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computers / comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action / Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?

SubjectAuthor
* What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Spalls Hurgenson
+* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Justisaur
|`- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?rms
+- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Dimensional Traveler
+- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Ant
+* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?rms
|`- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Spalls Hurgenson
+- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?rms
+* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Zaghadka
|`* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Spalls Hurgenson
| +- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Zaghadka
| `* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
|  `* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Mike S.
|   `* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Zaghadka
|    +- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Ross Ridge
|    +- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
|    `* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Spalls Hurgenson
|     +- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Zaghadka
|     `- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
+* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
|`* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?rms
| +* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
| |+* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?rms
| ||`- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
| |`* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Zaghadka
| | `* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
| |  +* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Spalls Hurgenson
| |  |`- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Dimensional Traveler
| |  `* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Zaghadka
| |   `- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
| `- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
+* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Anssi Saari
|`- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Spalls Hurgenson
+* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Xocyll
|+* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Zaghadka
||`* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Xocyll
|| +* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Metal Guru
|| |+- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Spalls Hurgenson
|| |+* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
|| ||`* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Spalls Hurgenson
|| || `- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
|| |+* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Zaghadka
|| ||+* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Justisaur
|| |||+- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Xocyll
|| |||`- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
|| ||`- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?JAB
|| |`* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Xocyll
|| | `- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Zaghadka
|| `- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Zaghadka
|`* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Mike S.
| `* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Justisaur
|  `* Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Mike S.
|   `- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Xocyll
`- Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?Pr. Mandrake

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Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?

<tuc77u$1c88h$5@dont-email.me>

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From: now...@nochance.com (JAB)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2023 09:00:43 +0000
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 by: JAB - Thu, 9 Mar 2023 09:00 UTC

On 07/03/2023 00:43, Zaghadka wrote:
> On Mon, 6 Mar 2023 06:25:14 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action, Metal
> Guru wrote:
>
>> It should be noted that RepubliQans appropriated the word from the
>> African American community, where it describes someone aware of racial
>> injustice and social inequality.
>
> To be fair, Gen-Z appropriated it first on college campuses. One of my
> daughter's old, and very white, friends described things as "woke" as a
> compliment, long before the so-called conservatives did as a perjorative.
>
> I have african American friends who simultaneously considered that
> culture appropriation and were disgusted by it, even though those kids
> had the best of intentions.
>
> *Then* Republicans turned it, along with CRT, into a battle cry. Now the
> term is meaningless.
>

Here in the UK it never gained any real popularity as a positive and
went straight to a negative. We even had a senior politician standing up
in our House of Commons complaining about the wokeyiaty being why people
thought her policies were rubbish. It makes you wonder where the adults
are in the room if that's what passes for political discourse.

It's not just the baggage that goes with it but also the way it's used
as a frankly lazy argument. Woke is bad, your opinion is woke therefore
you opinion is bad. For me it's just the flip-side of calling someone a
fascist.

> Frankly, the lot of them can all just stop. Social Media has turned
> nearly everyone participating in it into a ranting, thin-skinned,
> provincial, bubble-bound fool.
>
> I watched it for long enough, participated occasionally to say WTF, was
> having panic attacks from witnessing all the brutality coming from all
> sides, and got the hell off. In conjunction with my therapist's hearty
> approval.
>

At the end of last year I decided to re-evaluate my use of social media
to get rid of what I didn't think was a positive. A few YT channels got
removed but the big cull was Facewank groups. They have to be the
biggest cesspit I know of. They just seem to attract the worst on both
sides who have no nuance to issues, cannot understand how anyone can
have a different opinion to them and have a mentality of if you're not
in 100% agreement then you're the enemy. Even just questioning their
opinion is seen as some sort of heresy.

> Please don't bring it here.
>

Very much agree, I used to be a member of a gaming NG and that was
pretty much ruined by two posters who would often bring up their politics.

Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?

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From: now...@nochance.com (JAB)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2023 09:04:53 +0000
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 by: JAB - Thu, 9 Mar 2023 09:04 UTC

On 07/03/2023 15:42, Justisaur wrote:
> On Monday, March 6, 2023 at 4:43:46 PM UTC-8, Zaghadka wrote:
>> On Mon, 6 Mar 2023 06:25:14 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action, Metal
>> Guru wrote:
>
>> Please don't bring it here.
>
> I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment. I play games and come here partially
> to avoid the insanity that is our (American) politics. I get too much of that
> already through the few podcasts I listen to while doing chores and driving,
> and stumbling across it elsewhere on the internet.
>
> I deleted my sub on the main podcast I listened to for years as while there was
> some political stuff on there, it's gone up since covid and feels like its now
> 80% political.
>

I do listen to a political radio talk show but it's one I consider more
moderate and they have some interesting takes on issues that I think are
important. When I do have a problem is when politics or religion is
brought into a channel when it has nothing to do with the overall
channel content. That's pretty much a will not watch any more for me.

Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?

<tv480f$2fdgv$3@dont-email.me>

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From: now...@nochance.com (JAB)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2023 11:41:03 +0000
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 by: JAB - Sat, 18 Mar 2023 11:41 UTC

On 02/03/2023 23:04, rms wrote:
>> Books
>> -- Thud by Terry Pratchett which I  The Difference Engine
>
>   Nice!  I've been on a PKDick run lately, and have finished
> In Milton Lumky Territory
> Martian Time-Slip
> The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich
> in the last few months.  Just starting Ubik now
>

Well I finally succumbed and bought a copy of Selected Stories of Philip
K. Dick. A bargain at £9 including P&P.

Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?

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Subject: Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?
From: jfwal...@gmail.com (Pr. Mandrake)
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 by: Pr. Mandrake - Tue, 21 Mar 2023 20:38 UTC

On Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 9:54:15 AM UTC-6, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> There's one good thing to say about February; when it feels like
> another month has whipped by incredibly fast, at least with February
> you know there's a reason for it; it's so damned short. Where's my
> 29th, 30th and 31st days, February? You're ripping me off!
>
> Anyway, games.
>
>
> If I had to pay to write my summaries
> ---------------------------------------
> * Middle Earth - Shadow of Mordor (replay)
> * Eastshade (new)
>
> If I /got/ paid to write my summaries
> ---------------------------------------
>
>
> * Middle Earth - Shadow of Mordor (replay)
> The last time I played "Shadow of Mordor", I gave up a few hours in. I
> really regretted doing so because I'm a fan of the Middle Earth
> franchise, but I just wasn't having fun with the game. But sometimes
> that happens, through no fault of the game. There are times I'm in the
> mood for a specific type of game, and if I play something else it
> won't satisfy me no matter how good it is. So I regretfully put
> "Shadow" away, telling myself that one day I'd return and play it
> through to completion like it deserved.
>
> Today was that day. And now I really wish I'd just left it on my list
> of unplayed games. "Shadow" isn't a bad game in its particulars; all
> of its component parts are satisfactory, if not exceptional in any
> way. But taken as a whole, the game lacks that spark, that bit of
> verve that makes it memorable or, indeed enjoyable.
>
> "Shadow's" biggest fault is its lack of variety. The combat mechanics
> - the core of the game - are fairly well done but lack the depth and
> challenge to keep me entertained for very long. This is especially
> noticeable in the first half of the game - before you've gained any of
> the more exciting fight maneuvers - and the combat is just a
> collection of mundane melee against mundane enemies. And while things
> do improve later in the game, it never achieves its full potential.
>
> And unfortunately, the other parts of the game just aren't enough to
> make up for the combat system's failings. The open-world is too small
> and uninteresting; lacking detail and interactivity, it never feels
> like a real place. The platforming mechanics are extremely limited and
> the controls lack the necessary smoothness for fun parkour. The story
> and characters - despite the use of the famous license - feel like
> generic fantasy. The graphics are fine - especially with regards to
> the character detail (I was oddly impressed by how well the lip-sync
> matched the speech) - but, again, never exceed the basic expectations
> and the first half of the game features some of the least interesting
> visuals.
>
> The game also has some notable flaws; the stealth system is sub-par,
> for instance, and the constant respawning of enemies makes the combat
> feel pointless. I get what the developers were going for: the goal
> was, I suspect, to make it feel as if you were single-handedly
> fighting against a massive army whose numbers were so huge that you
> could never win through force of arms. However, the actual result was
> that the constant fighting became an endless grind and something to be
> avoided entirely if possible. Some of the missions were also extremely
> scripted, which only gave the entire experience an even more
> mechanical feel.
>
> The end result is a game which, thanks to its underdeveloped combat
> and small world, feels very repetitive and grindy. I spent roughly
> forty hours playing it, and it was always an effort to keep going.
> "Surely," I thought, "it must get better eventually!" but no, the game
> ended quite unrewardingly. The game could have been a terrific mix of
> "Dark Souls" and "Assassins Creed" but lacked the polish and finesse
> of either, resulting in a poor copy of both.
>
>
>
> * Eastshade (new)
>
> There's a quest in "Elder Scrolls: Oblvion" called 'A Brush With
> Death' where - through the power of magic - you enter a painting and
> have a adventures on the other side of the canvas. The quest itself is
> unremarkable, and the visuals are - in essence - just standard
> Oblivion graphics with an oil-painting filter overlaid on top of them,
> but I still found it memorable because the saturated colors and
> pastoral landscapes were striking in appearance. Playing "Eastshade"
> reminds me a lot of that quest.
>
> "Eastshade" itself is more of a walking sim than a combat-heavy
> fantasy role-playing game, though. In fact, there is remarkably little
> in the way of any sort of challenge whatsoever; the bulk of the
> gameplay is extremely simplistic fetch-quests. Many of these utilize
> the game's core gimmick: painting requested landscapes for various
> clients in exchange for some reward that will allow you to progress
> through the story. Sadly, the painting mechanic isn't any more
> involved than framing what you want to paint; effectively you're just
> hitting the 'screenshot' button and your in-game avatar is calling it
> art.
>
> Still, the game does have some very pretty terrain, and a surprisingly
> large map to explore. Nothing in the setting is particularly original
> - there's very little in the game that will make your jaw drop - but
> its fun to explore its little world and help solve the little problems
> of its inhabitants.
>
> But that is, unfortunately, also the game's biggest problem;
> everything about it feels small. There are no real stakes to your
> adventure; your ultimate goal is to draw three specific landscapes in
> honor of your mother's last request. None of the side-quests are any
> more pressing. The world remains fairly static and your actions have
> no effect on its development. This makes the game a pleasant diversion
> from more intense games, but after a few calming hours, there's little
> that made me want to stay in its world. Quite frankly, its saccharine
> characters with their picayune problems started to wear on me; the
> game became rather dull as one quest blurred into the next.
>
> The Oblivion sub-quest was memorable largely because it was a break
> from the usual, and its developers knew enough not to drag things out
> too long. You can't say the same with "Eastshade". As much as I
> welcome games that dare to try something new, it long overstayed its
> welcome and I struggled to reach the end.
>
> ---------------------------------------
>
>
> Only two games for me this month. Well, it was a short month after
> all. And - as evidenced by various posts to this newsgroups - I also
> had fun with spreadsheets and computer hardware, which bit deeply into
> my 'gaming time'. But I really feel I ought to have gotten through
> more than two games, dontcha think?
>
> Well, let's see how you all did, and if you managed any better.
> Basically, what I am asking is...
>
> What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2023?

I've been playing two Total War titles:

Shogun II
Warhammer III

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