What’s uncertain? He’s solidifying income for the executive branch sans congress. And thus gutting congressional power over the executive branch before midterms.

There’s no such thing as always or never when it comes to people, except death.

Depends. That’s the issue though. DEMs is a giant bag of angry cats fighting amongst themselves, gatekeeping one another, and more or less telling one another how they should be while saying it’s all inclusive.

The infighting is real. I’ll give the repubs credit for unity, they’re strangely good at it, just look at Tesla. Ten years of hating Tesla and hazing Tesla drivers. Now, the same people are driving cars into protesters for daring to smear the company. That’s unity. Blind unity. But unity.

We can’t do anything even remotely close to that in party.

Therein lies the point of MAGA efforts. If you keep your base punching the left then they won’t remember they’re working class, not really being crushed by the left, and may start to punch up.

They’re already too scared to do in person town halls. Even so, this steered rage is intentional.

You’re not displaced by corporate, but by immigrants, DEI, and non-traditional women.

Just about everyone wants to see themselves in the main player character of an RPG. It’s one reason character creators exist. Why we can choose between male and female Shepard and then toggle their appearances. But why is it white men yell the loudest when they don’t see themselves in a fixed main character?

It’s a valid question. Sure there was an ask for female assassin play, but it wasn’t anything like this crude, angry, and off the rails epidemic we see far too often. Why is this population so loud and rage filled?

I happily play Witcher, and enjoy Geralt for who he is, including those tired sighs and the long hair that blows in a wind that’s not there. Geralt looks like he’s been torn off the cover of an old bodice ripper novel, which is a bit of an eye roll but adds to the humor. Even so. As a woman I had no problems with it or the game. I’ve played W3 through twice.

Enter Ciri as the main for the next game. Suddenly there’s a huge problem even though she’s the logical next Witcher. I’d like to know how she plays as a character outside the premade with gimped UI. The preview to 4 was nicely nuanced as well, a lot of detail packed into that clip apart from just simple spooky monster fighting. She clearly has a chip on her shoulder about life choices, and fair enough given her history.

Again, no raging outcry regarding Geralt or the way he looked for 3 installments. Now there’s outcry.

I’m not Japanese or Black and yet I’ll happily play this latest AC (but only after its old and goes on sale).

The challenge side quests. I could not pursue them in full. Not that the speed runs didn’t have enjoyment, it was just too much. And the brother was both irrational and grating to deal with for that long.

The Mirage info is simultaneously reassuring and infuriating. The latter for money reasons given probable content expectations after Odyssey and Valhalla.

Loved Odyssey and Origins was quite good. Valhalla was too long, too much. Granted I’ve never been into the Thor/Odin pantheon like some people, Tom Middleton’s Loki being the exception. The sheer amount of game (completionist) made me not want to engage Mirage or Shadows.

Aside from that general opinion, AC games are usually spot on for people who can only ingest 2hrs at a time, like it’s their daily or bi-daily TV binge allotment.

Another one in the Steam library I’ve yet to play.

I’m chuckling a bit (in a negative way) at the abject perversion of this mentality, because of course this happened.

Isn’t this how we think of all pollution? Global warming? We don’t have to worry about this today, so we won’t. Maybe some nebulous, nonexistent white knight of a someone will figure it out before its an immediate problem…

Another reason President Musk wanted to play with deregulation. Free reign, or rain, to chew through the ozone layer with his space garbage.

Audiobook narrators don’t “read”. They act. They vocally act the entire book. The ones who don’t generally get returned, unread, to either your audiobook platform choice or the library.

Voice actors in games also don’t just read. They act. They vocally act their entire role.

Jennifer Hale vs AI, who would win? Would any human other than Kate Mulgrew as Flemeth have made the character as compelling?

So let’s hear it. Hand an AI Leviathan Wakes, the first book of The Expanse, and see how it does. My money is on it being garbage, but let’s hear it.

Jefferson Mays is tough to beat as a human.

Worse, hand an AI a Terry Pratchett book, see how that goes.

Steam is a last bastion of integrity. Given the present timeline, it will probably be bought out by EA.

I think so. Like fallout 3 vs new Vegas the second has more polish, always.

You’re Corvo in the first one. You see your love and Empress killed in front of you, your daughter kidnapped, and you blamed. You escape. Now, you need to find your daughter. It leads into playing as Emily in game 2. Witches backstory as well.

It’s a game for people who like to play rogues. Frankly, I love it. Sniper cheese is available everywhere.

Dishonored 2 is in my top 5. The crafting of the Crack in the Slab chapter alone is masterful.

Even in DND, there’s an evil requirement to specialize in assassin, so it makes sense that things get darker on that path. Regular rogue, you can still be good. There are very, very few games that allow for pure stealth runs, Dishonored happens to be one of them.

No

No, there’s nothing Skyrim about it in terms of game style. No open world, but it’s a very cool rpg space game.

Prey is worth your time.

I’m assuming half of that is FPS which is very much not my thing. Give me a story I can play. BG3 I understand.

If I was in my 20s souls would likely appeal, now I’m an old fuck and just want a good, ad free story I can play along with. And DnD. No one is too old for DnD.

Ok, and Stellaris, Civ, etc. Those are like the fentanyl or crack cocaine of the gaming world.

This is how budgeting works. Wait for the “old” sale so it’s cheaper money wise. Wait for the first few patches to roll out so you don’t spend that other precious commodity, time, on anything other than actual gameplay.

Not on my radar, but dnd always has been, hence my laser focus on Bioware when started.

Back in the day, Bioware. Original Baldurs Gate. Neverwinter Nights with its neverending modules and such.

Mass Effect and Dragon Age O were a new way to engage the RPG.

How far the mighty have fallen.

Labor is so devalued right now.

That’s always good advice. Patientgamers is the way.

Two patch minimum and then consider if you can even play it now, or, if your game roster is full, put off the purchase for another year or so. If the latter, just wait for the sale.

Their ideas and worlds are incredible tough.

Where’d they go? Larian?

Remember, Bioware started as a love project for DND. Baldurs gate. Neverwinter nights. (NWN was a community!) Some of us are from that time, just old DND people scratching that itch.

I’m one of them.

I’m constantly looking for that game format since Mass Effect 1 and Dragon Age Origins.

There’s been what? Greedfall. That’s it.

Which is sad. TV series have knocked movies on their asses as the better media lately because they are now the better story tellers. This format of game tells the best stories.

And yet they’re just not being made.

As much as I’d like this game ASAP, I’m still waiting.

It’s better on your mental health, wanting a good escapist game and story, not to have first release bugs interrupting you. Wait for the second patch.

By then, real reviews will make themselves known.

Oh hell no. Not until the first two patches are rolled out.

That’s a solid estimation of the three.

Refinement wise origins is to Fallout 3 and Odyssey is to New Vegas.

I liked Origins. Tomb exploration. History lessons. Angry hippos. It was solid.

Odyssey is my favorite of the 3. Worth it.

Valhalla was too long. They took the Odyssey formula and just did too much. Normally I completionist games, but I could not finish those repeatable side quests. Odin’s marathon runs among other things. After Valhalla I had no interest in buying Mirage and doing it again.

Better rested and cared for workers.

Isn’t Bethesda unionized now? Curious to see the diff in the next release.

Escapism, man. It’s on the up. Gaming is just that.

Also, SCOTUS is dismantling the last of democracy in favor of the corporate authoritarian state and there isn’t a damn thing a single one of us can do to stop it, so, might as well enjoy the immersive distraction.

I think Bioware itself got rid of those god awful beige 70s supervillain pajamas.

Outfits, weapons, junk is worth real money.

This is correct.

Settlement management can get tedious and be a large time sink. Sim settlements 2 is actually not bad. You can off the most annoying ones on “mayors” to control. Show up later and add things if needed.