Hurlshort

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.

Great, more shark movies. At least Sharknado is supposed to be silly. Does everyone understand that Sharks don't do well in shallow water? At least not these monsters that they are showing in the movie. Highly unrealistic. :p

I finished up Tainted Grail. It was a fantastic game, really kept my interest and I enjoyed the story quite a bit. I was level 64 by the end and was uber strong. I went sword and board. I'd be curious to play again using magic. I got the good ending where you cure the red plague, although I did have to look up a couple dungeons I had missed to get that one. I also never did the expansion. I paid for it, but when I got to the temple entrance, I just didn't have the motivation to do that extra bit. I still ended up with a ton of hours in the game, about 55 in a few weeks, so it was well worth the price. Now I'm playing Indiana Jones and the Perfect Circle. It's pretty solid, although a bit more combat heavy than I'd expect. Maybe I'm just not sneaky enough.

The Friday Night Lights sequel looks interesting.