Idle Thumbs 121: (I Know You're Having Fun But) I'm Still Working

[Jake]

Idle Thumbs 121:

(I Know You're Having Fun But) I'm Still Working

Everyone plays Super Pole Riders and has a blast, Sean pushes Papo & Yo, Jake grapples with the reality of Plants vs Zombies 2, and Lord Remo deigns to tell you which Star Wars movies are good and which are bad. Pay $3.99 or listen to two additional episodes to unlock Nick Breckon.

Games Discussed: Super Pole Riders, Rockstar Table Tennis, Papo & Yo, Plants vs. Zombies 2, Scurvy Scalawags, Star Wars: TIE Fighter, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Far Cry 2

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[TychoCelchuuu]

That Idle Thumbs is, in 2013, talking about TIE Fighter is the reason why there never has been and never will be a podcast that can even hope to approach it in quality.

[tegan]

Just starting, but I think it's hilarious that Chris is now Lord Chris Remo when only a few weeks ago you mused about Nick Breckon being secret royalty.

 

EDIT: Nick can totally become Lord Breckon of Scotland for pocket change.

 

 

EDIT: on creators and digital content: Prince has gone to ridiculous extents to keep his music offline. He's gone on record as comparing the internet to MTV and says that he thinks the internet is a fad that's run its course.

[Coods]

Wait what? I need to hear more about Sean's 400 dollar Dota item.

[chummer]

Wait what? I need to hear more about Sean's 400 dollar Dota item.

Was Sean the person Brad Shoemaker was referring to in a recent Bombcast? Gian Bomb guys stealing from Idle Thumbs again!

[Twig]

I've got a couple hundreds of dollars Dota 2 items sitting in my inventory.

[Henroid]

Okay. Wait.

 

Chris. Are you sure your story wasn't you being a part of some candid camera bit for some show (be it TV or web or shitty YouTube channel)?

[Cleinhun]

Doft Punk.

 

Edit, so this post isn't total dumb bullshit:

I have not played PvZ2 (I don't have an ipad) but I've heard that playing as though the microtransactions don't exists is an acceptable way to play. I would like to believe that one could design a game to be dificult for the players who want hard games, and then add microtransactions to make it playable for the much larger group of "casual" players. Is PvZ2 that game? I dunno, I'm just some dumb internet dude who didn't even play the game.

[White]

What was the name of the website they mentioned?  "Hit the reset button" or something like that?  

 

I can't find it.

 

Please and thank you 

 

Also, could you guys (at least Jake  ) play Path of Exile and talk about it to some extent?  I know you don't dig the old school action RPG genre but this one is really cool and totally free.  There are micro transactions but they're all cosmetic and presented subtly in the UI.  

 

Thanks again!

Edited August 29, 2013 by White

[Sno]

On the topic of indie games always coming to Steam, it's worth pointing out that it's the XBLA games that are coming to Steam. (Even ones directly published by Microsoft.)

The ones published by Sony to PSN stay on PSN.

It's rather unfortuante.

[thestalkinghead]

what if the guy just had a nosebleed and it freaked out the big guy, so he moved seats

[melmer]

I bought Chris his title

My friend at work was reading an article about people who have bought titles and we were joking that we should get some, so i did some research and came across this bad boy

I did consider getting a full house of peerages for the thumbs crew, but i couldn't justify spending the money considering a hadn't yet bought my own mother a birthday present which was only a few days away (bad son, i ended up going for the age old classic of flowers and cash)

Anyway, it's just my way of saying thank you as i never backed the kickstarter

Why Chris? Because he just wears it so damn well

If you are in a similar boat as i was and missed out on backing the kickstarter but want to give something back, why not buy a gift for a thumb of your choosing! Here are some suggestions...

Sean: Hire an Obama look-a-like for an afternoon of competitive sport

Nick: A baby doll that pees jack Daniels when you squeeze it

Jake: A robot that may or may not murder him in his sleep

side note, you can play a web based version of poleriders for free

http://www.foddy.net/2011/11/poleriders/

[mikemariano]

"Nick Breckon is on assignment—on the other side of the room, pouring himself a drink and playing SkiFree."

I miss Nick Breckon.

[Roswell47]

You never gave away the Cyborg!?

[melmer]

What was the name of the website they mentioned?  "Hit the reset button" or something like that?  

 

http://www.hitselfdestruct.com/

Raising Kane: http://www.hitselfdestruct.com/2013/07/raising-kane.html

The Dogs of Summer: http://www.hitselfdestruct.com/2013/08/the-dogs-of-summer.html

[Colourful Stuff]

What if Chris, so ensorceled by his crossword, failed to notice a third man eviscerated and consumed by phone man. The big guy must have been terrified.

[feelthedarkness]

Lord Remo really ought to change his username.

[mikemariano]

Thanks for reading my Shadowrun letter!  It was really odd playing that Double Indemnity user mission, especially because they let you import a character.  So my female dwarf shaman was spouting all of Fred MacMurray's lines.  But the parts the mission got right were surprisingly on target.

 

Shadowrun Returns user missions also can have this quasi-episodic distribution on Steam.  Many of the missions I'm playing are only half-finished, with ending messages like, "Stay tuned for an automatic update that will add the next chapter!"  It's a lot of fun to see people just throw up a map and say, "watch it grow into a campaign!"

[Cbirdsong]

Chris and Sean and anyone else planning to play Brothers when it comes out on Steam next week: play it with an Xbox 360 controller. I don't want to be too specific,

but there are parts in that game will only work emotionally when using two analog sticks.

Don't highlight that if I've already convinced you.

 

_{I am trying to be as vague as possible to avoid creating expectations that I didn't have when I played it. I hope I don't sound like a crazy person.}

 

 

 

I have not played PvZ2 (I don't have an ipad) but I've heard that playing as though the microtransactions don't exists is an acceptable way to play. I would like to believe that one could design a game to be dificult for the players who want hard games, and then add microtransactions to make it playable for the much larger group of "casual" players. Is PvZ2 that game? I dunno, I'm just some dumb internet dude who didn't even play the game.

 

The problem is that even if PvZ2 is this game, it's constantly asking you for money and not letting you just relax and enjoy the game. You're constantly having to analyze the design and try and figure out if the game has stopped being balanced around fun and has started being balanced around being just hard enough to get you to pay.

[Problem Machine]

http://www.hitselfdestruct.com/

Raising Kane: http://www.hitselfdestruct.com/2013/07/raising-kane.html

The Dogs of Summer: http://www.hitselfdestruct.com/2013/08/the-dogs-of-summer.html

Argh. So good.

Makes me feel like a bit of a fraud for even trying to write.

[Chris]

I bought Chris his title

 

Hahaha, cheers.

[melmer]

you owe me a cheese burger

[Dualhammers]

I bought Chris his title

That image is so wonderful.

[Berzee]

you owe me a cheese burger

You also have a month to change your mind and spend the $30 on ever more cheeseburgers!

(P.S. I really like how part of their website is still lorem ipsum )

[tegan]

Next time there's a guest on the podcast, they have to address Chris as "my liege."