Hurlshort

Yeah, that's my take as well. Sure, it means you don't own the game, but I've always said that is a bit overrated. There are very few games worth owning, and you can probably just wait until they are on deep discount most of the time. For example, I played Outer Worlds on Xbox Gamepass, then I bought the spacers choice edition on Steams when it was on sale, and then I got it free on Epic. So I'm pretty well covered any time I want to play it again. The special editions are ridiculously overpriced, but hardly predatory. Some people have money to burn.

I mean, I still think Star Destroyers are cool looking, if that is what you mean. I figure I'm one of the resident SW fans here, even though I haven't gotten around to watching Ahsoka, or most of the animated stuff, or played any recent SW games. But I typically enjoy stuff when I see it. There was some neat nostalgia stuff in the last season of Mandalorian, and that is the last thing I watched, so I guess I can still get it up for the old bird if I need too. This game looks fun to me, in the same way most Ubisoft games are fun for 20 hours or so. I'll probably pick it up on sale.

Yeah, I was sitting at around 158 for years, and it was pretty easy to get my abs to show if I did a few days of work. But then my wife started making homemade sourdough bread, and now I live at 168 with a nice little belly. It's kind of worth it.

I mean, I guess he is youthful compared to the other candidates.

I'd say your mileage may vary. Harry Potter books and movies were incredibly popular with adults as well as children, so the short answer would be yes. It certainly isn't PAW Patrol.

What kind of mod did you install? I've never seen that, but I don't capture many prisoners.

Damn, that wouldn't fly in the US. Other than salvation, what are the benefits of being part of a congregation? Do you get to deduct the membership fee and tithes from your taxes?

I took the family to see Dune part 2 in the theaters. It was pretty good. We just re-watched part 1 last weekend, so it was fresh in our minds. I preferred part 1, since it is a relatively simple story. Part 2 definitely gets a bit bogged down in the complexities, particularly at the end. But hey, I was raised on the Lynch version and never read the books, so what do I know? Basically I missed Sting hamming it up at the end.

I can second Outward being an amazing immersive game. I was hooked on that world for months.

I don't know that we need to sacrifice IP's because the creators become garbage people. Sure, they birthed the thing, but it's taken on a life of its own at this point. There is a whole team at Avalanche Software that worked hard on bringing Hogwarts Legacy to life. They aren't connected to the IP owner in anything other than a licensing fee. Sometimes dumb people create good stuff. Actually it seems to come with the territory. Edgar Allan Poe was certainly a disturbed guy, but he could write a hell of a poem. I think we also put people on pedestals to easily and then we are surprised when they don't really deserve to be there. Said IP owner is a good children's fiction writer. That's it. That's the one thing they are an expert in. So yeah, you can support Avalanche Software because they created a gem of a game and not feel guilty.

Just be careful with the weight loss. It's great to lose weight, but it can also be a sign of other health concerns. Have you been doing anything active to work up an appetite? Burning some calories might help increase the desire to replenish them.

Now that you've quoted them, you will be targeted for assimilation.

I guess I'm just saying I care less about the label they give it and more about the intention and economics of it. Developers gotta eat. Funcom has continued to develop Conan Exiles and I've found the stuff they put out has been well worth my money. Stellaris (or Paradox as a developer), on the other hand, keeps putting out expansions and they rarely seem worth the full price. But that's very much an opinion. Honestly most of the games I'm playing now are indie developers, and they have to put out little add ons to keep the lights on. I had no problem dropping money on the Wartales expansion because I ant them to keep working on the game. Same thing with Battle Brothers. Whether it is live service or not, I'm just trying to support the content that I like to see more of. But as I said, I'm sure we will continue to see big publishers try and milk the system.

Actually my buying of a piano did play out in a similar way. At my children's school open house, my kids were showing me their music classroom. They both went over to the piano and started playing a tune. I was amazed. I immediately went out and bought them a nice piano. It sat for the next 3 years with nary a tickle of the ivory keys. Apparently at home they'd rather watch TV and play video games. I finally sold it off to recoup some money. There were no concert pianists in my household. As for live service games, there are going to be good and bad versions of this. People get pissed when a game comes out and the developers don't support it at all. Didn't you play a ton of Conan Exiles like me? They've been live servicing that game for a decade. It definitely launched as a shell of what it has come to be. I can see how the big developers are going to try and milk this horribly, but it also allows games to grow into themselves.

I don't think the analogy works. I mean, unless the game is missing the ending, or like you can't move forward unless you buy an expansion. It's more like "here is a piano, but if you want to play it, you need to pay for lessons and sheet music and maybe a bench to sit on. Also it will sound like crap after awhile if you don't get it tuned. Also it's heavy and no one wants to help you move it up to your 3rd floor apartment with no lift. Why are are you even buying a piano when you live in a studio apartment? You need to buy a bigger place."

That was depressing. I needed a palate cleanser.

I had an interesting quest in Wartales. I was chasing after a tracker who in turn was chasing after a grave robbing scholar. I found them in an undead village. The mechanic with undead villages is you need to minimize your noise rating and maximize your willpower. So typically I'd take a team of lightly armored but decently willfull warriors with me into the town, plus a locksmith (who unfortunately is a lumbering oaf with a big sword. We find the two arguing in the ruins, and sure enough, they trigger an undead attack. Undead attacks put you in a large room with a bunch of potential doors and windows. Your goal is to block them with your people but also look for an exit. You can't kill all the undead, they will keep coming. My first attempt was tough. My lightly armored folks were bitten and clawed at, and when I finally escaped, both of the NPC's were dead. But I survived and I was like, 'that was a cool fight.' Then I thought about it a bit more, and realized that noise doesn't really matter if they NPC's trigger the undead attack no matter what. I went back in with a full noisy team and got them out safely. But it was still more rewarding to do it the other way.

Wartales - I decided to start a new run on easy. Easy combat, easy economy. I was doing fine on experienced, but it was taking a long time and there was a lot to keep track of. On easy I can just breeze through some systems and focus on the story and my fighters. I'm heading into the third area no, and my squad is pretty deadly. Easy isn't all that easy. There are still some tricky parts and you aren't going to get away with taking on stuff that is way higher than you, but it is more forgiving. Plus I'm not constantly broke.

Midnight Suns was amazing and you should just play it. I resisted for a long time too, but I was hooked after the first mission.

Roadhouse 2024 - The Patrick Swayze version isn't exactly high art, and this one is on thay same level. It basically relies on a charismatic lead character, which Jake Gyllenhaal is. So he is fun to watch while he punches people, or just looks like he is going to punch people. Connor McGregor is as crazy in the movie as he seems to be in real life. It was very much a peak into Florida life. I did hear the director was upset it went straight to streaming. He is wrong. This is a classic direct to DVD type flick. Nothing wrong with that and the production quality was good, but it was silly fun.

I know we had this conversation before, but Tim Burton hasn't even made that many movies in the last 30 years, and they've been pretty much all over the map in terms of style and content. The idea that he's somehow lost his mojo seems overstated to me. He's made 12 films since '94 and I'd say the only rough ones were Dark Shadows and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Maybe it's just Johnny Depp? No doubt Keaton will nail it with Beetlejuice, so I'm probably going to the theaters for this one.

Beetlejuice looks fantastic. Aliens looks like dumb people will do dumb things, but this time on space station, instead of an alien planet.

Wartales - I picked up the pirate expansion, but I still want to start a new game, since I have no idea what to do with my massive warband that I had before.

I passed this Space Marine living under a bridge on my way to work the other day... https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/bay-area-proud/hoping-to-lift-spirits-of-passers-by-homeless-san-jose-artist-creates-elaborate-wearable-suits-of-armor/3486632/?_osource=SocialFlowFB_BAYBrand&fbclid=IwAR3sJ2iXJsjx__gpKmnV2TbY3ithzjO5iyfqI7CmTYqJwYL68y2CVEpHAiY

I agree it's a user experience. I prefer as the use to have the time to plan out my moves, then have the computer respond, and then I get to respond and plan again. That's why I don't think you can say one is better than the other. It's like saying chocolate ice cream is miles above vanilla ice cream. They are just different flavors. I prefer vanilla, in case you need to know. But I'll put some chocolate chip on top to spice it up.