shammack

The World of Tanks ad was less weird to me than the Lootcrate ones. This one just felt like reading ad copy to pay the bills, whereas the Lootcrate ones felt like struggling to come up with something to say about a product that nobody was really into (which was more amusing, but made me feel awkward by proxy). But I don't have a problem with any of the ads so far being on the podcast.

Given that the OP explicitly stated that he both was an introvert and had social anxiety, I don't really see how making the distinction is relevant in this case.

The only online multiplayer I enjoy is when you can't communicate with the other players and might as well be playing against bots (like Mario Kart or Hearthstone), or when there's a persistent world shared between multiple players but you're not required to actually interact with them (like Minecraft). Oh, and Snoopy Flying Ace is OK.

You can't buy individual cards. You can buy packs, which are random, and if you get cards you don't want, you can convert them into "dust," which you can then use to craft the specific cards you want. (Of course crafting a card costs way more dust than you get for disenchanting it.) You can actually do OK with just the cards you unlock by playing the game, though. I've been playing sporadically for a couple of months and still haven't crafted a single card or put any actual money into it. I'm not highly ranked or anything but I also don't give a shit.

But what if there weren't enough medicine for everybody and you had to go around and choose whom to give it to

Every month, I feel like I have to play enough of this game to get to rank 20 and unlock that month's card back, so I do, but it feels like kind of a chore. I don't give enough of a shit to pay any attention to the "meta," so I'm at an immediate disadvantage against anyone who does. I tend to concede a lot if it looks like I'm not likely to be able to win, because finishing out the match just ends up being wasted time. I enjoy unlocking stuff in this game but I'm not sure if I actually enjoy playing it.

A couple of days ago I tried to play Neverwinter Nights 2 on Steam, but the game wouldn't accept any keyboard controls. I could type things into text fields to name my character and save games and stuff, but none of the keys for actually controlling anything during gameplay worked. So I gave up and uninstalled it. Today I tried to play XCOM Enemy Unknown on Steam, but I couldn't click on anything. The mouse cursor moved, but it didn't register any clicks on the main menu. By using the keyboard I was able to navigate some parts of the menu far enough to start a game, but then I got into the tutorial and couldn't complete the first thing where it asks you to right-click to move to a spot. Right-clicking and double-clicking caused something to happen, like the camera would zoom in and out or grid lines would appear, but I still remained unable to actually click on anything. I also tried using a controller, and some buttons sort of worked, but not enough to actually play the game. So I guess I'm giving up and uninstalling it. PC gaming is pretty awesome

Paying $10 or more for this week's Humble Weekly Bundle gets you Euro Truck Simulator 2 with an "exclusive" paint job pack -- Fantasy Paint Jobs. (Plus some other games I guess.) Do I hate myself enough to pay $10 for a texture of a wizard?

Yeah, I'm glad I didn't bother to care about Club Nintendo this year. Having to fill out those surveys isn't worth the cost of a virtual console game. I at least want some tangible piece of crap that will take up space in my apartment.

Really? Why? I was never really able to get into that one. My favorites are A Wonderful Life and Friends of Mineral Town.

That part could have used a trigger warning for people who have recently had to euthanize pets. (Not really; that would be ludicrous. But I didn't enjoy that part very much.)

Are we talking about the wheel that came with Mario Kart Wii, or is there a new one for 8? I tried the Wii one when that came out and couldn't get the hang of it at all; it seemed way too imprecise and the wheel was still basically only the same size as a Wii remote. And unlike an actual steering wheel, it doesn't re-center itself, so just driving in a straight line is a challenge. I guess it's possible to get used to it eventually, but it didn't seem any more intuitive to me than just using a controller.

Who wants Euro Truck Simulator 2 screenshots?! SCS Software were having a competition for screenshots that showed off interesting uses of the new metallic paints DLC. I submitted this one and it got chosen as an "editor's pick" on the World of Trucks site, which will supposedly get me an achievement in-game once the game is updated to have achievements. This game looks pretty nice sometimes. Delivering to a really sketchy-looking quarry Need more lights Ramping off a bridge Mistakes were made.

"Islam is the light!" - Chris Remo, video game baby

People seem to like the Twilight one. I've never really been able to get into Rifftrax that much either. It tends to be a little too mean-spirited for me. It probably also doesn't help that since they have to sync the audio with people's copy of the movie, they can't do any editing or interstitial bits. I don't know if you've tried Cinematic Titanic already, but it feels a lot closer to the spirit of MST3K to me.

I start at 20% and then round up to the next dollar because I'm too lazy to do simple arithmetic.

I ended up with: Gunpoint Witcher 2 Scania Truck Driving Simulator Skyrim Legendary Edition several Euro Truck Simulator 2 paint job packs SpaceChem Octodad: Dadliest Catch Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons The Blackwell Bundle World of Subways 3: London Underground Circle Line for a total of $43.93 (after factoring in trading card wheeling and dealing). Not too bad.

Happy birthday to subbes as well!

I used to think that the running gag about Jake not playing video games and hating them was just a joke, but now that I make games for a living I totally understand.

The competition thing seems pretty bizarre. You apparently only get points for crafting badges, and you only have a chance of winning free games if your team wins on a day when you contributed points. So you're incentivized to only craft anything if it looks like your team is going to win that day, otherwise those points just go to waste. (Also, the winning team gets extra cards, making it easier for them to win again.) So if your team is way behind, it's probably going to stay way behind since no one's going to want to throw away their cards on it when they might have a better chance saving them for the next day. Am I missing a part that makes this make sense?

The weird Mercedes-Benz Mario Kart DLC is confirmed for America. Part of me wants to be grossed out by this, but I can't really because I find it too funny. Look at Mario in his tiny luxury car! (Although, what the hell, Mercedes will do this, but Euro Truck Simulator 2 has to use a fake brand name for the Mercedes trucks?)

I still don't get it.

But there is a mechanic where certain guards will have a "distract opportunity" where your character sends them text messages capitalizing on their secrets as a way of getting them to stop paying attention to guarding so you can get by. I don't know whether their sexuality is one of the possible pieces of information that gets used in that mechanic, but it's inaccurate to say that none of those facts are ever used as anything more than flavor text.