osmosisch

I've tried to no avail to find the source, sorry. Picked it up from somethingawful.

I believe there is a good chance that these comics about the koopas' native culture may be interesting to some here: https://imgur.com/a/OBTno

Closer to Nîmes actually but yeah

Thanks! Goodness, thankfully nowhere near my place. He lived & died in Southern France. Would have been an opportunity for a nice trip in other circumstances.

I find it a bit hard to read that post. I can't relate.

I just came back from a bizarre couple of days. My father died last week, which isn't as big a deal to me as one might think because he buggered off when I was about 2 and was not much of a presence since then. Having a large portion of the people he was close to over the years all stuck together in one house for the funeral and the day or so leading up to it lead to some incredibly soap-like situations up to and including screaming matches and accusations of backstabbing etc, with my mother and I as bemused onlookers and occasional peacemakers. If it had been a hidden camera show I;'m sure we would have been ejected for spoiling the fun. Anyway, that's a rather confusing chapter of my life over and done with. Hard to say his existence was a net positive, though I'm glad to be around.

I'll probably check this out once it hits PC. I've not been able to get into the previous MHs but this looks like it's closer to something I can appreciate.

I couldn't bring myself to read this again. I'll just post my summary of the (indeed quite good) book:

I just read about this, sounds fascinating. https://chireviewofbooks.com/2018/01/16/how-emily-wilson-translated-the-odyssey/ Her review of the Hesiod linked from that article is also very good.

Yeah, this was super distracting.

I loved this. Thanks so much guys. It's hilarious how much vocabulary you share, like the 'owned' thing -- I've not used people used it so Steveishly before. The rain came up slowly at such a perfect time I thought at first you had edited it in. Extremely relaxing, I love that sound. Is Nina on these forums as well? Or should I '@' her on the tweets?

While I agree, I think I should note that the Souls games' tendency to have gotcha kills and surprising elements should not be underestimated. One of the main draws of those games for me is the novelty/surprise factor. They are willing to do stuff that most other genres aren't and that's worth a lot to me. It's also a reason I'm falling out of love with the genre a bit: the games are starting to repeat themselves.

I liked all of that stuff, and love the gameplay. I agree that a clearer indication of whether a bullet will hit you would be good.

Once again, I'd say it just broadens the spectrum of available entertainment. There are millions of games out there which are not made with me in mind. That's fine. Spelunky, for example, is way too hard for me to ever see the end. I don't care, it's obviously a great game. I just don't play it. I mean, I agree with you that the culture around games and difficulty is irritating, but I don't conclude from that that every game should have an easy mode.

It's unbelievable isn't it? The only thing more amazing than the weirdoes that occasionally pop up out of the woodwork is the hosts' grace in dealing with them. Kudos, Michael.

I'd say it just broadens the spectrum of available entertainment.

For sure, from the c64 onward. I mean, some of my happier early PC gaming memories come from messing around with iddqd, but in general especially early on in my gaming life, finishing a game wasn't really the point or the goal, it was about play. Just getting a bit further every time. That's actually part of the Souls appeal for me, it brings me back to this more sensible (in my view) approach to play rather than a single hand-held linear progression with no restarts.

I've been checking this out, it's pretty good! The relic system and the lack of easily available resource generation makes it feel more constrained yet varied than the other similar games I've played. For people who are into this genre, I also recommend: - http://store.steampowered.com/app/557410/Dream_Quest/ (also on iOS). The game that popularised this genre (I call them Shandalarlikes because I'm old) - http://store.steampowered.com/app/496620/Monster_Slayers/. For people who want a slightly less balanced and less variable Dream Quest with also a lot less bleeding eyes from awful art. Also has a more interesting meta-progression system than Dream Quest.

The only game from this year to really, really stick with me is Night in the Woods so that's getting the nod from me.

I'm down, I adore Silent Storm and Frozen Synapse.

All things a bot would say.

I've seen several articles citing Estonia (and to a lesser degree Finland) as a model on how to resist Russian trolling. I guess you guys are also a major testbed for their ops that then get applied globally.

I want to thank you guys for making my first raid a lovely experience. It was a blast.

I know. Just stating my preference.

I think you're inferring a tad too much authorial intent that I'm not convinced is there with most of your "they wanted" statements, but besides that, I don't have much to add anymore.