algroth

Since I'm done with the decade, here's also a top 100 of the 70s:

Just finished a new list! Here's my top albums for 1979: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1979/

Welcome back @Aarik D!

Alright, another list is finished! My top albums from 1978: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1978/

RIP Eddie

Lemme know what you make of the album!

I somewhat like Low but I still am not finding in it what so many others are. "Warszawa" is a lovely track but the rest is sort of interesting but unmemorable to me. I feel "Heroes" not only has some absolutely killer and eternal tracks in it (title track of course, but also the likes of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Blackout"), but it also feels rawer and livelier when it is going for that rockier mood. Either way I think Eno outdoes both albums with Before and After Science, also somewhat in the style.

@injurai Here's one for you: Uganda's got such a great musical scene right now.

Speaking of which, here's a new list! Top albums from 1977, again with some Bowie: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1977/

Might've made the following ten, I'm afraid. Still a very good album! Have you listened to any of the others?

Insane. Not just Fallout, also the rights to Doom, Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein... Nuts. But yeah, first thing I thought was "does this mean Obsidian can do a new Fallout". Man, this is massive.

Finished a new list! My favorite albums from 1976: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1976/

For a more earnest defense of Minsc, I think he's a really well-executed comic relief myself. I think he's a great Quixotic inversion of the heroic fantasy adventurer, is filled with great lines and puns, and is superbly performed by Jim Cummings. He's not a character to be taken seriously, he's literally there to poke fun at the dogooders by offering a counterpoint that seems to exacerbate all of the boistering, righteousness and epic ambition to absurd and risible heights. If you don't vibe with his style of comedy, that's one thing, but I for one think there's plenty of wit at play with his lines and place in the games, and he fits that Homer Simpsonesque "smart dumb comedy" category rather well. As a partymember on the purest technical/mechanical front, I can agree, he's not great. He's certainly viable, he's fine, but I don't even feel he was the stronger of the two ranger choices in Baldur's Gate 2 to begin with, if you even want to go with either. But then again, in a game like BG2, you don't need your companions to be min-maxed to hell to beat it even at the highest difficulty. And on top of this, I think that is beside what makes him or any character good. As a companion I value what he's able to add as a character, in terms of story, interactions, how he contributes to the overall experience, etc. In this sense I think he outdoes a lot of the brooding and poe-faced male fighters of Baldur's Gate 2, even without a quest of his own (ignoring the one he had in the first Baldur's Gate of course) - and as for Aeria and Nalia, I'd gladly ignore them in favour of Minsc if I found it necessary as well.

Someone dislikes Minsc?! What?! Boo is outraged! See his fury! It's small, so look close. Trust me, it's there.

Re: Dune trailer, worth remembering that a lot of the red flags on this trailer were also present in the Blade Runnner 2049 trailers, which also felt designed to make that film look more like an action sci-fi than it actually turned out to be. As a hype piece I reckon it's okay, there's a lot of Hollywood trailer mannerisms in it including the brooding FM classic rework that I don't care for, but we'll have to wait and look at the film to see how much it aligns with the end result.

Do check out the other records! Plenty of great forward-looking stuff during that period.

Do they? The market's comprised of several oceans, each overlapping with one another. Some might agree with your point of view, yet others distinctly do not. A multiplayer FPS person might have no interest in story, worldbuilding, characterization, depth, etc., but all these things are what make the brands of CDPR for instance one of the leading developers worldwide. It's what once brought BioWare to the forefront of the scene. That's the same ocean Obsidian works in. It's like saying cineastes making realist dramas should include more action sequences because that's what "the market" wants to see. I think you can speak with most RPG players and they'll usually point at elements precisely like worldbuilding, characterization, depth of plot, choice and consequence as being the elements that make the game *more fun*, not less so. It certainly is the case for me.

Been listening to a bunch of music these last few months. Been building up yearly charts with my favorite albums for every year since 1965. So far I've done 1965 thru 1975, working on 1976 right now. Here's how they're looking thus far... 1965 https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1965/ 1966 https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1966/ 1967 https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1967/ 1968 https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1968/ 1969 https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1969/ 1970 https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1970/ 1971 https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1971/ 1972 https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1972/ 1973 https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1973/ 1974 https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1974/ 1975 https://rateyourmusic.com/list/algroth_89/top-25-1975/

Shame. RIP Another major figure that left us yesterday was Simeon Coxe, leader of the revolutionary early electronic act Silver Apples.

What makes Avowed a terrible name, and Pillars of Creation a better alternative?

Xaositect music

Nowadays I reckon that if I were to play the game again, I'd just lower the difficulty to as close to story mode as possible. Story isn't fantastic, but there's enough of interest in the game for it to scratch that fantasy power trip itch, and there's certainly moments and characters I love. Give me all of that without the hassle of having to deal with its godawful combat.

I think all of them would be interested, they're just also apprehensive about pouring millions into a project that isn't going to interest an audience most likely. But I also don't think you cannot feel some connection or passion for the saga after having lived with it this long and leaving a clear hook for a third installment on top.