Gwardinen

Still lots of talk about the tournament in the Slack chat, details of which to join are in this thread: I encourage any new readers to join it if you're into that sort of thing. I sadly don't hang out there enough myself, and as a consequence almost missed playing in this tournament! Very glad that I got to participate.

FYI the tournament is currently being streamed at: https://www.twitch.tv/sadfinger Hopefully the video will be archived afterwards so that I can watch myself get crushed in the first round!

I couldn't agree more that Tarkin and Leia would have been just as effective if they had been mere glimpses or just hadn't turned around. I genuinely thought that's what was going to happen! When you first see Tarkin, you just see a CGI reflection in the window and I actually thought in the cinema "ha, that's a clever trick to get a nice cameo in" and then he turned around and was directly on screen for a super long time and I wondered what the fuck was going on. I also agree that the first part of the film is bizarrely rushed. They legitimately have flyovers with text of planet name on screen for at least 4 or 5 different locations within the first 10 minutes, many of which are never returned to. It's incredibly weird. In an odd sort of way the ending is also in a rush - but this time it's in a rush to tidy up continuity by murdering all of the main characters. It's not like I didn't see that coming, but actually watching it was a little strange. It's kind of like how player character death in the Call of Duty series started out surprising and affecting and by this point is de rigueur. Which is obviously a problem when you leave the deaths of your primary protagonists until the very end, ie. the least surprising and affecting spot. All of that said, though, in overview I did enjoy the film. The performances were good, the writing was at least decent and the set & costume design and CGI (apart from Tarkin and Leia, who in fairness were very accomplished pieces of CGI, it's just we're not there yet) and all of that stuff was excellent. Also, while the "everyone's a shade of grey!" stuff was a little in your face, particularly early on, it was nice to see a Star Wars film that isn't just pristine demigods fighting despicable demigods.

For me it's been a very mixed year. There are a lot of good games I've enjoyed, but there are also some that have been disappointing to me. Most of all, it's a year in which I've really been short on time and haven't gotten to play some things as much as I would have liked. In no particular order: Uncharted 4 - Certainly derivative in style and gameplay, but I can't help but continue to love the dialogue and characterisation. I especially liked that this time Naughty Dog started bringing in thoughts of how people like this could ever adjust to a normal life, and how being an adventuring demigod doesn't absolve you of the responsibility to be honest with your spouse (light touches of these thoughts, but still). In contrast to Henke, when I got to the end of the game I felt very satisfied. The epilogue hit all the right notes for me, and I felt that enjoyable bittersweet mix on bidding a set of characters farewell that you get when a series goes out at the right time in the right way. Dark Souls III - The best Souls game to date. Enough said, really. Again, it's not a revolution, but it steps forwards in all the ways I want it to. The world metanarrative has evolved a little more, the gameplay has evolved a little more, the systems like multiplayer have evolved a little more. I'm not sure anything will ever give me exactly the feeling I had playing Dark Souls for the first time again, but this was the mature capstone to the series I was pleased to experience. Supposedly there won't be straight line sequels to Dark Souls anymore, which I think is a good idea, but I certainly enjoyed this last one. XCOM 2 - XCOM: Enemy Unknown infiltrated my life to a profound degree, and this is really a neat iteration of the same formula (boy, I'm praising a lot of competent sequels this year). I thoroughly enjoyed the role reversal of being the sneaky rebellion, and it's to my shame that I didn't spend more time with this game. I definitely need to go back and finish it. Total War: Warhammer - I'm not sure I've played any game this year as much as I have Total Warhammer. I, like many fans of both franchises, have been begging for this pairing for at least a decade. It finally happened, and it was good. I don't have much more to say about this other than if you like either property you should try it, and if you like both you are almost guaranteed to dig it. World of Warcraft: Legion - I got back into WoW in a big way with Legion. While I dip back in with every expansion, it usually lasts for a month at most. This time it was more like four, and I truly enjoyed the vast majority of that time. I'm not even 100% sure I'm done, though I've let my subscription lapse again for the moment at least. Legion nailed it as an expansion, introducing a whole host of quality of life changes while giving the best produced levelling story WoW has had since Wrath of the Lich King. The Banner Saga 2 - Loved the first one, loved this one. Competent sequel again! Hitman - What the hell, who would have imagined that this troubled development leading to an episodic release for a series that has never entertained that possibility would work out so well? Easily a return to the quality of gameplay of Blood Money, with a bunch of nice modern improvements, but it was the episodic nature itself that really transformed things. I've never been the guy that has played Hitman levels multiple times, but in this game I haven't even tried half of the episodes because I'm still occasionally returning to ones I've already completed to try things out in a different way. Shame list: Rise of the Tomb Raider - I really enjoyed what I played of this game! I just somehow... didn't keep playing it. I should try to remedy that in 2017. The Last Guardian, Dishonored 2, Watch Dogs 2 - Have been looking forward to the Last Guardian for literally years, but I just don't have it yet. I group it together with Dishonored 2 and Watch Dogs 2 because I also simply don't own them yet, but I'm hopeful that when I get them I'll enjoy them. Darkest Dungeon - Boy I like this game. Boy I cannot seem to play it. I have never started a run that I haven't fallen off of in an hour through just feeling like I'm not getting anywhere. The updates that make the campaign take half as long (~40 hours rather than ~80) are a welcome step in the right direction, but honestly they'd probably have to cut it in half again for me to feel like I was going to give it another go. Firewatch - Underlined because wow I enjoyed the first hour of this game, and I feel fucking terrible for not having gone back to finish it yet, especially when I keep hearing such good things! Inside - Again, I've played a little. I played it with a friend and kept waiting for her to come back over so we could finish... but I may just finish it on my own now. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - I'm not sure whether it's me who should be ashamed or them. This was a game I had high hopes for, but... simply can't seem to get into. It's not that I don't enjoy it while I'm playing, but I feel no compulsion to start it back up once I close it down. Gears of War 4 - I bought this game after hearing good things, thinking I'd quickly finish Gears 3 and jump in. I've still not finished 3! Why am I so dumb?!

It's a good article, though I think using the linking of the flame as a philosophical counterpoint to endless iteration is somewhat fraught. The linking as perpetuation of a decaying cycle has its own interesting metanarratives that have been explored in depth in various parts of the internet, if anyone cares to look. It's actually why I chose the Lord of Hollows ending in this game, despite how horrifying that also is. I forget whether it's been mentioned here before, but I can't recommend the VaatiVidya YouTube channel enough for lore investigations of the Souls series, even if most of them are less focused on a meta/industry level than the article above.

Man, this book has been on my mental shelf for as long as I've known about it. Basically ever since I read the first essay I came across by David Foster Wallace (I think it was the tennis and maths one, but I've now read so many I've lost track) I've wanted to read this book. Yet I've also been so utterly unwilling to actually start it, knowing how long and involved it will be. I think I keep telling myself that there'll be a better time, when I'm less stressed/distracted/whatever, but as with most cases of that excuse, it's probably never actually going to be the perfect time. I'm actually right now reading a few of the essays in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again that I hadn't come across yet... and it's definitely bringing the Infinite Jest itch back. Maybe I should finally bite the bullet.

Sorry to hear about the stuff you're going through, Gormongous. I really hope things take an upwards turn for you, whatever shape that might take - if the last few years of my life have taught me anything, it's that we never really know what the turning points in our lives will bring. I hope you'll get to look back on that post in the future and think, "Wow, I never could have imagined all that would lead to <insert excellent situation here>!"

Me too... but I also think I still am. I've become utterly suspicious of Early Access over the past few years, and since this game is expected to remain in Early Access for at least 1-2 years... I'm very hesitant to jump in at this point.

Skimming through films released this year it struck me how few left a lasting impression on me. There were a lot of "yeah, that was ok" films this year, some of which have been mentioned by others - quintessential examples being Captain America: Civil War and Star Trek Beyond. They're indicative of a year that was fine in terms of films to me, but mostly nothing special. With that in mind, I'll just quickly mention a few that haven't come up in anyone's list yet: A War - Danish film about an army Captain who makes a questionable choice in the heat of battle and is then put on trial for it at home. Despite the sentence I just wrote, this film isn't really about what happens - I've described everything dramatic in terms of the plot simply by stating its premise. What it is, though, is a really solid exploration of a few characters linked by different intimate relationships - be they familial, romantic, or that of brothers in arms - and how we in western society continue to be deeply unclear about what we want from our soldiers. For the Love of Spock - Documentary that began as a project of Leonard Nimoy and his son for Star Trek's 50th anniversary. After Nimoy's death, his son continued to develop the documentary as a story both of Spock's creation and evolution and his father's own life alongside the character. It ended up being a nice blend of interesting behind the scenes tales mixed in with touching family trivia and a seemingly quite honest look at a complex man and the inspiring character he embodied. Deadpool - I include this as a talking point mostly because it's the anti-example to the "meh" inducers I mentioned earlier. While I didn't really get too excited by Civil War, and Batman v Superman was outright crap, this was a super hero film I genuinely got behind. It's never going to be in a Criterion collection (unless it kicks off a wave of R-rated comic book films, and please Hollywood that is not the lesson to take from it) but it was a film that was actually funny and exciting and charismatic, qualities that many other blockbusters only pretend to.

Yeah wood elves are a pain in the arse to play but their units are so damn cool. As for victory conditions, there actually is a button for it in the campaign just above the end turn button. I believe the keyboard shortcut is <9>.

I swear I'd have come up with a better thread title if I had enough sleep. Is anyone playing Gears of War 4? I'm considering picking it up since I've heard some good things, despite some concerns about the PC performance. I'm curious as to whether anyone would be up for Horde Mode or even campaign coop with some Thumbs.

I suppose in a sense that fits with the road trip aesthetic and theme they're shooting for. On a road trip you don't explore every corner of the places you drive though - you just look out the window at the landscape rolling by until you get to your next stop. On the other hand the fact that you constantly go back to certain outposts breaks that feeling again.

Yeah I'm currently enjoying it too, though only a couple hours in so far. Also, the semi-prequel tie-in anime series on YouTube, called Brotherhood, is surprisingly not shit!

I do quite like the Voyager intro. I used to get its theme mixed up with Fanfare for the Common Man a lot and was therefore unreasonably pleased when my mum took me to a concert when I was younger and they played Fanfare. Also, has anyone watched For the Love of Spock? It's a documentary made by Adam Nimoy, Leonard Nimoy's son, that they had begun working on for Star Trek's 50th anniversary before Leonard died. So it shifted focus and became all about Leonard Nimoy's life as well as the creation and effects of the Spock character.

Yeah I do actually have a headset but the Xbox Live interface on PC is a bit weird and I wasn't 100% sure how to get voice chat working. Also for whatever reason I had massive server issues and kept getting disconnected and lag. Even so, the little I got to play with you guys was fun and I can tell the Horde mode would be enjoyable to mess about with on various maps.

I've only done one Horde match so far so I'm a level 2 Soldier and nothing else. I'm in the UK, not sure about Badfinger. I may just leave the Xbox Windows app open and keep an eye out this weekend.

I sent a request to the club. My Gamertag is Lord Tydeus because I haven't used Xbox Live for like 10 years and other dumb reasons. As for times, I'm actually around most of this weekend so if anyone wants to get some Horde going I'm up for it.

My understanding is that they can in everything but Versus Multiplayer. Presumably to avoid the whole mouse + keyboard vs controller thing.

David Cameron put 'private part' in dead pig's mouth, shock biography claims Not making a point here - I also thought the pig episode was crap but I also thought it would be funny to note how this bizarrely similar news story came up a few years after the Black Mirror episode for those of you who may not have heard about it. So far I have only watched the first episode of the new season, but I enjoyed it. Well, actually I found it kind of horrifying, but in a good way.

I signed up for the USS Venture in Europe (dunno whether it's actually region-locked or how they're intending to do it).

This was always a big thing to me in procedural shows. I don't watch many anymore, but when I watched Castle, for example, or when Without a Trace was on when I got home I would often encounter this phenomenon. When the suspects in any given case are two guys you've never seen before and one recognisable character actor who does the rounds of all the procedurals... you know who it is.

Just wanted to echo this recommendation. Boy howdy that show is good. It's also one of the best sources for going "oh shit it's them" at least once an episode as you recognise an actor who would later become famous.

Certainly! I probably can't do Mondays or Thursdays, but otherwise that sounds like a good time could be had by all. I have never used Roll20 before, but I hear good things.

I know, right? WoW? Does anyone even still play that? Well, I'm looking to at least try to get back in for a while when the Warlords of Draenor expansion comes out in just over a month. To this end, I want to get either my level 80 druid (at the start of Cataclysm content) or my level 85 death knight (at the start of Mists of Pandaria content) up to level 90 in preparation. I'm in the EU region, which is probably a dealbreaker, but server may or may not be. Ideally, it'd be cool to find either one dedicated Thumb to level with, or several like-minded Thumbs to all casually quest together. Is anyone else feeling the itch to go Adventurin' in Azeroth once more? Alternatively, does anyone know how one finds cool people in MMOs to play with these days? I wouldn't even know where to start to discover a good guild to join.

I'm actually playing a PbP campaign of the Sprawl right now. As I said in one of the other threads, it's too early for me to fully review it, but early signs are good. I love the focus on narratively driving character actions and having the system really just be a way of facilitating that. Regarding concerns about playing it with people you don't know... I think it requires more of the players than a more rigid system does, yes. You have to trust that people actually are going to play their characters rather than play the system. I don't, however, believe that by happening to have gone to dinner with the people you're playing with you guarantee that will be the case (nor obviously can you say that people you don't know will be bad at it). My PbP group is a mix of people I have played with before and people I haven't, and the ones who are impressing me most do not all fall on a particular side of that line.