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ROFL A Bethesda game nominated for innovative gameplay

The games that win industry awards are usually what a plurality of people actually spent time talking about, experiencing, and enjoying. They may not have been everyone's personal favorite game of the year, but that's not really what it's about: it's the games that are going to stand out in most people's minds as having been a 'big thing' for the year, that had some kind of tangible and positive effect on the collective gaming consciousness - while also hopefully setting a standard for other games to try to achieve for years to come. I have my own misgivings with Baldur's Gate III that makes it not particularly suited for my tastes, but in terms of being a creative vision with actual sincerity that clearly people genuinely enjoyed (versus just yet another samey sequel, or a committee-decided mass appeal construct, or an exploitative corporate cash-pump), it seems pretty easy to accept the game getting its flowers even if I must ignore that that the game wasn't quite to my liking. Our media/entertainment is a 'victim' of its time and circumstances - for better and for worse. Films considered to be notably horrible failures at the time of their release are sometimes re-examined decades later and then re-labelled as brilliant masterpieces because of how the film industry and the way people see movies have evolved since then, and the opposite can obviously happen when someone tries to go back to watch some of the older 'greatest films of all time' without having experienced first-hand the circumstances surrounding those films when they released that made them into the major successes that people remember them as. At least some of the greatest games of yesteryear would well be naught but a fart in the wind if they were released for the first time today (even if they were given a new [current year]-appropriate coat of paint!). If you feel current 'great' games don't compare well to decades-old games, they may well not - at least in the ways that you personally value as being most important given how your own tastes developed from playing the games that you did and also when you did...but that might not be what other people currently care about given the circumstances that they have experienced. None of us is special for not loving or liking something that most other people seem to, and nobody is trying to make you a victim of propaganda, conspiracy, or anything else when it happens: it's just not your thing, and that should be perfectly okay. Trying to fathom precisely why something does or doesn't work for you at the most base level is far too nebulous even at the best of times, never mind when it seems everyone is proclaiming something as being the "best" and "greatest" when you just can't seem to even vaguely understand it.

Trying to catch up with the food thread while being subjected to conspiracy theories and culture wars all because of a brief mention of poppy seeds. Hope you're pleased with yourself, @Gfted1, .

Watched Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. And ate christmas food.

Help, Chaos is animating my weapons.

I enjoyed Vampyr and it was always a conundrum about who I fed on...I didnt really like killing any good people but I had to survive 🧛‍♂️

Kill Aurora quickly enough and you can save all the shuttles except the one destroyed right at the beginning in the cutscene. It takes some doing, but it is possible.

The Outer Worlds Also got a reptile dog after the quest, though not a combat companion. Vampyr No idea why the citizens had more blood than werewolves and could not be bitten only partially. The werewolves could. Most opponents will return to their locations if kited too far and can be bitten repeatedly.

That is more or less my Heinrix build. Uses an extra turn from Cassia to light himself on fire and then goes to town. Stacks Arch-Militant's Versatility up the wazoo too. Well, buffing is a little different in Rogue Trader insofar as that it is simply part of the combat mechanics. Some classes (erm, archetypes) are just there to buff others or give others extra turns. That does not take any longer than shooting or using an offensive power, so it is fine. Certainly night and day compared to the ludicrous pre-buffing orgies of their Pathfinder games, but no less necessary, enemies are just going to trounce you without good buff management. The game also has the typical and very hilarious difficulty spikes Owlcat games are known for. You all but faceroll through the prologue and chapter one just to face a 400 HP Chaos Marine with a heavy bolter at the end of chapter one. Fairly hilarious if you're underprepared to enemies that on a lucky roll can reduce your frontliners to a pile of goo in one round. Had to reload twice for the achievement of the fight. Pfff.

Vampyr. A functional action-adventure in the fantasy/historical setting, London 1918. The protagonist is a medical researcher and practitioner, who recently returned from war, was turned into a vampire, accidentally killed his sister, and trying to find the vampire who bit him. The controls are rebindable, though the consoles-first approach can be felt and the Tab key cannot be rebound (so I've been randomly opening the map while trying to lock on targets; additionally, the mouse movement is used to switch between them, thus, I do not use lock-on if there is more than one foe). Overall, the combat is functional - a bit float-y Souls-like with Blood instead of mana (can be drunk from humans and zombies; haven't seen anything too undead or mechanical to bite yet) and no free jumping (possible to get on some predetermined balconies). The developers seem to find implementing an adequate saving system to be too challenging, so manual saving is done through Windows Explorer after touching the crafting stations or travelling (on foot) between areas. I still cannot figure out if combat brings XP (there is a small delay between the kill and XP gain), the bosses so far have been the regular opponents with larger health bars. The District Stability system justifies that the MC is a doctor, so he can craft meds and distribute them, thus keeping non-combat areas standing. As I understand, the NPCs are possible to kill (somehow - can't draw weapons in the non-combat areas) and it affects the ending. The graphics, sound, and writing seem to be fine. I am somehow fond of the developer, got the game on EGS, and it required only 14.2GB of storage space, thus, I am satisfied with the experience.

Fun anecdote: in ye olden days poppy seeds were cooked in milk and then wrapped in cloth for babies to suck on. The practice was discontinued after it was suspected to be one of the causes of sudden infant death syndrome. No conclusive evidence that I would know of, but it certainly sounds plausible enough, overdosing on opiates would be much easier for babies. On the other hand, it apparently worked really well to keep the little buggers quiet for the night. Win some, lose some, ey?

gotta admit we weren't expecting to go down a poppy seed rabbit hole. that said, the everything bagel with lox schmear we had this morning did taste better than usual in spite o' the US military's propaganda machinery attempting to discourage us from consuming poppyseeds... for reasons which as yet remain a smidge foggy. HA! Good Fun!

Seems like that doesn't work for my computer. Alright, I can give it a shot. It seems that both vanilla and the modded version do get bonus PEN, so I guess it's just an odd display bug after all. Good to know!

Happy Festivus!!!

Faster development cycle, less pressure from the shareholders, more artistic freedom, I suppose. The last Mass Effect was released in 2017 and the next Bioware sci-fi game does not have a release date yet. Looks like camera is zooming on his head/changing the FOV while he is being strangled to emphasise that Sarevok is Evil-aligned and killing a now-defenceless guard? So, Sarevok gets a face-obscuring helmet with horns, while the guard's face and emotions are shown. "Some days, only a narrative-heavy game will hit the spot, and this one packs a wallop. It's as gripping as any soap opera, and as well-tuned as a prestige-TV screenplay. Bravissimo -- for making us feel things!" I somehow struggle to picture any of these having much story depth, but the Souls-like probably makes people feel things and throw gamepads. Larian's game, though, made me feel "Whoa, I can jump!" and "Whoa, I can throw the bosses into chasms instead of listening to them monologing", so that's something. Is the dating sim any good?

A miracle has heppened yesterday, and it’s not even a Christmas Eve 🙈 I was able to get past two Silver Knight Archers guarding the roofs of Anor Londo on third try, and I got inside the Castle 😅 Now my two worst nightmares awaits. First Knight Lautrec with his entourage, and then Smough and Ornstein. And I need Ornstein’s Soul and his ring, which will make the fight even harder 😮‍💨

It's a fine line between strong personal aesthetic (or whatever else) preferences and snobbery. I think most people who spend a decent amount of time yapping on game forums are going to be walking that line very often. 😛 Edit: and yes that includes me.

Apella Games is winning it's legal battle against Apple. https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/12/22/cypriot-gaming-company-wins-trademark-battle-against-apple/

relevant to our most recent post explaining punitive damages: cliff's notes explanation-- trump bragging about how much he is worth in testimony during the ny fraud case did not go unnoticed by the attorney for e jean carrol who is going to be asking for punitive damages in an upcoming second defamation case in which trump is already legal determined to be liable and the only thing being considered by the court is damages. as we mentioned above, the magnitude o' punitive damages awards is dependent on the wealth o' the defendant as 'posed to the scope o' the harm suffered by the plaintiff. the more trump proclaims he is sooper wealthy, the greater should be the resulting punitive damages award. another aside, rudy declaring bankruptcy is not gonna impact the recent $148 million defamation judgement. as a general rule, intentional torts cannot be discharged by bankruptcy. the divide between intentional v. negligent behavior is sometimes difficult to discern, but in the rudy scenario there is no legal grey area-- punitive damages is only awarded in the case o' intentional/knowing wrongdoing. bankruptcy for rudy is only gonna be able to shield his assets from other creditors whom we assume is multitudinous. HA! Good Fun!

Baldur's Gate got released just 25 years ago today. Completing a hat-trick of PC releases unheard of until today: Grim Fandango, Thief, Baldur's Gate. Man, the end of 1998 was the gift that kept on giving. And yet, this almost never happened. Bioware originally intended to do more typical Bioware things: chasing market trends, rather than saving dying genres. It was Obsidian Entertainment's now CEO who pushed for a deal with history. It's easy to imagine a parallel universe in which Feargus Urquhart slipped in the shower, broke his ankle, called in sick. One in which people never got a taste of BG to begin with. What are they playing instead of BG3 these days over there? Beneath a Starless Sky: Pillars of Eternity and the Infinity Engine Era of RPGs | Shacknews Oh yeah. In the context of its time, BG1 was pretty easy on the eye too. The first major promotional material focused on all that for reason. As to cinematics: For as long as they aren't seen like the first movies, I think games haven't reached their full storytelling potential yet. Movies too initially borrowed from what was already there (stage play, theatre...), and look fairly dated and stilted now because of it. The crucial bit is: Movies are static mediums that borrowed from static mediums. Games are interactive and when going fully-on cinematic are borrowing from something static...

Honest Government Ads take on the upcoming UK elections (with government like this, who needs terrorists?)

Since Steam Winter Sale has started, has anyone played Cloud Meadow? I can see that it has erotic content, the question is it any good as a party-based RPG? That is to say, there are few titles I find both interesting, discounted, and possible to run (so no Lies of P or Tunic). Definitely getting Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood, though. Edit. Got Dread Delusion instead. Somehow reminds of Morrowind. Also sold 62 cards from the Steam inventory. No idea why they are still so popular, but can't complain in the context. Ghostwire: Tokyo is free on EGS today. Judging by the system requirements, I will not be able to run it on my main PC, though the storage space seems reasonable (26GB). Could try later, I guess. Is it at any point necessary to bite the civilians? XP-wise, the amount from the ones I can mesmerise (level 2) is too low and the vampire hunters and zombies have been sufficient so far.

No. I mean...

Spy X Family s2 finale - Anya faces get a backseat to Bond faces, with Twilight laughing at the skinny wet dog. I guess I don't have a problem with the dog episodes but was kinda disappointing to see Anya and the School stuff to finish off. At least they're off the boat. Paprika (2006). Wow, what an experience. It's sad that Kon died so young, the man easily had several more projects like this in him and the world is less without them. Anyways the film itself is stunning with the parade sequences alone having more artistic merit than whole series, it's one of the better portrayals of dreams in cinema which makes a very strange overlap with Dust Devil (1992) that I just watched (no watch @Bartimaeus, you will hate it). Hands down reccomend, no caveats.

Been out of that foot brace I've been hobbling around with and **** does my foot feel weird. And really weak. I usually walk on my toes when barefoot, but nope, not a chance. I often do some "exercises" when standing still, just using the toes on one foot to lift myself up, that's completely out the window. Not to mention the foot is amazingly swollen from fluid build ups. The worst part was discovering that the foot is too weak to depress the clutch on my car. I curse myself a wee bit for buying a reinforced pressure plate for 500nm of engine power.

Queen Karen

Warzone ... i don't know what's wrong with me. ;_;