What are you playing?

figmentPez

Staff member
Our daughter and I are playing Slime Rancher. We have no idea what we’re doing. She seems a bit more with it than I do. Whatever it is that we’re doing, it’s super cute.
I've watched a couple of different of YouTubers' series playing the game. I'm sure you'll figure things out; my impression is that it's a pretty well designed game, with no one "right" way that things have to be done, and that it does a pretty well of showing off it's mechanics.

It really is a super cute game, though. I love the aesthetic, and it seems a really nice mix of rewarding grind and exploring a beautiful world.
 
What should I expect from Slime Rancher? Could it fill the gaping void in my heart? Is it easy, fun, relaxing yet rewarding? Or is it obnoxious grinding and minmaxing economy and spreadsheets to make it Work?
 
We laughed like idiots vacuuming cute little slimes into our guns and running them back to our farms and selling their poop by shooting it at the market board.

If the slimes eat other poops they get massive and it cracks me up.

So either the game is adorable or we are easily amused.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
What should I expect from Slime Rancher? Could it fill the gaping void in my heart? Is it easy, fun, relaxing yet rewarding? Or is it obnoxious grinding and minmaxing economy and spreadsheets to make it Work?
From what I've seen, it's really really forgiving. It's much closer to the "cozy" genre than it is to any serious sim game. Any min/maxing would just serve to make thing happen slightly faster, there's no chance of failure, and absolutely no need of spreadsheets. I don't think Slime Rancher has fail states, and it looks easier to build a functional farm than it is to complete the most basic of scenarios in something like Roller Coaster Tycoon (which is fairly easy as sim games go).

It's more about exploration and experimentation than it is about strategy or shrewdness.
 
Hmmm. I was just replaying the same old lows tress strategy/sim games over the past few weeks, I' mnot up for a real challenge at the moment. But a new game that isn't too demanding might be just what I'm looking for. Bought it at -70% on GOG and we'll see :)
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Small thing: what's with English-language people inventing male surnames for female characters? Why Lebeau? It should be Labelle!
... he said, with a massive blind spot for the millions of english-language women with patronymic surnames that end in -son :p

"Hi, I'm Jane Johnson." "Nice to meet you Jane, I'm Jill Ericsson!"
 
... he said, with a massive blind spot for the millions of english-language women with patronymic surnames that end in -son :p

"Hi, I'm Jane Johnson." "Nice to meet you Jane, I'm Jill Ericsson!"
Yes, sure, and the same is true in French. And Dutch! For real people, I couldn't care less.
I'm talking about fictional characters. Why is it Bellatrix Lestrange, Bellatrix Lebeau, etc etc. If you're naming a whole family, sure. In this case, the main character is AFAICT the only important one with that name....so why not use the feminine?
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Yes, sure, and the same is true in French. And Dutch! For real people, I couldn't care less.
I'm talking about fictional characters. Why is it Bellatrix Lestrange, Bellatrix Lebeau, etc etc. If you're naming a whole family, sure. In this case, the main character is AFAICT the only important one with that name....so why not use the feminine?
Well, I can't speak for Slime Ranger/Lebeau, but Lestrange was the name of that entire wizarding family (which Bellatrix married into, adopting the surname. Her maiden name was Black).

 
Yes, sure, and the same is true in French. And Dutch! For real people, I couldn't care less.
I'm talking about fictional characters. Why is it Bellatrix Lestrange, Bellatrix Lebeau, etc etc. If you're naming a whole family, sure. In this case, the main character is AFAICT the only important one with that name....so why not use the feminine?
Because in English surnames don't have gender.
 
*sigh * I feel like I'm being deliberately misunderstood.
Yes, in most languages last names don't have gender. Including French, if your father is Lebeau than you're Lebeau too if you're a woman.
But both the male and female versions exist, so it's the same the other way around, if your parents were Labelle than you're Labelle too, even if you're a man.
But in English literature, writers ALWAYS use male versions. Which, if you're talking about a whole family, fine. But if it's just one main female character (yes, the Lestranges are an important family, but honestly it's just Bellatrix and Co - none of the others get any page time), why not use the female version?
 
*sigh * I feel like I'm being deliberately misunderstood.
Yes, in most languages last names don't have gender. Including French, if your father is Lebeau than you're Lebeau too if you're a woman.
But both the male and female versions exist, so it's the same the other way around, if your parents were Labelle than you're Labelle too, even if you're a man.
But in English literature, writers ALWAYS use male versions. Which, if you're talking about a whole family, fine. But if it's just one main female character (yes, the Lestranges are an important family, but honestly it's just Bellatrix and Co - none of the others get any page time), why not use the female version?
No, I understand you, but what I'm saying is that to an english speaker that doesn't speak French, there is no gender difference between Lebeau and Labelle. They're just surnames. An english speaker wouldn't say "Hey, since I have full control over my fictional story I could have the gender of the name match the gender of the character" because, again, there is no gender to them. Words having gender is not a concept that exists in English outside of specifics like actor and actress (and even then, in modern english actress becomes more and more rare)
 
If you buy Necromunda Hired Gun on sale during one of the many, many 40K sales that happen throughout the year at an extreme discount knowing that you're getting a low budget strange amalgamation of Doom 2016 (without the interesting enemies) with looter shooter mechanics you'll probably have a good time.

Everyone else will be mad.
 
Fortnite

Yup. Never played it before yesterday. I wanted something quick and stupid to blow off steam, and this fits the bill.
Fortnite was my official entry into "I'm getting to old for this shit". I want Unreal Tournament, where you shoot other people. Now you want me to build things too? Get out of here with that, you whippersnappers.
 
Fortnite was my official entry into "I'm getting to old for this shit". I want Unreal Tournament, where you shoot other people. Now you want me to build things too? Get out of here with that, you whippersnappers.
See, PvP is SO NOT my thing. I suck. I'm absolutely terrible. It's embarrassing. I'm not good a twitchy stuff, and I tend to get motion sick on top of it.

Being able to build/find a hidey-hole in a great location and pick others off is great. And I like the constantly shrinking map - it's adds to the stress, but not so much that my anxiety kicks into high gear. Running to the new safe zone with a constant string of 'shit, shit, shit' being muttered under my breath and hearing other folks shooting each other in the distance is a surprisingly good outlet for stress. (Especially if I can wait till the victor is happily charging towards the defeated player's dropped loot, and then I take them out. That's just delightful.)

Is it fluffy? Absolutely. Are there bots? Yup, those were added deliberately some time ago to even the playing-field for newbies. Is it that challenging? Nope, but that's not what I'm looking for. I just want to run around and shoot things.

I've seen some Unreal Tournament, and I know I couldn't handle it. Just watching it made me nauseous!
 

Dave

Staff member
Just started a game called "Wildermyth". It's a single player or co-op strategy RPG that has a unique style and is very, VERY story driven. It's a really good game that just came out of Early Access. I highly recommend it.
 
I have actually completed fishing quests in Stardew Valley now!

I can tell that I occasionally hook a super difficult fish and I miss it, but the fishing bundle of the community centre may be in reach now!

Hahaha, I’m aware that I sound like a total noob.

I need to figure out how to make the first day of a new season go better. I may have too many farm plots.
 
So, despite my computer setup's best attempts to thwart me, I am enjoying Control. Also, despite the game's absolutely brutal difficulty spikes. I just about ripped my controller in half against the plant boss since I had no idea what the fuck was killing me 99% of the time.
 
So, despite my computer setup's best attempts to thwart me, I am enjoying Control. Also, despite the game's absolutely brutal difficulty spikes. I just about ripped my controller in half against the plant boss since I had no idea what the fuck was killing me 99% of the time.
Control is a great fucking game with bad pacing. The start is boring, then it gets real hard real fast, and then it gets real good
 
I just finished a Tier 3 Jukebox Expedition to unlock the Expedition outift. It's maybe the most frustrating, least fun I've had playing a video game. I finally beat it. No outfit unlock. I look it up online, this is a bug that happens sometimes. The only way to unlock the outfit, do it again.

Fuck you. Fuck you so fucking hard.

So I cheated and made myself invincible etc. It was even frustrating then because all you see is explosions and your screen will be permabloody the whole time as you run around the second island angrily looking for whatever Hiss asshole is stuck in a wall and not allowing the next wave to spawn. This Jukebox thing sucks ass. These bonus challenges always suck ass. They're never fun.
 
Just started a game called "Wildermyth". It's a single player or co-op strategy RPG that has a unique style and is very, VERY story driven. It's a really good game that just came out of Early Access. I highly recommend it.
Yep it kicks ass. I finished the 3-chapter intro campaign and I was thoroughly engrossed. I played on the 2nd highest difficultly level (Undying Hero) and it kicked my ass, but I had a good time doing it. I customized all my characters and recruits and ended up with an enjoyable story full of relationships, interesting choices and surprisingly satisfying combat for something that looks like a pop-up book. In addition to the turn-based combat, there's an overworld map where you scout, patrol, craft new items, build defenses and defend against enemy incursions. The game gets harder as you go along as enemies start getting more abilities/stats/armor as the game goes on. You also get legacy points which you can use to make up for insufficient components for crafting, recruit another hero, or to cancel out some of the enemies new buffs. I also made some questionable choices for some of my characters that resulted in quite some interesting outcomes. Also your characters age over time, which is reflected in the story panels, along with all the new gear you acquire. There's also a relationship system that gives buffs/bonuses depending on the type of relationship and its strength. I'm already eager to start another campaign.

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This was e best looking game in my queue. I think I need it :)

I will not be buying any of the boob games Steam keeps offering me. Hear that Steam!!?!
 
Heh. I had to write after the last queue. If they write back, I will share how I got to be the lucky recipient of this “art” so I can avoid and should anyone wish to partake. One particular title encouraged me to write.
 
Heh. I had to write after the last queue. If they write back, I will share how I got to be the lucky recipient of this “art” so I can avoid and should anyone wish to partake. One particular title encouraged me to write.
You can filter out games from your queue somewhere in the settings btw.
 
Heh. I had to write after the last queue. If they write back, I will share how I got to be the lucky recipient of this “art” so I can avoid and should anyone wish to partake. One particular title encouraged me to write.
I await with bating breath.

Err, bated breath.
 
It was a charming title called “Fuck only” or maybe the title had the words in reverse. In any event, the featured cutscenes were pretty graphic. There was another boob forward game two titles later.

I use the laptop for games and professional studies, and no not the oldest profession :D
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You can filter out games from your queue somewhere in the settings btw.
I have tried. Clearly unsuccessfully.
 
I just finished a Tier 3 Jukebox Expedition to unlock the Expedition outift. It's maybe the most frustrating, least fun I've had playing a video game. I finally beat it. No outfit unlock. I look it up online, this is a bug that happens sometimes. The only way to unlock the outfit, do it again.

Fuck you. Fuck you so fucking hard.

So I cheated and made myself invincible etc. It was even frustrating then because all you see is explosions and your screen will be permabloody the whole time as you run around the second island angrily looking for whatever Hiss asshole is stuck in a wall and not allowing the next wave to spawn. This Jukebox thing sucks ass. These bonus challenges always suck ass. They're never fun.
I loved that game so much, but the jukebox thing was preposterous. "I can repeatedly die in a frustrated fit over and over to earn an outfit that I would only use to play the jukebox levels, as I already did all the other DLC? Yeah, no."
 
I loved that game so much, but the jukebox thing was preposterous. "I can repeatedly die in a frustrated fit over and over to earn an outfit that I would only use to play the jukebox levels, as I already did all the other DLC? Yeah, no."
I thought during my first expedition that the islands would be randomized and have different challenges on them each run. LOL. NOPE.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Graveyard Keeper -

Emo edgelord Stardew Valley with no multiplayer.

So far I'm getting irritated by some of the design decisions, like the "red, green, blue" points that you have to use to unlock technologies.

For a couple hours I got locked into a dead end in the early game where I couldn't advance because I had no way to get blue points, until I ran through a convoluted interconnected web of non-obvious story quests.

Also the way doing research requires both science points AND faith points irritates me.

And also, why is the graveyard keeper also expected to be literally every profession, from smith to cleric?

I'm also getting tired of things like "Bring me some wine! There should be some wine in the church's cellar."
(Narrator voice: GasBandit, after considerable time and expense getting access to the church's cellar, found there was no wine there."

AND it pisses me off that NPCs won't let me do quest turn ins while they're commuting to/from the places they stand, and they only are available once a week, and they spend half that time commuting.
 
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