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Messages - Bret

#1
I googled him on occasion. The name GoChiefs cut a pretty wide swath through the internet. He didn't only embarrass himself on football gaming forums.

As to his real name, I thought it was common knowledge amongst us. I found a photo of him, and it looks like he dropped a lot of weight and got a decent hair style. I wonder if Rori has seen the new GoChiefs...

#2
Reviews / Re: TV show recommendation thread
April 17, 2017, 03:06:12 PM
I hate 24 after the second season because the writers forgot their own concept. Jack Bauer gets stabbed in the shoulder and loses a lot of blood at about 1:15, then by 3:30 his shoulder and arm are both good as new. Huh???

Remember that season where he kicked his heroin addiction in something like four hours?
#3
Console Gaming Discussion / Re: Nintendo Switch
April 14, 2017, 05:52:20 PM
The controller itself makes me not want it. Marketing fail.

Oh, and I skipped the WiiU, as well. I still play my Wii once in a while.
#4
Reviews / Re: TV show recommendation thread
April 14, 2017, 01:31:44 PM
Me, too. I also love Bosch, and am very excited for the new season released a week from today. Great, old-school cop show where the detectives actually do detective work.
#5
I have to admit...I don't devote much time to PC gaming anymore because I have went to the console side.

Madden goes without saying. My other PC interests were Civilization, and I found Civ V very disappointing. Star Trek Online came around, and I was initially excited. This was my first MMPORG or whatever it is. I didn't understand that to have a chance at anything you have to either have absolutely nothing in your life whatsoever than the game and do incredibly boring, repetitive tasks to gain the breadcrumbs they offer you, or they nickel and dime you to death on a consistent basis. I put up with that for a few months, but lost interest. I hate Steam, and I hate how the PC game industry keeps gravitating toward that platform. So, I'm pretty much done with PC gaming, though I am loving the resurrection of AOE II.

First console (since the 90's, I mean) for me was the Xbox. I came in to that a little late, but once I heard that you can soft-mod it, install a huge IDE hard drive with Xbox Media Center (now known as Kodi, and developed for every platform imaginable except for the original Xbox). I loved my time with the original Xbox, and I still have it. Great emulators for pretty much every old console system.

Then came the Xbox 360. They never had anything as cool as XBMC, but some guys did come up with a couple of custom dashboards, and there's sites out there where one can obtain both free games and DLC. My 360 has well over 900 games installed to the hard drive, and I paid for maybe 7 of them. No, I don't need that many games. But, my inner child who was constantly told "we can't afford it" when I asked my parents for a console coupled with the inner child who was constantly told go fuck himself when I asked to play with the neighbor kids' consoles demands that I hoarde as many games as possible. It's an issue, I know.

Anyway, despite the fact that things are pretty much over as far as new content for the 360, I was happy with sticking with that. I figured while I wait around for someone to crack the Xbox One, I have all these games to get around to playing which should keep me busy for several years.

However, for Christmas, my wife got me an Xbox One. Being a pirate and all, this felt strange, still does. She got me the Madden version of the One-S with the 1TB hard drive and a year's subscription to Xbox Live. At first, I wasn't all that thrilled. But, I'm warming up to it. The graphics on the One are better than the 360, and they're 4k compatible (for when I get a 4k TV, that is). My library is already up to about 14 games. I've played Madden like twice. But, I'm really digging Forza 6.

The One is pretty good, I guess. My primary complaints are that the One S has no dedicated Kinect port, and it requires a special $40 adapter to plug the Kinect in. I hate the dashboard on the One. And, I hate how every game has to be downloaded and installed locally. Well, that's actually pretty good. But, if that's the way MS was going to go, then a 2TB Hard Drive really should be standard in all Ones. They're cheap enough these days. I'm not sure why MS didn't make that call.

Anyway, that's my video gaming interest these days. If anyone around here has a One, I'd love to play something online with you. As I said, I got Forza 6. I also have Rory McIlroy gold, the last three or four Call of Duty games, Tony Hawk 5, and a couple of others I can't recall sitting at my desk at work.
#6
Pro Football / Re: Kaepernick still not signed
April 14, 2017, 01:31:32 AM
Yeah, funny how the less this guy started, the more "activism" he was engaging in, isn't it?

I'm sticking with my prediction: come opening day, Kaepernick is either unemployed or playing in Canada.
#7
Quote from: BigDaddyCool on April 13, 2017, 02:54:04 PM
Well Bret, as long as we're talking about PCF (and your apology is accepted by the way) I feel that I owe you an apology for how things went down there as well.

Back then I was approached by the "group of investors" to present the offer to you for the site. The way it was presented to me at the time was that I would be running the site with the group as "silent partners". Yeah.....as it turned out some of them didn't want to be so silent. That's when some of the infighting began and some people then left for greener pastures like BSB, EAMods and Football Freaks. I really regret about not being more upfront with you about it at the time as I was honoring a request from the group that they remain anonymous. I truly am sorry for that.

I do take some solace from the fact that PCF did outlast MaddenMania as a separate entity in the end. At one point I looked up MM and found out that they had been sold lock, stock and database to Operation Sports and were part of their network. Unfortunately in the end for PCF it gradually became a place where only the advertising spammers went to post there porn ads. Most of my days were spent with deleting those posts and banning the users, only to find out that they came back the next day under different names and posted again. I swear, they must have been using some sort of super spamming program that created profiles automatically. That went on until the day when I went to log in and found that PCF had disappeared. Yeah, our host had decided to close up shop and go out of business overnight and they took more than a few sites with them. It wasn't what I wanted but I didn't have much say in the matter. So after that I migrated over to Football Freaks where they were doing some fantastic work modding Madden NFL 08, and I moved with them to Football Idiots when the FF database crashed.

I've been part of that community ever since and I have been working on modding the final version of Madden for the PC and having a hand in updating the look and feel of that game to modernize it - with the tools that those guys developed it's a fun hobby for me at least.

On a different note it is good to hear from you again, and I am happy to hear about the positive turn your life has taken.

Good to hear from you again, as well. I can't accept your apology, though, because I never needed one. I wasn't offended or angered by your approach during the purchase, just confused by it. I didn't really understand why you felt you couldn't be straight with me, that's all. Things were kind of crazy back then, and I guess none of us were at our best. That's not to say that I give everyone from those days a pass, but I've never held any ill will toward you, Joe, or Rollntider, or a lot of the guys from back then. I'm not even angry at GoCheifs. I miss that guy in a retarded-court-jester kind of way.

As to MaddenMania...as I said earlier in this thread, I have poked my head in to take a look every year-and-a-half to two years. I even posted in a MM-related thread on Gamer's Lab when that was around (it took me a few days to finally understand it wasn't Gamer Slab). Anyway, I have observed that the football gaming community as a whole finally understands what kind of man Dave Branda really is (BlyGilmore for the search engines). While I take pleasure in that fact, I will confess to being a bit irritated that it took a good four or five years for the community as a whole to finally understand what we at PCF had known all along.

While I am laying it all out and confessing, and while I'm thinking out the old days...I'll share with you that I'm wondering how the community history would have unfolded had JamesSGN never turned MM over to Branda, and had Mike from MaddenCentral (the first football gaming site I frequented, and one I really missed) had never turned over MC to Andy P. Things on the whole would have been a lot better for pretty much everyone involved, and there maybe would have never been a PCF.

It's good to hear/see that there's still a community that's still making mods. I get why that community is working on Madden '08, because it was the final PC offering (which I find very sad). But, even though it was the last doesn't mean it was the best. Pretty much every Madden from the late 00's was shit, including '08. That's when EA stopped caring because they had so many years left on their exclusivity deal with the NFL. The people who make Madden always seemed to either hate PC gamers, or at the very least saw them as an inferior class of people. So, it doesn't surprise me in the least that they haven't made a football game for the PC in a decade. I really, really, really hope the NFL never signs an exclusivity deal with EA ever again.

I'm glad this place is here for us to get together once in a while. Sure, the advent of "social media" has really changed the game for boards like these. But, these boards still have a unique character and charm that can't be replaced by social media. I will make an effort to participate more around here.
#8
Pro Football / Kaepernick still not signed
April 13, 2017, 01:30:57 AM
About his crybaby tantrums, I'll just state that I would LOVE to be oppressed as badly as he is. Poor guy only got $16 million dollars guaranteed for a season's worth of work.

I don't think he'll get signed. Right or wrong, good or bad, football is a business. Team's revenues aren't solely based on ticket sales, TV deals, merch, and concessions. There's many, many sponsorship deals in place with each of the 32 teams. Kaepernick is a PR disaster. I'd dare say he's the quarterback version of United Airlines.

I predict his NFL career is over. And, I for one won't miss him. Even before his acting out I thought he was overrated.
#9
Thanks! And...I'm ashamed to admit this, but I don't remember your real name (I'm gonna feel like a moron once you tell it to me). PM it to me if you like.
#10
The first two videos ain't there no more. And, the third video is, well....terrible.
#11
I'm not sure if bumping a 2½ thread is considered bad etiquette, but I'd like to do it, anyway.

I rarely think of the PCF days. But, for whatever reason I've been thinking of them lately. And, also for whatever reason, I'm seeing those days a little differently than I did when I originally started this thread. I don't know if this is me getting smarter or getting dumber, but in either case I'm compelled to share these thoughts with someone. Since I really don't want to deal with hiring a therapist to listen to me, this thread seems like the next best thing.

I don't poke my head into forums like these much anymore. I have a lot going on in my life. I have a full-time job that keeps me busy (but not at this particular moment, which is why I'm making this post). I'm married. I am a homeowner. I'm working out. Basically, I have a lot going on in my life that eats up a lot of my time and doesn't leave all that much left for forums like this...no matter how cool they may be. :)

Back in the early 2000's, I was not nearly as fortunate. I couldn't find a good job. I lived in a shit place. I could almost never get a date, and when I could, a second date was absolutely out of the question. I tried very hard to improve my station in life, or at least some aspects of it. But, back then, those attempts all met with failure. In all candor, I probably was only a few steps ahead of GoChiefs on the social ladder. The only thing I really had on GoChiefs at that time is that I wasn't afraid to ask a girl out, and I could take no for an answer. I don't accept responsibility for the situation I was in because it wasn't my fault. I did what I was supposed to do to pull myself out of that situation. Despite what some would have you believe, your success in life IS NOT all up to you. It just isn't. Only about a third is up to you. The other two thirds are you need someone somewhere somehow to do their part to help you along the way, and plain, old-fashioned good luck. In the early 2000's, no one was doing their part to help me out (by, you know, hiring me or going out on a date with me), and I didn't have any luck in any of my endeavors during those years.

Those two paragraphs out there, I'll offer that the most likely reason I had far more emotional investment in PCF than I really should have is that I didn't have too much going on in my life back in 2003 or whatever it was. Back then, administrating PCF was one of the very few things in my life that gave me any sort of purpose or structure. I'll be the first to say that's sick and pathetic. I admit it, I own it, and I ain't proud of it. But, unlike guys like Andy P and Dave Branda, I never saw the forums as an extension of my small penis. It was never about a power trip with me, and even with this pathetic confession on my part I still offer that, as a board admin, I was head and shoulders above those two assholes. For me, banning someone was very difficult for me to the point that it turned my stomach a little bit each time I had to do it. The fact that it came so easy to Branda and Andy, to me anyway, reveals pretty much everything you need to know of their character (or lack of same).

This isn't to say I have many regrets with PCF. I still really don't. But, I guess what I'm saying is that one of my regrets is my emotional reactions to some situations that presented themselves during the PCF days. I was so focused on building up PCF that I cared far too much for what many others thought. This may have created a general perception of me that isn't entirely accurate, and that I regret.

PCF did provide me an important life lesson, though...it taught me the lesson of "too many cooks". I wanted PCF to be a community effort. My heart was in the right place, but I realize now that was a mistake. Until such a time as PCF grew to something like 100 regular members, I should have just kept all the control to myself. I should have done all the modding, I should have made all the decisions, I should have called all the shots. I should have done what I thought was right regardless of what anyone else thought or was telling me. And, I should have decided all by myself whether something was or wasn't working.

If back in 2003, my life was the way it is today, I still might have created PCF. Andy P and Dave Branda were both drunk on their own power (to say the least), and the football gaming community needed a responsibly-administrated alternative. But, if I did have that do-over, I would retain all the control myself (at least while it was still small), and do what I thought was right while ignoring influences and pressures from those I thought I could trust. And, if someone didn't like something I did or said, I'd tell them to just shove their head up their ass so they couldn't read what I was typing and/or hear what I was saying.

But, now, in the year 2017, there is no way in the world I would ever again admin or mod a board. It is A LOT of work, far more than I feel like putting in, especially with all the other positive things happening in my life.

Before I close, I want to close a loop and express my biggest regret of the PCF days. Most of you who give a shit enough to read this post know that a few people got together, pooled their money, and bought the site from me for $500 once I expressed my desire to sell it. I guess their "captain" or "leader" was Joe Gandolfo. Joe kept it a secret that he was representing a group and not acting singularly. I never understood why he kept that secret because it would not have influenced my decision in the least to sell to him/them. I wanted out, and money is money. I would have sold the thing to GoChiefs (Clayton Wendler for the search engines) if he were the highest bidder. I'm digressing here.

Anyway, back to my regret....after the sale, I'm assuming the infighting amongst the inner circle continued, and PCF began to deteriorate. Joe brought me in to figuratively right the ship. I told him I would do it if I were the only and only person calling the shots. He agreed. He gave me all the passwords and told me to do what I thought was right. Remembering the lessons learned of the couple of years before, I made some changes. And, those changes began bearing a little bit of fruit. However, there was still drama and fighting and complaining, and I was just emotionally spent. So, I walked away. One day I just decided I would never again log in to any football gaming forum, or attempt to communicate with any of their regular posters, for any reason, and just walked away. For my emotional health, that was the right call, and I really don't regret that today. However, what I really regret is not telling Joe that I was walking away, or why. To use a modern-day dating term, I ghosted him. That was assholish of me, and I regret that. So, Joe, if you google yourself and happen to run in to this post, I offer you a sincere apology for how I handled things, especially after you put that trust in me despite the resistance to that decision you were undoubtedly receiving from others around you.

Well, if anyone actually read this, I thank you for allowing me to dump my 14-year-old emotional baggage upon you.
#12
Chit Chat / Re: RIP Thread
April 27, 2016, 05:41:26 PM
Excellent advice. I blew off seeing comedian John Pinette. He dies about four months later :(
#13
Video Gaming General / Rise of the Tomb Raider
January 08, 2016, 04:19:09 PM
I haven't posted for a while, but here I am.

Anyone else playing this game? Either this game is really hard, or is harder than the past Tomb Raider games, or I am just starting to suck in my old age...
#14
Tech Talk / Re: windows 10 free may be free
August 10, 2015, 11:14:24 PM
I would recommend 10. It has all the interface goodness of Windows 7, and all the "under the hood" goodness of Windows 8.1 (there was a lot of goodness there, trust me).

Now that it is out, I see why 10 is free...they want to collect all the info they can about you, and give you targeted advertising. The masses will just install all the defaults and leave them on. The smarter people can turn off the data-mining technologies and enjoy both a great OS and privacy.
#15
Tech Talk / Re: windows 10 free may be free
July 30, 2015, 12:37:44 PM
Yes there is. Here's how I did it...

MS is offering the images in esd format (I think). If you google mydigitallife Windows 10 (awesome site, membership is free), you'll see a thread with download links, and also the decrypter files which will convert them to more familiar ISO's. Burn yourself a copy, or make an installer with a jump drive (I just burned some DVD's. Slower, but I "have them").

You'll want the Pro version. From what I've read, the only differences between Pro and Enterprise of Windows 10 is the licensing.

Upgrade your Win 7 to 10. Skip any request for a product key (there will be two or three). Once it is done, it will be activated. MS is storied hardware ID's for activated systems. So, at this point you can go ahead and do your fresh install, again skipping requests for keys. At this point MS will reference your hardware ID and will go ahead and activate.

This is what I did...and it worked for me twice already (one desktop, one laptop)