Hurlshort

They aren't in competition, so just enjoy them both. 👍

I'm thinking about getting into Gears of War. I mean, I remember the original was good fun, but I was never really an Xbox guy, so I avoided the franchise. But now I've got access to a few on the PC, and they are releasing an Xcom style version pretty soon, so maybe I'll try to bone up on the universe a bit. I grabbed a novel by Karen Traviss as well, and so far it's a pretty fun read.

Gromnunism is the future.

Seems like a pretty good deal. Although exercise is a better option for managing your tension.

Alright, I think that makes it 4 for 4 on happy viewers. This might be the closest thing we've ever had had to a consensus on the forum! Dolemite is the name and all you forum lurkers know the the game!

I watched a couple episodes of The Mandalorian with my daughter and it seems like good fun. I also watched The World According to Jeff Goldblum and it is as strange as I expected. I mean, it's a bit off in parts, but I'm still enjoying his kookiness.

It was a pretty sweet Christmas. The kids were up at 2:45 AM, which is fine with me, since I have never been able to sleep of Christmas Eve. This was the first year that my daughter was completely in the know about the Santa situation, but it was still pretty exciting and I think we did a good job of surprising her. Happy holidays everyone.

I'd say spiritual needs are definitely a thing. Asking 'why we are here' is a big part of what separates us from all the other lifeforms kicking around on this planet. The 'what' is a lot more complicated.

I just like the idea that Gfted has solved this whole religion thing. Sure, it has been a part of human nature since the beginning, but now that we've answered all the mysteries of the universe, who needs to turn to any type of God for reassurance? We should all be so free of doubt!

Took the kids to see Star Wars early this morning and it was a blast! Adam Driver is my new favorite person in the world. For me it was a good rebound after I thought episode 8 and Solo were a bit of duds. I know there were some complaints out there about it being just a bunch of fan service moments, but I don't understand who else they shoud be trying to serve. As a Star Wars fan, it was fun and endearing. Also, C3PO was at the top of his game.

I don't uave any issue with Epic's strategies here, but I don't think it is anywhere near a success yet. This game has been out for what, two years? Phoenix Point isn't exactly a huge hit, and The Outer Worlds was a better buy on the Xbox gamepass than Epic. So yeah, not sure I see them anywhere near Steam at this stage.

The Obama Muslim stuff always cracks me up. I mean, it really does explain just how willing people are to believe that the other party is filled with monsters and super villains. People believed he was Muslim and then had to deal with him as President for 8 long years! How did this country even survive?

We had a package from Vans disappear this year, said it was delivered. We called and they overnighted a brand new one to us. I was pleasantly surprised how easy they made it.

I'm curious if having a child will change his alignment.

It's cool to be anti-religion, but when you say "outlaw religion" you are handing over control to the government. So yeah, stop being a communist.

I don't understand why so many of you are seeing Star Wars on day 1. You all kind of seem down on it. I mean, I know I will take my kids and have a good time watching lightsaber fights and space battles, but I still don't plan on seeing it until next week some time. What is with the rush towards disappointment?

I've got a major case of base builder's regret in Conan Exiles. Every time I start a new foundation, I find something I don't like about the area I have chosen. My most recent Savannah location is too hot, and my previous northern base was too cold.

What kind of tragedies? I'd be much more worried about the fallout of Trump being removed. How many far right extremists have already committed tragedies while Trump has been in office?

Yeah, I never understood the monopoly AA seems to have on dealing with addiction. It has a terrible success rate.

As gfted1 said, wait for the solids. 💩🤢

2019 in review, nice! I felt like I spent a lot of the year discovering games from previous years and falling in love with them. I am too lazy to give the screenshot tour like Melkathi, but here is a bit of my favorite time sinks from the year: Stellaris: I had this in my library for ages and never got into it, but after binge watching a few seasons of The Expanse, I needed a game to fill the void of space. I sunk 49 hours into it, and I loved that I could play it at home and on breaks at work with cloud saves making it easy to jump computers. Still, my game kind of just petered out eventually. I mean, I had an inside track on conquering the universe, but it was going to be a lot of work. Time well spent though. Elex: Pretty solid RPG with a good open-world to explore. The setting was unique and engaging. Took awhile to get into the gameplay, and it is a bit rough around the edges, but I look forward to future games from them. The Witcher 2: I'm not sure why it took me so long to get into this, but I finally got past the awkward love scenes and embraced the gravelly voiced protagonist. I ended up with a solid 30 hour play-through. Maybe next year I will commit to the 3rd game. I own it, but I am afraid of commitment, just like Geralt. Vigilantes: This was actually a solid little Jagged Alliance style game with a story taken from Punisher. I ended up with a dozen hours. It really is a lot like the original Jagged Alliance, and it was fun. Star Control Origins: Silly and fun, just like the original. Avernum: I had this game in my library for over a decade, and then suddenly I got hooked on it while road tripping with my little laptop. I ended up with 70 hours or so in it. It was a solid RPG once I got over the lack of graphics. Conan Exiles: Ok, this was the big one of the year. This is simply the best game I think I've played since I was hooked on Neverwinter Night. First off, they nailed the setting that Robert E. Howard created nearly 80 years ago. It is dripping with atmosphere straight from his stories and captures the best parts of the movies. Throw an amazing survival and crafting game on top of that, and you get a game I can't resist. Funcom has also consistently rolled out new content and there is an amazing amount of mod support. It's fantastic. The Outer Worlds: I was spoiled this year by these world building devs. The Outer Worlds is easily the best story I played through. Great RPG and I can't wait for more in the universe. Battle Brothers: I don't know how I missed this gem. I was looking for a mercenary game like JA2, and I found it in a medieval setting. The strange graphic style put me off originally, but that was dumb, because it turned out to be excellent. I sunk a ton of hours into this game recently.

Yeah, the seed looking stuff is pretty weird. You will never look at fancy mustard the same way again.

Santa Plissken needs to happen.

I'm hooked on Conan Exiles again. I started a new game with a mod called Age of Calamitous. I'm not big on the lore aspect, but I like the new crafting options and speed of play.

Congrats!