Hurlshort

Yeah, except for all those terrible times in history, this is definitely the most terrible time.

I actually did the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in 2019, so I am confident I can get off the island if necessary.

That's basically my whole lesson plan for the year. The whole communist battle cry sure is retro. 'Murica! Honestly though, there just seems to be this fear of tolerance, equity, and accountability. Those are the main things I teach in Social Science. The current administration is currently waging war on that stuff, but they are also dismantling the federal infrastructure required to actually implement this stuff. So whatever, lucky to teach in the Peoples Republic of California.

I'm really excited that we've got most of the old band back together. Good to see @Gromnir and @Guard Dog in the politics thread.

My daughter got her license, so that's good. But adding her to my insurance costs $200 a month.

Where are you reading that? I know MGM made some cuts, but cutting concierge service hardly seems like bankruptcy.

They are not different, they just look better graphically. The first one is always fun as a low level noob suddenly plunged into a terrible world. But doing it over and over again was the flaw in the original. I'm pretty sure that will still be a slog.

Hey, I need you people to dreamlist The Black Cauldron. It's worth it, trust me. https://www.gog.com/dreamlist/game/the-black-cauldron-1986

I finished the 3rd season of Bad Batch. It was a very good show from start to finish. I worked my way through The Clone Wars and then went straight to it, and it really fleshed out the whole timeline. It was easily some of the best Star Wars content I've watched. Now I'm trying to watch Rebels. Its...different. The tone is a lot less serious. It is tough going from Bad Batch, which was gritty and grounded, to this kind of goofy Jedi adventure. Even the art is a big change. But I'm giving it a shot, and I hear it gets better as it goes along.

Closed my first Obsidian Gate. It was still pretty epic. It has aged well. Now my opinion might change after I close a dozen or so, but for now, I'm enjoying the trip down memory lane.

Why would people play Avowed on Steam when they can play it for cheap on Xbox Gamepass? Anyways, Avowed did quite well. Not sure why they'd be lumped in with Veilguard. edit: Sounds like Avowed reached about 6 million, and Veilguard reached about 1.5 million, so not really close to comparable.

Played a bit of the fancy new Oblivion. I forgot how much I prefer the levelling and character system in this game compared to Skyrim. So far I'm having fun with it. I don't remember much of anything from playing it like 20 years ago, so it's fresh.

Huh. I know there is a whole Predator mythos built through the comics, but the movies have always kept it as more of a tease. Hopefully it doesn't ruin the magic of the Predator as a big baddie.

Does the remaster fix the funny leveling system where bandits are all walking around in in super expensive glass armor towards the later game?

I don't really remember Oblivion being all that exciting in terms of story and setting. Is that the one where I had to close a bunch of gates? Morrowind would be more interesting to me. Maybe that will be next.

My wife and I were on a bike ride and decided to swing into the store for a bag of potatoes. But then we noticed the hams were super cheap, so we got an 8-pound ham for about $5. It was good, but balancing the ham while cycling home was a bit tricky.

Solasta - I owned this on Steam and never got very far. I'd make a party, and then re-think my choices, and start again. I did this a half dozen times. So basically I had 20 hours of making characters. I decided to try again, but I wanted the DLC classes, so I bought the Lightbrimger Edition on GoG, as it was on sale for a good price. I managed to push past the first mission and now I'm starting to get into the rhythm. Hopefully it lasts.

I'm a bit bummed it isn't more of a Bad Batch situation. The trailer was probably supposed to highlight how there are all these different types of characters in the squad, but it doesn't make a lot of sense in the setting to have a jedi, a mandalorian, a smuggler, and a trooper all jumping out of a ship together. Of course, space fantasy doesn't have to make sense if the gameplay is good.

Star Wars Xcom during the Clone Wars seems like a slam dunk for me. I love all of those things.

Yeah, I've been trying to explain to my students how important it is going to be to develop a voice as a writer. All of this AI generated stuff is going to mean it will actually be easier to stand out from the crowd if you avoid using it. Imagine how many AI generated essays schools are being forced to read through right now?

Dredge

G20 - Alternative history movie is Kamala Harris won the presidency. I kid! But Viola Davis was fantastic in a Die Hard scenario. It made me forget our current political mess for a bit and that was worth the time.

@ShadySands It sounds like it is time to enroll your kid in hockey. Miracle and Mystery, Alaska are both fairly family friendly. Goon and Slapshot, not so much, but they are hilarious.

I'm confused on that model. It has microtransactions, DLC and premium. Is premium representing the regular purchase of the game? Does that mean MTX more than doubles the revenue of game sales?

50 minutes for lunch!?! That's luxurious. I've had 30 minutes for lunch for my entire career.