LadyCrimson

I feel like hubby and I are in end of winter doldrums, slouching around the darkened house like silent zombies. I think the past 2-3 years events have kinda worn us down, not in a bad way, but man do we need some mental battery recharging, before we turn into permanent furniture.

I have TOS, animated TOS, the 2nd half of STTNG and all the movies on DVD which is mostly what I care about in that regard. I've tried to rewatch fave old series from the 80's/90's (sitcoms and dramas) when HBO-M or Netflix has them etc. and I usually can't get into them for very long. Just certain few episodes. Rewatching in general isn't something I tend to do anymore. I miss the days when I could rewatch something once a year for years etc.

Two episodes of a series called The English (on Netflix), starring Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer. Beautiful camera work. The two leads are great together and the dialogue writing is pretty good. But the pacing is slower than molasses - punctuated with brief and rather violent Western type action - and the plot/story threads meanders quite a lot. I assume it all ties together at some point. It's interesting...going to try to stick it out to see where it goes.

Besides maybe wanting to torture oneself with Nu Star Trek series, is there much reason to sub to Paramount+? A quick look made it just seem like a bunch of old to slightly newer shows/films I've either seen before or didn't care about, and NuTrek. After missing the UHD/4k option on Prime - even on new/popular things - for a while now (thru the PS4 apps), it's back again. Guess the covid-bandwidth panic is over. Kewlbeans. Still not as good as netflix's "4k" video but much better than its been for a while.

I think I am finally largely tired of my meal-soup that I've been eating all winter long. Time to figure out some new meal that I can constantly job-lot and be motivated to eat for the next 4-6 months...and then get bored of. I'm still pretty sick of raw salads...won't be that.

I'm waiting for the Necro beta let's plays...I think that's the next one. I have a feeling Necro is the only class I'd care for much, just like D3. At any rate, if I eventually cave and get/try it, it'll be at least a few months from now. I remember D3 release server madness - not going through that again. Plus as much as Acti-Blizz will patch, add to, and re-balance the game over time, waiting 3-6 months may be better (for me) anyway.

^ I wrote all that, walked away for minute or so and realized I should've just said: "My impression from watching some streams is that the story campaign can be played entirely solo but there may be other non-campaign reasons to wander the "world map" areas where players may compete for crafting resource nodes/enemies or whatever may be needed for, say, seasonal or other goals, but not sure." Brevity, they name is not LC.

You're asking the person who doesn't own the game. But no, it's not true MMO style. You may see people in towns (I find this acceptable, aka PoE), in the overworld maybe pass them as you're going place to place (or you may never see anyone depending on when you play, or waypoints maybe, not sure etc). And ofc if you join Events or the World Boss or whatever that is. Dungeons seem to be instances, so you can be totally alone or with just your friends, and a lot of the story stuff/missions seems like it's going to be in those. (edit - I've seen a few people stream for an hour or three and never saw another player, but they did no Events). I've seen some say they felt like they ran into people constantly and others saying they got to lvl 25/finished the Act (max level in the beta) and never saw/talked to anyone. So the answer is ... it depends on what you're doing, I guess. What I was hoping for was - people in towns but otherwise not unless you specifically joined an Event. Sounds like you could see other ppl more often than that, but could also largely avoid. No one knows about end-game tho - that isn't part of the beta.

lol that's too bad tho...if I was bored enough I could probably at least put up with reinstalling the bnet client/online etc. But if I'm playing solo, it's because I don't want to see/interact with other players ... ever. Even on accident.

Oh yeah, I totally get such wouldn't be for music artists/professional mixers etc. But we're talking game streaming/playing. I think for just talking to other players, even a decent clip on would work as long as one is mindful re: arm/hand movement around it. One doesn't have to go even close to semi-audiophile for that purpose. The thing about the Yeti specifically even for that purpose tho, imo, is it is far too large/heavy (or plain not compatible) for most cheap mic stands/arms and didn't have much support of its own. So it's not very flexible in that regard, which streamers are likely to want because of myraids of desktop setups and room/couch configurations. I would not have bought it if I'd realized/noticed it was that large/heavy. >.>

Most starter streamers use USB mics, like at one time things like Blue Yeti or cheaper/smaller (Yeti is not a very small mic, I have an older one and it's heavy) alternatives. They're fine/good for voice. But then you usually need mic stands or over-the-head swing bars or whatever or they get in the way of, or pick up too much noise from, your keyboard. Which isn't a problem if you're a stream-reactor/chatter, but gamer with a mechanical KB say...haha. I'm not sure about headphones and directional sound tho. I very rarely use headphones cause I don't need to + I hate wearing them, and when I do I just use these cheap Koss hook behind the ear things that sound pretty decent but are probably only a slight step above earbuds. Edit: to be honest, half the game streamers I see are just using earbuds + USB mic - maybe they're expensive/fancy earbuds dunno. Most of the other half use those headphones+mouth mic attached combos. It's usually only the ones with huge audience/pro set ups that have anything more fancy.

Problem with many open worlds imo these days is they end up being collection games because Achievements. I personally think this idea that most games need Achievements has altered the way games are designed. I usually ignore them - if I get a lot of them it's just cause of game/easy trophy design or because I like goofing off in the game long enough. I doubt I'll ever bother getting those last three. Hogwart's world really isn't that large - but it would have been more interesting if the collecting had more purpose outside of trophies and the only way to level up. If they're going to make it action-rpg in a way, do more with it for replay value. Imagine Diablos with almost zero loot variety or "builds". No one would play it for long. Can you turn off the other-player aspect of the Events or just turn Events off? Or is the only way to not see/interact with other players to ignore Events etc. entirely?

LOL Well, they wanted those saying that they 100% the game, to truly mean it. But yeah, I have those two and the battle areas (so, 3) left. I think the Collections one is worse because when you're missing one or three it can be hard to figure out how to get them. It's probably Butterflies one missed, something like that. Or a chest/counter bug.

I did not watch the Oscars, but I guess Everywhere...All At Once won Best Picture and Michelle Yeoh won Best Actress. Good for her, happier about her win then the Best Picture thing. Naatu Naatu won Best Song which also pleases me, although the Academy's dance rendition of the piece was "meh." The Oscar's ratings went up a bit this time ... it was the 3rd worst in its history instead of 2nd worst.

Diablo4 - I have Rhykker's YT stream on (he's playing a Rogue) but so far the early stuff isn't all that interesting to viewer-watch. A lot of people are stuck in queue, surprise surprise. I dunno tho...it reminds me of D3 in the sense that first impression of watching is that it could be one of those games that grows on you/me until you like it quite a bit by the end, but the early sections are meh. Especially if these "events" are the best way to xp. And I still dislike the almost straight down view perspective vs. a bit more tilted. That's just a visual (like in dungeons with walls, feeling like seeing enemies is really restricted) preference tho. I didn't like it in PoE either (edit: or any game that feels similar viewpoint wise). Although it would annoy me less if you could pull up/out a bit farther.

@Lexx

@Keyrock So what cha playing next? I liked running the early section of other Houses and I intend to finish a 2nd full story playthru, minus the collect-a-thon, but after that ... I guess it will be back to pressing the Meow button in Stray. eg. I need a new game again. I've seen some videos of "upcoming 2023 rpg's" and a few singleplayers look maybe interesting but I'm so clueless these days re: what's supposed to be good/what's out. ...I wish I was interested in Diablo4. Or rather, I wish there would be an Offline version of Diablo4. Assuming it's actually not a minefield of transaction fees.

The wind is making our flimsy/old patio cover thingie sound like a tornado is ripping the roof off, again. Priority #1 this summer is getting someone to build a new one. Wonder if the power will go out, heh. It's been a while, I don't remember what it cost with our super-uber Kaiser plan. I don't think it was all that much per bottle, by that I mean $20-25 maybe (Humulin, I didn't use the newer injection pens). But I've seen news vids on monthly insulin cost like $300-600, for I assume no-insurance cost, or less inclusive insurance plans. Glad they capped it. I think those faster delivery epi-pen like methods cost more, but a "bottle" of the twice a day syringe injection fluid would be maybe about a month's worth, more or less. Some ppl use a lot more per injection. >.> Anyway as long as I stick to 50-100 carbs/day with a few cheatish days per month etc + moderate exercise, numbers are fine and I only need the bottles as emergency stash, replacing only when expires.

Hogwart's - possible Windows CTD fix: Deleted the files in this folder: ---\Users\$yourname$\AppData\Local\D3DSCache They repopulate themselves, but you can back them up to be safe. It's apparently a Windows DX related folder that normally you wouldn't touch, but if one or multiple games are crashing a lot, it's something to try. I haven't had any CTD in Hogwart's, over multiple session, since (couple of days), whether trying to start the game or after a few hours or more. I also did yet another round of nvidia gpu and game cache folder deletions at the same time, but not sure that was necessary as I'd done that before and while it sorta seemed to briefly help, it would always get worse again, for me at least.

Hogwart's - For different Houses, the flavor and certain early bits change, but it pretty much ends after the Trophy gain point. So they created/filled in a Trophy incentive re: Houses but that's about it I think. I'm not going to bother doing full run with all 4. But I think I will do a (quicker) full run as Slyther House, because I can use that Any Time Companion mod to use Sebastian or Ominus most of the time. Mostly because I like the idea thematically. Plus it'll be a run where I purposely try to stay somewhat underpowered (no mega-enchants on gear at least). And maybe also because, it's been raining for days and it's still better than watching a lot of TV etc.

The only issue I had with the last episode of The Last of Us is ... it wasn't long enough. That was the fastest 40ish minutes ever. I wish they had found a way to stretch it another 10 minutes. Overall I'd give the whole series maybe ... an 8/10. Since some episodes were 7ish, others were 8.5-9 etc. Edit: I'm not interested in a ssn2 if they stick to the game. I did not like the sequel's game story/direction. Just me tho.

...this is my Gryffindor (however you spell it) chr. My first was Ravenclaw, 2nd (dude)/Hufflepoof, not sure what I'll do for Slyther, maybe a gal with green hair. Although I don't like the skirt outfits for females (some full dresses are ok but they look a bit silly with robes/coats...). There are pants outfits, but harder to find one you may personally like. Not that any of it matters, but when they give you choices, I like my color-tone coordinated outfit aesthetics. That's my fave scarf, because it compliments a lot of different color schemes in the game vs, say, a bright purple scarf. Er, yeah. I'm like that.

Fair point. Although I think with zero medical insulin access, if I ate almost nothing but rice and beans 2-3 times a day for a year, even if not a coma I would at least be pretty sick. Low carb is the only reason I don't "need" med. insulin. Still, maybe if I just ate once a day. Gotta keep the weight down enough to escape zombies, anyway.

"Stalking" Sebastian. Explanation: I was curious what npc's do so I followed a string of students after one class, who all walked to my next main quest class. I did that class, and then followed Sebastian around like glue. It was actually kind of impressive - the AI would put him in this pattern of walk up and down floors, sit, and either do idle stuff or converse with some NPCs, repeat, all over the castle. When it became night I expected him to walk to his Common Room and disappear into a wall or something (most students/npcs disappear at night so no one for the AI to "talk" to), but instead he wandered in the gardens and castle until morning. Probably didn't feel safe going to sleep when some weirdo was following him. LOL. I now want to follow all the main students, see if they have different walking routines.

Great to hear from you again, @Guard Dog and hope the journey to good health continues positively! @Keyrock Are there any zombie-apoc food storage options that aren't mega carb? I guess I could live on pickled/canned veggies and soups for a few years...