feelthedarkness

I really like GoT the board game, but I can't get into BSG. It felt a bit mechanically thin to me. One of the main mechanics is pulling a Warp Card and if it's a problem, the solution is always just "dump cards on it." It doesn't make a ton of narrative sense if the game is supposed to be tell a story. The cards you dump have pretty limited use, and don't have much variation per job. I think there are 3 or 4 kinds? Between the warp cards, and ship movements, it seemed like it was the kind of game that was trying to approximate a video game AI.

I think that kind of audience engagement is increasingly important to Valve as companies consider digital distribution of their own, or as consoles evolve into PCs with built in digital distribution. If Steam keeps players engaged with a number of +social systems it will be harder for publishers to look elsewhere.

I think the GoG shelf works nicely, and it has alert's built in for new game updates.

I sort of appreciate when a game takes the save scumming option away from me, because I can't help myself.

Out today! Early reviews are generally positive, with some critique that its first episode is not big enough, but it seems like it's also set up for them to pump out expansions?

I'm not deeply knowledgeable on world history, but are there examples of societies/nations with the means to expand, that opted not to? Or where scientific advancement has not been viewed as generally good? Reading The Name of the Rose and Wolf Hall, they talk about the early pre-christian Islamic Societies valuing science.

I'm so glad this podcast forum exists.

Oh absolutely, and I don't condemn anybody for their entertainment, but if I'm considering the implications of these things translated to a video game, then the Paradox version rewards you for perpetuating these problems. Other than the user taking it upon themselves to consider the moral implications, the real world context stripping seems similar to me.

Is there much historical about it other than using the names of famous leaders and assigning them some basic behavioral traits? there is no regard for earth's chronology, or geography, on any of the map's i've played? Augustus Caesar facing off against Haile I Selassie? There is like 2,000 years between them! I understand the criticism about decontextualizing things like that, and it is worth considering. I also think there is some fun and value in looking at the strength these leaders gave their people, even if it's a bit of a cautionary tale, like the benefits of totalitarianism. I find the Paradox method is a bit more problematic, encouraging you to assassinate wives that fail to provide sons, etc...

Yeah, I waited until the last minute hoping for a Kentucky Route Zero flash sale, and today is 50% off. Well played Steam.

Does Civ favor imperialist societies or does it model how civilizations as we know them have behaved? You have a choice to expand within your uncontested borders and pursue alternative means, no? I can see how one might level a critique that it is inherently problematic that the goal is to be the dominant global society, but alternately, doesn't the Utopia Project, and Space Race give you victory conditions that isn't through military conquest, or cultural imperialism?

Yeah, I'm about 65% through it. It's fantastic. She can really weave a sentence, and the general flow of the story, projecting forward and backwards at the same time. It's a cool twist on contemporary "kow-it-all" storytelling, but without getting too wrapped up in tangents. Also, hit's all my notes. NYC late 70s, Italy, 70s film, weird art movements. One of those things that really hits me about how totally whitewashed NYC has become is that chapter on the Motherfuckers actions. NYPD is so militarized nothing like that could ever happen.

Has anybody ever won WW2 with someplace like Morocco or Tunisia in HoI 2?

I love New Vegas like nobodies business, and if you're a fan 1 & 2, NV takes a lot from the original F3 plan. Also, the 4 DLCs for NV are some of the best of the DLC era, in my opinion, closer to classic "expansion packs" than the modern 2 hour mission. There is a thread that runs through all of them that adds up to a short game in itself. I would play those back to back.

Fez This was a really great time, and I finished with all the 64 cubes. You feel so smart when you figure out a map or a puzzle, and tried to do as much as possible without looking it up. I shamefully didn't get the alphabet reference, and a bunch of the harder ones. binary star,etc... I love that it feels like there is still more hidden in there, finishing with 209.4%

GoT is a blast with 6 invested people. It's not too difficult to learn, but it's also a lot to bite off if you're not already into games. Though if all the players are equally new nobody should get crushed. Every game we've played has hinged on a final turn pitch for support or somebody flipping loyalties.

I guess they only have had 30 years to realize what a total stinker that one is.

I went back on my weak vow, because it looks like it might not make it, and I felt bad, because it deserves to exist. Pledged the lowest amount to get the game.

Damage Report: EYE: Devine Cybermancy Eschalon Book 2: Gunpoint Dishonored DLC Civ 5: Gods and Kings The Swapper Torchlight 2 Sleeping Dogs System Shock 2 Definance Only Defiance & Civ 5 was more than $6.50, much was $2.50. Still, looking at the list, it seems shameful. Also, I'm holding out for a Kentucky Route Zero flash sale.

I sold a few dupes, but I cannot get any of purchases to go through. I can't even get the pages to load. I'm sort of surprised they've had this much trouble with bandwidth going on two weeks?

Sparks are like an nth level record store owner band. Hundreds of deeply odd records from the late 60s to now. If Devo was Queen?

Yeah, I've heard that's great! I haven't played the online version much, but my friends told me the computer AI in that is nigh unbeatable.

I think these are my 3 favorites: Lords of Waterdeep: Nails everything I like about resource management and worker placement types games, plus I'm a sucker for some D&D flavor. In a nutshell, you get Quest Cards, worth victory points. To complete quests you need to recruit different amounts of hero archetypes, that you get via the random pile of buildings. Completed quests can give you bonuses, powers, or ongoing rewards that can alter your play style, and the different professions/buildings can make games wildly different. We definitely get through games faster than similar styles. Race for the Galaxy: My favorite card/deckbuilding game, and the most complicated game to explain to new players, even though the mechanics are in one sense simple. You draw some cards, which you will use to build a little space empire in front of you. Each player gets a starting planet with a specific power/bonus which can inform the strategy you employ. The same cards are discarded as currency to pay for the card you want to use. No direct interaction between players. Stone Age: I'll second this one. Plays really fast, and seemingly has a decent variety of paths to victory.

Does it take more than an hour or two to max your purchase drop limit?

Or your really, really inept (yet charming) Spanish entire album re-recording of The Sex Pistols lp, released one year after the original, rather than pay a licensing fee.