Looks interesting, but I gotta be honest: when I click on the Steam page and the first thing I see is a cash shop to buy “Epoch Points” for this early access game? That’s an instant turn-off for me. I’m sure it’s not as predatory as what Blizzard did with D4’s monetization, but I don’t want it in my games, period.

Re-Logic (Terraria’s developers) have already gone on record saying, "even if Unity were to recant their policy and statements, the destruction of trust is not so easily repaired.” That’s the stance I think every developer should be taking. Unless you have a Unity game that can be released by the end of the year, all devs need to seriously consider switching engines.

I hadn’t heard about those changes, but that’s quite a relief. I hated traveling to individual ripperdoc clinics to snag all the best upgrades. Especially because the best cyberware for your frontal cortex can only be bought from a VDB ripper in Pacifica, and I didn’t want to give those assholes any of my eddies.

I only have a small amount of experience with generating images using AI models, but I have found this to be true. It’s like making a photocopy of a photocopy. The results can be unintentionally hilarious though.

Her seat is not in danger, but there’s infighting over who will replace her. If Feinstein resigns, California’s governor gets to appoint her replacement, and Gavin Newsom is likely to appoint a black woman if given the opportunity. Rumor has it that Nancy Pelosi wants Adam Schiff to replace Feinstein though, so she is pushing for the 90 year old Senator to finish her term.

Feinstein’s caretaker also happens to be Pelosi’s daughter. That’s not a conflict of interest at all.

You run the risk of being ostracized by a conservative social group if you share any opinion that contradicts the teachings of the church school. I’m straight, but the hicks I went to high school with shouted every homophobic slur they knew at me anyway, because my opinions sounded “gay” to them.

That being said, you could tell her that the church has held opinions in the past, which they decided to change when we learned more about the world. The church persecuted Galileo for suggesting that the Earth revolves around the Sun. They called Leonardo da Vinci a necromancer for studying human anatomy. And 98 years ago, Christians wanted to hang John Scopes for teaching evolution in Tennessee.

Basically, if you can’t tell her directly, you can at least suggest that the church is not infallible when it comes to certain topics. Again though, people will consider you subversive even if all you’re doing is relaying pure, historical facts. There’s no safe way to contradict a zealot.

Either the Democrats need to make some big changes internally, or a third party is going to have to break up the current duopoly. The current Democratic party sucks, as an effective opposition to the Republicans. The GOP just keeps drifting further to the far-right, and the Democrats continue to compromise even though the demands are becoming more extreme. This drags the whole government toward more conservative policies, regardless of which party is winning the elections.

Change isn’t going to happen when you have an aging centrist like Biden in the Oval Office. Governing by compromise is all he knows how to do. And yet, the Democrats still think they’re “winning” even though the GOP is actively twisting their arm with every policy they try to pass. We need more people in Congress who are actually liberals, not centrists, and recognize that the current system isn’t working for anyone outside outside of the 1%. Until that happens, the far-right is just going to keep turning up the heat, and the rest of the country is going to be stuck sitting there like a frog in a pot of water that is slowly being brought to a boil.

I refuse to believe this decision was influenced, in any way, by any actual consideration of the U.S. Constitution. There’s no reasonable interpretation of that document which would provide sufficient justification to rule the relief plan unconstitutional. This was a political decision, pure and simple, by a government body that is supposed to be apolitical. Just like every other branch of government, the judiciary has become corrupted by billionaire donors and turned into a polarized mockery of its original intent. No wonder public opinion of the Supreme Court is in the toilet. They’re no better than Congress these days.

The base game has improved considerably since launch, though it still lacks some promised content and performance will vary depending on your hardware. I have a PC with a Ryzen 7 and a RTX 2070, which can run the game well enough, but have not tried it on a machine with an AMD video card.

I think the base game might still be on sale and now might be a good time to pick it up for 50% off. Major updates will still be coming to the base game even if you don’t buy Phantom Liberty… including vehicle combat, I believe.

Considering how well the Super Mario movie worked out for Illumination, I’m expecting to hear something about a new movie or short TV series. Maybe more Mario, maybe Legend of Zelda. In any case, there’s no way Nintendo won’t be going hard in that direction now that they see what a gold mine it is.

Andromeda is fine as long as you don’t compare it to the core Mass Effect trilogy. Ryder is no Shepard, and none of your squadmates are as memorable as Garrus, Tali, Mordin and the rest. But take the game as its own thing, and it’s a pretty good time.

Yep, Live Another Life is usually in my list too. I inevitably wind up downloading a mod that breaks the wagon scene, so it’s a life saver.

Modding Skyrim is a rabbit hole that leads straight into the Mines of Moria. And the Balrog has opened an adult bookstore.

Nothing wrong with that answer! Skyrim can even be played in 3rd person, and there are mods to make 3rd person combat more satisfying if you get it on PC.

Nikki Haley’s parents were Sikh immigrants, originally from Punjab. And she’s calling for an increase in deportations. I don’t get it, either.

The last FPS I really got into was Overwatch, and my two mains (Mercy and Reinhardt) weren’t gun fighters. Some FPS games actually try to innovate, like Titanfall, and while I can’t get into them, I can see the appeal. But then there’s the Call of Duty and Battlefield series, which largely give us the same gameplay over and over again. I know they’re popular for a reason, and they continue to sell really well, but… yeah. I just don’t get it.

I thought “Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion” was a game trying a little too hard to be quirky, with an attention-grabbing title and little depth beyond one or two jokes.

That game… went places. Places I did not expect.

Chrono Trigger, for so many reasons. The soundtrack is outstanding. The use of time travel, with little moments where you affect the world in 1000 AD by making changes in 600 AD, is very satisfying. It has a New Game + feature with multiple endings to explore. The gameplay, particularly double and triple techs, was great too. Because of that gameplay, the choices you make for who you put on your team have meaning. Last but not least, the story gives every character you recruit some personal moments and a reason why they’re hanging around with you.

I honestly think that Chrono Trigger is a game that nailed every essential element, and is the closest I’ve come to playing a perfect video game.

They actually brought back the Annoying Adoring Fan from the Arena in Elder Scrolls IV. Same voice actor and everything.

I agree, BioWare does not need to be devoting its resources to SW:TOR at this point. It’s been out for a good, long while and the fact is, MMORPGs are not big money-makers these days. There was a huge wave of them in the wake of WoW’s success but none of them were able to achieve the kind of market success, player base or staying power of WoW. That ship has sailed, and it’s only appropriate to let the BioWare devs get back to doing what they do best.

I don’t have high hopes for the next Dragon Age game, but would love to be pleasantly surprised. They’ve changed directions so many times during the development of that game, so I’m expecting the end result to be a mess. Mass Effect gives me slightly more hope as a possible return to form for BioWare though, if they learn from Andromeda’s missteps and focus on what made the original trilogy (particularly the first two games) great.