it id probably be a bigger RPG and fps fan. I Would also be bigger into fantasy and sci-fi than history.

 

[TrueParanormal]

This is a tough question. I've played such a variation of games (From FPS to Strategy to RPGs) and they all have affected me in some form. If I had to choose a game that has influenced me the most... it'd still be stuck between two. Minecraft and Detroit:Become Human. The former is for obvious reasons but it also taught me how to be social. I was a total introvert when I started playing and wouldn't even really talk to anyone but as I grew used to the communities I spread my wings a bit. Don't get me wrong, I am still an introvert, but now I have no issue reaching out to new people and striking up a good conversation. Now, I won't get into Detroit: Become Human too much (It gets a bit political) but I will say it shaped how I feel about certain things- including how I now believe that small people CAN make a difference. Just with determination and time.

 

[UltimateZZV]

Spoiler: Question 3 Answer

Civilization IV, without a doubt. I fell in love with flags as a child, and Civilization shifted my passions to culture and history. Without Sid Meier, I'm unsure I'd have really gotten into Wikipedia as much as I have!

 

[Faeborn]

Oooh! Do I have a lot of those. I can't pick between these three!
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker has to be the prettiest and most immersive game I have ever played in my childhood. The whimsy graphics, forgiving atmosphere, sailing (I love sailing and boats!) and cool puzzles made me complete the game again and again. And the soundtrack! it'll forever be in my personal playlist.
Metroid: Ask the people I play with on the server. I'm an explorer at heart. This game taught me to pay attention to every single nook and crannies in the game. I think that what I loved most about it, however, was the strong and silent female lead. It was just this little inconsequential thing but I remember having a gasp of surprise the first time I saw Samus' reflection in her helmet when she got blinded by something.
Borderlands 2: Now that's a game I played. Woooooow. For anyone who's never played it, do it. It is my single most outstanding experience of storytelling and character development. This game made me genuinely tremble with rage at a character. Strong and well built female characters, a fun cast, a forgiving yet excruciatingly difficult game at the final stages of the game. I loved it all. Also. This game had the best villain ever. Period. #GaigeMain

 

[Verando]

Don't forget guys, you can ask too!

 

[Verando]

Alrighty!
Question of the Day, June 18

Spoiler: QOTD

What skill would you like to master and why?

 

[Verando]

I would personally like to master my planning skills. I really like strategy focused things, and often times I short circuit my brain to just do whatever in the moment if its good enough for my plan. I don't micromanage my daily life that well either. So this also comes down to a lack of personal scheduling and following through. I have a lot of things I want to do, but I usually don't stick to the plan I make, even though I feel I need to make one.

 

[Faeborn]

I've always wanted to learn how to play the Lute!
I'm a frequent larper with a terrible singing voice who loves playing bards. Unfortunately, I also have a terrible musical ear. So learning an instrument would actually be very fun for me. In the meantime, I do apologize for the hearing loss of my fellow friends.

 

[UltimateZZV]

Spoiler: Answer to Question 4

There are SO many things I would love to learn. In all honesty, I have difficulty imagining how I'm going to do everything I want to in life, there just aren't enough hours in the day.

If I had to pick anything, I'd choose to master the subject I'm majoring in, Biological Sciences, so I can get this degree done and over with. I'd move on to a master's in Bioinformatics before focusing on a doctorate in Genetics, which certainly wouldn't be hurt by this mastery.

That, or acting, I've always loved Theatre, and if I could do that professionally? Hoo boy, I would be pleased.

 

[Verando]

Question of the Day, June 19

Spoiler: QOTD

Who is your favorite video game nonplayer nonvillain character? Why?

 

[Verando]

Mine is an obvious one, Joshua graham.
The first video game I got for my xbox, and the first more modern RPG I ever played was Fallout New Vegas. I first played for ages without any of the DLC, only hearing rumors here and there of the burned man. My friend ended up owning the dlc disk for the complete version, and I downloaded them. Played through dead money first, and it was ok. Went through honest hearts and met Joshua Graham. He quickly became my favorite character in all of the wasteland for a number of reasons.

Spoiler: Story stuff for NV

His memorable quotes and demeanor, his biblical nature and lessons. You can tell the creators put a lot of thought into the man and made him a complicated character. Several of his quotes are very fire and brimstone, as is his nature, but he does it for a compassionate reason. Its a strange contradiction, and one that causes him to commit some brutal acts. By the end he either has his second chance at redemption. When you meet him by Salt upon wounds, he has already done a lot of horrible things, increasingly as you head into the representative mouth of hell. But you have the chance to pull him out of hell by preventing him from staining himself. Even for a man as tormented and conflicted as Joshua, there is a hope.