Mawd

It's finally starting to sink in how much I'm going to miss the now thoroughly declined Natural Selection 2 Australian community. There was a time when I knew practically all of the regulars not just by their names but by what kind of player they were, how they worked in a team, and what their strengths and weaknesses were as players. I remember feeling awe playing with some of the very best players in the scene and despite my own turbulent ebb and flow of ability I felt pride that I was playing on a level with them where we trusted each other's abilities to win the match. I gave almost all of my gaming time since 2013 to that game and it's left me with a long set of memories and friends. Friends who feel like little more than ghosts now that we barely cross each other. Of the ninety or more players I met through NS2 I don't think more than 30 play any game regularly now. Sure we're all busy with studies and work but well these people were more than passing faces. See voice coms in NS2 were more than just an option to tell foes to suck it. Without multiple people sharing tactics and calling out enemy positions a team was screwed. I've never found a game where voluntary co-operation mattered so much not even CS:GO or any of the Lomas I've played. Huh, it just sucks. Imagine it the Idle Thumbs lost it's forums and only twelve or twenty people at most gathered to listen to a podcast that aired every month or so. With the people you all liked to talk to sometimes appearing for short moments in other communities but without the glue that kept the interest. Sigh I miss the big family that community could feel like even with the shitheads and scrubs. I saw a server list of vets I know pugging in Dirty Bomb and even though I have no clue if I'll ever be a contender in any other competitive scene again I'm almost driven to try to if only to capture that rare sense I belonging that I've only felt once in a video games community. Sigh, it just sucks.

That's cool I'll go check it out. It's been an interesting time finding friendships that end up growing over the games they were forged in. Actually thinking about it your premise sounds similar to the delightful podcast Strangers by Lea Thau which is all about people coming onto the show and talking about strong personal connections forged in their lives. If anyone's thinking of giving that cast a listen I highly recommend the episode 'Unconditional' which is about a reformed career criminal trying to understand and connect with the mother she never knew. It was pretty emotional but just so powerful. Not all of the stories are semi harrowing sad but cathartic stories though, plenty are light-hearted and touching in different ways.

I wish I still had Portable Ops and a copy of MGS But having a copy of the anniversary is pretty sweet 8D

I need this ;_;

Cool giant king I can't wait gimme.

I'm interested to try this blogs of the round table thing out. I'm not sure if I'm doing it seriously though, I haven't written with any real goal for a while and the practice is appreciated. Although now that I think about it a friend of mine who used to edit our uni's student mag wants to start a web magazine so this could turn out like a good warmup. I wonder if my aunt could give me editing advice; she's a freelance journo heh.

I was looking for more of Laura K Buzz's podcasts after deciding that she's probably the best Podquisition member. Instead of finding any of those I randomly decided to look up Justice Points after remembering that the Thumbs mentioned it as a similar cast that still talks about video games. It's a good listen, I don't know if I'll be regular with it since that's pretty dependant on how much Path of Exile I play a week but its good.

Game of Groans

I need Doom 4 in my life nowwwwwww. Can't wait for deathmatch.

Yessssssss That game is so special. Though I should probably stop beelining to San Fran to pick up all the goodies in early game. Y'know just watching that vid I started thinking that it might be fun to have some kind of mod where if you do have a vault born character in F4 that you do need to wear protective eyewear for the start of the game as you slowly adjust. Idk I think It'd be fun in the same vein as the Skyrim Wet and Cold mod having to perceive the world through some dinky eyewear before finally taking them off to see the vibrant details of the wasteland.

I'd be for toning down combat to big story beats or having a combat game in parallel. But more than a romance sim I'd love to see a game that showed deep bonds of friendship, ways to strain it, or repair rifts. It's disappointing to me that in DA you never grow beyond a working relationship with your peers. The only options to go deeper result in some kind of schoolyard flirt response and the entire camp gushing over the romance between you two.

I finally saw Mad Max: Fury Road. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh

I'm really interested to know what that's like, I used to know some people that went to it every year and these days I see my friends getting excited for it. Travel, ugh. I'm disappointed that Wellington lost its Cuba Street Carnival. I went to the last one ever in my mid teens and it seemed really fun; only this time I'd be going with my partner which would be wicked. :3 So far the nearest Big Gay Out is geographically closer but financially further than mardi gras. Oh one thing I'd really like to know is how Oxford Street is these days? I heard that due to liquor licensing laws in Kings Cross a lot of the traffic was being moved over to Oxford's area drawing regular punters into a traditionally queer space while also bringing in more bad eggs.

I don't think the E3 announcement is anything that gives credence. As to a top down combat system if there was one it'd largely be reliant on VATs and action points I would presume. Anyway with the VoiceOver and family plot of the trailer I wouldn't be too surprised if there was a more direct story this time around. If they were doing PC voice acting would it really be surprising that they only recorded for a male role? Anyway I'm still hoping that the setting feel is closer to the original games. Fallout 1 and 2 were my main jams and Fallout 3 never sat right with me. Sigh I'm trying to enjoy some dartboard speculation here! I don't need people going apeshit or ruining the fun, harrumph!

Casually browsing through reddit today I stumbled upon this post made 11 months ago by someone claiming to be a former employee. It possibly spoils the main plot, game, size, and gameplay options, and even the release schedule (if indeed it's true) but it's interesting and (given reference to The Institute last page) prescient. I'm more interested to play this after reading that. The story sounds vaguely closer to the original games. But potentially gender locking the main character doesn't impress me at all.

Well I'm excited to play this. But I'm kinda wary because I didn't enjoy Fallout 3 that much. I miss the old Infinity Engine games. But I'll still get it asap since I'm sure the modders will -as usual- make this Bethesda game amazing. That's why I can't fuss over the graphics either. You just know some cool ENB will come out in a week or two of release. Heck aren't there heaps of custom animation mods for Skyrim?

I still haven't seen it. Waiting two slow weeks for my B-Day. I have t kept myself from finding details about it. Can't wait to see mega badass Furiosa. Or the guitar guy haha.

I've been enjoying this quite a lot now more of my friends play it. I've messed around with the game on and off since alpha but it didn't really draw me in until a few weeks ago. It helps too that after my partner and I introduced an ex team mate to this game he went all out and got super into the competitive side of it and his infectious enthusiasm has been drawing me back in.

It's so gooood.

Just saw Kung Fury, loving it.

Given that HIV undergoes one of the fastest mutation rates of anything. I find it hard to imagine that a strain would be too exotic given that they're all constantly changing. Not that I'm very learned about HIV. But that mutation rate is one of the things that stuck with me after my cellular biology lectures. But a quick google did say that PCR doesn't pick up all forms of HIV so if that's the main way to test (I have nothing but ignorance here) then I guess that's grounds for someone to make that kind of restriction argument (but I don't want to imply that its the correct argument to make).

For gay men in NZ it's something like sixth months for younger people and for older people it's quite a few years. Anyway the boy and I are basically watching Game of Thrones out of obligation at this point. It's boring or crass most of the time. It tries so hard to be shocking its just dull. I hope The Others come along and take everyone soon. Meanwhile we've just started Penny Dreadful season 2 and it's really fun! We both enjoy that it actually takes the time to give specific characters whole episodes rather than juggling five complex plot lines over ten minutes each. We've just seen the best tv we've seen for months out of one in depth episode. We've wrapped up the latest Vikings season too. It's better than GoT but we're quietly hoping half the caste dies already with their go nowhere melodrama. At least all the ham in PD amounts to something. Oh and we're keen for Hannibal to start up in a few weeks.

Music: (calling them pop rock doesn't give them justice; I'm not armed with any deserving adjectives but they're really good and worth a listen.), (moody indie rock with fantastic instrumentation), (post-punk served with haunting menace), (genre bending blends of R&B Soul) Authors: (They're all contemp. fiction writers btw) Jennifer Egan - Her book A Visit From The Goon Squad is a book that examines quite the cast of characters linked in one way or another by the relationships they make at some point in their lives with each person highlighted at a time of great change in their lives. Lorrie Moore: Writes short stories that masterfully walk between humour and poignancy. Alice Munro: One of the greatest short story writers. She doesn't centre on plot as much as presence. She's known for juxtaposing the fantasies and mundanity of every day life. Well everyone's contemp. fiction except Eleanor Catton. You've probably heard of her book The Luminaries and it's worth a read though not for everyone. It's big on word count but the (good) plot takes a second seat to simply being with the characters, their interactions and observations. If you find it particularly exposition heavy know that softens up as the reader becomes grounded in the world. Actually plot takes a back seat in basically every author whose I've mentioned in one way or another.

I bit and got the game. At first I was having frame troubles on my 660gt but I turned a few post processing effects I hate off (blur) and got rid of hairworks, pushed everything else to high and started playing on a comfortable high 30's frame rate. As for the game I'm really loving it. I was playing the Witcher 2 to catch up but I'm happy to leave that game mid act 2 to start this (still enjoy 2 though). Currently the monster quests are the all star favourites even if they can be a bit simple. I'm on blood and broken bones and the games' pretty fun; I have to watch my way around most things or they'll wipe me which is fun. So far I think I like it more than Dragon Age 3 But that game isn't limited by role playing how Geralt would feel. So if I could take my Inquisitor and put her into this game I'd be super happy.

If it's a shooter I would like first person. If it's an RPG I specifically want the camera from Dark Souls 2. Or the old Infinity Engine perspective.