Pearlmania

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  1. Full disclosure: I only made it about 15 minutes into this episode before I arrived at work but I look forward to hearing the rest this afternoon. I've been following DOW3 quite closely for a long time and I am absolutely thrilled with how it turned out. The campaign is pretty bland but it does serve as a decent intro to faction mechanics. It's also a good way to level up some of the elite units. It's still early on in this game's lifecycle but so far I think it's future looks bright. I was worried after the beta when I saw the DOW forum and subreddit filled with posts of "How do I win with faction X" or "Faction X can't beat Faction Y" but when I looked closer those posts were generally even for all factions. People were complaining that they couldn't win with eldar or space marines or orks in pretty equal volume. Personally, I have only played about 20 1v1 matches since launch and so far I have been able to counter quite effectively depending on what my opponent decides to field. Sure, sometimes I get steamrolled but that's just how it goes. I think the inclusion of Lords Management-Lite elements gives the game focus and allows for really good back and forth. It's possible to destroy shield generators quite easily with tier 0 or tier 1 units if your opponent isn't on their game but you'll need to tech up a bit before taking on the turrets. On the other hand if your opponent is getting ahead of you on map control sacrificing a few line units by assaulting their shield generator or harassing their back line resource points can buy you the needed time to come back and remain competitive. Hopefully they add some more maps and game modes as time goes on. I haven't tried 2v2 or 3v3 yet because I generally don't like being yelled at by randoms online when I make a mistake, Hopefully I will dip my toes in soon. Anyways, I look forward to hearing the rest of this episode and keep up the good work!
  2. Episode 392: Steel Division: Normandy 44

    I'm excited to give this a try. I played Red Dragon but found its systems almost impenetrable to a newbie. Are there any good let's plays or resources to help a Wargame noob git gud?
  3. R & D, Choice paralysis is such a HUGE bummer when it comes to entertainment. I've spent the last year and a bit working through the feelings you describe at the beginning of this episode and I think it really tarnished my gaming / movie time. My solution? Self Imposed constraints. A while ago I deleted all the games I wasn't 100% in on and set my library to show installed only. My library now only shows Total War: Warhammer, Darkest Dungeon, and Oxenfree, the three games I am currently playing. This has HUGELY improved my gaming experience. By limiting my choice I am more content to spend time with what is installed instead of trying to pick the perfect title for my mood. Every so often I open my entire game library and scroll through it to see if there is anything I want to install and then I make changes accordingly. I know I have Dishonored 2 waiting for me in my Steam Library but I won't install it until I'm finished with one of the three games I have installed right now. If it was Installed I would hesitate and wonder if I was making the right choice every time I open of Total Warhammer and I'm still having a great time with those campaigns. Netflix is by far the worst offender. I work long hours, study for a professional designation in my spare time, and have social/ familial obligations just like everyone else. When I get my movie or TV time later on in the night the last thing I want to do is scroll Netflix trying to pick the best option. It's pretty upsetting if you really think about what you're doing. Sometimes you can find something good but usually you watch the best of what's available soon after they update the selection. Our brains aren't wired to deal with too much choice and once we commit to something our minds will work to convince us that we have made the right decision. Try imposing some constraints on the amount of choice available to you, even if it is superficial like my example above, it will make a huge difference. There's a great Episode of NPR's Hidden Brain about this, check it out. Episode 42: Decide Already. The first half deals with too much choice.
  4. Episode 371: 3MA After Dark

    Great topic! I have been interested in tabletop war games / board games for quite a while now but, surprise surprise, none of my friends are in to that scene. As an untested newbie I feel intimidated about trying to break into table top gaming and I don't know where to start. Can you recommend any good war games for beginners? I live in Toronto and wholeheartedly endorse a 3MA game night. Even if I can't bring it with war games I can definitely carry on a long conversation about the Witcher 3.
  5. I share Danielle's sentiment on No Man's Sky. I really enjoy blasting around between planets in floating in space. My enjoyment starts to wain whenever the collection mechanics get their hooks in me though. Running around collecting plutonium so I can refill my launch thrusters is a huge downer. Once there's a third person mod (I'm playing on PC) for space flight I'll probably just leave it running and float around in space forever.
  6. The new console upgrade system has me really, really down. I really enjoy my PS4 and WiiU but I do NOT want to pay to upgrade them every couple of years. Recently I've been thinking about upgrading my CPU and jumping on the GTX 1070 train, maybe that's a better choice. Like you point out in this week's episode, when I upgrade my PC I also get more power for a bunch of other stuff. The buy in seems better to me. Maybe I'm just old though, maybe the kids want to buy new shit every two years.
  7. DOOM is just the greatest. Like the hosts, I had middling to minimal expectations for the campaign and was THRILLED to discover how great it is. I am digesting the campaign quite slowly, one level every couple of days, and I enjoy every second of it. I usually game with headphones because my wife and I share a small apartment and she can't help coming over to see what I am snickering or chuckling about every 10 minutes. The industrial metal soundtrack, the blood, the demon limb tearing and head smashing, it's just so fun. It's also incredible how well optimized it is for PC. It runs at blistering speeds on my fairly dated gaming rig. Really into it.
  8. Total Warhammer

    Really into it so far. The last Total War I played was Shogun 2 and nothing since then has really done it for me. I was a huge Warhammer fan as a teen so maybe that has something to do with the rose coloured glasses I have for Total Warhammer.
  9. Thanks for the reply! I have of course seen the films listed above but I will definitely check out some of the rest as I am in need of a new film project. As an aside I found a complete set of Evangelion DVDs at a local bookstore for 60 bucks and I snatched them up. What a steal.
  10. Great episode as usual! There have been a few discussions about cyberpunk on the Idle Network in the last little while. I'm a child of the 80's so I really should be conversant in cyberpunk but I am not. Can we bring the considerable brainpower of this forum to bear and create a list of must - consume cyberpunk media? I would love to educate myself. Books, movies, games, comics, interpretive dance, whatever.
  11. Episode 343: XCOM 2

    What a hot topic. I think XCOM 2 is a lot of fun but I still struggle to understand what's going on with the economy. The game is still way to buggy to attempt an ironman run but hopefully they will roll out some patches soon. RE: The Economy. Maintaining a steady stream of supplies seems to be the most difficult task. There are so many different items and weapons you can buy this time around and definitely not enough supplies to manage them. Playing on anything above rookie it seems like you run out of money really fast. Gotta get those supplies.
  12. Yeah, I hear that. As a Canadian who didn't grow up with football, American or Canadian (the distinction is another conversation entirely), putting an NFL game on is like watching something from another planet. It seems boring and slow but I understand that there is an incredible amount of strategy and depth behind that. I think to watch an E sport you need a certain amount of buy-in of the aesthetic, if not the fiction, of the game.
  13. Two things. Thing 1: I really like your show. Strategy games don't get a lot of time on my PC but I still find your show fascinating as a deep dive into one aspect of gaming culture and it is almost always interesting even if I don't have a clue what game you're talking about. Keep it up! Thing 2: What streams, videos, or tutorials would you recommend I watch as a good introduction into the SCII scene? I have zero grasp of things like hotkeying production and the difference VS Micro and Macro. I bought Wings of Liberty when it came out because I played the original back in the eighth grade and wanted to get on board with 2. I finished the campaign then gave up on it quickly once I realized I couldn't hack it online.
  14. How have I not played Super Metroid!? I'm a child of the 80's and I had a snes for way too long. Wait I still have my snes. Anyways. After last weeks episode Super Metroid is the next game on my to do list.
  15. Episode 326: State of the RTS

    I think that the points made about wanting to play RTS matches with friends is really important. I'm 31. That means I grew up with Dune 2, played the shit out of Command and Conquer, and had a great time with Starcraft. I really enjoy RTS campaigns but I am just not that into playing with randos who can crush me in 3 minutes. I like playing against my friends once the campaign is over but I just can't hack it against the rest of the internet. It's hard to convince someone to buy a game just to play a few matches when they spend all of their time playing something else.