LadyCrimson

"What's in the Box" (Netflix, game show) - I saw Neil Patrick Harris' face and clicked. Silly game show with too much contestant drama and prizes of the new car, trip, expensive luggage variety. Oh yeah, and one year of free DoorDash orders. >.> Even Neil as host couldn't save it/make it watchable. I did skip to the last episode/end to find out the ultimate giant "surprise box" end-prize, so you don't have to:

Enshrouded: Ok, I've been cursed with something called Hemotoxin for hours (RT) that never wears off. Drains health and blocks mana regen. There was no apparent way to get rid of it once I realized it wasn't going away. So I just dealt with it, because EZ settings made it a little annoying but not major. Then I got around to getting more NPC's into my base and one could craft a remedy, but it requires a resource found in another slightly higher level biome of which I had zero notion of where to travel to get there. I finally googled it. What poor design for a new player (allowing that curse to take place so early, in "starter biome", before one may have found/gotten that NPC or multiple biomes). Made my way there, just got into it, then died exploring a POI, and game put me half way across my known map because the only "load if you die" becaon I'd seen/encountered was ages ago in a different POI. I have two tower-FT locations found, neither anywhere near where I was. You can use base-altars as FT (place, delete later) but it's a hinky travel workaround with limits. On one hand, rationally it really isn't that bad. On the other hand, between that and all the curse stuff, I semi-rage quit. Also, not liking the storage options or crafting station/options stuff too much (No Man's Sky is better on both fronts imo). And the combat is still terrible. I'd guess once I have everything unlocked I'd enjoy it more in the sandbox fashion but getting there - maybe later. I get why it's popular, mind. Just a little too MMO or whatever for me perhaps. Time to try 7 Days 2.5.

Well, Enshrouded for me seems to be one of those games where you're never quite sure how much you truly like the game, but every day you sit down and keep playing it. It's neither rpg systems enough, nor free-sandboxy enough to fully enjoy it in either fashion. Pros: ---Exploration really is the best aspect far as I'm concerned. Although like any larger open world type map, there are empty areas, mostly around map edges. Still, points of interest at least aren't super spread out, so density is decent. And one time I dropped down a barren ledge (ledge hopping to get down a cliff), saw a gravestone in the middle of nowhere. Wondered if I could break it with my pickaxe. I could - and there was a loot chest revealed. ---in the first area/biome, dungeons have been small but kinda fun. Nothing difficult but the climbing, jumping, traps occasionally make it feel like brief, simplified tombraider-ing. Kinda. The design/similarities might get repetitive tho. ---loot/chests enemies, areas etc seem to respawn, but takes an hour or two of real time spent in game (exiting game doesn't work with chests tho/patched out, I hear). So far areas don't seem level-scaled. eg, respawns feels like a cross between MMO and ARPG's but a slower pace perhaps. ---Since it's voxel, if I can't jump high enough, I can just pickaxe myself a few dips into a rockface and go up, if I want. Stuff like that. ---the Glider feature is nice. I keep forgetting I can use it to, say, shortcut-leap down a chasm, but it's a great traversal feature. Cons: ---Why do I have to literally kiss a tree or flower to chop it down/pick it up? Or nearly stand on top of dropped loot to pick it up? Does my character have three inch long arms? ---a strange sense of minor latency (even Offline) between actions and it actually applying or game doing its notification things, or sometimes re: comabt actions, like switching weapons. ---am still not fond of the progression systems (crafting, upgrading), which I've mentioned already. It's nice in theory/I'm sure it clicks with many, but I constantly feel like I'm going to waste my time doing anything until I have everything discovered/unlocked that might make early thoughts/work obsolete. ---combat is terrible. I don't mean difficulty, I mean auto-targeting is terrible, especially with the wands/staves. No way to turn it off completely that I can find and it means if I want to target something behind an enemy, I can't. Apparently this seems to be a common complaint. I tried melee and my chr. scoots forward 2 feet with every swing animation, which I hate. Luckily with the easy settings you can mostly just ignore how bad it is. Still, it's terrible.

I spent $60 on a pair (smaller, larger) of "titanium" food cutting boards, because they were on "sale" (Amazon). And popular. They're metal on one side, some solid "wheat grass" material on the other. Probably a fool parting with their money, but I've been meaning to get something besides the plastics I've always bought/used for years - because these days every time I use a plastic one, I'm thinking about how I'm probably scraping plastic bits into my food. Probably too late for me in that regard, my generation tended to love plastic/non-stick everything haha, but eh. Maybe at least non-plastic ones will make the daily thought go away. Or I'll start wondering if I'm scraping metal into my food. And no, I don't like wood cutting boards.

Yeah, I'm an idiot. It occurred to me after I wrote that post. >.> First time I tried to use it, it kept telling me I was missing stuff to use it, so I assumed I needed something special like another item or whatever. Guess you just need the mini blocks in hotbar. But looking at the shapes available, it's pretty lacking/limited where in some cases I could be more creative with the tiny blocks - 7days has like 100's of shapes (and doesn't need a "crafting hammer" wielded). But 7days type of voxel is "anything in a voxel square fills the whole voxel", so two things can't occupy the same square/space, so it's limiting in that fashion. Not a big deal, I usually don't go too crazy/fancy with building. Seems like Enshrouded I may just make basic bases and then leave it alone. I am becoming mildly annoyed with the building UI interface and other minor things tho. It feels awkward and clunky for some stuff. That said, the exploration has been great so far. I'll probably focus on that until I've done the whole map, which seems pretty large.

I see no such option available (pic), and Alt just switches hotbars. If it's an option later, I'd guess one has to acquire the ability from something first. Either npc/quest and/or building something which opens up another option. That part is confusing because you build a cheap sleep pad and suddenly game/menu lets you build an actual bed with the resulting mattress as material requirement. Kinda makes one feel forced to craft everything to see if anything auto-opens up. Anyway, started over. Which led me to discover that if you don't create a new character, the game actually starts a new game with previous/last selected character with all backpack/hotbars retained for a head start. A handy feature for later to avoid early grind I guess, but not what I wanted so I made a new avatar. And built another tiny-stone wall. lol

My main quibble is the early building, where you only have these really tiny "blocks" you can make. Takes 100's just to make a small house for the rested stuff, and too much time, placing one at a time. Too used to 7 Days and the bigger blocks/fast speed of making a large home box, so to speak. I get there's crafting larger (prefab?) wall/other pieces to use with crafting hammer but I barely started on that (just got the blacksmith - who keeps getting in my way with his wandering). The starter base spot, I kept being pestered by wolves, who would enter the base zone even tho game seemed to indicate you're "safe" in there. Finally got smart and built a short-height perimeter wall around the whole base-zone. Took forever with those tiny stones, but it worked. I like that there's climbing and grappling hook for traversal. Little pathways/caves to find. Still have to get the glider/flying thingie. EDIT: I have a feeling this is the type of game where I might start over after a few days of learning.

Enshrouded: for some reason I thought this was an online/MP-co-op focused survival/exploration/building and questing game, - also, early access - so I've ignored it. Then learned recently it can be Offline/SP. Then I learned you can customize difficulty/combat options a fair bit - including a setting where maybe 90% of enemies would ignore you until you attack first - or the usual reduce enemy damage/health while increasing player health/dmg etc. It was on a bit of a sale, bought it. So far it seems ok - the exploration/world aspect seems fun. Seems to be one of those games where it'd take quite a while to figure out how all the crafting, building works. Might even need a wiki for finer points, game doesn't really explain much re: certain things, learn as you play. Not saying it's complex, just a bit confusing here and there. Combat has dodge/parry but overall also seems to be more akin to general rpg then "souls like". Like, I made a 1st wand that has a ranged attack and so far (on my ez-cozy settings anyway) I've only had to spam its attack like it's Path of Exile. Building in the new-game start is a bit confusing/awkward but also would scratch the obsessive-brain tendencies if that's one's thing. At some point one needs npc villagers and workers to upgrade one's base/s. Or something. Tame pets (?), farm, all of that. Anyway - I made a first small base/did stuff in starter area and it was good enough I'll press forward. My main interest was the exploration/building factors.

My takeaway from this is that if you feel like dumping your bagel trash into the subway tracks, be considerate and tear it into several pieces first so it's easier to share. My other takeaway is that apparently many consider the tracks the recycle bin. (all the cans/bottles)

At this point I think the worry - if one is worried - should be about AI effect shrinking/replacing jobs all over, from low-tier to upper management - not just artistic creatives. Although with potential population replacement crisis in some countries (not enough generational babies), not having enough "replacement" workers in many areas in 40-60 years could be a serious issue in terms of companies/economy and possible restructuring of such infrastructure systems - and by then AI/robotics might help in some fashion there. Maybe it won't happen but who knows anymore. Then there will be another baby boom at some point and they'll have to make jobs again. On the potentially bright side, 300 years from now AI could be part of what moves humanity closer to no money motivation of ST:TNG. "You mean you don't get paid???" Either that, or Skynet. Either or.

I noticed Lee Pace plays McCone (I like that chr in the novel), which I can't decide if that's good casting or not. I have nothing better to do right now, perhaps I'll rent/watch it. And yeah ... wouldn't surprise me if they change the ending to be more positive re: main chr. I say that because I think it'd be hard to make it more negative than the novel. Unlike The Mist, the novel wasn't ambiguous. Haha. These films usually just make me want to pull books out of a box and reread them.

Peter Greene, 60 - chr. actor. Probably best recalled re: his unsavory role in Pulp Fiction, but for some reason I always think of his tiny role in The Usual Suspects or maybe The Mask.

^ Is it at least more like the novel? I liked the short novel a fair bit. It's not a total fave of mine but I liked it, especially the ending segments. But that Arnold film had almost zero resemblance/didn't like it much (ok, it had some 80's action-cheese chuckles and Richard Dawson was great fun). I was hoping the new version might at least be better than that, re: the actual King tale, but I didn't/don't have high hopes.

Turn-based counts me out - well, 98% chance of that, anyway. The only Divinity I played was Divine Divinity, anyway (GoG version ages ago), and I assume new Divinity wouldn't resemble anything like that, even if it wasn't TB. I don't think I finished DD. I remember really liking the early game/early dungeons, having a grand old time. But I don't remember why I stopped. I vaguely feel like I found the enemy power curve too high or something, like jogging two screens over was occasionally akin to exploring the "wrong" way in FONV and running into deathclaws. So at some point after much optional mucking about, gear etc, I followed MQ where I promptly died in some fantastic unexpected fashion, or ran into my usual "story commits choices, ugh" and I didn't want to bother. But maybe I'm mixing up memories again, heh.

Tempted to buy/try "Date Everything!" since it's designed by VA Ray Chase (he co-founded SassyChapGames with Robbie Daymond and Max Mittleman) and voiced by a plethora of VA's/actors, but the game itself - not sure I'd like it. I have liked, say, some otome's if they have a good/fun story but this comedy (?) dating sim looks a bit too absurd or overwhelming (100 dateables seems too many) for me. Although perhaps the silly would be the charm. But I wishlisted it - maybe I'll be in the mood for silly one late night. So for the moment I still stick with an hour or two of more Teddy's Heaven shop-keeping once in a while as a midnight-chaser. Although in a couple weeks I'll probably try 7 Days, 2.5. Maybe. Jars are apparently (mostly) back, which I don't care about - but other things they've changed, I might.

Last round of hubby's back stuff: so far, 4+ days after hospital visit, no result. It's the last non-surgical attempt (injections in various specific spine/vertebrae locations to target specific things), before they decide that nerve surgery is the only option. This last one surprised him by causing leg pain/numbess in one leg. He could barely walk to the car. Spinal nerve connections and all (not uncommon with this shot location, I guess). It went away/leg was fine after a day tho.

A new Kotor type game might be interesting. Let's see - "maybe" 2030? I'll be, what, 63ish (or 62ish?)? By then I might even have built a new PC! Most of those trailers do nothing for me, as usual. All I do anymore is look at the $20-$40 indie/small dev types where I feel I can still find games with gameplay mechanics I actually like. I'm beginning to loosen my notion of wanting to wait/how long to wait re: early-access. If it's cheap enough, screw it. I'll go back to the "if I initially get 30-50+ hrs out of it, good enough" mentality.

Re: Tim Cain news - well, firstly, that's awesome. Secondly - I'd rather it be a new IP. I almost always would rather it be a new IP. Because then there's hope that it could be the one that would reignite in me an interest in an rpg, again, if only for a short while.

You can just watch the first 80 seconds of this video. That's the section that amused me re: the video's title question. The rest is the usual "they ruined a beloved franchise/no longer aimed at original audience" type stuff. But yeah - in terms of promo posters and this franchise (which I didn't know existed until I saw this video) - imo it's awful. But hey, I'm not the target audience anymore so whatever.

Wow. I haven't felt that type of cheer-emotion watching a solo skating routine since Scott Hamilton (not that I've paid tons of attention to such for a long time, mind ). Back then they were still all doing (or trying to do) triples IIRC. What a performance. And I guess they made the backflip legal at some point. I remember Scott only doing them in non-competitive shows because couldn't do them then.

I was expecting a lot more LOL corny sounds. There is a bit of that (mostly the dialogue bits) but the sound effects are pretty fun and nifty. Every time the engine duh-duh-doo-doo-doodoooo-wherrrr types went off I both laughed and admired. They broke it up into four short parts, this is the first one.

Tons of news clips re: this but I found this one the funniest. "Now the bear with the big butt has a friend." LOL At first I thought it was one of the tiny rectangular vent holes, but guess it's the main (human/worker) access "window/hole" which are larger - which based on the ones I've seen/owned, I *can* see a black bear fitting into, but the video is hilarious.

Yeah, I get it's a main aspect of the game, ofc (not a peaceful game, lol), I just meant there seemed to be at least one early (?) quest/thing where you could do it that I saw, and sometimes that means there's more like that - like the kinds of constant run/avoid speed runners might take advantage of. But I have no clue, maybe they were using some glitch to their advantage, or it was still a tutorial area with different rules or something. It does look (story, npc) cutscene heavy but Chinese games I've tried before, it probably won't bother me much (vs. US games). I was planning on using original language/subtitles (even if text translations aren't always awesome), the Eng dialogue/dub/whatever sounds horrid. Combat mechanics probably are a bit more than I want - I find constant parrying/dodge timing annoying/difficult AND tedious/boring vs. exciting/gratifying - but I'll probably try it at some point. If it was offline I'd just mod it but - plus re: waiting, I'm curious if they'll actually mellow out the supposed multi-multi menu nightmares a bit. they've supposedly said they're "looking at that" re: complaints.

^ Ok I finally found one of those 15+ hr videos re: the story questing (vs long reviews/should you buys/guide to, et al). To me it looks like most grunt combat you could mostly brute force if you felt like it, or avoid entirely (example: keep running and click on quest things fast enough to trigger cutscenes before enemies can engage), but bosses seem pretty "souls like." Lot of optional bosses one doesn't have to do, of course, too, but story bosses same mechanics. There is a story-mode difficulty and an "on screen parry prompt" option, but doesn't sound like it tones things down a lot if you're wanting to mostly story/explore. Although they could change this later. So think I'll wait a few months and see what they do/change with the US/international version of this game. Another one of those "wish it was/had an offline/SP version" because that aspect looks great (I'd even pay vs. free to have one). But then they couldn't deluge you with "buy this costume" menus. Or that yacht for super whales.

Anyone here try that Where Winds Meet (f2p, cosmetic MT only) that seems to be all the rage? My main concern/bugaboo (outside of the always online I think) would be combat. Game world looks like my kinda thing (you can SP it/ignore the MP elements entirely) but combat looks like some form of souls-lite, with the constant circle, parry/dodge to not die, type mechanics. If it's "lite" enough (Tainted Grail) I might find it tolerable/fun but if it's too much like Sekiro et all... I keep meaning to try it since it's free to download, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I might this week - but just curious if anyone already has and could speak re: combat.