Hurlshort

I'd say a focus on story is central to most games that fit in the RPG genre today. I mean, I argue MLB The Show is the best rpg I've ever played because you create a character and grind you way to the majors, and it is driven by stats, but that is tongue in cheek.

Interesting question. I would lean towards their own IP's for this. The Outer Worlds is my favorite game world they have created. AP is great, but flawed and not really fleshed out as much. PoE just isn't my setting.

I saw this elsewhere as the Coronials.

Yesterday I attempted to climb something called Mount Umunhum on my road bike. There are a few good summits in my area that I've been meaning to hit, and this one is about 3500 ft. up. It was a beautiful ride, about 60 degrees and sunny, and I was feeling good on the long climbs. But about 3 miles to the top, heavy winds and rain picked up and I had to turn around. It was crazy how drastically the weather changed when I got near the peak. Anyways, still a great day on the bike, and I'll get it next time.

NHL and MLB follow the NBA in stopping games for the time being. Meanwhile I had a kid come back from a multiple week trip overseas, and the office didn't hold him to any quarantine protocol. Other students were freaking out. I emailed them about it, but ugh.

I'm pretty sure he gets it. He just doesn't agree with it.

Vigilantes was a fun little Jagged Alliance clone with a Punisher type story.

I enjoyed it. Fun exploration and game mechanics, decent story. Kind of fits the mold of games like Zelda: Breathe of the Wild and Red Dead Redemption 2.

I can't believe I sold my RV a month before a global pandemic. My exit strategy is toast.

Jungle Cruise looks sillier than a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, so it will probably be a huge hit.

My commute has been easier.

I saw Venom recently too, and I would agree the best part was the San Francisco setting.

It's about time we get after librarians like we do big tobacco and the alcohol industry.

I'd assume most people know that it is a bad idea to rack up credit card debt. But for me personally, it usually comes down to a difficult decision. Do I want to allow my daughter to take the expensive dance classes she wants, or do I want to live debt-free? Our budget is already pretty tight simply paying rent, utilities, and groceries. I like the Cabo San Lucas plan. When the kids are gone, that might be a good choice.

You can declare bankruptcy, or you can find a company that will take a smaller profit from negotiating your debt with the credit card companies. Those are your two option when in a debt spiral.

I'd say it's a bit lacking in empathy to expect every 18 year old fresh out of High School to have a clear plan of where they want their education to take them professionally. It is also pretty harsh to say they should have the financial IQ to avoid getting into trouble with all these student loan programs. These are major moneymaking institutions that take advantage of youth and inexperience. There should be reasonable limitations on how much they can profit off fleecing the youth.

There is certainly an implication when you refer to something as "utter rubbish, quite horrendously poor" that people who enjoy said thing have poor taste. Somebody is clearly enjoying James Patterson's work. I'll be honest, all of your examples of bad products that are commercially successful are simply your opinion. It isn't based on any facts or evidence. It is certainly true that good products don't always sell. I have no problem with that part of your argument. But again, I believe your argument breaks down when you try and point to poor quality commercial successes. It is incredibly rare for a bad product to sell well. You keep pointing out stuff that clearly found an audience, and they are all technically sound products. Star Wars, D:OS 2, James Patterson, etc. It's your opinion that they are rubbish. Don't conflate that to mean something more than it is.

I certainly didn't mean to misconstrue what you were saying, my apologies. I was just using your analogy to point out that a product can still be a quality one even if it isn't as good as another. Particularly when we are talking about entertainment media, which is going to have a lot of variance in terms of audience, demographics, genre, etc. D:OS2 is a game with graphics, sound, and gameplay. It has a story, characters, and it runs well. It doesn't crash. It found an audience and clearly they enjoyed their time with the game. Most other criteria for rating the game are going to be opinion-based. It's the same thing with the Star Wars prequels. Are they as good as the originals? I'd certainly say no. But are they quality movies on their own? Maybe not the 2nd one, that is hard to watch. But that is probably getting more into opinions. I grew up with the originals. My kids grew up with the prequels. They don't really distinguish between the two like I do. That doesn't make them lesser people, that just means they are part of a different audience. The movies themselves are perfectly watchable. They have lots of nice things to look at, and actors acting, and music, and the story has a start and a finish. It is totally understandable that if you don't like DOS2, you probably won't like BG3. That doesn't mean it isn't a quality product, it just means it isn't your type of game.

I get where you are going with this, but I think it breaks down when you try and judge quality on any grounds other than basic functionality. Both VHS and Betamax were quality products. One may be better than the other, but VHS didn't become the dominant product because it was a poor product. D:OS2 is a quality product. It checks all the necessary boxes in order to be deemed as such. It may not be as good as another quality product, but it clearly found an audience and generated sales for a reason. It is extremely rare for a poor product to find an audience and sell well.

It's just the worst. I'm sure it's fine, but it gets all the attention in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. I graduated from a nearby state school. Some would probably call it envy, but we did beat them in football 3 out of the 4 years I was there. Plus my cousin went there and he is insufferable.

Vocational ed is cut in most schools. Partly expense, partly dumb political focus on keeping up with the Jones in STEAM.

Wow, I share a professional shortcoming here, and you use it to attack me? Low blow! Plus you barely even post anymore. It's like you don't care about our friendship.

Skin, mostly. I will try the benadryl, thanks.

It's like you're writing from a script.