LadyCrimson

Outlaw King on Netflix - I liked the fantasy-as-historical entertainment Braveheart and I liked director David MacKenzie's Hell or High Water. So I gave this one a shot. I hear 20 minutes of the more "political" bits were excised from the film before airing on Netflix, which is probably a good thing, but the intro is still rather snooze inducing and TV-movie feeling. And there was something off about much of the acting that occasionally felt a bit cringy. Or maybe it's something else about the production that just made it feel that way, I'm not sure. Chris Pine is in super dour mode. Once the battle/war starts it's more watchable, if lots of mud and violence are your thing. Becomes less TV-movie feeling later too. I'd say it's watchable and sometimes entertaining/interesting if this type of film generally appeals. But it's no Braveheart. Or Hell or High Water.

When I hear big corp. folk talk about how they're going to change, all I tend to hear is "no new taxes." They're like politicians to me, speaking in ideology to get votes but said ideology rarely gets any long-term or lasting results, for many reasons. That isn't to say it's "lies" or that the good intentions aren't actually there or that nothing ever changes. I just like to wait to see results over propaganda. Too many assumptions in any direction before having more data than mere lip service isn't my style. One can only hope for the best (whatever "best" means to each of us) - and expressing/discussing initial reservations doesn't always mean a complete lack of hope. Nothing wrong with having reservations. In terms of platform concerns - I bought a PS4 then Pro for FFXV and to this day the PS4 is still mostly a paperweight - even moreso after the PC version came out (which if I'd realized would happen in only a year or so I might've waited...). I don't think I'm going to repeat the process with Xbox. So if future Obs games were ever Xbox only, I just won't be playing them until/when they're released on other more open platforms. MIcrosoft Store - haven't used it yet (don't have win10 yet) and likely won't but I won't say "never ever". I haven't used Ubisoft or any other thingie besides Steam, either. I just try to overall avoid any 100+ services train as much as possible because what I already have is too much for my waning faculties (and get off my lawn crankiness) to want to deal with. Maybe I'm only delaying the inevitable. So I have no idea what I'll do if Obs has a great looking game but it's only on Windows Store/Xbox. I'll figure it out when/if it happens. Maybe I can just enjoy it vicariously through YouTube. Pffft. Hm. I guess I'm just rambling now. *exit stage left*

The problem with CGI and "cute animal like things" is all of them look largely the same after a while, if they're based on the same real-life creature. They all have hamster, cat, dog, fox like features with the exact same facial tics/animations. Since it's not an actual real creature tho, I don't tend to get uncanny valley - it's just a generic sense of sameness even if it's cute. Just like a cgi trex or a cgi troll opening its giant mouth to roar is always the same. Edit: although yeah, I do agree the other cgi creatures have that shiny plastic hyper-gloss to them or something.

The past month or so I've had weird issues with my PC, where any KB (sometimes mouse) input would randomly do random things like open clicked browser links in new tabs when I didn't ask it to, open the Run prompt or Explorer or other windows thingies, make game menu inputs wonky. It would go away on reboot but start up again at some point sooner or later.Thought it was Steam/game related. Thought it was Firefox related. etc. Couldn't figure it out. Hubby finally suggested "hit all the keys randomly." Didn't work either. But I thought ok, I'll super-clean my KB then, it's been years and years. Popped all the keys off, lots of dustbunnies and grime on the sides of keys. Cleaned. No symptoms since. Lesson1: clean your KB more often than once every 5-6 years. Lesson2: you always "break" at least a couple of keys each time you pop them all off (which is why I don't clean them often). Time for a new KB I suppose.

First reaction: Ken Watanabe! Second reaction: Pikachu VA is familiar ... oh, him. I like Reynolds, but doesn't quite work for me here. Third reaction: But cgi Pikachu sure is cute in a cat crossed with a rat/squirrel kind of way. Final Verdict: I'll wait for the YT video that compiles all the cute scenes together in a 5 minute clip.

Worthy of 85million views and imo actually deserves a lot more than that. ...which led me to wondering what the most viewed videos were on YouTube. With over 5.5 billion views, apparently this was #1 (a bit ago and maybe still) and the article that made the list said it was a huge 2017 hit all over the world. No surprise, I'd never heard it myself. ... I suppose it's dance-catchy. Not really my style tho. But I do like the reminder that language is no barrier for music. I definitely have lots of tunes I like where I can't understand a word.

I think the cinematographic term is industrial film making. It's always cringy. That sounds like an appropriate term. I also thought of another term just now - "canned." It feels very very canned, even moreso than average for game interview/announcement vids.

Grim Dawn - heard there will be a 2nd expansion soon, so I thought I'd replay it to get ready for it. Then I realized I never actually bought the first expansion ... it's been 2+ years since I last played. Time does fly. So I bought that 1st expansion and created their "new" Necromancer class for a new playthru. One of the things I never liked about Grim Dawn was their original "pet" class (Occultist was it?) - I found it dull and the pet concept weak. But this Necromancer ... even from the get go the skellies are powerful/hearty and I'm having a blast. The first Act/Normal was a breeze compared to melee classes and reminded me of the silly fun of Diablo2's Necro's. You can only have 8 skellies (unless you have a ton of certain +skill items, if the ones needed even exist) but man oh man when you (randomly) get 4 soldiers and 4 xbows, they tear everything up. Put the giant poison-ogre on top and my Necro is standing around picking his nose most of the time. I rarely have to even resummon them. Will my summons become more fragile later? I'm sure they will. Grim Dawn's higher difficulties ramp up quite a bit. I'm working on the Constellations that will give them more powah and resists. In the meantime, I'm having more fun than a kid in a candy store. For single-player experience, I've always liked Grim Dawn more than Path of Exile. It's nice to revisit. Lots of little changes to the game since 2 years ago too. Feels a lot more polished.

The video made me feel like I was watching something on the history channel or maybe an infomercial. I can't quite put my finger on it but for some reason I felt a little odd while watching it. No, that's not an angry criticism, it was just rather strange - the end of a "personal era" vibe perhaps. If there's one thing I've learned over the many years, it's that there is no such thing as true permanence. Obsidian has made good games in the past which I've loved very much and even when it wasn't a game I was personally interested in, I admired their efforts/the folks behind it. So now, one moment of time is finished while another moment begins. I must admit I'm generally pessimistic about these kinds of deals, in terms of the long haul. Pessimistic in terms of the big corp. actually keeping their hands mostly off for more than 2-3 years, if you know what I mean. But who knows, I don't have a crystal ball. Maybe in terms of games made, it'll be an interesting partnering and pessimism will be overturned. Or not. More importantly however, I wish Obsidian/gang good luck and hope it all turns out well and that THEY, those that actually work there, feel happy and successful. So Obsidian, "you do you," as they say, whatever that may be. "Lucky-Cat Hugs!" Oh and if you can, it'd nice if you were able to keep these forums up through it all. I'd hate to "move."

Good thing I read (almost) the entire thread. I was about to write a "farewell to..." response. ChrisA - I can still admire his skills I suppose but at the moment I can't admire the person...yes everyone likes/needs to let off some steam now and then but ranting on a public forum about a previous employer in the fashion he's been doing it in is not in my wheelhouse. Well thought out/written criticism sure, but ... yeah. Maybe he'll eventually be able to get out of the (seemingly) destructive loop he seems to be in. I hope he does - for his own peace of mind.

This evening I went into hubby's den/office and noticed this thing on his desk: Being a curious cat I asked what it was for and he replied "laser temp. gauge." I picked it up, pointed it at the door and noted the door was around 72F. Hubby said he was using it for 3D printer temp. checking or some such and I went "ahhh." I continued to point the thing at various items/surfaces. Then I pointed it at hubby's feet, belly, then at mine (I seem to run slightly warmer than hubby). Then one of his PC's cpu and gpu, then at my gpu (both cold and after running a game) then a lightbulb, then ran around the house with it like a grinning fool for maybe 30 minutes. Most fun tool ever.

There was this FFXV livestream (prerecorded tho) this evening. I didn't watch it but the news is: Square Enix cancels 3 out of 4 of the "2nd season of DLC's" they announced months ago, only Episode Ardyn remains. No stand-alone Comrades on PC (but costumes/new bosses will still be added). Tabata quit Square Enix. They didn't say, but I bet the pc level editor is cancelled. https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-xv-dlc-plans-canceled-amid-hajime-tabatas-departure/?ns_campaign=article-feed&ns_mchannel=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0 My first reaction was a huge loud lol-ing moment. I still like to fire up XV now and then to goof off, but I personally gave almost no ***** about the DLC or Comrades so matters little to me, but man oh man, what a nutty announcement session. Not surprising, mind ... game's old and pc version didn't do as well as they hoped and the long delays was like writing on the wall. But still a crap thing to do so late. I think there were a lot of XV fans who really wanted the Luna and Aranea dlc's, even if I wasn't one of them.

What in the world? I'm an avid "child" of the 70's/80's, but I do not even remember this. The video I mean, not the song itself. I guess I stopped watching MTV around that point? At any rate, I lol'd quite a lot.

Is there any way to buy Japanese dubbed dvd/bluray of American shows that will play in US players? I would really like Supernatural season 4-7 with Japanese audio, because ... #1, Kenjiro Tsuda as Castiel and #2, it's hilarious. They actually matched tonal qualities of Dean pretty well, too. Also: Haunted Hill House, agree the last episode (or last 1.5 episodes) kind of went off the rail but overall it's still worth the watch. The "dramatic logic" of how they leave it made me frown a lot tho. Castlevania via Netflix, is uneven but I'd say it's watchable. Never played the games but even so, it's far better than most game-to-TV/film works. But because of my current VA obsessions I wish Netflix in my area had the Japanese audio dub track available...Chinese, French etc but not Japanese. Pffft on you, Netflix.

Anyone else get that giant RH retail catalog in the mail this week? The first page in the catalog is a long "letter" re: how the death of brick and mortar retail is over-rated. Glancing through their catalog, perhaps that is true .... especially for the fairly to major rich. $3000 coffee table. Yeah, lemme grab my CC, I'll buy that posthaste. Although a lot of their interior deco offerings are beautifully designed, such is not my thing. *dumps catalog in the recycle bin* --------- Different topic - I wonder if I've partaken of so much subtitled dramas/movies and games that it has altered my ability to understand English speaking voices. eg I'm too used to not paying much attention to vocal meaning, only vocal tones. I swear lately I can't understand half of what the actors are saying (it's like they all have quiet mumble-mouth syndrome) and I end up putting CC/subtitles on even for English shows.

My mom got shingles in her early 70's, on her back. I wonder if how old you are when you got the chicken pox makes any difference. I had chicken pox when I was around 18. Haven't done any vaccine yet. But I occasionally wonder if that pox virus is a cause of some of the weird ailments I've had over the years. ...anyway, shingles is definitely no fun.

This would generally be how I feel about respecs in games, whether complete or partial. The important thing is that it is a choice and one can do or do not. I've always felt a game should/can give choices for different types of players and it's up to the player to do or do not. Developer's aren't responsible for player's personal willpower. I myself am someone who rarely respecs in single-player games (I have respecc'd in MMO/online games), because if I like a game enough where I want to try many things, I generally prefer to start over from scratch. But I just ignore the respec button/npc if there is one. I do think/would prefer that dev's (in single-player games at least) be more imaginative with respec options than they typically are, with respec having a "cost" or somehow quest or loot based, for example. Nothing complicated/difficult, but make it feel like part of the game that you have to do at least a tiny bit of work for vs. just a magical button. That said, this is a valid point too and I have played some games where it sorta felt like this may have occurred. Kind of like how being able to unlimited save anytime, anywhere may have had impact on how a lot of games are designed now.

Ok, gone through 5 episodes of Haunted Hill. Ep. 2 and 3 were a little iffy for me (maybe I just didn't like certain characters?) but 4 and 5 picked up again/were awesome.

Attitude-based boredom is digging deep at my soul again, making me restless. I'm half-tempted to buy a Switch but at the moment I don't think there's too much that would interest me. Maybe next year? Then again, my PS4-Pro has largely become a pc-room blu-ray movie player so maybe not... ...might be time to start looking for a new cat. Life just seems to be missing something when I have no pet/s. Hubby still hasn't figured out when/where he wants to vacation tho...I feel like he's delaying it because he doesn't want me to get another cat. Marriage. Hm.

First 1.5 minutes builds up then calms down again. Simple but I find it so haunting/sad.

Watched this last night, and I'd agree. Very well done in that regard. Unease, curious dread, more unease. I watched the 2nd episode as well and that one didn't work quite as well for me (still good, I just didn't feel much dread anymore), although at this point in my life I'd say that's more "my fault" than a show's fault. At any rate, looks to be a well done show for those who like suspenseful, hits you in the brain type horror. Very atmospheric.

I'm rather enjoying Cattails. Sadly, there is no actual farming (I can't grow rows of catnip, *sob*) but you do run around pouncing on things for dinner. Your cat becomes very hungry quickly tho (hungrier you are the slower your walk/run pace), so one feels like you have to spend some days catching/stockpiling food so you can wander the map more. >.> I'm avoiding combat with other cats from other towns at the moment, trying to make kitty-cash to buy some upgrades....it's slow but relaxing fun. There's some puzzles stuff and dungeons but I haven't done much of those yet. Anyway, it's like a light RTS/RPG with some reminders of Stardew Valley (you can court/get married/have kittens and other things). Could probably try to stay mostly peaceful or become War Mongering Kitty. Something to play an hour or two of, periodically.

I think this grumpy Prince needs a Snuggle date. Sadly I left him frowning because the game was poop. Cute cat dating sim sounded funny. It wasn't. Oh, hey, I can stockpile things in my kitty-den and it's not one per "square", they pile on top of each other. I wonder how many objects you can drop before the game crashes (game warns going over 60 may affect performance but does that only apply to toaster-pc's...).

FONV California might have me turning that game on again for the first time in forever. Although...watching the trailers, I'm not 100% sold. I don't get any specific S/S.E. California/desert vibe from it yet. Is there a destroyed ruin of the star's handprints Chinese Theater? I think I saw a map of the CA territory they claim to cover ... I hope it's a little more than just indoor locations and NV-graphics with some pine trees.

My #1 main problem with this show was: -- The actor Jonathan Banks (whom I like/admire much), being only human, looks so much older than he did in Breaking Bad that I simply cannot "leave brain at the door" enough to go with the notion that the series is set before Breaking Bad. Sorry, Mr. Banks. Also, 1.5 seasons in, even if it was well acted, scripted and produced I was super-bored of all the bro/gf drama (which I found rather predictable and too stretched out) and didn't go back for the 3rd season. I may try it again later.