Hurlshort

Subnautica 2 - It is definitely Subnautica. So far I'm enjoying exploring a new ecosystem. The story seems pretty good, a bit more developed than the first one. edit: This morning I was swimming laps in RL, and I had one of those weird moments where the real world and the game kind of blend. Also I realized how difficult it would be to swim like my character. I'm exhausted after an hour in the pool.

I've been playing a lot of SW: The Old Republic. I gave my original account to my son years ago. I had finished 3 of the storylines, Trooper, JK, and Bounty Hunter. Since then, he has finished the rest. But I had a 2nd account that my wife and kids used occasionally, and so I've been slowly working through the storylines on that. I just finished the Smuggler. I really disliked the smuggler playstyle at release, but now you can choose whatever playstyle you want. So my smuggle runs around with a pistol and uses powertech skills to punch a lot of people in the face. It is fun. I just started the Hutt Cartel expansion with him.

There are times when I question whether a beer or a soda is a healthier drink option with my dinner. I'm pretty sure the beer is the better choice.

Definitely a product of its time. Also unreliable narrators were super popular for a short while, ala Fight Club.

Looks like some guy thought the correspondence dinner security was like a video game, and you could just rush past the mobs and they would lose aggro. Thankfully it seems like no one was seriously hurt.

I've been playing Windrose. It is basically Conan Exiles with pirates. It is pretty well developed for an early access game. + Character generator nails the leathery Caribbean pirate vibe. + Crafting is really good. You raise the comfort level of your base as you go, and that buffs your character. + Story and characters are decent. The NPC's are interesting and the world is engaging +Graphics are good and the weather effects are fantastic. It's still a little rough around the edges. It's probably still got a lot of time left in the oven, but I'm enjoying it. I'm terrible at ship combat, though. It's a skill issue, I think.

Hah, that looks pretty goofy, but maybe it will work. 50 cent threw me for a loop.

That's awesome. When I retire, my wife and I plan on spending a month in Arizona taking part in Spring Training. Of course, with my daughter in college, my retirement is getting pushed back a couple years so I can pay off tuition and board. Ugh. 👩‍🎓🤑

I finished Xenonauts 2. It ends on an alien planet, kind of like the original Xcom. It was a very fun trip and they did a great job of making it playable in a reasonable amount of time, instead of grinding for 80 hours. Of course the option is there to play it like Long War, but I was glad it was respectful of my time. I lost 10 soldiers overall. They all went out bravely. Except that one guy who got friendly fired. Nobody liked him and he had bad stats.

I've built my 2nd base in Xenonauts 2 and the skies are starting to fill up with UFO's. I've also lost more soldiers this go around than in previous games. Just bad luck, I suppose. Nothing crazy, but I've lost about 8 soldiers. Mostly fairly green ones, but I had a terror mission that got messy and lost one of my favorites. Ah well, we fight on.

I am also playing WoW, after a few years away. I don't really know what is happening anymore, but my house looks nice.

I think FM is overrated.

Xenonauts 2 is fully released and is glorious.

Possibly. Just like the woke detector rubes that think they affect game sales, vocal minorities tend to inflate their impact. Hogwarts Legacy is a good example of this, since it got hit by both sides of the argument. The reality is it was a very good game, critically acclaimed, sold well, and still ended up in trouble because WB is bad at business. The controversy around it had little effect.

My family rewatches the movies yearly, usually around the holidays. We also have wands and a few items that we've taken to Universal Studios a few times. I'm not sure I'm into an HBO series though. It seems very early for a reboot, but maybe I'm wrong. HBO also seems like a strange place to launch a show that is really supposed to appeal to young people first and foremost. I mean that was the brilliance of the books and the movies. The superfans basically grow up with the characters. Granted JK Rowlings has alienated a good chunk of the fanbase, but like with Hogwarts Legacy, the IP has outgrown the author quite a bit.